On the big screen, a new round of land auctions began.

[The developable land in this round of the game is: A7 Nine-Box Grid.]

[Community 9 has selected this Nine-Box Grid as a 'Priority Development Area', thereby automatically obtaining the status of 'First Developer'.]

[Community 12 and Community 15 can bid for the status of 'Second Developer'.]

[Bidding starts now, limited to 3 minutes.]

Zhang Shichao from Community 9 sighed silently, and at this moment, he could really understand Jin Cheng's feelings.

The two communities seemed to be targeted everywhere in this game.

If A1 and A7 of these two Nine-Box Grids could be chosen for development in the first stage, both communities could obtain more land.

At the same time, they were the first two communities to have their crimes announced.

If not for the assistance from Community 17, Community 9 would still only have four shelters, and all players in the community would face collective punishment.

In such a scenario, with four players losing shelter and one player dying, it would fall into a very bad situation similar to Community 7.

Now that the judgment is over, the Nine-Box Grid they selected is finally open.

Again, Community 12 and Community 15 began bidding for the status of 'Second Developer'.

But clearly, unlike the previous round, Community 12 came on strong.

Wang Weidong had already sold 4 low-quality shelters, and his gold coins were relatively abundant. However, Fan Zehui from Community 12 showed a determined stance, clearly having already sold some shelters at 16 gold coins each.

Finally, both sides raised their bids to 50 gold coins, at which point Wang Weidong chose to give up.

And that was also his last attempt to auction land.

Because Wang Weidong was clearly aware that he was no longer able to compete with Community 12, and the only right choice was to sell his existing shelters at the highest possible price and cash out.

Community 9 and Community 12 each selected land, once again dividing this Nine-Box Grid in a 5:4 ratio.

...

After the land auction, Chen Guangming from Community 12 did not leave. Instead, he found Wang Weidong from Community 15, Zhang Shichao from Community 9, and Jin Cheng from Community 7, gathering them together.

Chen Guangming's first sentence surprised Zhang Shichao and Jin Cheng.

"Now, I can tell you about my crime, and how the 'Heartless Vote' should be used.

"At the same time, we can more or less agree on the method to gain maximum benefits in this game."

If Zhang Shichao's crime had not been announced, Chen Guangming's actions might have risked committing the same crime and facing collective punishment.

So, even though Chen Guangming had such a plan for a long time, he never spoke about it.

Now that the crimes have been judged, this kind of 'price raising incitement' behavior is completely safe.

Zhang Shichao glanced at Wang Weidong, who didn't have much of an expression, just listening attentively.

Chen Guangming continued, "Firstly, everyone must have realized that this game has now turned into one of selling low-quality shelters at the highest possible price to the audience.

"And also realized that to maximize profits, we should only sell low-quality shelters, and the selling price must never be less than 16 gold coins.

"The transaction price on the big screen is proof of this.

"I'm pleased by this because if everyone has figured this out, then I can save a lot of words.

"However, a price of 16 gold coins is still not high enough.

"Because there are only 30 audience members in total, those who have purchased a shelter are unlikely to buy again. We need to raise the price even higher to have sufficient returns.

"Moreover, a price of 16 gold coins may not be stable.

"Since the number of shelters ultimately exceeds the number of audience members, if we can't reach a consensus, some communities might not hold their ground and sell shelters for less than 16 gold coins, which could trigger a sell-off causing a price collapse.

"I certainly cannot allow such a situation to happen.

"Therefore, my proposal is that our four communities, except for Community 17, work together to bring the shelter price to its highest and distribute the profits according to a certain ratio.

"This is the optimal solution for each of our communities."

Zhang Shichao frowned and asked, "Do you mean we should raise the price together?

"My crime is 'price raising incitement', which has already been judged, but what if 'price raising' and 'price raising incitement' are two different crimes?"

Chen Guangming shook his head: "Don't worry, because I can confirm that my crime is price raising.

"In the game, selling any shelter at an excessively high price might be considered a 'similar crime'. "

Jin Cheng was taken aback: "Wait, then aren't our three crimes quite similar?"

Chen Guangming explained, "It's clear that our three crimes each have their own focus.

"Jin Cheng, your crime is 'substituting inferior for superior', Zhang Shichao's crime is 'incitement', and my crime is 'price raising'.

"In the context of the game, our three crimes respectively focus on 'low-quality shelters', 'inciting other players', and 'personally raising prices'.

"The details can still be distinguished.

"However, it can also reveal that the designer of this game, the imitator, is indeed full of malice.

"Because players are indeed likely to violate all three crimes simultaneously, for example, selling low-quality shelters at exorbitant prices while inciting other players, which would likely mean being punished three times."

Everyone felt a bit emotional, recognizing that up to this point, there hadn't been particularly large-scale deaths, which might be considered a stroke of luck.

But Zhang Shichao was more puzzled: "Wait, are you sure price raising is a crime, yet you're asking us to raise prices?

"You still have shelters, but we are doomed!"

Wang Weidong had already understood Chen Guangming's intention: "Do you mean for us to use the 'Heartless Vote'?"

Chen Guangming nodded: "That's right.

"According to the game's rules, players from the same community cannot use heartless votes on their own community's sinners, so everyone should still have their heartless votes, right?

"Then think carefully about when it's most appropriate to use the heartless vote?

"I still can't be certain what the exact crimes of the other two sinners are, but I am sure that my crime is the one that would allow all of you to benefit the most.

"Now, you have two paths in front of you:

"The first path, you can choose not to cooperate with my plan, not to raise the price, continue selling your shelters at a price roughly equivalent to cost, and not use a heartless vote on me.

"In that case, there's no benefit for you, we get punished, and no one has a good end.

"The second path, we raise the price together, squeezing every gold coin out of the audience."

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