Volume 7 - Chapter 24: Taking the initiative to recruit? no…..

Taking the initiative to recruit? no…..

Sheyan paused for a moment and replied.

“Her first request is regarding the coordinates of Hell’s Gate, no? Is the second request for us to lead a reconnaissance team to search that RDA lifeboat that crashed after escaping?”

Reef immediately turned slightly sluggish.

“Yeah, she wants to sell the coordinates of the Hell’s Gate for 30,000 utility points; but if we are willing to lead an expedition to that shuttle, then it would be free.”

Without hesitation, Sheyan replied.

“Reject all. If Hell’s Gate is host to more missions, then she would be begging to bring us along. Besides, the current Illume-union is already lacking in manpower and if they possess an additional MT, plus my formidable supportive buffs, then their own chances would increase substantially.”

“As for that matter to explore the shuttle……..that is a brainless mission! Such an obvious trail, every contestant would have eyes on it. Even if we manage to reap any benefits, we would probably offend many others around. We must consider this problem in the perspective of that leader, Zi! She shudders the interest of at least a dozen others on her shoulder, while we are only 3! Granted that even if both sides suffer, we would still be earning more!”

Reef sighed; to him, it instantly became clearer that he really wasn’t cut out to be a party leader.

“……….ok, I’ve rejected her. We are now stuck in a deadlock.”

Sheyan continued.

“Then draw lots for the duty shifts to keep watch over the shuttle’s engine…….you should’ve heard of the phrase ‘seeking common grounds while holding back’ right. Since we can’t reach an agreement and have sunk into an awkward deadlock now, then let’s first settle matters pertaining to our agreement; it can help to alleviate the awkward atmosphere. Adding on, it seems like the weakness of this Zi should be her unwillingness to concede. Our 3 days alliance contract of no mutual conflict between contestants had costed her 20,000 utility points, that is why she seeks 30,000 utility points in remuneration.”

“After suggesting to draw lots, the atmosphere here became lighter. Our shift is from 2200 at night to 2500……..so what should we do now?” Reef asked.

(TN: Remember Pandora has an extra hour)

Sheyan paused briefly and replied.

“Our current strength is still rather flimsy. Okay, now that the contestants have been filtered out, the ones left should be of good standards. We can try recruiting several temporary members. Also, I believe there is a map in this valkyrie that details the regions the humans have explored here. Although the map is very likely to be in the Illume-union’s hands now, we still cannot eliminate the other possibilities. If there are more clues, please notify me.”

At present, after the battle had concluded, the rough estimation of 400 contestants entering this realm war had now filtered to about 70 plus contestants. Of course, amongst the filtered 300 plus contestants, only about a hundred died in battle, the rest had fled back to the realm. As for the Illume-union, they occupied a major portion constituting roughly 25 members, and were the party with the greatest members left. Under their powerful influence, they would probably be able to rope in 5-6 members from the remaining contestants. If factoring other parties also recruiting helpers, then Sheyan would be roughly left with not even 10 others to persuade.

However to Sheyan, if his plans were to advance smoothly, minimally for now, he wouldn’t be lacking manpower in this world. But since the party had already been established, then it was naturally better to prepare for rainy days. If any new blood was worthy of enticing and nurturing, then they would definitely consider investing in such good prospect stocks.

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Currently, after affirming that the beastly horde had retreated, the contestants had begun congregating in groups and clusters; discussing on the matter ahead. In reality, it wasn’t only Sheyan that possessed astute intellect and robust luck. For example there were still several constants who survived with their ‘AMP suits’, and were arrogantly pacing about in those gigantic metal suits. Naturally, these people would hold core positions in the future. Moreover, according to Mogensha’s gathered intelligence, there were 4 resurrection tanks that had actually been purchased by others!

Very swiftly, a team boasting 30 members soon emerged. Members of the Illume-union occupied half of this expedition team, and their destination was obviously that crashed RDA shuttle approximately 5-6 kilometres away. The significance of this was extremely important to the Illume-union; firstly, it was to rake in any immense fortunes from the airplane crash.

Secondly, if there were still RDA workers who survived, it was essential to…….silence them! If not, once a lucky survivor managed to communicate to superiors of the current events, the priceless coordinates of Hell’s Gate in the Illume-union’s possession would be reduced to worthless nothing!

At this moment, Sheyan’s attention was directed to his right. Two contestants were approaching him, both of which Sheyan recognized. It was that contestant with extremely formidable scouting abilities, Uzel; and the other was the twin-daggers agile expert, Lille. They strolled towards Sheyan, as Uzel begun with a slight smile.

“Hi, Seaman. I have some matters to discuss with you.”

Sheyan nodded in reply.

“Sure, please speak.”

Uzel glanced into Sheyan’s eyes with sincerity and continued.

“After fighting shoulder to shoulder with you, Lille and I felt that you are an extremely valiant dude. Of course, needless to say Reef is a rare MT. Hence, Lille and I are willing……”

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Lille was probably a more impatient and impetuous character, and he interrupted. “Uzel and I are willing to be your recommenders; join our Banks Syndicate!”

Initially when Sheyan was listening to their verbal performance; honestly speaking, he harboured certain anticipation, and even felt rather heroic with a sense of dominance to recruit them. Yet after listening to the last sentence Lille uttered with a sense of superiority, he almost choked out a mouthful of blood. Fortunately, he had learnt how to cover up his emotions by now, and purposefully gasped in shock.

“Banks Syndicate? Then you guys…….”

Uzel boasted and sneered.

“That’s correct, Lille and I are both reserve-duty Growth-hunters! We obviously have the authority to invite you into this party of dominance!”

Sheyan glanced at them, neither servile nor overbearing as he replied.

“Though the Banks Syndicate is indeed incredible, but in such a powerful party, reserved members are always exploited commodity! As the saying goes, I rather be the chicken’s head than the phoenix’s tail. I would probably do better with Reef slowly developing our party.”

Lille hastened him.

“With our recommendations, your reserve trial period would only be one world, then you can enjoy the treatments of official members. Isn’t that good enough?”

Sheyan returned a humble smile as he shook his head.

“To an ordinary contestant, that is great! But to me and Reef, it isn’t enough. If you two have anything else, please tell.”

Uzel’s expression changed slightly; Sheyan was a rare type of support contestant, and Reef was a rarer MT. These two were both talents that were hard to come by in the realm. Moreover, though Seaman didn’t possess high offensive capabilities, he had performed rather shrewdly in general circumstances; obviously a character that wouldn’t release the hawk until seeing the hare*. Hence, he reckoned using illusory and unreal reasonings to persuade him would be impossible, thus he continued earnestly.

(TN: *someone that doesn’t act without purpose or incentive)

“Since Seaman is being so frank, so will I. We currently need to acquire the title of three milestones, ‘Plunderer’, ‘Penetrate’ and ‘Headhunter’. We require your assistance.”

Having slight misgivings, Sheyan asked.

“Headhunter? What’s that?”

Lille replied.

“Acquiring 3 longbows of the Na’vi folk. Under normal circumstances, you can imagine the chances of them dropping a longbow loot after being slayed.”

Sheyan deliberated briefly before replying.

“What are you guys trying to achieve with that many titles?”

Uzel laughed in response.

“Since we’ve all just went through a life and death battle together, I won’t hide anything. These 3 milestone titles aren’t considered top quality, but they are extremely useful after title synthesizing.”

Lille’s gaze flashed with an ominous glint, his face sullen as he interrupted.

“Since you guys aren’t willing to join our Banks Syndicate, we can still employ the both of you. Your remuneration will be 5,000 utility points.”

Hearing the ‘high valuation’ of 5,000 utility points, Sheyan’s left brow raised like a blade. His expression instead, remained calm as he swiftly browsed through the relevant information.

The requirements for ‘Plunderer’ was to acquire 1,000 units of Pandora Unobtanium crystals. (Crystal purity cannot be lower than 16.8%).

Requirements for ‘Penetrate’ is to acquire 10 longhorns of dire horses.

In addition to that ‘Headhunter’ milestone, the entire mission requirements wasn’t considered too tough. However, it appeared like Uzel and Lille weren’t planning to utilize their reserve-duty Growth-hunter prowess. Besides, that strength could only be activated for four times.

Hence with the conditions Uzel offered, it was obviously trying to take advantage of Sheyan and Reef!

Sheyan muttered to himself inconceivably before replying.

“To accomplish these milestones, I need a very detailed report. For example the location of those pandora unobtanium crystals. Moreover, direhorses are the Na’vi’s mounts, they definitely possess certain individual attributes.”

Lille lightly replied.

“Those reports have already been gathered by us.”

Sheyan smiled and continued.

“Then since that’s the case, then okay sure. My conditions are simple – 20,000 utility points, 5 potential points and all relevant reports you gathered. Moreover, all battle loots earned during the process of acquiring the milestone titles would be given to us, or else no need for further negotiations.”

Lille’s eyes flashed with maliciousness, as he fumed thickly.

“A lion opening its mouth too widely, aren’t you scared your stomach will burst?”

(TN: It means trying to swallow more than one can bear.)

Sheyan stuck up his lips slightly, standing up as he patted his ass in reply.

“Goodbye, I leave you with a free suggestion. Go and find Archeaphill of the Illume-union or another party’s MT, see if there are willing to help you guys.”

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