The demons and dragons stared at one another with slightly stunned expressions. Michael was renowned for being quite an amicable man, but he seemed to be rather unforgiving on this occasion. It wasn't as if fighting during a conference hadn't happened in the past, but not only was Michael prohibiting any physical conflict from arising, he was telling them to look at the restaurant's rules as well?
Since when did the representatives of the dragon and demon races need to take into account a restaurant's rules?
Even though all of them were rather perplexed, they could tell that Michael didn't seem to be joking. Furthermore, they were all representatives of their respective races, so if they achieved nothing during the conference before being kicked out of Chaos City, it would reflect quite badly on them.
Chaos City wasn't as powerful as some of the premier species on the Norland Continent, but held a special status due to its multiculturalism, as well as the fact that the city was founded in the aftermath of the war among all species. Almost no species had engaged in conflict with Chaos City before, and it maintained an absolutely neutral stance on the Norland Continent.
It was exactly because of this that Chaos City was often sought after as mediator in conflicts between races.
During the past century, countless peace treaties had been signed here, and it had almost become a tradition of sorts.
Furthermore, Chaos City was quite a force to be reckoned with in itself. After developing for over 100 years, the city had gathered many powerful beings from all species, and all of them referred to themselves as residents of Chaos City. As such, they didn't belong to any species or race, and only fought for Chaos
City.
City Lord Michael was also an extremely powerful man. He had already become a 10th-tier knight 30 years ago, and the arrow that he had launched to shoot through Urien's domain was an indication of his power. He was one of the most powerful beings on the Norland Continent, and in Chaos City, his word was absolute.
Let's see what kind of strange rules this restaurant has. Dracula was the first one to pick up a menu before flicking through it. After a while, a peculiar expression appeared on his face, and he turned to Havid and Tauros as he said, "Looks like you two will have to pay compensation for the broken furniture, and it has to be in cash. That's why you should all learn to be gentlemen. I fully support this restaurant's rules. This place is trying to teach you how to be a gentleman."
Everyone else hesitated momentarily before also picking up their menus. Havid reached for his, but he was a little concerned at the sight of the flames burning on his hand, so he snuffed them out first before picking up the menu.
"City Lord Michael, we're here for a conference today, not for a meal. If even talking is prohibited, then how are we supposed to proceed?" Fox put down the menu and turned to Michael with a slightly exasperated look.
"Exactly. I can accept not fighting, but my voice has always been this loud. The chief told me that I have to talk loudly during this conference to get my point across." Jinx scratched his head with a confused expression.
"So... I really have to pay in cash? I didn't bring any cash with me; what do I do?" Havid also scratched his head with furrowed brows.
"Yes, the restaurant only takes cash." Amy nodded at Havid, and said, "Uncle Fireman, you can borrow some money from Uncle Gold Wire beside you. If he doesn't have any money, either, you can pluck some of his gold hair and that should be enough."
Havid turned to look at Jinx with a thoughtful expression upon hearing that
Jinx scooted his chair to the side with a wary expression, and warned, "Are you that poor, Havid? Don't even think about touching my hair. If you don't have money, then I'll lend you some, but you have to pay me double when we get back."
"Alright, I'll pay you back double." Havid nodded with a resigned expression.
"Miya, grab a new table and chair for the customer." Mag's voice sounded from within the kitchen. He didn't think that Michael would be so straightforward and domineering. If all fighting was prohibited, then he wouldn't have to worry about his restaurant being demolished. That was quite a relief for him as the restaurant had a large customer base, so if it were demolished, he could ask the system to repair it for him, but his customers would all notice that it had been repaired in one night, thereby drawing a lot of suspicion.
"Yes," Miya replied before carrying a table and a chair from the corner to Havid. Meanwhile, Sally was responsible for cleaning up the ashes, but she didn't use her water magic to do so.
Is she worried that she'll blow her cover? Mag looked at Sally with a hint of surprise in his eyes, but he didn't raise any questions.
"The conference can continue. My objective today is to host the conference. Chaos City will continue to be a neutral and fair mediator, as well as facilitator. I won't interfere with your conference, nor offer any of my own personal opinions." Michael sat back down in his seat, and splayed his hands open as he said, "You may continue."
The dragons and demons looked at one another, and decided that fighting was definitely impossible thereafter–unless they wanted to be kicked out my Michael.
Furthermore, they really did want this conference to yield results. The battle over that island had reached an impasse, where the demons had taken over the island, but it had been surrounded by giant dragons. As such, they were engaged in a pointless tug of war.
Both sides were expending a lot of manpower and money on the battle over the island, but in essence, it was a very pointless battle.
However, the situation had deteriorated to a state where negotiations were no longer possible without a third-party mediator present. They were still withholding their most powerful beings from entering the battle, but if the situation continued to worsen, then that could change in the future.
If 10th-tier powerful beings were deployed, then that small battle could escalate into a true war between the two species. Peace had only returned to the continent for a century, but it would be plunged into another devastating war.
As such, both sides wanted to settle the issue via diplomacy. However, asking their own troops to retreat would severely dent morale and be seen as a sign of weakness. It was exactly because of this that a dead-end had been reached, and Chaos City was required to step in as a neutral mediating force.
Even though everyone had the same goal, which was to resolve the issue peacefully, negotiations were not a simple matter. Both sides wanted to secure more benefits for their own species, and perhaps even pin the blame on the other side, which was where the conflict of interests arose.
Thus, one side had to dominate the other, and the most straightforward way to establish domination was through a fight.
However, it appeared that fighting was no longer an option, so they could only engage in a war of words.
Dracula looked at Fox, and fired the first shot. "Fox, I heard that you once ran three laps around dragon island in the nude to escape from Alex, is that true?"