NABC Chapter 78 Agreement Reached
Chapter 78 Agreement Reached
The atmosphere in the meeting room was extremely tense.
Qinglan sat on one side of the long table, her gaze fixed on "herself" on the other side.
The woman opposite—the "future evil Qinglan" with the exact same face as herself—was resting with her eyes closed.
She was calm.
This tranquility itself was the greatest mental pressure on Qinglan.
She was clearly being "watched" by us, so why was she so calm and collected?
Neither of them spoke, and they simply endured the passing of time.
Just then.
"Click—"
The sound of the lock turning, and then the door was pushed open.
The one who walked in was Tianxuan.
As soon as she entered, her gaze fell on the "future visitor" at the other end of the long table.
"Qinglan, get out," Tianxuan said in a low voice.
"……yes."
Having received the pardon, Qinglan fled her seat as if escaping.
As she brushed past Tianxuan, she could feel the cool and calm aura emanating from the other woman. This aura slightly eased her chaotic thoughts.
The door closed behind me.
In the conference room, only Tianxuan and the woman from the future remained.
"It seems your council of seven has finished its discussion," Future Qinglan sat up straight. "And the result?"
Tianxuan didn't rush to answer, but instead sat down in the chair that Qinglan had just been sitting in.
"The Council of Seven has indeed reached a decision, and I'm here to inform you of our decision."
Tianxuan held up one finger.
"First. Your feud with Noah is an internal conflict of 'your era.' Regardless of the degree of hatred or the reasons for the pursuit, it is a non-existent event that did not occur in 'our era.'"
"We have neither the obligation nor the interest to pay the price for the future. If your goal is to kill Noah, then let 'the future' send its own people to handle it. We will not become your pawns."
Qinglan from the future narrowed her eyes and revealed a strange smile.
Tianxuan's expression remained unchanged as she raised her second finger.
"Secondly, based on the first point, the Civil Defense Bureau will remain absolutely neutral in this incident. We will not provide Noah with any form of assistance, including but not limited to intelligence, supplies, and military support. However, similarly, we will not provide any form of assistance for any of your actions."
A mocking expression appeared on Qinglan's face in the future: "'Neutral'? The weak love to use it to cover up their powerlessness."
"Whatever makes you happy with this verbal sparring," Tianxuan said calmly. "But 'neutrality' also means that we can point our guns at either side. It all depends on your actions."
Tianxuan raised his third finger.
"Third, and most importantly, we've drawn an absolute line. Any being from the 'future' must not cause any form of harm to any native inhabitants of 'our time.' Once you cross this line..."
Tianxuan paused, her expression extremely serious:
"The Civil Defense Bureau will view this as an 'act of war.' I guarantee you won't get away with it either."
This is the "bottom line" that Tianxuan added to the report.
What if the future world wants a "Noah" today, but makes other demands tomorrow? We can't always appease them. So, it's best to take a firm stance now and let them know where our bottom line is.
The meeting room fell into dead silence.
Then--
"Oh……"
Suddenly, Qinglan from the future laughed.
"Interesting. Very interesting."
"I retract my previous statement. It seems that the 'us' of the past were not all weaklings. At least, your 'Seven Council' is much more principled than I imagined. This is somewhat different from the scenario envisioned by 'that person'."
Her tone shifted from oppressive to one of equal negotiation.
"Your conditions sound reasonable. But what is 'reasonable' needs to be defined by both parties. Now, it's my turn to make my demands."
"Go on," Tianxuan nodded, signaling her to continue.
"First," Future Qinglan also raised a finger, "I accept your proposal. My goal has always been only one thing: Noah. I have no interest in interfering in this 'past world.' There's no point in going to war with you; we're not fools."
"Secondly. The Civil Defense Bureau can remain neutral, but what I need is 'genuine neutrality,' not a self-deceiving 'fake neutrality.'" Her gaze sharpened—
"If I discover that any member of the Defense Agency has provided Noah with assistance that could affect our operations, then I can consider that you have violated the agreement, right? Don't try to brush me off with the excuse of 'personal actions'."
Tianxuan frowned slightly. "As long as it's within the jurisdiction of the Civil Defense Bureau, we will ensure neutral execution. But outside the Civil Defense Bureau, there are magical girls outside our jurisdiction, and we can't order them around."
"That's enough." Future Qinglan seemed satisfied with the answer. She raised her third finger.
"Third. We pledge that we will not take proactive action against native personnel of this era. However, there are two exceptions to this pledge."
"The first type is locals who actively help Noah and pose a substantial threat to our personnel. The second type is locals who overestimate their abilities and launch attacks against us."
"As for these two types of people," a slight smile appeared on Qinglan's lips, "we will 'eliminate' them along with Noah."
After saying that, she spread her hands, a slight smile appearing on her face. "These are my requirements. To sum it up, it's 'no interference.' It's a very simple agreement, right?"
"That's reasonable." Tianxuan nodded, fully accepting the other party's conditions.
Looking at her, Qinglan from the future seemed somewhat surprised that she would agree so easily.
"You just agree like that?"
"Your request does not exceed our pre-set tolerance range," Tianxuan replied calmly. "It is only natural for both sides to restrain their own people. As for those who actively seek death, that is their own choice, and the Civil Defense Bureau will not pay for their stupidity."
These somewhat cold words only made Qinglan laugh again.
"Very good. It seems we've reached an agreement."
She stood up and bowed slightly.
"To show my sincerity, I can also give you a 'discount.' If there really is someone in the Civil Defense Bureau who is so reckless as to want to help Noah, we will treat it as a 'personal act' and not affect the Civil Defense Bureau, with your consent. How about that? However, that person will have to go down with Noah."
"If you feel we've reached an agreement, then please leave."
Tianxuan did not answer her, but instead gave her the order to leave.