Yama Rising

That said, all the Tsar had done so far was nothing more than a mere statement of his intentions, and they would never allow the three gods of death in their hands to return to the hands of the Russian Underworld right now. After all, what would they do if he suddenly reneged on his promises?

A rift tore open in the void, and Aristotle, Catherine the Great, and Peter the Great promptly vanished into the crack. The Tsar’s eyes flickered wildly, but he said nothing.

The international community had to treat each other with some measure of regard and respect, and the Tsar knew full well that there was no way they could make the problem go away so summarily. Nobody would condone such rule-breakers.

Qin Ye walked forward slowly with the Harken in his hands and raised an eyebrow quizzically, “Your Excellency the Tsar, are you looking down on me, looking down on Hell, or looking down on the Second King Yanluo here?”

These were tall allegations that he couldn’t afford to ignore.

The Tsar gazed deeply at Qin Ye, “We’ve already got an in-principle agreement in place, and all Hell has to do is to give us the nod. What more do you want?”

“You’ve time and time again acted with such audacity as though to test Hell’s bottom line. Nameless god of death… what exactly are you trying to do here? Or do you think that just because you’ve somehow linked up with the Argosian Underworld that you no longer fall within the purview of Hell’s influence anymore?!”

It was almost as though Hell had suddenly taken hold of the awls already driven through his heart and twisted them around.

Not only had he lost his spoils of war, he even had to pay war reparations to the underworlds involved.

“You must be kidding.” Qin Ye barked back without hesitation, “Hell has been the victim in this entire situation. Since when is it the abuser’s turn to dictate the terms of compensation?”

The Tsar was incensed by Qin Ye’s choice of words, and the veins on his forehead throbbed and bulged.

How many times have you resorted to violence to gain a bigger slice of the cake for yourselves? And now, you’re actually trying to play the victim?!

Qin Ye didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he took the next few moments to pick and choose his words.

Their trouncing of the Russian Underworld’s expedition force had surprisingly forced the Tsar himself to enter the fray to defuse the situation and speak directly of their compensation to the victims.

If I’m going to maintain Hell’s image, then I can’t ask for the disclosure of any of the Russian Underworld’s patents to us. After all, Fengdu would’ve had practically everything they’ve had. Mines aren’t a good source of compensation either for the very same reason. As for Yin spirit stones, there’s not much use for those things right now, especially given the state of development of Everburn and Ashmount City.

“Not a problem.” The Tsar agreed to these conditions readily. Truth be told, the Russian lands were so vast yet sparsely populated that even after all these years, they were still discovering new minerals and ore deposits.

Sure, the Mongol Empire wasn’t a large territory by any means, but its return to Hell was more of the resolution of a longstanding dispute on sovereignty!

Furthermore, it was a declaration of sovereign might! This was the first international development that most of the other underworlds were going to witness!

The reinstatement of sovereignty to these lands, as well as the cessation of proliferation of Forbidden Arts was already well worth their efforts thus far.

“Secondly.” Qin Ye deliberated for a moment before going on, “Hell had originally no intentions of interacting with foreign underworlds while it’s under lockdown. But now that things have come to this, there’s no reason not to go with the flow.”

“In the next few years, Hell will set up a trading hub here in the Mongol Empire for the purposes of bilateral trade between the Russian Underworld and Hell. This will be a ground trade center. At the same time, the Russian Underworld must open up all of its ports to Hell’s vessels and allow docking. Likewise, Hell will also be opening up its Ashmound Port for sea trade after the new year.”

Doesn’t that all sound favourable to the Russian Underworld?

Especially not after experiencing the vastly different means that Hell has employed this time. Their true purpose would never be expressed in such a forthcoming manner!

They were clearly going deeper and deeper into the rules, and the Tsar’s heart slowly grew more and more uneasy. Something told him that the bombshell would soon be dropped, and it was likely going to be something that ate away at them from the inside.

Qin Ye paused for a moment, and then licked his lips, “Finally, the products exported by the Russian Underworld shall have a 150% tariff imposed on them, while the products exported by Hell, regardless of the type of good it shall be, can only be imposed with a 5% tariff.”

How ruthless…

They had chosen trade over mineral deposits. Prior to this, the bilateral trade agreements between the Russian Underworld and Hell, comprised tariffs in the region of 8-60% for various goods, ranging from basic raw products to highly specialized products like drawings and artwork. And now, Hell’s current demand threatened to completely shatter their understanding of the tax system involved!

And on the other hand, all Hell had to do was to pay a little bit back for their exports of commensurate value!

Dead silence.

The Tsar placed his hands behind his back and clenched his fists tightly. His chest heaved and fell with every agonizing breath he took. His heart was searing with excruciating pain. After a long time, he gnashed his teeth, “Isn’t this proposal… a little too unfair to us?”

No… I don’t… please calm down…

“Artwork.” Qin Ye smiled.

It was but a single word, and yet it also caused the Tsar to shudder violently.

Cathayan artwork was worth a lot of money, but unfortunately… they were only going to be allowed to charge a 5% tariff on that!

The Russian Underworld could only charge a 5% tax on the same!

Just 5%?!

“There’s no need.” Qin Ye continued, “You can rest assured. What we need are nothing more than basic household items. I can even guarantee this with the reputation of the Second King Yanluo of Hell.”

The name of the Second King Yanluo was a terrifying conversation-stopper. The Harken couldn’t help but glare at Qin Ye - What kind of monster are you? He’s already left the world, and yet you continue to bring up his name again and again, almost as though you’re reminiscing about the good old times. Is there really a meaning to all this?

“I think…” The Tsar repressed every measure of anger in his heart, and he nearly sobbed in response, “It’s feasible.”

“There’s more?!” The Tsar exploded. His anger was already bursting at the seams, and he glared daggers at Qin Ye, “Emissary of Hell, enough is enough. It’s a virtue to leave others with a dignified way out.”

“What I was going to say is that, finally, since the Mongol Empire will be returned to Cathay, it will form Cathay’s Outer Mongolia Province. Since that’s the case, any information and records that you’ve gleaned of the Tomb of Genghis Khan should also rightfully be returned to us.”

He no longer wished to remain in this place. Over the last century, the Russian Underworld had proven itself to be a glorious empire. How much did they gain for their role in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty? How much reparations had they demanded? They had even played a crucial role in ending the Second World War. Unfortunately, who would’ve thought that just after a mere century, they would be forced to give up so much of what they had obtained?

They weren’t even able to protect two of their own gods of death!

It’s over…

It’s finally over. The plot that had been brewing for decades, from the appearance of the Resentment Crystals, to the execution of the script of death, until the shocking finale taking place at Khuree. This entire episode had finally come full circle and drawn to its close.

Hell had secured for itself substantial benefits that would propel its rate of development to new heights. But Qin Ye knew that this wasn’t the time to be considering such matters. After all, as one of the successors to the throne, there were still some loose ends he had to personally tie up.