A shuttle hurtled toward Black Sand City at an extremely high speed, its reckless behavior disregarding all navigation rules.

If it weren't for a signal emitted from this shuttle, Black Sand City's defenses would have intercepted it long ago.

The shuttle didn't even manage to land; it crashed heavily into the hangar, smashing a large hole in the wall.

The ground crew were so frightened that they retreated a long distance, staring at the dust and smoke from the impact, and dared not approach for a long time.

But soon, the sound of two footsteps landing came.

They saw two figures land on the ground, and as the smoke cleared, they were able to see who they were.

The ground staff present immediately bowed in salute.

"Greetings, Lord of Black Sand City!"

"Greetings, Second Master of Black Sand City!"

The newcomer was none other than Sha Meng, the eldest of the three brothers and the city lord of Black Sand City.

Beside him was Sha Xiong, the third leader of Black Sand City.

"Ugh... ugh..."

At that moment, someone heard a sound of vomiting, accompanied by complaining voices.

"Brother... how many years has it been since you flew a fast plane... this landing is too unstable."

If I had known you were driving this fast, I wouldn't have taken your shuttle.

"Ugh..." A relatively young figure was leaning over the shuttle's hatch, vomiting outwards, looking rather unwell.

"Look at you, so pathetic. You can't even handle this little bit of trouble."

It seems you really lack exercise.

Stop standing there and come down quickly.

"That lord is still waiting; we must go there immediately." Black Sand City Lord Sha Meng glanced at his third brother, Sha Ji, as if looking at his own good-for-nothing child.

The third brother, Shaji, staggered down the steps, before he could even stand up straight.

He was immediately thrown onto a hovercar by the second brother, Sha Xiong.

He saw that his older brother was still sitting in the driver's seat, and the churning in his stomach that had finally subsided seemed to be about to resurface.

"Wait a minute... I..."

Before he could speak, Sha Meng, the city lord of Black Sand City, accelerated and rushed out.

The dust kicked up covered the ground crew members in the face with dirt.

They stared blankly at the mess left behind, completely bewildered as to what had happened to cause such agitation in the usually calm and collected Lord of Black Sand City, Sha Meng.

Moreover, all three leaders of Black Sand City are gathered here.

You should know that this is a very rare thing.

The last time the three leaders gathered together was probably a year ago at the meeting of the four major capitals.

Soon, the flying car arrived at the entrance of the small courtyard.

This time, however, the Black Sand City Lord, Shamon, did not act rashly as he had when he made the emergency landing before. Instead, he slowed down early and stopped very elegantly at the furthest point outside the courtyard.

It was as if they were afraid of making any noise and startling the guests in the courtyard.

Black Sand City Lord Sha Meng stepped off the flying chariot and immediately asked his second brother, "Second brother, do you think there's anything wrong with my demeanor?"

“No problem.” The second brother, Sha Xiong, nodded, but hesitated as he looked at the third brother, who was getting out of the car: “But the way the third brother looks...”

Black Sand City Lord Sha Meng glanced at the third brother and curled his lip: "Look at him, he doesn't look like a leader at all."

It seems we'll need to arrange for him to go to some remote star systems for proper training.

Hearing this, the third brother, Shaji, felt bitter. Although he was not as good as his eldest and second brothers, he was not that bad either.

No one could withstand the torment their elder brother went through.

I'm lucky I'm alright. If it were an ordinary person, they would probably have fainted when the shuttle made an emergency landing.

Just then, a person hurried over.

"Your subordinate greets Lord City Lord, Second Master, and Third Master." This man was the adjutant left behind by the second brother, Sha Xiong.

He saw his adjutant walk up to him.

The second brother, Sha Xiong, immediately frowned and scolded, "Didn't I tell you to stay by that distinguished guest's side?"

How dare you disobey my orders and slack off here!

No...that's not it!

It was that guest who told us to leave and that they could rest in the courtyard on their own.

You instructed me to unconditionally carry out that person's words, so... I'll wait outside the courtyard.

I swear I didn't slack off at all and waited outside the hospital the whole time.

"I only came over when I saw the three lords arrive just now." The adjutant immediately protested his injustice.

Okay, we understand.

You did nothing wrong.

"Take us to see that distinguished guest immediately." said Sha Meng, the city lord of Black Sand City, as he straightened his clothes once more.

Then he glanced at his third brother and said, "You brat, hurry up and straighten your posture."

The third brother, Shaji, had no choice but to straighten his posture, knowing that the distinguished guest he was about to meet was very important.

Otherwise, he and his eldest brother wouldn't have rushed over after being notified by his second brother.

"Please follow me." The adjutant immediately and obediently led the way.

When they reached the entrance of the small courtyard in Jingshan, the adjutant knocked on the door cautiously.

It was as if they were the guests in this small courtyard in Jingshan.

The door was opened.

Standing opposite was a female soldier who was following the distinguished guest, presumably as a servant.

However, the adjutant dared not be negligent or disrespectful to them, and said with a smile, "Please help me pass on this message."

All three leaders of our Black Sand City have arrived.

"I request an audience with your master."

They've already made their humble stance perfectly clear.

None of the three leaders of Black Sand City behind him had any objections to this.

Because for the person inside, this is not a problem at all.

"I understand, please wait a moment." The female soldier closed the door, and the sound of her footsteps fading away could be heard.

About a minute later, the footsteps came again.

The door was then opened, this time the entire door was opened.

"My family invites you."

With this setup, anyone who didn't know better would really think that the three leaders of Black Sand City were the invited guests.

“Yes.” Black Sand City Lord Sha Meng had no objection at all, nodded slightly, and then followed the female soldier into the small courtyard that he was very familiar with.

But this time, they were very reserved.

It was as if they were really guests.

Soon, the four of them arrived in the courtyard and saw a group of people sitting around a stove, brewing tea and chatting.

There was only one man among them.

They naturally had some knowledge of the Dragonflight Interstellar Empire, and even if they didn't know much before, they had done their homework before coming here.

Among the high-ranking members of the Dragon Star Empire, there is almost only one male!

That is the Emperor of the Dragon.

"The arrival of the Emperor Xiaolong brings great honor to the humble abode of Black Sand City."

"We have failed to greet you properly, and we hope Your Majesty the Dragon Emperor will forgive our negligence." Black Sand City Lord Sha Meng quickly stepped forward and bowed.

Zhao Chen also stood up, bowed slightly and said, "It's alright. Our visit was rushed and we were a bit impolite."

The reason we're here is because the matter we're discussing is rather urgent and special.

I think the second-in-command has already told you both the purpose of our trip.

Black Sand City Lord Sha Meng turned around and glanced at his second brother. At first, when he learned that Emperor Xiaolong had personally appeared in the Blazing Holy Hammer Free Federation, he was at most surprised.

However, after hearing the whole story, Shamon, the lord of Black Sand City, rushed back immediately.

“I’ve looked into it,” nodded Sha Meng, the city lord of Black Sand City.

"Let's get straight to the point. Can we reach a cooperation agreement?" Zhao Chen asked Sha Meng, the city lord of Black Sand City, directly.

Such a direct inquiry was unexpected by Sha Meng, the city lord of Black Sand City.

But he quickly recovered and looked at the Dragon Emperor in front of him, cautiously asking, "There are some things I still have questions about, and I would like to ask them in person."

Zhao Chen pointed to Li Yaqi beside him and introduced her: "This is Li Yaqi, the Minister of Commerce of our Xiaolong Interstellar Empire. She is mainly in charge of this Universal Trade Alliance plan."

She was also in charge of other related trade cooperation.

If you have any questions, you can ask them now in person.

We will answer all your questions.

Upon hearing Li Yaqi's identity, Sha Meng, the city lord of Black Sand City, immediately greeted her: "So this is the Minister of Commerce of the Empire. It's an honor to meet you here."

Minister Li Yaqi nodded slightly and said, "Our Emperor is very direct when discussing matters, so we can just address your questions directly."

Black Sand City Lord Sha Meng thought to himself: It seems that this style of doing things is the style of the entire Xiaolong Interstellar Empire.

That's good, it saves us from all those complicated procedures.

Black Sand City Lord Sha Meng took a deep breath and asked directly, "Regarding the establishment of the Universal Trade Alliance, I don't really have any objections."

But I have some questions about the second plan.

His Majesty the Emperor has said that he is willing to grant us the right to sell Eden-class starships.

"So, to what extent is this sales access granted, and will there be any changes to the price?"

Minister Li Yaqi stated directly: "Regarding the opening of sales rights for Eden-class starships, the first thing to consider is our production capacity."

We can agree on the annual supply quantity for this.

For example, we can sign an agreement in advance that our Xiaolong Interstellar Empire Legion will provide the Liezhuo Holy Hammer Free Federation with at least 100,000 T2 Bronze Eden-class starships, 10,000 T3 Silver Eden-class starships, 1,000 T4 Gold Eden-class starships, and 100 T5 Diamond Eden-class starships each year.

These can all be written into the cooperation agreement.

If you would like to order more, we will adjust the amount according to our production volume for that year.

As for the price, based on the official price we have announced so far, there will not be any major changes, and we can guarantee that.

As you all know, the market price for our Eden-class starships is already very high, but our official selling price has never changed.

Zhao Chen listened to all this without any change in expression.

Because Minister Li Yaqi was right.

The Eden-class starships they officially sell are priced at the official price. As for those they sell privately on the market, those are naturally not considered official sales and are therefore not included in this category.

"However, in order to avoid this portion of Eden-class starships entering the market..."

We need to add a clause.

Because these Eden-class starships were specially supplied to the Scorching Hammer Free Federation, if someone deliberately resells this batch of Eden-class starships...

That would be detrimental to the market and also to our cooperation.

"I hope you can understand this," Minister Li Yaqi said seriously.

Sha Meng, the city lord of Black Sand City, nodded; he naturally understood this as well.

If they can acquire these Eden-class starships from the Dragon Star Empire Legion at the official price, they can simply resell them to the public and earn a profit of over 50%.

With such huge profits, there's no doubt that greedy people would do something like this.

"I can guarantee that the Eden-class starships we purchase through this cooperation will be used exclusively by the Blazing Holy Hammer Free Federation and will not be sold to any external parties," said Sha Meng, the city lord of Black Sand City, sincerely.

Minister Li Yaqi said with a smile, "We all know that these promises are meaningless."

Making numerous promises is less effective than imposing direct constraints.

First, we will install a backdoor program on this batch of Eden-class starships specially supplied to the Free Federation of Blazing Hammers. This backdoor program will not have any impact on the operation of the starships themselves.

However, these Eden-class starships are not allowed to leave the cosmic boundaries of the Burning Hammer Free Federation; once they do, these backdoor programs will be activated.

First, it will alert us, allowing us to pinpoint the location of these Eden-class starships. Second, all the main internal processes will shut down, rendering the Eden-class starship useless.

Regarding the occurrence of this situation.

We will confiscate the relevant Eden-class starships, and we will impose a fine on you for ten times the value of the interstellar warships involved. As for how you deal with the personnel involved, we will not interfere.

If the penalty is not paid by the end of the year, the trading of Eden-class starships will be temporarily suspended in the following year.

"Are these all alright?" Minister Li Yaqi explained her thoughts.

The second brother, Suna, frowned slightly. These restrictions were a bit too many.

But Sha Meng, the city lord of Black Sand City, agreed without hesitation: "No problem, I can agree to all of these."

Although these Eden-class starships they acquired could only be used within the Blazing Hammer Free Federation universe, their initial purpose was to support the races within the Blazing Hammer Free Federation universe and provide them with a better living environment.

"Do you have any further questions?" Minister Li Yaqi asked.

Black Sand City Lord Sha Meng paused for a moment before asking the question, glancing at the Dragon Emperor beside him.

Then, mustering his courage, he asked, "I heard from my second brother that His Majesty is willing to cooperate with us and provide us with the technical blueprints for the Eden-class starship, or even other Xiaolong-class interstellar warships!"

"Yes," Minister Li Yaqi nodded.

"Then may I ask, what kind of cooperation method is it?" Black Sand City Lord Sha Meng asked with burning eyes.

Even those of them from the Blazing Holy Hammer Free Federation, who had previously resisted the existence of the Dragonflight Interstellar Empire, had to admit that these Dragonflight interstellar warships were truly powerful after witnessing them.

Minister Li Yaqi began by saying, "There are multiple ways to cooperate."

Let's start by talking about technology licensing.

For lower-level interstellar warships, we can fully authorize interstellar warship technology, such as T2 and T3 level interstellar warships.

You are responsible for all production tasks, and after production is completed, our distributors will handle the sales.

In this process, you bear the costs and manufacturing, while we provide the technology and final sales.

We'll split the profits 50/50.

It's supposed to be a 50/50 split, but because the other party has to bear the construction costs, as well as the maintenance of the construction equipment, the recruitment and training of construction craftsmen, etc., the Dragon Star Empire actually gets more.

Sales channels are readily available to the Dragon Star Empire.

Because the sign for the Xiaolong series interstellar warships is hanging here.

The Dragon Star Empire is essentially using its own technology to get something for nothing here.

Hearing about this kind of cooperation...

Black Sand City Lord Sha Meng showed a thoughtful expression. He knew that the Dragon Owl Interstellar Empire had benefited from this cooperation, but he also knew that the party that controlled the technology held the initiative.

They can collaborate with anyone.

The reason they approached him was simply because they were interested in the industrial foundation of the Blazing Holy Hammer Free Federation.

"Then T4 and T4-class or higher interstellar warships."

We can fully authorize you to produce some parts, while you will be responsible for producing some key components, which will then be transported to the locations designated by our Xiaolong Interstellar Empire for assembly.

Our Xiaolong Interstellar Empire is responsible for the manufacturing and final assembly of the core modules.

For this type of interstellar warship, if it's for export, you can get 30% of the profits, and we'll take 70%.

If it is a starship used by our Xiaolong Interstellar Empire, we will pay you the market price for employee costs.

"The latter doesn't seem to make money, right?" Minister Li Yaqi added at the end.

Even the third brother, Sakichi, nodded subconsciously.

The latter group only received payment for their labor, which was essentially no income.

“However, if we want to cooperate with our Xiaolong Interstellar Empire in this area, we must take on these seemingly thankless and difficult orders,” Minister Li Yaqi said.

The three leaders suddenly realized.

This is a common tactic in bundled sales.

If you want to have full control over the production of those interstellar warships that can fetch a good price, you can.

Then you'll have to work for the Xiaolong Interstellar Empire in exchange for those interstellar warship manufacturing orders.

This can be considered a transaction.

"We can discuss the exchange ratio later."

"At least we won't let you suffer any losses," Minister Li Yaqi said.

“Please continue,” said Sha Mengrang, the city lord of Black Sand City, adding that he basically had no questions about the matter.

After all, in their Blazing Holy Hammer Free Federation, while they lacked many other things, the one thing they had in abundance was the production capacity of heavy industry.

"Another type of cooperation is for both of us to jointly establish some interstellar warship manufacturing groups."

Create a completely new brand series.

"We'll still be in charge of the technology, and you'll be in charge of production and manufacturing. We can discuss the profit sharing in this area." Minister Li Yaqi once again offered a good proposal.

Upon hearing this proposal, Sha Meng, the lord of Black Sand City, once again set his mind at work.

What does their Blazing Holy Hammer Free Federation lack? It lacks innovation in science and technology.

And the Dragon Star Empire Legion happens to possess this piece of land.

If we can really cooperate, that would be wonderful.

"In addition, considering the special circumstances of the Free Federation of Blazing Holy Hammers now."

For the first three years of our cooperation, we can provide the Scorching Hammer Free Federation with food supplies every month at prices far below market value.

We can also upgrade and transform the industrial base of the current Scorching Holy Hammer Free Federation to a certain extent.

"In that case, you might even be given full authority to produce T4-level interstellar warships, or even T5-level interstellar warships in the future," Li Yaqi said.

At this moment, Sha Meng, the lord of Black Sand City, seemed to be envisioning a bright future.

They themselves were well aware that while the Free Federation of Blazing Hammers' heavy industry was capable of producing low- to mid-range interstellar warships and components, it was completely inadequate for producing high-end interstellar warships.

To date, their failure rate in producing T5-class interstellar warships remains very high, especially for some of the more technically demanding ship types.

Sha Meng, the lord of Black Sand City, looked at his two brothers.

In fact, they had basically discussed and decided on this before they even arrived.

And now most of my questions have been answered.

So now only one question remains.

"Emperor of the Dragon, this is my last question."

We have all witnessed the power and rise of the Dragon Star Empire.

To be frank, our Blazing Holy Hammer Free Federation was quite resistant to the existence of the Wraith Dragon Interstellar Empire because our two sides had many overlapping areas.

In these overlapping areas, we are inferior to the Dragon Star Empire.

This naturally increased the clearer and more obvious resistance in this area.

Another concern is whether the Wyvern Interstellar Empire, with its formidable military strength, might engage in external expansion.

If we continue to cooperate, the military strength of the Xiaolong Interstellar Empire will inevitably continue to improve.

"I want to ask you a question: Will you eventually annex our Blazing Holy Hammer Free Federation?" Black Sand City Lord Sha Meng stared directly at Zhao Chen, awaiting the answer from this Dragon Emperor.

Zhao Chen smiled and said, "My goal has never been to invade and control other interstellar civilizations or universes."

I just want to protect everything I'm in and the people around me.

That's why we're so eager to improve our military strength.

You all know about our entangled relationship with those who devour civilization and order.

We are forced to either advance or retreat.

Therefore, we have no choice but to go down this path to the bitter end.

As for using force against you, I can guarantee that as long as our cooperation goes smoothly, your Blazing Holy Hammer Free Federation will not stand against our Wraith Dragon Interstellar Empire.

"Our Dragonflight Interstellar Empire's army will absolutely not set foot in the Blazing Holy Hammer Free Federation without your invitation or permission..."

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