"We even ordered your favorite mapo tofu and stir-fried gherkins. We think it’s worth the ridiculous money we pay, but do you truly think they’re worth only 100 mages?" I said while staring at her.

Stranger of Three Lifetimes pouted. "Two… two hundred then…"

I continued, "Did you know that Eve and I woke up really early and spent almost 3 hours refining our appearances before we came to see you? Not only that, we didn’t want to let you down by arriving late, but we were slowed down by four semi-trailer trucks and almost bumped into another car countless times along the way. Even then, we cleared the 70-km long highway in 20 minutes because we believed it’d be worth risking our life to meet you on time! Because we cherish your friendship! Where is your sense of responsibility, girl!?"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes clutched her chopsticks. "Five… five hundred then! And no more than that!"

I balled my hands into fists and placed them on the table where she could see them. "Three months ago, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls traveled thousands of kilometers all the way to Vanished God City just to help your ally, Baidicheng, occupy a city. On the way, not only were we buffeted by countless elements, we had to eat grass to stave our hunger and drink dew water to quench our thirst. Gui Guzi and Li Chengfeng had to cook their own belts and fight with one hand grabbing their pants at all times. Chaos Moon was so hungry that she sucked on her thumb every night like a literal baby. And when we finally reached the city, we were forced to fight against powerful foes such as Candle Dragon. But did we say no to you? Do you know how many of our people died for your cause? Take Xu Yang for example. Not only was he killed in action, his corpse was trampled over and over by Candlelight Shadow and Blue Sky Scar! How could you be so heartless!?"

The guild leader’s eyes started turning red. "Eight… eight hundred mages then. I really have no more people to spare…"

I lifted the stir-fried gherkin and pushed one last time, "Look, I truly value our friendship, so I’m going to give you a friend’s offer, okay? 1200 mages, and no less than that! Please stop rejecting me already!"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes pulled a face. "1200 is too much. Make it one thousand…"

"Deal!"

I grabbed her hand immediately and shook it strongly. "One thousand it is! I’ll hand you the name list later, and oh, I want Beauty Yu Tong as well!"

"What?" Her mouth fell open a little. "No… no way! Yu Tong is ours!"

"Come on, I’m just borrowing her for a bit!"

"Hmph! Why don’t we ask for her opinion? Yu Tong is her own person!" was what she said, but she wouldn’t stop sending signals to Yu Tong with her eyes. "Would you like to join Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls temporarily, Yu Tong?"

Beauty Yu Tong replied immediately, "Of course! Big brother Lu Chen is my idol after all!"

The guild leader facepalmed and groaned out loud, "Ah, I think I’m going to kill myself on my gherkins…"

……

For all her grievances, Stranger of Three Lifetimes quickly regained her cool and sat back down on her chair. "Look, Blazing Hot Lips doesn’t mind borrowing Ancient Sword some troops, but we can’t do it for free, you understand what I’m saying? What will you offer for our aid?"

I nodded. "Tell me what you want, and I’ll fulfill it if it’s within my ability to do so!"

She said, "Then I want you to lend me 1000 Dragonlight Cavalrymen!"

Of course, I rose to my feet and shouted, "NEVER!"

"W-why?"

"We only have 2001 Dragonlight Cavalrymen, and you want to borrow half of them? Are you trying to kill us? And even if I did agree to this, do you really think they’d accept it? These sonuvabitches want nothing more but to snuggle with the likes of Chaos Moon, Beiming Xue, Moon Dew and sis. I can lend them to you, but don’t say I didn’t warn you if they skip out on guild activities and return to Sky City to visit their idols at least three times a day! Still think you want them?"

"Er…" Dumbstruck, the guild leader asked, "Fine. I’ll think of something else."

I nodded. "Take your time, and feel free to enjoy your meal while you think. Again, Ancient Sword will fulfill any request as long as it is within our abilities."

Stranger of Three Lifetimes nodded and ate a mapo tofu. While she was sucking the tip of her chopsticks, she suddenly said, "How about this: Blazing Hot Lips is working to upgrade our territory to Rank 8 right now, but we’re lacking around 1 million units of every resource. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls is already Rank 9, and you have a lot of warehouse space, right? In that case, I demand a payment of 4 million resource unites. Rank 9 territories can build Markets, right? You can deliver to us via supply carts."

"1 million units of each resource type?" He Yi’s mouth fell open a little. "But...that’s too much. Also, Dark Moon City is currently accumulating resources to upgrade to Rank 10 ourselves…"

However, I quickly motioned for He Yi to stop while smiling at Stranger for Three Lifetimes. "Hmph, 1 million of each resource, is it? Alright, I’ll make the call right now. Don’t come back to me later and say I’m insincere, okay?"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes nodded. "Alright. Make the call then!"

So I called Gui Guzi’s number, and—

"AHHHHHHH what’s this about, Boss Broken Halberd? I’m sleeping!" Gui Guzi yelled.

I replied, "I got something important for you to do!"

"What is it?"

"I want you to contact Lian Xin and tell her to order the Dark Knight Hero Udal to transport 1 million units of each resource type to Blazing Hot Lips’ territory. The supply carts will be entering Vanished God City’s domain, and the journey is about 10 hours long, so I want 1000 Dragonlight Cavalrymen and 10000 Cyan Tiger Cavalrymen to protect them. The delivery must be carried out without any mishaps!”

"What? Are you sure? That’s a lot of resources, you know?"

"It’s fine. Now go get to work!"

"Got it!"

……

I hung up and shot Stranger of Three Lifetimes a smile. "What do you think, Momo? Have I displayed sufficient sincerity?"

The guild leader nodded in satisfaction. "That’s more like it. This is what I expect from an ally!"

I let out a chuckle. It was time to move onto the next phase of the plan. I took out my notebook from my bag and passed it to Eyes Like Water, saying, "Beauty Eyes, please upload Blazing Hot Lips main guild’s name list into this notebook, will you? I’ll make my pick after I finish eating!"

"Okay!"

It wasn’t long before all fifty thousand names in Blazing Hot Lips main guild appeared in front of me. While I was making my pick, I also asked for Yu Tong’s phone number and saved it to my phone. There was no way I was going to pass an elite mage like her by!

……

Half an hour later, I finished my selection and showed it to Stranger of Three Lifetimes. When she saw the list, she exclaimed in astonishment, "Huh? Is it just me, or is everyone besides Yu Tong a guy?"

I nodded. "Of course. Men are more... reliable, let’s put it that way."

"Er, okay…?"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes looked confused, but she shot me a smile and said, "I’ll tell them to join Ancient Sword when I go online then. Who will be receiving them?"

"Chaos Moon. Just tell them to contact Chaos Moon directly. Not you though, Yu Tong. I’ll add you as my friend later, so you can just come to me directly!"

Beauty Yu Tong smiled like a flower. "Okay!"

……

We chatted for almost an hour after we finished lunch. After that, we bade each other goodbye and left.

He Yi drove us back to Suzhou. She looked to be in a good mood.

"Lu Chen…"

"Mn. What is it?"

"Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t help but feel like you have some ulterior motive. What are you plotting really? And why did you only request for male mages? It’s not like Blazing Hot Lips are lacking in high-level female mages…"

I grinned widely as I pulled out my earbuds. "Oh, it’s simple. Once these male mages arrive, I’m going to separate them and put them into Moon Dew, Chaos Moon, and Beiming Xue’s party. More accurately, I’m putting them under the care of our most attractive women. Do you understand my tactic now? I promise you that these lechers will forget all about Blazing Hot Lips in just half a month’s time. As for Beauty Yu Tong, you just leave her to me."

"What?"

He Yi’s mouth fell open as she let go of the gas pedal and stared at me. "Are you thinking what I’m thinking? You’re not going to give her her mages back, are you?"

I grinned wickedly. "Of course! Hmph hmph, since when have you seen me on the losing end of a deal? You didn’t really think I sent her 4 million resources for free, did you? I’ve never even sent Yiyi’s Silver Fir City this much resources, so why should I make an exception for Momo? Hehehe! She doesn’t know it yet, but these mages are lost to her the moment they come through our front door! I’ll make sure that they’re put to good use!"

He Yi was speechless for a moment. "So devious..."

I leaned back against my seat with a smile. "Devious? Nah, this is just a page in the textbook of warfare. Also, Blazing Hot Lips’ strength won’t change if they lose 1000 mages, but Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls will become so much stronger after this injection. That being said, I’m not a heartless man. We’ll help out Blazing Hot Lips whenever we can in the future."

"Yeah, we should try and make up for this…"

He Yi broke into a laugh all of a sudden.

"Why are you laughing?" I asked.

She replied, "No, I’m just recalling that famous quote from Lonely Grave, ‘Get either Falling Dust or Candlelight Shadow, and you’ll conquer the world’. As it turned out, that old fox is completely right. He must’ve realized your cunning and prowess since a couple years ago…"

I was dumbfounded by the unkind assessment. "Oh c’mon! This is just standard tactics! I’m nothing like that foxy guy, okay?"

He Yi continued to tease me. "Big fox, small fox. What’s the difference? You’re both like that Rukawa Kaede from Slam Dunk!"

I closed my eyes. "Wait, really? Okay. If you insist, then I’ll be Rukawa Kaede…"

He Yi: "..."

……

I logged into the game after we returned to the apartment.

I checked in with Gui Guzi, and he reported that he was escorting the supply carts himself. Li Chengfeng and High Fighting Spirits were also with him. Chaos Moon was receiving the players from Blazing Hot Lips, and the smart girl knew to put them in a party of beautiful women even before I said anything to her. Damn, it’s rare to find someone who knows my train of thought so well!

Beep!

After that, I sent Yu Tong a friend request. It was accepted in no time.

"Come to the eastern plaza of Sky City, Yu Tong!"

"Okay!"

A few seconds later, Yu Tong appeared at the teleportation formation, and I walked up to her immediately. After sending her a guild invitation, I checked her equipment and brought out a pair of Heaven-grade boots from my bag. She definitely looked like she could use the upgrade.

"Here, this is your newcomer’s gift. I found it yesterday, although I can’t remember which boss I got it from…" I handed the boots to her.

Yu Tong exclaimed in surprise. "Really? You’re giving this to me for free?"

"Of course!" I nodded without hesitation. "Starting now, you are a member of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. We’re all family here, and it’s only natural to look after our own, right?"

Yu Tong nodded with a smile. "Mn mn. It’d be impolite to refuse here, so thank you, big brother Lu Chen."

"Yeah."

……

After that, I contacted Chaos Moon to properly clarify the situation regarding these Blazing Hot Lips mages. Finally, I teleported to Vanished God City and rushed to meet up with the escort party. The best way to show my sincerity was to protect the supply carts myself!