Li Zongming continued, "You mentioned that the draconian world started out as a medium-sized world a few years ago, didn't you?"
Zhang Lie asked, "Do you have a proposal?"
Li Zongming replied, "Let's perform a transaction."
"Tell me more."
The draconian world was tethered to the human race, and Zhang Lie was rather invested in it.
Li Zongming explained, "Since the draconian world doesn't have any reserves or manpower, I'll provide it to the draconian world."
Zhang Lie asked, "And what will the draconian world provide?"
Li Zongming replied, "The Zongming world's manpower will help the draconian world cultivate their own manpower. The draconian world will provide a fraction of the death spirits' battleships and the black metal to power them."
Zhang Lie nodded. "I can't make this decision myself. I'll have to discuss it with the draconian sage."
Li Zongming shrugged. "At any rate, you'll have to bring the death spirits' battleships over, or I won't know what sort of manpower you need."
Zhang Lie returned to the draconian world. The moment he appeared, the draconian sage sensed him and teleported to his side. "How did the meeting go?"
"I have two pieces of information, one good and one bad. Which would you like to hear first?"
The draconian sage sighed. "This is an old saying. Can't you change it up?"
Zhang Lie picked for the draconian sage. "The good news is that we received a lot of spoils during the superior kings' meeting."
The draconian sage smiled. "What spoils? Just what happened during the meeting? I'm very curious."
"Listen to the bad news first."
"Very well."
Zhang Lie continued, "The bad news is that the superior kings of antiquity are going to be invading us shortly."
The draconian sage looked as though he had suddenly petrified. After a momentary shock, he cursed. His curiosity about the proceedings of the meeting vanished entirely. He asked, "What's going on?"
Zhang Lie certainly wasn't going to inform him that it was precisely their lavish spoils that had provoked retaliation from the other kings.
After all, the draconian world, Zongming world, and scaleman world had to swiftly form an alliance against the other superior kings
If the draconian sage and scaleman king were to find out about the cause of the war, the alliance would fracture even before it was formed. This wouldn't be beneficial for the upcoming war.
"The superior worlds of antiquity were eyeing the two newly evolved superior worlds. The Zongming world, as a new superior world itself, was unable to protect the draconian world and the scaleman world during the meeting. For that, the Zongming king expresses his deepest apologies."
Although the Zongming world's rewards were what sparked the conflict, the underlying reason was that the superior kings of antiquity looked down on these young upstarts.
The draconian sage asked, "What is the Zongming king planning?"
Zhang Lie replied, "His intention, and mine, is to have a discussion with all three superior kings."
"Where?" the draconian sage asked.
He was well aware of how malicious the superior worlds of antiquity were, thanks to Zhang Lie's recounting of events. The moment he heard that they were approaching, he readied himself to fight back.
Even if he were to surrender, the superior worlds of antiquity would likely still destroy his world to seize the superior world's energy it contained. That had been their perennial goal, after all.
"The meeting will be held in the Zongming world."
The draconian sage nodded. "Very well. I will participate."
"Furthermore," Zhang Lie continued, "the Zongming king is interested in a trade."
"A trade?"
"Regarding the black metal and the death spirits' battleships."
"You told the Zongming king about this?" the draconian sage asked.
Zhang Lie nodded. "I did. The Zongming king will send his men over to help with the research—and help the draconian world cultivate such manpower of its own. In exchange, he would like the draconian world to provide a certain quantity of black metal, as well as a portion of the death spirits' battleships for his own research."
The draconian sage suggested, "I'll leave you to make the decision on your own. You were the one who brought the death spirits' battleships back, after all, and you discovered the black metal as well."
Zhang Lie replied, "But the black metal is ultimately a resource that belongs to the draconian world. How much of the black metal are you willing to provide?"
The draconian sage shook his head. "I don't know enough to say. I'll discuss and negotiate with the Zongming king when the time comes."
The draconian sage wasn't particularly worried about the upcoming invasion.
For one, Zhang Lie and the members of Team Zenith were around. They would be able to take down even the strongest of foes, even if those foes were the superior worlds of antiquity.
After the chat with the draconian sage, Zhang Lie headed straight for Team Zenith.
The first person he saw was Yang Ze. He shouted, "Yang Ze, call everyone from Team Zenith over!"contemporary romance
"What's the matter, Captain?"
"It's finally your time to shine."
Yang Ze quickly gathered everyone—along with Hong Xi and Zhang Hanxiang, who showed up as uninvited guests. Zhang Lie grumbled at their presence. "What are all of you doing here?"
Zhang Hanxiang replied excitedly, "Brother, there must be something up if you're gathering the members of Team Zenith. Of course I'd come and have a look!"
Zhang Hanxiang's strength had grown tremendously after consuming Potion #4, and she was hoping to have a chance to test out just how strong she was for herself.
Zhang Lie shook his head. "It's nothing major. The superior worlds of antiquity are launching an invasion against us."
The members of Team Zenith, Hong Xi, and Zhang Hanxiang exclaimed in surprise. "You call that 'nothing major'?" If that wasn't major, what was?
"The reason I had all of you stay behind during the war against the death spirits is because I was waiting for this opportunity to give the superior worlds of antiquity a big surprise.
The members of Team Zenith were very excited to have an opportunity to demonstrate their strength, one that they had been waiting for for far too long.
Sun Mengmeng replied, "We'll do as you command, Captain!"
"There's nothing much for the moment. We'll wait until the draconian sage and the other superior king head to the Zongming world, discuss our plans for the invasion, and then decide on what you'll do accordingly.
"I came to inform you to get ready for the upcoming invasion."
The members of Team Zenith nodded seriously. This was their first time facing off against a superior world, and they had to be careful.
"All of you will follow the draconian sage to the Zongming world. I need to head to the scaleman world."
After bidding farewell to the members of Team Zenith, Zhang Lie left the draconian world and returned to the Zongming world once more...
done.co