Alien world

Chapter 1837, Question 470: If you're unwilling to use the bait, you won't catch any fish.
On the bright side, Annan would only betray them when the scales of victory tipped. As long as the situation in Middle-earth remained stable, Annan wouldn't turn into a figure like Greedy Fang Reeves or Filthy Cave Reeves.

The war envoy and Gandhi returned, carrying with them their assessment of Free City and a generous gift from Olmedo—a bronze hand cannon.

This is a truly generous gift. The price of orogenic bronze the size of a gun barrel exceeds one thousand gold nars, which is equivalent to giving away two bottles of jade essence.

Annan suddenly clutched his chest, writhing in pain. Olmedo told him to think long-term; the war envoys represented the Emperor's will and were also military personnel, so cultivating good relations with them was crucial. For one thing, the reward for hunting rat ears was distributed by the military.

"If you're unwilling to use bait, you won't catch any fish."

Lera, carrying a fishing rod, peeked in and asked, "I heard you talking about fish?"

Olmedo said that sometimes you have to give to receive more, and Lera thought to herself, "Just like when I use gold to fish?"

"You used gold to fish?!" Annan's chest ached even more.

He worked hard to cheat and swindle people outside, afraid of being recognized, but all the money he earned was squandered by the women in his family!

Laila said that there is a rare and precious fish in the sea that cannot be attracted by ordinary bait; only precious gold and gems can attract it.

Annan was easily fooled; he actually believed it and even wondered if some mermaid had come to the Freedom Bay: "Who told you that?"

"That's what your blue dragon told me."

The murderer has been found; it was Elimos who orchestrated and acted in the entire affair.

Annan laughed angrily: "Did you catch anything?"

"I caught one! It's this big!" Lera exaggeratedly drew an oval in front of her with her hand. "I wanted to bring it back to show you all right away, but I accidentally got lost and wandered around the city for more than two hours before I found my way. When I passed by the market, many people asked me how I caught it, how much it weighed, and whether I would sell it."

More than two hours?
Annan sneered, "You can drive around the city in less than two hours."

"You sold it?"

"No, I didn't sell it even when they offered 30 silver coins!"

"How much did you spend on fishing?"

"I hooked a gold coin on the hook, and strangely enough, after I pulled it up and pried open its mouth, I found the coin was gone..."

Annan remained silent and went straight to the vault to find Elimos.

A few days ago, after delivering the letter to the Broken Mountains, Illymoas rushed back without stopping and stayed in the vault like she was incubating a dragon egg.

Annan stormed in angrily, leading Elimos to mistakenly believe he wanted to withdraw money, and she spread her dragon wings like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

Under Annan's questioning, Illymoyas confessed that she had tricked Illymoyas into fishing with gold coins, and then Illymoyas secretly dived into the sea to take the gold coins.

Whether it's for sustainable development or out of a lingering conscience, Ellie Moyas took the money and actually caught a rare fish from the sea and hooked it up.

Annan had almost finished venting his anger on his second sister's side, and when he got to Illymoyas, all he could do was feel helpless: "You, the guardian of the treasury, would lie to someone for a single gold coin?"

Illy Moas said that her younger siblings needed to buy textbooks, and in order to save money, she ate fish for several days in a row. Her skirt had a hole in it and she didn't have money to mend it...

Princess Blue Dragon's few words made Annan feel reluctant: "You could have told me, I wouldn't be reluctant to give it to you."

Annan has a magic ring, but he still habitually carries a money pouch with a few to a dozen gold coins inside. If he loses it, he pretends not to know and carries a new money pouch a few days later. It's a little fun he shares with Illymoas.

“Even if you give me money, I’m reluctant to spend it…” Anan often gives money to Illymoyas, so Anan’s money is equivalent to her money, and spending Anan’s money is spending her own money.

As a dragon, how can I spend money to buy things?

All Ellie Moyas can do is swindle other people out of their money.

"Lera is already silly, and you're still teasing her..."

Annan was helpless, but he gave up on interfering and let the two of them play around, since it was all going into their own pockets anyway.

As for Laila's bad habit of fishing, she goes out early and comes back late every day, and she gets so tanned that she looks like a native, with only her teeth being the whitest part of her body...

Annan and her older sister couldn't control her. At first, they wanted her to change, but later they realized that Lera just loved fishing and it didn't cost much money. Wasn't she 514 times better than other noble ladies who bought jewelry and dresses all day long?
It doesn't matter if she gets a tan; the noble ladies are too busy currying favor with Annam's sister to ostracize or ridicule her.

The Reeves family is no longer what it used to be; everyone no longer needs to exert themselves to support the family.

……

The war envoys have returned, but the lords of the east are still sending a daily plea for help.

It will take time for the Empire to finalize their formation as the Rat Hunters, Cerberus, Cerberus, or something with the number three as its main element. Until then, Free City is free to act.

Now that we've decided to join the war, there's no point in hesitating.

Later that day, Liberty City swiftly approved the decision to send the Hellfire Legion to support the east. After resting for half a day back in Liberty City, the Hellfire Legion set off again for Pearl Territory, one of the most urgent territories being invaded by rat swarms.

Finance Minister Ingrid accompanied them on their journey.

"The ratmen in the east are just a small group of rats. Why not take other legions to practice against them?" Gemar asked Annan before setting off.

"Practice anytime. If we don't let Hellfire go and make a name for himself, how can we entice them to buy magic firearms?"

He even sent Ingrid to open up trade routes.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. How much money do you make selling fish? Learning to buy and maintain fishing gear, and providing training, is far more lucrative than simply selling fish.

Moreover, with the magic muskets, even a small faction can defend itself against the mole people, not only enhancing human strength but also getting free rat ears from them, perhaps with a discount. In the end, the rats they kill will be credits for Free City's military achievements!

Before the details were even finalized, Annan had already figured out how to rack up points.

Meanwhile, cartloads of rat ears from the Kingdom of Dimon have been arriving.

The rat ears are preserved by pickling them with salt, and the remaining contaminated salt is sold to the Stuin ratmen, so nothing is wasted.

Neither Free City nor the Kingdom of Dimon mentioned money.

Annan was stingy and unwilling to spend money, while Marshal Galkin was only repaying the debt of gratitude to Free City in a small way—everyone knows that no amount of nice words can compare to real supplies.

If it weren't for Free City, the Kingdom of Dimon probably wouldn't have been able to hold on for at least six months.

In addition to acquiring Rat Ears, Liberty City has also intensified its efforts to build its borders and acquire large amounts of resources in preparation for the long war to come.

(End of this chapter)