Chapter 1067: The Second Meeting (2)
The foreign underworlds were very anxious, as was the Cathayan Underworld. On the top floor of the main paG.o.da, the panel of advisors and all of the top scholars in the fields of international affairs a.n.a.lysis, finance, and domestic affairs a.n.a.lysis had already gathered to a.s.sess the report that Qin Ye was holding.
The entire hall was completely silent, and even the servants in the room had their mouths shut. Furthermore, Qin Ye and the panel of advisors all had unnaturally flushed complexions, and despite the fact that the occasional exchange of words between them were all conducted in hushed tones, it was still possible to hear the excitement in their voices.
The atmosphere was exactly like what one would expect during the final moments before a volcanic eruption.
They all knew that they were witnessing the rise of the Cathayan Underworld. If they could succeed, then the Cathayan Underworld would slowly but surely become the dominant force in this world!
This process wasn"t going to take too long. With the changes that the new energy resource was going to bring about, it would only take 100 years at most for the Cathayan Underworld to reach unprecedented heights that had never been reached by any other nation in the past!
"Your Excellency." Qian Duolai quietly made his way into the room with a solemn expression, then quickly strode over to Qin Ye before reporting in a low voice, "The chairmen of the top 10 consortiums desperately request an audience with you. In exchange for a meeting, they"re even willing to offer mining rights to all of their S-grade mines, free of charge for five years!"
At this point, there were 40 minutes left until the commencement of the second meeting.
This meeting was definitely going to attract the attention of the entire world and go down in the history books. In order to request an audience with Qin Ye before the meeting, the 10 consortium chairmen had hauled crate upon crate of dragon jade to the foot of the main paG.o.da, then rushed up to the floor just beneath the top floor in person in the hopes of being granted pa.s.sage to see Qin Ye, but they clearly weren"t going to have their wish granted.
These 40 minutes were far too important to be sold for any price.
"I don"t have time to see them," Qin Ye replied without even turning to look at Qian Duolai. Only after discussing something with one of the advisors did he finally turn toward Qian Duolai as he continued, "During the past decade, they chose to sit on the fence and didn"t approach us at all, yet they want to turn around and reap all the benefits now? They made a choice, and they have to live with it now. Tell them that if they want to join us, then attend the next meeting and listen carefully to what we have to say. The Cathayan Underworld doesn"t need their political funding."
"Yes, Your Excellency." Qian Duolai silently departed, only for Secretary Jiang to enter the room shortly thereafter.
"Your Excellency, there are still about 15 more minutes before you should prepare to go downstairs. As the hosts, we should arrive at least 20 minutes early as a gesture of respect to everyone else. You need to take some time to rest in order to be able to face the upcoming challenges in the best mental state possible."
Qin Ye exhaled as he rubbed his own throbbing eyes. Several hours had already pa.s.sed by without being noticed at all.
The world map in front of him was riddled with blue, green, and red lines that would be completely unintelligible to the uninitiated, and he took one final look at the map before giving all of his advisors a nod of acknowledgment. "Thank you for your hard work, everyone. If we can secure the final victory, then I"ll be sure to hold a ma.s.sive celebratory banquet and offer toasts to all of you in person!"
"Rest a.s.sured, Yanluo Qin," a thin elderly man replied with a steely expression. "The future is ours! The underworld isn"t like the mortal realm, which has to constantly deal with economic problems and perhaps even financial crises. Due to the existence of cultivation and the power system, the economy in the underworld is very stable, and that will prove to be their downfall! In terms of politics, no one has been dabbling in this field longer than Cathay! The heritage of Aegypt had been completely severed at some point, Hindustan has been completely colonized in the past, and the Babylonian Empire has also been lost to the sands of time. Out of the four major civilizations in history, only Cathay"s culture has been pa.s.sed down to the present day without being severed at any point. Our nation has gone through a feudal era spanning thousands of years, giving us far more experience than all other nations when it comes to political maneuvers and tactics. In the mortal realm, Cathay isn"t powerful to fully maximize this advantage, but it"s an entirely different story here in the underworld!"
Qin Ye nodded in response, then closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, picking up the final report on the table before vanishing as a gust of Yin wind.
Group Chat Administrator Cathayan Underworld: @everyone
Group Member Argosian Underworld has entered the chat.
Group Member Aegyptian Underworld has entered the chat.
Group Member Hindustani Underworld has entered the chat.
Group Chat Administrator Cathayan Underworld: Let the game begin!
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The chime of a clock rang out across the entire Heavenly Pillar City, signaling the commencement of the second meeting. By the time Qin Ye appeared on the main stage as a gust of Yin wind, he discovered that the hall was already completely filled.
There were no reporters and journalists on this occasion. Instead, they had been replaced by rows of Yin spirits wearing long black robes, black top hats, and veils over their faces. Their hands were all clasped together, and it was impossible to tell whether they were male or female.
Qin Ye"s gaze lingered momentarily on these Yin spirits, who were known as witnesses of history.
They existed only in the underworld, and they were official witnesses of history known and approved by the four pillars.
No one knew who they were, and they had only appeared on a handful of occasions throughout the underworld"s history.
In fact, there were only six known occasions in history where they had appeared, namely the Argosian Underworld"s deployment of troops to the rest of Europa, the detonation of the first forbidden art, the Aegyptian Underworld conquering the middle east, the Argosian Underworld and Aegyptian Underworld"s Mediterranean Sea war, the border war between the Russian Underworld and the Cathayan Underworld, and the seven underworlds attacking the Cathayan Underworld at once... This was the seventh known occasion.
These people wouldn"t appear unless a moment that was truly going to change history arose.
They never spoke or intervened, regardless of whether history was progressing in the right or wrong direction in their opinion. All they did was observe.
All leaders of world organizations in the underworld had the right to summon, and they could travel to any place in the world within an hour.
There were light street lamps standing in every corner of this level of the paG.o.da, spread out in an extremely even manner. The Yin energy around them was very murky and indistinct, which was a clear sign to all of the Yin spirits present that this s.p.a.ce had already been sealed, so everything that was to take place in the hall was going to be strictly confidential. At the same time, it also told everyone that they were carrying quasi-divine artifacts.
There were 18 witnesses of history present, which amounted to 10 quasi-divine artifacts! It was clear that the GTO had already determined that this was going to be a day that was going to change the course of history!
The 10 consortium chairmen took a solemn glance at the witnesses of history in the hall, before Archbishop Antonio lowered his head with a frustrated expression. "You can choose not to meet us now, but you can"t distribute your energy resource and technology to the rest of the world without our a.s.sistance! Let me see what you have up your sleeve!"
Qin Ye swept his gaze around the hall, then said, "Welcome back, everyone. I"m sure you"ve all been waiting a long time for this second meeting, so I won"t waste any time with unnecessary words. Let"s begin right away. From here, I will be reading out the new energy resource"s usage and distribution methods."
All of the Yin spirits in the hall unconsciously sat up straighter upon hearing this, while the representatives of the three pillars were staring intently at Qin Ye. If he tried to do anything out of line, then they were going to use their veto rights to stop him!
The entire hall was so silent that as Qin Ye opened the file in front of him, the resulting rustling of paper could be audibly heard. He took a glance at the doc.u.ment before him, then read aloud, "From this day on, the Cathayan Underworld will be registering a new energy resource patent."
The representatives of the three pillars heaved a collective sigh of relief upon hearing this.
They knew that Qin Ye was drawing his figurative sword with this announcement, but the fact that Qin Ye wasn"t aiming to cut them down from the get-go was still a slight relief to them.
"The name of the new energy resource is "electricity-like energy string", and it was developed entirely by the Cathayan Underworld, so we are applying for 100% of all patents involved."
"Objection!" Archimedes, having recovered somewhat from his earlier trauma, immediately countered, "The electricity-like energy string was clearly developed on the basis of string theory, and as a result, we cannot look past the father of string theory, the Italian scientist, Gabriele Veneziano. Seeing as you"ve used his theory, some of the patents of the new energy resource should go to him."
Qin Ye offered no response to this question. Instead, an elderly man who was accompanying him replied, "According to my knowledge, Gabriele Veneziano chose to enter the cycle of reincarnation 10 years ago because there was no place for the application of string theory in the underworld, leading him to decide to return to the mortal realm to continue his research there. On top of that, his application to enter the cycle of reincarnation was approved by none other than the Argosian Underworld. Are you suggesting that we can only commence the new energy resource project once he returns to the underworld? On top of that, copyright has nothing to do with independent development and research patent rights. Finally, our nation is only applying for 100% of the patents, and that is still yet to be approved by the GIPO. As the chairman of the World Energy Resource Research Organization, I think that you are unfit to play a role in the patent a.s.sessment panel."
Archimedes almost swore out loud upon hearing this! Who is this old fart with the sharp tongue?!
"It"s not up to me whether I"ll be a part of the panel or not, that will be up to the world to decide. As the chairman of the World Energy Resource Research Organization, I am only raising reasonable doubts. After all, this is an extremely significant matter, and I"m an expert when it comes to a.s.sessing energy resources, so I think my input still has some value here."
Qin Ye nodded in response. "I can understand your urgency, but this isn"t the World Energy Resource Research Organization, this is the international trade conference held by the GTO. We will submit all of the necessary applications for the new energy resource"s patent rights. If you want to discuss the matters of the World Energy Resource Research Organization with our nation"s scientists, I would be happy to open another conference hall to facilitate your discussion. However, pardon me for asking this, but are the other directors of the World Energy Resource Research Organization and its hundreds of a.s.sessors here?"
If they aren"t here, then what right do you have to raise any queries? Our Cathayan Underworld may be inferior to your Argosian Underworld in the scientific fields, but in terms of foreign affairs, you don"t have any advantage in a discussion of foreign affairs!
Archimedes opened his mouth to reply, but didn"t say anything in the end.
He was on the Cathayan Underworld"s territory, and he didn"t dare to escalate this issue any further. As the chairman of the World Energy Resource Research Organization, he had the right to put this meeting on pause in order to a.s.sess all of the patents first, but he could already sense the hostility aimed at him from the chairmen of the top 10 consortiums.
He took a fleeting glance upward, and he could sense the aura of a being above the death G.o.d level lurking at the top of the paG.o.da, indicating that Ghost King Zhao was also present.
"The GTO is not responsible for a.s.sessing patents, that is the GIPO"s job," Camross finally interjected. "Please continue, Yanluo Qin."
Qin Ye nodded in response, then cleared his throat before continuing, "Secondly, the Cathayan Underworld will be entering the energy resource market with immediate effect. As a temporary arrangement, our nation will be taking 50% of all revenue generated by the new energy resource, while the remaining 50% will be reserved for other parties involved in the patents, and that amount will be distributed in detail after the GIPO"s a.s.sessment is complete."
The representatives of the three pillars exchanged a perplexed glance upon hearing this.
What was he trying to do here? Wasn"t he supposed to be fighting for 100% of the revenue generated by the new energy resource? Even 0.01% of the total generated revenue would equate to billions, even tens of billions!