Free Web NovelChapter 158: Chapter 115: Ancestor’s Oath
Liu Xingxing had been quite displeased about being dragged from his sleep, but his interest was piqued when he discovered the task was to draw a map. He realized it would be a huge boon for treasure hunting and took the opportunity to ask about the surrounding terrain.
"All done!" Liu Xingxing picked up the map, gave it a little shake, and spoke with satisfaction.
"Let me see." Zhang Peng snatched the map and examined it carefully before nodding. "This is quite detailed. Make a few more copies."
"Leave it to me!" Liu Xingxing said with a grin.
’Incredible!’
Meng Ni blinked her large, beautiful eyes, inwardly astonished. It was the first time she had ever seen a map drawn with such detail. The maps she had seen before were all crude, nothing more than a few crooked lines scrawled on a sheet of Beast Hide Paper, with some names scribbled on them at best.
By contrast, Liu Xingxing’s map had a mountain range at its center, surrounded by roads of varying widths. Rivers were drawn with colored dyes, and the sizes of the Tribes were depicted using different artistic styles. A single glance was enough to understand the lay of the land, even without any words. It was exhaustive in its detail.
Mengmeng, however, couldn’t care less about the map; her only focus was getting her hands on the meat. The moment the map was done, she immediately tried to pull the pile of meat into her arms. Finding it was too much for her to carry, she tugged on her older sister’s sleeve, gesturing for her to watch over it. Then, placing her hands on her hips, she faced Zhang Peng and asked, "I have more intelligence. You still want to trade?"
Zhang Peng and Liu Xingxing, who were just putting the map away, immediately turned to look at her. The Little Cat Girl was young but surprisingly shrewd, and the intelligence she had provided before had always proven highly useful. Her words carried weight. "Intelligence about what?" Zhang Peng asked, his expression serious. "The Alliance Army?"
Zhang Peng was keenly aware that the forces Li Ziyu’s Undead had annihilated last time were merely the enemy’s vanguard. A much larger Alliance Army was bound to follow. If the Little Cat Girl could provide more information, they would be able to seize the initiative.
To Zhang Peng’s disappointment, Mengmeng shook her head. "It’s not intelligence about the Alliance Army. Weren’t they already wiped out by you?"
Zhang Peng ignored Mengmeng’s question, his brow furrowing slightly. "Then what intelligence do you have?"
"It’s about people... just like you," Mengmeng said in a secretive tone.
"Humans?" Liu Xingxing leaned in, asking curiously. He had yet to see any of the Otherworld’s native Humans.
Mengmeng shook her head again, saying earnestly, "Not regular Humans. Humans *just like you*!"
Liu Xingxing and Zhang Peng exchanged a look, their expressions turning grim. ’Humans just like us... that means... a Transmigrator City Lord!’
"Go on." Intelligence on a Transmigrator City Lord was far more enticing than news about native Humans. Zhang Peng’s expression remained unchanged as he spoke with forced calm.
"You’ll have to give me more food, on top of all this!" Mengmeng pointed to the meat piled beside her sister, already starting to bargain.
"Food isn’t an issue. Just give me the intelligence," Zhang Peng said, not caring in the slightest about the cost. With Li Ziyu backing them, food was never a concern. Trading a bit of food for intelligence on another Transmigrator was an absolute steal.
Mengmeng pressed her lips into a thin line, staring at Zhang Peng without saying a word. Her meaning was obvious: ’Bring the food over, or I’m not talking!’
Before Zhang Peng even had to say anything, Liu Xingxing started shouting for the Gophers to bring more food. One of the Gophers glanced at its City Lord, and only after Zhang Peng gave a slight nod did it scurry off to fetch the provisions.
Thirty units of beast meat were piled up in front of Mengmeng. Her eyes practically sparkled. Combined with the previous payment, it was an enormous mound. She had never seen so much meat in her entire life!
A crafty glint appeared in her eyes as she processed a crucial piece of information. ’Intelligence about Humans like Zhang Peng and Liu Xingxing is very valuable. No, it’s worth a lot of meat!’
’I’ll have to dig up more information like this from now on.’
When she had traded intelligence about the surrounding Tribes, they had brought the meat out little by little, and the Human Merchant had seemed somewhat reluctant. But this time, they brought out a huge pile all at once, and he didn’t seem to care about the cost in the least.
Zhang Peng pointed at the beast meat and fixed his gaze on Mengmeng. "Alright, we brought you the food. Now talk. And give me details. Don’t try to fob me off with just a bunch of names like you did before. If you don’t give me solid intelligence, you can forget about taking any of this meat."
With her eyes glued to the meat, Mengmeng nodded eagerly at Zhang Peng’s threat. She puffed out her small chest as if to prove her credibility. "Recently, a building that moves has appeared. Several Tribes have been plundered. It’s not too far from here, but I don’t know exactly where. They always run far away after each raid. They’re robbers."
’That confirms it,’ Zhang Peng thought. ’It has to be a Transmigrator City Lord. None of the Otherworld’s Natives have mastered Mobile Fortress technology. Only Transmigrators have them.’
Zhang Peng pressed on, "What does their fortress look like? What Race are their Warriors? And how many are there?"
’This is all critical information,’ he thought. ’The fact that they’re Plundering Natives and have been labeled as robbers suggests they’re not the friendly type. There are plenty of aggressive Transmigrators like that. Whether they’re actually powerful, however, is a different story. After all, back in our old world, anyone with internet access could learn about military tactics. At the very least, they’d know enough to wage guerrilla warfare.’
’With a Mobile Fortress, it’s easy to use your mobility to bully the local Natives.’
In his efforts to analyze intelligence, Zhang Peng often lurked in the chat channels, silently gathering and organizing information. As such, he was well aware that his own location was in a remote, backwater corner of the world. Resources were scarce, which was why very few Transmigrators had spawned in this area.
’Even if there aren’t many, there are still other Transmigrators here,’ Zhang Peng mused. ’The Natives were never the real threat in my eyes; there are countless ways to handle them. The ones you truly have to be wary of are other Transmigrators. I’m certainly not as naive as Liu Xingxing.’
