The ratio of an ordinary tiger's age to a human's was one is to five.

He was already ten years old—the equivalent of a 50-year-old human—when the awakening of spiritual energy had dawned. One could say that he was already an old tiger by then.

Six years had gone by since the awakening of spiritual energy. Even though he had attained the Transformation Realm and Divine Body Realm one after the other, resulting in a great increase in lifespan; after the various offsets, strictly speaking, his age was at least the equivalent of a 70-year-old human.

If he were to also include his past life…

A faint sigh of emotion surfaced in his mind. So, he was already this advanced in years before he had even realized.

Time really was worthless. To think so much time had already passed when he looked back upon his life.

His peripheral vision swept toward Dong Pingtao next to him again. Suddenly, he didn't find himself that old anymore.

As it turned out, he was this man's peer.

At the sight of Wang Hu keeping quiet, Dong Pingtao didn't mind either. He went on and said, "Ever since the awakening of spiritual energy, everyone has started to yearn to enhance one's individual strength. The youths aspire for strong combat power, while the elderly long for a longer lifespan and youthfulness.

"I'm no exception either. Sometimes, I really wish I could set aside some time to cultivate. Unfortunately, I've not had much time at all and have only managed to cultivate and achieve this bit of True Qi.

"Your Excellency, you're the strongest entity on Earth. As you continue to become stronger and stronger, a peer like me is really becoming more and more envious of you.

"This went on until you attained the Divine Body Realm. The sight of your Dao form transformation really makes me so envious that I… sigh!"

He didn't conceal any of his envy at all; Wang Hu could clearly sense it. It was genuine.

A hint of a smile involuntarily surfaced at the corners of Wang Hu's lips. What an interesting man he was. He was unlike the sternness that Wang Hu had seen in video calls and what the tiger had initially imagined him to be.

However, Wang Hu could tell that Dong Pingtao wasn't putting on an act. This was the real him.

As for whether that feeling was because Dong Pingtao had successfully hoodwinked him or not… if a normal person's acting could hoodwink him, then Wang Hu could only admit defeat.

"Also, for some reason, I've always felt in the past that meeting you in person would bring me a pleasant surprise. True enough, there really was one when I met you." Dong Pingtao put away his envy and spoke with a fair bit of amazement and elation.

"I wonder if Your Excellency also feels the same way. When I met you, I felt a rather unique sense of serenity and relaxation, which made me feel like speaking a bit more. Not about business, but just casual talk."

Wang Hu couldn't help but cast a glance at him.

As though his interest had been piqued, Dong Pingtao went on and said, "Now that I think about it carefully, it's likely also because of our statuses."

A hint of resignation surfaced on his countenance, and he said with a light sigh, "When one reaches a position like mine, one will feel like one can't actually find even a single person with whom one can casually talk. It seems like Your Excellency is the most suitable person instead."

Wang Hu was a little stunned. Was it because of their statuses?

In that case, what kind of reason was his?

Innumerable thoughts passed through his mind. He believed Dong Pingtao.

At Dong Pingtao's position, while one couldn't really say that he was all alone, that was also more or less the case.

He, Wang Hu, was the strongest on Earth. His status and position were high enough.

He had helped China before in the past, and he was also someone China wanted to form an alliance with.

Most importantly, in a situation like this where he probably sincerely wanted to befriend Wang Hu, and coupled with some other reasons; it wasn't that strange that Dong Pingtao would want to speak casually with someone like him.

After all, the other party knew very well that he needed to be sincere first if he wished to befriend the tiger king.

In that case, opening up would be the first step.

He wasn't wrong in saying that Wang Hu was the most suitable person.

Although Dong Pingtao did have his own motives prior to this, Wang Hu didn't develop any negative emotions. In the case of people such as Dong Pingtao, he would instead become suspicious if they acted like this without harboring any kind of motives beforehand.

To be honest, sometimes befriending someone while having an ulterior motive didn't mean anything.

What mattered the most was how one went about doing it.

At least Dong Pingtao had made a pretty good impression on him. That was enough.

In that case, why did a feeling like that arise in him?

The furrows in his brows relaxed as an answer faintly formed in his mind.

Firstly, it was also because of their power, status, and position. By the time one reached a stage like his, there were too few people whom he could really treat as an equal.

The next reason was that he had ultimately been human in his past life. He instinctively held a bit of positive feeling and some special sentiments toward the Chinese leader. It wasn't strange that he would want to speak a little more with Dong Pingtao.

After musing over it a little, Wang Hu's voice mellowed slightly. "This feeling is surprisingly not too bad indeed."

Dong Pingtao's eyes brightened, and he asked happily, "Does Your Excellency get that feeling, too?"

Wang Hu gave him a calm and tranquil smile and kept quiet.

Dong Pingtao didn't ask again either; he merely gained a sense of understanding in his heart. At once, his smile widened a couple of notches.

It was only after Dong Pingtao took another couple of steps that his expression became more serious, and he said, "Now that we've finished talking about private matters, it's time that we talk about official business. Your Excellency, you should also be aware that China wishes very much to form an alliance and team up with the tigers under your rule, so that we may together ride through the unknown crises coming up.

"That's the official business I'd like to talk about. It's just a shame that, due to various reasons, our relationship with each other still hasn't seen any real development even till now.

"I'm anxious about this, of course. I'm always wondering whether I can meet with you or not and have an open, candid discussion to see how exactly we can resolve this.

"Due to various reasons, it has dragged on to this current point in time when it cannot afford to be dragged on any longer. Only now was I able to have this meeting with Your Excellency."

Wang Hu was silent for a while before he said dispassionately, "To the tigers, forming an alliance and teaming up with China is ultimately still a little too distant a notion."

"Why is that?" Dong Pingtao frowned lightly, his expression serious. Both of them knew that the real negotiation had started.

"Leader Dong, you should be aware that the tigers are too weak," replied Wang Hu forthrightly and straightforwardly.

"But we both know that the ones whom we, China, really wish to form an alliance with are Your Excellency and your wife," Dong Pingtao, who was equally forthright, said straightforwardly.

"Okay. In that case, we'll skip the superfluous rubbish. What can China offer me? What can the whole of humanity offer me?" Wang Hu raised an eyebrow as he gave off a forceful and domineering aura around him.

As though unaffected, Dong Pingtao asked calmly and steadily, "What does Your Excellency want?"

"It doesn't matter what I want. Rather, it depends on how much all of you can relinquish.

"This matter concerns the whole of Earth. It doesn't just concern humans and tigers; it also concerns every animal species out there. The disputes relating to benefits and interests involved… It's too early to be talking about such things, Leader Dong," calmly said Wang Hu with simple words.

Dong Pingtao's brows were tightly drawn together. He mentally let out a resigned sigh. He knew that his attempt at persuasion had failed.

He understood very well what Wang Hu meant. The tigers were too weak at the moment. Compared to China and humans, they weren't worthy of an alliance at all.

What the Tiger King wanted was equality, true equality.

This applied to their combat power, and it also included the benefits involved.

The amount of benefits one received should match the amount of work they would do.

In terms of benefits, that one line was more or less the core issue. Dong Pingtao couldn't find anything to refute him with.

If it were just about the benefits, he could still try and continue the negotiation.

However, there was also the issue of their combat power disparity. When would the tigers reach a point where they would qualify to form an alliance with China? Or rather, when would the Tiger King feel that they qualified?

How would he know something like that?

Therefore, he could only resign himself to it.

He didn't bother concealing his emotions and heaved a long sigh filled with disappointment and resignation.

"Leader Dong, why don't we talk about the incident that you wanted to talk about this time instead?" Wang Hu took the initiative and suggested.

Dong Pingtao quickly adjusted his frame of mind and gave him an uninhibited smile. "Alright, we can talk about the alliance again in the future. Let's talk about the incident this time first."

He paused for a moment before he said gravely, "Some of our men have mysteriously disappeared in the Hu County alternate world. However, we also suspect that they've been captured by a strong Hui.

"That Hui boasts extremely great combat power. Our preliminary judgment is that his divine body is at the perfected level, and his combat power is at the Fifth Floor of the Third Realm—or perhaps even the Sixth Floor.

"He holds a very high position among the Huis. There's a high chance that he has obtained information about the world passage—including information about our world as well—from our men.

"That's why we're focusing so much on this issue and entering a combat-ready state—because once that Hui gets hold of this information, what we'll have to face is likely the entire Hui species."

Wang Hu frowned lightly. It was no wonder that China had reacted the way it had. Had it been him, he would also treat the matter equally importantly.

This was because he was 90% confident that that particular Hui would obtain a lot of information if those men really had been captured by it.

This wasn't because he didn't believe in the Chinese's loyalty. Rather, it was because, by the time one reached a stage like that, the means they had at their disposal were no longer something that a person's sense of loyalty could resist.

Without a certain level of combat power, there was no way one could defend themselves against things like literal soul-searching, bewitchment, and so on.

After a few seconds of silence, Wang Hu asked straightforwardly, "How do we team up?"

Although Dong Pingtao personally believed that the other party would choose to team up for this incident, he was nevertheless pleasantly surprised when he heard Wang Hu's response for real.

In particular, his direct and straightforward behavior that didn't take advantage of the situation to demand benefits or wait for a good offer resulted in him developing a sense of gratitude.

With a sincere expression, he said seriously, "Thank you."

"We're just taking what each of us needs, that's all. Those Huis will cause me disturbance," replied an unconcerned Wang Hu.

He certainly wanted to get China, and even all humans, to take the initiative to give him benefits, as well as obtain equality in status in the future.

However, it was different this time. Both of them knew that a Hui invasion effectively affected both parties' interests. Thus, they would definitely think the same way with regard to how they should deal with the Huis.

Wang Hu's home was too near to the Hu County alternate world.

Yet, because of the dinosaur world, Wang Hu would never move elsewhere so easily.

Since they were both aware of this, should Wang Hu continue to put on a hesitant act and take the opportunity to demand benefits and the like… even he couldn't make himself do such an embarrassing thing. On top of that, it would also incur China's dislike. He might as well just directly move away without saying anything.

What Wang Hu wanted was major benefits, not the small gains currently in front of him.

As for Dong Pingtao's word of thanks, the reason for that was very simple. China was the one that would suffer the greatest loss and be affected the worst should there be a Hui invasion; the effects on the tigers were only secondary.

Besides, the tigers could retreat while China couldn't.

Therefore, relatively speaking, this matter was more important to China. China should indeed offer its thanks.

"How should we team up? How should we split the benefits? Feel free to say what's on your mind, Your Excellency," said Dong Pingtao seriously.

Wang Hu didn't hesitate. Hints of mighty domineeringness surged from him as he spoke.

"If the Huis invade, I'll take care of the Third Realm ones. Should there be too many of them, China is to assist by using missiles to restrict their movements while I take them out one by one."

The domineering aura in his speech that thought nothing of the Third Realm Huis was fully displayed.

He paused for a moment before he went on. "As for the benefits, you and I will do a 1:9 split for Second Realm carcasses and a 9:1 split for Third Realm carcasses."

"Okay."

Dong Pingtao agreed immediately. A smile appeared on his face once more after that, and he looked fairly relaxed.

"We'll fully go according to what you've said. I'll send out the orders right away later."

"Inform me if the Huis come. I'll definitely arrive within a minute," said Wang Hu aloofly.

"Okay." Dong Pingtao nodded.

"If there's nothing else, I'll leave for now." Wang Hu looked at Dong Pingtao.

Upon hearing what he said, Dong Pingtao said with a smile, "There's no harm taking a stroll together for a little longer, Your Excellency. Even though we're done with business, we can still chat about other things, too."

"Next time, I guess."

Wang Hu turned away and left behind those few words. By then, he had already transformed into golden light and disappeared from sight.

Dong Pingtao stared blankly for a moment before he laughed and shook his head. This was the first time in so many years that someone had rejected him so mercilessly.

In spite of that, he wasn't unhappy in the least. Rather, he was full of joy.

'Next time…'

He really hoped—yet also didn't really hope—that the next time would come as soon as possible.

He heaved a soft sigh. After standing quietly for a few seconds, he turned and walked toward Li Tong and the others.

Li Tong and the others quickly came forward.

"Get Lieutenant General Wang on the phone immediately," said Dong Pingtao mildly.

"Understood."

A short while later, the people around Dong Pingtao—as well as a lot of people in the capital and Hu County—were elated.

This was because they knew that, barring any accidents, they wouldn't need to deploy nuclear weapons anymore. On top of that, they would be even safer.

…

Elsewhere, Wang Hu was flying back home. He didn't move very quickly in the sky. He was thinking back to the meeting just now.

Generally speaking, it went pretty well. Both parties had taken what they each needed.

China had shown him their greatest sincerity, while he had also shown them his.

They had formed their first partnership.

As for the man Dong Pingtao, he didn't need to think too deeply about this man.

This was because both of them were aware that while they could become friends—in fact, they could become the most suitable confidant for each other—and between the two of them, benefits and interests would always be what they cared about the most. There was no need to say much else.

After going through everything in his mind and ensuring that he hadn't overlooked anything, Wang Hu sped up and returned home very quickly.

Without paying any heed to any of the animals there, he went straight into the room.

"You're back. How did it go?" Di Baijun, who had already opened her eyes a long time ago, immediately asked when she saw Wang Hu entering.

Wang Hu gave her a rough recount of everything that had happened. In the end, he said, "Things are more serious than I thought. The chances of them going to war are very huge. Get ready so that you can retreat anytime."

"Are you going to face them alone when the time comes?" Di Baijun frowned, somewhat reluctant.

"Don't worry, the Huis that can enter China are just a bunch of useless trash. Even if there are a little too many of them, with China's cooperation, your husband will definitely still be able to kill them all and use them to nourish your body.

"I'm just worried that they'll deploy nuclear weapons when the time comes, thereby affecting our home." Wang Hu comforted her confidently.

Di Baijun kept quiet for a while. Then, she nodded.

Wang Hu didn't waste any time the moment Silly Girl agreed to it. He summoned Old Second and Jun Wen and informed them about the matter.

They were to be on standby to coordinate with the Queen and retreat.

Old Second didn't raise any objections after hearing Wang Hu's instructions. After contemplating for a moment, Jun Wen couldn't help but say, "My lord, actually, we can refrain from taking action and immediately retreat first.

"We can wait until China and the Huis have exhausted each other for one round before we return. We can help China to take out the Huis again if the war hasn't ended by then. It doesn't affect us much and can even deplete some of China's combat power."

Wang Hu's deep, dark eyes shifted to Jun Wen, who instinctively lowered his head.

A couple of seconds later, Wang Hu's calm and serene voice rang out. "Do things according to what I say."

Jun Wen's lips moved a little, only to realize that he actually didn't dare to say anything more. He could only nod and express that he had understood.

Wang Hu dismissed them after that. Without taking Jun Wen's words to heart, Wang Hu got ready to return to the room to cultivate.

He had only taken a couple of steps when Old Second returned and called out to him.

"What is it?" Wang Hu looked at Old Second.

Without any bit of the calm and steady disposition that he adopted in front of others, Wang Liang gave him a somewhat ingratiating smile and said, "Big Brother, I just wanted to come in and say that the idea that Jun Wen had suggested just now seems rather inappropriate."