novelraw Chapter 119: Information Trade
Chapter 119: Information Trade
Hearing these words, Li Wei nodded.
"You are correct. I have felt your sincerity. However, I believe the intelligence in my hands is extremely expensive, and exceedingly good value for money. Therefore, I want to use this intelligence as the price to join your alliance, and I require a guarantee that this alliance can be maintained for one month."
"As long as you all agree, then I promise to recount my experiences in Kakh City to the three of you in their entirety before tonight. You may even use some sort of item card to restrict me, to verify whether I am lying or holding anything back."
"Furthermore, in the coming months, I can also cooperate with you all. I won't refuse or oppose you doing your Title Tasks, but it must be within a reasonable scope. I believe this is the optimal strategy to reduce internal strife and most effectively develop the family!"
Li Wei spoke very sincerely, because he felt the Old John opposite him also spoke very sincerely. Additionally, he truly needed allies.
Yes, fighting alone held no hope.
Especially when there were formidable enemies outside, having someone hold you back was truly a massive pain in the balls.
At this time, upon hearing Li Wei's words, the Old John across from him looked at him seriously for a few seconds and nodded. He whispered a few sentences in a low voice. In the next moment, Fila's voice sounded from within Old John's hands; there was an unknown item card there.
"Little George, I too have felt sincerity from your words. I am also gratified that you can hold such a sincere attitude. Nowadays, there aren't many elementary schoolers as rational and capable as you, and most importantly, who can set their attitude straight."
"However, please forgive us, we also have our respective demands. The three of us are Freelance Players; our alliance can only be maintained until the end of this month. Therefore, we cannot allow you to join, much less make any promises to you. This is the truth. We harbor no personal enmity toward you, but the game mechanics are laid out right here. Competition might not be the sole means of resolution, but it is definitely the most suitable means between us.""The winner becomes a king, the loser a bandit; there's nothing much to say. I hope you can understand this point. Now, the three of us offer a fixed price: 10 Standard Gold Coins and 1000 arbitrary experience points, to buy all intelligence regarding Kakh City in your hands."
Good heavens, Fila seemingly also spoke very sincerely, and had quite her own reasons too.
Also, you say that the three of you are all Freelance Players?
Furthermore, are you all truly this confident?
Do you think the Kakh City instance that a recently graduated elementary schooler like me passed through completely unscathed is a bot instance? Something you can pass with your eyes closed?
This Fila was also somewhat arrogant.
"If that is the case, then I'm very sorry, Madam Fila, I must reject your proposal. Very clearly, we cannot persuade each other, and we hold different understandings of the trump cards both sides possess."
"Of course, adhering to a sincere attitude, I am willing to offer a negotiated cooperation version. Which is, since you are Freelance Players, why can't we form a new alliance centered around me? You assist me in becoming the Head of Household, and during the Monthly Main Tasks, I will tilt things in favor of your needs. Furthermore, I am still willing to freely and gratuitously gift the relevant intelligence to you all. How about it?"
Li Wei still carried the utmost sincerity, because he himself understood far too well just how precious the Kakh City intelligence in his hands was.
However, if he could persuade three Freelance Players to stand on his side, then it would all be worth it.
This equated to them holding four votes. They would have no fear of any Impeachment or Plot Kill from the opposing side!
Even if they weren't Freelance Players, Li Wei wouldn't lose anything, right?
This time, all three people on the other end fell silent. Penny had not uttered a single word from beginning to end. Meanwhile, Old John evaluated Li Wei with some surprise and curiosity, ultimately asking, "So, you genuinely believe that the intelligence and information you obtained on this trip to Kakh City is extraordinary?"
"Correct. I can directly reveal a little bit to you: It's regarding Witches!"
As a result, it would have been fine if Li Wei hadn't said it. But the moment he did, Old John began to laugh. "Young man, I can understand your candor. But you are not a Senior Player; you don't understand. When we joined this task, there were some background hints! This world indeed has Witches. If you think this can persuade us, then that is truly far too naive."
"So stop spouting childish words about alliances. We've already quoted a price; you can try counter-offering on your own!"
Yikes!
You three old birds truly possess a sort of enigmatic confidence! It seems you genuinely are Freelance Players.
Li Wei was left speechless. Ultimately he still shook his head. "Apologies, your offer is very sincere, but it's not enough. Since we can't reach an agreement, there's no need to discuss further."
"George, are you certain? Some intelligence has a time limit. You failed to complete the Table Salt purchasing task this month, so there's a very high probability the Head of Household next month will continue to issue the Special Task of purchasing Table Salt. Us being willing to buy the intelligence is actually quite fair to you already. That Sophie even wanted to seduce you into handing over the intelligence."
"How much do you think the intelligence you retain at this moment will still be worth by the end of next month?"
Penny, who had remained silent the entire time, also spoke up. Speaking truthfully, her words were very pertinent. Li Wei also held a quite favorable impression of this version's cheap sister.
However, some matters could not be compromised on.
He couldn't just directly tell everyone just to prove exactly how awesome this intelligence of his was.
"Thank you for the backpack you sewed for me previously, but Penny, I'm very sorry, I still insist on what I insist on."
"You're welcome. There should still be many opportunities for cooperation in the future. Actually, I do have a small request. I hope you'll focus on planting castor next month; this is a very important matter for a Three-Star Tailor like me."
"Of course, regardless of whether we reached an agreement this time or not, right here, I can represent myself to guarantee that I will not initiate a Plot Kill against you tonight, nor will I vote on any Plot Kill concerning you. As an equivalent exchange, I hope you also won't initiate a Plot Kill against me or vote against me."
Penny was actually quite reasonable.
"Naturally, I can guarantee it." Li Wei smiled. He didn't care whether the other party was lying or not, because his hand of cards was the biggest. This sort of conversation and negotiation right now were actually all probes to understand whether the two sides could cooperate deeply.
"Then let's leave it at that. It's very regrettable we failed to reach a cooperation, but if there's an opportunity in the future, it'll be the same."
At this time, Old John smiled faintly, canceled the Conspiracy state, and directly departed.
And roughly half an hour later, Braised Egg Pete walked over holding a sharp sickle; his objective was self-evident.
Sure enough, the moment Braised Egg Pete drew near, a One-Star Conspiracy Card was activated.
"You aren't afraid of being eavesdropped on?" Li Wei asked routinely, because Fila, Penny, and Old John were all currently within fifty meters.
"Hehe, these are all open cards, what is there to eavesdrop on? I'm fundamentally not afraid either!"
"I've come for two matters. First, I wish to reach an agreement with you: I won't vote for you, and you won't vote for me. I am also a Freelance Player. I don't have a Title Task, so I also hold no interest in focusing fire on a little rookie like you. However, those three—Leon, Clyde, and Sophie—are very likely to be a group. They very likely have Title Tasks on them. I have to be careful of them, and you also have to be careful of them."
Eh, you also say you're a Freelance Player? Fine, I'll believe you for the time being.
"Alright, I agree. I promise I will not be the first to initiate a Plot Kill vote against you, and I will uniformly oppose any votes targeting you. This is my promise. So your second matter is to purchase intelligence? Regrettably, I don't wish to sell it to you. Otherwise, I would have already cooperated with those three just now." Li Wei refused very resolutely.
Braised Egg Pete, however, chuckled.
"Hehe! Little brother, what are you anxious for? Come look at this."
While speaking, he had already pulled out a blue item card.
Li Wei took it to look, and was immediately taken aback.
[One-Star Information Fair Trade Card. Instructions: Please compile the information and intelligence you deem appropriate and inject it into this card. The other party must consume gold coins and cards to view the information and intelligence. A 10% information evaluation fee is charged per piece of information. If the seller approves of the price given after evaluation, the transaction may proceed. The evaluation fee is borne equally by both parties to the transaction.]
My, this Braised Egg Pete really knew how to play tricks.
So looking at it right now, this braised egg was actually the most sincere one when it came to purchasing intelligence.
Sophie purely wanted to seduce him, and wouldn't even invest heavily—charging meat prices for vegetable dishes, treating him like a second-rate fool.
As for Fila, Old John, and Penny, they were like the family's three stooges.
It seemed impossible for anyone else to come purchase intelligence. Intelligence rotting in one's hands held no value.
After pondering for a moment, Li Wei provided the first piece of intelligence into this Information Trade Card—'Entering Kakh City requires identity verification; I precisely killed a two-star mutated blood wolf and used its head as bounty loot to obtain the qualifications to enter Kakh City.'
In the next second, a faint blue glow lit up on this Trade Card. In the blink of an eye, a line of information emerged before his eyes.
[Evaluating Intelligence: Based on the difficulty and features of the current Monthly Main Task, the selling price of this piece of information is 5 Standard Gold Coins or 1 Profession Card.]
"I'll buy it!"
Braised Egg Pete directly tossed Li Wei a One-Star Chef Card!
Evidently, he had also simultaneously paid 5 silver coins as the evaluation fee.
Interesting. Selling it separately like this was far more cost-effective than selling it bundled.
Immediately, Li Wei provided the second piece of intelligence—'I once encountered a black-robed Witch riding a mutated blood wolf. She had three blood wolves, and a massive crow capable of monitoring the mountain forest. I severely injured her previously, so she might key in on monitoring the mountain forest north of Kakh City next. I luckily escaped with my life; I don't know who will be unlucky next.'
The blue light flashed, evaluation complete.
[Based on the current task, the selling price of this piece of information is 10 Standard Gold Coins or 2 Profession Cards.]
"I'll buy it. Little brother, your intelligence is indeed highly valuable!"
Braised Egg Pete was very excited, directly handing over 10 Standard Gold Coins. Indeed, these two pieces of information/intelligence practically determined whether or not one could safely arrive at Kakh City, as well as the method to enter Kakh City.
This time around, Li Wei paid one gold coin as the evaluation fee.
And he was also very happy. For two pieces of information, he gained roughly 15 gold coins. Like this, even if they couldn't form an alliance, he wouldn't suffer a loss.
As for the third piece of information, Li Wei thought for a moment, and then handed over the Snow Mountain clue provided by the inn's landlady—'I believe the black-robed Witch's lair is in the Snow Mountain, though I don't know exactly which Snow Mountain. Additionally, the source of the Witches seems to be related to the Kakh Family. Moreover, the Kakh Family seemingly possesses a method capable of confirming whether someone is a Witch or not.'
[Based on the difficulty of the current task, the selling price of this piece of information is 20 Standard Gold Coins or 4 One-Star Profession Cards!]