The Great Worm Lich

This weird idea of turning a native tribe of a foreign world to the fifty-first state of the United States would make ordinary people baffled and in disbelief when it was first revealed but Philips merely raised his brows. Without much changes in his expression, he said coldly, “Your idea is very avant-garde, Dr. unfortunately, it turns out that the human beings from the foreign worlds are just about the same even if they’re not evil spirits. The Earthling will never become compatriots with those devils.”

“Mr. Philips, wisdom has allowed human beings to leave the category of ordinary animals and become an advanced species. However, at the same time, it has also given us a distinction between good and evil.” Zhang Lisheng said with a smile before adding on with a skillful and systematic guidance. “The basis for distinguishing these two types of people is not population, but a mindset. The medieval Mongolian emperor once killed a third of the Eurasian population and in the middle of the last century, the German mustached leader had even sent millions of Jews into the gas chamber and killed them before making soap out of them. Don’t tell me that all of us Earthlings are like devils as well just because of their cruelty? This is obviously not true. Besides, some of the foreign world humans who invaded the Earth were just trying to fight against our aggression. Strictly speaking, justice is not on our side… ”

“Dr., I’m not a college student listening to your philosophy course.” Philips interrupted the young man in a cold voice, “Nor am I the President who can help you realize your plan of making tens of millions of barbarians into American citizens. I’m merely the director of the Logistics and Security Bureau of the Department of Defense…”

“Mr. Philips, we Chinese have two proverbs, one goes like this, ‘You can’t build up your constitution on one mouthful’ while the other one goes like this, ‘Nothing like having a man on the spot to smooth the way’.” Zhang Lisheng waved his hands vigorously as a slight smile appeared on his face. “Since you don’t like going around the bushes, I’ll just go straight into the topic. The request I’ll make is naturally something you can realize. For example, please sign a formal contract in the name of the Logistics and Security Bureau of the Department of Defense with the Wizard Li tribe from the Shrimp World No. 2 for the purchase of military supplies.”

Even on the same planet, the ability to purchase munitions between two countries must also imply an unusually close relationship. This was one of the important standards in the hidden rules of international communication. Just take China and United States for example, even if the so-called strategic partnership had been in existence for more than ten years, the zero exchange of military industry among these two countries also proved that they had always been in a state of confrontation.

No matter what kind of military exchanges existed between the United States Department of Defense and the native tribe of the foreign world, it would also represent a recognition between each other. Philips immediately understood the meaning implied behind this reasonable-sounding request of the young man and his slight frown on his forehead immediately deepened.

“Dr. Zhang, do you know what kind of unpredictable and uncontrollable consequences will be caused by your request?”

“The States has a total of 8,100 tons of gold reserve and I believe most of them must have been shipped to Noah World already.” The smile on Zhang Lisheng’s face disappeared without a trace as he answered in a blank expression, “I don’t know how much gold the government must keep in reserve as ‘basic gold’ in order to stabilize the monetary system; nor I know whether the gold needed by the Department of Defense to build ‘super weapons’ would significantly exceed the defense military budget; nor I know whether the government has found a new gold mine in Noah World… There are too many things that I don’t know of and this includes the future consequences of the small request that I’ve made just now. however, I know that if my request is not fulfilled, your request would never be fulfilled either. Perhaps you should take a few days to ponder over this matter carefully, or even report to a minister, or a more senior officer.”

“Dr., can you make a decision on behalf of the Wizard Li tribe of the Shrimp World No. 2?” Philips fell into a moment of silence before suddenly asking.

This question was very subtle, and one could even say that it was a trap. Fortunately, Zhang Lisheng had already prepared an answer, “It is difficult for me to answer this question with a direct ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Because of the birth of a wise, brilliant and powerful guardian spiritual monster in the Wizard Li tribe, in just a few years’ time, the tribe has expanded from a small tribe to a territory with millions of square kilometers, and even a tendency to unify the entire Hellfire Archipelago. However, unfortunately, in the era of the revival of the gods, as the Wizard Li tribe turns stronger, its enemies also became more powerful. Be it the other revolting Hellfire tribes, or the so-called mainlanders, it has made the Wizard Li tribe to be at a loss on how to handle the situation. Not only that, in the tribe itself, the resurrected god and the secular rulers have had accumulated some contradictions too. Right now, the Wizard Li tribe needs a stable backing and a firm ally, and I believe that so do our States. For this reason, as a person who has deep affections—and most importantly, great interests—for these two countries, or should I say forces, I really hope that they will form an alliance. As for the gold obtained by the LS Group creditors in the Shrimp World No. 2, all of them are produced by my private gold mine. That time, I only used the most common geometrical calculation methods such as circles, squares, triangles, and so on to exchange for the gold mine from the tribal guardian spiritual monster. Since then, whether I’m in Wizard Li or not, there would always be aborigines who would mine the gold for me. Don’t think that these primitive people have no contract spirit, in fact, they pay more attention to their promises… Oh, I’m sorry, I’ve strayed too far away from the topic. What I’m trying to say is, I may not be able to make any important decisions on behalf of the Wizard Li tribe but since I specialize in spreading culture and studying the island biology and has never concerned myself with the fight for rights, I’m gradually being respected by the ordinary Wizard Li people, the recognition from the secular ruler and I’m even in the high favor of the revived god. For this reason, I do indeed have a lot of influence in the Wizard Li. Adding on to the fact that I’ve relied on the air strike of the federal garrison to help the expansion of the Wizard Li tribe and has successfully taken down the Shrimp B1 Island, they have always had good opinions on the federal government. In fact, if it wasn’t for the Atlantis spacecraft’s rash attack, the Earth’s garrison would not have been banished at all. for this reason, it should not be difficult for them to form an alliance with the States. As for becoming the fifty-first state of the United States, well I don’t think it’s possible now but it doesn’t mean that this plan is entirely impossible in the future. Of course, it’ll need the efforts of many people…”

“Dr., you think too far away. Let’s resolve the problem in front of us first.” Upon seeing that the black-haired young man beside him getting more and more excited as he spoke with a longing expression on his face, Philips interrupted coldly, “Since you own the gold mine in the Shrimp World No. 2, then what price can you trade for me if I agree to your request?”

“Price? I can give you 400 dollars per ounce, 1,000 tons in the first year and there’ll be an increase of 10% every year. The maximum transaction volume is set at 1,800 tons, and I will guarantee that in addition to the Logistics and Security Bureau of the Department of Defense, I’ll not trade gold with any other company or individual in the government, of course, the Department of Defense will have to go to the Shrimp World No. 2 do the transportation itself. And the gold that I sell to you should never be resold either.” Zhang Lisheng voiced out his own conditions.

This condition was very good. It meant that the federal military could buy gold with a real value of more than 70 billion dollars by using only 14 billion dollars without affecting the domestic currency order. However, it was apparent that Philips was still unsatisfied.

“Dr., the price of the deal between you and your creditors is 300 dollars but now…” The black man bargained with a blank expression but his words were immediately lodged in his throat by the young man’s interruption, “That’s right, but at that time, the LS Group under my name has fallen into a financial crisis, and now, it is doing well. I’m a scientist, Mr. Philips and I’m not willing, nor am I good, in bargaining with others. On top of that, I like to simplify complex issues so that’s why I always show my best sincerity when negotiating. It’s up to you whether you want to accept it or not. Alright then, I’ve finished telling you everything that I can say. I’ll take my leave if you have nothing else to add.”

“Dr., you just expressed your deep love for the States and the Wizard Li tribe but now you’re unwilling to compromise just for the sake of 100 dollars? Don’t you think you’re acting too much like a politician now?” As though he did not hear Zhang Lisheng’s tactful words of asking him to leave, Philips said with a blank expression.

“It’s not just 100 dollars but 35 million times 100 dollars. I really hope that the States can form an alliance with the Wizard Li but I’m not a selfless saint. Maybe we should meet again when you have more sincerity, Mr. Philips. “Zhang Lisheng stood up and shrugged. Upon seeing that he was leaving for real, the black man stopped the young man with a deep frown. “Alright, Dr., I accept your condition of 400 dollars per ounce of gold. I can also immediately agree to enter a military supplies purchase contract with the native tribe of Shrimp World No. 2 in the name of the Logistics and Security Bureau of the Department of Defense but your gold supply must be increased to 1,200 tons per year. I can make an advanced payment first.”

“Are you pulling my leg? Even a US minister has no right to directly decide to sign a contract that involves such a huge amount of money and influence.” A shock expression appeared on Zhang Lisheng’s face for the first time as he once again studied the middle-aged black man in front of him while replying in astonishment.

“The federal minister only has a term of no more than right years with two consecutive presidential terms, while I, on the other hand, serve the US citizens for right.” Philips said coldly. “As long as you can promise to provide me 1,200 tons of gold each year, all of the mentioned requests will not be a problem at all.”

Staring at the black man’s cold face, a thought flew across the young man’s mind, “Mr. Philips, don’t tell me that the so-called Logistics and Security Bureau of the Department of Defense is actually the Area 51?”

Philips did not answer Zhang Lisheng’s question but merely showed a stiff smile that was uglier than his crying expression.

“Oh looks like you’re a person whose importance is far beyond my imagination, Mr. Philips.” The young man was taken aback for a while and fell into a long moment of silence before returning a tacit smile to the black man. “OK, in that case, I’m willing to compromise. 1,200 tons a year it is then! I can’t believe that the high-end military industry in the federal government actually has such a large demand for gold. Edward, please help me draft a deal now. I’ll call Charlie and ask him to organize a group of people to accompany the officers of the mysterious Logistics and Security Bureau of the Department of Defense to the Shrimp World No. 2 for the trading tomorrow—no, by this afternoon.”