Green Monster Epic

Allen's proposal brightened the eyes of the two leaders before him.

Compared to Maggot Eye's previous suggestion, Allen's proposed solution seemed more suitable for their wilderness tribes.

The Temple of Nature appeared objective and neutral among the wilderness tribes, but in reality, they played an extremely important role in many major events in the wilderness.

Therefore, for the wilderness tribes, they needed to lean towards the temple, rely on the gods behind it, obtain various knowledge inheritances, and resist the invasion of the civilizations of the North and South continents. At the same time, they needed to maintain a certain distance from the temple. If it wasn't necessary, no one wanted the temple to interfere too deeply in tribal affairs.

Of course, the temple had been very measured over the years. Although it had a great influence on the major member tribes of the alliance, it restrained itself from sending clergy members to interfere in tribal affairs.

"The three families will each send accounting and tax members to uniformly manage the income of the two fortresses, and the three parties will supervise each other to avoid anyone trying to be cunning and causing unnecessary conflicts."

"After all, our three families will be long-term neighbors in the future. If irreconcilable conflicts arise, it will be a bad thing for all of us."

"..."

Allen's solution was a plan he had been pondering for a long time, taking into account many aspects. As he pointed out the future prospects and problems of the three families one by one, he gradually saw a few approving expressions on the faces of Maggot Eye and Arielle.

"It seems that Chief Allen had already thought of a countermeasure before coming to discuss it with us!"

With the emotions restrained, Arielle returned to her indifferent posture.

"However, your plan doesn't seem to have a specific distribution of profits!"

Maggot Eye was originally somewhat moved, but when Arielle suddenly mentioned the benefits, he quickly calmed down and refocused on Allen, waiting for his answer.

"The distribution method is naturally based on the fortresses we each control!"

Allen smiled slightly and said as a matter of course.

"In the 70% of the income from the two fortresses, my tribe occupies the most important northward passage, Namur Fortress, and should have originally received a larger share of the profits. However, as long as everyone agrees to my previous proposal, then my tribe will only need half of the profits."

"As for the remaining 35% of the profits, how you two chiefs distribute it is up to you to discuss!"

"Heh heh heh, it seems that Chief Allen doesn't have any sincerity at all. If you want to cooperate, then the profits should be distributed fairly, so that the cooperation between everyone can last long!!"

Arielle's eyes narrowed slightly, like a hunter staring at its prey. Maggot Eye, who was on the side, couldn't help but nod repeatedly when he heard Arielle's words.

"That's right, that way everyone is fair!!"

"You two, don't you think this is very insincere?"

Allen's expression remained unchanged. He had long been prepared to be asked for an exorbitant price. At this time, he looked at the two greedy leaders on the left and right with a sneer and said slowly.

"My suggestion is a mutually beneficial thing. If the two chiefs don't think it's appropriate, then we can just take care of ourselves."

"We didn't say it was inappropriate, we just felt that…"

"There's nothing to feel or not feel. I only take what belongs to our tribe. I won't take a penny more, and I can't possibly give a penny less!"

The scene was momentarily deadlocked. The three sat at the table, looking at each other without saying a word, just waiting to see who would be the first to lose their composure.

Big eyes stared at small eyes, and in the end, the gnoll Maggot Eye, who had the biggest eyes, couldn't hold on any longer and opened his mouth first.

"I think everyone should take a step back. Chief Allen, don't insist on your half of the profits, and we don't want to split it evenly with you. How about this, Chief Allen, you account for 30%, and our two families each account for 20%."

"Impossible!!"

"What are you thinking??"

Allen and Arielle retorted at the same time, then stared at each other. Arielle was the first to put forward her own opinion.

"I can agree to the Green Field Tribe accounting for 30%, but our tribe itself has a 5% share in the fortress income, so I want to account for 25%, and the remaining 15% will be for your Raven Claw Tribe."

"Arielle!! Don't be too bullying!!"

Allen hadn't spoken yet, but Maggot Eye was the first to get anxious. He stood up on the spot and slammed the table, glaring at Arielle and roaring angrily.

"Nasir Fortress belongs to our two families, why should you account for 10% more than us!!"

"When we were fighting on the front lines all these years, which time wasn't it our tribe's warriors who bravely went ahead…"

"Your tribe is just a bunch of guys who only know how to act recklessly, rushing to the front is like…"

At this time, Allen had become a spectator, watching the two tribal leaders, who had always been considered to be living in harmony, arguing fiercely in front of him.

More than two magic hours passed, and the two sides were still deadlocked, not giving an inch. Allen knew that if he didn't stop them, today's matter would probably not have a result.

"I said enough, you two!"

Allen interrupted the meaningless quarrel of the two leaders in a deep voice.

"Your quarrel is meaningless. Calm down!!"

How could they calm down? For the solution given by Allen, Arielle and Maggot Eye had actually been moved and agreed with it. The only thing that hindered their cooperation was the distribution of benefits. If they could fight for even 1% more of the benefits, according to the income on the books, it would be calculated in tens of thousands of gold coins.

"How about I give a solution and you two see if it's appropriate?"

Maggot Eye and Arielle finally stopped arguing and turned their eyes to Allen together.

"My tribe's 30% share is impossible for my tribe to accept, but I am also willing to make a very sincere concession and subsidize 1% of the share to Chief Maggot Eye's tribe. As for the 5% share that Chief Arielle has always insisted on, to be honest, according to the previous contract between our three parties, the income from Namur Fortress has nothing to do with the Snow Mite Tribe, so if you really want to calculate it, your tribe only has a 5% share of Nasir Fortress."

"If we merge the income of the two fortresses now, then your income is at most equivalent to 2.5% of the total, Chief Arielle, do you agree with this calculation?"

"However, after all, everyone is now on the same front, Chief Arielle, you should also make the necessary concessions, then it wouldn't be too much to give 0.5% of the profits to Chief Maggot Eye on this basis, would it?"

"Finally, my tribe accounts for 34% of the total profits, Chief Arielle's Snow Mite accounts for 19.5% of the profits, and Chief Maggot Eye accounts for 16.5%. I think this distribution method is fair."

"Humph!!"

Arielle's face was not good-looking, and she was constantly calculating the pros and cons of this distribution in her mind, and she was speechless for a while.

"I don't want to!! Why should my tribe have 3% less of the profits than him, Arielle?"

Maggot-Eye was still unwilling to give up. This was a valuable asset for the tribe's future, and he couldn't just abandon it so easily.

"Don't go too far, Maggot-Eye!!"

Ariel, who had been weighing the situation, was provoked by these words and immediately raised his voice again, falling back into an argument with Maggot-Eye.

The final negotiations were always difficult. As the arguing continued, Allen had no choice but to join in the final bargaining. By the time the three leaders, exhausted, sat down again, the day had turned into deep night, interrupted only by a delicious meal.

After dinner, another round of meticulous haggling ensued. Allen stubbornly stuck to his bottom line of 34%, no matter how loud the other two became.

They finally reached a consensus at dawn the next day. The three legendary leaders, powerful in the eyes of outsiders, walked out of the former command post of Nasir Fortress, their voices hoarse and leaning against the walls. The guards couldn't help but cast curious glances at them.

Allen finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although physical and mental fatigue swept over him, the satisfaction of achieving his goal made all the effort and sacrifice worthwhile. As for the two leaders who turned their heads away and left separately, they felt somewhat dissatisfied. However, once the contract was signed, they would receive their share of the profits from Nasir Fortress from Allen, which suppressed their discontent.

The division remained as Allen had proposed in the end. The rights to the profits were confirmed for all three parties, a result of Allen's unwavering stance and adherence to his principles.

The new contract was signed that night after Allen and the others had rested and recovered their energy. However, immediately after signing the contract, Allen raised another issue, making their night lively once again.

Maintaining a relationship with the drow to the north was a headache for Allen. Ariel and Maggot-Eye, considered allies, were full of hostility towards them. At the same time, because he needed the support of the Church of Nature, Allen had to align himself with the Church on this issue.

Even now, Philemon was still waiting in the chapel of Mur Fortress, waiting to discuss a truce with Allen.

Now that he had reached a final agreement with Ariel and the others, it was essentially a de facto alliance. Allen felt it was time to resolve the issue.

When Allen suggested a truce, Maggot-Eye almost flipped the table in front of them. Over the years, the continuous fighting between the Raven's Claw and Snowmane tribes and the drow had resulted in nearly ten thousand casualties, including warriors, vassals, and cannon fodder slaves.

In addition, the drow occupied the ancestral lands of the two tribes for countless years. All these factors combined made this hatred something Allen couldn't easily sway.

"...Gentlemen, don't forget that all three of us now depend on the profits from the Kator Canyon trade route to survive. If we continue to fight like this and block the trade route, how will we feed our people??"

Allen's words were earnest and sincere. This was also why he dared to bring up the truce issue only after agreeing to share the profits with the other two. If he had mentioned it earlier, the unified taxation plan would have been impossible to achieve.

"Don't think you can fool me, you bastard! We've been fighting for so long, and there were still merchants coming and going, weren't there? I didn't see any merchants abandoning goods from the north because of the drow!"

The way Maggot-Eye looked at Allen now was as if he wanted to devour him, directly confronting him face to face.

"That's because you didn't notice! Look through the account books we gave you earlier and see how much the fortress's total income has decreased in the past two years!!"

Allen never fought unprepared. He had already laid the groundwork.

"In recent years, the number of merchants coming and going has decreased by half due to the war with the drow!! That means our three families' income has also decreased by half!!"

"Moreover, without merchants transporting food, steel, and other resources to the fortress, how will you feed your people with the few fields around our mountains!!"

"Hmph, I think you've already dug a pit for us, kid!!"

Ariel's gaze was also strange. At this moment, he realized that Allen had been entangled with them for so long the past two days, signing a new contract, to lay the foundation for today's truce.

"Don't even think about a truce. I don't want to be unable to be buried in the tombs of my tribe's chiefs after I die. I can't afford to lose that face!!"

Although Ariel was shrewd, he still had his principles when it came to matters of great importance.

"What I mean is, let's temporarily cease hostilities with the drow and let everyone rest and recuperate for a while. When we become stronger in the future and build an elite army, we can launch a counterattack at any time!!"

"You yourselves know very well that it's not a good thing to be deadlocked with the drow under the city of Bonn. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been persuaded by me to help me kill Birel."

"Also..."

"That's still not okay!! Just thinking about those damned bastards still living in my old man's castle makes me feel suffocated!!"

Maggot-Eye had no other tricks besides roaring. He had just wanted to flip the table when Allen grabbed it and held it down, unable to break free from Allen's grip despite all his strength.

Ariel, however, regained some reason under Allen's persuasion and didn't say or do anything to refute him, but his eyes were still full of unwillingness.

"You've been fighting for so long, and so many warriors have died. But what have you gained?"

Allen could only persuade them patiently, because he had taken on this task!!

"The strength of the drow is obvious. If you continue to fight with just your passion, you will not be a match for those well-trained drow."

"We need to improve the way our troops fight and also bring in more forces."

"Why do you think I insist on maintaining the Thorns Ring force? Isn't it just so that I can use the power of other tribes to help you complete the counterattack!!"

Continuing his role from the previous night, Allen felt truly exhausted. Why did all the problems fall on his head?! In order to persuade these two stubborn leaders, Allen mustered all his energy and racked his brains to find countless advantages and disadvantages, breaking them down and explaining them to the two. Only after an entire night did Allen finally manage to persuade these two guys.