area51novel Chapter 278 A "Deal" with the Hongchen Siblings
Chapter 278 A "Deal" with the Hongchen Siblings
About half an hour later, Long You's guests arrived. A man and a woman, both around the same age as Long You; the man was handsome, and the woman was beautiful. However, the moment Long You saw the woman approaching, he immediately completed the process of fully immersing himself in the battle armor.
After the two of them sat down in the small booth, Long You took out a disposable barrier soul tool (made of cheap materials and not requiring recycling) to seal off the entire booth area, thus blocking outside sight and preventing the conversation inside from being overheard.
"Long time no see, but what are you doing? When you asked my brother to come out, didn't you just say that we weren't enemies? Why are you so wary of me?"
While the men who came with her were still subconsciously observing the barrier around them, the girl had already spoken up reproachfully.
“Meng Hongchen, I have always been cautious about someone like you who could make me completely defenseless without my knowledge or even kill me at any time. This has nothing to do with whether we are enemies or not.”
Long You's decision not to return directly to the Mingyue Hotel clearly indicates his determination to continue causing trouble, and the Hongchen siblings, or more precisely, Xiao Hongchen, are the targets of Long You's "bewitching".
"Alright, my dear sister, our time is precious. There's no need to beat around the bush with this mysterious fellow. Long You, what kind of deal do you want to make with me?"
"Alright, alright," seeing that Xiao Hongchen, this arrogant guy, was already in a state of being ready to leave if you keep going in circles, Long You, who still wanted to gain some extra benefits from Xiao Hongchen, immediately "raised his hands in surrender."
"First, I need to ask a few questions that will determine whether there's any possibility of us working together. Of course, cooperation is a two-way street, so I certainly won't just listen to your ideas. After you give your answers, I'll give my thoughts, and only if we ultimately can't reach an agreement will the cooperation be cancelled."
The first question is, what is your view on the relationship between the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy and the Tang Sect's participating team? Even though five years ago, all the members of the current team were Shrek Academy's reserve team, we are not representing Shrek Academy now, are we?
In your opinion, what is the relationship between us? Is there no difference between the Tang Sect team and the Shrek Academy team, and we still need to fight to the death for the honor of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy? Or am I only targeting Shrek, and as long as we can beat Shrek, the battle against Tang Sect can be treated as a drill and we can accept diverse results?
The second question is, did you pay such a high price to advance to Soul Saint in order to save face for the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy? If you can't save it, will the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy be ruined?
The third question is, do you really believe that as long as the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy defeats Shrek Academy and Tang Sect, it can replace the Holy Spirit Cult?
These are three questions, although they contain many complex sub-questions, but overall they can be considered three separate questions. You can think about them and provide answers to each.
This "conspiracy" was organized by Long You, so he undoubtedly held the initiative in the conversation. Under Long You's long series of questions, the Hongchen siblings successfully fell under the influence of the "student-fearing silence spell," and the small booth space fell silent for a moment.
About the time it would take to make a cup of water cut had passed. During this time, Xiao Hongchen tried to speak several times, but his younger sister held him back each time. Because the siblings had set up a soundproof soul tool in the booth space, Long You, who hadn't planned to eavesdrop (though there were ways to do so), had no idea what the siblings were arguing about.
Just as Long You was finishing his drink and considering whether to ask the bartender for another one, Meng Hongchen removed the soundproof barrier. Seeing that Xiao Hongchen still looked defiant, Long You figured that the person he'd be talking to next was this eccentric and toxic beauty, Meng Hongchen.
Sure enough, Meng Hongchen, who had once again told her brother to shut up, said to Long You, "You only need to answer one of your three questions. You guessed right, my brother sacrificed his future potential to save face for the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy or Mingde Hall."
With the attack on Mingde Hall's treasury, and the fact that Mingde Hall has been unable to exert absolute dominance over the original three kingdoms of Douluo Continent, especially Shrek Academy, in terms of soul tools over the years, Grandpa has gradually lost his voice in the center of imperial power.
This power of discourse is related to the development resources of Mingde Hall and the interests of many people. As those who have benefited from Mingde Hall, we need to strive to protect these resources. Although as long as Grandpa is alive, Mingde Hall will eventually have a chance to rise again, that timeframe is too long and there are too many variables. We desperately need a boost to our morale. Nothing can compare to the unprecedented victory over Shrek Academy, the victory over you all.”
"Very good, it seems we already have a foundation for cooperation. I would say I completely agree with your judgment and ideas; as beneficiaries, we need to make necessary sacrifices to protect our interests. However, I don't quite agree with your approach or your goals."
First, let's talk about the methods. Leaving aside the other methods, just consider your biggest move: Brother Xiao Hongchen sacrificed his future to gain what appears to be his current strength.
"What do you mean by 'looks powerful'?!"
Xiao Hongchen ultimately couldn't control his tongue, or rather, anyone in his position would have been unable to do so under these circumstances. After all, the effort he had put in at such a great cost was seen as completely unnecessary by others, which was unacceptable.
"Calm down! Listen to my analysis. There must be a Soul Saint in the Holy Spirit Sect's participating team, right?"
The Holy Spirit Sect is now practically the back of Xiao Hongchen's neck; if they grab it and lift it up, Hongchen Cat will freeze.
Sure enough, Xiao Hongchen quieted down, allowing Long You to continue his analysis (and his deception): "Even if we leave aside the Holy Spirit Sect, the Snow Demon Sect is actually a front for the Body Sect. Their captain is also a Soul Saint, and one who is at least capable of using a Silver-level Body Awakening."
I know you might be thinking that these two guys have nothing to do with each other, and it doesn't matter if the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy team loses to them, as long as I can beat the Shrek Academy team.
But will this really work? Can defeating Shrek Academy, which no longer holds the undisputed title of number one, truly make Mingde Hall 'great' again?
"Wait, why didn't you mention the Tang Clan?"
Although Meng Hongchen is indeed somewhat simple-minded, that's just because she doesn't like to use her brain, not because she lacks intelligence. Long You only twice omitted mention of the Tang Clan in his conversations, and Meng Hongchen had already astutely grasped this point.
"Because you know that Tang Sect was Shrek Academy's reserve team last year, but others don't. You beat Shrek Academy but lost to us, which means that the sect's strength is greater than the academy's. You have ultimately made history, and Xiao Hongchen's sacrifice has some meaning. If you had beaten us but lost to Shrek Academy due to excessive consumption, then I'm sorry, everyone, including those who know the inside story, would say that Mingde Hall is still the eternal runner-up, and Xiao Hongchen was indeed a fool."
Silence. Silence again. Normally, Long You's words would have been enough to infuriate Xiao Hongchen, but now, both siblings remained silent. These two were geniuses; perhaps their emotional intelligence was average, but that was only because they didn't need to consider such things. It didn't mean they were truly ignorant. The scenario Long You described—where those who understand pretend not to, seizing the opportunity to kick Xiao Hongchen and Mingde Hall while they were down—would definitely happen.
"Maybe we should face Shrek Academy first? And who says we'll necessarily suffer a Pyrrhic victory! I am a Soul Saint, and you don't! This will be an overwhelming victory."
Even if he loses the argument, he won't back down. Even if his worst fears are revealed, Xiao Hongchen will definitely not admit defeat.
"No, we do." If he couldn't deprive Xiao Hongchen of even the confidence to be defiant, Long You's subsequent cooperation negotiations wouldn't go smoothly, so he needed to add another layer of leverage for himself. "I'm already level 70. Unless our two families meet tomorrow, I'll be a Soul Saint. I might not be able to beat you, but exchanging blows with you is definitely no problem, you admit that?"
Long You, who had been watching Xiao Hongchen intently, clearly saw a visibly dazed look in the eyes of this young man who was willing to sacrifice his future for Mingde Hall. Just as Long You had said before, Xiao Hongchen was now questioning whether what he was doing was even necessary.
"Has he started to doubt himself?" Seeing that the light in Xiao Hongchen's eyes had already disappeared, Long You decided to deliver a final blow and then throw out his own chips to pull Xiao Hongchen onto his pirate ship.
"I don't know if you've ever thought about the main reason why Mingdetang gradually lost favor with the Crown Prince. You probably have, but you chose a short-sighted approach."
But I must tell you that your seemingly noble approach has merely transformed you from a future super-powerful figure into a pawn who might play a role in the present.
Given that His Highness the Crown Prince intends to wage war, Mingde Hall's inability to provide him with top-tier combat power is tantamount to handing over its position as his right-hand man. Forget about its advantages in soul tool research; within the Sun Moon Empire, Mingde Hall's soul tool research capabilities aren't yet at a point where they are indispensable.
"You'd better explain yourself clearly what you want to do!"
The same words rang in Long You's ears again, but this time it was a woman's voice.
"It's simple, two deals. First, I'll help your brother recover his potential, and you two will put on an act in the match against the Tang Clan. Second, you tell me about a valuable resource reserve belonging to the Holy Spirit Cult, and I'll contact my helpers to rob it."
If the Xiao Hongchen brothers can demonstrate their Soul Saint level strength in the competition and then improve again in a short period of time, the voices advocating sacrificing potential will naturally disappear, and the pawns can once again become bargaining chips. If the Holy Spirit Cult's secret warehouse suffers the same fate as the Mingde Hall, then the Holy Spirit Cult itself will also be affected in the same way as the Mingde Hall.
These two changes are not enough to reverse the situation, but they are certainly more effective than simply winning the game.
Why should I believe you can help my brother?
"According to what I said, you won't get a worse result than you have now, will you? Besides, you have time to consider, as long as you come to a conclusion before our match begins. As for how to postpone our meeting, you can certainly do that."
Oh, and I can add a little something extra. Shrek Academy's current captain, Wang Qiuqiu, although only a Soul King, isn't guaranteed a win even against a Soul Saint. This is the result of a test conducted by Shrek Academy's inner court students.
"Ultimate attributes?"
"The ultimate power, and it may also have a deterrent effect on beast martial souls."
"Give me your contact number, and I will give you a reply by the day after tomorrow."
"OK, I wish us a pleasant cooperation."
As he uttered his last words, Long You also removed the shielding barrier surrounding the booth area. Having endured multiple blows that night, the Hongchen siblings had no intention of staying any longer and only wanted to quickly return to the Mingyue Hotel to sort out their thoughts.
Squinting slightly as he watched the Hongchen siblings quickly leave after a brief attempt to conceal their actions, Long You silently reviewed the conversation in his mind. The entire conversation seemed chaotic, rambling on and on, but it had achieved its goal of breaking down their psychological defenses. Long You believed that he was highly likely to gain what he wanted.
According to the message Liu Jun had recently given him, Di Tian had agreed to come to Mingdu. If he didn't make good use of this opportunity, Long You felt it would be a real loss for him to have helped solve the auspicious beast's soul problem. As for having the Hongchen siblings put on an act during the battle against the Tang Sect, it was simply because Long You didn't want to be too high-profile during the daytime competition.
Among the Tang Clan members present, some might be grateful for Shrek Academy's nurturing, but none were truly willing to risk their lives to repay the academy's kindness or uphold its honor. On this trip, compared to Shrek Academy's achievements, everyone was actually more concerned about whether the Tang Clan could gain recognition and what benefits they could achieve in Mingdu.
"Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. While there's still time, I should go see my older cousin and grandfather. If nothing changes, then the Tang Clan will run into Xiao Hongchen and the others tomorrow. If things change, then my deal will most likely be successful."
After leaving the bar, Long You quietly used his soul tool to create a light and shadow effect on himself and entered a hidden state. He then hurried towards a soul tool shop in the south of Mingdu City.
To gain benefits in the city of Mingdu, Long You needs more helpers. Fortunately, there is a Long family team participating in this competition. They haven't appeared in the previous elimination rounds, but the round-robin stage is about to begin. There are some things that Long You needs to reveal to his family.