40: There are no friends at the negotiating table

"Thump, thump, thump!"

Looking at the messy conference room before him,

Lagrange, with a dark expression, forcefully knocked on the table.

—The main reason for his dark expression was that a flying shoe sole had just slapped him in the face.

He still didn't know who did it.

The scene gradually quieted down.

He scanned the entire room with disgust.

These sanctimonious individuals gathered around the table,

were, in essence, nothing more than a pack of hyenas chasing after profit.

Before sitting down at the negotiating table,

they had already discussed all possible exchanges of interest.

The Haivier Federation and the Claude Military-Political Consortium,

had colluded to reduce the strategic supplies and population provided to the Military Alliance.

One reason was to balance the power of the Military Alliance,

the other was to ease their own finances.

The Lacray Empire outwardly supported the Military Alliance,

also due to a covert exchange of interests:

They would obtain some pre-era weapons held by the Military Alliance under the guise of joint research,

for disassembly, reverse engineering, and imitation.

Moreover,

friction between the Lacray Empire and the Cloud Consortium was constant.

For them,

the resource transfer to the Military Alliance was a good opportunity to weaken their opponent.

Under the powerful money-making ability of that Emperor,

the small amount of aid given annually was merely a drop in the bucket for him.

It was truly a two-birds-with-one-stone deal.

The representatives of the Xila Republic and the Democratic Alliance remained quietly seated on the side,

their stance unknown.

Two fence-sitters,

Lagrange Koradilon thought,

secretly sighing in his heart about the trouble.

"Sacrifice is the cornerstone of civilization,"

"The Military Alliance has made immense sacrifices in resisting foreign enemies."

"In contrast, all of you here,"

"can't even manage to provide mere logistical support?"

His hawk-like gaze pierced the representative of the Cloud Consortium, whose forehead was slightly bruised,

he questioned him word by word.

"Wait."

Suddenly, the previously silent representative of the Xila Republic spoke up.

The gazes of the six people in the room were immediately drawn to him.

"To be fair, the resources provided by the Alliance to the Military Alliance each year,"

"are calculated with a large amount of redundancy."

"Furthermore, various countries are indeed facing financial crises now."

"The Military Alliance's counterattack this time can at least buy half a year of breathing room."

"Therefore, General Koradilon,"

"the Cloud Consortium's demands are actually quite reasonable."

"My proposal is to first halve the support from all countries,"

"and if that's not enough,"

"then the remaining amount can be provided to the Military Alliance by various countries in the form of loans."

"After half a year, the aid plan can be renegotiated."

"How about that?"

Seeing that the three nations on the floor all wanted to curb the Military Alliance,

Lagrange, instead of getting angry, chuckled, propped his hands on the table, and slowly stood up.

"Hehehehe,"

"Fine,"

"Gentlemen,"

"Have you perhaps forgotten,"

"the monument currently floating in Order Seat V01.01's seventh orbit,"

"a monument forged from countless fragments of warships!"

"The Military Alliance has not seen your so-called redundancy,"

"only weapons and resources that are barely enough!"

"If aid is cut by another half,"

"then can the Military Alliance also cut its defenses by half in certain areas?"

"Can it also cut by half"

"the patrol fleets in certain shipping lanes?"

His voice was low and dangerous,

his expression sinister and sharp.

Like a lurking coyote,

he bared his pale fangs at everyone at the negotiating table.

A silent threat permeated and festered in the air.

The representatives of each regime understood the meaning of his words:

Since you won't fund me,

would it be too much for me to let a few groups of aliens in?

Furthermore, if the Military Alliance were to intervene opportunistically,

it would further break a fragile balance.

Instantly, the other five people in the room were drenched in sweat.

Everyone looked at each other,

their eyes seemingly confirming something.

Soon,

the discussion ceased.

The representative of the Lacray Empire stepped forward to mediate:

"For the survival of human civilization,"

"long-term funding for the Military Alliance is indispensable."

"Reducing the amount of funding will be very detrimental to the overall human situation,"

"Therefore, the total annual support cannot be changed."

With that, he changed his tone and looked at the other representatives.

"However, the various countries behind you may indeed be facing financial crises."

"To ensure survival and development,"

"our side proposes,"

"while ensuring the total amount of support remains unchanged,"

"to appropriately increase the contribution ratio of the secondary regimes within the Order Alliance."

Secondary regimes, meaning those outside the six major top regimes,

are relatively loose and weak regimes.

Because their losses from fighting were higher than their gains, they naturally survived.

"Agreed."

"Approved."

"No objection."

"…"

The Lacray Empire's proposal passed unanimously.

A hypocritical consensus gradually formed.

The fate of billions of lives was instantly decided,

but no one dared to overturn this crazy gambling table,

because—

The stakes on the table were the fate of all humanity... The meeting ended, and the representative of the Lacray Empire's face was grim.

He walked through the corridor, making several turns,

and after confirming he wasn't followed, he entered another small, dark room.

Sitting inside were none other than the representatives from before!

"That Lagrange is too difficult to deal with,"

"Even with our cooperation,"

"the final result is severely inconsistent with the plan."

The representative of the Claude Military-Political Consortium had already begun to complain.

Looking at those present,

it was clear they had already reviewed the situation.

"Why did you take so long?"

Looking at the entering representative of the Lacray Empire,

several people expressed dissatisfaction.

"The Empire and the Military Alliance have cooperation in some areas,"

"It took a moment for the handover work."

The representative of the Cloud Consortium nodded, agreeing with his statement,

and then continued his narrative.

"In its 800 years of development,"

"the Military Alliance's strength has almost reached the combined total of our several factions."

"It is a hungry wolf,"

"the aliens are its chains,"

"and we have fed it for 800 years,"

"slowly helping it to wear down its chains."

"No matter what, we must come up with a countermeasure,"

"We cannot let the Military Alliance expand any further!"

..."General!"

After the meeting, Lagrange walked directly back to the Military Alliance's resting area.

The soldier standing guard at the door immediately straightened his body and saluted precisely.

As soon as he entered the room, his personal terminal lit up with a communication:

"Lagrange,"

"How was the result of the first negotiation?"

It was his teacher and uncle,

Zirior Koradilon.

"We didn't suffer any major losses,"

"They still harbor fear and apprehension towards the Military Alliance,"

"But the outcome certainly wasn't good either."

Lagrange shrugged and replied.

After a brief silence, the other party lightly tapped the microphone.

"Don't worry about these trivial matters."

"This 'Restart Day' offensive was very successful,"

"The Military Alliance's high command has begun reviewing your qualifications for promotion,"

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Koradilon Family will have another Marshal."

Lagrange frowned upon hearing this and replied,

"Teacher,"

"Are you saying,"

"They want to find another excuse to transfer me back?"

The other party immediately replied,

"What do you mean 'transfer back'?"

"That's for advanced studies."

"Can't you stop thinking about fighting all the time?"

Lagrange retorted:

"We've just figured out the enemy's true strength and weaknesses,"

"It's like catching them off guard!"

"Once those hideous xenomorphs react,"

"it will be very difficult for us to encounter such an opportunity again!"

"Now is the best time for territorial expansion!"

"I've just finished coordinating with the subordinate fleet,"

"Can we delay this for a bit?"

The other party considered it for a moment, then said helplessly:

"Alright,"

"Anyway, I'm the one reviewing your qualifications."

"I'll drag it out for a while longer,"

"You go and work hard yourself."

With that, Zirior proactively ended the communication,

leaving Lagrange, with the general's stars on his shoulders, standing in place,

a dangerous gleam named "rebellion" flashing in his eyes.