Imperial Crown.

Chapter 188 Bargaining
(Added for the big boss [Sun Liansheng] who gave the reward)
The riverside workshop, the gray dwarf's blacksmith workshop.

More than half a year has passed, and after a comprehensive transformation by the gray dwarves, this place has become a layout that they like and adapt to.

As soon as you come in, you can see a huge furnace, which almost occupies one-third of the space of more than 100 square meters.

Its shape is very unique, looking more like a millstone than a furnace. In the center is an inverted pot-shaped blast furnace, and next to it is a high platform made of granite with unique dwarven patterns carved on it. I don't know if it's because of the high temperature, but the whole furnace appears a blazing red.

The furnace body itself has two outlets, one on the left and one on the right. The flame under the furnace provides continuous heat, allowing viscous molten iron to continuously flow out of the two outlets, flow in the outer annular ditch, and then flow through two filter holes into the mud mold below.

Whenever a casting mold is full, someone will immediately replace it with a new one, and someone else will watch in real time to remove the slag from the filter holes.

This is the "Earth Core Furnace" forged by the Gray Dwarves using unique craftsmanship, which has an efficiency far exceeding the current smelting technology of humans.

As long as there are enough raw materials, at least five thousand pounds, or about two thousand two hundred and sixty kilograms of iron ingots, can be produced every day.

Not pig iron, but wrought iron.

Even a town like Iron Furnace, which has accumulated hundreds of years of iron smelting technology, would need at least six times as long to obtain the same amount of wrought iron!

After all, the accumulation of iron smelting technology by the gray dwarves is measured in thousands of years, not to mention that it also carries the blessing of the Lord of the Forge.

"That's nothing." Bowell puffed out his chest with undisguised pride: "The space here is too small. If we really have to wait until the factory is completed, we must build a giant furnace that is no worse than the 'Heart of the Deep Mountain'!"

The Heart of the Mountain is a close relative and mortal enemy of the Gray Dwarves. It is a wonder created by the Dwarven Kingdom. It is said that it can handle hundreds of thousands of pounds of molten iron every day. The temperature is so high that even the seventh-level material, refined gold, can be easily melted.

Raven said, "Then I will look forward to it, but before that, I have something I want you to do right now."

"My Lord Baron, you tell me, as long as it's related to forging, I guarantee you'll be satisfied!" Sohei said confidently.

Raven took out a box from his belt and gently opened it: "Can you handle this thing?"

For a moment, the dwarves' breathing stagnated, and Sohei's messy beard stood up: "Mithril!?"

Mithril is a fifth-level material, which means that the weapons and equipment forged from it can withstand fifth-level enchantments and become fifth-level enchanted equipment!
You know, the "Molten Embers" passed down from the Fox family is only a fourth-tier equipment!
Forging a piece of mithril means becoming a master blacksmith who leaves his name in history!

Sohei swallowed his saliva and said, "My Lord Baron, please give it to me to forge. I will definitely be able to use it to make the strongest weapon!"

"Oh, don't get excited." Raven said, "I took it out, of course, to give it to you to forge, but I didn't use it to smelt weapons."

As he spoke, Raven pulled out a crossbow from his belt.

"I hope you can use Mithril Ore to strengthen it."

This crossbow has been with Raven for a long time. Before Raven became a magician, it was his most powerful weapon. This crossbow played a big role in killing Donald.

Unfortunately, as Raven's strength has grown, this crossbow, even after being enchanted once, can no longer meet his needs.

"This..." Sohei was a little embarrassed: "Sir Baron, can I take a closer look at it?"

"Of course." Raven took two steps forward and placed the crossbow on the table.

Sohei came forward immediately, and Bowell followed closely.

The two of them looked around the crossbow, occasionally calling a few gray dwarves to come over to discuss together. After nearly half an hour, Sohei finally raised his head and said, "My lord, I have a clue!"

Raven nodded, motioning for him to continue.

Sohei continued, "My Lord Baron, this crossbow is designed based on the characteristics of star iron in terms of its overall size, output strength, and center of gravity. If you want to strengthen it with mithril, then the overall design must be greatly changed, and the enchantments on it must be removed in advance."

Raven nodded slowly: "Then, after strengthening with Mithril, what will the effect be?"

"It will be lighter, and the trigger mechanism will be more sensitive while the crossbow will have greater power." Sohei showed his rigorous professionalism: "According to the current design ideas, its power will be greatly enhanced. Even without enchantment, its penetrating power will not be weaker than the full-strength attack of a second-level warrior within 20 meters!"

Raven said decisively: "Then do it."

But Sohei did not agree immediately.

Raven asked, "Any questions?"

"It's just... you don't need so much mithril to modify your crossbow." Sohei glanced at Raven and asked carefully: "Baron, I want to make another piece of equipment for you with the remaining mithril..."

Raven thought for a moment and said, "As long as it doesn't delay the modification of the crossbow, you can do whatever you want."

Suo Hei was obviously relieved, with a gleam of anticipation in his eyes: "Understood, I will definitely hand in an answer sheet that will satisfy you within ten days at the latest!"

"Don't be anxious, quality comes first." Raven instructed.

Due to the tradition of the gray dwarves, outsiders are not allowed to watch the casting process. Of course, Raven is an exception.

However, Raven did not intend to disrupt this tradition. He had no interest in forging and did not want to stay in the stuffy foundry. As long as the result was good, he did not care about the process.

After returning to Eagle Castle, Raven opened Deep Blue and immediately started selling his Mist Heavy Iron.

The purchase price of the Deep Blue Platform, which is also the Mage Guild, is one pound and sixty-two gold coins, while the selling price is one pound and eighty-three and a half gold coins. They made a lot of money from the difference.

Raven also looked at the market conditions of individual sellers. The prices generally ranged from seventy-five to eighty-one. But looking at the time, the latest one had been on the shelf for more than half a month, and the earlier one had been on the shelf for half a year. Obviously, the sales of small quantities were not that good.

After a little thought, Raven put up the price of Mist Heavy Iron at 83.4 gold coins per pound, or 184 gold coins per kilogram.

Others were selling it by one or two pounds, or a dozen pounds at most, but this time, Raven was selling it for eight hundred pounds!
This is equivalent to the output of the mine in thirteen or fourteen days.

Few ordinary mages would need so much Mist Iron, so Raven's price was not intended to sell it to retail investors.

He had just made himself a cup of coffee, and before it had even reached drinkable temperature, someone contacted Raven through Deep Blue.

This man looked to be in his sixties. Unlike many mages who like to grow beards, his chin was extremely smooth, his face was full of wrinkles, and a mole at the corner of his mouth was particularly eye-catching. On his chest was a label representing a third-level magician: "You are the one who hung the eight hundred pounds of mist heavy iron?"

"Yeah." Raven blinked innocently. "What's the problem?"

"I am the supervisor of the Mage Guild who is responsible for maintaining Deep Blue. You can call me Monroe!" The magician said in a serious tone: "I have to remind you, Baron Raven, if you provide a false supply quantity, according to Article 6, Clause 9 of the Deep Blue Platform Rules, you will need to pay three times the compensation!" "Eight hundred pounds of misty heavy iron, the price is 83.4 gold coins, the total price is 66,720 gold coins, you will have to pay 200,160 gold coins!!"

Raven nodded, "I know. Any questions?"

"It seems you don't know the seriousness of this." Monroe frowned, his eyes reddened: "This is not only a financial impact, but more importantly..."

At this point, he paused.

Originally he thought Raven was just joking. After all, it had been a long time since anyone had sold misty heavy iron in such large quantities.

But now, he saw that Raven's expression was so calm and confident, and he was even drinking coffee. It didn't seem like he was joking at all!
"...Wait, can you really provide that much Mist Iron?!"

Raven nodded. "Of course."

Monroe frowned, "Then you should sell it to us. You should know that no one in the market can eat up so much misty iron in one go. You have left almost no profit for the second-hand dealers!"

The price offered by the Mages Guild was a steal, but Raven did not confront him directly. Instead, he said, "Okay, it will only take a month."

"Why?" Monroe asked.

Raven smiled softly: "Because I need time to mine."

"What did you say!?" Monroe's face suddenly froze: "You discovered a misty mine!?"

Raven's Mist Mine has a monthly production capacity of 800 pounds, while the mine controlled by the Mage Guild itself only produces more than 1,070 pounds per month!

If Raven obtained a batch of misty iron by chance, Monroe could use the power of the Mage Guild to suppress it, buy it at a low price, or let Raven sell it in small quantities multiple times to avoid affecting the market price.

The current situation means that Raven has become the Mage Guild's strongest competitor in the sale of Mist Heavy Iron. It can even be said that he can directly influence the price trend of Mist Heavy Iron!
Raven and the Mage Guild are now qualified to compete!

"Baron Raven, please name your price." Monroe thought for a while and said, "Our Mage Guild will take as much as you have of Mist Iron!"

Raven shrugged. "My price is already marked."

Monroe's eyebrows were covered with anger: "Baron Raven, I am talking to you sincerely!"

"I am sincere too." Raven said calmly: "The Mage Guild sells it for 83.5 gold coins, and I sell it for 83.4. Isn't that reasonable?"

"You...!!" Monroe's eyebrows raised and the moles around his mouth began to turn red.

He wanted to cut off communication with Raven immediately, but he couldn't.

The demand for Mist Iron is relatively fixed. The reason why the Mage Guild was able to maintain its monopoly before was because there were too few loose goods on the market to pose a threat.

If we allow Raven to sell Mist Iron on the Deep Blue platform now, it means we have completely given up on this market.

As for the price war - Raven only needs to be responsible for himself, but the Mage Guild has to look at the profits!

The Mages Guild is a big and powerful company, but the magicians inside are different. The Mages Guild can afford it, but Monroe, who is in charge of this area, cannot!

Raven saw through this, so he dared to bargain with Monroe in this way.

Seeing Raven's calm face, Monroe felt a little frustrated. He knew he couldn't get any advantage from Raven, so he sighed and tried to negotiate in a friendly way: "Baron Raven, I know you want to make a profit, but your price is unacceptable to the guild. If we continue to fight, it will be a waste of effort for both of us."

"So, let's make a compromise. You take the goods down first and sell them all to our Mage Guild at a lower price. And I can also give you a long-term 9.5% discount on purchases based on my own authority!"

From the very beginning, Raven had never thought about selling this batch of misty iron in small quantities. He needed to find a stable sales channel for himself, and the Mage Guild was undoubtedly the best choice.

Now that the goal has been achieved, Raven doesn't want to offend the Mage Guild too much. After all, a 95% discount may not seem like much, but if you really buy things in large quantities, that would save hundreds or thousands of gold coins!

"Look at what you said. I am also a member of the Mage Guild. The interests of the Mage Guild are my interests! The price I mentioned before was just a joke!"

Monroe's eyelids twitched and he cursed Raven in his heart for being shameless.

Why didn't you say you were joking earlier?

"That's it, seventy-five gold coins per pound." Raven smiled. "But the shipping fee must be paid by the Mage Guild, and I want payment before delivery. I will ship the goods immediately after I receive the first payment one month later."

Monroe pondered.

Seventy-five gold coins, there is still some profit margin, but the output of the Mage Guild will be a bit accumulated.

But it doesn't matter. The Mage Guild's Misty Iron Ore Vein has been mined for more than 40 years and can be mined for another 30 years. This is already a vein with very rich reserves.

No matter how lucky Raven is, it will only take him five to ten years to dig this vein of minerals, and he will eventually be able to get through it!

Monroe nodded: "Okay, it's a deal. I'll raise the funds right away, and then I'll send someone to deliver the supply contract to you!"

After saying that, he immediately cut off the communication, obviously not wanting to chat with Raven any more.

Eight days later, a griffin arrived at Eagle Castle and brought Raven the first batch of payment, a full 60,000 gold coins!
Another nine days passed, and the modified crossbow was finally delivered to Raven by Sohei himself.

"I told you, don't worry." Raven stroked the wooden box with his fingers. "Are you sure you have completed the transformation?"

With bloodshot eyes, Sohei nodded heavily: "My Lord Baron, it has been completely transformed."

"I promise, you will fall in love with this beauty once you take one look at her!"

"Oh?" Raven raised his eyebrows slightly, pressed his fingers on the lid of the box, and applied a little force.

The silver light blooms quietly.

……

(End of this chapter)