Ninth class citizen

Chapter 385 A Proposal

The startled reporters and guests instantly regained their composure. So did the federal citizens watching the live stream.

"Haha, I knew nothing could be hidden from our President!"

"Is this the legendary entrapment? Your Majesty is truly awe-inspiring!"

"I was really panicked just now, but I was prepared. So it's alright now."

"They really have guts to cause trouble at the signing ceremony!"

"If I'm not mistaken, isn't that Miss Tiffany on stage? What role did she play in all of this?"

"I feel sorry for Miss Tiffany for a second—oh, I was wrong, she's no longer a young lady from a noble family!"

"His Majesty the President already let her off the hook last time, but he still pulled this stunt—now she can't even live a peaceful life."

"On behalf of the 98760 inmates on Prison Star W08 in the Skyhawk Starfield of the Federation, I warmly welcome Miss Tiffany!"

"Guess what I found out? What Ms. Nan was holding in her palm just now wasn't some cute little jewel at all, but a suspected weapon of mass destruction! If you don't believe me, go watch the official announcement video on the Mio Empire's military website last month!"

"My God! It's exactly the same! Could this operation be Mio's doing?"

"Can't you use your brain for once? Didn't you see Prince Sipang was here too? Who would use this weapon to kill their own people? The current emperor of the Mio Empire isn't a fool!"

"No, everyone wait a minute, why has the signing ceremony been stopped?"

The atmosphere at the signing ceremony was indeed heavy. After all the assassins were packaged and teleported out of the hall, His Highness the Crown Prince suddenly found that the alloy pen in his hand was heavier than a thousand pounds. Even though there was only one character left, he couldn't write any more.

With a "hiss," the alloy pen plunged down heavily, piercing the thin gold-leaf book.

The guests murmured softly, and the journalists from various major media outlets also discussed the matter animatedly.

His Highness the Crown Prince slowly raised his head and looked at Tian Li, who had teleported to his side, his eyes filled with darkness.

The latter sighed softly and picked up the tattered contract.

“This must be fate,” Tian Li said calmly. “Because of the assassination attempt that just happened, the contract needs to be revised.”

The last glimmer of hope in His Highness the Crown Prince's heart vanished completely.

"It was you, wasn't it?" he asked angrily. "You originally wanted to use this assassination attempt as an excuse to force us to continue retreating?"

Tian Li glanced at him in surprise but didn't say anything.

The current Federal Foreign Minister rushed forward, acting as the president's mouthpiece: "Why is Your Highness's reaction so strong? It's easy to suspect that you were aware of the assassination attempt beforehand."

His Highness the Crown Prince gave an unnatural smile: "It's a misunderstanding. How could anyone make such an unfounded assumption? I was also one of their assassination targets!"

“I’m willing to trust you.” Tian Li nodded and put his arm around Nan Rong’s shoulder. “But I can’t trust your subordinates.”

He only uttered those two sentences before the combat-ready diplomat spoke again: "Your Highness, your eagerness to leave after the signing ceremony is equally perplexing. Of course, for your safety's sake alone, I must, on behalf of the Delin Federation, cordially invite you to stay on Glory Star for a few more days." The signing ceremony ended abruptly. Tiffany and the others, "airdropped" into the Presidential Guard by Tianli, were personally interrogated by the furious Defense Chief.

He had already planned to use at least a few rounds of torture to vent his anger, but he didn't expect that no one had any intention of keeping it a secret. As soon as he was questioned, they all confessed the truth.

Ah, there's a big fish hiding among these people.

Florent, the elusive Son of Equality, was actually the assassin who intended to kill important figures in the Three Kingdoms period!
And this die-hard member of the egalitarian fighters actually confessed all his schemes honestly: how he infiltrated Glory Star, how he made contact with the remnants of the Holmes family, and how he obtained that micro-particle high-explosive bomb—as if he had suddenly been possessed!
Such cooperation left the defense chief with nowhere to vent his anger, leaving him with no choice but to truthfully present all his statements to His Majesty the President.

The latter only glanced at it before handing the confession over to Nan Rong, as well as Prince Xi Pang and His Highness the Crown Prince of the Kungu Empire.

Cold sweat beaded on the Crown Prince's forehead, and his voice was somewhat hoarse.

“They’re spreading rumors,” he said weakly. “Why should I collude with them?”

"But your country's foreign minister says the exact opposite."

The defense chief said, and sent him a new statement.

"This must be torture to extract a confession," His Highness the Crown Prince still tried to argue.

Nan Rong glanced at Tian Li and stood up on her own initiative.

"Actually, the truth is not important," she said. "If His Highness the Crown Prince has any complaints about me or our Delin Federation, he is free to raise them."

"Although we are the winners of this war, we were only forced to fight. And to be honest, managing the former Kungu Empire's citizens who are about to be incorporated into the Federation is quite troublesome. And these are all things that could have been renegotiated."

Neither His Highness the Crown Prince nor Prince Xi Pang expected her to say such a thing.

The two looked at Tian Li at the same time, only to see that he had a faint smile on his face, without the slightest surprise or dissatisfaction, obviously he had already discussed this with Nan Rong.

"What do you mean?" A glimmer of hope appeared in the Crown Prince's eyes, while Prince Sipang looked on with concern—no one wanted to see their neighbor become stronger.

"That assassination attempt just now actually exposed many problems." Nan Rong changed the subject and then circled back to the previous point: "Why would the Holmes family join forces with the Equality Fighters, and why are there certain forces from the Mio Empire and the Kungu Empire involved in this?"

His Highness the Crown Prince and Prince Xi Pang, who had been caught red-handed, both looked rather grim. However, Nan Rong didn't actually intend to pursue the matter further.

"Interactions between countries are primarily based on mutual benefit, and all actions are driven by self-interest. People are used to focusing only on their own immediate interests, and almost no one considers the perspectives of others."

"For example, it wasn't Your Highness the Crown Prince who started the war, but you had to sign the treaty that ceded territory and paid reparations; and the Mio Empire was content to live in peace in its own region, but its neighboring country became powerful because of a victory, so it's only natural to feel uneasy."

The two people, whose secrets had been revealed, both wore helpless, bitter smiles.

"Actually, many things can be handled better if we look at them from a different perspective. So I have a suggestion here."

No one knows what was discussed at the meeting of representatives from the three countries that afternoon.

But in the following two weeks, a lot of things happened.