Chapter 515.2: Are WE Supposed To Pay For YOUR Pipes?!

Shortly after Chu Guang finished briefing Rama on her duties, Adelia finally woke from his drunken stupor.

Holding his splitting headache, Adelia grabbed his personal guard and shouted with spittle flying, “Where’s Chu Guang?! The New Alliance’s administrator! Fetch him, I have urgent matters to discuss!”

Seeing his still-drunk superior, the guard said helplessly, “Sir, the New Alliance’s airship is getting ready to lift anchor. I saw their administrator near the lift... if you sleep any longer, you won’t catch him.”

That sobered Adelia instantly.

“Lift anchor?!”

The guard nodded. “Yes... I heard they’re returning to the River Valley Province.”

“Hurry, take me!”

Watching Adelia jump out of bed, the guard froze for two seconds, then quickly responded. “Yes, sir!”

Without even washing up, Adelia threw on a coat and ran all the way to the Heart of Steel, catching Chu Guang just in time.

Smelling the stench of alcohol on him, Chu Guang instantly took a step back.

Honestly, his nerves were unbelievable. The ceasefire had been in place less than half a month, yet he dared drink himself senseless in enemy territory.

With all the tasks related to the new settlement and new corps, Chu Guang had almost forgotten him.

“

Hic

, thank you for the hospitality,” Adelia said, rubbing his swollen eyes and trying to look presentable. He cleared his throat hard. “Next time, drinks are on me.”

Seeing him still drunk, Chu Guang teased, “You’re welcome. If you’re not embarrassed, you can stay another night.”

With embarrassment filling his heart, Adelia coughed, “I have a proposal.”

Chu Guang raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

Adelia spoke quickly. “Your camp is huge, and now that many troops have left, plenty of barracks are empty anyway. Why not lend us a few?”

New Alliance soldiers had been expanding the camp for days, leaving many newly built barracks unused. They weren’t luxurious, but they had water and electricity. They were far better than the flimsy tents on his airship.

Winter had arrived in the Northern Hemisphere. Even with a warm winter, snow would fall by December.

Considering the low heat capacity of sand, nighttime temperatures in the Great Desert dropped to -10 or lower. Living in their shit tents could get people killed.

Looking at the embarrassed captain, Chu Guang didn’t make it hard for him and asked casually, “How many do you want?”

“... A hundred...?”

Seeing Chu Guang’s expression growing odd, Adelia hurriedly added, “Of course, I won’t borrow them for free... I’ll pay! I’ll pay in Dinars. Is that acceptable?”

Watching him scramble to explain, Chu Guang almost laughed.

If it were ordinary wastelanders or smaller settlements, these big-noses would’ve simply robbed them. Negotiating payment was unthinkable.

His bargaining hardly fit their haughty reputation.

“Pay? What would I do with Dinars?” Seeing Adelia wanting to argue further, Chu Guang suddenly had a thought. “Nevermind, tell your governor-general to talk to me. I can’t explain it properly to you.”

Hearing there was still hope, Adelia brightened up instantly. “Sure! Give me a moment!”

“You’d better hurry,” Chu Guang said after checking his VM. “We leave at noon.”

...

Not lingering in the New Alliance camp, Adelia rushed back to the campsite beside the Adjudicator and had his communications officer connect to Governor-general Cohen, who was just waking up in his luxurious hundred-square-meter cabin.

The summary was simple. The Adjudicator’s damage was severe. Repairs would take a long time. Over 1,000 people would likely spend winter in the Great Desert.

Food and water could be transported from the Falcon Kingdom, but safety was another story.

Especially with the Enlightenment Society lurking around in the dark... Who knew whether those rats in the shadows would return?

After hearing Adelia’s difficulties, Cohen had no choice but to contact Chu Guang and request to rent part of the New Alliance camp’s barracks for the stranded Wislanders.

But after hearing Chu Guang’s price, Cohen lost his composure.

“100 silver coins per room per day?! Are you insane?!”

Looking at the projected hologram, Chu Guang replied calmly, “That’s the rate in Dawn City. If you rent by the month, I can even give you a 10% discount.”

No shit it wasn’t the rate in Dawn City.

In Highway Town Hotel, the cheapest room wasn’t even 10 silver coins per day.

As the self-proclaimed best businessman in the New Alliance, he had to fleece those big-nosed Wislanders now that they were down.

Chu Guang knew clearly, even at twice the price, it would still be cheaper than building a brand-new camp in the Great Desert.

Not to mention obtaining fresh water alone was an impossible challenge for them.

Drilling a well required equipment they simply couldn’t afford to bring from the far west.

Pressing his sore brow, Cohen muttered, “... Where the hell am I supposed to get your stupid coins... How about paying in silver ore?”

“No need for that.” Chu Guang waved. “Our currency is called silver coins, but not backed by silver. Understand?”

Cohen glared at him. “What do you want? Fine, we’ll just...”

Chu Guang coughed lightly, interrupting him. “Bist Town needs fresh water. I want to lease a water-supply section from the dam near Oasis No.2, it’s the closest. There, we’ll build a water pipeline to Bist Town to solve their residential and industrial water needs. We have a term of 10 years. For that, I’ll count it as 1,000,000 silver coins, how about it?”

Pausing slightly, he added, “We could also draw from Oasis No.3, but a 170 kilometer pipeline is too expensive. After 10 years, we’ll pay according to usage. How does that sound?”

He modeled it after Petra Fortress.

According to the Order of the White Bear, their water supply was purchased from the nearest dam and paid by consumption.

But Cohen, who was new and ignorant of the technicalities, wouldn’t understand the output of a single water-supply section, so Chu Guang simply rented it by time.

In truth, a water-supply section could produce 1,000,000 cubic meters of fresh water per year.

10 years was enough to create an underground lake in the desert.

As for the dam’s leftover energy?

Who the hell knew how long it would last?

The dam’s production was like oil under the feet of Earth’s superpowers, endlessly pumped out without depletion. And nuclear-fusion-powered desalination wouldn’t run dry in 10 years anyway.

Just as Chu Guang expected, Cohen didn’t care about the production capacity at all.

He stared for a long time, then asked the most irrelevant question. “Do I also have to pay for the pipeline?”

Chu Guang nearly choked on his saliva. “Ahem... No, you don’t.”

Even he wasn’t shameless enough to use someone else’s faucet and make them pay to install the pipe.

Cohen fell silent for a long time as he thought to himself.

Ten years...

Once the agreement was signed, Bist Town’s water supply would be in his hands. If the New Alliance ever acted against him, he could simply turn off the tap, and they would have to yield.

Whether the price was expensive didn’t matter. A dam had at least eight sections, renting one out did no harm, and it wasn’t even Wislander property. It belonged to a vassal state.

Putting on a reluctant expression, Cohen nodded. “Deal. But I must insist, the rental price for the camp barracks and all expenses must also be included in the contract!”

There were no stable trade relations yet. He wasn’t letting the New Alliance raise the rent tenfold after he agreed.

Even a billion wouldn’t be enough then.

Chu Guang smiled and nodded. “No problem. But... before we sign, I should warn you...”

Cohen narrowed his eyes. “What.”

“Any Wislander in our camp must follow New Alliance laws, including laws against robbery, theft, and...”

Seeing the man’s expression darken, Chu Guang gave him face and lowered his voice, “... and all behaviors deemed unacceptable in civilized society. They will all be treated as crimes on New Alliance soil. If something unpleasant happens, we won’t show leniency for the sake of your noses, we will punish criminals by our laws.”

“So if you want to avoid diplomatic incidents, or worse, you had better discipline your subordinates.”

Cohen glared at Chu Guang. “You don’t need to tell me that, we’re not barbarians.”

Chu Guang nodded with a smile. “Good. That’s for the best.”