After the award ceremony was over, Stranger of Three Lifetimes tossed the trophy into Eyes Like Water's hands and lithely jumped down the platform. She smiled at me and said, "You're quite early, Eve, Lu Chen!"

We smiled and nodded back to her.

It was at this moment a group of students rushed over with their handphones raised and shouted, "Stranger of Three Lifetimes, we are your fans! Please take a photo with us! Resistance is futile!"

They swarmed the stunned mage in an instant. Judging from the sheer amount of camera flashes, I highly doubted that she could keep her eyes open.

Of course, there were a lot of people who noticed He Yi as well. She was a gorgeous woman with an exquisite countenance and a body to die for, and the elegant outfit she wore today accentuated those traits even further. Forget the guys, even I was sneaking glances at her from time to time. She noticed my gaze, but she simply smiled and said nothing about it.

A while later, Stranger of Three Lifetimes finally managed to struggle out of the crowd and pointed at He Yi and me. "The real G.o.d and G.o.ddess are over there, so please leave me alone already…"

"Ah?!"

Finally noticing He Yi and me, the students' mouth fell open in shock—

"Could… could he be… Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand?"

"It's definitely him! I've seen that photo of him kissing Lin Yixin before!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, there's also that photo of him window shopping with Beiming Xue!"

"Does that mean that that gorgeous woman next to him is From Water? Haha, it actually is her! I can't believe that the two leaders of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls are attending the CCPL!"

……

This time, we were the ones who got swarmed as countless people asked to take photos with us. After obliging some requests, I grabbed He Yi and Stranger of Three Lifetimes' hands and hightailed it out of there!

The venue staff covered for us as we slipped behind the stage and reunited with the other four team members of Blazing Hot Lips. After that, the seven of us exited the e-sports stadium, entered a roadside restaurant with a fairly good reputation, booked a private room to ourselves and ordered some drinks.

If a guy tries to force a girl to drink alcohol, you can be sure that something is wrong with his personality. At any rate, it wasn't something I could bring myself to do.

"Alright, why don't we start off with a round of introductions?" I rose to my feet and introduced myself, "I am Lu Chen, the vice leader of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. My gender is male, and—"

The girls stopped me with a giggle. "Sit down, you! We know all that already!"

He Yi stood up next and said, "I am He Yi, the guild leader of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. My ID is From Water, although I think you're all aware of that already."

Stranger of Three Lifetimes gave her a nod of acknowledgement. "No need to act so formal, Sister Eve! Now take your seat!"

"Mn."

The guild leader of Blazing Hot Lips looked at her guild members, and they immediately started introducing themselves one by one—

"I am Eyes Like Water. We've fought each other in the arena before. Let's fight again when we're free, heehee!" Eyes Like Water seemed as eager as ever.

"I am Lasting, the tamer with a unique cla.s.s called Soul of the Wild. As you're already aware, I can summon a horde of goblins in one spell…"

"I am the archer Nono. h.e.l.lo everyone!" Nono seemed a bit shy, so she kept her introduction short and concise.

Finally, the youngest girl of the group rose to her feet and said timidly, "I… I am Yu Tong. I am a mage just like Sister Momo!" She wasn't finished, however. She looked at me and said in a voice as small as a mosquito's, "Lu… Lu Chen is my biggest idol. Can… can I take a photo with you after lunch is over?"

I was surprised, but I replied, "Of course, of course…"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes giggled. "Yu Tong is the youngest of all of us, but you'd best not underestimate her. She is the strongest mage in Blazing Hot Lips besides me, and the reason I made her attend this CCPL compet.i.tion is to help her gain some experience. Of course, she is still incomparable to your Lian Xin…"

I gave Yu Tong a kind smile and said, "That's incredible, Yu Tong. I wish our players were as good as you at your age…"

"Alright, cut the fake c.r.a.p already, will you?" Stranger of Three Lifetimes rolled her eyes at my attempts at flattery. "It's obvious that you're plotting something nefarious. You've never even bothered to contact me before, and today you drove all the way over to treat us to lunch. There's no way you don't have an agenda. You'd better not tell me that you've set your sights on our girls, you sinful man!"

I laughed. "Come on, do I look that desperate for girls to you? Anyway, you're right. I came to meet you today because you're the only one who can help us right now…"

"Okay? Continue?" Stranger of Three Lifetimes smiled while playing with her chopsticks.

He Yi was also looking at me curiously. I still haven't told her why I had come to meet Stranger of Three Lifetimes.

……

"When it comes to the affairs of the world, that which is long divided must unify, and that which is long unified…"

I cleared my throat before continuing in a righteous voice, "Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls do not desire to become the top dog. Since our foundation, our goal has always been to spread our name to every corner of the world. We've fought in three Nation Wars up until this point, and we've always proven ourselves to be Blazing Hot Lips' most trustworthy ally, haven't we? So I'll cut straight to the point… As you are already aware, our best mage, Moonlight Stone, was stolen by that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Candlelight Shadow, not long ago. We've also bled over a thousand of our best mages to Candle Dragon, Warsky Alliance and even s.h.i.+tty guilds like Mad Dragon and Flower Room…"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes nodded. "Yes, and you have my sympathy. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls' performance in the Nation Wars is just too good, and neither Candle Dragon nor Warsky Alliance could tolerate you growing any stronger than you already are. It makes perfect sense for them to pull a stunt like this."

I nodded and leaned back into my chair. I sucked in a deep breath before continuing, "The next Nation War could be right around the corner, and already our biggest weakness is hampering our progress. We have the strongest cavalry troop in the world right now, but our ranged units are nowhere even close to their league; our mages being the worst of them all. Lian Xin is the only elite mage we have, and how much ground can a single mage really cover? 50 yards? 100 yards? In a Nation War, a battle line could easily stretch over several kilometers. Without sufficient high-level mages to support our frontline, our strength is only half of what it should be."

Yu Tong nodded in agreement. "I think so too. I just didn't think I was qualified to say anything just yet. You are definitely not lacking in the self-awareness department, big brother Lu Chen."

Stranger of Three Lifetimes took a sip of tea and said, "Well, you are correct."

I continued, "The world is ever-changing, and the three main cities of China are situated at the center of the continent. To the north, we face Hero City, Seven Star City and more. To the south, we face great Russian cities such as Iron Horse City and Frostsword City. To the east, we face Elephant City and Cyan Earth City of India, and Purple Grape City of j.a.pan. And finally, the west is positively crawling with Night Creatures that want to destroy everyone. To be honest, I don't think we have any allies that we can call upon in case an all-out war breaks out. We could very well lose all three of our main cities if our enemies decide to attack us from every direction!"

Yu Tong shuddered at the thought. "You must be exaggerating, big brother Lu Chen."

Stranger of Three Lifetimes wasn't so quick to dismiss the worst case scenario though. "No, Lu Chen is right. There is nothing impossible in this world, and if we don't work to minimize this possibility then it may very well happen. The Center is a giant cake that everyone wants to get a slice of for themselves. The Nation Wars aren't going to end anytime soon…"

He Yi said with a smile, "That is why super guilds such as Ancient Sword, Snowy Cathaya, Blazing Hot Lips, Candle Dragon and Warsky Alliance will all be playing a critical role in the future. In fact, with the right guidance, we can use even our influence to conquer a main city or two!"

I praised He Yi on the inside. My smart guild leader seemed to have caught on to my true intentions.

I gave He Yi's hand a squeeze beneath the table. She returned the gesture and shot me a sneaky grin.

……

I continued, "Exactly. The guilds are extremely important, and it is why we've always done our best to develop our power. Anyway, back to the point. Blazing Hot Lips has the biggest and strongest mage party in the entire China, even compared to Purple Lily. It is a well-known fact that nearly 25% of your entire guild is made up of mages."

"Why am I sensing something ominous?"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes looked at me warily. "What are you planning to do to us, you lecher!?"

I smiled. "That hurts, you know? We would never plot against our own ally. We're just asking you to lend us a helping hand during our most dangerous times!"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes smiled. "Oh, I see. But uh… we just developed our own territory, and we don't have the manpower or the resources to spare you right now. All we can give you right now is moral support…"

I rolled my eyes. "There are countless people who are giving us moral support every day. If there's one thing we don't need from you, it's precisely that!"

Yu Tong blinked once before asking, "So, what exactly do you want, big brother Lu Chen?"

I sucked in a deep breath and dropped the bomb. "I want to borrow your troops!"

……

Silence filled the room for a moment. A long while later, Stranger of Three Lifetimes said,

"Borrow our troops…?"

The mage licked her lips once. "Can you like, clarify what exactly do you mean by that, Lu Chen? I… don't think such a concept currently exists in the game, does it?"

I nodded. "Yep, but it will in the future. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls' mage party is practically non-existent right now, which is why we desperately need an injection of manpower to restart our engines. To that end, I wish to borrow 5000 high-level mages from Blazing Hot Lips for a duration of 2 weeks!"

"WHAT?!"

So shocked was Stranger of Three Lifetimes that she jumped to her feet with a yell. "FIVE THOUSAND MAGES?! You… you might as well kill me right now…"

He Yi immediately rose to her feet and grabbed Stranger of Three Lifetimes' shoulders consolingly, saying, "Calm down, Momo. There is nothing impossible in this world, right?"

The mage pouted. "No way! Your man just asked me to lend him five thousand of our best mages! We might as well chop off our own arms if we do that!"

I said, "I'm open to negotiate the exact number!"

"I repeat: no way!"

"You're so stingy, Momo!"

"I don't care!"

"Stingy girls won't be able to grow in cup size! Stingy girls all downgrade to 31A eventually!"

"I…"

That got to the mage a little. She shot me a pitiful look and said, "100 mages, and no more than that!"

I pointed at the dishes on the table. "100 mages? Do you know how much we paid for these ridiculously expensive dishes?"