FB: Chapter 75 – Guild Troubles

“That is the current situation, and the plan developed by Quant Z,” I said with a sigh.

“You want to have the entire guild attempt to drain out an entire swamp in a high level area and then flood it with fresh water. Both which need to happen in a short time period from each other on top of our mobilization,” Don Anthony said.

“Yes. I will handle the other aspects of dealing with the Unmentionable Horror, but the guild needs to figure out a way to handle the construction in both areas,” I replied.

“The cost will break the guild along with the mobilization. Are you looking at the same numbers as I am?” Don Anthony held up a sheet of paper.

“We will lose most of the guild’s assets and development, but the plan is feasible,” Quant Z responded.

“We are here because of your mistakes, and your mistakes,” Don Anthony pointed at both Quant Z and myself. “Now we are going to be ruined.”

“It is either do this, or lose the guild entirely,” I replied.

“The mobilization is already cutting into our profits. We aren’t making enough in the real world. Without an income stream in game at this time to change coins to cash, we will fall deep into the red with how much we have invested,” he replied.

“We can’t get loans?” I asked.

“We are already leveraged to the hilt for the next year to take into account the growth model we are using and that you signed off on. To pivot now, to this project, would be a financial disaster of epic proportions.”

“Quant Z, is there anything we can do?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“No. The resources needed to drain the Black Swamp and then build a channel from the Mineral Springs is already questionable. There is only a 5% margin of error built into the plan. With all the consumables needed and the setbacks, cutting funding any more will guarantee a failure,” he replied.

“We should consider dissolving the guild and liquidating the corporation. If we wish to sell our assets at an all time high, now is the time to do so,” Hamid said.

“The cost is what, 22,000 platinum?” I asked Quant Z who nodded.

“The initial estimate with price fluctuations taken into account as well,” he replied.

“If we continue our current operations, how long until we can set aside that much?” I asked.

“I would estimate 2.3 real world years. If we only finish this round of development, then 1.1 years,” Quant Z replied.

“I can arrange to get us a year’s extension by winning the next Tournament of Champions. That should give time to move coinage into cash to support our real-world expansions and to not cut the legs out of our current development. This takes into account the additional mobilization?” I asked.

“Yes. If the mobilization could be ended right away, then those time frames would become a lot shorter. We are already investing a lot of resources and manpower into the mobilization, and it has just gotten worse,” Quant Z said.

“I will get enough war merits myself in the next couple of months to meet our required quota. We will send what exploration teams we have to that area to gather more information. By the time the Tournament of Champions rolls around, we should have enough war merits to end the heavy duty mobilization, and I can get an extension. If not, we can pivot immediately at that point and the mobilization will be contained,” I said.

“That can work, but the timing will be very tight if an extension is not granted,” Quant Z said.

“Can you do it?” Don Anthony asked me.

“It will be hard, but I have additional back up plans if the extension isn’t granted. There is one higher authority I can appeal to. But it would be a huge waste and a bigger hassle. Also, it will make the Human Emperor our enemy, which we cannot afford,” I replied.

The plan would be to make a massive contribution to the Trinity Church. It would be difficult and frustrating, but it was possible. If I managed to do that, I could leverage the reward to make an appeal to the Cardinals. They in turn could put pressure on the Human Emperor to rescind or adjust his quest in light of my contributions. That would piss him off quite a bit. This had been done in the past and it ended in tears. It was putting out a fire with oil. It might be smothered for a moment but would explode latter on.

“You are asking the guild to cover for your failures, and he should be fired,” Hamid demanded.

“You are welcome to bring it to the shareholders for a vote. The board can only have advisory votes, only the shareholder votes are binding. And you know I will never be voted out,” I replied calmly. The man gave me a glare but shut up. My popularity was at an all time high and people were buying up Fang Fox Corporation stock. “Anyone else have something useful to contribute, or will they prefer to complain?”

“Information on water based items has been compiled. Unfortunately, nothing new on the Unmentionable Horror has been discovered. It is living up to its name,” Jacklyn Fox said.

“I will review that after this meeting. Anything else?” I asked.

“How much of this should be made public?” Isabella, the Officer in charge of Relations asked. I considered the question carefully.

“It will leak eventually, and people will put pressure on our guild. The specifics of the task and the actions I plan to take are top secret. This includes everything related to the Black Swamp and how I plan to get a lot of war merits. Everything else is allowed to leak out,” I said to nods from around the table.

“I will also add, that I appreciate everyone’s willingness to help work through this situation. I know it isn’t ideal and it is disruptive to our plans, but that is the nature of Exponential. The climb to the top is not smooth and the root of this problem can be traced back to me winning the first Tournament of Champions and drawing the notice of the Human Emperor. Thank you everyone for your continued support,” I said.

“Well, we wouldn’t be here without you,” Kill Blade said.

“Trust me, everyone who is joining up is because of you,” Grinning Blade, the officer in charge of Recruitment added.

“You have already laid out a solid path of advancement, which is making things quite easy for our people,” Hex Smith the officer in charge of Advancement replied.

“We have your back,” Number Crusher, my father who was in charge of Accounting said. The rest of the officers and Champions voiced their support, which was heartwarming. They believed I could pull out another miracle to get us out of this disaster.

With the meeting over, I made my way back to my office with Henry right behind me. He didn’t speak during the meetings but would take notes and follow up on things I had ordered to be done. He closed the office door behind us.

“So, war merits?” he asked me.

“Going to be a massive hassle getting them myself. I have two more sets of those legendary poisons, were you able to get more?” I asked.

“No. The stockpile of Flesh Rot is all that is left. There is no more to purchase. As for the Overhealth Heart Stopper, the Purification Alchemist has gone into seclusion to work on her alchemy,” he said.

“I need another Alchemist, need to get a high ranked water based item. I also need to do a large enough favor to get a Cardinal to help me out with a Spirit Sealing Crystal, and I need to get 85,000 war merits. Time is not on our side.”

“I am sorry I missed what Quant Z was doing,” Henry said.

“It is not your fault. He only did what he did due to the pressure he was under from me, so ultimate responsibility lies with me. There was just no other way to keep the guild afloat. I am more annoyed he didn’t take the proper procedures to insulate the guild. He probably thought they were overly convoluted,” I said with a sigh.

“That seems like a major oversight on his part,” Henry added.

“It was time. He didn’t have enough time to make the proper cutouts. The financial position of the guild was rapidly deteriorating. Without an influx of platinum, the mobilization would have collapsed, which would have been an even worse disaster. Unfortunate, but it ultimately is my responsibility for putting pressure on him to scrouge up the needed funds while also moving forward with development plans,” I replied.

Consumables really were a money pit in a large scale conflict. Using magical guns required a lot of MP potions. The high quality construction materials to build the star fortress. Even with the illegal trades Quant Z had made, it almost hadn’t been enough.

We escaped the frying pan but had now jumped into the fire. While it was my neck that was personally on the line, I was the Fanged Fox Guild to a large extent as both the Guild Leader, Lead Champion, and majority owner. If I went down, the entire guild would implode without me. Infighting, panic, and people leaving would just be the start. All the outside forces would sense weakness and pounce like lions upon a wounded animal.

There was pressure from every direction. My popularity among the public remained very high, which was the only thing insulating me from the politicians and the shareholders, but that wouldn’t last forever. If only I could just kill them all like I could monsters in Exponential, then everything would be that much easier. It was only an idle thought, but it was one that lingered in my mind.

Letting out another sigh, which was becoming all too common, I began to go through the information on highly ranked water items. Too difficult. Too expensive. Too many unknowns. This one had promise. The Philter of Purified Water. The purest of waters, which could be obtained from the Mineral Springs using alchemy.

Now that was interesting, since the Mineral Springs were near the Black Swamp. I didn’t think this was a coincidence. The lore was strong. Alchemy and crafting were headache inducing. It wasn’t a skill shard and there were no job classes or levels. Crafting depended on actual knowledge and actions. Still the creation process for a Philter of Purified Water was known and available for purchase from the Alchemists Union.

“We need to get the alchemy recipe for this. Find out a lesser version that can be practiced cheaply and get one of our guild alchemists working on it. Once I earn enough war merits, I will come back and go get this item with our guild alchemist,” I explained.

“We don’t have many crafters in the guild, or any,” Henry said.

“Then hire one and start up a crafting section of the guild. Or find an alchemist that can be trusted,” I said with a slightly annoyed tone. That was his job to figure out the details.

“Of course, Guild Leader,” Henry said. Now to head out to the black zone and kill everything, without depending on legendary poisons.