Chapter 96: Deliberation

And besides, solo fighters are troublesome to manage. It would be better to let those two factions handle it; in any case, they would still pay Fang Xia protection fees and lodging fees.

If Fang Xia were to go out and rally people, those two factions would probably double in size. Quite a few smaller groups would even be willing to be absorbed.

So everything Chen Gang said was empty talk, not a shred of substance.

Heh, Chen Gang is taking us for fools. Fine, I won’t be the fool. Let’s see what that cursed bastard has to say first.

Lone Wolf thought this to himself, then suddenly felt that something was off. Fang Xia was looking at him with a smile that was not quite a smile.

Why is that damned bastard staring at me? That sly old fox’s grin is creepy as hell.

Fang Xia’s smile only grew brighter.

Lone Wolf quietly edged his backside farther away. He had to keep a little distance from this star of death.

“Three commanders, our city lord means no harm. He only hopes everyone can get through this crisis together. Though your territories will suffer some damage, all the resources used in this fire attack will be borne by Dawn City. I’d say that shows our sincerity well enough.”

Seeing that no one spoke and their own commander was stuck, Mr. Zhuge hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.

“All right, but the upgrade crystals can’t possibly be refunded at the original price. Otherwise it would be hard to see your sincerity.”

To everyone’s surprise, White Robe was the first to say it.

This is a dangerous one too. I thought it would be that somewhat foolish Lone Wolf who couldn’t hold out first. I didn’t expect the Blood-Robed commander, who always seems so cold, to be the one to break first.

Mr. Zhuge thought this silently.

This time, the four commanders had gathered together, and Chen Gang had specifically brought him along to help think things through and probe the depths of these three commanders.

Before they had even properly begun, he had already found one who was not quite as the rumors described.

“The matter of the upgrade crystals can be discussed. How much do you think would be appropriate to return?”

Mr. Zhuge tossed the ball back, making the other side speak first so they could keep the initiative.

Everyone present was firmly within Fang Xia’s grasp anyway. Whenever they thought about it, they inevitably ended up thinking of him as well, and that was enough to trigger the conditions for hearing their inner thoughts.

“Don’t overdo it. Just turn the first-tier ones into second-tier ones and that’ll do.”

Since they were all waiting for the other side to speak first, Fang Xia might as well open his mouth wide and ask for the moon. If you’ve got the nerve, keep holding out.

“Commander Fang, are you joking?”

“It was you who started the joke.”

Er...

Two times the amount. That’s the bottom line we can accept.

We’re pressed for time right now, and it would be bad for everyone if we kept haggling over such a small benefit. Dawn City is willing to take a step back. What do you think?

Two times was neither too much nor too little, and it happened to fall within White Robe’s acceptable range.

Lone Wolf was about to say something else, but Fang Xia cut him off directly.

“I agree.”

He had already seen through each of their little calculations. This was basically the final price. Any further discussion would just waste time.

“But I still have a few small ideas. Of course, compared to Mr. Zhuge’s fire attack, they’re only the icing on the cake.”

With that, Fang Xia described the method he had learned the night before from that prideful female PhD.

Dawn City had a large population, so naturally they would be the ones to carry it out.

Mr. Zhuge’s expression tightened. He had not expected Fang Xia to be able to build on one idea with another. He had only come up with a fire attack, yet Fang Xia could also think of a strategy like rolling boulders. This would be a major threat to the founding of Dawn City.

Because of Fang Xia’s suggestion, Chen Gang had to rush off and make emergency arrangements. Setting aside everything else, simply moving so many heavy objects into place would take time.

Thus the tea meeting broke up. Each of the four had their own hidden schemes, though Fang Xia was different; he listened to the hidden schemes of the other three and then mulled them over himself.

“Oh, right, there’s one more thing I want to ask.”

As they were leaving, Fang Xia suddenly spoke. White Robe and Lone Wolf, who were walking ahead, both stopped and turned back to hear what he had to say.

“What is Mr. Zhuge’s full name?”

“Zhuge. His surname is Zhuge, his given name is Ge.”

Last night, Fang Xia had not only chosen not to hold it against her, he had even allowed An Qingyu to stay. That had surprised everyone.

The one most uneasy of all was the little girl.

So today, the moment Fang Xia returned, she took the initiative to run over and massage his shoulders, squeezing the twin sister aside.

“Never mind, really. It’s not necessary. Let Jingru do it.”

No amount of persuasion from Fang Xia could stop her.

“It’s fine. I’ll massage you. I’m definitely not worse than her.”

The little girl simply refused, busily kneading his shoulders on her own.

“It’s not that your skills are bad. I’m just worried you’ll wear yourself out standing on tiptoe to do it.”

“...”

The little girl almost stormed off on the spot. They say one shouldn’t expose another’s sore spot, but Fang Xia kept striking exactly where it hurt most. It was infuriating.

“Brother Fang, I talked things through with Teacher An last night. She was deeply marked by the last faction leader, so she’s rather averse to men.”

Fang Xia kept his eyes closed as if dozing, and no one knew whether he had heard her or not.

“Really, she realized she was wrong herself, and she even told me several ways to deal with zombies.”

“She said fire attacks can work, and also...”

Before the little girl could finish, Fang Xia waved a hand to cut her off.

At the same time, An Qingyu also walked out from the room.

Fang Xia pretended not to see her and continued speaking on his own.

“What other good ideas could there be? I only asked casually yesterday. Whether she could come up with anything or not wouldn’t affect the big picture much.”

“The fire attack plan was already being prepared by Dawn City yesterday. Didn’t you notice it while clearing the supply drops today?”

“Also, besides fire attacks, combining them with the ancient city-defense method of rolling boulders can be very effective too.”

“As for the tier-five zombies, once they lose the cover of the zombie horde, the threat they pose is much smaller. Nothing to worry about.”

Not only the little girl, but everyone else as well, stared wide-eyed. They had not expected Brother Fang not only to be so strong, but also so brilliant in strategy.

Bai Xing and Li Xiaochun both thought of the last time too, when Fang Xia had been the one to suggest using fire to wipe out the zombies on the bridge.

At this point, everyone disliked this An Qingyu even more. If not for the little girl’s sake, Liu Rui would already have been ready to start cursing yesterday.

How could this be? He’s actually thought of almost exactly the same things as I did. In such a short time, could he really have come up with so many methods?

Last night I was so cold and aloof, giving him no face at all, and in the end he still let me stay on the second floor.

From what Yunyun said, apart from Liu Rui and Bai Xing, he had never even touched the other girls. It seems I may have misunderstood him?

An Qingyu was deeply shocked inside, but when she saw Fang Xia’s disdainful expression, her innate pride flared up again.

So what if he thought of all that? Last night I still came up with another method. If you dig a trap along the zombies’ route of attack, and line both sides of the trap with battle blades, then as soon as the zombies fall in, they’ll be slain by the blades.

This method would not only kill large numbers of low-tier zombies, it could also reveal the locations of higher-tier ones. After all, only zombies of tier three and above can see.