The Abstract Open-Source Initiative from a Villain

Amidst a turmoil of thoughts, the Di Nian Evil Spirit completely rejected the feasibility of the bidding model.

This plan seems fair, but it's actually foolish.

It knows all too well the nature of those beastly players.

If the benefits are large enough, even players who frequently argue on the battlefield will quickly form a united front against a common enemy.

The inevitable result of implementing this scheme is that players will collude to drive down prices through internal communication.

Acquire the Origin Source at minimal cost, then internally negotiate and distribute subsequent compensation.

Just then, the voice of the Evil Eye rang in its mind.

"Bully, your concerns are valid. There's a potential variable in the bidding model: the sharing mechanism of Primal Monster traits among players."

"The bidding model requires exclusivity to stimulate competition, but based on past observations, once the rules and characteristics contained in the Primal Monster are acquired by players, they will enter a state shared by all players—similar to our Temple of Destruction, where any new unit template created by Evil Spirit can theoretically be used by all Evil Spirit."

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"This means that whoever wins the bid for the Origin Source will ultimately benefit the entire player community—something that benefits everyone, so naturally no one wants to fight for it through mutual depletion."

Hearing Evil Eye's analysis, the Di Nian Evil Spirit first nodded, then shook its head. "Stupid Eye, you're right, but players actually have an underlying desire for glory in acquiring Primal Monster. Whoever acquires them becomes an internal hero. It's just that this glory isn't as important as profit, so it can't support the implementation of a bidding model."

Upon hearing this, the Evil Eye connected to the player strategy database, retrieved relevant player information, and instantly completed the Logical Loop: "As you said, the desire for glory does exist, but it's not enough to maintain the healthy operation of the bidding model. Giving up is the best option. Perhaps we can find another way, bypassing the overt resource pricing, to achieve a similar effect through other means."

The Di Nian Evil Spirit grinned. "Looks like you're on the same page as me. What we need is a model without a fixed price, avoiding cooperation between players, and then using our existing pricing system to indirectly extract resources from players—the running quest system is the best value detector."

"Our Mission Market has been running for two months, and the reward standards from white to gold are clear. The amount of resources corresponds to the difficulty and the reward, which can be used to measure the value of Primal Monster without us having to set prices out of thin air."

"What are your thoughts?" Evil Eye asked curiously.

"Create a task chain, and use the task chain method to explore pricing."

The information flow in the Evil Eye's eyes suddenly accelerated, instantly grasping the deeper meaning. With a light tap of its tentacle in the void, it brought up the level reward comparison table of the Mission Market: "You want to create a new quest chain model, with Primal Monster as the ultimate reward of the quest chain, and then collect pricing information based on the players' performance in completing all the quests."

"Absolutely correct."

The Evil Eye continued its calculations, instantly Completion the details of the plan. "Specifically, it can be divided into two steps. The first step is to establish a corresponding task chain based on the life strength of the Primal Monster. Lower- Origin Source will correspond to lower-tier tasks—this standard may not be feasible. The strength of the Primal Monster ' characteristics seems to be unrelated to their life strength, but in the early stages, we can only use this method for pricing, since we cannot analyze the characteristic power of the Primal Monster."

"The second step is to remove participation restrictions from the quest chain, allowing all players to participate, and then collect information based on the performance of all participating players."

"This way, we can avoid the pricing problem. From the player's perspective, we don't put a price tag on the Primal Monster; we sell quests. Players pay for the effort, time, and resources they expend to complete the quests, in exchange for unlocking public power."

"This model leverages the players' shared needs rather than opposing them. Players will spontaneously cooperate to drive the completion of tasks, which is in the interest of all of them. In essence, their completion of tasks saves us a certain amount of resources, which can be regarded as indirectly obtaining resource benefits from the players."

"Finally, we achieved value measurement through the mission process. Each level of the existing mission system has a clear reward standard. The total reward value of the missions that players are willing to complete for the Primal Monster, and what level and number of missions they are willing to complete, is a reflection of the 'total cost' they are willing to pay for this Primal Monster."

The Di Nian Evil Spirit grinned and said, "That's right. Once this mode is in operation, we'll always be in a favorable position. We're the quest issuers and the event drivers, while the players are both our mercenaries and the ultimate consumers of our 'goods' (Primal Monster)."

Once the decision was made, it no longer hesitated.

A powerful thought instantly connected to the Evil Spirit Alliance's Mental Network, which spanned hundreds of nodes. "Brothers, call a meeting, come quickly!"

The Spirit Ripple instantly spread to the minds of hundreds of Evil Spirit within the alliance.

Before long, one after another, Evil Spirit phantoms of various shapes and auras, some strange and some violent, descended and solidified in the mental space of the Mental Network.

A flurry of curious, noisy greetings quickly filled the air. "Boss Di Nian, what big event has happened this time that you've dragged all the brothers over?"

"Di Nian, you've found another way to make money? That Mission Market you set up last time really made things much quieter for me. Now I have players helping me fend off troublesome forces, so I can just enjoy myself in other areas."

"Boss, how's the testing going with the new unit templates created from the 'Exile' rule we acquired from the players? Any new progress on our jointly built Pain Tide?"

The Di Nian Evil Spirit looked around at the familiar and newly joined Evil Spirit brothers, and then said in a deep voice, "Everyone, let me first answer the question you are most concerned about. The Demigod weapon 'Exile', which was created using the Exile rule, has taken shape, but its actual use is not good. It is far less powerful than Demigod weapons such as Wan Ji and Demon Seed."

Facing his fellow alliance members, the Di Nian Evil Spirit began to explain the troop composition created by Return Flow.

In fact, he had high hopes for the birth of exile.

In the Battle of Soul Valley, the player acquired a world node, and thus obtained the spatial exile rule within the "Lord of Soul Shadows".

The idea at the time was to create a Demigod unit that could infinitely send players into the void.

From now on, whenever a battle begins, it will wipe out a large number of players.

His initial appearance did indeed cause the player army active in the Emperor's Tomb Mountain Range to wear a mask of pain, cursing and swearing at him, which secretly pleased him.

However, the exile only lasted for one battle.

Suddenly, the player army collectively gained the ability to return to their original location instantly after being banished, rendering the banishment trait completely ineffective.

(PS: Chapter 438 mentions the second-generation Monster Soul: Beacon. Its special effect is that it leaves coordinates at a designated location. After reactivating the Monster Soul, it can instantly return to the coordinates. The beacon disappears upon death.)

Therefore, the actual performance of "Exile" is far inferior to that of Demigod units such as Great Demon and Wan Ji.

The introduction of Exile also allowed players and the Insect Race to use Demigod units simultaneously.

To conserve resources, he had no choice but to revert to the "Tactful War" mode, sending the Exiles to Gui Ya's nodes for use in the war.

After explaining the situation in detail, the Di Nian Evil Spirit got to the point. "The reason I've gathered everyone here is because I've found a completely new path. This path will not only allow us to take our existing Mission Market to the next level, but it will also allow us to continuously extract resources and benefits from those beasts who only take and never give."

Upon hearing this, the Evil Spirit in the Mental Network were in an uproar. "Reverse open source? Extracting resources from players? How can those stingy troublemakers extract resources from each other?"

"Di Nian, explain in detail."

Faced with the clamor of questions, the Di Nian Evil Spirit spoke again, its voice drowning out all the noise. "I've named this plan the Hidden Mission—." The Di Nian Evil Spirit calmly began to explain in detail to the Alliance members the mission chain scheme it had deduced with the Evil Eye.

It focuses on how to leverage players' strong desire for Primal Monster and how, through carefully designed quest chains, players' power, resources, and even internal competition are all transformed into "quest completion behaviors" that benefit the Evil Spirit Alliance.

"Ultimately, what we give up are Primal Monster that are unusable and might even cause trouble, but what we get in return is the effort players put in to complete the quest. You can think of it as paying players to complete the quest for us for free by paying them Primal Monster, which is equivalent to saving the resources that would have been paid for hiring players in the first place."

The Di Nian Evil Spirit's consciousness swept over the now-silent group, then delivered the most crucial cooperation proposal. "For this plan to operate smoothly, two things are needed. First, a stable and diverse supply of Primal Monster. This requires you brothers to keep a close eye on the node areas under your control and transport Primal Monster that we cannot utilize to the Mission Market in the Emperor's Tomb Mountain Range region via the Evil Moon."

In return, the rewards generated from this plan will be distributed reasonably according to the current value of the tasks in the task system.

"Let me give you a straightforward example to help you understand: Suppose we set the value of a Primal Monster to be equivalent to the total value of 10 Blue-level quests. These 10 Blue-level quests are provided by 10 brothers from different nodes. After the player completes all the quests and takes the Primal Monster, the brother who provided the Primal Monster has their Blue-level quest considered to have been completed for free. The other 9 brothers who provided the Blue-level quests need to pay the brother who provided the Primal Monster Black Tide Energy, which is half of the current Blue-level quest reward standard in the quest system."

The Di Nian Evil Spirit paused, making sure all the Evil Spirit understood, and continued, "Simply put, providing the Origin Source Brothers saves the resources of hiring players to complete their own tasks, and also allows them to receive extra rewards from other brothers. In turn, the other brothers can use the Origin Source quest chain to allow players to complete the tasks they provide at a discount, saving them expenses."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Evil Spirit in the Mental Network erupted in uproar again, their discussions becoming even more intense than before.

They instantly realized that if this model could be successfully implemented, the Primal Monster, which were originally useless and could only serve as background decorations, would be completely transformed into a hard currency within the alliance.

Going forward, in addition to being used to issue hidden quests and allow players to work for free, the Primal Monster can also be used to earn real resource profits from their own allies.

The value anchor of the Primal Monster is the value of the tasks that players can create in order to obtain Origin Source power.

This is a value consensus that is easy to reach.

More importantly, Primal Monster do not depreciate in value; they are an appreciating currency that grows alongside the player.

The Di Nian Evil Spirit's explanation instantly made all the Evil Spirit realize the value of the Primal Monster.

Just then, the Di Nian Evil Spirit spoke again, suppressing all other sounds. "Brothers, please be patient. I know you all see the value of Primal Monster, but for this model to truly take off, there's still a crucial gap: a complete quest chain concept. We've only tentatively envisioned the correspondence between Primal Monster and quest levels. Should a Primal Monster be priced at 5 blue quests? Or 10? Or a mix of white to gold? In the early stages, we know nothing about this, so there will inevitably be a period of ambiguity regarding pricing."

It paused, then said with an unyielding tone, "Therefore, in the early stages, we need the cooperation of all of you brothers to provide Primal Monster for testing and to figure out the core pricing standards."

"I have a requirement: each brother in each node must provide one Primal Monster as an initial test sample and transport it to the Imperial Family Mountains. If a brother's node has not yet found Primal Monster, it can be supplemented as soon as one is found later, but the first Origin Source must be considered as a test sample."

The Di Nian Evil Spirit's thoughts swept over every Evil Spirit in the Mental Network, its plan already fully in mind.

It deliberately requires each node to provide the first Origin Source as a test sample, seemingly to improve pricing and advance the plan, but in reality to prevent Evil Spirit from hoarding goods for speculation or delaying and observing.

The value of the Origin Source is not yet clear. Its biggest concern is that some of its brothers are taking chances and are unwilling to use the Origin Source as a test sample. They insist on waiting for other brothers' samples to be tested and for the price of the Origin Source to be completely clear before offering their own Origin Source to reap the benefits.

If everyone thinks this way and fails to provide test samples, this model will come to a complete standstill.

Therefore, it is necessary to set strict rules to force every brother to contribute their Origin Source, ensuring a large influx of "fresh blood" in the early stages, quickly gather test data, and allow the model to be implemented and operational as soon as possible.

Seeing the group of Evil Spirit deep in thought, the Di Nian Evil Spirit added, "I will determine the initial value of these test samples one by one, taking into account the players' task completion status. The subsequent pricing standards will also be gradually improved based on this test data to ensure that the interests of every brother are protected. Together, we will use this model to extract profits from the players."

"As for the profits from the test samples, they will be shared equally by all participants according to the pricing standards of the task system."

"Let's vote now, brothers. What do you all think?"

"I agree Di Nian Boss Nian's decision. This is beneficial to the alliance in every way. It can revitalize the useless Primal Monster, extract resources from the players, and allow us to benefit from each other internally. It's a good decision to help the alliance develop. I will fully cooperate. I will go back and search the vicinity of the node and send the first Origin Source Sample over as soon as possible."

No sooner had it finished speaking than a voice filled with annoyance and regret followed, its tone filled with the urgent urgency of slapping its thigh. "I agree too—damn it, I'm kicking myself! A while ago, near the node I controlled, I encountered two Primal Monster that were constantly releasing disruptive energy field ripples, which was incredibly annoying, so I just destroyed them. Now they're telling me these things are so valuable, that they can be exchanged for Black Tide Energy, and used to make players work for free! I've lost out big time!"

This frustrated rant elicited a burst of laughter from the Mental Network.

"However, despite my frustration, I know this is good for all members of the alliance. I absolutely agree with Di Nian's suggestion. I will keep an eye on the nearby Origin Source. Even if I have to dig three feet into the ground, I must find a Primal Monster as soon as possible to supplement the test samples."

With these two Evil Spirit taking the lead, the rest of the Evil Spirit echoed each other, and there was not a single dissenting voice.

"Agreed. Di Nian's considerations are thorough; they avoid us passing the buck and allow the model to get running quickly."

"I agree. I used to think the Primal Monster were a burden, but now I realize they're treasures. Luckily, the boss reminded us in time. I'll go and check the Origin Source traces near the node now, and send over the test samples later."

In a short time, all the Evil Spirit at the hundreds of nodes expressed their agreement.

After the meeting, the phantoms in the Mental Network dispersed, and the Evil Spirit at each node immediately took action, beginning a full-scale search for traces of the Primal Monster.

Above the Imperial Family Mountains, the Evil Moon suddenly became active.

Streaks of dark light flickered continuously.

Primal Monster imprisoned by the Black Tide energy are continuously being sent through the Evil Moon Passage, landing on the Evil Eye Tower platform at the Sky Abyss Node.

The Di Nian Evil Spirit hovered above the tower platform. With a thought, it caught each of the Primal Monster that were thrown at it and casually set up a binding array to prevent them from escaping.

These Primal Monster, each with its own unique form, were previously considered "burdens" by the Evil Spirit, but have now become the key to the Alliance's reverse open-source strategy.

Within just one hour, the number of Primal Monster initially delivered quickly exceeded 50, densely packed on one side of the platform.

The Di Nian Evil Spirit swept over the test samples, then turned to the Evil Eye, which was processing the data, and said, "Stupid Eye, we have enough samples to start the initial testing. No need to wait any longer, send them to the Mission Market now."

Evil Eye nodded slightly. "Understood. The delivery method will be as you stated?"

"That's right, we'll send them out as images first to avoid them being directly contained after players touch them. By the way, we'll use black exclamation marks as markers to indicate that these are hidden quest chains. Those players are very clever; as long as they see unfamiliar markers and combine them with the Primal Monster, they'll be able to intuitively understand what they represent."

One hour later.

In one corner of the Mission Market, dozens of streaks of Liu Guang shot down from the direction of the Evil Eye Tower.

Nearby players glanced curiously, but their minds went blank when they saw the Primal Monster imprisoned in a corner of the Mission Market with a black exclamation mark above its head.

They already found the task system abstract enough when it was first introduced.

Who would have thought that the villainous Evil Spirit within the Black Tide System, who were solely focused on destruction, would actually lead an Evil Spirit Alliance and become NPCs?

The contrast is stark when tasks are posted and rewards are given in a straightforward and orderly manner.

What I never expected was that the abstractness of the Di Nian Bully could reach another level.

Instead of doing their job as villains, they put out the Primal Monster they've always dreamed of, like promotional merchandise, and hung them up with black exclamation marks, waiting to be claimed.

The expressions of nearby players quickly shifted from initial astonishment and confusion to a sense of absurdity and abstraction.

Ultimately, all emotions settled into a state of confusion:

Is something wrong with this world? Is this right?