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Chapter 420: Negotiating with a Tiger for Its Hide

“Please, continue speaking. I’ll just listen.” Xia Fei deliberately showed weakness, putting on a harmless smile.

Halleh frowned and darkly glanced at Furball. He did not recognize this exotic beast, but it bizarrely gave off an extremely dangerous and kingly aura.

“You probably know that the insectoid race has experienced momentous changes in the last several thousand years.”

After some thought, Xia Fei replied, “Right now, you have a lot of intellectuals and powerful individuals. You’re no longer a barbaric race and currently evolving in the direction of an outstanding intelligent race.”

Halleh bitterly smiled. “Yes, the insectoids are truly progressing quickly, producing more and more highly-intelligent lifeforms. Alas, we still haven’t been able to escape our barbaric and crude interests.”

Xia Fei frowned. Halleh’s tone was very deep and profound, more like a philosopher than a warrior. This was different from any other insectoid warrior Xia Fei had encountered before. Although Halleh was also very frenzied in battle, he had an additional air of elegance about him. From his clothes and meticulous hairstyle, one could tell that he had received excellent education in language and fashion. This sort of education was highly likely to have been influenced by humans.

“We insectoids have evolved into two extremes; on one end are the extremely intelligent ones with no martial strength and another end are the extremely powerful ones with personalities very much like our bloodthirsty forebears, barbaric and ignorant. Warriors who are both intelligent and powerful are rather rare, and even many of those have eccentric personalities.

“As the evolution of our race continues, this conflict grows more and more obvious. In the insectoid race that only worships strength, intelligence without martial prowess isn’t valued, so the status of intellectuals is even worse than those ignorant warriors who only know how to kill.

“The intellectuals yearn for culture. They like the music, operas, arts, literature, prosperity, and peaceful life of humans, but the strong ones don’t care about that. In their eyes, science is just a way to produce more powerful warships, existing for the sake of war. As for those cultural products, they are met with extreme disdain.

“Conflicts between the intellectuals and the strong have always existed. The two sides began to compete from the moment the race started evolving, and this entire time, the strong have always held the upper hand. They forced the insectoids to develop down the path they desired. Eventually, they recruited soldiers on a grand scale for their war.

“The intellectuals naturally don’t want to see this. They hope to see the insectoids develop into a multifaceted civilization, not one that emphasizes only on martial might. As a result, the insectoid intellectuals banded together, relying on their brilliant minds to fight back against those fools who only know how to kill.

“Alas, it has been a very feeble resistance. In the face of formidable martial might, intelligence is incredibly insignificant. A single warrior can easily kill thousands of intellectuals, and the intellectuals have no means of fighting back. The pain persisted, and more and more intellectuals chose to yield, but not too long ago, a supremely intelligent insectoid with the bearing of a king was born.”

Xia Fei heard this and smiled, commenting, “You must be speaking of Uti, the strongest intellectual in the history of the insectoid race.”

Halleh replied, “Yes, it was none other than him. Under his leadership, the intellectuals were brought together once more, and they did their utmost to enthrone him in the Golden Tent, hoping that he would lead the insectoids in establishing their culture, a true race of intelligent insectoids who could stand proud no matter what part of the universe we’re in.

“But he betrayed us!” Halleh slapped his thigh and bellowed. “Before ascending to the throne, Uti swore that he’d develop science and culture, making the insectoids more multifaceted, but the first thing he did upon being enthroned was continue developing the military, and he even started a war against humans! He completely ignored the honest advice of the intellectuals and stubbornly clung onto his goals and ambitions! If that’s not betrayal, then what was?!”

Xia Fei found this all rather laughable. In his ears, the story between the intelligent and strong of the insectoid race was just a joke. These insectoid intellectuals, with no strength and only ideals, were too naïve to the point of being cute. They had so much intelligence, yet they had forgotten the iron law of the universe: whoever had the tougher fist made the rules!

“So you and your intellectual faction want to get rid of this traitor and raise another emperor. As for me, I’ve been selected as the executor of this assassination because I’m a human. In every aspect, making me do the deed is the most reasonable choice. Not only will this avoid civil war among the insectoids, it also won’t expose the existence of the intellectuals.”

Halleh firmly nodded. “Correct. It is said that mankind is a race with a high level of intelligence, and from your performance today, it seems to be true.”

Xia Fei lit a cigarette and smiled. “If you elect another emperor, how can you guarantee that he won’t betray you like Uti?”

Halleh fell silent. No one dared to guarantee this. Uti served as the finest example of it.

“It’s not like your idea is entirely bad, but you’re relying too much on the strength of others, and you don’t have the strength yourself. Forget it; I don’t wanna know that much about insectoid affairs. My goal is reached as long as I can kill Uti and end the war. If I agree to work with you, how can you guarantee that I’ll be able to get near Uti enough to kill him?”

Halleh answered, “Relax. We have an informant at Uti’s side, and all of his movements are under our control. As long as you join our side, we can guarantee that you will get a chance to eliminate Uti!

“Recently, Uti has secluded himself and is not often present in the Golden Tent. If you can’t grasp his movements, then even if you have the power to destroy half a star system, your efforts will be in vain. After all, the imperial capital has always been one of the greatest secrets of our race. Pure martial prowess can never be enough to destroy it.”

Halleh spoke very sincerely. Xia Fei’s performance had left a good impression on him. He was both a strong warrior and an intellectual, so he knew that by helping Xia Fei would help increase his side’s chances of success. Putting aside everything else, just the Stars of Ruin in Xia Fei’s possession alone were enough to leave anyone gobsmacked.

One of Xia Fei’s greater advantages was his status. For a public figure like Halleh to involve himself with Xia Fei was already extremely risky, let alone assassinating Uti.

If this news was leaked out, the entirety of the insectoid race would join together to deal with the organization that the intellectuals had formed. The surest method was to push Uti’s death onto someone unrelated.

Xia Fei nodded. “To tell you the truth, I’m truly tempted by your proposal. If I can’t kill Uti, I won’t be able to rest easy for the rest of my life, but I have my own condition.”

“What condition?”

“I must be an independent existence that doesn’t need to take orders from your faction. For example, if you say that I can strike at a certain time and place, I will weigh the pros and cons, only choosing to strike if I think I have a good enough chance.”

After some thought, Halleh asked, “Are you saying that we should cooperate?”

“Correct!” Xia Fei firmly nodded. “Our relationship will be one of cooperation, not of employer and employee, or else I won’t agree. Since having Uti killed benefits the both of us, we have a basis on which we can cooperate, but the time and method are entirely up to me.”

Xia Fei took two steps back and folded his arms in front of his chest, his face saying that he was not prepared to negotiate.

Halleh was put in a bit of a spot. According to the original plan, he was to persuade Xia Fei to be their hired killer, to serve at their discretion. If Xia Fei did not agree, he was to be killed immediately. However, Xia Fei said that he was willing to cooperate but also was unwilling to give up his independence, demanding his right to choose and judge for himself. This was very different from the conditions that Qingliu had set down.

“Please wait a moment.”

Halleh stood up and took two steps to the side. Darkness suddenly swelled and engulfed him. From the outside, it was impossible to hear anything or to see him.

“Darkness ability users are truly formidable. Attack, defense, stealth—they’re practically omnipotent!” Phantom sighed in praise.

Xia Fei replied, “Truly. Compared to the darkness ability, those abilities that can control water or fire seem like child’s play.”

Phantom frowned. “Do you really plan on working with these bugs? This is like trying to pull a chestnut out of the fire. In any case, I find it very hard to trust these fellows.”

Xia Fei smiled. “No need to go so far. This is nothing more than dancing with wolves. If my guess is right, their plan is real, but there’s also a plan for afterward.”

“A plan for afterward?”

“They’ll do everything in their power to help me kill Uti, and then they’ll kill me. Only the dead can keep secrets. They’ve definitely realized this, so for the sake of their safety, they won’t let me live.

“After that, I’ll be labeled as a human assassin, and all the blame will be pushed onto me and the Alliance. Hatred will obscure the vision of the common folks. They can then use the emotions of the mobs to ascend to high places before slowly removing Uti’s traces so that they can truly take full control of the insectoid race.”

Phantom gasped. “That’s a truly vicious and sinister plan, each step flawless! Since you understand that they won’t let you go no matter what you do, why do you seem so indifferent? Working with them is no different from committing suicide!”

Xia Fei replied, “Risks and benefits always go hand in hand. If I don’t take the risk, my chances of killing Uti will only be small. Rather than just rushing around aimlessly, it will be better to work with them and see who has the better tricks.”

“You’re confident in your chances of escaping?”

“No.”

“So you’re going to depend on luck?”

“You don’t really think I got all the way here due to luck, do you? This key to this game is whether or not I can cooperate with them. I can’t lose my independence. This will give me at least a small chance of survival.”

...

In the darkness, Qingliu, far away in the capital, stood in front of Halleh as if he was really there, except that his feet were floating in the air. It was apparent that this was a kind of virtual communication device.

“He wants to cooperate with us?” Qingliu stroked his beard and asked.

“Yes. We provide the information, but he decides the time and method of attack.”

Qingliu pondered. “We’ll find it very hard to control him, which bodes ill for our plan. Is this risk worth it?”

Halleh sternly replied, “We’re already taking a great risk. I can see that the human Xia Fei is very shrewd. He really might succeed.”

Qingliu’s eyes flashed. “You have such a high opinion of him?”

Halleh firmly said, “Mm, very high.”

Qingliu chuckled. “There are few individuals who can earn your high regard, brother. Why don’t we do this: agree to his request and then take him to Black Peak Ridge?”

“Black Peak Ridge!” Halleh exclaimed in shock. “Why do you want me to take him to Black Peak?”

Qingliu gave a cunning smile. “I naturally have my plans. He has his conditions, and we naturally have our methods.”