Chapter 381 - 189: A New Driving Force

Not all Tribes were willing to trade with Zhang Peng. There were always a few who got arrogant, thinking they could take what they wanted by force. However, when Zhang Peng produced a staff, about three meters long and topped with a Skeleton, those Tribes immediately backed down.

The Banner of the Undead!

Li Ziyu had once given it to the Tabu Minotaur Tribe to serve as a territorial marker. Its macabre style was more than enough to remind any Tribe thinking of attacking Zhang Peng of the Undead.

No fool wanted to attract the Undead to their Tribe. That was just asking to die sooner rather than later.

More and more Tribes came to an agreement with Zhang Peng, forming a trade network. Meanwhile, countless underground tunnels connected these Tribes, creating a vast subterranean web.

Still, Zhang Peng wasn’t satisfied. He hoped to fill the entire underground of the Wasteland with these tunnels. This would not only maximize the trade network but also enhance their security, laying the groundwork for Li Ziyu’s future plans.

Beyond all this, Zhang Peng was constantly gathering intelligence, paying special attention to anything concerning Batubohe. He had been worried ever since they first met. ’He’s a powerhouse, and powerhouses are unpredictable. Even if Li Ziyu, Liu Xingxing, and I teamed up, we still might not be a match for Batubohe.’

If Batubohe decided to stir up trouble in the Wasteland, they might not be able to control the situation. Zhang Peng preferred stability—it was the very reason he was willing to follow Li Ziyu—and his biggest worry was that Batubohe would become a destabilizing factor.

After some time, Zhang Peng began to relax a little. Despite his burly, brutish appearance, Batubohe was actually quite methodical. Though he roamed the Wasteland daily, gathering resources from all over, he hadn’t caused any chaos.

The Tribes had some minor complaints about Batubohe, but no one was calling for his head. The balance, for the most part, was maintained, which was good enough.

Batubohe knew Zhang Peng was gathering intelligence on him but didn’t seem to care in the slightest. He let Zhang Peng continue his surveillance and would even contact him from time to time, proactively offering intelligence of his own. A large part of this information was about the Central Zone.

This remote corner of the world was a base for Li Ziyu, Zhang Peng, and Liu Xingxing, but not for Batubohe. His roots were in the Central Zone. He wanted to return, to once again test his strength against the Natives there.

The Transmigrator Alliance Army he was part of had failed, but he refused to accept defeat. He still wanted to go back. However, returning to the Central Zone was impossible on his own. The Natives had him marked; the moment he set foot there, they would dispatch a massive army to annihilate him.

Allies!

He needed powerful allies. In this Wasteland, the strongest powers were the Undead and Li Ziyu’s two allies: Zhang Peng and Liu Xingxing.

Zhang Peng and Liu Xingxing’s Mobile Fortresses were nothing special, with lackluster combat power. The Undead, however, were extremely strong. Batubohe could see their potential—they would be a powerful asset. But he also knew that the other three were a tight-knit alliance. If he wanted to join them, he had to earn their trust.

’Don’t break their rules, befriend them, provide intelligence—that’s how I’ll get in with them. I can’t rush it. I have to take it one step at a time. Shared interests are necessary, but so is building genuine trust.’

Batubohe had gone over the reasons for the last Alliance Army’s failure. Besides the enemy’s strength, internal disunity was a huge factor. ’If only some of the Lords hadn’t just gone through the motions,’ he thought bitterly, ’we wouldn’t have suffered such a miserable defeat!’

’I have to learn from that lesson. Only a stable, unified alliance can unleash its true, formidable power.’

The Otherworld changed daily. Lords rose to power and their Mobile Fortresses grew mighty. And every day, other Lords perished for any number of reasons. The world was different from one day to the next. Yet Li Ziyu, tucked away in his remote corner, seemed utterly relaxed and at ease. If the other Lords, who fought life-and-death battles every day, knew how serenely Li Ziyu was living, one had to wonder if they would be furious.