Start with a core cabin

Chapter 1466 Negotiation (Going out to buy tofu pudding early in the morning and dying of exhaustion)

Everything in this world ultimately depends on strength.

And strength depends on violence.

As a wandering trader, Dardanelle was well aware of this.

On the surface, the trade alliance he formed spanned five star systems and had dozens of colonies, making it a powerful force. But Dardanelle himself knew that it was just an empty shell, and could only fool those interstellar civilizations that had not yet left the atmosphere or were just starting out.

But if he really wants to do business with business alliances that are more powerful than him, he can only ask for help.

So... Grandpa of the Court of Inquisition, help me!!!

“………………Okay, I almost understand the details.”

Duanmu Huai picked up the teacup, drank tea, and looked at the Dardanelles opposite him.

"So? What kind of result do you plan to get?"

"To be honest, I'm not too sure."

Dardanelles looked sad.

"Your Excellency the Inquisitor knows about the situation of the Trade Alliance. We have just started to develop, and integrating the economic systems of these planets is a big problem. We have only just begun to see results. I..."

"Speak the key."

Duanmu Huai was not interested in the economy. He was like the empire. As long as you paid your tithes on time, there would be no problem. But if you didn't pay your taxes, that would be a problem.

"Honestly speaking, I can't win."

Dardanelles decisively told the truth.

"Although I don't know much, I can see that the huge power behind this trade mission is far beyond the ability of a trade alliance formed by a small roving trader like me to fight against. Their strength and financial resources are a hundred times stronger than ours. Facing such an opponent, the best way is to keep them out."

"But you can't do it, so you come to ask for help, right?"

"Yes."

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai understood that it was free trade. If you didn't want to trade, they would use their powerful ships and cannons to force you to trade. Duanmu Huai had studied history, so he understood such a simple and easy-to-understand principle. If the Dardanelles didn't call the Tribunal and tell the other side that they were not easy to mess with, who knew if the company would attack them directly.

Although it is called the Interstellar Peace Company, peace and commercial trade are incompatible.

"What do others think?"

"They...remain neutral because the Interstellar Peace Company has also promised them that it can help them rebuild. However, since they don't know each other well, they are currently in the discussion and wait-and-see stage."

Dardanelle understood why these people remained neutral, it was because of their relationship with the Inquisition. After all, their worlds were saved by the Inquisition, so they would remember this friendship, so unless the Interstellar Peace Company's offer was higher than this friendship, they would not change their partners casually.

“This is really unexpected.”

Duanmu Huai reached out and touched his chin. He had always been laissez-faire about such matters. Because the Inquisition was not an empire, and it had no intention of rebuilding an empire. Of course, if Dardanelles intended to trade with other forces, Duanmu Huai would not mind introducing them to each other, but he did not care much about anything else.

But an invasion by an outsider that you are unaware of is another matter.

"Is that a human?"

"If not, I wouldn't have to worry so much."

"That's true."

If the enemy was not human, Dardanelles would have begged the Inquisition to destroy it completely. To the Inquisition, which advocates human supremacy, the aliens themselves are the original sin.

pity………

"Um………"

Duanmu Huai turned his head and looked to the other side.

"How clever! Do you think the Star Alliance can help?"

"Karen doesn't think that's possible."

The world's cutest horse girl shook her head.

"The impact of the unexpected enemy that the Star Alliance encountered before has not subsided. Currently, the entire Star Alliance is seriously damaged. Kallen thinks they should be wary of external forces interfering in the trade network."

"Um……………"

If the Star Alliance was still strong, Duanmu Huai could have let Dardanelles and the Star Alliance cooperate to deal with the Interstellar Peace Company. Unfortunately, the Star Alliance has been unlucky recently. First, it was the Reapers, then the Dark Elves, and then the unexpected enemy. The series of attacks have made the Star Alliance breathless. It's like a patient who has had a serious illness and has not fully recovered. In this case, the Star Alliance is naturally unwilling to cause trouble for no reason.

"Then it seems that the support from the Inquisition is very limited." Duanmu Huai spread out his hands and shook his head at Dardanelles.

"Strictly speaking, the Inquisition certainly supports you, but you also know that the Inquisition does not intervene in disputes between humans, let alone this one involving economic matters, so all we can do is to ensure that you will not be coerced by force. But if it is an economic issue, then the Inquisition is powerless."

"I understand what you mean, Your Excellency the Inquisitor."

Facing Duanmu Huai's answer, Dardanelle looked somewhat helpless, but it was understandable. After all, it was not the first time he had done business with the Tribunal.

"But no matter where they come from, since they want to do things on the territory of the Tribunal, they must pay taxes to the Tribunal."

Duanmu Huai snorted. The tithe of the Tribunal is indispensable. Although the tax rate of the Tribunal is not as strict as that of the Empire, and it is often just a token of appreciation, the problem is not the amount, but the attitude. Whether you are willing to pay is one thing, and whether you are unwilling to pay is another.

"That's really smart. Go talk to the Interstellar Peace Company and see what's going on there."

"Understood! Big brother, just leave it to Kallen!"

Let's let Shinji Ling, the world's cutest horse girl, do this.

Duanmu Huai didn't care much about the Interstellar Peace Company. If the other party was human, then most of the problems would not be of concern. The policy of the Inquisition was not to interfere in the fights between humans. He actually understood that Dardanelles hoped that the Inquisition could intervene more deeply, which was also easy to understand.

For example, the Dardanelles Business Alliance is like a leading domestic enterprise, while the Interstellar Peace Company is a foreign company, and it is likely a multinational foreign company. Facing such a business giant, local companies can only rely on protectionism to survive, but unfortunately the Inquisition is not the government that rules this area, so even Duanmu Huai can't say that the Interstellar Peace Company is not allowed to operate here - after all, they can bypass the Inquisition and go directly to those political entities to discuss.

So strictly speaking, there is not much the Inquisition can do, and Dardanelles still has to rely on himself... Of course, if the other party wants to use some unconventional tactics, that is another matter.

After all, the Dardanelles Trade Federation also has a portion of the Inquisition's shares. Do you really want to cause trouble for the Inquisition if you don't want to live?

That would be a dead end.

Commercial trade was not Duanmu Huai's concern. After leaving it to Zhen Ji Ling to solve, he began to focus on the construction of the planetary fortress again. Of course, Duanmu Huai did not forget to ask Aikote to send a reconnaissance fleet to investigate the direction of the merchant group. After all, it was an extraterritorial galaxy, and there might be treasures that could help him speed up his natural disaster progress.

Well, I hope so.

Zhen Jiling acted quickly. Just two days later, Duanmu Huai received information from Zhen Jiling after their first meeting and negotiation.

"Most of the species that make up the Interstellar Peace Corporation are humans and subhumans, but there are also a small number of abominable intelligent beings... um..."

Duanmu Huai nodded after looking at Zhen Jiling's report. Zhen Jiling's investigation was very accurate and he knew what the Tribunal wanted.

But at the end, he frowned slightly.

"Based on an investigation into its internal corporate culture, was there any evidence of religious belief?"

After reading the report, Duanmu Huai raised his head and looked at Zhen Jiling on the other side of the screen.

"What do you mean? What the hell is religious belief?"

"As you can see, big brother, this Interstellar Peace Company believes in a star god named Creeper..."

"Star God?!"

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai almost jumped up and issued an extermination order.

After all, in the court of justice, this is not a good word.

Fortunately, after listening to Zhen Jiling's explanation, Duanmu Huai finally breathed a sigh of relief. According to her, this star god should not be a fragment of a star god, but a god across galaxies—well, as mentioned before, there are indigenous gods and gods across galaxies. The gods in Feren are all indigenous gods, and the gods these people believe in should be higher-level cosmic gods that exist across galaxies.

Moreover, each star god has his own destiny—Duanmu Huai is not surprised by this, just like the god of justice, the god of love, the god of war, the god of tyranny, etc., this destiny, to put it bluntly, is the priesthood.

As for the destiny travelers who walk on it, and the powerful messengers who receive a glance from the star god, gain his attention, and possess great power... well, put yourself in Feren's shoes and understand it. In fact, they are just believers and gods' favored ones.

"In other words, this Interstellar Peace Company is the church of Klipper, believing in preservation and protection. The employees inside are all believers of Klipper, and the top executives are the gods' favored ones?"

"Yes, that's about it."

"Oh, that's okay, I understand."

Duanmu Huai nodded. There were many different forms of religions in the interstellar space, but to be honest, the idea of ​​a capitalist company upholding faith did make Duanmu Huai feel a little weird.

  After all, no matter how you look at it, you should believe in gods like business or money. What the hell is protection? Is your Interstellar Peace Company mainly engaged in protective facilities?

But, Star God...

Duanmu Huai narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment.

Maybe I should go to that extraterritorial galaxy and see if I can upgrade my natural disaster?

After all, there are so many star gods, so they must have their own clans.

Find something that poses a threat to humanity and then destroy it. Wouldn't that speed up progress?

Why not...give it a try?