章 23: I see humans, but no humanity
Point out any errors I made in the chapters, as I'm very lazy and sometimes can't be bothered to reread them. Also give your opinions on something I should change or add
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After logging into God's Domain, Feng went straight back to mining, planning to reach the Basic Miner rank today and go back to forging.
However, Feng soon noticed that the Mining Proficiency Points he got from the ores he has been harvesting previously was much lower, so he decided to go for better ores that would give him more proficiency on a higher level map.
The reason he didn't go for any of these ores previously was that, although they would give him more proficiency, the time and effort needed to harvest them was higher too, and there would usually be stronger and more numerous monsters around them. So the efficiency was around the same, but the effort he had to put in was higher.
But since he got less Proficiency Points now, it's more effective to mine better ores.
Feng soon arrived at a Grade 2 Ore Vein on a Level 45 map. He chose this one because it had less monsters roaming around it. Of course, Feng wasn't worried about not being able to kill the monsters, he simply thought it would be tedious to repeatedly get interrupted while mining, dropping the efficiency of his Proficiency Point grinding.
Even though there were less monsters around this Ore Vein than normal, Feng was still noticed not long after he started mining.
As his pickaxe collided with an ore deposit, Feng noticed a tiger like beast made of stone sneaking up on him.
[Stone Tiger] (Common Monster)
Level 42
HP 90,000
Feng ignored it and continued harvesting the ore. The Stone Tiger had no idea it had already been noticed. It continued silently approaching its death.
Just as Feng finished harvesting the ore deposit, and got some Mining Proficiency Points, the Stone Tiger finally pounced on him. Feng had originally planned to unsheathe the Abyssal Blade and kill the Stone Tiger, when a thought suddenly occurred to him.
Through his twenty years of playing God's Domain, he had never killed anything with a pickaxe. Upon considering this, Feng abandoned his previous intention of using his sword on the Stone Tiger and spontaneously decided that he'll only use a pickaxe to fight today.
When the Stone Tiger was only two yards from Feng, it opened its mouth full of rock teeth, planning to crush Feng's skull. Feng responded by swinging his Epic rank pickaxe at its mouth.
"I have a pickaxe, and I'll put it through your teeth[1]."
As Feng's pickaxe collided with the Stone Tiger, he stabbed it through its upper jaw. Using the velocity from his swing, he continued the swing with the Stone Tiger still on the pickaxe, rising it above his head, before slamming its back against the ground.
Feng unstuck his pickaxe from the Stone Tiger's jaw, and swung it again before the Stone Tiger could get up. The second attack stabbed though its head and took away the rest of its HP.
Normally, rock-type monsters have a very high Defense. Because of that, players usually have to put in more effort into killing them than regular monsters. However, pickaxes have a hidden feature which allows players to ignore the Defense of rock-type monsters to a certain extent. But as the amount varies depending on the rank of the Pickaxe, players don't use them in such a way because of the rarity of mining equipment.
As the Holy Pickaxe was an Epic rank Pickaxe, the damage it did to rock-type monsters could compare to some Dark-Gold weapons of the same level. With Feng's already monstrously high attributes, killing the Stone Tiger was fairly easy.
Feng continued grinding for Proficiency Points while killing the occasional Stone Tiger.
An hour or so later, Feng headed deeper into the Ore Vein, as he had already mined all of the ore deposits on the outskirts.
The deeper in he went, the more numerous and higher level the Stone Tigers were. They were now grouped in squads as they patrolled the Ore Vein. Feng didn't bother sneaking around and swaggered in like the Ore Vein belonged to him. Naturally, this didn't go unnoticed by the patrolling Stone Tigers. The first Stone Tiger that noticed Feng roared, calling for the attention of the other Stone Tigers in its squad, which then roared louder, signaling that there was an intruder to the squads near by, before the entire group of Level 43 and one Level 44 Stone Tigers charged at Feng.
Feng merely swung the Holy Pickaxe a few times to get rid of the Stone Tigers. Since he had previously killed quite a few of them while mining on the outskirts, he had leveled up multiple times, which had unlocked the attributes points he had previously put into his Strength and Agility, as well as getting a boost from his Epic items which leveled up with him.
So, killing all of these Stone Tigers in one hit was no problem for him.
He picked up the items dropped by the Stone Tigers and started mining while waiting for the rest of the Stone Tigers to arrive, intending to take care of all the nuisances in one fell swoop.
As expected, another group of Stone Tigers soon arrived. They roared to call for reinforcements before charging at Feng.
Feng glanced at the Stone Tigers, then glanced at the completion bar for mining the ore deposit. It was already more than halfway full, and Feng didn't feel like stopping since, he'll have to waste time starting from the beginning again. Suddenly, an idea accrued to him, and he reached into the Spatial Bag with his left hand while continuing to mine with his right one.
As the treasury of the Holy Cavers was filled with mining equipment, there were multiple pickaxes in it. Apart from the Epic rank Holy Pickaxe, there were also four Dark-Gold rank pickaxes and multiple Light-Gold ones. Feng had originally brought one Dark-Gold rank pickaxe with him when he started mining to test it out and see the difference between it and the Holy Pickaxe out of curiosity, and since it wasn't that important, he forgot to store it after that. He never expected it to come in handy at this time.
Feng took out the Dark-Gold pickaxe from his Spatial Bag and wielded it with his left hand. Players usually needed to use both hands to mine, but if their Strength was high enough, they could mine with only one.
However, players were only allowed to mine with one pickaxe at a time, and as the speed of mining would slightly decrease if players didn't use both hands, they would usually mine with both unless they had something to do with the other, like drawing Magic Arrays which are sometimes needed. Although Feng could mine with only one hand, he wanted to increase his proficiency as fast as possible, thus he had completely forgotten that he was able to wield two pickaxes at a time.
As Feng mined with one hand, he killed the Stone Tigers with the other. Just as he finished off the group, three more squads arrived from different directions, and Feng could sense that more were quickly approaching. The three squads quickly encircled Feng and attacked him from all directions.
However, Feng had already finished mining the ore deposit by this point. He didn't collect the mined ore, instead, he smirked and took a stance while wielding pickaxes in both hands.
Pickaxe's Orbit!
An orbit of stars appeared around him, and the pouncing Stone Tigers that collided with the sea of stars got sent flying. When they hit the ground, holes could be seen on top of their heads.
The remaining Stone Tigers that were in the back slid to a stop, barely avoiding death. However, Feng activated Defensive Blade and increased the range of his attacks, enveloping the survivors in the sea of stars. He stopped using Pickaxe's Orbit a few seconds later, revealing the sight of Stone Tigers riddled with holes, seeming like someone had thought they were ores and tried to mine them.
Since more squads of Stone Tigers were getting close, Feng didn't go back to mining and instead picked up the loot from the Stone Tigers so that their bodies won't get in the way.
More of the Stone Tiger squads soon arrived, but were quickly wiped out by Feng.
Roar!
As Feng was wiping out another squad of Stone Tigers, a roar sounded, and a giant lion made of stone appeared.
[Stone Lion] (Elite)
Level 45
HP 180,000
The Stone Lion angrily charged at Feng, seeming like it was going to avenge its rocky comrades, but it merely took an extra hit before turning into a corpse.
After spending some time wiping out all the Stone Tiger squads and a few more Stone Lions that came, and collecting their loot, Feng waited for a bit and sensed that no more monsters were approaching, so he went back to mining with no more interruptions coming.
A few hours later, Feng had mined all the ore deposits in the vicinity and headed deeper into the Ore Vein. Upon arriving at the core of the Ore Vein, Feng saw a few hundred Stone Tigers and dozens of Stone Lions. In the middle of the stone pack, there was a creature made of stone lying on the ground that was a few times smaller than the Stone Tigers. However, all of the stone monsters kept their distance from it, seemingly treating it as their leader.
[Stone Cheetah[2]] (Chieftain)
Level 45
HP 1,000,000
Feng simply walked towards the stone pack. He wasn't at all bothered by the Stone Cheetah. A monster like it would usually have higher Agility but lower Defense. In fact, Feng preferred it this way, since it competing with Feng in speed was simply suicide, and it would take less hits and time to kill it since it had lower Defense.
The Stone Cheetah quickly noticed the approaching Feng before any of the other monsters. It growled at the stone pack like it was giving an order, causing all of the Stone Tigers and Lions to turn towards Feng, roaring before they charged at him. Meanwhile, the Stone Cheetah stayed on the sidelines and didn't bother to get up. It simply watched, seemingly having no intention to attack Feng along with the rest of its pack.
Feng continued to approach at a moderate pace, completely unfazed by the hundreds of stone monsters rushing towards him. When Feng and the stone pack finally collided, stone corpses started flying out of the battlefield with holes on top of their heads.
All the monsters seemed like they were running into a meat grinder as they reached Feng, all of them got sent flying with their HPs bottoming out. Feng didn't even use any skills. Firstly, he didn't need to, as even the Stone Lions died in one hit after he passed Level 40; Secondly, he couldn't even if he wanted to, since most of his skills required Feng to wield a sword in order to be used.
Seeing that more and more Stone Tigers and Lions were getting killed, the Stone Cheetah finally couldn't lay still any more. It got up as it narrowed its eyes at Feng. When Feng noticed that the Stone Cheetah was making a move, he activated Seraphic Speed just in case it was faster than he expected.
The Stone Cheetah took a step towards Feng and disappeared. It reappeared behind Feng in the next second, and swung its claws at his head. Feng noticed the Stone Cheetah as soon as it appeared behind him. His lips curled into a smile as the pickaxes in his hands lit up like miniature suns, the surrounding temperature increasing by several folds.
Flame Burst!
As Flame Burst is a Universal Special Skill that any class can use, it could be used while wielding anything. Even if one is only using their hands, Flame Burst could still be used. So it could naturally be applied to Pickaxes, but Feng hadn't previously used it on the Stone Tigers and Lions, since he thought it would be a bit overkill.
Feng swung the Holy Pickaxe at the Stone Cheetah with a speed much faster than when he was previously killing the stone pack.
Although the Stone Cheetah noticed the attack, it could do nothing except watch as the light consumed it. Feng dealt with the Stone Cheetah in one hit before continuing to clean up the rest of the stone pack.
Within a few minutes, all of the monsters were taken care of. Feng continued to grind his Mining Proficiency after picking up all of the loot dropped by the stone monsters.
Several hours later...
System: Congratulations! You are the first player to be promoted to a Basic Miner! Obtained 500,000 EXP. Rewarding one Skill Book for the Unique Skill, Dual Miner.
[Dual Miner]
Allows the user to mine with two pickaxes at one time.
Cooldown: None
Feng raised an eyebrow when he saw the skill book. Although he had heard there were special skills and items that allowed players to mine with two pickaxes at a time, he had never actually seen one and wasn't even sure if the really existed.
He thought for a moment and decided not to learn it. After all, he probably won't mine ever again after he mines the Seven Luminaries Crystals in the God's grave, so it'll be a bit of a waste for him to use it. Feng decided to save it for now and stored it before teleporting to White River City.
After returning, he immediately went to the Bank and stored all of the ores he had harvested as well as the other items that he didn't need, before taking Hard Stones for Peak Whetstones and items needed for Basic and Intermediate Mana Armor Kits, and headed to the Starstreak Trading Firm.
As soon as he returned to the trading firm, Feng had Anna give him a report on the current situation while he went to the forging room. His plan was to make enough Peak Whetstones and Basic Mana Kits to sell at Starstreak before he started making Intermediate Mana Kits.
Since he was already a Basic Forger, the recipe for the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits has already been unlocked, but Feng chose to make basic ones first because the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits could only be used on Level 25 equipment or above, and he could promote the Mana Armor Kits by selling the cheaper basic variant first.
Feng spent a little over half a day making Peak Whetstones, before stopping to log off once night fell in God's Domain. Although he only had a 1% chance to receive a Forging Proficiency Point when forging Peak Whetstones, as long as he had a chance, the Book of Creation's Quick Mastery would give him a point for every successful creation. Thus, with how fast he could make Peak Whetstones, his Forging Proficiency greatly increased.
As soon as Feng logged off and returned to the real world, his senses alerted him that there was someone near him, causing his body to automatically switch to fight mode. Just as Feng prepared to strike first, he suddenly remembered that Fire had moved in with him. He took off the gaming helmet on his head and glanced to the left side of his bed, relaxing when he saw Fire who was still logged into God's Domain.
'That's gonna take some getting used to.' Feng thought to himself as he rubbed his forehead. In the past, whenever there was someone near him when he logged off, it was usually an assassination attempt, or something of that sort. Either way, it was never a good thing, so his mind and body would reflexively get prepared to fight whenever he sensed someone upon awaking, to such an extent that he attacks without thinking.
His guildmates have learned the hard way not to approach him while logged in after he almost injured Blackie who had tried to forcibly log him off because of an emergency in the real world while Feng was in a place that he couldn't be contacted in God's Domain.
After making a mental note to suppress that habit of his, Feng got up and started working out. Feng noticed that, for some reason, he felt different than yesterday. There was no significant change in his physical or mental strength, but he felt like he was a lot lighter than usual. After spending some time and being unable to pinpoint the change, Feng put it to the back of his mind and went back to working out.
"Morning." Fire logged off a few minutes after Feng and greeted him "Wait, is it morning?" She suddenly remembered that she had no idea what time it is. After going into the Trial of God, Fire lost track of whether it was night or day since she and the others were trying to get out as fast as possible to get better rewards.
"If you didn't even know it was morning, then why did you log off?" Feng looked at Fire, who was inspecting the time, in confusion. Normally, if players were doing something important that prevented them from logging off, they would forgo their usual routine and rest whenever they had time. If Fire was rushing to beat the trial as soon as possible, then she wouldn't be logging off for no reason.
"Oh..." Fire glanced around the room awkwardly before saying "I sensed that you got up so I figured it was time for me to log off as well." Feng immediately understood that him releasing killing intent when he sensed someone was near had startled Fire, so she logged of to check if everything was okay.
What Feng didn't know was that, after dying in the previous timeline, Fire had become incredibly sensitive to the threat of death. So, when Feng released his killing intent after logging off, she nearly had a heart attack from the feeling of death she felt, but it disappeared a moment later. She told the others to log off and take a break, then logged off herself. Fire could already faintly guess what had happened, but she wanted to check on Feng anyway while using the chance to log off and train her body.
After getting up, Fire started training her body along with Feng. When the two of them finished working out, they went to the shower to get rid of the sweat that had accumulated from the intensive training, which led to the two of them having another steamy session in the shower.
Although their hormones have settled down since yesterday, they were currently in the bodies of twenty year olds, so, as soon as they got naked in the shower, the urges they had tried suppressing immediately flared up. This surprised both Fire and Feng.
Normally, they would be able to control themselves no matter how horny they were. However, after doing it yesterday, the two of them felt like they would die if they didn't do it again.
Feng guessed that these are the consequences of suppressing their carnal desires for so long. The longer those needs get bottled up, the bigger and less controllable the explosion is when released. And Feng sure did explode in more ways than one.
Moreover, the physique and control over their bodies that Feng and Fire had was much better than that of regular people, so they could last way longer while doing it. The only reason they finished so quickly yesterday was because they had released their pent up desires, and it was Fire's first time while the first time for Feng's current body.
Because of this, it took them a few hours to finally be satisfied and exit the shower after cleaning up. They had lunch while Fire updated Feng about the situation in the Trial of God, telling him that they should be leaving it today.
After finishing lunch, the two of them then headed to the Workshop.
When they arrived, everybody was already working on training their bodies. Blackie saw Fire and Feng arrive together and was a bit surprised. Although Fire had already sent him a brief message that she'll be staying at Feng's place after disappearing yesterday, and he could hazard a guess on what happened, Blackie hadn't expected that they wouldn't bother hiding their relationship at all.
On second thought, he realized that there was really no reason for them to hide it. Blackie approached them to talk to Feng about the arrival of the remaining items for the Workshop, but suddenly noticed the two of them seemed a bit different. Although there was no physical difference, and someone that doesn't know them that well might not notice anything, Blackie was quick to pick up on the changes.
Feng usually gave off an aura of always being rushed, like he constantly had somewhere to be, as well as being slightly aloof. But now, he seemed calm and relaxed, like a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders.
Meanwhile, Fire had always seemed like her mind was preoccupied by something, giving the feeling like she wanted to do something but never went through with it. Now however, she seemed calm and gave of a mature charm along with sex appeal.
Blackie himself hadn't realized that the two of them had been like this until he just noticed the difference from their usual selves. This change completely confirmed his initial suspicions. After scrutinizing the two of them for a moment, Blackie arrived before them and reported to Feng.
"Brother Feng, all of the stuff we previously ordered has already arrived. Now, all we need are members." Blackie reported before giving Feng a weird look and asking "By the way, didn't we already order a desk for your office a few days ago? Why did you order another one? Was there something wrong with it?"
Being asked this by Blackie, Feng felt slightly awkward
"Ahh... that... I was...
*Flashback to yesterday in Feng's office*
"Ah~♡! Ah~♡! Ah~♡!" Fire's moans echoed through the office, when suddenly...
Crack! Crack!
Feng abruptly stopped thrusting when he heard the sounds and noticed the desk below Fire breaking. Fire hurriedly wrapped her arms and legs around Feng and clinged onto him. As soon as her back left the desk, it broke apart, and its individual pieces fell to the floor.
The two of them gazed at the broken desk for a moment, but neither felt like stopping, so Feng pushed Fire against the wall while she was still wrapped around him and continued.
*End of flashback*
...doing some stuff on it, and it broke." Feng vaguely answered.
Blackie gave Feng a puzzled look. What could he have possibly been doing on the desk that caused it to break?
"I'm some stuff." Fire's words shook Blackie from his thought. When he looked at Fire and saw the smile on her face, he instantly understood what had happened. Blackie looked back at Feng with respect.
It should be known that the desk in Feng's office wasn't any random piece of furniture. It was made by professionals using high quality materials. Apart from the gaming and training equipment, it was the most expensive thing they had bought, costing nearly 10,000 Credits.
Even a professional fighter wouldn't be able to easily break it, yet Feng had fucked Fire on it so hard it broke. Blackie had a new found respect for Feng.
"Anyway, continue with what you were doing. I have to finish the rest of the paperwork for the Workshop." Feng was a bit weirded out by Blackie's gaze, so he went to his office to continue where he left off yesterday when Fire interrupted him.
When he got there, he saw a box with his new desk in front of the door. He brought it in and set it up before throwing away the broken one. After that, he got back to doing the paperwork.
Meanwhile, while Feng was thinking if he'd have to get sturdier beds for the future, Violet approached Fire who was working out.
"Fire, can I talk to you?" Fire looked at Violet, and when she saw the expression on the latter's face, Fire knew Violet was asking simply to sound polite.
"Sure." Fire responded and went with Violet to a separate room.
Blackie and Cola noticed this, but decided it was best not to interfere in the two ladys' business, lest they end up on the receiving end of the anger Violet has been suppressing since yesterday.
"I thought we had an agreement!" As soon as they were separated from the others, Violet immediately began questioning Fire.
"Technically, that agreement has yet to be made in this timeline."
"You know what I mean," Violet hissed out. She was usually a person who always remained calm, but ever since she found out Fire went behind her back to have sex with Feng, and that Feng just went along with it, she hadn't been able to calm down in the least; and she didn't even know why she was feeling so angry, which made her even angrier. "Besides, didn't we agree to wait for the others to get back their memories the other day?"
"Listen Violet. Things couldn't stay the way they were before. If we had waited for the others, they would have chosen to keep waiting, and I couldn't let that happen. If what happened wasn't a wake up call that things are never going to settle down, I don't know what is. I have no idea why you feel the need to keep waiting." Fire resolutely said. Although she felt guilty for going back on the agreement they all made, she didn't regret it for even a second.
"You-" Violet's anger was reaching a boiling point she didn't even know she had. Fire clearly went back on their agreement, yet now she was pretending like she didn't do anything wrong "Couldn't you have at least-"
"Violet, are you sure that you're mad because I broke our agreement, or are you mad that I got to go first?" Fire interrupted Violet's scolding. She could tell the real reason her friend was so mad at her.
Fire's words stunned Violet for a second, before she returned to a calm state of mind and answered.
"Both." After they all made the agreement in the previous timeline, they all focused on other things, believing that none of them would go back on their word. But now that Fire went back on it, Violet felt betrayed, and at the same time, she regretted that she didn't go for it first.
Deep down, though, she didn't want things to continue the way they were in the previous timeline, either.
"You know, it's not like you can't be with him anymore. I already told him about everything. He won't reject you if you tell him how you feel." Fire tried to reassure Violet.
"I know. He would have never agreed if you hadn't told him." Violet scoffed. Naturally, she knew that there was no way Feng would have gone along with Fire while knowing how the rest of them feel about him. So, she immediately concluded that Fire had told Feng about the secret agreement between all of them.
"Besides, if I'm being completely honest, I was a bit worried about him." Fire confessed something that has been on her mind "You know his mental state hasn't been exactly stable ever since he came out of that Mysterious Space. I wasn't sure if reincarnating would have some effect on him. In fact, I think he's been struggling to keep it together. So, I thought this might help him at least a bit." A worried expression crossed Fire's face by the time she finished her sentence.
Violet's expression changed, too. Naturally, she knew that Feng hasn't been exactly the same ever since he exited that Mysterious Space that he got stuck in, but he's been trying to act normal, while his mind was breaking itself apart.
"Whatever. What's done is done. I'll think about what I'll do." Violet sighed.
In fact, she was secretly a bit glad that Fire had gone through it, since she didn't want things to return to how they were, but she also didn't have the courage to go back on the agreement she made with the other girls.
What Violet didn't know was that Fire couldn't be bothered to care anymore about such a thing. After dying, she had resolved herself to never regret anything. If that meant angering the other girls, then so be it.
Around seven PM, Feng finally finished all the paperwork and had nothing more to do at the Workshop, so he went back to his apartment along with Fire. They had dinner before logging into God's Domain.
Feng went directly back to forging as soon as he logged in. He kept forging for nearly two days.
During which, a huge incident also happened in White River City. Ten Guilds had suddenly grouped, forming an entirely new, single Guild. This matter sent shockwaves throughout the entire White River City region.
Many of the second-rate and third-rate Guilds started panicking at this news. They all increased the treatment they offered to their members and continuously tried to recruit new members into their Guilds. Simultaneously, they also increased their speed of annexing smaller Guilds. As for the unrated Guilds, they started to form alliances to resist the annexation of these second-rate and third-rate Guilds for self-preservation.
White River City, which originally had hundreds of Guilds contending with each other for supremacy, suddenly entered a new phase where only a handful of powers contended with each other.
In reality, a dozen or so unrated Guilds coming together to form one large Guild would not greatly affect these second-rate and third-rate Guilds. The main reason this merger frightened these powerful Guilds was the guild at its core; it was none other than the top-tier, third-rate Guild, Dark Star.
Furthermore, Dark Star had a new Guild Leader. Lone Tyrant had suddenly become Dark Star's new Guild Leader, while the previous Guild Leader had been chased out of his own Guild.
Originally, Dark Star already had Lone Tyrant, who was ranked first on the Ranking List. They also managed to obtain the First Clear of several Hard Mode Team Dungeons. Previously, they had even competed against the Assassin's Alliance over supremacy in White River City. However, due to lacking a powerful background, they could not grow any stronger within a short time. Now that Lone Tyrant had become the Guild Leader, not only had Dark Star annexed a large number of Guilds, but they had also managed to recruit quite a few hidden experts. Just a short time after the merger, Dark Star had obtained the First Clear of two Hard Mode Team Dungeons, and one of them was even the First Clear of a 20-man Hard Mode Team Dungeon.
As a result, Dark Star's fame soared once again. They were no longer beneath the Assassin's Alliance; they might have already surpassed the Assassin's Alliance.
Currently, Dark Star's influence in White River City could rival that of a first-rate Guild. They had become one of the tyrants of White River City.
On another note, for reasons unknown, the first thing Lone Tyrant did after he unified those unrated Guilds was place a bounty on Ye Feng's head.
Moreover, the bounty he set was rather generous. As long as someone could kill Ye Feng to Level 0, he would immediately reward the person responsible with five million Credits and an elder position in Dark Star. Meanwhile, any player who killed Ye Feng once could receive a reward of 200,000 Credits.
In a virtual reality game, such a high bounty was mind-blowing.
Right now, major corporations in the real world were only offering an annual salary of five million Credits or so when recruiting well-known top-tier experts. On the other hand, Ye Feng was not even a great character from a first-rate Guild. Such a high bounty on an unknown player was a first in the world of virtual reality.
Even though they did not know what sort of enmity Lone Tyrant had with Ye Feng, many players had expressed their sympathies for Ye Feng. Meanwhile, Lone Tyrant's tyrannic actions had undeniably garnered the attention of many independent players, compelling them to join Dark Star to develop themselves further.
However, Feng paid no attention to what Lone Tyrant was doing. In fact he hadn't even bothered to open the network to see what was happening. He simply continued forging until Anna came to his forging room.
"Your Excellency, the women you told me about have arrived, one is currently taking the test to join Starstreak while the other is waiting in line." Anna informed him while feeling peculiar. Over two days ago, her new boss had told her to pay attention for two women that were suppose to arrive today, and to inform him as soon they arrived. She had initially been doubtful of whether the two woman would truly show up, but indeed, they arrived on the same day her new boss said they would.
"Good, make sure to come out to greet me when the girl fails the test while saying this." Feng put down his hammer and said, while giving Anna a piece of paper, on which was the line she had said in his previous life.
Since things were a bit different than in the previous timeline, he couldn't expect Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile to arrive at the exact same time as they previously did, but he also didn't want to waste any time, so he simply had Anna keep an eye out for the two of them while he forged.
When Anna read what was written on the paper Feng had given to her, she couldn't help but giving him an odd gaze, wondering if her new boss had some kind of weird fetish.
Feng ignored the look Anna was giving him and left the forging room and trading firm after disguising himself.
On a street located in the heart of the Trade Area, a man hiding himself under a hooded cloak hurriedly walked into the tall building, the Starstreak Trading Firm, by the roadside.
Due to its raging popularity, there were plenty of players entering and leaving the Starstreak Trading Firm. Moreover, players who wore cloaks were common at the trading firm, so the hurried man did not attract the attention of other players.
After arriving at the third floor of the Starstreak Trading Firm, Feng quickly discovered a long line of people in the hallway. These people were currently queued up outside an office. A majority of these people consisted of NPCs, while the minority were players.
"Hey, do you know what 'first come, first served' means?"
"You mannerless brute! You actually dare break the rules that Lady Anna has set!
"Bro, you sure have guts, huh? Aren't you afraid of Goddess Anna kicking you out?"
Regardless if it were the NPCs or players queued up in the hallway, all of them sent fierce glares at Feng. However, their anger did not stem from their hatred of meeting Feng for the first time. Instead, they were afraid of Feng's rudeness earning the ire of Lady Anna. They had been painstakingly waiting to meet Lady Anna for a long time now. If Lady Anna chased all of them away in a fit of rage, it would be a tragedy.
"What are you guys queuing for?" Feng asked, wanting to kill some time while waiting for Cream Cocoa to exit the office.
Feng casually glanced at the people queued up in the hallway. Just from a rough estimate, there should be over 200 people present; this was in no way a small number.
"You dare come here without even knowing this?" Everyone immediately rolled their eyes at Feng. They looked at Feng as if he was a noob, their gazes filled with disdain.
"The Starstreak Trading Firm is currently hiring a large number of Forgers and Potionmakers. If we're chosen and can work for Starstreak, we will enjoy a private workshop all to ourselves. Moreover, the trading firm will provide us with an endless supply of materials. If we perform well, the trading firm will even reward us with our very own private research room and provide us with all the materials we need to carry out our research. In other words, as long as we can become a Forger or Potionmaker of Starstreak Trading Firm, both money and fame will be available for our picking."
Speaking up to this point, everyone couldn't help but sigh incessantly. They felt great envy towards those who had already become Forgers and Potionmakers of the Starstreak Trading Firm. However, when a female player suddenly walked out from the office with a disappointed look on her face, everyone's mood immediately dampened.
Due to Starstreak growing more and more famous, the number of NPCs and players who wished to join the trading firm had also grown explosively. Hence, the tests' difficulty had also been increased. It was no longer as easy as the trading firm's initial recruitment.
"How many consecutive eliminations have that been already?"
"I think this should be the seventh. The test is becoming more and more challenging. Previously, one of every five applicants would succeed. Now, only one out of eight succeed. I wonder what the chances will be when it is my turn?"
The people queued near the back started growing anxious.
Although having such strict selection criteria wasn't a problem, players were still fundamentally different from NPCs. Especially for players who were timid and introverted, it was a little extreme to reject them after undergoing only a single test.
Cream Cocoa, the female player who had just walked out from Anna's office, was one such example.
"Hah... another failure... Where am I supposed to head to now?" At this moment Cream Cocoa wore a dejected expression. Previously, she had been chased out of the Assassin's Alliance due to her production success rate being overly low. Now, Starstreak Trading Firm had also rejected her. After these consecutive failures, she no longer knew where she should head. "Am I really not cut out for forging? Maybe I should go adventuring and fight like the other players. However, I am a sports idiot. How am I supposed to fight like the others?"
"Hello. Are you here to apply for a job at Starstreak Trading Firm?" Feng asked, blocking Cream Cocoa's path.
"Mhm," Cream Cocoa nodded as she glanced at Feng. Currently, she did not have the mood at all to pay any attention to a stranger.
"Are you interested in taking another test?" Feng asked with a smile.
Shock flashed in Cream Cocoa's eyes. Immediately, she lifted her head and focused on Feng. For a moment, she had even thought that Feng was one of Starstreak's personnel. However, when she failed to find the Starstreak Trading Firm's emblem on Feng's clothing, she couldn't help but feel disappointed.
"Hahaha! Who do you think you are? Starstreak's President? Can you let someone, who has already been rejected, take the test again? If you wish to pretend, at least think of the time and place. Look at where you are at right now. At the very least, you should get a Starstreak Emblem before putting up your act," a tall and beautiful Cleric sneered as she sent a disdainful gaze at Feng.
Feng glanced at the tall beauty and used Observing Eyes.
[Melancholic Smile]
Level 10
Cleric
"My bad, I forgot to introduce myself. I am..."
Just as Feng was about to introduce himself, Anna suddenly walked out from the office as she called for the next batch of interviewees. However, the moment her eyes spotted Feng, she hurriedly walked over to Feng.
Meanwhile, everyone else revealed ridiculing smiles as they watched Feng. They fully intended to enjoy the show that was about to play out.
You've humiliated yourself big time, now.
Feng actually dared pretend to be Starstreak Trading Firm personnel. Now that he had been caught in the act, he would definitely be shown the way out.
"Your Excellency, this subordinate is extremely sorry for this! I did not think that these people would disturb you. I will immediately send them away," Anna glared at Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile, hurriedly apologizing to Feng.
Compared to a few days ago, Anna's current Loyalty had risen from 50 to 70 points. Although it wasn't a particularly high number, it was passable.
Although Anna thought that the line and instructions Feng wrote down for her were weird, she followed his orders anyway.
"Ahhh!"
Everyone who wore a mocking smile a moment before was so shocked that their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when they heard Lady Anna speak to Feng. Their jaws nearly hit the floor. They swallowed the ridiculing words they had prepared as their faces turned extraordinarily pale.
Cream Cocoa was similarly shocked by this scene. However, she accepted this news relatively quickly.
'This is too great! I have another chance!' Cream Cocoa's disappointed expression instantly shifted to excitement as she looked at Feng.
Seeing Lady Anna's humble attitude towards Feng, even going as far as to refer to Feng as "Your Excellency," Cream Cocoa was sure that Feng was no ordinary character. Since such a great character was willing to give her another chance, the flame of hope within her instantly ignited.
On the other hand, Melancholic Smile's current mood was the exact opposite of Cream Cocoa's. At this moment, she looked at Feng with a face filled with astonishment. She then shifted her gaze towards the beautiful Anna. Melancholic Smile discovered reverence in Anna's mesmerizing bright blue eyes as she gazed at Feng. Clearly, Anna was not acting. Moreover, when Anna noticed Melancholic Smile's gaze on her, she glanced at Melancholic Smile, and the reverence in her eyes instantly transformed into rage.
Melancholic Smile immediately panicked.
'It's over... It's over... Why is my luck so terrible? Previously, I got kicked out of the Guild after offending one of its upper echelons. Now, before I have even set foot in the Starstreak Trading Firm, I have offended one of its great characters...' Melancholic Smile's thoughts were chaotic, and her heart was distraught. She did not know how she should explain herself to Lady Anna to get out of this mess.
'It seems that I can no longer stay in the Starstreak Trading Firm,' Melancholic Smile lamented. If she had known about this beforehand, she would not have attempted to speak out of turn, interrupting Feng's "happy occasion." In the end, she had dug her own grave.
However, Feng's following words shocked Melancholic Smile.
"Anna, don't mind me and continue your evaluations," Feng instructed Anna. He then shifted his sights to Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile, softly saying, "I will conduct both of your tests. Everyone else, continue as usual."
"Yes, Your Excellency," Anna respectfully replied.
'Do I still have a chance?' Melancholic Smile never thought Feng would give her another chance. After all, she had spoiled Feng's "happy occasion." Logically speaking, he should have chased her out of Starstreak instead.
Following which, Feng led both Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile up to the fourth floor of the building.
"Just who is he?"
"Isn't he too amazing? He had actually made Lady Anna bow before him. If I could achieve a similar feat, I could die without regrets."
Some of the players watched Feng's departing figure with admiration, inwardly guessing Feng's identity.
In the entire White River City, there had yet to be a single player-owned shop. Even Ouroboros, currently most famous Guild, had not accomplished such a thing. Yet, Feng had succeeded in doing just that. Moreover, he was in the upper echelon of the Starstreak Trading Firm; his position was far above Anna's. So, how could this piece of news not be shocking?
Just how powerful of a backer must Feng have to cooperate with the Starstreak Trading Firm?
Meanwhile, when some of the male players saw Feng leading away both Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile, they inwardly cursed and called him an animal. One was not enough for him? He is practically abusing his authority! Inwardly, these male players felt both envy and disdain for Feng.
---
Inside a forging room on the fourth floor, Feng prepared five sets of materials to craft Whetstones for each of the two girls.
Looking at the materials placed on the stone table, Melancholic Smile's thoughts slightly lagged. She never thought that Feng would truly give them a test and not have any unscrupulous thoughts towards them.
"What is it? Have you not learned how to make Whetstones yet?" Feng asked teasingly when he noticed Melancholic Smile's dazed expression.
The Forging Association sold the recipe for Whetstones. Moreover, it was available for only 30 Copper Coins. Logically speaking, every player who aspired to become a forger should have learned the recipe, not to mention players who had managed to enter White River City.
"Ah, that's not it! I know how to make them!" Melancholic Smile hurriedly shook her head, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. She felt ashamed of herself for completely misunderstanding Feng's intentions. However, when she saw the teasing smile on Feng's face, she knew that Feng had seen through her thoughts. Upon realizing this, her face became even redder.
On the other hand, Cream Cocoa had a much purer mind than Melancholic Smile. She had not overthought things like the Cleric had. However, she was still extremely nervous at the thought of having to make a Whetstone in front of Feng. She felt deeply afraid that she would fail the test.
Feng had given each of them five sets of materials, and his requirement was for them to achieve at least two successful attempts. However, during her time at the Assassin's Alliance, Cream Cocoa could only make one or two Whetstones out of ten sets of materials.
"Before you start, I'll give you two a demonstration," Feng retrieved a set of materials from his inventory. With a wave of his hand, he started producing the Whetstone.
"You are a forger as well?" Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile asked in astonishment.
"Ah, how forgetful of me. I still haven't introduced myself." As Feng had kept both his name and level hidden, others could not discover who he was. "I am Black Flame, a forger."
"You are the Chief Forger of Star-Moon Kingdom?!"
"You are Master Black Flame, the one that developed the Glimmer Chestplate?!"
Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile immediately grew flustered. They would never have believed that they would meet the legendary Master Black Flame. After all, he was the person responsible for elevating the status of forgers, turning it into the most popular Lifestyle class in Star-Moon Kingdom. Simultaneously, he had also given the various large Guilds a reason to support and nurture their forgers. One could say that Master Black Flame had done every forger within Star-Moon Kingdom a favor.
What was even more unbelievable was the fact that Black Flame was actually the ordinary and detached-looking man before them. In their eyes, Black Flame should have either been a handsome young man or a strange old man. However, Black Flame did not match either description.
Although Black Flame looked different from what they had imagined, that did not stop their growing excitement. If this man before them was the famous Black Flame, that would explain why Lady Anna showed so much respect. It also explained how the Starstreak Trading Firm could possess items such as the Peak Whetstones.
"I will only demonstrate this once. If you cannot complete two Whetstones, you can show yourselves out. I won't accept you into the firm."
The two girls instantly calmed after being admonished by Feng. Afraid that they would miss out on something, they both heightened their concentration as they watched Feng's hands.
However, Feng's actions rendered them speechless.
Feng's production speed was simply too fast. Moreover, his actions were as smooth and natural as flowing water; one would easily find themselves mesmerized. Before they could react, Feng had already finished producing a Whetstone.
"Alright, it is your turn now," Feng smiled calmly as he pointed the two towards the materials on the stone table.
Naturally, Feng didn't go at his fastest speed when he was making the Whetstone, otherwise the girls wouldn't have been able to understand a single thing he did before he finished making it.
As the level of technique Feng demonstrated was slightly high, in addition to his strict requirement, Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile immediately grew serious.
Feng's forging techniques had clearly undergone refinement hundreds and thousands of times. It was not something inexperienced forgers like them could hope to compare to. However, they had, more or less, noticed the key points in Feng's demonstration.
Soon after, the two girls stepped up to their separate forging tables. As if they had received some enlightenment, they held up the forging materials and fell into deep thought.
Although the Forging Rooms in the Starstreak Trading Firm were not comparable to the Intermediate Forging Rooms in the Forging Association, they should still be much better than the Basic Forging Rooms. When making a common item like the Whetstone, the Forging Room should increase a player's success rate by at least 5%.
Due to this, Feng required the both of them to produce two Whetstones out of five sets of materials.
After a period of silence, the two girls finally started their first attempt at producing the Whetstone.
Three minutes later, both had produced their first Whetstones. They wore joyful expressions as they handed their products to Feng for evaluation.
"A failure. The same goes for this one," Feng shook his head after he checked the information on the two items. Both Whetstones were of poor quality, and they yielded zero effects when used.
Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile were both disappointed by these results. They knew they did not have many chances remaining. If they did not produce two Whetstones out of the remaining four sets of materials, without a doubt, they would be chased out of the trading firm.
After experiencing failure on their first try, the two girls spent more time reflecting before their second attempt. After reflecting for more than ten minutes...
Within a single breath, the two had used up all four sets of materials. Moreover, their production speed was much faster than before. After producing all four Whetstones, the two smiled at each other. They then placed their completed Whetstones on the table, awaiting Feng's evaluation.
"Out of four pieces, both of you actually managed three successes. Very good. From today onwards, you two are officially members of the Horizon Alliance. Here is the contract. If there aren't any problems, just sign it."
"Horizon Alliance?"
"It isn't the Starstreak Trading Firm?"
Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile were confused when they took a look at the contract. After all, their goal in coming here had been to join the wealthy and powerful Starstreak Trading Firm.
However, after they read the contract, they discovered that the benefits stated were abnormally good. Even Cream Cocoa, who had come from the Assassin's Alliance, found the offer quite attractive. After all, not only would they be provided with limitless materials and Forging Designs, but they would also obtain 15% of the profits once the item sold. They would also earn a minimum monthly salary of 2,000 Credits. On the other hand, the other Guilds only provided their forgers with 5% of the profits and a low monthly salary. The materials these Guilds provided were also very limited. Under normal circumstances, the best materials would be given to the forgers with better techniques, leaving remaining forgers wanting.
"I can't reveal what kind of relationship the Horizon Alliance has with the Starstreak Trading Firm. However, I can tell you one thing; the Horizon Alliance is a Lifestyle Guild. It is not like your usual adventure and battle Guild, and Lifestyle players will be the core of this Guild. Moreover, in the future, the Horizon Alliance will expand its market much further than the Starstreak Trading Firm. We won't only sell our products in eight cities, but in every city throughout the entire Star-Moon Kingdom. Moreover, you guys will not have to worry about materials. As long as you can produce items of sufficient quality, you won't need to worry about failing to sell the item." Feng calmly smiled as he continued, "Of course, if you don't want to, you can choose to join the Starstreak Trading Firm instead. It all depends on you."
Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile considered their options carefully. At present, the Starstreak Trading Firm was undeniably the better choice if they wished to develop themselves further. Moreover, they had never even heard of the Horizon Alliance, not to mention a Guild run by Lifestyle players.
"I am willing to join the Horizon Alliance." However, Cream Cocoa signed the contract without hesitation.
Melancholic Smile simply shook her head at this sight, thinking that Cream Cocoa was simply too naive. However, although she thought in such a way, she had similarly signed her name on the contract she received from Feng.
The reason she had chosen was the man currently before her. Not only was he the Chief Forger of Star-Moon Kingdom, but he also had deep ties with the Starstreak Trading Firm. One could also say that, without the Peak Whetstone, the Starstreak Trading Firm would not be enjoying its current popularity.
Most importantly, it was the Horizon Alliance's future potential.
"Good. Since you two have signed the contract, you are now official members of the Horizon Alliance. From this moment onwards, you two can use the Forging Rooms in the Starstreak Trading Firm any time you want. If you lack materials, just notify Anna, and she will provide them for you. You two only need to focus on advancing into a true Forger," Feng said
Feng made Melancholic Smile the Horizon Alliance's temporary manager. While she managed the Horizon Alliance, she was also tasked with poaching some of the Forgers and Potionmakers with potential from the Starstreak Trading Firm. After all, Feng was only an acting president of the trading firm. Starstreak Trading Firm's Forgers and Potionmakers belonged to Starstreak only, not the Horizon Alliance.
Soon after, Feng placed the Basic Mana Armor Kit for sale on the second floor of the Starstreak Trading Firm. He priced each Basic Mana Armor Kit at 20 Silver Coins.
Feng then returned to his Forging Room and resumed forging Intermediate Mana Armor Kits. He had already made enough Peak Whetstones and Basic Mana Armor Kits to last Starstreak for some time.
Moreover, plenty of Guilds had started growing greedy after seeing Feng make so much money from selling the Peak Whetstones. They all started thinking up of plans to obtain the recipe for themselves. Hence, during the past few days, many Guilds had started investigating the origins of the Peak Whetstone. However they were unable to find anything about the Peak Whetstone. Instead they only found the weaker Advanced Whetstone. Although it wasn't as good as the Peak Whetstone, it was much cheaper, so they started looking on how to obtain a design. They had even managed to obtain its recipe.
---
The Moonlight Forest.
Treasures filled this place. Aside from having plenty of Treasure Chests and Field Bosses, the drop rate for Gemstones here was much higher than other maps. The various large Guilds in White River City had long since regarded the Moonlight Forest as a cash machine. On the other hand, independent players had no share of these bountiful resources.
"Guild Leader, the Intermediate Forging Apprentices in our Guild have successfully produced Advanced Whetstones. The Intermediate Apprentice Potionmakers have also managed to produce Intermediate Recovery Potions and Intermediate Mana Regeneration Potions," a Ranger reported.
"Very good. It just so happens that White River City's bazaar will be held tonight. We can use this chance to show off Dark Star's strength," Lone Tyrant smiled satisfactorily. He had long since grown impatient after witnessing the Starstreak Trading Firm rake in an ocean of wealth. Although they didn't have any Peak whetstones, they still had the advanced whetstones that were much cheaper and Intermediate Potions, he was one step closer to becoming the true tyrant of White River City.
---
Starstreak Trading Firm, at the premium goods counter on the second floor...
Due to the raging popularity of the Peak Whetstones and the fact that only a limited amount was available for sale each day, many Guilds and players could normally be seen queuing and waiting at the counter.
Today, however, fewer people were present on the second floor of the trading firm. No one waited in line at the premium goods counter. Those present were only independent players just window shopping, and not a single Guild player wandered the spacious hall. Nobody present even asked about the availability of the Peak Whetstones, and such a situation had caused Anna, the manager of the trading firm, to grow anxious. Immediately, she started an investigation into the cause of this sudden lack of customers. She then forwarded her findings to Feng, letting him decide what to do with it.
The reason the Starstreak Trading Firm's business would suddenly grow cold was mainly due to Dark Star. Dark Star had managed to nurture Forgers and Potionmakers capable of producing Advanced Whetstones and Intermediate Potions. Furthermore, they had widely trumpeted the fact that they offered their products for a much lower price. Originally, a stack of Peak Whetstones sold for 2 Gold, 80 Silvers at the Starstreak Trading Firm. However, Dark Star sold Advanced Whetstones for only 1 Gold per stack. Although the Advanced Whetstone wasn't as good as the Peak Whetstone, the former was much cheaper. Regular players couldn't even afford the Peak Whetstones, so players would naturally buy Advanced Whetstones. As for the Intermediate Potions, both types sold at a price 1 Silver Coins cheaper.
Although the prices were greatly reduced, the Advanced Whetstone and Intermediate Potions were originally products that sold at greatly inflated prices. Even if one reduced their selling price, they would still earn several times the base cost of the items. Hence, in order to solicit customers, Dark Star would naturally initiate a price reduction.
As for the players looking to purchase these items, they would purchase these items for the lowest price. This was the natural law of human nature. Nobody would be so foolish as to purchase an item of equal quality for a higher price.
However, a price reduction was only the beginning of Dark Star's strategy. To make matters worse, Dark Star had even made a decisive change to the exchange mechanism. Although the exchange rate they used for normal Whetstones was similar to the Starstreak Trading Firm's, they had put the Advanced Whetstones-to-Hard Stones ratio to 1-to-7. This ratio was just slightly higher than the production requirements of Intermediate Forging Apprentices. Compared to the Starstreak Trading Firm, whose Peak Whetstones cost more than double, Dark Star's exchange rates were far more lucrative. As a result, many players had turned to Dark Star to trade their Hard Stones.
Now that the Starstreak Trading Firm had lost its main source of income for Hard Stones, even if they relied on the Hard Stones Feng had previously accumulated, they would, sooner or later, run out. Without the necessary basic materials, how were they supposed to produce anything?
Moreover, Dark Star also possessed an advantage that Feng did not; they had more people producing the Advanced Whetstones. As more time passed, Dark Star would obtain more Advanced Whetstone Recipes from raiding Dungeons. They could endlessly increase the number of people capable of producing Advanced Whetstones in their Guild. Meanwhile, the Starstreak Trading Firm only had Feng who could make Peak Whetstones. However, Feng currently had neither the manpower nor the time to waste raiding a low-level Dungeon for the recipes. If this situation persisted, Dark Star would surpass the Starstreak Trading Firm eventually.
Soon after, Feng passed on his verdict to Anna. He adjusted the prices and exchange rates of Peak Whetstones to equal Dark Star's Advanced Whetstones. To Feng, whether it was Peak Whetstones, Advanced Whetstones or regular Whetstones, they were all the same. His success rate when forging has always been 100%. Thus, even though the Peak Whetstone costs a few extra Hard Stones, the cost of making them was less than Advanced Whetstones for Dark Star.
However, this change would only take effect in White River City; the prices and exchange rates would remain the same in the other seven cities. Simultaneously, Feng also took this chance to reveal the Basic Mana Armor Kit.
Anna was very efficient in her work. Shortly after Feng assigned her the tasks, she had completed all of them. Moreover, she had also added an additional counter on the second floor specifically for selling the Basic Mana Armor Kits.
Visiting players quickly discovered the new addition.
"Huh? There's a new counter here. What's this Basic Mana Armor Kit?"
"Won't we know once we take a look?"
Originally, one of the elite parties present on the second floor had only come to the Starstreak Trading Firm with the intention of purchasing some normal Whetstones for future use. However, when they noticed the appearance of the new counter and a new product, curiosity got the better of them, and they decided to investigate.
"Crap! This is insane! Is this thing made of silver? They're actually charging 20 Silver Coins for a Broken Armor Kit! I can get a piece of Level 10 Bronze Equipment with that kind of money! They're even limiting the sales of this thing to 50 pieces a day!"
"This is too expensive. Even though we are an elite party, our harvest from a single Dungeon raid will, at best, amount to two to three pieces of Bronze Equipment. Moreover, not only do we risk losing experience, but we also need to spend money on potions and repairs after a raid. One Armor Kit already amounts to our party's total harvest in a single day."
"Wait a minute, why are the Attributes of this Armor Kit so high? We can bind a total of three pieces on per character?! The total Attributes of three pieces is even higher than a Level 10 Mysterious-Iron ranked breastplate!"
"Look! Every Armor Kit is marked with a black flame! Don't tell me this is something made by the Black Flame Forger?!"
Originally, the members of the team had cursed the Starstreak Trading Firm for trying to rip them off. However, the moment they noticed the Attributes on the Mana Armor Kits and the Black Flame mark, they involuntary shuddered. Who was Black Flame? He was someone every veteran player throughout Star-Moon Kingdom knew.
Although the Glimmer Chestplate was outdated at this point, it was an undeniable fact that the item had once caused an uproar throughout Star-Moon Kingdom. Moreover, due to its gallant appearance, many players still held onto their Glimmer Chestplates. The ones that held the Black Flame mark looked even more awesome, and countless collectors wished to possess of one of these pieces. Unfortunately, such marked pieces were exceedingly rare, and right now, each piece was already worth 50 Silver Coins on the black market. Yet, even at such an insane price, nobody would willingly sell theirs.
Now, Black Flame had revealed himself once more. He was even selling such powerful Mana Armor Kits.
It was just like the saying that had circulated Star-Moon Kingdom; anything produced by Black Flame would definitely be a premium product.
"How much money do we have right now?" speaking softly, the leader of the elite party suddenly asked in the party chat.
"Brother Qin, we barely have 43 Silver Coins if all six of us pool our money together. We have only managed to collect this after much difficulty to repair our equipment and buy some potions. You can't be thinking to..."
"Trade a portion of the Hard Stones we collected for normal Whetstones, then sell the rest. Also, sell all of the Gemstones we previously obtained. Before anybody discovers this Armor Kit, we need to buy as many as we can. As long as we can equip our MT and healer with three of these Mana Armor Kits, we can easily clear Normal Mode Party Dungeons. Furthermore, by the time Starstreak sells out on these Mana Armor Kits, we can resell our extras for a high price. We should be able to earn back most of what we have spent."
When the other party members realized the logic behind their party leader's words, they immediately started pooling their money and sold all of their expendable items to buy as many Basic Mana Armor Kits as they could.
If both their MT and healer could have an additional piece of Mysterious-Iron Equipment, they could greatly reduce the number of deaths when they raided a Dungeon. With an additional 240 Defense and 12 Endurance, their MT's strength would soar to the next level; their MT could tank Boss monsters with much greater ease. Not to mention, their healer would also receive an upgrade.
Soon after, the elite party's MT and healer each bound three Basic Mana Armor Kits to their equipment. The party also bought an extra piece for future use.
In reality, it wasn't just this particular elite party that had found out about the Basic Mana Armor Kits. Several other elite parties and independent players that had wandered into the Starstreak Trading Firm had secretly sold off their assets after discovering the Armor Kits. Some of the players who were wealthy in reality even went as far as to purchase Coins at a high price to purchase the Armor Kits.
As a result, 50 Basic Mana Armor Kits silently disappeared from the Starstreak Trading Firm.
---
During the night, when the moon was bright, and the stars were few, many players would come to the pub to relax and chat.
"Old Qin, why is your party so happy today? You guys even bought such expensive alcohol to drink. Don't tell me it's your birthday?" a party leader of another elite party asked.
"Our Three-headed Wolves party is very happy today! Here! I'll treat your Nine-headed Birds party to this bottle of Ice Blue Spirit!"
"Did you guys strike it rich? Why are you being so generous? This is a high-quality spirit that costs 3 Silver Coins!"
"Of course! Today, our party managed to clear a Hard Mode Party Dungeon for the first time! We also managed to get a piece of Mysterious-Iron Equipment for our MT from that Dungeon raid. Tomorrow, we plan to raid another Hard Mode Party Dungeon."
The other players inside the bar were immediately shocked when they heard that someone had managed to clear a Hard Mode Party Dungeon. They all sent envious gazes at the player called Qin.
Throughout White River City, the number of independent parties that managed to clear a Hard Mode Party Dungeon could be counted on one's hands.
"Old Qin, stop boasting! Did you think I don't know about your party's strength? Not to mention Hard Mode, you guys still have to struggle through life and death to even clear a Normal Mode Party Dungeon!" The party leader of the Nine-headed Birds frowned in disbelief.
"Hahaha! If it were in the past, of course, it would be impossible. However, our party's MT has over 1,000 Defense and 1,600 HP right now!" Qin gleefully boasted.
The party leader of the Nine-headed Birds was greatly shocked by this information. After all, he and the other party leader had known each other for a long time now, so he knew Qin from top to bottom. Previously, the Three-headed Wolves' MT had not been so powerful; he was even weaker than the Nine-headed Birds' MT by a small margin.
After some probing, the Nine-headed Birds spent 20 Silver Coins to obtain the secret the Three-headed Wolves used to clear a Hard Mode Party Dungeon.
The main reason for the Three-headed Wolves' success was the contribution of the Basic Mana Armor Kits. During the day, the Three-headed Wolves were one of the parties that had secretly bought the Basic Mana Armor Kits from the Starstreak Trading Firm. With their newly improved MT and healer, in addition to their familiarity with the Dungeon they cleared, they finally managed to achieve the feat that all independent parties aimed for, clearing a Hard Mode Party Dungeon.
The night bazaar of White River City had been organized to allow players to conduct business with each other.
Due to Dark Star's incessant advertising, the bazaar today had grown lively. Many Guilds had collected a large amount of Hard Stones and Coins to purchase the Advanced Whetstones from Dark Star.
Players busied themselves with setting up stalls throughout the plaza where the bazaar would occur.
As one had to pay a steep processing fee to use the services of the Auction House, many players had opted to sell their accumulated loot today instead.
Meanwhile, of the many stalls set up at this plaza, the most attention-grabbing one belonged to Dark Star, as there were several hundred players currently lined up before Dark Star's stall. Seeing this, Lone Tyrant's heart fluttered with joy. By the time tomorrow arrived, Dark Star would become the wealthiest Guild in White River City, and very soon, they would even surpass the Starstreak Trading Firm. They would become the possessor of White River City's economic lifeline.
At that time, even Ouroboros would not be a match for Dark Star!
---
Half an hour after the bazaar started, something odd happened.
This incident caused plenty of Guilds to grow sluggish in their thoughts, and even Lone Tyrant was utterly dumbfounded.
"Can someone tell me just what has happened here?!" Lone Tyrant bellowed, pointing towards the empty plaza.
"Boss, I made some inquiries just now and found out that the Starstreak Trading Firm has similarly reduced the prices of their items. Aside from having the same prices as we do, they have also released a new product. I hear that the product is a Basic Mana Armor Kit made by Black Flame. As long as one binds this Armor Kit to their equipment, they will receive a great improvement to their Attributes and Defense. If a player binds three pieces to their equipment, then it would be the equivalent of having an additional top-tier Mysterious-Iron ranked breastplate."
"However, Starstreak has limited the sales of the Armor Kit to 50 each day. So, everyone went to queue up for the item instead."
"Black Flame? Isn't that the Chief Forger of Star-Moon Kingdom? Why would he work with the Starstreak Trading Firm?" Lone Tyrant's brows wrinkled. He had also heard rumors about Black Flame. However, the man was simply too mysterious, so nobody had a concrete idea which major power stood behind him. The public only knew that there was a deeply hidden major power supporting Black Flame.
"So what if he is the Chief Forger?" Lone Tyrant sneered, "Since Black Flame can create such a good item, we only need to make it as well. Immediately investigate the Basic Mana Armor Kit; find out where we can get the Forging Design. I truly wish to thank Black Flame for giving us this great business opportunity."
"Boss is the best! I'll investigate it immediately!"
---
Meanwhile, at the Starstreak Trading Firm, there was already a sea of people lining up outside the building.
"Selling one stack of Hard Stones for a low price! Come over here if you are interested!"
"Level 10 Bronze Axe for 30 Silver Coins!"
"Buying Silver Coins for a high price! I'll take as much as you have!"
Unknowingly, a market had formed outside of the Starstreak Trading Firm. Although players could not set up stalls there, they could still do face-to-face trading. Albeit troublesome, nobody would mind such a small matter. After all, they were currently trying to make as much money as they could. By the time the Starstreak Trading Firm started selling the Basic Mana Armor Kits again, they would buy as many as possible.
While everyone stood in line outside the building, many had struck up conversations with one another. They started to boast about the effects of the Basic Mana Armor Kit.
What the Three-headed Wolves party had accomplished had especially become the envy of many independent parties.
Meanwhile, the more this news spread, the more it was blown out of proportion. Currently, the rumors mentioned that the Three-headed Wolves had originally not been able to clear even a Normal Mode Party Dungeon. However, after their MT and healer had each bound three Basic Mana Armor Kits to their equipment, the party immediately succeeded in raiding a Level 10 Hell Mode Party Dungeon. They had even obtained a Secret-Silver ranked shield and many other Mysterious-Iron Set Equipment pieces from the raid, increasing their team's prowess to that of a party of experts. Some said that the Three-headed Wolves were currently stronger than even the elite members of a first-rate Guild.
This rumor had caused many independent players to long for the Basic Mana Armor Kits. They wished to obtain the Armor Kits and achieve great success.
Aside from independent players focusing on the Basic Mana Armor Kit, the various Guilds had also started taking action. They tried to think of ways to contact Black Flame. They wanted to purchase a large number of the Armor Kits from him directly. After all, if they could equip every member of their elite team with three Basic Mana Armor Kits, their team's strength would rise to an entirely different level. At that time, conquering the 20-man Hell Mode Team Dungeon would no longer be a dream.
Taking a step back, even if they could not clear the Hell Mode, if they could manage to clear the Hard Mode, they could still reap a lot of benefits. Hence, it was a must for them to obtain the Basic Mana Armor Kits.
---
Di... Di... Di...
"Snow, is Big Brother Black Flame offline?" Zhao Yueru asked, worried.
Gentle Snow nodded her head, saying bitterly, "I have truly underestimated Black Flame. Originally, I thought that he would suffer a small setback after Dark Star revealed the Advanced Whetstones and Intermediate Potions. However, I would never have imagined that he would reveal such a card, catching everyone by surprise."
Gentle Snow had believed that she had a good understanding of the man called Black Flame. However, time and again, Black Flame continued to surpass her expectations.
It was as if Black Flame had brought out two cards, one white and one black, forcing others to guess which card he would reveal. In the end, however, he had done the unpredictable by taking out a gray card, catching everyone by surprise.
However, what Gentle Snow didn't know was that while she was working around the clock and trying to guess what Black Flame was thinking, the man himself was fucking Fire's brains out without a care in the world.
---
"Ha aha ha" Feng and Fire breathed heavily after finishing their daily session and laid beside each other while naked.
However, compared to Feng, Fire was much more exhausted.
"Is it just me *hah* or did this last longer than before?" Fire asked while trying to catch her breath.
"Pretty sure my physique increased some more. It's even more effective than I anticipated." Feng answered after giving it some thought. He had already steadied his breathing, and unlike before, he didn't feel as tired even after creamping Fire multiple times. In fact, he felt like he could go a few more rounds.
With the technique to absorb energy directly from the air, Feng practically only needed to breath, and he'll get stronger. Naturally, Fire's physique couldn't keep up with his.
After resting for a while, Fire went into the bathroom to clean up. Meanwhile, Feng didn't go in with her, since he was worried he might want to go for a few more rounds if he followed. Ever since his sex drive has been reactivated, he simply wasn't able to stop himself; but, after a few days, he finally felt that he was regaining control.
However, as soon as Fire walked out in nothing but a bath towel with her hair still wet, his bit of control disappeared.
"Nope, you're even sexier this way." Feng put the blame on Fire as he picked her up in a princess carry and went back into the bathroom.
"Feeeeeng-" Fire wanted to complain, but as soon as Little Feng entered the cave that's already been claimed by him multiple times, all of her resistance disappeared.
An hour or so later, a rejuvenated Feng and an exhausted Fire finally walked out of the bathroom. After resting for a bit and having lunch, Fire went to the Workshop to train while Feng stayed at home. The equipment they had at the Workshop couldn't provide any help to him in improving anymore, and since the important stuff has already been wrapped up, while Blackie could take care of the rest, there was no reason for Feng to go there.
In fact, Feng didn't have much to do now. It gave him a strange feeling. He couldn't remember the last time he has been free like this. There was always something to do and take care of. And on the rare occasion that there isn't, Feng would usually instruct his guildmates in training.
However, now Feng truly had nothing to do. He tried to think back on what he did with his free time in the past, when he suddenly realized that he has never had any free time ever since God's Domain came out in his first life.
Ever since then, he always had something that kept him busy. And he was broke before that, so his pass time was playing VR games. But what was he supposed to do now? Take a break from God's Domain to play another VR game? That would just be sad. Moreover, after feeling the realism of God's Domain, no other VR game could compare. So that's a no go.
Feng suddenly felt that, apart from God's Domain, there was nothing else that he has been doing through his life ever since it came out; and neither did he have anything else to do. Moreover, this wasn't the case with just him. It was practically everybody in the world. Well not in the current one, but also in the Greater World.
God's Domain has become a necessity for most people ever since it came out. If you don't play God's Domain, then you don't have much right to speak in the world. However, this didn't mean that people had to play it. As long as one was content with living a low life with the only goal being surviving, they wouldn't have to play God's Domain. There was still plenty of other work that could be done which would allow them to make a living and survive...
Or at least it's like that for now...
But the moment that their world begins to integrate with the Greater World, people that don't play God's Domain only had one outcome. Death
Since the amount of people who can transfer from their current planet to the Greater World is very limited, and the space to live there is even less, and the intensity of the competition in the Greater World was many times over from their world. The only way for regular people to survive would be to have a family or friend who had a high rank in a Top tier Super Guild, and even then, it's not a guarantee they'll be able to make it.
But otherwise, there was no chance for survival. In fact, in Feng's previous life, the amount of people that managed to survive and get to the Greater World was less than 5%. The rest disintegrated along with the planet.
Feng still vividly remembered the sight of his home planet disintegrating into cosmic dust, along with the rest of the people on it, while watching through some special means. The sight sent chills down Feng's spine every time he remembers it. The utter chaos on the planet while people were trying to run for their lives. Naturally, there was no one to keep order, since anyone that had the ability to do so has already fled the planet, or is a part of the mob who is actively trying to do so as well.
Thus, murder, robbery, rape and anything you'd see in an apocalypse movie became a common sight on the streets.
Although he kept a calm composure on the surface, and barely frowned while watching, he was inwardly sweating bullets. He knew better than anyone how close he had been to becoming a part of that mob. He had no doubt that he would have had the same fate if he hadn't reincarnated.
Feng remembered thinking what it would be like to be on the planet when it disintegrated along with all remaining life on it. Would it be painful? Or would you feel nothing at all? It's probably better than the planet disappearing under you're feet while you freeze and suffocate in the vacuum.
As Zero Wing was already the strongest guild on their home world, while also having a bit of a foothold in the Greater World, Feng managed to get all of Zero Wing members to the Greater World; and some of the core members even managed to bring a part of their families. All Zero Wing members got a whole new opinion of Feng at that moment.
If before that he had been an idol and someone they followed to make a profit, then he became the sole thing keeping them alive.
The other guilds weren't as lucky as Zero Wing. Even the Super Guilds had to abandon a certain amount of regular members on earth. Naturally, none of them were exactly taking it well that they were leaving hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to die.
This wasn't like God's Domain were death would simply result in respawning, or in the worst possible outcome, becoming unable to log in ever again. They were leaving actual living people to die.
However, they could only grit their teeth and go through it.
As for First-rate Guilds, their fates were even worse. Only the core members managed to survive, if even that.
Apart from the guilds, if Adventurer Teams or independent players had enough strength, they might have a chance as well, but those were very few.
Moreover, the 5% wasn't the actual number that survived. It was only the amount that successfully got of the planet and arrived on the Great World. The real challenge began from there.
In fact, it would be an absolute miracle if 10% of that 5% were still alive by the time Feng reincarnated.
That's because the people who were already in the Greater World had no sympathy. They hunted, killed, used and sold anyone who didn't have the protection of a foothold or mobile city. And for those who couldn't afford to stay in those and had to live in the wilderness, the people weren't the only concern. Even the fiercest beast on earth would be near the bottom of the food chain there.
Naturally, even the cities aren't safe. Apart from the possibility of getting overrun and taken over by foreign races, while every resident who wasn't strong enough to fight got killed or enslaved, there was also the risk of infighting for resources.
Only strength mattered in the Greater World.
If you're weak, you're prey
If you're strong, everyone welcomes you with a smile and praises; that is, unless there's someone stronger than you, in which case, you're prey again
In summary, the Greater World isn't a nice place to live. The people are no different than beasts, and everyone only cares about their own self interest. They could even betray close friends and family to get what they want.
If Feng had to describe it, he'd say that there were humans everywhere, but no humanity left in them.
But you have to put up with everything, because the only other outcome was death.
Feng shook away the depressing thoughts and decided to spent his free times making plans for the future.
When night arrived in the real world, Feng entered God's Domain once more.
Shortly after leaving the Forging Room, a low ring sounded by Feng's ears. It was the alert tone that signified the arrival of a system message.
However, the alert did not end at just that once. The ringing persisted for a long time and only stopped after over ten minutes had passed.
With a headache, Feng called up the message interface. Immediately, several thousand messages appeared on his display, and all of these messages had been sent to his alternate ID, Black Flame. Feng didn't bother looking at these messages. He already knew that all of them were from people attempting to purchase the Basic Mana Armor Kits. Moreover, aside from the players in White River City, even the Guilds from other cities would be trying to contact him. However he had already achieved his goal.
Fame. Not Starstreak's fame, but Black Flame's. Moreover, as long as he had the Basic Mana Armor Kit, Starstreak Trading Firm's business would not sour.
According to Anna's latest report, the Starstreak Trading Firm had earned over 1,000 Gold per day. However, this was only the beginning. As they increased the number of Forgers and Potionmakers under their command, their daily production rate would also increase. As a result, the money they earned would similarly increase.
Feng called up the interface and contacted Gentle Snow.
"Miss Snow, I see you've been trying to contact me?" Feng, disguised as Black Flame, asked.
"Indeed, I'm interesting in purchasing Mana Armor Kits directly from you. Naturally, I'd pay above the market price. However, I'd like to use credits for the increase." Gentle Snow immediately stated her intention.
"I can sell some Mana Armor Kits to Miss Snow. However, I'm not interested in Credits or Gold. You can trade for them using Advanced Whetstone Recipes, 20 Mana Armor Kits a piece."
"Deal. I can sell you three Advanced Whetstone Recipes."
"Alright. You can send one of your subordinates to conduct the trade at the Starstreak Trading Firm."
After they agreed upon the transaction, Feng disconnected the call. He gave instruction to Anna to trade the Mana Armor Kits, before teleporting to Blackwing City.
It was scamming time!
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1. Props to you if you get the reference. Note: saw the chance to use the line and used it, don't take it seriously.
2. Was there ever a cheetah type monster in Rssg? I can't remember any.
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