Buzz!
In front of Jiang Li's eyes white light flashed and all the herbs had been converted.
"Conversion successful. Received 15,400 energy points." A notice popped up.
The number of energy points increased over ten thousand.
"Okay." Jiang Li clenched his fists. His eyes glittered and he was excited. "With so many energy points, I'll be able to upgrade a hundred meches to the perfected stage of level one."
He opened the screen. The total number of energy points went from 1,978 to 17,378.
"Upgrade twenty Firearm Meches, forty Combat Meches and forty Cold Weapon Meches." Jiang Li immediately upgraded the meches.
Swish!
14,000 points were used.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Twenty Firearm Meches, forty Combat Meches and forty Cold Weapon Meches next to Jiang Li were surrounded by an aura. In a blink, they were upgraded and they had all reached the perfected stage of level one. They had a full set of weapons and equipment, and they were promoted from Recruits to Sergeants.
"Good." Jiang Li glanced over the stronger meches and were completely content.
"There are 3,378 points left. I have to save them." Jiang Li thought. "By then, I'll decide how to use them according to the situation. If I'm lucky enough to find some level-one Soul Tinders and merge them, I may be able to upgrade my meches to level two. I was planning to upgrade a hundred Firearm Meches to the perfected stage and form a company, but there are level-two enemies now and Firearm Meches aren't enough to beat them. I also need some flexible Combat Meches and Cold Weapon Meches that have strong combat strength."
Jiang Li made this decision after thorough consideration.
Right now, Jiang Li still had 820 meches. There were fifty Firearm Meches, fifty Combat Meches and fifty Cold Weapon Meches at the perfected stage of level one. He also had six perfected-stage Intel Meches. And the remaining 664 meches were all at the early stage of level one.
"We can go now." Jiang Li took a deep breath and walked out of the Chief's compound with groups of meches behind him.
820 meches. That was comparable to the number of soldiers in two military camps.
…
In the courtyard.
When the two thousand members saw Jiang Li, they immediately stood upright and shut their mouths. The noisy courtyard suddenly became quiet.
The Hall Masters, including Wang Pingyuan, Wu Zong, Pang Kui, Xu Ya and Shi Baqi, were in the front.
"Greetings, Chief," they said.
"Hm." Jiang Li nodded and said while he looked at everyone, "This time, you're following me to Qingshan Valley to fight with the Monsters and Barbarians."
"The City Lord, Dugu Huangcheng and the State Lord, Yang Zike betrayed the Qian Dynasty and colluded with the Monsters and Barbarians. They're going to kill the soldiers from Pingding City in Qingshan Valley."
"Well…"
"Chief, are you kidding me?"
"You want us to fight with the Monsters and Barbarians?"
"You're sending us to die!"
"The City Lord and State Lord betrayed the Qian Dynasty? Why should we die?"
"!!!"
Shocked! Stunned! Dumbfounded!
These members had never thought that Jiang Li would ask them to fight with the Monsters and Barbarians. They didn't see this coming. Most importantly, they were terrified.
"We don't have another choice," Jiang Li said with a deep voice. "Green Scale City of the Red Eyebrow Empire and Deserted City of the Black Snake Empire are working together, and their goal is to conquer 'Black Dragon County' of the Qian Dynasty. Since the State Lord and City Lord have betrayed us, we don't even get the chance to report to the Royal Court. When the Monsters and Barbarians defeat the army from Pingding City, they'll come to Yongan City. By then, Yongan City will be invaded. So, we must go to Qingshan Valley and help the army of Pingding City right now. This is our only chance to turn the tides. You don't get to choose," Jiang Li said coldly.
"I… I… I'm not going. I'll run. It'll be fine if I escape from Black Dragon County. The Qian Dynasty is so vast. I can go anywhere I want. Why should I die in Yongan City?" A skinny member backed away as he trembled. He was totally frightened. "I don't want to die. I'll let you all go."
In fact Zhang Xiaolin joined the Sirius Gang because of their reputation. He was thinking of running wild in Yongan City in the name of the Sirius Gang. He had never thought that he would have to fight the Monsters and Barbarians just a day after he joined the gang. He hadn't even enjoyed the welfare the Sirius Gang offered.
Stop joking! Only fools would go.
"…"
Many old members of the gang hesitated.
"Gun." Jiang Li reached out.
"Yes." A Firearm Mech next to Jiang Li gave him a pistol respectfully.
Bang! Jiang Li pulled the trigger coldly. The bullet shot out and pierced through Zhang Xiaolin's heart, creating a plume of smoke and some sparks. Blood splashed everywhere.
"Argh…" Zhang Xiaolin let out a cry and fell on the ground. He couldn't make it out of the courtyard. He spurted out blood and tried to say something, but then he died.
"I don't have time to lecture you." Jiang Li gave the pistol back to the Firearm Mech and looked at the members of the Sirius Gang. "If you don't go with me, you'll die now. If you go there, there's still a chance of living. Also, if you kill one soldier of the Monsters or Barbarians, you'll be rewarded an internal force art. The more you kill, the more rewards you'll get. I can even give you a level-one advanced internal force art. Also, you'll be rewarded a hundred taels of silver if you come back alive. However, whoever runs away will be killed!"
"…"
Everyone went silent.
An internal force art. A hundred taels of silver if they could come back alive. They might even be able to get a level-one advanced internal force art.
The rewards Jiang Li was offering were like temptations from a demon, which aroused their courage and greed.
"I'll follow Chief Jiang!" Suddenly, Pang Kui raised his giant hammer and yelled.
"I'll follow you, Chief!" Wu Zong immediately followed.
"We'll follow you…" Wang Pingyuan, Xu Ya, Shi Baqi and the other Hall Masters shouted. The rest of the members cheered and raised the weapons in their hands. Their blades reflected the light of the sunset.
Jiang Li glanced over all the members. He remained silent. He knew clearly. Although most people said they would follow him, they weren't really loyal to him. They only did this because of the tempting rewards. Besides, after the war began, most of these members would be sacrificed.
"Let's go." Jiang Li waved his hand.
…
At the city gates.
Night had fallen. Under the moonlight, Jiang Li, Hong Tianqi, Long Chongzhen, Yu Shulan and Hua Tian met.