"Let's go, Lord Zhang Liang. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can have dinner."
Adelia put away her bow and looked at Zhang Liang kindly.
The latter shivered and followed behind Adelia obediently.
But before he left, his expression changed drastically when he saw Lin Ye's actions.
"Brother, show mercy!" Zhang Liang cried as he ran over and stood in front of Lin Ye.
No, to be exact, he was blocking Lin Ye from entering his bunker.
According to the hint from his Civilization Archive, he already knew Lin Ye's objective.
To conquer his territory!
This was the basic ability that every lord possessed.
Conquering it would allow him to obtain the rights to the other party's territory and also increase his bunker's experience.
The problem was that once his bunker was swallowed by Lin Ye, the range of his talent would be greatly reduced, leaving only the basic range of 100 meters.
If that happened, his ability would be greatly restricted.
What was the use of forewarning if it could only operate within a range of hundred meters.
Long range weapons like Lin Ye's Desert Eagle and Adelia's Elemental Arrow could easily kill him before his ability could warn him.
Of course, he wouldn't dare say these things in front of Lin Ye even if he was beaten to death. He could only shift the focus of the reason to treasure hunting.
"Brother, you can't do this. My bunker is only a very trashy Level 1. Your experience will only increase by 2,000 points at most. Moreover, after you conquer it, the speed at which I can search for treasures will decrease drastically. This will go against your interests."
At this moment, Zhang Liang's brain was turning rapidly. He blurted out everything that he could think of and spoke eloquently, "You are a smart person. To survive in the world, what is the most important thing at the early stage of a game? Efficiency."
"Be it for your family, friends, or yourself, you need to become strong in the shortest time possible."
"As for me, I will be your best backing. You don't have to be afraid of my betrayal. If you insist, I can stop leveling up and stay at level 1 forever. I will level up again when your strength is fully established and you no longer have a need to defend against me. Please, don't conquer my bunker."
"According to the rules, once my bunker is conquered by others, the price I need to pay to reestablish it will be ten times or even a hundred times higher. I need to become strong too. My parents are still waiting for me to save them, so please."
With that, he bowed to Lin Ye with a sincere expression. His attitude was humble, and he almost stuck the word 'insignificant' to his head.
Unfortunately, he was facing Lin Ye, who was known as the real-life version of an emotionless death god.
Lin Ye had matured early from a young age, and his mentality was much stronger than his peers. Furthermore, he had been fiercely shaped by the society for five years, and his determination was firm. How could he be moved by such words?
He was determined to get Zhang Liang's territory.
But this little kid had too many funny thoughts.
At such a young age, he was so glib-tongued. Lin Ye did not know who he had learned it from, but it was similar to what he used back then.
Furthermore, this guy awakened his talent only one day later than him.
To most people, it was already very terrifying.
Therefore, before he had absolute control, he must not be given any chance. It would be best if he cut off his path first.
As for slowing down?
What a joke. Zhang Liang's basic detection range was 100 meters.
It didn't seem big, but it was definitely enough in the early stages.
After all, his territory was only 3,000 meters so there was more than enough time for him to sweep the entire area.
If he were to give Zhang Liang resources to develop, he might become bold and think of escaping.
After all, if he were Zhang Liang, he would probably have the same thoughts.
He could even think of the reason clearly.
For example, if we were both main characters with awakened talents, why should I be your subordinate? I am younger than you, my talent is better than yours. All you had was the advantage of taking flight first. If you gave me three years, no, just one year and I will be able to overtake you.
What was this? That was youth and the hot-bloodedness of one.
Adults might be more ambitious, but they would definitely not be as obvious as Zhang Liang.
The moment his words concerned his gains, he couldn't control his emotions anymore.
He had to tame this character, how could he leave him to be?
"Move aside!"
Lin Ye was expressionless as he said coldly, "Are you teaching me how to do things?"
"No, brother, you've misunderstood me. I just… I just want to have a base to work off from. I want to rescue my parents in the future. My family has transmigrated as well, but they're just ordinary people without any awakened talents. They might be able to survive the zombie wave once or twice, but if this continues, they definitely won't be able to last."
These words seemed to be true. As he spoke, Zhang Liang's eyes were rimmed in red and tears flowed down uncontrollably.
"You don't have to worry about that. If you work for me earnestly, I'll save your parents. That's my promise to you."
Lin Ye looked at Zhang Liang calmly and continued, "I don't care how scheming you are. Before you have the power, you should work hard and do what you need to do, not try to guilt-trip me morally with your parents' plight. No one owes you anything."
"Recognize the reality. Right now, it is you that owes me your life. I could have chosen to kill you and plunder your bunker, but you proved your worth."
"That is the only reason why you are still standing here talking to me. This is the last time I will be saying this."
"This is a life-and-death game, not a game you play at an internet cafe!"
"If you earnestly serve me, you will know what to do. That's all I will say. Move aside!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Liang froze on the spot. He prided himself on being smart and more outstanding than his peers in the same class.
This was especially obvious after his talent was awakened.
His attitude had changed.
It felt like everyone in the world was useless like trash.
Even the powerful Lin Ye looked merely lucky in his eyes. Once he broke free of him, he would be able to ascend to the heavens sooner or later.
But before he could even take off, he was struck down by Lin Ye.
"I…" He wanted to say something, to argue back, but when he saw the calm look in Lin Ye's eyes, it was as if all the thoughts he held deep inside him were being spied on.
A sense of shame, anger, indignation, fear and confusion…
All kinds of complicated emotions overwhelmed him. He lowered his head in disappointment and subconsciously stepped aside from his bunker.
"Let's go, lad. Everything here has nothing to do with you anymore."
Adelia patted Zhang Liang's shoulder, and a smile appeared on her beautiful face. "Don't you humans have a saying, 'Everything will be alright in the end'? Focus on what is in front of you and work hard for the lord. The faster the lord becomes powerful, the higher the chance your parents have of getting rescued by him."
"Why do you have to rely on yourself for everything? Your wings are still too fragile, and your mind is still immature. If you can't bear all of that, why don't you follow the lord and take a look around? Once you've seen more, you'll understand the reasoning behind it."
"Is that so?" Zhang Liang raised his head in confusion.
Although it sounded logical, why did it feel like something was wrong with everything?
"Yes, trust me. I've been there."
With a toss of her hair, Adelia pushed Zhang Liang to a light armored shield soldier and shouted, "Let's go! For the lord's treasure chests!"
"For the lord's treasure chests!"
With that, a team of light-armored shield soldiers and rangers, led by Andelia, started combing the surrounding area.