CHAPTER 275: CHAPTER 265: THE REASON FOR RELEASE

Yes, letting go of a Saint Son who was captured with great effort, this is the most crucial part of Andrew’s plan.

It is a judgment made based on an analysis of the current situation.

The current situation, simply put, is actually a "false advantage period." The Dragon Taming Lady and others are temporarily retreating and holding back because the King is in seclusion.

Once the King comes out, regardless of whether or not his injuries are healed, his War God-level formidable strength will immediately tip the balance of the situation!

Frankly speaking, this Royal Court negotiation is a trap.

Although the Magic Guild is not likely to fully restart the war during this negotiation.

They will certainly try to inflict as much damage as possible on the Commerce Association’s representatives in the three negotiation matches! Causing a direct loss of important talents to the Commerce Association will, in turn, shift the entire post-war situation in favor of the Magic Guild.

In the face of such a situation, the core focus for us is: How to win the three negotiation matches in a nearly certain unfavorable situation?

In Andrew’s view, releasing Yorkshire is beneficial for us to win the three negotiation matches.

Firstly, with Yorkshire captured, the Magic Guild is likely to summon the stronger Second Saint Son, or even the First Saint Son, to the Royal Court to team up with Capella for a two-on-two match.

The possibility of intercepting the Saint Son midway is too small!

So rather than facing an unknown, higher-ranking Saint Son, it would be better to face Yorkshire.

Secondly, if we only talk about the one-on-one negotiation match set to take place tomorrow, releasing Yorkshire now means that as long as Yorkshire shows up tomorrow, Andrew is confident in forcefully making Yorkshire step onto the field, turning what was supposed to be a "Capella versus Barbara" one-on-one into a "Yorkshire versus Barbara"!

In other words, releasing Yorkshire now can influence not only the two-on-two that Yorkshire was originally going to participate in but also the one-on-one among the younger generation.

The method is to make some "small adjustments" to the currently unconscious Yorkshire in front of us.

At this moment, a slightly mischievous smile appeared on Andrew’s face: "This Yorkshire is so arrogant; if he knew my plan was to treat him as a soft target to exploit, he’d probably have a complete mental breakdown..."

On the surface, nothing can be seen, but in reality, Andrew is quietly injecting an extremely small amount of invisible Water Magic into Yorkshire’s body.

This Water Magic will completely disperse throughout Yorkshire’s body at this stage, having no effect, and Andrew is quite confident that it will go unnoticed.

It is not until he truly wants this Magic to take effect that they will immediately converge and construct a "mark" within Yorkshire’s body.

Through the "mark," Andrew can forcefully pull Yorkshire, who should not have stepped into the match against Barbara, into the field.

Just as Andrew previously controlled Yorkshire himself by grasping the Spirit Body of Yorkshire in the ice wall.

The method Andrew is using now is essentially still a variant usage of "Water Prison Training."

Of course, this carries risks.

For instance, what if Yorkshire doesn’t show up tomorrow? What if Yorkshire is "forced to replace" Capella, and after losing to Barbara, the opponent is prepared for the real two-on-two and doesn’t let Yorkshire play again? What if the minute magic power injected now is discovered before it condenses into a "mark"?

These are all possible risks and variables, which Andrew is fully aware of.

That’s why it’s called a gamble!

But Andrew truly feels it’s worth the gamble.

Because, in fact, the current situation also has a worst-case potential development direction, which is: once the King emerges from retreat, he won’t even give a chance for at least a seemingly fair three-round negotiation match and instead chooses to act directly against the people from our side who have come to the Royal Court!

If the other side actually chooses to do this, it’s almost unsolvable. Even if President Beiru immediately sets off from Warm Fire City to the Royal Court, the other side has three Earth Fire Scholars. If not handled well, the Royal Court could even become a bigger "trap," leaving anyone who comes to aid with no return.

In this scenario, what should we do?

What can we do?

Threaten to use Yorkshire as leverage, demanding the other side follow the original agreement and proceed with the negotiations as usual? That would only expose our weakness, making them act even more recklessly!

Should we kill Yorkshire? That would only give them a justified excuse to not conduct the negotiations!

So the only thing Andrew could think of is to do the opposite: don’t kill, don’t threaten, just release Yorkshire outright.

This is essentially an "empty fort strategy."

Andrew also knows that he is not a strategic genius; employing a plan will inevitably lack detail, have many imperfections, and may soon be seen through by the other side.

"But... I’m not trying to buy a lot of time anyway." Andrew thought to himself, "After all, the first two negotiation matches will start tomorrow, so long as by then, the other side gets a sense of ’being unable to comprehend our intentions,’ that’s enough!"

When people encounter unreasonable situations, they will instinctively want to understand them clearly before taking action.

What we need is this brief respite.

On one hand, it allows the negotiation matches to proceed as usual, on the other hand, it gives Warm Fire City time to handle the intelligence that "the King has actually leaned towards the Magic Guild." By then, even if the King is at a War God level, the danger for Andrew and his group at the Royal Court would not be as great as it is now.

Now it’s like encountering an unexpected situation.

The essence of Andrew’s plan is to make a comprehensive response and counter for our side, striving for a bit of precious time.

That’s enough!

"Ugh..." Yorkshire, who was in a coma, slowly opened his eyes again.

He only felt like he had a long nightmare.

"Where... where am I? What happened?"

Yorkshire spent a few breaths before his pupils refocused.

The situation of being powerless against Andrew before losing consciousness flashed in his mind, and Yorkshire finally realized that he had been released, only to be knocked down by Andrew again!

His whole body tensed suddenly, and he leapt up from the snowy ground outside the Ice Prison!

He looked around the site—no, it should be said that within and outside the entire Royal Court, snow had unknowingly begun to fall—and there was no one in sight, not a trace of Andrew, nor the Frost Guards he drew "Ice Pattern Oil Paint" from!

It seemed the experience of being released from the Ice Prison, confident to win a revenge match, only to be ruthlessly crushed by some unknown Magical means of Andrew, was nothing but... a dream?

"The problem is, if it really was a dream..."

Yorkshire murmured, "Then why am I indeed outside the Ice Prison now?"

He turned to look back at the ice wall behind him, which was empty, with no sign of "another me."

For a moment, this Third Saint Son from the Magic Guild stood there, utterly baffled!

Heavy snow was falling more and more.

Yorkshire stood in the snow, motionless.

He even hoped a little that when he woke up, Andrew would still be right here, right in front of him, so he could ask: "What’s going on? What exactly is going on?"

"When things are abnormal, there’s always something strange! Could it be...is there some trap waiting for me?!" Yorkshire’s eyes flashed with seriousness as he tried to move his steps cautiously, completely devoid of the bold, unrestrained demeanor he had before at the Royal Court.

After repeatedly ensuring there were no traps in the surroundings, Yorkshire finally confirmed, with a perplexed face: it seemed he really... had been released!?

However, his heart was far from relaxed, not feeling any joy of regained freedom.

He only felt increasingly confused!

"Hey, Andrew, what the heck do you mean by this?!" Yorkshire gritted his teeth, suddenly shouting.

In the snow, there was no response.

Yorkshire couldn’t help but clench his fist, feeling a fire burning in his heart, almost bursting his chest open, yet unable to express it!

"Calm down, calm down!"

Yorkshire told himself, thinking and making a decision, "Whatever this is about, I should meet up with Dragon Taming Lady, Flame Turtle Lord, and Capella again! They should know what’s really going on."

With this thought, Yorkshire finally regained his composure, stepped forward briskly, and quickly disappeared into the snow curtain.

Towards the city district on the west side of the Royal Court.