Chapter 1073 - Unexpected Negotiations
Meanwhile, Erin felt depressed.
Even though Ion handed the entire matter to her, she felt anxious for both sides. Since she was the moon princess of the Country of Darkness, she couldn’t possibly commit treason. But on the other hand, she couldn’t work half-heartedly for Rhode since he appointed her as a plenipotentiary representative. This wasn’t because Erin had some emotional entanglement with Rhode. But instead, her innate character was similar to Lydia’s; perfectionists who either perfected things or not accomplish it at all. In this case, slacking definitely didn’t fit Erin. At this point in time, she wished that both sides would each take a step back. But she didn’t know just how far the situation would go because Rhode currently had the upper hand. Despite that, she also had her own channels. Although she didn’t hear what Rhode said back then, she knew that he was a tough person through their interactions and he would prefer to have no one winning than to concede to his enemy.
Besides, Erin knew that the Country of Darkness wasn’t actually flawless. Relative to the strongest forces, the Country of Darkness was too weak. Currently, based on Erin’s senses about the situation in the Void Territory, she knew that there were at least five to six people with about the same level of strength as the four legendary generals or were definitely stronger. Furthermore, the earlier clash also proved that her views were still conservative, with one dead and one injured among the four legendary generals, where even Balende almost failed to make it back alive!
Erin was confident that if the Void Territory and Country of Darkness were to break out in a war, the former might end up with heavy losses, while the latter would face much more trouble. As long as Rhode’s subordinates took out all the formidable beings in the Country of Darkness, the Country of Darkness would crumble instantly. The formidable beings of the Country of Darkness grew over time and an unlimited amount of time let them prepare sufficiently. 50, 100, 300, 500, and 1000 years; many formidable beings in the Country of Darkness were, in fact, the model examples of how ‘acquired diligence could make up for innate deficiencies and defects’. They might have lacked talents, but a sufficient amount of patience and wisdom ensured that as long as they had enough time, they could distinguish themselves. This was why the Country of Darkness had such a high level of battle strength, which was also a powerful guarantee of strength.
But if Rhode were to lead his men and eradicate them all, the Country of Darkness would be doomed because in terms of the improvement of strength, low-level undead creatures couldn’t compete with humans at all. Perhaps after another 50 to 100 years, another batch of undead creatures would rise above others. But with that much time, many more formidable humans would have already distinguished themselves!
Once the Country of Darkness lost the advantage that time gave them, their advantage over other territories would be limited. It was apparent that Rhode could make them lose the advantage. Erin knew that Rhode was the sort of guy who would rather everyone die together than to have someone excel over him. In this case, Rhode was definitely capable of doing things to harm others without benefiting himself.
It was due to Erin’s understanding of the dangers Rhode could bring to the Country of Darkness that she was so serious about her duties. But on the other hand, she was worried that Rhode would commit daylight robbery. If it were only an extortion of ‘mental compensation’, Erin wouldn’t have much objection. But Rhode’s ambitions were terrifying. For instance, he might request the Country of Darkness to withdraw from the territory that they occupied in the Country of Light… If that happened, there would be no room for negotiation at all. What was worse was that based on Erin’s understanding of Rhode, she felt like the possibilities of him doing so were really high because he wasn’t afraid of starting a war with the Country of Darkness.
On the contrary, Erin didn’t want to start a war with the Void Territory, as it was like a clash between an ancient noble family and a newly-established noble family. The ancient noble family had time, deep, stable foundations, and countless family members. On the other hand, even though the newly-established noble family only had small areas of land, they were full of vigor. Although they didn’t have many family members, they weren’t weak either. After both sides erupted in a clash, the newly-established noble family might be crippled by the ancient noble family. However, they were young and energetic and would perhaps curl their lips and curse at the ancient family, at the very least. Even if they returned in defeat, they could continue to build new houses in their homeland. Perhaps this might be a good thing for them as tearing down the dilapidated wreckage would allow them to construct postmodern buildings with new, artistic styles. But what about the ancient noble family? Their centuries-old foundation would perish to nothingness. The once bustling family became cheerless and desolate. Buildings with historical heritage would be burned to ashes with only pieces of broken bricks remaining. Maybe some would be unwilling and dissatisfied, but would they be able to restore the glorious times of their ancient family?
No one knew.
‘He who is down need not fear nor fall’. Perhaps Erin wasn’t aware of this phrase, but the meaning was common. Be it victory or defeat when the Country of Darkness clashed with the Void Territory, the Country of Darkness would be the one suffering the loss. Besides, in consideration to the strength of Rhode and his subordinates, the chances of them winning were also hard to determine.