Holy Son's Residence.
True Monarch Qingshui gave Fang Mo a detailed report on his meeting with Silard.
After listening, Fang Mo smiled. "Looks like we were still thinking too small. We should've asked for ten billion from the start."
Qingshui smiled as well. "I didn't expect the Mechanical Empire to be so extravagantly wealthy. They brought ten billion Gold Crystals along with the fleet—perhaps they anticipated we would make this demand."
Fang Mo's smile faded, and his expression turned grave. "Then Raya's intelligence was real. The Mechanical Empire is building a stargate. Their reinforcements haven't arrived, and they don't want to clash with us at a time like this. They're trying to buy time."
Qingshui nodded. "That should be it. But they didn't expect that we don't want to fight either."
Fang Mo said, "The Mechanical Empire is clearing Fenyu Continent no slower than we are. When we deal with the aberrations in the future, they'll be a great help. Since neither side wants to fight, we can use this opportunity to squeeze more oil out of them."
Qingshui asked, "Then when do we let them see Raya?"
"Drag it out!" Fang Mo said. "Drag it out for two days first. Let them get anxious, then we'll talk."
He paused, his gaze narrowing slightly. "But we must force them to ransom Raya back. We can't let them notice anything unusual."
Qingshui nodded solemnly. "I understand."
After Qingshui left, Fang Mo did not linger. He once again set out on the road of extermination.
Now, the air was thick with a scorching, restless tension.
Everyone active in the wilderness could sense it. The exotic beasts were being suppressed by some force, yet they had already reached the brink of eruption.
There were simply too many of them—so many that it made