Nothing More Than a Declaration of War

This is the fourth batch.

Blending into the crowd, watching the national flags and horse-drawn carriages fluttering on the road, Li Lin silently made notes in his mind.

"Nia, right?"

"Of course, Li Lin."

The girl, completely shrouded in a cloak, nodded slightly. Using magic, she could clearly observe the people and events inside the carriage even without raising her head.

"It is indeed the Minister of Intelligence of the Vila Federation. It seems that the positions of the representatives sent by various countries this time have been largely finalized."

"The Chief of the Royal Guard of Lalia, the Minister of Military Affairs of Kudel, the Minister of Intelligence of the Vila Federation, and the Imperial General of Xialuo. They are all military personnel. It seems that the Five-Nation Alliance really takes our affairs seriously."

Li Lin snorted coldly, turned around, and walked out of the crowd. Nia glanced at the convoy a few more times before turning around and following him.

"Judging from this level, Dideyasi should also send someone of similar rank to attend the meeting. These military figures possess enormous power and influence. Although the most central figures of the Five-Nation Alliance are absent, these guests also wield considerable influence."

"That would be perfect. If I had killed those five guys' descendants so easily, I would have been extremely displeased. As criminals who destroyed the empire, I want their entire families to taste endless despair and suffering. If they had died cleanly and easily, then my goal would not have been achieved."

In response to Nia's report, Li Lin spoke with a cold expression.

"Killing these guys' right-hand men first, and seeing what kind of impact that will have on them, is also a good option."

A few days after Li Lin arrived in Saint Rolante City, the representatives of the Five-Nation Alliance also arrived. Although they came in simple attire, it was clear that the Temple did not intend for them to arrive and leave quietly. Although the Five-Nation Alliance intended to keep a low profile, the Temple would hold a grand welcoming ceremony for them upon their entry into Saint Rolante City, making it impossible for these envoys to remain discreet.

Li Lin was clearly very curious about the Temple's actions, as it didn't benefit the Temple in any way. Although a grand welcome would likely make the entire continent aware of the Temple's convening of the Five-Nation Alliance meeting within a few days, naturally boosting the Temple's prestige, the Five-Nation Alliance, having suffered a hidden loss, wouldn't let it go so easily. The Temple wasn't stupid; why would it do such a thing?

Despite his doubts, from Li Lin's perspective, the bigger the commotion, the better. This would naturally amplify the impact of his success. He also noticed that the security in Saint Roland City had become increasingly tight in recent days, with fully armed paladins everywhere, but he hadn't seen Walast and his group. He wondered what they had been doing after arriving at the Temple. After all, a candidate for the God of Justice was hard to find, and Li Lin didn't want to accidentally kill him; finding a new candidate would be a huge hassle.

However, while these defenses were tight, they were only meant to deal with ordinary threats. The strength of Li Lin and his companions had long surpassed the capabilities of these paladins. Even though the meeting date was kept secret due to custom, the soul communication between Angela and Grand Duke Lalia had laid it all out in the open. Now, it could be said that there was nothing the Five-Nation Alliance knew that Li Lin didn't.

However, the situation with the Temple is harder to predict.

Everything is under control; any uncontrollable situations can be ignored as long as they don't affect the overall plan.

After several rounds of deliberation, Li Lin concluded that the Temple had designs on the Five-Nation Alliance, not on him. Therefore, he decided not to waste any more energy guessing what the Temple was up to. He figured he'd find out eventually.

"The intelligence gathering is complete. Let's go back, Nia."

"Okay, Li Lin."

Originally, this task should have been assigned to Angela, but Saint Roland City was, after all, a sacred parish, filled with divine power. It might react to the evil aura emanating from Angela, so to be on the safe side, Li Lin had no choice but to keep her Angela up in the house. However, since receiving Li Lin's assurance that she could "kill three targets," Angela was very much looking forward to it and endured it as a small test before achieving her goal.

Are you worried about Miss Angela?

On the way back, Nia, who had been silently watching Li Lin, suddenly asked playfully.

"What are you worried about? Are you worried that by the time I get back, the little guy will have turned everyone in the hotel into corpses?"

Li Lin didn't turn around, and answered Nia's question with a wry smile.

"Perhaps that's true. But... Li Lin, have you noticed? Your attitude towards Miss Angela is different from how you treat anyone else."

"Yeah?"

Hearing this, Li Lin turned around with some surprise and looked at Nia.

"I thought I treated her the same way I treated you all."

"Indeed, it seems your attitude towards her is similar to your attitude towards Antanaxisi, but there is an absolute difference between them."

These words, coming from Nia, seemed particularly convincing.

"I don't know how to express it... Perhaps, the Familiar Contract really is the best way to express the relationship between you two."

"Perhaps that's true."

Faced with Nia's words, Li Lin pondered for a moment. He didn't understand what Nia was trying to express, but her words seemed to resonate with him. Indeed, in Li Lin's eyes, there seemed to be an absolute gap between Angela and his Seven Ring Spirit Envoys...

"Speaking of which, Miss Angela must be quite bored in her room."

"Suoxiate, Kalin, and Yi Aier are all staying there with her; she shouldn't be bored."

Just then, inside the hotel, Angela leaned against the window, idly exhaling and squinting her eyes contentedly. On the bed, a young prostitute lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Although this kind of woman's blood isn't very palatable, it's still much better than a man's."

After making her usual unimpressive judgment, Angela finally opened her eyes fully, as if awakening from a state of bloodlust. She casually ran her hand across the woman's neck, wiping away the small, bleeding wound. Then, she looked at the woman again, her eyes gleaming with a crimson light.

"Although it wasn't very delicious, at least it satisfied my appetite. You may leave now... After you leave here, you will remember nothing, understand?"

The woman raised her head, slowly nodded, and then, under Angela's manipulation, stood up and walked out of the room in a daze.

"Ugh, this is really uncomfortable."

It was only at this point that Yi Aier, who had been watching from the sidelines, finally spoke up and complained.

"To rely on blood... how disgusting."

"What, don't you people get dirty when you eat?"

Angela narrowed her eyes in response to Yi Aier's complaints.

"Look at this piece of roasted bird meat. Before it became like this, it was flying carefree in the sky. And then? And then what? Humans captured it, plucked its feathers, gutted it, and then roasted the remaining flesh and blood, turning it into what it is now, isn't it? When you're happily tearing into it, why don't you think about its original form?"

"Waaah..."

Upon hearing this, Yi Aier's face turned pale. Looking at the delicious food in front of him, he couldn't utter a single word.

"But... but that's too barbaric..."

"What? Do you mean you want me to shave that woman's hair, remove her internal organs, roast her over a fire, and then eat her?"

"Waaah..."

"Snort."

Seeing that Yi Aier's face was not only turning blue, but even turning green, Angela snorted coldly.

"You're nothing but a big-breasted, brainless fellow. Even if I explain it clearly, you wouldn't understand."

"What did you say?! I'm not big-breasted and brainless. This is a normal size! A normal size!"

Upon hearing about her breasts, Yi Aier immediately jumped up, full of energy, and began arguing with Angela. Angela, however, didn't even raise an eyebrow at Yi Aier's argument.

"A cow is a cow. Look at your breasts, they're so huge they're almost criminal. What, has gravity failed you? Hmph, anyway, one of them will eventually sag like a shriveled watermelon."

"You washboard, what right do you have to...?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Aier could no longer contain herself, her eyebrows furrowing in anger. She put one hand on her hip and pointed at Angela with the other.

"Someone like you..."

"Oh, right."

Angela completely ignored Yi Aier's anger. She suddenly clapped her hands and spoke as if she had remembered something.

"Do you want your breasts to get smaller?"

"Why?"

Because Angela's actions were so unexpected, Yi Aier was stunned for a moment, and all her anger vanished.

"Shrink?"

"That's right."

As she spoke, Angela revealed a sly smile, then placed her hand on her chest.

"What women call breasts are, frankly speaking, just two lumps of excess fat. That's right, it's simply a matter of weight gain, just like a woman gaining weight. In other words, your breasts have simply become larger!"

"Huh? Huh?!"

Pointing at her with such Angela manner, Yi Aier was speechless.

"Now that you know the reason, the solution is quite simple. You probably didn't know this, but high-speed friction can burn a lot of fat! In other words, if you want your breasts to get smaller, just rub them at high speed!"

"High-speed friction?"

"Seeing is believing, so let's try it now. Come, do as I say. Place your hands on your breasts!"

"... Is that so?"

Yi Aier was completely led by the nose by Angela.

"That's right, just like that, start kneading your breasts like that."

"Mmm... Ah..."

"Faster!"

"Ugh, it feels so bad... it feels so strange..."

"Not enough, faster! If you want to reduce your breast size, you have to endure this level of suffering!"

"Waaah..."

"That's right, that's exactly it. Not only do you need to knead both sides, but don't forget to knead the middle too!"

"Ah... ah... why do I feel like my body is starting to go numb..."

Just as Yi Aier was following Angela's instructions and undergoing "breast reduction surgery," Li Lin and Nia opened the door and walked in. When they saw what Yi Aier was doing, they froze on the spot.

"We're back... Yi Aier, what are you doing?"

"Huh? Huh? Master?!"

Awakened by Li Lin's voice, Yi Aier hurriedly raised her head, her face flushed as she stared at Li Lin, clenching her teeth.

"I, I am..."

"Um?"

Facing Li Lin's gaze, Yi Aier blushed, but in the end she still shouted out.

"Please don't misunderstand! I was just in heat, I didn't do anything strange!!"

"..."

"..."

Don't you think this excuse is more shameful than the truth?

"Alright, let me tell you about what I learned today."

Seeing that Yi Aier was likely about to enter some unfavorable state again, Li Lin decisively decided to end the topic. He explained to everyone what he had seen and heard, as well as the intelligence he had gathered over the past few days, and determined the final objective of the operation.

"I'll handle things with Kalin. Yi Aier, before the operation begins, you and Suoxiate must leave the city without attracting attention. Although I'd love to use magic to send you out, the timing is sensitive, and I don't want any trouble caused by magical fluctuations. Remember, only begin the operation after you see my signal. As the final blow to the entire plan, I hope you can bring it to a perfect close."

"Please leave it to me, Master."

"Very good."

Li Lin took a deep breath, looked at Nia, and then at Angela.

"Tomorrow morning will be our move. Remember, it's a direct confrontation. We don't need to kill everyone, but we need to inflict maximum damage... So, let's begin preparations."