Ira nodded her head slightly. "His control of the room is absolute. The probability of a successful negotiation just increased by forty percent."
The clone let out a low whistle. "Look at him. He knows exactly how to make an entrance. I should take notes."
Naomi laughed quietly. "You have a lot to learn about making entrances, Ken."
"I make great entrances," the clone argued lazily. "I walked into the kitchen this morning and announced my presence. Everyone was very impressed."
Laxmi snorted. "You announced your presence because you tripped over the rug."
"Exactly," the clone replied. "A dramatic entrance."
On the screen, the King of Zulfara pointed an angry finger directly at the Emperor.
"You have a lot of explaining to do!" the King of Zulfara roared. "Your nation fired the Solurious weapon! You completely destroyed the Bluemoon Kingdom! You murdered millions of innocent people!"
Naomi frowned deeply. Her grip tightened on her teacup. "Here we go. The false accusations."
The King of Zenith stood up. He slammed his hands on the table. "You are absolute monsters! We demand justice right now!"
The King of Felacia joined the shouting. "You broke the international treaties! The Belmontia Empire is a nation of evil tyrants!"
The room on the screen erupted into total chaos. The foreign leaders yelled loudly. They threw insults. They pointed fingers. They called the Belmontia Empire war criminals. The noise was absolutely deafening.
Laxmi jumped to her feet. She pointed at the TV. "Are you kidding me?! They are totally lying! We saved the Bluemoon Kingdom! We fought the Black Magicians! These guys did nothing!"
Zinia grabbed Laxmi's arm. She pulled her back down to the rug. "Calm down, Laxmi. Yelling at the TV will not change anything."
"I know," Laxmi grumbled. She crossed her arms tightly. "But it makes me feel better."
The clone let out a long, dramatic groan from the sofa. It covered its ears with its hands.
"This is exactly like an anime courtroom trial," the clone complained loudly. "Everyone just yells at the same time. Nobody presents actual evidence. They just scream. I feel like I am trapped in a very bad episode."
Risa looked at the TV with wide eyes. "Why are they so mad at us? We did not do anything bad."
Ira stared blankly at the screen. "Statistically speaking, mob mentality reduces logical reasoning by eighty percent. They are functioning purely on emotional outrage."
On the screen, the Emperor raised his right hand. The simple gesture silenced the entire room.
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The Emperor stood up from his throne. His presence commanded absolute authority. He looked around the large wooden table. His cold eyes locked onto the King of Zulfara.
"You call us war criminals," the Emperor stated. His voice echoed across the marble walls. "You call us monsters. You claim we destroyed our closest ally."
Naomi leaned forward. Her eyes did not leave the screen. "This is it. The Emperor is going to shut them down."
The Emperor took a slow step forward. "Your outrage is entirely fake. You stand in my palace and pretend to care about the Bluemoon Kingdom. You pretend you are heartbroken."
The Emperor's voice grew louder. "Let me remind you of the facts. Hours before the Solurious weapon was ever fired, the Bluemoon Kingdom was invaded. A massive army of Black Magicians breached their walls. The Bluemoon Kingdom sent distress signals to the entire continent."
The King of Zenith swallowed hard. He looked away.
"The distress signals reached every single one of your nations," the Emperor accused ruthlessly. "You all knew the Black Magicians were destroying the capital. You all knew the innocent people were dying."
The Emperor slammed his hand onto the table. The loud smack made the kings jump.
"And what did you do?" the Emperor roared. "You did absolutely nothing! You locked your borders! You hid behind your tall walls! Not a single one of your nations sent a single soldier to assist them!"
Laxmi pumped her fist in the air. "Yes! Tell them! They are all a bunch of cowards!"
Zinia grinned a tough, confident grin. "The Emperor is on fire today. He is completely destroying their argument."
On the screen, the Emperor continued his powerful speech. "The Belmontia Empire was the only nation that acted! We were the only ones who stepped in! We sent our absolute best forces to fight the dark mages! We tried to save the Bluemoon Kingdom while you all sat at home and did nothing! Do not dare stand in my palace and call us villains! You abandoned them first!"
The summit room fell into total, absolute silence.
The foreign kings looked down at the table. They looked incredibly ashamed.
Naomi smiled a warm, proud smile. She blinked away a small tear. "That is our Emperor. He never backs down."
Sayma clicked her pen. "The Emperor has completely flipped the narrative. He exposed their hypocrisy on live television. Their political position is severely weakened."
The clone whistled from the sofa. "Wow. That was a fantastic speech. He completely roasted them. He did not even need fire magic. He just used pure logic. I give that speech a ten out of ten."
Naomi looked at the clone. "You seem very impressed for someone who was covering his ears five minutes ago."
"I have a short attention span," the clone replied lazily. It crunched on a chip. "Also, good speeches deserve recognition. I am a fair critic."
The living room filled with laughter. The meeting was far from over. But the first round belonged to Belmontia.
---
The living room of the 13th Unit estate was completely quiet. Every single pair of eyes was locked onto the large television screen. The broadcast showed the grand summit room in high definition.
Naomi sat on the edge of the sofa. She held her warm cup of tea in both hands. Her green eyes narrowed at the screen. "The yelling is getting worse. The foreign kings are completely out of control."
On the screen, the foreign kings yelled at each other. They waved their hands in the air. They pointed fingers across the polished wooden table. Their faces turned bright red with pure anger. They completely ignored all proper diplomatic manners.
The clone sat cross-legged on the sofa next to Naomi. It held a bag of chips in its lap. It reached into the bag. It pulled out a large, salty chip. It tossed the chip high into the air. It opened its mouth. It caught the chip perfectly on its tongue.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
"This is exactly like a bad anime episode," the clone mumbled casually. It stared at the TV. "The writers put all the faction leaders in one single room. They just make them yell at each other for thirty minutes. It saves a lot of animation budget. They do not have to draw any cool fight scenes. They just draw old men complaining. I really want to change the channel."
Laxmi pointed at the clone with a piece of popcorn. "You are one to talk. You literally ditched the Emperor to eat chips on the sofa."
"I am giving the people what they want," the clone replied lazily. It crunched on another chip. "Entertainment. Drama. Snacks. I am a national hero."
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