Chapter 167: Death God Descends Beside Me

Actually, Ji Ming really wants to know what kind of expression the other side would have if he were to reveal his figure now.

But he's not acting in a horror movie, and although this would be fun, it's overly fun and could cause things to fall apart, so he ultimately gave up.

Wa Li Ya, after a moment of thought, also lowered her head.

"Father, I will consider this matter carefully."

"Very good. Study more, speak more, ask more, think more; only then can you become an outstanding one‑eyed giant."

Bati Si Te paused briefly.

"And also an excellent chief's successor."

Having completed the extra parent‑child education segment, he steered the conversation back to business.

"As I said before, Wa Li Ya, you look well; I suppose the negotiations went smoothly, right?"

"Their promises are similar to what was in the previous letters, and they've even added some clauses that benefit us."

Wa Li Ya took a parchment scroll from her pocket and placed it before her father.

"This is the formal agreement between both parties; please review it."

Although the parchment itself has no special qualities, because it can be used to craft magical scrolls, documents signed on it are often of great importance, serving as a solemn and formal symbol.

So while Bati Si Te was reading attentively, Wa Li Ya waited anxiously for her father's assessment.

Ji Ming shifted his position to a spot where he could capture the agreement's contents.

One must admit, the scribe of this agreement has deft hands; the characters are both delicate and beautiful.

Although the text appears somewhat small due to the volume of content, Ji Ming can simply screenshot it in the system and enlarge it.

The core logic of the entire agreement is simple: the Magic Spirit Tribe will provide technical support for the other's development of the Underground Plain, and the other side will supply the Magic Spirit Tribe with various resources.

Looking at the list of resource types, the Magic Spirit Tribe is incredibly lucky; even Ji Ming couldn't muster such a comprehensive stockpile.

Just the few magical items alone are hard currency that ordinary shops can't obtain.

But.

The "other side" is no one else but the mountain‑folk mercenaries who set up a checkpoint at the exit.

However, the party signing the contract with the Magic Spirit Tribe is not the Mountain Red Dragon, but someone whose handwriting matches the one earlier…

An De Lu of the Mountains?

Although rumors claim An De Lu may be a descendant of northern nobles, he has never disclosed his aristocratic surname.

So is this his own intention, or is someone stirring trouble?

Ji Ming continued to ponder silently, while Wa Li Ya already retrieved an exquisite box from her cloth bag.

"This is the gift they gave you; I've inspected it and found no issues."

Opening the lid, nestled in red velvet, was a rather beautiful staff.

Although the Underground Plain is resource‑scarce and Bati Si Te, even as a chief, hasn't seen many fine items,

as a mage, he can still discern the quality of a staff.

He infused his magic into it, examined it carefully for a moment, and his face lit up with pleasure.

"This is a fine piece,"

but after a brief thought, he loosened his grip.

"Unfortunately it's no longer suitable for me, Wa Li Ya; you can keep it."

Ji Ming has no time for other people's sentimental dramas, unless it's the usual father‑loving, son‑filial, brother‑friendly, sibling‑respectful type.

So when he saw the two return from business talk to parent‑child education, he simply teleported away from the magical forest.

Based on his knowledge of the mountain mercenaries, there's definitely something fishy in this agreement.

Or rather, befriending the local strongest power to drive out tigers and swallow wolves, ensuring the winner takes all, is a typical colonizer's trick.

When everything's settled, if the one‑eyed giant can keep his whole body instead of being skinned and dismembered for sale, that's already a tremendous blessing.

However, although Ji Ming has some ideas, he doesn't intend to point this out.

After all, they're in their honeymoon period; if a stranger like you objects, you'd become the villain.

Moreover.

The mercenaries only seek a bit of fun in befriending anyone; the biggest gain from this trip is still—

"Heaven has a road you won't walk, and hell has no door yet you barge in, roar!"

"We've been busy with official matters these past few days and haven't had time to schedule you; you kid actually dared to run to the Underground Plain on your own?"

Ji Ming immediately started recruiting, and soon assembled a Production Team troupe whose combined level neared two hundred.

"You all wait outside; when I signal, charge... Cloi, do you have any questions?"

"None!"

"A royal bomb can't be used as the opening move, so Ji Ming hung a few biochemical nukes at his waist, ready to try executing them himself."

But after wandering around the camp, checking every residence and warehouse, he still couldn't find any trace of An De Lu.

He then pulled up the map, cross‑checked each white dot nearby, and discovered the highest‑level entity here is a sixteen‑level Mountain Red Dragon leader—no sign of any An De Lu at all.

"Where is the person?"

Finally, he simply grabbed a lone mercenary and used the Suggestion Technique to "inquire" him.

"I don't even know why I'm talking to myself, but..."

"Chief An De Lu left at noon; he was here for only about an hour..."

He ran away fast!

Helplessly, Ji Ming had to announce the operation's cancellation, in disappointment and...

"Since we're already here, we can't just leave empty‑handed!"

Coincidentally, when An De Lu came here for the negotiations, he also brought a convoy of supplies.

Moreover, this batch is several times larger than the previous one, a quantity far beyond what a third‑rate mercenary troupe could handle.

Considering that Director An came to the dungeon in person to sign the contract, could it mean the area has been roughly explored and is now ready for massive "development"?

Seeing those who are nominally "support", yet each individual is several ranks above the mountain‑folk Red Dragon, weapons never leaving their hands, eyes darting everywhere, the hammer‑wielding mercenaries…

I'm afraid this bowl of soup won't have any Red Dragon's share.

But these matters have nothing to do with Ji Ming; he's just a doctor.

So…

He simply couldn't bear to see a few warehouses suffering with swollen bellies, so he quickly stepped in to treat them.

After promptly clearing this batch of supplies, he also had the little boss tally the current stock in the storage room.

He discovered that after two waves of mercenary sponsorship and one wave of bandit funding, the weapons and equipment total had already exceeded four digits.

"They're all living bodhisattvas; a thousand‑person closed beta, why does the early‑stage cost still not exceed that of a hundred‑person open beta?"

Doing good deeds anonymously, Ji Ming turned back from the easternmost part of the Underground Plain and made his way back to the garrison camp.

Unfortunately, the line in the middle of the Underground Plain still hosts a few small groups, but overall it has lost its vigor.

Leaving work early, he first used various official accounts to announce the confirmed midday closed‑beta list, then spread out his bedding and fell into a deep sleep.

But while he was sleeping, in the real world of a workday, people were just waking up.

Just as they were about to scroll short videos on the way to work or squeeze in the daily mobile‑game tasks, they found that almost every group was @‑mentioning everyone.

【Brothers, the closed‑beta list will be announced at noon; remember to check it!】

【Damn, the qualification finally dropped】

【I live just for today!】

【Wait, why hasn't the official said the exact release time?】

"Hmm?"

In a flurry, Fu Le, who was gathering his subordinates for the morning meeting, also noticed the issue.

One must understand that once the project team starts operating, it will burn money continuously.

Only by knowing the exact time can one better schedule the upcoming tasks.

He lingered by the floor‑to‑ceiling window for a moment.

"Could it be that the officials forgot?"

Similar doubts began to spread, and scattered inquiries appeared in the comment sections of various official accounts.

When the officials delayed their response, it quickly escalated into a frenzied spamming and an internet‑wide frenzy.

Hip‑hop cool old‑man ModPlay: 【Time? Time? Time?...】

【Uncle, did you join the wrong channel?】

【Whoa, why are even the ModPlay bloggers urging now】

Zhang Zhiwei: 【The officials really have patience; they must often train with our family's third‑generation Qingzhu Ling】

【No, did Bei Ge change accounts again? Where's my Peach Blossom Immortal second generation?】

【Never mind that this is D‑Station, not a paste‑board… byd you're just clinging to one person, right?】

Lin Xiao Ricardo: 【Everyone's anxious, I'm not; I've already bought the invitation code outright, so the little forests can look forward to it! (heart)】

【Ahhh I knew brother could do it, could, could】

【Which byd no‑obvious‑coffee is this, messing with cyber trends again?】

Fighting for grabs, shouting and clamoring, the surge in hype rose as smoothly as Wallace.

Thus, 【The closed‑beta qualification is the hardest to wait for!!!】 managed at 9 a. m. to outshine a certain star's jail drama and another star's new album, clinching the top spot on Weibo's hot search.

And on that very day, bosses across the country simultaneously noticed that their employees' work efficiency had dropped dramatically, and they kept glancing at their phones.

Alright, in fact most bosses didn't even notice, because they themselves were anxiously glued to electronic devices.

"Ah, I forgot to specify the exact time?"

After a day of endless spinning, the exhausted Ji Ming woke up in a daze to this very scene.

He originally intended to quickly add that it was at noon twelve, but then thought otherwise. Since everyone was already anxious, he decided to be hasty as well.

So he stretched lazily and lay down again.

He had planned to sleep peacefully a while longer, but something felt off.

He snapped his eyes open.

"Wait, it's already this time, why is there no movement outside?"

He hurriedly dressed and went downstairs, only to find that previously, a brief absence would cause the previous batch of patients to disappear.

The daylight was bright, yet there wasn't a single hair in front of the Clinic's door.

Ji Ming scratched his head, wondering if perhaps Sunlight City had erupted into a biochemical crisis and everyone fled.

But a glance from the doorway showed the shops and stalls on Commercial Street operating normally; the only anomaly was the Clinic.

He might have pondered longer before, but now he had a better option.

"Isn't today your day off?"

"What?"

Buluowa lit a candle, looking puzzled.

"According to Holy Light Church doctrine, Saturday and Sunday each week are divinely granted rest days…"

In fact there are patients today, and because something happened in the outer city yesterday, the number isn't small.

But now Dr. Ji Ming is Sunlight City's last conscience and a Holy Light Church‑chosen saint; they can't afford to provoke him, so none dared to knock or call out.

They had considered waiting for the doctor to open the door, but after the Church heard that a crowd had gathered at Wai Shu's Clinic entrance, it dispatched holy knights to disperse them.

"Hey, what are you doing!"

It was already unlucky, and no one wanted to tempt the church's bad luck, so the sensible patients dispersed and turned to other Clinics.

…

"What about AdaiEr?"

"She thought your recent condition was poor and you needed more rest, so when she saw the Clinic hadn't opened, she left directly."

What a good person.

Ji Ming hesitated for a moment between opening for business and resting peacefully, and finally he sighed.

"Fine then, let's just rest."

However, this time he set the time in advance, and after reminding the little boss to help check, he temporarily switched to the Hui Long Sect.

The sun gradually rose, and it was noon.

"Alright, alright, the 9‑o'clock party, the 10‑o'clock party, the 11‑o'clock party are all severely injured and down, I want to see if the 12‑o'clock party can succeed!"

"LOL, I bet this noon will definitely go until three o'clock; if I can go out now I'd livestream doing a handstand while peeing."

"…I'm out."

"?"

"YoYo, which livestream room are you streaming in? Everyone wants to watch."

"Hold on, I got it (screenshot)."

"???"

Watching the netizens' jokes and banter, Zhang Tu chuckled and put down his phone.

And the swaying long‑distance bus gradually slowed and finally stopped beside a newly built bus stop.

"Alright, bro, I'm getting off now!"

He greeted the fellow‑hometown driver, and Zhang Tu hoisted his bundle, dragged a huge suitcase, and walked toward the village on the other side of the road.

After being released from prison, he did return home, but only stayed a rough three days before Uncle Li took him out to work.

The city life was dreamy, but even more fantastical was the game helmet he obtained by sheer coincidence.

When he first touched it, only thinking of selling it for cash, he could never have imagined today's…

The anxiety of returning home made his thoughts wander, his mind filled with chaotic memories, until he suddenly heard a startled shout.

"Tuzi, why did you come back?"

It turned out to be his mother, holding a small bag of greens, looking all gaunt.

"Mom, I… earned some money in the city, thought the weather was cooling, so I hurried back."

"Ugh, what month is it? Others rush to the city to work and have a fat year, why are you…"

Though reproaching, she didn't refuse, and amid the familiar nagging, he returned home once more.

"Let me tell you, Yu Hao from next door got married at the end of last month, look at when you… hey, what are you doing?"

"There's something for you to see, good stuff!"

He closed the courtyard gate, re‑locked the house door, and Zhang Tu mysteriously pulled his mother into the inner room and took out his phone.

"Mom, look at this…"

Zhang's mother, being a rural woman and not a recluse, naturally understood the most basic electronics.

She squinted, stared for a moment, counted for a moment, and finally—

"Ah? How did you get so much money???"

"Earned it!"

Zhang Tu laughed happily.

"Proper, legal, compliant, earned!"

Uncle Hua led the way, and the rich‑kid Feihuo Liuxing helped out; the players' invitation codes were sold quite professionally.

Not only was the whole process fair and public, but buyers also had to submit relevant documents for a full qualification check, eliminating scalpers.

As a result, all invitation codes sold for an absurd price; to say nothing else, the starting price jumped straight from one to three.

However, such income was a bit too avant‑garde; Zhang Tu kept turning the matter over, explaining for ages, before finally clarifying to his mother how he sold the invitation codes.

His mother finally relaxed.

"Oh, this is really good, this is really good!"

She smiled brightly and laughed for a while, then whispered.

"However, since you've decided to return to the village, the neighborly relations still need to be handled."

"Coincidentally, Mom heard some movement at the neighbor's old house this morning; probably a youngster moved back…"

Although the village has few people, you see heads down and up; interpersonal relations are even more important than in the city.

Zhang Tu nodded, bought a box of eggs and yogurt at the small shop, and knocked on the neighbor's front door.

"Who is it?"

The voice behind the door sounded familiar, making Zhang Tu pause.

"I, from the old Zhang neighbor's…"

"Old Zhang?"

The rust‑stained iron gate creaked, and a middle‑aged man with black, sunken eyes and a gaunt face peered out.

…

"Death God!?"