Chapter 10 - Make Celestial Fox City Great Again! Vote the Groom as Your City Lord!
Fu Tong's expression changed into a pokerface doodle meme. A second later, he let out a long sigh and fetched eight gold coins from his pocket. He tossed a coin to every carrier and asked them again.
"What is this wedding? Why are they throwing spice at me?"
The same fox smiled while he caught the coin. He told him the truth.
"By the laws laid down, all suitors who seek to win the favor of the City Lord must be well-seasoned. Should he fail to sway the hearts of all within the city, he shalt be served as meat for the folk."
Fu Tong froze for a moment. A few seconds later, he inclined on the chair and snorted.
"Ah, I forgot. You foxes eat humans."
He remembered a ceremony that had only been mentioned in the lore, but no such event occurred in the scenario chapters. Trial of the Alpha was the name of this ceremony. Regardless of race and background, anybody who courted the current city lord and attempted to take over the city had to go through this trial.
The test was simple—He had to convince all 100,000 civilians and Jin Yu's personal attendants to approve him as the new city lord.
All of them.
Not half.
Not the majority.
Not the democratic way.
ALL! 100% VOTERS!
Children and infants included!
And what happened if he failed? He would be eaten.
Acquiring enough information, Fu Tong tossed another coin to every carrier and ordered them.
"While parading, I want y'all to relay my words. Tell all civilians that if you support me as your new city lord and approve this wedding, I'll give everybody 10 of these."
The eight foxes turned to Fu Tong, staring at him in disbelief.
"R-Really?!"
Fu Tong smirked, "If you eat me, your lord will confiscate all my karma coins, and you'll get nothing. But if everybody cooperates, you get rich together. What do you say?"
This was the oldest trick in the book—Bribery.
The carriers looked at each other. Although they were still wearing masks, Fu Tong could see their grinning face through their voice.
"We shalt give our utmost, my Lord!" The fox turned to the crowd and bellowed. "STAND WITH THE GROOM! TEN KARMA COINS TO ALL WHO DO!"
Another carrier followed suit. He shouted. "DEVOUR HIM, AND THOU SHALT EARN NAUGHT! SUPPORT HIM, AND TEN COINS SHALT BE THINE!"
More carriers convinced the others.
"The groom be worthy alpha! Stand by him, and 10 karma coins shalt grace thee this day!"
"Feast not upon him, lest thy reward be forfeit! Lend thy voice to the groom!"
"Cast thy vote for the groom! Give thy support for coin aplenty!"
"Thou foul hyena who casts his lot to feast upon the groom shalt be lynched ere sunrise!"
Listening to these foxes, Fu Tong laughed and secretly created more gold coins in his cloth sleeves.
The parade lasted the entire afternoon. By the time they brought him back to the wedding ceremony area, the sun already set. The eight palanquin carriers knelt, allowing Fu Tong to step out.
He turned around and smiled at the muscular fox men. Thanking them, he tipped everybody 15 gold coins.
"For your help. You'll get 10 more if I survive this."
"Fear not, my lord! Thine life shalt be preserved!" These men grinned from ear to ear while they distributed the money.
Fu Tong gazed behind the palanquin. A mass of crowd gathered, smiling and anticipating the promised bribe. He shook his head and snickered.
Turning around, he faced the wedding area. Banquet tables had already been prepared, and food was served, yet nobody sat at the tables.
A female retainer of Jin Yu walked toward Fu Tong and gestured for him to enter. He nodded and walked toward the elevated square stage in the middle of the wedding area. As usual, this place was as red as other buildings.
As Fu Tong stepped onto the stage, he got a clearer view of the banquet area. At the back, a giant barrel containing his bath water soup had already been warmed. Several female cooks were in the middle of distributing the soup to every table.
Making sure that the workers heard his bribe offer, Fu Tong deeply inhaled and shouted.
"I'll make the Celestial Fox City great again! Support me, the groom, and you get 10 karma coins! If you eat me, you get NOTHING!"
All retainers stopped working and looked at Fu Tong, frozen in their track. Some dropped their tools and soup bowls that they had been carrying. A few seconds later, they turned to face each other. Without hesitation, they all turned toward Fu Tong and knelt, sparkling eyes shining through their masks.
Fu Tong let out a long sigh. He prayed that his effort was enough.
Still, bribing them was not enough. His gamer's experience told him that a certain EVENT might occur during the wedding. Forming a backup plan for the worst-case scenario, he muttered.
"Run Command Console."
In reality, a person with high vitality lives longer and is stronger than others. Meanwhile, in-game, characters with high vitality had a higher lifespan, a longer health bar, better stamina, and a better defense attribute.
Therefore, game characters with max vitality attributes, regardless of cultivation rank, had the lowest chance of dying or getting killed in one hit. Moreover, in the early game, it was nearly impossible to kill someone with max VIT without using a cheat tool.
And here was Fu Tong, reciting cheat codes.
local npc = GameAPI.GetNPC("npc_225107")
if npc then
npc:SetAttribute("Strength", 9999)
npc:SetAttribute("Vitality", 9999)
npc:SetAttribute("Dexterity", 9999)
npc:SetAttribute("Agility", 9999)
npc:SetAttribute("Intelligence", 9999)
npc:SetAttribute("Wisdom", 9999)
npc:SetAttribute("Charisma", 100)
npc:SetAttribute("Luck", 100)
end
Adult human NPC had roughly 3-5 points in all stats. A level 1 Qi Condensation cultivator had about 7 to 10 on their best attribute, and level 9's specialized attribute peaked at around 70 to 80 points. Named NPC characters with the same cultivation base were 10 to 20% stronger than average cultivators, and they received bonus status attributes from their unique skills, cultivation base, and personal traits.
The peak of the mortal realm—The Quasi-Immortal Stage—could raise one or two stats up to 999. To improve further, an ascension breakthrough was required. Peak-stage immortal's max attributes also couldn't exceed 9,999, making this value ideal for surviving the current situation.
Fu Tong set everything at the safest value. He could have made the numbers higher. However, he was afraid of one thing—Himself.
Relying on game theories in real combat was like trying to learn how to swim by reading a book. Fu Tong wasn't confident that he could control the newfound power without practical experience. The stats could be edited at the other time. But for now, he needed practice.
Fu Tong ran the codes. The command console disappeared, applying changes.
Instantly, Fu Tong's muscles, bones, and internal organs underwent a transformation. He lost consciousness for a moment. But in that split second, he had a long dream.