Chapter 477: Commercial Collaboration

In the dark forest, a few Orcs surveyed the environment to see if there were any gamers from Victoria City moving around.

The Orcs were Arthur and his comrades.

"They should be pillaging the Duke's Castle. I don't think there's anybody here in Victoria City."

Peasant looked at the surroundings and didn't discover any Human activity.

After arriving from the Teleport Portal, they didn't approach Victoria City. Instead, they traveled in the opposite direction. There were many rocks and steep cliffs, so it was a suitable location for a secret Stronghold.

Arthur and his comrades were building a Stronghold so that they could have a resting place on the Surface World.

Their plan was to log the trees secretly. The nearest location for selling wood was at the crossroad intersection outpost. However, the outpost was a good distance from the Surface World.

If they had a Stronghold near the forest, the gamers wouldn't have to travel to the crossroad intersection outpost that frequently. They could log the trees for half a day and store the wood in the secret Stronghold before returning to the crossroad intersection outpost. Even if the gamers of the Surface World attacked them while they were logging, they wouldn't lose all their wood.

The secret Stronghold was a good place for them to go offline.

They weren't aware that they were the first batch of Underworld creatures that returned to the Surface World after thousands of years.

...

In the Eternal Kingdom Dungeon.

When Sherlock returned to the Dungeon from the Merchant Alliance's manor, he conducted a friendly interview with Frangipani.

However, Frangipani didn't know much since he was recently released from his imprisonment.

The Ancient Gods army was using a similar mental connection to the connection between Sherlock and the gamers. That was why when the Ancient Gods army attacked Winterfell, all of the Ancient Gods believers from around the world rushed to Winterfell.

Frangipani was part of this collective mental connection of the Ancient Gods.

When Frangipani was brought back to Eternal Kingdom, he was like a mole for the Ancient Gods army. Sherlock wasn't aware of this fact.

After carefully treating him to reduce the pain, the half-dead Frangipani was rid of his mental connection with the Ancient Gods.

The parrot and the black kitten witnessed the entire process and got to know the "gentle" side of Lord Sherlock.

However, it was only the beginning.

...

The Orc Cherry sat in his office. After a series of events, he was promoted from Garrison Guard Captain to the Chief of the Winterfell Garrison Guard Station.

He was able to be a Chief at such a young age because of his excellent performance in solving the Volcano case and strong support from Lord Sherlock and Lord Nicholas.

Cherry had a bright future.

Even though he was a Chief, he still handled everything himself instead of just giving orders in his office. For example, the Winterfell officials reported a shocking incident to the Garrison Guards.

The wood in Forest No. 4 was all gone. It had become a barren desert. There weren't even any rocks.

"What's going on?"

Cherry looked at the desert, perplexed. He inhaled the smoke from the metal stick that was in his mouth.

"Zi, zi, zi..."

His mouth emitted sizzling sounds and charred smoke.

It mirrored his mind, which was in turmoil.

"Chief, could all the trees be logged by Eternal Kingdom?" his colleague, who was holding a document folder, asked Cherry.

"Don't worry about your thoughts. We have to be bold in our thinking, speculation, and conclusion," Cherry said to his colleague.

"Yes!" the colleague said proudly. He opened the document folder and said, "From my records, the forest was leased to Eternal Kingdom four months ago. The lease was for a year, but it was returned to us a few days ago. Eternal Kingdom requested a refund of eight months of lease. I'm thinking that they cut down all of the trees in four months and returned the land to us to save the remaining eight months of lease."

The Garrison Guards at the side inhaled cool gusts of air. They were in disbelief.

That was Eternal Kingdom, the most promising and powerful Dungeon with the highest number of warriors. Dungeon Lord Sherlock attended the banquets of the elites and was a notable socialite. Would such an influential character return the forest to save on eight months of a lease?

"I heard that Eternal Kingdom returned the forest because the trees vanished. They were thinking of asking for compensation."

The worker in the forest disagreed. He took out an application form and said, "This is the form filled up by Lord Sherlock. It states the sum that we're required to compensate him."

Cherry remained calm. He took the form and examined it carefully before saying, "Hmm, from the form, Lord Sherlock is correct. Our lease is for a year, but the trees vanished after four months. It's reasonable for Lord Sherlock to demand compensation."

"Wait a moment, Chief."

The Orc Garrison Guard, who accused Eternal Kingdom of logging all the trees, said, "If they simply logged all of the trees, we won't have to pay any compensation."

"That's impossible!" the worker in the forest immediately shouted.

"How many creatures are there in Eternal Kingdom? The forest is huge and requires special tools for logging. Not to mention that the logging staff has to be specially selected. We have a collaboration with the largest prison, Bankazia, but Eternal Kingdom and Bankazia didn't cooperate. How could he have a large logging crew? It's impossible to cut down the trees within four months."

"Hmm, he's right. I don't think Eternal Kingdom is responsible for the missing trees. I have encountered the strange citizens of Eternal Kingdom before and don't think they are that decadent. I can see from their violent nature and thirst for battle that they have the special characteristics of an Underworld warrior."

As Chief Cherry was speaking up for the gamers, the other Garrison Guards didn't suspect Eternal Kingdom any further. Cherry was the detective that solved the Black Volcano case, which was the most sensational case in the Underworld.

He couldn't possibly have erroneous speculations. The Garrison Guards no longer suspected that it was Eternal Kingdom that logged all of the trees. They started investigating the cause of the destruction of the trees, while the Merchant Alliance compensated Lord Sherlock and extended their apologies.

Lord Sherlock was generous and didn't go after the Merchant Alliance, only requesting another forest as compensation. The lease would be a year. The Merchant Alliance didn't accede to his request. Instead, the Merchant Alliance compensated Lord Sherlock with Magic Stones and raw materials.

Lord Sherlock accepted the compensation.

Sherlock was busy planning an important project. He was diligently preparing for it.

...

The light of the computer screen illuminated the walls of the Dungeon Lord Main Hall. The sounds of a mouse clicking and furious typing made the parrot blink his eyes in his cage. He saw Lord Sherlock working hard in front of the computer. The parrot turned his head away to prevent the light of the computer from disrupting his rest.

Polio, who was resting in his dwelling, opened his eyes. He saw Sherlock working in front of the computer and sighed. Then he muttered, "Lord Sherlock is working too hard..."

It was soft, but it was still loud enough to be heard by Sherlock. Polio saw that Sherlock wasn't responding, and he sighed before sprawling down to sleep. His fawning tactic failed.

Frangipani was hiding his body in his shell all the time. It was good to have a shell like a turtle.

Eggface was also sitting in front of a computer, using great effort to control the mouse and keyboard with his claws. His eyes gazed intently at the computer screen.

"Pick up the lanterns! Pick up the lanterns immediately!" Eggface suddenly shouted. His voice gave the parrot and black kitten a fright.

Sherlock was focused on the computer while he clicked rapidly on the mouse. He shouted to Eggface, "I can't light the lanterns! Help me give it a push. Give it a push!"

After shouting, Sherlock's hands left the keyboard and mouse. He covered his face while emitting "Sss—" sounds.

"Aiya, what happened to you? Just like the lanterns!" Eggface complained, while Sherlock closed his eyes and shook his head silently.

"If we remain at this level until the end of season nine, we won't obtain the King's ranking. The season is ending!"

Eggface frowned as he yelled at Sherlock. He continued to grumble, but he suddenly realized that he was talking about Lord Sherlock. As a male, Lord Sherlock would never apologize for losing a game. Eggface pondered for a while and said, "I don't blame you, Lord Sherlock. You aren't able to master this version. Why don't you try the previous version? There is a strong opponent called 'The Shy' recently. Lord Sherlock will work towards defeating him. I feel you can beat him easily."

"Forget it, I'm not playing tonight. Rest early. The otherworld is having school holidays, so there are more students."

Sherlock shut down his computer and leaned on his chair. He closed his eyes to rest, and Eggface shut down his computer reluctantly before bidding Sherlock good night. Then Eggface went to the corner of the room and sprawled in his nest. He had his own nest in the Dungeon, but he preferred sleeping in the Dungeon Lord Main Hall.

Sherlock didn't mind Eggface sleeping in his Dungeon Lord Main Hall.

"Lord Sherlock," Bru said while Sherlock was resting his eyes.

"Hmm?" Sherlock replied.

"Lord Sherlock, don't you have a plan? The Ancient Gods army is watching you closely. According to your belief, the Devil Management Committee isn't very reliable. You subdued two of Michelangelo's subordinates and captured the highest-ranking commander of the Ancient Gods army. There's also a creature who can revive Michelangelo in Evelynn's body. If it were another creature in your shoes, they would be a nervous wreck. But you aren't perturbed. You are even playing in a game tournament daily. I must say you have some skills."

Sherlock opened his eyes and said, "Yes, I've said that it's not my problem. My 'Attack Damage Carry' is so strong. How could there be a problem?"

"I'm not referring to the League of Legends, Lord Sherlock."

Bru said, "What plans do you have? Do I have to give orders to fulfill your plans?"

"Invade the prison of the Ancient Gods and kill them before killing the seven Devils of the Devil Management Committee. What do you think of my plan?"

Sherlock didn't look like he was joking. Bru said excitedly, "You're indeed Lord Sherlock. You have such a comprehensive plan. Don't worry, I'll let the gamers fulfill your plan. As long as they can damage the Ancient Gods and the Devils, it shouldn't be much of a problem for them."

Bru was very confident in the gamers. He suggested occupying Winterfell as the base for arming and training the gamers.

That was the first step in conquering the world.

But Sherlock wasn't interested in Bru's ambition.

After Bru expressed his ambition and plan in great detail, he suddenly remembered something and said to Sherlock, "Yes, Lord Sherlock, Tencent has been sending you messages. Have you seen them?"

"What messages?" Sherlock asked bewilderedly. He wasn't concerned with Tencent's messages.

"It's about their intention to collaborate with us to promote the Dungeon game. They want to invest in the first National Invitational Tournament."

The computer before Sherlock started running, and Sherlock opened the document that Bru was talking about.

The document was sent by Tencent and contained details of collaboration and future plans.

The important points were the promotion of the Open Beta and setting up overseas gaming servers. Sherlock was interested in the first National Invitational Tournament. It wasn't an international tournament because "Dungeon" didn't have international gamers. All of the current gamers were from an Asian country.

"National Invitational Tournament? Are the otherworld's gamers able to take part? Just like League of Legends?" Sherlock asked after pondering. Besides the gamers killing each other in the wilderness and the Guild Wars in the Arena, he didn't expect that the gamers could fight against each other in a tournament.

"I think it's more like a World of Warcraft tournament. It's not as good as League of Legends. As the only game of its kind, I feel that if we organize a National Invitational Tournament, it'll spur the gamers' motivation. Before the start of the Open Beta, the tournament will increase our prestige. Once we take over Yggdrasill and can provide sufficient Mana, we can invite more gamers to participate in our Open Beta."

"This sounds interesting. Send a letter to Tencent and express our interest. Let them do detailed planning," Sherlock said as he shut down his computer.

He leaned back in his chair, but Bru said, "Lord Sherlock, what about the Devil Management Committee and the Ancient Gods army..."

"I understand, I'll kill all of them tomorrow," Sherlock said half-heartedly.