Da Feiās fleet broke through the circle of ghostly blue curtains surrounding the small island, revealing a gray, overcast sky and a pitch-black sea.
āSystem Prompt: You have explored an unexplored sea area and discovered Fatalon, earning an additional exploration experience of 200,000!
Da Fei looked back to see Fatalon shrouded in a half-circle of darkness, with a faint white light beam shooting skywards into the gloomy heavens of the Netherworld.
It sure does have the vibe of a little paradise in the Nether Sea! Just for this showy aura, Iāll set up a base here!
Da Fei opened the Sea Chart, and finally, there was a bright spot on the previously pitch-black chart. Fatalonās location seemed further than Miracle Island. Thereās nothing more to say; the shipās repaired, so letās all be on high alert and advance at full speed!
Not long after, Da Feiās communicator beeped.
Oh, who could be coming to this lonely part of the Nether Sea, was it not delightful to see a goddess from afar! Da Fei eagerly opened the message, only to find, damn it, Invincible Soldier! What a buzzkill.
Invincible Soldier: "Hey Brother Fei, is One Sword Eastward your friend?"
Da Fei was taken aback, One Sword Eastward? Wasnāt he the one I took down in the match two days ago? Could it be that I, using his name in the Royal Family group, have attracted my enemies?
Da Fei said, "Whatās up?"
Da Bing quickly responded, "This One Sword Eastward is mingling at the Elorin Chamber of Commerce, and the Blood Sea Studio heard he has connections with Big Brother, and theyāre causing trouble for him."
Da Feiās eyebrow twitched, causing him trouble? Da Fei quickly asked, "Has the Blood Sea Studio given you any trouble?"
Da Bing laughed heartily, "Theyāve tried, been staring daggers at us in the city every day! But rest assured, Big Brother, weāre tough and havenāt lost face for you! We dealt with that little issue without bothering you."
Oh, could it be code for "if you dare touch us, our Big Brother will...?" Damn! Back when I wasnāt the Guild Leader, I hated hearing this kind of bootlicking. Encountering such sycophants, Iād take them down mercilessly! But now that I am the Guild Leader, I love this talk! People do change when theyāre in power, wahahaha!
Da Fei then jokingly asked, "So, what about this One Sword Eastward?"
Da Bing sighed, "Heās quite audacious! Surrounded and just said, does it matter if I know him or not? Does my grandpa fear you? So, I came to ask Brother Fei whatās going on."
Da Fei laughed heartily! Why is he so arrogant? But yeah, during the preliminaries I did have a duel with him. If it wasnāt for my God-level Reconnaissance Technique giving me an edge, I might have been defeated by him. Across the entire China Region, he can be considered a top expert, right? No matter what game it is, these ambush experts are the most dangerous. Even if I donāt want to be friends, itās better not to make enemies.
Besides, the enemy of my enemy often has a high chance of becoming a friend, right? Well, meeting him could be considered lucky or something. Iām a firm believer in coincidences right now.
Da Fei confidently said, "If he has any problems he canāt handle, just take care of him, the sky falls, Iāll hold it up, can you guys cover him?"
Having joined the guild for so many days, finally being used by Brother Fei! Da Bing was overjoyed, "Brother Fei is the world amateur number one, as long as Brother Fei is backing us, Iād even dare to stab even a god!"
Wow, the quintessential bootlicker, I love it! Da Fei laughed heartily, "Alright, at that time, donāt say anything, just say I fancy him."
"Understood!"
...
Every young person has a yearning to become famous, but most fall along the way.
In the past two days, One Sword Eastward has been utterly confused. Originally, he was full of confidence, hoping to make a name for himself at the preliminaries. Unfortunately, he encountered Da Fei, and even more unfortunately, his results were zero.
Then, with great unwillingness, he watched Da Feiās video and realized the gap between him and Da Fei. Could someone chased by Thunderstorm for several streets and facing a hundred-person siege without dying be beheaded by him? Maybe, but the chance was infinitesimal.
Moreover, he found that he was not Da Feiās match, not even the match of the players who kept bombarding Da Fei without success. Over the past few days of preliminaries in the China Region, experts appeared in large numbers, and he found himself unsure of handling any of them. Perhaps, having lost the precious head start as a player who remade his account, it meant a gap that was hard to bridge.
One Sword Eastward began to feel listless and started doubting the upgrade path he had laid out for himself.
Our society strongly advocates for success, but the reality we face should be how to deal with failure. Clearly, One Sword Eastward didnāt know how to face failure. He became depressed, irritable, and angry!
While he was pondering what to do next at the Elorin Chamber of Commerce, some unfriendly players came looking for trouble: "Are you One Sword Eastward? Are you Da Feiās friend?"
One Sword Eastward was in a bad mood, and hearing Da Feiās name made it worse! What kind of bullshit! Iām obscure, which dog-eyed person linked me to Da Fei? Oh, wait! Could it be Da Feiās enemies seeking trouble?
Great! Iāve been wishing Da Fei had more enemies, more formidable foes! Ask me to connect with people on good terms, no way, but to make trouble and provoke, thatās easy. Let me do this for Da Fei by making a few more enemies.
One Sword Eastward said coldly, "Itās none of your damn business!"
The playersā expressions changed as they shouted, "Weāre asking whether you know Da Fei!"
Know him! This account knows him! But does he know me? Every young person has a streak of arrogance. Even if the thought was to pretend to be his friend to destroy his reputation, One Sword Eastward disdained admitting it outright, so the best way was to neither confirm nor deny it, let them misunderstand.
One Sword Eastward eyed everyone arrogantly, "What does knowing matter or not knowing matter? You think I fear you? What do you count as!"
Damn! Thatās too arrogant! The surrounding players murmured in shock, and those who asked scowled, "Weāre from Blood Sea Studio, weāre hunting traitorous trash liar Da Fei across the server, you better have no connection with Da Fei, or weāll kill you to level 0 like those cowards who donāt dare leave the city!"
One Sword Eastward laughed wildly, "What does having or not having a connection matter? Got the guts to hit me in the city, donāt you? Blood Sea Studio is nothing!"
The surrounding players seethed with anger, "You donāt want to mix in this city anymore!"
One Sword Eastward pointed at their noses and laughed, "I thought your pathetic studio could keep me out of the entire China Region? Blood Sea Studio, Iām calling you a useless studio, dare you respond?"
The surrounding onlookers laughed.
"Who the hell dared to laugh!" the Blood Sea players angrily scanned the crowd, "Yāall donāt want to mix in this city, do you? Donāt wanna mix? Just scram, there are plenty of maps for leveling and fighting monsters, but only this city for long-distance trade!"
At this moment, a hearty laugh came from outside the crowd, "One Sword Eastward, dare you shout again that Blood Sea is a useless studio?"
Everyone was stunned and looked outside the crowd, seeing two lackeys of Da Feiās Trading Company, Invincible Soldier and Invincible Wei!
One Sword Eastward didnāt recognize them, nor did he care who they were, and wanting things to escalate, he didnāt hesitate to shout, "Blood Sea Studio, Iām calling you useless, dare you respond?"
Invincible Soldier laughed wildly, "Iāll answer for them! Blood Sea Studio is just nonsense! Not even that!"
One Sword Eastward was taken aback, while the Blood Sea players flew into a rage, "Coward who doesnāt dare leave the city!"
Invincible Soldier smiled, "Our Chamber of Commerce members run long-distance trade outside the city every day, yet nobody messes with them?"
Da Bing, of course, knew those were Blood Sea Studioās undercover, so he directly used them to taunt.
At this moment, a group of people approached, and the leader raised their voice, "Our Blood Sea Studio has clear distinctions in grievances, only kills lackey traitors trash scammer accomplices, and doesnāt bother regular players."
For a moment, the crowd burst into applause. The person, of course, was "Sea and Sky," a leader of the Blood Sea Studio.
Invincible Soldier sneered, "Yo, Big Tycoon idling daily in the city, is it fear of getting cut by Brother Fei at sea? Rest assured, Brother Feiās busy and canāt be bothered to cannon a mosquito like you."
Sea and Sky retorted, "Iām doing Chamber of Commerce tasks, what you know is nothing." Then, smiling at the surrounding player crowd, "Some people, famous or not, trash is trash. Others, thinking they can ride on trashās fame and walk sideways, such lackeys donāt last, this farce Da Fei wonāt jump long, Iāll say it here, everyone can post it in the forum. Alright, everyone, mind your business."
In no time, the crowd dispersed in a rumble.
Sea and Sky also disdainfully ignored Invincible Soldier, leaving proudly.
Indeed, Brother Tian had the confidence to speak, because Blood Sea Wave had made progress in the Desolate Islands.
Though the Desolate Barbarian Pirates had a new leader, internal strife left significant damage, and Barak, severely injured, needed recovery, rendering hunting abilities inadequate. And pirates always respected strength, other factions dissatisfied with mere dividends seized the chance to reinforce Desolate Island under the pretext of assisting in defense against Kingdom forces. The intent to annex was clear. For a moment, pirate strength across the Desolate Islands not only didnāt diminish but rather strengthened.
Blood Sea Wave successfully maneuvered alliances among these factions, promising benefits, causing each faction to restrain each other, posing no threat to the Desolate Islands. One must say, impressive diplomatic skills were needed, which Blood Sea Wave accomplished remarkably among pirates who worship strength.
Moreover, being the second-in-command, Blood Sea Wave even vaguely discovered the trick to indirectly mobilize other NPC pirate factions! This was done by Brother Tian from the Kingdom providing NPC trade convoy intel, which Blood Sea Wave passed on to various pirates, achieving the goal of borrowing others to kill! If this development continued, continuously accumulating pirate prestige, in time, Blood Sea Wave might indeed directly lead the pirates!
...
Now, Invincible Soldier patted One Sword Eastward on the shoulder and smiled, "Weāre from Brother Feiās Dragon Cavalry Chamber of Commerce, youāve got style, we really like you, care to be friends?"
One Sword Eastward returned a faint smile, "Youāre likable too!"
Both laughed heartily, leaving Invincible Wei standing silently aside. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, youāre welcome to vote for recommendations on Qidian (qidian.com), your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)