429 A real life fairy tale (1/2)

Everyone in the command center fell silent. Zhou Qi and Luo Lan stared at the envoy like he was a fool. However, they did not say anything.

Qing Zhen smiled ambiguously at him and said, ”How would Yang Lichen like me to help him?”

”He'll supply you with the defensive deployment map of the front line at Ziyang, and you'll only be required to help him destroy the garrison there.” The envoy put on an ingratiating smile and said, ”To show our sincerity, I even brought the defensive deployment map with me.”

Qing Zhen raised his eyebrows and smiled at Zhou Qi. Then he said to the envoy, ”How do I know that your defensive deployment map is real? Leave it with me first. I'll decide whether to help your boss after I analyze it. Enough! Men, take him out. And make sure he leaves the defensive deployment map behind.”

With that, a group of fierce soldiers escorted the Yang Consortium's envoy out.

Zhou Qi jumped to his feet and said, ”Is he a fucking idiot or what? Why are they still fighting among themselves at a time like this? Does he think we're playing games with the Yang Consortium? And what did he mean by gifting Stronghold 97 and Stronghold 99 to us? Who gave him permission to gift us something we already own?”

Qing Zhen said calmly, ”Yang Huaiyin from the younger generation of the Yang Consortium is the one guarding the front line at Ziyang. As for Yang Lichen, he's also a family member of the Yang Consortium. However, he was cast aside years ago and was made overseer of a stronghold to take charge of the factories' production levels in its vicinity.”

”Hehe.” Luo Lan laughed and said, ”Reality will always be stranger than fiction. The things you encounter in real life don't happen in stories. It's no wonder that Yang Lichen was ostracized. So it's because he's actually an idiot.”

”In the battle at Stronghold 88, the Li Consortium's nanosoldiers charged in and went on a frenzied killing spree. I suspect the nanomachines in their bodies were controlling them rather than the other way around.” Qing Zhen said, ”In that battle, the Yang Consortium's core figures were basically all in Stronghold 88. Now that the Yang Consortium is without a leader, the entire Yang Consortium has started fragmenting. Thus, many of those who used to be ostracized would rather fight for control of the Yang Consortium than think about how to win the war.”

Yang Lichen was not the only one who sent their people here. Others had done the same.

Of course, not all of them were that stupid. The majority of them said they would stop resisting and hoped to be granted an official position in the stronghold in the future. Meanwhile, people like Yang Lichen were difficult to find even among the idiots.

The outside world thought the Qing Consortium would get exhausted in the war with the Yang Consortium. But in reality, the Qing Consortium was just putting on a front.

After all, the Southwest and Northwest were not the only places in this world. There was also the Central Plains.

”But there's also smart people in the Yang Consortium.” Qing Zhen said with a smile, ”Yang Huaiyin, who is taking charge of the front line at Ziyang, he said he didn't want to resist anymore and sought an official position. He even sent the defensive deployment map of the front line at Ziyang to me. However, the defensive deployment map wasn't entirely real. He was trying to set a trap for me.”

Luo Lan said with a sigh, ”For a huge organization like the Yang Consortium with their glorious past, who would've expected them to end up in this state?”

Qing Zhen looked at the sand table and said calmly, ”You should never reveal your trump cards or intentions. Else, you can only wait to be slaughtered. This chess game is not over yet.”

”Oh, right.” Luo Lan asked, ”What are we gonna do about the Experimentals to the south?”

Qing Zhen frowned slightly. Ever since the Li Consortium was destroyed, and with both the Qing Consortium and the Yang Consortium's forces returning to the North, the South's defenses were practically empty. The Qing Consortium could not possibly keep too many fighting forces guarding the South. So the territories that used to be under the Li Consortium's control were no longer able to hold back the Experimentals.

After the Yang Consortium's defeated troops escaped with their tails tucked between their legs, Qing Zhen left a brigade in the South to ward off the Experimentals. But with so many strongholds in the region, how could a single brigade defend them all? Besides, their main objective there was to take over the strongholds and force the former officials to surrender their assets.

In less than two months, the Experimentals had occupied yet another stronghold and turned it into their territory.

It was like a purgatory filled with demons in the fallen stronghold.