Chapter 96 – Mystical Silver Ore

“My Lord, please be at ease. This humble one was just going to come over to give you a report,” Fatty felt rather worried when he saw the slight rage on Lin Xi’s face. F*cking hell, this is just a game, yet I have to bow to a NPC? The heck? Screw this, if he pisses me off, then I’ll stab the ** out of him. We can worry about what comes after that later.

“Oh? What are you reporting in for?” Lin Xi picked up his tea cup, blew on it a little, then took a sip.

“I already got the Snowsilver Grass, I can also get most of the other materials in a few days, but the Holy Spirit Stone is rather troublesome,” Fatty explained, then went on in more detail.

…

“Oh? You have to go to the Ancient Battlefield to get Holy Spirit Stones? That was my mistake,” Lin Xi nodded and put down his cup. “Since that’s the case, then work hard and try to gather the materials as soon as possible. General Drucker was patrolling the mine earlier. Drucker, tell him what you saw.”

“Yes, My Lord,” Drucker stood straight and spoke mechanically. “After many observations, this subordinate has noticed that there is a huge problem with the crack. It looks like it is about to continue to expand. What’s more, there has also been more miasma leaking in, so I suspect demonic beings are trying to entire our realm through the crack. If we do not seal it quickly, then there will be huge trouble, and the Black Tortoise City will have to bear the brunt of it.”

Lin Xi glanced at Fatty.

Fatty immediately understood. He clasped his legs together and saluted, “My Lord, please do not worry. When the portal is activated, I will be able to bring some Holy Spirit Stones back to seal this crack and do my part in keeping our realm safe!”

“Good, it’s great that you think like that. Since that’s the case, then go. Drucker, send him off,” commanded Lin Xi, then picked up the state of the empire report once more as if something drew his attention to it.

“Please.” When Drucker walked Fatty out of the City Lord’s manor, he immediately turned around to leave and left Fatty no chance to fawn over him.

“Tch, what the f*ck was that,” Fatty cursed, then considered his situation a bit. I should probably get the Mystical Silver Ores first.

…

When Fatty arrived at the mine, he noticed that it was rather lively inside. Plenty of players walked in and out of the cave, most of them were there to mine, while a small portion of them were there to kill slay some monsters to complete their missions.

With all the torches in the cave lit, it was no longer pitch dark. Although some spots were covered in shadows, it was no longer that dangerous there. What’s more, with the death of the Demonized Bat King, the bats within the cave had already scattered off in their own directions. The place was now a perfect spot for miners.

Aside from the rich areas that the five major guilds took for themselves initially, the other mining pits were also owned by other guilds. Due to it being the closest and richest mine to Black Tortoise City, nearly every single guild in the city had tried to fight for a spot at one time or another. Aside from the ones owned by the five major guilds, pretty much all of the other mining spots have switched ownerships several times. That was not because of the five guilds being that much stronger than the others. Rather, it was because all five guild masters understood the situation very well, they were unable to withstand the attacks of so many other guilds alone. So, whenever one guild was attacked, the other four would send reinforcements over, allowing them to hold onto their territories.

Instead of entering into the cave, Fatty chose to stand outside of the mine and offer a generous price of a thousand gold coins per Mystical Silver Ore. While Fatty could ask Fierce Dragon TheTalent to help him purchase Crimson Pearl Flowers because it was only used as a mission item or as made into a medical paste, Mystical Silver Ores were things that every single guild desperately needed. Apart from Liu Lan, most of the others were most likely unwilling to give or sell any to him. That was why he chose to go to the mining site and offer to buy the ores.

A thousand gold coins was no small amount. Although the current player base were higher levels now and were able to earn more money, the costs increased even more so. Buying potions, items, or fixing equipment were all very costly. That’s why a lot of players were still extremely poor. However, that was only to be understood, since the developers did have to make money somehow.

Fatty’s price immediately caused a ruckus amongst the miners. This was a price Fatty set based on what he knew the market price to be. Most players will hand the ores they mine out to their guilds and receive rewards based on that. The higher the ore grade, the more rewards they would get. Darksteel Ores would only get them a reward of three hundred gold coins or so, while Mystical Silver Ores would net them around eight hundred gold coins. That’s was why Fatty offering to buy them for a thousand gold coin each was a very generous price.

Yet, even though there was a ruckus, nobody actually contacted Fatty. Did nobody manage to mine a Mystical Silver Ore yet?

Fatty gritted his teeth and increased the price to one thousand two hundred gold coins. Yet, after a while, he noticed that the miners had wishful looks of their faces, but nobody approached him.

This is strange? So none of them actually managed to mine one? Fatty thought to himself.

This communicator rang. Fatty took a look, it was from Liu Lan. Damn, I was happy for nothing.

“Fatty I heard you are trying to buy Mystical Silver Ores? You won’t be able to buy any.”

“Why?”

“In order to prevent players from selling advance ores instead of handing it over to the guild, every guild would send some players to watch over the mining players and would take the advance ores the moment one appears. Nobody is able to take them out to sell them in private,” Liu Lan explained.

“I see.”

“How many do you need? I’ve got a few here. If you are desperate, then you use those first,” Liu Lan offered.

Huh? Why’s this chick so nice now? But… whatever, I’ll complete the mission first. It’s not like I’m going to take it for free. “I need ten.”

“What? So many!?” Liu Lan exclaimed. “Our guild only managed to get three pieces after so long and you’re asking for ten!? Seriously?”

“What!?” Fatty was even more surprised. “You only got three Mystical Silver Ores after so many people dug for so many days!?”

“Do you think it’s something you can find on the side of the road?” Liu Lan snorted. “If it wasn’t because of your whip, then we wouldn’t even have gotten the three.”

“Ahh this is annoying. You keep those three ores first, I’ll think of something else. If I don’t gather enough, then I’ll ask you for those.” With that, Fatty hung up and began to think over it. Yet, after a while, he couldn’t think of any way for other guilds apart from Liu Lan’s to help him.

“What a bother,” Fatty muttered.

Ahh, I’ll mull over it another time. Things will work out in the end.

Now, since he hasn’t gotten any news from Fierce Dragon TheTalent, Fatty didn’t really have much to do. So, he decided to farm. However, where to do so was a good question.

After a good thought, Fatty thought of Ox-Horn Mountain. Not only was he able to farm there, he was able to get some good items. Also, the Minotaur Chieftain’s cave was a small mining area, so he might actually be able to get some Mystical Silver Ores there.

Fatty went over to the bank to clean up his inventory first. He put a pet egg, a gold weapon and a few other items into the storage.

I took the pet egg from Myriad Swords, but where did I get the gold axe from? After a while, he finally remembered. He took some of the equipment when he stole the kill on the Minotaur Chieftain. Eagle Fortress didn’t get anything good, so I guess the gold item, the best drop, came to me.

After finishing cleaning up his inventory and buying some more potions, Fatty journeyed over to the Ox-Horn Mountain. He went up the mountain in stealth and avoided a group of monsters along the way, before finally reaching where the Minotaurs resided. Although they were not the easiest monsters to kill, there were very few players in the surroundings.

Like before, Fatty summoned Wheat, laid traps, then ordered Wheat to lure the minotaurs over one by one, then focused attack on their weapon holding hand. Then, after killing the minotaur, he would take its weapon for himself. It was a tried and true method that got him a few hundred weapons already.

After a few rounds of recalling to empty his full inventory into his bank storage and returning to continue farming, Fatty did enjoy his time in the Ox-Horn Mountain and when he finally killed all the mob monsters outside the cave, he went into the cave the Minotaur Chieftain resided in.

He carefully cleared away the Minotaur Guards in the tunnel, then saw the newly spawned Minotaur Chieftain slumbering away.

Ignorance is truly bliss. Fatty was no long as careful as he was the previous time after facing the Fire Cloud King, Horned Thundertiger and the advanced boss monster Flame Ruler. However, just as he was about to start fighting, he heard voices outside.

“Guild Master, why are there so little monsters here? Did someone clear them out first?”

What the heck? Why does this happen every single time I came here? Fatty took a look at the slumbering Minotaur Chieftain. Never mind, it’s not going to trap anything good. I’ll let them lure it away so I can mine here.

Fatty squatted down in stealth in a corner of the cavern, then heard plenty of incoming footsteps. Those people were clearly worried that the Minotaur Chieftain was already killed, so they began to run over to the end of the cave, causing enough sound to awaken the boss monster.

Fatty chose a perfect spot to hide so that the Minotaur Chieftain couldn’t see him. When the boss monster walked out with its axe, it ran into the group of people who entered.

“Ahh, it’s the Minotaur Chieftain!”

A series of cries rang out. Some of them were surprised that the Minotaur Chieftain came out, while others were excited that the monster was not killed yet. Meanwhile, the Minotaur Chieftain cared not for what they thought. It raced over and hacked down with its axe.

“Retreat! Retreat! Fight outside!”

Noticing that the Minotaur Chieftain was truly a powerful boss monster, the players sprinted outside in a disorderly fashion.

Fatty shook his head at the sight. So uncivilized, they’re even worse than Wheat.