Chapter 626

Chapter 626: A Sinister Social Lynching (5)

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There were also various stories emerging, delivering quite a culture shock to me, who had no idea about any of it.

The most surprising point was that, astonishingly, the political maneuvering in this matter was carried out solely by the Rose Clan and other surrounding clans.

In fact, the Alliance was, to put it simply, just standing back and watching the situation unfold.

Or, to be more precise, rather than just watching, they seemed to only care about maintaining their ‘prestige’ in this matter.

—————————————–

<Central Dispute Committee Chatroom>

-[Then what about the bases?](Icarus)

-[They were ultimately unnecessary anyway.]

-[They joined the alliance for protection but only ever asked for support without giving anything in return.](Penelope)

-[······Oh······.](Icarus)

-[Anyway, Icarus, you know all this already, but…]

-[Initially, the reason we acted so openly was nothing more than a matter of prestige, right?](Penelope)

—————————————–

In short, despite being a dirty and despicable mess, the situation could be summarized as follows:

First, regarding the clans:

“Let’s see… Are the clans apologizing for their actions while simultaneously trying to settle accounts with the bases?”

“That seems to be the case, though we didn’t know anything about it.”

As Jessica said, we hadn’t even realized there was such intricate politicking happening behind the scenes.

However, thanks to Penelope’s explanations, which subtly referenced the Rose Clan’s statements…

It became clear that these clans, like repentant thieves confessing their sins, told me everything.

Thus, I learned not only that the surrounding clans were backing those who attacked me, but also why they had revealed everything—they judged that if I surrounded the fleets of those who attacked me…

And placed them in a kind of “hostage” state where I could sink them at any moment…

Not only would those involved divulge information to me, but they might also spread rumors everywhere claiming, “We’re innocent! It was all their doing!”

Given this, they assessed that instead of facing simultaneous attacks from nearby users—a scenario I had worried about—they’d likely end up getting beaten up by those same users.

This led them to propose a political deal with me.

Similarly, the Central Base Alliance was in the same boat.

“The people from the Alliance are here purely for reasons of prestige, right?”

“Exactly.”

As mentioned earlier, unlike the Rose Clan and others who engaged in political games, when eight of their affiliated bases defected and quickly came under my influence…

Regardless of whether those defections benefited or harmed the Alliance, they judged that their prestige and authority were damaged.

To prevent internal clan divisions that might result from this, they decided to team up with me, similar to forming an alliance akin to WWE.

Accepting such political deals, I found myself nodding along with both parties.

A short while later…

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<Central Dispute Committee Chatroom>

-[Then let’s wrap things up here.]

-[All ties between clans and bases are hereby completely severed.]

-[Clans are prohibited from fighting over past debts with bases.]

-[In exchange, I will no longer hold the attackers accountable and release them.] (Icarus)

-[Okay.]

-[That seems sufficient.] (Rose)

—————————————–

From the clans, I received a brief settlement—”clearing old debts and normalizing relations”—in exchange for dropping the matter of the attack.

As for the Central Base Alliance…

—————————————–

<Central Dispute Committee Chatroom>

-[Let me make one thing crystal clear.]

-[On the surface, we’ll say we’ve accepted their apologies and received resource compensation.] (Penelope)

-[Agreed.]

-[Of course, it doesn’t need to be exact; just fudge the numbers a bit.] (Penelope)

<'Penelope' has requested a resource trade with 'Icarus'>

<Icarus (100,000 minerals, 10,000 rare resources) ⇒ Penelope>

-[Yeah, that should do. Just tweak the numbers a little more.] (Penelope)

—————————————–

Ignoring the trivial details, since it appeared that the Central Base Alliance had technically been on the losing side in this incident…

By paying nominal resources, they would publicly claim to have received appropriate compensation, thereby preserving their prestige.

Furthermore, concluding our final negotiation…

“Why don’t we handle some other good matters while we’re at it?”

“Sure.”

Under this pretext, we simultaneously conducted various negotiations.

And thus, the complex and sinister political dealings quietly came to an end.

==========

The day after the secretive and covert negotiations ended…

“Commander, we’ve released all the detained fleets.”

“They’ve finally left?”

“Two fleets were freed, but their commanders didn’t issue movement orders, so they couldn’t move.”

“…Their mental states must have collapsed, causing them to go into hiding.”

After confirming that all the fleets held hostage had returned, I opened the Community Window to check how yesterday’s negotiations had played out.

Of course, perhaps because there were individuals far better at politics than me handling things…

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Title: Today’s News) The Result of the Three-Way Negotiation Between Icarus, Clan Alliance, and the Central Base Alliance.txt

Writer: News Boy

Content: [Image showing ‘Central Base Alliance’s Penelope certifying the receipt of ’10 million minerals and 1 million rare resources’ from Icarus in the official chatroom.]

First, the results of the negotiation are as follows:

The Clans will no longer pursue past debts with the bases and plan to normalize relations.

The Central Base Alliance acknowledges that while Icarus did not directly steal their bases, the outcome was effectively the same.

As a courtesy, they claim to have received resources.

Additionally, there were many exchanges, but the parties involved haven’t disclosed further details.

Lastly, and most importantly,

Icarus has now reauthorized passage through Tanhoizer and Daedalus territories.

More specifically, while Icarus’ external border fleets will remain neutral or vigilant,

Tanhoizer and Daedalus will adopt a friendly-neutral stance toward most users.

Therefore, as long as you don’t wander around aimlessly,

You can use the gates without issues.

Also, to enter Icarus’ territory, as mentioned earlier,

You must obtain permission due to the vigilant stance of the border patrol fleets.

Comments:

-[What happens if someone enters without permission?]

-[Border patrol fleets will mercilessly attack.]

-[But aren’t the patrol fleets just basic level? They’re practically cannon fodder…]

-[If you fight the patrol fleets, combat fleets will arrive and destroy you.]

-[And if you defeat the combat fleets, either Icarus brings his main fleet, calls the Leviathan Fleet, or summons the Unlimited Mercenary Force to create a tsunami—your choice.]

-[Finally, d*mn it, my sweet gate is open!]

-[Still, it’s good it opened quickly; I was planning to relocate to another area soon.]

-[Does that mean leaving Tanhoizer and Daedalus territories will result in destruction?]

-[It seems they’re suggesting staying out of range of the surrounding Escort Bases’ radars.]

—————————————–

“Hmm, everyone handled things pretty well.”

“Yeah, indeed.”

Seeing that the negotiation achieved one of my goals—the promotion of future border management—I felt satisfied.

This was definitely a successful negotiation.