"Wait for the price to drop further."
"What do we do now?"
At first, they thought they could swallow a large portion of the resources. But now, not only would they have to spit out the excess, they might even have to forfeit their original share. Moreover, they no longer had any power to resist. They simply couldn't interfere in the struggle between major sects; once they did, the consequences would be entirely unpredictable.
Realizing this, everyone's hearts grew heavy. Initially, they were in high spirits, expecting to sit back and reap the rewards. Now, they were bogged down in a quagmire, facing eternal doom at any moment.
"Why don't we try to negotiate and just stick to the original resource allocation?" the female Elder suggested.
The sword-bearing man retorted, "Negotiate with whom? Which major Sect?"
