FB: Chapter 135 – The Bear Retreats

“Foxy, as always, a pleasure,” Baron Hayfield greeted me.

“Thank you, Baron Hayfield,” I replied as we both took our seats in a private meeting room in the capital.

“A shame about your title, I had hoped things didn’t go that far,” he replied. It was always impressive how the translation program did so well in translating between different languages. That was why meetings in game were always preferable for ease of communication. Another way QAI had leveraged its abilities to get people to sign up.

“Well, I am intent on paying people back for the gifts they have given me in the past. What do you think of HeroTen?” I asked. I could see the nervousness in the man. He wanted to hide it, but with Director Han’s death after the Holey Incident, as it was now being called, all the super guilds were on edge.

“We are well prepared for anything,” he replied. I might have believed Patriot, but I didn’t believe Hayfield in the slightest.

“Well you Russians always wanted to stick it to the Americans and don’t care what anyone else thinks. These six items for the Yellow Pus and a public acknowledgement that you have them,” I replied, pushing the sheets of paper over.

“You really did it,” he muttered, looking down at the status descriptions and then back up at me. While I might have shown Slice to the world, most super guilds and other players didn’t reveal the stats of their equipment. The super guilds would steal this information, it wasn’t that hard, and it was a way to confirm that I actually had them and not someone else.

Just one of the many ways that super guilds held the advantage over regular players. They were just better organized, had way more money, and up to date information. If I didn’t know all their tricks from the inside, I might have been more impressed.

“A six to one trade. With the value of these items, more like twenty to one,” I casually replied. The Great Bear was always in need of funds. Its parent country Russia didn’t have the huge cash reserves it once did with the crash of oil and the advent of fusion power.

I could tell that Baron Hayfield knew there would be a lot of trouble if he made this deal. But it was also an opportunity to gain a lot of wealth. “The public requirement is too much. If we can get rid of that, we can make the trade,” he replied.

“Plus 50,000 platinum. Not one coin less if you want to keep it secret,” I countered quickly since I had been prepared for that request. The amount of 50,000 platinum was right at the limit of what they would accept for this deal, but they would accept it.

I had a good understanding of these things having been an accountant for a super guild in the past. It was within this player’s authority to make such a transaction, they would be making several times that from the trade alone, and it would be kept quiet on their end.

“No leaks from you either, Foxy,” he said. I held up my hands in mock surrender.

“Fine. No leaking the information about this trade for one real world year,” I replied. He thought about the time frame and then nodded. By then things should have cooled off and people would care a lot less.

“We won’t be able to help you with Forged Fang,” Baron Hayfield said. I nodded slowly at this.

“That is not unexpected. But I am sure you will take advantage of the situation regardless,” I replied.

“Not with what happened to Hole City. The place is basically a smoking crater after what you did,” he said and I frowned slightly.

“I didn’t do anything. And any credit I might be getting is just coincidence with how popular I am. Please, don’t try and entrap me. Now let’s complete the deal before either of us does something we might regret,” I said.

“Ah, yes of course. Let me send the messages needed to arrange everything,” he replied. I had everything ready to go her in the Bankers Union. The Great Bear super guild would take a bit of time to transfer the necessary item over. But that was fine, I didn’t mind waiting for a while. It gave me time to think and scheme.

There were no allies among the super guilds, only competitors of various degrees and what they were willing to spend to accomplish their goals. Right now I had no doubt HeroTen and its leadership were looking into other avenues of getting back at me. Unfortunately, I was like fortress with no easy to strike weak points.

When you push someone so far, there isn’t much left they could do short of firing a nuclear missile at my position in the real world, which would never happen. While HeroTen might be screaming, people didn’t care about terrorism in game. It was entertainment since no one lost their lives. Sure China trotted people out in front of the cameras explaining economic terrorism, but only the rich elites cared, the people loved it.

It didn’t take long for the funds and items to be transferred. I had considered intercepting the Yellow Pus on route to the capital, but it wasn’t worth the headache or risk. With the transaction completed, I had defeated two of the three remaining super guilds. The Great Bear’s weakness was money and they couldn’t afford what happened to HeroTen.

I wasn’t entirely sure if the poison rainbow would lead to a divine skill, but it felt good to be winning. Unfortunately, that left the hardest and biggest super guild for last, the Forged Fang. Well, it might not be the biggest anymore, but in terms of player levels its average was much higher. Also, there were people who had been part of the Fanged Fox and the Mercenery Guild before. They benefited from all the knowledge I had shared while setting things up.

While I had fans and Illuminai members deep in their ranks, that wasn’t going to be enough. The US Government behind them was taking a hard line. I considered my options carefully. I had no doubt everyone expected me to assault them in some scheme, but the weakness of the super guild was obvious with just a little bit of thought.

HeroTen’s weakness was over confidence and building their guild headquarters in Hole City. The Great Bear’s weakness was money and cash flow in game. They didn’t want to move currency from out of the game into the game. That was why they had been more than happy to do a little work in the real world for all the help I gave them.

In the past I would have never been able to realize Forged Fang’s ultimate weakness. But it made things so much simpler and harder. The exact execution would require some more thought. I would move ahead with the in game plans as well, since I knew Tim was selling information to Forged Fang and the spy agencies behind them. It really was one big convoluted web of interests, power, and schemes.

Keeping my in-game plans active, would keep them on their toes, but I would pivot. The strength of a single player in game. I didn’t have to answer to anyone. While everyone was looking at HeroTen in shock, I would strike at a completely unexpected angle.

It would make me a lot of enemies high up in the US Government, but if they wanted to fight dirty, I was under no obligation to play fairly. It was really evil though and might create some backlash. Still winning was winning, no matter how it came about. It was time to go full terrorist. The path of terrorism in game was quite fun when I was the one pulling the strings and creating chaos.

What I was going to do had only been brought up as a hypothetical in the super guild. Something to be concerned about but never happened. Since one needed perfect information, be completely evil, and have a clear goal in mind.

I would have to handle the preparations and the location myself. If anyone so much as got a single whiff of what I planning the super guilds and their masters would go crazy. I knew they were only annoyed with me. While HeroTen might be a bit enraged, it wasn’t blinding all consuming hatred. What I was going to do, risked creating a hatred that would never disappear.

But there was no other option that had a decent chance of working. There was no other way to win. There was one thing I hated, that was losing. I was going to be the god player and etch my name into history. No one looked down on me, I looked down on others.

Patriot and his masters should have accepted my deal when they had the chance. Now I was going to rain hell down upon them. I should have Quant Z come up with a plan as well, to make things even more confusing. Keep Patriot and Hammer Crusher guessing about what I was going to do. They would get everything set up and it would all be pointless in the end.

What was annoying was that I couldn’t go after a monster for the Green Leaf. I had checked and they had used the lore to remove the easiest accessible monster that dropped that item. Clearly someone was hoping that I would lose. There mistake was to even start a fight with me in the first place and escalate things so much.

At least my in game cash reserves were filled back up. I would arrange for transfer to Tim with 5,000 platinum. That would help cover his expenses from the terrorism the Illuminati undertook. They were now the undisputed number one dark guild in Exponential. Doing such a large terrorist act gave them a lot of credit among the other dark guilds and underbelly of the Human Empire.

While everyone knew I was behind the Holey Incident, there was no proof. But the fact that HeroTen hadn’t given any comment about the Orange Ooze that had been in their possession was all the confirmation people needed that I had succeeded.

Also opening three portals for my fans and alerting them ahead of time to be ready made it even more obvious. Already people were trying to work out what exactly happened from the publicly available information, but they would be wondering until I released my triumph compilation video. I would blur out Baron Hayfields appearance and just show the exchange of items. People would figure it out, since our feud was public and they had the Yellow Pus.

It didn’t take a genius to realize who accepted the trade to avoid more conflict. But that was why you should get a QAI enforced contract instead of word of mouth. Once I declared the poison rainbow complete, everyone would know that the Great Bear super guild had folded like a blanket.