---Third POV---
Although they didn't manage to sell the dimensional crystal, fortunately, other gains weren't insignificant.
Just as Hedgehog was about to give up and leave with the two Reverse Flow spell scrolls, the door opened again. He turned his head toward the sound, his eyes lighting up with hope.
"Could it be…"
A cylindrical white stone drew a long arc through the air and landed precisely in his arms. He picked it up, his face full of confusion.
"What is this?"
He examined the stone, only slightly larger than his thumb. It was unexpectedly light and had a texture reminiscent of bone.
"It's a Shadow Contract Stone. If you encounter an insurmountable problem, crush it to contact me."
Viktor emerged halfway from behind the door.
"Consider it an additional reward for the Snow God's Key fragment."
He had just closed the door when he remembered something: Given the players' current progress, it wouldn't take long for them to encounter the sea sirens.
Although they didn't fear death and could avoid many troubles, just in case, it was better to leave them a life-saving option. With the overall strength and progress of Hedgehog's team of opportunists, he believed they'd tackle the mission head-on.
Hedgehog fiddled with the stone, holding it up to the sunlight.
"So, it's basically a one-time phone call? But what's the point of calling you in a life-and-death situation?"
Who's going to stop running for their life to tell the pursuers, "Hold on a sec. Let me make a call to ask for survival tips?"
The enemies weren't idiots!
"It's a bit better than a phone call. After all, you'll summon a shadow that has half my strength."
"A Servant Spirit?!"
Hedgehog's eyes lit up like light bulbs, his mind instantly racing with countless strategies.
Viktor's internal alarm bells rang loudly.
Great, he thought, I shouldn't have been so kind to them.
He quickly added, "The shadow's duration is limited. The further away you are, the shorter it lasts. At most, it won't exceed five minutes."
So don't go overboard! He finished the sentence in his head.
The last thing he wanted was to show up in the middle of some church's gathering. If the players died, so be it. But if the Church traced the Shadow Contract Stone back to Honeyvale Town, the game might as well be shut down indefinitely.
"Oh, five minutes is plenty!"
Hedgehog toyed with the stone, grinning from ear to ear. Remote assistance, if used well, it could be a deadly weapon. Since he couldn't sell the dimensional crystal, the focus now was how to use the Reverse Flow and the Shadow Contract Stone to recover his losses. Clutching the two items, he dashed off without delay.
Viktor watched his retreating figure with a smile.
"That kid…"
Running so fast, was he planning to rush back to Nary Town before sunset?
Not bad. The more effort players put in, the more prosperous the game would be.
He shook his head and crossed the street.
---
On the other side of the street was the relocation and expansion task hub.
As soon as Viktor entered, the task specialists, who had been slacking off, immediately fell silent. Even the animated conversation between Cobb and Bard came to an abrupt halt.
He walked straight through the hall, heading toward the warehouse behind the task hub.
Alyanne was standing next to a massive, three-meter-tall chunk of iron, jotting something down. When she saw him, she immediately set down her pen.
Viktor nodded at her in acknowledgment, his eyes lingering on the hunk of iron beside her. The "chunk of iron" looked like a colossal cargo container with a drill mounted on top. But it was clear it had endured significant external damage. The drill was completely bent out of shape, the cargo container heavily deformed, and its surface riddled with dents and protrusions.
Four wheels, taller than an adult, were scattered around it.
Alyanne quickly provided a report.
"This is a magical device that collided with the southern barrier early this morning, likely a transport vehicle. After confirming there was no danger, the players brought it in. I was planning to report it to you…"
But before she could, Viktor had already asked her if she'd seen any strange large transport equipment, and his description matched the chunk of iron perfectly. He'd even remotely instructed her on how to open the container and inventory its contents.
"Due to extensive damage sustained while navigating the forest and colliding with the barrier… it was already in this state when I opened it."
Alyanne sighed helplessly. In fact, before it was brought into the warehouse, the chunk of iron still vaguely resembled a vehicle.
But the moment the cargo container was opened, the entire "drill car" collapsed into pieces.
Now it was completely unusable.
Looking at the simplified anchor-wheel emblem on the surface of the container, Viktor sighed.
"Not your fault. It's a discounted item. Cheap transport vehicles are never any good."
A hundred years, and that guy still never took a loss. This completely crushed his hopes of refurbishing the transport vehicle for secondary use. Now, it seemed they could only melt down the metal and start from scratch to build a new vehicle.
Noticing Viktor's expression, which seemed like he had anticipated this, Alyanne cautiously asked:
"Is this a transport vehicle from the Ship-Carriage Guild?"
"Why? Doesn't it look like one?" Viktor countered.
Alyanne tilted her head, thinking for a moment, then answered honestly,
"From its appearance, it doesn't."
Although the container bore an anchor-wheel emblem, it was quite different from the Ship-Carriage Guild's usual logo. It resembled something from a wandering merchant team trying to imitate the company's emblem. And as a colossal trading organization spanning sea and land, the guild's transport vehicles couldn't possibly be this crude and shoddy.
If it weren't for the high-quality cargo inside, which a small merchant group couldn't possibly acquire, she wouldn't have even asked.
Viktor gave a succinct response.
"Supplies intended for The Watchers can't exactly be openly labeled."
He took a few steps closer, eyeing the fading emblem on the container.
"In fact, the similarity in this symbol was likely intentional, so that if exposed, they could easily defect to the opposing side."
Alyanne's eyes widened. "Defect?!"
Her years of experience had sharpened her instincts in such matters.
Indeed, if the Ship-Carriage Guild truly had ties to The Watchers,
the best way to clear their name would be to immediately and completely switch to the opposing camp if discovered.
But this also meant the betrayal would be even more severe and unexpected for The Watchers. And they'd lose a key ally capable of helping in a rescue operation.
"This, this, this…"
The implications of this conspiracy theory were so overwhelming that Alyanne was momentarily at a loss for words.
Viktor was amused by her shocked expression.
"Haha, the Ship-Carriage Guild can only be considered our indirect ally. The relationship between us is somewhat special. You'll understand it naturally in the future. Have the items been inventoried?"
"Oh, right here!" Alyanne snapped out of her daze and handed over a list with ink still drying.
She explained from the side. "Most of the materials have been organized. But there's a pile of scattered metal fragments, rods, or some kind of black granules inside. They're unpackaged, look odd, and we have no idea what they are, so we left them aside for now."
She had consulted every available task specialist on duty. Even the former magicians, who'd traveled far and wide, couldn't identify the items. It was truly embarrassing.
Viktor quickly scanned the list and nodded in acknowledgment. "That's normal. I made those. It'd be strange if you recognized them."
The items on the list were almost identical to what he had requested the guild to deliver. After grabbing a piece of papyrus, he jotted down a few missing items and handed the list back to her.
"You've done a good job organizing. Move the pepper tree from the medicinal category to the food and seasoning section, and it'll be ready for the store. The items I crossed off, don't list those. For the circled items, set a contribution threshold of 500 points."
Alyanne's eyes widened in surprise. "500?"
During the goblin campaign, only a handful of players had managed to save up a three-digit contribution score. Setting a threshold of 500 was practically displaying items no one could afford. Unable to hold back, she voiced her question.
Viktor smiled calmly, "That's exactly the point, they shouldn't be able to afford it."
One goblin faction war, one Blackrock Toad cleanup mission, these had drastically inflated the average amount of currency in veteran players' hands. If they weren't given a new goal, their motivation would quickly fade, turning them into idle, aimless players.
It was time to dangle a new carrot in front of the donkey!
Weapons, vehicles, magic scrolls... what player wouldn't want to equip themselves with something rare and extraordinary?
Alyanne furrowed her brows slightly. "High-grade magic tools and scrolls marked at 500 contribution points I can understand."
After all, magicians were already one in a hundred thousand among regular people. Advanced magicians were even rarer, with only one in a thousand reaching that level. It made sense for magic tools and one-use scrolls that could unleash advanced-level power to be priced high.
"But this… this magical engine, does anyone actually want it?"
Her tone was hesitant.
"Of course. It might even be the first high-grade item sold," Viktor replied casually. "But to make its price worth it, they'll need to use their brains."
Alyanne pursed her lips. "Have you figured it out?"
"You've concealed its purpose better than before. Looks like you've learned something from mingling with the players," Viktor complimented without reservation. "Keep it up!"
In Honeyvale Town, items available for purchase by players were also accessible to locals. Prices and requirements were the same for both. Given Alyanne's former status, it was normal for her to be interested in high-grade magic tools.
To prevent the penny-pinching ice dragon from making the wrong choice and drowning the streets in tears, he kindly reminded her, "These are items meant for official members of The Watchers. They're probably useless to you."
Since her intentions were exposed, Alyanne simply asked outright: "Is it a magical tool that, when mixed with powdered stones, creates massive sparks?"
"You mean gunpowder?" Viktor shook his head with a laugh. "Not at all. It's hard to explain in theory. Once they use the engine to build a few practical examples, you'll understand."
Alyanne bit her lip, grumbling in dissatisfaction. "There it is again, that phrase…"
She felt underestimated, but when she thought about her own awakening bloodline, her budding determination quickly dissipated. She obediently took the list and left to sort the items for the store.
Meanwhile, Viktor stepped onto the wheel debris and swiftly entered the cargo container.
Because several large cracks had torn through its body, the ten-meter-long container wasn't entirely dark. Half of its interior space was filled with black components of various shapes. Some were as long as two or three meters, others as small as screws. The corners were piled with black granules resembling sand.
Curiously, all of it reflected dazzling silver light under the sun, creating a magnificent scene.
He surveyed the container's interior and sighed. "Long time no see, my old friends."
Swish! Swish, swish!
As his words fell, the components in the container began to stir faintly. The sound grew louder and louder until the entire container trembled. A clattering noise, like marbles rolling on metal, echoed inside.
He stood calmly at the rear of the container, waiting.
Before long, a tiny black sphere rolled to his feet, emitting a faint collision sound. It was less than a millimeter in diameter. In the dim lighting, it was almost invisible.
Then came the second, third… Countless black granules poured from the container's cracks like tiny but resolute streams. They converged at his feet, gradually coalescing and compacting.
Finally, they formed a black staff about two meters long, identical to his usual staff.
Before the staff could topple over, Viktor caught it in time and hefted it. Satisfied, his eyes gleamed with approval.
"The weight feels right. Looks like he kept you all in good condition."
Even though 682 years had passed since his arrival, it wasn't as though Viktor had left all traces of modern technology behind. These micro-scale spheres were one such remnant.
They operated on principles similar to nanorobots. However, being only a high school graduate before his transmigration, he hadn't been exposed to advanced molecular physics. After much trial and error with the locals of Aeltia, the robots were still stuck at the micron level.
Each tiny sphere was inscribed with hundreds of magical runes, capable of self-recharging and autonomously casting spells. They could function independently or combine into different objects and create larger magical arrays, rivaling multi-purpose magic tools.
A staff, longsword, bow, musical instrument… Their utility was limited only by the user's imagination.
At the beginning, these micron-scale robots had been Viktor's signature weapon. As he gripped the staff, memories stirred within him.
"It's been so long since I last used you," he murmured with a sigh.