No one expected that the girl, who had remained silent until now, would shock everyone with her very first words.
Perseus, the guild leader of Winter Dawn, looked at this girl from the Chi family with newfound seriousness.
He had heard of this little family head of the Chi family long ago, but this was his first time seeing her in person, following the original order of succession.
This girl, chosen by the Red Tree, was supposed to become an ultimate weapon like Chihong, deployed to the battlefield of the Four Great Tower Cities. Who could have predicted that her brother would seize power through a swift and ruthless coup, suppressing the rebellion of the Three Families in a very short time?
It was said that the coup affected thousands of people and ended with the sentencing of dozens of high-ranking officials of Red Heaven, including the former vice head of the Snow family, Xueren.
An eerie silence filled the banquet table. Li Liujin stood there in a daze. Just as she was about to speak to ease the frozen atmosphere, Smiling Jazz spoke up.
"Then please, Little Family Head of the Chi family, share your insights."
"We want the prison."
"And we have our own requirements."
"We do not need the alliance to provide any resources. Similarly, we do not want the alliance to interfere with our internal commands."
"Unless absolutely necessary, we request to remain independent of the alliance's strategy."
As soon as those words were spoken, everyone cast surprised glances her way.
As the origin of the initial outbreak of the plague, the prison had a density of monsters three to four times that of other outposts. Coupled with its narrow and treacherous terrain, it was filled with countless traps and mechanisms to prevent prisoners from escaping.
Anyone with eyes could see that this was the intention of the person behind the girl.
What they couldn't understand was why Light-Chaser Garden chose to attack the most difficult and thankless target: the prison.
At that moment, the eyes of the previously taciturn woman in the crowd flashed with realization.
She was Clotho-Lan, the guild leader of the Heterogeneous Front. While others couldn't see it, she had privately researched the personality of Dark Gold Rose.
That person was a crazy believer in probability; as long as the potential profit was large enough, no amount of risk was too great.
She was gambling. Gambling that she could lead her guild to conquer the prison on her own, controlling this key transportation hub. When the conquest reached its peak and the frontline combatants were too preoccupied to look back, Light-Chaser Garden would easily control the supply and transport lifelines of the four core outposts.
This was no different from silently placing a blade against their throats.
But she didn't plan to point it out.
Firstly, the Heterogeneous Front didn't need a core outpost, and having someone else keep the other guilds in check benefited her.
Secondly, she didn't believe Dark Gold Rose could conquer the prison with fewer than a hundred people. Even if they did, they would surely be severely weakened, and at that point, it was uncertain who would be holding whose lifeline.
Thinking of this, Clotho-Lan licked her crimson lips. She was quite interested in this Dark Gold Rose. If the other party ended up asking her for help, it would surely be an interesting sight.
"No problem." To everyone's surprise, Smiling Jazz agreed very readily this time.
"Since Miss Akabane Tsubaki has shown her sincerity, we certainly won't dampen the mood. However, I will add one condition: if your Light-Chaser Garden takes the initiative to request reinforcements from the alliance, nearby alliance members must provide aid unconditionally."
"What do you think?"
Xu Xiaoyou didn't speak. Akabane Tsubaki clearly didn't understand Smiling Jazz's intention. Before she could figure out what kind of trap he was setting, she didn't dare to agree easily.
Feeling the girl's fingertips tap twice on her shoulder, Akabane Tsubaki pondered for a moment and then chose to nod in agreement.
Just as a flash of inspiration hit her and she wanted to say more, Angelina, leaning against the wall, coughed lightly.
Akabane Tsubaki wisely closed her mouth.
"The King's Clan wants the Bastion," Yan'an, the cat-tailed youth, raised his hand.
"Winter Dawn needs absolute control over Death Avenue and reserves the right to conquer the Dunkirk District," Perseus said.
"At the same time, Winter Dawn has the right to receive any information regarding the 'Starry Witch' immediately."
"The Golden Navigator voluntarily waives all advanced outposts and requests absolute control over the forty-three small outposts marked around the Venomous Sewer and the Royal Botanical Garden," Nan Jiamu said.
"Daybreak Elegy doesn't need any outposts, but reserves the right to enter the outpost of any guild except Light-Chaser Garden to provide necessary medical treatment, and forbids any alliance member from initiating an attack on our people," Li Liujin said.
"The Age of the Dead voluntarily waives ownership of its current outposts, handing them over to the Silent Sequence, and will join the Silent Sequence in attacking King's Castle. We request seventy percent of the drops and retain the right to roll for rare items."
"The Heterogeneous Front requests absolute control over the following twenty-one intermediate outposts and reserves the right to leave the alliance at any time..."
Flaming Brocade Meteor...
The meeting, which seemed calm on the surface, was constantly brewing a violent storm. Without a word, through only glances and brief statements, countless schemes and exchanges of interests were finalized in silence.
Vaguely, the audience watching the livestream seemed to hear the crisp sound of clashing blades, as if a fight to the death was quietly unfolding.
"Since all matters have been discussed, I wish you all victory and an invincible path."
The meeting soon drew to a close. The guild leaders who had reached an agreement looked at each other with mutual understanding and led their members out in an orderly fashion, disappearing into pillars of light as they teleported away.
Only a few small guilds whose interests had been sacrificed remained in place, complaining and wallowing in self-pity.
When the meeting ended, Akabane Tsubaki went to a corner alone, her whole body trembling slightly.
She had been scared to death just now.
Ugh, those guild leaders were all so intimidating. Facing dozens of dangerous gazes at once... this was the first time she had seen herself being so assertive. The feeling of being able to just leave if she wasn't happy was great.
At that moment, someone draped a windbreaker over her shoulders. Turning around to meet beautiful amber pupils, Akabane Tsubaki was slightly stunned.
"Yuzu?"
"How do you feel?" Xu Xiaoyou smiled.
"How was my performance just now?" Akabane Tsubaki asked back.
Xu Xiaoyou could almost see the girl's little tail wagging and gave a light chuckle.
"Very good. At least you didn't have stage fright. As expected of my dear vice guild leader."
"Of course, I'm the little family head of the Chi family. What kind of scene haven't I seen?" Akabane Tsubaki puffed out her chest.
"By the way, Yuzu, why did you have An... Angelina stop me from saying what I wanted to say?"
Recalling the last time she had subconsciously followed along and called her "Anya," and the terrifying way the silver-haired girl had bristled, Akabane Tsubaki weakly corrected herself.
"What did you want to say at that time?" Xu Xiaoyou asked.
"I thought we should have some rights to guarantee our safety too," Akabane Tsubaki scratched her head sheepishly.
"I was thinking, if some major disaster really happens during the conquest and we need to ask the alliance for help, at least we should be able to choose which guild comes to aid us. There are many people who are hostile toward us."
"So, do you know why he proposed that condition at the end, which seemingly has only benefits for us?" Xu Xiaoyou asked.
"Uh... something like 'leaving a gap in the encirclement'?" Akabane Tsubaki said. "More or less. By not pushing us too hard, he weakens our will to fight. Once we ask the alliance for help, we will gradually fall under his control."
"So, what matters is not the act of asking for help itself," Xu Xiaoyou replied.
"In the end, Smiling Jazz just wants to exert his twisted desire for control."
"In that case, we might as well go along with his wishes and let him believe he has us in his grasp," Xu Xiaoyou said.
"Let him drop his guard, and then, we will strike unexpectedly and deliver the finishing blow."
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