Chapter 2552: Dependence

"What?" Yuan Xi looked as if she couldn't believe her ears. "You want to pledge allegiance to our city?"

There existed dependent relationships between Harmony Cities. For example, the Ten Great Cities had many Harmony Cities pledging allegiance to them. Not only the Ten Great Cities, but many Universe-grade and Flood-grade Harmony Cities also had dependent cities. The higher the rank, the more Harmony Cities pledged allegiance. This type of dependency was essentially a subordinate relationship. If a smaller Harmony City was bullied or attacked, it could request assistance from its principal Harmony City.

Yuan Xi had never considered having other Harmony Cities pledge allegiance to her, as Yuan Xi City itself was not yet fully established. Especially not in the current environment.

City Lord Zhao said, "Fellow Daoist, what I mean is that during this period of unrest, our city wishes to form a closer cooperative relationship with your esteemed city. Within this snowy plain, our city would be your esteemed city's subordinate Harmony City. Under your command, none of us would dare to disobey."

"I see..." Yuan Xi understood his intention. This City Lord Zhao clearly didn't want to remain subordinate indefinitely, so this dependency would only last within the snowy plain. Once they left the snowy plain in the future, they would go their separate ways.

She pondered for a moment, then said, "I need to discuss this thoroughly with my deputy city lords and general commander. How about I give you a reply later?"

City Lord Zhao smiled slightly. "Of course. Let's deal with the spoils of war over there first then."

Yuan Xi, naturally, had no objections.

City Lord Zhao and his group soon departed. A moment later, both sides dispatched some personnel to the enemy's Desolate-grade city.

"Meeting time!" Yuan Xi called out.

A moment later, everyone was seated in the council hall. Except for a few Fusion Dao slaves sent to collect the spoils of war, all the remaining cultivators of Yuan Xi City had gathered there. Below Yuan Xi, on the left were the two deputy city lords, Lian and You Die. On the right was Lu Ye, the general commander of the city's defense. Below Lu Ye was the pale-faced Huan Qing. The other Fusion Dao cultivators were seated on either side. The vast hall felt very empty with so few people.

Yuan Xi solemnly stated, "Everyone, that person surnamed Zhao just proposed to pledge allegiance to our city within the snowy plain. What are your opinions?"

Lian bowed her head, her delicate shoulders trembling slightly. Accustomed to her close friend's informal demeanor, she was quite unaccustomed to seeing her suddenly so serious.

Yuan Xi's beautiful eyes widened as she put on her City Lord's air. "Deputy City Lord Lian, I'm speaking to you!"

Lian suppressed her laughter and slowly looked up. "As a newcomer, I won't offer my opinion. I will do whatever the City Lord commands." She lowered her head again, her delicate shoulders trembling even more.

Yuan Xi glared at her in exasperation. "You'd better be this obedient from now on." She turned to Lu Ye. "What is the general commander's opinion?"

Lu Ye said, "People flock together for gain, and scatter for gain. City Lord Zhao must have seen an advantage, which is why he thought of pledging allegiance to our city." Judging by City Lord Zhao's behavior after initially agreeing to the conscription, he only complied because he didn't want to cause trouble. So, even after being conscripted, he merely went through the motions until Lu Ye took the initiative to promise them thirty percent of the profits. Only then did they become serious. This was normal. If Yuan Xi City had been in their position, they would likely have made the same choice as City Lord Zhao. Strangers with no ties—who would be willing to work for nothing, especially with certain risks involved, without the drive of profit?

"City Lord Zhao probably isn't valuing our inherent foundation. While the City Lord and Master Lian's strengths are indeed formidable, our city ultimately only has the two of you as deployable Harmony cultivators. For minor skirmishes, it's fine, but in a large-scale battlefield, we don't have much room to maneuver."

"Then what does he value?" Yuan Xi asked, perplexed. It wasn't that she couldn't figure it out, but rather that she was too lazy to think. With trustworthy people around, she didn't need to ponder too much.

"Little Lotus!" Lu Ye stated gravely. "The reason we won this battle is largely due to Little Lotus. If not for Little Lotus's poison, the enemy's defensive formation wouldn't have weakened so quickly, and the enemy wouldn't have come out to fight. If they hadn't come out, we wouldn't have had a chance."

Lian nodded. "Indeed. That's why City Lord Zhao believes that if they follow us, they'll have plenty of opportunities to breach cities in the future. Even if they only get thirty percent of the profits each time, it's better than going it alone."

"He's also a very realistic person; he flocks to where there's profit. But that's human nature, and there's nothing to criticize." Lu Ye nodded.

"So, should we agree to their proposal?" Yuan Xi asked.

"Of course!" Lu Ye nodded. "Our biggest problem is insufficient manpower. They can compensate for our shortcomings, so cooperating with them is beneficial and harmless." Yuan Xi City itself couldn't recruit more personnel in a short period. City Lord Zhao's offer of dependency came at just the right time. In fact, Lu Ye had previously considered finding another Harmony City to cooperate with, but suitable Harmony Cities were hard to find, and mutual trust was also an issue. Since City Lord Zhao proactively proposed to pledge allegiance, it could solve Yuan Xi City's biggest current problem.

"So we agree?" Yuan Xi asked. She herself actually had the same idea.

Lu Ye turned to look at You Die. You Die looked puzzled. "Why are you looking at me?" She had been sitting there quietly without saying a word. However, after speaking, she realized why and smiled, pressing her lips together. "Brother Ye, do you think it's because City Lord Zhao injured me earlier? It's fine, he didn't intend to kill me, and didn't you get revenge for me, Brother Ye? We're even now. For a City Lord to be wounded by you in front of so many people, he must have lost so much face. The fact that he can still humble himself and pledge allegiance now, I won't hold it against him too much."

Lu Ye nodded. "If Little Die has no objections, then we'll agree to it."

City Lord Zhao valued Little Lotus's city-breaching ability, but he didn't know that Little Lotus couldn't be used casually. After Little Lotus spewed three mouthfuls of misty vapor earlier, it had become half-dead. Lu Ye hadn't yet had a chance to check on its condition. But judging from Little Lotus's previous reactions, it probably couldn't be used again anytime soon. So City Lord Zhao's calculations were definitely wrong.

From Yuan Xi City's perspective, their dependency would be greatly beneficial, so it was best to get them on board first. By the time they realized the truth, they wouldn't have a chance to back out. Leaving aside the issue of trust, they had, after all, already cooperated once, establishing a foundation for collaboration. Furthermore, while City Lord Zhao was somewhat cunning, from an outsider's perspective, all his choices were normal reactions.

"So, let's talk to them?" Yuan Xi was enthusiastic. This was the first time someone wanted to pledge allegiance to her Harmony City, and she found it quite novel. She had seen it before, but those weren't her cities.

"We definitely need to talk, but we can't just agree to everything they say..." Lu Ye advised, and Yuan Xi nodded continuously.

Lian watched from the side, marveling. She rarely saw Yuan Xi so well-behaved. In the past, if someone had chattered like this in front of her, Yuan Xi would have long since turned her back on them. Her close friend, after leaving home, seemed to have become a different person, much happier.

The Fusion Dao cultivators who had gone to collect the spoils of war returned, bringing back a large quantity of materials and treasures, all of which were put into the city's treasury. Lu Ye went to inspect them and found that the spoils were quite miscellaneous, with nothing useful to him personally.

City Lord Zhao came to Yuan Xi City again, accompanied by the Fusion Dao cultivator surnamed Wu. The two were received by Yuan Xi and were discussing the matter of allegiance in the council hall, with Lian accompanying them. Lu Ye, as the general commander, was too lazy to get involved. He had already given all necessary instructions, and as long as Yuan Xi didn't agree to any other demands, their city wouldn't suffer any losses.

He was currently standing by the Dao Pool with Fan Wu, watching Little Lotus. It was lying on its back in a mist, drifting with the currents, using both hands to stuff pieces of Dao Fish into its mouth.

"What's wrong with this fellow?" Lu Ye frowned. He had been worried that Little Lotus might suddenly die, but upon arriving, he saw the creature leisurely eating Dao Fish. And it was eating very quickly. Compared to its previous half-dead state, its condition was undoubtedly much better. Its wrinkled skin seemed to have recovered somewhat, but it still looked extremely weak.

Fan Wu scratched his head. "To General Commander, I'm not entirely sure either. After you sent it back earlier, it sank to the bottom for a while, and then it became like this. It has already eaten a lot of the Dao Fish accumulated in this pool."

The Dao Pool had been completed for some time, so some Dao Fish had already formed within it. However, Yuan Xi hadn't mentioned collecting them, so these Dao Fish had remained in the Dao Pool. Now, they had become Little Lotus's food...

"Didn't you say this fellow could increase the production of Dao Fish in the Dao Pool?" Lu Ye was confused. "Why is it eating them first?"

Fan Wu hesitated. "Perhaps it's related to its massive consumption earlier?" The key was that no one had ever been seen using Little Lotus to attack cities in such a way before. Since there was consumption, replenishment was naturally needed. Little Lotus originally ate Dao Fish, though only in small amounts. But now, it had clearly become a glutton.

As they spoke, Little Lotus suddenly flipped over and sank back into the mist. A moment later, it resurfaced, its two small hands each grasping a Dao Fish, with more than a dozen pieces resting on its wrinkled belly.

Fan Wu was probably right. Little Lotus's sudden huge appetite must be related to its previous consumption. Neither alive nor dead, without reason or thought, it simply acted on instinct, like plants turning towards the sun. With the Dao Fish it needed in the Dao Pool, it instinctively began to feed. This couldn't help but make Lu Ye feel a sense of anticipation.

If Dao Fish could replenish Little Lotus's consumption, then this little creature could be greatly valuable in the future. He had previously said that City Lord Zhao's calculations were wrong, but now, it seemed City Lord Zhao's allegiance would definitely not be disadvantageous to them. Fortunately, he had given Yuan Xi some instructions, so no matter what, their city wouldn't suffer any losses.

"Please, Brother Fan, keep a close eye on Little Lotus's condition. If there's anything unusual, inform me or the City Lord immediately."

Fan Wu nodded. "Don't worry, General Commander."