msmithbooks Chapter 261: Red Moon Studio
Chapter 261: Red Moon Studio
The group returned to the Sanjiang Branch Helm.
Chen Ergou and Zhao Heiniu had already rushed over after hearing the news. The moment they saw the Helm Leader in this state, they were deeply shocked.
“Helm Leader!”
“This is… an ambush?”
“Who had the nerve to make a move on you in Caobang territory?”
Wang Yuehui, Hong Kaibao, Bai Yuhui, Li Qing, Chen Hong, Zhang Yao, and the others were all alarmed. Every one of them was filled with righteous fury, murderous intent flashing in their eyes.
“It is nothing.”
“The assassin is already dead.”
Su Wangchuan’s single sentence only made everyone even more curious.
“Helm Leader! Was it the Beggar Sect, or the Five Poison Sect?”“There is no need to discuss this matter.”
Su Wangchuan waved a hand and ordered, “Ergou, immediately arrange for a few brothers to take something to the Yulong Gang Water Stronghold and deliver it to Gang Leader Yang.”
“Helm Leader, what is it?”
Chen Ergou asked.
Su Wangchuan replied blandly:
“A corpse. It is on the boat. Some of our brothers are watching over it there.”
“Yes! Your subordinate will make the arrangements at once.”
“From today onward, everyone is to seize the time to train and break through as soon as possible… and double the night watch shifts!” Su Wangchuan’s words made everyone feel the urgency pressing in.
“Yes!”
The crowd withdrew.
Su Wangchuan fell into deep thought.
After that battle against a Third-Rank Martial Artist, he had truly escaped death by a hair’s breadth.
All the time he had spent cultivating 《Dragon-Elephant Body-Protection Technique》, 《Water Strider》, and the Black Tortoise Art had finally paid off.
He truly did possess the ability to contend with a Third-Rank Martial Artist in the water now.
But this time, it had only been a Third-Rank Martial Artist. What about next time?
The Beggar Sect was not lacking in experts.
He had to break through as quickly as possible.
He also had to continue expanding the strength of the hall as quickly as possible.
He logged off.
After returning to his room, he submerged his entire body in the bath and circulated the Black Tortoise Art. Only then did he finally suppress all the pressure and sense of danger that the Third-Rank Martial Artist had left in his mind.
More than half an hour later, he rose and went to the seventy-fifth floor.
To his surprise, quite a few people were seated in Su Wan’s office.
Old Qiu, Monk Dalong, Zhang Xiaoxiao, Qin Jinguo, and also… Lin Xun and Chen Hong.
Everyone looked grave, and the atmosphere in the room was rather heavy.
“I came at the wrong time.”
Su Wangchuan had intended to step back out at once, but Su Wan stopped him.
“Helm Leader Su, since you are already here, listen in with us… Perhaps you can give us more useful input.”
Su Wan pushed up her glasses and invited him with a smile.
Su Wangchuan walked in and took a seat beside Lin Xun.
The latter nodded and took the initiative to explain:
“The Gold-Farming Team has run into some trouble, and we are discussing how to deal with it.”
“All four Land-Clearing Team captains are here. This trouble sounds rather serious.” Su Wangchuan swept his gaze across the people gathered in the office and could not help remarking on it.
Back when they had dealt with Blackwind Stronghold and cleared out the Snake Den, Warring States Game Studio had never mobilized such a massive force.
Su Wan leaned back slightly in her chair and said to Su Wangchuan:
“Since Helm Leader Su is here, I will explain the entire matter from beginning to end again. This issue is indeed very thorny. Relying on the strength of our Land-Clearing Teams alone, we may not be able to handle it properly.”
“…”
Su Wangchuan frowned.
Even all four Land-Clearing Teams could not resolve it properly?
Then he heard Su Wan slowly recount what the Gold-Farming Team had been experiencing recently.
There was a coal mine in a large mountain south of Rongcheng County.
It had once been a profit channel jointly developed by the Gold-Farming Teams of several studios, such as Tianxia Studio and Black Panther Studio.
But some time ago, a studio called “Red Moon” suddenly appeared and inserted itself into the operation, mobilizing members of the nearby villages’ Gold-Farming Teams to mine together with them.
Originally, that had not been much of an issue...
Game resources could be mined peacefully.
But starting half a month ago, Gold-Farming Team members from the various studios had begun to be injured or killed one after another for all sorts of reasons...
Some were injured in the mine tunnels after coal suddenly fell from above.
Some were killed on the spot.
After more than a dozen incidents in succession, everyone realized something was wrong, and the major studios began guarding against one another.
The day before yesterday,
someone finally discovered that Red Moon Studio had been the one causing trouble behind the scenes all along.
Once they were exposed, they simply stopped pretending. They directly arranged for the village to relocate near the coal mine, surrounded the entire mine, and claimed it as their own.
There were several dozen militiamen in the village, and all of them had become the coal mine’s guard force.
Red Moon Studio had arranged for several Martial Artists to sit there and keep watch every day, forbidding villagers and players from other villages to approach the coal mine.
Su Wangchuan froze.
They could play it like that?
Was that not just shameless bullying?
“The authorities are not doing anything about it?”
“The authorities cannot do anything. Their side claims that this land belongs to the village. If outsiders invade the village, then being warned off and driven away is only natural.”
Su Wan removed her glasses and rubbed her temples.
“Originally, each side could still earn some profit by sending a few dozen people into this coal mine to dig. But now that Red Moon Studio has taken it over, many of our Gold-Farming Team members are having trouble even surviving.”
“And Red Moon’s move has broken the old order. Now everyone is grabbing whatever mine they can occupy! Tianxia Studio is already preparing to make a move on the iron mine outside Blackstone Village and is getting ready to relocate the village!”
Su Wangchuan’s expression shifted slightly.
He finally understood why Su Wan had summoned all the Land-Clearing Teams.
Warring States Game Studio might not care too much about the coal mine, but the iron mine was the original mining channel of the studio’s Gold-Farming Team. It concerned the livelihood of several dozen people.
If that source were cut off as well and the Gold-Farming Team could no longer make ends meet… then the only option would be for Chen Hong, Lin Xun, and the people under them to work as dockside laborers just to scrape out a living.
At this point, Su Wan crossed her arms before her chest and said:
“We are discussing it right now!”
“The number of players in spirit realm is growing by the day. In the future, resources will only become more and more scarce, and competition will only grow fiercer. Should our studio follow Red Moon Studio’s example and simply relocate a village as well, or just claim a stretch of land outright and establish a mountain stronghold?”
“Our studio has recruited more people again?”
Su Wangchuan could not help asking Su Wan.
Su Wan nodded and answered lightly:
“We recruited more than seventy a few days ago.”
“…”
Su Wangchuan swallowed with difficulty. They had recruited so many people in one go. How many employees did the studio even have now? Could they really afford to support them all?
Su Wan seemed to read the question in his heart and answered before he could ask:
“The studio’s Gold-Farming Team currently has five hundred and twenty-seven members, spread across more than a dozen county seats in Sanhe Commandery. Of course, they are mainly concentrated in Huishui County, Rongcheng County, and Heilong County.”
“At the moment, we still only have five Land-Clearing Teams. The reserve team currently has thirty-seven people stockpiled, and in a month, we should be able to develop that into ten Land-Clearing Teams.”
Both the Gold-Farming Team and the Land-Clearing Teams had expanded explosively.
“Are those above preparing… to roll everything out on a full scale?”
Worry appeared in Su Wangchuan’s eyes.
Monk Dalong and the others all looked equally grave.
Su Wan shook her head.
“Not yet.”
“In our city, there are only a little over thirty studios at the moment. Altogether, only a bit more than ten thousand people have entered spirit realm… But recently, the number of people obtaining licenses has been increasing! The higher-ups have released a great many helmets, so I estimate that before long, even more studios will appear to compete for manpower…”
At this point, she deliberately fixed her gaze on Su Wangchuan and said:
“Helm Leader Su, do us a favor. What do you think about moving Blackstone Village over to the iron mine?”