âI DO NOT LIKE YOU AT ALL!!â Harold Sands roared out angrily at JulâTaras.
By his side, Monkey King and Aunt Hills were trying their best not to laugh!
Apparently, they didnât do a very good job in hiding their mirth because Harold Sands immediately turned to glare at them fiercely.
âNot negotiable.â JulâTaras shook her head firmly.
âHOW IS IT NOT NEGOTIABLE! THE CREATOR IS MY GRANDDAUGHTER! GRANDDAUGHTER!â Harold Sands roared out loudly once more!
âShe placed me in charge of her runes. Consider me her manager.â JulâTaras said very mildly, completely unaffected by Harold Sandsâ bluster.
Next to her, ElâTaras shook his head helplessly.
âCHAIRMAN! SAY SOMETHING!â Harold Sands shouted at his chairman angrily!
âEhm. Julesâ¦â Chairman ElâTaras began.
JulâTaras merely raised her eyebrow at ElâTaras, as if asking him âAre you sure you want to do this? I havenât gotten to your part yet. Who knows what might happen between now and the moment the words leave my mouth? I might accidentally remember wrongly and add in a few extra requirementsâ¦â
âYes! Good job Jules! Thatâs how you should do it!â Chairman ElâTaras immediately shouted.
âWHAT?!â Harold Sands was completely outraged!
âDirector Sands. We are the adults here. We need to be gracious in front of the younger generation. Let them see our graciousness, and be inspired to be gracious themselves! Then they can pass on that graciousness to the next generation, and we would have been the source of an endless wave of graciousness, passing on from one generation to the next, for a thousand generations!â Chairman ElâTaras said sagely.
âWHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!â Harold Sands shouted.
âBe reasonable, Uncle Sands.â JulâTaras finally sighed and said patiently. âThe Empire will be very young, and we cannot afford to hire mercenaries for the very simple reason that we cannot trust them. Ninety percent of your personal guard, as well as fifty percent of the Sands of Time Void Walker Clan Army is a very small price to pay. In fact, I was being very generous by only asking you to acquire twenty Ancients and Five Primals to support us in exchange for five full generalships!â
âGe-generous?!â Harold Sands sputtered. He had never imagined that such a simple word could be so outrageously misused!
âHow many Ancients and Primals do the Void Walker Clans have? It shouldnât be hard for you to coax a few of those old fo- ehm, old powerhouses to join us. In fact, I will make it even easier for you. If we can survive the first hundred years, I will release one ADDITIONAL Ascendant Rune for the top generals who had joined us from day one to learn.â JulâTaras finally conceded a real carrot to Harold Sands.
âHmmmmmmmm. Now that would make my job much easier. Indeed, it will.â Harold Sands calmed down a little and began to stroke his long white beard thoughtfully. âAlright. You have a deal. I will gather the troops.â
âThank you, Uncle Harold. You wonât regret it.â JulâTaras said happily and then turned to her uncle.
She bestowed a beautiful and sweet smile upon him.
âStop smiling.â ElâTaras grumbled.
âFrom the Gaming Commission, the new Emperor of the newest but definitely going to be the strongest Empire of the entire known universe, needs its wealth.â JulâTaras ignored her uncleâs grumbling and made her simple announcement.
She then blinked at her uncle a couple of times to indicate that she was done.
âAnd?â ElâTaras frowned. âWhere are the details?â
âThe details are all there.â JulâTaras said innocently. âDid you not catch it?â
âWhat details? You didnât mention any details!â ElâTaras said rather crossly and confusedly even as a sinking feeling started to appear in his heart.
âWhat do you mean? Itâs ALL there! Let me repeat it. From the Gaming Commission, the new Empire needs its wealth. See? How much clearer could it get?â JulâTaras said with a small smile.
â⦠⦠â¦â ElâTarasâ eyes slowly widened as understanding of the enormity of her beloved nieceâs demand dawned in his mind.
âYo-you want ALL of the Gaming Commissionâs wealth?â ElâTaras choked.
JulâTaras smiled sweetly at her uncle and nodded.
â¦
⦠â¦
âImpossible. I do not own the Gaming Commission all by myself.â ElâTaras shook his head firmly.
âNon negotiable.â JulâTaras shook her head firmly once more in the exact same way she did to Harold Sands.
Next to her, Harold Sands folded his arms and settled down to watch a good show.
âThe entire wealth of the Gaming Commission! Do you know how many Star Systems our operations span? How many trillions of businesses we own? There is no way I can liquidate them all!â Chairman ElâTaras raged.
âI donât need you to liquidate them. Of course not. Why would I do that? In fact, I want them expanded, if at all possible. AIl I need you to do is to simply hand over all net income to the Empire each month.â JulâTaras said calmly as though she was stating the most obvious fact in the universe.
Something along the lines of⦠Roses are red. Violets are blue. All your money, donât belong to you.
âDo you even know how much wealth youâre talking about here?â ElâTaras finally managed to sputter.
JulâTaras nodded, and her fingers flashed a unique code to him.
âYou truly are worthy of the Taras name. You even know that we have that much wealth.â ElâTaras sighed deeply. âVery well, I acc-â
âI meant that as the first payment in cash, Uncle.â JulâTaras rolled her eyes. âHow in all of heavens could you even think that thatâs all I want from you? You truly look down on my investigative skills. I have half a mind to double your required contribution.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âWhat first payment in cash! I donât have that much assets, much less cash!â It was ElâTaras turn to hoot in anger. âYouâre nuts! Youâre completely and utterly nuts!
âCalm down uncle. How could you possibly be so poor in assets? I know that even your main secret stash is already two hundred fifty three point four four times more than the number I just told you.â JulâTaras said dryly.
ElâTaras froze in shock as his brain completed the calculations in a flash.
That damned niece of his!
How the hell did she know the exact value of his hyper secret main secret stash?