Battle Royale of the Sinners

Usually, Cao Cao would have killed this person on the spot. However, when it came to immortal's power, he had a second thought.

"I do."

"Then, will you use this power for the people?"

"Obviously, I'll help them."

"Will you use this power for your ambition or your future career?"

"What … of course not."

"You lied twice. If your words were true, you would have just surrendered everything to Zhang Tong without a condition."

As Cao Cao was already in a bad mood, he pointed the sword edge on Zou Ci's neck.

"What do you want? Are you here to give me power or make me angry?"

Zou Ci signed. He brought out a jade wine cup, which contained red wine in it.

"Drink this, and you will obtain a similar power. However, you will undergo another test of immortals. If you're evil, you will not thrive."

Cao Cao frowned. He gazed at the wine cup, thinking that this was poison.

"Don't be absurd. I'm not going to drink the poison."

Zou Ci sighed once more. He drank the content of the cup, leaving it in half. However, the other half was defying the physics laws as the wine was splitted like a cake. The water content inside the cup was uneven, which one side was empty, but the other portion was still the same.

Cao Cao stared at this weird phenomenon with widened eyes.

"I've drunk half of it, so the effect will be halved. Will you drink the rest?"

Still angered, Cao Cao exerted more strength into his sword grip, planning to kill Zou Ci. However, he paused as Tong's face appeared in his mind.

Without an immortal power, he would be no match to Tong. Thus, Cao Cao took a gamble. He picked the wine cup and swallowed all remaining content.

The red wine touched his tongue, which gave the taste of fruits like regular wine. The burning sensation hit his stomach, which Cao Cao's nervous system translated them to pain.

The warlord got down to his knee as he held his stomach, "I knew it! It's poison."

Zou Ci signed the third time, "Wrong. This will benefit you in the long run. What you are experiencing is the same as Zhang Tong had been through all these years. If you can't survive this, you won't be his match."

Zou Ci's body faded, but he left a warning message, "Remember, use your power for the greater good. Once I found that you're abusing it for your personal's gain, that power will destroy you. I'll only give you the necessary memories for now since you refused to accept my goodwill. As for the immortal power, you'll have to wait for another 10 years to get it."

That was the last time Cao Cao heard Zou Ci's words before his consciousness faded.

He fell into a long dream.

He dreamt about an alternate universe where immortals did not exist.

In the dream, he was a successful warlord.

He fought against Dong Zhuo's tyranny. He unified the northern plains and the central plain.

Cao Cao faced many adversaries, such as Lu Bu, Yuan Shao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan. He experienced many failures in his life, facing Jia Xu's scheme and Zhou Yu's navy.

In the end, he died with his goal unfulfilled.

Cao Cao woke up again on a bed with Pu Jing by his side. He gazed at Cao Mende with concerns.

"You're up finally. Did you have heatstroke or something? Your bodyguards found you sleeping on the ground."

"Huh? Pu Jing? You're back from Xuchang?"

"Obviously, I'm back. What day do you think it is?"

"Isn't this February? We still have a lot to prepare."

"Idiot. This is already March! You have been sleeping for a fucking month! Everyone is in panic, and we thought you have kicked the bucket! Fortunately, Cheng Yu is managing the men just fine, or else, your kingdom would have been ruined!"

Cao Cao jumped off the bed in shock, but he collapsed on the ground. His legs did not have enough strength to walk after a long month of sleeping.

Pu Jing smacked his face as he understood what had happened.

"Oh, boy. This is going to be tough."

…

After the hectic day, Cao Cao became a calm and silent person, opposite from his past naughty attitude. His eyes were deep as if he had been through long years of tribulations.

He went through rehab as he ordered a recollection of the past intelligence reports.

At the end of March, Cao Cao declared, "Gather all forces. We'll launch our campaign against Yuan Shao as soon as possible! Putin, gather the cannons, we'll use them in this campaign!"

.

.

Meanwhile, at Xiapi City wall.

*BOOM*

A loud boom noise stunned all garrisoning soldiers and Yuan Shao, who was observing the demonstration in shock.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Two more noises came from nearby as two bronze cannons fired a black cannonball. The shell destroyed a tower on the opposite side of the wall, which Yuan Shao's soldiers had created as their shooting target.

Xun Yu turned around and bowed to Yuan Shao, "How are they, lord Yuan? Isn't this worth your money?"

Yuan Shao stood and shouted, "Buy! I'll buy all of your cannons!"

"We've only brought ten cannons on this trip, so it will be a million gold …"

"I'll pay you three million! Bring me another ten of these as soon as possible! I also want a blacksmith team that can forge the shells!"

"Unfortunately, we cannot supply you with manpower, but I will be back with another ten cannons in June. I won't collect more gold than the promised price, so it will be another million gold for the next trip."

"Bah, you're petty. Fine, make sure to deliver them here next time."

"Of course, lord Yuan. Also, about our alliance agreement-"

"Tell Zhang Tong, I agree. As long as he helps me get rid of Cao Cao, I'll gladly serve him as the Marquis of Xu!"

"Then, I'll return to inform my lord about this good news. Thank you for your cooperation."

.

Cao Cao was not the only one interfering with the other's conflicts. Tong jammed into the central plain's business by sending an alliance proposal to Yuan Shao yet again.

This time, he included a trading agreement to bait Yuan Shao's interest. By demonstrating Te Langpu's cannon power and promising Xu forces that he would sell ten of these per trip, Yuan Shao readily agreed to trade and ally with Tong.

On top of it, Tong overcharged the price of a cannon. A finished ancient 14th-century stationary bronze cannon had a production cost of 5,000 gold, but Tong sold Yuan Shao for 100,000 gold for each.

Per trip, Tong would drain a million gold from Yuan Shao's treasury, weakening his economic power. At the same time, Yuan Shao would use these new weapons to fight against Cao Cao in the future, which would obstruct their planned campaign.

Xun Yu, who was in charge of this negotiation, strolled in Xiapi town in a good mood. He planned to buy a few souvenirs and local silk for his family at home.

Zhao Yun was also by Xun Yu's side, acting as a bodyguard.

On the way, they crossed with Guo Jia, who disguised as one of the soldiers of Yuan Shao. He glanced at Xun Yu and Zhao Yun with mocking eyes.

'Nice move, Zhang Tong. Feed your enemy a weapon, so they can fight us. Unfortunately, you've made a grave mistake. Those weapons will be ours.'

Guo Jia whispered to Xiahou Yuan, who was beside him, "Send our men into those cannon battalions. Do whatever it takes to gain control of those cannon squads, or Cao Cao will face an uphill battle."

Xiahou Yuan nodded. He also turned around to look at Xun Yu behind them.

Coincidentally, he met eyes with Zhou Yun, who detected their hostile intent.

Xiahou Yuan grinned and averted the gaze, avoiding the trouble.

'Nice instinct. This is getting fun. I'll fight you in the future, brat!'

On the other hand, Zhao Yun did not retract his glare. He also memorized Xiahou Yuan's face.

'I've seen through your kind. You'd better walk away, brute!'

.

April 190 A.D.

Gongsun Du stood on the wall of Xiangping. He had returned to his city since the end of last year.

Last month, a group of merchants reported them with a piece of disturbing news. Xu Huang, the grand commander of the Silver Axe Legion, was preparing to mobilize his troops to Xiangping!

This put the entire city into unrest, and civilians migrated from his town to Beiping, which was Tong's city. Everybody believed that Gongsun Du would not have a chance against Xu Huang.

Today, Gongsun Du was waiting for someone.

Soon a thousand horsemen arrived, wearing wool clothes and thick silk. They were from Xianbei Tribes, which was the same tribe as Budugen.

The leader of this group was Kebineng, a rival of Budugen who competed with him for the chieftain position.

In this world, he received a commission from Gongsun Du.

The commission request was simple, protecting the city from the Silver Axe Legion.

Gongsun Du frowned as he was disappointed by the numbers of his mercenaries. He had expected over 10 thousands of helpers, but there was only a thousand.

As soon as both of them met, Gongsun Du chastised Kebineng, "I thought the agreement was clear. I paid you a lot of gold for over 20,000 soldiers. Why are you only sending us a thousand!?"

Kebineng snorted, "We are riders. We don't fight inside a city wall! Don't worry about our troops, I have 20,000 soldiers hiding on the mountain. You'd better worry about your men."

Gongsun Du finally smiled. He cupped his fist and changed his attitude, "Then, forgive me for my rudeness. Welcome to my city."

.

Meanwhile, Xu Huang and 60,000 soldiers marched from Beiping to Xiangping. As Beiping and Xiangping were a distance away, it would take them at least a month to reach there.

Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang followed after Xu Huang as his assistant generals. Jia Xu was also there, acting as this legion's strategist.

The troops comprised of 35,000 armored infantries, 5,000 light cavalries, 10,000 heavy cavalries, and 10,000 logistic soldiers, a standard setup for versatility.

Among the logistic wagons, they carried new weapons for this fight. Ten wheeled cannons were being dragged by horses along with 100 carts of hwachas.

All infantries were armed with the standard repeating crossbows, knight plate armors, and steel weaponry. All horsemen possessed one-handed crossbows, repeating crossbows, and similar steel weapons.

As for small firearms, only Zhang Bao, Zhang Liang, Xu Huang, and Jia Xu had them. As Medusa could not produce many handguns, shotguns, or shells because of her limited lifespans, the modern firearms were still restricted resources.

This mobilization was a trigger of another chaos in the country. As all forces had enough rest, blood would pour onto the land once more.