The present people looked with shock at Jerald.
Such a suggestion would change the entire structure of Area 23!
"Impossible," Wilbur, King Grandmountain, said from the side with a snort.
"How is it impossible?" Jerald asked.
"I can understand that the Skythunder Kingdom and the Spirit Spring Kingdom are very similar and that they could pull something like that off, but this will never work for the Grandmountain Kingdom and Blackshadow Kingdom. The two Kingdoms have been enemies for too long."
Jerald only smirked. "So?"
Wilbur furrowed his brows. "That's not something you can just brush off like that."
"Why not?" Jerald asked. "If we look past the enmity between the Blackshadow Kingdom and the Grandmountain Kingdom, we can see that they have very similar philosophies. The Mages in the Grandmountain Kingdom enslave the barbarians to become more powerful, and the Blackshadow Kingdom does something very similar by enslaving beasts."
"Even more, your two Kingdoms were made to work together. The Blackshadow Kingdom has Summoners, which are just a lesser-known path of Magic. However, these Summoners need strong food to strengthen their beasts."
"And the Grandmountain Kingdom is creating all of this food by enslaving the barbarians."
For some seconds, no one said anything.
The thought of creating barbarians just to feed them to beasts felt terrifying.
"Are you even listening to yourself?" Wilbur asked with narrowed eyes. "You're suggesting feeding humans to beasts!"
"Tch."
Wilbur looked at Queen Blackshadow, who had just snorted in disdain.
"I don't see the problem," she said. "We've been doing that for decades, if not centuries."
"This has nothing to do with you," Wilbur said with a venomous voice.
"This has a lot to do with me," Queen Blackshadow said. "After all, you just said that feeding humans to beasts is horrible, but enslaving them is not an issue. Do YOU even hear yourself?"
Wilbur looked at Queen Blackshadow for a while longer before turning to Jerald. "It won't happen. The Grandmountain Kingdom will not work together with the Blackshadow Kingdom."
Jerald only looked at Wilbur with a knowing smirk. "I'm sorry, but the decision is not yours."
"What are you talking about? The Grandmountain Kingdom is my Kingdom. As Assistant Supervisor, I have a certain amount of freedom on how I can manage my Kingdom," Wilbur said.
"I'm not talking about Relon," Jerald said.
Then, he gestured to Zara Cliffer. "It's hers."
Wilbur looked at Zara Cliffer with narrowed eyes. Obviously, he was trying to intimidate her.
Zara Cliffer looked at King Grandmountain with a slightly intimidated expression. After all, he had been her King for over a century.
"God, what's there to worry about?"
Everyone looked over at Shang, who had just spoken.
It was quite ballsy of him to speak up at this point.
Shang ignored Wilbur and only looked at Zara. "You are not his subject anymore. You're an employee of the Lightning Manor. You should know that he can't just sabotage your work or kill you just because of some personal reason. It says so in the contract."
"Who allowed you to talk here?!" Wilbur shouted in anger. "You're just a plus one!"
Shang blinked once.
Then, he looked over at Relon, who was scratching his chin in thought. "Can I talk here?" Shang asked in a bored tone.
Relon glanced at Shang, nodded, and returned to thinking.
"He did," Shang said to Wilbur. "Also, don't you realize that you are literally the only person here that's so against all of this? There are obviously useful facets to this proposal, and they deserve deliberation instead of an instant refusal."
"Tell me, is this an ego thing?" Shang asked with a bored voice.
"Ego thing?" Wilbur repeated like he had just been slapped in the face and couldn't think straight.
"Yes, an ego thing," Shang repeated. "You basically made the barbarians, but you can't accept that warriors are just flat-out better than barbarians in literally every single regard. Is sacrificing the barbarians to the beasts a hit to your ego? Can you not let go of a failed experiment?"
"Silence!" Wilbur shouted, his voice shaking the plateau. "A mere warrior in the fourth Realm can't even begin to comprehend the mind of an Archmage! Learn your place, slave!"
Silence.
Everyone looked over at Wilbur with surprise.
Even Relon had been taken out of his thoughts.
Then, a couple of people sighed.
"That explains it," Koran, the King of the Magic Purity Kingdom, said. "So that's why the Grandmountain Kingdom is doing so horribly and why he was even willing to ally with my Kingdom."
"He actually believes the things he has been teaching his Kingdom," Koran said with another sigh.
"Koran," Wilbur said with narrowed eyes. "This has nothing to do with ego, and I don't believe these things. There are simply too many problems with the proposal."
Koran only shook his head.
Nobody would believe him now.
There had been so many words he could have used to insult Shang, but he had used slave.
The problem wasn't the word itself but the reason why he chose that specific word.
The Assistant Supervisors dispersed certain ideologies in their Kingdoms to achieve a goal.
However, the Assistant Supervisors knew that these ideologies were lies created to strengthen the other paths.
Koran's Kingdom hated everything that wasn't Magic, but he himself didn't have any issues with warriors or other Paths. He was simply playing his role as antagonist.
Yet, Wilbur had actually lost the mindset of an Assistant Supervisor and had actually adopted the very ideology he was indoctrinating his Kingdom with.
That was not how an Assistant Supervisor should think.
Their minds and beliefs had to be separate from their Kingdoms.
They were here to strengthen the different Paths, not to weaken them.
"Wilbur," Relon said.
Wilbur looked with a bit of nervousness at Relon.
"I think you've been here too long," Relon said.
At that point, Wilbur's face whitened.
"Don't worry," Relon said. "I'm not confiscating your payment or your rewards. Taking away 150 years of your hard work because of a slip of the tongue would be too cruel."
"I'm just asking you to leave the major matters to your successor from now on. Just take it easy for the next month. Don't do anything stupid and simply wait for the end of your shift."
Wilbur gnashed his teeth.
Then, he looked at Shang with narrowed eyes.
He was at fault!
"Wilbur," Relon said with a threatening voice. "I saw that look. Shang is employed by the Lightning Manor just like you. I can forgive a slip of the tongue, but if I see you try to sabotage things knowing that you shouldn't do that, being let go and having your reward confiscated will be the least of your worries."
"Do I make myself clear?" Relon asked with a strict voice.
Wilbur closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes," he said, trying to sound calm.
"Good. Now, I think it would be better for you to leave the meeting early," Relon added.
"Sure," Wilbur said with an annoyed voice.
SHING!
A portal appeared, and Wilbur walked through it without saying anything.
Then, Relon looked back at Jerald.
"Now, for your proposal."
