Chapter 10: Meeting Liu Bei

The three men are of different builds although they are dressed in a similar way to Cao Cao and his two male officers.

The one to the left is the shortest of the three, but he appears to be rather muscular as well as the youngest. He has blue eyes and mid length black hair that is tied upwards. He also has a beard which is a bit long as it covers his neck and chin. He also has a moustache that is quite big and curved. For clothing he wears some sort of chest armour but it only covers his left side and it's attached to a belt, showing how muscular he looks with his abs. On his shoulders are shoulder pads though they're both different as his left one is green, while his right one is more metallic and has a Chinese symbol on it. On his left shoulder is some sort of beast's head in gold without the jaw, consisting of spiky teeth. He wears bracers on each wrist though again they're different, as his right one appears to be red and made of fabric, while the left one is green and appears to be made of leather. On his waist is a belt which consists of material that covers a lot of his hips, which appears to be made of leather and has a black and green border. On the centre of belt is a gold piece. He also wears trousers of the era that are mostly black with green and red pads on the front of the leg, as well as black boots. To finish off his appearance he wears a large green scarf, which covers his upper torso. In his hands he carries a weapon consisting of a long pole with two metal spears with jagged edges, called a viper spear.

The one to the right is the tallest and he appears to be rather muscular as well as the oldest. He has hazel eyes, a moustache and an incredibly long black beard which covers his chest. For clothing he wears a helmet that is green with gold around it, with some silver gem at the centre piece. The helmet consists of long green straps that are long enough to go down to his chest. He wears one shoulder pad on his right shoulder that is quite big and consists of a different beast's head in gold, which has a few spiked teeth but also no jaw. He wears large bracers on each of his wrists though they're both the same, and they appear to be made of leather with gold pattern at the centre. He appears to wear some sort of metallic breast plate on top of some sort of green t shirt of the era, though the right arm is missing from the shirt. He also wears a belt with a green buckle on top of some sort of grey and red clothing, which covers his hips. Beneath the belt is some sort of long piece of golden cloth, which appears to be attached to his left shoulder. He wears what looks like green baggy trousers and tall black boots of the era. On top of his trousers he wears armour of the period consisting of leather padding with gold pattern, as well as some sort of green fabric on top of his armour. In his hands is a large weapon consisting of a green metallic pole decorated with gold coiling around it, and on the end is a metal curved blade with green and gold decoration. This weapon is called a crescent blade.

The one in the centre appears to be the leader of the three due to his clothing, although he doesn't appear to be muscular at all. His eyes are hazel and his hair is black with two strands that reach to his shoulders. On his head is some sort of green ornament with a gold piece, which the nobility of that time would wear on their heads. He wears white shoulder pads that are nicely decorated with gold, and consists of a beast's head without the jaw in gold on each pad. He appears to wear some sort of white shirt though it's only visible at the collar, as on top of the shirt is some green clothing which appears to cover the torso, as well as the upper arms and a part of the lower arm. On both of his wrists is black leather braces with some sort of pattern on it, and it also covers a part of the top of his hands. On top of his green clothing is a large white piece of fabric that is tied to his right shoulder, and covers much of his right part of his body from the chest to his right leg. On his waist is a white belt with a gold centre, and beneath his belt is some sort of black padding which covers his waist. On top of this is red ribbon which coils around his waist, and is neatly tied and consists of two strands that go to his knees. He wears what looks like black trousers of the period which covers his thighs, his knees and a part of his lower legs. For footwear he wears boots of the period with what looks like green shin guards. To finish of his look he wears a large cape that appears to be green, and in each of his hands is a fairly long sword.

The three of them walk together and it's not long before they see Cao Cao and his cousins. As Cao Cao looks at the three despite him not seeing them before, Noire has informed him of those 3 before. From what he has learned from his female officer, the man in the middle must be Liu Bei, the one to the leader's left is Guan Yu and the one to his right is Zhang Fei.

Although they have not yet met Cao Cao has learned to be cautious towards Liu Bei considering what has happened in the original time line, but despite this he thinks about being friendly towards them. This is because as far as they're concerned they haven't met or perhaps they haven't even heard of each other. He hopes that due to the circumstances that perhaps he can get Liu Bei to join him for good, and perhaps ensure that Shu would never exist and Shu would never have to be fought.

It's not long before the two groups of three are able to talk to each other, and they introduce themselves to each other. Cao Cao finds that his guessing of which person is which, to be confirmed when they have introduced themselves, but neither he nor his own cousins reveal that they already know who they are.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Liu Bei, but would you mind telling us if you have seen Zhang Liang on your way to this gate?" The future leader of Wei asks the future leader of Shu Liu Bei in a friendly manner.

"Unfortunately not. My sworn brothers and I were hoping to cut off his potential retreat here, but we must be too late. I have heard horrific tales of what the Yellow Turban Army have done, and yet they themselves are driven to this by starvation and neglect. It is so sad to see the land in such turmoil, and I hope to one day be able to unite the land and rule with benevolence." Liu Bei spoke with passion as he thinks of all the troubled souls who face such dark times.

The Wei leader senses his passion and he appreciates it very much. He only hopes that unlike what happened originally, he would be able to have Liu Bei by his side while he unites the land. But right now he sees an opportunity for this to happen, as right now they both share a common enemy.

"We need to put an end to this rebellion. I have reason to believe that both he and his brother will have fled back to Zhang Jiao the leader of the Yellow Turbans….." Cao Cao explained.

"My lord! Are you alright?" Noire calls out.

It is then the five female officers of Cao Cao return, and are currently climbing up the ladder as they've spotted him. They're all eager to report back on how they have done.

"Yes, how is the village?" Cao Cao asked the group when they have all climbed up the ladder, showing signs of concern as he notices the group appear in a poor shape, as they're covered in dirt and ashes from the smoke, but he is deeply relieved that they're not burned or hurt.

The group looks sad due to how it went, but Blanc is brave enough and decides to answer his question.

"I am sorry to report that the village has burnt down. We have done our best in tackling the fire but we were unsuccessful. We only managed to save a few people, most of them have already fled before we got there and many of them have already perished in the flames. I beg for your forgiveness for our failure." Blanc bows with much shame feeling that like her friends they have let their leader down.

"There is no need for such talk. I too hold myself responsible for the village as we could have saved it sooner, and we too have failed to prevent Zhang Liang from escaping. At least you have been able to save the few people you could there, what more could we have done given the circumstances?" Cao Cao explains showing genuine signs of forgiveness and understanding.

The ladies that serve Cao Cao appreciate his forgiveness and realise that they have done what he could, but it's not long before they see the 3 brothers standing next to the other side of the wall.

Both the sworn brothers and the ladies wave to each other and smile. While the brother's emotions are genuine, with the ladies they try to conceal signs of concern. Concern that regarding what happened in history Cao Cao and Liu Bei were enemies, rivals and their kingdoms would often fight each other. They're concerned that Liu Bei would turn on Cao Cao, and though they have some knowledge on what went on they're not really sure how can they avoid Liu Bei fighting them.

All they can hope is that due to the current circumstances they can be friends for now, and with luck they won't be fighting each other so there will be no Shu, and it's officers would just serve Cao Cao and they'd be happy with it.

One particular thought that does cross some of the 5 female warrior's minds as they look at the 3 sworn brothers, is thoughts of killing the 3 of them so that they do not cause trouble for Cao Cao. Yet despite the possible advantages, they quickly dismiss that idea as for one thing they don't believe it's right to murder someone for crimes they have yet to commit. In any case it's a matter of perspective as although to the ladies they will cause trouble for their leader, the ladies acknowledge that the sworn brothers are doing what they believe, which they acknowledge is very noble as benevolence is a wonderful thing to have. As opposed to killing them, they believe in avoiding such conflict and instead have unity. The females know of the 3 officer's talents as Guan Yu has earned the nickname the god of war, Zhang Fei is also a powerful warrior who isn't to be messed with, and Liu Bei himself has the ability to draw people to him. The females realise how great it would be if they were to work for Cao Cao's future Wei instead of their own Shu.

With this the females introduce themselves to them, while the sworn brothers do the same only for Blanc to make her proposal to them.

"Being as we both share the same goal and share a common enemy, what say you 3 join us? We could do with more capable officers, and we believe you three to be ideal candidates for that role. What do you say Lord We Obey; oops I'm terribly sorry Lord Liu Bei." The older sister of the Loweean Empire Blanc asked in a polite manner, embarrassed with what she called the future Shu leader.

The three some in green then consider the proposal for a while, but it is then all of the officers in blue realise that Liu Bei has ambitions of his own, and would no doubt sooner unite the land under his own ideals and name as opposed to Cao Cao's.

Just as Cao Cao and his followers suspected, Liu Bei and his sworn brothers do indeed consider how their loyalty is with their sworn brother Liu Bei, and they certainly wish to unite the land themselves. There's also the matter of trust as to whether they'd like Cao Cao's method, but though they're unsure of the methods or even the motive being the same as their own, they realise they have the same common goal: to put an end to the Yellow Turbans. Just as the guys in blue anticipated, while Zhang Fei is sceptical regarding Cao Cao even if this time he's never heard of him, the other two appear to be more on board with the idea of joining.

"I accept your proposal and myself and my brothers will accompany you, but if I am honest and I mean no disrespect to you, I would prefer to only serve you for as long as the Yellow Turban Rebellion remains a threat, for we have our own ambitions and interests." Liu Bei spoke, humbled by the offer proposed to him though trying to be respectful with his response.

The ladies and gentlemen in blue anticipated such a response knowing full well what he is like as a person. But while agreeing to be temporary allies is better than nothing, they all agree without discussing that it would be better if Liu Bei would agree to join Cao Cao forever, but due to the beliefs of those 3 gentlemen in green, it won't be easy. The future officers of Wei look at their leader to see what response he has to give to them.

"Very well, I understand that you have ambitions of your own. But I hope that while you 3 are with us, we can convince you that we're better off together. We both desire peace and I hope that we are able to come to an agreement with regards our goals. It would be nice if we can become allies as opposed to enemies would it not?" Cao Cao proposed trying to use logic and reason to convince him.

He knew that the future Shu leader would have a response reinforcing his beliefs, but as if on cue a person on horseback approaches them. They believe this person to be a male messenger who's dressed in standard uniform of the era, with a horse that is brown and of average size.

"We have just received reports of Zhang Jiao making their last stand at Guang Zong; he is with his two brothers. Our leader has requested that you all return to base where they'll plan their attack." The messenger reported.

"Thank you for the report." Liu Bei spoke politely in appreciation of the news.

The other officers appreciate the news as well.

"Finally we'll get to battle with Zhang Jiao and hopefully put an end to their rebellion for good." Noire spoke sounding optimistic.

"Hah. They won't stand a chance against us." Zhang Fei spoke sounding quite prideful.

"Indeed. If we can end this rebellion hopefully peace can be restored to the land." The god of war added stroking his big beard while smiling.

"Yes, I hope that the Han will recover so it will continue to rule in peace. It would be sad if this was the beginning." Liu Bei said trying to sound hopeful despite his concerns.

But while the future warriors of Shu show optimism, the future warriors of Wei know better. They are fully aware that this is just the beginning and even before the ladies informed Cao Cao about what would happen originally, he'd be sure that the Han will not last much longer as he's more than aware of the corruption that goes on.

Although the guys in blue do not show it they already feel tension as they know that while Liu Bei is a supporter of the Han, Cao Cao is not. But for the sake of friendship and for their goals they choose not to say anything, but while they're all respectful to each other there is the sense of unease due to not really knowing one's true colours, and not understanding one's true motives.

"In any case welcome aboard Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. I hope that our partnership will prosper and that we will be able to put an end to this chaos." Cao Cao announced as if to propose a toast trying to conceal his concerns and true feelings towards them.

After which everyone agreed to this and they head back to camp with a mixture of emotions. One of their emotions is hope, hope that they can defeat the Yellow Turbans but for some of them it'd concern, concerns regarding each other and whether defeating the rebellion will restore peace to the region. But they realise that they can only focus on the matter at hand, of defeating Zhang Jiao with which they need to find a method and the means to do so, as he'll no doubt fight to the death with his brothers and followers.