Chapter 14: The Art of Winning People Over

Wang Kai's pupils shook with shock. Watching Qihai Studio get completely wiped out, and thinking back on all the targeting and exclusion he'd suffered from his former colleagues these past few days, he felt a surge of pure, satisfying joy rise in his chest.

It felt even better than if he'd beaten them up himself!

Chen Sui waved his hand and recalled Wavecrest, then turned his head and called out in their direction: "Hey, you."

"Yeah, bro! My name's Wang Kai — just call me Ah Kai."

Wang Kai snapped back to his senses, his face breaking into a wide grin.

"Your tip-off didn't really do much, but I appreciate it anyway. Consider the past wiped clean."

Chen Sui said this because the guy had at least tried to help — it was only right to acknowledge the gesture.

At that point, Wang Kai hurried to catch up with him:

"Bro, I want to ask you a favor — take me along with you, would you?"

"No."

Chen Sui dismissed the idea without a second thought and waved him off. The gap between them was too wide. He was about to venture into the open sea, and in Wang Kai's current state, that would just be sending him to his death.

Wang Kai wasn't ready to give up:

"Bro, I've got elderly parents to support and kids to feed. I really need the income from this game to keep the household going. Just take me along — I promise I won't be any trouble."

"Can't relate. I've got no parents, no kids."

Chen Sui kept walking forward, completely unbothered.

Wang Kai was left completely stumped by that one line — he didn't know whether to keep talking about his own situation or apologize first.

In his heart, though, it made sense. Chen Sui had no family. No wonder he had this completely lawless personality. Hmm… at least he'd need a few more years of society's pressure and hard knocks.

"Bro…"

"Hey, you people from Qihai Studio really don't know what's good for you. The man's a top player and he said no — stop pestering him."

Lu Chengzhi stepped forward. The arrogant swagger he'd shown earlier had completely vanished, replaced by a smile as he presented Chen Sui with a heavy pouch of coins. "Big shot, we were all tricked into coming here today. That Zhang Yuhao told us you were a menace — a total Shafu — so we followed along. Now that we're here, it's clear it was all a misunderstanding. Please accept this as a small token of our apology."

"This is from Quhua Studio."

"And this is from us…"

The other studios each offered up pouches of Fish Coins, large and small.

Led by Seven-Star Studio and Quhua Studio, along with several smaller studios of three to five people each.

Chen Sui looked at the heavy pouches of Fish Coins in their hands, all plump and full. He didn't know exactly how much these studios earned, but giving this much away meant there couldn't be much left in their pockets.

He let out a soft sigh. These people really knew how to read the room.

As the saying goes, you don't hit someone who's smiling at you — and these people were genuinely sincere.

"I wasn't planning to hold anything against you." Chen Sui smiled helplessly. "You're being so polite, I'm almost embarrassed."

"Big shot, what are you saying — we came here to corner you, so we were in the wrong. We feel guilty about it, of course we're going to be polite."

Lu Chengzhi's smile was genuine. "Big shot, I'd say this counts as getting acquainted through a fight. If you feel bad about it, why not create a group chat together? You could share some tips now and then, or sell us any pets you don't need… We're all running studios here. Even the scraps you toss aside would be enough to feed a lot of us."

"I… damn."

Who could hear that and not be swayed? He'd been flattered so smoothly that, before anyone noticed, he'd been turned into their meal ticket.

This Lu Chengzhi had looked like a Shafu earlier, but now he seemed like a sharp operator. Sure enough, you don't run a major studio without having some brains.

Zhang Yuhao was the obvious exception, of course — a Shafu from start to finish.

"Buddy, that mouth of yours — it's a real waste you're not in sales. Alright, let's make a group. As it happens, I've been sitting on a ton of crabs and I'll sell them off cheap in the group."

Chen Sui had been worried about the pile of crabs stacking up on him. If things kept going at this rate, he'd overflow the fish tank, so this was a perfect chance to move them internally.

Sure, he'd lose a little money, but posting in a group was efficient and, more importantly, hassle-free.

Besides, in a way, Chen Sui knew he couldn't keep going it alone forever. The gaps in his information were a constant headache. These studios had far more time and intel than he did. He had his edge, but for all the miscellaneous details, he'd need to rely on the professionals in these studios.

"Bro, count me in too."

Wang Kai shamelessly squeezed his way over.

The group huddled together and created a game group chat.

Chen Sui joined, and the group was given the name "Azure Give-Up Squad."

"Why that name?"

"With a big shot around, why would the rest of us need to try hard?"

"Come on, saying that makes even me feel awkward."

Even Chen Sui's thick skin couldn't handle that one.

With everything settled, the whole group was all smiles, and those smiles now felt genuinely warm.

"Now that we've got a group, we're all family."

Lu Chengzhi glanced at Wang Kai, a flicker of interest in his eyes:

"You probably can't keep working under Zhang Yuhao after this — you're a free agent now. Why not come join Seven-Star Studio?"

"Sure thing, bro — thank you so much, Brother Lu."

Wang Kai was overjoyed at the news. He hadn't expected to land a new job the moment he lost the old one.

"Hey, we look out for each other. I heard about what happened with your studio — that idiot Zhang Yuhao was probably framing you. I trust your character is solid enough. Work hard."

Lu Chengzhi gave Wang Kai an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

"Alright, I'm logging off for now — I'm about to go to sleep. I'll play again tomorrow morning."

Chen Sui said, "I'll post the extra pets I have in the group in a bit."

"That's great, big shot — we're already cashing in on the perks." Lu Chengzhi said reflexively, then looked over at Chen Sui and asked, "Oh right, big shot — what's your in-game ID?"

"Ahem."

Chen Sui cleared his throat and revealed his ID.

"mlgbfirst — that's actually the big shot's ID?!"

Someone immediately recognized it. That Red-Mantled Tide Crab with the Iron Armor talent had made quite a name for itself in their circles.

"Somehow… that actually makes sense."

"True — besides a big shot, you'd have to be a lucky player to catch a crab like that. And of course he'd keep it for himself; there's no way he'd put it up for auction."

Everyone looked at Chen Sui, thought about the combat power he'd just displayed, and suddenly felt like none of this was particularly surprising.

"Uh… am I really that famous?"

Chen Sui felt a little embarrassed. Apparently, even before he'd made his presence known in the world, legends of him were already circulating.

"Big shots just have personality — even their usernames are one of a kind."

"I get it — it means putting the ugly truth out there first."

Everyone felt a strange sense of fittingness. That blunt attitude and that crude English username — they suited Chen Sui perfectly.

"Holy shit, why did I immediately know what nationality came up with that translation?"

"Not gonna lie, same."

"…"

"So do we call the big shot 'Brother Ugly Truth' from now on?"

"What kind of nickname is that — sounds like a 2 a.m. sad post on someone's feed."

"Then what? Call him 'Brother Mafu'?"

"Hey hey!"

Someone immediately covered his mouth. "Don't say that — the game might mute you."

The atmosphere among the group was remarkably relaxed.

"Call me whatever you want, I don't care. My surname is Chen." Chen Sui let out a laugh.

"OK then, it's Brother Chen." Lu Chengzhi beamed.

The group chatted for a while longer before Chen Sui said his goodbyes and logged off.

Back in his room, Chen Sui opened the newly created game group and immediately posted the surplus crabs he'd farmed. The number of crabs in the fish tank needed to be kept in check — otherwise he really would cause a Fishfolk mass extinction.

The price of Red-Mantled Tide Crabs on the trading market was far from saturated, but it had already dipped somewhat due to the increasing supply.

Around three to four hundred each, but they had to be listed one by one by hand, with a ten-percent fee on top of that.

The back-and-forth was a hassle, and they might not even sell.

Chen Sui wasn't worried about losing money right now, so he simply priced them all at a flat hundred and listed 109 Red-Mantled Tide Crabs in the group.

Seven-Star-Longka: "Damn, big shot has this many Red-Mantled Tide Crabs? Only a hundred each? It's like buying wholesale."

Quhua-Three Feet: "Some of them even have talents — oh my god. They're not the defensive type, but still a hundred each?"

36E-SpeedGod: "I figured the price would be low, but not this low."

WhyWontTheBullHoldUp: "No more words — I'm buying now. Thanks, big shot~"

In an instant, the group was flooded with "Thank you, big shot!"