Chapter 157: Genius
"And during one of their operations for House Haucot, that person betrayed their information to player Ander Poole, who was then working for the rival Valentis faction.
"Subsequently, Ginny Taymee's group suffered a fatal blow in the operation that night—she and one of her allies were killed on the spot." Ian paused, considerately wiping the cold sweat from Celia's forehead, then continued.
"For the last little cheater, who wasn't part of the group at the time and had already established her identity elsewhere, this was both a blessing and a curse.
"The blessing was that she enjoyed the sacrifices of her allies without having to repay them, and she no longer had to worry about future conflicts with two allies who knew her inside and out.
"The curse was that her identity didn't allow her to build a power base on her own in the patriarchal society of Westeros and Essos. She had to find a new sword.
"And soon, she found a very suitable candidate. But the problem was, she and this person had no basis for trust. She didn't dare rashly form an alliance with him, so she needed to find other ways to achieve her goals.
"This little cheater was truly clever—she quickly found another way. Guess what it was?"
Celia couldn't even manage a fake smile anymore. Only fear remained in her eyes.
"Then..." Ian spoke again when she didn't respond.
"Enough!" Celia screamed, reaching out to try to push Ian away, but was once again forcefully pressed back onto the table.
"What, did you understand this time?" Ian smiled.
Celia realized her lapse in composure and could only stubbornly protest, "I'm just fed up with all your ridiculous stories! I'm Prince Hazan's sister! You can't treat me like this!"
"Still not convinced? Still clinging to the hope that I'm not certain about these things? Or perhaps you're afraid to kill me?" Ian leaned down again, his nose almost touching hers.
"I just..." Celia started to argue, but seeing the sudden flash of ruthlessness in Ian's eyes, she shuddered and fell silent again.
"I just..." She paused for a long time before speaking again, a pale smile on her face. "I just don't understand how someone could say such cruel things at a time like this."
"You put the drug in the incense burner, so don't blame me," Ian didn't stop. "This wasn't part of my plan."
"I just wanted to marry you." Celia put on a pitiful expression, reaching out to touch Ian's face, but he gently slapped her hand away.
So that's why the damned system mission determined you wouldn't pose a danger to me! Ian thought to himself.
"Yes, you wanted to marry me. You were eager to forge a stronger alliance with me. So you and Prince Hazan reached an agreement—he pretends you're his sister, achieving both your goals simultaneously.
"At the same time, it almost completely eliminates any suspicion that you're a player.
"This way, you can marry me as a native, and as long as my alliance with Hazan continues, you'll always have a place by my side—sharing my title, knowing my plans, and utilizing my power.
"The key point is, sleeping in my bed, and then choosing any time you deem appropriate to put a knife in my back. What man in the world can guard against his wife's assassination?" Ian practically roared at the end.
"And because we don't have an alliance, you won't be bound by the alliance mechanism. If you kill me, you won't lose a single point—you'll directly inherit all my points, system resources, and all the power I've built as my wife." Ian gripped Celia's chin so tightly it almost crushed her, finally uttering, "You're a fucking genius."
What kind of mastermind could come up with such a plan?
Indeed, forming alliances between male and female players, leveraging the female players' advantages in character customization and their knowledge of the source material to attach themselves to a chosen target for rapid advancement, is a textbook strategy in the social structure of A Song of Ice and Fire.
If Ian's two potential allies hadn't withdrawn, Ian would have followed the same path.
But changing identity to marry a player and then waiting to reap the rewards? When Ian deduced Celia's purpose, it was as if a new world had opened up before him.
"I never thought about the last part," Celia naturally wouldn't admit to such a thing. "I just wanted to spend some time with you, build trust, and then form an alliance with you."
"The future is unverifiable—you can say whatever you want." Although Ian didn't believe her, he still released her and stepped back.
Celia finally had a chance to breathe. She coughed violently first, then gasped for air.
"What do you plan to do with me?" she asked, then shook her head. "No, you won't kill me. If you came here to kill me, you wouldn't have wasted so much time talking. At least you wouldn't have come here today to tell me you've discovered the truth.
"After I married you, you'd have had countless ways to kill me. As you said, we're not allied, so the system protects neither you nor me. By then, having had my identity exposed, I'd be nothing more than a fish on your cutting board.
"So, you're telling me all this now because I still have value to you? You need me to do something that only I can do for you right now?"
"You frighten me, darling. Perhaps sometimes being too clever isn't a good thing." Ian clicked his tongue.
"The time for you to be frightened is long past. Now it's me who should be scared. And as a player who made it into the top thirty, do you expect me to play the innocent victim for you? Yes, I know most men like that sort of thing," Celia gave a smile that was more like a grimace, "but you're different. I believe that if I act even a little bit foolish, if you feel I can't be of any use to you, you'll snap my neck the next moment."
"Tell me, what do you need me to do?" she continued. "And I'm curious—what means do you plan to use to ensure my loyalty?"
"An alliance, of course. Through your submission to me," Ian spoke.
Celia was taken aback.
Ian had actually considered this matter for a long time, and his final decision was based on four main reasons.
First, Celia would play an indispensable role in his upcoming plans, and she needed to act freely, so he had to get her to offer him help willingly.
Second, Celia was smart enough that even by the most critical measure, she was qualified to be his ally. To be honest, Ian had been troubled by the lack of allies for far too long since entering Pentos.
At this stage of the game, his enemies were almost entirely player alliances, and the opponents ahead would definitely be stronger than ever. If he didn't find allies soon, his important plans for the future would have to rely on NPCs who couldn't fully understand his intentions—that would be too restrictive.
Third, neither he nor Celia currently had any other allies, so the ultimate benefits of their alliance were acceptable to him.
Fourth, and most importantly, the condition of his alliance with Celia was submission. Unlike back at the Crossroads Inn, at this stage, which player didn't have several dozen points? The cost of losing all points when a subordinate betrays them was unacceptable to anyone.
Moreover, as time progresses, this cost would become increasingly heavy, and the alliances between players would become more and more stable.
Basically, only when the final victory condition was met—when a player disagreed with declaring victory—would there be a possibility of internal conflict again. After all, at that time, the alliance would automatically dissolve for free.
"If I can't give you a guarantee that I won't kill you after using you," Ian continued, "someone like you probably wouldn't be willing to work for me, right? So I'll allow you to kneel and submit to me.
"You should know very well that if you betray me, according to the alliance mechanism, you will lose all your points. With the number of players still above thirty, zero points means you'll be assassinated by a Faceless Man at the end of the month—certain death."
"And I'll also be bound by the alliance mechanism. You know I have more points, and I can't afford the loss of betraying you."
"Deal." Celia agreed without hesitation. She knew how much the alliance mechanism restricted players like Ian who were qualified to compete for the leaderboard rewards.
This was indeed enough to reassure her.
Immediately, the two opened the alliance function in the system and formed an alliance face to face.
Then, a notification appeared in their inboxes.
[The alliance between Player 6 and Player 37 has been established.
Player 6: Leader
Player 37: Subordinate]
At the same time, the alliance toolbar on Ian's system interface also changed due to the alliance being formed, with two sub-tabs appearing: [Alliance Quests] and [Resource Sharing].
"Why are you looking at me like that? We're already in an alliance. You can't force me to share resources with you—otherwise it will be counted as betrayal." After saying that, Celia's momentum weakened a bit. "Of course, if you need them, I can give them to you as a token of my sincerity."
"No," Ian wasn't going to be so greedy from the start. "What I want to say is, we can start discussing the next steps of the plan. Now, tell me everything you know about Hazan's scheme."
"Perhaps you could tell me first how you discovered the truth? Let me know exactly where that little cheater slipped up." Perhaps because the alliance mechanism gave Celia a sense of security, she said half-jokingly.
(End of Chapter)
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