Game of the World Tree

The news of the Black Dragon Hunting Commission spread very quickly within the Borderlands, to the extent that it even reached the ears of those living within the Elven Forest through players who were still loitering around in disguise in Maple Leaf City.

Dark Mountains, Black Dragon Castle.

After traversing the Empire’s Borderlands on patrol for the day, Meryer found himself drawn back to his comfy lair once more.

For several days now, he’d been diligently carrying out this task due to an agreement he had with Little Salty Cat.

The specific task she asked him to do was to simply take a daily stroll of the Borderlands in exchange for a whole roasted lamb each day.

Little Salty Cat referred to this job as “monster baiting.”

Of course, as for what this ‘monster baiting’ actually entails, Meryer had absolutely no idea at all.

For him, all that matters is that he gets to eat delicious roasted lamb for such an easy, simple work.

However, on this particular day, when Meryer flew back to his lair, he noticed several chosen ones who usually prepared food for him eyeing him with some strange looks.

That look…

Meryer was no stranger to it.

It was the very same look these crazy long-eared folks would have when looting goods after they finished a battle.

That was the look one would have when gazing upon some treasures…

In fact, on an almost daily basis, there were always some brazen chosen ones staring at him like this.

Their aim was either the dragon scales he shed or his saliva.

And Meryer had often exploited these assets which mattered little to him, to ensure that these chosen ones served him well.

When he was in a good mood, he would reward them a piece of his dragon scale but when he wasn’t, he would only spit out some saliva, or simply allocate a couple of hundred contribution points in the task system to settle the matter.

Today, however, for some unknown reason…

Why did he feel like the gazes of these long-eared ones were rather unsettling, as if they wanted to devour him?

“Ruahh! What are you looking at?”

Meryer’s eyes narrowed, and he emitted a guttural roar with his teeth bared.

In response, the players quickly recoiled inadvertently, their necks retracting, as each of them emitted awkward chuckles.

Meryer snorted and took away the roasted lamb the players prepared for him, before laying down into a pile of glittering gold coins.

That was his current wealth, as well as his nest.

The majority of these gold coins were his accumulated personal savings over the years, while the rest were acquired through transactions with the players, by exchanging the daily contribution points allocated to him by the task system, at a 1:1 ratio where gold pounds are exchanged for contribution points.

This was also one of the motivations for players to trade with the Dark Dwarves or humans to earn money.

Find Little Black Dragon, and exchange their money for contribution points!

Especially for some players who have low luck but were actually good at making money, it was simply a brand new method to acquire wealth.

Of course, using gold coins to buy some specific items and offering them to the goddess through the offering array was also another way to obtain contribution points.

After some thorough experimentation, the players eventually figured out the hidden mechanics of the offering feature.

Some minerals, metals, and magical materials can be “sold” to the goddess for a good price!

Of course, the most cost-effective option is still exchanging one’s CP for currency with the Little Black Dragon, this rather simple minded but big-shot NPC…

“These are your rewards for roasting this lamb for me, off you go!”

Meryer’s lips curled with satisfaction as he devoured the roasted lamb, leaving no bone untouched. With a simple gesture, he then rewarded the awaiting players with a hundred contribution points before ushering them away from his nest.

As the players watched Meryer devoured his dinner, they exchanged glances, shook their heads and sighed before reluctantly leaving.

Meryer, whilst silently observing their reactions, felt a chill run down his spine, perplexed by their odd behavior.

“What’s wrong with them today? Why do they seem to look at me strangely like that?”

Meryer asked Little Salty Cat, who was standing at his side.

Little Salty Cat covered her mouth, chuckled, and replied:

“Meryer, you’ve become famous in Maple Leaf City. They’ve put a high bounty on you. According to the players stationed there, several mercenary groups are planning to come to the Dark Mountains in order to catch you.”

Hearing Little Salty Cat’s explanation, Meryer turned pale:

“I knew there was never a good reason for all this flying around the Borderlands lately!”

However, Meryer wasn’t too worried.

After all… he now had someone powerful backing him up.

“But… what does this have to do with the way those chosen ones looked at me just now?”

Meryer asked Little Salty Cat once again.

The pink-haired mage chuckled mischievously:

“They’re probably just thinking about the bounty on your head and couldn’t help but be tempted, after all… it’s a lot of money.”

Meryer’s expression darkened.

“What!? Do they still want to sell me to those pesky humans? Do they dare to set their sights upon this Great Lord? Aren’t they afraid that I would eat them?!”

But soon, his expression became somewhat hesitant.

With a flick of his thick dragon tongue, Meryer moistened the corner of his mouth before asking, pretending not to care.

“…How much bounty are those humans offering anyway?”

Little Salty smirked mischievously.

“Thirty thousand gold pounds if you were killed, but it’ll be doubled to sixty thousand gold pounds if you’re taken alive. If converted into contribution points, then I think that’ll be in the hundreds of thousands points, more or less.”

The petite girl replied, whilst counting her fingers.

Meryer: “…”

The expression of the black dragon shifted several times before he murmured softly:

“Sixty thousand gold pounds… It doesn’t seem too bad to sell myself…”

Little Salty Cat: “…”

“Do all dragons love money so much?”

Within her Divine Kingdom, Evé, who had been secretly monitoring Meryer’s actions, had an incredulous look all over her face.

This rascal… actually had the thought of selling himself. Although it was just a passing idea, it was still unbelievable.

Shaking her head helplessly, Evé refocused her attention on her plan against Nidhogg.

These days, she had been secretly watching Meryer, always on guard against a possible attack by Nidhogg.

However, the recent developments of the situation took an somewhat unexpected direction.

She did not expect that the rumors she deliberately let the players spread around, would actually attract the human mercenaries first.

“These mercenaries… are all assembled by the Borderlord, and the Maple Count is very likely to be involved with Nidhogg, which means… this recent development is Nidhogg’s response?”

“This old dragon actually has such patience… Is he planning to test the waters first with these mercenaries?”

This turn of events made Evé gradually frown.

“Nidhogg still retains his sanity?”

The power of the Abyss is filled with chaotic energy, and all mythical beings eroded by it will eventually succumb to paranoia, madness, and savage recklessness.

It was precisely because of this that Evé designed such a plan full of loopholes.

She made it obvious that it was a blatant conspiracy.

Evé felt that by using the little black dragon as bait, it might still lure the other party out, even if it was an obvious trap that could be easily exposed.

However, she didn’t expect the other party to be much calmer than she had initially anticipated…

This was quite different from the knowledge recorded within the World Tree Inheritance regarding the nature of evil gods.

It should be noted that Evil Gods contaminated by the Abyss have difficulty resisting their own desires, and in most cases, they will act according to their sheer instincts and impulses.

“So… Nidhogg has a way to suppress the corruption of the Abyss and although he has the power of the Abyss, he still somehow retained his own sanity?”

Eve’s eyes narrowed.

“…How did he do it?”

At this moment, Evé became even more curious about Nidhogg’s current state.

Because this discovery almost shattered the notion regarding the contamination of the Abyss as recorded within her inheritance!

Nonetheless, although the other party’s performance exceeded her expectations, Evé’s confidence in her plans still remained unwavering.

“So he’s using these mercenaries as his scouts? And I’m pretty sure that… he also secretly included some of his servants along with these mercenaries, right?”

“Also, I’m almost certain that Nidhogg too could freely switch his perspective with his believers like me.”

As she spoke, Evé idly toyed with the skull necklace in her hand, and raised the corners of her mouth.

“Well, I’ll just treat it as experience points being delivered to my doorsteps…”

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【 IT DOESN’T SEEM TOO BAD TO SELL MYSELF 】

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