Chapter 570: Chapter 333, Father King, The Times Have Changed_3
The chief steward representing the old King, much like the previous few times, once again lowered the conditions.
In essence, he was willing to cede more land, offer more wealth, and more populations. Even, the request from the Alliance to dispatch envoys to the court could be reluctantly agreed to but only with supervisory authority and no interference in internal affairs.
All in all, the situation had indeed improved.
According to the Panbos subjects and monarchs, even if this negotiation failed, it would just be like the previous times, just waiting for the next negotiation would be fine.
They still had hopes for the situation on the battlefield.
Winning the war was impossible, but the Panbos Kingdom’s army still totaled a million; they could defend step by step, retreat layer by layer, fight with tenacious spirits, and display robust determination.
Indeed, you, the Alliance, can take everything on the battlefield, but to get whatever you want, you need to pay with the blood of soldiers. Is it worth it? Better to accept our conditions.
This was roughly their mindset.
However, Salihoovich had seen through them long ago.
Even after the first negotiation, he had no hope that the old King would accept the conditions of the Alliance. The reason he had been humoring the Panbos Kingdom’s subjects and monarchs for the past month was to prepare for a major event.
And today, all the necessary preparations had been made.
The time had come.
This time, his attitude changed dramatically.
He no longer maintained that always-smiling face, nor was he the man in previous negotiations that even the people of Panbos had to admit was very gentlemanly and mild.
His expression became stern and serious, and even somewhat fierce.
“Altai Panbos, I express my deep regret on behalf of the Alliance Governor. All the generous conditions of the Alliance are established on the benevolence of the Governor. Yet, over this past month, you have repeatedly ignored the big picture and rejected the Governor’s kindness with unrealistic terms,” he said.
“I reiterate to you the Alliance’s conditions once again. According to the Imperial Code, as subsidized by orders signed by the Heijian Star Governor and recognized by the Imperial Executive Yuan, ‘the Alliance’, as a legitimate interstellar organization of the Empire, has indeed acquired full sovereignty over all the land and all the people of Heijian Star. As subjects of the Empire, you have only to accept all of the Alliance’s conditions, with no room for negotiation.”
“This is the final ultimatum I issue on behalf of the Alliance Governor,” he declared.
Salihoovich’s unexpected assertiveness caught everyone off guard.
The old King coughed lightly, “Could you give us a little more time to discuss…”
“No,” Salihoovich refused decisively. “The timeline for the final ultimatum is thirty seconds. Your Majesty, I address you this way for the last time; please give me your answer immediately, there will be no next negotiation.”
Even though the Panbos had been forced to show respect to Salihoovich because of the Alliance’s dominance, Altai was still the sovereign who had wielded real power over the mightiest kingdom on the Heijian Star for decades. His regal authority ran deep, and being threatened so aggressively was somewhat unbecoming for him.
Moreover, the specific conditions proposed by Salihoovich had crossed his inner bottom line.
He would rather see his kingdom and his people perish than accept the terms of the Alliance. In his view, there was no difference between the two.
He took a deep breath, and his kingly majesty returned to his face: “Mr. Ambassador, we cannot accept the proposal of the Alliance.”
Salihoovich had anticipated this.
He shook his head slightly, sighed, and said, “I understand. I will bring your decision back to our Governor.”
At that moment, heavy footsteps suddenly echoed from the entrance of the great hall behind him.
The old King recognized them, the sounds of Sentry Mecha and Knight Titan moving.
A young figure walked into the hall.
Prince Eureka took off his helmet and said to his father above:
“Father King, the times have changed.”
————
4.4k