Chapter 95
Lu Chuan picked a chair that looked sturdy enough and sat down.
At once, his eyes began wandering, scanning the surroundings.
“What are you looking at?” Vivian asked curiously.
“I’m looking at your interior design,” Lu Chuan admitted openly. “Very natural, feels like everything was sourced locally.”
“Our buildings favor simplicity and lightness—preferably natural materials. Cement is useful, but we use as little as possible,” Vivian explained, understanding his point. “Sea beasts can only carry so much weight. If we exceed their limit, they roll over, throwing everything off their backs to lighten the load.”
“Your headquarters is really on a sea beast’s back?” Lu Chuan recalled estimating its size earlier and couldn’t help doubting. “This place is at least as large as a small town. Do such enormous sea beasts really exist?”
And how much would it cost to feed one?
Thinking that, Lu Chuan went ahead and asked directly.
Shen Li covered his face, embarrassed.
Enough already. Coming to someone’s guild headquarters and not asking about dungeons, but instead about raising sea beasts—any outsider would think you were plotting to steal their business.
“In terms of food costs, based on current prices, about one hundred million,” Vivian replied smoothly—anyone else might have been stumped, but she could actually answer. “Sigh, the beast is getting old, not eating as much as before. Now it eats less than a third of what it used to.”
Vivian had received countless players, but this was the first time anyone had asked about feeding sea beasts. She found it amusing and kindly explained how the expenses were broken down. “Most of that hundred million is just seafood at cost price—living by the sea makes fishing easy and cheap. The main expense is the specialized team that cares for the beast. That’s where the money really goes. Fortunately, wages for ordinary workers aren’t too high, so we save a little there. Still, this is our guild’s largest fixed expense.”
Vivian listed many small details.
According to her, raising a sea beast was basically a money pit.
That was why, despite its wealth and strength, Ocean’s Heart still lagged behind the Resurrection Guild.
With such giant money-drainers on their hands, they couldn’t afford to expand further.
Lu Chuan’s dream of raising a sea beast shattered spectacularly.
Far too expensive—he wasn’t worthy.
Every time he thought he was rich enough, something always showed up to prove he was still nowhere close.
[Host, it’s not that bad. The true body of Executor Number 18 you saw before is probably even bigger than this sea beast under your feet,] #888 reminded.
Lu Chuan fell silent.
So Number 18 was really that big?
Compressed into such a small form—no wonder every time an Executor entered a dungeon, it caused mutations.
Forcing such a massive being into a dungeon would surely burst it apart.
“Then what about Number 9—must be even bigger?” Lu Chuan asked wistfully. “Do Executors not need to eat?”
Otherwise, if he really did manage to buy Number 9 from the Main God System, what if he couldn’t afford to feed him?
For the first time, Lu Chuan felt like backing out.
Meanwhile, inside a dungeon—
Number 18 sneezed several times.
“Senior, this Master-rank-player-mutation quest has been posted for ages. Are we really not taking it?” Executors missions involving mutated Master-rank players were usually the most common ones, yet this one had been hanging there, untouched. The other Executors wanted to take it, but didn’t dare.
Because Number 18 had marked it.
Though Executors were many, their power levels varied.
And those ranked at the top… well, they were truly brainless. When they went berserk, they’d swallow anyone, comrade or not.
Number 18 didn’t understand why his senior forbade others from taking this mission but wouldn’t take it themselves.
“Not yet. Leave it for now,” Number 9 answered flatly. “Your brain isn’t good. Don’t ask questions. Just do as told.”
“Alright…” Number 18 replied pitifully. “But senior, I’m hungry.”
“…Go catch some gods to eat.”
“Got it!”
Number 9 looked down at the quest panel where that mission still lingered. His eyes were flat, lifeless.
The once high-spirited player… had long since mutated into this.
All he could do was delay time.
—
Ocean’s Heart Guild.
“…Enough digression. I know why you’re here,” Vivian said after a reminder from her subordinates, steering the topic back. “You’re after that special dungeon, of course. To be honest, our pricing has always been public. Every group that enters must pay our guild an S-rank item. Once our appraisal confirms it, they may enter.”
S-rank items were exceedingly rare, never found on the market.
For small and mid-sized guilds, such an item was a core treasure.
Only the five great guilds had the foundation to trade with them.
Even Lu Chuan had to admire Ocean’s Heart’s business sense. After a few rounds, they’d be sitting on a pile of S-rank treasures.
“We have no choice,” Vivian sighed theatrically. “This dungeon may be open to outsiders now, but who knows when the Executors will appear, erase the anomaly, and close it forever. If it weren’t so unstable, forcing us to collect information quickly, we’d never sell entry rights. That key was hard to get—we must recover some of our costs.”
“The mutated Master-rank player inside—if you add up all of his inheritance, it might not even amount to a few S-rank items.” Shen Li deliberately tried to bargain. “How about we trade for five A+ items instead?”
“S-rank and A-rank items are worlds apart. We won’t trade.” Vivian rejected him flatly. “Honestly, if it were you, Lu Chuan, and you, Shen Li, who wanted to enter this dungeon, I would even want to charge you two S-rank items. I have a premonition that once Lu Chuan enters, even if he doesn’t obtain the whole inheritance, it will cause the dungeon to collapse. And Mr. Shen, if you, as a Master-rank player, get polluted inside, Ocean’s Heart will not take any responsibility.”
“That’s called price-gouging on the spot.” Lu Chuan’s face darkened. “I haven’t even stepped inside yet, and you’re already raising the price? That’s not right.”
“…You don’t need to assume I’ll be polluted the moment I enter.” Shen Li was a bit helpless.
His Master-rank ranking wasn’t high, but it wasn’t that bad either.
Except when he was possessed by divine power and his sanity dipped, Shen Li’s sanity value was actually very stable at other times.
“I was only speaking offhand.” Vivian realized her words weren’t very convincing. “But I still advise you to hurry. By the next dungeon cycle, there may not be many more chances left. The Executors should already be on their way. Every time the dungeon opens, their steps draw closer. If you really want to go in, you’d best not miss the next run. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee there’ll be another.”
“You say that to every player, don’t you?” Lu Chuan exposed her ploy. “Making us feel urgent so we’ll cough up the payment.”
Vivian only smiled without replying, tacitly admitting it.
“Since we’ve come all this way, of course we want to enter.” Shen Li answered. “Payment can be discussed, but shouldn’t you at least tell us the details of this dungeon?”
“Very well.” Vivian glanced over the group. “If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t say a word. But for you, I’ll give some face.”
“This dungeon originated thirty years ago, when a Master-rank player named Xi Jiangyuan mutated. Mr. Shen, you should have heard that name.”
“Xi Jiangyuan?” Shen Li’s expression changed; he cried out in shock. “How could it be him?”
Lu Chuan, Starry Shasha, and the others all turned to look at him.
“He was our childhood idol. I remember when I was about five or six, Xi Jiangyuan’s name was constantly in our ears.” Shen Li seemed lost in memory. “He was a Master-rank player of the Abyss Guild, ranked somewhere in the fifties or sixties. Very young, the strongest genius player of his era.”
“Xi Jiangyuan entered the Evil World game at sixteen and became a player. He even topped the Newcomer Ranking List. By twenty-five, he was already on the Master-rank list. Back then, he was every kid’s dream. We all wanted to be the next him. He was the brightest star. After he became Master-rank, he appeared several times more, each causing a huge sensation. It was said even the president of the Abyss Guild admired him. But later, he gradually disappeared. I once tried to look him up, but he hardly showed himself in the real world.” Shen Li spoke with wistfulness about his childhood idol.
In those days, Xi Jiangyuan’s fame was no less than Lu Chuan’s now.
Everyone expected that this under-thirty Master-rank player would one day achieve something earthshaking.
And with such a high rank, expectations were even greater.
“The current vice-guildmasters of the five great guilds—back then, they were all overshadowed by Xi Jiangyuan’s brilliance,” Shen Li murmured. “And now, to hear of him again, only to learn he mutated…”
He found it hard to accept.
His childhood idol, fallen to this… he couldn’t digest it.
How could it be?
Master-rank players fought gods daily, but with Xi Jiangyuan’s skill, he shouldn’t have mutated so quickly.
And hadn’t the Abyss Guild kept watch over his sanity? Tried to save him?
Why then did a dungeon formed by Xi Jiangyuan’s mutation end up in Ocean’s Heart’s hands?
“After Xi Jiangyuan mutated, the dungeon itself became S-rank. Our Guildmaster happened to be nearby and sealed it in time. Otherwise, the pollution would have spread into a super-large dungeon.” Vivian spoke calmly. “Maybe because our president intervened, the Executors haven’t come yet—but I doubt we can hide it much longer. To be honest, before you arrived, we contacted the Abyss Guild. Xi Jiangyuan was their player, after all. Out of courtesy, we wanted to return the key.”
“But the Abyss Guild refused.” Vivian herself found it bizarre. “Their president even sent word from inside a game dungeon, saying Xi Jiangyuan was no longer one of their players. So his affairs are no concern of theirs. As for his inheritance, we may handle it as we please. They are the only guild so far that hasn’t sent anyone here. I suspect Xi Jiangyuan fell out with them, which is why they didn’t help him before he mutated.”
That was the only explanation.
Every Master-rank player was an invaluable asset. If there was even a sliver of hope, a guild would exhaust all efforts to protect them—especially one ranked so high. But for the Abyss Guild’s president to declare personally… something was very strange.
Yet Ocean’s Heart’s president only said, “It’s fine, just handle the dungeon as usual.” So Vivian and the others buried their doubts and sold the dungeon access normally.
“Seems Xi Jiangyuan must have done something inside the game.” Shen Li still couldn’t believe it. “Hearing this, I feel we should see the dungeon. Maybe we can learn the secret of his sudden mutation.”
“Wake up. This isn’t the time to chase idols.” Lu Chuan gave Shen Li a shove. “Anyway, we’ll think it over. In the meantime, can we look around here for a few days?”
“Of course.” Vivian smiled. “Players from other guilds are also staying here, waiting for the dungeon to open. You could meet them—there might be opportunities for cooperation later.”
Lu Chuan understood well.
Messiah had told him before he left: he too was here on Ocean’s Heart’s turf, also for Xi Jiangyuan’s mutated dungeon.
—
Noah Guild’s lodgings.
Outside Messiah’s room, plenty of players lingered, craning their necks to peek inside, waiting for him to emerge.
The Noah Guild members were used to it by now.
Ever since Messiah began going out often, the number of admirers chasing his looks had grown steadily.
And so had his supporters.
Some newspapers even devoted full pages to his beauty, making him even more unwilling to step outside.
He regretted listening to Lu Chuan.
His peaceful life was gone for good.
