Chapter 233-1: Multi-win, Winning Like Crazy (1) |
Colorful Mist Coast.
Dusk deepened, and a stroke of dark blue spread where sea and sky met.
Mist drifted over the sea’s surface, tinted a pale purple by the last ray of sunset.
Pinpricks of light gradually lit up along the shore as the Gill-Fish race set up their barbecue stalls one after another.
The sea breeze carried the aroma of grilled fish and meat, mixed with salty dampness, drifting through the twilight.
As more and more players arrived, the coastline grew especially lively.
At this time, in one corner of the beach.
“Three more Silver-Tail Fish.”
Shouting to the stall owner, Liu Yi glanced at the team interface hovering in the upper left and listened to the brothers in the party complaining.
“Yeah, I logged off yesterday to change the nutrient solution and did not want to stay a moment longer. As soon as I finished, I decisively logged back in. Feels like Monster World has an addiction system that I cannot break free from.”
“I hope the Lunar Eclipse race releases a game pod accessory to assist with physical exercise soon. Otherwise always staying online in the game is not viable, and long-term lack of exercise does cause some harm to the body. Now every time I log off I have to drink a can of bodily regulation liquid. Also, every time I log off it feels like stepping into a stinking toilet and speedrunning a breath-holding challenge. I just want to hurry and log back in.”
Listening to the complaints, Liu Yi took a big swig of spirit wine and chimed in.
“Your issues are nothing. A brother in our Chamber who plays the monster build has it truly rough. He did not log off for two months and forgot how to walk. When he came out of the game pod he crawled out on all fours, directly degenerating into a quadruped. Realizing something was wrong, he did not even think to stand up and walk. His brain misfired and he instinctively wanted to switch to Black-Scaled Serpent posture and slide along the ground. This brother plays those two monster forms, Black-Scaled Serpent and Roar. After realizing the problem he slapped himself twice across the face, then finally transformed back into humanoid form.”
Laughter exploded across the voice channel at Liu Yi’s tale.
“By the way, Old Liu, how is your Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce developing?”
“We have already completed several transactions, but most other races come to Dream Island to trade with us directly. We have not opened a trading market yet. We are not in a rush. As long as we maintain growth, the trading market will inevitably be built in the future.”
“Really envy you. Now even with sacrificial power I cannot get into the Gold Coin Chamber. You only recruit wage earners. I missed the opportunity.”
“What you envy is the profits. When we first started we were pioneering and recruiting clients, working around the clock 24 hours a day until we were about to puke from exhaustion. We finally got a day off and came to the coast to rest. I wanted to invite you to a meal, but none of you brats were willing to come.” Eating skewers, Liu Yi sounded a bit disgruntled.
“It is not that we did not want to come. Today the united guilds were gathering to take down the Earthmind bully. We had no time.”
“Alright.” During the chatter, Liu Yi glanced at the Gold Coin Chamber’s group from time to time.
It carried live updates on trading information.
[Crimson Flame Ore (landed on island): 900kg of Crimson Flame Ore, total expenditure: 45,000 points of sacrificial power, profit: 12,000 points of sacrificial power.]
Carrying race: Black Bei race.
Trading status: Completed
Profit acquisition method: Offer to Emperor’s Sign bro.
[Ice Crystal Flower (landed on island): 200 stalks of Ice Crystal Flower, total expenditure: 18,000 points of sacrificial power, revenue: pending.]
Carrying race: Ghost Bat race.
Trading status: Completed.
Profit acquisition method: Consignment at the Trading House.
[Dragon Scale Grass (landed on island): 18 stalks of Dragon Scale Grass, 30 self-made energy crystals, estimated expenditure: 58,000 points of sacrificial power, revenue: estimated profit 18,000 points of sacrificial power.]
Carrying race: Red Belly race.
Trading status: Incomplete, currently haggling. The idiot Red-Belly race wants a higher price. I will update after I finish negotiating.
Profit acquisition method: After completion, consignment at the Trading House.
—
Whenever a foreign race landed on the island, the Chamber brothers would tally the resources they carried for trade and assess their value.
Then they would post the resource value, carrying race, and a series of other details in the Gold Coin Chamber’s chat group with real-time updates.
This was one of the Chamber rules set by the Guild Leader Buying Sacrificial Power.
By making every transaction transparent, Chamber members could open the information integration tab in the group chat interface at any time to view it.
That prevented trust crises that might arise during development and affect the growth of the Gold Coin Chamber.
Now the Gold Coin Chamber had already entered the right track, with daily transaction volume. Although the profit distributed to each Chamber member was not much, the future outlook once it matured was already visible.
Imagining the future chat group of the Gold Coin Chamber refreshing a transaction every second, raking in gold daily was no dream.
Looking at the trading records in the group chat, Liu Yi felt great.
Just then, a Challenger Notification sounded in his mind.
[Challenger Notification: Player ‘Awooo Big Monster’ requests a video connection. Approve or deny.]
They had just been talking about this monster-build Chamber brother, and the call came right in.
He touched approval with his consciousness, and a light-screen image formed before his eyes.
A monster appeared in the call image, its form resembling a brown bear, eight meters long, with fur interwoven in red and blue.
The big bear spoke human words.
“Vice Guild Leader, stop resting. There is something you need to handle.”
Thinking something had gone wrong, Liu Yi’s expression turned serious at once. He put down the meat skewer he was about to stuff into his mouth:
“Was Dream Island attacked?”
“This island has nothing. How would it be attacked? Do you remember the Tiger Stripe race, the ones I visited four or five times before finally establishing trade?”
“Of course I remember. You even said you were about to vomit from swimming and planned to switch Black-Scaled Serpent to an Extreme Speed inherited soul so you could swim faster.”
At the question, Liu Yi nodded immediately.
He had a deep impression of the Tiger Stripe race. They were a force on an island to the north in the Azure Star Sea Region. The straight line distance from their homeland to the Colorful Mist Coast was 223 nautical miles.
The Chamber brother on this call had died and returned again and again. Through sheer willpower he finally opened a trade channel with the Tiger Stripe race.
The Tiger Stripe race was now a stable client of the Gold Coin Chamber and had brought them considerable trading profit.
“The Tiger Stripe race just landed with a batch of resources, but much less than before. I specifically asked the reason and learned that a monster that emerged from underground occupied the core mining area on their island. The Tiger Stripe race made several attempts and could not take it back, suffering heavy losses. They are preparing to recall their racial members outside, but when they will act is still under preparation.”
“I think it may take a while, and they might still fail to take down that monster.”
After the explanation, Liu Yi fell silent briefly and then asked.
“You contacted me specifically because you want to help the Tiger Stripe race solve the problem?”
“Yeah. I take the lion’s share of profits on this trade route, so of course I want their trade to remain stable. Now because of that monster my income has plummeted, and when it will stabilize is completely unknown. I was thinking we might as well handle it ourselves.”
“Do you know the monster’s hunt level?”
“No. The distance is too far for me to analyze it at all. But judging from the Tiger Stripe race’s combat power, the hunt level should be around level 70 and above. The Tiger Stripe race has warriors mostly over level 40. Fighting a level 70 is too tough. It is hard even to penetrate its defense. Add to that the cramped environment of underground mine tunnels, and a numbers advantage is hard to bring to bear.”
“I understand. Wait for my notice.”
“Alright.”
After hanging up, Liu Yi sank into thought.
He completely understood why his brother wanted to help. The stability of that trade route affected his subsequent income.
Naturally he wanted to get it back to normal as soon as possible.
But hunting this monster would not be easy.
The members of their Gold Coin Chamber were not combat personnel. The Guild Leader Buying Sacrificial Power’s primary inherited soul level was only level 46. Even if they all went together, they could hardly contend.
They would be crushed in combat power.
Seeking a top guild’s help was a good option.
The God Temple Guild had plenty of top-tier combat strength. A single squad might be enough to solve the problem.
The question was how much to offer.
These top players had very high sacrificial power gains from hunting on the Emperor’s Mound Mountain Range battlefield. Inviting them would undoubtedly require a sizable sacrificial power payment, surely over ten thousand.
If they decided to invite top guild experts, that expense would obviously have to be posted to the Gold Coin Chamber’s overall expenditures.
It would require a vote by all Chamber members, or the Guild Leader to make the call.
Thinking of this, Liu Yi summoned the contacts list at once, found the Guild Leader Buying Sacrificial Power, and initiated a call.
Before long, a light-screen popped up and the sound of panting mixed with the beeping of mechanical lifeforms came through.
“Hold on a moment.” Guild Leader Alan’s voice came.
He suddenly leaped in the image, the battle axe in his hand erupting with golden streamers as he cleaved an Engineering Robot in one blow, then lifted his right leg and kicked away another robot attacking from the side.
One minute later.
The fight ended. The Guild Leader stood in place gasping for breath, the Force Savage Axe in his hand scattering into points of golden light.
“Old Liu, what is it?”
“Just now a monster-build brother contacted me. He said the Tiger Stripe race’s trade route ran into trouble…”