Chapter 68

Indeed, the Holy Fist Wheel King is the mastermind behind most of the strategies in the Eighteen Hells. Almost all the strategies of the Eighteen Hells come from this handsome and flirtatious "monk," who is undoubtedly the top strategist of the Eighteen Hells.

In fact, among the Ten Kings of Hell, there is one who only manages the market, and he deals with all the buying and selling. However, the game's other affairs are all overseen by the Wheel King. Apart from the God of Wealth, the remaining eight kings generally listen to the Wheel King. Although he is the youngest among the Ten Kings of Hell, he can be said to be the smartest.

—Of course, this is also related to the other eight kings wanting to be lazy and act as absentee landlords.

Right now, the other kings are all busy with their own affairs, leaving only the Wheel King and the Biancheng King, who is most concerned about the "Basic Light Energy Arrow," to ponder this matter at the temporary guild headquarters.

"Should we really meet this kid?"

The Biancheng King nodded, as usual, trusting the heartbreaker Little Wheel without a doubt. The Wheel King shrugged:

"It's up to you, Brother Six... I don't care about that thing. I have 'Martial Qi Strike' and 'Holy Flame,' so I don't need any light energy arrows."

'Martial Qi Strike' is a unique passive skill of the monk, which makes the monk's unarmed attacks deal magical damage, ignoring physical defense.

'Holy Flame' is a powerful passive skill of the Holy Fist, which enhances unarmed attacks by adding holy flame damage similar to light energy damage to the fists.

With these, of course, there's no need to consider light energy damage. The Biancheng King shrugged:

"Brat... I heard that a few new girls have come to Spring City recently, and they're quite lively. One day, Brother Six will treat us, and we'll hook a few."

"Sure, no problem~"

The Wheel King gave a thumbs up and eagerly agreed...

...

...

Dinner was light, with egg yolk spinach soup and leftover cold mixed radish from lunch. Wen Xiaodao didn't mind, eating heartily, but the meat-eater Bald Old Li couldn't stand it and went out to bring back half a roasted duck.

The three of them chatted while eating, and the topic turned to Old John's blacksmith shop—seemingly, game-related topics at the dinner table always revolved around Qin Yu.

Qin Yu mentioned the protection of the Supreme Law and the phrase, "The Supreme Law grants this private territory the inviolable right, and you have no authority to enter."

Bald Old Li, while gnawing on a duck neck, rolled his eyes, trying to recall when he had heard this familiar prompt:

"I remember, it was when entering the madman's private residence."

"Madman?"

"Wind Without Sorrow."

Wen Xiaodao interjected, then continued sipping his soup as if nothing had happened.

"Right, the second-ranked warrior on the level list. Our headquarters is now in his private residence, under his name. If he doesn't give permission, trying to force your way in will result in being repelled, and you'll get the same 'Supreme Law' prompt."

"Does that mean I need to buy a house in the game?"

"Pretty much."

"How much does it cost?"

"Money? Let me put it this way: buying a house in the game is about as difficult as buying one in real life. Wind Without Sorrow directly charged RMB to the city's contribution points, and the amount he donated is almost enough to buy a decent three-bedroom apartment in City A."

Speaking of which, Bald Old Li sucked on a bone.

City A is known for having one of the highest housing prices in the country, with a good location apartment costing at least 30,000 yuan. Qin Yu scratched his head and glanced at Wen Xiaodao:

"Choose between a house in the game and one in City A."

"Get lost."

Wen Xiaodao raised a chopstick...

...

...

"Buy a house, buy a house, buy a house..."

Alpha muttered while forging, drawing frequent glances from passersby. Fortunately, Alpha had used [Magic Trick] to transform himself into a monk uncle, so no one came to gawk at "Waste Guy."

In fact, this wasn't because our protagonist had the real-life syndrome of wanting to buy a house, but because he was truly bored with the monotonous actions. He could only watch the hammer rise and fall, the clanging sound making his ears ring.

Therefore, Alpha became even more aware of the importance of having a house in the game.

Today, he had traded another 20,000 arrows, meaning he now had enough materials to make 100,000 arrows. At a rate of 10 arrows every 5 seconds, it would take over 10 hours to complete if fully automated.

Considering the time he spent sleeping and cooking, Alpha was offline for over 10 hours a day. Not utilizing this time was a waste.

—As a severe "no sand in the eyes" syndrome patient, Alpha couldn't let this waste of time continue.

"I must have a house!!!"

Thinking this, Alpha stopped his work. In fact, he already had a plan. Having a house didn't necessarily mean buying one; he could also live under someone else's roof. As long as he had enough leverage, like... [Basic Light Energy Arrow].

Of course, Alpha wasn't thinking of using [Basic Light Energy Arrow] to seek technical shares from players or rent a house from a famous player like Wind Without Sorrow.

Apart from the trouble it would bring—after all, he had already framed Time Vapor for the [Basic Light Energy Arrow]—there was also the question of whether such a private residence could even be used for forging.

According to Lancelot, private residences were basically only good for sitting and chatting or sleeping (rest, not anything else), like a chat room.

Alpha wanted to talk to Old John about a partnership—like borrowing a room at "Silver Hammer" and promoting his products.

Alpha had noticed that Old John's blacksmith shop had a few empty rooms, complete with anvils and furnaces, perfect for forging.

Actually, there were many people who rented anvils from Old John, but since there were enough anvils outside, no one cared about the rooms inside.

Moreover, when people forged in large quantities and needed to be offline, they usually carried nothing, and the mass-produced cheap goods weren't worth stealing, so no one thought about finding a place where no one would steal.

Only a newbie like Alpha would carry top-tier equipment while forging and get robbed.

Of course, the special nature of Alpha's arrow-making was also a significant reason. If someone else stole [Basic Light Energy Arrow] from him, his secret would be exposed.

Currently, although Time Vapor and the people from the Eighteen Hells knew Alpha had the arrows, they didn't know the exact source or have concrete evidence, so they couldn't say anything, only suffering in silence.

Alpha decided to talk to Old John!

Alpha's plan was to invest 5,000 arrows daily in Old John's "Silver Hammer" blacksmith shop to get a room where he could forge and have control. This way, he could automate the arrow-making process while eating and sleeping.

"...This is my idea. You can check out my arrows. I believe they are unique in all of Azeroth."

Saying this, Alpha handed the [Basic Light Energy Arrow] to Old John Halifchek.

The latter took the "fluorescent stick" with a puzzled look, examining it from all angles and even bending it, then took a deep breath:

"Indeed, I have never seen such an arrow—good heavens, this will make my 'Silver Hammer' popular. But 5,000 arrows—do you know, that's too few."

"You just want to make 'Silver Hammer' popular, right? So whether it's 5,000 arrows or 50,000 arrows isn't that important."

Alpha spread his hand in a "five" gesture and waved it:

"Actually, I think 5,000 arrows will be more effective in making 'Silver Hammer' famous—there's a theory called 'scarcity marketing' in my hometown."

Saying this, Alpha took out another [Basic Light Energy Arrow] and gently touched Old John's [Basic Light Energy Arrow].

"We both have them, so we won't care how many more there are. But if only you have them,"

Alpha handed his arrow to Old John and spread his hands:

"Then I will be very interested in the [Basic Light Energy Arrow] because I don't have it, and I will pay attention to the only place that sells [Basic Light Energy Arrow]—'Silver Hammer.' I might even buy something else while I'm there."

—This is the scarcity marketing theory and its derivative effects. You wouldn't mind the profit from a few tens of thousands of [Basic Light Energy Arrows], right?"

"You are a smart guy. I like blacksmiths like you. I am willing to cooperate with you. Your proposal will make 'Silver Hammer' famous. I am willing to rent this room to you, dear Alpha..."

Old John was old but not dull.

In fact, none of the elderly NPCs who could survive in the game were stupid, whether it was the cunning merchant Kidd or the old soldier Joel. The same was true for Old John. The old blacksmith quickly understood Alpha's "scarcity marketing" theory.

As long as the number of [Basic Light Energy Arrows] released was controlled, people would camp at "Silver Hammer" to snatch them, and the sales of other goods at "Silver Hammer" would increase.

More importantly—reputation, which every shop strives for.

As the only place to buy [Basic Light Energy Arrows] at a very low price outside the auction house's anonymous trading system, "Silver Hammer" would quickly become famous, no longer just a small stop on the player's upgrade journey.

As Old John said, "Silver Hammer" would be made famous.

However, although Old John agreed to Alpha's proposal, his hesitant tone suggested he had a "but" to add...

"...But... to get the power granted by the Supreme Law, you are probably not ready yet..."

Sure enough, Old John said "but"...

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