Finally Getting Handouts

"You just went in and told Te Mude that?"

"Yeah, no matter what, we're still brothers. I just accidentally saw him secretly smiling. I never expected him to be so heartless."

"That's probably more than just secretly laughing."

You Fei covered her forehead and sighed.

The man sitting in front of her at this moment, Lan Le, had rushed back from the Imperial Capital. As soon as he got back, he went to his younger brother's house to seek information about the Battle Festival.

It seems that because he saw something he shouldn't have, he not only failed to gather any information, but was also thrown out by Te Mude was so enraged that his face turned red.

This is truly a disgrace to the royal family.

She thought for a moment, then spoke to Lan Le in a tone like an older sister:

"Don't you men have those periods at certain times, like when you imitate the words and actions of legendary heroes, or when you think about what cool things you did today, and you laugh non-stop while hugging a pillow or blanket? Te Mude was probably in that state just now."

She shook her finger as if she knew a lot and said, "Besides, he's an adult after all. He'd be embarrassed if someone saw him like that. Your timing was really bad."

"No, no, no, that kind of fantastical period could never happen to a royal family like ours. Everyone has long since come to terms with reality. By the way, I have never done anything like beating up a pillow as an imaginary enemy and then laughing while hugging it."

Lan Le waved his hand repeatedly, "Besides, what adult would have such unrealistic thoughts and behaviors?"

"Really? But I sometimes see my father do that."

"Hey, hey, hey, did you just say something incredible in a very serious tone?"

Lan Le shuddered as soon as he imagined Jia Paer hugging a pillow. Looking around, he felt like he knew something he shouldn't know, and he was afraid that the Sword Saint would jump out and behead him at any moment.

"Alright, alright, let's get down to business."

He quickly steered the conversation back on track, determined not to let You Fei reveal anything he shouldn't know.

Lan Le coughed, composed himself, and asked in a serious tone:

"The Battle Festival really can't be held a second time?"

You Fei nodded, then shook her head, and said:

"That's incorrect. It should be that it can't be held a second time in the short term."

What You Fei said hurt Lan Le more than being kicked out of the house by his own brother.

He had come full of excitement, only to receive news that the Battle Festival might not be able to take place for the next few dozen days.

As for the reason, it's not that the Zane Dungeon introduced any special restrictions or conditions for holding the Battle Festival; the real reason is quite simple:

We can't gather enough people in the short term.

The Battle Festival is magnificent, exciting, and thrilling; you'll wish you could fight there forever!

After people emerged from the Zane Dungeon, their excitement gradually subsided, and upon careful consideration, they realized:

My God, this battle wiped out a fortune worth millions of gold coins!

Everyone here is wearing armor, and they are all people with names and identities, so their armor must be something special. It must be enchanted, have gems, or be made of precious materials, right?

Your armor is so luxurious, you must have some spare money to buy magical items, scrolls, rare potions, and the like. Otherwise, how would you demonstrate your professionalism?

This whole set costs several hundred gold coins, and even thousands of gold coins are commonplace.

Then the item scrolls and potions were used up during the battle, and the armor was cleaved in two by Starscourge General, most of which were beyond repair and had to be replaced.

Personal equipment costs are relatively low.

The explosion magic scroll used by Te Mude when he self-destructed and the materials used by Tu Erqi to draw the Super Forbidden Spell Magic Array are both priceless items, and their value is impossible to determine.

The sweat people shed during the Battle Festival wasn't just sweat, it was gold!

Theoretically speaking, apart from special cases like Tu Erqi, the rewards received by the rest of the participants in the festival are more valuable than the losses, so this battle is not a loss.

However, realizing the value of the rewards and repairing one's equipment takes time, and it's impossible to return to the best condition when challenging the Battle Festival in a short period of time.

In addition, people always have all sorts of things to do.

He De Si and the other magic professors collected practical data on the Super Forbidden Spell and went home to conduct research in seclusion. They can't be found for a while.

The Farron Guard heard that there was trouble with the demons in the Warrior Country, and they insisted on negotiating with the local authorities to let them in to kill as many as they wanted. But so far, there has been no progress in their negotiations.

The Skyrim Strategy Team is working through the night to finalize the Battle Festival strategy, and everyone is busy cultivating immortality, which means that if we were to hold a second festival now, we wouldn't even have a qualified photographer.

Due to the influence of various factors, the number of challengers who were nearly 10,000 at the time has dwindled to barely over 1,000 now.

If it's over a thousand, the quantity seems acceptable, right?

You Fei took this significantly reduced roster to Jellal and asked if they could hold Battle Festival. She still remembers his answer clearly.

"Too few! How can these warriors possibly make the Battle Festival exciting? Too few!"

When she returned with that answer, the group of over a thousand people had mostly dispersed, since there was no definite date for the event and everyone had to go to work to support their families.

"Then, I'll just go find some people, I'm sure I can gather them!" Lan Le said. "In terms of men, I have just as many Te Mude!"

"If you're not even confident in your own voice, how can you really put together the whole thing?"

Faced with You Fei's questioning, Lan Le immediately frowned.

When he returned from the Imperial Capital, he was accompanied by no more than a hundred people.

Even after seeing the footage of the Battle Festival and with his own persuasion, only these few were willing to return with him. The majority of the rest were waiting for the War Festival to start again so they could try to get a good ranking.

It's understandable; their actions were completely correct.

But what Lan Le couldn't understand was why his men's thinking was so different from Te Mude's.

When Te Mude gave a call, thousands of Warrior responded immediately, while on Lan Le's side...

You really can't persuade a few people without offering some real benefits, and even money couldn't sway many people during the War Festival.

"No, I have to keep trying."

That very night, Lan Le set up Magic Array, intending to communicate remotely with Yuenka and request troops from her.

Those magicians won't listen to him, but surely they'll listen to Yuenka, right?

[Teacher, we don't have enough people to participate in the Battle Festival. Requesting backup.]

He not only sent that message, but also compiled and sent over the information he had gathered about the Battle Festival.

I'm sure Yuenka will support me after seeing this, and besides, isn't the other party also researching Sion?

"Speaking of which, why did he make that strange noise at the festival that day?"

Lan Le found it increasingly strange; what else could possibly make Yuenka panic?

Before he could think about it further, Yuenka replied.

[No]

"No?"

It was an answer I never expected.

Sweating profusely, Lan Le was about to press for more information when another message came from the other end.

[No]

[No]

Absolutely not!

"This"

Lan Le was completely stunned.

He couldn't detect the other person's tone of voice through the Magic Array, and he had no idea what attitude Yuenka was using when speaking to him.

Indifferent? Hasty? Angry? Or perhaps a more complex tone?

He frowned, paced back and forth in the room, unable to decipher the meaning, and after a while sent a message:

Why is that?

These words were like a stone sinking into the sea; they never received a response.

"What the hell is going on?!"

Lan Le kicked the Magic Array away, his mouth churning with foul and offensive words, but he gritted his teeth and ultimately didn't utter them.

"The teacher doesn't even speak like himself anymore; something must be wrong."

"Since no one's going to help me, I'll do it myself!"

"I refuse to believe that I, a prince, can't muster the manpower to challenge the dungeon!"

Lan Le shouted, his anger reaching its peak.

A few days later, he drew the remote communication Magic Array again.

[Are you there, Father? Please help your dear son out.]

After a long exchange.

Lan Le let out a long sigh and muttered to himself:

"Dinner's almost here!"