Chapter 327
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Chapter 327: The Bluff
In Mirror City, sitting in his considerably spacious new office, even though he had already received the first-hand war report from the messenger, Luo Ji was still seriously listening to the detailed account of the battle from the great hero below.
After hearing it, it was natural to praise them and bestow rewards.
As thoughts raced, Luo Ji’s gaze fell upon Zhou Yi.
“Zhou Yi.”
“Your subordinate is present!”
“For your commendable service in aiding White Horse City, I bestow upon you 300 strings of cash, a promotion of one rank, and 1-star, elevating you to a 4-star centurion.”
“Your subordinate thanks Your Majesty for the reward!”
“Liu Zheng.”
“Your subordinate is present!”
After Zhou Yi retreated, Liu Zheng, whose name was called, calmly stepped forward two paces.
“For capturing the enemy general, you deserve the foremost credit…”
As he spoke, Luo Ji’s voice paused.
Unlike new recruits like Zhou Yi, old generals like Liu Zheng were the hardest to reward.
There was nothing left to bestow in terms of military rank, so he could only start from other aspects.
“I bestow upon you 600 strings of cash, two bolts of silk, and a jar of tiger bone wine.”
“Your subordinate thanks Your Majesty for the reward!”
Upon hearing “a jar of tiger bone wine” at the end, Liu Zheng, who had been relatively composed, immediately beamed with joy.
After all, Liu Zheng was a man who loved alcohol, and he had probably been coveting the tiger bone wine ever since he heard Luo Ji acquired some jars.
Thinking of this, Luo Ji couldn’t help but remind him.
“Liu Zheng, drinking can cause trouble. Know your limits.”
“Your subordinate understands. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern.”
Liu Zheng cheerfully complied.
Luo Ji didn’t say anything more about it.
In terms of character, Liu Zheng was quite steady, and he probably wouldn’t do anything reckless.
Only Liu Zheng and Zhou Yi came to Mirror City, escorting Shang Jun and the surrendered soldiers.
As for Bai Ze and Burigude, they didn’t follow.
They were, after all, far away on the grassland, and round trips would be too time consuming.
Besides, in this White Horse City campaign, due to troop type counters, the main credit didn’t fall to them, so there was no need for them to make a special trip.
After the awards were given, Luo Ji quite generously granted Liu Zheng and Zhou Yi 3 days of leave, allowing them to tour Mirror City for 3 days before returning to Iron Wall City for duty.
Watching the two withdraw, Luo Ji turned to He Liang, the captain of his guard team, and said.
“Go and bring in that outsider leader.”
The person was quickly escorted in.
Looking at Luo Ji, who sat on the high throne, Shang Jun, who had been pondering all the way, immediately began his performance.
“Buddy, aren’t you going a bit too far?”
As he spoke, Shang Jun gestured to the bronze shackles on his hands and feet.
“Always leave a path open, so you can meet again in the future. I admit defeat this time. Be direct, name your price.”
“Too far?”
Luo Ji’s lips curled slightly, then he said in a meaningful tone.
“That’s quite amusing coming from people of ‘ZonghengTianxia.’ Do you know how long I haven’t had peace? And I have a bad habit, if you don’t let me have peace, then you shouldn’t expect to have peace either!”
“Hey, hey, what ‘Zongheng Tianxia?’ Buddy, this is just a misunderstanding, you’ve got it wrong…”
“Stop pretending.”
Luo Ji cut him off indifferently.
“Zhou Dongnan confessed quite thoroughly before he died.”
“Zhou Dongnan? Who’s that?”
Shang Jun was still feigning composure, but his tone already carried a clear lack of confidence.
Luo Ji ignored him and continued speaking to himself.
“However, that Zhou Dongnan was quite tough.”
“Death by a thousand cuts, slow slicing, that’s truly not something just anyone can endure.”
“We sliced him a thousand, a thousand…”
Luo Ji’s words undoubtedly made Shang Jun’s expression become somewhat unnatural.
To maintain his composure, Shang Jun undoubtedly tried to comfort himself internally.
“Calm down, this is a conspiracy, it’s…”
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Luo Ji, sitting above, suddenly spoke with a troubled expression.
“How many cuts was it, a thousand something?
This question stumped Shang Jun.
Just as he was wondering what trick the other party was playing, a calm voice sounded beside him.
“It was 1,792 cuts, Your Majesty.”
The sudden voice in his ear clearly startled Shang Jun.
Before his brain could even process this information, Luo Ji, sitting above, had already continued with his half-smile expression.
“So it was 1,792 cuts. Oh, right, allow me to formally introduce you, the person standing beside you right now is the one who inflicted the death by a thousand cuts upon Zhou Dongnan…”
The slightly eerie tone made Shang Jun’s heart clench.
Before he could think further, Luo Ji’s voice already sounded again.
“The maximum duration of an invasion battle is 1 month. Once the 1 month limit is reached, it will forcibly end.”
“And now, calculating the time, there are 17 days left.”
“In these 17 days, you’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other…”
After speaking, Luo Ji no longer paid attention to Shang Jun, who had collapsed to the ground, but instead turned to Zhang Tang beside him.
“17 days. Before then, I want him alive. As for the information I want to know, I will provide you with a list later. I want you to get all of this information out of him.”
“Your subordinate obeys.”
After responding, Zhang Tang waved his hand.
“Take him back to the interrogation room.”
“What are you doing? What do you want to do?!”
Looking at the two Dark Division members who lifted him from the ground, Shang Jun, as if startled awake, began to struggle frantically.
However, with bronze shackles on and having been starved for several days, where would he find the strength to break free from the grasp of those two Dark Division members?
The fear in his heart continuously eroded his will.
Luo Ji and Zhang Tang’s words just now kept echoing in his ears.
Death by a thousand cuts? Slow slicing?
As thoughts raced, Shang Jun immediately shivered, and his entire will finally collapsed at this moment.
Then he shouted loudly.
“Hey, Luo Ji, Luo Ji!! Let me go! I’ll compensate you with a few silver-grade items. How about we just end this here? I won’t get involved in future matters!”
Shang Jun’s words were equivalent to indirectly admitting his identity as a Zongheng Tianxia player.
A knowing glint flashed in Luo Ji’s eyes.
Now, his identity was completely confirmed.
However, Luo Ji had no intention of calling the man back.
From the very beginning, his purpose was quite clear.
If this Shang Jun wasn’t a ‘Zongheng Tianxia’ player, then he would be imprisoned for 17 days and then given a quick death.
But if he was a ‘Zongheng Tianxia’ player, there was no doubt he’d have to undergo interrogation.
Whatever useful intelligence could be extracted, would be extracted.
When he killed Zhou Dongnan previously, he was too enraged and forgot about this, but there was no interrogation agency at the time, so it would likely have been difficult to extract anything anyway.
Now, after the establishment of the Dark Division, it was only right to make good use of it.
The Dark Division members skillfully stuffed a cloth gag into Shang Jun’s mouth and forcibly dragged him away.
Luo Ji felt that, by capturing the enemy player alive and leveraging the system’s 1 month mandatory end to the invasion battle mechanism to secure more safe time for himself, this was a legitimate tactic.
Of course, if the opponent were merely an ordinary player who had randomly invaded, Luo Ji wouldn’t mind giving them a quick end.
But since it was someone from ‘Zongheng Tianxia,’ there was no need to be polite.
T/N: A moment of silence for Shang Jun please (・・;))). Lol
