148: Chapter 148 The Lonely One

Three days remained until the end of the first act.

Regardless of how many countries were genuinely willing to trade with the Dragon Country, and regardless of how the Ancient Book Fragments were distributed or how their owners intended to use them.

In short, from the Dragon Country's perspective, maintaining the rankings of the "Ranger" and the "Maritime Merchant" offered a chance to obtain a Heroic Spirit.

To this end, Chen Aoyun continued to shuttle between the rooftops of various areas.

But when Chen Aoyun headed to a certain rooftop today, carrying a camera and a massive amount of currency, he suddenly sensed a hint of danger!

"There's someone on the rooftop!"

It was too late by the time he realized someone was on the rooftop.

Although he was still wearing a disguise, Chen Aoyun's sudden intrusion onto the empty rooftop, right into the view of a Raider from another country while holding a camera, immediately caught the other person's attention!

"A Dragon Countryman?

My luck is truly good today. The "Strategist" of Sakura Country has sworn an oath and made a heavy promise: whoever kills a Dragon Country Raider will receive a great reward!

Stop right there!"

A deal over the phone is one thing.

It didn't conflict with the great reward from the Sakura people.

If Chen Aoyun hadn't appeared in front of the Russia Raider, they could have discussed deals over the phone.

But now that he had actually run into Chen Aoyun, killing him for the Sakura people's reward was clearly more tempting!

The Russia Raider was extremely fast; his fierce fist, wrapped in gale-force energy, smashed toward Chen Aoyun.

Chen Aoyun's reaction was decisive.

He immediately activated his Pseudo-Heroic Spirit Skill, "Seven In, Seven Out"!

After accelerating to dodge the powerful, heavy punch, he used the speed boost to continuously sprint toward the floor below and escape.

"How could a Russia Raider appear on the rooftop? And why did he ignore my disguise and attack me decisively the moment we met?"

While sprinting downstairs, Chen Aoyun's brain raced.

"The ranking of the Famous Scholar 'Ranger' shows Dragon Country in first and Britain in second. This means that, for this period, only Dragon Country and Britain knew about the rooftop matter.

I have kept as far away as possible from the areas where Britain Raiders are active, so how could an accident still happen?"

The question didn't linger long; Chen Aoyun soon figured out the reason:

"The rooftop matter was spread by Britain!

After so many days, the favorability with the Famous Scholar 'Ranger' between Dragon Country and Britain has pulled ahead of other countries by over a dozen points.

Don't underestimate that small gap in favorability; for the already difficult 'Ranger' quest, this dozen-point gap is hard to catch up with unless Ancient Book Fragments are used to make up for it.

By pulling ahead of other countries but lagging behind Dragon Country, Britain spread this news. Although it affects their own quest completion, the impact on my Dragon Country is definitely greater because the level of our Raiders is not high!"

Therefore, encountering the Russia Raider wasn't because of Chen Aoyun's bad luck, but because he had overlooked how the rankings influenced the strategies and tactics of various countries.

Encountering the Russia Raider wasn't a matter of luck, but when Chen Aoyun escaped the building using his Pseudo-Heroic Spirit Skill only to run into two Sakura Country Raiders, that was truly a matter of luck!

Obviously, the Russia Raider's punch on the rooftop had caused too much of a commotion, attracting the attention of the Sakura people patrolling nearby.

The sudden appearance of the Sakura people forced Chen Aoyun to activate his Pseudo-Heroic Spirit Skill "Seven In, Seven Out" once again. And once wasn't enough; the Sakura people had already witnessed Chen Aoyun's escape ability in this act, so they went out to hunt Dragon Country Raiders in pairs, keeping a distance between them.

After using one "Seven In, Seven Out" to escape the pursuit of Togaya Atsuto, Chen Aoyun encountered Kayahara Ao of Sakura Country and had to activate the skill again.

Although he eventually escaped without incident, his personal Luck Value of 20 points was only enough to activate the Pseudo-Heroic Spirit Skill four times. Since he had already activated it three times in a row, only one use remained.

Did he dare to continue completing tasks outside?

Chen Aoyun did not dare. After all, he was a "Strategist," and the final forging of friendships required the "Strategist" to operate. Chen Aoyun didn't know what would happen if he were killed before the end of the first act, or if it would affect the forging of friendships. Helpless, he could only slink back to his room at the small hotel.

This day was effectively wasted.

Even worse, before nightfall, Chen Aoyun only waited for Fan Ling to return to the room; Xiao Zhenghong never came back...

Something had happened to Xiao Zhenghong!

Soon, the Sakura people sent photos of Xiao Zhenghong's corpse being humiliated after he was killed.

Not showing the photos to Fan Ling, Chen Aoyun called the "Strategist" of other countries once again before the midnight bell rang.

He put the calls on speakerphone to negotiate with other countries, and Fan Ling listened to the content of the conversations from the side.

After all the calls ended, Fan Ling's expression was extremely irritable.

"The Ottoman said he has over twenty pages of Ancient Book Fragments and is willing to consider a trade, but we have to wait until the Day of Conclusion, after securing the friendship of a Famous Scholar, before he is willing to hand the Ancient Book Fragments over to us.

The British, the Russians, the Romans... they all said the same thing.

It's complete bullshit!

The Ancient Book Fragments they reported, added together, are fucking nearly two hundred pages!

How could there be so many!

There are only one hundred Ancient Book Fragments in total; these people are clearly just messing with you!"

To this, Chen Aoyun only said, "The plan remains unchanged. Tomorrow, even if we don't do the quests for the 'Ranger' and the 'Maritime Merchant,' we must maintain first place in favorability with the three Famous Scholars who gift equipment!"

Fan Ling couldn't understand.

Xiao Zhenghong was gone, and Chen Aoyun, with only one Pseudo-Heroic Spirit Skill activation left, didn't dare to act rashly; the only person who could go out to do tasks tomorrow was him, Fan Ling.

Why bother with those three Famous Scholars who don't recommend Heroic Spirits but only gift equipment?

Can't you, Chen Aoyun, see that there are actually very few people from other countries willing to trade in good faith?

"What exactly are you thinking?"

Fan Ling looked at Chen Aoyun, puzzled. Chen Aoyun said,

"There are only two days left in the first act. A little more or a little less favorability with the Famous Scholars who can recommend Heroic Spirits doesn't really make much of a difference anymore.

Now we can only gamble.

Gamble on the countries that are willing to trade in good faith, and gamble on being able to obtain Heroic Spirits through trading."

The midnight bell rang at this moment.

Among the Famous Scholars who could recommend Heroic Spirits.

The "Ranger," whom the Dragon Country was focusing on, dropped from first to second in the rankings.

The other Famous Scholar being targeted, the "Maritime Merchant," remained in fourth place, but the gap with the third place had widened further because of Xiao Zhenghong's death today.

Two days remained; starting tomorrow, the only person who could truly go out to complete tasks was Fan Ling.

Fan Ling was very worried. Chen Aoyun told him to rest first, but after getting into bed, Fan Ling tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

The second half of the night passed quickly, and a new day arrived once more.

Before leaving the small hotel, Fan Ling confirmed with Chen Aoyun once again,

"Are you sure that the quests for the 'Craftsman,' the 'Bride-to-be,' and the 'Beast Tamer' are still the priority?"

Chen Aoyun nodded. Fan Ling sighed helplessly and turned to leave.

After Fan Ling left, Chen Aoyun, with only one Pseudo-Heroic Spirit Skill left, chose to be cautious and did not go out.

The small hotel wasn't large. Unable to sit still, Chen Aoyun paced around the hotel thinking, and inadvertently walked into the hotel's entertainment area. Unexpectedly, he discovered a hidden rule here:

[Act I Rule C: In this act, there are no channels for communication with the outside world. Strategist Skills and Foundation Items used for communicating with the outside world are also unusable.]

"As expected.

All means of communicating with the outside world are impossible.

Since that's the case, I'll tell Fan Ling my true thoughts when he returns..."

Although Chen Aoyun had long since tried to see if he could contact the Dragon Country's Support Group, after failing to do so, he suspected that no country could communicate information with their own Support Group in this act.

However, Chen Aoyun was still unwilling to reveal his true intentions in conversation.

Foundation Items were too uncertain. If it was impossible to communicate with the Support Group under normal circumstances, could it be done using a Foundation Item?

Only after seeing this rule was Chen Aoyun prepared to lay out his true plan to Fan Ling.

It was just a pity that it was a bit too late.

This time, Fan Ling did not manage to return to the small hotel before nightfall.

Chen Aoyun became the lone ranger left in the first act for the Dragon Country.

Staring at the third photo sent by the Sakura people on his phone, Chen Aoyun crushed it in his hand.

With only one day left until the end of the first act, Chen Aoyun did nothing; he just waited quietly in the room for a day.

Midnight arrived once again.

The difference was that when the clock struck this time, the entire plot world collapsed in an instant.

Chen Aoyun, Fan Ling, Xiao Zhenghong, and Zhao Hongxiu, the four of them stood on a massive compass, as if they were placed upon a different kind of Star Chessboard.

At the same time, a token engraved with the three characters for "seeking worthy order" appeared in the hands of Chen Aoyun, the "Strategist" of the Dragon Country.