Chapter 192: Union’s Direction

“Oho, what a s.p.a.cious mansion . No wonder Blue came to play frequently,” exclaimed White Swan .

Everyone blankly stared at Sila’s large mansion with envy . This dimension had everything ranging from a resting place, a dojo, a small park, an item maintenance room, a swimming pool, a spa, and even a billiard room . All that was missing were traces that people lived here . Only a few items showed signs of use . It was as if no one lived in such a s.p.a.cious mansion .

“The mansion is really big . I wonder where he got the money to buy it . Even a large guild doesn’t purchase this kind of dimension since it would be a waste of money,” noted Hermit .

Burapha replied, “Most of the money came from gambling in Colossia’s—”

Burapha fell silent before he could finish the sentence as he sensed killing intent emitting from Cross . It seemed he had touched someone’s old scar .

Fargo tapped Cross’ shoulder . “Easy, easy . It is all in the past . Let’s just eat Sila’s food to our heart"s content as a way of getting revenge, okay? Hahaha . ”

Sila and Bluebird entered the room . Julia pulled out a chair for her master . After he noticed the seat Julia prepared for him, Sila frowned as it was the one between Sangdao and Varee . He got a sudden headache and wondered why this spot was always left untaken .

As soon as Sila sat down in the chair, Lookhin jumped onto the table before taking its time chewing pet food hidden under its wing . With the change in its appearance, the others had yet to realize that it was Lookhin .

“Slept in?” asked Varee .

“Ah, no . I was immersed in training and lost track of time . Sorry about that, everyone . ”

Lone Wolf was the first to reply, “No problem, Sila . Actually, we covered everything important yesterday . Today’s discussion is only to a.s.sign duties and ask if anyone has more suggestions . ”

Hermit nodded and handed a doc.u.ment to each person before summarizing yesterday’s meeting .

“We received a lot of suggestions, but I think Mister Bluebird’s are what we should follow moving forward . In short, the problems we currently face are the equipment, hidden forces, wealth, as well as the number of players we have and their quality . We are also lacking in individual powerhouses that can move apart from the rank and file . I will explain each issue in more detail now . ”

Receiving gazes of admiration, Bluebird puffed up his chest . Although he used to be a no-name player, with his achievements as the Blue-Colored Catastrophe in the gathering party, everyone showed him respect . Added with his prudent opinions, everyone began to see him as an esteemed man with both brains and brawn .

Everyone except for White Swan, who was fully aware of Bluebird’s true character and knew there was no way he could come up with a brilliant idea . She suspected that the ideas came from Boss, who asked him to pa.s.s them along .

Despite how certain she was that Bluebird was a fraud, Boss’ ident.i.ty was a top secret . As such, White Swan couldn’t reveal Bluebird’s shameless action . In the end, she could only grit her teeth and allow Bluebird to rake in the glory .

“About the number of people, according to the war’s rules, the total number of our forces in the union is more than enough to stand our ground against the Heavenly Dragon Guild, though it still can’t be denied that the number of people on our side is inferior . . . ”

Sila raised his hand . “Excuse me?”

Hermit stopped the explanation and said, “You are welcomed to ask any questions . ”

“May I ask what the war’s rules are?”

Cross snorted, expressing his scorn at Sila who didn’t know such a thing, while Tiger also raised his hand .

“Actually, I would like to know too . ”

In fact, Tiger already knew the rules . He just didn’t want Sila to lose face alone .

“All information regarding the war event can be found on the game’s website, Big Brother Sila . Didn’t you read it before you chose to play Monster Soul?” Burapha asked . He knew the rules even though he didn"t partic.i.p.ate in the previous war event .

“Mn . I didn’t do any research before playing this game . ” Sila scratched his head .

“No worries, Sila, Little Brother Tiger . Some of us here have played this game for less than a year, so it isn’t weird for you to not know the rules . In short, there are some special rules that are in effect during the war event . If you are unaware of them, you might be put into a disadvantageous position . Can Mister Bluebird explain the rules to everyone?” Lone Wolf asked as he turned to Bluebird .

“Eh? Me? Oh, sure . Mainly, during the war event, when you die, you will be forced to log out and can’t re-enter the game until the war event ends .

“Secondly, the time ratio between Monster Soul and reality will change from 5:1 to 24:1 . Basically, a day in Monster Soul will be equivalent to an hour in real life . With this change, the dying players won’t have to wait too long before the war event ends .

“Next, during the war event, all monsters won’t resp.a.w.n and will give us neither experience points nor items . Most facilities including weapon shops, restaurants, potion shops, or hotels in every city will be closed .

“There is a counter always visible in the system window, showing the remaining partic.i.p.ants . The number will also display a percentage value for whichever team you fight alongside . When every group except one has a percentage lower than ten, and that doesn’t change for longer than twenty-four hours, the side with the most players left will become the victor of the war event . ”

As Bluebird finished, Sila found it confusing . “Sounds quite confusing, no?”

Lone Wolf replied, “It’s not that hard, Sila . In conclusion, we need to kill our opponents or persuade them to join our side . ”

“Oh, it sounds easy when you put it that way . ”

Once everyone understood, Hermit continued . “ . . . We have fewer members and that can’t be changed easily, so we have decided to focus on quality instead of quant.i.ty . We are now in the process of discussing how we can maximize the growth of people on our side . ”

The remaining time before the war event was just a little longer than a month . Training oneself to become stronger required a long period of time . It wasn’t an easy problem to solve at all .

Sila proposed his idea . “How about we transmit the Qi of Little Divine Beings to everyone? Similar to how Mister Lone Wolf transmitted them to me . ”

Many were surprised that Sila had received the Qi of Little Divine Beings from Lone Wolf in the past . Regardless, what they were more surprised about was Sila’s proposal, which made it sound like transmitting the Qi of Little Divine Beings was an easy task . If it was as easy as he said, qi-type experts would have already emerged all over Monster Soul .

“That’s a good proposal, but the situation that time was special . The inside of the Mansion of the Seven Deadly Sins had an extremely high recovery rate, so I could do that . But . . . ”

Sila interrupted Lone Wolf . “I have thought about that . The thing is, Sebastian said that the dojo next to my mansion possesses the same attribute of the training room in the Mansion of the Seven Deadly Sins . ”

Julia added, “It’s just like Master said, our dojo indeed has a high recovery rate . ”

Hermit was delighted . “If that’s the case, it will be very helpful . Montra’s army might have a higher level, but the players of our side can use the Qi of Little Divine Beings . This way, we can win . ”

“Hmph . What about magic and psychic-type players? It isn’t like we can win the war with just qi-type players alone . A good army should maintain a nice balance between users of all three energy types,” Cross asked, cutting to the main problem .

“Regarding magic-types, it will be hard for the people of our side to best the enemies . However, on the other hand, because we have few magic-type players, we can train in small groups and grow quickly . As for psychic-type players . . . it will be difficult . Although psychic power can become stronger without training, the process will be slow if not putting the user at risk in fights . ”

Sila thought about the Slime Kingdom’s Cliff of Heroes, though that place was only accessible by slimes .

“Is there no other way?”

“Um . . . for psychic-type players, the best course of action for growing stronger is putting ourselves in dire situations . Training in a safe environment will hardly be helpful . ” Shueria contemplated . It could be said that he was one of the psychic-type experts .

Hermit brought an end to the topic . “We don’t have to come up with a solution right away, everyone . Let’s take our time thinking it through . It’s already great that we have a way for qi-type players to become stronger . For the time being, psychic-type players should train under Mister Cross in Grea City . ”

Cross nodded . In the past, Royal Armament Guild was a guild specialized in psychic power, so he possessed some efficient methods for training it .

“Regarding wealth, we will collaborate . We are still unable to find the type of product that meets the three criteria: good price, good quality, and useless for our enemies, which Mister Bluebird suggested . For the time being, our Victorious Wolves Sect will reduce our sales and start h.o.a.rding potions and food for the war event . Since our wealth can’t compete with the Heavenly Dragon Guild’s, we will prepare army provisions directly . ”

The Victorious Wolves Sect showed sincerity without asking for anything in return . In fact, they could sell the food and potions for a profit . However, they chose to abandon the guild’s profit in order to benefit the union .

“As for weapons, based on what Mister Bluebird told us, he said we can seek help from Mister Sila . May I ask what he meant?”

Many turned their heads to look at Sila . Bluebird had only told them that this problem was something Sila might be able to solve without explicitly telling them the details .

Bluebird whispered to Sila, “I haven’t told them that you are managing Lost Grea City, just in case you didn’t want them to know . Anyway, it’s true that we are in need of a large number of powerful weapons . ”

Sila understood and said, “I see . About this matter, actually, Lost Grea City is currently under my control . I can ask the Android King to provide us with weapons . ”

Sila casually mentioned it like it was a trivial matter, but it was anything but that . Everyone gaped . Conquering Lost Grea City meant Sila had won against Orpheus, the Emperor Rank Android King, one of the most famous weaponsmiths .

Even Varee was shocked . “ . . . You completed the city conquering quest, really?”

“Ah, right . I have to thank you for the city seal you gave me . ”

Most were about to ask Sila how he did it, though Bluebird quickly interrupted and summarized the events of them conquering the city .

“Ahem, I was there with him that time . With only two players, Sila and I, we were up against an army of thousands of androids possessing high-tech weapons . After making our way through, we breached the throne room . Thanks to my contributions, we ultimately and successfully put the seal into the groove in the throne . ”

Sila thought the story sounded weird, though it wasn’t different from the truth .  

“Really?” Sangdao was surprised . Orpheus was an Independent NPC, an existence at the same level as her father . Even though it was just inserting the seal into the groove, it should still have been an impossible task .

“Umm . . . actually, Lookhin and Sebastian also helped . ”

Bluebird argued . “Hey, don’t count the pets . More importantly, Sebastian and Lookhin’s duties were to become decoys, stalling the android army, allowing us to storm the palace and encounter the king, right?”

The words ‘storming into the palace’ might work in Sila’s case . However, Sila doubted the same could apply to Bluebird since all he did was fly comfortably in the air .

Bluebird concluded . “In the end, only Sila, the Android King, and I were in the room, right?”

“What about Julia?”

“At that time, Julia was just an AI without any combat ability . She didn’t even have a body . Why should we count her?” Bluebird instantly replied, disregarding the fact that their success was mostly due to Julia’s contribution .

Burapha showed a disbelieving expression . “Could it be that . . . Big Brother Blue is actually strong?”

“Kukuku . Did you just notice? I’m like a crouching eagle who just decided to bare my talons recently . I don’t want to brag, but now, even the Android King doesn’t want to come across me ever again . ”

Although the story sounded absurd, the fact that Sila conquered Lost Grea City was real, so everyone believed that many parts of what Bluebird said must have some truth .

“What a pleasant surprise . Sila never ceases to amaze me,” said Lone Wolf .

Hermit continued . “Actually, Mister Sila’s help regarding the weapons already means a lot to us, but we still have to shamelessly ask you for one more favor . ”

“Don’t say that . I’m a member of the Wicked Union as well . I’m glad if I can be of any help . ”

“Thank you . The last topics are hidden forces and the number of powerhouses, which we have merged into one task . We would like Mister Sila to travel to Belacia City in order to invite skilled individuals to secretly join our union . ”

“Belacia City? Is that the same city you were planning to visit, Burapha?”

“Yes, Big Brother .  Belacia City, the City of Freedom .  It is a city that has never been conquered by any guild . Many skilled guildless players reside there . Mister Zero was also once a citizen . ”

“The players in this city strongly dislike players who are a part of a guild . If any of us go and pay them a visit, there is a high chance that they will refuse to even listen . As Mister Sila is a guildless player as well, we would like you to visit this place and persuade the players to become our strength . In this city, individual strength matters, so no one is more suitable for this job than you . ”

White Swan took out a Crystal of Connecting and placed it on the table .

“Our guild happens to have a Crystal of Connecting linked to someone in Belacia City . Please take it . ”

Upon seeing the crystal, Bluebird’s face went pale . He quickly s.n.a.t.c.hed it up while thinking to himself, ‘d.a.m.n! How did the crystal end up in Swan’s hand?!’

“Hey! What are you doing?” White Swan asked .

Bluebird showed a serious expression . “You know nothing, Swan . If Sila uses this crystal, he will be besieged by all of the players in Belacia City . ”

“What do you mean? Do you know something?”

Bluebird nodded . “Actually, there was a period of time when Boss ordered me to infiltrate Belacia City and acquire information about this city for three months . That was one of my masterpieces, so I am confident that I know more about Belacia City than the rest of you . ”

Everyone was surprised to hear that . Even White Swan didn’t get her hands on such information . It seemed her Boss kept a secret from her again . Well, she couldn’t blame her . Boss had told her that even though the number of information they sold that was gathered by Bluebird was few, the information he obtained was often too risky to reveal . As a result, only Boss was aware of the results he found from his investigations .

“The players in Belacia City aren’t like everyone else . If someone pa.s.ses through the hardships in the snow region and enters the city through the front gate, they will welcome them with open arms . On the other hand, if you arrive at the city using a different method, you will be looked down upon . If Sila uses this crystal, instead of him being able to persuade anyone to join us, he will be scorned . In the worst case scenario, he will be killed without having a chance to open his mouth . ”

“R-Really? I-I didn’t know this at all . . . ” White Swan’s face was pale . In the past, she almost gave the crystal to Burapha . It was fortunate that Burapha refused to take it because he wanted to try reaching the city by himself .

“In that case, I will go there on foot . Let’s wait until I have finished taking care of my business first, and then I will immediately depart,” said Sila .

Burapha volunteered . “Tag me in, Big Brother . I still wish to visit Belacia City . ”

Lone Wolf said, “In that case, can Mister Bluebird go along as well? Since you have been in Belacia City, it will be helpful if someone who knows the city goes with them . ”

“Heok! This is ba— I mean, is that really a wise move?”

White Swan stared at him, trying to tell whether he was lying or not . “Did you just lie about infiltrating the city?”

“No way! What I said is the truth . You can ask Boss if you don’t believe me . ”

“Anyway, give the crystal back . Boss gave that to me . ”

“This crystal was something I personally gave Boss in the past . I got it from a certain man in Belacia City . Now, I think I want it back . I still have an unsettled debt with him,” Bluebird said with a stern expression .

Looking at Bluebird’s solemn expression, everyone imagined an epic battle between the two men which left a scar in their hearts, waiting for the day when they would pick up where they left off .

Beluga, Lone Wolf, Fargo, and even Elso looked at Bluebird with eyes filled with respect . On the other hand, Bluebird was hiding his worry deep within his heart .

Seeing Bluebird’s serious expression, White Swan decided to let the matter go .

Cross had listened long enough . “Fine . So, this meeting is over . We will leave now . ”

“We will leave too . The Mountain Thieves League will provide a.s.sistance regarding logistics and funding as we discussed . ”

After saying his goodbyes, Beluga left with his people . So did the rest . It wasn’t strange since the real meeting had already ended yesterday . Today was only for some further discussion .

As Beluga, Elso, Cross, Shueria, and Fargo had left, only Lone Wolf, Hermit, Bluebird, White Swan, Burapha, Sangdao, Varee, and Sila remained in the room .

“What will we do next?” asked Burapha .

“Sebastian and I will go to the Desert of De—”

Boom—!!

Sila hadn’t ended his sentence yet when there was the sound of an explosion .

“What was that?” asked Sila .

Bluebird replied, “An explosion, I guess . ”

Everyone looked at Bluebird, wearing expressions that implied his answer wasn’t helpful in the slightest . Bluebird countered by wearing a straight face .

Julia said, “The sound came from the treasure room, Master . ”

“The treasure room? Mamon?” Sila quickly exited the living room, while the rest tailed behind, except for Lookhin who threw more pet food into its mouth and took its sweet time flying slowly .