欧美亚洲日产综合新一区

"You should take a look at the latest international news. It\'s become a hot topic right now," President Malcomes said.

Grand Chancellor Yan frowned, then paused the conference, excused himself, and went to the lounge area that the host had prepared for him and his entourage behind the conference hall.

He opened his phone and immediately checked the latest news. The hot topic was indeed the weapons deal between Astral Corp and the Ming Federation.

In the news, he saw a picture of Daniel Emberweave and Zheng Tianming, the leader of Long Xing Island and the president of the Long Xing Group, shaking hands. Behind them were several samples of power armor and weaponry.

"Damn it!" Grand Chancellor Yan cursed in anger. He quickly put away his phone and called his people.

"You! Tell me! Where is that bastard Daniel Emberweave right now? Isn\'t he supposed to be nearby or waiting for someone to throw him a bone!?" Grand Chancellor Yan asked one of his men.

"Err... Grand Chancellor... the moment Daniel Emberweave knew he didn\'t have a seat, he stopped coming to the conference," one of his men answered.

"God damn it! Doesn\'t he want his territory to be recognized as a country!? Shouldn\'t he be more subservient to us!?" Grand Chancellor Yan cursed. He didn\'t understand why Daniel wasn\'t trying to be more cordial toward his country, a leader of the UN!

For him, this was the first time a smaller country, especially one in the Southeast Asian region, had resisted his control. Other than the Anti-Unification War, if the Qing Empire had targeted them one by one, no one would have dared to resist.

This time, he had tried to put Daniel in his place, to make him realize that even with all that advanced technology, they were still a small country with a population of only a few million. There was no chance for them to resist a major country with a population reaching a billion!

Grand Chancellor Yan quickly suppressed his frustration and turned toward his men.

"No matter. Go out and find out more about why that bastard Daniel Emberweave sold his weapons to the Ming Federation! Now!" He roared at his men.

"Ye... Yes! Grand Chancellor!" The man panicked and quickly left the lounge to carry out the order.

"Why is this happening... damn it!" Grand Chancellor Yan bit his nails, a habit he displayed when anxious or panicked.

Yes, it\'s panic… He knew the consequences if the Ming Federation acquired advanced weaponry and power armor from Astral Corporation. The Qing Empire had sent several military expeditions against them in the past, none of which had succeeded.

The Ming Federation was skilled in naval warfare and had repeatedly resisted their invasions. Their diplomacy, bringing in Western powers, had also prevented the Qing Empire from fully committing to eliminating them.

Over time, the Ming Federation had become an economic hub in the region, even providing financial assistance to Qing Empire businessmen. They had also revolutionized technology, producing the most advanced chips, increasing their importance to the global community. The Qing Empire could no longer act rashly against them.

If the Ming were to acquire advanced weaponry this time, it would make it even more difficult for the Qing Empire to act against them in the future. And if they weren\'t careful, the centuries-old dream of the Ming loyalists might come to fruition.

At this moment, his phone rang once again, indicating that there was an email in his private account… But… He remembered that his private account was a secret, and other than his family, he had never told anyone about it. Nonetheless, he needed to check first. It would be bad if his wife had sent him an urgent email and he didn\'t open it to see what it was about.

With this thought in mind, Grand Chancellor Yan opened his phone once again to check the email. But… the moment he opened it, he was shocked, as it was an untraceable email from an anonymous address. What shocked him even more was the content of the email.

"Dear Grand Chancellor Yan Zhong,

You must have seen the news by now, are you surprised? Let\'s get to the point then.

Do not veto against the Sector Alpha City recognition as a country that will be discussed three days from now. If you do that for us, the deal will not go through, otherwise… you know the consequence, and I assure you, you don\'t want to deal with it.

The future of the Qing Empire is in your hands… choose wisely.

Albert, Master of Whispers

P.S. This email will delete itself after you finish reading it."

At that moment, his phone suddenly reset itself, and when he opened it again, the email had vanished. It had completely been deleted and wasn\'t in the trash either.

Seeing this, Grand Chancellor Yan gulped. He knew how hard it was to hack into his phone. There was an entire team that worked specifically on strengthening his network security, and another team that worked specifically on his personal security. There was no way a nobody could pull this off.

"You damn Astral Corp… Just you wait!" Grand Chancellor Yan gritted his teeth, seething with anger.

"This is no longer something that I can decide by myself… I need to ask His Majesty if he wants to veto or not." Grand Chancellor Yan uttered as he dialed a certain line, the line that he only used when there was an utmost emergency.

With a swift action, the call was placed, and with every beep of the waiting signal, Yan Zhong\'s heart pounded with anxiousness and anticipation. He waited a few more seconds before the call connected.

"Yan Zhong, if you called us because of the news about the deal between Daniel Emberweave and Zheng Tianming, we understand. What\'s the situation on your side? Can you negotiate with him to stop that deal?" The Emperor, Tianhao Wenzhong, immediately inquired from the other end, as this was the only urgency that could warrant his right-hand man to call him directly.

"He\'s not here, Your Majesty. Also, I received contact from a man named Albert, Master of Whispers. The email has already been deleted by some kind of hack, but the content was like this." Grand Chancellor Yan then relayed the contents of the email to the Emperor.

— Qing Empire - Forbidden Palace —

After hearing what the Grand Chancellor said, the Emperor thought for a moment. This matter was very important; it represented the image of his Empire. He now knew that the news about the deal between Daniel Emberweave and Zheng Tianming was an attempt to blackmail the Qing Empire.

The Emperor didn\'t want to give in, but the Ming Federation getting their hands on advanced weaponry and nearly invincible power armor was too dangerous to ignore. He then turned to his side and saw that Zhuge Liang had also listened to what Chancellor Yan said.

"Your Majesty… I suggest you accept Astral Corporation\'s condition and not veto against them," said Zhuge Liang.

"Do you know what you\'re saying? If we don\'t veto, they\'re sure to get recognition as a country. At that time, our ambition to unite the Southeast Asia region into our empire will only become a dream," the Emperor asked, his tone threatening. This was something he disliked the most, admitting defeat without even a fight.

But Zhuge Liang\'s calm and collected attitude made the Emperor patiently wait for his explanation.

"Your Majesty, we just won\'t veto against them, but that doesn\'t mean we don\'t have any means to block their progress in getting recognized. If we use it right, we might be able to indefinitely block their advancement in this movement of theirs to get recognition as a country," said Zhuge Liang.

"You seem to have a plan… tell me," asked the Emperor.

Zhuge Liang nodded, then began to explain.

"We already have a pawn for this matter. If Your Majesty remembers, there is an illegitimate child of Lucian Justius, the younger brother of the Tessia Kingdom King, Pious Justius. We could just tell him to make a claim on the island and ask for it to be returned to him, or maybe we could push for shared ruling if you so desire," said Zhuge Liang.

"This is not going to work, Mr. Zhuge Liang. I already read about it, the sale is very legitimate. Astral Corp has already paid in full, and the people on the island like the new developments that Astral Corp has invested in. Their claim over the island is rock solid," another strategist in the room voiced his concern.

Hearing this, Zhuge Liang let out a smile.

"It doesn\'t matter if the claim of this illegitimate child is solid or not. The point is that we can use the dispute over the territory to put the request for country recognition on hold… We could put it on hold indefinitely as long as the international court has better things to do than judging this case," Zhuge Liang said with a cunning smile as he slowly fanned himself.