Chapter 372: "Get Rich Together"
The underground world, vast and deep.
Many dark and hidden unknown spaces exist, housing various creatures of the underground.
The Dwarven Kingdom, on good terms with humans.
The cunning drow elves' many city-states.
The massive gnoll nest known as the Forgotten Nest.
The Illithid Empire, hidden deep within the underworld.
And even the rumored Hidden Dragon Kingdom.
These are just the major forces known to humans that occupy vast swathes of land.
There are countless nests of dangerous creatures of all sizes hidden across the underground world.
Although this was an entrance, it was still some distance away from truly reaching the underground world.
Yaya happily dug around in the cave, searching for rubies in the cracks of the stones.
The love for gold and jewels was engraved in the bones of dragons.
If not for the tight space, Yaya might have reverted to her true form and dug the place up completely.
"A few days ago, the drow elves attacked the Dwarven Kingdom."
"The Arcane Gazette didn't place much emphasis on it, but it's the beginning of something no one expects."
"The turbulence in the underground world must have already started..."
In Matthew's original plan, there was no intention of immediately getting involved with the underground world.
Though the underground held abundant resources and minerals, it also posed great dangers.
A slight misstep could turn into a disaster of underworld forces invading the surface.
By then, the entire territory would face a grave threat.
Compared to the potential risks, the gains seemed insufficient.
However, the territory's development had exceeded Matthew's expectations, growing even stronger than he had planned.
Matthew thought of the adventurers who had recently been taking it easy.
With the Karl Plains back to peace, the enthusiasm for carrying out tasks had begun to dwindle.
That wouldn't do!
"They've been resting for over a month now, and they've learned plenty of specialties and skills."
"They've likely spent most of their money too. It's time to get back to work!"
Resolving himself, Matthew came up with a new plan. He waved at Yaya, who had found two more rubies. He spoke as she looked longingly at the gems:
"Haha, don't worry. How many rubies can you dig up on your own?"
"With adventurers helping, you'll have plenty of rubies soon enough."
Yaya's eyes brightened, her love for gold awakening as she curiously asked:
"Why not let kobolds do it then? Aren't they cheaper?"
Shaking his head with a smile, Matthew explained to Yaya as they walked out:
"For building the territory, we must train our own talents as much as possible."
"Work like this that can be outsourced can be given to adventurers, who are more transient."
"The significance of adventurers to our Bay Territory is to tackle tougher tasks and help gather intelligence."
"Once we have the relevant intelligence, we can prepare for the enemy's weaknesses."
Having experienced the benefits of 'planning before action' many times, Yaya nodded in understanding, holding up the ruby as she said:
"Got it! The adventurers work for us, and we pay them."
"They mine resources for us, and with the money we pay them, they buy weapons and equipment made from those resources."
"They profit, and we profit as well..."
Impressed by Yaya's remarkable understanding, Matthew praised her without reservation:
"Well said. The reason we can attract more and more outstanding adventurers is that we haven't touched their slice of the pie, unlike some others."
"Other forces may not be so considerate!"
Through her conversation with Matthew, Yaya took another significant step in her growth and management skills.
February 1st.
Bay Territory.
Clear skies.
In the training camp next to the barracks.
Many adventurers were seizing the time to train.
Numerous adventurers had accumulated months of achievements to learn certain specialties and skills provided by the training camp.
The excellent training results of the camp had already earned the approval of all adventurers.
Many of them worked hard on missions to learn these specialties.
Generally speaking.
Basic specialties required about 100 achievement points.
Low-tier adventurers needed about a month of tasks to accumulate the points.
Intermediate specialties required 1,000 achievement points.
Even mid-tier adventurers needed about two months to accumulate enough.
Advanced specialties, being rare and powerful, required ten times that amount.
High-ranking professionals needed at least three months to gather enough points.
Unless a territory emergency task appeared.
For this reason, most adventurers were highly enthusiastic about emergency tasks from the territory.
These represented rewards far beyond ordinary tasks, along with more achievements.
However, emergency tasks rarely occurred and had no fixed pattern. It was all about luck.
So, what to do then?
Adventurers would usually follow the bulletin board by the city gate for directive tasks.
These offered the highest rewards, aside from emergency tasks.
Plus, they could also take advantage of benefits provided by Bay Territory.
However, what disappointed the adventurers was that directive tasks generally rotated every few months.
For instance, capturing trolls and barbarians, or resettling refugees and hunting orcs.
Now, only capturing trolls and barbarians remained; the other two had been removed.
As everyone awaited new directive tasks.
The announcement "Digging Ruby Mines" appeared at the top of the adventurer's guild hall.
Task details were as follows:
An adventurer discovered a ruby vein in Troll Valley.
The environment is dangerous, and the mining is challenging. The territory is now hiring a specialized mining team.
Profit distribution:
All rubies excavated will be bought by the territory at their original and market value.
The mining team gets a 20% purchasing privilege.
The territory will take 50% of the profit, the mining team 40%, and the remaining 10% will be used to maintain mine security and the environment.
Current price for high-quality rubies:
Small ruby: 10 gold coins each.
Medium ruby: 100 gold coins each.
Large ruby: 500 gold coins each.
Once the task's authenticity was confirmed, hundreds of adventurers immediately signed up.
Some called upon their teams and quickly traveled through the teleportation array to Troll Valley camp and the troll fortress.
The entire Bay Territory's adventurers were quickly in an uproar!
"Will that mine even fit that many people?"
Steward Ralph watched the adventurers bustling about and glanced at the number of sign-ups before continuing:
"Won't all the adventurers end up going there?"
Shaking his head with a smile, Matthew replied calmly:
"I've already arranged for its expansion. It will accommodate 4,000 adventurers working simultaneously."
"But it's not just about getting them to dig rubies. Opening up that underground space is the real priority."
"For well-established teams, they'll join once they see the results."
"And not all adventurers qualify or have the ability to participate in the mining."