Yama Rising

There were no other alternatives, nor any time for them to think.

Prior to this, no one had imagined that there would actually be a nation holding something capable of changing the entire world but refuse to release it to the world! This was something that hadn't happened in the past several thousand years!

Furthermore, it was enabled by the contradiction between the laws of the Coalition of Underworlds and international trade regulations, and regardless of whether it was in the underworld or in the mortal realm, cases with no precedents were almost always given a "not guilty" verdict.

As such, they really couldn't do anything to the Cathayan Underworld!

"Listen to me," Archimedes said in a serious voice. "I admit that I've withheld some information from you all."

The break was only 30 minutes, and around half of that had already passed by. In these final 15 minutes or so, he had to arrive at a consensus with the secretaries of the World Energy Resource Research Organization.

There was no time for them to pick and choose!

They weren't targeting anyone, they were simply fighting for the basic interests of the entire world.

He exchanged a glance with Aristotle, then said, "The Cathayan Underworld most likely really has already partially developed a new energy resource."

All of the scientists' expressions changed slightly upon hearing this, and Aristotle immediately said, "But they should still be very far from completing the project! Let me reiterate: this event cannot be viewed from an academic perspective. If you analyze things from a political perspective, you'll find that in the wake of the Cathayan Underworld's change in administration, the new King Yanluo is desperately seeking a sense of identity. No King Yanluo would be willing to resign themselves to mediocrity. He wants to outstrip both of his predecessors and take the Cathayan Underworld to unprecedented heights! No one dared to oppose the second King Yanluo, but the third King Yanluo does not have that luxury."

His voice was urgent and insistent as he continued, "In order to establish sufficient influence in the world, there are very few options for him to choose from, and the new energy resource is his best trump card. He played this card earlier than he should've in order to weather the storm that was the conference for the re-signing of the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts, but in the process, he's placed immense pressure on himself! Once they choose to go down this path, they will no longer have any options other than to bite the bullet and continue their research. Think about it, why have they been acting in such an abnormal and inexplicable manner ever since the announcement of the new energy resource? Do you still want to continue to be deceived by them? You've given them chances to prove themselves, but have they cherished those chances?"

"Hold on…" Right at this moment, Schrodinger finally calmed down from his fit of rage, and he cast a stunned gaze toward Archimedes. "Are you proposing that we impose intellectual sanctions upon them?!"

That would entail withholding all patent usage rights, which would incur massive penalty fines!

"I don't want any part in that!" Just the mere thought of this was enough to send chills running down his spine, and his voice spiked up drastically as he exclaimed, "Do you know what your decision entails?! You're going to instigate a war in the academic world, and countless scientists are going to become casualties in this war!"

Aristotle turned to him with a surprised expression. "Then what do you propose? Are you just going to continue to tolerate the Cathayan Underworld's attitude and lack of action?!"

"Those are two entirely different things!" Schrodinger countered as he cast a wary gaze toward the two Argosian death gods, and as his anger seeped away, he was finally able to think rationally again. "Are you sure you're not slandering the Cathayan Underworld for the interests of your Argosian Underworld? Let me remind you that the Cathayan Underworld hasn't done anything wrong, nor have they broken any international laws! You've become far too biased and irrational! I don't think you currently possess the sense of fairness and rationality required of the president of the World Energy Resource Research Organization!"

Archimedes heaved a faint sigh upon hearing this. "I had thought that you would be brave enough to challenge the rules for the pursuit of the truth and knowledge. Hypothetically speaking, what if they play this card for the next few decades, and that buys them enough time to actually develop the new energy resource. What do we do then? Are we just going to wait for them for decades on end?"

"Pardon me for being blunt," Röntgen said. "But what you're implying is that the Cathayan Underworld could become a scholar-tyrant of the world, but isn't the biggest scholar-tyrant currently in the world your Argosian Underworld?"

Thump!

Right at this moment, a coffee cup was slammed heavily onto the table.

Franklin was holding the cup with one hand as he said with a cold expression, "I think all of you have lost your courage as scientists! Knowledge is eternal, and the pursuit for truth is the most noble pursuit of all! Science is the number one force of production! Without science and technology, the world would regress! The key to the next era is currently dangling right in front of our eyes, yet you're hesitant to grab it because you're afraid of some international regulations?"

Planck had also calmed down at this point. Upon hearing the Cathayan Underworld's declaration, the first emotion he had been struck by had been anger, followed by disappointment, but his next reaction after that was to think about whether the Cathayan Underworld's actions went against any international laws.

However, what he discovered was that they were acting perfectly within the constraints of the law!

Schrodinger's words had allowed him to regain his rationality, and he suddenly realized that they were beginning to lose the unbiased stance of fairness required of secretaries of the World Energy Resource Research Organization.

"Calm down, Franklin," he said. "The Cathayan Underworld hasn't broken any international laws, and this doesn't count as a monopoly, either."

"But that's no excuse for them to deceive us like this!" Franklin picked up his coffee cup and took a massive gulp, then turned toward Archimedes before giving him a nod. "I had thought that they would cherish this opportunity, that they would consider everyone else's feelings, that they would be able to empathize with our desire to see the rise of a new era, but it looks like I was wrong. The Cathayan Underworld thinks only for itself and has never considered our feelings at all!"

"Franklin, the feelings and desires of scientists don't equate to the law! Let me reiterate this: the Cathayan Underworld hasn't broken any international regulations! As such, we have no right to impose sanctions upon them!"

At this point, even an idiot would understand that Archimedes was trying to convince everyone to impose sanctions upon the Cathayan Underworld, but that simply wasn't fair!

Following the second King Yanluo, the Cathayan Underworld finally had a King Yanluo who was willing to be reasonable and play by the rules. You could call him dirty, unscrupulous, cowardly… You could throw all of the derogatory adjectives in the world at him, but the fact of the matter was that everything he was doing fell within the constraints of the law!

If one were defeated, then they had to admit defeat. Schrodinger and Röntgen were well aware of the consequences of disregarding international laws, but who were the ones actually bending international regulations for their own gain here?

Who was the one trying to use the feelings of scientists as leverage to try and escalate this matter into an international affair?

They cast their eyes directly toward Archimedes and Aristotle, and their hearts were filled with disappointment. Right at this moment, an implacable voice rang out. "My research team and I are willing to join the Prometheus plan!"

"No, you can't!"

"Calm down and think about this, Franklin!"

Röntgen, Schrodinger, and Planck were horrified by Franklin's irrational decision.

Indeed, just as Archimedes had said, the Cathayan Underworld held an advantage when it came to the research and development of a new energy resource. Perhaps this advantage wasn't very significant, but it was an advantage nonetheless.

If Franklin chose to join the Prometheus plan, then he would be completely parting ways with the Cathayan Underworld! If they failed to develop a new energy resource or only managed to develop their energy resource after the Cathayan Underworld, then they would be completely left behind by the new era!

"How can I calm down?" Franklin countered in a furious voice. "Should I calm down and watch as they continue to make fools out of us all? Should I calm down and watch as they disregard the entire world?!"

He slammed his hand heavily down onto the table as he spat through gritted teeth, "You may be able to endure this, but I won't stand for it! The academic world has its own rules, and seeing as he's trampling all over our rules, then he'd better prepare to face our wrath!"

"Franklin, you are the ones breaking international laws here!"

"I don't care about that! I'm a scientist, not a politician! All I know is that the next era is right before my eyes! If they want to hide it from the rest of the world, then they can do that over my dead body!!"

"You're overthinking this, everyone," Aristotle said in a calm voice. "We all know what scientific standards are like the Cathayan Underworld. Their own scientists have to go to other countries to study because their own nation is too far behind the rest of the world. The central hub of physics and Yin runology has always been the Argosian Underworld. We may have fallen behind a little in this race to develop a new energy resource, but I have trust in everyone's abilities! If we gather all of the world's leading scientists and are still unable to catch up to and surpass the Cathayan Underworld, then we're not fit to be called the leading scientists of the world! I believe in all of you, are you not willing to believe in yourselves?! Do you think you'll have your names go down in the history books just by sucking up to the Cathayan Underworld? Wake up! Do you think the Cathayan Underworld has any consideration for any of you?!"

Archimedes also stood up and laid a hand on Aristotle's shoulder while giving him a shake of his head, then cast a grim gaze toward the final three secretaries.

"It's time to make your choice, everyone. There are only two sides that you can choose from, and there's no way to develop a new energy resource without relying on the power of a nation. Are you going to stand with the three pillars, who are unified and stand as one, or are you going to stand with the Cathayan Underworld, who has deceived the entire world and trampled all over the academic world. The choice is up to you, the new era is in your hands."

Everyone fell completely silent.

Röntgen, Schrodinger, and Planck exchanged a glance with one another. They knew that they couldn't sit on the fence any longer.

They could only choose one of the two sides laid out before them, one of which was the Cathayan Underworld, which had a temporary lead, while the other was the Prometheus plan, which had a bright outlook.

……………………………………

"What a load of bulllshit!" Alessandro Volta slammed his coffee cup heavily down onto his table, spilling coffee everywhere as he did so.

This was a simple round table, around which sat Alessandro Volta and Michael Faraday. If Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein were also present, then this would be a gathering of the four fathers of electricity.

No patents related to electricity and electricity-like energy resources could bypass the four of them.

Scientists had their own social circles, such as those in the electricity circle. This was a very common sight, and it explained why they were the only two people here.

"Did you hear what they said?!" Volta pulled out a cigar, but didn't light, and he said in a resentful voice, "They're disregarding the entire academic world! They don't care how much of an impact their actions are going to have on the rest of the world at all! They don't deserve to continue as one of the four pillars!"

A wry smile appeared on Faraday's face, and he replied, "Truth be told, the caution that they're exercising makes sense. This is a discovery that can change the entire world, and they're well within their rights to withhold all information surrounding it. We desperately want to see what they're up to, but they have no obligation to show us. Looking at everything they've done thus far, they haven't broken any international laws."