Tear Stain was keeping her pace to a canter up until that point, but now she had sped up to a full gallop. The moment she reached the foot of the city, a pair of white wings immediately erupted from behind her back. Her blade brimmed with divine energy, and she looked like she was about to bring it down on top of a group of fearless Peach Garden players when one of the magic knights hooted, "This way, little girl! Nothing will make us happier than you wasting your Divine Energy Points on us!"

Tear Stain paused as if she couldn’t believe her ears. Then, her eyes widened with fury as the rest of the gang joined in on the hooting. "You will die!"

……

She raised her weapon again. These people were brave, but there was no chance they were going to survive this considering Tear Stain’s Attack and the destructive power of an SS Rank Ancient Divine Skill.

Thud!

I bent my knees a little and jumped off the wall, cloak rising behind my head as I did so. The Ancient Divine Dragon transformed into metallic armor around my body, and what should’ve been a painful landing turned into a graceful, harmless one instead. My Ghost Spirit War Boots glowed an eerie red as I walked toward Tear Stain, raised the Chill of the Nine Provinces high up in the air and said, "Stop!"

"Hmm?"

The corners of Tear Stain’s lips curled upward as she said, "You’re here too, Falling Dust? Looks like this is going to be a big fight."

I smiled noncommittally and said, "Long time no see. To think that we would meet again on the battlefield! That being said, this doesn’t have to be a fight right off the bat, right?"

Seemingly catching my meaning, Tear Stain sheathed her weapon and said, "I guess so."

On the walls, a vice leader of Peach Garden shouted in a flabbergasted tone, "Are you fighting the enemy or not, Lu Chen? You aren’t seriously thinking about taking Tear Stain as your concubine, are you? Don’t forget that Tear Stain is Candlelight Shadow’s junior! Even if you’re interested, you’ll have to go through him first!"

My mouth twitched, and I completely forgot what I was about to say a second ago. Tear Stain was clicking her tongue and looking like she wanted to murder someone as well.

Indigo Collar hurriedly scolded his vice leader, "For fuck’s sake, Third! Read the room!"

The vice leader clenched his teeth, but he obeyed Indigo Collar’s authority.

……

Behind me, more Chinese players such as Lin Yixin, He Yi, Li Chengfeng, Gui Guzi, High Fighting Spirits, Du Thirteen, Chaos Moon and more jumped off the wall and joined me both to intimidate the enemy and to help me in case anything happened. Of course, non-metal armor players such as Beiming Xue, Stranger of Three Lifetimes, Lian Xin, Luo River God of the Capital and Cute Little Naughty didn’t join us. No one wanted to test Tear Stain’s restraint and get suddenly one-shot by her Yemaek Slash. After all, we and the Korea server were completely hostile right now.

The Koreans weren’t willing to be outdone. Hooves rocked the plains, and soon Throne of the Wild and the other Korean guilds stopped just short behind Tear Stain. There had to be at least hundreds of thousands of them. A tall, brawny man carrying a battle axe walked up to his guild leader and asked in an odd voice, "Why are we waiting, guild leader—oh. I wasn’t expecting to see this many Chinese experts. Even the SSS Rank Ancient Divine Skill owner Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand is here. No wonder you didn’t fight them already. It would’ve been a tad troublesome."

Tear Stain raised her hand and ordered resolutely, "Stand by while I speak with Lu Chen. No one is to attack the enemy unless I say the word. Those who broke the rule will be punished severely!"

"Yes, ma’am!"

After that, Tear Stain dismounted from her horse and walked until she was about five yards away from me. Crossing her hands in front of her chest, she said with perfect confidence, "You may speak now, Lu Chen. Less than a hundred people will be able to hear our conversation from here. Also, the ones standing behind your back are your trusted allies, right?"

I nodded. "Yes, they are."

"Now, speak!"

I sheathed the Chill of the Nine Provinces to enter a non-combat state. Then, I opened my arms and began, "As you may have noticed, we’ve slaughtered more or less every last Sunset City player in the city. The city itself is currently ownerless, and the royal scepter is in my bag. Anyone who uses it will be able to claim it in their server’s name."

A trace of surprise flashed across her eyes. "Yes. So what?"

I smiled. "I can see you’ve brought over 70% of your entire server’s playerbase. Don’t tell me you’re here to visit us or retake the city for the English."

"Heh!"

Tear Stain let out a scornful chuckle. "And how would you know that? In fact, I am here to retake the city for England. I have nearly a hundred Sunset City players in my friend list, and Burning City and Sunset City have been staunch allies since forever. There is absolutely no reason we wouldn’t help them. You saw yourself how quickly we made our way over…"

I smiled. "Oh, certainly. Sunset City was under attack for three to four hours, and it took you exactly that long to complete a single hour of journey. Your ‘aid’ is as timely as it gets."

Tear Stain asked, "So? What’s the plan here? Do you want to occupy the city now so I can kill you and retake the city, or do you want to kill me?"

I shrugged. "Please, you’re Candlelight Shadow’s junior, and you look like a hard touch might break your skin. It’s completely against a Chinese male’s style to hurt a precious woman like you, much less me…"

Tear Stain suddenly giggled until her breasts jiggled visibly. Her character aside, I couldn’t deny she was a true beauty. At the very least, she and Candlelight Shadow deserved each other.

Her giggle lasted for a moment before she abruptly cut herself off and stared at me with cold, steely eyes. "What on earth are you planning, Lu Chen?"

"Nothing much!"

I stepped forward until there was only a single step between the two of us. Then, I leaned forward and whispered beside her ears, "There is a large amount of Hongming Wood deep within Sunset Forest—precious, precious materials that can be used to forge many a great archer. Not only that, Sunset Forest’s monster level and resource variety are top-notch as well. Even if you aren't as greedy as I thought, are you really going to tell me you don’t want to create a party of top-tier archers for Throne of the Wild, one capable of going head to head against Flames of War’s Lightning Archer Legion at least?"

"Ah…"

Tear Stain let out a cry of surprise and took a step backward. I could see that her eyes were filled with surprise and indecision. Less than three seconds later, she stepped back forward and whispered beside my ears, "It’s true that I want Hongming Wood and all those resources, but I think you’re forgetting the fact that Sunset City and Chariot City are my allies…"

"Allies, my ass!" I grinned. "If I command my server to attack Burning City right now, I bet Chariot City won’t lift a single finger to help you. Don’t believe me? I can prove it to you right now if you want to. As you’re aware, the Chaotic 27 and China have formed a true alliance with each other, and now that we’ve taken both the USA’s Seven Star City and Vietnam’s Hot Sand City, the war has shifted from the Center to the north. Do you really think you can maintain the current status quo without a second main city at the very least? We aren’t your only enemies, you know. Vienna’s Sorrow, God of War, Breeze and Rain and Flowing Cloud will all be happy to see you go as well."

I knew my persuasion was working when I saw the astonishment on Tear Stain’s face. I continued, "You are Candlelight Shadow’s junior and a former member of his party. Therefore, you aren’t completely unaffiliated with the China server. You’ve also held back when the Northern Alliance and the Indians tried to wipe us out during the War of Center. That is the only reason I’m offering you both Sunset City and Sunset Forest, understand?"

Tear Stain shivered with even bigger indecision. "I can’t hold this city even if I take it off your hands. Both the English and the German server have a playerbase of ten million each, while we only have a playerbase of 9 million+, and an average online presence of 6 million. There’s no way we can hold Sunset City against both of them."

I smiled. "Seriously? You know that Korea’s VR competitive scene is world-famous, right? Your strength especially is world-class. Another server may not be able to claim the same thing, but you Koreans definitely can hold two main cities with just 9 million players. Most importantly, Sunset City is less than an hour away from Hot Sand City, and Hot Sand City is in our hands right now. Will Candlelight Shadow say no if you contact him for reinforcements?"

Finally, Tear Stain clenched her teeth and grew determined. "Alright. How do we do this?"

I took out the royal scepter and held it in my hand. I told her, "Hit me once, and the royal scepter is yours. Then, we’ll evacuate and leave you to your new city!"

"Very well!"

She raised her sword and swung down on my head without any warning whatsoever. She’s actually trying to kill me! What a woman!

Chiang!

I parried the attack and allowed myself to be pushed back despite having much higher Strength than her. Just like that, a royal scepter appeared on the ground where I jumped off.

Thud!

Tear Stain gripped the royal scepter without hesitation. I could see that her eyes were brimming with excitement.

……

"Lu Chen!"

A series of shouts erupted from the Chinese ranks. Gui Guzi looked especially furious as he shouted, "That bitch dares to sneak attack my brother!? Get her!"

I hurriedly raised the Chill of the Nine Provinces and shouted, "Stop! Stop! Listen to me! We can’t beat the Koreans right now because they’re too OP and excited! All players are to withdraw through the northern and southern gates and rally at the west side of Sunset Forest right now!"

Indigo Collar looked like he could scarcely believe his ears. "Lu Chen, what the hell are you—"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes interrupted with a smile, "Indigo Collar, use your brain for a moment, will you? What do you think will happen if we retreat now and give up the city to the Koreans? This means that the English and Germans will go to war against them instead! That’s at least 50% of the pressure of this war gone just like that!"

Indigo Collar exclaimed in realization, "I… I see! What an absolutely shameless idea! I love it! Lu Chen truly is a strategic genius!"