A Middle Eastern man welcod Wei Jun and his team without standing up from his seat. As Wei Jun gauged him, Wei Jun could tell he was strong, as strong as him, at the very least. However, he wasn't stronger than the general, no, he was a lot weaker than him.
Wei Jun had asked to et the president to gauge the power of the top brass and to make sure he knew what they were dealing with. If things were to go wrong, Wei Jun wanted to make sure he and his team could deal with whatever happened.
Wei Jun didn't glance at the general so as to not give anything away and took the seat. The general followed as well, not giving any indication that he was the one in charge of this team. Once Wei Jun was seated, he looked at the man and said, "Mister Ahmad, nice to et you."
"Whether I can say the sa or not depends on whether you have spoken the truth or not," Ahmad said. Wei Jun nodded and pulled out the B rank core from thin air. No one was surprised and seeing Ahmad's reaction, Wei Jun could tell that there were spatial artifacts here as well.
Well, that was only secondary.
The plan was to let them go outside the do. Eventually, the system finally fessed up, telling Wei Jun everything he needed to know. Of course, only what he needed to know, keeping so things for a surprise. Wei Jun wasn't against that because even though he didn't like to dive into things blindly, he wasn't the type to just know everything beforehand as well.
It was the sa in the case of the novels. Had it not been for the failure in his previous quest, Wei Jun wouldn't have read the current novel fully.
"Hmmm…" Ahmad mused before he took the monster core in his hand and gazed at Wei Jun, impressed but not overly so. He said, "Impressive. But it is still not enough to face the Behemoth."
Wei Jun expected such an answer so he pulled another core from his inventory and slid it over. This ti not only Ahmad was surprised but also his own team. It was an A rank core crystal and Wei Jun was carrying it like it was nothing.
"Now that's a little more so," Ahmad said, still not satisfied but he knew he couldn't push anymore. Even though the requirent to hunt the Behemoth was a face-off with an S rank beast, everyone knew that that was practically impossible.
There weren't many of the S rank beasts lying around and even the council of presidents only had three of them, ready to use them against the Behemoth but even then, they couldn't just blindly dive into it.
Ahmad looked at Wei Jun and asked, "What do you require?"
The fight against the Behemoth wouldn't be a simple one and most likely, the man before him would ask for a unit he could use as cannon fodder and so warriors to help him out. However, what Wei Jun said surprised Ahmad, "We don't require much. Just double the reward and provide all the weaponry."
"By weaponry you an…?" Ahmad asked.
"Rail guns." Wei Jun said, a slight tremble in his hand. An avid fan of guns like Wei Jun obviously knew what a rail gun was but even in his world, even with the technology of his company, the rail gun hadn't been reduced to the size of a rifle. However, Wei Jun saw it when he entered the building and after confirming with the receptionist, he knew what it was and he wanted it.
"…" Ahmad remained silent. It wasn't like the request was overly difficult and whatever it was could be provided. The problem was the very requirent of the man.
Not asking for provisions, fodder, or even an army, he was simply looking at it from a monetary point of view. Ahmad didn't think there were still idiots who sought after this conquest for money. However, those idiots were usually weak. The man before Ahmad, however, was different.
The natural, regal air of the strong around him and not just him, but his companions as well, especially one among them who stood behind the young man, was not sothing even Ahmad could easily ignore. He knew if he wanted to just face the young man before him, he'd need to give it his all. If his friends joined in, then perhaps the entire council wouldn't be able to defeat them.
Especially the middle-aged man behind the young man. He alone was enough to level the city. Of course, they had weaponry that could render them useless, but Ahmad wouldn't count on it. Unless it was a surprise or an ambush of course but even that would require so resources.
The better option would be to, "Sure. I will do my best to et your demands."
~~
"That's all they want?" Anastasia, a woman on the presidential council asked. Ahmad nodded in return which rendered her speechless.
Those days were long gone when people would attempt to kill the Behemoth for money. It was a monster that had plagued them for centuries and for the last seven decades or so, the people had given up on attempting to kill it. Finally, soone had shown up, attempting to revive the history of their city. Of course, the council would be plagued with a difficult decision.
The decision of how to take advantage of them.
"People aren't stupid," An old man, Samson, in the council spoke while stroking his beard. He looked at Ahmad and asked, "Have you found out who they are?"
"Unfortunately, I haven't been able to. It seems like they're rcenaries but their information is a little strange." Ahmad said before he asked, "Should I dig deeper?"
"I don't think there's a need to." A young, handso man at the council, Alfred, said, stating his opinion, "What does it matter who they are as long as they're willing to leave the do and fight that thing."
"It matters." Samson said before he added, "People aren't stupid. Especially us humans. We don't do anything that's not in our favor. If they're well aware of the Behemoth, then what is their reasoning for doing so?"
"…" No one answered. Even Alfred remained silent. Seeing everyone silent, Samson spoke, "The answer to that lies in their identities. Find out who they are and what they truly want. Not just their identities, but their true motive."
"You think they're lying?" Another woman, a middle-aged one, Romana, asked. Samson nodded and replied, "I don't think they're lying. I know they're lying. If they are as strong as Ahmad says they are, then there are so discrepancies in their story. Sothing doesn't make sense. It is always better to know beforehand than risking it."
The entire council was in agreent. Even Ahmad couldn't help but think that he should have thought of that on his own. As expected, the experience did co with age. Samson was the only elder on the council and his opinions were always taken seriously, especially when he was correct most of the ti.
"Then this eting is concluded?" Alfred asked as if he couldn't wait to get out of there.
"There's still the issue of how I should deal with them," Ahmad said, making Alfred tut but he didn't say anything in disagreent. While they were all equal, it also ant that a single individual couldn't just do whatever they wanted. The entire council, or at least the majority needed to assent to sothing.
"What do you suggest, Ahmad?" Samson asked. After Samson, Ahmad was the reasonable one in the council. Calm and calculative. There were others as well, but Ahmad was born with the inherent nature of cunning, a remarkable quality of a leader.
"I suggest we treat them to so won. So slaves would work." Anastasia spoke before Ahmad could.
"What's the need to do so? Just order them to comply. We are the leaders of this city." Alfred spoke, his hot-headed quality on bare display.
Samson couldn't help but shake his head at the suggestions. He ignored them like he didn't even hear them and asked Ahmad again, "What is your opinion?"
"While the logical move would have been to tempt them as Anastasia said so, they don't seem the type. There are won among them as well so I doubt they'd want won of other races when they have human females. They did co off as the materialistic type given they were asking for money but if what elder says is true, then it is safe to assu greed cannot be used against them." Ahmad explained why the suggestions couldn't work.
Samson nodded his head in total agreent before he asked, "So what should be the correct course?"
"Befriend them. While we don't know what their motives are, even if we ended up being wrong, we'd at least have amicable relationships." Ahmad suggested, explaining his reasoning as well.
Samson nodded and asked, "And how do you suggest we do that?"
"…" Ahmad remained silent before he simply said, "We treat them how we treat the strong."
Reviews
All reviews (0)