Elvia grit her teeth, her fingers clenching into fists.
"That's the City-State Alliance you're talking about."
"Just the Title Rank experts alone, there are more than f*cking thirty of them!"
"Any one of them could destroy the Carter Royal Capital!"
Lin Gui gave a faint smile and leaned back against his chair, hands folded across his abdomen.
"The power of the Alliance is indeed terrifying."
"But how does it compare to the Forbidden Zones at your doorstep?"
Elvia froze, her fists slowly relaxing.
Lin Gui continued, his fingers tracing lightly across the desk as if sketching a map.
"The strongest power in Akara, the one that should be truly feared, has never been the city-states."
"It's the demons. It's the wilderness."
He paused and raised his eyelids to look at Elvia.
"Elvia, if all the experts of the Alliance were gathered to resist the currently spreading Dark Tide, do you think it would be possible?"
Elvia said speechlessly, throwing up her hands and shrugging her shoulders high.
"Would that be anything more than providing an extra meal for the demons?"
From her brief glimpse into the Withered Rift, she had spotted at least a hundred Epic demons.
And that was just a small part of the Dark Tide.
The Alliance withstanding that?
Lin Gui chuckled and tapped the table.
"What about the Red Clay Desert? If all the experts of the Alliance were mobilized, could they flatten that Forbidden Zone?"
Elvia's mouth twitched, and her shoulders slumped.
"Wouldn't that also just be an extra meal?"
Lin Gui gave a faint smile and tapped the table again.
"What about the Blackwater Forest closest to the Carter Royal Capital?"
Elvia pondered for a moment, her finger touching her chin and her brow furrowed.
Blackwater Forest was located north of the Carter Royal Capital and east of Shield City.
It was an existence that barely even ranked among the Forbidden Zones.
But even for such a minor existence, after making a rough assessment...
Elvia was finally shocked to realize:
"The Alliance would suffer heavy losses."
In a single moment of comparison, the image of the Alliance as a terrifying power instantly crumbled a little.
Thinking about it like this, it seemed Lin Gui waving his blade at the Alliance wasn't that outrageous after all.
Had she retreated a bit too early?
Elvia hurriedly shook those dangerous thoughts from her head, tossing her hair so hard the tips hit her face.
She looked at Lin Gui, a hint of indignation in her tone:
"But you can't possibly conquer those Forbidden Zones either."
Lin Gui said, his voice as calm as if stating a simple fact as he leaned forward slightly:
"I don't need to conquer them."
"As long as they exist there, they are my greatest help."
Lin Gui's words suddenly made Elvia realize something.
She recalled the heaven-defying route map she had just seen, which nearly stepped through every surrounding Forbidden Zone.
She looked at Lin Gui strangely and then peered through the window at the Dragonbone City outside.
Dragonbone City's current situation was remarkably similar to another city-state.
Caran City.
Both were situated outside the central city-states, where the Alliance's influence was not obvious.
And similarly, the upper ruling powers were almost non-existent.
Caran City was because of the demon siege, which led to the flight of the nobles and knights.
Dragonbone City, however, was because of the Dark Tide.
Elvia frowned, her voice dropping low as she unconsciously leaned in:
"You want to use this city-state as a base to develop your power?"
"The surrounding Forbidden Zones are a natural barrier zone."
"The reason your weird route passes through so many Forbidden Zones is that you wanted to scout them out ahead of time?"
"To familiarize yourself with the demon composition inside."
"And then establish defensive fortresses on the other essential Golden Routes?"
This seemed plausible, but there were problems everywhere.
Forbidden Zones could indeed block a massive army like the Black Dragon Army.
But there were ways to bypass Forbidden Zones.
Moreover, Forbidden Zones couldn't stop powerful Title Rank experts.
Just one Title Rank expert would be enough to destroy a city-state.
Elvia stared at Lin Gui's face without blinking.
His reaction made her certain that she had likely guessed wrong.
Or rather, what she had mentioned was merely a small, incidental part of his plan.
Elvia didn't understand.
That weird route, passing through almost every Forbidden Zone on the way to the City of a Thousand Towers...
Besides this, what other intention could there be?
An old woman in the queue, clutching a letter, leaned her head forward curiously, her neck stretching out long.
"My Lord, what were you saying about overthrowing something?"
Elvia looked over sharply, a flash of killing intent in her eyes as her body tensed up.
In her momentary agitation, she had forgotten that there were many people nearby.
The old woman was startled by that look and stumbled back two steps, nearly dropping the letter in her hand.
Lin Gui, however, chuckled as he took the letter from the old woman, his tone as light as if chatting about domestic trivialities while he gave her a steadying hand.
"We were talking about how to overthrow the Alliance."
"Would you like to join us, ma'am?"
Elvia was completely dumbfounded, her mouth hanging slightly open as she couldn't close it for a moment.
He just bluntly spoke about such an outrageous matter like that?
And he even f*cking invited the other party to join?
Inviting a gray-haired old woman who could barely walk steadily?
The old woman froze for a moment, looking at Lin Gui and then at Elvia, clutching her letter tightly.
The people queuing behind also poked their heads out, and some burst into laughter.
"Haha, the Mage Lord really knows how to joke."
"Overthrow the Alliance? With just us?"
A middle-aged man laughed and shook his head, throwing up his hands.
"I can't even beat the magical rats in the sewers."
A young man joined in the heckling, standing on his tiptoes to look forward:
"If we could really overthrow the Alliance, I'd be the first to sign up!"
"Those noble lords have been riding on our heads for who knows how many years."
The old woman was no longer afraid; she handed the letter over with a smile, the wrinkles on her face smoothing out.
"My Lord, you'd better just take my letter first."
"As for overthrowing the Alliance, let's wait until after I'm dead."
Another wave of laughter rose from the people around.
There was something inexplicable within that laughter.
There was long-repressed dissatisfaction with the nobles and the Alliance, but also a sense of helplessness toward Lin Gui's words.
They thought Lin Gui was joking.
Or rather, they hoped Lin Gui was joking.
Because if it were true, then it was simply too absurd.
A mage running a post office inviting a group of commoners to overthrow the Alliance?
This was more outrageous than defeating the Dark Tide.
Lin Gui smiled and didn't mind, taking the old woman's letter, collecting seven copper coins, and lowering his head to register it in the logbook.
Only Elvia stood to the side, cold sweat breaking out across her back in waves, her fingers unconsciously gripping the edge of her clothes.
Rate on N.U.
