Chapter 388: Deal Settlement

“……”

Salvation’s mouth twitched slightly as he directly said:

“You’re really not holding back at all…”

“Ah~” Jiang Ye waved his hand, appearing particularly magnanimous, “We’re all family here, politeness is the last thing we need!”

“Don’t worry, if you have any requests, feel free to make them too!”

Of course, whether he’d agree to them was another matter entirely.

Salvation naturally understood this principle – what requests could he possibly make?

His gaze fell upon the black cloth and the two clones in Jiang Ye’s hands.

Especially that particularly unique female pregnant clone…

If Jiang Ye were only giving him one clone and one piece of black cloth, to be honest, such an outrageous request was something Salvation could never agree to.

He wasn’t some easy mark, letting others take advantage of him for nothing.

But…

The shock that clone had given him still lingered in his mind.

Although that clone wouldn’t survive until the ninth day.

But if used as a trump card for mutual destruction with an opponent…

Probably every dark-type player in the entire Doomsday Apartment would be trembling in fear!

And Jiang Ye was willing to lend him this clone…

After repeated contemplation, Salvation finally decided:

“Ten mecha clones, ten Mist Milk Stones, one Mist Train carriage…”

“Let me be clear upfront – I can only give one Mist Train carriage, and it’s the lowest, most basic version that can barely travel through the mist.”

“The ten Mist Milk Stones are also the most common version. I recommend you don’t use them to generate mist gas for creating clones, because these milk stones are essential fuel for the Mist Train’s operation, and their consumption is quite substantial…”

Here, Salvation seemed to remember something and added:

“I can also give you a method for producing Mist Milk Stones within the mist, so you can try making milk stones yourself in the mist.”

“But I’m telling you upfront—”

“There are too many unknown risks in the mist. Even simply operating the train already carries enormous risks… Even my mecha clones often die without knowing how they died!” ℝ𝘢ƝȎ𝐛Èṡ

“And producing or mining Mist Milk Stones carries even greater risks. You’d better be prepared to sacrifice a large number of clones and carefully consider whether it’s worth it.”

As he spoke, his expression turned serious as he added:

“Originally, when I wasn’t infected with Lightburn and still had the Crow, I had some prestige, and my train wasn’t so prone to accidents…”

“But now, you should understand my situation. Using my mist carriage no longer has any deterrent effect.”

Jiang Ye could understand this reasoning.

After all, he’d also heard from Zhou Yuling—

The reason Zhou Yuling could travel through the mist and occasionally encounter Jiang Wenxing without being attacked wasn’t due to her own strength, but because the mist carriage she used represented the Defenders’ Alliance.

That’s why the entities in the mist wouldn’t easily initiate attacks.

But now Salvation’s prestige had greatly diminished…

His mist carriage was far less intimidating than the Defenders’ Alliance carriages.

Jiang Ye wanted to explore the mist.

And it was foreseeable—

Since the mist was the source of that milky-white gas, then entering the mist would likely result in communication loss.

So while traveling through the mist, he wouldn’t be able to borrow the power of his clone army from the apartment.

Thus, he needed to prepare another clone army within the mist to handle the communication loss situation.

Although he was wealthy and powerful now, establishing another clone army wouldn’t be difficult, and he wasn’t afraid of sacrificing some discarded clones.

But ultimately, it would be best to minimize risks as much as possible…

After estimating the situation for exploring the mist, Jiang Ye asked Salvation:

“How many people can the Mist Train you’re giving me carry at most?”

Salvation answered straightforwardly: “The standard is 6 people, but you can squeeze in 8 or 10 if needed. But you should be able to imagine that overloading increases Mist Milk Stone consumption and raises the risks of traveling through the mist.”

Meaning it was best to follow the standard – a small carriage seating only 6 people…

But 6 people, what kind of army was that?

The “army” Jiang Ye had in mind wasn’t necessarily approaching the scale of 90,000-100,000 like in the Court of Disorder, but it should at least break ten thousand, right?

But now it seemed breaking ten thousand was unrealistic.

Even breaking a hundred would be difficult.

No way!

Jiang Ye immediately stated firmly: “That’s too few. What’s the maximum number of Mist Trains you can get?”

“…” Salvation’s mouth twitched slightly.

However, after contemplating for a moment, he understood Jiang Ye’s thinking and suggested:

“With your current strength, you’re actually not suitable for exploring the mist.”

“You might as well wait until you clear your personal exclusive instance. By then, you should have your own personal exclusive space to store large numbers of clones. Then your clone army will have a place to stay.”

“And when your strength is weak, even if you form an imposing fleet with multiple carriages, it would actually be more likely to attract disaster.”

This…

Salvation had a point.

But Jiang Ye still wanted to explore the mist first.

He didn’t necessarily need to achieve any specific results – just to gain some experience and broaden his horizons…

Salvation seemed to sense his thoughts and, after some more consideration, suggested:

“If you’re determined to explore the mist, I can lend you something good for storing clones.”

Jiang Ye’s eyes lit up as he saw Salvation casually take out a wooden brown elongated object from the light screen.

Palm-sized, looking like a miniature boat from the outside…

Oh no! This should be… a weaving shuttle?

As he was thinking, he heard Salvation introduce:

“This is the Sky-Piercing Shuttle. Although it can’t travel through the mist itself, it has sufficient internal space and can carry up to 600 people.”

600 people! That’s good!

Although the number “600” was still a bit meager compared to an “army,” he could select an “elite force.”

In ancient times, wasn’t there the legend of Zhang’s eight hundred defeating Sun’s hundred thousand?

If Jiang Ye carefully selected and formed a “Jiang Six Hundred,” they should be able to accomplish something.

And to be honest, he wasn’t very clear about the “clone communication loss” situation in the mist.

He wasn’t sure if clones arranged in two carriages would still experience communication loss.

But with this Sky-Piercing Shuttle…

Placing the clones from the Sky-Piercing Shuttle together with those in the carriages would most likely prevent communication loss.

So this thing was better than getting a few more carriages, and Jiang Ye naturally agreed:

“Alright then, if you can’t give more carriages, this will have to do.”

At this point, aside from the Three Life Stone Staff, Salvation had basically fulfilled all the random requests Jiang Ye had made.

Next, Salvation continued:

“As for the Three Life Stone Staff you want, from what I know, it should be somewhere within this black ice domain.”

“Moreover, that thing doesn’t essentially belong to Lin Ling. If you really obtain it, you’ll basically be ‘guilty of possessing a treasure.'”

Guilty of possessing a treasure…

Jiang Ye pondered Salvation’s description and basically understood.

Although the Three Life Stone Staff was produced by Lin Ling, it didn’t belong to her.

If Jiang Ye truly claimed it for himself, he would offend the more powerful existence behind Lin Ling.

If this were before, Jiang Ye would naturally need to carefully consider and avoid offending such terrifying entities.

But now…

After the experience of confronting Jiang Wenxing.

Plus, the Luminox Larva was already bound to him, and the Defenders’ Alliance would never let him go anyway.

So he didn’t care about “guilty of possessing a treasure” or “offending big shots” anymore.

Thus he quickly stated directly: “Doesn’t matter, I’m already carrying enough ‘treasures’ now, I’m not afraid of offending a few more people.”

“…” Alright then, Salvation wasn’t surprised by his decision.

After some thought, he said straightforwardly: “The 10 mecha clones I’ll give you later can represent me in helping you obtain the Three Life Stone Staff.”

“But let me be clear upfront, I can only do my best – I can’t guarantee you’ll actually get that thing…”

Jiang Ye nodded: “Fine.”

At this point, he thought this preliminary transaction was successfully concluded.

But unexpectedly, Salvation really didn’t hold back and pushed his luck:

“You just said that family shouldn’t be polite, and that I should make any requests I have?”

?

Oh?

Jiang Ye looked at Salvation with a meaningful gaze and said noncommittally: “Try making one and see.”

He thought Salvation was smart enough not to make any excessive requests that would upset him.

Sure enough, Salvation remained calm and composed:

“It’s not really an excessive request—”

“It’s just that with your light clone accompanying me, I’ll inevitably need to handle some ‘trivial matters.’ At that time, just one piece of black cloth might not be enough.”

Though not explicitly stated, the implication was clear—

Salvation planned to infect other apartment bosses with Lightburn, but to prevent things from getting out of hand, he would need to use more black cloth to restrain the apartment bosses.

This was actually good for Jiang Ye too – he would love for all apartment bosses to be infected with Lightburn!

So he nodded: “That’s not a big problem. Anyway, I have two clones following you. When you need it, I’ll naturally give you more black cloth.”

“However, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for you to share some of the benefits you gain from using that black cloth with me, would it?”

Salvation nodded: “Naturally.”

Such cooperation would only bind them closer together.

However, Salvation continued with a second request:

“Regarding Apartment Boss Q and the situation with the [Privileged One], I hope you can provide me with more information so I can prepare early.”

This wasn’t a big problem either.

Jiang Ye nodded: “After you release my light clones, you can ask them directly.”

Meanwhile, he thought to himself…

With two light clones following Salvation, they would naturally gain considerable experience and learn more information.

And if there was anything even Salvation didn’t know, he would consider using the two question opportunities with Boss Q.

And Lin Ling’s [Clear Conscience Tea]…

Speaking of which, Jiang Ye said to Salvation:

“Since you made this request, I’ll take the opportunity to ask—”

“What’s your apartment’s plan? Why lure Lin Ling into the hidden space? And what exactly is in that hidden space?”

Regarding this, Salvation didn’t hide anything:

“The hidden space was proposed by Boss A, so that space is located in your A sector.”

“The main characteristic of the hidden space is that the mist gas can isolate it from the outside.”

“So, by luring Lin Ling inside, our people can use her talismans without any concerns.”

Ah, this…

This was truly an unexpected effect.

But to be honest, if Jiang Ye’s clone controlling the complete version of the Clone Replica Mirror was trapped in the mist with communication loss, then players outside with the incomplete version could indeed use the Clone Replica Mirror more securely…

However, if this were the only effect, there wouldn’t be need for such a big production creating a hidden space.

Sure enough, Salvation continued:

“Secondly—”

“The switch for that hidden space is controlled by Boss A.”

“If he wants to put Lin Ling inside, Lin Ling can enter;
“

“If he doesn’t want to let Lin Ling out, Lin Ling can’t leave.”

“And according to Boss A…”

Salvation paused and lowered his voice: “He can create a fake Lin Ling.”

“…”

Alright then!

Fake Lin Ling!

Somewhat comparable to Jiang Ye’s fake clones before!

But…

Given Lin Ling’s shrewd mind, could a fake Lin Ling really impersonate her?

Moreover, Lin Ling should have anticipated this but still eagerly went to the hidden space.

This woman most likely had backup plans.

Boss A’s plan to impersonate Lin Ling probably couldn’t succeed.

As Jiang Ye thought this, Salvation seemed to share the same opinion.

He added meaningfully:

“These are just what Boss A told me. What he actually thinks is probably known only to himself.”

“Those apartment bosses of mine are all troublesome characters. Just Boss Q alone could hide multiple permission identities and give me lip service…”

“Guess if Boss A might have his own agenda?”

Jiang Ye nodded, indeed.

Boss A probably hadn’t revealed all the secrets about the hidden space.

So…

Alright then.

Jiang Ye sighed deeply: “Then let’s wait until we get Boss A on our boat too, then ask him in detail.”

“Now, our transaction can pretty much be settled.”

Salvation had the same intention. With Jiang Ye’s permission, he waved his hand grandly.

A spatial ring shot out from the light screen toward Jiang Ye.

Jiang Ye caught it steadily with his left hand, then lifted the black cloth and two puppets with his right hand.

A mechanical arm reached out from the light screen and took the black cloth and puppets.

After the transaction was completed, Salvation reminded:

“The Mist Train is parked in the mist, so what I’m giving you is just a teleportation stone.”

“The teleportation stone has a yin-yang tai chi pattern. Of the black and white ‘fish eyes’ in the tai chi diagram, the black one can teleport you to the Mist Train. The white one can teleport you from the Mist Train to the location where you used the black fish eye.”

“Note that the white fish eye can only be used at a fixed location, which is where I parked the Mist Train.”

“So you need to set up some directional guidance devices at that fixed location to ensure your train can return to the origin point after traveling out.”

“Most importantly, the directional guidance devices must be placed discreetly enough. Otherwise, if they’re destroyed, you’ll be completely lost in the mist…”

“Oh right, if you have a divine bird, then even if the devices are destroyed, you can rely on the divine bird for direction.”

“There’s also a tube of Crow blood on my train that can serve as a directional guidance tool. You can ask my mecha clones about how to use it specifically.”

“When exploring the mist, it’s best to bring one of my mecha clones along too.”

Jiang Ye nodded.

It could be said that Salvation had thought quite thoroughly for him.

However, since the Crow was mentioned again…

Jiang Ye remembered: “Speaking of which…”

“When Zhou Qiming lured me to deal with Administrator 4444, he gave me a shadow recording talisman with image data of Crow Eggs.”

“What’s the deal with that Crow Egg?”

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