Chapter 397 Negotiation with Sun Jian (2/2)
Sun Jian relayed Tong's words to the clan while Huang Gai and others supplemented them. The four were excited that they would not have to fight against Tong anymore.
Sun Jian: ”How is it, Fang'er? Will you reconcile with the emperor?”
Sun Fang: ”As much as I'd love to, but you've been conned, father.”
Sun Jian: ”I've been conned? How!?”
Sun Fang: ”The only way to disband our clan system is my death. Either Tong or I have to die to end this immortal game.”
This was Sun Jian's dilemma. He could not kill his son for the sake of joining Tong, but he had no desire to rebel against the Han Court.
As everyone was in despair, a new name flashed. This year, Sun Fang had recruited a new member into the clan, Zhou Yu.
Zhou Yu: ”Senior Fang, can you transfer the clan leader status then?”
Sun Fang fiddled with the clan menu. He found the transfer button, but it displayed that they required 1,000,000 lifespans as a fee.
Sun Fang: ”I can, but I need some time to gather lifespans for the transfer.”
Zhou Yu: ”How long do you need? How many lifespans do you require?”
Sun Fang: ”A million. At best, I can earn about 400,000 years of lifespan if I do nothing but cultivating. This will take two and a half years to complete.”
Zhou Yu: ”Very well. Tell the emperor that we require ten years for the clan disbandment.”
Sun Jian: ”But Fang'er only needs three years? But how are we going to disband our clan? We have to kill the clan leader?”
Zhou Yu: ”We can put a random thief as our clan lord and have our subordinate kill him. Then, we can reestablish a new clan again any time, right?”
Sun Jian: ”Can we do it this way?”
Zhou Yu: ”Yes. First, we'll buy time with the promise that all of us will join him. We will also try to draw Zhang Tong's resources to our clan to establish our new home base.”
Sun Jian: ”Wait, why are we building a new home base when we're joining the emperor?”
Zhou Yu: ”An exit plan, my lord. If Zhang Tong is tricking you, we can have a force ready to retaliate.”
Sun Jian and other senior generals did not like Zhou Yu's suggestion, but they could not trust Tong either. In the end, Sun Jian reported to Tong.
”Your majesty, I've consulted with my son. He agrees to disband his guild.”
Tong sneered, ”Does he have enough lifespans to transfer the clan head title?”
”???”
”I know that we can't disband our clan normally. The clan leader has to die, or nobody can leave the clan. Clan members can't also harm the clan leader either. It's a fucked-up system by the gods.”
”Y-You knew? Your majesty?”
”Obviously. I'm a clan leader myself. Why wouldn't I know? It takes a whopping million lifespans to change a clan leader.”
Sun Jian had a scare. He was tested by Tong.
Had he lied or attempted to trick Tong, their head might roll.
”How long does Sun Fang need to collect the lifespan?”
”T-Ten years, your majesty.”
”That's bullshit. One-wing angel can cultivate 100,000 to 200,000 lifespans a year. Sun Fang has cultivation skills to boost his lifespans, so he should be able to rake 300,000 to 400,000 a year. A million lifespan takes only three years at best. I'll give him three years to resolve this and join my clan. If he resists, I'll mark your entire family as traitors!”
While Sun Jian was shocked by Tong's deduction, Cheng Pu and Han Dang reported an emergency to Zhou Yu and Sun Fang.
Han Dang: ”Zhang Tong knows! He demands us to disband in three years!”
Zhou Yu: ”It seems that I lack a lot of information regarding the immortal powers and lifespans. Senior brother, I'll consult this with you later.”
Zhou Yu: ”For now, agree with Zhang Tong that we'll deal with the clan matter in 3 years.”
Sun Fang: ”Are you sure? We won't have enough time to get everything prepared.”
Zhou Yu: ”Senior Han Dang, please ask Zhang Tong how many people he can recruit into his clan a year. I know that one immortal can recruit one person a year. I need to know the number of his allies.”
Cheng Pu finished reading the instruction. He took the risk.
”Your majesty. We know that one immortal can recruit one person into a clan. We have four people right here, so it might take some time to recruit all of us. I think this matter might take a bit longer.”
Tong laughed, ”How many immortals do you think I have?”
”This lowly servant is stupid. Please teach us.”
”Five.”
”So, five people a year. That means it will take more than one year to bring everybody in-”
At this moment, Sun Jian, Huang Gai, and Han Dang turned to Cheng Pu, gesturing him to shut up.
”Demou!”
”… I'm very sorry.”
Tong snorted, ”I haven't finished yet. Do you know how many immortals remains in this land?”
”Your majesty?”
”Nine.”
Sun Jian and the other three got the hidden message. Out of nine immortals, more than half sided with Tong.
Tong continued, ”That's not all. There were one hundred of us, but we are the last nine. I think you should understand what I'm implying. Stop resisting and surrender. If you wish for a territory for your clan, I can give that to you. Do not plan to raise a new dynasty to compete with me. The ending won't be pleasant.”
”…”
While Tong threatened Sun Jian, Han Dang and the others kept relaying Tong's every word to their clan chat.