Munitions Empire

"I'm really anxious. I'm both a participant in this matter and a concerned party. In truth, I really hope that I could help my former homeland resolve such an issue," John said awkwardly as he stood in the room.

"This matter no longer has anything to do with you. The debt we're seeking was originally ours, things that should have been obtained within a year! These were stolen from us by the Augustin Clan, so they must be coughed up," Harry, waiting for the envoy delegation, consoled John by patting his shoulder.

"I understand all that. It's just that I... am not feeling too well," John said as he took out a handkerchief to wipe his handsome face.

"My lord, the envoy delegation from the Poplar Kingdom has arrived," a subordinate announced, pushing open the door to inform Harry and John who were waiting there.

The carriage meant to receive the envoys stopped in front of the Brunas City Hall, and then a group of people was brought to the meeting room and waited in the resplendent chamber.

They didn't have to wait long before Harry, accompanied by John, entered the meeting room and commenced the negotiations.

The entrance of an Elf caught everyone from the Poplar Kingdom off guard. The deputy envoy recognized John but before he could speak up, Fitteral Viscount introduced himself, "Hello, I am the special envoy representing the Poplar Kingdom for this negotiation... Fitteral Viscount... "

"Hello, I'm the manager for the Great Tang Group, representing Mr. Tang Mo personally. You can call me Mr. Harry," said the young Harry without a hint of stage fright, even appearing quite at ease.

After all, he had almost everything about the other party in his hands and was actually in complete control of the negotiations without a need to be nervous.

Then, he stretched out his hand to introduce the Elf beside him, "This is Mr. Augustine John, the general manager of our Great Tang Group's entertainment division."

"Hello! Mr. John," the deputy envoy hurried forward and greeted him, "Your father misses you very much... "

"..." John did not speak. It had been a long time since he last saw such an enthusiastic fellow countryman, nor did anyone dare to be so presumptuous in his presence...

Fitteral glanced at the two, then over at the other clerks and guards. Not finding the target he was searching for, he asked, "Mr. Tang Mo... why didn't he come himself?"

Harry casually replied, "He's been busy and doesn't have time to deal with minor matters like this."

In fact, Tang Mo had indeed been busy lately as he had become enthralled with cooking. Having barely experienced fine dining in his past life, he had recently decided to establish a reputation as a gourmet.

Of course, he had not given up on his dream of becoming an arms dealer. The Great Tang Group was currently developing a whole new range of weapons, mostly smoothbore guns.

After all, modern artillery was far more advanced than smoothbore guns, and he had to accumulate enough technology to stay ahead of everyone else.

Fitteral decided to reclaim the upper hand, so he emphasized, "But I am the special envoy representing the Poplar Kingdom! I speak for a nation!"

"I know. So what, a nation is impressive?" Harry retorted with indifference.

Fitteral feigned displeasure, hoping to regain the initiative in the negotiation, and challenged, "Mr. Harry, such words are, after all, quite..."

"I think it would be better if you stopped your idle talk. I'm very busy and don't have time to waste on you! If you're not willing to discuss serious matters and only want to dwell on your identity, then this meeting is over.

You can find a place to discuss things clearly before coming back, but who knows if I'll have the time to see you then?" Harry cut him off immediately with a warning in an unfriendly tone.

"..." Indeed, Fitteral, almost choking, turned red and couldn't squeeze out a word for a long time.

Finally, he caught his breath and began again, "We've come this time to protest against your warship invasion of our country and the disturbance along our coastline."

No sooner had he finished than the aggrieved deputy envoy quickly stressed, "Such actions are an act of war! You are playing a very dangerous game; if war breaks out between the two countries, the consequences would be unthinkable."

"Are you declaring war?" Harry asked with a curious expression.

"What?" The deputy envoy was stunned, not grasping why the other party would say such a thing.

Harry repeated his question with a serious look, "I'm asking if you are declaring war. If you are, then the negotiations are over, and I will represent the Great Tang Group in declaring war on the Poplar Kingdom."

This unconventional approach to negotiation threw Fitteral off completely. He had never experienced anything like it and was at a loss for words.

On the other hand, the deputy envoy was also bewildered by these words. He looked at John, who remained silent beside him, tongue-tied and stuttering, "It's not... how could you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Harry interrupted him once again and directly asked, "Are you here to declare war or to negotiate? If you're here to declare war, why waste any more time?"

To be frank, the sense of oppression was too strong, or rather, the force displayed by the Great Tang Group was so overwhelming that it left the members of the Elf Race's negotiation delegation practically tongue-tied.

So, the two elves looked at each other with nothing coherent to say: "..."

At this time, Harry continued with a condescending tone, "We're already attacking you, gentlemen from the Poplar Kingdom! Our cannons are bombarding your ports! Sir! Can you not man up? Decide whether it's war or talks. Coming to me without your mind made up, are you just toying with me?"

"We come in the interest of peace." Finally, Fitteral managed to say something he himself thought was satisfactory, thanks to his diplomatic experience.

Exclusive tales from m v lem|p-yr

Harry couldn't hold back and burst out laughing: "Ha..."

The clerk behind him, who was recording the negotiation, also couldn't resist and a smile appeared on his face.

"Hm?" Mr. Vice-Envoy, who already couldn't save face, was provoked by such blatant mockery.

Harry had no intention of accommodating the other's feelings and bluntly said, "Sorry, but I've never met anyone who could dress up a plea for peace so righteously before."

"..." His directness once again rendered the other party speechless.

"Alright, I did not mean to mock you gentlemen, I just couldn't help it. Now, let's get the conversation back on track," said Harry, deciding that he had applied enough pressure and thus, he put away his smile.

He paused for a moment and then couldn't resist adding sarcastically about why he had dispatched the warships: "To be honest, our warships were merely sent to collect a debt. You must already know this. Augustine Reibert of the Augustin Family owes us a substantial amount of money.

Since he has been defaulting on the debt, we had no choice but to dispatch warships, to remind him and to make him remember that there are still things like human decency, credibility, honor, and shame."

"I warn you..." Upon hearing the ridicule towards the Augustin Family and Marquis Augustine Reibert, the deputy envoy representing the noble powers could no longer sit still. He pointed his finger, ready to take a jab at the other's arrogance.

But before he could finish, Harry interrupted with, "You're warning me?"

This young manager representing the Great Tang Group had eyes filled with a chilling light at this moment, like a wild beast.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became eerie, the temperature seemed to have dropped significantly, and the deputy envoy even felt the cold.

He swallowed hard, wanting to repeat his threat, but found that the words, familiar in any other circumstance, were difficult to voice: "I... warn..."

"I... warn you...! If you say another sentence that irritates me, I'll cut off your hand, got it?" Harry drew out the word "I" very long, as well as the word "you," his tone filled with iciness.

Seeing that the deputy envoy no longer dared to speak, Harry turned his attention back to Fitteral: "Alright, the annoying noise is finally over, Mr. Special Envoy Fitteral, I truly regret that your nation has produced so much trash."

"Sir, anger and war won't solve any problems. We truly come for peace, the hope is that you will recall your warships..." Fitteral, also dissatisfied with his loose-tongued deputy, was happy to find the discussion returning to stable ground.

Harry interrupted him, glossing over the warship issue and finally touching on the matter of money: "Shh! Before we get back to the warships, let's first talk about repaying the debt. If you plan to default, the warships will continue to patrol outside your port, that's the reality you need to understand..."

Fitteral also felt a sense of relief, almost thankful that the topic had normalized. He even forgave Harry for rudely interrupting him because of this.

Only to hear him explain, "We are here to repay the money actually. Poplar Kingdom values its reputation highly, the debt was simply a small misunderstanding."

"Oh? What misunderstanding? Would you care to elaborate?" Harry asked curiously.

"..." Fitteral wanted to curse, his mention of a misunderstanding was just a face-saving excuse, a mere politeness. Who knew what misunderstanding they were referring to; where was there any misunderstanding? Weren't such polite remarks usually ignored?

However, what was even more infuriating for him happened shortly after when Harry, having left Fitteral speechless, continued by himself: "Never mind, it must be tiring for you to make up stories, and I don't have time to listen. Since you're prepared to repay the debt, let's calculate how much you owe, including interest."

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More updates to follow later, probably around 1 a.m. No need to wait up, folks. You can read it in the morning.