"What exactly do you mean by bringing up the Outsider Alliance all of a sudden?"
"Do you think I'll cooperate with the Outsider Alliance? Or throw in my lot with them?"
"Or is there some problem between you and the Outsider Alliance?" Chen Changan asked, frowning.
"At first, we also thought the Outsider Alliance existed simply to help its members survive."
"The worst that might happen was that they'd come back for revenge someday."
"But the way the Outsider Alliance has acted all this time, along with what we've learned about them in secret, makes us feel they have some ulterior motive."
"The Eternal Ranking has opened now, giving outsiders a chance to appear in public openly and without reproach."
"The Eternal Ranking doesn't forbid other races or outsiders from participating."
"But there's one thing: once someone enters the Eternal Ranking, they'll be protected until the ranking ends."
"In other words, during that period, no matter who they are, people from the Eternal Land aren't allowed to target them in any way or by any means."
"If you were... Oh, you're an outsider yourself."
"Just think about it. Would outsiders pass up an opportunity like this?"
At this meeting, Zhang Ergou had said quite a lot—so much that Chen Changan wondered if she'd undergone a change of heart.
Though she'd spoken at length, her tone hadn't wavered. It was impossible to judge her thoughts or attitude from her voice.
Still, Zhang Ergou's words had given Chen Changan plenty to think about.
The Outsider Alliance had some ulterior motive? What were they after? The entire Eternal Land, perhaps?
And who did she mean by "we"? How had they concluded that the outsiders had some ulterior motive?
More importantly, Chen Changan had been in Eternal City for so long, yet he'd never