Speed Is King

“I DO NOT LIKE YOU AT ALL!!” Harold Sands roared out angrily at Jul’Taras.

By his side, Monkey King and Aunt Hills were trying their best not to laugh!

Apparently, they didn’t do a very good job in hiding their mirth because Harold Sands immediately turned to glare at them fiercely.

“Not negotiable.” Jul’Taras shook her head firmly.

“HOW IS IT NOT NEGOTIABLE! THE CREATOR IS MY GRANDDAUGHTER! GRANDDAUGHTER!” Harold Sands roared out loudly once more!

“She placed me in charge of her runes. Consider me her manager.” Jul’Taras said very mildly, completely unaffected by Harold Sands’ bluster.

Next to her, El’Taras shook his head helplessly.

“CHAIRMAN! SAY SOMETHING!” Harold Sands shouted at his chairman angrily!

“Ehm. Jules…” Chairman El’Taras began.

Jul’Taras merely raised her eyebrow at El’Taras, as if asking him “Are you sure you want to do this? I haven’t gotten to your part yet. Who knows what might happen between now and the moment the words leave my mouth? I might accidentally remember wrongly and add in a few extra requirements…”

“Yes! Good job Jules! That’s how you should do it!” Chairman El’Taras immediately shouted.

“WHAT?!” Harold Sands was completely outraged!

“Director Sands. We are the adults here. We need to be gracious in front of the younger generation. Let them see our graciousness, and be inspired to be gracious themselves! Then they can pass on that graciousness to the next generation, and we would have been the source of an endless wave of graciousness, passing on from one generation to the next, for a thousand generations!” Chairman El’Taras said sagely.

“WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!” Harold Sands shouted.

“Be reasonable, Uncle Sands.” Jul’Taras finally sighed and said patiently. “The Empire will be very young, and we cannot afford to hire mercenaries for the very simple reason that we cannot trust them. Ninety percent of your personal guard, as well as fifty percent of the Sands of Time Void Walker Clan Army is a very small price to pay. In fact, I was being very generous by only asking you to acquire twenty Ancients and Five Primals to support us in exchange for five full generalships!”

“Ge-generous?!” Harold Sands sputtered. He had never imagined that such a simple word could be so outrageously misused!

“How many Ancients and Primals do the Void Walker Clans have? It shouldn’t be hard for you to coax a few of those old fo- ehm, old powerhouses to join us. In fact, I will make it even easier for you. If we can survive the first hundred years, I will release one ADDITIONAL Ascendant Rune for the top generals who had joined us from day one to learn.” Jul’Taras finally conceded a real carrot to Harold Sands.

“Hmmmmmmmm. Now that would make my job much easier. Indeed, it will.” Harold Sands calmed down a little and began to stroke his long white beard thoughtfully. “Alright. You have a deal. I will gather the troops.”

“Thank you, Uncle Harold. You won’t regret it.” Jul’Taras said happily and then turned to her uncle.

She bestowed a beautiful and sweet smile upon him.

“Stop smiling.” El’Taras grumbled.

“From the Gaming Commission, the new Emperor of the newest but definitely going to be the strongest Empire of the entire known universe, needs its wealth.” Jul’Taras ignored her uncle’s grumbling and made her simple announcement.

She then blinked at her uncle a couple of times to indicate that she was done.

“And?” El’Taras frowned. “Where are the details?”

“The details are all there.” Jul’Taras said innocently. “Did you not catch it?”

“What details? You didn’t mention any details!” El’Taras said rather crossly and confusedly even as a sinking feeling started to appear in his heart.

“What do you mean? It’s ALL there! Let me repeat it. From the Gaming Commission, the new Empire needs its wealth. See? How much clearer could it get?” Jul’Taras said with a small smile.

“… … …” El’Taras’ eyes slowly widened as understanding of the enormity of her beloved niece’s demand dawned in his mind.

“Yo-you want ALL of the Gaming Commission’s wealth?” El’Taras choked.

Jul’Taras smiled sweetly at her uncle and nodded.

…

… …

“Impossible. I do not own the Gaming Commission all by myself.” El’Taras shook his head firmly.

“Non negotiable.” Jul’Taras shook her head firmly once more in the exact same way she did to Harold Sands.

Next to her, Harold Sands folded his arms and settled down to watch a good show.

“The entire wealth of the Gaming Commission! Do you know how many Star Systems our operations span? How many trillions of businesses we own? There is no way I can liquidate them all!” Chairman El’Taras raged.

“I don’t need you to liquidate them. Of course not. Why would I do that? In fact, I want them expanded, if at all possible. AIl I need you to do is to simply hand over all net income to the Empire each month.” Jul’Taras said calmly as though she was stating the most obvious fact in the universe.

Something along the lines of… Roses are red. Violets are blue. All your money, don’t belong to you.

“Do you even know how much wealth you’re talking about here?” El’Taras finally managed to sputter.

Jul’Taras nodded, and her fingers flashed a unique code to him.

“You truly are worthy of the Taras name. You even know that we have that much wealth.” El’Taras sighed deeply. “Very well, I acc-“

“I meant that as the first payment in cash, Uncle.” Jul’Taras rolled her eyes. “How in all of heavens could you even think that that’s all I want from you? You truly look down on my investigative skills. I have half a mind to double your required contribution.”

“What first payment in cash! I don’t have that much assets, much less cash!” It was El’Taras turn to hoot in anger. “You’re nuts! You’re completely and utterly nuts!

“Calm down uncle. How could you possibly be so poor in assets? I know that even your main secret stash is already two hundred fifty three point four four times more than the number I just told you.” Jul’Taras said dryly.

El’Taras froze in shock as his brain completed the calculations in a flash.

That damned niece of his!

How the hell did she know the exact value of his hyper secret main secret stash?