Chapter 478: A Dragon for 10 Tons of Gold
Chapter 478: A Dragon for 10 Tons of Gold
In the two hours since Su Yu left, the Ice and Snow Camp had been autonomously constructed on the slopes of Yunlu Mountain, under the watchful eyes of over a hundred Great Cultivators.
It was early October, a season of clear skies and crisp air, but the slopes were covered in a thick layer of snow with no signs of melting.
The Ice and Snow Camp, identical to the one from the illusionary battle, stood atop the snow.
In the camp's main hall, an old man with a white goatee and a smoking pipe sat calmly, his gaze fixed on Su Yu, Zhong Feng, and the over a hundred Great Cultivators outside, as if they were mere shadows.
Out of respect, Su Yu refrained from using his psychic powers to probe the old man’s strength. He exchanged a glance with Zhong Feng and said, "Let's go in."
"Alright," Zhong Feng nodded and followed Su Yu into the Ice and Snow Camp.
The other Great Cultivators remained outside, continuing their watchful vigil.
Entering the main hall, Su Yu scanned the familiar surroundings and politely addressed the old man, "Sir, we have a lot of gold. We want to use it to recruit some soldiers from you."
The old man glanced at Su Yu, lifted his pipe, and took a couple of strong puffs.
"I know you," he said, blowing out a smoke ring and hesitating, "In our world, didn't your pet cat keep coming to me to buy Frost Giants? I’d say we’re old acquaintances."
Hearing the old man’s words, Su Yu and Zhong Feng exchanged a look, both clearly surprised.
It turned out that this old man was the same one from the illusionary battle, and he retained his memories from the game world!
What did this mean? Could he, like Tina, freely travel between the two worlds?
...
The old man, however, didn’t share their complex thoughts.
He turned around, took a dusty wooden board from a shelf behind him, and placed it in front of Su Yu and Zhong Feng after giving it a couple of taps.
"This is the price list for recruiting armies. The lowest-level [Frost Troll Warrior] costs 100 gold, and the highest-level [Frost Dragon] costs 20,000 gold. The prices are the same as in our world, no cheating here."
"Then may I ask," Su Yu inquired, "what exactly does one gold weigh?"
"Um," the old man rubbed his chin, looking puzzled, "I'm not very familiar with your world’s units of measurement."
"How about this," Su Yu smiled, "I have a sample here. Can you tell me how much this weighs in gold?"
"Sure."
...
For the next few minutes, Su Yu handed over a gold bar for the old man to weigh.
The final conclusion was that the old man’s "1 gold" equated to 500 grams of real-world gold.
Upon hearing this, both Zhong Feng and Su Yu were stunned.
500 grams of gold equaled one gold piece, so a [Frost Troll Warrior] costing 100 gold would require 50 kilograms of gold!
50 kilograms of gold!
In the current chaotic state of Blue Star, the price of one gram of gold had soared to over 900 Huabi. Therefore, 50 kilograms of gold would be worth 900 50,000 = 45 million Huabi, equivalent to the cost of six to seven main battle tanks!
"Zhong Feng, is it still worth it at this price?" Su Yu turned to Zhong Feng, a bitter smile on his face.
"Well, let's recruit one and see if they are physical beings or just illusions," Zhong Feng replied noncommittally.
"Alright," Su Yu agreed, taking out 50 kilograms of gold and tossing it to the old man, "One [Frost Troll Warrior] for now."
"Sure thing!" The old man gently caught the three basketball-sized chunks of gold and closed his eyes in contentment.
Snap!
With a light clap of his hands, a towering troll with pale blue skin and fanged features emerged from a side door. Standing at an imposing three meters tall, the troll was a formidable sight, clad in heavy brown leather armor and wielding a long-handled axe that glowed with magical energy.
Due to the cold weather, the troll’s breath formed large clouds of white mist in front of him, completely obscuring his face from Su Yu and Zhong Feng, who only reached his waist.
"This is Gondak Frostaxe," the old man introduced. "Who among you wants to be his master?"
"You take him," Su Yu pushed Zhong Feng forward.
Before Zhong Feng could respond, Gondak had already knelt before him. "I, Gondak Frostaxe, pledge my life to serve my master!"
"Rise," Zhong Feng stepped forward, placing his right hand on the troll's shoulder to accept his allegiance.
He nodded inwardly, noting the sincerity in the troll’s voice. It was clear that Gondak’s loyalty was genuine.
...
Su Yu flashed to the troll’s side and pinched his muscular arm. The troll started to resist but was immediately suppressed by Su Yu’s overwhelming aura of a high-tier powerhouse.
"Hmm," Su Yu nodded, turning to Zhong Feng. "This troll is a real biological entity, not a virtual phantom like a summoned pet. He will go through the natural cycle of life, aging, and death, though whether he can advance in levels through training remains to be seen."
"A real biological entity?" Zhong Feng pondered.
If it was a real creature, he would need to take care of its basic needs, such as food, drink, and waste. He might even need to build a bond to maintain its loyalty. But these were minor issues compared to the biggest problem—cost!
A third-tier unit required 50 kilograms of gold, a cost that even a major nation like China would find difficult to bear. Moreover, third-tier units were essentially cannon fodder on the battlefield against the Skrulls. Only fifth-tier units could serve as the backbone of the army.
Wait, fifth-tier?
Zhong Feng suddenly thought of the Frost Dragon in the camp.
He quickly did the math.
A Troll Warrior costs 50 kilograms of gold. A fifth-tier Frost Dragon, being 200 times more expensive, would cost 10 tons of gold, or about 9 billion yuan.
9 billion yuan wasn’t an exorbitant price. A Ford-class aircraft carrier costs over 80 billion yuan, meaning one carrier could be exchanged for nine Frost Dragons. And nine Frost Dragons would be far more valuable on the battlefield, potentially 5 to 8 times more valuable than a single carrier!
If they could recruit a large number of Frost Dragons...
With this thought, Zhong Feng took out his phone and contacted Xue Wenli. "Wenli, how much gold does the United Government have in reserve?"
A minute later, Xue Wenli replied, "Over the past month, the United Government has been mining gold at full capacity. Currently, China alone has about 5,100 tons of gold in official reserves. Globally, the combined official gold reserves of all nations are around 53,000 tons, not including private gold holdings."
"53,000 tons?" Zhong Feng nodded to himself.
If all that gold were used to recruit Frost Dragons, they could get over 5,000 of them!
Of course, they didn’t have to limit themselves to Frost Dragons. Other fifth-tier units from different camps, such as the Flame Phoenix, Holy Angel, and Mountain Giant, were also excellent choices.
With so many fifth-tier units together, they could form an incredibly powerful force on the battlefield!
(End of Chapter)
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