Chapter 488: Chapter 377: Dealing with Smart People
In essence, the content discussed in the Eye of the White Dragon’s meeting is not much different than the topics of the Emperor’s conference. However, there is no military issue here, rather it’s more about domestic economic development. One could almost definitively conclude that the primary topic here is money. How to earn more money for the White Dragon Empire and how to make a profit while earning money for the White Dragon Empire.
These topics are so unfamiliar to Long Yi who had lived two lifetimes, that he simply sat quietly and listened. Luckily, Ai Lin, a jack of all trades, is intimately familiar with these issues and occasionally explains to Long Yi. To Long Yi, these people are incredibly clever. Although not understanding has its advantages, Long Yi found his mind exceptionally relaxed. Unable to think about other matters or the topic currently under discussion, he unintentionally allowed his mind to wander.
Seeing Long Yi’s mind wander, the young man who had been watching him looked down on him even more. Quietly ripping off a page from his notebook, crumpling it up and then suddenly hurling it towards Long Yi! The small dragon resting on his shoulder identified the young man as a Dragon Knight, and the bolstering effect of the Fighting Aura made the paper ball as hard as a rock.
While his mind was wandering, Long Yi wasn’t aware of the small paper ball flying towards him. Although he usually had natural instincts towards threats around him, the paper ball wasn’t really a threat, so his early warning system didn’t react. At this moment, Suolin was also lost in thought. She was constantly wondering why she spontaneously had uncontrollable urges to kill.
In fact, Suolin had realized that at times, she seemed to turn into another person. For instance, when dealing with Toen, she herself couldn’t understand why she would take such cruel action. But at that time, seeing Toen suffer from her torture gave her an odd sense of joy.
Could this be a symptom caused by the integration of two different personalities? One personality is her original one, full of dependency on Long Yi. The other one is blood-thirsty and cruel?
As she was thinking this, she suddenly saw the small paper ball flying towards Long Yi!
An assassin!
Suolin reacted instinctively, becoming invisible the moment she intercepted the paper ball, and with a yelp, the young man who had launched the paper ball was hoisted up by one hand clutching his face! In the next moment, Suolin’s movement could have easily broken the young man’s neck!
"Suolin!" Long Yi shouted, bringing Suolin back to her senses. She first looked at the paper ball in Long Yi’s hand, then lifted her head to glance at the struggling young man in mid-air, before immediately letting go and disappearing.
The young man’s face showed five traces of bruising and he was still in shock. It was supposed to be a prank, but the response was so intense. Moreover, he had no idea where that mysterious masked man came from.
"Mr. Long Yi, this isn’t very appropriate."
The young man’s uncle glanced at his unharmed nephew, then frowned at Long Yi.
"Indeed, it’s inappropriate and I regret it. As you know, I have survived two attacks since New Year, so we are rather edgy." Long Yi answered with a small smile.
The middle-aged man nodded after hearing. He was aware of the recent happenings in the Imperial City, and he was clear about the formidable monster that Long Yi had dealt with, which had over ten dragon marks. If such a high level monster appeared here, everyone present would be engulfed in a sea of blood.
"To be honest, we are also at fault in this matter. I apologize as well, please don’t take it to heart." The middle-aged man replied.
Hmm; reasonable indeed!
Long Yi nodded with a smile. As a matter of fact Long Yi most liked people who are rationale; as long as issues can be discussed logically, it becomes easier to resolve, right?
"Uncle, why are you apologizing to him? It was just a prank and he almost killed me! He thinks he can act rashly due to his strength and rescuing the emperor before? It’s good that you understand your place. If you had actually killed me, could you bear the responsibility!?" The young man shouted out loud.
"Huh? Young man, are you serious about what you just said?"
Long Yi was taken aback.
Upon hearing Long Yi’s counter question, the young man’s uncle realized that his nephew was probably in trouble.
Everyone present who were old hands knew about Long Yi’s temperament. In fact, they had spent quite some time studying how to influence the White Dragon Empire’s future structure through Long Yi.
Long Yi is the quintessential soft touch; the more polite you are to him, the more embarrassed he feels, and he will return the courtesy wholeheartedly. However, if you are even slightly coercive towards him, all you get is a punch!
"Mr. Long Yi, please don’t take it to heart, the young always tend to be a bit temperamental. Both parties are at fault in this matter, just let it be."
He was neither humble nor pushy in his words. Although the young man was at fault first, Suolin’s reaction was admittedly too excessive, hence a mutual stepping back was not out of order.
"Brother Long, he is the first assistant of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Cote. The one who was just grabbed by Sister Suolin is his nephew, the son of the Deputy Director of the Finance Department, Mendo." Ai Lin immediately gave Long Yi a crash course. Ai Lin knew that Long Yi was not familiar with these people. Long Yi’s promotion was practically imminent and with improved status, it was inevitable for him to deal with these people. So Ai Lin took the initiative to assist Long Yi. But she hadn’t told Long Yi about this yet.
"Mr. Cote, your words are very sensible, and I apologize again for the incident just now. Is that okay?"
Long Yi’s expression was sincere, and so was his heart.
"Hm, once you heard my father is the Deputy Director of the Finance Department, you immediately conceded. It seems your current status is just a result of fawning."
Mendo murmured disdainfully.
"Mendo! Shut up!"
Cote roared. He usually doted on this nephew, as he was clever. However, clever people often have various shortcomings. The typical flaw of clever people is their disdain for fools, and they tend to feel uneasy about others who are equally clever.
Having been yelled at by Cote, Mendo was even more displeased.
"What, did I say something wrong? Look at his fawning smile; I’ve seen it countless times!"
Long Yi sighed, then stood up and walked over to Mendo.
Mendo looked at Long Yi with his head held high, his face bearing the faint bruises of five-fingered slap.
"You don’t need to intimidate me, I’m not afraid of you!" Mendo pointed at Long Yi’s nose and roared.
Long Yi smiled, "I heard that you’re very clever?"
Mendo sneered, "A lot more clever than you!"
Long Yi nodded, saying, "I believe you are smarter than me, Mr. Mendo. So please use your brilliant mind to consider the following question. Standing in front of you now is me, Long Yi. The Empire’s strongest Dragon Knight, the one who sliced Emperor Black into six pieces. I helped the current emperor ascend to the throne, helped the White Dragon Empire build battle armor, bombed the cruel undead warrior factory in the Black Dragon Empire, found the Empire’s urgently needed crystal cores in the plane of crazy demons, established a good relationship with dwarves to supply us with cheap weaponry and armor. In the new year, I thwarted the assassination plot against the emperor by the Black Dragon Empire, and a few days ago, I defeated a powerful Black Knight who had exceeded the ten Dragon Marks. And the things I have mentioned are merely what you already know."
"Now let’s look at you, Mr. Mendo. You are three years older than me, you’ve been living in the White Dragon Empire for twenty-two years. What have you contributed to this country?"
Long Yi posed the question to Mendo.
Mendo was dumbfounded. He’s still a student! Although he has also tried to propose his own proposals, they have never once been discussed because they were not mature enough.
Contribution?
How could there be any!
Long Yi smiled, then continued, "None, right? Actually, if you could even state a minor contribution, I wouldn’t say the next part. But now, I will ask you a question. Wise Mendo, please answer the first question, if I were to punch you to death here and now, do you think His Majesty the Emperor would punish me, a meritorious hero who has made countless contributions to the Empire, for you—a worthless, useless fool? Second question, how long do you think your father will take to recover from his regret and sadness for giving birth to such a fool like you?"
Regarding Long Yi’s direct questions, Mendo always deemed them beneath his dignity to answer. Because in his view, those who are quick to throw punches are primitive barbarians. He is not a savage warrior; his weapon is his intellect.
Mendo’s uncle Teke looked anxious, because, based on his understanding of Long Yi, he knew Long Yi was absolutely capable of carrying out such an act. The third prince of the White Dragon Empire, the one who caused so many troubles for the current White Dragon Empire, Tilian, didn’t all these troubles originate from Long Yi’s punch?
Seeing the disdain on Mendo’s face, Long Yi just smiled.
"Well, since you claim to be a clever man, and all the people present here are clever men, how about we play a little game?" Long Yi proposed to Mendo.
"Play what?" Mendo was keen to see what tricks this Long Yi could possibly have up his sleeve.
"I have a small philosophical question that has been lingering in my mind for a long time. Can you help me answer it?" Long Yi said.
Question?
Mendo couldn’t help but laugh. As a clever man who could sit in the Eye of the White Dragon, what kind of philosophical questions had he not encountered? If you ask how to make golems, I definitely won’t know, but philosophy?
"Go ahead, let me enlighten you a bit," said Mendo.
"Alright then, " Long Yi nodded, then turned to face everyone.
"I believe, everyone here is compassionate, right?" asked Long Yi. Everyone immediately smiled and nodded in agreement, but all the while they were silently on their guard. There would inevitably be hidden traps behind the answer to such a question.
"I assume, everyone here will always uphold justice and righteousness, right?" Long Yi turned and directed the question to Mendo.
Mendo sneered, "Yes, of course! No need for all these lead-ins, just say it already!"
Long Yi took a few steps back and faced the crowd.
"One day, a powerful Black Knight, sent by the Black Dragon Empire, barges into the Imperial palace. Unfortunately, I, the only one capable of defeating the Black Knight, was defeated. And the Black Knight chased a group of people to a very sturdy house. There are two doors in this house: when one door is closed, the other will open. Our respected Emperor went into one room, and more than a thousand innocent ministers, guards, stewards, gardeners, etc. from the Palace went to the other room. Now, my question is, assuming that clever Mr. Mendo here controls the switch to the doors, could you please tell me, which door would you open to let the Black Knight in?" (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to qidian.com to cast recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com for reading.)
