Chapter 153: Not Lifting A Finger

Hudi had guessed it right all along. Tad had not planned at all to use his own Credit Points to buy warships. Instead, Tad used this reason to start another campaign, urging everyone to donate Credit Points.

But even a fool could see now that Tad was just using this excuse to squeeze them dry. So naturally, no one foolishly agreed to his proposal. In the end, Tad was left feeling extremely awkward.

Hudi quickly arranged all the warships and then returned to the meeting room.

Seeing the expressions on everyone’s faces, Hudi also knew that Tad had not taken his suggestion.

“Tad, do you really think we can defeat our opponent?”

Hudi stood opposite Tad and shouted loudly.

“Why not?” Tad looked at Hudi as if it were completely natural. “According to the intel, our enemy is just a merchant from a high-level Fantasy Dimension. He doesn’t have any decent fighting power, and we have so many warships. How could we possibly not beat him?”

Hudi shook his head. “We all know that merchants from Fantasy Dimensions are at a disadvantage against those from the Sci-Fi Series, but please don’t forget. The other side might find other merchants to help. Who knows if there are any high-level merchants in their camp!”

Tad was not worried about this at all. He waved his hand at Hudi and said, “Your worry is completely unnecessary. The information clearly states that the friends our enemy had made already cut ties with him when we announced the war. So I don’t think he’ll have anyone helping him…”

It turned out that in the intel Tad had bought, the System had revealed all of Andrew’s situation. However, this information was from twelve hours ago. If Tad bought another round of intel, he would be in for a big shock.

But clearly, spending a large sum of Credit Points again to buy the latest intel was completely out of the question for Tad.

Hudi thought for a moment and said, “How about we all pool all our resources? Let’s gather enough to hire a few mercenaries.” Hudi made the suggestion again. Then, looking very seriously at Tad, he said, “I have a bad feeling, so I think we should try to be safe no matter what.”

A few merchants were tempted by Hudi’s proposal.

But everyone knew that the cost of hiring mercenaries was extremely high. It would require everyone to go bankrupt just to gather enough funds. So even though some were tempted, they did not take any real action.

Who knew if, after donating these Credit Points, Tad would skim another layer off the top?

“Hudi, there are so many of us. Are you afraid the opponent could really cause much trouble? Besides, the price of mercenaries is just too high. We simply can’t afford it.” Obena, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.

Hudi glanced at Obena, then turned to ask everyone, “How many Credit Points does everyone have on hand right now?”

One by one, they reported their amounts. Hudi calculated that altogether, it was less than one million Credit Points.

“It seems everyone might have reported a bit less.” Hudi could do nothing about it. Tad had squeezed them so hard that no one dared to say how many Credit Points they actually had, for fear of being targeted by Tad.

No one knew how Tad treated merchants outside, but within the group, he always exploited the members. Whenever he found out that someone in their Trade Alliance had Credit Points, Tad would do everything possible to take them for himself.

Since Tad had started the Trade Alliance, and at the time everyone didn’t know the System’s rules, they all became members under Tad. Without Tad’s permission, they couldn’t leave the alliance on their own.

It was precisely because of this that the alliance members had no choice but to submit to Tad’s tyranny.

In truth, every one of these members deeply hated Tad, especially because he exploited them so severely.

“Let’s be practical. We can’t fight a war without preparation. If we win, the Credit Points in the opponent’s account will be enough to cover what we spend. But if we lose, we’ll have nothing left—not even our lives will belong to us anymore.”

Hudi spoke loudly to everyone.

When Hudi mentioned the Credit Points in the enemy’s account after defeating him, the eyes of everyone in the meeting room lit up.

“Yes, if we use these Credit Points now, as long as we defeat the enemy and seize his account, we’ll definitely get it all back. Besides, the other side controls vast Magic Fruit resources. That’s another huge source of income.”

Thinking about this, the Trade Alliance members couldn’t help but feel their blood boil.

Defeating the opponent and gaining control of the Magic Fruit resources would be like owning a hen that laid golden eggs. In the future, even if these people did nothing, Credit Points would continuously flow into their accounts.

That was the thinking of the less ambitious members.

“Tad, if you don’t make an effort, you won’t get anything. Surely you know what problems we would face if we don’t win this war.”

Hudi turned and pointed at the members around him, saying to Tad, “We here don’t have many Credit Points left. Probably soon, we’ll be wiped out by the System because of Tax issues. So we have no way out—unlike you.”

Hudi looked at Tad, his mouth curling slightly.

Seeing Hudi’s mocking expression, Tad felt furious inside.

But now he couldn’t lose his temper. After all, he still needed these cannon fodders to do the work.

Tad needed Hudi and the others to wear down Lei Yaotian’s strength. Then he could wait at his ease, and when they were all exhausted, he would step in and reap the rewards.

So Tad suppressed all his anger when facing Hudi.

“I think we are all in the same boat. If the Magic Fruit doesn’t sell, I’ll be eliminated too. I also need to sell Magic Fruit to earn Credit Points to pay the Tax.” Tad pretended to speak kindly to Hudi.

Hudi still looked at Tad with that mocking expression. Hearing Tad’s words, he said, “Are you really the same as us? I don’t think so. How many Credit Points have you squeezed out of us over the years? And you claim you’re as poor as we are?”

Hudi refused to believe that Tad was as broke as he claimed.

Over the years, Tad had used this Trade Alliance to exploit countless Credit Points from everyone. You could say that the Credit Points everyone should have earned basically ended up in Tad’s pocket alone.

But now Tad had the nerve to say he was poor too. Who did he think he was fooling?

“Tad, we’re facing a survival crisis now. I think it’s time you used some from your own account. Don’t always be so stingy.” Hudi’s words grew harsher.

And Tad’s expression grew uglier.

“Hudi, I can use my Credit Points however I want. Do I need you to tell me what to do?” Tad responded bluntly.

“Hmph, then how did you get us to give you Credit Points to buy warships in the first place?” Hudi snorted coldly at Tad. Then he pointed at the patched-up warships outside and yelled, “But look at what you bought! Are those even warships?”

“I don’t want to argue with you about this anymore. All I’m asking now is for you to contribute some Credit Points to hire fighters to battle for us. Isn’t that for everyone’s benefit?”

Hudi truly despised Tad, this penny-pincher.

Getting Tad to spend money to hire fighters for the battle was truly painful for him.

If Andrew had been a high-level merchant, Tad might actually have agreed to Hudi’s suggestion.

But Andrew was only a second-tier merchant, which made Tad feel that dealing with such a low-level opponent didn’t require such a big effort.

Besides, Tad was not unprepared. He had indeed spent a large number of Credit Points to hire a group of people, both to defeat Andrew and to take out the Trade Alliance members at the same time.

But Tad didn’t want Hudi and the others to know about this.

What’s more, to hire these guys, Tad’s account had been completely emptied. So more than anyone else, Tad desperately wanted victory.

But could he say any of this?

Obviously not.

So when Hudi pressured him to contribute Credit Points, Tad could only endure it, rather than lose his temper at Hudi as he usually did.

Still, Tad cursed Hudi secretly in his heart.

“Bastard! How dare you talk to me like that? But since you’re about to die, I’ll bear with you. When the war starts, it won’t be too late for revenge!”

Tad kept a smile on his face, but inside he wished he could tear Hudi to pieces immediately.

Seeing Tad being so stubborn, Hudi had no other options left.

Checking the time, there were only thirty minutes left before the start of the Dimensional War. Hudi said to Tad and everyone else, “Let’s all pray. Pray that our opponent doesn’t understand the rules of Dimensional War and the System’s functions. If that’s not the case, given the opponent’s financial resources, we’re in great danger.”

Hudi was the most clear-headed person in the group, but unfortunately, his teammates were useless.

Obena, sitting off to the side, spoke up again. “A second-tier merchant from a Fantasy Dimension—this should be his first time experiencing a Dimensional War. He probably doesn’t know much about the rules or the System’s functions. So Hudi, you can relax. The opponent couldn’t possibly be that lucky.”

Did Andrew not have that kind of luck?

He really didn’t, but his “friend” Lei Yaotian did.

“I’m begging you to buy updated intel on the opponent from the System!” Hudi made one last effort.

“That’s completely unnecessary!” Tad rejected Hudi’s proposal.

Meanwhile, on the other side, with ten minutes left until the start of the war, Lei Yaotian once again bought intel on the opponent. Lei Yaotian did this every hour.

Because of this, Lei Yaotian now had a thorough understanding of Tad’s situation.

Of course, Lei Yaotian had paid a hefty price for this—the intel sold by the System was very expensive…