Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 371 Not Short of Money

The convoy continued its journey, enduring a bumpy ride all night.

Li Wei had also been traveling all night, but she didn't feel tired.

After getting up, he began to draw a map, a map of the journey he had taken. Hathaway sat next to him, resting her chin on her hand, looking at it intently, occasionally adding a few words. Sometimes Li Wei would ask her questions, and she would answer, such as about the changes she had experienced over the past year.

"My starting location is a bit off-the-beaten-path; it's an oil town. The chaotic magical particles cause most of the gasoline and diesel to decompose and evaporate, but the oil deep underground is still fine. Some survivors have thus figured out the pattern and continue to extract and refine oil on a small scale. In short, although there are no small nuclear power plants, there is no shortage of electricity, such as diesel generators."

"Of course, the scarcity of food and water was also a noose hanging over my head, and I never knew when I would be strangled. In the first few months, I really racked my brains and used all my skills to barely carve out a place for myself. During this process, my exploration of the surrounding terrain also increased day by day. The furthest I went was across the entire desert to the northern end of the desert. There I saw the sea and also saw more survivors and superhumans."

“There is a Black Mountain Duke over there. I scouted him out in the third month, but he was too far away, more than a thousand miles away. So it took me a year to make all sorts of plans and preparations before I finally destroyed the Black Mountain Duke. I was just starting to develop, while you guys have already entered the late game. Plus, the matter of Lord Night Owl has made me very upset, and I even had the idea of ​​wanting to meet you.”

"For this reason, I spent nearly a month exploring eastward. I traveled two thousand miles eastward along the river, seeing countless ruined villages and towns, abandoned cities and wilderness. In the end, I gained nothing but some magical materials and passage tokens, and returned dejectedly."

“Actually, Lu Ziming advised me to move my territory to Black Mountain Fortress a few months ago. He told me this before he left. He said that Black Mountain Fortress is surrounded by desert to the south and mountains to the east. Duke Frost wouldn’t bother to attack you. By the time he destroys Li Wei, three years will have passed. The Pioneer Card will become a protective shield. From then on, Duke Frost will be dealt with by the Pioneers ten years from now. But your territory will at least be guaranteed to stay above the bankruptcy line.”

“I know he meant it from the bottom of his heart. Sometimes I feel the same way. Even with a three-star territory, I’m still a core member of the Internal Affairs Department. But Li Wei, you know me. I’m not reconciled. Watching you spam the entire territory with announcements is making my Dao heart almost break.”

"So I went to find Ron, and then I realized something was wrong with him. After testing him, although I didn't get any results, I was certain that this wasn't the Ron I knew. He had been tricked."

"It was at this moment that I suddenly woke up from my fantasy, from my ambitious and indomitable spirit."

"I realized that the Ice Duke should not be treated as an NPC. This guy might actually be an unparalleled ruler! The kind who can beat us all. He's scheming. Last year, I did encounter some of the Ice Duke's superhumans. Although they looked strange, they spoke logically and clearly. The key thing is that what they described really appealed to me."

"But at that time I was planning a distant attack on the Duke of Black Mountain, so I didn't go to check out the Duke of Frost's territory. Honestly, I felt so regretful at that time. I don't know if you've ever had a similar experience, but you probably have. Look, this is the Duke of Frost's plan. If we had gone, we might have fallen into his trap! Then we would most likely have been less aggressive and stubbornly believed that the Duke of Frost was actually easy to get along with, and that as long as we didn't build a city, he wouldn't attack us."

"When I thought of this, I broke out in a cold sweat. So I quickly went to Socrates to discuss it. This guy didn't fall for it, but his request was that while the Ice Duke was besieging Zhao Kewu and fighting you, he wanted me to join him in sending troops, sailing down the river, digging a dam to divert water, and eliminating Ron first. We would split the spoils 50/50."

"To be honest, this request wasn't too unreasonable, but at the time I thought that Duke Frost was not that simple. Moreover, this plan was time-consuming and laborious. Even if he had an excavator, it wasn't safe. If something went wrong, I was afraid it would be too late."

"And so, we parted on bad terms. But only half a month later, who would have thought that the Duke of Ice had already marched from the east to the west, catching Socrates completely off guard and throwing him into chaos."

"To be honest, Li Wei, if you don't come this month, I'll have to leave in the next few days at the latest."

Fortunately, we still made it in time.

Upon hearing this, Li Wei suddenly asked, "After you merged with the Expansion Card, did you use your territory migration opportunity?"

"No, I'm not very sure about the future, so I wouldn't dare use that opportunity to relocate my territory. That's why I've never built a magic mine."

"Of course, another reason is that building a magic mine requires 50000 gold coins, and other special buildings also cost money. In short, we need to take it one step at a time. By the way, have you built the magic mine yet? Are that widow and the scorpion really that rich? According to Socrates, you're being kept by them."

Hathaway finally couldn't hold back and asked the question. Because of the great distance and the lack of communication, she thought about things in a very distorted way.

Of course, Li Wei expressed her understanding, saying that it was fine as long as things were explained clearly.

"Don't talk nonsense. One of them is my second aunt, and the other is my Aunt Yue. They are elders, so you should show them respect."

"Second Aunt? Aunt Yue?"

Upon hearing this, Hathaway seemed to be thinking about something, her gaze gradually turning strange. After a long while, she muttered, "You really are a beast."

"What?"

"Nothing, I just mean, Li Wei, you're a real beast."

"Stop being sarcastic! Look at the map. This is my riverside fortress, my main base. I want to know, if the Ice Duke takes over Socrates' territory and comes by boat from upstream, or uses a water attack, how should we respond?" Li Wei got down to business, and Hathaway sat up straight. "You still haven't told me how you're going to settle me? I know you can't be a gigolo, but I need to find out the share that widow and Scorpion have in your territory. This is very important. I've already practically given myself away; you can't expect me to have to grovel before them!"

Upon hearing this, Li Wei chuckled, but this matter couldn't be explained in a short time.

“Alright, my idea is that I will designate an area for you in the hilly region on the opposite bank of the river fortress, and you can move your territory there. I don’t know the specific terms of the alliance, but I will definitely give you a high degree of freedom. The river in that area has a terrain that is high in the south and low in the north. The north side is easy to be flooded, and if the south side is not occupied, it is easy to be attacked. That’s my idea.”

"Also, Lord Night Owl asked me to pass on a message to you, asking you to come and be my advisor. But to be honest, I don't want to do that. Because of my second aunt and Aunt Yue, I will have to participate in a cross-border mission with them in three years and ten months. I don't want to drag you down with me. You are still young and should have more time to develop and grow."

"Also, I treat my second aunt and Aunt Yue like family, but our relationship is not maintained by the wheels of a car, but by interests, by expectations for the future, and by appreciation for each other. That's about it."

"Currently, both of them are working as staff in my territory, and there's also Thomas and Zhao Xuanxuan. The five of us are a team, my team."

"As for you, Hathaway, you are an exceptionally intelligent person. You and Lord Night Owl are practically the same kind of people. Your future growth is limitless, so you don't need to worry or compare yourself to others. You may lose to me once or twice, but you won't lose to me a third time. I look forward to the day when you can defeat me."

Hearing Li Wei's words, especially after hearing Night Owl's message, Hathaway's eyes flashed with a hint of anger, though it was fleeting and well concealed. But it was all meaningless in the face of Li Wei's perception.

As expected, no one willingly becomes a puppet.

Hathaway was willing to migrate and form alliances because she was smart enough to see the essence of the problem and understand the changing situation, not because of her relationship with Li Wei.

Otherwise, even if the owl relayed a message, she would most likely remain unmoved.

She is a very smart, outstanding, and opinionated woman, and not easy to control; Li Wei knows this firsthand.

After a long silence, Hathaway sighed softly, "Li Wei, you overestimate me, as if you're not good enough. If I lose to you the first time, I'll do it again, and even more times. Besides, why should we fight over who wins and who loses? I apologize for what I said before, and I hope my second aunt and Aunt Yue won't hold it against me. As for the territory, I still want to be your advisor. We can't let Lord Night Owl's face be disgraced."

“No! I need an ally, not a strategist. I'll explain to Lord Night Owl, you can continue.”

Li Wei rejected Hathaway without hesitation.

She can be a mistress, she can be an ally, she's good in both, and she's absolutely the best.

But he just can't be a staff member, let alone a teammate.

Hathaway gave Li Wei a wronged look, but seeing his firm attitude, she gave up.

"Alright, back to the main topic. Socrates' territory won't fall so quickly. He's a second-generation player with plenty of magic reserves. The Ice Duke can't possibly send his superhumans to their deaths; he'll have to whittle them down little by little. But I'm certain that Socrates' territory will be breached before the radiation storm breaks out this year. There's no doubt about it."

"But winter will be approaching then, so there's no need to worry about them using water attacks. Besides, as an ice-casting witch, I can't let the floodwaters inundate your riverside fortress."

"In short, none of these are problems. What we need to solve now is my Black Mountain Fortress. I have already established the Black Mountain Knights here, and I have to move it. But that will come with some penalties. Simply put, it will require a payment of 20,000 standard gold coins to relocate the Black Mountain Knights."

Hathaway hesitated slightly. Even a hero can be brought down by a penny, especially without the support of Night Owl. She was afraid she wouldn't even be able to come up with the 50,000 gold coins needed to build the magic mine.

Because the mutated creatures that were hunted should have been decomposed into magical materials.

A spellcaster who does not want to build a mage tower is not a qualified spellcaster.

This is an obsession they hold.

Li Wei understood perfectly. At this moment, he certainly wouldn't be stingy. Putting aside his ambiguous relationship with Hathaway as a mistress, just considering such a strategic partner, as long as they could form an alliance, it would be worth it no matter what!
So he directly traded 100,000 gold coins.

One word, and everything is resolved.

I'm not short of money now!
(End of this chapter)