Zhang Mengyao was leading the force into Burma, and they entered Burma successfully. There were a few local factions, and she succeeded in assimilating the local factions into the Tang Empire without a fight. Half of Burma was under the Tang Empire’s control, but they had yet to encounter the Shiva Federation which was part of the World Government. Currently, half of his force was taking the territory infested by the zombies before the zombie could form a kingdom or their own faction like before while a part of her force entered the Survival Game.

The Tang Empire stopped its expansion for the time being until the seven Survival Games were over. Meanwhile, TEID was working on scouting, scouting the territory ahead of them. Without Lu An at the helm, the scouting work became a little bit slower. Not because the people in TEID were slow, but because usually, Lu An would usually volunteer himself to do the job which made scouting faster.

Zhang Mengyao sat in one of the smart bases she captured, waiting for the report from TEID. She wanted to know how far the World Government had entered South East Asia, but she could not find them yet. To her right eyes, the Communication System was always open. She also waited for a report from the force on Tibet which is directly on the border with India where the Shiva Federation was.

It was safe to assume that the Shiva Federation had taken over India, especially with the support from the church and federation. She and the others predicted they would move closer to China, but they had not found any force from the Shiva Federation.

“Do they put everything they have in Europe?” She furrowed her brow, muttering in a low voice. If that was the case, her decision to pull back was good. If the World Government put all their forces in Europe, they might get outnumbered or even surrounded with no escape route. As she was in deep thought, someone knocked on the door, “Come in.” 𝚘𝓥𝑙xt.𝒸𝚘𝓜

Viona and Yeon Hee entered the room, “We have good news and annoying news, which do you want to hear first?”

“The good news, of course,” Zhang Mengyao replied with no hesitation. She was so stressed out about the federation and church’s movement, and also the God Ranks’ invasion.

“The good news is the Shiva Federation had not touched Burma yet. They put a wall between Burma and their territory, a wall with no gate. It seems they have no intention to enter Burma,” Viona explained about her discovery. A hundred meters tall wall separated Burma and India’s border, and it was created by the other side, not from Burma. They explored the wall, and they did not find a gate, but just a wall.

“Does that mean they want to attack us from Tibet?” Zhang Mengyao frowned. Xinjiang and Tibet were the least fortified territories, and they might have entered the territory without them noticing.

“My people in Tibet also have not found any people from the Shiva Federation. We have asked the locals too, and no one comes from India,” Yeon Hee shook her head, “But there’s a gate on that side. There’s a chance they might attack from that side.”

“Or the gateless wall might be a bait for us to think that way. It’s easy to install the wall with the System. It just takes one click to make the gate,” Viona voiced her thoughts.

“We will continue what we planned right now. What about the annoying news?” Zhang Mengyao needed to listen to Marshal Alton and the others’ opinions before making a big decision. She could not make the decision to focus the Tang Empire’s force on one border.

“Ah, Herman Bonivido of the First Order Guild came over ten times to our post at Tower City, requesting to meet you,” Yeon Hee replied with a helpless smile, “Should we meet him?”

“Nah, the Federation of Allurion must force him to free Reinar from us. I will never free that man.” She waved her hand. There were a handful of things in her hand right now. She was not going to meet them and listen to their unreasonable requests anymore.

“And another one, Yury Semenov of the Polar Guild, also requested a meeting with you. His people said there’s something important he wanted to tell you about the Federation of Allurion.”

The last one was an interesting one. Li Na, Liang Suyin, and Ashley were sent to Mongolia to take care of the Polar Guild. She did not expect that they would act so fast that the Polar Guild immediately contacted her on the same day she sent her force to Mongolia, “Let’s meet Yury Semenov. I am interested in what he wants to say.”

“I will arrange the meeting right away,” Yeon Hee nodded.

*** ***

Yury Semenov and Mikhailovich, just two of them, waiting in the room of the Tang Empire’s post in the tower city, “Are you sure to meet them? I don’t think they will trust us.” Mikhailovich was doubtful about the meeting. There was no reason for the Tang Empire to believe them. If anything else, the Tang Empire might think what they said might be a trap.

“It’s worth a try. It does not matter if they listen to us or not, no?” Yury Semenov shrugged.

The door creaked open, and both stood up. Their body movements showed how tense they were at the meeting despite their calm expression. Mikhailovich’s posture was someone who was ready to fight at any time.

Zhang Mengyao entered the room with Viona and Yeon Hee. Mikhailovich scanned the three, if not the System’s restriction that he could not use any skills in the city. He would use Detection on three of them. Different from any strong individuals he met before, the three released no aura, at all. He could not get a grip on how strong the three were.

Yury Semenov nodded in greeting, and the three girls responded with a nod as well. Zhang Mengyao took the opposite chair and scanned Yury Semenov. The man with short brown hair and bluish eyes.

“I don’t have that much time, so let’s get to the main topic that you want to talk about…” Her voice trailed off as she glanced at Mikhailovich, “Careful where you stare at, she is The Emperor’s wife. Your action might be seen as disrespectful.”

Mikhailovich was staring too much at Viona, clearly he was attracted to the purple-haired girl. He snapped out of his trance proposal, “Go on.”

and was about to say: “Your Emperor is dead!”, but Yury Semenov stopped his friend with a light tap on the shoulder. He knew his friend well, and he knew what his friend was about to say when he got rebuked like that.

“I apologize for his rudeness, Lady Zhang,” Yury Semenov bowed his head slightly, “Let’s get to the topic then since I also don’t have much time either. I have a proposal for you, for the Tang Empire.”

Zhang Mengyao nodded two times, not that enthusiastic about the proposal, “Go on.”

“I want to forge a temporary alliance with the Tang Empire until we kick the Federation of Allurion and Divine Church out of Earth,” Yury Semenov said in a solemn tone and expression, showing how serious he was with the alliance.

“That’s interesting coming from you, who attacked our border first,” Zhang Mengyao let out a chuckle. It was just another unreasonable request and proposal. The Polar Guild attacked their border, and now requested for a temporary alliance. There was no way Zhang Mengyao would believe that.

“I know it’s hard to believe, let me explain what actually happened. Why did we attack your border,” Yury Semenov then explained about the traitors in his guild, and how he killed one of his Vice Guild Leaders who betrayed the Polar Guild, “Attacking the border was never my plan, but my advisors. I have caught the advisors, and we can hand them to you if you want. I believe with a little bit of pain, they will spill everything. They are not trained soldiers.”

“Like I said, how am I supposed to believe you? That might be your scheme, sending your people to their deaths in order to achieve your goal. You might order them to tell us whatever you asked them to tell us,” Zhang Mengyao shook her head.

“Will you trust me if I tell you the Federation of Allurion’s hundred elites and also the remaining mercenary’s location? I know your people are in our territory, and I am willing to share the federation’s force and also the remaining mercenary’s location. You can ambush them just like how you kill the mercenary at our border. Just information for you, we never ordered our people to kill your people. The only casualties are only when the mercenary raided your wall,” Yury Semenov tried his best to gain Zhang Mengyao’s trust. It would be silly to betray the Federation of Allurion without making an ally with the Tang Empire.

“Like I said, I can’t trust you. What if the location you tell me is just a trap? I am not that silly to fall for such an obvious trap.”

“Then I will put my life and my Vice Guild Leader’s life in the line to gain your trust,” Yury Semenov proposed something that Zhang Mengyao never expected, “You can take us as a hostage while your people check the location. You can kill me if I lie to you.”

“Interesting proposition…” Zhang Mengyao stared dagger at Yury Semenov, then she frowned, “Are you under an oath?” She chose to believe that Yury Semenov was under an oath which forced him to do this. Two lives in exchange for five hundred elite knights, also three Primordial Ranks. That was worth the trade for sure.

“That easier to solve than gaining your trust,” Yury Semenov pulled a contract scroll out of his inventory and pushed it to Zhang Mengyao, “This System contract should be enough to reveal if I am under an oath or not, no? If I am lying, the contract will turn red. If nothing happens to the contract, that means I am not lying.”