Chapter 277 - Chapter 18: Merger (1)

Hozer and Zip, leading the Meine traders, once again jointly won the construction project for the road from Mandu to Muscat. The enormous funds required for this had to be fronted by these suckers―the Meine traders, in Komer's eyes who were ripe for the plucking. The construction costs that should have been borne by the Lord's Mansion were exchanged for half of the shareholding rights to the only iron mine in the Mandu region after Puber's negotiations. That is to say, Komer didn't have to pay a single Gold Shield; he only needed to hand over the iron mine in Mandu, which had stopped production, to Hozer, Zip, and the others. In return, he could enjoy half of the iron mine's dividends each year without any effort, while the Meine traders would build the road from Mandu to Muscat for free. In Komer's words, this was like cooking their own oil with the bone of the Meine traders.