Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 55: Overturning the Verdict
Helkkin disguised himself again and walked out of the safe house. He saluted inside, gently closed the door, and finally strode away with vigor.
It was snowing outside, a rare sight for the Golden Valley, which was located at a low latitude. The residents of the city came out of their homes and looked at the snowflakes in surprise. Helkkin lowered his hat and brushed shoulders with passers-by.
Suddenly, Helkkin stopped and looked up at the city covered with a thin layer of snow. He exhaled a long breath, his eyes full of passion. Snow was something that he was very familiar with as he was born in the winter capital, but this snow made his body restless . It was a long-lost impulse, as if he had just entered the ice cave and received his first mission.
This time the choice...
The victory was magnificent!
Defeat is also spectacular!
Helkkin took a deep breath, lowered his head again and walked forward, soon disappearing in the crowd.
The meeting with Pan went very smoothly.
With Pan's active efforts, Potrovich, the chairman of the At County Federation Congress, finally entered the Shuojin Elders' Council as he wished and explained to the Shuojin elders the urgent need for assistance of the county federation.
Pan actively lobbied, saying that Meteorite was using the incident of Yin to build momentum at this time, which was obviously ignoring the internal affairs of the Shining Gold People. It was too arrogant to portray the serious crimes he committed as the violence of the Shining Gold People, and he did not take the Shining Gold People seriously.
"The Council of Elders can no longer continue to indulge Meteorite. He sees the tolerance of the Shining Gold Man as cowardice. If the Shining Gold Man does not take some action, Meteorite will only become more indulgent and further infringe upon the interests of the Shining Gold Man step by step!"
The Golden People had indeed reached the limit of their tolerance for what Luke had done in the Golden Valley. In particular, Yin had violated a taboo but had not been punished, which was handled very low-key by the Golden People. Now that Luke had spread the news, everyone knew about it, and the Golden People were already feeling unstable.
Since Art County Alliance has been so proactive in turning to the Shining Gold Man, giving Art County Alliance a suitable sum of money would be an effective way to warn Meteorite and get him to come to the Council of Elders as soon as possible.
Soon the World Bank announced that it would cooperate with Art County United to establish the "Steam Energy Development Company" whose business is to redevelop Art County United's geothermal steam system to create cheaper and more efficient steam energy.
The first batch of funds injected by the World Bank into the Steam Energy Development Company was 200,000 gold vouchers, which were used to purchase relevant equipment from all over the world.
As soon as this news came out, it immediately caused a sensation in Golden Valley.
Everyone knew that under the pressure of the meteorite, the Golden Man finally took action.
Moreover, the move was a big one. Two hundred thousand gold coupons could be exchanged for currencies issued by various countries, and most of them could be exchanged for more than 10 billion. The money was nominally used to rebuild the geothermal steam system of Art County Union, but from the information "used to purchase corresponding equipment from all over the world", it can be seen that the money was actually used to buy weapons for Art County Union.
Such a big piece of fat meat sizzling with oil, everyone wants to take a bite.
Then, the room where the Art County United Mission was staying, which had been almost deserted, immediately became crowded with people. Politicians turned into vendors and actively sold their country's "steam pipes" to Botrovich.
Correspondingly, fewer people came to visit Luke.
Politicians are ruthless and only care about their own interests. The ready-made money from the Art County Alliance is more real than the Golden Shield Empire's promises for the future.
Besides, the people of Shuojin clearly support the At County Alliance. The Golden Shield Empire can hardly protect itself, so how can it have any future?
Luke has had a rare moment of free time since arriving in the Golden Valley.
Yomington came over in a hurry and said, "Master Prime Minister! We must do something, otherwise the friends we have won over with great difficulty will all run to the At County Alliance."
Luke sat by the window, his legs resting on the coffee table, basking in the sun without any image. In response to Yominton's impatience, he said calmly: "People who run to wherever there is benefit are definitely not friends. It's easy to get them to come over. If you give them enough benefits, they will naturally come to me.
But this kind of profit-sharing competition is not our specialty, nor is it something smart people would do.”
Luke's calmness helped Yomington calm down. He asked, "Has the Prime Minister come up with a solution?"
"No!" Luke said straightforwardly, "This kind of thing is not enough for me to respond. Let's continue with our pace. Anyway, our energy transactions do not recognize gold coupons. The Golden Man has printed so many gold coupons, and sooner or later they will backfire."
Yominton thought about it.
In the short term, all countries were very happy to earn gold certificates from the Art County Alliance. However, as long as the Empire insisted on linking the energy mark, the Imperial Mark would gradually squeeze out the gold certificate market in international trade.
Over a long period of time, countries will find that the things they can buy with their gold certificates are getting fewer and fewer. In order to prevent the gold certificates from rotting in their own treasuries, countries will definitely use their gold certificates to run on gold.
Did the Golden People really issue gold certificates according to their gold reserves as they promised?
Of course not!
The more he understood the international market, the more he felt the power of the energy mark policy proposed by Meteorite. It seemed that all problems could be solved by playing this card.
"I understand, Prime Minister. I will go and appease my colleagues now..."
"No need!" Luke called out to Yomington who was about to leave: "I think we can show a certain panic to match the performance of the Golden Man.
Make an appointment for me with the elders of the Shining Gold People.
Once the Golden People see that throwing money around is effective, they will continue to throw money around."
Yomington laughed: "Your Excellency the Prime Minister is still as good as ever at fooling your opponents."
The Prime Minister of the Golden Shield Empire, Meteorite, finally had time to meet with the elders of the Shining Gold People.
This was a victory for the Shining Gold Man. No matter how powerful the Meteorite was rumored to be, it was no more than this. In the face of absolute power, his little tricks were just a joke of bluffing.
Giving the Art County Federation District 200,000 gold coupons made Meteorite anxious to come and ask for a meeting. If you give a little more, he will not agree to all the conditions.
The Shining Gold people allowed the Golden Shield Empire's Prime Minister Meteorite to enter the Golden Valley and go to the Council of Elders to meet with the Shining Gold elders.
Luke took the vehicle arranged by the Golden Man through the city and into the valley.
The inside and outside of the valley are two different worlds. The city receives tourists and merchants from all over the world. The prosperous city has the latest fashion and the most advanced equipment. Inside the valley, it is as simple as a primitive tribe.
At the bottom of the cliff, there are small houses made of stones, without electricity, running water, steam, or anything related to modern things.
All the Gold-Sparkling people who were trained in the valley had to live this kind of austere life. They wore rough linen clothes, ate food they grew and hunted, and their only activity after training was to go into the mines to collect gold.
The monotonous and austere life like an ascetic monk can keep the young Golden People from being affected by material things and put all their energy into cultivation and spiritual training. They get along with gold here to strengthen their connection with the Golden Compass, the artifact of the Golden People; they learn how to maintain a state of mind without desires, so that when they enter the secular world, they can quickly find peace in their hearts amidst the temptation of material desires.
The Shining Gold People do not have the innate strong physique of the angels, dragons, demons, and shadow tribes. They can firmly occupy the top spot in the five ancient civilizations because each of them obeys the entire group. They suppress their selfish desires to the lowest level, and everything is for the continuation of the race...
Luke looked at the scene outside in the car and re-evaluated the strength of the Golden Man in his mind.
This is a very strong opponent.
The special car arrived at the Elders' House. This was a circular open-air venue, built with stones commonly seen in the valley, with a simple and primitive style. However, there were thirteen seats cast in gold on the high platform surrounding the venue, and the radiant gold formed a strong contrast with the venue.
Luke walked to the middle of the venue.
Twelve of the thirteen golden chairs were occupied by old men, who were the elders who managed the entire Sparkling Gold Civilization. Because Elder Chun had been assassinated, there was one less elder temporarily.
The elders of the Shuojin people have no high or low status, and they all have the same status in the elders' council. Every time an elders' meeting is held, the elders of the Shuojin people vote to decide a host, and they also vote to decide when there is a disagreement.
The minority obeys the majority, and the individual obeys the collective.
This is the law of the Golden Man.
Since the guest of honor this time was the Prime Minister of the Golden Shield Empire, Meteor, Elder Mu was elected as the presiding elder of the Council of Elders.
Elder Mu and other elders wore homemade linen clothes and straw sandals. There were no extra ornaments on their clothes, only the gold rings around their necks indicated their status as elders.
The golden warrior wearing golden armor brought a golden chair for Luke.
Pan came in at some point. He stood silently at the edge of the meeting room with an extremely pious expression.
After Luke sat down, Elder Mu said with a smile: "Respected Prime Minister of Meteorite. It is really not easy to meet you. If we had not jointly established the 'Steam Energy Development Company' with Art County Union, I really don't know how long we would have to wait."
Luke protested immediately: "The main reason I made an excuse not to see you is... on the first day I arrived at the Golden Valley, I was neglected by the Shining Gold People.
As the Prime Minister of the Golden Shield Empire, I was invited by the Golden People to the Golden Valley. However, before I entered the hotel room, someone was able to enter and wait for me. This greatly threatened my safety and was a disdain and harm to the Golden Shield Empire.
My staff have protested to the Golden People many times, but you have yet to give me an explanation or apology, so I postponed the meeting.
However, the Golden People did not learn from their mistakes. Instead, they violated the World Bank's principle of not developing new cooperation with warring countries and blatantly funded the enemies who invaded the Golden Shield Empire.
Is this the sincerity of the Golden Man in inviting me to the Golden Valley?"
Luke protested fiercely, and in his extreme anger he slapped the armrest of the chair so hard that the hard gold was deformed.
As for the opening of this negotiation, Shuojin people were well prepared.
Elder Mu asked Pan, "Why did you wait in his room before the Prime Minister of Meteorite entered his room? Did you explain to the Prime Minister of Meteorite?"
Pan saluted to Elder Mu, then replied, "I have already explained this to the Prime Minister of Meteorite."
Elder Mu did not continue to ask, but said to Luke: "Since Pan has already explained, I don't think the Shuojin people need to respond to your protest.
As for the 'Steam Energy Development Company', that was a cooperation that we had already agreed on with the Art County Federation before you fought with the Art County Federation, and it did not violate the rules of the World Bank.
Prime Minister Meteorite, these are all misunderstandings, and they are all insignificant matters... You should have no objection, right?"
The Golden Man had clearly shown that he had no shame this time, and Luke knew that there was no big objection to arguing on this point.
"Okay, whatever you say is what it is."
Elder Mu smiled and said, "Since the Prime Minister of Meteorite has no objection, let's start talking about the purpose of inviting you to Golden Valley this time."
Luke said, "We can just leave those two things behind, but is that how you're going to talk to me?"
The elder pastor asked, "If not this way, how else can we talk about it?"
Luke chuckled and said, "Look at our positions. You elders of the Shining Gold are sitting high up, and I am sitting in the middle surrounded by you. I can't help but ask...is this an equal negotiation?
Why do I feel like a criminal is on trial? "
Pan said at the side: "Meteor, you are really a criminal to the Sparkling Gold Civilization. The fact that you can sit on a chair now is already a privilege for you from the Sparkling Gold people."
Pan always brings up things that are not relevant to the topic.
The elders of the Golden Star did not want to link the two things together at this time. The important thing now was to solve the energy monetary policy of the Golden Shield Empire. And Yin, because it involved the spirit Qingkong, needed to be pulled out and solved separately.
Now Pan suddenly brings up this matter in this kind of occasion. Isn't that just looking for trouble?
But the elders could not rebuke Pan for this.
The venue fell into an awkward atmosphere.
After a while, Luke saw that none of the elders of the Shining Gold were talking, so he broke the silence and said, "Since Pan has brought up this matter, I think we should resolve the issue of Yin first. Only when I am cleared of the charges can I face the Shining Gold people as a normal person."
Pan sneered and said, "You still want to clear your name? Now the whole world knows that you made Yin fall in love, violated the taboos of the Shuojin people, and caused me to be expelled from the Shuojin civilization."
Luke crossed his legs and said, "Iwa. Now the whole world knows that it was you who betrayed your twin sister! And was it me who made Yin fall in love with her... can you show me the evidence?"
Pan didn't expect Yunxing to want to overturn the verdict on this matter. He angrily said, "Yinxin is obsessed with you, how dare you deny it?"
Elder Mu also said: "Yunxing, you admitted in person your relationship with Yin."
Luke smiled and said, "Did I admit it? I just asked you not to hurt Yin, but I didn't admit that I had a private relationship with her. That was friendship, not love...
And I have been dating the Imperial Princess Agatha. If I have an affair with another woman, do you think the Imperial Princess will forgive me?"
Pan shouted angrily: "You still dare to quibble?"
Luke's expression changed instantly. He stared at Pan and asked, "Is it me that Yin said made her fall in love?"
Pan realized that something was wrong, and he said emotionally: "She didn't say it, but I know it was you!"
Luke said, "Ever since I knew that Yin had violated the taboo of the Shining Gold People, I have always had a question. Did Yin really have feelings for someone, or was she framed? If she was framed, why didn't she defend herself?
Who in this world could make her willing to endure such grievance?
As for you and Yin, whose emotions are more volatile... I think the elders should be able to see it more clearly than me."
All the elders looked at Pan together.
Pan's face was pale, his whole body was shaking and he couldn't speak.
