Chapter 489 - 328: Lady Lord Su Qin (5)
Chapter 489: Chapter 328: Lady Lord Su Qin (5)
Frequent wars were to be expected.
The only question was who the opponent would be this time.
But they were certain to be powerful.
Mobilizing 60 Alien Race Lords, on top of over 300 Lords from the villages of Stream and Nanlin... their target must be an elite force from the resistance.
Zhao Chi set out at once for the meeting room in the Clan Hall.
Half the Lords were already in the meeting room, all discussing something among themselves.
And most of them looked grim.
After all, it hadn’t even been a week since the last war. Even if most Lords hadn’t fought to the death, they had still suffered considerable Loss.
That, combined with the daily Magical Beast quotas, meant they probably hadn’t recovered yet.
The happiest person in the entire meeting room was probably Su Qin, who had just walked in.
Although she kept her lips pressed together, a smile lingered on her face.
After spotting Zhao Chi in the meeting room, she raised her eyebrows in pleasant surprise and quickly sidled up to him with a grin.
Then she whispered in his ear, "Hehe, I missed you."
Zhao Chi whispered back, "It hasn’t even been an hour."
"I still missed you."
"Alright, try to tone down the smiling. I get the feeling this is a serious meeting."
"Oh, okay."
Su Qin put on a serious expression, but her eyes were still brimming with happy laughter.
Soon, the other Lords arrived.
The meeting officially began.
Zhao Shizhang stood up, his expression unusually grave.
"Qiye, close the door."
Zhao Qiye, equally serious, shut the door tightly and even had a few men stand guard outside.
’This whole setup... something’s not right.’
All the Lords couldn’t help but feel a surge of nervousness.
Zhao Chi also sensed that something was out of the ordinary.
Last night, he and Su Qin had come to the Clan Leader’s House for a ceremony. The family elders had all been present.
At the time, everyone had tried their best to smile, but an air of worry was still palpable.
’Looks like something really is wrong.’
Zhao Shizhang sighed.
"Our application for the caravan to depart has been approved.
"But they’ve confiscated half of our Supplies.
"That Muchang claims it’s our family’s ’contribution fee’ and is demanding we cough up another 10,000 Gold Coins!
"Son of a bitch, damn him!"
Zhao Shizhang slammed his fist on the table. The lids on the teacups rattled and slid off, clattering sharply.
The crowd was in an uproar.
Zhao Chi was also completely taken aback.
Zhao Chi knew that a caravan needed approval from a superior Lord before setting out.
But he never expected them to confiscate half the goods.
Zhao Chi didn’t know how many goods the Zhao Family planned to transport this time, but he figured it couldn’t be a small amount.
Besides the Super Bright Kerosene and the durable Leather Gloves, they were surely carrying plenty of other Supplies as well.
After all, this was trade; you couldn’t just sell Specialty Products.
With so many Supplies piled up in Zhao Cang’s territory, they definitely needed to sell some of it for money.
’And they just confiscated half of it?’
’And that wasn’t all—they still demanded another 10,000 Gold Coins?’
No wonder even Zhao Shizhang was this furious.
He was usually so calm and composed.
Zhao Shizhang sighed and sat back down.
"The target for this war has been set, and so has the enemy.
"The target is Jiaoya Town to our west. We attack in three days, on October 10th!
"That’s the territory of General Yan Ling’s World-breaking Army. This time, we’re in for a head-on clash.
"But... General Yan Ling’s World-breaking Army... they’re the real resistance. I truly don’t want to go to war with them.
"I’m sure you’ve all heard of their deeds and their goal. It’s a truly great cause...
"Unfortunately, things are too chaotic right now.
"And while they are strong, they are no match for these Alien Races.
"Last night, we discussed this until midnight and came up with two options, but we couldn’t reach a decision.
"So, today, I am calling for a family vote.
"I will leave the final choice to all of you.
"We now have only 2 choices before us.
"The first option is to endure it.
"We continue to bear this, just as we are now, and wait for the future to change.
"Although we will undoubtedly be extorted by those Alien Races again and again, they will always leave us a little room to breathe.
"After all, they still count on us to generate profit for them.
"For a relatively long time, at least, we can continue to scrape by.
"However... if even General Yan Ling is defeated, the Human race will truly and utterly become slaves to the Alien Race.
"We too will have no hope of turning things around for a very long time to come.
"But, in the end, most of our family will survive.
"That is the first option."
The Lords looked at each other in dismay.
Everyone was lost in thought.
Even Su Qin, who had been bursting with happiness, frowned and began to think carefully.
She didn’t think for long, though, before turning her head to gaze at Zhao Chi.
The meaning in her eyes was clear: ’Whichever you choose, I’ll choose the same.’
Zhao Chi gave her a small smile.
To be honest, Zhao Chi didn’t want to make this kind of choice.
It was Simple: he didn’t want to choose any option that supported the Alien Race or benefited them in any way.
However, that was just what he thought in his heart.
Reality was a heavy burden.
If they continued on the current path, Zhao Chi could actually live quite well.
He could continue to hide under the protection of the great tree that was the Zhao Family, growing cautiously but quickly.
Given enough Time, he feared no one.
Not even the Alien Race.
But the other Lords might have different opinions.
They didn’t have the kind of Ability Zhao Chi possessed. For them, every move the Alien Race made, every war they waged, meant losses and the risk of defeat and death.
Zhao Shizhang silently watched the Lords discuss, giving them a full 15 minutes.
But this was the kind of matter that could never be discussed enough; no amount of time would be sufficient.
Zhao Shizhang cleared his throat.
"Alright. I will now present the second option, and we can discuss them both."