Chapter 554 – Cooperation

When Zhao Hai saw the Beast King’s gesture, he didn’t dare to ignore it. Thus, he also drank from his cup.

These days, he has rarely drunk this kind of pure, undistilled Milk Wine. Although the smell of this wine is heavier, he has to recognize that its fragrance made the wine’s flavor quite different.

The Beast King smiled when he saw Zhao Hai drink the Milk Wine without his brows wrinkling. He knew that only a few Humans can stomach Milk Wine. There were Human Merchants who had been trading in the Prairie for a long time but still couldn’t drink Milk Wine. Zhao Hai wasn’t like any of them, he even seems like he loved drinking it.

The Beast King placed his glass down and had the guard serve him another glass. Then the Beast King looked at Zhao Hai and said, “I want to thank you for last time. If it weren’t for your help, our Beastman Race would have experienced huge losses.”

Zhao Hai also placed his glass down, allowing the guard to fill it back up. He smiled towards the Beast King and said, “Your Majesty is too polite. I treat the Beastmen as my friends, and the Radiant Church as my enemies. There is no reason for me to not help my friends and instead aid my foe.”

The Beast King smiled, then he said, “I made someone inquire, and I discovered that the grain that you sell to the Beastmen was priced much lower than other Human Merchants. Why is that?”

Zhao Hai replied, “This isn’t something strange. The other Merchants needed to recoup their transportation expenses, but on the other hand, I have my Spatial Bags. Since I use Spatial Equipment in transporting grain to the Prairie, then naturally my prices would be much smaller.”

The Beast King nodded, and then he laughed and said, “I’m afraid this method is very difficult for the others to learn. Nobody would use their Spatial Equipment just to transport grain. Hahaha.”

Zhao Hai smiled faintly. He knew that what the Beast King said was right. But the actual reason why Zhao Hai’s method cannot be copied by the other merchants was because they didn’t have Zhao Hai’s Space.

The Beast King looked at Zhao Hai and then said, “There aren’t any Human Merchants that would dare come to the Prairie at this time. I estimate that this situation would go on for several months. Although we had managed to snatch a lot of things, I’m sure those would run out in a few short months. At the same time, small Merchants would refrain from doing business in the Prairie anymore because of the fair price agreement. In the future, I fear that the food shortage would be even bigger than this time. And when that time comes, we could only get grain at a high price. Do you have any solutions to this?”

Zhao Hai smiled to the Beast King and replied, “Your Majesty, you don’t need to worry about this. As long as the Beastmen need food, I can sell it. This is not a problem.”

The Beast King stared, then his two eyes turned bright as he looked straight into Zhao Hai’s eyes and said, “You mean you have a lot of grain? Are they Bread Fruits?”

Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “I have plenty of Bread Fruits, plenty of Bamboo Rice as well. Therefore, Your Majesty don’t need to worry about the Prairie’s food in the future.”

The Beast King looked at Zhao Hai, he seems to think that he had misunderstood what Zhao Hai just said. The reason why he invited Zhao Hai over was to gauge if Zhao Hai is truly a friend to the Beastmen. If Zhao Hai passes his evaluation, then he would give him satisfactory benefits. If he fails, then he even if he wouldn’t chase Zhao Hai out, he would still be on guard against him.

But he didn’t think that Zhao Hai’s reply would be this. He was very clear about the amount of food that the entire Beastman Race needed. It was an astronomical amount.

When Zhao Hai saw the Beast King’s expression, he knew what was on the Beast King’s mind. Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “Your Majesty, you don’t really have to worry. My territory doesn’t only produce Bamboo Rice and Bread Fruit, I also have other things cultivated there. To be honest, if I don’t sell my food over to the Beastmen and instead dump them to the Human markets, then I’m afraid the price of food would immediately plummet. And I don’t want it to be like that. Therefore, I want to bring them over to the Prairie and sell it here. Not only is the purchase price high in the Prairie, the demand is also very large. And if I sell my products to the Beastmen, I won’t be affecting the Human markets, and I won’t be destabilizing the economy.”

The Beast King nodded, although he was a Beastman, after all these years of being a Beast King he has managed to have some understanding about Human matters. He knew that among the merchants who came to the Prairie, only those big Merchants were able to make a fortune, small Merchants wouldn’t be able to earn a lot.

He knew the price of grain on Human lands, but he also knew how much it costs for the humans to transport grain to the Prairie. Aside from artificial reasons, this overhead cost was the reason why prices of grain in the Prairie was very high.

Because of this, the fair price agreement between the Empires and the Beastmen didn’t include having the same price as in the Human domain. This was because it would be an unrealistic scenario, and there would be no merchants that would sell food to the Beastmen anymore if that happens.

Moreover, the Beast King also knew that in the Human lands, the influence of each Great Noble Family was very formidable. And with how their grain business is closely tied with their military, these Great Nobles would do their best in order to keep the price constant. Any fluctuation to the market would have huge impact to these Great Nobles.

As for the Buda Clan, the Beast King was aware of it as well. The rise of this clan can only be described as absurd. In a very short year, forget about being a Middle-ranked clan, they immediately became one of the most powerful Clans in the Human continent. This kind of development can only be read in legends.

These information were acquired by the Beast King from the Nobles that they had fought. In truth, he had expected Zhao Hai to be someone who didn’t have much reputation among the Humans. But after his inquiries, he managed to find out how big Zhao Hai’s fame was.

With Zhao Hai’s recent response, the Beast King finally believed that Zhao Hai did really have a huge hatred towards the Radiant Church. But if he adds the Great Nobles to his list of enemies, he wouldn’t be able to thrive among his race. Affecting the grain market of the Human Race wasn’t something that the Buda Clan can afford to handle.

Seeing the Beast King starting to believe him, Zhao Hai then said, “I really do see the Beastmen as friends. To tell you the truth, I really don’t like to interact with other Humans, it’s too tiring. Haha.”

The Beast King stared at Zhao Hai before he chuckled and then it turned into a laugh. A laugh so thick that it penetrated deep into one’s soul.

After some time, the Beast King stopped and then with a deep voice he said to Zhao Hai, “Good, good. Starting today, you’re also going be my friend. As well as my Tiger Tribe’s friend.”

The Beast King wasn’t only the alliance leader of the Beastman Race. At the same time, he was also the Patriarch of the the Giant Tiger Tribe. His influence in his tribe was so big that he can claim to say these words.

When Zhao Hai heard the Beast King, his heart couldn’t help but beat in glee. He knew how heavy the words of the Beast King were. With those words, he would be able to walk in the Prairie much more freely. Even the famous Tribes of the Prairie would have to give him face.

Zhao Hai immediately stood up and gave a salute, “Zhao Hai is very thankful to His Majesty.”

The Beast King waved his hand and had Zhao Hai sit down, then he said, “Our Beastman Race’s food problem would be handed over to you. I don’t know if you knew, but why do you think our Beastmen race is always fighting? It’s to survive. If the Big Tribes wanted to survive, they would have to snatch from the small tribes. And in turn, those small tribes would snatch from the smaller tribes. In between these battles, a lot of lives would be lost. All because there is no food. As a Beastman myself, thinking about this is very painful!”

Zhao Hai couldn’t think of any response as he listened to the Beast King. What the Beast King said was true. Do the Beastmen really want to fight? Of course not. No race was born to kill and die, all of them were only compelled to do so in order to survive.

The Beast King sighed and then turned his head to Zhao Hai and said, “These years, we had always wanted to establish a good relationship with the Humans. But the Human race simply didn’t pay any attention to our Beastman Race. They regard us as barbarians, some even look at us as if we are Wild Beasts. The only thing they want from us is more profit. With such people, who in their right minds would want to cooperate with them? Zhao Hai, those few words you spoke back then outside Iron Wall Fortress moved me. You said that in your eyes, Beastmen and Humans are the same intelligent beings. That made me thing, if there was one Human that we Beastman can comfortably cooperate with, it would only be you.”

Zhao Hai stared at the Beast King, he didn’t say anything. He knew that these words of the Beast King were spoken with true sincerity, this was what was truly inside the Beast King’s heart.

After a moment, Zhao Hai opened his mouth and said, “Your Majesty, I’ll stand behind the words that I’ve said. I treat the Beastmen as my equal. Your Majesty doesn’t need to worry about anything if you cooperate with me.”

The Beast King nodded and then patted Zhao Hai’s shoulder, “Alright, I’ll believe you. I hope you can do it.”

Zhao Hai smiled and said, “I won’t disappoint you, Your Majesty. Right, I’ll have to offer Your Majesty a cup.” Then he turned his hand and took out a bottle of Milk Wine.

The Beast King looked the bottle that Zhao Hai just took out, he had seen this liquor before. The Herculean Bulls and the Black Bears have gifted him some of these. To be honest, he really loved this liquor. This liquor was obviously Milk Wine, but it was much different than what he had drank before.

The Beast King didn’t decline and then finished his Milk Wine first before handing his cup over to Zhao Hai. After he took a sip of Zhao Hai’s milk wine, he nodded. This was indeed the same wine that the Black Bear Tribe has sent.

After looking at the Beast King, Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “Your Majesty, perhaps we can cooperate and produce this liquor. What do you think?”

The Beast King couldn’t help but stare at Zhao Hai in confusion. He knew what this liquor represented, it represented huge profits, incomparably huge profits.

When he went to the Human lands, he also inquired about this liquor. This Milk Wine was very popular among the Humans as well. Moreover, it’s sold at a very high price. If Zhao Hai cooperates with the Beastmen, then it would absolutely bring them huge benefits.