Chapter 368: The Choice

After this Holy Grail War, the Holy Grail World would connect with the city and begin its conquest there.

From then on, their primary target users would be the players.

Therefore, it didn’t matter whether the Knight Order or the Merlin Company won; what truly mattered was the behavior the players exhibited as a result.

Developing virtual instances was all about gathering better intelligence on the players. The goal was to understand their behavioral patterns, analyze their traits, and then build adequate business models to better serve them.

To put it more bluntly, it was all about making money.

They had already encountered Abyss Coins. This currency had widespread use in the Abyss and was also of extreme importance to this world.

Abyss Coins could be physical or digital. They could be a simple string of numbers, yet they could also contain immense Energy. A single Abyss Coin provided a vast amount of Magic Power, and the secret to their creation was known only to the city’s administrators.

The management team was well aware of the intentions of this world’s higher-ups, but they didn’t mind their actions.

After all, the management team also served the players. The higher-ups’ actions helped add new goods to the city and gave players more purchasing channels, so they didn’t mind them taking such measures.

Thus, born from the demands of various parties, this Holy Grail War came into existence.

Conspiracies, profits, power plays among the higher-ups, the road to the future… a myriad of complex interests ultimately intertwined on this chessboard, forming a Holy Grail War that was both unconventional and yet, perfectly orthodox.

After the free-roam period on the third day, Duan Fei and his teammates finished compiling the day’s intelligence. They knew things were about to get a lot tougher.

Sales of the Magic Source had hit a bottleneck. The promotional effects of newspapers and magazines had temporarily reached their limit, which meant they needed a new avenue for publicity.

The Knight Order, on the other hand, had likely used action points to unlock street graffiti as a new form of promotion. This graffiti meshed perfectly with the “doomer” culture inspired by the Magic Stickers, causing disillusioned youths to flock to their side.

After they reviewed the intel, Duan Fei couldn’t help but ask, “What’s our next move?”

“Let’s just go and waste all those kids!” Flora said, raising her hand. “Think about it. Our target customers are major factories and industrial businesses. Those unemployed young people aren’t our clients; they’re the competition’s. So, if we just eliminate all of them, the problem is solved.”

Lone Ranger gasped in shock.

‘I can’t believe it. Flora looks so small, yet her soul is so full of wickedness!’

What he hadn’t expected even more was that a part of him actually agreed. He even started thinking about the most efficient way to do it.

‘I was never this depraved before!’

‘Capitalism is truly a terrifying thing. I’ve only been standing in the shoes of a tycoon for a few hours, and I’m already starting to think like one, treating people like disposable raw materials.’

‘This is wrong. This is so wrong.’

Wang Er was also beginning to have second thoughts.

Upon hearing Flora’s suggestion, he’d had the same thought as Lone Ranger before abruptly snapping back to his senses.

But his thoughts went deeper than Lone Ranger’s. Realizing his own moral stance was wavering, he immediately wondered if he would do the same thing in a similar situation in the real world.

To his dismay, Wang Er realized he probably would.

‘This is a business deal that affects the entire world. To achieve victory, I really would do something like that.’

In that moment, Wang Er realized he was just a mortal. His previous composure only existed because he had always stayed within his comfort zone, which he had never stepped out of.

‘Once outside it, I see that my composure and calm aren’t nearly as solid as I thought.’

Heaving a long sigh, he was the first to speak. “I disagree.”

“Why not? It’s a great idea!” Flora said, annoyed. “Besides, this is just a virtual instance. It doesn’t matter.”

“That’s not the point. I just know that if I do this here, the real me would be capable of doing it too. By refusing now, I’m setting a baseline for my fragile morality. It’s so if I ever face the same situation again, I’ll remember the choice I made here.”

Wang Er’s answer left Flora a little confused, but it allowed Duan Fei and the others to understand his conviction.

Clapping his hands, Duan Fei said, “All right, I understand. I don’t recommend we do it either, even though it would be highly effective.”

Wang Er shot Duan Fei a grateful look and said softly, “Thank you.”

Duan Fei held the actual command of the team. If he had insisted on the plan, Wang Er would have had no choice but to follow.

But now, Duan Fei was willing to abandon the plan out of consideration for him. Wang Er made a mental note of the favor.

Drawing everyone’s attention, Duan Fei followed their usual routine. He handed the cards they had obtained from the day’s free exploration to Jinghong, who would then select the ones that were guaranteed to succeed.

Thirty action points meant they could take more actions.

Today’s Action Cards were mainly focused on disruption.

They included cards to interfere with the enemy’s ad campaigns and disrupt their production lines.

After some discussion, they all unanimously decided to first use an Action Card called “Know Action.”

This card could randomly reveal several actions the opponent had previously taken, allowing them to choose one and copy its effect.

Because its effect was so overpowered, the card’s success rate was a mere 10%, and it cost 10 points to use.

If not for Jinghong, they would never have chosen this Action Card.

But now… ‘It feels so good to have a cheat!’

They used the card immediately. The whole group saw several translucent cards materialize, each one representing a card the Knight Order had previously used.

Their opponents’ luck wasn’t half bad, either. The card effects they’d gotten were all quite good—improbably good, in fact, to a degree that defied statistical common sense.

Recalling the Legendary Level item possessed by the Madhouse, Duan Fei thought about the formulas from the [Factory of the Nameless]. Some of them were probably meant to increase luck.

“Well, well. Looks like we’re not the only ones cheating here.”

Knowing the other side was cheating too made Duan Fei feel much more at ease.

As he looked through their opponent’s cards, Duan Fei’s eyes settled on one in particular.

“Fluorescent Factory… So, this must be the source of their glowing ads.”

‘So, what’s our next move?’