Chương 192: Chapter 186

The interview ended with a happy Joanna clutching her notes to herself as she hurried out of the building, claiming she had some editing work to do. Sam just sat there for a moment, contemplating his decisions while taking in the sight through the windows lining the walls.

'I wonder if it was the right choice to give this interview…' he mused to himself. He, of course, knew that people were aware of his face and, no doubt, his identity, as he didn't hide it much. But giving this interview, especially with a few carefully worded statements, he would be directly calling attention to himself. It took only a few minutes for the door to the meeting room to open again.

Casually turning his head toward it, he watched as Lucy was escorted in by Clair, served tea and other refreshments before she left the room. Sam waited until Lucy had time to take a few sips and nibbles of the finger food before speaking up.

"Was it worth it?" he asked idly while picking up a small sandwich for himself.

'I wonder what I should make for dinner…' he mused. Lucy nodded.

"I looked into her. Unorthodox, but not conspiracy theory crazy." Sam couldn't help but snort.

"Really? Couldn't tell…" Lucy just shook her head.

"She clearly plays that part up. She actually has a degree in journalism and marketing…"

"Ah, so she knows what people want?"

"Exactly."

"Then why haven't I heard of her?"

"She only started around a year ago…" Lucy replied, then took a dainty bite of the cookie she was holding.

"According to what I managed to find there were a lot of orgs that wanted to hire her, but she refuses to give up her independence." Sam nodded at that. He could appreciate that kind of dedication.

"Are you planning on… acquiring her?" he asked, smiling.

"Because I don't know if you know, but there is a rumor going around that you're collecting nubile young women in your decadent harem…" Lucy looked back, flabbergasted.

"Me? ME? You're the one who always comes back with more women to hire!"

"But you hire them," he pointed out gleefully.

"They only see that!" Lucy opened her mouth and then closed it as she apparently had nothing to gainsay Sam's statement. Then she huffed and crossed her arms in front of her.

"Whatever. I don't care."

"Still. Are we getting her to join?" She shook her head.

"As a proper member? Too soon to tell, but I doubt it."

"So, like a Liz-lite?" he asked.

"We bankroll her and she helps out when she can?"

"That's the plan…" Sam nodded and took a sip of his drink. It could work. Lucy was a wizard at management and administration, but they didn't have anybody with PR or marketing experience. The only reason Sam was so successful with his ventures was because he based his decisions on his future knowledge. Knowing what worked and what didn't was somewhat cheating… However, sooner or later a time will come when his inherited memories will be of no help…

"You need any help?" She shook her head again.

"No, I don't think so. She is pretty simple under all that bravado."

"Good. Call me if you need any help."

"Will do," she replied with a smile, then after taking another bite of the delicious food, she posed a different question.

"When do you think the devs are going to intervene?" Sam looked out of the window thoughtfully.

"Panic has fully set in. Most gaming-related news media is talking about this. People are practically running around like headless chickens."

"So?"

"It took me a while to realize, but this is simply a demonstration of their power. Not to the masses, but to the individuals with ideas …"

"You think?"

"How else would you explain their actions?"

"Point," she admitted.

"Then, the next question should be why haven't they tried to hunt you down?" Sam looked back, surprised, then smirked as he saw the smirk on his friend's face.

"Because the simple fact is that I don't cheat." Lucy looked at him with a knowing look, but in the end, she just shook her head.

"Fine, keep your secrets.

"She rolled her eyes." Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about some stuff."

"Here or in the office?"

"In the office. Better security." Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Sam nodded, downed the last of his drink, and then followed his friend out of the meeting room. A few seconds later, a maid entered and began cleaning up the room, cheerfully humming a song.

Finished with the discussion about their move to the fortress that Lara was handling, he left the building, now properly disguised, through one of the secret entrances that Tim utilized, ignoring the assassin who seemed to be surrounded by a gaggle of giggling maids with Claire standing there, glaring slightly…

'Ah, to be an anime protagonist…' Sam chuckled to himself as he carefully donned a new face courtesy of his artifact and headed for the Auction House. The streets were surprisingly empty of players, though still full of NPCs going through their days.

'Probably out there, trying to make money…' With the price of gold dropping, the real-world price of materials has risen, thus everybody started farming base materials to sell instead of trying to make money. It would probably work in the long-term but people haven't had the time to switch over, so that meant that a lot of people were trying to hoard as much as possible for when it would be viable to sell them for real-world money.

Unfortunately for them, soon the devs were going to announce the corrections and the prices of those materials would not go up as they had expected.

Entering the Auction House he saw the usual crowd: guild representatives and workers shifting through the almost infinite number of lots that were continuously put up for auction, people in rather shabby gear feverishly searching for the one thing that would reverse their wretched fortune, clueless noobs trying to buy themselves some enchanted gear and cursing when they saw the prices and so on and so forth.

This time, however, instead of sitting amongst the masses, he approached the receptionist and asked for a private room. He was shortly escorted to the third floor, where one of the doors was opened for him. Inside was a simple room, well-appointed, but nothing special. The armchair was comfortable, at least. Soon, he was seated in a comfortable armchair and the screens of the Auction House were open in front of him.

Usually, he would be somewhat conservative with his money, but with the speed gold was being devalued and the amount Lucy bought up, he currently had a decent amount to play with. He started with the raw materials.

"Ahh, iron ore, come to papa," he mumbled as he gleefully bought up a good amount of material on the market. The price was naturally raised compared to before, but even with that, it was worth it. Then he bought all sorts of wood, both for decorations and constructions with other assorted materials that would be useful for that. After all, a fortress didn't build itself…

"Oh, is that mana-infused water? Why is it so cheap? Who cares? Bought!" he chuckled as he bought it. It was a good alchemy ingredient, but some blacksmiths used it to quench weapons as it aided the process.

'Somebody probably found a well…'

"Hey, seeds! Ringing Kudzu? Awesome! Pepper Puffs? Insomnia Lily? It seems I'm getting a new garden," he spoke to himself as he went through the pages and brought up dozens of distinct seeds. For example, Ringing Kudzu was a special plant that made a very annoying ringing sound when touched by something that had active mana running through it. Some kind of defense mechanism against 'predators'… Pepper Puffs were dandelion-like flowers that exploded when disturbed.

The resulting seeds were like peppers and were great irritants. Insomnia Lily, despite its name, caused sleepiness with its pollen. All of them were perfect as passive defenses for the fortress. Plus, some genuinely nice potions and other alchemical creations could be crafted from them. Then came other materials. He bought up several types of coal and other burnable fuels that were used by blacksmiths and other crafters.

Clothing material and a few other odds and ends were also purchased, all in preparation for the fortress.

'I hope we have enough space for it in the warehouse…' he mused as he switched over to another screen. Thanks to their excursion to the Valley of Distortion, they had enough weapons and armor to sustain several guilds, thus he just did a quick cursory check to see if he could spot something useful for him or his team. Fortunately, there was one thing that caught his attention. [Ring of the Hunter: A small, expertly crafted, enchanted ring. Completely erases the wearer's natural smell.] A pretty useful ring for anybody, but knowing that several groups out there wanted to hunt him down, Sam bought it immediately. He also took the time to search for an upgrade for his Ring of Minor Health Regeneration. [Ring of Health Regeneration: A ring made from adequate materials and decorated with a good-quality gem. As long as the gem holds mana, it aids with health regeneration. Can hold 10000 Mana Points, and regenerates 10 health Points for every point of mana Consumed. Activating the enchanting costs 100 Mana Points. Current Mana: 0/10000.] Knowing that there were always hidden gems in the listings, he spent almost an hour just scrolling through the endless listing of shitty and even shittier weapons. However, on the verge of giving up, he found his treasure. It was priced high for the average player as it was an enchanted item, but to him, it was basically pocket change.

On the screen, he could see the image of another ring, made from a dark, almost black metal, with a simple white line going around it made from white silver. [Ring of the Shadow Fang: Made from shadow metal and accented with white moon-silver, this ring allows the wearer to summon a dagger made from shadow. The strength of the dagger depends on the wearer's shadow mana control. The distance the dagger can move from the wearer depends on the mana control of the individual.] It was probably because of the last sentence that it was unsold. Leveling up Magic Control was rather hard, after all. Still, it was an excellent holdout weapon for him. Plus, it would give him a stealthier way to attack if needed. And to finish his shopping spree, he bought a nice belt. [Belt of Holding: A belt made to hold up your pants. Prevents pantsing and accidental mooning. Enchanted to stay clean and on the wearer.] Mostly because he thought the description was too funny.

Satisfied with his haul, he turned his attention to the skill books. He began by buying up basic books that he knew most guild members would not think about getting, making sure the guild would have enough for those who would pass their loyalty tests. Then he began hunting for more valuable ones. He bought up healing skills by the dozen, as well as rare elemental attacks. Shield spells were also added to his basket, plus any skill that caught his fancy.

For himself, however, he went for a few books he knew were easy to get, but he was just too lazy to get. He picked up Carving, which allowed him to easily carve runes into hard surfaces and Air Purification that would synergize with his Clean spell excellently. [Carving: Level 0/10 (0%) (Active) A spell made to carve into stone. Allows the user to carve stones in the shape they desire.] [Air Purification: Level 0/10 (0%) A spell made to purify the air of contaminants. Can purify non-magical contaminants and have some effect on magical ones.] Two simple spells that would sooner or later come in handy. He was about to finish up when he received a call from Lucy.

"Sup?"

"At least you could have warned me!" she began angrily.

"Oh, yeah. I bought some stuff at the Auction House…" he replied with a lazy grin.

"I noticed," came the deadpan answer.

"Nice. Why did you call me?" he asked. While he knew Lucy would be a little cross with him, he also knew that she would understand his decision and simply deal with the influx of materials. It must have been important…

"My computer just pinged me. Future Unknown has set a date for a press conference!" she stated.

"When?"

"Three days from now."