Earth, Shanghai City, Crimson Moon. The spacious conference room was packed with people. Li De sat alone at the head seat, his gaze blazing as he looked down at the crowd below.
The pressure in the room was overwhelming. Maybe it was psychological, but everyone present felt like even hundreds of employees combined didn't come close to matching Li De's commanding presence.
As he looked at the more than one hundred personnel from the Data Analysis Division seated below, Li De's expression gradually turned solemn.
"What I just said is the task I'm assigning today.
"Our team is to carry out a major mission in Risel City involving the goblins. I need everyone to consolidate information and provide full data support.
This task will be led by the head of the Data Analysis Division, Liu Fei. Summarize all the findings and report back to me in real time.
In addition, regarding the undead invasion in the Radiant Empire, the analysts of Team 2 must remain alert, continue monitoring all related developments, and report to me immediately if anything unusual arises."
After speaking, his expression slowly softened, and the heavy atmosphere in the room eased a bit. Quite a few employees quietly sighed in relief upon seeing the change in his demeanor.
Their boss's presence was just too intense. Every movement he made exerted enormous pressure on them.
At this moment, a bald man in a black suit sitting at the front slightly raised his hand as a signal. This was Liu Fei, the head of the Data Analysis Division.
Though already half-bald and looking forty, his actual age had just reached thirty, a prime age.
He was the department's top talent and had worked for many years at the Sword and Shield Club. Li De held his capabilities in very high regard.
"President Li, based on the division's analysis, Risel City is currently in complete chaos.
According to the data you provided, we've already established quite a solid force in Glory. Why do we still need to mobilize and recruit other players to get involved?
We could just send our own people to gather intel on the goblins and alchemical bombs."
Li De's expression turned a little complicated. Risel City was far too dangerous now. After getting Grote's intel, his first thought had been of the players.
Sending people into Risel City now would be suicide. Even he didn't dare to get involved casually.
But players were different. In their eyes, this kind of large-scale war was just game content, a chain of quests, a holy land for farming monsters, gaining experience, and looting gear.
If those fools weren't so scattered, and if most of them weren't so broke they couldn't even afford travel to Risel City, they'd have swarmed in already.
"No, it's far too dangerous right now. Besides, my studio is currently executing a massive chain quest and can't spare anyone. So we'll have to rely on players."
"But even if we can lure players into Risel City, how do we assign them the quest?
If we just recruit them through the forums, I bet they'll hoard any valuable intel they find for themselves," Liu Fei pressed on. He needed clarity on these issues before he could proceed.
Li De smiled slightly. "In Green City, there's a street called Mysterious Street.
There's only one tavern on that street, and inside is a mysterious NPC who's always looking to buy alchemical bombs and searching for goblins. Our task is to funnel players to that NPC. What happens after that isn't your concern.
That NPC is also part of the epic-level quest we're currently running."
Li De didn't explain further, casually making up a justification.
That 'mysterious NPC' was, of course, someone he had asked Grote to recruit through the Dark Pact.
His plan was simple, use the identity of an NPC to lure players into participating in the war at Risel City. Any player who dared to go would be given rewards by the NPC as compensation.
Moreover, any player who brought back intel on the goblins or alchemical bombs would receive even greater rewards.
Though the beastmen were launching a crazed assault on Risel City, based on current intel, a major city with such a deep foundation and large population wouldn't fall in less than half a month.
Right now, the undead were launching a massive invasion in the northern regions of the Radiant Empire. The situation up north was dire. Compared to the undead, the beastmen were nothing.
Green City's attention was fully on the undead threat. No army had been sent to aid Risel City. Therefore, Li De had no choice but to send people in himself to gather more intel.
While mercenaries were tempted by the huge bounties, the beastmen had encircled the city, and they weren't exactly fearless. So obtaining further intel on the goblins was now impossible.
Compared to native inhabitants, players were by far the most convenient group to exploit.
Afraid of dying? Just offer Gold Pucks and good gear, they'll throw themselves into death willingly.
Don't want to listen? As long as the final quest reward is enticing enough and the rules are strict, players would gladly hand over whatever he wanted.
That's why this group, who weren't afraid of death and were so easily manipulated, had entered his line of sight. Not using them would be a complete waste of resources.
"Understood. In that case, maybe we don't need to act directly at all. We can post under the name of players and share this 'epic quest' to explore Risel City and find the goblins and alchemical bombs."
Liu Fei's expression turned increasingly excited. "We could even frame this beastman siege of Risel City as a special quest released by the game system to help players level up.
And that special NPC in Green City? We'll present him as a unique character deliberately placed there by the game developers. Anyone who participates in this quest will receive a huge payout in Gold Pucks.
If a player completed the quest with high enough progress, they could even change class to a hidden profession, and some rare equipment could also be revealed just enough to tempt them.
Rare equipment, hidden professions, Gold Pucks, and generous experience rewards, everything a player might desire, we could fabricate. With this setup, even players far from the region would absolutely find a way to come and grab a share of the loot.
After all, as long as they accepted the quest and eventually completed it, the rewards would far exceed the gains they'd made after grinding for months. It was sure to attract a huge number of players.
As for whether the rewards would truly be so generous in the end, once we've gotten what we want, that part wouldn't matter anymore." Liu Fei chuckled slyly.
Upon hearing this, Li De gave the man a deep look. Not bad. This guy's grasp of manipulation was practically similar to his own legacy.
Then his mind stirred slightly. Who said this whole thing had to be fake? Everything Liu Fei just mentioned, he could actually make happen.