Hot Sand felt a little embarrassed, Mogul rolled his eyes and almost rolled his eyes to the sky.
"You almost tricked us again! What are you going to do when Grizlik returns to Kezan?!"
Mogul allowed himself to complain a few words, and just as Resha was about to speak, he heard his entourage report that Antonidas had arrived.
Hot Sand took back the words that had just come to his mouth and quickly arranged his clothes.
"It's too early to say this now. Let's wait until we meet Antonidas."
Mogul nodded and quickly silenced his voice, waiting in full array for Antonidas' arrival.
Antonidas walked into Rongsha's residence with an elegant gait, and casually looked at the furnishings here.
The trade king's love for pleasure is well-deserved. Even if he lives abroad, he does not want to live in the place arranged by the Hanhai Protector like others. Instead, he rents a courtyard alone in the most prosperous area of Gadgetzan.
There was a soft and thick carpet under the feet, and as far as the eye could see were curtains of precious silk.
After walking into the living room, you are greeted by a long table, covered with a white tablecloth, with shining silver candlesticks placed on top of the tablecloth, and mutton-fat candles burning with soft candlelight.
There was actually a band on one side of the living room, playing a beautiful symphony.
Antonidas smiled and shook his head when he saw this scene. He could only say that he was worthy of being the goblin trade king.
Resha and Mogul, who were standing at the long table, greeted them warmly.
"Your Majesty Antonidas, thank you for visiting us and making our place shine."
After some pleasantries, Hot Sand invited Antonidas to sit down.
With the gentle clapping of hot sand, the dinner officially began, and all kinds of exquisite food and famous wines were served on the table.
Rongsha proudly introduced that these were all brought by them from Kezan. The simple-minded Hanhai Protector usually did not see these.
Antonidas took advantage of everything without being frightened, and he was actually surprised in his heart. I am afraid that even the court of Lordaeron is not as good as these extravagant goblins.
It's a pity that both of them have something on their mind, but no one is really enjoying the banquet.
After taking a sip of red wine, the Great Magician put down the goblet, coughed lightly and asked seriously.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Your Majesty Roussa, but I think we can get down to business."
After Resha and Mogul looked at each other, they also put down their wine glasses.
After a few claps, the waiters left the room one by one, and the band's performance stopped abruptly. They stood up, bowed, and left silently.
Rousha's gaze suddenly became profound, and his voice was somewhat ethereal.
"I wonder what the Great Magician thinks of the development of evil energy by the Protector of the Vast Sea?"
It was such a sharp topic from the beginning, which suited Antonidas' taste quite well.
"The development of the evil energy of the Hanhai Protector is very good. Applying the evil energy to the right path also promotes the development of arcana in disguise."
After hearing this, Resha had a weird smile on his face.
"Aren't the Archmage's words sincere? As far as I know, it was Khadgar and Kel'Thuzad who greatly helped the Protector of the Vast Sea develop evil energy. The Archmage has always been against evil energy in the early stages."
Antonidas immediately shook his head in denial.
"What I object to is just the abuse of evil energy."
Risa placed his fingers on the goblet and drew circles along the edge of the goblet, speaking with a hint of joking in his eyes.
"Is it evil energy that is abused? Or is it evil energy that is beyond one's control?"
These words aroused Antonidas's dissatisfaction, and his expression immediately became unkind.
"What do you mean?"
Resha didn't dare to anger Antonidas too much and hurriedly pulled back the conversation.
"Don't get me wrong, what I mean is what counts as abuse? What counts as non-abuse? Is there a standard for this?
How should abuse be defined, and who should define abuse? At present, this definition lies in the hands of the Hanhai Protector."
This time Antonidas's expression softened slightly, but he did not speak, but waited for the rest of Hot Sand's words.
"In today's world, Kezan is the second country that legally uses evil energy. However, our current development of evil energy is still quite backward and we need the support of other countries."
Antonidas pretended not to understand what Hot Sand said.
"If Kezan wants to develop evil energy, wouldn't it be great if he actively cooperates with the Protector of the Vast Sea? Why do you ask me to talk about this?"
Hot Sand gritted his teeth secretly, annoyed that the old guy was too conceited, but he could only speak more explicitly step by step.
"If Kezan cooperates with the Protector of the Vast Sea, then all power regarding evil energy will be in the hands of the Protector of the Vast Sea.
The Archmage is the agent of arcane magic in the mortal world, and is responsible for supervising the stability of magic. You will not sit back and let the definition of evil power fall to one family, right?"
Hot Sand gave Antonidas a perfect excuse, but the Archmage still did not express his attitude.
"So you mean to have Dalaran support Kezan in containing the Vast Sea Protector?
Don’t you, Your Excellency Rousand, not understand the relationship between Dalaran and the Protector of the Vast Sea?”
Resha's eyes widened and he said with a surprised expression.
"I always thought that Dalaran was pursuing the truth, but it would give up the opportunity to further develop arcana because of secular politics."
Antonidas smacked his lips.
"It seems that you have misunderstood us in the past. The Protector of Hanhai is an alliance ally and close comrade of Dalaran..."
At this point, Antonidas suddenly shut up and revealed a meaningful smile on his face.
Resha's heart pounded, and he clearly read three words from Antonidas' words and demeanor:
“Gotta pay more!”
Mogul, who was accompanying him on the side, finally played his role. The value of the Kaya crystals and arcane crystals produced in the rich mining area was not limited to the energy contained in them.
Based on Kezan's current status in the world, these crystals are just precious magic materials, but in the hands of Dalaran, they can become a lever to leverage the world situation.
Mogul told Antonidas that Dalaran could have the first right to purchase the rich mining area, and he could even accept Dalaran becoming the largest second batch in the crystal market.
At this point, Antonidas finally felt Kezan's sincerity, but even so, Antonidas still had to put forward his own conditions.
"Our cooperation is not profit-oriented. It is our ultimate goal to guide the positive development of evil energy and promote the progress of arcana.
The Protector of the Vast Sea realizes the free transformation between evil energy and arcane magic through Kaya crystals and magic circuits. The theoretical basis comes from Dalaran.
I will send a team of 50 senior mages, and they will teach you the relevant knowledge of making magic circuits.
And this is just the first batch of assistance. We will continue to provide additional assistance in the future, including establishing a research institute to help you complete the theorization and standardization of evil energy.
At the same time, Dalaran will also accept a group of goblin students and teach them arcane magic.
Don't rush to thank me, I have conditions for giving you this assistance.
I require all warlocks in Kezan to register with their real names, and no warlock is allowed to enter the land of Dalaran."
Steamwheedle and Mogul are in a bit of a dilemma. The latter condition is not excessive, but it requires all warlocks to register with their real names, which means that the fate of Kezan warlocks will be in the hands of Dalaran.
But when they thought of the generous assistance proposed by Antonidas, Hotsand and Mogul gritted their teeth and agreed.
Antonidas stood up from his chair and snapped his fingers lightly.
Dots of silver light flickered around Antonidas's wrist to form a band of light, and a roll of parchment floated out from his large robe.
The parchment automatically unfolded in mid-air, and the quill in the scroll automatically started writing on it.
Both Steamwheedle and Mogul, who had experienced the signing of the armistice treaty, recognized what it was. This was the most effective magical contract in Azeroth.
Antonidas opened his palms, and the drafted magic contract flew across the long table and landed in front of Hot Sand and Mogul.
"Please check whether the content above is consistent with the results of our previous discussion. If there are no problems, we can sign the contract."
In fact, Antonidas does not need to remind you in this regard. The first skill a qualified goblin businessman must master is to read contracts.
After confirming that the contents of the contract were correct, Hot Sand and Mogul excitedly wrote their names on the contract.
Being willing to sign a contract, rather than making a verbal promise, means that Antonidas will implement the assistance terms in the contract without any discount.
He recalled the contract with his fingers, and after confirming that both of them had signed it, Antonidas also picked up the quill with his hand and wrote his name.
Both parties signed their names, and the contract officially came into effect and became two identical copies. From then on, the contract cannot be changed or destroyed, and both parties must abide by the contract.
Compared to the excitement of the two of them, Antonidas seemed calm and calm, putting away his contract with a normal expression.
“A pleasure to work with.”
After leaving a few words, Antonidas left in a hurry, leaving Hotsand and Mogul a little confused. Even after signing a contract, some specific tasks such as time arrangements should be discussed.
How did they know that Antonidas was not as calm as he seemed at the moment.
Antonidas is now so excited that he cannot calm down to discuss the specific work details.
In fact, Antonidas had already set his sights on Kezan, but he had been conflicted in his mind before. Rongsha's proactive invitation actually gave Antonidas a step up.
On Hot Sand's side, it took him a long time to react, and he slapped his thigh in annoyance.
"Oops! We let this old guy fool us!
This old guy behaves in a reserved manner, but secretly he has even thought of an aid plan and has a ready-made magic contract in his arms... He is obviously eager to cooperate with us!
Alas, the loss is huge now, we could have sold it at a higher price,"
Mogul also regretted it endlessly.
"Consider yourself unlucky, this old guy looks like a kind elder on the outside, but he is so cunning on the inside.
This type of guy is the most deceptive. We didn’t lose unfairly. Fortunately, we didn’t lose real blood, it was just a small profit.
The contract has already been signed, so what else can we say? We should consider Grizlik’s affairs now, what are you going to do?”
Speaking of the trade king who was about to return, Hot Sand sighed hypocritically.
"The situation is changing too fast. With Grizlik's high prestige, as long as he returns to Kezan, the old troops will definitely gather under his command."
At this moment, Rousha's expression suddenly turned fierce.