Chapter 14: Three-City Alliance

Li Ye was momentarily stunned, then waved his hand. “It’s fine.” Given the current conditions aboard the Tomorrow, it truly wasn’t easy to recruit a seasoned gunner—getting someone who had interned was already a decent result. More importantly, a gunner who was trained from the ground up would feel a stronger sense of belonging to the Mobile City. “Are you sure it’s really okay?” Ning Wen asked cautiously. “In the wild, the performance of the cannons is critical to the Mobile City. I’m worried I might not do well when the time comes...” Li Ye simply smiled and patted him on the shoulder to reassure him. Then something came to his mind, and he asked another question. “By the way, why did you want to join a Mobile City?” Ning Wen thought for a moment and gave his answer. “Me? Actually, life in the fortress isn’t bad. You don’t have to live in constant fear like in the wild, and the food and drink are good.” He scratched his head sheepishly as he spoke. “But I think a young man should go out and see the world.” Li Ye nodded. “Oh, and I have to let you know—currently, the Tomorrow can only provide a limited amount of fresh water daily, and our food supply is just potatoes and steamed buns.” Ning Wen waved it off with a smile. “No problem.” ... On the way back with Ning Wen, Li Ye witnessed a surprising scene. The massive gates slowly opened, and a Mobile City drove in—it was the Azure, the one he had traded with earlier. Like the Conqueror, the Azure immediately began unloading supplies for market trading and started its repair and maintenance work. Li Ye was a bit surprised; he hadn’t expected the Azure to also be a partner of Roland Fortress. So he walked over and greeted the Azure’s lord, Li Jin. “Your Peregrine Falcon Assault Rifle is really effective—it makes killing monsters easy,” Li Jin said. Li Ye nodded and then sighed with a trace of frustration. When he first arrived at Roland Fortress, he had considered outsourcing the production of Peregrine Falcon Assault Rifles. But Roland Fortress already had Level 1 firearms. Back aboard the Tomorrow, Li Ye had Old Zhou arrange a room for the newly arrived Ning Wen and told him to pick out a few pieces of the newly purchased furniture to put inside. As the new gunner, Ning Wen received the same treatment as technical talents like Tang Fang and Lin Wu. After learning Ning Wen was the new gunner, Old Zhou happily patted him on the shoulder and gave him a strong hug—which made Ning Wen a little embarrassed. With everything arranged, Li Ye walked over to the railing of the Tomorrow and looked toward the Conqueror and the Azure inside the fortress. Only in a neutral place like Roland Fortress could three Mobile Cities coexist peacefully. At the same time, he began to ponder whether to sell the information about the Molten Broodmother appearing in Firefeather Forest. But thinking it over, the Azure had just recovered from the failed assault on the Glos Mine and likely wouldn’t take the risk. While the Conqueror was indeed strong, fighting a wild BOSS was still quite difficult. Just then, a voice sounded behind him. “Are you thinking about whether to sell the wild BOSS intel?” Li Ye turned and saw that it was Lin Wu. “If you have a good idea, feel free to share,” he said. Lin Wu nodded and signaled for Xiao Yao behind him to wheel him over to Li Ye’s side. “Wild BOSSes drop rich resources. Most importantly, they drop one Level 2 item, which is a significant boost for a Level 1 city. But correspondingly, a fledgling city like the Tomorrow cannot take it down.” As he spoke, he looked toward the two Mobile Cities. “But what if we allied with them? Wouldn’t our chances be much better?” “We control the information on the wild BOSS and are the initiators of the alliance, so we hold the leadership and... the right to distribute the spoils.” Li Ye’s eyes lit up at those words. Lin Wu’s suggestion indeed gave him a valuable insight. To the Azure’s lord, this weakened Mobile City had no power to challenge a wild BOSS. The three-city alliance offered it a chance, so it was very likely he’d agree. As for the Conqueror’s lord... Li Ye just happened to know he was in urgent need of Molten Spider Silk, so he too would likely agree. As for Li Ye, he only wanted the Level 2 item dropped by the wild BOSS. The remaining loot could be split between the other two. Half an hour later. Li Ye, Li Jin, and Lei Jian, the three lords, met face to face. Upon hearing news of the wild BOSS Molten Broodmother’s appearance, Li Jin and Lei Jian were shocked, then a fiery gleam appeared in their eyes. After all, they both knew the drops from a wild BOSS were generous. Li Ye then laid out his plan. The three Mobile Cities would form an alliance and attack the Molten Broodmother together. The Tomorrow would take only the Level 2 item it dropped, and the rest of the loot would be split between the Conqueror and the Azure. Li Jin and Lei Jian both twitched at the corners of their mouths upon hearing this. “Only the Level 2 item...” Li Ye made it sound easy, but everyone knew how valuable a Level 2 item was to a Level 1 Mobile City. At the same time, they secretly sighed in their hearts. After all, the Tomorrow held the crucial intel on the wild BOSS—that was its advantage. After thinking for a moment, Li Jin was the first to nod in agreement. Lei Jian hesitated. His Conqueror was far stronger than the Azure and the Tomorrow. Forming an alliance with them meant he’d have to do more and fight harder, while the best loot would be divided—naturally, it was a bit frustrating. But he urgently needed Molten Spider Silk to craft a certain Level 1 item—not only from the Molten Spider, but also Spider Guards and the Molten Broodmother, which would drop plenty of it. If they could pull it off, he might be able to gather 500 units in one go. Eventually, he also nodded. Li Ye smiled slightly in response. The three sides ultimately reached an agreement. The Tomorrow would take the Level 2 item. Since the Conqueror was stronger than the Azure, the remaining loot would be split 60/40, and all Molten Spider Silk drops would go to the Conqueror. In terms of combat, only the Conqueror had Level 1 cannons, so it would lead the assault on the Molten Broodmother. The Azure and the Tomorrow would handle the Molten Spiders and Spider Guards. To ensure everyone kept their word, the three sides would exchange hostages, to be returned only after the battle ended. Lei Jian’s hostage was his son. Li Ye’s was his deputy, Old Zhou. And Li Jin’s hostage was the doctor who had once pulled him back from death’s door—that was actually his wife. “I originally planned to set out tomorrow,” Li Ye said. “But since your Mobile Cities are still under maintenance...” “That’s no problem. We can rush the work tonight,” the other two said as they waved it off, eyes glowing with excitement. “This is a wild BOSS, after all... We haven’t caught one in years.”