"The poor Crownslayer, her luck is truly terrible."
Watching the Crownslayer leave, Daniel shook his head slightly in his heart. In the game, she was known as the weakest of the Reunion leaders, but in reality, while she wasn't the weakest, she had the misfortune of running into Kal'tsit and Projekt Red. Either of them was more than a match for her.
To be fair, the Crownslayer's strength isn't actually weak. Among Reunion's many leaders, she is far from the weakest. Her Originium Arts are similar to a mist-based technique, highly effective in stealth and assassination.
Within Reunion, aside from Patriot, Talulah, and FrostNova, the other leaders' strengths aren't vastly different—they just excel in different areas.
But who could have predicted she'd run into Kal'tsit and Projekt Red? Kal'tsit, needless to say, hasn't shown much personal combat prowess, but just her Mon3tr alone is more than enough to handle the Crownslayer.
As for Projekt Red, due to her background, she practically has a natural advantage against Lupo like the Crownslayer. Though Projekt Red herself is also a Lupo.
Originally, the Crownslayer had been suppressed by Projekt Red here, which led her to return to Siracusa in frustration, determined to grow stronger and seek revenge.
"Kal'tsit's talent for picking up kids could rival Orochimaru's."
Rhodes Island has many operators who were picked up by Kal'tsit, and quite a few of them are quite powerful. Projekt Red is one of them—not only is she strong, but she's also extremely loyal to Kal'tsit and a member of Rhodes Island's secret organization, SWEEP. One of the reasons Daniel found it suspicious that Talulah was so easily taken from Rhodes Island was the existence of SWEEP.
There are others like Popukar, who, despite being a 3-star operator in the game, possesses monstrous strength in reality. It's somewhat strange—Popukar is a Cautus, yet her strength surpasses that of many Forte.
"Those who wield chainsaws are truly fierce."
"Reality and the game are quite different. There's no way Kal'tsit would wear a shoulder-baring outfit. Well, maybe she only dresses like that within Rhodes Island."
One of Daniel's impressions of Kal'tsit was the Originium crystals on her shoulders, but he wouldn't get to see them now. This was normal—infected individuals, especially those venturing outside, would never expose their Originium crystals.
As for swimsuits, that's even more unrealistic. Unless in certain special places, like Dossoles, Siesta, or some remote tribes, such as Gavial's hometown, where Oripathy is just seen as a "stone disease."
"Someone's coming. It seems we should leave."
Just as Daniel was about to step forward to speak with Kal'tsit, his gaze shifted to the left street, where a group of Reunion members had appeared.
"Projekt Red." Kal'tsit nodded to Projekt Red, who immediately vanished. In Daniel's perception, she was heading straight for the Reunion group. Soon, Projekt Red reappeared, her clothes spotless.
"No need to kill them, huh?" The Reunion members weren't dead, but they were temporarily incapacitated. Projekt Red had dislocated their joints—truly befitting someone with the "Bone Fracture" skill.
"Who are you?"
When Daniel's group of four arrived at the Lungmen Guard Department building, they were immediately spotted by the guards stationed behind the defensive structures.
"Swire, we meet again. Where's Officer Ch'en?" The person commanding these guards was Swire. Seeing her directing the Guard Department's casters to control drones via a loudspeaker on a drone, Daniel stepped forward to greet her.
It had to be said, Originium Arts were truly miraculous. Not only could they produce various spell effects, but they could also be used to control drones and Originium lifeforms.
Due to Originium, the wildlife outside had undergone significant mutations. Even the same species could vary greatly because of Originium. For example, Originium slugs could be divided into ordinary slugs, acid slugs, high-energy slugs, and even explosive slugs.
There were also creatures like Armored Crabs and Hunting Hounds. Ordinary Armored Crabs were food, but if mutated by Originium, some could even flip over tanks.
This time, likely because Lungmen had exposed Wei Yenwu's plan, he abandoned the idea of sacrificing the Guard Department building and instead focused on suppressing Reunion.
A team of casters capable of controlling a large number of drones could have a massive impact on the battlefield—essentially serving as a simplified version of bombers. Even in the game, facing bomb-dropping drones, most players had to use a fast-redeploy operator to block them.
But that was in the game. In reality, there were no fast-redeploy operators to block drone bombs, let alone the fact that bomb-dropping drones didn't appear one or two at a time.
If the game had dozens or even hundreds of bomb-dropping drones appearing at once, it would be quite interesting.
Reunion naturally had drones as well, and in terms of casters, they outnumbered Lungmen. Unfortunately, even for casters, controlling drones wasn't easy—it required training. Reunion's casters became casters solely because they were infected, so they naturally lacked the training to control drones.
"Governor Wei is waiting for you."
Swire had no time for small talk with Daniel. After ordering a Guard Department member to guide Daniel's group, she immediately returned to her command duties.
"He figured it out too, huh? That old fox." Kal'tsit had guessed his intentions, and now Wei Yenwu had as well, which left Daniel feeling slightly annoyed.
"Officer Ch'en, your current task is to command the Guard Department in repelling Reunion. Do you understand?"
As Daniel followed the Guard Department member to the floor where Wei Yenwu's office was located, he heard an angry roar from inside the room just as they reached the door.
"Please wait a moment." Hearing the commotion inside, the Guard Department member guiding them prepared to go in and report, but Daniel ignored him and pushed the door open.
"Sorry for the intrusion, but this is urgent. I hope we're not interrupting."
Seeing Daniel and his group walk in, Wei Yenwu wanted to say that they were indeed interrupting, but he held back. After all, it wasn't just Daniel who had arrived—Nian was with him. Of the four, only Projekt Red didn't enter Wei Yenwu's office.
As the Governor of Lungmen and the brother of the current Emperor of Yan, Wei Yenwu naturally knew of Nian's existence.
"No, we're done here. Officer Ch'en, go attend to your duties." Wei Yenwu gestured with his eyes for Ch'en to leave, but unfortunately, Ch'en seemed to ignore his signal and instead turned to Daniel.
"When are you heading to Chernobog? I'm coming with you."
"Ch'en Huixiao!" Wei Yenwu was nearly driven mad and directly called her by her full name.
"If this city has no place for the infected, then as an infected, I have no reason to stay."
Even though Wei Yenwu hadn't yet carried out his plans, the mere fact that he intended to do so had already made Ch'en realize certain things. If it weren't for her close relationship with Wei Yenwu, she might have left the Guard Department long ago, just like the former Chief of the Guard Department, Nine.
Previously, Ch'en hadn't understood why Nine had been so adamant about leaving after becoming infected, but now she understood.
"You—" Wei Yenwu stared at Ch'en, unable to speak for a long time. He never expected that Ch'en would reveal her infected status at such a time.
Even as the Governor of Lungmen, with his close relationship with Ch'en, there was no way he could allow an infected individual to hold a high-ranking position in the Guard Department, let alone become the Chief of the Guard Department or the Governor of Lungmen.
Originally, Wei Yenwu had planned to gradually build Ch'en's authority, starting with her becoming the Chief of the Guard Department, then Governor, with Swire taking over as Chief.
Ch'en's status as an infected made Kal'tsit glance at her with interest.
"There's no need for such tension. She just wants to see Talulah. I guarantee she'll return safely. Besides, letting her go out and broaden her horizons is a good thing. Let's focus on the Reunion situation outside first."
Ch'en was too righteous at this point, and her righteousness couldn't tolerate any impurities. While righteousness is a good thing, unfortunately, this world doesn't have room for such righteous individuals.
Wei Yenwu had been much the same in his youth. Don't look down on Wei Yenwu—this was someone who had willingly given up the throne. If he hadn't left Yan and come to Lungmen, he would be the Emperor of Yan now.
"What do you want to discuss?" After a moment of silence, Wei Yenwu stopped pressing the issue with Ch'en.
"Of course, how to minimize losses on both sides." It sounded strange for both sides of a war to sit down and discuss minimizing losses, but that was exactly what was happening now.
After a heated exchange, both sides finally reached an agreement. While Wei Yenwu wasn't exactly happy with Daniel's demands, he had no choice but to concede given the current power imbalance. If it had been anyone else, Wei Yenwu wouldn't have been so accommodating.
"By the way, there's also the matter of Rhodes Island. They're helping you resolve such a major issue, Governor Wei. Surely you won't be too stingy to offer some compensation?"
"That's none of your concern."
"Governor Wei, I only have one request. I want the relics left behind by Edward Artorius in Lungmen."
"How do you know about that?"
Wei Yenwu's expression immediately turned grave. The fact that Edward Artorius had left relics in Lungmen wasn't something just anyone should know.
"I have my sources."
"Is this for Siege? If so, then Talulah might also have a chance to compete for the throne of Victoria. If this was Koschei's plan all along, it's quite far-reaching."
As Kal'tsit and Wei Yenwu discussed the matter of Edward Artorius, Daniel's mind wandered to other things.
During his time in Lungmen, he had gathered a lot of information about the world's various nations from the internet. While it wasn't classified information, combined with what he already knew, it painted a clearer picture.
He also began to understand why Koschei had taken Talulah instead of Ch'en back then. Ch'en only had the blood of Yan's dragons, while Talulah was of mixed dragon blood, with her dominant lineage being that of the Draco. This gave her a legitimate claim to the throne of Victoria.
If it were the Talulah of Reunion, she might not have had a chance, but as a Grand Duke of Ursus? And if Koschei merely wanted to use her identity to sow chaos in Victoria?
Among Victoria's eight Grand Dukes, if any of them harbored ulterior motives, they could easily use Talulah as a figurehead, much like how the banner of Fusu was often raised during the late Qin dynasty.
Edward Artorius was similar to Wei Yenwu. He had once had the chance to become the King of Victoria but chose to give it up and came to Lungmen, where he met Wei Yenwu and Lin Gorshok.
"Pleasure doing business. Oh, and please take care of my film company, Governor Wei."
After setting up the film company, Daniel had handed it over to Hung to manage. There wasn't much to manage—just filming TV shows or movies. Daniel had plenty of money and didn't need any financing.
As for competition or suppression from other companies, he wasn't worried. After all, he had Wei Yenwu backing him. Hung was currently preparing to shoot the movie they had discussed earlier.
"You're making a movie?"
Hearing about the movie, Nian immediately became interested. It was no surprise, given her desire to film "The Forge's Revelation."
"Interested?"
"Of course."
"Then start preparing a script. Once this is over, we can start filming."
"I'll have to put some thought into it." Nian immediately fell silent, seemingly recalling something suitable for a script.
Wei Yenwu looked on speechlessly as Daniel and Nian discussed filming a movie. If it weren't for who they were, he would have kicked them out long ago.
"Rhodes Island, are you interested? We can split the profits." Thinking of the many operators at Rhodes Island, Daniel turned to Kal'tsit.
"You should discuss that with Amiya. She's the leader of Rhodes Island."
Just as Wei Yenwu was grooming Ch'en, Kal'tsit was doing the same with Amiya. When it came to matters concerning Amiya's authority, Kal'tsit never interfered. If she handled everything herself, who would the operators listen to?
If Amiya hadn't been busy preparing for mobilization, Kal'tsit would have brought her to meet Wei Yenwu this time.
"Guess we'll have to wait until this is over. Alright, I need to deal with Reunion now. See you at Rhodes Island."
"It looks like a fight's about to break out."
When Daniel and Nian found FrostNova and the Yeti Squadron, they were facing off against Mephisto's Reunion forces, Faust's Phantom Crossbowmen, and another group of Reunion members led by the Crownslayer.
The Crownslayer, standing amidst the chaos, looked lost, unsure of which side to support.
"To say that Sister is wrong—you're the traitors! Those people deserve to die."
"Mephisto, I've wanted to kill you for a long time. This is the perfect opportunity. Faust, step aside. You're not my target." FrostNova had long been disgusted by Mephisto's actions. If it weren't for the sake of Reunion's greater cause, she would have dealt with him long ago.
Mephisto's Originium Arts were powerful, but unfortunately, FrostNova's Arts countered his perfectly.
"Faust, you know what Talulah was like before. She's not herself anymore. If this continues, Reunion will be destroyed."
"Sorry." After hearing FrostNova's words, Faust glanced at Mephisto, who was wearing a twisted smile, but ultimately shook his head at FrostNova.
"Then I'm sorry too. Attack!" With that, FrostNova and the Yeti Squadron immediately sprang into action. A wave of freezing cold instantly froze Mephisto's Reunion forces solid.
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