In the beautiful and quiet villa, Mr. Robert sat comfortably on a chair on the balcony, holding a cigar and looking at Ma'ad, who sat beside him with a fawning expression. Seeing his desperate attempt to curry favor, a hint of disgust couldn't help but rise in his heart. However, he didn't show this emotion on his face and continued to speak calmly to Ma'ad.
"Indeed... we have some investments and interests in the original Adus, but since it's an investment, there are always gains and losses. When encountering a situation like Shadi's, it's unavoidable to lose a little money."
"It's normal for investments to have gains and losses, but the key is whether one can stop losses in time and turn losses into profits... Mr. Robert, now that the group of bandits led by Shadi occupies Adus, harming the interests of your Great Powers, if you don't do something now, many losses will never be recovered..."
Ma'ad continued to speak to Mr. Robert, his tone completely suggesting that he was thinking for them. Listening to Ma'ad's words, Mr. Robert glanced at him, then continued to speak.
"It seems... Your Highness the Prince is a bit anxious about the current situation in Adus... Has he perhaps caught homesickness?"
"Uh... of course, I and the other royals who remained in Kankdar miss the scenery of Adis every day." Seeing that the topic was gradually becoming clear, Ma'ad no longer concealed his purpose and spoke to Mr. Robert, who, after hearing him, flicked the cigar ash into the ashtray, took another puff, and then continued to respond casually.
"As a foreigner far away from my homeland, drifting across the ocean to this place, I understand your longing for home, but please be patient. Isn't it written in the newspapers now? The talks between the Church's special envoy delegation and Shadi are not going smoothly, and the trust between the two sides will soon completely break. When the Holy Mountain Holy War Army arrives, you just need to wait to restore your country and return home."
"Oh dear... Mr. Robert, those newspapers are just for ordinary commoners; we all know they are unreliable! Now that Mukhtar, who opposed Shadi within the rebels, is dead, Shadi has complete control over the entire rebel force. With his godless and faithless attitude, it would be a miracle if he would risk his life and fortune for otherworld beliefs. Now he is putting on a show to purge the otherworld elements within the rebels. Once he's done, he'll surely immediately kneel to the Holy Mountain in the north. By then, it will be impossible to rely on the Holy Mountain to send troops!"
After hearing Mr. Robert's words, Ma'ad couldn't help but feel anxious, and then blurted out, completely expressing his worries and the purpose of his trip.
"Mr. Robert, I know that the reason your Great Powers haven't taken action against that traitor Shadi is that you want the Church to be the vanguard. As long as Shadi cannot properly handle his internal religious issues and the mainstream faith of Adus is unclear, the Church will inevitably send troops to help us restore our country, and your Great Powers can recover your interests in Adus without expending soldiers."
"But now... now the situation is different. Who would have thought that Mukhtar would actually die, giving Shadi the possibility of integrating his internal forces. If Shadi officially declares a break with the otherworld and respects the Three Saints Sect, then the possibility of the Church sending troops will greatly decrease. At this time... at this time, only the Great Powers can help us restore our country. Mr. Robert, for the sake of our many years of cooperation with the Great Powers, you must help us at this time!"
With a clearly pleading tone, Ma'ad spoke to Mr. Robert, his voice almost on the verge of tears. Looking at Ma'ad before him, Mr. Robert fell silent for a moment, then slowly spoke.
"Since you understand the current situation, you should know that now that things have developed to this point, it is difficult for us to make the decision to send troops."
"This... Mr. Robert, if the Great Powers feel that they have gained too little in Adus in the past, we can add more! As long as we can restore our country, we guarantee that the Great Powers will get more in Adus than before! Whether it's taxes or the army! Even the legal mining rights of all ancient ruins and tombs within Adus... these are all negotiable!"
Ma'ad continued to speak to Mr. Robert, trying to persuade Mr. Robert, or rather the Main Continent powers represented by Mr. Robert, to help them restore their country by making crazy empty promises. However, Mr. Robert was unmoved by Ma'ad's heap of crazy promises, and continued to smoke his cigar while staring at him and speaking.
"Can't you see clearly, Your Highness the Prince? This is not a matter of interests, but a matter of circumstances! That little Sister went to Adis and successfully negotiated... As long as the results are announced, it means that the entire Shadi Revolutionary Army has been recognized by the Church. Shadi's Revolutionary Army will definitely be promoted by some factions within the Church as a key case of missionary work, becoming their missionary achievement, binding the entire Church to provide protection for the Sadi Regime. If we send troops to Adus at this time, it would be like slapping the Holy Mountain's face, and the deterioration of relations with the Holy Mountain cannot be compensated by any interests you offer!"
Mr. Robert said this sternly to Ma'ad. After explaining the pros and cons of the current situation, Ma'ad couldn't help but be stunned in place, unable to speak for a moment.
In fact, in a sense, the predicament Mr. Robert and his group were in was self-inflicted. When the Adus Revolution made significant progress but had not yet completely defeated the Baruk Dynasty, the Baruk Dynasty nobles had already requested assistance from the Main Continent powers represented by Mr. Robert, asking them to send armed intervention to repel the Revolutionary Army on the grounds of protecting their interests in Adus. However, at that time, the Main Continent powers all had their own agendas regarding the Adus issue. When they heard the request for help, they all agreed very well, but when it came time to send people, they all dragged their feet, wanting to wait for others to chew the hard bone and expend more, while they would come later to pick up the pieces. Therefore, no troops were sent for a while.
And after the close ties between the Adus Revolutionary Army and the Savior Sect otherworld were exposed, these powers were even more reluctant to act. They all knew that once an otherworld regime controlled a country, the Holy Mountain would inevitably launch a Holy War to correct the faith. So these power representatives all had the idea of letting the Holy Mountain send troops first to be the vanguard, while they would follow behind to pick up the gains. Anyway, generally speaking, the Church has low interest in secular interests; they would leave after defeating the Revolutionary Army and changing the faith. By then, their interests in Adus would also return, and they wouldn't have to bear the losses of sending troops. Why not?
Therefore, throughout the Adus civil war, the Main Continent powers' response to the Baruk Dynasty's requests for help, which was already at a disadvantage, was always'soon, soon' verbally, but 'postponed, postponed' in action. According to their thinking, they would wait for the otherworld Revolutionary Army to quickly control Adus, forcing the Holy Mountain to act and send troops, and then they would follow the Holy War Army to restore Baruk, taking advantage of Baruk's extreme weakness to extort a few more gains. As a result, Shadi's Revolutionary Army did not encounter any foreign intervention forces throughout the entire war. After Mukhtar and Shadi cooperated to kill Baruk's Scarlet, the entire battlefield was a smooth advance.
But who knew, a sudden thunderstorm completely shattered the plans of these great powers. Mukhtar was struck dead by lightning, and the little Sister's luck exploded, bringing the negotiations close to success. Now, the Adus Revolutionary Army suddenly transformed into an important educational achievement of the Holy Mountain. Not only would they not be subjected to a Holy War, but attacking them themselves would also be difficult. Otherwise, it would mean going against the Holy Mountain! This unexpected turn of events caught the great powers with interests in Adus completely off guard. The lost interests they had taken were now completely irrecoverable. If they had known this, they might as well have sent troops directly when Baruk first requested aid. Although sending troops would incur significant costs, it wouldn't have resulted in losing all interests in Adus like this.
On the Adus issue, because someone was secretly causing trouble, the Main Continent great powers, full of calculations, inexplicably suffered a hidden loss. However, they couldn't speak of this loss after suffering it, so they were filled with frustration. Now, Ma'ad came to find Robert, offering all sorts of promises, but Robert remained unmoved. He knew it wasn't worth provoking the Holy Mountain for the sake of Adus's meager interests.
"Alright... I see it's getting late now. Your Highness, please go back first. Although the war chariot collection you brought is precious, I have no fortune to enjoy it... You should take it back yourself. Consider it a bit of accumulation for your Baruk. Although you've lost your country, with the things you brought out from Adis, it should still be possible to pass down wealth and status through generations."
Waving his hand, Robert said this to Ma'ad, directly and frankly dismissing him. Listening to Robert's words, Ma'ad sat silently on the chair for a moment, speechless.
Although Robert intended to dismiss him, Ma'ad did not leave immediately but remained sitting in his original seat. Seeing Ma'ad like this, Robert looked at him twice more. Just as he was about to say something further, Ma'ad looked at Robert again and spoke directly.
"Mr. Robert, actually... I also brought something with me that I'd like you to take a look at..."
"What is it?" Hearing Ma'ad's words, Robert asked curiously. At this moment, Ma'ad searched inside his robe and soon after pulled out an envelope, handing it to Robert.
"Please take a look, Mr. Robert..."
Listening to Ma'ad's words, Robert took the envelope, checked it, opened it, and took out the contents to examine them. After a few glances, Robert said with a frown.
"This is..."
"This is a joint letter, with the signatures of the kings of several countries like Harij, Nagis, Kuria... etc. These countries, like Adus, are all Kingdoms in North Wu. The great powers... also have different interests in these countries."
"As you can see in the letter, the kings of these countries sympathize with the cruel fate suffered by Baruk. They are also very worried whether what happened to Baruk today will repeat itself for them. This is not groundless speculation, Mr. Robert, look, many countries in this letter state that the rebels within their respective countries have become increasingly rampant recently, and the difficulty of suppressing them is growing. This is because Shadi's success has set an example for them. Shadi is now the hero of the domestic rebels in these countries; they are all taking Shadi as a model and pursuing their own goals..."
"Mr. Robert, please don't think that losing Adus means the great powers have only lost the interests in Adus. The power of example is infinite. Once Shadi's story succeeds, once the Adus Revolutionary Army achieves complete victory, then the entire North Wu will not be stable. If you don't stop the losses in time now, the interests lost by the great powers in the end will be far more than just Adus."
"Look, Mr. Robert, the noble kings of these countries... are all worried. They are worried whether the domestic rebellions will escalate into something like Adus. They are worried whether the great powers can truly provide them protection. They are worried whether their future will become like ours. That's why this joint letter exists. For them, I think the great powers should provide some necessary explanation..."
With an expression of absolute respect, Ma'ad slowly said to Robert. Listening to Ma'ad's words and looking at the signatures in different handwriting and the royal seals in different styles on the letter, Robert couldn't help but fall silent.
After a long silence, just as the cigar in his hand was about to burn out, Robert slowly spoke.
"This... I need to report this, request the intentions from above, and get the opinions of my colleagues before making a decision... This might take some time."
"Then... I'll trouble Mr. Robert... The future of Baruk, it's all up to you, Captain..."
Listening to Robert's words, Ma'ad immediately stood up from the chair and, after kneeling on the ground, said with immense gratitude.
...
At night, also in the suburbs of Kankdar, inside Robert's villa.
In the villa late at night, the Light was still flickering. In the villa's luxurious reception hall at this time, Robert, in formal attire, was seated on the main seat. In front of him, on several guest seats, several different translucent Shadow were seated. Upon closer inspection, these Shadow were all men dressed in Main Continent gentleman's attire.
The well-dressed men sat in their respective seats, engaging in heated discussions. The language they used for discussion was mostly unrefined Faloro. When the discussion became intense, they would occasionally blurt out languages from other countries, indicating that the nationalities of this group of Shadow seemed inconsistent.
Robert was in the main seat, looking intently at the several Shadow before him, listening carefully to the content of their discussion. He didn't often express opinions, only speaking up to remind them and guide the topic when the discussion became heated, seemingly acting as the moderator of this discussion.
This discussion continued for several hours. During this time, the Shadow in those positions would occasionally disappear and reappear, and people would be swapped out from time to time.
Finally, in the early hours of the morning, after a long discussion, the meeting seemed to have reached a conclusion. After everyone had finished speaking at the end, Robert finally stood up from his seat and slowly spoke to the group of Shadow before him.
"So... tonight, we have reached a bit of a consensus. What Mr. Water said earlier is quite right. The Baruk people want to use us to restore their country. Although their motives are base, their demands cannot be completely ignored. After all, the royal families and rebels in the other native countries of North Wu have already shifted their attention here. No matter what the final outcome here is, it will affect the entire North Wu."
"Adus will be an example. This example can be positive or negative, and what we need to do is to keep this example positive. For the stability of North Wu's future situation, we must take action."
Robert said this, and his words received nods of approval from most of the Shadow present. Only one Shadow spoke up to ask.
"But... favoring Baruk on the Adus issue is also equivalent to going against those Fanatics from the Holy Mountain..."
"No, no, no... It's not time for that yet. Before statements from both sides are released, the Holy Mountain's stance hasn't yet aligned with Shadi's side... Therefore, before that, we still have some room for manipulation."
Robert immediately responded, and after hearing his words, another Shadow spoke up.
"Room for manipulation? Mr. Robert, which side exactly are you referring to? Shadi... or..."
"Shadi is too far from us. I am naturally referring to the side of that little Sister who is about to arrive in Kankdar..."