Chapter 1727 - 240 - The Battle at the Black Pole (2)

More importantly, I had to talk to Shredica about the negotiation deal that had taken place between her and the leader of the country Lilia had originally asked her to visit.

At the moment, all of us were gathered inside a conference room that had been specifically designed for meetings like this, with a large table sitting in the middle and enough space for everyone to properly discuss whatever important matter had brought us together.

"Fortunately, everything went really smoothly," Shredica said, leaning back comfortably in her chair. "So smoothly, in fact, that it felt like my hands would just glide right over it if I wasn't actually holding it with both hands."

For some reason, the entire room suddenly became quiet after Shredica finished saying that.

I stared at her for several seconds because I genuinely couldn't understand what she was trying to imply, and honestly, it felt like I had just listened to some strange mantra that was supposed to carry some deeper meaning but somehow made absolutely no sense.

"That was supposed to be a joke," she finally explained.

"You seriously expect me to laugh at that horrible joke?" I asked while giving her a completely unimpressed look.

Shredica stared back at me for a moment before slowly looking away.

She didn't even seem embarrassed about it, which somehow made the situation even worse, because I couldn't understand how someone could come up with a joke that terrible and then deliver it with such confidence.

Maybe she genuinely thought it was funny.

That possibility honestly worried me more than the joke itself.

"Anyway, yes, the negotiation went smoothly," Shredica said, apparently deciding that continuing the conversation would be safer than trying to defend her sense of humor. "And most of that was thanks to Bernadette."

Bernadette was sitting with us as well, quietly listening to the conversation while looking considerably healthier than she had earlier.

She seemed to have completely recovered from the motion sickness she had experienced after flying on a wyvern.

"I honestly didn't expect her to be the daughter of one of the clan leaders there," Shredica continued. "That made the negotiation considerably easier for us. Although, it wasn't exactly easy at first, because there are quite a lot of clan leaders in that region, and convincing all of them to agree on the same thing isn't exactly simple."

She paused briefly before continuing her explanation.

"However, once Bernadette appeared before one of the clan leaders and bowed her head before introducing herself, everything suddenly became much easier. The other clan leaders still aren't completely on board with the agreement, but her father has already expressed his willingness to cooperate with us."

I looked over at Bernadette after hearing that.

To be honest, I never expected her to be the daughter of someone so influential within that particular region.

I suppose I had already suspected that there was something unusual about her background, especially considering some of the things I had learned about her, but I certainly didn't expect her family to hold that much influence.

Apparently, I had underestimated her family quite considerably.

When I continued looking at her, Bernadette's cheeks gradually began turning red.

Should I reward her for helping us with something this important?

Maybe I should give her something nice as a reward for her efforts, because she had clearly done something that made the entire negotiation considerably easier for everyone involved.

Although, when I thought about it a little more, I also realized that I hadn't spent much time alone with her lately.

I felt like I hadn't had sex with her in quite a while, either.

"More importantly," Bernadette suddenly said.

Her voice immediately pulled my attention away from my thoughts.

Apparently, she had something considerably more serious to discuss, because her expression had changed completely and become so serious that the relatively relaxed atmosphere from earlier disappeared almost instantly.

"It seems like the situation at the Great Ocean is getting worse and worse," she said.

She looked around the conference table before continuing her explanation.

"The smaller countries that have been affected by the Mermaid Kingdom are now gathering their troops, and some of them are already moving toward one another because they're preparing to fight the mermaids."

She paused briefly, seemingly choosing her next words carefully.

"A naval battle is almost certainly going to happen there, and regardless of which side wins, the conflict will severely weaken the Mermaid Kingdom's control over the Great Ocean. If that happens, our enemies might take advantage of the situation and attack us where it would hurt the most."

I quietly thought about what Bernadette had just told us.

Having the Great Ocean become compromised like that would indeed be incredibly bad for us, especially because that massive stretch of water already served as a natural barrier between our territory and the regions beyond it.

Crossing the Great Ocean was already extremely difficult even for people using creatures capable of flight, and the same could be said for helicopters, despite their ability to remain airborne without needing ordinary wings.

There were simply too many variables that could interfere with a safe crossing, and one mistake in the wrong place could potentially turn an otherwise successful journey into a complete disaster.

You had to be extremely careful about where you traveled because certain areas of the Great Ocean were dangerous enough to compromise the entire journey if you weren't paying attention.

And the people primarily responsible for making the Great Ocean so dangerous were the mermaids.

Their presence was one of the biggest reasons why crossing the region had become such a troublesome task, especially for anyone who wanted to travel through the area without attracting unwanted attention from them.

If the Mermaid Kingdom were to lose its control over the Great Ocean because of an internal war, then it would naturally become a significant loss for us as well.

The mermaids weren't exactly our allies in the traditional sense, but their control over the ocean still provided us with an important layer of protection.

Their presence meant that our enemies couldn't simply cross the Great Ocean whenever they pleased and launch an attack from an unexpected direction.

Of course, we could still strengthen our own bases and defensive positions so that our enemies wouldn't be able to simply cross the ocean and attack us directly from behind.

We could reinforce our borders, increase our defensive forces, establish additional precautions, and make sure that anyone attempting to launch an attack from that direction would have a difficult time getting through.

Even with all of those preparations, however, the additional protection provided by the Mermaid Kingdom was something I really didn't want to lose.

Their control over the Great Ocean had effectively created another defensive layer around us, whether we intentionally relied on it or simply benefited from the situation.

If that protection disappeared, we'd have to compensate for it ourselves, and that would mean spending considerably more resources just to maintain the same level of security we currently enjoyed.

Waiting until the situation became worse would only make things more complicated for us.

If the smaller countries were already gathering troops and preparing for a naval conflict, then it was only a matter of time before someone made the first move.

Once the fighting began, stopping it would become considerably harder.