198 Meeting

After hearing the other party’s plan, Ward fell silent for a long time before finally asking, “Are you… crazy?”

“Maybe.”

Remides nodded and replied casually. Her expression was still terrifyingly calm.

“But… this is impossible.”

The first King of Mist in history dispelled the thick mist that enveloped the Ava State. In more than 10,000 years of history, there was no such thing as the thick mist completely isolating Ava State—several Kings of Mist had claimed it possible, but the last King of Mist had also used this to threaten the rebel army before he was overthrown. He didn’t do so until his death.

The governor was only a King of Mist wearing shackles in terms of authority. Since no King of Mist had done it, logically speaking, Ward shouldn’t believe that the other party could do it…

“I have my ways,” Remide replied indifferently.

Looking at the other party’s emotionless face, Ward panicked.

“You don’t care about your spirit at all… Fine, I guess you don’t care about your soul being obliterated. But if you do that, then to Ava State…”

“The entire Ava State will be isolated from Currere by the mist. Time and space will be in chaos, and the boundaries between self and others will blur. Compared to reality, we will be closer to a concept. To put it simply—return to a state closer to creation—or go from karmic time to circular time according to the Tacma Church’s theory… Is that so?” Remides answered for him.

“You know…”

Upon hearing Remides’s calm and organized answer, Ward said weakly, “Then why do it?”

“Because I have no choice,” Remides replied.

“This is the only way I can think of to protect Ava State and stop the empire’s expansion.”

“Protect Ava State? What’s that to all of our kind living on it? Without the distinction between you and me and losing our perception of the past and present, can we still be considered alive? Or are we just puppets driven by concepts?” Ward immediately asked.

“Is that so? I didn’t know you were so resistant to becoming a puppet.”

Although Remides’s voice remained emotionless, Ward could hear the sarcasm in it.

“This and that are completely different matters. Cooperating with the Empire doesn’t mean that I’ll become their puppet. This is just an exchange of interests. We’re equals.”

Ward’s expression turned solemn as he spoke.

“Secondly, even becoming an empire’s puppet is better than being transformed by the Primordial Souls into a ghost in the cycle of reincarnation.”

What Remides planned to do was almost equivalent to letting all the elves in the Ava State jump into the Phoenix Holy Fire to give all the elves’ souls eternal life.

Only a true lunatic would do such a thing.

However, who could say that the person in front of him who had lived for more than 1,200 years wasn’t a lunatic?

“I’ve already said that I have no choice,” Remides repeated.

“What do you mean by no choice… Even if we give up on the peace talks and concentrate Ava State’s forces to resist the empire’s expeditionary army, we still have a 30% chance of victory. That’s way better than your self-destructive plan, right?”

“Concentrate the power of the state?”

For the first time, Remides forced a stiff smile.

She looked like a stiff, spiritless sculpture.

“If I hadn’t taken the initiative to invite you over first, I would have been impeached and removed from office in three days. Tell me, do you have any better suggestions for mobilizing the entire state?”

“Back then, I only hoped that you could give me a chance to negotiate with the empire and not be blinded by the pro-war factions around you…”

“No one can blind me,” Remides interrupted.

“Then, your mind is to strip everyone of their thoughts? In comparison, I’m more willing to die under the blades of the empire’s expeditionary army.”

To the Windsongs, their yearning for freedom and distance was deeply engraved in their souls. Therefore, sealing the coastline with mist and returning Ava State to chaos was an outcome he couldn’t accept.

With that said, Ward suddenly calmed down. He looked at Remides’s back and said to her as if he understood something, “You’re threatening me, right?”

“How you interpret it is your freedom. Without the maritime support of Isu City and the logistics of Pine City, without the support of Clockwork City’s equipment, the probability of defeating the empire’s expeditionary army is less than 5%. Sealing Ava State is my only choice,” the other party replied.

Ward felt slightly relieved when he heard this.

The other party was indeed using this as a bargaining chip to threaten him and wasn’t crazy.

Since she wasn’t crazy, he had the capital to continue bargaining.

“I don’t understand. Why aren’t you willing to make contact with the empire? Not everything can be resolved with swords and magic. The possibility of reconciliation has always existed.”

With this in mind, Ward immediately regained his aggressiveness from the Mooncycle Conference.

“We’ve maintained a neutral position for more than 10,000 years. This is also the greatest reason why we can prosper to this day. Now, if we negotiate with the empire again…”

Before Ward could finish speaking, Remides, who was stroking the dragon crystal glass on the display cabinet, replied casually, “Sure.”

Ward didn’t react for a moment to such a decisive agreement.

“Sure?”

He repeated in confusion to confirm that the other party hadn’t made a mistake.

“The Eighth Order members who were supposed to come over to discuss various matters regarding the peace talks and prepare to baptize you have already arrived. You can have a good chat here. This is also why I invited you over.”

Ward had some complaints about the words ‘inviting him over,’ but Remides ignored him and clapped her hands. Two fully armed Phoenix Guards walked in.

“Bring them in,” she said.

…

“Can we enter just like that?”

William looked at the pure white and elegant castle in front of him and turned to look at Morton.

“Don’t you need to check if we’re armed or something?”

“This is Moonlaw City, sir.”

The other party looked at William with a smile and replied, “Ever since the empire’s diplomatic mission assassinated the previous governor 800 years ago, no one from the empire has stepped into this city.”