Star Trace Gate

Chapter 955 An Acquaintance of Several Years, Old Wang's Wise Advisor

Hearing Wang Tudou's response, Yang Sanhai grinned: "Hehe, it seems like you've been full of energy ever since you came to Beifeng Town on business. Ever since you met Wang Anquan, you've only been sleeping three hours a day, and it's always in the early morning... Tudou, are you a little nervous, or have you noticed something?"

"I wouldn't say I'm nervous, and I haven't seen too much." Wang Tudou slowly got up, stretched, and said, "However, we've taken on a mission from the Divine Monk's Mansion. As I told you before, in the migration area more than 500 years ago, 251 years ago, this Divine Monk himself was one of the highest mountains in the migration area, with unparalleled cultivation and legendary experiences that are unimaginable to ordinary people. Now that the Heavenly Dao is repeating itself, the mission that comes from the Divine Monk's Mansion must not be as simple as it seems on the surface."

“I have a feeling that this North Wind Town in May of 251 is the prelude to the legendary calamity. If we can successfully escort Jiuzhi back to the Divine Monk’s Mansion, we will likely receive a high-ranking, continuous assignment. So, I’m not nervous, just a little excited.”

He stretched lazily, his posture extremely relaxed. As he spoke, his eyes were bright, his long eyelashes fluttered, and he surprisingly revealed a childlike sense of anticipation.

But he would never show this kind of expression in front of other team members, and only Yang Sanhai could see him express such emotions.

“If this is just the prelude to a calamity, then Northwind Town might be more treacherous than we thought. There are wanderers hidden among the remnant souls, and their numbers and affiliations are unknown. We certainly need to be cautious.” Yang Sanhai walked to the square table, casually poured himself a glass of water, and laughed, “Hehe, are you so excited because you still can’t figure out who your opponent is?”

Upon hearing this, Wang Tudou did not directly answer Yang Sanhai's question, but instead asked in return: "Jiuzhi is so important, and we have the official document from the Divine Monk's Mansion to escort him, but do you know why I didn't force Wang Anquan and forcibly arrange for our own people to keep watch in the underground secret room?"

Yang Sanhai blinked: "I know you're waiting, waiting for the person who's supposed to come out to come out."

"Hehe, whoever pops out first becomes the target," Wang Tudou replied with a laugh.

"Hmm." Yang Sanhai took a sip of warm water, then yawned and replied, "Okay, you can rest first. I have to take the shift later tonight, so I'll go back and get some sleep."

"Okay." Wang Tudou nodded slightly.

As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Sanhai stepped outside, but as soon as he reached out to open the door, he showed a very hesitant and embarrassed expression.

Wang Tudou stood at the window, glanced back at him, and asked with a hint of helplessness, "Do you need to borrow Xingyuan again?"

"Hehe." Yang Sanhai grinned and turned around with a silly smile, nodding vigorously. "Your understanding of me is just like a toilet's understanding of a steel door."

“…!” Wang Tudou was speechless upon hearing this: “What kind of adjectives are these! Brother Yang, you’re over sixty years old, can’t you be a little more mature?”

Yang Sanhai immediately held up two fingers: "Not much, just lend me two hundred thousand. When our team splits the profits before we officially enter Tiandu, you can just deduct it directly."

Wang Tudou turned to look at him: "This trip is just to deliver someone, no killing or robbing, so the Star Source reward won't be too much. Including this 200,000, you've already taken 1.6 million from me. I can tell you very clearly now that you're losing money on this trip."

“Isn’t the point of earning money to spend it? Hehe…!” Yang Sanhai, who was over sixty years old, replied in a deliberately cute manner.

"brush."

Wang Tudou didn't waste any more words or criticize Yang Sanhai. He simply raised his hand and summoned 200,000 Star Sources, placing them on the table.

His insistence on compensation was merely a restrained reminder. The other party was over sixty; he certainly knew how he wanted to live his life. Saying too much, whether as a team leader or as a comrade-in-arms of over a decade, would only annoy him.

In fact, his reminder just now violated his principles of leading the team and handling interpersonal relationships.

In Wang Tudou's team, the relationships among the eight members are primarily driven by personal interests. To put it bluntly, they're all together to win, to earn more Star Source to improve themselves. Therefore, the team has an extremely fair and rigorous profit-sharing system, even specifying the strength and contribution of each role. However, this profit-sharing method wasn't decided by Wang Tudou alone; it was implemented only after everyone agreed upon it.

This pragmatic team atmosphere, which prioritizes individual interests and gets things straight beforehand, effectively reduces conflicts among team members and ensures that the team will not experience internal strife or backstabbing at crucial moments.

Furthermore, Wang Tudou's team operates on a bottom-ranking elimination system. After each dungeon mission, the eight members vote anonymously. If any member accumulates the most elimination votes across two missions, they are immediately removed from the team. No matter how long you've been there or how much you've contributed, if you're not performing well or are dragging the team down, you'll have to leave. You can keep in touch, but you absolutely cannot work together anymore.

This pragmatic, even somewhat utilitarian, way of getting along may sound a bit cold-hearted, but it greatly enhances the team's combat effectiveness, improves the members' survival ability in various dangerous tasks, and increases their chances of winning, thus enabling everyone to win more and share more practical benefits.

If a team member is kicked out, Wang Tudou will spend a long time looking for a replacement. When a new member first joins, he will select two or three relatively easy dungeons or simple jobs that the team can easily earn money from. Then, he will assess the new member's suitability and abilities. Finally, the other team members will vote, and if more than half of them are accepted, the new member will be officially accepted; otherwise, they will have to leave.

In this way, although Wang Tudou's team members may not be any peerless geniuses or ancient clan sons with amazing combat power, they are definitely the most suitable for the team and the most complementary.

After making a name for themselves in their new homeland, this small team attracted many travelers from chaotic factions, and even exceptionally talented young individuals, all eager to join. As a result, Wang Tudou no longer needs to spend a lot of time searching for new members; he can simply passively select from a large pool of outstanding newcomers as candidates.

After all, his team had a fair profit-sharing system and an extremely high win rate, allowing them to reliably earn Star Source and seize opportunities in secret realms, thus steadily improving themselves. However, this team atmosphere also had a drawback: working long hours could occasionally feel tiring. Tasks came one after another at a fast pace, and everyone was very focused and tried their best to avoid making mistakes, so everyone was constantly on edge while carrying out tasks.

But every effort brings reward. After each task was completed, when everyone divided the spoils and each got their share, they all grinned from ear to ear.

Because the team emphasizes protecting individual interests, everyone maintains a very restrained attitude regarding Star Source. They won't borrow each other's Star Source unless absolutely necessary. Borrowing it could lead to conflict when it's time to ask for it back, affecting the team's harmonious atmosphere.

Take Wang Tudou for example. He can give some team members an advance on their share of the profits, drawn from the main account, but never exceeding a fixed amount. However, someone like Yang Sanhai, who keeps borrowing and claims he'll deduct it directly when distributing the profits, is actually violating Wang Tudou's principles for treating his team members…

But there was no way around it; Yang Sanhai had known him for over a decade, ever since Wang Tudou was just a little Kalami. The two had been fighting side-by-side in the secret realms, and it was Yang Sanhai who had initially suggested forming this team. His position in Wang Tudou's heart was equivalent to Huang Ge's position in Ren Ye's heart.

Although Wang Tudou, who is usually not good at expressing his emotions and is very restrained, always says that he has no relatives or friends, and that Yang Sanhai is the only "acquaintance" he has known for more than ten years, this acquaintance is someone who can make Wang Tudou, an extremely pragmatic person, occasionally abandon his principles.

Inside the room, Yang Sanhai raised his hand and put away the Star Source, bowing and scraping as he said, "Thank you, Captain Potato. I'll go back to sleep now."

Wang Tudou glanced at him and said softly, "Those freaks in the team are all holding back, trying to break through to the fifth rank before officially entering Tiandu. A few days ago, Tongtong asked me for leave, saying that after finishing his duties in Beifeng Town, he's going to do his promotion errand... Brother Yang, with your current rate of star source consumption, your accumulation will definitely be much slower. You're a vice-captain at the general level; if you fall behind in rank, how will you save face...!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Sanhai hesitated again.

Wang Tudou stared at him intently: "What's wrong?"

"Hehe... I know what I'm doing. As long as I'm still in the team, those little brats won't be able to get arrogant." Yang Sanhai laughed. "Don't worry, I'll keep them under control."

"It's okay to have fun, but don't get too close to those civil officials in the inner court," Wang Tudou reminded him.

"Huh?" Yang Sanhai was taken aback. "You mean...?!"

“Moro… ​​gives me a dangerous feeling,” Wang Tudou said bluntly. “Don’t let those civil officials in the inner court know too much about you.”

"Understood." Yang Sanhai nodded.

"Okay, go have fun...!" Wang Tudou waved his hand.

"I'm really not going out to play, I want to go back and rest," Yang Sanhai replied with a sidelong glance.

"I just did a divination for you, and your gambling luck is pretty good tonight," Wang Tudou replied solemnly.

"Really?!" Yang Sanhai's eyes lit up instantly, and he exclaimed excitedly, "I knew it! A perfect record is just the beginning. A hundred consecutive wins is my true strength... Goodbye, see you tomorrow morning!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he dashed out of the room.

Wang Tudou watched his retreating figure, then shook his head and smiled helplessly: "Hey, I really can't understand it. He risked his life to earn the Star Source, yet he was willing to lose it at the gambling table... I just don't get it."

……

Two days later, late at night, at 9 PM.

The Little Scoundrel once again possessed the body of a female alien, dressed in a gray robe, and sneaked into the garrison headquarters. He then had a late-night talk with Wang Anquan in the tea room of their usual spot.

Inside, the candlelight was dim, and the air was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood.

Wang Anquan sat dejectedly in his chair, gritting his teeth and cursing, "That Yu Tiange, his mother must have crushed his brain when he was born! He's so damn reckless!"

The insults were so harsh that Ren looked at him, somewhat bewildered, and asked softly, "What did he do this time that made you curse him so rudely?"

"Hi."

Wang Anquan sighed in frustration and spread his hands, saying, "This afternoon, I told Yu Tiange everything about the garrison situation of the prisoners held in the Nanshan Illusionary Realm, the number of soldiers, and the information of the guarding generals. I also found out about Niu Dali's living habits and the situation of his personal guards when he travels, and told him that as well."

Upon hearing this, Ren Ye immediately perked up: "What about Jiu Zhi? Has Yu Tiange seen him? Did he say when he's going to take him away?"

"I met him, but I refused his request to take Jiuzhi away and told him that I definitely couldn't hand him over until the matter was settled." Wang Anquan responded truthfully, "He probably felt that I was holding onto Jiuzhi tightly to protect myself, so he didn't threaten me forcefully and agreed to my suggestion...!"

"Oh, he's alright. He's not too clueless, and he thinks things through quite thoroughly." Ren nodded slightly.