Chương 467: Gold Mining

VP Belmont held up a hand.

"Let's back up a bit. You and Vernon have been feuding for months. You've proven your worth to us. We removed Vernon to a place where he can't interfere, and yet, you want him back?" Layla smirked.

"Sort of. Happy to have him stay in Nebraska, and he's desperate enough to stay working that he's agreed to an arrangement where he retains his VP position but works for us, instead of us for him. If he screws us in any way he can rot in retirement." Belmont looked at Thune, and Thune shrugged.

"Fine by me. Looks like you have worked out your differences, and there's no dirty laundry to be aired." Avril said, "That saves a lot of paperwork, and we don't need to use his abuse of Sammy Maxwell as leverage. I'll reinstate Mr. Maxwell's firing and cancel the payout. His corporate espionage is well documented." Billy said, "Speaking of which, Vern still doesn't know how to change his passwords. His next assistant will need to be trained in that.

I logged into his virtual office, and it's still using the passwords Sammy used to get in and that Vern used when I was his intern. Layla and I spent a day straightening things up for him. He was holding all of my reports that should have been forwarded. Copies have now been sent to Game Design and VP Belmont. You'll find some interesting stuff in there, Carl." Carl was rapidly looking at just the titles of the reports, mumbling to himself about the things he was finding.

"Thank you so much! Documented accounts of spontaneous events are so rare! You've had so many! Starspawn? What the hell is that? And wars with trees and gigantic mutant gophers?"

"Glad to make you happy, Carl. Another reason you need to get in the game and visit Gadobhra. Trust me, lots more to see. But let's get back to Vernon. I want him to go through all the physical therapy that was planned for him and get him up to speed on current ACME procedures. Once I transfer his files out of that god-awful Virtual Office program, I'm deleting it. Time to get him using something better. I don't want him wasting time on TPS reports, but I know how important they are.

He's got a crackerjack assistant named Ricardo. Ricky is a good analyst but a lousy spy. I want him transferred to me but send him out to ride herd on Vern. He can do Vern's reports for him and make sure Vern is in his pod and in the game when I need him there." Belmont agreed.

"Avril can handle that. You mentioned wagonloads of gold. You intend to go after the dragon."

"Hell no, and not needed. Vern got excited about a pile of gold but didn't consider where the gold came from. It's sent as tribute to the Dragon using something like a teleport stone. All of the hundreds of small Saurian villages pay tribute, but they cheat on their taxes and hold back. Sensible of them. There's going to be a lot of gold in those villages, and somewhere, there are gold mines.

Screw the dragon, we're going to collect the stuff outside of that hoard, and in doing so, disrupt their invasion of the Empire." Thune was suddenly excited, "A guerrilla war in the jungle, behind enemy lines? Yes, there's nothing better to disrupt a military campaign." Billy grinned, "Unless you have a deposed Lesser God-Emperor to parade around. Then you can call it a schism and civil war. They still talk about 'Unca Varn,' and the Saurian culture revolves around challenging their leaders.

The priest class loves the drama, and some of them will support him. Especially the local priests who get snubbed by the guys in the city. I want a group of fast-moving troops to roll into villages, cut deals with their priests, and leave with the gold. We'll tell them that half is a tribute to 'Unca Varn,' and the other half we'll be keeping safe for them. When the warriors show up, they can weep and whine and claim we robbed them of all of it."

"You'll find someplace in the jungle to hide it." Layla laughed, "No place would be safe. We'll haul it out of the jungle and overland to the nearest Empire teleporter and keep it safe in the Gnomish Bank in Gadobhra. But we aren't stealing it. We'll issue pretty stock certificates with Vern's face on them. Each one is good for a personal prayer to 'Lesser God Emperor Unca Varn' if they burn them in a fire. Or they can keep them and earn more gold and prayers as their investments go up. Saurians love pyramids.

It's time they learned about Pyramid schemes." This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. VP Thune gestured to Marceline, "And I assume your troops will be hired from the young lady here?" Marcy shook her head, "Nah, we're working a better deal. I've got 200 experienced jungle fighters who have a grudge against the lizards and know the area. They need some R and R, a refit of armor and weapons, and time away from a jungle.

Billyboy is going to pay for teleports to send them to a nice quiet spot where they can drink themselves blind and blow off steam. And each one gets a nice set of Sedgehide armor and new weapons. I'm going to add more troops as needed. Billy supplies food and some transport specialists. We parade the old guy around on a palanquin, let him say things to the lizards, forment rebellions, collect the gold 'for safe keeping', and fade away. We'll also be laying some surprises for any lizard patrols that come after us.

It should be a fun time."

"And your pay?"

"The Merc Guild gets 1/4 of the gold we collect plus free armor, food, and access to some spiffy dungeons to train some of the new recruits we'll need for the jungle. These are expenses that my division is underwriting." Billy added, "I get 1/2 of the gold for my troubles and the heavy weight of responsibility. The other 1/4 goes in the bank for Vernon's division if he ever gets up and running again. An incentive for him to behave. And it will be easier with him.

It turns our forces into allies in the minds of some of the tribes instead of invading humans. Their priests will be at war with the dragon's priests, their army will turn around to chase us around the jungle. And I'll be telling the Emperor or his flunkies how their pals at ACME are helping them out." Carl was staring at Billy, "I don't understand. You're nowhere near the area. How do you know so much about their culture? And how they react?" Billy winked at Layla, who just sighed.

Some secrets were too good to give up, but they had other explanations." Well, you have to know these things when you're a Baron; it comes with the title. Politics and war are two sides of the same coin. I kept track of Vern, and that meant learning about the lizards." When only Belmont laughed, he went on.

"Vern had some interesting stuff in his files, I'm going to rewrite it into coherent form for you, Carl. And, I'll add some of the things that I learned from spying on Vern. I thought that was fair since he had spies watching me. I learned quite a lot about how the Lizardman culture worked and learned the language." Thune was fidgeting and anxious and finally spoke, addressing Marcy.

"You will have new recruits training in Billy's town? What are the chances I could join you? I need to spend time in the game, and while I've read a significant amount of military history and studied tactics, the chance to take part in a jungle war sounds amazing." Marcy looked him over, "I'll give you a shot, but you screw up or don't follow my orders and you're out. I want you in a pod tonight, and before that, I'll tell you how to set up your character.

A couple of weeks of training in dungeons and the drills I put the recruits through might get you up to speed. But it's going to be hell."

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll do my best. And, come to think of it, I have a few week's vacation I need to use up." Billy turned to VP Belmont.

"Are we good to go? We can make adjustments as we need to, but I'd like to get this thing started." Belmont stood up.

"Yes, it sounds crazy, and I won't be putting any of this into my report to the chairman. It's easier to call it a gold mining expedition and leave it at that. I must say, I'm thrilled myself. I've missed the VR gaming I used to do, especially our dirigible. I've heard such things exist, but they are ruinously expensive and rare. But sailing through the air was wonderful for exploring." Billy laughed, "Well, get a few levels, and I'll put in a word for you with Captain Woodrat when he returns from the Smoke.

Maybe he'll need a new cabin boy."