135: Chapter 135 The Price for Breaking the Blockade

Levi could even smell the dampness of an approaching storm in the air, mixed with the faint, fishy scent of expensive perfumes and evaporated cold sweat from the nobles.

The clamor outside moved from afar to near, like boiling water, quickly escalating from whispers to a chaotic roar.

The nobles who had just been calculating future dividends now saw the greed and longing on their faces replaced by a more primal emotion—fear.

"A blockade! My God, has Duke Silverwind gone mad?"

"Our furs, timber, ores... they're all going to rot in the warehouses!"

"I just ordered a batch of Elven silk from the south; I've already paid the deposit!"

Panic is the best catalyst; it can cause a fragile, newly established alliance to disintegrate in an instant.

Levi's gaze swept past Ella's stiff shoulders to see the oak doors that had just closed being slammed open once again.

Baron Valerius, his face flushed the color of pig liver, was the first to appear at the door. Behind him followed a group of nobles with faces as ashen as death, rushing back like a flock of sheep surrounded by wolves.

They didn't even bother with etiquette, charging straight toward the dais, toward Levi.

"Lord Levi!" Baron Valerius's voice was hoarse and shrill, filled with questioning and despair. "A blockade! The Duke has blocked all trade routes! What about the profits you promised? What about the future you promised? We're all finished now!"

His withered fingers trembled with agitation, nearly poking Levi in the face.

"Do you know what this means? More than sixty percent of the North's daily necessities, from salt to cloth, must be imported from the south! Not to mention those luxury goods and enchantment materials! In less than three months, we won't even need the Imperial army to attack; we'll collapse on our own due to material shortages!"

The Baron's words were like a heavy hammer, striking the hearts of everyone present.

Inside the council hall, the nobles who had just been uneasy about passing the 'Treasonous Resolution' were now completely ignited.

"The Baron is right! We'll be trapped here until we die!"

"My subjects won't have enough salt for the winter; they'll get sick!"

"We must immediately apologize to the Duke and His Majesty the Emperor! Rescind that damned resolution!"

"We've been tricked! This is a trap!"

The chaotic waves of sound nearly lifted the roof off the council hall.

The way they looked at Levi had shifted from their previous awe and greed to suspicion and anger.

This tower of an alliance built on interest seemed to be teetering under the first strike of the Empire's iron fist.

Ella's face was as pale as paper.

She instinctively took a step back, her fists clenched tight.

This was the consequence she had feared; this was the price of defying the Empire.

Reality had come so quickly and so cruelly that it left her feeling suffocated.

However, Levi, standing at the center of the storm, didn't show even a flicker of emotion on his face.

His gaze was as calm as a bottomless lake, as if the hysterical nobles before him were merely a few noisy ants on a tactical map.

He didn't even look at Baron Valerius, simply giving a new command to Evelyn beside him in an unquestionable tone.

"Evelyn, pull up the import trade data for Duke Silverwind's territory, specifically the section regarding strategic materials."

Evelyn's movements didn't hesitate for a second, as if she had rehearsed this scene long ago.

Her slender fingers moved rapidly over the base of the crystal plate, and with a few flashes of light, the projected image in mid-air instantly switched.

It was a complex data chart, filled with various symbols for ores and numbers.

Most of the nobles couldn't understand this cryptic information, but an old noble with mining interests like Baron Valerius saw his pupils contract slightly.

Levi took the conductor's baton from Evelyn's hand, and this time, he didn't step down to appease anyone.

Standing on high with a condescending posture, he tapped the baton heavily on a particularly conspicuous number on the chart.

"Everyone," his voice wasn't loud, but it dropped like ice into boiling oil, instantly suppressing all the noise, "this is the total amount of 'Refined Mana-Iron Ore' imported by Duke Silverwind's territory from the North over the past three years. It accounts for..."

Seventy-eight percent.

This number was like a bolt of lightning, cutting through everyone's confusion.

"Refined Mana-Iron Ore is the core material for crafting 'Mana-Breaking Bolts' and 'Runic Steel Armor.' Without it, Duke Silverwind's vaunted heavy armor legions are just a pile of scrap metal." Levi's tone was flat, yet carried a coldness that saw through everything. "By blocking our trade routes, he is essentially strangling the lifeblood of his own army."

The council hall fell into a dead silence.

The nobles stared blankly at the data chart, their minds unable to process it for a moment.

Levi didn't give them much time to think; he turned to Evelyn and issued a second command, his voice decisive.

"In the name of The Foundation, convey my orders. Effective immediately, all mines under The Foundation are to stop exporting any type or quantity of ore to Duke Silverwind's territory or any associated merchant guilds. Not a single piece."

If the previous data had merely shocked them, this command was a true earthquake.

"You're mad!" Ella was the first to react, crying out as her violet eyes filled with disbelief. "You're adding fuel to the fire! This will completely escalate the conflict! A blockade is temporary, but once a trade war begins, it's a fight to the death! The people on both sides will suffer because of this!"

"Your Highness." Levi finally turned his head to look her in the eye, his gaze sharp as a blade. "Mercy cannot trade for a single loaf of bread from Duke Silverwind's table. The war has already begun, it's just that our battlefield isn't at mountain passes or city walls, but in ledgers and warehouses."

He scanned the nobles below who were still wavering and continued: "If he leaves us with no salt to eat, we'll leave him with no armor to wear. If he wants us to freeze to death in winter, we'll let his soldiers run naked on the battlefield. It's only fair."

"Now," he shifted the topic, "we must immediately find new buyers and new sellers."

He signaled to Evelyn once more.

Evelyn understood perfectly, and the projection switched for the third time.

This time, a partial map of the Terrarium continent appeared, marked with several faction names glowing in green.

《List of Alternative Trade Partners》

This title made everyone hold their breath.

Ranked first were several internal duchies of the Empire that had long-standing grievances with Duke Silverwind.

This was still within everyone's range of understanding.

But as their eyes continued to move down, everyone's throats felt as if they were being squeezed by an invisible hand, and the sound of sharp intakes of breath echoed through the empty council hall.

On the list, two names appeared, written in blood-red font.

"Stormhammer Tribe—Mountain Dwarves."

"Redfang Tribal Alliance—Steppe Orcs."

To every Imperial noble present, these two names were synonymous with demons.

They were the "barbarians" who had been enemies of the Empire for generations, eternal foes in border conflicts, and the very definition of treason written on the first page of the Imperial Code.

Trading with Orcs was equivalent to aiding the enemy—an undeniable crime of high treason!

If defying the Emperor's decree and building private roads could still be glossed over with political excuses like "for the prosperity of the North," then trading with the Empire's sworn enemies was pinning oneself permanently to the pillar of shame as a traitor, with no room for reversal.

Levi acted as if he hadn't seen the expressions of horror on their faces at all.

He had Evelyn present two pre-prepared parchment scrolls to the crowd.

They were two pre-drafted trade proposals.

He picked up the draft regarding the Dwarves and spoke slowly to the "shareholders" below: "I plan to fully open iron ore trade to the Stormhammer Tribe. What we want isn't gold coins, but their secret casting techniques, the latest ore refining equipment, and... their finished standard-issue weapons."

He set down the first one and picked up the other draft—the one that made everyone's heart skip a beat.

"Simultaneously, I will send merchant caravans into the Great Steppe to sell the Redfang Alliance the grain and salt they lack most. In exchange, we want their warhorses, their specialty 'Dried Meat,' and a medicinal herb called 'Madblood Grass.' Of course, most importantly, we want them to have enough strength to go to the eastern border of Duke Silverwind's territory... and stir up some trouble."

Levi said those last few words nonchalantly, yet they sent a chill straight from the soles of everyone's feet to the top of their heads, including Ella's.

This was an open scheme.

A blatant, undisguised open scheme!

He didn't just want to break the blockade; he wanted to use the Orcs to light a fire behind Duke Silverwind's back, making it impossible for him to attend to both ends!

"Now," Levi placed the two drafts side-by-side on the table in front of Ella. The golden sunlight streaming through the large floor-to-ceiling windows made the parchment look somewhat dazzling.

He looked at Ella, his gaze calm and profound.

"Madam Chair, please make your choice."

His voice echoed clearly in the deathly silent council hall.

"Trading with the Mountain Dwarves can solve our immediate material needs and turn our ore into weapons to protect ourselves. But we will still be passive."

"Trading with the Steppe Orcs not only grants us much-needed warhorses and supplies, but it also immediately creates a powerful military threat on Duke Silverwind's eastern border that will keep him awake at night. This will force him to take the initiative to return to the negotiating table and lift the blockade on us."

"Of course, you could also sign both."

Ella stared intently at the two pieces of parchment on the table; it was as if they weren't paper, but two glowing red branding irons.

Her hands trembled slightly, and her breathing became rapid.

Her mind was in total chaos.

Logic told her that Levi's plan was the only effective way to break the deadlock—it was even brilliant.

But her bloodline, the education she had received since childhood, and her identity as an Imperial Princess were all screaming in madness, resisting.

By signing either one, she would completely betray everything she had once protected.

Especially the agreement with the Orcs; once signed, she would no longer be the princess trying to save the North, but a sinner who invited wolves into her home, a crime for which ten thousand deaths would not suffice.

Baron Valerius and the other nobles also understood this choice.

The fear on their faces hadn't dissipated; instead, it gained a more complex layer—a mixture of struggle and a hint of morbid excitement.

They looked at Ella, waiting for this nominal supreme leader to sign that decisive stroke for their future.

Just as Ella reached out, her fingertips about to touch the cold parchment—

"Your Highness!"

An attendant rushed in through the side door, looking panicked. Before he could even catch his breath, he reported urgently: "The Cardinal of the Holy See of Radiance stationed at the Northern Cathedral, Lord Arnaud, has arrived in person! He... he is right outside, specifically asking to see the Chair of The Foundation, Princess Ella!"

The Holy See of Radiance? A Cardinal?

This unexpected name made the atmosphere in the council hall instantly more bizarre.

Levi's brow twitched almost imperceptibly.

It seemed that sharks weren't the only ones to smell blood; vultures had arrived as well.

Ella looked up sharply, as if grabbing onto a life-saving straw.

Before she could speak, the attendant added another sentence, his voice even lower: "The Cardinal said... he has brought the 'goodwill' of the Holy See."

The attendant paused, seemingly repeating the original words.

"He said that as long as The Foundation agrees to 'donate' a portion of the seized assets to the Church for 'charitable' causes and allows the Holy See to join The Foundation as a 'spiritual consultant,' they... they are willing to 'mediate' the conflict between the North and Duke Silverwind, and in the name of God, ensure that the southern trade routes remain 'limitedly open.'"