The Western part of the Dying Isle continent is a region of islands. The number of islands that were in the Western region exceeded 400,000; which was simply too many. Among the 400,000 islands, there were many big and small islands. Most of the Islands are abandoned, while some are not suitable for people to live in them. The remaining islands were home to thousands of different ethnic people. Some of those island people even have their own language and deny any contact with the outside world.
The Western region had a very complex geography. The Western region was home to the most dangerous marine magic animals. Some of those marine magic animals have the power to drown an entire Kingdom under the sea.
On the surface, Over 400,000 islands of the Western region were mainly controlled by 7 forces. Other than the 7 Empires, there were multiple Kingdoms and Dynasties that had to ally themselves with one Empire to survive in this region. By allying themselves, the Empires would agree to grant protection to those small kingdoms in exchange for a percentage of their yearly income. An Empire would send its troops to those small Kingdoms which are under its protection.
But when talking about the Western region, people mostly talk about the 7 Empires that have existed for many years now. The seven Empires have never allowed a foreign force to attack any Kingdom or Empire within the Western region. In face of a foreign invader, the whole Western region would put their differences behind them and would join hands to drive out the enemy.
"I thank each and one of you for coming to this meeting."
Seven figures were sitting around a big round table. Each of the figures controlled the lives of millions. Each of them had the power to destroy the lives of millions. They were the people that stood at the very top of society. Their words became the law. And no one had the power to go against them. With just a snap of their fingers, they can make millions of people kneel on the ground. They were the seven great Emperors that controlled the entire Western region.
And today the seven great Emperors were having a meeting in a neutral region. The neutral region was located at the very center of the Western region. The neutral region was a small Kingdom that is made up of six small islands surrounding a big island.
The Ever-Raining islands were a kingdom of seven islands. In the past and in the present, the meeting of the seven great Emperors has always taken place in this Kingdom. The Ever-Raining islands experience rainfall for 11 months every year. It was a place where it never stops raining.
The meeting was taking place at the capital of the Ever-Raining islands. The King of the Ever-Raining islands arranged the meeting place for the seven great Emperors. As the Ever-Raining islands were a place where the great Emperors met, the Ever-Raining islands never had to worry about anyone ever attacking them. The Kingdom didn't have any enmity with any Kingdom or empire.
"I can understand that both of you have issues with the Istarin Empire but that doesn't have anything to do with the rest of us. Why did you call for this meeting?" In fact, this meeting would have taken place a long time ago but the other great emperors were busy. It was difficult for all of them to find a schedule where all of them would be free.
Even outside the Western region, the Great Emperors had a big influence. Especially in the Northeastern region of the continent where the strongest Empires and factions of the continent reside. Over the hundreds of years, the Great Emperors have built lots of connections. Those old cunning Emperors had more political influence than the two Dragon Empires in the Southern region.
The old Emperor of the Storm Empire glanced at the rest of the great Emperors. No one knew what the Storm Empire's Emperor was thinking. It was the Storm Emperor and the Ageless islands Emperor who together formed a plan of arranging this meeting. Otherwise, it would have taken the Storm Emperor a few more months to hold this meeting.
"Recently I am sure you all know what happened in the Southern region."
"Of course we do. I couldn't stop laughing seeing the four of your 5th-order commanders killing each other." Replied the Emperor of the Shadow Islands Emperor. Hearing the response of the Shadow Islands Emperor, the four great Emperors were not least bit happy but what the Shadow Islands emperor is true. And the truth was like a slap to their faces.
"All of our minds are very fresh. How can we forget such a big event? This event shook the entire Empire. Especially the great snake creature that came out of that crack and killed the remaining troops just using its pressure." Once again the four great Emperors felt like their faces were heating up. What happened in the Southern region is a big shame, a big scar to their great history.
This was especially true for the Mist Ocean and the Cloud Earth Empires. Not only both Empires lost all of their troops and 5th-order commander in a battle, they later learned that the White Dragon Emperor used them to fight the Southern fire dragon Empire. So even if the Northern frost Dragon Empire lost the fight, they didn't lose much of their troops.
"Good since every one of us remembers what happened a few months ago, then let's talk about the reason why we called for this meeting." After looking at everyone's faces, the old Empire of the storm Empire continued.
"First let's talk about a big problem that is currently cornering all of us. After years of mining mana stones, now the entire Western region is almost out of the mana stones. It's not a secret that if things go on like this, in a few years we will run out of mana stones and when that happens, we will become entirely dependent on the outside world for our supply of Mana stones. This itself puts our energy security at risk." All the great Emperors silently agreed with the words of the Storm Emperor.
"We could have simply mined mana stones from the sea but that is not possible given the sea is the territory of the underwater Empires and Kingdoms. Even if we attack a small underwater Kingdom, every sea force would unite to attack us back. The outcome of this would be simply catastrophic for us and the sea forces. Which is why for hundreds of years, neither of our sides has clashed and simply remained neutral." Neither of the Great Emperors spoke. They only silently nodded their problems.
While the sea beneath them was filled with resources, the seven great Emperors didn't dare to aim for those resources. Being island Empires, the number of resources that the seven Empires had was very limited which pretty much limited their growth. The seven great Emperors have tried various times to purchase mana stones from them but each time every one of them has refused to sell any mana stones to the surface forces.
In this world, there is a big gap that separates the surface and the ocean forces. Neither side is willing to do any business or have any relationships with the other. The ocean force especially wanted not to get tangled with the matters of the surface. This is also why most citizens of the Deep Sea Palace Empire didn't like the fact that their Emperor, King Lewis attacked the surface of a surface Kingdom which was the Istarin Empire.
"Buying mana stones from other continents is costly. The reason the Storm Empire agreed to help the Southern fire Dragon empire is that we were promised by the Black Dragon King himself that they would sell mana stones to us at a very cheap price. Unfortunately, things didn't go the way we planned. But there is still a chance for all of us seven Empires to reduce our dependency on foreign continents for the supply of mana stones, we can save tons of gold just by following my plan."
The Shadow Islands emperor frowned upon hearing the words of the Storm Emperor. He could somewhat guess what this old cunning fox wanted. But after hundred years of experience, he found it hard to trust this cunning fox who only cared about no one but himself.
"Currently the political situation of the Northern Frost Dragon empire is in utter chaos. The Southern fire Dragon empire has fallen and now is under the control of the Istarin empire. If seven of us combine our powers together, then do you guys believe that the Istarin and the Northern Frost Dragon empire combined could stop us?"
"Yes, it is a huge feat that the Istarin Empire managed to take over the Southern fire Dragon empire within 7 days. But can they truly fight all of our Empires together? I refuse to believe that the Istarin empire can do something like this. Think about it. The chaotic political situation in the Northern Frost Dragon empire will perfectly give us the chance of defeating them. We can get all the mana stone mines in the Southern region in our hands. We won't have to spend money. Instead, we can earn huge chunks of money by selling mana stones from those mines instead." By the time, the storm emperor stopped, everyone fell into silence. What he said was very true. Given the current situation of the Northern Frost Dragon empire, even a single Empire would be able to defeat them.
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