Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Hill thought seriously for a while and decided to act as if he hadn’t figured anything out.

Many things, once he got involved, could end up taking a strange direction.

This was a battle of wits between Shaer and the Undead Tribe... Didn’t you notice that she was using her own methods to deduce the movement patterns of the Undead Tribe, without even considering asking anyone else?

Of course, Shaer and William’s enterprises were inherently separate, and they basically wouldn’t inquire the other party about their own goals.

But Shaer hadn’t even considered testing someone like Hill, who had a close relationship with the Undead Tribe.

This Lady of Darkness seemed to have changed a lot, but in reality, she only compromised on matters related to William.

Hill silently reminded himself: Shaer’s friendliness towards him was only with regard to matters concerning William, and her kindness only extended to situations that didn’t involve her own interests. He mustn’t overestimate himself.

Fortunately, his biggest flaw was being somewhat simple-minded, but his greatest strength was not getting too attached.

So far, among the Toril Gods, the only one that could stir him even a little bit was Lansendel.

As for whether Shaer could achieve her desires... if she still used the mindset of a normal person to analyze the behavior patterns of the Undead Tribe, she would inevitably fail.

However, watching her, it wasn’t that she hadn’t realized this point. Those limited-time, limited-quantity tasks used to lure the Undead Tribe were crafted with such detail that it almost revealed the directions the Undead Tribe chose in the face of interests.

Unfortunately, it was only almost.

Fun and interest truly were both important.

But if Shaer couldn’t figure out what kind of fun the Undead Tribe would prioritize below interests, she would inevitably fail... Of course, the most important thing was what kind of benefits she could ultimately offer.

In any case, if it were Hill, he definitely wouldn’t give up a grand event that he could only watch through a system replay just to earn some in-game money.

But sometimes, if that so-called ’fun’ was just political struggle, then he might — no, would certainly choose gold coins instead.

Who wants to watch a bunch of old men play strategic games in a game?

Unless Cyric was descending the mountain again.

But Hill didn’t think Shaer would quickly come to understand this point... just looking at her task rewards, Hill could deduce that her current observation of the Undead Tribe was still at the mid-level stage.

Of course, she was still a bit stronger than other Toril Deities, since she certainly understood the quirky tastes of the Undead Tribe’s leader, William.

Just like how she used limited-time, limited-quantity, or even special tasks to tempt the Undead Tribe... setting up hitchhiking tasks was indeed very difficult.

It had to make the Undead Tribe interested in her tasks without feeling that the extra effort was a waste of time, yet couldn’t let them prioritize her hitchhiking tasks over official tasks.

As the owner of the Magic Tower, Hill could actually see the content of those tasks... rather than calling them hitchhiking tasks, it’s more that what Shaer wanted to observe was actually the combined outcome of Lansendel’s pacification tasks and her auxiliary tasks.

Every task she crafted was indeed targeted at specific individuals.

Although Hill didn’t know if Lansendel understood what Shaer was doing... he certainly knew the unusual nature of these tasks.

That guy had remained quiet during this time, actually eavesdropping on the cheers and exchanges of the Undead Tribe in the lower hall when they finally received some special tasks.

He was probably matching and contrasting the deep logic of the two sets of tasks to find out where they intersected, in order to identify Shaer’s true target.

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The reason Lansendel could hear so much information was naturally because, once the Undead Tribe took on Shaer’s tasks, they could only leave through the back door, and couldn’t return to the hall through the side or front doors... it was a one-way street.

However, there was a battle unfolding outside the back door.

If initially it was just dozens of people engaged in a heated battle, by now it had turned into a large-scale battle involving tens of thousands, as people called on more friends to join.

Among them were many who got involved because they thought it was unrelated to them and insisted on going down the mountain despite the battle, these ’Straight-Forward People’.

Of course, when it was just a battle between dozens at the start, this mindset wasn’t necessarily wrong, so the ’Old Age Striking King’ under the mountain did gather a portion of people.

But some would inevitably get accidentally injured.

Though many conceded to their misfortune upon being injured... in reality, such people wouldn’t just leap into a barrage of spells.

Those who were really in a hurry to meet up with people at the foot of the mountain... even without expensive items like the Cloud House or Magic Ship, the Undead Tribe generally had small oddities that helped them glide. The cheapest of these just needed a permanent Featherfall Technique enchantment.

That was already a task the Undead Tribe Alchemists could accomplish.

Just think of the Alchemical Lamps they’d made before, and you’ll know the Undead Tribe could make those alchemical items that only required a gemstone fragment ubiquitous on the streets.

Otherwise, why would cities like Agleya and those controlled by the Undead Tribe in Sword Bay be so popular among Toril people!

The stalls of the Undead Tribe were treasure troves for those Toril Merchants!

Many items deemed worthless by the Undead Tribe could make these merchants from overseas filthy rich.

However, the profits they earned weren’t excessive... after all, there were so many Giant Dragons around the Undead Tribe!

These giant dragons are the ones making the most profit... For instance, large families like the Black Rose are more than willing to use their family’s practice goods to hire dragons.

Think about it, the Undead Tribe, although they care about gold coins, don’t care at all about these space-consuming items in the warehouse... even if the materials were bought with money.

Of course, merchants will seek out the financial managers of these Undead Tribe families to trade with them.

However, once these things are tied to the word ’transaction’, the initially generous Undead Tribe becomes extremely petty.

They account for every penny with that group of merchants.

The Toril merchants truly cannot comprehend the thought patterns of these Undead.

But they also cannot sell these items to other continents or to countries beyond the reach of the Undead Tribe at a ridiculously high price... No matter where they attempt a monopoly, a giant dragon would immediately swoop in to crash the market.

Sometimes, even metallic dragons and chromatic dragons would join forces... Despite not doing such lowly acts as highway robbery anymore, they are still a hated presence among the Toril merchants.

They are now hated even more than before.

After all, in the past, it was a matter of luck.

Now, nobody can dream of making a big profit.

Moreover, the Alchemists of Toril, including apprentices, won’t have a lack of business... the Undead Tribe does not sell potions.

This isn’t because they don’t have the capacity, nor because the Undead Tribe doesn’t want to... it’s because in the Alchemical experience structure, even though it’s all calculated by levels, the materials for strange objects can be bought in bulk at low prices from the Space-Time Shop.

Whereas plant or some biological materials need to be gathered by people.

If you want to practice Alchemy, you have to collect materials from individuals... Once it comes to this, forget about cheap and good quality.

There will always be someone who can play with these things like a flower.

Fortunately, William provided them with an easier path to hone their skills.

As for potions and such... strange objects can’t be freely bought from the Space-Time Shop, but you can eat medicine.

Moreover, with so many priests, why does one have to resort to drugs?

Many people never carry potions in their bags, facing danger, it’s either death or ’help, help, help’.

So, the people of Toril cannot understand why the Undead would give up the more important potion alchemy to tinker with strange objects that don’t have much use.

Although the Undead Tribe made the Alchemy market in Toril very chaotic, it miraculously didn’t affect the lowest-level Alchemist and Herbalist at all.

The ones truly harmed were those Magic Towers.

They are the ones who would even take a loss to nurture strange object alchemists.

But such an impact is not devastating... Were their practice goods easy to sell before?

Apart from local nobles purchasing a bit to save face, those traveling merchants wouldn’t pressurize these hard-to-sell goods.

Of course, this is also because they would never sell finished strange objects at the cost of materials... are magic slots not valuable?

If the nonsensical events caused by the Undead and dragons affected Toril’s commoners or even low-level investors, William may have figured out a way to stop it.

But it’s an outcome that even the Toril Gods find quite satisfying... they can’t grasp some basic commercial logic but can see who ends up with a headache.

If Edna hasn’t reacted, other deities will only watch with a smile... In fact, the most harmed isn’t the Goddess of Magic, but the Goddess of Wealth.

Valkin’s wealth messengers are the big players in reselling various alchemical oddities.

Only they have the capital to hoard these mid to low-level alchemical oddities for low buy, high sell games.

If previously some Toril God might have been sympathetic to Valkin... after causing so many mishaps, especially in the face of Ferunryel’s humiliating events towards the Gods, no one cares about what fate she might meet anymore.

In short, the Undead Tribe can avoid being affected by the battle at the rear, and directly reach the foot of the mountain.

However, how many people are willing to walk?

Fighting a group battle!

Those who want to watch, will watch. Those itching to participate will naturally think of a way to make themselves look like victims and then call for their siblings to join in.

’Snow Cloud Peak’ wouldn’t react to this kind of affair.

He just stands in the shadow between the inward opened back gate and the Magic Tower wall, carefully observing the composition of people involved in the fight.

For instance, how many Proud Sky Alliance members voluntarily entered or were involuntarily involved.

Also, why are there people from the Doomsday involved... since becoming mercenaries, these people rarely engage in such casual fights.

And those who appear to be scattered ones, are they really scattered ones... why do their friends spread across many PVE families?