Kingdom of Corrosion

...

Peanut was on duty in the watchtower of Invincible Base when he saw a drone fly before him. To his immense surprise, he witnessed a banner hanging from the drone stating, "Shadow Lin Ma will arrive at the base in 30 seconds."

Peanut laughed and then cursed, incredulous that there were drones now? Shadow’s crew had really changed their ways. Peanut descended the watchtower, contacted Invincible to request Emerald Feather, who had followed on duty, to return momentarily.

Upon greeting the two outside the base and having a conversation, Peanut was furious...

Not at Lin Wu and Maya, but internally. As the Deputy Commander, he was clearly in the base, yet the person who received Stone’s radio communication had not informed him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had to call Emerald Feather back in a rush.

To Maya’s surprise, Invincible Base had not downsized but rather recruited even more players, now totaling twelve. Among the twelve players were six veterans and six new ones. Of the six newcomers, three possessed the Fishing Skill. These three could contribute eight food items daily, becoming a major source of sustenance for the base. Invincible had set up logistical and field operation departments, with seven people in the field ops split into shifts and five in logistics, not going on duty, plus an additional Deputy Commander to oversee logistics.

With more people came the formation of cliques and factions. A few days earlier, a logistics member had gotten drunk and caused a scene. Luckily, all weaponry was stored away, but they still managed to injure someone with their fists. Game injuries were commonplace, but getting injured by a colleague was a blow to one’s pride. That, coupled with the alcohol, led to a factional fight of three against three.

By the time Peanut and his group returned, Invincible had already taken control of the situation. After understanding what happened, Peanut insisted on expelling the member who caused the incident. The other Deputy Commander thought it was no big deal and that the troublemaker should just apologize to the involved party once sober. Peanut believed that this violated the fundamental rules of the base, and thus argued with the other Deputy Commander. It was only after Invincible mediated that conflict was averted.

Invincible hadn’t mentioned the incident to Shana during their daily communication but did express his opinion about Peanut, thinking Peanut lacked vision.

After the game update, several logistics players fished daily to obtain food, showing diligence for their contribution had alleviated Invincible Base’s food worries. Following Invincible’s plan, there was an intent to recruit two more intermediate-level Fishing players. Given that fishing was the best source of food, and several North Town players had reached intermediate-level fishing, recruitment wouldn’t be difficult.

Peanut thought that if these players were willing to be poached, it reflected a low level of commitment to their own bases and brothers. Adding such individuals to Invincible Base could lead to a lack of cohesion. Invincible told Peanut that infighting is inevitable in a successful enterprise; conflicts will exist, and what management should focus on is value creation, not fostering brotherly bonds.

The only supporter of Peanut was a player named Raccoon Cat. Emerald Feather lacked clear judgment skills, feeling that both sides made sense. Perhaps this was her strength; she did not support Peanut wholeheartedly just because she was closest to him. To avoid overly close factional relationships, Invincible switched Emerald Feather to his shift and replaced her with an old player who got along well with Peanut.