Chapter 67: Vassal Treaty
The residents of Jin Yu Safe City were still reeling from the shock, but the city’s senior officials had already returned to the conference room.
Only Jin Yu himself had gone up to the rooftop. The others had watched from a distance.
Everyone wanted to know how their City Lord had managed to communicate with that group of terrifying people who could fly.
A blond old man hurried over, his voice trembling.
“City Lord, what exactly did you say to them? They actually let us go just like that! Good heavens, I can hardly believe it. I’d bet that any one of them could have come down and snapped Vance’s neck without breaking a sweat.”
Vance, standing nearby, let out a cold laugh.
“No kidding, August. I’d also bet that with the flick of a finger, they could crush your head.”
Jin Yu himself was still badly shaken, but seeing sparks already flying between the two officials, he forced himself to appear as calm as possible.
“My best friend is the City Lord’s closest confidant.”
What?
Since when had Coriander become his best friend?
—As of this very moment.
Jin Yu swept his gaze across the senior officials of his Safe City.
Yes.
He was borrowing someone else’s prestige to bolster his own authority.
The truth was that most Safe City Lords had stumbled into the position by sheer chance. Once a Safe City bound itself to someone, that person simply became its City Lord.
Jin Yu, however, had been even more unfortunate.
His original world had multiple countries, and when the apocalypse struck, he had been studying abroad.
In fact, it was only his very first day overseas. He had just arrived at the airport and hadn’t even made it to campus before the end of the world began.
Most of the residents in his Safe City weren’t even from the same country as he was. They spoke different languages, came from different cultures, and had different appearances and skin colors.
And he, on top of all that, was very young.
Before the apocalypse, Jin Yu had been nothing more than an ordinary student. He had no experience managing people, and with the cultural and national differences, he had no idea how to govern these foreign residents.
These foreign residents had no intention of accepting Jin Yu’s authority. Their reason was simple: Jin Yu didn’t share their skin color, so they didn’t trust him.
As a result, a riot broke out.
At the time, Jin Yu had no choice but to barricade himself inside the City Lord’s Manor. Using his authority as City Lord, he expelled every resident who had surrounded and attacked the manor.
The unrest did stop, but it was only a temporary solution.
The residents no longer dared to riot, yet they still refused to obey him. Whenever the City Lord issued an order, they merely went through the motions.
To keep the Safe City functioning, Jin Yu had no choice but to promote one foreign resident after another into senior positions, relying on them to manage the ordinary citizens.
The good news was that these officials really did keep the residents under control.
The bad news was that Jin Yu could clearly sense their ambitions. They wanted to strip him of his authority—or better yet, replace him altogether.
They were all in the same boat, but every one of those senior officials wanted to be the one holding the helm.
If Jin Yu hadn’t been the one already at the helm, he probably would have said that it was only human nature.
But unfortunately…
He was the one they wanted to overthrow.
Before the Safe City advanced to Tier 2, Jin Yu had remained inside the City Lord’s Manor, refusing to let anyone enter. He had only managed to keep the officials in check by projecting the attitude of, If you don’t keep the residents under control, then we’ll all die together.
Only after the Safe City reached Tier 2, making him a Tier-2 Transcendent with power surpassing that of ordinary residents, did he finally dare to interact with the senior officials more frequently.
Even then, the officials knew he still depended on them.
So while they appeared respectful on the surface, in reality they brushed him off and ignored his orders whenever they pleased.
Jin Yu didn’t dare eliminate them, either.
A Safe City was like a nation—or rather, like an entire city. Only the person who truly owned one could understand just how difficult it was to govern.
If he killed off his senior officials today, the Safe City would grind to a halt tomorrow.
And so, the two sides remained locked in this uneasy coexistence. The officials addressed him as “City Lord” at every turn, but in practice, they still refused to do as he said.
Just like what had happened moments ago.
As the City Lord, Jin Yu had stepped forward alone to negotiate with the people of Blue Sea.
Not a single one of his senior officials had followed him.
What kind of Safe City let its City Lord stand on the front line alone when a crisis struck?
At that moment, Jin Yu realized something.
Blue Sea…
Might be the variable that could finally break his deadlock.
Enlightenment struck him, and excitement surged through him.
So this was it!
So this was what “Deviation” meant!
This was the true direction in which Deviation had guided him.
Deviation had brought him before Blue Sea.
Suppressing his excitement, Jin Yu continued speaking to the senior officials, mixing truth with embellishment as he talked about Blue Sea.
“My friend has always wanted to introduce me to this City Lord.”
—Which wasn’t exactly a lie. Coriander had been urging him all along to let Blue Sea come to Jin Yu’s coordinates and deal with the Skywing Dragon.
“You’ve all seen it yourselves. Her Safe City is that dependable… that powerful. It could wipe out a Tier-2 Safe City like ours whenever it pleased. Just today, she killed both a Tier-3 City Lord and a Tier-2 City Lord. The ruined cities we saw belonged to those two.”
Jin Yu was pleased to see the expressions of his senior officials change.
Seated in the City Lord’s chair, he announced,
“I’ve decided to accept my friend’s recommendation and place our city under this City Lord’s leadership.”
Coriander… I’m sorry!
Your boss is incredible!
I want her to be my boss too!
The senior officials of Jin Yu Safe City remained seated, exchanging meaningful glances that only they could understand.
They weren’t used to their City Lord’s newfound confidence and commanding attitude.
But none of them dared voice any objections.
After all, that overwhelmingly powerful Safe City—one that happened to have ties with their own City Lord—was still nearby.
“Yes, City Lord. Your decision is an exceptionally wise one. In a world as dangerous as this, we truly do need the protection of a reliable and powerful City Lord.”
The blond old man, August, lowered his head and assumed the posture of a loyal subordinate.
If this had happened before they had seen Blue Sea Safe City with their own eyes, he would certainly have argued that there was no such thing as true allegiance between Safe Cities.
Today they might become allies.
Tomorrow, the higher-tier city might kill the lower-tier one and devour its core.
But today, they had witnessed Blue Sea Safe City.
And Blue Sea had indeed spared Jin Yu Safe City.
That meant submitting to Blue Sea really was a good idea.
Although the senior officials constantly fought for power, their highest priority was still survival.
If they could become subordinate to Blue Sea and gain its protection, their chances of staying alive would increase dramatically.
Most importantly, although August suspected that his City Lord’s connection with Blue Sea wasn’t nearly as close as Jin Yu had implied…
He didn’t dare bet that his suspicion was correct.
What if he was wrong?
The other senior officials thought much the same. One after another, they voiced their agreement.
“As you command, City Lord.”
Jin Yu nearly burst into tears from excitement.
Three years!
For three whole years, this was the first time he had ever seen his senior officials look at him with genuine trust and obedience.
Suppressing his emotions, he forced himself to remain composed.
“But Blue Sea won’t be easy to win over. I want all of you to think about what kind of gift we can offer to persuade Blue Sea to accept us.”
With a grand wave of his hand, he declared,
“Everyone, first impressions are crucial! I want you to think only of the most precious, most valuable treasures our Safe City possesses. We’ll present them to Blue Sea. Once we earn Blue Sea’s protection, our Safe City will, at the very least, have an extra chance at survival on Dazzling Star.”
“The most precious and valuable thing?”
The Deviation-type ability user beside him spoke up timidly.
“…Wouldn’t that be me?”
Jin Yu: “…”
Right.
Of course.
A Deviation-type ability user really was the most valuable talent Jin Yu Safe City possessed.
Jin Yu actually gave it some serious thought.
Should he really offer their Deviation-type ability user to Blue Sea?
There was no way Coriander could top that by presenting Blue Sea’s boss with a Deviation-type ability user!
The senior officials’ eyelids twitched.
For the first time, they deeply regretted deliberately withholding knowledge from their City Lord over the past three years.
The fact that he could seriously consider giving away a Deviation-type ability user as a gift was beyond absurd.
They hurriedly stopped him.
“City Lord! Deviation is extremely important! It’s one of our greatest means of survival. Gaining Blue Sea’s protection is certainly important, but we won’t always end up in the same world as they do. We absolutely cannot give Deviation away!”
Jin Yu looked confused.
“…We can’t?”
The Deviation-type ability user also wore a disappointed expression.
“…We can’t?”
The senior officials: “…”
Now they were regretting something else.
Because the Deviation-type ability user had always been close to the City Lord, they had intentionally sidelined and suppressed him over the years.
Judging by his expression now…
He looked like he couldn’t wait to move to Blue Sea.
Jin Yu frowned impatiently.
“Then you tell me what we should give them! I’ll make this clear right now—if whatever you choose fails to persuade Blue Sea to accept us as followers, then I’ll send Deviation over instead.”
The Deviation-type ability user immediately replied, “I have no objections.”
The senior officials: “…”
They quietly exchanged suspicious glances.
Wasn’t it obvious?
These two were acting together, putting on a show to force them into doing everything possible to secure Blue Sea’s acceptance.
After all, the senior officials had every reason to sabotage the process behind Jin Yu’s back and ensure that, by some “unfortunate coincidence,” his attempt to pledge allegiance to Blue Sea would fail.
Because once Jin Yu truly came under Blue Sea’s command, they would no longer be free to undermine him.
There would be someone above them keeping watch.
Their carefree days of sidelining the City Lord while holding the real power would be over.
Yet even though they could tell the two of them were acting—their performance was painfully unconvincing—the senior officials still couldn’t afford to ignore the City Lord’s orders.
It might be an act now.
But if Blue Sea really refused their submission…
The pretense might become reality, and the Deviation-type ability user really could end up being sent away.
Their City Lord had always been a bit unhinged.
Especially over the past year.
Perhaps because he’d never truly managed to secure his authority, it seemed as though he was on the verge of completely snapping.
Better not provoke him.
After all, in the past, when the City Lord got angry, the worst he would do was lose his temper.
Now, though?
If he got angry, he might summon those terrifying flying people.
Moreover, after witnessing Blue Sea’s overwhelming strength—and seeing that it had spared Jin Yu so casually—the senior officials had also come to believe that becoming a vassal of Blue Sea wasn’t such a bad decision.
And if they were going to do it…
They might as well do it properly.
These senior officials, many of whom had been government officials back in their original world, spent a long time discussing the matter before reaching a conclusion.
“We should offer everything our civilization can offer.”
They directly modeled their proposal after the kinds of tributes a vassal state would present to its sovereign nation in their original world.
“Every civilization possesses different strengths. We can offer crop seeds, livestock, cultural classics, forging techniques, architectural blueprints, medical knowledge and pharmacopoeias, jewelry, spices…”
“In short, we can offer our entire civilization as proof of our allegiance.”
“Naturally, we’ll also present crystals and item cards. However, we should reserve a portion for emergencies.”
“I also recommend signing a formal vassal treaty. Whenever our two Safe Cities appear in the same world, we will voluntarily contribute thirty percent of all resources we obtain—including crystals and item cards.”
“In return, whenever we request assistance, the suzerain… Blue Sea Safe City… must respond to our call for help, protect us, and resolve the crisis on our behalf.”
The senior officials drafted an extraordinarily long list and handed it to Jin Yu.
“But, City Lord, you should think this through carefully. Thirty percent of our resources is no small amount.”
Jin Yu didn’t hesitate for even a second.
“My life is worth more than resources.”
He might not understand politics.
That didn’t mean he didn’t value his own life.
Besides…
Jin Yu knew he wasn’t particularly clever.
But he had always believed Coriander was.
If someone as smart as Coriander had chosen to follow Blue Sea so wholeheartedly…
Then Blue Sea had to be worth following.
If Coriander was willing to pledge allegiance like this…
Then so was he!
Without another moment’s hesitation, Jin Yu picked up a pen and boldly signed his name.
“Then it’s settled. Start preparing everything. I’ll send Blue Sea a message right now!”
They photographed the document, scanned the list, and sent it.
Jin Yu let out a long, deep breath.
Coriander… I’m sorry!
Cheng Qisheng was in the middle of tallying her gains when she suddenly received a message.
It contained an extremely long inventory list…
Along with Jin Yu’s formal request to become Blue Sea’s vassal.
Hm?
A pleasant surprise.
