74 Prelude to the Trade War

After hearing Flying Fish and the Spring and Autumn Hero declare their intention to go to war with Tiger-Leopard Village, Sword Tyrant immediately advised, “Black Tiger’s aim is nothing more than to seize the initiative in trade so he can profit from it. We cannot recklessly wage war against a neighboring village that is not weak. That would consume enormous construction resources and seriously hinder the development of the village. We are still in a critical stage of growth; we cannot let a minor clash derail the village’s progress.”

Old Li, seeing that the two elders, Flying Fish and the Spring and Autumn Hero, were advocating force, felt uneasy. Hearing Sword Tyrant oppose military action, he immediately seized the chance to speak up: “My lord, I think Elder Sword Tyrant makes perfect sense. Once war begins, it will drain our vitality badly, and who knows how many lives will be lost.”

Players may regard death lightly. But Old Li was an NPC, no bolder than an ordinary commoner. He feared war and death deeply, and if he could avoid them, he wanted no part of them.

Zhang Little White looked at Autumn Water, who sat quietly to his right, and asked, “Autumn Water, what do you think?”

Autumn Water smiled. “War is for profit. If we can crush Tiger-Leopard Village in one stroke and seize their iron mine, I would naturally support it.”

Zhang Little White asked the others, “How likely are we to destroy Tiger-Leopard Village in one decisive blow?”

Sword Tyrant said, “No more than five percent. Tiger-Leopard Village is the strongest village in this area after us. Although their overall strength is far behind ours, they have always placed great importance on martial development. That much is obvious from their clashes with Great Qi Village upstream. Now that they also possess a large stock of iron weapons, their military power has risen another level. I do not believe we have the ability to break them easily. And if the battle drags on into a long war of attrition, then we will not have any extra strength left for village construction.”

The Spring and Autumn Hero and Flying Fish quickly calmed down.

They also understood that a trade conflict could not be solved by force alone.

Zhang Little White thought for a long while before issuing a string of orders.

“Black Tiger’s intention is to seize trade dominance. Without a huge advantage, he would never take such a massive risk and go to war with us. We cannot afford a prolonged struggle, and neither can he. So the conflict between White Village and Tiger-Leopard Village will be confined to a brief contest of commercial strength, ending only when one side yields. Therefore, we must seize the initiative by every means possible.”

“Flying Fish, investigate their hidden cards. Find out exactly what they are relying on to challenge us. Pay special attention to their weapons and the abilities of any special NPCs in the village.”

“Sword Tyrant, examine the markets of nearby villages and keep a close watch on price fluctuations in medicine, iron ore, and iron weapons. Since they dare to challenge us, then we will use the market to tell them who controls it and who is the true master of this region.”

“Old Li, copper coins are essential in a trade war. From now on, slow the outflow of copper coins, strengthen our reserves, and prevent large amounts of currency from flowing into Tiger-Leopard Village.”

At last, Zhang Little White rose and said in a firm voice, “This conflict must end with Tiger-Leopard Village submitting to us!”

Everyone immediately shouted, “Yes!”

Tiger-Leopard Village.

After listening carefully to the reports from Shen Biao and the other two players, Black Tiger, contrary to expectations, did not blame Shen Biao for his recklessness.

Shen Biao, afraid of Black Tiger, felt uneasy. “Big Brother, it’s all my fault. I acted on impulse and ruined everything... Should I go apologize? Try to negotiate with them again?”

Black Tiger shook his head and said indifferently, “No need. You did very well. Do you still remember Zhang Little White’s expression when you said Tiger-Leopard Village and White Village would part ways and go their separate directions?”

Shen Biao blankly shook his head. Back then he had been too busy speaking his mind; how could he have noticed such things?

One of the players hurriedly said, “But Zhang Little White didn’t get angry. He only flatly rejected our proposal to exchange weapons for medicine. His attitude seemed very resolute. I don’t know why.”

Black Tiger sneered. “Because iron ore is cheap and weapons are expensive. You still don’t understand? Go out for now.”

Shen Biao quickly led the other two players outside.

Black Tiger sat alone in the chief seat, thinking back over the events of the past two months. He knew that ever since he had discovered this open-pit iron mine and founded his village here, he had been certain he would become one of the outstanding villages among many.

An open-pit iron mine was extremely easy to exploit, and it was an essential material for weapon production in the midgame, yielding huge profits. With this alone, he could easily outpace the other villages without having to expend much effort.

What frustrated him, however, was that across the river, White Village had produced the crucial healing potions needed for leveling even earlier than he had. In order to keep the levels and strength of his core players from falling behind those of the neighboring village, he had no choice but to exchange cheap iron ore for healing potions.

Tiger-Leopard Village had more than fifty core players, and the number was slowly growing. The daily consumption of healing potions was enormous. More than half of the iron ore they dug out was used to trade for medicine. The remaining ore was sent to the most confidential place in the village and supplied to the blacksmiths for forging and raising skill levels.

This tremendous cost naturally brought rich returns as well. The core players of Tiger-Leopard Village had levels higher than those of every village within dozens of miles, with the sole exception of White Village. The reason their players could so easily crush those from Great Qi Village was precisely because they had enough healing potions in hand.

Before, he had been forced to endure extremely unfair trade terms for the sake of those potions. But now the situation was different. His blacksmith had already become an advanced smith and could forge all kinds of high-quality iron weapons with plus-three to plus-four enhancements. He could steadily produce more than a dozen such superior weapons every day.

He had made up his mind: he would no longer cheaply hand over the iron ore that rightfully belonged to him.

“Hmph. I’ve already stockpiled more than two thousand healing potions. Even if you cut off my supply, what can you do to me? In a day or two, the Longyou market will be flooded with high-quality iron goods. Let’s see whether you, Zhang Little White, are the first to panic and rush to buy large quantities of quality weapons, or whether I, Black Tiger, am the first to run out of steam and buy your healing potions! I’ve been preparing for this day carefully for more than half a month.”

As he thought this, Black Tiger left the small courtyard and instructed several trusted aides, “You few, stop slacking off. Tighten the security inspections in the village. Don’t let strangers casually approach the forbidden grounds or the mining area.”

“You there, and you as well—stop fooling around. Have you finished contacting buyers in the nearby villages? Invite as many wealthy village chiefs and professional merchants as possible to come here and take a look.”

“And you few, why are you still here? Didn’t I tell you to go level up?”

“Hehe, don’t worry, Brother Tiger. We don’t need you to tell us about such a small matter—we’ll handle it properly.”

“Let’s go, brothers. Let’s head to the other villages again!”

“Brother Tiger, I’m waiting for the blacksmith to forge a weapon that feels right in my hand. Once it’s ready, I’ll go level up right away.”

Without a sound, a covert struggle began to emerge between the two riverbank villages of White Village and Tiger-Leopard Village.