“No way!”
Old An instinctively rejected.
This thing was hard-won. Back then, Black Dragon City didn’t have as many experts as it does now. It was Old An risking his life and making countless promises to unite everyone. The journey to the summit of Changbai Mountain alone costs over 500 lives.
By the time they obtained Lan You, nearly 4,000 people died in a single battle. On the return journey, they were intercepted by many mutated creatures that had caught wind of it, and even more lives were lost.
It could be said that the value of Lan You was so high that the evolved of Black Dragon City considered it a priceless treasure!
Old An felt this even more strongly! He had sacrificed too much for this little thing.
Now, Lan You could be said to represent the safety of Black Dragon City in a way. No matter how much Old An revered Ye Zhongming, he would never offer it as a bargaining chip to curry favor.
So he didn’t even consider Ye Zhongming’s proposal and outright rejected it.
Ye Zhongming wasn’t surprised. He stood up and walked over to Old An.
If Ye Zhongming truly wanted Lan You, they knew they couldn’t stop him. The fact that he had stated his intentions outright showed some sincerity, but like Old An, they didn’t believe anything could match the value of Lan You.
If the number one in the Chinese region really intended to force a sale, they could only resist with all their might. Thus, they couldn’t help but show a hint of hostility.
Ye Zhongming waved his hand, signaling them to calm down.
“Old An, everyone, I know this thing is very important to you. It has been protecting you here for a long time, and you have a special attachment to it. I understand.”
Ye Zhongming took a slight step back, giving these big shots a greater sense of security.
“Like you, I’m not entirely sure what this thing does, but I’d like to experiment with it. It might help with one of my abilities. However, after the experiment, I can’t guarantee whether it will remain as it is now or can still provide energy to the Four Dragon Heads. That’s why I want to trade it for something of equal value.”
Seeing Old An frown and about to speak, Ye Zhongming gestured for him to wait and pointed at Lan You. “It may indeed be priceless to you, but everyone knows that everything has a price in the apocalypse—even my life. If someone offers a high enough price, perhaps the entire Chinese region would unite to kill me.”
“The same goes for Lan You.”
Ye Zhongming’s words quieted the Black Dragon City big shots. They knew he wasn’t lying. In the apocalypse, nothing was truly priceless. For example, if someone offered a nine-star evolution potion in exchange for Lan You, even Old An would agree without hesitation.
Through their interactions with the Cloud Peak King over the past two days, they knew the number one in the Chinese region had a solid reputation and wouldn’t resort to underhanded or greedy tactics. Seeing Ye Zhongming speak so earnestly, the people of Black Dragon City began considering his words for the first time.
“Lan You is precious, but what about the things I have? Aren’t they just as precious?”
Ye Zhongming pointed upward. “The Four Dragon Heads, powered by Lan You, are incredibly powerful—enough to pose a threat even to level-nine lifeforms. But it’s just a threat. If a level-nine lifeform is determined, the Four Dragon Heads might not stop it. It’s not that their power is lacking, but there are too few of them. Against a high-speed charging level-nine creature, it’s uncertain how many strikes the Four Dragon Heads can unleash, let alone how many will hit. But I suspect it won’t be many.”
Old An and the others were speechless because Ye Zhongming was right.
The Four Dragon Heads’ attacks were undeniably strong and could even switch between multiple attack modes.
But their firing rate was mediocre, and their accuracy… well, was somewhat luck-dependent.
Ye Zhongming’s words showed he had already sent people to gather intel on the Four Dragon Heads, learning about the weapon’s few demonstrated strengths and weaknesses.
Since he wanted Lan You and was willing to pay a price for it, he naturally wanted to minimize that price and avoid giving Black Dragon City any leverage to demand exorbitant terms.
“The solution I’m proposing can perfectly address this issue for you. Not only that, but the overall defensive power will surpass that of the Four Dragon Heads—by a lot.”
Dragon Elder, who carried seven swords on his back, was the first to speak. “Empty words mean nothing. It’s hard for us to believe you based on just that.”
“Isn’t my name a guarantee in itself?” Ye Zhongming replied with an air of dominance, leaving the Black Dragon City representatives with nothing more to say.
They had heard of Ye Zhongming’s ruthlessness, vengefulness, protectiveness, and underhanded tactics—but never of him breaking his word.
Even Ye Zhongming’s enemies had never accused the number one in the Chinese region of going back on his promises.
In the Chinese region, Ye Zhongming was one of the most trustworthy among the top-tier leaders. If he said it, then it must be true.
“The Four Dragon Heads are strong, but have they ever withstood attacks from multiple major factions of evolved? Have they ever held off millions of mutated creatures? No! But Cloud Peak has.”
“If you hand Lan You over to me, Cloud Peak will provide twenty Annihilation-type demon crystal cannons in exchange, five of which will be the Ultimate variant—each capable of threatening level-nine lifeforms. After adjustments by Master Le, these cannons will have flexible and wide firing arcs. When all are activated, there will be no blind spots within their range.”
Ye Zhongming revealed what he intended to trade for Lan You: magic crystal cannons!
And not just any cannons—he was offering Cloud Peak’s most advanced model, the Annihilation Ultimate-type!
There was no other way. To convince the evolved of Black Dragon City to part with Lan You, he had to offer something truly valuable.
As expected, the mention of demon crystal cannons—especially the most advanced variant—immediately piqued the big shots’ interest.
However, Hai Dayu soon objected. “Mr. Ye, Lan You is a source of energy. With it, we don’t have to worry about the Four Dragon Heads running out of power. But if we switch to demon crystal cannons, that’s different—they consume demon crystals. Every battle would come with a hefty cost. What do you say to that?”
Ye Zhongming nodded. “You’re right, that is indeed an issue. My promise is this: Cloud Peak will handle the maintenance of these twenty demon crystal cannons indefinitely, free of charge. As for the demon crystals, we’ll also provide enough energy for two hundred full volleys. Additionally, we’ll construct a comprehensive defensive system for you, learned from the races in the sky, turning all of Black Dragon City into a massive defensive formation. We’ll also supply two years’ worth of energy for non-combat operations.”