Chapter 185 - 125: Mercenaries, Part 2
Lin Yu (Private Message): "Too expensive?"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "If they’re willing to pay with Elemental Cores, I can waive the points. Ask them if they’re up for it."
Li Hua (Private Message): "b(￣▽￣)d Brilliant!"
Li Hua didn’t reply again. He must have gone to respond to the other lords.
Lin Yu, on the other hand, found himself with nothing to do. The invasion had gone much more smoothly than he’d expected. It wasn’t even lunchtime yet, and the day’s invasion was already over. His territory’s army had spent about as much time traveling as they had fighting.
With nothing else to do, he grabbed some fruit from his territory, mixed a glass of honey water, and lounged in his chair while scrolling through the chat channel.
Soon, he saw posts from a bunch of random passersby. As he read their descriptions of the United Tribes’ situation, it all looked strangely familiar.
’Why does this sound just like the situation Shadow reported to me?’
He took out the video Shadow had recorded after the invasion and watched it carefully.
Behind the joyful smiles of his heroes was a vast, flat expanse of white earth—so barren there wasn’t a single blade of grass. In the distance, he could faintly see a green line marking the edge of the plains.
’They really did raze it to the ground. Are my territory’s heroes always this energetic?’
’No doubt about it. They’re talking about what my heroes did.’
’So, does that mean there were five lords on the defending side, and five of us on the attacking side?’
’That makes sense. But if that’s the case, doesn’t it mean there will be other lords invading alongside me every time from now on?’
Judging from the information in the chat channel, the vast majority of defenders this month were united camps, ranging from small alliances of three lords to large ones of seven or eight.
When the number of lords on both sides is similar, it’s highly likely to encounter other invading lords during every invasion.
’At this rate, won’t the full strength of my forces be exposed?’
’With an army this massive, everyone will figure out that the lord who owns this legion is no small fry. My title as second place in the legion battles probably isn’t enough to explain it. If someone pieces it together and realizes I’m ’Anonymous 1’, won’t my identity be blown? Once this stage is over, won’t they come looking for me?’
’What if they just offer me some money and tell me to sell my territory?’
...
The more Lin Yu thought about it, the more he started to feel a little scared. Even if he went to the Jade Sanctuary every day and studied with his avatar, the most he could achieve by the end of this stage was becoming a high-level Druid.
A high-level Druid was only of Excellent grade. An Extraordinary Person like that was nothing more than high-class hired muscle on Cuiwei Star. To the great noble families, he would still be someone they could crush at will.
’I absolutely cannot let myself be exposed. I’ll have Shadow limit the number of troops for invasions later.’
Just then, another private message from Li Hua arrived.
Li Hua (Private Message): "Buddy, the lords agreed. They’re willing to hire your legion for one Elemental Core, but they want to pick their target first."
Lin Yu (Private Message): "No way!"
Li Hua (Private Message): "That’s why I already negotiated for you. If they run into a target that’s too tough for them to beat, you get first pick. For the ones they can almost take down, you pick last."
Lin Yu (Private Message): "ദ്ദി˶ー̀֊ー́)✧ The perfect agent!! Your 20% cut is secure! But how will you know if they can beat a target or not?"
Li Hua (Private Message): "I know their strength levels. I’ll just send an observer to check things out. They shouldn’t dare to refuse."
Lin Yu (Private Message): "Hahaha, you’re amazing! How about this: tell them I’ll help them out for free once today. Let them see my legion’s combat power. Consider it free advertising!"
Li Hua (Private Message): "ദ്ദി˶ー̀֊ー́)✧"
Li Hua (Private Message): "Oh, right, the lords made a request. Hmm... not a request, more like an invitation."
Li Hua (Private Message): "They’re inviting you for a meeting. They said they want to get to know the big shot who’s ranked second in the legion battles."
Lin Yu (Private Message): "Forget it, I’m pretty busy right now. If they’re really insistent on meeting, just have Lin Kong meet with them for me. Tell them Lin Kong is me."
Li Hua (Private Message): "Alright, then. Forget it. You’re really something else. If I hadn’t happened to see your subordinate in the Cosmic Arena, I wouldn’t even know what you look like."
Lin Yu (Private Message): "Heh, I’m used to it. Later~ Gotta go."
After ending the chat with Li Hua, Lin Yu suddenly remembered that he had only ever met one other lord during the entire lord competition—Li Hua. He didn’t have to worry about anyone finding out who he was at all.
Besides, Lin Kong was out and about, and he also had lord-level authority. If he claimed to be the lord, others would have no choice but to believe him.
’Seriously, I don’t need to be afraid of people knowing I’m anonymous. No one knows what I look like anyway!!!’
’Still, it’s better to be cautious. I’ll have Shadow make arrangements later. The Steel-backed Porcupines, Spiny Porcupines, Withered Messengers, and Corruption Spreaders... the racial traits of these four are too distinct. They won’t participate in our own invasions anymore.’
’As Casters, the Elemental Druids’ features aren’t that obvious, so there’s no need to restrict them.’
’No one knows what the Shadow Reapers look like, so they don’t need to be restricted either.’
’The Highly Poisonous Bees never participated in invasions to begin with, so I’ll just leave them be.’
Having figured things out, Lin Yu felt refreshed. He went to find Shadow and had him make some adjustments. For the next month, the Steel-backed Porcupines, Spiny Porcupines, Withered Messengers, and Corruption Spreaders would be given preferential treatment in the training grounds and leveling spots. Since they couldn’t participate in invasions, they would be compensated in other ways.
-----------------
Meanwhile, after learning from Li Hua that Lord Lin Yu had decided to offer one free service, the surrounding lords all started scrambling for it.
In the end, however, a relatively weaker lord managed to claim the spot.
A small number of lords who were either powerful or lucky had already completed their invasions, so they naturally missed out on this free opportunity.
Most of the remaining lords were locked in a stalemate with the defenders.
Only one lord—Gu Di—had been very unlucky. On the other side of his Teleportation Gate was a United Tribes of three lords, and he hadn’t been randomly matched with any co-invaders.
After a brief attempt, Gu Di felt his chances of victory were slim and gave up on the invasion.
He had been hesitating about whether or not to hire Lin Yu’s mercenaries, but the moment he saw there was a free trial, he was the first to jump in and sign up.
Li Hua considered the situations of all the lords who signed up and chose Gu Di. The defenders he was facing were the most intact, which would make for the best demonstration.
...
Led by an envoy sent by Li Hua, Amuti brought the legion to Lord Gu Di’s territory.
"Hello, I’m Gu Di. Welcome, and thank you for coming to help."
Outside his territory’s city walls, Gu Di finally saw the legion that served Lord Lin Yu, the second-ranked in legion battles.
"Hello, Lord Gu!" Lin Kong stepped forward to speak on behalf of the legion.
"I am the legion’s diplomat, Lin Kong."
"And this is our Legion Commander, Amuti Goodwin."
"Hello, hello, Mr. Amuti. I’ve heard so much about you," Gu Di greeted Amuti with great enthusiasm.
"Hello," Amuti replied politely, then fell silent.
"Heh, Lord Gu, our Legion Commander is just like that. You know... he’s a Scarecrow, after all," Lin Kong quickly said to smooth things over.
"Ohh, right, right!" Gu Di’s face showed a flash of understanding. ’A Scarecrow is a special race,’ he thought. ’It’s a wonder a being with a head full of straw can communicate at all. I have no idea why that Lord Lin Yu would make him a commander.’
"I heard you fought Lord Yun’s Golden Corps twice, with one win and one loss?"
"That’s right, that was us! The very same crew!" Lin Kong puffed out his chest.
"Come, I’ll take you to the Teleportation Gate!"
Gu Di was reassured by Lin Kong’s confident answer and turned to walk toward the city’s interior.
The legion followed behind him in perfect formation. The entire column was silent, without a single sound of idle chatter.
’As expected of the second-ranked legion. This military bearing and discipline! Impressive!’
Gu Di couldn’t help but marvel at the sight.
Once they reached the Teleportation Gate, without needing any further instruction, the Steel-backed Porcupines led the charge and walked right in, followed by the rest of the legion in an orderly fashion.
...