Chapter 14: A classical meeting [2] (Bonus chapter)

What does Hai mean with it?

Basically, he didn't believe that he did what he did and there was no collateral effect.

The world almost ending is one of them.

However, Hai noticed some strange things happening right after he "freed" himself from fate, and that was strange moves happening across the globe.

Even though his information network isn't that strong when it comes to the really powerful and big players, he still managed to catch traces of the owners of mega corporations in several of those moves.

This means that they are moving.

And why is this worrying?

Because they hadn't moved until now.

In all of Hai's runs, he never saw these big players move, not even when Ye Chen took out a branch that was developing a rather important and costly weapon.

Now, why did they suddenly started to move?

Because the world almost ended?

Bullshit, they are strong enough to survive even if the world were to end.

This leaves two possibilities:

1- Previously, they were restricted by the world's will just like he was;

2- Their plans or objectives had to be hastened due to whatever reason.

Hai is more inclined to believe in the first option but he won't simply put all the eggs in the same basket.

"Now, I assume you have calmed down." The blonde-haired woman said.

Everyone stopped thinking about the problems that this might cause and focused back on her.

When she saw that everyone was focusing on her, she opened her mouth once again.

"Well, some of you might already know me but I'm Stella Cruenta-Anima. As for why I called you here, it's to propose a partnership."

"…"

Everyone started to pay close attention to her words except for the elf woman.

Stella smiled when she saw everyone's serious face.

"The Cruenta-Anima family charged me with a project. And this project is a really and difficult one. Everyone I called here today has something that can greatly aid me in this project and this is why I wanted to meet everyone in person."

<I see. Smart woman. She basically delivered the news that nobody in here has the power to escape from the flames of wars between The Phoenix and The Rhino as the former is the Akashic Beast that rules the China Federation. If anyone in here wants to escape from being crushed in a duel of giants, the Cruenta-Anima family is the best option, and to win their favor, you will need to help her in her project. However, she also never promised or signed a contract saying that she will help them escape from the China Federation or anything. This means that it will be up to her whims either she keeps those "pawns" or discard them after their use.>

Elena who heard this started to prepare in case a fight broke out.

She simply let the mana inside her ready to flow through her mana veins and tensed her muscles.

Those actions, of course didn't went unnoticed by Stella.

Stella internally smiled when she caught Elena doing it all.

Then, she discretely looked at Hai who had a serious face as if he was concerned with the war.

'As expected, he is really different. He might be fooling everyone in here, but I know that he isn't concerned about it in the slightest. You're an interesting man, Hai. Now, I wonder: will you manage this on your own or will you join me? Well, it's not like you have any option aside from joining me.'

If there is something that Stella is and she doesn't deny, then it's that she is a greedy woman.

She doesn't care if her "pawns" want something or not, she cares about having them and using them until their validity expires.

When she was deciding who she would have as a potential partner for her project, she went through many names, even Ye Chen and some of his harem members were on her list.

However, when she arrived on Hai's name, she didn't know why but she had an inkling that this one, this man might be the one she was looking for this project.

Then, just out of curiosity she had her subordinates dig out his information.

And lo and behold, the guy was gem to say the last.

She read through his tactics with the companies and deduced that he should have done way more than this but managed to erase all traces.

She found him to be an interesting man and wanted to see if he was the one for her project.

Now, looking at him casually playing along with the mood but not seeming like he is just following the flow, she was sure that he is one of the best partners she can have.

The question is: can she tame him?

As far as Stella saw, she doesn't believe she can control him properly or at a real level at all.

Hence, she decided to manipulate their relationship instead of the man himself.

Stella opened her mouth again.

"About the project, I can only explain to you once you decide to join in, before this, I can only say that nobody has ever done it."

I watched as everyone fell into contemplation.

Looking at Hai, I saw him having a conflicted expression on his face.

'He is truly marvelous. I don't even know if he is really conflicted or just acting.' Stella thought while maintaining her calm smile.

After a minute of silence, the elf woman raised her hand.

"I'm in." She said with a cheerful voice, something that doesn't quite belong the serious atmosphere of the meeting.

Then, the fox woman also raised her hand.

"Me too."

Only the orcs and Hai were left now.

When Hai seemed to have come to a decision, something happened.

One of the orcs suddenly slammed his fist on the table.

*BAM*

"Don't f*ck with me, you wh*re." He growled out.

Stella wasn't affected in the slightest by this but one could see curiosity in her crimson eyes.

The orc who talked, the one with a tusk on his left, looked at Stella with clear hate in his eyes.

"You think I don't know who was it that destroyed all my business in Europe!?" He yelled while pointing his fingers at her.

Stella raised an eyebrow at this.

"You are really saying this during this meeting?" She questioned with a rather intrigued tone.

She was amused to say the least, with his antics.

*BAM*

He slammed his hands on the table once again and this time, his brother also stood up.

The elf woman started to lose the energic air around her and her eyes narrowed at them.

Both orcs didn't pay any attention to her and continued to attack Stella.

"You destroyed all my business in Europe, crippled my contacts there, then you come to my country, your subordinates wreak havoc my companies, and you tell me about 'partnership'? F*ck you, you b*tch." The orc eyes started to glow green in color and his brother started to glow white.

Everyone felt the mana in the room get agitated.

Stella continued to look at this with a smile.

Then, she took out a cup and filled it with tea.

She picked the cup up and started to drink her tea while ignoring the orcs twins.

And orcs being as hotheaded as they are, didn't take it quite well.

The one with a tusk on his left raised his left hand but stopped when he aimed at Stella.

He felt a strong killing intent directed at him.

He looked sideways and saw the elf woman pointing a rifle made of silver with wood and vines in it.

"Go on." She said and gestured her rifle's cane towards Stella before pointing back at the orc.

The orc looked at her with a pissed off gaze.

The other brother was facing the same dilemma but with the fox woman who had balls of blue fire pointed at him.

He knows that if even a single one was to hit him, he will probably be a goner.

The meeting took a serious turn and the air inside the room was tense.

Nobody was moving.

Nobody except for two people: Stella and Hai.

Hai leisurely put both elbows on the table and supported his chin on the back of his hands.

Stella who was calmly looking at it all while drinking her tea, raised an eyebrow.

"Mr. Hai, aren't you going to do anything?" Stella stated with a curious tone while ignoring the potential fight that could break out at any given moment.

Everyone in the room looked at Hai from the corner of their eyes but stood in the same positions.

"Hum~?" Hai looked at Stella with a small smile.

"But I'm doing something."

Stella put her tea cup down and looked at him.

"You are?"

Hai nodded.

"I'm just waiting for you to say to your friends that they can stop pretending. Oh! Don't worry, I can wait, please take your time." Hai quickly corrected himself and said with a calm and encouraging look.

"....."

Nobody said anything and they just stared at Hai with gazes containing different levels of surprise.

"You all can stop now." Stella's voice was heard and the situation solved itself.

Everyone sat back on their chairs and peace came back to the room.

"I'm curious. How did you figurate it out?"

Stella had an inkling that Hai had long since figured it when he saw the situation unfolding but now she was sure that he knew it all along.

"Hum~" Hai hummed in response while looking sideways as if thinking about his answer.

"Well, the moment you decided to make me be the last one to arrive, you gave yourself away."

It's a tradition since the Medieval Age that the more important the guest, the later they would come to a certain event.

As Hai was the last one, this indirectly implied that he was the "most important" guest of this meeting.

This branch out to several possibilities but all in all it culminates into Hai being the only one needed to be convinced or something along those lines.

Stella smiled at his response.

"You know that this isn't enough of an answer, right?" Stella slightly pressured for a more accurate answer.

"Well, there is just so much you can obtain for free." Hai threw back.

Stella raised her eyebrows at his antics.

"You looking somewhere else before giving me an answer isn't quite smart if you were going to tell me a lie."

"It's to make the other party curious. I call it marketing." Hai admitted shamelessly.

"…"

This time, it was everyone in the room that looked at him.

They were questioning either he has balls of steel or is simply crazy.

Stella didn't seem to care, however.

"It's not like it really matters. Now that my little acting didn't went as expected, what will you do?"

Hai looked at the woman with a gaze that said: 'Are you seriously asking me this?'

Stella didn't bother with his glance and waited for his answer.

*SIGH*

"I'm in." Hai said.

He doesn't really have a choice for now. Not if he wants to maintain his plans without much complications or enemies.

Although Hai doesn't like to give in, he also knows that always winning is pipe dream.

He agreed to her arrangements and will do so as long as it is beneficial to him and nothing too absurd or she betrays him.

If he manages to form a connection with the Cruenta-Anima's, then it will be worth the effort he puts in.

"Marvelous! Now, how about we talk about business?"

At her words, everyone seriously looked at her.

Although everyone except for Hai was doing an act at her demand, even they don't know the contends of this meeting.

Stella smiled seeing everyone so focused on her.

"Now, now. To make a real partnership that will last through thick and thin, we need trust. And what is better to build trust than throwing ourself into mortal peril?"

Everyone wanted to question what is going through this woman's head but remained quiet to let her continue the explanation.

"We're going to do this…"

And like this, Stella explained to the members of the meeting her plan which would later be known as "The Phantom Assault", one of the most difficult yet amazing operation across the whole China Federation or even the whole world.

And the operation where people would come to fear the man nicknamed Winter.

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A/N: Hello there I hope you are having a wonderful day!

So, thanks for the 100 power stones once again guys! Here is the chapter I promised you all.

I know that this chapter isn't THAT much noteworthy as nothing of a real relevance happens aside from our new waifu debut but I had to do this one for you to understand the ones that will come.

The next ones we will finally have our Hai entering in action himself. So, let's go!

If you are enjoying the novel, consider supporting it through your feedback, by giving a review, voting with power stones or sharing it with your friends, it really helps me and motivates me even more to write.

I hope you have liked this chapter, if not, comment about it, I would like to read your opinions.

That's all for today guys, thank you all for reading! 🍷😎