Cheng Shuili’s gaze swept slowly across Glory’s guilty face. She didn’t say much, but that calm look made another layer of cold sweat break out on Glory’s back.
He lowered his head, not daring to look Cheng Shuili in the eye.
Cheng Shuili turned back to the twelve warriors standing as straight as javelins. With a look of just the right amount of surprise and confusion, she asked in a gentle tone, "May I ask what brings you all here?"
If someone comes bearing gifts without a reason, they’re either up to no good or have a hidden agenda.
Whatever these people were here for, it was better to have them state it directly.
Mountain’s expression remained unchanged. He maintained his standard reporting posture, standing tall and speaking in a clear, resonant voice:
"Reporting to the Commander! The orders we received are: to fully assist the Black Feather safe zone, ensure the stability of the plague medicine trading point, and prevent or clear any potential security risks or hostile infiltration activities!"
"During this period, we are under your command, Commander Crow, until the mission ends or you order us to withdraw!"
"Under my command?"
Cheng Shuili raised an eyebrow slightly, repeating the key phrase.
"Yes! Completely under your command!"
Mountain answered firmly. The eleven members behind him also stood at attention, their eyes resolute and without a hint of hesitation or resistance.
This scene not only made the surrounding Black Feather members gasp in secret, but even Cheng Shuili felt a ripple of emotion beneath her eyes.
She realized almost instantly that if she didn't want to let them go, this squad was hers.
At any time, people are the most important component of any faction.
The fact that the other side sent people directly over—Cheng Shuili naturally understood the deep meaning behind this.
Watching the Great Wall had invested more than she expected this time, and their stance was lower than she had anticipated.
They had handed their sharpest blade into her hands, leaving it to her to use.
This decisiveness and courage made her estimation of Undying War Wolf Soul rise even higher.
This was someone who dared to place a heavy bet!
In that case...
She would accept it!
A sincere smile appeared on Cheng Shuili’s face. She stepped forward and swept her gaze across each of the twelve determined faces one by one.
"Good! Since your leader trusts me so much, I won’t refuse. With the current influx of people in the safe zone, we truly need experienced professionals to control the situation."
"You all have come at just the right time!"
Her tone shifted, and she said, "Captain Mountain, and all our friends from Watching the Great Wall, Black Feather welcomes your assistance!"
"Currently, the safe zone’s top priority is to ensure order at the medicine trading point and to screen for individuals lurking with the intent to cause chaos."
"Of your two squads, one will be led by Captain Mountain to be responsible for the perimeter security of the trading point and handling emergencies. For the other, I need you to immediately begin monitoring and countering the identified and suspicious targets within the safe zone."
As she spoke, she had already brought up the safe zone’s temporary management panel and shared the suspicious personnel information marked by 001 with Mountain.
"These are the basic information and location coordinates of players with abnormal behavior, as marked by the patrol members previously."
She didn’t tell the truth; there was no need to be honest with these outsiders.
Cheng Shuili cleared her throat and continued, "They are mostly from other grand regions and reacted particularly strongly after the pricing was announced. I want you to watch them closely and record their contacts and abnormal actions. Once they take any substantive action to disrupt order, incite riots, or attempt to steal medicine..."
Cheng Shuili paused, her gaze calm and unruffled, and spat out two words:
"Take them down."
"No need to report! Act directly!"
"All your actions will be directly responsible to me, without needing to go through other levels."
This was a clear mission, explicit authorization, and unmasked trust.
A flash of light appeared in Mountain’s eyes. For the first time, he felt the charisma of the Dragon Country’s top-ranked player before him. He saluted again: "Understood! Guarantee to complete the mission!"
He had no extra questions or bargaining. He immediately began assigning tasks, and the two squads quickly and quietly dispersed, like water droplets merging into the sea, silently taking up their respective posts.
The high efficiency and strict discipline left many surrounding Black Feather players secretly shocked, while also making them admire their own boss even more.
To be able to make a faction like Watching the Great Wall send their elites to take orders—their boss’s skill was truly unmatched!
Cheng Shuili watched their backs as they quickly disappeared into the crowd, deep in thought.
What Undying War Wolf Soul sent wasn’t just manpower, but a strong signal and a heavy, sincere gesture.
Accepting and making good use of this force meant accepting the olive branch extended by Watching the Great Wall, initially establishing a collaborative relationship between the two factions with Black Feather as the leader.
Of course, gaining the power of Watching the Great Wall also meant taking on the responsibility.
Used well, it was an asset.
Used poorly, or if something went wrong, it could become a pretext for criticism or even a rift.
But Cheng Shuili feared challenges the least.
"Glory," she said faintly.
"Here! Boss!" Glory shuddered and hurriedly responded.
"I have accepted Watching the Great Wall’s gift. Reciprocity is key; go prepare some medicine as a return gift. Let the other side see our sincerity."
"Also, in my name, send a thank-you letter to Undying War Wolf Soul. Make the wording sincere. I don’t need to tell you how to write it, right? You’re best at this."
"Yes, Boss! I’ll go do it right away!" Glory felt as if he had been granted a pardon and turned to leave.
Cheng Shuili waited until he had turned around before slowly saying, "Wait."
Glory’s footsteps were instantly frozen in place. With his back to Cheng Shuili, his shoulders tightened almost imperceptibly.
He turned back slowly, trying hard to maintain a calm face, but the anxiety in his eyes betrayed him.
Cheng Shuili didn’t speak immediately, only tapping her fingertips lightly on the wooden railing beside her, making a crisp and rhythmic "da, da" sound.
This sound was exceptionally clear in the gradually quieting hall, and each tap felt like it was hitting Glory’s heart.
"Glory," Cheng Shuili finally spoke, her tone impossible to read for joy or anger, "You approved the gift well this time."
"Boss, I..." Glory’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
"Don’t be in such a hurry to explain."
Cheng Shuili raised a hand to interrupt him.
"I know you’re very busy—medicine sales, resource allocation... there are a thousand threads to manage."
"I also know that when you saw Watching the Great Wall and the special support, your first reaction was definitely diplomatic goodwill, wanting to deal with it as quickly as possible to focus on more pressing matters."
Everything she said precisely pointed out Glory’s psychological state at the time.
Glory’s head hung even lower.
"However,"
Cheng Shuili’s tone shifted, her voice remaining steady but carrying weight.
"Glory, you are not an ordinary squad leader. You even hold access permissions to the core area. Do you know what this means?"
Glory lifted his lips, but because his throat was dry, or perhaps because he was unable to argue, he didn’t make a sound.
"Power is responsibility."
Cheng Shuili continued:
"This means any decision you make out of assumption or laziness could bring danger directly inside."
"Today, the elites of Watching the Great Wall came, and they came with sincerity, as a blade."
"But if... if what came wasn’t a blade, but poison? If those twelve passes were handed to twelve suicide bombers carrying high explosives or some other deadly device?"
Cheng Shuili’s gaze fell calmly on Glory’s face: "Have you thought about that consequence?"
Glory’s face instantly turned pale.
He hadn’t thought that far, or rather, under immense work pressure, he had subconsciously avoided thinking deeply about such low-probability but high-lethality risks.
Now that it was pointed out bluntly by Cheng Shuili, he felt a chill surge from his feet to his scalp, and fear like a cold tide engulfed him.
Modern people have almost no habit of kneeling to apologize, but at this moment, Glory knelt down almost subconsciously.
He was truly afraid, and he truly realized the severity of his mistake.
This wasn’t just negligence; it was a betrayal of his boss’s trust and a serious threat to the entire Black Feather safe zone.
The few Black Feather members who hadn’t fully dispersed also held their breath, even stepping back, clearly startled.
Cheng Shuili hadn’t expected this guy to just kneel down like that.
However, having been knelt to often by wolf-race beastmen and bear-race beastmen, she didn’t find anything wrong at first. It was the movements of those Black Feather members that tipped her off.
She sighed, bent down to help him up, and then said, "Permissions must be adjusted. From now on, hand over all the permissions you have to Wan Yi for management. Your work remains the same, but the decision-making power belongs to Wan Yi."
Having his permissions drastically cut was almost equivalent to being partially stripped from his position as superintendent.
But Glory felt relieved instead; this was what he deserved.
"Also," Cheng Shuili continued, "write a three-thousand-word profound self-reflection and hand it to me tomorrow morning."
Cheng Shuili herself hated writing self-reflections, even once thinking it was just superficial work with no real substance.
But making others write them...
Cheng Shuili pressed her lips together, trying hard to suppress the corners of her mouth from lifting.
"Yes! Boss!" Glory immediately responded.
"Alright, go do what you need to do." Cheng Shuili waved her hand, "Handle the return gift and the thank-you letter as I just said."
"Understood!" Glory and the others quickly dispersed, each becoming busy.
Cheng Shuili remained alone in place.
She looked up at the building that had been renovated for a long time and was now brand new, revealing a heartfelt smile.
At the same time Cheng Shuili was busy, the storm of discussion about Black Feather and the plague medicine in the regional channel and the world channel was sweeping with even greater intensity.
Within the Dragon Country grand region, it was almost a scene of jubilation and gratitude.
"I bought the medicine! I really bought it! Black Feather is so efficient!"
"Thank you, Crow! Thank you, Black Feather! I will never forget this life-saving grace!"
"The price is fair, and the order is good. Those who wanted to cut in line or were shouting blindly were quickly escorted out. Awesome!"
"Did you see? Those guys from other grand regions had green faces and still had to obediently line up and pay, haha!"
"From now on, Black Feather is No. 1 in my heart! I’ll go wherever Crow points!"
In the channels of other grand regions, however, there was an air of anger, jealousy, helplessness, and deep anxiety.
"800 game coins! Dragon Country people only pay 500! This is naked discrimination!"
"What can we do? The medicine is in their hands, the safe zone is run by them, and the rules are naturally set by them."
"What about the big factions in our region? They bragged to the heavens, but they’re useless at critical moments!"
"Don’t talk about researching medicine; we don’t even have a safe zone!"
"Are we going to have to look at the Dragon Country grand region and look at that Crow’s face from now on?"
"What else? Do you want to die? This plague doesn’t care which grand region you’re from!"
Panic and dissatisfaction were fermenting. Some radical voices began to appear, calling for joint pressure and even hinting that extraordinary means could be used to obtain the medicine!
But some relatively clear-headed faction leaders, after the shock and humiliation, began to think calmly.
They saw the strength and methods displayed by Black Feather. Being enemies with such a faction, especially when the other side held the lifeline and had a clear home-field advantage, was by no means a wise move.
Thus, almost all factions in other grand regions began to try to use more official and formal tones to send inquiries to Black Feather and to Cheng Shuili herself, through the message box provided by the safe zone or by finding intermediaries.
The content of the inquiries was much the same:
Can we make bulk purchases?
Can the price be negotiated?
Can a stable supply channel be established?
Even... is there any possibility of cooperation?
The Black Feather safe zone’s message box was instantly filled with emails in various languages and formats.
Cheng Shuili only scanned them roughly, then set them as unread and ignored them.
It wasn’t time to talk to these people yet.
Now that the world channel hadn’t even appeared, and there was no other way to trade across regions other than in the safe zone, and everyone’s leaderboards weren’t even ranked together, talk about cooperation...?
Empty cooperation?
Cheng Shuili knew these people’s intentions—holding the banner of large factions, hoping she would give them a discount for the sake of their strength.
Giving a discount meant earning less money. As for face...
How much is face worth?
Cheng Shuili didn’t care at all.
...
Inside the Black Feather safe zone, trading was still proceeding in full swing.
The long line moved forward slowly but firmly, with the desire to survive and the ecstasy of obtaining medicine burning in everyone’s eyes.
A few players from another grand region, mixed in the line, exchanged signals with grim eyes.
They had originally planned to create chaos after getting closer, rob a batch of medicine, or at least disrupt the operation of the trading point to give Black Feather some trouble.
But the longer they stood in line, the more they realized the problem.
The members of their entire squad seemed to have been locked onto by several cold, lingering gazes.
What shocked them even more was that a few people were always standing in the shadows not far away with their arms crossed, seemingly looking at the crowd casually, but their eyes swept over their location every time.
That gaze made their backs cold.
It was the look of a hunter who had hunted countless targets.
Acting under this implicit pressure...?
They didn’t have the guts.
The plan was dead in the cradle.
They could only honestly line up, pay three hundred game coins more than others, get the life-saving medicine, and then quickly leave the safe zone in a dispirited manner, fearing that something unexpected would happen if they stayed for even a second more. After all, this was someone else’s territory.
Rate on N.U.
