Players, Please Board the Train

Chapter 324: Situation

The matter of establishing a player organization was decided amidst the lively back-and-forth banter of the group.

"From now on, we shall be called the Sunflower Squad! To the founding of the Sunflower Squad, cheers!" Yuan Yao raised his glass in the restaurant's private room.

"Cheers!" everyone followed suit, raising their glasses, their faces beaming with joy and smiles that went without saying.

Xu Huo drank two rounds with Yuan Yao and Hu Wenhu before the two of them started competing in drinking on their own.

"Never thought it'd be so hard to get drunk after evolution," he remarked while smoking by the window. Zhou Ning approached with two bottles of liquor and casually handed one to him.

Xu Huo took it and asked offhandedly, "How many more dungeons do you need to reach D-grade?"

"Quite a few," Zhou Ning said. "The dungeons I did before had too low a rating. The lower the rating, the more dungeons you need. You must have reached D-grade already, right? Are you planning to stay in the dungeon world long-term?"

"I heard that after reaching D-grade, you can enter the dungeon world early, as long as you participate in a dungeon before its final deadline."

Xu Huo took a sip of liquor. "The best way to understand the game world is to immerse yourself in it. Staying on the outside gives you limited knowledge."

Zhou Ning paused for a moment before nodding. "That's true. Like E-grade players and the current Zone 014, they don't even have the qualification to set foot in other dungeon worlds. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been beaten so badly by players from other zones.""Although the outcome of this matter had its pros and cons, I sometimes think, how nice it would have been if we hadn't evolved. The peaceful, boring life we used to think we had is now a luxury."

"Maybe one day in the future, Zone 014 will return to how it was before," Xu Huo said. "When high-level players and super players appear, and the evolution of game partitions becomes more complete, this world will also, like several transformations in history, slowly move towards the light."

"Does thinking like this make you feel hopeful?" He turned his head and smiled at her.

Zhou Ning chuckled. "I hadn't thought that far ahead... but what you say makes sense."

The few people nearby overheard their conversation. Shen Xin said, "Our generation might not manage it, but the next generation, or the one after that, will definitely be able to do it!"

"You're stretching it way too far! I don't even have a next generation yet!" Yuan Yao stood on a chair, his spirit soaring to the heavens. "We'll do it ourselves! We'll make all the other partitions submit obediently!"

The others laughed. Hu Wenhu pulled him down. "Are you even capable?"

"Whether we're capable or not, we have to do it!" Yuan Yao stepped onto the table. "When I become a high-level player, I'll definitely capture all those players from other zones and whip them one by one until they submit!"

His words made the expressions of those present turn complex. Their player levels were too low. They didn't even know if they could survive long enough to reach D-grade, so they didn't dare dream of the future, nor dare speak the word 'revenge' aloud. But hearing Yuan Yao say it like this made it seem not so difficult after all.

"That's right!" Yan Jiayu slapped the table and raised her glass high. "Not only will we take down the players from other zones, I'll also take down the game itself! Let them taste the bitterness of lifting a stone only to drop it on their own feet!"

"Right!"

"Exactly!"

"Sister Jiayu speaks well!"

Several people chimed in, some climbing onto tables, others onto chairs. The noise startled the server outside, who came with the manager. Seeing them holding liquor bottles, faces red and necks thick, they thought they were drunk and about to start a fight, and quickly called people to pull them apart. Even guests from the neighboring private room came to watch the commotion.

They weren't actually drunk. After being watched by the crowd, they sheepishly got down from the furniture and went to settle the bill.

Just as the group was about to leave, the door opposite opened. The first person to step out opened his mouth with a sneer, "I wondered who was howling like ghosts and wolves. So it's you, Xu Huo."

Xu Huo glanced at the other person. "Your ears are going deaf before you've even gotten old. Your future looks bleak."

Zheng Liang reflexively bristled, but immediately restrained himself, snorting, "Sister Gu Yu was worried you'd be devoured alive. Seems you're having a pretty good time."

"Zheng Liang." Gu Yu walked out from behind him, greeting them with a smiling face.

Shen Xin was closer to Gu Yu, so she asked, "Sister Gu Yu, what brings you to Ting City?"

"A bit of private business. What a coincidence running into you all. If you have time, how about a drink together?" Gu Yu looked at Xu Huo.

"Next time," Xu Huo said. "I have things to do and need to leave first."

Gu Yu didn't show disappointment. "Alright, we'll talk next time then."

The two groups bid farewell. After walking out of the restaurant, Shen Xin whispered, "Sister Gu Yu coming with Zheng Liang is definitely not for something small. I wonder what they're here for."

"It couldn't be targeting Brother Xu, could it?" Yuan Yao said. "They know Brother Xu. Could they be causing trouble for us over the evolution matter?"

"When there's profit to be gained, some people have no bottom line," Zhou Ning said gravely. "I'll follow them and see what they're up to."

Xu Huo stopped her. "No need. They might not necessarily be targeting me. Even if they are, we can deal with it when they come knocking."

Gu Yu and Zheng Liang indeed weren't there for Xu Huo, but rather for the matter of the Players Association signing a contract with the Special Defense Department.

The Players Association wasn't a player organization recognized by all players;

they just wrote an association name for themselves. But they had many people;

it was said they already had close to a hundred members.

To be able to rally over a hundred players in such a short time and seek cooperation with the authorities—if they once became a player organization recognized by the Special Defense Department, besides absorbing even more players, it would also be a blow to the survival environment of other player organizations. After all, having an official stamp would also gain recognition from the general public, while other player organizations might be labeled "illegal."

They established a player organization to allow players to move about in the open. If they let the Players Association and the Special Defense Department succeed, they would be very passive.

So besides Gu Yu and her group, representatives from many other player organizations had also come to Ting City, openly or covertly.

Of course, they weren't there to cause trouble either. Their strength was what it was. If they wanted to cause trouble, they'd have to weigh whether they could avoid capture by the Special Defense Department. Therefore, they came firstly to observe, and secondly to seek an opportunity to get an official stamp.

Previously, the Special Defense Department's attitude towards players was: either you join, or we just monitor you. Unless the relationship was special, ordinary player organizations wouldn't get support from the Special Defense Department. This time, with the Players Association signing a contract with the Special Defense Department, they would undoubtedly receive state support afterward.

Not to mention items and train tickets, the most tempting thing was the evolution agent. The state was already researching it, and the Special Defense Department's stockpile was certainly larger than any player organization's. If they followed the Players Association's example, maybe they could get help in critical times.

Inside the First Research Institute, Nie Xuan handed a roster to Team Leader Wu. "This is the registered player information and organization names from the incoming calls. Most of them want to sign contracts with the Special Defense Department like the Players Association."

"Are these people idiots? The Players Association has so many players;

you can run but you can't hide the temple. But those small groups of three or five? They take the benefits and run, where would you even find them? And they're prone to being wiped out in dungeons. The Special Defense Department wouldn't even recover its costs." A middle-aged man with a slicked-back hairstyle next to them said angrily.