Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton
Chapter 1555 - 1116: Why Don’t You Believe?

Chapter 1555: Chapter 1116: Why Don’t You Believe?

Negris is the type who’s useless at everything except anything involving knowledge and calculations—this kind of "test" is its forte. As long as it’s within its scope of understanding, it can tackle it with ease.

Clearly, the knowledge level of the Association of Sages could never surpass the cognition of the Seven Forces Unification Origin’s translator. The hardest questions are typically those involving the Origin, and even then, such questions are scarce. Most of them pertain to knowledge within the plane.

Negris avoided the questions about the Origin. After all, it was here to earn points, not to elevate the Association of Sages’ level of knowledge.

"Alright, I’ve got enough points now. What’s next? Should we rally the members of the Association and oust the Speaker of the Divine Light Alliance, replacing them with our own people?" Negris asked eagerly, rolling up its sleeves.

Anthony rolled his eyes in exasperation and continued flipping through the books on the shelf.

"What’s wrong? Is my idea that bad?" Negris protested, feeling indignant that its plan was met with a dismissive eye-roll despite earning the points.

Anthony replied while leafing through the books: "It’s just a contract, not a Soul Brand. So how was the contract signed? What if it’s one of those agreements like ’You bought me a pancake; tenfold repayment in the future,’ where in the end you get ten pancakes?"

"Even if it’s a Demon Contract, there are a hundred ways to work around it. Xisluo mentioned that the contract’s provisions allow you to use points to mobilize the resources of members or request assistance. But does it say how many resources can be mobilized or to what extent assistance should be provided?"

"Can you mobilize all their resources, including their wife and kids? To what degree should they assist, especially if danger is involved? Surely, it’s not like their entire family could die while they’re fully committed to helping you, right?" Anthony said.

"Huh?" Negris froze, quickly scrambling to ask Xisluo for the original text of the contract.

But before it could retrieve the document, Anthony interjected, "I already looked at it. The contract specifies that every point can mobilize resources equivalent to one hundred thousand Demon Crystals. It also states members are obligated to assist fully, but there’s an exemption clause, in small print, for natural disasters, rebellion, or requests that violate ethical and moral standards—members have the right to refuse."

"What??" This time even Xisluo was utterly stunned, having missed the exemption clause entirely.

When a contract’s terms are too fluid and even have subjective limitations, the provisions basically become meaningless.

What exactly constitutes violating ethical and moral standards? Does withholding payment count as a violation of ethics? According to Silver Coin’s morality, it certainly does—earning less is unacceptable. In the Undead’s ethical framework, killing someone doesn’t count as killing them; it’s called reincarnation. So does that mean they could kill you and reincarnate you instead?

"Then doesn’t that make the contract as good as useless? I thought it’d be like in knight novels, where after answering some questions, I’d become the president of the Association, and everyone would have to follow my orders. Now you’re telling me I’m just wasting my intelligence here?" Negris said, disappointed.

"Not necessarily a waste. The Association provides them with benefits, so generally speaking, they won’t casually abandon it. So the points are still useful as long as you don’t use them to send people to their death."

"It’s like a door opener—a brick that ties everyone’s interests together. As long as everyone’s interests align, like when you become King of Leo, you could appoint someone like him as your finance minister. Think he’d refuse?" Anthony hypothesized.

Without hesitation, Silver Coin raised his hand. "I’ll take it! Finance Minister is mine! I can mobilize six million Demon Crystals and thirty thousand mercenaries."

"Pfft—where did you get all those people and money from?" Negris nearly spat blood in disbelief. This scheming businessman had been hanging around it all day; how did he manage to amass so much manpower?

Silver Coin replied matter-of-factly, "Violet can gather a few thousand elites. Sea of Omniscience can hire tens of thousands. By then, we can have Violet integrate the rookie mercenaries from Sea of Omniscience—this is the number I can rally while ensuring quality. If combat strength isn’t a priority, I could gather dozens or hundreds of thousands as long as there’s money."

Anthony laughed as well, "You’re seriously underestimating our current forces. Silver Coin’s method involves spending money, but if we don’t spend money, the numbers are even higher. Sea of Omniscience has tens of millions of people. Normally, a one-to-a-hundred draft means tens of thousands of troops."

"Right now, people are still surviving on stored grain. This means that drafting all able-bodied adults wouldn’t affect production or livelihoods. Adults aged fifteen to sixty make up 60% of the population—that’s thirty million troops, alive and breathing. From Undead City, we could gather hundreds of thousands of intelligent Undead, plus millions of corpses, and dozens of Crystal Dragons."

"Honestly, if the Lord would protect me, I could single-handedly flatten Court of Rio without needing anyone else," Anthony claimed.

Negris was stunned. Unbeknownst to it, they had quietly become a major force within the Divine Light Alliance.

"Engaging in intrigue isn’t because we’re weak but because we don’t want too many people to die. What can I say? Anthony is just so kind-hearted," Anthony said, adopting a melodramatically compassionate tone.

"Pah! Shameless!" Negris snapped irritably. "So, what now?"

It only insulted his shamelessness yet didn’t deny his "kind-heartedness." While it was most likely that Anthony thought mass deaths within his jurisdiction would be too humiliating, such matters are judged by actions, not motivations. Whether driven by a fear of disgrace or genuine compassion, plenty of lives were genuinely spared due to Anthony’s decisions.

After all, if a person saved someone out of fear of losing face, does that mean the person rescued doesn’t count as being saved by them?

"Of course, we bring Gulalata over. Isn’t that convenient? Start by asking who the biggest obstacle is during his bid for power and who could serve as his greatest allies."

"Then target these individuals, ascertain their ties to the Association of Sages, and approach them in the Association’s name—promise them rewards, threaten them, tempt them with benefits, or, if necessary, use Soul Control."

"Once we control the key figures, we can simultaneously bribe and eliminate Leo’s uncle’s followers while building Gulalata’s renown. Actions on both fronts—propaganda, rumors, performances, and more..." Anthony explained his entire plan.

Negris, overwhelmed, clutched its ears and flew off. Yet soon, it flew back, saying, "It’s almost 3 p.m.; there’s a Teleportation Array meeting. Should we join?"

At the entrance earlier, Kiliforte mentioned a Teleportation Array meeting scheduled for 3 p.m., a type of gathering they were quite familiar with. Back during the Plane Security Conference, this same method had been utilized.

At the security conference, Guliani discovered that he’d been inexplicably isolated. Even Dyson had opposed him, leaving him no choice but to endure being a solitary outcast, ultimately stripped of diplomatic privileges.

"Of course, we’re going! With such a prime opportunity to gather intelligence, how could we miss it?" Anthony said, rubbing his hands in anticipation.

The group left the Hall of Sages, summoned Gulalata and the others, and headed to the Land of Meditation. As soon as they opened communications through the Teleportation Array to the mage running it, a voice rang out: "I’ve been saying—Light Disaster happened because someone threw something at the Sun, causing abnormal sunlight. Why won’t you people believe me?"