Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 841

“...!”

Minhyuk was shocked. That amount of money was equivalent to around 200 billion won. He could not help but smile faintly.

‘So, you’re working very hard. Haze.’

He did not know how she had acquired the funds. However, Minhyuk knew more than anybody else that Haze always thought about the best for the Beyond the Heavens Empire. Not long after, Haze came knocking on his door.

The moment Haze came inside, she immediately briefed him on the current situation. There were many kings and emperors that had traveled across the continent and were waiting for him outside.

This was different from the previous meetings that he had held with the kings of Asgan. When he met with the kings of Asgan Continent, he had completely overwhelmed them. However, the situation now was vastly different from before.

The one that that had a significant influence in Asgan Continent was the Eivelis Empire. However, even though the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom back then was nothing but a small nation in control of a small land, his vassals wielded considerable power.

However, continental empires would usually have at least around three million troops at hand. In a situation like this, the newly established Beyond the Heavens Empire was at a disadvantage. In fact, it would be correct to say that they would have a hard time handing their business card to other empires and kingdoms with the current state that they were in.

Just when Minhyuk was about to step out to meet with them, Haze said, “By the way, Your Majesty... You have to meet them one by one.”

“...?”

Minhyuk tilted his head in confusion when he heard the strange request. Then, Haze told him the entirety of the story.

‘Haze. You... for real...’

Haze, who earned a few million platinum with just a few words, was truly very outstanding.

***

The Ardo Empire was a large empire located in the American Server. Before the appearance of the Luvien Empire, the Ardo Empire and its emperor, Consteinus, were considered to be the most powerful empire and the strongest individual in the American Server.

However, Ardo Empire was the first to be attacked by the Luvien Empire upon their arrival to the server. They were immediately brought to their knees and forced to sign an agreement with them.

Because of that, the current Ardo Empire had grown much smaller than before, while the number of their troops had decreased significantly. But even though that was the case, the Ardo Empire was still a large empire with a military force of around twelve million troops.

‘That 200,000 platinum is just a small amount of money. However, I can’t shake off the feeling that I have been swindled.’

Emperor Consteinus’ laughter was stuck in his throat. He felt like the woman named Haze was very cute. Regardless, Consteinus had willingly paid the 200,000 platinum on the condition that he would be the first to meet with Minhyuk.

‘I will absorb the Beyond the Heavens Empire.’

To be exact, he would not absorb the Beyond the Heavens Empire but rather, those that belonged to the Beyond the Heavens Empire, like Spear God Ben, Brod, Sword of the Gods Luo, Fisherman King Gorfido and many more. That was right. Consteinus did not covet the entire Beyond the Heavens Empire. What he wanted were the talented people that belonged to this empire.

‘Ah. And that woman named Haze too.’

He believed that it would be a waste of their talents if they were to stay in the Beyond the Heavens Empire. Consteinus also believed that they were looking for a savior. A lifeline that would drag them out of the precarious situation that the Beyond the Heavens Empire was currently in.

‘They are definitely waiting for another empire to recruit them.’

If Emperor Consteinus were to be honest, he would definitely say that he could not understand why such talented individuals were all in the Beyond the Heavens Empire. Basically, Emperor Consteinus had no idea about what happened between these people and Minhyuk and the kind of bond they had built.

Then, at that moment, Emperor Minhyuk arrived.

‘Looking at this young man, he truly is a good sprout.’

Emperor Consteinus was in awe. The man, with his dark hair and eyes, had a sharp appearance akin to that of a westerner. For some reason, he felt like he would fall in the depths of those big and pure eyes. Even his sharp and straight nose bridge was enough to draw out a sigh of admiration from him. However, that was it. Consteinus was the emperor of the greatest empire in his own continent. He encountered people like Minhyuk all of the time.

“I guess we’ll have to serve our precious tea,” Minhyuk said. “Haze, bring out God’s Petals Tea that we obtained in Edea.”

“But— But Your Majesty, it’s too precious. We only have three kilograms of such tea...”

“Haze. We have a very precious guest here.”

“Ah... I understand.”

The God’s Petals Tea was bullshit. It was nothing but chamomile tea. However, Haze served it carefully as if she was serving some very precious tea.

“God’s Petals Tea was grown by receiving God’s tears. This is very precious tea. I will only serve this to you, Your Majesty.”

A faint smile appeared on Consteinus’ face. He thought that Minhyuk could recognize the strong and he was willingly bending to cater to what they wanted.

'Look! Isn’t he serving me, the emperor of another empire, a precious treat?!'

Consteinus took a sip of the tea with admiration in his eyes. He said, “It definitely has that great flavor! What a beautiful and aromatic flavor this God’s Petals Tea has. It lives up to its name. I have never tasted such a delicious tea in my life.”

‘Yep. That’s just chamomile~’

Minhyuk just smiled at him.

After that, Emperor Consteinus went straight to the point.

“How about signing a tacit alliance between my Ardo Empire and your Beyond the Heavens Empire. I’m sure my Ardo Empire will be able to help your Beyond the Heavens Empire a lot.”

Then, Emperor Consteinus began to delve deeper into the details of what he wanted from them. Basically, what he wanted was for the Beyond the Heavens Empire to go under his control. And it would not only be limited to that.

‘In the future, we will split the Beyond the Heavens Empire in half and share it between us.’

Then Emperor Consteinus told Minhyuk the most crucial point of this offer, “However, there is a condition for this alliance. You have to send the vassals of your Beyond the Heavens Empire to my Ardo Empire.”

“...?”

Minhyuk looked confused when the man in front of him suddenly began spouting bullshit. Then, his expression grew darker and uglier the more the man talked.

“Of course, I promise to protect the Beyond the Heavens Empire. And I’m not going to ask you to send them for free. I will even give you 100 million platinum if you hand over Spear God Ben, 150 million platinum for Brod, 100 million platinum for Elpis...”

He continued his speech, listing out the price one after another. It was a lot of money.

‘If I have that much platinum, then I will be able to buy several Groups and Corporations.’

However, that amount was truly feasible.

“The Beyond the Heavens Empire will be able to live without worrying about money or funds for the rest of your lives. To top it off, you will also receive our protection.”

Emperor Consteinus held the teacup in his hand and took a sip to moisten his throat.

“The only reason why my Ardo Empire lags behind the Luvien Empire is because of the existence of the Sword of the Gods. If I combine my military force with the power of your vassals, I am sure that I will be able to bring down the Luvien Empire.”

It was a feasible story. After listening to his proposal, Minhyuk finally put his teacup down.

“...”

Consteinus raised his brows. Would the emperor of a newly established empire dare to reveal how offended he was with the words that he said? Today, all of the diplomats, kingdoms, and empires came here because they coveted the vassals of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. They were also thinking of obtaining benefits from the empire of this emperor that would become the Battle God.

Then, Consteinus said to him, “It might sound offensive to you. However, if you truly have the wellbeing of your subjects in your heart, then you have to let them go, no? If they want to leave, it will not be good to hold on to them.”

Consteinus was confident that all of Minhyuk’s vassals would want to go to a place where they would be treated better. He was convinced that they would all follow him if he reached out an olive branch to them.

Minhyuk, who was thinking about the matter deeply, said, “I will let my people go if they want to leave.”

‘He’s truly an emotional emperor.’

Consteinus was in a good mood. He felt like things were going very smoothly for him.

“Let us talk for a moment,” Minhyuk said as he stood up and went out with Haze for a while. After agreeing on some matters with her, Minhyuk went back to his seat.

“If I have any subject of mine that wishes to leave, then I will let them leave freely. I will even send them away. However, there are conditions.”

“Conditions?”

“You cannot take them away by force. We will also extend the same offer to selected people of your own empire. Of course, if the people of your empire accept my offer, then you have to let them go freely and in good will.”

“Kghhk. Cough, cough.”

Consteinus had to cover up the laughter that almost bubbled up from his throat with a cough. He was confident that he would be able to take away all of the talents of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

As for the people of his empire, there was no way that they would willingly leave the Ardo Empire, an empire that would be able to stand up against the Luvien Empire. Besides, his people had enjoyed the wealth and honor brought about by the Ardo Empire. Of course, Consteinus had also provided them with a lot of benefits and privileges.

But in the end, the emperor and his subjects were in a contractual relationship. Everything would be up to their choices.

“Ah. There’s one more thing...” Haze said, stepping forward. “We will require you to pay a recruitment fee whenever you propose an offer to our people. This fee will be divided by their rank. For example, whenever you make an offer to Spear God Ben, you will have to pay our Beyond the Heavens Empire 20,000 platinum.”

‘Good, good. Whatever it is, I will accept it.’

Today, Consteinus would be able to get the Spear God, the Absolute God’s Sword, the Great Demon, and Shadow Luo!

Then, Minhyuk added, “Ah, Your Majesty. My vassals will definitely find this situation very unpleasant. So, do you promise not to charge my vassals with any sin if they harm those that tried to recruit them whether they are diplomats, kings or emperors?”

In the first place, what Consteinus was trying to do here was a very rude thing. Which emperor in their right mind would visit another empire to recruit their people? If Consteinus was in Minhyuk’s position right now, he would blow this issue up and immediately start a war. Aware of this fact, he agreed willingly.

Immediately after that, a notification rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

[The Emperor’s Contract has been signed.]

[If you break the contract, you will face severe punishments.]

Consteinus chuckled.

‘I will now be able to take down Luvien!’

He could see the revival of the Ardo Empire peeking through the horizon.

After that, Minhyuk continued to sign similar contracts with the kings and emperors that were on par with the emperor of the Ardo Empire.

***

Dozens of carrier pigeons flew to the skies. As if they viewed this thing as a competition, the rulers of the empires and kingdoms hurriedly ordered their nation’s greatest negotiators, prime ministers and diplomats alike, to come to the Beyond the Heavens Empire and make sure that they were fully prepared.

When the diplomats of the Ardo Empire arrived, the other kingdoms and empires could not help but cower from their overwhelming momentum. There was a long line of golden carriages filled with precious artifacts, golds, silver, and treasures that arrived along with them.

Consteinus sat gracefully as he held a teacup in his hand while sitting in a room of the house lent to him in the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

“Now, Spear God Ben and Brod will kneel before me and pledge their allegiance to me.”

Consteinus had prepared a lot of things to recruit these people. He would promise Spear God Ben 200 million platinum, as well as provide him with a God-grade spear that their empire had recently acquired. He would also give him the title of a Duke. If someone could become the duke of an empire, then they and their grandchildren would be able to enjoy great wealth and riches.

Confident with his preparations, Consteinus waited like that. However, no matter how long he waited, none of the diplomats that he sent out came back to him. At a certain point, Consteinus could not help the doubt that flashed in his head.

“Why are they not coming yet?”

“Perhaps Spear God Ben wishes that His Majesty would be the one to personally recruit him?”

“Ah...”

Consteinus nodded. He deserved that. After all, he was someone with the title Spear God to his name. His arrogance and pride must have reached the skies. Consteinus realized that even if he could recruit such a man and bring him to his side, there was no way that he would be able to overwhelm and surpass him. Spear God Ben was a Continental God, even an emperor like him had to treat a being like him with courtesy.

Consteinus finally realized that he had been far too complacent. He had to go and bring the man to his side personally. So, he hurriedly ran to where the man was.

When he arrived at where Spear God Ben was, he was met with quite an astonishing sight.

“Spear God. I am a diplomat from the Corell Empire. If you come to our side, we will give you three legendary ranks weapons and thirty million platinum...”

“...?”

While Consteinus was sipping his tea and relaxing, a lot of diplomats from various empires and kingdoms had already arrived. However, an absurd situation unfolded in front of their very eyes.

Baaaaaaaaaaang—

Spear God Ben slapped the diplomat in the face.

“Keheoooooooook!”

The funny thing was, the diplomat was sent flying away with just one slap. As for the place where the diplomat landed, there were countless other diplomats there. They were all piled up like a mountain. However, it was not just them. There were also other skilled negotiators as well as countless troops. All of them had fainted at that same spot.

As for Spear God Ben, his expression was extremely distorted. It was completely different to how he looked whenever he gave his signature 'Hoho' to the people that he encountered.

As he looked at the mountain of stunned and fainted individuals behind him, Spear God Ben thought, ‘How dare these people come to His Majesty’s empire just so to tell me to become their dog?!’

Spear God Ben loved Minhyuk more than anybody else. This act was both an insult and a disrespect to his beloved emperor!

Well, even though Spear God Ben slapped these people on their faces, none of them could attack or bring harm to him. After all, their kings and emperors had already signed a contract with Minhyuk. This was just a price that they had to pay for their blatant disrespect.

On the other hand, Consteinus interpreted Spear God’s Ben behavior differently, ‘Did you think that you will be able to recruit a person named the Spear God with such lousy conditions?!’

The highest condition that he had heard so far was fifty million platinum along, with five legendary rank weapons, and one legendary skill book. It was no wonder Spear God Ben was angry.

‘It’s only natural. You are denying his worth. I will give him the proper price and take him into my arms!’

Consteinus smiled as he approached Ben with his hands behind his back.

“Why are they only offering you that much, am I right? I mean, you are the Spear God. Let me tell you this. I will give you 400 million platinum.”

Ben stared at Consteinus, who was walking toward him while talking. Seeing this, Consteinus could not help but laugh deeply.

‘That’s right. You must be satisfied, right?’

Consteinus continued to walk toward Ben while saying, “The Ardo Empire will also grant you the title of Duke and bestow upon you a God-rank spear. We will give you the weapon that our empire acquired not too long ago.”

Before he knew it, he was already standing right in front of Spear God Ben. So, he reached out his hand for a handshake to signal the closing of their deal.

Slap—

Alas, Consteinus’ cheek got hit. Unlike the other emperors and kings, Consteinus was trained in legendary martial arts. It was thanks to that that he did not fly away. However, the tremendous pain that bloomed on one side of his face forced him to raise one hand to cover it. He could not help but stammer in shock.

The only reason why Spear God Ben had listened to his words quietly was because Consteinus was still walking toward him. Basically, Ben was waiting for him to get close enough to get slapped and hit.

“How, how dare you! I am the emperor of an empire...!”

Consteinus eyes grew wide. In fact, even Spear God Ben was surprised.

“You're an emperor?”

“That’s right! I am Ardo Empire’s Emperor Consti...!”

But Spear God Ben did not let him finish. This time, he slapped him on the other cheek.

Slaaaaaap—!

“Keheok!”

Consteinus, who was holding both of his cheeks with his hands, looked at Ben. He could see that there was a tremendous amount of killing intent pouring out of Spear God Ben’s body. That killing intent completely engulfed Consteinus, making him feel breathless. He had never felt something like this before. In fact, he had never faced so much pressure like this even when he had faced the Sword of the Gods.

Spear God Ben opened his mouth and said, “I... I am more afraid of seeing a single injury on His Majesty’s body than losing those things that you have offered me.”

“For me, it is better to see His Majesty eat until he’s satisfied and full than obtain the power that you speak of.”

“Even if the Beyond the Heavens Empire gets destroyed and I am left wandering the streets like a beggar with His Majesty, I will still stay by his side. As long as he laughs, I will be able to laugh.”

“And even if I’m given only one option to serve another person other than His Majesty then I, in the name of the Continental God Spear God, declare...”

“That I would rather choose death.”

Tremble—

Consteinus trembled and shook from the words of the wonderful and amazing subject that stood in front of him.