Chapter 1378: Carrot-and-stick Approach
However, although the Dhiras leaders were not very happy, none of them dared to show it. It was their first time meeting Jiang Fei, so they did not understand his temperament yet and they were afraid that they would offend him. He was a powerful man who could easily kill an Ultralisk as if it were a little puppy. It would definitely not be easy dealing with him.
“Alright, since everyone is here, let’s get down to business. Sarila, tell them about your plan.” Jiang Fei smiled at Sarila. He clearly knew how uncomfortable the leaders were feeling, but this only made him want to push Sarila up to an even higher spot.
“Me?” Sarila froze. Jiang Fei had only asked her to come along and listen. He did not mention that she had to talk about any plans, so she was completely unprepared.
“Yeah!” Jiang Fei nodded with a smile. His “sudden attack” was also to test Sarila’s adaptability. He was not very good at managing people. He was used to being the one giving instructions. It would be hard if he had to do things himself, as he was not good at it and was also too lazy to care.
“Okay!” Sarila took a deep breath and stood up. Then, the catgirl spoke eloquently in front of the Dhiras leaders, without a hint of nervousness or restraint.
As Alexis’ adopted daughter, Sarila used to be in charge of managing the 13th Division. Back then, the 13th Division generals were also way stronger than her, so she was used to leading strong men. The Dhiras leaders here were way stronger, even stronger than Alexis. However, they were all the same in her eyes. All of them could easily kill her in a blink of an eye, so the difference in their strength did not matter at all.
To draw an a.n.a.logy, it was like how small animals like cats or dogs looked like giants to ants, but huge animals like elephants did too. Would the ants be more afraid of elephants? Definitely not, because both the small or huge animals could easily kill them. So, for ants, the difference between cats or dogs and elephants was completely insignificant and unworthy of attention.
“In my opinion, if you want to join Jiang Fei’s camp, you must first show your sincerity. As the first step, I think you should be willing to give up your own base and move here. He will arrange a place for you.” Sarila’s first sentence was enough to render these Dhiras leaders speechless.
Although Kaa’lna had persuaded them to join Jiang Fei, they had not discussed the entire plan in detail. It was too early for them to leave their own base just to join Jiang Fei. At least, not yet.
“Secondly, in order to prove your sincerity and to integrate the deployment as quickly as possible, I think we should sc.r.a.p all your original military structures and create a unified one.” Her next sentence hit the Dhiras leaders even harder. She was blatantly trying to remove the military power from their hands.
Huff… huff…
Although none of the leaders present dared to speak up and object, a few of them started to huff in anger. To them, this was not a plan for them to join Jiang Fei at all. Instead, it was a plan to make them all fall under his commands!
“Thirdly! In the future, everyone has to turn in all their loot from battles. All the supplies will be uniformly distributed.” Unexpectedly, Sarila still had another demand.
“What?!” Someone finally could not take it anymore. No one had expected this little catgirl to be so cruel. She wanted to deprive them of both their military power and financial power! What was the point of them being leaders then? To be servants of the people?
“That’s all, sir!” Sarila bowed to Jiang Fei, then sat down. She made no eye contact with the leaders the entire time.
“That’s too much!” One of the leaders said angrily.
“Calm down, everyone!” Kaa’lna hurriedly tried to control the situation. Then, she said to Jiang Fei, “Sir, although Sarila’s ideas are good, I don’t think we should implement them blindly. We should not act hastily. The leaders’ soldiers have been with them for many years. I’m sure most of them are very loyal. They will probably have varying opinions if we deploy them rashly.”
Kaa’lna’s words seemed to make sense, but it was actually all nonsense. This was a normal excuse that any leader would give if they did not want to give up their troops. While it was actually a legitimate excuse, where were the soldiers? At the Valsalrian Army’s Tallgeese Advanced Outpost!
It was nonsense to talk about things like loyalty here. In the Valsalrian Army, soldiers were dependent on the strong, and this was even more so in the Tallgeese Advanced Outpost. As long as the Dhiras leaders dared to bring their troops over, those soldiers would abandon them without hesitation and start following Jiang Fei instead. All he had to do was nod his head. This was because the soldiers would have a greater chance of survival if they followed him.
“Hoho, you’re right, Kaa’lna.” Jiang Fei smiled slightly. This made her and the Dhiras leaders think that he would relax the conditions for them to join him. However, in the next moment, Jiang Fei’s face fell and he said, “But I absolutely agree with everything Sarila said. So for those who are objecting, feel free to leave now.”
“…”
Jiang Fei’s words made the Dhiras leaders speechless.
“What now?” The leaders looked at each other. Some of them were regretting even coming here. If they hadn’t, they would not be at risk of offending Jiang Fei. Now, if they turned around and left, it was equivalent to rejecting the powerful Jiang Fei in person. To offend a super strong person in the Tallgeese Advanced Outpost often equated to dying a terrible death!
However, none of them were exactly willing to give up everything and join him. After all, they had spent years building their military forces. Losing it so suddenly would definitely hurt a ton.
“But, becoming my subordinate is not without its benefits.” Jiang Fei paused a little before he continued, “First of all, I can protect you from Ultralisks. Even though I can’t take down something as strong as a Galactic Ultralisk, I can handle ordinary Nebulae Ultralisks.”
“Hmm…” A few small leaders were a little tempted upon hearing that. Their military forces were not that huge. Even if they handed their soldiers over, they would not lose much. Their lives were the most important thing. However, the threat that Galactic Ultralisks posed was not that big as they rarely appeared. Maybe once every hundreds or even thousands of years, so this matter was negligible.
“Also, I can give you some Ultralisk meat every once in a while,” Jiang Fei said slowly. He clearly knew how to use the carrot-and-stick approach as a negotiation tactic. Many people of high position or status used this exact approach
“Sir, will you really share Ultralisk meat with us?” The temptation grew. A few other leaders had been hooked too. Although they were unwilling to hand their troops over, their military forces were not as important as their own strength. If they themselves became more powerful, they would have higher chances of surviving in the Ausvia System. Who wouldn’t want that?