Upon hearing the other party's request, [ the Good Times Don't Last ], a clear expression of surprise appeared on his face.
He asked in confusion:
"Wait a minute, what do you need so many frozen fish for?"
"Don't worry about that for now, just tell me the lowest amount you can offer."
[ The Good Times Don't Last ] After thinking for a moment, he took a frozen fish about the length of his forearm from the natural freezer, along with a [ Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ].
"Dude, I usually sell fish this size to those cooks. One fish can make at least three servings of fish soup, and each serving can sell for twenty copper coins."
"Just tell me your bottom price, I'm not selling fish soup."
"Well, what I mean is, this fish might not be as expensive as you think. Twenty copper coins a fish, including delivery to your door, how about it?"
"Does it include home delivery?"
"Of course, the Bright Prospects Chamber of Commerce is a company that combines groceries, human resources, intercity express delivery..."
"Alright, alright, I have two more questions I'd like to ask."
"You say."
"First, I need to buy a lot of frozen fish; second, I don't need home delivery. Considering these two points, what's the minimum price for a frozen fish this size?"
[ The Good Times Don't Last ] He narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the client in front of him who was a bit older than him.
The other party had a faint anxiety on their face, as if they were very eager for this batch of frozen fish.
But the Second Holy See doesn't have any shortcomings in this area right now, so why is that?
Also, why doesn't he need home delivery?
One question after another rose in my heart like bubbles on the surface of boiling water. [ The Good Times Don't Last ]
But at this moment, he remembered a little trick that his wealthy business partner had once taught him: never show weakness in front of clients.
Thinking of this, he nodded and said:
"If you can resolve our inventory issue, then the minimum is fifteen copper coins per piece."
"Okay, I need to discuss this."
Upon meeting this important client, I had to think things over carefully. [ My Good Times Don't Last.] I quickly had my hired Dragonborn waiter take the client to a lounge.
What's called a rest area is really just a small wooden cabin that everyone built in the forest over the past few days. It's just that it's a bit far from the river, making it even more secluded. Inside, there's nothing but the most basic furniture; it's more like a single cell than a rest area.
But this was exactly the kind of environment [ Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ] needed right now. He quickly connected with his sister online, and before he could even speak, messages from her came raining down like hail:
"Brother, help! Two more cages of rats have come!"
"Oh no! My Deadwood Vine have eaten their fill, and now they feel nauseous at the sight of Thorn Rat."
" Zhongdeng, are you even reliable? This place is turning into a rat farm!"
"..."
Upon seeing a series of requests for help, [ Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ] replied with:
"I need to speak with the person who formulated this plan privately."
"Ah?"
[ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] replied a while later:
"I'll ask them for you. If possible, they should log off today."
"Good."
A few hours later, [ Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ] was added to a small group on a real-world social media app to discuss the details with the three plan's creators: [ Zhong Lele ], [ Pond Fish and Old Abyss ], and [ Dark Archmage ].
What methods have you come up with to solve our current problem?
[ Zhong Lele ] was the first to ask.
[ Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ]:
Objectively speaking, I cannot solve this problem.
"Your contract has a huge loophole. Some players are exploiting this loophole to farm funds without violating any in-game rules. So if you want me to help you recover this money and reduce your losses, I'm sorry, I really can't do that."
"However, I do have an idea that will ensure your investment doesn't go to waste; in other words, I can make your money more meaningful."
[Pond Fish and Old Abyss]: "Explain in detail."
[ Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ]: "The biggest problem now is that there are too many rats and nowhere to put them. If we release them directly into Fir City, it might affect the normal lives of those innocent residents. So I came up with a way to make these rats more threatening while keeping them less scattered."
After sending that message, he sent the page for the monster [ Rat King ] from the official website's monster encyclopedia:
"Since we're going to turn Fir City upside down anyway, we might as well make a big splash. I've seen the map of the chapel; the building is not only quite large overall, but it also has a rather spacious courtyard behind it."
[ Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ] This refers to the " Holy Tree Garden," a green space located outside the back door of the small church. It is said that the choir children would perform there in the summer, but since it was winter at the time, no one had personally experienced such a performance.
A brief silence fell over the group chat. Although none of them had personally seen the so-called Rat King, they were all early players and were well aware of the Rat King battle that veteran players had fought when the game first launched.
His intention was to recreate such a monster in Fir City...
time?
Yes, the three infiltrated nuns could take shifts with the other priests, ensuring that half the priests in the church throughout the night were members of the Second Holy See.
Place?
The Holy Tree Garden is located behind the chapel, and because of the distinction between the noble and the lowly, a wall was erected around it to prevent commoners from spying on it, making it an ideal place for the Rat King to be born.
Post-incident investigation?
The Rat King phenomenon should be classified as Calamity. Moreover, even if someone realized that it was a genuine man-made calamity, no one would suspect the nuns.
After all, all the bad things happening in Fir City now were done by the rebels who infiltrated from outside the city, or at least they must have been.
After some deliberation, the group felt that although this remedial measure was somewhat too radical, it was the best option to cut their losses in time.
However... [ The Dark Archmage ] asked a question that everyone was concerned about:
"The birth of the Rat King requires a large number of animal carcasses to reach a nutrient-rich state. Where can we find so many animal carcasses now?"
[ The Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ] answered slowly and deliberately:
"I happen to have some connections and can buy large quantities of cheap frozen fish. Although it's a bit wasteful for the rats to eat it, it's better than leaving it outside to rot in the spring."
Seeing that the last question had been answered as expected, [ Zhong Lele ] finally asked:
"This idea seems very feasible, so what kind of compensation do you need?"
"Forget about the payment, it's just a favor I did for Xiaodeng. But you still need to reimburse me for the fish."
[ Zhong Lele ] finally felt relieved upon seeing this message:
Thank you, no problem.
"But..."
[ The Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ] suddenly smiled and said:
"If you're really going to offer some reward, then I'd like to ask you for a small favor..."