Chapter 78: Crack thoughts

My eyes opened as I logged into Galaxy Online. The cavern was dark, and I heard some movement as I woke up. I saw the mute bounty hunters looking bored and hanging around. The one-dog guy was still bound tightly, and my two collared slaves were in their beds, looking happy that I woke up. I heard the stomachs grumble and knew that people were hungry. There were plenty of food supplies to go around.

I started handing out food to everyone, and I started to think about what I was going to do. There was plenty I could do, but there were too many options. Did I want to take these people out of the forest? If I did that, though, I may as well leave with them instead of coming back into the forest to hunt. Should I go after the leader? 

My mind paused, and I thought about the quests. I decided to pull them back up again.

—-

Unique Quest Completed: Location Waterfalls Temporary Camp

You have discovered potential information on why people are staying in this area. You believe they may be Criminals ambushing Bounty Hunters as they come into the forest seeking Criminals. They take them and bring them to this area as a gathering location before sending them somewhere else.

You have Massacred the Group looking to resecure the Waterfalls for the unknown Bandit Group.

Turn in their identities and the battle recording for additional rewards.

—-

—-

Unique Quest Obtained: The Crew behind it all

You took out a group of bandits you suspect of enslaving and attacking Bounty Hunters when they first entered the Saint's forest. After Eliminating a large group, you cannot help but wonder if you can take out the entire unknown group.

Another thought is that you might investigate how this Bandit group knows when Bounty Hunters are entering the Forest. 

Rewards for clearing the quest: Increased previous rewards from "Location Waterfalls Temporary Camp" And a Voucher

Consequences for not doing the quest or not accepting: Nothing

Failure Conditions: You Die.

—

I looked at the two quests, and my mind was in turmoil. But I looked over the people here, and I wondered if I would be able to do the unique quest with them. The answer was no, as they would be a burden. I would have to feed them and defend them. If I were to go on this unique quest, then I would have to return these people out of the forest. I looked at the partial work done in the cave and I looked at the people I had and the tools I looted from the people. Some of them looked pretty sturdy, and I picked them up. It wasn't like I needed all of them, either.

A smile crossed my face, and I started to get to work as I decided some things. First of all, I wanted to keep this as a base camp for the future. It was near the edge of the forest and well hidden. I could leave things here for a short-term basis and come back, but it should not be moved. So I could return these people and maybe call in a bounty transport inside of a taxi. 

I would stay away from the public transit system and spend a bit more for even a luxury service. I just decided I would not leave the same way I showed up. I pulled out the ammo for a couple of the handguns and made sure they were empty, and I got all my slaves working on something for their food after they ate.

I wanted them to finish something for me, and I got them all working on the makeshift prison that I wanted. With new orders and the promise to return the bounty hunters back to civilization sooner over later, they got to work knowing that the prison I asked them to make would be the bell for when they got to leave my employ. Instead, I got over to the crack in the wall and started to look out. That is how it all went, and I spent the day getting used to doing overwatch and eating. 

The valley was remarkably clear, and I watched. For hours and hours, I watched and felt bored, but it was something I thought would start to happen in the pro leagues. With all this extra time to think, I thought about how the pro leagues might shape up in the future. With the Gabin Corporation having the ability to speed up time in the game world, why wouldn't they for the pro league matches if it was a more realistic form of combat? Making everything four times the speed would be insanely helpful. It would cut down waiting time while people killed each other, and you could easily slow down for a highlight reel. It wasn't like they couldn't slow down the watch speed when things were happening in the arena.

It would make for a great viewing experience, and even in space combat, you could avoid all the posturing parts or at least make them shorter. I could only see benefits to doing that. There was vehicle combat and hunting things that speeding it all up would allow the audience to see more in less time. Maybe even have a way to slow it all down so people can watch the people that they want to watch more of and learn from. 

The amount of information you would be able to learn about enemy teams would be immense, too. That means any corporation in the proleagues would need a data processing team on retainer for matches. If what I was thinking would be true, that would be costly.

I watched out the crack, and my mind slipped into theory crafting as I looked around. The valley was quiet, and the night came in. Once again, I wished I had something to assist with the night watch. It would do me a world of good and allow me to be an even better night fighter. Still, I watched and knew after this many hours, I would have to feed my laborers. So I got up and fed them before coming to the crack. It was a long night, and nothing happened, so I decided to just nap inside the game as I planned my groceries for the second day.

Waking up, I inspected the work. With the increased labor, they really cut into the rock and were expanding the Cavern. I would have to do something about a door, but I was thinking about solutions. Instead of thinking too much, I fed everyone, pulled out the bounty tablet, and started to search for features. I never really spent that much time on it, and now I was looking a bit more into it. 

It took me a while, but I found the feature. Or more like a service. "Out in the forest needing to bring your bounties in for temporary storage at the Bounty office? We are the contractors for you! We pick up and deliver things so you can stay out and pick up more bounties! If you are bringing in a haul, we are the discreet service for you! We will pick up and replace capture collars captured bounties you want to be brought back to the bounty office or our specialized holding facility while you are still out. The bounty office or we will hold onto the criminals until you have decided what you want to do with them. We will drop off supplies and equipment to you in the field. We will not, however, enter the forest with our trucks. All our vehicles are off the grid, and we will post a tracker where we will meet clandestinely. This is all for your security! Make use of our services Today! Purchases to be brought out will incur a small fee for each item and can only be up to a certain amount of space due to cargo limitations."

There was a bit more small print, and the ad kind of threw a bunch of information at you, but reading it, I realized this was the service I wanted. I needed a discreet service to pick these people up, bring them to the bounty office along with all the heads and useless cargo I had, and bring some supplies. Some night vision and infrared would be insanely useful, as would a silencer. As a bonus, I could order everything at the edge of the forest, and they guarantee a maximum of an hour of delivery and pick-up time.

I started to salivate just thinking about it. It would make that unique quest actually achievable! One of the quests only increased the rewards for the other one. I could turn in what I have and increase the rewards or complete the Unique quest and have even more with the previous quest. With this service, I might be able to reload everything I need except a new armor. I did not have the credits without putting in the current bounties. I also had to pay out to keep my contract going without incurring a contract breaker trait or oathbreaker. Everything on the internet said that it was one of the worst traits to have.

My mind was practically made up, and I grinned and wondered if this service also assisted criminals. I am sure there was a market for assisting them. Ecosystems like that were created when you allowed a criminal element to exist. I almost chuckled at the thought that they deliberately set it up so that these would be considered training grounds and places to make and create free labor slaves.

I already knew there was a market for them.

My mind settled, and I knew it was going to be a risk—a large increase in risk—but there were going to be others who got through the loophole as I did. If I wanted to go the route of creating a Corporation and starting my own pro league team, then I would have to have a commanding lead. That meant that I needed to be strong myself and come out to the main universe with a strong backing that I could leverage to take off even faster.

I had a spaceship with Ura; cargo transportation was no small amount of credit, and spaceships were expensive. That meant that I would need to increase the amount of Credits that I make on bounties and good gear while picking up quick, strong bounties that paid out. Then, I would have to increase the number of NPC employees I had. NPC employees would be for the best as I would have less real-world money than I would have credits if I went this route. Every dime I make in the game could not be traded out unless I was desperate for the cash and paying people. I would need to reinvest everything inside the game.

I did not know if NPCs were respawnable in the main universe, but that was something that I would find out in time. For now, this was the only way forward, and if I wanted to do it that way, then I would have to go all in. No more trying to get a team that might not be able to handle my personality. It would all be me making a team around people who could handle me and the people around me. It was going to be much more difficult, but as long as I finish the tutorial, I potentially can always go back to joining another team.

Everything would be about the next few months in the game, and the game barely started. I needed to settle in for that, and I would because I have to.

My first target was to earn enough Federation credits for a light-weight or medium-weight scouting armor that could be used in the future. Then, I will find an engineer and programmer who can help me start making more versatile traps. Teaching myself more about weapons and traps would be critical to my future success.

My mind was made up, and that was what I was going to work to achieve—small goals at a time. Maybe before I left the tutorial, I would have small goals like a new cargo ship for shipping or a corvette for defense. None of that can happen until I finish these small goals of completing this Unique quest without dying.

I took a deep breath, checked their progress, and came up with a plan. I would move after they cut into the cavern enough that I could block it off. Then, I would take these people back to the forest's edge and get a delivery of much-needed supplies and equipment. Then, I would start to bounty hunt and complete that quest deep in the forest, using the cavern as a main base.

My mind was settled, and once I checked up on the work, I went back to the crack and started to watch the forest line for intruders. Maybe it would be boring, but I felt a renewed sense of purpose and an extreme lack of stress compared to the days before.

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