Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland.

Chapter 712: The Chief's Son
Just as Lu Meng and the others confirmed, being close to the High Wall Shield Guards, or even controlling the entire suburbs where the savages live, does not count as controlling the Mining Town - there are large mining areas and the ruins of the imperial city here. If you only achieve the former, you will only have the power to sign on a cage, which has no practical significance.

Tian Xinli Zheng also knew this.

He knew that relying on his own strength, this action of leading the troops to enter and return to the Mine of Sorrow could not solve all the problems. The city's maze-like underground passage network and the intricate distribution of forces required more power to truly control.

"So... he wants to find you?" Bo was slightly moved, his fingers unconsciously stroking the weapon at his waist, "To explore the core of Ai Mine Town."

Although Tianxin Lizheng did not explicitly mention cooperation, he has hinted that he will restrain the army of Kaidun City, only guard the existing controlled sections of the city wall and not continue to expand, and draw a clear buffer zone. Their real goal is to go straight into the heart of the Ai Mine.

Kaidun City is in the south, Lu Meng and others are in the north. The two teams will form a confrontation and jointly go deep into this long-abandoned imperial capital.

"This way, if we encounter any problems, we can share the pressure, or let the other side draw firepower; at the same time, what we can gain depends on our own ability." Lu Meng said, "But no matter what the result is, once we meet up... we will completely clear this city-state in the end."

Bo snorted lightly and said nothing.

Lu Meng did not mention the content of the letter, but turned to mention another matter: "In your opinion, what kind of person is Tian Xinli?"

"A powerful enemy that must be eliminated." The anti-slavery activist answered without hesitation.

But after saying that, she shook her head again: "He is also a person who cannot move for the time being."

Firstly, it’s because of strength.

The method of assassination is to use the weak to defeat the strong, and the weak are naturally at a disadvantage. Judging from the fact that Tian Xinli was attacking and forcing Diu to retreat, the several war-level ronin among their anti-slavers would not be able to do anything to the opponent unless they joined forces or fought alone.

Plus the city of Kaiton.

Compared with this general, Lord Shilang, the current great lord of the Tenshin family, is said to be soft-hearted and not strong-willed, but he is very reasonable in the governance and defense management of the city-state.

If Tian Xinli Zheng retreated to Kaidun City, the cost of killing him would increase several times.

The dense outposts, patrols, and harpoon launchers on the city walls are the best proof of this.

However, these are only secondary factors.

"Secondly...you are worried about Diaoyu Island and South Beehive." Lu Meng slowly continued Bo's words.

The headquarters of the anti-slavery forces is in Stober to the east. Even if there are many difficulties in assassinating Tian Xinli, if Gray is determined or Tin Fist takes action personally, the outcome will not change much.

But the consequences could be serious.

Tian Xinli is currently stationed in the Southern United City, and this is not just talk. In the southernmost part of the continent, there are threats from fish-shaped people and the Southern Hive. The former are numerous and tenacious, while the latter are bloodthirsty and unreasonable... No matter which one it is, they are capable of destroying a city and exterminating a clan.

In the future, human skin gangs may also be added.

Lu Meng added silently in his heart.

Putting aside the fact that the Southern Hive is stationed in the Royal Valley, they will attack and capture any foreigners who enter the valley but have little intention of expanding. However, Fish Island, where the fish-shaped people are entrenched, never forgets to attack in the direction of the mainland.

If it weren't for Kaiton City as the backbone, most of the Skeleton Wasteland would probably be ravaged by fishmen - there is a reason why this city-state developed into an important military town and produced powerful people like Tianxin Lizheng.

It's all the result of experience.

Or rather, forced.

The anti-slavers were indeed enemies of the United Cities and the Merchant Guild behind them, but their opposition was not mindless: no matter how rotten the order was, it was still order, and hastily overthrowing it before they had the ability to rebuild the ruins might even cause greater damage.

Obviously, the special city-state of Kaiton was included in them. It had the Scrap Master production group and was at the forefront of the fight against alien races. It was a rare fortress for humans in the beast disaster... As its guardian, Tian Xinlizheng had reached a similar non-interference coexistence situation with the "thugs" and anti-slavery people.

for both parties.

They are both checks and balances and compromises.

It can be imagined that this situation will continue and be difficult to break until someone emerges who can replace Tian Xin Li Zheng's position.

So after learning that Lu Meng had received a letter from Tian Xin Li Zheng, Bo's reaction was surprisingly calm. On the one hand, he was not surprised, as he felt that this was something the United City general would do, and on the other hand, it did not go against their own position.

Now that the southern nobles unanimously believe that the Northern United City and even the Merchant Guild and Long En are their biggest enemies, the appearance of a Blood Lord of the Flash Land... the Red King here makes it possible to cooperate with him.

Only now did Bo understand Mr. Hui and Lu Beiyou's original plan better: Long En was best at killing with a borrowed knife, sitting firmly behind the scenes and watching his enemies fight to a defeat. Among them, the southern states were undoubtedly the most powerful forces that he could mobilize with the help of the puppet emperor, and he used them without any regrets.

But now, the hilt is reversed.

The blade was not only pointed at himself, but also at his two enemies, and there was a possibility of cooperation.

Although its foundation is quite weak and it may only happen this time, it is still an extremely unfavorable signal for the Merchant Guild.

"So, are you going to agree?"

Bo asked.

Lu Meng nodded slowly.

There are more complex implications involved.

For example, the reason that Tianxin Li was changing was most likely due to the instigation and interests of the two city-states of Coronce and Drifting End. On the other hand, Kaidun City also cooperated with the Watchers of the Lagoon...

Although his plan was quickly defeated by Lu Meng before it could take effect, and his partner Qin had already died, so there was no need to continue to fulfill the contract - but according to Lu Meng's understanding, Tian Xin Lizheng might be the only one in the world who really cares about such things.

Such cooperation is on the verge of collapse.

The foundation is not even as solid as the tacit understanding between him and some of his enemies.

But no matter what the hidden story is, Lu Meng knows Tian Xin Lizheng much better than he knows himself. Even if they go hand in hand, this side will never lose out.

"However, this is really rare. Even Mr. Gray might have heard of it for the first time, right?" When Bo saw Lu Meng nod, she knew the matter was settled. She relaxed and changed her tone to a casual chat. "As the person on the opposite side, it was Tian Xinli who first extended the olive branch."

When the young man put down the letter, she walked forward to take a look at it out of curiosity, and then turned her eyes away in a cheesy manner.

Compared to Lu Meng, Tenshin Risho has indeed been famous for a long time and is a veteran strongman who has already established his status. Even when Ronin Diu led the team into the Flash Land, he underestimated the strength of the Red King - but he did not expect that General Tenshin would value him so much.

There is no successor in Kaidun City, and the southern states have not produced any young people worthy of cultivation recently. Bo even doubted whether Tian Xinli had been so attentive when he was encouraging and commending his own people.

"...That's not necessarily true. I've seen another case." Lu Meng said casually, but he was remembering another thing in his mind.

The city of Kaiton promised not to continue expanding its sphere of influence in Ai Mine Town. The team of heavily armored warriors that came before were really envoys. After delivering the letter, they left immediately without staying, leaving the shield guards on the high wall a little confused.

But this is by no means a disadvantage for Tianxin Lizheng.

They have already occupied nearly three quarters of the city's defenses, and with the natural tendency of high walls and shields, the remaining part must be divided into a buffer zone to prevent a conflict between the two sides...

It can be said that Lu Meng is now just making sure that he can gain a foothold in Ai Mine Town.

But in this way, the person he was looking for should now be within the other party's control. "That's right, this is my condition."

……

……

The man in linen shoes and plain clothes opened his eyes. In his house, spices were burning, emitting a drowsy fragrance.

Even the richest people would not burn so many spices at one time.

However, Tian Xinli Zheng was not doing this out of extravagance. Even though he couldn't see anything on the outside, years of battles and strain had accumulated too much fatigue in his body. If it weren't for the high concentration of fragrance to distract his attention, he might even have difficulty falling asleep when he was alone.

Killing with a quick knife is not scary.

The sad part is grinding away inch by inch.

Not long ago, Qin from the Depression Lagoon even sent some "new medicine" to please Tian Xinli, saying that it could make people forget their pain... but in the end, Tian Xinli declined it.

He understood that this was a test.

It's also a demonstration.

As the guardian of Kaiton City, he had been planning to find a promising successor very early on, but unfortunately the children in the city-state in recent generations have not been very ambitious.

Only recently a young man came out.

Very talented.

Tian Xinli was very interested.

However, the other party seemed to be from a small aristocratic family with the surname Lu. Although they were considered nobles, their background was far from enough to take over the guarding of Kaidun in the eyes of others. In addition, their position of head of the family was still vacant, so the young man was the only one.

Family background can't provide much support.

Moreover, even from the perspective of personal strength, in the eyes of some veteran officers, the young man named Lu Beiyou was only able to become a vanguard grain transport officer in his early twenties...

It's not that outstanding.

Compared to General Tianxin, whom they regarded as a god, he was far inferior.

So I'm not really convinced.

However, only Tian Xinlizheng had investigated, and the other party's talent also surprised him: Lu Beiyou had been practicing martial arts for less than two years.

He had always been a playboy before.

It was not until his family encountered misfortune that he worked hard and became a different person.

In addition to practicing martial arts.

He also used the alias "Lu Meng" and learned the forging skills from a scrap master in Kaidun City. It didn't take long for him to become a master.

But this is

This is exactly Tianxin Lizheng’s strength.

It can be said that Lu Beiyou's growth trajectory caters to his own preferences in every aspect... If he didn't know it was impossible, he would have suspected whether someone had seen through his thoughts with mind reading.

Then carefully designed.

Tian Xinlizheng did not reveal this news to others. He knew that excessive attention would harm the growing talents of the empire, just like pulling out a large part of the wheat seedlings before they are mature just to grow taller quickly... Therefore, except for sometimes when he felt itchy, he hid his identity and gave some pointers on swordsmanship, especially forging techniques, but he did not touch them at other times.

Even though he knew that people from other factions were planting spies in the army and secretly oppressing Lu Beiyou, Tian Xinlizheng did not pay any attention to it.

In his opinion, if one wants to grow up, it is necessary to go through this kind of hardships and setbacks.

Just like steel being tempered by a hammer.

And as expected, Lu Beiyou had already solved the problem: Tian Xinlizheng had seen some hooded guards with unhappy expressions when he was discussing matters in the military tent not long ago, and they happened to be a few spies from other families... Even though Tian Xinlizheng's mood was already quite indifferent and most things would not cause any waves for him, he still felt somewhat amused and refreshed when he saw this scene for the first time in a long time.

As expected of the person he likes.

General Kaitun, who had just rested for two hours in a whole week, poured himself a glass of water and stared out the window at the neat military camp, dilapidated ruins, the pale yellow sky and the double moons that never set.

Suddenly, the herald arrived.

"General, something bad has happened!" the officer panted, "Zhang Jie, Chen Qing, Se Yun... they haven't come to report for duty for many days."

It was said that there was no report, but this was during the march, and the implications of absence were self-evident.

It's impossible that someone gave up his military post in Kaidun City and surrendered to the barbarians.

"There are many dangers in Aikuang Town. As an officer, you must obey military orders. I heard that some of them secretly break the alcohol ban and play with women on weekdays... If they really lose their lives, it's not anyone else's fault."

Tian Xinli took a sip calmly.

The people mentioned by the herald happened to be the spies who were monitoring Lu Beiyou... But Tian Xinli Zheng didn't expect that the young man, who looked like a dandy, was actually ruthless and cruel when doing things.

A kind person should not be in charge of an army, that's how it should be.

When the officers saw the general's expression, they swallowed their saliva and the words of accusation and urging from the nobles of the city-states and the military supervisors, and did not repeat them again.

He knew that General Tianxin didn't care.

“General…” However, there was one more thing he had to say: “Brother Lu…is also missing.”

puff!
For a moment the officer seemed to hear a loud sound of water spraying, but when he looked back he saw that there was no mist in the room, only a little residual moisture.

And Tian Xin Li Zheng was already standing in front of him: "What did you say!"

"He, he said he was going to trace the lost food..." the officer said tremblingly, "But when I checked the luggage in the camp, I found that Brother Lu's bag was gone, and he also took away many swords and armors that he had made privately... General, you say..."

"Could he have surrendered to the enemy?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a shadow rushed out of the door.

The officer only saw from his blurry back that General Tianxin's clothes seemed to be wet...

(End of this chapter)