novelraw Chapter 646 484 Word Games_2
Chapter 646 484 Word Games_2
"Exactly, exactly, why so serious?" Tang Qianzang nodded repeatedly in agreement on the side.
Li Zheng and Liu Qi turned their heads to look at him and sneered, "Are you a parrot?"
This guy was too slick, always waiting for Liu Qi to speak first, then pretending to put on airs from the side, a standard slacker mindset.
Feeling the sting of their remarks, Tang Qianzang sheepishly closed his mouth.
"Let's do it this way, don't say your brother is too serious. You all know the difficulties at Starting Point; we are understaffed compared to your large corps."
"We are no big corps. You've been topping the corps ranking at Starting Point for several days now..."
"Shut up!" Li Zheng pointed at Tang Qianzang to stop him, stifling the rest of his flattering words.
It was true that Li Zheng preferred softness over hardness, but he didn't just accept everyone's softness.
Tang Qianzang, this old slickster, couldn't compare to a fragrant girl like Zhou Shufen.
Glaring at a dejected and silenced Tang Qianzang, Li Zheng continued, "You can enter the Lava Mountain Range, but I have two plans for you, one paid and one free. It's up to you how to choose."
"There's even a free plan?"
Liu Qi's eyes brightened; indeed, waving the compatriot flag made things easier, and old Li actually fell for it!
"Of course, it's the second plan just for the sake of both your families; others would only get the option to pay!"
Li Zheng's mouth curved into a slight smile. Those familiar with him knew that whenever this smile appeared, he was thinking of ways to make money again.
Liu Qi's subordinate behind him realized something was amiss and seriously reminded Liu Qi, "Major, don't take it lightly! There's a saying that 'Free things are the most expensive.' Let's choose the paid plan!"
Liu Qi slightly leaned back and understood this logic as well.
He pondered for a moment and asked, "Can you elaborate a bit on these two plans?"
Liu Qi ultimately decided to first hear Li Zheng's explanation of the two plans before making a choice.
"Simple!"
Li Zheng laughed and said, "As for the so-called paid plan, I'll give your two corps a 10% discount; you can enter for nine points each per hour."
"And what about the free plan?" Tang Qianzang couldn't help but ask.
"The free plan is even simpler."
Li Zheng's eyes squinted from smiling: "The Lava Mountain Range opens wide to the Kunlun and Nine Heavens corps, completely free of charge! You can bring as many people as you want, stay as long as you wish!"
"Even your subsidiary small corps can join, as many people as you like can come in. As long as you both guarantee that they will behave, I can let them in!"
After hearing the free plan, the two looked at each other in disbelief, was there really such a good deal?
"Of course, while enjoying the benefits, the two corps must also make a tiny sacrifice." Li Zheng's fox tail began to show.
Liu Qi and his companion held their breath, thinking there were indeed additional conditions!
Neither of them interrupted, waiting for Li Zheng to naturally reveal more.
"I need Kunlun and Nine Heavens to join forces, at all costs, to hold off the Endless Ocean's Boss for 30 seconds!" Li Zheng raised three fingers, clearly announcing the final condition.
Holding off the Endless Ocean's Boss for 30 seconds!
Hearing this condition, Liu Qi, Tang Qianzang, and everyone behind them all collectively held their breath for a moment.
The subtext of Li Zheng's words was that he intended to lead the charge against the Boss!
And the mission of Kunlun and Nine Heavens was to act as cannon fodder to sacrifice themselves!
"No way!"
Before Liu Qi could speak, his subordinate resolutely said, "Our Kunlun warriors are willing to shed blood and tears, but this meaningless suffering, there's no need for the warriors to endure!"
This event wouldn't cause real deaths, but the pain of being beaten into white light was real, that feeling of being on the edge of life and death, the subordinate had experienced it once not long ago.
Pain deep into the bone marrow!
Once you've experienced it, it's hard to muster the courage to go through it again.
This is also why, knowing the Boss can be deadly, most players still choose to negotiate with Li Zheng first.
They truly do not want to experience 'death' again.
"Let us... discuss this."
"Go ahead."
Liu Qi did not make a decision on the spot. He turned to bring his emotional subordinate and the silent Tang Qianzang to a corner.
"Major, let's choose the first plan, it's just points, the brothers can always earn them back, right?" The subordinate was the first to speak, almost pleading with Liu Qi.
"We can earn them back."
Liu Qi did not deny his subordinate's perspective, "But have you considered, apart from the points we are about to pay Li Zheng, we also have debts incurred at the Merchant for buying fishing equipment at the start of the event?"
The fishing competition has only been going on for over an hour, but the actual fishing time was just the first half-hour; the rest of the time was spent in frozen Transfer Space.
At the start of the event, all corps, for the convenience of fishing, bought a large amount of equipment on credit from the Fishing Equipment Merchant, accumulating significant points debt.
Some temporarily created first-level corps with only 500 people didn't owe much. If they didn't purchase the expensive tools introduced later, perhaps their half-hour of harvest could cover the debt.
But Kunlun and Nine Heavens aimed for victory from the start, so when the Merchant introduced expensive tools, they almost entirely reinvested their initial earnings.
If they don't compromise with Li Zheng, by the end of the event, not only will they have nothing to show, but they'll also owe a lot for tool debts, a lose-lose situation.
"It's just points, right? With the points we give Li Zheng later, if the brothers work a bit harder, we can pay it off in at most three hours, right?" The subordinate pleaded.
"Three hours..."
Liu Qi worriedly said, "Who can guarantee that within these three hours, another Boss won't appear?"
"Exactly." Tang Qianzang nodded in agreement, "The Boss also means that, even after half an hour, the terminal released a Boss. There are still more than twenty hours to go; who knows how many waves of Bosses are waiting for us?"
"And for now, among the players, only Li Zheng seems capable of effectively dealing damage to the Boss, quickly killing the Boss."
"If we try to tackle the Boss ourselves, the difficulty will be much higher, and the sacrifices will exceed our imagination."
"But... with Li Zheng, even if another Boss appears in the Lava Mountain Range, what of it? Can't he kill them the moment they appear?" The subordinate thought that if they paid Li Zheng the points, as a trading partner, ensuring customer safety shouldn't be an issue, right?
"You're too young." Tang Qianzang was speechless, when Li Zheng released and killed the Boss, there was a group of Nine Heavens members nearby who witnessed it and told him.
The Lava Mountain Range's current state was Li Zheng's doing.
As a 'Merchant,' with such a great way to make money, how could Li Zheng do it only once?
"Think again, did Li Zheng say the paid plan would last the entire event?" Tang Qianzang reminded the subordinate, "On the contrary, when he talked about the free plan, Li Zheng mentioned 'stay as long as you want.' Do you think someone like Li Zheng would make casual promises without purpose?"
"This..."
The subordinate recalled and realized Li Zheng's words were all traps!
For a moment, his face turned sour.
On a normal day, he could easily see through such simple textual traps in an instant.
But this time, it involved the physical and mental health of all Kunlun warriors, clouding his judgment and preventing him from spotting it immediately.
"However..."
Tang Qianzang began to smile mysteriously, "Success lies in wordplay; failure lies in wordplay. I have a plan, if it goes well, maybe our two families can not only clear the previous debts but even profit handsomely, thanks to Li Zheng?"
"Oh?"
Liu Qi leaned closer to Tang Qianzang, intrigued, "Tell me more!"
...
"Aren't you afraid they'll bring in other small corps with low-cost points with the promises you just made?" Zhan Zhouzhou asked in a lowered voice beside Li Zheng.
"Hehe." Li Zheng remained expressionless, maintaining a smile on his face, looking over towards Liu Qi and the others, "If I didn't say so, how else would they agree to help me strategize against the Boss?"