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Translator: Silavin & June
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Mo Na Ye shook his head and said, “Brother Yang, why play dumb? Although you have been able to take away 90% of our resources over the past decade, that’s only because we haven’t changed our resource exploitation strategy. But if this continues, we will likely completely give up on the Black Ink Battlefield resource extraction. What will you gain then?”
If this were to happen, it would be a disastrous outcome for both sides. The Black Ink Clan would stop extracting resources from the Black Ink Battlefield, and Yang Kai would naturally not be able to plunder anything.
However, such a situation was impossible…
The resources from the Black Ink Battlefield were indispensable to the Black Ink Clan. They needed these resources to maintain their military advantage and to provide for those within the clan, especially the Acquired Territory Lords. If the supply of resources from the Black Ink Battlefield was cut off, there might not be an immediate impact, but over time, the Black Ink Clan’s overall strength would inevitably decline significantly. This was not something that the Black Ink Clan would be willing to accept.
On the other hand, the Human Race would not be affected in the slightest. It was just that Yang Kai would be restricted from acting. However, now that he was unencumbered, being restricted was not a big deal.
Yang Kai was well aware of this, so he remained unmoved.
As Mo Na Ye realised he couldn’t convince Yang Kai, he sighed and put down his raised finger, “Good, Brother Yang, you can have 10% of our clan’s resources. That should be enough, right?”
“10% is not small indeed,” Yang Kai replied, “But it’s still not enough!”
Mo Na Ye frowned, “Brother Yang, how much do you want? Please be straightforward.”
“I’ll compromise. I won’t ask for 50%, and you won’t offer 10%. Let’s settle on 40%.”
“20%!” Mo Na Ye immediately counter offered.
After some thought, Yang Kai gestured with his hand, “30%! Mo Na Ye, there’s no need to haggle further. 30% is my bottom line. If the Black Ink Clan can’t agree, then there’s no need to continue this conversation.”
Mo Na Ye felt angry at Yang Kai’s domineering approach, wondering if he was there to rob them or just looking for trouble. There was no space for negotiation if he had to put it that way.
However, Yang Kai continued, “All resources gathered from outside should be handed over by the Black Ink Clan. Every 10 years… No, every 5 years, the Black Ink Clan will allocate 30% of everything that they’ve gathered from the Black Ink Battlefield and hand it over to me at the No-Return Pass. If you agree, I won’t obstruct the Black Ink Clan’s resource-gathering operations in the future.”
Mo Na Ye raised his brow at this proposal. If this was the deal, then there would still be room for manoeuvring.
Frankly speaking, the amount and quality of resources returned by each mining team was different, and if they were not carefully inspected, no one would know exactly what was in the shipment. Yang Kai said he wanted 30%, but he couldn’t check all the resources gathered by each squad. Besides, the Black Ink Clan would also not allow him to do so.
Even if they gave him 20% or less, he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Of course, if it was too little, Yang Kai would naturally raise objections.
So, when he said he wanted 30%, it was just a euphemism as he probably predicted such skimming would happen in the future.
After a brief pause, Mo Na Ye nodded and said, “If that’s the case, I can agree to Brother Yang’s request.”
“I have another condition!” Yang Kai said.
Mo Na Ye thought to himself that things were never that simple. After dealing with Yang Kai for such a long time, he knew he wasn’t a person to settle for less.
“Please speak, Brother Yang.” Mo Na Ye gestured.
Yang Kai looked past him in the direction of the No-Return Pass and stated firmly, “I don’t want to see any Pseudo-Royal Lords on any of the Great Territory Battlefields!”
[He really guessed it!]
Mo Na Ye was secretly shocked. Meng Que had become a Pseudo-Royal Lord some 10 years ago, but he remained hidden since then. The Royal Lord had originally planned to let Mo Na Ye appear outside to lure Yang Kai into attacking the No-Return Pass; however, Yang Kai had not once done so, as if he had been wary of the trap there.
Mo Na Ye suspected that Yang Kai had figured everything out, but he had no way to verify this. Now, after hearing Yang Kai’s words, he knew that his suspicions were correct.
In addition, Mo Na Ye had planned to let Meng Que continue to lurk after this matter was resolved, working with the Royal Lord to guard the No-Return Pass. This way, Mo Na Ye could leave for the front lines, and the addition of a Pseudo-Royal Lord would be enough to shift the tide on the battlefield.
However, before he could implement this plan, Yang Kai stopped it with just a few simple words.
This should not have been something that could be agreed to easily, but Mo Na Ye did not hesitate at all and said with a smile, “Rest assured, Brother Yang. I have been stationed at the No-Return Pass for many years. Sir Royal Lord has put me in charge of all battlefield affairs. I do not have the spare time or capacity to head to the frontlines.”
The implication here was that there was only one Pseudo-Royal Lord in the Black Ink Clan, which was not the case.
Yang Kai didn’t point this out, nor did he have any thoughts of verifying it. The sense of crisis he had felt during the few times he approached the No-Return Pass over the past 10 years was enough to convince him that the Black Ink Clan had another Pseudo-Royal Lord besides Mo Na Ye.
“In that case, is this matter settled?” Yang Kai asked while smiling.
After some thought, Mo Na Ye replied, “Yes, it is.”
In response, Yang Kai laughed and casually grabbed something from the void and threw it towards Mo Na Ye. Mo Na Ye looked wary, but Yang Kai responded, “I said last time that I would buy you a drink when I come to the No-Return Pass again. This bottle of wine will serve as an appreciation gift for our cooperation.”
Mo Na Ye reached out and caught the bottle, only to find that it was not an artifact or a Secret Technique, just a simple container.
At the same time, Space Principles fluctuated, and Yang Kai had already disappeared without a trace when Mo Na Ye looked up. Although he was constantly monitoring Yang Kai’s movements, he could only vaguely sense the direction in which he left. The exact location was impossible to determine unless he actively chased after him.
This secretly shocked Mo Na Ye. [This bastard’s mastery over the Dao of Space is becoming more and more mysterious. If this continues, who among the Black Ink Clan will ever be able to restrain him?]
Yang Kai’s voice then resounded in his ears, “Today marks the beginning. I will notify you of the location for the exchange of resources in five years. In addition, I have received a lot of resources from your side over the past 10 years and know exactly how much your clan can collect. When it’s time to make the delivery, you better not go too far, or I will find a way to make up the difference myself!”
Mo Na Ye narrowed his eyes and shattered the wine bottle in his hand, causing it to splash out across the void. With a cold snort, he turned and flew towards the No-Return Pass.
Although the Royal Lord had entrusted him with this matter, he still needed to report what had transpired.
The Royal Lord would definitely be furious, but at this point, if the Black Ink Clan wanted to continue to obtain resources from the Black Ink Battlefield, they could only let Yang Kai take advantage of them.
In addition, Mo Na Ye had to put his own plan to head to the battlefield on hold for now. As for Meng Que… he would just continue to stay hidden, and perhaps one day he could play a role.
After dealing with the Black Ink Clan’s affairs, Yang Kai fell silent. The Black Ink Clan knew he was hiding somewhere outside the No-Return Pass, but they had no way of knowing his precise location. Fortunately, he did not appear again to plunder the squads transporting resources, which gave the ordinary soldiers of the Black Ink Clan some peace of mind.
In the depths of the void, Yang Kai concealed his aura and hid his figure.
This battle of wits with Mo Na Ye had ended with his victory. His only regret was that he did not kill a few Territory Lords. In fact, he had the opportunity to kill some of them, but he refrained from doing so as that would only completely enrage the Black Ink Clan and be detrimental to his future plans.
Setting a five-year period was also because there would be too many variables if the timeframe was too long; however, if he contacted the Black Ink Clan too frequently, it would also pose a certain risk to him. If possible, Yang Kai wanted to take inventory of every shipment of resources from each Black Ink Clan mining team that returned to the No-Return Pass and take 30% directly from them, but if he really did that, it would only give the Black Ink Clan many chances to set up their Heaven Sealing Earth Locking’s Grand Array
The reason why he could act arrogantly in front of the many Territory Lords and treat Mo Na Ye, a Pseudo-Royal Lord, as an equal today was because of his mastery of the Dao of Space.
But if he lost this reliance, Yang Kai would only be a slightly stronger Eighth-Order Master.
The Grand Array that could isolate space was his ultimate nemesis, so how could he give the Black Ink Clan so many chances to set it up?
In the desolate and undisturbed void, Yang Kai restrained his mind and silently contemplated the Grand Dao of Space within his body as he allowed time to pass.
When it was time to receive the resources five years later, he sent a message to Mo Na Ye, giving him a random location and then waited silently.
Within half a day, an aura rapidly approached.
Yang Kai turned his head to look only to realise that it was not Mo Na Ye, but rather a Feudal Lord who arrived.
At a distance, the Feudal Lord stopped, shaking in fear as he gazed at Yang Kai.
It was as if the one standing in front of him was not a Human, but an ominous beast that could strike and devour him at any moment.
This couldn’t be helped, as Yang Kai’s name was too intimidating among the Black Ink Clan. Dozens of Innate Territory Lords had already died at his hands, so how could this Feudal Lord dare to face this killing star head-on?
The Feudal Lord cupped his fist and his voice trembled as he said, “I-I am here on behalf of S-Sir Mo Na Ye, t-to deliver the resources to S-S-Sir. P-Please accept them!”
Saying so, he threw out a Space Ring.
Yang Kai nodded lightly and grabbed the Space Ring, pouring his Divine Sense into it to inspect the contents.
There were quite a few supplies, but according to Yang Kai’s estimation, it should be less than the 30% which was agreed upon. It was certain that they had withheld some as the Black Ink Clan would not be so obedient to hand over the full 30% of resources as agreed upon.
However, the amount withheld was not excessive, there was still probably around 25%, so Yang Kai pretended not to notice as he had already anticipated this would happen.
After waiting for a moment and seeing that Yang Kai had no further reaction, the Feudal Lord hurriedly said, “I-If there are no p-problems, I shall report back now.”
After stumbling over his words, he immediately turned around to flee, not wanting to stay here a moment longer.
(╭ ರ_⊙) pleasure doing business