Survival Game: Call Me an Honest Businessman

As darkness fell, night bats swept across the horizon and disappeared into the snow-capped mountains that blended seamlessly with the sky.

Before Li Zhi could even look away from the cloud trail left by the night bat, he heard what Ya Jin said:

"You are indeed a cunning businessman; I almost fell for your tricks. But territory isn't something you can expand at will. The most important thing for territory expansion is population. Do you have that?"

Li Zhi never expected that there were actually intelligent people in the Tiger Clan.

No wonder the tiger clan leader entrusted 15 to her management.

But Li Zhi's original purpose was not to expand his territory here.

"Yajin, I'm not talking to you about territory, but about interests. Nightwing obeys the Feathered Spirits and at least gets a share of the spoils, but what does the Beast Alliance gain by helping Nightwing?"

She knew about the orcs' overall situation from the very first day she entered the Wilderness Market.

The Feathered Spirit Clan has never been an ally of the Beast Alliance, but rather an oppressor.

Nightwing is a lackey of the Feathered Spirit Clan, and the Beast Alliance can never be completely trusting or friendly towards him.

Ya Jin tightened his arms slightly, but his expression remained unmoved. He looked down at Ya Jin and said disdainfully, "What would I gain by helping you? I've seen plenty of cunning businessmen like you. You're just trying to profit by sowing discord."

"Of course I'm looking out for my own interests, but I've always believed in win-win situations in business. I opened a shop in the Wilderness Market because I wanted to find a way to achieve a win-win situation with the Beast Alliance."

Ya Jin sneered: "Then tell me what your plan is."

Li Zhi: "I have a way to raise the overall rating of the Beast Alliance by at least 10 points within a year."

Yajin lowered his arms from his chest.

The other beastmen also immediately perked up their ears.

Especially Mi, who was looking for a gap to escape.

He slowly turned his head back and looked at Li Zhi incredulously.

Until the Nightwing let out a sneer, and then the laughter grew louder and louder until they clutched their stomachs and bent over.

"Hahahaha, a newly formed race that can't even guarantee its own racial level, actually claims it can improve the ratings of other races... This is the funniest joke I've heard in the last hundred years!"

Li Zhi ignored Nightwing and looked at Ya Jin, his tone gentle yet seductive: "Merchants have a kind of contract called a betting contract. You may not believe me, but you should believe in the constraints that the Apocalypse Continent places on professions. This is an opportunity. I can give you and the Beast Alliance time to think it over."

With the centennial rating approaching, what do the orcs desire most?

To avoid relegation.

It's not about moving up to the next level, it's just about staying in the league.

This was the result that Li Zhi deduced from the actions and plans of the beastmen.

It has been 997 years since the last century rating ended. If the Beast Alliance wants to move up a level, it will definitely make some changes.

For example, the Rock Nest Clan invented the Microcrystalline Energy Converter, which disrupted the energy landscape of the Apocalypse Continent, causing the value of Apocalypse Dust to skyrocket in just a few days.

This also brought the Rock Nest Clan back into the sights of the higher races.

But the Beast Alliance did nothing.

There is very little communication between orcs of different races.

Such urgent information resources as extreme cold were only circulating at the upper levels and not being passed down to the lower levels.

The gap between the rich and the poor is enormous, yet no one has ever thought about improving it.

All signs indicate that the orcs do not want to go any further.

However, the orcs did not want to become slaves like the woolly tribe.

Therefore, the Beast Alliance decided to seek out or rather, pledge allegiance to the higher races, offering them the rarest resources in their territories, and obeying the higher races' lackeys without question.

It's highly likely they want to obtain weapons from races that possess advanced weaponry.

The Feathered Spirit Clan is the best candidate for the Beast Alliance.

A-level race, high combat power, with a technology department dedicated to researching weapons for warriors.

It just so happens that the Beast Alliance can curry favor with a race that has a similar rating bias and whose weapons don't require much practice to develop.

Once you understand this point, getting the orcs to defect is quite simple.

—Provide equipment and weapons.

Li Zhi happens to be a merchant, and he also happens to be able to obtain the qualification to sell weapons at level 4. Furthermore, due to his career path, he needs to earn a large sum of money from orcs.

Isn't this a win-win situation?

But Yakin expressed doubt: "How many weapons can you provide?"

Li Zhi said with certainty, "Not only can I provide you with weapons, but I can also find people to customize weapons for you. Everything I've said can be written into the betting agreement, but you will also have to pay the corresponding price."

Ya Jingang was attracted by the words "tailor-made", but immediately became wary because of the last sentence.

"What price?"

Li Zhi: "I hope the Beast Alliance can form a friendly alliance with me and open a green channel for me to do business in the orcish territory in the future. It would be best if they could also help me block the enemies who want to hunt me down. There are some other details that we can discuss slowly."

Yakin: "I can't make a decision."

Li Zhi: "It's okay, we still have time."

She looked at Nightwing, only to find that she was not flustered by her turning Yakin against her; instead, she revealed a hidden emotion, similar to anticipation.

—It seems like they're waiting for something.

A bad feeling rose in Li Zhi's heart.

Based on her understanding of the Nightwing Clan, the Nightwings were always timid, good at reading people and doing odd jobs, and rarely took the lead in anything.

She repeatedly gave the Nightwing Clan the cold shoulder. Logically, she should have already flown back to complain to the Feather Spirit Clan's Crown Prince. Why is she still here?

Moreover, when she was trying to win over Yakin, she was always wary of Nightwing's interruptions and interference.

But she didn't do anything at all.

These unusual occurrences made Li Zhi wary.

Her gaze swept across the snowfield, now bathed in the golden hues of dusk, as she carefully observed the expressions of the beastmen around her and listened to the sounds around her.

There were no abnormalities.

Just as she was about to use the "Prediction" card, the Rong tribe chief's anxious voice came from underground: "The Domain! The Domain is gone!"

Li Zhi's expression hardened slightly as he examined the scattered groups of orcs once more.

As expected, they did not find the woman named Yu, who had a tail similar to that of a serpent.

The Rong tribe chieftain's voice was filled with self-reproach: "My lord! Yu's talent is spatial penetration! The last time Yu used her talent was 80 years ago, before I was even born. An elder in the tribe told me about it. She hasn't been here, and it's very likely she's trying to penetrate your safe zone!"

Spatial talent!

Li Zhi's brow twitched. Just as he was about to teleport away, he noticed that the air in front of him was fluctuating.

The snake's tail appeared in her sight.

A thin membrane prevented the domain from breaking through space.

But with each slap of her snake tail, this membrane becomes thinner.

The thin film looked like a bubble, about to burst.

Outside the barrier, it was completely dark.

The orcs' cries of alarm rang out: "Bloodlust Spirits! How can there be so many Bloodlust Spirits! They're all coming this way!"