Chapter 49 - Florida Man Abandons House and Wife to Embark on Quest to Dig Oil and Spread Democracy
*DING*
The drilling machine finally stopped digging. It started emitting sonar sound waves, and the geography of Felix's system map changed. Transforming from the 2D top-down map, a 3D map appeared, revealing more details of hostile units' locations and terrains.
500 meters underground, massive layers of blue and black liquid gathered above a solid bowl rock layer, waiting to be extracted. On the map, the screen showed the estimated volume of the oil: one million barrels.
The reserve was quite small compared to what the US and Saudi Arabia had. However, a million barrels was a windfall for Felix, who needed mana the most.
Excited by the discovery, Felix calculated how much he could get from this oil deposit. Last time, one barrel of Azure Petroleum was worth 100 mana. He wondered if he could score 100 million mana from this site when everything was extracted.
While Felix was daydreaming, Jessica prompted him with the quest progression update.
Finally, the rewards were handled. Felix checked his inventory and inspected the description of the mystery crate. He hoped that it wouldn't give him something useless like the previous skincare cream.
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Mystery Crate (Class F)
This crate contains a random tool, item, or system perks. Once used, a new item in the Florida Man Online Store will be unlocked, allowing you to purchase additional Mystery Crates.
Upon opening the crate, you will obtain one of the following items according to a set probability as follows:
- Mystery Crate (Class E) x1 - 0.5%
- Mystery Crate (Class F) x2 - 1.0%
- Mana Ammunition Manufacturing System - 5%*
- Fragmentation Hand Grenade Permit - 7.5%*
- Karabiner 98k Production Permit - 10%*
- Emergency Call-In Beacon x3 - 12%
- Carton of Phoenix's Ash Cigars x1 - 15%
- Supply Crate (Class E) x3 - 20%
- Supply Crate (Class F) x10 - 30%
*Note: These items are unique. Once you obtain them, they will disappear from the list.
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TL;DR: It was a gacha box! Looking at the probability rate, Felix shrugged as he didn't care.
Ejecting the crate from the inventory, Felix pried it open. Bright light shone from the inside, temporarily blinding Felix. He narrowed his eyes and looked away from the box.
When the light subsided, Felix rubbed his eyes and grumbled. He peeked into the crate to see its content.
There was a single piece of paper inside. Felix picked it up and noticed that it was written in English:
[Mystery Crate (Class F) x2]
"..."
*DING*
Sometimes, Felix felt like he had spent his accumulated luck on something useless. Not minding the free rerolls, he shrugged and ejected the two boxes. Prying another one open, a gold light flashed.
Inside the box was another piece of paper with writing on it:
[Mana Ammunition Manufacturing Plant System]
*DING*
Ignoring the messages, Felix opened the second crate. He wondered if he could get any luckier than this. Looking into the container, he found three round metal balls inside.
"..."
It was not bad as Felix still won the 50-50. Instead of getting useless supply crates, he got something new. Curious, Felix collected the metallic balls and checked their details.
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Emergency Call-In Beacon
By inputting a password in the correct order and placing the beacon where you want the supply to drop, an emergency supply from the Florida Man Online Store will be delivered instantly!
Be warned. It can be attached to your body or anybody else's once it is activated. Please do not throw it at your friends. It will not be funny.
When activating the beacon, choose a password from one of the following:
- DOWN, UP, LEFT, RIGHT, DOWN
- UP, UP, DOWN, LEFT
- UP, RIGHT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN
- UP, RIGHT, DOWN, UP
*NOTE: Each password yields a different result. Please consult with your assistant before usage.
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Looking at the details, Felix had a bad feeling about these items. His instinct warned him not to input the third code at all costs. Putting the items away, Felix turned his attention to the Liberty Scanner, wondering what he could do with it.
It did not take long for Jessica to give him a new quest.
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Main Quest #5 - Building Your First Pillar of Democracy
The Liberty Scanner has pinpointed the amount and location of the Mana Oil Deposit underground. Now, it is time for you to learn how to exploit nature and get rich... Just kidding, we shall guide you on a method to extract and use your available strategic resources for your benefit and prosperity.
The Oil Extractor is currently at a 100% discount for this occasion. Purchase it and deploy it over the Liberty Scanner. The structure will automatically install and build itself. However, it takes 24 hours to complete the installation. Please guard the Oil Extractor during this time to complete the quest.
Mission: Build the Oil Extractor on top of the Liberty Scanner and protect it for 24 hours.
Rewards: Mystery Crate (Class F) x10, Emergency Call-In Beacon x3, Beacon Password Note x1.
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More gacha crates were up for the taking. Felix bitterly smiled and shook his head as the system seemed to be a prankster and a slave driver.
Not wasting time, Felix explored the shopping system and purchased the Oil Extractor. It came as an offshore oil derrick icon, which Felix ignored. He pressed on it and prompted its activation. A hologram of a land oil derrick emerged, overlapping with Felix. Surprised by the hologram, he stepped back from the flashing lights until he got out of the 3D demo screen.
As soon as Felix left the hologram overlay, a new system screen prompted him with a question.
Felix smirked and answered without much thought, "Yes."
*DING*
The hologram vanished. Instead, mysterious rays of light descended from space, beaming at the ground around the Liberty Scanner. Felix gasped as he had seen this before when he built his house. It was the mysterious 3D printing lasers from space!
Paying respect to his ancestors and the mysterious aliens working behind the scene, he knelt and prayed, clasping his hands and mimicking the "Oh, Mother!" emote from a famous soul game.
"Bless the Heaven! Bless my ancestors! And bless me, the big-rick giga chad!"
To celebrate this construction site and his fortune, Felix popped another smoke and started walking around the construction site, warding off insects and patrolling the area.
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.
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Terra City
Zhu Xin Ci arrived in front of a mysterious concrete building, surrounded by a transparent bubble that distorted space. Staring at the front door and the structure, she could barely see inside as the barrier tampered with the light, preventing outsiders from snooping on the people inside.
Looking at the barrier, Zhu Xin Ci deeply frowned as she sensed tremendous mana from it. Judging from the intensity and volume, its power surpassed that of the sixth circle archmages from the capital city.
Wary of the lurking mage, the pink Lamia yelled, probing for information.
"I'm Zhu Xin Ci, the second princess of the Black Forest, the daughter of Diana, and the descendant of Goddess Zhu Qiao! I demand to speak with the archmage!"
Her voice was amplified with mana. Everybody in the city, including the people in the citadel, could hear it. All Lamias turned to look at their boss, wondering what was going on.
The pink Lamia let out a short sigh and waited for a reply. She expected someone inside to show their face as well.
However, no one uttered a word. Five minutes passed, and nobody showed up.
Zhu Xin Ci's face reddened in anger. She yelled, pushing the pressure.
"IF YOU DON'T SHOW UP, I'LL KILL EVERY HUMAN IN THIS CITY!"
Once again, nobody replied. Five minutes later, Zhu Xin Ci scoffed and turned around, ordering her subordinates, "Bring me a few hostages."
Mei nodded and rushed into town. A moment later, she dragged a young boy and a pregnant woman over and tossed them in front of Zhu Xin Ci.
The pink Lamia smiled when she noticed how Mei meticulously picked good hostages. She shifted her sneer to the concrete house, "I'll count to three! If you don't show your face, I'll kill these two!"
"…"
"ONE!"
"…"
"TWO!!"
"…"
"FINE! MEI, KILL THEM!"
"STOP!!"
Zhu Xin Ci's trick finally came to fruition. A girly voice came from inside the barrier, and a silhouette of a young maiden was finally visible on the rooftop.
Valley, whom Jane had rescued from Robert's citadel, was hiding here.
…
When Valley suddenly came out of the room and dash to the rooftop to answer the call, Jane panicked. Rushing toward Valley on the rooftop, Jane pulled her former employer away and yelled at her.
"What the hell are you doing!? Do you want to get us killed?!"
"But the people…" Valley cried as she was afraid of angry Jane.
Jane scolded the naive teenager, "You were supposed to hide and not make a noise! Now that they know you're here, they're going to storm this place even harder!"
"But the child and that woman…"
"They're as good as dead! If you stick your head out to protect them, you will die too! Do you want to get yourself killed like your brother?!"
"…"
Valley flinched and bit her lower lip. She looked at her feet again, sobbing and sniffing.
Jane groaned and peeked outside. As usual, the vision was distorted due to the mysterious barrier around them. Unable to take a clear aim, Jane consulted the golem, who had been standing nearby the whole time.
"Can we attack them from here with your master's artifacts?"
The golem turned to Jane and gave her a thumbs up.
That was enough for Jane to make a drastic decision. She rushed back to the first floor, grabbing a few rifles and boxes of ammunition, and brought them to the rooftop. Loading one of the rifles with five cartridges, she aimed at a random silhouette behind Zhu Xin Ci.
*BANG*
A bullet flew through the barrier without breaking it and hit the large silhouette of a Lamia!
*PU*
A loud scream came from the distorted silhouette below! One of the Lamias was injured!