With the goblins' business acumen, they certainly wouldn't do a losing business. In their previous investigation, they had carefully observed the changes in Ellington. They were very certain that Tang En's various technologies had the potential to make money, which was why they were so decisive in cooperating with him.
In other words, the goblins also knew that cooperating with Tang En was a win-win situation, which was why they agreed to his conditions.
As for their support … They had to pay anyway, so who didn't matter who they supported?
As an arms dealer, the goblins probably couldn't wait for Tang En to become strong and quickly go out to fight for hegemony. Only war would produce a large amount of consumption and demand, and the banking industry and arms industry would gain more profits.
The goblins' thoughts could not be hidden from Tang En. After all, he came from Earth. Everyone was well aware of the forces behind the incessant local wars on Earth. If they wanted to play tricks with him, the goblins were still a little lacking.
After confirming the cooperation, Tang En turned around and went to Hammersmith Castle to find the current dwarf king, Durandon. Contrary to Tang En's expectations, Durandon wasn't being intimate with Saroma. Instead, he was in front of the large forge forging a battle axe with Eibron.
"I say, is it really okay for you to abandon your wife and father-in-law and sweat like rain here?"
Tang En walked over unsteadily. The battle axe was still half-finished, but he could already see the rough outline. It had a double-edged double-curved design, and was not the common single-edged crescent-shaped design. This kind of design was very difficult to use, and if one's skills were not good enough, they would hurt themselves if they were not careful.
Durandon looked at Tang En with slight surprise, "Tang En?"
"Your Majesty, please don't be distracted during the forging process."
Eibron didn't even raise his head as he steadily hammered the hammer on the embryo. Durandon immediately refocused and got into the rhythm of the forging.
Twain spread out his hands and simply took out a recliner and juice. He lay down next to it and rested. Anyway, it was snowing heavily outside in the Ambris Mountains. The inside of the forge was as warm as spring, and it felt quite comfortable.
Half an hour later, Eibron placed the embryo into a bucket of water to quench it. Only then did they have time to rest.
Durandon wiped his sweat and carefully moistened his beard to check if it was damaged by the high temperature. He then asked, "Why are you here? Today isn't the delivery date for the asphalt. Could it be that my old man is in trouble again? "
When he saw Tang En, Du Langdeng's first reaction was that his father had gotten into trouble again.
"No, no, no. Brian has been behaving well recently. After advancing to the Gold tier, he has continued to train while studying and analyzing various new technologies in the research institute. He is quite honest, except for the fact that he likes to brag a little and goes to Old Tom's place every day to drink."
"Advance to Gold rank?"
Eibron's eyes widened. "That lazy bastard Bryan? He could still advance in this lifetime? The Goddess must have opened her eyes. "
"Hey, hey. Don't talk about the Goddess like that. You'll be punished."
"A mother wouldn't punish her child for something she didn't mean."
Seeing Eibron's serious face, Tang En raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, let's not talk about this. I'm here for business. Do you want to make money?"
"Make money? We don't have much use for money. We don't trade much with humans every year. Only certain villages and human merchants use it for food and wine. "
Tang En didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "What if there's a big trade in the future, but you don't have enough money to pay for it?"
"What's there to be afraid of? We have hard currency. "
Durandon casually held up a row of hammers. "Dwarves have a golden reputation. A hammer with a handle is much more useful than a bag of gold coins."
Tang En was about to retort when he realized that he couldn't refute Durandon's words.
A dwarf who carried a hammer with him must be a craftsman who loved to forge. Anyone would be willing to pay for him just to build a good relationship with him.
"Alright, it's my mistake. Let me put it in another way. Do you want to earn more food and wine?"
"Yes!" Eibron and Durandon said in unison.
Fuck! You can buy it with gold coins!
Tang En didn't bother to retort. "Then you can start preparing. I've reached an agreement with the Star Diamond Bank today. When the Month of Dawn arrives, we'll begin a large-scale road construction project. The demand for asphalt will increase greatly. Our current production capacity will be increased by at least ten times."
"Ten times?!"
Durandon was stunned. "Even with the magic-energy drilling machines you've provided, ten times the production capacity is still too much. I'll need at least thirty times more workers to achieve three shifts!"
"I can continue to increase the supply of magic-energy drilling machines. In addition, I can also provide you with an extra hundred magic-energy drilling machines. You can use them however you want."
"That's not enough."
Durandon was obviously tempted, but he didn't immediately agree. Instead, he looked at Tang En with a smile. "I heard the old man boasting that Ellington's magic-energy furniture is very popular. We want to give it a try. If possible, we can use our resources to buy it. What do you think?"
Twain was stunned for a moment before he nodded and said, "It was my oversight. What do you need?"
"Magic-Energy air conditioners, magic-energy washing machines, magic-energy refrigerators, magic-energy hair dryers, magic-energy water heaters, and so on …"
Durandon had obviously done his homework. He didn't hesitate to speak. After a pause, he looked at Tang En with a bit of expectation. "By the way, do you have any magic-energy machines for beard maintenance?"
Tang En was dumbfounded, and then he said angrily, "Of course not! "Humans aren't like dwarves. They can't understand the beauty of beards. But if you want, I can help you develop a product for beards. What do you think?"
"That's great!"
Unexpectedly, it wasn't Durandon who rushed to answer. "It's nice to have it fluffy, but it's not very satisfying. I'm tired of braiding it all the time. It'd be great if you could change the style."
Tang En's mouth twitched. He didn't expect Eibron to take his words seriously.
It seemed that he'd have to make a magic-energy perm later. It didn't require much technology anyway.
Even if he didn't sell it to the dwarves, he could sell it to the noblewomen. They were still using hollow copper rods and charcoal to curl their hair. If there were more convenient tools, they'd be overjoyed.
"In addition to the magic-energy furniture, I also hope that you can build a road between Hammerforge Castle and the dwarven villages for free."
Durandon wasn't stupid. If even the cunning goblins were willing to cooperate with Tang En to build roads, it meant that asphalt was a good way to pave roads. At the very least, it would be profitable. Since that was the case, the dwarves couldn't fall behind.
"This …"
Tang En furrowed his brows. "The terrain of the Ambris Mountains is complicated. Furthermore, the temperature changes greatly in winter and summer, and there is a lot of rain and snow. Furthermore, the dwarf villages are usually surrounded by forests. If we were to build a road, it would cause a lot of damage to the vegetation and greenery. The project is very difficult. If we were to tell the goblins that we would build it for free, they would definitely not be happy."
Durandon frowned as well. "I see …"
"How about this!"
Tang En suddenly had an idea. "The goblins don't know about the teleportation circle. We can use the excuse of transporting asphalt to get them to pay for the road from Hammerforge Castle to Ellington. In the process, we can connect to the other dwarven villages."
"That's possible, but aren't you afraid of revealing the secret of asphalt?"
Eibron looked at Tang En suspiciously. "Do you think the goblins will continue to cooperate with you if they know the secret of asphalt?"
Tang En smiled faintly. "Don't worry. The asphalt they excavate can't be used directly to pave roads. And even if they know, without my magic-energy machinery, they can't do it in large quantities. Asphalt isn't easy to find. They can't just steal it from under your noses, can they?"
"That's true."
"Even if they can get their hands on the asphalt, figure out the technology behind it, and even pave roads on their own, I'll be happy to see it happen."
Twain smiled faintly and said, "They're only helping me achieve a goal quickly. Then, I can focus my energy on other things. As for the benefits involved, to be honest, I don't really care."
"I'm surprised," Eibron said with a smile.
"I thought humans and goblins were the same. Both of them put profit first."
"That's true."
Before Eibron could react, Tang En shrugged and continued. "But it's too easy for me to earn gold coins, so I'm not interested. As long as I have enough gold coins, it's enough. After all, they're just a currency. They can't be eaten or used."
"If others could think like you, this world would be much more peaceful."
"Don't joke around. Prandal is already very peaceful, okay?"
Tang En had never seen such a peaceful otherworld. Whether it was in games, novels, comics, or anime, which otherworld wasn't filled with war and bloodshed?
But then again, if it weren't for the gods in Prandal, Prandal would've been in a similar state.
After discussing the details of the cooperation with Durandon, Tang En returned to Ellington. The next step was to take advantage of the remaining 20 days of the Month of Frozen to start working overtime on the production of magical drilling machines, magical road flattening machines, magical pavers, and magical road rollers. As Gary had patted his chest and guaranteed that there would be enough manpower when the time came, he planned to start several projects at the same time. Therefore, the equipment had to be sufficient.
But … with Ellington's current production conditions and manpower, it would be difficult to reach the target.
Tang En frowned and sighed. It seemed that the production at Blackrock Cavern would have to start early.
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