Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 253 - 173: The Art of Negotiation

Chapter 253: Chapter 173: The Art of Negotiation

Duan Mingyuan was quite certain that Earth Wolf Twelve was not good at letting others give him face.

The young man wasn’t intimidated by the string of formidable titles that Jiuyue introduced. He and Earth Wolf Twelve drew their weapons at the same time, his speed in no way inferior to that of Earth Wolf Twelve, a master of dueling. A black, ruler-like weapon unyieldingly hung before the other’s neck, and the atmosphere in the hall instantly became as tense as drawn bows and ready crossbows.

At that moment, Jiuyue’s innate talents as the Calamity Fox were displayed to their fullest extent.

The Fox Demon Chronicles mentioned that what a calamity fox was best at was inciting conflict between people.

She found the black staff, the combat robots were there to catch her, and yet it was the Interstellar Cowboy who ended up in that fight.

In fact, the matter had nothing to do with Earth Wolf Twelve to begin with.

Jiuyue somehow obtained an iced coffee and some macarons provided by the Gear Hotel and stealthily slipped the black staff into her bushy tail while the two were still in a standoff.

Having executed this series of actions, she sat down obediently in her chair, looking like a fragile and pitiable little fox, but the gleam in her eyes betrayed her thoughts.

—Fight, fight!

In her heart, she cheered for the two contestants in confrontation.

Earth Wolf Twelve too felt that something was off about how the situation was unfolding, but the moment the young man drew his weapon, he abandoned thought.

He had a hot temper.

In this universe, no one had yet casually pointed a weapon at his head, and Earth Wolf Twelve never liked to use big words or pull rank by invoking the Chamber of Commerce. When he encountered problems, he preferred to solve them on his own by blowing the other party’s head off.

"I’m not interested in your planet’s internal affairs, but if you want to be chopped into two pieces and carried out by those robotic scraps, I’d be happy to oblige," he said.

"Last warning, hand over the thing and the person who found it," the young man said.

"Bang—!"

What answered the young man was the sound of a gunshot.

Although he reacted instantly, he ultimately couldn’t dodge the bullet.

The ruler in his hand was blocked by a metal frame built into Earth Wolf Twelve, and when the smoke cleared, the young man’s left half had already flown off.

Ling Long, the only one who had never seen such a scene, widened her eyes in shock, but when she looked closely, what met her eyes was not the messy gore she had expected.

Not a drop of blood fell to the ground, only broken limbs and shattered metal fragments.

And Duan Mingyuan, who had been silently observing the game, had already seen the reason why the young man had the guts to offend even the head of Shanqi Commerce Association’s security team—what appeared before them was not a speaking person, but a puppet. Its material was similar to the combat robots, yet it pulsed with energy similar to that within the black staff.

He guessed that it must be an energy unique to the Mechanical Star.

To speak with the tenacity of a puppet.

"I already warned you," Earth Wolf Twelve said.

He glanced at the parts on the ground, sat back with his legs crossed, and lit the cigar he carried, exhaling an imposing ring of smoke.

The smoke he exhaled was then blocked by a sign and smeared back onto his own face.

The sign bore the slogan "No smoking in public areas," held by Jiuyue, who was sternly staring at him.

Earth Wolf Twelve stubbornly snuffed out the cigar, deflating considerably.

Being interrupted while trying to act tough made him feel out of sorts.

The young man’s lower half seemed not to have given up. The combat robots outside of the hotel received orders and barged into the hotel simultaneously.

The dazzling array of heavy weapons targeted everyone present.

"Looks like we really got played this time," Earth Wolf Twelve remarked calmly, realizing that this incident was slowly turning into a dispute between the Chamber of Commerce and Mechanical Star. Whoever was controlling the puppet and the combat robots had to have the highest level of military authority. "But the Chamber’s involvement might not be necessarily good for you."

Although he couldn’t quite figure out what exactly this artifact was for, the Chamber of Commerce seemed very interested in it.

Pirates and adventurers omnipresent on Mechanical Star have always been tirelessly searching for the artifact’s whereabouts. If the Chamber learned that the artifact had been found by representatives of Blue Star, they would surely want to recover it, and any hiccup could lead to a violent conflict.

But that was a problem for later.

For now, as the head of Gear Hotel’s security, his first priority was to clear out the intruders.

"Wait," Mr. Mingyuan said before the outbreak of complete armed conflict, addressing the puppet that was only half a body. "We can accompany you back to the Royal City and resolve the issue once and for all."

From the way that other planetary council members treated them, it was evident that his current reputation in the universe had plunged to the depths. Everyone considered him someone to avoid at all costs, which was very unfavorable for Blue Star’s application to become a permanent council member of the summit. If the Chamber and Mechanical Star fought over this, he would undoubtedly confirm all the trumped-up charges against him.

Although He Ya was absolutely certain that no matter how he tried to avoid it, the stigma of the "Great Demon King" would ultimately be firmly affixed to him, considering her identity as a goddess of trade, Mr. Mingyuan suspected this was more likely an excuse advanced by He Ya for her to sell him Leviathan eggs.

Those familiar with him knew that Duan Mingyuan had loved peace since he was a boy and couldn’t bear to see others suffer hardship.

If possible, he much preferred to resolve the issue peaceably.

"Are you sure?" Earth Wolf Twelve asked skeptically, putting down his gun.

He thought it wasn’t a good idea at all. The whole universe knew about the hypocrisy of the nobles in Mechanical Star’s Royal Court; those nobles looked down on the common folk and on any other civilization in the universe.

"Positive," Mr. Mingyuan affirmed.

As he spoke, he turned to the half-puppet, "With that, you can let the combat robots withdraw now, right?"

To show his sincerity, Duan Mingyuan even helped to reassemble the puppet’s broken body and scattered parts.

Beyond defending Blue Star’s reputation for cherishing peace, he had also become interested in the wondrous mechanisms of Mechanical Star, as well as the mysterious strength flowing within them.

Just imagine, a mechanism that could turn an entire planet’s surface into a desert, what kind of immense energy must it contain?

The puppet ordered the combat robots to halt and, with an attitude of ingratitude, pulled out three pairs of handcuffs, "You are suspected of theft of national treasures, and I shall arrest you according to the law."

"To be precise, we found them on the road."

"I am the sheriff, and I am the judge of all the evils on this planet!"

The puppet emphasized his words as if he had completely forgotten that a minute ago, he had been in two pieces on the ground.

Duan Mingyuan seemed to have gotten a grasp on the personalities of the nobles of the Mechanical Star’s Royal Court—they could be blown up, shot in half, lying incapacitated on the ground, but as long as they still had breath, they would talk tough.

Perhaps this was the pride of nobility.

He thought that the nobles of the Royal Court should find a lot in common with Mr. Chen Chou.

"Let’s go, lead the way."

Duan Mingyuan politely handed the three sets of handcuffs back.

The Gear Hotel was crowded and the summit was close at hand, many interstellar media had already arrived, so if others saw the three of them being escorted away with handcuffs by the local security forces, who knew what kind of explosive news would break out tomorrow.

The encounter with Mr. Owl made Duan Mingyuan realize that the universe’s news workers were generally all cut from the same cloth, always trying to concoct some eye-catching headlines.

"Put on the handcuffs, this is your final warning."

The sheriff said.

Before he had been shot in half by Earth Wolf Twelve, he too had been this obstinate.

"Let’s go."

Duan Mingyuan met the young man’s eyes.

After five seconds of looking each other in the eye, the sheriff suddenly capitulated, pocketed the handcuffs, and walked out of the hotel without a word.

Jiuyue had expected this outcome; she hummed a tune and followed, showing no sign of being a criminal.

But even if the sheriff had insisted on making her wear handcuffs, she wouldn’t have refused.

According to the graphic resources she had studied recently, there were many games that required handcuffs and blindfolds to play.

Interstellar travel was quite boring, and they always had to find ways to pass the time.

The Third Prince had collected quite a number of such books.

The change in the sheriff left Earth Wolf Twelve dumbfounded; to him, the puppet was just a disposable item, the nobles of the Royal Court didn’t take his earlier warning seriously at all, but without saying a word, Duan Mingyuan had managed to alter the sheriff’s attitude suddenly.

"How did you do it?"

He asked in a low voice.

"Nothing much, just asked him to do me a favor," Duan Mingyuan said calmly.

He had great confidence in his communication skills; to date, everyone he had dealt with had ultimately done him a favor.

He usually would present them with two options.

Firstly, he would try to persuade them with emotional appeal and reason.

But occasionally there were some particularly stubborn individuals who were too obstinate to listen to others; for these people, Duan Mingyuan could only open their minds, delve into their hearts, and temporarily turn them into reasonable individuals.

The sheriff was one of the latter.

Duan Mingyuan felt that maybe the sheriff should have some respect in his heart for them as guests who had come from afar.

With that, he followed in the sheriff’s footsteps.

Vehicles were already prepared at the entrance of the Gear Hotel, and the three of them sat in the back seat. After driving for a while, the car levitated, and a blue flame burst out from the tail, taking them to the Royal City that seemed to stand above the clouds.

Mechanical Throne.

Duan Mingyuan had recently read up on many records about the Mechanical Throne; centuries ago, the craftsmen of Mechanical Star had thought of the idea of floating cities in the sky, and the nobles of the Royal Court believed that only by living above did they showcase their supreme status.

"Mr. Mingyuan."

Jiuyue leaned close to him and whispered in Duan Mingyuan’s ear, "Shall we return the items to them later?"

"It depends on the situation."

They would always be able to uncover the secret of where the great treasure was hidden within the throne; for Duan Mingyuan, this was an excellent opportunity to broaden his horizons.

Then, he changed the subject, "One more thing, Jiuyue."

"Hmm?"

"’Whispering’ means to speak softly, not to lick someone’s ear."