Chapter 393: Warning Notice

Cheng Shuili steps forward, smiles and continues: "Of course I won't tell you to die, nor send you to your death. I guarantee you can earn Game Coin properly, but there are some things you must listen to me."

The Monster Merchant stared blankly at Cheng Shuili, and only after a while did it realize what her request was.

And it wants to join Cheng Shuili's Safe Zone; the sole purpose is to earn Game Coin. Earning Game Coin presupposes staying alive, and Cheng Shuili has already guaranteed both, so it can fully accept Cheng Shuili's terms.

However, it still feels a bit uneasy.

"You won't use me to harm my race, will you? Though I escaped, my roots are there; I would never agree to such a condition."

The bone frame wore a defiant, death‑rather‑than‑submission expression, as if Cheng Shuili were some unforgivable villain.

Cheng Shuili says nothing, but she remembers every deed this creature has done, line by line, though she hasn't settled the score yet.

"Of course not," Cheng Shuili arches her eyes, a gentle curve lifting her lips.

The smile makes the onlooker Su Rui shiver, and she can't help slipping half a step back.

The Monster Merchant feels nothing, even rushes forward, its bone joints clicking softly.

"I assure you," Cheng Shuili's voice is as soft as a breeze, "I will never use you to harm your kin. After all… we're partners now, aren't we?"

The Monster Merchant's exposed bone face lights up with excitement; it rubs its clearly jointed palms and asks eagerly, "Shall we sign a contract now? As long as you grant me permission to enter your Safe Zone, I don't care about a house—I can set up a stall or build my own! As long as Leader you are willing to take me in!"

Cheng Shuili calmly drafts a trade contract, listing dozens of clauses; after studying the terms for a moment and confirming nothing is missing, she hands it to the Monster Merchant.

"If everything's fine, go ahead and sign this first."

The Monster Merchant looks bewildered; it does indeed agree to sign the contract with Cheng Shuili, but that first clause…

What does it mean to willingly be used by master Cheng Shuili via the Territory Servant Card?

What is it?!!

Didn't that guy just say we were partners?

The first clause of this contract is being skipped?!

The Monster Merchant flashes an upper jaw missing a tooth, wipes its forehead—no cold sweat—then asks cautiously, "Aren't we discussing doing business in your Safe Zone? What does this Territory Servant Card mean? Aren't we partners?"

It believes its tone is already careful enough, respectful enough toward the human before it.

Yet she suddenly lifts an eyebrow; the feigned gentleness on her face vanishes completely, leaving only a cold stare.

"What does it mean?" she chuckles lightly, tapping a fingertip on the clause, "It means I don't trust you."

The Monster Merchant's bone frame stiffens.

"Partner?" Cheng Shuili repeats the term slowly, her tone laced with unabashed mockery, "Weren't you just calling me ignorant and stupid? Now you come to discuss cooperation—don't you find that ridiculous?"

She steps forward, her height clearly less than the towering frame, yet her aura completely overwhelms it.

"If you want to enter my Safe Zone, to earn Game Coin on my turf, that's fine. But the condition is that your life and death are wholly under my control. The Territory Servant Card is that guarantee. Sign it, you live, you earn. Not sign…"

Cheng Shuili pauses briefly, her gaze sweeping over the Monster Merchant's empty eye sockets, her voice light yet carrying lethal chill.

"If you don't sign, you still have to. I trust that our last encounter proved I have the power, right?"

The Monster Merchant feels its bone joints grow cold from the murderous intent in her words.

A cold wind whistles; it's the Monster Merchant's first time thinking the bone frame should wear a piece of clothing.

It has no doubt that if it dares utter a single "no," the human before it, who flips moods faster than pages, will act instantly.

If she makes a move, this bone frame would likely fracture.

Humans can break bones while keeping tendons intact; it doesn't have that.

If it fractures, it's truly a wreck!

After being out here so long, it finally understands when to submit and when to stay stubborn!

So its previous "death‑rather‑than‑submission" spirit shatters instantly into nothing under real mortal threat.

"I'll sign! I'll sign right now!"

The Monster Merchant shouts hurriedly, its bone claws trembling as it takes the contract, daring not to glance at the harsh clauses, only wanting to escape the suffocating pressure, "As long as I can get into the Safe Zone, I'll sign anything!"

Cheng Shuili watches it neatly write a name at the contract's end, feeling the agreement take effect, and only then does a faint curve return to her lips.

"Very well."

She folds the contract, and with a thought, a card appears in her hand.

It is the Territory Servant Card taken from the Abyssal Ring.

"Don't resist."

She says, and chooses to use it on the Monster Merchant!

The moment it takes effect, the massive skeleton vanishes, leaving only two humans at Jia You Zhan.

Su Rui isn't seeing Lao Da use this card for the first time, so she's unsurprised now.

The instant the Monster Merchant disappears, Cheng Shuili recalls a crucial question—her densely populated territory has no space to house that conspicuous bone frame.

Almost simultaneously, the regional channel erupts.

"WTF! Black Feather's territory just spawned a skeleton!!"

"Where? Where?!"

"Right by the field! It scared me to death; I was crouching studying crops, looked up and met two black hollows!"

"Isn't this a Safe Zone? Where did the monster come from?!!"

"Is it a monster? Isn't a Safe Zone absolutely safe?!"

"That thing looks familiar, but I can't recall where I've seen it."

"What? What? What?! You just mentioned a skeleton and I hadn't realized! Earlier, being pushed aside I also saw a real monster—wasn't that the Monster Merchant from Jia You Zhan?! How did it get to Black Feather's territory?!"

"What's the situation? You say this guy is an NPC??"

"If you ask me, Black Feather's not safe enough; we should get out. This Safe Zone isn't safe! If there are even more people, they'll squeeze me to death!"

"The abacus is clacking too loudly!!"

Cheng Shuili rubs her temples, turns to Su Rui: "Let's go back first. This one, from now on, is under your charge."

Su Rui was startled for a moment: "Me?"

"Hmm." Cheng Shuili nodded, "You know its patterns well, and you understand best how to guard against it. All its future transactions, you will supervise and record. Profits are taken as a cut according to territorial rules, and the remainder you negotiate among yourselves."

Su Rui looked at Cheng Shuili's calm profile, and the lingering unease from the past was suddenly pressed down by a heavy sense of trust.

She took a deep breath and solemnly replied, "Yes, boss. I'll look after it."

The two returned to their vehicle, and Cheng Shuili instantly arrived at the unbearably noisy Black Feather Territory.

Cheng Shuili materialized in an area not open to non‑Black Feather players; she stood on the second‑floor terrace of the Lord's Mansion, overlooking the bustling crowd below.

It was literally a sea of people, comparable to the Long Guo scenic area during the national holiday.

Players surged through the designated public zone like a tide, nearly filling every inch of land.

Not far away, at the edge of the planned commercial district, that conspicuous skeletal frame huddled pitifully in a corner, surrounded by a system‑set semi‑transparent barrier, while outside a crowd of pointing players gathered.

"Honestly, the feel of its bones is actually pretty good."

"This counts as something from the Hei Yu An Quan Qu, right? We all paid the entry fee, so Wuya Dalao wouldn't be so stingy as to forbid us from touching it."

"What's that foreigner over there babbling about? Wait, is this real‑time translation?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the noisy Long Guo crowd fell silent; they had been staring at the monster merchant like monkeys, but now they fixed their gaze on the random foreigner.

The foreigner's babble was silenced under the stare; his pretty‑face flushed red in an instant, and his chattering mouth fell shut.

A group of players who had never taken part in a full‑server instance acted as if they'd discovered a new continent, excitedly exclaiming, "It really is real‑time translation!"

"Anyway, I don't understand English, but I actually understood just now."

"I understood too, how amazing!"

Seizing the moment, Cheng Shuili pulled up the Safety Zone management panel and acted swiftly.

【Territory Announcement: Black Feather Territory has officially accepted "monster merchant Gu Er" as a territorial merchant. Its business scope is intelligence trading; specific location and trading rules will be announced later. Please note, any form of violence is prohibited within the territory; violators will be punished by the system and permanently expelled.】

After the announcement flashed three times in succession, the players' discussion quickly shifted.

"So it's a special NPC!"

"Isn't that the merchant from the Jiao Yi Zhan? Wuya Dalao tricked the merchant into the Safety Zone!"

"Wuya Dalao is awesome! Got the first merchant so fast!"

"Intelligence? Sounds high‑end!"

"When will trading open? What conditions are required?"

Cheng Shuili closed the noisy regional channel, her gaze landing on Gu Er in the corner.

It seemed to finally receive permission; the whole monster grew confident, pulling out a piece of cloth from somewhere, smoothing it onto the ground, coughing lightly twice, watching the crowd fall silent, then taking out a fan, tapping it, and beginning to conduct business just like at the Jia You Zhan.

The first piece of intelligence is free; the second is almost the player's entire fortune, capped at 100,000 game coins.

Its first piece of intelligence always hits the player's sweet spot, often what the player cares about most, so most players choose to pay, even though the information is pricey.

Cheng Shuili observed for a while, saw no trouble, and noted that a line had already formed in front of the shop, which eased her mind considerably.

This counts as Black Feather's first little shop; it officially opened today.

To develop, these shop owners are indispensable. It seems that when needed, we must go to Shou Ren Xiao Zhen and dig around the corners.

And...

Cheng Shuili thought of another question.

Among humans, there should be people capable of opening shops, right?

Just as Wan Yi can open a restaurant, Zhou Zhuxing can open a seed shop.

The human race still has hope.

Cheng Shuili laughed at her own thought, about to open the regional channel to post an announcement, when she saw a reclamation reminder.

【Urgent Notice: Detected abnormal transaction logs on player "Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji" account. Investigation determined it occurred during the purchase of the "Rule Service Interface — Newborn Safety Zone Absolute Protection Shield" service, where an unknown cause triggered a payment loop BUG.】

【System Handling Plan:】

【1. Immediately terminate the abnormal deduction process.】

【Termination successful!】

【2. Retrieve the "Newborn Safety Zone Absolute Protection Shield" service erroneously issued due to the BUG.】

【453 services have been retrieved… 6 remaining services are being retrieved…】

【Error… Error…】

【Effective services cannot be retrieved…】

The final page popped up several times.

Cheng Shuili didn't fully grasp the system's mechanics, but she understood what it meant.

Six services cannot be retrieved, and each service lasts one month, so that's a full six months!

Six months of active time, six months of peace!

But that also means she owes the system ten million.

Cheng Shuili glanced at her balance, a negative over four million.

Over four million?!

Cheng Shuili was a bit stunned; she still had some game coins in hand, but certainly not that many!

In other words, the Safety Zone had just opened a short while… a ticket costing one hundred game coins per person earned her over a million?

That money came in way too fast, right?

Even Cheng Shuili, who's seen much of the world, couldn't help but gasp a cold breath at this moment.

That's way too much!

No wonder the system's service sells for only one million; after establishing the Safety Zone, earning game coins is really that easy.

Cheng Shuili had never known making money could be this effortless.

Moreover, paying in advance also counts as a good thing; otherwise, I'm afraid that by the time she had saved up one million Game Coin, the Rat King would already have come over.

Everything turned out for the best.

Cheng Shuili sighed that she had finally had a stroke of luck, and when she was about to close the dunning page in front of her, she discovered the system popping up a new page:

【3. Issued a warning announcement once to player Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji!】

【Already announced!】

What is this? Cheng Shuili opened the regional channel and saw that pinned announcement.

【Player "Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji" improperly profited by exploiting a system loophole, owes Game Coin! Now given a warning once! Hope all players take heed, follow the rules, and play fairly!】

This world announcement scrolled three times in a row, like pouring a ladle of cold water into a boiling oil pot, and the entire player base instantly exploded!

"Holy crap! What does this announcement say?? Is it Chinese? I can't seem to understand it!!"