Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 449 Damn Competitive Spirit (Bonus Chapter 710 for recommending and checking in with monthly tickets to the Alliance Leader)

"Of course my second aunt and the others wouldn't agree, which is why I came directly to you to have an open and honest talk. Li Wei, you said before that you would give me a chance to defeat you. You can't go back on your word. I'm already your woman for life. What's wrong with wanting a glorious exit performance before I become a member of the Li family?"

Hathaway actually became quite smug.

"That's just sophistry—the two things are completely incomparable."

"I'm being unreasonable? So you think my overall strength is inferior to yours? We can have a contest! Whether it's going to the Arena of All Heavens, or competing in internal affairs, troop training, or strategy, in every aspect, you, surnamed Li, draw up the line, and we'll have a best-of-three series. Do you dare?"

Seeing Hathaway's incredibly serious expression, Li Wei chuckled, "Was this instructed by Lord Night Owl?"

"You're overthinking it. I'm the one who's not convinced and I want to prove myself."

Hathaway suddenly sat down as if deflated. "I'm not convinced! Why is it always you who wins? Why do I have to cooperate with you? Why do I have to be your mistress instead of you being my lover!"

"Is there a difference between the two? Calm down first."

“I’m very calm. You know this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Li Wei. If I didn’t have this opportunity, I might have just accepted my fate. Really, I really like you. Although at first I just wanted to spite the teacher, sometimes I know I have to accept my fate, depend on you, and help you succeed in order to succeed myself. I understand all of this. But, but you have no idea how important this opportunity is.”

"My master, that is, your Lord Night Owl—"

"What do you mean 'My Lord Night Owl'? Isn't he everyone's Lord Night Owl?"

"Seriously! Don't interrupt me."

"Okay, you can continue."

"Your Lady Night Owl is currently making deep plans, because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her, her only chance to advance to the rank of Duchess, do you understand? Truly intelligent people, truly farsighted people, have been planning this for half a year, or even several years, while we are only now waking up as if from a dream. We are already far behind, do you understand? Therefore, we must rise up and catch up. If we miss this opportunity, we may have to wait another thousand years."

“But, Li Wei, we won’t live for a thousand years.”

"So, please give me this chance, okay?"

Li Wei remained silent for a long time, and everyone else also remained silent. Second Aunt still had a smile on her face, but the smile was a bit cold.

Li Yue's gaze remained calm as always, while Zhao Xuanxuan clenched her fists nervously, barely daring to breathe. Only Thomas was still eating watermelon.

"So, you want an earl? Just for an earl, you're making such a fuss? It's like the end of the world. I almost thought I was going to become Jack from the Titanic."

Li Wei blinked and suddenly laughed, "This is so interesting!"

Hathaway didn't say anything, but huddled on the sofa with her head in her hands. She was also conflicted and even a little regretful, because at one point she was certain that she was about to become Mrs. Lee. Although it seemed unbelievable to her, how could she have ever cared about this title when she was so proud?
But when the moment actually came, I felt a pang of pain in my heart. Indeed, a man can be loyal to his family but not to his wife, and a woman must also choose between family and career.

"Fine, forget what I just said. I accept my fate."

Hathaway stood up, her eyes red, and was about to leave the room.

Li Wei suddenly spoke up at this moment.
“Actually, you can wait. There’s no information yet about His Majesty’s Empire Reconstruction mission. We don’t even know what the mission’s specific mode is. Isn’t it a bit naive of you to be so hasty in wanting the captain’s authority? Why not wait a bit?”

That's because you don't know just how fierce the competition is!

Hathaway turned around in a whirlwind, “The kingdom now has three major provinces, each with a duke, two or three marquises, about ten earls, no more than twenty viscounts, and no more than one hundred barons. Note that these are all powerful viscounts, and there are even more barons. There are also many high-ranking mercenaries who are not interested in the territory. They can be converted into powerful barons through advance manipulation.”

“These are just the three major provinces. There are no dukes in the capital, but there are at least six marquises, more than twenty earls, and dozens of viscounts. All in all, theoretically there are no fewer than eight hundred royal nobles who can participate in this imperial reconstruction mission. Do you understand? Li Wei, you and your team, including me, are just one of these eight hundred royal nobles.”

"Although there is no news yet, please believe me, no matter how the rules change or what kind of competition model is adopted, we will have a large number of competitors!"

"You can choose not to be anxious, but I can't help but be anxious."

"Alright, alright, let's all keep quiet. We're all on the same side, let's not fight amongst ourselves. Nothing's settled yet, we can talk things over! Xiaowei, you have to be understanding of Hathaway. She's holding back a lot of anger, which is a good thing. She's full of energy. Young people shouldn't be so old-fashioned if they don't have some spirit."

"Besides, in our team, we can raise any opinions we have. It's not good if it's always one-man rule, is it? But in any case, we must leave room for maneuver."

Auntie stood up and tried to smooth things over, stopping Hathaway and pushing her towards Li Wei, "Come on, they say absence makes the heart grow fonder, everyone else can leave, or Xiaoyue, why don't you stay?"

Li Yue smiled silently, stepped forward and patted Li Wei on the shoulder, then hugged Hathaway. "This kid is as stubborn as a mule, but Hathaway, you're the same. Birds of a feather flock together. Come on, come on!"

In an instant, everyone had left. Li Wei smiled, pressed the still aggrieved Hathaway onto the sofa, opened a jar of chilled three-star wine, poured a glass for each of them, and then said, "Stop pretending. Everyone knows each other. Is this funny?"

"Hmph! Interesting!" Hathaway rolled her eyes at him, but picked up her wine glass and clinked it with Li Wei's, then drank it all in one gulp. Ninety percent of her previous grievances had dissipated.

"So you really aren't going to give me that chance, are you?"

"I've already said that there's no point in saying any of this before the situation becomes clear. What's wrong with you? Have you gone into a qi deviation while practicing your martial arts lately? Why are you so impatient!"

"You're the one who's gone mad! My current Inspiration is 11, and I guarantee I'll reach Inspiration 12 in six months. Besides, my current Mental Strength is 120 points. I've already mastered Sequence 3 Mental Shock and Mind Control, Sequence 3 Ice Magic, Sequence 3 Fire Magic, and Sequence 3 Wood Magic. Once we get to the mission world, I'm confident I can build a one-star mage tower within a month. Do you accept that?" "I accept!"

"I see you're just not convinced. Believe me or not, one mental attack from me and you'll be running away with your tail between your legs! You have no idea what a genius is!"

"Ha ha!"

Li Wei smiled, stopped arguing, and instead closed his eyes to enjoy the chilled three-star wine. His second aunt's winemaking skills were getting better and better.

In a hazy state, he felt as if he had become a wild horse, being ridden around, charging left and right, unruly and untamed!
Ugh, this damn competitive spirit.

The next morning, Li Wei went out feeling refreshed, with a loser fast asleep behind him.

1-0, an easy victory.

Down on the fourth floor, which had been renovated into a small restaurant, Second Aunt was preparing breakfast. Li Yue sat there quietly drinking juice. Thomas was nowhere to be found. Zhao Xuanxuan was forging iron. The three hundred new guards all needed at least three-star enchanted heavy armor. They would definitely be going to the battlefield sooner or later.

Li Wei sat down at the dining table, and Li Yue smiled and asked, "Have you reached an agreement?"

"It's settled. It's no big deal. If I can't even handle something this small, I might as well just smash my head against a block of tofu."

Li Yue smiled upon hearing this and got straight to the point, "Actually, Hathaway's suggestion makes a lot of sense. His Majesty's task of rebuilding the empire will inevitably be very difficult and dangerous. If he is not careful, he will lose his life on the battlefield. Our Blazing Flame Territory currently has a total of 700 full-time soldiers, 300 heavy cavalry, 300 heavy infantry, 100 archers, and another 800 second-line conscripted infantry, the kind that can only be used to defend the city."

"If we add your three hundred guards, it means that at most we will have to deploy over a thousand troops and no less than three thousand support personnel. This also includes conscripted infantry. Such a large mobilization requires an outstanding commander. Li Wei, do you think you can handle it?"

"No, I can only command small-scale battles of no more than five hundred, no, at most three hundred people."

Li Wei spoke frankly about this, and that's a fact.

"Oh, you know yourself very well. Then I won't say anything more. Hathaway is still a bit too hasty." Li Yue smiled happily. Li Wei is not someone who clings to power. He is also someone who can truly appoint people based on their talents. When the time comes, he will let Hathaway take charge of the central command.

But not now; that little blonde girl is still too hot-blooded.

At this moment, Second Aunt brought over several exquisite breakfasts, sat down next to Li Wei, and said softly, "Xiao Wei, the overall strength of our Blazing Flame Territory is still too weak. Even with the four hundred people you brought back, the total population is less than eight thousand. If a major war breaks out, four thousand people will have to be mobilized at once, and our territory will be almost half-destroyed."

"So don't blame Hathaway for being anxious. You need to understand that many lords are eyeing us, seeing us as a piece of fat meat. Do you know how many high-paying offers Xiaoyue has turned down since the Battle of Thorn Pass? Including Hathaway herself, and Zhao Xuanxuan. How many times has Thomas been poached?"

“Even Night Owl is trying to trick Xiaoyue away, so I dare to make a decision: in the future, this will be a war of annexation where big fish eat small fish and small fish eat shrimp. Also, there’s something I have to tell you: many of the off-duty soldiers in the Flame Legion have developed some war-weariness. In their view, now that the radiation storm is over and the apocalypse is over, they should put away their weapons, let their horses graze, and go to work in the fields with their wives and children, working from sunrise to sunset.”

"It's only natural for people to do this; we can't force them to."

"If the Blazing Territory is invaded in the future, I believe they will immediately become the bravest soldiers. But to ask them to follow us to fight in an unknown plane that cannot be explained in ordinary words is too much to ask of them."

"You have to take these factors into account."

"War is not child's play, but a battle of the highest level of military strength and intelligence."

Li Wei ate his breakfast silently, listening to his second aunt's unusually mature and strategic words, but said nothing because of the information asymmetry.

If Hathaway had known that this was a three-way battle for supremacy and a lord's contest that would last for a full hundred years, she would never have been so radical.

A hundred years!
However, he cannot reveal this informational advantage, because it is clear that an invisible hand is currently spreading and creating certain anxieties.

This water is really deep.

Based on this, Li Wei wouldn't mind if Hathaway made a fuss.

Anyway, as long as he can stabilize things in the end, everything will be fine.

After Li Wei had finished breakfast, Hathaway came downstairs with her hair all messy. She snuggled up to Li Wei like a kitten, her mouth agape, waiting to be fed.

“This is too much! I can’t stand this. If it were the old me, I would have killed you all, buried one in the South Pole and one in the North Pole.”

Auntie joked that just as she and Li Yue were about to get up and leave, Li Wei stopped her and took out a fire crystal.

"Second Aunt, can you help me see what this is?"

But the next second, Hathaway snatched it away, forgetting all about their sweet nothings, and asked with a serious face, "This is a magical artifact made using alchemy! Li Wei, where did you get this?!"

"Yes, at least Sequence 3 alchemy. You went to steal? You stole a fourth-tier mage's mage tower?" At this moment, even Second Aunt's eyes widened. She was very flustered, extremely flustered, because she and Hathaway activated their mental fields almost at the same time. Li Yue went even further, directly covering the dining table with a five-star Heaven-Covering Card.

The group was on high alert.

(End of this chapter)