"How am I supposed to know you won't stab me in the back?" Treemonkey King's raspy voice rose again.
John sighed with feigned resignation.
"If I say I won't betray you, you wouldn't believe me anyway. But right now, all it would take is one loud call to the overseers watching this area, and they'd surely have us pull out ahead of time."
"What they'll do to you then, I have no idea.
I'm just here to win, and as long as you help me, I of course won't spill the beans," John said, smiling slyly, but Treemonkey King just snorted coldly.
"Humans are truly shameless!"
Instead of getting angry, John chuckled lightly.
"Thanks for the compliment; I also think I'm quite shameless."
Was this what you call cooperation? This was practically unilateral blackmail!
And the kind that Treemonkey King couldn't possibly refuse!
"I could kill you right now," Treemonkey King fumed internally, yet he was utterly powerless and resorted to making threats.
"Go ahead, try and kill everyone in my fortress, what good would that do? At worst, we'll just respawn outside."
"But whether you can respawn or not, well, that I don't know."
John was the picture of an unscrupulous rogue, leaving Treemonkey King somewhat out of options.
Though he despised this man immensely, he couldn't deny that everything the man said was true!
They could simply walk away, but how could they make up for the harm done to the forest and their kin?
His pale green pupils stared fixedly at the man before him.
"You better keep your word!"
John rose from the ground, brushed off non-existent dust from his clothes, and smiled warmly at Treemonkey King.
"So we can cooperate now? Here's to a fruitful collaboration!"
Treemonkey King, face stern, didn't utter any further objections.
"Alright, next, I need two things from you. First, have your minions continuously bombard this stone slope with blaststone. I need the black iron ore and borax inside," John explained.
Treemonkey King silently regarded John for a moment before nodding in agreement.
If it was just this request, it wouldn't pose any particular difficulty for them.
After all, his minions did indeed need some exercise, and hurling stones was just one of their occasional pastimes.
With Treemonkey King's consent, a radiant smile spread across John's face.
He had only been testing the waters; if Treemonkey King had refused, he would have had the logistics team come and mine the area themselves.
But with the agreement in place, why not proceed?
Just blast everything out and have the logistics team collect it later.
This was far more convenient than mining and collecting separately.
"Do you know if there's a place nearby where medicinal herbs are particularly abundant? I also need a large quantity of herbs," John added somewhat eagerly.
Though they couldn't understand what John was saying, his sly smile was a giveaway that it was probably no good! This was beyond their comprehension.
Had platinum-tier bosses become so easy to talk to now?
"I said I don't have any, get lost!" the Monkey King barked.
John, however, didn't seem upset at all; instead, he kept smiling and pacing around the Monkey King.
Finally, driven to distraction, the Monkey King pulled out two bottles of wine and tossed them to John.
"If you bother me again, I'll kill you!"
John caught the two gourds.
As he popped open the caps, a rich aroma of wine instantly filled the air.
[Item] Monkey Wine
[Quality] Common
[Attributes] Drinking it increases magic attack power by 20%, attack power by 20%, reduces MP consumption by 50%, restores 300 stamina points, and dispels Frozen status. (Random chance of acquiring Drunkenness buff.) content-source-NovelFire
Indeed, a fine item!
Both attack power and magic attack power are boosted by 20%, and MP consumption is halved. Most importantly, it restores 300 stamina points and can dispel Frozen status—a debuff usually removable only by priests or specific antidotes.
This monkey wine can serve both as a burst potion and a cleansing agent—truly a valuable find.
The only puzzling part is the Drunkenness buff.
What exactly is that about?
Drunkenness might lead to uncontrollable movements, though it's unclear if this debuff carries other effects.
"Thanks, big brother!"
John chuckled and then sent the coordinates to Archibald, instructing him to arrange for a team to come and harvest, and made it clear that if they encountered any monkeys, they were absolutely not to harm them.
He also made it known that they were in a cooperative relationship with the monkeys.
After giving his instructions, John followed the little monkey to an area dense with medicinal herbs.
Meanwhile, Archibald was overwhelmed with managing the fortress's affairs when he suddenly received this private message, leaving him completely baffled.
What does he mean, 'Do not harm the monkeys'?
What's this about a 'cooperative relationship with the monkeys'?
What on earth was going on?
He knew each word individually, but why did it seem so perplexing when put together?
Lavinia was discussing logistics with Archibald when she noticed his sudden silence.
"What's wrong? What happened?" she asked.
Archibald hesitated, then finally spoke, "We... have an alliance now."
Leopold was also present and his eyes lit up when he heard Archibald say this.
"Have we made contact with the second or third fortress yet? Have they also formed an alliance with us for mutual defense?"