The Last Sentinel

Rewind 36 hours.

Blue Star, a sea area in the Atlantic Ocean.

Amidst howling winds and towering black waves, a luxury cruise ship cuts through the waves and speeds out.

A harsh sea breeze swept across the deck of the luxury cruise ship, and the two men's faces turned red from the cold, their noses froze.

"What happened to the promised Hainan Rendez-Vous, the promised carnival with young models, the promised 1982 Romanée-Conti! What happened to the promised sunshine and beaches?!"

"Now things are much better! Young models have become silicone dolls, and '82 Romanée-Conti's has turned into '82 Erguotou's liquor! And the Atlantic's cold winds and blizzards are plentiful!"

"I can accept the dolls, but these dolls are all secondhand!"

How did you know?

"The doll that Hua Xiaobai gave me is the one I sold on a second-hand platform! I was thinking that our boss was going to take us to an offline gathering, and I'd soon have a real girlfriend, so I put my previous girlfriend up for sale online. Who knew that after all this time, my girlfriend would come back to me!"

"Holy crap! Didn't the boss give Hua Xiaobai three million for offline entertainment? Where did all the money go?"

"The three million was just what the boss gave us; Hua Xiaobai secretly charged each of us 100,000 for admission tickets!"

"Damn it! This is intolerable! They're trying to fleece our brothers again!"

The speakers were none other than the two elite generals, Dian Wei and Xu Chu.

The two of them were filled with regret at that moment.

This offline gathering was completely pointless; I should have just stayed in Perfect City.

At that moment, the cabin door of the luxury cruise ship opened, and the 80-year-old Zhuge Mengde shouted, "What are you two doing out there! Come in and warm up!"

Inside the cabin, Hua Xiaobai laughed, "They're probably complaining that I embezzled the money again! They're sulking! But it's alright, you'll soon experience the thrill of battle! You'll thank me."

Upon hearing that the battle was exciting, Dian Wei and Xu Chu rushed into the cabin together. Seeing Hua Xiaobai holding a bottle of 1982 Erguotou in one hand and a bottle of Huazi cigarettes in the other, one of them grabbed Hua Xiaobai and the other grabbed Brother Bashi.

Xu Chu pointed at Eighty Brother's nose and said, "Are you asking for a beating?! What a mess Hua Xiaobai made you out of, and you ended up sleeping with him again! This time we gave him three million in event funds to host the Hainan Rendez-Vous, and the dolls turned out to be silicone, and secondhand ones at that!"

"We agreed on sunshine and beaches, but now it's freezing cold outside, with winds howling and snow falling! We're brothers in arms, and you're plotting something with us!"

"And this is what they invited Qi Tian to the party! It's a good thing Qi Tian didn't come; if he had, he might have embarrassed himself in front of the sentries!"

Dian Wei pointed at Hua Xiaobai's nose, "You're the most cunning little devil! Where's the money? Did you swindle three million again?!"

Upon seeing this, the other people on the boat, including the three brothers of the King of Hanzhong, rushed forward to stop the fight.

"No, don't hit me! We're brothers, it's not worth it!"

"Actually, I think this cigarette and Erguotou go quite well together!"

"I think it's a good idea too! The doll I have is even my favorite Rem! No problem at all!"

The two Tiger Warriors were stopped, and the group sat at opposite ends.

Brother Eighty glanced at the enraged Tiger Warriors and coughed, "Little White, give everyone an explanation!"

Hua Xiaobai took a sip of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), looked around at the people, and said, "That's right, I admit it. Brother Zhuge gave me three million in event funds, and I also received one hundred thousand from each of you, so the total event funds for this trip are roughly four million! If we're talking about a normal event like the Hainan Rendez-Vous, it would cost at most two million!"

"But then I thought, we're all young now, it's better to spend our money wisely than waste it on girls!"

"So I made a decision on my own: I'll use the money to befriend some of the rich young men from the Alliance!"

"As everyone has seen, our group of eight hundred has no foundation in the Human Alliance. We didn't join through the proper procedures like Lord Sentinel. Our proper procedures are blocked by Hughes and can't be completed right now. So our status is very awkward. We are nominally Human Alliance warriors, but we don't have any Human Alliance identity. There's no record of us in the archives. In that case, it will be very difficult for us to get any intelligence, and spending money is inevitable..."

Brother Eighty interrupted Hua Xiaobai's explanation, "Get to the point!"

Hua Xiaobai said, "I spent the money and then found out the address of Hughes, the Speaker of the Human Alliance Council."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei, the King of Hanzhong, couldn't help but ask, "Why are you asking about Hughes's address? Are you going to seek refuge with Hughes first?"

Ah Yu said, "I'm not trying to criticize you, Xiao Bai, but Hughes is about to be finished. After the Supreme Council, he'll be a thing of the past! Aren't you ruining your future?"

Hua Xiaobai shook his head and said, "No, no! I'm not siding with Hughes. I'm wondering, would a senator who has controlled the Supreme Council of the Human Alliance for decades, an old man who has been in a position of peak power for so long, possibly accept Lord Zhao's arrangement and leave with dignity? Brother Eighty, if it were you, would you step down?"

Brother Eighty shook his head and said, "What are you thinking! Me, step down? I'd rather die on that stage, hang myself on a white silk ribbon, than step down!"

Hua Xiaobai clapped his hands and said, "That's right! That old bastard Hughes is definitely not going to step down obediently!"

Brother Eighty said, "Lord Zhao said he would give him a final act of dignity. So, you mean Hughes won't take that dignified path?"

Hua Xiaobai rolled her eyes: "Decent? Is Hughes a decent person?"

Xu Chu snorted, "What respectable person would betray a war zone commander?"

Hua Xiaobai put his arm around Xu Chu's shoulder: "That's right. Back when I was at Nemo's execution ground, I considered that Lord Zhao Donglai was a respectable man, but Hughes might not be! So I had an idea: if Hughes is respectable, then let him step down through Lord Zhao's respectable path; if he's not, then we brothers will take care of him!"

As he said this, Hua Xiaobai's eyes were filled with coldness and ruthlessness, showing no mercy.

Old Liu, the King of Hanzhong, asked nervously, "Little Bai, does the Sentinel know about this?"

Hua Xiaobai laughed, "If the Sentinel finds out, this matter can't be accomplished! The Sentinel and Lord Zhao Donglai are bound together. If the Sentinel finds out, it means that the Sentinel instructed the brothers to carry out the deadly attack. This was done by the Sentinel, which means it was done by Lord Zhao Donglai! It's very disgraceful to be involved in this matter with them."

"Since Lord Sentinel doesn't know, that means it was just a few of us who did it in private. To put it bluntly, it was just a few ordinary humans without official citizenship who did it, and it has nothing to do with Lord Sentinel or Lord Zhao Donglai!"

"What do you call this? This is called upholding the authority of the superior!"

"We think what our superiors think, we act on what our superiors think. If it's inconvenient for our superiors to take action, we will. If it's inconvenient for our superiors to cause trouble, we will cause trouble!"

"There will always be people in this world who want to be respectable and show off in front of others."

"That means there will always be people in this world who have to act as undercover agents, cleaning up behind the scenes."

Brother Eighty understood what Hua Xiaobai meant and gave a thumbs up, saying, "Xiaobai truly lives up to his reputation as my most trusted strategist. What he said is absolutely right! There's a saying that if you want to build a good relationship with your superior, there are three levels. The first level is to fight hard, just like in the Perfect City campaign!"

"The second type is flattery, which is extremely obsequious. It means thinking what the superior thinks and feeling what the superior feels, and even taking the blame for the superior."

"The third type is to do bad things with your superiors and then take the blame for them when things go wrong."

"Xiaobai's move is a fusion of the third and second methods!"

"Regardless of the outcome, our visit to Hughes will be a completely beneficial mission!"

Xu Chu slapped his forehead. "In that case, when we get ashore, we'll just go up and tie up Hughes' whole family—Ah! Brother, why did you hit me!"

Brother Eighty roared, "We're on the defensive now, Hughes is on the offensive. We'll see how Hughes treats the Supreme Council. If he's disrespectful and tries to retaliate, then we'll take him down. If he behaves respectfully, then we won't bother! Killing him is a last resort. Stop thinking about killing all the time! You're a player, this is the real world! Wake up!"

Hua Xiaobai chuckled and said, "Brother Ba is absolutely right. As the saying goes, a respectable person has a respectable way of dealing with things, and an unrespectable person has an unrespectable way of dying. I have investigated Hughes's personal information. This guy's combat strength is not high. Among the six attributes, only his intelligence is A-level, and the rest are B-level. Although he has some guards, they are not combat personnel of the Human Alliance. Human Alliance warriors only protect the base, not individuals. His guards are all ordinary people. The combat strength of the few of us can completely deal with him."

Afei took a sip of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), put his arm around Rem beside him, and said, "The highest rank is A. How did someone like this become the Speaker of the Senate?"

"It's all speculation!" Hua Xiaobai exhaled a smoke ring. "As someone like him, I know all too well how people like this operate. During the Earth Defense War, all the powerful and excellent warriors died in battle. Even A-level attributes were extremely rare, so he naturally stood out! If there had been even one S-level genius back then, this piece of trash wouldn't have had a chance to take the stage."

Brother Eighty said, "So, Little White, you'll follow in his footsteps in the future?"

Hua Xiaobai jumped up and down, "What are you talking about! Don't compare me to this faithless swindler! My role models are Zhang Yi, Su Qin, Master Guigu, and the strategists! How could this kind of trash become a strategist?"

Brother Eighty curled his lip, "Are all strategists like you, leaving nothing behind after plucking a single feather from a passing goose?"

Hua Xiaobai said, "You've never even met a strategist, so what makes you think they weren't like me! Maybe in my past lives I was Zhang Yi, Su Qin, Pang Juan, or Sun Bin!"

"Keep bragging!"

"You're such a braggart! You'll just blow your own horn away!"

"If you're a strategist, then I, Dian Wei, must be the reincarnation of Bai Qi!"

"Then, then I, Xu Chu, am the reincarnation of Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King!"

"Stop drinking, we're almost ashore. This island is quite remote. Get ready, we're going ashore."