The news went all over the empire. The miners immediately quit the job and, in many places the same things kept happening.

The miners are not happy with the situation and slowly the butterfly effect happened.

This news actually intrigued someone who is far away from Sam.

The Arian empire.

The enemy empire of the Orion.

In the imperial capital, two days after Sam was done with the Metal mines, the emperor of the Arian empire got the news and was surprised at first and was then delighted.

He has heard of Sam. Not only because of the Red rock canyon issue but also because his son also visited the thunder god temple and saw Sam's deeds.

When he heard of how Sam even sold the techniques in the Palace to the remaining candidates, he couldn't help but feel extremely surprised. Because it is not every day that a character as unique as Sam pops up.

His spies in Orion reported back on how Sam was declared as a wanted criminal, how he killed a General, and how he made short work of the major resources of the Dukedom.

He is very interested in this unique genius.

So, the next thing, he was on a Level 7 Thunder Vulture a Pre-transcendent beast, and within one day, he is near the border of the southwestern star.

He traveled at an altitude that wouldn't let anyone see him. He traveled above the clouds and landed in the nearby woods, and slowly made his way towards the border camp.

He gave the person in charge, some instructions, and waited for the results.

Three days after dealing with the metal mines, Sam sneaked into the nearby city to know the reactions and the waves he caused by the Blackwater.

But what met him was an invitation. That is right, an invitation from the emperor of the Arian.

This quite surprised him. The agent from the Blackwater saw this and said.

"We give spy services too and they asked if we can get to you and if we can give you this message. They don't know we have this contract. You don't have to worry about that."

Of course, the invitation is not a card or something. It is just like Sam's message on how he would attack the metal mines. But this message is low-key than Sam's and the general public has no way of knowing it.

There was a location along with the message and funny thing is that the location is actually a barrack in the military base.

Sam went back to the slums where they actually made a residence and discussed it with his friends.

Sam actually has a plan to meet the emperor of Arian. But it is not now. Because meeting an emperor is not something that easy. And to make a deal he has to have more accomplishments on his side to have enough leverage.

But the emperor contacting him now is not something he expected.

As he thought about it, he decided to make a visit and see what the emperor wants from him.

So, that night, Sam started his journey towards the border of the southwestern star.

The way to cross the border was left to the Shadow mouse and after entering the territory of Arian. He came out in a desolated solution and directly walked towards the military base.

Why didn't he enter the base directly? Because there is no way he would do something right inside the territory of a Transcendent.

So, he walked in, directly. He pinned all his professional badges on his black feather coat and entered the base like a normal person.

The soldiers are not surprised by his presence and apparently, they seemed to be informed about his visit and they even guided him to the barrack he was supposed to visit.

Inside the barrack, there was only a single table with two chairs on either side. A middle-aged man sat down on the other side of the table.

The man has sharp features. His body is sturdy and his robes are simple. He didn't see any luxury that he saw on Emperor Orion's clothes.

His majesty didn't depend on the luxury, rather his aura, his presence is the one gave him the majesty an emperor should possess. He has a sharp and clear gaze and a small smile.

He stood up as soon as Sam entered the room. He extended his hand towards Sam for a handshake and greeted him.

"How do you do? Mr. Sam. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, your highness." Sam shook his hand.

The other party is polite and the politeness is what he gets back from Sam.

After some pleasantries, the emperor sat down while gesturing Sam to take a seat.

Then, an attendant came and served some food, but Sam didn't eat it immediately and looked at the emperor, and said.

"Your, Highness wanted to meet me. May I know why?"

"Well, seems like Mr. Sam is a straight forward person, then I won't waste your time. I wonder if Mr. Sam knows about the history of the feud between two empires."

"They are once a single empire?"

"Yes, and a hundred and twenty years ago the empire got separated. Even though, it might be a long time. Only two emperors changed since then. I am the third emperor and so is the current emperor of the Orion.

I want to reunite the empire again and I want your help in doing that."

Sam raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Your Highness, you are kidding, right? I am a mere Great realm cultivator who is eighteen years old. I didn't even reach the limit of the growth spurt completely. What can a person like me help a Transcendent like you."

"Well, it seems like you are the one who is joking Mr. Sam. If you were what you said, then you wouldn't be sitting in front of me right now. You would be either quivering in your boots near the entrance or you would be hysterically yelling out words of admiration for me.

You wouldn't be doing what you are doing."

"Well, that didn't answer my question, your highness. What can I possibly help you with?"

"Yes, I will answer it to you soon.

To be honest, I don't necessarily need your help, if all I have to do is occupy the empire, not only me, even my father could have done that. But the problem if, the loss of life would be too high for me to start a war of that scale.

I don't want a blood bath.

I want to reunite the empire with the least amount of bloodshed and this is where you can help me with.

I have been devising a plan for taking over the empire for two decades, which is the time when I became an emperor.

I have a big enough network in the Orion that would be on par with the Blackwater. Of course, I don't have the same amount of power they have, but I do have a similar level of the information channel.

I made many preparations to crumble the Orion from inside, but the point is, the plans can only be executed when either there are no variables or there is enough adaptability in the person who executes it to deal with the variables.

I lacked that one person and was desperately trying to cultivate one. My son, who you might not remember but surely met in the thunder god temple also the same person you just described yourself to be.

Even though I am proud of what he has achieved today, I realized that he is not the person for this.

I am almost losing my hope and then one day I woke and heard the news about you.

Believe me or not, I wanted to thank Orion in person for being stupid, because for the first time in life I was afraid of a person and that person didn't become my enemy by default. Emperor Orion gave me a chance to become a friend or at least a partner with that person."

The emperor finished and looked at Sam with a smile.

Sam looked at him quietly without any response, because he is thinking. He met a person who he thought he would never meet in this world of pride and prowess.

A man who knew he was afraid of something and a man who can admit openly that he is afraid of something.

Sam always believed in something. If a person wants to improve himself, the hardest part is finding their mistakes or shortcomings and admitting them by throwing their insecurities away.

And if a person can do so, one has to respect him because he would be a winner for sure.

An emperor openly admitting he is afraid of something. Some might think he is a joke, but Sam could see a real man.

A man who can accept his shortcomings and work on overcoming or walking around them.

"What do you want me to do?"

Sam asked directly. He doesn't want to carry out the earlier conversation of him being incapable of helping. That is just for probing.

Now, from what heard from the emperor, it is plain stupid for him to do that.

"I want six months of yours. In these six months, I want you to train nine regiments. In six months, do what you have to do and what you want to do. I only want your best effort and I would accept the results no matter what.

And the other thing is to do what you are doing inside the Orion.

Cooperate with me. I will invade from outside, while you reduce the resources inside. This will push the soldiers to the edge and they wouldn't be able to keep their will to live like usual.

In exchange for that, what do you want?"

He was straight forward and on to the point.

Sam took a deep breath and said.

"For the second point, I don't have any problem. Just invade the parts when I told you to do so. As for the training part. I am too weak to hold the whole armies in my leash and train them.

Give me ten people. The most loyal and obedient. For them, all that should matter when given order is only how and when not what and why.

In a month, I will make them trainers and I will give you a detailed training program.

I assure you they will reach your standards.

In a year, the Orion will be no more.

And for all this to be done, I need somethings in advance and another thing after the whole thing is over."

"Well, I didn't expect you to agree straight away. It sounds too good to be true."

"It surprises me too to an extent, but that is how I deal with a person who is smart and straight forward. It has been a while since I met a man like you."

"So, what do you want?"

"For starters, a Level-6 Beast, for now, preferably a wind element flying type. The second request..."

Sam said his requirements and at the end of the sentence all he met was a hand extended for a handshake to seal a deal."