Chapter 1618: Chapter 1618

In reality, this can’t truly be considered a negotiation—at most, it’s a division of interests. It’s the division of interests among these tier-seven Professionals. Indeed, the other side has stirred up quite a mess.

The power of Star Ring here cannot afford to be overly weakened for now; they don’t have the time to occupy it completely. Moreover, if their strength weakens, it would also be difficult for them to launch an offensive against the Blood-colored Empire.

Thus, this negotiation began. Du You brought his people along to participate. Star Ring indeed had more tier-seven experts, as this was the core of the world. Most people entering this world would appear in Star Ring. Including Du You, there were five top-tier forces on this side, compared to only three on the Blood-colored Empire’s side.

Most importantly, relationships on his side were relatively amicable, whereas the three forces on the opposite side were less harmonious.

This might be because of the system in the Blood-colored Empire, where the strong dominate, and frequent conflicts and plundering lead to far more friction than on the Star Ring side.

After an entire day of negotiations, the Blood-colored Empire’s experts finally retreated. Next came the division of territories. Du You followed the others in demarcating the Starry Sky into several areas, with clear boundaries not to be crossed.

"Sigh, why does this kind of negotiation feel like gang bosses carving up territory?" Du You said helplessly.

"You could say, at our level of strength, there’s no need for all that procedural stuff. Just laying things out directly is better. Those conferences and discussions are mostly for show, meant for others to see."

That was indeed true—tier-seven experts didn’t need to put on a show for anyone anymore. Many of them were already top figures in their respective factions and didn’t need to bother with tedious formalities.

"Let’s go. The meeting didn’t last long, but the travel time sure wasn’t short."

The travel time was longer than the meeting itself, but that couldn’t be helped. The reason for not using technological projections was simply because they wanted to meet face-to-face and assess each other’s strength differences. Check latest chapters at 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝘯𝘦𝘵

If the strength discrepancy were too great, the meeting’s content might have changed drastically.

"This time was quite smooth. I’ve heard that negotiations among tier-seven experts often devolve into outright fights," Lin Yucha remarked. She wasn’t making that up; there were clear records to support it.

After the meeting ended, those Blood-colored Empire experts returned to their empire. Awaiting them wasn’t celebration but the empire’s military. There was no other choice—the empire already knew about their prior actions.

But what the empire hadn’t anticipated was that these individuals had spent years establishing hidden measures within the empire. Their actions were far more extensive than mere surface-level scheming. The moment they arrived, chaos erupted in the empire’s army—many factions immediately defected.

Following that, various regions within the empire declared independence, and some areas inexplicably suffered attacks.

Key figures were assassinated almost instantaneously. These events happened far too quickly. Within the Blood-colored Empire, actions like these were carried out with utmost directness—there was no need for excuses.

Here, the rule was simple: whoever was strongest claimed everything.

Previously, the Blood-colored Empire’s royal family had been the strongest on the surface. But after this battle, the royal forces suffered devastating losses, and the other nobles fared even worse. While that alone wasn’t surprising, the real issue lay in the fact that the tier-seven experts remained largely unscathed.

Now exposed, it became clear that the strength of these tier-seven experts had surpassed the empire’s previous power structures. As a result, the mismatch in strength led to shifts in authority, though the common populace remained indifferent to it.

When a group of tier-seven experts returned, they immediately tore through the battlefield and penetrated deep into the Blood-colored Empire’s interior.

Having operated in the Blood-colored Empire for many years, there was virtually nothing within the empire that escaped their knowledge. What followed was the near-total annihilation of the empire royal family; none of the prominent individuals remained.

And the chaos within the Blood-colored Empire quickly spiraled. This was the second objective of those Professionals within the empire—or perhaps, this had been their intent from the very beginning. Leveraging two battles, the territories in question ascended to tier-seven status, leading to rampant territorial expansion. With the functional construction abilities at hand, the unfolding events were predictable.

After the complete collapse of the Star Ring Alliance, the Blood-colored Empire followed suit.

What surprised Du You, however, was that after news of this spread, more and more people began flooding into the Star Ring world. No one knew exactly how they had obtained the coordinates for this world, but the influx was undeniable.

Organizations emerged, regions declared independence, and the number of Professionals rapidly increased, along with the breadth of their territories.

Those with demands for technological advancement eagerly entered this world.

Months later, Du You was astonished to discover that this world had undergone a complete transformation.

He could confirm over twenty tier-seven territories. Though the world was vast enough, accommodating over twenty tier-seven territories might still pose challenges.

Where there were tier-seven territories, there were bound to be tier-seven Professionals—it had become a consensus in this world.

As for tier-six territories and tier-five territories, they were too numerous to count.

Many territory leaders voluntarily pledged allegiance to Du You, affiliating themselves under his domain name. This cooperative arrangement had become a common practice; other territories followed suit. Du You only realized this when his territory began interacting with other tier-seven territories.

What followed was an endless stream of meetings to redraw boundaries and accommodate the newcomers.

Meanwhile, Earth started closely covering and reporting on this world. When most of the world’s territories were largely occupied, the influx finally tapered off.

The next step involved Earth’s collective will exerting comprehensive control over this world. Numerous territories had joined forces to prepare for this endeavor. However, implementing it would take some time, so Du You couldn’t leave just yet.

"When this world is fully under control, its hierarchical structure will be thoroughly solidified. With this world as a foundation, our technological capabilities won’t be inferior to anyone," Du You remarked calmly.

Having joined early, Du You had a significant advantage. Not to mention other resources, the Starry Sky Transformed Beast itself—only three territories possessed it aside from his own, and his was both the highest tier and of the best quality below tier-six. This was his greatest asset.