111: Chapter 111 Pricing Power: The True Kingship

Shipping Security Services.

The pronunciation of this phrase was clear and gentle, but every syllable was like a honey-dipped poison needle. The moment it pierced Valerius's eardrums, it instantly ignited all the noble dignity and fury within him.

"You—!"

After a brief moment of shock, Valerius's face, which was pale and plump from a life of privilege, instantly flushed to the color of pig liver.

He slammed the table violently. The heavy oak long table let out a dull, thunderous boom, and the gold plates and crystal wine glasses on it jumped violently, letting out a sharp "clink."

The juices from the delicacies splashed out, staining the snow-white tablecloth like a crudely ruined still-life painting.

"How dare you!" His voice was no longer the feigned gentleness from before, but had turned into a low growl, sending echoes through the empty banquet hall. "The dignity of Silvermoon City and the honor of the Byron Family—are these commodities that can be traded for shares and gold coins? Levi Byron, do you think that by relying on a sneak attack by a ragtag bunch, you can step on the head of a hereditary Earl? You are too naive!"

As he roared, the guards who had been standing as still as statues around the banquet hall all took a step forward in unison.

The ends of the halberds they held tightly were slammed heavily onto the polished marble floor, producing a synchronized, dull "thud."

Cold iron armor scraped together, and murderous intent instantly filled the air, dispelling the last trace of food aroma.

Valerius's stout body trembled slightly with rage. He looked at Levi and said, "But you also seem to have overestimated your own situation."

"Young man, look around you. This is my castle. I only need one gesture, and you and your beautiful female companion will become minced meat to feed the Land Dragons."

"Do you think you can still walk out of this door?"

The threat was so thick it had almost condensed into substance.

However, Levi's expression did not change in the slightest.

He didn't even look at the approaching guards, as if they were just a group of harmless decorations.

His gaze remained calmly fixed on Valerius. That look was not like one directed at a lord who held the power of life and death, but more like one directed at an unprocessed commercial report.

So noisy.

Not professional at all.

Anger is a weapon only the weak brandish; the truly strong only calmly calculate gains and losses.

He ignored the glinting tips of the halberds and simply tilted his chin slightly, gesturing to Evelyn behind him.

Evelyn understood immediately.

The eternal frost on her face seemed capable of freezing even the surrounding murderous intent.

She pulled a second report from the stack of documents she carried and walked to the table with steady steps.

This time, she didn't push the document over. Instead, in an almost humiliating manner, she simply let go, allowing the stack of parchment to fall with a soft "thwack," scattering into the soup and grease in front of Valerius.

The corner of Valerius's eye twitched. This silent action was more provocative than any malicious words.

He suppressed the urge to order an attack, his gaze unconsciously falling on the soiled document.

The title on the top page was written in an extremely neat but emotionless font: "Silvermoon City Grain Reserve and Supply Chain Stress Test Report."

What the hell is this?

His confusion lasted only a second.

As his eyes swept over the content below, the blood seemed to drain from his body instantly, and a chill rushed from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

"Three months ago, you hosted a banquet for your daughter's coming-of-age ceremony. The menu included roasted porcupine, rainbow pheasant, and chilled oysters flown in from the South Sea. The total cost of ingredients was one hundred and twenty gold coins."

Levi's voice rang out again, still steady, yet sounding like a devil whispering from the abyss.

He didn't look at the report, but every number on it seemed etched into his mind.

"One month ago, you entertained the Royal Inspector. The main course was three juvenile Fire Salamanders from the Misty Mountains. This single expense exceeded two hundred gold coins."

"The three major grain merchants under your rule—'Golden Ear', 'Stone Mill', and 'Harvest Carriage'—had inventory turnover rates of thirty, thirty-five, and forty-two days respectively over the past year. By cross-referencing this with the reserves in the city's official granaries, we can reach a conclusion."

Levi paused for a moment, allowing enough time for fear to ferment in the other man's heart.

Valerius's hand trembled uncontrollably. He wanted to pick up the report, but found his fingers were too stiff to obey.

The parchment clearly listed the menu of every one of his extravagant banquets, the quantity of grain in every official purchase, and even the bidding prices and cycles for each restock by the city's grain merchants were clearly marked.

This... how is this possible?

This was more detailed than the reports presented by his own financial officer!

This wasn't just intelligence; this was a dissection!

"The conclusion is," Levi's voice sounded like a final judgment, "once the cash flow of your Ironwood trade is severed and you can no longer purchase grain from the outside, all of Silvermoon City's existing reserves—both official and private—will only be enough to sustain the city's residents for forty-five days."

"After forty-five days, the first batch of citizens will begin to starve. After sixty days, hunger will turn into riots. At that time, Lord City Lord, do you think your guards, who are three months behind on their pay, will choose to protect you, or choose to join the mob looting the granaries?"

"I don't even need to send troops to besiege the city," a hint of a smile finally appeared at the corner of Levi's mouth, but there was no warmth in that smile, only cold pity. "Hunger will overthrow everything you have for me."

Valerius slumped in his chair, breathing heavily, large beads of cold sweat dripping onto the luxurious dining table.

He looked at the young man before him. All his anger, pride, and murderous intent were crushed to pieces before these cold, precise data.

He finally understood.

The other party hadn't come for a military adventure from the very beginning.

This wasn't a reckless invasion, but a long-premeditated financial 'decapitation' operation executed with extreme precision.

The city walls he was proud of and the guards he had painstakingly managed were as fragile as window paper before this new logic of war.

Silence. A deathly silence.

After a long time, Valerius raised a trembling hand and waved it feebly.

"...All of you, withdraw."

His voice was hoarse and dry, filled with a sense of defeat.

The guards looked at each other but obeyed the order. Their armor clattered as they stepped back into the shadows of the banquet hall, and the oppressive murderous intent vanished with them.

In the banquet hall, only Levi, Evelyn, and Valerius—who had completely lost all his bargaining chips—remained.

For the first time, Valerius re-examined the young man before him from an equal rather than a superior stance.

His gaze was complex, containing fear, confusion, and a hint of undisguisable... curiosity.

"You... what exactly do you want?" he asked, his tone no longer possessing its previous arrogance.

Levi adjusted his sitting posture, leaning back slightly against the chair.

This subtle movement instantly changed the atmosphere. The aggressive pressure quietly dissipated, replaced by a composed aura more akin to 'business cooperation'.

"Lord City Lord, you see, we have returned to the initial question." Levi smiled, as if all the unpleasantness just now had never happened. "I will say it again: what I want is not your gold coins, nor your land. If I wanted those things, there are plenty of ways to take them myself, and at a lower cost."

His gaze swept over the exquisite dishes on the table, and his tone became sincere: "What I want is to have a win-win cooperation with a visionary lord like you. To jointly develop a trade route that is more efficient, safer, and more profitable than the current one. We can unify the fee standards along the way, establish standardized warehousing and security systems, and even introduce insurance and prepayment systems."

Valerius frowned. Every word Levi threw out felt foreign to him, but combined together, they faintly outlined an extremely tempting commercial blueprint.

"In return," Levi threw out his bargaining chip at the right time, "Blackstone Territory will grant Silvermoon City exclusive access to the southern market we have just opened up. You should know how fanatical the noble ladies of the southern kingdoms are about furniture and exquisite wood carvings made from the hard ironwood of the North. That market was previously monopolized by several large merchant groups in the Royal Capital. Now, we have the opportunity to bypass them and trade directly."

He lightly packaged this naked annexation as a mutually beneficial 'industrial upgrade'.

Valerius was no fool. He remained silent for a moment, the wariness in his eyes regaining the upper hand. "The southern market? That sounds wonderful, but to me, it's just a pie in the sky that you've drawn. Why should I believe you? Who knows if this isn't another trap you've set to annex my ironwood forests?"

He straightened his back a bit, trying to reclaim some dignity in the negotiation. "Unless you can show me immediate, concrete benefits. Otherwise, I would rather risk internal strife and fight you to the death! Even if Silvermoon City is destroyed, it will never surrender to an empty promise!"

"Evidence?" Levi laughed. The smile was confident and composed, as if everything was under his control.

"Of course there is. In fact, the evidence is already on its way."

He picked up the untouched glass of fine wine in front of him, swirled it gently, and watched the golden liquid trace an elegant arc on the glass.

"Lord City Lord, I heard that you have always wanted to get in touch with the 'Red River Chamber of Commerce', one of the three major merchant groups on the continent, but their haughty chief representative has rejected your invitations several times, correct?"

Valerius's heart skipped a beat. This matter was a sore point for him; except for a few confidants, outsiders couldn't possibly know.

Levi didn't wait for him to answer and continued on his own. His voice wasn't loud, but it reached Valerius's ears clearly. Every word was like a stone thrown into a lake, creating ripples in his heart.

"No need to worry. By my calculations, that chief representative should be just outside Silvermoon City at this moment. In his carriage, he carries a massive order for five thousand cubic meters of high-quality ironwood specifically from Silvermoon City, guaranteed by me personally, and is waiting for your personal audience."

Just as Levi finished speaking—

"Bang!"

The heavy oak doors of the banquet hall were suddenly burst open by a huge force from the outside. A servant came scrambling in, his face full of panic and disbelief, his voice sharp and distorted.

"Lord... Lord City Lord!"