Chapter 223 - 140: November: Month of Harvest (2)
"Tch~" The Eye Demon behind Mei Yuan scoffed. Having clawed its way through the ranks of Eye Demons for several months, it considered mutual deception a fundamental skill. Coupled with the memories it had absorbed from Mei Yuan’s brain, it now had more than a few tricks up its sleeve.
’How could I not know what these lords are thinking?’
’They were greedy for the double interest I promised them, and now they’re just scared I can’t pay up. Not that I ever planned on returning their points in the first place.’
’I borrowed these points fair and square using my own abilities. Why should I have to pay them back?’
"Lord Xiong, you’re mistaken. How can investing in heroes not be considered an investment?"
"You must understand, investing in talented individuals yields the greatest returns..."
Before he could continue, Lord Xiong bellowed, "Bah! What kind of ’talent’ are those Excellent Tier heroes?"
"An Excellent Tier hero can’t even beat ten same-tier soldiers in a fight, and they can take on three Exceptional-tier soldiers at best. What’s the use of that?"
"That’s right, Lord Mei. We’re not rookies anymore. We have plenty of Excellent Tier heroes, and they’re only a little stronger than common soldiers. They’re not that useful."
"Lord Mei, even if you’re going to lie to us, at least come up with a better reason. What you’re saying has no credibility at all!"
...
Mei Yuan waited for the lords below the wall to finish before speaking.
"Gentlemen, you say Excellent Tier heroes don’t count as real talent. Then what about Exceptional Tier heroes?"
"Most of the heroes in your territories are of the Excellent Tier, are they not? The small number of Exceptional Tier heroes you do have form the core of your forces, correct?"
"So what if I told you I can promote Excellent Tier heroes to the Exceptional Tier?"
Instantly, a clamor of discussion erupted from below the city wall, as the lords began to debate the credibility of Mei Yuan’s claim.
"I don’t believe it! Not unless you give us a demonstration."
It was Lord Xiong who spoke. He picked an Excellent Tier hero from the army he’d brought along, pointed at the man, and said, "If you can promote my Excellent Tier hero to Exceptional Tier, I’ll believe you. Do you dare?"
"Hahaha, why wouldn’t I dare?"
Mei Yuan laughed heartily. ’A fresh body delivering itself to my doorstep? Why would I ever refuse?’
"Let him in. I’ll give you back an Exceptional Tier hero in a moment!"
Mei Yuan had his men open the city gate and led Lord Xiong’s subordinate toward the promotion structure.
To ensure the Eye Demons remained in his territory after the invasion, Mei Yuan had forced many of his citizens to live in the newly built structures. The official story was that they were needed to maintain the buildings’ operations, but in reality, they had all been parasitized by Eye Demons.
As soon as a new host became available, an Eye Demon would transfer from one of these citizens to the new target. The now-vacated citizen would then be devoured as food by the other Eye Demons.
Less than ten minutes later, Lord Xiong’s man walked out from within the city.
"Take a look! How is he now?!"
At Mei Yuan’s words, Lord Xiong approached his subordinate and checked his system information.
He was overjoyed to discover that his Excellent Tier hero now possessed Exceptional Tier attributes, but he quickly wiped the smile from his face.
"One example proves nothing! I have ten more Excellent Tier heroes right here. If you’re really that capable, then promote them to Exceptional Tier, too!"
Lord Xiong roared fiercely, but a cunning glint flashed in his eyes.
"Hahaha, Lord Xiong, you’ve really thought this through, haven’t you? Trying to get some free upgrades? Fine. I’ll grant you this little wish."
Mei Yuan wasn’t offended and agreed to Lord Xiong’s brazen request.
"Wait!!"
"How do we know you two aren’t in cahoots? If you want me to believe it, promote this man of mine to Exceptional Tier."
"And my man here."
"And mine!"
The other lords quickly caught on, pushing forward the Excellent Tier heroes they had brought with them and demanding that Mei Yuan promote them to Exceptional Tier.
Mei Yuan, for his part, refused no one and agreed to all their demands.
Another ten-plus minutes passed, and this new batch of Excellent Tier heroes emerged from the city.
The lords rushed forward to inspect their subordinates’ information and discovered that every single one of them had been upgraded from Excellent Tier to Exceptional Tier attributes.
Now, the lords had no choice but to believe it.
This was especially true when they saw the "Symbiotic Boost" effect listed in their subordinates’ information. They all began to speculate that Mei Yuan’s territory must have produced some kind of incredible symbiotic unit.
"Lord Mei, that’s not very sporting of you! To think you have this kind of ability, yet you still tricked us out of our points just to go buy Excellent Tier Hero Summon Scrolls. Have you seen how much those Excellent Tier Hero Summon Scrolls are going for now?"
"Yeah, if you’d just told us sooner, we would’ve gladly traded you points for promotion opportunities. There was no need to trick us, right?"
"That’s right, that’s right!"
"Lord Mei, are there any limits to this ability? If not, just promote all the Excellent Tier heroes in my territory to Exceptional Tier, and I’ll write off the points you owe me."
"Yes, me too!"
"Right! Right! Right!"
...
The lords below the wall completely changed their tune. A moment ago, they were aggressive and demanding, but now they were all fawning over Mei Yuan.
Even the boisterous Lord Xiong had lowered his voice.
’If I could turn all the Excellent Tier heroes in my territory into Exceptional Tier, then it might be worth the gamble.’
’Treasure chests just respawned in the wild this month. Even if the nearby lords are all about as strong as I am, I could just go farther out to snatch chests from others. As long as I grab enough of them, I’m bound to open one with a game-changing building inside.’