CEO Butter smiled dryly.
Phakin concluded, "Trying to catch a tiger with bare hands with cunning people like us is too easy, don't you think?"
Megumi laughed softly and added to Phakin, "Fame, wealth, power—we have it all. What will you offer us?"
Li Wei crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes dreamily. "The end credit of the advertisement will show the five of us sitting in a room like this," he said. Then it cuts to the text,
"to be continued."
"It's a scene with the five lords sitting and planning together. It can really stir up the players, ready to crush the dwarves together," Lillian said.
Aman stroked his chin and added, "Then there must be a budget for actors, right?"
Phakin raised an eyebrow, staring intently at CEO Butter...
Perfectly in sync! Were they really at odds before?
He had miscalculated. He shouldn't have had these five sit together. He should have persuaded them one by one!
But CEO Butter knew he couldn't do that. That's because before each of them agreed, they'd all ask the same question: What did the other four lords say?
And it wouldn't end because no one would start agreeing first. So they had to sit together and reach a consensus like this.
CEO Butter was prepared to meet these crafty people, knowing he wouldn't be catching tigers with his bare hands. He hinted, "The fee is to assist in a way that seems non-assistive."
With those words, the five lords looked at each other immediately.
Their cunning eyes couldn't hide their slyness.
Li Wei spoke first, "Before your non-assistive assistance, we'd like a bit more reward from you."
CEO Butter squinted. What he had offered was already top-notch, and they wanted more?
Phakin added, "Since you dislike the consortium planning to take over the MGC world, when we fight them in the war as you desire and win, the GM, who is the god of the game, might 'accidentally' drop the rarest and most valuable items when those people die."
Megumi added, "Of course, all those dropped items would belong to us."
CEO Butter relaxed upon hearing this.
Oh, just making sure the drops were from the scrap collectors wasn't impossible. It was like thieves robbing thieves.
Aman said, "Now that the additional request is done, let's talk about the main reward you proposed, Mr. Butter."
Lillian smiled immediately and said, "The land lord function can create a fountain plaza, but it requires a significant water source. As you know, Camelot is on a mountain, making water hard to find. I've explored a lot and still can't find a nearby water source…"
So they wanted a fountain plaza.
CEO Butter thought it was a bigger deal. The "non-assistive assistance" interpreted by the five lords was merely providing in-game clues. In reality, they could have asked him to inform them about major game announcements that would boost MGC Online's stock prices. While against international laws, he would have done so to win their favor. But no!
They asked for trivial, decorative items instead. Hence, he agreed to find out for them.
The city lords exchanged glances, signaling success!
When you reach the top among thousands, you must be equally cunning... perhaps even more so than the businessman before them.
If the CEO played his company's game seriously, he'd know that what the five asked for, though decorative, was crucial in the game. Phakin quickly changed the subject to divert the CEO's suspicion. He hastily arranged,
"You know, Mr. Li and I have successfully created a Gundam prototype. I propose this idea: you film us testing its performance, add effects to make it look formidable, and add this clip after the scene where we're sitting together. Surely, it will give everyone goosebumps."
CEO had left, but the five lords were eating dim sum, Chinese food, in the banquet hall that Phakin had reserved.
The room was large, with only one round table. Five people were sitting around it... plus
"We were all in Thailand, and you served us Chinese food!" Lillian grumbled.
"Yeah, yeah, where's the Thai food!!' Li Wei, being Chinese himself, couldn't help but complain. He could have this food back in his hometown.
Phakin quickly waved his hands to ward off their bombardment of complaints and said, "Just some appetizers first. I've already asked Mina to book a restaurant. Please be patient."
Megumi crossed her arms and nodded in approval, "That's better." The remaining three nodded in agreement.
It was Lillian who dropped a bombshell on Phakin, "And also, tomorrow morning we'll go home. So, this afternoon we'll leave it to you."
.
.
.
Phakin's face went stiff.
What! They turn on him like this? He had told Mina they weren't going to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, and these four had accepted it. Why did they change their mind?
Phakin hurriedly declined, "I've never been to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha!"
"Anywhere is fine. We can go anywhere, right?" Aman found allies to pressure him. Of course, the remaining three agreed.
Is this the kind of initiation by the four remaining lords, or what? Phakin could only grumble in his mind.
Megumi smiled and said, "Then next time we have a gathering like this, let's go to India."
Aman was taken aback upon hearing that and quickly chuckled to cover up, saying, "But I'm not too uptight about it. We're just here to relax for a day before heading back home and then going back to creating an image."
Phakin looked left and right, listening to the four lords chatting and hoping to go here and there, and could only give a dry smile.
Starting with the story of booking a Thai restaurant, Phakin lied. He thought he just needed to book a room for the four of them, and they'd find their own food, not relying on him to guide them like this!
Phakin hurriedly pressed his phone for help from Mina.
In the high-rise building of Chandra city,
Melon-chan was auditing the accounts of a Malaysian conglomerate that sought a loan for a mega-project. The bank of Chandra city was so large that it could grant loans for such mega-projects, and she played a part in approving this loan.
Sagittarius had referred her to this job, but just sitting around doing nothing like a typical having connection.
Her desk was always piled high with work!
In her current desk job, the working hours were only 4 hours a day, but Melon-chan had to work overtime every day! Otherwise, the stack of papers on her desk would continue to grow until it collapsed and buried her.
The role of auditing company accounts to approve loans was very important, and the position she held required loan applications worth over 100 million US dollars! Or looking at it another way, she was in this position because a major shareholder vouched for her, essentially making her a trusted employee for audits. However, Melon-chan didn't trust herself completely; after the AI calculated the numbers, she would triple-check them before sending them up for loan approval consideration.
In another light, the bank of Chandra city had immense capital. Even 100 million loan requests were numerous enough to fill Melon-chan's desk.
At that moment, the loan manager opened the door to her private office. "Miss Melon, there's a guest here to see you. Please come to my office."
"Huh?" Melon-chan tilted her head in curiosity and followed the manager.
While walking behind the young manager, Melon-chan admired his back. She had a good impression of this man; he was one of the good managers who respected her and guided her on many matters without overstepping any boundaries.
He was a gentleman who respected women.
The manager leading Melon-chan was unfortunate she couldn't see his face that looked like a toilet bowl.
Having a subordinate with powerful connections was very uncomfortable, and the higher-ups ordered not to let her sit idle anymore! So, he had to both instruct and teach her knowledge to ensure this nepotistic hire wouldn't make mistakes and ruin everything. Plus, he couldn't even flirt with her.
Now, in his office, the second-in-command of the metropolis was sitting there, waiting to meet with this Melon-chan!
"This is so uncomfortable!"
But he couldn't do anything about it. Upon reaching his office, the young manager put on a polite face, bowing lower than the blonde woman in a priestess outfit who sat gracefully on the guest sofa. Mina smiled constantly. She turned to Melon-chan as she stepped in and nodded at the manager. Then she asked Melon-chan, "Do you have any urgent work or personal errands to attend to today?"
Melon-chan was about to say she needed to submit her audit opinions on the Malaysian company to the loan approval committee today, but the manager quickly interjected, "There's no urgent bank work today!"
If he had said it was urgent and tried to hold her back, those behind this AI woman would find out, and he might lose his managerial position.
In her innocence, Melon-chan, still new to the working world, asked, "The Malaysian company's loan approval is scheduled for next week, isn't it? The audit work is still pending, and the committee hasn't read the details for decision-making. If submitted late, won't it be too rushed?"
"They can take it home to read!" the young manager hurriedly said through gritted teeth to shut her up.
Mina listened and then asked, "And personally, Miss Melon, do you have any appointments or personal errands today?"
Melon-chan replied, "I was thinking of leveling up after work. No plans with friends or other errands. Is there something you need from me, Miss Mina?"
Hearing this, Mina smiled and turned to the manager saying, "Please arrange overtime for Miss Melon. I need to borrow her from this afternoon until tomorrow morning… The compensation will be transferred to your loan department by Chandra city's office."
The young manager bowed repeatedly and quickly responded, turning to Melon-chan, "You can continue working on the Malaysian company's audit tomorrow evening." Since the boss ordered the postponement, she had to comply.
Melon-chan turned to ask Mina, "What would you need my help with?"
Mina smiled and said...
In the private lounge of a café in the same hotel,
"Brother Li is the elder among all of us." Pakin counted the ages of everyone, and Li Wei was the oldest among the five lords of the city.
After finishing their Chinese meal, they came here to drink tea and coffee and chat about various topics. Then, there was a knock on the door from outside. Li Wei signaled the bodyguard to let the knocker in.
Yes, Li Wei had bodyguards too!
Megumi updated Pakin on another situation, saying, "There are Mr. Li and Kin-chan who have never appeared in the media in the real world. How could their in-game rivals recognize their real selves?" She pointed to herself, Lilian, and Aman, saying, "We are the ones who should be worried. We've interfered with his in-game interests a lot, so we have to have bodyguards."
Li Wei smiled wryly and added, "The Republic arranged for them. Besides, I think it's necessary. Even though the public doesn't know my real identity, in this real world, many players who are close to me know my true self. So, it's possible that my identity might reach my opponents."
The five lords had reached metropolis-level cities, which required them to hinder, destroy, and create many casualties among players, resulting in numerous enemies. Therefore, they had to hire both visible and hidden bodyguards.
Then all four of them turned to Phakin simultaneously and said, "You should hire one too!"
This Thai man was the only one without a bodyguard. He had been safe on Mars for five years, but now that he's back, his influential group in Sagittarius, whose interests he had defied, would surely track him down.