Chapter 470: Decline

The Unknown Forest Stronghold was about an hour's journey from the steep cliff.

Most of the gamers felt that the journey was too long. If there was no strong reason, they wouldn't travel the distance just to fight monsters.

It was common for the gamers to travel for half an hour just to fight monsters or complete a mission, and they were used to it.

If the gamers had to travel on the Airship or a Beetlemon for half a day, they would go offline and do some self-study.

When the Airship or Beetlemon arrived at the destination, the gamers would receive reminders from their friends via Wechat or QQ.

An hour was too far for the gamers to walk. Fortunately, there were Teleport Portals.

Brainiac was able to create a Rune Mana Formation for a Teleport Portal fast, as he did it many times. Within two hours of reaching the Unknown Forest, Brainiac had created a Rune Mana Formation for a Teleport Portal at a valley of the Unknown Forest.

Sherlock was very concerned about the Underground Forest, so he spent a fortune to purchase the materials for the Rune Mana Formation.

After the Teleport Portal was completed, more and more gamers traveled via the portal to participate in building the gamers' Stronghold.

Beetlemons that were used as transportation tools between Eternal Kingdom and the Unknown Forest were teleported to the forest valley. The Beetlemons were to be used to transport the gamers to the enemy Stronghold.

Before the first Beetlemon arrived at the enemy Stronghold, Arthur had brought his Guild members and other Guild members to the location to do surveillance. There were also unaffiliated gamers scouting around the area. They couldn't wait for the Teleport Portal and the Beetlemon routes to be established.

The Orcs and Gnomes in the enemy Stronghold noticed the arrival of the unwelcome guests.

They shut the door of their Stronghold and went on high alert. They then sent out a Gnome emissary who shouted at the gamers, "Warriors of Eternal Kingdom! We're from the Northern Office of Eternal Fire. We came here in peace and offer our friendship. This Underground Forest isn't occupied by anyone. If you're interested, we can develop the forest together."

A goblin from the gamers' side came forward and shouted, "Nonsense, you just killed me. You call that peaceful and friendly?"

That was Marco Polo, who was killed by the enemy Orcs.

The enemy Gnome didn't expect his offer of friendship to be declined bluntly. He was embarrassed, but he said with thick skin, "I think there's a misunderstanding. We have never killed any citizens of Eternal Kingdom. The deed could have been done by the second and third successors of Eternal Fire. It has nothing to do with Eternal Fire. They were merely successors and not the Dungeon Lord. You must be clear about that. Our Dungeon Lord would never do anything to harm the peace of the Underworld. We are here for peace and prosperity."

Though the enemy Gnome was glib-tongued, the gamers didn't believe him, as their Orcs had killed Marco Polo mercilessly. That was the truth. The Gnome's words had no bearing. Most importantly, their names were red in color.

As long as their names were red, their flattering words were useless. They were monsters to be attacked.

A gamer dashed out towards the emissary since his name was red and he was wearing a beautiful costume.

The clothes were fashionable.

The game didn't have shops selling fashionable clothes. To the gamers, fashionable clothing was a necessity. Most of the clothes of the NPCs were good. As long as the clothes weren't damaged when they were stripped, the gamers were happy wearing them. The good thing about the game was that the equipment didn't have expiration dates.

This included fashionable costumes. Some online games made players pay money and placed expiration dates on clothing.

To ensure that he wouldn't damage the costume, the gamer used a metal club instead of a sharp weapon to hit the emissary on his head. The emissary didn't have a chance to evade and fell to the ground.

"Wah, his reaction was fast. I should have used a club to knock the Gnome out. I don't want to listen to his crap."

"I'm regretting it. I shouldn't have listened to his nonsense. Oh my god."

The gamers felt regretful, but it was too late. The gamer who killed the Gnome had the loot.

Unfortunately, the costume was sized for a Gnome, so it could only be sold to a Gnome. The Orc gamer who hit the emissary wasn't able to wear the costume.

The conflict escalated. The emissary was killed, so there was no chance for a peaceful resolution.

The gamers attacked the enemy Stronghold.

The enemy Stronghold responded with a series of raining arrows, some black and red Mana exploding rockets, and various elemental attacks from behind the rock walls. There were only about 500 to 600 gamers, and they were devastated by the first wave of long-range attacks. Most of the unscathed gamers fled instantly.

They were mainly acting as scouts to collect intelligence. If the gate of the enemy Stronghold was open, they would use the chance to pillage the enemy.

However, they didn't have such a chance.

The gamers were defeated by the first wave of attack from Eternal Fire's Northern Section.

In the Stronghold of Eternal Fire, a few commanders who were wearing armor of Superior quality gathered at a table that had a huge sand table map. The sand table's terrain was the physical model of the Unknown Forest and its valley.

"Who can tell me how information was divulged? How did the warriors of Eternal Kingdom find this location? How did they discover this hidden Underground Forest?"

An Orc commander who was standing in the middle looked gravely at everyone. He was in a terrible mood.

Nobody dared to utter a word. Not even a single breath could be heard.

After a long time, a Gnome trembled as he said, "Commander, I feel that it's not the time to find blame. We have to solve our current problem. We started a fight with Eternal Kingdom, and we need to use diplomacy to resolve the problems. Eternal Kingdom isn't a Dungeon to be trifled with. Lord Morgan and Andrew have been sent to prison by Eternal Kingdom."

All of the other members nodded in agreement.

The commander pondered hard. He had to solve the problem fast.

"If we send another emissary to Lord Sherlock to explain the situation, he will understand our defensive motive. It was Eternal Kingdom that attacked first. We didn't start the conflict," another Orc said.

"That's correct. If we tell Sherlock that we'll relinquish the forest to him, I believe Lord Sherlock won't attack us. I heard he's a magnanimous Devil."

"Magnanimous Devil? Are you joking? I haven't heard of a Devil who is magnanimous. Do you know how many Magic Stones and resources Sherlock has blackmailed the Merchant Alliance and Eternal Fire for?"

The commander looked ghastly as he spoke, "From what I heard, he blackmailed the Merchant Alliance and us for 50 million Magic Stones."

"That isn't the most frightening part. He actually sacrificed the lives of his citizens to obtain the Magic Stones. Do you believe that? Most of the compensation was for death compensation! Can you imagine the number of casualties sustained by Eternal Kingdom?"

A creature at the side commented, "Ah, I also heard that the warriors of Eternal Kingdom weren't afraid of death."

"They weren't afraid of death and were a bit perverted. They were looking forward to death!"

"And what's terrifying is that they laughed when they were dying. During the battle, they were more concerned about protecting their equipment than saving their comrades. I have never seen such warriors before."

"During the middle of battle, many of their warriors become naked green troops without any equipment. Then they pick up weapons from the battlefield and continue fighting."

"That's scary. What a horrifying Dungeon!"

The group chatted until the commander banged on the table. He shouted, "Enough, I know how awesome Eternal Kingdom is, I don't need you to repeat it. I will report our situation to Eternal Fire and send an emissary to Eternal Kingdom to negotiate with Lord Sherlock. No matter how the warriors of Eternal Kingdom taunt us, we shall not retaliate. We will only defend and prevent them from coming into our Stronghold. If we retain this Stronghold, we will have territorial rights over this forest."

Everyone became quiet. His order wasn't feasible.

How could they not retaliate? If they didn't retaliate, with the current defenses, the Stronghold would be overrun.

But it was an order, and they had no choice but to obey it. They hoped to come to a resolution with Lord Sherlock as soon as possible.

As for the negotiation with Lord Sherlock...

...

"Please take a seat."

Sherlock pointed to the chair in front as he spoke to the Werewolf.

The Werewolf was an emissary of Eternal Fire. He had arrived at Eternal Kingdom via the Winterfell Teleport Portal after approval from Sherlock.

Sherlock invited the Werewolf to take a seat politely. Eggface brewed a cup of bloody chrysanthemum tea diligently and placed it before Sherlock, then returned to his computer.

"Lord Sherlock, I believe you are aware of my intentions."

The Werewolf looked at Sherlock, who didn't show any remorse. Sherlock gazed at the Werewolf and replied, "I know, you're here to discuss compensation, aren't you?"

"Wait, what compensation?"

The Werewolf was dumbstruck. Sherlock quickly said, "That's correct, it's regarding compensation for the loss of Eternal Kingdom. Five hundred of my citizens were killed in the Underground Forest belonging to Eternal Kingdom. I have video evidence."

Sherlock took out a few Adamantine rocks and infused them with Mana. Images appeared from the Adamantine rocks.

The images showed the first-person perspective of numerous Arrows and Mana rockets flying towards the camera at the forest Stronghold. There were explosions all around. Each series of images only lasted a few seconds.

When the images were stitched together, it showed the gamers being massacred by Eternal Fire's long-range attacks at the Stronghold.

"Wait a moment, Lord Sherlock, perhaps you don't understand the entire incident. The warriors of Eternal Kingdom killed our emissary and stripped his clothing. They even wielded weapons and attacked our Stronghold. Take a look at the bladder object in the images. Isn't that a bomb made by Eternal Kingdom?"

The Werewolf was very familiar with Eternal Kingdom and did his homework before coming. Sherlock remained composed as he said, "I think we shouldn't have any misunderstandings. Your Orcs killed my Goblin, so my warriors went to your Stronghold to demand justice."

Sherlock took out another piece of Adamantine rock and infused it with Mana, and a series of images appeared before them.

It was the first-person perspective of a Goblin as a few Orcs surrounded him. They spoke about Eternal Fire and threatened to kill him. Then, an Orc took out a knife and slit the Goblin's throat. The Goblin died.

That was the recorded video created by Marco Polo before he was killed by the Orcs from Eternal Fire.

The later images showed the emissary walking out of the Stronghold and denying killing the Goblin of Eternal Kingdom. Then the emissary was clubbed to death by a warrior of Eternal Kingdom.

"We have strong evidence. Moreover, the Underground Forest is within the boundary of Eternal Kingdom, while Eternal Fire is so far away. Why did you build a Stronghold in my territory and kill my warriors? Is Eternal Fire declaring war on Eternal Kingdom?" Sherlock said as he looked bewilderedly at the Werewolf.

The Werewolf didn't expect Sherlock to have evidence. When the Orcs killed the Goblin, they didn't see the Goblin holding any image recording devices. How did Sherlock obtain those incriminating images?

The Werewolf couldn't figure it out, but the evidence was laid out before him. Even if Eternal Fire made a complaint to the Devil Management Committee, the Devil Management Committee would side with Sherlock. However, Eternal Fire had its reasons for not giving up the Underground Forest.

The Werewolf said to Sherlock, "Lord Sherlock, I believe these are just some misunderstandings. Eternal Fire is sincere in reaching a resolution with Eternal Kingdom. Let bygones be bygones. We're willing to offer triple compensation for your losses during the conflict. In addition, we're willing to provide additional compensation to you in order to lease the Underground Forest. The rental price will be very attractive to you. Don't worry about money."

As he spoke, the Werewolf gestured out a figure with his finger. That was a figure that a normal Dungeon Lord wouldn't decline. Sherlock pondered for a while and said, "I decline."