Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
During those three days, accompanied by Wei Yenwu, An Xora wandered through all manner of extravagant, pleasure-soaked venues. Not only did Wei Yenwu cover all expenses without exception, he also constantly found new ways to shower An Xora with valuable gifts—royal-tribute tea reserved for the Yan imperial family, famous calligraphy and paintings, antiques, and even the most vulgar of treasures: gold, silver, and jewels.
Anything that could be given, Wei Yenwu gave—practically everything. His attitude was so blatant that even An Xora, who hadn't initially thought in terms of bribery, could tell what was going on. Wei Yenwu wasn't even pretending.
Coupled with how he kept lamenting in front of An Xora about how hard it had been to manage Lungmen over the years, and how his greatest wish in life was simply to live peacefully in Lungmen—An Xora quickly saw through it.
From the very beginning, this old fox had never believed that Talulah came to Lungmen without ulterior motives.
First, he tried every possible angle to reconnect with Talulah—playing the family card, reminiscing about old ties. When that still didn't fully put him at ease, he shifted his attention to An Xora.
Honestly speaking, given Wei Yenwu's status—former Yan crown prince, current Governor of Lungmen—it was understandable for him to be a bit humble in front of Talulah, the Emperor of the Holy Terra Empire.
After all, the Holy Terra Empire was now the strongest nation on Terra. Even Yan, powerful as it was, still lagged behind by a tier.
Weak states have no diplomacy. Yan wasn't weak—but the Holy Terra Empire was stronger. And more importantly, the Holy Terra Empire bordered Yan directly.
In other words, even if the Yan True Lung herself stood before today's Talulah, she wouldn't dare raise her voice. Wei Yenwu, a former heir now serving as a regional governor, lowering himself a bit was nothing unusual.
But the real issue was this—
In front of An Xora, someone who on paper had nothing but a ducal title personally granted by Talulah—no official position, no troops, no administrative authority—just someone close to Talulah. To put it bluntly, someone with no real power, at best a favored courtier.
And yet Wei Yenwu fawned over him to this extent.
Daily personal accompaniment. Endless gifts and bribes. Busy running around attending to his needs.
That was… honestly pathetic.
As for An Xora himself, he truly had no concrete designs on Yan for the time being. Anyone with half a brain knew that the Yan imperial throne was a massive pit.
If you wanted to sit on that golden toilet, you first had to deal with what was squatting underneath it—Sui.
Although Sui, who had once driven away countless colossal beasts for Yan, was unquestionably among the strongest of all Feranmuts, if it were merely a single Feranmut, An Xora wouldn't have cared much.
The real problem with Sui was that once it awakened, its twelve fragments would be forcibly recalled and fused back into its body.
Back in his previous life, An Xora had actually been quite fond of the Sui fragments—Nian, Ling, Dusk, Shu, and the rest. Even after coming to Terra, he hadn't gone out of his way to look for them, but he also didn't intend to let them die for no reason.
So for now, any schemes regarding Yan could be put on hold.
As for Wei Yenwu's bribes, An Xora accepted everything without hesitation—but on the surface, he never clearly stated that he would persuade Talulah not to set her sights on Lungmen.
Originally, An Xora was just planning to scare the old man a bit, see what he looked like when he broke down.
Who would've thought—
Faced with this textbook "take the money but don't do the job" behavior, Wei Yenwu didn't get angry at all. On the contrary, he found it completely reasonable.
After all, everyone knew what Terra's aristocrats were like—greedy, corrupt, always taking without delivering. Taking money and not doing the work was practically the norm.
An Xora's attitude of accepting gifts while refusing to make any promises didn't anger Wei Yenwu in the slightest. Instead, it motivated him even more.
Perfect. This was exactly the kind of person he was looking for!
If An Xora were some incorruptible paragon—upright, ascetic, indifferent to wealth—Wei Yenwu wouldn't even have an opening to bribe him.
Money? Gold, silver, treasures, art—Wei Yenwu had plenty of all of it.
As long as Lungmen could be preserved, even if it was just to add one more layer of insurance, no amount of gifts was too much.
Greedy was fine. Insatiable was fine.
What he feared was An Xora not taking anything at all.
This enthusiasm genuinely left An Xora a bit at a loss. Clearly, he had underestimated just how degenerate Terra's native elites could be.
Fortunately, the three-day deadline had arrived.
An Xora temporarily left Lungmen and headed to the nearest city under the Holy Terra Empire's control. There, he arrived at a secret outpost and met Lappland, who had arrived ahead of him.
"Are these all the Lupo gathered over the past three days?"
Looking at the more than a thousand female Lupo standing restlessly in a vast open area inside the outpost, An Xora asked the officer in charge.
"Yes, my lord. In accordance with Her Majesty's orders, we screened all the female Lupo we could find in nearby cities. In the end, we selected these one thousand candidates whose appearance, age, and physical condition all meet the criteria. This is the roster—please have a look."
The officer respectfully handed over a list. An Xora glanced at it briefly, then set it aside and turned his gaze to Lappland behind him.
"Clear everyone else out. Then we can begin."
Under An Xora's orders, all personnel except the one thousand female Lupo assembled in the open space withdrew from the outpost.
After sensing the area and confirming that no unrelated individuals remained, An Xora nodded to Lappland.
Lappland immediately understood and stepped forward, standing before the gathered Lupo.
"Relax. Don't be nervous. This might hurt a bit, but it won't be dangerous… probably."
As she tried to reassure the Lupo girls, her confidence wavered near the end. She turned and looked at An Xora for confirmation.
"Don't worry," An Xora said, taking out the Horse Talisman.
"There really won't be any risk to your lives."
As long as they weren't killed outright, the Horse Talisman could restore anyone to perfect condition.
With assurances from both An Xora and Lappland, the gathered Lupo visibly relaxed.
Then they saw Lappland draw her weapon and, without changing expression, slash a deep, bloodied cut across her own hand.
But before more than a few drops of blood could fall, the wound healed on its own.
This was exactly the powerful regeneration Mobius had mentioned—the superhuman self-healing gained after completing the Fusion Warrior surgery.
Seeing this, Lappland raised an eyebrow helplessly.
She had already tested her regeneration over the past few days. It was absurdly strong—injuries that would normally be instantly fatal, like a pierced heart, could recover in seconds. Compared to that, a mere cut on the hand was nothing.
Such an increase in power naturally made her happy—but right now, it was a bit inconvenient.
Lappland didn't say anything more. She simply raised her head and addressed the Lupo girl standing at the very front.
"Alright. Now, raise your hand."
"Yes."
The Lupo girl didn't dare disobey and obediently lifted one hand.
The next instant, the blade—still stained with Lappland's blood—sliced across the girl's palm.
Before she could even register the pain, a scorching power surged from the wound, spreading rapidly throughout her body.
At the same time, her body began to change.
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