The World Online
chapter-927

Before leaving, Zi Luolan had obtained Ouyang Shuo’s instruction to act strong on the negotiating table.

Since the Mediterranean Lords sought out Kalia for help, Zi Luolan naturally kept her hand. Not only did she reach the negotiation goal, but she also returned Queen Kalia a favor.

It seemed like the Mediterranean Lords would show more respect to Queen Kalia in the future for just this alone.

Zi Luolan letting go made the negotiations progress really quick, and they were quickly about to settle on the specifics. Unexpectedly, just as the two sides were about to sign the contract, the Great Xia negotiation squad received an emergency letter.

The letter brought with it a decree from the king; the contents were simply, ‘Caesar is not within the negotiation parameters. All ports of the dynasty will not be opened to Caesar.’

When Zi Luolan saw that, she rubbed her head, “This condition… it’s so good!”

During the negotiation process, the one who stirred up the most problems and had the most hatred for Great Xia was the arrogant Caesar; it had made Zi Luolan really annoyed.

If one asked who the most annoying Lord in the Mediterranean was, it would definitely be Caesar.

During the Battle of Somalia, Great Xia had faced problem after problem, and Caesar even openly announced, “The Great Xia losing is karma.”

Now that the Great Xia had achieved a complete victory, the one who got karma was not Great Xia but Caesar.

“Let’s see how you lose face tomorrow.” Zi Luolan was gleeful and she felt really good.

…

Atlantis City, meeting room.

This morning, both sides had gathered in the hall. They were ready to sign the final trade agreement.

The Great Xia negotiation team was gathered while the Mediterranean Lords had sent out Henry, Casillas, and Caesar.

Henry was the representative of the Mediterranean Lords.

The difficult negotiations had finally come to an end, so both sides were feeling really good. Even Caesar had kept his ugly face, and he had started joking around with the other Lords.

Without a doubt, this trade agreement would affect all the territories in the Mediterranean, and Caesar was naturally no exception. Only with money could Caesar fulfil his ambitions.

Before this, he acted so forceful during the negotiations because he wanted to gain more than Henry and the others; he was just greedier.

In the end, Caesar was not a foolish person.

Caesar’s animosity toward the Great Xia Dynasty and biasness against Ouyang Shuo was just racism. Being a descendant of the ancient Roman Empire, he was not used to the yellow skinned people being powerful.

Kalia acted as the witness to hold the signing ceremony.

At the start, the atmosphere was still really friendly. After they introduced the representative of both sides, Zi Luolan smiled and say, “Before we sign, I am representing Great Xia in announcing a matter.”

“Please speak!”

Kalia felt weird because this was not in the original progression.

Henry and the others all felt their hearts jolt, ‘Does the Great Xia want to go back on their words?’ Along with Somalia being destroyed, Great Xia held total power over this negotiation.

Caesar jumped out and frowned, “One must stick to his words.”

Zi Luolan looked over to Caesar, “My king decrees that the negotiations with the Mediterranean states do not include Caesar City.”

“What did you say?” The moment Zi Luolan’s words landed, Caesar exploded. His eyes were sharp like they could kill. This matter had totally caught him off guard.

Zi Luolan was expressionless, “The Great Xia merchant ships will not stop at Caesar City port. Similarly, our ports will not be opened to Caesar City. Is that clear enough for you?”

“You are going too far!” Caesar raged.

Zi Luolan, “Due to the things Lord Caesar has been releasing, the Great Xia does not feel there’s a need to continue cooperating.”

“….”

Caesar was stunned. His face flushed red, and he had nothing to say.

The other Mediterranean Lords were stunned by the sudden actions of Great Xia. Only after listening to her explanation did they understand the reason.

Everyone knew about the statements that Caesar had published regarding Great Xia.

Caesar probably would not have dreamt that he would lose such immense interests because of those words he said at the top of his head. Basically, without the cooperation of Great Xia, the Caesar city merchants could not reach the east.

This was a catastrophic defeat for his voyage trading.

Some of the Lords present felt bad for Caesar while some gloated. For example, Henry was delighted to see Caesar face such a situation.

At the same time, they were shocked by the actions of Great Xia. It seemed like Great Xia was not a bunch that did not react when one bullied them.

Ouyang Shuo wanted to use this as a warning.

Caesar quickly calmed down, “Since the Great Xia does not want to work with Caesar City, is there a need to sign this? Are you provoking the Mediterranean and playing with us Lords like monkeys?” Caesar wanted to drag all the other Mediterranean Lords down with him.

Unfortunately, Zi Luolan did not fall for it.

“Caesar City is Caesar City and not the entire Mediterranean. The Great Xia is sincere in working with the Mediterranean, and I’m pretty sure all of you feel it. Although we have the advantage, we do not want to force all of you.”

Thinking back to how Great Xia took a step back, all the Lords nodded.

The only exception was Caesar; his face turned darker and darker.

Zi Luolan continued, “But the prerequisite for cooperation is trust. No one wants to cooperate with an enemy. Since Lord Caesar opposes us out in the open, there’s no need to cooperate with us, right?”

“….”

Caesar wished he could find a hole in the ground to jump it.

There was probably no one in the crowd that was as vicious and sharp in words as Zi Luolan.

Caesar said coldly, “Since that’s the case, the Great Xia merchant squad can forget about passing through the Mediterranean.”

Looking at the situation, Caesar was getting ready to be a dead fish that broke the net. Since Italy was located in the middle of the Mediterranean, if his Roman Squadron disturbed the Great Xia merchants, the effects would be quite huge.

Zi Luolan was really confident. She turned around and looked at Henry, “The terms in the contract state that you have to protect the safety of Great Xia merchant ships in the Mediterranean. I think none of you want to mess up the entire Mediterranean because of the actions of one territory, right?”

Henry kept silent.

Zi Luolan’s words linked to an even bigger topic – after Great Xia left the Mediterranean, who would hold the control?

Amongst them, the most competitive were Henry’s Gaul Squadron, Caesar’s Roman Squadron, and Casillas’s Spanish Invincible Squadron.

Out of the three, the Roman Squadron was built the latest. Moreover, compared to Spain and France, Italy could not be considered a strong ocean region.

The Gaul Squadron and Spanish Invincible Squadron were originally on the same level. However, after the Battle of Morocco, the Spanish were destroyed by the Great Xia navy.

The Spanish Invincible Squadron lost half their forces in the battle, becoming the weakest out of the three. They could not even compare with the Roman Squadron.

Henry’s squadron had sat at the side and became the strongest squadron in the Mediterranean. One had to say that he was the craftiest one; he was a sky fox.

Zi Luolan meant that if Henry allowed the Roman Squadron to disturb the Great Xia merchant ships, it would not only affect trade with Great Xia, but it would affect their ruling ability in the Mediterranean.

No matter what, Henry could not accept that.

No one would take a step back regarding control of the Mediterranean. More importantly, the smart Henry grasped a chance in Zi Luolan’s words.

One must not look at how they were all united against the enemy. In truth, they all had their own plans.

One point was certain.

No one would want to be enemies with Great Xia because of Caesar.

The battle between territories affected actual territory interests. If not, why would they spend so much effort to negotiate with Great Xia?

Zi Luolan’s words could be seen as sowing discord, but it also presented a chance to use this agreement to bring all the Mediterranean states against Caesar City.

If Caesar followed through on his words, he would be destroying the trading basis of Great Xia with the other countries, destroying the rice bowls of the others.

No one could accept that.

Everyone present was smart and understood, and the way they looked at Caesar grew more and more unfriendly.

When Caesar saw that, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Henry looked at one of the Lords; this person was his hidden ally.

That Lord got the signal and stood up, “Caesar, you cannot represent the Mediterranean. Much less spoil the interests of the entire Mediterranean because of your own anger. That’s too selfish.”

“What did you say? I’m selfish?” Caesar was furious.

“Harming others without benefiting. If that’s not selfish, what is?”

“Me… me.. me…” Caesar was so furious that he could not speak, “You bunch of traitors!”