Chapter 40: Submitting 3,251 Tasks Simultaneously?!

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Submitting 3,251 Tasks Simultaneously?!

Hum!

The teleportation array in Westmere Professional Center’s Dungeon Area flashed.

Nathaniel Beaumont stepped out of the portal.

The moment he emerged, he spotted his Shadow Soldiers waiting in formation nearby.

Each soldier carried an enormous sack on its back. The bags bulged with materials, equipment, crystal cores, and other monster drops collected from their assigned dungeons.

Nathaniel’s eyes brightened.

"Not bad."

He approached the soldiers and began inspecting their haul.

The quantity of loot exceeded his expectations. There were piles of valuable materials, numerous crystal cores, and quite a few Gold-grade and Diamond-grade equipment pieces.

His Shadow Soldiers had done an excellent job.

Their attributes were even higher than his own in several respects, thanks to the inheritance effect of Shadow Summoning Level 2. Although they couldn’t match his personal agility in every situation, they were exceptionally efficient at clearing dungeons through overwhelming force.

They didn’t need to stop and strategize over every ordinary monster.

They advanced, killed, collected, and continued.

With multiple units working in different dungeons, the total amount of loot they gathered was far greater than what Nathaniel could collect alone.

A smile appeared on his face.

"Faster than I expected."

He waved his hand, transferring the contents of the sacks into his professional storage space.

As he finished, he noticed something else.

Several Shadow Soldiers had sustained damage.

One had a crack running along its forearm. Another had a damaged section of armor across its chest. A third carried traces of corrosive poison, while another had scorch marks covering one shoulder.

The damage wasn’t severe enough to prevent them from fighting, but it was clear that Hell-Difficulty dungeons weren’t entirely harmless, even to his powerful summons.

Nathaniel examined them briefly.

There was no need to waste time repairing their armor or allowing them to remain damaged while continuing the grind.

He had a simpler option.

"Dismiss Summoning."

Hum!

The Shadow Soldiers dissolved into streams of darkness and returned to Nathaniel’s shadow.

A moment later, he raised his hand again.

"Shadow Summoning."

The darkness beneath his feet stirred.

One soldier emerged.

Then another.

Then another.

Soon, the entire unit stood before him again, their forms restored and their condition returned to normal.

Nathaniel checked their status.

Everything was back to full strength.

He nodded in satisfaction.

Perfect. I don’t need to waste time waiting for recovery.

His Shadow Soldiers weren’t disposable in the sense that their lives meant nothing to him, but dismissing and resummoning them was a practical way to restore their condition. As long as he had sufficient Shadow Energy, he could return them to the battlefield without spending precious time on conventional healing.

Lucas Bennett had been watching the entire process.

He had already witnessed Nathaniel send an enormous army into multiple dungeons at once.

He had watched the soldiers return with mountains of loot.

And now he had seen the damaged summons disappear and reappear in perfect condition.

Lucas’s expression grew increasingly complicated.

He can restore them just by dismissing and resummoning them?

No healer.

No recovery period.

No lengthy repair process.

Simply dismiss them, summon them again, and return to work.

What kind of efficiency was this?

Before Lucas could think of another question, Nathaniel turned toward him.

"Let’s continue."

Lucas blinked.

"Continue?"

"Open the next batch of dungeons."

Lucas swallowed and immediately returned to the control console.

He selected another set of suitable Hell-Difficulty dungeons and activated the entrances.

Nathaniel divided his Shadow Army into multiple units once again. Each unit received instructions to enter a separate dungeon, eliminate the monsters, and collect every valuable drop it could carry.

The army moved out.

One unit after another vanished through the portals.

Nathaniel then selected a dungeon for himself and stepped inside.

The second round began.

...

After that, Nathaniel settled into a relentless routine.

Enter a dungeon.

Eliminate the monsters.

Collect valuable drops.

Clear the dungeon.

Return to the Professional Center.

Gather the loot brought back by the Shadow Army.

Dismiss the damaged soldiers.

Resummon them in restored condition.

Dispatch them into another set of dungeons.

Then repeat the entire process.

Round after round.

One hour passed.

Then two.

Then three.

The dungeon portals continued opening and closing, while the piles of materials in Nathaniel’s storage space grew larger with every cycle.

The Shadow Army worked in parallel, clearing multiple dungeons independently. Whenever one unit finished its assignment, Nathaniel brought it back, collected its loot, and sent it out again.

He wasn’t wasting soldiers by forcing them to wait for the slowest unit.

He kept the operation moving.

Ten hours passed.

Nathaniel emerged from another dungeon, and for the first time, the strain on his face was unmistakable.

His complexion had grown pale.

His eyes were bloodshot, and his movements, though still precise, had lost some of their earlier ease.

Even with his extraordinary attributes, his mind wasn’t inexhaustible.

He had spent hours fighting at high intensity. On top of that, he had to keep track of his Shadow Soldiers’ general conditions, monitor the progress of their dungeon runs, inspect the materials they collected, and decide which targets were worth pursuing next.

His body could withstand tremendous punishment.

His mind still needed to process everything.

Lucas watched him step away from the portal and couldn’t help speaking.

"Sir, why don’t you take a short break?"

Nathaniel shook his head.

"No break."

His voice was hoarse.

"Continue."

Lucas swallowed.

He wanted to argue, but one look at Nathaniel’s expression convinced him that doing so would accomplish nothing.

The next batch of Shadow Soldiers entered their assigned dungeons.

Nathaniel entered his own.

Eleven hours.

Fifteen hours.

Twenty hours.

The hours slipped away.

...

Above Westmere

High above the clouds, the man in black and the gray-robed man continued observing Nathaniel’s progress.

They could see the dungeon portals opening and closing below.

They could also see the relentless rhythm of Nathaniel’s operation.

He had already been fighting and managing his army for an extraordinary length of time.

His exhaustion was becoming increasingly obvious.

Yet he didn’t stop.

He didn’t even slow down significantly.

The gray-robed man watched for a while before speaking.

"That boy is ruthless."

The man in black replied indifferently.

"He is."

"Twenty hours of continuous dungeon grinding, with almost no rest."

The gray-robed man’s expression grew more serious.

"And he’s managing a large army of summoned creatures at the same time. Even if he can’t control every soldier directly from a distance, he still has to coordinate their assignments, collect their results, and keep the entire operation moving."

He shook his head.

"Most professionals would have given up long ago."

The man in black kept his gaze on the city.

Nathaniel’s objective wasn’t a normal advancement requirement.

He needed to earn five hundred million gold coins within twenty-four hours, without gifts or financial assistance.

The deadline was unforgiving.

And Nathaniel was treating every remaining minute as a resource he couldn’t afford to waste.

Neither High Command observer said anything more.

They simply continued watching.

...

The Final Hour

Time kept passing.

Before long, the clock reached eight in the morning the following day.

Inside Westmere Professional Center’s Dungeon Area, the staff on duty had already changed three times.

Lucas Bennett, however, hadn’t left.

He had remained at the control console throughout the night because Nathaniel was still grinding dungeons.

He had long since stopped trying to understand the young man’s stamina.

He simply kept the portals operating and the records organized.

Hum!

Another teleportation array illuminated.

Nathaniel emerged from the dungeon.

His expression was unnervingly calm.

Or perhaps numbness had replaced the exhaustion he no longer had the energy to show.

He couldn’t remember how many monsters he had killed.

Advance.

Strike.

Kill.

Collect.

The sequence had repeated so many times that it felt like muscle memory.

His Shadow Soldiers began returning from their respective dungeons as well. One unit after another emerged through the portals, each carrying sacks stuffed with valuable drops.

Nathaniel raised his hand and transferred the materials into his storage space.

Then he checked the time.

His expression changed slightly.

Only one hour remained before the Class Advancement Crystal’s deadline.

He had spent nearly the entire night expanding his stockpile of loot.

Now came the next problem.

Turning that loot into money.

Nathaniel didn’t enter another dungeon.

There was no point in spending the remaining hour fighting for additional drops if he couldn’t sell them before the deadline.

He turned toward Lucas.

"Take me to the Task Hall."

Lucas immediately understood.

"Of course."

Nathaniel headed toward the hall where professionals submitted materials and completed acquisition contracts.

The next stage of his plan was about to begin.

...

Westmere Professional Center, Task Hall

The Task Hall was much livelier than the Dungeon Area.

Professionals crowded the counters, accepting assignments, submitting materials, and collecting rewards. Screens displayed requests from businesses, guilds, research facilities, and other organizations seeking rare dungeon resources.

The hall was filled with conversation.

Some professionals negotiated prices.

Others argued over whether their submitted materials met the required standards.

A few hurried from one counter to another, hoping to complete their assignments before the daily deadline.

Nathaniel walked straight to an unoccupied service window.

The staff member behind it looked up.

"Good morning. Are you here to accept a task or submit one?"

"Submit tasks."

The staff member nodded.

"Please provide the relevant task numbers."

Nathaniel shook his head.

"First, show me all material acquisition tasks available for the Level 90 to Level 100 range."

The staff member paused.

"All of them?"

"Yes."

Although the request seemed unusual, the staff member followed the instructions and opened the relevant database.

A large light screen unfolded before Nathaniel.

Rows upon rows of acquisition contracts appeared.

[Acquisition: Blackstone Magic Crystal]

[Required Quantity: As specified by the contract]

[Unit Price: 1,200,000 gold coins]

[Acquisition: Crimson Blood Mother Empress Core]

[Unit Price: 3,800,000 gold coins]

[Acquisition: Rotbone Poison Sac]

[Unit Price: 750,000 gold coins]

[Acquisition: Molten Iron Beast Horn]

[Unit Price: 950,000 gold coins]

[Acquisition: Ghost Castle Knight Core]

[Unit Price: 2,100,000 gold coins]

More contracts appeared beneath them.

Some requested monster cores.

Others required rare organs, special minerals, dungeon-specific materials, or equipment recovered from powerful creatures.

The rewards varied considerably.

Certain materials were relatively common, while others were difficult to obtain even for experienced teams.

Nathaniel’s eyes moved rapidly across the screen.

He compared the acquisition requirements with the contents of his storage space.

Whenever he found a contract that matched his inventory, he selected it.

One.

Then another.

Then another.

His fingers moved faster.

The staff member watched without concern at first.

Professionals often submitted several contracts at once. Some specialized in collecting particular materials and returned with dozens of completed assignments.

That wasn’t unusual.

But Nathaniel’s speed soon became difficult to ignore.

Ten contracts.

Fifty.

One hundred.

Three hundred.

The number continued climbing.

Nathaniel wasn’t selecting random tasks. He was checking each contract against the mountains of materials collected by his Shadow Army and choosing every suitable request he could fulfill.

He had spent the entire night collecting resources.

Now he was converting that effort into revenue as quickly as possible.

The task list scrolled at a dizzying pace.

Five hundred.

Eight hundred.

One thousand.

The staff member’s expression began to stiffen.

How many materials does this guy have?

Nathaniel continued.

His selections filled the screen, and the backend submission counter climbed higher and higher.

One thousand five hundred.

Two thousand.

Two thousand five hundred.

The staff member slowly leaned forward, staring at the number.

This wasn’t an ordinary submission.

It was an operation on an entirely different scale.

Nathaniel’s fingers finally stopped moving several minutes later.

The screen settled.

A final number appeared.

[Tasks Selected for Submission: 3,251]

The staff member stared at the display.

His mouth opened.

"Three... three thousand two hundred and fifty-one?"

Nathaniel nodded calmly.

"After the materials are verified, deposit the payment into this account."

He provided his payment details.

The staff member accepted them almost mechanically.

"Y-yes. Of course."

Nathaniel didn’t waste time explaining.

Instead, he moved toward the open floor beside the service counters.

He raised his hand and opened his professional storage space.

The next instant, materials began appearing out of thin air.

A bundle of monster hides landed on the floor.

Then several crates of mineral deposits.

Then heaps of crystal cores, poisonous sacs, monster horns, dungeon-specific components, and other rare resources.

More and more materials poured out.

The pile grew rapidly, spreading across the open space.

RUMBLE!

Equipment clattered against the floor. Crystal cores rolled between the stacks, and heavy monster components struck the ground with dull thuds.

Within moments, a small hill of dungeon loot stood in the middle of the Task Hall.

The surrounding conversations died away.

Professionals stopped negotiating.

People waiting in line turned toward the noise.

The staff members behind nearby counters stared at the enormous pile of materials.

Then they looked at Nathaniel.

Then back at the pile.

Silence swept through the hall.

Three thousand two hundred and fifty-one acquisition contracts.

And enough loot to make the entire Task Hall look like a dungeon had exploded inside it.

Nathaniel glanced at the stunned staff member.

"Please begin the verification."

The staff member stared at him, still struggling to recover.

For the first time that morning, Nathaniel’s expression showed a hint of impatience.

He had less than an hour left.

And he wasn’t about to let paperwork become the thing that stopped him from completing his advancement trial.

____________________________

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