"So, Father, what do you think the selling price of this refined white sugar could be?"
Leilin set down the tray of white sugar in his hands and looked at Baron Jonas.
"At the very least, ten times the price of crude sugar! If I weren't worried about provoking backlash and covetousness from others, I'd even say we could push it to twenty times!"
Baron Jonas closed his eyes for a moment before answering with certainty.
"Then I'll leave the sales channels in your hands, Father."
Leilin smiled and nodded.
Once this refined sugar hit the market, the impact would be enormous. As for how to navigate the fine line — finding backers, sacrificing some profits, building an interest coalition — how could Leilin possibly rival the incomparably experienced Baron Jonas in matters of trade?
"I also looked at the fish floss from before — truly excellent!"
Baron Jonas gazed at his son, his eyes brimming with indescribable emotion. "Sigh… you really have given your father a rather difficult problem to solve. Such enormous profits…"
Though he sighed, the smile on the Baron's face was impossible to hide.
This child of his, Leilin, never failed to deliver surprises that far exceeded expectations.
…
With sufficient manpower and resources at his disposal, the fish floss and white sugar trade that Leilin had been anticipating finally got into full swing.
Baron Jonas understood perfectly well that no single family could swallow such a massive profit alone. So he used these two products to bring aboard several minor nobles whose territories were also located overseas, as well as some local political factions he had recently courted. He gave up a substantial portion of the profits to draw them into the fold, sharing the burden of any resulting backlash together.
And once Faolan Island's refined white sugar entered the market, the impact it created even exceeded the Baron's imagination.
That pure sweetness — it was a heavenly sensation that immediately captivated many nobles and sent them into a frenzy over this luxury good.
In the very first month alone, profits reached an astonishing two thousand gold cro!
The fish floss trade, while not quite as explosive, still received an excellent market response. Its convenience, ease of consumption, and long shelf life made it a hit among mercenaries and adventurers, and even certain royal military authorities expressed interest.
Did one really need to spell out the profits involved in military supply contracts?
Riding these two lanes paved with gold, the entire Faolan Island began developing at a rapid pace. Leilin even had to open several additional production lines to keep up with the ravenous market demand.
And, of course, none of this would have been possible without the Scarlet Tiger Pirate Crew's repeated "investments"!
Under Leilin's covert direction and with the assistance of the Barbarian Pirate Crew, the Scarlet Tiger carried out several bold raids under Isabel's command, ambushing a number of Marquis Louis's merchant vessels.
Meanwhile, Leilin himself remained right on Faolan Island, the very picture of a man who had withdrawn from worldly affairs to focus on secluded cultivation. The Barbarian Pirate Crew also kept remarkably quiet, leaving their enemy utterly unable to gather evidence, forced to gnash his teeth in secret while planning his revenge.
Before he knew it, nearly a year had passed.
The encampment Leilin had built previously had now transformed into a thriving maritime port. Hard green stone flagstones paved the ground, and imposing brick-and-tile buildings rose on every side. The entire harbor was laid out with impeccable rationality, public order was exemplary, and not a single scrap of litter could be seen on the ground — something utterly inconceivable at other ports.
Filth and squalor were the very breeding grounds of disease and plague, and Leilin would never tolerate that.
Moreover, a clean, well-organized port with good order held an unimaginable appeal for the sea merchants of this era.
Combined with the two flagship export products — fish floss and refined sugar — the port had become a magnet for wealth. Every day, countless ships docked at the wharves or departed loaded to the brim with cargo. Even at night, laborers toiled ceaselessly, filling the air with a clamor of bustling prosperity.
Leilin named this port — "Morning Star Harbor"! A symbol of a rising star!
Indeed, since Morning Star Harbor's establishment, it had not only drawn over the numerous merchants who had previously been at Faolan Port — it was even showing signs of quietly becoming another trading hub of the outer seas!
In the outer seas of Danbres, the overt Port of the Bodhi Archipelago and the covert Pirate Port had long stood as two sharply distinct poles. Now, Morning Star Harbor was unmistakably taking shape as a third pole rising to prominence!
This shift in the grand balance of power naturally attracted the attention of many watchful parties.
"My Lord, the latest intelligence!"