Chapter 403: Golden Splendor

Cheng Shuili isn't quite sure what happened with the system, and for her, the most important thing now is the safe‑zone business.

The shops are scattered, only a few opened; not only are they small in scale, but they also earn little money.

The main source of Black Feather's income is still the admission fees she set.

But now that the plague has appeared, that revenue is bound to be heavily discounted.

Income has indeed dropped, yet Cheng Shuili isn't worried about her mounting debts; she also has a way to cure the plague and has found a stable trading route, so she feels not the slightest panic.

As for the Black Feather members, everyone knows that Lao Da built the safe zone by borrowing money.

And the debt amounts to a full six million.

Though it looks glorious, they can guess the huge pressure Lao Da bears; even if Lao Da doesn't speak of it, the debt can't be ignored.

Now the plague's emergence has slashed the safe‑zone's income, so Lao Da's pressure is certainly multiplied.

So while Cheng Shuili leisurely waited for the Rat King's reply and the formal merge at nine o'clock, a spontaneous "donation" appeared in Black Feather's group chat.

"Lao Da, these are the Game Coins I've saved during this period," the first player to speak, using an ID completely unfamiliar to Cheng Shuili.

"I saved them after joining Black Feather, plus some Game Coins I exchanged for rare supplies; they're all here. Lao Da, settle the debt first, the rest is easy."

Cheng Shuili stared at the ID for a while, searched her memory carefully, and couldn't recall ever having met him.

Could it be that he only stepped forward now because he's a Black Feather member?

His ID is "Wangzai Milk Candy"; to Cheng Shuili he's just an ordinary Black Feather member, and to Xinxue he's merely a quiet member.

But to Milk Candy himself, Black Feather is his home, and Wu Ya, the Lao Da, is his adoptive parents!

When Black Feather announced recruitment, Milk Candy had already been starving for three days.

He has little stamina; after covering his daily mileage he stops. His attribute points are trash, left far behind by other players; joining a faction normally requires an attribute screenshot, but Black Feather, with a single specialty, can admit him.

He will never forget that Xinxue passed his preliminary review, and Wuya Lao Da passed the final review.

After joining Black Feather, his life improved instantly.

Wuya Lao Da gave him so much, yet used him so little; finally getting a chance to contribute even a modest effort, Milk Candy would never let it slip away.

And inside Black Feather, there are many like him.

"Lao Da, this is my share! I have plenty of contribution points, I don't need Game Coins—use them first, Lao Da!"

"And mine, and mine!"

"Consider it one from me; it's not much, but it's not nothing, hehe~"

"Huh? As if anyone doesn't have Game Coins—I'm also a ten‑thousand‑yuan household, okay? I'll send this to Lao Da right now!"

"Hey? Black Feather doesn't do bragging, but since you broke the vow, I, Xiao Li, can't fall behind! All my possessions—sixteen thousand Game Coins—please accept them, Lao Da!"

"???"

"Sixteen thousand, right? Here's my eighteen thousand! Lao Da! Take them!"

…

As messages kept popping up in the group chat, gift panels kept appearing in front of Cheng Shuili.

When the first one appeared, she was a bit stunned, thinking someone had typed the wrong ID or was trying to bribe her, the Number One, with Game Coins.

When the second page popped up, she sensed something was off; before she could react, several more panels appeared, and Cheng Shuili stared—well, isn't that a Black Feather member's ID?

She hurriedly opened the group chat, and after reading everyone's messages, she was both amused and exasperated.

It's impossible not to be moved, but using these people's meager savings to fill the bottomless hole above Cheng Shuili's balance…

Just thinking about it makes Cheng Shuili feel a pang of sorrow.

While pained, she also feels proud.

Last time the alliance declared war, some even shouted to quit; now it's worse—the system singled them out, and this group only shows anger!

Look, this is her Black Feather.

But she can deal with those feelings later; if she doesn't say something now, these trifles from the Black Feather members will all be tossed into the bottomless pit!

She quickly posted in the group chat:

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: Stop! Everyone stop!

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: Who told you to send Game Coins? Take them back immediately!

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: Do I need your Game Coins? Keep them, improve yourselves, and stop fretting.

"Lao Da, just accept it!" Wangzai Milk Candy rushed, "We all know you're under pressure now; we're all Black Feather members, we can't let you bear it alone!"

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: Big pressure? Who said that?

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: Stop wild speculation; this matter doesn't need your involvement. When I truly need you, I'll post a notice in the group.

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: What you should do now is protect yourselves and strengthen. This plague is actually an opportunity for players with strong constitutions— isn't that Black Feather's advantage?

Cheng Shuili's words quieted the group chat for a moment.

Xinxue interjected at the right time: "Lao Da is right! All Black Feather members have good attributes; this plague is actually a great chance for us to boost our constitutions!"

"But the Weaver Girl singled us out…," someone worried.

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: So what if she singled us out? The more she does, the more it proves we're strong.

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: Remember, do what you're supposed to; that six‑million is nothing to me, I have my own way.

Cheng Shuili's confidence infected everyone, and the group chat's atmosphere gradually relaxed.

At that moment, the system notification sound rang.

【World Announcement: All major zones have merged; data synchronization begins now...】

【Synchronization complete! Welcome to the No‑Zone World!】

As soon as the announcement ended, Cheng Shuili immediately opened the regional channel to check the population.

Long Guo's current surviving population…

/

Two hundred and twenty thousand people?!

Cheng Shuili first felt that this number was large enough, but upon realizing that this was the total number of everyone still alive in Long Guo, she immediately realized what a small number it was!

The survivors in the regional channel—no, the Long Guo channel—were the same:

"So many people! It's been so long since I've seen this many people."

"It's so lively! The refresh speed in this channel is way too fast now, the messages are leaving afterimages hahaha!"

"We could set off some firecrackers to celebrate. Today is truly going down in history."

"A lot of people? Hearing you guys talk, you'd think our Long Guo still had several million people left. I just looked at the headcount. Well now, two hundred and twenty thousand? You're saying our Long Guo, with its population of over a billion, only has two hundred and twenty thousand left?!"

"Holy crap! I didn't even realize that just now. I was too busy marveling at how big the number was—after all, before it was always a few thousand at a time, ten thousand at most, and suddenly it became over two hundred thousand, so the first reaction is that there are a lot of people!"

"So many people died... no, no! The servers merged! Everyone from our Long Guo is all here now!"

"What are you all getting emotional about? Crazy? Didn't the announcement explain this news? I swear, I finally manage to read a message clearly, and it's this kind of idiotic drivel! Can some big shot come out and say something useful?!!"

"Waaah!! Holy crap! Thanks for the reminder, really thanks for the reminder! When there were separate regions before, most people had no way to find their family and friends. Now everyone who survived in Long Guo is all here—if they're here, they're here, and if they're not, they're really gone!!"

The moment this message appeared, those who saw it completely lost their composure. One after another, they immediately began frantically spamming the channel looking for family and friends, and the entire Long Guo channel was instantly flooded with all kinds of missing-person notices and names.

"Looking for Wang Fang from City B! Mom, are you there? I'm Xiaoya!"

"Zhang Wei from H Province! Brother, are you still alive? Reply if you see this!"

"Does anyone know Li Jianjun from City S? That's my dad!"

"Zhao Qian! Zhao Qian, where are you?"

Cheng Shuili watched the rapidly scrolling messages, feeling somewhat moved in her heart as well. Unfortunately, she hadn't had anyone she cared about for a long time now. The most vivid impression she had was still her supervisor's big round face.

Thinking of that person, Cheng Shuili felt her appetite ruined again. She pursed her lips and closed the major region channel.

Besides those looking for family, there were also those dedicated to recruiting.

【War Wolf Soul Unextinguished】: We are the Great Wall Watch, originally from Sub-region 288 of Long Guo's First Major Region! We are also the faction of the player ranked second on the Long Guo major region leaderboard. We welcome all ambitious individuals who want to build a brand-new Long Guo!

There were quite a few other factions recruiting too, but the most eye-catching one was naturally this one!

"Holy crap! A real big shot is out recruiting!"

"Great Wall Watch?! Wait, this person's ID—isn't he that War Wolf ranked second on our Long Guo major region leaderboard?!!"

"What are the requirements, Brother Wolf? How do I join the Great Wall Watch?!!"

The Great Wall Watch had quite a few people too, constantly spamming the major region channel with their faction's entry requirements. But with so many people in the channel now, there were always those who hadn't seen the message, continually asking in the regional channel.

Even though kind-hearted people kept answering, there were always those who hadn't seen the messages, and there seemed to be no solution to this at all.

In Black Feather's group chat, there was also heated discussion about this matter:

"We definitely need to recruit people too, right?"

"War Wolf is hogging all the attention right now. It's not our turn to step up."

"The Great Wall Watch is still using the old-fashioned method of recruiting from the sub-regions, constantly spamming in the channel. But now there are too many people—not to mention whether everyone can even see the messages their members are spamming, even if they do see them, with so many people, recruiting would be a very time-consuming and laborious process, right?"

"True, but if we want to recruit people right now, this is the only way. Doesn't our Black Feather also have to go through Lao Da's screening? Who cares about efficiency? As long as the people we recruit are solid, putting in some extra effort is no big deal."

"Exactly! Whether we recruit a lot of people or a few, we absolutely cannot let trash in!"

"Now that the top-ranked factions are all recruiting, if we still don't start, won't there be no one left to recruit?!"

"Relax and listen to Lao Da's arrangements. Trust Lao Da."

"That's right, just trust Lao Da and that's it! Do whatever Lao Da says."

Meanwhile, Cheng Shuili at this moment...

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: Where did you get this thing?

【Liang Shan Bo Yu Zhu Ying Lai】: I don't know, Lao Da. I just opened a random chest. This was inside it—a gold chest, and I only got this one thing from it. Lao Da, it must be useful, right? Did I disturb you, Lao Da? How about next time I show it to Xinxue first, and then come find Lao Da?

What kind of talk was that?

How could Cheng Shuili think she was disturbing her?!

After muttering that complaint, she looked down again at the item Jiang Tang had just sent.

【Supreme Pin Card】

【Description: After use, you can input a passage of text. The text must be under 1,000 characters. This passage will be pinned to the top of the major region channel where the user is located for thirty minutes! All players can see it! If other players use Pin Cards during this period, they will be ranked by the tier of the Pin Cards!】

Cheng Shuili read the description again. She truly didn't quite know what to say.

Not only did Jiang Tang get a brand-new item that only appeared after the server merger from a chest she opened casually, she also got the highest-tier item!

Cheng Shuili truly had a moment of daze. She suddenly felt that when she picked up Jiang Tang in the regional channel back then, she had truly opened a cheat for herself.

This luck was really a bit too heaven-defying, wasn't it?!

Cheng Shuili took a deep breath, suppressed the shock in her heart, and immediately replied to Jiang Tang.

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: No, you came at just the right time! This thing is incredibly useful! It's a huge help!

【Liang Shan Bo Yu Zhu Ying Lai】: Really? Hehe, that's great then! You use it, Lao Da. I'm going to go open the next chest!

Cheng Shuili looked at Jiang Tang's cheerful reply, the corner of her mouth twitching involuntarily.

Is this what the world of a lucky emperor looks like?

She simply couldn't understand it, but time was of the essence. She didn't need to understand that many things. Cheng Shuili knew that now was the perfect time to use this card!

The next moment, across the entire Long Guo channel, no matter how fast the messages refreshed, a golden, impossible-to-ignore pinned announcement appeared at the very top of every player's field of view:

【The faction Black Feather is sincerely recruiting elites from all walks! Leader: Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji (Ranked First on the Long Guo Major Region Leaderboard)! We possess: 1. The server's first safe zone with complete facilities and clear rules... Recruitment requirements...】

The moment this golden announcement appeared, the entire Long Guo channel seemed to have its pause button pressed. The frantically spamming missing-person messages all stalled for an instant.

Then the major region channel was like a lake into which a boulder had been hurled—Boom! —it exploded!

"Holy crap! A pinned announcement?! What kind of item is this?!"

"Black Feather! It's that Black Feather named by Zhinü!"

"Is this the power of Number One? Holy crap! I just thought these factions probably weren't much different from each other? Joining any of them is the same, right?! But comparing them like this..."

What the heck is this item?! It's way too cool, right? All the factions' recruitment info is scrolling in the channel, Black Feather—well, being pinned is fine, but the whole message is all golden shiny!

I knew it was right not to join any faction before! Compared to these few factions, what were those factions in my previous district? Black Feather, wait for me, I'm coming!!