Douluo Dalu: The Eyes That Defy Fate

Chapter 265, Part Two Hundred and Sixty-Two: The Final Struggle
At this moment, Xu Jiujiu, who always prided herself on being exceptionally intelligent, didn't know whether she should ask or not. Who knew if Lin Po, that scoundrel, was trying to trick her?

If she asked the wrong question, it might not seem like a big deal at the time, but after Lin Po leaves, Vina will settle the score with her, and she'll be in for a lot of trouble.

But if she doesn't ask, her mind will be filled with even more questions, and sooner or later it will drive her crazy.

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Jiujiu's gaze sharpened, and she gritted her teeth, posing a question that was somewhat unexpected to Lin Po.

"Your Highness, if the Star Luo Empire were to fall under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Soul Empire, could you spare the lives of my royal family? At least spare my elder brother and sister-in-law."

Lin Po was quite surprised to hear this, because in his stereotype, Xu Jiujiu was not the kind of person who would give up so easily.

After all, that was the same person in the original story who, even when they were about to lose to the Sun Moon Empire, managed to gather a group of Title Douluos and prepare to wreak havoc in Mingdu.

"Hmm? Don't you want to struggle a little longer and ask me if I can give the Star Luo Empire a chance? Or ask me what I've done from beginning to end?"

Xu Jiujiu's face lit up with hope, but her tone was extremely cautious.

"Can you speak?"

"If I'm in a good mood, I certainly don't mind telling you."

"Are you in a good mood now?"

"pretty good."

"Then can you tell me how you turned the Douluo Continent upside down?"

"Princess Jiu Jiu, I'm not happy if you say that."

Xu Jiujiu: "."

Damn it, this guy is absolutely toxic!

During the Soul Battle Tournament, they used their Soul Saint cultivation to bully her, a weak woman, showing her no respect whatsoever.

Now that she's been reduced to a hostage in the empire, they're still bullying her in front of so many people.

She felt increasingly aggrieved as she thought about it, and finally couldn't help but cry. Her tearful appearance would surely break anyone's heart.

Unfortunately, apart from a few who were still receiving information and hadn't fully woken up, there were only three grown men left present.

Lin Po, as the culprit, naturally felt nothing. Both Du Bu Si and Jin Shen were old bachelors who had been single for one or two hundred years, so they were even less likely to feel any sympathy.

And so, Xu Jiujiu stared at Lin Po with a rather stubborn look.

Fortunately, years of etiquette training prevented her from having an emotional breakdown for too long; she recovered in just half a minute.

"Please, Your Highness, stop teasing Jiu Jiu. The demise of the Star Luo Empire rests solely on your mind."

So even if we die, please let us die knowing why.

Lin Po glanced at Xu Jiujiu's feigned composure and shook his head with slight disdain.

"Although I find your scheming nature quite annoying, I must say that you are quite qualified as a princess of a country."

Unfortunately, your vision is ultimately limited by the limited territory of the Star Luo Empire.

"To put it bluntly, I haven't done anything particularly special from beginning to end, nor have I deliberately targeted you. My target from the start was only Shrek Academy and the people behind them."

"However, you are too deeply tied to Shrek Academy. Any slight movement they make will be a source of turmoil for you."

"So, do you understand?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Jiujiu trembled slightly, her expression extremely bitter.

Having said that, how could she not understand?

Since arriving in the Heavenly Soul Empire and following Vina's side, she has been constantly reflecting on the changes that have taken place in the past year or two.

Regardless of how you trace back from the result, all the root causes converge on Shrek.

This forced her to believe what Xu Jiawei had told her before he left.

Xu Jiujiu originally still harbored the intention of befriending Lin Po and Vina in exchange for peace.

However, Huo Yuhao's actions and Lin Po Tongtian's strength completely shattered her last hope.

Thinking of this, Xu Jiujiu suddenly knelt on the ground, lowering his proud head for the first time in front of anyone other than his elders.

"My lord, I beg you to spare my brother's life. I am willing to pay any price for it!"

Looking at the princess kneeling before him, all pride gone, Lin Po's expression suddenly turned strange. He thought to himself, 'Xu Jiujiu is truly going all out, even at any cost.'

Immediately afterward, seemingly noticing the teasing gazes of the two shameless old men beside him, Lin Po quickly composed himself and said calmly:
"These are minor matters. I'll spare your lives just for Vina's sake."

"But your ambitious older brother has been quite unruly lately."

As he spoke, Lin Po tossed Wu San's report out of his soul tool; its pristine white page footer indicated that the date was very recent.

Trembling, I picked up the blank sheet of paper covered in writing from my lap. I had never imagined that words could feel so glaring.

However, her instinct, honed from reviewing intelligence in the past, compelled her to skim through the most important parts of the report at lightning speed.

As expected, the emperor followed her advice as always, and after Shattered Star Douluo returned, he began a frenzied crackdown on the Spirit Soul Merchant Guild.

If it weren't for the intervention of the remnants of Shrek Academy, the massive merchant guild would likely have already disintegrated.

Even so, Xu Jiawei still managed to seize a significant amount of profits that rightfully belonged to the Chamber of Commerce during the suppression process.

Roughly calculated, the total value is even enough to offset the regular losses from the last theft of the national treasury.

For the first time in a long time, she regretted her suggestion. If she had waited until she had thought things through before sending the message to Xu Jiawei, it wouldn't have made a difference if she had just waited a few months.

Now that things have come to this, there's no use in regretting it.

Instead of wallowing in sorrow, we should quickly think of ways to make up for the Chamber of Commerce's losses in order to quell Lin Po's anger.

However, just as she was racking her brains trying to find the best solution, Lin Po's next words struck her like a bolt from the blue.

"Oh, by the way, your brother has been trying to win over the elders of the Sea God Pavilion that the Chamber of Commerce supports lately, which is quite troubling for me."

"This is why Xu Jiawei couldn't come up with enough funds at the moment, and he was able to 'move' them."

If it actually succeeds, all the fun I've planned before will have been for nothing.

"Then, hmph, the level nine fireworks display will be quite a sight."

Upon hearing this, Xu Jiujiu instinctively gasped in surprise, repeatedly banging his forehead on the ground.

"No! My brother's fault lies entirely with me! It was before Senior Shattered Star left that I asked him to tell my brother to drive away the Spirit Soul Merchant Guild!"

Seeing this, Lin Po smiled slightly and moved aside to push the newly awakened Vina in front of Xu Jiujiu.

Although she had some doubts, her keen intelligence led her to make some guesses about what was happening before her.

So, naturally, they continued talking.

"Since that's the case, then repay it with everything you have for the rest of your life."

"Lin Po-ge, if Vina remembers correctly, you should have the ability to take lives, right?"

Lin Po: “.”

Heaven help me, I really didn't have that thought just now.

No wonder she comes from royalty! Even a well-behaved girl like Vina is actually ruthless inside!
However, he likes it!

"Of course, how do you want to use it?"

Vina was very pleased with her fiancé's strong support, and immediately whispered something in his ear, causing Lin Po and the other two to have their expressions change wildly.

Why are there three people?

As Limit Douluo and Super Douluo, Poison Undying and Golden Body Douluo are troublesome even if they don't want to hear whispers in each other's ears, let alone something so abrupt.

"Vina, who did you learn this from?"

"Mu Xue, she always reads some rather unusual stories."

"That girl, Si Muxue, has some really cool hobbies."

Vina blushed and gently punched Lin Po's chest.

Then, amidst the curious or puzzled gazes of the crowd, a complex magic circle with a diameter of one meter instantly appeared beneath Xu Jiujiu's knees.

The light emanating from it seemed to be etching something onto her body.

A few more seconds passed, the light dimmed, and the magic circle dissipated, leaving Xu Jiujiu kneeling on the ground, still looking bewildered and unable to recover.

(End of this chapter)