https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-723-The-Speech-at-the-Prisoner-Camp/12826235/
Chapter 722: The Ransom Agreement
Chapter 722: The Ransom Agreement
However, today's meeting was to negotiate the ransom for the captives, and he couldn't afford to waste too much time on this issue.
In the future, he could always poison the bug juice and send it to the Blue Star people to see if they dared to drink it!
Lan Qi temporarily set this problem aside and said seriously, "Sir Su Yu, let's get to the main topic.
We have 18,624 soldiers in your custody. What kind of compensation do you require to release them?"
Over the past few months, the Blue Star people had captured 18,000 Skrul soldiers.
The nature of the Skrul military was fundamentally different from that of the Blue Star military.
The Blue Star military was mostly composed of young volunteers who joined and then advanced through the ranks based on their abilities and experience, completely detached from the lives of ordinary citizens.
The officers had no understanding of the lives of ordinary people, and the common folk had no idea who the high-ranking officers were.
In contrast, on Skrul, high-ranking officers in the military were all high-level warriors of the Fifth Rank and above.
These high-level warriors had significant prestige and influence on Skrul, many of them being well-known figures with deep connections to the people, who were well aware of their existence.
Because of this, the Skrul had to ransom back their captured soldiers and officers to avoid stirring up domestic discontent.
Su Yu was well aware of this, so he looked at Lan Qi and Cole across from him and said calmly, "When it comes to the ransom, why don't we base it on the prices at the [Mercenary Camp]?"
"The [Mercenary Camp]?" Lan Qi and Cole exchanged a glance.
"Exactly," Su Yu nodded. "According to the [Mercenary Camp] prices, the ransom for a Fourth-Rank warrior is 0.5 tons of gold, and for a Fifth-Rank warrior, it's 5 tons of gold.
Following this logic, a Sixth-Rank warrior would be 50 tons of gold, and a Seventh-Rank warrior would be 500 tons of gold. What do you think?"
"..." Lan Qi and Cole both took a deep breath, their faces showing a mix of shock and disbelief.
Was Su Yu really daring to set such an exorbitant ransom? Was he out of his mind?
Currently, the number of Skrul soldiers captured by the Blue Star people was 18,624, including 1 Seventh-Rank Legendary warrior, 16 Sixth-Rank Holy Domain warriors, and 132 Fifth-Rank warriors.
If they were to pay according to these prices, they would have to cough up at least 2,800 tons of gold! That was equivalent to one-fifth of their government's total gold reserves!
Moreover, this gold could quickly be converted into combat power for the Blue Star, and they absolutely couldn't accept that.
"Sir Su Yu, ransoms aren't calculated like this," Lan Qi said with a grim face. "According to the average ransom price on Skrul, the ransom for a Fifth-Rank warrior is about 50 million Solar Coins, which is a little over 0.2 tons of gold. The price you set at 5 tons is completely unacceptable."
"0.2 tons?" Su Yu crossed his arms, a cold smile on his face. "0.2 tons is far too little! Does that even cover the good food and drink we provide to the captives? Besides, the situation is entirely different now."
Su Yu paused for a moment before continuing, "Right now, our planets are engaged in a life-or-death battle, which is completely different from your usual ransom system.
Think about it. If I let you ransom back each Fifth-Rank warrior for 0.2 tons of gold, I would only get about 100 tons of gold.
With that 100 tons of gold, we could only hire 20 Fifth-Rank mercenaries, which would only marginally increase our strength.
On the other hand, if you ransom back these captives, you will get 1 Seventh-Rank Legendary warrior, 16 Sixth-Rank Holy Domain warriors, 132 Fifth-Rank warriors, and 18,000 elite troops!
If we do the math, wouldn't we be at a huge disadvantage?"
"Why should we do this deal? Everyone in the live stream, do you agree?"
As soon as Su Yu spoke, the live stream chat exploded with messages:
"Agreed, this trade is a huge loss."
"Rather than let these captives go for free, we should just execute them! We can't let the Skrulls benefit like this!"
"Only a fool would agree to this!"
"Mr. Ke's initial proposal of 'one 5th Rank powerhouse for 5 tons of gold' seems reasonable."
"I agree. This way, both sides can strengthen themselves without one side getting an unfair advantage."
Su Yu translated these comments into Skrul and displayed them to Lanchi and Cole, showing them the overwhelming public opinion on Blue Earth.
...
Lanchi's face darkened, sensing the complexity of the situation.
Indeed, redeeming captives on Skrul was different from this.
If he were in Su Yu's position, he wouldn't sell 5th Rank captives for just 0.2 tons of gold, as that would undoubtedly be aiding the enemy. However, Su Yu's prices were too high, exceeding the limits set by the Emperor.
Lanchi continued, "Sir Su Yu, we usually redeem captives on Skrul for this price. You can ask your 'friend' on Skrul if you don't believe me."
Su Yu smiled, took a lounge chair from his necklace, and laid down, preparing for a long negotiation.
Not only that, he took out a bottle of orange juice and sipped it slowly before saying, "Let me repeat, the situation is different now. This is a life-or-death battle, and we won't do anything that harms ourselves and benefits others."
"Then how about this," Lanchi thought for a moment and made a concession, "I'll double the ransom. 0.4 tons of gold for one 5th Rank powerhouse. What do you say?"
Su Yu immediately shook his head, "It's still not enough. We're still at a disadvantage. However, since you've shown some sincerity, I'll meet you halfway. I'll reduce the ransom by 10%, so 4.5 tons of gold for one 5th Rank powerhouse. Can you accept that?"
"I've increased the ransom by 100%, and you only reduce it by 10%! That's not showing any sincerity at all!"
"You're right, but you only increased the ransom by 0.2 tons of gold, while I reduced it by 0.5 tons. Who's not being sincere here?"
"But you were asking for an exorbitant price to begin with! A significant reduction is only fair, isn't it?"
...
Thus, Su Yu and Lanchi engaged in a heated negotiation.
Fortunately, both sides were willing to reach an agreement and tried to control their emotions to prevent the talks from breaking down, aiming to achieve a productive outcome.
The negotiation lasted for over two hours.
...
During these two hours, both sides not only engaged in verbal negotiations but also sought "external support."
Lanchi called the Emperor four times to update him on the negotiation progress and seek his opinion.
Su Yu also adjusted his negotiation strategy based on reasonable suggestions from the live stream chat.
Speaker Hu, Commissar Zhang, and other high-ranking officials of the United Government were watching the live stream and sent special comments to remind Su Yu.
After two hours of negotiation and mutual concessions, both sides finally reached an agreement around 2:00 PM, finding a solution that both could accept.
Lanchi reported the result to the Emperor.
After receiving approval, both sides formally signed the ransom agreement at the Fuji Spring.
(End of Chapter)
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