Chapter 141

Zuo Jian leaned back on the sofa and took a deep breath.

"Don't be so formal, Mr. Duhkare."

He raised his hand, gesturing for him to sit down.

The latter was taken aback, then slowly sat down.

The other party has been thinking for a long time.

Was he pondering after hearing his own name?

Although Duhkare didn't think the title of Bloodfiend Great Lord would be of any use in the face of the being before him.

No, the most crucial thing right now is... what the other party is demanding.

Announcing his name was simply to let Him know that he was capable of fulfilling His requests.

Otherwise...

"Don't be nervous, Xiao Du. To be honest, it's just a window. If you're really worried about money—"

"Will you just wipe it clean?"

"You can pay in installments."

Zuo Jian smiled kindly.

Laurentina, standing to the side, shook her head helplessly after hearing this.

As expected, Zuo Jian was not going to back down on this kind of thing.

However, Duhkare interpreted it completely differently.

His forehead began to crease repeatedly at that moment.

Cold sweat broke out as he began to ponder the meaning of those words.

Does He... still feel inadequate?

But does He not care? Or is it that He needs to use Himself? Therefore, His own shortcomings are acceptable?

But... with installment payments... does that mean I have to be under their control for the foreseeable future?

However... if that's the case, it means he was still useful, right? So even though He thought He was inadequate, He still didn't eliminate him.

Because he still has this "value".

However, as if he had guessed what Duhkare was thinking, Zuo Jian slowly spoke again.

"Let's put the window issue aside for now. I'm quite curious about this Bloodfiend Great Lord you call yourself... what exactly is he?"

Although he already had a guess in his mind, Zuo Jian still intended to ask from the beginning.

However, this question seemed to provoke Duhkare, who froze on the spot, his forehead beaded with even more cold sweat.

What's going on?

The other party has no idea about the Bloodfiend Court?

Damn it, why do you say that...? Could it be?!

Duhkare's pupils widened.

Can He hear the thoughts He believes to be valuable within His own heart?

Therefore, He directly stated that He knew nothing about the Bloodfiend Court, implying that Ducaré's identity was irrelevant, and that He didn't value Duhkare because of that identity...

In an instant, Duhkare seemed to understand something.

All previous guesses were wrong.

He doesn't care about his own value at all.

He was only interested in himself.

I'm interested in Kazdel.

The fact that he is standing here at this moment, instead of disappearing from this world in the next second, has nothing to do with Duhkare's various speculations.

He lives... simply because He wants to.

There is no reason.

Simply because—He wanted to.

"Hey, I think this title isn't something bad, is it?"

Laurentina leaned closer to Zuo Jian and asked.

'See, your question has silenced them completely.'

[I don't know either, but I really don't know what the Bloodfiend Great Lord and the Bloodfiend Court are. I should at least ask them first, right? Besides, didn't he say these things himself? Why did he fall silent when I asked?!]

'Hmm... could it be that he thinks his title is pretty impressive, but he only got a "Who the hell are you cursing Aegir?" reaction and attitude from you, and now he's starting to doubt himself?'

[Is it really that bad?]

Zuo Jian tilted his head in confusion, looking at Duhkare.

"Ahem, if you don't want to say, that's fine. I just wanted to ask what brings you to Victoria. After all, you've come all this way, so you must have something important to discuss, right?"

Looking at the silent Duhkare, Zuo Jian waved his hand with some regret.

The former shuddered and looked at the other person.

Sure enough, He was only interested... interested in what Kazdel was going to do next.

"I am here to... reach an agreement with the Duke in Victoria that will benefit Kazdel's next move..."

"For... the operation to capture Londinium in the future."

Duhkare lowered his head; at this moment, he had no other choice but to tell the truth.

However... Zuo Jian was taken aback for a moment, then put on an even colder expression.

'What's wrong with you?'

[I heard something... something incredible. To prevent myself from losing control, I severed the link controlling my facial expressions... Damn it, what did he just say?]

'It seems Kazdel is planning something against Victoria.'

What do you think?

[How likely do you think he's a lunatic talking nonsense?]

'It's not big, it looks pretty normal.'

[Would a normal person just casually reveal this kind of information? Or is he actually a spiritual Victoria who desperately wants someone to stop Kazdel?!]

Chapter 99, Duhkare: Regent? Not really familiar with him.

"So, I can roughly understand that Kazdel does indeed intend to interfere in Victoria's current situation, and may have even reached a private agreement with some dukes on a deal of mutual benefit—"

"If nothing unexpected happens, when the time is right, are you even confident that you can take over Victoria in one fell swoop?"

Zuo Jian squinted, pondering the information he had just heard from Duhkare.

What do you think the success rate is?

He looked up and asked.

Upon hearing this, a flicker of emotion seemed to cross Duhkare's eyes, before he managed to speak calmly.

"Ninety percent of the time, barring any unforeseen circumstances, taking over this city and the Victoria it represents is almost inevitable."

"Oh, you're so confident?" Laurentina asked unconsciously, looking at Duhkare's expression.

"... Of course, but to be honest, it wasn't solely due to Kazdel's strength; Victoria herself also had various problems."

"Taking down Victoria, or rather, taking down Victoria in this state, would be a piece of cake."

Duhkare began by sharing his observations and experiences since arriving in the city.

A basic judgment has been made.

... the premise is...

"As expected."

Immediately afterwards, he nervously looked up, somewhat fearfully staring at the silent figure in front of him who had been deep in thought.

In fact, Duhkare toned down his words considerably.

Based solely on his observations of Victoria, taking her down would be incredibly easy.

In his eyes, the probability of success was 99%, almost 100%.

But the problem is, what a coincidence...

Approaching absolute means it is not absolute.

And that negligible, one percent chance... is sitting right in front of you.

Just as the Bloodfiend Great Lord was pondering, Zuo Jian finally spoke.

He slowly placed his hand on the table and tapped it lightly, as if to draw everyone's attention to this spot, before speaking.

"Hmph... I think you've misunderstood me, Mr. Duhkare."

Zuo Jian's gaze gradually turned cold, and he stared intently at the latter before asking a question.

"What I want to ask is, once Kazdel successfully occupies Victoria, does that mean it will become an enemy of the other nations of Terra, whether they were originally hostile to Kazdel or are trying to kick you aside and take over Victoria."

"How confident are you at that time?"

"At least in my eyes, Kazdel is like a train accelerating wildly, with a broken bridge built over a bottomless abyss in front of it."

"At that moment, the train conductor's proposed solution was to add fuel as much as possible and floor the accelerator."

"So, either you successfully cross that broken bridge to the other side, or... you fail and plunge headlong into the bottomless abyss."

Zuo Jian's voice was flat and emotionless, like a robot's. He was looking at Duhkare, simply wanting to see his reaction.

The latter was slightly taken aback, but then showed a relieved expression.

"Your insight in this regard is truly remarkable. I thought someone like you would regard the actions of us as child's play."

"You can't take a whole train carriage full of people on a whim."

Zuo Jian looked up, finally revealing a hint of emotion in his eyes.

"Why not stop this dangerous train? No normal train conductor would take such a risk, whether for their own train or for the passengers on board."

Upon hearing this, Duhkare gave a slightly helpless smile.

"Because it can't be stopped."

"Or rather, from the very beginning, it couldn't stop. Once it stopped, the passengers left on the bus would be no different from being dead."

At this moment, the two parties fell into a long silence.

Finally, after thinking for a while, Zuo Jian sighed as if he had a headache, and turned to ask.

"I want to know, are things much harder for the poor people of Kazdel compared to the Tarans and Infected of Victoria?"

Upon hearing this, Duhkare was taken aback for a moment, but then replied with a helpless smile.

"Your Excellency, this question is far too difficult for me; I simply cannot think of a way to measure it."

"After all... Kazdel doesn't have the concept of 'poor people'."

"No...?"

Zuo Jian was taken aback for a moment, then immediately understood what was going on.

"You need to understand, in a place where even young children have to learn how to hold a knife, the concept of poverty simply doesn't exist. There are only mercenaries who survive and mercenaries who die."

"If I had to say," Duhkare shrugged.

"The mercenaries in Kazdel must be doing better, since being poor is basically equivalent to death."

"Is that so... is that so..."

Zuo Jian muttered to himself, Duhkare couldn't discern what he was pondering beneath his cold expression.