Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree-Chapter 185 - 179: The Trade between Players and Dwarfs

Chapter 185 -179: The Trade between Players and Dwarfs

It wasn’t just those mysterious beings secretly discussing “big plans” who were at a loss for words.

In the Divine Country, Eve’s True God Avatar sat high on her throne, browsing the official forum conjured before her, equally speechless for a long time…

“[Pinned Post] How to maximize efficiency in trafficking goods without affecting the ‘Dark Dwarves’ reputation tasks.”

“Common bargaining techniques—specific for dwarves.”

“[818] A member of the First Legion Guild, ‘XXX,’ nearly ruined an entire reputation task just for equipment!”

“[Featured Post] Important considerations when communicating with Dark Dwarves, and how to quickly get along with them.”

“[Featured Post] A list of Black Rock City specialties and their selling locations.”

“Coordinates of Dwarven traffickers, and how to sell yourself for a good price.”

“[Daily Log] I started a pyramid scheme in the underground.”

…

Eve: …

Ever since players flooded into the underground city of the Dark Dwarves, all sorts of strange posts began appearing on the forum.

Eve realized that she had underestimated the players.

Unlike the elves, the Dark Dwarves were not Eve’s believers.

Because of the lack of faith connection to the game system, Eve couldn’t materialize their favorability as she could with the elves. She didn’t have a quest system template, nor could she prohibit players from attacking dwarves as she did with natural believers. Thus, her ability to restrain the players was significantly reduced.

Fortunately, due to the preconceived notion of friendliness and the constraints of reputation tasks, the players did not treat the dwarves as enemies. Although they often engaged in mischief, at least there wasn’t the situation Eve feared most, where everyone was slashing at anyone they saw.

Of course, the fact they had to unequip items when entering the city was one reason. Players weren’t yet at the level where they could take on dwarves bare-handed.

But even though Eve restrained the players in the form of reputation tasks, once they interacted with the Dark Dwarves, their antics never seemed to end…

There were those who stole things, those who deceived others, and worse, players who exploited death to scam items. Luckily for Eve, the Dark Dwarves did not understand usury; otherwise, she’d be witnessing a scene of a large group of elves borrowing money at high interest and then committing suicide on the spot…

As for mixing counterfeit goods in flour when trading with dwarves, that had become standard procedure. Dema, having spotted the business opportunity, even left the toilet to start a pyramid scheme in the Underworld!

It’s said he relied on the vast pyramid scheme knowledge he found on the Blue Star Network. Using a batch of fruits found everywhere in the Elf Forest as products, he developed nearly a hundred downlines among the Dark Dwarves in just one day, and he kept expanding, earning a considerable amount of universal currency…

Afterward, he used this currency to purchase a large number of magical materials unique to Black Rock City and resold them to the elves of the Flame Tribe, earning a significant amount of contribution points and accidentally increasing the favorability of several elf NPCs by selling magic materials cheaply…

Once he tasted success, a few other players saw the business opportunity and followed suit. Although they weren’t as persuasive as he was, they each made a small profit…

However, the dwarves weren’t fools; some people were already faintly beginning to sense that something was off.

Although they hadn’t exposed it yet, Eve could almost envision the scene of dwarves waking up and chasing after those players.

It was foreseeable that it was only a matter of time before Dema became the least welcome elf in Black Rock City…

This left Eve at her wit’s end.

*Does this guy not consider the consequences when he’s courting death?*

Actually, he wasn’t the only one courting death, but everyone else was relatively more restrained.

After all… courting death was a human instinct, and without the pressure of death, humans could come up with countless tricks.

And as for the races in the Underworld, it wasn’t like there were no dwarves who planned to play dirty against the players, and some even considered taking the chance to capture a few elves and sell them on the Underworld’s black market.

However…

What happened next was quite dramatic…

A few dwarves indeed planned to kidnap an elf, but at the last moment, the target escaped.

This made them very nervous for a while, worrying about elf retaliation, and they were ready to hide. But instead of revenge, they were met with business from the elves…

Suddenly, an elf found them, wanting to do a big deal, to sell a batch of elf slaves!

This left those dwarves, akin to city underworld gangs, utterly dumbfounded.

Elves… selling elves?

Then, after spending a lot of money to buy those elves, the newly purchased elves all committed suicide, leaving the dwarven traffickers instantly bankrupt…

Soon after, other dwarf slavers in Black Rock City encountered similar business, as elves came to them in droves…

The results were all the same.

Not long after, none dared to target these elves anymore.

And those eyeing the players’ gains, attempting to ambush them outside the city, were counter-killed by the elves.

They were shocked to find that once these elves started fighting, they became incredibly fierce. And when they engaged one, a group quickly ran over… they couldn’t figure out how they communicated.

There was no chance of winning, and begging for mercy was useless.

However, the players weren’t very interested in attacking the Dark Dwarves.

Because after killing the dwarves, they gained no experience, at most a little “loot.”

The issue was… these robbing dwarves were often dirt poor.

Overall… the elves hadn’t completely shattered their characters among the Dark Dwarves, but… compared to their legendary image, it was nearly a total reversal.

Fortunately, overall, the Dark Dwarves still had a positive opinion of the players.

The higher-ups of Black Rock City weren’t blind to the minor frictions, but overall, they chose to turn a blind eye and move on.

In the Underworld, where strength ruled, if a backstabbed party ended up eliminated, they could only blame themselves for being unlucky.

But what surprised the Dark Dwarves was that these elves weren’t stubborn; they actually managed to adapt to the survival rules of the Underworld!

The dwarves noticed that even when elves were killed in confrontations outside the city, these elves wouldn’t come to their doors for accountability.

This led quite a few to regard the players in a better light.

Because… the players’ behavior aligned perfectly with the Underworld’s belief that strength ruled everything.

Of course, while there were minor frictions, overall, the interactions between both sides were still filled with goodwill.

The players still respected the reputation evaluations of neutral NPCs set by Eve.

So… even though they were wild, the players still maintained their limits.

Not to mention, the few who initially exploited death to scam equipment were quickly stopped by other players.

And as more players flooded in, gradually… the dwarves got used to these peculiar elves roaming around.

After all, they were only there for business, and their overall demeanor was good. Coupled with the traditional image boost of the Elf Clan, though the dwarves found these elves bizarre, over time… they accepted them.

The influx of players brought a wealth of products from the Elf Forest, objectively improving the lives of the Dark Dwarves, so overall, despite the frictions, they were quite welcomed by the dwarves.

Conversely, some of the dwarves’ products were well-received by the players.

Especially the steam guns, a weapon similar to Blue Star’s firearms, which piqued the players’ curiosity, and many traded for them, intending to test their effects back home.

It’s rumored that a few weapon enthusiasts from the “Mengmeng Committee” even planned to modify the dwarves’ steam guns to see if they could come up with Blue Star’s firearms…

Additionally… players also got hold of alcohol from the dwarves!

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As in many Western fantasy works, the dwarves of the Segis World also loved good wine, and the players were quite interested in the alcohol in the game.

However, after trying it, the players found that the dwarves’ wine lacked flavor.

At least… it was far inferior to some Tianchao wines.

It made sense since, unlike surface dwarves, the underground Dark Dwarves lacked the grains necessary for brewing. Often, their alcohol was bought from human caravans, and those treacherous human caravans always sold them inferior wine.

While there were some of good quality, those were reserved for the influential dwarves. What players could buy in the taverns was mostly the lowest-grade barley beer.

Having had their taste refined by the various alcoholic beverages of Blue Star, players naturally turned their noses up at this barley beer that tasted even worse than regular beer.

In fact, some lifestyle-oriented players had long planned to brew alcohol, but while the Elf Forest was rich in resources, it lacked the right grains for brewing. There were plenty of fruits, and some players had tried brewing fruit wine, but it always felt like something was missing.

However, after obtaining some crops, players had begun searching for brewing techniques online, and success seemed only a matter of time…

When that time came… presumably, there’d be yet another product to sell to the dwarves.

The dwarves’ minerals and magical materials remained quite attractive, whether for forging equipment, repairing gear, or infrastructure—all very useful.

Some players had already calculated that if trade with the dwarves could be established, they could develop their own forging masters, saving some costs on repairs or equipment exchange in their daily expenses.

Eve didn’t stop these enterprises but rather welcomed them.

And as exchanges continued, Black Rock City among the dwarves gradually became a place for players to stay in the Underworld.

In the vast underground cave, one side of the underground river was the base of the Dark Dwarves, while the other side was the forest inhabited by Demon Beasts.

Those Demon Beasts and monsters occasionally harassed the dwarves, causing them quite a headache.

However, if they wanted to wipe out those monsters completely, the dwarves didn’t have the guts for it.

The entire Black Rock City had only a few thousand people, with even fewer capable of fighting. After all, the dwarves weren’t like the Half-Beastmen, where everyone was a soldier. If they really fought with Demon Beasts, the casualties would be immense…

Of course, another reason was that these Underground Demonic Beasts were not only fierce and resilient but also lacked materials worth harvesting. Fighting them was simply not worth it.

However, the players surged into the Underground Forest, launching a hunt against the Demon Beasts!

The Dark Dwarves were puzzled by this, not understanding why these strange elves were so interested in battling the Demon Beasts.

But puzzled or not, they were happy to see it happen.

Having someone willing to take action against the Demon Beasts lurking nearby was nothing but good news for the dwarves.

Yet, as time passed, a group of people grew increasingly restless.