Chapter 60: Exorbitant Demands, Something's Fishy, ​​Fourth Settlement, Level 10, Advancement Quest!

Upon hearing Qin Fang's voice, Yu Qianqiu was visibly taken aback for a moment, then laughed: "You really are quite cautious..."

They clearly noticed the phone number.

Qin Fang smiled but didn't comment, only asking, "How did the negotiations go?"

"Reaching a consensus isn't that easy, is it?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Qianqiu sighed, then complained bitterly, "We started talking this morning, but the talks broke down several times and we almost came to blows again. Then we had to pull each other back and forth and compromise... I don't think we'll reach an agreement in a few days."

Qin Fang immediately became curious and asked what was going on.

Yu Qianqiu was immediately furious: "These centaurs are really insatiable!"

He immediately brought up the various demands of the centaurs in the negotiations.

In short... the centaurs really are asking for an exorbitant amount.

They not only demanded the Rabbit Dungeon and the Dark Forest Dungeon, but also two Tier 1 dungeons, one Tier 2 dungeon, and one Tier 3 dungeon to become their exclusive dungeons.

They also demanded that humanity completely withdraw from the Celestial Serpent Realm, pay at least one hundred sets of materials for third-tier advancement within the realm, various third-tier superior equipment, and that humanity acknowledge that the two previous wars were caused by humans, while also compensating the centaur casualties with a total of ten million gold coins, etc.

That's a real case of asking for the moon!

If this is agreed to, not only will the warehouses of the combat command in Tieya City and Lingtai City be emptied, but the two cities of Tieya and Lingtai will also be essentially rendered useless.

Two Tier 0 dungeons, two Tier 1 dungeons, one Tier 2 dungeon, one Tier 3 dungeon...

Once these dungeons are given away and monopolized by the centaurs, the professionals in the two cities will have no other place to level up.

If there are no places to level up, what's the point of a city existing?

Unsurprisingly, among the many conditions was that humanity had to hand over the owner of the park, Akatsuki, and 'Frost', who had only made an appearance yesterday...

Under these circumstances, the combat command of Tieya City and Lingtai City would naturally not accept it.

The current negotiations are not negotiations following humanity's defeat, but rather ceasefire negotiations based on the premise that neither side wants to fight. Naturally, neither side can accept the centaur's blackmail.

In particular, the demand that humanity acknowledge that the instigator is human is a complete disregard for the facts.

Because it was the centaurs who instigated all the conflicts and wars.

As a result, human needs have changed.

They immediately made a reciprocal demand.

The demand is that the centaurs relinquish their exclusive control of the Tier 0-3 dungeons to the humans, granting them complete control. Simultaneously, the demand is for the centaurs to withdraw from the Celestial Serpent Realm, and for the return of all equipment, materials, gold, etc., in equal measure!

This clearly infuriated the centaurs.

That's why there were several intense conflicts, almost escalating into a full-blown fight.

“We don’t want to fight, and the centaurs don’t want to fight either. They just made a fuss to put on a show… You don’t need to worry about this. There probably won’t be any results here in the short term.”

After Yu Qianqiu finished speaking, he paused for a moment and then said with a serious expression, "But there's something I need to remind you... Lelouch didn't appear at the negotiating table this time. He was the toughest of the centaurs this time, and he should have been the one to play the good cop in the negotiations. But he didn't show up. The director thinks something is amiss. If there's something important to him that he'd abandon the negotiations, then without a doubt... it's your Paradise."

"The centaurs are very likely plotting something that involves you. Lelouch is the one carrying it out. So, during this time... you should all be careful."

"Of course, we will keep a close eye on things and will notify you of any intelligence as soon as possible... so you'd better try to stay in touch with us."

Yu Qianqiu's words made Qin Fang frown. After a moment, he nodded and said, "I understand... The authorities have distanced themselves from us, right?"

"We haven't even reached that stage yet. It feels like these centaurs just want to keep us at the negotiating table, which is one of the reasons why I said they might be targeting you..."

Yu Qianqiu's voice was somewhat solemn.

The centaurs brought many people with them during the negotiations, and if the humans don't want to suffer losses, they will definitely have to bring enough people as well.

Otherwise, if the talks break down and war breaks out, wouldn't humanity suffer a great loss?

Although they were certain that they wouldn't dare to act recklessly and risk a full-scale war.

But those alien races... who knows what they're thinking?

It's never wrong to prepare for the worst.

However, this makes it impossible for the authorities to spare personnel to constantly monitor the situation in other parts of the centaur territory.

This is likely one of the reasons why they made exorbitant demands but always remained restrained and didn't actually start a fight.

...Their goal is likely to keep the authorities from paying attention to the park.

Thus, to deal with Paradise.

Qin Fang felt a pang of pain in his teeth. These centaurs... they really had no intention of killing him!

...If it weren't for the concern that others would be targeted by the centaurs, he would have really wanted to rush into the centaur city and wreak havoc!

After letting out a sigh of relief, Qin Fang chatted with Yu Qianqiu for a couple more minutes, and only after confirming that there was no other new information did he hang up the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Qin Fang pondered for a moment, and finally sighed helplessly.

The level is still too low!

If he were at the fourth rank now, he could just go over there and wipe out all the centaur leaders!

Where would there be so many troubles?

After letting out a breath, Qin Fang turned off his phone, removed the SIM card, tossed it aside, and went home.

...

Time passed little by little.

Before I knew it, it was almost midnight.

Qin Xiaoyou hasn't returned yet.

However, she did send Qin Fang a message saying that she was going to stay up all night to grind experience points and that Qin Fang shouldn't worry.

After thinking for a moment, Qin Fang told Qin Xiaoyou the information he had obtained from Yu Qianqiu, and told her to be careful.

She replied with "I understand".

Qin Fang then played on his phone in bed while waiting for midnight to arrive.

Before we knew it, midnight had arrived.

[Start calculating yesterday's earnings now]

With a ding, Qin Fang's spirits lifted, and he quickly looked at the panel.

You have hired a new employee today. The employee's job title and skills have been immediately shared with you, and no separate settlement will be made for this.

Your employee 'Qin Xiaoyou' killed 1347 dungeon monsters yesterday, gaining 86473 experience points.

Your employee 'Qin Xiaoyou' leveled up to level 2 yesterday, gaining 20 fixed attribute points and 20 free attribute points.

Your employee 'Gu Yiyun' killed 364 dungeon monsters yesterday, gaining 30134 experience points.

Your employee 'Gu Yiyun' leveled up yesterday, gaining 10 fixed attribute points and 10 free attribute points.

[You and your employees set a new speedrun record yesterday with 6 runs of the dungeon named 'Paradise,' bringing fame to your company.]

[Second run of Tier 0 Normal difficulty, reward: 10 Enterprise Reputation.]

[Second run of Tier 0 Hard mode, reward: 20 Enterprise Reputation.]

[Second run of Tier 0 Hell difficulty, reward: 40 Corporate Reputation.]

(Note: For the same instance, the same employee can only receive the corporate reputation reward once.)

Total Corporate Reputation Gained: 70

[Return Rating: C+]

[Comment: Your company's "paradise" continues to grow, gaining considerable renown within a certain area and reaping significant rewards. Please continue your efforts, motivate your employees, and create even more value for the company (and its owner)!]

...

[Settlement reward has been issued.]

You have gained 30 fixed attribute points and 30 free attribute points.

Experience points +116607

You have upgraded!

...

You have reached level 10, and your experience limit has been reached! You can continue to level up after advancing to the next rank!

Excess experience points will be automatically transferred to the enterprise account. Once KPI-related skills are awakened, they can be freely used. Current enterprise account experience balance: 35155.

[You have reached level 10 and can now complete the advancement quest!]

...

(End of this chapter)