98: Are you sure you don't want to play with me?

In Hengshui, at the Blue Ice Squad headquarters, Team Leader Blue Dragon lay on a wide sofa chair, staring intently at the combat reports sent by various command groups in the squad channel.

“I didn't expect that woman, Xuan Yu, to have some skills. With only 20,000 troops, she managed to hold off an attack from three times our force. If it weren't for her, the eastern part of Xi City would already be ours!”

A red-haired youth standing by the electronic sand table in the hall looked at the Xiaoyao Squad defense line marked on the map, then turned to Blue Dragon and said, “Should we add another 50,000 troops to turn up the heat?”

“No need. We failed to break through the defense line and push straight to Xi City in the first wave, so the follow-up attack plan has already failed.”

Blue Dragon stood up and said in a deep voice, “Order the troops to retreat to Yuling Tunnel. The probing attack is paused!”

“Understood!” the red-haired youth replied immediately.

At this moment, Blue Dragon opened his friends list and initiated a voice call.

“Team Leader Cheng Mo, the probing attack has ended. A conservative estimate puts the total strength of the Xiaoyao Squad at around 200,000. Currently, no armored vehicles have been detected.”

“You’ve worked hard, Brother Blue Dragon. None of us would have thought that Li Xiao, who obtained the King of War title, was right under our noses.

If this hidden threat isn't removed, it will pose a huge risk to our future expansion strategies. He will be like a sharp knife hidden behind our backs, ready to strike at any moment!”

The voice on the other end was cold, sounding very young, but the speech was clear and logical, reflecting deep thoughts.

“Of course, now that he hasn't fully digested his King of War rewards, we must cut the Gordian knot and eliminate the threat once and for all!”

Blue Dragon continued, “The joint attack plan scheduled for two days from now remains unchanged. Team Leader Cheng, your Jiantu Squad should have no problem, right?”

“No problem. See you in two days!”

After hanging up, a glint of cunning flashed in Blue Dragon's eyes. He looked calmly at the electronic sand table and whispered, “See you in two days? That will probably be our last meeting...”

In Xi City, Li Xiao looked at the large number of enemy troops retreating toward Yuling Tunnel on Zhao Feipeng's flight control device, feeling puzzled.

The Blue Ice Squad had gone to great lengths to launch a surprise attack, yet they retreated after leaving behind thousands of corpses the moment their assault was blocked. This was truly unexpected for Li Xiao.

Could it be that the Commander of the Blue Ice Squad is such a coward?

“I’m afraid it’s not that they are cowards, but that they have other motives that we haven't discovered yet!”

Yun Dongliu calmly analyzed, “I feel that the Blue Ice Squad that attacked us today was more like they were probing our strengths and weaknesses. They will definitely have bigger moves later on.

My suggestion is to assemble our forces in the east and even the north to prevent another surprise attack from the enemy!”

“No! The Xiaoyao Squad is not the type to sit around and wait for others to attack! Since he wants to play surprise attacks, I’ll give him something more exciting!”

Li Xiao's sharp eyes were fixed on Yuling Tunnel.

Following the deployment of Yun Dongliu and Liu Nian, four-fifths of the remaining 1,600+ members of the squad were sent to the eastern and northern borders.

Currently, the average troop count per member in their squad is between 160 and 170, which is just enough to muster a force of 200,000.

However, according to Yun Dongliu's calculations, the Blue Ice Squad has a total strength of at least 500,000. Even if they send out 300,000 troops, it would be enough to cause serious trouble for the Xiaoyao Squad.

Therefore, Li Xiao had to think of a way to absolutely suppress the enemy.

Returning to the base, Li Xiao felt restless. After some consideration, he simply took Zhao Feipeng and headed to the Dark Soul Mercenary Group again before dawn.

“What?! You want me to help you purchase infantry fighting vehicles and tanks?” Wang Si was stunned. Was such a thing even possible?

“Yes,” Li Xiao said seriously. “I won't have you help for free; I will pay you a commission of 10,000 Star Coins for each vehicle!”

“This... it's not a matter of money,” Wang Si said with some difficulty. “First of all, infantry fighting vehicles aren't something just anyone can buy.

Although we are not restricted by the Black Hawk Empire's arms trade embargo, Tony Beldo sells weapons based on the strength and faction of the mercenary group.”

“Faction?” Li Xiao asked in surprise. “What does that mean?”

“Those who lean towards allegiance to the Black Hawk Empire are called the Black Faction, while neutral mercenary groups like us are called the Free Faction.

The Black Faction can enjoy many conveniences with the empire's tacit approval, but the Free Faction is not so free. We have restrictions on purchasing weapons and equipment. For heavy equipment like infantry fighting vehicles, I'm afraid we really don't qualify.”

“This...” Li Xiao said again, “How about this: you find Tony and tell him that I am the one who wants to buy it, but I'm just borrowing your name.

Isn't he worried about the Black Hawk Empire investigating? Wouldn't transferring the responsibility like this solve it perfectly?”

Wang Si thought for a moment and nodded, “Alright, I’ll help you try!”

After speaking, Wang Si turned around and picked up the satellite phone. Li Xiao watched as Wang Si paced back and forth at the guard post. Before long, he walked back, and judging by his expression, it didn't seem to have worked.

“Tony's side says the risk is still very high. He might lose the Yun City market because of this!”

“Give me the satellite phone!” Li Xiao stood up, and Wang Si had no choice but to reconnect.

On the other end of the satellite phone, it wasn't Tony speaking, but his assistant, Ryan.

“Team Leader Wang, I have already said that this matter is inconsistent with our company's interests. Please make it clear to Mr. Li Xiao!”

“Ryan! I really need a batch of combat vehicles to save my squad. For this, I am willing to give up an additional portion of profits from our cooperative projects.

If there is no way, then I will consider whether to terminate our cooperation and look for other partners.

After all, the bold are stuffed to death, while the timid starve to death. I think you wouldn't want to see your old customers turn to others for more cost-effective and highly durable equipment, would you?”

“Uh... Mr. Li Xiao, you are really making it difficult for me. Please allow me to report this to Mr. Tony.”

Li Xiao curled his lips. Since the other party was worried about vested interests, he would threaten them at the root.

After ten minutes, Li Xiao received a reply from Ryan again. This time, he got good news: Tony Beldo had agreed to the transaction request.

However, it was only for this one time, and only for infantry fighting vehicles and equipment below that tier.

Li Xiao was overjoyed. As expected, his Life Pool ability was quite fatal to those arms dealers.

“That’s great, Brother Wang. Please help me buy and bring back ten AMX10P infantry fighting vehicles and the accompanying ammunition as quickly as possible.

This card contains 2.4 million Star Coins. 2 million is for the vehicle costs, and after deducting your commission, use the remaining 300,000 to buy all the ammunition!”

Li Xiao gave the card that Ryan had given him yesterday to Wang Si, completely untouched.

Wang Si had probably never seen so much money; his hand trembled slightly. He asked curiously, “Aren't you afraid that I might run away with this card? You have to know that we might not be able to make this amount in two years...”