Lord of the Truth

Chapter 1023: The Overlordʼs power

”There is no need to beat around the bush then, I know youʼve taken control of my nine planets, and I want them all back.” Pythor locked his gaze firmly on Robin, exuding an air of authority. His tone was more of a command than a negotiation.

”Understandable, understandable~” Robin nodded a few times with a faint smile. ”What will you offer me in return?”

”Peace, of course.” Pythor spread his hands calmly. ”This war has gone on far too long, and I know itʼs cost you dearly. Handing over my nine planets would be a fitting gesture of goodwill toward peace.”

”Ahehehe~” Holak let out a loud chuckle, momentarily drawing everyoneʼs attention.

Even Robinʼs smile widened slightly in response. ”I understand I would gain peace, but that would be the end result of the negotiations. Now letʼs get back to the negotiations themselves. In exchange for the nine planets, what will you give me?”

”Peace.” Pythor furrowed his brows and lifted his chin, making it clear that he was stating his final offer.

”What nonsense is this?” Caesar turned toward his father, pointing at Pythor in frustration. ”I told you this guy would bring us nothing but trouble!”

Robin raised a hand to silence Caesar and continued speaking, his smile intact, now directed at Pythor. ”What about Nihari?”

”What about it?” Pythor raised an eyebrow. ”The planet is entirely under my control. The southern region you made your stronghold is no longer in your grasp. Weʼve destroyed the space portal there, and itʼs currently being invaded. Within less than a week, it will be mine.”

”...” Robinʼs tongue momentarily froze at those words. Without meaning to, he quickly glanced at his marshals, silently questioning if their leader had lost his sanity. Then he turned back to meet Pythorʼs eyes.

”Whatʼs happening here is called negotiation. It means I give up something, and you give up something, in exchange for peace. Thatʼs how this works. Do you understand whatʼs happening here?”

”Of course, I understand. And thatʼs exactly whatʼs happening. I am giving up my intention to obliterate you and your entire empire.” Pythor tilted his head higher, his arrogance undeniable. ”Youʼve been hovering around Nehari for a long time. Thereʼs no need for me to explain its value to you. Nehari is worth far more than the nine planets combined. Besides, itʼs the ultimate goal of our Overlord, who wants it at any cost. Did you think I would hand it over to you under any circumstances? Thatʼs insanity.”

”...” The four marshals exchanged quick glances, with Lacross, in particular, beginning to sweat slightly.

”Oh, I see, I see.” Robin nodded a few more times. ”So... this isnʼt a negotiation. Weʼre here to declare your surrender. Is that correct?”

”It is a negotiation,” Pythor insisted, nodding. ”Because after receiving my nine planets, if Iʼm dissatisfied with their condition, I might choose not to agree to peace with you.”

”Excuse me, are you insane?” At this point, Richard couldnʼt hold back any longer. ”Have you forgotten everything you did in our three planets Jura, Greenland, and the Orphan Blood? We havenʼt even begun to address the lives you took there, yet here you are spouting nonsense!” ”Silence that child, or he will be silenced forever,” Pythor muttered, his focus never leaving Robinʼs eyes. As for Richardʼs outburst, Pythor had no intention of acknowledging it.

Destroying planets? Killing billions of people? These were trivial matters. If anyone deserved accountability, it was Robin-for the valuable Great Serpent soldiers he had killed in those campaigns.

”...Honestly, I expected you to at least make an effort to make these negotiations seem real, like offering me the southern region of Nehari in exchange for the nine planets.” Robin chuckled softly, ”But it seems youʼre not even trying.”

”...?!” The marshals looked at each other again, their confusion growing. Robinʼs words made it sound as though he was ready for a fight!

”I donʼt have to try to make anything look better. Nihari must be fully mine. Why? Because the Overlord said so.” Pythor shook his head several times. ”Youʼre a frog at the bottom of the well, unable to fathom the power of our Lord or his authority. You canʼt imagine the scale of the wars heʼs fighting in the middle belt and the destruction they cause. What weʼre doing here is childʼs play!”

He then leaned forward slightly. ”Do you ask yourself why Iʼm saying all this? Do you think none of this concerns you? Maybe youʼre right, but even if somehow, today, you managed to slip away from this army, as you called it yourself, or even if lightning struck down from the sky and killed us all for your sake-do you think your story would end there? How naive you are. Your war isnʼt with us; itʼs with the Overlord.”

”Let me clarify something to adjust your understanding. The Overlord has many other planetary empires in the young planetary belt. In his early days, lacking resources, he planted the seeds of many planetary empires in the young belt, waiting for tributes from them. And we are just one of those empires. The only reason we fight you is not because weʼre so special, but because we were the ones who found you. And thatʼs why we deserve a portion of the tribute from this planet.”

Pythor then leaned back against his throne, his confidence unwavering. ”I donʼt know who your Overlord is, and frankly, I donʼt care. But since our Overlord arrived in Nehari and laid eyes on it, the matter was decided-this planet belongs to him. We are sufficient to destroy you, and if we fail, he has many other empires that can rally against you and crush you. The simple fact is, this is not a matter of who will give up and who will gain. Even if we are defeated and lose everything, we will lose everything as well. The matter is simply... over.”

”....” This time, Caesar was the one who shot a look at Richard. Sakaar remained silent, but his aura darkened, and even Hulak turned to look at Pythor with a serious expression. There are more of those scoundrels? They all thought the same thing in unison.

They immediately began to see Pythor in a different light. Instead of seeing him as a clown who didnʼt know his place, they began to understand his position. He wasnʼt a fool who didnʼt know his worth, but rather someone who knew exactly the power of his master and took pride in it. He was sitting before them as the embodiment of the entity he called the Overlord and all of his followers, not just himself.

The marshals and their guards had mixed emotions. Hearing about those other empires under the same Overlord was pressure on them, but it also provided a sense of protection. They were like competitive brothers in a way!

The hundred imperial guards showed no change in their demeanor. They had seen special units from those empires in the middle planetary belt on numerous occasions and fought alongside them. They werenʼt as powerful as the Great Serpent Empire, but they were certainly present, and with one order from the Overlord, he could summon them all here! Amidst all the shifting moods and varying morale, Robin turned toward Jabba. ”The demi- snake says that the Supreme Lord came and saw Nehari-have you met him?”