by Zhuang Bifan
Although the terms that the Gilded Kingdom offered were rather harsh, the representatives of various forces did not react as intensely as before. Instead, they proceeded with the heated negotiation as if they took the terms seriously. In particular, with the matters between the Tower of Dusk and the Gilded Kingdom, the representatives of the various forces also knew that the Gilded Kingdom indeed did not want to start a battle, and so offered terms that were so harsh that a negotiation was mandatory.
Although the forces of the Breezy Plains had always been xenophobic, they were not very resistant towards the Gilded Kingdom entering the Breezy Plains. Most importantly, it was because of the existence of the Tower of Dusk, a powerful rising force that only the Gilded Kingdom could contend with. The forces of the Breezy Plains did not want to live subservient to the Tower of Dusk again.
Hence, in this negotiation, the representatives of the various forces also showed a certain amount of sincerity, but because the conditions offered by the Gilded Kingdom were truly unacceptable, they had not been able to reach a consensus. If the conditions offered by the Gilded Kingdom were acceptable by their standards, there would probably be an outcome soon.
However, the Gilded Kingdom did not want to pay too high of a price. In their opinion, they were showing the country bumpkins of the Breezy Plains enough respect by chatting with them calmly. Others were all coveting a chance to suck up to the Gilded Kingdom and the Illuminati. Hence, in terms of the acquisition price, the Gilded Kingdom refused to give in, and only agreed to offer them some benefits in sea trade.
However, only a small number of forces of the Breezy Plains were situated along the sea. Those resources the kingdom demanded were the foundation of everyone, and sea trade had nothing much to do with them at all. Even the forces near the sea had never relied on sea trade as their main source of income. The benefits that the Gilded Kingdom offered basically didn't matter much.
Of course, the forces of the Breezy Plains did not really want gold coins. If they really wanted gold coins, they would not need to let go of their resources at all. As long as they had the mines, they would be able to earn a massive number of gold coins. Since the Gilded Kingdom was not willing to pay them the amount of gold coins that those resources were worth, the various forces would naturally have to make up for the discrepancy in other aspects.
Although the forces of the Breezy Plains did not need the sea trade benefits that the Gilded Kingdom had offered, the Gilded Kingdom had more than just those resources. For example, they had commercial contracts in other aspects and a high demand for manufacturing, all of which were more attractive than the gold coins.
However, the attitude of the envoys of the Gilded Kingdom was very vehement, and they kept giving excuses by saying that the technology was a top secret of the kingdom, or that it would harm the interests of the country's merchants, and so on. In short, they rejected all of the requests of the forces of the Breezy Plains.
Negotiations had always involved several exchanges of offers and bargaining before reaching a consensus that both parties could accept. However, the Gilded Kingdom refused to give out a single gold coin at all. While the forces of Breezy Plains continuously compromised and lowered their demands, they could not put their foundation at risk.
After some meaningless bickering, the focus of the negotiations was once again placed on the Gilded Kingdom and the Tower of Dusk. The various forces of the Breezy Plains wanted to see what the Tower of Dusk would do to help them achieve more benefits. The Gilded Kingdom could also tell that the forces were waiting to see the Tower of Dusk's attitude. As long as they could subdue the Tower of Dusk, it would be easy to deal with the other forces.
"President Felic, I can understand that the Tower of Dusk attacked our battleship because we were enemies, but now that we're sitting together for a negotiation, shouldn't you show some sincerity too?" At this moment, Cantory had calmed down quite a bit, and although he was still thinking about how he should settle scores with the Tower of Dusk, he did not reveal any emotions on his face.
Lin Li looked at the other party calmly, amused, and asked, "Oh? What does sincerity mean to you?"
"Firstly, regarding the damage caused by your attack on our battleship, I hope that you can make up for it by returning our goods to us and compensating us. Also, you still have one of our benefits, and no matter who gave that battleship to you, I hope you can return it to us too." At this moment, Cantory finally said all the words that he had prepared long ago after the discussion yesterday.
It would be fine if they did not apologize. Since they were enemies, it was inevitable for them to attack each other. However, since they were sitting down for a negotiation, they had to express some sincerity, and it was inevitable to discuss compensation. The representatives of the Gilded Kingdom were still hoping to get some compensation and take the Tera Mines from the Tower of Dusk. Naturally, they would not forget it just because of Lin Li's words.
"Of course, we can discuss the compensation. As long as you transfer both your mines according to our conditions…"
Cantory's tone was very confident because he knew that the members of the Tower of Dusk would not have sat down to negotiate if they had been really inconvincible. Clearly, they would not be willing to start a war with the Gilded Kingdom. The Tower of Dusk was supported by the Ashen Warlock, but the Gilded Kingdom was supported by the Illuminati. No matter how brutal the Ashen Warlock was, would he really fight the powerful Illuminati for the Tower of Dusk?
However, just when Cantory got to the point, Lin Li stood up and left with his people without bidding anyone goodbye.
"Hey…" Before Cantory even finished speaking, they unexpectedly left. He was suddenly at a loss for what to do, and his face turned beet red.
Lin Li and the others walked away very simply, while the people who remained in the conference hall were really dumbfounded. Even a fool could see that the young president of the Tower of Dusk did not take the negotiation to heart. They simply did not care if it was going to be a peaceful coexistence or an intense war. However, be it the Gilded Kingdom or the forces in the Breezy Plains, none of them dared to negotiate without the Tower of Dusk.
Cantory sat there awkwardly for a long time before coming to his senses, wanting to curse but not knowing what to say. The behavior of the members of the Tower of Dusk made him feel really infuriated and dejected as he didn't know how he should go about dealing with them.
Although the Gilded Kingdom had a strong deterrence force, they were well aware that they could not really start a war with the Breezy Plains. Putting aside the Ashen Warlock, even the Ledin Kingdom and the Felan Kingdom would not sit back and watch the Gilded Kingdom invade the Breezy Plains.
Chapter 1038 - Let's Go Together
Actually, the Gilded Kingdom needed that negotiation more than the forces in the Breezy Plains. That was also the reason they put on a domineering front as soon as they appeared, vehemently refusing to give any concessions, because they knew that once they let up, there would be a chance that their opponents would realize the situation that they were in. By then, those forces would definitely be even more aggressive.
However, what Cantory and the rest did not expect was that the young president of the Tower of Dusk did not care about the so-called forceful deterrence of the Gilded Kingdom. He was either confident that he could deal with the Gilded Kingdom, or had already seen through the facade of the Gilded Kingdom's envoys, and knew that they were only pretending to be intimidating. However, regardless of the reason, they'd already caused Cantory and the others to fall into a dilemma.
In that case, could they leave the Tower of Dusk out and reach an agreement with the forces of the Breezy Plains? If the Tower of Dusk was just an ordinary local force, there would naturally be no problem with doing that. However, the Tower of Ashes was not an ordinary local force. How could they have the rights to replace a powerhouse like the Ashen Warlock1?
At this moment, Cantory and the others finally real
ized that the Tower of Dusk that they did not take seriously had actually put them in such a tricky situation. They also played an extremely important role in their plan. In fact, it could be said that they would determine the success or failure of the whole plan. Therefore, although Cantory was incredibly infuriated and frustrated, there was nothing he could do about the Tower of Dusk.
This time, the representatives of the various forces did not leave together with the members of the Tower of Dusk, but neither they nor the Gilded Kingdom were interested in continuing with the negotiation. Due to Lin Li's departure, the negotiation had to end fruitlessly again. Cantory and the others could no longer be bothered to bid the others goodbye as they hurriedly left the conference hall.
The representatives of the various forces remained seated. They were also dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events. Previously, they had thought that it was just a negotiation tactic of the young president of the Tower of Dusk, but this time they felt that he was not putting on an act. Instead, he really didn't take the negotiation to heart.
This time, not to mention the envoys of the Gilded Kingdom, even the representatives of these forces were rather anxious. They were hoping that there would be a force that could contend with Tower of Dusk, but they did not really want to get into a war in the Breezy Plains. All the forces would definitely be involved in such a conflict. By then, they would all end up becoming cannon fodder, and that did not align with their interests.
Besides, the Gilded Kingdom was afraid of the Ashen Warlock who was supporting the Tower of Dusk, but the forces of the Breezy Plains knew that the young president of the Tower of Dusk was the most terrifying one. They did not think that the Gilded Kingdom would care about them if a war were to really break out. Besides, the Tower of Dusk would start taking revenge on them first. They still remembered clearly the consequences that some forces had suffered for offending the Tower of Dusk. It was truly a ruthless reprisal.
The forces wanted the Gilded Kingdom to turn against the Tower of Dusk, but they didn't want to be the cannon fodder of either party. Hence, the negotiation would definitely be mandatory. However, the members of the Tower of Dusk were clearly no longer interested in the negotiation, and the other factions were just as anxious as the Gilded Kingdom's representatives.
In fact, the Plains' forces were clear that what they were doing now was unethical as they were already harming the interests of the Tower of Dusk. After all, the Tower of Dusk was originally already at the pinnacle of the Breezy Plains and dominated over the rest. Now, they were trying to give the Tower of Dusk an opponent to deal with. That was obviously harming the interests of the Tower of Dusk.
Due to their guilty conscience, those forces began to get increasingly anxious and worried after seeing the behavior of the representatives of the Tower of Dusk. They did not want to end up offending the Tower of Dusk and gaining nothing. This time, if they could reach a consensus, it would still be alright, but if they could not, their forces would not be able to escape, since they were situated in the Breezy Plains.
On the other hand, when the representatives of the various forces were discussing countermeasures for the matter of the Tower of Dusk in the conference hall, Cantory and the others from the Gilded Kingdom headed to a lounge outside the conference hall instead of returning to the battleship in the port.
As soon as they entered the lounge, Cantory, who had been holding back for a long time, immediately lost his temper and vented his anger for a long time before stopping. He then said, "Elder Jorre, I think you'd better invite Elder Rustin and the others to come and just destroy the Tower of Dusk. These guys are simply too arrogant!"
Elder Rustin Cantory mentioned was the chief elder of the Illuminati who was a true Sanctuary powerhouse, and was not inferior to the pope of the Illuminati in power. Cantory clearly did not just want to destroy the Tower of Dusk—he wanted to eliminate the Ashen Warlock as well.
Hearing Cantory's words, Elder Jorre shook his head a little, and waited for Cantory to calm down before slowly saying, "Rustin and the other Sanctuary-realm elders are all busy with monitoring the Endless Ocean, and have no time to come. Besides, if they really stepped on the mainland, the horror that they would face would be more than just the Ashen Warlock. They might also have to face those people from the Brilliance Shrine and the Supreme Council."
Ordinary people might be puzzled and wonder why they had to monitor the Endless Ocean, but as senior executives of the Gilded Kingdom, Nasry and Cantory knew the reason. In fact, they visited the Breezy Plains this time as envoys as they were greatly involved in this matter. The problem of resources was actually not the most important.
This time, the largest magic tides appeared in Anril. Although the Gilded Kingdom was far away in the sea, it was also greatly affected. At first, just like those on the mainland, many of their mages who broke through the bottleneck saw a huge increase in their strength, which was an extremely joyous affair for many of them. However, to their surprise, there were also some unknown changes under the influence of the magic tides, thus causing the Gilded Kingdom's environment to become increasingly harsher.
That was the very reason that the people of the Gilded Kingdom thought of sending envoys to the Breezy Plains to collect a large amount of resources that they needed, and also to make preparations. If things in the Gilded Kingdom were to really reach an unmanageable state, the Breezy Plains, which was in between the Felan Kingdom and Ledin Kingdom, would undoubtedly be the foothold of the Gilded Kingdom in Anril.
In fact, another hidden purpose of buying the mineral resources that belonged to the local factions was to create a suitable excuse for the Gilded Kingdom to enter the Breezy Plains. Hence, whether the negotiation in the Breezy Plains went well would likely be related to the future survival of the Gilded Kingdom.
In addition to their inherent arrogance, Cantory and the others were domineering because they wanted to hide the awkward situation that the Gilded Kingdom was in. If others were to discover it, they would probably end up in a passive position.
"Do we really have to apologize to that unruly guy and invite him back for the negotiation?" Cantory asked indignantly. As the top elite of his generation, he had never bowed down to anyone and swallowed his pride to apologize, as it was harder for him than dying.
"Cantory, if we can secure our footing in the Breezy Plains, do you think the Tower of Dusk can pose a threat to us?" Jorre asked while stroking his beard and looking at Cantory.
At his words, Cantory's eyes finally lit up again. Actually, Elder Jorre's idea was very simple: he felt that it would not be too late to take revenge then. If the Gilded Kingdom and the Illuminati got a footing in the Breezy Plains, wouldn't it be easy for them to deal with the Tower of Dusk?
While the representatives of the forces from the Breezy Plains, as well as the members of the Gilded Kingdom, were discussing the countermeasures to take after Lin Li's departure, Lin Li, who was the center of attention, leisurely led Alan and the others on a casual stroll in Calon City. They even went to the so-called black market where they bought many inconspicuous articles. It was not for the sake of earning money, but purely for leisure and relaxation.
Lin Li only returned to the Malfa Family's residence when the sky was turning dark. However, he saw the representatives of the forces who had been waiting for an unknown period of time in the courtyard.
They were pacing around anxiously, and immediately beamed with joy when they saw Lin Li returning with the others. They quickly approached, and were almost greeting Lin Li deferentially.
"Are you all here to send me off? I appreciate your goodwill. Since you guys have so much work to do, don't waste time here anymore," Lin Li said while leading Alan and the others through the crowd. Soon, they arrived in front of a door of a certain place.
Lin Li's words caused the people present to feel awkward. Since they arrived in Calon City for the negotiation, they had already taken the initiative to meet Lin Li several times before. One reason
was that they had a guilty conscience, and the other was that they felt that since the Tower of Dusk had the Gilded Kingdom as an opponent, they probably could no longer dominate the Breezy Plains. Hence, the other factions would naturally not have to obey Lin Li.
However, things had now developed beyond their control, and they had no choice but to take initiative to see Lin Li. They hoped that there would be a force to contend with the Tower of Dusk, but they did not hope for there to be a war in the Breezy Plains again, as that would harm their interests. Besides, they still wanted the Tower of Dusk to stand up for them and help them reap more benefits from the Gilded Kingdom.
Initially, they were somewhat reserved, and just hoped to persuade Lin Li to return to the negotiation. Some were even confident that they would succeed in persuading him. However, before they could even get to the main topic, they could tell from Lin Li's words that they were going to leave.
"President Felic, are you leaving now?" asked Joseph, the representative and former patriarch of the Mithril Alliance, someone Lin Li knew too.
Due to the fact that Joseph's behavior in Prince Brahere's mausoleum had brought about significant losses to the Mithril Alliance, Elvis took over all of Joseph's authority. Now, Elvis had stepped into the Sanctuary-realm, and although he had done so with the power of the magic tides, his status in the Mithril Alliance was unshakable. Joseph had no choice but to follow Elvis and join the negotiation in the Gilded Kingdom as a representative of the Mithril Alliance.
Joseph's question was exactly what everyone else thought. Hence, they fell silent at this moment, and were all looking at Lin Li nervously, waiting to hear his answer.
Lin Li glanced at everyone with a nonchalant smile, and he naturally said, "Of course. Since there isn't an outcome, why bother wasting time here? The Gilded Kingdom is very powerful. When I go back, I must make arrangements and get ready to face the music from the king of the Gilded Kingdom, and maybe you guys."