What Does That Have to Do with Us?

Inside the Alliance building, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' office area was a scene of bustling activity. It had been this way for quite some time. As representatives from the Enterprise, the Academy, and the Legion gathered in Dawn City, more and more small and medium-sized settlements, sensing an opportunity to reap some benefits, sent envoys to the Alliance. Among them, of course, were those who came with genuine sincerity, but frauds were not in short supply either. There were even brazen marauders who disguised themselves as normal settlements just to fleece the Alliance. One such case had cropped up not long ago. A survivor settlement registered two hundred kilometers away in an abandoned urban area was, in reality, a marauder farm engaged in human trafficking and organ harvesting. A traveling merchant from the Free Federation, eyeing the commercial opportunities presented by the flood of envoys into Dawn City, bribed the overseer of the marauder farm and set up a disguised radio station to transmit and receive signals. He packaged the settlement as a harmless, innocent little lamb, deceiving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' signal localization checks, callback verifications, and other procedures, successfully obtaining proxy authorization for the settlement. The merchant was gambling that the Alliance wouldn't have the spare resources to physically visit and verify every single survivor settlement's application. Once authorized, he could claim "diplomatic immunity" in the Alliance as a diplomat and extract benefits from various factions on behalf of a survivor community numbering a thousand people. It had to be said that his assessment of the Alliance foreign affairs department's working capacity was spot-on. The Alliance's Ministry of Foreign Affairs indeed lacked the manpower to inspect settlements offline in person. However, the Alliance also had a unique group known as "players." Clearly, he had vastly underestimated the players' passion for exploring new maps and settlements. That very day, several players parachuted into the region. Upon discovering the discrepancy between the local reality and the mission description, they immediately submitted a report offline through the official website. Although the area was far beyond the Alliance's law enforcement jurisdiction and the Guard wouldn't mobilize for it, the semi-official Refugee Home issued a marauder camp extermination mission based on player intelligence, complete with bounties for rescuing hostages. At that point, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' involvement ended, and the Alliance's player corps took over. Reportedly, the Silver Corps took the follow-up mission, and the entire battle was over in just half an hour. The players who overran the marauder camp discovered the wireless radio used to verify communications with the Alliance Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bringing it back to Dawn City along with prisoners captured during the fighting. With both physical evidence and witnesses secured, the Free Federation merchant was approved for arrest on charges of fraud, becoming the second Free Federation merchant arrested by the Alliance after Sindisen. Faced with ironclad evidence, even Noreg, the Free Federation's foreign minister who was participating in the Slime Mold Community conference in the Alliance, couldn't say anything and could only swallow his anger and accept the loss. Ever since that incident, the Alliance Ministry of Foreign Affairs had tightened its verification procedures for survivor settlements from outside the River Valley Province, and the workload across departments had more than doubled. As usual, the Alliance's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cheng Yan, sat in his office reviewing documents. Just then, his deputy walked in carrying a letter and set the envelope down on his desk. Cheng Yan stopped his pen, glanced at it, and raised an eyebrow in an inquiring look. "What's this?" "A protest from the Xilan Empire." Seeing Cheng Yan's surprised expression, the vice minister offered a helpless grimace, pulled a crumpled newspaper out of a folder, and placed it beside the letter. "...It was triggered by this newspaper." Instead of opening the letter, Cheng Yan picked up the newspaper and looked at it. The front-page photo was none other than the one that had caused quite a stir recently. "...The *Goblin Observer*?" The vice minister nodded. "Yes... but it has nothing to do with the front page. It's about a news piece on page two. You'll see once you take a look." "Let me see." With that, Cheng Yan immediately flipped to page two. Unlike the *Survivor Daily*, the *Goblin Observer* was an unofficial, privately run "entertainment newspaper," published by vault residents. After the Sindisen case, the Alliance Representative Council had voted to pass the Media Qualification Review Act, with the industry committee drafting detailed regulatory guidelines. Even so, it merely required that current affairs reporting not be fabricated or biased, and that opinion pieces cite reliable news sources. Although someone had suggested to the Administrator that Alliance authorities vet media qualifications, the Administrator had not agreed. Instead, he adhered as always to the principle of "experts handle affairs, the public supervises," placing administrative authority with an industry committee composed of industry experts, while oversight was entrusted to the Representative Council representing the opinions and voices of the Alliance public. In other words, procedurally, the Alliance foreign affairs department couldn't do anything to the newspaper. Even if they wanted to, it would have to go through the Representative Council or the Administrator... Pressing his forefinger against his temples, Cheng Yan looked at his deputy standing nearby and asked uncertainly, "Are they protesting our harboring of the Moon Clan refugees?" The vice minister sighed. "No... They're protesting our referring to those Moon Clan people as 'refugees,' and then rambled on with some parable about the Sun-Bearing Divine Bull. Honestly, I didn't quite understand it, but basically, they demand that we refer to those people with derogatory terms like 'penal residents' or 'sinners,' and that out of respect for the Empire, we expel them." A faint smile twitched at the corners of Cheng Yan's mouth. "Alright, another Great Horned Deer God." The vice minister gave him a helpless look. "I told the guy that we respect their faith, but asked that they also respect that we are atheists... But he had a very hardline attitude, even threatening to oppose us to the bitter end at the Slime Mold Research Community conference." Cheng Yan looked at him in bewilderment. "What... does that have to do with slime mold?" The vice minister shrugged and muttered a complaint, "Who the hell knows... Damn it, I feel like the Wilante are pulling strings behind the scenes. I knew those big-noses had bad intentions when they dragged these brain-dead fools into the Community!" "You can't put it that way. The Bolo Province is also part of this land, and any progressive voice is worth encouraging... even if some survivor factions aren't progressing very noticeably." Cheng Yan coughed and continued looking at his deputy. "The important thing now is to solve the problem... Are those all the demands they raised?" The vice minister hesitated for a moment, then spoke truthfully, "They also demand an audience with the Administrator." Cheng Yan froze for a second, thinking he had misheard, and asked uncertainly, "An audience?!" Had these people lost their minds? The vice minister said with displeasure, "Yes... They believe we were in the wrong first." Cheng Yan's expression gradually grew solemn. "Did that Duke Garawa bring this up?" "I'm not sure," the vice minister said. "The written demand was delivered to us by an attendant at his side, a guy named Niyang." Cheng Yan pondered for a moment, then spoke up. "If anyone could meet the Administrator over such a pointless reason, our Administrator wouldn't have time to do anything else... I happen to be free tomorrow afternoon. I'll meet with the ambassador from the Xilan Empire." The Xilan Empire could no longer be considered a small or medium-sized survivor faction; after all, it occupied an entire administrative district from the pre-war era. Even if their demands sounded absurd—bordering on unreasonable tantrums—Cheng Yan felt it was still necessary to hear them out. Perhaps there was some misunderstanding. As the Administrator always said, misunderstandings arose from a lack of communication, and many problems could be resolved through dialogue. The Slime Mold Research Community was an organization founded on precisely that principle. If the various survivor factions across the wasteland could set aside their long-standing disputes and cooperate on issues concerning humanity's common destiny—or at least collaborate on certain matters—there was hope for this land to usher in a new era. For the sake of human civilization's future, he felt it necessary to speak face-to-face with this ambassador who had traveled from afar... ... The next day, Cheng Yan summoned Duke Garawa, setting the meeting in Conference Room 2 of the Alliance building. With a long, sullen face, Duke Garawa walked into the conference room. Instead of sitting down immediately, he glanced around the circular conference table. Seeing only a foreign minister seated there, his brow instantly took on an air of arrogance and contempt. At the Slime Mold Community conference, the one sitting across from him had at least been the Alliance's Administrator. What kind of insignificant bug was a mere foreign minister? Was he even worthy of sitting at the same table? Still, observing diplomatic protocol, Duke Garawa reined in his temper, walked over to the conference table, sat down, and tapped his forefinger on the surface. "Where is your Administrator? Have him come speak with me." Confronted by Duke Garawa's aggressively overbearing attitude right from the start, Cheng Yan merely stared at him intently and said with neither servility nor arrogance, "Our Administrator's schedule has been tightly packed recently, making it difficult to arrange a private meeting with you in the near term. However, he instructed me to uphold the host's etiquette and attend to the sentiments of our foreign guests. Having me listen to your concerns amounts to the same—" "These are not concerns," Duke Garawa rudely cut him off, narrowing his eyes and speaking with a faintly threatening tone. "I will say it once more: you are attempting to provoke the Empire's wrath." Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes, Cheng Yan maintained a problem-solving mindset, deciding not to take issue with his rudeness for the moment, and patiently continued, "I am here precisely to solve the problem... So first, I would like to understand: what is the conflict between you and those Moon Clan people?" With that, he opened the notebook on the table and picked up his pen, ready to take notes. Yet as soon as the words left his mouth, Duke Garawa's furious protest rang through the conference room. "They are penal residents!" "The reason?" "The Sun-Bearing Divine Bull—" "Enough, Mr. Garawa! You know very well that's not what we want to hear!" Unable to endure it any longer, Cheng Yan finally interrupted the man's nonsense. Looking at the stunned Duke Garawa, he raised his voice and continued, "We want to know where your grudge originates. For instance... did they kill someone belonging to you, or did they commit theft, robbery, human trafficking, or similar crimes in the past? You can treat this as a hearing. We will listen to both sides simultaneously and strive to reach an outcome that satisfies both parties. If we can help you reconcile, that would be ideal... What do you think?" Duke Garawa stared blankly at him as though looking at some bizarre, exotic beast. ...Reconcile? He doubted his own ears. With noble blood flowing through his veins, why should he reconcile with those lowly scum? Those people were only fit to kiss his toes. Instead of beheading them, the Empire had confined them to hovels, which was already merciful enough. Yet those ungrateful wretches had the shameless audacity to flee from the Bolo Province, glibly making excuses for their filthy lineage and pretending to be pitiful, innocent victims. How would this make other survivors across the wasteland view the Empire! Seeing him sit motionless for a long time, Cheng Yan gave a stern reminder, "Duke Garawa?" Duke Garawa suddenly calmed down and leaned back in his chair. Just as Cheng Yan thought he was finally ready to communicate properly, the duke rested his right leg across his left knee and coldly dropped a single sentence: "That is not important." Cheng Yan stared at him in bewilderment, stunned for a good while. Not important? "Then... what is important?" "His Majesty says they are penal residents, so they are. That is both His Majesty's decree and the decree of the Sun-Bearing Divine Bull. What do I need to explain to you?" Duke Garawa lifted his chin slightly, looking down his nose at the Alliance foreign minister across the table, and continued unceremoniously, "This is our own business. It is none of yours!" Confirming that this fellow wasn't joking and truly believed what he was saying, Cheng Yan collected himself, looked left and right at the secretaries taking minutes, then set down his fountain pen and casually closed his notebook. There was no longer any need to keep doing this. Seeing his movement, the other staff members taking minutes followed suit, shutting the notebooks on their desks one after another. It seemed not only they, but the foreign minister himself felt this was a waste of time. Garawa frowned slightly, unable to fathom what these people meant, only feeling that the situation was somewhat different from what he had envisioned. Before rising from the conference table, Cheng Yan cleared his throat, sat up straight, looked at him, and asked solemnly once more, "Then... Duke Garawa, I would like to hear your demand one more time." Garawa frowned. "...What demand?" "Regarding what you ultimately want us to do," Cheng Yan said. Garawa said without hesitation, "Immediately expel those penal residents! And apologize to the Xilan Empire in the newspaper!" He had already made some concessions. Having the Alliance's emperor apologize to him personally seemed unrealistic, but an apology in the newspaper should be feasible. In his eyes, he had already provided them with a sufficient way out. Cheng Yan nodded, indicating he had heard. Seeing him nod, a pleasant smile surfaced on Garawa's face, and he leaned back leisurely in his chair. "Communication is so much smoother this way. We should have done this from the beginning." He hadn't expected the Alliance to be easier to deal with than anticipated. With just a bit of firm pressure, these people had caved. It seemed he had overestimated them; perhaps next time he could be even more unyielding. "I think so too. We should have used this simple and clear way of communicating from the start," Cheng Yan said expressionlessly, looking at the smug Duke Garawa. "So... what does that have to do with us?" The smile slowly froze on Garawa's face. He glared at him, dumbfounded. "What did you say?" Looking at the stunned Duke Garawa, Cheng Yan hesitated no longer. He rose from the conference table and tucked the blank notebook under his arm. "You said it yourself: this is your own business, and we should mind our own." "So what does that have to do with us?" Garawa: "???" What kind of logic was that? What did he mean, what did it have to do with them? He opened his mouth, about to shout in fury, but for the moment, he couldn't think of how to refute it. Ignoring the man's flabbergasted expression, Cheng Yan turned and walked out of the conference room without looking back. "Wait—wait a minute!" Duke Garawa stood up, reaching out a hand to stop him, but no one paid him any mind. Seeing the foreign minister leave, the others seated at the conference table also rose and filed out of the room. In the blink of an eye, only he was left in the vast room, standing dumbfounded before the conference table. Looking at the swinging, half-open door, Garawa withdrew his trembling fist and roared furiously into the empty conference room, "You... will regret this!" The furious roar echoed through the room, but no one responded to him; no one even heard it. Finding nothing on the table to throw, Duke Garawa slammed his fist hard onto the tabletop, then, still unsatisfied, kicked the table leg with the tip of his boot. Enduring the pain in his toes, he chewed up his rage and swallowed it whole. Just wait. This humiliation— He would repay it a hundredfold! ... After the meeting concluded, a composed Cheng Yan headed to the Administrator's office, sought out Chu Guang, took the initiative to report the circumstances of his meeting with the Xilan Empire's ambassador, and offered a self-criticism for his handling of the matter. "...I apologize, Mr. Administrator. I botched this affair." Having read through the meeting minutes, Chu Guang listened to his report but offered no reproach, simply making a brief evaluation: "No need to blame yourself. You merely acted within the scope of your duties. At least in my view, you didn't botch anything." Strictly speaking, that fellow shouldn't have been entertained in the first place. Take Chu Guang himself: during symposiums on Community-related agendas, he rarely bothered paying attention to that useless fool whose words lacked any substance. Cheng Yan, who had expected criticism from the Administrator, paused in surprise and hesitated for a moment before saying, "But... you said we should resolve problems through communication whenever possible." Chu Guang said patiently, "I did indeed say that, which is why we communicate with any living creature capable of understanding human speech—even slime mold. But if they truly cannot comprehend human speech, there's nothing we can do, and we must change our method of communication. You must understand that not everyone is capable of dialogue. Furthermore, they are the ones who refused dialogue with us, not you refusing them." Hearing this, Cheng Yan pondered for a long time, then said respectfully, "This subordinate understands!" Seeing that he seemed to genuinely understand, Chu Guang nodded approvingly. He had heard about the situation with the Xilan Empire, but hadn't paid it much mind. Those people were fundamentally just lackeys of the Wilante. Like most survivor settlements, they had no pressing interest in addressing the threat of the mutant slime mold; they merely wished to leverage it to extract benefits in other areas from the Alliance and other ancient survivor factions interested in the mold. That was fine, really—after all, the Slime Mold Community existed for precisely that purpose. Clearly, the Legion had promised the Xilan Empire certain benefits, whether in terms of military support or economic interests. Therefore, regardless of whether the Alliance offended them, they would stand with the Legion. A vassal that had already chosen its side held no value for recruitment; failing to reach an agreement made no difference. As for their so-called threats, Chu Guang took them even less seriously. Even the Legion hadn't dared bring up the topic of military threats, let alone these lackeys. He didn't believe these people actually had the courage to translate their vengeance into action— No matter what form that vengeance took. Tossing the meeting minutes aside, Chu Guang looked at Cheng Yan and asked, "Is there anything else?" Cheng Yan nodded and immediately said, "There is another matter requiring your decision. The Camel Hump Kingdom proposed that they hope we can establish an embassy in Silver Moon Bay." Chu Guang asked in confusion, "Didn't we establish an embassy there a long time ago?" Outside the Alliance, embassies served not only as communication channels for dialogue with other factions, but also as save points for players. Particularly for factions where no military base had been established, embassies were practically the only official save points apart from player-operated ones. "That is true, but the ambassador from the Camel Hump Kingdom said... we have far more people active in Silver Moon Bay than in Camel City. He hopes that for the sake of those Alliance citizens, we could at least set up a liaison office there to resolve disputes. However, my sense is... the real reason prompting their request might be related to the Xilan Empire's recent military movements in the vicinity of Silver Moon Bay." Hearing this, Chu Guang's brow furrowed, and he shifted his gaze toward the map hanging on his office wall. After a moment's contemplation, he spoke up. "This can be arranged." Ignoring Haiya Province, which was held in the grip of the Church of the Torch, Silver Moon Bay was the closest seaport to the Alliance, holding paramount importance both strategically and economically. Although the Alliance did not directly control the port, its economic interests in that region were not a whit inferior to those in the Lion Kingdom or the Honey Badger Kingdom. To prevent certain short-sighted fools from pulling petty tricks, it was better for him to make an appropriate gesture. "Understood." Having roughly guessed Chu Guang's intentions, Cheng Yan nodded in comprehension, accepted the order, turned, and left. Watching the foreign minister depart, Chu Guang looked back at the map on the wall. A railway line stretched along the edge of the Zhubar Mountains, crossing the battlefields where the Skeleton Corps had once fought, leading straight to Petra Fortress, the choke point of the mountain range. Soon, this railway would pass through there, entering the fertile Oasis No. 4 and the port of Silver Moon Bay, connecting with the maritime routes leading to the Baiyue Strait. Initially, the Camel Hump Kingdom had been wary of the Alliance's railway, fearing that what had happened in Boulder City would repeat itself in Oasis No. 4. However, military pressure from the southwest had forced the nobles and merchants of the Camel Hump Kingdom to gravitate toward the Alliance, seeking closer cooperation in exchange for security. Chu Guang didn't actually dislike this troublemaking stick poking out from the southwest. Annoying though the troublemaker was, compared to any tangible harm, it mostly provided him with laughable absurdity—it couldn't even match those rats up north. Besides, those fellows had brought some gifts to the Alliance. And tangible gifts at that...