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

my time at the Bazaar. I only know that the alliance lost all tumbleweed that had drifted to us over the years. Our numbers were halved, but those who remained were true soldiers ready to fight to the bitter end. They wanted to avenge the loss of their lands, remembering all the nasty jokes at the Russians’ expense that the Pandas and their pets were so quick to crack. The feelings experienced by the Northerners were pretty close to real hate and anger — the best motivation to battle day and night to the last man standing.

I had a different mission. No initiative goes unpunished, and as the architect of Black Friday, I had to coordinate both commercial activities and NAVY’s combat training. So what was required? Simple — by the start of the operation, we had to possess as much ellurite as possible.

The resource was consistently rising in price, almost reaching 550 gold per gallon, considerably above its yearly average of 480 to 520 gold. High demand and active warfare always stimulated sales. The combined share of all participants was only a tenth of the market, nowhere near enough to manipulate the price, especially since it was only the tip of the iceberg. Resellers and clans also had large quantities kept in their warehouses and storage depots. Our goal was shaking up the market and forcing them to reveal those stockpiles.

At first, we needed to knock the price down and buy as much ellurite as possible. In order to do that, we decided to misdirect the community, planting some inside knowledge to the forums and trade chats. That was done by the Eagles, and the number of “independent sources” claiming the discovery of several large ellurite deposits was astounding. Soon, fresh product would flow to the Bazaar from there. I chipped in by publishing several screenshots of my Helt Akor quarry and mentioning new sources in the Club chatroom. Sometime later, as if confirming this information, several big-time dealers from NAVY posted fresh batches of ellurite at the auction, driving down the price. I bolstered them with my own lots, using the ellurite mined in Helt Akor. Romanova had lived up to her promise, sending the cargo to the Bazaar. On top of that, the shipments guarded by Own Legion were up and running.

Short selling finally began. Together, we forced the market to stop rising and start falling. It cost us an arm and a leg, but in three or four days, the price fell back to 490-495 gold while more and more batches appeared at the auction as scared scalpers sold out their stock before the price collapsed for good. At 480 per gallon, we started buying. Most of my colleagues who took part in the operation predicted that pushing the market lower was dangerous, as experienced players could recognize the manipulation. And so, by fanning the speculation and fiddling with lots and prices, our coalition managed to take possession of almost a third of all ellurite at the Bazaar. I was a bit shocked by the number of digits in the sums involved — the investments tallied up to hundreds of millions.

At the start of the operation, I had about four million of my own money and ten lent by my alliance. Unexpectedly, Golden Hamster approved me for a six-million credit, and I decided to make use of this offer. Go big or go home! Things like Black Friday only happened once in a lifetime and became treasured memories one would tell his great-grandchildren while sitting in a rocking chair on the porch. By the end of the week, twenty million turned into next to nothing. I couldn’t even imagine how much the traders of Hird and NAVY had spent. It could have never worked without them — only a coordinated effort could have gotten the ball rolling.

We were ready to begin. Ellurite stopped at five hundred gold per gallon, and three thousand Eagle warriors waited for a go-ahead.

The first stage of Black Friday was relatively benign. We didn’t want fresh ellurite to reach the Bazaar, needing to concentrate all available supply there. Without declaring a war or making any comments, groups of NAVY and hired mercenary clans descended on ellurite mines across Sphere. All known deposits were attacked at the same time.

So what did an ellurite mine look like? In its natural state, this substance was extremely poisonous. Handling it required special equipment, protective suits, special tools, and high-level mining skills. It was stored in tanks and processed in labs, necessitating alchemists and miners with specific specializations — a real pain in the ass, basically, and an expensive one at that. I had spent at least two or three hundred thousand to set up my Helt Akor operation.

But breaking was easier than building. Sudden attacks from NAVY warriors who could sneak anywhere by using Veils devastated most player-run operations. Sites owned by the Pandas and their vassals were destroyed first, but unaligned miners got their share as well. Most of them belonged to large alliances whose indignation knew no limits, but the Americans didn’t care. They burned everything they could, enjoying the losers’ butthurt feelings.

Mining operations could be restored, but it required money and, most importantly, time.

The first phase of Black Friday ended just as planned. Soldiers of NAVY and mercenaries moved to the Bazaar, taking positions prepared by raid leaders. Amusingly, none of them really knew what they were going to do, as all details and goals were kept top-secret, with only several dozen players possessing complete information.

I stayed in my Bazaar apartments, anxiously staring at the panoramic windows and registering flashing portals and chains of astral ships in the purple sky of Sphere’s main trading hub — the final touch before the all-clear. I needed to think not just about the war, the alliance, the enemies, but the overall goal of my plan: freeing myself from the care of my new “friends.”