"Oh! It looks like a big customer has arrived!" A goblin wearing goggles scurried out of the wooden hut, an exaggerated smile squeezed onto his slick green face.
"Time is money, my friend! Welcome to the Steamwheedle Cartel's Eastern Kingdoms Trade Post No. 47! I am the sales manager here, Grizzby Wrench!" The goblin rubbed his hands together, his beady eyes quickly scanning Rhodes and Renault, assessing their potential value.
What kind of big business could two humans have? Slave purchases, or perhaps zeppelin services? The Undead had been causing quite a stir lately, and many humans likely wanted to flee their homes. As long as the price was right, goblins were always willing to help.
But if they had no money, then it was a pity; goblins never served paupers. Or, they could always sell themselves—humans were considered a good slave race.
"How may I be of service? High explosives? Premium zeppelin service? Potent healing potions? Mana potions, or... do you require some 'special services'?"
Don't misunderstand; the 'special services' he referred to was human trafficking. As long as you dared to ask, goblins could find any race for you, even including High Elves or Night Elves.
Rhodes didn't waste words. He reached into his personal system and pulled out an object—a joint component he had carefully dismantled from a Gold Golem's arm during a previous experiment, which had not yet been magically repaired.
It shimmered with a pure golden light, about the size of three adult fists, shining brightly even in the dim light.
"Big business, Manager Grizzby." Rhodes placed the gold piece onto a nearby wooden crate that looked sturdy enough with a 'thud.' "I need to see the person in charge here, or someone you can contact immediately with enough authority to make decisions. This is a sample."
Rhodes also wanted to see exactly how valuable the metal blocks dismantled from the Gold Golems would be in the hands of a goblin.
Grizzby's eyes instantly bulged, nearly popping out from behind his goggles. He lunged at the crate like a starving wolf, pulling out a precision magnifying glass and a small pair of tweezers to carefully poke and scrape at the gold piece.
"Hiss—Gold purity—extremely high! A structure never seen before—a type of—*cough cough cough*."
He muttered to himself, but then a flash of cunning glinted in his beady eyes. He looked up, his face piling on an even more fawning but clearly calculating smile: "Aha! Honored guest! This—this is indeed a rare find! However—you see, the luster seems a bit—well—too restrained?"
"Perhaps it's contaminated with some unidentified inert impurities? And this method of cutting—very primitive and crude, it greatly reduces its circulation value!"
"While we at the Steamwheedle Cartel are happy to help, assessing risk takes time—especially with the current situation in Lordaeron—how about you tell me what kind of service you're looking for first, sir?" Grizzby said, an extremely greedy light flashing in his eyes.
Setting everything else aside, a piece of gold this large was very valuable. Moreover, this wasn't ordinary metal; it used an unknown material that even a well-traveled goblin like him didn't recognize. Thus, the price of this special metal was very high. However, since humans were currently suffering, he intended to drive the price down; a goblin who couldn't lowball wasn't a good goblin.
Rhodes rolled his eyes. The lowballing had begun; it was the typical goblin style. However, it seemed his item was indeed valuable—the fellow had almost pressed his face against it just now, and he was practically drooling all over the floor.
Rhodes sneered inwardly but remained expressionless. He knew the goblin's routine all too well. He leisurely pulled out a small cloth bag, untied the string, and took out a pure diamond from within. This was a sample chipped off a Diamond Golem, and it was also quite valuable.
"It seems you don't really know your goods, or perhaps I should go talk to the goblins of the Bilge Cartel?"
"What a pity. I came here with sincerity, but you insist on lowballing me," Rhodes said with an expression of helplessness.
"Wait! Wait! Honored friend! Time is money, and impulse is the devil!" Grizzby panicked, waving his short little arms.
"A misunderstanding! An absolute misunderstanding! I—my eyes have been a bit irritated by engine oil lately! Yes, yes, yes! You're right! This—this energy-infused characteristic is truly mesmerizing!"
"This natural diamond form is simply a masterpiece of the Creator! Please forgive my negligence!"
"Trust me, those guys at the Bilge Cartel are complete amateurs, and a bunch of greedy, crooked merchants to boot."
"They can't offer a high price at all; they might even try to rob you. You know they often fund pirates. But we at the Steamwheedle Cartel are different."
"This business is honest and reliable, and our prices are excellent." Fine sweat broke out on his forehead; he knew he'd run into someone who knew their stuff. Furthermore, the other party didn't seem to care particularly about the value of these items, which made him even more restless with desire—massive profits were right before him!
Regardless, this deal had to be made; he couldn't let his competitors snatch it away.
"To tell you the truth, I have dozens of tons of this stuff. I said it was a big business, and it might require the strength of your entire Steamwheedle Cartel, so get someone who can actually make decisions," Rhodes said with a cold snort.
Information about the Steamwheedle Cartel surfaced in Rhodes's mind. Their symbol was a golden hourglass insignia: it appeared on all shops in Steamwheedle-controlled areas, including the small goblin shop in front of him.
Core Philosophy: Absolute Neutrality, Profit Above All. They didn't participate in factional struggles and served only gold coins ("Time is money, friend!").
Open Services: They treated the Alliance, Horde, Pandaren, and even the Undead equally, providing infrastructure such as banks, auction houses,
and inns.
Grey Methods: Secretly supporting pirates, smuggling, and slave trading (for instance, the missions to clear out the Bloodsail Buccaneers in Booty Bay were actually acts of monopolization).
You're just like the Bilge Cartel; is there any goblin business that's actually clean?
Upon hearing this, the goblin owner's eyes widened. He had thought there were only these two pieces; it turned out there were dozens of tons. This was indeed beyond his responsibility.
However, if he could secure this deal, his status within the cartel would skyrocket. He would be one step closer to his goal of becoming a Trade Prince.
The goblin immediately adopted a more solemn and serious expression (at least by goblin standards): "Honored guest, your request is absolutely worthy of attention! Please wait a moment!" He turned and ducked into the depths of the shack. From within came the sound of clattering as he rummaged through things, followed by the sound of excited shouting into a sizzling, noisy communicator (likely Gnomish-made or a goblin-modified version).
"Wait a moment, you two. I'm getting the regional manager over here. It might take a little bit of time."
The goblin spoke to Rhodes while sending the message.
"Oh, is that so? Then you'd better hurry up, pal. You know, time is money, my friend."
"Oh! You're quite the humorist, sir! But you're right, time is money. Don't worry, I won't keep you waiting long. I'm having the Boss come over by zeppelin immediately."
A few hours later, a goblin zeppelin arrived in the sky above them. By this time, the sky had already grown dark.
The zeppelin lowered an old goblin who was dressed slightly more respectably (at least his leather apron was cleaner), wearing a single-lensed gold-rimmed monocle,
and holding a complex compass-like instrument as he walked out.
"Allow me to introduce him. This is our Steamwheedle Cartel's senior trade representative for the northern region of the Eastern Kingdoms, Mr. Presto Goldcoin!" Grizzby said respectfully.
"Fellas, I heard there's big business, so I rushed over immediately. Friend, may I see the samples first?"
Rhodes nodded to the old goblin and pointed at the diamond and metal on the table, signaling for the old goblin to inspect them.
Presto gave Rhodes a polite smile, but then his eyes locked onto the items on the table.
He picked up the diamond and observed it closely using a lens attached to his compass. Then, he lightly tapped the gold piece with a small hammer and held it to his ear to listen. He remained silent for a longer time, his expression growing more solemn.
He even took out a special potion and dripped it onto the surface, after which a look of surprise appeared on his face.
"I should tell you, Mr. Presto, both of these metals have excellent magic resistance. They aren't as simple as just gold or diamonds. You'd better check carefully," Rhodes reminded him.
"Is that so? Rest assured, Excellency, my detection methods are the most professional. Let me look closer." With Rhodes's reminder, the old goblin inspected them even more thoroughly this time.
He spent a full hour observing them. By the time the old goblin finished looking at the two samples, the sky outside was completely dark.
"Truly... impressive." Presto finally spoke, his voice raspy but carrying unquestionable authority. "The purity of this diamond and the stable arcane echoes contained within are very unique. And this gold—or rather, this special metal containing gold..."
"The metal particles mixed inside possess a singular inert magic resistance. Although I cannot currently identify the specific components and uses with precision, there is no doubt they possess extremely high research value and potential..."
"...well—immense commercial value." He chose his words carefully, not attempting to belittle the items like Grizzby had, but also not raising their value too easily.
"So, my friend, state your requirements and the quantity you can provide. I'd like to hear your quote."
Rhodes understood that this was the person who could actually make decisions. He looked Presto Goldcoin in the eye and said clearly: "I need the Steamwheedle Cartel to transport enough food to Southshore for at least 100,000 people to eat for three months, in the shortest time possible."
"Ten thousand standard healing potions and medical bandages—I need to lead a fleet to Kalimdor. My price is five tons of this gold substance and one ton of diamonds."
The metal and diamonds were very heavy. A single arm chopped off a Gold Golem weighed several hundred kilograms, and a leg weighed as much as a ton. The price he quoted could be covered by just one Diamond Golem and one Gold Golem.
Of course, this wasn't the final quote, as he knew these goblins would haggle.
"But I heard you have dozens of tons of this stuff. Our Steamwheedle Cartel wants all of your goods. What you want are resources for a westward journey to Kalimdor."
"Enough food for 100,000 people for three months, plus the accompanying medical facilities... we can't manage that much cargo, at least not in the short term."
"We would need at least a month to prepare everything."
"It seems you can't handle the goods I'm offering. I'll have to find someone else."
"No, no, no, young human. What I mean is that I have a compromise solution. I wonder if you'd be willing to hear it?" the old goblin said, adjusting his glasses.
He could see that Rhodes was here to gather supplies for an entire fleet. This was indeed a massive deal, but providing that much grain and medical supplies was difficult even for the Steamwheedle Cartel.
After all, this wasn't their headquarters on the Kalimdor Continent; gathering these things here was very difficult. However, there was a compromise.
"Oh? Do tell," Rhodes said with a nod.
"For the grain you want, we need five days. We can provide you with at least twenty days' worth of food."
"The remaining grain and other resources will be delivered in batches and traded while at sea."
"Our fleet will follow yours closely. We can also adopt an installment payment method: you pay for each batch as we deliver it. Of course, that's the first trade plan. Now, let me tell you the second."
"Since you're going on a long voyage, we can actually provide zeppelin services. By ship, you would need to spend at least two months drifting at sea, and sea travel is extremely unsafe."
"But with zeppelins, it only takes about fifteen days to arrive. We have a large number of zeppelins heading to Kalimdor every day."
"I can apply to headquarters to mobilize a fleet of zeppelins. One zeppelin can carry two hundred people. With twenty zeppelins, we could transport eight thousand people in a month."
"We can transport them in batches, and you can also send an advance party to Kalimdor first to scout the way."
"Once you reach Kalimdor, our Steamwheedle Cartel can also provide construction services and other amenities."
Rhodes nodded upon hearing this. Goblin zeppelins were indeed faster than sailing.
However, Rhodes thought of another plan: put the people inside magic ships and then have the goblin zeppelins tow them. That would be even faster.
Furthermore, his spatial magic ships would be a huge attraction for these goblins. Using them for shipping services would be incredibly efficient.
"Deal. Prepare twenty days' worth of grain first. I'll take the zeppelin service, but not for transporting people—I want them to tow my magic ships, five ships in total."
"No problem, service is our priority. But I want to know the origin of these special metals. Where did you get them?" the old goblin asked.
For such a rare metal, they had to determine the location of the ore deposits or the refining method; that was what a goblin should do.
Rhodes smiled and, without a word, directly summoned his massive Gold Golem, along with an even more magnificent and sparkling Diamond Golem that stood a full six meters tall.
As soon as these two—one shimmering with golden light and the other with white light—appeared, the drool from the two goblins was almost touching the ground.