From the Metropolis to the Strongest in the Cosmos

Behind Li Dong, a young man from Earth stepped forward. ”We’re not incapable of researching Spiritual Stones,” he said grimly. ”The price you’ve quoted for this Spiritual Stone is at least a hundred times lower than its actual value.”

”What do you mean?”

Beside Kande, a middle-aged man also stepped out. ”Are you implying,” he said flatly, ”that we’re intentionally trying to cheat you?”

”You know perfectly well whether you’re cheating us or not,” the man from Earth replied grimly.

”Hmph!” Hearing this, the middle-aged alien snorted in anger.

BOOM!

The aura from his body erupted, striking the young man from Earth who had spoken.

”Pfft!”

He coughed up a large mouthful of blood and let out a wretched scream before collapsing to the ground. His body was instantly covered in blood, his bones crushed, and his life force dwindled to a mere flicker.

”Zhang Xu!” Seeing a member of Kande’s group suddenly attack, Li Dong’s expression changed drastically. He rushed to Zhang Xu’s side.

With a wave of his right hand, a white fruit appeared, and he quickly used it to treat Zhang Xu’s injuries.

The fruit’s healing effects were potent. Once Zhang Xu’s condition stabilized, Li Dong glared at Kande and his men. ”You’ve gone too far,” he said.

At this, Kande seemed surprised that one of his own men had attacked so suddenly. He reprimanded him, ”Talis, what’s wrong with you? Why did you suddenly attack?”

”Lord Kande, it was my fault.”

The man named Talis lowered his head. ”I didn’t realize the people of Earth were so weak. I was angry and couldn’t help but release a tiny sliver of my aura.”

”Hmph!”

Hearing Talis’s words, Kande snorted. ”If there’s a next time, I’ll punish you severely.”

”Yes, Lord Kande.” Talis bowed, trembling with feigned fear, then stood calmly behind Kande again, the corner of his mouth twitching into a slight smirk.

Kande then turned to the furious Li Dong and said apologetically, ”My apologies, Mr. Li Dong. Talis’s actions just now were unintentional.”

Although he was apologizing, his expression barely changed.

”However, the price we’re offering for these Spiritual Stones is already very fair.”

”Besides, Mr. Li Dong, you need to understand one thing. This Spiritual Stone mine is compensation from your Earth to us. Therefore... the price will naturally be a bit lower,” Kande said indifferently, looking down on Li Dong.

Hearing Kande’s words and looking at the wretched state of Zhang Xu, Li Dong clenched his fists, his heart filled with indignation.

Things like this had happened many times before.

For the past decade, Earth had been constantly bullied, and in many collaborations, they were oppressed by their partners.

Conflicts often broke out during negotiations, with the other party attacking at the slightest disagreement. Today, Zhang Xu was only severely injured. In the past, people from Earth had even been killed during such clashes.

Although the other party offered some compensation, the deceased were always Earth’s elites, while the attackers faced no consequences whatsoever.

After speaking to Li Dong, Kande turned to the woman leading the Earth delegation. ”Lady Li, Mr. Li Dong,” he said coolly, ”I’ll give you three days to consider. Our patience is limited. If you take longer than three days and then try to offer the Spiritual Stone mine as compensation, we may no longer agree to it.”

The woman leading the group from Earth was, of course, Zhou Yao. Her expression was also grim.

So much had happened on Earth over the past decade. It was as if the entire planet had been put under immense pressure.

’Of course, she knew exactly who was behind the suppression of Earth.’

She remained silent. Kande was at the peak of the Star Lord Realm. All of Earth combined stood no chance against him; even their Star Lord Realm mechanical lifeform was no match for him.

Seeing the dark expressions on Zhou Yao’s and Li Dong’s faces, Kande felt a sense of delight.

’Young Master Tianluo should be very pleased with this matter.’

He dared to bully the people of Earth like this because he naturally had a powerful backer.

Word had spread that Tianluo had obtained a great inheritance and was destined to become a powerful Dual Pantheon Deity. Countless people were trying to curry favor with him.

It was because of a previous mineral mining partnership with Earth that Tianluo had sought him out. Afterward, he naturally began to slowly move against Earth, even looking for opportunities to kill its elites.

’Earth has so many people. What does killing a few of them matter? It’s nothing at all.’

Even if some were dissatisfied, no one would dare stand up for Earth because of Tianluo.

Hearing what Kande said made Li Dong even more furious.

’When my dad was around, this Kande was so respectful. Now he bullies Earth like this.’

Li Dong was furious, but more than that, he felt a profound sense of powerlessness.

Earth was too weak. When doing business with other galactic powers, they were completely suppressed. A single person from the other side could annihilate them all. If negotiations soured, their counterparts would attack, sometimes even killing their people. The feeling was utterly suffocating.

But no matter how suffocating it felt, they could only endure it. They had no way to fight back.

He, Li Dong, had had a smooth life since childhood. Because of Li Yang, countless factions had tried to curry favor with him.

But after growing up, he had seen the true face of this Cosmos.

’Just wait until my dad gets back. Let’s see what Kande looks like then!’ Li Dong thought angrily.

He had always been eagerly waiting for the return of his father—the man who had shielded him from every storm and could solve any problem with ease.

”Hm?”

As he was thinking, Li Dong’s wristwatch suddenly chimed.

It wasn’t just his; Zhou Yao’s wristwatch chimed as well.

Seeing the message, Li Dong froze for a moment, then his eyes lit up with excitement. He glanced at his mother and saw the same look on her face.

A single message instantly swept away Li Dong’s feeling of powerlessness. He looked Kande straight in the eye and said in a heavy voice, ”Kande, we will never agree to that price for the Spiritual Stone mine.”

Seeing Li Dong’s instantaneous change in attitude, Kande’s heart skipped a beat. He had clearly noticed the excited expressions on both Li Dong’s and Zhou Yao’s faces just a moment ago.

Now, seeing Li Dong’s newfound confidence, he suddenly felt uncertain.

’Have the people of Earth found a new backer?’ Kande couldn’t help but wonder.

Other powers had befriended Earth because of Li Yang. With Li Yang’s death twenty years ago, none of those powers would possibly oppose Tianluo for Earth’s sake. ’Are they just bluffing?’

Lost in thought, Kande said grimly, ”Mr. Li Dong, if you don’t trade this Spiritual Stone mine, then we will have to reopen our investigation into the previous incident. You know the consequences.”

The sale of the Spiritual Stone mine was due to a previous conflict between the Kande Clan and the people of Earth.

Hearing this, Li Dong said coldly, ”If Mr. Kande wishes to pursue the matter, he can go back and think carefully about how he’d like to do that. We on Earth will be ready!”

Facing a peak Star Lord Realm expert like Kande, he no longer felt any fear.

”Fine. Very fine! I’ll be waiting to see how Mr. Li Dong intends to give us an explanation!” Faced with Li Dong’s unyielding stance, Kande now felt completely unsure of himself. He left with this one last threat and led his team away.

After they left, Li Dong hurried over to Zhou Yao’s side.

”Mom, that message was from Dad.”

Li Dong said excitedly, ”Dad’s back?”

”Yes.” Zhou Yao nodded, also overjoyed. ”Xiaodong, let’s enter the Virtual World quickly.”

(Thank you to Bansheng Liangliangliang dao Shang for the 1,500 tip, Lingnan Yanyu for the 500 tip, and 08a for the 100 tip. Thank you.)