Inside the protective barrier.
The Dungeon Lord's eyes were red.
Originally, his family had invested heavily to purchase the 'God of Destruction's Punishment' IP, intending to make a fortune in the Novice Area and, incidentally, use this opportunity to connect with influential families, allowing him to develop and become the next clan leader.
Especially when he heard that there was a young master from the Saint family in that area, he was incredibly excited, thinking he could finally establish a connection with the Saint family.
The future prospects looked bright.
But who would have known that an annoying brat, appearing from nowhere, would completely drain all the resources from the entire town, leaving not a single drop?
This resulted in him not only failing to make a fortune but also losing his shirt.
He was furious!
However...
They say a great man knows when to yield and when to assert himself.
If I can't beat him, can't I at least run?
So, when the Dark Tide arrived, he immediately spent a large amount of resources to leave the current area, preparing to start anew in a different region.
It just goes to show that the 'God of Destruction's Punishment' IP still had some value; even when moved to a Level 30 area, it still had a certain market.
In these past few days, he had already steadily gained dozens of Adventurers.
His profits were growing day by day.
But who would have thought...
Suddenly, one day, another annoying Adventurer showed up and started shooting randomly at his territory's protective barrier, directly kicking dozens of Adventurers who were in the game offline.
This pushed the Dungeon Lord's anger to its limit.
Yet, he had no outlet for it...
That's right.
This Dungeon Lord's name was Zhao Hailiang.
If some old acquaintances from Tidal Town were here, they would certainly recognize him.
Unfortunately, the Adventurers following Chen Yu had never played the 'God of Destruction's Punishment' that Zhao Hailiang managed, let alone recognize him.
At first, Qi Maosong thought this was just a frustrated fellow who couldn't develop his Dungeon.
He never expected him to be one of the Dungeon Lords who fled from their Tidal Town, nor did he imagine such a coincidence in this world.
Facing Zhao Hailiang's furious questioning.
Qi Maosong showed a peaceful smile and shyly said, "Actually, I didn't intend to do anything much; I just wanted to talk to you about an agency agreement."
"Agency?"
Hearing these two words, Zhao Hailiang's eyes almost popped out in anger. "The agency you're talking about, do you mean acting as an agent for a Dungeon?"
"You got it right! As a reward, here's a bullet for you." Qi Maosong grinned, raised his pistol, and fired two more shots.
Zhao Hailiang angrily said, "If you want someone to act as an agent for your Dungeon, shouldn't you promote it at the Awakening Square? Who does it like you, running over here, shooting twice at my protective barrier, and then talking about agency? You tell me, is this something a human would do?"
Zhao Hailiang always thought that as a rich second-generation, he was already quite arrogant and domineering.
But upon arriving in the Dark World, he discovered that there were many more arrogant and domineering people.
Like the one in front of him.
Zhao Hailiang took a deep breath, trying to calm his emotions. "I don't care who your Lord is behind you. Since you want an agency, then show some sincerity. You've already caused me actual losses. Do you know how many Dungeon items I need to give to appease those disconnected Adventurers?"
To appease the disconnected Adventurers, Zhao Hailiang did give them some compensation.
These were some high-level items from the 'God of Destruction's Punishment' Dungeon, items that would normally only be obtained in later instances. But he had no choice; to prevent loss of personnel, he had to offer them as compensation.
This was also an indirect reduction of future profits from 'God of Destruction's Punishment'.
Zhao Hailiang was very angry.
He had never seen such a shameless person, running to someone else's territory entrance.
Using force to coerce others into acting as agents for his Dungeon.
Such behavior...
How is it different from a bandit?
The most infuriating thing was that he kept talking about 'free agency.' Listen, does that sound like a human talking? Is there any freedom to speak of in this situation?
However.
Facing Zhao Hailiang's anger, Qi Maosong remained unfazed, simply grinning and saying, "Young man, don't be too concerned with immediate gains and losses. Your losses are completely insignificant. As long as you act as an agent for our Lord's Dungeon, I guarantee you'll be raking in money daily without a problem. I hope you'll consider it carefully. If you don't consider it well enough, I can also help you consider it thoroughly."
Bang, bang, bang!
Well, the 'help' Qi Maosong spoke of was actually shooting.
Zhao Hailiang had figured it out.
The person in front of him was a rogue; if he didn't agree, he wouldn't leave.
A Dungeon Lord coming to someone's door to force another Dungeon Lord to act as an agent for his Dungeon—Zhao Hailiang had never encountered such a thing before, nor had he even heard of it.
Usually, it was War Lords who came knocking.
Either they came for territory.
Or they came for soul crystals.
Zhao Hailiang had long been prepared that if a War Lord came, he would directly choose to attach himself to the other party.
Using this method to gain protection in this area.
But...
The one who came knocking was actually a Dungeon Lord, which was truly incredible.
And what they demanded was Dungeon agency, which was even more incredible.
This left Zhao Hailiang somewhat helpless. "I understand, your Lord wants to get some soul crystals from me, right? But... I just arrived not long ago, and I really don't have many soul crystals on hand. How about this, don't attack my territory now, let me go earn some to give to you, consider it my protection fee, how about that?"
Agency!
What is agency, if not an agency fee?
Ultimately, it's about soul crystals.
Zhao Hailiang simply stated it clearly: whatever amount of soul crystals the other party wanted, he would go earn it now. The priority was to stabilize the situation with the other party.
As for whether he'd actually give it later...
That would be decided later.
During this period, if he could find a true backer, then he wouldn't give a damn later; he'd just let his backer counterattack and kill the other party.
Zhao Hailiang thought so.
However, what he didn't expect was that Qi Maosong didn't want soul crystals at all.
He said very seriously, "I told you, our Lord doesn't need your paltry soul crystals, or rather, doesn't even care for them. Our Lord wants to sign a profit-sharing contract with you, but one of the conditions is that during the period you act as an agent for our Dungeon, you are prohibited from acting as an agent for any other Dungeon."
"??"
Zhao Hailiang was even more bewildered. "Profit-sharing contract? You don't want my soul crystals?"
"That's right!" Qi Maosong showed a sunny smile. "We offer our Dungeon for you to act as an agent for free, only taking a small share of the profits!"
"But..." Zhao Hailiang was speechless. "The Dungeon IP I'm currently acting as an agent for is 'God of Destruction's Punishment.' As an Adventurer, you should have heard of this name; it's a top-tier popular IP! You're actually asking me to abandon it to act as an agent for your Dungeon, which I haven't even heard the name of? Are you kidding me?!"
