Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Even though Rhode accepted the invitation, he wouldn’t make things easy for the Light Parliament.
Do they really think that I’m a pushover?
Although Lydia hoped for him to go and there were reasons for him to do so, he had no intentions of letting others know about it. Since the group of bastards ‘pleaded’ for him to join them as though he was their savior, then they should show some sincerity.
No problem, I’ve prepared a whole list of conditions here.
Rhode didn’t hold back at all and requested for the right to fight independently. Although he would be joining the Winter Castle’s defensive line as a reinforcement, he wouldn’t accept orders from the Country of Light’s military commanders, and they would only hold the right to suggest and not command. In other words, Rhode had the final say as to when he wished to show up. Apart from this, he had also stated that the commanders couldn’t command his army without permission… On this piece of paper, he listed down around a dozen conditions. However, this wasn’t completed yet. Or perhaps, this was just the start!
Alright, the conditions regarding the battle are settled. On to the Holy Maiden Statues.
The Light Parliament wants me to bring the Holy Maiden Statues to the Winter Castle? No problem! Let’s talk about price: the Holy Maiden Statues are my private assets, so I don’t have any issues transporting them there. However, I am the only one who can use them. If any of you wishes to receive assistance from the holy spears or move them about, you will need to pay!
Not only that, but you’ll also write a report to me and can only use them after gaining my approval. But let me put this up front. If any of your dumb commanders cause damage to them, you will need to compensate. As for the price… 50 million gold coins! If the statues are destroyed entirely, the Light Parliament will need to compensate for a total of 100 million gold coins!
Yes, this isn’t all. Combat needs to pay particular attention to the slightest details and no errors should be made. This is why we have to talk about pensions for my casualties. I will be leading 5,000 soldiers and their pensions will be covered by the Light Parliament entirely. As for the amount, I’m a generous man and as long as you offer an acceptable sum, there won’t be much issues.
Of course, just in case, Rhode also requested for this contract to be signed under the witness of the church in order to remove any possibility of the Light Parliament shrinking responsibilities!
Rhode didn’t fire blindly with this final request. The church was a superior organization and the Country of Law was the strongest nation on this continent. They held two Creator Dragon Souls and directed the church to control the economic flow. All churches had the dual functions of being notary offices and banks. If this were in the real word, no country would accept their own economic channels and wealth to be in the hands of other countries. However, this was the Dragon Soul Continent, where the Creator Dragon Souls were mightier than all. The churches were fair and independent, which was why they were the best choice to witness the signing of contracts. This was especially so when the contract involved compensations. Normally, one shouldn’t worry about the other party reneging on the contract as long as the church witnessed the signings just like in the conditions that Rhode had listed—once the church witnessed the signings it would mean that as long as the Holy Maiden Statues were damaged or destroyed, the Light Parliament would need to fork out a compensation amount of between 50 million to 100 million gold coins.
What if the Light Parliament couldn’t afford it? Simple. Rhode could apply for enforcement from the church while the latter would store everything in the Light Parliament’s possession into their accounts. It would also be fine even if the Light Parliament couldn’t repay the debt because the church would then retrieve the amount from the Country of Light (no matter where they had gotten the money from).
What would happen to the unfortunate idiots of the Light Parliament? The church wouldn’t care about them. An agreement signed at the national level meant that the entire country was the executor and it would simply be a question of who was the one who executed it.
This might not sound fair, but what could they do since it was the Country of Law who maintained law and order in this continent with two Creator Dragon Souls? The Country of Darkness didn’t even dare to lay hands on the Country of Law and could only focus their attention on the Country of Light. The Light Parliament wouldn’t be that foolish to mess with two Creator Dragon Souls either. Even though many people with insights thought about leaving the church’s financial circulation system and breaking free from the Country of Law’s control, the Country of Law’s system had been ongoing ever since the end of the Creation War. As a figure of speech, if the entire Dragon Soul Continent was a human, the Country of Law’s and church’s financial circulation system would be the blood vessels and nerves, so it wouldn’t be easy to remove them.
From a certain perspective, the Country of Law was the true ruler of this continent.
Of course, Rhode didn’t forget about his obligations. After all, everything needed to be fair. At the end of the list, he wrote that he would do his best to help the alliance in defending against the Undead Army for the sake of peace among humans.
At this point in time, we’re the world… No, we’re the people of the Dragon Soul Continent, regardless of race and gender. We will face the same threat and I will do my utmost for the sake of peace in the Light Mainland under the lead of the Light Dragon! This is the rightful obligation of a mortal, human, and person of this continent. I believe that under the lead of the Light Dragon, the alliance will attain victory and show our courage and honor to the evil Undead Army!
Rhode appointed Marlene to deliver the letter and negotiate with the Light Parliament. At this moment, he didn’t require any political assistance. All he wished for was to vent his frustrations.
You idiots think that you can climb all over me after gaining Lilian’s nod of approval? Dream on!
In fact, everything was as he predicted. The reason why the Light Parliament was so passionate this time was that they wanted to try to take him down. However, Rhode always held his guard up against them as though they were bandits. All the conditions served as countermeasures against hindrances that they might possibly cause. If anyone were to read the conditions, they would definitely raise doubts on the Light Parliament. After all, the conditions were extremely unique and detailed.
Rhode heard that the representative of the Light Parliament flipped the table instantly after reading the conditions. However, he wasn’t afraid even if they accused him as the sinner of the entire Light Mainland. No matter what sort of tricks the Light Parliament would come up with, Rhode was determined—either you agree to them or I can simply not go!
The Light Parliament finally realized that they buried themselves in the hole they had dug. Initially, they decided to use Lilian to intimidate Rhode. However, they didn’t expect to go for wool and come home shorn. Never in the world would they expect Rhode to be this shameless. The situation at the moment was like in a Hollywood science fiction movie where the aliens invaded earth and humans suffered gravely after defeating the evil visitors. Humans forgave the misunderstandings between races, beliefs, and cultures and remain united without national borders and hatred. All the humans united and fought for the freedom of mankind!
But now, Rhode’s action was as though he suddenly raised his arm and requested to talk about profit distributions shamelessly just when everyone had given up their differences in the impassioned alliance meeting.
However, Rhode didn’t care because players were synonymous with shameless. As the top player, he undoubtedly held a despicable side of him. Moreover, the Light Parliament’s dispirited roars weren’t as professional as adult video actresses in his ears. So what if he became the sinner of the human race? It wouldn’t hurt him a single bit and money was the most practical.
The Light Parliament had considered passing the list to Lilian to make her witness how shameless this man was. However, they held back because Rhode had obviously laid out the conditions in order to guard against them. What if Lilian found out that the Light Parliament was planning to lay hands on him? The Light Parliament didn’t have a great relationship with Lilian. Previously, the Light Parliament had gotten their chairman to speak to Lilian about their support in her heading into the Winter Castle because she disliked interactions with them. What would they do if she knew that they were making use of her?
Actually, the reason why the Light Parliament had fallen into this state was because of them being enmeshed in a trap of their own devising. Their biggest problem was their huge quarrel with Lilian back then, where they neglected the fact that Lilian was still a child regardless of age and mentality. Therefore, they were nervous when Lilian began recovering her authority and treated her as a political opponent. However, Lilian was still a child after all…
What do you want to compete with a child for?
This resulted in Lilian having an unfavorable impression of the Light Parliament because she didn’t think that she was in the wrong and the Light Parliament had apparently wronged her. Not only that, but they also weren’t sincere and didn’t apologize to her thereafter. Besides, they even tried to frame Lydia, which infuriated her. The Light Parliament could only treat Lilian carefully as though coaxing a child. But what if she felt that they were harboring unfathomable motives?
… Do we admit it?
Of course they wouldn’t. This involved a huge sum of money! If the church were to witness the signing, it would be a huge headache for them. The Light Parliament was already tight on finance and couldn’t afford 50 million gold coins easily, not to mention pensions for the casualties…
What does this have to do with us?
The other alternative was that they could show the agreement to Lilian and trick her, but everything would be done for after she headed to the front line and met Rhode. Of course, they could accuse Rhode of lying, but it was apparent who Lilian trusted.
At this moment, the other overlords and forces had also heard about the agreement because they were part of the alliance. It could also be said that some of them belonged to the anti-parliament camp. The reason why they agreed to help the Light Parliament was so they could use this chance to pull strings with Rhode. The Light Parliament didn’t invite Rhode to the Winter Castle just for Lilian. In fact, they had also intended to form an alliance to defend against the Undead Army. But the problem now was that no one held sufficient strength and prestige to join them.
It was due to this reason that the Light Parliament had thought of Rhode. Even though conspiracy theories regarding the Munn Kingdom were spreading in the Country of Light, only the brainwashed idiots of the Light Parliament believed them. On the contrary, the news of Rhode defeating the Undead Army with 150,000 troops had spread widely. As long as Rhode was willing to join the alliance, the alliance would definitely be powerful, which was also the reason why others joined the alliance.
But they also understood the issues between Rhode and the Light Parliament, which was why they were exceptionally curious about the Light Parliament’s invitation to Rhode.
After learning about Rhode’s conditions, many were baffled! They didn’t expect him to put everything on the table without showing any sympathy! As for the impassioned words at the end, anyone would read it as a form of sarcasm after matching with the conditions that he listed above.
Of course, many thought that Rhode wasn’t being too… careful. No matter what, this was an alliance against the Undead Creature, so what would the others think of him? However, some laughed up their sleeves inwardly. They knew how badly the Light Parliament and Rhode got along and the former must have some conspiracies to invite him over. If it weren’t for Rhode, the others wouldn’t even join this alliance!
What gave the Light Parliament the biggest headache was that the forces who supported them mostly remained silent. Initially, the Light Parliament hoped that the forces could step up and pressure Rhode a little. However, none of them spoke a word and it was apparent that the Light Parliament was rather disappointed.
Initially, they wished to negotiate with Rhode about the conditions. However, they had to make a decision—because Lilian had heard of the rumors and began questioning what exactly was happening!
If this continued, no one could guarantee what sort of information she would hear. When that happened…
The Light Parliament had no other choices left and could only nod in agreement. However, they weren’t willing to give up just yet. Instead, they requested Rhode to secure the defensive line in the Winter Castle!
If you fail to do so, don’t blame us! Hahaha!
Rhode expressed no concerns over it. However, since this was the case, they would need to discuss the commanding rights to the alliance…
The Light Parliament instantly shrunk.
They feared giving Rhode authority. Most of the forces that joined the alliance supported the Light Parliament. What if Rhode had some tricks up his sleeves to send the troops to their graves? What would be the purpose of securing this defensive line if that happened?
In fact, Rhode also wrapped his head around this idea. If the Light Parliament was so foolish to hand the commanding rights over, Rhode would definitely torment their troops. In the future, he would have a much easier time when he attacked the Country of Light…
Their true enemy was each other—not the Undead Army.
In the end, the Light Parliament nodded helplessly to all of Rhode’s conditions. Both sides signed the agreement under the witness of the church and the matter came to an end. The Undead Army couldn’t care less about their negotiations and continued to swarm forward. If the Light Parliament were to haggle with Rhode any longer, the Winter Castle would collapse and the alliance would turn into a joke.
But even so, the Light Parliament hadn’t given up yet. When they signed the agreement, they emphasized that Rhode would bring along 5000 troops and the Holy Maiden Statues. If not… They could also abolish their agreement based on the breach of contract! Not only that, but they could also tackle Rhode even more.
When that happens, we shall see who has the last laugh!
Based on Sonia’s report, the Light Parliament knew that Rhode had less than 2000 soldiers. They were interested to see where could Rhode find another 3000 soldiers to make up for the difference!
Marlene had also asked him this question because she didn’t know where he could recruit the soldiers from.
But Rhode’s response surprised her.
“We won’t be mobilizing our troops, Marlene. I won’t let my adorable subordinates die for the idiots of the Country of Light.”
“Where do you intend to recruit 5000 soldiers then, Rhode?”
Rhode twitched his brows.
“Don’t worry, I have my ways,” he replied confidently.
