"All of them are useless! Hantian’s threat is real! If that terrifying thing had been a bomb instead of a letter, I would have already died twice."

The bald leader sat on the sofa in the living room, his expression grim, maintaining an unwavering facade in front of his subordinates, yet inside, his heart was a frantic churn of anxiety.

His personal bodyguard contingent, numbering over a dozen, stood arrayed before him, while dozens more waited outside the door on standby.

“You all will stand guard in the outer living room tonight. Arrange several more men next door. Every corner, inside and out, watch everything closely. Not even a fly gets in, understood?” the bald leader snapped in a severe tone.

“Yes!”

After the bodyguards dispersed, they occupied every vital position on the floor, with men even guarding rooms upstairs and downstairs to prevent any intruder from tunneling into the bald leader’s room from the ceiling or floor.

Only after everything was arranged did the bald leader feel a slight easing of tension.

He did not tear up the second letter. The methods displayed by that elusive, mysterious figure were too frightening—to bypass layers of defense undetected and place a letter on his bedside table?

This implied that the mysterious person could take his life with trivial effort. Even if he could defend against it for a moment, he could not defend against it forever; people always had moments of carelessness.

When one’s life hangs in the balance, anyone would reconsider carefully.

“This invitation to alliance must be re-evaluated,” the bald leader finally began to contemplate the possibility of cooperation with Kussen.

However, he remained hesitant. In his view, assassination tactics could not bridge the vast chasm between the Bos fleet and the Kussen fleet. Kussen might manage to survive the meeting by leveraging Lehai’s defection, but once a space battle erupted, the combined fleets of Lehai and Kussen might still not match Bos.

It was approaching three in the morning, and the bald leader, exhausted from a sleepless night of activity, finally felt the pull of sleep. He lay down on the ** and drifted off.

But the bald leader had only been asleep for a short while when he was jolted awake by a ringing sound. It came from a multi-function pager on the bedside table, primarily used for ordering room service but also functioning as an alarm clock.

Waking abruptly, the bald leader opened his eyes in fury. He snatched the pager from the bedside table and hurled it against the wall with a loud bang, shattering it into pieces.

Then, he turned his head back as if he had seen a ghost.

There, starkly present on the bedside table, was a third envelope!

“Where did Kussen find such a person? Not only delivering the message but also setting an alarm. It seems they don't want me to have a peaceful night,” the bald leader’s sleepiness vanished instantly.

This time, he didn’t become hysterical, because he knew without asking that his bodyguards outside had noticed nothing, or they would have stormed in immediately.

Kussen’s messenger had not left yet; clearly, they were awaiting his reply. The bald leader surmised that if the other party didn’t receive a response, he probably wouldn't see the artificial sun rise the next morning.

As the saying goes, one time is an accident, twice is a coincidence, but three times is a pattern. This third letter might be the final warning. The bald leader frightened himself, thinking more and becoming more afraid. Under these circumstances, sleep was impossible no matter what.

After thinking for a moment, he got up, retrieved his communicator, and dialed the external contact number for the Kussen Legion.

The Kussen delegation and Yang Ying were staying at the same hotel, but their rooms were on a different floor. Christina and her father, Commander Batches, were waiting for news from Lehai.

“Chris, do you think that young man is trustworthy?” Commander Batches, a tall man with silver-white hair, spoke with considerable authority.

“Father, since Yang Ying gave me such a firm guarantee, I believe he has the confidence,” Christina nodded with a slight smile.

Just then, Batches’ communicator chimed.

“Commander, Lehai’s bald man wants to speak with you,” Batches’ assistant appeared on the screen.

“Connect him!” Commander Batches said, his eyes still holding a trace of disbelief.

The image of the bald leader appeared on the screen.

“Old Batches, you certainly have means. Regarding the alliance we discussed earlier, I need to renegotiate with you…”

Following this, the two commanders engaged in a fierce debate over their respective interests for quite some time before finally establishing the framework of the alliance.

During the negotiation, the bald leader did not utter a single word about the embarrassing incident where his bodyguards failed three times, resulting in three envelopes appearing on his bedside table; he lacked the face to mention it.

Batches also failed to mention the existence of the Telen Mercenary Group, and to cover up Telen’s intervention, he didn't even ask why the bald man compromised, thus remaining unaware of the tactic Yang Ying employed.

After ending the communication, Batches murmured in surprise, “That bald man actually compromised? I wonder what means that young man used.”

“Yang Ying didn't disclose the specific methods for winning over Lehai; perhaps it’s a secret of the Telen Mercenary Group. However, as an ally, he has fulfilled our expectations by turning Lehai to our side. At least tomorrow's meeting won't be a one-sided affair. As for weakening Bos, I'm still unsure of the outcome,” Christina frowned slightly, expectation mingling with worry.

“He told you he would accomplish two things before dawn: turning Lehai and weakening Bos. Turning Lehai is done, but weakening Bos seems like a slim hope. Does he think a few men under his command can handle Bos’s two large warships?” a well-dressed elderly man stated calmly, holding a jewel-encrusted cane, marking him as wealthy and powerful.

“Uncle Mayor, you didn't even believe he could turn Lehai before, but what about now?” Christina retorted.

This elderly man was Mayor Kussen, the apex figure in Kussen City’s power pyramid.

Both the Kussen City government and the Kussen Legion’s highest decision-making body was an organization called the Kussen City Executive Committee. The Mayor served as its Chairman, with Batches as one of the members, responsible for the specific combat command of the Kussen Legion, while the Legion’s departments such as equipment, logistics, and intelligence were not under Batches' control.

The initial alliance proposal put forth by Kalia centered on granting the Telen Mercenary Group certain privileges within Kussen. Many aspects of this required a vote by the Executive Committee, which Batches could not decide alone.

Therefore, this Mayor was fully aware of the dealings between the two mercenary groups.

Christina was also a member of the Executive Committee. Since the matter of seeking Yang Ying’s help was significant, it could not bypass the Executive Committee. As Chairman, the Mayor had the right to be informed, so she had invited the elder here to await news as well.

This elder had doubted from the very beginning that Yang Ying and the Telen Mercenary Group could achieve both turning Lehai and weakening Bos, and he even mistrusted the alliance between the two groups. If Christina hadn't offered the lion's share of the benefits in the alliance, the Executive Committee likely would never have approved the proposal for the two mercenary groups to ally.

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