Tiandou National Treasure, Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud!

Chapter 44: Heaven Dou National Treasure, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud!

July 25th, 2625, Douluo Calendar.

The Heaven Dou Empire was facing the darkest, most turbulent moment in its thousand-year history.

Ceding territory, paying indemnities, selling out the country for peace... The sky over Tiandou City was obscured by dark clouds, as if the light itself had been smothered by a giant hand.

And the master of that hand was a mere six-year-old boy.

"Sign it."

With those two indifferent words, Xu Nian'an turned his head away coldly.

Inside the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, soldiers in golden armor stood at attention, while layers of silver-armored, white-robed soldiers stood outside the palace walls.

Their faces were expressionless, their bodies radiating an aura of slaughter.

Looking at the treaty of defeat in his hands, Emperor Xue Ye of the Heaven Dou Empire trembled.

A staggering two billion (Gold Soul Coins in debt).

Beyond that, there was the requirement to abandon the empire's colonies (kingdoms).

And the ceding of land: starting from the Heavenly Spirit Mountain Range, including the Heaven Dou Empire's famous Jialing Pass, all the way north to the Ice God Mountain Range in the far north. This included the entirety of the Heaven Dou Empire's East Sea border, as well as the major city of Xueling City.

Stretching for hundreds of miles, it effectively stripped away nearly one-third of the Heaven Dou Empire's territory.

Of course, that was not all, for this was the victor's treaty.

Most importantly, citing the fact that the Balak Kingdom had joined the Heaven Dou Empire in a coalition to invade the Great Ming Empire's borders, causing the Great Ming to suffer massive losses, Xu Nian'an demanded that Heaven Dou directly cede the Balak Kingdom.

Beyond these major points, there were various restrictive clauses, numbering over a hundred in total.

"Your Majesty, Emperor of Great Ming, we are willing to sign a treaty of defeat because we have indeed lost. We are willing to sign the same treaty of defeat as the Star Luo Empire, but this..."

After hesitating for a long time, Emperor Xue Ye ultimately did not put pen to paper, for the disparity was simply too great.

If he were to sign this, he did not know how many generations it would take for the Heaven Dou Empire to recover.

"The disparity is too great?"

Xu Nian'an spoke with a sneer upon hearing this.

Before the other could respond, Xu Nian'an frowned and immediately shouted.

"The Star Luo battlefield has its price, and the Heaven Dou battlefield has its own."

"I will tell you now why the Heaven Dou battlefield is so much more expensive than the Star Luo battlefield."

"First, the primary initiator of this war was your Heaven Dou Empire, and after your initial defeat, you even joined forces with Star Luo to invade my Great Ming!"

"Second, the Battle of Gulei City cost my Dragon Guard one hundred thousand lives. Since the founding of my Great Ming, this is the greatest loss we have ever suffered. That is why the Heaven Dou battlefield is so expensive."

At some point, Xu Nian'an's fists had clenched tightly together.

The Battle of Gulei City and the loss of those one hundred thousand Dragon Guards was the pain of Xu Nian'an's life since he had transmigrated here, a thorn in his side.

Xu Nian'an wanted them to know now that starting a war came with a price.

And that price might be one that their descendants for countless generations would have to pay.

Swish!

Hearing Xu Nian'an's words, a civil official in the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace ran out with reddened eyes.

"You're talking nonsense! Where is there a war without death? Your Great Ming Empire's one hundred thousand Dragon Guards are human, but my Heaven Dou's million-strong army are not?"

"How do you account for my Heaven Dou's million-strong army..."

Swish!

Before the man could finish, Xu Nian'an turned his head coldly and interrupted him with a sharp cry.

"What does that have to do with Me!!!!"

"In My eyes, they are not people; they are not worth as much as My Dragon Guards!"

Hearing Xu Nian'an's words, every Dragon Guard in the hall felt a warmth in their hearts.

In reality, there was no difference between one person and another; everyone had one head, two hands, two feet, and one crotch.

The only difference between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Great Ming Empire was this:

The Great Ming Empire had won.

And Xu Nian'an, as their Emperor, was protective of his own and willing to stand up for them.

"Take him down!"

The commander of the Dragon Guard narrowed his eyes.

With a wave of his hand, dozens of men lunged forward, pinning the Heaven Dou official firmly to the ground.

"Your Majesty, the one who dared to provoke the imperial might has been apprehended. I await your judgment!"

Xu Nian'an hated being interrupted while he was speaking, especially by someone who had dared to accuse him.

What was his status, and what was theirs? What was his standing, and what was theirs? Did they even deserve to breathe the same air?

"Execute him."

Clang—shink!

The moment Xu Nian'an's voice fell, the commander of the Dragon Guard brought his blade down in one swift motion.

Before long, a body, still twitching, lay sprawled across the grand hall.

Emperor Xue Ye's face turned deathly pale.

He could not tell if Xu Nian'an had done this on purpose.

Was he intentionally killing the chicken to scare the monkey, deliberately putting on a show for him?

At this thought, the hand Emperor Xue Ye used to hold his brush began to tremble.

Finally, he gritted his teeth.

This war had drained the Heaven Dou Empire of a century's worth of savings.

In particular, the million elite troops of Heaven Dou had been buried at the border, resulting in a massive loss of the prime-aged workforce.

He realized that no matter how vast the territory of the Heaven Dou Empire was, it would all be in vain if there were no people left.

Ultimately, under the expectant gazes of the hundred officials below the dais, Emperor Xue Ye gritted his teeth and began to write.

"My Heaven Dou does not currently have that much money..."

Xu Nian'an waved his hand dismissively.

"It doesn't matter. You can pay in installments. Let the interest be the same as Star Luo's: no less than ten million in repayments per year, with fifty million in interest every ten years."

As he spoke, Xu Nian'an's eyes flickered, as if he had just thought of something, and he added intentionally or otherwise:

"Of course, if you have any unique items with collection value, you may use them to offset the debt."

"For instance, I heard your Heaven Dou Empire possesses a national treasure. What was it called again? Yes, it seems to be called the Vast Sea..."

Xu Nian'an did not finish his sentence, stopping just at the right moment.

The sensible Emperor Xue Ye immediately picked up the thread.

"The Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud!"

Hearing this, Xu Nian'an nodded.

"This Lonely One is willing to offer one hundred million Gold Soul Coins for its collection."

Ten minutes later, an object emitting a blue light, triangular in shape, was brought over.

Taking it, Xu Nian'an examined it expressionlessly for a moment, then nodded and stored it away in his storage ring.

"Deduct the value from the debt."

Did they expect him to pay?

That was impossible; what Xu Nian'an wanted was to win without spending a single cent.

Upon hearing Xu Nian'an's words, Emperor Xue Ye breathed a sigh of relief.

It was valued at one hundred million; he was just glad it had any value at all. Even if it were only worth a million, Xue Ye would have sold it.

He was joking, of course—the man had kindly asked, and given the current state of Heaven Dou, if the other party had simply taken it without asking, what could he, Xue Ye, have said? What dared he have said?

Swish, swish, swish!

Emperor Xue Ye slowly signed his name on the treaty of defeat.

From this moment on, the treaty took effect, and at the same time, a cold system notification rang out instantly in Xu Nian'an's mind.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the main quest: First Empire of the Continent!]

With the long-standing Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire signing treaties of defeat, it meant that the Great Ming Empire had become the final victor.

It had become the strongest empire in the history of the Douluo Continent, unprecedented and unrivaled!

Along with this came the completion of the system's main quest.

"Your Majesty, Emperor of Great Ming, tell me... is there anything else in my Heaven Dou that catches your eye? Shall we have it valued and deducted as well?"