After the "pleasure tour," the Stone King's manner toward Zhao Chen had plainly grown a good deal warmer.
The two of them were like old friends who had not met for many years.
The Stone King even invited Zhao Chen to be a guest in his own palace.
But Zhao Chen declined, as time was rather pressing at the moment.
When they were back in the conference hall of the space city,
the Stone King looked at Zhao Chen with a smile and said outright, "As for the cooperation Your Majesty the Owl Dragon Emperor proposed earlier, I think we can talk about some of its details."
Huaya Lanlan was secretly pleased beside them; she could see that cooperation between the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire and the Stone Kingdom was as good as nailed down.
From here on there were only some details to talk over, and the two could work together for the long term.
In cooperation between the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire and the Stone Kingdom, both could gain a great deal, but at the same time the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group, which had brought the two together, could reap enormous gains as well.
"About this valuation-adjustment agreement……" The Stone King pointed to one of the clauses and looked at Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen said with a smile, "You'll know the agreement's requirements aren't very harsh. With our side supplying the interstellar mining ships to match, raising output within that time is no problem at all. Then you'll get more mineral wealth, and we'll be able to buy more mineral resources too; there's no problem in it for either of us, is there? As for why such an agreement has to be set down, it's really to protect both your rights and mine. As the saying goes, courtesy first, then force. With everything settled between us, we'll spare ourselves needless quarrels and disputes later on."
Huaya Lanlan agreed beside them: "Yes; with all these things written out plainly here, if there's any problem, you can raise it directly. Everyone states their demands plainly, and everyone agrees: isn't that just the kind of cooperation Your Majesty the Stone King likes best?"
The Stone King nodded.
He in fact had no objection to such a proposal.
Very soon the Stone King had his subordinates begin negotiating the detailed cooperation plan with Lilith's people.
The way of cooperating was basically no different from the earlier cooperation with the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group.
Buying interstellar mining ships and the like at full price was more than the Stone Kingdom's wealth could bear; buying at full price, they could hardly have bought a few.
So all of it was done by way of cooperation, buying a batch of interstellar mining ships at the lowest price.
And for some who were short of funds, the Owl Dragon Emperor even very generously handed over a batch of interstellar mining ships on credit outright; they had only to repay, with some interest, as soon as they had mined mineral resources afterward.
It was plain the Owl Dragon Emperor was even more impatient than the Stone King himself to raise the Stone King's mineral output.
And of the starships the Stone Kingdom bought, besides interstellar mining ships, there were also some interstellar warships and Eden-class Starships of every type.
The starships Zhao Chen had brought for the showing this time, for instance, were basically all kept.
Besides that, from now on, of the minerals the Stone Kingdom sold outside, the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire could take nine-tenths of the market share outright.
That meant the Stone Kingdom would become one of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's sources of resources in future!
After that, Zhao Chen put forward another idea:
that to make the two sides' cooperation easier, a permanent cross-universe star gate be built between the Stone Kingdom and the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, with the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire bearing all the cost of building it.
The star gate built on the Stone Kingdom's side would be controlled by the Stone Kingdom; each would control the star gate on its own side.
After the Holy Elf Empire had built the permanent universe star gates between the two realms before,
the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire had very soon mastered this technology thoroughly too, and building a star gate for cross-universe travel was no problem at all.
The Stone King hesitated only slightly over this proposal before agreeing to it completely.
This cross-universe star gate linking the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire and the Stone Kingdom was expected to be finished within three months.
Huaya Lanlan looked at this whole string of agreements, and looked at the Owl Dragon Emperor with some meaning.
With all these agreements settled, such a universe star gate looked like no more than the icing on the cake.
But in fact, once this universe star gate was built,
the "distance" between the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire and the Stone Kingdom would shrink a great deal, and in future the Stone Kingdom might even be wholly unable to break away from the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
It had to be said that this Owl Dragon Emperor not only kept his eyes on the present, but laid out his pieces for the future too!
Beneath this whole string of moves lay a great many interests!
It made Huaya Lanlan glad at heart to be working with someone so clever, but it also made her worry whether it might put the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group in a dangerous position.
The whole negotiation was over in under twenty hours from start to finish.
Zhao Chen, the Owl Dragon Emperor, signed every cooperation agreement with the Stone Kingdom on behalf of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
From then on, the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire truly had a long-term partnership with the Stone Kingdom.
And now Zhao Chen declined the Stone King's wish that he stay a few more days.
Zhao Chen, the Owl Dragon Emperor, was tied up with all sorts of affairs now, and had a great many things to go back and deal with.
Naturally he had no time to linger here.
He took his leave at once and left the Stone Kingdom with Huaya Lanlan.
When they were back in the Flower-Fairy Federal Tribes' universe,
Huaya Lanlan looked at Zhao Chen and said earnestly, "Your Majesty, about those Owl Dragon-line Eden-class Starships of yours: our Bailan Interstellar Trade Group would also like to open cooperation with you on them. Or else buy a batch of these Eden-class Starships outright!"
Zhao Chen looked at Huaya Lanlan and laughed inwardly: another fish on the hook.
Zhao Chen said with a smile, "We can certainly cooperate with you on Eden-class Starships. But with the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group's present finances and your present capacity, it would be hard to put this resource to use in a short time."
Huaya Lanlan's expression dimmed, for what the Owl Dragon Emperor said was right.
After those earlier agreements, the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group would go through a round of restructuring, and would need time afterward to settle in.
It had not yet fully mastered its existing lines of work; to open up another line of business now would indeed leave the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group with more than it could swallow.
"Why not do it this way, in fact? For these Eden-class Starships, our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire already has a food trade group of its own. But it hasn't set up trade channels in any universe other than the Holy Elf Empire's. Rather than your handling this line alone, which you couldn't digest in a short time, better that the two sides work together: you handle only sales and shipping, and the Eden Grain Trade Group handles production. That way you also save the cost of buying Eden-class Starships. Mind you, in the food trade, quantity is very important; if you can't have a great many Eden-class Starships at once, then even if you open this line of business, it will be hard to take the market in a short time." Zhao Chen set out his idea.
Huaya Lanlan understood the Owl Dragon Emperor's meaning at once.
It looked like cooperation; in fact it made the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group a pawn in the vanguard.
But… even handling only sales was no small profit.
And the greatest benefit in it was that it could quickly take market share for the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group; the food trade was a very ordinary, common kind of interstellar trade, but it was also a very handy weapon in commercial war!
After all, food was something no one would refuse.
Besides, the food the Eden-class Starships produced came in every grade, from premium and top-grade down to ordinary food in quantity.
It could be called a blow on every front!
"Then as for the profits?" Huaya Lanlan narrowed her eyes at Zhao Chen, showing the look of the merchant she was.
Zhao Chen smiled faintly. "Shipping, storage and sales are entirely in the hands of your Bailan Interstellar Trade Group. And of the profit from what's sold, after production costs are taken out, your Bailan Interstellar Trade Group takes 20%, and the Eden Grain Trade Group takes 80%."
Hearing the profit split Zhao Chen proposed, Huaya Lanlan frowned slightly, and said with a smile, "Isn't Your Majesty the Owl Dragon Emperor eating rather too much of it? From this 20% share we still have to take out our costs for shipping, storage and sales; the profit truly left over comes to next to nothing."
Zhao Chen smiled faintly and said calmly, "The profit doesn't look like much, but mind you, our Eden-brand food has no rival at all on the market. With a market share like that, even the smallest profit, across a market this big, is enough to feed the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group. Besides, what your Bailan Interstellar Trade Group gets isn't only what shows on the surface. Through this food trade, you can build firm partnerships with every interstellar civilization's universe in a short time, for later interstellar trade cooperation. The food trade is the best stone to toss ahead and test the road. At the same time, you can use it to swallow up, or open cooperation with, your other Flower-Fairy interstellar traders. I'd think that within half a year the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group could become the interstellar trader group with the largest market share in the whole Flower-Fairy Federal Tribes."
Half a year.
Before this, Huaya Lanlan had thought it might take three years; but now, with the Eden Grain Trade Group's help, it truly could be done within half a year.
At the very thought of it,
Huaya Lanlan felt somewhat excited inside.
And next to the profit in front of her, the market share and market standing the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group could gain had a worth no figure could express!
In the end Huaya Lanlan nodded, and agreed to the food trade cooperation plan Zhao Chen had proposed!