New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 933  Sharing Solutions

Many smaller countries considered this offer seriously, even if it meant falling under the Englishmen's thumb, whether for the first time or a repeat of their history.

It was better to be alive, a vassal, than a dead, free country.

The Asian countries, big and small, displayed remarkable resilience, systematically refusing the offer almost immediately.

China, who was primarily responsible for colonizing almost all those countries at some point in time, was snickering under his breath.

Australia's prime minister, who the senator had half-thought would buckle immediately to the English prime minister, scoffed at his offer.

"As if we'd say yes to having you back in charge!" he spat.

"Almost every animal, insect, and plant on our continent tries to kill us already. We have been dealing with them alone up to now, and we will deal with this new threat as well," he growled.

"Well said," the senator complimented him.

"Shut up, Yankee. No one asked for your opinion," the prime minister snapped back at him, making the senator chuckle.

Going around the virtual table, Britain got the signed agreement to approximately thirty percent of the smaller countries, with the larger ones all refusing their help. Nevertheless, this was still a victory for them.

"Well, with this out of the way, Great Britain wishes all of you godspeed, and we hope to meet again in the near future. I will take my leave from this meeting to make arrangements for the countries that agreed to our help. Farewell, fellow leaders of the free world."

The Brit logged off almost immediately after his declaration, not waiting for anyone to add anything to it, which frustrated a few members of the leading caste, but they kept mum.

"Well!" the senator clapped his hands, bringing attention to him.

"With the biggest busybody in history out of this meeting, how about we get back to business? Who is willing to share their success stories free of strings attached? I think the world stands to benefit if we maintain our transparency, no?"

The Russian president huffed in response to the American's comment.

"Typical American. You think the tea drinkers are the biggest busybodies in history? How about all the wars you joined in the last two centuries that weren't yours? Hah! What a joke," he mocked.

The senator smiled at the Russian, clasping his hands together.

"Are you still sour that we helped Ukraine win that last war? Aren't you the sourest little loser of the bunch? It was a joke war, launched by a joke president, over a joke reason. How about you get over it already, huh?"

The Russian man immediately clenched his jaw and fists, anger bubbling inside him.

"I've had enough of your cockiness. I hope the monsters overrun your country, and Canada and Russia can fight for supremacy over what's left, your overconfident prick!" the man spat, before his image vanished from the virtual meeting.

The Canadian prime minister sighed loudly, brushing her hand into her hair.

"You have to stop trying to piss off everyone, senator. How does that reflect on your president? Do you think he would agree with your crudeness in this meeting, if he found out?" she asked, sounding annoyed.

"I doubt he would care that I set a few of these clowns in their place, Mrs. Calloway. We are here to talk about our strategies to save the world, and every one of those fools can only think about their own countries. Don't you think that is hypocritical?"

She had no answer to give, as she kind of agreed with the sentiment. She only resented his methods, not his reasoning.

"In any case, you need to restrain yourself, Mr. Grimm. You may think yourself our equal, but you are not. At least show humility, and act like your rank," she admonished him.

The man glared at her momentarily before sighing loudly.

"Fine. I apologize to the leaders of the world. My arrogance is unwarranted. I shall strive to be better. But we need to get on with this meeting. The night isn't getting any younger, and I would like to assume even our friends from across the world have better things to do than to idle around in a meeting all day. Shall we?"

Everyone nodded their heads, and the meeting resumed its intended purpose. The leaders each reluctantly shared stories of incidents and how they were resolved, whether by a shadow organization or a legitimate one, and plans were devised.

It was a time of crisis, and the more the world worked together, the better the outcome. At least, that was what everyone thought.

After hours of this, and many plans set into motion, as well as alliances made between most countries, swearing to help if they could, the meeting was finally pulled to an end by the leading economical forces of the world.

"Remember. It is not a shame to ask for help from your neighbours or from a larger country with more resources. The end goal here is to survive as a race. Not stand on top of each other," Amalia said, using this as her closing statement, before logging off.

As her camera shut off, and the room she was in lit back up, the woman rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"Nightly meetings are the worst…" she grumbled, as she pressed a button on a small remote on her desk, opening the blinds that hid the windows of her office.

Outside, the sun was already rising to the east, as morning slowly crept its way upon the horizon.

Outside her office, her assistant saw the light shining under the door, and he took it as his cue to enter the room.

"Ma'am," he saluted, closing the door behind him.

"You're still here, Jerry… I thought you would have gone home by now. Do you ever rest?" she asked, chuckling lightly.

"I can rest when you do, Ma'am," her assistant, Jerry, replied with a soft smile.

"Ah, what would I do without you?" she asked, returning his smile.

"You would find a lesser assistant, and your husband would go through the ten stages of jealousy again, blaming him for your absence. At least, Mr. Calloway has eventually acknowledged my loyalty enough to stop harassing me, he he," the man joked.

"He had no reason to be jealous in the first place, the fool. If anything, I should have worried about you spending time with him, not the other way around," Amalia joked, untying her hair and letting it flow.

"Ma'am. Although your taste in men is impeccable, I would never go for your husband. He reeks of machismo—I much rather my own husband. At least, I don't have to worry about ever having to deal with a jealous outbreak from him," the man mockingly replied, massaging the woman's shoulders.

"Mmm…" the woman moaned, feeling herself relax.

"You're right. I could never find an assistant like you. Sometimes, I'm jealous of your husband. Landing a man like you is a woman's dream, Jerry."

The man laughed lightly, as he kept releasing the tension in her shoulders.

"How was the meeting? Is there anything that we should worry about?" the man asked, using his elbows to massage her trapezius muscles more deeply.

"Mmm. Nothing worth worrying about, for now. The Russians are stubborn, as always, and want to prove they can deal with everything on their own. The Americans are being arrogant, as per their nature, and the Chinese are keeping to themselves.

"The only outliers are the Brits, who decided to extend a hand of help, maybe a bit too eagerly. But we don't need them, so I turned down their offer," she explained, her eyes closed.

The massage stopped for a moment.

"Is that a good idea? Turning down help like this, at a moment like now, could be a double-edged sword," Jerry said, his face turning into a frown.

"Don't worry, Jerry. The man I had you reach for me the other day, well, he finally called back. And the news he brought to the conversation puts me at a semblance of ease, at least for now."

Jerry was now curious about what a contractor and business magnate could offer to the prime minister that would set her at ease in a situation like the one they were facing.

"What does Jack Boudreau have that could possibly set you at ease?" he asked, his curiosity too strong to keep to himself.

The woman opened her eyes, looking at Jerry's reflection on her screen.

"I know you are good with secrets, Jerry, so I am willing to share the subject of our conversation with you. But you have to promise not to tell anyone, not even your husband this time," she said, turning her chair to face him.

The man looked at her with a solemn look.

"I promise that this conversation will never leave this office, Mrs. Calloway."

She nodded at him, satisfied with his words, and smiled at him.

"What Jack Boudreau brings to the table, aside from a mountain of money, is the prospect of something every country wants right now."

The man hung to her lips, feeling the tension rise in him. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"He brought to my attention something worth more than any resource our country has to offer. He told me how to deal with the monsters as effectively as possible, and that he has a way to make more people who can fix our problem."