Chapter 343: Reward

At Zhang Wenda’s words, Wang Shaojie’s brow furrowed and he shook his head. “It’s not great. Food isn’t as scarce over there, but it’s extremely dangerous. The swamp has some very peculiar bugs, like fleshy spheres of creatures strung together head to tail, and leeches that can inflate themselves and float.”

“The physical threats are manageable, but the main issue is that people just vanish from time to time. No one knows why. There’s no discernible reason, and nobody has a clue where they’ve gone.”

“Vanish?” Zhang Wenda stroked his chin thoughtfully. ‘Looks like this place has some undiscovered rules,’ he mused. ‘Or maybe someone’s already figured them out and is keeping it a secret, using the knowledge for their own gain.’

“I was so hungry I couldn’t stand it, so I decided to head over there and try my luck. Worst case, I figured I could chew on some tree bark to last a while. But I ended up passing out from hunger on the way. If you hadn’t found me, I would have died right there.”

After hearing Wang Shaojie’s explanation, Zhang Wenda pressed, “Are there other factions there?”

“Yes, there’s a faction from the Big Circle. From what I’ve observed, they seem to be the real Big Circle. There are several thousand of them. I only found out the things I told you after talking with some people over there.”

“So did you learn from them how to get to other Threshold Realms?” Zhang Wenda asked curiously.

“Of course not! That’s the kind of information that’s worth a fortune! Why would they tell me for free?” Wang Shaojie said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Go on. Is there more?” Zhang Wenda asked again.

“Uh… that’s it. Nothing else. You want me to take you to see the entrance?”

Zhang Wenda thought for a moment before shaking his head. “No rush. Let’s wait and see if anyone else has new information to share.”

He wasn’t sure how strong that Big Circle faction was, or if they had any other 03s. But since it was his old arch-nemesis, the Big Circle, and his own power base was just being established, Zhang Wenda didn’t think it was a good time for a confrontation.

Right now, his first priority was to lay low and survive. Once his faction had developed to a certain point, to where revealing himself to the Big Circle was no longer a risk, then he could go and explore that region.

Soon, the Hippocampus’s record of Region 3 was quickly carved onto the wall, sparking a new round of discussion. The ever-increasing amount of shared information continuously raised the value of Zhang Wenda’s words.

“Well, Director, I’ll get back to work then.” After speaking, Wang Shaojie was about to leave. Since he was one of their own, Zhang Wenda had put him in charge of managing the dozens of people digging the water gate for the portal.

“Don’t be in such a hurry to leave. You shared intelligence, and I haven’t given you your reward yet.”

Hearing this, Wang Shaojie quickly waved his hands. “No, no, that’s not necessary. If you hadn’t saved me, I really would have starved to death.”

“If I don’t offer even a small incentive, how many people do you think would be willing to share information? Since I said I’d give a reward, I have to give one. To anyone and everyone.”

Zhang Wenda wasn’t so naive as to think others were as selfless as him. Offering benefits was the only way to speed up intelligence gathering. A healthy system was best built by working with human nature, not against it.

Zhang Wenda started walking toward a disemboweled subway car on the side, but he stopped abruptly. ‘Simple food might not be a strong enough lure,’ he thought.

But he had nothing on him to give. Besides, the reward had to be something of value, something he could provide consistently.

Just as Wang Shaojie was starting to feel a bit awkward, Zhang Wenda suddenly thought of a solution. He turned to the curious Little Black Cats looking around nearby and said, “Stop wandering around out here. Go make me a little bit of happiness.”

After saying that, he immediately added, “Don’t make it a liquid, that’s too hard to handle. Figure out a way to make it solid.”

The Little Black Cats agreed and swarmed back into the Inner World, chasing Dopamine through the forest until it was running around like a headless chicken.

Zhang Wenda didn’t know how they did it, but half an hour later, a lollipop was handed over by a small cat paw.

You could tell the lollipop was crudely made. Not only was the stick a small twig with leaves still attached, but the candy itself was lopsided, bigger on one side than the other. Zhang Wenda could even see what looked like an insect trapped inside.

When Wang Shaojie took the thing from Zhang Wenda’s hand, he almost thought his new superior was playing a joke on him. “Uh… thanks?”

Wang Shaojie stared at the thing in his hand and walked away, glancing back every few steps. ‘This is kind of insulting,’ he thought. ‘A reward like this is worse than no reward at all.’

But, on the principle that even the smallest candy is still food, Wang Shaojie popped the thing into his mouth. He instantly froze on the spot. His pupils dilated, and his body began to tremble.

In that moment, all the suffering he had endured vanished completely. His heart was filled with pure joy and happiness. It was as if he were back in elementary school, dropping his bookbag and bolting out the door with a soccer ball, running toward his friends.

Soon, a rumor began to spread throughout the Federation: the reward for information was something much better than food. It was something that could make you forget all your troubles.

By the time the rumor reached Zhang Wenda’s ears, it had morphed into this: the Director had something that could make you high as a kite, and anyone who shared intelligence would receive this unparalleled, ultimate pleasure.

“Why does that make us sound like we’re drug dealers?” Yellow, who was holding Zhang Wenda’s hand, tilted its head back and complained, very displeased.

Just as Zhang Wenda was about to clarify to everyone that the reward he was giving out was “solid happiness,” he received news that after the rumor spread, an endless stream of people had started coming over to share intelligence, including a lot of information about new regions.

“Heh, it seems that in a place like this, happiness is a very scarce commodity. Everyone wants some.” Zhang Wenda walked toward the Hippocampus, impatient to find out what new regions had been discovered.

However, to Zhang Wenda’s disappointment, the first two reports overlapped with Wang Shaojie’s information; they were also about the swamp.

Some of the remaining reports were even about paths leading from the swamp to other areas.

He had no plans to go to the swamp right now, so this intelligence was completely useless to him at the moment.

He immediately shared all the intelligence he received, making it clear to everyone that identical reports would not be eligible for a repeat reward.

Even though the information was useless to him, Zhang Wenda did not go back on his word. He gave out the promised rewards, not shorting them a single bit.

This made intelligence gathering go exceptionally smoothly. Soon, a masked person stood before him. They had wrapped themselves up tightly in tattered rags, looking exactly like a walking garbage bag.

Zhang Wenda was a little surprised. Although it wasn’t mandatory, basically everyone who had joined had taken off their masks. He hadn’t expected this person to keep theirs on.

“Director, can that reward of yours stop pain?” the person’s voice was unusually hoarse.

“Stop pain? It probably can. Did something happen to you? You can tell me about it.”

The person mulled it over for a moment before finally speaking. “I haven’t joined your Federation, so I’m not one of your people. Your conditions don’t apply to me. However, if you can give me forty portions of the reward, I can trade this information with you. Rest assured, this deal will be more than worth your while.”