Pillar of Yita

”Is this your intention?”

”Not exactly.”

The young official glanced at the young man, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and only replied: ”There is no compromise without reason in this world. The operations of major guilds in Eteliria are purely commercial activities; the alliance has no right to interfere. So, compromises are actually obtained through negotiation, and this inevitably involves complex interests being exchanged.”

”When second- and third-tier guilds gain benefits, they certainly can’t contribute nothing. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, this should be easy to understand—”

Reed shook his head, the copper rings in his mane jingling: ”Sir, as a Knight of Marlan, I must remind you—there is also no such thing as lunch that can be obtained by force; of course, I can only offer you a word of caution: in this world, there are countless followers of the lady...”

”And who might you be, sir?”

The Big Catfolk pressed his paw on the table, placing his holy emblem upon it.

Seeing this emblem, even the previously indifferent young man’s eyes flickered. Invoker Paladins were everywhere, nothing special, but native Paladins with a holy emblem were not to be trifled with. These proud and upright knights truly followed Marlan’s teachings and were quite uncompromising about it.

Carelessly provoking these people would indeed lead to endless trouble. Moreover, this was the domain of the gods, more troublesome than the secular monarchies of nations, especially for Free Knights. To Colin Ishurian’s king, Osh’s emperor, they were insignificant.

With only a sword in their hand and truth in their heart.

At Marlan’s command, countless Paladins would fight for justice.

The official, clearly understanding some taboos in Eteliria, subconsciously closed his mouth.

Only that young man muttered: ”Didn’t we put in manpower and resources? Who exactly is the robber here?”

Fang Hong looked at Luo Yu beside him, knowing there was no value in continuing the discussion at this point. It was no surprise to him that the alliance thought this way. Regardless of the Free Guild’s current strength, it was outside of its control. Whatever strength remained after integration was at least under the alliance’s rules.

Your surplus is still yours, my surplus is also mine, it’s just that simple—

He wasn’t disappointed, having anticipated that they weren’t on the same page from the start.

Except for that irritating young man, the others were relatively restrained, so he didn’t plan to completely fall out, and answered in a deep voice: ”Everyone, honestly, we’re far off-topic now. As for the answer to that question, I have not changed my mind. Despite all you’ve said, I still do not intend to change my original intention.”

”Why, Mr. Ade?”

The young official couldn’t help but ask: ”I’ve said, more people will enter this world soon, and naturally, more will head to the Second World. The original restrictions are being relaxed; more and more people are gaining resources. Talent is indeed important, but resources themselves are crucial as well.”

”Mr. Ade, it’s not just Mr. Li and the others, we also see potential in you. But being a step behind means staying behind. You’ve wasted too much time in the First World; even a genius would falter. As an ordinary participant in domestic super-competitive affairs, as an ordinary worker, I hope you’ll reconsider.”

The other party spoke confidently, as if rejecting the Grand Guild’s generosity meant a bleak future for Fang Hong. Of course, what the other party said wasn’t entirely unreasonable—after all, the major guilds indeed held the majority of resources in a district, and being a Free Summoner naturally meant a rugged and challenging path.

Fang Hong had seen Miss Sicape and Captain Kroid meticulously calculate the budget for Morning Dawn Star, even keenly managing his own newcomer salary.

But where did the major guilds’ resources come from?

They weren’t inherently the possessions of the major guilds—

These, not even existing within Colin Ishurian, Osh, Rotao, or Giant Tree Hill’s Sky Sea resources, have no natural owners but were ’allocated’ to the major guilds under the alliance’s lead. Even the undiscovered resources were long divided—

Free Summoners had not yet raised uproars of dissatisfaction.

Now, it seemed the major guilds disliked the Free Summoners being an eyesore.

The second Mount Holy Pact incident hadn’t happened long ago. Instead of reflecting on their actions, the major guilds were hastily acting against the Free Guild, as if after annexing it, they would face no opposition. Fang Hong didn’t understand their thought process, but he knew things weren’t so simple.

He did not plan to argue and was too lazy to refute, just shook his head:

”I have already decided.”

A hint of disappointment appeared on the Descendants of Flor’s leader’s face.

But after thinking a bit, he replied: ”Alright, if this is truly Mr. Ade’s decision, although it’s disappointing, we won’t insist.”

The other paused, then asked: ”I just want to ask, did someone offer you more than we did, was it the Silver Vislan?”

Fang Hong was taken aback, not expecting the other to think this way. He simply replied: ”No.”

”No?” The counterpart’s eyes showed a hint of surprise.