After he was done answering the questions of the media, Arnold decided to sit down in a small meeting room along with Kang You. It wasn'y because Arnold wanted to talk to him, rather it was the other way around. During the virtual press conference, Kang You informed Arnold that he had something important to share. So they were now in a private place to talk about something.

The room wasn't anything fancy and only had a sofa which was occupied by Arnold, while his feet rested on the wooden table in front. Kang You preferred to keep standing so Arnold left him to do as he pleased.

Maybe he was still cautious in Arnold's presence. But Arnold wasn't there to make Kang feel comfortable around him. He just wanted to get it over with so that he could head back to West America. However, after listening to the shocking news that Kang You shared, Arnold ended up being surprised. 

"So you're telling me that five other Emperors want to willingly give away their territories to me?"

Arnold was a bit confused rather than being happy after the initial shock wore off. He wasn't sure what could be the motive behind this wish of the emperors. Some would say Arnold was being overly cautious. But in his mind, people just didn't do things like this without a decent motive.

Especially, if that someone was a person who had control over a part of a country as their own territory. Would someone willingly give away such a power and authority to him, without a reason? Of course they won't. Thus they had to have a motive behind their sudden docileness and Arnold wasn't going to make a move until and unless he could figure out exactly what they wanted from him.

"Yes, my lord." Kang You replied while keeping his head down, "Emperors of Shenyang, Kunming, Nanning, Xining and Beijing are willing to acknowledge you as their overlord. Essentially, the entire western half of China from Xining onwards will be under your command. That is, if you agree to do so."

"Elaborate on what do you mean by saying that they want to be under my command." Arnold seemed to be disinterested in the conversation but in reality, he was busy thinking about the possibilities controlling half of what was supposedly one of the strongest countries on the eastern hemisphere, "I'm no good at decoding the sugarcoated words like you people tend to do, so it'll be better if you be direct and tell me exactly what the emperors are seeking from me."

Kang You didn't hesitate and told Arnold exactly what the emperors intentions were after coming under his command, "Primarily, they're doing it because they don't want to end up on your bad side and risk end up losing everything they had made for themselves over the years. Especially after everyone in China and maybe even the world got to know first hand what your true strength looks like. So its obvious that no one in their right state of mind would want to upset you in any way and the best way to do so, is to submit themselves before you."

Kang You continued, "Also by doing this they are sending a message to the world that they support you with all their being. While they are also going to use this opportunity to send a clear message to their foes that they were now under your protection. So, if they continue to mess with the emperors having your support, the adversaries would end up messing with you as well and hence it would deter anyone who wants to harm them from doing so without much effort."

"I see. So they want to kill two birds with one stone. I can't blame them for thinking that way. If I was in their shoes, I'd have done something similar or maybe try to claim everything for myself." Arnold said before taking out his handguns and started cleaning them, like he usually did in his free time. Even though he knew he wasn't going to be using them anytime soon, he wasn't going to let his weapons gather dust, "It's alright. They can join us. But first I'd like to know what will I obtain from doing so?"

"I knew the lord wouldn't make his choice without considering his benefits." Kang You smiled before handling a thick file of documents over to Arnold, "This is the list of 'benefits' they are willing to give you in case you accept their plea to join you."

Arnold kept the guns down before opening the file Kang You had provided to him, "This is... interesting."

***

In the meantime, there was a storm brewing over West America and it was no meagre storm. But a hurricane enveloped in lava, one that could shake up the entire continent. 

No one knew what happened apart from the fact that the world was now witnessing the biggest dungeon to have ever existed. A dungeon so enormous that it could be clearly seen from anywhere across the western boundary of North American continent. Even though the dungeon was formed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

None of their technology could measure the absurd amount of Xenoic energy that was leaking from the dungeon in the form of a black mist, that kept revolving around the dungeon. The immeasurable energy meant that the Syndicate had no idea concerning the difficulty of the dungeon.

The only thing they knew was that they had no idea what they were up possibly up against. The closest comparison they could make to this newly formed dungeon was with the information related to the dungeon from which Tiamut came from.

But comparing the two dungeons led to a disheartening revaltion. Even in the best scenario, Tiamut's dungeon supposedly had only about 60% of the Xenoic energy this dungeon had. Entire country had turned gloomy, not because of the mist, but concerning the fact the Syndicate couldn't even handle Tiamut on their own. How were they supposed to take care of something even worse than the multi-headed dragon? Their only hope was to hope that the dungeon was all bite and no bark. But deep down they knew they were doomed for good. 

***

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