Chapter 986: But We Must Hurry
In the blink of an eye, Rafael understood what Diras was thinking and immediately shook his head in refusal.
"No. Using the Dark Shadow Hand to forcibly blast open the Plane Path is possible, but it would make the path extremely unstable. The Plane Path would keep twisting, and chaotic energies, Voidstorms, or even spatial storms could erupt. Before we even set foot on the Blazeforge Battlefield, we could lose people for nothing—if luck is bad, we might lose half our force.
Your Shadow Tower people can handle the environment in the void, using the Shadowmorph Technique—a spell that lets you shift your form into shadow and slip past spatial distortions and Voidstorm damage. Plus, you've brought the Dark Shadow Hand, and probably the Night Cloak as well. You could cross over quickly.
But the rest of us have no way to protect ourselves in that kind of environment. Even getting through the Plane Path, losing a third would be considered lucky.
So even if we reach the Blazeforge Battlefield, facing those Blazeforge Orcs, our losses would only get worse.
No. We absolutely cannot forcibly blast open the Plane Path!"
Rafael's rejection was resolute, but Diras wasn't angry. Instead, he chuckled.
"Fine, I won't force open the Plane Path. If you have a way, that's great. Do you have any method to crack this Plane Path quickly? In three hours, we'll be completely on the back foot!"
Rafael stayed silent, because everything Diras said was true—he had no way to refute it.
Diras glanced around the room, then smiled smugly.
"That's right. We of the Shadow Tower can dodge the dangers in the unstable Plane Path, and I've brought the Night Cloak—not only can it protect our own, it can shield everyone from the hazards inside. Even if we run into spatial turbulence or voidstorms, as long as the Night Cloak is powered by mana, no one will suffer losses.
However, as a condition for cooperation, you must give me ten percent of your spoils from the Blazeforge Battlefield as payment."
As he spoke, Diras cast a disdainful glance at the four factions from the Andalusia Kingdom nearby.
"As for the people of Andalusia, I doubt you'll gain much in the Blazeforge Battlefield anyway. If you want my protection to cross the Plane Path safely, hand over fifty percent of your spoils as payment. Otherwise, figure out your own way in.
Oh, and your spoils—I'll be the one to pick my ten percent, not you!"
Diras laid out his conditions with smug satisfaction, and suddenly, everyone understood his game.
"You bastard! No wonder you kept pushing to blast open the Plane Path—you had this planned all along! You want all of us working for your Shadow Tower? No way, absolutely not!"
Rafael pointed at Diras, stunned by the outrageous terms he demanded.
Damn it, that bastard—so this was his plan! Ten percent sounds small, but with the five factions of the Odin Kingdom, minus Shadow Tower, each giving up ten percent, that's fifty percent.
Moreover, with each of the four factions of the Andalusia Kingdom contributing fifty percent, that’s two and a half times the total. Add the Shadow Tower’s own share, and it comes to three and a half times the profit!
Even if the gains vary between factions, the Shadow Tower’s profit will absolutely far exceed the others!
Most importantly, they get to pick out their ten percent themselves…
That’s the real kicker…
Once inside, the spoils will be plentiful—magic crystals, magical metal ores, enchanted gems, rare herbs, precious items—all of these differ greatly in value.
Sometimes a single rare item is worth a tenth of the total gains. If they take the most precious thing, it may only count as ten percent by value, but the gap is enormous…
In the end, almost all the truly valuable treasures will end up in the hands of the Shadow Tower. The nine factions are basically serving the Shadow Tower entirely…
Damn bastard, this guy is delusional!
Isn’t he afraid of offending everyone at once?
Rafael didn’t even consider Diras’s proposal.
The other four factions didn’t look pleased either.
Didara, the leader of the Burning Tower, glared darkly, nearly unleashing a burst of black flame to scorch the smug grin off Diras’s face.
Ten percent of the spoils? That damned rat Diras really dares to ask for it.
If he gets first pick, he’ll probably snatch away the most precious things we find, and our haul from the Blazeforge Battlefield might end up worse than ever.
But if we keep stalling, those arrogant fools from Skyhold Fortress will take three hours to open the Plane Path.
Those two-legged livestock know the Blazeforge Battlefield inside and out—far better than we do. Three hours is more than enough for them to use their experience to find the most valuable treasures.
They might even discover some rare things that have just finished maturing. By the time we get inside, not only could we run into traps set by the Blazeforge Orcs, but we’ll also face huge dangers and take heavy losses.
Taking out those Blazeforge Orcs who’ve already prepared will be much tougher, and snatching their loot will be even harder.
Most importantly, our gains this time might end up pitifully small.
Three hours is enough to change everything…