CEO Butter received the appraisal data for all the drops. Seeing the excessive zeros, he asked the GM, "Do you know why I intervene with the players?"
The GM, who was overseeing the situation, sighed lightly and said, "I understand. If this group had used their resources to properly rise to become the sixth metropolitan lord, you would have been pleased. But their various schemes are not like that. They intend to seize the existing metropolis for themselves." The GM, witnessing the entire event, felt it was unfair to the players who had climbed from starting with just a few villagers in their village to a large city.
However, as a GM who had rules to follow, he couldn't do anything. When the CEO ordered him to do something that went against his own sensibilities, he wasn't happy to comply.
CEO Butter sighed, dismissed the information window, and said, "You are right. If they invested resources, money, and items to develop their city from a village to a metropolitan level according to the game's rules and quests, I wouldn't ask you to interfere. From an economic and financial standpoint, their spending is like increasing the money flow in the system. As the one overseeing the entire game, I would be pleased. As long as they follow the game's established rules."
CEO Butter saw this group as trying to get rich quick, becoming a metropolitan lord by taking over and seizing other people's companies, which he could not allow. It wasn't that such an event hadn't happened before; it had, but never to the highest-ranking metropolitan lords in the game. If a top city were overtaken in such a dubious manner even once, it would set a precedent. Others would mimic this, and the game would cease to be a game. No one would complete quests anymore, waiting instead to take over others' accomplishments through power, influence, and money. Eventually, the game would be dominated by financiers.
By then, who would want to play his game anymore?
CEO Butter nodded to the GM and said, "From now on, they have suffered significant losses. They will likely be more subdued. However, if there is anything urgent, report to me immediately... I really did not expect this group to exploit the event we created."
The issues during the event were not yet resolved but temporarily halted. They planned to proceed with the Dwarf Invasion event 'with caution,' ensuring no complications like in the Battle of Sirius.
But can they truly achieve that?
In an open world game where player actions cannot be controlled, preventing all items from falling into the hands of one group is extremely difficult.
But that's one matter. There was another issue the GM wanted to ask CEO Butter about.
"Excuse me, CEO, regarding the Sagittarian job quest that they'll receive as metropolitan lords, should it continue as normal without assistance...?"
Before the GM could finish, CEO Butter understood and quickly interjected to prevent any misunderstanding. "The reason I asked you to drop items of high value from every deceased character is due to our mutual agreement. They helped manage the group threatening the game, and we facilitated their handling. Beyond that, whatever the five metropolitan lords encounter is their problem... Understand?"
The GM silently acknowledged, saying no more, as Butter's tone suggested he was angry about something. He didn't mean to imply that CEO Butter was playing favorites or misusing GM authority.
But the GM's decision to stay silent later impacted the Asgard deities system.
What else could the GM's question be about? Currently, Sagittarian is constructing something…
After Mewku Mewku led forces to secretly climb over the city wall and enter, the fall of Rigel City was predictable. Once they attacked from the inside, with chaos within, the outside invasion wasn't too difficult. Sagittarius, positioned on the shoulder of the golem driven by Melon-chan, saw the inner turmoil and drew a sword from behind the golem, striking the city wall.
Crash!... Crash!... Crash!... Crash!
After eight or nine strikes, the part of the city wall that was struck collapsed, and the remaining forces entered...
There's no need to mention the details that happened afterward, but what should be noted is that after the war ended, Sagittarius stood on the ruins within the city, in front of the business owners of Rigel City. When the city was destroyed, Sagittarius had to take responsibility and invited them to relocate to the port city of Lanhai, which was under his dominion. The business owners were well aware that while they didn't have to move to Lan Hai, Rigel 2 was no longer inhabitable.
Mewku Mewku walked in with a player who was an accountant and an item appraiser. Seeing this, Sagittarius excused himself, as the words of the two behind Mewku Mewku would determine whether this war was worthwhile or not. As mentioned, war is an investment. Waging war and incurring losses is not advisable.
This time, Mewku Mewku volunteered to sell the items in the market, so her people were there to appraise the value.
Mewku Mewku smiled and asked about the expenses, from the capital used to build additional ships, cannons, two more golems, and the conscription of NPCs, which was enormously more expensive than hiring players at a cheaper rate. She calculated the total amount Sagittarius had borne to determine the profit after deducting the debts to split the earnings.
The result was:
Sagittarius's eyes sparkled as he asked again, "Is it true?"
Mewku Mewku smiled and nodded. She exchanged a knowing glance with Sagittarius. The appraiser said, "The dropped items are those sought by guilds, clubs, and players' cities that fought in the Sirius City war. Due to the defeat in the Sirius City battle and another eight cities, tens of millions of items were lost in the black market because junk collectors picked them up. Some of these items are rare, some aren't, but there is high demand from those who lost them and want replacements, so the prices are high."
"Are all the item appraisals really this high?" Sagittarius exclaimed with joy. This investment had yielded a significant return.
Thus, if it could be predicted that after a war defeat, guilds, clubs, and players' cities would need items to replace those lost, and given that groups on Solomon Island possessed billions in wealth, it would be wise to buy all the items and hoard them to inflate market prices. That way, more wealth would be accrued, and one might question the purpose of using the money to build a vast in-game power base.
The number that made Sagittarius happy must not come easy.
On the same island, the work of this group of people was somewhat systematic.
After the player who wore the item was reborn, someone went to intercept, recording the dropped item immediately.
"What?? Only expensive items dropped!!??" The report has been sent out.
A man and a woman with black hair, taking off their hoods to reveal their heads, were surrounded by masked people.
This man and woman were certainly Shamshir and Raspberry Pie. This round of fundraising was a heavy loss; those held accountable were undoubtedly them.
A stout man in a cloak expressed dissatisfaction, "Errors tens of times in a single battle, utterly irreparable."
Another joined in, "A hundred million dollars in damage is no small matter."
Shamshir, looking Thai, defended, "If you had helped us, it wouldn't have gone so wrong!" pointing at the stout man in the cloak and his companion, who appeared as the strategists in the game world.
The stout man in the cloak cursed without saying more; a raspy-voiced man next to him spoke up, "Sagittarius issued one word, and the name Shamshir became mud. That made us realize the immense power of the metropolitan lords within the game... We are on the right track but have not yet mobilized all resources to acquire it," and turned to the stout man, asking, "When will you seize the Templar Knights' guild's power from that skinny idiot?"
The stout man in the cloak sighed, expressing some regret about the guild leader, "Right now, the name Blazing Knight has fallen from failing to conquer the city of Sirius, partly because I advised that it being a fantasy game world, power, guns, tanks, though present, would not be the strongest force. The game company wouldn't create NPC advantages that ruin the game balance. He believed me and mobilized forces only to lose... He trusts me wholeheartedly; despite the loss, he still believes," turning to the raspy-voiced man, "You too are one of Guhai Wubian 's strategists. Just securing Chang'an city will grant us a metropolis. Rather than others, it's ourselves we need to push!"
The raspy-voiced man said nothing; if he could take Chang'an city on his own, why would he team up with these people? Wouldn't being the metropolitan lord alone like Sagittarius be better? He asked the group surrounding Shamshir and Raspberry Pie, "How shall we deal with these two?"
The black-haired man and woman exchanged anxious looks. The woman cried out first, "Wait, we only wanted to gain a metropolis in the game quickly. Are you really going to kill us?"
Shamshir, looking distressed, echoed, "Yes, yes, it's just a game, calm down!!"
The two strategists laughed softly. The stout man addressed the two foolish leaders, "We are civilized people. Until we conquer the metropolis, you two stay on this island. Don't show yourselves in the game and expose us."
The raspy-voiced man reassured, "Don't worry, we'll ensure you have food and water, you won't starve."
Then the masked group pushed Shamshir and Raspberry Pie to the center of this small island, seizing all communication devices from them to prevent any outside help, then dispersed, taking all boats docked on the shore.
The black-haired couple, pushed down, struggled to get up and chased, crying out,
"Let us go back! We promise not to enter the game again!!" The woman yelled, but no one turned back.
The black-haired man sat down on the sand, looking at the box containing food and water, wanting to stomp it out of frustration but knowing that after venting, there would be nothing to eat. He sighed softly, "So, this is what it feels like to be worthless and cast aside! The truth is, after the club hunted me down, I hid but still used Shamshir ID to make a living, exchanging it for real money comfortably...why did I meddle?"
Shamshir knew well; the words "dignity" and "suppression" were in his heart, pushing him to meddle, to end up like this.
If he became part of the greatest metropolis, he would restore the dignity lost from being hunted by e-sport clubs, suppressing the other side so they couldn't lift their heads.
Now, Shamshir could only resign himself for being so reckless.
Raspberry Pie, abandoned, shouted to no avail, venting her anger on the food box, kicking it towards the boat sailing away, cursing loudly.
Shamshir, snapping out of his resignation, froze seeing their food scattered from the box, floating, messed up by the incoming tide...