I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

He wasn't just talking nonsense; he was truly prepared to die on the battlefield.

Ironically, he ended his "last battle" in a very comical way.

Shortly after saying goodbye to Xilika, he was walking briskly down a corridor when he accidentally stepped on a pool of blood. He slipped, lost his balance, and hit his head hard on the ground... and that's how he passed out.

When he woke up, he had become a prisoner of the Mu army.

Such an outcome was unbearable for him.

"Let me die! Kill me now!"—His roars echoed throughout the prisoner-of-war camp.

He roared and struggled... even though he was bound hand and foot, he tried every possible way to resist.

It took the soldiers in charge of settling the prisoners a great deal of effort to calm him down.

Both Hopoi and Xilika came from Xilipomo Xili, and he was even the latter's confidant... It would be most appropriate to ask him about the exact location of the "Moonstone".

The team members responsible for escorting He Poyi to Qingdeng's room quietly withdrew after completing their escort mission.

At this moment, only Qing Deng, Xu Fang, and He Po Yi remained in the room.

Qingdeng sat directly in front of Hepoyi, looking directly into his eyes.

Ogata stood silently to the side, acting as their translator.

"Hey, nice to meet you. I am the commander-in-chief of the Mu army, Tachibana Aoto."

Aoto politely introduced himself, and Ogata accurately translated his words.

Unsurprisingly, He Po ignored it.

He glanced coldly at Qingdeng, then turned his head away with a disdainful look, making a silent declaration with his indifferent eyes—stop talking nonsense, do whatever you want with me!

Qingdeng had anticipated his attitude, so he was not annoyed at all and remained calm.

Since the other party was so uncooperative, he was too lazy to beat around the bush and simply got straight to the point:

"Hepoi, do you want to take revenge on that treacherous Mael?"

In an instant... truly in an instant, He Poyi's eyes flashed with light, and he unconsciously cast a look of astonishment and solemnity at Qing Deng.

Qing Deng said calmly:

“If you wish for revenge, tell me the exact location of the ‘Moonstone’ east of Shiribomo, and I will grant your wish.”

He Poyi was taken aback when she heard the place name "Moonstone".

A moment later, in a hoarse voice, he uttered his first words after meeting Qingdeng:

"...How do you know about 'moonstone'?"

Qingdeng succinctly recounted the whole story.

Upon learning of Xilika's death, Hepoyi clenched his teeth, his cheeks contorted with pain.

Qingdeng added quietly:

“Sirika has decided to take revenge on Mael, so she used her last breath to tell me this important information. Now, it’s your turn to make a choice.”

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Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

P.S.: It's a pity that Leopard can't draw, otherwise Leopard really wanted to draw a sexy picture of the female characters wearing cheongsams to wish the test takers good luck.

Chapter 1085 Following King Ren means a bright future! [5300]

From the very beginning, Qingdeng did not believe that Hepoyi would obediently cooperate with them.

But it doesn't matter.

As long as both parties share common interests, there is a broad prospect for cooperation.

As it turns out, Qing Deng was right.

Just like Xilika, Hepoyi also hated Mael to the bone.

When Qingden mentioned Mael's name, a burning, uncontrollable rage blazed in his eyes.

It is not hard to see that the "Moonstone" was a place known only to the people of the tribe who came from Shiribati.

When Qingdeng said that this place was told to him by Xilika before his death, the suspicion between Hepoyi's brows lessened a bit.

"Is Xilika... dead...?"

He slumped his head and bent over, as if his spine had been removed, staring blankly at the tatami in front of him, muttering to himself.

Although he had expected it, he still couldn't suppress his grief after hearing the news that his beloved leader had died in battle.

Qingdeng did not urge him, but waited quietly.

About three minutes later, Hepoyi gradually calmed down.

After taking a deep breath, He Poyi slowly raised her head and stared straight at Qing Deng:

"...I can tell you the location of the 'Moonstone'."

"But you have to promise me! You must catch that bastard! Kill him... no, that's not enough! You have to make him wish he were dead!"

Towards the end, he became extremely agitated, his voice shrill and piercing, and his eyes were bloodshot.

His hatred for Mael is evident.

From the perspective of the "Ainu Alliance," it's not surprising that people like Sylika and Hopoi hate Mael so much.

If Mael had led his armored fleet bravely to intercept the Baptist fleet today, perhaps the war would not have ended up in this situation!

With the terrifying combat power of those two ironclad warships (Napoleon and Joan of Arc), they had a very high chance of severely damaging the Shogunate fleet.

In fact, even Qing Deng had prepared for the worst at the start of the war, that he would be forced to row a boat to raid enemy ships if the naval battle went poorly.

Because Mael fled halfway, the Shogunate fleet was able to cross the Tsugaru Strait with ease.

Even the "Sun King," which was rendered immobile due to damage to its steam engine and was originally intended to serve as a coastal defense fortress to defend Hakodate Port, was rendered useless from start to finish, allowing the Shogunate forces to land with ease.

In response to Hepoyi's request, Qingdeng replied calmly:

"I have my own plans regarding how to deal with Mael."

“I have many questions to ask him; he cannot die yet.”

"However, I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to capture Mael and never let him get away with it."

He Poyi frowned, glaring at Qing Deng with a mixture of displeasure and annoyance.

Qing Deng showed no weakness in response and silently stared back.

After a short while, He Poyi gritted her teeth and squeezed out the words:

"Alright! As long as that guy pays the price, you can arrange the rest!"

Qingdeng nodded slightly:

"Then, it's a pleasure to cooperate."

"From this moment on, we are allies."

"In order to capture Mael, I need more, more detailed intelligence,"

"I have a few questions to ask, and I hope you can answer them honestly and in detail."

"How did you get to know Mael? Why did he provide you with such a large amount of weaponry? What is his purpose?"

He Poyi pondered for a moment, then answered each question in turn.

Qingdeng listened attentively, silently processing what he had heard.

In short, it all started eight months ago.

The Edo Shogunate planned to develop Hakodate Port into a major international port, so it has allocated a lot of resources to Hakodate in recent years.

The construction of Goryokaku and the significant expansion of Hakodate Port's infrastructure have yielded good results, with an increasing number of Western merchant ships visiting Hakodate Port in the past two years.

Xilika knew very well that traditional hunting bows and short knives were no match for the He people, so he had been working to establish connections with Western arms dealers in order to purchase a large number of guns and cannons.

Therefore, he frequently visited Hakodate Port, looking for opportunities everywhere.

Unfortunately, arms dealers and other high-ranking businessmen are not easy for a local to connect with.

Moreover, arms dealers or people associated with arms dealers may not necessarily visit a small place like Hakodate Port, since it is far from being a true international port.

He tirelessly searched for arms dealers willing to cooperate with him, but to no avail.

However, just eight months ago, he suddenly met Mael.

Whether he met Mael or Mael intentionally made him "meet" her... this is a question that is difficult to answer in detail.

And so the two met and talked in detail.

Upon learning the details, Mael generously offered to provide a large quantity of weapons at low cost or even free of charge, and to send a special training corps! If necessary, he was willing to personally lead his armored fleet to assist in the battle!

What he wanted in return was to make him the "official merchant" of the new Ainu nation when Mael established his own country, and to give him half of the steel, coal, and fur industries.

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng couldn't help but interject:

"You've given so much, yet you only ask for this little compensation. Don't you find that suspicious?"

Admittedly, controlling half of a country's steel, coal, and fur trade can generate astonishing wealth.

But would Mael be interested in this?

He's an arms dealer who can even buy ironclad warships! And he bought three of them at once!

Would an arms dealer of his caliber really care about such a small amount of money?

Furthermore, how could a smart man like Mael not know that Cilicia's "Yamato Conquest" was nothing but a pipe dream?

It is understandable that Xilika and his group, who have lived in the mountains for a long time, have a narrow vision and limited perspective, which leads to their arrogance.

In contrast, Mael is a well-traveled multinational businessman with extraordinary knowledge. How could he not know the size difference between the Ainu and the Hogans?

Sponsoring Cialis's "Yamato Conquest" was undoubtedly a business destined to lose a fortune.

Merchants are a group of people who won't get up early for nothing.