PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

679 Chapter 679 Desmond’s Plan.

Although Desmond gave no proof, the old woman knew that he was probably telling the truth, it just sounded like the kind of tactic her enemies would use. Seeing the old woman ponder what he had said, Desmond took advantage while the iron was still hot. “Of course, I am aware of your agreement with Mei Fei Long and Miao Xiauyue to ensure the protection of your disciples within the island. Before you ask me how I know, it’s because I’m close friends with both girls. In any case, I think that with the two of them, the disciples of your sect should be more than safe, but that’s just being defensive. The enemies of your sect are already at your gates, they smelled blood and are hungry, always playing defensive will not help.”

“Is that where you come in?” The old woman expressed some suspicion.

Desmond nodded and answered. “That’s how it is. You said it yourself, your sect normally works with only women, so if it’s a man who creates a ruckus on that island, it’s unlikely that your sect would be the first suspect. Also, creating chaos and blaming others is something I’m good at with a certain amount of decency. Just give me a hit list, and I’ll make sure those people never get off that island alive.”

As the Supreme Elder of the Eternal War Maiden Sect, her decisions had to be well thought out, as their impact was too heavy to be taken lightly. The old woman agreed with some of the things Desmond said, but that didn’t mean she was going to accept a deal like that with such a suspicious person, even more so when there were clear gaps in the plan.

“Even if you were right and I was inclined to take your proposal, my sect is the one that allocates all the slots to go to Heavenly Pearl Island, regardless of whether you are male or female, as long as you do not go on behalf of another force and accompany their group, there’s no way they won’t suspect my sect once you cause chaos.” The old woman declared, pointing out one of the major flaws in Desmond’s plan.

Desmond seemed surprised for a moment and the old woman was satisfied to finally put the arrogant brat in his place, little did she know that Desmond’s surprise was because the problem pointed out by the old woman was too easy to fix. After a moment’s thought, Desmond realized that certain types of tactics were not necessarily the preferred method of most people in a world where the fist was supreme, and the Eternal War Maiden sect was governed by ideologies little amenable to subterfuge.

In short, it wasn’t that the old woman wasn’t smart enough to think of a solution, she just didn’t walk the same line of thought as Desmond. Realizing this, Desmond decided on two issues. The first was not to become arrogant by thinking that he was smarter than everyone. The old woman had her way of thinking, but she would in no way be less intelligent than him, quite the opposite.

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The second issue concerns his way of proceeding, since the old woman was not skilled at subterfuge, he would have to bring that skill to the table. From a certain point of view, the fact that the Eternal War Maiden Sect was a just, righteous, and proud force turned out to be even better, after all, no one would suspect that they would be the ones resorting to deceitful tactics.

Having reached that conclusion, Desmond laid out his proposal. “Since that is the case, I would suggest departing for the expedition to the island as a public event, almost a celebration. Draw in the audience, liven up the atmosphere, and focus all the attention on the participants, turning them into fearless pioneers so that no one forgets their faces. I’m sure those arrogant and attention-hungry sects will puff out their chests with pride as they taunt behind your backs with macabre plans inside their rotten heads.”

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Seeing that the old woman intended to interrupt, Desmond added. “Of course, I will not be among the members of the expedition, for with the help of your sect I will have already smuggled onto the island the night before, ready to devour your enemies. In the worst case, if discovered, your sect can only be accused of not guarding the island properly, but such an accusation would be ridiculous considering that it is precisely your sect that is being invaded and attacked from the outside.”

The old woman wasn’t stupid, and that was precisely why Desmond’s plan made her so uncomfortable. Deceit, manipulation of information, using psychology to manipulate public opinion, and creating certain preconceived notions to hide his identity and presence, even giving her sect an alibi and a way to defend themselves against future accusations, all in one plan.

Desmond’s plan wasn’t infallible or a masterpiece, but it was incredibly effective in its simplicity. With no real loopholes to exploit, any bug could easily be dismissed. Once things went wrong, all she had to do was act like the victim and watch her enemies tear each other to pieces.

Once the old woman understood that, she formed a notion about the man in front of her: he was incredibly dangerous. While the supreme elder could turn Desmond to dust with a single blow, the sense of danger he gave off was still real, Desmond was someone who could be dangerous by far more than just his strength.

The plan sounded better and better, and the old woman was sure that after some adjustments with Desmond’s help and the opinion of some elders, something could be achieved that would greatly help her sect. If what Desmond had said so far is true, then his trustworthiness could be confirmed after a visit to Mei Fei Long and Miao Xiauyue, finding out something about Desmond’s background would help the old woman decide whether or not to trust him.

Ultimately, there was still a matter that was bothering the supreme elder greatly. “There’s something I don’t understand, you went to a lot of trouble to come here, you even risked forcing your way into my room, why?”

Out of habit, Desmond lied. “Well, I hope to get good pay for my services, and your sect is probably one of the best patrons one could wish for.”

The old woman mocked without discretion. “Nice try, no one is crazy enough to take a risk like that just for money, especially knowing the way my sect operates, the chances of us hiring a man like you are simply too low. You also don’t seem like the unreasonably arrogant type who thinks he’s infallible, even if you had some confidence in yourself coming here, you’ve never struck me as arrogantly reckless.”

Desmond almost wanted to curse under his breath, this was why he hated dealing with smart people. The irony was that Desmond lied only out of habit, not because he had any real reason to hide the goals since there wasn’t much point in doing so. Noticing that the old woman was giving off an increasingly hostile feeling, Desmond decided to come clean. “You caught me. Just to clarify, I am interested in a reward for my services, but that is not why I am here.”

The old woman nodded upon hearing Desmond’s response and motioned for him to continue. Helpless, Desmond continued. “I know you’ll probably find this pretty ridiculous, but I’m here for my wife…well, my wives.”

As expected, the old woman’s reaction to Desmond’s mention of having a harem of wives was not pleasant at all. One only had to think with one’s toes to figure out why. For a sect of women like this, their girls were their greatest treasures, and they did what they could to protect them from all the cruelties of a world like this.

One could imagine that the marriage of each of their disciples was a rather delicate subject that was handled very carefully. To say that the sect even investigated the history of the husband’s dog was not too much of an exaggeration.

Now, what happened when that protective attitude ran into something like a harem, something that was normally seen as the result of a powerful and greedy man collecting beautiful women as trophies to display in a glass cabinet? While this wasn’t the case for Desmond, even he knew that a functional harem where there was true love, commitment, and care was even rarer than seeing a dragon helping a granny cross the road.

As smart as he was, Desmond knew that this kind-looking old woman could kill him at any moment if she didn’t say something. “Ahem… I hope you understand that if I didn’t love and treat my wives like goddesses, I would never dare to do business with a sect like yours. All it would take would be one small comment from them for you or someone else in your sect to come to rip my bones.”

The old woman frowned but did not deny that what Desmond said was true. Desmond was not the suicidal type after all, it would be too stupid of him to mention such a thing if he had reason to be afraid.

Furthermore, unknown to Desmond, although it was a practice rarely seen, such a thing as a functional harem was not unheard of. The same Eternal War Maiden Sect Master had three husbands. Of course, the old woman knew that the sect master often had problems at home because she did not know how to manage her love life, but it was also true that during an assassination attempt, the three husbands risked their lives and fiercely defended their wife when she was too poisoned and weak to fight. Ultimately, as complicated as it was, those kinds of issues were something that only concerned the people involved, and even though the outside world might have had another impression, the Eternal War Maiden Sect was not in the habit of forcing their points of view on strangers.

Finally, the old woman spoke after being silent for almost a whole minute. “I’m going to need more details.”

Desmond could only sigh tiredly, although he knew that he had brought it on himself, he still hoped he could fix this quickly since he was supposed to be taking a good rest. Unfortunately, Desmond was never careless enough to not make a few moves behind the scenes to ensure his girls’ protection, even if he told them that he would just be an idle bystander and that he planned on doing nothing but resting.