GOR Chapter 718

“Bo… Boss! Jiang Long is calling me through a private channel, asking for my location! Should I reply?”

Nightmare suddenly turned around, a panicked expression on his face as he asked Chen Xiaolian.

“It's finally here.” There was no look of shock on Chen Xiaolian's face. He nodded and said, “Roddy, how far away are we from Jiangxia?”

“11 minutes and 25 seconds,” replied Roddy after glancing at the console.

Chen Xiaolian considered the issue for a moment before replying to Nightmare, “Don't answer.”

“All right… … wait, Boss!” Nightmare revealed a bitter smile and continued, “Jiang Long said, he wants to talk directly with you. He wants you to give him the Tidal Fighter's communication frequency.”

“Don't answer him!” Chen Xiaolian responded with a harrumph.

…

“Nightmare, I know you can hear me.”

By then, Jiang Long had already gotten inside the Thunderstorm Tank. The driver who had been driving the tank had been sent out. Jiang Long stopped the tank while he talked to Nightmare through their guild channel. “Since your name is still in the guild's list of members, it means you are still alive. Tell Chen Xiaolian, this is his last chance. Regardless of what he is trying to accomplish, I already know that the Tidal Fighter belongs to him. He can choose to let this be a secret between us or I can announce to every Guild Leader here right now. I will give him one more minute to answer.”

The other party remained silent and Jiang Long's face gradually grew grim.

After half a minute's worth of time, Jiang Long was finally able to hear Nightmare's reply.

“Neutrino communication, frequency is 834, pa.s.sword is…”

Jiang Long took a deep breath before entering the string of numbers from Nightmare into the Thunderstorm Tank's communication device.

“h.e.l.lo, Manager Jiang Long. For you to be so anxiously looking for me, is there anything urgent going on?”

Chen Xiaolian's voice spoke out from the speaker.

“It seems you are very concerned about becoming the public enemy of all Awakened ones, Guild Leader Chen Xiaolian.” Jiang Long gave a faint smile. “Truth be told, I could not confirm that you are aboard the Tidal Fighter. I had simply wanted to make a gamble. It seems, though, I have won. Now, are you feeling dejected a little?”

Chen Xiaolian laughed. “Manager Jiang Long, if you have anything you want to say, then just say it. There is no need to play around with psychological warfare.”

“Fine, I will be frank.” Jiang Long smiled. “I truly did not expect that you could possess a high-tier equipment like the Tidal Fighter. When you saved Zhao Yun, I thought that those from Thorned Flower Guild or the resident guilds of Zero City have also entered this instance dungeon.”

“How can you be certain they aren't here?” asked Chen Xiaolian casually.

“Enough, there is no need for you to be casting doubts. We are both smart people, there is no need for this.” Jiang Long simply chuckled. “Tell me, then. What exactly is your guild trying to accomplish? Everyone's quest objective is to kill off Zhao Yun. Why did you save him? And why did you go to Jiangling? And why are you heading to Jiangxia now?”

“If I don't answer you…” Chen Xiaolian fell silent for a moment before continuing, “Do you plan to continue with the threat of exposing us to all the Awakened ones?”

“No. This is not a threat. I just want to satisfy my curiosity,” answered Jiang Long with a tone of indifference. “If I cannot understand it, I can only ask others to help me figure it out.”

“Ohoh?!” Chen Xiaolian rubbed his chin. “When you put it that way, you have already found another stable source of Star Sand?”

Jiang Long grew silent.

Chen Xiaolian looked at the time. There were eight more minutes until their arrival in Jiangxia.

“Fine, Manager Jiang Long. Some issues require frankness.” There was a relaxed tone in Chen Xiaolian's words, completely unlike one who was being threatened. “We all have secrets. There is no need for us to dig out each other's secrets. Nor is there a need to expose each other. More importantly, we need each other. 

“After defecting from Thorned Flower Guild, you need to strengthen your own forces in order to deal with the future retaliation from Thorned Flower Guild. This is why you are so anxious in trying to establish a status among the other Awakened guilds. This instance dungeon also happens to be your best opportunity for it. Did I get it right?”

“Go on,” said Jiang Long coolly.

“Zero City is done. The resident guilds may have once been incredibly powerful, but now, they have hidden themselves away, not daring to show their faces. As for the other Awakened guilds, despite their numbers, their level of strength is patchy. In your eyes, is one powerful ally more important than a group of weak allies? This should not be a difficult choice to make, right?”

“And how would you describe that so-called ally?”

“It is very simple.” Chen Xiaolian knew that Jiang Long was tempted. “In instance dungeons where our two guilds are partic.i.p.ating in, the two of us will always be on the same faction. However, all the decisions for the instance dungeon will be made by us. But you can be the one to announce the decisions to the other guilds.”

“Why does it seem to me like there are no benefits for me?” Jiang Long chuckled. “All the decisions we announce will be made by you? You mean to say, you want Starfall Guild to become your puppets? Besides… … in the event that the instance dungeon wants us to be enemies, what will you do?”

“Since I am making this proposal, it naturally means that I am confident that such a scenario will never occur.” Chen Xiaolian's words were filled with confidence. “We have acquired a certain BUG in the system, allowing us to freely choose whichever questline we want. Even… … those that the instance dungeon did not issue out. Think about it. A 100 per cent completion rate for every instance dungeon under Starfall Guild's leaders.h.i.+p. If such a scenario plays out in just a few instance dungeons, just how high up will your reputation soar to?”

“What are you talking about?” Jiang Long had spent only a moment pondering Chen Xiaolian's words before understanding dawned upon him. A tone fluctuation appeared in his voice. Gone was the calmness earlier as he continued, “Any instance dungeon?”

“Any instance dungeon.”

“Why should I trust you on this?” Jiang Long took a deep breath. “Besides, why would you offer me something like this?”

“Because we do not need reputation.” Chen Xiaolian laughed out. “The circ.u.mstances around our two guilds are different. On my end, my guild wishes to hide itself deeper, hoping that no one would discover us. As for you… … you are someone who wishes to become the leader of the Awakened ones. As for why you should trust me…”

Chen Xiaolian looked at the time and said casually, “Just keep calm and wait another five minutes.”

“What will happen after five minutes?” Jiang Long hurriedly asked. 

“The system will announce that this instance dungeon has ended even though Zhao Yun is still alive. I believe this evidence should be strong enough, no?”

“If that truly does happen…” Jiang Long paused. “Then, from that moment onward, we will be allies.”

“No 'if's. It will happen,” said Chen Xiaolian with utter conviction. “All right, let's end our conversation here. I will keep this communication channel. Even after we leave this instance dungeon, you will be able to contact us. Let's keep in touch. I believe our cooperation will be a very pleasant one.” 

“I sincerely hope so too.”

After ending the call, Jiang Long took a deep breath. Raising his hand, he turned to look at his watch.

“Five minutes… … eh?”

…

“Xiaolian, how can you be so confident in promising him that?” Chen Xiaolian had just ended the call when Roddy impatiently turned his head. “The BUG on Qiao Qiao, we haven't confirmed if it could be used in future instance dungeons. If it doesn't work… … when that happens, won't they turn on us?!”

“Do you have a better plan?” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “At least we can calm him down for now. We'll worry about future matters in the future. If he tells all the guilds right now about us saving Zhao Yun, we will become an eyesore in the Awakened circle. I for one don't want to get besieged by the other Awakened guilds in future instance dungeons.”

“If the BUG on Qiao Qiao can really be used in future instance dungeons…” Roddy frowned. “Do you really plan on sharing the instance dungeon's quest information with them?”

“Instance dungeons like this one, where the rewards will be given to all the partic.i.p.ants on a certain faction, is very rare.” Chen Xiaolian shrugged his shoulders. “We need not worry that other guilds can get the same benefit as us because there is no way we will give them the juiciest meat. We just need to give them a little sweet t.i.tbit.”

“Makes sense.” Roddy nodded his head. “However… … working together with that Jiang Long. I keep getting a feeling of danger.”

“As long as we are sufficiently strong, we need not worry about getting backstabbed by others.” Chen Xiaolian smiled confidently. “Believe in ourselves. One day, we will become… … very strong!”

It did not take long for the radar to reveal that the Tidal Fighter was approaching Xiakou City of Jiangxia County, the designated zone for Liu Bei to arrive in.

The anaesthetic that Chen Xiaolian had injected Liu Bei with was of the highest level in the system. Even a colossal dragon would end up sleeping for the whole day after getting hit with that.

“We are going to reach our destination soon. If you have anything you want to say, hurry up and do it now.” Chen Xiaolian turned to face Zhao Yun. “However, don't wake him up. I don't want any problems to pop up on the cusp of success.”

“You said it yourself. This is just an NPC. What is there for me to say?” Zhao Yun shook her head in indifference. “Let's just quickly put an end to all this.”

Soon, the Tidal Fighter flew into the sky above Xiakou City. At the same time, everyone received a prompt from their personal system.

[System prompt: Stage 2 quest for Liu Bei's faction has been completed. Liu Bei has arrived in Jiangxia. Victorious faction: Liu Bei's faction.

[System prompt: Teleportation will begin in 10 seconds time. 10, 9, 8… ]

“Qiao Qiao, you received the prompt as well, right?” The moment he received the prompt, Chen Xiaolian anxiously turned to look at Qiao Qiao.

He had gone through so much hards.h.i.+ps to find Qiao Qiao. He would go crazy that very moment if she could not leave with them right now.

“Don't worry.” Qiao Qiao cast a beautiful smile at Chen Xiaolian. “I received it as well. We… … are finally going home!” 

[3, 2, 1… ]

The Tidal Fighter suddenly disappeared from the sky.

…

“What? What is going on here?”

“The instance dungeon got completed?”

“Is Zhao Yun dead? Who killed him?”

“No! Zhao Yun is not dead! Didn't you read the prompt carefully? The victorious faction is Liu Bei's faction! The victory condition is for Liu Bei to reach Xiakou!”

“How is that possible? That prompt never came up in the quest prompt!”

“That is right! What on earth is going on here?”

The Awakened ones who were on Cao Cao's faction flew into an uproar in unison, all shouting aloud.

As for Jiang Long, he was inside the Thunderstorm Tank, alone. Listening to the commotion outside, he maintained an emotionless expression as he shut his eyes.

The amount of time that had pa.s.sed since his call with Chen Xiaolian ended was approximately five minutes.

What he said came true!

“Chen Xiaolian… … I look forward to our next meeting.”

Jiang Long opened his mouth slowly as he mumbled to himself within the Thunderstorm Tank.