Burning Bridges
Translator: Mr Voltaire
Editor: Modlawls123
“What! Big sister! H-H-H-Have you gone mad?!” The irascible Gu Tian Dong yelled out. Gu Tian was completely dumbfounded by Gu Qing Han’s words, however, after yelling out, he immediately regretted it. Gu Qing Han’s words held an incredible amount of power within the Gu family, and no one dared to disobey her. Her power was not one gained through force, but by gaining the approval and respect of every person, especially the Gu family’s old patriarch. Even he would not interfere with decisions made by Gu Qing Han, nevertheless the 3 brothers.
Gu Tian Dong had called many subordinates ‘mad’, but he would never dare to say it to Gu Qing Han. This time, he had yelled it out before he could stop himself- it was evident how strongly he felt about Gu Qing Han’s decision.
“Big sister… are you… joking?” Gu Tian Ping looked up at Gu Qing Han, completely stunned. He had never seen Gu Qing Han joke before, but her words didn’t make any sense. This was not something that the incredibly intelligent and wise Gu Qing Han would say. They had been observing the situation of the new city this entire time, and they knew what the outcome would be. Asking the Skyfall Dynasty to help the new city when they had no relation at all… this was an incredibly foolish decision.
“Do I look like I’m joking?” Gu Qing Han expressionlessly replied.
“But… But… Big sister, you know that there can only be a single player city in an entire region, right? Any faction in China that believes it has some degree of power would do everything it can to fight for it. In order to destroy the new city, the Yan Huang Alliance has moved out almost its entire guild, and more than half of the top 30 guilds have gone as well.
“There are more than 15 million players attacking in total! We’ve been hiding at the back, not daring to go up to fight for it, and now you want me to help the new city at all costs? Our Skyfall Dynasty only has 3 million players, and even if we don’t leave any to defend, it’ll still be 3 million against 15 million… this is completely suicide. This will drag the entire Skyfall Dynasty down,” Gu Tian Dong lost control of his emotions as he loudly retorted.
“No, I do know. I’ve been paying close attention to this matter, and I know as much as all of you do,” Gu Qing Han calmly spoke as she looked at her 3 little brothers. “15 million players is the largest attacking force ever seen in China’s virtual gaming history, and their main objective is to destroy the new city. However, the main reason is out of greed and avarice, as all of the guild masters want to be the Lord of the new city. If it was the Yan Huang Alliance that had built this city, no one would dare to attack it.
“There are more than 15 million players attacking the city while there are less than 500,000 players defending. Even if a miracle happens, this new city is still doomed. I’m very clear about all of this.
Gu Qing Han continued to speak, “I also understand that if the Skyfall Dynasty supports the new city, the outcome will not change. We’ll simply be delaying the time it takes for the new city to be destroyed, and the price we’ll have to pay is 1000 players for every 200 attackers! The Skyfall Dynasty will also be wiped out!
“Every player in the Skyfall Dynasty will go down by 1 level, and a lot of their equipment will be lost, greatly reducing the Skyfall Dynasty’s overall strength to the point that we may not recover. The Yan Huang Alliance, who has been opposing us in the dark, will take this opportunity to completely eliminate the us so that we may never oppose them again.”
Every word that Gu Qing Han spoke was the cold and hard truth. Every word served to prove that the Skyfall Dynasty could not help the new city no matter what, and that they had absolutely no reason to.
Gu Qing Han’s tone changed as she spoke with great determination, “However, what I said just then was not a joke. Even if the Skyfall Dynasty is destroyed here, we still need to help the new city at all costs.”
“But big sister…”
“Second bro, third bro.” Gu Tian Nan suddenly cut Gu Tian Dong off as he said seriously, “Stay quiet for now. Don’t we know what sort of person big sister is? When has big sister ever made the wrong decision before?"
He looked at Gu Qing Han as he continued speaking, “Big sister, we’ve never doubted your decisions before. However, this time… I’m sure that big sister must have a good reason to do such a thing. I hope that big sister can tell us, otherwise, despite big sister’s decision, we still can’t mobilize the entire Skyfall Dynasty to help the new city. We’ve put in so much blood, sweat, and tears in order to develop the Skyfall Dynasty, and if it’s truly destroyed because of this, then… then… ah, big sister, could it be that you want us to pretend to help the new city so that they will willingly hand over the City Creation Token to us because they feel indebted to us?”
Gu Tian Nan’s words caused Gu Tian Dong and Gu Tian Ping’s eyes to light up… that’s right! That’s how it must be! If they just waited by the side, the chances of them obtaining the City Creation Token amongst the competition with the Yan Huang Alliance and other guilds were incredibly slim. However, what if they went to help the new city? That would be completely different! The new city was already a lost cause, and if the Skyfall Dynasty went to help them and gave their all to help them, they would definitely feel incredibly grateful. As for why they were helping them… the reason was very simple! Because Li Xiao Xue was there- the Gu family and Li family had a very good relationship. This reason was more than enough.
However, even if the entire Skyfall Dynasty moved out, they would still be unable to stop the Yan Huang Alliance and the other attackers. At the very end when all hope was lost, what would the owner of the City Creation Token do? That’s right, there was a 99% chance that they would give it to the Skyfall Dynasty who had the power to protect it. The reason was very simple- instead of having the new city destroyed and the City Creation Token stolen, it would be better for them to disband the new city and hand it over to the people who had helped them.
The more they thought about this, the more they felt in awe of this idea, and the 3 of them started to feel ashamed… obtaining the City Creation Token by waiting like they had before was simply impossible. However, their big sister’s idea was much better. Although they would suffer some losses, it would definitely be worth it if they could obtain the City Creation Token. No less than expected from their big sister- she is wiser than wise. They all felt stupid for doubting their big sister’s decisions.
Seeing her 3 little brother’s eyes light up, Gu Qing Han naturally knew what they were thinking about. She lightly sighed as she said in a heavy voice, “It’s not at all like what you’re thinking. What I want you to do is protect the new city at all costs without thinking about the consequences or price, even if we have to fight to the very last person. There’s nothing else. Unless a miracle happens, the only outcome will be the annihilation of the Skyfall Dynasty. Moreover, to the Gu family as well as the Skyfall Dynasty, there will be no benefit at all. There are no secret deals- just the Skyfall Dynasty giving its all. In other words, a suicide mission for the entire Skyfall Dynasty.”
The air suddenly froze as the 3 brothers stared at Gu Qing Han, unable to believe what they had just heard.
“Big sister,” Gu Tian Nan’s throat became hoarse. “We 3 brothers have listened to big sister our entire lives. As long as it’s big sister’s decision, we’ll… we’ll follow it. However, we need a reason, a reason…”
Over the course of the Skyfall Dynasty’s development, it had become the second largest guild in China, and one of the top 20 guilds in the entire world. They had paid a lot of effort to grow the Skyfall Dynasty to this size, and had worked hard to gain this reputation. The Skyfall Dynasty was like 3 brothers’ child, slowly and carefully nurturing it. Right now, their big sister wanted them to send the Skyfall Dynasty on a suicide mission… a suicidal mission with no benefits at all.
To them, it was equivalent to asking them to throw their own child into a volcano.
“Reason…” Gu Qing Han closed her eyes as she turned around, not allowing anyone to see the tears once again flowing out of her eyes. Her voice, which was usually filled with might and vigour, became light and hoarse, “It’s been more than 10 years since I died. At the very least, my heart had completely died. However, my body has lived on because I needed to support the Gu family, and I’ve continued living all this time for the Gu family.”
The 3 brothers felt a pain within their hearts.
If it wasn’t for Gu Qing Han, the current Gu family wouldn’t exist. This is something that no one within the Gu family, or even in all of the Southern region of China, knew about. Without Gu Qing Han, the Gu family might have fallen to become a second-rate family, or may have even been split and destroyed. However, because of Gu Qing Han, the Gu family retook its position as the head of the esper families in the south, and could figuratively cover the sky with a single hand in the south… that was why the Gu family had the Skyfall Dynasty.
Even the name ‘Skyfall Dynasty’ was thought up of by Gu Qing Han. Only these 3 brothers knew of the undying hatred hidden by Gu Qing Han within this name.
In other words, without Gu Qing Han, the current Skyfall Dynasty wouldn’t exist.
No one knew better than the 3 brothers how much Gu Qing Han had done for the Gu family over the years. The Gu family influences the entire Southern region of China, and is tied to innumerable things. Every day, she had to consider and plan out countless things, she slept so little that their hearts ached.
These years, apart from brief periods of sleep every day, she was working for the Gu family. She didn’t have any time of her own, nor did she have any interests or hobbies… because she didn’t have any free time. Moreover, no one had ever seen her smile before… even today she is single, and had decided that she would live in the Gu family by herself for the rest of her life…
The Gu family had become more and more powerful every day, but when had she experienced any happiness? When had she lived for herself?
She wasn’t like a living person; no, she was like a working machine for the Gu family.
Although they were used to looking at Gu Qing Han’s back, their hearts still ached. Compared to what their big sister had done and given up, the things they had done even when added together were incredibly miniscule.
At this moment, Gu Qing Han’s final sentence sounded in their ears, causing their entire bodies to tremble, “But this time… I want to do this one thing… for myself…”
This short sentence swept into the 3 brothers’ hearts like a gale, turning their hearts upside down. They looked at each other with the same expression and intent in their eyes… there was no more hesitation, reluctance, or unwillingness in their eyes, only resolution.
Doing something for themselves… to a normal person, this was more normal than normal! However, for the first time in over 10 years, Gu Qing Han had wanted to do something for herself…
“Big sister don’t worry. The entire Skyfall Dynasty will go to defend the new city with not a single person less! We’ll fight until the last person!”
Gu Tian Nan’s words were tough and resolute, and Gu Tian Dong and Gu Tian Ping heavily nodded… they did not even continue to ask for a reason anymore. This was enough; they couldn’t say no to this reason. The Skyfall Dynasty contained their blood, sweat, and tears, but compared to their big sister, it meant nothing. This was something they were doing for their big sister, not for the Gu family… let alone the Skyfall Dynasty, even if she needed their lives they wouldn’t hesitate at all!
After casting out all stray thoughts, the 3 brothers became resolute and left together, returning to the virtual world.
“Brothers and sisters of the Skyfall Dynasty, put on your strongest equipment and make sufficient preparations. I want everyone to gather at the Azure Forest Village in 10 minutes. Those who are late, regardless of the reason, will be permanently kicked out of the Skyfall Dynasty!”