Compared to long-running manga series, the plot of Delicious in Dungeon is neither complex nor dragging; the entire main storyline concludes within a single month. Do not be deceived by their journey of eating and drinking, which appears leisurely on the surface; in reality, their progress each day is pushed to the limit.
For Ryu, this was even more of a race against time!
Laios, Falin, and Marcille were the core characters and the focal point where "destiny" gathered. The greatest turning point in their lives was "Falin's death and resurrection."
This inherently wasn't an issue; examples of adventurers being resurrected were common. However, in the original plot, due to limited conditions, Marcille had to use the flesh of the Red Dragon to resurrect Falin, resulting in a portion of the dragon's soul being stuffed into the girl's body.
Later, they encountered the Lord of the Dungeon—the Mad Mage—who activated Falin's dragon soul, transforming her into a Chimera! This led to a series of chain reactions that made it impossible for the protagonist team to return to their daily lives.
Eventually, Laios wittily banished the Demon, fulfilling the prophecy and becoming the new King of this island, thereby able to shelter Marcille and Falin, who were involved with black magic.
Now, Ryu had already pulled the initial fuse. Falin had been resurrected normally, and the fates of these three had been drastically twisted, but it was far from being completely changed: their connection to black magic and the Dungeon had not yet been severed!
What Ryu had to do was to solve the Mad Mage within the few days before the arrival of the [Canaries], causing the future where Laios becomes King to vanish directly!
Although this might sound like he was pitting Laios, it was actually better for him. Laios himself was not suitable for, nor did he have the ambition to become, a King. In the original story, he was even unable to interact with monsters due to a curse, which became a lifelong regret.
—This guy was a monster fanatic!
If he were allowed to choose for himself, he would definitely happily walk the path Ryu provided.
The biggest problem right now was time, as it wouldn't be long before the [Canaries] arrived. When Ryu read the original work, he didn't pay attention to the dates, so he had no way to judge exactly when. At most, it would be about a week; perhaps they would arrive in two or three days.
If that were the case, he wouldn't be able to handle the "Lord of the Dungeon"; at most, he could only secure ownership of the island.
After all, that was the [Canaries]! The most elite and unhinged unit of a great magical power. Their leader was also a ruthless character—and the key point was that they were not easy to hoodwink!
These people were disciplined, purposeful, and without attachments. The captain was literally "free of desires," possessing no motivation to live other than hatred for Demons. Ryu could use various methods to toy with the human heart, but they were useless against the captain of the [Canaries]!
Once they landed on the island, given Ryu's current strength, even with the addition of Laios's squad, it would be impossible to dominate the direction of the entire event. It would evolve into a negotiation and compromise between him and the [Canaries].
To avoid this situation, he had prepared more than one contingency plan, but undoubtedly, the more time he saved, the more room he would have to maneuver! Therefore, today he led Laios's squad to land on this deserted island far from the Dungeon.
"...Why did you choose this place?"
"Because the distance is just right. Adventurers can rent a small boat to get here, but it's not close enough to let them travel back and forth at will."
Senshi seemed a bit confused, so Ryu patiently explained to him.
"Right now, the adventurers on the island are already immersed in the dream of sudden wealth and won't let go of any opportunity. But they don't know the ins and outs of this matter; they can only assume that the Dungeon itself has immense potential value that no one had discovered before."
"I don't understand things that are too complicated, but in short, you want to lure all the adventurers to this island, right?"
"Exactly."
Ryu said with a smile, "Tonight, a rumor will start circulating among the adventurers:
The Dungeon on the island is merely the ruins of a town of the ancient kingdom 'Golden Kingdom.' The capital city and the royal palace are deep in the underground levels. The path is guarded by powerful monsters all the way, and it is too far. Considering the weight load, even if one could reach there, they couldn't carry the treasures back.
However, a certain adventurer once reached there. Because he lost his way, he was trapped for a long time. When he finally escaped, he found that he had left the small island and actually appeared on another deserted island in the northeast seas!
It turns out that a piece of the ancient Golden Kingdom had split off—which is this deserted island—and its underground is still connected to the Dungeon. Compared to the entrance on the big island, the entrance here leads directly to the underground 8th Floor, which is where the Royal Palace of the Golden Kingdom is located!
The adventurer was saved by a passing noble's merchant ship. They formed a team to re-enter the Dungeon and finally came out from the big island, verifying this conjecture.
Thus, this noble took a fancy to the potential of the Golden Kingdom Dungeon and decided to buy the island's ownership with heavy gold... but the news was somehow leaked to the Island Lord. The two sides couldn't agree on a price and parted on bad terms."
"A slightly convoluted story... but the question is, why would such important intelligence be leaked to the Island Lord, and even to the adventurers?"
Senshi muttered, "Someone should be able to spot the problems, right?"
"Theoretically, there should be." Ryu smiled mockingly. "I made up this story on the fly. There wasn't much preparation, not even a human witness. There wasn't time to forge ruins on the deserted island either. If we really talk about it, it's full of holes—but it can make people believe it without a doubt."
"Why?"
"Because gold doesn't lie!" Ryu's expression turned serious.
What he gave out was real gold and silver! Anything else could be fake, but the treasure the adventurers got their hands on was real! A group of people who risk their lives rushing into a Dungeon won't consider whether this might be a scam; they will only look forward to how much profit they can get from it.
Taking a step back, even if Ryu told them right now that it was fake, they wouldn't give up even a one-in-ten-thousand possibility and would still come to this deserted island to try their luck! What was there to fear? So what if they were cheated? With their worthless lives, could they really lose anything?
Kuse Junpei once said when teaching Ryu how to fish: Fish are very cunning creatures. Sometimes they will deliberately test you, or even eat the bait and spit the hook back out without you noticing. But people are different; they will impatiently swallow the hook along with the bait. If you kindly advise them, you'll even be resented.
—Fishing for people is much simpler than fishing for fish!
Moreover, in most cases, bait used for fishing people is fake bait that can be seen but not eaten. Ryu had invested real capital this time!
"If adventurers swarm here, then that island will lose its value, and you can easily get your hands on it, right?"
Chilchuck thought for a moment. "But with your financial power, you could buy the island through legitimate means, right? That Island Lord is a man who opens his eyes wide at the sight of money. In fact, I saw he was already tempted back then. When you left, he was quite anxious."
"A normal transaction is naturally possible, but it would be difficult to drive the adventurers away."
Ryu shook his head. "In a sense, the Dungeon is alive. When it loses control, the people on the surface become its nutrients. On the other hand, the more adventurers enter the Dungeon, the more chaotic the Dungeon's order becomes, and the sooner it collapses.
In my plan, I don't need these uncontrollable factors... Their desires are too strong and will only strengthen the power of the Dungeon and the Demon. After I become the Island Lord, I could order the adventurers to be driven away, but how much time and manpower would that take?"
Just thinking about that scene made Chilchuck grin.
The average quality of adventurers was worrying. They might not be educated, but their cunning was top-notch; they would never obediently listen and leave. They wouldn't dare to directly defy the orders of a lord or noble, but where there is a policy from above, there is a countermeasure from below. They had plenty of ways to stall for time. Chilchuck could come up with seven or eight ideas just by thinking casually.
The simplest one: just enter the Dungeon and say they didn't know about the order. Explore the Dungeon for seven or eight days, come back and argue for three or four days. Maybe some would repeat this process... The [Canaries] would have already arrived and started killing by then!
If Ryu were to directly give money to the adventurers to make them obedient, it would also generate speculation like, "Giving us money? There must be an ulterior motive," further stimulating their enthusiasm for the Dungeon and this island.
Thinking it over, although Ryu's method was a bit convoluted, it could undoubtedly stimulate all the adventurers in the shortest time, making them gather automatically like koi carp at a place with "fish bait."
To be honest, the cost of this whole set of operations might be more expensive than buying the island through the normal process. But who asked Ryu to be in a hurry?
"Right!"
Chilchuck suddenly thought of something and took out a pen and paper to start writing things down.
"I have to record this method of yours! I'll tell my family not to be deceived!"
"Heh~"
The halfling had a keen business sense. Ryu's operation looked crude and not cost-effective, but this was all based on the fact that he didn't have time to set it up in advance and could only increase the intensity to improve the effect.
If he were given enough time to manage and arrange things slowly, he could totally achieve the same effect with one-third or even less of the amount. By then, he could create the illusion that the big island had lost its value, easily buy the island, and obtain monopoly rights over the Dungeon.
After that, the profit the adventurers gained in the early stages would be squeezed out by various means! Rent, casinos, brothels... handling a group of people with no self-control was simply too easy~
Chilchuck keenly realized that this technique was very novel in this world. Most people had no ability to distinguish it, and it seemed capable of spawning quite a few variations... Out of a vague intuition, he thought it better to record it—even if only to warn his clansmen.
Watching Chilchuck do this, Ryu's eyes became profound.
This kind of scam was simple but effective, especially in the real estate and financial industries, which were full of variations of similar routines. Creating hot topics, attracting traffic, and then closing the door to beat the dogs.
In the information-rich 21st century, there were still so many people willing to become the hooked fish, let alone in this other world where communication relied on writing letters.
Chilchuck might have good intentions, but one had to know that some people studied the law not to abide by it... especially the halfling community, who loved playing petty tricks. However, playing this kind of routine in the feudal era could easily lead to "justice judgment" by nobles and lords. This era would not tolerate economic crimes, so the risk was much greater~
Actually, there was one thing Ryu felt slightly guilty about regarding Chilchuck: his plan was a bit rough, but the major loopholes were plugged—by using the "reputation" of halflings.
Why was the news of "another entrance and exit" leaked to the Island Lord? Because the team hired by the noble included a halfling.
Why was the location of the deserted island known to so many people? Because halflings couldn't explore Dungeons alone; if they wanted to get the treasure, they had to cooperate with others.
The stereotypes of halflings being greedy, loving petty advantages, and being untrustworthy made it very easy for adventurers to accept this story. Ryu's previous choice to spread rumors through the Halfling Union was also out of this consideration!
"..."
Withdrawing his gaze from Chilchuck, Ryu's slightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.
Chilchuck had a bad attitude but was actually a very responsible person. He would even actively uphold the reputation of halflings and restrain the behavior of his kin on the island. Ryu's approach seemed to go with the flow, but upon closer inspection, it was actually a form of "betrayal," destroying the very thing Chilchuck wanted to protect—although the halfling reputation was already poor, so he might not even notice any change.
Regarding this, Ryu could only try to compensate Chilchuck in other ways. Having let the guy take the blame unknowingly, even if it wasn't exposed, he should still be given the treatment he deserved~
"Alright, let's get to work!"
Stepping onto the deserted island, Ryu began to assign tasks. "Everyone will have to work a bit hard. I plan to set up about fifty treasure chests on the island. The quantity is enough for the adventurers to search for a while. As long as these few days pass, everything will be settled... Senshi?"
Just as everyone was discussing how to "chum the waters," the dwarf cook looked at the hilly terrain on the island, appearing slightly distracted, which caught Ryu's attention.
"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing."
Senshi shook his head, and that peculiar sense of déjà vu dissipated quite a bit. "I just feel the mountains here look a bit familiar."
"Familiar?"
Everyone found it a bit strange but didn't pay it much mind. It was mountainous terrain, after all! The hills on this kind of island mostly looked about the same! Senshi might just be sensitive to these things due to his race.
Then, just as everyone entered the forest and agreed on trail markers and a rendezvous point, a sharp screech rang out from the sky, echoing everywhere, causing everyone to perk up.
"An eagle?"
"Careful, there might be monsters on this island... Let's re-group. Chilchuck, walk with me."
Everyone appeared relatively calm; they were veteran adventurers, after all. Only two people were different. One was Laios, whose face was full of excitement and anticipation. The other was Senshi, whose expression had become stiff for some reason.
"That sound definitely belongs to a raptor-type monster. I don't know if it's a harpy or a griffon. If it's a 'Roc,' then we've hit the jackpot!"
Laios was jubilant, but upon hearing "griffon," Senshi began to breathe rapidly, his entire composure thrown into chaos!
Ryu hadn't paid it much mind at first, but now he also became serious, taking a deliberate look at the cook.
Could it be that there really was an entrance to the deep layers of the Dungeon on this island? Or was it some kind of randomly shifted fissure?
Was it [Golden Rule], [Unfortunate Constitution], or [Treasure Hunter] exerting its power? He had just picked a place at random... was it really such a coincidence?
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