Pan Zhen was somewhat stunned. "My god, why go this far? If we do this, Lieyang will suffer heavy casualties too."
Di Hongkun fell silent for a few seconds. The golden figure swayed slightly, as though sighing.
"Pan Zhen, you may not understand, but ever since I took up residence in the Heavenly Dao Tower, I have been calculating Lieyang's future. A new variable has now appeared on Blue Star. He may be our chance to change our current situation."
"Go and prepare. If that monkey remains obstinate, I will take action myself."
"Yes, my god."
Pan Zhen lowered his head and offered no further persuasion.
He bowed and withdrew from the Heavenly Dao Tower. The heavy stone doors slowly closed behind him, shutting away the golden light within.
Standing outside, he looked up at Lieyang Star's dazzling sun, a trace of uncertainty flashing in his eyes.
He did not know where Di Hongkun's decision would lead Lieyang.
But success depended on human effort. Since he could not stop it, he would give it his all.
Standing outside the Heavenly Dao Tower, Pan Zhen took a deep breath and suppressed the fleeting uncertainty in his eyes, regaining the composure and sternness befitting a regent.
He turned and walked toward the Political Hall, his strides firm and resolute.
Just as he had taken a dozen or so steps, his Dark Communication channel suddenly vibrated.
He stopped and lightly swiped his fingertips at his side, opening the communication interface before him.
When he saw the caller's name, a glint of surprise crossed his eyes. Then the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and he accepted the call.
"Ryze."
Pan Zhen's voice was steady and composed, betraying nothing unusual. "I didn't expect you to contact me. I thought it would be Du Kao."
There were two seconds of silence on the other end before Ryze's voice came through, carrying its usual gentle hint of a smile. Beneath that smile, however, lay a barely perceptible gravity. "It seems Rena has already told you everything that happened."
"That's right."
Pan Zhen did not beat around the bush either. "You want resources? Fine. But we in Lieyang don't accept empty promises. Only after Lieyang's soldiers set foot on that land will we lend you the resources."
The other end fell quiet.
Ryze stood by the hospital room window, tapping the sill a few times, his brow deeply furrowed.
He had not expected Pan Zhen to set such a condition.
Troops had to be stationed there before they handed over the money?
This cut off half his room to stall.
However, he actually placed little importance on sovereignty over Blue Star.
As long as Ge Xiaolun could grow, never mind ceding a piece of land-he would not even blink if asked to blow up Blue Star.
But Sun Wukong posed a problem.
Earlier, he had merely mentioned using Blue Star as a bargaining chip, and that monkey had nearly cracked his skull open with the Golden Cudgel.
If he agreed to Pan Zhen's terms now and let Lieyang's garrison set foot on Blue Star, Sun Wukong would probably tear him apart on the spot.
But if he refused, Lieyang would not compromise either.
What a headache!
At that thought, he turned his head and gave Du Kao a rather resentful look.
If this useless fool had not taken it upon himself to summon Rena and let her pass information to Lieyang, how would he have ended up in such a passive position?
Now look what had happened. Pan Zhen knew everything, his appetite had been whetted, and he was turning the tables to force concessions out of them.
Ryze's stare sent a chill down Du Kao's spine, and he could not help asking, "Teacher Ryze, why are you looking at me like that? Did Lieyang agree?"
"Agree?"
Ryze withdrew his gaze and sneered. "Heh. They want to station troops there before they're willing to lend you resources. What do you think we should do, Du Kao?"
Du Kao froze, his expression shifting slightly.
Only then did he belatedly realize that he was the source of the problem.
However, he soon thought of a solution.
"Teacher Ryze, we can absolutely agree to Lieyang's terms!"
At this, Ryze's brow abruptly tightened. "What do you mean? Don't tell me you want that monkey coming after me again?"
"Teacher Ryze, you've misunderstood."
Du Kao hurriedly waved his hands, lowering his voice. "I mean we can do it behind Sun Wukong's back."
Ryze's brow twitched slightly. "How so?"
"When Lieyang's garrison arrives on Blue Star, we can publicly announce that they're allied forces sent by Lieyang to help Dragon Country resist the Taotie army."
"Will he believe that?"
"Whether he believes it or not, it'll already be a done deal. No matter how much of a fuss he makes, he won't be able to change the facts."
"Besides, given Sun Wukong's temperament, even if he wants to make trouble, he'll wait until the war is over to settle the score. By then, Ge Xiaolun will have long since grown. Will you still need to fear him?"
Ryze stared at him for a few seconds, and the gloom in his eyes slowly dispersed.
"That makes sense."
Without further hesitation, he reconnected his call with Pan Zhen, his voice returning to its unhurried composure.
"Pan Zhen, we agree to your demands. I hope you can fulfill your promise as soon as possible."
When Pan Zhen heard this, his lips slowly curved into a satisfied smile. "Rest assured. We'll be meeting very soon."
After ending the call, Pan Zhen stood on the stone steps, a cold light surging in his eyes.
He had proposed this condition to prepare for the surprise attack to follow.
He had been prepared for a refusal.
After all, he knew there was still a fiercely protective monkey at Du Kao's side.
Yet, to his surprise, the Super God Academy had actually agreed.
This made things much simpler.
He had already begun imagining Du Kao and the others opening the hatch in delight, thinking they were welcoming crates upon crates of resources and supplies, only to find landing ships packed with Lieyang's elite soldiers instead.
That scene would certainly be amusing.
Pan Zhen chuckled and turned toward the Political Hall, his steps considerably lighter than before.
Meanwhile, in the hospital room.
"How do you plan to handle ceding territory to Lieyang? Those people in Dragon Country won't necessarily agree to let you do that."
Du Kao leaned against the head of the bed, his face pale but composed. "Don't worry. A large portion of them have already secretly come over to our side. Even if anyone objects, they won't be able to stir up much trouble."
Ryze nodded, his face revealing nothing more, but a deeper wariness than before quietly surged within him.
He realized that Du Kao's methods of manipulating people were far too frightening.
From gaining Sun Wukong's trust to the delay involving Zhao Xin's weapon, and now the infiltration of Dragon Country's local forces.
Over the long years, this man had carved the very word manipulation into his bones.
With someone like this around, would Ge Xiaolun listen to him in the future, or to Du Kao?
That was a problem.
Outwardly, Ryze remained impassive, but inwardly, he had already written a line of red annotations across Du Kao's future.
Some pieces needed to be removed once they ventured too far across the board.
Du Kao, meanwhile, had no idea that what he had just said would bring death upon him.
Before you continue