A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 969 - Chapter 969 Chapter 667 Negotiation

Chapter 969: Chapter 667 Negotiation Chapter 969: Chapter 667 Negotiation Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s response, everyone was momentarily stunned.

“I don’t understand what you mean…”

“To put it simply,” Duanmu Huai said, “I found a cultist here worshipping the Evil God, creating some kind of virus and plague and attempting to spread it to other areas. So I killed him, and to prevent the spreading of the plague he left behind, I purified the entire Lost Ground. How about that? Any more questions now?”

“This…”

All were rendered speechless, while the Elf Ranger furrowed her brows.

“You destroyed all the living creatures of the Lost Ground just for that?”

“Just for that?”

Upon hearing the Elf Ranger speak, Duanmu Huai turned to her with an icy gaze.

“Once the plague spills over and spreads, this world could turn into hell, with countless innocent people dying needlessly. Are you suggesting that, compared to those innocent people, the cats and dogs of the Lost Ground are more important?”

“Ugh…”

Facing Duanmu Huai’s cold rebuke, the Elf Ranger was at a loss for words. The warrior representing Silver Moon City remained silent–he was, after all, a human, and emotionally, he agreed with Duanmu Huai’s view.

“By the way, I’ve sent people to scout for the anomalies in the Supreme Forest. If you Elves can’t handle it well, then to prevent a threat to humankind, the Tribunal may consider utterly destroying the Supreme Forest when necessary.”

“What?!”

The Elf Ranger could no longer contain herself upon hearing this.

“What right do you have to do that! You can’t do this!”

“Right?”

Facing the Elf Ranger’s protest, Duanmu Huai glared at her coldly.

“The Tribunal spares no expense and stops at nothing to guard humanity. We will absolutely not allow humans to be harmed due to your damned environmentalist’s foolish compassion,” Duanmu Huai argued.

“You’ll be starting a war with all the races of the Supreme Forest!”

“The Tribunal does not tolerate questioning or hostile actions. Anyone daring to interfere with us will be treated as heretics.”

“Uh… Mr. Duanmu?”

Seeing the tension between the two rise, Amelia had to step in to interrupt their quarrel.

“Shouldn’t we first consider how to cure the disease? Like in Neverwinter City…”

“That’s because Neverwinter City found a way to cure the plague. If you do not have a cure, or if your cure is ineffective, I would also consider blowing up Neverwinter City to the sky, just like here. That was also one of the reasons I went to Neverwinter City,” Duanmu Huai said.

“Uh…”

Facing such a candid response from Duanmu Huai, Amelia was utterly defeated.

“The Elf God will not allow this kind of action.”

The Elf Ranger glared fiercely at Duanmu Huai, whose eyes remained cold.

“Well, if he has the guts, he can come straight to me. Spider Queen Rose has already been taken care of by me. If Correllon has the courage, I wouldn’t mind sending them both to meet in the netherworld,” Duanmu Huai retorted.

“What? You did it?”

The casual revelation that Duanmu Huai had just dropped was indeed shocking. The fall of Spider Queen Ross was the biggest news lately, and nobody knew who was behind it. Most people thought it must have been the act of a deity, but… the Tribunal?

In all honesty, everyone first thought it was a bluff, but what would be gained by such a bluff? Indeed, Ross was a devil, but ultimately a deity. An organization capable of destroying a deity was enough to make other forces treat it as a formidable enemy–was the Tribunal not afraid?

“I’m not afraid to tell you that ancient Evil Gods are awakening, and your world has been targeted. That is why the Tribunal is here. We will do everything in our power, by any means necessary, to guard humanity and drive out the devils,” Duanmu Huai proclaimed.

“Tch.”

Upon hearing this, the Dwarf muttered under his breath in complaint.

“Then why don’t you go and fight against those Evil Gods?”

“Because the present Tribunal does not yet have the strength to confront the ancient Evil Gods.”

“What??”

Indeed, everyone was taken aback by Duanmu Huai’s frank admission. They had braced themselves for an angry response from Duanmu Huai following the Dwarf’s sarcastic comment, not expecting the haughty warrior who had just been fiercely arguing with the Elf Ranger to suddenly become quite calm.

“What’s the matter? I’m merely stating the facts. Don’t even speak of the Tribunal; even if your venerated True Gods were to unite, it’s uncertain if they could stand against the ancient Evil Gods. So I hope when you pray, you best advise your own deities not to be so eager to be decapitated, or you might wake up one day to find that your superiors have been replaced.”

“Is it really that terrifying?”

Amelia looked grave, and the others were likewise speechless, at a loss for words.

“Of course, your deities do have some strengths, but the power of the ancient Evil Gods is far beyond them. Right now, the Crystal Barrier protects this world, but should any fool become tempted to open a gate to see what lies beyond… it would spell disaster. So you better warn Tyler to keep an eye on those fools. This is not some minor skirmish of the gods’ war–if the minions of the ancient Evil Gods invade, not one of your True Gods would escape; they would all perish.”

“The Crystal Barrier??”

“Your deities know what I mean. Just convey my words to them. Although I could visit them myself, I have no interest in the deities of this world. Since you’ve come, take the responsibility of delivering the message. Let them gossip amongst themselves about the rest; whether they listen or not is up to them.”

Listening to Duanmu Huai’s forthright assessment of the deities, those present felt somewhat awkward. After all, for them, the deities were exalted beings, not something to be discussed as casually and judgmentally as if it were neighborhood gossip, as Duanmu Huai seemed to do…

Duanmu Huai shrugged his shoulders and said no more, he was of course aware that this would definitely have some impact on the deities of this world, but Duanmu Huai did not care. At least he had made it clear, letting the deities of this world know what they were facing, instead of acting like The Emperor, that idiot, secretly hoarding Imperial truth. In any case, I have warned you. If you make foolish mistakes again, do not blame me for not reminding you idiots. When something goes wrong, the Tribunal will come knocking on your door.

Let it not be said that I didn’t warn you.

“I have understood your meaning.”

At this moment, the warrior, acting as a representative, had no choice but to step forward again and bring the topic back on track.

“So, does this mean that the Tribunal will stay here for a long time?”

“Of course, the Lost Ground is now the territory of the Tribunal, and no one is allowed to enter without permission.”

“Eh? You don’t plan to establish villages and cities here…?”

It had to be said that Duanmu Huai’s reply took the man by surprise; he had originally thought that the Tribunal intended to use the Lost Ground as a base to expand their power and absorb a population. After all, many things require substantial sums of money and manpower to complete, and he even thought that Duanmu Huai was planning to become a lord here…

“Not interested, unnecessary.”

Duanmu Huai shook his head.

“The Tribunal is a Sharp Blade piercing the heart of the Evil God, we do not need too many burdens. If some people are clever enough to want to use the Tribunal, it’s fine, but I’m afraid they can’t bear the price.”

Hearing this, the warrior instantly understood Duanmu Huai’s meaning. The Tribunal was not an ordinary lordly force; they were obviously full of aggression and threat, which would naturally make many deities of evil alignments hostile to them. If the Tribunal managed territory here, those evil deities might figure out ways to cause disturbances–like slaughtering a couple of innocent farmsteads or engaging in some kind of nefarious scheme and trade in the market, in order to wreak havoc on the entire territory.

Obviously, the Tribunal did not want such things to happen, so they simply refused others’ entry. This also explained why they had constructed that fine iron gate outside the Lost Ground; they seemed to be planning to turn the Lost Ground into a purely military stronghold…

In principle, this was a good thing, but the warrior quickly picked up on a point, swallowing nervously as he looked at Duanmu Huai.

“I can understand your considerations, but I suggest that you should open up the territory and allow people to join.”

“Reasons.”

Duanmu Huai crossed his arms and stared at the warrior before him.

“As you said, the Tribunal is a sharp blade, which will arouse the wariness of others. They will spare no expense to weaken or even eliminate you. Indeed, as you said, if you open up the territory and shelter citizens, it would draw poison blades and evil towards your people, but if you don’t open up the territory, they will not stop doing so, and our city will also suffer as a result.”

“You mean to say that these guys will come looking for trouble with you?”

“It is to be expected.”

The warrior nodded.

“If they cause trouble in our cities, the Tribunal will certainly intervene, but I think many people do not want to see the Tribunal meddling in the affairs of other people’s territories.”

“Heh, that makes sense.”

Duanmu Huai let out a cold laugh, understanding what the warrior wanted to say. The Tribunal would never allow any questioning or hostile actions; of course, in modern society, their actions are basically equivalent to rudely intervening in the internal affairs of other nations, but the Tribunal did not care about that. However, those evil deities might take advantage of this, to pit the Tribunal against what they were supposed to protect.

Duanmu Huai did not mind being disliked, but he did not like being manipulated.

“So what you mean is, by opening up the Tribunal to attract citizens, we can draw all the bad attention to the Tribunal’s land, thereby ensuring the safety of Silver Moon City?”

“Indeed, that is the case.”

“Interesting.”

Duanmu Huai stared at the warrior before him and fell silent for a moment.

“Alright, I will consider your suggestion, but for now, we have some more troublesome matters to deal with.”

At that, Duanmu Huai turned his head and cast his gaze to the side.

“Ogis, you’re back? How are things?”

“Master.”

On hearing the sudden voice from the side, the adventurers were startled, turning to look and realizing that a silver-haired girl in a black dress had appeared beside them at some unknown time, her expression unchanging as she watched Duanmu Huai, seemingly unconcerned with the others around her.

“Report.”

“Yes, the contamination in the Supreme Forest is still spreading. We tried to go deeper, but were blocked by Tree Men, and Gavi is currently battling with them.”

“It seems they’re about to taste the wrath of the Polonium Flame Thrower.”

Duanmu Huai’s voice turned cold as ice.

“Order the Night Guard to prepare, we’re heading to the Supreme Forest! We are going to completely eliminate the source of contamination!”

“Yes.”

“Wait, you can’t do this!”

At this, the Elf Ranger screamed.

“The Tree Men are the Guardians of the Supreme Forest, doing this would make you an enemy of the entire forest.”

“The premise is that the Supreme Forest hasn’t been completely burned down by us.”

Duanmu Huai didn’t even glance at the Elf Ranger and walked forward with big strides.

“Prepare to depart!”