Where did their future lie?

That was a fairly loud and heavy question.

It caused innumerable North Koreans to be at a loss. Indeed, where did their future lie?

During the recent disaster, China had gotten the Tiger King over and saved them.

However, what about next time?

Was China going to get the Tiger King over again? Or were they going to risk their lives themselves to save the citizens?

Everyone knew very well that was impossible.

They thought about the countries that had already been destroyed or had suffered immense losses. A chilly sense of powerlessness that reached deep into their bones assailed every single one of them.

Even several Chinese originally just watching the show also fell silent, and their enthusiasm in watching the show lessened considerably.

When they thought about North Korea that had just experienced a disaster and almost been annihilated and all the past news of small and medium countries that had been destroyed or suffered terrible losses, they suddenly felt a heavy weight in their hearts.

"To be honest, although I'm a nationalist and don't give two sh*ts about the life and death of countries apart from China, those are all humans in this increasingly dangerous world."

"I agree with the poster above. They're all humans. Moreover, North Korea is so near to us. I feel the weight, too."

"This is actually very normal. We are all human beings after all. The vast majority of people will all find it hard to bear even if all they're witnessing is just a lot of innocent animals being slaughtered, let alone when they're all humans like us.

"The small countries that were destroyed in the past were ultimately all too far away from us. We only read about them in the news, so we naturally wouldn't feel too deeply about them. North Korea is different; they have a long and deep history with us. Of course, we would be emotionally affected."

"That's right. It's true that we've been emotionally affected. We're all humans, humans who are alive. How many people can bring themselves to just watch as hundreds of thousands of people—millions of people, or perhaps even more—are eaten just like that? It's time that we, the inhabitants of Earth, form a united front."

"I would also like very much to know where the way out for all those small countries is…"

"I'm feeling very emotional right now, but the strongest emotion I'm feeling is that I count myself very lucky to be a Chinese citizen. I love this country."

"Although it sounds a little like I'm gloating, I also want very much to say that I'm very glad I'm a Chinese citizen. I love this country."

"+1 to the poster above."

…

A great many comments appeared on the Internet in China.

They were a little less lively and a little heavier than before.

In North Korea, Kim Hyangmyeong's speech and live broadcast were still ongoing.

After asking that incredibly heavy question, he paused. His gaze was sincere as he watched the camera, but it also contained hints of exhaustion as though he could see the innumerable people behind the camera.

It was only after a good few seconds that he finally resumed his speech.

"This question is a very heavy one. To us, it is also a very helpless one because we indeed don't have any means or power to protect more than 30 million citizens.

"We've thought about this for a very long time and also hesitated for a very long time. It was only until yesterday that we finally made up our minds and came up with a solution."

The moment he said that, both alarm and joy filled innumerable gazes and alternated between the two.

In Tiger King's Cave, the eyes of Wang Hu and Di Baijun—who were also watching the live broadcast—turned a little grave.

Kim Hyangmyeong took a deep breath. Then, with the greatest courage in his entire lifetime, he said, "And that is—the whole nation shall return to our motherland, in other words, China. We shall all become Chinese citizens. This is the only solution that we have thought of."

Boom!

In an instant, as though an earth-shattering explosion had broken out, the innumerable people who heard what he said were so astounded that they became wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Disbelief filled them.

"What did the leader say? That's impossible, right?"

"How can they do that? Bringing the whole nation to join China? Is he joking?"

"Yes, that's exactly how it should be. What do you mean by 'joking'? That's exactly what we should do. Our forefathers hailed exactly from China. We share the same ancestors. What we're doing now is returning to our motherland."

"That's right. That's exactly it. What we're doing is returning to our roots and motherland. What we should be worried about now is whether China will allow us to return to our roots and our motherland or not?"

…

"Are the subtitles generated correctly? They'd better not bully me and haphazardly translate his speech just because I don't understand Korean."

"I also think that there must be a mistake with the translation. Bringing the whole nation, returning to the motherland, and letting everyone become a Chinese citizen? Is Kim Hyangmyeong out of his mind?"

"What the heck, surely, this isn't real? How can this be?"

"This feels kinda surreal to me. What kind of joke is that? What kind of era are we already in? Yet a country with a population of several million people is going to merge with us, China?"

…

A furor went through among innumerable people with a great boom, filling them with incredulity and astonishment.

On the Internet and even in real life, not many were able to remain calm after hearing what Kim Hyangmyeong said. They were currently using all sorts of ways to express their astonishment.

Kim Hyangmyeong's speech was still ongoing.

As though giving everyone some time to react to the news, he only continued after a wait of more than ten seconds. He said, "This is our only solution. Earth is becoming more and more dangerous now. Small and medium countries face the risk of losing their homes and nations anytime.

"All the human countries have already formed a united front.

"China is our motherland. Returning at this point is our best option.

"Of course, we are a democratic country. The final decision lies in the hands of every single one of us. Whether we return to the motherland in the end or not will be decided by every citizen.

"We will launch a nationwide poll to decide our final decision.

"If we decide to return to the motherland, I will bring everyone's opinions with me, head to the motherland's capital, and implore them to allow us to return to the motherland.

"When the time comes, those that don't wish to return can stay behind and choose not to return.

"I've finished my speech. The polling will be conducted through SMS. The polling period will start from 1 p.m. today and end three days later at 12 noon."

After finishing his speech, he bowed again before turning and leaving.

Kim Hyangmyeong might have left the public eye, but the impact caused by the underlying meaning behind his words had only just begun.

In no time, North Korea, China, and even the entire world got to know about it.

As though a magnitude 12.0 earthquake, it swept through every country in the world.

"Is it April Fools' today? Why did that happen?"

"North Korea, who has a population of over 30 million, is joining China? How can that be?"

"What's so impossible about that? This is the only way they can survive. They are very smart. This is likely also the solution to how small and medium countries can continue to exist—by integrating into the big countries."

"Who knows if China is willing or not? An integration like this isn't something that works only in name. Who knows how big of a price China would have to pay?"

"What the heck, the whole of North Korea is actually integrating into China? How can that possibly work?"

"That's right. Immediately integrating into China because it has gotten dangerous? How can it be so easy?"

…

The impassioned sentiments in the world aside, a conference between the five countries was immediately held.

Te Bajing and the other three leaders' eyes bore into Dong Pingtao through the video.

"Leader Dong, is it really okay for you to be so anxious to swallow up North Korea now?" said Te Bajing unceremoniously.

"You're mistaken, Leader Te Bajing. I'm also very surprised about this." Dong Pingtao looked calm and composed as though he was just talking about something trivial and insignificant.

Te Bajing curled his lip and gave a scornful smile, while the other three remained expressionless.

"Alright, it's not the time to be talking about this. Since China has the power and ability to swallow up North Korea at this point, by right, we don't have anything that we can say.

"However, by doing that, how are we supposed to answer to the small and medium countries?

"What do we do in the event that other countries also want to be integrated into big countries like ours?" asked Te Bajing sternly.

Once news about North Korea went around, it was very evident that some small and medium countries would also choose to do the same.

To be honest, some small countries had already been thinking of doing so during the past year. However, they had rejected all the requests.

Had it been in the past, it went without saying that they would have been very happy to swallow up most other countries.

However, they weren't happy to do so anymore because those countries would purely be trouble and a burden to them now.

Even the case of China swallowing up North Korea was something that they would absolutely never have agreed to in the past. To be honest, they could also turn a blind eye to it at this point.

After all, the world had changed. They didn't have any objections if China was willing to take on a burden.

However, the precedent that the case would set was something that they didn't wish to see.

"Everyone, putting aside the fact that the matter hasn't been set in stone yet, even if it has; that's also just North Korea returning to their roots and their motherland. We share the same ancestors. This isn't the same," replied Dong Pingtao steadily.

Te Bajing and the other three suppressed the urge to roll their eyes.

After another round of fruitless discussion, the meeting ended with Te Bajing and the other three leaving in dissatisfaction.

Things continued to proceed.

From that afternoon onward, several storms thoroughly broke out in the whole world.

Outside of China and North Korea, most other small and medium countries also objected to North Korea's integration into China.

They even accused China of devising a ploy to deliberately swallow up North Korea, and that this was a premeditated ploy that big countries had been planning against small countries for a very long time.

Some small countries also greatly supported the move and thought of it as small and medium countries' one and only way out.

After that, they also expressed that they would like to be integrated into big countries, with China being the most ideal. They were willing to be Chinese citizens.

All sorts of noise and commotion were constantly being made in the world.

In China, judging from the comments, voices of agreement and dissension took up about half of the comments each.

They were also arguing endlessly over the issue.

Among the contentions, North Korea's poll results were released.

At around 11 o'clock, Zhang Jianye dialed Dong Pingtao's number.

"Leader, the votes are more or less confirmed. 79% of the votes support the move, 13% object to the move, and 8% were abstentions," said Zhang Jianye whose voice sounded a little relaxed.

These realistic numbers were enough to reflect a lot of things.

At the other end of the phone, Dong Pingtao's expression didn't relax, however. Upon hearing the report, he nodded and said steadily, "This is just the beginning. After confirming the merger, we must act according to plan immediately and begin the migration process. Complete all the tasks with regard to North Korea as soon as possible."

"Okay, I understand." Zhang Jianye immediately nodded.

"Okay, I'll stop here then. They're starting to argue in the world conference again. I'll have to pay more attention to them," said a fairly resigned Dong Pingtao.

Zhang Jianye chuckled and said somewhat gloatingly, "The other countries are probably fuming mad right now. The small and medium countries aren't going to be easy to get rid of."

"Whether they're fuming mad or not, we'll just do what we're supposed to do. Besides, as big countries, they should show some courage to bear their responsibilities, right?" said Dong Pingtao as a hint of a smile also formed on his lips.

A chuckling Zhang Jianye agreed.

At 12 o'clock, Kim Hyangmyeong started a live broadcast again and publicly announced the poll results.

At once, cheers resounded throughout North Korea, followed by anticipation.

The next day, Kim Hyangmyeong brought his men with him and hurried over to the capital of China.

At this point, the arguments within China were becoming worse and worse.

"Why should we let the whole of North Korea integrate into China? Do you know how high a price we, China, will have to pay because of this? Helping them to migrate over is already something troublesome in itself."

"How foolish. Since the olden times, China has always been growing by fusing with others. Why shouldn't we? Since we have a chance to make up for our past regrets now, why shouldn't we do it?"

"Times have changed. The situation is also different now. Had this happened prior to the awakening of spiritual energy, I would have agreed. However, I absolutely object to this now."

…

Two different viewpoints became fiercer and fiercer.

Under the watchful eyes of innumerable people in the world, Kim Hyangmyeong and his men stayed in the capital for seven days.

At last, they reached an agreement.

China and North Korea would form the China Alliance.

With China as the core, China would take over the rights and authority to North Korea's foreign affairs, governance, education, and military affairs. They would also be in charge of the North Korean citizens' safety.

At first glance, it seemed like an alliance. However, upon closer inspection, all the countries in the world were close to rising in revolt.

Apart from the part where China would be in charge of the North Koreans' safety, in terms of everything else, it was as if North Korea had become a client state to China rather than two countries truly merging together.

Many small and medium countries, as well as big countries, expressed strong disapproval toward this.

They felt that this was an unethical move on China's end and that they were forcibly exploiting and capitalizing on North Korea.

With this, the Chinese also stopped arguing. There was only one viewpoint in China now: 'Very good.'

In North Korea, while quite a lot of people were also dissatisfied, not many objected to it.

In fact, more people even felt that the fact that they could retain North Korea was already the best outcome and were very satisfied.

Putting aside the public opinion and the storms in the world, back in the Tiger King's Cave…

Wang Hu couldn't help but smile when he looked closely at the description of the so-called China Alliance.

Dong Pingtao and those fellows sure were sneaky.

As expected, it was too much to ask of them to pay such a huge price to take in more than 30 million people at this point. It wasn't like they were Good Samaritans willing to sacrifice themselves to save others.

The China Alliance…

What a good ploy!

By maintaining the current state of two separate countries, firstly, they managed to avoid the huge problem of having to merge the people's hearts as one.

Although the China Alliance was in charge of protecting North Korea, all of its power had been taken by China. The benefits involved in this were self-evident.

On top of that, if all went as expected, North Korea and all the other countries that joined the China Alliance in the future would exist in the outer periphery of China. This was practically a natural barrier.

They were using the other countries as nutrients—their wealth, talents, wisdom, manpower, and so on—to support themselves.

China's biggest contribution was likely the amount of work that they would have to do in the migration process during the preliminary phase. Compared to the benefits that they would receive in the later stage, however, it was negligible.

On top of that, there were also a lot of different tangible and intangible benefits.

He told the curious Silly Girl next to him some things that he had noticed.

Di Baijun wrinkled her nose and said with great aversion, "Hmph. As expected, they're all cunning and treacherous."

Wang Hu smiled. Unconcerned, he said, "This is very normal. After all, they're the leaders of a country. What's most important is China itself, of course.

"Besides, they are all just taking what each of them needs. At the bottom of it all, North Korea has even profited. After all, they're able to live on now.

"Compared to everything else, being able to live on is the most important, no?

"What I'm thinking about now is that this style of alliance will very likely become mainstream in the future. The other big countries may all do the same and follow suit."

Di Baijun wasn't interested in all these. Rather, she was more interested in something else.

"Since they've already confirmed it, when are they giving us our territory? Also, why haven't they transported to us the carcasses of the tens of thousands of Guis that you killed?"