The Red Comet was not of his own creation, but it was a high speed Flying Tool which meant it should have some value. There was a chance this trader would find something useful about its construction, but Sage mainly put it out there to show a sort of baseline for the speed they were upgrading out of.
The Flying Wing was sort of the opposite, as he wasn’t showing it for its performance but the unique features of its shape. Or at least its uniqueness in this world. It wasn’t that fast as a Flying Tool, but the wing shape allowed it to be far more efficient than other Flying Tools by producing its own lift. This vehicle was extremely common in the Inner World as a personal transportation device for Cultivators. After determining that purely mechanical fixed wing flight vehicles were unreliable, the Flying Wing design became the most common. Just like electricity, the behavior of air and bodies moving through it did not always act predictably. The Laws of the world and the flows of the power of the heavens and earth created places where wings and lift did not function as they did in others. The Flying Wing could fly under its own power just like other Flying Tools, and it still had wings to make it more efficient most of the time.
The description of the Flying Wing did not go into detail about the science behind its wings as that would take away all its research value to the Trader. Instead it talked about how in most places, those without any disturbance to the energy of the heavens and earth, or that are inundated with Air Laws, it is very efficient and can sustain higher speeds. If the Trader is skilled enough, he would be able to recognize the materials and arrays used in the creation of the Flying Wing and after comparing that to the top speed listed in the description see some value in its capabilities.
The other two Flying Tools were Airships, and hopefully this place was far enough removed from the Dou Kingdom that it wouldn’t immediately be recognized by the Trader. This was actually only wishful thinking as he’d already seen one of his Clan’s Airships out on display so it was likely the Trader would connect them immediately. Even so, Sage decided to show off these ‘new’ designs as he recognized the value in what Guan Zhenyan had said. Even if the connection between him and the Prosperity Company was made, didn’t it just mean they’d stopped at the capital? It was possible someone might trace this clue back to this time and place in the future, putting together the fact a Prosperity Company member sold a few one off products a few weeks after someone from the Lang Clan just died in the capital. The two incidents could be completely unrelated, the Airships could be stolen goods, or they could have been built by an unaffiliated third party.
Before the ‘war’ between the Prosperity Company and the Four Major Businesses of the Dou Kingdom, Thousand Treasures were building most of the Airships, while the Prosperity Company merely produced the Steam Engines and a few other key components they used. The engines were also on sale, so it wouldn’t be that hard for another group to build their own airships. In fact, many had. It wasn’t impossible for someone entirely unrelated to the Lang Clan to create these Airships. It would only be apparent with a careful examination that these new Airships were extremely similar to the Airships produced by the Prosperity Company. He took the gamble that the Trader would not want to share any of his findings in order to keep the profits of this knowledge to himself. Whatever the case, the Trader would probably study the items himself before sharing with others and that would give them a large buffer to leave the Tianxia Capital.
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The Military Airship was larger and much tougher than a normal Airship while still being able to maintain a similar speed. It was equipped with a landing pad upon the top of the envelope, and the hull of the ship was split into two pieces. One of these parts was mounted upon cables with winches and could be lowered hundreds of feet down to the ground. This made it so the Airship could resupply itself or others, or unload troops to the ground without an Airship dock or large open landing area. This wasn’t something most Flying Ships cared about, as they were usually powerful enough to just blast apart obstructions to make their own landing zone. Sage had no idea if the Trader would care about such things, but there weren’t really any great secrets involved in this, it merely showed how the Steam Engines could do more than just power propellers. That, and the gearing to control the four lines that lowered the landing section while keeping it flat and level might be enough to get some attention.
Lastly, the Logistics Airship was made to carry cargo. The most economical Storage Treasure was the basic Storage Chest. A Storage Bag was ten times the price and had 27 cubic feet on the inside, compared to the 1000 cubic feet in a Storage Chest. They both reduced the weight of items inside to a quarter of the usual, which was worse than a Storage Ring, but Storage Rings were ten times the price of a Storage Bag. The Logistics Airship was created to deal with the large volume and weight of Storage Chests carrying many goods. Since these storage items weren’t alive, they reduced the amount of wind resistance the Airship would face by placing the main cargo hold inside the Airship’s envelope. There was only a small cabin area for a few crew members, and then a set of special formations that kept the lifting gasses from escaping through the ramp that led up into the envelope. Cultivators simply had to hold their breath to walk inside and retrieve the Storage Chests. There was a frame forged out of beast bones on the inside, acting as storage racks for the chests, while also keeping the envelope from collapsing in case of any accidents.
The two airships didn’t seem like much from a cursory evaluation, that’s why Sage spent a bit of extra time writing the explanation on the complexity of the gearing system that kept the platform level without requiring four individual winches, and also the reasoning behind the internal storage area of the Logistics Airship. Hopefully, one of these things would get enough interest for them to get access to some of the better goods. There was no expectation that these things would earn them a fortune in trade, it was all about the access.
Each of the Flying Tools were brought out each with their own little Jade Tablet as an explanation. The Trader had a very good poker face, giving nothing away of his thoughts as he read the tablets and carefully examined each of the ships. There was no look of interest or surprise upon his face, which might be a bad sign, but Sage could almost make out a tiny glimmer of interest in the man’s gaze. The minor innovations in each of the Flying Tools was not enough to cause the man to lose his composure, but it seemed they’d gathered his interest.
Surprisingly, the man didn’t seem to care much about the Red Comet, which was likely because it was probably quite similar to many items that had come through here. Instead it was the other three and their odd features that were the most interesting to the Trader. From the apron and the callouses on the man’s hands, Sage took him for a craftsman. For someone who built Airships, the oddities that others might find inconsequential were actually interesting and worthy of study. Sage shared this opinion with Guan Zhenyan.
“If I pay for it, then the Airship we buy here will belong to me.”
“Sure, whatever, I just don’t want to waste years flying to the Xuanyuan Empire.”
After the mental conversation, the Trader tried to give them a lowball quote. Neither Zhenyan or Sage really cared in that regard. Instead, they cut right to the chase, putting the Red Comet back into a bag and leaving the other three out.
“You can offer whatever price you like for these three, I just want you to bring out the secret goods. I want the fastest, most comfortable Flying Ship you’ve got in those hidden vaults.”