Chapter 82.2: New World: Green Billow Star
After finishing his NPC-like explanation of the world’s background, Tian’ou finally got to the point.
[Do you know how powerful a Catastrophe-class sea monster is? It’s equivalent to a Tier-5 exotic beast. And because this is its home turf, its strength comes close to that of a Tier-6 creature. It can crush a Safe City in an instant or drag your entire city beneath the sea. The moment I use this item, it’ll charge straight into this region.]
[Your only choices are to buy a levitation device and retreat above the clouds, or be destroyed by it. If you refuse to agree to a ceasefire, I’ll summon it. As long as you haven’t evacuated above the clouds, the sea monster will attack you.]
[And once you do retreat above the clouds, the “Remote Targeting Denial” item in my possession will prevent you from launching long-range attacks against me.]
This wasn’t the first time Tian’ou had explained the situation to another Safe City.
But every time he did, he felt an overwhelming sense of pride.
What a perfectly complementary combination of abilities.
With those three items in his possession and his Safe City stationed atop this high ground, Tian’ou was effectively unbeatable.
There were very few places on Green Billow Star where a Safe City could descend, so sooner or later, one was guaranteed to appear on this plateau.
Tian’ou simply waited there.
Whenever a new Safe City arrived, he would immediately declare war.
If he won, he would seize the opponent’s territory, resources, and population.
If the battle began turning against him, he would reveal his three trump cards. At that point, his opponent had only two choices:
Either accept his proposed “peace settlement,”
Or he would summon the Catastrophe-class sea monster.
The enemy would have no choice but to retreat above the clouds. And thanks to his Remote Targeting Denial item, they would be completely unable to attack him from long range, while also receiving none of the compensation offered in the “peace settlement.”
Meanwhile, Tian’ou himself could rely on his concealment item and had no need to worry about being attacked by the sea monster.
Ever since arriving on Green Billow Star and obtaining those three items, Tian’ou had been thriving.
After “inventing” this strategy, he had participated in seventeen Safe City wars.
Some Safe Cities had been defeated by him.
Some had escaped successfully.
Some had ceded territory before withdrawing.
Some had managed to win but could obtain only a modest compensation payment.
Others, realizing they couldn’t win, surrendered immediately, volunteering to become his subordinates and help him wage war against other Safe Cities.
As a result, Tian’ou’s Safe City had expanded at an astonishing pace—from the standard 6,400 square kilometers of a Tier-3 Safe City to 39,764 square kilometers. His stockpiles of resources, crystals, and slaves all skyrocketed alongside it.
Once he was certain that no Safe City could do anything to him as long as he remained in this region, Tian’ou openly posted his coordinates in the City Lords’ group chat, using them as a marketplace to trade captured prisoners and other spoils of war.
The profits from selling prisoners of war alone had made him immensely wealthy.
And after gaining two subordinate Safe Cities to do the heavy lifting alongside him, his victory rate in wars climbed even higher.
With three Safe Cities simultaneously opening war corridors to a single target, any unfortunate Safe City they set their sights on, even if it managed to flee, was forced to abandon a vast amount of territory in the process.
[You can see it for yourself. There are quite a few people in the group chat who don’t like me, because I’ve declared Safe City wars on all of them before. They won, but in the end they still had no choice but to let me go. I can understand why they’re unhappy.]
[And those dozen or so Safe Cities floating above us—do you think they don’t want to kill me? Right now, I’m probably the richest Tier-3 City Lord on all of Green Billow Star. My Safe City contains the accumulated wealth of more than a dozen Safe Cities built up over years. If someone could kill me, they’d have enough resources to jump straight to Tier 4 or even Tier 5. But they don’t dare.]
Cheng Qisheng had been leisurely sipping sweet mung bean soup at home while listening to Tian’ou’s explanation.
The moment she heard the words “the richest on all of Green Billow Star,” she slowly set down her spoon.
Tian’ou continued:
[Because the initiative is mine. Even if I’ve offended all of them, with the strength and resources I’ve accumulated, once I leave Green Billow Star, there’ll be nothing any of them can do to me.]
Gently pushing her bowl of mung bean soup aside, Cheng Qisheng began wondering exactly how much strength and how many resources Tian’ou had amassed.
Then he extended an invitation.
[Blue Sea, I admire your strength. You’re stronger than any of them. How about we join forces? From now on, you’ll receive twenty percent of the resources from every Safe City we conquer together.]
Resources…
The word echoed in Cheng Qisheng’s mind.
Tian’ou remained calm and unhurried.
When someone believed they stood on the side of victory, it was only natural for them to be composed and magnanimous.
He believed he was extending an olive branch.
To Cheng Qisheng, however, it felt as though he had been tempting her with riches from the very beginning.
She replied:
[Blue Sea Safe City: I understand now.]
Then she asked:
[Blue Sea Safe City: A Catastrophe-class sea monster is equivalent to a Tier-5 exotic beast, right? So… would it also drop Tier-5 crystals?]
Tian’ou frowned.
A sense of foreboding suddenly welled up inside him.
[Tian’ou Safe City: …What do you mean by that?]
Cheng Qisheng issued a single order.
“Continue the attack.”
Having received the oracle of the Great Creator God, the Blue Sea citizens were instantly fired up, their advance accelerating severalfold.
“Woohoo!!”
“This way! Head this way! That’s where their Safe City’s core is located!”
Tian’ou, who had maintained a calm and composed demeanor the entire time, finally lost his composure.
[Tian’ou Safe City: Blue Sea, are you really going to do this?]
[Blue Sea Safe City: Sorry, but I don’t like sharing~]
Gritting his teeth, Tian’ou tightened his grip on the bone flute hanging around his neck.
[Item Name: Wrath of the Furious Sea (Can only be bound to a single sea monster. The item is destroyed when that sea monster dies.)
Item Effect: Blow the flute to draw the sea monster’s attention to your location. (Usable only by Tier-3 or lower Safe City Lords.)
Remaining Uses: 2]
Naturally, an item of this kind couldn’t be used indefinitely.
This was the real reason Tian’ou had tried to recruit Blue Sea.
The item capable of summoning the sea monster had only two uses remaining.
If he used one of them on Blue Sea, he would be left with only a single summon.
That final use was reserved as his lifeline.
Tian’ou had long since decided that he would never expend his last summon—not even before leaving Green Billow Star. He wanted to keep it in reserve in case something unexpected happened before he managed to depart.
So once he used this second-to-last charge, leaving himself without a usable “weapon,” it would be time for him to leave.
Tian’ou didn’t want to leave this perfect hunting ground.
He still wanted to make one last effort.
[Blue Sea, I genuinely admire your strength. That’s why I wanted to be friends with you. If you keep this up, you’ll lose the compensation you could have received, and you’ll have to waste crystals relocating and buying a levitation device. But if you work with me, there’ll be an endless stream of resources flowing in from now on.]
Cheng Qisheng ignored him.
Tian’ou watched the Blue Sea citizens rapidly pushing deeper into his Safe City, then glanced at the City Lords’ group chat, where everyone was enthusiastically following the battle.
[Why are they still fighting? They’re almost at the City Lord’s Mansion.]
[Why hasn’t Tian’ou summoned the sea monster yet? What’s taking him so long this time?]
[Could it be that he can’t summon it anymore?]
[That’s possible. Who knows how many uses that item of his has left?]
[Hahaha! What if the item has already run out of charges?]
Gritting his teeth, Tian’ou picked up the bone flute.
He couldn’t afford to show weakness.
Why had those dozen or so Safe Cities above the clouds remained there instead of relocating?
Because they had been watching him all along.
The moment Tian’ou exhausted the bone flute’s summoning power, they would swarm in, kill him, and divide up the immense wealth of Tian’ou Safe City among themselves.
The bone flute sounded—
Holding her Tier-2 telescope, Cheng Qisheng saw an enormous figure slowly emerge from the distant waves.
More than half of its body remained submerged beneath the sea.
It resembled an octopus, but its entire body was covered in layer upon layer of jagged protrusions like shark teeth. Even the small portion exposed above the water towered well over a hundred meters high.
The City Lords’ group chat instantly became even livelier.
[It’s here! It’s here!]
[Tian’ou summoned the sea monster again!]
[Selling live battle footage—150 crystals per copy.]
[Blue Sea’s got some backbone. They actually refused the compensation.]
[Maybe they didn’t believe Tian’ou. @Blue Sea Safe City Run while you still can. That sea monster is Tier 5, and it has the home-field advantage. If it gets close enough, it really can drag your Safe City beneath the sea. I nearly got pulled under by it once.]
[Breaking news! Blue Sea Safe City still hasn’t relocated or floated above the clouds! Any City Lords outside the area who want the latest updates, contact me! Frontline footage, live broadcast from start to finish! Not 750, not even 350—only 150 crystals!]
[Born-to-Gamble Safe City: Place your bets! Type 1 if you think Blue Sea will relocate, 2 if you think they’ll ascend above the clouds, and 3 if you think the sea monster will wipe them out.]
Cheng Qisheng paid no attention to the group chat.
She was busy estimating the sea monster’s position.
Perfect.
The sea monster was at just the right distance!
Watching Blue Sea Safe City remain completely motionless, the unease in Tian’ou’s heart grew stronger and stronger.
Chimi’s hasty retreat continued to trouble him.
Chimi should have known exactly how powerful this sea monster was.
So why had he fled without a second’s hesitation the moment he saw that Blue Sea was his opponent?
Mingqin was still brimming with confidence, waiting for the sea monster to scare Blue Sea into retreat.
Tian’ou, however, became increasingly uneasy the more he thought about it.
But… that shouldn’t be possible.
Blue Sea was only a Tier-3 Safe City.
Even if its strength in Safe City warfare rivaled that of a Tier-4 city, it was still only Tier 3.
A Tier-5 sea monster was a Catastrophe-class creature, capable of unleashing a portion of a Tier-6 being’s power.
There was no way Blue Sea could do anything against it.
[Tian’ou Safe City: Aren’t you leaving yet?]
[Blue Sea Safe City: Nope. I want to run an experiment first. If it doesn’t work, there’ll still be time to leave.]
Tian’ou’s heart skipped a beat.
[Tian’ou Safe City: …What do you mean?]
Looking at Blue Sea Safe City, which had already finished its preparations, Cheng Qisheng sent him one final message.
If the sea monster had been Tier 6 or 7, she might have hesitated.
But Tier 5?
That was definitely worth testing.
[Blue Sea Safe City: Happy Holy Bullet. =v=]
BOOM!!
All Tian’ou saw was a blinding expanse of white.
A sharp pain stabbed into his eyes.
Instinctively, he reached for the bone flute—
Only to grasp empty air.
The bone flute that had always hung around his neck had already crumbled into ashes along with the death of the sea monster to which it was bound.
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