Pelius calmly watched Mr. Truman. He was a very strong man, and gave off an intense sense of oppression.
He was a head taller than Mr. Truman, and looking down at him from above made the atmosphere between them slightly tense.
After roughly seven or eight seconds, Pelius shook his head. "We used to think that way. There was nothing that couldn't be resolved through discussion."
"But look at us. We'd already lowered our heads. We'd fawned over Gefra like fools who'd been wronged yet still had to tell everyone that we were doing fine."
"And yet they treated us like toys in their hands, manipulating us however they pleased."
"Interests that originally belonged to us were diverted by them. Even the War Bonds we purchased were no longer being redeemed."
"They said we'd stolen their wealth, while we could only give them even greater compensation through trade."
"Because back then, we believed we weren't their match."
What Pelius was talking about had happened after the end of the previous World War. It had been just over a decade ago—not all that long ago.
He leaned back slightly, and the tense atmosphere eased somewhat. "I still remember how their delegation kept rejecting our demands at the negotiating table, while continually making new demands that excessively favored them."
"We protested and joined forces with others to try to compromise, but in the end, none of it meant anything."
"I remember very clearly how, right there at the negotiating table, they swallowed up what had originally belonged to us, bit by bit."
"And we were powerless to do anything!"
Mr. Truman fell silent as well. All of that had truly happened, and no one could change it. Lin Qi had also made a great deal of money by exploiting Gefra's plunder of