Chapter 655 – Respective Plans
Translated by: Berrrybunz
Edited by: TN and DeAndreR
If someone had to ask, what was the most valuable thing of the Vast Star Continent, the answer would definitely be the Pontoon Bridge inside the Sea of Light.
In the Sacred Saint Galaxy, to travel from continent to continent, they had to go through the Sea of Energy. Each continent was like a bubble scattered inside the vast Sea of Energy. In some of these “Bubbles”, there existed a unique type of energy belt, these energy belts are extremely stable in nature, and are able to isolate the “water” of energy, and that would be the Pontoon Bridge of the Ssea of Light.
Going inside the Pontoon Bridge was the same as being inside a continent.
Although civilization already knew how to construct warships to travel inside the Sea of Energy, they still had to bear the danger and the high costs. The dangerous Sea of Energy held countless of unknown dangers, and numerous fleets die inside the Sea of Energy every year. To the Sacred Saint Galaxy people, their history had always been fighting against the Sea of Energy.
Going via the Pontoon Bridge not only meant that it was safe, but it was even faster, and the cost was low.
The Southern Region had a total of three Pontoon Bridges in the Sea of Light, which were the main highways for the Southern Region. The Pontoon Bridge that belonged to the Vast Star Continent was the longest, connecting 24 continents.
Thus it could be said that the Vast Star Continent held the most important bridge, connecting the Ming Continent, Yuan Continent, Li Hai Continent, all of which were in their prime. These three continents were the large continents in the top 20 of the Southern Region, adding the Vast Star Continent, the four continents that were connected, that value was undoubtable.
That Vast Star Continent was able to accumulate its wealth due to the Pontoon Bridge. In other words, the Pontoon Bridge was the foundation of the Vast Star Continent, so when Tang Tian and Bing heard that they were willing to give the bridge as the price, they were stunned. The two of them wanted to make Vast Star Continent feel pain, but did not even dare think about asking for the Pontoon Bridge, but who knew the other party would initiate handing it over to them….
Tang Tian and Bing looked at each other, they could see the suspicions in each others eyes.
When Yang Zi Qing said those words, he somehow felt extremely relaxed, so when he saw the two of them looking at each other, he raised his eyebrow: “Could it be that your Sire thinks that the price is not high enough?”
Bing regained his composure: “We were just surprised.”
Yang Zi Qing laughed bitterly: “If we do not give it to you, we will not be able to hold it for ourselves either. Not hiding anything, recently, the Pontoon Bridge has suffered from a few attacks, and we are soon unable to defend it. If your noble side is willing to form an alliance, then we need to be fast, because we do not know how long we can hold it for. Our conditions are very simple, to exchange the Pontoon Bridge for the Flying Edge Continent.”
“Freely access other continents?” Bing immediately understood the other party’s intentions, and sneered: “Your side did plan it well, give up the bridge that you are already unable to protect, so we have to do the heavy lifting, to withstand the pressure of protecting the bridge, and by using the Flying Edge Continent as a strategic guard post, you will truly be invulnerable to attacks.”
The Vast Star Continent was too open and thus the most difficult part to defend was the area of connection with the Pontoon Bridge. Although the Vast Star Continent had painfully cut off its meat, but because of that, they would obtain protection. Whoever accepted and took over the Pontoon Bridge in the Sea of Light would immediately face the problem of how to guard and protect it, and would not have time to find trouble with the Vast Star Continent.
The Flying Edge Continent is a small continent like the Shang Continent, guarding the other channel into the Vast Star Continent. But as the Vast Star Continent was more reliant on the Pontoon Bridge, they rarely used that channel, thus the Flying Edge Continent had never been regarded as important, and thus it was occupied illegally by a group of pirates.
If anyone seized the entire Flying Edge Continent, they just needed an army to be positioned and stand guard inside Flying Edge Continent, and attacking Vast Star Continent would become much easier, thus becoming a bigger threat.
Tang Tian then realized, the one who planned it out was smart and powerful, but the Vast Star Continent’s Continent Lord, who had his hands tight, decided to firmly go through with it, which made Tang Tian feel respect for him. It was a beautiful piece of meat, but if they wanted to swallow it down, it could choke them instead.
“The Pontoon Bridge in the Sea of Light is worth the effort.” Yang Zi Qing did not give way, and he spoke honestly: “Although it is bound to be lost, but if not for this alliance, your noble side will definitely not be able to obtain the Pontoon Bridge. To your noble side, this is the one of a lifetime opportunity to obtain the Pontoon Bridge.”
“What do we need the Pontoon Bridge for?” Bing sneered: “For money? Do you think we are lacking in funds?”
Tang Tian glanced at Bing and thought, ~He truly acts really well, lacking in funds? Who is the first one always asking for money when we meet?~
Yang Zi Qing was steadfast: “Although this is the first time I am meeting Continent Lord, but I know that Continent Lord has ambitions and high aims, I believe that Continent Lord will be able to make the right decision.”
“I want the Pontoon Bridge.” Tang Tian suddenly spoke: “But that continent that you want, you have to take it for yourself. It will not be easy for us to protect and guard the Pontoon Bridge. I believe you will also want us to be able to defend against the other continents as well.”
“Great!” Yang Zi Qing immediately agreed, the Flying Edge Continent was just a small figure, as long as the Vast Star Continent pulled back the army that was protecting the Pontoon Bridge, they would have sufficient power to attack and take over the Flying Edge Continent.
Only after Yang Zi Qing and He Si Ji were satisfied did they leave.
Walking out, Yang Zi Qing was somewhat distracted: “I never thought they would really agree to it.”
“As long as the benefits are sufficient, people will naturally embrace the danger.” He Si Ji said emotionlessly.
The two of them were filled with worry, to the Vast Star Continent, losing the Pontoon Bridge in the Sea of Light meant they would lose their main source of wealth, and in the long run, they would have to live frugally. What made them even sadder was that in the blink of an eye, the strong and glorious Vast Star Continent was on the road to poverty.
Yang Zi Qing took a deep breath: “We made the right choice!”
He Si Ji’s eyes lit up with fire: “It is our only choice. Let Meng Nan and them go and fight, we will live in seclusion. While we recover, they will be exhausting themselves. And when the time is right, we will once again take back what belongs to us.”
“That’s right!” Yang Zi Qing regained his determination: “We will take back the Pontoon Bridge!”
The two of them looked at each other and laughed.
It was the old general that thought about the plan, after going through his meticulous thought process, he realized that although the Shang Continent was strong, but the long drawn perimeter defense would stretch their army thin, and he foresaw that the battle between the Shang Continent and the other continents would continue for a long time, exhausting both sides.
And by losing the burden of the Pontoon Bridge, drawing back from the perimeter, the Vast Star Continent would instead become more stable. All the years of accumulating their wealth, they would be able to recover to their peak state, and maybe become even stronger. At that time, they would not need to use so much effort to seize back the Pontoon Bridge and trample on the few continents.
In the room, Bing laughed bitterly: “It is truly good meat, but it’s too fat, we cannot swallow it.”
The Pontoon Bridge in the Sea of Light was not just a means of travel, but a path into the cities, the important and strategic cities, where there were large populations. To the continent now, manpower was equally as important.
There were many benefits, but there would also be problems, the long defense perimeter is a huge burden to any powerhouse. It would seem as though the Vast Star Continent lost to Tang Tian, but looking from another angle, they were pulled down by the Pontoon Bridge as well.
“What if we don’t swallow it?” Tang Tian asked, surprising Bing.
“Not take it?” Bing was startled.
“What are we doing in the Sacred Saint Galaxy?” Tang Tian asked: “We are not here to make money or gain territory, we are here to defeat our enemy, the Honorable Martial Continent. Since it is so, why should we swallow it for ourselves? We can take it out and share it with everybody, so everyone will be as one, we can even supply treasures and what not, as long as they help us defeat Honorable Martial Continent, since they hate them too.”
Bing looked at Tang Tian in shock, and after a long time, he spoke: “That was what you were thinking?”
“Yea!” Tang Tian said as a matter of factly.
“You are starting to understand things.” Bing praised as he laughed, but he had to admit to himself that it was a good idea. He became alert: “That’s right, an alliance, we need to build up an alliance, this Pontoon Bridge in the Sea of Light is difficult to swallow by ourselves, but if we share it with everyone, it would become much easier, that’s right, that’s right, good idea! But we need to find a mediator with weight, so that other continents can trust them.”
“The Bai Family and White Sands Continent.” Tang Tian said: “As long as we give them a share, they will definitely agree to it.”
Bing looked at Tang Tian as though he had seen a ghost.
“What is the meaning of your expression?” Tang Tian said unhappily.
“Did something possess you?” Bing walked around Tang Tian in a full circle.
“No, I thought for a long time, to finally come to this conclusion.” Tang Tian used his fingers to count: “How many men do we have? Even if we pull all the people from Ursa Major Constellation over, they will only be a slighter bigger continent, and still far lacking as compared to the Honorable Martial Continent. So how long must we wait, for us to beat down every continent one by one to strengthen ourselves?”
“So, what do we do?” Bing asked.
“So, we buy everyone.” Tang Tian said elatedly: “I spent only a few billions to defeat the Golden Rose in White Sands.”
“What?” Bing’s eyes grew round with rage, and he erupted in anger: “A few billion? Here I am, frugally living with poverty, and you actually spent a few billion just to destroy a few hoodlums! You piss me off!”
“You don’t have to care about this small matter.” Tang Tian laughed: “I was thinking, why not use the same method to defeat the Honorable Martial Continent? Many people hate them anyway. If money can’t buy them, we can use other things to bribe them, let’s say the Pontoon Bridge! If we can get everyone on board, the Honorable Martial Continent will not be able to do anything.”
“If we can bribe them, the Honorable Martial Continent can do it too.” Bing said.
“No they won’t.” Tang Tian shook his head: “For example, we can use the Pontoon Bridge, but can Honorable Martial Continent do so? Their ambition is to take over the entire Sacred Saint Galaxy, and thus they are naturally the enemy of all the continents. They have to subdue the others and make them into subordinates or slaves, and take their wealth. But we don’t have to. We do not any ambitions for the Sacred Saint Galaxy, we just want to be their friends. I give my friends some benefits, and I will get help from them. If I give them a bit of benefit and make them into my servants, they would not be willing.”
Seeing Bing’s dumbfounded expression to the point that he had forgotten about smoking, Tang Tian felt extremely good, and said with elation: “So? Don’t you think I am very powerful? You have guided me to improve, but don’t use your old eyes to look at me. Shave off your blockhead to see properly, understand!”
(TN: This entire sentence is a play in the chinese proverbs, which makes no sense in english, thus I tweaked it to make the conversation flow better.)
Bing sneered: “This sort of conduct, what are you being proud for? I will shave you first!”
Suddenly, Tang Tian ‘eh-ed’ out loud.
Bing who was about to place the cigarette in his hand back to his mouth asked casually: “What?”
“There’s news from Three Spirits City, Screw is awake.”
Plop, the cigarette in Bing’s hands dropped to the ground.
