It was midday, and the sun was blazing.
Over the past week, the drizzle had washed away the dust from the air. In the sunshine, the air of Changdao was unspeakably clean and fresh.
The sun was shining brightly in the deep, shaded courtyard. The wind blew across the hair and the leaves, making them shake.
It was a large yard, deep and quiet, surrounded almost entirely by trees and flowers. There was only one cobbled path for two people to walk side by side, winding up to the quaint pavilion in the middle of the courtyard. After the spring, when everything came back to life, the whole yard was luxuriantly green before autumn. Everywhere one looked, there was vitality.
The fragrance of flowers and tea was diffusing in the wind.
Li Tianlan asked, without looking up from the ivory marble table where he had been reading the list, “What does this mean?”
“Literally.”
Duke, dressed in a s.l.u.tty pink man suit, sat opposite Li Tianlan, smiling broadly.
Inside Samsara Palace, the rankings of Super Masters were extremely important. Although they were all Super Masters, the order in which they were ranked was often a matter of status.
Nowadays, there were four Super Masters of Samsara Palace in East Island. Saint, the first Super Master, was responsible for the cooperation with a mysterious force, and he never met Li Tianlan.
Among Duke, Horsewoman, and Flaming Fire, Duke was the highest ranked Super Master. When things happened, he was the leader. Both Horsewoman and Flaming Fire tacitly accepted this.
So now he sat down in front of Li Tianlan and gave him a doc.u.ment.
“Of course, I know.”
Li Tianlan laid it down on the table and fingered it. He then unconsciously rubbed his forehead and smiled bitterly, adding, “But I’m not sure what you mean by showing me this doc.u.ment.”
Currently, they were in a secret club in the southwest of Changdao, one of the most lavish.
East Island was very densely populated but had only a small piece of territory. So throughout East Island, some large racecourses, golf courses, and clubhouses would be strictly examined before the applications to build them were approved. The same was true for villas. This practice of saving the land, to some extent, also promoted the unity and cohesion of the upper circle of East Island. Through this method, this country barely killed two birds with one stone.
This strict approval process, however, was an exception in Changdao.
It was the first city in the world to be bombed by the nuclear weapon, and for a long time, it was virtually deserted. A lot of pieces of vacant land in Changdao today were bought a long time ago.
The club that Li Tianlan was currently in was one of them. Moreover, it seemed to be supported by foreign capital from a famous consortium in Europe with deep roots in Changdao.
It was also the hiding place of Li Tianlan and the three Super Masters of Samsara. From beginning to end, they were received by the specially-a.s.signed persons in the clubhouse, and their meals and accommodations were taken care of in secret. The club only used the European waiters and never let Li Tianlan and his companions meet with any East Islanders in the clubhouse.
In Duke’s words, it was perfectly safe.
Here, too, Li Tianlan had slept for nearly eight hours. It was the most comfortable sleep he had had since arriving in East Island. He didn’t need to worry about Jiang Shangyu’s plot and Mai Shiranui’s pursuit. He even dreamed of Qin Weibai and w.a.n.g Yuetong.
When the beautiful dream ended and the sun rose high in the sky, Li Tianlan saw Duke again, and the doc.u.ment Duke had given him.
It was an extremely complicated doc.u.ment or list.
A long, mind-numbing list.
Duke said, “I am in a hurry.”
So Li Tianlan sat at the stone table for nearly three hours, skipping lunch and drinking four or five cups of tea, before he finished the list.
The list involved a lot. Many people on it didn’t even have specific names. The list just showed that they affiliated with a certain organization which was made of a certain number of people.
There were many names that Li Tianlan had seen. Most of them, of course, he had never seen before.
Ye Fengcheng, Gu Yunxia, Thunder G.o.d, Gu Youlan, Fan Haoyu, Du Hanyin…
These names were familiar to Li Tianlan.
There were also a lot of messy agencies, for example, Flying Bird Special Operations Group with six people, Black Hole Intelligence Department with 13 people, and the Fifth Bureau affiliated with Kunlun City with seven people. Li Tianlan had never heard of them.
Li Tianlan bit the bullet to read through the list. Dazed and numb, he then looked at the top of the list.
There were only two words on the top.
Snowdance Corps.
Li Tianlan was well aware of the Snowdance Corps, which was formed for the scheme of Zhongzhou State. In this respect, he was now also a member of it.
But this list…
“To some extent… You now control the lives and deaths of everyone on this list.”
Duke smiled and sipped his tea. His voice was soft and soothing, and there seemed to be strange radiance in his eyes.
Li Tianlan raised his eyebrows in surprise. Before he could speak, Duke began to explain, “The total number of people from the Snowdance Corps who has entered East Island this time is about two thousand. The response from East Island was so quick that it surprised everyone… Therefore…”
Duke shrugged his shoulders with a smile on his face. “They are all scattered now. Both Samsara or Zhongzhou State antic.i.p.ated such a situation at the very beginning, but they didn’t expect East Island’s offensive to be so aggressive. Now East Island is in chaos, but the elites of Zhongzhou State are much worse. Numerous experts of East Island are chasing after the scattered teams. Furthermore, some intelligence agencies of Zhongzhou State have been uprooted. Now everyone is heading for Changdao to break out of the encirclement. If there should be no accidents, no more than 200 of the 2,000 Zhongzhou elites would survive the chase and break through the defensive points on the outskirts of Changdao. Now the members of the Snowdance Corps in East Island, to put it plainly, are in a state of disunity.”
Li Tianlan stared at Duke earnestly and intently, waiting for him to continue.
“There are about 1,200 people on this list.”
Duke pointed to the list in Li Tianlan’s hand and added calmly, “And they are the 1,200 people whose whereabouts are known by us.”
Li Tianlan’s pupils contracted sharply. Without asking anything, he lowered his head subconsciously and scanned the list again very quickly.
His face darkened, and his palms were slightly clenched. His expression, which had always been calm and almost impa.s.sive, finally showed a trace of undisguised anxiety.
Samsara knew the whereabouts of the people on the list, but Li Baitian, Ning Qiancheng, Yu Qingyan, and Dongcheng Rushi were still not on it.
Li Tianlan was a little agitated, so he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He took a drag on it, trying to suppress his thoughts, and said flatly, “Go on.”
Duke nodded and said, “There has been an interesting change in the situation. And it’s clear that Changdao is now considered by the authorities of East Island to be the final battlefield.”
Li Tianlan nodded because he was aware of it. East Island would certainly not tolerate the dark intrusions from Zhongzhou State. A decisive battle was imperative.
Since they were in the territory of East Island, the place of the final battle was entirely decided by East Island.
It sounded extremely difficult to drive nearly 2000 elites from different cities throughout East Island to Changdao. But it was the Special Warfare System of East Island that performed the task, and it was supported by all sides.
To put it crudely, everyone from Zhongzhou State who was lurking in East Island right now was basically under the control of East Island. East Island didn’t kill them all because it didn’t plan to pay too much.
This was the home court of East Island, but large numbers of elites of East Island were now trapped in Zhongzhou State. On a country-by-country level, these were bargaining chips for both sides.
And even if East Island was adamant about killing the elites of Zhongzhou State, conducting decentralized operations wasn’t its style.
The straggling elites of Zhongzhou State were seeking to gather.
The same was, of course, true for East Island!
If the scattered power of Zhongzhou State was one after gathering, then, the power that East Island had dispatched to pursue and kill the enemies was 100.
Currently, if East Island couldn’t wait to kill all the experts of Zhongzhou State and really made them fight back desperately, it may also suffer heavy losses. If Zhongzhou State killed that batch of elites who were trapped in Zhongzhou State in a rage, then, the East Island’s Special Warfare System was unlikely to recover for decades at least.
East Island adopted the method of exhausting its enemies slowly.
The elites of East Island chased their enemies but didn’t fight with them desperately.
They made a great number of elites of Zhongzhou State slowly bleed, but did not let them desperate. As their strength dwindled and they were exhausted after arriving at Changdao, East Island would muster its strength to deal with the last batch of elites from Zhongzhou State as best it could.
By then, it was all up to East Island over whether to kill them all or capture them alive to bargain with Zhongzhou State.
Since East Island had chosen Changdao as the spot of the final battle, elites from Zhongzhou State had no other choices. The same was true even for the other superpowers in the Dark World, who may be about to enter East Island for the feast.
After all, this was the home court of East Island. They must play where East Island said they could.
It was not a rule, but the battle of Changdao was a tacit understanding between forces in the Dark World.
If it were to happen in Changdao, it would be a sort of clash in the Dark World.
If they were to leave Changdao to play elsewhere, East Island would certainly not indifferently watch a lot of experts wreaking havoc on its own territory. At that point, it would evolve into a war. If East Island was forced to summon its own troops and fish out weapons of ma.s.s destruction at the same time, n.o.body could afford to play.
It was most acceptable for all parties to keep the general trend within the realm of conflict in the Dark World and to get the desired benefits.
“I know.”
Li Tianlan said with a nod, “The eyes of the Dark World are now focused on Changdao, right? The battle of Changdao?”
“Yes.”
Duke nodded and said, “The battle of Changdao. And now it has entered the decisive stage.”
He paused for a short while. With a sudden smile, he asked, “Well, at the decisive stage, did any high-ranking officer of the Snowdance Corps arrive at Changdao?”
Li Tianlan was stunned.
“High-ranking officers of the Snowdance Corps in Changdao?”
Several names flashed through his mind.
Tribulation was still in Dongdu.
Bai Youming and Ye Fengcheng were now in Juban.
Gu Yunxia had entered Wakayama.
Thunder G.o.d appeared in Okayama.
The Enchantress was looking for w.a.n.g Shengxiao.
In this case, no expert at the Thunder-shocking Realm from Zhongzhou State had arrived at Changdao at this point!
What did this mean?
“In terms of cooperation, there are still people at the top who have decision-making power.”
Duke chuckled and said, “The Snowdance Corps was set up in a hurry, and the internal organization was quite chaotic. Plus it works with Samsara, so the internal duties have not been clearly divided temporarily. We are partners of Zhongzhou State, so I, Horsewoman, and Flaming Fire all have the decision-making power.”
“So…”
Li Tianlan’s heart was thumping.
“So… the current situation has changed. You see, Zhongzhou State has now clearly lost control of all the elites, and their intelligence channels have been uprooted. Even people at the top of Zhongzhou State don’t know where their legions of elites are. However, Samsara knows that. The two sides are working together to carve up East Island. This is cooperation. Nevertheless, it’s not a partnership to use our own channels to help Zhongzhou State to meet their elites at the risk of exposure.”
Duke spread out his hands and laughed heartily.
“So…”
Li Tianlan took a drag on his cigarette and then put it out, speaking calmly, “You’re going to sit out the people on this list?”
“We haven’t decided yet.”
Duke looked at Li Tianlan with a strange look. He shook his head slightly and said with a smile after staring at Li Tianlan for a long time, “We are now waiting for your decision. You are an ordinary member of the Snowdance Corps, but in Samsara, here, you have the highest decision-making power.”
He looked at Li Tianlan with a complicated look and gave a little chuckle. “Tianlan, although your face is not too white, I have to say that you are now the most enviable gigolo. I don’t mean to belittle you but envy you. Pure envy.”
Li Tianlan knew in a flash what Duke had meant when he said he controlled the lives and deaths of everyone on the list.
To save or not to save the more than 1,000 people on the list was now unexpectedly up to him?!
Li Tianlan found it absurd. Looking at the insufficiently detailed but extremely rare list in his hand, he sincerely said, “The intelligence system of Samsara really leaves people speechless.”
“That’s not our channels.”
Duke spoke frankly after a moment of surprise, “We are weak in East Island, otherwise, we wouldn’t cooperate with Zhongzhou State. These intelligence channels belong to our allies. The mysterious force behind Daybreak.”
Li Tianlan could not help asking, “What force is that? You don’t even know its name, do you?”
“G.o.d knows its name. Maybe they haven’t decided yet.”
Duke said with indifference. “But this list is unadulterated. The cooperation between the two sides is very sincere. If you’re going to save lives, it’s our allies who are going to help the Zhongzhou elites. At worst, we can bring back at least two-thirds of those 1,200 people intact.”
“A force without a name?”
“Newly established?”
“And…”
Li Tianlan had a headache and found it ridiculous. He shook his head in a random way and spoke unconsciously, “Of course…”
“Don’t speak in a hurry.”
Duke stood up with a smile and casually patted Li Tianlan’s shoulder. “You should think about it. Or maybe you should talk to Zhongzhou State, shouldn’t you?”
“Talk?”
Li Tianlan was suddenly shocked. He rose abruptly and looked at Duke.
Duke’s smile was deep. A light wind blew through his hair, and his long golden hair fluttered like a rippling tide.
Li Tianlan didn’t want to ask what to talk about.
The fate of thousands or more of elites of Zhongzhou State was now in his hands.
What should he talk to Zhongzhou State about?
Naturally, bargain.
Li Tianlan could almost see a great opportunity in front of him.
If he could make good use of the negotiation, it may be one of the biggest cornerstones of his rise. Of course, he couldn’t antagonize the bigwigs of Zhongzhou State.
To put it simply, he couldn’t be too greedy.
What could he ask of Zhongzhou State? What could he get?
And at the very least, even if he could get nothing, the men he was about to save would undoubtedly owe him a great debt of grat.i.tude.
This was almost a picture of connections drawn by the general trend.
It was at his fingertips!
It was priceless!
However…
“Is this really the right thing to do?”
Li Tianlan looked at Duke and continued, “If Her Highness Palace Master talks to Zhongzhou State in person, she may gain a lot of benefits for Samsara. In other words, the 1,200 people are your bargaining chips. Why do you give them to me? What did Her Highness say?”
“She remained silent.”
Duke shrugged again.
Li Tianlan wore a wry smile.
In Samsara, when the Master of Samsara Palace was silent, Qin Weibai’s will was supreme.
“The boss said she would do anything to help you. It’s a great opportunity, isn’t it?”
Duke added calmly, “The Palace Master used the 24 Moves of Sword, the unique technique of the Li family, to fight Gu Xingyun, so your ident.i.ty can’t be kept secret for long. At this point, having so many elites owe you a favor may be one of your best bets.”
He reached into his chest and again took out a smaller but more detailed doc.u.ment. “After talking to Zhongzhou State, you should talk to the w.a.n.g family of Beihai.”
Li Tianlan’s mouth twitched, and he unconsciously took over the doc.u.ment.
“Let’s go. Dinner is ready.”
Duke looked at Li Tianlan with a smile. “I thought you would refuse the deal. I’m even ready to talk you into it. Isn’t that true of gentlemen?”
Li Tianlan’s mouth twitched, and he said insipidly, ” I’m not a gentleman.”
“But, do you… or the Super Masters, agree with Little Bai?”
“Why not?”
Duke said plainly, “I listen to the Palace Master. The Palace Master asks me to listen to the boss. “That’s all. It’s been that way since I joined Samsara five years ago.”
Li Tianlan shook his head with a wry smile. He was suddenly shocked and subconsciously asked, “Did you say you only joined Samsara five years ago?”
“Yes.”
Duke nodded and replied calmly.