"Keep it up, guys! I'll treat you to fish after we finish this batch!"
[ Ever-Changing Master Ye ] shouted in the wilderness, and with his six Dragonborn subordinates, he had the illusion that a business empire was being built.
Two days ago, he was a deadbeat desperately trying to go bankrupt, but now he has become a high-level player with above-average assets.
Such a dramatic reversal wouldn't even happen in a novel, but he had pulled it off himself, and thinking about it made him feel rather smug.
Even while fishing for mice, he maintained the rationality of a seasoned fisherman, so he rarely spoke loudly for fear of scaring the mice away.
But now that they were close to Valhalla, and the rats there had already been wiped out, it didn't matter if they laughed out loud.
When the Dragonborn heard that their boss was going to treat them to a meal again today, and that the meal seemed to be quite good, they all showed good-natured smiles.
They felt it was okay to be a little tired, as long as the boss settled their wages on time.
Moreover, after the initial novelty of fishing for rats, nothing much changed. Everyone quickly became skilled at it. Apart from not being able to use Directed Alienation to create barbs like the Soul Returner, the Dragonborn could handle everything else on their own.
This greatly freed up the labor force of [ Ever-Changing Master Ye ], allowing him to transform from a leader into a supervisor.
A dozen minutes later, they arrived at the Greenhouse again. [ Ever-Changing Master Ye ] had gotten used to the bitter expression on [ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop's ] face and seemed to be looking forward to it.
This time, however, he didn't see any embarrassment on her face. Instead, the wealthy and arrogant demeanor she had displayed before returned to this player's body.
[ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] waved to signal the Dragonborn to count the rats and pour them into the pit, while she meticulously counted the money, showing no intention of delaying payment.
Seeing this, [ Ever-Changing Master Ye ] couldn't help but feel a little curious:
"How could you...?"
"You want to ask me why I'm not so nervous anymore?"
[ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] looked up and asked.
"Yes, you looked like you were about to go bankrupt before."
"Indeed, but not anymore; the rats have found a better place to go."
"Would you mind sharing a hint?"
"No need, you'll find out later. Anyway, you're not the only one with Idea King."
"That's good, now I can get back to catching mice."
[ Ever-Changing Master Ye ] led the Dragonborn away from the Greenhouse and headed to [ Not Bad Tasting ], a hole-in-the-wall restaurant.
He'll log off after the Dragonborn finish this meal; the night's work still depends on them.
Fir City, small chapel.
"The plan has been largely finalized; when is the implementation date set?"
[ Pond Fish and Old Abyss ] consulted [ Zhong Lele ] and [ Dark Archmage ] for their opinions.
Among the trio, [ Pond Fish and Old Abyss ] is a freshman this year and the youngest. The other two are basically between twenty-five and thirty years old and have their own jobs in real life, so they are more thoughtful than her (not counting the proposed announcement).
[ Zhong Lele ] thought for a moment and said:
Your friend doesn't seem to like mice very much.
[Pond Fish and Old Abyss]'s lips twitched as he said:
"She used to keep hamsters when she was little, but now it seems like quantity led to quality."
"Okay, let's execute the plan as soon as possible."
[ Zhong Lele ] looked at [ Dark Archmage ]:
When does our acquisition announcement expire?
"Oh, this one ends at midnight tomorrow."
"Okay, then let's start the operation in the latter half of tomorrow night. What's the date?"
The [ Dark Archmage ] paused for a moment, then asked in return:
"The real world or World of Disorder?"
"Um, is there a difference?"
The two looked at each other and realized that there really wasn't much difference.
Moreover, after midnight the day after tomorrow, both in reality and in the World of Disorder, a new year will begin.
New year, new look. I wonder if this will be a part of Fir City's weather records from now on:
[On the first day of the first month of the year 909 in the Royal Calendar, moderate to large rats appeared in parts of Fir City. The number of rats was relatively large. Priests and civilians should take precautions and avoid the area...]
Time passed little by little, and soon it came to the last day of the year 908 of the World of Disorder Royal Calendar.
Objectively speaking, [ Zhong Lele's ] previous prayers or guesses were effective; several things she predicted actually happened.
On the second day of [ Ever-Changing Master Ye ]'s expansion, it encountered a shortage of manpower, and on the third day, production was reduced.
The Dragonborn's investigation revealed that the main reason for the reduced production seemed to be the lingering rats in previously cleared areas, which alerted the rats in the un-cleared areas.
In short, the ideal exponential function never materialized, and the World of Disorder missed out on a sixty-hour economic miracle.
Despite so many external factors interfering, during the final settlement on the last day of the year 908, [ Ever-Changing Master Ye ] still received four gold, eighty silver, and three bronze medals from [ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ].
Under the expectant yet helpless gaze of the other party, [ Ever-Changing Master Ye ] finally showed his bill to [ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ], his colleague who had been suffering for the past few days.
In the sixty hours that he discovered the Thorn Rat acquisition notice and began to operate it, he took a total of twenty-four gold, fifteen silver, and ninety-six copper coins from [ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ].
This means that a total of 80,532 Thorn Rat ultimately fell victim to the rat-catching team.
However, [ Ever-Changing Master Ye ] still had some environmental awareness and did not raid some of the missing rat nests or those with young Thorn Rat. He only searched the homes of the "solitary" Thorn Rat.
Twenty-four gold coins were a huge sum even for [ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ]. She was almost certain that [ Ever-Changing Master Ye ]'s current savings were definitely among the top ten, no, top five, of all the players.
After receiving the final payment, [ Ever-Changing Master Ye ] kept his promise, settled the wages for the Dragonborn, and distributed bonuses.
After dismissing the temporary workers, he went to an interactive Aberration plant to pay off his cyber loan to Ed.
In addition to the expenses for purchasing materials such as rat rods, [ Ever-Changing Master Ye ] ultimately had a surplus of twenty gold coins (as well as some silver and copper coins).
He deposited the privately minted gold coins, each bearing the image of a Dragonborn Village's head, into his account, feeling as if the past three days had been a dream.
In just one week, he experienced the entire process from fierce attack to bankruptcy to a comeback, and at this moment he seemed to have seen through the vanities of the world.
Back in his cabin, he silently picked up his old fishing rod, inquired around, and then headed to the currently popular " Fir City Suburbs Wild Fishing Ground," intending to experience a three-in-one fishing experience that combines "wild fishing," "ice fishing," and "night fishing."