The King of Black Fog

Zheng Qing entered the room, her gaze sweeping over the interior until she saw Li Changzhou leisurely sitting in his rocking chair.

(He's more composed than this morning, he might have exchanged for a skill.) The voice by her ear said.

Her gaze shifted, landing on Yang Qinglan.

Yang Qinglan's long hair was pinned up behind her head, showcasing her snow-white, slender neck and an air of noble elegance, much like an Immortal Crane.

As a woman herself, Zheng Qing was profoundly moved by her stunning beauty and graceful charm.

(Hairpin!)

Only now did Zheng Qing notice the hairpin among Yang Qinglan's luscious black locks—it was black without illumination but jade-colored when light brushed over it.

Its design was somewhat odd, not ugly, but quite beautiful, just not like a typical hairpin.

That feeling was like...

(A weapon disguised as a hairpin to save the time it would take to retrieve it from a backpack.)

That was the impression in Zheng Qing's mind, even though she couldn't think of the right words to describe it at the moment.

She spent a bit more time observing Yang Qinglan, so by the time she turned her attention to Li Qianxia, Qian Xia had already nearly walked to the apricot tree at the center of the courtyard.

Li Qianxia sat cross-legged in her chair, intently playing with her smartphone.

This pretty girl activated voice messaging to hear another girl talk about her run outside and how she had bought a ticket back to Ming City for the next day, planning to get together with dorm mates in the evening for a big meal.

(She can be the starting point!)

Meaning, Li Qianxia was innocent and easily deceived.

Yet Zheng Qing, who had interacted with Qian Xia, knew that her simplicity was a result of her tendency to listen to everything her brother said.

Yang Qinglan could hear the logistics team's voices, yet she said nothing and didn't give it an extra glance.

Why would she call attention to such a perfect channel for slipping information?

In fact, the secrecy of Zheng Qing's earpiece was of a very high level, undetectable to someone with a Perception of seven points.

As the game had only started a little over a month ago, eighty percent of the players had only participated in an instance once, meaning they were largely indistinguishable from ordinary people in terms of Attributes, barring 'Instinct' and any possible 'Skills' they might have.

At this time, players with seven points in Perception were incredibly rare.

Even for those players who participated multiple times, had high Value levels, and accumulated sufficient Attribute Points, who would allocate too many points into Perception except for large organizations that did so for team coordination or research purposes?

Focused on Perception, one is too weak when acting alone; with teammates... what if teammates commit murder?

The game only cares about the number of survivors, not who the players kill.

Killing doesn't attract any penalties; instead, it can improve one's rating. A player who allocates all points to Perception is simply a reserve of food, an emergency ration.

Even within large organizations, if a Perception-focused player is killed by a teammate, the teammate can easily claim it was the work of another player, leaving the organization with no evidence to the contrary.

That's why Strength and Agility are the preferred Attributes for players.

The Special Warfare Bureau couldn't imagine that Yang Qinglan would allocate all her points into Perception against human instinct, nor did they foresee how high her Attribute Points had become, to the point that fully investing in Perception was no longer weakness.

Yang Qinglan glanced at Li Changzhou and, seeing him still shaking his rocking chair like an old man, took the initiative to say, "Officer Zheng, please have a seat."

"Thank you," Zheng Qing sat down on a stone stool.

She smilingly expressed her relief, "Seeing you all return safely really eased my mind."

"We're relieved too!" Li Qianxia held up her cup, "With drones in the sky and zombies on the ground, and then that damned fire set by who knows who, it's good that my brother..."

At this point, she brought the cup to her lips and began to drink.

Zheng Qing waited for her to finish, but once Li Qianxia had drunk her water, she started chatting with her sister about eating super spicy bullfrog the next day.

Her sister said that whether it was a bullfrog or not wasn't important, what mattered was bringing her brother along.

Li Qianxia replied to her sister, arguing that as a younger sister, how could she sell out her brother—unless it was for milk tea on the house.

"Officer Zheng," Yang Qinglan spoke up, "I would like to inquire about the situation in Prague. Has the real world been affected?"

(It's fine to disclose.)

"It's terrible," Zheng Qing said, "Since a white-card Player won, the game assigned Czech white-card Players the task of destroying Prague within a month. However, the game is lenient towards white-cards; they can choose whether or not to complete the task."

"The Czech government must have made preparations, right?" Yang Qinglan speculated.

"Yes," Zheng Qing affirmed, "The Special Warfare Bureau believes that Prague won't be destroyed, but disturbances are inevitable. Fortunately, the country organized evacuations right when the game began."

Yang Qinglan nodded slightly then asked, "Have they located the champion Player yet?"

"No."

(Enough friendliness has been shown, it's time to get to business.)

Zheng Qing paused, then voiced the words she had prepared earlier, "Actually, my visit here is for three matters."

"Please speak," Yang Qinglan picked up a bottle of snow mountain mineral water and poured her a cup.

"Thank you," Zheng Qing nodded her gratitude, "The first matter is to represent the Special Warfare Bureau in purchasing seeds."

"Seeds?" Li Changzhou opened his eyes and looked up at the apricot leaves in the night sky, "Whose seeds?"

"Shut up," Yang Qinglan glared at him.

Li Changzhou harrumphed discontentedly and closed his eyes, continuing to indulge in his rocking chair entertainment.

(The two have affection for each other.)

Zheng Qing explained, "Vegetable seeds selling in the Full Moon event's store, ten Points per packet."

"Are these seeds important?" Li Qianxia asked curiously.

"Very important. Human living spaces are bound to shrink in the future, at least for a period of time, and arable land will decrease significantly. Based on current research analysis, to ensure future food production, we must rely on these seeds."

"These seeds are pretty?" Li Changzhou also became interested.

"...It's not about whether they're pretty or not. They're drought-resistant and frost-resistant, they can mature and bear fruit within a month, and they're extremely nutritious. Furthermore, they can bear fruit multiple times.

"Based on the current experimental data, take eggplants for example, as long as you have ten plants, a family of three can eat eggplants whenever they want for their entire lives. Unfortunately, the seeds that grow can't be replanted, ten plants will always just be ten plants."

(Cat Head, you've said too much!)

"Experts are that amazing?" Li Qianxia's lovely almond-shaped face showed surprise, "You could only exchange for the seeds last night, right? How did you research them so thoroughly by today!"

"Do the experts from the Agricultural Science Academy have an instinct related to planting?" Yang Qinglan asked Zheng Qing with an inquiring tone.

"Shennong?!" Li Changzhou sat up.

Zheng Qing: "..."

In the Agricultural Science Academy, there indeed was a Shennong.

Instinct was the "Shennong's" attribute, with one of its effects being the ability to know the future of any consumed item, such as seeds (growth potential, required environment, yield), as well as its past (how it was cultivated).

Given enough time and research, breeding identical seeds was almost a certainty.

For the nation, the status of this Shennong was even above that of the strongest players making up the national team.

'Shennong's' monthly mission teammates were carefully selected by the nation, choosing the most suitable companions (teammates not necessarily the strongest, though the strongest encounter the strongest, like meeting Li Changzhou and his team).

"Hmm, anyway," Zheng Qing forcefully steered the conversation back, "the nation wants to buy seeds from players like you who participated in the full moon event, at a high price. It's an issue of national and public benefit."

"We've already used up our points," Yang Qinglan said with a touch of regret.

"..."

You used them up? Why didn't you say so earlier?! Babbling on to me for so long! And making me leak information about 'Shennong'! This isn't just a matter of writing a self-criticism!

(Cat Head, control your emotions.)

Zheng Qing picked up the glass of Snow Mountain mineral water that Yang Qinglan had poured for her and took a couple of gulps.

It's alright, the matter of buying seeds isn't particularly urgent, as the nation had already collected some. The quantity and varieties might be very limited, but with 'Shennong' around, they believe it's only a matter of time until they can be produced on a large scale.

"The second issue," she continued with an old topic, "are you willing to join the officials?"

Without rushing to refuse, Yang Qinglan asked as she usually did, "What are the benefits?"

"Some I've already told you about, like moving into a safer neighborhood, a decent but absolutely not low salary, free access to valuable game intelligence, internal resource trading... On top of these, there are a few more now."

"Such as?" Li Qianxia asked.

It seemed like she had finished chatting with her girlfriends.

Not only did her girlfriend treat her to milk tea, but she also had to bring local specialities from home, in exchange, for tomorrow's super spicy bullfrog gathering, Li Qianxia must bring her brother along.

Zheng Qing said, "The expert team will plan your development route based on your instincts, taking into account your interests and personality, using the data from the national skill database."

"Oh~" Li Qianxia nodded, "Sounds pretty good."

"Absolutely!" the twenty-two-year-old soldier, Zheng Qing, said proudly, "According to the data analysis, 80% of the players who join the Special Warfare Bureau have significantly improved their survival abilities."

Yang Qinglan agreed, "No matter how much I ponder on my own, I can't compete with the professional advice from a think tank."

Zheng Qing's heart lifted with joy, seeing the promising prospects.

(Maybe they're more eager since they've experienced the full moon event and seen masters, which has raised their sense of crisis.) The logistic unit analyzed.

"But for me," Li Changzhou suddenly spoke, "I prefer figuring things out for myself over looking up strategies."

"Now is not the time to care about preferences. Safety is more important," Zheng Qing advised him.

"Hmm—" Li Changzhou, with his eyes closed, swaying in his rocking chair, hesitated, "With every benefit comes an equal responsibility, and I hate responsibility."

(Continue.)

Zheng Qing added, "Apart from what I've just mentioned, there's another benefit to joining the nation."

"What is it?" Li Qianxia leaned forward from across the stone table, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"You can be introduced to other players."

"How is that a benefit?" Li Qianxia was somewhat disappointed.

Zheng Qing smiled briefly, "What about players who can do Divination? Or those with Healing Skills? Additionally, I have three tickets for a master's lecture on breaking through limits."

She took out three tickets and placed them on the stone table.

The tickets were simple, with just the location, the name of the speaker, and the time listed.

The background featured a golden dragon from Huaxia, with Dragon Scales glittering brightly, seemingly made using a special technique, and difficult to replicate.

"All free?" Li Changzhou sat up again.

"Of course not!"

(The nation won't let joined players work for free; instead, it will provide platforms and opportunities for profit.)

Zheng Qing paused, then repeated, "The nation won't let joined players work for free; instead, it will provide platforms and opportunities for profit."

(Find customers for the players with Divination and Healing Skills;)

(Sell tickets for the master's lecture;)

(If you have special skills, you can also report them; fees can be in cash, Game Coins, Weapons, or other trades;)

(For instance, acting as bodyguards, accomplishing a task, specifics are up to the players themselves to decide but no illegal activities are allowed, and they can apply for national notarization, paying a notary fee to ensure the safety of the transaction.)

The logistics team articulated each word, giving Zheng Qing time to clearly understand and repeat them.

This time, the three of them were genuinely tempted.