While Yang Jia's recent actions had many objectives, the primary one was to gather more power. And at this point, they had finally achieved some initial success. The reason I say initial is that after these forces were incorporated, they would undoubtedly undergo a process of integration, which might be slow or fast, and would inevitably involve some losses. Whether they could ultimately successfully absorb and digest such a large force would depend on the skills of Yang Jia and Li Bai.
Because this was a private matter of Phoenix City, and Phoenix City was not participating in this competition, after getting a positive answer, Yang Jia did not continue the discussion. Instead, he waited until the selection was over before summoning the mayors of these cities.
Yang Jia looked at Qiu Yue who was standing in front of him.
In terms of strength, she currently only controls three cities, while she has agreed to merge with eight more! Combined, they would be even more powerful than Phoenix City. So, while they've decided to join Phoenix City, someone might raise additional conditions. If they can't meet them, it wouldn't be surprising if negotiations were terminated.
Therefore, Yang Jia did not meet them all at once, but chose to defeat them one by one. Unless they came together to meet him, Yang Jia would follow this policy in dealing with them until he was sure that he had sufficient control over these cities.
She could also see that some of them were not satisfied, but they did not speak out, so Yang Jia pretended not to know.
As for choosing Qiu Yue as the first breakthrough point, after all, he was an old acquaintance! And Yang Jia had no qualms about attacking him. This guy was still engaged to Li Bai, and he hadn't broken off the engagement yet.
Actually, knowing the truth, Yang Jia felt a certain sympathy for Qiu Yue. Although this guy was a bit of a middle school student with a "Shamatte" personality and his personal strength wasn't particularly outstanding, his physical fitness was much higher than others. This was the fundamental reason why he was chosen to be Li Bai's fiancé.
After tasting the sweetness brought by Li Bai, the Li family was not satisfied, but instead developed greater ambitions. They later used the same method to try to create another "Li Bai", but unfortunately, the newborns either had no special abilities or were unable to control the violent power, destroying both the mother and the baby. One baby was even born dead.
So Li Bai is still just an exception.
Recently, some in the Li family had begun to suspect that Li Bai's abilities were incomplete, perhaps even flawed. However, after discovering no abnormalities during the examination, they dropped the question. After all, Li Bai was now the center of public attention, and it was no longer feasible to confine her to the laboratory. Furthermore, after years of research on her without any progress, there was no point in continuing.
So the Li family came up with a new solution.
They planned to let Li Bai get married and have children.
This plan was incredibly secretive, and Li Bai herself was unlikely to know about it. But she was clever enough to deduce this conclusion from various clues. Naturally, Li Bai wouldn't allow such an absurd plan to succeed. It was for this reason that Li Bai agreed to enter the game world and break off her engagement with Qiu Yue. Because only young people under thirty could enter the game world, this greatly hindered the major powers' control over it.
If not for this, and the state machinery was in operation, even if ten Yang Jias and Li Bais were put together and put all their efforts into it, it would be impossible to create the current situation.
So strictly speaking, Qiu Yue was also a victim. However, this did not affect Yang Jia's dissatisfaction with him - if he didn't want to get married, he should have actively broken off the engagement and saved himself. As a result, even if she and Li Bai expressed their feelings to each other, it seemed like she was just a third party.
She was still thinking about how to start, but Qiu Yue said, "Just be frank. I have no problem giving you Dapeng City, but I won't stay."
"That's it?" Yang Jia was still wondering what conditions he would offer, but he didn't expect Qiu Yue to be so straightforward.
Qiu Yue spread his hands, "What else? Since there is no order from above yet, it means they won't stop us. I have no interest in managing a city anyway, so if Li Bai wants it, just take it." As he spoke, he observed Yang Jia with great curiosity.
It could be said that Qiu Yue had known Yang Jia from the beginning. But while Li Bai and Bai Ting were very close to Yang Jia, he had barely spoken to her. At the time, Yang Jia was quite insignificant, and no one could have imagined that she would one day become the ruler of a city, or even the head of a major power.
The recent changes had happened so quickly that many people were left with no time to react and were forced to move forward. Even Qiu Yue felt a bit of this. He didn't think Yang Jia could do this, but to say it was all Li Bai's doing wasn't entirely true.
So he was very interested in Yang Jia.
"Thank you very much." Since he was so willing, Yang Jia did not refuse. "You are not staying in Dapeng City, but going to the Li family?"
"It should be. We have different identities and we still have to obey orders from above." Qiu Yue kept staring at Yang Jia as he spoke. "I'm curious, why would the higher-ups leave you alone and allow Li Bai to mess around?"
Yang Jia thought of what Li Bai had said and said with a smile, "Maybe it's because I'm still useful?"
Qiu Yue nodded, and after standing up, he didn't leave in a hurry. Instead, he turned around and reminded Yang Jia, "You better be careful next time."
Although the words were vague, Yang Jia still understood part of it. It seemed Qiu Yue was not completely ignorant of the Li family's affairs. After all, how could someone who knew nothing have come this far? This made Yang Jia's heart move, and he subconsciously retorted, "You should worry about yourself first."
Qiu Yue frowned, "What did Li Bai say to you?"
"I advise you not to go back. You might as well stay in Dapeng City. As long as you can stop the Lei family, I will give you people and supplies, and I won't care how you govern this city. What do you think?" Yang Jia suddenly had an idea and started to persuade.
Qiu Yue sneered, "Are you crazy?" If he really did that, then Yang Jia would only be a figurehead and would actually have no control over Dapeng City at all.
"If you don't want to, forget it." Yang Jia had no way of explaining it to him. As long as he didn't marry Li Bai, his influence wouldn't be significant anywhere. However, "If you really want to go back, it's best to break off your engagement with Li Bai as soon as possible."
"Why? If she doesn't want to get married, she can cancel it herself." Qiu Yue still had the same attitude.
"It wouldn't be good for you to go back empty-handed, would it? If you agree to cancel the engagement, I can give you a big gift to take back with you." Yang Jia said, "Think about it, people of your level who stayed there would at least be the lords of a city. If you went there, you would just be living under someone else's roof, which would definitely not be easy for you."
"Why do you care so much about Li Bai's engagement?" Qiu Yue was not tempted at all. He scratched his hair and asked.
Yang Jia said frankly, "Because she will be with me in the future."
"...Fuck!" Qiu Yue was stunned for a moment, then immediately flew into a rage when he realized what was happening. "Are the Li family kidding me? She likes women and is engaged to me?"
"Otherwise it wouldn't be called a political marriage." Yang Jia said calmly.
Qiu Yue thought for a moment and said through gritted teeth, "Then Li Bai should cancel the engagement himself and restore my reputation."
Yang Jia had originally intended to rally all the forces she could to deal with the Li family, but Qiu Yue's behavior was too much for her to bear. Ultimately, she had no choice but to send him away. If she didn't want to retreat, then she wouldn't. The game world was actually developing very quickly, and the outcome might be decided within a few years.
By that time, when they had accumulated enough strength, it would be time to confront the Li family openly. Naturally, no one would bother with these trivial details.
Yang Jia thought for a while before calling the next city lord.
The six major factions hold immense influence in the Chinese region, naturally possessing their own spheres of influence. In fact, Phoenix City and the surrounding cities correspond precisely to the Li family's actual power. The same is true for the other factions, though the degree of control varies.
So Yang Jia did have a slight advantage. Phoenix City was located right in the heart of the Li family's sphere of influence, dividing the two sides. While the left side had been completely taken over by the Li family, the right side was different. In fact, the area on the right side once belonged to another major family, the Yu family. Unfortunately, the Yu family declined, and the Li family rose to power, annexing it.
The Li family was overbearing and would not tolerate the presence of other factions within their sphere of influence, leading to the Yu family's eventual complete extinction under their suppression. However, the Yu family was too numerous and still lived scattered across these cities, which weakened the Li family's control over these areas. However, due to the terrain, the Li family was effectively isolated from other factions, so they had no fear of their actions.
But in the game, it’s different.
Of the remaining seven cities, three were controlled by descendants of the Yu family. It was precisely because of their persistent persuasion that the others agreed to the merger.
The Yu family's reaction was due to their awareness of the changes in Phoenix City. Originally, this was supposed to be the Li family's stronghold, but now it was controlled by Yang Jia. Although Li Bai was still by her side, this situation was still quite surprising. The Yu family, always keeping an eye on the Li family, naturally quickly grasped the key point.
There's a problem within the Li family! At least it's Li Bai's fault!
For them, this is an opportunity, so they ultimately chose to merge into Phoenix instead of becoming independent. If they wanted to, it is not impossible to do so.
Of course, neither Yang Jia nor Li Bai knew this. Li Bai's foundation was too shallow after all, and he hadn't inquired specifically about it, so it was impossible for him to know such a secret from long ago, let alone Yang Jia?
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