Chapter 2268 - 843: The Fires of War Ignite Once Again

’Old Age Striking King’ fiercely pounded his chest a few times... yet there was still no response from the tablet.

Are those guys asleep?

At this thought, the Female Priest couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger... She suffered so much, listened to endless nonsense for so long!

If Snow Old Dog and Dead Baldy really dared to give up halfway, she would definitely hammer them to death when she got back!

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"Cunlü~" ’Hard Wind’ looked at his wife who was about to log off with a face full of difficulty.

"What’s up?" Cunlü asked, somewhat confused, "Did the Elder screw up?"

"Old Dog and Baldy got camped." Hard Wind pursed his lips, unable to hold back his grin.

"Hmm?" Cunlü couldn’t help but glance upwards... however, all she saw before her was the dark cave ceiling, "The Hill Family... no way?

Fighting at their doorstep and inside their home are two different things."

"It’s not at Hill’s place, it’s at the main Revival Point, there’s no way their people could manage it?" Hard Wind shook his head, "Do you remember the temporary base we set up over at Aesces?

It was during the naval battle with the Moon Clan, because we didn’t want to trek thousands of nautical miles, so we made that Gem Ship."

"Hmm? Uh..." Cunlü remembered, truly surprised, "No way? Wasn’t that thing supposed to be exclusive to our Alliance?"

Others have them too, but theirs are temporary, usable only within Aesces.

Only Proud Sky Alliance, despite most of their plans failing, still managed to secure the ultimate victory... When the war ended, during the summary of the battle results, they were the ones who claimed the top spot.

Then, the World Master of Aesces granted Proud Sky Alliance ten Gem Ships that could be used anywhere in the Multiverse.

Of course, their usage was limited... But having a total of 10 uses was more than enough for them.

So, to seize these ten ships, every family truly went all out... almost putting all their Alliance merit points on the line to buy them back.

Merit points were essentially just a ticket to ensure that these items finally landed in the hands of veteran members of the Alliance.

Gold Coin, on the other hand, was used to strengthen the Alliance’s financial reserves and give bonuses to large families.

The Gem Ships held by the families were basically untouchable... ’Snow Cloud Peak’ might factor them in while assigning tasks, as long as there’s no intention of family betrayal, they definitely wouldn’t waste them easily, let alone sell them.

After the Black and White Path incident, the families in the Proud Sky Alliance probably wouldn’t try anything.

If Black and White Path succeeded, it might have led to issues... Hang on?

Cunlü quickly asked, "The one from Black and White Path?"

"The guild warehouse on Black and White Path is all managed by Ink Brush himself." Hard Wind shook his head, "Add another Paintbrush and he’s completely finished, how could he dare to let go.

He can’t really be sure if there are still anyone in their family management who might act impulsively because of Paintbrush’s nonsense.

Even though outsiders see that woman as deserving it, thinking she should tangle with that Ivan for a lifetime.

But those on Black and White Path who were looked after by her for years, even if they don’t buy into Paintbrush’s radical ideas, also... can’t bring themselves to hate her.

There’s a chance they might even feel sympathy for her tragic situation now!

Ji Lanyuan and the others were able to gather so many people to assassinate Old Dog, even securing such a rare Divine Artifact, wasn’t it because they claimed to give Paintbrush the most glorious closure?

Some idiot even thought their slogan made sense.

Ah, Paintbrush’s glory must mean the decline of our Proud Sky Alliance?

Tsk~ It boils down to not wanting to leave this game and thinking our Proud Sky Alliance is too strong.

Tsk... It’s all Zhu Meili’s fault!

If he hadn’t butted in, Aesces..."

"Don’t say such useless things.

Zhu Meili could manage it because we always thought about adding some flavor to ourselves, sprinkling some spice?

Had we not wanted to step back and give other forces some spotlight, there’s no way he’d find an opening.

Huh~ As the boss feels insecure, what more can you guys do?

Like the Elder said, we are forever number one, so what?

If they have the guts they can dethrone us, even an old lion fought intensely before losing power!

Let them, let what?

Playing tactics too much, thinking they’re doing politics now?

Playing politics you guys are just blind... Whoever plays the diplomacy tactic deserves to die!

Enough, why say these things?

Anyway, there won’t be another chance for you to play these boring games again.

So what if you’re getting old? So what if you’re having kids?

I can still fight!

"""

Che~ What are you doing?

Where are you hiding?

Go and ask quickly." ’Cunlü’ raised his neck, "Even if there’s no problem with Ink Brush, we need to confirm it, otherwise, someone will always be suspicious.

He’d better take a screenshot to avoid being bothered."

’Hard Wind’ gave a helpless wry smile... actually ’Cunlü’ knows, the reason why ’Snow Cloud Peak’ and all the Clan Leaders arranged to temporarily retreat to Aesces was entirely because of the Black and White Path.

The incident in Toril made those prying forces want to break through the Proud Sky Alliance’s defenses from the Black and White Path.

Moreover, Ink Brush is indeed a bit overwhelmed... not because of external pressure, but because he has yet to purge the internal shadows.

Furthermore, the Black and White Path, as the youngest force in the Proud Sky Alliance besides Wenjian, there are many impulsive and sensitive young people within it.

To clear out the unstable factors among them requires extreme caution.

The hesitant, always indecisive way of doing things at Aesces was just to solve this problem.

Now, the Black and White Path, although still having more or less some hidden dangers, is overall safe.

It can already act together with the main forces of the Alliance in the beginning stage of the war.

However, ’Hard Wind’ can also understand ’Cunlü’s anger towards them due to the troubles carried over from the previous world... With the good relationship between ’Cunlü’ and the ’Old Age Striking King’, their personalities must be similar.

They both like to take direct action and hate dealing with all those trivial tasks.

Just like now, even though they both have ideas, they still have to take a huge detour first.

Only the two of them can do these things.

"Then I’ll have each family leave a mark~" ’Hard Wind’ chuckled, "Even though everyone knows what’s going on, we still have to save face for allies."

The two of them were actually both thinking about the two sold-off Gem Ships, but since they knew well, the first thing to do was to do something, and shut everyone up.

The ’suspicion’ towards the Black and White Path was just an excuse.

Even Ink Brush himself can figure this out.

Among the families in the Alliance, some matters are easier to handle... after all, everyone has concerns, as long as they don’t cross the bottom line, it can be muddled through.

But once these things involve individuals, they must be done thoroughly.

Publicly, it can be vague.

Privately, it must be crystal clear.

Otherwise, no matter how powerful the Alliance is, it will collapse sooner or later.

’Cunlü’ and ’Hard Wind’ both followed behind the ’Perfect Bald’ early on, going in and out of the Proud Sky Alliance with him, and are well-versed in handling such matters... In the Proud Sky Alliance, if ’Snow Cloud Peak’ loses contact, the other Clan Leaders cannot control the overall situation, and those who step forward in the end are instead the Black Rose, who once rebuked and fought all the family management.

A person’s reputation, like the shadow of a tree.

The members of the Proud Sky Alliance are just too numerous... when encountering troubles, people who everyone recognizes can instead control the overall situation better than the Clan Leaders of other families.

’Hard Wind’ and ’Cunlü’ are such existences.

"Hmm..." ’Hard Wind’ looked around before speaking in a whisper, "Fortunately, the two of us plan to log off and hide in this small cave."

The two of them have always been lovingly devoted... However, at home, their child is in a talkative phase, enjoying playing The Sims outside.

Even though the couple is thick-skinned enough, watching their child’s performance still makes them itch all over.

Their only option was to find a secluded enough spot within the game with pleasant views to reconnect emotionally... Hill’s glowing flashes, and the greenery-covered cave were a good place.

Especially this intertwining small cave they crouched in now.

It’s truly hard to find them.

You’d need the luck of ’Magic Sword’ to do so.

"Hmm?" ’Cunlü’ raised a brow, "Who all died? Ha~"

"Over at Wenjian, three student council managers died," ’Hard Wind’ shook his head, "and it was under everyone’s eyes, with most of the school people around.

You know those students, after such a big blunder, they’re bound to cause trouble."

"Their revival points..." ’Cunlü’ inquired.

"Weren’t switched, how could those people let Snow Old Dog get support." ’Hard Wind’ sighed, "Baldy is really miserable, having to take on so many enemies with Old Dog and Magic Sword, don’t know how many times they’ll have to die."

"That’s his fate." ’Cunlü’ said without a blink, "Told him to go find Old Dog with just Magic Sword, at least bring Rainfall."

"Rainfall wouldn’t think your suggestion is good enough," ’Hard Wind’ chuckled helplessly.

If ’Rain Falling on Mortal Dust’ were around, they might still struggle a bit since this person would never forget to use the group Levitation magic.

But the other side certainly has more than one trick up their sleeve.

To use Alchemical Bombs capable of blasting stones tightly connected with the mountain range, the opponent definitely has more than one of these.

If they’re going to die, why bother dragging Rainfall into it?

He’s not the ’Old Age Striking King’.

"These people are pretty smart, knowing to start with Wenjian." ’Cunlü’ slightly squinted his eyes.