Gamers of the Underworld

The materials were transported from Eternal Kingdom.

Some of the materials were from the excavation of ores by Eternal Kingdom’s gamers, which consisted partly of Adamantine rocks. The remaining portions were forging ores from Winterfell’s material reward for defeating Samael.

The Dwarves, Hill and The King, were in charge of teaching steam technology and the forging of weapons.

Steam engineering wasn’t developed in Victoria City yet, but Hill was kept busy, especially during the initial development stage.

The Blacksmith Shop was in 100% production, and the sounds of hammering filled the entire shop. As for the forging of weapons, Mana was required in both the Underworld and the Surface World.

Though Hill was a Steam Engineer, he was also skilled at forging. During these extraordinary circumstances, as well as for the overtime pay, Hill was working diligently.

Hill was in charge of forging equipment, while The King was in charge of forging in addition to equipment improvement, which was his main forte.

The model for equipment improvement was the same as Eternal Kingdom, though The King’s temper wasn’t as hot as Simba’s. Occasionally, the gamers could hear The King say, “Apologies, your weapon improvement has failed. It has disintegrated.”

“Ah—!”

Though The King was much gentler than Simba, he was never shy in telling the gamers about the weapon improvement failures. He was ordered to do so by Lilo.

Lilo stood in the castle as she watched The King throw some broken equipment into the furnace. The equipment would be smelted before being forged into standard equipment.

Big Boss sprawled on the window sill and asked curiously, “Miss Lilo, why do you allow good weapons to be destroyed before creating new ones? Should we not use this time to create weapons and improve them so that the citizens can help Miss Lilo conquer the Heavenly Kingdom?”

“This is Sherlock’s request. He said that the citizens prefer such incidents.” Lilo put down the curtains and walked into the room as she asked, “How many of the citizens are fully armed?”

“According to my statistics, 926 citizens have at least one piece of equipment. There are 320 citizens that have two pieces of equipment, while less than 100 citizens have a full set of equipment. The numbers aren’t fixed, as they will explore the Spiders’ Lair and meet their doom. Each time they die, they will have equipment damage.”

Second Boss adjusted his spectacles while his furry and fat paws flipped through a thick book that contained all of the data regarding Victoria City.

“Hmm, it’s very good.”

“Miss Lilo, I don’t understand. We’ve had casualties of more than 10,000 over the past few days, and each citizen died at least twice per day to a maximum of more than ten times per day. Your burden is overwhelming. We should control them and reduce unnecessary casualties! You have to take care of your health!” Second Boss said with concern, clearly worried about her health.

“This burden is negligible. They haven’t been dying for naught, as they are honing their combat skills. As my loyal undying warriors, this is the fastest training method.”

Lilo waved her hand at the three Hamsters to dismiss them. Only once the three Hamsters left did Lilo show her exhaustion.

It was all worthwhile for the conquest of the Heavenly Kingdom!

...

While Victoria City was developing at a rapid pace, the gamers of Eternal Kingdom received a new Plot Mission.

[Mission Title: Surveillance of the Ogre Stronghold

Mission Description: The remnants of the Ogre troops left by Andrew are being reorganized, and they have become strong enough to threaten our survival. We are forming an alliance with Baron Nicholas to defeat the powerful Ogre tribes! The citizens of Eternal Kingdom will never be slaves!

Mission Objective: Follow Nicholas’ subordinates and perform surveillance of the Ogre Stronghold. We have to gather intelligence. The Non-Existing Intelligence Organization isn’t able to provide any assistance.

Mission Reward: 300 Eternal Kingdom Reputation Points, 500 bronze coins, and other possible equipment.]

Though the Reputation Points and coins weren’t attractive to the First and Second Beta Gamers, the Third Beta Gamers were in need of the rewards and the possible equipment.

According to the wisdom of the First and Second Beta Gamers, this kind of infiltration mission, one involving fighting with NPCs, had a high chance of yielding equipment after killing them if the gamers survived.

This wasn’t a Strange Encounter Mission, so the mission could be accepted at the Winterfell Dungeon Lord Main Hall.

The major Guilds weren’t going to let this chance slip by. The past had shown that Battle Campaign Scenarios yielded handsome loot, and the gamers with excellent contributions would have high prestige. For example, in the previous encounter with Samael, the First Beta Gamers from the Pioneer Alliance attacked Samael and gained both attention and Reputation Points.

As the chairman of the Pioneer Alliance, and after having survived various rumors, Arthur’s prestige wasn’t affected. After discovering the mission, he brought the Guild members to the Winterfell Dungeon Lord Main Hall to register for the mission to scout the Ogre tribes.

The Winterfell employee responsible for the registration was dumbstruck. He didn’t understand why there were so many creatures clamoring to register for such a dangerous mission.

The queue was extremely long, and when the quota had been reached, the gamers who weren’t registered kicked up a big fuss.

“Please, give me a chance! I want to fight for Winterfell!”

“Let me go! My skills are awesome! I’ll even sacrifice myself for intelligence!”

“In the entire Eternal Kingdom, my intelligence seeking skill is the strongest. When Winterfell was attacked by the Ancient Gods believers, most of the intelligence was gathered by me. It’s the truth!”

Everyone claimed to be experienced and said that they were willing to sacrifice for Winterfell.

The Winterfell employee hesitated and said, “I’ll appeal to my superior.”

The gamers exploded with wild cheering. They quickly took out food and sat on the floor, some of them even beginning to shout.

“Selling equipment! Selling equipment!”

“Buying a mission placement! Three thousand Renminbi for a mission placement. No matter what loot I receive, it’s all yours!”

“Selling my queue position! Selling my queue position!”

“Who has an Adamantine Ore? I want to learn Mana Engineering!”

“Selling wood! Freshly logged yesterday! Make haste, discount for large quantities!”

The Dungeon Lord Main Hall became an instant marketplace.

The employees in the Dungeon Lord Main Hall were dumbfounded. These creatures were from Eternal Kingdom, and they saved Winterfell twice, so they couldn’t afford to antagonize them.

The employees reported the incident to Dungeon Lord Nicholas, who was extremely touched. He said, “No, we’ll go according to plan!”

This was a surveillance mission and not a tour or an attempt to feed the Ogres. If there were too many creatures, they would be discovered before they could get close. They would be captured and tortured. Perhaps, they would become food for the Ogres. If that happened, the surveillance mission could be considered a failure.

Though the gamers had the intention to camp in the Dungeon Lord Main Hall, after a warm refusal, they could only leave with regrets. Brainiac came and led the noisy gamers back to Eternal Kingdom.

The method to lead them back was simple:

[Mission Title: Follow Brainiac and leave the Dungeon Lord Main Hall

Mission Description: Eternal Kingdom requires you to develop the Dungeon. Please return immediately and start working!

Mission Objective: Return to Eternal Kingdom.

Mission Reward: 0.01% of the gamers will receive a full set of Legendary Equipment. The final interpretation lies with the game officials. As there is no money collected, it’s not considered an illegal accumulation of funds.]

Though the gamers had doubts about this mission, they held onto the 0.01% hope of obtaining the reward and followed Brainiac back to Eternal Kingdom. Those who chose to stay also left after realizing that they had no chance to obtain the mission.

The registered 100 gamers formed 50 teams, following the experienced Winterfell warriors who were mounted on Beetlemons to the Ogre Stronghold.

Sherlock explained the reason that the gamers were involved in the Winterfell military surveillance operation.

“Military surveillance? Give me some places on the team. They are excellent scouts, and they will help to obtain valuable intelligence. If you send them to the destination, they will do the required surveillance. Don’t worry.”

Nicholas was more than happy to oblige. He was never in doubt of the capability of Eternal Kingdom!

The contingent set off immediately, and they soon encountered the first incident.