Chapter 538: Re-employment for Laid-off Adventurers (Part 2)

Chapter 538 -335: Re-employment for Laid-off Adventurers (Part 2)

Zog’s mouth twitched slightly. ‘Why does that sound so passive-aggressive?’

A few hours later, a relatively detailed plan for credit cards was drafted.

It was a collection of the tycoons’ most unscrupulous ideas.

In this meeting, Zog had only played the role of proposing the concept and getting things started. The rest was completed entirely by them.

Their schemes ran deeper than Zog’s.

They even started considering how to make credit cards convenient for offline use.

But that part had little to do with Zog.

In short, aside from a few minor disagreements, the outcome of the meeting was very successful on the whole.

The bankers couldn’t wait to start implementing the credit card business, striving to roll it out faster than Zog’s online platform.

When there was profit to be made, these tycoons, who never had to worry about their next meal, would erupt with the enthusiasm of a starving man at a feast.

This extreme craving for wealth was perhaps a necessary “quality” for anyone who became a tycoon without relying on an inheritance.

Of course, they were only proactively diligent when it was profitable.

Unlike ordinary laborers, who were forced into diligence by the pressures of life.

Leaving the luxurious meeting room, Zog arrived at another destination on his trip to the Royal City.

The Adventurer Guild headquarters.

His purpose was to solve the problem of the Guild issuing dragon-hunting quests.

If possible, Zog also wanted to secure more benefits for himself.

Most Adventurers weren’t living well these days; it was probably the profession with the biggest gap between the top and the bottom.

After all, the Adventurer Guild’s registration requirements were world-famous for being lax.

Anyone could get a membership just by showing up.

Besides having a large number of able-bodied young adults with nothing better to do, the Adventurer Guild had another very prominent feature.

It had branches everywhere.

Although Zog hadn’t done a specific count, he was certain it was the organization with the most branches on the Continent, bar none.

You could find an Adventurer Guild branch in any place that could even be called a village.

‘Lots of people and lots of branches. With those two features combined, it would be a real shame not to use them for a courier network.’

Therefore, Zog’s second goal was to get the Adventurer Guild to willingly take on the courier business, handling the final leg of the journey to deliver packages to customers’ doorsteps.

‘Delivery quests are still quests, after all.’

He arrived at the Guild headquarters, a very distinctive building.

It was a huge, ancient castle, with the specimen of a Bone Dragon crouched between its spires.

It looked very imposing.

As the largest guild, the Adventurer Guild certainly had deep pockets. Zog judged that the Bone Dragon’s level must have been quite high before its death.

‘Huh, when people say a Bone Dragon’s “life before death,” does that mean when it was a living Dragon, or when it was transformed into a Bone Dragon?’

Zog walked up the steps. Engraved on the granite were the words: “Here, Fate is Sold.”

‘The melodrama was cranked to the max.’

As the headquarters, this place didn’t display run-of-the-mill quests. It was used only for handling business and offering High-Tier quests that specifically nominated top-tier Adventurer Corps.

Thus, the great hall wasn’t filled with all sorts of Adventurers. It was vast and empty, with only an ivory-carved chandelier hanging from the vaulted ceiling, chiming like a wind chime whenever a breeze passed through.

There was no welcoming ceremony, a stark contrast to the bankers’ attitude.

Zog sniffed.

‘This might get a little troublesome. Maybe I should head to the bathroom, apply a couple of buffs, and chug a few Charm Potions.’

“Hello, Mr. Zhuoge. All the Guild’s council members are waiting for you in the conference room on the top floor. Please follow me.”

A young girl, who looked exactly like the type of young girl you’d expect to find at an Adventurer Guild’s front desk, appeared at the entrance to the staircase.

‘All the council members?’

Zog keenly picked up on the key point in her words.

‘So, the headquarters is cold and deserted, making it seem like they don’t care about my visit, but they actually take it extremely seriously. All the council members are here.’

On his way up the stairs, Zog speculated about the Adventurer Guild’s intentions.

‘Most likely, they want to use this opportunity—me needing something from the Guild—to squeeze me for a hefty sum.’

‘The fact that all the council members are here proves they really need this money.’

‘The Adventurer Guild did seem a little too deserted.’

‘Even for a headquarters, there shouldn’t be a complete absence of nominated quests.’

There were rumors that the Adventurer Guild was in a bad state. Because of technological advancements, the types of jobs that required exploration and death-defying Adventurer Corps were becoming fewer and fewer.

‘From the looks of it, the situation is probably even worse than the rumors suggest.’

‘Good news. The tables have turned. Now the Adventurer Guild is the one who needs something from me.’

‘No need for those Charm Potions after all.’

Following the young girl leading the way, he walked up a long staircase. Each and every step was engraved with the names of famous Adventurers who had made outstanding contributions to the Guild.

It was something of a hall of fame.

Zog even saw a few familiar names—they had probably participated in the campaigns to subjugate him.

There had been many campaigns to subjugate Zog, and obviously, they had all ended in failure.

They were now carved into the stairs.

And Zog was walking up them.

Zog didn’t hate the Adventurers who had tried to subjugate him. For one, they never stood a chance against him. For another, he felt sorry for them.

They had been completely duped by the nobles into coming.

Back then, the nobles who held a grudge against him had hyped up the subjugation of Zog as “the brightest jewel in the crown of Adventurer quests.” Every year, rumors like, “Zog is wounded and extremely weak! This is the best time to subjugate him!” would spread a few times.

Many young people who clearly lacked the necessary strength would get swept up in the heat of the moment and charge forward.

He had tried his best to show mercy with his claws, but some losses were still unavoidable.

To reduce these unnecessary casualties, Zog had later moved his lair to a remote island far from the Continent.

Just for some peace and quiet.

Times had changed. Now, he was here to negotiate a partnership with the Adventurer Guild.

“Here we are, Mr. Zhuoge.”

Zog nodded in thanks and walked straight in.

The Adventurer Guild’s council members, unlike those from the Mage Guild, didn’t wear uniform robes and masks. They only wore badges to indicate their status.

The council members sat in a row. Zog boldly surmised that the one in the middle was the Chairman. It wasn’t a familiar face.

Without waiting for them to speak, he said directly, “I have a deal.”

“What deal?” the Chairman asked coldly.

“The Adventurer Guild will cease issuing all forms of dragon-hunting quests. In return, I can provide the Guild with funding and perform a comprehensive digital upgrade of its outdated systems.”

“My fellow council members, what are your thoughts?”

The council members began to discuss it, putting on a show of intense debate.

“We need this funding.”

“The digital upgrade would benefit us.”

“Dragon-hunting is a major quest category. The livelihoods of a million Adventurers depend on it. It cannot be canceled.”

“The Adventurer Guild has long been enemies with dragons. To suddenly stop subjugating the Dragon Race would be difficult to justify.”

…

Zog wasn’t really listening. ‘If you want to raise the price, just raise the price. Why wrap it up in all this noble-sounding nonsense?’

A few minutes later, the Chairman tapped the table. “Let’s put it to a vote. All in favor of Zog’s deal, please raise your hands.”

As expected, the opposition won the vote.

“I’m afraid,” the Chairman said, “the Adventurer Guild cannot agree to your proposal. Dragon-hunting quests cannot be canceled so rashly. If we were to eliminate a quest category so easily, what would happen if another power wanted to cancel a different type of quest in the future? With this as a precedent, it would be very difficult for the Guild to refuse.”

The Chairman’s explanation sounded quite reasonable.

The Adventurer Guild’s line of thinking was this: to maximize the benefits they could extract from Zog and alleviate the Guild’s current difficulties, they had to strictly follow their pre-rehearsed script.

Step one: apply pressure. No matter what terms Zog offered, they would reject them.

It’s a negotiation, isn’t it? You have to do some back-and-forth.

Step two: establish the moral high ground. State that the Adventurer Guild stands on principle and cannot compromise.

If Zog could read the room, he would up his offer.

Step three: once he upped his offer to the Guild’s ideal terms, they would reluctantly agree.

Partnership achieved.

As for the dragon-hunting quests themselves, they weren’t that important.

However, after they executed the first step of their plan, Zog went completely off-script.

He said flatly, “Alright then. The deal’s off. Nothing more to discuss. Goodbye.”

This move was a legendary haggling secret: the “Alright, I’m not buying it then. I’m leaving” gambit.

“No, wait!” the Chairman blurted out, jumping to his feet.