Chapter 617 Negotiation Torture
But things are different now, so Li Ming naturally wouldn't be willing to do that. Fifty billion star coins would only be equivalent to six or seven hundred million metal energies, which is too little.
"That's not how it works." Costat shook his head. "If you kill him, it's worthless."
"We should not only consider his value to us, but also his value to you."
Negotiations are all about pushing and pulling. Costat is very experienced, but Qinglong doesn't play by the rules. He said directly:
"I don't want to chat with you either. How about this? Give me a sincere price. Fifty billion is definitely not enough."
The three people's expressions changed slightly, and Costat swallowed back what he wanted to say.
Zhang Hengyu hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Your Excellency Qinglong is indeed straightforward. In that case, I won't hide anything. Sixty-five billion star coins."
"This is the best we can do."
"You're dishonest." Li Ming stared at him and said abruptly, "I used to admire you a little."
Zhang Hengyu's face changed slightly, and he said helplessly, "Sir...we can't do anything about it. These X-level life forms are very important, but star coins can't be conjured up."
Star coins contain energy and are special minerals. They are anchors in themselves and are not the internal currency of a civilization. You can print as many as you want.
"One price, three hundred billion each." Li Mingshi asked for a huge price, more than double the price.
The three of them all turned green in the face, knowing that Qinglong would not give them the money according to the market price, but it was a bit too much to directly increase it to 300 billion.
"Everything has a price. If the price exceeds too much, we can't agree to it even if we want to." Costat said in a deep voice.
"If you don't agree, forget it." Li Ming shrugged. "Although transforming them into mechanical bodies will cost a little, it's not impossible."
Costat's eyebrows jumped, and he wished he could bite this guy to death.
They had already agreed to each other's requests and had invested a certain amount of money. The negotiations broke down after just a few words, so why should they satisfy Qinglong before that?
If the sunk cost is invested and the negotiation fails, it means loss.
Zhang Hengyu quickly said, "It doesn't have to be that bad. Three hundred billion is too much. How about... we both take a step back and try one hundred billion?"
This is also their bottom line price. They also know that 50 billion is really a bargain. It is the tacit agreement price for both parties to capture prisoners.
Qinglong is a loner and has no tacit understanding with them.
"I've taken a huge step back." Li Ming sneered, "One hundred billion for a Class X life form is way too cheap for you."
"Sir Qinglong, this is not how accounts are calculated." Zhang Hengyu smiled bitterly.
"Two hundred billion." Li Ming spit out another number, his face cold: "There is no room for retreat. If you retreat again, there is no need to talk about it."
"How about 150 billion?" Zhang Hengyu said cautiously.
Snap--
The screen was dark. Zhang Hengyu's heart skipped a beat and he hurriedly applied for communication again, but there was no response.
They quickly contacted Costat and the other two. The three of them looked very unhappy. While constantly trying to contact Qinglong, they were also communicating.
It took more than half an hour before the communication was connected.
"Two hundred billion..." Zhang Hengyu said directly, "According to your request, two hundred billion."
"It's too late. I want 250 billion now." Li Ming shook his head. Zhang Hengyu was stunned, and his cheeks turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Costat's breathing was rapid, and even the veins on the smooth forehead of the "goddess" Dius were bulging.
"How can you go back on your word?" Zhang Hengyu suppressed his emotions and said helplessly.
"Does what you just said count as a promise?" Li Ming asked, and then said, "If it does, then you can think that I'm going back on my word."
Zhang Hengyu was really helpless. The initiative was not in their hands, and they had almost no way to deal with Qinglong's threat.
"Then there's no need to talk." Costat said coldly.
Li Ming ended the communication faster than him, and the three of them looked gloomy.
The next day, Li Ming received communication requests from three people as expected.
He still didn't answer the phone. After another hour, he slowly picked up the phone.
"Two hundred and fifty billion, as you wish!" Costat said solemnly, "This is the final price. If you raise the price again, it's up to you."
"Then let's go with 250 billion." Li Ming nodded in agreement. This was five times higher than the original market price.
The three of them didn't look happy at all.
They were scolded to death yesterday, but there was nothing they could do. They had no advantage and could only be manipulated by Qinglong at will.
Costat immediately added: "When redeeming the captives, we will conduct comprehensive testing, including developing their potential."
"I know you possess a highly advanced biochemical virus that can destroy the development potential of higher life forms, even causing them to further degenerate. If the development potential and the data do not match, we will refuse the transaction."
Li Ming frowned slightly when he heard this, and suddenly sighed, "Okay."
Why are you sighing? Kostat almost couldn't help sighing.
"However, since you have made a request, it wouldn't be too much for me to make one too," said Li Ming.
"Qinglong!" Costat was furious. "What kind of demands are we making? This is the basic guarantee for the prisoner exchange!"
"That's not what I meant." Li Ming shook his head. "It's not a request for you, but it is a request for me."
"Don't worry." Li Mingxu pressed his left hand. "My request is not excessive. I just want to change the settlement method. I don't need star coins. I hope you can directly trade with refined high-end alloys, calculated at 50% of the market price."
After hearing the first half of the speech, no one reacted. But when he heard the last part, Costat's eyes almost popped out of his head. "50%?"
"What's the difference between this and forcibly doubling the redemption price?"
"When I buy something, the premium is basically removed. If you give it to me based on the market price, I will lose money." Li Ming shook his head.
"How can the premium be as high as 50%!" Costat said bitterly. "This is a high-tech alloy with extremely high technical costs. The price is already very high. Anyone who would buy it knows the inside story. It's impossible for it to be so high."
"Then how much do you think the premium is?" Li Ming was displeased.
"At most 30%!" Costat said coldly. As soon as he finished speaking, he realized what was happening, only to hear Qinglong say, "Then let's go with 30%!"
Costat's face turned from red to blue, and then to purple. Li Ming was afraid that he would die of anger.
Zhang Hengyu sighed deeply, wanting only to quickly end this torture. "Sir Qinglong, next is the redemption price for those ordinary soldiers and the related warships..."
There wasn't much room for maneuvering this time, as these three people had become cunning and had already discussed everything in advance.
Qinglong has also paid the sunk cost and will not simply ignore the issue.
Therefore, the negotiations with ordinary soldiers took even longer, and it took a full three days to be finalized.
The overall price is not low, even reaching half of that of a level X life form.
Dius took over the conversation, "The total price is 11.5 trillion star coins, converted into metal materials for settlement. We need more time to raise them, so this redemption will be divided into five batches, to be delivered over three years."
Their stocks of cutting-edge metal materials had long been almost completely sucked up by Heckler, and had even been plundered once by Qinglong.
Qinglong doesn't want the remaining low- and medium-grade alloys. It will take time to collect them. I'm not lying.
"You are not a whole group. You are obviously raising funds separately. Why does it take so much time? Divide it into three batches and finish it within a year." Li Ming shook his head.
"We can only try our best." Dius frowned.
Li Ming did not give them a chance to delay: "Just one year, one more day, and I will kill one person. Don't worry, I won't ask you to pay for the person I kill."
Faced with Qinglong's aggressive pressure, the three of them were almost numb and exhausted.
"Also, the redemption ratio will be calculated based on today's alloy price," Li Ming added. "This is to prevent you from colluding with other civilizations to deliberately drive up alloy prices and reduce redemptions after you return."
The three of them were startled. They had never thought that there was such a way to exploit the loophole.
Looking down, Qinglong had already printed out a list of real-time alloy prices and sent it to him, which densely listed 99% of the high-end alloy materials.
It was so foolproof that the three of them had no choice but to agree.
The negotiations with Qinglong over the past few days have really tortured them.
Zhang Hengyu's hair is the most obvious, with a few more white hairs. It is not ruled out that he dyed it himself.
To finalize the matter, both parties signed a contract. Although it was just a formality, it was somewhat binding.
Finally, Costat emphasized, "Although this contract is just a piece of paper, I hope you will strictly abide by it. Our time together in the interstellar space will be very long."
He was also afraid that Qinglong might cause trouble again and tear up the agreement, so there was a hint of weak threat in his tone.
"Whoever breaks the agreement, don't blame me for being rude." Li Ming responded calmly.
After it was completely over, Li Ming breathed a sigh of relief, but he was also quite exhausted. It was because he took the initiative that he was able to gain so many advantages.
He estimated that in the end, he could obtain about 120 billion to 40 billion metal energies in bits and pieces.
It was more than his original maximum estimate, and it was definitely an extremely huge number, which made him unable to help but rub his fingers.
"However, how did the three major civilizations know about the "biological virus"? " Li Ming thought of another thing.
Only when he first came to the Chaos Star Gap and sought a foothold did he use this ability to intimidate the Holy Mother Church.
Since then, he has rarely shown this ability to the outside world.
All those whose genetic material he absorbed died, either actively or passively. No one should have fallen into the hands of the three major civilizations.
Our Lady Church... Li Ming frowned, could it be that they jumped out again?
Perhaps it was spread from the Holy Mother Church and then known to the three major civilizations.
However, not being able to absorb the gene source this time was not a big deal for him. He didn't need it for the time being. When he needed it, he could just capture a few X-level enemies.
He shook his head, and could only put aside the matter that he couldn't figure out for the time being.
However, he thought about his last request again, and a strange smile appeared on his face, "The price of metal materials... hehe..."
Then he took out his smart terminal and sent a message to Mikhail.
So, ten days after the meeting of the Joint Organization of Higher Life Forms ended.
In the name of the three great master craftsmen, Mikhail summoned all the star-casting mechanics to remotely descend upon his base.
This gathering was also later than all the mechanics expected.
In Mikhail's base, in the hall open to the public, virtual projections gradually appeared.
The Casting Star-level mechanics, most of whom were mechanically modified, were chatting with each other in a lively atmosphere. There were no less than two hundred of them.
The classification of Forge-star mechanics is very broad, and there are some guys who control X-level mechanical bodies.
But it was basically all cobbled together and could not have been done without the funding from these two guys, Reynolds and Mikhail.
"...Kutsk, the last time we met, I was worried about the future of the Mechanics Guild, believing it would eventually become a thing of interstellar history under the erosion of various civilizations."
"I didn't expect that the Azure Dragon Master Craftsman is so powerful that he can turn the situation around single-handedly."
"Yes, it's only been a few years since I was put under supervision, and my business has already shrunk by one-third. In a few more years, I'm afraid I'll be gone."
“…Even when the Hammersmith was here, he didn’t have this kind of power.”
“…”
Many Casting Star Mechanics were very excited, and one of them couldn't help but ask, "They must have some new development plans for calling us together this time."
"I've been holding back for a while now, so I'm going to take the market back this time."
"Hmm... Lord Qinglong hasn't really been involved in the Mechanics Association before. I heard that his student, the Mechanical Royal Court, is already preparing to open branches in various civilizations."
Everyone around was stunned and the atmosphere suddenly became subtle. This was equivalent to stealing their cake, but then they just laughed it off.
Everyone present knew very well that it was they who needed Qinglong, not Qinglong who needed them.
If this big boss really wants to take away some business, there is nothing they can do.
"Everyone..."
Amidst the noise, a clear voice was heard, drowning out the quarrels of everyone else.
"Mikhail?"
Someone immediately called out, and Mikhail's real body walked in from the door.
More than two-thirds of the Casting-Star mechanics present gradually became more serious, and some of the remaining people even glared at him, saying bluntly:
"Why is it you, Lord Qinglong?"
Mikhail has a very bad reputation within the Mechanics Association. This is not something that happened overnight, but is the result of years of accumulation.
But the one who dared to directly rebuke was not an ordinary person, it must be Reynolds.
"Your Excellency Qinglong will be here soon." Mikhail was used to this.
It’s not that he is not among them, but he had already issued an order that at this time, no one should stand up for him.
Then, another shadow appeared. It was Reynolds. He laughed heartily in a deep voice, "Long time no see, everyone."
The attitude of many star-casting mechanics towards him became much better, and many of them greeted him with politeness.
But there was still a small number of people with calm expressions. It was not known whether they were Mikhail's men or they had a conflict with Reynolds.
It's hard for someone to gain everyone's respect.
"...It's not that simple..." Reynolds suddenly laughed out loud. "I didn't just call you here for a casual chat today. It's a big deal, something incredibly important, something that concerns the interstellar landscape."
Hearing him say this, the curiosity of many mechanics present was aroused and they asked questions one after another.
Reynolds, however, kept it a secret and said mysteriously, "This matter will have to be revealed by Lord Qinglong."
(End of this chapter)
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