145: Chapter 145 Changing the Strategic Direction

Small Inn.

Zhao Hongxiu's accident made the atmosphere in the room somewhat heavy.

Although [Rule 1] mentioned that Zhao Hongxiu would be automatically resurrected in the next act.

However, the first act was already difficult for the Dragon Kingdom, and now, with one person missing and no high rankings for the Dragon Kingdom among the Famous Scholars, it would be strange if the gloomy atmosphere wasn't heavy.

Perhaps the cameras Chen Aoyun shook out of his backpack could dilute this atmosphere of disappointment, but that was only on the condition that the cameras really contained the footage needed by the Famous Scholar [Ranger].

Silently opening the first camera, Chen Aoyun adjusted the playback speed to 10x.

Sitting together in a circle, the original four had become three, all staring intently at the camera screen.

The screen first showed the footage of Chen Aoyun setting up the camera, followed by a long, empty view of the rooftop...

From day to dusk, there were only floating clouds and the occasional bird flying by.

Until the sun set in the west and the footage of Chen Aoyun beginning to retrieve the machine appeared, the footage everyone had been waiting for never appeared in this camera.

"Could he really capture useful footage?"

Not to mention Fan Ling and Xiao Zhenghong frowning, even Chen Aoyun himself had no confidence.

With one machine failing to show the expected footage, Chen Aoyun opened the second machine and played it at 10x speed.

Still nothing!

The third, the fourth... the thirteenth, the fourteenth...

On the rooftops of sixteen high-rise buildings, big and small, Chen Aoyun had placed a total of twenty-three cameras.

Yet, even after playing the contents of the twenty-second camera, there was still nothing to show for it.

"Did it fail? Could that line, [You undercover agents are really interesting, always meeting on the rooftop], not guide the meeting place between the criminals and the officials?"

Chen Aoyun took a deep breath, clutching the last glimmer of hope, and opened the final camera.

At 10x playback speed, the screen remained empty, and seeing the sun in this machine also about to set, Chen Aoyun's expression showed undisguisable disappointment.

At this moment, a massive amount of mocking comments appeared on the live stream screen.

- "I told you the Dragon Kingdom wouldn't succeed doing it this way. How about that? Isn't it just as I predicted!"

- "I wasted my time staying up late watching this; the people of the Dragon Kingdom are truly disappointing. Then again, it's impossible for the Dragon Kingdom to have so many unexpected occurrences in every Game of National Destiny."

Just as those words fell, Chen Aoyun in the live stream suddenly pressed the pause button with quick reflexes!

Fan Ling also leaned his neck forward at almost the same time, pointing at the screen and saying, "That's two people! Holy crap, he actually captured something! Rewind, hurry up and rewind, see what these two people are doing! See if their faces were captured!"

Rewinding, then watching at normal 1x speed.

A person slowly walked into the frame, and a moment later, another person walked out, and judging by their behavior and mannerisms, they were meeting up!

The footage of the transaction was there, and even the faces of both people were captured!

He had done it. Although Fan Ling and Xiao Zhenghong didn't know how Chen Aoyun made these two people appear on the rooftop to trade, the footage already proved that Chen Aoyun had succeeded.

The long-suppressed room was instantly ignited by an emotion mixed with ecstasy and disbelief!

"He actually captured the footage of the transaction!" Fan Ling threw a fierce punch into the air.

Chen Aoyun let out a long, slow breath, his shoulders, which had been tense the whole time, finally relaxing.

Even more shocked were the viewers watching the live stream.

- "???????"

- "Holy crap! He actually captured it?!"

- "Don't run, the person who said they'd kowtow earlier! I've already taken a screenshot!"

They couldn't figure it out, really couldn't figure it out, and in the end, some viewers attributed it to the luck of the Dragon Kingdom people.

"It was just a coincidence that this transaction happened on the rooftop, just good luck; it doesn't prove anything. Just because he captured it once on a rooftop, I don't believe those criminals and officials will be trading on the rooftop every day from today on."

It wasn't that no one was doing the Famous Scholar [Ranger] task.

On the contrary, because this task was special, there were quite a few people paying attention to the transactions between criminals and officials.

It was just that after doing it once or twice, some countries' strategies shifted from doing the task themselves to preventing others from completing it.

Nothing else, mainly because this task was too troublesome and too time-consuming.

The transaction location was uncertain; it could be in a coffee shop, or it could be in a fabric store... You had to tail the other party without being discovered. Wouldn't it be better to use that time to directly capture them and complete the [Officer] task?

As long as one had a high ranking in [Ranger], criminals could be captured directly.

Even among countries where favorability with [Ranger] was not high, few people were willing to waste time on this task.

In the room of the Small Inn, Fan Ling said, "If this filming wasn't luck. If it's really as you said, and you can use coins to make all transactions happen on the rooftop at the highest point of the area. Then, first use the camera to record the transaction footage, and then capture the criminals after the transaction is completed—killing two birds with one stone! You can complete the tasks of two Famous Scholars, [Ranger] and [Officer], at the same time!"

Regarding this, Chen Aoyun shook his head, "Favorability with [Officer] has fallen too far behind; it can't be caught up. Capturing criminals will instead expose that the transactions are all happening on the rooftop. Just focus on the [Ranger] task; don't think about [Officer]."

That made sense, but after Fan Ling nodded, he saw Chen Aoyun staring at him with a strange look in his eyes.

Fan Ling shuddered, having a bad premonition.

Sure enough, Chen Aoyun said, "Coins! I need to crush a large amount of coins to maintain the 'rooftop meeting' logic for the next few days, you know..."

Fan Ling looked distressed, "Big Brother, although my shell company makes money, it can't handle spending like this! Hongxiu is gone, but as long as you don't want to give up the favorability with [Shanghai Merchant], you still have to go to the auction house, right? The expenses at the auction house are not small, and you're asking me for money again..."

Chen Aoyun said, "The auction house still has to be visited; pressure must be applied to [Shanghai Merchant] so it's convenient for me to act on my side. So, continue going to the auction house, but don't bid on items that are too expensive; save the money for me."

Chen Aoyun wouldn't suspect that the transaction appearing on the rooftop was luck; he knew what he had done.

Since that was the case, the Dragon Kingdom's strategy could change.

[Shanghai Merchant] would be secondary, serving as both a diversion and a second option.

And while the [Ranger] task was difficult for other countries, for the Dragon Kingdom, it only required setting up cameras and crushing coins. Aside from needing to consume a large amount of coins, it was safe and didn't consume much energy. By making it the focus of their strategy, perhaps the Dragon Kingdom would have a Heroic Spirit!

Just as the dawn of summoning a Heroic Spirit appeared, Chen Aoyun didn't even have time to breathe a sigh of relief.

Xiao Zhenghong spoke up at this moment, informing him of an event that left Chen Aoyun somewhat surprised and speechless.