Three [Death] for one [Life]...
Facing the Graveyard Dominator’s "cross-shareholding" cooperation offer, Leon couldn’t help opening his mouth slightly, his expression getting a bit hard to maintain.
As No.3 and No.4 among the Fourteen Roots, the Root of the Present World and the Root of the Graveyard are basically equal. Considering that the Present World is still in a shattered state right now, even a three-for-three swap would be a win for him, let alone three-for-one. The Graveyard Dominator’s proposal was really quite sincere, it’s just that...
What if I’m not a Root Remnant?
Under the Graveyard Dominator’s confident gaze, Leon, who couldn’t even pull out a single "one," fell silent for a mont, then slowly shook his head.
"I’m afraid that won’t work."
"?"
Even three-for-one won’t do? Aren’t you being a bit too much?
After getting turned down, the Graveyard Dominator—who, because of his stereotype about the Food God, hadn’t dared haggle and had taken the initiative to give a huge concession—couldn’t help his face darkening for a second, then... he amicably discussed:
"Lord Food God, which part are you not satisfied with? Why don’t you say it and we can discuss it?"
Backing down is impossible. I, the Graveyard Dominator, have never been afraid of anyone. But this cooperation is of extraordinary significance to , and although the Food God is acting normal right now, once he starts fighting he’s brutal and vicious. To secure the deal, it’s better not to provoke him if I can help it.
"I’m not dissatisfied, I just think it’s a bit fast."
After sizing up the Graveyard Dominator, whose attitude was quite mild and completely different from what a certain fun-loving donkey had said, Leon blinked thoughtfully, then probed:
"Lord Graveyard Dominator, mutual understanding is the foundation of cooperation. My understanding of the Graveyard is extrely limited, and though you’ve stayed in the Underworld Branch for more than five months, you’ve probably only seen part of the picture and may not really grasp the full scope of the Branch.
So while I am very interested in the cooperation you proposed, I still hope we can have a bit more buffer ti. In my opinion, the Root exchange can be put on hold for now. After you move the Graveyard over here, let our two sides get to know and adapt to each other for a while before we talk about it again... How does that sound to you?"
How do I feel? I feel... you don’t really match your reputation, do you?
Looking at Leon, who was acting very sincere and whose words and manners were quite polite, the Graveyard Dominator fell silent for a mont, then couldn’t help recalling his past "negotiations" with other compatriots.
No.1 goes without saying—that crazy woman has nothing in her head except completing the ultimate mission. She may look relatively normal, but she’s not soone you can actually communicate with at all.
As for that dumb donkey No.2... In order to ally with it against No.1, he had to follow it around ssing about, accept that idiotic, brain-cell-killing na "Dead Donkey Alliance," and even lose a bet and serve as its temporary mount, getting tornted to hell and back.
As for the two lunatics No.5 and No.7, one has his eye on my Graveyard, and the other wants to eat my Spirit. Whenever we et it’s all shouting about killing. No.6 might look easy to talk to, but he keeps sneaking around trying to steal the Death Root. Not a single decent one among them.
And the ones further down the line are even more of a pain. When I went to them sincerely seeking cooperation, No.8 opened her mouth and told to kneel and lick her toes, while No.10 only says one word every two years on average. I waited over six years just to get a "I’ll join" out of him...
Fuck! Compared to that bunch of ntally ill perverts, the Food God is downright pleasant to look at!
"Fine! We’ll do it your way!"
People really are judged by comparison. Who’d have thought that among the Root Remnants, where the average IQ is "dumb as rocks," there’d be a normal guy like No.3 hiding in there? The Graveyard Dominator’s impression of Leon improved greatly, and after only a slight hesitation, he happily agreed to Leon’s proposal.
"Keep the position of Director of the Underworld Branch for . I’ll go find that... ahem... find No.2 for help and move the Graveyard to the Present World as soon as possible. If No.2 is willing to put in the work, about a month should be enough."
"Then it’s settled."
Seeing that the Graveyard Dominator didn’t insist on "cross-shareholding," Leon also quietly let out a breath, and with a smile extended his right hand to him.
"During this month, I won’t leave the Realm of the Dead. I’ll stay here and wait for good news from you and Lord Suspended Star."
"Good!"
For the first ti, he’d interacted with a Root Remnant without getting tornted until his organs ached. The Graveyard Dominator was in an excellent mood. He nodded, then said nothing more, directly scattering into a wisp of black mist and silently vanishing into the Realm of the Dead.
Leon, anwhile, still hadn’t completely lowered his guard, worried that the Graveyard Dominator, who had proactively proposed cooperation, might have ulterior motives. But the fact that he didn’t have to fight the Graveyard Dominator head-on in the Realm of the Dead, thus avoiding a devastating war, ant he’d overfulfilled his original objective, so he was in quite a good mood as well.
Counting the Graveyard Dominator this ti, plus No.12 the Master of Ten Thousand Spirits had promised to bring into the Dead Donkey Alliance, all the Root Remnants who hadn’t yet been killed by No.1 had now basically been "rallied."
Though the Dead Donkey Alliance is still rather loose at the mont, and how much of an impact it can actually have when facing No.1 is still unknown, if we only talk about the Root level, the number of Roots controlled by the Dead Donkey Alliance has already surpassed No.1.
Even though clashes between Root Remnants aren’t decided by size, and having more Roots doesn’t guarantee victory, the Dead Donkey Alliance has the Pure White Holy Mother’s temporary version of the Essence of the Root, and holds six complete Roots: Star Realm, Death, Goodness, Earth, Spirit, and Will.
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