The Last King Of Darkness
Chapter 357 - 250: The Real Hunter_2

Chapter 357: Chapter 250: The Real Hunter_2

The Mahara tycoon dared to lend him so much money for that reason.

Similarly, it was for this reason that Rod had Molly hire three hundred thousand miners in advance.

Taking over Star Town was, in his view, a sure thing, and he intended to restore production at the mine as quickly as possible.

Though the process had some twists, the result was roughly as expected, with no significant deviations.

However, there were some complications on Molly’s end.

Hiring three hundred thousand miners was no small feat and could only be accomplished with the help of the Mahara tycoons.

But the Mahara tycoons thought that hiring three hundred thousand miners for Star Town before they had taken control was nonsensical; the miners’ weekly wages alone could rapidly consume their borrowed funds.

The tycoons refused to provide the service and demanded the appointment of a commissioner to oversee all their actions to avoid squandering the funds.

Molly talked herself hoarse trying to negotiate, but to no avail.

It wasn’t until they lit the Guardian Fire of Star Town that the tycoons’ attitude did a 3600-degree turn.

And Molly, as the most outstanding assistant in the military headquarters, keenly seized the opportunity, immediately putting on airs and accusing the Mahara tycoons of harming their interests.

By her calculations, three hundred thousand miners could produce benefits worth ten million silver coins a day. The Mahara tycoons’ lack of cooperation led to a two-day delay for the miners, so they should compensate for the loss of twenty million silver coins.

Therefore, not only did they not have to repay the loan to the Mahara tycoons, but the Mahara tycoons should also pay them back an additional fourteen million plus silver coins.

This drove the tycoons to desperation, nearly leading them to grovel and lick the boots of this lady; they even sent a group of handsome men to literally get on their knees, but sadly they ended up sent off by Molly to mine instead.

Eventually, the Mahara tycoons got past the issue by agreeing to recruit workers for free, provide transportation for free, and also to give a complementary elite management team to assist with their daily operations.

Tycoon leader Mahara told Molly that recruiting miners was actually quite simple. The actual population of Royal City had long exceeded fifty million, and the slums of the Outer City District were overflowing.

Many of the poor would do anything for a meager salary. Their weekly wages could be even further reduced, and by increasing accommodation and meal costs, further savings could be made.

With the right management, they could even make a profit.

But Rod rejected this proposal.

He had consulted the Book of Knowledge, and such practices would evidently affect the Humanity and Divinity he was set to receive.

What use is earning more silver coins? Humanity and Divinity were the resources he needed.

Besides, being a big-time mine owner once and rolling over those factory bosses was something he truly wanted to do.

Rod always adhered to the real-man philosophy: there’s no skill in exploiting the poor, real men exploit those above!

Not only that, in the future, he intended to exploit monsters, the darkness, even the Void.

The stronger the entity, the more he wanted to exploit it.

This is what a true powerhouse is all about, only wielding the sword against the stronger.

Only the weak wield their sword against those weaker than themselves.

So, Rod set his terms, not only offering miners a "high" weekly wage of fifty silver coins but also providing room and board, and demanded that the Mahara tycoons promote this deal aggressively in Royal City.

This brain-dead strategy made Mahara doubt whether this human supernova who had just performed a miracle had lost his mind.

Just as he was about to object, Rod proposed another offer they couldn’t refuse.

Borrow another 50 million silver coins to be repaid in one year, at a fifty percent interest rate.

All tycoons were immediately tempted.

The rise of Star Town was a certainty; once the Guardian Fire was lit, unless a major disaster occurred, there was no reason it would fall.

And this Son of Miracles, Rod, with a combat force of only 100 people, took over Star Town, which was originally thought to take a year or even longer, in less than two weeks.

If he could turn the tide in such adverse circumstances, then he could not possibly fail with such a favorable situation in hand.

As long as Star Town operates normally, the True Silver Vein below it is an endless cash cow.

Not to mention fifty million silver coins, even five hundred million silver coins, or five billion silver coins are repayable.

True Silver is the most widely used material with spirituality, be it bullets, crossbow arrows, equipment, weapons, or potions, vessels, rituals, talismans—all require True Silver.

A typical example is the Great Sword commonly equipped by the City Defense Army.

This thing is simply synonymous with simplicity, efficiency, and violence, with sharpness and extra lethality against monsters, and excellent Spiritual Energy conductivity. A City Defender armed with a Great Sword can have his Combat Level increased by half a rank.

Therefore, this investment is bound to be a huge profit.

The Mahara merchants swarmed over like sharks sensing blood.

They believed Rod was a simpleton with no business acumen, eager to extract more benefits from him, even dispatching a special team of beauties for this purpose, but unfortunately, as soon as they arrived in Star Town, Molly sent them to sweep the streets.

Rod simply pretended to be ignorant and discussed terms with them liberally.

In the end, Rod secured a colossal sum of five hundred million silver coins from them, in exchange for 20% of the True Silver Vein’s output for one year.

Although Molly was reluctant to oppose any of Rod’s orders, she couldn’t help but say,

"Lord Rod, this is a losing deal. With the scale of Star Town’s True Silver Vein, the daily output can reach 15 million silver coins, with 515 days in a year, the total output would be 7.5 billion, and they want 20% of the output, which is 1.5 billion. Yet, we still bear the costs, effectively giving them a threefold return on investment without any risk."

Rod smiled and said, "Molly, that’s not how you calculate it. Think about it, why did the Elder Council give me the autonomy of Star Town in the first place?"

Molly pushed her gold-rimmed glasses up and answered meticulously, "Of course, it’s to use it as a pretext to legitimately reduce team configurations and lessen their aid to us."

"Now that we’ve caught them by surprise and slapped their faces, do you think they won’t find excuses to break the contract and revoke my authority to autonomously dispose of the spoils of war?"

Upon hearing this, Molly realized what Rod was getting at.

"You mean to tie the Mahara merchants to my chariot?"

Rod smiled, "Exactly. With such a large sum of money to be earned, I think they will definitely work hard to secure better terms for us."

Molly fell silent for a few seconds before speaking softly,

"You make sense. The Mahara merchants are a joint business consortium with a complicated and deep background, and even some of the Elders have stakes in it. But why didn’t you use the ownership of the True Silver Vein as collateral? That would have achieved the same effect and saved us a lot of money."

Rod shook his head seriously and said, "Molly, remember, never use anything as collateral."

Always serious like a headteacher, Molly now asked like a primary school student, "Why?"

"Think carefully, what are the terms of collateralization?"

"If we can’t pay back the money, its ownership goes to the Mahara merchants."

"Then what do you think they’ll do to maximize their benefit?"

Molly suddenly realized, "They will try their best to interfere with and sabotage Star Town, to render us unable to produce normally, so when the debt matures and we’re unable to pay, they take over ownership of the vein."

"What if I exchange it for 20% of the output instead?"

Molly immediately answered, "They would try every means to help us expand production to seek larger benefits."

A profound smile appeared on Rod’s face, "Know what to do next?"

A cold light flashed in Molly’s eyes, and her serious tone took on a few traces of chill,

"I understand. I will use this to make them give up as much benefit as possible."

Rod smiled incredibly happily.

"Molly, do you understand now? The real hunter often appears in the form of prey."

A peculiar brilliance flashed in Molly’s eyes.

In this moment, she became even more convinced that Rod was going to assist the King in completing the Holy Fire plan, leading humanity towards a brighter future, and becoming their Savior.

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