A Special Event Triggered, Eagle Sauce's Fury!

Beep, beep, beep...

After those few words, the person on the other end hung up.

The person on the other end had spoken in an almost commanding tone, and Itō Hidetaka was furious.

"Baka!" Itō Hidetaka cursed angrily.

"What the hell is going on?"

"How dare that wild dog on the other end give me orders like that?!"

Itō Hidetaka was so angry he started speaking in bird language.

In a fit of rage, he sprang to his feet, grabbed the coffee cup beside him, and smashed it against the floor.

The cup shattered instantly, sending rich coffee splashing onto his expensive suit and leaving a dark stain.

He felt utterly aggrieved!

It was bad enough that the Emperor ordered him around in the real world, but how could someone be ordering him around in this virtual instance too?!

Was he supposed to be someone's dog in the instance?

Just as Itō Hidetaka was seething.

A notification from the Firmament followed.

[Firmament notification: The challengers' actions have triggered a special event: Eagle Sauce's Fury!]

[Eagle Sauce's Fury: Your actions have caused intense dissatisfaction in Eagle Sauce Country. Eagle Sauce Country now demands that you cease all violations and pay it one trillion in compensation!]

[Do you accept?]

[Notice: Special events in the instance will affect its subsequent progression and may even change the status of the current task. Commander, please choose carefully!]

"Pah!"

Itō Hidetaka was trembling all over with rage.

What kind of bullshit special event was this?!

Did he even have a choice?

If he accepted, he would have to pay Eagle Sauce Country one trillion in tribute!

One trillion!!!

Dongying's annual GDP was only four trillion. That would be like slicing off a quarter of its flesh in one stroke.

If that happened, every indicator would fall into negative growth.

With four days left, overtaking Eagle Sauce Country would be out of the question. He probably wouldn't even be able to hold on to what he had.

The subsequent task would be doomed to failure.

"Impossible!"

"There's no way I'm accepting such an unfair proposal!"

He worked to compose himself and stay calm despite his anger.

A thought occurred to him.

Even if he rejected the proposal, what could they do about it?

When he accepted Task Two, it had already been confirmed that the rest of the instance was entirely in non-war mode.

All of Eagle Sauce Country's weapons of war had also been locked down.

Even if he rejected Eagle Sauce now, the enemy forces couldn't do a thing to him.

The sea was wide enough for fish to leap, and the sky high enough for birds to fly. Eagle Sauce Country was his competitor to begin with, so why should he listen to a hostile force?!

Having figured that out, Itō Hidetaka let out a long breath, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

"Damn it! I almost fell for Lin Ye's trick."

"That guy really is a sinister schemer. He's good at weaving plots into his task designs!"

"But does he really think I, Itō Hidetaka, would stumble in the same place twice?"

As Itō Hidetaka saw it, this so-called Eagle Sauce's Fury special event was entirely something Lin Ye had cooked up to deceive him.

Just like the prerequisite task of raiding Pearl Harbor in the last instance.

They were all tricks, things designed to affect the challengers' state of mind.

"I won't accept Eagle Sauce Country's proposal!"

"Not only will I refuse, I'll go even further."

Itō Hidetaka had only one thought in his mind now: keep going.

The more smokescreens Lin Ye threw up, the more it proved he was on the right track.

He summoned Shancheng Kojirō to his room and said solemnly:

"Shancheng, I think Eastern Ocean Island's economic development needs to speed up even more. Some of the policies still aren't forceful enough!"

"I need you to be more thorough. Don't worry about whether these NPCs on Eastern Ocean Island live or die. Squeeze every last drop of productivity out of them!"

"I want Dongying to develop faster. Even if it reaches the goal one moment and dies the next, it doesn't matter!"

"This is just an instance. Don't hold anything back."

Itō Hidetaka's sudden, somewhat frenzied mood gave Shancheng Kojirō a fright.

But Shancheng Kojirō quickly bowed to Itō Hidetaka.

"Yes, Mr. Itō."

"I'll give the orders right away."

With that, Shancheng Kojirō left Itō Hidetaka's room to carry out his orders as quickly as possible.

Itō Hidetaka hadn't answered the Firmament directly, but his actions had already made his position clear.

He would fight Eagle Sauce Country to the bitter end.

Just then, another notification from the Firmament rang out.

[Dear challenger, your actions have made your choice regarding Eagle Sauce's proposal.]

[You have rejected Eagle Sauce!]

[Because of your choice in the "Eagle Sauce's Fury" special event, the instance task has been adjusted accordingly!]

[Task Two: Economic Overtaking (✦✦✦✦✦)]

[The time limit for this round has been shortened to 60 hours. All challengers may participate in managing Eastern Ocean Island. The task will be considered complete if its economy overtakes Eagle Sauce Country's at any point. Each challenger will receive 150 points!]

[Task failure will result in a deduction of 500 points from each challenger!!]

"What? The previous task changed?"

"It can do that?"

Itō Hidetaka was caught somewhat off guard.

This adjustment wasn't the same as the task change in the previous instance.

Last time, a new follow-up task had been added after the challengers completed the prerequisite task.

This time, the existing task had been adjusted.

The task's time limit had been cut exactly in half!

That was rather tricky. At the current rate of economic growth, Itō Hidetaka had calculated that overtaking Eagle Sauce Country would take at least three days.

With the time limit shortened, the task had clearly become much harder.

More importantly, the completion reward and failure penalty had also multiplied!

Itō Hidetaka could ignore the completion reward, but the failure penalty was deadly.

That was because the Great He Clan challengers who had entered the instance this time were almost all LV1. Ninety percent of them didn't have even 500 points in total.

Previously, they had calculated based on a deduction of 100 points, so those people could survive even if the task failed.

Now it had changed to 500 points, which meant they would be wiped out if they failed!

The pressure of death came crashing down in an instant.

For a moment, Itō Hidetaka panicked too, even feeling somewhat suffocated.

He wouldn't die himself, but if they really failed the task, nearly twenty thousand of his compatriots would be wiped out. How could he explain that to the Emperor?!

Wouldn't he become a sinner in the settlement's eyes?

Itō Hidetaka was uneasy, and the other challengers were even more so, because this was a very real threat of death.

All the challengers directing Eastern Ocean Island's operations stopped what they were doing.

"Why is this happening?"

"Weren't we promised there wouldn't be any danger to our lives? Why did the Emperor lie to us?!"

"If I'd known this would happen, I never would have volunteered for this damned instance."

"Boo-hoo, I want to go back! I want to go back!"

Some of the more timid challengers were so frightened that they burst into tears.

They were university students who had always been protected by the schools in the settlement and had rarely faced a threat to their lives.

Now that they realized they might die, their state of mind changed at once.