Strongest Hammer God

Chapter 1100: A Good Trade

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”Worthless!” Breathing Golem transmitted to Auspicious Starsky. ”We already know that we need an Ascendant to control such a Law Well! If we had one, we wouldnʼt have these issues! We know there are ways to control such a Law Well with Formation Arrays and other techniques since other Higher Continental Organizations have also managed to conquer their Law Wells! Weʼve gained nothing!”

”This Lone Elder is trading with us maliciously!”

Fulminant Cycle narrowed her eyes. ”Iʼm not entirely sure,” she transmitted. ”He might not know any better. Technically, he spoke the truth. It is the cheapest and most effective way to control this Law Well. Itʼs just that we donʼt have access to the resources required for his technique to work.”

”Heʼs an Ascendant!” Breathing Golem transmitted aggressively. ”He knows that we donʼt have Ascendants! Yet, he told us to ask him about his technique anyway! As an Ascendant, he canʼt be this stupid or clueless! Heʼs acting maliciously!”

Fulminant Cycle had an unsure expression on her face. ”Your words make sense, but they also donʼt feel accurate.”

Next, she turned to Auspicious Starsky. ”Iʼm unsure how to proceed. He might be malicious, but he might also just be clueless. As always, itʼs your call.”

Auspicious Starsky deliberated his partnersʼ words for a moment before his eyes became a bit colder. While he wasnʼt fully on Breathing Golemʼs side, he still somewhat agreed with his words. Even if this Lone Elder were clueless, he would have known that there were questions that could give them more benefits.

Luckily, he had prepared for such an eventuality.

Auspicious Starsky looked back at Black. ”Thank you for your answer. We would now like to ask our first question.”
”First question?” Kyle asked neutrally, already knowing where this was going.

”Yes, ever since we accepted the trade, we havenʼt asked any questions. We have only made statements about potential questions, and you gave us answers to questions that have never been asked. None of our presumed questions have been questions. They were statements. Therefore, we still have two questions. Additionally, it is common knowledge that such trades always involve oaths to ensure that both parties keep to their words.”

ʼSneaky,ʼ Kyle thought. ʼYouʼre trying to play with Karmic Luck, huh? Sadly, your knowledge of Karmic Luck canʼt compare to mine. You donʼt know it yet, but our conversation will end with me gaining more than I will lose.ʼ

”If you want to be like that, sure,” Kyle answered. ”I fully believe in my heart that I have been cooperative and that our trade has been concluded. I will be staying here until Iʼm done comprehending Immortal Earth. You may do whatever you want. I will keep to my word and not hinder your people from interacting with the Law Well. I wonʼt comment on any additional statements. Have a good day.”

Auspicious Starskyʼs expression didnʼt change. He had already expected something like this.

”Are you sure you want to proceed in this manner?” Auspicious Sky asked.

Kyle didnʼt answer.

”Your presence makes investigating the Law Well dangerous, and we canʼt afford to risk our valuable resources. Your presence and conduct are actively hindering us from entering parts of our own territory.”

Kyle didnʼt answer.

”Since youʼre not willing to budge from your position, we are forced to retreat due to your superior Realm. Whatever comes off this development will be on your conscience, not ours.”

Kyle remained silent.

”Youʼve been warned,” Auspicious Starsky transmitted before turning to his two partners. ”Weʼre going back.”

The two of them nodded. They wouldnʼt gain access to their Law Well today, but they would get something else in return.

Karmic Luck.

Conflict between different factions didnʼt only involve physical battles. Such conflicts were multifaceted. They also involved resources, morale, ideology, politics, alliances, loyalties, and most importantly, Karmic Luck.

Since Lone Elders were mostly solitary, they often lacked insights into the rules dictating Karmic Luck.

The three leaders returned to their headquarters and put the operation on hold.

Dawning Dusk owned this territory. They would have been within their right to attack the Lone Elder after giving him ample warning. Instead of attacking, they had used diplomacy, and the Lone Elder hadnʼt kept to his agreement. Trusting a person who had already broken their promise was foolish. It made sense to qualify further investigations into the Law Well as dangerous due to the presence of a more powerful, untrustworthy Seeker.

The Lone Elder was keeping them from realizing their potential with deceit and unnecessary dominance. He was hurting millions of weaker Seekers.

The Lone Elder was paying to stay in their Law Well, whether he liked it or not. If he remained, his Karmic Luck would continue draining at a rapid rate. If he attacked, their Formation Arrays could kill him.

The only option he had left was to leave the Law Well.

Now, they just had to wait.

It took a while for the effects of Karmic Luck to take effect since this was not an immediate event but a prolonged series of inactivity. Five years later, Auspicious Starsky asked for an evaluation of Dawning Duskʼs Karmic Luck. Most people could feel the current level of Karmic Luck of an Organization, but not many could concretely confirm a trajectory. Many could estimate a trajectory based on context clues, but one needed a lot of knowledge in the Laws of Karmic Luck to actually measure and feel the trajectory.

The results of the investigation were surprising in several different ways.

Their Karmic Luck was increasing more than they had predicted!

Positive Karmic Luck had to come from somewhere. Yet, the source of the Karmic Luck was surprising.

It was the members.

For some reason, the Organization was gaining more Karmic Luck from its members.

Auspicious Starsky was a bit confused and concerned about this development. He had expected that the Lone Elder was the source of the positive Karmic Luck. However, the investigation stated that they were gaining no positive Karmic Luck from the Lone Elder. In fact...

They were giving him positive Karmic Luck!

That made no sense!

What made even less sense was the fact that they were not losing Karmic Luck. They were giving him positive Karmic Luck, but they were not losing any Karmic Luck to him.

The leaders were not entirely sure what this meant.

Meanwhile, Kyle looked at his Karmic Lines. Three of his Karmic Lines were extremely green, while millions of smaller ones were a bit green.

ʼI saved your entire Organization with our talk,ʼ Kyle thought. ʼThereʼs no way you would have succeeded. In the best-case scenario, you would have lost mountains of resources. In the worst-case scenario, you three would have died, and your Organization would have been thrown into turmoil.ʼ

ʼThatʼs why Iʼm gaining Karmic Luck from you and all of your members.ʼ

Black grinned a bit.

ʼHowever, that doesnʼt mean that you have to suffer. Instead of risking your lives and your resources by entering a suicidal bet, youʼre prioritizing stability. Youʼre taking better care of your members, and youʼre protecting them from turmoil by prioritizing stability.ʼ

ʼIʼm gaining Karmic Luck.ʼ

ʼYouʼre gaining Karmic Luck.ʼ

ʼIsnʼt that what trading is all about?ʼ

ʼA good trade benefits all parties.ʼ

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