Chapter 391: Pushing One's Luck: Where Are the Hometown Clansmen? (Ten Thousand Characters)

The Moon, Eclipse City.

Transition Base.

Beneath the shadow of a massive crater, an enormous weapons processing platform was running at overload capacity.

High-intensity energy streams surged through the thick pipelines like blood vessels, emitting a low hum.

Countless automated mechanical arms danced across the platform, dismantling, sorting, and smelting the metal hulls.

Among them were warship keels stretching several kilometers, precisely segmented by giant cutting beams.

Thick composite armor plates were sent into high-temperature furnaces and re-refined into basic alloy ingots, while the precision components and energy cores containing the mechanical legion's cutting-edge technology were separated out and sent to the module research base for detailed dismantling.

The bustling engineering work wove together a picture brimming with industrial might.

At this moment, A-Lan stood inside the data room at the center of the base, checking the project progress information.

This arsenal beneath his feet had once been built by the Star Web to cope with potential future crises.

Once all the war weapons were manufactured here, they would be sent to the war deployment base facing Earth, ready to respond to the descending war at any moment.

The sudden mechanical legion crisis had now been officially resolved.

This seemingly disastrous invasion ultimately transformed, in an unexpected way, into a gift.

But the Star Web had no intention of stockpiling these war weapons for use when war arrived.

In the Star Web's logical assessment, preserving the war attributes of the mechanical legion was already meaningless.

Earth, and even the entire solar system, now had the Fate Race as allies bearing the burden of guardianship.

If even they couldn't handle the invasion crisis, then the existence of this mechanical legion would be nothing more than adding cannon fodder.

Its existence or non-existence would not affect the course of the war.

Therefore, the Star Web decided to dismantle the steel torrent left by the mechanical legion into nutrients to nourish Earth's Alliance civilization.

The monitoring screens at this moment displayed where the recovered resources were flowing.

One of the monitoring feeds showed that some of the basic alloys were being sent to the "Ark" base in Earth's orbit.

This was one of the transit nodes for transporting goods to Earth.

Many of the goods sold or freely provided to Earth's various races were manufactured, assembled, and activated here.

It functioned as an efficient "orbital contract factory," saving the lengthy transport time from the Moon to Earth.

And the highest-priority project at this base was using this batch of special alloys to upgrade and mass-produce the latest model of virtual game pods.

The mechanical legion's legacy contained a large amount of spiritual material that was extremely precious to Earth.

The Star Web had formulated a resource-consumption project for this purpose.

Using these spiritual materials, a simple Spirit-Nurturing Formation was to be integrated inside the new-generation game pods.

Its effect was nothing short of revolutionary—it could ensure that players' bodily vitality remained in optimal condition during extended gaming sessions.

This batch of game pods didn't even require nutrient fluid.

Relying solely on the continuous release of the spiritual materials inside, players could stay online for long periods without any impact on their bodies.

Even players' physical fitness could receive a subtle, gradual improvement through the volatilization of the spiritual materials.

The Star Web's purpose in doing this was obvious.

To allow players to stay online longer and provide more assistance for the development of the player faction.

Secondly, the various races on Earth currently had very high demand for the new game pods.

The Moon's resources were already limited to begin with, and the legacy from the mechanical legion perfectly solved the urgent need—most of the materials would be invested in the game pod manufacturing project.

The cutting-edge technology within would not be hoarded by the Eclipse Race either.

Once the assessment was complete, it would be gradually shared with the various races of Earth's Alliance.

After quickly browsing through the progress information of various projects scrolling on the data platform, A-Lan turned and left the data room.

Although this industrial zone nominally fell under his jurisdiction, the processing flow was strictly supervised by intelligent robots directly controlled by the Star Web.

His presence or absence would not have any impact on efficiency.

What made him decide to log off temporarily was a routine notification issued by the Star Web: to attend this month's Councilor Meeting.

As a councilor of the Eclipse Race, he naturally needed to attend on time.

After the meeting, thinking that it had been a long time since he had logged off to walk around in person, he took the opportunity to stroll through his jurisdiction.

It was more out of a routine inspection within the scope of his duties.

Secondly, it was also to understand exactly what had happened during the mechanical legion invasion.

This kind of information had no channel of access within the game.

The Star Web wouldn't pop up a danmaku comment to explain things to him, and the vast majority of players on the player forums were also completely clueless, having no idea what had happened at the time.

He and the qualified members of the Eclipse Race basically never logged off, and knew very little about the outside world.

So questions on the real-world level still had to be understood in reality.

After completing the routine inspection, A-Lan returned to his personal rest room.

He skillfully took off his councilor attire and changed into a comfortable, form-fitting high-grade neural-sensing gaming suit.

Accompanied by a faint suction sound, the gaming suit adhered perfectly to his body.

Lying down inside the game pod, a sudden wave of dizziness swept over him….

……

Dream Island.

The slight dizziness receded like a tide, replaced by an indescribable sense of body-and-mind immersion.

What greeted his eyes was an endless sky, translucent as sapphire.

Warm yet not scorching sunlight poured down, carrying threads of gentle warmth.

A salty, moist, fresh sea breeze brushed past his cheeks, bringing the faint fragrance of the island's flowers.

In his ears was the lively, bustling clamor of the distant docks, a sign of the merchant guild's ever-growing prosperity.

He instinctively drew a deep breath.

At once, a sweetness and freshness flooded his lungs.

Compared with the real world, where even layer upon layer of purification left the air dull and devoid of spiritual energy—

Every breath here seemed to wash the soul, bringing a wave of comfort that spread through his whole body, and even his thoughts felt sharper and clearer.

This feeling, after staying in Monster World long enough, one stops noticing anything special about it.

But once you've logged off and come back, it hits especially hard.

At this moment, he headed toward the docks.

Next, he prepared to head to the Ascension Sea Region in person.

This offline meeting had clarified one idea for him: to begin expanding the Gold Coin Merchant Guild's business coverage across the three great sea regions.

Trade clients shouldn't be limited to the Mist Fog Clan.

The Ascension Clan and the Shu Yan could also be trade partners of the Gold Coin Merchant Guild.

With the three sides locked in a melee, the Gold Coin Merchant Guild could perfectly resell war supplies to all three factions and rake in enormous war profits.

If this had been back when he first made contact with the Mist Fog Clan, he certainly wouldn't have had such an idea.

After all, the Gold Coin Merchant Guild at that time hadn't displayed any war-making capability.

If it had provoked the Mist Fog Clan, they could have moved against the guild at any moment, erasing the Gold Coin Merchant Guild from the Azure Star Sea Region at any cost.

But that was the past.

Something that happened recently made him feel the timing had ripened.

At the time, General Ye Ming had come ashore to find him, hoping the Gold Coin Merchant Guild could supply war resources to the Mist Fog Clan at a "friendship price" to support their campaign in the Ascension Sea Region.

And he had indicated that the better the Mist Fog Clan did, the more the Gold Coin Merchant Guild would benefit in turn.

That request, he naturally refused without the slightest hesitation.

In his strategic view, cooperation with the Mist Fog Clan was a stopgap measure based on present interests.

The Gold Coin Merchant Guild had to maintain absolute neutrality and independence, and under no circumstances become any race's vassal—or its bargain-bin supplier.

He understood the survival-of-the-fittest operating logic of Monster World perfectly well.

General Ye Ming dared to demand a discount in the name of "friendship" today; if he got away with it, tomorrow he'd dare to ask for more.

Aside from the Mist Fog Clan, virtually every faction in Monster World was the same.

Between clan and clan, there had never been any courtesy or reciprocity.

One concession would be read as a signal of weakness, inviting more greedy covetous eyes.

Agreeing would be a show of backing down.

At the time, General Ye Ming had seemed to come to negotiate, but in essence it was a covert probe of the Gold Coin Merchant Guild's depth.

General Ye Ming's seemingly angry, forceful performance—all of it, at a deeper level, was meant to probe whether the Gold Coin Merchant Guild truly had a powerful backer.

He clearly understood that a faction with real depth would never make any compromise with the Mist Fog Clan.

Seeing through the trick, A Lan had therefore been unyieldingly aggressive from start to finish, not yielding an inch.

He would never give General Ye Ming any opening to press his advantage, keeping the initiative firmly in his own hands throughout.

During the negotiations, a seemingly chance "coincidence" occurred.

Calling it a coincidence was in fact a setup he had prepared in advance: Brother Ming Hou's arrival.

Arranging to meet Brother Ming Hou at this exact time to discuss the construction project for the City of Fate wasn't just a simple matter of meeting face to face.

Many issues could have been handled perfectly well via video call, negotiating remotely.

The real reason for having Brother Ming Hou come in person was, at its core: to borrow momentum.

According to supplementary background posted on the forums by lore-hunting players—

The key turning point that had let the Mist Fog Clan pull off a reversal and ultimately defeat the Dirge Clan back in the day was an equal-stakes gamble between General Ye Ming and the Fate Clan.

General Ye Ming's wager had been the "Mist Fog Rules."

When players discussed the background material, what they talked about most was General Ye Ming's boldness and madness.

But he saw a deeper piece of information: General Ye Ming had a fairly detailed understanding of the depth the Fate Clan possessed.

He believed the Fate Clan had the ability to give him hope of a turnaround.

Otherwise he wouldn't have dared to stake his rules and gone to Fate Clan territory to gamble.

This piece of intelligence, in his eyes, was a genuine pleasant surprise.

In the cooperation before this, General Ye Ming had been probing the Gold Coin Merchant Guild the whole time.

The purpose of doing so was obvious: he couldn't determine just how deep the Gold Coin Merchant Guild's foundations really were.

And second, the Gold Coin Merchant Guild had never displayed any outward war-making capability.

These vague pieces of information weren't enough to thoroughly intimidate a general who had seen his share of storms.

Brother Ming Hou's appearance let him see the possibility of borrowing momentum.

And what he wanted to borrow wasn't just Brother Ming Hou's personal "momentum."

It was, more importantly, the great momentum of the Fate Clan represented behind Brother Ming Hou's identity as a "Master of Fate."

To use it as a warning strike against General Ye Ming.

To make him feel sufficient awe toward the Gold Coin Merchant Guild's depth and power, and thoroughly snuff out any unrealistic fantasies in his heart.

Is there anything that could better showcase the guild's unfathomable depth than a "Master of Fate" of the Fate Clan descending in person upon Dream Island, meeting the Gold Coin Merchant Guild as an equal—or even slightly the more eager party—to discuss an important cooperation project?

The impact of that scene was far more intimidating than any amount of verbal persuasion.

But he hadn't told Brother Ming Hou about this in advance.

Even if he had said it outright, Brother Ming Hou wouldn't have refused.

But the positioning of both sides would change because of this.

At that time, Brother Ming Hou and he were not well acquainted, having only exchanged one private message.

When Brother Ming Hou took the initiative to come knocking, wanting to discuss the construction project of the Fate Casino on Dream Island, and the request to acquire customers from the Gold Coin Guild.

The positioning of both sides changed, becoming: Brother Ming Hou had a request of him.

So he chose a time and sent Brother Ming Hou an invitation to come to the island to talk.

In terms of posture, he was granting Brother Ming Hou a chance to strive for cooperation.

Conversely, if he, in order to intimidate General Ye Ming, had taken the initiative to request Brother Ming Hou to come and lend support.

The nature would have completely changed into him having a request of Brother Ming Hou, owing a favor.

It was the same meeting, but with different methods of initiation, the status and speaking power of both sides were completely different.

And Brother Ming Hou arrived as scheduled, inadvertently perfectly playing the role of the "powerful cooperating party," making his plan a huge success.

The final result was that during his negotiation with Brother Ming Hou, while smoothly advancing the project cooperation, he also owed him a favor.

And General Ye Ming, because of Brother Ming Hou's appearance, gained a new understanding of the Gold Coin Guild's foundations, imagining many possibilities.

And he, having given nothing, achieved the effect of killing two birds with one stone.

And this carefully arranged "coincidence" also paved the way for the Gold Coin Guild's strategic layout going forward.

Since Brother Ming Hou's intimidation had achieved the expected effect.

Successfully causing General Ye Ming and the Mist Fog Clan behind him to re-evaluate the weight of the Gold Coin Guild, then next... it was the Gold Coin Guild's turn to push its luck.

This idea actually existed long ago, it was just that the timing had not been ripe before.

He always believed that the Gold Coin Guild's trade clients could also be the Ascended Clan and the Shu Yan Clan, who were currently engaged in a three-way chaotic war with the Mist Fog Clan.

They too possessed huge war demands and resource consumption.

They also stored various types of spiritual resources, which could be resold to the Gold Coin Guild, and then by them, the Gold Coin Guild, listed and supplied to the players in the Trading Hall.

The Ascended Clan and Shu Yan were both factions mastering rules, and were also potential high-quality clients.

As long as this could be achieved, the Gold Coin Guild could, relying on its neutral status and powerful sea logistics network, simultaneously resell war supplies to all three warring parties.

Let the flames of war burn brighter, and the Gold Coin Guild could earn considerable war profits from it.

As for what the Mist Fog Clan thought, it was no longer important.

In the Monster World, this environment of the strong devouring the weak, modesty and conservatism had no meaning, and would only be viewed as weakness and easy to bully.

When it is time to be dominant, one must display crushing dominance.

When it is time to push one's luck, one must advance forward without hesitation.

The survival logic between the various races is actually very cruel; all factions instinctively fear the strong and devour the weak without mercy.

Therefore, every action and every decision of the Gold Coin Guild going forward must be worthy of the image of "unfathomable foundations" he had created.

Only through such continuous expansion of territory, greedily seizing every visible profit, can it bring continuous and growing development momentum to the Gold Coin Guild itself, and even to the rapid development of the entire player camp.

So, the trade flag of the Gold Coin Guild is time to be planted on the broader war-torn lands.

Three days later, the main island of the Ascended Clan.

Heart of Magma.

Here was completely different from the humid sea breeze of Dream Island.

The air was scorching, permeated with a faint sulfur scent.

The ground presented a dark red tone, with scorching lava flows surging occasionally in the cracked fissures.

Several incubation chambers were constructed within the island, connecting to multiple cultivation civilization worlds.

Although the process was somewhat tortuous, Ah Lan still successfully boarded the island.

Under the lead of an Ascended Clan warrior with a tall build and an analysis name of "Shield Spiritual Root," passing through the treacherous channels surrounded by lava rivers, he was brought to a magnificent hall carved out from inside a volcano.

At the end of the hall, a huge Wang Zuo was cast from dark magma and the bones of an unknown giant beast.

Upon the Wang Zuo, a figure slowly raised his head.

His build was more burly than ordinary Ascended Clan members, covered in scaly armor that seemed to flow like scorching heat; every breath brought out tiny sparks.

His face was majestic, a scar piercing through his left eye, adding even more ferocity.

There were no weapons in his hands; his fists hung naturally, the energy fluctuations radiating from his palms causing the surrounding space to warp slightly due to the high temperature.

It was the leader of the Ascended Clan: Leader Chi Yan.

More accurately, it was the new Ascended Clan leader who had inherited the name of the previous leader.

The high-ranking members of the previous generation of the Ascended Clan had long since turned into nutrients, becoming the wedding dress for the life metamorphosis of the core members of this generation of the Ascended Clan.

This was a race's choice in a desperate situation.

Letting the previous generation become the cornerstone for the next generation's growth, stepping further forward on their corpses.

"Clan Leader Chi Yan," Ah Lan greeted calmly, then introduced himself:

"Gold Coin Guild, Ah Lan.."

Leader Chi Yan sized up Ah Lan with burning eyes; his low voice was like rolling thunder booming, making Ah Lan's eardrums ring:

"I know you, the power of the Cang Star Sea Region that provides war resources to the Mist Fog Clan."

Facing Leader Chi Yan's scrutinizing gaze, Ah Lan's expression did not change in the slightest, remaining calm and composed:

"That's right."

"What do you seek me for?"

"The business of the Gold Coin Guild is open to all potential cooperators; I came this time, naturally seeing broad cooperation prospects between us and the Ascended Clan."

"Cooperation?" Leader Chi Yan's voice carried a hint of doubt, and the temperature within the hall fluctuated with it:

"You provide supplies to all warring parties at the same time? Won't the Mist Fog Clan have objections to this?"