In Teyvat, it all begins with rescuing the grass god.

As soon as he finished speaking...

Not only were Uncle Ampu and Candice exchanging bewildered glances, but Kavi also hurriedly asked, "Hey, that's not what you told me back then."

"Would you have agreed to come if I hadn't said that?"

Rod spoke with such confidence that he felt no shame whatsoever for having been lying to people.

Kavi immediately panicked.

He slammed his hands on the table, stood up abruptly, and roared, "Rhodes! Do you know how much trouble this is causing?!"

“Mr. Kavi, please don’t worry. Since Rod is so confident, he must have already planned out what to do for me, right, Rod?”

The speaker was Candice.

Unlike Dixia, who also frowned upon hearing these words, she appeared calm and composed, staring intently at Rhodes, awaiting his reply.

“I did manage to get the terms of these loans from Dolly.”

As usual, Rhodes managed to extract these details from Dolly with Narcida's help.

This story begins with his encounter with Kavi at the Harland Tavern.

At that time, Rod felt that with Kavi's talent, hiring him to help the village would definitely be a great help.

However, due to the terrifying debt Kavi was carrying, Rod couldn't think of a way to bring him to Aru Village smoothly.

Then there's the issue Uncle Anpu just mentioned.

It is impossible to rely on the religious institution to build infrastructure and change lives in Aru village.

They were already being lenient by allowing the opening of trade permits and granting certain privileges.

Expecting them to allocate funds to build infrastructure in Aru Village free of charge is wishful thinking.

If this problem cannot be solved.

Even if Aru Village could offer Kavi a high salary of one million Mora a month, the planned project probably still wouldn't be able to proceed.

So Naxida then performed a series of meticulous calculations.

Starting with the existing assets of Aru Village and then considering the profitable projects that Aru Village could build in the future, Nasita took everything into account, big and small. In the end, she gave Rhodes something to talk about with Dolly, which was also the only feasible operation that might attract Dolly's investment.

Then Rod began to talk about the investment terms he and Dolly had discussed.

"First, Dolly will occupy a piece of land in Aru Village as her mushroom breeding base. The village won't have to pay for this. She will give you a land acquisition fee and hire workers from the village to work at the breeding base. You just need to agree to let the villagers relocate and provide them with compensation. As for the remaining land acquisition compensation, you can decide how to use it."

"Secondly, Dolly wants to open her trading company in the village. Whether it's smuggled goods or legitimate products, they will all use Aru Village as a transit point. Aru Village needs to protect the safety of this trading company, including its travel safety and the safety of the disciplinary officials when they come to search. If this is not agreed to, Dolly will withdraw her investment and leave."

"Thirdly, I need to ask you a question first. You've all seen my experimental field, right?"

Candice and Uncle Amp were exchanging glances about the two things mentioned earlier.

Hearing Rhodes ask this, they all nodded and said, "Yes."

Use grass slime instead of Fertile Fountain, use date palms to resist sandstorms, use grass grids to prevent soil erosion, and use mixed planting to make reasonable use of soil fertility.

These are farming methods that Aru Village has never seen before.

The results were excellent.

Before Rhodes went to Sumeru City for the Flower Goddess's Birthday Festival, some early-ripening crops in the fields had already matured. After harvesting, Rhodes took some of them to the village to sell, and kept the rest at home for his own consumption.

Now we're just waiting to plant the second crop.

A round of leafy green vegetables can be harvested in three months.

This isn't unusual in rainforest areas.

However, once the premise of not using the benefits of abundance is added, this matter is enough to make people yearn for it.

Next.

Rod continued.

"Given the great success of my experimental field, Dolly has agreed to sponsor me with funds to continue cultivating new crops, on the condition that all the harvest be sold to her first."

"simply put."

"What I'm selling is technology, the results of my patents."

"As for the subsequent promotion and planting, it requires in-depth cooperation between Aru Village and her, including but not limited to providing land, protecting crops, driving away monsters and bandits and all other follow-up matters."

"We need to wait until she arrives to discuss the specifics of how to proceed, as well as the acquisition price, how to divide the responsibility for profits and losses, and what to do in case of natural disasters that reduce or destroy production. These are all things you need to discuss in detail."

"I can only give you a general idea. At the very least, her requirements include that there can be no competitors in the Sumeru market. In other words, the village can only contract to grow crops and absolutely cannot sell them privately for profit. Even if her competitors offer a higher price, you cannot break the contract."

"The benefit of this is that the village will have another stable source of income in the future."

"The downside is that whatever the village plants in the future will largely depend on Dolly's arrangements, and all the harvest can only be sold to Dolly. Even if Dolly pays less, you can't sell it to others, otherwise she has the right to claim compensation."

"Once this agreement is reached, it cannot be terminated until the village has paid off the loan. Then you can discuss a new contract with Dolly."

Finally, Rod added, "Just like the second point, if Aru Village does not agree to this, or has any objections to the contracting agreement proposed by Dolly, Dolly will still withdraw her investment and leave to find land and manpower elsewhere. In other words, this is also a mandatory cooperation. If you want to build the village, then you have no choice."

The two consecutive demands for forced cooperation caused Candice and Uncle Amp to frown and ponder.

This is not over yet.

Rod then stated Dolly's fourth request: "Dolly will fund the renovation and expansion of the road from Aru Village to Kawan Post Station. Yes, you heard right, she will provide all the money. However, she wants to set up a checkpoint here to collect tolls. Apart from her caravan, other merchants who want to use this road she is building will have to pay tolls. She will determine the specific toll standards, which will basically be calculated based on the weight and quantity of goods. Other adventurers, travelers, mercenary groups, and the like who travel this route will also need to pay tolls based on what they are carrying. The villagers of Aru Village and the Blazing Beast Hunters will have the privilege of being exempt from tolls."

"This is impossible!"

As soon as Rod finished speaking, Uncle Amp immediately said, "If we do that, the village will be completely tied to her from now on, and we won't have any room for development."

It's a good thing that Dolly is willing to help Aru Village repair the road.

But once these demands were added...

In effect, this turned the trade route that was originally available to everyone into her private one. Especially with the restrictions on lone travelers, it was tantamount to driving away those traveling merchants who were used to trading in the village.

Moreover, Aru Village was under the jurisdiction of the Religious Council.

If tolls are collected privately.

That would be like slapping the Church in the face.

If the Church of England revokes the trade permit, wouldn't all the hard work the village has put into getting to where it is today be ruined?

The two mandatory agreements mentioned earlier are acceptable; providing land, people, and protection are not particularly difficult matters.

But once this agreement is reached...

That would mean handing over the entire economic lifeline of Aru Village to Dolly. If Dolly were to abandon them in the future, no matter how well the village was developed, its economy would collapse overnight.

Although Uncle Anpu may not have the chance to see this scene at his age, he doesn't want to leave such a hidden danger that could destroy the entire village for his descendants.

"What if the right to use this road belongs to Aru Village?"

Knowing from the start that Uncle Ampu would never agree to this, Rod quietly dropped another bombshell.

"What did you say?"

Uncle Anpu, who had just been vehemently opposing the matter, was stunned upon hearing this.

Candice also raised her own question: "That businessman, could she really agree to that?"

If we accept what Rhodes said...

The road that Dolly painstakingly built was for the village of Arru?

"This is the maximum leniency I've negotiated for you from Dolly."

"The ownership of this road initially belongs to Dolly. She enjoys all the privileges she proposes, including the privileges she granted to Aru Village and the Blazing Beast Hunter. She can also grant them to you."

“Once she has recouped all her investment in the road construction, she will return the right to use the road to you, with the only condition being that the privileges previously granted to her be retained.”

"As for the Church of Jesus, you don't need to worry. She will take care of the connections. Not only will no one make things difficult for you, but the Church of Jesus will also send someone to announce the legality of your collection of tolls on this road."

"All right."

"These are the four things I discussed with Dolly in Sumeru City. You can discuss them yourselves and give her an answer when she arrives in Aru Village."

After saying this, Rod got up to take his leave, leaving Uncle Amp and Candice to think.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 98 The Grass God's Personal Instruction

Dolly's four conditions were actually not demanding.

At least that's what Rod thinks.

Although many of the collaborations she proposed were mandatory, Aru Village could make a lot of money from these transactions and provide many job opportunities for those in the village who were struggling to make a living.

Said it before.

Twenty years ago, Aru Village was basically no different from the tribes in the desert.

Although the village gradually emerged from its past ignorance with the help of Kawi's father, the bad habits of those tribesmen still persist in the village today.

same.

The village still lacks many ways to make money.

Even though trade was allowed, not everyone was suited for this line of work, so many people continued to live on the poverty line.

Just like Rishti's son.

If it weren't for making money, would he have become a mercenary who lives a life of constant danger?

In the end, he met a tragic end, dying in the yellow sands without leaving behind a single possession.

Dolly's investment now.

This can greatly alleviate the employment pressure on villagers.

This is similar to how large factories in Rhodes' previous life invested in and built factories in a certain region; the improvement that such operations brought to people's lives was obvious.

Moreover, Dolly is a businesswoman; she wouldn't be willing to spend money unless she reaps sufficient benefits from these investments.

This is not a deal with Rhodes.

Rhodes at least possesses genuine technology, cutting-edge scientific technology produced by the gods, the kind that would definitely not result in a loss.

When trading with Aru Village, she needs to consider all sorts of factors, so adding these restrictions is perfectly reasonable.