"How much can you lend me?" Muria asked.
"Well, while maintaining the normal operations of my forces, I can probably lend you around thirty million."
"Elemental crystals?" Muria was a bit stunned.
"What else?" Gladys looked at Muria with some confusion.
"I thought it was gold coins," Muria smacked his lips, feeling a bit ignorant. Even at his wealthiest, he never had more than a million elemental crystals, and now Gladys was casually offering him thirty million, which was quite astonishing.
"That's impossible. The ten great empires stopped circulating gold and silver, these metals with little value, long ago. Instead, we use elemental crystal coins, which have practical value," Gladys patiently explained. Having witnessed Muria's combat strength, she would not look down on or ridicule him. Her ancestors had even taken action because of Muria, which made Gladys particularly pleased. So far, among all the heirs to the throne, only she knew of Muria's existence.
"Thirty million," Muria steadied his emotions and then thought about the real purpose of borrowing money. "I want to know if this amount is enough to buy enough void warships to form a fleet?"
Muria only knew that just building a floating city would cost over a million elemental crystals without even making a splash. The cost of void warships should not be as high as floating cities due to their different specifications and functions. He wasn't very knowledgeable in this area.
"With some careful budgeting, it should be enough to form an extremely small void fleet with no more than twenty ships," Gladys said uncertainly. "A void fleet at the very least requires scout ships, destroyers, light cruisers, heavy cruisers, and at least one light battleship as the command flagship. Also, there are specialized transport ships, medical ships, and supply ships, so..."
"The money you lend me is simply not enough," Muria concluded. Forming a fully functional fleet would barely make a splash with thirty million, which only empires could form. Duchies could only dream, and kingdoms could look up in envy, tightening their belts to potentially buy a castrated void fleet from an empire.
"You still need to borrow money, Your Highness Muria."
"Who else can I borrow from?" Muria asked somewhat helplessly. Thirty million wasn't enough. "And how much more do I need?"
"You need to consult a professional on this. As for borrowing money, you can look to the Deep Blue Chamber of Commerce. Andrew might give you a pleasant surprise," Gladys suggested another excellent idea.
"This might require borrowing a few billion!" Muria rubbed his temples. "What will I use to repay it?"
"Your Highness Muria, if you win this duel, you will gain dominion over a world. Not only will you not need to worry about these debts, but you will also make a significant profit, attracting imperial merchants to bring you money."
"I understand. Help me contact Andrew." Muria exhaled deeply, then pointed to the writhing mass at his feet that had turned into a lump of charred remains but still emitted life signs. "Also, find someone to take care of it. I look forward to seeing what it will become after this transformation."
...
"Your Highness Muria, I understand the situation. You are dueling with the princess of the Orlando Empire, but you currently lack a void fleet to transport your legion to the target world, correct?" The plump merchant sat opposite Muria in his human form, with Gladys beside Muria.
"Yes. Help me estimate what kind of fleet I need to transport my entire legion and how much money I will need," Muria said seriously.
"Is your legion composed of giants and dragons?" Andrew asked. He didn't know much about Synapse's information because he was very smart and didn't deliberately investigate Synapse. He only saw what Muria wanted him to see.
"About a hundred thousand giants and at least five times that number of mutated ferocious beasts. As for dragons, the number won't exceed a hundred," Muria estimated. He ignored the humans in Synapse, not thinking they could offer much help. Managing logistics was enough; let the giants and dragons handle the battlefield.
"In that case, your fleet will need to be specially customized. Although our empire is a mixed society, various ships are built to human standards. While they have space for large beasts, they still need modifications."
"How much money?" Muria stayed focused on the key issue.
"One billion two hundred and ninety million elemental crystals. This is my preliminary estimate, Your Highness Muria." Andrew handed Muria a crystal tablet detailing various void warships, their quantities, and prices.
"Banshee-class scout ships, fifty ships, total cost of fifteen million. Photon Elf medical ships, five ships, total cost of two million. Tiger Shark-class light cruisers, ten ships, total cost of twenty-eight million... Hydra-class battleship, one ship, single cost of thirty-six million." Muria frowned deeper as he read the prices. "Aren't there too many functional ships?"
"These are the essential standard ships for a fleet navigating the void."
"Isn't there a war fortress that combines all these functional ships? That would be much simpler. If there is, I'll just buy one."
"Your Highness Muria, you're talking about a floating city! That would be even more expensive and impossible to build in a short time."
"Isn't there a ready-made one?"
"Once the empire builds a floating city, it goes into use. It's not going to sit in a warehouse gathering rust," Andrew shook his head, dashing Muria's hopes of borrowing money to buy a floating city.
"A void fleet's various ships are essentially broken down functions of a floating city. For offensive purposes, the void fleet has more advantages."
"Indeed, the initial void fleets evolved from floating cities, but now they are entirely different systems, each with its own strengths and weaknesses."
"What if I only want transport and supply ships..."
"That's too risky, Your Highness. The void isn't an empty wasteland. It teems with all kinds of monsters. It's unrealistic to protect the fleet alone. You must buy various attack ships."
"Alright, Andrew, how much can you lend me?" Muria asked bluntly. There was no need to beat around the bush; their statuses were worlds apart.
"I can lend you as much as you need!" Andrew responded generously. His merchant fleet closely followed the imperial colonization fleet. He was the royal family's banker, amassing wealth unimaginable to Muria.
...
"Muria, this is our target civilization for the duel, the Soros Locust Civilization. Whoever first obtains the scepter of honor and the crown inlaid with three star cores from this civilization will be the winner."
The blue-haired, blue-eyed princess, her youthful and graceful figure relaxed yet slightly proud, introduced the duel's target in front of Muria.
"This is an aggressive insectoid civilization that developed from a medium-sized world. They have the power to explore the void and were fortunate to find seven small worlds around their mother world. They colonized and invaded these worlds through the space gates opened by their strong individuals."
"Wait," interrupted Gladys, who was beside Muria. Her question halted the Dragon Princess's introduction. With a playful smile, the Dragon Princess looked at her. "Is there a problem, Princess Gladys?"
"Isn't it excessive to choose a civilization capable of void colonization as the duel target? Their mother world is a medium-sized material realm."
"Just a fortunate insectoid civilization. Their worlds happened to have seven small worlds nearby, which they occupied with the help of strong individuals. It doesn't count as void colonization. They haven't developed the technology to send ordinary members into the void. They're just a primitive civilization with decent individual strength."
The Dragon Princess's tone was unusually disdainful. Her father and brothers had destroyed countless similar civilizations.
"But choosing a civilization capable of cross-world colonization for a royal duel is unheard of. This is blatant bullying," Gladys argued for Muria. Normally, royal duels target a small material realm; choosing a medium-sized one was rare in history.
"Bullying?" The Dragon Princess Felicia looked at Gladys with a strange expression before bursting into laughter. She then turned to Muria. "She says I'm bullying. Can I bully a Titan?"
"Muria doesn't have the forces you do. He hasn't even attended a single void warfare class at the Imperial War Academy."
"So?" Felicia gracefully twirled. "What's that to me? Muria has already agreed to the duel. According to the rules, I provide the target, and Muria decides the start time."
"Or," Felicia smiled at Muria, "do you, proud Titan Dragon, intend to use this princess's words to admit defeat to me? That works too."
"When did you hear me say I would admit defeat?" Muria placed a hand on Gladys's shoulder, forcing her to sit down. "Continue introducing the insectoid civilization."
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