Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 272 - 265: Tripartite Conference

Chapter 272: Chapter 265: Tripartite Conference

The headquarters longed for Arya’s Blade so they could decode the pattern and principles of its Anti-Magic Glyph to enhance the power of their weaponry.

In the second Otherworld War, one of the most challenging situations faced by the multinational forces in the Otherworld was the inability to penetrate Rune Armor. If they could decipher the Anti-Magic Glyph, they would be able to manufacture Magic-breaking Bullets which could pierce through the knights’ armor.

This concept was proposed when the research center was founded. During the selection competition for the advance team, they added this weapon to the computer simulation environment. Clearly, they had figured out that using magic was the best counter to magic.

For this reason, the gain or loss of Arya’s Blade had sparked competition among several parties. If Earth got ahold of Arya’s Blade, the home-field advantage of the Otherworld against the Earth’s armies would be greatly reduced. Before Earth’s firepower, the Otherworld armies would have to abandon their cavalries’ charge, which they prided themselves on, and turn to fighting the Earth armies with firearms instead.

Inside Count’s Castle in Yazhi City, representatives from the Headquarters, CIA, and the Church Court were sitting face-to-face, yet none of them spoke, creating an awkward silence throughout the room.

This was a location for the three parties to communicate. Should conflict break out within and around Yazhi City, the three parties would each send people for investigation, and then relay information here to avoid conflict arising from misunderstandings.

Li Si was assigned here as Wang Xu’s aide and representative. In addition to him, there were two adjunct officers mainly responsible for translation and information delivery. The situation was similar with the CIA.

The representative from the Judgement Legion was their chief execution officer Kroell Kneibar, a short, bald, chubby man dressed in extravagant yet appropriate church attire. He appeared glowing and well-maintained, with a penchant for squinting his eyes, emitting an aura of slyness and cunning from his slightly closed eyes.

Kroel was the actual highest-ranking officer of the Judgment Legion, with even Legion Commander Dina and Grand Mage Hillna having to submit to his authority.

Attending with Kroel were more attendants than the other two parties combined, consisting of necessary translators, intelligence analysts, transport personnel, and several servants to cater to him. His two main subordinates were not by his side but were commanding different armies to deal with emergencies instead.

The representatives from the three parties sat in silence, or in confrontational terms, stood off against each other. Their main role was to ensure timely communication to prevent circumstances from escalating further in the event of a conflict.

Even the Church Court, for the time being, did not want to offend the two largest Earth powers simultaneously. Although they harbored suspicions against the Earthlings, they could only maintain communication for now.

The higher-ups at the Church Court were well aware that today’s Earth was no longer the Earth it was thirty years ago. Should another war break out, the outcome would be uncertain. The victory in the Second Otherworld War was largely due to the Earth side’s unpreparedness and chaotic command.

While the magical environment of the Otherworld did contribute to their victory, it accounted for less than fifty percent of the reasons. It should be noted that although the Otherworld’s magic was advanced, Earth’s civilization was nevertheless hundreds or even thousands of years ahead of theirs, a gap that is very hard to bridge.

The CIA representative was a blond, bored-looking Caucasian named Mike. It was unclear whether it was his real name or a pseudonym. He twiddled his pen idly, looked at Li Si who was gazing off into space in front of him, and suddenly said, "I suggest one of the representatives here to be more sincere, hand over Arya’s Blade to return to the Church Court to promote friendship between terrestrial nations and alien nations. Claiming Arya’s Blade as one’s own is irresponsible, disrespectful, and a sign of dominant and savage behavior!"

Mike was speaking English. Li Si clearly understood his words. He sneered and retorted, "I advise your representative to provide solid evidence when speaking and acting, rather than mindlessly accusing one party with ridiculous logic. I hope that your side would mind your language and not attempt to poison the tripartite meetings. This is the first time, and I hope not to see a second!"

Li Si did not back down in face of Mike’s provocation but refuted his remarks confidently and justly. He was speaking Chinese, so Mike needed the translator’s help. As he listened to the translation, he looked at Li Si carefully, hoping to find some clue from him to support his conjecture.

However, he was disappointed to find Li Si acting completely normal, giving him no leads. This started making him wonder whether the Headquarters truly didn’t get Arya’s Blade.

Li Si shook his head at Mike’s bewildered look. Although he hadn’t participated in the day-to-day squabbles within the UN Security Council, he was, after all, dispatched from there, armed with genuine skill and knowledge.

Wang Xu’s instructions to Li Si before the meeting were to be adamant and not to give opponents the opportunity to exploit. If they could frustrate the Judgment Legion and make them leave, it would mean a significant victory.

The translator was quietly translating the dialogue between the two to Kroell. Hearing their conversation, Kroell opened his squinted eyes and a smile appeared on his face, showing a bored but noncommittal expression.

Just as everyone kept quiet, making the atmosphere awkward and silent again, suddenly, they heard a loud explosion from outside Yazhi City. Upon hearing the explosion, everyone tensed up, their worst fears had come to fruition.

It seems that Luo’er’s warnings were correct; someone had been trying to incite conflict between Earth and the Church Court. If they hadn’t been sitting face to face, communicating, they would have probably broken out into a fight by now.

"Alert all units to stay restrained and report the current distribution of our armed forces!" Li Si turned his head and ordered to his deputy.

"Understood!" Hearing his orders, the deputy hurriedly left the room. At the same time, representatives from the other two factions also dispatched their subordinates to assess the situation and maintain restraint on their behalf.

Explosions continued relentlessly, followed by rapid bursts of gunfire. The representatives sat in their seats, their moods growing tense. Kroel also abandoned his placid demeanor, incessantly tapping the table with his short, stubby fingers--a sign of his anxiety.

About an hour later, the deputy officers from the three factions returned to the conference room and relayed their findings to their respective representatives.

"The conflict erupted about a kilometer north of the Otherworld Gate. It seems to be a clash between unknown forces and the Church Court. Also, here’s the deployment information for our armed units. There’s no evidence that any of our people were involved in the conflict zone. All armed personnel have been maintaining restraint as instructed," the deputy officer whispered to Li Si.

"I see," Li Si nodded, feeling somewhat relieved.

However, Kroel across the table was far from relaxed. Hearing his subordinate’s report, his brows furrowed deeper, and he clenched his fists.

Noticing that Kroel was looking at him, Li Si coughed, then spoke out, "There is no evidence indicating that our people participated in this armed conflict. All of our primary armed forces have stayed in their original positions without any mobilization."

With that, he shook the defense map in his hand to signify his innocence.

"According to our intelligence, none of our troops were involved in the conflict either." After listening to his deputy’s report, Mike also denied his involvement in the conflict. However, unlike Li Si, he did not publicly reveal their agent deployment map.

Kroel listened to his translator interpret the representatives’ statements while also receiving combat reports from his subordinates. He was clearly overstretched—snapping at his subordinates. They nodded obediently and left the conference room.

Li Si and Mike exchanged glances before Mike preemptively spoke, "I express my regret on behalf of the CIA for the attack on your faction. If you need assistance, we can provide necessary aid."

Kroel said nothing, maintaining his silence. Yet, unlike before, there was no semblance of ease on his face now—only tension and unease.

Another hour or so passed before Dina, the leader of the Judgement Legion, rushed into the conference room. He was carrying a rifle, with his knights dragging in a corpse.

As soon as Dina entered the room, he threw the rifle onto the conference table, startling everyone. His subordinates dragged in a mangled corpse and removed the mask from its face—everyone noticed—it was an Aud person.

Kroel silently tapped the rifle on the table, and coldly asked, "I want to ask the representatives who exactly is supplying automatic weapons to these people?"

The rifle in front of him was an FAL, firing 7.62X51 NATO rounds. Seeing the rifle, Li Si let out a sigh of relief and immediately cheered up. Because this gun was unmistakably a NATO-standard weapon, and it had no connection to them.

"This is a question that one of our representatives should answer. Why do military weapons, only meant for troops, appear in the hands of these suspects and are used to attack the Church Court’s army? Does this weapon violate export principles, or is it simply the act of a few?" Overjoyed, Li Si added fuel to the fire, hoping that the Church Court would confront the CIA.

Mike glared at Li Si before speaking after a moment’s silence, "Firstly, we are not responsible for the proliferation of military weapons. It is widely known that certain Blaiqi merchants, operating between Earth and the Otherworld, forge military orders to trick Earth into exporting weapons. This requires joint investigation and accountability from both sides, and it should not be used by one side as an excuse to accuse the other!"

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.