Chrysalis Chapter 1773 - The Goods

“I find it a little discourteous that you would not bring your offering into the most glorious city on Pangera. It’s almost as if you doubt the genuine nature of our hospitality.”

The ant detected a faint tug from the speaker’s words upon her feelings. Expertly crafted, deliberate, and reinforced by an undoubtedly formidable Skill set in persuasion and diplomacy—strong enough to sway even a monster. A genuinely fearsome figure.

“Ms Wynn, I would never seek to offend an esteemed member of the Merchant Cooperative. Indeed, causing offence is the very opposite of my intentions! I certainly cannot recall any reason for the Colony to avoid the wonders of the Silver City, perhaps you could enlighten me if you can think of one.”

She drew deeply on her cigar, then exhaled a perfect ring of smoke, a technique she’d been perfecting lately. A minor accomplishment, utterly trivial, yet one she took quiet pride in. She planned to refine it further whenever time allowed. Humans shaped such smoke formations using their ‘lips’ and ‘tongues,’ but lacking those organs, Merchant relied on ingenuity instead.

Gazing across the glittering waters encircling the Silver City, she admitted the sight was stunning. The metropolis gleamed like a precious gem, ascending the mountainside in radiant splendor. Far above, veiled in clouds that sparkled like golden powder, stood the capital—the Golden City of the Atreum Empire, seat of the Child Emperor.

This extravagant show of opulence set her mandibles twitching. What fortunes could she amass inside that place? The bargains, the dazzling treasures, the immense trade flows. It resembled a lavish spread of Biomass laid out invitingly, yet denied to her grasp.

She remained utterly unperturbed by it. The Silver City had deceived the Colony, and vengeance would arrive in due time.

“Nothing comes to mind,” Georgia Wynn replied with a courteous smile over her warm, sociable gaze.

A facade, naturally. Beneath lurked a predator, with Merchant now thrashing helplessly in her domain. Enid had declared that Merchant’s blank expression served as both flaw and tool. Her carapace provided flawless camouflage, yet conveying fine emotional shades proved challenging.

“Let us not sit and imagine a grudge that does not exist,” Merchant fibbed smoothly, “for that is not what you came for. First and foremost, I should thank you for accepting the invitation.”

“The Brathian Island Conglomerate has become an increasingly important trading partner here in the capital. I was only too pleased to accept when Eran Thouris herself came to speak with me.”

Eran had undertaken the visit in person, arguing that anyone inferior would dishonor a titan like Ms Wynn. Merchant had nonetheless witnessed her trepidation, armoring herself like for combat. They’d suffered massive losses in that encounter, overpowered by the rival’s compelling talents.

“We of the Colony certainly wouldn’t want to disturb someone such as yourself unless it was absolutely necessary,” Merchant stated, as a faint trace of her persuasive pheromones wafted through the air. Overdoing it too soon spelled disaster, even versus far inferior merchants. “Yet we happened to come across an opportunity that only someone of your level would truly be able to accommodate.”

Subtle compliments rarely backfired, though she might be laying it on thick. Masking her internal scheming, Merchant savored another deep drag from her cigar, relishing the smoky fragrance and sharp tang.

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“I had been led to believe that the Brathian Island Conglomerate had been licensed to conduct most of the Colony’s trade,” Georgia noted, a touch icily. “Should I not be speaking to them about this proposed business opportunity?”

As if she’d allow bargaining with a foe already proven crushable.

“That is certainly true. For any business originating in the first, second, third or fourth stratum, of course.”

Satrap Umizan had shed crimson tears upon Merchant revealing the contract’s subtleties. While it omitted explicit stratum details for the brathians, it did outline specific industries. Goods from the fifth stratum counted as wholly novel, thus beyond the pact’s scope.

Merchant lingered on the deck of one of the Satrap’s finest vessels, propped against the rail ingeniously shaped like diverse lake fish, tails facing… snouts? She truly needed to study fish anatomy.

This hardly qualified as standard terrain for a Merchant Cooperative deal. Ms Wynn undoubtedly favored palatial halls, gourmet feasts, and opulent estates over a swaying anchored ship, yet it signified nothing. Their haggling was unparalleled.

“So I must indeed negotiate with you? Is that right?” Ms Wynn pressed for confirmation.

Her garb appeared unassuming for such riches, but to an expert trader, her affluence shone through. The fabric’s hue stayed plain, but its tailoring rivaled cathedral precision, the dyes enchantingly vivid, and her jewelry—subtle yet breathtakingly superior—drew Merchant’s gaze repeatedly. Where had those gems originated? Not Colony work, she felt certain.

Ant artisans progressed steadily in their Skills, but that caliber of intricate metalcraft remained elusive. Ants simply couldn’t fathom jewelry’s appeal. An ornate woven carpet illustrating scenic wonders? Absolutely—protected floors, warmed feet, served education. Embellishing interiors made sense to her kin. Adorning an individual? Far less intuitive.

“It is,” Merchant affirmed.

In an instant, Georgia Wynn deployed her full arsenal of abilities, unleashing a nearly tangible force upon the ant Champion, poised to squash her flat.

Merchant inhaled steadily, brushing ash into the waters below.

“There’s really no need for that,” she remarked.

“Why is that?”

“Because it doesn’t matter how much better than me you are at this, and you are much, much better.”

Ms Wynn bared a wolfish smile. She perfectly understood her dominance’s scale. Even over a monster. Merchant could have trembled. What a savage disguised as human.

“You’ll have to elaborate on why that is, because I appear to be left in the dark.”

Merchant snapped her mandibles in delight.

“Allow me to bring the light.”

From her pouch, she drew two broad-based vials and set them on the railing. One brimmed with lustrous golden liquid, the other a vivid scarlet as intense as the planet’s vital essence.

“In the first flask, I have a gift for you to deliver to the Child Emperor. It is the elixir that we condensed from a part of a human. They may take it with our compliments. You may also take the human we extracted it from, we certainly don’t want them anymore.”

A direct Colony warning. What you’ve stolen from us, we steal from you. What you believed possible only against us, we turn against you. A devastating blow.

“And the second?” Ms Wynn inquired, eyes alight with fervor.

“Oh, just a little something we found down in the fifth,” she said with a playful wink. “It’s the elixir of everlasting life, capable of reversing the ageing process you mortals have so much trouble with. I have a certificate here signed by three Magio Scholars of the Tower certifying its efficacy.”

She flashed an antish grin.

“I’ll be here tomorrow to accept your offer. See you then.”