Shilke was not foolish either. Even if he felt that submitting to Great Zhou was the best option, he could not possibly open by saying, "I hope your chieftain can lead your entire race in submitting to Great Zhou."
If he said that, wouldn't the other side attack him on the spot?
He sincerely believed that submitting to Great Zhou was the best choice, but the Elf race before him clearly did not think so. They felt perfectly content where they were.
In fact, this was a common failing shared by all factions. Before they truly faced something they could not handle, they all thought they were doing just fine. No matter what you told them, it was useless. They had never suffered a loss, so they simply refused to heed advice.
Only when something happened and they still could not deal with it would they learn what it meant to enjoy the shade beneath a great tree.
For now, Shilke remained fairly calm. They could form an alliance first.
In any case, Great Zhou's territory had already expanded to the neighboring area. If anything truly happened, they could immediately send support over. They certainly would not let anything major happen to the Elf race.
In the meantime, when Luo Le heard that the other side wanted to coexist amicably, his expression immediately softened somewhat.
The Elf race truly did not like fighting deep down, nor did they like meddling in troublesome matters beyond their borders. They preferred staying in their own little patch of land and living at their own unhurried pace.
Shilke's words aligned with their principles and way of life. On top of that, they belonged to the same race and lineage, so Luo Le's attitude visibly became friendlier.
As for the alliance...
The Elf race had