Capítulo 77: Mascardo's Offer
"Boni! How long are you going to be lazing around for?!" Luna opened the door, only to find his best friend sprawled on the bed. "Go grab something to eat. If you continue to laze around and whine, I'm rescinding your 'Star Child' title and renaming you 'Star Baby'."
"Hik! Okay, okay! I'll get up!" Boni replied as he struggled to get up. He struggled to walk as he made his way outside to eat. Every single time he flinched from the pain, Tala couldn't help but snicker,
"Boni, Tala has agreed to become your mentor. Now, I know I've said this before, but the responsibility you have on your shoulders now is equal to what I myself carry. Do you understand what that means?" Luna asked. Although he was confident in Boni's competency, the stakes were far too high. He could not afford for anybody with any type of inheritance or innate advantage to slack off or die.
"I understand." Boni nodded. The moment he decided to accept the inheritance, he had already steeled his resolve. Aware of what Luna had to give up, he would not dare to even think of wasting this gift.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure he'll have the tools he needs to not just survive, but also dominate." Tala confidently said. She had absolute confidence in her capabilities. She might have lost her powers and had to restart all over again, but the Star Anito was familiar with her as well as vice-versa.
"Also, you'll be in charge of making sure Tala gets power-leveled."
"Of course! It's the least I can do!" Boni bowed toward Tala, ignoring the pain and said, "Thank you again. Star Goddess!"
Tala shook her head, "Don't call me that anymore. It's best to keep my background a secret. I don't want people having any expectations of me when ironically, I'm the weakest member of the Sovereign Nation right now."
"Not for long!" Boni patted his chest. "Ah!" he winced, forgetting that his body was still extremely sore.
"There's no need to try and encourage her, Boni. She didn't say that out of self-pity, but because of self-awareness," Luna said. It was indeed ridiculous to think that Tala would need encouragement. She has been through this process before and she knew what to do and what mindset to have.
"You're quite good at measuring people, aren't you Luna?" Tala commented.
"Just learning as I go. Alright, I'll have to leave you two, for now, I've already spent too much time here and the Northern front requires more of my attention." Luna bid them farewell as he left the two.
The journey didn't have any hiccups there weren't many that could threaten Luna and his mount.
As soon as he got back, a report that a man who claimed to be Tomas Mascardo's messenger was caught in the Boracay islands. After hearing this, Luna proceeded to the area where the man was being held and currently blindfolded.
He was being kept as far away as possible from the major area of operations, especially the caves where the <Visanium> were being harvested.
One of the soldiers gave a salute as soon as Luna arrived. "Lord Luna, we've asked this man about his intentions. He says he's a messenger for General Tomas Mascardo, the leader of the prisoners in the Bilibid Prison. They have expressed the willingness to negotiate their possible desertion to the <Sovereign Nation>."
"Oh? First of all, what is your name? Second, why run to me?" He asked. He emphasized the question of "why run to me?" which he did to psychologically put himself on top of whatever negotiation Mascardo wanted to have. This on top of the fact that he already had almost all the leverage in this talk, meant that there was no way he would suffer a loss, and the Mascardo would know of this well.
Basically, he was telling them "How much of a loss are you willing to bear? Because coming out on top in this negotiation is an impossibility, and even your best case scenario will be as if you are refugees coming to me for asylum."
Of course, he couldn't say this outright but only hint at it, since he had to start the negotiations with at least some modicum of "friendliness."
"Lord Luna, my name is Greg, I'm one of General Tomas Mascardo's right-hand man. The reason why I... ran all the way here, or rather why Tomas wanted me to run to you, is to give you information as a sign of good faith." He explained. From him calling the General by his first name out of habit, it gave away the fact that they were probably close friends.
"What information?"
"That the current President of the Philippines, Emil, has set up a trap to eliminate you. The so-called 'summit' is nothing but a farce."
"An ambush? That's something that was already within my expectations. You had better give me a better sign of good faith than that, Mascardo." He knew that Greg was communicating directly with the General, and so he addressed him directly. He also didn't call him 'General' because he wanted him to realize that his title meant nothing to him.
This was a tactic Luna used to beat down their confidence bit by bit, indirectly. He was aware that the fact that the General sent his most trusted man to negotiate with him was a tell-tale sign that things were definitely not going well up North.
"The General apologizes for underestimating your foresight, Lord Luna. The General does indeed have something else he wishes to do for you." Seeing as Luna was already aware that he was directly communicating with Mascardo, Greg decided to acknowledge that fact.
"And that is?"
"He's willing to stage a Coup d'état."
"No need. If he really wants to show me a valid sign of good faith, then he'll have to somehow incite Emil to do something drastically stupid in the eyes of the citizens. Or at least help me with it."
"What does Lord Luna have in mind?"
"Emil will probably try to assassinate me. I've known of his vanity even before the new world. If there's one thing that this new world highlights, it's the ugly side of humanity. It doesn't take a genius to know that he has done a lot of evil. I just need to expose him at the right time. What I ask of you is simple, Mascardo. He will probably have some sort of speech in order to try and rub it in when I 'fall for his trap.' I need you to be there when that time comes."
"Lord Luna, what do you plan on doing?"
"Mass communication. Expose him, and I will at least grant you a respectable position in the Sovereign Nation. Of course, you will have to follow our rules just like anyone else. It's much better than dying with Emil, no?"
It took a while for Greg to respond, until finally, he said, "Alright. You have yourself a deal, Lord Luna."
"Good. Show me your sincerity, and I'll show you mine. You may leave."
Greg was then escorted by the troops while he was still blindfolded and had earplugs stuffed in his ears as he was escorted away.
***
During the trip back, he conversed with General Mascardo regarding his experience.
"Greg, how was he?"
"I didn't get to see his face, unfortunately. I was blindfolded the whole time. But I felt his aura. Even when he was just talking normally, it felt as if I was within an enormous beast's maw, where he could devour me at any second."
"We kill beasts on the daily! Hahaha!" General Mascardo laughed boisterously. He was obviously feeling a bit insecure, as he had never heard Greg describe someone like that. Hence why he resorted to his psychological defense mechanism of using humor.
"Not like that, Tomas. When his troops captured me, their aura already made me shiver. But this was when they showed their intent to kill. That man, Luna, I mean, Lord Luna," he corrected himself. Even though Luna would have no idea of what their conversation entailed, the feeling he gave him had obviously left an incredibly deep impression. "He's not someone we can mess with, Tomas. If you want my sincere advice, it's that we don't piss him off and show him that we are willing to be loyal to him. I know that's going to be hard for any of us prisoners, but do we really have a choice? Tomas, you know me, I never get scared. But the fear I felt was instinctual. There was no way I could have steeled myself for that."
General Mascardo was quiet for a while before he said, "Alright. We'll convene at the main base. We'll have to discuss this with the others."
"Alright."
Back in his private quarters, General Mascardo had a solemn look on his face as he murmured, "Luna... What kind of man are you? Greg, who is one of the most fearless men I've known my entire life, even in this new world, shivered at the sight of his men alone? Cowered during a conversation? To the point where he felt instinctual fear?" He was hoping to somehow negotiate some extra terms with Luna, but after hearing Greg's suggestion, he wasn't so sure anymore.
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