Hearing Li Wei's counter-question, Ron actually laughed.
"Li Wei, you've never understood what I'm saying. I an — as long as you don't build a city, you won't provoke Frost Duke. As long as none of us build cities, Frost Duke will stabilize on his own. Do you understand?"
"As long as we stay at three-star territory status, he has absolutely no reason to attack us. This pioneering mission never had much difficulty to begin with — you're the one who kept raising the stakes, forcing everyone into an arms race. But when everyone's racing, the race itself becos aningless."
"I've already sent people to persuade Socrates and Hathaway. They should both understand — building a city is a death sentence. The requirents for a Level 5 territory are too steep."
"Wait — Ron, you still haven't answered my question. You've only described a possibility. What if, in the end, Frost Duke breaks his word? What do you have to stop him?"
"No, Li Wei — you're the one who's confused. All our territories now have mana wells. With even one Second-Order caster, the territory is secure. That widow of yours — she beca a caster, didn't she? Hasn't she told you?"
"As long as we give up building cities, Frost Duke won't risk attacking us. Yes, he has the ans — he could take down a mana well at enormous cost — but we currently have five territories. If he grinds through them one by one, he'll bleed himself dry in the process. You think he's not worried about that?"
"The deterrence is mutual."
"In fact, I'll say this plainly — I'm almost looking forward to you, Li Wei, being stubborn to the end. That way, as long as I pull back and hold my mana well, Frost Duke absolutely won't dare attack . He'll be grinding himself down fighting you. And won't you then seize that opportunity to finish him off?"
"I'll even be honest with you — once you force Frost Duke to mass his armies against your territory, whether it ends in mutual destruction or he wipes you out, the rest of us will very likely band together and carve up Frost Duke's domain."
"That's all I have to say. Different roads, different destinations. Do as you please."
Ron had laid it all out, and Li Wei had nothing to say in response. He had to admit — Ron's logic wasn't wrong. Don't build a city, don't beco a Viscount, just hold the mana well. There was a very real chance of coming through unscathed.
"Alright, let's not talk about that. Ron — want to do so trading?"
Their territories were nearly a thousand kiloters apart. etings like this were rare. Other things might not align, but trade was always possible.
As expected, Ron hesitated for a mont, then agreed without hesitation.
"I personally don't have much need, but my territory's caster might. Co on — let treat you to a al."
Li Wei followed Ron back to his castle. The territory was built on a ruined town — practically standard by now. Among other advantages, the paved roads alone were a massive benefit.
Ron's fortress was also impressive — an enhanced, improved star fort design, but four stories tall, with firing ports so densely packed they outnumbered Scar's fortress by at least a third.
Around the fortress, a Level 3 wall with a five-hundred-ter periter was under construction. Inside the walls, a dozen residential buildings had already been completed. The total population looked to be around seven or eight hundred.
The whole place had an air of prosperity and calm.
Ron's territory had about sixty professional soldiers, and had already built a tavern, a temple, a mana well, and an enchanted blacksmith's workshop.
No surprises there — with the Logistics Departnt's full backing, this was expected.
But above the mana well, a new structure was under construction.
Ron didn't hide it. "That's a basic mage tower. I paid a significant sum to bring in a caster to design and build it. That's also why I'm confident it can hold."
As he spoke, Ron led Li Wei over to it. A young woman in a red robe was scribbling on a large sheet of paper, calculating sothing — she seed not entirely comfortable with the mage tower's construction process, and was apparently using Ron as a convenient source of free labor for her project.
Li Wei observed without showing any reaction. He didn't understand mage tower architecture, but he could tell the construction pace. He also compared the caster witch's presence to what he knew — similar to his Second Aunt's level. Capable, talented, determined, but falling just slightly short of true genius in every dinsion. Night Owl, for comparison, was in a different league entirely.
With Perception 7, Li Wei could simply tell.
"Ron — sothing you need?"
The red-robed witch looked up. A flicker of impatience crossed her face, quickly suppressed. She hid it well — but not well enough to escape Perception 7. As for Ron — he was on the Knight path, so he should have already awakened Delusion Breaking. And Delusion Breaking could be misled and disrupted by a caster's Inspiration...
In that mont, Li Wei suddenly realized that Ron's way of thinking might not be entirely his own. Behind it, this red-robed witch might well be pulling strings.
Especially now, with the pioneering mission in its final stretch and the Logistics Departnt no longer able to directly intervene — all decision-making power had been delegated down to Ron.
"Anna, this is another pioneer — Li Wei. You've probably heard of him. He's co a long way and wants to do so trading. I don't have much to offer, but I thought I'd ask if you have any needs."
Ron introduced them quickly.
"Li Wei? Of course I know him. The General of the Wheels — quite a record. And Yang the Widow is my senior, co to think of it. But I'm very busy right now. Can you wait a bit? I'll be there before dinner, I promise."
The red-robed witch covered her mouth with a smile, her eyes fixed on Li Wei as if she wanted to devour him.
"Sure."
Li Wei pretended not to notice and didn't particularly care. He was more interested in trading with Ron for so supplies.
"Co on, Li Wei — let be a proper host today."
Ron led Li Wei into the fortress, making no attempt to hide anything, giving him a full tour before settling at a table in the rooftop dining room.
"Li Wei, I heard about you breaking through Scar's territory last winter. Now you've seen my fortress. Where do you think it needs reinforcing? Where are the weak points?"
"Huh? Is that appropriate? Are you sure?"
Li Wei was genuinely surprised — or perhaps Ron was simply that confident.
"What's inappropriate about it? Our territories are nearly a thousand kiloters apart. Are you going to co attack ? Don't forget — it's the final stretch now. Every territory has a mana well. There's no room for a direct assault. The only outco if you tried to get close would be getting incinerated."
"So this is purely a technical discussion. I'm actually quite proud of this fortress I built, and I welco you to find fault with it."
"I see. Understood."
Li Wei nodded, stood up again for another look, then jumped down and ran his hands along every wall and every firing port before returning to the table.
"If it were last winter, and you didn't have a five-star cross-border expert with you, and your fortress had a large breach blown in it — I'd say I had roughly a forty percent chance of breaking through. But I wasn't sure I could beat you in a fight last winter, so the whole scenario is moot."
"What about now?" Ron pressed, seemingly quite invested in the question.
"Now? I obviously can't break through. I'd be reduced to ash by a fireball before I even got close."
"Assu no mana well, no caster. Just you and , pure combat?"
"I'm not sure I understand — does that matter?"
"Of course it matters. We're all very curious about you. Soone who couldn't last three exchanges against two years ago has grown to this level in two years. Calling you a dark horse is an understatent. You've made us all look rather bad — humiliated, defeated, that sort of thing." Ron laughed.
"Us? You an Zhao Kewu and Socrates?"
"More or less. So since you've co to my door, I'm feeling a bit itchy. Want to spar? Just a friendly exchange — stop when we've made our point?"
Ron's eyes were bright, battle-intent clear.
"I wouldn't mind, but I was ambushed by a tough Neanderthal crosser just a few days ago. Right now I'm running at maybe seventy percent. You still want to fight?"
Li Wei sighed.
"In that case, forget it. No point." Ron dropped it imdiately. "Co — try our local specialties."
He called for the cook to bring food. He wasn't stingy at all in this regard — a full table of excellent dishes, nothing below one-star quality, with the highlight being a three-star dish.
Li Wei didn't stand on ceremony. He ate like a storm, cleaning everything off the table with evident delight, complinting the food nonstop.
Well, obviously — when you're eating soone else's food and drinking soone else's wine, the least you can do is say sothing nice.
That said, the cooks in his own territory were no slouches either these days. They could prepare attribute-enhancing food and manage three dishes plus a soup for every al.
Though replenishing attributes through food took ti — once a batch was absorbed, the next cycle needed a month. If not for this trip, Li Wei would have already received two more free attribute points by now, and bumped his Spiritual Power cap up a notch.
He'd raised it by 1 point before leaving — base 16, plus 4 from equipnt and 5 from his title. Functional enough.
So Li Wei and Ron ate and drank their fill. When they were satisfied, the red-robed witch Anna ca back.
"Li Wei, I want to know what you have available for trade. Can you lay it all out for to look at? Don't worry — you're a guest. We won't rob you."
She smiled behind her hand, her large eyes full of a captivating energy, practically screaming: if you're a real expert, co fight for three hundred rounds.
But Li Wei was completely unmoved. Her looks were fine, but they didn't compare to Hathaway or Night Owl — Li Yue alone could outshine her. Though she clearly had plenty of natural assets.
He gave a polite smile and produced one three-star quality log and twenty varieties of magical scraps. The good stuff needed to stay for Second Aunt — and good goods commanded good prices.
But the red-robed witch had an eye for quality. She swept her gaze over the materials and said sweetly: "General Li, don't be so stingy. Why bring scraps? Are you looking down on a Second-Order caster? Honestly, these materials aren't particularly valuable, and in such small quantities they're not even worth the effort to process. For these specific types, I need three-star quality or above — minimum fifty units. If you don't have that, then I'm sorry, General Li — you can go back where you ca from."
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