Li De's arrangements were undeniably effective.
The centaurs did not dare to show the slightest negligence toward anything he said. It very much resembled a surrender agreement made under duress.
Only after displaying sufficiently overwhelming strength did he come to discuss business. Although such a barbaric method struck Li De as rather laughable, this was the way of Glory: if your fist wasn't strong enough, it didn't matter who you were, you had no right to sit at the negotiating table.
"What price are you offering?"
Sam Ironhoof gave Li De a deep look.
"For a Rare ★ armor, we can offer 20 hides of Level 5 Barren Plains Rhinos."
The price of magical beast hides depended on size and quality. The hide of a Level 5 magical beast typically went for around 10 to 30 Gold Pucks.
Barren Plains Rhino hides were considered large magical beast hides. In Green City, one hide could fetch about 30 Gold Pucks and could be used to craft at least five Magic Scrolls.
And Magic Scrolls sold for 9 to 12 Gold Pucks each.
Which meant a single Barren Plains Rhino hide could generate approximately 60 Gold Pucks in value.
Meanwhile, a Rare ★ piece of equipment was valued at roughly 150 Gold Pucks. If it was dwarven-forged, that added another 50 to its value, totaling about 200 Gold Pucks.
That was the market price.
But in Dawn City, the production cost was incredibly low. Since the raw materials, workers, and production equipment were all his, the only real expense was labor.
Thus, the cost of producing Rare-level equipment in Dawn City was about 20 Gold Pucks.
One rhino hide, after processing, could be traded for at least two Rare ★ pieces of equipment, leaving the remaining 19 hides as pure profit.
Trading 20 Level 5 Barren Plains Rhino hides for a single Rare ★ armor, this level of profit was enough to drive anyone mad.
Li De met the gaze of the 3.5-Blade-tall centaur Patriarch, observing the other's slightly apprehensive expression with a smile on his face.
The centaurs really had been scammed hard by human merchants before, hadn't they? He probably thought this was already an incredibly low offer.
And indeed, it was. Previously, centaurs had to trade at least 50 Barren Plains Rhino hides to obtain a Rare ★ armor from human merchants, and even then, it wasn't dwarven-forged. In comparison, the shaman's offer was already generous.
Li De was fully aware of this, but he had no intention of overly exploiting the centaurs.
Because there was no need. Equipment trade was merely the beginning. To him, the vast Dwarven Hills held far more valuable things than just magical beast hides.
Did they really think such a large region had no mineral veins? No other rare resources?
All of these were tradable. The centaurs wouldn't make use of them anyway.
A glint of amusement flashed through Li De's eyes. He had already prepared a host of favorable policies for these centaurs.
During the Age of Exploration on Earth, Europeans used cheap tobacco, liquor, and daily goods to plunder massive wealth from the Americas.
Compared to the Lionmane Tribe he had conquered through force, Li De felt no desire to subjugate the centaurs. Economic methods worked far better than brute force, especially since Dawn City had neither the capacity nor the energy at this stage to launch a military campaign into the Dwarven Hills.
The Ironhoof Tribe was his window into the Dwarven Hills. This spur-of-the-moment plan had thoroughly sparked his interest.
"Deal. Patriarch Sam, your sincerity has earned you the opportunity to cooperate with Dawn City," Li De said with a smile to the shaman, who thought he had gotten an incredible bargain.
"Our current stock is all crafted for human proportions. Patriarch Sam, you can have your people provide me with detailed measurements.
I will have my dwarves custom-craft armor specifically tailored for you."
Upon hearing this, a look of genuine delight appeared on Sam's face. Custom-crafted?? Was that even possible??
The unfortunate centaurs had long been trapped and left behind by the era due to isolation. The Dwarven Hills may have been their domain, but it had also become their cage.
They had long lost the former glory they held when the Centaur Empire once stood tall.
"Lord of Dawn, the Ironhoof Tribe wishes to build the most sincere friendship with you."
"That's exactly what I wish as well," Li De said with a chuckle, seeing how thrilled Sam had become. "Within three days, no fewer than 500 sets of Rare ★ armor will be delivered to the Ironhoof Tribe.
And Patriarch Sam must be ready with the Barren Plains Rhino hides for trade."
The Crimson Mage Tower was in urgent need of magical materials to replenish its inventory, and he had no interest in dragging things out.
Five hundred sets??
That number instantly won Sam over. Among the entire Ironhoof Tribe, which had over ten thousand centaurs, even gathering a hundred complete sets of armor was already a remarkable feat.
Now, suddenly, five hundred sets were about to be delivered, the tribe's strength would rise significantly.
Just imagining his tribesmen charging into battle clad in dwarven-forged armor brought a big smile to Sam's face.
"Of course, we will gather them as fast as possible. Lord of Dawn, may I ask your name?"
Li De didn't respond directly. Instead, he looked up at Castro in the sky. One of the main reasons he hadn't had Andabella descend with him was that he didn't want that girl to learn too much about Dawn City.
"Patriarch Sam, you may call me City Lord Kachar."
City Lord?
Sam's expression grew slightly more serious at the title, and his gaze toward Li De became even more respectful.
To call oneself a City Lord meant owning an actual city. And this man not only had a Bone Dragon at his command but could also casually produce and sell dwarven-forged elite armor?
Thinking of this, Sam could vaguely envision a grand and powerful city standing tall behind this human, rising from the plains.
There was also a City Lord in the Dwarven Hills, the City Lord of Stormwind City. But he was the overlord of several million centaurs, a Majestic on the verge of stepping into Legendary rank.