Chapter 250: Bartiste, repent!

As everyone knows, plans like this, no matter how you perfect them, always fall behind changes.

Ji Ming wanted to arrange for the players to act within his framework and guidance, carrying out expected actions to gain total control over the game's progress.

But players despise nothing more than planners who like to tell them how to play, so upon seeing this new main quest, they immediately fell into a rebellious state...

Huh? Who said that to stop the mercenaries' actions, you must go to the Upside-down Castle and fight some kind of defensive battle!

Is there a possibility that I continue to cut off the source?

The Players' Council internally deliberated and came up with a plan that seemed like a daring flank but was actually utterly crazy.

"Ba Disi Te seems to still harbor a certain degree of positive illusion about the mountain mercenaries, and that is precisely the fundamental reason why the mercenaries still hold onto the courage to continue acting."

"Then we can also send a delegation with enough persuasive power, whether by threat or lure, to make Ba Disi Te completely abandon cooperation with the mercenaries."

"By then, those bandits in the underground plains will be despised by people and dogs alike, unable to stand alone; we can then issue an order to expel them once and for all, solving all problems completely!"

Sounds good, but...

"I understand the reasoning, but what if Ba Disi Te firmly rejects our demands, or the mountain mercenaries refuse to be expelled?"

Since the mercenary squad wiped them out once before, the players of the Legend Guild have come to hate these bandits intensely, and upon hearing this, the guild chairman Judgment slammed the table hard.

Water cup: whoosh~ (takeoff) thud~ (landing).

"How dare they collude with foreign plunderers! How dare they linger at our doorstep and refuse to leave! This shows they are no longer an ordinary NPC force; we must strike with a heavy hand!"

The plan is settled; as for who should lead this delegation, naturally we need to find a player everyone considers reliable and who possesses some negotiation ability.

Candidates meeting the requirements are not hard to find, and nobody would refuse.

After all, if the negotiations break down and turn into an armed clash, at worst we could just serve as the "Han Envoy" providing a pretext for war, and still make a big splash.

But the problem isn't that simple; I don't know whether the game characters have their own lives, but the game players definitely do.

Moreover, a considerable portion of them, especially those who are strong players in the game, are not insignificant in the real world either.

Therefore, as the Yangyue World approached the year-end, Earth also entered the most critical and complex December, and they all began to busy themselves with real-world affairs.

"Code Name: Yangyue" may be fun, but it's still a "virtual world"; being able to climb this high means one can tell what's important and urgent, so……

"New Year's is coming up; I promised the Cultural and Tourism Bureau Director I'd rehearse a program with my senior brother to attract tourists, I really have no time."

"At year's end, the company has many things to settle; tomorrow I still need to check the data with the accountant."

"The clashes between player fans and star fans are getting worse, and even among the guests there are many conflicts, so 'Crazy Alternate Dimension' is preparing to wrap up early; I need to handle this."

The leaders of the various guilds all said they had no time or were unable to help, suitable targets kept dwindling, and finally they realized there was actually nothing to choose from.

An awkward silence lingered in the meeting room for a while, until suddenly someone let out a squeak.

"Hey, by the way, we still have the crooked-neck tree, right?"

In the corner, Ji Ming, cracking melon seeds: "Ah?"

No, I wanted to outsource the work to you guys to slack off, but instead you're playing like it's 3D pinball, pushing the work back at me from another direction?

And this reminder made everyone suddenly realize—yeah, we still have the crooked-neck tree!

Reliability, check.

As the sole potion-maker profession, he sells potions to other players that are plentiful and good enough to practically put his own label on the bottles and sell them.

Negotiation ability, check.

The nickname "Dog Head Advisor" for the closed-beta tester is no empty title; anyway, everyone will prepare scripts in advance, and if worse comes to worst, they can just read them verbatim.

Closed-beta player, yes.

"The title 'Dog Village Guardian' is already essential for diplomacy; even if a real argument breaks out, the inherent goodwill it carries will prevent negotiations from collapsing."

It even comes with a certain combat capability!

Back when he fought the three alchemy bosses in the mine cave, he relied entirely on gunpowder cans for hard control; now weapons and equipment have advanced so much, he might even be able to turn the tables.

Ji Ming: "Holy crap, I've just become the designated best choice, right?"

Standing on the podium, he really wanted to tell the players that those simple potions he hadn't bothered with for a long time; what you're drinking are all premium items bought from the mall, or even just brewed by Mouse Kid.

But seeing how earnestly they kept praising him, he decided to keep this twisted secret forever.

"Since everyone thinks I can do it, I'll go ahead and take the role."

Meanwhile, while An De Lu was still "carefully selecting" attendants, preparing to go to the Upside-down Castle to make a killing, Ji Ming had already set off with a few players.

As for the attendants on this mission, there aren't many, but they're highly valuable.

First, since we're negotiating with a cyclops, we absolutely cannot appear weak in stature; the three-meter-tall, tiger-backed, bear-waisted Killer Goblin must be brought along.

After winning first place in the previous player solo combat tournament, he, who could win without fighting, became a true "star" player.

... Specifically, before the second night even arrived, he had already gained seven book proposals and thirty-six literary works related to the adventurer goddess priestess and female knight.

"Early in the morning, as he went to work, he exclaimed: 'Defamation, this is defamation!'"

Besides that, with more resources he acquired a set of extremely heavy armor, perfectly continuing and even intensifying the theory 'If I can pick it up, it's a gun.'

Thus, looking at this fellow beside him, wrapped head to toe in plate, chain, and lamellar armor, with two field howitzers slung on his back, Ji Ming shook his head in admiration and asked quietly.

"Sha Ge, don't you feel it's heavy?"

"Heavy? Where is it heavy?"

Stepping into a footprint impression in the soft, dry grass, Sha Ge breathed heavily under the steel cover, his voice rumbling.

"My outfit isn't basically a cannon titan? To anyone looking, it's purely a boss-level existence!"

But relying solely on a Goblin Chieftain probably wouldn't scare Ba Disi Te, so to frighten him to death in one go, another star player's cooperation is also needed.

After the True Qi Nurturing Technique was spread, countless players joined the do-good squad, calling themselves qi practitioners.

And among them, the outstanding one is naturally the Flying Fire Meteor, who originally engaged in punishing evil and promoting good, and also harbored a youthful martial arts dream.

While others were busy riding the wave of hype, he instead holed up in the underground city, seeking advice from various masters and painstakingly practicing swordsmanship for over half a month.

With such perseverance and tenacity, plus the boost from the True Qi Nurturing Technique, he may not have transcended martial arts yet, but he already possesses a touch of immortal aura.

Besides that, there are also members from the various guilds, representing the multiple components of the Pioneers Council to fill the ranks.

A group of more than ten people, escorted by the Iron Bow Wolf Riders, headed northwest and soon reached the end of this journey.

The magical forest no longer has its former tranquility; the grassland dotted with little wildflowers has already been trampled into a path.

Although not everyone agreed with the chief's ideas, under Bartiste's push, the Spirit Tribe still underwent countless changes.

Restlessness, unease, fear—written on the faces of every big guy.

And upon hearing that the underground city had sent people again, this ambitious ruler did not delay, receiving the envoy team in his own home.

As a result, upon looking up, the prepared opening remarks were choked back.

Before, those who came to visit me were all genteel, well-mannered ordinary humans, bringing overflowing goodwill to converse with me.

Today, how come they're all in armor and swords, with cold expressions and murderous aura, only the middle one seems somewhat human…

Pfft! Tick! Pop!

He slapped a knife, a chunk of gold, and a bottle of fine wine onto the table one by one, using Suggestion Technique to lower the charm value—Ji Ming shouted loudly.

"Chief Bartiste, let's speak plainly."

Even fiercer!

The players' dissuasion approach is actually simple: just bring all that happened to the Sharp-Tooth Tribe, with evidence, and tell Bartiste the whole story.

This one-eyed uncle also has a daughter; seeing the Bat King die and then being messed up by the bandit mercenaries to the point of near extinction, he will surely be moved.

Furthermore, explain clearly the cooperation and interests between the Spirit Tribe and the mercenaries, as well as with the Pioneers, and he will surely understand.

If the other party truly is an intelligent giant, he will naturally change his stance.

If the other party is an idiot… what's the point of an idiot staying alive?

No way—no one would think the players sent two duel experts just to show off their strength.

——We must strike a heavy blow!

He collected the pre-recorded footage, and Ji Ming pushed over the photo of the Bat King's tomb, the string of offspring's heads, and the general's toxin report.

"Things have come to this, I've said all I can; if the chief still thinks we Pioneers are spouting nonsense and ruining your plans, feel free to stab me with this knife."

"If you find our words reasonable and intend to withdraw from these dirty affairs, this piece of gold is our gift to you."

Listening to Ji Ming's statement, Bartiste's expression didn't change at all; instead, his gaze fell on that bottle of wine.

"What about this—what does it mean?"

Look, I knew he'd care more about this bottle of wine than the other two suggestions…

Ji Ming generously opened the Reynold whiskey, letting its aroma drift in the forest breeze.

"This means cooperation, friend—we have reached an intention to jointly establish an Underground Council; from now on we'll make money together, fight together, and share benefits."

"Underground Council?"

This is also the final answer the players arrived at after combining the current crisis with the chaotic situation of the Underground Plains.

Bartiste's idea is correct: the forces of the plains need to be integrated, power needs to be united; yielding is useless—only thus can we resist the outsiders who have discovered this place.

But his idea of temporarily borrowing external force, then striking back once his goal is achieved, has long been proven by history to be a ridiculous move worthy of ridicule for ages.

If the players hadn't intervened, the Underground Plains would definitely have been snatched up by the mountain mercenaries and thrown into the Tongliao universe side-story, added to the African region's excellent matchmaking mechanism, thus falling into an endless cycle of poverty, hunger, crime, and collapse.

Therefore, the players' solution is to rely on their absolute commercial authority and military persuasiveness to establish a cooperative organization with the leaders of the major tribes.

Everyone in the Underground Plains bands together for mutual support, facing any future challenges—of course, under the players' leadership.

Although self-interest still exists, compared to the mercenaries it is already extremely kind, to the point that a female manga protagonist could tearfully call it "awesome".

Moreover, after the open beta and leaving the Underground World, one can still use this form to endlessly absorb more scattered forces.

If it were the real world, the final outcome would likely be a collapse due to weakening strength, leading to a bleak, divided ending.

But this is a game: the players have little else except numbers—they are many, and what they can do is simply not "die".

For now it's merely individual action; once the open beta launches, many official forces will join, more creative talents will appear, and their power will only grow like a snowball.

The players will firmly grasp control of this organization's authority, and under the guidance of a certain manipulator, embark on the path to salvation.

As for the rest…

Ji Ming asked Yangyue about the feasibility of this idea, but the little boss's reply was also clueless.

【I don't know, although saviors have previously chosen to form hero teams or even unite nations, but they've never attempted similar behavior.】

Indeed, being able to withstand so many extradimensional beings relies entirely on this high-dimensional creature's innate infinite energy; how could other transmigrators possibly create a precedent?

If so, why not give it a try?

Bartiste fell silent for a long, long time, finally reaching out to take the wine bottle, producing four cups and pouring one for each person.

"Your idea is very tempting, human friend—I think I'm willing to give it a try."

"Good."

Getting Bartiste, who had planned to launch war to militarily unify the Underground Plains, to change his mind and turn to a milder cooperative relationship is indeed a merit.

As the glass of fine wine went down, Ji Ming's Proper Qi Cultivation Technique surged, and together with the merit from earlier killing the priest, he directly reached the fifth level.

Doing good deeds regardless of race or identity, the inherently kind Sha Ge and Feihuo also showed a smile of Agility 3.

Bartiste merely thought they were celebrating his success without thinking much, and instead, after the negotiations ended, he quietly pulled Ji Ming aside.

"Friend, if I choose to remain obstinate, what will you do to me?"

Ji Ming lowered his head to think for a moment, then spoke frankly.

"We'll drag you to the underground city and keep beating you until you learn kindness."

Bartiste:!!!!

The news of the successful negotiation reached the underground city, and the entire player body fell into joy and excitement.

Friendly forces united at once, hostile forces were wiped out at once, and now even the Spirit Tribe, a middle-of-the-road faction, has turned to our side.

Invisibly, the Pioneers' Council has already achieved total domination of the Underground Plains; as long as we drive the bandit mercenaries out of their homes, we can enter a new stage.

【Hehe, after struggling in the game world for so long, I still haven't seen what the sky here would look like—I'm eagerly awaiting it.】

Watching the players' excited chat on the public screen, Ji Ming merely shook his head.

They don't understand, but as an old friend of Dean An, I know all too well that this bunch of mercenaries are essentially bandits.

Trying to make them back off is completely impossible, especially given the current situation.

An De Lu entirely relies on his personal credit and fabricated wealth to win over the hearts of his subordinate mercenaries; if this lie were exposed……

It would likely be a desperate counterattack so frenzied it would seek to destroy everything.

And this is also what Ji Ming has been waiting for—the fitting end for An De Lu.