New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

"In that case," Yuan Shu's eyes gradually brightened after listening to Liu Bei's explanation. He leaned forward, lowering his voice but unable to hide his excitement, "couldn't we also bring Gongsun Zan over as an ally?"

Liu Bei looked down at the pair of eyeballs in his hand that were still slightly twitching, nodded, and spoke calmly.

"As Cao Cao said, that is indeed the case." He put the eyeball back into his robes, paused, and added with a barely perceptible hint of regret, "It's just a pity that he gave me Gongsun Zan's eye, not Yuan Shao's."

Yuan Shu sighed softly, but quickly suppressed his disappointment, waved his hand, and comforted Liu Bei instead.

"It's alright, Xuande. We'll have plenty of opportunities to pull Yuan Shao out of this mess."

He tapped his finger on the table, as if to calm himself and Liu Bei.

"For now, we should observe the situation and wait for changes. If we have the opportunity, we should try to bring Gongsun Zan into our camp. The more people we have, the more confident we will be in fighting against the strange forces."

Liu Bei nodded and turned to look out the window. Dusk was approaching; it would soon be dark. He looked away and gave Yuan Shu a rare smile.

"Brother Highway, for safety's sake, why don't you sleep here tonight?" He pointed to the wine bowl on the table, his tone unusually relaxed. "Let's have a little drink and sleep side by side."

Yuan Shu was slightly taken aback, seemingly sensing an unsettling closeness in Liu Bei's words. However, he didn't dwell on it and simply nodded in agreement.

Liu Bei turned and instructed Tang Xiaohu to fetch Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Soon after, the five men sat around a simple wooden table.

On the table lay cooked meat and fine wine sent by Cao Cao. The aroma of the meat mingled with the scent of wine, filling the small thatched hut. The five men ate heartily, their bellies bulging.

After several rounds of drinks, Liu Bei took the lead in raising his wine bowl and offering a toast to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei from afar.

"Second brother, third brother." Liu Bei held up his wine bowl, his gaze lingering on each of their faces for a moment.

His tone carried the magnanimity of an elder brother, yet also concealed a subtle hint of seriousness.

"There's no war today, so let's drink until we drop. Cao Cao has sent plenty of fine wine, so drink as much as you like. When there's no battle, we can drink three hundred cups without worry."

He paused, lowered the wine bowl slightly, and said in a serious tone, "But if there's a war, you're not allowed to touch a single drop. Do you understand?"

Zhang Fei nodded vigorously, his mouth full of cooked meat, and mumbled a reply. Guan Yu, on the other hand, downed the remaining wine in his cup, put down the bowl, stroked his long beard, and said with a smile.

"Don't worry, brother, I won't stand on ceremony." He turned and shouted towards the door, "Someone, bring a larger cup!"

"Cheers, cheers!"

The five wine bowls were refilled and clashed together with a bang, splashing wine everywhere.

After a few bowls of fine wine, a warm current surged from his throat to his lower abdomen. Liu Bei felt much more awake, and an indescribable sense of comfort spread from his scalp to his fingertips.

He gazed thoughtfully at the shimmering wine in the bowl. No wonder Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were such heavy drinkers. This wine was truly excellent.

While Zhang Fei was boasting enthusiastically about his glorious exploits of slaughtering pigs in Zhuozhou, Liu Bei had already silently reviewed his plan in his mind.

He put down his wine bowl and coughed softly. The cough was not loud, but it was like a pebble thrown into a lake, instantly silencing the noisy atmosphere at the table, and everyone's eyes turned to him.

Once the table was completely quiet, Liu Bei turned his gaze to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. The rare smile on his face had completely vanished, and his tone became serious and calm.

"Second brother, third brother. If I'm not mistaken, Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu will be leading their Xiliang army to attack tomorrow." He paused, his gaze lingering on each of their faces for a moment. "I have a plan. Listen carefully, and be sure to do as I say."

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei exchanged a quick glance. They had already vaguely sensed that something was wrong with their elder brother.

They could sense it, but there was nothing they could do about it.

If they can't find an opportunity for Liu Bei to step on their landmines, they can't legitimately enter their bizarre state to kill Liu Bei and avoid that damned soul chain.

Even if he finally gets a chance, Tang Xiaohu will stand in front of Liu Bei like a wall, giving him time to draw his sword and commit suicide.

If Liu Bei were to put his sword to their necks, the two of them would be killed along with him, a loss that would not outweigh their gains. Therefore, despite their growing suspicions, they suppressed their thoughts and said nothing more.

Guan Yu picked up his wine cup, his phoenix eyes narrowed into slits, and he spoke with a smile. His smile carried a hint of politeness, mixed with a subtle, almost imperceptible, perfunctory air.

"Don't worry, brother. As long as there are living people and good wine, we brothers will all listen to you."

In this bizarre world, almost all the soldiers are just NPCs, lacking independent consciousness. Yet they are all living beings.

Liu Bei stared blankly at the wine in the bowl, a bizarre thought suddenly popping into his head. These soldiers were like crops of walking vegetables.

When they were hungry, they would catch animals and eat them as military rations. When they were no longer needed, they still had to carry spears and halberds and go to the battlefield to risk their lives.

No wonder Zhuge Liang in the new Three Kingdoms series knew human transmutation techniques. When he had money and supplies, he used these soldiers as materials to transmute them.

When they were no longer needed, they were broken down and used as military rations.

Liu Bei sneered inwardly. This wasn't some kind of alchemy technique; it was clearly treating living people as waste.

However, he was eager to recruit Zhuge Liang. Because in Liu Bei's view, there was still a military strategy to be used in the new Three Kingdoms period.

A victorious army is bound to be arrogant, and an arrogant army is bound to be defeated. This has already been proven. But what about the other side of this military strategy?

That is, a defeated army will surely be pitiful, and a pitiful army will surely be victorious!

As long as Zhuge Liang can continuously create living soldiers and then deliberately feed them to the monsters, the monsters will continuously accumulate the defeated soldier status.

Once the defeated state is accumulated enough, even the strongest and most unpredictable creature will inevitably be defeated.

He snapped out of his reverie, glanced at the four people present, and suddenly raised his voice, laying out tomorrow's plan point by point. He spoke slowly, but every word exuded an undeniable certainty.

"Tomorrow, we'll do this and that, and so on..."

He dared to speak so loudly because he had already planned it out. There were five people in the room. Even excluding the two strangely transformed Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, there were still himself, Yuan Shu, and Tang Xiaohu—three normal people.

The rule is very clear: only two people plotting together can be eavesdropped on. Three people, absolutely not. Let alone five.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei listened with little expression on their faces, only occasionally nodding and exchanging glances.

The look in his eyes was less one of obedience and more one of scrutiny. But Liu Bei paid it no mind.

If you don't listen to me, I'll commit suicide! Aren't you angry?

Baima Fortress. Late at night, around midnight.

The soldiers in the stockade had long since fallen asleep, with only a few sentries on night duty pacing back and forth beside the camp.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. It wasn't an earthquake, but the dull thud of countless hooves pounding the earth, rolling over like thunder. The wine bowls on the table rattled and clattered.

Sun Jian suddenly sprang up from the couch. He grabbed his armor, put it on, and rushed out of the tent barefoot, bumping into a patrolling soldier who was stumbling towards him.

The soldier was terrified, his helmet askew. Upon seeing Sun Jian, he was like a drowning man clutching at a straw, and he knelt down with a thud, his voice trembling with sobs.

"General! Generals Li Jue and Guo Si have led 80,000 elite cavalry from Xiliang in a night attack on our camp!"

What?! Sun Jian grabbed the soldier by the collar and lifted him up onto his tiptoes.

He stared wide-eyed, his eyes glowing crimson in the night, and his voice was forced out through clenched teeth.

"Eighty thousand elite cavalry, and a night raid at that? Why was there no warning?!"

The soldier was being held by him, and he was shaking so badly that he could barely speak.

"General...they...they came from the east without making a sound! Our scouts didn't detect anything!"

Sun Jian shoved him to the ground and turned around. Sun Ce had already run over with disheveled hair, followed by several Jiangdong generals who had rushed over.

Fires had already been lit around the camp, and shouts of battle grew louder as they approached. The bugle calls of the Xiliang cavalry echoed through the darkness.

Sun Jian grabbed Sun Ce's shoulder, his scarlet eyes showing no panic, only an unquestionable command.

"Bo Fu! Take all the soldiers and immediately withdraw from Baima Fortress through the west gate. Go as far as you can, and do not look back!"

"Then Father, you..." Before Sun Jian could finish speaking, a violent and eerie aura exploded from his body.

His body swelled rapidly in the firelight, his armor shattered inch by inch, and he transformed into a golden tiger half the height of a man.

His tiger eyes gleamed with the same crimson light as Sun Jian's. He glanced back at Sun Ce one last time, then transformed into a golden bolt of lightning, charging straight towards the dark mass of Xiliang troops outside the camp.

"Father, be careful!" Sun Ce roared at the departing golden figure. He gritted his teeth, turned around abruptly, and shouted to the generals behind him.

"Pass down the order! All battalions, immediately assemble and withdraw through the west gate! Quickly!"

In the darkness of night, the sounds of battle echoed through the White Horse Stronghold. A lone golden figure charged towards the eighty thousand iron cavalry.