Guild Wars

serf players of Umbra like gods, which had made more than a few heads swell from the power. 

'Even if I am trash at home, here I am King!' 

The second option was to collaborate with other powers, allowing them to also develop on the sea route, in exchange for paying tariffs to Umbra.
It would help them reach a 100% efficiency rate, but this would involve having various Rank 7 powers with maritime functions like Voila use the trade route while paying about 50% of profits as tax. 

Of course, this was the normal option which many powers would have taken.
Not many would be greedy like Umbra and try to swallow everything by oneself, but then again, no one could argue since they had been the ones to clear the route 

As such, the rest could only fold their arms and watch as Umbra struggled to meet quotas, sneering at the guild's greed and short-sightedness.
How dare they think they could handle it all? Eventually, wouldn't they have to come and beg for collaboration? 

The third option Draco and Eva had was to expand the route and let other player guilds develop with them, like Kamisuo and Desecrators.
Truth be told, this had already happened, alas it had only increased the efficiency by 5%. 

Since they didn't have too many serf players they could throw over, they didn't make too much of a change in the grand scheme of things. 

This left the guild at an impasse, wondering what they were going to do next. 

Hence, Draco and Eva had decided to come themselves and sort this issue out. 

The question was, how? How were they going to solve something as problematic as this that even Sublime couldn't find a way for? 

However, once they arrived, the crowd below were startled to see that Draco and Eva had replaced Luxia with a huge airship that floated above the entire coastal area like a behemoth. 

Oh God, the size of that thing was enough to turn this area into a wasteland if it crashed! 

Draco had a smile on his face and he waited until the guild member in charge of managing the entire sea route, Cold Summer, appeared on the airship with a surprised expression. 

He greeted Draco and Eva with respect.
Before asking what was going on. 

”Cold Summer, you have done a great job dealing with this problem over the past few months, but there is no longer a need to stress yourself.
Keep the sea trade as it is and transport those that can't be carted over with this airship. ”  Draco began with a smile. 

”It is able to defend itself, it is powered through Worldly Energy, can increase its speed for a short while, and can change its size at will.
It is large enough that no matter how many goods are brought over, it should be able to handle them with ease. ” Eva finished calmly. 

Cold Summer was shocked.
The Guildmaster and the Lady Boss were giving them this huge airship? That was incredible! 

”Of course, this is only a temporary loan.
This is, after all, the personal airship of my clan and can only be managed by one of us.
I will leave an Avatar here to manage this airship until you are able to get the route below under full working capacity. ” Draco warned. 

All the group needed was more sh.i.p.s. 

If 30,000 sh.i.p.s could fill 40% of capacity, then a 100,000 should be enough to create an equilibrium! Purchasing so many sh.i.p.s was not easy, and some of the sh.i.p.s they bought were not as good as the ones Draco made. 

The ones made by him were mostly done with top-tier Shipwright assistants who took heavy salaries, but boasted exemplary speed and quality. 

It was only a matter of time till that amount was reached, so the airship could be used until then.
Since the next Unique Quest was a tower climb, the White-Haired Duo doubted they would need the airship 

As such, they could loan it out.
Even if they needed it back, the avatar Draco could make with his new Ultima Sunt skill shared the same inventory, so the avatar could simply place the airship within and Draco could withdraw it wherever he was. 

Both then left Cold Summer to his business, but the fellow obviously looked like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
The pressure from all sides had even made a stoic fellow like this feel stress, so anyone else might have long crumbled. 

This made Draco and Eva sure that it was a good idea to choose Cold Summer specifically, for the fellow was truly able to stand tall amidst adversity. 

As they flew in the air leisurely, the two chatted. 

”Well, it's about time we start the Unique Quest, right? Everything seems to have been taken care of, and only needs time to consolidate.
We can use this time to see this Tower of Babylon and see what goodies we can get from it. ” Draco suggested with interest. 

Eva nodded.
”Yeah, I don't think there's much else to do.
While I would like to find Susanoo and take the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, he is a True God in this game and I don't have nearly enough power to beat him. ” 

Just as they were flying, they suddenly received a call from Cobra.
Upon accepting it, they saw that the fellow had an enraged expression on his face, as if he had suffered an injustice and couldn't hold it in anymore. 

”Boss Draco, Lady Boss Eva, there is some troublemaker here giving us a headache! ” Cobra complained with a puffed-up face. 

The White-Haired Duo paused in the sky with deep frowns.
It should be impossible for Umbra to eat any loss in any field.
No player or NPC could cause them trouble or would dare to cause them trouble, so what was going on? 

”What's happening? Give us the full rundown. ” Eva ordered. 

Cobra took a deep breath to calm himself and spoke.
”Sorry for the rush, let me start over properly.
A player came to the Rank 7 Guild Hall with his name and identity concealed, then proceeded to challenge our members to a Tradeskill competition. ” 

”Of course, we didn't pay him much attention at first, but he then went to Vita Kingdom, where he challenged all our affiliated Tradeskill crafters, defeating each and every one of them brutally. ” 

Cobra's face changed at this point.
”He seems to be able to master any Tradeskill as long as he watches someone perform it once, and that was how he managed to beat those he fought against, no matter in what area.
We then couldn't ignore this, so we sent out Tradeskill guild members from the basic to the expert grade, but he defeated them all systematically. ” 

Draco and Eva were shocked.
What kind of monstrous talent was this? Able to master Tradeskills at a glance? 

Hm, wait.
Come to think of it, they actually knew a player like that from the previous timeline.
However, he wasn't supposed to join the game until around the time Draco would have entered his edgelord mode, which should be about 5-in game years away. 

Could it be? 

”What else? ” Draco asked. 

”Well, he is currently fighting against Happy Saint and Noble Writer, but the two are having a tough time with him.
It seems to be a stalemate so far, which is why I have contacted you! ” Cobra answered immediately, shaking his head. 

”Roger that, we'll be there soon.
For the time being, treat him nicely if you can, we might know who he is. ” Draco informed Cobra with a smile. 

This surprised the assassin, but he nodded and cut the call to implement Draco's orders.
In the meantime, the White-Haired Duo shared a look then smirked. 

”Harrumph, that fellow is already at it again.
In the previous timeline, I had been unable to beat him, forced to suffer endlessly abuse under his skills, but now it is HIS turn to be shamed by ME! ” Draco proclaimed arrogantly. 

Eva sighed.
”If he had simply gone into hiding to acc.u.mulate more proficiency in this timeline, he could at least pose some threat.
However, he dared to come out and cause such high-profile trouble… ” 

Draco hmphed coldly.
”That fellow is too arrogant, and cannot act low-profile.
I have always told him to be like me, humble and never one to toot my own horn, but does he listen? No! ” 

… alright, Eva took some damage for that and lost 30 points of HP. 

The White-Haired Duo then mounted Luxia and appeared above Vita Kingdom the next instant.
They noticed that there was a large crowd in the inner section that surrounded the Tradeskill Association's branch in the city. 

From there, Draco and Eva could even see what was going on, as one fellow who was cloaked from head to toe in purple-white robes was facing off against an older man who had metallic arms and a young man who wore glasses and had a scholarly air about him. 

However, it was clear that the two were suffering to keep up under the oppression of the cloaked fellow.