27: Deliver it to your door?

“But…”

Ito Hidekazu tried to say something else, but the Emperor interrupted him again.

“There are no buts,” the Emperor said, leaving no room for doubt.

“Ito-kun, with your current qualifications, there’s no way I can let the elites of the Dahe Clan do something like this.”

“However… your words just now reminded me, perhaps we can avoid their sharp edge.”

As he spoke, a profound smile appeared on the Emperor’s face.

“In the Raging Sea and Surging Waves instance, there are three options in the pre-quest stage. Since Ito-kun wants to directly confront the Eagle Country opponent, why not choose the second quest, Economic Overtake?”

“If you find the Eagle Country’s setting in the instance to have loopholes, then directly…”

“In that case, perhaps we can conquer the instance without losing a single soldier! And seize Lin Ye’s Aircraft Carrier technology.”

Ito Hidekazu’s brows furrowed.

The Emperor made it sound easy, but in practice, it would be anything but…

One must know that in the Raging Sea and Surging Waves instance, the territory of the Eagle Country was thirty times larger than that of the Eastern Island where the Challenger was located. Its population was also far greater than Eastern Island.

Even if Ito Hidekazu didn’t understand economic development, he could understand that a larger territory meant more resources, and a larger population meant more labor.

If there was truly hope in this, then when he first entered the instance, he would have directly chosen Quest Two: Economic Overtake.

Did he, Ito Hidekazu, not understand the principle of waiting for the opportune moment?

The reason he chose Quest One: Break Through Pearl Harbor, was precisely because choosing Quest Two was more difficult.

“Your Majesty… Quest Two, the difficulty should be relatively high.”

“All indicators for the Eagle Country in the instance are much larger than Eastern Island, and most critically, the world in the instance is very different from the real world. It’s a world without Sky Curtain regulation…”

“I don’t have enough economic talent,” Ito Hidekazu’s attitude immediately became cautious.

“Ito-kun, why are you backing down now?” The Emperor chuckled, then picked up his teacup and savored the taste.

“I will assign you Dahe Clan talents in economic operations. I won’t let you be a lone Commander.”

“You should know that for all these years, on Azure Star, our Great Harmony Settlement has been one of the wealthiest Settlements.”

“Of course, you can also choose to refuse… Then we simply won’t actively touch the Raging Sea instance, and then slowly try to win over Lin Ye.”

This was tantamount to putting Ito Hidekazu on the hot seat.

The Great Harmony Settlement was indeed one of the wealthier Settlements on Azure Star, but all of its economy was built on the basis of points, and was not considered a normal economic development model.

The so-called assigning him relevant talents were nothing more than various merchants and business managers from the Great Harmony Settlement.

These people had no combat ability whatsoever, and generally their levels wouldn't be very high, making it highly unlikely they could bring weapons into the instance.

Ultimately, it was simply that the Emperor was unwilling to entrust the elites of the Dahe Clan to Ito Hidekazu, so he sent some minor characters to deal with him.

Forcing Ito Hidekazu to only choose to execute Quest Two.

Gritting his teeth, Ito Hidekazu finally let out a long breath and whispered:

“Your Majesty, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I will lead my Dahe Clan compatriots to conquer this Raging Sea and Surging Waves!”

“Excellent!” The Emperor nodded in satisfaction. “Since that’s the case, I will arrange the personnel for you, and then you can all go apply to register for tomorrow’s Raging Sea and Surging Waves instance.”

“The penalty for failing Quest Two is a deduction of 100 points. I will arrange some clansmen with ample points, so there will be no worries.”

“Ito-kun, you can go ahead and do it with confidence!”

Ito Hidekazu’s expression was calm, but in reality, he was already suffering unspeakable bitterness.

This was not at all part of his plan.

Firstly, the form of economic warfare did not yet exist in the instances of this world, and no one knew how difficult the economic warfare in Raging Sea would be.

This was also completely outside his area of expertise.

But after much thought, compared to sitting idly by and being abandoned by the Emperor and the Great Harmony Settlement, it was better to give it a try.

If he gambled, there might still be a chance of winning.

Fortunately, this time the Emperor was still willing to gather a group of Great Harmony Settlement compatriots for him. At the very least, this would make management easier in the instance and prevent the chaotic situation that occurred during his first entry into the instance.

“Your Majesty, I will go prepare now. When the instance restarts tomorrow, I will lead the clansmen to fight the Raging Sea and Surging Waves again.”

“Then I await good news from Ito-kun.”

-------------------------------------

Time passed quickly, and soon it was the next day.

Lin Ye was driving with sunglasses on, purchasing a wave of daily necessities on the street.

He planned to prepare a week’s worth of ingredients in one go, so he could fully devote himself to the creation and refinement of the instance, without being distracted by these trivial matters.

Suddenly, lines of text appeared before Lin Ye’s eyes.

【Sky Curtain Notification: Esteemed Designer, your instance Raging Sea and Surging Waves has gathered enough Challengers. This time, no Designer designation or Sky Curtain random selection is required.】

【The instance Designer can view the applicants for this instance challenge at any time!】

【Today’s instance will open in 2 minutes!】

【…120…】

【…118…】

“Oh, interesting…”

The Sky Curtain notification that all Challengers had gathered meant that these people had actively applied to enter the new round of the Raging Sea and Surging Waves instance.

This was something Lin Ye had not expected.

“Sky Curtain, I want to view the Challenger list for this round.”

【Challenger list as follows, please Designer view…】

Immediately, lines of Challenger information were displayed before Lin Ye.

【NO.1 Ito Hidekazu; Race: Yamato People; Level: Lv2; Instance Works: “Battle of the Imperial Sea”, “Revenge of the Shogunate”, “Kill the Ninja”, “Nobunaga’s Ambition”】

【NO.2 Yamashiro Kojiro; Race: Yamato People; Level: Lv2; Instance Works: “Blade Battle”】

…

【NO.20000 Ogura Yoshihei; Race: Yamato People; Level: Lv1; Instance Works: None】

Lin Ye saw at the very top of this list of people, none other than the Lv2 Ito Hidekazu.

Had this guy not suffered enough?

Actually, normally, if Lin Ye were to designate Challengers again this time, he would still designate Ito Hidekazu.

He was very happy to see this famous Dahe Clan instance design genius suffer in his instance.

But now, this Ito Hidekazu even delivered himself to his doorstep.

Did this guy have masochistic tendencies?

Truly very interesting.