Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?

Chapter 1640 - 1640: Ambush Planning

[Well…this was an enlightening conversation,] Copper said while nodding his head at the possibility that there was actually more than one traitor in the city of Emberona. [I think…I'm going to have to explore this possibility…and plan accordingly…]After making this ominous statement, Zhen Liu disconnected from Copper and allowed the slightly overweight metallic knight of a kaijin to regain control of his body.

[Bleh! I really wished the Lord would warn me before doing that,] Copper grumbled. [It always feels funny when he does that.]

…What is the funk causer doing anyway?...

"Okay, I know what I need to do now," Zhen Liu declared aloud for himself to hear. "I need to write two more letters and rewrite an old one."

The conclusion Zhen Liu had come to after talking with Serena was that just having Hulna and Feroxxa going at it wasn't going to be enough.

Instead, if he wanted to truly bring an end to this war and most definitely secure the [Sacred Flame] or its knockoff, he was going to have to go big.

How big?

The kind of big that would make a certain bloody wedding look like nothing more than a fucking baby shower.

This meant Zhen Liu needed a way to rope in two more groups: the Erupting Dawn Empire encampment that was hiding in some mirage-like grove in the middle of fuck-all nowhere and the [Flame of Ambition] itself.

The former was somewhat easy to rile up.

All Zhen Liu had to do was send a letter telling them that their "men on the inside" were about to betray them, and they had to come to a specific location to catch them in the act.

Of course, this also meant that Zhen Liu needed to rewrite the letter to Feroxxa, changing it from a simple declaration of betrayal to an accusation of betrayal.

In other words, the letter was going to read something along the lines of "I know what you've done; come to this place so you can figure out a way out" or something ominous like that.

As for getting the [Flame of Ambition] involved...that's where things became tricky.

"Wait...I can't just send a letter to a sentient aether treasure flame and expect it to act; I have to like...expose it. Force it out into the open...but how?"

If he forced Feroxxa and Hulna into fighting each other, it might pull itself out of its hidden temple and put a stop to the fighting so it wouldn't lose any subordinates. On the other hand, it could also make a decision in that moment to support one over the other and kill one to save the other, which...wasn't ideal, but it was a partial success.

"But I'm aiming for total destruction over here," Zhen Liu told himself as he thought about this alternative scenario. "How do I sincerely force...wait a minute..."

Zhen Liu had cooked up his current plan based on the idea that his opponents were people who cared deeply about things such as honor and principles.

Which, if that were the case, then Zhen Liu wouldn't be planning all of this in the first place.

If anything, he would be trying to work with these motherfuckers to assist Serena if they weren't doing some creepy conspiracy shit.

Regardless, since he was fairly certain these guys were leaning more on the materialistic side of things, he could probably lure them into fighting by using something valuable.

Like, say, a trio of aether treasures that had been the original goal of the aforementioned conspirators and their weird-ass [Flame of Ambition]?

"Hmm."

If he wanted to use the aether treasures as bait, he could think of precisely two ways of doing so, technically three.

First, piecemeal deliveries.

Zhen Liu could send each piece of the trio to different parties, one to the [Flame of Ambition] and his cronies, one to the Erupting Dawn Empire princes, and keep one for himself or maybe give it to Serena.

Either way, the fact that these treasures just magically appear in the hands of enemies and allies alike would definitely prompt them to try and find the rest of the trio, which in turn would lead to conflict…ideally.

"Wait…no, I can't do that," Zhen Liu realized. "I promised Serena I would deliver the trio to her if I found it…and I've already kept it for myself for safety reasons. Plus, that's one of the oldest faux-pas fuck-ups in way too many pieces of media."

Zhen Liu could feel it in his gut that if he did something obviously stupid like that, the fucking [Flame of Ambition] was probably going to end up somehow securing the trio in the middle of the fight and then blast not just his ass, but the asses of everyone else present until it had fully engulfed the [Sacred Flame].

And he really, really didn't want to think about why his own kaijin were feeling jumpy around that flame the last time he sent them to scout around.

"I suppose that leaves options two and three…actually, maybe just option three…"

Option two involved sending the entire set of aether treasures to the Erupting Dawn Empire forces and allow them to, more or less, be credited with the discovery of the [Hearth Tender Trio]. Ideally, this would prompt them to contact Hulna or maybe Feroxxa if that speculation on Serena's part were true and then lead to a whole betrayal ex machina sort of thing. However, that option also led to the very real possibility of it ending up in the hands of the [Flame of Ambition], which was a non-starter.

Option three was…well, kind of a return to form for Zhen Liu, but also a way to finally change this encounter into one where he had the territorial control.

The past few ventures, Zhen Liu had been forced to more or less play on the defensive the moment he stumbled upon some other motherfucker's grand ambitions and vaguely evil plans.

This time, though, he could actually play on the offensive.

He knew where everyone was; he had the treasures everyone was after, and he had the backing of the real Hearth Tender.

And not only that, but he had a way of making this fight happen not just on his terms but on his motherfucking territory.

Zhen Liu produced the [Key to Everywhere] in his hands and remembered that Logos and Pathos said that his way to and from the [Library of Nowhere] could now be used as a weapon.

"Or…I could use this to make a very…very big door."

Zhen Liu had dragged prisoners to the library before for the purpose of interrogating under the guise of an all-powerful Kaijin Lord. And he had, by accident, dragged his family, a few friends, and a random group of enemies into the Library's labyrinth.

However, he had yet to actually drag any enemies to fight in the library on his terms.

"My opponents don't have any weird factors other than a weird aether treasure flame that I can probably overpower with some assistance, and my kaijin are as strong if not stronger than all of the people on the board this time around…you know what? It's about time I played up the part of the Kaijin Lord a bit more."

Running a bit on adrenaline and the euphoria that comes from coming to an epiphany of problem-solving, Zhen Liu suddenly summoned a pair of zakos and gave them the same paper, pen, and ink that he was using to write his letter.

"Follow my lead."

CREAK!

In a matter of seconds, Zhen Liu decided not to write individualized letters, merely one.

And this one letter laid out every card on the table and made it clear that he was going to be the one to run this game of war.

…

My dearest game pieces,

You may not know this, but your little stealth operations, secret coups, and dirty double deals have been under scrutiny for quite some time now.

And you should all be aware that your idea of working with each other until you get to the [Sacred Flame] won't fucking work, because none of you have the means to control it.

In fact, none of you have the means to even awaken it from its injured slumber.

Which is where I come in.

I have the Hearth Tender Trio in my grasp: the burning stone, the bellows, and the poker are all in my hands.

However, if you haven't figured it out from how I opened this letter, I want to play a bit of a game.

Burned onto this letter is a map to a specific location that is just a mere mile away from both of your secret bases.

Bring yourselves, your best fighters, or whatever you want, but keep in mind that if you bring an army with you...you're going to have to set up a mass grave.

When you get here, I will explain the rules.

And if you're wondering why I am doing this, why you're receiving this letter, it's because of this one realization I had.

Your whole stupid conflict is nothing more than a game to me...and I'm already sick of looking at it.

Sincerely,

The one and only, Kaijin Lord.