Bai Ye pondered for a moment and said, "You want me to go in and help you bring people out?"
Gao Ming nodded, "Yes."
Bai Ye asked, "What benefits will you give me?"
Gao Ming was stunned, "Huh?"
Bai Ye stated, "I said, this matter has nothing to do with me. I provided the intel, and the intel was correct. It's your problem if you can't handle the forbidden zone, and it's your problem if you can't defeat the Hidden Dragon Society. If you want me to work, you need to show sincerity."
Gao Ming scratched his head. This answer...
It was a bit unexpected.
From Bai Ye's words, he was willing to help, but he wanted benefits.
Gao Ming cautiously asked, "Aren't you at odds with the people from the Hidden Dragon Society?"
"Yes," Bai Ye replied, "but that's no reason for me to be your scapegoat."
Gao Ming pondered. Was the information half good and half bad?
Bai Ye's willingness to act meant he wasn't part of the Hidden Dragon Society, and this was truly an accident. Secondly, this was the first time Bai Ye had openly admitted to having enmity with the Hidden Dragon Society.
The bad news was that Gao Ming didn't know what benefits to offer; his guild leader hadn't said.
Gao Ming thought for a moment, "I need to report to the guild leader."
Bai Ye smiled, "Alright!"
Having interacted with him more, Bai Ye had a good understanding of Gao Ming.
Gao Ming was capable, pragmatic, and not stupid, but he had one flaw: he truly wouldn't step up when it mattered.
Simply put, Gao Ming lacked the ability to make decisions independently. If he hesitated, he had to go find Stenson.
Such people could accomplish tasks, but not great deeds.
"Oh, right," Bai Ye added, "tell your guild leader, if I act, it won't just be about bringing people back."
Gao Ming was confused, "What do you mean?"
Bai Ye said, "I'll clear all three layers."
Gao Ming was surprised, "Are you serious?"
The virtual game forbidden zone Bai Ye provided was similar to a dungeon game mode. The first layer yielded blue-quality items, the second layer black-quality items, and the third layer red-quality items.
Furthermore, defeating the boss of each layer counted as clearing the layer, and each person could bring back three items.
Originally, the boss of the third layer was not easy. Bai Ye had already warned Gao Ming. Now, to clear it meant not only defeating the boss but also confronting the Hidden Dragon Society, which increased the difficulty by more than a little.
Bai Ye stated, "I never go into a forbidden zone empty-handed. Do you think I'm going sightseeing?"
"This..." Gao Ming hesitated, "Please wait a moment!"
Bai Ye nodded, "Go ahead!"
After hanging up, Bai Ye hummed a tune and started heading towards the area he had told Gao Ming about.
Bai Ye was absolutely confident that Stenson would agree.
If the Hidden Dragon Society was also aiming for the third layer, they would surely send experts.
Therefore, if it was a matter of sacrificing a pawn to save the king, Stenson might not pay too high a price.
However, if they cleared it, not only would each person get three blue, three black, and three red items, greatly boosting their strength, but they could also strike a blow against the Hidden Dragon Society. Stenson would definitely spare no expense.
The current question was what price Stenson could afford and how much courage he possessed.
About fifteen minutes later, the communication device rang again.
"Hello!" Bai Ye answered the call and asked, "Have you thought it over?"
Gao Ming replied, "First, we currently have a total of seven people in the virtual game. Our guild leader's intention is to assign you four more people, making it twelve in total. This is the maximum team size for clearing the third-layer boss."
"Second, regarding the reward, our guild leader has provided three options. The first option is that after clearing the third layer, excluding the items you personally obtain, you will receive half of the total items we acquire."
"The second option is that if you provide information, the Evil Spirit Guild will spare no effort to find an item for you."
"The third option is that our guild leader is willing to increase the offer."
Bai Ye said, "I'm not interested in the first or second. What does the third one mean?"
A pile of red-quality items was quite tempting. Bai Ye had to admit that Stenson was truly generous, but Bai Ye knew that the Evil Spirit Guild's situation was dire.
Seven people?
Are you kidding me!
Bai Ye had previously told Gao Ming the maximum team size for each layer. If the Evil Spirit Guild sent people, they would definitely send them in groups of twelve.
Having only seven people meant that five had been eliminated by the Hidden Dragon Society. In such a situation, let alone that item, it would be difficult for the remaining seven people to clear the third layer. They might even encounter the Hidden Dragon Society again.
Therefore, it was a desperate measure. If Bai Ye succeeded, he could at least take half the items.
The problem was that Bai Ye wasn't very interested in red-quality items anymore.
Here, "not very interested" didn't mean that red-quality items wouldn't improve Bai Ye's strength.
In the current environment where everyone was happy to get even one black-quality item, and having red-quality items could help one break into the ranks of experts, red-quality items still offered improvement to Bai Ye.
However, this improvement was not significant. Bai Ye's strength was enough to bully most people, and in the competition among experts, more emphasis was placed on top-tier combat power.
For example, if Bai Ye and Li Jiayi were to fight, would the outcome be determined by who had more red-quality items?
Of course not. It would be determined by whose main combat items and abilities were stronger.
Was Li Jiayi's Infinite Void more terrifying, or was Bai Ye's Goro Goro no Mi more earth-shattering?
To put it more directly...
A pile of red-quality items could significantly raise Bai Ye's floor.
But Bai Ye's floor was already not low. What difference would it make to raise it further?
Bai Ye wanted to raise his ceiling!
As for the second option, it was also quite tempting, but it was an empty promise. Regardless of whether the Evil Spirit Guild would go back on their word, with Bai Ye's pragmatic nature, anything he couldn't get his hands on was classified as trash, let alone something he couldn't even see.
Gao Ming didn't waste any more time, which meant they were choosing the third option.
"My guild leader has an item called..."
"Holy crap!" Bai Ye's pupils instantly widened in surprise, "Are you kidding me? You guys managed to get something like this?"
Gao Ming replied, "Wish Task!"
Bai Ye countered, "Are you fooling me? Even current Wish Tasks can't get this kind of item. If a Wish Task could yield gold-quality items, you wouldn't be able to complete it."
Gao Ming explained, "Yes, that's why we used a Wish Stone."
Bai Ye was momentarily speechless. This was indeed possible. Wish Stones relied on luck, as they randomly generated Wish Task content. If one was lucky, they could indeed randomly get a Wish Task with a very high reward limit.
Bai Ye stated, "But it's still very difficult. You can't directly wish for this item."
"Right, so we have to gamble on luck again," Gao Ming said. "First, we use a Wish Stone to wish for content that provides Wish Task rewards with no quality restrictions. However, generally, you can't directly wish for gold-quality or even super-quality items because there are also restrictions on wishing. This is where a little trick is needed."
Bai Ye was genuinely curious, "What trick?"
Bai Ye was truly curious. He had spent ten years in his previous life, participated in countless Wish Tasks, and there were still tricks he didn't know?
...