Zane, Leading the Way

This adventure isn't about fighting and killing, but about human relationships and social interactions.

If you happen to be extremely skilled at fighting and killing, and also adept at interpersonal relationships, and those interpersonal relationships are also skilled at fighting, then you are invincible.

Te Pi was unfortunate, because Leon did indeed meet the above criteria.

This new generation, who grew up in the Zane Dungeon, are all more or less related to him. Te Pi's money can have a negligible effect in the face of this vast network of connections.

Looking at it this way, it seems that his financial ability is not strong enough.

The Lord's Room in the Red Fang Dungeon.

Red Fang, with its body as large as a small red mountain, lay coiled on the ground, its amber eyes fixed on the City Lord Panel in front of it.

At the end of the first day of the event, as the organizer, he needed to check the so-called "back-end" "data," and he also had his own things to do.

After a commotion when the city lords gathered together, they even decided to hold a dungeon competition during the adventurers' activities.

However, this was just a casual comparison out of friendship, so no strict rules were set up at all, and in the end, two different conditions were chosen for comparison.

The first is the ranking of adventurers from different dungeons on the Glory Stone Tablet, and the second is the popularity of dungeon supplies and rewards among adventurers, that is, the number of times they are exchanged.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that there are many ways to "cheat" under the first condition, which is why this competition is called a friendly match.

"But I quite like this atmosphere. It's like going back to the old days. The last two city lords are obviously much more cheerful than before."

He suddenly thought of Gong Qiying and quietly added: Not only has he become much more cheerful, but there are also more things he can't understand.

Whenever he thought of Gong Qiying, he would think of Valstrax, and a look of melancholy would appear in his eyes. He subconsciously rubbed his body against the ground.

When it came time to decide on the world leader, he wholeheartedly supported Valstrax, but everyone else voted for Astel instead, which greatly frustrated him.

"I wonder if we can buy a dragon from Godwyn. Is there anything he wants?"

Red Fang's tail swayed from side to side, seemingly indicating his master's inner turmoil. After a while, he sighed and then looked at the data in the backend, which showed the number of times the supplies and rewards from the forty-six dungeons had been exchanged.

I'm not sure if it's because there's too much information to display, but the panel is lagging a bit now. The number of exchanges and rankings have popped up, but the corresponding dungeon names are still loading.

Chiya exclaimed in surprise, muttering to himself, "Oh? The gap between first and second place is actually this big. Heh, that's quite unusual. Who could be leading by so much?"

Since it wasn't him, he was well aware of the rewards he had given out. He deliberately only gave out medium-level items as rewards, letting others take the spotlight.

So, who is this guy Leading the Way?

The most intuitive way to judge is by looking at the city lord's level, the number of dungeons they own, the daily foot traffic, and so on.

"It should be the Glory Dungeon, right? That kid already has five branch dungeons."

"The White Blood Dungeon is also possible. Her guests are vampires who can be resurrected multiple times and can repeatedly generate Spirit Power, which is a great advantage."

"The Senro Dungeon has a great chance. That guy is only a few decades behind me and has accumulated a lot of experience. It's a pity that the Elf Race, which is her main guest, has a rather pitiful population recently."

As he talked, Chi Ya himself became curious, something he hadn't been that curious about before.

He recalled all the advantages of the dungeons and suddenly thought of that skinny, undead Living Dead.

Godwyn's words are the biggest variable, mainly because the information about the Zane Dungeon is still somewhat vague, and he hasn't deliberately investigated it.

"I always hear adventurers talking about campfires, Tear Drop Larva and such, but I've never systematically organized any information about it. I don't think I really know much about him. He's a mysterious man. No, maybe there's a man under that Living Dead skin."

However, no matter how special the Zane Dungeon is, it has only shone brightly in the last few months. Lacking the time to settle and accumulate, it still cannot compete with its predecessors.

Actually, Chi Ya organized this event with the intention of promoting new generation dungeon crawlers like Sien and Unicorn, and helping these younger players get some publicity. He's actually a pretty good guy.

"Finally loaded? Let's see who's number one!"

Chiya looked over with a smile, then froze like a statue.

A few seconds later, he rubbed his eyes and looked again.

Then he tilted his head.

"Huh?"

Meanwhile, in the Glory Dungeon, the city lord, "Gladiator King," who appears as a humanoid golem clad in silver armor, is pacing anxiously back and forth in his room.

"Why hasn't Senior Akagi sent over the rankings yet? I've been waiting for so long."

The Gladiator King became the city lord thirty years ago; anyone under fifty years old can be considered a newcomer among the city lords.

In terms of achievements, he is undoubtedly the number one among the new generation of city lords, having owned five dungeons in just thirty years. Just like the name of his dungeons, he is proud of this.

However, the recent appearance of a newcomer has given him a strong sense of crisis.

Godwyn, this inexplicable fellow stole my thunder the moment he appeared. Even the city lord of the Dark Blue Sea Dungeon, Sister Lin Weier, stopped writing to him and instead favored Godwyn!

So this time he must be number one in the competition. He wants to prove that he is better Godwyn and then thoroughly humiliate that guy!

As for how to humiliate

"Then I'll make an exception and allow him to come to my dungeon to promote Sein. That way, I can show my demeanor as the number one. Hehehe."

In one sentence, his villainous persona completely crumbled.

Not only Godwyn, but quite a few others also wanted to test their skills against the Gladiator King, so he took the outcome of the match very seriously this time.

Even the supplies and rewards from the Glory Dungeon were carefully selected by him; he wouldn't usually distribute them so easily.

"Oh, Senior Red Fang finally sent a letter!"

Holding the envelope in his hand, he tried his best to appear calm and composed, even though no one was watching.

He lit the candles, poured red wine, and played music. Surrounded by an upscale atmosphere, the Gladiator King slowly tore open the envelope, shook the letter with the writing on it, and unfolded it in front of him, raising his gaze to it.

"Crack!"

The Gladiator King's hand trembled, and the wine glass shattered on the ground.

"You really make me look good, Leon."

The Lord's Room in the Zane Dungeon.

Gong Qiying observed the Glory Stone Tablet in the Firelink Shrine, where Leon's name stood out prominently in the first place.

When his own underground city's child won first place, Gong Qiying, as the city lord, felt a sense of satisfaction, as if "his child has grown up and become successful."

However, apart from Leon, who ranked first, there were no adventurers from the Zane Dungeon in the front row of the Glory Stone Tablet. Even Luo Jieer was in the lead at the beginning, had fallen to the sixties.

As someone who observed Leon throughout the entire process, Gong Qiying naturally knew the reason behind it.

Because the Strategy Team, the Farron Guard, the Skyrim Strategy Team, the Elf Race, and the Hasawi Squad, all of which could have achieved good rankings, all joined forces to elevate Leon, sacrificing a group of people to create Leon as the number one. This is the power of unity.

He wouldn't judge these people's actions, but their behavior did make him realize that friendship is a real thing.

"So let's give them some rewards in a couple of days, like little red flowers for good kids after they've worked hard."

However, he also discovered that Leon never intended to be number one from the beginning. It was only because he met someone that he became so Furious Rajang with winning and losing. He even spent a whole morning running around contacting various factions with whom he had connections. Among the well-known organizations in the area, Leon only ruled out the Light Eagle Legion.

"Is that Leon's dad? He does look pretty sleazy. It would be good if he could give Leon a good whack."

Everything that happened today, except for Leon's first place, was within his expectations. The adventurers in the Zane Dungeon are extremely loyal; any adventurer who wants to seriously participate in the event and capture Small Falling Star will choose Sien's supplies and won't even glance at the supplies from other dungeons.

Moreover, the cooldown time can be cleared immediately after reviving at the campfire, allowing you to claim the rewards right away. Compared to other dungeons, this is practically cheating. Rewards that other adventurers would have to think carefully before making a choice can be easily obtained by adventurers from the Sain-type. It's the ultimate way to fleece them.

Gong Qiying silently thanked Chiya, the biggest sponsor of this event.

"By the way, it seems that Red Fang will be sending over the results of today's city lord competition soon."

He walked to the edge of the altar, waiting for Red Fang's letter.

He wasn't interested in the outcome of the competition. His supplies and rewards were carefully selected, but he wouldn't be arrogant because of that, thinking that the rewards from other dungeons were inferior to his.

On the contrary, this collaboration event made him even more humble, because the entire event required the authority of several city lords to organize, a variety of permissions he had never imagined before. If permissions were so complex, what about the items and monsters in other dungeons? It's always best to remain humble.

"My dungeon lacks the accumulation of time. It has a lot of popularity, but I always feel that it is a bit inflated. It would be enough to get into the top 20 in the competition."

As they were saying this, a mass email from the Red Fang Dungeon suddenly appeared on the altar.

"People need to learn to lower their expectations, so I guess my ranking is outside the top 20."

However, just as Gong Qiying's hand was halfway out and hadn't even touched the envelope, another letter suddenly appeared.

"Who would choose this time to write to me?"

He simply picked up both letters, but before he could even raise his hand, two new letters fell to the ground.

"Besides?"

Gong Qiying paused deliberately, wanting to see if any new letters would appear.

His decision proved to be correct.

Because a few seconds later, the letters fell like snowflakes onto the altar, spilling all over the ground!

Seeing this, he had a rough idea in mind. He picked out the letter from the Red Fang Dungeon from the still-increasing number of letters, slowly tore it open, and started reading from the bottom of the list.

Seeing the top, Gong Qiying chuckled softly and muttered to himself:

"So Sion is number one."