The Defiant

As they spoke, the two arrived at a heavy gate. A cannibalistic boss stood guard at the gate, carrying a large hammer, with two Defias bodyguards beside him.

"This is the first boss in the Deadmines, the Parker the Ogre, a meaty boss, an NPC—responsible for guarding the gate. We use it to test the strength and tactics of adventurer teams entering the instance," Dark Rod explained.

Great minds think alike! It seems that making the first boss in a dungeon a tanky, easy target has become an unspoken rule.

The ogre saluted Dark Rod, opened the door, and went inside to find a smelting plant where many goblin workers were pushing mined ore into furnaces for smelting.

Molten iron flowed into the mold and solidified into iron plates, creating a scene of bustling activity.

The smelter is managed by a goblin boss— Doctor Leist goblin engineer.

Doctor Leist (Goblin Engineer): "Thank goodness, boss, you've finally arrived! I was just about to report on the project's progress."

"Leist, how's it going? Do we have enough ore?"

Doctor Leist (Goblin Engineer): "More than enough, boss. We've exceeded our casting targets and will definitely finish within a week. However, a few more workers died today. You'll need to send me more men; those clumsy idiots always manage to fall into the furnace."

"Don't worry, the monster forces in Night Whisper Forest have recently undergone a major reshuffle. I'll send people to capture some workers tomorrow." Dark Rod nodded and continued walking inside.

Passing through the smelter, you find yourself in a lumber mill, where many loggers are processing enormous logs. The boss in charge here is a goblin.

Shredder 2000 (Goblin Timber Machine), and its pilot, Aisibi (Goblin Timber Machine Pilot).

Seeing Dark Rod enter, Aidibi immediately drove his goblin lumberjack over with a roar. "Hey boss, still up so late?"

"You weren't asleep either, were you? How's the project going?"

"Very smoothly!"

"Great, keep it up!"

The two continued forward, Xiao Yu had a clearer understanding in his heart. It seemed that this Dark Rod was building something, smelting steel and processing wood. His so-called big operation must be related to what he was building.

As they passed through the timber processing plant and entered a tunnel, this idea became even more certain. Soon, the tunnel led to the present day, where on the other side was a natural cave. In the center of the cave was an underground lake, and inside the underground lake was—an ironclad warship.

"Holy crap!" Even though he was mentally prepared, Xiao Yu was still taken aback when he saw the ironclad warship. They actually built that thing? Did I play the wrong game?

Dark Rod looked at Xiao Yu's shocked face with satisfaction. "This is the Defiant gunboat, the most powerful gunboat designed by the Alliance Navy. Unfortunately, due to its high cost and unsuitability for long-distance voyages, it has only remained on paper until now. But I've made it a reality. Isn't it magnificent?"

Xiao Yu nodded. "It is indeed magnificent. What do you plan to use it for?"

"What else can it be used for? Of course, it's to increase reputation, just like when you attacked Nightwhisper Village. I plan to use it to bombard Stormwind City."

"Wow, that's quite a bold move," Xiao Yu thought. If he really used this warship to bombard Stormwind City, Dark Rod's reputation would skyrocket. This kind of storyline that affects the entire game is definitely a top-notch opportunity to grind reputation. It's not impossible that Dark Rod would suddenly become a Skeleton-level boss because of this, and his status in the players' hearts would definitely rise as well. Although it would be difficult to get into the top three, he would probably be a shoo-in for the final prize.

"Now you know my capabilities, right? So, are you interested in joining us?"

Xiao Yu shook his head. "I'm afraid I need to think about it carefully before I can give you an answer." Although Dark Rod's boldness was undeniable, he, having been a Balrog Lord, wasn't exactly dumbfounded. After the initial shock subsided, he thought about it carefully and it didn't seem like much of a deal. While bombarding Stormwind City sounded appealing, a single warship certainly couldn't take it down, or even inflict much damage on the Alliance. After all, an entire defensive fleet was stationed at Stormwind City's port. Bombarding Stormwind City would at most be a way to boost reputation and gain some visibility.

Dark Rod smiled and said, "No problem. This is something we should definitely consider. After all, you haven't seen the benefits at our studio yet. It's already quite late tonight. How about this, I'd like to arrange a room for you to settle in. You can give me your answer later when you've thought it through."

He seemed certain that Xiao Yu would join them, and snapped his fingers. A dark figure immediately appeared behind him—a Shadow Guard.

Dark Rod (Shadow Lord): "Prepare a guest room for Mr. Eric."

Shadow Guard: "Yes, boss."

As Xiao Yu boarded the ship with the Shadow Guards, he couldn't help but consider Dark Rod's proposal. However, he had just received too much information and seemed unable to process it all at once. Joining the game studio would indeed bring more support, but the profits would also be shared. It was hard to say whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. The two million for the finalist prize sounded like a lot, but with so many people in the studio, it would be very little after being divided among them. Moreover, as the president, Dark Rod would definitely take the lion's share, so what would he be left with? Ten or twenty thousand would be pretty good.

Moreover, in his opinion, Dark Rod's vision was a bit too narrow. How could a single ironclad warship be enough to make a name for himself in the Sky World? The prestige of human bandits was too low. Although it was a steady approach, playing the monster template was not a good thing. One had to be adventurous. It could be said that Dark Rod had taken the wrong path from the very beginning.

Just then, a strange sound rang in my ears.

"How dare you! Why did you do this!" The voice was hoarse, somewhat like a whisper, yet not quite.

"What did you say?" He turned around and gave the shadow guard a strange look.

The shadow guard looked at him strangely, "I didn't say anything."

Xiao Yu was stunned. The voice just now was indeed completely different from the Shadow Guard's voice. Could it be a hallucination?

"Oh, it's nothing." But after taking a couple of steps, the voice came again, "You will pay the price for what you've done."

Xiao Yu was taken aback, thinking to himself that this time there was no mistake, it was definitely not a hallucination. He secretly turned around and glanced at the shadow guard, but the shadow guard just kept walking with his head down and did not seem to have said a word.

"You'll die a horrible death!" The voice rang out again, but the Shadow Guard didn't even open his mouth. This time, Xiao Yu finally couldn't hold back anymore.

"Um, is this place haunted?"

The Shadow Guard shook his head with a strange expression, seemingly thinking that there was something wrong with the goblin in front of him.

Shadow Guard: "We've arrived, Mr. Eric. This is your room. It's best not to wander around unless absolutely necessary."

Xiao Yu nodded and watched the Shadow Guards leave.

He looked at his room, a small, very basic cabin on the starboard side of the ship. It had nothing but a bed, but it was enough since he was just looking for a place to log off.

Sitting on the bed, the voice continued to ring out from time to time, and it wasn't a kind word. "Why don't you just die! Why are you still alive! Don't you know what you've done?" One voice after another, as if coming from an extremely distant place, was very strange, making Xiao Yu's heart tremble.

"Who are you?" Xiao Yu asked loudly.

"You don't even know who I am? You don't even know who I am!" The voice suddenly became agitated, filled with anger.

"It's so noisy!" Xiao Yu roared, and the surroundings immediately fell silent. It was too quiet, and he felt uneasy, thinking to himself, "This is really strange. How could I hear such a sound out of nowhere?"

I checked the time; it was already past 5 a. m. Could it be that I was hallucinating from playing games too late?

Although this game is designed for a semi-sleep state, it doesn't actually provide a complete sleep experience; playing it for extended periods will still cause fatigue.

Therefore, the gaming pod has a game alarm function. If you play for more than 12 hours at a time, the gaming pod will automatically issue an alarm, and if you play for more than 24 hours, it will forcibly log you out.

However, as a professional gamer, Xiao Yu was destined to be online for long periods of time. Because this feature was too annoying, he simply uninstalled it. This time, a question suddenly popped into his mind: could it be that he was hallucinating from playing too much games?

Xiao Yu had even read a news article about someone who went insane after playing games for three days and three nights straight. Apparently, the game pod caused permanent brain damage due to its effect on brainwaves. Xiao Yu wondered if he was in that situation. It seemed possible. Well, he should probably quit the game and go to sleep as soon as possible, lest he go insane.

Thinking of this, Xiao Yu hurriedly exited the game, crawled out of the game pod, and felt his head was indeed a little dizzy, both excited and tired, a strange feeling he couldn't quite describe.