Chapter 141
Su Yitong's mood was akin to that of someone who had endured a grueling two-hour car ride, only to step out and find themselves in the middle of a chaotic scene in Mian D.
Standing outside the venue, she fell into a long silence. "How many people can this place hold?"
The one responsible for her reception was a handsome man named Huang Xunchu. He bore a resemblance to Yu Xunhuan, both possessing a hint of melancholy that didn’t quite translate into gloom, but rather a bittersweet charm.
He introduced, "There are a total of 101,138 seats."
Su Yitong wasn’t easily fooled; she quickly sensed something off about his words.
Just as she stepped out of the car, Yu Xunge overheard this and slid back into the vehicle, whispering to Zhao Shuying, "There won't be standing tickets, will there?"
Zhao Shuying was busy unbuckling her seatbelt. At Yu Xunge's question, she shot her a strange look, as if she had asked something utterly ridiculous. "Of course! Otherwise, with so many empty seats, what a waste!"
Yu Xunge silently gave her a thumbs-up, speechless.
She poked her head out of the car again and caught sight of Huang Xunchu standing next to Su Yitong. Without hesitation, she ducked back inside.
Zhao Shuying remarked, "Are you using my car seat to wipe your butt?"
Tu Lan, comfortably perched on Yu Xunge's shoulder, replied without looking up, "No way! She wouldn’t dare. She’d burn the toilet paper after using it."
Yu Xunge exclaimed, "How do you know?!"
Zhao Shuying interjected, "…You really do burn it?!"
Tu Lan shrugged, "That day I was sitting on the sink playing on my phone. You didn’t see me, so whose fault is that?"
Yu Xunge turned to Zhao Shuying, "Do you want to hear my explanation?" It was just her time of the month…
Zhao Shuying raised a hand to stop her, "No need. I understand, I respect it. I’m totally on board!"
Yu Xunge gave up; there were more pressing matters at hand. She lowered her voice and asked Zhao Shuying, "Your Special Affairs Bureau isn’t using a pretty boy tactic, are they? Trying to steal a march on us?"
Zhao Shuying's expression shifted subtly, "You think he’s handsome?"
Yu Xunge replied, "I’m not interested. I’m just curious about the limits of your Special Affairs Bureau."
Zhao Shuying whispered, "Just be careful around that guy…"
Yu Xunge's expression turned serious, "What’s wrong with him? Ruthless? No morals? A second-generation rich kid?" She had checked; he was just a C-level talent, nothing particularly special.
Zhao Shuying tucked away her car keys and smiled, "His way of doing things is the very definition of the Special Affairs Bureau's limits."
Yu Xunge felt indignant on Zhao Shuying's behalf, "Why should it be like that? I thought you were the one!"
"…Thanks for the compliment," Zhao Shuying paused, then continued, "His faction believes that all players with talents above A-level must be compelled to serve the Special Affairs Bureau for the country. They even discussed your dragon; they wanted you to hand it over, but Li Lao shot them down. The other factions disagreed too, advising them to focus on real work and stop causing trouble for the Bureau."
Yu Xunge's demeanor turned serious. "Are there many people in this faction?"
Zhao Shuying chuckled, as if recalling something amusing, "Well, players with divine talents above A-level aren’t part of their faction, and most B-level players don’t support them either."
Yu Xunge found it amusing.
To put it bluntly, this faction was made up of the weak, hoping to control the strong through power.
Yet, capable players disliked being forced to do things. Everyone was willing to contribute, but not under duress.
The former was about noble intentions and a love for the place, while the latter often led to contributions being taken for granted, with the credit possibly snatched away by those very people, who would then say, "Yes, I forced them to work for the Special Affairs Bureau. I admit I was wrong, but it was for the greater good, so I’ll take the blame, balabababa..."
...
Yu Xunge waved at Yu Xunhuan from a distance as a greeting before walking off with Zhao Shuying.
Zhao Shuying was responsible for quite a few lone wolves, with Yu Xunge being the most formidable among them. Now, she was somewhat of a leader, and naturally, there were perks.
She led Yu Xunge through a maze of corridors to the third-floor private room area. No matter the time, even in the apocalypse, there would always be a small group of privileged individuals, and today was no exception.
However, the privileges of these people had been compressed to the extreme. The perks they enjoyed could also be accessed by A-level talents within the Bureau or those who had made significant contributions, often even more so.
As Yu Xunge passed by many people, she would scan their divine talents whenever someone approached her, still haunted by the psychological shadow left by Baopai Jiu...
Upon entering the private room area, Yu Xunge noticed that the people here were distinctly different from those outside.
If the individuals outside had a hint of ferocity, clearly seasoned warriors who had seen bloodshed, then those on this floor were like tigers in a zoo.
In the corridor, some people were gathered in small groups, chatting and socializing about gear and skills. Each one was at least level 5, and their equipment was quite complete, yet Yu Xunge felt no sense of intimidation from them.
When these people spotted Yu Xunge and the dragon perched on her shoulder, their eyes lit up. However, none were quicker than Zhao Shuying; before they could approach, she swiftly teleported Yu Xunge from the staircase to the private room door.
Pushing the door open, Yu Xunge found several familiar faces inside—her teammates from the recent battle against the Jiao Long.
She greeted them with a smile, only to realize that this private room was the closest to the stage, and it had no glass, likely to ensure that any barriers wouldn’t affect the effectiveness of the Hope Hymn.
The two found a spot to sit down, and Yu Xunge asked Zhao Shuying, "You haven’t heard her sing the Hope Hymn recently, have you?"
Zhao Shuying replied, "No, this is her first time performing."
Yu Xunge patted Zhao Shuying on the back, "Well, you’re in for a treat." This skill was only publicly declared as unusable by others, but privately, it was perfectly fine to use for friends. She then took out a skill crystal and, in front of Zhao Shuying, adjusted her luck.
Seeing her luck rise to 10, Zhao Shuying silently smiled.
Just like when Zhao Shuying had represented the Special Affairs Bureau to invite Tu Lan to be the Huaxia representative dragon, reminding Yu Xunge that "once you’re in Huaxia, you’re the Huaxia dragon," Yu Xunge hadn’t said thank you then, and Zhao Shuying didn’t say it now either.
The two naturally shifted to other topics. Yu Xunge mentioned that she wouldn’t be going to the training camp anymore this month, which meant the Special Affairs Bureau would have to start paying rent for level 3 dungeons again. However, she wanted to rent a level 15 dungeon from the Bureau for her dragon to level up, offering a level 10 dungeon plus the rooftop level 3 dungeon in exchange.
For the Special Affairs Bureau, level 3 dungeons had always been in short supply, at least until everyone reached level 5, making them quite valuable.
Zhao Shuying asked, "Is the level 10 dungeon a large, medium, or small one?"
Yu Xunge replied, "It’s just a small dungeon for 20 players, no boss."
Zhao Shuying pondered for a few seconds and said, "To be honest, the Special Affairs Bureau currently has no shortage of level 10 dungeons, in fact, there’s even a surplus. There’s something I’m not sure if you know: if the otherworldly beings in a dungeon aren’t cleared out within a certain timeframe, they can leave the dungeon and enter Blue Star at any time.
"Based on the average level of otherworldly beings in a dungeon, level 1 corresponds to 15 natural days. For instance, if the otherworldly beings in a level 10 dungeon haven’t been refreshed since the end of July, they can enter Blue Star whenever they want…
"The boss-level otherworldly beings or special ones have even stricter limitations.
"The current data suggests that these special entities are limited to 20 natural days per level. Even if the dungeon is unlocked, they can’t come out temporarily. This is based on the intelligence we have so far."
【Chapter 852: Zhao Shuying Will Eventually Be Trapped in a Sack】
"Our team cleared out a batch in advance, but for those we couldn’t manage in time, we had to temporarily seal the dungeon’s barrier with divine talents and clean them up slowly. Just over a week ago, level 12 dungeons started unlocking one after another… We’re completely overwhelmed, sigh..."
However, there was one thing Zhao Shuying didn’t mention: while the situation was indeed dire, it hadn’t reached a particularly critical point yet...
In some dungeons, the Special Affairs Bureau was even waiting for the otherworldly beings to come out. After all, dungeons have a limit on the number of players. Sometimes, 20 or 100 people can’t handle it, but once they come out, it’s laughable—can a few thousand players not take you down?
Moreover, the dungeon barrier is only so big; if one comes out, the Bureau can take it down.
Ordinary otherworldly beings with slightly lower strength would be taken out in an instant.
Those a bit stronger wouldn’t get far after exiting the dungeon, often not even able to approach the defense line.
Players in the Special Affairs Bureau had grown fond of this "whack-a-mole" team-building activity.
Of course, this referred to dungeons below level 10. For those above level 10, the Bureau used various methods to assemble elite teams to clear them slowly, sometimes taking several days.
The 94 players who participated in the Jiao Long raid were mostly the main forces responsible for clearing level 10 and 11 dungeons. This gathering was not only to complete the task of the Hope Hymn but also to ensure they could work well together to start clearing those otherworldly beast bosses one by one.
In addition, the Special Affairs Bureau had to negotiate with the owners of many private dungeons.
If they encountered smart people, it was usually straightforward, a mutually beneficial arrangement.
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