Chapter 682.2: What Has This Got To Do With Us? |
The Xilande Empire had been merciful not to execute them. Keeping them in pens had already been benevolence. And those ungrateful wretches had fled from the Poro Province, shamelessly spinning lies about their filthy blood and pretending to be innocent victims.
How would that make the rest of the survivors view the Empire?
Seeing Garawa remain silent for too long, Cheng Yan reminded him, “Duke Garawa?”
Garawa suddenly calmed himself, leaning back in his chair.
Cheng Yan thought he was finally ready to speak reasonably, until he crossed one leg over the other and coldly said. “That is not important.”
Cheng Yan stared at him in stunned silence.
Not important?
“What is important then?”
“His Majesty decreed they are sinners. Therefore, they are. That is both the Emperor’s will and the will of the Ox God of the Sun. Why should I explain anything to you?” Tilting his head slightly upward, Garawa peered down his nose at the foreign minister seated opposite him. “This is our internal affair. It has nothing to do with you!”
There was no reason to continue.
The other record-keepers followed his lead, closing their notebooks as well.
Not just them, even the Cheng Yan agreed it was a waste of time.
Garawa frowned, confused by their reaction. Something felt off.
Before standing, Cheng Yan cleared his throat and asked formally, “Then… Duke Garawa, I would like to hear your demands one more time.”
Garawa scowled. “…What demands?”
“Tell us exactly what you want from us.”
Garawa answered without hesitation. “Expel those sinners immediately! And apologize to the Xilande Empire in your newspaper!”
He had already shown some compromise.
It seemed unrealistic to expect the New Alliance’s “emperor” to apologize to him personally, but an apology in the newspaper seemed reasonable.
In his mind, he was already being generous.
Cheng Yan nodded, showing he heard it.
Seeing him nod, Garawa smiled with satisfaction, leaning back comfortably. “Much better. We should have communicated like this from the start.”
The New Alliance was easier to push around than he imagined. He had barely applied any pressure before they gave in.
Clearly, he had overestimated them. Next time, he felt that he should press them even harder.
“I agree, we should have communicated in simple, direct terms from the beginning,” Cheng Yan said expressionlessly, staring at the smug duke. “So… what does any of this have to do with us?”
Garawa’s smile froze. “What did you say?”
Staring at Garawa’s stunned face, Cheng Yan needed no further discussion. He rose, tucking the unused notebook under his arm. “You already said it. This is your internal affair. You told us not to meddle. So what does this have to do with us?”
???
What kind of response was that? What do you mean “what does it have to do with you?!”
He opened his mouth to shout in fury, but no rebuttal came.
Ignoring him, Cheng Yan walked to the door without a backward glance.
“W–wait!” Garawa lunged to stop him, but nobody responded.
As the Cheng Yan left, everyone at the table stood and followed him out. Within moments, the enormous room was empty except for Garawa, standing alone in shock.
Staring at the half-open door, Garawa withdrew his trembling fist and roared, “You will regret this!!!”
His shout echoed through the conference room, unheard and unanswered.
Unable to find anything throwable on the table, he slammed his fist onto it, then kicked a table leg in frustration.
Enduring the pain in his toes, he swallowed his rage whole.
Just wait.
This humiliation, he would repay it a hundredfold!
…
After the meeting ended, a calmer Cheng Yan went to the administrator’s office to report everything. He even submitted a self-critique for mishandling the situation. “… I’m sorry, I messed up.”
After reading the meeting minutes and hearing Cheng Yan’s account, Chu Guang replied simply. “No need to blame yourself. You performed within your responsibilities. As far as I’m concerned, you didn’t mess anything up.”
If anything, they shouldn’t have entertained that fool in the first place.
At the Mutant Slime Mold Research Committee meetings, Chu Guang himself hardly paid attention to that useless blowhard.
Cheng Yan froze, he had expected criticism. After a moment of hesitation, he said, “But… you said we should resolve conflicts through dialogue whenever possible.”
Chu Guang replied patiently. “I did say that. And we will communicate with every creature capable of understanding human language, even Mutant Slime Mold. But those who truly cannot understand human speech leave us no choice, we must communicate in another way. You must understand: not everyone can be reasoned with. And in this case, it wasn’t you refusing dialogue. They refused it.”
Cheng Yan bowed respectfully. “I understand now.”
Seeing he genuinely seemed to understand, Chu Guang nodded in approval.
He had heard enough about the Xilande Empire not to take them seriously. They were, essentially, the Wislanders’ lapdogs. Like most survivor factions, they cared little about eliminating the threat of Mutant Slime Mold and cared far more about trading their participation in the the committee for benefits from the New Alliance and other ancient factions interested in Mutant Slime Mold.
Which was fine, because that was exactly why the committee existed. Obviously, the Army promised the Xilande Empire certain benefits, military or economic. So regardless of whether the New Alliance offended them, they would stand with the Army anyway.
A vassal that had already chosen a side was not worth courting, and it didn’t matter if negotiations failed.
As for their supposed threats, Chu Guang didn’t take them seriously at all. Even the Army didn’t dare issue military threats, let their tagalongs. He doubted they had the courage to carry out any form of retaliation.
Setting aside the meeting notes, Chu Guang asked, “Anything else?”
Cheng Yan nodded. “There is one more matter requiring your decision. The Camel Kingdom hopes we can establish an embassy in Silvermoon Bay.”
Chu Guang frowned. “Didn’t we establish one long ago?”
Outside New Alliance territory, embassies served as communication channels with other factions, and as save points for players. Especially for factions without New Alliance military bases, embassies were often the only official save points aside from player-built ones.
“Yes, but their ambassador said we have far more people active in Silvermoon Bay than in the capital of the Camel Kingdom. He hopes that, for the sake of those New Alliance citizens, we can establish a dispute-resolution office there. But I suspect the real reason is related to the Xilande Empire’s recent military activities around Silvermoon Bay.”
Hearing it, Chu Guang frowned and looked toward the large map hanging on the office wall.
After a moment of thought, he nodded. “That can be arranged.”
Ignoring the Ocean Edge Province controlled by the Torch Church, Silvermoon Bay was the closest seaport to the New Alliance. Its strategic and economic value were immense. The New Alliance didn’t directly control the port, but its economic interests there were no less than its interests in the Lion Kingdom or the Honeybadger Kingdom.
To prevent certain fools from causing trouble, making an official gesture was wise.
“Yes, sir.” Understanding his meaning, Cheng Yan bowed deeply and left.
Watching him depart, Chu Guang looked back at the map. A railway line traced along the edge of the Tzobar Mountains, passed through the old battlefields where the Skeleton Corps’ armored vehicles rampaged, and reached the Petra Fortress, the mountain chokepoint.
Soon, the railway would pass through and reach the fertile Oasis No.4 and the port of Silvermoon Bay, linking with the sea route toward the Baiyue Strait.
At first, the Camel Kingdom had been wary of the railway, fearing another Boulder Town incident would happen in Oasis No.4. However, the military pressure from the southwest forced the nobles and merchants of Camel Kingdom to lean toward the New Alliance, seeking closer cooperation in exchange for security.
Chu Guang didn’t particularly dislike that troublemaker coming from the southwest.
Annoying, yes, but he was more ridiculous than harmful. They weren’t even as troublesome as the rats up north.
Besides, those people had brought the New Alliance some gifts, and they were very real, tangible gifts…
