Chapter 408: Thank You, Ying Tianlong!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The first time Lu Yongyi said there were reinforcements, no one took it seriously and thought he said it just to comfort everyone.
The second time he said the same, everyone still did not believe him and thought he had deluded himself into believing there really were reinforcements coming.
Even by the time the ammo box was sent over, everyone could still only partly believe his words.
Before Lu Yongyi could clearly state who was backing them up, what was the form of the reinforcement, or what time would the reinforcement arrive, no one was dumb enough to believe him. Looking at how rough the situation in the Wasteland was, n.o.body was daring enough to provide reinforcement.
As of now, however, only two people were arguing in the Regional Channel—Lu Yongyi, who with his mad temper, had become a shrew-like spitfire against the infuriated Ying Tianlong on the opposition.
Now, everyone was convinced! All the s.h.i.+p captains irrefutably took him seriously!
Reinforcements!
There really were reinforcements coming!
If no reinforcements were coming, Lu Yongyi would not need to use such tactics to gaslight Ying Tianlong. He would not knowingly be making bargains and discussing the terms of their exchange if he had nothing to show for it.
In the light of Shelter Leader Lu’s usual temper, it was already extremely cordial of him to not attack Ying Tianlong. There was no way he would negotiate with Ying Tianlong!
Of course, what all the captains did not know was that Lu Yongyi’s delaying strategy could work only because of one reason—misinformation!
What they saw now was the version of Lu Yongyi that had already gone through a complete transformation. His reshaped mentality has allowed him to become a captain with b.a.l.l.s of steel.
In Ying Tianlong’s era, however, Lu Yongyi was known to be an extremely kind and selfless person. Based on his att.i.tude, everyone who knew him would agree with the a.s.sumption that he would sacrifice himself to protect the welfare of others.
In addition to not knowing Tundra Fleet had reinforcements coming, Ying Tianlong was nothing but a naive sc.u.m who never underwent real military training. He just could not compete with Lu Yongyi on that level.
Amid the rambling, ten minutes or so had quietly swept by and now it was 10:46!
At this point, there were fourteen minutes left before the next wave of tsunami hit them.
If they could survive the onslaught of the tsunami, the enemy would have to think twice before starting the battle—at what percentage could their combat abilities be utilized?
Lu Yongyi had now realized that the timing was right and he revealed some news in the Regional Channel.
After the bout of haggling, a small s.h.i.+p could now be exchanged for up to 1600 people; whereas a big s.h.i.+p could be exchanged for 2200 people.
Apart from that, Ying Tianlong stated the impossible demand for his end of the deal—Lu Yongyi would steer Tundra One over himself and surrender.
If he did that, everyone on the raft ferries would be released immediately. He would even restrain the foreign races and give the surviving humans a half-an-hour head start to run. Then, he would start hunting those humans down.
[Lu Yongyi: Since you agreed to this price and you’re still holding some of our people in captivity, I can make all the raft ferries operators come back. Don’t you hurt anyone.]
[Ying Tianlong: Very well, if you return my people, I’ll ask those from my fellow races on the four raft ferries to treat the humans fairly!]
[Lu Yongyi: As per the terms of the exchange, there are only around ten minutes before the next tsunami. I hope you’re not scheming behind my back. What I want is for everyone to survive. We’ll exchange two small s.h.i.+ps first, let’s see how sincere you are!]
[Ying Tianlong: No problem, you send the s.h.i.+ps over for us to receive and we’ll let your people go.]
Now, all the talking and negotiating had come to an end.
Lu Yongyi made the announcement for all the raft ferries to return. Although Ying Tianlong was skeptical about how well things are going, he still turned off the game panel in satisfaction.
Within the lines of the agreements were some sketchy initiatives made by Lu Yongyi, but Ying Tianlong did not keep them to heart.
He knew, deep down, that Lu Yongyi could never stay put and watch these ordinary people die.
Moreover, the incident developed exactly the way he predicted it!
At 10:55, there were five minutes left before the tsunami hit once more. Tundra Fleet’s st.u.r.dy line of defense shrank another round.
Liu Neng and Zhang Long each brought with them fifty-something individuals to steer two small s.h.i.+ps out of their domain, rus.h.i.+ng toward the direction where the foreign races were located.
Knowing better than to receive those s.h.i.+ps right away, Ying Tianlong cautiously sent a team to board those s.h.i.+ps for some thorough inspection of the vessel. Only after that would he be relieved enough to accept them.
Tundra Fleet really had not played tricks on them. Without disregarding the possibility of them having gunpowder and weapons stowed away in the storage s.p.a.ce, the entirety of their s.h.i.+p—including the people—had become completely dest.i.tute.
As if to express their sincerity, after they examined the entire s.h.i.+p, they picked 3200 people and sent them in the opposite direction, along the same path that the s.h.i.+ps took.
Compared to the original twenty thousand something number of people, three thousand might not seem like a lot. Yet, when they got on board, a dense bit of darkness loomed across the view.
Before the other raft ferries could return, no one was allowed within defense lines. It was this act of vigilance that convinced Ying Tianlong, who was sitting still on the fis.h.i.+ng deck, that his suspicions were somewhat unfounded.
At 11:00, the tsunami arrived.
Right then, Lu Yongyi made another suggestion—before the other rafts return, the fleet would not have enough s.p.a.ce to receive these people. More s.p.a.ce would be needed before more trades could be done.
Regarding this statement, Ying Tianlong gladly agreed to it.
At 11:06, the first wooden raft mightily returned from its long voyage.
They were banging the gongs and hitting the drums with magnificent vigor.
Not only that, they even steered the s.h.i.+p along their lines for an entire round trip to put Ying Tianlong and the foreign races’ worries to rest…
Only then did they slowly return to the fleet, letting the three thousand people in the water aboard.
“They don’t look like they’re coming back to die; they look more like generals returning from war triumphantly.”
When someone alongside Ying Tianlong mentioned that, Ying Tianlong felt noticeably uneasy too.
It was a pity their mental capacity and sense of logic did not allow them to quickly understand the situation—how did these people, who were previously valiant enough for self-sacrifice, could come back so different in such a short span of time?
After picking up those three thousand people, the next large s.h.i.+p set off amidst the waves, intending to trade.
Their train of thought was then instantly disrupted as they rushed aboard for another round of inspection.
It was dest.i.tute just like the last s.h.i.+p. The familiar sense of plain honesty resurfaced as they decided that the s.h.i.+p also was not tampered with.
They kept eyeing the 2200 people being taken away by Zhang Long, who steadily piloted the s.h.i.+p back toward Tundra Fleet’s direction.
At night, another two raft ferries came about riding in exultation, going in circles around the enemy lines.
Ying Tianlong still could not figure out from where exactly that gut feeling of danger was coming from.
Thus, he made a decision—to take out his vintage-style pocket watch!
For the many wars that happened on Earth from ancient times to the present, whenever anyone faced an enemy’s possible plot, there were only two ways to deal with it—either you fight it through a battle of wits or a battle of strength. Nothing else.
On Wasteland World, however, the circ.u.mstances differ in such a miraculous game.
Flipping open the lid of the pocket watch, Ying Tianlong looked almost distressed until he sternly plucked out an item from his storage s.p.a.ce.
It was a strand of hair—a strand of hair from Lu Yongyi’s head.
He placed it gently on the watch’s surface. However, in the next second, he could not contain the sheer shock in his voice.
“What, Old Dog Lu’s lifeline is longer now!”
Three hours ago, when the war between the foreign races and Tundra Fleet ended, he checked it once.
When he placed Lu Yongyi’s hair then, the hour hand on the dial spun and stopped at 11:50.
After using it so many times, he knew it represented Lu Yongyi’s lifeline and that it would end in the night unmistakably.
Due to this certainty, he chose to step forward while slapping his chest as he told the foreign races, “If I can’t take down Lu Yongyi and Tundra Fleet tonight before 12, I’ll chop my head off!”
Judging from the current reading, the hour hand spun around the dial several times with no sign of slowing down. Ying Tianlong was stunned witless!
Something was extending Lu Yongyi’s lifeline much longer!
This had never happened before after using said watch dozens of times!
Nonetheless, in the next moment, he came back to his senses and hurriedly removed Lu Yongyi’s strand of hair.
Using one of his hands, he plucked a strand of his hair from his head and stuck it onto the watch.
As expected, the hour hand on the watch only spun a little and stopped at 4:46 of the next day.
Ying Tianlong kept his pocket watch and opened the game panel in immense fear.
Within Regional Channel, he made a new request:
[Ying Tianlong: The speed of the exchange is too slow, I now want both Tundra One and Lu Yongyi to come over within ten minutes, or else I start killing people!]
[Ying Tianlong: In the first minute, I’ll kill one every second; in the second minute, I’ll kill two every second and the numbers keep rising in this pattern. Old Dog Lu, if you can stand watching these innocent people die, then cower in your defensive perimeter and don’t come out!]
[Ying Tianlong: Oh, right. I’ve seen through your plan. If you want to delay this further, then do as you please!]
In reality, he did not know anything about what Lu Yongyi was planning. Knowing the results, he preemptively chose the simplest Zha Hu(TN: Zha means deceit or lies. In Mahjong, Zha Hu means a cheated Hu where you show your hand of tiles even though you haven’t scored enough points (Fan) to win (Hu). Normally, this happens when you miscount the Fan you need, usually by only one Fan, then announcing you have a winning hand and showing it off until the other players recount your Fan and realize your mistake. As a result, you have to lose money to all other players on the board as punishment for faking a win. In this context, Ying Tianlong also cheated and forced his hand but on purpose for Lu Yongyi to lose and be handed over to change his own fate, which would get you disqualified in the actual game.)he could think of.
Since Lu Yongyi’s lifeline could be rewritten, Ying Tianlong also believed that his fate could be changed too!
In an instant, it was 11:20.
Just two minutes before Ying Tianlong’s ultimatum, a message appeared on Regional Channel.
[Lu Yongyi: Okay, don’t kill anyone. I’ll pack up and go over immediately. Those people are innocent; they shouldn’t be implicated in this.]
It sounded as if he went through careful consideration—his words had a chilling tone of despair to them.
A few minutes later when Tundra One lost connection with other s.h.i.+ps, there was still a tremendous noise pus.h.i.+ng through even with the roaring waves outside splas.h.i.+ng about.
In the not-so-distant seas were all the humans trapped onboard the raft ferries, along with some foreign races.
They could all still be heard loud and clear—within Tundra Fleet was a uniform bout of howling and screaming!
“Shelter Leader Lu, don’t go! We’ll fight to their death and ours!” This was the message from the fleet’s survivors’ abnormally unified yelling.
“Let me go! Let me exchange my own life for the sake of twenty thousand lives. My life wouldn’t be lost in vain!” Lu Yongyi said using three loudspeakers.
“Shelter Leader Lu, I can’t let you go!”
“Zhang Long, you not letting me go would make me unrighteous and unchivalrous. Even if I live on, my life would have no meaning!”
“Shelter Leader Lu, we can’t let you go…”
“Ahaha, aah, ugh, let me go, let me go for the exchange!”
Just like an opera, hearing the sounds from the other sh.o.r.e made all the imprisoned hostages on the raft ferries depressed from the heart.
Shelter Leader Lu was going to sacrifice himself to save them!
Shelter Leader Lu could originally live on properly and get to the New World in one piece, but now he picked the worst way to go out.
Even when Shelter Leader Lu sounded like he was laughing in insanity, he must have been royally p.i.s.sed to let out such intense emotional turmoil!
Along with the survivors on the fleet’s side, the hostages kept feeling more and more uneasy at the thought of his sacrifice.
After marinating those emotions for a few seconds, they also started crying and yelling in vain, screaming for Lu Yongyi to abandon them and survive with the others.
“Scream on, let them scream! if they don’t, how else can we make Lu Yongyi come over?”
The peculiar thing was, Ying Tianlong who stood above them did not stop their cries. Instead, he nodded in pride and stopped the personnel below from disrupting the hostages’ loud actions.
Only someone with no morals could conduct moral coercion as easily as a fish in the sea.
For others, such despicable means only had a 30% chance of success; but against Lu Yongyi, Ying Tianlong believed that his chances of winning were—100%!
At 11:33, Tundra One left the fleet and gradually started heading toward the foreign races’ lines.
Those held hostage by foreign races kept on screaming and crying. Some had cried until their body gave in; some had lost their voice whilst screaming.
They looked upon Tundra One and saw Lu Yongyi on the bow of the s.h.i.+p.
Even with his hunched back, he still carried upon his face a quivering smile that brought traces of relief. For at this moment, within their hearts…
Lu Yongyi…
Lu Yongyi was now a mortal man who could stand amongst G.o.ds!
Someone comparable to… the Almighty Su!
“You all stop for a bit now. Since Lu Yongyi decided to come here himself and since we’re of the same species, I won’t make things worse for you. After we inspect Tundra One, all of you may leave!”
At 11:40, Tundra One could be seen inching close to the frontline.
Seeing the familiar face that belonged to Lu Yongyi on the s.h.i.+p, Ying Tianlong was filled with unbridled joy, hollering as he walked down the steps.
He could not wait to personally inspect Tundra One and to devise Lu Yongyi’s final fate.
What he did not see coming was that on the bow of the s.h.i.+p, Lu Yongyi stood with a devious smile. It looked like arrogance, but also looked like he had seen a funny joke unfold.
In that smile, Ying Tianlong could not see any trace of panic or despair!
Still, before Ying Tianlong could start his questioning and taunting, waves upon waves of screaming burst out from the back of Tundra One and between the fleet’s defense lines.
“Thank you, Ying Tianlong!”
“Thank you~”
“What a good man you are, Ying Tianlong!”
“You’re a good person~”
‘Thank me? What for? Thank me for setting the hostages free?’
As these crazy thoughts surfaced, he looked at Lu Yongyi’s face. Ying Tianlong had yet to comprehend what was happening.
On the next second, though, all the hostages’ frowns also started turning into big smiles one by one, thanking him together…
Ying Tianlong suddenly looked like he thought of something major, and his expression drastically changed!
Once the thought came, he swiftly summoned the game panel and entered Regional Channel.
Refres.h.i.+ng did not affect the video frame’s smoothness. Any news within the channel had started loading once he entered.
After waiting for a second or two, the newest message no longer came from Lu Yongyi, but from a familiar name that could only have come from his nightmares…
Ying Tianlong looked as if he had the strength from his entire body sucked away in an instant…
He helplessly fell to his knees and onto the ground!
Ying Tianlong realized that the joke had always been on him!