Chapter 93: Future plans

The president waved his hand, his expression showing that he wasn’t bothered by Arthur’s apology.

"It’s nice to meet you, Darklord. And there’s no need to apologize. As long as you’re safe, everything else is secondary. However, you disappeared without leaving behind any information for five entire days. Do you have any idea how much trouble that caused?"

Arthur smiled awkwardly.

"It’s nice to meet you too, President. I didn’t intentionally disappear. I was occupied with something important and lost track of time. I didn’t expect that I would be unable to contact the outside world."

He wasn’t planning to reveal the existence of the island just yet. Although most of the people present were trustworthy, the island was a top-grade Saint-tier artifact. Such a treasure was too valuable to disclose carelessly, especially since it possessed the ability to conceal its master from True Immortals.

If word of its existence spread, even the most powerful beings might become interested in obtaining it. Moreover, Arthur knew that the current game was far easier to survive in than the real universe. After merging with the inheritance, he was more concerned about the upcoming alien invasion than the merging of the game itself.

The president studied Arthur for a moment before sighing.

"Forget it. What’s done is done. The important thing is that you’ve returned safely. But I hope you can inform us beforehand if something like this happens again. The country is currently facing too many uncertainties for us to afford losing contact with you."

"I understand," Arthur replied with a nod.

Noah finally approached him, looking as though he had aged several years during the past five days. The worry and exhaustion on his face were evident, showing just how much pressure he had been under while trying to locate Arthur.

"Arthur, you can’t imagine how much effort we spent trying to find you. We even considered sending people to search every possible location, but we had absolutely no idea where you could have gone."

Arthur patted his shoulder.

"Sorry for making you worry. I’ll compensate you with a proper meal later."

Noah stared at him in disbelief.

"Do you think food is the problem here?"

"Of course not. But what else can I offer you? A few million Divine Gold?"

Noah’s expression immediately changed.

"Actually, that sounds reasonable."

Arthur burst into laughter, and the tense atmosphere finally began to dissipate. The other cousins couldn’t help smiling as well. Seeing Arthur joking around as usual reassured them that he was perfectly fine.

However, the president wasn’t finished.

"Darklord, there’s something else we need to discuss. Since you’ve returned, I believe it’s time we talked about the country’s current situation."

Arthur’s expression became serious.

"What’s happened?"

The president exchanged glances with the officials standing beside him before answering. They had clearly been waiting for Arthur’s return to discuss this matter, and their expressions showed how desperate they were for a solution.

"We have already designed some fortress cities, but we don’t think we’ll be able to complete them before the game merges with reality. Do you have any solution?" he asked with great expectation.

For the past few days, the officials had been racking their brains alongside the country’s top intellectuals, trying to figure out how to complete the cities as quickly as possible. However, despite their efforts, they hadn’t been able to come up with a workable solution.

They had even contacted the Miller family, hoping to obtain some assistance, but without Arthur, the family couldn’t help them much. As a result, the entire country was desperate for more than one reason.

Arthur thought for a while. He had already anticipated that this problem would arise, and the solution was actually quite simple. The officials were simply overcomplicating things by trying to accomplish everything at once.

"You guys are too relaxed. That’s why you can’t think of anything," Arthur said calmly.

"What do you mean?" one of the army officials asked.

Arthur looked at them seriously.

"You don’t know the risks yet, that’s why you want to achieve what is not important right now. You just need to build the walls first, at least twenty meters tall. Create cities where all the people of Arvia can survive, and note that down. When I say all the people, I literally mean everyone. Even the people living in the slums should have a place there."

He paused briefly before continuing, making sure everyone understood the importance of his words. There was no need to build perfect cities from the beginning. Their immediate priority was to create a place where people could survive the first wave of calamity.

"Build them first to fend off the first wave of calamity. I’ll help you create a one-time barrier above the walls so that avian monsters won’t be able to enter. Believe me, if you fail to do that, the population of Arvia will drop from three hundred million to thirty million in just one month," Arthur said calmly.

His words struck them like a clap of thunder. The officials exchanged horrified glances, while even the president struggled to maintain his composure. They had expected heavy casualties, but losing ninety percent of the country’s population in a single month was beyond their imagination.

"Is it really that serious?" the president asked.

"Don’t ask useless questions. Begin the work. I’ll supply proper weapons for the walls soon. You should all return and start doing what needs to be done," Arthur replied firmly.

"Okay. Thanks. We will leave now," the president said before ordering his men to follow him out.

Though Sofia was reluctant to leave, she was a general and had an important role to play in the upcoming days. She couldn’t afford to waste time, especially when the country’s survival depended on how quickly they prepared for the coming disaster.

"Arthur, rest now. We will meet soon," Sofia said softly before following everyone outside.

Arthur then turned his attention toward his ten cousins. They had been waiting quietly, knowing that he still had important matters to discuss with them before they could return to their respective responsibilities.

"Here is the list of the ten cities ranked in the top ten. Go there and participate in the city lord trials. You should be able to become city lords easily. Remember, these positions are important," Arthur ordered as he threw them some cards containing the details of which city each of them would become the lord of.

"Okay," they all replied in unison without asking any unnecessary questions.

Arthur had already made his decision, and they trusted his judgment. They understood that becoming city lords would be important for their future plans, so none of them questioned his arrangements.

Then Arthur looked at Sebas.

"Be prepared. We may have to leave Aethelgard soon."

The current resources of Aethelgard weren’t enough to protect it, while the resources available in the game were too expensive to use directly. Arthur needed a way to obtain sufficient resources without wasting the treasures he had accumulated.

Therefore, he decided to enter the nearby cosmic system and become a rogue bounty hunter. He wanted to sell game items in the real universe, where their value could be considerably higher. According to the knowledge he had obtained from the inheritance, certain items available in the game shop could be sold for at least ten to twelve times their original price in the universe.

Everyone was stunned by Arthur’s words, but they didn’t ask any questions this time either. They had grown accustomed to his unexpected decisions, and his previous actions had already proven that he usually knew what he was doing.

"As you wish, young master," Sebas replied respectfully.

Arthur now had a spaceship on the island, although it was quite old. However, he could restore it to its former condition if he managed to bring it inside the game. That was his current plan before the game merged with reality.

His immediate goals were to reach one million stat points and enter the universe ahead of time to understand the current situation. The knowledge he possessed from the inheritance was billions of years old, and he couldn’t afford to rely on outdated information when making decisions about the future.

"System, how much would it cost to bring the spaceship inside the game?" Arthur asked.

There were certain restrictions on bringing items from the outside world into the game. If the system determined that an item was above legendary grade and didn’t originate from the game, the user would have to pay a certain amount of money to bring it inside.

According to the spirit, the spaceship was a top-grade Heaven-rank item, which was equivalent to an Epic-grade item in the game. Arthur wasn’t surprised by the classification, but he still needed to know the exact cost before proceeding.

[Ding! 5,000 Divine Gold.]

"Okay. I’m entering the game as well. As for Anastasia, cook some delicious food for the journey in advance."

"As you wish young master. I’ll cook all your favourite dishes.", Anastasia said in an excited tone.

Arthur nodded and closed his eyes and entered the game after 10 second. His next target was the divine blacksmith.