The Final King Has Returned — Chapter 154
The moment Drakan finished speaking, an awkward silence descended upon the Shanghai Tower Sky Lounge.
He was offering them a chance to cooperate!
It was an incomparably arrogant statement, yet if the specs of the airborne mobile fortress in the screenshot were real, they could not simply dismiss his words as mere hubris.
An airborne mobile fortress.
In the war of Arde World, which still revolved around ground warfare and where aerial power amounted to little more than wyverns at best, the appearance of an airborne mobile fortress was truly overtechnology that transcended revolution.
“Anyway, you guys don’t have any loyalty or brotherhood with those Simseong kids, do you? You’re just holding hands out of necessity.”
Drakan continued speaking, the corners of his lips raised.
He was right.
The alliance between Simseong Iron Stars and Xiongmao e-Sports was one born of necessity and mutual interests.
It was not a relationship founded on close bonds or loyalty like with Yujin.
“Then doesn’t that mean you can hold hands with us out of necessity too?”
Drakan asked Chairman Wang Liwei and Wu Jing with a broad smile.
An alliance of convenience could be broken whenever the scales of profit tipped such that breaking it was more advantageous than maintaining it.
Drakan knew this fact better than anyone.
After all, the Iron Blood Alliance and the Guild Union that he had built were organizations founded on such interests.
Alliances formed through mutual interests were Drakan’s specialty, and he knew very well how to drive cracks into their alliance.
If a greater profit could be had, even an alliance could be betrayed!
“That may be so, but…….”
Wang Liwei trailed off, looking at the documents.
Unlike the new vice chairman of Simseong Group, who had only just started the game, he was a veteran user who had been playing since before founding Xiongmao e-Sports.
Vice Chairman Wang’s own skills had risen to the ranks of high-level players, so he understood the value of the airborne mobile fortress Voltaha written in the documents better than anyone.
“If we join hands with you, what will you do for us?”
Wu Jing said.
As an Over Ranker, Wu Jing already knew.
If the airborne mobile fortress was truly completed, their forces would be unable to stop Drakan.
Nor could they obstruct its construction.
The airships leading to the floating castle Voltaha were all owned by Drakan, and the floating castle Voltaha itself was his territory, so there was no way of knowing where the airborne mobile fortress was being constructed.
Furthermore, the altitude at which the floating castle Voltaha floated was already widely known to be unreachable by existing flying monsters such as wyverns or griffins!
It was truly a maddening situation: a nuclear bomb was being built above their heads, yet they could only watch helplessly.
‘But we can’t side with Yujin either.’
Wu Jing’s mind spun rapidly.
The seat of the premier Over Ranker, China’s top ranker, was a title the name Blade Emperor had not won through mere luck.
They could not join Yujin and Five Eyes now.
The solidarity between Yujin and Five Eyes was an undeniable fact, and even if they joined them at this point, the scraps that fell their way would be few.
‘If we do nothing, we’ll end up smashed together with the Simseong bastards before long.’
Wu Jing had already seen through Drakan’s intentions.
No, anyone but a fool could see Drakan’s intentions.
Simseong Iron Stars.
The deep-seated bad blood between them and Drakan had become so famous that there was no one who didn’t know of it.
Vice Chairman Shin Jeonghyeok openly spoke of revenge and was blatantly gathering forces for it.
And there was no way Drakan, the other party, was unaware of this fact.
Drakan had clearly decided to settle the grudge that had continued since the Northern War with this opportunity.
And if the airborne mobile fortress were truly completed, they could not guarantee any chance of victory in a war against Drakan.
As Drakan said, there was no loyalty in the alliance with Simseong.
There were only interests.
Then breaking the alliance was nothing to hesitate over.
“Did you say Five Eyes? I’ll guarantee you the same position as them.”
Drakan said, looking at Wu Jing with a smile.
Five Eyes!
A smile bloomed at the corners of Wu Jing’s mouth upon hearing those words.
“Do you think we’ll move for just that much?”
“If you don’t like it, then go ahead and die with those Simseong bastards in a show of loyalty. You know well that you don’t have a choice anyway, don’t you? Let’s wrap this up nicely while I’m offering nice treatment.”
At Drakan’s words, Wu Jing’s cheek twitched.
He was right.
Xiongmao e-Sports had no choice.
Then, as Drakan said, they had to switch sides while their value was still being appraised highly.
A brief silence flowed through the sky lounge.
Drakan enjoyed the silence leisurely, taking a sip of the pu-erh tea set before him.
It was a composure born of the knowledge that they would have to come over to his side anyway.
Even if they did not accept his proposal, there was nothing they could do.
The airborne mobile fortress modification was continuing even at this very moment, and the construction site was in the underground of the Steel Palace, a place no one could freely enter or exit.
Furthermore, the means to reach the floating castle Voltaha were limited, and the entire floating castle was essentially in the palm of Drakan’s hand, so enemies could not act rashly.
Above all, their forces did not hold a clear advantage over his, so even if they were to commit an act of terror at Voltaha, it would only serve as a fine casus belli.
Drakan, who could wield the full power of the Dark Alliance, had confidence that he could sufficiently face the alliance of Simseong and Xiongmao even without the airborne mobile fortress.
But the other side was different.
They were in a situation where they could not guarantee victory if they went to war now, yet they could neither prevent the completion of the airborne mobile fortress nor avoid certain defeat if it was completed—that was precisely their predicament.
The aroma of pu-erh tickled Drakan’s nose.
“What must we do?”
A candid voice flowed from Wang Liwei’s lips.
If they were just an independent guild, he could have pressured them with real-world capital.
The wealth of the Xiongmao Group, scraped together from the vast continent of China, was staggering.
However, since the other side was a conglomerate that was Korea’s number one group, having accumulated wealth and power no less than the Xiongmao Group, it was impossible to pressure them with real-world strength.
In the end, all that remained was to accede to the other side’s demands.
Drakan smiled at Wang Liwei’s words and said,
“Instigate a war between Simseong and us.”
At Drakan’s words, Wu Jing’s nerves stood on end.
“What does that mean?”
“Take this information a week from now, show it to the Simseong bastards, and spur Vice Chairman Shin into thinking they must eliminate Drakan before this weapon is completed. If you do that, they will undoubtedly declare war on us.”
Drakan finished speaking and smiled.
Simseong Iron Stars.
If false information about the airborne mobile fortress was leaked through their ally Xiongmao e-Sports, they would surely take the bait.
They were by no means stupid.
They would clearly know that if the airborne mobile fortress was completed, they would be defeated.
Therefore, they would have no choice but to take this bait.
‘To begin the grand scheme of rebellion, I must first clean up my rear.’
Drakan thought so.
The grand scheme of rebellion!
To cut down the colossal figure known as Yujin, he first needed to thoroughly clean up his surroundings.
And the target Drakan had chosen for cleaning up his surroundings was none other than Simseong Iron Stars.
Vice Chairman Shin Jeonghyeok.
If he proceeded with the grand scheme of rebellion while leaving the bastard who was constantly aiming for his head alive, there was an enormous risk of being backstabbed by Iron Stars instead.
‘The grand scheme of rebellion must proceed cautiously.’
Drakan did not wish to leave a single variable of danger.
And to do that, he had to unconditionally eliminate Simseong Iron Stars, who aimed for his back at every turn.
Of course, if Simseong Iron Stars had been an opponent who could be dealt with through words, Drakan would not have felt the need to resort to such an extreme measure as war.
War should always be the last resort, and even if one won, it was obvious that one’s own side would suffer damage.
Drakan’s forces were already insufficient compared to the Holy Alliance; he had no desire to needlessly waste his strength through war.
But Simseong Iron Stars was an existence that could not be resolved without war.
Vice Chairman Shin Jeonghyeok.
Drakan did not think that he, whose lofty pride had been trampled, would step back through mere negotiations.
Therefore, the only path remaining for Drakan was to sweep them all away through war.
“Then what becomes of us?”
“This alliance is secret, and until the war begins, you must appear on the outside to be allied with them, so you will have to endure a certain degree of sacrifice. It is war, after all. However, there is the alternative of sending useless or troublesome troops under the guise of excuses. The judgment is yours.”
Drakan answered Wu Jing’s question with a smile.
Drakan’s proposal was, simply put, a request to become spies.
And not just one or two people, but the entire guild acting as spies—an absurd notion!
However, the power of the airborne mobile fortress possessed destructive force strong enough to make that absurd notion sound like a realistic alternative.
Wu Jing tapped on the calculator in his head.
The scale of Xiongmao e-Sports was tremendous.
It was a guild where all the notable users from across the vast Chinese continent had gathered.
With so many people, it was inevitable that factions harboring ambition for the guild master seat that Wu Jing himself occupied naturally existed within the guild.
Especially now that the rankings of top players had risen dramatically through the Broken World quest and the next Over Ranker position had begun to be discussed publicly, such ambitious users had increasingly started to operate above the surface, unlike before.
If he could clean up a few such factions through this war, it would hardly be a losing proposition for Wu Jing either.
Having finished his calculations, Wu Jing spoke.
“In any case, the great nation is overflowing with talents willing to leap into a pit of fire gladly for the sake of our Xiongmao e-Sports, so that will not be a problem. However, I hope you will not forget your promise to treat us equally to Five Eyes once the war is over.”
“I promise. You will clearly learn what it means: better the head of a snake—or rather, a tiger—than the tail of a dragon.”
Drakan said so, and Wu Jing understood the meaning of those words and smiled.
“Whether you become the snake, or the tiger that faces the dragon—we shall watch from the sidelines for the time being.”
Wu Jing spoke thus and extended his hand, and Drakan clasped his hand.
The two men shook hands and smiled, and thus concluded the secret meeting at Shanghai Tower.