Chapter 57 057: Deals

"There are many things I can tell you that I am, but within the grand scheme of the Alphaverse there is not a word for what I am. So for the sake of our conversations and your sanity, you can just call me Innkeeper Bob, which funny enough is what I am, I'm just an Innkeeper.

Now in light of your discovery and the talks of monetary settlement, the business man in me would tell you to sell it to me. But Cole you are amongst a selected number of individuals that are very and quite important in the survival of your world.

You are of interest to some very powerful people and it is both bad as it is good. The gear you have on now is a peace offering of sorts, and the information I'm giving you about the dungeon core is also an investment. However all of this would come at a cost and you will eventually have to pay back your due, whether you like it or not.

And before you say anything else, I'm afraid you can not afford to say no to what has been offered to you. Earth… your universe is about to become congested ground between multiple factions of power, and you don't have until the 25th floor like Brogan Bizet had made you believe.

The fifth level is a threshold, there's a reason why more slots were made available to other individuals by the time the second floor is open. Those accounts would give people access to the digital universe and all of its advantages, however by that point the minimum threshold population required for the digital realm to start influencing your reality would have been reached.

So it would be an invasion. First there would be dungeons, the system would first try to cull and control your society by keeping you on your toes with waves upon waves of enemies. At that point only weapons, buildings, tools, and items derived from the digital universe would be able to work and cause any significant amount of damage to the dungeons.

From there forces from the first five floors, this world included would purchase certain dungeons that have not been cleared and use that as a launch pad to send their forces to your world. That breeds more conflict, and like I said, only those who have accounts can even hope to fight back. There won't nearly be enough people to keep the collective human population of your universe above the 50% mark.

However Mr. Cole; you can be prepared. You can seed a dungeon of your own… or perhaps a few if you're able to get your hands on a couple of cores. Whether or not you make it to the fifth floor, once it has been reached, trace amounts of the system would have infiltrated your world and these trace aspects are dungeons and their power.

You can then use that to your advantage. Apart from the accounts available, depending on the level of the dungeon. Certain amount of people would be able to gain accounts of their own, and that would help your people a bit more. Or you could still just sell the core to me, gain a lot of money that you can use to establish yourself in the new world order that is to come. The choice is left up to you."

Indeed it was, and it was quite a choice to make. Cole didn't care about anyone else other than his family, his own people and their safety was what mattered the most. However the path to true power is a lot harder. Money is power, but money is finite. However Dungeons were a money making business, Cole had seen the outfit Bob the Innkeeper has here….. he was going to have to retrieve that core himself.

"Very well then, with everything you've told me… if it's true then I guess I'll be keeping this information close to my chest, at least until I'm ready to make use of it, or I decide to sell it. I should be going though there's something I'd like to find out, since it seems you're sort of a broker of information." Cole said, causing Bob to laugh as he sat back on his seat with a smile.

"What is it you want to know, however do keep in mind information from me will cost you, so be prepared to pay." Bob said, as Cole nodded then asked.

"I'm looking for a man, an outlaw called Izanagi Surugi, he should be riding with a gang called the Blood Lotus. If you can point me in the right direction I'd be very happy." Cole said with fake enthusiasm.

"Well far be it from me to stop a man on a suicide mission. Izanagi Surugi, popularly known as the Sanguine Lotus. He's from your universe I might add, some of the earlier forays of the System and it's many mistakes in an attempt to endlessly consume more universes to make itself more…. Real.

Either way it summoned him and his entire class room here, and while there have been variations of Earth across the many universes the system has swallowed. It somehow plucked him from your world, brought him and his classmates here and then left a bunch of teenagers with extreme potential run around raising hell and war and causing Havoc.

​ To face him you'd need to at least have a single stat in the silver rank Cole, or at least have a skill that would ensure you can kill him with a hit, or incapacitate him long enough to do so. However it shouldn't be too hard for you, the weapons you have are dangerous, and they would translated well into a couple of the floors or universes you will be experiencing.

Either way Izanagi Surugi haunts and terrorizes the border towns between Verdant Viloria and Evergreen Caman. So you would have to go west, deeper into wilds of the frontier. There are no ends to the bounty that you can find there and you would be able to make some money.

This is general information, however let me give you a more specific one. Izanagi is known to utilize a strength, agility and Dexterity stat build, making him an extremely focused close quarters combatant. Information came down that you are just as formidable in close quarters yourself, but you lack the stats he does.

He rides with 50 men and women, he has never gone above that number, and anyone who wants to be a part of his crew has to defeat and kill a member to get in which means everyone he rides with are dangerous. They have four bases that they circle through after their raids.

Yeats Canyon, Deron Swamp, Yeats Forest, and New Holme Town. I will draw you a map that you can use to get there. Though you have to be careful, there are worse things than the Blood Lotus Gang in the wild west….. that would cost you 800 Silvers my good sir." Bob finished off with a laugh.

Cole raised an eyebrow, then sighed as he handed over the money. He got up to his full height, which frankly speaking was still very short as he had to look up at Bob. Cole cursed silently, in real life he had quite the height, hopefully he gets out of this spawn stage as quickly as possible and grow taller. He tipped his hat to Bob then walked out, heading back for the Cradle facility for a little insurance.

But before he left Cole bought a couple of camping supplies, he was going to be on the road for some time, and most times the towns and cities spread San Louisa were days away even when using a Mechanoid mount, so he would have to find a place to camp and rest.

He got out of Bob's store, fully kitted up when he discovered a couple of men throwing glowing chains around Morgan's Mechanoid body. The wolf did nothing but growl at them, but he still stayed out, and even as they tried to drag him away, Morgan still dug his paws into the ground.

Cole pulled out on of his revolvers and fired off a shot right at the foot of the person he suspected was leading this rabble of people trying to steal from him. The shot was loud, echoing across the entire street as Cole drew all attention to himself.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he asked, with absolute fury on his face, it turns out he recognized one of the people stealing from him. It was the same guy back from the first floor who had brought his turners along to attack Cole when he was escaping from the coliseum.

The rest of them seemed to be natives, and more than a few of them had bronze badges on their chest. Cole sighed, he recognized the deputy badges, guess it could not be avoided…. He really was going to end up in trouble with the law.