"The deepest layer is right here..."

After receiving such a divination result, Ronald and Nicole separated on the deck.

Yet even after returning to the cabin, Ronald still couldn't understand this hint.

Based on the literal meaning of the divination, he could list some possible outcomes.

But too little information made it impossible to confirm the real result; false speculations could actually skew a person's normal judgment of things. So in the end, Ronald could only temporarily give up finding answers in this area.

Just as Nicole had told him.

This kind of divination indeed couldn't compare with a true Prophetic Spell and could only provide a vague hint that might not even be useful.

"..."

"Boss, can I leave the ship to visit others' homes tomorrow?"

"I've made an appointment with Sir Ladaat in the north of the city to properly learn about the local dining customs!"

As soon as he returned to the cabin.

Ronald opened the door, and was greeted by Il's inquiry.

He squinted his eyes and found that Il was leaning on a porthole that he had previously damaged but had now been repaired. Costate was holding Il's leg with one hand and pressing her back with the other to keep her against the wall to prevent her from escaping through the porthole.

"..."

"Costate, you can let her down first."

Ronald motioned for the maid to release Il, and seeing Ronald present, Il naturally didn't dare to continue trying to escape, instead kneeling honestly on the ground, looking pitifully at Ronald:

"Boss, didn't you say that people should keep their promises?"

"I've already made arrangements with them; surely you don't want me to be an untrustworthy person who breaks appointments, right?"

Since he had a fragment of Il's soul, Ronald could see at a glance that she harbored a little hope, with her real aim to just enjoy life using her own skills.

Thus Ronald rolled his eyes at Il and turned around to sit on the bed while flipping through his books, then continued speaking to Il:

"You should take a break."

"There's a big event happening tomorrow, and all important personnel should stay on the ship."

"A big event?" When Il first heard Ronald rejecting her, she looked very disappointed, but hearing this, she quickly became interested. "What major event will happen on the ship?"

"Boss, can you tell me about it?"

Ronald didn't even turn his head to look at Il:

"How come you're so obedient? Aren't you going to try using your pheromones to ask me?"

"I'll try it right now!" Il responded almost instantly.

Then with her agile body, she leapt behind Ronald, and the moment her body touched his back, her arms wrapped around Ronald's chest.

"Boss, have you finally figured it out today? Are you planning to..."

As Il wrapped around Ronald, ready to continue her actions, what she received in response was Ronald's elbow strike.

Ronald knew this one through and through.

So when he struck backward, he didn't hold back at all and gave Il an elbow blow with full force.

As for the result…

Il was not only sent crashing from the bed to the floor but now could only clutch her stomach, rolling on the floor, managing only to utter a series of single-syllable cries:

"Ouch… ouch ouch ouch..."

...

The next morning.

The Nicole emissaries, who regarded this negotiation as extremely important, had arrived.

Due to the King being quite old, besides the officials who would definitely attend, the negotiation was still led by Prince Mursoni and his wife.

And it was all still under the consideration of a certain level of confidentiality.

Upon boarding the steamship, the team's nominal reason was to visit this massive iron ship, without mentioning a word about the actual matters to be discussed.

On the contrary, from Claudia's side.

The fleet's leader, after reducing some participants just as in the meeting scale yesterday, ensured that each power within the fleet had corresponding representatives present.

Just like that, the negotiation began.

The location was chosen by Claudia at the banquet hall of the first organized steamship, with the dining table previously arranged into a long oval, covered with velvet cloth and some simple decorations, managing to look quite formal.

And for this meeting, Ronald certainly couldn't be absent.

As the strongest bearer of archaic power on the ship, he had to accept the arrangement of fate, sitting on the right side of Claudia during the negotiation, serving as the military representative for the whole fleet.

Moreover, when the discussion reached certain special topics, Ronald also had to occasionally emit a bit of his Magic Fluctuation to intimidate the other side, helping Claudia negotiate more smoothly.

...

Honestly, this work was quite boring.

For those who enjoy using force to subdue others, it might be very interesting, but Ronald felt he was just playing a monkey show.

Neither for those across the negotiating table nor for himself, did it seem different.

But besides that, the overall negotiation actually went quite smoothly.

The Nicole side knew what they needed, so they were willing to make concessions in many areas; from the Gredia side, Claudia was now able to handle such situations.

The negotiation began in the morning, and just four hours later.

A neat and tidy treaty was laid in front of the people from both countries.

To put it simply—

The Gredia fleet would assist Nicole in breaking the defenses of the Lachmont ruins, while also enjoying a portion of the spoils within the ruins; as a cost, Nicole would subsequently allow Gredia to establish a military outpost on the canal.

Once the detailed action plan and several subsequent business contracts were agreed upon, a space was cleared in the center of the banquet hall, with a square ceremonial table placed there.

And Claudia and Mursoni, representing both sides, stood at opposite sides of the table under everyone's watch, then each signed the treaty and presented it to the witnesses around.

Although the actual number of participants wasn't large, everyone knew—after this treaty was signed, an undeniable change, already very real, was happening around them.

At this moment, Costate suddenly whispered to Ronald behind him:

"Sir, isn't this treaty rather unfair?"

"Even if Nicole did this to protect themselves, being 'conquered' by Gredia like this has still cost them a lot of profit, hasn't it?"

Upon hearing the question.

Ronald looked at Mursoni, who was signing the treaty.

This very amiable prince still wore that signature smile on his face, but under Ronald's emotional detection spell, the trace of bitterness and pain in his heart couldn't be concealed.

"Sigh—"

Ronald sighed softly, then explained to Costate:

"It's the same with being subservient; being subservient to the world's strongest nation, Gredia, is better than being bullied by others. Moreover, even if it's flaunting the tiger's power while being a mere fox, utilizing Gredia's flag is still quite helpful."