Chapter 105: Call Request (Vote for Monthly Tickets)

Altar of Meng Yuan Chu.

Qi Sheng's consciousness rapidly switched, scrolling through the flood of player-generated information.

He personally went to negotiate with the Moon Eclipse Clan, thoroughly resolving the issue of how to explain the game's exposure in the future.

The Monster World has been draped in the guise of a secret game developed by the Moon Eclipse Clan; even among Moon Eclipse Clan members, only the 18 ruling officials know the truth.

In fact, Qi Sheng had never truly cared about this issue.

He did this merely to more conveniently continue building his player army in the form of a game.

As for when to batch-distribute access rights to the Moon Eclipse Clan, it will be decided based on development trends.

After all, his Shou Shou Jili is limited, so he will still primarily recruit from the human race.

Only when he has sufficient Shou Shou Jili will he consider other terrestrial races and the Moon Eclipse Clan.

This early contact with the Moon Eclipse Clan occurred because the Guidance Monitor detected that the clan's high-ranking officials had fallen into despair, so he initiated contact early to offer a hopeful preview, simultaneously resolving the issue of explaining the game's exposure.

To the Moon Eclipse Clan, this was a hopeful turning point in their future; to Qi Sheng, it was merely a passing minor incident.

Without dwelling on the matter, Qi Sheng's consciousness continued browsing the game content.

At this moment, a forum post caught his attention.

The post was published by the well-known strategy player "Night Is Coming," who initiated a vote to rank the strength of collected Painful Painful Minghun.

The purpose of the vote was to determine which single Painful Painful Minghun, without combining Star Veins, had the highest strength.

Each voter could state their reasoning in the post; if their reasoning received widespread upvotes from players, their voting weight would increase.

Immediately after the post was published, a large number of players cast their votes and replied in the thread.

Throughout, the OP "Night Is Coming" would categorize the single Painful Painful Minghun into six tiers—T0 to T5—and update the rankings in real time.

After three hours of voting, the results had gradually stabilized.

The four Painful Painful Minghun temporarily ranked T0, in order of vote count, were: Hawk-Head Demon (Moaning Resentment), Gargoyle (Petrification), Qi-Siphon, Slowness (Domain).

The T1 Painful Painful Minghun, ranked by vote count, were: Black-Scale Serpent (Deadly Poison), Taunt, Shatter (Blade), Bone Flame, Thunder Rush.

The T2 Painful Painful Minghun, ranked by vote count, were: Roar, Sweep, Soul Separation, Wraith, Light Shield.

The T3 Painful Painful Minghun, ranked by vote count, were: Resistance, Binding, Forbidden Blade, Flowing Shadow (Clone).

The T4 Painful Painful Minghun, ranked by vote count, were: Infinite (Gen 6), Force (Axe), Dusk Shadow.

The T5 Painful Painful Minghun, ranked by vote count, were: Mud Demon (Dissolution), Extraction.

……

This ranking included all collected Painful Painful Minghun except the special one, "Painful."

Unsurprisingly, the Hawk-Head Demon Painful Painful Minghun ranked first.

As the most practical command skill in team battles and a perception ability to avoid sudden dangers during exploration, Hawk-Head Demon's functionality has consistently held the top spot on the list since the game's launch, never shaken.

The same applies to the second-ranked Gargoyle.

As the core Painful Painful Minghun for tank builds, Gargoyle's strength stands alone; whether for solo squads or frontline team battles, Gargoyle is the top choice for damage-absorbing players.

As for Qi-Siphon, ranked third, it is the only universal Painful Painful Minghun among all collected ones.

Its effect is to automatically filter energy particles from the air through breathing, replenishing mental energy and blood qi.

Before healer-type Painful Painful Minghun appeared, embedding Qi-Siphon saved players massive amounts of potion expenses, and both melee and spellcasters used it.

Especially for spellcasters, without Qi-Siphon, their sustained output time would be drastically reduced.

In this ranking of single Painful Painful Minghun strength, the one that surprised Qi Sheng most was that Force (Axe) was ranked T4.

It was one of the earliest collected Spirit-Weapon Painful Painful Minghun, with the effect of adding "Force" to all physical attacks, increasing damage by 50%.

It is also one of the mainstream Painful Painful Minghun pairings for melee players, often ranking among the top two choices.

Yet in the single Painful Painful Minghun evaluation, its strength ranking was surprisingly low.

After scanning the comments section, Qi Sheng found the answer.

Force (Axe)'s 50% damage boost is based on the user's own strength.

Suppose the base damage of Force (Axe) is 1; with its 50% bonus, the damage output without considering target defense is 1.5.

If the target's defense is 1, the damage dealt by Force (Axe) is 0.5.

As a pure damage-boosting Painful Painful Minghun, the damage output from embedding Force (Axe) alone is far lower than that from embedding elemental damage Painful Painful Minghun like Bone Flame or Thunder Rush.

It's even lower than physical effect-based Painful Painful Minghun like Shatter (Blade) and Black-Scale Serpent.

The Shatter (Blade) Painful Painful Minghun, another Spirit-Weapon type, has the effect of adding penetration and shatter effects to all physical attacks.

With a base damage of 1, against a target with defense 1, the Shatter effect deals approximately 0.85 damage.

With a base damage of 1, the Black-Scale Serpent, relying solely on its Deadly Poison effect, deals a sustained damage of 1.2 against a target with defense 1.

This analysis, based on detailed player evaluations of the two single-effect performances, was posted in the voting thread and received massive upvotes.

Thus, it can be concluded that when embedded alone, Shatter (Blade) and Black-Scale Serpent are far stronger than Force (Axe).

But when used in Star Vein combinations, Force (Axe)'s strength surges dramatically.

For example, combining Force (Axe) with Shatter (Blade) allows the penetrating physical damage to also receive a 50% boost, making this Painful Painful Minghun a must-have in melee builds.

Similar cases exist for the spellcaster mainstream Painful Painful Minghun Flowing Shadow (Clone), which can truly be called a meta-defining choice.

But without other Painful Painful Minghun to support it, the combat power provided by the clone alone is extremely limited; aside from being useful for mining, its battlefield performance is terrible, hence its placement at T3 in the single Painful Painful Minghun strength ranking.

After reading the single Painful Painful Minghun voting thread, Qi Sheng found no issue with the rankings.

After all, a single Painful Painful Minghun being strong and a Star Vein combination being strong are entirely different things.

For example, when Binding is paired with Slowness Domain, the bottom-tier Binding Painful Painful Minghun gains a leap in effectiveness, becoming a group control effect within the domain's range—undoubtedly T0-tier strength.

The players' enthusiasm for researching Painful Painful Minghun combinations is precisely the outcome Qi Sheng wanted to see.

Every research advancement brings growth to the overall strength of his player army.

Skipping the post content, his gaze shifted to the perspectives of other players.

After the opening of Color Mist Coast, player groups began to diverge in their destinations.

Teams centered around guilds generally remained in Emperor Tomb Mountains to develop, as they viewed it as the fastest-growing region.

Groups led by solo players would roam between Emperor Tomb Mountains and Color Mist Coast.

Among them, casual players shifted their focus to Color Mist Coast, becoming the main force in clearing the map's fog.

Most of the recently updated encyclopedia content was being maintained by this group.

Every player has different gaming preferences, and all can contribute to the construction of the player guild.

While thinking, Qi Sheng's gaze frequently switched between Emperor Tomb Mountains and Color Mist Coast, searching for any special events.

……

The real world.

Earth Alliance, Human Affairs Office, Office 3, Director.

While reviewing his StarNet email, Wu Gui couldn't help silently cursing inside—he still hadn't received any reply from the Eclipse Clan.

Recently, various departments had been sending frequent emails, hoping to use their Alliance Office to establish contact with the Eclipse Clan and apply for additional slots for the game "Dark Lands."

He had contacted the Eclipse Clan's Alliance liaison regarding this issue.

But the consistent reply was that StarNet had full authority—they had no power to issue extra game slots.

With no other option, he reached out to the Human Federation's diplomatic envoy stationed in Eclipse City, hoping the envoy could directly petition the local management there for additional slots.

But this channel also yielded no progress.

The replies were identical, as if stamped from the same template: the Eclipse Clan had delegated all licensing rights for "Dark Lands" to StarNet AI; after launch, the game was entirely outside their management control, and they had no authority to interfere with its progress or question StarNet's restrictions on slot allocation.

If StarNet deemed granting extra slots to the Human Federation beneficial to the Eclipse Clan's interests, they would receive them without even applying.

In short: StarNet decided everything; management merely executed.

This gave him a terrible headache.

On one side, departments kept sending urgent emails requesting diplomatic intervention to obtain extra slots without official purchase; on the other, every reply was the same refusal.

Caught in the middle, he was squeezed from both sides.

Although he was long accustomed to the Eclipse Clan's rigid nature, he still found them utterly devoid of human warmth.

After centuries of alliance friendship, couldn't they at least make a small exception, show some face, and grant a few more slots?

Especially StarNet AI—it made decisions purely based on profit.

No room for sentiment whatsoever.

Just as Wu Gui was mentally complaining, a new email popped up on his computer.

From the suffix, he recognized it as coming from the Human Federation—Spirit Plant Cultivation Center; before opening it, he already guessed its content.

After opening, it was exactly as he expected—another request for extra game slots.

But according to protocol, he could only reply as required: the application had not been approved and further waiting was necessary.

"Huh."

Wu Gui exhaled deeply, leaning back against his chair, expression helplessly weary.

At that moment, another email notification appeared.

As Wu Gui, about to copy-paste his reply, saw the suffix "Eclipse Clan" on the email, his spirits instantly lifted.

With excitement, he opened the email.

【Eclipse Clan (Verified)】:

Time: April 27, 2524

Recipient: Human Alliance Center.

Content: Esteemed Human Alliance ally, regarding your application for additional "Dark Lands" slots, approved by StarNet, we are granting you: 500 slots. Activate and verify via the official website; activation codes are as follows…

Additionally, we require your assistance in answering a question: Do you know how many Human Federation players obtained game access via cracked links?

…

Although only 500 slots, Wu Gui was still delighted.

At least now he could respond to the frequent applicants—when distributing the 500 slots, even the highest-authorized departments would receive at least one or two.

But the follow-up question in the email puzzled Wu Gui deeply.

Cracked link? What was that?

He immediately hit reply and began composing his message.

Earth Alliance—Human Center: I don't understand what you mean by "cracked link." Could you please elaborate?

Not long after, the Eclipse Clan replied.

Earth Alliance—Eclipse Center: This information was first provided by the Human Federation—StarNet Security Center. You may consult them for details.

Seeing the reply, Wu Gui couldn't help mentally groaning at the hassle.

He was certain that if the Eclipse Clan wanted, they could instantly connect directly to StarNet Security Center via StarNet—yet they chose to route communication through him, merely putting on a show of respect.

But since the Eclipse Clan had granted the slots, he couldn't refuse their request.

He pressed a function key on his desk; light projections from the ceiling formed a holographic screen. He selected StarNet Security Center from his contact list and initiated a connection.

Not long after, the connection was established.

On the screen appeared a middle-aged man with a stern face and short beard, wearing the blue uniform of a StarNet supervisor, now looking at him with puzzled expression.

Before Wu Gui could speak, the man spoke first:

"Little Wu, you got the extra game slots from the Eclipse Clan?"

Wu Gui: …

After a brief silence, Wu Gui nodded in response:

"I got 500 slots, but…"

"Our Star Network Security Center needs fifty."

"Big Brother, I am only responsible for receiving the quotas; how these quotas are distributed must be left to the Supreme Council. I have no power to give them to you. If I truly had this ability, I would give all five hundred quotas to you, even assigning one quota to the dogs your unit keeps."

Seeing Wu Gui's helpless expression in his reply, the middle-aged man in the holographic screen laughed heartily:

"I am not joking with you. Tell me, what do you need?"

Facing the inquiry, Wu Gui's expression turned serious as he detailed the Moon Eclipse Clan's request.

After listening to his account, the middle-aged man in the holographic screen frowned slightly:

"Why would the Moon Eclipse Clan throw this problem to us? The Star Network can investigate the download information of the cracked version links at any time, as well as the specific quantity downloaded... It seems there truly is a problem within the Moon Eclipse Clan?"

"What do you mean?" Wu Gui looked extremely bewildered.

"Some time ago, a download link appeared on the Human Race Star Network. Through this link, one could download a cracked version of the Dark Lands. To clarify the situation, we applied for assistance from the highest-level intelligent mainframe of the Human Race Federation for investigation. The result was that even with the mainframe's permissions, we could not open the link address, nor could we trace exactly who on the Star Network had downloaded the cracked version of the Dark Lands through the link."

"Regarding this problem, we put forward a hypothesis: there may be a problem within the Moon Eclipse Clan. This cracked version download link can be one hundred percent confirmed as leaked from within the Moon Eclipse Clan, so even the highest-level mainframe cannot open this link to trace the information behind it."

"Now hearing you say that the Moon Eclipse Clan wants to know how many people on the Human Race Federation's Star Network downloaded the cracked version of the Dark Lands through the link, this further confirms our hypothesis."

"The fact that they did not ask the Star Network intelligence brain, but instead asked us through you, is extremely unusual. I even suspect there may be a rebellion against the Star Network within the Moon Eclipse Clan, which is why they bypassed the Star Network to contact you directly."

Speaking to this point, the middle-aged man in the holographic screen's expression became somewhat strange:

"But what I do not understand is why they chose to establish contact with you through the network. They could have met you in person to communicate. Their behavior seems completely exposed to the Star Network's surveillance... There is also a possibility that they used some kind of shielding method to bypass the Star Network's surveillance of the network world and make contact with you."

This fierce analysis, tiger-like in its intensity, left Wu Gui stunned. He then could not help but ask:

"So, should we give a reply to the Moon Eclipse Clan?"

"Tell them we are also unclear exactly how many Human Race members downloaded the cracked version of the game. After all, our mainframe has no permission to trace the clues. As far as I know, the only ones who have obtained qualifications for the cracked version of the game are some researchers in the Weapon Research Department and the Gene Research Department of the Sky Dome Research Center..."

After listening to the middle-aged man's account, Wu Gui nodded:

"Fine. I will reply to the Moon Eclipse Clan according to what you said. That's it."

Hanging up the phone, Wu Gui immediately gave the Moon Eclipse Clan a reply.

Earth Alliance - Human Race Center: The Human Race's highest mainframe cannot trace the specific situation through the cracked version link. I can confirm here that there are seventy-four players who have already downloaded the cracked version game content. As for how many other download qualifications exist, there is no way to trace them.

One minute later, a new email from the Moon Eclipse Clan arrived.

Earth Alliance - Moon Eclipse Center: Thank you to our Human Race allies for providing the information.

With the exchange concluded, Wu Gui immediately got busy, sending the five hundred game quotas the Moon Eclipse Clan sent him to the Human Race's Supreme Council. He no longer needed to worry about how the remaining quotas should be distributed.

Just then, the Moon Eclipse Clan sent a new email again.

This made Wu Gui feel extremely puzzled.

The Moon Eclipse Center, which usually couldn't be contacted even a few times a month, why was it sending email messages so frequently today?

Carrying his doubts, he clicked open the email content.

The information on it left him dumbfounded.

In the email, the Moon Eclipse Clan was actually asking if the Human Race needed to open additional currency exchange applications, using Moon Eclipse Coins, or Earth Coins, to exchange large amounts for the Human Race's Credit Coins.

If the title of this email did not have the red characters "Certified" hanging on it, he would have suspected he had encountered a fake email scam.

But no matter how he looked at the content, it felt incredible.

The Human Race and the Moon Eclipse Clan have always had a trade deficit. Initially, the Moon Eclipse Clan hoarded a large amount of Human Race Federation Credit Points in their hands, returning them every year under the guise of funding development.

After all, the Moon Eclipse Clan lacked nothing produced by the Human Race Federation.

At most, they purchased some ordinary spiritual materials planted within the Human Race's vast territory; this was also the largest trade expenditure the Moon Eclipse Clan made to the Human Race.

In recent years, the Moon Eclipse Clan's development hit a bottleneck, and they even stopped accepting the Human Race Federation's Credit Coins, willing only to accept Earth Coins, which are universally used by all races of the Earth Alliance.

Usually, it was the Human Race Center that sent inquiries to the Moon Eclipse Clan asking if there was a need for currency exchange.

But the Moon Eclipse Clan's answer was always negative.

Now, suddenly seeing the Moon Eclipse Clan proactively send an email stating they wanted to exchange Moon Eclipse Coins, or even Earth Universal Coins, for the Human Race's Credit Coins, no matter how he looked at this content, it felt unreal.

Resting his chin on his hand, Wu Gui gazed at the email content on the screen, his eyes narrowing slightly as he fell into deep thought:

"Could it be that recently the Moon Eclipse wants to purchase a large quantity of spiritual resources produced by our Human Race Federation?"

"Or is there a huge breakthrough in a new technology within our Human Race, and the Moon Eclipse Clan wants to purchase this technology?"

"But I haven't received any notification."

"Tsk, so strange... Report it immediately."

Today 11,000 words, finished~

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(End of this chapter)