Blissful Home

Over the next few days, Alliance ships continued to sail towards the Lost Island, carrying ship after ship of adventurers.

Meanwhile, because many adventurers play both Alliance and Horde characters, news is shared between the Alliance Horde. As a result, the Horde soon learned about the upcoming appearance of the artifact, and Horde adventurers began to set off for the Lost Island in waves.

Although the Lost Island is blockaded, ships that reach Lost Island vicinity will be attacked by the Naga and the Elemental Will, and many ships have been sunk. However, adventurers can resurrect nearby, so they can still land on the island, only having to die once. Due to the large number of ships lost, the Alliance and Horde militaries are preparing to organize a fleet to wipe out the Naga and the Elemental Will.

After losing many ships, the adventurers who came to the Lost Island learned a trick: before arriving at the Lost Island, they would strip off all their equipment and then die, so they wouldn't lose their gear.

As a result, the number of adventurers on the Lost Island increased rather than decreased in the following days. Although only the Naga Cavern and the Battleground remained as viable dungeons, few were willing to leave. Some guilds even began organizing Druid teams to hunt down elemental creatures and Naga around the Lost Path, as Druid could transform into seals and not drown in water, thus successfully eliminating some enemies.

The Naga Cavern dungeon seems to have undergone some changes as well. The boss's lines have become, "For Azshara," "The will of the Old Gods is invincible," "Your plans are doomed to fail," and "Even the artifacts cannot save you." These lines have further convinced the adventurers of the existence of the artifacts.

(It seems my plan worked), Azathoth thought smugly as he looked at the adventurers thronging the city. With this, he wouldn't have to worry about the Lost Island being breached anytime soon.

As for what will happen a few months later, when the adventurers learn the truth about their conspiracy, well, let the future Xiao Yu worry about that.

Xiao Yu knew that if the truth were revealed in a few months and he had not yet become the Elemental King, he would likely be attacked by a group of adventurers, and his fate would be extremely tragic. Therefore, he absolutely could not fail now.

There are now at least 20,000 to 30,000 adventurers on the Lost Island, and they are all high-level players. In this way, even if our own troops don't attack, these adventurers alone are enough to wipe out the Elemental Will and the Naga army. Unfortunately, the enemy has also learned their lesson and is not attacking at all, but just besieging us.

But it's alright, it seems it's time to leave.

Meanwhile, Merlin finally replied.

Exiting the game, Xiao Yu opened his contacts.

Merlin: Friend, who are you?

Clearly, Merlin had forgotten about him.

Xiao Yu: I'm Eric, the Goblin fire mage from back then.

Merlin: Oh, it's you. Did you need something?

Xiao Yu: I need your help with something.

Merlin: You're not going to ask me to tell your fortune again, are you? I just do it for fun, and I've been pretty busy lately. How about another day?

Xiao Yu: No, this is a very important matter, and it's not about having your fortune told. How about we go to the Blissful Home to talk about it? It's on me.

There are many virtual restaurants, virtual bars, virtual nightclubs, and other entertainment venues in the virtual world.

Blissful Home is a famous online virtual leisure center that combines gourmet food, beautiful women, and beautiful scenery. It's a very high-end one, offering an experience akin to paradise. Not only are there abundant entertainment facilities, but the gourmet food and drinks are all top-notch. Moreover, the women are all fully intelligent AI, which is incomparable to the mass-market virtual spaces like Pink Paradise. Of course, the price is also quite expensive, and most people can't afford it.

Merlin, upon hearing this, was indeed tempted.

Merlin: Haha, I see. I suddenly have some free time again. Let's meet at Blissful Home!

Ten minutes later, in Blissful Home, room 69.

The vast ocean stretched to the horizon, the sky a deep blue. A small island made of white sand lay in the middle of the sea. The sand, warmed by the sun, felt surprisingly comfortable underfoot. In the very center of the island stood a palm tree, beneath which was a white table laden with various delicacies. A circle of chairs surrounded the table. Xiao Yu and Merlin sat at the table, each with two bikini-clad beauties on either side of them.

"Haha, this place is really great, high-class indeed. This lobster is absolutely delicious." Merlin mumbled as he devoured the lobster meat, his hands still groping the beautiful woman's legs beside him.

He poured himself a glass of red wine and drank it down in one gulp, like a cow chewing on a peony.

Xiao Yu nodded. The experience here was indeed quite good. Sitting on the beach, looking at the surrounding seascape, with beautiful women by his side, even knowing it was all fake, it was still an indescribable enjoyment. Of course, the price wasn't cheap either; a full day would cost several thousand points, which was really unaffordable for ordinary people. However, he was now the owner of a studio, so he could afford to spend money once or twice occasionally. It felt so good to be rich.

However, there were more important things waiting for him, so he wasn't in a hurry to enjoy himself.

"I'm glad you like it. By the way, how's your gaming lately? Have you leveled up?" Xiao Yu took a sip of refreshing champagne while sizing up the Merlin in front of him. This Merlin looked quite ordinary, probably a real person, but not the fortune-telling old man they had mentioned before. He was a middle-aged man around forty years old.

Merlin said, "It's alright, it's alright, just trying to make a living. How are you doing? You should be leveling up a new character by now, right?"

"Yeah, I've started a new account, and it's doing pretty well, but I've run into a bit of trouble recently and need some help."

This time, Merlin couldn't refuse. After all, he felt obligated to help someone who had eaten his food. He pulled the bikini-clad woman beside him into his arms, and while cuddling her, he said, "Tell me about it. If I can help, I definitely will. But I'm just Wuming in the game, so I can't help with anything too difficult."

Xiao Yu smiled slightly, "Haha, you're too modest. How could a member of the Council of Sages be Wuming?"

Merlin's movements suddenly froze, then he feigned ignorance and said, "The Council of Sages? What does that mean?"

His performance was really realistic, but Xiao Yu had been paying attention to him the whole time, and he clearly noticed that moment of stiffness. Otherwise, he might have been fooled.

"Come on, let's not beat around the bush. You have nothing to hide about this. If I didn't have solid evidence, I wouldn't have asked you for help."

Seeing that he couldn't avoid it any longer, Merlin chuckled and pushed the bikini-clad woman sitting in his lap aside. He stood up and suddenly changed his expression. He had been a lewd old man groping women, but now he had transformed into a mature and composed middle-aged gentleman.

"Alright, let me introduce myself. I am Merlin — the Sage of Fate of the Council of Sages is nothing more than this." As he spoke, he gave a rather self-important bow.

Xiao Yu asked in surprise, "The Sage of Fate? I thought Medivh was the Sage of Fate."

Merlin sat down again. "Ha, that was years ago. Medivh is the Astral Sage now, and I'm the new Sage of Fate. By the way, now that you know my identity, could you tell me what your name is in the game?"

Xiao Yu nodded. "That's no problem at all. My name in the game is Azathoth. I don't know if you've heard of me before."

"Azathoth!" Merlin suddenly stopped peeling the lobster. "You're Azathoth? Wow, that's awesome! I've finally met a celebrity today."

Although Merlin's words were exaggerated, Xiao Yu always felt that Merlin wasn't as shocked as he seemed; his shock appeared to be merely a superficial pretense.

Considering the mysterious ways the Council of Sages behaved, Xiao Yu thought to himself that these guys were definitely plotting something big, and his template level in the game must not be low either.

However, he didn't press the matter too much.

"You're too kind. I've been wanting to go to Draenor recently, so I need to open the Dark Portal. However, the Dark Portal has only ever been a decoration since the beginning of the game and has never been opened. According to my research, only those who are proficient in Eredar Magic can open the Dark Portal, and Astral Archmage Medivh happens to be one of them. So I'd like to ask you to ask Medivh for a favor and help me open the portal."

Merlin nodded. "Opening the door is easy, but as you know, Medivh and I are merely business partners, and he's even above me in status. I don't have the power to order him around; at most, I can pass on a message for you. Although I'm not very familiar with Medivh, based on my understanding of him, he certainly won't do anything for free. You'll have to pay a price to get his help. Given Medivh's status, the price certainly won't be low, and as the person passing on your message, I'll have to charge him a small fee."

Xiao Yu nodded. "So, how much do you think it would take to win him over?"

Merlin leaned back in his chair and pondered for a moment.

"300,000, I'll settle this for you for 300,000, including all the fees for Medivh."

300,000 is no small sum. Back when Xiao Yu playing with the Fire Elemental Lords, he only earned 300,000 in three months. Just opening a door costs 300,000, which is quite expensive. However, compared to the benefits of becoming the Elemental King, this price is nothing. For Xiao Yu now, it is definitely acceptable.

"Okay, 300,000 it is, deal."