Chapter 11: A real scam artist

"Watch your back, Edward," the young man spat venomously. As a Lord commanding elite troops, he felt entitled to such bold statements.

Just moments before, he had offered Edward a vice-leadership position in the [Hall of Kings] guild in exchange for the [Snake Armor] Edward possessed. In his eyes, it was a win for Edward.

After all, [Hall of Kings] was the hottest alliance around, swarming with countless professionals eager to join—a club so exclusive, most could only dream of getting in.

With his status and prowess as a top-tier Lord, he was confident he could turn the [Hall of Kings] into the strongest guild across the isles. Trading a mere piece of equipment for a vice-leadership seemed like a steal.

But Edward had turned him down. Not just that, he had blocked him. Such ignorance and arrogance, utterly lacking in foresight.

"Such a fine piece of defensive gear..." he muttered. "If I could outfit my Golden Behemoth with it, it would obliterate those Wild monsters. What a waste."

Fuming yet powerless, the young Lord realized he had no leverage over the owner of the [Snake Armor], nor did he even know Edward's current whereabouts on the isle. If only he did, he might have worked something out privately.

"With the auction for the Snake Armor just 24 hours away, I need to figure something out..." he pondered suddenly struck by an idea. "The [Hall of Kings] now boasts over a hundred thousand members. As their leader, am I really worried about scraping together some gold coins?"

"If I charged each member a gold coin to join, that's over a hundred thousand gold coins," he gasped in realization. That could recruit an army of Golden Behemoths!

Just then, a notification from the [Worlds' Floating Isles] popped into his mind: [Lord professionals acquiring gold coins through crowdfunding, loans, and other means are capped at ten thousand coins. Primary sources of gold coins include hunting Wild monsters, defeating enemies, and regular trade.]

"…" The young Lord was left speechless, his plans suddenly seeming a bit more complicated.

10,000 gold coins might seem like a lot at first glance.

But it won't be long before that amount is just chump change.

Sure enough, the Worlds' Floating Isles isn't about to let anyone cheat the system.

"Still, better to have some than none at all."

"I can set up a core team within the alliance, and promise to improve the perks for core members in the future... Charging a gold coin as a membership fee shouldn't be a problem."

"And it won't affect the other regular members of the alliance."

The young man was thrilled, feeling pretty sharp.

Without much hesitation, he immediately opened his own alliance channel and, as the leader, issued a message about establishing the core team.

As soon as the message was out, the alliance channel was buzzing.

Soon enough, some members started complaining, feeling like the 'leader' was just trying to make a quick buck.

A membership fee of one gold coin isn't a lot, but it isn't a little either.

Most importantly, no other alliance charges such a so-called membership fee—what is this if not a rip-off?

Amid such complaints, many members left the alliance on the spot.

However, some decided to pay the gold coin and join the young man's core team.

They believed that the young man, being a top-tier Lord with rare top-tier troops, had a promising future. Being part of his inner circle could only mean good things down the road.

A mere gold coin seemed like a smart investment.

This mindset wasn't uncommon among these professionals.

And in return, loads of gold coins started filling the young man's pockets.

"Sweet."

"This is the clout of a top-tier Lord."

"Just a few words, an IOU, and these folks are handing over their gold coins."

The young man was ecstatic, feeling like he had unlocked a new world, instantly coming up with more creative ways to milk the alliance members.

Of course, these ideas had to be put on hold.

Bringing them up now would make him a real scam artist.

An hour later, he had collected over 600 gold coins in membership fees, indicating that his core team had grown to over 600 members.

However, as time passed, fewer professionals were willing to pay up.

Eventually, no one was paying anymore.

Realizing this, the young man quickly spoke up in the alliance channel, claiming that the core team would only accept a thousand members, first come first serve.

This move prompted many more professionals to eagerly sign up.

Soon, a thousand gold coins were in hand.

The young man then announced that he would temporarily stop accepting core members, which left some of the hesitant alliance members regretting their indecision, even contacting him privately hoping he would open up more spots.

Knowing that a leader must not flip-flop, he indeed refused.

The establishment of the core team cost the [Hall of Kings] some members, but it also made the alliance more cohesive and significantly boosted the young man's prestige within.

Moreover, the young man was busy counting his money until his hands cramped.

You've got to admit, the young man played his cards right.

Killing several birds with one stone.

"A thousand gold coins could recruit twenty Golden Behemoths."

As he salivated over the thought, he pondered whether summoning Golden Behemoths was more cost-effective than saving the gold coins for the upcoming auction of the [Snake Armor].

He had every reason to believe—

A thousand gold coins would definitely snag the [Snake Armor].

At this stage, no professional could possibly be richer than him.

"Snake Armor isn't just any old gear; it's a high-end piece with some killer effects," the young man mused. "I can deck out my strongest Golden Behemoth with it, boosting its combat power to snag higher-level Wild monsters and up the drop rate for the good stuff."

"Plus, once I've got better gear, I can swap out the Snake Armor and sell it to other pros. So, bidding on the Snake Armor totally makes sense."

"But recruiting troops is crucial too..."

With that thought, he pulled out 500 gold coins and recruited ten Golden Behemoths. The remaining 500 gold coins he saved for the next day's auction of the [Snake Armor].

If he ran short, he figured he could always hit up alliance members for a loan. As the boss of the alliance and a top-tier Lord, no one would doubt his ability to pay back.

"Now, I've beefed up my troops," he grinned. "And that Snake Armor is practically in the bag."

"I'm a genius," the young man couldn't help but crack a huge smile, thoroughly impressed with himself.

...

Meanwhile, over at Edward's territory.

About every half hour, you could see a squad of Goblins moving in and out of the territory, hauling monster carcasses. The area was starting to pile up with these bodies, the stench of blood thick in the air.

Near the heaps of monster corpses, squads of Goblin warriors were busy dissecting them. Originally, their quest was to patrol the surroundings of the territory. But now, it looked like they'd be tied up with the carcass work for a long time.

On another note, the number of Goblin followers had increased. This was because, while the Angel squad hunted in the wild, they also worked tirelessly to expand Edward's following and spread the faith of the Lord of Holy Light.

To date, the number of Goblins in the territory had topped a hundred—a pretty staggering number. Even Lords who randomly got Goblins as their troop type couldn't possibly amass that many.

What's key here is that other Lords have to shell out cash to recruit Goblins. Edward 'recruits' Goblins through faith. He doesn't pay a dime, just provides room and board.

And food? Edward's territory is swimming in it. Hundreds of Wild monster carcasses can be broken down into thousands of units of meat, more than enough to feed the Goblins for a long while. And with the Angel squad's ongoing hunting efforts, the food supply is only going to grow.

So, a food shortage? Not happening.

What's more, Edward's even got surplus food, which he's trading on the [Trading Platform]—and trading smoothly at that.

One unit of meat for one unit of wood.

Two units of meat for one unit of stone.

Three units of meat for one unit of iron ore.

These four basic resources—food and wood are about equal in value, stone a bit pricier, and iron ore the most expensive.

After trading 850 units of meat, Edward successfully got 300 units of wood, 200 units of stone, and 50 units of iron ore.

That meant the building conditions for the [Warehouse] were met.

Without hesitation, Edward went to an open area in his territory, pulled out the [Warehouse Blueprint], and chose to use it.

In just a few seconds, the blueprint transformed into a beam of golden light that merged with the open space, and a Warehouse materialized right before Edward's eyes.

As Edward marveled at the magical power of the Worlds' Floating Isles rules, the Goblin warriors nearby, busy dissecting monster carcasses, started making a racket, shouting, "It's a miracle from the Lord!"

They shouted as they knelt down before Edward, their expressions filled with fervor, for Edward was their god of faith.