Agent047
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836 - Exchange
🕑 Added 2025-01-28 09:24:52 +0000 UTC"There is nothing in the contract that says if our ship carrying mana stones is attacked, we are going to be punished, as that falls under circumstances beyond our control," Kalron said, subtly hinting at how they could proceed. The mana oath and mana contract were intentionally vague in certain areas, particularly regarding what constituted a breach. This vagueness allowed loopholes like this to exist, and if they executed their plan perfectly, they could avoid any repercussions.
"Alright, let’s hurry back. More than half an hour has already passed, and if we delay for more than an hour, the empire is going to suspect something," Kalron said before delivering his closing remarks, officially ending the meeting and disconnecting everyone from the mental network.
As the representatives returned to their physical selves, they found themselves in the hangars of their motherships, where they had arrived some time ago. Without wasting a moment, they immediately began preparations for the handover while simultaneously reporting back to the relevant authorities within their governments about the agreement and its terms. As representatives, they had the authority to finalize agreements like this; their only obligation was to report back as soon as it was feasible.
One by one, they began contacting Lanesra at different, random intervals over the next hour, informing her that their preparations were complete and that they were ready for the exchange to proceed.
…………….
Lanesra could be seen standing in the control room, her gaze fixed on the hologram in front of her. The display detailed every aspect of the ongoing exchange, which had begun a few minutes earlier.
“It feels like we’re Japan,” she said, her eyes never leaving the hologram.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand what you mean,” came a response from someone approaching her.
Without looking, Lanesra immediately recognized the voice and replied as if it were a routine exchange. “Ah, I was referring to a similar situation that happened in late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Japan during the end of the Sengoku period and the Tokugawa Shogunate. Back then, Japan traded its precious silver and gold for textiles and other goods that were sold at exorbitant markups.”
“Aha, I see now,” the man said, nodding as he grasped her point. “But that comparison would only hold true if we were actually mining the mana stones ourselves.”
"True, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth," Lanesra said, finally turning to face the man she had been conversing with. She added, "Once this is done and we return to continue the meeting, you’ll be coming with me as well."
“Are you sure you want them to know about our existence?” he asked, clearly surprised by her decision.
“It really doesn’t make much difference,” she replied calmly. “It’s not like we’ve been actively hiding the fact that elves and others exist. Once the trading hub is fully constructed and commerce starts flowing through it, they’re going to find out about you anyway. We’ve never made an effort to conceal your presence; we just didn’t go out of our way to announce it.”
Her eyes briefly lingered on him—the elf who served as the second-in-command of the mana agency. He was one of many who had chosen to migrate to Earth after the policy allowing direct mixing between species had been enacted a few years earlier.
Eragon chuckled at her explanation, then nodded. “Fine, I’ll be on my best behavior,” he said, his tone lighthearted. His response earned a soft chuckle from Lanesra before she turned her attention back to the hologram, her focus once again on monitoring the ongoing exchange.
The exchange of goods took the better part of the day to complete. The sheer volume of materials required meticulous inspection for quality, quantity, and safety before they could be securely stored and accounted for.
Lanesra immediately ordered the imperial cargo ships, now loaded with the exchanged materials, to head back to the solar system. A massive operation awaited their return—analyzing and logging everything into the Akashic Record, making it instantly accessible to researchers in the empire's research city and anyone else via VR.
This approach would allow the empire to gather immense amounts of data by observing how researchers and citizens experimented with these materials in a controlled VR environment. Meanwhile, the research city and imperial labs would focus their efforts on the most promising results, prioritizing areas deemed worthy of further exploration.
Accompanying the returning imperial ships was a small group of foreign vessels. These carried the remaining Xor’Vak members of Seraphina’s faction, who had chosen to join her in the empire.
Once everything was set in motion, Lanesra and Eragon disembarked from the mothership and headed to the designated meeting location aboard another vessel to resume their previous discussions.
…………….
{Sir, the materials exchange has been completed, and the cargo ships are on their way back. Should I deliver the materials Princess Seraphina needs for her growth now, or would you prefer to handle it yourself?} Nova inquired, as she observed Aron, who was intently monitoring the progress of his research.
"That was quick," Aron remarked, his voice laced with surprise. "I thought the meeting would last longer—at least a few days."
{No, the meeting was paused for the exchange as requested by the representatives. They’re now resuming it after a one-day break for the exchange to occur,} Nova explained, updating him on how the exchange had taken place sooner than expected.
“Makes sense,” Aron said, a small smile tugging at his lips. "They've finally accepted our opium."
{This is more addictive than opium, sir,} Nova replied she too was also happy as things were going as planned.
"Send her half of what we got for her, and send the rest for deep scanning. We need to try replicating them and if possible making them more effective," Aron instructed, responding to her first question. He then returned his focus to monitoring his ongoing research.
{Yes, sir,} Nova responded, falling silent as she joined him in observing the research.
Comments
SomeNotTakenName
Now I'm hoping once Aron hears about the "piracy" he's gonna say 'If you can't safely transport that much mana, I'm just not gonna sell you that much. We wouldn't want mana to falling into the hands of pirates, would we.'
Jade
Luca gets a like too
Sol_Invictus
Haha, same here, dude, but it happened with one of the earlier chapters. In my time zone (Central Europe), that chapter came out at around 1:30 a.m., and I had just finished working at that moment, and then boom!
GripenSupremacy
TYFTC
Sol_Invictus
TYFTC!!
Jade
I get to say First for this, but backstory I was literally sleeping and just happened to decide to wake up and see new chapter dropped
Jade
TYFTC!!!
