Chapter 229 - 142: The Mega Army Moves Out (2)
Neng Hua watched as the armies passed by his city without stopping, heading northeast. Even though he had prepared for the worst, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Getting back to Cuiwei Star on schedule was a lot better than getting wiped out and sent back right now.
"Come out, lord of this territory!" Just as Neng Hua was starting to relax, a group of lords leading Cavalry stopped in front of his city. One of them stepped out from the crowd and shouted.
Neng Hua gave his adjutant a look. The adjutant hurried to the city wall, poked his head out, and replied, "May I ask what instructions you esteemed lords have for us?"
"We’re here to collect a security fee. With so many of our troops passing through your territory, we’ve scared off any lords who might have wanted to attack you. Shouldn’t you thank us? Hand over Ten Thousand Points, and we’ll leave you alone."
"A security fee?"
"There were lords who wanted to attack my territory?"
"And you scared them away?"
Neng Hua didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’Do even robbers need such a high-and-mighty excuse these days?’
He whispered a few words to his adjutant, who quickly stepped forward and responded, "Esteemed lords, could you perhaps ask for a little less? Ten Thousand Points is simply too much; our lord doesn’t have that many. He says if he gives it to you, he’ll have to eat dirt when he gets home."
"Cut the crap. With so many of us here, asking for Ten Thousand Points is already a friends-and-family discount. Once we split it, that’s barely 10 points for each lord. That’s not even enough to pick our teeth with."
Neng Hua’s expression changed. ’Good heavens, did that many lords answer Mei Yuan’s call? Ten Thousand Points is only ten points per person... doesn’t that mean there are 1,000 lords?’
"My lords, we really don’t have that many points. The lord says if this doesn’t work, you might as well let the lords who wanted to attack come back, so he can just go home early."
"Go home early?" At these words, the man shouting below the wall fell silent.
"Boss, this lord seems really broke. He’s not even willing to part with Ten Thousand Points."
"Duh. It’s the last month. If it were me, I wouldn’t pay either. There’s no way to get promoted anyway, so isn’t it better to take your points back to Cuiwei Star and live it up?"
"So what do we do? Just let it go? Or do we just attack?"
"Attack, attack, attack, that’s all you know." The leader of the shouting lords under the wall smacked the head of the one who wanted to fight a few times.
"What are we going to attack with? Just our own troops?"
"But there are other people’s armies right here!"
"Bah! Why would they help us fight? We’re just bluffing, using their numbers to scare this guy. We take what we can get."
"You, step aside. Let me handle this."
"Hey, lord on the wall! We, the four brothers of the Xiong Family, are commoners. Our Northern Expedition Legion is a legion of commoners, too. Shouldn’t we common folk help each other out? We’re on our way to fight the ranked lords. It’s fine if you don’t join and just want to reap the benefits, but you should at least sponsor us a little, right? If you think we’re asking for too much, you can make a counter-offer!"
"Well... how about one thousand? Just a little something for you big brothers?" Neng Hua hesitated for a moment, then shouted out.
"Deal!!!! Make the transfer. Lord ID XXXXXXXXXXX."
The reply from below the city wall came back instantly.
"∠(°ゝ°）??" Neng Hua was completely thrown off.
’Did I offer too much?’
"Hurry up and transfer. We have to keep moving. If you delay and the guys behind us show up, I’m not responsible if the price goes up!"
Hearing this, Neng Hua didn’t hesitate and quickly made the transfer.
"See? We got it, didn’t we?"
"But, Boss, didn’t we ask for ten thousand at first? Why did we settle for one thousand?"
"You’re so f*cking stupid. This is just the first lord, and we’ve already pocketed a thousand. There are so many more lords after this. Just think how much we’ll make!"
"Oh, right!! Boss, you’re so smart!!"
"Of course. Why else would I be the boss?"
The four brothers of the Xiong Family turned to leave when a voice suddenly called out from behind them.
"Hey, Bosses, since I’ve already paid the protection fee, can you give me a receipt or some kind of proof? To prevent others from charging me again later?"
Neng Hua had figured it out. The Northern Expedition Legion had many lords, but they didn’t seem to be well-integrated. The connections between them were loose. If the lords coming up behind them kept demanding protection money, he wouldn’t be able to handle it.
"What do you mean, protection fee? It’s a security fee!!"
"Yes, yes, yes! A security fee. Bosses, you see..."
"Fine, fine. Since we took your points, we might as well do a little guarding for you." Xiong Da thought for a moment and decided to actually do something.
Afterward, the four Xiong Family brothers stood with their troops in front of Neng Hua’s city and started directing traffic.
"Move it, move it, hurry up! This is a friendly lord, keep it moving..."
Plenty of lords passed by them, many of whom had also entertained the idea of extorting the lords along the way,
But seeing the Xiong Family brothers acting this way, most of them assumed the lord of this territory was a friend of theirs, so they gave up on the idea and continued on their way.
"See? Our security fee wasn’t too expensive, was it??"
"If it weren’t for us, you’d have to pay a lot more than just one security fee."
"Thank you, brothers. Thank you so much."
...
Once the armies of the outer lords had all passed, the four Xiong Family brothers began to rally their own troops, preparing to get back on the road.
"Brother, there are still so many troops behind them! Why are you leaving?"
Neng Hua quickly grabbed Xiong Da, the leader.
"It’s fine. The lords behind us won’t even look twice at your little corner of the world. They’re different from us."
Under Neng Hua’s skeptical gaze, the four Xiong Family brothers left with their Cavalry.
Neng Hua hurried back to the city wall and cautiously watched the massive army that was still on the move.
The legions that followed truly seemed uninterested in him, just as the Xiong Family brothers had said. They were disciplined, marching forward silently and without a word. The few heroes who passed by occasionally glanced at him but said nothing.
Neng Hua thought that the great army Mei Yuan had assembled would simply pass by his territory.
Mei Yuan arrived before the city, accompanied by his Heartland Lord (who was possessed by an Eye Demon).
He looked at Neng Hua peeking from the city wall and smiled.
"Look at him, he’s so comical, terrified we’re going to eat him. Honestly, humans don’t even taste good. The meat is tough, low in energy, and has no nutritional value."
An idea suddenly struck Mei Yuan as he looked at Neng Hua. "Hey, lord over there, interested in joining us? I can upgrade your heroes for free, promoting an Excellent-grade hero to Extraordinary-grade. That way, your combat power will be able to compete with the ranked lords."
Neng Hua was a bit dazed upon hearing this. He had actually been on the leaderboards and received rewards during the legion conflict in June. His territory was well-developed, and its prosperity wasn’t bad either. The main reason he wasn’t on the leaderboards now was that his heroes were holding him back.
He didn’t have any buildings that produced or nurtured powerful heroes, and his luck was a bit poor, resulting in a lack of High-tier Heroes. Most of his heroes were only Excellent-grade, which caused him to fall far behind in the May hero arena. Otherwise, he could have made a run for the leaderboards.
As far as he knew, the lords at the bottom of the leaderboards weren’t much stronger than him in terms of troop numbers. The key difference was that their powerful heroes were much stronger than his.
Now, hearing Mei Yuan describe his abilities, he instantly understood why so many lords had joined Mei Yuan’s legion.
However, being naturally cautious, he still found it hard to believe someone would upgrade heroes for free.
"You’re Mei Yuan, Lord Mei?"
"Of course. Would anyone else want to impersonate a clown like me? So, are you in? This is a limited-time offer. Once I leave, I’m not coming back."
"But, aren’t you afraid of someone sneak-attacking your territories while you’re gone? If you lose your territory, your prosperity will reset to zero, and you won’t be able to make the leaderboards. So why bother attacking the ranked lords? Isn’t that just hurting others without benefiting yourselves? Aren’t you afraid of being held accountable by the Cuiwei Star officials when you get back?"
Although Neng Hua was afraid Mei Yuan would lead his men to destroy his territory, he still voiced his doubts since Mei Yuan seemed calm and friendly as he spoke.
"Hahaha, of course we left people behind to guard our homes."
"Didn’t that lord named Xiong Liang say your entire army was mobilized?"
"He was so far away, how could he see clearly? Besides, he filmed that video at night."
"I see. I thought you had all abandoned your territories!"
"What, you want to try and sneak-attack our bases? Go ahead. There’s a surprise waiting for you!!"