"Sell it to us!" The bearded prince's eyes were filled with unconcealed desire. "Pangu Homeland, I must have it. This is my holy relic, and a great miracle bestowed upon me by the Lord. Pangu Homeland is mine and mine alone!"
Seeing the bearded prince's attitude, Huang He was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected this prince to be so determined to acquire Pangu Homeland; his stance was unusually firm.
Huang He was unaware that over the past half a month, Pangu Homeland's status and image throughout the Middle East had undergone a complete transformation.
In the eyes of ordinary people, it was merely a high-tech product – cool, certainly, but just a piece of technology, with nothing sacred about it.
However, in the Middle East, the situation was entirely different.
As mentioned earlier, religious workers from Europe were the first to declare it a divine miracle descended from the Lord, followed by endorsements from various archbishops.
One might wonder why the archbishops would follow suit, seemingly so casually, when the first person to make such a claim could have been mistaken or mentally unstable.
This was actually because the bishops were not having an easy time. In the past, perhaps due to the lack of cameras or photographs, there were frequent accounts of miracles descending from the Lord. Each time a miracle occurred, the bishops would find opportunities to solicit donations from believers, to be offered to the great Lord.
But with the advent of modernity and the proliferation of modern products worldwide, miracles became increasingly rare. Even when one or two occasional miracles appeared, few believed them, and the bishops' lives became progressively harder.
As a result, with such a significant event occurring this time, and a devout believer having already claimed to have witnessed a miracle, it was undoubtedly a miracle.
In fact, various regions in Europe had already launched donation drives, ostensibly to praise the Lord, and had reportedly collected several hundred million, much to everyone's delight.
This then displeased the religious workers in the Middle East. "The ones being saved were clearly our believers, so how did it become your divine miracle? This is undoubtedly a miracle descended from our Lord."
Everyone knew that the competition between the two major religions in the West was fierce, even brutal. To counter each other's influence, they needed to establish their authority. Therefore, the Middle East's claims became even more extravagant, with virtually all religious workers joining in the propagation of the miracle.
Even the highest religious representative had publicly declared it a divine miracle from the Lord, thus solidifying its status. For the bearded prince, this meant an unparalleled superweapon.
If he was saved by a miracle, what did that signify? It meant that the great Lord was watching over him, that he was favored and recognized by the Lord, that he was the Lord's emissary in this world. In the Middle East, this was an immense title and honor. If he could solidify this title and honor, becoming the next common prophet for all Middle Easterners was not an impossible prospect.
The vast Arab Empire of centuries past might even reappear – how exhilarating a prospect this was!
And the best way to solidify this honor and title was to bring back the Lord's miracle and make it his own holy relic.
Furthermore, this holy relic was not some flashy sword or spear with little practical value in this modern society.
It was a genuine superweapon, a terrifying behemoth that could make everyone kneel before it. If he were to drive this colossal entity into his own country, who would not submit to his authority? This would be the strongest proof of his royal power.
It was akin to the Imperial Seal's significance to the feudal dynasties of China – a supreme artifact of the state.
Therefore, this bearded prince was determined to acquire it and would not tolerate any other outcome. This was also why he had brought out nearly all of his nation's Chinese treasures to give to Huang He. He wanted to place Huang He in his debt, forcing him to sell Pangu Homeland to him.
"I understand!" Huang He nodded, then sighed, "However, Your Highness, even if you wanted to buy it with all the wealth of your country, I would still not sell it. This holds immense significance for me. It is the first 'Homeland' our company produced, and I am very fond of it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have performed for all the audiences in the Bird's Nest for two months and two years!"
"That love for it, that..."
"Then please, bear the pain of parting with it!" the bearded prince said without reservation. "Rest assured, I will give you sufficient compensation to fill the void of this love you are losing!"
"No, while I don't consider myself particularly wealthy, I believe money no longer holds any allure for me. I can spend my wealth my entire life without running out. So, money is far less important to me than..."
"What about land, then?" the bearded prince interrupted Huang He again.
"Land?" Huang He couldn't help but smile. "Mr. Prince, I have no interest in real estate development. Our Jiangnan Group does not engage in any property development business, so land is even less important to me!"
"Not land for real estate development, but land bestowed upon you and your family, land over which you can retain sovereign rights!" As soon as the bearded prince said this, Huang He's eyebrows twitched.
"Mr. Huang, please take a look. This is a map of our Dash Kingdom!" The bearded prince unfolded a map and placed it before Huang He.
It was a map etched onto leather, appearing to be hundreds of years old, truly an antique.
Moreover, the Dash Kingdom depicted on this map seemed to differ in its territorial extent from the prince's current country.
Simply put, the Dash Kingdom on this map had already fragmented into over a dozen different countries. The bearded prince's country was merely the largest in terms of land area on this map, yet the prince claimed the Dash Kingdom on the map as his country, clearly harboring an unstated ambition.
"Mr. Huang, please look. This area represents the current territorial boundaries of our Dash Kingdom!" The bearded prince gestured on the map. This area looked quite good on the map. Although it was mostly desert, it had a coastline, as well as oases and plains.
"Here, these are our Little Florence Islands!" the bearded prince pointed to a cluster of islands located within the Arabian Sea. "The Little Florence Islands consist of a total of 218 small islands. The largest among them is this Little Florence Island, with an area of 2.3 square kilometers."
"Next is this adjacent island, with an area of 1.6 square kilometers. The total area of all the small islands combined is 9.8 square kilometers!"
"The Little Florence Islands, both in the past and present, have always belonged to our Dash Kingdom. Now, I, on behalf of our Dash Kingdom, can offer the Little Florence Islands as compensation for Pangu Homeland to Mr. Huang!"
"An entire archipelago?" Huang He was shocked. This was something he had never even considered, and just hearing the benefit made him excited.
"No, there's a problem here!" But soon, Huang He's reason told him that this matter was not so simple.
Despite the prince offering an entire archipelago, was it truly possible?
Let alone the fact that the prince was currently just a prince and not yet the King of the Dash Kingdom, he had no right to give away national territory to a foreigner.
Even if this prince were to become king in the future, he would never do such a thing. This was not like centuries ago when a king could give away national territory with a word.
In this era, any nation valued its territory above all else. If this prince dared to give away territory, even just an archipelago, it would likely trigger a massive backlash with the help of interested parties. This intelligent prince would never do such a thing!
"Your Highness, can we discuss something more practical?" Huang He waved his hand.
"I know this offer might sound a bit too far-fetched, but it is indeed my sincere intention and it is one hundred percent feasible, without any issues!" the prince said with a smile.
"Firstly, the Little Florence Islands are too insignificant; many of our citizens have never even heard of them. Moreover, there are no economic structures on these islands, not even many residents. Therefore, it will not cause much of a stir domestically!"
"Secondly, the Little Florence Islands have always held a unique historical status in our country. They were originally the territory of the Duke of Eton. Later, the Duke of Eton's eldest daughter married our ancestor, and these islands were given as dowry to us, always to be directly inherited by the Chieftain of Florence. Their status in our country is less like territory and more like an attached minor noble fief."
"As long as one inherits the title of Chieftain of Florence, they can legally and legitimately become the owner of the Little Florence Islands. This is something that everyone in our country must acknowledge!"
"Of course, the sovereignty of the Little Florence Islands must belong to our country; this is unshakeable. However, we can establish a sacred covenant. As long as you do not act in a way that threatens our country's security and sovereignty, the Little Florence Islands and the title of Chieftain of Florence will always belong to you and your family, and our royal family will never interfere!" the bearded prince stated resolutely.
ps: The Dash Kingdom and the Little Florence Islands are entirely fictional and do not exist in reality. Please do not associate them with any real-world entities. This is a special note!