Chapter 408: It Finally Arrives

The cold wind blew gently as Rod gazed at the lake under the night sky, lost in thought. At that moment, footsteps came from behind him. Hearing those familiar footsteps, a faint smile appeared on Rod’s lips. “How did you get here?” Without turning around, he already knew who it was.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I came out for a walk. And you? Why are you still here so late? Didn’t you go shopping with that little girl Lucy today? Unhappy?” A woman’s voice came softly, gentle yet carrying an indescribable tone.
“Where’s Sognar?” Rod asked, moving aside to make room for Lilith, who stepped in front of him.
“What else could she be doing? She’s probably on patrol! She’s become more diligent these past six months!” Lilith said with a teasing smile when mentioning Sognar.
“Did Ada send you?” After a while, Rod asked curiously. Others might believe Lilith’s excuse, but Rod certainly wouldn’t. After spending so much time together, he knew exactly what kind of person she was.
Such a person wouldn’t claim she came out just because she couldn’t sleep, especially in such a tense situation—her responsibilities were no lighter than anyone else’s. It was impossible to think she had nothing to do and wandered around here. Considering her relationship with Ada and Lucy, Rod guessed somewhat and found it amusing. Needless to say, it must have been Ada who sent her; Lucy wouldn’t think this far. Relatively speaking, Ada was much more mature in thinking.
“Hmm? What’s wrong? Now you’re worried?” Since Rod had seen through her, Lilith, being straightforward, stopped hiding it and asked jokingly. Seeing Rod’s worried expression, as if it were the first time she’d seen him like this, she couldn’t believe that the fearless man could be affected by this.
“What else can I do? Are you going to mock me too?” Rod asked helplessly, looking at Lilith with a pained face.
“What exactly are you thinking?” Lilith shifted into a comfortable position and asked curiously, staring at Rod with wide eyes, as if observing him. At this moment, she wasn’t an envoy sent by Ada but simply appeared as Rod’s good friend to have a heart-to-heart talk.
“Thinking? I don’t know! I don’t even know what I’m feeling!” With a sigh, Rod said helplessly. If he knew, there wouldn’t be so many worries.

“Which one do you like a bit more?” Lilith asked curiously, showing a rare mischievous expression.
“Cough cough cough… Please don’t ask that. I told you, they all feel the same to me!” Under Lilith’s gaze, Rod felt a bit embarrassed, turned his head away, and said dejectedly. It was then he realized that all women were just like this.
“Alright, alright, I’m not joking with you. Since you don’t even know your own feelings toward them, let me ask you a few questions!” Seeing Rod’s reaction, Lilith laughed heartily, rarely teasing him like this.
“Hmm, how about this? Tell me how you feel when you’re with them,” Lilith asked after a moment of thought.
“Very comfortable. It feels relaxed. I don’t have to think about anything; it’s very soothing!” Rod replied readily after thinking for a bit.
“Are there any differences?” Seemingly thinking of something, a sweet smile appeared on Lilith’s lips.
“No! It’s just the same. Whether I’m with them or with you or Nightingale, it’s all equally relaxed and comfortable!” Rod said helplessly, feeling a bit embarrassed under Lilith’s gaze.
“You brat, stop talking nonsense!” At Rod’s words, Lilith’s face turned red for the first time, and she spoke shyly.
Seeing this, Rod was puzzled. He touched his own face—had he said something wrong? But then he shook his head, realizing he hadn’t said anything wrong. Sometimes he was very perceptive, but other times he was slow to understand even the most basic things.
“Never mind. It’s useless telling you. Since you say the feeling with them is the same as with Sister Nightingale, then there’s no doubt about it. Think about it carefully. I’m leaving!” With her face flushed, Lilith hurriedly said a few words before standing up and leaving the lake shore in a flustered manner, leaving Rod confused about what went wrong. He had finally found someone to talk to properly, but she just ran away.
Reflecting on what had just happened and confirming once again that he hadn’t said anything wrong, Rod couldn’t help but sigh that women were fickle creatures, their motives impossible to understand.
But thinking of Lilith’s red-faced expression earlier, Rod couldn’t help but smile slightly. It turned out she could also be breathtakingly beautiful. Compared to Ada and Lucy, she had a touch more maturity; compared to Nightingale, she had a bit more tenderness and grace!

Thinking of this, Rod didn’t know why, but he felt a sense of emptiness in his heart. With a puzzled expression, a wicked idea suddenly popped into his mind! His face turned red as he quickly shook his head to throw that thought aside, wondering what was happening to him. Could it be because spring had arrived? Reconsidering what he had said earlier, he suddenly realized he had uttered something inappropriate—no wonder Lilith had looked so shy. After this incident, Rod’s mood improved greatly. Bathed in the breeze, he felt particularly energetic. With nothing to do, he returned to his room to start working on repairs.

Over the next two days, Ada and Lucy surprisingly reconciled with Rod. The two acted like sisters, sticking together all day long, chatting and laughing as if they had forgotten everything that had happened before, much to Rod’s surprise. It proved once again that women are fickle and unpredictable creatures. However, this was good news for Rod—at least he didn’t have to choose between the two, struggling to decide which side to take. He had suffered a lot these past days. Now that things had returned to normal, Rod was the happiest of all.

But soon, he noticed another development: the two women seemed to have formed an alliance against him, constantly demanding things from him. Rod faced new troubles. Fortunately, this was much better than before. In fact, their gentleness sometimes made him feel uncomfortable!

Of course, the most important thing was the approaching war. On the surface, Dark Moon City remained bustling, but beneath the surface, turmoil was brewing as everyone prepared intensively for battle. Time passed quickly, and another three days slipped by. During these days, Rod had recalled his Death Scythe Squad members and sent them all out to monitor the movements of the war faction.

As expected, the war faction had begun preparing for the final battle. A hundred thousand troops were ready to go, completely surrounding Dark Moon City and poised to attack at any moment. Yet, they still hadn’t launched the final strike, seemingly waiting for something. Rod and his team didn’t care about this; they focused on their own preparations.

At the same time, news came from Wuyou City—everything there had been taken over, and things were now on track. The situation in Wuyou City had eased, which was good news.

Another piece of good news came from Water Screen City. Just a few days after he left, Water Screen City faced a crisis. The second prince of the war faction from Ice City and the first prince of the war faction heading to Wuyou City both turned their attention toward Water Screen City. Their combined armies, numbering five thousand strong, were all composed of elite soldiers! Fortunately, before leaving, Rod and his group had made thorough preparations for such a situation. Under the leadership of the Black Phoenix clan, they followed their plan and avoided direct confrontation with the enemy, instead retreating from Water Screen City and yielding it to those two factions. The outcome was obvious—Water Screen City fell back into their hands. As expected, once they entered Water Screen City, conflicts over interests and power led to internal strife. Chaos ensued in the city, creating a favorable opportunity for the Black Phoenix clan and reducing the pressure on Dark Moon City. As the struggle between the two princes intensified and battles broke out, the forces established by the Black Phoenix clan within the city began to take action. The merchants and small families there had already sided with the Black Phoenix clan. All that was left was to wait for the right moment—when the Black Phoenix clan would return with a large army to reclaim Water Screen City and eliminate the war faction forces once and for all… One day, while Rod was meditating in the quiet of the night, sudden roars were heard outside the city, shaking the heavens. At the same time, chaos erupted inside the city. Hearing this, Rod quickly stopped meditating, realizing that what was inevitable had finally happened—the war faction, after enduring restraint for nearly ten days, launched their major offensive. After quickly getting ready, Rod rushed toward the city lord’s residence. There, chaos reigned as everyone rushed toward the city walls, their faces filled with tension and anxiety. The great battle had begun, but it was unexpected that the war faction, despite their overwhelming strength, would launch an attack in the middle of the night without any prior warning. This showed how serious and cautious Gu Jian and his forces were, never underestimating their opponents just because of their strength.