Chapter 193: He Truly Is the Man I Chose!

"Of course it's not a free giveaway," Xiao Qidi explained, "Yu Guo possesses the finest iron‑smelting and casting technology; its iron goods are coveted by all nations, let alone over two hundred thousand sets of armor and weapons, which I can use for trade. I was previously worried about how to handle that batch of equipment, and now I've found the best use for it."

Ning Jinli asked, "Sell to the Wasteland Nation and An Guo? You have my help, so do you still need to sell equipment for profit?"

Xiao Qidi smiled and shook his head, "I never said it was to make money."

Ning Jinli realized, exclaiming, "Oh! I get it, you let the other king exchange land, right? Then… how much territory can be exchanged?"

Xiao Qidi thought for a moment, "It's not certain yet; it has to be negotiated."

"But…" Ning Jinli's face showed worry, "Even if we can get cities in exchange, the Wasteland Nation and An Guo will equip their armies with all this good gear, and then the defensive pressure on Daxuan's east side will still increase, won't it?"

Xiao Qidi gave a mysteriously playful smile.

Ning Jinli pondered, "Are you planning to use this deal to buy time, so I don't have to rush and can leisurely deliver equipment to the border troops on Daxuan's east side?"

"Hahaha," Xiao Qidi laughed out loud, "It would still be exhausting; I don't want to wear you out."

Ning Jinli wrinkled her nose, "Alright, alright, I see it—you have another plan. Stop being cryptic, tell me quickly, or I won't buy you milk tea anymore."

Xiao Qidi muttered, "I'll just buy it myself…"

"What did you say?" Ning Jinli raised her hand and pinched his ear.

"Ah! Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Xiao Qidi gritted his teeth and grimaced.

Ning Jinli, both laughing and crying, released her hand and said, "I hadn't even squeezed hard!"

Xiao Qidi chuckled, finished the last sip of milk tea, pointed at the map on the wall and said, "I won't trade with both nations; I'll pick just one. Which do you think is more suitable?"

Ning Jinli looked up at the map.

The Wasteland Nation lies in the northern part of Daxuan's east side, its area being one third larger than An Guo's.

An Guo is situated in the southern part of Daxuan's east side, its northern border adjoining the Wasteland Nation's southern border.

From the map alone one can only see these geographic facts, making it hard to decide whether to choose the Wasteland Nation or An Guo.

So she recalled the historical knowledge she had learned before.

The historical records in her memory noted that although the Wasteland Nation is large, its military strength has been weaker than An Guo's since its founding and even after being annexed by Xuan Guo.

Combining these two points, she analyzed:

"Since it's weapons and gear for cities, trading with the Wasteland Nation should be more appropriate. First, they have more land and might be more willing to exchange territory for military enhancement; second, after they receive the equipment, their threat to Daxuan will be relatively lower, which is better than strengthening An Guo's forces."

Xiao Qidi nodded repeatedly, "Exactly, I believe the Wasteland Nation is highly likely to accept the deal; if I ask for fewer cities, they'll be even more willing."

Ning Jinli blinked her big eyes, "From what you say, it seems the main goal isn't actually to obtain cities from the Wasteland Nation, right?"

Xiao Qidi grinned, "That's right; if it weren't for avoiding suspicion from the Wasteland Nation, I could just give away those over two hundred thousand sets of Yu Guo soldiers' equipment for free."

"So your ultimate aim is actually to split and undermine the alliance between the Wasteland Nation and An Guo," Ning Jinli concluded immediately.

"Huh? Jinli, you've become clever," Xiao Qidi teased with a smiling eye.

"Little brother," Ning Jinli smiled, raising her arm, "have you ever seen a tigress?"

Xiao Qidi scratched his head, "I've seen tigers before, but I never knew whether it was male or female."

Ning Jinli bared her tiger fangs, "Now you can see one."

After speaking, she let out a howl and, using both hands, scratched toward Xiao Qidi.

Xiao Qidi smoothly pulled her into his arms, "Such a beautiful tigress, I'd gladly be devoured."

Ning Jinli burst out a giggle, showing a disdainful expression, patting her arm and saying, "Whoa… why have you become so slick and cheesy, it's giving me goosebumps."

"Where? Let me see," Xiao Qidi lowered his head and leaned in.

"Ah! You smelly rascal."

Ning Jinli hugged his neck, lifted her mouth and gently nibbled his lip corner, "Alright, let's get down to business. How do you plan to negotiate with the Wasteland Nation? This can't be public, right?"

Xiao Qidi, still savoring the lingering fragrance at his mouth, licked his lip corner, "Of course it can't be public, especially not let An Guo know."

"But these two countries have already secretly allied; wouldn't they communicate with each other? Are you sure you can split and dismantle their alliance?"

"I'm very sure."

Xiao Qidi said firmly, "Don't be fooled by their secret alliance; in fact they've been fighting fiercely all along. The Wasteland Nation, being weaker than An Guo, has often had its lands seized by An Guo, and their disputes are considerable. If they hadn't seen that Yu Guo and Daxuan have no chance of reconciliation and are bound to a life‑or‑death clash, the Wasteland Nation and An Guo wouldn't have teamed up. So the two can never truly cooperate; each will keep guard against the other."

"So, if one country secretly gains an advantage, why would it tell the other country?"

"I only need to prevent the transaction from being discovered by An Guo's scouts; I don't have to worry about the Wasteland Nation leaking it. Now Daxuan has the secret organization Qingyou Platform, which can easily deal with An Guo's scouts. Moreover, when you help transport those equipments via the Spacetime Portal, it eliminates the chance of An Guo noticing during ordinary transport."

"Moreover, a crucial point: when the Wasteland Nation sees over two hundred thousand sets of Yu Guo's weapons, even without us saying it, they'll understand that Daxuan obtained them through victory and seizure; otherwise Yu Guo couldn't have given them to us for free."

"And Daxuan's army, not only seized so many of Yu Guo's iron weapons, but could also forgo using them and instead trade them; even a foolish Wasteland Nation would realize how powerful Daxuan's army is. Thus, invisibly, Daxuan can exert great deterrence over them."

Hearing Xiao Qidi's analysis up to this point, Ning Jinli fully understood.

She snapped her fingers, excitedly saying, "In that case, the Wasteland Nation will naturally waver in its plan to join An Guo against Daxuan; the two nations' alliance was never based on absolute mutual trust, so it can be easily shattered! Little brother, you're amazing!"

Xiao Qidi, feeling flattered, continued, "And that's not all! Think about it: once the Wasteland Nation realizes the above and also obtains iron weapons enough to arm at least two hundred thousand elite troops, what will they do first?"

Ning Jinli's eyes flashed, "They'll definitely turn and attack An Guo, reclaiming the lands An Guo seized before! Originally the Wasteland Nation and An Guo hoped Daxuan and Yu Guo would fight to mutual destruction, letting them reap the fisherman's profit, but your move not only breaks their alliance, it will make them fight each other!"

Xiao Qidi showed a proud expression, curling his mouth, "Praise me."

"Mua!" Ning Jinli hugged him and gave him a big kiss, "You're the best and most awesome! Truly the man I chose!"

That day, Xiao Qidi sent a secret letter to Li Yao near He Wan County, ordering him to arrange Qingyou Platform personnel to handle contact with the Wasteland Nation and covertly finalize the deal.

——

The seven‑day deadline arrived quickly.

Inside an experimental base located in a desert of M Guo.

The Black Sphere activated as scheduled, and the Time-Space Gate slowly opened.

Ning Hai stood eagerly before the transmission platform, while Lu Xingfeng stood beside him, drinking beer and watching the ever‑expanding Fluorescent Vortex.

Because the Time-Space Traversal Project became M Guo's highest‑level secret project, it received unprecedented support within seven days, and the power supplied to activate the Black Sphere multiplied several times.

As a result, the Time-Space Gate could be expanded again, and the duration of its opening could be prolonged.

This time the Fluorescent Vortex reached a diameter of roughly ten meters.

The drifting, swirling light illuminated the vast underground space with dazzling brilliance, like a dreamlike world.

As the Fluorescent Vortex stabilized, members of the M Guo Special Task Force who had set out on a mission seven days earlier began emerging from the Time‑Space Gate, each carrying a large crate.

The task force consisted of five hundred M Guo Special Forces and four research experts.

This time, only two hundred people and a few dozen large crates returned.

Ning Hai asked anxiously, "What about the others?"

"Don't worry, Mr. Ning," the Task Force Leader said, removing his helmet to reveal a rugged face, "Within these past few days we have already set up a camp over there; the rest stayed inside the camp. These crates contain the items we collected and some investigation reports from the research experts."

Ning Hai finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the one‑meter‑square wooden crates, "Open them and take a look."

The leader waved his hand, and the team members simultaneously lifted the lids.

A massive amount of natural gold bars, copper blocks, and various gems presented themselves before Ning Hai.

In addition, four crates were lined with plastic bags and filled to the brim with crude oil.

Ning Hai noticed that some of the gold bars, copper blocks, and gems bore rough carving marks, picked them up, and asked what the situation was.

The Task Force Leader fished a crumpled cigarette from his pocket, lit it, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled a smoke ring, saying, "We wiped out the natives of several nearby tribes, and from their bodies and settlements we retrieved some items, which we brought over as research samples for you."

Ning Hai was somewhat surprised, "How many people did you kill?"

"Just over two thousand, I can't recall the exact number," the leader's eyes flashed with excitement, "Those guys acted like savages, shouting at us, even trying to attack us with weapons made of beast bones and stones. We could kill them with our guns as easily as hunting animals."

Ning Hai slightly furrowed his brows but offered no comment.

Lu Xingfeng let out a drunken belch and casually said, "Brother Hai, I didn't expect the advanced civilization you described, two thousand years later, to be so fierce in killing—just over two thousand wiped out so casually, impressive, impressive."

Ning Hai gave no reply, letting the laboratory staff cart away the samples and reports first.

He then instructed the task force on the missions to be completed within the next month.

They must expand their camp into a military base capable of housing at least two thousand troops, and prepare for mineral extraction as well as large‑scale collection of flora and fauna resources.

The Task Force Leader shrugged, "Mr. Ning, we only have five hundred people; isn't this task a pipe dream?"

"Who says we only have five hundred?" Ning Hai smiled, "We'll add one thousand special forces and a construction engineering team of five hundred, all under your command. The Time‑Space Gate is now larger; each opening can last up to five hours, and the interval has been shortened to three days. Every three days a truck convoy will bring you various machines, equipment, and supplies. Whatever you need later, just ask."

The Task Force Leader laughed heartily, "Very good, then Mr. Ning, could you send us some women? The natives over there are black and short; we have no interest."

Ning Hai readily agreed, "As long as you do your job well, there will be women."

"Mr. Ning, it's a pleasure to cooperate with you," the leader said, crushing the cigarette, "I'll go back to work now."

After speaking, he waved, leading his men into the Time‑Space Gate.

Subsequently, the newly arrived personnel, already fully equipped, entered the base one after another, and finally a dozen heavy‑duty trucks loaded with equipment and supplies followed through the Time‑Space Gate to the other world.

Lu Xingfeng watched the gradually closing Time‑Space Gate and remarked, "If I had received such support while still in the sect, I'd have no trouble becoming Sect Leader."

"Hm? So you're from an ancient martial sect," Ning Hai said, hearing that for the first time and instantly intrigued, "Did you fail to claim the Sect Leader position, get an arm cut off, and be thrown into a valley as punishment?"

Lu Xingfeng's face darkened quickly, "It was just my carelessness and underestimation."

Ning Hai laughed, "If you had our era's weapons, becoming Sect Leader would be easy; becoming an emperor would be a piece of cake."

"Emperor? What is an emperor?" Lu Xingfeng asked.

Ning Hai slapped his forehead, "Oh, I almost forgot—you come from the Pre‑Xuan era, when the title 'emperor' didn't exist yet. How to put it… basically a ruler of a nation."

Hearing this, Lu Xingfeng's eyes brightened, "Then could you help me become a ruler?"

A strong expectation surged within him.

If one day he could become the ruler of Xuan Guo, wouldn't Ye Zhiqiu have to bow and submit to him?

Then, with just a word from him, even an unwilling Ye Zhiqiu would have to enter his harem obediently and be at his disposal!

"Of course," Ning Hai pledged solemnly, patting his chest, "When the time comes, the ancient Zhong Yuan region will be yours to govern, making you the first emperor of that world."

"Thank you, Brother Hai!" Lu Xingfeng blushed with excitement, "Shall we go there right now, what do you think?"

Ning Hai clasped his shoulder, "Hold on, hold on. Let the M Guo people take the lead first. When we can reach the Asian continent, you'll go then. Until then, you have nothing to worry about—eat, sleep, train. Oh, and the energy you need for cultivation is nuclear radiation, right? I've already arranged a crate of radioactive material for you. Come, I'll take you to see it."