Chapter 636: Unsurprising

Huang Shengjie looked confused, "A gamble? Gambling on what? That Zhao Heng will keep his word? That doesn't seem realistic."

Yao Yuan shook his head, "Of course not. Not that he'll keep his word.

"Actually, I do have a plan, though not a particularly reliable one, and I've already made some preparations toward it.

"It's built on reading people, so I wouldn't place too much faith in it, but in theory there's still a small chance it could work.

"The problem is that there's one final step still outstanding, one that's within my control to attempt."

Huang Shengjie asked quickly, "What step?"

Yao Yuan said, "Forcing Zhao Heng to commit a violent act or a violation."

Huang Shengjie instinctively shook his head, "That's extremely difficult. Almost impossible.

"I already got a sense of it when I went up against him. He looks like a violent person, but he's actually very composed and calculated. He almost never loses control through anger.

"On top of that, he's had professional training. His physical control is far beyond what most people are capable of.

"The moment he senses we're trying to provoke him into a violation, he'll be on guard."

Yao Yuan was quiet for a moment, then took something from his pocket, "What if we had this?

"He Qinyun and I found it inside a 'Miscellaneous Goods' unit. It might be useful."

Huang Shengjie reached out and took it, and went still for a moment.

"How is something like this in this game? Did the Imitator put it here deliberately?

"In that case, maybe there's actually a chance.

"Leave this with me.

"If Yao Yuan thinks this plan has a real shot, let's go for it.

"Round Three, we send nothing but Contraband. We're gambling everything."

Round Three began.

[In this round, 'Miscellaneous Goods' materials have been designated as Contraband.]

Hearing the announcement, Huang Shengjie blinked.

"So it really isn't 'Medications' this round? It's 'Miscellaneous Goods' again?

"Sister Wanlin, you actually called it.

"Was this random, or did the Imitator arrange it deliberately?"

Zhou Wanlin was already moving quickly at the steam train's operations console, "Almost certainly deliberate on the Imitator's part.

"They probably anticipated that players might do this, and blocked it off on purpose."

Huang Shengjie was puzzled, "Why? Allowing players to stockpile materials gives more room for strategic depth, doesn't it?"

Zhou Wanlin was quiet for a moment, then said softly, "Maybe it was to test, in reverse, how carefully players read the written rules."

As she spoke, she adjusted the delivery ratio to 0:0:1, meaning every unit loaded onto the train would be 'Miscellaneous Goods' Contraband.

Even Geng Yuxia was no longer assigned to the Inspection Room. The entire inspection process was shut down. Even if the opposing community sent Contraband, there would be no inspection.

As Huang Shengjie had said, they were committing everything to a single high-stakes play, going all in for the maximum possible returns.

Of course, Geng Yuxia's physical condition wasn't the best, so she was not asked to carry Contraband. Instead, after Zhou Wanlin finished setting up the steam train's program, Geng Yuxia stayed by the train to keep the engine from stopping, ensuring all the Contraband could reach the Inspection Room.

In the mist, Huang Shengjie, Zhou Wanlin, and Yao Yuan each took as much Contraband as they could carry and quietly made their way toward Community 2's cell block.

Before long, Yao Yuan stopped.

From within the distant mist, Zhao Heng's mountainous silhouette appeared.

He had nothing in his hands. He had clearly never had any intention of honouring the agreement, and had come to stop Community 2 from delivering their Contraband.

Yao Yuan let out a quiet sigh, "So you never intended to keep your word.

"Not even slightly surprising.

"Why go this far? The rules allow for a win-win outcome."

Zhao Heng approached step by step, "Because I can.

"This is the Gallery. The strong and the victorious can do whatever they want."

Zhou Wanlin studied his expression carefully, "You did stockpile some 'Medications' materials in the venue, didn't you?

"If they had been selected as Contraband, you might have considered running that cache for additional returns.

"But this round's Contraband is 'Miscellaneous Goods.' Those materials have become worthless dead weight.

"So you've decided to come and disrupt us instead, widen the gap between us, and ultimately reach the 1.5x earnings target."

Yao Yuan's expression remained calm. He looked at Zhao Heng and added, "But that's only part of the reason.

"The other part is about maintaining your image.

"Zhao Heng, you're effectively ruling Community 23 through fear. But you can't use violence within the community.

"Even with your intimidating presence, which does have some effect, it's far from enough to stand up against the Gallery's underlying rules.

"So you need to constantly reinforce that sense of terror among the community's players, keeping them fearful and obedient.

"Controlling the medications is one tool. The collective punishment system is another. But more importantly, you need to show them that you are someone who has no limits and will never cooperate.

"If you cooperate with us, it gives your community members the impression that you can be reasoned with, which would undermine your standing within the community.

"The moment your players stop fearing you, they'll naturally start thinking about resisting.

"You need to earn enough visa time, and you also need everyone to see what happens to those who stand against you. Both are equally important.

"That's what they mean by the old saying: 'When penalties are unknown, authority is immeasurable.'

"Of course, it's also possible you simply have this extreme and controlling personality by nature.

"That you take genuine pleasure in fear, pressure, and domination.

"Am I close?"

Zhao Heng gave no answer and simply continued to approach.

Yao Yuan, Zhou Wanlin, and Huang Shengjie set the materials in their hands on the ground to avoid triggering a violation if touched.

Zhao Heng kept talking, "This game allows minor violence that doesn't cause permanent injury or death. It just consumes violation allowances.

"Our community still has two allowances remaining, and I personally still have one.

"I'd advise you not to hold out any hope. If it becomes necessary, I won't hesitate to use one violation to give you a very painful lesson.

"I'll be paralysed afterward, but you'll be in a far worse state."

He paused slightly and gave a cold smile, "You've been trying to poach players from our community, haven't you?

"Strange, isn't it, that our players are willing to share information about the community, yet somehow can never quite be pulled away?

"Because I allowed it.

"Our community's information is bait, designed to nudge you into thinking about poaching and distract you from your actual strategy.

"It was precisely because you were focused on winning the game through a single decisive poach that your regular strategy suffered.

"And by the time you realised poaching was never going to work, it was already too late.

"By now you should have worked it out: our players are always in a state where they look almost recruitable, as though just a little more effort would do it. But in reality, they don't dare and don't want to leave Community 23."

Huang Shengjie couldn't contain himself, "That's complete nonsense."