Chapter 40: Coming out from the game again

The next moment, Arthur arrived at another corner of the virtual realm. Alex had already entered the game and was waiting there with his team. Though Arthur wanted to trade with other factions, his biggest customer was still the government.

"Big brother, I have talked to the superiors," Alex said in an apologetic tone. "We can afford only one hundred legendary items for now. Would that be okay? We will collect more funds, but it will take some time."

Arthur shook his head gently.

"Do not worry. Take your time. I am going to open an auction house in my shelter soon. When it opens, I will give the government a ten percent discount on all items. And take this map. There are ancient treasures around these locations, though they have their own guardians."

Arthur handed over a detailed map. Alex’s eyes opened wide as he took the parchment.

"Big brother, someone wants to meet you," Alex said lightly, adjusting his posture. "She is the Dragon Sword, our leader and one of the youngest generals of the army. If you allow it, she would like to introduce herself to you."

Dealing with Arthur was beyond Alex’s authority, as he did not possess enough clearance within the military structure. The leadership had decided to involve Sofia Grimlock, the second-strongest player in Server 1, because the mysterious Dark Lord had proven to be far more capable than their initial estimates suggested.

"No problem," Arthur agreed without much thought.

Suddenly, he heard soft, elegant footsteps approaching over the cobblestone floor.

A beautiful woman appeared in front of him. She possessed a graceful demeanor and wore a tailored military uniform fitted with sleek steel armor. A long sword hung at her waist.

Arthur felt a slight ripple in his heart.

He recognized this woman immediately.

In his previous life, she had entered the top fifty in global combat prowess after advancing to the Demigod Realm. She had been an absolute menace on the battlefield.

Arthur had once looked up to her when she led a squad of demigods to eradicate a regional monster tide headed by a mythical-rank boss.

At this point in time, however, she was still relatively weak compared to her future self.

"Hello, Dark Lord. I am Sofia Grimlock, a general of the army. It is nice to meet you."

She extended her hand.

Arthur shook it briefly.

"It is nice to meet you. What kind of items do you need?"

Arthur went directly to business. He had no time to admire beauty right now.

Sofia immediately handed him a detailed procurement list.

Arthur scanned the contents and realized that he possessed every single item requested.

"All right. Gather your funds and items. You can trade right now."

"Okay," she replied.

To use the system shop in this unaligned region, a player needed to pay an extra fee of ninety gold coins per transaction, as there was no guild hall nearby and neither player had reached Level 11 to unlock the portable shop function.

Sofia proceeded with the transaction, purchasing two thousand Royal-grade items. The massive trade cost the military four trillion dollars in converted fiat resources.

Yet everyone present knew that the one hundred legendary items Arthur held were far more valuable than the lower-tier equipment.

Arthur swept the incoming items into his spatial storage and retrieved the one hundred legendary weapons and armor pieces they had requested.

"It was nice doing business with you. You can purchase four hundred more items at this fixed rate in the future."

Before anyone could respond, Arthur vanished into the distance, leaving only a fading afterimage behind.

"Who is this man? How is he so immensely powerful?" Sofia muttered to herself, staring at the empty space where Arthur had stood moments ago.

Just now, standing before him, she had felt as though she were facing an endless ocean of unfathomable depth.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts before turning her attention to the gleaming equipment on the ground.

She immediately swapped her current weapon for a legendary-grade longsword and handed another primary weapon to Alex.

Alex stood astonished as he realized the upper echelon was entrusting him with high-tier gear.

"General, this item is far too valuable for me," Alex tried to decline.

"Take it. You have earned it through your work. Now serve the country well."

She gave him a firm smile.

"Thank you, General. My life belongs to the country. If you ask me to jump into fire, I will not ask a single question," Alex declared, overwhelmed with gratitude.

Sofia simply smiled and turned toward the horizon.

"Now let us go and inspect the coordinates marked on this map."

She pointed toward the parchment Arthur had left behind.

Meanwhile, Arthur returned to his shelter.

The heavy iron gate at the front entrance was gone, as Arthur had dematerialized it earlier. He snapped his fingers, causing a swirling spatial portal to form in the doorway.

This portal was now the primary entry point of the entire complex.

Arthur descended to the tenth floor, where the monsters cores were placed neatly along the reinforced floor.

As for the primary boss cores, he kept those secured within his space ring.

"System, I want to sell these surplus items," he whispered into the air.

The Omega Shelter contained a built-in system shop interface, so he did not need to pay any third-party transaction fees.

A clear interface prompt appeared in his vision.

[Ding! Two thousand fresh-condition Royal-grade items can be sold for three hundred Divine Gold coins. Do you accept?]

"Yes," Arthur confirmed.

[Ding! You have gained three million Divine Gold coins.]

Arthur nodded before giving his next command.

"Activate the protection barrier."

Upon his command, the energy cores embedded in the floor sank deeper into the structure, merging directly with the shelter’s power grid.

[You have nine hundred fifty thousand cores loaded. The protection barrier can last for fifty years without interruption.]

Arthur nodded with satisfaction.

It was time for him to log out of the game.

The outside world was likely in turmoil by now.

"Log out."

[Do you want to bring your in-game items into the real world?]

"How much for all the new items I currently carry?" Arthur inquired.

[Fifty thousand Divine Gold for the space ring, ten thousand Divine Gold for the Epic-grade dagger, five thousand Divine Gold for the Epic-grade armor, and one million Divine Gold for the Omega Shelter.]

Arthur paused to consider the shelter.

The Omega Shelter needed to be placed in an open location where no important structure was present, as deploying the massive structure would instantly vaporize all surrounding soil, rocks, and minerals to clear enough space.

"Bring out everything."

[Ding! 1065000 Divine Gold is transected.]

He would need to find a proper site to construct the physical base later.

Slowly, his consciousness shifted away from the virtual realm.

His semi-transparent avatar hardened into a solid physical form as his senses returned to his real body.

As soon as he woke up, he heard a loud commotion echoing outside his chamber.

With his heightened physical attributes, he could hear distinct voices from far away.

"Grandpa, when will Arthur come out? The Eclipse organization has sent hundreds of players into our territory. Besides, all of us have reached Level 10, but we have not entered the main city system yet," Noah was saying to Alexander.

"I do not know," Alexander replied, shaking his head. "If he does not step out on his own, we have no way to force him out of his deep-log state."

They lacked any direct method to alert Arthur without risking shock to his neural system.

Suddenly, the reinforced door swung open.

Arthur stepped out into the room with measured steps.