Chapter 154: We Only Scam Humans
"Phew..."
A thin stream of white smoke drifted through the air, filling the entire house with the rich scent of cigars.
Fluffball had a specially made miniature cigar clenched between his two oversized front teeth.
He was dressed in a custom-tailored miniature suit, wore sunglasses, had a string of glass beads around his neck, and sported a gold watch on his wrist.
He sat with his legs crossed on a specially made miniature sofa.
The very image of a newly rich tycoon.
Not only that, he had upgraded his hamster cage into a luxurious villa edition.
Bathroom.
King-sized bed.
Entertainment room.
Gym.
Everything was included.
The place was more luxurious than Caelum’s own home.
He had become outrageously arrogant.
Sitting on the sofa, Fluffball held a custom-made miniature tablet.
"Big Potato, the company’s performance has been terrible lately. What are you people doing?"
"Anyone who’s just sitting around collecting a paycheck gets kicked out immediately."
"Before the end of this month, I want company performance up by at least fifty percent. If you can’t manage that, everyone gets a pay cut and loses their bonuses."
"And clean up your loose ends. Build a proper employee training system already. Hire more people. Otherwise how are we supposed to fleece all those suckers?"
"New Kirk is paved with gold right now!"
"Even if we don’t scam them, somebody else will. Might as well let me make the money, right?"
"And don’t skimp on legal fees. Spend whatever needs to be spent. We can’t afford to mess with the Divine Wastelanders."
"Remember."
"We only scam humans."
There was no deeper reason.
Humans were simply easy targets.
And they had no backing.
Once they got scammed, what could they do about it?
Turn New Kirk upside down?
Please.
Look at the state of New Kirk.
It was the only city on Earth where humans and game-world beings coexisted peacefully.
The New Kirk Barrier and the Lord God’s Edicts formed the foundation of its order.
Other cities couldn’t replicate that even if they wanted to.
More importantly...
The Divine Wastelanders were genuinely terrifying.
Even now, among all game worlds that had invaded Earth, Divine Wasteland World remained the highest-tier existence.
They were part of New Kirk’s very structure.
In just six months, Fluffball had gone from nothing to becoming a wealthy businessman with assets worth over a hundred million.
Granted, he was only one small beneficiary riding the wave of New Kirk’s prosperity.
Still, he was somebody now.
When New Kirk became Earth’s only city where humans and game-world beings lived together peacefully, Fluffball immediately spotted the enormous opportunities hidden within.
Initially, he wanted to invest in real estate.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough capital.
The money he possessed wouldn’t even create a splash.
Then he got inspiration from insurance.
But how much money could insurance make?
What did humans desire most?
The answer was obvious.
Power.
And in New Kirk, who possessed the most power?
The Divine Wastelanders.
Under the Edicts, Divine Wastelanders and humans could not harm one another within New Kirk.
However, the Edicts did not prohibit Divine Wastelanders from lending their power to humans.
Fluffball saw a massive business opportunity.
He quickly assembled a barely functional company from the surrounding chaos.
Big Potato and the other group members who came with free room and board formed the core staff.
The company acted as a brokerage platform, connecting humans with Divine Wastelanders and even characters from other game worlds.
The Divine Wastelanders wanted money.
Humans wanted power.
A perfectly fair trade.
Fluffball’s company simply collected brokerage fees in the middle.
Of course, they only provided introductions.
Whether a deal actually succeeded was another matter entirely.
This became the company’s primary source of income.
Scamming honest people until the profits poured in.
If a customer seemed particularly sincere, they charged an even higher brokerage fee.
Then they honestly signed the customer up for a premium membership contract and arranged for them to genuinely borrow power from a Divine Wastelander.
Unfortunately, Fluffball’s company was little more than a makeshift operation.
Faced with such an enormous market, they could only claim a tiny share.
The industry’s leading firms were companies established directly by Divine Wastelanders themselves.
Their scale completely dwarfed Fluffball’s operation.
There was simply no comparison.
This made Fluffball deeply dissatisfied.
Unfortunately, there was little he could do.
The Divine Wastelanders possessed resources beyond his reach.
He was expanding as quickly as possible, but these things took time.
To speed things up, he even offered high salaries to recruit sales talent from other cities.
Sadly, few people were willing to come.
After all...
New Kirk was still chaotic.
There were no major disasters, but minor incidents occurred constantly.
Explosions happened somewhere almost every day.
Ordinary people could lose their lives at any moment.
Some of those who borrowed power frequently caused trouble around the city.
Things had become so ridiculous that even Shieldbearers and Players had started visiting brokerage companies to borrow power from Divine Wastelanders.
Otherwise, they couldn’t win fights.
Fortunately, borrowed Divine Wastelander powers couldn’t leave the New Kirk Barrier.
If they could, half a month would be enough for those lunatics to blow up the entire planet.
The moment Caelum returned home, he smelled the thick cigar smoke filling the house.
His brows immediately furrowed.
He picked up a feather duster from the counter and walked toward Fluffball.
"Back already?"
Fluffball looked smug.
His tone was outrageously arrogant, as though he were the owner of the house.
His tail practically pointed toward the ceiling.
Lately, life had been treating him far too well.
He had become completely intoxicated by success.
So much so that he had started forgetting who Caelum was.
Before he could enjoy his swagger for more than two seconds, the feather duster was already pressing against his stomach.
Caelum looked at him expressionlessly.
For a brief moment, it almost felt as though killing intent were gathering around him.
"You have one minute to get rid of the smell."
"If the house still reeks after that, I’ll twist your head off."
Plop.
The cigar fell from Fluffball’s mouth.
He shuddered violently.
At last, he remembered how terrifying Caelum actually was.
He hurriedly stripped off the custom suit, gold watch, and sunglasses.
Those things were expensive.
All name brands.
"I’ll handle it right away!"
Cold sweat covered his body.
He immediately jumped to the floor, grabbed an air freshener can, and began spraying every corner of the house.
By the end, he was practically gasping for air.
"Puff... puff... d-done..."
One minute later.
Fluffball lay spread-eagled on the floor with his tongue hanging out.
He looked half dead.
For the first time in a long while, Caelum relaxed onto the sofa.
Picking up the tablet, he began browsing gaming forums and online communities.
At the same time, he warned Fluffball:
"No smoking in the house from now on."
After spending six months acting like a big-shot boss and ordering everyone around, Fluffball hadn’t suffered like this in a long time.
He felt extremely aggrieved.
Without thinking, he immediately argued back.
"But I smoke cigars."
"Even if you’re smoking air, if you make the house smell like this again, I don’t care what you’re smoking."
"I’ll smoke you."
"..."
Fluffball rolled his eyes.
The little guy was exactly the sort who’d start climbing onto the roof if left alone for three days.
If Caelum didn’t knock him down a peg every now and then, there was no telling what kind of trouble he’d cause next.
