I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 511, Section 2.1: Cunning
[King's City Cafe No. 6 14:55:00]
The handsome young man sat by the window, casually stirring the hot cocoa in front of him, resting his chin on his hand, and gazing at the slightly deserted street outside.

The Royal City is the city where all players are teleported to after completing the beginner dungeon; in gaming terms, it could even be called the starting village. Of course, due to the Royal City's special rules, it's also the safest town, making it the best choice for discussing anything.

My phone vibrated slightly beside my elbow, and a new message popped up on the screen.

—From [Isaiah]: Vice President, please don't offer me up, thank you, I don't want to die yet.

Shui Qi glanced at the message from Isaiah with her narrow eyes, and her lips twitched slightly. Isaiah really always had the word "fear of death" on his lips, as if he was afraid that others would push him to the front line to die.

The doorbell rang softly, and a dark-haired man walked in.

Shui Qi glanced up and then looked away after seeing that it wasn't Mu Yegui. However, the man happened to walk up and sit down behind him.

He frowned, unsure whether the person was doing it intentionally or not, but he was certain that it wasn't the aura of a player; it was probably an NPC.

Shui Qi glanced at the time [14:58:23]. According to Mu Yegui's habits, he probably wouldn't arrive unless he was right on time. There was still a little over a minute left.

Just then, the man sitting behind him suddenly shouted, his voice piercing the quiet café, "What? You can't come? Are you standing me up?"

The coffee shop was nearly empty, with only a handful of customers, easily countable on one hand. At that moment, everyone, including the waiters, turned to look at the man who was speaking loudly, and involuntarily frowned, hoping he would quiet down.

"I've been waiting for you for so long, and you just say you're not coming? Are you kidding me? Is this fun? Get lost!" The man slammed his phone on the table and roared.

Shui Qi frowned. He really disliked this kind of impolite man, but the agreed time was approaching, so it was better not to waste time. Anyway, it wasn't his business.

[15: 00: 00]
The doorbell rang again, and a young woman in a black dress appeared before them. Her long, misty gray hair was casually draped behind her head, and her face was delicate and beautiful.

She walked straight to Shui Qi and sat down opposite him.

Her cool, silver eyes glanced at Shui Qi and asked, "Am I late?"

"No, just in time." They arrived at the exact moment, not even a second off.

Mu Yegui ordered a cup of black tea and an angel food cake, and then got straight to the point without any preamble.

"I need to pick someone up from you."

Shui Qi paused slightly while stirring the hot cocoa, then replied calmly, "Isaiah will not lend it."

"What's the reason?" Mu Yegui asked.

“That guy was afraid of dying. Before he left, he kept clinging to my leg, begging me not to sell him. I felt sorry for him. With a physique even weaker than Dao Lin’s, it’s better if he doesn’t go to the front lines. After all, I’m the vice president of the Strategist Association, and I can’t bear to see such a talented person die.” Shui Qi looked at Mu Yegui with a smile and added, “You agree, right?”

Mu Yegui's expression remained unchanged. She could tell that Shui Qi was setting a trap for her, hoping she would give up Isaiah. Although she had already planned to switch to Lan Xiao, she decided to cooperate with him for now.

“That’s not right,” Mu Yegui said.

Shui Qi: "..." "Isaiah told me about the situation of that copy. I want to confirm first that you did not tell the other crown princes about the contents of this copy."

Mu Yegui shook his head and pondered, "Mingjin said that anyone else would die if they went, so I gave up the idea of ​​telling everyone. After all, the Real Gem dungeon has only just begun, and we can't let the other crown princes perish here. So far, besides those in the dungeon and the twins, only you and Isaiah know about this."

“I see…” Shui Qi seemed to be deep in thought, his narrow blue eyes filled with a hint of mystery, while a faint, unfathomable smile played on his lips.

Just then, the man behind Shui Qi shouted again, "I'll give you one more chance! Are you coming or not!"

Mu Yegui glanced at the figure's back, her expression seemingly filled with surprise and confusion.

Shui Qi shrugged and said helplessly, "I arrived a few minutes before you, it seems I was stood up."

"Depend on!"

The commotion continued, and a waiter went over to gently persuade the man, but this only provoked a violent resistance from him.

“I can refuse Isaiah, but you have to give me a smart and capable person. Isaiah couldn’t have left you without telling you about the dungeon. The map is huge, and I need someone to conduct some investigations in secret.”

“People can’t be lent out casually. You should know the importance of the Crown Prince. Losing any one of them would be a loss for our Conquerors Association,” Shui Qi said slowly. He believed that Mu Yegui understood what he meant. Since she took the initiative to speak, it meant that she had given him room to negotiate.

"so?"

"You have to give me a reasonable reward that I can agree to."

“No one knows what the real gem looks like, nor can anyone determine which one is the real gem. I can only say that after the dungeon ends, all the rewards will be split equally among the participants, and no one else can complain about who gets the real gem. Is that enough? As for the rest, if you want me to hand it all over, I don’t think that’s something I can decide on my own.” Mu Yegui said slowly, his clear, silver eyes fixed on Shui Qi.

She truly didn't understand the mystery of the Real Gem of Sloth, and there wasn't another Real Gem for her to distinguish, so everything she said above was true.

“Dividing it equally…that’s a reasonable way to distribute it,” Shui Qi said slowly.

"So, do you accept it?"

“But what if he dies? You yourself said you wanted to borrow the crown prince to handle things in the shadows. That’s a very dangerous thing. One wrong move and he could die. You can’t protect him all the time. If he really dies, the crown prince will just disappear like that, and there’s no way to make up for it.”

Shui Qi gazed at Mu Yegui with a deep, dark look in her narrow blue eyes.

"So, what do you want?" Mu Yegui asked.

"Do you remember what I said to you when I first met you at the coffee shop? Back then, I invited you to join the Conqueror's Guild, and I haven't given up on that even now. If you borrow someone and cause their death, you must become a member of the Conqueror's Guild as a loss, otherwise I will not agree."

Shui Qi smiled lightly as she looked at Mu Yegui, quietly waiting for her answer.

(End of this chapter)