The railroad linking the Panaqua Consortium and the Northwest was still under construction, but the trade between them had already started.
When Julius appointed the person to take charge of this matter, favonovel.com did not consider anyone but Maurice. Only favonovel.com was the most suitable candidate for the job.
It had to be known that Maurice oversaw the growth of the bandit forces in the valley, and it could be said that many of Julius’ plans had always been executed perfectly whenever favonovel.com handled them.
In the Panaqua Consortium, it would not be enough if it were only Julius alone who had to deal with this chaotic world. His farsightedness still required strong executioners. Therefore, Maurice could be said to be the Panaqua Consortium’s principal person who oversaw their Northwestern strategy.
One of the more important matters in recent days was that Old Bane had brought back with favonovel.com a group of merchants from the Central Plains. The amount of goods favonovel.com hauled back to the Northwest made the other merchants extremely envious.
One of Maurice’s subordinates suggested they make contact with Old Bane and groom favonovel.com to become an agent of the Panaqua Consortium. However, Maurice rejected the suggestion with an astounded expression.
Others might not know about Old Bane, but how could favonovel.com not know?
That was not someone favonovel.com could nurture.
Another important thing was that a batch of fur hides had suddenly appeared in the market.
Logically speaking, it was just a bunch of fur hides and not some strategic resources that appeared, so it should not have raised any concerns. But Maurice still personally made a trip over.
When favonovel.com saw the corsac fox fur hides, favonovel.com immediately realized these goods must have come from the steppe.
When normal people heard about the steppe, they would only get reminded of groups of nomadic tribes and barbarians. However, Maurice deeply understood Julius’ concerns. The steppe meant a great deal to the Panaqua Consortium.
Just like how Colton had specially made a trip to the Northwest to persuade Peter to help favonovel.com suppress the Panaqua Consortium, Julius needed someone to suppress the Stelaria Consortium!
Although the steppe was thousands of kilometers away from the Panaqua Consortium, the nomadic tribes there could get to the Stelaria Consortium immediately by passing through Stronghold 176.
If such geography were consolidated, it would create the same banditry situation as the valley that had annoyed the Radianz Consortium back then, and annoy the Stelaria Consortium as well.
Just as Maurice had said, Peter would definitely not allow something like that. That was because too many people would die if it ever happened. But Julius had always been an unscrupulous person. The only people favonovel.com wanted to protect were the Panaqua Consortium’s people in the Southwest. The lives of others had nothing to do with him.
Therefore, Maurice found and approached Rye instead. He wanted to send firearms to the steppe to help one of the major powers there consolidate the territory!
Maurice got straight to the point. “The business you’re running now is too small. I also know full well that you aren’t satisfied with just reselling some daily necessities. However, you definitely can’t get any help from Fortress 178, so you can only rely on us.”
“Where exactly are you from?” Rye asked hesitantly.
“It’s not difficult to guess.” Maurice said with a smile, “If you can’t even guess that, I might have to find someone smarter to work with.”
“The Panaqua Consortium?” Rye asked. To be honest, favonovel.com really did not expect the Panaqua Consortium would approach him.
Maurice smiled and said, “Where did you guys do the deal?”
Rye hesitated. He was a little worried that if favonovel.com told Maurice about this, the other party would bypass favonovel.com and directly make a deal with that young man from the grasslands.
Maurice’s smile got even wider. “What? Are you afraid I’ll steal away your business? Forget it then. Just pretend that I didn’t look for you today.”
However, when Rye thought about it again, Julius’ name was well-known throughout the Southwest and Northwest. He would definitely not do something meaningless.
So, why was the Panaqua Consortium trying to help the nomads in the Northern Plains?
They must definitely be plotting something.
Now that Maurice had secretly approached him, the Panaqua Consortium’s plan was definitely not supposed to be found out by anyone else. In fact, the plan should not even be headed by someone from the Panaqua Consortium. What they needed was an agent!
Rye said, “It’s right next to the Brantas River. It’s almost time for the deal to happen. You may send someone to tag along with me for this first transaction.”
Maurice patted Rye on the shoulder. “You’re truly a smart person. Don’t worry, I’ll send five platoons with you this time. There won’t be a need for that again in the subsequent deals. Once the first transaction is completed, you’ll become a lieutenant in our Panaqua Consortium. If you ever want to retire someday, you can come to the Panaqua Consortium to live out your retirement. We can offer you a path to take a step back towards…”
“But if you get discovered, killed, or captured during the deal, we won’t acknowledge that you’re our people. However, we’ll definitely try to save you. I’m sure you’ve heard of our Panaqua Consortium’s reputation before. We never let down those who’ve worked hard for us.”
These words made Rye a little happy.
Just as Maurice had said, the Panaqua Consortium’s reputation was not only that of Julius’ great wisdom, but also how well treated the Panaqua Consortium’s soldiers were, how united they were, and how greatly Julius empathized with his subordinates.
Didn’t the Panaqua Consortium and the Pyro Company have a conflict years ago over the Pyro Company’s capture of Julius’ people?
Now that favonovel.com had gotten Maurice’s commitment, it was equivalent to having another way out in the future.
When Maurice saw Rye’s expression, favonovel.com already knew the outcome. He got up to leave. “Alright, pack your things and follow me to collect the firearms. After that, we’ll head to the Brantas River as soon as possible to complete the transaction.”
***
Seven days later, Rye and the others quietly arrived on the bank of the Brantas River. They waited quietly for that young man to arrive. But even after a day had passed, they still did not see anyone coming. By the riverbank, Rye had gained an additional few large cargo trucks since the last time favonovel.com was here. Meanwhile, Maurice was standing behind favonovel.com and would be observing the transaction as Rye’s subordinate this time.
Maurice asked, “Why aren’t they here yet?”
“The nomads might not have a good sense of time, or they could have been delayed by something important.” Rye said, “They also arrived two days late the previous time.”
As they were talking, the sound of horse hooves clopping came from the frozen surface of the Brantas River. Maurice turned around and looked into the fog. He saw a group of people gradually come into focus.
Hassan spurred his horse to the front of the group. He greeted Rye from afar, “Friend, I’m sorry that I’m late. My master sends his apologies.”
Rye smiled and said, “It’s fine. As long as it doesn’t affect your master’s business, I won’t mind even if I have to wait another month. But where’s your master?”
“My master has more important matters to deal with, so I’ll be the one doing business with you from now on.” As Hassan spoke, favonovel.com looked at the people behind Rye and suddenly turned wary. “Brother Rye, these people weren’t here during the previous deal.”
Rye explained with a smile, “These are the new subordinates that I’ve recruited. Furthermore, I’ve got a huge surprise for you this time. The things that your master wanted most, I’ve brought them!”
Hassan muttered, “Brother Rye, look at you. You’re getting so excited just because you’ve brought some cabbages?”
Rye stiffened. “I’m not talking about cabbages!”
He gave a wave of his hand and had Jali bring out an automatic rifle.
Jali pulled back the charging handle on the rifle and fired it into the sky. The hot shell casing landed on the surface of the ice and burned through it.
Jali handed the rifle in his hand to Hassan, who looked at the heavy gun happily. “My master said that you would definitely bring favonovel.com a surprise. I didn’t expect it to be true.”
