“Crushing power, crushing wealth, and now even crushing them in the war of public opinion… The Anti-Black Feather Alliance didn't lose unfairly.”
“The fruits of victory aren't easy to pick. Now that Black Feather has finished this battle, are they going to recruit again? Crow, look at me!”
“Me too! Me too! Hehe, I want to join Black Feather too!”
Everyone had expected a bitter struggle, but Black Feather had won with such ease.
With so many people begging to join, it was as if becoming a member of Black Feather was some kind of glorious achievement for their ancestors.
Looking at the comments in the regional channel, Miaomiao and the others felt their guts turning with regret.
But they had already withdrawn, and had even paid an insulting 250-unit material fee to do so. To go back now and beg… wouldn't that just be slapping their own faces?
Besides, even if they wanted to return, Black Feather might not want them. No matter how much they regretted it, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and swallow it.
As for Cheng Shuili, everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
Apart from those few partition announcements, Cheng Shuili was completely unaware of what had been happening in the regional channel.
She was currently busy visiting Black Feather’s new territories one by one and simply couldn't spare the time.
Except for the first two factions, the others had been on guard.
But who could defend themselves when a system warning popped up one second, and a rocket shell came whistling in with a smoke trail the next?
On top of that, while Cheng Shuili’s aim with firearms wasn't perfect, her rocket launcher was dead on target every single time!
Even though these people claimed to be prepared, it was as if they hadn't been at all.
The faction leaders were all ashen-faced, waiting for the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads to fall.
Cheng Shuili didn't know, nor did she care, how they felt or what they had done.
All she cared about were the shells packed inside the Abyss Ring.
After all, they cost 1,000 game coins apiece.
Even though they were incredibly effective, Cheng Shuili couldn't bring herself to smile whenever she thought about how her account balance dropped by a thousand coins every time she pulled the trigger.
Even though she was quite wealthy now, she couldn't afford to burn through money like this!
And...
This battle was almost purely a show of force. Aside from the territories that merged into Black Feather and the meager supplies in those factions' warehouses, there was no other loot.
Those items weren't even worth as much as the shells, so how could Cheng Shuili not feel the pinch?
She stood in the center of the Chi Bao He Bao Shui Jue Jue territory. Beneath her feet was the scorched earth left by the explosions, and the rocket launcher on her shoulder still radiated residual heat. The smell of gunpowder mixed with the scent of dust was somewhat choking.
This faction was dealt with; it was time for the next target.
After a leader died, the faction would automatically disband, and their territory would be absorbed into the victor's faction.
Players not currently in the territory were unaffected, but those inside were miserable. They were instantly flagged as “captives” by the system and marked with a “confined” status, waiting for the victor’s faction to come and process them.
It was precisely because of this that even after Cheng Shuili and Su Rui had finished off all the hostile factions, the regional channel was still guessing what Black Feather’s secret weapon could be.
When Cheng Shuili’s figure appeared in Black Feather’s territory, she was greeted by deafening cheers.
“The Boss is back!”
“It’s over! We took down several factions with ease without losing a single soldier!”
“We are just too strong!”
“We won! We won!”
“Long live Black Feather! Long live Boss Crow!”
The members left behind to defend surged forward, their faces radiant with the joy of victory and adoration for Cheng Shuili.
Xinxue squeezed through the crowd to get inside. Although it was a difficult struggle, she also wore a relaxed smile.
After meeting Cheng Shuili’s gaze, she reported: “The situation in the regional channel has been brought under control. Also, there are simply too many people applying to join us; the notification sounds for my private messages haven't stopped.”
Standing to the side, Qi Wanyi and the others couldn't help but nod upon hearing this.
Everyone knew they were with Crow and were eligible to enter Black Feather, so who else would they message?
Cheng Shuili nodded and unloaded the heavy rocket launcher from her shoulder, handing it off to a member who had been watching with wide, longing eyes, before she finally spoke: “Thank you all for guarding the home base. None of our people are missing, right?”
“No!”
The crowd replied in unison, their voices filled with pride.
This Q&A session felt a bit like a kindergarten teacher educating primary school students...
She suppressed the inappropriate thought, cleared her throat, and said: “Very good, everyone has worked hard. Tonight, there will be no contribution point cost for meals in the communal canteen. Everyone, eat your fill. Consider it a victory banquet!”
As soon as Cheng Shuili finished speaking, an even more enthusiastic cheer erupted on the scene.
“Long live the Boss!”
“Extra food tonight!”
“Victory banquet! Victory banquet!”
“I’ve been craving Sister Wanyi’s cooking for a long time!”
“Hahaha, this is great!”
Watching the excited crowd, a faint smile appeared on Cheng Shuili’s face.
She raised her hand, signaling for everyone to quiet down: “Alright, stop crowding around. Get back to what you were doing. Su Rui, come with me.”
After she finished, she took two steps before suddenly turning back to call Ailin over.
The battle was over, that was true, but she still hadn't figured out the cause of the conflict.
Taking Su Rui and Ailin with her, she was, of course, going to interrogate the captives from the various factions!
The two would act separately, each conducting an interrogation round before returning to verify the information with Cheng Shuili.
The three sat at a table in the warehouse, feeling particularly secure while guarding their supplies to discuss these matters.
“The people from Mao Zhua Rui Li said that Ling Yun approached their leader, which is how they joined the alliance.”
“The people from Chu Tiankuo said the same.”
“I asked the remaining factions, and they all said the same thing.”
“It seems Ling Yun was the one leading this.”
After saying this, Ailin sighed with a touch of regret, “So young, and yet so foolish. Of all the people to provoke, they had to provoke our Boss.”
Su Rui was in complete agreement.
The two shared their thoughts on the matter for a moment before seeming to notice Cheng Shuili again, asking: “Boss, is there anything else you want to ask?”
Cheng Shuili: “...”
The two of them were truly insufferable.
However...
Cheng Shuili pressed a hand to her lips. She felt there was something strange about this.
Just now, while the two of them were interrogating the captives, she had also asked 001 to check Ling Yun’s statements in the regional channel.
Although this person had some minor cleverness and was good at inciting people, based on his past remarks and style of conduct, he didn't seem like the type to have the charisma to organize an alliance of this scale, nor the willingness to stand out as the first target.
Cheng Shuili pondered for a moment and said: “Ling Yun does not look like the mastermind. He looks more like a puppet pushed to the front.”
She fell silent for a moment, then asked: “When you were interrogating them, did anyone mention other factions? Especially… those ranked lower than us?”
Su Rui and Ailin exchanged glances and shook their heads.
Ailin thought for a moment and couldn't help but ask: “Boss… there aren't any factions ranked higher than us, are there?”
That was true, but Cheng Shuili meant the obscure, small-time factions.
She didn't answer. Ailin added: “The captives were very consistent; they all said Ling Yun took the initiative to contact them. When asked about the details of the cooperation or anything else, they all claimed to be in the dark.”
Su Rui continued: “They really don't seem to know. A low-level executive from Chentian even told me that their alliance appeared very suddenly; they were essentially prepared last night and came to declare war early this morning.”
“That makes it even stranger, doesn't it?” Cheng Shuili mused, “Since when is cooperation so easy to negotiate? If they were willing to do this, they must have felt it was achievable. Since they thought it was achievable, they naturally would have discussed how to split the spoils of success in advance.”
Cheng Shuili looked up at the two: “Did they not even discuss these things?”
Upon hearing this, Su Rui and Ailin’s expressions turned serious.
Su Rui carefully recalled the interrogation process and shook her head firmly: “No. I asked about the distribution of loot. The captive from Chu Tiankuo said Ling Yun only promised that he would never let anyone suffer a loss, claiming it would be distributed based on contribution and losses, but there was no concrete plan.”
Ailin also nodded in agreement: “The few factions I asked said similar things. Those leaders seemed to trust Ling Yun very much.”
At this point, Cheng Shuili could no longer sit still.
She stood up and looked at the two: “Let’s go. We’re going to ask that group of captives from Yunye to see what exactly is going on.”
Cheng Shuili led Su Rui and Ailin straight to the Yunye territory.
These former core members were utterly dejected, and several of them still bore burns and scrapes from the rocket launcher explosions.
Their eyes were hollow; clearly, they hadn't recovered from the shock of their leader’s sudden death and the instantaneous collapse of their faction.
Cheng Shuili didn't waste words. Her gaze locked directly onto a minor leader pointed out by Su Rui, and she asked: “What benefits did Ling Yun promise the other factions? What was the specific distribution plan?”
The minor leader looked up, his face a mix of fear and numbness. Having already been tortured, he was now ready to answer everything: “...Boss Ling Yun said that as long as we took down Black Feather, resources… would be distributed according to contribution. He… he wouldn't treat anyone unfairly…”
“Tell the truth.”
Cheng Shuili interrupted coldly, “Who would believe such empty promises? And to not even ask about the specifics of how it would be divided or what would be divided? Do you take me for a fool?”
The minor leader’s lips trembled, but he said nothing. His eyes, however, subconsciously flickered toward a captive nearby who wore glasses and looked like a clerical worker.
This subtle movement didn't escape Cheng Shuili’s eyes.
She immediately turned to the “bespectacled man,” her tone brooks no argument: “You speak.”
The bespectacled man shuddered, his voice weak: “I… I don't know…”
“You don't know?” Ailin stepped forward, her finger seemingly brushing unintentionally against the dagger hanging at her waist, “Is it that you don't know, or that you don't want to say? Think about Ling Yun’s end. Do you think your life is tougher than his?”
The bespectacled man’s face turned paper-white instantly, and cold sweat poured down. His psychological defenses collapsed completely in the face of absolute martial deterrence and the threat of death.
“I… I’ll talk! Boss Ling Yun… Ling Yun he… he was just a participant too! He wasn't the initiator at all! Because I was a clerk by the Boss’s side and handled the accounting, the Boss wouldn't hide some of his deals from me. But… but this deal alone…”
“This deal alone, the Boss was extremely secretive about, only saying that… it was brokered by a Big Shot!”
The bespectacled man’s voice was choked with sobs, almost shouting, “He even said there was definite news that the next server merge wouldn't be a small partition of ten thousand people, but a massive server merge of one million or even an entire grand region! That Big Shot promised him that as long as this was handled well, they would help our Yunye with everything they had after the merge!”
He finished speaking in fragments, then couldn't help but cry out: “I really don't know the specific details! The Boss didn't say much. I just know that the Boss was used by someone else too!”
“Server merge? Grand region merge?”
Cheng Shuili keenly captured this key information.
If this news were true, it would be a major change that would affect the entire faction landscape!
No wonder Ling Yun dared to take such a risk; it was actually connected to such a future plan behind the scenes.
“Who is that Big Shot?”
Su Rui followed up closely.
“I… I really don't know!”
The bespectacled man was covered in tears and snot, “The Boss only said that although the other party is obscure right now, as long as the server merges, he will be a pivotal figure, not someone we could imagine now! It’s precisely because he is down on his luck now that we have this opportunity!”
A pivotal figure, down on his luck right now…
And it was something that would only manifest its high status after the server merge.
Cheng Shuili frowned slightly, then suddenly relaxed. There really was one person who fit this description.
But the bespectacled man hadn't been clear, and Cheng Shuili only had a guess. To determine if her guess was correct, she had to lure the snake out of its hole!
“Assign people to watch them closely.”
Cheng Shuili gave an order to Ailin, her tone already returned to calm, as if the shocking news hadn't stirred up much of a ripple in her heart.
She turned and gestured for Su Rui to follow. The two left the place where the captives were being held.
After walking a distance to ensure no one was around, Su Rui lowered her voice: “Boss, do you think the news about the server merge is true?”
“Nine times out of ten, it’s true.”
Cheng Shuili interrupted her, “The other party threw out such a long-term and specific bait; it doesn't seem like it came from nowhere. Just looking at the alliance Ling Yun pulled together and their statements in the regional channel, one can see that this person isn't stupid.”
Having said this, Cheng Shuili felt a bit emotional, “If we didn't have a big killer weapon like the rocket launcher, I’m afraid the public opinion crisis in the regional channel wouldn't have been so easy to resolve. I suspect that even if we won, I would have had to wear the hat of a leader who mistreats her subordinates from now on.”
Su Rui disagreed, “Even without the rocket launcher, our Black Feather members would have been able to kill their way through.”
Cheng Shuili shook her head and continued: “For someone like Ling Yun, if that Big Shot hadn't produced some concrete evidence, he wouldn't have been moved to do things for him. So this matter must be true.”
Su Rui nodded, in complete agreement with Cheng Shuili’s words, but didn't ask anything else.
This person was never one to talk much. Cheng Shuili was already surprised that she had been willing to ask so much today.
The two returned to Black Feather’s territory. Cheng Shuili waved her hand, telling Su Rui to call Xinxue over.
If they wanted to stir up trouble in the regional channel, they couldn't do without Xinxue’s water army.
Rate on N.U.
