A Trickle Becomes a Stream

Star Archipelago, Sun-Eroding Island.

That very day, a portion of the players in the mining area were reassigned from their digging posts to be responsible for transporting ore.

The sudden stroke of good fortune felt surreal to these players.

Every day, the ore produced in the mining area was piled up at the center, guarded by laborers specifically tasked with transport, before being hauled out in sequence.

Players who entered the Sun-Eroding Island mining area had all coveted that pile of spirit ore at the center.

Yet, they had never been able to get near it.

But things were different now.

Having become the laborers responsible for transporting the ore, their duty was to guard and move this very batch.

Therefore, they were now both the thieves and the guards.

The thought of it was exhilarating.

Throughout the day, the Sun-Eroding Island regional chat channel was filled with the cheers of players.

"Wow, the batch that just arrived actually has two Tier 3 ores in it. They're all mine now."

"Check this out, brothers, ever seen this kind of ore? (Screenshot.jpg). Even though it's Tier 3, the price on the market is twice as high as regular Tier 3 ore. It's mine now."

"I'm rich, I'm rich! Sun-Eroding Island really is a great place. This is too much fun!"

"Fifteen people per group, and each person gets one-fifteenth of the batch. This pays way better than mining!"

Gazing at the growing pile of ore, the players' eyes gleamed.

In their eyes, this ore was already within their grasp.

All they had to do next was find an unmonitored corner and divide the spoils.

However, a player soon raised an objection in the regional voice channel.

Regarding how to handle this ore, this player's idea differed from the vast majority.

"Everyone, don't try to swallow the whole batch at once. That's killing the goose that lays the golden eggs; the returns will actually be lower. Think about it: once we eat this batch, will we ever have the chance to steal spirit ore on Sun-Eroding Island again? More importantly, doing this might affect our brothers on Dragon Scale Island and cause the Faceless Tribe to declare total war on us. We'd definitely become the common enemy of all players then—after all, there's a huge crowd of players outside waiting for their turn to get in. So, I think the best way is to take about 20% each time. Slow and steady wins the race; the long-term profit will definitely far exceed a one-time deal!"

"The brother has a point. I think the most important part of harvesting leeks is to cut them crop after crop. You can never pull them out by the roots all at once; that's just moronic."

"I agree. The profit from multiple transport runs will definitely be higher than a one-time haul."

"Brother, you've spoken my mind. I wanted to say the same thing. Everyone, don't be reckless. Let's work together to harvest these leeks."

"Whoever dares to cut off our money-making path is an enemy to all players. Everyone, watch yourselves. Don't make mistakes, or you'll be living at the respawn point from now on and never coming out!"

During the discussion in the regional voice channel, this player presented his suggestion and analyzed the pros and cons.

His proposal quickly gained the support of a large number of players.

A moment later, the players' opinions gradually unified.

Whether it was a one-time deal or long-term harvesting, the players chose to maximize their profits.

Inside the mining area.

When the spirit ore accumulated to a certain amount.

Under the watchful eyes of the overseers, the players began to work together to load the spirit ore onto mine carts, transporting it out of the mine in batches.

After leaving the mine along the transport route and reaching an unmonitored area, the players began their move.

After picking and choosing through the ore in the carts, they stashed the desired pieces into their private storage.

But they didn't take too much, sharing only 20% of the total and keeping each other in check.

At this moment, the players were in high spirits.

Once the selection was finished, they transported the batch along the route to the ore production statistics department.

At this point, some players were left behind to help the statistics department count the spirit ore and categorize it by quality, while the rest returned to the mining area.

After this group returned, the mining area foreman immediately sought them out to inquire about the situation.

Having already coordinated in the regional voice channel, the players immediately expressed to the foreman the many "suspicious points" they had discovered during transport.

They began to smear the statistics department.

However, they did not directly state that the statistics department was embezzling the spirit ore.

Doing this both deepened the foreman's suspicion of the statistics department and allowed them to secure more benefits for themselves.

Sure enough.

After listening to the players' accounts, the foremen of the various mining areas appeared incredibly excited.

They felt their suspicions were correct: the problem of decreasing spirit ore production lay with the spirit ore statistics department.

Now, as long as they let the Human Race laborers continue their investigation, finding evidence would only be a matter of time.

They felt their decision to reassign the Human Race laborers to the transport group was incredibly wise.

By the time the players who helped the statistics department count and categorize the ores returned, the overseers of the major mining areas sought them out once again.

These players had already agreed upon their narrative.

They began to list the many suspicious points they had discovered while counting the spirit ores.

For instance, they mentioned that during the counting process, the statistics department would occasionally make them leave for a period of time, or that they noticed the head of the statistics department would count a batch of ores separately, and so on.

These claims undoubtedly deepened the overseers' suspicions regarding the statistics department.

It also caused the overseers to place even more trust in the players.

The situation unfolding on Sun-Eroding Island was quickly posted by players on the Omnipotent God Discussion Forum.

It drew the attention of a vast number of players.

Some players even filmed a video to show off.

In the video, several players stood beside carts piled high with ore, putting on airs:

"Hey, it's so heavy, I'm exhausted. When will days like this ever end?"

"Another grueling day of labor. Suddenly, I really miss the carefree days on Dragon Scale Island, woo~ hahaha."

"The ore here should be enough to buy a house on the outside, right? Are you envious? Hahahaha!"

Beneath the show-off post, the comments were filled with players typing "???"

Clearly, the players on the forum had yet to understand what was actually happening.

But soon, other players provided explanations in the comments, detailing the changes within Sun-Eroding Island and the situation regarding those who had been assigned to the ore-hauling team.

The players on the forum were incredibly envious of their experience.

To many players, being able to mine on Sun-Eroding Island was already considered a great joy, and they hadn't expected the treatment to improve even further.

They had gone from mining gold ore to hauling gold bricks.

Just thinking about that feeling made them happy.

However, the slots to travel to Sun-Eroding Island were like a lottery; it wasn't something one could simply get just by wanting it.

Aside from envy, the players on the forum could only secretly swear that next time, they would use any means necessary to push their way to the front and snatch the qualification to go to Sun-Eroding Island.

A day's plan starts in the morning; the early bird gets the recommendation votes~

() There will be another update tonight~ It's on the recommendation list today~ Hehe