LWGP - Chapter 196

Chapter 196: Can't Win

"You've actually been afraid this whole time, haven't you? From the moment you were brought to Bashu, you knew you were going to die, didn't you? The only difference was who would do the job, and you seem quite curious about that."

"Another origin of madness is fear."

She didn't mention the secrets behind Lin Jun being sent to Bashu, but it sounded full of conspiracy anyway. It also overturned everyone's initial judgment—the Lin family was ahead of the curve, yet Lin Jun's situation was, on the contrary, very dangerous.

So… was it related to that brother of his?

The photograph between her fingertips was ignited by a flame, burning inch by inch. She released her hand, and the photo fell. The flame wasn't wild; it burned gently but consumed quickly.

Some could see two people kissing in the burning photograph. A handsome, almost celestial young man carefully held a slender, ponytailed girl under a tree. She tilted her chin up slightly, while he lowered his head infinitely, tender and infatuated.

The girl of the past was so beautiful, which only made the grown-up version all the more cruel.

"If I were you, I'd go out and take another good look at the young lady you like but can never have, instead of sitting here bluffing out of fear of the brother and sister in the front row. As a person, you have to taste something heartbreaking every now and then."

"Be a good boy, hmm?"

Wang Jiu spoke, but Song Yin did not. He just turned his head calmly to look at her, his gaze placid, as if he wasn't too concerned about Lin Jun either.

Even though Lin Jun had exposed such an embarrassing secret, he seemed indifferent.

Because the dead can't testify, and his wings were already fully grown.

It was as if, to them, this matter was ultimately just child's play.

Lin Jun's face was deathly pale. He finally recalled the tragic memories of being dominated by the pinnacle of aristocratic families, Song Yin, since childhood. He also remembered the old story of how Wang Jiu, a country bumpkin who had ascended overnight, had swept through the circle of aristocratic scions with her freakishly brilliant mind.

The memory of how formidable this damnable pair had been back then was just as painful for the second-generation heirs of the Beijing circle.

Especially for him.

Lin Jun stood up and walked out, his expression blank. He looked as if he were about to go on a killing spree.

Wasn't Wang Jiu afraid he would go and pester Lin Guiwan?

The photograph had already turned to ash. Xie Jiang saw it and couldn't help but say faintly, "Little widow, you used to be quite pretty."

Wang Jiu had been about to turn back to listen to official business since Liu Wuren had returned, but upon hearing this libertine's "little widow," she lifted her eyes and recited a famous line from a well-known palace drama.

"Who wasn't a beauty in their youth?"

Many people: "…"

Sorry, we weren't, Huan Huan.

As soon as Lin Jun left, Zhou Yan and Chu Xingyun from Nine Palaces started chatting about the changes in the Lin family, about why the vegetative older brother had suddenly gotten up and made a comeback. They had no way of knowing, but they keenly sensed it was related to official government measures, and also to the game brought on by the apocalypse.

"If Lin Jun isn't the beneficiary, perhaps he wouldn't mind revealing something to us before he dies, especially something against Wang Jiu."

"That makes sense, but do you really think Lin Jun will die? Will Wang Jiu kill him, or will Song Yin?"

"It's unknown, but it's clear that no matter who kills him, that older brother of the Lin family had an agreement with Song Yin."

Nine Palaces was unwilling to provoke a formidable enemy from the official side, as they weren't on an equal footing. But as a private territory, the rift between them and Gobi was already irreparable. Besides… the plan was already in motion.

Zhou Yan's eyes flickered. He glanced at Lin Jun's departing back and opened his social media…

"Everyone, there was an unexpected incident just now that I went to handle, but it is not good news."

Normally, a large-scale meeting like this would have some formal opening remarks, but Liu Wuren was a man of few words. Coupled with the incident, he decided to skip the pleasantries and get straight to the point.

"According to the collective prophecy of our Great Prophet team, along with numerous investigations by surveyors from various locations, it was determined that the Undead Race should currently be near the Mianyang city area. However, we just received news that the surveyors have lost all traces of the Undead Race. All survey branding skills have failed. Consequently, the Great Prophets prophesied again, and can now only detect a powerful earth-vein aura, or rather, a spirit vein aura, where they are located."

Spirit vein?

The entire audience had been immersed in gossip, but they all sobered up the moment official business began. It was, after all, a gathering of experts, all of them competent. They all looked at Liu Wuren, and no one interrupted, waiting for him to continue.

"We currently suspect the Undead Race has three possible strategies. One, they are hibernating beneath the spirit veins, devouring them to grow stronger and evolve. Two, they are using the power of the spirit veins to conceal their presence and evade our pursuit. They are moving underground along the spirit vein network to approach Chengdu and surround us for a massacre. Three, the Undead Race is pursuing strategies one and two simultaneously, both devouring the spirit veins and surrounding Chengdu."

"Regardless of which it is, both prophecy and reconnaissance are currently unable to track them. The only way would be to risk going underground for close-quarters investigation, but that's tantamount to suicide. I do not approve of this course of action. Therefore, the main content of this meeting is to deploy our forces in response to these three strategies of the Undead Race."

Liu Wuren was indeed a man of action, and decisive at that, moving directly to the final topic.

Deployment!

Before deploying, Liu Wuren mentioned three additional points.

1. Before losing their tracks, the monitored and prophesied scale of the Undead Race gathering towards Sichuan was approximately five hundred thousand, among which five Purple Gold-grade Little Corpse Kings have already been spotted.

2. The degree of evolution will be calculated based on the size of the spirit veins devoured by the Undead Race and distributed among their numbers. He estimated that if the 500,000 undead devoured some of the currently known spirit veins within Sichuan, there's a high probability that all those below Purple Gold grade would evolve by one tier, while the Purple Gold grade ones would see a 50% increase in strength.

3. If the spirit veins are completely devoured, the spirit power recovery speed of players like them, as well as the recovery effects of various healing spells and arrays, will be affected to some extent.

The first and second points were matters of intelligence data. The third was a matter of research, likely an official research finding that no one had known about before.

In any case, Wang Jiu didn't know.

She pondered for a moment, thinking to herself that the spirit vein in Luoyang was actually very small, so the effect wasn't obvious and she hadn't paid it any mind. But Sichuan was a major region. If its spirit veins were really drained dry by the Undead Race, it would be no different from pumping a pond dry.

In that case, the human players would probably have to make the first move.

It was actually clear: if the Undead Race wanted to devour the spirit veins, the human alliance could not afford the consequences of their evolution.

"We will now begin deployment. The current spirit vein locations are divided as follows: Tianlong Temple in Deyang, Moonlit Bloom in Meishan, Butterfly Valley in Mianyang, Laolonggou in Garze and Danba County, Aba Heishui County and Amu Township, as well as Emei Mountain and Jiuzhaigou, and finally, my Chengdu."

Liu Wuren mentioned several places, one of which was Butterfly Valley in Mianyang.

When Wang Jiu heard "Butterfly Valley," her thoughts stirred slightly, but she said nothing. Others, however, raised many questions and offered various suggestions, though most of the speakers were the major lords from the front row.

Because of their high status and great strength, they had the right to speak and could converse with Liu Wuren more casually.

But amidst the casualness, there was a sharp edge.

As these people spoke more, others began to recognize them.

There were a total of 10 seats in the front row. Not counting Wang Jiu, Cai Wujun, and Song Yin, a scan to the side revealed Jiang Chengjing of Snow Sea Forest Stream, the great lord of Guizhou's Sky Eye Territory, Ning Kungui, Zhou Yan of Chongqing's Nine Palaces, Guan Yue of Yunnan's Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (his brother died, so he took over), Min Xiangwang of Hong Kong's Kowloon Tong, and one other person, a woman in her fifties. She had a very modern air, yet she carried the sharp, stylish demeanor of a Shanghai matriarch in a qipao.

Everyone else asked about the specific locations and conditions of the spirit veins, and then about how to distribute reconnaissance and so on.

For example, Jiang Chengjing wanted Snow Sea Forest Stream to be responsible for the Tianlong Temple in Deyang, while Zhou Yan hoped Nine Palaces would be responsible for Butterfly Valley in Mianyang.

Ning Kungui of Guizhou's Sky Eye: "My Sky Eye can go to Garze and take responsibility for Laolonggou. We'll need another major territory that is familiar with and can coordinate with Sky Eye to handle Danba County. You know, if there's no cooperation, it's more trouble the closer two major territories are. The faster one might just go and wipe out the other from behind. It's not like that hasn't happened before."

Guan Yue: "Lord Ning's words seem to be pointed at someone."

Ning Kungui of Guizhou's Sky Eye: "What could I be pointing at? Surely not at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, which just lost its lord."

Guan Yue: "You!"

Zhou Yan of Chongqing's Nine Palaces: "You can't say that. With Lord Sky Eye putting it that way, aren't you implying all the other great lords have ill intentions? I believe that based on the greater interests of humanity, no individual bloodthirsty lord would be so malicious. However, it's also human nature. In that case, may I also request that the major territory adjacent to my Butterfly Valley be one I am on good terms with?"

Jiang Chengjing of Snow Sea Forest Stream: "Lord Zhou, you say that as if the Bashu lord has already decided to assign you to Butterfly Valley. If you go to Butterfly Valley, can my Snow Sea Forest Stream still stay at Tianlong Temple? Actually, it's not impossible, hehe."

Zhou Yan of Chongqing's Nine Palaces: "If our two families were neighbors, that would be just fine. After all, we have quite a history. We could watch each other's backs."

Min Xiangwang of Kowloon Tong: "I have few people from Hong Kong, and this time I only brought two or three territories. Several of them are the children of elders and family friends. I can't let them go on a trip with no return. So it's better to pick a spot closer to Chengdu, where we can contribute to the safety of humanity under the protection of the Bashu lord."

Liu Wuren: "Lord Min is too kind."

Song Yin: "Since you're all being so polite, I won't be. I want Jiuzhaigou, or Emei Mountain will do."

Zhou Yan: "Heh, I thought Young Master Song would request to be closer to the Gobi lord."

Song Yin: "If all personal and emotional requests should be met, then I could request to be next to the Nine Palaces Territory. I doubt you'd be happy about that, Lord of Nine Palaces."

Zhou Yan: "…"

Liu Wuren: "Lord of Cai Market, what are your thoughts?"

Cai Wujun: "My Cai Market people are quite easygoing. We can go anywhere." (At this moment, Lin Xiaoniang, the Sword Cultivator from Qingcheng, and others were desperately making hand gestures and facial expressions, clearly having their own requests.)

Cai Wujun: "The only requirement is to be next to a neighbor we can't beat."

Liu Wuren: "Hmm?"

Cai Wujun: "If we can beat them, our neighbors will definitely be slower than us. I'm afraid my subordinates won't be able to control their kind-hearted desire to help and will cross borders to assist. If they're grateful, that's fine. If not, it becomes very troublesome."

Liu Wuren: "Then deciding on Cai Market's neighbor is indeed not easy."

A certain old aristocratic lady from Shanghai's number one territory: "Actually, it doesn't matter where we're responsible for. Whatever the Bashu lord assigns is fine. But I'd like to pick a place with better scenery and environment, one that doesn't lack water for bathing and has convenient lodging. I think Emei Mountain and Jiuzhaigou are quite nice, like a free vacation. And since we don't know each other, shouldn't we have a social event? You need to get to know each other to cooperate well, right?"

Ning Kungui of Guizhou's Sky Eye: "That's not really necessary. The battle is urgent right now. I've never heard of a war being solved through socializing. It's not like we're keyboard warriors fighting a flame war."

Shanghai Old Lady: "Is that so? Then why did you have your people contact several of my elite territories in Shanghai, Lord Ning?"

Ning Kungui of Guizhou's Sky Eye: "Ma'am, you can't just say things like that."

Shanghai Old Lady: "That's just what I mean. Those who want to poach people can do it in private. A little clandestine affair is quite exciting. But actual face-to-face socializing is also necessary. We can't neglect people's spiritual needs."

Good heavens, are you talking about spiritual needs? It's clearly physical needs.

Trying to organize a social mixer before the meeting is even over. Speaking of which, it's interesting. When it comes to the characteristics of these major territories, one would have thought Snow Sea Forest Stream was the top gathering place for good looks, but it turns out there's another one.

However, the face of Snow Sea Forest Stream was the top star Wen Juanzhi. The group behind this old woman, on the other hand, was a stream of tall, slender, and handsome men of all types.

Every time this old woman spoke, half the female attendees at the meeting seized the opportunity to check out her group. Of course, the other half were looking at Wen Juanzhi, Song Yin, and the others.

"So superficial. Qing'er, don't you agree?"

Their group hadn't stayed in the capital either. When the descent happened, they all avoided the capital, which was teeming with experts and elites, and chose Hong Kong instead. This was because Xiao Jue's business empire was in Hong Kong, and he was familiar with the place. Plus, their maternal family was from there, so they went over.

Therefore, they were now members of the Kowloon Tong major territory.

Wang Peng grumbled, then saw that Xiao Qing was also looking in that direction. Oh, for crying out loud!

"Sis!"

Xiao Qing retracted her gaze and said faintly, "Respect the surface facts, explore the inner secrets. That is the mark of quality."

Wang Peng: So what she means is, they are indeed handsome, and she did indeed want to look?

"You… aren't goddesses supposed to be reserved? Look at my Sister Ah Jiu…"

Wang Peng suddenly fell silent. Xiao Qing said coolly, "She looked three times. I only looked because she was looking."

The implication was—I was watching her the whole time, so wherever she looked, I looked. Is that my fault?

When it came to Wang Jiu, Wang Peng didn't dare to say another word. He did, however, notice that Brother Xiao's expression was off. He was radiating a "don't touch me, I'm in a bad mood" vibe and even turned to give his sister a dark look.

Xiao Qing was calm and composed, absolutely unsparing when it came to rubbing salt in her brother's wounds.

And Wang Jiu, who had looked three times, finally met Song Yin's cool gaze.

He leaned back against his chair, deliberately blocking her line of sight.

Song Yin: "I always thought you were very picky."

Wang Jiu: "Praising yourself?"

Song Yin: "What's there to praise about something you threw away? I'm simply acknowledging your taste. But your current behavior is a bit surprising."

Wang Jiu did retract her gaze, but she leaned slightly against the armrest, tilting her body. She swung the lower part of her right leg, which was crossed over her left, and rested one hand against her elegant neck, her fingers stroking it gently. "Is that so? Then I apologize. Next time, I'll pick some better ones to look at carefully. It's best not to be too rigid about gender, especially with those close at hand. It'll save me a neck ache."

Good heavens, she had just flirted with all the men and women around her in a single sentence.

That included the market boss and his second-in-command next to her, the top male god behind her, the socialite C-lister, and Tan Yingzhou—all caught in her net.

She might have even included a few from the host's side. Speaking of which, besides Liu Wuren, there was also a low-key Great Prophet goddess in the Bashu Territory.

It was said that in the recent days when experts from various territories arrived, the number one spot on the male god list went to Wen Juanzhi, but the number one spot on the goddess list was not taken by the famous actress from Snow Sea Forest Stream. Instead, it went to the white-robed woman from the Bashu major territory. However, she was genuinely low-key and didn't even attend the meeting.

Many people at the tables had discussed this matter, and Wang Jiu had overheard a few snippets.

On the stage, Liu Wuren, who was discussing the assignments with a serious expression, noticed the whispers from Wang Jiu's side. It shouldn't have been a big deal, but this person… before the meeting, she had struck with a heavy hand, killing without hesitation. Then, she was caught for a few minutes with her romantic black history being exposed. During the meeting, she was as quiet as air, offering no opinions whatsoever. It inexplicably made him feel like he was holding a meeting for nothing.

In truth, leaders don't want attendees to talk too much, but it's also troubling when they don't say a damn thing. But if they were going to talk, they shouldn't be talking about this stuff.

What's with all this handsome or not handsome talk? So superficial.

What kind of group was that with the Shanghai old lady?

A modeling agency?

No.

Shanghai's number one major territory was called the White Horse Club. That old lady was the big boss behind the scenes, with a very deep background, operating in both the legal and criminal worlds.

To use the same harshness that the Nine Palaces group used to mock Snow Sea Forest Stream to mock the White Horse Club, it would be—the nation's number one gigolo club.

Now you know why they were so keen on having a social mixer.

Liu Wuren had great composure. He tolerated the verbal sparring and backstabbing of these major lords, each with their own agenda. He tolerated Wang Jiu whispering with her ex-fiancé. He even tolerated the illegal business intentions of the White Horse old lady. He did not deviate from his core task, only saying calmly, "I have heard all of your suggestions. The Gobi lord has not yet spoken. Do you have no requirements for any assigned region?"

In fact, the requests and hints made by each major lord were based on two premises.

1. Without knowing the strength of the spirit veins in each location or how many undead were lurking underground, they would gauge whether to be near the strongest forces like the Bashu major territory stationed in Chengdu to ensure safety, then steadily reap benefits. But they also had to avoid major territories they had past grievances with (or get close to them to launch a sneak attack, gaining both people and wealth).

2. Knowing the strength of the spirit veins and the number of undead, they would rationally choose the location they wanted based on their own territory's strength to maximize benefits and trip up major territories they had a grudge against, sending them to the most dangerous or least profitable areas.

At first, their mutual requests and jabs were quite subtle, not getting serious. But when the White Horse old lady casually mentioned that the Sky Eye lord, Ning Kungui, had already started poaching elite territories from Shanghai like Yan Guanqi's, it tore away the veil of civility covering the dirty dealings between these major territories.

Sky Eye vs. White Horse Club?

Cai Market vs. Song Yin's major territory?

Nine Palaces vs. Snow Sea Forest Stream?

It seemed that drawing a line between any two major territories could form a kill-or-be-killed relationship, as they were inherently incompatible, unless there was some secret collusion.

On the surface, whether due to past grudges or their attempts to avoid or attack each other, they were all in agreement about one thing: they wanted to rope in more elite territories to follow them to their assigned locations.

The reason was simple. Other major territories would divide their own benefits and could even cause devastating damage, but the elite territories below them were not a threat. Instead, they would augment their own power bloc.

Kill the big, protect the small.

That was probably the understanding. So, although this meeting was full of verbal sparring and passive-aggressiveness, the reality was even more intense behind the scenes.

It was absolutely impossible for them to reach a consensus, which was why Wang Jiu hadn't spoken. But since Liu Wuren insisted on asking, she couldn't remain silent.

"If I tell you where I want to go, can you satisfy my request, Lord of Bashu?"

On the stage, Liu Wuren glanced at her. "The point of a suggestion is that it's worth considering, not that it's the final result."

Wang Jiu smiled, saying with a good deal of self-awareness, "My reputation isn't great, so probably no one wants to be my neighbor. I know my place, so I won't go looking for trouble. Why don't you just synthesize everyone's requests, Lord of Bashu, and then place me last?"

Liu Wuren: "Thank you, Gobi lord, for being so considerate and cooperative."

Wang Jiu: "You're too kind. It's just that I can't win against you Bashu folks."

Her words were frank, but they also revealed something—she had clearly assessed Bashu's strength and had seriously considered whether she could be its enemy.

So, if that was her stance on Bashu, what about the other major territories?

Ning Kungui and the others all glanced at Wang Jiu as if by chance, then sized up Nine Palaces and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. She had shown killing intent towards these two major territories without hesitation, which meant she was 100% confident that Gobi could take them down, and even had the ability to take on both at once.

If so, one could use this to gauge her and Gobi's strength in reverse. Besides Bashu, which territory here was confident enough to take on Gobi? In the current construction rankings, Kowloon Tong, Sky Eye, and Cai Market were all above Gobi. Because they were backed by large groups, their later-stage resources had caught up, while Gobi was a privately run, free-range operation that had been surpassed.

But territory warfare was another matter entirely.

Beneath the calm surface, everyone's thoughts were turbulent.

As for Wang Jiu, she was thinking that before she came, she had already sensed from the words and actions of Xie Lu and Minister Qin that Bashu's strength was not something the current Gobi could contend with.

And after arriving in Chengdu, she had observed these territories from across Yanxia Lake for a long time.

She finally determined that she might not be able to defeat this Liu Wuren, and Gobi definitely couldn't beat Bashu.

And this was without Liu Wuren even using other official support forces.

This Liu Wuren… Wang Jiu's gaze swept over him faintly. The data seen through the Demon's Eye showed his attributes were all around twelve thousand, but she was certain this data was fake.

He had probably disguised it, just like her.

System: "Then how did you determine you can't beat him?"

Wang Jiu: "Liu Wuren hasn't interfered in the various selfish struggles and alliances among us major territories. He didn't even care when I killed Guan Ze, which enhanced my and Gobi's prestige. This shows that Bashu is already strong enough to withstand such risks. Since he's not concerned about his own losses, then from a broader perspective, he is clearly happy to see all the major territories striving for their own interests and achievements in exterminating the undead—no one understands the strength of their own territory better than its lord. That's why he solicited everyone's suggestions. Otherwise, he shouldn't have given us the chance to speak in the first place and just dictated the outcome from the start—at least for now, no major territory dares to openly defy the official will. In the end, they will all obey, including me."

Therefore, since Liu Wuren possessed such magnanimity, it could only mean he possessed such strength.

That was Wang Jiu's analysis, and soon, Liu Wuren's assignments proved her analysis correct.

Liu Wuren really did consider the requests of these major territories, sending them to the places they wanted to go or could go. The assignments were as follows.

Tianlong Temple in Deyang: Snow Sea Forest Stream.

Moonlit Bloom in Meishan: Hong Kong's Kowloon Tong.

Butterfly Valley in Mianyang: Chongqing's Nine Palaces.

Laolonggou in Garze and Danba County: Guizhou's Sky Eye, Capital's Chaoyang (where Song Yin is).

Aba Heishui County and Amu Township: Capital's Cai Market and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

Jiuzhaigou: Shanghai's White Horse Club.

Emei Mountain: Luoyang's Gobi.

Chengdu proper: Bashu major territory.

With the arrangements made, the major lords had no objections. They were well aware of the fact that Wang Jiu had pointed out.

When you can't win, there's no need to cry out.

So, after their mutual jabs, they didn't reveal any more information. The conflict remained on the surface, and the traps were only verbal.

They wouldn't challenge Bashu, and they wouldn't make a move right under Bashu's nose.

Of course, Wang Jiu was an exception.

So after the results were announced, she suddenly added, "How about I go to Butterfly Valley or Amu Township? I could be neighbors with Nine Palaces or Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, just to avoid any misunderstanding that I have a grudge against them."

Everyone: "…"

Liu Wuren: "…"

This woman was toxic.

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