Chapter 293: Game Plan: Upgrade current fighters, acquire new ones
Stone Claw was abuzzed with rumors and news once more! Only this time it was a bit less romantic and a touch more political.
“So…I should be shocked that the patriarch of the Zhen Clan is technically a criminal from another continent because….why?,” a recently reformed drunk asked his new mercenary companions, “We’re in Stone Claw man, at least a third of the citizens here probably has a bounty in another kingdom.”
“Sometimes three!”
“Right.”
“No, no,” a bloodliner mercenary with rabbit ears interjected, “The thing that makes this crazy is that it turns out the late matriarch of the Zhen Clan, heavens bless her soul, turned out to be a princess of one of the biggest powers in Roaring Tide!”
“Fucking what?!”
“Yeah! Story goes the matriarch was to be engaged to some prince for political reasons-”
“Of fucking course,” the mercenaries said simultaneously.
“-but she had fallen in love with the Zhen Clan patriarch and ran all the way out here.”
“Damn, talk about the bonds of love…and now the Zhen Clan patriarch wants to head back and make ammends? After all this time.”
“Yeah!”
“Fuck dude…”
No one in the Zhen Clan knew who exactly leaked this information to the wider city populace, but none of them could really care about any of that for the moment.
They were too busy planning for this big ass trip…and dealing with the obvious kinks and bugs associated with it.
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“Alright, so in two weeks time, we’ll be leaving Stone Claw City, heading towards the heading to the Roaring Tide Continent and heading back to the homeland of our parents so father can make amends with the main branch family, of whom we are travelling with some representatives that were originally sent to…kill or capture him.” Zhen Long addressed his brothers while quickly glossing over that last detail, “any questions?”
Immediately, all six of them rose their hands, the looks on their faces suggesting that they didn’t like what they were hearing in the slightest, or genuine curiosity.
Zhen Long rolled his eyes at this reaction and let out an audible sigh at this reaction, he knew this was coming but he still kind of expected his brothers to just…roll with the decision.
“Alright, before we continue this discussion, let’s address this in order of severity. If you have a question not pertaining to how bad of an idea this is for father and us, please keep your hand up.”
One by one, the other elders in the room proceeded to drop their raised hands until only two remained, those belonging to Zhen Jin and Zhen Lao.
“Alright that’s mildly surprising. What did you two want to ask?”
Zhen Jin and Zhen Lao shared a look, surprised that both of them had questions of a similar nature, but they decided to go by birth order when asking these questions. Meaning, Zhen Lao was first.
“So assuming that we’re going to be leaving for Roaring Tide regardless of our arguments-”
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Zhen Hou interjected.
“-doubtful, but…how are we getting there? Airship? Normal ship? Teleportation array?”
“Ah yes, coordinating with the main branch people, we have booked passage on a passenger liner that is set to leave from Pearl Tusk to one of Pearl Scale Empire’s port towns: Scarlet Coral.”
“Well that opens a brand new jug of worms,” Zhen Lao pointed out, “but I’ll hold my tongue for later.”
“Thanks Xiao Lao…,” Zhen Long mildly grumbled, “Xiao Jin, you had a question too?”
“Yeah, what’s the plan for our businesses here? Also, how many of us are going aside from us and father?”
“As per protocol when we normally go on independent excursions, any and all matters that we can’t handle personally will be handled by our respective number twos. So the fact we’re all going means that the entire clan will be run by our assistants for the time being.”
“Ah.”
“As for who is going aside from us and father…the plan going forward appears to be we leave with our respective immediate families in tow, as well as some key disciples. Best foot forward, right?”
“Yeah…no. You have got to be kidding, right?,” Zhen Hou interjected, “why are we entertaining this idea at all? For most of our lives, the ‘main branch’ has been sending people after father’s head and now after all this time, he wants us to escort there? We might as well be executing him ourselves!”
While Zhen Hou might have been exaggerating a touch, he did have a point.
All of the clan elders, all of Zhen Shi’s sons, had at some point or another, witnessed a would-be assassin or bounty hunter attempt to kill their father and capture their mother. These attempts eventually petered out over time, but it still left a mark on their psyches.
Zhen Long let out a deep breath, having an answer ready, even if it wasn’t one he liked all too much either.
“Alright, look, it was mother’s last wish that father bury the hatchet with the old clan. Whether or not that means we integrate with them or just wash our hands of each other completely, we’ll never know until it happens. It’s just our job, as his sons, to get him there and back in one piece at least.”
“But…how are we supposed to do that if we’re all just Masters and father is still stronger than all seven of us combined?,” Zhen Yan pointed out.
Silence fell over the brothers as the real crux of their issue was plainly spelled out.
They did want to help their father fulfill their mother’s last wish, but they didn’t have the ability to do so safely.
Maybe if they had another year to do something about it, almost all of them were peak five ringed Aether Masters at this point, but the reality of the situation was that they had only two weeks to maybe a month to do something.
“I guess,” Zhen Long answered, “we either hope for a miracle breakthrough or we do it on the trip there.”
Speaking of miracles…
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In a certain abandoned quarry, Zhen Liu was coordinating his own meeting about the upcoming trip with his own inner circle. Namely on how they’re going to get through the whole thing without anyone in the clan possibly dying.
“Alright, so after doing the [Synchronize] thing with everyone currently present, I have managed to bump myself from Second Ring Aether Master to Fifth Ring Aether Master…but all y’all except Frosttusk are still stuck at the Aether Master stage as well, right?”
“Yup.”
“That is correct milord.”
“Yes…”
“Right, so in order for all of us to breakthrough, I’m gonna need to make more kaijin to increase the power pool.”
“If we’re doing that, I request some more organic ones like myself,” Hurricroak interjected, “it’s lonely being the only fleshy one.”
“Noted, or I’m gonna have to shoot my uncles,father, maybe my aunts and mother in the face with this thing,” Zhen Liu told the kaijin as he held up the Possestol for all to see, “anybody have any objections or preferences?”
The kaijin all looked at each other for a moment before asking the exact same question.
“Why not both?”
“I…huh.”
Zhen Liu was about to protest the idea, saying they didn’t have the time…but he could just use the Possestol while on the trip anyways and use the journey as a means to cover up his antics… probably.
That said, new kaijin did also mean new Possestol rounds, meaning that he could essentially speed up his plans without overtaxing his current team of kaijin…assuming they do get tired…hmmm.
“Yeah, alright let’s do both,” Zhen Liu agreed, “but I have no idea what kind of core would be compatible with a dragon corpse…”
“Of course…”
“Oh?”
=We have been looking around our archives and I think we have located something that might be of use to you, milord, and if everything is still in order, you’ll be able to acquire not just one but two powerful kaijin under your retinue.=
“Oh shit, that is a hell of a step up.”
=But whether or not we can do so, it is highly dependent on how you answer this next question.=
“And that question being…”
“What?”
=More specifically, an Infernal Wolf Spider Queen and a Cataclysmic Wind Storm Lacewing?=
“…what?”
