Chapter 64: Black Lion Chamber of Commerce

[Obtained Ice Crystal*16]

[Obtained Book of Chaos (Weak)*4]

[Obtained Frozen Meat*72]

[Obtained Rusty Iron Spear*3]

…

"Four Books of Chaos and sixteen Ice Crystals. Not bad."

After clearing the loot on the ground, the monsters here were essentially completely wiped out.

A system prompt appeared.

[Discovered an unowned medium-sized copper mine. Occupy it?]

Just like before, Cao Xing directly clicked 'Yes'.

[Occupation successful. Obtained Medium Copper Mine*1, Bronze Chest*1.]

Hearing the latter prompt, Cao Xing's eyes lit up.

"Oh? Another chest?"

Cao Xing stepped over the corpses of the goblins and began searching the mine cave.

Soon, he found a simple and ancient bronze chest in a corner.

As he approached, a system prompt appeared again.

[Discovered an unlocked Bronze Chest. Open it?]

"Yes."

[Opened successfully.]

[Obtained Basic Elemental Arrow Tower Blueprint*1]

[Obtained Refined Iron*6]

[Obtained Small Resource Pack*1]

[Obtained Ice Archer Training Manual*1]

Bronze chests rarely contained anything too powerful, so Cao Xing hadn't expected much.

But when he saw the last prompt, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"A training manual actually dropped?"

"Woohoo! Doesn't this mean I can build a training barracks right away?"

A look of joy appeared on Cao Xing's face.

"Great, great! Now, as long as I recruit more territory citizens, I can train them in batches into combat units."

However, now was not the time.

Since Cao Xing didn't have many territory citizens under him yet, he still needed them to work.

After dismantling the opened bronze chest on the ground into 6 pieces of copper,

Cao Xing said, "Let's go. We can head out now."

Then, leading Sarah and Assam, he walked out of the mine cave.

Along the way, he also dismantled a few spike traps.

Soon, Cao Xing emerged from the mine cave.

Seeing Cao Xing come out, Andrew, who was waiting outside the cave, said respectfully, "May the God of Nature bless you."

Cao Xing nodded and led his subordinates back to the territory.

Crunch! Crunch!

The tracked robot continued to roll over the thick snow.

Before long, they returned to the territory.

By now, a railway track had already been laid.

One end of the track was connected to the Ore Processing Plant, and the other end was connected to a coal mine a few hundred meters away.

Two minecarts traveled back and forth on it, loaded with large amounts of coal. It already showed the rudimentary form of industrialized mining.

Sitting on the robot, Cao Xing called out directly, "Cao Yi."

Cao Yi, who was working inside the [Ore Processing Plant], immediately came out upon hearing the call.

"Lord."

Cao Xing nodded and said, "We just captured a copper mine two kilometers away from the territory. I need you to lead some people to lay down a railway track and start mining."

Hearing this, the citizen Cao Yi pondered, "Lord, a distance of two kilometers… our railway tracks don't seem to be long enough?"

Cao Xing glanced at his storage chest.

[Railway Track*972]

Although he had obtained over a thousand tracks from the molemen mine cave last time,

because a portion had been used to connect the coal mine, the remaining tracks were not enough to reach the copper mine two kilometers away.

Cao Xing waved his hand and said, "No matter, I have a crafting blueprint for railway tracks here."

"In a bit, send someone to the Blacksmith Shop to mass-produce railway tracks, and then we can connect them."

Hearing this, Cao Yi's face lit up with joy, and he said respectfully, "Yes, Lord! I'll get right on it!"

With that, he went to arrange the work.

The territory once again entered a state of bustling development.

Watching the busy citizens, Cao Xing nodded in satisfaction.

Of course, those doing the physical labor were citizens like Cao Yi and Da Zhuang.

Combatants like Sarah and Andrew would not participate in these tasks.

However, with their loyalty at 100, Cao Xing could also force them to obey orders.

Cao Xing thought to himself, "I need to find something for these guys to do."

Just then,

Cao Xing suddenly saw a cluster of figures appear in the vast white snow ahead.

They were still some distance away, but it was clear there were many of them.

Cao Xing's gaze instantly sharpened!

"On alert!"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

In an instant, all the recruited creatures in the territory drew their weapons and stood ready.

In this deep snow, it was difficult for ordinary people to even walk. The sudden appearance of such a large group of people was indeed unusual.

By now, Sarah had already entered stealth.

All the citizens working outside also ran back to the territory immediately.

Only within the territory were they absolutely safe, a fact that had been proven over the past few days.

Liu Muxue was ready for battle, standing nervously beside Cao Xing.

Nearby, Xia Yanni also held Tong Chuchu's hand and hid inside the shelter.

This was the first time they had encountered other humans approaching their territory.

And that group of figures seemed to be walking toward them.

However, as they drew closer, Cao Xing realized that it seemed to be a caravan.

A large group of people escorted five carriages, making for a grand presence.

Cao Xing saw that those carriages were all printed with the emblem of a black lion.

Assam said at this moment, "Lord, that seems to be the caravan of the Black Lion Chamber of Commerce."

"Black Lion Chamber of Commerce?"

"Yes."

Assam nodded. "The Black Lion Chamber of Commerce is one of the three strongest chambers of commerce on the Western Continent, with members all over the continent."

"It is said that this chamber of commerce does all kinds of business, and their trade routes cover both the Western and Northern Continents."

Hearing Assam's explanation, Cao Xing breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Since they were just merchants, there was no need to be so tense.

At the same time,

the caravan members had also arrived beside Cao Xing's territory.

Just like its name, everything in this chamber of commerce was black.

Black horses, black carriages, and even the armor on the guards was black.

However, among them, Cao Xing saw two tall creatures that didn't look human at all.

"Huh? Cat heads?"

Assam continued to introduce them to Cao Xing.

"Lord, those two creatures with feline heads and long tails belong to the Charr race."

"They are a race born for battle, and they often take on mercenary missions."

Cao Xing nodded.

He also saw that among this group of guards, especially those two Charr mercenaries, gave him a strong sense of threat.

Cao Xing glanced at their attributes.

[Black Lion Guard: Rubo Lv25]

[Race: Charr]

[Tier: Tier 3 Elite]

[Attack Power: 1654~1723]

[Armor: 312~323]

[Skills: Rock-Shattering Angry Strike, Headbutt Heavy Strike, Rallying Cry]

[Talent: Natural Selection (Capable of quickly adapting to extremely harsh environments)]

…

[Black Lion Guard: Ezra Lv26]

[Race: Charr]

[Tier: Tier 3 Elite]

[Attack Power: 1712~1755]

[Armor: 251~261]

[Skills: Heavy Strike, Banner of Strength, Banner of Discipline]

[Talent: Natural Selection]

…

Cao Xing narrowed his eyes.

Two Tier 3 Elite creatures, plus a group of guards who were at least Tier 2 or higher.

No wonder this caravan dared to do business in the dangerous Gale Snowfield.

The more dangerous the environment, the higher the profits.

As long as they could traverse the harsh environment and reach towns, they could sell their goods at several times, or even dozens of times, the cost price.

At this moment, a short merchant who looked like a beer keg stepped down from one of the carriages.

He came to the front of Cao Xing's territory, looked at this territory that had appeared in the snow, and exclaimed, "A suddenly appearing territory, and a bonfire that will never go out as long as there is fuel!"

"Could it be that you are a Chosen Lord summoned from another world, chosen by the Will of the World?"

He looked at Cao Xing excitedly, instinctively wanting to walk over and shake hands.

But when he reached the edge of the territory, he was blocked outside by an invisible wall of air.

A look of shock appeared in the merchant's eyes!

"There is a power blocking me from entering. This really is a Chosen Territory!"

"My goodness!"

Then, he looked at Cao Xing and performed a standard formal bow.

"Greetings, Chosen Lord. Hilton of the Black Lion Chamber of Commerce sends you his regards."

Cao Xing didn't know why the other party had such a big reaction. If he knew that there were billions of Chosen Lords in this world, wouldn't he be shocked senseless?

Cao Xing nodded slightly.

"Lord Cao Xing greets you, Lord Hilton."

Hearing the response, the merchant Hilton breathed a slight sigh of relief. The reaction of Cao Xing and his people just now had also made him feel nervous.

He bowed once again.

And Cao Xing also expressed his friendliness, gesturing for everyone to lower their weapons.

Then, Cao Xing checked Hilton's attributes.

[Black Lion Chamber of Commerce: Hilton Lv6]

[Race: Human]

[HP: 480/480]

[Attack Power: 37~41]

[Skills: Negotiation Skills, Bargaining, Danger Sense, Money Instinct, Observation]

[Talent: Linguistics Mastery]

…

Holy cow, a whole bunch of life skills.

No wonder this guy could lead such a caravan through the snowfields.

He's quite a talent!

Cao Xing spoke first, "Lord Hilton, is there any particular reason you have come to my territory?"

Hilton was not surprised by Cao Xing's question.

He explained, "Lord Cao Xing, pardon the intrusion. Our Black Lion Chamber of Commerce travels all over the continent, trading with various lords and nobles."

"Seeing your territory, we wanted to come by and see if you would like to conduct a trade of goods with our Black Lion Chamber of Commerce."

"Trade?"

"Yes. If you have any precious items or things whose value is hard to determine, you can sell them to us, and I will purchase them at a reasonable price."

"Likewise, you can also take a look at our caravan's goods to see if there is anything that catches your interest."

Cao Xing was taken aback. Speaking of which, this was his first time encountering a chamber of commerce, similar to a wandering merchant role.

So he asked, "What kind of goods do you have?"

The merchant Hilton smiled mysteriously.

Then, a system prompt appeared.

[Black Lion Chamber of Commerce: Hilton has shared his goods list with you. Accept?]

…

Thanks to book friends: Piao Piao Yu Que for 2 monthly tickets, Book Friend 20210530184307793 for 1 monthly ticket, Mo Zun Ling for 1 monthly ticket, Zai Jia Wan for 1 monthly ticket, and Book Friend 20190415131025573 for 1 monthly ticket.

Thanks to all book friends for your recommendation votes and reading along. This humble author bows in gratitude!