"What kind of reply can we get from the game company? They always give us platitudes. Last time, we kept asking about the Village Chief's whereabouts, and they just said all data was normal!"
As a result, one or two months passed, and the Village Chief still hadn't appeared.
But suddenly, today, the Village Chief returned.
Nangong Jingtian also wore a helpless expression.
The game company was always playing games with them, never telling them the truth. This made them very unhappy. After all, with their family's capabilities, it would be as easy as pie to eliminate this game company. Yet, they were utterly powerless against such a company.
"If this company didn't have someone backing them, how could they still be around? I would have dealt with them long ago!"
"Do I need to tell you that? If I could deal with them, I would have already. But there's no helping it, they just don't play by the rules, and they only spew out insincere words that make one sick!"
"The Village Chief's disappearance was very suspicious. Have you ever suspected that the Village Chief might be someone from the game company?"
"Of course, we've suspected it, but what good does that suspicion do? They won't reveal any information!"
The four people present could only shake their heads helplessly.
"What do we do now? The Village Chief has no intention of cooperating with us, which is the most infuriating thing!"
"What can we do? The Village Chief suddenly disappeared and then reappeared, bringing so much equipment. It's hard to accept! However, we absolutely have to continue playing this game. It's truly exhausting!"
"Isn't that the truth? I don't know if the information we received is accurate. Such absurd news, I really don't know why I believed it back then!"
"Don't talk about why I believed it. When I heard it, I thought someone was deliberately trying to mess with us. But look at the foreign forces who received the news; they've already started arming themselves, so it's clearly not fake!"
"Then what do we do? The game is at this stage now, we've offended the Village Chief, and the Village Chief is the overlord in our game. We can't develop anymore. Do we really have to submit to his authority?"
Obviously, the patriarchs of these families were unwilling to do so. Each of them was accustomed to being in a position of power.
"Why don't you offer some suggestions? Sitting here doing nothing won't yield any results!"
Even though someone said this, no one could offer any opinions. It was either fight or obey the Village Chief's will and become his subordinate.
Nangong Jingtian sighed and said, "Let's fight. At least that way, we retain control. If we truly become his subordinates, wouldn't we be at his mercy? How easy would it be to expand our own strength!"
The four people nodded one after another. All they could do now was fight, but the problem was they couldn't win now. They could only see how long they could last.
An inconclusive meeting left each of them contemplating their own plans.
It was better when the Village Chief was gone; at least they could maintain a semblance of unity.
At least before, they had appeared very powerful, with no one able to stop their advance.
With the Village Chief's return, everything underwent a subtle shift.
At this moment, in Zhang Pingfan's villa, Zhang Pingfan was holding a watering can, about to water the World Tree outside.
"Master, how was our battle today?"
Dou Youyou trotted behind Zhang Pingfan.
"Hmm, not bad. At least our members got to vent their frustrations today, which can be considered appeasing their emotions during my two months of absence. However, the opposing side surrendered too quickly; it was a bit boring!"
Dou Youyou pouted.
"That just shows how powerful we are; they're too afraid to fight us!"
"Yes, yes, you are very powerful. By the way, why haven't your grandfather and father finished collecting those materials I asked them to gather? How long has it been?"
Dou Youyou shook her head; she didn't understand those things.
"Should I make a call and ask?"
"Forget it. They definitely haven't finished gathering the materials, so they haven't come to find me. It's been several months, and I don't know when these materials will be ready. We don't have much time left!"
Dou Youyou said comfortingly.
"Master, don't worry. The appearance of the demon slave dungeon has allowed players to adapt to the strength of the demon slaves. Players are now very clear about how to attack demon slaves. When the time comes, everyone should be able to handle it!"
"I hope so!"
Just as the two were talking, the doorbell rang.
"I'll go open it!"
Dou Youyou skipped to the courtyard gate and found her grandfather and father outside.
"Master, it's Grandpa and Dad!"
"Oh, speak of the devil, they're here just in time!"
Dou Youyou opened the door.
"Grandpa, Dad, why are you here?"
Dou Guomin smiled and said, "We worked very hard on the task Mr. Zhang assigned us last time, and we've finally gathered the materials!"
Zhang Pingfan, standing by the World Tree, had already heard.
For some reason, his eyesight and hearing were extremely good now.
Zhang Pingfan called out, "Then let's go to the living room!"
Dou Youyou also happily led her grandfather and father into the living room. Zhang Pingfan put down the watering can and walked in.
In the living room, Dou Guomin took out the item list Zhang Pingfan had given him.
"Mr. Zhang, as expected, we've finally gathered everything. It took a lot of time, mainly because some of the materials on the list are really difficult to obtain. If it were just a few, it would be fine, but in large quantities, we could only wait! Some materials also had to be imported from abroad, so the price increased exponentially. But fortunately, we've finally gathered them all!"
Zhang Pingfan smiled and nodded. As long as the materials were gathered, everything else was negotiable.
"Is there any problem with the funding?"
Dou Guomin said, "No problem. If it's truly the end of the world, even more money will just be a pile of waste paper. As long as Mr. Zhang can protect us, our Dou family will consider it worthwhile!"
Zhang Pingfan nodded; this old man had foresight.
"Very good. Then starting tomorrow, I will teach you how to make them. We will also need quite a few employees, so prepare them!"
"Alright, our Dou family has quite a few employees, tens of thousands of workers!"
"We don't need that many, just a few hundred. We only need reliable personnel. Don't bring in any unreliable people. They must follow my orders and work diligently. This matter cannot be taken lightly; one mistake and you could all perish. If you're willing to gamble with your own lives, then I can't do anything about it!"
Dou Guomin and Dou Jianhua wouldn't dare. This matter concerned their survival, and they dared not be careless.
"Mr. Zhang, please rest assured, we will personally supervise this work. After all, we don't want to die!"