I returned to my room.
Qianqian and Han Ru came up and asked what R5 had said to me.
I told them everything about meeting R5 and the entire negotiation process.
Qianqian frowned after listening. "It seems their headquarters has taken a relatively hard-line stance, which is why R5 broke his previous silence and tried to probe our bottom line. He and R15 played off each other. If your attitude had been any softer, they would have been the ones setting the terms instead of you."
Han Ru nodded. "But R5 isn't stupid. Although headquarters is taking a hard line, he knows that the ones who will truly be affected are him and the twenty thousand people under his command, so he doesn't dare act entirely according to headquarters' demands. Besides, their crisis hasn't been resolved. The person capable of instantly wiping out their base also has the ability to make all twenty thousand of them disappear completely. That is beyond doubt. So he doesn't dare gamble. He can't afford to lose. He wants another layer of insurance, and cooperating with you is the best option. First, they can shift some of the danger away from themselves. Second, they can form an offensive and defensive alliance. If the other side truly wants to deal with them, they will have to get past you first. But that would go against headquarters' orders, so he wants to find a balance. Yet you gave him no such opportunity. You gave them a multiple-choice question too, but only one option."
At that, Han Ru smiled. "I never expected you to be such a skilled negotiator."
Qianqian rolled her eyes at me. "That wasn't a negotiation. That was practically a verdict!"
Just then, Han Ru frowned. I asked, "What is it? Did something happen?"
Han