人人操人人爱人人

Chapter 934: A Private Discussion

The king explained, "We\'re willing to offer up our own worlds to join up with yours, your majesty, and to become your subordinates."

The officials of court whispered to themselves, shocked by what these envoys were proposing.

"And those other kings whom the rest of you represent—they share the same intentions?" the king clarified.

The envoys nodded. "Your majesty, you\'ve done us a great service by destroying the black spirits. To repay this debt, all we can offer up are our worlds."

"That is our majesty\'s will," the envoys chorused.

There were a few dozen envoys or so present at the scene. Could all these kings be willing to give up on their worlds and become subordinate to another? There was surely something amiss—this had to be a poisoned gift.

The circumstances behind these kings\' sudden desire to give up their worlds were abnormal.

The king mulled over what he had heard. Did these envoys believe they could gain the strength that he had employed to kill these black spirits? No—surely they would be sacrificing too much for the barest idea of a possibility.

Finally, the king thought of one reason the envoys could be acting in such a fashion.

As the officials whispered to themselves, the young official who had commented about Zhang Lie asked his uncle,

"Uncle, do you know what these envoys are thinking? They\'re willing to give up their worlds...?"

An older official beside him replied confidently, "What else? They\'ve clearly been captivated by our king and kingdom\'s prowess, and they\'re willing to submit to us!"

Many of the older officials agreed with this point of view. They puffed out their chests and explained proudly, "These other worlds couldn\'t do anything against the black spirits, but we were able to vanquish them completely. Wouldn\'t it be stranger if they didn\'t want to join us?"

"If a threat like the black spirits emerges again, all these worlds would be in danger. Rather than cower in fear, why not join our world, which has demonstrated its prowess against such foes?"

The young official frowned. "But doesn\'t it seem strange?"

"What\'s strange about it? We were the ones who dealt with the black spirits, and these envoys clearly respect our might."

The young official\'s uncle glanced askance at his peers. "To think there are so many pigheaded fools in the vicinity. Would any of you give up on being a king to become mere nobility?"

The older officials retorted, "They can sense the strength of the scalemen! If they don\'t submit to us now, we\'ll conquer them later. It does them no good to resist."

"I don\'t know where your confidence is coming from. Have you considered the possibility that these envoys have come for some ulterior motive or another?"

Without the intervention of the king\'s master, the world would have been ruined. Of course, these envoys didn\'t know that, but it was far more likely that they had made this offer with an ulterior motive in mind.

The younger official pressed, "Uncle, do you know what their motive could be?"

"I\'m very glad you haven\'t been consumed by arrogance and self-confidence, nephew."

The older officials in earshot frowned. "Official Qing, what could you be talking about? Make your assertions clear!"

Official Qing replied serenely, "I should think they\'re clear enough. I\'m calling all of you overconfident."

"You!"

Official Qing shrugged. "Me? What about me? Am I mistaken?"

"Official Qing, don\'t keep us in the dark. Just what do you know?"

"Have you considered what happens to the worlds that have been taken over by the black spirits? You\'ll know what these envoys are here to do, then."

The older officials were all stupefied. Many of them had no idea what happened to such worlds; they were simply worried about their own world, not others\'. All they knew was that the inhabitants of those worlds had been forced to flee as refugees.

One official asked, "Didn\'t the black spirits just kidnap all lifeforms in the worlds they took over?"

Now that the black spirits had been destroyed, was there still anything to worry about on this front? What did this have to do with the envoys?

Another official hazarded a guess. "Could they be afraid that there are more black spirits hiding somewhere, or existences on par with the black spirits? Are they hoping that our world will shield them?"

If that were the case, things would become quite a bit more complicated.

The younger official pondered his uncle\'s question. "I helped a few refugees who escaped to our world find a temporary place to live, and I\'ve spoken with them quite a bit. They told me that, after their worlds were seized by the black spirits, the inhabitants would be kidnapped, and the world would lose its capacity to support life."

The other officials frowned. "What do you mean?"

The young official shrugged. "If I\'m remembering correctly, nothing would grow on the worlds that have been taken over by the black spirits. I don\'t know anything beyond that."

Official Qing nodded approvingly. "Very clever, to have investigated beforehand. I\'ve also done my own research beforehand on these common foes. Allegedly, after the black spirits invade a world, they snatch away its original inhabitants—and the energy that sustains life on it."

"What do you mean? That the black spirits can suck up the world\'s energy?"

"You can understand it that way. The worlds that the black spirits take over will quickly decay into barrenness, as though they\'ve taken away something fundamental or intrinsic to the world. It\'s very likely that this change is permanent. Even the defeat of the black spirits wouldn\'t be able to revive the world."

Although Official Qing had never seen the world\'s energy for himself, his guess was surprisingly close to the mark.

"I expect that those envoys hope that our world can resolve their problems—that they might be trying to seize that vitality from our world."

The older officials all bore identical looks of shock and dismay. "They\'re intending to steal from our world?"

"We need to inform his majesty of this information immediately!" The officials began to clamor.

Official Qing smiled. "Don\'t worry. I expect our king has seen through their ploys."

The king was just about to refuse the offer. "I apologize, but I have no intention to exp—"

Before he could do so, however, Zhang Lie broke him off. "This is too important an affair to treat lightly. We\'ll have to discuss it in greater detail."

Official Qing blinked in surprise, and even the king turned to Zhang Lie skeptically. Zhang Lie calmly took a sip of alcohol. The king, trusting in his master\'s plans, agreed.

"Please, allow me some time with my master." The king invoked the authority of the realm to create a private space in which he and Zhang Lie could communicate freely.