Battle for the North (Rogue Merchant Book #4): LitRPG Series by Roman Prokofiev (the dot read aloud .TXT) 📕

with frustration. Had I not gotten into Sphere just for her, for the happiness of my family? The cold voice of my brain immediately replied that I hadn’t. I got hooked on this devilishly engaging virtual world for my own ego and enjoyment; there was no other way to put it. Lying to myself was pointless.

The pain was horrifying. The realization of the irrelevance and insignificance of everything happening in Sphere, including the fall of the alliance and the millions I had earned, filled my mind. While chasing after mirages, I lost the genuine thing that had been so close all along. Alena didn’t need the millions fetched by selling pixels. She needed me, and I wasn’t there for her. Dammit, why had it happened? At the worst possible time, too, just like Murphy’s Law said!

I stood up, made a double espresso in the coffee machine, and automatically turned on the computer, trying to distract myself by reading news in the browser.

Ecologists are protesting the launch of a new floating megacity of New Venice. They argue that the seventh megapolis will ruin the fragile environmental equilibrium in the Mediterranean...

Police have arrested another group of Nippon terrorists who prepared a series of attacks in New Tokyo. This radical group of ultra-right nationalists is known for actively recruiting from young adults of Japanese descent...

GNAir Corporation announced the completion of its “project of the decade,” a vacuum elevated line of hypersonic transportation between Moscow and New Tokyo. Field tests were successful. Soon, you’ll be able to ride a comfortable capsule train to the Confederation capital at 745 mph...

 

Lines of text, images, and videos flashed before my eyes, the information leaving no trace in my memory. The scalding hot coffee burned my mouth but helped me regain some of my senses. Where could she be? Only with her parents — she had nowhere else to go. She wasn’t picking up the phone, and I didn’t want to listen to her old folks’ notations. Instead, I called another number — Balabanov’s man who was keeping an eye on me. In theory, they were tracking her as well as me. I needed to make sure that Alena was all right.

“Yes, Oleg,” Mr. Leo cheerfully replied, as if waiting for my call. That said, he very well might have been — they were watching me, after all. My apartment was probably bugged, and at that very same moment, Mr. Leo could be watching my tired face.

“Do you know where my wife is?” It sounded a little ridiculous, but I didn’t really care.

“Alena? Don’t worry, she’s fine. She went to her parents’ place. I thought about telling you but didn’t want to wake you up. I understand that you had a fight?”

“Well, something like that.”

“Ah, young people. You make up, you break up, you reunite...” he waxed philosophically. “Oleg, I left a man with her, just in case. He’ll keep an eye on her, so don’t worry.”

Just as I suspected, the bets were high, and the surveillance was still on. Mr. Leo probably knew more about our personal lives than we did ourselves. It was an unpleasant situation that I really had to deal with. On the other hand...

“All right. I’ll get her soon.”

“My boy, let me give you some unsolicited advice,” Mr. Leo said with a chuckle. “Old Leo had four wives! Don’t rush. Time is the best cure for hard feelings.”

After ending the conversation, I started thinking. Alena’s message wasn’t aggressive, filled with resentment — more like sad and full of regret. Maybe she was still hoping for my redemption, and this stunt was a wake-up call of sorts, an attempt to show me the severity of my faults. I called her again, predictably getting a ringing tone. So, she didn’t want to talk yet. Fine.

The problem was, I was in deep and couldn’t drop Sphere no matter how I wished it. To escape Big Brother’s watchful eye, I needed to go to considerable lengths, the stage for which I was only beginning to set. Otherwise, I didn’t even want to imagine how things might turn out for me in the worst-case scenario. I had to act, play my game as hard and steadfast as I could. Suddenly, I felt a twinge of relief. Alena’s leaving cleared my mind, putting everything in its place. I finally knew my main goal and the steps I had to take to pave the way to it.

First, I needed to escape Balabanov’s close watch and avoid getting into a similar trap with the second developer group. So what did I have? Two opponents, both of which wanted to use me in their own interests. Maybe I should try finding someone else, a third party able to solve the problem of the rift in the Seven.

Second, it was time to finish the Pandorum saga. On the one hand, their vendetta had seriously complicated my business that barely began working, but on the other, it unlocked access to resources and options unavailable in times of peace. I had a few ideas on how to defeat the Pandas without entering a direct confrontation: a bold plan that would require the resources of several alliances. All I had to do was to persuade them.

I opened my bookmarks and clicked on the official Sphere of Worlds forums. They were on fire, of course. The destruction of Fairs and Ananizarte’s invasion were still on the front pages, but our war also got a fair share of attention. Most players agreed that the Pandas’ blitzkrieg had ended with a Pyrrhic victory. Yes, they advanced like a hurricane, taking over half of the Northerners’ territory in 24 hours, destroying two castles, and capturing the third, but the costs were enormous. A juggernaut and almost a hundred ships, including more than a dozen galleons, were gone forever, with just as many vessels suffering various degrees of damage and requiring