Lord of the Sky City-Chapter 824 - 806: Rupture

After dealing with the Three Great Alliances, Athena’s next move was to face the two major corporations, Sigma and Uranus, along with the Heavenly Ancestor Church.

Compared to the Three Great Alliances, the representatives sent by these three parties had been keeping a low profile, clearly adopting a strategy of going with the flow. If the representatives from the Three Great Alliances acted aggressively, they would follow suit. If the Three Great Alliances were willing to exchange hostages, they would also conform. After all, in terms of resources and strength, these three entities were relatively weaker than the Three Great Alliances.

Therefore, Athena was in no rush to deal with them immediately. Instead, she waited some time and only met with them after the second round of collective negotiations had concluded.

The second round of negotiations went far more smoothly than the first. During the process, Athena even went so far as to release one of the hostages—specifically Ludwig, the Imperial Chancellor of the Kafka Empire.

After negotiating terms with the Three Great Alliances, it was evident that while the Sky Alliance and the Magic Energy Research Institute were still hesitating, the Kafka Empire acted decisively. They immediately agreed to Athena’s terms, believing that a reasonable level of collaboration was entirely feasible between both parties.

Such a decisive move by the Kafka Empire, if made public, would undoubtedly shock many. Reason being, among the Three Great Alliances, the real conflict, even hatred, with Rocky, didn’t lie with the Sky Alliance or the Magic Energy Research Institute, but with the Kafka Empire!

Back when Rocky was competing in the arena to earn money, he had killed the son of an Imperial Marquis, and that’s when the feud between both parties began. Later, during the consecutive battles in the Tulip Battle Zone, Rocky furthered his status by stepping over the corpses of Kafka’s soldiers, gradually becoming a hero of the Alliance. Most recently, even among the first waves of individuals targeting Rocky, the Kafka Empire was represented. By all accounts, the blood feud between Rocky and the Empire should have been insurmountable. So why had the Kafka Empire now agreed to Athena’s proposal and shown interest in collaborating with Rocky? fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

Could it be a conspiracy?

Of course not.

While it’s true that Rocky and the Empire had their share of conflicts, from the Empire’s perspective, these were mere trifles. What truly mattered to the Empire was their interests. As the saying goes, "There are no eternal friends or enemies between nations, only eternal interests." As long as mutual interests aligned, any feud or grievance would become insignificant. No one would dwell on them.

The current circumstances between Rocky and the Empire reflected precisely this sentiment.

Athena’s proposal was of great significance to the Kafka Empire. Even the Empire had to admit, repeated attempts had proven that wresting Rune Technology from Rocky’s grasp was no easy feat. Moreover, he had now mastered even more advanced Elemental Technology. Together, these gave Rocky a level of combat power that far surpassed the times. Considering the current situation, with Demons stirring frequently and a large-scale counteroffensive on the horizon, continuing to oppose Rocky at such a juncture was hardly wise.

Furthermore, from the perspective of the Empire’s current situation, it was evident they were at a disadvantage compared to the other two alliances. Recognizing this, the Emperor of the Empire decisively decided to collaborate with Rocky and even sought to draw him into their camp.

With the Emperor’s directive, Martin, who was responsible for the negotiations, naturally felt reassured. Thus, during the second round of talks, he straightforwardly agreed to all of Athena’s conditions. Of course, since Athena negotiated with each of the three entities individually, Martin might have agreed to Athena’s terms, but Farey and Ouli had no clue what he had agreed to.

This created a significant problem, as Martin’s actions essentially amounted to betrayal in the eyes of Farey, Ouli, and the other three representatives. While they were still bargaining with Athena, Martin had struck a deal. How were Farey and the others supposed to proceed after this?

Did Martin, as Vice Chancellor, not foresee the turmoil his decision would cause? Of course he did. In fact, this was deliberately done as a gift to Athena, a gesture to demonstrate the Kafka Empire’s sincerity.

Athena, naturally understanding his intentions, released the detained Imperial Chancellor Ludwig immediately. Ludwig, under the public eye, was swiftly sent away, but Martin remained in Thunderhawk City to continue discussions about the specifics of the cooperation.

Leaving Martin aside, the remaining five representatives grew increasingly anxious after the second round of negotiations concluded, with Farey and Ouli being especially affected. Once the news of Ludwig’s release reached the Sky Alliance and the Magic Energy Research Institute, Farey and Ouli would undoubtedly face immense pressure. After all, Martin had closed the deal and secured the release of their hostage; what were Farey and Ouli doing?

Thus, just one day after the second round of negotiations ended, Farey proactively sought out Athena and presented her with a list.

This list outlined the Sky Alliance’s minimum acceptable terms. In comparison to the earlier list that Aileen had drafted, the content remained unchanged, but the quantities were significantly reduced—by half, to be exact.

At first glance, it seemed like the Sky Alliance was being particularly tough in their counteroffer, slashing the supply quantities for the hostage exchange to half. However, only Athena and Aileen knew the truth: the original numbers given to Farey on that list had been inflated tenfold. Even though the Sky Alliance reduced those numbers by half, they were still vastly above Aileen’s initial expectations; the deal was practically a windfall!

Under such circumstances, Athena saw no reason for unnecessary back-and-forth negotiations. She decisively agreed to Farey’s terms, promising that the Grand Elder Gandalf would be released as soon as the listed supplies were delivered.

With this development, two out of the six hostages had now been released, both of them from the Three Great Alliances. This left only Simonuo, the elder from the Magic Energy Research Institute, detained in Thunderhawk City as a hostage. Meanwhile, Gandalf, although still technically not released, had already been invited to the City Lord’s Mansion by Rocky.

Yet, even so, Elder Ouli remained stubbornly opposed to Athena’s demands. His obstinance was almost inconceivable. But at this point, it no longer mattered, for he no longer had the leverage to negotiate. Both Farey and Martin had agreed to Athena’s conditions, and while three other representatives still supported Ouli’s stance, their collective influence paled in comparison to either Farey or Martin individually. Their presence, or absence, made little difference.

As such, Athena paid no further attention to Ouli, opting instead to turn her focus to the remaining three representatives. By this stage, there was little the trio could do to resist Athena’s advances.