The Abyssal Garden: No Room for the Idle
Chapter 403 - 262 I Want to Make a Deal

"....."

The situation seemed even worse than he had imagined.

Bai Yilin sat in a seat next to him, lost in silence.

There was that feeling, like a college graduate looking for a job, being told about all the great company benefits, free meals and accommodation, a salary of eight thousand, work from nine to six, weekends off.

In reality… it was like being led directly into a pit of a multi-level marketing den, where you work to death if you don't actually die.

"So, how did you get in here?" Bai Yilin looked at Xiao Bai Tong.

Of course, the first thing to do in any place was to gather information.

Xiao Bai Tong pointed at himself, "Me? I vaguely remember it was a not-so-hot afternoon. I walked into the player's hall, ready to sell my stuff, and had my eye on a harmless looking young man."

"Then…"

"I was forcibly dragged onto the pirate ship…"

Xiao Bai Tong spoke with a sigh, a wistful look on his face.

Bai Yilin: "..."

Even he, not good at expressing his emotions, looked up at the ceiling.

"Of course, don't feel too bad. Trust me, you made the right choice by refusing the invitation from Sequence City. They've nurtured too many newcomers, who are now gaining momentum very quickly, growing at an extremely rapid pace. There's hardly any chance for talents like you guys, who had their prime in Dongshan, to make a comeback," babbled Xiao Bai Tong.

Hearing Xiao Bai Tong's words, Bai Yilin suddenly tensed and looked at the other person, "How do you know... about the invitation from Sequence City."

Xiao Bai Tong paused and awkwardly touched his head with a smile, "Sorry, didn't I tell you? I'm Information Omniscient, serving as the head of the intelligence division..."

"So, you're in charge of gathering information for The Hustlers Sect?"

"No." Xiao Bai Tong counted on his fingers, "I'm also responsible for posting small ads all over Paradise, completing cleaning tasks for clubs and Paradise bars, acting as the person in charge of Third Night Network, peddling various gossip, fringe, and entertainment tidbits."

Bai Yilin's expression slightly froze.

He temporarily put aside the messy tasks mentioned before.

"You're the person in charge of Third Night Network?"

Naturally, he had also heard of this website.

This was a small gossip site that had been around during the public test period.

Although it dealt with gossip and wasn't quite perfect internally, during tournament times, it always managed to release internal information of major clubs or explosive news that many didn't know, in a timely manner.

During that period, the user base of Third Night Network continued to expand, and it became a small community where many people gossiped, chatted, and traded information.

Including lots of information about budding superstars.

Even more importantly...

"How come I remember… Third Night Network was the first to expose information about Su Buxian with a bounty."

Bai Yilin looked toward Xiao Bai Tong with a complex expression, "Could it be that..."

Xiao Bai Tong nodded, "Yes, it was Brother Su's idea. He would often release some information, post it on Third Night Network, and trade with various clubs. After getting some data, he would then distribute it to the numerous ordinary players, cultivating user habits. Consequently, many ordinary players started to naturally gather here for discussions and exchanges."

Paradise actually had forums, but those could only be used in the real world.

However, due to... the division between hubs, each major club had its own system, with more serious official websites and no time to cater to ordinary players, leaving this entertainment area to be captured by Third Night Network, which specialized in gossip and minor entertainment.

"But..." Bai Yilin spoke calmly, "This website has a lot of internal messages, and also personal data on many clubs and superstar newcomers. All of that is confidential. How do you know about it?"

"Of course, that's because..." Su Qi's voice slowly came over, he stepped forward, walking from the door to the front, "The Hustlers have friends everywhere."

Bai Yilin was startled.

He suddenly fell silent because new information began to appear before his eyes.

[Someone is entering The Hustlers Club lobby]

[Someone is entering...]

Messages kept popping up.

As the club door opened, figures walked in through the entrance.

Bai Yilin's expression stiffened slightly.

All were young and some held familiar faces, and their IDs were not hidden. At first glance, Bai Yilin knew their identities.

[Sword White Clothes]

[Left Hand]

[Bai Qiangwei]

[Red Wolf]

[Yun Zhantian]

[...]

"...These are all... the superstar newcomers cultivated by the top major clubs." A flicker of surprise showed in Bai Yilin's eyes.

Every person who appeared here had performed well in the ranking battles, were the new stars who had risen after entering Paradise, and, more importantly, the organizations backing them... were all top-tier as well.

Yet, they were all here.

"Brother Su, long time no see."

"Long time no see, Su Buxian."

Everyone greeted each other.

"Seeing you intact kind of bothers me." This was Left Hand, speaking in a somber tone, "This is also the first time you've formally responded to us in a long while."

Su Qi faced everyone with a smile, "Have a seat first, classmates."

Ever since his own name became widely known after the Rainbow Bridge incident, a wide array of clubs had sent him numerous emails – threats, invitations, contacts, trades, etc. – to which Su Qi had not replied.

Including Left Hand and others, after their clubs knew they had contact with him, they all wanted to reach out.

Previously.

Su Qi would 'politely decline', but after learning from the young man with black hair about the hub matter, he decided to do something.

"First off, let me introduce two members of The Hustlers Sect."

Su Qi looked towards Xiao Bai Tong, "Xiao Bai Tong, whom you've met."