Under the mountain and not riding it (aka what to expect [?] in Undermountain)

Firstly, any unintentional consequence is deeply regrettable due to implications caused by the evil half of House Clegane. Secondly, this logic doesn't apply to people burning Harry Potter books at Hong Lim Park and those violating the Protection from Harassment Act 2014 in the name of equal gender rights. Seriously, it makes you wonder whether the philosophies of Mencius and Han Fei should be considered outdated. Ironically, less than 10% of the American population most likely never heard of Mencius while possibly 90% of the Singaporean population would just dismiss Han Fei as just another man from China. To be honest, John L'Otter would like to use Chinaman instead as a form of satire, but he's highly doubtful those river otters from Punggol to Clarke Quay would appreciate the kind of humour they'd otherwise enjoy if it's from the Baron of Jewtown.

So what is this post all about?

It's about Undermountain, but John isn't gonna try predicting stuff from A to Z. If he can do that, Mistwalker would have already hired him, Sakagucci Hironobu would have become his boss, and Singapore would have become famous without the help of Kevin Kwan Kong, Mr Ken Chow, Gemminerva Chan, and the Brits.

Anticipation: Cryptic better not mess this up like Mod 6

Let's be honest. Elemental Evil was a disaster. Adding the boons only after its release was like attempting damage control post-Fukushima. Yes, the boons were quite good, but surely they should have been added in the mod and NOT after it. Nuking the gear system to ground zero was disastrous, catering to the non-casual gamer fanbase was effectively an A-bomb coming down. We're not talking about the Dark Souls series where something like this could be made possible.

And therein lies the irony. Mod 6 was most likely intended by Cryptic to be that mod where streamlining in the name of better gameplay experience was to be done. Sadly, the devs failed to level up on that count. Fast forward to Undermountain and we may be now seeing a previous failure becoming a blessing in disguise. Albeit it took a whopping 9 mods for them to get it right. So much for the XP.

70+10=80

The level cap has increased by 10 levels. This is both a case of simple maths equation like 23 billion minus 8 billion and real news. Going from 70 to 80 would point to the question of whether the Primal gear should be considered level 80 or staying at level 70. Imagine the scenario where your Primal gear is now unusable because you're at level 70 stuck with a set of level 80 gear. This means you can't equip any gear beyond your current level just like why not every guy is capable of dating Bonnie-Clyde Loo, Kim Taeser-yeon, Katie-Middleton Leung, and Daisy Ridley-Scott.

Is this even possible? Well, John doubts Cryptic would be that dumb after that massive Titanic called Elemental Evil where crazy cultists actually prevailed over the mods.

Another situation would be every level 70 character automatically promoted to level 80. It's what John would call a 50-50 scenario for a reason. Traditionally, the game would experience heavy player traffic during the early months of the new mod release. This was due to the majority of the gamers already well-equipped enough to enter the new campaign zone straight away. Assuming the devs would be out to address this issue due to the resultant lag, this could mean redirecting some of the player traffic to the new campaign servers, hence alleviating the overall server load. Of course, this is provided that Cryptic is willing to invest time and resources into the first 2-3 months of the new mod release, after which the server load would gradually ease back to the original server sources. But if Cryptic is to do things like all the while, it means all level 70 characters would be auto-promoted to 80. In this scenario...

To be honest, John L'Otter does complain every now and then like a river otter.

Seals exchange: 3 Braves for 1 Crown

The exchange rate for seals should be clear by now. In a bid to address a bottleneck situation involving end-game gear (i.e. there's nothing much one can do in creating gear higher than the end-game level even if you happen to be Jewish), seals exchange would always be employed as the best way to phase out outdated gear in order to make room for new dungeon seals gear. You don't need to have the memory of an elephant to know that. A memory span of a vindictive sea otter would be good enough (something like this fellow).

While nothing has been said, be mentally prepared for Jared Jewish Sears to say something about it. This is not to say a 3 for 1 exchange is 100% ready to be done. Rather, it's a matter of high probability. After all, the law of mathematics dictates that 100%-90%=10%.

404

We all know what 404 means. In Neverwinter, there's a guild called 404 Italians Not Found. Until recently, Khaleesi Emilia's status was 404. Two stats are now officially executed by Ilyn Payne: Lifesteal and Recovery. The logic behind this was very simple: Lifesteal, if not high enough, is too damned useless. When high enough (i.e. beyond 10% minus the 4K modifier caused by Rampaging Madness at max stacks), it can easily break the game like some white dude coming back from who-knows-where.

Recovery is worse in the broken factor department once combined with a maxed out Endless Assault feat. It's like American eagles and Russian bears laying waste to orcish terrorists.

It's a no-brainer. The devs' decision to execute Lifesteal and Recovery was justified unless proven otherwise. Going by how much the gameplay would be affected tactically, there's no reason for John to assume the theoretical coming into conflict with the practical like what one would expect from communism.

However, there has to be a replacement. One defensive replacement for Lifesteal and one offensive replacement for Recovery. Given that no one actually enjoyed slotting Silvery enchantments into the offensive slot (unless you're a gifted strategist named Emiya Kiritsugu), the new set of offensive stats should give the gamers something to think about. As for Lifesteal... well, here's a Ctrl-Print Screen of the new set of main stats from the official site.

Out of the new stats set, four of them are new: Critical Avoidance, Awareness, and Accuracy. Out of the existent ones, Combat Advantage Bonus is the only one not applicable to any offensive enchantment slot. This means the possible replacements for Lifesteal should be Critical Avoidance and Awareness while the only possible replacement for Recovery would be Accuracy.

Now that we managed to get the Silvery enchantment part out of the way, let's see which stat befits the image of darkness and the night.

Critical Avoidance: Makes decent sense. The Dark enchantment is synonymous with assassination (i.e. Armor Penetration), stealth and swiftness (i.e. Movement), and vampiric capability (i.e. Lifesteal). Critical Avoidance, in the Dark enchantment context, means the ability to dodge critical attacks due to additional tactical cover.

Awareness: Also makes decent sense. Awareness isn't just about saying no when your horny boyfriend/husband decides to turn violent. We're also talking about the ability to sense danger coming while circumstantially blindsided. There's a very good reason why the baddest fighters in Faerûn are a renegade drow named Drizzt Do'Urden and a nihilistic human called Artemis Entreri. It's called symbolism associated with ethnicity and profession, as racist as this may sound.

So which one is the more possible choice? Assuming that Awareness is the defensive counterpart to Combat Advantage Bonus (i.e. your source of CA damage mitigation), it's very likely it would remain a non-enchantment stat. On first glance, using this as Lifesteal's replacement is a good idea. However, Combat Advantage damage isn't something that kicks in as often as one may like. After all, this is a F2P MMO, not the latest Dark Souls game plus a four-fifth naked run.

This leaves one other stat and no other choice. So yeah, it should be Critical Avoidance. Anything apart from it and the game would most likely get stuck with a redundant defensive enchantment type.

As for the offensive slot for Silvery enchantment, it's evident that we're looking at Accuracy.

A more strategic feel?

The strategic factor is shown clearly in the defensive department. Deflect and Critical Strike are now capped at 50%. Don't ask John what's going to happen if the numbers go beyond that. Maybe they'll be wasted, but maybe they'll be converted to Awareness and Critical Severity respectively. John hopes it will be the latter case. After all, John is more of an Oda Nobunaga and less of an Albert Einstein.

Either way, a need to balance things out seems to be the key factor for the Undermountain delving. John's personal suggestion would be either mixing Defense with Deflect or Critical Avoidance (assuming that's the replacement for Lifesteal). That's if you're running as a healer or dps. If you're a tank, it should be more practical to focus on Deflect and Critical Avoidance (which in turn could make Fighter tanking more challenging depending on how the changes are going to be done).

Offense wise, Accuracy should be something waiting to be looked at for tanks. For the dps, it should be the same logic: Either a Crit-Power build or an Arpen-Power build. Unless the devs screw this up terribly hard, dps paragon classes should have a higher base Accuracy while tanks and healers should have a higher base Power.

Note: One tactical factor which gamers should consider is whether the individual desires a single-target damage build or an AoE damage build. Accuracy is very likely to be more vital for the former since a low Accuracy rate for any AoE damage build would be effectively a case of anti-science.

Total Recall?

Okay, this is the last part and Jared Jewish Sears said that the class system is going to move away from the 4th edition rulebook. Or something like that.

So let's make an assumption that they're moving towards the 5th edition rulebook, with or without the inclusion of Unearthed Arcana (seriously, those wizards from the coast would do well to replace the official 5th ed Ranger with the UA version since we're way past the days where Rangers were considered crap in PC games like Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights). So for this part, John is going to list the possible paragon class names for each class. Again, please note that Undermountain delving involves the 5th ed rulebook instead of the 4th. So don't be surprised if names like Divine Oracle and Iron Vanguard goes MIA.

Paladin:
Tank-Oath of the Crown
Healer-Oath of Devotion

Cleric:
Healer-Domain of Life
DPS-Domain of Light

Fighter:
Tank-Cavalier
DPS-Champion

Barbarian:
Tank-Path of the Ancestral Guardian
DPS-Path of the Berserker

Warlock:
Healer-The Undying
DPS-The Fiend

Ranger:
DPS 1-Gloom Stalker
DPS 2-Horizon Walker

Rogue:
DPS 1-Thief
DPS2-Swashbuckler

Wizard:
DPS 1-School of Abjuration
DPS 2-School of Evocation


A/N: It's very likely that the Ranger would no longer have the whole ranged or melee specialist option. Originally intended to make the Ranger versatile, it resulted in the combat tree being brutally knackered in the dps dept. While this makes the combat HR into a good option as a buff-debuff-dps hybrid, it seems that lfg requests for this type of build remain very few. Simply put, the Ranger could very likely become a tactical generalist in terms of the dps. If so, then at least that'd make the Ranger a better balanced option in the raid dps.

Wait... what's wrong with this world?

For the past few days, certain things happening disturbed John to no end. Ok, this may be an exaggeration. But when you've lived long enough, you'd realised the world is indeed screwed up. It's either cyanide, arsenic, or the entire world going up in flames. John isn't going to elaborate. And because John isn't going to elaborate, he might as well express it in other ways.

Warning!

Certain stuff may be more than just a wee bit too screwed up for innocent kids and hypocritical adults. Hence, please click with caution. If in doubt, go Google. Also, sea otters are utterly sick and depraved jerks fyi.

Also, there's nothing wrong in thinking this is a shit-posting post.

Note: John is pretty sure some, if not most of the stuff posted have already been... well, posted before.

Add note: The vids posted are no indication of the life of Kuok Minghui apart from this.

Spoiler: It's happily ever after once you scrolled down deep enough.

Okay, need to end this one. And besides, the quality of the post isn't meant to be great anyway. 

The Drifting (8th Feb 2019)

Okay, John has decided on a decent semblance of consistency. As of today, any post under the Drifting label and of this nature will be named The Drifting. Not to be confused with Albert Mohler's The Briefing, John L'Otter's The Drifting is more about random rambling and/or ranting. That's why John says it shouldn't be confused with The Briefing because Albert Mohler has always been someone guilty of talking sense and common sense. Ever wondered why there are people enjoy calling Russell Moore a liberal even though he's pro-life and the White House's equivalent of the ERLC?

So does this make John L'Otter a more righteous otter than his fellow otters? Well, there's not much difference between river otters and some sea otter from the Sea of Japan and the East.

John suddenly has a new hobby

For absolutely no reason at all, John decided to emulate the Emiyas instead of the Kardashians even though he's effectively an Asian otter thinking like a foreign otter. You see, the good thing about being an Emiya is that you're actually smarter than many of those in your own backyard, Singaporean or no Singaporean. You're more analytical and more holistic in assessing the situation. The phrase "Trace On" is indicative of such a trait, ditto for this vid below.

Note: The vid cut out an important scene involving the rib of an Adam (i.e. Kiritsugu) and 66 bullets created as a result. Unlike the Americans, the Japanese don't care for the petty Republican-Democrat politics so long Okinawa is safe enough for the locals and tourists alike. Maybe this was why the Notorious UBG (i.e. Uro Butch Gen) decided to give Christianity some positive PR in Fate/Zero.

Seriously, he's an inspiration to any Korean out to be Stephen Kim.

So what is that new hobby?

It's called guessing how Japanese is your local Singaporean Chinese neighbour. Not to be confused with two other types of Chinese listed below.

Joking and a sense of humour Nihon-koku style aside (a statement of irony considering how twisted the Japanese can be when it comes to "all sorts of" creativity), John decided that analysing any random Chinese in Singapore is a good way to waste his life away. After all, it's a life of no tomorrow and no future in a society full of river otters.

So how do you know you're a Chinese and not some Ned Stark's bastard whose actual dad happened to be an enemy? Because John has to finish his "racism/eugenics" series, he decided to do some additional homework. Just a few questions to know whether you're the nearest person to Jon Snow:

1. Have you ever wondered why you're being bullied in school from primary school to ITE/polytechnic/JC/university for no reason at all? That any possible factors were nothing more than compounding ones and not that decisive one?

2. How narrow is your nasal bridge? As thick/medium as a fellow (average) Singaporean Chinese or as slim as a... well, Hokkaido Japanese?

3. Do your eyes boast a winding curve, be it seen at the upper or lower eyelid? If you don't understand what John is talking about, compare Carrie Wong, Gemma Chan, and Toda Erika with each other.

4. Okay, it's not exactly 100% accurate. For the lack of a better way of describing it, you'll need to check whether the alignment of your eyes does give off that straight line feel. [https://www.differencebtw.com/difference-between-japanese-and-chinese-eyes/]

5. If you're a guy, your face should look more squarish, oblong, or round. If it's more of an oval shape, that might/would explain why your life from Henderson primary school to Gan Eng Seng secondary school and beyond was one of persona non grata. Thankfully, (most likely) it has nothing to do with history and everything to do with the vicious nature of humanity, be they Japanese, Singaporeans, or the rest.

A pro-life person forced to kill his dad in order to prevent more deaths from happening.
How spectacular the fireworks of irony.

Ownself fire ownself, I quit

The past one year or so was full of ownself fire ownself and that I-quit moments. Among the more notable names would be Trey Gowdy, Bill Haslam, and Bob Corker. Just don't ask John why they're all (?) Republicans. Then you have what is arguably the highest profile case of I quit. Namely, Emperor Akihito himself. Not to be confused with Prince Akishino btw because one is the father and the other his son. And yes, John knows the first three alphabets are the same.

So how should we analyse the abdication ceremony? Or even the decision to do so in the first place? Firstly, Akihito was one smart Emperor. 9 years ago, he disclosed his "I quit" intention. 6 years later, he leaked it to the public. Unlike an unamused Kokkai, the Komin were more than happy to give their FB thumbs-up.

So why was the Kokkai unamused? Because we have a bunch of people during the Meiji era coming up with the kind of constitution saying "Thou Shalt Not Quit" when it came to the Emperor. As a result, it's very likely that Akihito's ambush tactic actually worked. So why did it take more than just a couple of years for the actual deal to happen? It's very likely because the Kokkai didn't want to be mocked as another Tokugawa shogunate by approving the abdication. A one-shot bill making this possible was definitely more of a compromise from the Kokkai than anything else.

Moral of the story? Japan is definitely a democracy blessed with one united people, be they the Kokkai, the Komin, or both.

But there's still a question yet to be answered, a mystery Akihito would most likely take with him to the grave: Why did he think that a compromise stopping short of allowing the abdication is never a good idea considering every possible factor behind his decision? After all, the dudes of Ishin working with the Sanketsutai were never a bunch of short-sighted people bereft of Specsavers.co.jp.

本気で言ってるの？

Hopefully, this won't end up grilling John via the law of sociological physics. John wasn't attempting any act of cultural appropriation. He's just being chaotic neutral. Anyway, who'd you like to see greeting the Komin of Nihon-koku during Lunar New Year 's Eve? If it's the correct half of Korea, that'd be Moon Jae-in. A Google check (seriously, it can your BFF in fact-checking regardless of your socio-political position so long you can use your brain) popped up with... well, nothing. If Moon Jae-in was unable to make a Lunar New Year's Eve speech, what hope would we have in seeing Abe Shinzo one-upping his salty Korean counterpart? Actually, Abe was able to piss off his main (?) voter base, believe it or not. Able Abe, anyone? This was surely a feat not even Koizumi Junichiro could pull off despite being the most successful politician in recent Japanese history, amending the Consitution or no amendment to the Consitution.

Latest updates on the latest chapter

Irevia's chapter was finally done. All that's needed would be editing while making sure the word count stays at 4K+. However, there's a... well, a minor (?) change. Cinha, as a term referring to the nearest fantasy human race to East Asians, would be changed. The reason why being that the name felt corny at times. As a result, John needs to find another name which would sound better in an English flow.

A few factors were considered: Yayoi, Jomon, and the fact that Akihito was able to anger his worshippers because he's able to right from the beginning.

A few possible candidates were being considered: Yama, Yamon, Chomon, and Yaguryeo.

The winner? Yaguryeo.

The reason why? The name managed to strike a good balance between the Japanese feel and Korean feel without disrupting the English feel. After all, creativity is never about doing business deals, hence the need to have that feel.

The challenge? Implementing elements of Chinese culture.

And lastly, two songs to up

The first song is due to Chinese New Year yet to finish its 14-day course. The second song is because of... well, the Notorious UBG. The last song is caused by the next chapter of A Requiem From Winter Past.

Johnny Chinese? Pt II

Today (going by local Singaporean time) is the first day of Lunar/Chinese New Year. Otherwise known as the Year of Babi (or the year after the Year of Anjing), it seems that there are high (?) hopes of two things happening. Namely, this and that.

Anyway, here is a happy Lunar New Year to all, regardless of whether you're a cynical realist like me or a deluded idealist like... well, the rest of the world.

Since this post is about Johnny Chinese, I might as well up a relevant music vid. Not that I've yet to up this song anyway.

DISCLAIMER!

I'm no expert in translating archaic Chinese. Hence, please be noted that there will be inaccuracies and the occasional English football chant being warranted. With that being said, there may be moments where I'd just rip and paste off Wikipedia.

Now if only I could remember to copy and paste this in every post under this label all the while.

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/12/johnny-chinese-pt-i.html

Crazy son of a loser?

[天下将乱，乃学击剑骑射，招聚少年，给其衣食，往来南山中射猎，阴相部勒，讲武习兵。父老咸曰：“鲁氏世衰，乃生此狂儿！”]

Trans: As chaotic times neared, he (Lu Su) started learning swordsmanship, horsemanship, and archery. He gathered youths, gave them food and clothing, and started hunting expeditions in the southern mountains. He deployed men at Yinxiang, engaged in military discussions, and training soldiers. All the clan elders said, "The Lu clan is in decline, hence this unruly child born!"

Don't we all love Sir Terry Pratchett's Interesting Times? They say the only constant in life is death and taxes, I say the only constant in history is chaos and turmoil. Don't believe me, go look at the United States of America and answer me whether the States is currently united or disunited. You can't blame the cynical realist for saying the nation has never progressed beyond the days of black Uncle Tom and white Uncle Tommy. But it's not just the U.S. More than the Yanks, the Chinese people are arguably more famous for fighting among themselves. From the Warring States era to the War of Chu-Han and from the twilight years of Eastern Han to An Lushan and Shi Siming, these are just a few examples. Then you have names like Li Shimin and Li Zicheng plus the KMT and CCP. If you think Americans are bad enough, you ain't seen the Chinese at their worst.

This was why Johnny Lu Su decided to be that black sheep of the clan. I don't know if the Lu clan believed in karma, but having someone like Johnny Lu Su was a cause for concern. And it has got nothing to do with the name Johnny.

How do you define the term unruly? The reason why Johnny Lu Su was called unruly was due to his mannerism not conforming to the acceptable standards. Ever wondered why you're being demonised by your fellow Republicans or Democrats for being a moderate/centrist? That's because you're not acceptable in the eyes of the acceptable standard. The same for Johnny Lu Su.

However, desperate times called for desperate measures. The only reason why the clan elders thought Johnny Lu Su was under the Trump category was that they couldn't agree with the way he viewed the situation. The text mentioned the nearing of chaotic times, not the arrival of chaotic times. In other words, it's very likely those self-assured old folks didn't really believe the era is really that bad. So much for the tide pods, huh?

Johnny Lu Su's choice of learning could be categorised under the personal and strategic. Learning how to use the sword, riding a horse, and shooting arrows belonged to the personal. Personal choices intended to prepare the self. And it's not just the men because we also have women like Hua Mulan, Fan Lihua, and Mu Guiying during their respective era out to prove a point.

As for the rest, they're strategic. Forget about Johnny Rambo, the one-man-army logic was a lie made in Hollywood due to deeds of machismo being Hollywood's favourite subject. Gathering millennials who think like that one fellow millennial is called being strategic. And Johnny Lu Su back then was very likely the era's equivalent of a millennial. As if this wasn't enough, he gave them military training in the form of hunting expeditions. Back then, they didn't have guns. To survive required wits and guts more than your favourite assault rifle.

If this wasn't crazy enough, crazier stunts were waiting for the reader. The term 阴相部勒 was hard to translate. I needed to find the meaning of the individual character words. The last two words 部勒 were relatively easier to understand as they implied military command/deployment of soldiers. The first two words were the real deal in difficulty level because it read like offering advice in secret.

Yinxiang was a place near Jiangling, which by the way was part of northern Jing Province. We all know who's the boss there, his surname was Liu, and he's not Liu Bei. Lu Su's home was in modern-day Anhui. Back then, it meant Linhuai was nearer to the Jing Province than what we'd like to think otherwise. More specifically, Linhuai was sandwiched between Liu Biao's territory and Sun Ce's kingdom. This enabled Johnny Lu Su to become his own version of Moses minus the Red Sea (but that's because the only sea available was the one separating China from Korea instead of the one separating Egpyt from Mount Sinai).

Needless to say, Johnny Lu Su was meant to be the mover and shaker when it came to being a millennial, not some unruly son of a Lu'ser. 

How to differentiate a Johnny Lu Su from a Johnny Loser?

We all should know the difference between a Johnny Lu Su and a Johnny Loser by now. It's like comparing the words 体貌魁奇，少有壮节，好为奇计 with the words spoken on the internet. So was Johnny Lu Su right? The answer was nothing less than a yes. The self-assured old folks thought that unruly millennial took in too much tide pods, events recorded below proved Johnny Lu Su was never legally high.

[后雄杰并起，中州扰乱，肃乃命其属曰：“中国失纲，寇贼横暴，淮、泗间非遗种之地，吾闻江东沃野万里，民富兵强，可以避害，宁肯相随俱至乐土，以观时变乎？”

其属皆从命。乃使细弱在前，强壮在后，男女三百馀人行。州追骑至，肃等徐行，勒兵持满，谓之曰：“卿等丈夫，当解大数。今日天下兵乱，有功弗赏，不追无罚，何为相逼乎？”

又自植盾，引弓射之，矢皆洞贯。骑既嘉肃言，且度不能制，乃相率还。肃渡江往见策，策亦雅奇之。]

Trans: Henceafter, many ambitious men rose up and the central region was plunged into chaos. Su asked his followers: "The central region has lost every semblance of order and violent bandits are emboldened. The areas of Huai and Si are no longer suitable for us to stay. I heard the territory of Jiangdong boasts of fertile soil stretching ten thousand li. The people there are wealthy enough and the soldiers are strong enough. We can seek refuge there, so who is willing to seek a paradise with me while waiting for a change in times?"

His followers decided to heed his words. Lu Su then deployed the physically weak and delicate at the front with the fighting men at the rear. Altogether, more than three hundred men and women made the journey. When the local cavalry made their pursuit and caught up with them, Su and his followers slowed down with his soldiers drawing their bows. Then he questioned the pursuers: "You are men who should understand what is important. We are facing times of turmoil. Those with merit are not rewarded and those who relent (against the wicked) are not punished. So why are you persecuting us?"

Then he planted shields (???) and commanded his soldiers to fire. The arrows penetrated the shields (!!!). The pursuing cavalry admired Lu Su's words. At the same time, they could not prevent the refugees from crossing over (to Jiangdong). Thus, they returned back (to base). Su managed to cross the river and meet (Sun) Ce. And Ce was utterly amazed.

Interesting times ahead for America? Currently, there are many Democrats vying for presidential candidacy. From Kamala Harris to Joe Biden, the DNC is surely starting to get competitive. So long we don't get to see Bernie Sanders getting yet another Montreal Screwjob, I'm perfectly fine with it. And by that, I mean it'd be a good thing to see Bernie Sanders attempting to become the first Jewish president in the history of the United States. After all, Obama was the first black president in the history of the United States. If you're good enough, race and gender is never an issue. Otherwise, you're just another Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu regardless of race, religion, gender, or even sexual orientation. Let alone political loyalty and ideology.

Rewind N years backwards and you got plenty of who's who declaring himself as "the best man to unify a chaotic nation full of chaotic people". This is NOT to say every one of them was useless and feckless. You have the useless and feckless ones like the two Yuans, Gongsun Zan, and Lu Bu, Not to mention that horny and sadistic dictator Dong Zhuo. But you have the capable ones as well. Just that they're part of the minority. You have Cao Cao and Sun Ce. Then you have Sun Quan and Liu Bei later on. Bummer Sun Jian died too early, though. The Tiger of Jiangdong was truly a patriotic tiger of a man.

It was during those times where not everyone knew who to vote for (figuratively speaking of course) that Johnny Lu Su decided to stage an exodus. Not that one starting from Egypt because Johnny Lu Su was no Moses Lu Su. But there's a problem. Imagine Katniss Everdeen of the Kat Brigade saying, "Johnny, we have a problem". And what was the problem? Enforcers of the law who got nothing better to do. Okay, that's a lie. Those people were under unreasonable orders to bring back the refugees. To Johnny Lu Su, however, it's persecution. No questions about it. Can you imagine the governments of Mexico, El Salvador, etc doing this? Unacceptable and unforgivable, I say! Put right what is wrong and fix what is broken if you want to one-up that white guy in the White House! Then if things still don't turn out right, at least it won't be your fault.

Back to Johnny Lu Su. Now there were two aspects of his strategy when it came to reasoning with the pursuers.

["You are men who should understand what is important."]

[“卿等丈夫，当解大数。”]

Right from the start, Johnny Lu Su sent a message of assurance minus the bending over. The situation was about being pursued, not the pursuers. It's like what I insanely did a few days ago.

["We are facing times of turmoil. Those with merit are not rewarded and those who relent (against the wicked) are not punished. So why are you persecuting us?"]

[“今日天下兵乱，有功弗赏，不追无罚，何为相逼乎？”]

Then Johnny Lu Su began his hairdryer treatment. Although granted he never called anyone a bastard, unlike Sir A.Fergie. Believe it or not, it's very easy to reason with people whose only sin was to follow unreasonable orders. By asking damning questions, Johnny Lu Su managed to convince the pursuers the absurdity of the situation.

1. 有功弗赏. It's like asking whether Russell Moore should be branded a liberal just because he's guilty of criticising what many conservatives are guilty of.

2. 不追无罚. It's like dismissing obscene talk as locker room banter just because people thought Donald Trump was a better man than Jonathan Edwards.

3. 何为相逼乎？No reason+no cause=why are you persecuting us? It's not as if Damascus was in China and the two rivers in China were called Euphrates and Tigris respectively.

Warning shots and why always Jiangdong

As if verbal reasoning wasn't enough an assurance, Johnny Lu Su pulled off something which could only be called crazy. Or in Singaporean language, sibeh siao.

1. He planted shields between his people and the pursuers instead of trying to fight back. It's like asking me why I preferred Reuters and The Christian Science Monitor to The Online Citizen and States Times Review.

2. He ordered the Kat Brigade to prove they can be equally badass, if not badder than the men pursuing them. Suffice to say, the Kat Brigade did not fail to impress and awe.

Yes, I know Johnny Lu Su was siao. Sibeh siao just like how my schoolmates during secondary school enjoyed calling me. But there's a reason why he did that.

1. The shields were Johnny Lu Su's way of telling the pursuers he did not want a conflict. Let alone casualties and bloodshed.

2. The Kat Brigade's awesome show of féminin badassery was Johnny Lu Su's way of warning his pursuers not to mistake goodwill for weakness.

Thankfully, the cavalry was nothing like your average radical left or far-right neighbour. Firstly, they actually agreed with Johnny Lu Su's logic. Secondly, there's no way (and reason) for them to stop their brethren's journey into Jiangdong. Note that the words 且度不能制 implied that the refugees were already nearer to Jiangdong than we'd think otherwise.

Which now comes to the question: Why always Jiangdong? It's like Super Mario asking a similar question.

Remember what I said about Johnny Lu Su's homeland? No need to scroll back up, just listen to what I'm going to say here: His homeland was effectively sandwiched between the Jing Province and Jiangdong.

In other words, he got two choices. Either to the Jing Province or Jiangdong. Back then, the Jing Province was extremely wealthy. So why Jiangdong? The answer should be very simple: He's not one thinking like a typical... well, Singaporean. He's not just after a decently comfortable life. If life is like fireworks going off, then Johnny Lu Su would never settle for anything less than the most beautiful show. This was what separated him from the typical... well, Singaporean. *shrugs* The decision to seek a better life was for his people, but the decision to move south instead of towards Jing Province was for himself.

So what was his future boss' brother's reaction?

Interestingly enough, the entire sequence of events quite obviously took place after he generously lavished Zhou Yu's army with more than enough grain. In fact, it was due to this first meeting that the two became close friends. Hence, the term 定侨、札之分. At the same time, Yuan Shu also heard of Johnny Lu Su. In chaotic times like this, getting a real talent was worth much more than having a group of foreign talents. However, there's always a rule to this kind of situation: In times of turmoil, the truly capable chooses his master, not the other way around. You live or die by your choice, you go boom or bust by your decision. For every Zhang Liang or Chen Ping, there'd be a Fan Zeng. For every Guo Jia, there'd be a Tian Feng or Ju Shou. Hence, the saying 能臣择主，良禽择木而栖. Long story short, Johnny Lu Su rejected Yuan Shu's job offer. This could also be another chief reason why the exodus started. Again, let us refer back to why Johnny Lu Su opted for Jiangdong instead of Jing Province.

Sun Ce wasn't just impressed. He was extremely impressed. It should be obvious that Zhou Yu put up a good word for his BFF. Recommendation letter+whatever happening recently=you're hired.

Before I end this Pt II

Let me just explain the logic behind Johnny Lu Su's manner of deployment. Going by common sense logic, it should be the Kat Brigade in front with the rest behind. The reality was the opposite. So why did Johnny Lu Su opted for this polarity switch? It's like asking me why I was crazy enough to pull this off.

Like how the intuitive approach would to consolidate and beat those salty Koreans in the maritime industry, the intuitive approach should be to place the soldiers in front. Now it must be stated that the soldiers were well-trained in artillery arts. In other words, any bandit brigade attacking the commoners would have to face a barrage of arrows. Since we're talking about ranged warfare, hail after hail of metal tipped projectiles would be an effective deterrence. After all, they're only after the money and... well, pretty girls.

At the same time, having the soldiers holding the rear also gave them an additional tactical edge apart from the one I mentioned just now. Namely, the possibility of pursuit from the local security. Since Johnny Lu Su was a genius strategist who enjoyed honing his talent (be it 4 teh lolz or not), he should have already predicted this. If you want to know what a two-pronged strategy looks like, look no further than this.

P.S: To explain why I suggested making friends with the salty Koreans instead of trying to win, let's see things this way. You have South Korea situated at the + and Singapore at the -. It's like visualising a geographic battery where having an edge in the relevant region's maritime industry is concerned. And besides, Moon Jae-in is now very gung-ho about the ASEAN region. Just don't ask me whether this will work.

To be continued...