Chapter 1039: Unhappy Parting
As Joseph and Charles, who represented the two top forces, spoke up, the other forces began to profess their loyalty to Lin Li. They were all acting as if they couldn’t wait to show Lin Li what they felt from the bottom of their hearts. Of course, in short, they just hoped that Lin Li could stay behind for the negotiation to get more benefits from the Gilded Kingdom.
However, Lin Li did not express his stand towards everyone. After all, if the people of the Gilded Kingdom refused to give in, nothing they said would matter. Lin Li was not a warmonger, but he was not afraid of fighting a war, either. The Gilded Kingdom’s att.i.tude was key.
Soon after the representatives of the forces left, the servants of the Gilded Kingdom followed Lin Li all the way there, claiming that the envoys had invited him over to discuss the matters regarding the negotiation. Seeing that the members of the Gilded Kingdom were still putting on airs at this juncture, Lin Li naturally wouldn’t give in to them. Instead, he told the servants to tell his envoys to come see him where he was, and not to disturb him unless it was for something important.
After receiving the news from servants, Nasry and the others were so infuriated that they began gritting their teeth, but there was nothing they could do to the Tower of Dusk. After all, they were not in the Gilded Kingdom. Feeling helpless, Cantory and Elder Jorre had no choice but to bite the bullet and visit Lin Li. However, the commander-in-chief of the navy, Nasry, had long escaped under the pretext of inspecting the battleship.
Cantory and Jorre did not bring any followers with them, and they soon arrived near Lin Li’s residence. However, when faced with that door, they could not take another step forward.
Cantory, the son of the chancellor, the disciple of the priest of the Illuminati, and the elite of his generation, had always been the one others sucked up to. Since when had he ever swallowed his pride and bowed down to anyone?
Although Elder Jorre seemed kind and personable on the surface, he was only putting on a superficial facade. Deep down, he was actually extremely arrogant. After all, he was one of the elders of the Illuminati, and when he was in the Gilded Kingdom, even the king had to show him some respect.
Although the two big shots were not comparable to deities and G.o.ds who were above all, they were at least of a high status. However, they actually had to swallow their pride and speak politely to the leader of a small force. That was akin to a king having to bow down to a local boss, which was truly a torment.
However, they had no choice but to give in to the leader of a local force which they were originally disdainful towards. Between their dignity and the survival of their nation, they could only choose to give up their dignity and pride. However, despite having made a clear decision, it still wasn’t easy for them to actually do it, especially since they were arrogant by nature.
More importantly, through the contact that they had with Lin Li in the past few days, they had gained some understanding of his character. After the first negotiation which turned out to be fruitless, Lin Li attacked their battleship, and he suddenly left the venue during the second one. G.o.d knew what treatment the two would encounter during this visit.
The two men hesitated by the gate for half a day, attracting peculiar glances from the people who pa.s.sed by. Finally, they decided to step onto the stairs in front of the gate and inform the guards of their purpose of visit. They thought that since they were envoys of the Gilded Kingdom, Lin Li wouldn’t be too rude to them no matter how arrogant he might be.
However, to their surprise, the guard at the entrance left for two hours to go inform Lin Li of their arrival. Even a snail would have returned earlier. While waiting anxiously at the entrance, they had to suffer the embarra.s.sment of being shot dirty looks by others, making them wish that they could turn around and head home.
Thus, they waited for two hours at the entrance, and the guard finally reappeared. However, the guard was alone—Lin Li did not come out with him to welcome them. Hence, they were immediately angered. They were the envoys of the Gilded Kingdom, and even when they visited the Ledin Kingdom and Felan Kingdom, the kings would welcome them with a grand ceremony and send ministers with high authority to receive them. However, Lin Li, the president of the Tower of Dusk, actually disregarded their status even though he was just a leader of a small local force!
“The president would like you to come in,” the guard said without sounding overly respectful. Besides, he even returned to the spot where he had been standing previously after saying those words to them, not intending to lead them in at all.
“Sure! Sure!” Cantory said while gritting his teeth and secretly clenching his fists tightly in his sleeves. His nails dug deep into his palms, and he finally suppressed his urge to turn around and leave. The last bit of rationality that he had was continuously reminding him to consider the greater good.
Elder Jorre, who was beside him, immediately looked sullen. Given his status as an elder of the Illuminati, he had never received such treatment even when he met the king of the Gilded Kingdom. Yet, he now had to suffer such treatment in the Breezy Plains. However, he could imagine that Lin Li would definitely say that there was no need for him to treat them with courtesy since they were in opposing positions if he were to complain about it to Lin Li.
The two of them looked at each other with anger and helplessness in their eyes. It couldn’t be helped, since Lin Li was now more domineering than them. Lin Li was the key deciding factor of the success of their mission, and even if they deemed Lin Li to be of lowly status, they would still have to swallow their pride and compromise.
The two of them entered with sullen expressions. Although they were not ushered by anyone, they nonetheless managed to quickly find their way to the reception hall where Lin Li, the president of the Tower of Dusk who they hated with a burning pa.s.sion, was seated still. He was chatting with an old mage, and did not seem to care about their arrival at all.
“Ahem.” Forcing himself to bear with the displeasure, Elder Jorre cleared his throat to catch Lin Li’s attention before slowly saying, “Master Felic, if you have any opinions about our negotiation this time, you may voice them. You left without a single word. How could we have come to a consensus in the negotiation then?”
Hearing those hypocritical words from Elder Jorre, Lin Li smiled indifferently and glanced at them. He nonchalantly said, “Elder Jorre, if you’re still going to continue being insincere, I don’t think there’s a need for any further discussion.”
Although they often claimed that they were negotiating for peace and that they were being very sincere, they would often behave arrogantly during the actual negotiation. Since they refused to give any concessions, how could that be considered a negotiation? Now that Lin Li had the Sky Castle, the Gilded Kingdom and the Illuminati would not be able to pose a threat to the Tower of Dusk no matter how powerful they might be. Hence, there was no need for Lin Li to give in to them at all.
Lin Li’s words made the faces of Elder Jorre and Cantory turn as red as a tomato. Despite feeling humiliated and enraged, they had no choice but to suppress those emotions, because they were tasked with a mission. After taking two deep breaths, Cantory spoke again, his voice shaking with anger. “Master Felic, what must we do to express our sincerity then?”
“You should be asking yourselves that question instead. You just have to remember that this is the Breezy Plains, and not the Gilded Kingdom.” Lin Li began lecturing them austerely, completely disregarding their status.
“You!!””
He was actually lectured by a country b.u.mpkin from the Breezy Plains who was a n.o.body and was younger than him! At this moment, Cantory was overwhelmed with fury. Having lived for more than 30 years, he had never been humiliated in such a manner. Other than the elders of the Gilded Kingdom, anyone who dared to speak to him with such disrespect would definitely be thrown into the sea.
Although Elder Jorre was just as infuriated, he had lived for numerous years, and was experienced enough to remain composed despite being angered. Seeing that Cantory was about to lose his temper, he hurriedly pulled him to the side, and stood in front of Lin Li instead. “Master Felic, since you want to see how sincere we are, we will show you enough sincerity. As long as you’re willing to sit down for a chat with us, we can forgo the fact that your people have attacked our battleship. I can also give the battleship to you as a gift.”
Hearing those words, Lin Li couldn’t help but sneer, and think to himself, They’re just trying to gain something without risking anything of their own! How magnanimous of you to say that you’re not going to pursue the matter of the attack on your battleship! Regardless of whether the Gilded Kingdom gives the battleship to us or not, it already belongs to the Tower of Dusk. Why do I need you to make that decision?
Although Lin Li did not know why the Gilded Kingdom suddenly wanted to enter the Breezy Plains, he could tell from the interaction he had had with them recently that entering the Breezy Plains was extremely important to the Gilded Kingdom. He had to admit that although they did not show much sincerity during the negotiation, it was probably because they were persons of high status, and had never negotiated with anyone before.
Having realized that, Lin Li obviously wouldn’t take them seriously. With a look of derision, he said, “You two should go back. Express that sincerity of yours to others. Since you’re considered envoys, I won’t continue holding it against you.”
Dumbfounded to hear Lin Li’s words, Elder Jorre and Cantory even forgot about the anger that they ought to have. In their opinion, Lin Li left the previous negotiation because he was unwilling to compensate them for the damages done to their battleship, and did not want to return it, either.