Chapter 297 Trade without profit isn’t trade.

Soon, they were done eating, after which Ivy, Erick, and Justin, as well as Darren, whom Ivy had invited, made their way into Ivy’s office, away from the chattering sounds of the survivors.

"Alright. We can discuss things better here." Ivy began, seriousness etched into her tone as she placed a document on the table. "Your base provides the raw grains to my base. We process them here and send the finished products back to you at agreed prices."

Erick picked up the document and began reading.

The proposal was surprisingly detailed.

"How were you even able to prepare such a detailed document within such a short time?" Erick asked, letting out a light chuckle. "Didn’t we just discuss this today?"

"I already sent word to Darren while we were still eating. He already had everything planned out." Ivy replied as she leaned back in her chair.

"Hope Base will process the raw grains, and the finished products will be sold back to participating bases at a higher price, but still significantly lower than what they could obtain elsewhere." Erick read aloud. "Hope Base would profit from both sides of the transaction."

Erick noticed that immediately.

"You make money from buying the raw materials from me and also from selling the processed goods."

"Of course." Ivy didn’t bother hiding it. "Trade without profit isn’t trade." She added with a short laugh.

Erick couldn’t help but chuckle lightly as he continued reading.

"You’re quite straightforward."

"I don’t see the point in pretending." Ivy replied as she folded her hands over her chest. "You need processed goods, and I need raw materials. Both sides benefit."

Erick continued reading, and the more he read, the more reasonable the proposal seemed.

"This section," Erick finally said after a long silence, tapping the document with his finger. "The processing fee."

"Too high?" Ivy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Darren and Justin, who had remained seated without uttering a word, simply watched the two of them, allowing Ivy and Erick to discuss the matter properly.

"Not exactly." Erick said as he looked up. "But you’re going to make quite a lot from this."

Ivy couldn’t help but smile.

"That’s the purpose of doing business, isn’t it? I have to make a profit from every end. You also get your processed goods."

Erick stared at her for several seconds before laughing.

"Fine." He finally said as he placed the document down. "But I want one condition."

Ivy raised an eyebrow.

"And what is it?"

"Your alliance can’t suddenly raise the processing fees whenever the supply becomes scarce."

"Agreed."

"And the price must be negotiated before every large transaction."

"Agreed."

Erick then extended his hand.

"Then we have a deal."

Ivy shook his hand.

"A deal."

"Oh, good. Now that you two have finally reached a deal, Darren and I can talk." Justin voiced out, clearing his throat.

"Alright. We’ll be leaving you alone now, Commander. I still have things to supervise." Darren chimed in seriously as he rose to his feet. Justin and Erick also stood up.

"I still want to check around too, so I’ll see you later." Erick added with a slight bow.

Ivy acknowledged him with a slight bow of her own.

Without wasting much time, the three men made their way out of Ivy’s office, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

A satisfied smile appeared on Ivy’s lips the moment the three men were gone.

It was finally some peace and quiet, away from them as well as the other survivors.

This was exactly the kind of cooperation she wanted.

She didn’t need to conquer other bases, and she didn’t need to send soldiers to protect every survivor who joined the alliance either.

And she certainly didn’t want the burden of feeding thousands of people whenever another base ran out of supplies, as that kind of responsibility would only drain her resources.

What she wanted was to simply control the trade, the resources, and the prices. Gradually, the surrounding bases would become dependent on the alliance without Ivy ever needing to officially annex them.

Once enough bases depended on Hope Base for food, clothing, machinery, evolution resources, and processed materials, who would dare challenge it?

Ivy’s smile deepened.

Power didn’t always have to come from conquering territory. Sometimes, power came from controlling what everyone else needed.