"My name is Rudolf Blitzen, Junior Fleet Admiral of the 34th division of the Peacemaker Troops of the Alliance. I have heard much about you, Sir Pendragon."

Peacemaker Troops... right, they did call themselves that.

The first wave of the outsiders' attack called themselves the Vanguard Army of the Alliance. Burn forgot which division they were, or the names of their commanders he faced. At first, they just came and didn’t talk, but when Burn almost finished them all, they begged to talk.

They introduced themselves then.

Burn suspected that they came in pairs. The lesser troops were the Vanguard Army, tasked to test the waters. Then, when they were defeated, there came the Peacemaker Troops, the ones in charge of doing the 'divide et impera' strategy.

"Interesting," Burn muttered.

Rudolf's eyebrow twitched imperceptibly.

"Despite boasting about neutrality and proclaiming your arrival with peaceful intentions, here you stand before me, clearly aligned with the Wintersin Empire. How intriguing," Burn sneered, his skepticism evident in every word.

Rudolf's smile vanished in an instant, his retort now laced with the same sharpness. "So you accuse us of taking sides while orchestrating conflicts in your own backyard?"

With a knowing chuckle, Burn quipped back, “Ah, but of course. It was all a matter of necessity. These innocent lambs were practically begging to be fleeced, while you cunning wolves circled, waiting for the feast. Why should I gift-wrap a world that already sits snugly in the palm of my hand for your taking?”

“Shameless,” Rudolf sneered.

"In the first place, if your Vanguard Army succeeded in taking over this world with violence, you 'Peacemakers' wouldn’t need to come down and use the long strategy of slowly buying the people over, right?" Burn said, as if it were just an open secret.

Rudolf sighed. "This is why we need to use violence in the first place. People like you just overcomplicate things."

The Junior Fleet Admiral was honest, but also unpleasant.

"For example," Rudolf said, "We could've been great business partners!"

He didn’t care how Burn took down the Vanguard Army. Fine, he was strong, but why wouldn’t he bend even after seeing the benefits the outsiders could give him?!

After all, it would be easy to sell the world he had on top of his palm to gain even more, right?

"People like you," Burn looked down on him, "are unpleasant."

No matter how wretched, no matter how foul this hellhole was, this realm was the soil he was born in.

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The people who intrude into other people's backyard, mess up the peace, and then throw money to pretend to fix the damage only to persuade the people to turn toward each other—how much longer would they disrespect him?

Especially after they had faced him, and single handedly destroyed by him?

Did Burn have to take a piss over the whole realm just to mark his territory?

Apparently, the answer was yes.

"My world, my rule. You're an uninvited guest who plays the role of a salaryman but was actually a robber in disguise. That weapon you aimed at me nearly obliterated this realm, yet here you are trying to play the peacemaker?" Burn questioned with a sardonic smirk.

"Ohhh~" Rudolf chuckled. "Seems there's a slight misunderstanding here!"

Burn regarded him with a patronizing expression, clearly unconvinced by Rudolf's words.

"That weapon? What, just a trifle stolen by some insignificant mercenary group," Rudolf exaggerated dramatically.

"They're just a bunch of notorious space troublemakers! Can't hold us responsible for that, can you?" Rudolf's feeble attempt to deflect blame only served to highlight his blatant disregard for the truth, a fact he didn't even bother to conceal.

How could a motley crew of troublemaking mercenaries manage to pilfer from the Alliance? And what prompted them to descend to the surface and target Burn of all people?

"We've been on a scavenger hunt for this quaint little weapon, you see? You have it tucked away somewhere, don't you?" Rudolf inquired. "Kindly return it, Sir Pendragon."

Even though Rudolf was well aware of Burn's skills in disarming those thugs and retrieving their doomsday contraption, he shamelessly pressed for its return.

"And what if I have different plans for it?" Burn mused.

Rudolf chuckled softly. "Oh, don't play coy. The weapon is rightfully ours in the first place. It just wandered off here by chance! Honestly, what do you intend to do with it anyway? Decimate everything in sight on land?"

"You're fully aware of that and still conveniently let this little wanderer find its way here?" Burn quipped. "Why should I hand it over to you? What if it goes missing again only to end up back here, by mere accident, of course?"

“Or do you want us to just decimate this little realm of yours?” Rudolf switched back to a cold, hard threat.

Silence.

“Pfft—”

“Pf—hahaha!” Burn burst out laughing. “Sure! Do it! As if our Junior Fleet Admiral can make that decision!”

But why wouldn't they?

The answer was simple. It was the resources. They could get so much from farming a planet, not to mention that this planet, in particular, was full of magic. The items, the artifacts, the mining products, everything was juicy.

Why destroy when you can prosper, right? After all, who could resist the allure of such bountiful treasures waiting to be plundered?

“How arrogant. Do you even comprehend how many worlds out there are similar and better than this little realm of yours?” Rudolf mocked.

“Then why don’t you just give up and destroy our realm already? Or is there something here that tickles your fancy that you can’t find anywhere else?” Burn fired back, a sly grin dancing on his lips.

The reason they clung to this world like a stubborn barnacle, intent on taking control and disposing of him quietly. But what was it?

Burn had no clue.

“Fine,” Rudolf raised his arms dramatically. “I see you’re a man with desires. So spill it, what’s your price for the weapon?”

Rudolf squinted, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “Oh, don’t mind me. I can lead you on a conquest of Inkia or Wintersin myself. Take your pick.”

“Oh, how generous of you,” Burn retorted with a faux gracious nod. “But let’s be honest, I could snatch those lands with one hand tied behind my back. How about you entrust our weapon, our tiny trinket of yours to me? I promise not to lose it down the back of the sofa.”

Rudolf felt uneasy. This man... he was sharper than a tack dipped in lemon juice.

"What are you planning? We have been trying to be kind all this time, and you want to ruin it?" Rudolf asked.

Burn relaxed his legs, reclining in his chair. Feigning deep thought, he hummed, actively losing interest.

After a solid five seconds, Burn decided, "Alright. If you have no more clever suggestions, just leave. My hospitality will soon run out."