HC: Pacifist | Ch. 292 - Opening the Gates (Patreon)

BlueFire studied the buzzing, dark cloud that covered the desert sky and empty patch of sand where a massive pile of cereal used to be. “More. This isn’t nearly enough.”

“A-are you sure, sir?”

BlueFire didn’t blame the merchant for double-checking. They had spent a fortune on cereals already. At least 200 gold. 

“Don’t worry about the costs. Just make sure you bring 100 more stacks.”

Seeing the resolute look on BlueFire’s face, the merchant took off, riding his donkey toward the nearest city. Nurturing this swarm hadn't been easy. There had been only 30 locusts in this oasis, but the quest had been progressing incredibly well. 

Double Agent (Epic)

Description: After wiping out all insects in the woods, the treeants miss protein-rich meals, and the blades of their soldiers are gathering rust. They ask you to gather a locust swarm and direct it toward the colony. 

Quest objectives: Find locusts in the Sun Desert oasis, nurture a swarm, and direct it toward the Green Woods. 

BlueFire stared blankly at the cloud of happy insects. They would discover he was only fattening them up to turn them over to the treeants. They would hate him, but the treeants would be grateful to him, and that was all that mattered.

Seeing locusts and treeants in the reputation section of his character sheet, BlueFire shook his head. Who would have known there was so much about the game that he hadn't known? Everyone assumed that this game was like most others: all about hunting and running dungeons. However, Roth’s playstyle had shown him a new layer of complexity within the game.

Even though BlueFire had resisted hiring Roth for the longest time, he couldn't be happier they were on the same side now. It wasn’t just because of his influence in the Union or how his playstyle had rocked BlueFire’s knowledge of the game. No. He was a talented gamer. 

Godsfried had been on a quest with him and had only excellent things to share about the man. He was hardworking, resourceful, and creative. Only one quest together, and somehow, Godsfried was now leading a group of dwarves! Even Galatheel had gone over to Sapphira to help Roth out.

When Roth finally divulged more information about Antioch, BlueFire had brought a team to grind reputation with the colony. Once they completed the [Double Agent] quest, BlueFire would finally find out what the queens’ chambers looked like. He was looking forward to that. He hadn’t found a pet that suited him yet. Maybe, the treeants were it!

Seeing that there was time to kill before the merchant returned with more cereal, BlueFire went through memos, reports, and messages. There had been a squabble between one of the Ogre teams exploring Antioch and a group of unionized players. BlueFire scanned through the incident report, quickly found a contradiction, and sent an admonishment to the local team captain to apologize or else. Roth had been adamant that the Union would also have access to Antioch. ArmlessShark was reasonable enough to overlook these minor incidents, but if many more people went to complain, the Ogres would have some explaining to do. He would rather fire this captain than grovel at ArmlessShark’s feet.

Moving on to the next memos, while the Ogres were still stuck on the 94th floor, the Phoenixes and the Gorgons had reached the Core, and, at this rate, the Krakens would be next. There was little that BlueFire could do about it. Cyclops and the guild leader were taking charge of that front; all he could do was trust them. Who knew what treasures there were down there? It had to be incredible for Jaw-Long and his crew to spend all their days cooped up there. Hopefully, something would still be left after all these other guilds made it down there.

The [Giant Under the Mountain] quest was still on standby. Despite his best efforts, he had found no clues. Pegasus was still growing tremendously, but they managed to maintain the gap thanks to their exclusive access to Antioch. 

One of the benefits was the discovery of a promising, new profession: the chitinsmiths. The only problem was that it required materials that could only be harvested from giant bugs from the Dark Abyss, and it was hard to get there. 

BlueFire decided to reach out to his mole in Pegasus. They were bound to have a surplus of chitin in their guild’s storage without knowing how to use it. If he could find a way to get to those materials and buy them for dirt cheap before news of the chitinsmith profession got out…

OgresPax is calling you.

Just as he was about to call the mole, his golden-egg-laying goose called. He answered right away. From the confident grin on Roth’s face, BlueFire could feel that he was about to have a fiery round of negotiation with this young, crafty fox.

“Hi, BlueFire. What’s up?”

“Hello, Roth. To what do I owe the pleasure? You look like a man sitting on good news.”

“Please take a look at this.”

Raising his eyebrow, BlueFire studied the screenshots shared by Roth. The moment he saw the interface, he realized what it was. The Ogres had secured management rights for several teleportation pads around AstroTerra. It had grown to become one of the guild’s best sources of income. However, the name of this teleportation gate didn’t ring a bell. “Crownia? Where is this?”

“The tower of the Crow Emperor. Here.”

Roth sent a map with a pin deep within the Dark Abyss. BlueFire’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. “I-Is this what I think it is?”

“Yes, sir. I’ve got managing rights to the only teleportation gate in the Dark Abyss.”

BlueFire's mind was working at full throttle. Holding the keys to a teleportation gate in the Dark Abyss was huge news! How many players in AstroTerra wanted to visit the mysterious region but couldn’t? Pegasus kept an army permanently stationed at the entrance and exit of the Centipede Cave. 

Guilds sometimes organized excursions to storm the cave and break through the blockade, but Loki ensured it wasn't worth it. They had to pay the price of blood and sweat to plunder the riches of the Dark Abyss and then fight again to make it back. Control over this gate was a dagger very close to Loki’s heart. If BlueFire got hold of this resource… 

He quieted his excitement and tried to keep his cool. “Your contract doesn’t require you to share this with the guild, Roth.”

“I know.”

“Why are you bringing this up to me? Do you want to sell the management rights to the Ogres?”

“No,” he answered immediately.

BlueFire wasn’t too disappointed. He had expected this reply. Roth would be a fool to sell this. “Then? Why?”

“As you know, Loki and I have a history. The busier he is with other things, the less time he’ll have to come after me. I thought bringing you in on this would be the best way to use this teleportation gate.” 

BlueFire chuckled. “Are you trying to use the Ogres to do your dirty work?” 

“No! What are you talking about? Am I not a part of the Ogres, too? I just wanted to ask your opinion. That’s all.”

Hearing Roth's sincerity, BlueFire nodded approvingly. Only wise men asked for advice from wise men. Seeing how earnestly he asked, BlueFire decided to share his honest opinion. “The first thing I’d do is to contact the top guilds. Offer them a package in which they pay you a monthly fee, and you ensure a good discount for their members in return. Then, make a special price for Pegasus,” he said, pointing up.

“Shouldn’t I just ban them from using the gate?” Roth asked.

“No, no, no. Open the gate to everyone.” Seeing he was unconvinced, BlueFire explained. “Who has the most assets in the Dark Abyss?”

“Pegasus.”

“So, who will be the most willing to pay to use your teleportation gate?”

“Oh! I see.”

“Never drive a beast into a corner. They will fight viciously. If you freeze Pegasus out of the Dark Abyss, they will be motivated to come after you. That is the opposite of what you want. If I were you, I’d let them use the gate. With this one move, you’ll hit their morale, end their monopoly of the Dark Abyss, and take their money.”

Roth nodded and considered BlueFire’s advice for a moment. “Tell you what… our guild probably has the resources to negotiate all these packages and stuff with other guilds, right?”

“We do.”

“Why don’t I leave this with you then? In return, the Ogres can use the teleportation gate for free.”

“We’re talking about a lot of gold here, Roth. This would be a great resource for the guild, too.” BlueFire tried.

“Anything other than what I’ve just offered you must be negotiated. Put an offer together if you’d like.”

BlueFire tapped his foot in thought. He wasn’t running the numbers. He had done so the moment he looked at the screenshots. What he was thinking was how could this one young man find so much good stuff? He was a treasure magnet! How did he do this? BlueFire pulled up the ranks discreetly and found that he was already in 39th place. He was catching up.

“What if we extend your contract by another two years, and you let us keep 10% of the gold this gate generates.”

“What if I let you handle the negotiation of the teleportation gate’s name? I’m sure you have the connections to fetch me the best price. That should be more than enough credits to extend a contract to Drake and my brothers and make them paid employees of the Ogres.”

“The guild takes no deadweight, Roth. And we wouldn’t offer them an elder’s position. Can you vouch for your brothers?”

“I can.”

BlueFire considered the values, and knowing what his guild leader would say, he nodded. “So be it. Deal.”

“Alright! Gotta go now. I have an appointment with Galatheel and Godfsfried in a few hours.”

BlueFire got off the call and contacted the team that handled dealings with guilds and big companies, forwarding them the specifics of his agreement with Roth. He would pay top dollar to see Loki’s face once he found out that despite all his hard work in the Dark Abyss, Roth was the one managing the only teleportation gate in the entire region. BlueFire burst out laughing. Today was a bad for Loki and, therefore, an excellent day for him.

*

“What do you mean they melted? Diamonds can’t melt, Yillian.”

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, boss. The diamonds just all melted into a puddle. I don’t know why or how it happened.”

Loki was quick to point the finger at Yillian. “Either the items have an expiry date, or someone else has beaten you to the punch, Yillian!” 

Yillian patted the side of his elephant, ignoring Loki’s disapproving look. “How, sir? The diamonds were all the first drops of wild bosses in the Dark Abyss. I don’t see any other guilds running around the Dark Abyss.”

“Are you telling me everything, Yillian? Are you sure other parties aren’t running around the Dark Abyss?”

Yillian’s heart raced. The Slayer. Loki knew. How? He thought he could trust everyone in the crew. Who was reporting to Loki behind his back? Was it Stan? Was it Joleen? “It was too late to admit it, though. He would just ride out his lie to the bitter end now. Of course, sir. Why would I ever lie to you?”

“What about the sighting of the Slayer at the beaches of the Abyssal Sea?”

Yillian forced a laugh. “That wasn’t the Slayer, sir. I know the Slayer from my time on the New Earth. I would have known if it was him.”

Loki stared at him intently, but Yillian held his ground, not flinching.

“Uh? Why am I getting all these messages?” Loki said, scowling. “WHAT?!”

In all his time working under Loki, Yillian had never seen him so shocked. “What seems to be the matter, sir?”

“It wasn’t the Slayer?” Then how do you explain this?!”

Yillian got a message from Loki, and he opened it immediately. There were two screenshots, side by side. On the top, it read ‘Zika’s Portal to Crownia, Dark Abyss.’

“A portal to the Dark Abyss?” he gasped. That wasn’t all. The two screenshots showed the same screen from the perspective of two different players. One belonged to a Pegasus player and listed the price of teleportation at 15k gold. The other had the logo for the Rats, one of Pegasus’ secret subsidiaries, and the price was 6k gold. “What a huge difference in pricing.”

“If it wasn’t the Slayer, who else would go out their way to jack up the price for only my guild like this?! That’s it, Yillian. I invoke clause 5c of your contract. No bonus for you. And may this be the last time you lie to me, or that’s not the only clause I’ll invoke next time.”

Yillian gulped. He was paid an obscene amount of money. But he had signed a deal with the Devil for it. “Yes, sir. I understand.”

The call disconnected. As Loki fumed in the capital, AstroTerra players worldwide celebrated. The gates to the Dark Abyss had finally opened!

Ch. 291 - Gatekeeper

INDEX