Chapter 133 Plans
This realization caused Daneel to stop in his tracks.
Indeed, all these days he had been thinking about the problem after disregarding the fact that he was in possession of something unique in all of Angaria: the World Domination System.
He knew for a fact that to most of the Big 4, the smaller kingdoms were just ants. This disregard even went so far as to ignore their existence unless they had a use for them.
Placing himself in the shoes of one of the Big 4 who managed to develop such a seed, Daneel started thinking of his options.
First, there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Thus, someone with the expertise to develop something like this either must surely have known of the side effects, or must have found out about them after thorough testing.
After all, if there were none, the developer could simply grow them in his own land and profit.
After finding out about the side effects, if it were Daneel, he would have started targeting one of the smaller Kingdoms due to two main reasons:
1)He had something with him which could be given out without incurring cost: the chance to learn the spell technique
2)He wouldn't have to handle anything-the Kingdom would take all of the responsibility, and he could simply reap the profits.
As for the plight of the Kingdom?
As one of the Big 4, he couldn't care less!
Realizing this, Daneel became more and more sure that the Black Raven Kingdom must have already been cheated by those who gave the seeds. After all, the King had said it himself: if he could, he would have sent both individuals from his own Kingdom to learn the spell techniques.
At this point, Daneel shifted to the shoes of the Black Raven King. If all this was true, then the Black Raven King wasn't dumb at all; on the contrary, he was quite clever.
With cautiousness, he must have planted the seeds and investigated the side effects himself. After 1 year, he must have seen that there were none-resulting in him planting more and more.
Another year later, the first test soil would have become barren, resulting in the Black Raven King realizing that the rest of the soil was doomed too.
At this point, if it were Daneel, his focus would be to find a way to reverse this effect. No Kingdom would want to depend on another for something so basic such as food.
After all, the Black Raven Kingdom even had much less fertile lands than Lanthanor-meaning that they would be hit very hard due to these seeds.
The more he thought about these matters, the more Daneel became assured that he was right.
The most important thing was that his instincts told him that he was on the right track. This was the best confirmation he could get, as they had yet to let him down.
With all this new information in hand, Daneel started planning his next step.
His policy was simple: if someone meant him and his Kingdom harm, he would repay them 10 fold. But if they were desperate, he wouldn't mind helping them out.
Henceforth, it would all depend on the Black Raven King.
.....
One week after at the North Border Gate.
"It's been a week! Should I send a reminder?"
The Black Raven King could be seen pacing inside the throne room again, while the gigantic head of their God Beast looked on from above, as if condescending this loss of composure that should not be part of one who called himself King.
"Have patience. He did not seem the type to be tardy.", replied the old man, already exasperated by the King's actions.
This past week had been a major test on his nerves, making him consider again and again whether it was time for another coup by someone with a better temper. Yet, he controlled his emotions.
Suddenly, the King stopped in his tracks, taking out the raven-shaped trinket from his pocket which was the counterpart of the one given to the King of Lanthanor.
The communication he had been waiting for had finally come. Taking a deep breath, he first relaxed his expression before sitting on the throne.
Seeing this, the old man gave a small smile.
'Although this kid has a short temper, his intelligence and presence of mind can still be admired.', he thought, while putting away the plans he had been considering before.
After taking another breath, the Black Raven King activated the trinket, making a panel appear in front of him.
Although it was the same size as the one Faxul had, there was a big difference in clarity. In the panel emanated from Faxul's trinket, even the individual hairs of the figure on the screen could be discerned. Yet with this, it was only a flat image that also slightly blurred at times.
Of course, comparing to the present trinkets all over the 6 Kingdoms, this was already very impressive.
"Impressive trinket. I thought it was simply for voice communication."
Smiling at King Daneel's words, the Black Raven King replied, "Yes, it is a secret schematic handed down since generations. I trust that you have come to a decision?"
Unable to control his impatience, the Black Raven King couldn't help but ask directly. After a few moments, the King of Lanthanor replied.
"I first have a question to ask of you. Are there really no side effects of planting Echer plants in soil? Have you tested this yourself?"
Seeing the other party come straight to the point, the Black Raven King was first overjoyed.
Exactly like Daneel had thought, he had already been duped by the Big 4. Half of the fertile land in his Kingdom would be barren in a year.
This was simply a disaster which could result in the destruction of the whole Kingdom.
Thus, after hearing from Bevis about the man behind the King of Lanthanor who could analyze a mosquito in order to find out proof regarding its origin, he had hatched a plan.
A man of such expertise would definitely be able to analyze the seeds. After analysis, it was likely that he would find a way to resolve the problem.
Thus, his plan had been simple: arouse suspicion in the King of Lanthanor so that he would have the seeds analyzed by the man behind him. After that man found out a way to rejuvenate the soil, simply copy this method later to apply in his own Kingdom.
Of course, there was a different possibility- maybe the King of Lanthanor had been bluffing, and there was no such man. In this case, he would have no way to find out the side-effects.
In that case, if the King of Lanthanor still agreed because of foolishly trusting himself after being enamored by the rewards, Lanthanor would be doomed just like the Black Raven Kingdom.
This was a possibility. But as a man who had climbed a pile of bodies to ascend to the throne, did the Black Raven King care?
Of course, he didn't. In the worst case, he would simply pull them down with him.
Why should others be well when his Kingdom rotted?
Such was his nature. And such was the tenacity that made the old man recruit him in the first place.
"Why do you ask, King Daneel? Have you found any?"
"No, which is why I am considering to accept the deal. As you must know, my Kingdom is sorely in need of a powerhouse. I was only asking because if there are any side effects, it is best that you tell me now so that I might be able to help you to counteract them in any way I can."
With these words, Daneel gave the Black Raven King the last chance to come out clean. Even he knew about the two possibilities if he accepted the deal. If the Black Raven King still denied everything, then it could be clearly deduced that he did mean harm to Lanthanor, which would let Daneel decide his future course.
"I assure you, there are none. As an ally, if I did find any, I would never conceal them! I only brought this offer to you because I want us to prosper together. I hope you have this same goodwill if I require anything from you in the future."
Hearing this, Daneel had to try hard to control his face so that the disgust he was feeling didn't appear on it. Obviously, he was saying this so that if Daneel did have a way to counter the side effects, he would share it in the future.
The disgust was because of the fact that if he didn't, he would be dooming his Kingdom to ruin. The Black Raven King clearly knew this, but didn't care.
Thus, he had settled his fate. If he had asked, maybe Daneel would have considered a true alliance in which they could solve the problem together. But now, it was simply too late.
"All right. I accept the deal. Send the seeds over."
The Black Raven King smiled wide, delighted at the first step of success in his plan.
Of course, he did not know that the fate of his Kingdom had already been sealed by his reluctance to not ask directly due to the fear of showing vulnerability. By discarding this option and going with his plan, he had already discarded a brighter future under his rule for the Black Raven Kingdom.