CHAPTER 88: A BRIGHT FUTURE

Langdon had a bright smile on his face as he showed them the phone screen.

On the screen was a digital coin with a large ’M’ encrypted on it. They all raised their brows in confusion as they saw the cryptocoin.

Seeing the confusion in their gazes, Langdon gave a quiet cough before explaining. "This is a coin that I created for the sole purpose of trading. I found a way to connect the coin to the system, so it’s recognized by the system."

He went further, demonstrating what he meant. He placed his hand on the phone screen, and the system interface instantly came to life in front of him.

A circle formed on the phone screen, and following it, the number of coins that was once ’0’ changed to ’10’.

Seeing the display, everyone was once again stunned.

"This is brilliant! It’ll make it easier for the gamers to transfer money to the Non-Characters and they, too, will be able to send to us!" Seth brimmed, absolutely hyped.

"It’s unusual for you to be so happy," Aria threw an irritated glare at him, seeing his excitement over the idea.

Seth threw a glance at her, scoffing coldly. Then, a cold smirk crept up his face. "I don’t expect you to understand anything about this, and there’s no need to explain to you either... I’m sure boss already knows."

Seth’s eyes gleamed as he made his last statement, staring at Akhil with pure admiration.

Aria fumed, her eyes burning with rage. But before she could move, Nibo and Ryan held her back.

Akhil could only smile wryly, fighting the urge to facepalm. ’These two will have to get along soon... Or our future businesses won’t go so well,’ he thought with a bitter smile.

"This will open up room for more workers for the guild," Akhil explained to the group. "Payment must have been a major reason why many people didn’t take on any guild jobs. Gamers are mostly taking on adventurer roles, leaving all the other spots free, like administrative roles, cleaning, and all that. But now Langdon has finally made a bridge that will make things easier."

’He’s probably happy since he won’t have to do any of the receptionist work anymore... What a lazy guy,’ Akhil mused internally. He knew Seth well enough to know he didn’t care about the guild much; he’d do anything to skip work. This one-sided devotion changed only after his admiration for Akhil grew. Now, he was eager to do anything, so long as it was for Akhil.

"I believe that should be the entire thing we have to discuss for now?" Akhil threw Langdon a questioning gaze.

"No, there’s one more problem that we have to deal with," Langdon said, his expression sobering. "We’re already working on dealing with it, but I thought it’d be best to let you know before we continued with our plans." He let out a deep breath.

"I’m afraid your actions from earlier have sparked something we’ve been trying to control for a while now."

Akhil frowned deeply. He had already made it clear that the orcs weren’t going to be treated badly anymore and would retaliate if they were wronged. He had used Samxon as an example, so hearing Langdon refer to that again slightly annoyed him.

"If anyone wants a compensation for my actions, they should come get it from me," Akhil said sternly, a flash of killing intent burning in his eyes.

Langdon jolted from his words, giving a worried smile and waving his hands in a gesture for Akhil to calm down. "You’re misunderstanding what I mean! We don’t want compensation. The problem is the Bureau."

"The Bureau?" Akhil raised a brow.

"Yes. They’re a relatively new societal structure that was created after the balance of power in the nations was tipped thanks to the apocalypse. The major members are political, military, and financial leaders from before the apocalypse. They operate under the outdated principle that pre-apocalypse seniority equals post-apocalypse authority."

"So what do they want?"

"Their goal is simple: they want to take leadership from us," Langdon said with a wry smile. "They’re overlooking the fact that administration isn’t as it was before, and the rules of power have changed to favor those with system-granted strength. But they’ve been stubbornly clinging to their old influence. "

"Your execution of Samxon was a major demonstration of that new, raw power. While it ended the immediate threat, it also created a political vacuum that the Bureau sees as a weakness. They don’t recognize your authority, only the gap you left, which they feel they are entitled to fill. They view your actions as reckless vigilante justice, destabilizing the necessary chain of command and also showing Samxon’s incompetence, and they are using that argument to try and legitimize their complete takeover of the city administration."

"If they take over, it’ll disrupt a lot of things for us, and cause more problems for the orcs. They’ll push the narrative that the orcs are dangerous, and we don’t want that. I’ve asked Seth to let someone from the Adventurer’s Guild take the city position, but if that happens, we’ll have to invite you over.... The people will need a good and convincing reason to back your actions and calm them down, since the Bureau has already started spreading their narrative. And also, your presence will be needed to solidify the new relationship between the orcs and the humans."

’So they simply need me to make a speech or something?’ Akhil gave an awkward smile at the thought, but he took a steadying breath.

"Very well then, I’ll prepare for it, and I’ll pay the coast city a visit again."

"Good! Then we’ll be seeing you in the next few days!" Langdon said, stretching out a hand for a handshake. Akhil stared for a moment before taking the handshake firmly.

"We’ll be leaving now. Things will start getting messy soon, so we have to deal with that," Langdon said right after the handshake as he mounted his hoverboard. Slowly, it took him up into the air.

"See ya later, boss! Unfortunately, I’ve still got to arrange a few things on my end... But make sure to come visit me when you can," Seth said as his hoverboard also took flight.

Without wasting any time, the two flew into the sky, heading back to the human settlement. Akhil stared at their retreating backs before looking back at the orc camp.

Seeing the bots still busy with the construction work, "I guess we would’ve never come this far without taking drastic actions," Akhil admitted with a sigh.

"I know it must have been tough for you. But now I’m sure they won’t be looking down on us anymore," Aria said softly.

"Yup! We’ve got the strongest mutant!" Nibo said, giving him a soft, encouraging pat on the shoulder.

"Agreed!" Ryan said, standing calmly by his side.

Looking at the three, a small smile formed across Akhil’s face. ’With these three around, leading the orcs won’t be an issue at all... It’s been fun so far, and I know it’ll only get better,’ Akhil thought, tightening his fist with renewed resolve.

The future of the orcs looked promising with the new systems in place.

If the humans and the orcs could set aside their differences, it would be a huge help when clearing the scenarios, especially since it would require a degree of partnership to clear the entire game. ’And also to figure out a way to end this stupid game,’ Akhil thought, letting out a quiet sigh.

The journey had only just begun. They had a really long way to go in achieving all their goals, but that dream wasn’t so far-fetched anymore.