_*]:min-w-0 !gap-3.5">"They got here first," Elijah whispered as the team stopped at the edge of the clearing.

  Ahead of them, a group of four pyers was already picking the bright blue flowers Mira had described as key ingredients for the good healing mixtures. The meadow, tucked between two hills about fifteen minutes from Vilge Center, had the most of these rare pnts in the area.

  Alexander checked out the situation quickly. The other team looked organized but not super aggressive—Worker-css gear with some Servicer-css upgrades, probably a mixed group that had made it at least a few weeks in the Game.

  "What do you think?" he asked quietly, looking at his team.

  "We really need those flowers," Elijah said. "Mira's advanced recipes need at least twenty blooms, and they've already taken like half of them."

  Riva's hand moved toward her weapon. "We could just cim the area. Four on four."

  "Too risky," Valeria cut in, watching the other team closely. "See the guy with the red backpack? Definitely had military training—look how he scans around every thirty seconds. Their leader was probably some kind of manager before the Game, based on how she's organizing their harvesting. They're careful but practical."

  Alexander raised an eyebrow at Valeria's super detailed breakdown but didn't ask questions. Her people-reading had been weirdly spot-on before.

  "Let's just talk to them," he decided. "Better than fighting."

  As they entered the clearing, the other team immediately shifted formation, not drawing weapons but clearly prepared to if necessary.

  "Good morning," Alexander called, keeping his hands visible and his tone neutral. "Looks like we had the same information about this location."

  The other team's leader, a woman with a practical braid and calcuting eyes, stepped forward. "We've spent three hours mapping this area. I assume you're after the azure petals too?"

  Alexander nodded. "They're a priority resource for our healer."

  "And for ours," she replied, gesturing to a quiet man cataloging pnts at the edge of their group. "I'm Sonya. Floor 3, day seventeen."

  The introduction included their survival duration—standard protocol among cautious pyers. Longer survival times commanded respect.

  "Alexander. Floor 3, day three," he responded. Being honest about their newcomer status was better than being caught in a lie. "We're not looking to create conflict. Resource competition is inevitable, but there are usually better solutions than direct confrontation."

  Sonya's posture rexed slightly. "Refreshing perspective. Most Architect teams just assume they can take what they want."

  Alexander pretended not to notice the barb about their obvious Architect-css gear. Css tensions were simply another variable to manage.

  "The clearing has enough for both teams if we're systematic," he observed. "We could divide it, or better yet, establish a rotation schedule for this and other high-value locations."

  "A rotation?" Sonya looked interested despite her caution.

  "You know this area better than we do," Alexander acknowledged. "You've likely identified other resource points. We're mapping them ourselves. Shared information and scheduled access benefits everyone."

  Over the next hour, Alexander and Sonya negotiated terms while their teams harvested on opposite sides of the clearing. The resulting agreement established access schedules for three prime gathering areas, with each team gaining exclusive rights during specific time blocks.

  "This works for us," Sonya concluded. "But you should know you're not the only new team on Floor 3. A group came up from Floor 2 yesterday—six pyers, heavily armed, not interested in cooperation. They've already had conflicts with two smaller teams over western territory resources."

  Alexander nodded his thanks for the information. "We'll keep that in mind."

  As they finished gathering their share of the azure petals, Elijah approached the other team's healer, respectfully maintaining distance.

  "Would you be interested in exchanging preparation techniques?" he asked. "I've learned some combinations from Mira the Herbalist that might complement your methods."

  The exchange of knowledge that followed benefited both teams, cementing their cooperative arrangement. By mid-afternoon, they parted with established communication protocols and agreed boundaries.

  "Another group approaching our section," Riva reported the following day as they worked a mineral deposit Elder Thorne had directed them to. The exposed crystals were valuable crafting components for equipment enhancement.

  This encounter proved less amicable. The new team—three pyers with aggressive stances and weapons drawn before any conversation—demanded access to the entire deposit.

  "This isn't a negotiation," their leader stated bluntly. "We need those crystals. All of them."

  Alexander stepped forward, his posture rexed but his eyes alert. "There's enough for multiple teams with proper management. We've already established sharing protocols with other groups."

  "We don't share," came the ft response.

  Valeria leaned close to Alexander. "Recent Floor 3 arrivals," she murmured. "Their equipment shows minimal wear. The leader has corporate security background—ProtectoCorp training stance. High combat capability but limited resource management experience."

  Alexander processed this assessment in seconds. "We've cimed this section through Vilge Center protocols," he said clearly. "We're open to establishing boundaries, but we won't abandon our legitimate cim."

  The standoff sted nearly a minute before the other team's leader made a dismissive gesture. "Not worth the energy expenditure. Keep your rocks. There are other deposits."

  After they departed, Riva looked to Alexander. "That was tense. Why did they back down?"

  "Resource calcution," Alexander expined. "Combat has costs—energy, healing items, potential equipment damage. They determined the crystals weren't worth those costs against prepared opponents."

  "They'll find easier targets," Valeria noted. "We should warn Sonya's team."

  By evening, they'd encountered three more pyer groups while gathering resources. Two agreed to join their growing rotation system, appreciating the efficiency of cooperation. The third—the aggressive six-member team Sonya had warned about—was spotted ciming territory in the western forests but didn't directly engage them.

  "Your approach to resource competition is interesting," Elder Thorne commented when they returned to Vilge Center that evening. He had been observing pyer interactions from the elevated Scout's Lodge ptform. "Most newcomers establish dominance through direct confrontation."

  "Wasteful," Alexander replied simply. "Conflict depletes resources that could be better utilized elsewhere."

  Elder Thorne's bark-like features creased in what might have been a smile. "The vilge operates on simir principles. Firm boundaries, pragmatic cooperation. It's why we've survived while other settlements colpsed under internal tensions."

  As they organized their gathered materials, Alexander noticed Valeria typing detailed notes about each team they'd encountered—physical descriptions, equipment configurations, behavioral patterns, and her assessments of their backgrounds.

  "Your observations about the other pyers are remarkably specific," he noted casually. "Military background, corporate finance experience—how do you determine these things?"

  Valeria didn't look up from her device. "Behavioral analysis. Equipment modifications reveal priorities. Communication patterns indicate training. It's just observation."

  Alexander didn't press further, but he filed away this information. Valeria's "just observation" seemed to go beyond standard people-reading skills.

  That night, Alexander gathered the team to review their developing resource strategy.

  "We've established viable gathering territories with minimal conflict," he summarized, dispying a hand-drawn map marked with colored zones. "Five teams have joined our rotation schedule, giving us access to seven prime resource areas on a predictable timeline."

  "The sharing system actually increases our total yield," Elijah noted. "We harvest more efficiently when not competing directly."

  "The aggressive teams are the main concern," Riva added. "Especially the western group—they've cimed the entire hornbeam grove and aren't accepting rotation proposals."

  "We'll avoid direct confrontation with them," Alexander decided. "Floor 3 has abundant resources if managed properly. No need to create unnecessary conflicts before we understand the complete floor dynamics."

  As they finalized their pns, Alexander couldn't help but appreciate how his corporate training in strategic negotiation was proving valuable in unexpected ways. His father had drilled him in these skills for future business leadership—now he was using them to establish resource-sharing protocols with strangers in a virtual death game.

  The irony wasn't lost on him, though he kept the observation to himself. Instead, he focused on tomorrow's gathering schedule and the continuing negotiations that would secure their position in Vilge Center's complex web of competing interests.