Yama Rising

Chapter 1085: The Wedge of Amano-Iwato (2)

Qin Ye smiled as he continued, "Don't get all emotional now. Help in one's time of need is always the most valuable help that can be given. You weren't always a citizen of the Cathayan Underworld, but you've already remained loyal, and your diligence in your work is unquestionable, so this is what you deserve."

For the current Cathayan Underworld, it would almost be entirely inconsequential whether someone like Oda Nobunaga joined them or not. However, at the time, Oda Nobunaga had been an extremely important asset.

It didn't seem like he had contributed much during the rise of the new Hell, but that was only because he was limited by his cultivation rank. Once the new Hell was established, he entered the administration and completed many important duties behind the scenes.

Given his contributions, he had just as much right to call himself a citizen of the Cathayan Underworld as all of the Cathayan Underworld's netherworldly citizens.

Qin Changxin continued, "I'm not doing this solely for you, either. If we can conquer the Cathayan Underworld, then it'll become the first barrier to the east of our Cathayan Underworld. The Nipponese Underworld's geographic advantages are too significant to ignore, and directly to the east of it is the Pacific Ocean. On top of that, the Nipponese Underworld's dense population and wealth of scientists would be significant assets for us."

Why was territory important for an underworld? It was because territory equated to population, and population provided an endless stream of netherworldly citizens over time.

"In order to ensure that we'll be able to conquer the Nipponese Underworld, we'll first need to develop second-generation forbidden arts to intimidate all of the other underworlds. The three pillars are too far away from the Nipponese Underworld to offer it much assistance, and the Kraken Mothership can intercept them on the sea. However, they can send reinforcements to the Nipponese Underworld through the Russian Underworld, so we still have to wait. Prior to that, we will establish close ties with the dominant force in the Nipponese Underworld's economy, and I'm sure they'll know what choice to make once the battle truly begins between our two nations."

On one hand, there was the Nipponese Underworld, whose demise was inevitable, while on the other hand was their collaborative partner that was bringing them massive profits. The choice was beyond simple for the decision-makers of the consortium.

In fact, the Sacred Treasure Consortium wouldn't even need to directly assist the Cathayan Underworld. All they would have to do would be to stand by and watch, and the entire Nipponese Underworld would suffer a major economic downturn!

The Nipponese Underworld wasn't an authoritarian underworld like the Cathayan Underworld. Instead, it was a capitalist nation, so there was no way that its government would have as many military factories as the Cathayan Underworld!

Qin Ye was confident that the Sacred Treasure Consortium wouldn't be willing to pass up this major opportunity. Cutting-edge Yin runes would definitely be used in the industry of military technology, and as a result, the Nipponese Underworld would become dependent upon it. Once that dependence grew to a certain degree of significance, the Cathayan Underworld would pull the rug out from under their feet.

When the time came, all the Sacred Treasure Consortium would need to do would be to cease its operations in the Nipponese Underworld, and the entire nation would be left floundering like a fish out of water!

"Have patience, it'll take at least another decade for this wedge to grow to the point that it would have a decisive effect," Qin Ye said with a smile as he rose to his feet. "Now then, let's go and greet all of the death gods. I'm sure they must be desperate to see me at this point."

………………………………………………….

On this day, Formosa had truly become the heart of the entire world.

Countless underworld emissaries from all over the world were scrutinizing the island of Formosa, and that was only to be expected, considering that it was the first trade port that the Cathayan Underworld had opened up since its century-long seclusion.

Masa strode along the red carpet, passing by the orderly rows of Yin soldiers standing on either side of the path as he made his way into the main conference hall.

His heart was full of anticipation and excitement.

The Hopi Underworld had always been a completely insignificant underworld, with its tiny territory and sparse followers. In fact, even though he was the Hopi Underworld's ruler death god, even he had no idea what the religion's origins were.

However, things were different now.

This was the underworld's first-ever industrial revolution, and all underworlds had the chance to rise significantly up the international pecking order through it! There were only 34 underworlds in total, but the new energy resource was going to give rise to hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of new industries!

The underworld was a technological desert, and anyone who managed to cultivate it would be rewarded with an oasis for their efforts.

With that in mind, he took a deep breath before entering the conference hall.

As soon as he entered the conference hall, he was momentarily rooted to the spot.

This was still a tiered conference hall, and the ones in attendance were still the same ruler death gods and consortium chairmen, but on this occasion, the entire hall was eerily silent.

However, it was an absolutely deafening silence, and everyone could sense the tension and anticipation bubbling beneath the silence.

All of the people in attendance were like hungry wolves waiting for this feast to begin, and they were ready to pounce at any time in order to claim the most delectable cuts of meat on offer!

Masa gulped nervously before sitting down in silence on the seat reserved for him.

20 minutes later, a group of Yin soldiers brought out a long horn that was over a meter in length, constructed from the horn of a Yin beast, and upon being blown, the horn released a single elongated note. At the same time, the sound of drumming rang out, and the combined sounds further exacerbated the anticipation in everyone's hearts.

Each strike of the drums seemed to be resounding directly in the hearts of the death gods, and they reflexively sat up straighter as they gripped their armrests tightly in an effort to repress the surging emotions in their hearts.

This conference was going to pull back the curtains on the new era!

All of the death gods were extremely excited, and Heihachiro Fujii was even more excited than them. He could only pray to the heavens in silence to instill a hint of calmness into his own heart.

Everyone was ready and gathered, and all that was left was for the host to appear.

As the special guest invited by the host, the Sacred Treasure Consortium had to give the host their full support!

In the face of such a massive opportunity, they had to ensure at all costs that it wasn't stolen by anyone else!

He swept his gaze across the faces of the other nine consortium chairmen, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

I really look forward to seeing your shocked expressions soon. After the coming century, there will be an enormous gap between us. I, Heihachiro Fujii, and my Sacred Treasure Consortium will become one of the dictators of the rules of the new era, while all of you can only look up to me in awe and resignation!

Everyone in the hall had their eyes focused firmly on the main stage, and all of a sudden, a cloud of Yin energy suddenly appeared on the stage, from within which Qin Ye silently emerged. There was a brief moment of silence, followed by thunderous applause.

Qin Ye smiled as he made a quieting gesture, and as he swept his gaze across the entire hall, a hint of amusement appeared in his eyes.

At the very front, Anubis, Yamaraja, and Thanatos were all in attendance, and they were all clapping with warm smiles, as if there had been no prior conflict between them at all.

I really hope you can still keep smiling after you hear the next step of our Cathayan Underworld's plan.

His gaze roamed over the ruler death gods of the three pillars, then settled momentarily on the representatives of the Sacred Treasure Consortium. It was only a split-second pause, but it didn't escape Heihachiro Fujii's attention, and he gave an almost undetectable nod in response. His gaze then turned toward Izanami, who was seated in a corner of the hall.

Amano-Iwato has been standing for over 1,000 years, but it won't be around for much longer...

Before Izanami could sense his scrutiny, he withdrew his gaze before looking straight ahead.

From this point onward, our Cathayan Underworld is going to be unstoppable!

"Welcome back to the Cathayan Underworld, everyone." As soon as he opened his mouth to speak, everyone else in the hall immediately fell silent, and he extended a slight bow as he continued, "We adjourned the international conference in order to give everyone more time to prepare. Are you all ready now? Are you ready to share the gifts that this new era has to offer?"

Someone led the way and began to applaud, and in less than two seconds, everyone in the hall had erupted into raucous applause once again.

Qin Ye waited for the applause to die down before continuing with a smile, "As the pioneer of this new era, the Cathayan Underworld has both a duty and a right to lead everyone in taking the first step. Next, please allow me to read our Cathayan Underworld's plan for development in this new era."

This was an extremely important segment. No specific details were going to be revealed at this point, but the main direction of future development for the Cathayan Underworld was definitely going to be revealed here.

Essentially, this was a flex to the entire world, telling everyone that this was what the Cathayan Underworld wanted to do, so that no other underworlds would get involved in those fields unless they wanted to compete with the Cathayan Underworld and be crushed!

At this point, the Cathayan Underworld was already the undisputed leading power in the world, and as such, they had the right to dictate some terms on the rest of the world.

As all of the death gods looked on with anticipation in their eyes, Qin Ye continued, "The future development of our Cathayan Underworld will be split up into 17 major directions."

So they've chosen 17 targets to pursue...

All of the death gods were looking on with intense focus in their eyes.

The Cathayan Underworld had an advantage over the rest of the world when it came to technology and infrastructure related to the new energy resource, and no one wanted to compete directly with them, at least not at the moment.

"The first thing that our Cathayan Underworld plans to do is to develop the entertainment industry, with emphasis placed on film and media. At this point, our Cathayan Underworld's actors union and directors union have already been established for three years. During that time, we've registered tens of thousands of actors and directors. At the same time, shooting will begin on hundreds of films in a few months. Mass production has also begun on the new printers designed in accordance with the new energy resource, and at the same time, our Cathayan Underworld has established an International Intellectual Property Administration to deal with any intellectual property disputes that arise."

All of the death gods nodded upon hearing this. This was a very reasonable arrangement.

In the instant that they saw those LED screens in the Heavenly Pillar City, all of the ruler death gods knew that developing in the film industry wouldn't be a viable possibility for their nations.

It wasn't that development in this industry was impossible. After all, the market would be able to accommodate different brands. However, it would be a better use of their funds and resources to invest in other industries, and there was no reason to fight fire with fire against the Cathayan Underworld in an industry that they already had their eyes set on. With so many new industries set to arise in the wake of the industrial revolution, all nations had the luxury of choice.

Qin Ye swept his gaze over the faces of all of the death gods. The Cathayan Underworld was better prepared than all other nations to occupy these industries, so there shouldn't be anyone willing to compete with them.

Even though the report had only just begun, Qin Ye couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement as his mind wandered to the final few pages of the report, and what the reactions of everyone in the hall were going to be once he read out those final few pages.

"Secondly, our Cathayan Underworld wants to rapidly develop the high-end chip industry, as well as related industries, such as the phone industry and the computer industry, which will be very likely to arise in the future."

All of the death gods' expressions finally changed slightly upon hearing this, including the ruler death gods of the three pillars.

This was an industry that they also wanted to occupy!

With the mortal realm's template readily available, things like phones and computers were likely to appear very soon in the underworld, and the core of those things were chips!

Why did Cathay want to produce the Loongson chip in the mortal realm? It was because high-end industries like the chip industry had very little dependence on labor, and were also highly profitable.

Thus, giving up this industry would be a massive concession, but the ruler death gods of the three pillars continued to remain silent.

This was because Qin Ye had specified a desire to develop the high-end chip industry, thereby making the low-end and mid-end chip industries available for occupation to other nations. As long as they didn't compete directly with the Cathayan Underworld, they would still be able to seize a large proportion of the market share. However...

"He's glossing over that point in just a single sentence?" Anubis turned to Thanatos and Yamaraja with a stunned look on his face. "Does that mean this isn't a major area of focus for the Cathayan Underworld?"

They had thought that they would have to fight tooth and claw with the Cathayan Underworld over this point, yet Qin Ye had glossed over it as if it were nothing more than an afterthought, and that was setting off the alarm bells in the hearts of the three ruler death gods.

"Does that mean their main area of focus is something even more important than chips?" Yamaraja murmured as he lowered his head slightly. "What future path are they going to take? The chip industry is clearly the crux of the next era, yet that's not their main focus? Could be that they've found a superior future path to take?"

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