"Merely for self-preservation?"
"Indeed."
"I don't buy it." The dragon-robed elder was openly skeptical. In their echelon, "fattening pigs for the slaughter" wasn't exactly a shameful practice.
"In a region so starved of territory and resources, a fledgling massive octopus unexpectedly ascends to the Invincible Arch Lord tier within a mere century. If such an anomaly occurred in your domain, would you not be suspicious? Would you not be on edge?"
The black-robed man remained unfazed, simply stating his findings. "A century? To be precise, it has only been ninety years since I first took notice of him."
It was only then that the dragon-robed elder realized just how thorny the situation truly was. Without a doubt, a colossal organization stood behind that octopus. The moment the creature faced a genuine crisis, the faction backing him casually dispatched two demigod powerhouses to hold the line.
