After the informal dealings in the Restaurant Train Instance, Ayse reported back to Jin in the Dungeon Maker, informing him about the improvement ideas from Sea Mesh’s team of engineers, especially their Chief, Bo Ze. They were thoroughly impressed with the novel concept and asked permission to come over in the following days to analyse and study the prototypes further.
“He was quite an easy person to charm. I hadn’t expected these cosmetic inscriptions to have such hidden perks, though it will take a bit more time to get used to them, especially this form.” Ayse said as she tried it out on Jin but to no avail. (Pei was making sure of that although the System iterated to Jin that no such ‘perks’ were added into the inscriptions).
“Great job. Their demands shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I did emphasise that the development of the portal device would be facilitated within our premises since we have all the equipment and know-how. While they can work out there, I am going to build up a lab instance, but until it’s complete, you’ll be temporarily housed in the Sanctum of Worlds Instance. That way, you can also get the other monsters to assist you in the experiment more easily.” Jin told them, which made the elfish researchers and Ayse perked up.
“You mean I won’t have to sleep on that cramped little makeshift bed in your Dungeon Maker anymore?! Good Heavens!” Ayse exclaimed in delight, whereas the elfish researchers had their jaws wide open. They couldn’t believe what Ayse had just said, considering she had a king sized bed all to herself in the Dungeon Maker. How much more luxurious would she want her bed to be?
“You guys will be moved to the real deal after the Dungeon City Fortress is up and running properly. Though I understand that shifting of equipment, research data into a new place might be a pain in the ass. Until then I hope you can tolerate staying holed up in a sort of makeshift Home Lab.” Jin replied.
“Meh, if the Home Lab is good enough, we can use it as a primary site and a secondary lab in the Dungeon City Fortress. Sometimes, splitting the researchers might potentially increase our efficiency. Also, if I remember correctly, the Home Lab can be improved further right?” Ayse questioned and Jin nodded his head.
“How long do you think the creation of the Dungeon city fortress will take?” One of the elves asked.
“To be honest… I don’t really know. Especially since I intend to lay out the foundations of the city first according to the city plans Qiu Yue made and reinforce our defences as soon as possible. The deadline for the Dungeon Core powered shield will be down on the 7th of January. So we have a bit over a month.” Jin replied with an occupied thought on his face.
“We will have to see how fast the Goblins and Orcs can set things up. Though I doubt Moloch’s ex-King, Baal, will have his full army ready to march on us by that day, a certain basic defence perimeter should be up and ready to deter other sorts of mishaps like…I don’t know, Adventurers raiding? Pillaging from nearby monsters?” Jin said casually, only for Moloch to appear right beside him, responding to the call of the System.
“Master, you shouldn’t focus on just random adventurers and monsters attacking you. Your priority should be on other towns and cities, who might take the chance to eat up your resources and take it for their own use since your Dungeon Core will have fully evolved into a City Core by the end of the deadline. Most new Dungeon City Fortresses don’t stand a chance against armies from veteran cities. Worst case scenario? Your city core could be taken and used as an enhancement material for other existing city cores. As a result, your city would cease to exist.” Moloch stated matter of factly, with Jin stared back at him with a blank face.
“…So when were you planning on revealing this little caveat? Better yet, why didn’t you tell me all of this at the start? Or at any point until now?” Jin asked with his gaze piercing through Moloch, causing him to stutter a bit.
“Errrrrrrr…you seemed rather busy…?” Moloch tried to come up with a good excuse, which only served to make Ayse laugh out so hard she nearly got a stomach ache. The elves (wisely) decided not to get involved as they slowly crept to one side of the room. (Out of view, but not out of hearing range.)
“Okay, erm that is rather valid. But still…you know. This kind of information is …How shall I put it nicely? Vital? Crucial?” Jin answered with a heavy bit of sarcasm. Moloch, seemingly not in as much trouble as he’d feared, shrugged his man puppet’s shoulders.
“I figured you would come up with a solution on your own. When I saw how you and the others handled the goblin war, it was… Marvellous. Even Lord Wolte secretly praised your spectacular performance in handling the intervention. If you hadn’t shown me that my Master could produce this kind of results, I would have honestly worried for you. I’d rather not you becoming another one of those cursed people who break their promises.” Moloch commented as he took a card out to fiddle with. The card picture changes whenever Moloch flipped the card with just one hand.
“But then again, even if you lost this plot of land, I reckon you could always create more instances to accommodate us. So I did not worry too much at all.” Moloch replied and Jin did not know whether to reprimand him or thank him for his praises.
“Nevermind, I will figure something out as soon as possible. In the future I hereby ORDER you tell me those vital things beforehand.” Jin realised that the situation was more crucial than he thought it would be. Perhaps, it was a blessing in disguise that the System made it part of the mission objectives.
Jin initially planned to concentrate on the new Christmas themed instance for December after he was done with the Portal Device, but it looked like the plans for the Dungeon City Defence had jumped up in his priority list.
“I have to contact Qiu Yue on this and maybe negotiate for the goblin army as part of the primary workers and later the defences for the Dungeon City before I use them in the Farming World. The Demon Rats will have to wait….” Jin said out loud and the other monsters around could only nod their heads in reply since they were not involved in this decision making.
Realising that sudden awkward situation Jin placed them into, he quickly dismissed them except for Moloch and requested him to follow Jin to find Gold, the Werejackal Leader so he could explain the overall situation.
———-
“Ah, Master! yOU AreE HereEE TODay! Annnd yoU BrouGHt a FRiend! ComE, COme, jOIn me for a DRiiinnnkkk~!!!” Yellow greeted Jin in an oddly drunk state. Gold and Grey immediately rushed over and apologised for the rudeness of Yellow.
“We’re testing out the traditional rice sake procedure that Lynn asked us about and he had volunteered to be our guinea pig as soon as he’d heard about it.” Gold defended his subordinates which Jin did not mind.
He was more surprised about Lynn’s secrecy since this was the first time he had heard about it. The atmosphere among the werejackals once more had turned for the worse as Jin’s face immediately revealed his underlying meaning. Though Lynn did not exactly insist on them keeping it a secret, it was clear to all that Jin’s unexpected visit had ruined what was supposed to be a surprise.
“Gold, you free to discuss a few things?” Jin asked, trying to move past this incident for he trusted Lynn to update him when the time is right. Gold quickly left Yellow in Grey’s care as they proceeded into his private office in the mansion.
To Jin’s astonishment, the office was immaculate, and to the point, he sensed some obsessive compressive behaviour at work. The books and cupboards were all well categorised. There were no messes of paper lying on the desk, and parcels were tidied to one corner of the room. Compared to the other parts of the mansion, which were staffed by the rotating werejackals for cleaning, this room felt too sterile for Jin’s liking.
“Please Master, have a seat and Lord Moloch too.” Gold said, but the two guests looked at each other as if they were a little too worried to sit on Gold’s pristine clean chairs.
“As I was saying Gold, I need to talk to you on a certain issue.” Jin took a small leap of faith to sit on that oddly cleaned chair then continued to ramble on the situation he was currently facing which Gold eventually understood the overall picture.
“I see… while it is indeed regrettable that you are unable to help at this point of time, I understood the situation in your hands. If I were you, I would not even have bothered to answer my …ermmmm minions. Therefore, thank you for breaking the news to me personally.” Gold said with a tinge of sadness lingering in his eyes.
Jin felt it was a little unfair to the werejackals. He had gone ahead to conduct a town hall meeting and even agreed to embark on a journey with the goal of getting a goblin army to help their world. But right now, he wasn’t able to keep his promise for Gold. Jin honestly felt terrible about it so he decided to compromise, by continuing at a smaller scale.
“Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that we are going to leave those Demon Rats unchecked. For now, how about we start by sending a small scouting team to check on them? I prefer getting a better picture of the situation in the Farming World before I take any concrete action.” Jin folded his legs and leaned his body to the side of the armchair.
“Master, I appreciate that, but you really do not have to do that.” Gold answered. He then awfully bad since it became obvious to Gold that Jin became obligated because he was guilt tripped into it, and refused him adamantly. Nevertheless, Jin had made up his mind and continued to ramble on.
“As far as we know, the Demon Rats had established widely unlike the Orcs who were starting to invade the goblins, and they had been oppressive according to your information. If possible, I want to know if any resistance groups are against them or better, a rebel haven where we could assist them in the shadows before we officially enter the scene. I want to avoid getting dragged into the midst of something like a coup d’état as soon as I arrive there.” Jin suggested as he remembered the day he accidentally entered into a Kingslayer’s Ambush while his insistence immediately put a bitter smile on Gold’s face knowing that his Master still cared to keep his promises.
“Pick your best sniffer or stalker for this mission. Ideally, it should be someone who knows the region pretty well, not necessarily your vice leaders since they are needed to keep law and order among your other werejackals. I will task Moloch to send one of his own battle maids as well as Flame Ripper. I bet he’s itching to go on another mission.” Jin ordered and immediately turned to Moloch who had already opted to send his best, Sebastia, for this mission as a gesture from the Minotaurs.
“If that is the case, I will go. I should fit all of your criteria. Besides, I would like to check on somebody while we are there.” Meomi who had secretly been hiding behind the shadows of the cupboard, spoke out which startled both Jin and Moloch though not Gold.
“From your expressions, I guess you agree that she is a fitting candidate for the scouting team!” Gold unexpectedly laughed out loud as he turned to Meomi “If Boss Jin allows it, you have my blessing. Please go ahead. Also, I hope you find your people are still well.” Gold said in a solemn way, and the werecat walked out from the main room as if she owned the office.
“Then that settles it! A three man team, your job is to scout the area, gather information, see if there are any potential allies out there, like a resistance force and most importantly report back on a biweekly basis.” Jin said while he clapped his hands once as issues were being resolved.
“If there is a need to save someone, try to rescue as many as you safely can, even if it’s a whole village. If the opportunity presents itself, feel free to do some sabotage, I leave it to your discretion Gold. I appoint you as the team commander for this particular mission.” Jin said which made Gold slightly appalled.
“No, Master, I am not very good at it. I think other monsters like Grey might be a better fit. I am just a leader because of my previous title.” Gold felt this responsibility was befitting of his combat vice leaders.
“All the more you should learn, should you not Scholar? If you need their help, just ask them, I see no harm in that. Not to mention, you are well versed in the matters of the Farming World, more so than any of us there. I will also allow the System to teleport you guys wherever and whenever you need to. Utilise its portal capabilities to the fullest.” Jin retorted Gold’s argument.
“Lastly, I want absolute surprise when we attack them, DO NOT make them aware of our presence. Disguise, fake it out, blend in. I do not care what methods you use. Never let them know we are coming to strike them with an army. Spread your purpose only to the people you trust.” Jin instructed, and Gold proudly accepted the mission.
“If I might add, we should designate an area for the teleportation. A secure room with a fake environment if that is possible. It would be a disaster if some of those rats if they are sneaky as Gold claims them to be, manages to slip into our portals.” Moloch suggested which the System concurred instantly.
“Demon Lord Moloch’s advice appears to be the best course of action. A countermeasure room will be set up, to catch any rats. It may be in User’s interest to take some prisoners to study them. Experiments on them would be performed mercilessly given the nature of their species.” System spoke through Jin’s phone and Gold’s eyes turned menacing.
“System, you better keep your word. They don’t deserve any mercy. Their kind wiped out countless towns and villages because of their greed. I expect nothing but the best information about them so we can not just track every single one of them but kill them all.” Gold uttered in a deadly tone.
“System will comply with the Scholar of the East, Werejackal Gold’s request to the fullest.” The System replied as Jin thanked Gold for his assistance. After a short inspection of the fields and the progress of the Living Armor Plants, he messaged Qiu Yue to learn her whereabouts. After an hour, the System finally informed him that she was busy in the Goblin World, interviewing the goblin professionals for the Dungeon City Fortress. (At the very least Jin had spent the time surveying the progression of the captured orc army too.)
“Guess I should drop by, to view the selection of candidates since I need to speak with her in order to proceed with the foundation building.” Jin thought to himself as he looked at his watch to take note of the timing.
Somehow, he felt that time became more and more of a luxurious commodity he had to spend wisely in the coming days.
