Before Nami Midori awakened, everyone temporarily stayed in Parry Mountains.
Firstly, Parry Mountains itself is also very powerful and has been a long-time companion of Nami Midori, considered a confidant of Nami Midori; secondly, Leaf Groot is also here now, interacting with the monarchs of various Elemental Territories, which is one of Reine’s purposes in coming to the Tidal World.
After a brief self-introduction, Parry Mountains said in a buzzing voice, "You arrived much faster than I imagined."
Reine: "Because interests move the heart."
Parry Mountains was taken aback. It had only casually mentioned something to start the formal conversation, but what it didn’t expect was that Reine immediately touched upon the core of everything—interests.
The resources of the Tidal World are abundant, both the source of its prosperity and the reason for coveting.
Everything revolves around interests.
However, because this topic is relatively sensitive and involves more than just the Green Forest Domain, Parry Mountains was reluctant to touch upon it lightly.
Previously, chatting with Angel was inconsequential because Angel could not represent the Barbarian Cave behind him. But now that the real master of the Barbarian Cave has arrived, talking to him is a formal negotiation. Parry Mountains didn’t feel qualified to represent the entire Tidal World in discussing issues of interest.
But now, with Reine directly opening the topic, Parry Mountains could not just skip it. It could only look towards Leaf Groot. Although Leaf Groot’s strength was not the strongest in the Green Forest Domain, it is, after all, a monarch of a domain, and from the perspective of status, it apparently has more qualification to discuss this topic with Reine.
Leaf Groot pondered for a moment: "So, you also came for interests?"
"That’s for certain." Reine, though his expression remained courteous and polite, spoke very directly.
"I thought you would first talk about cooperation during this visit." Leaf Groot said.
"The purpose of cooperation is ultimately interest. It concerns the wizard’s acquisition of interests in the Tidal World and also concerns the binary of pros and cons concerning your elemental creatures." Reine: "Instead of talking about meaningless contents now, only to fall out later over unresolved issues of interest, it’s better to peel away the veneer at the start and engage in a somewhat unpleasant core gamble... At least the connections generated by interests are indeed existent."
What Reine said was somewhat harsh, but the inner logic could be understood by Leaf Groot and Parry Mountains.
Perhaps connections made through emotions might be a more pleasant sound, and novels and operas love to eulogize such emotions. But in the real world, connections of interest are often more stable than those through emotion.
Leaf Groot hesitated: "I can understand your meaning, but this needs to be discussed with Master Nami Midori, right?"
"Of course, in the end, I will talk with Nami Midori." Reine: "Before that, I also want to discuss with you. As Element Lords, I want to know what your views are."
Leaf Groot: "I had previously expressed my views to Mr. Pat, and I am in agreement with his proposal. But since Master Nami Midori has now awakened, significant decisions concerning survival still need to await Master Nami Midori’s final decision."
Reine smiled: "It seems you haven’t understood my meaning. What I wanted was merely to glimpse the trends of the entire Tidal World from the perspective of Lord Leaf."
As the Element Lord of the Green Forest Domain, Leaf Groot’s opinion, while it could not represent the other Elemental Territory monarchs, could at least probe some true and false boundaries. This would allow Reine, in future dialogues with other Element Lords, to better grasp the scope and limits of interest exchanges.
Leaf Groot now comprehended Reine’s intention, thought it over, and said: "Alright, then let’s have a talk."
The ensuing period saw a dialogue between Reine and Leaf Groot.
The others quietly listened on the side, thinking deeply.
The conversation initially focused mainly on Reine asking questions, inquiring about the entire Tidal World’s configuration in order to deduce the grand design. Ultimately, when discussing cooperation, it turned to Reine speaking while Leaf Groot listened.
Angel initially produced a trilogy, the last part briefly described as "The Tidal World’s Future Possibilities." But at that time, Angel’s musings were a kind of idealistic conjecture, to which Reine added more possibilities, encompassing the best to the worst.
Using interests as a formula to discuss how different possibilities might bring changes to elemental creatures.
And what elemental creatures themselves need to consider is which possibility might aid their development under the premise of minimally disrupting the overall situation.
This includes possibilities such as "conquest and management," "war antagonism," "guild system," "lord system," "corporate and regulatory systems"... encompassing a wide array.
Also, under the "subsidiary system," where Elemental Territories become subsidiary institutions of the Witcher Organization, the interests gained are substantial, with elemental creatures gaining more knowledge to enhance themselves. However, becoming a subsidiary involves considerable sacrifices.
Where there is sacrifice, there must naturally be gain, but the extent of sacrifice corresponds to the extent of gains received.
The Tidal World possesses geographical advantages, and the Wizards’ Realm seeks a harmony of people on this geographic foundation.
During the expression, Reine exhibited exceptionally strong rational thinking, utilizing an almost indifferent attitude to list various statistics, showcasing gains and losses of interests.
Many words were unpleasant, but this is reality.
In the end, Leaf Groot did not provide a clear "possibility" choice but instead, from its understanding, analyzed possible choices that the major Elemental Territory monarchs might adopt one by one.
And what Reine sought was not an immediate choice from Leaf Groot but rather its final analysis.
Therefore, the conversation between the two parties had a relatively harmonious and perfect conclusion.
At the end of the conversation, Parry Mountains suddenly let out a familiar eerie laughter: "Ha ha ha ha~"
The laughter drew everyone’s attention.
Seeing everyone, including the elemental creatures, looking toward it, Parry Mountains spoke up: "I very much agree with your point of view,
Behind these seemingly cold data might be hidden real interests, but it might also be lies you fabricated. After all, this is the first time we’ve encountered such content, and you have also mentioned that these are possibilities, implying uncertainty."
"So, how can you make us believe whether what you are saying is true or false?"
Parry Mountains’ words slightly stiffened the atmosphere on site, but Reine, evidently adept at handling such situations, calmly said: "What you’ve raised is indeed a very important question."
Even if through connections of interest, two different camps are tied onto the same boat, without a premise, the two camps cannot develop together.
And that premise is—mutual trust.
This is precisely the key raised by Parry Mountains.
No one knows whether what the other party says is true or false, especially between two sides with an evident information disparity. Reine mastered knowledge inherited over countless generations by humans, while the elemental creatures of the Tidal World experienced an apocalyptic blow three thousand years ago, losing much information. Even without the loss, confined to the ecological development of the Tidal World, their understanding of the outside world remains akin to a frog sitting at the bottom of a well, perceiving merely a well’s worth of sky.
The reason Parry Mountains immediately raised this doubt is that it had previously met Mr. Feng and learned from him the vast difference between Elemental Creatures and human civilization. Humans are a group filled with rhetoric, prejudice, and greed.
The inequality of information will inevitably make the relatively ignorant side full of suspicion.
Because they cannot trust.