"Something's happening at the Strait of Tsushima!" Zhao Yun suddenly exclaimed, then closed his eyes and rapidly expanded his consciousness.

"What's going on?" Qin Ye asked with a stunned expression.

Zhao Yun didn't immediately reply. Several seconds later, he opened his eyes and explained with a serious expression, "There is a major battle taking place at the Strait of Tsushima. The Yama-Kings involved is extremely chaotic, and there are at least 10 Yama-Kings involved, four of which are advanced Yama-Kings."

Qin Ye's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this.

"How many sides are clashing?"

Zhao Yun's eyes narrowed slightly, and after a short while, he replied, "Two... There are creation-grade divine artifacts disrupting me, so I can't identify exactly who the combatants are. However, the Yin energy of one of them is very familiar, and it seems to belong to the Plumed Serpent God. His Yin energy is imbued with the aura of the Heavenly Dao, so even creation-grade divine artifacts aren't able to completely conceal it."

Qin Ye abruptly rose to his feet upon hearing this, and he began to quickly pace around the room as an overwhelming sense of foreboding welled up in his heart.

He had thought that the leaders of the other four pillars were intentionally arriving late solely to make a statement, but it appears that this wasn't the case at all.

"If the Plumed Serpent God is there, then the Alkebulan Underworlds must be involved in that battle. Why are they fighting and who are they fighting against?" he murmured to himself. "Someone has to have gotten in their way. There are four advanced Yama-Kings including the Plumed Serpent God... Only the other three pillars can muster up such a formidable lineup! They're intercepting our allies! They're breaking the rules!"

Breaking the rules was the most unacceptable thing that one could do on the international political stage, but that depended on the situation.

If the other three pillars secured victory, then their illegal interference definitely wouldn't be recorded in the history books. In fact, no one would even be made aware of the fact that a battle between over 10 Yama-Kings had taken place at the Strait of Tsushima.

How could they reverse the situation?

He cast his gaze toward Zhao Yun. Sending Zhao Yun to the scene was naturally the best choice, but they were outside of the Cathayan Underworld's territory, so as soon as he displayed his power, he would immediately suffer rejection from the Heavenly Dao, and he didn't want to lose this close friend.

Could he reinforce the Alkebulan Underworlds in person?

No, he simply wasn't powerful enough. In a battle between advanced Yama-Kings, particularly when the opposition had creation-grade divine artifacts, he would be nothing more than cannon fodder.

Unfortunately, the Plumed Serpent God most likely wasn't going to be enough, either. If the Heavenly Dao were that easy to escape from, then the Plumed Serpent God wouldn't have made that deal with him in the first place. A drop of blood of a divinity was nowhere near enough to truly free him from the threat of the Heavenly Dao, and even though he had arrived in this realm through divine descent, he most likely didn't have a lot of time left, and there was a very good chance he would be no match for three other death gods who were just as powerful as he was.

What could he do?

If the Alkebulan Underworlds didn't arrive, then he wouldn't be able to fire his most impactful shot. The opposition had clearly intervened as they were wary of the Alkebulan Underworlds' influence. Even though they only had a single vote, they ruled over a massive territory, so there was no way that the opposition would let them through.

"Damn it..." He bit down onto his own lower lip in frustration. If he weren't mistaken, the opposition would most likely only allow the Alkebulan Underworlds free passage on the day of the conference, which would be far too late!

"Your Excellency!" Right at this moment, Qin Changxin hurriedly made his way into the room with an urgent expression. "Death Goddess Erinys has declared that she will be holding a press conference in half an hour, and it will be to discuss the signing ceremony of the Eastern Continents Co-prosperity Circle."

They're speeding up...

The opposition was speeding up in their retaliation while keeping the Cathayan Underworld's allies at bay. The Alkebulan Underworlds had been stopped cold in their tracks, and Erinys was taking advantage of this opportunity to hold a press conference and force everyone to take sides.

As expected, this plot that had been brewing for over a century wouldn't be so easy to foil, and the announcement of the new energy resource wasn't enough to weather this storm.

Only half of his retaliation had unfolded, but the other half had been completely shut down. If he couldn't announce the agreements they had signed with the Alkebulan Underworlds during the energy resource announcement press conference, then the impact would be significantly lessened!

His fingers burrowed deep into his own hair as he fought to repress the panic and frustration in his heart. He couldn't afford to lose his cool at a time like this. If he were to do that, then it would be all over. Anyone could panic, but he had to remain calm no matter what.

As King Yanluo, it was his responsibility to act as the guiding force of the Cathayan Underworld.

Several minutes later, he asked, "Has the panel of advisors been notified?"

"This is outside of our projections, and the panel of advisors is currently holding an emergency meeting. At the same time, I'll be listening in on the press conference for the Eastern Continents Co-prosperity Circle and recording all of the information that I can," Qin Changxin replied.

After a few seconds of silence, Zhao Yun sighed, "My Lord, how about..."

"No!" Qin Ye immediately turned down Zhao Yun in a firm voice. "You are more important than them. Don't forget that we still have the ultimate trump card in the form of the new energy resource. Even if we lose here, we'll be able to make a resurgence as long as we toil through the next two to three centuries."

The atmosphere in the room had become extremely tense and oppressive, and Qin Changxin said, "We can wait, but not for too long. At the very latest, we have to hold our press conference tomorrow. Perhaps we can attempt to use these terms to lure other underworlds to our side?"

Qin Ye shook his head in response. "That won't do. This agreement must be signed with an influential underworld, which means they either have to have a sufficiently large territory or hold a significant number of votes, and none of the underworlds can fulfill either requirement. Outside of the four pillars and the five nations of Northern Europa, as well as the Alkebulan Underworlds, the only power that fulfills this condition is the Russian Underworld, and they clearly won't be standing with us. In fact, they want us dead just as much as the other three pillars."

Was this a lost cause?

"We can only pray that the Alkebulan Underworlds will be able to overcome their opposition," he sighed. "And we can also count on the arrival of the new continent! Even if the Alkebulan Underworlds have been intercepted, there's no way they would dare to intercept the representative teams of the new continent!"

…………………………………

The massive conference hall was packed to the rafters and teeming with commotion. Archimedes and Erinys were standing on the main stage, and representatives from many underworlds had already gathered before them.

In addition to that, there were journalists from countless media outlets, and there was not a single vacant seat in the entire hall, which was several hundred meters in size.

"They've finally made a move! Have they formed this alliance to declare war on the Cathayan Underworld?"

"How many death gods are there on the eastern continents?"

"Why hasn't the Cathayan Underworld also organized a press conference at the same time?"

"Do they still think the world is the same place it was 100 years ago? In the wake of their century-long absence, how many underworlds are going to stand on their side? How could they miss a golden opportunity like this? Are they just going to watch their opposition take votes from right under their nose?"

Qin Changxin was seated at the back of the hall, and he was among many Abyssal Prefects present, most of whom were death gods from different underworlds. Anko, Kuwal, and Giltine were all among these death gods, and after exchanging polite greetings with one another, all of them took a seat without wasting any time with unnecessary small talk. However, the questions being raised by the journalists up ahead were resonating in their hearts as well.

Indeed, why hadn't the Cathayan Underworld made a move? Was it afraid? Was it simply lacking in power?

This was something that was worthy of deep analysis. If the Cathayan Underworld had few allies to begin with, then that number was going to drop even further now. Many of the underworlds that had been instilled with confidence by their new energy resource project were hesitating and wavering once again.

Right at this moment, Erinys stepped onto the stage. "Quiet, please."

Silence quickly descended over the entire hall.

This was a press conference that could very well decide the state of the world, and no one dared to disrupt the speaker.

"I am Death Goddess Erinys of the Argosian Underworld." Her expression was calm and serious, and she was automatically giving off an aura of authority.

The man beside her extended a slight bow and said, "And I am Death God Archimedes."

As soon as his voice trailed off, an underworld emissary declared in a loud voice, "It's currently 6:30 PM. Death Goddess Erinys of the Argosian Underworld will be representing the Argosian Underworld, the Aegyptian Underworld, and the Hindustani Underworld to make the following announcement. The agreement that she will be proposing has already been approved by international arbiters. Let the press conference begin."

The gate of the hall slowly swung shut, and the netherfire in the eyes of all of the journalists present were flickering erratically. Many scribes and clerks were holding pens and notepads, ready to record at any time. In the tense silence, Erinys swept a hand through the air, and the entire hall was instantly transformed into an inky-black space.

It was as if the conference hall had been teleported into outer space.

A burst of golden light flourished within the darkness, and a map of the underworld appeared behind her as she said, "The underworld has existed for an extremely long time. It has already been over 3,000 years since the official founding of the Coalition of Underworlds, and during these years, we've experienced war, peace, and the birth and demise of countless civilizations. In the present day, the underworld has entered a period of peace where there are almost no wars."

She raised a hand, and the Australis and the new continent on the map began to glow with blue light, while the rest of the world fell dark. "Aside from the unrest in the new continent and the persistent supernatural disasters in the Australis Underworld, all other underworlds are developing rapidly. However..."

She swept her gaze across the entire hall as she continued, "This rate of development still isn't enough. In the mortal realm, there are already planes, tanks, energy resources, things that the underworld can only dream of. Yes, we have Yin energy, but in order to use Yin energy to, for example, create a Yin energy communication network in a province to achieve real-time communication, four Infernal Judges, several dozen Anitya Hellguards,and close to 1,000 Soul Hunters must work around the clock to constantly process messages and data. During these past several thousand years, everyone has been searching for a way to advance our civilizations, but all to no avail.

It had to be said that as a death goddess, she gave off a striking sense of authority, and as her gaze passed over Qin Changxin, a hint of a derisive sneer appeared on her face before immediately vanishing.

She continued, "Why is this? It's because we are all independent and there is no centralized power. We are constantly wary of one another and have built up walls to defend ourselves, but in doing so, we have also kept everyone else out."

Her voice echoed throughout the hall like thunder, resonating deep within the hearts of every single underworld emissary. Qin Changxin took a deep breath, and he knew that Erinys was about to deliver the killing blow.

Having lived for so many years and experienced so much, Erinys was an extremely influential and infectious speaker.

Many of the death gods of the smaller underworlds were looking on with tightly pursed lips.

Erinys's voice suddenly softened as she continued, "Hence, after careful research and consideration carried out by the three pillars, during which we visited all of the major underworlds in the past century, the conclusion we arrived at is that we have to tear down these walls! We don't need walls, we don't need division, we are willing to show everyone the utmost sincerity in advancing the entire world together! The key to the next era will be a new energy resource, and in order to implement an energy resource plan across the entire world, we are willing to send out a round table of seven individuals as our representatives. We are going to spearhead the research and development efforts, and if our efforts yield fruits, all participating nations will be granted unconditional shared rights to the new energy resource!"

Her words were like the unsheathing of a sharp sword.

Erinys stared intently at Qin Changxin as she continued, "At the same time, the borders of all participating nations will be torn down! In other words, residents of all participating nations can enter the territory of any other participating nation without a passport or a visa! At the same time, we will all have a universal currency and do away with all protection policies! Come, everyone, join us and the three pillars will lead the entire world to joint prosperity and wealth! From now on, there will be no wealth gaps and no knowledge asymmetry. Everything will be transparent, fair, and open, and together, we will establish a utopia for all underworlds! This is the core concept of the Eastern Continents Co-prosperity Circle, and at the same time, it's known as the Utopia Plan."

She lifted the hem of her dress and extended a slight bow.

Silence quickly descended over the entire hall.

Qin Changxin's hands were trembling as he held onto the armrests of his chair in a white-knuckled grip, and all of the death gods were staring at Erinys with incredulity in their eyes.

Several seconds later, the entire scene completely erupted!