In a meeting room within a building in the Brunas city district, an envoy from the Poplar Kingdom was meeting with the intelligence leader of the Great Tang Group, a core member named Li'ao.
The envoy from the Poplar Kingdom, who had been stationed in Brunas, was very busy lately. With the outbreak of a large-scale conflict between the Poplar Kingdom and the Elm Kingdom, the Poplar Kingdom's former archenemies—the Orcs of the Sena Plains—unexpectedly declared their nation restored on the western side of Osa Port.
Somehow, they had gotten their hands on a batch of advanced weapons, then defeated two Elf Race legions sent to suppress them, making the restoration of their nation a fait accompli.
Thus, the anxious-looking envoy from the Poplar Kingdom recently had been following orders from his homeland to clarify the Great Tang Group's stance on this matter.
"Mr. Li'ao! You know! Although there were some unpleasant moments between the Poplar Kingdom and the Great Tang Group in the past, the subsequent cooperation has always been sincere on our part," he said, explaining as soon as he sat down to the welcoming Li'ao.
"I am well aware of that," Li'ao said, his expression neither sad nor happy as he toyed with the ring on his finger.
He was wearing three rings in total. One of them was a ring given to him by Tang Mo during the allocation of Elf jewelry. Although the ring was nothing special and hardly matched his current status, he still wore it.
Among the other two rings, one was a very valuable jewelry ring that demonstrated Li'ao's present status, adorned with a gem engraved with a gorgeously blooming dandelion.
Another ring was in the style of his hometown, a recent acquisition that soothed his homesickness and was thus very dear to him.
After Li'ao casually responded while fiddling with his rings, the envoy from the Poplar Kingdom, in a rush, questioned, "Then, why is there even a hint of the Great Tang Group's shadow in the matter of the Orcs' national restoration in the western region of Osa Port?"
"I have already answered this question. The Great Tang Group's arms sales records are all verifiable, and I have already reviewed them. We have not sold any weapons to the Orcs," Li'ao explained innocently.
The Great Tang Group indeed had not supplied the Orcs with new weapons, not even giving them many bolt-action rifles.
Having received news from his motherland, the envoy said with confidence, "But we have conclusive evidence that the Orcs possess metal-cartridge rifles from the Great Tang Group!"
Li'ao pondered for a moment and then replied, "We are investigating this matter, but what is certain is that we have not sold any metal-cartridge rifles to the Orcs. We've only produced one type of metal-cartridge bolt-action rifle, the K3 rifle. Are you sure that what they have is the K3 rifle?"
He actually knew the ins and outs of this matter, so he could affirm that those rifles were not the K3 rifles produced by the Great Tang Group, which meant that they were not Mauser 98K rifles.
Sure enough, the envoy was also aware of this and immediately began to stammer: "This... this..."
"As you know, the world has advanced to a point where the Great Tang Group is not the only one that can produce metal-cartridge rifles, as the technology has gradually spread out," Li'ao said with a long drawl, glancing at the other party.
Knowing the origin of those rifles made him more assertive. He chuckled, looking at the other party in a way that made the envoy's skin crawl.
Thus, Li'ao stated with even more certainty, "Moreover, we cannot confirm that the rifles in the hands of those Orcs came from the Great Tang Group. It's possible they purchased second-hand weapons from other sources, and that is completely beyond our control."
"But Mr. Li'ao! We withstood pressure from the Elm Kingdom, but now we are threatened by the Gales Kingdom—the situation is very pessimistic," the envoy said, beginning to apply different pressure on Li'ao.
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Li'ao was not swayed by this tactic at the moment since, according to the pre-established plan of Great Tang, the Poplar Kingdom was not a kingdom that Great Tang Group was heavily supporting... In fact, they had lost Great Tang's full support since they had owed Tang Mo money.
So Li'ao glanced at him and said, "Mr. Tang's suggestion is that since Gales has been restored, we could come forward to help you sign a permanent, non-aggression treaty."
"What? Acknowledge the restoration of Gales! Impossible!" The envoy was taken aback, then suddenly became agitated.
Li'ao remained calm and smiled as he responded, "Nothing is impossible! Mr. Envoy… we can offer a compensation… a compensation that your King will not refuse."
"How do you know we would not refuse... The discord between us and Gales... is irreconcilable!" The envoy was visibly agitated, shouting indignantly.
Li'ao sneered and counter-queried, "Really? I think you should hear our terms…"
"..." This time, the envoy from the Poplar Kingdom didn't dare to speak.
Li'ao changed his expression to a smile and said, "The Elm Kingdom will surrender in one month, ceding all territories south of the Elm River... That's Elf territory, far richer than the Gales territory you occupy."
"What! You… how could you... How could you make the Elm Kingdom make such a huge concession?" The envoy was stunned, staring at Li'ao in disbelief.
Li'ao continued to smile, "This is part of the peace agreement we've reached with the Shireck Consortium... If you're not quite satisfied, I can give that territory to the Songmu Kingdom and also declare non-recognition of Gales's restoration, to demonstrate our stance."
The envoy quickly waved his hands, "No! No! No need for that! Absolutely no need for that trouble! I'll return immediately and convey this news to His Majesty the King! He will make a decision!
I believe he will make the right choice! Please give the Poplar Kingdom some time."
"As I said, nothing is impossible," Li'ao said with a glance and a tinge of disdain.
"Mr. Li'ao, you... you are right… It was my... my rashness," the envoy admitted, his voice full of obsequiousness.
He was certain that his King would accept such terms because the territories south of the Elm River, compared to the Sena Plains, were clearly richer lands.
Thus, he was eager to rush back to the Poplar Kingdom with the good news—certainly, he would be rewarded.