Li Feng was prepared to extend an olive branch to Lin Yuan and invite him to become Treasure City's first guardian. At the same time, he hoped that Zhan Lu wouldn't blame him for snatching Lin Yuan away from Fortune Treasure Palace when he found out.
Li Feng believed that there was a high chance that Zhan Lu would not blame him. After all, there was no conflict between Lin Yuan becoming a special honor guest of Treasure City and Fortune Treasure Palace. If Zhan Lu was really dissatisfied with him because of this, there was nothing Li Feng could do about it.
No matter what, Treasure City had to focus on developing its strength. Otherwise, it would lose all its credibility. By that time, most of the chambers of commerce stationed there would opt not to continue developing in Treasure City and leave.
Lin Yuan was the core figure in resolving the crisis of the star pirates surrounding Treasure City. If he could announce that Lin Yuan had become a guardian of Treasure City after this crisis ended, the hearts of the people would naturally stabilize.
At present, Li Feng was contemplating how to ask Lin Yuan for help to ensure that he would not be rejected. After thinking for a long time, Li Feng still couldn't come up with a good solution.
He contemplated that perhaps he should go talk to Zhan Lu and ask him for help. If he requested Zhan Lu to speak with Lin Yuan, he could just offer Zhan Lu more benefits in return.
Zhan Lu had always wanted to expand Fortune Treasure Palace. He had been applying for a piece of land for a long time, but Li Feng had intentionally curbed Fortune Treasure Palace's power in Treasure City. Thus, not only did he not give Zhan Lu the piece of land he had his eyes on, but he even imposed many restrictions on them.
Now, he promised to fulfill Zhan Lu's previous requests and support the development of Fortune Treasure Palace in Treasure City, aiming to make Fortune Treasure Palace become the strongest faction there after the City Lord Manor so that Zhan Lu would be willing to help him.
However, when Li Feng went to look for Zhan Lu with this intention, he was met with resistance. Despite Li Feng's efforts to persuade him, Zhan Lu refused to offer help. It left Li Feng extremely anxious, especially as Zhan Lu would often brush him off with words.
"City Lord Li, Treasure City is currently in a precarious situation. I'm afraid it's not suitable for you to consider these things now. I advise you to think about how to navigate Treasure City through this crisis.
"Even if Young Master Lin eliminates these two void passageways, we have to consider how Treasure City will resist the invasion of these star pirates. Could it be that you have already found a way to resist the invasion of star pirates?"
Li Feng gritted his teeth in anger. If Zhan Lu was really unwilling to help, he could have just rejected him. However, Zhan Lu was talking to him with a mocking tone, clearly implying he was only willing to help if Li Feng offered him irresistible benefits that made it difficult for him to refuse.
Li Feng still had many affairs to attend to, so he had no time to argue with Zhan Lu. He went straight to the point and said, "Brother Zhan Lu, letting Young Master Lin become a guardian of Treasure City will provide him more chances to come here and deepen the bond between him and Fortune Treasure Palace. I believe your intelligence will allow you to understand this point. If you're willing to help, everything will be negotiable from my end."
Zhan Lu narrowed his eyes upon hearing Li Feng's words. He had been worried about whether Treasure City would collapse because of this turmoil. Its fate was intertwined with the fate of the branch under his jurisdiction. The two of them were bound together for better or for worse. It was impossible for Zhan Lu not to comprehend such a simple matter.
Li Feng had found a practical way to break out of the problem at breakneck speed. Once Lin Yuan agreed to become a guardian, Li Feng would revive Treasure City.
Zhan Lu said that he wanted Li Feng to come up with a solution to break out of the crisis. However, Zhan Lu was very well aware that Li Feng could not think of any solution at all and could only wait for help.
Since Lin Yuan was willing to help Treasure City clear out the two pinnacle Class 3 void passageways outside the city, he couldn't possibly stand by and watch the cty be destroyed under the siege of these star pirates. He would definitely lend a helping hand at the critical moment.
At such times, it was understandable for Li Feng to think about the protection of Treasure City after the disaster ended.
If this had been Zhan Lu's idea, even if Li Feng had not come to him for help, Zhan Lu would have offered a plan. However, circumstances had changed. Now that Li Feng had taken the initiative to speak to him, he had to fight for more benefits for himself. In the future, he and Li Feng would have a common ally to rely on, and their relationship would undoubtedly become closer. This was a very good thing for him.
"Brother Li Feng, we're old acquaintances, so I won't beat around the bush with you. You have come to me for this favor, so I'll definitely help you for the sake of our years of friendship. However, I can't guarantee that Young Master Lin will definitely agree. Even if he doesn't agree, I'll swallow my pride and beg Young Master Lin on behalf of Treasure City.
"I'm doing this entirely for Treasure City. My branch has gathered a lot of popularity for the city over the years. It has also contributed to Treasure City. My branch's land is really too small now, which greatly restricts its development.
"I'm extremely heartbroken that Fortune Treasure Palace can't continue to assist in the city's development! Brother Li Feng, you should be able to understand my feelings, right?"
In Li Feng's eyes, Zhan Lu's behavior was rather unsightly. He had already made such a concession, yet Zhan Lu still wanted to ask for benefits in the name of contributing to Treasure City. If not for the fact that he needed Zhan Lu's help, with his temper, he would have left long ago.
Fortune Treasure Palace did not bring many benefits to Treasure City. On the contrary, the latter had been beneficial to the development of Treasure City. The reason Li Feng had not agreed to Zhan Lu's request to expand his branch previously was that Fortune Treasure Palace had been suppressing similar factions in Treasure City, making it difficult for factions of the same type to develop.
From Li Feng's perspective as the City Lord, he preferred to see the various local factions rather than let Fortune Treasure Palace stand out alone. But now, in order to get Zhan Lu's help, Li Feng had no choice but to lift the restrictions.
"The Treasure Lake on the west side of the city, not far from your branch, has yet to be developed. Haven't you always been interested in this Treasure Lake? The land at Treasure Lake will from now on be handed over to Fortune Treasure Palace for development."
Zhan Lu did not immediately nod and agree as Li Feng had expected. Instead, he said meaningfully, "Treasure Lake is indeed an excellent location. I pleaded with you so much before, but you didn't grant me this piece of land. Now, you're willing to let our Fortune Treasure Palace develop there.
"The riverbank on the eastern side of Treasure Lake has a piece of fertile land comparable to about half the current area of my branch. Why not allocate this land to Fortune Treasure Palace for development as well?
"Our Fortune Treasure Palace plans to build a special residence for special honor guests so that it can match their status! I think Young Master Lin will be staying there, too!"
Li Feng had thought that Zhan Lu had a huge ambition, but he did not expect him to have such a huge ambition that he actually thought of the fertile land on the riverbank on the eastern side.
That fertile land was the best land in the entire Treasure City. It was unknown how many factions in this land had asked Li Feng for it, but all of them had been rejected without exception.
Li Feng even had plans to move the City Lord Manor to that fertile land. Not only did Zhan Lu request it of him, but he also used Lin Yuan to exert pressure on him. For a moment, Li Feng did not know how to react!
Li Feng looked at Zhan Lu with a complicated expression. After pondering for a moment, he asked, "Brother Zhan Lu, you should know that I hate people negotiating with me the most. However, Brother Zhan Lu, it's you and I who are negotiating at this time.
"Given our relationship, I'm willing to hand over the entire Treasure Lake and this fertile land in the east to you! But correspondingly, you have to promise to ensure that Young Master Lin is willing to become a guest of our Treasure City."
Zhan Lu agreed readily. If it were not for convincing Lin Yuan to become a guardian on behalf of Li Feng, Zhan Lu wouldn't have dared to take so many benefits.
"Brother Li Feng, I'll do my best in this matter. Just wait for my news! However, I can't ask Young Master Lin now. It won't be too late for me to ask Young Master Lin after he removes the restrictions on those two void passageways! I think you'll be more at ease this way."
After saying that, Zhan Lu bowed to Li Feng and said, "Brother Li Feng, you must have a lot of matters to attend to. I'll take my leave first."
After Zhan Lu left, Li Feng's face darkened, but he soon relaxed his frown. Since he was destined to work with Zhan Lu in the future, there was no need for him to be too calculative now.
This star pirate siege had caused him, the City Lord of Treasure City, to lose all his prestige. Li Feng would use thousands of years and the city's accumulated capital to strengthen the power of the City Lord's lineage for 1,000 years to come. At that time, his lost dignity would naturally be restored!
…
Spring had been continuously releasing her spiritual aura to investigate the situation in the City Lord Manor. This allowed Spring to understand the composition of everyone in the City Lord Manor and better protect Lin Yuan. At the same time, it also enabled Spring to identify any spies within the City Lord Manor who might be colluding with the star pirates outside.
Spring had already gained information on the prime channels through which these spies interacted with star pirates.
Initially, Spring looked down on Li Feng. It was really difficult to support such a useless City Lord who could not even do anything when his city was besieged by star pirates.
However, Li Feng's subsequent plans made Spring admire him a little. Li Feng was a talent of the same type as Listen, but as a City Lord, there was basically no possibility of being recruited. It was an excellent idea for Li Feng to ask Lin Yuan to become a guardian of Treasure City.
However, whether or not Lin Yuan would agree to Li Feng's request was not something Spring could decide.
Lin Yuan was communicating with Winter, who had confirmed that there were more than two groups of devils among the star pirates.
These devils were extremely arrogant toward the star pirates, which did not quite make sense. If the star pirates were supporting these two devil groups, then the star pirates should be the master of these devils. The devils should be extremely humble to their masters.
Once a devil perceived a lifeform as superior, it would instinctively curry favor. For such a situation to happen, it meant that these two devil groups had nothing to do with the star pirates themselves. They were most likely serving the people behind these star pirates.
Lin Yuan instructed Winter to monitor the activities of the two devil groups closely and investigate their ultimate intentions. It would also facilitate the capture of the mastermind behind through the devils' movements.
"Young Master, these star pirates must have planted numerous spies in Treasure City. Otherwise, the news in the city wouldn't have spread so quickly. These star pirates give me the impression that they are looking for something, not just to plunder Treasure City.
"We'll know if we want to confirm this by finding more spies in the city to interrogate. These spies who were sent into the city by the star pirates must have brought a mission with them before entering the city."
Lin Yuan nodded. After ending the conversation with Winter, Lin Yuan asked Spring, who was standing beside him, "Spring, have you noticed any suspicious people?"
Spring said softly, "The people in the City Lord Manor have been thoroughly scrutinized. I can't accurately determine who the spy is.
"However, the conversation between the two groups is somewhat suspicious. It has nothing to do with the star pirates surrounding the city. It's more about you, Young Master.
"But I locked onto many suspicious people outside the city. These people are basically confirmed to be spies sent into the city by star pirates. It's really not appropriate for me to leave your side. What do you think about revealing the identities of these people and letting Li Feng or Kani arrest these spies?
"These spies aren't very strong. The strongest one is still quite a distance away from the pinnacle of World Emperor/Divine Kingdom. Kani can handle it alone!"
Spring paused for a moment before continuing to suggest to Lin Yuan, "Young Master, if what Winter said is true that these star pirates are looking for an item in Treasure City, I suggest that you let Kani capture these spies. After we obtain the information, we can find this item before these star pirates do.
"The fact that these star pirates and those behind them are going to such lengths to obtain the item indicates that it must be something quite significant. It might be of some use to you, Young Master.
"If the other factions in Treasure City find out about this, there's a high chance that someone won't be able to resist the temptation and will join the pursuit of this item."
"I'm not worried that someone will come and snatch it. It's just that there's really no benefit from spreading about this. We also can't be sure that the person commanding these star pirates in this operation is the one who needs the item."