In the end, Clearhead and the other six collected their coins and managed to pay 300 gold coins for all of them. Jack was surprised. These Corporate United members were rather wealthy.
Clearhead again cursed the others who had lost their lives. They had also lost their belongings when they died, forcing Clearhead and the others to fork out the coins. He told them that he expected them to return the coins with interest.
Straightpole followed the others with an empty gaze. His spirit had been utterly crushed. Jack felt bad when he saw it. He thought about going and giving the guy some encouraging words, but after further thought, he concluded it would just do more harm than good.
After the Corporate United people left, Jack turned to Sonny, who was eyeing him with suspicion.
"So, you are also from a powerful guild? Your intention of coming here is the same as theirs? You want to take over our operation?" Sonny asked.
"I honestly only find out about your operation today," Jack said. "But as you see, there is no way for you to keep this operation a secret. The words are out already. One of the sharks has come. There will be more."
"So, are you saying it is better to hand over this place to your guild then? After all the hard work we did here?"
"No, I think your guild has done a bang-up job managing this place. I doubt my guild can do it better. What I'm proposing is cooperation."
"Cooperation?"
Jack nodded. "We provide protection and trainers. No offense to you people, but we have better fighters. We can better power-level these trainees. We will also station people up there at the plateau, keeping unwanted intruders away. We can also protect the trainees that are being chaperoned here. All you need to do is continue the management inside the hub and also look for clients in cities."
"And how do you propose we share the profits?"
"Half-half," Jack said. "I think that is a fair offer. With our channels, we can open access to other countries for you. That way, we can easily increase our client counts by many folds. Even with fifty percent profits, I believe you will see more coins than you currently enjoy."
Sonny seemed to seriously consider the proposal.
Jack added, "The most important thing is, you don't have to worry about getting attacked like just now again."
That seemed to hammer in the point. If Growth Aid Agency insisted on keeping this operation to themselves, they risked losing it altogether. They had no choice but to partner up with a strong guild. What better choice than the number one guild in the country?
"I… I will talk with our leader," Sonny said.
Jack nodded. From Sonny's expression, Jack saw that he knew partnering up was the only solution. Jack sent him a friend request.
"You… You are Storm Wind? The so-called strongest player in this country?" Sonny said after seeing Jack's name from his Friend request.
"I am called that? Hehe, that's flattering," Jack said. "Message service is blocked down here. Come with me up there. I will connect you to my associates. Our two guilds can talk it out on the details of our cooperation."
"All right, let's use the exit. Which one do you prefer? Fighting or puzzle?" Sonny asked.
"Too time-consuming, I will carry you up there directly," Jack said.
"Carry me up? How do…," Sonny's words were interrupted when Jack blew a red whistle and a raging flame appeared beside them. A scary-looking fiery horse emerged from the flame.
Jack climbed Pandora and offered Sonny to climb behind him. Sonny was hesitant. The fire horse looked truly scary. But he steeled himself and dismissed the fear in his heart. He climbed behind Jack.
"Hold tight. Hold really tight," Jack advised.
Sonny didn't understand but he did as he was told. When Jack felt Sonny's firm hold on his waist. He gave Pandora the go signal.
Pandora rushed to the cliff wall with speed. Sonny, who saw that they were about to crash into the wall at high speed, was screaming his heart out. Not only he, but some among the crowds that were still there also screamed when they saw the scene.
But Pandora didn't crush into the wall, she jumped to the wall and started running vertically. The people who watched on the ground no longer utter any noise. They just looked at the incredible scene as Pandora ran through the straight wall as if it was flat ground. Sonny was still screaming though. His scream continued to echo as he and Jack slowly went out of sight.
Pandora jumped out from the valley and landed on the plateau above. Sonny was all white. Jack just left him be. It took him almost a full minute before he could speak again.
The two then came down from Pandora and Jack started to send messages to John and Jeanny. Sonny did the same with his leader.
The messaging went on for quite some time. Jack explained to his two fellow guild leaders about the situation. John was very happy because if this operation worked out, they would settle the coin upkeep problem needed to support building a large army of high-class units. John reprimanded Jack for not asking for a larger portion of the profit. Jack scolded him back and threatened the guy to not try to extort the other party for more than the fifty percent share Jack had promised.
After this long-ranged discussion, it was agreed that Jeanny and John would arrange a meeting with Tim, the leader of the Growth Aid Agency, tomorrow in Thereath. Sonny would be joining the meeting since he had first-hand experience of when Corporate United came invading. He thought that he needed to be there to convince his leader into accepting this cooperation.
In the meantime, Jeanny sent a group of players to secure the place as a show of goodwill. They already had several magic class players who also possessed Float spells. So, they could get into the valley safely. Jack gave her his current coordinates, so those players could go into the valley from this spot. Hence, they would arrive right next to the hub.
"What are you planning to do inside the valley anyway?" Sonny asked. After seeing how Pandora could exit the valley easily. He now believed Jack's story.
"I'm looking for a place inside the valley guarded by this beast," Jack said while summoning Therras.
"Holy balls…!" Sonny had a jump when Therras appeared. "You truly have multiple classes as the rumors say. I still can hardly believe it."
"Have you seen a beast like this during your time down there?"
"I told you already that we don't wander far from the hub, right? But now that you mention it, I remember my leader told me a story about how he saw a cave guarded by a fearsome beast. He tried entering the cave a few times because he thought that cave might be an exit, but he was always killed in his attempts. He then gave up and went to look for another way."
"He didn't tell you the way to that place?" Jack asked. After hearing Sonny's story about his leader wandering for one year inside the valley, Jack was not eager to go back down without a direction.
Pandora neighed loudly when they were talking.
"She said is that why you come back to the valley? She asked you why you want to go back there?" Peniel translated.
"Oh, right! Madam Pandora, you are from there, right? That means you know the way, don't you?" Jack asked.
Pandora huffed and neighed again.
"She said of course she knows, but she doesn't like the place."
"Great! Please take me there. Don't worry, I won't let you get imprisoned again."
Sonny felt weird seeing Jack talk to the flaming horse. But then again, everything about Jack was unusual. He said goodbye to Jack and used his Town Return Scroll. He wanted to discuss the matter with his leader before tomorrow's meeting.
After Sonny was gone, Jack climbed back to Pandora and returned to the valley. He saw the players have returned to grinding the shadows after arriving down there. He didn't pay them any more heed and resumed his journey. This time, he let Pandora lead the way.
Pandora didn't follow the cliff wall. She just rushed into the abyss, which concerned Jack. He worried they might get lost. He was not keen on spending one year down here. Pandora couldn't escape this valley if there was no cliff for her to climb.
Peniel sensed Jack's worry. She told him not to worry. A Nightmare was a steed that could pass through planes, so the space irregularity in this valley won't hinder her.
True to her words, Jack soon saw a cliff wall ahead of them. Not only that, he saw the familiar opening on the wall and the Therras Beast who was lazing on the ground near it.
Jack jumped down and unsummoned Pandora. He walked brazenly towards the Therras Beast. The beast noticed his approach and stood up.
Jack readied his weapons and walked toward the beast with confidence. But when he was near, he sensed the mana surrounding this Therras Beast was not one that was weak. He used his Inspect.
*
Therras Beast (Rare Elite monster, Beast), level 70
HP: 750.000
