Chapter 63: This Damned Fate

[Your enemy: Rebellion Military Strategist Dong Shen slandered you to Rebellion Leader Zheng Yi. Rebellion Leader Zheng Yi agreed with Rebellion Military Strategist Dong Shen’s words. Rebellion Leader Zheng Yi’s Hostility Level toward you +1. Hostility: 0.5 stars]

[Your enemy: Rebellion Military Strategist Dong Shen slandered you to Rebellion Deputy Leader…]

[Your enemy: Rebellion…]

Chen Xiyi looked at the Game Log that kept refreshing from time to time and felt it was strange. Who was this Dong Shen?

He always felt a bit familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before.

“Oh crap, I remember now. That flashy guy who wanted to step on me to get ahead more than half a year ago. How did this guy jump over to the rebel side? It’s been more than half a year, why is the hatred still there?”

Chen Xiyi opened the enemy list and found Rebellion Military Strategist Dong Shen sitting high on that list, already with a 3-star Hostility Level.

He did not know what to say for a moment. So it turned out Hostility Levels could not only drop but also rise.

He had long forgotten about Dong Shen. After all, in his situation, one or two Game Logs about Hostility Levels usually popped up every day. After a while, he stopped caring, since he was busy reading books and fishing. These red-name NPCs could not trouble him anyway.

But he did not expect so many logs to pop up today, and all from the same person, which caught his attention.

“It seems Dong Shen wants to take a gamble. What gave him so much confidence?” Chen Xiyi thought. He had not expected the twists of fate to lead Dong Shen to join the rebels.

Given the current scale of this group, they were just a band of rebels. There was still some distance to go before they could become a full-fledged rebellion force.

But thinking about it, Dong Shen was a talented person. Otherwise, how could he become the military strategist for this group of rebels? Chen Xiyi even suspected that this rebellion was stirred up by Dong Shen. Otherwise, why would so many rebellion leaders’ Hostility Levels toward him refresh at the same time?

Clearly, they were probably holding some kind of rally or something at that moment.

“My name was dragged into it, so it was probably just a side note. The real goal was likely the Capital.” Chen Xiyi narrowed his eyes.

Did Dong Shen go through all that trouble to gather rebels just to get back at him?

Even a three-year-old would not believe that. Chen Xiyi guessed that he was probably just a cover, and the real goal was definitely the throne of Dali.

Wouldn’t it be better to march into the Capital, overthrow the Li Dynasty, and become emperor himself?

“Now it depends on how capable this rebellion leader Zheng Yi is.” Chen Xiyi did not know how the other side gathered so many rebels. His map had limitations, so he could not know many things.

So, Chen Xiyi was not sure if it was Dong Shen who had the skills or Zheng Yi who had the ability.

“At this scale, as long as nothing unexpected happens, the Imperial Court should still handle this rebel group fairly easily. But you never know.” Chen Xiyi looked at the gathering place of the rebels, where the NPC dots kept turning red, and felt that something bad was about to happen.

For more than half a year, the relentless exploitation had made Dali suffer terribly. If the high officials, Noble Houses, and even Emperor Li in the court had not sided with him and helped him commit evil deeds, he might not have been able to live so freely for so long.

“If they really march on the Capital, then I can only… send them on their way.” For Chen Xiyi, having a lot of people did not necessarily mean they would win.

He had made a thousand triple-Enchantment TNTs just to deal with such situations.

[TNT x 1000]

[Damage: 500]

[Range: 500]

[Blast: Increased explosion range]

[Explosion: Increased explosion damage]

[Eruption: Increased explosion penetration]

The three Enchantments—range, damage, and penetration—all showed that the triple-Enchantment TNTs were meant for killing.

With a range of 500 and damage of 500, if it landed in a crowd, even someone wearing iron armor in this Age of Dharma Decline would have their Health Points cleared instantly.

In the Home Game combat system, when Health Points were cleared, you died. Even if only your toenail was affected, you would still take 500 damage.

Although he did not know how much 500 damage was, a 100-damage metal bullet hitting someone’s leg could instantly clear their Health Points. How could 500 damage not kill them?

Chen Xiyi had tested this earlier on the people from the black market above the Shanhe Sect heritage site.

Otherwise, why call it a super weapon? Its damage was truly high.

Of course, he did not only have triple-Enchantment TNTs; he also had many regular TNTs with lower damage, which were reserved for later use.

So Chen Xiyi did not really worry about these rebels. No matter how strong they were, could they be stronger than his explosives?

As long as a hundred or so TNTs landed and exploded, even an army of one hundred thousand soldiers would lose their morale.

These rebels, gathered together temporarily, were not a regular army. Most likely, they were refugees, bandits, and the like. Once casualties occurred, they would definitely fall into chaos.

Chen Xiyi even suspected that the discipline among these rebels was not very good.

It was not that he looked down on them, but unless these rebels were formed by local officials and Noble Families, they would not have good discipline. At best, they were just a disorderly bunch of bandits, not a true rebel army.

But if they were rebels formed by local officials and Noble Families, where would Dong Shen fit in?

“But this shows that the Imperial Court has kept a high level of secrecy about me. Only people in the Capital know about me, a Great Immortal. In other places, over the past half-year, there have only been some rumors, but no confirmed news.”

For Chen Xiyi, this was a good thing. He could lay low while getting what he needed.

He naturally understood why the Imperial Court did this—to monopolize resources. The fewer people who knew about Chen Xiyi, the more beneficial it was for the high officials, Noble Houses, and Emperor Li in the court.

If he were in their position, he would also seal the news himself.

If the news leaked, it would only benefit others, not himself.

“Wang Li has started gathering the troops. He is a smart man; I just gave him a simple reminder, and he is already mobilizing the army to crush them.”

On the map, white-name NPCs with the prefix “Soldier” began gathering in an orderly manner. At the very least, they were much more organized than the rebel group on the other side.

“Still, I don’t know how long it will take for the Imperial Court to get the news about this rebel group.”

Chen Xiyi noticed that although these rebels might be a ragtag bunch, their propaganda skills were quite impressive. Every moment, the prefixes of NPCs were changing to “Rebellion.”

At this rate, by the time the Imperial Court got the news, the number of rebels would have doubled.

If they really grew this fast, then by the time the Imperial Army marched south, this rebel group might actually become a full rebellion force.

Thinking about this, Chen Xiyi felt frustrated. If he had known, he would have killed Dong Shen back then instead of letting him go to maintain his image.