If I don't have money to go to college, I can only go to slay the dragon.

"As an individual, I understand what kind of enemy the Sheqi Eight Clan is facing now. But as the head of the family, I know very well the blood relationship between the Fierce Ghost Clan and the Sheqi Eight Clan, and what this war means to the Sheqi Eight Clan."

Tachibana Masamune, who was sitting at the doge, finally spoke out his true thoughts slowly. In the empty and bustling hall, he looked at the four strong reinforcements of the headquarters and said, "If I, as the head of the Snake Eight Families, had directly accepted the assistance of the headquarters on that day at the Awakening Temple, it would be tantamount to admitting in front of all the retainers and subordinates that the headquarters was weak against the fierce demons. For this battle of dignity and orthodoxy, it would be tantamount to cutting off one's own flag before the battle even began, and losing the orthodoxy of the headquarters. This is something that must not be done!"

"Do you Japanese really attach so much importance to orthodoxy and dignity?" Caesar frowned slightly, still unable to understand.

According to what Tachibana Masamune said now, that day in the temple, Tachibana Masamune's tough rejection of their proposal to have the main force join the war was actually a fake? Was it just to stabilize the morale of the army and create a momentum scene that the main force had a legitimate reason to fight and would definitely win against the fierce demons?

"So, the reason why the patriarch came to us alone now is..." Lin Nian spoke, staring at Tachibana Masamune.

"I am not speaking as the head of the Snake Eight Families, but from the perspective of an old man named Masamune Tachibana who is concerned about the overall situation of Japan. I am asking for help from everyone in this headquarters. Please stand behind the Snake Eight Families in this war, fight with us, and restore a clean and just world to Japan."

"You are not speaking as the head of the eight Sheqi families, but are asking for help as an individual of Tachibana Masamune?" Chu Zihang chewed on some intriguing things in this sentence.

"It seems that you are very sure that it was us who had a conflict with the demons in Roppongi yesterday. You pointed out Eri at the beginning and emphasized this matter - but from the beginning to the end, you talked about this matter with 'I' as the subject, not the Snake Eight Families. So it is true that you are the only one who knows about this matter, and you are going to cover it up for us now, right?" Lin Nian asked, looking at Tachibana Masamune who was sitting in the doge's seat.

"Yes." Tachibana Masamune slowly sat up straight and looked into Lin Nian's eyes. "I want you to temporarily separate from the battlefield between the Fierce Ghosts and the Eight Snake Clans, at least on the surface."

"What do you mean?" Lin Nian paused.

"There is a traitor among the senior members of our family." Tachibana Masamune said. Just this one sentence made the four people in the headquarters look up suddenly with some astonishment in their eyes.

The fact that there was a traitor among the Snake Eight Clans was actually first proposed by Lin Nian, but this was only based on a hypothesis that was very likely to happen. But now it was directly pointed out by Tachibana Masamune, the leader of the Snake Eight Clans, which really surprised them.

"Are there any candidates you suspect?" Lin Nian gently raised his hand to signal others not to speak, and he asked first.

After thinking about this clearly, the four people in the headquarters were inevitably shocked, because from a certain perspective, as the patriarch of the Eight Snake Families, isn't this taking the lead in betraying his own subordinates?

"Isn't this a betrayal to those retainers who trusted you?" Lin Nian asked calmly, "If they knew what you look like now, what would they think? If we reject you now and expose this matter, what would you do?"

"Even if I die, I will not admit anything that happened here." Tachibana Masamune said slowly.

Lu Mingfei couldn't help but tilt his head slightly to hide his weird expression. When it comes to shamelessness, the Japanese are really top-notch. The so-called righteousness and loyalty can all be changed freely with the word "have to do it"!

But Lu Mingfei couldn't help but admire this kind of shamelessness. He felt that the old man in front of him wearing a black feather robe had a strong force - a ruthless force that was not afraid of the destruction of the city and the family, and was determined to kill the enemy even if it meant humiliation and loss of body and soul.

If the news of Masamune Tachibana imitating the spirit of waka "Kaigyo Kaba" in the Manyoshu and completely abandoning his personal honor and disgrace was really leaked by them, I think it would be recognized by his subordinates, right?

According to the Japanese understanding, this behavior is not shameless, but it is in line with what the Caodong Zen master Dogen said in the "Shodobogazang" that "to transcend birth and death is to be born again after birth and death." On the outside, he is as dignified as a pine tree in the snow, and on the inside, he is as patient as fire in the ground.

"For some reasons, I can't trust anyone but myself, so this is the only way to deal with this matter. I think those of you who have fought against the emperor among the fierce ghosts many times should be able to understand me." Tachibana Masamune explained softly.

Lin Nian and the others looked solemn. They certainly knew what Tachibana Masamune meant - the means by which the emperor would come. It seemed that the old man knew the emperor's characteristics through some channels.

"So, what are you going to do?" Lin Nian got to the point and looked at the old man. "Although it is Tachibana Masamune who is asking for our help personally, it can also be understood that once we accept the request for help, the Snake Eight Clan will implicitly stand on our side, right?"

"I hope that everyone in this headquarters can secretly assist the Eight Snake Families. In the subsequent conflicts with the Demon Clan, as the head of the family, I will facilitate everyone in this headquarters in terms of both intelligence and details of the operations. I only hope that in the decisive battlefield, everyone can cut into the situation like a ghost or god and launch a fatal blow to the Demon Clan." Tachibana Masamune's eyes were full of sharpness, and he said in a cold voice, "In this process, I will also find the traitor as soon as possible and eliminate the internal troubles."

Lin Nian Caesar and the others looked at each other. The development of the situation seemed to be beyond their expectations. The tactics they had prepared to use the location of the three factories to negotiate and threaten the main family all fell through. It was not them threatening the main family, but the main family begging them to cooperate! It was a direct reversal from the righteous refusal at the beginning, and the speed was so fast that it was shocking.

Tachibana Masamune, the leader of the Snake Eight Clan, was flexible in thinking, and had the bottom line and dignity of a leader. In this regard, they all felt that they should re-evaluate the depth of this old man. At least this scheming and resolute determination to only trust himself and betray the trust of the entire family to seek help from the headquarters really made Caesar and others look at him with awe.

Can you imagine Gilbert Jean Angers kneeling and bowing in private to the reinforcements?

But Tachibana Masamune could do it so calmly, and his style of doing things showed that he would do anything to achieve his goals. The dignity and honor that the Japanese valued, perhaps he despised them in his heart? Maybe this was related to the fact that his bloodline was not pure Japanese?

It is not known whether it is fortunate or unfortunate for the Eight Clans of Sheqi to have such a unique leader.

"How specifically do you want to cooperate?" Lin Nian asked.

"During the Roppongi Incident yesterday, the Demon Clan was bound to be repelled by you, but this is the first time we have seen such a large battle since the war began. So, I think you must have touched some crucial 'nodes' last night, which attracted the Demon Clan to be so crazy and kill at all costs. Now you are sitting there safely, so I can guess that you have at least won a 'small victory' in yesterday's conflict." Tachibana Masamune said, looking at everyone with clear eyes, "I also ask you to share the intelligence you have obtained with the Eight Snake Families, and jointly formulate a plan to fight against the Demon Clan, so as to suppress and repel the wildfire and spread the prairie fire as soon as possible, and deal with the hidden dangers of the sea dragon embryos more quickly."

"Regarding this point, I think we need to have some internal negotiations. After all, the patriarch's remarks are really... beyond imagination." Caesar proposed an internal meeting, and Tachibana Masamune nodded slightly to indicate that it was okay.

The four of them stood up, and then retreated to the shadow in a corner of the hall. They gathered together and looked at each other, with strange expressions on their faces.

"Although this is also our goal, why do I always feel like I'm getting something for free? Is it my illusion?" Lu Mingfei whispered.

"Cooperation came too easily. We had originally prepared for the worst-case scenario, and were even prepared to fall out with our main family because of yesterday's incident. But now the leader of our main family kneels down and begs us to cooperate? This broke our initial expectations, and it's normal for you to feel this way." Caesar said in a low voice. Not to mention Lu Mingfei, even he was stunned by Tachibana Masamune's attitude.

"But this meets our demands and even exceeds our expectations. The leader of our family has discovered the existence of the traitor and has taken the initiative to cooperate with us in private. This will actually facilitate our initial course of action. It is reasonable and we have no reason to reject him." Chu Zihang put forward his own point of view from the most rational perspective.

"I can't quite figure out this leader of the Snake Eight Clans. I always feel like he's hiding something." Caesar said in a low voice, glancing at Tachibana Masamune, who was sitting quietly at the tea table with his eyes closed in the depths of the hall.

"We can agree to his cooperation, but we also have to raise our offer. Since the negotiation situation has changed and he has taken the initiative to give up his bargaining chips, the bargaining chips in our hands will naturally appreciate in value." Lin Nian made his decision after thinking for a moment.

"One vote agrees to cooperate, what about the others?" Caesar said.

"I have no objection, but I feel a little uncomfortable and like I've been cheated." Lu Mingfei looked at Tachibana Masamune with suspicion several times. Although the old guy was speaking very frankly and gave a reasonable and sufficient explanation for his actions just now, he just felt that something was weird.

"I agree." Chu Zihang nodded.

"As for our new bid in the negotiations, I think we can prepare now." Caesar nodded and finalized the cooperation.

After the four of them communicated for a while and reached an agreement on some details, they returned to the tea table and sat down.

"It seems that everyone has made a decision." Tachibana Masamune also opened his eyes, sat up straight, and looked at the four people.

Caesar nodded slightly and said directly, "We want custody of Uesugi Eri. This is an irreversible prerequisite for agreeing to cooperate."