Chapter 148: Provocation, A Risky Gamble
Chapter 148: Provocation, A Risky Gamble
Inside the Team 042's lounge, the atmosphere grew tense as Jiang Beifeng delivered his final blow. Even the little skeleton, who had been playing with his new phone, sensed the displeasure of Li Wu.
The skeleton immediately brandished its bone staff, its fiery eyes fixed on Li Wu, flashing with a signal. The message was clear: Is this person a bad guy? Is he bullying Li Wu? Should the skeleton help Li Wu fight him?
However, Li Wu was too focused on Jiang Beifeng to notice the skeleton's actions. His gaze remained locked on Jiang Beifeng.
Li Wu initially thought that Jiang Beifeng's final move was a mistake, but when he saw that Jiang maintained a calm and pleasant expression, even as Li Wu showed his displeasure, he realized that the move was intentional.
Indeed, Jiang Beifeng had planned this move carefully. Before meeting Li Wu, he had prepared two strategies.
The first was a gentle approach, offering Li Wu a sweet deal. If this strategy worked, it would be the ideal outcome, easily securing Li Wu's cooperation.
However, Jiang Beifeng knew this plan might not be that simple. Before their meeting, he had thoroughly analyzed Li Wu, gaining deep insights into his background and personality.
Li Wu was not one to easily forgive and forget. Those who crossed him often faced dire consequences. His first teammate lost his High School League eligibility, their future prospects darkened. The instructor who had rejected him was expelled from Quancheng, and months of hard work were erased.
These two incidents alone revealed Li Wu's unforgiving nature. Yet, beneath his tough exterior, he valued loyalty and gratitude.
A prime example of this was his treatment of Lin Jianying. Despite Lin's betrayal, Li Wu welcomed him back onto the team and even went to war with Ye Qingxue for his sake. Furthermore, he helped cultivate Lin's summon beast to the Elite level.
Jiang Beifeng recognized Li Wu's strong sense of loyalty and gratitude through these actions.
Therefore, Jiang Beifeng concluded that a gentle approach might not work on Li Wu. Li Wu's rivalry with Ye Qingxue had been aided by Zhao Kai Ming, who had done him a significant favor. Additionally, Jiangnan University had provided various forms of support during this time.
Given Li Wu's character, it was unlikely that he would easily betray Jiangnan University, especially after all the help they had given him.
Furthermore, any benefits Jiang Beifeng could offer might be matched by Jiangnan University if they pushed themselves.
Lastly, and most importantly, despite their brief encounter, Jiang Beifeng sensed Li Wu's rejection of him.
This rejection did not diminish even with the offer of generous terms. It was clear that the gentle approach had almost no chance of success, so Jiang Beifeng had to resort to his second strategy.
"Li Wu, you understand your current situation well. Team 018 has already defeated Team 001, and 001 is negotiating with the other two teams.
Unless something unexpected happens, at least one of those teams will give way to Team 018, allowing them to surpass you with 40 points and knock you out of the top four.
This is something you wouldn't want, right? After all, you earned quite a bit from advertisements during the preliminaries.
An impressive achievement, I must say. Without considering Jiangnan's channels, you've accumulated nearly 3,000 points. If you make it to the top 8, this revenue will double. Advancing to the finals will double it again, and winning the championship will earn you a starting bonus of over 10,000 points."
As Jiang Beifeng launched his second strategy, he rubbed his eyes and lifted his head, his expression now exuding a subtle yet infuriating confidence, as if everything were under his control.
Li Wu narrowed his eyes, his emotions unreadable. "Are you threatening me?"
"Not exactly. I'm merely stating the facts."
"How can you be certain that either Team 002 or Team 003 will yield to Team 018?" Li Wu asked coldly asked.
Jiang Beifeng was prepared for this question. "If they don't yield, Team 018 will, at most, tie with you at 39 points. In that case, both teams would need to compete to advance.
Of course, they wouldn't stand a chance against you, but I won't let that happen. If it does, Team 001 will lose two matches, and with the current point standings, all three teams will be tied for third place. The third and fourth places would then be decided among you."
Jiang Beifeng paused, a smile creeping onto his face. "At this point, you might think the situation hasn't changed much..."
"No, it has!" Li Wu interrupted. "In that case, on the surface, three teams will be vying for third and fourth places, but in reality, those two teams will be working together to eliminate me.
If we face Team 001 first, they'll exhaust themselves trying to wear us down, setting the stage for Team 018 to finish us off.
If we encounter Team 018 first, they'll immediately surrender, allowing Team 001 to defeat us. Then, Team 001 will surrender to Team 018, resetting the match."
Jiang Beifeng clapped his hands in admiration. "Well said! That's exactly what will happen. We'll control the duration of the match. As long as we keep you out of the top 8, the competition between the three teams will continue indefinitely!
So, in a sense, the match is already under our control."
"Whether or not you make it to the Top 8 depends on us."
It was evident that in terms of momentum, the opposing team had already overwhelmed Li Wu by a significant margin.
However, Li Wu was not one to be easily intimidated.
"But for you to achieve this, there's a prerequisite—001 must defeat us. Are you that confident that they will surely beat us?"
Li Wu's expression remained unchanged, and his voice was steady, but Jiang Beifeng knew that he was already furious, his temper flaring. It was time to unveil the second plan.
"My faith in our team and 001 is just as strong as your faith in yourself.
Since we all believe in ourselves, how about a bet? If, and only if, you manage to qualify for the Top 8 under our match control, you win.
But if you fail to qualify under our control, then you lose."
With this, Jiang Beifeng's second plan was officially presented.
Since the conciliatory approach wasn't working, he might as well resort to provocation.
Of course, such a simple provocation wouldn't be effective, so Jiang Beifeng sweetened the deal.
"Since it's a bet, there must be a reward.
If you win, I'll give you 10,000 in-game credits and information about the Mini Skeleton's second evolution."
When Jiang Beifeng mentioned the 10,000 credits, Li Wu wasn't that tempted.
With the 1-6-1-9-1-bar-1-look-no-1 version, he was feeling a bit inflated.
Although he couldn't even afford 100 credits at the moment, he considered 10,000 credits to be a small amount. Given some time, even 100,000 credits wouldn't be a big deal.
But when Jiang Beifeng mentioned the information about the Mini Skeleton's second evolution, Li Wu was genuinely intrigued.
Sensing Li Wu's momentary temptation, Jiang Beifeng continued, "And if you lose, you don't have to pay anything. You only need to join Jiangnan University.
Moreover, the conditions I proposed earlier still stand. I can still give you the 10,000 credits and the information about the Mini Skeleton's second evolution.
Well, what do you say? This bet puts you in a completely dominant position. Win or lose, you won't suffer any losses. Surely you won't back down from a bet like this?"
"If you're not even willing to take this bet, it only proves that your confidence is all for show. Deep down, you're just a coward afraid of failure!"
Jiang Beifeng had thrown everything at Li Wu—incentives and provocation.
Now, all that was left was Li Wu's response.
Jiang Beifeng was confident about Li Wu's decision.
He knew Li Wu well; the boy wasn't one for subtleties, and provocation worked well on him.
Not to mention, on top of provocation, there was also enticement.
10,000 credits and information about the Mini Skeleton's second evolution—for a kid from a regular background like Li Wu, this temptation was irresistible.
With both tactics combined, Jiang Beifeng was certain he could lure Li Wu into this losing trap.
Sure enough, he could already see the struggle on Li Wu's face.
Noticing Li Wu's hesitation, Jiang Beifeng smirked.
'Struggling, huh? Well, I'll give you a nudge!'
"Of course, it's just a suggestion. If you're genuinely afraid, you don't have to bet. You can even take some time and decide on the last day of the preliminaries if you prefer."
With that nudge, Li Wu exploded.
"Bet? Why wouldn't I bet? If you're offering money, I have no reason to refuse!"
Jiang Beifeng's smirk widened as he saw Li Wu take the bait.
However, just as his smile emerged, Li Wu's second statement followed.
"But the stakes need to change!
This way, you won't be pulling that 'win or lose, it's all the same' stunt. It's dull and unexciting!
If we're going to bet, the stakes should be equal.
If you lose, you give me 50,000 in-game credits and the information about the Mini Skeleton's second evolution. If I lose, I'll give you 55,000 credits, and the extra 5,000 is for buying that information.
So, do you dare to bet with these stakes?"
"This..."
Jiang Beifeng hadn't expected Li Wu to escape the trap at this moment.
"Wasn't Director Jiang just aggressively pushing us? Now that the stakes have changed, you're not going to back down, are you?"
Well, the provocation strategy had been turned against him.
At this point, Jiang Beifeng had two choices: accept the new stakes and bet, or refuse and let Li Wu walk away, never to bet again.
The second option was something Jiang Beifeng wanted to avoid at all costs.
So, he nodded, "Alright, if you want to change the stakes, then let's bet with these new terms!"
Regardless, the priority was to establish the bet.
After all, Li Wu had no chance of winning. Once he lost and couldn't repay the 55,000 credits, Jiang Beifeng could discuss other terms with him.
Thus, within the 042 team's lounge, a betting agreement was signed.
As soon as the agreement was signed, Li Wu stood up to see them out.
"Director Jiang, I have other matters to attend to. I need to visit the lounges of teams 002 and 003. Excuse me!"
(End of Chapter)
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