Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

Chapter 499: Chapter 5: Scandalous Secrets and the Holy Industrial Alliance (Part 2)

The senators in the council governed various committees that determined the city’s policies, powers, and military.

This civil servant hooked up with Shabulin’s wife, not only taking revenge on Shabulin but also gaining the favor and support of a senator.

He knew how to indulge, making Shabulin kneel at the head of the bed to watch as he tormented his former wife, sometimes even blindfolding him to let him hear the events and lewd sounds happening on the bed.

Of course, it wouldn’t be complete without the classic question, who is stronger, me or your husband?

The rumors spread wildly, vividly depicted. The Half-Elves particularly loved to pass on such secrets, perhaps because many of them served in wealthy households and could hear these private affairs. Then they would return to sleep in one bed at night, and with their fondness for intimacy, one person’s story would quickly spread through dozens of mouths.

Su Li discovered his potential for gossip, having just one comment on these whispered talks of the Half-Elves: interesting, enjoyable, keep them coming.

Life, after all, needs a bit of excitement.

In any case, his recent days were peaceful and carefree, like waking up laughing in a dream.

Of course, while the Half-Elves were busy gathering this salacious news, they didn’t neglect their business acumen.

The slaves they acquired from Hesse Territory were quite lucrative, with the purchase price for an Apprentice Knight being 10 Gold Coins, and the profit margin exceeding 100%!

Su Li and the territory had no issues with this.

After all, the purchase price and selling price for slave traders couldn’t be the same, or they wouldn’t make any profit, would they?

The price for a formal Knight was 25 Gold Coins, and for those with special bloodlines or divine magic, the price could reach up to 30 Golden Crowns.

Basically, they could ensure that selling just one batch yielded nearly double the wealth.

The reason Su Li was so generous was largely because he owned 37% of the shares in this slave trader guild.

He was essentially earning from two sources: the sale price of slaves and the profit dividends.

However, this investment wasn’t his doing; it was orchestrated by Governor Oliver of the Provincial Affairs Council.

This Governor had unique insights into resource management, considering the territory had more than 30,000 Golden Crowns left—without finding new sources of income, with the current monthly deficit of several thousand Golden Crowns, the territory’s finances might face bankruptcy before the year’s end.

Regardless, Hesse Territory, such a small Pioneer Territory, with weak foundations and scarce people, managed to maintain an army of over 2000, which was an extremely abnormal ratio.

If not for Su Li’s guidance through various intelligence, greatly enriching the territory’s food and wealth through fishing, fantastic products, and continuous military victories that brought unexpected riches, relieving the pressure of impending bankruptcy, the territory would have long been unsustainable.

The Provincial Affairs Council has recently been focusing on sorting out the territory’s finances, budget, taxation, and the annual summary of spoils of war.

At the end of the year, they need to present a complete report to Su Li.

With so many incomes and expenditures this year, without the professional statistics of bureaucrats and accountants, it’s hard to say how much has been embezzled and corrupted.

On the other hand, Oliver was not idling either. If these more than 30,000 surplus Gold Coins were left in the treasury, they would be exhausted in a few months.

Conversely, if circulated, invested, and new sources of income found, it could significantly reduce the territory’s financial deficit, cutting it down from the initial deficit of over 7000 to 5000 or even 3000. If the fiscal deficit is reduced to 5000 Golden Crowns monthly, it would at least support the situation for half a year.

He invested in many projects, besides this Half-Elf’s slave trading guild, he invested in several other very important projects.

First is the [Holy Industrial Alliance], using the vast amount of fur captured in this battle as capital, he took a stake in the Half-Elf’s [Balan Tangboen Leather Armor Workshop], obtaining 29% of its shares.

In this battle, the Holy Alliance Allied Army of humanity killed tens of thousands of monsters—especially creatures like Gnolls and Kobolds—that could provide a substantial amount of leather, while the Human-Skinned Wolf’s leather was a rare gem to the Half-Elves.

Nowadays, these spoils mostly monopolized by Su Li, if sold, could even impact the leather trade market of Marle Castle, leading to a short-term sharp price decrease.

So, except for less than one-tenth of these, sent by Oliver to the two leather factories under Su Li’s name, the rest were sent to the Balan Autonomous Region to make the Half-Elves’ special [Invisibility Hide Armor].

This leather armor could help soldiers achieve stealth in special environments, similar to the Sewer Runner Rat People and devious Goblin infiltrators.

After donning this leather armor, one can unlock [Vanguard Deployment] and [Stealth], and when far from enemy troops, even distant reconnaissance by opponents would fail to detect their forms, be it warlord or general commanding from cliffs or peaks. They remain invisible until appearing alongside or amidst enemy flanking or ranged units, launching a sudden attack. The panic-stricken enemy would only then realize they have fallen into an ambush.

However, this armor’s greatest value lies in its use by ranged troops. If their range is far enough, the stealth ability can be activated. Even if they continuously shoot, the enemy behind the front line will not see the rear-ranged shooter units. They appear totally invisible, with only the endless arrows seeming to suddenly appear out of thin air, whistling out from behind the enemy’s formation.