New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

Cao Cao chuckled. But he only laughed for a moment before his expression turned serious again.

"Cao has never achieved any merit."

Liu Bei thought to himself: Of course you haven't accomplished anything. When you were assassinating Dong Zhuo, you drew your sword from eight zhang away, fearing that the scoundrel Dong Zhuo wouldn't wake up.

Before entering, he even asked the guards if they wanted to search him, repeatedly courting death and truly portraying Cao Cao's suspicious nature to the "extreme."

He silently complained in his heart, but his face remained impassive, a habit he had long since developed. He continued to praise the character, following the original lines.

"Brother Cao's righteous act of assassinating the thief has made him famous throughout the land, and Liu Bei deeply admires him."

Cao Cao chuckled upon hearing the praise. But when he turned to look at Sun Qian's guard, his expression changed completely, and his tone suddenly turned cold.

"General, if you haven't heard of these three valiant warriors, have you ever heard of me, Cao Cao?"

Sun Qian's guards, their faces full of obsequiousness, hurriedly smiled ingratiatingly.

"The name of Cao Cao is renowned far and wide."

Cao Cao snorted coldly, staring at him with a solemn gaze.

"Before I assassinated Dong Zhuo, I was just an unknown person, like them."

Liu Bei was overjoyed. That iconic scene was finally coming!

"How can you be sure that today's nobody won't one day be a household name?"

"If that day ever comes, and they become world-famous, will you regret what you've done today?"

Cao Cao smiled slightly. Clearly, he was thoroughly enjoying this act of putting on a show.

Liu Bei chuckled inwardly. This Cao Cao must have read the script; otherwise, he wouldn't have said such a thing.

He mimicked Sun Qian's tone and mentally finished the sentence for him.

How do you know that Sun Qian's guards today won't become famous throughout the world in the future?

If that day ever comes and he becomes famous throughout the world, will you regret what you did today?

Of course, Sun Qian's guards would never say such a thing. His attitude towards Cao Cao was almost instinctively fearful, as if Cao Cao were Dong Zhuo reincarnated, and even a sneeze from Cao Cao could make him tremble with fear.

Liu Bei was unaware of the reason at the moment, but his initial assessment was that it was probably related to Cao Cao's unusual circumstances.

Upon hearing Cao Cao's words, Sun Qian's guard felt like a thousand alpacas were stampeding through his mind, but his face was full of smiles as he responded in a humble tone.

"What Cao Cao said is true, what Cao Cao said is true."

After reprimanding the guards, Cao Cao turned to look at Liu Bei, then glanced at Guan Yu and Zhang Fei behind him, and laughed loudly.

"The three of you, follow me into the pass."

Liu Bei bowed deeply to thank Cao Cao for guiding him. His face remained impassive, but inwardly he was laughing wildly.

Follow me into the pass. This Cao Cao was truly a geographical genius.

He has watched the new Three Kingdoms at least ten times, and he remembers a famous scene at the end.

Xuzhou City truly deserves its reputation as the foremost pass in the Central Plains.

A single sentence can contain several errors. What's worse, these words actually came from the mouth of Xun Yu, a man of exceptional talent.

Liu Bei entered the city with a smile in his heart. He knew that he needed to quickly let his smile out of his mind while no one was paying attention, so that he could suppress it completely when the feudal lords met for the alliance meeting and not let it slip.

On his way into the city, he kept glancing around to see if there were any new rule slips nearby. Unfortunately, he found nothing, which left him somewhat disappointed.

"The valiant cavalry commander Cao Cao, leading four thousand brave warriors from his family, has come to the alliance!"

With this announcement, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei successfully entered the city and arrived at the command platform where the feudal lords were meeting.

As soon as he stepped into this area, a gust of cold wind swept over him, making Liu Bei uneasy. The atmosphere here was extremely eerie, exuding an indescribable sense of unease.

On the leader's seat, Yuan Shao stood up abruptly, clapped his hands and cheered, then quickly walked down the platform and bowed to Cao Cao with clasped hands.

"Oh, Mengde, you've finally arrived! We've been waiting with bated breath!"

The feudal lords around him smiled and flattered him.

"Cao Mengde single-handedly assassinated Dong Zhuo, and his fame spread throughout the land. Brother, I am very grateful."

Gongsun Zan waved his hand, gesturing for Cao Cao to come forward and take a seat, and loudly praised him.

"Mengde, your arrest warrants are plastered all over the Central Plains for eight hundred miles; truly, who in the world doesn't know you!"

Cao Cao bowed to all the feudal lords and then took his seat. Only Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei remained standing motionless, as if they had been left standing there.

Seeing that Yuan Shao didn't even glance at the brothers, Zhang Fei's temper flared up, and he roared at Yuan Shao.

"Hey! Didn't you see my brother standing here?"

Liu Bei suppressed a laugh, staring at the floor with a poker face, and gently reprimanded Zhang Fei beside him.

"Third brother, you mustn't be rude."

Yuan Shao was taken aback for a moment, but did not get angry. Seeing that everyone else had taken their seats, but these three were standing alone in the center, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.

He asked Cao Cao:

"Mengde, are these three brave men your men?"

Cao Cao's face darkened slightly. He glanced at Zhang Fei's reckless appearance and immediately slashed him with lightning speed.

"Not really. I met them by chance at the border."

"The garrison commander was making things difficult for them at the time, so I brought them in along the way. We were all strangers on the road."

Yuan Shao felt like a thousand curses were stampeding through his mind. Strangers? You don't know a single one of them, yet you're leading them to this crucial meeting place? Aren't you afraid they might be assassins?

Cao Cao stood up, walked to Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, and said with a smile.

"Come, gentlemen, let me introduce you. This is our leader of the eighteen-route allied forces, General Yuan Shao."

Yuan Shao clasped his hands in a salute to Liu Bei, who returned the salute. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, standing behind him, didn't even lift their eyelids; there was absolutely no way they would bow in respect, their arrogance boundless.

[Rule 1: Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu are brothers, among the few normal people in the new Three Kingdoms. Please protect them.]

Recalling the rules of Chenliu City from before, Liu Bei seemed to be deep in thought.

According to the rules, the Yuan brothers must be protected. But in this chaotic situation, how can we prevent unforeseen events from happening?

As he pondered, he glanced around out of the corner of his eye. Unexpectedly, this glance revealed a horrifying scene.

Several jet-black tentacles suddenly emerged from Gongsun Zan's back, silently spreading towards Yuan Shu, who was sitting next to him.

Meanwhile, Yuan Shu was drinking his fine wine, completely unaware of what was happening.

Liu Bei's heart tightened suddenly, and his mind raced as he made calculations.

Meanwhile, the plot continues. Cao Cao looked at Liu Bei, about to introduce him to Yuan Shao, but suddenly hesitated, unable to recall Liu Bei's name.

"This is... I'm sorry, I really can't remember your name."

Liu Bei's gaze swept over Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, then glanced at Gongsun Zan, and suddenly he had a plan in mind. He clasped his hands and said loudly.

"I am Liu Bei, courtesy name Xuande, and I am here to report to Alliance Leader Yuan. General Gongsun Zan and I have been roommates since childhood."

Oh?

Upon hearing that Gongsun Zan was involved in this matter, all the lords turned their gazes to him. Yuan Shu also put down his wine cup and glanced sideways.

Seemingly wary of something, the tentacles behind Gongsun Zan suddenly retracted just as they were about to touch Yuan Shu's back.

Gongsun Zan recovered from his daze, gave an awkward smile, and raised his cup.

"Yes, I just vaguely remembered that Xuande and I were classmates and brothers."

"Time flies, Xuande, I can hardly remember what you look like anymore."

After saying that, he smiled, tilted his head back, and drank the wine in his glass to cover up his embarrassment.

During the banquet, among the three normal people—Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and Liu Bei—only Liu Bei noticed Gongsun Zan's unusual behavior.

The Yuan brothers also raised their cups with smiles, completely unaware of Gongsun Zan's unusual behavior.

Liu Bei secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Gongsun Zan hadn't succeeded, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.

He steadied himself and began to quickly analyze the situation. Gongsun Zan should have already entered a bizarre state, but he didn't know what the triggering conditions were.

Moreover, Gongsun Zan was almost successful just now, but was interrupted by a single sentence from him. What was he relying on?

Liu Bei glanced at the guards behind Yuan Shu, his doubts growing. Could it be that these guards truly couldn't see Gongsun Zan's tentacles closing in on their lord?

But then I thought about it, and these soldiers in the new Three Kingdoms are just NPCs, completely devoid of intelligence. They are oblivious to what the main characters are doing.

For example, in the first episode, Cao Cao shouted "Traitor Dong Zhuo" in the street, but none of Dong Zhuo's guards nearby went to report it.

Faced with numerous questions, Liu Bei felt deeply overwhelmed. He had far too little information at the moment and needed to find more rules.

While his mind was racing, he didn't forget to continue the storyline and took the opportunity to introduce Guan Yu and Zhang Fei behind him.

"This is my second brother, Guan Yu, courtesy name Yunchang. This is my third brother, Zhang Fei, courtesy name Yide."

Yuan Shao scrutinized Liu Bei, seemingly lost in thought, and then cupped his hands in a gesture of respect and asked.

"May I ask your background?"

Liu Bei smiled inwardly. He so wanted to blurt out those words:

I am Liu Bei, the Left General of the Han Dynasty, Marquis of Yicheng, and Governor of Yuzhou.

Unfortunately, he wasn't yet in a position to say it. Otherwise, he would have certainly shown these warlords just how powerful Liu Bei really was.