Chapter 2607: Betting Agreement
Qian Li's gaze was cold and sharp, his mind racing. He never imagined things would develop to this point!
To retrieve the Cosmos Seed, the Bose Clan had even exposed the existence of Xun Zu!
Yet they still couldn't swallow the Silicon race, and instead were being threatened by them!
If he insisted on making a move, what he'd face wouldn't just be the Silicon race, but a united counterattack from all the Starry Sky Races!
The Starry Sky Races didn't want to be bombed by the Silicon race, so they had no choice but to side with the Silicon race and jointly target the Bose Clan!
This situation was exactly the same as the era at the end of the Eternal Age!
Back then, the Silicon race was still a little brother—the Bose Clan could flip them over with a single shove!
Now the little brother has the strength to become the big brother, and they can't be pushed around anymore!
But to just give in like this?
Wouldn't this battle have been fought for nothing?
They'd lose their last shred of dignity, dammit!
The atmosphere at the scene was deadlocked. The Eye of the Starry Sky hadn't disappeared either, but was still watching the excitement on the sidelines!
This made it even harder for the Star-Swallowing Lords from all sides to open their mouths and mediate!
Just then, Jiangnan clapped his little hands and spoke:
(˵¯͒～¯͒˵)"You two, don't just stand here stuck. I know what you're both thinking!"
"Old Man Bose thinks: we've already fought this far, but the goal wasn't achieved—giving in would be a huge loss. But if we keep fighting, there's no guarantee, and he can't bear to lose this Thousand Stars Era!"
"Silicon Lord feels pretty pissed: I got beaten up for no reason, suffered heavy losses, and don't want to just let this slide. But if we keep going, I'll only lose even more!"
"Am I right?"
Both turned to look at Jiangnan. Silicon Lord's face was expressionless, while Qian Li's expression was unfriendly!
Noah, Man Ti, and the others all shivered inwardly!
Big bro! Please don't open your mouth to mediate, okay?
By not saying anything, you've already helped us a huge favor, you know?
Yet Qian Li and Silicon Lord had to admit that what Jiangnan said was exactly what was on their minds!
Jiangnan continued: "If we keep going, nobody benefits. Everyone will be a loser. So how about this: both of you take a step back!"
"Both feel like you're losing out, right? Then settle it in the upcoming Sequence Offensive and Defensive Battle. The two sides can set up a betting agreement. After the battle, whichever side has a higher total score is the winner!"
"The loser must compensate the winner for all losses incurred during this conflict. Accept the loss as the price of the bet—no objections allowed. And the entire Sacred Law Council member races will help supervise this, how about it?"
"That way, the winner saves face and doesn't actually lose anything—all losses and consequences are borne by the loser. What do you think?"
As soon as he said this, Noah, Chen Mu, and the others all had bright eyes and quickly chimed in!
(◕ﾟﾛﾟ)"That's a great suggestion! Both big shots should seriously consider it. If you don't want to take a loss, just win in the Sequence Offensive and Defensive Battle!"
Man Ti nodded: (*⁰̷̴◠⁰̷̴)"Exactly, exactly! And the Sequence Offensive and Defensive Battle doesn't involve Star-Swallowing combat—it's affordable. How about settling it in one round?"
Silicon Lord narrowed his eyes: [┐≖_≖┌]"I don't care. It depends on the will of the Starry Sky Overlord."
This was a bit of a snide remark.
Qian Li's expression turned cold. He glanced at Jiangnan:
(￢益￢ꐦ)"Why should I listen to you? You don't have the right to speak here!"
Then he turned to Silicon Lord and raised three fingers: "Three times! The loser must compensate the winner three times the losses. Do you dare?"
Silicon Lord said calmly: "Is there a difference? I'll have a loss price list drawn up and sent to the Bose Clan later."
Qian Li snorted coldly: "You won't need it."
Jiangnan pouted on the side and muttered softly:
(￢₃￢๑)"Tch~ I don't have the right to speak? The step I threw down for you—you still came down it pretty smoothly, didn't you?"
Qian Li's ears twitched, and the veins on his forehead bulged again!
[From Qian Li...]
But he pretended not to hear!
He'd already taken the step down—what else could he say?
If it continued, getting the Cosmos Seed was impossible anyway.
This proposal for a betting agreement was indeed a very clever compromise!
Qian Li waved his hand and shot a cold glance at Silicon Lord:
"Ha! Then we'll meet again at the Sea of Star Embers. Be prepared—my Bose Clan is getting serious!"
"Let's go!"
With that, he disappeared into the starry sky with his people, leaving behind the devastated Guangke Star Domain.
It was hard to imagine that just a few people like Qian Li could cause such massive destruction.
At the same time, on the Bose Star Domain side, the Silicon race also began to withdraw their troops.
The conflict between the big brother and the second brother was finally resolved this way, though it extended into the subsequent Sequence Offensive and Defensive Battle.
The Star-Swallowing Lords from all sides who had come to mediate all breathed a sigh of relief.
No matter what, things were temporarily safe.
No one expected that the fight was stopped by Jiangnan's proposal.
Silicon Lord said:
[┐'▿'┌]"It's rare for you all to visit my Guangke Star Domain. Why not come in and sit down? Thank you for supporting my Silicon clan just now, sharing our hatred for the enemy, and confronting the oppression of the Starry Sky Overlord together!"
"You are all friends of the Silicon clan. Friends come to drink machine oil! How about I treat you all to the highest-grade fully synthetic mineral machine oil?"
The Star-Swallowing Lords' mouths twitched.
(￢﹏￢٥)"It's... too moist. We'll pass..."
Pfft—sharing hatred with you Silicon guys? If we didn't do that, you were really going to blow things up, weren't you?
Going into Guangke Star Domain? That would be asking for trouble!
If you fire off a few more Ultimate Star Weapons, forget machine oil—we'll just be eating funeral dinner.
Jiangnan put his hands on his hips:
(｡･ˇ～ˇ･｡:)"Drink what machine oil? Not sincere at all! Hey, Silicon Lord, about the copyright fees for your Star Sim series Mechanical Legion—shouldn't you settle that with me?"
"Those weren't free to use, you know! You guys learned all my little burning slogans. Do you know how many brain cells I killed to come up with those?"
(ﾟ口ﾟ)ﾂ"At least give me a couple of Ultimate Star Weapons as a token, right? Hey, hey, don't walk away! How about a Giant God Soldier? I'm not picky!"
But Silicon Lord completely ignored Jiangnan and turned to leave.
Jiangnan ground his teeth: (งᵒ̌皿ᵒ̌)ง"Stingy and petty! Not generous at all. You learn from people and don't even pay up. Pfft, what a loser!"
Seeing the matter settled, the Star-Swallowing Lords had no reason to stay and began to leave.
But Jiangnan lightly coughed, swept his gaze across the field, his eyes extremely meaningful.
However, Noah, Man Ti, and even Benny Mei all avoided his gaze, not meeting Jiangnan's eyes.
Jiangnan made a peace sign and without looking back, walked toward the Dimensional Gap, saying lightly:
"A solitary boat fears the waves; a great ship sails far. That's all I have to say."
With that, the space sealed, and Jiangnan's figure disappeared completely.
Noah's face showed a bitter smile.
Peace sign? Ha—two more days to wait?
In fact, each faction had long received the invitation personally written by Jiangnan.
But by now, the time had passed, and not a single Star-Swallowing Lord had gone to the Lost Kingdom to attend the meeting.
The risk was too great. Even if they trusted humanity, they weren't confident enough to go into the Dimensional Gap as Star-Swallowing Lords.
What if Black God got a sudden urge and felt there were empty spots on the figure shelf?
Jiangnan's invitation made them afraid to accept.
They just wanted to cooperate with humanity a bit longer, to continue their advantage in the Sequence Offensive and Defensive Battle.
They didn't want to get into anything else.
But Jiangnan clearly had bigger plans—his vision was not ordinary.
Originally, the Star-Swallowing Lords had planned to simply not respond and let it go.
But now...
Noah, Man Ti, Benny Mei, and the others all glanced meaningfully at each other, trying to read each other's thoughts.
Should they go to Jiangnan's invitation or not?
But they were all old veterans—how could they show what they were thinking?
At this moment, even Chong Qianjin couldn't make up her mind!
She had also received Jiangnan's invitation!
Was he insane?
He stole the bug race's mine, crippled Chong Bishi, kidnapped the bug race's Insect Emperor, and beat the bug race to a pulp during the Cosmos Grand Hunt!
Both Jiangnan and humanity could be considered the bug race's mortal enemies!
And with that, Jiangnan still invited her to the Dimensional Gap for talks?
Was she crazy or did she not want to live anymore, going into the Dimensional Gap?
But the sentence on the invitation involuntarily echoed wildly in her mind:
"There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. The future depends on choice..."
Chen Mu frowned, scratching his head:
꒰⸝⸝ᵒ̴̶̷᷄～ᵒ̴̶̷᷅⸝⸝꒱୨"What are you all staring at each other for? Got flowers on your faces?"
Noah rolled his eyes. Obviously, Chen Mu and his group were the ones who hadn't received the invitation.
"Let's go. There are things to do at home."
"I'm out too."
The Star-Swallowing Lords left one by one, and the starry sky returned to silence, leaving only the drifting smoke in the Guangke Star Domain and the Bose Star Domain, revealing that this conflict had happened.
This war, known in history as the Bose-Silicon War, finally came to a close in this way.
It maintained a fragile peace through the betting agreement.
This was the closest the Thousand Stars Era had come to destruction since its establishment—almost making this Sequence War the last one.
The current Thousand Stars Era was like walking a tightrope—one wrong step and you'd fall into the abyss.
The Bose-Silicon conflict was over, but the aftershocks it brought to the starry sky lingered long, refusing to dissipate.
In this battle, both the Bose Clan's "Obliteration of This Realm" and the Silicon clan's Ultimate Star Weapons refreshed each race's understanding of the era's top-tier power.
Under such power, the invincible Star-Swallowing Lords, who represented the pyramid's peak, were no longer impressive.
The ceiling of power had been raised again.
All races in the starry sky began to feel threatened, and every race became more cautious.
Clearly, the reason the Bose Clan was the Starry Sky Overlord wasn't just because they had eight Star-Swallowing Lords.
And the Silicon clan's position as second was not just due to their technological productivity.
Without top-tier power to intimidate, no one could shake their status in the starry sky.
In this battle, neither the Bose Clan nor the Silicon clan were subdued. Instead, it was the Dark Cosmos Entity that got scared into submission.
At the very least, Qian Li achieved his goal of demonstrating power with this battle.
No one dared to doubt anymore that the Bose Clan wasn't qualified to be the first sequence.
Back in the Lost Kingdom, Jiangnan was unusually happy, vigorously rubbing Qing Ke's head!
O(｡⁼̴ꇴ⁼̴)O"This battle was fought well—fought right into my heart! As expected, the Child of Destiny is on my side!"