A Three-Way Balance of Power, Aoluosi's Commission

When Luo Qi saw Xia Lin take the phone, he left.

Xia Lin, meanwhile, found a fairly clean spot to sit down and continued talking to Aoluosi.

"By the serious business you mentioned, you mean bringing down the Suzuki Consortium, right?"

Xia Lin asked, and a prompt answer came from the phone. "Yes."

After that single word, Aoluosi chuckled. "After all, who wants to share power with someone else? And who wants to see their own life held in someone else's hands?"

Xia Lin understood the first half of that.

People had fought for power and profit since ancient times.

Where there were people, there was conflict.

But he didn't quite understand the second half.

Aoluosi gave him a detailed explanation.

"The order of Fierce Martial City is essentially built on mutually assured destruction."

Mutually assured destruction?

"You can think of it as nuclear deterrence, but with far greater destructive power."

Put that way, Xia Lin understood.

More than a century had passed since the nuclear war of the old world.

When the new era arrived, the three great consortiums established its basic order.

But there was a question...

Why had the three great consortiums been able to become the leaders of the new era? What gave them the right to establish the order of an entire age?

The answer was power.

"Huaxin Technology controls all the nuclear weapons of the old era. If it wanted to, it could unleash nuclear explosions ten or even a hundred times more destructive than the nuclear devastation of the past."

"We at Aoluosi control the most advanced biological laboratories. We have collected and developed more than a hundred top-grade viruses, and there are no solutions for most of them."

"If I wanted to, I could destroy every carbon-based life-form on this planet, myself included."

"Last is the Suzuki Consortium."

"A hundred years ago, only Huaxin and we had the power to make the rules... We brought in the Suzuki Consortium because a two-way relationship isn't as stable as a three-way one. So Huaxin and we approached the Suzuki Consortium and gave it a great deal of support."

"That included the technology for developing combat robots from the old era."

"The Suzuki Consortium built itself up with that technology, and its strength grew rapidly. But that growth was exactly what Huaxin and we wanted to see."

"After all, even with a sizable army of combat robots, Suzuki remained outside the arrangement of mutually assured destruction. The power of combat robots was controllable, and it could hardly be called a means of destroying the world."

Xia Lin carefully considered Aoluosi's words.

He gained a deeper understanding of how the world of Fierce Martial City worked.

Peace was built on the ultimate violence of mutual destruction.

That led both sides to make concessions and compromises.

The Savage Martial Arena came into being as a result, with the full backing of Aoluosi and Huaxin.

Deciding how to divide the spoils by victory or defeat in the arena was far better than tearing off all pretenses and dying together.

Just then, an explosion sounded below. Luo Qi seemed to have engaged Steel Gale.

At the same time, a faint, scattered buzzing receded into the distance.

It was the sound of the police helicopters and police forces withdrawing.

Aoluosi Pharmaceuticals had made its move.

Aoluosi's voice came from the phone again.

"But what's welcome is that the Suzuki Consortium isn't satisfied with its position. As its technology and strength have grown, it has even sought to develop things that are far more dangerous."

"For example, the Firmament System, which has already been developed and is now being assembled."

The Firmament System.

It was a near-Earth space-based defense system.

The entire Firmament System consisted of 9,999 satellites orbiting the planet. Once launched and assembled, it would be able to monitor the entire planet without a single blind spot.

But that alone wasn't enough to draw the attention of Aoluosi and Huaxin.

Satellites were far too common, after all.

The key was the weapons mounted on the Firmament System.

"The Yamata Type III Laser Emitter."

"Every satellite has one. As for its power, it's about a hundred times stronger than the Radiant Knight's laser."

Understanding dawned on Xia Lin.

"That kind of power is enough to destroy any target. And laser weapons fire quickly and hit their designated targets with precision. The Firmament System can carry out precision strikes, even more accurately than a sniper rifle!"

That meant once the Firmament System was complete, the Suzuki Consortium could kill anyone it wanted.

With pinpoint strikes, at that!

Aoluosi's voice turned cold.

"Once the Firmament System goes up, I won't be able to leave my safe house for the rest of my life."

"Suzuki has broken the rules and crossed a forbidden line this time."

"The order of Fierce Martial City is built on mutually assured destruction."

"Huaxin's ultimate means and ours would take everyone down with us, ourselves included!"

"But the Firmament System breaks the rules..."

"What makes it a violation is that it can destroy Huaxin and us without harming the Suzuki Consortium or anyone else."

A powerful weapon wasn't a problem.

But a powerful weapon that could hit exactly where it was aimed was another matter.

It was like three people sitting at a gambling table, wagering their lives.

If all three had a bundle of explosives, the game would go on forever without a winner, and the ultimate destruction would never come.

Because the game was bound to have no winner.

But now, Aoluosi and Huaxin had bundles of explosives, while Suzuki had pulled out a handgun.

When the two of them flipped the table, everyone would die.

When Suzuki flipped the table, it would shoot the two of them dead with a couple of bangs.

How was that fair?

"Suzuki must die."

"And the Firmament System must be destroyed."

"Huaxin and we agree on that."

A notification sounded in Xia Lin's ear once again.

But he ignored it for the time being.

Aoluosi's voice came from the phone again.

"Those are the reasons."

"Huaxin and I have already worked out the details."

"The Firmament System hasn't been launched yet, so there's still time. Originally, we planned to act in a week, but your appearance has given that plan another safeguard."

"First, let me explain what we have in mind. It's quite simple... We'll send a small force, led by Fierce Martial Kings and supported by top-tier Fierce Martial Arts practitioners, to infiltrate and carry out a decapitation strike against the Suzuki Consortium's command center."

By now, the Suzuki Consortium's strength was no less than that of Aoluosi or Huaxin.

In fact, because of its combat robot technology, the Suzuki Consortium's conventional military strength surpassed theirs.

Even if the two joined forces and launched a frontal assault, the Suzuki Consortium could hold out until the day the Firmament System was launched. Then Aoluosi and Huaxin would be finished.

It might even become the end of this world.

A surprise decapitation strike was therefore the best option.

With the individual strength of Fierce Martial King-level fighters, it was indeed possible to pull it off!

"Huaxin has the first- and second-generation Fierce Martial Kings. I have the fourth and fifth."

The third-generation Fierce Martial King practiced Mechanical Martial Arts and was with the Suzuki Consortium.

"Even if the four Fierce Martial Kings and dozens of top-tier Fierce Martial Arts practitioners enter Suzuki's home ground, their calculated chance of victory is around sixty percent. But with you, it rises to eighty percent!"

After saying that, Aoluosi laughed.

"After all, your skill that drastically reduces damage from technological weapons is the natural bane of the Suzuki Consortium and Mechanical Martial Arts practitioners. With that skill, you could even be considered a fifth Fierce Martial King."

"And this time, as long as you help me, I can give you benefits beyond your imagination... Or should I call them rewards?"

The notification sounded in his ear again.

[Side quest activated...]

Xia Lin listened and thought it over carefully. After a long while, his lips curled into a fierce smile.

"Interesting. I accept."