The Final Boss Has Returned — Chapter 32
[Black Wall] [Grade: Legend]
[Pandemonium's Black Wall had not collapsed except on the final day of the Dark Empire's ruin, and it was a fortress wall possessing absolute defense that was counted among the finest in the Mythical Era.]
[Not only is it protected by all manner of ancient black magic spells, but it also randomly inflicts various curses upon those who attack the wall.]
…….
[Dark Temple] [Grade: Legend]
[A temple that serves the Demon God of Darkness, the center of faith toward the Great Darkness, and a place where Dark Priests reside.]
[Dark Priest Class-Change Quest Unlocked (Inactive)]
[Faction: Dark Cult Unlocked (Inactive)]
…….
[Abyssal Lighthouse] [Grade: Legend]
[A lighthouse used by the Dark Empire to communicate with the Fishmen, one of the six children of darkness. It remained at the edge of the eastern shore until a little over a decade ago, but sank during the Cataclysm and was destroyed without a trace. Had the Black Ring Society used the Abyssal Lighthouse to summon the Fishmen before the battle against the Pirate King at Lawless Harbor, it would have been the Pirate King who suffered defeat instead.]
…….
Facilities with terrifying performance of Legend grade!
Among the numerous constructible buildings on the list, the ones I had decided to build right now were only seven: the City Hall, the Training Center, the Luxury Hotel, the Shipyard, the Abyssal Lighthouse, the Black Wall, and the Dark Temple.
Among them was a familiar name.
The Abyssal Lighthouse!
Just as Kalid had said before, the Abyssal Lighthouse had a function to summon the Fishmen.
I instinctively realized.
The fact that after building this lighthouse, using the 'Light of the Abyss' feature was the very start of the Fishman quest.
'I don't need to start the quest immediately, but I have plenty of money anyway, it comes with a port function enhancement feature, and since I'll have to meet the Fishmen someday because of the Apostle's Path quest, it wouldn't be bad to build it in advance.'
Thinking so, I once again scanned over the facilities I had decided to build.
Of course, there were more Dark Empire-related facilities besides these.
For example, facilities like the Dark Knight Order Training Center that trained Dark Knights, or the Catacombs where Necromancers dwelt and researched immortality and death!
If properly constructed, they would unlock class-change quests for the Dark Knight, a darkness-type class shrouded in secrecy, and the Necromancer, a class admired by countless people—truly mouth-watering facilities.
But I couldn't build those facilities right now.
'I don't have the NPCs.'
Because I didn't have NPCs who possessed the corresponding jobs and could serve as class-change instructors.
As could be guessed from the fact that the class-change quest unlock function among the Dark Temple's features was inactive, simply building the structure didn't activate all its functions.
The NPCs who worked at that building had to be recruited and filled in by oneself through hiring!
While there were facilities like casinos or luxury hotels that could be staffed without difficulty, in the case of the Dark Temple, the Dark Priest job itself had never appeared even in the previous work, so merely building the structure meant its functions couldn't be fully utilized.
To utilize all of a facility's functions, the NPCs required for that building were necessary.
'Well, if I consider raising the Demon God's favor, the culture stat increase, and the Protection of Darkness feature, the Dark Temple is a building worth constructing, but structures like the Catacombs or the Dark Knight Order Training Center would be a bit of a waste to build right now in that sense.'
The Dark Temple was a building worth investing in heavily to raise the Demon God's favor as well as for the city's culture stat increase and Protection of Darkness feature, but other Dark Empire-related facilities were not.
It meant that even if I spent money to build them, they would most likely become white elephants that only devoured maintenance costs.
'Unless I recruit NPCs with Dark Knight or Necromancer jobs later, building them now is premature.'
Since NPCs with the corresponding jobs were needed to properly operate the facilities, I postponed the construction of those facilities.
No matter how much money was rotting away in my pockets right now, there was no need to waste it needlessly.
Investing money where and when appropriate!
Because I knew very well that this was the very basics of territory management.
Having checked the total of seven facilities, I selected the sites from the holographic map of Lawless Harbor floating in the air, and soon a notification window appeared before my eyes.
[Total Construction Cost: 170,000,000 Gold]
[Do you wish to proceed with construction?]
The total construction cost that came up was 170 million gold!
An enormous sum exceeding 1 billion won even by real-world standards!
I poured out that money without hesitation.
"Proceed."
[Proceeding with construction.]
[Development Level has increased through a large-scale development project.]
[Construction time can be shortened by distributing construction-related daily quests to users.]
[Do you wish to distribute daily quests?]
Quest distribution!
It was literally a method to shorten construction time by distributing construction-related daily quests to users.
Of course, the quests naturally required commensurate rewards, and the price was generally gold.
Therefore, quest distribution could be said to be similar to the concept commonly seen in mobile games—"Pay gems to shorten this building's upgrade time!"
In short, it was the same as buying time with money.
Of course, distributing quests would be all for naught if there were no users, but I knew.
That low-level users from all across the Arde World would flock to Lawless Harbor to play the new class, the Black Mage!
Of course, since the Black Mage was a class that could be advanced from Magician, not all the gathering users would be low-level, but such intermediate-level and above users had other uses as well, so from my standpoint, it was a welcome situation anyway.
Anyway, if I utilized the floating population of users flocking in like that, shortening the construction time through quest distribution would be a piece of cake.
Of course, it was only natural that the more quests the users completed, the more money it would cost.
But Lawless Harbor had billions of gold donated by Shin Ha-yeon.
'I’ll spend as much money as it takes!'
Thinking so, I spoke.
"Distribute them."
[Please set the daily wage.]
"10 gold."
[Daily wage setting complete.]
[Distributing daily quests.]
Daily quest distribution!
Having finished that final task, I closed the management mode.
[At your decision to build the Dark Temple, the Demon God of Darkness smiles with satisfaction.]
[The Demon God sponsors you with 10,000 points.]
The Demon God's sponsorship message appearing immediately after closing management mode.
Just as I had expected, seeing the reaction upon deciding to build the Dark Temple meant building the temple had indeed been a good choice.
'Now the city feels a bit more like a city!'
I smiled as I recalled the facilities I had just begun constructing.
A super-luxury casino and a luxury hotel!
These were exactly the secret cards I had prepared for the city's development.
And they were also the cards that suited Lawless Harbor best.
'There's no business that rakes in money like gambling!'
Whether in reality or in the game, gambling is accompanied by addiction and danger for those who partake, but there is no one who doesn't know that it is a business like a goose that lays golden eggs.
And the strict regulations on gambling were the same in the Arde World and the real world.
No, due to the values of the fantasy world different from the real world, the gambling regulations in the Arde World were even harsher, treating gambling itself as evil.
Each nation in the Arde World had prohibited gambling itself, and therefore most gambling dens in the Arde World operated in the shadows on a small scale.
But Lawless Harbor was different.
Lawless Harbor!
Literally a lawless zone where law does not exist, and the garbage dump of the Arde World!
Naturally, in such a Lawless Harbor, gambling prohibition regulations could not exist, and thanks to that, I had confidently built a super-luxury casino.
The Pirate Alliance. They had focused on smuggling and the black market, and I was now filling in the part of the gambling business that they had relatively neglected.
'I’ll make Lawless Harbor the Macau of the Arde World!'
The Macau, the Las Vegas of the Arde World.
A splendid casino city visited not only by NPCs but by users as well!
That was exactly the image of Lawless Harbor that I aimed for.
Rapidly developing Lawless Harbor through the casino business to make it the greatest port city in the east, then using that influence as leverage to devour the Kingdom of Gasan. That was my ultimate goal.
At that moment, when I was recalling the future and smiling pleasantly.
[Lord Drakan.]
Shin Ha-yeon's whisper came through.
[The Pirate King has sent an envoy.]
And at her following words, the smile on my lips deepened.
The Pirate King!
Because he had finally begun to move.
* * *
The Pirate King's envoy!
The identity of that envoy was none other than Edward, "Skull Crusher," the number two of the Pirate Alliance and the Pirate King's right-hand man.
Like Liark, the Pirate King's left arm who wielded the Cog of Death and was now dead by my hand, he was a legendary pirate infamous for ruthlessly smashing enemies' heads with a Heroic-rank warhammer bearing the same name as his nickname, "Skull Crusher"!
A bronze-hued muscular giant and a gleaming skinhead came into my view.
I gazed at Edward silently and thought.
Recapturing Lawless Harbor!
It was absurd for a big event like war to just pass by so sloppily.
Moreover, Lawless Harbor wasn't just any city.
It was the Pirate Alliance's cash cow, the final destination of smuggling routes, and at the same time, a port city with excellent geographical positioning.
Having lost such a city, the Pirate King could not have sat still.
'Seeing that the number two has come, the next quest must be quite large in scale.'
However, Edward was an enormous figure of an NPC whose rank was too great to come as a mere envoy!
Sending such an Edward was practically a pre-announcement that the scale of the next quest would be no joke.
Edward spoke.
"So you are the Demon God's contractor who took over Lawless Harbor this time? You're quite famous. My ears have been ringing from hearing about you."
"So what if I am? Stop wasting words and speak. What is your business?"
"Submit to the Pirate Alliance."
Edward's eyes flashed sharply.
"Lord Drake is a magnanimous man. One who cherishes the capable. Of course, you have committed grave sins in burning Lawless Harbor and killing Liark, but looked at another way, it means you possess such ability."
Edward said in a low voice.
"Lord Drake has said that if you swear submission to the Pirate Alliance, all your past sins will be forgiven."
Edward's proposal was simple and clear.
If you excluded the rhetoric, the content was simple.
That I looked somewhat capable, so they wanted to scout me!
Indeed, Edward's proposal was an enticing one.
For a normal user, that is.
But unfortunately, I was not a normal user, and I was someone who would not hesitate to go through fire and water to gain the users' popular support.
If I submitted to the Pirate Alliance now, I might be able to avoid the immediate crisis.
But from a long-term perspective, it would be a huge loss for me.
What was important to me now was public opinion!
The popular sentiment of the users!
And to seize control of that popular sentiment, I had to eliminate the Pirate Alliance.
Of course, that didn't mean I could have the public opinion of all users playing Arde Saga in my hands, but at least the users in the east would support me absolutely.
Thinking so, I spoke toward Edward.
"I don't want to."
"You refuse too readily. But as Lord Drake said, let us show mercy."
Edward raised his left index finger.
"One month."
"What?"
"I will grant you a month. After one month, we will come to collect the tribute. If you intend to submit, raise the white flag on the Black Tower. If you have not prepared the tribute by then, this city will become ashes."
The moment Edward finished speaking, a quest window rose before my eyes.
[Crossroads of Fate]
[Grade: Heroic]
[Pirate King Drake deeply resents you for killing his subordinate. However, at the same time, he regards your ability to kill that subordinate and seize Lawless Harbor highly. He has judged you to be one who would benefit his alliance.]
[He seeks to take Lawless Harbor back into his hands, and if you do not submit, he intends to reduce the city to ashes once more.]
[You have been given one month to choose.]
[After one month, the Pirate Alliance's fleet will come to collect the tribute. Make your stance clear.]
[Will you resist Drake and wage war against the Pirate Alliance's grand fleet?]
[Or will you submit to him, preserve your life, and become a member of the Pirate Alliance?]
[Everything depends on your choice.]
[Completion Conditions]
[Hoist the white flag on the Black Tower and pay the Pirate Alliance a tribute of 10,000,000 Gold]
[Or]
[Successfully defend Lawless Harbor against the Pirate Alliance's fleet]
[This quest cannot be refused.]
[You have accepted the quest.]