Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 495 Ask your mother to take you to buy toys

After eating breakfast at the stall, Xiahou Yan left the sub-orc stall owner who kept nodding and bowing, and walked back into the smoky, narrow and crowded streets of the central city.

There is still more than half a day left before the opening of the "God-Given Blade" exhibition. Fortunately, there are many places to spend time in the central city of Thorn City.

Xiahou Yan first visited several important locations in the central city according to the map he had copied down.

Although the federal military camps were concentrated in the upper city, there were still several federal armories and military factories in the middle city, which was the industrial production center. Since these military buildings were guarded by orc soldiers, Xiahou Yan did not approach them rashly, but confirmed their specific locations from a distance.

Judging from the chimneys of the military factory emitting heat and spewing coal smoke, the defenders of Thorn City today are also constantly manufacturing weapons and ammunition to prepare for the siege in the near future.

In a corner of the lower city of Thorn City, there is an old coal and iron mine, the coal reserves of which have not yet been fully explored. With the advancement of industrial technology in the continent, the Glorious Federation, which occupies Thorn City, has also begun to mine coal in recent years to provide energy for the heavy industrial facilities in the city.

In other words, Thorn City itself is a self-sufficient arsenal.

After determining and marking the locations of some important facilities, Xiahou Yan went to several taverns and theaters to inquire about the news in the city.

However, the clues that the civilians of Thorn City who were hanging around in the central city could provide were very limited. What Xiahou Yan heard most was their concerns about the upcoming siege and their lofty discussions on the political situation on the mainland.

What made Xiahou Yan laugh and cry was that one of the focuses of discussion among the civilians of Thorn City was actually "Lord Duke Elliot Igor" of the Empire's Frost Maple Ridge.

  In a tavern with luxurious decoration, he heard with his own ears that an old orc with wrinkles on his face was drunk and slammed the table and cursed Elliot Igor, saying that he was a warmongerer who sold destruction and must be held responsible for all the destruction and deaths in this war;

But then, a few elf girls from Blood Shadow City, who were obviously infatuated with women because they had read too many female novels in Dongbingku, stood up and retorted that Lord Elliot Igor was a true hero, much better than the corrupt imperial and stupid federal high-ranking officials.

With a face like Leo, Xiahou Yan listened to other people's comments about himself as if it had nothing to do with him. He felt it was quite interesting: if these people knew that the "Duke of Frost Maple Ridge" he was talking about was right next to them, they would definitely not dare to fart.

In addition to these unfounded rumors, Xiahou Yan did hear something useful - information about the "God-Given Blade" equipment exhibition.

He originally thought that this kind of exhibition and sales activities involving military products should be held by the official part of the Glorious Federation of Thorn City, but the information he heard on the street showed that holding the "God-given Blade" exhibition was actually a completely civilian behavior!

The organizer of the "God-Given Blade" exhibition is a demon chamber of commerce called "Wave".

In the modern Haven continent, private chambers of commerce like "Wave" played an extremely important role in the war.

  Take the Empire as an example. As the Sixth War intensified and the battle lines stretched, the already corrupt military transportation industry became even more incapable of carrying supplies and materials from the interior to the front lines.

Therefore, the private chambers of commerce of all sizes in the empire seized the opportunity and took action: they used their own fleets and manpower and material resources, and had the merchants accompanying the army transport the supplies stored in their warehouses to the front lines, and then sold these supplies to the military and soldiers.

In this way, the soldiers on the front line got supplies, the military solved the problem of supply transportation, and these private chambers of commerce not only won the reputation of "supporting the war and serving the country", but also made a lot of money in the process.

Of course, there are still huge risks in transporting supplies to the front line for sale, but the high profits and the unique greed of businessmen are enough to drive these private chambers of commerce to continue to make war profits.

This is the situation in the Empire, and the Glorious Federation is not much different.

Although traditional orcs disdain to do business, the chambers of commerce organized by inferior races such as sub-orcs and goblins within the Glorious Federation also take on the task of transporting military supplies to the front line of Thorn City.

Moreover, unlike humans, orcs do not have a blood feud with demons that will be forever remembered by the "Claudia Blood Oath". Therefore, after the war began, a large number of demon chambers of commerce also went north to the Federation to seek business opportunities brought by the war.

And "Wave" is one of these demon chambers of commerce.

"Langchao", which started out in the "Haohai City" of the Demon Realm, was initially just a local company engaged in aquatic product trade, but it soon developed into a giant business organization that monopolized the entire eastern region of the Demon Realm.

Compared with the huge "wave", the demon chambers of commerce that previously traveled through the Soul-Splitting Land were just some insignificant small Karami.

This time when the Imperial humans and the Federation Orcs went to war, the greedy "Wave" Chamber of Commerce certainly did not stay out of it, but placed its bets on the Glorious Federation: they sent a large number of convoys to the Federation front, selling their own products to the orc officers and soldiers, and also selling transportation services for military supplies to the Blood Council.

Shortly before the Battle of Tumu Fort began, the "Wave" Chamber of Commerce had just transported a large number of weapons and supplies to Thorn City, intending to sell them to the federal army, whose war was progressing rapidly and required large-scale repairs and replenishment of armaments.

The actions of the "Wave" Chamber of Commerce immediately attracted the attention of several other chambers of commerce in the Federation. Not wanting to be left behind, they also sent convoys filled with goods to Thorn City.

However, the subsequent developments surprised these businessmen:

Frost Maple Ridge's sudden attack caused the Federation's "Dragon Flame Legion" to suffer heavy losses in Tumu Fort. Not only did the Federation army fail to advance further into the Burning Crystal Canyon, but was driven all the way eastward back to the bloody front by Elliot Igor and the Imperial Army!

——In the original plan of the "Wave" Chamber of Commerce, once Tumu Fort was breached by the Federation, the orc army would be able to march straight in and capture Yongri City in one fell swoop, expanding the occupied area while also plundering a huge amount of wealth.

  In order to supply equipment to the regular army and the vassal army that has been newly added due to the expansion of the occupied areas, the Federation will definitely use the looted gold coins to purchase weapons from various chambers of commerce, and the "Wave" Chamber of Commerce will naturally be able to make a fortune from it!

However, the reality was just the opposite: the federal army lost a large number of manpower in the Battle of Tumu and subsequent battles. Even if they had money to buy equipment, there were not many new soldiers who needed the equipment.

Add to that the tight military budget caused by the defeat and the chaos during the rotation period...

  The Wave Chamber of Commerce was shocked to find that the Glorious Federation had no interest in purchasing military supplies from them.

In other words: this batch of goods is a waste of their time!

The same fate befell the Wave Chamber of Commerce, as did several other unlucky chambers of commerce that followed suit and fled to Thorn City. Seeing that Thorn City was about to be besieged, most of the other foreign chambers of commerce in the city had already evacuated, but the Wave Chamber of Commerce and these military supply dealers refused to give up, relying on their courage to stay in the city: if they did not find a way to sell the equipment in their hands and hurried home, the huge losses on the books would be enough to make the investors fight them to death!

Xiahou Yan finally understood that the so-called "God-given Blade" trade fair was purely an act of self-rescue and a desperate struggle by several military suppliers such as "Inspur"!

The reason why the "Langbo" Chamber of Commerce held an equipment exhibition was to seize the last opportunity on the eve of the war and find a way to sell the goods in hand to avoid losing everything.

The biggest potential customers facing the chambers of commerce are, of course, the federal garrison stationed in Thorn City.

Xiahou Yan heard the news that several high-ranking orc generals would be present at the "God-Given Blade" exhibition tonight in order to actually inspect the quality of the military products provided by the "Wave" Chamber of Commerce and finally decide whether to purchase the goods they provide.

In other words, tonight is the last chance for the merchants of the "Inspur" Chamber of Commerce to use their eloquent tongues to sell out their backlogs.

Xiahou Yan wandered around the central city collecting various rumors, which took him most of the day.

Soon, the hands of the steam clocks in the central city of Thorn City pointed to five forty, and the "God-Given Blade" exhibition was about to open.

Xiahou Yan arrived at the address of the trade fair early:

It is a luxurious clubhouse called the Real Bernabéu, located on the northeast edge of the city center.

The entire clubhouse covers an area as large as a museum, with bright kerosene lamps installed on the neat and straight red brick exterior walls. As it is far away from the industrial area, the air here is not as pungent as that in the inner city of Midtown, and is only filled with a faint smell of coal smoke.

In the city area of ​​Thorn City, similar clubs are usually places for the upper class such as factory owners and wealthy businessmen to have fun, but the generous "Wave" Chamber of Commerce obviously waved its hand and temporarily booked the entire club.

——The huge area and ample indoor space of the "Real Bernabéu" club are indeed suitable for hosting military exhibitions.

As soon as Xia Houyan arrived outside the "Real Bernabéu", he saw the golden banner hanging above the club's gate:

"The Second 'God-given Blade' Equipment Exhibition".

There are three lines of text on the banner, with the same content written in Orcish, Common and Demonic, which is very international.

Xiahou Yan noticed that next to the entrance of the club under the banner, two orc officers and a demon merchant were whispering about something.

So the federal military did send someone here. Xiahou Yan thought to himself and looked around him.

It was said that the equipment exhibition booths of "Wave" and several other major chambers of commerce were all set up in the main venue inside the club building. But at the same time, on the street outside the club, many other people were bustling with booths, including some small-scale chambers of commerce, as well as local residents and craftsmen from Thorn City who were selling their collections and works, hoping to make some extra money by taking advantage of the popularity of "God-given Blade".

Xiahou Yan looked up and saw that not far from him, there was an orc dressed as a craftsman selling swords...

...I'm really selling swords.

The orc craftsman sat on the ground, with a seven-foot square piece of rough linen spread out in front of him, on which were piled shining steel swords. The orc craftsman held a wooden stake with his left hand, picked up a steel sword at random with his right hand, and chopped it down, splitting the stake in two.

"Selling the Sword of Dawn! The same model used by the Eastern Army in Rosario!" the orc shouted in a hoarse voice, "Imperial standard equipment! It cuts through hair with a swift blow! It slashes through iron like mud!"

Xiahou Yan was a little confused: He was very familiar with the "Sword of Dawn". This magical metal weapon made of Qiming steel was the treasure of the Eastern Army of Rose City. He had even blackmailed Grand Duke Rosario at a low price before - no, he bought a batch of it.

  How could such a good thing fall into the hands of a peddler in Thorn City?

Xiahou Yan was full of doubts. He took two steps closer and took a closer look. He found that the steel swords in front of the orcs were actually some crudely made rubbish. Not to mention "Qiming Steel", the magic metal content in them could not be said to be zero, but it could be said that there was no addition at all.

This kind of broken thing, let alone copying Grand Duke Rosario's "Sword of Dawn", was used by the Frost Maple Ridge militia two years ago, and the militia would have despised it.

  Xiahou Yan was dumbfounded: This has to be considered false advertising, right?

Isn't there a Consumers Association in Thorn City?

"Hey!" The sword-selling orc asked gruffly when he saw him approaching, "Would you like to buy a sword? The Sword of Dawn! Only ten gold coins for one, great for collection or self-defense!"

"There's something wrong with your sword." Xiahou Yan said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "Ten gold coins for one hilt. Is the blade of your sword made of gold or is the hilt made of gold?"

"Look at Thorn City now. Where can you find the Sword of Dawn for sale? These are all swords from Rose City!" the sword-selling orc argued, "You think it's too expensive, but I think it's too expensive too!"

Xiahou Yan was too lazy to bother with him, so he just waved his hand and left.

  Then he heard the sword-selling orc curse behind him:

"Stupid human! You don't even have any money, and yet you dare to come here to look at this! Where did this poor idiot come from!"

For a long time, Xiahou Yan had been called a "murderer", "lunatic", "rapist", "traitor", "profiteer", and "devil", but it seemed like this was the first time that he was called a "pauper"...

He rolled his eyes and walked straight past the dwarves selling "compressed towels" and the trolls hawking "bullet-proof leather shoes" to the main venue of the "Divine Blade" trade show.