MMORPG: Birth of the World's Luckiest Player

Chapter 514: The Treasure Beneath the Island

Blaze Phoenix was furious.

He checked the Level Leaderboard, the Wealth Leaderboard, and the Mount Leaderboard again, then a third time. The longer he stared at them, the more convinced he became that every one of those rankings pointed to the same player. The realization only made his anger burn hotter.

If this person already possessed such ridiculous strength and influence, then why go to such lengths to hide his identity? To Blaze Phoenix, this so-called hidden Temple Knight wasn’t mysterious at all. He was a slippery, calculating bastard who preferred lurking in the shadows.

His expression turned icy as he looked at the twin beauties standing before him.

"Skye. Raven. I don’t care who this mystery knight is. Find him. I want every lead followed until you drag him into the open."

Without even realizing it, Blaze Phoenix had made hunting down this anonymous player a personal obsession.

The twins hardly needed the order, and Raven immediately nodded with a confident smile. "Yes, Master. Leave it to us. We’ll increase our efforts."

Skye clenched a fist, her competitive spirit already flaring. "I’ll grab him by those rabbit ears myself and drag him out where everyone can see him."

---

Meanwhile, Marcus was deep inside Blue Ant Valley, clearing monsters while harvesting Crystal-Tear Berries.

Now that he had reached level fifty, his attributes had grown to the point where even the level sixty Blue Crystal Tripod Ants guarding the herbs posed little threat.

The two Sea Demon Souls charged forward to gather the monsters together while Marcus and Pebble refresh their buffs.

Once the enemies were grouped, Blackie rushed into melee, and both Marcus and Pebble raised the massive Ice-Fire Twin Dragon Hoe before unleashing the upgraded Hundred Phantom Strike.

Hundred Phantom Light Strike. Brilliant blades of holy light rained across the battlefield. THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! Even without landing critical hits, every strike dealt more than 4,500 damage.

Since Marcus and Pebble attacked in perfect sync, each rotation shaved away roughly 9,000 health from every ant caught in the barrage.

Whenever critical hits triggered, the damage became downright absurd. Dual-wielding truly showed its terrifying potential in a warrior’s hands.

If Marcus switched back to ordinary one-handed weapons now, he estimated his attack power would drop by at least five hundred points.

Still, neither he nor Pebble was the most frightening part of his team. The true monsters were the companions waiting behind them.

Shadow-Stained Gryphon King Goldie, Wyvern Saint Knight Lyanna, Vixen Queen Camillo, and five Royal Sorcerers floated calmly in the rear, unleashing devastating waves of magic with effortless precision.

The Blue Crystal Tripod Ants possessed around forty thousand health, but that hardly mattered.

As soon as the Sea Demon Souls lured them into range, Marcus’s entire backline unleashed a coordinated barrage before the ants could even respond.

One complete rotation from Marcus and his companions was enough to wipe out a Blue Crystal Tripod Ant outright.

After that, all that remained was activating Gathering to collect the spoils. Thanks to his exceptionally high Luck, equipment and materials dropped at an incredible rate.

Harvesting Crystal-Tear Berries had become almost effortless. Eliminate the monsters, gather everything in sight, then move on to the next patch.

The entire process flowed so smoothly that Marcus couldn’t help comparing it to his earlier struggles farming Five-Leaf Goldgrass and Crystal-Tear Berries by hand.

Looking back now, all that effort felt almost laughable.

About three hours later, after a devastating chain of critical hits erased another group of ants, Marcus casually activated Gathering on the pile of corpses.

A system notification suddenly appeared.

Ding!

[Congratulations, player Stonehaven has obtained Crystal-Tear Berry Seeds. Gathering and Seed Extraction proficiency has increased.]

’Seeds?’ Marcus’s eyes widened. He knew exactly how valuable they were.

Despite his absurd Luck and Advanced Gathering skill, ever since learning Seed Extraction from Alana, the only seeds he had ever successfully extracted were from Mouse-Ear Fruit, and even that had happened only once.

The activation rate of the passive skill was unbelievably low. Trying to farm seeds normally was almost hopeless.

He immediately sent Alana a message. "I just got Crystal-Tear Berry Seeds. Are they actually useful?"

The reply came almost instantly. "Master, that’s wonderful!" Even through the text, Marcus could almost hear the excitement in Alsna’s voice.

"With seeds, I can cultivate Crystal-Tear Berries myself and expand production as much as we need. From now on, you won’t have to spend your time harvesting them in the wild."

Marcus couldn’t help smiling. No wonder Seed Extraction was so difficult to trigger. The ability to cultivate valuable herbs yourself completely changed the game.’

He immediately began planning his next trip.

Once he had time, he’d return to Five-Leaf Peak, clear out the Golden-Petal Snow Eagles again, and keep farming until he obtained Five-Leaf Goldgrass Seeds as well.

After handing everything over to Alana, herb gathering would become a thing of the past, making large-scale production of Super Health Potions far easier.

Thinking about potions reminded him of the auction. Old Vine had listed five batches, a total of one hundred Super Health Potions.

According to him, they had sold out almost instantly.

The moment buyers saw the potion’s effect, restoring five hundred health every second, more than double the recovery of ordinary Large Health Potions, the bidding spiraled completely out of control.

The final selling price averaged around two hundred and fifty gold per bottle. Marcus and Old Vine had originally hoped to sell them for around fifty gold each. They hadn’t just underestimated the demand; they had underestimated it by two hundred gold.

Since each potion only cost around ten gold to produce, the profit margin was almost ridiculous. It was practically printing money.

The demand made perfect sense. Wealthy players and powerful guilds could use these potions to survive battles that would normally wipe them out. To people with deep pockets, one hundred bottles barely counted as a supply.

Old Vine had already informed him that several buyers who tested the potions had placed advance orders for more.

Even representatives from major guilds had begun reaching out, hoping to negotiate long-term supply agreements after witnessing how powerful the potions were firsthand.

Now all Marcus needed was for Dr. Vance’s Alchemy skill to improve enough to increase production speed. Once that happened, he could simply sit back and watch the gold pour in. Owning a monopoly really was satisfying.

The only thing holding him back was the lack of a proper territory.

Without land rich enough in magical energy, Alana couldn’t fully develop her herb gardens or expand her operation, which felt like an enormous waste.

---

By the time Lily and the others returned home for dinner, Marcus had harvested every Crystal-Tear Berry in Blue Ant Valley, leaving only the twenty-meter area surrounding the Blue Crystal Ant King untouched.

Dinner was unusually lively.

Besides Lily and Amber, Crystal and Jade Nance were there, along with Willow Moran, who had recently moved into the house. Anya and Chloe had come over as well.

Emily arrived shortly afterward.

The gentle Native American girl had apparently come straight from work after realizing she hadn’t seen Marcus the previous evening.

Fortunately, Lily and Amber had already introduced her to everyone the night before, sparing Marcus what could have been a rather awkward round of introductions.

Chloe, however, spent almost the entire meal glaring at him. If looks alone could kill, Marcus was certain he wouldn’t have survived dessert.

Every time she visited, another beautiful woman seemed to appear around him.

It was becoming harder and harder for her to keep track, and judging from the way she kept narrowing her eyes at him, she looked moments away from grabbing him by the ear and demanding an explanation.

Marcus wisely chose not to tease her. Instead, when he found a quiet moment, he leaned toward Anya and spoke softly. "So... would you like to move in here too?"

Anya’s cheeks instantly turned bright red. She lowered her eyes for a moment before looking back at him with a shy, happy smile. She never actually answered, but she didn’t need to. The expression on her face told Marcus everything he needed to know.

Smiling to himself, he immediately ordered three more gaming pods. One for Anya, one for Chloe, and one for Emily.

When Emily learned that everyone in the house was already playing Dominion, she looked at Marcus with unmistakable disappointment.

Those large, watery eyes carried a quiet accusation, as though she couldn’t believe he had forgotten to invite her.

Feeling a little guilty, Marcus apologized and promised to get everything set up immediately, which finally brought a gentle smile back to her face.

What surprised him most, though, was how calmly Emily accepted everything else. Even after seeing so many beautiful women living around Marcus, she never became jealous or upset.

What Marcus didn’t know was that Emily’s Native American tribe still preserved the tradition of polygamy. In her community, a capable and respected man having multiple wives was considered perfectly natural. Her own father, the tribal chief, had eight wives.

Because of that upbringing, seeing Marcus surrounded by remarkable women didn’t make her feel threatened. If anything, it only reinforced her belief that the man she admired was truly exceptional.

In fact, if Marcus ever visited her tribe, the number of women by his side would only earn him greater respect.

Far from feeling embarrassed, Emily would consider it something to be proud of.

---

Dragonfly Corp’s service was remarkably efficient. Not long after everyone finished dinner, the newly purchased gaming pods arrived.

The technicians installed them quickly, tested each unit, and left, allowing everyone to log back into Dominion without much delay.

Emily was the only exception.

She still became emotional whenever she had to part with Marcus, so it took a fair amount of comforting before she finally smiled again, created her character, and entered the beginner village to begin leveling toward ten.

As for everyone else, the next day was Sunday, so nobody had work or classes to worry about. Talia, Professor Tina, FreshwindElara, and the twin sorceresses Icewind and Firebrand were all planning to join them online.

After everyone settled in, Marcus activated the Monarch Squad teleport and arrived at Blue Sea Citadel. It was finally time to sail for the island and uncover the treasure hidden beneath A Rich Man’s Wish.