Chapter 55 - 52 Whos Robbing Who
Chapter 55: Chapter 52: Who’s Robbing Who? Chapter 55: Chapter 52: Who’s Robbing Who? Editor: Atlas Studios In the Elf Kingdom’s Elorin Port, Skyshattering Cannon was a player with a bit of fame.
As a dwarf, he traveled all the way from the Dwarf Kingdom to the Elf Kingdom, all for the sake of using the Elf Kingdom as a base for his trading ventures and making money. The Elf Kingdom’s handicrafts are recognized as best-sellers in the Bright Alliance, with statues purchased for 100 Gold Coins able to be sold in the Human Kingdom for a whopping 800 to 1000 Gold Coins.
However, these handicrafts are considered high-end goods of the Elf Kingdom, only available to players with high trade license levels. Moreover, the Elf Kingdom is far by sea from the Human Kingdom, and one must buy a big ship to undertake such trade. In reality, inter-kingdom trade demands large cargo volumes, only feasible with big ships. Who would dare risk capsizing by shipping just a handful of goods over such a long distance for nearly a dozen game days in a small vessel?
Therefore, Skyshattering Cannon gathered a dozen or so good friends to trade near the port, earn reputation, level up together, and then they discussed raising funds to purchase a big ship. After that, once enough money was earned, Skyshattering Cannon’s advantages as a dwarf would come into play—forging weapons! The dwarves’ weapons were the first in the Bright Alliance, or even the best in the world.
In short, Skyshattering Cannon and his buddies had their little life nicely planned out.
And today, they encountered an unexpected windfall on their trade route! Red names have no rights—killing trashy red names is considered a public service, and you can collect a hefty reward from the bounty notice, so why the hell not? Of course, it goes without saying that there’s no need to advertise the massacre of red names and looting their gear.
Blood Sea Studio.
These past few days, Blood Sea Wave had been very busy. Establishing the studio, clearing the site, recruiting, hiring trustworthy acquaintances to manage, setting up studio rules and salary packages, forging an alliance with the Dragon Slayer Guild, and so on—a heap of things to do. Fortunately, with many brothers and a wide network, Blood Sea Wave saw smooth progress.
Since Blood Sea Wave was a famed naval war hero of the China Region, it was only natural for his studio’s development direction to also be oriented toward the sea. Elorin Port, known for producing handicrafts, demonstrated its value during open beta testing, and Blood Sea Wave naturally had plans for his studio members to settle in this port for development. First trade, then strengthen the military force.
And now, Blood Sea Wave received a tip-off from a player—his archenemy was spotted in the waters near Elorin!
Blood Sea Wave’s spirits lifted, and he glared furiously, saying, “Tell them, kill! Once the bounty is issued, we mean business! Money is no issue! I’ll log in later and personally contact that player!”
Money was obviously not a problem; it was an opportunity to establish the credibility and authority of the Blood Sea Studio! Using the archenemy as a sacrifice on the studio’s opening day was just too perfect! As long as the enemy resurrected on shore, they couldn’t escape from the people’s oceanic grasp—they’d be like rats on the street, hunted down to level zero!
At this moment, near the waters of Elorin, Skyshattering Cannon shouted loudly, “Brothers, the big boss has spoken, kill! Whoever takes him out gets a 100,000 reward, 5,000 each!”
The crowd roared in unison: “Charge!”
Twenty small sailboats immediately changed course, encircling the Flying with the ferocity of a pack of wolves.
Da Fei was of course alerted by the unusual activity of the small boats.
“Damn it! Instead of trading properly, what the heck are you trying to pull?” Having extensive experience as a senior healer, Da Fei knew these players were definitely not here to celebrate his arrival.
In calm seas near the coast, big ships usually can’t run as fast as small ones. Moreover, with only two people on board, escape was definitely not an option—but Da Fei hadn’t planned to run anyway.
“I need to make an example of one to warn the others, so no one dares to have designs on me just because I’m red-named!” Da Fei’s confidence, of course, came from his Master-level Crossbow Cannons, perfectly capable of sinking one of their small boats with a single shot, decimating half of them before they could even get close. Then it was time for his precious treasure. Although Catherine wasn’t a Battle Hero, her Angel-like combat power was evident, easily snipping through these level 20-something players with just 50 or 60 hit points. Not one of them would board his ship.
Then Catherine exclaimed, “Captain, are we going into battle?”
Da Fei nodded, his tone dark: “That’s right! If they come looking for death, they can’t blame me for giving it to them.”
Catherine chuckled in surprise: “It’s the first time I’ve seen merchants take the initiative to attack me. It’s good enough that I didn’t rob them.”
Rob? A thought flashed through Da Fei’s mind. That’s right! Killing them would make me lose reputation, and it would be a disservice to my own reputation if I didn’t loot a bunch of their cargo, considering it costs money to restore reputation.
Da Fei exclaimed excitedly, “Can we rob them?”
Catherine laughed. “With their level, we can rob them till they’re left with nothing but their underwear!”
Hey, hey, hey, only I’m allowed to steal her underwear, no one else can. However, if we were to rob them, considering they have about a dozen players plus at least one or two NPC sailors on their small boats, they’re quite a formidable group. If any of those players knew some magic, even Catherine’s 73 health points might not be safe.
Da Fei suddenly remembered that he had a Demonized Anemone King’s Heart in his bag, which he originally planned to sell. But given the current situation, he decided it was best to use it now, to spare his darling any hardship. With her terrifying attack speed, the paralyzing and interrupting effect would be unimaginable.
As the two sides approached each other, Da Fei, afraid of sinking their boats, deliberately slowed down by lowering the sails. As they got closer, the Skyshattering Cannon’s small fleet noisily docked alongside the Flying, completely surrounding it.
Then, Brother Cannon was flabbergasted, and Da Fei silently lamented that he had overthought things. How do you expect to board when the Flying has such high sides? Did you think you were pirates who could perform aerial acrobatics standing on the mast? Even if you could do that, your tiny ships’ masts aren’t tall enough to reach the sides. All in all, attacking a big ship with a small one is as difficult as laying siege to a castle.
Sure enough, the players exclaimed in shock, “Brother Cannon, we can’t board it, what do we do?”
Brother Cannon gritted his teeth. “Then smash the ship! Sink it!” It seemed they had no hope of looting the ship for valuables, so they decided to go for the bounty instead.
Da Fei was suddenly startled! Damn, did you really think you could dock with my ship just like that? With a turn of the wheel, I could sink you all!
Da Fei hurriedly threw down two ropes. “Hey! If you’ve got guts, come on up!” Throwing one might make them hesitant, throwing two would give them courage.
Brother Cannon was overjoyed. “Charge aboard!” he shouted. “Brothers, charge! The big boss will reward us dead or alive!”
The players immediately climbed the ropes and poured onto the deck. They breathed a sigh of relief when they were not met with the expected resistance as they climbed over the sides.
This is the power of a big ship! Standing on the firm, smooth deck, they couldn’t help but cheer, as if the ship was already theirs. But Da Fei was nowhere to be seen. “Where is he?”
“Idiots, if you have the guts, come on in!” Da Fei’s voice came from the cabin corridor.
“What’s he up to?” they muttered in their hearts.
Brother Cannon waved his hand. “Charge, we have numbers on our side! We’ll grind him down!”
The players immediately rushed into the cabin, and just as everyone poured in, Catherine, wielding her dual blades, leaped from the bridge into the corridor, on a killing spree. Screams and flashes of white light filled the tight space. With Catherine’s 60 attack, 20 damage, plus 22 attack speed, coupled with the pirate attribute and Attack Skill doubling her damage from behind, these level 20 players with just 40 to 50 health points stood no chance against her.
Right, if it were a fight on deck, Da Fei would worry about being encircled by their numbers, which would spell trouble. So he lured them into the narrow cabin corridors. And then, you know the rest.
When Da Fei and Catherine eventually rejoined victoriously, a sweaty Catherine triumphantly waved a stack of papers in her hand. “Captain, guess what this is?”
Da Fei was overjoyed, “The purchasing orders! We really got them! Darling, you’ve worked hard!” But thinking about how he just killed about twenty level 10-20 players and lost 4000 reputation, he sighed inwardly, hoping the value of their merchandise could make up for the reputation loss, otherwise, there might be trouble entering the port.
So what is a purchasing order? It is of course the proof of goods bought by merchant players from the trading posts. Goods without a purchasing order are considered of unknown origin, black-market goods that trading posts won’t accept, and the navy might even confiscate them upon discovery. Merchants trading goods between themselves is essentially the trading of purchasing orders. Only when you have the purchasing order are you legitimately in possession of the goods. That means if the players didn’t drop the purchasing order, even if Da Fei robbed their goods, there would be nowhere to sell them, and it would have been a pointless robbery.
(Note: The earliest form of futures was similar to these purchasing orders; students interested in futures might want to ask their sports teacher about it.)`