Due to the large amount of meat that needed to be processed, Bai Zemin decided to wait 5 days before launching the next attack against the enemy forces. This was because the various logistical teams were working mostly outside the base walls to save the time it would take to move the bodies into the walls.
Although Bai Zemin could use the skill Collector’s Pocket World of the Collector’s Pocket Watch to make better use of time in the outside world, he did not want to let the word spread around about his possession of a Demigod grade treasure with such a terrifying skill.
At the end of the day, Bai Zemin was still far from being an omniscient being, and the fewer people knowing the secret of the Collector’s Pocket Watch the better things would go for him.
Bai Zemin was about to go look for Kali when Xian Mei’er stopped him before he left the room.
“Can we chat for a minute? I’ll be brief.”
Bai Zemin looked at her silently for a moment before nodding.
Everyone left the room, leaving Bai Zemin and Xian Mei’er behind to talk undisturbed.
The future King of the ground and the future Queen of the seas… At the very least, that was the plan.
After a minute of silence, Xian Mei’er calmly explained her situation.
“As you may already guess, all this time I have been fighting against my elder brother Xian Kun since he had his army break into the small territory that was under my control… It’s just that the numerical difference in soldiers was abysmal and now it is even more so.” Xian Mei’er smiled bitterly and extended both hands outward as if to show her helplessness as she continued her explanation.
“After months of constantly fighting and retreating, my troops were finally defeated so I was forced to retreat my few remaining soldiers to the edge of my territory. Had it not been for the support I received from your faction it is likely that by now I would have nothing left of what took me so much effort to build.”
Despite her saying that, Bai Zemin did not feel that Xian Mei’er was indebted to him or his faction. Even if he put aside the matter of the alliance, the reality was that were it not for the soldiers under Xian Mei’er restraining Xian Kun and his army things would be in a much uglier place for him and everyone else.
In fact, even now as they chatted. the soldiers of Xian Mei’er were the ones supporting the base south of Inner Mongolia from the East Sea.
“So… Your problem is that you have few soldiers?” Bai Zemin nodded with compression.
“In fact, having few soldiers is a problem for me currently. I will probably need some time to recruit more, time which could be shortened infinitely if we manage to defeat my elder brother, the Third Prince here in Inner Mongolia.” Xian Mei’er did not hide her weaknesses at all even though in theory her relationship with Bai Zemin was fully of mutual benefit, “But, I have a much more pressing problem now, and if I can’t solve it as soon as possible I’m afraid my soldiers will desert.”
“Oh?” Bai Zemin frowned slightly and looked at her with interest, waiting for her next words.
Xian Mei’er sighed and said helplessly, “As you already well know, we soul evolvers have a great level of appetite that we need to satiate so that the rate at which our body is modified can be maintained without imbalance at a molecular level.”
Seeing Bai Zemin nod, she continued, “If a First Order soul evolver were to eat meat from an Unclassified mutant beast they would probably have to eat an entire beast per week being conservative. However, a single piece of meat from a Second Order beast could sustain a dozen First Order soul evolvers.”
Bai Zemin nodded again, in his heart sensing where this conversation was going.
“I know our alliance specified that you and your faction would deliver only the corpses of the zombies to me, but the zombies have diminished in numbers and have gathered somewhere unknown. Therefore… My situation is very delicate at the moment.”
Bai Zemin learned from the mouth of Xian Mei’er that the amount of food she had was pitifully low at the moment.
“The Third Prince took away practically all of my territory so I no longer have an area for my soldiers to hunt small low-level creatures that don’t follow anyone’s orders to satiate themselves with quantity instead of quality. You also know that I am completely reluctant to use the bodies of my kingdom’s sea creatures to feed my people, but the troops under my elder brother Xian Kun’s control definitely don’t belong to our kingdom so I don’t mind using them as food.” Xian Mei’er explained before sighing.
“Unfortunately, the number of enemy bodies is far from sufficient to meet my army’s long-term needs… I fear that at this rate I will be facing severe problems within 1 month.”
Bai Zemin stared at her, and to the surprise of Xian Mei’er, he took the initiative without waiting for her to say more.
“Due to my fire skill, about 70% of the enemy army’s bodies were turned into ashes that were already scattered by the wind. Then again, the remaining 30% still amounts to a large sum.” He stared into her beautiful blue eyes and said slowly, “I can give you all the corpses of the goblin race, even their bones and skins which can be used to create equipment. I am also willing to give you 15% of the total dead mutant beasts.”
Xian Mei’er’s eyes shone like stars in the night sky upon hearing Bai Zemin’s words and in a moment of euphoria, she couldn’t help but lean her body forward and take one of his hands between her considerably smaller ones.
“You mean it?!” The excitement in her voice was not unlike that of a small child receiving the best gift in the world on Christmas.
However, the euphoria of Xian Mei’er soon plummeted so quickly that Bai Zemin didn’t even have time to feel perplexed at the sudden movement of the mermaid princess.
She let go of his hand immediately and leaned back again as she looked at him warily.
“What do you want?” she asked.
Xian Mei’er was previously a very naive female, but these difficult months that had practically been a living hell had a silver lining since Xian Mei’er learned not to trust others so easily; even in those she thought of as her allies.
Bai Zemin smiled gratefully at the Seventh Princess of the Eastern Sea’s quick understanding.
He was definitely not doing a selfless favor, at the end of the day, just as Xian Mei’er had to do everything she could to reinforce her side, Bai Zemin was in the same position… In fact, compared to Xian Mei’er who had a strong base footing from the beginning it could be said that Bai Zemin always had it harder than her.
“I am willing to take care of the food problems you have and may have in the short term, I will help you with all my power.” Bai Zemin said slowly. He looked into her eyes and said in a deep voice, “I only want one thing. If you give me what I want, then you will have what you need.”
Xian Mei’er did not agree immediately. She didn’t want to jump into the abyss stupidly even if it meant having to go through hard times in the near future.
“… Tell me what do you want first… Depending on what is this thing you’re talking about, we might have a deal under seal here.” She said.
Xian Mei’er was certainly aware that she was very beautiful, legendarily beautiful. So much so that she could attract males of any race without even trying. However, she was fully aware that even if her beauty could soften and charm the hearts of countless, the man in front of her would not move the slightest inch even if she undressed in front of him; this was her instinct as a woman.
Therefore, Xian Mei’er never thought that he could ask for anything physical or sentimental.
Indeed, when Bai Zemin told her with a faint smile on his face what he wanted, Xian Mei’er was surprised.
Of course, it was nothing physical or emotional or anything like that. The reason she was surprised was completely different.
“This…”
Seeing the perplexed and confused expression of the mermaid princess, Bai Zemin frowned slightly but kept the smile on his face as he calmly asked, “Is something wrong? If you’re not willing then forget it.”
“No… It’s nothing like that.” Xian Mei’er still looked quite confused as she shook her head. She frowned and said in a serious voice, “Bai Zemin, are you sure such a thing does exist? You need to know that as a princess I have access to any place in my kingdom. I was even once in the treasure coil but I didn’t see anything like what you just described.”
When he heard this even Bai Zemin couldn’t help but feel confused and a little unsure.
If even Xian Mei’er herself whose status was not small at all had not even seen one time that thing…
“It’s down there, in the seas.”
Lilith’s voice sounded confident and sure in Bai Zemin’s ears.
She looked him in the eyes with a serious expression and assured him, “There are many amazing things in the seas of this world, even I wish I could have those things in my power… Were it not that I can’t give you that information I would definitely help you, but this is all I can do for you.”
“That’s more than enough.” Bai Zemin said with a gentle smile, pointing out to her that her confidently remarking on the existence of that thing was a surprisingly high degree of support.
“What do you mean?” Xian Mei’er asked in confusion upon hearing the reassuring words of the man in front of her.
“It’s nothing.” He shook his head and said in a serious voice, “Do you accept my deal or not? If that thing exists then it will be mine when we achieve our goal. If that thing doesn’t exist… then you can take this deal as a gift from my side and you won’t owe me anything. How about that?”
After thinking about it for about a full minute, Xian Mei’er realized that there was no need to overthink it. Such a large object was impossible to hide so if it really existed she would have seen it a long time ago… Besides, such an object was of no use to someone with a mindset like hers.
Therefore, she saw no objection in accepting Bai Zemin’s deal.
“Very well.” She nodded and stood gracefully.
Xian Mei’er extended her right hand toward him in a smooth motion and said in a melodious voice, “I do accept your deal.”
Bai Zemin looked at the flawless palm in front of him and stood up before gently taking it for a light squeeze that sealed the deal between the two parties.
“Happy to do business with you again, Seventh Princess Xian Mei’er.”
Certainly, getting that thing was not going to be easy at all even after getting the approval of Xian Mei’er. At the end of the day, Xian Meijer was just another princess of the East Sea; she was far from being the total and absolute Queen to make such important decisions.
The one who would make the final judgment would probably be the King of the East Sea, or so Bai Zemin thought it was the most reasonable thing to happen.
Regardless of anything, however, this was a big step since in the future Bai Zemin could take that thing for himself without having to worry about breaking his long-term alliance with Xian Mei’er.
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2/3 chapters today. Third one in some hours before reset time 🙂
Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3
