Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 474: Meeting the Scruffy Giant Again

"Where do you think we should go? Is there a suitable location? What's the situation outside like?" Li Yue pressed with questions. Her condition wasn't very good either; patrolling for early warnings every day, killing venomous snakes and all sorts of bizarre poisonous insects, it also felt like days were as long as years to her.

"The situation outside is even more severe than we anticipated. According to my estimation, over the past period of time, Jiang Xinran was the only one who dared to try Touching a Tiger's Backside. The other Treacherous Officials, Traitorous Generals, and Sycophants have likely each chosen a Faction. Things are exactly as they were before."

"I even deeply suspect that Jiang Xinran might have previously hooked up with Tyrant William, and she was working for Tyrant William. Of course, this woman had great ambitions; she also wanted to borrow Tyrant William's power to develop herself and seek even greater benefits. In short, she messed up. As a result, this corner of the Ascension Continent currently has almost no difference from the original layout of the Locke Kingdom."

Hearing this, Li Yue couldn't help but sigh.

"So you mean to say that in this Orson Empire Reconstruction Mission, the number of people who have a chance to compete for the Position of Great Emperor will likely not exceed twelve—the kings of the three kingdoms, plus their three respective Dukes. That really makes things interesting."

"Right, and the situation inside is actually very complicated, and the difficulty is also extremely high."

"Let me give you an example. If Tyrant William has the highest chance of claiming the throne and rebuilding the Orson Empire, then the kings of the other two kingdoms will definitely choose to preserve their original basic territories. They would rather abandon the Orson Empire Reconstruction Mission to snipe Tyrant William. Because this way, at the absolute worst, they can still go back and continue being their kings, rather than becoming the subjects of Tyrant William."

"The other Dukes are the same."

"This is a two-handed preparation: advancing to emerge and conquer the world, retreating to defend one's basic territory. If the mission fails, I'm still a millennium-old king or Duke, and this time, I might even become a Duchy. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"So I understand now. This is why Duke Kaidel was exceptionally sensitive and furious about Jiang Xinran's jungling behavior. Because she was undermining his foundation!"Li Yue nodded, "If that's the case, does it mean that if we dare to show our heads anywhere next, even in a very remote place, as long as the news gets out, we will likely be immediately wiped out by the joint forces of Duke Kaidel, Duke Will, Duke Juniper, and even Tyrant William? They will all maintain a Tacit Understanding, which is to control the number of competing Players and avoid an increase in variables as much as possible?"

"Because to them, you are a variable."

"In a sense, yes, but I feel that this Empire Reconstruction Quest won't be that simple. The Neanderthals won't be willing to be a stepping stone for rebuilding the Empire; they are the biggest variable."

At this moment, Li Wei couldn't help but think of that magic bullet. The Neanderthals shouldn't have a second one, right?

He always felt that the role of the Neanderthal Barbarians was like the Xiongnu to the Han Dynasty, the Turks to the Tang Dynasty, or the Liao, Jin, and Mongols to the Song Dynasty. If things went wrong, it might end up with the Neanderthals rebuilding the Empire instead.

Moreover, it was obvious that the Neanderthals had already collaborated with the Reincarnator Organization. If, in the world where the Earl of Wind-Rest resided, the collaboration between the Samsara Travelers and the Neanderthals was just minor skirmishes, then this time, Li Wei felt they had very likely reached a strategic collaboration. Who knew how this Empire Reconstruction Quest would be twisted and developed in the future.

"Forget it, overthinking is useless. I plan to head straight west. The Mana in the west seems slightly thinner, so we should be able to avoid disputes. If not, we'll just be bandits for a few years first."

"Alright, then let's withdraw." Li Yue also nodded with a sense of relief, and then went out to gather the personnel and issue orders. As for all the wooden cabins, they were dismantled and taken away. There was no need to care about the traces left behind on the spot. Unless a Fourth-Tier Mage accurately found this place three days later, no traces would be left behind at all.

But the probability of that happening was truly too small.

The evacuation process went smoothly. At around ten o'clock that morning, Li Wei led the team and set off, successfully walking out of this massive forest by the early morning of the second day.

Next came Day-Hiding and Night-Walking. It was still Li Wei scouting the path ahead and then returning to lead the way, not daring to relax in the slightest.

Because these seemingly uninhabited barren mountains and wilds had actually long been passed through by God knows how many waves of top-tier Scouts.

Li Wei even discovered some Traps that had been deployed for over ten days on several sections of the road he had walked before. He didn't know which Scout hadn't had time to dismantle them.

This was the world of Transcendents. Ordinary People might be able to imagine riding planes or high-speed rails to travel thousands of miles a day, but the top-tier Scouts here were actually not inferior; traveling three thousand li a day was just a small matter.

Moreover, the Scouts that appeared here weren't necessarily all Duke Kaidel's Scouts.

Yes, if they were Duke Kaidel's Scouts and they were appearing so frequently in this vicinity, they would have definitely entered that forest, because they would only have one target: Li Wei.

But now, it looked more like a sparring match between experts.

On the night of the third day, Li Wei successfully led his team back to his former starting location. Beside that massive Mining Pit, there was now actually a small mining camp, because there was still a small amount of Five-Star Ore that hadn't been mined out, and moreover, there was still a lot of Four-Star ore!

Passing Without Karma.

Under the cover of night, they crossed this Wilderness. At dawn, Li Wei found a ravine where they could temporarily rest, but before he even got close, all the hairs on his body stood on end. There were Traps in the ravine, and there were people.

What the fuck, what's going on?

In this middle of nowhere, acting so sneakily, it was obvious they weren't Duke Kaidel's Scouts.

"Retreat!"

Li Wei decisively led his people on a thirty-li detour to take temporary shelter in another ravine. As a result, just as he had arranged for everyone to hide, Adai's Early Warning Data Link issued an alert: a total of fifteen people were sneaking toward their ravine.

Damn, luck is a bit terrible!

But there was nothing he could do. The duel between Scouts was just this straightforward and simple; he who strikes first is king.

Since the other party was already there in advance, it was impossible to conceal the commotion of Li Wei's three hundred-plus people.

Hmm, wait, why do they look a bit familiar?

Holy shit, isn't this that Scruffy Giant?

Duke Will's subordinates!

Li Wei's heart stirred, and he told Li Yue. The latter immediately ordered the Blazing Legion and Ice Legion to change their Gear and prepare for battle.

And Li Wei himself directly walked out of the ravine, stood on the mountain ridge, and waited quietly for the other party to come to the door.

A few minutes later, this fifteen-person team appeared on the opposite mountain ridge. In the faint light of the dawn, even separated by seven or eight hundred meters, the other party's gaze and micro-expressions could be seen.

The Scruffy Giant wasn't the team leader. The one leading the team was another Fourth-Tier Ranger wearing Light Armor. Hmm, that specific flavor could be smelled from eight hundred meters away. And in their team, there was also a Mage wearing a hood—a Fourth-Tier Mage. That was the leader, no mistake about it.

Good Heavens, this configuration is very high. A Fourth-Tier Ranger, a Fourth-Tier Mage, a Fourth-Tier Warrior—no, three Fourth-Tier Warriors. Six Tier 4 Legends, and the rest were all uniformly Tier Three, including two little Tier Three Mages. It was quite formidable.

Seeing Li Wei standing there waiting, the other side seemed to whisper a few words. Then the Scruffy Giant quickly walked over, stopped twenty meters away from Li Wei, and grinned.

"Li Wei, long time no see. I didn't expect, oh, I didn't expect that we would actually meet on this occasion. Kid, you've advanced to Tier Three? What's going on? I remember you should have been a Sycophant start, and you were in the same group as Jiang Xinran, right? Where is she now, did she dump you? You, this General of Chariots, I see you're not doing so well either!"

Eh?

Li Wei was momentarily stunned inwardly. Didn't Duke Will's side know that Jiang Xinran was dead yet?

Oh, right, there was no Global Proclamation, and it hadn't been half a year yet, so they couldn't see the specific World Ranking of Reputation. Coupled with being in a hostile state with each other, it was indeed very difficult to know this.

"Jiang Xinran is dead, wiped out by Duke Kaidel. Her Faction is disbanded, and currently, only my three hundred-plus people escaped. We were hiding in the old forest for over twenty days before, and really couldn't hold on anymore, so we drilled out again. As a result, we ran into you head-on. However, Your Excellency and Lord Duke Will and I have no enmity or grudge. You guys shouldn't be wanting a Dog Eat Dog, right?"

Li Wei quickly told the truth. There was no need to hide it.

"Dead?"

The Scruffy Giant was taken aback, then laughed out loud, actually taking some pleasure in it. "I told you, Jiang Xinran was too conceited, too arrogant. She thought she could become the sharp knife in Tyrant William's hands. Too bad she wasn't fast enough, tsk tsk. I'm already impatient to see her. Ha, from now on, she can only have a Routed Soldier Start."

"She can't start anymore. Jiang Xinran was hit by a Soul-Devouring Item Card and has already been sent back to her Homeworld."

"What!"

The Scruffy Giant, who had been beaming with joy and gloating a moment ago, was directly dumbfounded. A trace of lonely sorrow flashed through his eyes, accompanied by a sense of loss and bewilderment. Only after several full seconds did he return to normal. He gave a bitter smile and skipped over the topic.

"Brother Li Wei, I'll get straight to the point. Although you and I are in a hostile state on this Ascension Continent, and killing you wouldn't be considered violating basic Humanistic Care, we also truly have no interest in fighting you. Our trip this time is to seize a highly advantageous area. That place is very suitable for building a Fortress and pass. Once completed, it can almost cover and enclose a massive area. It can be said that it is a Strategically Essential Ground."

"Currently, in this area, Karndorf, a subordinate of Duke Kaidel, has initially occupied that area and is currently in the midst of intense preparations to build a Fortress and pass."

"Therefore, we were ordered to infiltrate here, preparing to wipe him out. But this guy is quite strong, with a total of three thousand regular troops, plus a standard Legendary Squad overseeing things. We've reconnoitered for a long time and still don't have a better plan, so we could only call for reinforcements and wait here. Now, our reinforcements will arrive tomorrow, so our commander wants to invite you to join his Faction."

"By the way, I think you should have heard the great name of our commander. He is the Chief Administrator of the Tax Department of Will Province, one of the Five Great Marquises under Duke Will—Mountain Eagle Parker! He also started with a Treacherous Minister Start, and currently, his World Reputation has already reached 125 points, ranking 19th globally. The quality is solid. How about it, are you interested?"