Chapter 228: "County Magistrate Luo"'s Operations

"Is the gap really that big?"

Yan Jing was somewhat surprised.

Zhou Xian had ended it with a single punch, while the long-haired man named Chu Ming took over two minutes and even used two types of Rituals. Put like that, the gap in their strength seemed massive.

"The shadow opposite him took the exact appearance of piece number seven."

"She wore a long dress and wielded a longbow. Even though the arrows she fired didn't have much lethal power, they provided strong crowd control."

Xu Weizhou described the battle vividly:

"Whenever someone was hit by a certain type of arrow she shot, they would freeze in place. That long-haired guy got hard-controlled like that several times."

"He was too slow on the draw and took an arrow. He tried to dodge the follow-up shots, but those arrows were absurdly accurate, as if they had eyes. No matter what he tried, he couldn't evade all of them."

"Not only that, the woman's movement technique was excellent. When the long-haired man initially sprayed a type of black liquid at her, she moved nimbly and avoided most of it."

"While the remaining splashes did cause damage, none of it was fatal."

"Eventually, the long-haired man grew desperate and used his Vessel, which was a large pair of scissors. He aimed at the shadow's neck and with a 'snip,' the shadow couldn't dodge this time. Its head was snipped right off."

Listening to Xu Weizhou's description, Yan Jing mostly understood the situation.

Perhaps the gap between the two wasn't actually that vast. It was just that Chu Ming's offensive methods weren't as simple and direct as Zhou Xian's, and he had underestimated his opponent's strength from the start.

If he had used the scissors right away, it likely would have ended in a single snip as well.

Still, it was clear that at least in terms of offensive power, a gap existed between Chu Ming and Zhou Xian.

Moreover, that woman from Baile Manor was no simple character. With Bai Qiu joining forces with Baile Manor this time, their combined strength could not be underestimated.

"It's your turn again."

Lin Xiaoran pointed at the spinning dice above Yan Jing's head.

"Good luck."

"I hope so," Yan Jing said with a smile.

"Good luck, good luck..." Tiger stared at the spinning dice from the other side, sweating profusely from nerves.

The last time he rolled the dice, he had waited for the final result in a near daze. Fortunately... he had earned 10 yuan.

This time, the task he had to execute was still the same instruction Luo Sheng had given him earlier:

"Roll as high a number as possible so the advisor can reach Tranquil Valley as quickly as he can."

"Come on, 60. Come on, 60..."

In the distance, Old Master Liu and Fei Yu were cracking melon seeds.

"Did you hear about what happened with Auntie Wang's family? The time her son jumped into the creek right before you left the county last time."

"That? Of course I know about it. Didn't they say her son fell in love with an actor? Word is the actor rejected him several times..."

"That's nowhere near the truth. It was because the actor was a man."

"Really?! Even if that actor was an Actor Cultivator, he shouldn't be presenting as a woman in his daily life, right?"

"He dressed as a woman every day, and that actor liked men too! He just didn't like Auntie Wang's son."

"Oh my, what a sin. Then that time with the Li family..."

"..."

As the two chatted idly, Tiger ran over, beaming with joy.

"57! It's 57 this time! Advisor Xiao Yan actually made it to Tranquil Valley!"

The two of them paused before breaking into applause.

"Huzi, you're amazing! I knew we were right to count on you!"

"Mr. Huzi, you're incredible! Fantastic work!"

Fei Yu's reaction was exaggerated, and she even gave him a thumbs-up. The Old Man had told her that out in the real world, this was called providing emotional value.

And emotional value was exactly what Tiger lacked.

"Hehehe."

Sure enough, Tiger scratched his head in embarrassment.

...

...

Yan Jing's figure flickered as he used Blink, appearing on Regional Grid No. 112.

It was Old Monkey's Special Grid.

A wonton restaurant.

Looking at the familiar dense jungle outside the shop, Yan Jing smiled. Taking advantage of the fact that the others hadn't arrived yet, he closed the shop doors, switched his identity, and began his operations.

[Faction Four skips the execution phase.]

[Faction Four enters the operational phase.]

[Faction Four offers to sell Regional Grids No. 1046 to 1066, 1073 to 1075... and others, totaling forty Regional Grids, to Faction Ten for 150 yuan.]

[Faction Ten rejects the offer. Faction Ten counters with 160 yuan.]

[Faction Four spends 70 yuan to upgrade Regional Grid No. 101 to Level 4.]

[Faction Four requests to trade the following Regional Grids with Faction Five: 717 to 737, 744 to 760... in exchange for Faction Five's 806 to 809, 833 to 838...]

[Faction Five is considering the offer.]

[Faction Five agrees to the trade.]

At this moment, the spectating crowd stared at the light screen, stunned once again. They never expected that the faction backing Yan Jing would make such a massive move the moment they finally took action!

For a time, everyone began speculating on the deeper meaning behind these operations.

Soon, someone noticed something odd.

The faction behind Yan Jing clearly only asked for 150 yuan, so why did Faction Ten offer 160 yuan?

Who purposefully pays more when buying something?!

Quickly, someone seemed to figure it out.

"This must be a gesture of goodwill..."

"Think about it. Those forty Regional Grids would mortgage for 200 yuan. Even though they're a bit far off, the game has just begun. County Magistrate Luo has a full three hundred plots of land and is in no rush to sell. So, that initial asking price was a signal to test the waters for an alliance."

"And the other side definitely knows what they're doing. By countering with 160, they were saying they agreed."

"Plus, the price is reasonable. Those forty Regional Grids are too far away from where the chess pieces currently are. Right now, capital is the most important thing."

"They've definitely formed an alliance too!"

Yan Jing didn't hear the crowd's analysis, but that person had guessed correctly.

Because he knew exactly who Faction Ten was.

Bi Jie.

Inspector Bi had offered a very generous price, making this first wave of transactions quite a success.

Then, that person spoke up again:

"Now look at the second move. It's just as extraordinary."

"He bought Regional Grid No. 101, which is highly likely to be either a Combat Grid or a Special Grid. Being on Grid 101 means that for any of the current players positioned past Grid 40, as long as the county magistrate uses a Designated Dice Card, it's impossible for them to dodge."

"Furthermore, once they land on Regional Grid No. 101, it'll take at least another round for them to escape the county magistrate's block of grids from 101 to 200. In other words, if anyone is forced onto that spot by a designated die roll, they're likely to suffer severe damage."

"And clearly, the county magistrate is extremely confident that no matter who lands on that Regional Grid, they will absolutely lose."

As the person spoke, her eyes grew brighter and brighter, drawing more and more sideways glances from the crowd. Soon, someone recognized her:

"Mu Wan!"

"The investor who gave me and Old Yan a business card!"

The speaker was Xu Weizhou. His voice wasn't quiet, and following his reminder, more and more people recognized the professionally dressed Mu Wan.

Seeing everyone looking at her, Mu Wan's face flushed slightly. However, she quickly regained her composure and continued:

"Then there's the third move."

"The county magistrate traded Regional Grids. Not only was this a signal asking Faction Five for an alliance, but it was also a win-win move."

"Before knowing that Stage B played like Monopoly, no faction would have paid special attention to the specific locations of the Regional Grids they collected. They just wanted as many as possible."

"But now that everyone knows, the positions of the Regional Grids have become incredibly important. Obviously, being able to link one's Regional Grids into a continuous stretch provides a massive advantage toward victory in the game."

"If my guess is right, after this trade, both Faction Five and the county magistrate will have their respective Regional Grids linked into a continuous line."

After Mu Wan finished speaking, the surrounding area suddenly quieted down significantly.

If they took the time to think about it, most people could probably figure these things out.

But firstly, Mu Wan had been the one to notice it, and secondly, she had figured it out far too quickly.

This investor was absolutely no simple character.

Nearby, a woman with a cigarette dangling from her mouth walked over. She pulled the cigarette from her lip-glossed mouth, looked at Mu Wan, and said, "Interested in taking a test? If you pass, you can come with us to Wuqing."

"Me?"

Mu Wan was somewhat surprised and pointed to herself.

Actually, ever since this Super-Large Dungeon began, many people had said similar things to her.

But the person they had always been asking was Mo Nagu.

She hadn't expected anyone to go out of their way to invite her specifically.

The woman holding the cigarette gave a slight nod, her tone nonchalant. "If you want your investee to come along, that's fine too, but they also have to pass the test."

"Hey, hey, hey! Damn it, don't poach people in broad daylight!"

A burly figure stepped out of the crowd, violently shoving aside a group of players blocking her path, and glared at the smoking woman.

It was also a woman, but she stood several heads taller than both Mu Wan and the smoking woman. Her elbows were almost as thick as their waists.

"The investee backed by this chick is someone we've had our eyes on for a long time."

"The boss is right. We really have to keep a close watch. Take your eyes off them for one second, and someone tries to steal our people."

"..." The smoking woman's expression remained calm as she flicked her cigarette straight at the other party.

"It seems your boss never taught you how to speak."

"Are you looking to fucking die?!!"

Seeing the cigarette butt land on her, the tall, burly woman flew into a rage. She stomped her foot heavily, cracking the ground beneath her.

A massive battle seemed on the verge of breaking out.

...

After finishing his operations, Yan Jing switched his identity back.

Mu Wan had guessed correctly. He had made a trade with the West Street faction backing Jiang Yao, who was Faction Five, returning a portion of the West Street Regional Grids to them in exchange for South Street Regional Grids.

This way, the entirety of both South Street and North Street in Bianliu County became his territory.

As for the forty Feinan Temple Regional Grids he had sold, that was mainly because they were too far away. It was better to use them to do a convenient favor.

Since they had passed Stone Mountain, the next phase of the board belonged to him.

On the light screen, the dice rolling began once again.

Only this time, compared to before, the process seemed to have slowed down considerably.

The West Street Artisans faction, situated on Regional Grid No. 34, was still fine. Since they wouldn't land on Tranquil Valley's territory no matter what they rolled, they quickly finished tossing the dice, swiftly and smoothly clearing a Level 1 Combat Grid owned by one of Bai Qiu's subordinates.

However, for Faction Six behind them, their chess piece was currently located on Regional Grid No. 59.

This meant that if Yan Jing used a Designated Dice Card, their chess piece would land exactly on Regional Grid No. 101.

Therefore, they had to consider a problem: should they preemptively use a Designated Dice Card? Otherwise, if Yan Jing beat them to the punch, they would be forced to use a Bye Card.

But if Yan Jing hadn't planned on using a Designated Dice Card, using one now would seem like a waste.

This dilemma caused them to hesitate until the 20-second dice-rolling timer was almost up before Faction Six finally rolled the dice.

In the end, Yan Jing did not use his dice card, and Faction Six rolled a relatively small number, landing on a Combat Grid as well—only this one belonged to Baile Manor.

Yet, no one expected that Faction Six's chess piece would nearly lose to a shadow projection of that Fourth Ring Domain captain operating at only 30% of its original strength.

Yan Jing learned of this outcome through the light screen.

[Faction Six's chess piece is severely injured. Spend 20 to replace the chess piece?]

[Faction Six refuses to replace the chess piece.]

[Number Seven begins rolling the dice.]

If Yan Jing remembered correctly, Faction Six should be Feinan Temple, because the player acting as Faction Six's chess piece was Chen Dalang's uncle, and his body was flashing with the purple light of Feinan Temple.

Looking at it this way, Feinan Temple truly might not have anyone left, forcing Chen Dalang's uncle to take the field.

Moving forward, if Number Six landed on another Combat Grid, he would probably have no choice but to pay the 5-yuan toll.

Just as he was pondering this, his peripheral vision caught a message on the light screen. He immediately looked up with interest.

"Begin rolling the dice."

[Chess piece Number Seven advances 60 spaces to Grid 113.]

Excellent.

Someone had finally landed in his territory.

And it was someone from Baile Manor, no less.