Chapter 652.5: Starting a Side Hustle
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Slaves fell in droves. Blood flowed down the slope.
The tide kept coming but couldn't break through.
This stunned the nearby drow.
Many were dumbfounded—who knew Azshara's crossbows were this powerful?
Even more shocking—massed volleys created such devastating force.
Drow who had traded for them yesterday quickly copied the setup.
The bolts tore through armored slaves with ease.
The drow achieved great results.
"Where'd they get those crossbows?!"
"Traded from Azshara, duh!"
"They're that good?!"
"Of course! Enchanted crossbows! I paid dearly for mine!"
"Ha! Good thing I bought a hundred. I'll buy even more after this fight..."
"With these, we can hold out longer..."
"..."
The drow commanders of every major city immediately turned their eyes toward Azshara's defenses.
Seeing the formidable power of those crossbows, various thoughts surged in their minds.
Watching the slowly advancing slave warriors, Sera wasn't anxious at all.
She patiently continued to demonstrate the might of the enchanted crossbows. As magical communication updates came in, a subtle smile played at the corners of her lips.
Famir, who had rushed over, was rapidly tallying the data. A glint of surprise and excitement flashed in her eyes as she couldn't wait to report:
"So far, four Drow Elf commanders have sent messages."
"All of them are orders to purchase enchanted crossbows. The largest order exceeds 500 units, totaling 1,500 crossbows. At a cost of 150 gold coins each, the total value is 225,000 gold coins."
"Our set price is 20 grams of Adamantine, 36 grams of Mithril, and 40 grams of Magisteel per crossbow—totaling 16,000 gold coins each."
"They all chose to pay with Adamantine and hope to complete the transaction as soon as today's battle ends."
"These ordering commanders are all ones we've previously done business with..."
A crossbow costing 150 gold coins.
Sold for just 16,000 gold coins!
Compared to other deals with over a thousandfold profit, this one's markup of a little over 100 times is practically a charity price!
A total of 1,500 crossbows—worth 24 million gold coins!
That's equivalent to half of Bay Territory's monthly income!
This is already a massive fortune!
And most of it is pure profit—the cost is nearly negligible.
But Sera wasn't fully satisfied with this number.
Glancing at the destroyed outposts trampled by the slave warriors in the distance, she sneered and said:
"There are over 160 Drow Elf cities in total. How can there be only four orders?"
"These folks are trying to play tricks. In that case, notify those who placed orders..."
Sera paused instinctively, her deep eyes gleaming with unrestrained excitement, and said firmly:
"If they're willing to pay an additional 10 grams of Adamantine per crossbow—or the equivalent in other rare metals—we can deliver the crossbows immediately."
"Given the intensity of the battle, I'm sure they desperately need these enchanted crossbows."
"We'll just suffer a little, bring the goods over, help them ease their crisis, and earn a little hardship pay..."
Hardship pay?
That's just a straight-up 50% price hike!
"Even the richest Drow Elves couldn't possibly accept such terms, right?"
"Unless they've gone mad!"
Famir resisted the urge to speak and calmly followed Sera's orders, replying to each of the commanders who had sent in orders.
Unexpectedly, within just two or three breaths of time after the messages were sent, replies came back instantly.
They all agreed!
A stunned Famir reached up and touched her forehead.
"Alright, I must be the one who's crazy!"
Sera, pleased by the affirmative replies, raised her eyebrows cheerfully and turned to Gatel behind her, who was raring to go:
"Showtime! Take the goods and move out!"
Facing the battlefield not far ahead, Gatel nodded with boundless excitement. His eyes gleamed with undisguised bloodlust as he waved to the Catachan warriors behind him:
"Take the goods—move out!"
Twenty tall, burly Catachan warriors charged out with fearless resolve under the curious gazes of many adventurers.
Just as the slave warriors halfway up the hill were about to push forward, they ran straight into ten gleaming dark ghost blades!
Deadly single-edged blades sliced through two rows of slave warriors like tofu.
They didn't even have time to struggle before being cleaved in half.
As the front line of Catachan warriors finished their swings, the next row followed up immediately.
Snap!
Another batch of slave warriors fell like sugarcane.
The over-three-meter-long ghost blades were effortlessly wielded one-handed by the dragon-enhanced Catachan warriors. Slaying these ordinary slave warriors was easier than their daily training.
The Catachan warriors didn't pause their steps, hacking their way through the slave army.
They adopted a "guandao formation" style of assault.
One row attacked, the next quickly followed up.
Using their over-four-meter reach, they cut down any slave warriors in the way with ease.
The surrounding gray-brown sea of slave warriors couldn't submerge the red-armored Catachan warriors.
They carved a bloody path right through!
The Drow Elves watching this were visibly shocked.
They knew just how formidable the slave warriors were.
Not even twin-headed ogre warriors or half-giant fighters—literal war machines—could charge through them this easily.
So the reason could only be one: these human slave warriors from Azshara City possessed terrifyingly abnormal combat power.
Under the watchful eyes of countless onlookers, they slashed through from one side of the valley to the other.
A distance of around 300 meters.
They did it in under two minutes—charging through a sea of slave warriors.
In total, they killed over 3,000 slave warriors.
The terrifying kill efficiency made even the Drow Elf commanders watching them furrow their brows unconsciously.
Thankfully, what they feared the most didn't happen.
After reaching the outpost, the Catachan warriors didn't continue climbing, but instead formed a defensive formation to protect the outer perimeter.
Watching them fell the advancing slave warriors, the overly tense Drow Elf soldiers finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Gatel, the strongest among them, effortlessly scaled the seven-to-eight-meter outpost.
Led by Drow soldiers and under the gaze of thousands, he walked toward the nearby Drow commander.
Smelling the heavy stench of blood on him, the Drow commander gestured for Gatel to halt.
Without hesitation, she handed a large sack of Adamantine to a soldier to pass over.
Afraid of death?
No! No!
She just liked cleanliness!
Gatel didn't mind. He casually tapped and verified the Adamantine, then set down the spatial gear holding the enchanted crossbows.
Even though he didn't utter a word, the surrounding Drow soldiers obediently helped inspect and count the goods.
After confirming delivery, the Drow commander forced a smile onto her face.
But before she could say anything, Gatel turned and walked away as if nothing had happened.
As if nothing had occurred here at all.
Except for the bloody footprints and enchanted crossbows left behind for the Drow soldiers.
Gatel and the Catachan warriors once again cleaved their way through the slave army.
Under the astonished gazes of the Drow Elves, they arrived at the second delivery point.
Amid the Drow commander's overly enthusiastic "hospitality," the Catachan warriors "politely" declined and headed to the next delivery.
In just over half an hour...
The Catachan warriors completed their mission, returning to Azshara camp with a record-breaking performance and awe-inspiring presence.
Sera welcomed their triumphant return with open arms.
Famir, standing beside her, rolled her eyes.
Because this shameless "Matron Mother" had noticed...
Not only did the Catachan warriors successfully deliver goods...
They also helped save Drow outposts on the verge of collapse...
And aided Drow reinforcements in reorganizing defenses, halting the slave warrior's follow-up assaults.
Such a shocking performance became the perfect leverage for Sera to launch a new "side business."
"Buy 800 enchanted crossbows at once in Azshara City..."
"And receive 2,000 grams of Adamantine worth of 'fire support.'"
"Fire support is limited—first come, first served!"
The news instantly attracted hordes of Drow commanders.
In just half an hour...
Many commanders placed orders, and the total enchanted crossbows ordered surged past 10,000.
With over 100 kg of rare metals in hand, Sera couldn't stop grinning—her eyes now coin-shaped.
Watching the Catachan warriors bustling across the battlefield, Yaya suddenly felt a bit itchy.
Seeing how each of their deliveries earned them at least 10 grams of Adamantine, she couldn't help but want in on the action.
Matthew understood perfectly, then decisively shut her idea down.
Looking at the corpses of 300,000–400,000 slave warriors strewn across the valley, blood flowing like streams, and feeling the looming pressure ahead, he sneered:
"This is just the appetizer—the main course hasn't even hit the table yet."
Staring longingly at the glittering Adamantine in the bag, Yaya asked curiously:
"Most of the Drow forces are about to collapse. Why haven't they retreated yet?"
"Drow Elves are always afraid of death. Why are they different today?"
Matthew smiled and explained:
"They're indeed afraid of death. But they can't defy the Matron Mother's orders—so they must fight."
"Besides, if you observe closely, most of the casualties are slave warriors. The Drow casualties are much lower."
"That's also why they're still so obedient."
"And with our help, the slave warrior casualties increased massively..."
Yaya nodded thoughtfully, then clapped her little hands and said:
"I get it now. We helped out earlier to protect the Drow Elves as much as possible..."
Just when Matthew thought she'd say something insightful, she suddenly beamed and said:
"We can exploit their fear of death to make them hand over all their valuable stuff!"
The corners of Matthew's mouth twitched. Smiling wryly, he nodded:
"Exactly. That's part of Sera's plan."
"Rather than letting them die and having their centuries of accumulated wealth looted by other Drow\..."
"It's better to give us some 'buy-your-life' money and keep doing business in the future..."
Satisfied with the answer, Yaya nodded and began mentally calculating how much gold she could get from this war to cover her cozy den in glittering treasure...
The flood of slave warriors...
Finally began to visibly thin.
Wiping sweat from her forehead, Triss was maintaining and repairing her enchanted crossbow under Viconia's guidance.
"Maintenance is just as important. It greatly extends their durability..."
"I know that. I learned it from the magical wristwatch earlier."
"You did pretty well earlier—just need to work on your aim..."
"The magic wristwatch says I killed 36 slave warriors earlier—4 more than you."
"Eh, that doesn't matter. It's mostly luck..."
"Then my luck is really good!"
"..."
The usually mouthy Viconia was left speechless in front of Triss. Everyone in the party couldn't help laughing out loud.
Facing their teasing, Viconia's thick skin shone once again. She quickly changed tone and praised Triss:
"Heh, I told you this girl was smart—totally worth training. Now do you believe me?"
The others shrugged, showing no interest in engaging.
If they said anything now, she'd nag them for days!
Tyrael, who had been silent, suddenly spoke softly while staring at the terrifying energy fluctuations in the distance:
"Everyone, stay sharp. The Mind Flayers are coming."
Hearing this, everyone turned instinctively.
They all knew the captain's special ability—he could faintly sense the Mind Flayers' activity and even shared some of their abilities.
If he said this, it meant the dangerous Mind Flayers were really arriving!
As they all prepared for battle, Sera, who had sent out the signal, watched the incoming horde with a smile.
"So you've finally shown yourselves. Otherwise, I really couldn't make a move."
The Underdark quickly issued commands to the ready adventurers:
"Target: Mind Flayer-controlled ruins!"
"Mission: Wipe out Mind Flayer bases and camps!"
"Move out!"
The prepared adventurers surged out en masse.
They couldn't wait to start fighting!
Clear (start) Mind (side) Flayer (business)!
No hesitation!