Chapter 72: 72 good

Tang Mo walked across the slender gangway and onto the deck of this massive armed merchant sailing ship, where a group of well-dressed elves had already set up a dining table and laid out many fine foods.

In the sea breeze, the pristine tablecloth gently rippled. Under the yellowing, huge sails rolled up in sections resembling lotus roots, a handsome and charming elf was smiling, holding a wine glass, watching him.

In this world, who isn't obsessed with good looks? When John saw Tang Mo's handsome, youthful face, his mood improved by a good two points—about the score of filling in the blanks on a quiz.

"Hello! My name is Tang Mo, and I am the owner of an enterprise on the outskirts of Brunas City." Although the two weapon-bearing attendants weren't allowed on board the ship, Wes had been permitted to follow.

After all, everyone still cares about appearances these days, and having a guard with you wasn't something that made people particularly apprehensive.

Upon meeting, Tang Mo used a fresh term that puzzled John, and the Elf captain standing beside John also repeated with displeasure, "Enterprise?"

"Yes, enterprise. Or, you could think of it as a super large workshop," Tang Mo said, very relaxed, as negotiating was one of the situations he was most familiar with.

In such moments, he felt like a deity who had expanded his domain, where he was everything, an invincible being.

At this time, he was not speaking nonsense but showing off his strength, subconsciously enhancing the opponent's recognization of Tang Mo's enterprise.

Unconsciously, the other party would cleverly dismiss some of Tang Mo's descriptions, while simultaneously accepting other parts he characterized.

"Hahaha! A workshop? Forgive my frankness, but something even larger than a workshop is still just a workshop after all," the captain standing beside John replied disdainfully right then.

Tang Mo did not argue because he had achieved his goal. As long as the other party did not question his workshop's production capability, that paved the way for later negotiations.

Therefore, Tang Mo immediately took the chance to concede, admitting, "Alright, if you prefer, you can consider me the owner of the Great Tang workshop."

"Well then, do tell, what valuable thing have you brought here to sell to me?" John did not want to be led by the nose by Tang Mo and asked directly.

"Uh... actually, it's a type of rifle. A new model rifle, better than the Shireck Flintlock Gun." Tang Mo didn't play coy and revealed his intentions straightforwardly.

"What did you say?" Hearing Tang Mo's words, the Elf captain standing there leaned forward in disbelief and exclaimed.

"Are you joking?" John glanced at his captain, motioning for him to regain his composure, before turning back to Tang Mo to ask.

"I'm not joking! Sir, I'm not joking! I truly have a new model rifle design, and I have a physical model on display," Tang Mo sincerely replied to John's question.

"..." John fell silent because he already believed what Tang Mo had said. Because they were meeting face-to-face, and Tang Mo mentioned he had a physical model on display. Whether it was true or not, they would know as soon as they tried.

Next, he handed the rifle to the elf standing by his side, signaling that he could use the weapon to conduct a firing test.

The leading captain took the rifle from Tang Mo's hands. Of course, he had used rifles before, so he easily understood the operating principle of this device.

Although he was not quite clear on the loading process, he knew where the trigger was, where the sights were, and which part was the muzzle.

So, after taking the weapon, he raised the K1 Quick Gun and aimed at a seagull soaring over the distant sea, then squeezed the trigger in his hand.

"Bang!" A sudden gunshot echoed over the sea, and the seagull plummeted, crashing into the water and creating a small splash.

Tang Mo looked at several stunned elves, then stretched out his hand, making a gesture seeking something. The leading elven captain subconsciously returned the weapon in his hands to Tang Mo.

Taking back his needle gun, Tang Mo pulled open the bolt and quickly cleared away the remnants of the paper-cased ammunition that had been fired.

Then, he naturally took a new bullet from the ammunition box, reloaded, and closed the bolt again.

"You see, there's no need for complicated loading, nor is there an exposed snaphance mechanism, making the firearm safer and more convenient to use..." Tang Mo, like a sales representative, was pitching his weapon in front of a group of elves.

He handed the reloaded rifle sideways to the leading elf John, "How about it? Would you like to try this brand-new weapon?"

John instinctively stretched out his hand, taking the K1 flintlock gun from Tang Mo, and, in shock, made a ready-to-shoot gesture.

His status in his own country was not low, for being able to lead such a sizable fleet meant he had true capability.

Having seen much and knowing wide, he had no idea until now that there really were more advanced weapons in the world, weapons so advanced they made him shudder.

Although elves are powerful, in places much farther away, the elf race is also in conflict with orcs. Both sides are probing, each wary of the other's formidable military.

Clearly, what lay before John might be a heaven-defying treasure that could alter the balance of power in war, possibly even more important than a mountain of gold.

In theory, this was not something he could, or should, be dealing with, but as it stood, he seemed to be the highest-ranking person present.

So, despite his hands trembling slightly, he still suppressed the mechanism, pointing the muzzle towards the distant sea.

He pulled the trigger and, as expected, heard a gunshot. The recoil transmitted through the butt of the gun caused his shoulder to ache a bit.

But still, he laughed, his boisterous laughter somehow remained clear amidst the sound of the waves lapping against the shore, "Hahaha! Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! How much for this thing?"