The Abyss Hometown

Its trafficking had indeed made her suffer quite a bit, but if it weren't for it, Su Rui would likely still be following the bastard who turned her into a slave.

Looking at it that way, meeting it was a good thing, but Su Rui still felt disgusted in her heart.

But if the boss agreed, she didn't really have any objections.

Cheng Shuili’s expression was ambiguous, a half-smile on her face as she asked in return, "Are you saying you want to follow me?"

The monster merchant thought it had a chance, its gaze becoming even more sincere as it nodded repeatedly. "Lord of the territory! As long as you are willing to take me in, I will definitely bring you huge profits!"

The more eager it was, the more Cheng Shuili felt something was wrong.

Cheng Shuili had previously considered that among the four special buildings, three belonged to the Rat King, and only this gas station was considered an abandoned building.

And the monster merchant just happened to appear at the gas station.

Cheng Shuili couldn't deduce other things, but she could be certain of one point:

This monster merchant was definitely not working for the Rat King.

In that case, this matter became very interesting.

"Why do you want to join the safe zone I created?"

Cheng Shuili asked quite reasonably, looking like a qualified leader evaluating whether a candidate was qualified to join her territory.

The monster merchant saw hope and hurriedly said respectfully, "It's like this, boss!"

It changed its address really fast, but Cheng Shuili didn't say much about it.

"You know, this is a gas station. A gas station is an abandoned building; it doesn't belong to any leader, nor does it belong to any race. This means that creatures of no race can come here at any time."

Cheng Shuili quickly realized the key point in this sentence: "Creatures of no race can come here at any time? What do you mean?"

The monster merchant didn't expect this new leader to be unclear about such things, but since leaders who could create safe zones in this godforsaken place were few and far between, it could only accompany her with a smile and explain, "Safe zones are all like this. Creatures of the same race as the leader can enter the safe zone at any time according to the conditions set by the leader."

So that was it.

Ever since the conditions were set, Cheng Shuili's account had been showing a constant stream of income. She had originally thought it was the people in the faction who were paying game coins, but looking at it this way...

The players of the entire server were actually wandering around in Black Feather's territory?!

After this thought appeared in her mind, Cheng Shuili immediately opened the regional channel. As expected, it was full of discussions about the Black Feather territory.

"As expected of a faction that took the Crown of the Cutting Edge, isn't this territory too big? How much rent does Boss Crow pay a month?!"

"I said from the beginning that I wanted to join Black Feather! You all blocked me, and now that Black Feather is getting more and more impressive, who will compensate me?!"

"Not a friend, but who was it that blocked you?"

"Those interviewers from Black Feather."

"..."

"I just paid 100 game coins to get in. Why didn't anyone say it was full of people? I feel like the whole server is here, black, white, yellow! They're going to squeeze me into a human pancake!"

"What is there to visit? You even need a ticket! Besides the main building being a bit grand, there's nothing else worth looking at, right?"

"It's like you've all seen complete faction buildings. My boss has been raising funds for so long and hasn't even built all the buildings. I can only say Boss Crow is still too powerful."

"This safe zone being crowded all the time isn't a solution. These 100 game coins were a waste; I'll wait until tomorrow to come back!"

"Has no one noticed those fields in Black Feather? I think the crops are almost ripe, right? Black Feather is already this wealthy now; I don't dare imagine how wealthy Black Feather will be when the time comes."

"So that's it. I was wondering what those people from other sub-regions were jealous of; it turns out they were jealous of Black Feather's wealth!"

"The safe zones established by our own people are just different, huh? You have to pass by the beastman town and the trading post to enter; it's too dependent on chance. The safe zone of our own people can be entered at any time, it's great! I've already started looking forward to Boss Crow building complete facilities. It will really be much more convenient for medical care and buying things. This is a matter of benefiting all mankind!"

"Hey, it's true to say that, but it's hard, really hard."

"I think so too. I can feel how complicated this is just by thinking about it, but Boss Crow has to do it herself. Seriously, among so many bosses, I only recognize Angry Crow Takes Flight."

"Fun fact, she doesn't care if you recognize her at all."

In short, they were all astonished by the size of the Black Feather territory.

Cheng Shuili breathed a sigh of relief. After all, there were no buildings and no facilities right now; everything in the territory served the faction members themselves.

Whether it was building a trading post or a comprehensive city like the beastman town, Black Feather was still far behind.

Although she had the qualification, Black Feather was now like a newborn seedling. Being watched by so many people before it had truly grown up was a good thing, but it was also not a good thing.

But Cheng Shuili's mentality was as good as ever. Let them talk; she would focus on doing her own things.

Pulling her attention back to the monster merchant, Cheng Shuili looked at the time she had spent on the regional channel; it had been talking to itself for a long time, recommending itself, and hadn't stopped yet: "As long as you allow me to join your territory, the tax I can provide will definitely far exceed others! My business, as long as it's done, is 100,000 game coins! In this—"

Cheng Shuili spoke up to interrupt it: "Then why didn't you join the Rat King's safe zone before?"

This question seemed to hit the key point. The monster merchant was eerily stuck, and after a long while, it stammered, "That black rat doesn't seem to like me very much."

It would be a ghost if this could be true.

"Then do you think I look like someone who likes you?" Cheng Shuili retorted directly, her tone tough: "You have one more chance. If you don't tell the truth..."

The unfinished words were self-evident.

The monster merchant was obviously nervous. It wanted to join the safe zone created by the person in front of it, nothing more than wanting to earn more game coins.

Not many people knew the wonderful use of game coins, but this monster, which had been mixing in the black and white markets for many years, knew it clearly.

As long as it joined the safe zone, it meant it would have a steady stream of customers! A steady stream of customers meant a steady stream of game coins! Who would go against game coins?

The monster merchant smiled apologetically and said, "What other reason could there be? Of course, you are different from that black rat. It has been in a high position for too long and cannot tolerate things it hates in its eyes. It doesn't matter if it gives up some benefits for this. But you have just created a safe zone, and you are in need of people..."

"So you think I will accept goods that the Rat King doesn't want, is that it?" Cheng Shuili's words were very blunt, but her tone was unusually gentle.

So when these words fell into the monster merchant's ears, it didn't react immediately that Cheng Shuili was mocking it, and even smiled and echoed twice: "Yes, yes."

After reacting to what Cheng Shuili had just said, it was a skeleton frame, but at this moment, it seemed as if even the frame had stiffened.

It really didn't expect Cheng Shuili to be so blunt. A little anger couldn't help but rise in its heart. Thinking of Cheng Shuili's previous question, it simply gave up and confessed frankly:

"Because I offended it, that's why it doesn't want me. Anyone with a discerning eye should be able to see that accepting me is accepting many game coins! If it weren't for the fact that safe zones are too rare, how could I want to follow you? You ignorant human, you actually rejected me! It's really stupid to the extreme."

Cheng Shuili ignored its comments about whether it was stupid or not, and asked casually: "Finally willing to tell the truth?"

She stepped forward leisurely, observing the skeleton frame that was trembling slightly due to anger with great interest.

"Offended the Rat King?" Her tone was light, but carried a sense of oppression. "How did you offend it? Explain clearly."

The monster merchant was still a little hesitant. After struggling for a moment, it finally gritted its teeth and said, "Do you know that black rat's business?"

Although Cheng Shuili didn't like the Rat King much now, hearing this guy call it a "black rat" every other sentence still made her feel a little awkward.

Although the Rat King was her enemy now, Cheng Shuili had to admit that the guy at least maintained a surface-level decency.

In contrast, the furious skeleton frame in front of her seemed a bit lacking in elegance.

"I know some." Cheng Shuili's tone was flat, acting as a qualified straight man.

The monster merchant immediately became like it had been injected with chicken blood. "I'm not talking about tax business! This damn black rat, its only business is selling arms! Do you know where its gunpowder and steel come from? Do you know where it built its arms factory?! The black market! Below the black market is my hometown!"

"Most abyss creatures have worked for its factory since they were born and hadn't yet gained intelligence, until they understood that this was not the right thing to do, only then would they seek other paths like me."

"But in its eyes, we are fugitives! Could it be that just because we have been enslaved for a long time, we are its property?"

When the monster merchant said this, its chin bone was shaking violently, which made Su Rui a little worried that its chin would fall off again.

Its emotions had not yet calmed down. If there were flesh and blood on its face, its eyes should be red now, right?

"Human lady, we are fugitives, of course we cannot join its safe zone. To it, we are all existences that should be dealt with in front of all abyss creatures, using our lives to serve as a warning to others! Tax? Compared to the benefits brought by the factory, of course it doesn't care."

This statement from the monster merchant obviously had real emotions, so it should be the truth.

Cheng Shuili thought to herself, were the Rat King's assets in the abyss also recognized by the system?

Or was it a gray market industry outside the system's recognition?

But it seemed that no matter which one it was...

As long as it kept oppressing like this, it would provoke stronger resistance.

Cheng Shuili looked at the emotional monster merchant, her thoughts spinning in her heart.

Perhaps this was an opportunity?

This guy was so greedy for money, which showed that game coins were useful to it, and even to its entire race.

If that was the case, if someone could give the workers in the Rat King's factory a chance to work nine-to-five and get paid on time, would they resist?

Cheng Shuili seemed to see a glimmer of hope to resist the Rat King, and what connected this hope was naturally the skeleton frame in front of her.

And as for making money, it was indeed right.

Accepting it seemed to be a matter of only benefits and no harm.

But it seemed the harm was still very obvious.

She was already at odds with the Rat King now. If she accepted a "fugitive" who was on the Rat King's kill list, her relationship with the Rat King would deteriorate further.

But what if it deteriorated?

Cheng Shuili didn't respond to the monster merchant's accusation, but turned to look at Su Rui. "Su Rui, are you willing to be colleagues with it?"

This was not a polite inquiry.

Cheng Shuili's gaze was very gentle, carrying a convincing meaning.

Su Rui had no doubt that if she said she wasn't willing, Cheng Shuili would definitely reject the smelly skeleton frame in front of her.

The skeleton frame itself also seemed to realize this, its gaze towards Su Rui full of obvious pleading, even subconsciously bending its body, wanting to kowtow to Su Rui for mercy.

Su Rui's disgust and repulsion for the monster merchant were real, but...

She took a deep breath, looked at Cheng Shuili, and said firmly: "Boss, I really don't like it, and I can even say I hate that it once treated me as cargo. However, this kind of thing is really too common in this godforsaken place. Moreover, the fundamental problem of my encounter was not it. If it is useful to the territory, and if its ability is as it says, then my personal likes and dislikes should not affect your decision."

The monster merchant's skeleton frame relaxed a bit as it listened, and it hurriedly cast a grateful look at Su Rui as well.

Cheng Shuili nodded, faced the monster merchant again, her gentleness restrained, replaced by a scrutiny and seriousness unique to a leader: "You can join the territory, but you do not meet my screening criteria for safe zone merchants."

Cheng Shuili was saying that the monster merchant was not honest enough. Not to mention that the experience of the first meeting was not pleasant, but just now when she asked it to tell the truth, it was also being vague and trying to muddle through.

Cheng Shuili naturally couldn't trust such a monster.

Since she couldn't trust it, she needed constraints.

The monster merchant was also on the ball. It originally did business by bluffing, mixing truth with lies, and saying it was earning game coins was better to say it was cheating game coins. Having had more contact with humans, its emotional intelligence naturally became higher. Hearing Cheng Shuili say this, it hurriedly showed its loyalty:

"Lord of the territory! As long as you are willing to take me in, I am willing to sign the strictest contract!" It said eagerly, "I can hand over half of the profits to the territory, no, five-tenths, five-tenths! Six-tenths is also negotiable!"

Cheng Shuili shook her head gently. "I don't care how much tax you pay."

When these words fell into the monster merchant's ears, it asked almost subconsciously: "Then what do you care about?"

What Cheng Shuili cared about was, of course, its hometown, the Rat King's factory.

"What I want is your absolute obedience to my orders."