At this point, Crowbar leaned back and shrugged with resignation: "That's all I can tell you right now. We're all in the same miserable boat, so spit out any good ideas you have.

[Bookmark:]" Darth found this hard to believe: "What about those three bastards, Fant and the others? They clearly haven't managed to improve Haig's opinion of them, have they?" Crowbar said coldly: "The Banks Gang handed the Zerg larvae over to Fant and those two, and then Fant and his crew traded with Haig.

So those three fools have significantly boosted their standing in Haig's eyes... They've completed that damned main quest." Fang Senyan knew that Crowbar wouldn't waste time on idle chatter for no reason.

Contractors never did anything without some perceived benefit, meaning his team must have already reached an internal consensus. The only reason he was saying this now was to gauge the reactions of Fang Senyan and Darth.

Since Fang Senyan had already established the image of a reckless fool—or perhaps just a hothead—he immediately leaped up, putting on an expression of shock and fury, and unleashed a torrent of curses. The endless stream of vulgarities drew a flicker of disdain in Crowbar's eyes, which he quickly suppressed.

Only when Fang Senyan seemed to tire himself out and stopped did Crowbar seize the opening: "Darth, what about you? Any thoughts?" Darth cracked his knuckles, saying coldly: "The actions of the Banks Gang only prove one thing: Haig's favor can be earned through unconventional means.

Therefore, naturally, we can do the same." Hearing Darth say this, a gleam flashed in Crowbar's eyes, followed by an appreciative tone: "You're right. This might be the only path left for us." Darth sounded irritated: "Simply copying the Banks Gang’s actions to the letter won't work.

There are plenty of strange creatures in this world, but things that bring Haig immense surprise are exceedingly rare, and more critically, we can’t get our hands on them. So, we’ll have to approach this from a different angle.

Damn it, I really don't know what else this guy is into..." After hearing about the string of deeds committed by the Banks Gang, Fang Senyan's mind began to race furiously as well. He carefully considered the current predicament and the plot details he had gathered, and a sudden realization struck him: "Could it be...

these guys from the Symbiote Society are targeting that thing? But that should be part of Voldemort’s planned scheme!

If contractors get involved, won't that trigger additional plot developments?" Silence settled over the group. Crowbar clearly enjoyed this atmosphere of collective helplessness.

He coughed once: "Those self-important fools from the Banks Gang are quite capable, it’s true, but our Symbiote Society already has countermeasures. Our Mentor entered this world ahead of time and laid a deep foundation!

Once he learned of the Banks Gang's conspiracy, he immediately found a solution for us to break the deadlock. If we follow the Mentor’s method, we are guaranteed to successfully continue the main quest until we qualify to enter Hogwarts Castle!" The other contractors near Crowbar looked solemn; they were clearly in the know.

Crowbar looked intently at Fang Senyan and Darth: "We are all victims of the Banks Gang's scheme. Naturally, we should fight side-by-side.

So, what do you say? Are you willing to join our plan?" Darth narrowed his eyes and slowly replied: "I need to hear about this plan you're so enamored with first." Crowbar stated firmly: "That’s impossible.

Only those who join and sign a temporary contract will receive the specific intelligence." Darth remained impassive, showing no commitment, yet he pulled out his Mauser rifle and began meticulously cleaning and maintaining it. Crowbar seemed to realize convincing Darth wouldn't be easy, so he turned his gaze toward Fang Senyan: "Sailor, how about you?" Fang Senyan immediately exhibited the necessary fiery spirit of a naive newcomer.

He stood up instantly, clenched his fists, and boomed: "Hell yes! Why wouldn't I?

Should I just slink back to the Space now without teaming up with you guys? Damn the Banks Gang—the next time I see those bastards, I’ll twist their heads off and stuff them right up their..." Crowbar’s mouth twitched, but he adopted a warmly enthusiastic posture, spreading his arms wide: "Welcome aboard, Sailor!

We are all honored to fight alongside you." Darth, lighting a cigarette and taking a deep drag, finally spoke while frowning: "Give me some time to consider." Crowbar's pupils contracted slightly, but he responded crisply: "No problem, but it can't be later than 9 PM tonight. Because the action starts at 10." Darth nodded, making a gesture that meant 'understood.' Crowbar stood up and announced loudly: "Dismissed!

Everyone get some rest now. We'll gather here at 9:15 PM for preparations.

Sailor, you stay behind. We need to sign a temporary contract to secure your rights—and naturally, your obligations too." Fang Senyan tilted his head, watching Crowbar's performance.

He had to admit, Crowbar was talented. Even setting aside his hidden personal strength, the man possessed exceptional powers of incitement and observation.

Take his last sentence, for instance: placing 'your rights' before 'your obligations' naturally created a preconceived notion, as if one enjoys rights before fulfilling duties. This skillfully softened the sense of constraint and unpleasantness most people feel when signing a contract.

Never underestimate the subtle differences in language. Success is often built upon countless details.

Everyone knows the story of 'failing repeatedly' versus 'repeatedly failing.' Even a high-ranking official like Zeng Guofan, who served as Viceroy of Liangjiang, utilized such minor linguistic games to successfully save his political career! Details determine success or failure, and at least 'Crowbar' handled the details quite well; if he hadn't run into someone like Fang Senyan, he might have genuinely won people over completely.

Once everyone else had left, Crowbar sat down right next to Fang Senyan, looking him sincerely in the eye: "Sailor, I have a general idea of your strength. Being able to beat the Banks Gang’s main heavy gunner, Stan, half to death is more than enough to cooperate with us.

But since this is our first time dealing with each other, there are things we need to understand more deeply to avoid coordination problems between us. Take a look at this temporary contract; if it looks fine, sign it." As he spoke, he transmitted a virtual temporary contract via the Nightmare Imprint.

Fang Senyan quickly read through it and found four main stipulations: First, he had to show his personal stats under normal circumstances (peak condition, not achieved through removing equipment or self-harm to deliberately disguise them) to Crowbar, the close-combat captain of the Symbiote Society, who was forbidden from disclosing this information to anyone outside the Society. Second, during the contract period, both parties were in a state of default peace; even area-of-effect damage would not accidentally harm allies.

If either party proactively initiated an attack against the other, they must declare war 10 seconds in advance and would immediately be fined 6,000 Universal Points. 50% of the forcibly deducted 6,000 Universal Points would be transferred to the attacked party’s account (I certainly won't tell you this trick was inspired by reader rewards and update votes).

Third, ownership of spoils of war accumulated during the contract period would belong to the Symbiote Society, with Fang Senyan having the right to purchase and receive dividends. Finally, the contract would expire at 12:00 PM tomorrow.

Crowbar was quite cautious. Despite witnessing Fang Senyan's moves and fighting style, he still insisted on seeing Fang Senyan's personal stats, guarding against any unforeseen issues—which was, after all, expected.

However, Fang Senyan sneered internally and immediately took a previously purchased drug, "Putrid Eyeball," through the Nightmare Imprint. The 25% failure chance of the Putrid Eyeball did not occur; a prompt immediately popped up, asking Fang Senyan which aspect he wished to selectively disguise?

The options included Attributes/Equipment/Abilities, etc. Fang Senyan chose Vitality under Attributes, disguising it from 20 points down to 10.

He then consumed another Putrid Eyeball, disguising his Perception from 14 points down to 5. He then showed the disguised stats to Crowbar via the Nightmare Imprint.

Because the contractors gathered here all had considerable strength, and most were part of a team, Crowbar’s stat focus would either be on Strength and Agility for an offensive build, or Strength and Vitality for a balanced offense/defense build. Even if his Perception was naturally high, he wouldn't possess equipment that increased Perception—because Perception is the second most crucial stat for contractors specializing in physical ranged combat, right after Agility.

In the current early-stage world difficulty, the one thing not lacking is contractors who use firearms! This meant the chance of equipment boosting Perception falling into Crowbar’s hands was slim.

Therefore, Fang Senyan was about 90% certain that his Perception wasn't as high as his own when he dared to deceive Crowbar with the Putrid Eyeball. Of course, Crowbar also wished to view all of Fang Senyan’s data thoroughly, but doing so in the Nightmare Space is a major taboo.

A contractor's data is highly sensitive; once exposed, if an enemy who has completely discerned one's background targets them, they can take specific measures to kill them. Moreover, the most dangerous attacks often come from behind.

Thus, even when joining a team, the default rule is that one can only request viewing data for a single category specified by the contractor, not demand complete disclosure—it’s akin to a beautiful woman applying for a job at a large company in the real world: you can ask her age, height, and marital status, but you can’t demand her bust size, the date of her period, her bank PIN, or how often she sleeps with someone. Hehe, it’s been a while since I interacted with everyone.

Can anyone guess what method they will use to break the deadlock and please Haig? Same rule applies: see you in the review section.

To support this event, the rest of today's updates will be released all at once at 8 PM. Hmm, there won't be any at noon.

Students who want to participate in the event should remember to post before 8 PM.