Chapter 40: He was making a fortune

At the moment, the Hall of Kings' alliance channel was buzzing with activity.

As the strongest force on the island, the Hall of Kings boasted over 150,000 members—a staggering number.

If all these alliance members could be rallied to serve the Golden Behemoth Lord, he would have a significant advantage in the upcoming battles for island supremacy.

This was precisely why, at times, the Golden Behemoth Lord hardly considered Edward a threat, believing his current setback was only temporary.

With the backing of the Hall of Kings, he was confident he would soon surpass Edward.

Right then, the alliance channel was stirred by a bold move from the young Lord, the Golden Behemoth Lord.

This time, he wasn't using the excuse of forming a core team to siphon gold coins from alliance members, nor was he seeking loans; instead, he was directly crowdfunding.

Believing in his status as a top-tier Lord and the prestige of being the alliance leader, he felt that crowdfunding within the alliance should be no issue—after all, why borrow when you can fundraise?

Borrowed gold coins had to be repaid, and borrowing required signing contracts under the enforceable rules of the Worlds' Floating Isles, making repayment unavoidable.

Unfortunately, the Golden Behemoth Lord had overestimated his appeal.

His crowdfunding initiative was immediately met with resistance from many alliance members.

Comments flooded the channel:

"Our leader sure has a grand way of doing things."

"Other alliance leaders at least borrow gold coins. Our leader? Straight up asks for crowdfunding. Trying to pull a fast one without offering anything in return."

"You'd have to be three sheets to the wind to pull a stunt like that."

"No one's gold coins come from thin air; every coin is earned through the sweat and blood of our fighting professionals..."

"Borrowing gold coins is one thing, but crowdfunding? Forget it."

These messages left the Golden Behemoth Lord dumbfounded.

Was his reputation as a top-tier Lord really worth so little?

With an alliance of over 150,000 members, he couldn't even raise enough gold coins to purchase two Blueprints?

Yes, he also wanted to be the first to upgrade his Territory and thus receive rewards from the Worlds' Floating Isles.

However, he wasn't interested in the gold coins or prestige points from the rewards; he valued the "World Announcement" and "honor points" more.

These could significantly boost his prestige on the island, attracting more professionals to join his Hall of Kings alliance.

He admitted that he might not be able to outmaneuver Edward in military tactics, but with the Hall of Kings as his trump card, he was sure he could eventually defeat Edward and other top professionals to claim the title of Island Lord of the Worlds' Floating Isles.

However, it seemed there was a problem.

In the alliance, his reputation seemed utterly useless.

Not a single member stood up to support him, not even those in his core team.

Seeing the overwhelming trend in public opinion within the alliance, the Golden Behemoth Lord got scared and quickly changed his tune from crowdfunding to borrowing.

This move managed to quell the chaotic voices.

In the end, he successfully borrowed thousands of gold coins.

...

[Guild Master, the prices for Fences and Watchtowers blueprints are skyrocketing—it's just not worth buying right now.]

[The real kicker is we still don't have the Warehouse blueprint.]

[If someone gets their hands on the Warehouse blueprint and upgrades their Territory first, snagging the Reward, Guild Master, you're gonna be in deep trouble.]

[Warehouse blueprints are tough to come by.]

[Better safe than sorry.]

[Edward: I feel like you guys are talking about me.]

[...]

Golden BehemothLord ignored the chatter in the alliance channel.

As soon as he pocketed thousands of gold coins, he logged onto the [Island Trading Platform] and bought a Fences blueprint and a Watchtowers blueprint.

The prices for both blueprints were on the rise.

Delaying any further would mean shelling out even more gold coins.

Even so, Golden BehemothLord was feeling the pinch.

"Damn, these greedy merchants are bleeding me dry."

"In just a moment, the prices jumped by more than half."

He was furious, feeling like he had lost a fortune.

Still, he had secured the blueprints, with over two thousand gold coins left.

"Now it's just a matter of when the first Warehouse blueprint will drop. No matter the cost, I need to get my hands on it."

"This time, I won't let Edward beat me to it."

Golden BehemothLord muttered bitterly, vowing to clear his name with a [World Announcement].

...

On Edward's end.

He had already closed the honor item exchange menu.

After a long look, he still hadn't spent his hundred honor points.

It was a tough choice, not knowing which item to pick.

In reality, his options weren't that plentiful.

Like the Troop Evolution Blueprints worth a hundred honor points, the lower-tier equipment blueprints worth fifty honor points, and even cheaper items like Spirit Grain seeds.

But no matter what he chose, it felt like a loss.

In his view, given the difficulty of earning honor points, they should be used to exchange for rarer items to truly reflect their value.

Common items could be bought on the trading platform.

There was no need to spend honor points on them.

Even the Troop Evolution Blueprints, which could evolve his troops, were the same.

At first glance, impressive.

At second glance, a headache.

His troop type, Angel, could also evolve with these blueprints, but the evolution process came with a chance of success and failure.

If it failed.

Edward would be out a hundred honor points.

So after much deliberation, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to do it.

Glancing at the bustling [Island Chat Channel] and the prominent golden world announcement, Edward, feeling satisfied, headed over to the neighboring [Island Trading Platform].

"No one's biting on the Warehouse blueprints, but everyone's going nuts over the Fences and Watchtowers blueprints," Edward noted with a chuckle. "These folks are really off their rockers."

"Luckily, I've already got my Warehouse up and running."

As he spoke, Edward glanced again at the auction for the [ghoul leather armor]. Less than three minutes remained until the auction ended, and the bidding for the [ghoul leather armor] had skyrocketed to 1,070 gold coins, a price higher than any other top-tier level five equipment already sold.

"A transaction price over a thousand gold coins," Edward mused. "The Worlds' Floating Isles just rewarded me with another thousand gold coins."

"Plus the loot from taking down the Goblin Tribe..." He couldn't help but smile broadly, feeling pretty darn good. "Got to say, today was a bumper harvest."

Just then, he received another message from the [Worlds' Floating Isles].

[Dear Lord Edward,]

[Your troops have taken the Goblin Tribe's main building—the Council Hall. You may choose to destroy it or occupy it.]

[Choosing to occupy will make the Goblin Tribe your second Territory.]

[Choosing to destroy will turn the Goblin Tribe into ruins, a land without an owner. In this process, you might obtain blueprints related to the Goblin Tribe.]

Destroying the native stronghold would likely yield blueprints, including but not limited to those for Territory buildings. While other blueprints might also be obtained, the chances were somewhat lower.

Edward had already gathered this information from the professionals' forum back on Earth, so he didn't hesitate and chose to destroy.

As for occupying the Goblin Tribe, it held no value for him at this point.

[Congratulations, Lord Edward,]

[You have successfully destroyed the Goblin Tribe.]

[You have earned the enmity of the Goblin race.]

[You have obtained three Watchtower blueprints, one Fence blueprint, one Warehouse blueprint, five wooden house blueprints, and one Silver Stronghold treasure chest.]

As a series of notifications flashed through his mind, Edward had only one thought left.

He was making a fortune.