Chapter 881: Lu Chen Borrows (2/2)
Stranger of Three Lifetimes nodded. ”Yes, and you have my sympathy. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls’ performance in the Nation Wars is just too good, and neither Candle Dragon nor Warsky Alliance could tolerate you growing any stronger than you already are. It makes perfect sense for them to pull a stunt like this.”
I nodded and leaned back into my chair. I sucked in a deep breath before continuing, ”The next Nation War could be right around the corner, and already our biggest weakness is hampering our progress. We have the strongest cavalry troop in the world right now, but our ranged units are nowhere even close to their league; our mages being the worst of them all. Lian Xin is the only elite mage we have, and how much ground can a single mage really cover? 50 yards? 100 yards? In a Nation War, a battle line could easily stretch over several kilometers. Without sufficient high-level mages to support our frontline, our strength is only half of what it should be.”
Yu Tong nodded in agreement. ”I think so too. I just didn’t think I was qualified to say anything just yet. You are definitely not lacking in the self-awareness department, big brother Lu Chen.”
Stranger of Three Lifetimes took a sip of tea and said, ”Well, you are correct.”
I continued, ”The world is ever-changing, and the three main cities of China are situated at the center of the continent. To the north, we face Hero City, Seven Star City and more. To the south, we face great Russian cities such as Iron Horse City and Frostsword City. To the east, we face Elephant City and Cyan Earth City of India, and Purple Gr.a.p.e City of Japan. And finally, the west is positively crawling with Night Creatures that want to destroy everyone. To be honest, I don’t think we have any allies that we can call upon in case an all-out war breaks out. We could very well lose all three of our main cities if our enemies decide to attack us from every direction!”
Yu Tong shuddered at the thought. ”You must be exaggerating, big brother Lu Chen.”
Stranger of Three Lifetimes wasn’t so quick to dismiss the worst case scenario though. ”No, Lu Chen is right. There is nothing impossible in this world, and if we don’t work to minimize this possibility then it may very well happen. The Center is a giant cake that everyone wants to get a slice of for themselves. The Nation Wars aren’t going to end anytime soon…”
He Yi said with a smile, ”That is why super guilds such as Ancient Sword, Snowy Cathaya, Blazing Hot Lips, Candle Dragon and Warsky Alliance will all be playing a critical role in the future. In fact, with the right guidance, we can use even our influence to conquer a main city or two!”
I praised He Yi on the inside. My smart guild leader seemed to have caught on to my true intentions.
I gave He Yi’s hand a squeeze beneath the table. She returned the gesture and shot me a sneaky grin.
……
I continued, ”Exactly. The guilds are extremely important, and it is why we’ve always done our best to develop our power. Anyway, back to the point. Blazing Hot Lips has the biggest and strongest mage party in the entire China, even compared to Purple Lily. It is a well-known fact that nearly 25% of your entire guild is made up of mages.”
”Why am I sensing something ominous?”
Stranger of Three Lifetimes looked at me warily. ”What are you planning to do to us, you lecher!?”
I smiled. ”That hurts, you know? We would never plot against our own ally. We’re just asking you to lend us a helping hand during our most dangerous times!”
Stranger of Three Lifetimes smiled. ”Oh, I see. But uh… we just developed our own territory, and we don’t have the manpower or the resources to spare you right now. All we can give you right now is moral support…”
I rolled my eyes. ”There are countless people who are giving us moral support every day. If there’s one thing we don’t need from you, it’s precisely that!”
Yu Tong blinked once before asking, ”So, what exactly do you want, big brother Lu Chen?”
I sucked in a deep breath and dropped the bomb. ”I want to borrow your troops!”
……
Silence filled the room for a moment. A long while later, Stranger of Three Lifetimes said,
”Borrow our troops…?”
The mage licked her lips once. ”Can you like, clarify what exactly do you mean by that, Lu Chen? I… don’t think such a concept currently exists in the game, does it?”
I nodded. ”Yep, but it will in the future. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls’ mage party is practically non-existent right now, which is why we desperately need an injection of manpower to restart our engines. To that end, I wish to borrow 5000 high-level mages from Blazing Hot Lips for a duration of 2 weeks!”
”WHAT?!”
So shocked was Stranger of Three Lifetimes that she jumped to her feet with a yell. ”FIVE THOUSAND MAGES?! You… you might as well kill me right now…”
He Yi immediately rose to her feet and grabbed Stranger of Three Lifetimes’ shoulders consolingly, saying, ”Calm down, Momo. There is nothing impossible in this world, right?”
The mage pouted. ”No way! Your man just asked me to lend him five thousand of our best mages! We might as well chop off our own arms if we do that!”
I said, ”I’m open to negotiate the exact number!”
”I repeat: no way!”
”You’re so stingy, Momo!”
”I don’t care!”
”Stingy girls won’t be able to grow in cup size! Stingy girls all downgrade to 31A eventually!”
”I…”
That got to the mage a little. She shot me a pitiful look and said, ”100 mages, and no more than that!”
I pointed at the dishes on the table. ”100 mages? Do you know how much we paid for these ridiculously expensive dishes?”