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Chapter 128: Everything's Negotiable

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If "Mitra" is a weapon for these "Agents of Chaos" then perhaps it was logical for Chronos to cleanse the ranks of World Nobles as soon as he can. But they don't know the names of these traitors and if he can't give Rex Pegasus, then they could only do this "cleansing" manually.

If they did that, however, the process will take so much time that it will alert the nest and give these targets time to escape then cause "chaos" before they were caught... or as revenge for foiling their entertainment plans.

Chronos thought: they aren't afraid of us since they dared to plan this act. It's not impossible for them to actually resort to brutal terrorism since it was possible that the cleansing process itself is an act of provocation on their perspective...

Suddenly, Chronos found himself in a dilemma.

Rex's alibis were solid and the more he opens up, the more confused the situation develops in the mind of the old coot. It's as if the entire thing was actually rigged to intimidate the old coots from the very beginning. Given AG's reputation, it wasn't a far off notion in all reality. In fact, this may even be the actual case!

Having thought of this, Chronos looked at Rex.

Chronos stared at him silent and went back to the basic question, is it okay to trust Rex Kingsley's words at face value?

What if everything they have talked about all this time were mere lies? AG was the key but he knew that he can't unlock his cage not because they're incapable but because the "Cryo-capsule" AG was in is timed to open after ten years. He's just been at the capsule for a short time. Reviving him now would cause unhealthy repercussions.

Goldwyn likes the boy. He won't let AG risk being stupid just because they wanted to ask a question that's been incited by their own lab rat. After all, Goldwyn still wanted the boy to inherit his throne.

Chronos' experience with people and business is proving to be inadequate at this moment. He was beginning to feel doubtful that Rex was making him dance at his palm.

Where did it all begin?

How did he end up burdened by this dilemma?

Well, it began when Rex said he was thankful that he was invited in this "meeting" then he revealed that he's always been aware of who Chronos was.

—this made me doubt his identity and ability...

Then Rex exposed himself as a desperate man in pursuit of revenge, someone who would sell his own soul for the sake of his own justice.

—and AG and his cohorts used his vengeance as a tool for their own goals...

——it made me doubt the World Nobles Council.

Right after Chronos thought that he was closing in to a clue on how to trace the traitors, Rex threw a rock into the pond and muddled the water using an elaborate "act" of admitting that everything he was saying to Chronos —or in fact, this meeting itself— is always been part of the plans of Mitra.

With Rex as the fulcrum, Chronos was induced to think that AG and his cohorts expected that those old coots above them will try to put a leash on this pawn by initiating a conversation.

(AN: please help, I can't find any other word(s) to properly replace the connotation portrayed by the context for the "induced" here)

And by that conversation, they even expected it to end up as either of the Five Family Heads will be drawn to the spark they created.

—in short, those "brats" only wanted to send us a message... that this is entertaining to them, even if Rex end up dying or someone else dies, or that someone else is blamed; because regardless, it all boils down to the fact that if this "conversation" ends up getting out of this room, the result is still a chaotic situation....... and that's, to them, was their very goal itself. What a bunch of evil brats.

——so, the crux of the problem is, was Rex really telling the truth since everything started when he began to talk about it...

———well, it's because I initiated the talk about the World Nobles wanting to punish the boy... is this him wanting to get out of the situation or this was him just being the "pawn" for the Mitra and acting according to their plans?

Chronos noticed something when he thought of this and asked, "Mister Kingsley, I can't help but notice, you seem to be willing to take the brunt of the consequences of telling me this information."

Rex looked at him straight in the eyes and nods in affirmation, "I am only playing by the rules."

Chronos frowned deeper, "Playing by the rules, you say? You think this is a game?"

"Isn't this a game?" Rex's eyes stared back with a heavy gaze. Chronos saw the flat scan data Rex's emotional state and was surprised.

—he's telling the truth!

——what kind of brainwashing was done to him?

———no, there's also a possibility that he was the one who ended up convincing himself that this is a game....... because his perspective was a victim of the World Government who had the power to dictate anything to the world.

————Rex said earlier that he was provided by the "means" to exact his revenge and perhaps the "means" he was talking about included a certain outlook of his whole situation so that he could carry his missions out without trouble...

—————after all, his mission mostly transpired inside RPG: Terroa... it does makes sense, taken from this perspective.

"Is it?" Chronos prompted.

"Equivalent exchange... that was the rule of this elaborate game. The moment my parents died in that accident perpetrated by Pegasus, and the very moment that the World Government hid the truth of this matter to the world, the game formally began. If this isn't a game, then what is it?"

Rex paused and met Chronos eye to eye. He was studying Chronos' reactions.

His heart skipped a beat. He wanted to laugh. The fish took the bait and was now in the chopping board ready to be diced.

He decided to stir the wok and add some oil to the mix along with some seasonings.

This will fry the old man's brain: "Games are all about rules and the game's fun itself is all about the prospect of discovering how to break those existing rules. I am the grey card. They named me as the arbiter and my only role is exploiting these rules to its limits until the point it flips the game! It is my job to adhere to the rules. I have no reason to break them. And, at the essence of it all, when there are rules to follow, then everything is plain fair, just, proper, and equal. How you play by the existing rules and how you exploit them that they seemed to be broken was my role. I was tasked to be neutral. I was tasked to be the pawn to deliver this message once I got the chance."

Chronos' heart almost stopped. His conclusion in the "plan" of the traitors earlier was actually spot on that it was frightening.

Who amongst these traitors could actually pull this off if not AG?

Even while he was sealed, his "plans" are still one large pain in the ass.

—CHAOS.

The conclusion played in Chronos' mind.

—it was indeed the latter case for Rex Kingsley.

Because of what happened to him, Rex's sense of logic and moral compass was twisted and AG and his gang of traitors planned this all along. They're challenging the Family Heads, insulting the power of the Abraxas Family, stepping on the face of the [Database], and definitely laughing at the surety of their schemes and the predictability of the old men sitting at the throne.

—Chaos....

——they want to incite chaos.

———are those brats really "bored" that much?!

There was no doubt. Although Goldwyn said that Rex was smart, it was impossible to be this smart and aware about the secrets of the World Noble Council without someone pulling the strings from the shadows and dictating the tune of the game.

Rex's attitude, his alibis, his posture, his words, his expressions, his presence, his situation, his desperation, his indifference, his wrath...

........they were all a given.

Everything points to the fact that AG and "Mitra" is the real obstacle of Project Salvation. There's also a possibility that the issuing chaos will affect their entire plan so Chronos, and Goldwyn, had to do something before it's too late.

At this point in time, Rex's lips suddenly made a smile and this caught the old man's attention.

"What's so funny?" he felt insulted and his anger seeped into his tone. This meeting turned out to be a major discovery and there was no fun to be had in this meeting at all.

Rex, getting caught, was a mistake, but instead of hiding it, he widened his smile instead.

"I'm sorry sir. You see everything I've told you... I was supposed to tell you those after I am actually done with my missions in Terroa. I find it funny to be in this situation because, truly, your anger and your expression, I wondered if those emotions you have now are the same as when I found out that my family's ruin was planned by someone."

Chronos scowled. This wasn't funny at all.

Yet, he also understood where the boy is coming from as well. Finding out that everything you're in right now was actually planned by someone else, for a Family Head like Chronos, a Tyrant, this was insulting but for Rex who was lost in the despair and pain of being in the brink of losing his entire family due to an accident —and then suddenly he found out that it was actually a planned event by none other than an old enemy, it may not be the same "pain" and "suffering" but the anger issuing at the discovery of it was actually the same.

"I'm smiling because I find this ironic... ironic and also funny at the same time."

Chronos only frowned. He'd already accepted the fact that Rex Kingsley sees him as an equal. To the young man, this is a transaction. If Chronos is prepared to pay the appropriate price then he can receive the information he wants.

It was Rex's working rule —equivalent exchange.

"Well, Mister Kingsley, I surely am surprised that this meeting turned out to be far away from all my initial expectations of how it would proceed. I did not expect that I'd learn something here."

"Well, I have definitely received many things from you Sir Chronos. This room... it's full of surprises and the information available is just too broad that I needed to digest them for quite some time."

Chronos' left brow rose. What the hell is this kid saying now?

"Ah, yes, Sir Chronos..." Rex's tone indicated that he wanted to switch topic and before Chronos could even say a word, Rex was already speaking about the topic, "I would like to ask if you are still interested in buying my information."

"Hm?" Chronos felt something was wrong. I have never voiced my opinion that this whole time. Ah, this kid... is he really just following orders?

"Give me Pegasus and I will tell you all you want to know about them." Again, Rex's words are spot on to the topic that Chronos didn't want to tackle during this meeting. He needed to get back the initiative. He realized that Rex has been leading the conversation all along.

"I'm sorry." Chronos didn't lie nor admit that they have Alfred Pegasus. Since someone from the World Noble Council is feeding Rex information then Rex Kingsley is already aware that they need Alfred Pegasus to finish [Jupiter Expedition]. "We still need Pegasus to finish the Android Frames in conjunction to the Jupiter Expedition. This was a project that had the entire humanity's future at the stakes so please understand."

"Alright. Thank you for being honest with me." A slight bow, few words, no compromising for any of the topic while closing the subject with the last word... Rex managed to establish his ground as a negotiator with a stance on the same level as the Head of the Abraxas Family.

The sparks were flying between them but it was still not on the level that it would lead to a brutal exchange of verbal threats and actions later on.

"Let's change the subject then." Chronos waved his hand, trying to dismiss the topic. Rex didn't say his piece as he understood that Chronos will not compromise regarding Pegasus.

Android Frames? Jupiter Exploration? The both of them knew that Chronos just said a lie but well, since he said a lie it means he won't compromise in this matter. Rex just had to give up. As much as possible, he wanted to end this meeting. After all, Cortana had just hacked a 100+ Zettabyte cached archive from this server and the information within was encrypted in a high-level security signature, aside from the fact that he doesn't have interest in anything Chronos had to say.

Yes, well, although it was the case, he was also in need of a new NLD so he was thinking of taking away the NLD he was using and so he asked.

"This night's event was using NLD. Well, my NLD is kind of bugged and Mitra's Technicians had to disassemble it and only returned it to me in many pieces that it's ugly. So, ahem, I was wondering if I could ask for the NLD given to me. Is it okay?"

Rex's change of attitude made the Chronos blink before he started laughing at patting the chair he was sitting on.

—this kid.... he's indeed really interesting!

And to think that they were just on the verge of a "war" just now. He dispelled the tension with just a simple request and Chronos was entertained.

This was also a chance for him to take back the lost initiative in their "meeting" right now so the old man waved his hand, "You can have it. I won't ask for you to return and in fact, I'd like to strike a bargain using your principle. Consider this one time transaction a gift from me, Mister Kingsley."

With that, Chronos waved his hand to summon his [Player Panel] and although this wasn't inside the RPG: Terroa game, Cortana said that it's not that too far off so the [Player Panel] feature was also available here.

An item flickered in Rex's vision and materialized into a tiny metallic box.

'Cortana, scan!'

[Scan complete! Sir, this is good news! This is...]

Rex's eyes stared at the metal box. He tried his best to hide his joy into a look of curiosity.

Chronos laughed, "I don't think you're aware of what it is so I will tell you. In the game, they call it [Battle-AI]. Its default name is Aurora but you can change it before activating it into the game as one of those so called [Cash Items]."

(AN: (Gamer Lingo) "Cash Items" are those items that can only be bought by players using cash and are bound to the player and cannot be sold. This is to protect players' investments because these kinds of items tend to be really expensive but on the other hand, "Cash Items" are that effective and rare that's why, sometimes, there are people dubbed as [Cash Players] because they're those rich kids who play the game armed with lots of cash but no actual skills. Cash Players with real gamer skills are either a pro or those rare people called "geniuses" by other gamers)

Rex 'played' with the lie and agreed. In the first months of the game, Panorama Corporation gave away 500 Battle-AI. Expensive doesn't even begin to define how hard it was to get one as you have to be a winner of a lottery before you could place an order and be "be selected" as one of the only 500 to get a Battle-AI.

It was in the official game forums.

"I accept your gift. So to settle this deal, let me tell you that as far as my observations go, there were at least thirty or so people in [Mitra] but so far I've only met three of them, including AG. They're the ones giving me the tips and helps."

Chronos watched Rex's scan data and confirmed that he was telling the truth.

"When was the last time you met with AG?" out of the blue, Chronos couldn't help testing Rex with a trick question.

"It was more than a week ago."

Chronos observed Rex before determining that he wasn't lying. Then he said, "Now that that is out of the way...... I will now talk to you as one of the Clan Heads of the Five Great Clans. Mister Kingsley, Christiana Monarchy is a subordinate of my Abraxas Family and you have attacked one of my vassals. Regardless of your reasons, you've stolen their riches and messed the balance. Now, normally, it is a punishment worthy of death but in consideration of you saving your... woman, who is also, in principle, is my vassal, from the hands of those who have embraced their crime, with my power, I shall grant you a pardon and only order you to fight in the Military Assessment Tests with the best of your abilities as punishment. Accept and you shall be absolved. Refuse and I will use every power I have to crush you within tonight's gathering itself. Oh, and when I say that I want you to fight with all your abilities, I meant that I am looking forward to you finishing the assessment tests along with the top candidates. It won't matter if you want to become part of the army or not but I still want you being at least the 31st recruit. So?"

The old man sure knew how to threaten him. Now that they've made a slight connection as well as a business transaction in accordance to Rex's rules, Chronos pulling the "I am an Elder" card on him is just plain cheating.

But then again, Rex knew he couldn't say no to this and so could only sigh in his heart as he did have no other choice.

"I still won't join the army. That's for sure."

"..."

"But..."

Rex met Chronos eye to eye and after a passing silence, said the words that made the old coot bid him an ear-wide smile.

"Like I said before; if the price is right, everything is negotiable. What's in it for me in the army?"

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