Shi Jin led Gua One and Gua Two to the study and once they sat down, got straight to the point: “For the upcoming conference, I don’t intend to follow the plan suggested by Lian Jun previously.”

Gua One and Gua Two both looked surprised and exchanged glances. Gua One asked, “Shi-shao, what ideas do you have in mind?”

Seeing that they didn’t immediately oppose his “defiance” of Lian Jun’s orders, Shi Jin felt relieved and replied seriously, “Lian Jun’s previous arrangement was that, in this conference, everyone will prioritize my safety, minimize contact and conflicts with Meng Qing and the others, stay close to official personnel at all times, avoid being alone, and try to leave with the officials when the meeting ends… All my arrangements and suggestions yesterday were based on this premise. But this morning, I thought about it and realized that this approach would be very disastrous for Annihilation.”

Gua One and Gua Two exchanged another glance, then fell silent together.

Shi Jin instantly understood their reactions. He sighed and rubbed his forehead with a wry smile. “You’ve clearly already realized the drawbacks of doing it this way… If I follow Lian Jun’s plan, my safety might temporarily be ensured, but Lian Jun’s situation will definitely be exposed. Everyone here is smart; if Lian Jun suddenly misses the conference and I act overly cautious, the implications behind it can easily be inferred. In short, the more cautious I appear during this conference, the quicker and fiercer the attacks against Annihilation from the Four Alliances will be afterwards. There will also undoubtedly be a relentless stream of attacks targeting Lian Jun himself.”

“Conflict is inevitable sooner or later. Shi-shao, you don’t need to worry too much. This is a special period, so naturally, everyone should prioritize your safety,” Gua Two reassured.

“I know that conflict will eventually happen sooner or later, but the timing of this conflict will have a great impact on our situation. In the original plan proposed by Lian Jun, after the conference, the attacks from the Four Alliances on Annihilation would escalate from simple probing to full-scale assault. With Aunt Lu’s maneuvers, Annihilation would at least have three months to prepare before the final eruption. During this period, Lian Jun would most likely indirectly control the pace of the war by timing the enemy’s attacks, thereby giving us absolute dominance. However, if I perform poorly at this conference and make the Four Alliances feel that there are opportunities to be exploited, prompting them to adopt an all-out attack policy from the start, then this advantage will be lost.”

Shi Jin remained calm, his gaze shifting between Gua One and Gua Two. “You both understand better than I do that Annihilation and Lian Jun need these three months. So do you. In a prepared battle, Lian Jun can maximize your safety. But in an unprepared one, he may suffer losses at any moment due to his clumsy responses. I don’t want to see that outcome.”

Gua One and Gua Two didn’t expect him to think so thoroughly. They fell silent again, and finally Gua One spoke up, “Shi-shao, Jun-shao and we have made plans…”

“His plan is to trade my temporary safety for a messy aftermath, then when he’s slightly better, endure his condition to clean up the mess while troubling all of you,” Shi Jin interrupted him, saying, “I’m not that selfish to watch you all pay a high price and suffer so much just for my safety at this conference. And have you all forgotten that this conference, in fact, wasn’t originally very dangerous? You’re all too nervous, unconsciously entertaining scenarios where the Four Alliances take advantage to harm me. But scenarios are just that, scenarios; they may not necessarily occur.”

Gua One and Gua Two were stunned.

“Besides, the Four Alliances don’t have any reason to target me. They’ve just formed their treaty, and there’s still no absolute trust between them. Even if I act a bit arrogantly at the meeting, would they really take the opportunity to kill me? Our goal in attending this conference isn’t to ensure my safety, but rather to disrupt them as much as possible while also concealing Lian Jun’s condition. This will make them wary and hesitant enough to not act against us while their alliance isn’t fully stable.”

Gua One and Gua Two showed a rarely astonished look. They stared straight at Shi Jin with somewhat silly expressions.

Yes, in fact, the most important thing about this conference is to cover up Lian Jun’s true condition and shake up that newly formed alliance. If Shi Jin acts too cautiously, it will only arouse suspicion… Jun-shao is caring but too biased about this matter, so everything should follow Shi Jin’s lead instead. But what about them? How did they also go astray in their thinking…

Shi Jin couldn’t help but laugh when he saw them silent. He said, “Actually, it’s my fault too. I influenced you. After Lian Jun fell into a coma, I always unconsciously thought things would go in the worst and most negative direction. You were influenced by me and became more hesitant and negative. I’m also to blame for being too weak, making you guys always worry about me getting into trouble and unconsciously putting all your focus on protecting me.”

“No…” Gua Two instinctively retorted, then carefully considered Shi Jin’s words. He couldn’t help but cover his face with his hands and said, “Oh my god, were we all bewitched…?” This was too embarrassing. Thankfully, Shi Jin caught on in time, otherwise…

“It’s us who messed up,” Gua One also realized and frowned in self-blame, but he quickly composed himself and asked, “So how does Shi-shao plan to proceed?”

Shi Jin saw that they understood and nodded in satisfaction. He then said, “You probably don’t know, but I have a rather prominent nickname back in school—’Young Master Sports Car.’”

Young Master Sports Car?

Gua One and Gua Two looked puzzled, and asked in unison: “What does that mean?”