Without receiving a clear response, Lu PingAn planned to return to his own territory.
He knew that no response would come in the short term. Though the Phosphorus People had fallen on hard times, even a rotten ship still had a few nails left.
But in the end, they would agree to Lu PingAn's request and send a group of people to develop Mercury 42, just as they had with Green Planet.
Of course, this was Lu PingAn's personal request. Leaving the country still required an application to the local government. Lu PingAn figured they would handle all the paperwork at unprecedented speed and kindly invite these Masters to leave the country.
Ancient City did not reject the Phosphorus People, nor had it driven them away. They had become an inseparable part of the city—an important foreign investment project—but too many Phosphorus People had clearly upset the city's balance.
Moving some of them away would actually be good for the Phosphorus People themselves. If they truly began squeezing the living space of the locals on every front, then once the tensions gradually fermented, who would ultimately be purged?
What the Phosphorus People should have done was retain a certain amount of industry while integrating most of their population into the East Country People, the dominant ethnic group.
Even if they had thought of that internally, they could not carry it out. No one could bear the accusation of "abandoning their own people."
"...I'm just going with the flow. Of course they won't refuse."
Lu PingAn was not particularly gifted in politics, but most of the time, his methods pursued "win-win" and "mutual benefit," which made his path comparatively smoother.
But he was also the sort who would not rest until he achieved his goal. If they truly refused a toast