The teams from the two countries walked over to the entrance of the Kingdom of Billiver's Ministry of Foreign Affairs from opposite sides of the long hallway. When they reached the entrance at the same time, everyone stopped moving, looking over at the men on the other side.
"General Kinlock, long time no see." John extended his right hand toward Denanfry.
Denanfry shook hands with him for a moment and then said, "I had thought that the next time I saw General Dottley again would have been on the battlefield."
John showed a fake smile. "Now we all belong to the United Federation, so even if we have some sort of conflict we would resolve it through Federation treaties. There shouldn't be much chance to see each other again on the battlefield."
"I heard that your country's mecha technology is far ahead of that of other countries. I would actually quite like to experience the feeling of fighting against the strongest mecha." Denanfry expressionlessly said.
"I am also quite regretful that over the past few years I have never had the chance to fight against General Kinlock." John said. "Oh, that's right, I must congratulate you on your country's success in mining the precious metals of the Jinming star cluster. But this time, we won't give way."
"I actually think that the chance will come very soon. Being able to mine the precious metals of the Jinming star cluster was because of our mechanic being stronger. This time, whoever can seize the right to mine the Haiyang energy resources will depend on who is more capable."
While Denanfry and John were having their verbal confrontation, Avery was secretly looking at Denanfry. This was his first time seeing this legendarily strong general.
Avery's first impression upon seeing Denanfry was that this man's momentum was truly extremely strong. Then he felt that not only was he tall and strong, but also indescribably handsome.
Avery looked at Denanfry and thought, this man should be the most handsome general he has seen in his life. If he had met this person before meeting Tony, he must have been attracted to Denanfry. It's just that you could tell at a glance that this man would be difficult to control. He definitely wouldn't be as easy to manage as Tony. Even though he felt moved, he was very clear that you could only look at this kind of man from afar. If you wanted to conquer him, you would definitely be beaten black and blue.
John swept a glance over the people behind Denanfry. "I don't know which one is the designer of the mining equipment that was last used in the Jinming star cluster? I have been curious about this for a long time…"
Denanfry didn't wait for him to finish speaking, stepping to the side along with the deputy next to him, and then taking half a step back. Jing Yang, who had always been blocked behind them, was now sitting in a wheelchair, looking toward John and the rest.
John and Avery first froze, and then their eyes widened in disbelief.
"Skien?!" Avery yelled, his face full of shock. "You are Skien?! You're actually still alive? How is that possible?!"
Jing Yang didn't speak, just looking at them with a strange smile. His look made even John feel panicked.
"This is the chief mechanic of our First Fleet. Last time, the mining equipment for the Jinming star cluster was designed by him, and this time, the Haiyang mining equipment will also be designed and supervised by him." Denanfry introduced.
John, who just came back to his senses from his shock, carefully looked at Jing Yang and asked, "You are Skien?"
"It's me." Jing Yang looked back at him very calmly. "I really didn't think that I would see you again, General John. You should have also never thought that you would see me again ba?"
"Let's go, we should go in." Denanfry glanced at his guards. The guards immediately surrounded Jing Yang and walked inside. The men behind them followed.
Looking at the backs of the group, Avery inexplicably felt a little nervous. He pulled at John's clothes and asked, "Brother, what do we do now?"
"Don't panic!" John whispered. "It's not a big deal that Skien Kossa didn't die. Since he's the so-called chief mechanic of the First Fleet of Wilkesa, that means we will definitely win this time. As for the other matters, we can discuss it slowly when we go back."
Avery heard John's words and immediately calmed down. Just now when he saw the already dead Skien, he had been too shocked and then panicked. Now that he calmed down he remembered, even if Skien was alive, what could he do? An orphan without a father, mother, or any sort of backing, he could casually kill him. Even though he didn't know how he managed to get into a relationship with Wilkesa's men, this was not a big problem for them. There were countless ways to deal with him.
Avery fully regained his usual self-confidence and walked into the meeting hall with John.
Both sides brought their respective teams to the conference hall, while the other members of the entourage waited outside. Tony, as an ordinary member of the entourage, was also only able to wait outside the conference hall.
Tony stared fixedly at the tightly closed double doors. Until now, he still wasn't able to return to his senses from his shock. He had thought that Skien must have already died. Avery had personally told him that Skien's entire family had been extinguished, and often threatened him by saying that if he didn't listen to him, he would make it so that his family would end up just like Skien's family. But just now, that man in the wheelchair was clearly Skien, and he had also heard him personally admit that he was Skien.
Skien was still alive! Still alive! Tony held his chest, pressing down on his rapidly beating heart. He was too excited, just thinking that he could see Skien again, an alive Skien appearing right in front of him.
~
In the middle of the conference hall was a large triangular conference table, with representatives from the three sides on each side of the table. After the representatives from the Kingdom of Billiver exchanged glances, the representative sitting in the middle opened, "We have already studied the proposals from both countries, but because the content in the proposals was very similar, it was very difficult for us to make a decision between the two countries. Thus, we invited both of you over and wanted to see whether the two countries would be able to come up with an even better mining solution."
"We, Fetani, have a lot of experience in the exploitation of marine energy. I believe that everyone in the universe would know of this matter, so I won't repeat all of our previous mining cases here." John glanced in disdain at Jing Yang and then continued, "And our chief mechanic Avery's ability and reputation, I believe that your representative should be very clear about it. At the same time, I would like to remind you that before deciding which party to choose for mining, it is best to find out clearly each mechanic's ability. Don't be deceived by some prettily packaged nobody, or else you would become a laughingstock."
After receiving a signal from Denanfry, his deputy Dyles opened his mouth. "Our chief mechanic took only one month of time to produce the mining equipment for the precious metals of the Jinming star cluster, and even designed buildings that could withstand the windstorms. Our Wilkesa Empire has the most say about his abilities. After all, we are the greatest beneficiaries, and within the Federation, those benefited from this was also quite a few. Fetani's mechanic Avery is quite famous, but that is only in terms of mechas. As for the ability to design mining equipment, I believe that the representatives should have a clear distinction in your hearts."
Once he heard about the Jinming star cluster's precious metals being mined by the Wilkesa Empire, John was furious, but when he heard Dyles say that Jing Yang only used one month of time to create the mining equipment, he scoffed. "One month of time? That's simply a fantasy. This mechanic Skien who you are talking about, I am even clearer than you about what kind of identity and how much ability he has. So I advise you not to compliment him too much, because in the ears of insiders, it's really too laughable."
"Show the new proposal and contract to the representatives." Denanfry said to Dyles.
Dyles handed the new proposal and contract to the Billiver representative and those representatives all looked it over one by one.
The representative sitting in the middle asked after reading, "Your country can really guarantee that there will be no pollution of the Haiyang environment, and if there must be some pollution, you would give us compensation?"
This representative was deliberately saying this to let John's team hear it. Their purpose in inviting both teams at the same time was in the hope that they wouldn't give way to each other and would keep on offering higher conditions.
"Once the contract is signed, we will definitely follow what we agreed on in the contract." Dyles said.
After glaring at Jing Yang for half a day, Avery heard the words of the representative of Billiver and immediately touched John next to him, signaling to him with his eyes to hurry up and speak.
John gave him a reassuring look and then said to the Billiver delegates, "We didn't bring a new proposal or contract this time because we have absolute confidence that we can do better than the other side. So the contract is left up to you. Either just like theirs, or even a bit higher than theirs is also possible."
"The delegates should consider carefully." Dyles said. "We promised to compensate you if the oceans are polluted, and we can absolutely achieve it. As for whether the other side can do the same, as long as you think of the fact that recently countries in the Federation haven't been able to collect their overdue balances, I believe that each representative should be very clear about how to judge it."
After hearing this, the representatives from Billiver looked at each other and revealed hesitant expressions on their faces. It was true that Fetani now owed a significant amount of money to other countries, and when they became strong in the past several years they would often look down on other smaller countries. But the Wilkesa Empire was different. Not only had they always been friendly to some of the small, relatively backward countries, but now they were extremely wealthy, and had never reneged on a deal.
"Then we can use mechas as a mortgage." Avery suddenly opened.
"Avery!" John wanted to stop him.
But Avery didn't stop, continuing to say, "Since their strength is apparently precious metals, our strength is stronger mechas. Then we can bring out our strengths, and you can choose."
Avery looked at the delegates' moved expressions with satisfaction.
Then a hand pulled at Denanfry. Denanfry bent down and Jing Yang whispered a few words into his ear.
Denanfry then said to those delegates from Billiver, "Then how about this. We can both sign a contract to mine one planet right now to test out the mining technology. Then later you can decide yourselves which side to give the rest of the planets to."
After a hushed discussion, Billiver's delegates felt that Denanfry's proposal was very feasible, so the representative sitting in the middle said, "General Kinlock's proposal is very good. No matter how well you speak, we would still have to witness the actual mining situation to be assured. In order to avoid taking greater risks, we have decided to go with General Kinlock's proposal. We will rewrite the contracts and send someone to sign them with you later. It's been hard on everyone to come over on this trip."
Everyone stood up. After Billiver's representatives shook hands with Denanfry and John, the men on both sides began to walk out.
Tony saw the double doors open and all the people inside come out. He searched for that familiar face within the crowd, and after he saw Jing Yang, he immediately rushed over in agitation.
"Skien! Skien!" Tony shouted Skien's name. When he was just about to push into the crowd and reach Jing Yang, he was blocked by Denanfry's guards.
Denanfry blocked in front of Jing Yang, his gaze deeply looking at the excited Tony.
"Skien! I know it's you, it's really too great that you're still alive! Skien, are you still mad at me, I'm sorry, I wasn't able to protect you! Skien, let me see you, Skien…" Tony had completely lost his mind. He forgot where this place was, forgot that Avery and John were watching him from the side, forgot what consequences would result from his actions, just struggling desperately to break free from the guards controlling him.
Everyone looked at this Tony who seemed like he had gone crazy. Avery and John's expressions were extremely ugly. Tony's behavior was undoubtedly slapping them in the face.
"Drag him away!" John ordered the guards in a low voice. He didn't want to see him continue to be a disgrace here.
John's guards quickly stepped forward and rapidly dragged him away.
"Skien! Skien! The person I love has always been you, you also still love me, right? Skien! …"
Avery was shaking from fury. He didn't think that Tony actually had the courage to do something like this, and even did it in front of so many people. He viciously glared at Jing Yang, barely controlling himself from rushing up to destroy his face and see if Tony would still say that he loved him.
Translator Notes:
[1] fake smile – 皮笑肉不笑, idiom, means to smile insincerely
[2] beaten black and blue – 遍体鳞伤, means covered all over with cuts and bruises, basically utterly fail
[3] nobody – 无名小辈, idiom, means an insignificant soldier
Random Notes:
About one hour: 3 pm – 4 pm, for 4k characters to 2.3k words.