Offering Himself Up?

"But..."

Itō Hidetaka wanted to say something more, but the Emperor interrupted him once again.

"No buts," the Emperor said in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Itō, given your current standing, I can't let the Great He Clan's elites follow you into something like this."

"However... what you just said reminded me that perhaps we can avoid their sharp edge."

As he spoke, a knowing smile appeared on the Emperor's face.

"In the preliminary quest stage of the Raging Waves dungeon, there are three options. Since you want to take on Eagle Sauce Country directly, Itō, why not choose the second quest, economic overtaking?"

"If you think there are loopholes in how Eagle Sauce Country is set up in the dungeon, then just

"In that case, perhaps you could clear the dungeon without losing a single soldier! And seize Lin Ye's aircraft carrier technology."

Itō Hidetaka couldn't help frowning.

The Emperor made it sound easy, but actually doing it was easier said than done...

In the Raging Waves dungeon, Eagle Sauce Country's territory was thirty times the size of Eastern Ocean Island, where the challenger was based. Its population was also far greater than Eastern Ocean Island's.

Even though Itō Hidetaka knew nothing about economic development, he understood that more territory meant more resources, and a larger population meant more labor.

If there had really been any hope of that working, he could have simply chosen Mission Two: Economic Overtaking the first time he entered the dungeon.

Did the Emperor think he, Itō Hidetaka, didn't know the principle of waiting at ease for an exhausted enemy?

He had chosen quest one, breaking through Pearl Harbor, precisely because quest two was harder.

"Your Majesty... quest two would probably be quite difficult."

"Eagle Sauce Country's figures in the dungeon are much higher than Eastern Ocean Island's in every respect. Most importantly, the world in the dungeon is very different from the real world. It's a world without the Firmament's regulation..."

"I don't have enough talent for economics." Itō Hidetaka's manner immediately turned cautious.

"Why are you getting cold feet now, Itō?" The Emperor chuckled awkwardly, then picked up his teacup and savored the tea.

"I'll assign you Great He Clan personnel skilled in economic management. I won't leave you a commander without any troops."

"After all, our Dahe Settlement has been one of the wealthiest settlements on Azure Star all these years."

"Of course, you can also refuse... In that case, we simply won't take the initiative to challenge the Raging Waves dungeon, and we'll slowly try to win Lin Ye over."

This was as good as roasting Itō Hidetaka over a fire.

Dahe Settlement was indeed one of the wealthier settlements on Azure Star, but its entire economy was built on points, so it wasn't a normal model of economic development.

The so-called suitable personnel he would be assigned were nothing more than Dahe Settlement's merchants and people in management.

These people had no combat ability at all, and their levels generally weren't very high. Most likely, they wouldn't be able to bring weapons into the dungeon.

Ultimately, the Emperor simply couldn't bear to hand the Great He Clan's elites over to Itō Hidetaka, so he was sending a few shrimp soldiers and crab generals to placate him.

Itō Hidetaka was forced to choose quest two.

Gritting his teeth, Itō Hidetaka finally let out a long breath and said in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I'll lead my fellow Great He clansmen to clear Raging Waves!"

"Very good!" The Emperor nodded in satisfaction. "In that case, I'll arrange the personnel for you, and then you can all apply to enter tomorrow's Raging Waves dungeon together."

"The point deduction for failing quest two is 100 points. I'll arrange for some clansmen with plenty of points to go, so there'll be nothing to worry about on that front."

"Itō, you can go ahead without holding back!"

Itō Hidetaka's face remained calm, but inside, he was already swallowing his bitterness with no way to voice it.

This wasn't part of his plan at all.

First of all, economic warfare had never existed as a form of dungeon in this world, so no one knew how difficult the economic warfare in Raging Waves would be.

It was also completely outside his area of expertise.

But after thinking it over, he decided it was better to take a gamble than to sit and wait for death, abandoned by the Emperor and Dahe Settlement.

If he gambled, he might still have a chance of winning.

Fortunately, the Emperor was still willing to gather a group of his fellow Dahe Settlement residents for him this time. At the very least, that would make them easier to manage in the dungeon and prevent the kind of chaos that had broken out the first time he entered.

"Your Majesty, I'll go prepare right away. When the dungeon resets tomorrow, I'll lead our clansmen into Raging Waves again."

"Then I'll await your good news, Itō."

Time passed quickly, and before long, the next day arrived.

Wearing sunglasses, Lin Ye was driving around town, shopping for everyday necessities.

He planned to stock up on a week's worth of ingredients in one go, so he could devote himself fully to creating and refining dungeons without being distracted by such trivial matters.

Suddenly, lines of text appeared before Lin Ye's eyes.

[Firmament notification: Esteemed designer, your dungeon Raging Waves has gathered enough challengers. There is no need for the designer to designate challengers or for the Firmament to select them at random this time.]

[The dungeon designer may view the challengers who applied for this dungeon at any time!]

[Today's dungeon will open in 2 minutes!]

[...120...]

[...118...]

"Oh, interesting..."

The Firmament's notification that all the challengers had gathered meant that these people had all applied of their own accord to enter the new round of the Raging Waves dungeon.

Lin Ye hadn't expected that.

"Firmament, I want to see the list of challengers this time."

[The challenger list is as follows. Please review it, dungeon designer...]

Immediately afterward, rows of challenger information appeared before Lin Ye.

[NO.1 Itō Hidetaka; race: Great He people; level: lv2; dungeon works: "Battle of the Imperial Sea," "Shogunate's Revenge," "Kill the Ninja," "Nobunaga's Ambition"]

[NO.2 Shancheng Kojirō; race: Great He people; level: lv2; dungeon works: "Sword Battle"]

...

[NO.20000 Ogura Kippei; race: Great He people; level: lv1; dungeon works: none]

Lin Ye saw that right at the top of the list was none other than the Level 2 Itō Hidetaka.

Hadn't this guy been tortured enough?

Normally speaking, if Lin Ye had been asked to designate the challengers again this time, he would have picked Itō Hidetaka again.

He was more than happy to see this renowned Great He Clan dungeon design genius suffer in his dungeon.

But now, Itō Hidetaka had actually come and offered himself up.

Did this guy have masochistic tendencies?

It really was quite interesting.