Chapter 264 - 29: Rendezvous

The moment Bystander A saw Duan Fei appear, his desire to win vanished.

As the vice-chairman of the Glory Club, Bystander A thought on a grander scale and saw the bigger picture.

Winning this dungeon would only grant a food processing plant. For Glory, such a factory was merely icing on the cake, but for a player from a small guild like Duan Fei, it was a significant asset.

He had a very good impression of Duan Fei, and he considered the members of the Salted Fish Inn to be valuable talents.

Duan Fei, Jinghong, Little Fatty, Cuihua, and the mysterious fifth member—they were all players with great potential who would definitely shine brightly in the future.

Furthermore, based on their analysis of the recent situation, the upper echelons of the Glory Club unanimously believed that the game "Abyss" still had immense untapped potential.

And as the game progressed, the importance of high-end talent would become increasingly apparent.

Considering all these reasons, Bystander A decisively chose to give up on winning and instead assist Duan Fei, thereby sowing a seed of goodwill.

His mind made up and his new strategy formulated, Bystander A pulled Chairman Lin aside and said, "Chairman, I suggest we cooperate with the Foreigner."

"Your reason?" Chairman Lin asked concisely.

"He’s too strong, and the effect of his mashed potatoes is too good. Rather than making an enemy of him, it’s better to join him and make money together."

"Anything else?"

"The Clown Gang is too powerful. Besides, those lunatics aren’t interested in making money; they just want to have fun dancing on our corpses. No matter how you look at it, cooperating with the Foreigner is the most logical choice."

Bystander A’s analysis made Chairman Lin nod repeatedly. He then cupped his hands in a salute to Bystander A and said, "Sir, your simple words carry profound meaning. I am deeply impressed. Here are three thousand US Dollars. Please accept it as startup capital for our cooperation with him."

Pressing the money into Bystander A’s hand, Chairman Lin continued, "I wish I could offer you more support, but alas, the revolution is not yet complete, and our motherland is still in dire straits. A great deal of our funds must be sent back to support our country. Please forgive me."

"Chairman, you’re too kind! As overseas Chinese, it is our duty to share in our country’s worries."

"Thank you."

The two exchanged some pleasantries and settled on their future course of action. When they came out, their view of Duan Fei was even more favorable.

Upon learning that Duan Fei had come looking for Flora and the Maid, Chairman Lin thought for a moment, then said, "Indeed, there were two such people. The blonde girl, in particular, spoke with great authority on the culture of Britain and could recite her family tree methodically, fitting the description of a ’royal descendant.’ I saw that they were quite extraordinary, so I invited them to be my guests. I’ll take you to them now."

Duan Fei breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Flora was really here.

’Thank goodness, everything’s fine.’

’However, Flora’s performance is quite surprising,’ Duan Fei thought. ’She actually knew how to use her knowledge to bluff and put on a brave front. Could it be she’s actually pretty sharp?’

But after seeing Flora, Duan Fei felt he had been overthinking things.

She hadn’t thought about it that much at all; she was just acting on instinct.

At that moment, Flora was drinking low-quality tea, frowning as she said, "I think a maid who serves her master this kind of tea should be shot. Don’t you agree?"

The Maid, her eyes narrowed, crossed her hands over her stomach and replied with a smile, "A master who makes such an outrageous request should be hanged from a lamppost. We’re all equal now, milady."

"But I have royal blood!"

"Are you talking about the imperial family that couldn’t even scrape together half an aircraft carrier before their empire was absorbed into the Federation? Truly impressive, the great empire on which the sun never sets. I suggest you go plant a colonial flag in the Arctic and the Antarctic; it would be more fitting that way. Just imagine: penguins and polar bears would be your subjects. Your glorious name would be known to all, from human to beast."

"ARGHHH! Sooner or later, I’m going to fire you!"

"If you get fired, would you consider working for me? I find your sharp tongue to be very much to my liking, Maid."

At the doorway, Duan Fei stroked his chin thoughtfully. ’It might be nice to have another maid at home.’

’That way, Jinghong would have a lot less work and more time to play games with me.’

Seeing Duan Fei and Cuihua appear at the door, the Maid politely curtsied, holding the hem of her skirt. She then took out a handkerchief, dabbed at the corner of her eye, and said, "Thank you for your admiration, sir. Unfortunately, a certain someone covets my mature and alluring body and has bound me with a contract, leaving me without freedom."

"Who are you talking about!" Flora bristled like a little lioness. "You’d better not be talking about me!"

"Then can I say it’s your father?"

"Even worse! My father and mother are very much in love."

"That’s what you think."

"ARGHHH!"

Seeing that Flora was on the verge of another meltdown, Duan Fei interrupted them and began to ask about their experiences.

The two had decent luck. After entering the dungeon, they were assigned to the same group and started working together.

Once they understood the dungeon’s objective, they immediately chose the Gentlemen’s Association, which had the best reputation, and planned to use it as a base to gather information.

Bystander A had been aware of the two, but he hadn’t yet figured out their origins. He was preparing to observe them further when he unexpectedly ran into Duan Fei.

Bystander A didn’t pay much attention to Flora, but he knew a lot about the Maid.

Ranked seventy-third, her game ID was "Maid," her game Profession was Maid, her in-game attire was always that of a maid, and she was a maid in real life as well—the maid of all maids, so to speak.

She had dabbled in all sorts of Skills. She could also select a master and adopt their Profession as her secondary one. By assisting her master, she could gain various buffs, ultimately receiving more bonuses than her primary Profession provided.

’Because she has dual Professions just like me, the Maid’s strength must be significantly underestimated. Her real rank should be around twentieth place.’

’Recruiting an expert like this for a temporary team... Duan Someone, you truly are unfathomable.’

Bystander A habitually let his imagination run wild about Duan Fei, and the look he gave him grew increasingly fervent.

Duan Fei looked at Bystander A in confusion, feeling that the other man was being a bit overly enthusiastic.

But soon, he began to think about his next move.

Four of the five members of his squad had shown up; only Little Fatty’s whereabouts were unknown.

Little Fatty’s hacking skills were quite useful. He could use his phone to perform data analysis and determine their next point of focus, which would be a great help in completing the dungeon faster.

’So, where is he now?’

Just as Duan Fei was wondering where to find Little Fatty, a maniacal "WAHAHAHA" echoed from outside.

Several circus floats surrounded the place. Figures dressed like clowns aimed submachine guns at the Western-style building and began to spray it with wild gunfire.