In this cyberpunk era, why are you still playing the traditional villain?

“…Envoy Xu is right.”

Before anyone could object, Cheng Gujian, who was standing beside the young empress, clapped his hands lightly. “Since the death agreement has been agreed to, we certainly can’t hold it against her later. Quickly move the body away so as not to offend Her Majesty the Empress… Treat it as a death in the line of duty, and make sure the compensation is sufficient.”

"Yes."

With him taking the lead, the others had no choice but to obey, and in the blink of an eye, it was as if nothing had happened.

"It still comes down to the fairness and reason of the Ancient Sword."

Xu Shi narrowed his eyes. "Now, you and Her Majesty the Empress can also sense the value of the trade goods we brought?"

"Yes."

The young empress, Dongfang Xiao, nodded vigorously, showing no fear at the mention of the dead bodies. "You weren't exaggerating; this is indeed a remarkable weapon."

Her cheerful tone was out of place with the others.

But it is also an undeniable fact—although they lost the duel and lost face, the ministers had to grit their teeth and admit that the non-"divine breath" weapons brought by Xu Shi were indeed powerful. In comparison, their matchlock guns were no different from scrap metal...

The key is that this thing isn't difficult to operate! The person Xu Shi sent to fight wasn't even from their Night Sin City, but just a little girl from Silver Pine Island!

Even if she had received training, it wouldn't have taken more than a month, right? The fact that she could complete a battle against a higher-level opponent in such a short time with these weapons shows just how significant the boost it provides.

Pan Feng only used the alloy sword and the "Fire Serpent," and barely activated her light armor, so Fan Shigui barely touched her...

The only excuses that could be found are that the place was too small, the ground was too slippery, he was careless and didn't dodge, or that Fan Shigui's skill level was not very good... He really wasn't very good. "Rock", or rather, a B-level ability user, was at most at an average level. There were many people who were better than him.

Even if he's not very good, he's still a Royal Knight! An elite soldier trained by the Imperial Royal Family! Pan Feng, on the other hand, is just a little girl from Silver Pine Island, and her ability rating is even lower than his.

It is an undeniable fact that Fan Shigui lost to Pan Feng, which further demonstrates the power of the weapons Xu Shi possesses. Otherwise, what would you say? That the Royal Knights relied on their answers?

Seeing the chatter around him, Xu Shi's lips curled up slightly.

That's exactly the effect we wanted. Otherwise, why would we have Xia Xiaomao put Xiaofeng through such grueling training?

Using local natives to refute their claims is more persuasive and better able to provoke these people's sensibilities.

Seeing that the atmosphere was just right, he opened his palm and silently activated his ability.

The halo version of "Evil Entropy Increase" activated by "Yujing" weakens the ability of seeds to deeply erode the mind, but it can instantly amplify the negative emotions in the hearts of everyone within a certain range.

The prevailing negative emotion here now is fear—the scene just now would frighten the people of the Hualan Empire to some extent, and with his urging, the situation would become even more terrifying.

"Your Majesty! In my humble opinion, the items brought by the Night City delegation do have many merits."

The white-bearded minister who had just challenged Xu Shi was the first to speak, his voice trembling slightly, "Now it seems that my previous judgment was indeed wrong. I beg the Duke and Your Majesty to forgive my foolishness."

"I admit I spoke a little loudly just now.jpg"

Here's the thing: putting everything else aside, who would dare not take China's transportation business seriously these days? These weapons are right here; what if they turn on you later?

Anyway, judging from his actions of killing people right away, it is very possible that he did such a thing. It is not easy to send out someone casually. Doesn't the other city-state have its own army?

To make matters worse, the location of the Hualan Empire has been exposed, but they don't know where the City of Night Sin is, which undoubtedly puts them at an even greater disadvantage.

"I second the proposal!"

"Me too!"

"..."

"That's true..."

The smile on the face of the young empress Dongfang Xiao gradually faded, and she became serious and earnest.

She looked at Cheng Gujian beside her, "Then, in your opinion, Duke Gujian, what should we do?"

"...I have never opposed this matter."

Cheng Gujian pondered, "But this is a very important matter. Establishing diplomatic relations is a first for us, so we should try to make it as perfect as possible."

"Yes, Lord Gujian is right."

Dongfang Xiao remained noncommittal. “Then let it be so. Envoy Xu, please stay at the post station for now. I also need to discuss things with you all for a few more days… Since it’s about trade, our Hualan Empire should be well prepared.”

"Then I'll have to trouble Your Majesty."

Xu Shi did not object, and bowed with a smile, "I hope Your Majesty will not take offense if my actions today have offended you slightly."

After saying that, he led everyone away gracefully.

……

Wow, great!

After leaving the palace and arriving at her arranged lodgings, Xiao Feng was still cheering, "What royal knights? Bullshit! I easily dealt with them... Hahahaha!"

"Alright, alright, wake up."

Xia Wuyou was embarrassed and gave her a chop to the head, which snapped the silly disciple out of her daze.

"Huh? What's wrong with me... oh oh oh..."

She retained the memory of what had just happened and, realizing her insolent words and actions, the little girl almost cried out.

How did I become like that?

"It's your master's ability."

Xia Wuyou was both amused and exasperated, and explained it to her.

The wide-ranging aura from earlier had an indiscriminate effect, so Pan Feng naturally couldn't escape it. In fact, since she was closer to Xu Shi, she was bound to be affected as well.

Who says pride isn't a negative emotion? At least pride that's turned into arrogance certainly is.

"But the effect is very good."

Jiang Chengcheng smiled and said, "My husband's actions have accelerated the progress of Jiantong Commerce quite a bit."

"So, isn't Daddy's ability amazing?"

Xia Ke'an echoed Xu Shi's words from his arms, while also showing concern for her junior sister, "Xiao Ling, how are you feeling?"

"Me? I'm fine..."

Pan Ling shook her head. As a "transformer" in the mental system, she naturally had a higher immunity and woke up earlier than her silly older sister.

She had even begun to ponder a question: "Master, you just said it didn't matter whether it was life or death, but, didn't you consider what would happen if my sister couldn't defeat that person...?"

To be honest, she was quite worried when she heard Xu Shi make this arrangement.

"I've thought about it."

Xu Shi smiled and said, "Your teacher's wife, Xia, has been keeping a close eye on things. If anything goes wrong, she'll step in to smooth things over... Of course, Xiao Feng did a very good job to begin with."

That's true. With Xia Xiaomao's strength, dealing with a B-rank is a piece of cake. The ability of "gravity manipulation" can also be used to provide some help in secret.

Although he's a coward, he wouldn't stoop so low as to kill someone with such a single action.

Looks like a good guy.jpg

"Anyway, I won!"

Pan Feng was carefree and didn't care about this at all; in fact, his excitement hadn't faded. "Besides, I think I should thank my master. If he hadn't said that, I probably wouldn't have been able to perform so well..."

This is true. At that time, Xu Shiguang said that he would not care about life or death. This was both pressure and motivation for her, and it pushed her a lot.

"Did I do alright, Master?"

Thinking of this, she looked at Xia Wuyou again and asked a question.

"Yes, you did very well."

Xia Wuyou nodded. She did see in her disciple the way she had struggled when she was wandering in Sin City.

"However, there are still many areas that need improvement, so don't get complacent."

"What?"

Xu Shi retorted with a smile, "If we don't open the champagne after winning, when will we? A good game is a good game."

Xia Wuyou rolled her eyes at him. "Did I say she didn't play well? Always trying to be a good guy... Don't interrupt my disciple! Humph!"

...Oh, right.

"I was saying I'd train you, but I've been so busy I forgot... You'll come with her starting tomorrow!"

She remembered this incident and looked at the bad man with a smile.

"Spare me, madam."

Xu Shi laughed heartily, raising his hands in surrender, "How can my old arms and legs withstand such torment? Wouldn't it be better to save my energy for things I enjoy doing more?"

"Pah, you're so unserious, didn't you say that yourself?"

"Alright, alright, you guys."

Xie Qingyan interrupted their flirting with annoyance, finding it really irritating... "Let's get down to business first. What are you planning to do next? Start with that little empress?"

She knew this scoundrel well enough. Could he really be satisfied with just building transportation and trade? He probably already had his sights set on conquering the empire.

"I think 'infiltration' might be a better word than 'conquest'?"

Xu Shi shook his head. His fiancée had hit the nail on the head. Winning over the main character here was probably no longer feasible, so this was his Plan B.

However, there is still a significant difference between the two. The former can be described as a complete overhaul and restructuring, while the latter involves taking control of the existing system, which is much less of a project.

"Say what you will, but the outcome is still the same: we're going to target the Empress, aren't we?"

Xie Qingyan curled her lip, "If you want to cultivate a puppet, she's obviously easier to control."

If it were her, she would do the same. Everyone could see that although she was the nominal head of the empire, her actual power was far less than that of Cheng Gujian. The ministers below the stage were silent in front of him, but dared to say a few words to Empress Dongfang Xiao.

"And she was exactly as her husband had predicted."

Jiang Chengcheng added sarcastically, "You're probably already itching to try it, aren't you?"

She hasn't forgotten what Xu Shi said before; I'm afraid if you swing that rope, it'll end up around her neck...

"Not necessarily?"

Xia Ke'an expressed a different opinion: "I think that even if Dad wants to do this, now is not the time."

"After all, even the trade arrangements haven't been finalized yet... Shouldn't we be on good terms with whoever has the most power at this time?"

"That's right."

Xu Shi nodded in satisfaction. "My dear daughter understands me perfectly. The person we need to find now is Cheng Gujian, not that little empress."