Chapter 398: The Night Elves" Plan
"Since long ago, we"ve always believed that the Broodmother was this world"s ruler of fate and the fabricator of the night elves" future," Stephanie articulated calmly.
"I"ve worshiped her from when I was little, and as long as we maintain our love, reverence for her, and believe in her original intentions, we would be able to fulfill our wishes and breathe new life into our clan."
So...
Broodmother Sandalphon, once a core member of the Path of the Flaming Sword and master of weaving fate, had eventually met such a ridiculous fate.
Stephanie didn"t laugh out loud when she thought about it, but she felt that this event was rather ironic.
While she believed in the Broodmother, she was even more inclined to believe in the workings of fate.
Wasn"t the weaver of fate that fell into fate"s bindings also a form of fate?
Stephanie was seated within a small and gloomy tree house. She had a pair of violet eyes on her delicate face and a silver curl that draped her back like a white clock. Pointed ears indicated her elfin ident.i.ty, but her dark skin revealed a night-like ominousness.
Night elves had never been favored by light.
She gazed at the interior of this treehouse. It wasn"t too big and seemed more like a tavern. Although s.p.a.ce was limited, there were currently more than ten people inside, either sitting or standing around.
There were many taverns like this in the Village of Dark Night, but this particular one was destined to be different.
And the young and beautiful Stephanie had been the convener of this gathering.
These people summoned by her were here for a meeting that would change the Village of Dark Night.
Ever since Sandalphon died in the battle against the moonlight, the Village of Dark Night had become a G.o.dless land.
Most of the Broodmother"s fanatical believers had already crumbled and split. Only a few scattered members lingered, still stubbornly searching for evidence that the Master of Fate hadn"t yet died, or... a new hope.
There weren"t many members left, but they were still a powerful force and were led by Stephanie, the young "Spider Woman."
They needed to find a new path ahead for night elves.
Stephanie didn"t tell everyone what her plans for the future were right away. Instead, she recounted about how the Village of Dark Night led by the Broodmother was like from her memories when she was still a young girl.
"Lady Stephanie—" a rather aged night elf interjected. His voice was hoa.r.s.e, his skin dark and wrinkled, yet he held Stephanie in unparalleled respect and couldn"t bear to look directly at her. "This is a disrespectful thing to say, but the great Broodmother has already left us. We cannot dwell on the past forever."
Stephanie put down the gla.s.s of red wine she was holding, revealing the sorrow in her eyes. However, there wasn"t any hint of mockery in her heart as she sighed, "You are right, Lil Darby. I really mustn"t be like this."
"Yes, you are now the leader of the dark elves. The futures of all of us are in your hands," the old dark elf who had been addressed as Lil Darby said hoa.r.s.ely.
"Mm, even if the Broodmother has utterly given up on the Village of Dark Night, we can"t give up on ourselves. We have to rely on our own two hands to fight for a greater future," said Stephanie as her dark violet eyes scanned the audience.
"On the bright side, at least..." Stephanie went on, "we no longer have to work for the Path of the Flaming Sword any more, am I right?"
"But… the Broodmother said..."
"If not for the Path of the Flaming Sword, then what should we do now?"
"That"s right. Without the Path of the Flaming Sword to rely on, once the Central District discovers our movements..."
Worried chatter spouted in the tavern the moment Stephanie said her last sentence.
"Even the Broodmother is gone, so what can the Path of the Flaming Sword do? From now on, we can no longer allow ourselves to be the p.a.w.ns of others. Every step we take must be for ourselves..." Stephanie whispered softly, "The Broodmother"s death comes at the worst time for us, but it"s also the best time.
"From now forth, the road to the Lower District that was excavated for the Path of the Flaming Sword completely belongs to us. The Ash Chamber of Commerce can no longer order us around but listen to us instead. This is a great opportunity for us."
Stephanie raised her hand and revealed a slight smile. Beneath the dim light, her dark violet eyes shone with ambition. "As long as we control all the resources in the Lower District, we can fully replace the Truth Union and Rolle Resource. Even the Central District is nothing to fear. Do you all get it?
"Right now, the ones that control all transcendent objects and resources are us!" Stephanie"s smile broke into a grin.
The era of Lower District"s resources being controlled by Rolle Resource and the Truth Union was about to pa.s.s.
With the Village of Dark Night as a stronghold, the dark elves can continuously export resources to Norzin"s Upper District. When the time came, they would become an important channel like the main artery in a body.
The dark elves never expected such a magnificent blueprint. Upon hearing Stephanie"s depiction, they couldn"t help getting excited.
Stephanie continued, "At present, the only path that can lead to and plunder the Lower District is the one that us dark elves control. With the Ash Chamber of Commerce for trading bulk and connections, we will soon be able to establish a powerful trading network. At that time, even the Central District will have to acknowledge us."
"But, even if we control those resources, it won"t be easy to sell them... First, we have to go up against the Central District; after all, they are the ones that decided on Rolle Resource"s mining. And with the great Broodmother now gone, the Ash Chamber of Commerce might not be that acquiescent." A middle-aged dark elf hesitantly raised these points. "Besides, the Ash Chamber of Commerce seems rather unstable now, especially that Cherry..."
"You"re right. That"s why we must have a reliable partner to bank on." With that, Stephanie put her hands together and gave two claps in the quiet tavern.
A young-looking middle-aged man in a suit and wielding a ceremonial cane stepped out from the tavern"s inner room. He walked over, and with a confident smile, raised his hat slightly to show his respect to the dark elves in the tavern.
"Everyone, I"m Hoffman, patriarch of the Ash Chamber of Commerce"s Sapir Family." He leaned on his cane and gazed at the dark elves before him in a neither servile nor overbearing manner.
The relationship between the dark elves and the Ash Chamber of Commerce was never as hostile as the outside world claimed. The cooperation between them had long been intimate.
The reason for the so-called hostility was just to hide their relationship from the Central District.
The human druid and dark elf hybrid, Cherry, was born from an intimate encounter between dark elf and human, a proof of cooperation and the product of a marriage alliance. Unfortunately, the result of this hybrid was beyond their imagination, and she gradually became a ticking time bomb.
At the same time, this meant that the dark elves" partners in the Ash Chamber of Commerce were actually the Chapman Family.
But now, the one that had come to the Village of Dark Night was the Sapir Family"s patriarch.
"It"s been a long time, Sir Darby." Hoffman bowed slightly and lamented, "I was merely a boy of sixteen when I was last in the Village of Dark Night."
Darby"s eyes were a.s.sessing and wary, but he smiled. "Yes, it"s been a long time."
Hoffman didn"t seem to mind and returned the smile. "The Chapman Witch, Cherry. She"s gradually turning the Ash Chamber of Commerce into her own playground in an attempt to monopolize power. Moreover, she is one of those from the bookstore and is very much against the Path of the Flaming Sword. In other words, this means that your cooperation with the Chapmans will probably be over soon."
Stephanie laughed mirthlessly. "That little mix-blood... is just a tool of a past marriage alliance. Can"t believe it festered till this point."
"Her growth was down to someone..." Hoffman lowered his hat, casting a shadow on his face. "That existence on 23rd Avenue."
The dark elves in the tavern fell silent.
The moonlight that had killed the Broodmother came from 23rd Avenue.
"But it doesn"t matter now." Hoffman raised his head, his lips curving into a smile.
"According to my informants, that existence is no longer helping Cherry in secret. He"s chosen someone else instead, and Cherry...is still in the dark.
“A great being"s temperament can change on a whim. One will get tired of playing with toys and toss them aside eventually. Without the bookstore owner, Cherry is merely a useless tyke that can be gotten rid off easily."
"That"s right." Stephanie nodded. "Hoffman, help me tell her that she has dark elf blood running in her veins. It"s time for her to return to her hometown after staying in the prosperous human world for so long. Tell her to come see the Village of Dark Night and that her mother misses her very much."
"Indeed, it"s normal to come back home to visit loved ones." Hoffman flashed a wry smile and raised his wine gla.s.s.
Stephanie lazily raised hers as well and closed one eye while gazing at the Village of Dark Night through the wine gla.s.s with her other. The scene of the village seemed as if it was dyed red—
"On a long journey, having a little mishap wouldn"t be too out of the ordinary, right?"