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Just like this, the negotiations have formally begun!

The first one to make a statement was West-Resisting City’s City Lord Li De, aka, me. As any talent recruiter would do first, I naturally started out by speaking about benefits and salary. I picked up the book next to me, took out a draft that I had prepared in advance from it, and preached to Fang Thirteen straight away:

“Any conditions you have, West-Resisting City will consider. Any misgivings you have, West-Resisting City will clear up. Apart from giving you absolute trust, Aleya and Felita will accept your management during wartime. One Level 5 Swordsman at greater perfection, just a fine line away from Level 6, also a talented assassin. The other a Demon Race hybrid, a Level 5 tactical magic fort. You understand the importance of such a strategic resource as well as I do, if not more. Although army formations are for the purpose of displaying the peak strength of the army being controlled, having such a strong force within the formation as a variable can greatly increase the flexibility of the battle formation.Thus, it will allow you to have more cards to play……you admit to this point, right? How about it, Fang Thirteen?”

Fang Thirteen shook her head and clenched both hands together as she replied:

“I’ve already told you, even if you offer excellent treatment, I still won’t leave with you. Because I am the Overlord of Zhao Chen’s daughter, Sky Star City’s——”

Without waiting for Fang Thirteen to finish her words, I interrupted by yelling at Aleya:

“That Fang Lita is always weeping and wailing, how annoying. Go and block his mouth. Make sure he doesn’t bite his tongue off first, then break off two of his fingers. Let’s see if he dares cry out then.”

There wasn’t enough time for Fang Thirteen to prevent it from happening. Aleya’s longsword fell and the sound of bones being smashed into pieces was clearly transmitted into everyone’s ears. Fang Lita’s mouth had undoubtedly already been blocked up by a cleaning rag, but he nevertheless produced a muffled hum. The sound wasn’t too loud, but it would make the people hearing it shudder and feel as if their hearts were being clawed by hundreds of animals. Fang Thirteen hastily yelled:

“W-wait a minute!”

As she gasped for breath, she made a difficult compromise. Even though she still hadn’t yielded, she reluctantly said:

“……I’ll give it some thought.”

I nodded and continued:

“Then allow me to introduce our West-Resisting City’s benefits and salary. Receiving double salary at year-end is guaranteed and in addition to this, it is also possible to receive a three-month performance prize. As long as no major problems arise, receiving 16 months of pay a year should be easy. If you live in the City Lord’s mansion, you will be eating meals with me every day. If you aren’t, there will be extra subsidies provided for you. There is also overtime pay for work you do extra. As for your residence, we will choose a room within West-Resisting City’s City Lord’s mansion for you, maids included. As for guards, we guarantee that you will be absolutely safe within the City Lord’s mansion. If you decide to go out, you may choose up to 10 people from the army to be your specialized guards. These 10 people will follow your arrangement and you can depend on them.”

Fang Thirteen carefully thought for a moment before responding:

“There are no problems with these things, but I am still……”

Just like before, I interrupted by yelling at Aleya before she finished her words:

“How come that Fang Lita’s been twisting and turning so wildly, as if he’s a bug? Shouldn’t a kidnapped person be a little more quiet and still? Aleya, disrupt his arm, you can do so by breaking his shoulder blade.”

This time, Fang Thirteen hurriedly shouted:

“Wait a second, I——”

Aleya certainly wouldn’t listen to her words, so the sound of bones being fractured echoed the room once more.

Fang Lita had already fallen apart crying.

Fang Thirteen shuddered from head to toe as both her hands firmly grasped the bed sheets. She had already been biting her lips, but due to her body shivering so much, her teeth punctured her lips and dark red blood fell onto the bed. I yawned and remarked with a flat voice:

“Finally, some peace and quiet……what did you want to say just now, Fang Thirteen?”

Fang Thirteen took in a deep breath, then coldly answered:

“I said I would give it some consideration.”

I responded with a grin:

“Mm, that’s fantastic. Let’s proceed with the discussion. But before that, Fang Lita seems to have some words to say……Aleya, take down the cloth from his mouth.”

Aleya pulled on the corner of the cleaning rag, untying the saliva-filled cleaning rag before immediately throwing it into the floor, appearing as if she didn’t want to be touched by even a single drop of saliva. Fang Lita howled out miserably as if to vent the pain of having bones broken. A short while later, as he was gasping for breath, he suddenly cursed at Fang Thirteen:

“It’s all your fault! It’s all your fault, you useless sister! If it weren’t for you, Sky Star City wouldn’t have been lost and I wouldn’t have become like I am now! If you didn’t exist, I would still be a City Lord in some place. Even if there weren’t 10 cities, at least I wouldn’t be a prisoner like I am now. You waste, you’re never able to do anything right! I shouldn’t have been good to you at the time, I shouldn’t have saved you!”

Fang Thirteen swallowed a mouthful of saliva before calling out her little brother’s name with great difficulty:

“A’ta……”

Fang Lita exclaimed:

“Don’t call me that name, am I familiar with you? Get lost, I, Fang Lita, don’t have an older sister like you! Screw off! Hmph hmph……on the surface it looks like everything you’re doing is for my good, but who knows what you’re doing behind my back? Maybe you had already been colluding with other people to deceive me, you shameless——”

I remarked apathetically:

“Alright, it seems that no words can be expected out of a scoundrel’s mouth. Aleya, block up his mouth.”

Fang Lita was once again relegated letting out hums in protest.

I turned to face Fang Thirteen and proceeded with what I had to say:

“Fang Thirteen, I’m deeply sorry for lying to you in the past. Therefore, like I said before, I’m willing to take any requests you make into consideration. However, I have never regretted what I’ve done in Sky Star City and will never regret having worked under you. Even though I told you a fake name, used a made-up identity, and arranged a bogus background for myself, I was witness to your emotions, I accompanied you in experiencing the highs and lows. All these memories are real, they’re genuine. My promise in waiting for you to become Sky Scheming Mansion’s number one top general so that I can become your deputy general, it’s still valid. The amount of nights I’ve spent accompanying you, listening to your stories, speaking of my stories, these are also true, they held my real feelings.”

I let out a sigh, then pulled on Fang Thirteen’s hand and said:

“If you’re willing, I can also sit by your bedside every few days and read you books, as well as push you on your wheelchair to experience many many places. Mountains, seas, forests, rivers; even if you can’t see, I’ll take you there nevertheless. When we grow old, maybe there will be a day when I also become unable to walk and need to sit on a wheelchair. There will be a person to push our wheelchairs to see an endless expanse of flowers and bury our bodies in a land filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers.”

Fang Thirteen’s expression showed that she was clearly swayed. But then she began constantly shaking her head. It was unknown whether it was to persuade me or persuade herself, but she quietly murmured:

“Stop talking! Don’t……”

I stopped talking and watched Fang Thirteen go through inner turmoil. Suddenly, I remarked to Aleya:

“Fang Lita seems to have fallen ill, how come he’s incessantly humming even though we haven’t touched him? It’s a little annoying, go break his chin.”

Aleya responded with:

“Yes, young master.”

Fang Thirteen shrieked:

“Hold on! Wait a second!”

She couldn’t see anything, but she still threw herself in the general direction of where Aleya’s voice had come from and used both her hands in an attempt to grasp at her. I don’t know whether it was due to her good luck or skill, but her hand was able to swipe the hem of Aleya’s clothes. Upon feeling it, she immediately held on and begged:

“Wait……I beg you. Let me think for a moment, let me think for a moment.”

Aleya looked over at me while I watched Fang Thirteen without saying a word.

Fang Thirteen was silent for a moment before she grit her teeth and told me:

“Fine……didn’t you say that you’ll give consideration to whatever conditions I raise? Then release my little brother and return Sky Star, Star-Commanding, and Starless back to him! As long as you’re able to achieve this……I will return with you to West-Resisting City. Otherwise, even if you use Aleya to threaten me, I will not accept and prepare myself to be buried with him.”

I gazed at Fang Thirteen for a spell, then replied with a disdainful tone:

“West-Resisting City and Abyss City have spent an untold amount of efforts on getting these cities and I, the City Lord, personally committed a risk by coming here, yet now you want me to return all I won? Right now, your lives are both within my hands; as long as I say the words, your little brother’s head will fall to the ground. I don’t believe that you truly have the heart to see such a scene occur before your eyes.”

Fang Thirteen didn’t speak as she also knew how demanding this condition was.

Perhaps she also wasn’t completely sure that I would agree. If it were Moon, she would surely show off his calmness at this time. As long as he showed a tranquil and transcendent attitude, there would be increased odds of a successful negotiation. As for those like Fang Thirteen, you could tell at a glance that this absolutely wasn’t her bottom line.

In fact, her bottom line was most likely just to make Fang Lita a wealthy man.

But did I really need to push down the price of her request just to test her bottom line? After all, I was the one who deceived her, which means I owe her. Since that’s the case——

I sighed:

“Okay. I’m just the foolish son of a region’s Overlord anyway. Aleya, release Fang Lita. Tell Moon……that we don’t need these three cities.”

The expression on Fang Thirteen’s face turned into one of incredulity.