Molting the Mortal Coil

The dozens of airships were carrying the Prosperity Company. Of course, the company was still operating as normal in the Shihu Kingdom, but Sage had once told Wan Ling he planned to push a massive expansion into another kingdom. It was a risky move and she explained all the problems with it, but after she realized how important it was to him, she started planning. Even after two decades, the Prosperity Company wasn’t so large and expansive that it had to extend outside of the Shihu Kingdom to maintain growth. There was no need for them to do the move from a business perspective. On the other hand, an aggressive expansion plan could also rapidly improve the size and scope of their business. It also came with many risks.

The fleet of airships and the goods they carried made up a sizable portion of the Prosperity Company’s resources. It was a massive investment, only possible through many loans. If it couldn’t pay for itself, the company would be paying those debts for years. Sage and Wan Ling were the founders of the company, so when they both backed the move, there was little question that it would happen.

A squad of Dragoons escorted the lead airship to a landing zone where Sage was waiting. He had only sent the message to start the move, so he had no idea what Wan Ling’s plans were. A ramp was lowered down and the door slowly thrown open on the side of the airship’s crew cabin. A petite and well dressed woman was the first to step out, and the sight of her caused Sage quite a surprise. She was dark of hair and eye like most women of this side of the world, and despite how short and small she was, her chest was still very impressive.

“Wan Ling! I wasn’t expecting you to come personally!”

Sage couldn’t help himself, immediately giving voice to his thoughts. He figured she would merely be sending him some resources and not journeying here in person. As Sage contemplated, Wan Ling gave him one of her signature looks, a calm and placid face yet with furious eyes. He’d seen her give it many times to her bear sized uncle.

“Hmph! You’re out of contact for more than a decade and then suddenly call for the expansion plan. How could I let all these important materials out of my sight? This is a massive investment and I can’t leave you in charge of it all. You aren’t exactly a great businessman, so I can’t rely upon you to conduct the expansion.”

“What about the Prosperity Company in Shihu Kingdom?”

“Do you think me as foolish as you? Wen Wen is in charge there. We’ve been handling the same problems and growing pains for the last two decades, she should have no trouble at all continuing. I’m far more concerned about the problems that may appear in a completely new Kingdom so I’d rather handle it myself.”

Then Wan Ling’s small frame walked closer to Sage and glared up at him, “Were you instead expecting Wen Wen to be the one to come here and manage the expansion?”

Not expecting the confrontation, Sage could only bow his head and close his eyes. He cupped his fist and saluted her, “I am humbled by your kindness and forethought. The Prosperity Company will surely succeed in the Dou Kingdom with you in charge.”

She released a loud dismissive sound when he slipped into his ultra humble act. When he was finished she was about to berate him more, but then he avoided the verbal beating by offering to move the venue and rushing off. She could only grumble at him and then order the others in the airship to start unloading. A few minutes later, they reconvened in the newly restored Lang Clan Hall. A table had already been set and they conversed over a meal.

“So, what are your resources here? What’s the business climate?”

“I don’t really know much about the business climate, but as you probably know we’ll have to contend with the Four Major Businesses of Dou Kingdom at least on some level. I’ve also reached out to Pristine Fortune Coaches. They produce coaches at the Provincial Capital, Golden Cricket Cove. It’s a similar market for airships, and I think a partnership with them could help keep our products from seeming too foreign.”

“Hmm, surprisingly that’s not too terrible of an idea, but I think you should let me take over negotiations. You probably wanted to give them a share of our sales.”

She shook her head while Sage found her insight to be terrifying. What was wrong with giving a portion of the sales when they were working together? He put aside that thought and continued with listing assets. He told her about his position as City Lord of Lionheart Town, the Lang Clan lands in town, the ten thousand Dragoons, and also the Tiankong siblings. He left out how many Dragoons he had in reserve and the massive natural resources from his Inner World. While he would have liked to take advantage of them to boost the Prosperity Company, he also didn’t have a good explanation for where they came from. If he was constantly selling natural resources on that scale it would draw a lot of attention. Without Guan Zhenyan as backing he didn’t dare to take out a whole planet’s worth of herbs, fruits, and other natural resources without having a good cover story.

“Is that all?”

“For now. Once you’ve settled in, I plan on recovering Horde Home and the Hoplite Settlements. I’ve assigned one Legion to each of the Tiankong siblings. I’ll be taking one with me, two will be divided up to defend the Prosperity Company locations, and the last I am making into your personal bodyguards.”

“What?”

“Don’t try to use them elsewhere. I just sent a message to make sure that at least four hundred of them are near you at all times. So don’t think you can just send them all out to guard shops.”

“What about Lionheart Town’s defense?”

“The City Guards can handle most of it, and I plan on having at least one of the Tiankong Siblings here at all times. There are also more Dragoons traveling here, so you don’t need to worry about future expansion.”

I wonder what she would think if I told her I could make millions of Dragoons a year if I wanted to?

The only reason he didn’t already have tens of millions or even billions of Dragoons already was that it would drastically reduce the production of his Inner World. Most of the Inner World was devoted to producing natural resources, so if he wanted to support such a huge population he would need to devote a much larger portion of the land to food production. Truly, it wouldn’t take up all that much of the land, but he also didn’t have the need for such forces at the moment. Given their limited strength, quantity could only make up for quality up to a point. Sage himself was a good example. With just a simple move he’d completely neutralized three Legions of the Jade Horde. The hundreds of thousands of Dragoons he had ready should be more than enough. He wasn’t planning on conquering the world!

“Alright. Let’s meet with Thousand Treasures tomorrow.”