21: Chapter 21 No way, you're this rich?

Lord of England, Elizabeth VI.

Previously, Su Yang had questioned her behavior of being responsive to every request in the Lords Hall, but he never expected that he would become the one being helped now.

"Lord of England: My territory has copper mines, but they are not currently being mined."

"If you can wait, I will run the mines at full capacity and conduct the trade in a few hours according to your needs."

"Lord of Dragon Kingdom: That works. Let's talk in private."

Su Yang agreed.

His demand wasn't very large, so a few hours should be enough for England to mine the copper.

This was far more realistic than sending his troops out to try their luck at finding copper mines.

Seeing that the two countries had reached a trade agreement, the lords in the Lords Hall immediately began to stir.

For lords, the most precious resource in the early stages was minerals, and the scarcest thing was time.

To build a base capable of defending against the attack wave in seven days within such a short time, one must invest the necessary resources into mining machines and establish defenses against the clock.

And now, the Lord of England was actually willing to devote all mining machines to the useless copper resources.

Sacrificing precious development time just to trade with the Lord of Dragon Kingdom.

In the eyes of other lords, there was simply no need to establish diplomatic relations with a territory that was still in the Bronze Age and still needed copper resources.

"Anonymous: The Lord of England is confused! This is simply a waste of time!"

"Anonymous: Although command points are scarce in the early stages, they are sufficient for use. Base construction must not be neglected at all."

"Anonymous: Lord of England, please reconsider. The Dragon Kingdom is only in the Bronze Age right now; it really has no investment value."

...

Because Elizabeth was responsive to every request in the Lords Hall, her reputation was very high.

Now, many lords who had been helped by her jumped out to advise her to be cautious, believing it wasn't worth wasting time on the Dragon Kingdom.

Diverting mining production resources would significantly affect the progress of her base.

Su Yang ignored everyone.

He opened the private chat panel and sent a message to the Lord of England.

"Lord of Dragon Kingdom: Is the trade still on?"

"Lord of England: Yes, how many units of copper do you need?"

"Lord of Dragon Kingdom: 100 units."

Su Yang entered 100 units of copper resources.

50 units would be used to repair the Armored Elite Soldiers and various facilities, while the remaining 50 would be used to see if he could construct some necessary new buildings after upgrading his residence.

"Lord of England: I am adjusting the position of the mining machines now; it will take about half a day."

"If you are in a rush, we can split it into two batches, trading once at noon and once in the evening."

"Lord of Dragon Kingdom: That works. What is the price?"

"Lord of England: 500 command points. If you don't have enough command points, I can accept payment in arrears."

She actually accepts payment in arrears!?

Su Yang raised an eyebrow.

This person was really a bit too naive!

As a temporary ally, Su Yang intended to say a word...

Being so innocent and naive in the Forbidden Area Trial was not a good thing.

"Lord of Dragon Kingdom: Aren't you afraid I'll welch on the debt? The Forbidden Ground System allows all forms of fraud."

"Lord of England: I believe in the kindness of human nature, and I also believe in the character of the people of the Dragon Kingdom."

Tsk.

Seeing the message sent from the other side, Su Yang was speechless for a moment.

What else could he say to that?

With a flick of his thoughts, he entered 600 command points into the trade box.

500 command points for 100 units of copper; the price England gave was absolutely conscientious.

The 500 points he provided were for buying the copper, and the extra 100 points were to express his intention to establish diplomatic relations.

England's help this time had solved a pressing need.

The extra 100 command points were neither too much nor too little; they expressed goodwill without reaching the level of obsequiousness.

...

A certain territory in the Forbidden Ground.

A massive Industrial Age mine was rumbling into operation.

Elizabeth, dressed in a beige long dress with golden hair, was directing workers to change the minerals being excavated.

England's greatest advantage in the early stages lay in the massive production capacity of its Industrial Age mines.

100 units of copper resources only required half a day for her.

In her view, spending half a day to establish a good relationship with the Dragon Kingdom was worth it.

Although the Dragon Kingdom was still in the Bronze Age and its development was far behind.

But she believed that the new civilization called Qin Dynasty, which was able to take the first kill achievement, must have its strengths.

"Lord of England: I believe in the kindness of human nature, and I believe even more in the character of the people of the Dragon Kingdom."

Elizabeth typed this sentence on the screen.

Although the second half of the sentence was just polite talk, the image of the people of the Dragon Kingdom in her heart was indeed upright.

Another important reason she was willing to let Su Yang pay in arrears was that 500 command points were indeed not a small amount in the early stages.

Every lord started with only 1000 command points; even if Su Yang took the first kill achievement, it would only be 2000 points.

If he had cleared some Xenomorphs in the past few days, he might have obtained some additional command points.

But even adding these up, it certainly wouldn't be much, and 500 already accounted for a large proportion of it.

Furthermore, the Dragon Kingdom was still in the Bronze Age and needed development more than any other country.

Therefore, Elizabeth offered to allow payment in arrears; she did not want her request to affect the Dragon Kingdom's development.

What she needed was a living ally and long-term benefits.

Ding—the trade notification sounded.

Elizabeth opened the panel, and after seeing the message, her eyes suddenly widened.

"Lord of Dragon Kingdom has completed the delivery: 600 command points."

600 command points!?

Was this an input error?

Her thoughts flashed, and she immediately sent a private message.

"Lord of England: Did you make a mistake! It shows here that 600 command points were delivered."

"Lord of Dragon Kingdom: This is what you deserve. Remember to deliver the copper on time."

The private chat channel closed, and the System indicated that the Lord of Dragon Kingdom had exited the Lords Hall.

What?

Elizabeth was somewhat surprised. Giving 600 command points in the early stages, when development was most needed.

Didn't his territory need development?

Why did it seem from the message as if these 600 command points were just a small amount to him?

That was half of the starting command points for an ordinary lord!

...

Lords Hall.

"Trade between Dragon Kingdom and England completed."

Seeing that the two had reached a trade agreement, waves of disdainful voices rose from the other lords.

Most were saying that Elizabeth had made a poor decision, choosing the wrong investment target.

A Bronze Age territory that still needed copper was simply not worth investing in.

However, some were worried while others were happy.

Most of the national lords who had been helped by Elizabeth felt it wasn't worth it for her.

And some other countries were secretly feeling delighted.

"US Lord: The first trade has been completed. This is a good thing; everyone should be happy."

"Lord of Japan: I wonder how many command points Mr. Su Yang spent. I hope he isn't too stingy and lose the etiquette of our Great East Asia."

Behind their panels, the US Lord and the Lord of Japan were beaming with joy.

If nothing unexpected happened, the Dragon Kingdom and England could already be kicked out of the ranks of their competitors.

For the sake of the trade, England shifted its early mining direction, which would undoubtedly greatly affect its development.

Moreover, given the personality of the Lord of England, she would pose no major threat to them in the future.

The Dragon Kingdom went without saying; their advantage originally lay in the extra command points obtained from breaking through the novice protection.

Buying minerals meant they hadn't found the copper needed for early development.

Lacking necessary resources, they had also used up their only advantage in command points in the early stages.

Added to that was the problem of the Xenomorph attacks brought on by breaking the novice protection.

The Dragon Kingdom's development was absolutely the slowest at present, and it was not impossible for it to fall into stagnation in the future!

Ding—the global announcement sounded.

"Lord of Dragon Kingdom, Su Yang, is the first to unlock a Level 2 base. Achievement unlocked: Civilization Emerges."

"Lord of Dragon Kingdom, Su Yang, is the first to unlock a Level 2 base. Achievement unlocked: Civilization Emerges."