Super Mothership
Golden Fang left as if he had been injected with chicken blood.
Before leaving, he solemnly swore that he would definitely complete the procurement mission on time and in full, and would never hold the organization back.
Watching his departing figure, Nie Yun felt as though an obscure little pirate boss had completely disappeared, replaced instead by a diligent and dedicated… procurement manager?
Shaking his head, he swept away the inexplicable sense of accomplishment in his heart.
To be honest, some of the information Golden Fang had provided was quite valuable.
From the looks of it, Black Sail and Madman had some murky relationship behind the scenes, the relationship between the Twin Dragons was complicated and unclear, the Dark Temple and Caron were constantly playing hide-and-seek, and the usually low-profile Gold Coin might actually be the hidden final boss?
These pirate leaders were collectively pulling off one “completely unexpected” twist after another… truly, not a single one of them was easy to deal with!
However, this intelligence also gave Nie Yun some new ideas on how to “fish in troubled waters”…
At present, the situation among the seven major pirate groups could roughly be divided into three factions!
The “Black Sail Faction” — after swallowing most of Red Dragon’s former territory and assets, the Black Sail Pirate Group’s strength had skyrocketed. Combined with Madman, who could charge fearlessly into battle and ranked first on the Arena Rankings, they were practically the equivalent of Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu together, making them the strongest faction on the surface.
The “Twin Dragon Faction” — Red Dragon had suffered severe losses. Although part of its elite forces remained intact, it was said that the Red Dragon flagship had been heavily damaged and likely could not return to combat anytime soon. At the moment, they were in an absolute disadvantage.
The “Neutral Faction” — Gold Coin had chosen to sit on the sidelines, while the Dark Temple and Caron were busy fighting each other and unable to join forces, so neither appeared capable of influencing the overall situation in the short term.
At present, the Black Sail and Twin Dragon factions were still at war.
And as time went on, both sides had begun calling in allies. Smaller pirate groups affiliated with the major pirate crews were also choosing sides one after another, causing the scale of the conflict to grow increasingly intense. It seemed likely to evolve into chaos sweeping across the entire Shattered Star Region.
If Nie Yun were just an ordinary pirate leader, he would probably choose neutrality!
Although the Ghost Pirate Group was far stronger than before, compared to the Seven Great Pirate Groups, they still fell somewhat short.
Develop quietly and avoid reckless risks — without a doubt, that was the safest strategy at the moment!
But was Nie Yun someone who would remain confined to the map of the Shattered Star Region? Obviously not!
Following the logic of game strategy guides, if Nie Yun’s main quest was “Rise of Earth,” then he had already completed the “C-Class Kara Civilization Side Quest.”
He had triggered the “B-Class Gemini Side Quest,” the “B-Class Jinlok Consortium Side Quest,” the “A-Class Wolf Empire Side Quest,” and even unlocked the “A-Class Mechanical Race Side Quest”… as well as the possibly existing super S-class hidden quest, “Iris Civilization”!
And the “Pirate King Side Quest” of the Shattered Star Region was, at best, merely a sub-branch under the “Wolf Empire Questline”…
These questlines were not independent of one another, but intertwined and collided with each other. The way you completed one side quest could very well affect the difficulty of progressing through another.
Therefore, Nie Yun could not simply think about how to complete the “Pirate King Side Quest” in the safest way possible. Instead, he had to consider how to maximize overall benefits.
The Shattered Star Region, the Jinlok Consortium, Gemini… without question, the interaction between these three “side quests” was extremely strong.
Of course, he could choose to hide until the very end, crouching safely in the safe zone like a crafty old survivor, calmly watching the chaos unfold until the last grenade secured him victory, earning the legendary achievement… “Mini Pirate King”!
However, if he chose to complete the mission this way and allowed the pirates of the Shattered Star Sea to fight amongst themselves until both sides were severely weakened, it would very likely give the Jinlok Consortium the opportunity to fully free its hands and continuously gather forces to invade Gemini, ultimately causing the “Gemini Side Quest” to collapse completely.
Backed by the enormous industrial capabilities of the Wolf Empire, as long as the Jinlok Consortium’s financial chain remained intact, its recovery speed would definitely far surpass that of Gemini, whose homeland was already engulfed in war.
If that happened, then Arthas — the “high-level alternate account” he had painstakingly cultivated — would all go to waste.
Once the affiliated faction disappeared, the reputation he had previously built up to the level of “Respect” would naturally vanish into thin air as well. The losses would be far more than just a hundred million!
Of course, Nie Yun had another option: immediately join this “Shattered Star Supremacy Tournament”!
Although it looked like the short-term difficulty would increase, if he could use the small ball that was the “Ghost Pirate Group” to influence the larger ball that was the “Shattered Star Region,” and then use the “Shattered Star Region” to influence the giant ball that was the “Jinlok Consortium,” thereby pushing forward the “Gemini Side Quest”…
If played well, it might achieve the perfect effect of “clearing the table with a single shot”!
“Considering the Ghost Pirate Group’s current strength and influence, solo queue difficulty is too high. Looks like it’s time to find teammates…”
Nie Yun first ruled out the Neutral Faction. Choosing them would just mean being a bystander.
As for the Black Sail Faction? That would merely be adding flowers to brocade. They already had Lü Bu on their side; at most, they’d treat him as a free hired thug. Pass!
Which meant that Nie Yun really only had one final option left…
“Since this counts as offering help in snowy weather, asking who the Dragon Knight really is shouldn’t offend them too much, right?” Nie Yun stroked his chin, his eyes gleaming with gossip…
Mechanical Bug: “…” (→_→)
…
Within the Black Sail Faction.
“So, helping you deal with the Dragoon — that’s your second request?” Madman looked calmly at Flint.
The corners of Flint’s mouth twitched slightly.
Originally, his plan had been perfect. By revealing his greatest trump card — Madman — he would unexpectedly pin down Red Dragon, then swallow up Red Dragon’s forces and become the most powerful pirate in one fell swoop.
According to his calculations, even if Madman merely completed the task of holding Red Dragon back, given Red Dragon’s personality, the battle would definitely end with both sides badly wounded.
At that point, after his own strength greatly increased, he could first destroy Red Dragon, then appeal to emotion and reason, use Madman’s promise together with threats and inducements to recruit him. If that still failed, he would simply swallow Madman up as well!
By then, the overall situation would already be in his favor. Even if the remaining pirate groups united together, he would still have the confidence to stand against them equally.
And in fact, Madman and Red Dragon really had ended up mutually wounded just as expected. Although Madman’s injuries were lighter, facing Red Dragon’s desperate counterattack still reduced his combat strength significantly.
But no matter how much he calculated, he never expected that damned woman Messiah had long since hooked up with Red Dragon!
As a result, Red Dragon escaped disaster by hiding inside the Dragoon headquarters, forcing him to continue trying to win Madman over in order to maintain absolute suppression.
This completely disrupted his plans, leaving Flint in a rather awkward position where he could neither advance nor retreat.
If he stopped now, then given Red Dragon’s vindictive personality, it would be no different from raising a tiger that would later come back to bite him.
If he didn’t stop, then considering the other pirate groups watching like hungry tigers, he might end up as the snipe and clam fighting while the fisherman reaped the benefits…
Damn it! This adulterous couple had such good acting skills — why were they pirates instead of movie stars?!
Suppressing the fury in his heart, Flint forced a faint smile onto his face.
“Fine! We’ll count that as the second request.
But Madman, I must remind you: if we don’t take advantage of Red Dragon’s weakened state and wipe them out quickly, then once they recover, who do you think they’ll take revenge on first?
With my current strength, dealing with those two alone wouldn’t be difficult, so… they’ll definitely target you first!”
Madman’s expression did not change. He was no fool. Even if Flint had not said those words, he would still choose to stand on Black Sail’s side.
The grudge had already been formed. If you fail to kill a tiger, the tiger will surely wound you in return!
“Don’t worry. I know what to do!”
TL Note- Game Quests....
Next
Comments
Post a Comment