Chapter 130 Negotiations

Although Yun Zhongmu had fought Eagle Plume’s group head-on and knew the names of all its members, he could only put a name to two faces: Forever and Ba Yi Xi San. So when Eagle Plume first appeared, he only felt the face was familiar, unable to immediately recognize him. But when this person approached the mailbox, calling out his name with a hint of cautious friendliness, Yun Zhongmu instantly guessed who he was.

"It's me." Eagle Plume smiled, confirming Yun Zhongmu's guess, and extended his right hand, clearly wanting to shake hands in a friendly manner. Unexpectedly, Yun Zhongmu's face was as cold as frost, with no smile to be seen. He ignored Eagle Plume's outstretched hand, coldly saying, "Go to Little Lei's Tavern," before leaving through the city gate without looking back.

Eagle Plume smiled wryly, unperturbed by Yun Zhongmu's attitude. He just realized that this negotiation probably wouldn't have a good outcome.

Yun Zhongmu strode out of the city gate without ever looking back, but his fists were clenched tightly the entire time. For a moment, he really felt the urge to fight Eagle Plume right then and there, but he managed to restrain himself. After sending a message to Sword Demon and the others, informing them that Eagle Plume was coming, Yun Zhongmu didn't go to Little Lei's Tavern but headed straight for the leveling area outside Cloudrise City.

His brothers were all leveling there, and when they saw Yun Zhongmu coming, they immediately surrounded him, almost unanimously asking, "Eagle Plume is coming? What's going on?"

Yun Zhongmu had previously mentioned this in the channel, so these brothers who had already joined Extremely Heaven-defying had seen the message. However, the newcomers didn't ask questions in the channel; seeing that the message was sent by Yun Zhongmu, they all privately messaged him. Yun Zhongmu simply replied that he was coming over immediately.

Yun Zhongmu recounted everything that he and Sword Demon had discussed. Everyone fell silent after hearing it.

They had joined Extremely Heaven-defying specifically to cause trouble for Inquisitive Imp, and Sword Demon had also promised to continue opposing Inquisitive Imp's studio. Who would have thought that in just a few hours, he would suddenly change his mind and say he wanted to give up on this?

"Damn it! What does this mean?!" Yun Zhongmu's brothers were clearly extremely dissatisfied.

Yun Zhongmu waved his hand: "This matter is indeed difficult."

"What's so difficult? Just follow that Drifting proposal and kill them!" It wasn't that Yun Zhongmu's brothers had no morals; they were just passionate, impulsive, and liked quick vengeance. Their only goal was to embarrass Inquisitive Imp, and they didn't think too much about the specific methods.

Yun Zhongmu just sighed. Sword Demon had made a decision that went against his initial promise, but Yun Zhongmu knew that Sword Demon had no choice. Sword Demon couldn't accept Drifting's plan; that was Sword Demon's principle. Yun Zhongmu had always admired this principle. Sword Demon was known as the number one online gamer, and so many people trusted him precisely because he had a good reputation. If he were a scumbag like Silver Moon, even if his skills were amazing, he would never be recognized. It wasn't hard to be seen as a skilled player, but to become a widely recognized, so-called number one player, it took more than just skill. It wasn't that easy.

Sword Demon couldn't accept that kind of thinking, so the only other option was what Han Family's Young Master had suggested. To confront a studio, only that method would touch them at their core. Fighting and killing only involved more and more innocent players. Obviously, with Sword Demon's integrity, he wasn't willing to cause harm to so many people. Since he couldn't take either path, he was left with only one choice: to give up. Sometimes, being a good person was indeed harder than being a bad one.

"Old Yun, why don't we do it ourselves! The main thing is impersonating Duo Mu Mu Duo; we don't need that much combat power. We can handle it ourselves," someone suggested.

"Everyone, keep leveling. Let me think," Yun Zhongmu said, waving his hand.

They all trusted Yun Zhongmu implicitly, so no one complained endlessly anymore. They went back to doing what they were doing. Yun Zhongmu looked at the Cloudrise City behind him, which was already becoming blurred, but no one knew what he was thinking.

Inside Cloudrise City, even though Yun Zhongmu had told him to go to Little Lei's Tavern, Eagle Plume still went to the mailbox to check his mail. As a result, it was still a message from Yun Zhongmu, still telling him to go to Little Lei's Tavern. It was even shorter than what Yun Zhongmu had told him directly, with just the four words "Little Lei's Tavern" on the letter. Clearly, Yun Zhongmu loathed Eagle Plume’s group to the core, to the point that he didn't even want to write any more than necessary.

Eagle Plume took the letter and didn't think too much about it. He asked for directions as he walked, heading towards Little Lei's Tavern.

Eagle Plume was alone and an assassin, so he was naturally very fast. When he arrived at Little Lei's Tavern, he didn't see the person he expected to see. He had originally thought that Yun Zhongmu would definitely be at the negotiation, but who knew Yun Zhongmu would ignore him and leave? Eagle Plume had been wondering who he would meet along the way. But when he arrived at Little Lei's Tavern, he didn't see a single familiar face, and no one came forward to greet him. Eagle Plume stood there blankly, unsure of what to do.

"Is there anything you need?" The enthusiastic Little Lei greeted this player who had entered the tavern and stood still.

"I... I'm looking for someone, someone from Extremely Heaven-defying," Eagle Plume replied.

"Oh, they'll be here soon. Please wait here!" Little Lei enthusiastically led Eagle Plume into a private room. Clearly, Extremely Heaven-defying had already informed Little Lei.

Eagle Plume sat down in the private room, looking around. This tavern, the most famous in the entire Parallel World, didn't seem to have anything special about it on the surface.

"How is it? Did you meet the people?" It was Unexpected Hero who proactively sent Eagle Plume a message asking about his progress.

"I met them. I'm waiting," Eagle Plume replied truthfully.

"Good." Unexpected Hero only replied with one word.

Eagle Plume waited for a long time, but no one came. He didn't have the other party's friend information, so he couldn't send a message to ask. But it seemed that the tavern owner knew the other party. Eagle Plume was getting anxious, so he was about to call Little Lei over to help ask when the curtain of the private room was suddenly lifted, and an assassin, a colleague of Eagle Plume, entered.

"Sword Demon?" Eagle Plume immediately realized who this person was. Anyone participating in this negotiation had to be someone who could speak on behalf of the group. They had a slight understanding of the situation on Extremely Heaven-defying's side. The guild was established with the Young Master Elite Group as its core, and there were also some experts like Drifting. But among them, the assassin who had the right to speak was only one person: Sword Demon, the guild leader of Extremely Heaven-defying.

"It's me," Sword Demon said, nodding.

"I'm Eagle Plume," Eagle Plume also introduced himself. Then, people continued to enter behind Sword Demon: Han Family's Young Master, You Ge, Sovereign Descends, War Without Wounds. It seemed like there were more people behind, but War Without Wounds turned his head and shouted, "Don't come in, there's no room!"

"You go out too. How can five people sit in this row?" Sovereign Descends pushed War Without Wounds out. The layout of this private room was a table against the wall, with a row of long benches on each side. Three people on one side would be just right. Four people could squeeze in, but five people would be like riding a crowded bus during rush hour.

"You go out!" Of course, War Without Wounds wouldn't listen so obediently. He started fighting with Sovereign Descends.

Sovereign Descends naturally didn't have the advantage in terms of strength. In this small private room, agility wasn't very helpful. But this guy was being a cheat, holding onto You Ge tightly. But two plus one was still a little no match for War Without Wounds, so You Ge quickly gave himself and Sovereign Descends each a Strength Blessing, barely managing to tie. Eagle Plume watched from the side, dumbfounded. Was this the legendary number one warrior, number one mage, and number one gossip? Was this the Young Master Elite Group that had won the mercenary group competition with six people? Was this the core of the Extremely Heaven-defying guild that had suddenly formed a guild during the city war and won the city defense victory? What a mess.

"Are you guys done yet?" Han Family's Young Master snapped.

But usually, not many people dared to seek ridicule from Han Family's Young Master, but they didn't necessarily listen to him. This shout had no effect at all. Those three were still pulling and tugging. War Without Wounds was a little anxious because he couldn't win after a long time and was particularly dissatisfied with the two-on-one situation: "You Ge, let go. I'm going to throw this kid out."

"You Ge, don't. If he throws me out, he'll definitely throw you out. He has a big butt and takes up two people's worth of space," Sovereign Descends said.

"I... there's still space here..." Eagle Plume said weakly. They were all famous experts, but now they were fighting over a bench in such a low-tech way. Eagle Plume couldn't stand it anymore.

"Get out, who wants to sit with you!" Sovereign Descends wasn't polite to Eagle Plume at all. Eagle Plume was also angry, but he had to endure it at this time, remaining silent.

The stalemate continued, but War Without Wounds felt someone pat him on the back. He was very angry: "Who is it?"

"Me," the person behind him said.

"Thousand Li, you came just in time. Help me kill these two shameless guys," War Without Wounds said.

"Who's shameless, who's shameless? Damn it, who came in first?" Sovereign Descends shouted.

"Nonsense, you're a damn archer!" If War Without Wounds didn't lack the speed, he wouldn't have been the last one to enter.

"What are you arguing about? Let me in first," Gu Fei shouted from behind.

"There's no room!" The people inside shouted in unison.

"How is that possible? Can't eight people squeeze in?" Gu Fei glanced inside and saw an opening. With a flash, he teleported directly inside and sat down next to Eagle Plume without any politeness.

"Thousand Miles Drunk!" Eagle Plume immediately called out Gu Fei's name.

"You are?" Like Yun Zhongmu, Gu Fei knew all the names, but he couldn't match them to the faces.

"Eagle Plume," Eagle Plume replied. Then, he saw Thousand Miles Drunk take a small notebook out of his pocket, flip through it a few times, shake his head, and put it back in his pocket, looking at Eagle Plume with regret: "No PK value!" (PK Value: Player Killing Value, a statistic showing how many players someone has killed)

Eagle Plume broke out in a cold sweat.

Gu Fei's action of sitting with Eagle Plume clearly stunned the three arguing people. Eagle Plume also immediately sat down on the innermost side, and Gu Fei also moved inward with him, creating a space. Seeing that even Gu Fei had taken the lead, War Without Wounds simply came over and sat there as well. The six members of the elite group gathered together, sandwiching Eagle Plume in the corner. Eagle Plume felt unprecedented pressure. He knew that if the negotiation failed and the other party decided to kill him, he would have no chance of survival.

"Speak, how are you planning to negotiate?" Han Family's Young Master was direct. But Sovereign Descends and War Without Wounds next to him were still comparing middle fingers, completely destroying the serious atmosphere of the negotiation.

Eagle Plume could only calmly pretend not to see it and said in a deep voice, "We feel that fighting and killing is not good for either side. It's better for everyone to sit down and discuss it, see if there's a way to resolve this matter."

"Can you make the decisions?" Han Family's Young Master sneered.

Eagle Plume blushed instantly, not expecting the other party to directly poke his weakness so quickly. In Eagle Plume’s group, he was just a former leader; in Inquisitive Imp’s studio, he was just a thug, with no real power at all. He couldn't make any decisions at all.

"Tell him you can!" Unexpected Hero messaged him back. As soon as Sword Demon and the others appeared, Eagle Plume immediately reported to Unexpected Hero, who immediately demanded that Eagle Plume broadcast the entire thing. But the farce of War Without Wounds and the others fighting for seats had made Eagle Plume extremely embarrassed. He didn't know whether he should broadcast that to Unexpected Hero or not. In the end, he waited until the formal conversation began before starting to recount the conversation to Unexpected Hero's side.

With the boss controlling him remotely, Eagle Plume knew that he could answer "yes," but ultimately he had to wait for the boss's signal. After receiving this reply, Eagle Plume nodded without hesitation and said, "Of course. If I'm sent here, naturally I have full authority."

"Oh?" Han Family's Young Master looked at him with interest. "What's your name?"

Eagle Plume was spitting blood. He had already said his name twice. What were these people doing? Were they doing it on purpose?

"Eagle Plume..." Spitting blood or not, Eagle Plume said his name for the third time.

"Oh, Eagle Plume... the original leader of Eagle Plume’s group, right? Why did you quit? Were you framed by Forever?" Han Family's Young Master said.

"Ah? Of course not," Eagle Plume replied casually, a little dazed by the other party's sudden and inexplicable topic.

"Really? That's his style!" Han Family's Young Master said.

Eagle Plume had a helpless expression on his face: "Everyone, let's talk about what's happening now!"

"You speak," Han Family's Young Master said.

"Continuing the fight is not good for either side..."

"You just said that sentence," Han Family's Young Master interrupted to remind him.

Eagle Plume took a deep breath. Of course he knew he had said that sentence. He just wanted to use it as a beginning. Were these guys deliberately messing around? Were they doing it on purpose? Eagle Plume was starting to be glad that he was being remotely controlled by the boss today. If he had to make the decisions himself and argue with these guys, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"So fighting can't solve the problem. Let's sit down and talk and see if there's a solution that's beneficial to both sides," Eagle Plume said.

"We don't care if it's beneficial to you. The key is, what benefits will we get?" Han Family's Young Master's blackmail was so blatant.

"What benefits do you want?" Eagle Plume's question came from Unexpected Hero's instructions.

"What else can your studio offer? Isn't it just some money, equipment, scrolls, and other messy things?" Han Family's Young Master said.

Eagle Plume swallowed his anger. This person's words were so annoying. Messy things? These so-called messy things were what all online game players had been pursuing throughout their gaming careers, right?

"Specifically, I'll give you a list later," Han Family's Young Master said, giving people a feeling that he was asking for the moon: he couldn't even say his demands with his mouth; he had to write them down...

Eagle Plume took a deep breath: "You write it!"

"While we're at it, why don't you talk about your demands, or rather, what benefits do you need?" Han Family's Young Master said.

"We..." Eagle Plume opened Unexpected Hero's reply, but stopped after saying just two words.

"You what?" The other side was already asking.

Eagle Plume hurriedly sent a message back to Unexpected Hero, confirming whether the content of the previous message was a mistake.

"That's right, that's how it is," Unexpected Hero replied.

Eagle Plume was stunned for several seconds, so stunned that the six members of the elite group looked at him in surprise.

"Our requirements are as follows..." Eagle Plume said.

"How many?" Now it was the elite group's turn to be stunned. In their opinion, Inquisitive Imp's studio should have only one requirement: that they give up continuing to cause trouble for Inquisitive Imp. Several requirements? Was this about the details?

While they were puzzled, Eagle Plume continued, "First, stop the destructive behavior towards Inquisitive Imp's studio's work."

The others remained impassive.

"Second, cooperate with Inquisitive Imp's studio in managing the real estate business in Cloudrise City."

"What?" The others thought they had misheard.

"Third," Eagle Plume continued quickly. At this moment, his mood was actually the same as everyone in the elite group.

"Third, promote the efficient leveling method with Inquisitive Imp's studio." After Eagle Plume finished saying the third point, he didn't even raise his head. He didn't want to look at the others' expressions. He could guess that everyone's expression was the same as his. Eagle Plume himself didn't understand how Unexpected Hero had come up with these three points.

"Is there a fourth?" Eagle Plume suddenly heard Han Family's Young Master ask very calmly.

Eagle Plume raised his head and looked at him, shaking his head with a bit of confusion.

"Looks like you're the ones asking for the moon?" Han Family's Young Master said.

Eagle Plume was now looking at Unexpected Hero's new message, and his mood could only get worse. But he was still squeezing out a smile on his face: "Actually, the requirements we've proposed are different from yours. These are win-win requirements for both sides. I think you all understand this."

"I do agree with this," Han Family's Young Master nodded, but then pointed to Sovereign Descends, War Without Wounds, and the others, changing the subject: "But look, these people can't wait to cut you into a thousand pieces. You're still trying to cooperate with us. What's wrong with your brain?"

"Cut into a thousand pieces? Just cut him once, right?" Gu Fei suddenly said.

"Everyone, I think you should know by now that fighting is not a threat to our studio, so please think rationally, put down your weapons and cooperate. This is the best choice, and we will meet all of your requirements as much as possible." After Eagle Plume finished reciting this paragraph of Unexpected Hero's new message, he knew that he might be stuck here today. Thinking rationally was correct, but in the game, sometimes you didn't need too much reason. Because the game was different from life, there were too many things you could do over, including life.

Unexpected Hero, what are you thinking? Eagle Plume was very puzzled.

======================================================

The update time is erratic! Recently, everyone should not wait up at night. Just take a look in the morning, and the surprise is that simple!