Death... and me

"So that's why you called me here, huh?" Liana shook her head in disappointment. "Do you really think it's humiliating that a small country has a lot of Existence Pearls? Then, let me ask you. Which one is more shameful? Roan being first, or all these big countries here joining forces to deal with him?"

Venali and everyone else was taken aback after hearing that.

Liana continued, "Let me remind you, all the countries are watching us at this very moment." Liana then turned around to leave. "If you want to go ahead with this bullshit, then so be it. I will take no part in this shitshow." Without even waiting for an answer, Liana left the gathering.

Venali gritted his teeth after she left, wishing to attack Liana right there and then. However, even if he cornered her, she would just use her pearls to finish the test. That's why these countries' leaders accepted a meeting in this place. They had their pearls ready to be used in the worst-case scenario. Attacking her would be of no use as she wasn't a threat to him anyway.

Venali then looked at the others and said, "Hmph! She doesn't understand that it's because he has the City Guards behind him that he's there. With such a force protecting his pearls, why would it be shameful to join forces? Forget her. We don't need her forces."

Obviously, the others agreed with him as well. Well, in their case, they didn't need to uphold so much pride as the Huring Country did. They only wanted Roan's pearls so that more of their members could pass the test. Although more and more pearls were being found, Roan definitely had a lot of them.

"But what if he tries to use his pearls to escape?" Fulia from Volava Country asked.

Dissielle, who was listening to the conversation, immediately answered that question. "That would be even better. Our Huring Country has already tested that. If you use your pearls to escape, only ten of them will be consumed. The rest will remain in the place where the person disappeared. He has 127 pearls at the moment, so 117 will not be used and is up for grabs."

"I see..." Fulia didn't know that. Well, the majority didn't either. "Alright then. So, how will we do it? Don't forget that just like how he can see us on the map, we can see him. He will be able to tell that we're heading to where he was. Besides, I doubt he will leave his guards' protection at all."

A guy called Gari didn't seem to care. "So what? A squad of guards is still just one squad. We all got money to buy ourselves weapons and armor. I doubt he can defend against so many of us at the same time."

"Don't be ridiculous," Ricab could not help but say in response. "If we really attack them with such force, he will definitely call for support before we get there. He can see us on the map, after all. We need a proper plan."

Venali already had something in mind. "Don't worry. We can simply use this information to our advantage."

Back on Rean and Roan's side, they were in the middle of their patrol and got another 3 Existence Pearls in the meantime. "Roan, except for that Liana girl, don't you think they have been in that position for too long?"

Roan nodded in response. "Obviously. What would be the point of moving in our direction together? You don't need to think too much to understand what they intend to do."

Rean couldn't help but smile after that. "So, they don't intend to send their leaders after us, huh?"

Roan was satisfied that Rean saw through it that easily. "That's their only choice if they want to avoid us calling for the help of more city guards. Just keep watching. They will all return to their own places on the map. However, their members will all come for us."

Rean couldn't help but say, "It seems like they aren't concerned about their members acquiring the pearls."

"They aren't," Roan said in response. "It doesn't matter if their subordinates take the pearls and use them straight away. As long as they can make me disappear, they can fight for the first position. Whether they get some of my pearls after they defeat us or not matters little. After all, the ones with the pearls will be other cultivators. It's a lot easier to deal with other cultivators than it is to deal with City Guards."

"Indeed." Rean then looked around before telling Roan, "So, should we initiate Plan B?"

"What the hell is Plan B?" Roan asked with a dark expression.

"Hahaha!" Rean laughed in response. "Isn't that obvious? Let's go back to the headquarters and take a week off."

Roan nodded in agreement. "Plan A it is, then."

"Hey! In that case, what would be Plan B?" Rean couldn't help but ask.

"Ignore everything and just fight everyone who comes our way. If things go wrong, we can simply use our pearls to leave."

Rean pondered in silence for a bit and shook his head. "If so, we can just use Plan A to force Plan C."

"What would be Plan C?"

With that, Sister Orb finally lost her patience.

[Can you two stop already? It's obvious that none of you know what Plan A, B, C, D, or whatever is. Why the hell are you inventing these plans up right now? Shouldn't these kinds of terms be used on plans that had already been discussed and are known by the two of you?]

Roan had to admit he let himself be carried by Rean's words. "Whatever. Let's head back to the headquarters. We already got 130 pearls. That should be enough for now."

However, before they went back, Roan was curious about one thing. "By the way, what would be Plan C? Was it really an idea?"

Rean shook his head as he replied, "Nothing that impressive. It basically meant to stay in the headquarters to force the enemies' leaders out. It can't even be considered a clever plan."

Roan agreed. "Indeed. In any case, we don't need to do anything else either."

Roan then looked at the squad that was following them from behind. "We are returning to the headquarters. We have fought tirelessly for an entire week, so I want all of you to take a week off before resuming our duties. Let's go!"

"Yes, sir!"