Chapter 283

I'm really stupid, truly.

In a solitary room, the sleepless Fei En lay dejected on the bed, muttering to himself, watching the snowflakes outside the window fall slowly, almost sighing with each one.

I only knew that the Inner City has many strong miscellaneous people, which could ruin my plans; I didn't expect the Outer City to have them as well.

I came to the contact point at noon, boiled a kettle of water for coffee, and told Ge Lei De to go with me to kill Bao Li Si; he is a very obedient fool, he listens to every word I say, so he agreed.

I then led an ambush, fought, and Bao Li Si fell; someone came to rescue. I shouted, "Ge Lei De!" No response; I looked up and saw him knocked out on the spot—our Ge Lei De was gone.

I also went to fight, but I couldn't win. I panicked and ordered people to help me. After half a minute, several people arrived at the ruins and saw one of his large shoes hanging on a broken wall. Everyone said, "It's over; he must have been beaten to a pulp."

Going in again; sure enough, he lay among the broken bricks, his facial features all swollen from beating; poor him, he still clutched that big hammer tightly in his hand...

He then burst into tears, his voice choking.

It wasn't because he was crying over that stupid pig who finally betrayed him, but...

If that night the mysterious person hadn't intervened.

If he hadn't chosen to exterminate the root, but instead left after injuring Bao Li Si.

If he had been a bit calmer later, not getting into a senseless quarrel with Ge Lei De that escalated to fighting to the death.

If everything had been normal, by now I should have swept away the last obstacle, taken over the lord's mansion, and become the undisputed sole ruler of Sunshine City!

As a result, now? The one who killed his closest ally can only lie weakly in bed recovering, pondering when he can launch a powerful counterattack!

This feeling of being just one step away yet unable to move forward is maddening, like finally finding a tasty side dish after flipping through dozens of pages, only to have the progress bar hit 99.9% and the internet speed inexplicably drop to zero.

It's just... ahhhhh!

When people are bored, they tend to overthink; overthinking easily leads to mental issues. Even Fei En, accustomed to calm, had to take several deep breaths to ease the heaviness in his heart.

He turned over, no longer wanting to look at the snow he had grown tired of seeing in the northern borders, and began to calculate in his mind.

Hey, tomorrow let the deputy go find the Divine Selection; I must get the Four-Generation Rejuvenation, no matter the cost!

Sleepiness welled up; he dazedly closed his eyes, but just as he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly heard footsteps outside the door.

The habit formed from years of military service made him instantly alert, warily gazing at the doorway; but after hearing clearly, he relaxed a bit.

Alliance Chief, urgent report.

Because the person outside the door was indeed the deputy, he lightly knocked on the door and uttered the above words, syllable by syllable.

Any report within the mercenary corps targeting Fei En has a strict opening phrase; different wording indicates different levels of urgency.

But using two emphasis words in a row...

Although Fei En is weak all over, this is only weak compared to his former peak; now he can still easily kill an ordinary person.

Thus he silently slipped out of bed, still wearing his leather armor that he hadn't taken off, sat on the bedside, first checked the at least three weapons he carried on his person, then cleared his throat.

Come in.

The deputy hurried over, closed the door, stopped three steps away, leaned forward slightly, and whispered.

Sir, the Head of the Tax Department of the Business Union, Ke Li Si Ting, requests an audience.

As a schemer who clearly excels at calculation but likes to pose as a rough soldier, this deceitful villain with intense desire for control, who loves to be the behind-the-scenes manipulator, Fei En has planted his eyes and ears in every faction within the Inner City.

Those small factions that are easily manipulated are simple to handle: either their second-in-command, or their think tank, or sometimes the whole organization is his black-and-white glove, tasked with acting differently in various situations to control the situation inside and outside the city.

In those prominent named factions, the Adventurers' Association is headed by the Truffle family patriarch Ge Lei De, while the Mountain Folk Iron Hammer Mercenary Corps has among its four captains Yue Han Sen.

Even the extremely hard-to-infiltrate Sheng Guang Jiao Tang, he bribed several greedy believers to build good relations with some clergy; as the interactions increased, he could always glean some information.

As for the Business Union, this apparent largest power naturally has its share, from the various merchants of the Suo La lineage to those in charge of enforcing violence; this bunch, whether chasing fame or profit, are the easiest to control.

But regardless of which one, basically they only help me out of self-interest after my subordinates make contact, for on the surface I am merely a fool played with by An De Lu in the palm of his hand, certainly not a suitable master.

Only a handful dare to come to me proactively, because they are already at their wits' end, desperate and grasping at any straw; as long as they can survive, it doesn't matter who they turn to.

But aside from them, there is one who contacted him proactively for other reasons.

Yet precisely that, he feels, is the hardest to infiltrate among all the major powers, aside from that lot of divine swindlers in the church.

Ke Li Si Ting, she's here—what is her purpose?

The deputy bowed slightly.

She only said there was a major matter that must be told to you in person; she didn't specify what exactly.

If it were before, Fei En would have let Ke Li Si Ting in without hesitation; although her rank is higher than his, this is the core of the Mountain Folk mercenaries, and if she dared to cause trouble, he could detain her and thereby solidify his final step to becoming the supreme ruler of Sunshine City.

But now...

In short, that mysterious person just... ahhhhh!!!

But Ke Li Si Ting is currently my most important partner; whether I can take down Sunshine City still depends on her help.

If I show cowardice, they'll think I lack unity value, or they might simply see this ally as tasty prey—what should I do?

Fei En rubbed his slightly throbbing temples and temporarily came up with a two-pronged solution.

Where is she now, in the first-class reception room?

Yes.

No... go make her a cup of coffee, then call a few more brothers whose strength and loyalty are solid, and we'll go to the hall to meet her!

Huh?

After hearing that, the deputy stared for a moment, but didn't dare question the leader's order, gave another salute, and hurried away.

Thus, twenty minutes later, the fully armored Alliance Chief of the Mountain Folk Mercenaries—Mountain Folk Wild Wind Mercenary Corps Commander, Deep Forest Merit Knight, Forest Medal Awardee, Honorary Baron, Breaker of Beast Teeth, Fei En, Lord of the Firelit Pavilion—met in the Mountain Folk Mercenary Arena Covenant Hall with a nameless female centaur, receiving her kindly and amicably.

When this timid, fearful country girl stepped forward on her four hooves, squeezing into the double doors that were clearly over two meters wide but still barely enough for her to pass, she glanced timidly at the crowd; all the mercenaries raised their heads with a disdainful look and, in unison, blurted out.

——Holy shit, this chick is huge!!

Even under the boss's command, they had prepared to treat her arrogantly the whole way, using overbearing confidence to suppress Ke Li Si Ting's preparations.

But seeing a monster‑sized creature burst in, whose sheer presence alone made the vast space feel like a giant's toilet, they couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

Only Fei En could sit at the table unchanged, slowly lift his eyelids, and say lightly.

Director Ke Li Si Ting visiting at midnight—this isn't very polite, huh...

Sure enough, as Fei En had expected, Ke Li Si Ting, with snowmelt dripping from the hem of her armor, widened her eyes and froze for a moment—this was quite obvious surprise.

It was as if she were saying… ah, isn't Fei En supposed to be lying weak from injury on the bed?

How come he now seems perfectly fine, bringing a large crowd to swagger and welcome me—really terrifying?

Heh, truly a crude woman whose heart is rougher than her hands; I only needed a slight trick to deceive him.

Having achieved the intimidation, Fei En, who had deliberately kept the opponent waiting for nearly half an hour, enjoyed the leisure of waiting for them to tire.

As a quasi-noble, his magnanimous self did not pursue the commoner's breach of etiquette, but instead gestured toward the platform opposite the long table, which was made of several shelves.

Forget it, just a joke—please sit.

The so-called 'sitting' of centaurs is nothing more than two forms.

The first is like when Ke Li Si Ting previously tempted… at least she felt she was tempting Ji Ming when she lowered her four horse legs diagonally, letting her heavy body rest completely on the ground.

This is the centaurs' most comfortable sitting posture, but because standing up again takes time, it has also been given more meaning due to its slight danger.

For example, in some more conservative centaur tribes, when a female centaur strikes this pose toward a male, 'tomorrow night' will seem overly lacking in charm…

As for the other, a support is added beneath the horse's belly to alleviate the strain of the four legs supporting such a massive body, allowing centaurs to perform other actions more comfortably.

As previously mentioned, the diagonal kneeling pose is somewhat too ambiguous, so when out and about, centaurs usually adopt the second sitting posture.

Ke Li Si Ting glanced at the support, seemingly confirming there was no problem before stepping forward with her four hooves.

"Alliance Lord, I have a very important matter to report to you, so time should be negligible, right?"

As she spoke, a somewhat miniaturized envelope appeared on her broad hand, and before formally sitting down she slid it across the tabletop.

A probe?

Fei En immediately rallied his utmost spirit, preparing to strike back with all his strength to perfect this delaying tactic.

But when he lifted his finger, he realized no extra force had been applied to the envelope.

In fact, the force seemed insufficient! This inexplicably pink envelope began to slow before reaching him, appearing as if it would stop.

What… what kind of show is this little ox-horse putting on?

Whether it was the mercenaries serving as background or Fei En himself, they all spaced out for a moment, so with their attention fixed on the envelope they only realized a second later that what Ke Li Si Ting had thrown was not just an envelope.

Four hooves mean stability, a horse's body means speed, centaurs are born archers, and…

The envelope sliding from her left hand was merely bait; her true purpose was to seize the moment, swing her right arm backward to gather strength, and hurl the spear that appeared there with all her might!

The next instant, as Fei En was about to touch the envelope, he felt a tremendous force strike his chest, inevitably driving his body backward.

His head naturally lifted, and he saw Ke Li Si Ting across the long table, her muscles bulging, her strong right arm still trembling after the throw.

Only then did he realize, though the ambush had succeeded, the centaur's eyes held no smug satisfaction of deep scheming, but were filled with a hysterical killing intent.

Yet at the corners of her eyes lingered a few drops of resentful tears.

Boom!

Fei En's observation ended there, for his body had already slammed into the wall, and under the impact the spear and he broke through into the next room, then the next, and then another.

His viscera shattered, he collapsed limp among the furniture shards smashed by flesh, and vomited a large mouthful of blood.

Not knowing whether to be glad he was temporarily alive or angry at the opponent's shameless sneak attack, he noticed his abdomen growing hotter and hotter.

As a centaur maiden, Ke Li Si Ting has many beloved spears, such as one specialized for charging, one specialized for slashing, and…

That spear, which bears a miniature magic array, gradually turned red as the endless heat and temperature built up for release.

Fei En widened his eyes and roared loudly, spraying blood foam.

"What the hell, what's going on?!"

Then, amidst the deafening roar and flying debris, he was completely reduced to ashes, dying in a bewildering explosion along with his long-held ambition to dominate.

And Ke Li Si Ting, who had hurled that literal 'heaven-and-earth-shaking' throw, exhaled a heavy white mist like an iron-cast steam warcraft facing the oncoming warm breeze.

She is not a transmigrator; it's impossible for her to go overnight from a brute who only knows force to a peerless villain who can outwit all manner of born schemers.

Thus she knows no schemes, cannot discern truth from falsehood, and her purpose in coming here is singular!

Since in Fei En's eyes, Ke Li Si Ting's compliance or not is the final stumbling block to his domination of Sunlight City, the same holds for her.

——Then as long as she exerts her full strength to kill Fei En, would she become the undisputed new king of Sunlight City?

And with power, wealth, and strength in hand, wouldn't she be able to let the divine selection be reconsidered…

No, his attitude no longer matters!

From today on, whatever I set my sights on must be grasped in my hand; everything depends on my will, because…

Ke Li Si Ting blinked away all the tears in her eyes, letting them scatter in the wind, and once again grasped a long spear with her outstretched hand.

She uttered the phrase she had held in her heart and rehearsed countless times, the noble-exclusive diction and tone.

"I am the lone daughter of the Pearl Family of the Shen Lin Wang Guo; Fei En is dead—will you pledge your allegiance to me?"

Only now did I realize it's reached a million words—starting this chapter, the third volume will begin to wind down; before the Pioneers poison the world, let Sunlight City burn.