Chapter 576: Cooperate With Whom?
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Smiling, Borg scratched his beard, and said, “Cheyenne, you’re wrong. You must understand that you’re the visitor here, not me. Since you’re a guest of the Dark Blade, how can you not enter? Have you forgotten where our door is?” The three leaders of the Dark Blade got really riled up when Cheyenne became a Legendary powerhouse before they did. Although they managed to salvage plenty of their pride over the years, Borg still felt rather displeased about it.
The two enemies seemed to be sitting together harmoniously, but neither of them was willing to give in or swallow their pride. Lin Li remained seated, and watched the two of them bicker. He then got reminded of the old saying about old folks acting more like children the older they got. He thought about Gerian, Andoine, and the extremely old Apophis, who’d fought alongside Geresco. None of them was mature enough.
“Masters, it’s going to be daybreak soon.” Lin Li had been remaining silent ever since the two elders met each other. He finally decided to give them a reminder because he was bored out of his wits.
“Borg, you didn’t come here specially to bicker with me this time, did you? You’d better cut straight to the chase as soon as possible,” said Cheyenne, who did not want to drag the nonsense on any longer. They still had to resolve the crisis faced by the Malfa Family.
Upon hearing Cheyenne’s words, Borg glanced at him derisively with a smug smirk. “I know the agenda for your visit this time. I’m here for the same purpose.”
Cheyenne did not quite believe it. Although there had been some commotion during the organization of the Adventurers’ team, the Adventurers who did not get selected definitely wouldn’t have revealed the whereabouts. Besides, the elites who had been selected by the Malfa Family were all clueless about the treasure of the Immortal King.
“The Immortal King, right? The Malfa Family doesn’t seem that united after all. Haha…” Borg finally revealed the reason for his smugness, which made Cheyenne feel extremely embarrassed. Having been enemies for so many years, Borg felt extremely thrilled to see his enemy being put in an awkward position even though he could not fight.
Borg’s laughter was extremely piercing for Cheyenne. However, it was not hard for a Legendary master to remain composed and keep a straight face.
Borg’s laughter was actually very jovial, but it sounded like nails on a chalkboard to Cheyenne. However, Cheyenne kept his cool and remained seated.
It was definitely a humiliating matter to have one of his family’s members subordinates be a Dark Blade’s snitch. Not to mention, the snitch enjoyed high status, and even got to know such confidential information. No, it was not just humiliating. It was actually extremely terrifying. If even the information about the Immortal Kings’ treasure could be leaked, what else could be kept secret and confidential in the Malfa Family? One example would be the mageweath that was hidden in Aminya City. It was the foundation that gave him the strength to stand against the three Legendary powerhouses of the Dark Blade!
Cheyenne kept a straight face, but deep down, massive waves had already formed in his heart. He was beyond infuriated, and was deeply disappointed as well, for someone from his family which he painstakingly defended actually sold them out for the sake of personal, selfish gains. Since the snitch had access to such confidential information, he definitely enjoyed high status in the Malfa Family, and could very likely be a direct relative.
“Oh, the Immortal King? What a joke. Whom did you hear it from?” Cheyenne asked with a squint, acting as nonchalant as she could.
Borg smiled smugly and stroked his beard while saying, “I’m not young anymore. Your little tricks don’t work on me. You should know whether or not this is true. Besides, you definitely don’t know that we have a treasure map of the Immortal King thing.”
“In that case, are you here to brag before me?” Cheyenne asked, feeling a sudden chill in his heart. He had always kept the treasure map safe with him. Even if others had used it to research the High Elven language, the map was split into pieces and all jumbled up.
Everyone knew that the greatest feature of the High Elves Print was its complexity. In fact, it was just plain nonsense. There were perhaps only a few keywords in a paragraph, and most were descriptive words. Hence, if they were not arranged in the correct sequence, nothing could be done even if all of the pieces were intact. In that case, where did Borg get the treasure map that he mentioned?
“Hmph, do I seem like such a senseless person? Everyone knows how dangerous the Haiga Mountain Range is. Even Legendary-mages like us can’t ensure that we’ll be safe. Not to mention, the Immortal King’s treasure definitely isn’t going to be sitting there and waiting for someone else to collect it. Frankly speaking, I have only one purpose in visiting. Since we all know the whereabouts of the Immortal King’s treasure, it is better to temporarily bury the hatchet and cooperate.” Borg stopped trying to provoke or agitate Cheyenne for fear that the latter would get angry and refuse to cooperate with him. His trip would then be wasted if he were to insist that since he couldn’t have the treasure, Borg couldn’t have it, either.
“Cooperation? What a joke. Why should I believe you people? Why should I believe that you have the treasure map just because you say so? I can’t believe you actually used to be a bandit. You actually bother getting up to such tricks and embarrassing yourself. I bet even the foolish farmers will not believe you.” Cheyenne actually knew that given his identity, Borg wouldn’t be so narrow-minded to lie about such things. Since there was another treasure map in his hands, his words should be 80% real. However, even gods would get angry too, let alone Legendary figures and ordinary people. Just because he didn’t do so against ordinary people, it did not mean that Cheyenne wouldn’t bear a grudge against people of the same status as him.
“Cheyenne, don’t forget whose territory you’re in. We both have the treasure map, and you guys have just arrived earlier than me. I bet you’re very unfamiliar with this place. However, I do have some insider information that’s far better than yours.” Borg then shifted his gaze onto Lin Li without even waiting for Cheyenne to answer.
Even as the archenemy of the Malfa Family, the Dark Blade had never been bothered by the cooperation between the Malfa Family and the Tower of Dusk. After all, the Tower of Dusk was only a small force that had been established less than a year ago. Even though they had the support of the Supreme Council, the Dark Blade did not feel threatened by them. Borg felt that a small force like them would sooner or later be annexed by larger forces since they had to depend on the larger factions to survive. They might also get to develop well due to some luck. Such occurrences were common in the Breezy Plains. There were plenty of smaller forces that relied on the Dark Blade alone. The Dark Blade managed to develop to their current size all because of expansion and annexation.
When the senior pharmacists first appeared in the Tower of Dusk, the Dark Blade was indeed very tempted. More importantly, they feared that the Malfa Family would use the senior pharmacists to disrupt the current balance between the two factions. The members of the Dark Blade had thought about destroying the Tower of Dusk, but the senior pharmacists made them worry and hesitate. Before getting a clear idea of the relationship between the senior pharmacists and the Tower of Dusk, the Dark Blade wouldn’t dare to take action against the Tower of Dusk even if they had the three Legendary powerhouses as the leaders.
Later, the snitch that they’d planted in the Malfa Family informed them that the senior pharmacists had nothing to do with the Malfa Family, after which the three leaders of the Dark Blade were finally relieved. The assistance that pharmacists could provide for the development of a force was way too great. If the senior pharmacists really had some connection with the Malfa Family, it definitely wouldn’t be long until the Malfa Family triumphed over the Dark Blade.
However, before the three leaders could completely feel relieved, the Legendary-realm-level battle that took place in the Harvest Square took the entire Breezy Plains by storm. The young President of the Tower of Dusk turned out to be a Legendary-mage, and fought an elven Legendary-mage. The Tower of Dusk and the Malfa Family turned out to have formed an alliance too. In that case, would they work together to deal with the Dark Blade? Fortunately, they were just allies, and everyone knew that profits and mutual interests were what kept an alliance together, not a contractual agreement.
“Master Felic, there are issues between us and the Malfa Family which everyone knows about. Hence, I’m asking Cheyenne if he would like to cooperate beforehand. Please don’t mind me. As for the validity of the words that I have just said, I can assure you that everything I said was true. What do you think of this cooperation?” Borg asked Lin Li politely even though the latter was much younger than him. However, in the Legendary-realm, the hierarchy was based on ability, not age.
Seeing that Borg had asked for his opinion, Lin Li smiled instead of voicing his true opinion. Lin Li had a clear agenda in entering the Haiga Mountain Range this time. Nothing could make him give up Thunderbolt and the object that sealed it, regardless of whom he cooperated with—be it the Dark Blade or the Malfa Family. Hence, he was not eager to make his stand, because it didn’t matter to him whom he cooperated with. All he needed was some gunpowder. It didn’t matter whom it came from.
Despite knowing that the Tower of Dusk and the Malfa Family were cooperating with each other, and that the actual ones who participated were only the young President and his followers, no one dared to ignore the power of a Legendary-mage. Although Borg did not get a clear answer, he was well aware that the young Legendary-mage Lin Li was bent on obtaining the Immortal King’s treasure, and it didn’t matter to him whom he cooperated with.