Chapter 90: The Global Protection Fee System Goes Live, Chinese Players Achieve Godhood

William's reply finally arrived three hours after Lin Ye returned to Dawn City. It wasn't a private message; the guild leader of the US Server's Freedom Alliance had personally brought two vice leaders, traveling via the cross-server teleportation array from the US Server's main city, Freedom City. The three of them stood at the entrance of the first floor of the Unscrupulous Business Center. William looked up at the "Unscrupulous Business Center" sign and stood there for a full minute without saying a word.

A vice leader whispered to him, "Leader, shall we go in?" William took a deep breath and stepped through the entrance of the business center.

The shelves in the first-floor material supermarket were packed with casual players from the Chinese Server. Some were stuffing Star Core Fragments into shopping baskets, while others were snapping up discounted Abyss Crystals. There was a long line in front of the checkout counter, and Fatty Wang was so busy behind the register that he didn't even look up. William pushed through the crowd toward the stairs; no one stopped him, and no one gave him a second glance. This feeling of being ignored was even worse than being besieged.

In the third-floor VIP room, Lin Ye sat by the window, drinking tea. Su Qinghan sat opposite him, reviewing the US Server data report on her tablet, while Pojun leaned against the doorway, silent as always. When William walked in, Lin Ye didn't look up, merely pointing to the chair opposite him. William sat down, and the two vice leaders stood behind him, not daring to make a sound.

"Brother Ye, the US Server's Freedom Alliance is willing to pay the protection fee," William said, getting straight to the point, his voice as steady as he could manage. "But we have a condition. Can the US Server have the same price as the Korean Server? Although we participated in the cross-server conflicts, we weren't as excessive as the Japanese Server. We really didn't participate in those times when Sakura Shrine ambushed Chinese Server players."

Lin Ye set down his teacup and glanced at Su Qinghan. Su Qinghan turned the tablet around. On the screen was a detailed record of cross-server conflicts, with dates, locations, participating guilds, and specific actions listed clearly one by one.

"The US Server's Freedom Alliance participated in ambushing Chinese Server players three times. The first time was in a Chinese Server wilderness map, where you robbed casual players of their Abyss materials. The second time was at the entrance of a Chinese Server dungeon, where you blocked the War Soul Hall's raiding party. The third time was at the cross-server passage, where you colluded with the Japanese Server to blockade a Chinese Server transport team." Su Qinghan's voice was calm as she read it out clearly.

William's face turned pale. The two vice leaders beside him lowered their heads, not daring to look at him. Su Qinghan turned the tablet back and added, "There is video evidence for all three incidents. Two of them were provided by Kim Hyun-tae, and one by Yamada Ichiro."

William stood up abruptly. "Kim Hyun-tae and Yamada Ichiro sold me out?" Lin Ye pointed to the chair, signaling him to sit down. William sat back down, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists. He finally understood what Yamada Ichiro's private message had meant. Kim Hyun-tae knelt first, then Yamada Ichiro followed; after they both knelt, they conveniently pushed him to the very front. Of the three-person alliance, two had already turned traitor, leaving the last one still holding out.

"The US Server's basic protection fee package is 300 million gold coins per year, and the exclusive guild package is 1.5 billion gold coins per year." Lin Ye's voice was calm, as if he were talking about the weather.

William looked up abruptly. "300 million? The Korean Server is 100 million, the Japanese Server is 200 million, why is the US Server 300 million?"

Lin Ye took a sip of his tea before speaking slowly. "The Korean Server's 100 million was because Kim Hyun-tae came to negotiate with me in person. He wore novice cloth armor and sold all his gear; his sincerity was evident. The Japanese Server's 200 million was because Yamada Ichiro first set up a formation of 300 men to fight me, and only conceded after the fight, so his sincerity was discounted. You, William, have neither Kim Hyun-tae's sincerity nor Yamada Ichiro's display. You just brought your vice leaders over and started negotiating terms right away. 300 million isn't the price for the US Server; it's the price for your attitude, William."

William opened his mouth to retort, but any rebuttal felt pale and powerless. Kim Hyun-tae came alone wearing novice cloth armor; Yamada Ichiro emptied his guild warehouse and put on a grand show of 300 men. He, William, had done nothing but bring two vice leaders and his mouth. 300 million for an attitude; he had nothing to say.

After a long silence, William's voice turned hoarse. "300 million it is. But can the guild's additional terms be the same as the Korean Server's? 30% of the warehouse materials distributed to US Server casual players, and I will serve as the Casual Player Protection Officer for three years. I am willing to sign."

Lin Ye pushed the tablet toward him. The agreement was already prepared: US Server basic package at 300 million gold coins per year, exclusive guild package at 1.5 billion gold coins per year, with additional terms exactly the same as the Korean Server's. William signed the agreement, pressed his thumbprint, and stamped it with the Freedom Alliance guild emblem. After signing, he stood up, bowed to Lin Ye, and turned to head downstairs. He paused when he reached the staircase.

"Brother Ye, I will remember the fact that Kim Hyun-tae and Yamada Ichiro sold me out."

Lin Ye did not turn around. "Settle your own scores among the three of you. I only have one rule: once you sign the agreement, execute it properly. You know the cost of breaching the contract."

William was silent for a moment, then walked downstairs.

When the news that the US Server had signed the agreement spread across all global servers, the cross-server channel completely erupted. It wasn't the protest of overseas players, but the carnival of Chinese Server players.

"Invincible Sword God flooded the chat: Korean Server 100 million, Japanese Server 200 million, US Server 300 million! Brother Ye has reshuffled the global server regions with protection fees!"

"Brick-Moving Expert followed closely: The US Server's 300 million is the most expensive, but they are also the ones who ambushed the most. Brother Ye's logic for charging is sound; you pay based on how many bad deeds you've done."

"Wocao Wuqing added: Kim Hyun-tae wore novice cloth armor and only got 100 million, while William just opened his mouth and got hit with 300 million; attitude is truly valuable in the workplace."

Seeing that the US Server had signed the agreement, the guild leaders of several small servers in Southeast Asia rushed to Dawn City overnight via the cross-server teleportation array. The Indian Server came, the Australian Server came, the South American Server came; several guild leaders lined up to enter the third floor of the Unscrupulous Business Center, signing the agreements one by one. Lin Ye didn't discriminate; he unified the basic package at 100 million gold coins per year and the guild package at 500 million gold coins per year, with additional terms consistent with the Korean Server.

When the Indian Server leader finished signing, he couldn't help but ask, "Brother Ye, I heard William's attitude was bad, so it was raised to 300 million?"

Lin Ye didn't even look up. "Your attitude is fine; no need to add anything."

The Indian Server leader felt relieved, hurriedly bowed, and walked quickly downstairs. After signing, the Australian Server leader asked, "Brother Ye, our server already has few casual players; will 30% of the warehouse materials not be enough?"

Lin Ye glanced at him. "If there are few casual players, just convert the excess into gold coins and send them directly to the casual players' accounts; no need to go through the warehouse transfer."

The Australian Server leader was stunned for a moment, then nodded repeatedly and backed away.

The global tiered protection fee packages were officially launched on the Unscrupulous Business Center's website. The Korean Server's basic package was 100 million gold coins per year, the Japanese Server's was 200 million, the US Server's was 300 million, and all other servers were set at 100 million. The exclusive guild packages were priced at five times the basic package. All packages included cross-server safe grinding, priority access to resources, regular BOSS escorts, and protection from the Lord of the Abyss's avatars. Guilds that purchased the packages could also obtain priority purchasing rights at the Unscrupulous Business Center's material supermarket.

As soon as the package page went live, the server crashed due to the traffic. It wasn't the Chinese Server, but the cross-server trading platform. Guilds from all major servers around the world flooded into the ordering page simultaneously, and purchase requests poured in like a flood. GM Xiao Zhou urgently expanded the server capacity three times, but it still couldn't hold up. He had no choice but to temporarily disable access for several small Southeast Asian servers to prioritize processing orders for the major servers that had already signed. The Southeast Asian guild leaders who were shut out collectively flooded the cross-server channel to protest, and Xiao Zhou, sweating profusely, apologized to them one by one.

On the first day the packages went live, the number of global guild signings exceeded 3,000, and the daily revenue broke through 3 billion gold coins, equivalent to over 150 million in real-world currency. Fatty Wang squatted in the background looking at the data, pressing the calculator in his hand until it smoked.

"Brother, we've sold 20 Korean Server guild packages, 15 Japanese Server packages, and 10 US Server packages. The other servers are still rising. Total revenue has already broken 3 billion gold coins."

Lin Ye stood by the third-floor window, watching the night view of Dawn City. The scrolling speed of the cross-server channel was twice as fast as usual, and Chinese Server players had been spamming "Brother Ye is awesome" for a full hour. From the village massacre led by Kim Hyun-tae in the Novice Village, to Kim Hyun-tae kneeling and begging for mercy in the square of Seoul City in the Korean Server, to Yamada Ichiro bowing his head and trembling in his guild territory, and finally to William standing at the entrance of the business center with an ashen face. Chinese Server players watched from beginning to end, taking screenshots and saving every iconic moment.

Someone on the forum carefully compiled a record of Brother Ye's cross-server achievements: Kim Hyun-tae sold all his gear and came to Dawn City in novice cloth armor for negotiations, paid 8.21 million gold coins in compensation, and was afflicted with a permanent pig-squeal debuff. Yamada Ichiro emptied his warehouse to set up a 300-man formation, was scared into putting away his weapons by six Abyss Council members, and his hands were shaking when he signed for 2 billion. William brought two vice leaders to negotiate terms, was fined 300 million for his "attitude," and after signing, still had to settle scores with Kim Hyun-tae and Yamada Ichiro.

The post was translated into six languages and posted on the forums of all major global servers. Under the post, Chinese Server players collectively spammed the same sentence: "I have no regrets joining the Chinese Server in this life; in the next life, I will still be a member of the Ye family."

Lin Ye closed the forum and turned to look at Su Qinghan. "The matter with the overseas alliances isn't over yet. When William signed the agreement, he said one thing: he said he would remember the account of Kim Hyun-tae and Yamada Ichiro selling him out. The implication is that he's not just keeping score of Kim Hyun-tae and Yamada Ichiro."

Su Qinghan nodded. "William's local influence in the US Server is much greater than Kim Hyun-tae's in the Korean Server. Although the Freedom Alliance has signed the agreement, there are still several medium-sized guilds in the US Server that haven't declared their stance. William conceding himself doesn't mean he can suppress everyone in the US Server." She paused for a moment and added, "And we are missing a key technical person. Things like network defense and offense, data monitoring, and intelligence gathering for overseas servers simply cannot be managed by Fatty Wang and the existing logistics team alone."

Lin Ye nodded slightly. "I'm already keeping an eye out for technical talent. Kim Hyun-tae is also helping me look; he says there's a retired hacker in the Korean Server."

Su Qinghan gave a soft hum and made a note on her tablet.

The light of the cross-server passage flickered outside the window; players from global servers were pouring into the Chinese Server, wanting to see with their own eyes what this business center that made the leaders of the three major servers bow in submission really looked like. And Lin Ye simply lifted his teacup and took a slow sip in the night.