Timely Rain was of course talking about the Mithril ore vein. Ye Ci's heart clenched. Did somebody unlock the quest? But it's impossible! I'm the only one who can do that! But if that's not the case… What can it be?
"What's wrong? Did somebody unlock the quest?"
"I think it's far worse than that." sighed Timely Rain. It was not a joke, but a feeling of dread that he could feel in his heart.
"Eh?" Ye Ci was curious. What can be worse than that?
"The Bloody Steel guild scoured the entire area with their Rogues, and our men were almost spotted on several occasions. They've even sent miners into the area." Timely Rain was deeply troubled. This is something that belongs to Upwards Ho!, but Bloody Steel is running things like they own the place!
Miners? Ye Ci's eyebrows furrowed. She knew that the Mithril ore vein will remain locked, but resources in Fate were like resources in the real world. The miners might not be able to obtain Mithril from their operations, but they would severely deplete the minerals in the area, which would affect the output of Mithril. This was something that Ye Ci wanted to avoid at all cost.
"And if you think this is bad, there's something worse." sighed Timely Rain. There seemed to be more reasons behind his distress.
"What is it?" Ye Ci grabbed at her hair. Whatever! I have so many problems right now that having one more will not make a difference anymore.
"I'm not sure if it's because of Bloody Steel, but our intelligence group reports that many of the major guilds have begun sending miners to mine out the area at the coordinates. It's getting more and more crowded here." Timely Rain was visibly irked. How did it come to this?
Fuck! Even the other major guilds are involved in this! They really want a share of the cake huh? Ye Ci's eyebrows furrowed even further, but calmness washed over her in the next moment. It might not be a bad thing. This might affect our output, but at least nobody will find out about the Mithril ore vein. Upwards Ho! was not the only guild to have set up an intelligence division. It was only natural for the other major guilds to take note and to react to the actions of Bloody Steel.
It was a time where the strong survive and profit is the only thing that matters in Fate. "Alright then, why don't we send some of our miners as well?" said Ye Ci with a smile.
"Huh?" Timely Rain was startled by her words, "What do you mean?"
"Won't we stand out a lot if we're the only ones who are not joining in on the mining fever? Besides, they will never be able to get even a piece of Mithril as I have not unlocked the quest yet. They will soon come to the realization that there's nothing valuable in the area. We won't be able to hold the mine with how we are right now, what can we do when Golden Era arrives? This will help ensure our survival in the future." despite the anger in her heart, Ye Ci knew that the smallest of sacrifices could lead to victory.
Timely Rain nodded, "Alright then. I'll send someone over there."
"By the way, get Blossom to level up his skills quickly. I need him to be a High-tier Goblin Engineer as soon as possible."
It was common knowledge that Goblin Engineers were capable of producing siege weapons. The blueprints to these weapons, however, were next to zero, especially in the current stage of the game. This was why the major guilds refrain from investing their resources into Goblin Engineering.
Timely Rain knew Ye Ci very well. He did not question her actions as he knew that each of her action served a purpose.
Ye Ci sat in silence at the docks of Dark Clay City after her call with Timely Rain ended. Looks like the Mithril ore vein in the Eastern Continent has attracted quite a lot of attraction. To make up for the loss, I'll have to find the Mithril ore veins in the Northern and Southern continents no matter the cost.
A huge ship approached the harbor as Ye Ci was still deep in her thoughts. The players at the docks, some of the from the Eastern Continent and some of them from the North, immediately boarded the ship.
It was obvious that they were headed to the Northern Continent.
Ye Ci had spotted a tailor selling cloaks as she took a stroll in Dark Clay City. The cloaks were able to hide a player's gender, equipment, and attributes from prying eyes, which made them the perfect equipment to hide one's identity. The cloaks were categorized as accessories, which meant that they will not be taking up any of a player's inventory slots. The tailor's shop was fairly new as Ye Ci had only seen players walking around the city with cloaks very recently.
Despite its useful attributes, a cloak would not be able to hide a player's identity as an enemy when he or she was in a hostile continent. The cloak would be able to hide a player's appearance, but one could still tell a hostile player apart even when the player came equipped with a cloak. With the Brooch of Deceit, however, Ye Ci could easily traverse the Northern Continent.
Ye Ci equipped a cloak, and boarded the huge ship after paying the fare of 200 gold coins.
The few vessels traveling between the docks of Dark Clay City and Dor'Ami were crewed by neutral NPC sailors of different races. They would not attack players from any factions as their livelihood depended on the fares paid by their passengers.
Only four ships would depart from Dark Clay City to Dor'Ami daily, and they would always be packed full of players.
Ye Ci sat against a wooden barrel on the deck of the ship. Her appearance was hidden by her cloak, just like the many players on the ship.
The vessel was fast, and would take only an hour to cross the strait separating the East and the North, bringing her onto hostile shores. The sea in the area was never calm. A sailor shouted a warning 20 minutes after their departure as he spotted raging waves ahead, which was ignored by Ye Ci as storms were a common occurrence both in real life and in Fate.
Ye Ci drifted slowly into sleep. It would be a waste to not grab some sleep during the one-hour trip.
Her sleep was disturbed when the ship shuddered with tremendous force, and she was tossed to the other side of the ship. Ye Ci instinctively grabbed hold of a thick rope. Many of the players have also lost their balance due to the raging sea. The ship shuddered as it was hit by waves upon waves. This was indeed a violent storm.
Memories of Ye Ci's past life flooded her mind. There were similar incidents where ships were destroyed by storms and players were thrown into the sea. Such occurrences were rare and had only happened four times in the span of 10 years. Am I running into such an incident right now?
A huge wave slammed into the ship, snapping Ye Ci out of her thoughts. Many of the players on deck were drenched while quite a number of them were washed overboard.
"Will I fall into the water…" Ye Ci shivered. Another wave crashed onto the ship, splashing her face with seawater.
Ye Ci held on tight to the rope. The players who have fell overboard would mostly be fine, but if they were to land on particularly sharp rocks or objects, they would die a horrible death.
The intensity of the storm grew. The captain and his sailors were struggling to find their way to safety, but it seemed to be a lost cause. Ye Ci forced herself to remain calm. She could not afford to panic. She knew that she must assess the situation to guarantee her survival.
Ye Ci looked up at the darkened skies. She knew that it was impossible for the storm to stop before the ship fell apart under the torrent of waves. Ye Ci let out a sigh, well, I've jinxed it. I've never thought that something like this will happen to me. Just how unlucky am I?
She refused to resign to such a cruel fate.
To ensure her safety, Ye Ci tied the rope to her waist. She would be safe as long as she did not cut the rope before the ship disintegrated.
She had also begun identifying spots that were free of hazard, taking care to avoid debris that were washed overboard. She would then cut the rope, jump into the water, and swim away from the storm.
Of course, this was not something that could be pulled off easily.
The rope was too thick, and Ye Ci might not be able to cut it in time before the ship sank. This was why she resorted to simply clinging on to the rope. The ship was rocked back and forth by the raging storm, and Ye Ci was like a leaf caught by a raging wind. She almost lost her gripping on multiple occasions, but she was able to hold on tightly to the rope through sheer force of will.
Ye Ci was thrown around by the wind for five full minutes. This is probably one of the worst situation I've found myself in ever since I started the game! She could hear the dreaded sound of the ship's structure creaking, and her heart sank as she saw the huge cracks that were beginning to form on the deck. Even the sailors have begun to abandon their ships.
Alright. It seems that I'll have to jump no matter what might be down there. thought Ye Ci to herself.
The chance, however, did not arrive. The ship fell apart just before Ye Ci could steel herself for the jump, plunging her into the sea below. Fuck this shit! Why is this happening to me?
Ye Ci struggled against the raging waves to swim away from the ship as she did not want to be sucked into the vortex of the sinking ship but a sudden sharp pain at the back of her head plunged her world into darkness...