Chapter 548: Checkmate
During this time, En Ya had been handling the Lu Ministry of Defense’s affairs, and Xueshan Auna was just a figurehead. It was much like how, if Huo Qingshan left the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons, then Lu Yin would definitely offer the Huo family another position of power to maintain the balance. Regardless of whether it was the Auna or the Huo family, each one of them carried a certain amount of influence in the Great Yu Empire’s military.
Wendy Yushan rarely made any appearances during this time, and even Lu Yin only saw her once. He knew that she was cultivating the Yu Secret Art, and that the secret technique was part of the reason why she continued to remain in isolation. Another reason why she was staying out of sight was to avoid raising people’s suspicions. The empire could not be ruled by two people, and since she was not suitable to manage the empire, she was content with living behind the scenes.
One day, after the daily morning meeting ended and when Lu Yin just returned to King Zishan"s palace, Bronsen reported that someone was seeking an audience with the regent.
Lu Yin moved to the sitting room, where he saw a dejected-looking person who was nervously waiting for him. When the person saw Lu Yin, he immediately bowed. “Ding Xing of Northcastle Weave’s Greatsword Dynasty pays his respects to Your Majesty, the Great Yu Empire’s Royal Regent.”
Lu Yin had the man dispense with the formalities and sit down. He then took a look at Ding Xing. “You’re from Northcastle Weave?”
Ding Xing replied, “Yes, I’m from Northcastle Weave’s Greatsword Dynasty. When the various great powers of the Innerverse were competing against each other, the Greatsword Dynasty was annihilated by the Second Grade Hall. I had the good fortune of being rescued by Captain Shalosh of your Great Yu Empire.”
Lu Yin remembered some details; Lily Anne had been the one to inform him about these events. Due to these skirmishes, Lu Yin had learned about the contest for pyrolyte ore, and it was precisely the person in front of him who had triggered the conflict between the Great Yu Empire and the Second Grade Hall.
“Is there some matter that Mr. Ding came here for?” Lu Yin asked.
Ding Xing suddenly half-kneeled and then wailed, “I beg for Your Majesty to help the Greatsword Dynasty and throw off the Second Grade Hall!”
Lu Yin raised his hand as a powerful strength forcefully propped Ding Xing up. Ding Xing was a Cruiser with a power level of 60,000, but he wasn’t able to resist Lu Yin’s strength at all. The man stared at Lu Yin in shock; hearing about this Limiteer’s unnatural strength was one matter, but experiencing it for himself was something else entirely. At this moment, Ding Xing truly understood what it meant for someone to be an unequalled Limiteer, as Lu Yin felt unparalleled even in front of a Cruiser like Ding Xing. Ding Xing was a Cruiser, while the person before him was just a Limiteer.
However, Ding Xing quickly recalled Lu Yin’s battle record, and he suddenly understood. This person had even killed Enlighters, so a Cruiser was no different than an ant to Lu Yin.
“Mr. Ding, there’s no need to be so courteous.”
Ding Xing pleaded, “Your Majesty, the Greatsword Dynasty’s inheritance that has been pa.s.sed down through many generations will be lost at this rate. As a citizen of the Greatsword Dynasty, I cannot bear to see that happen, so I beg for Your Majesty to lend us your a.s.sistance.”
Lu Yin did not agree right away. He pondered the matter and even opened up a star chart on his gadget and studied a map of Northcastle Weave.
The Greatsword Dynasty had been a rather strong power in Northcastle Weave, and it had maintained a similar location within its weave as the Great Yu Empire in Frostwave Weave. Its territory was very long, as it spanned the width of Northcastle Weave from north to south, occupying nine filaments in the process. It was no wonder why the Second Grade Hall had targeted the Greatsword Dynasty, as this dynasty had been situated too conveniently for them during the contest for pyrolyte ore.
Ding Xing lowered his head, not daring to even move.
Lu Yin studied the star chart for a while, and then his eyes flickered. “Mr. Ding, did you know that Northcastle Weave currently has two Enlighters? If I attempt to take action, the final outcome cannot be predicted.”
Ding Xing respectfully replied, “I know, but I also understand Your Majesty’s strength, and I know that you are someone who does not fear Enlighters. Your Majesty, I’m willing to give you the hidden treasures that have been acc.u.mulated over the years by the Greatsword Dynasty. I beg Your Majesty to help us.”
Lu Yin was caught off guard. “Hidden treasures?”
“Yes, Northcastle Weave has a unique astral location, and successive generations of leaders were certain that something disastrous would eventually happen. Thus, they left hidden treasures behind in order to retake the dynasty should it come to that. In general, these treasures are enough to deal with Outerverse powers, but no one ever imagined that an Enlighter would eventually take action against us. No matter how many hidden treasures we stored away over the centuries, we are still powerless against an Enlighter. Please, Your Majesty, we seek your a.s.sistance, and I’m willing to give all the treasures over to Your Majesty in return,” Ding Xing said with complete sincerity.
Lu Yin’s eyes gleamed, as these “hidden treasures” were very attractive to him. Northcastle Weave possessed its own allure for him as well, as just Grandtop Weave alone was not enough to sate his appet.i.te. He would take advantage of the Greatsword Dynasty’s situation to make arrangements for Northcastle Weave.
However, it was not the right time yet, as the Great Yu Empire currently could not even properly manage Frostwave Weave, and it would take much longer for them to completely suppress Grandtop Weave. If he also had to take care of Northcastle Weave on top of that, it could easily be enough to drag Lu Yin down.
Lu Yin had already become known as the nemesis of Enlighters, so it would no longer be as easy for him to deal with them. Even if he could successfully kill one more, the act would incite backlash from the remaining Enlighters. If Lu Yin pushed two or even three Enlighters to act together against him, then he could not even imagine how he would die.
Lu Yin had to continually remind himself that his recent battle achievements were not due to his personal strength, but rather from external aides. He could not afford to become complacent.
“You can stay on Zenyu Star for now. I can promise that I’ll help your Greatsword Dynasty, but not at this time,” Lu Yin said to Ding Xing.
Ding Xing’s eyes flickered, and he softly replied, “Your Majesty, thank you so much.”
Lu Yin acknowledged the man’s grat.i.tude and then had Bronsen show Ding Xing out.
He could not meddle with Northcastle Weave for the moment, but he had to retain Ding Xing, as the Cruiser was the primer that would eventually allow the Great Yu Empire to invade Northcastle Weave in the future.
With the Innerverse and Outerverse separated, the entire Outerverse had been greatly affected, but so had the Outerverse Youth Council.
The Outerverse Youth Council was a subsidiary organization of the Ten Arbiters Council, and many of its policies were directly handed down from the Ten Arbiters Council. At present, since the Innerverse and Outerverse could not communicate, the Outerverse Youth Council could only formulate its own policies. WIthout the Ten Arbiters’ formidable backing, the Outerverse Youth Council had to face the current crisis alone.
Under these circ.u.mstances, East San Dios was being led by Puyu, and he summoned Wendy Yushan and Liu Shaoge there for a meeting.
Wendy Yushan informed Lu Yin of the summons, but he immediately rejected it. “You can’t go. You possess a secret technique, so all the Enlighters are focused on you. If you show up at East San Dios, then you’ll most likely be captured.”
“I have a responsibility,” Wendy Yushan replied.
Lu Yin frowned.
“The Ten Arbiters Council has provided me with a great deal of care. Now that the council is facing a crisis, I cannot not go.” Wendy Yushan was determined.
Lu Yin thought about it. “Then I’ll accompany you.”
She did not decline, as that was the best option. With Lu Yin around, she would indeed be much safer.
However, there was another problem. Hai Qiqi had taken the collapsible s.p.a.cecraft to the Astral River. “When do we leave?”
“The meeting is in twelve days.”
Lu Yin did some rough calculations. It would take them about two and a half months to travel from the Great Yu Empire to East San Dios with a normal s.p.a.cecraft. With a radiant-grade Aurora, it would take them eight days. If sudden changes were to be accommodated for, then the latest they could need to leave was the following day.
“We’ll leave tomorrow,” Lu Yin said.
She nodded and left King Zishan"s palace.
After Wendy left, Lu Yin quickly moved to arrange certain matters and delegate many tasks. He would be gone for at least a month, and if things were not taken care of while he was gone, he would be inundated the moment he returned.
Beep beep beep beep!
His gadget beeped with a notification, and Lu Yin casually glanced at it. He was shocked to see that Liu Shaoge was contacting him, which gave him a bad premonition. Liu Shaoge would never contact Lu Yin without reason.
He accepted the call, and Liu Shaoge’s image appeared on the screen, a brilliant smile plastered on his face for Lu Yin. “Brother Lu, I heard that you’re coming here to get yourself killed?”
Lu Yin’s face sank. So him joining Wendy Yushan had already been predicted. “What do you mean?”
Liu Shaoge feigned surprise. “Doesn’t Brother Lu know? Quite a few Enlighters want to kill Brother Lu and take Wendy Yushan’s secret technique for themselves. An operation has already been set in place.”
“Who?” Lu Yin asked.
Liu Shaoge’s lips curled up. “Darkstar Gorge and the Ross Empire. I only know about these two, but there should be some more. It’s just that I don’t know whether or not they are partic.i.p.ating in this particular operation.”
Lu Yin’s heart sank, as there were actually people planning to use this San Dios meeting to lure Wendy Yushan out. These people were also already certain that he would not allow Wendy Yushan to head out alone, which meant that they were luring him out as well. It wouldn’t be just one Enlighter acting; they were going to place him in checkmate. If one searched the entire Outerverse, it would be difficult to find even one Enlighter, much less two or more Enlighters together.
Even with Progenitor Wushang"s hide, the gun, and the Money Bombs, Lu Yin was not able to deal with multiple Enlighters at the same time.
“Brother Lu, this situation is hard to break free from.” Liu Shaoge smiled.
Lu Yin watched the man’s sly smile, and he suddenly thought of Silver. “So why tell me?”
Liu Shaoge shrugged. “If you die, then how can I stand up to Puyu?”
“With the Innerverse and Outerverse currently separated, what does it matter if you control San Dios? The true decision-makers right now are the Enlighters,” Lu Yin said.
Liu Shaoge smiled. “The Innerverse and Outerverse will eventually return to what they were before, and at that time, everything will change once again. Moreover, I’m representing Arbiter Zhenwu, and the Daynight clan will not watch on helplessly if I get bullied.”
“Is Nightqueen Qiuyu partic.i.p.ating?” Lu Yin asked.
Liu Shaoge grudgingly responded, “Brother Lu, you think too highly of me. Just hearing of this much information was difficult. Puyu doesn’t truly trust me.”
Lu Yin disconnected from the call with Liu Shaoge. He could feel the severity of their current dilemma. The best solution was to simply not go, but would that actually guarantee their safety? Those Enlighters would not let go of the secret technique, so they would simply head towards the Great Yu Empire if Lu Yin and Wendy Yushan did not move out. That would create an even bigger disaster.
He only had one option, which was to head to East San Dios and act as if he was unaware of the situation while secretly making preparations to deal with an ambush.
If he was facing multiple Enlighters, then he might not be able to use all of his prepared methods since they would be wary of him. He would have no opportunity to use Progenitor Wushang"s hide to stun them, and it would be even more impossible to hit them with the gun.
It was a th.o.r.n.y situation.
When Lu Yin looked out the window, he realized that it was no longer night and that the new day was fast approaching. He thought about it and then contacted Granny Chan, since it might be possible to request her a.s.sistance.
Not long after, Lu Yin placed down his gadget with an ugly expression. Granny Chan had turned him down.
Lu Yin was not surprised, because an Enlighter would naturally know which way the winds were blowing. Since he had unexpectedly invited her to head to San Dios, she could naturally guess that Lu Yin was facing some crisis. Currently, only Enlighters were able to cause such problems for Lu Yin, and it would take more than one of them at that. Thus, it only made sense for her to refuse.
There were pros and cons to every matter. The Innerverse and Outerverse had been cut off from each other, and that meant that the various great powers had been banished from the Outerverse and that the encircling pythons were now gone. Many people could now do as they pleased without having to consider others. By that merit, the Outerverse was becoming even more predatory, and people’s statuses had become useless, just like what had happened to the Nalan family. It didn’t matter that the Sword Sect was behind them; so long as they did not have the support of an Enlighter, they had no choice but to hide in the Great Yu Empire.
The various statuses that Lu Yin had once worked so hard to obtain had now become worthless. There was no one who would step out for him.
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