143: Chapter 143 Death

Before the blue smoke completely vanished, Chen Aoyun obtained the contact information of the [Strategists] from other countries from Adar.

In truth, contact information was not difficult to find. The city had institutions similar to telecommunication bureaus; as long as one put in some effort and used the right methods, the phone numbers of the [Strategists] from various countries could be easily obtained. That was how Adar had acquired Chen Aoyun's number previously.

Having the numbers of the [Strategists] from various countries was useless. The Dragon Country's foundation was shallow, and Chen Aoyun could not produce any bargaining chips to trade with the [Strategists] of other nations.

"I still have to rely on myself."

One night passed, and over the next few days, the four members of the Dragon Country realized that the Sakura Country's targeting of them was not just empty talk!

The Sakura Country people had guessed that the Dragon Country would focus their efforts on the task involving the Famous Scholar [Maritime Merchant]. Not only did they deploy all four of their Raiders to stake out every auction house in the city, but they even persuaded other countries to keep an eye out for any sign of the Dragon Country while they completed their own Famous Scholar tasks!

One day, two days, three days... five days, it was the same every single day!

The Dragon Country's favorability rankings with the Famous Scholars who could recommend Heroic Spirits were plummeting across the board!

Even with the Famous Scholar they were primarily targeting, the [Maritime Merchant], the Dragon Country's favorability was dropping!

It had already fallen from sixth to seventh.

"If this continues, forget about picking up scraps; even if another country were willing to go easy on us when it comes time to forge friendships, the Dragon Country wouldn't be able to capitalize on it!"

After Chen Aoyun reported the favorability rankings from the compass once again at midnight, Fan Ling was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

"Why don't we just fight the Sakura Country people!" Xiao Zhenghong slammed the table and stood up.

"How are we supposed to fight? Their levels suppress us across the board, and our 'Heroic Spirit Exclusive Skill' in the background is not easy to construct. It's fortunate that the Sakura Country people don't know this; if they did, we would be even more passive!" Fan Ling pulled Xiao Zhenghong back to his seat and said.

Chen Aoyun remained silent, his eyes fixed on the coins he had tossed onto the table, his index finger and thumb rubbing his earlobe as he thought.

"After this Game of National Destiny, the Sakura Country might launch a 'National War' against the Dragon Country! National Destiny is very important for a National War, which is why the Sakura Country people are playing for such high stakes. Therefore, we must win a good result for the Dragon Country in this Game of National Destiny and obtain more National Destiny!"

Chen Aoyun muttered to himself, and the others fell silent while he thought.

After staring at the coins on the table for a long time, Chen Aoyun's eyes suddenly brightened, "Perhaps I can play another trick with the coins! The Sakura Country people are convinced that we will focus our efforts on the [Maritime Merchant], right? Then, while we complete the [Maritime Merchant]'s task, we will try to complete the task for the Famous Scholar [Ranger]!"

How to do it.

Whether his idea was reliable or not, Chen Aoyun needed to make an attempt first, just like he did when he came up with the MP3.

Fan Ling reminded him, "The task for the Famous Scholar [Ranger] is not easy. It conflicts with the [Officer]'s task, and there will be many people watching, not to mention that these are external factors that make it difficult. The [Ranger] task itself is very difficult. This task not only requires finding the wanted criminal but also trailing the criminal, waiting for the criminal to meet with corrupt officials. From discovering the criminal to the moment they meet with the officials, the time is too long, making it too easy to have it intercepted, and there is a huge risk of exposing oneself. How do you intend to complete this kind of task?"

Chen Aoyun picked up a coin scattered on the table, held it up, and said to everyone, "If I could designate the location where the wanted criminal and the official meet, would you still think this task is very difficult?"

Designate the location?

Zhao Hongxiu thought for a moment and said, "If you can designate the meeting location, it means it would be easier to find and ambush the wanted criminal and the official in advance, which would significantly reduce the difficulty of the task itself. Furthermore, if the location you designate is hidden enough, it could also reduce the risk of the wanted criminal being discovered by Raiders from other countries. In this way, the difficulty of this task would drop by another level! But the problem is, how do you designate it? The wanted criminal and the official won't listen to you, and we don't even know where they are."

Chen Aoyun tossed the coin in his hand high into the air, caught it, and then slammed the caught coin hard onto the table, "I still have to use this!"

The feasibility remained to be tested, so Chen Aoyun kept them in suspense for now.

The next day, after obtaining a large sum of coins from Fan Ling, Chen Aoyun set off alone and disappeared into the crowd.

Chen Aoyun went to conduct his experiment alone, while the others continued to raid the [Maritime Merchant]'s task.

The [Maritime Merchant]'s task was to collect rare treasures in the city. The Dragon Country had plenty of money, and the only thing they needed to worry about was the ambushes by Raiders from other countries, especially those from the Sakura Country.

The three people raiding the [Maritime Merchant]'s task had a clear division of labor: Fan Ling continued to run his shell company while searching for rare treasures through the company's business and connections; Xiao Zhenghong shuttled between the wealthy households in the streets and alleys; and Zhao Hongxiu focused on the several auction houses in the city.

Auction houses were the most convenient way to obtain rare treasures and were also the primary source of the Dragon Country's gains. Likewise, auction houses were also the most dangerous places.

Other countries would comply with the Sakura Country's request and make rounds at nearby auction houses whenever they had time, searching for traces of the Dragon Country.

The Sakura Country was more direct; they simply had their four Raiders switch auction houses every day to keep watch all day long.

Zhao Hongxiu's good luck seemed to have run out. Today, no sooner had she appeared near an auction house than she was discovered by the Sakura Country people.

They didn't rush to make a move, but instead called for reinforcements.

Because they were still wary of the Dragon Country's one remaining Heroic Spirit Exclusive Skill in the background, Saku Kenichi did not appear here.

Two of them blocked the front and back doors of the auction house, while one person entered the auction house to lock onto Zhao Hongxiu.

By the time Zhao Hongxiu realized she had been exposed, it was too late.

She crushed all the coins in her hand. On one hand, she wanted to use the 'watching the fun' element that Chen Aoyun had constructed with some of the coins to increase her chances of escape; on the other hand, she was also preparing for the worst, ensuring these coins would not fall into the hands of the Sakura Country people.

As the auction ended, Zhao Hongxiu threw caution to the wind and screamed like a madwoman at the entrance of the auction house. The chaos she deliberately created to draw a crowd was enough to help her shake off the Sakura Country people behind her, but she could not escape Kayahara Ao, who was lying in ambush on the perimeter.

Blocked by Kayahara Ao, the gap in levels made the battle between the two devoid of any suspense; Zhao Hongxiu's desperate resistance felt like nothing more than an itch to Kayahara Ao.

Soon, Togaya Atsuto and another Raider from the Sakura Country also arrived.

"I've finally caught a rat from the Dragon Country!" Kayahara Ao said arrogantly, stepping on Zhao Hongxiu's head after punching her away.

"Let me handle it; don't dirty your feet on trash like this." Kayahara Ao withdrew his foot, and Togaya Atsuto stepped forward, grabbing Zhao Hongxiu by the hair with one hand and lifting her off the ground.

Togaya Atsuto had been played by the Dragon Country in the previous Game of National Destiny, so he slapped Zhao Hongxiu's cheeks in a humiliating manner, "You should be thankful that the NPCs in this scene all have their own consciousness. The NPCs won't react to the killing of Raiders from other countries, but if there is torture, it easily turns into an 'injustice'. But it doesn't matter; there is the next scene, the scene after that... for all seven scenes of the Game of National Destiny, the Dragon Country will be targeted by my Sakura Country in every single one, trampled under the feet of my Sakura Empire. I have plenty of opportunities to make you experience what it means to wish you were dead; this time, I'll just give you a quick end!"

With one hand, he crushed Zhao Hongxiu's neck. Before Zhao Hongxiu's figure dissipated, Togaya Atsuto didn't even forget to take out his phone and take a group photo while stepping on Zhao Hongxiu's corpse...