Chapter 222

Gaishi Qiying was left speechless by the direct rebuttal of his subordinates. He never knew that his employees harbored such resentment towards the studio. Amidst the resounding chorus of denunciation, two more hesitant directors stood up, bringing the number of people requesting to leave immediately to fifteen. Of the remaining four, three were still wavering, while Wu Ye remained lost and bewildered. Everyone had been poached, leaving only him… The question consuming Wu Ye's mind was precisely this: In the industry, whether in terms of ability or reputation, Wu Ye didn't believe he was any less capable than any of those eighteen people. So why was he the only one excluded? Why?

This was, after all, a dispute within the industry. Wu Ye didn't immediately realize that his feud with Feichang Nitian would have such an impact. Ignoring Wu Ye was a special request that Han Jia Gongzi had specifically made to Teng Yun and the others.

The denunciation finally drew to a close. Wu Ye, still leading the charge, took a letter from his pocket and handed it to Gaishi Qiying, saying expressionlessly, "This is my resignation letter. I hope the boss will decide on a replacement as soon as possible. I'll handle the handover within a month. After that, I need to devote myself to a new job, so I probably won't have much time."

Wu Ye, who had initially been hesitant, wanting to talk to the boss in private, seemed to have become emboldened after finding a group of comrades. No one present knew that this whole affair was actually orchestrated by "Yunteng Studio," a collaboration between Wu Ye and others. Wu Ye's eagerness to publicly resign during the meeting was also part of their inflammatory plan.

Wu Ye had been working at Yingqi for quite some time. After gaining a thorough understanding of the industry, he developed the desire to strike out on his own. Later, he and two friends, Yunteng and Ya Xiaosuan, established Yunteng Studio, which was doing quite well. In the process, they had certainly utilized resources from Yingqi, which was somewhat unethical. However, the unique nature of the studio business gave him such opportunities. His departure from Yingqi was inevitable, and with such an opportunity presenting itself, he simply took advantage of it during the meeting.

Gaishi Qiying looked at the resignation letter Wu Ye handed over but didn't reach out to take it. He looked at the others and said, "What about you? Is it the same for you all?"

The others weren't as prepared as Wu Ye. They hadn't received poaching offers for long, and they were still hesitant and considering their options. They hadn't reached the point of writing resignation letters. But having already stood up and confronted the boss during the meeting, there was no turning back. What was there to hesitate about? Some immediately took out paper and pens to write on the spot, while others simply announced verbally, "You all know the situation anyway, so forget about the resignation letters!" Still others handed Gaishi Qiying a small piece of paper with three words: I resign. Gaishi Qiying trembled with anger.

Without another word, Wu Ye saw that Gaishi Qiying didn't accept his letter, so he placed it on the ground, let out a breath, and turned to leave. The others followed suit, leaving Yingqi Studio's headquarters in Yueye City one after another.

Only five people remained in the room. Three of them lowered their heads and remained silent, preoccupied with their thoughts. Gaishi Qiying, however, could no longer smile; his face was filled with anger. Wu Ye felt as though he was squeezed into a crack, looking from one side to the other, feeling lost and out of place.

Gaishi Qiying was, after all, the founder and leader of the largest studio, so he had some ability to withstand setbacks. He quickly regained his composure, fixed his gaze on the last four people, and said only three words: "What about you?"

The three finally looked up. One of them said, "Boss, I need to consider it. I'll excuse myself for now!" After speaking, he actually got up and left the room. Another quickly said, "Me too," and hurried after him. Of the nineteen directors, only two remained: Wu Ye and his good friend, whose ID was Chao Jiu Wan Wu.

Chao Jiu Wan Wu, like Wu Ye, was also a thoughtful person. He hesitated until the end, weighing his options. However, he wouldn't directly say "consider it" to the boss like those two fools; wouldn't that leave a thorn in the boss's side? Chao Jiu Wan Wu decided to observe the boss's response first. He hadn't initially realized that the poaching operation would be so fierce, completely emptying out Yingqi. Now that fifteen of the nineteen directors were gone, and two had left to consider their options and would likely not return, wouldn't those who remained have an unprecedented opportunity for development?

Therefore, when he met the boss's gaze again, Chao Jiu Wan Wu tried to appear as steadfast as possible. In comparison, Wu Ye seemed somewhat absent-minded.

Chao Jiu Wan Wu was still a little afraid that the boss would ask them to state their positions, so he took the initiative, saying, "Boss, what do we do?"

Before the boss could reply, Wu Ye secretly messaged him: "You're not leaving?"

"We'll see," Chao Jiu Wan Wu replied. He didn't want to directly answer this sensitive question, but Wu Ye had asked him point-blank, leaving him no choice.

Gaishi Qiying looked at the two of them, feeling a sense of relief that he still had some people he could use. After a moment of thought, he said, "You two will have to temporarily cover their work. Wu Ye, you can hand over Yueye City to the local负责人 (fùzé rén - person in charge) here. The next step is to find replacements as soon as possible. Do you have any suitable candidates to recommend?"

Both of them remained silent. Neither of these two guys were easy to deal with. Chao Jiu Wan Wu was now feeling greedy. Regardless of whether he could manage it, since there were only him and Wu Ye left, he might as well have one director per fifty cities. Their income and business were directly linked, and owning the business of fifty main cities would dramatically increase their status and income. At this point, asking him to actively find someone to share the pie was something Chao Jiu Wan Wu, driven by greed, would not cooperate with.

Wu Ye also shook his head and said, "I don't have any suitable people on my end."

Chao Jiu Wan Wu chuckled inwardly, guessing that Wu Ye had the same idea as him.

Unfortunately, Gaishi Qiying didn't seem to share this sentiment. He immediately said, "Immediately gather the people in charge and deputies of each main city. I will personally interview them and promote people from within!"

Chao Jiu Wan Wu was certainly unhappy to hear this, but Wu Ye immediately jumped up and said, "I'll take care of it."

Chao Jiu Wan Wu looked at him in surprise. Gaishi Qiying nodded and said, "Online and offline, no matter what they're doing, gather them immediately. If you don't know their contact information, ask those guys."

These city负责人 (fùzé rén - person in charge) were all direct subordinates of the directors, so Wu Ye naturally had the contact information for his six cities, but he might not have all the information for the other cities.

"I understand," Wu Ye nodded and quickly left. Chao Jiu Wan Wu was completely stunned. What was this guy planning?

Wu Ye didn't really have a plan. Just now, the system had suddenly notified him that he had a new email. This email made him breathe a sigh of relief; he assumed it was the poaching offer from the other side. He didn't know why it had only arrived now. Feeling isolated, Wu Ye had always felt very uneasy. Now that he had received the email, he was eager to see it. As for whether he would leave or stay, that was exactly what Chao Jiu Wan Wu had said: We'll see.

Wu Ye went straight to the mailbox and quickly retrieved the email, but after reading it, he was dumbfounded. This email was not a poaching offer for him, but a resignation letter. The supervisor and deputy of Baishi City, one of the six cities he was in charge of, had jointly sent him a resignation letter. Wu Ye saw that both of them were online and quickly sent them a private message, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea. Wu Ye sent several more messages, but still received no reply. The messages could be sent, indicating that they hadn't at least deleted him as a friend, but their determination not to reply suggested that they had probably added him to their blacklist…

Did the resignation of the Baishi City supervisor and deputy have something to do with the collective resignation of the directors?

Wu Ye suddenly felt a deep sense of fear. He realized that the other side's poaching operation was far more ferocious than he had imagined. Compared to other main cities, his two subordinates in Baishi City weren't particularly outstanding. If they really wanted to poach some second-tier talent, they wouldn't have specifically targeted those two. This was probably the same as poaching the directors, a complete sweep.

Did the other side want to completely empty out Yingqi in one go? Wu Ye was stunned, especially since he was completely isolated. What to do? A hollow shell of Yingqi and him, Wu Ye? Even if the boss completely trusted him and entrusted everything to him, how could he manage such a large operation on his own? This wasn't like being the boss and overseeing the general direction; the director had many trivial matters to handle. It was impossible for one person to handle a hundred main cities… If they couldn't get through this phase, wouldn't Yingqi be finished?

Wu Ye's mind was filled with unlucky guesses, and he completely forgot what he had lied to the boss about and ran out to do. He remained in a daze for a long time before finally coming back to his senses because another message notification arrived. Wu Ye quickly opened the message and saw that it completely confirmed his guess. The supervisor of Muyu City, another of the six cities he was in charge of, had sent a message: resignation.

"Which studio is poaching you?" Wu Ye immediately replied.

Silence, more silence. Wu Ye frantically sent a bunch of messages, but they were like a stone sinking into the sea. He had been blacklisted again.

Just then, Chao Jiu Wan Wu also sent him a message: "Something seems a bit off!"

"How so?" Wu Ye understood that Chao Jiu Wan Wu's subordinates probably had some movements as well.

"One of my subordinates just said they want to resign," Chao Jiu Wan Wu said.

"Who exactly is poaching you guys!!!" Wu Ye was really anxious. He wanted to know the answer, an answer that might explain why he was being isolated. Yingqi and everything else had long been thrown to the back of Wu Ye's mind. At this moment, he was only thinking about his personal future.

As a result, Chao Jiu Wan Wu was still avoiding the question: "I'm also very curious as to why you're being excluded. Is it an oversight, or have you offended someone recently?" Chao Jiu Wan Wu was cunning. After discovering that the other side's poaching was simply a storm and that Yingqi was in danger of sinking, he stopped fantasizing about being the director of fifty cities. If even the second-tier members were being poached, even if he was the director of a hundred cities, he would just be a commander with no troops. How could he carry out any work? Who would he show off to? As the industry leader, Yingqi might not fall so easily, but it would definitely go through a dark period. Chao Jiu Wan Wu didn't want to work with Gaishi Qiying to handle it together. At this time, he felt a little sorry for Wu Ye, because he had a way out. A well-paying new job contract had already been sent to his email, but what about Wu Ye? He looked like he had been abandoned alone on a crumbling giant ship. If this guy had really offended someone, the opponent's move was truly vicious.

"I haven't been dealing with any studios recently!" Wu Ye replied.

"It doesn't have to be a studio, maybe it's some influential figure?" Chao Jiu Wan Wu said.

"Could it be… Qianli Yizui?" Wu Ye quickly thought of only him.

"He… he has a bit of influence among game players, but he shouldn't be able to interfere with our industry, right?" Chao Jiu Wan Wu said.

"Maybe he has some backing?" Wu Ye said.

"This…" Chao Jiu Wan Wu had only heard of Qianli Yizui's name. He wasn't afraid of or interested in this kind of crazy killer in the game.

"Think about his equipment! The Anye Liuguang Sword and stuff, what is that? It's like it's not even at the same technological level as current players," Wu Ye said, becoming increasingly frightened. Qianli Yizui was a bug-like existence that had never been seen before in the history of online games. Such a guy might really be someone with a powerful background; his power might be some kind of inside story in the game…

As Wu Ye was thinking this, someone suddenly rushed past him like the wind. But after running out a few steps, he suddenly stopped, turned his head, and looked at Wu Ye: "Oh, what a coincidence."

"Damn!" Wu Ye was dumbfounded! This guy was definitely part of an inside story; otherwise, why would he appear just as he was thinking about him? Was the game company monitoring his thoughts? Wu Ye was rapidly fantasizing, entering the realm of science fiction.

"What are you doing?" Gu Fei asked as he walked over with his sword.

"Nothing…" Wu Ye actually replied. Seeing that Qianli Yizui was clearly going to chop him, Wu Ye had nowhere to escape, so he simply asked, "Are you the one behind the poaching of our studio?" As a result, the second half of the sentence was completed in the resurrection point.

"It seems like he said something?" Gu Fei scratched his head. "The sword is too fast, and I can't control the power of the spell with strength alone. Alas, I can't hold back…" Gu Fei muttered while sending a message to Yun Zhong Mu, saying that he had sent a high-level figure from Yingqi to the resurrection point and providing a basic description of Wu Ye's class, equipment, and appearance.

In the chaotic main city, the resurrection point was always the liveliest place. The Ten Guild Alliance naturally had troops stationed there. Yun Zhong Mu's order was quickly passed down, and the people of the Ten Guild Alliance immediately began to investigate, quickly finding a suspicious person, a guy who was walking out of the resurrection point with a look of grief and indignation.

Several people quickly went up to him and asked, "Are you Wu Ye?"

"Huh? Yes, that's me. What's the matter?" Wu Ye answered habitually. He was a businessman from the studio, not a fugitive, and had never hidden his identity.

"Nothing, we're just looking for you." After saying this, the other party chopped Wu Ye back to the resurrection point again.

"I操 (cāo)!!! " Wu Ye resurrected again, and could still see the mocking expression of the other party. Although level was completely unimportant for Wu Ye's job, he could still play the game for fun when he had time, so being killed repeatedly was quite frustrating. But then he saw the badge on the chest of the people who had killed him, recognizing them as members of the Ten Guild Alliance. Wu Ye immediately understood what was going on. Not only had Qianli Yizui killed him, but he had also paved the way for him… Wu Ye was dumbfounded. The Ten Guild Alliance was killing left and right, but they didn't really know much about who was from which studio. Now, such a big shot was being camped here. How was he supposed to get out? Wu Ye thought of a legendary figure, Yin Yue. Yin Yue fully demonstrated the Ten Guild Alliance's patience and persistence towards their enemies. Wu Ye realized that he had now replaced Yin Yue in the hearts of the Ten Guild Alliance players. The problem was… he hadn't provoked them at all. They had stubbornly barged in when he was dealing with Feichang Nitian. Who could Wu Ye reason with?

Wu Ye couldn't take a single step out of the resurrection point. The boss, Gaishi Qiying, even sent him a message urging him on. Wu Ye had given up at this point. He estimated that he had been left out of the poaching storm not because of some oversight, but most likely because Qianli Yizui and the others had been pulling strings. Now he had no other choice; he could only support Yingqi. In that case, it was best to let the boss know the whole truth as soon as possible so that he could make a decision.

Therefore, Wu Ye quickly explained their situation to Gaishi Qiying: Yingqi was facing a comprehensive and indiscriminate poaching operation, and the only blind spot was him, Wu Ye.

Gaishi Qiying was completely enraged when he heard this. He didn't expect the other side to be so ruthless. He could no longer control himself and directly sent a message to the bosses of the other studios who were online: "Who's messing with me? Come out and face me!"

As a result, the replies he received from those online were all puzzled question marks. The studios that Gaishi Qiying associated with were all large ones. Gaishi Qiying hadn't yet befriended emerging studios like Yunteng, which hadn't yet become large.

Chao Jiu Wan Wu was now uncertain, watching Gaishi Qiying rage like he was about to tear down the house without saying a word. Gaishi Qiying didn't pay much attention to Chao Jiu Wan Wu either, and stormed out of the room in a fit of anger.

"Bo… Boss…" Wu Ye suddenly froze. He hadn't expected the boss to appear before his eyes in an instant.

"I操 (cāo)操 (cāo)操 (cāo)操 (cāo)!!!" Gaishi Qiying went crazy. He was about to go out full of anger, but he was ambushed as soon as he stepped out the door, and didn't even see who it was. This was not surprising, since they had a Wu Ye among them! Of course, Wu Ye didn't want to chop him or anything, but the situation changed once it was relayed to Han Jia Gongzi. Han Jia Gongzi remotely directed things, and when Yun Zhong Mu heard that even Yingqi's big boss could be harvested, he excitedly led the team himself. Frustratingly, he didn't even get a single cut before being bombed to smithereens by his ranged subordinates. Everyone immediately saw that this guy's equipment was really dazzling! It was the happiest thing to casually drop some equipment during a big battle.

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It's September 9th again, asking for monthly tickets! Don't fail!