BXBX NOVEL Chapter 149: Real-World Data??
"My matters are not urgent." Sterl smiled slightly, looking at Teresa and the other followers present. "You all performed well this time."
"You did not disappoint me."
As Sterl's words fell, his followers became incredibly excited, shouting enthusiastically, "Mr. David, it is our honor to sacrifice for you!"
"We always knew that with your abilities, those mere family forces would be trampled underfoot sooner or later, but we didn't expect it to happen so quickly!"
"We've long been prepared to lay down our lives for you!"
...
The players' eyes were fervent, and they felt immense relief and gratitude!
Fortunately, Lord David returned just in time, before they had a chance to disclose any information.
Even if they had betrayed David earlier, the families would at most have given them a quick death. But now that David had returned and easily annihilated numerous third-class players with terrifying ease, they were glad they hadn't spoken out.
They thought to themselves that their previous display of unwavering loyalty would now surely lead to their rise to prominence!
Sterl chuckled. He had plenty of resources that he couldn't use up anyway. He might as well take out some to reward these players... However, before he could reach into his inventory for equipment or skill books, Teresa suddenly walked over with a serious expression and whispered in his ear.
"Master, through my investigation, I discovered that the intelligence and information of our human players on Earth are stored not only online in the game but also offline in a storage point."
"The base you are in is managed by our 'Ironheart' family."
"Your identity is temporarily undisclosed, but if someone were to investigate offline, they might still find information about you."
Teresa's face turned ashamed as she continued, "Earlier, I was investigating this matter and caught the family's attention, which led to the exposure of you killing the base commander, almost implicating the entire organization."
The girl looked uneasy.
Sterl waved his hand, indicating it was fine.
However, he soon fell into deep thought.
There was offline information storage about him??
It seemed that the "Ironheart" family could not be left intact. It had to be eradicated.
From Teresa's explanation, it appeared that Sterl's identity was still just an ordinary, unknown player, and it was unlikely anyone would deliberately pull his records offline.
But what if?
Sterl prepared to kill all the people within the "Ironheart" family who were managing the records...
Wait, offline??
Sterl's thoughts were clear until he suddenly paused.
He realized that offline and online were different matters. It involved actual killing! Killing players online only deprived them of their login rights.
The two situations were entirely different.
However, Sterl didn't dwell on it for long.
After all, when he took lives online, he wasn't thinking about the fact that his victims could still live offline.
In fact, Sterl had already taken out quite a few human players from Earth, and those who came offline were almost certainly doomed.
Sterl saw no need to pretend to be more benevolent than he was.
"You did well. This information is very important to me." Sterl encouraged, though Teresa seemed to have more to say. Sterl cut her off, "Don't worry about this matter anymore. I will handle it."
Having decided to take action in the real world, Sterl saw no need to discuss it further with Teresa. He could handle it himself.
Sterl remained calm as he began to pull items from his inventory.
"You all did well this time." he said, encouraging his followers. "Each of you can pick one piece of equipment and one skill book from these items."
"Teresa, you can choose whatever you like."
"The remaining resources should be used to purchase or craft a set of level 60 equipment for me, the higher the quality, the better. You have unlimited access to resources."
"If there are any resources left, use them for the development of the organization."
"Yes!" Teresa nodded decisively.
The other players were stunned.
"We? We can choose equipment and skill books??"
"Thank you, Lord David!"
...
However, Sterl's subordinates had not yet realized the exaggerated nature of the situation.
They assumed it would be similar to the rewards David had given them last time.
However...
Even so, it made the players incredibly excited. Just a bit of the resources from Lord David's hand was enough to significantly boost their combat power!
As mentioned before, the human players on Earth were incredibly poor. These second-class players didn't even have fully equipped gear!
Of course, by "fully equipped", it didn't mean there were empty slots. Rather, many of their pieces were still at the level of 30 or 40 and hadn't reached second-class standards.
But what excited the players even more was the terrifying extent of Lord David's resources!
Each of them getting a piece of equipment and a skill book meant there would be twenty or thirty items and skill books in total. This was no small number!
Even those seemingly powerful third-class families couldn't just pull out so many items at once!
It was clear that following Lord David was the most promising path.
The players' eyes were filled with fervor!
However, as Sterl continued to pull items from his inventory, their expressions began to change!
Because...
It was completely different from what they had imagined!
It wasn't just twenty or thirty pieces of equipment and items. Rather, a massive pile of resources was forming like a small hill.
And very few of these items were junk. Most of them gleamed with dazzling light.
The majority of this glow came from the fact that the equipment was at least second-class level or higher, emitting an energy radiance!
There were even platinum-grade pieces! Extremely dazzling!
And a few skill books shone with a purple glow, indicating their rare quality!
The players were stunned...
"Holy crap! Platinum-grade equipment! And several pieces at that?"
"And they're all second-class level or higher."
"My God! Purple-quality skill books!"
"Am I dreaming?"
...
They even felt a bit surreal!
The massive haul Sterl had amassed from his relentless slaughter in the Netherworld would leave even the wealthiest players from places like the Principality of Morrow speechless.
Let alone the impoverished humans of Earth??
Teresa and the other players were dizzy, almost unable to stand as they stared at the mountain of resources before them!
They realized how laughable their previous thoughts had been.
Thinking the resources would be similar to last time?? They had completely underestimated Lord David's capabilities!
Especially Teresa, who wore a numb expression.
She had witnessed the "Ironheart" family, one of the most notable families among Earth's humans, hold a grand ceremony to distribute rewards on a family-wide scale.
Yet, the equipment and skill books distributed to thousands of people, including hundreds of second-class players, were not even a quarter of what Sterl had just casually taken out!
And in terms of quality, the family's resources were far inferior to what her master had just produced!
At that time, the awarded second-class players were overjoyed! Teresa knew that those individuals had risked their lives for the family, barely scraping by, to earn such rewards!
Teresa had been envious of them back then.
Now, she too had risked her life, and the promise she received from Lord Sterl was — to freely take purple-quality skill books and platinum-grade equipment, with explosive returns!
In the family, no matter how hard Teresa worked, she could never achieve this. Even if she replaced Lady Astrid and became the family head, the "Ironheart" family couldn't sell enough to gather such resources.
The other players, too, were overwhelmed by the enormous surprise. On ordinary days, even after completing several sequential tasks and risking their lives, they might not obtain a single second-class piece of equipment or a decent blue-quality skill.
This time, they had merely come close to being killed!
Totally worth it!
Sterl silently watched his followers as their expressions turned increasingly crazed. Despite the mountain of equipment laid before them, they still hesitated to take anything.
So, Sterl waved his hand, "Hurry up and pick."
"Teresa, handle the remaining resources by coordinating with those family members. Dispose of them."
"The sooner, the better!"
"Yes!" Teresa knew her master's urgency was genuine.
Immediately, she directed the players, "Hurry up, what are you waiting for?"
With Teresa's command, the players finally had no misgivings. They rushed to the pile of equipment and skill books like hungry tigers. However, they still adhered to the rules. No one dared to touch the platinum-grade equipment or purple-quality skills.
Each player took one piece of golden-grade equipment and a decent blue-quality skill before stepping back, satisfied.
Teresa quickly gathered the remaining items into her inventory. She hesitated for a moment before asking, "Master, what about Daphne?"
Sterl casually replied, "You decide how she should be treated."
Meanwhile...
At the other end of the expansion hall.
Daphne was visibly excited.
"Easy, easy."
"From now on, we're all colleagues. Of course, I don't hold grudges!"
The girl was elated. The negotiation work had earned her several pieces of bronze equipment and a notably excellent green-quality skill book.
Had she obtained these items through regular tasks, it would have taken her ages. Now, she had hit the jackpot!