Chapter 514 - Maritime Expansion

Draco and Eva also helped instead of standing around. A lot had to be done quickly, as there was no way other powers on Vareas and Cario did not see or sense what had just gone down despite the distance. 

What Umbra needed to do now was use these sh.i.p.s to dominate and declare this trade route as theirs. Luckily, they had the Frontiersmen perk, so as they spoke, Draco had sent all his builder/construction Tradeskill players to the connecting point of Vareas and Cario to build a small settlement. 

Since they were in unclaimed Field Zones, they could make full use of this, especially now that the perk had been upgraded. As soon as they put the settlement up and established a makeshift port, that was it. 

Before the other powers could encroach on their territory, they would quickly swallow up as much of the Field Zone as they could. After all, only Vita Kingdom could expand itself without the need to consume whole Area Zones. 

These were typical settlements, so they could just expand to a city and then build more and more until they covered the whole Field Zone. By that point, they would have the majority of the land under their control, making it easy to declare it theirs if they followed the proper procedures. 

Should that fail, they could just hold an Impartial Arbitration and force it as they had done with the Nshaw Tribe. 

Right now, the builders were constructing like crazy. Draco had instructed them to forgo quality and go for quantity, as they could fix everything up later with their wealth and powers. 

However, if they allowed the early scouts to see what had happened, they would suffer a great loss. As such, Draco went to the Cario Continent coast while Eva went to the Vareas Penninsula coast. 

They then collected all the items that were in the shallow waters as well as those that washed up ashore. This was to prevent the scouts from seeing them and reaching a conclusion. 

What they wanted them to see was the rapidly constructed settlements and make them think Umbra was expanding outward. This would make their masters displeased, but wary. 

They would try to play it safe and watch from afar. As long as they didn't notice the strange situation concerning the silent sea for at least one week, Draco would consider it a resounding victory. 

Since he and Eva had manifested their bloodline wings, their speed was prohibitive. They were like erasers on a drawing, wherever they passed, the sea was no longer littered with floating items but had rather returned to its gentle blue form. 

While Luxia was far faster, the problem was that she was too fast for Eva to collect anything, as that was not what the Light Phoenix was designed for. This crazy collection and spread of sea vessels went on for three days straight. 

None of the members of Umbra even bothered to check how much experience they had earned from such a thing. They had plenty of time to deal with it, but this issue was extremely crucial and no one wanted to be the idiot who messed things up by getting distracted. 

No one was looking at what they had picked up, but rather picking it and tossing it to the guild warehouse. They knew that everything would be sorted out later. 

Of course, unlike the full members of Umbra who were casual bout it since they knew the guild had even better stuff, the serfs were just outer players with slight access to such things. 

There would naturally be a few who would quietly pocket what they had gotten, thinking that Umbra wouldn't chase them for something this small. After all, there were more than 10 million of them and so many items. 

That would have been a grand idea if it hadn't been the fact that Draco was the party leader and had set the loot drop to collection. 

This was a feature that allowed party members to pick items and keep them, but the system would mark those who took something as well as what they took, so that after the quest/dungeon/raid ended, they could sort things out once a for all, instead of pausing every 5 steps to squabble over loot. 

Despite it all, serf players were members of Umbra, just that their rank was at the bottom of the hierarchy and they had little access. Before they joined the collection, they were made to join the Guild Raid Party, so Draco noticed all those who took for themselves. 

He wasn't bothered, it was important to collect and dominate first. Afterward, he could decide what to do with those fellows with itchy fingers later when he was in a more apt position. 

By this point, they had managed to set up 5 settlements on either side, with enough distance between each other to maximize the territory claim. The builders had done something Draco had overlooked that made him praise them endlessly. 

Instead of building towards the nearest border, they had built along the coast. As such, there were just 2 more settlements on the Vareas cost from preventing anyone from creating a coastal settlement ever again, while they needed 5 on the Cario Continent side. 

Even if the other powers had realized Umbra's intentions and quickly dispatched builders of their own, they could only build behind these settlements by now, which meant they would have no port access. This greatly reduced their benefits by 80%. 

The last 20% was if they were willing to make their settlements a sort of trade-oriented place where they handled distribution and land shipping of the goods that come from the ports. 

It was the next best option, as they could lock Draco's settlements to the ports and hinder their land-based mercantilism subtly. As such, they would f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y form a symbiotic relationship with the port cities. 

Draco didn't mind if this happened though. Putting aside the benefits of owning the only intercontinental sea route, as well as having only his handmade sh.i.p.s being allowed to use it, the profit he and Umbra would make was not a joke. 

They didn't even need to trouble their 10,000 members who had more important things to do. They could easily set a quest for serf players to take various positions, from sailors to captains of the various sh.i.p.s to ferry goods back and forth. 

Draco had already killed all monsters within a radius of a hundred thousand kilometers, and it would take about 6 months of in-game time before monsters from outside would begin to filter into this new territory. 

At that point, he could clear them out again. He wasn't in a rush to add more trade routes because they needed to stabilize what they had in a way that Draco would not be needed. 

As for pirates and smugglers, Draco was even less worried about them. Since his ports were only using his own sh.i.p.s and his own players, where would the pirates have to come from? 

Naturally, it would have to be from waters outside the cleared zone. If a pirate ship could sail from a port that was located in monster-infested waters to enter here and had managed to do that unscathed enough to launch an attack… then damn boy, they deserved the cargo. 

As for the land-based troubles, he was like the AI. He could willingly compromise until he stabilized his position. Then like a rain of hellfire, he and his people would blitzkrieg the entire area until nothing was left. 

Any higher, like becoming a city, required far more population and development. Draco didn't care, because he only needed them to reach the medium town tier to unlock the ability to build a small port, yet a big town let them build a medium port. 

As such, the builders moved onto building the port first. After all, after days of rampantly collecting the loot at sea, the players were about 99% done. Apart from a few places that only Draco and Eva could handle, and underwater where other items had sunk due to their weight, they were about done. 

They needed to return and dock the sh.i.p.s, then rest and assist with the stabilization. This was a bustling period for Umbra, and by the time the 7th day came, the various ports were up and running. 

After 7 days of nonstop insane work, Draco let his builders rest. He was even extravagant enough to let them return to Vita to rest by transporting them using a pocket world. He just had them enter, returned to Vita Kingdom with Luxia, then let them out. 

He also paid them well, with each builder getting 10,000 UPs for their work. This was equivalent to 10,000 platinum, which was $30 billion! 

Damn homie, which construction worker out here got paid that much in just a week? 

Then again, which construction worker could help build 23 settlements the size of Manhattan in 7 days? 

Besides, this was never a problem because players who played Boundless hardly ever sold their currency. Only those like Boyd would sell enough to make their life slightly more comfortable, but no one cared about having millions on earth. 

Damn, there was never enough money in Boundless with so many things to do and achieve, yet you wanted them to sell their access to improving their situation within the game for a quick buck?! 

Those 10,000 UPs will definitely be used to buy more materials from the Guild Warehouse or gain access to the Tradeskill Library in the various manors. Not only that, but they would also need it to expand their clans and also improve their own equipment. 

So many things to do and buy that 10k platinum was now looking a bit tight! 

Draco could empathize, which was why he paid them this much. Boundless was cruel, and the more years passed, the more players would be driven to the brink of madness. 

Things will only get more expensive, money harder to earn, the gap getting wider - f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y establishing a class system between players in the game - and people would become poorer in reality as they splurged money on the game to get ahead. 

Draco forwent his contemplation about the future as he went to the throne room of the Aether Hall. Today, he had some important guests from afar to entertain, various powerhouses from all over Cario Continent and Vareas Peninsula. 

Draco entered the room and sat on his Black Dragon Throne while Eva sat on her Blessed Sun Throne. The combination of the two struck onlookers heavily, their beauty and synergy perfect from top to bottom. 

Ever since Draco had crafted the Dragoira set for Eva, it had condensed her bloodline essence in-game and had begun changing her. Just like his black dragon bloodline had given him his red eyes - but his white hair came from the Ultima Sunt heritage - Eva's dark eyes remained the same, but her green hair had slowly become white over time. 

As such, she and Draco now had short-cropped white hair, which was why their synergy was so great. The Evil Duo had evolved into the White-Haired Duo! 

Before them sat a few powerhouses at Rank 5 and above, numbering 7 in total. Three were from the Cario Continental Council, two from the Vareas Peninsula Continental Council, while the last two were from the closest empires to the empty Field Zones Umbra had set their coastal settlements in.

Draco greeted them. "Welcome dear guests, to my humble kingdom. To what do I owe the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e?" 

The first person from the left rose and greeted Draco respectfully. "My name is Victor Karlensen, and I am the Registrar General of the Cario Continental Council. It is my great p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you, Your Majesties." 

Draco nodded at Victor. "The feeling is mutual, Esteemed Lord Victor." 

The second person also rose and greeted Draco with a polite smile. "Greetings, King Draco and Queen Riveting Night. My name is Brendan Walker, and I am the vice-chairman of the Cario Continental Council." 

Draco directly rose and shook the hands of Brendan straightforwardly, displaying a look of respect. "Great to meet you, Grand Sir. Please have a seat." 

The third person rose and it was a younger man who looked formal and composed. "I am Jake Gersunt. It is a good day to meet Your Majesties. I am the Legal Counsel of the Cario Continental Council." 

Draco nodded to the fellow with a smile. He then noticed the fourth person stood up, and it was a young woman with a body that could almost reach the level of Roma in terms of sheer curviness and flexibility. 

She was less respectful in her greeting, and looked quite nonchalant about being here. "You may know me as Voila. I am the Senior Adviser of the Vareas Peninsula Continental Council." 

Draco acknowledged her with a noncommittal grunt, again at the next person, which made Voila frown. How dare this mere king of some land-locked shithole dare not fawn upon her? 

The fifth person was another woman, less sensual and more formal looking. "Greetings, Your Majesties, I am Carla Brown. I am the Chairman of the Vareas Peninsula Continental Council." 

Draco also shook her hand directly despite her greeting being more perfunctory than those from the Cario Continent. Well, it couldn't be helped, because these Vareas natives did not understand the power and might of Draco, Umbra, and Vita Kingdom. 

However, as Cario Continent was one of the - if not the - strongest continents in the entire mapped zones, and seeing that the distinguished men from the council were so respectful, Voila and Carla held back their casualness. 

Voila was originally going to be more arrogant and disrespectful, but had quickly changed her mind. While she might care less because her ties were to the sea, she still cared a little about her developments on land as they were crucial. 

Carla herself was going to treat Draco as she pictured him, an upstart king from a random kingdom that did not understand how the world worked. 

As for the sixth person, it was an elderly man with a fit body in dragon robes. He rose to his feet and bowed to Draco. 

"Emperor Jusen of Feroria Empire is pleased to be in the presence of King Draco of Vita Kingdom!" The Emperor greeted with an almost servile tone. 

This shocked the other emperor and the final person, who was from Vareas. He was about to greet Draco a bit coldly due to his unhappiness over his actions, but decided to follow suit for now. 

He may not know Draco or Vita due to distance, but he definitely knew Emperor Jusen as his empire had existed for almost a thousand years. For such a powerful man, far more powerful than he himself, to bend his back, there had to be more to Vita Kingdom than he had realized. 

As such, the final emperor who was slightly younger and had tanned skin due to the climate of Vareas, also rose and bowed slightly. "Greetings, Noble King Draco and Great Queen Riveting Night. My name is Kutu and I am the Emperor of the Huhan Empire." 

Draco also returned the greeting warmly despite easily seeing through the fellow's thoughts. No need to slap a smiling face, now was there? Besides, he liked fellows like this who were able to read the room and adapt. Such fellows would often make for the best allies as they were discerning. 

Draco clapped his hands. "Now that we are done with the introductions, we can move on to the main point of your visit today. May the Vice Chairman, Esteemed Lord Brendan, take the floor." 

Brendan smiled widely, and the other two from the Cario Continental Council seemed pleased, while Voila and Carla frowned slightly. Giving spokesperson rights to the Cario Continental Council was an obvious show of favoritism and pandering. 

However, they dared not comment because the two emperors seemed fine with this and they were a minority with only two people. After all, the Vareas Peninsula had very few powerhouses due to its sea-locked geography and its size that was more only a tenth that of the Cario Continent. 

It was already good enough that the Vice Chairman and Senior Adviser could come. This was also the reason Voila had chosen Vareas as a point of entry onto land, because it was small and extremely reliant on the sea for survival. 

She had managed to clinch such a high position not because she was personally strong, but because the power behind her was. 

Brendan cleared his throat and began speaking. "About this, approximately a week ago, there were reports off the coast of the Continent's southwestern border that a great heavenly phenomenon had occurred. After that, the marine life readings have dropped greatly, and members of your guild were seen moving up and down the sea, collecting various items." 

Brendan scratched his head. "At the same time, your people began building a slew of settlements along the coast, which further confused us as to your intentions." 

"Make no mistake, we aren't accusing you of anything nor strong-arming you into giving us an answer today. We would just like to know - if you're willing to tell us - what exactly happened over this past week?" Brendan finally asked with a look of utter incomprehension. 

If it were possible, Draco was sure question marks would pop above his head and it wasn't just him, but quite literally everyone else seated before him. 

Draco coughed and gazed at the fellows before him, firming his expressions as he prepared to spew the greatest strain of bullshit in his life.