Ball of Nothing

Hua Tuo wasn't all that surprised when the meeting took a drastic turn. Instead of the harmonious gathering that Merlin wanted, it transformed into a war zone with angels spewing fire and demons staring daggers.

In other words, there was no progress.

Buddha sipped tea calmly in the corner, unaffected by everything. He was in a world of his own and Zero joined him. Why go struggle swimming against the current when you can flow with it? Philosophy was a brilliant thing.

Hua Tuo glared at the two most carefree people in the meeting with disdain. Sure, philosophy was a marvellous thing when there wasn't a crisis to deal with. For the two most involved people, their behaviour triggered the physician. Their nonchalant response reflected their lack of concern for the matter. Instead of defending Hell's business interest in the agricultural project, Zero gave the angels the carte blanche to decide how much profit they wanted to make out of this deal.

That response threw everyone into chaos with Mammon striving to protect every single cursed coin and Gabriel trying to claim the Spring of Vitality as Heaven's property. hua Tuo wanted to shake his apprentice by the shoulder. For someone who'd recently gain some brain cells about business operations, how could Zero suggest such a thing? That didn't just put a dent into their pockets but welcomed the rivals into their homes while serving them tea. Nobody could understand why Zero would give away their business advantage so easily and seem so unbothered by the negotiation. Mammon was furious and he briefly considered calling the deal with Baal off. Forget about the partnership and future investments when he had to spill blood over a contract.

Coux and Baal remained calm and collected although they were beginning to feel impatient. Mammon was going to fly off the edge of his seat for Michael's neck at any moment and they didn't know if putting him to sleep would damage their rocky business relationship.

"Zero... any news yet?" Coux whispered using the party call skill.

Zero ignored her message and continued sipping tea with Buddha. Oolong tea had a particular flavour that was both mild and stable. He added this to the list of things he enjoyed and complimented the beverage. Buddha smiled at Zero's comment and agreed to send him more when he has the next harvest. They laughed joyfully in their separate world, oblivious to the hateful glances sent their way.

"I got it!" Wiser's tired voice came by. In the background of the party call, Zero could hear the mass chanting something. He was very certain that was a protest at Wiser's end.

"It's chaos energy. The doping test returned positive"

Zero placed the cup of unfinished tea down and smiled. His eyes met Mammon's and the Demon Lord was taken aback by the confident look on Zero's face. Before he could ask what the young doctor was planning, his mind was rudely invaded by Zero's voice call ability.

"Wiser has the results. It's chaos energy. As discussed earlier, if Coux manages to shake on it at 70-30 with the angels, you'll have to waive all our debt and become Wiser's sponsor at the Academy."

Mammon didn't have a choice because Coux took the lead after Zero passed the same message to her.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Zero stood up calmly, grabbing the Sage God of Medicine and Enlightenment before bowing. "We have some urgent matters to attend to so please excuse us."

With that, Zero teleported them to the second battlefield, leaving everything to his best friend and his trusty secretary.

Mammon backed off when Coux smiled at him with a small nod.

"My apologies about Zero's sudden departure. How about we take a short break before resuming our discussion. I'm sure everyone is curious about Zero's intentions and actions. Please grant me some time to prepare the presentation that will satisfy everyone's needs."

Baal forcefully 'invited' some of the more stubborn guests for a forced morning tea-break. Mammon was exhausted. Who knew that a morning meeting with those scoundrels from Heaven would be so taxing?

"What's the plan?" he asked the half-succubus who looked deep in thought.

"Zero says we should try to push the idea of plane terraforming to buy them over."

"Terraforming? What are you talking about?"

"Think of it as a major cleaning spree for the Abyss. In a few years, Hell could become a rather popular tourist spot and a great base for agriculture, don't you think?"

Mammon couldn't imagine that. What was Zero thinking? Then again, maybe wasn't thinking at all. That would explain a lot.

"Don't worry, we will win this deal. We have the upper hand in this."

Mammon wasn't convinced. Sadly, he didn't have a choice. Zero held all the cards and they were now in Coux's hands. Even if he wanted to, there was no way Mammon could be buddy-buddy with those arrogant holier-than-thou pricks. He wouldn't do it for a discount, he certainly wouldn't do it over a business deal. If a war was what they wanted, the Demon Lord was more than ready for it. How many millenniums has it been since he last went all out and spilt the blood of those pesky angels? There were too many dislikable fools in the world that require culling.

The tea-break didn't last for very long. There was only so much Baal could do when three out of six archangels were present. Michael was known to have a short fuse and even shorter patience. Gabriel was crafty. There was no doubt about it, he must have sensed the change. Uriel was dragged out of his cove for his cheating abilities, not that it was much use. Mammon smirked at Michael's disgruntled expression. If they thought that they were successful in destroying whatever secret last-minute strategy meeting that was happening, they had something or two coming their way.

"Welcome back, thank you for your patience," Coux smiled. Baal backed her up and granted her access to his magic reserves. Coux wasn't spendthrift when given the green light. She sapped up a good amount of mana from her boss to fuse the enclosed environment with mana.

Michael was immediately on guard but Uriel placed a hand on his colleague's shoulder with a stern look. The warrior archangel settled back down but not without a glare at the half-succubus.

"Allow me to present to you something that many of us are familiar with," the secretary bowed and produced a jar of contained miasma.

At once, all three archangels were on guard. For demons, miasma was harmful but not deadly. For angels, they were an incurable poison that made one 'fall'. The process of falling was when one's soul becomes corrupted by chaos energy and one's mind becomes lost. When angels fall, they often end up as powerful but mindless demons that terrorise the material plane. To prevent such disasters, Heaven had very strict protocols. Only those with the blessing of Great Gods may enter the Abyss.

Coux raised her hand to show them that she meant no harm. "As you can see," she explained. "This is miasma that can be commonly found in the Abyss plane outside of the domains. Zero and Wiser have discovered that miasma is actually chaos energy that corrupts the soul."

"That's nothing new," Gabriel told her flatly.

"You're right. It's nothing new. However, we recently discovered that miasma can be subdued by mana."

Michael deadpanned. "If you're simply wasting our time by trying to stall this business deal, we won't be courteous for much longer. Get to the point, demon."

Mammon was close to ripping that throat out but Coux's composure even with that insult held him back.

"Please do not be mistaken. It is not my intention to stall. In fact, I'm trying to support my proposal with these facts. I'm sure you are aware of the barren soils in the abyss because of this miasma. If anything grows in the wilderness, they are either corrupted by the miasma and will poison anyone who consumes them or are capable of producing mana to counter the chaos energy."

Baal smiled. He knew what Zero was going after now.

"These new mana generating flowers will change everything in the abyss. Think about the possibilities. The Abyss was once on the same plane as Heaven. You should know what Heaven is sorely lacking in. however, the same cannot be said about the Abyss. While Heaven exchanges their holy magic for mana from the material plane, it is undeniable that there is a severe shortage of raw materials. The material plane is unable to produce magical plants as easily as the enlightened plane."

Uriel's eyes sparkled with something akin to respect. "I understand now. We will not challenge with the Abyss for the mana generating flowers. However, in exchange, please give us a favourable price for the raw materials that the Abyss exports."

Michael was stunned. "Uriel!" he roared, furious at the betrayal. Why did Uriel give their advantage away?

"Stop, Michael," Gabriel commanded. The moment Uriel made his decision, the messenger knew what was going to happen. As the spokesperson of Heaven, the final decision lied with him as so did the responsibilities.

"Let's hear them out first," he told the hot-headed archangel. Reluctantly, the warrior backed down.

"They have us where they want us to be," Uriel admitted. "I couldn't see it coming before because there was some interference with the vision. However, I don't need to see the future to know which is more beneficial for us. At the moment, Heaven faces two major crisis. The first is the lack of faith in Gods. The second is the weakening plane ever since the split from the Abyss."

Coux smiled. Finally, they were beginning to see some progress.

"Ever since the split, Heaven has been weakening. The only natural resources we have left are our people. The Gods have almost sucked all the mana in the plane dry, trying to support their domain. Many Sage Gods are depending on the mana reserves in the central bank. Every century, our ledgers become thinner and thinner. Raphael has to replenish his miracles using the mana gathered at the Spring of Vitality because of the shortage. heaven doesn't have any way to generate mana, unlike the Abyss. If we were to fight with the Abyss over this, it would only be a short term solution. There will come a time when the Spring of Vitality will run dry from our overwhelming demand."

At this point, Coux decided to steer the conversation.

"I can promise in the name of Van Doux that with the cooperation of Heaven, the Abyss can be terraformed in a century. being near the void means two things. Firstly, we can access all kinds of magic from the broken gates linking to different planes and dimensions. Secondly, while it is still merely a possibility, chaos energy can be converted into regular mana energy after terraforming."

"How does that work? Nobody has successfully converted chaos energy into pure mana. These lotuses only counter them, not convert."

"That's when you old fogies are wrong," Baal yawned. "It's not impossible if you think about it... Buddha is one of our partners and as administrators about the events going on up there, you should know better than anyone else what he does."

The three archangels fell silent. Buddha was known to be the only person who could counter the negative effects of chaos energy apart from the Great Gods. His domain of enlightenment allowed him to gain his powers from understanding the void.

"Buddha's domain allows him to convert chaos energy into power. The same cannot be said about normal people," Gabriel pointed out tactfully.

"Would you believe it if I told you we have a person working with us on this project to invent something capable of doing so? He could rival Steve Jobs in terms of magic-infused technology." Baal smirked.

Michael scoffed but Uriel looked hopeful. "Is it really true? Do you have such a genius working with you?"

Coux smiled. "Would it shock you more if I told you he is human? His blood is not diluted by any other race."

Michael fell deep in thoughts. Humans were interesting creatures. While they were known to be weak, they were also the only race known to slay Gods and attain unimaginable power despite the odds stacked against their favour. They fought and won against fate, defied time and created miracles without the blessings of those who ruled the world. they were truly fascinating creatures.

"I'll believe in this. One century, that's all the time you have to transform Hell into something thriving for agriculture and living creatures." Michael wasn't too happy about it when he said that but as an archangel, he was bound by duty.

"Thank you. We shall inform you about the second meeting to discuss the profit-sharing and investment. Please take care on your journey back," Coux smiled and escorted them out of the room.

Once the door was shut, mammon didn't know what to think.

"Can we really do it? Have you seen how bad it is out there?" His voice was very quiet as if hope would shatter if he was even the slightest bit louder.

Coux nodded. "I have faith in Zero. If there is anyone capable of making the impossible come true, that would be Zero. besides, we haven't stipulated whose measure of time that century would be in."

Baal grinned cheekily at Coux's innocent input. Mammon felt as if someone had physically slapped him after pulling the rug from beneath his feet. How dare this wench look down on him!

"Don't you dare underestimate the skills of the greatest businessman in Hell! The contract will be drafted by the end of the week so sit tight and be prepared. We're going to rip those angels off and milk them for everything their worth!"

The Demon lord left angrily so and Coux looked at Baal hopefully.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to thank me for being such a great actress?"

Baal made a disgusted face. "If there was anyone I was going to thank, it would be Buddha. Who would have suspected that he was an accomplice? To fool one's enemy, you had to fool your allies first. Poor Hua Tuo... I wonder when he will realise the fact that his student has made a complete scapegoat out of him."

Coux chuckled. "Some things are best left unknown. Besides, if it wasn't for Hua Tuo, Mammon wouldn't have taken the bait. Michael wouldn't have agreed and Uriel wouldn't be convinced."

Baal yawned. "Let's head back. I need a nap. Too much excitement is bad for me."

"Are you really going to take a nap while Zero is working hard outside?"

Baal froze and cursed the Van Doux ancestors for being such cunning folks. "I get it. I'll do some work before sla- I mean sleeping."

Coux didn't say anything but followed after her master with a sly smile on her lips. Zero was right. Baal was weak to emotional blackmail more than anything else.