If it was at other times, then I'd prefer to stay the night lying on my back, watching such a piece of art forever.
But I got shitload of issues that wouldn't let me even think about doing any of that.
[I'm not your lackey! You do know that, right?]
"But you are the one who placed me in all this," I evilly smirked, "give me a reason why you won't help us in such a trivial matter."
[If it's trivial, why ask for my help then?]
"Because it's trivial to you," I laughed, "you can get a map, a full and detailed map by using the help of the system, right?"
[That's correct]
"Then help me out here."
[In exchange for… What exactly?]
"Come on, for old times sake!"
[Go f*ck yourself!]
"Hahahaha! Hearing this makes you more human than anything else, hahaha!"
[This isn't a charity! You have to pay something to get what you need]
"But…"
[You always dealt with us on such a basis, and there's nothing to make us change in such a way. Just state your price, and I'll see if it suits us or not]
"Why won't you tell me the price you got in your mind?" I knew this dude wasn't bluffing or fooling around. If he mentioned a price, then he must have something ready in his mind for that.
[How about letting other races share the new world with you?]
"Not a chance!"
[Then the one hundred peace period is cancelled!]
"Screw you! No way! I won't accept even this!"
[Then there is nothing we can agree on to do this deal]
"Hmm… How about this… I know you are interested in our enemies, right?"
[And?]
"How about I give you part of my loot here?"
[I can get anything I want without your help!]
"No, you don't get me," I took something out of my inventory, "there are things that you can't even dream to have."
[Hmm… Interesting offer… But only one bomb won't do]
I took out one of the bombs I already deactivated. These didn't exist in our universe, an alien presence, and it was something that no one else but me could provide.
If I tried to use the card of races fighting under the enemy, then this dude would bargain and might not agree.
As he said it, he could get anything he wanted from here. So I got to find something that even he couldn't get, something like this bomb.
"I can add any number of forces gained from the enemies," I shrugged. If not for the importance and crucial role of this map at this stage, I wouldn't even waste my breath over this dude.
A map? A single piece of paper? It wouldn't work a penny at another time. And if I got enough time here, I'd have let my forces go all over the place and draw this map in a matter of a few weeks or even months.
But just like what Lily said, without the map at this moment, we were totally blind.
We wouldn't tell where our forces were from each other, which places were more important than others, which zones were strategically more important than others, which places needed more troops than others.
Without this map, fighting this war would be a hellish nightmare and a big gamble. Even if I got lots of forces and weapons, lots of preparations on my side, the enemy made sure to negate all this by all this.
And getting this map would be the missing piece, the single brilliant move that would turn over all this, turn around the entire situation, and let me and others on my side fight an advantageous battle.
With this map, we'd regain our advantage again. And that is what made this piece of paper worth more than its weight in gold.
And that was something that dude out there knew about.
[Agreed] that dude finally accepted, [on one condition]
"I won't let go of any race, no matter what, not even the Hescos!" I roared, as I already guessed what he wanted to say.
[Then add more gears and it'll do] I felt like I fell into his trap. But I couldn't help it. After all, I was the one who needed his help here, desperately needed it.
"Deal!"
[I'm sending a contract over]
"You never did that at any of our previous agreements?!!"
[That's because these agreements were secured by the system announcements. Didn't you read any of the notifications I sent before?]
I rolled my eyes, feeling like this dude didn't trust me at all. "It hurts!"
[What hurts?]
"You, not trusting me, it hurts!"
[You are a very dangerous man, you know that? How can I trust you?]
I laughed at his words. "Send the contract over then," I asked for it, and it appeared just the next instant. "Wow! Impressive! You have a very fast hand! Hahahaha!"
[Just sign the damn thing!]
"Let me read it first," I knew that dude already prepared the contract beforehand, "I don't trust you."
[Fair enough!]
I read the content of this contract under the shocked gazes of everyone. They saw me shout like crazy in the air, and the next moment a contract appeared.
That meant one thing, I wasn't talking to myself or going crazy. I was talking to someone, someone they couldn't see, someone who could send a contract out of thin air even if he wasn't here.
I knew they wouldn't guess the true identity of this dude. And they wouldn't even believe me even if I told them his identity.
The best thing they could think about right now was that I was talking to someone from a higher race, from Toranks, someone like Silverlining for example.
I didn't care about their gazes and started to read the content quite carefully. That dude was honest and didn't do any cheap tricks here or there.
"It's signed," I left my signature after reading the contract twice, "where is my goddamn map?"
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