Chapter 444 - 416: The Sunken Ship of the Dragon Cavalry Chamber of Commerce?
The so-called dinner was just leftovers from lunch being reheated in the microwave. Well, it’s quick and easy, just the way I like it.
Little Fang enthusiastically said, "Big brother, what are your thoughts on this game?"
Da Fei chuckled while eating, "It’s really interesting."
Little Fang shook her head with a smile, "It’s more than just interesting. Big brother, do you know how much this account of yours is worth now? At least 500,000! Otherwise, why would Bloodrose go to such great lengths to help with the hero quest?"
Da Fei’s eyebrows twitched, you’re quite knowledgeable, huh?
Noticing Da Fei’s surprised expression, Little Fang laughed even more happily: "So, big brother, if you’re interested, why not join us? It’s always best to start earning early!"
Oh! So she’s gone down the path of a professional gamer too! Da Fei quickly glanced at Little Li, who was focused on her food, showing no sign of opinion. Holy! She’s in on it too! Wahahaha, excellent! Playing games and making money with the wife and girls is exactly my dream!
However, I’m Da Fei, and I don’t want anyone to know this. Plus, my main account is too busy right now, with a mission to save the World Tree space hanging over me. Moreover, tomorrow I need to see the Dwarf Prince, so dual-logging wouldn’t be convenient; better to stabilize my base first.
Da Fei then cleared his throat and said, "I’m not skilled enough now; I don’t have the confidence to handle these things."
Little Fang laughed: "No worries, since you’re at a low level now, there’s nothing much you can do anyway. Just play casually and get familiar with it; we will help power-level your account."
Da Fei nodded eagerly: "Yeah, mainly because I haven’t played games for many years; I’m out of practice and need to slowly get back into the groove."
Little Li snorted: "Brother, maybe it’s better if you don’t get back into the groove!"
Little Fang asked with a laugh: "What was big brother’s state back then?"
Da Fei waved his hand dismissively: "Let’s not talk about back then, it was all-nighters after all-nighters, wahahaha!"
Little Li said irritably: "And you still have the nerve to mention it!"
Little Fang laughed heartily: "What a talent! Big brother, can you still pull off all-nighters now?"
Little Li glared: "Know when to stop, okay!"
Da Fei chuckled: "Right, right. Know when to stop, plus I have work tomorrow!" Yeah, tomorrow "at work," I’ll go see the Dwarf Prince and get the Divine Artifact sorted.
This meal was quickly wrapped up amid laughter and chatter. This time, Little Li didn’t even have time to wash the dishes before rushing to the computer; it seemed the Bloodrose Guild had officially sounded the call to attack, and as for Da Fei, well, nothing much to say—his small account would just continue following the team and hang up the game.
Then Da Fei immediately took the chance to return to Radiant City. This time it was to build another school, and this one would focus on music. As for teachers, what’s the harm in letting the Cultural Consultant temporarily fill in? Anyway, build first, think later, and find time to look for more at the ball.
—System Prompt: Warning! Unable to build! You are already constructing a school and cannot build another facility of the same type. You must upgrade City Hall to level 2 to have two schools in the city simultaneously!
What the heck! Da Fei was dumbfounded. There was such an annoying setting! Isn’t it true that for troop buildings, you can build as many as you want? Da Fei hurriedly found the Cultural Consultant, "Why can’t I continue building a school?"
The Cultural Consultant was surprised, "My lord, the current city scale is enough with just one school, why build another?"
Da Fei was speechless. In the vast world, the game’s settings are supreme, and asking an NPC is pointless. Actually, on second thought, this is the difference between troop structures and city function buildings. It seems to be a limitation on Lord Players set by the system. Otherwise, if you want to boost culture, you could constantly build schools, theaters, and libraries; if you want to boost hygiene, keep building hospitals. Lord Players would have it too easy.
But upgrading City Hall to level 2 wasn’t easy for Da Fei; a second-level city hall requires a population of 10,000, hygiene score of 60, prosperity score of 30, culture score of 30, and city level of 30. While other things might be easy, it’s the population and prosperity score that really stump Da Fei. Given the current situation of the dormant World Tree in the Pool of Radiance, the city’s population won’t increase anytime soon.
So there’s only one way, open a music class in the existing school. Meaning the school has to simultaneously research medicine and music, which will halve the research speed of both. It’s just like the library or laboratory, the more projects researched at once, the slower the overall speed, but there’s no way around it.
Da Fei then said to the Cultural Consultant, "I want to open a music class in the school, can you temporarily teach?"
Hearing this, the Cultural Consultant was startled, then beamed with joy: "Finally, it’s my turn! Everyone else has something to do except me, and I’ve been bored to death! Rest assured, my lord, I’ll do a great job, but could I be the homeroom teacher?"
Da Fei questioned, "What’s the difference between a homeroom teacher and a tutor?"
The Cultural Consultant cleared his throat: "A homeroom teacher manages the tutors and students, and doesn’t handle daily teaching..."
Da Fei was astonished: "Why not teach?"
The Cultural Consultant blushed: "My real specialty is art..."
—Ah, bah! Da Fei spat out water! Damn it, can art train combat units? What use are you to me!
And the Cultural Consultant hastily continued: "But rest assured, Lord City Lord, since I’m just idling, I can go out and help you recruit teaching staff!"
Oh? Is that possible? That sounds more like it! Da Fei agreed, "Very well, you can be the music class homeroom teacher then! Since our school is studying both medicine and music, the progress will surely lag behind. You must find a way to recruit many capable teachers to speed up our school’s progress!"
The Cultural Consultant clapped his hands and laughed: "Leave it to me, Arong, and I’ll also recruit tutors for the medical class while I’m at it!"
Wow! Even better benefits! Da Fei was delighted: "Right, tell them, salary and benefits are not a problem!"
Arong repeatedly nodded and extended his hand: "Please give me 1 million gold coins as a hiring bonus!"
Da Fei’s eyebrows jumped: "Hiring bonus?"
Arong laughed: "Yes, music and medical tutors are very high-end talents in society, no words can guarantee, they need the first month or first-year salary paid upfront to consider coming!"
Damn! Opening bid is 1 million; how high are their salaries? Is this monthly or yearly? Are you gonna skim something off the top? But, when an official actively seeks a job and asks for money, it clearly triggers a plot event; some things players can never accomplish, but NPCs can with just a word!
Okay, isn’t it just money! What I have least of is money! Da Fei opened his bags and suddenly froze! No money left! I seem to have given all of the 2.4 million prizes from the tournament to Consultant Tai Da, for him to be the ambassador at Habbit Village!
Damn! What to do? The 30 million owed in the trading post hasn’t moved a bit!
Da Fei coughed and said, "Um, could the economic advisor allocate some funds?"
Arong shook his head woodenly, "No, this requires cash. The economic advisor’s loans come from the Kingdom bank’s books; he can’t even see cash."
Da Fei sighed: "Well, we’ll talk once my payment arrives."
Arong laughed: "Don’t worry, my lord, I can still think of a way; since high-end talent can’t be found, I can go to the tavern neighborhood and recruit wandering musicians or traveling doctors to temporarily fill the teaching staff. They at least are a bit better than students who know nothing."
Da Fei laughed dryly: "Alright, something is better than nothing, see to it! After all, tell them we’ll provide meals!"
Arong nodded: "Okay! Meals included! I’ll get going now."
Ah! Damn, who would’ve thought that a mere 1 million would stump me; is this the legendary ’a penny can kill a hero’? Without cash, even recruitment at a ball would be impossible. Right in the middle of this headache, the guild channel rang: "Brother Fei, we’re back to port!"
Excellent! Just when I was thinking about venting my frustration! Da Fei asked, "Have you all eaten?"
Everyone replied, "We’ve eaten!"
Invincible Soldier also said, "Brother Fei, how about I pick up a B-level commission for this sea trip?"
B-level? Damn! I have the Divine Artifact in hand, God-level Magic Anlicia by my side, and this is the guild’s first sea voyage event—how could we pick a B-level? Not accepting an S-level commission would be an insult to my reputation as the world’s number one amateur and my current penniless state!
Da Fei angrily said: "Are there no S-level Chamber of Commerce commissions? I kill chickens without using a butcher’s knife. It’s best to fight Sea Monsters. As for the Royal Guild thinking it’s a big deal that I rob them of a Sea Monster, I’ll show them I really don’t see Sea Monsters as a big deal nor am I too bothered to steal them!"
The Chamber of Commerce erupted in cheers: "Yeah! Brother Fei is taking us on an S-level commission!"
Invincible Soldier, though excited, sighed: "Brother Fei, the highest commission from the Chamber is A-level; it only deals with little rascals, no big Sea Monsters to fight!"
Damn! I’m really no good against small fry! Da Fei asked again: "Is there a task that pays well?"
Invincible Soldier was thrilled: "There is, there is! There’s an A-level commission to clear a ghost ship; ghost ships are always loaded with loot!"
Oh? A ghost ship? I love those!
Da Fei was overjoyed: "Great! Assemble at the Chamber of Commerce Administration, take on the task, and get ready to go!"
The guild cheered: "Yeah! We finally get to do a task with Brother Fei!"
Da Fei laughed: "While stepping on the royal guild’s fool in front of their faces, unless they hide like turtles! Scold them harshly in the channel to make that bastard show up!"
The guild roared with laughter!
Now Da Fei returned to Elorin, where the entire Elorin area channel was bustling with noise; indeed, the Chamber of Commerce classmates had started their war of words.
Da Fei arrived at the Chamber of Commerce Administration, and there the hall was packed with people from Blood Sea Commerce and Dragon Cavalry Commerce, also hurling insults at each other. Damn, fighting on two fronts, that’s a challenge for our classmates! Fine, starting tonight, I’ll shut these riff-raffs up.
When Da Fei appeared, the Chamber of Commerce classmates cheered: "Brother Fei is here to take the mission!"
—System Prompt: You have accepted the A-level commission "Clearing the Ghost Ship in the Fog Reef Bay" from the old sailor Rey.
—Commission Information: I’m very sorry, I’m just an old retired sailor and can’t pay any rewards for this commission. But I was once a sailor for the Dragon Cavalry Chamber of Commerce, and I know the ghost ship washed onto the reef bay—it was once the Dragon Cavalry Chamber’s sunken vessel, the Jade Dragon. My former companions and comrades are there, and I can hear their souls wailing. I hope their souls can find peace. This may just be an old man’s willful request, but I hope the new guild president will act within their means.
Da Fei’s eyebrows twitched! This commission is related to the Dragon Cavalry Chamber of Commerce? Their sunken ship? Damn! Could this be a clue to lifting the Sea God’s curse? This task really must be tackled with full force!
Da Fei said to the guild members, "Have you all taken the task? Be prepared and gather on the ship; I’ll go collect troops first!"
The members rallied: "Roger that!"
Since there’s a Chamber of Commerce commission, the elite troops given by the mayor for protection duty could of course be justifiably mobilized. Da Fei, with a group of journalists cheering him on, headed to the barracks to pick up 200 Secret Archers and 5 Storm Druids. Hum, Secret Archers, did you witness their heroic display during my match? Hopefully, that fool Phoenix Feather doesn’t get too scared to show up!
At this time, the entire Elorin city channel was as lively as a festival; this was the carnival before the big battle! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommended votes and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com), your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)