Lin Xia listened quietly, and Lou Gao's stance and the overall situation—became completely clear in his mind.
As he looked at Lou Gao's exhausted yet furious expression, the outline of a clear plan finally took full shape in his thoughts.
Lin Xia did not immediately voice his idea. Instead, he refilled his teacher's tea once more and said softly,
"Teacher, you've worked hard. Have some tea first—calm down a little. This grievance… we will settle it sooner or later."
"But we must pay attention to the method."
"Teacher."
Lin Xia's voice was steady and clear, breaking the brief silence, carrying a composure far beyond his age.
"This disciple dares to ask you a question."
Lou Gao paused, the hand holding his teacup stopping mid-motion. He looked up at Lin Xia, clearly surprised by how calm and methodical the boy was at such a moment.
He set the cup down, gesturing for Lin Xia to continue.
"You… what is your true view of the Martial Soul Hall?"
"Putting Meyers that scum aside for the moment—have you ever considered… engaging in some form of cooperation with the Martial Soul Hall itself?"
Lou Gao snapped his head around. Those eyes, tempered by years of experience and blazing like a furnace, widened instantly as he stared straight at Lin Xia, filled with disbelief and deep confusion.
That look seemed to say—
Kid, have you lost your mind?! You're saying this now?!
Meeting Lou Gao's shocked gaze head-on, Lin Xia neither dodged nor panicked. Instead, he spoke even more seriously.
"Teacher, this can't go on. Someone like Meyers is greedy to the core and has no bottom line. He treats the Blacksmith Association as his personal backyard—his private treasury."
"Today he can forcibly seize Purple Lightning Iron Ore. Tomorrow, he can invent new pretexts to plunder even more. If we clash with him head-on, we might hold out once but can we withstand ten times? A hundred times? If he's driven into a corner, or if we make even the slightest mistake, the price could be the destruction of the entire Association!"
Lin Xia's words quickened, carrying the sharpness and insight unique to youth.
"And the Martial Soul Hall—this colossal entity—what is its foundation? Faith in the Angel God! The creed of 'upholding order and benefiting all living beings'! At least on the surface, that is what they proclaim!"
"Does someone like Meyers, running rampant in Gengxin City, oppressing the people and abusing his power, truly align with the will of the Martial Soul Hall? With the doctrines they publicly uphold?"
"I don't believe it does! Perhaps we could… proactively reach out to the higher levels of the Martial Soul Hall, seek cooperation, or even… enter their system!"
"Using our true value in exchange for the Pope's support and protection! That way, not only could we completely uproot Meyers, this cancer, but we could also secure a more stable, more protected future for the Association and for all the craftsmen who rely on it to survive!"
The shock on Lou Gao's face slowly faded, replaced by an unprecedented gravity.
He scrutinized the disciple before him carefully, as though truly seeing him for the first time.
Lin Xia's words were not reckless rambling born of impulse, but a proposal forged through careful thought and analysis.
That calmness beyond his years, and his grasp of the broader situation, unsettled Lou Gao and forced him to confront the suggestion seriously.
Lou Gao remained silent for a long time. His brows knitted deeply, forming a heavy crease, his gaze shifting constantly between anger, hesitation, and careful consideration.
At last, he slowly shook his head. His voice carried weight and helplessness.
"Xia… I understand your intentions. This idea… is bold, and it's novel. But no—it won't work."
Lou Gao let out a long sigh.
"In the eyes of the Martial Soul Hall, our Blacksmith Association will always be outsiders. Craftsmen operating outside their system. No matter how despicable Meyers is, he wears that red robe—he is the Martial Soul Hall's representative in Gengxin City!"
"No matter how vile his actions are, to the higher-ups of the Martial Soul Hall, they may be nothing more than minor misconduct by a local official or even seen as a means of controlling regional resources!"
"If we go to lodge complaints? To seek cooperation? In their eyes, that's outsiders meddling in their internal affairs—a provocation! On what grounds would they trust us, abandon a powerful bishop, and instead support a group of craftsmen?"
A weathered understanding of the world surfaced in Lou Gao's eyes.
"Child, you're still young. Your ideas are good but don't view people, or the world, too simply… too ideally. The Martial Soul Hall is riddled with internal factions, with tangled webs of interest. If we rashly attach ourselves to them, forget protection—we might not even be left with bones to bury. And besides…"
Lou Gao paused, deep pain and difficulty surfacing on his face.
"And besides—how am I, Lou Gao, supposed to face my old friend Taitan? The hatred between the Strength Clan and the Martial Soul Hall… that is a blood feud!"
"If I were to lead the Association to submit to the Martial Soul Hall, wouldn't that be… wouldn't that be stabbing my brother in the back?"
"How could I possibly… live with myself?"
Lin Xia was not surprised by Lou Gao's refusal and the torment in his expression.
He understood his teacher's strong sense of loyalty, and he also understood Lou Gao's deep-rooted wariness toward the Martial Soul Hall.
Yet, taking a deep breath, Lin Xia posed the question that struck at the very core, one Lou Gao could not evade.
His voice was low, yet it landed like a heavy hammer, striking Lou Gao's most vulnerable heartstrings.
"Teacher!"
Lin Xia's gaze was as sharp as a blade, piercing straight into Lou Gao's inner heart.
"Then tell me—what about the Blacksmith Association and all the ordinary craftsmen who rely on you, who rely on the Association to support their families and to live with dignity? Are their lives and livelihoods important?"
"You once brought me to that abandoned mine… you personally collected the remains of those who had perished. Teacher, tell me—those miners who died in that mine, were their lives not important? Their families lost their pillars, their livelihoods vanished—were those not important?"
"Today, Meyers dares to come and forcibly seize Purple Lightning Iron Ore. Tomorrow, he will escalate further! Today, he can injure the guards; tomorrow, his deacons will dare to oppress our craftsmen and seize their hard-earned wages!"
"Over time, the Association would fall into fear, the craftsmen's livelihoods ruined, their wives and children starving or freezing… Teacher, is this the situation you wish to see?"
"You protect your loyalty to your old friend Taitan, but does that mean you can watch more brothers, more families in the Association, fall into hardship or even ruin?"
Lin Xia's words, sentence by sentence, word by word, struck like cold steel needles, piercing the softest and most painful parts of Lou Gao's heart.
The pale skeletal remains in the mines, Meyers' arrogant face, the humiliation etched on the guards' expressions, the worried eyes of the ordinary craftsmen… countless images collided violently in his mind.
Lou Gao's massive body shook violently, as if struck by an invisible heavy punch.
He closed his eyes; the muscles in his face twitched painfully. His tightly clenched fists were pale at the knuckles, nails digging deep into his palms.
The cold touch of the miners' remains seemed to travel once again through his fingertips.
The faces of his old friend Taitan and the countless craftsmen in the Association intertwined and overlapped…
The backyard fell into a deathly silence, broken only by the faint "zzzt" of Larvitar body energy surging, unusually clear in the frozen air.
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