The cold, damp mine cave was now illuminated by the stacks of pure metal bars emitting a pitch-black gleam. Two thousand five hundred Black Iron Ingots were neatly stacked on the rocky ground, an instantaneous masterpiece born from Orion Vance's Origin-Grade Talent.
Kael, Lyra, and Garrick, standing behind him, were rendered completely speechless. As entities summoned by the System, they possessed a basic understanding of this world's laws. Purifying thousands of raw iron ores into advanced metal ingots required a large-scale Smelting Furnace building, dozens of skilled workers, and days of time. Yet, their Lord had accomplished it with a mere wave of his hand in a matter of seconds.
Orion touched the pile of metal.
"System, transfer all these Black Iron Ingots into the Storage Ring."
[Ding! 2,500x Black Iron Ingots have been stored. (Consumes 25 Storage Slots due to a stack limit of 100 units per slot).]
It was incredibly fortunate that Orion had obtained the Basic Storage Ring the night before. Otherwise, he would have had to manually transport tens of tons of metal across ten kilometers of perilous forest.
Having secured his newly forged wealth, Orion turned his attention to the most valuable spoil of war today. From his inventory, he summoned a beautifully engraved metal chest that radiated a pure silver glow.
The Treasure Chest (Silver).
Across the entirety of the Endless Continent right now, perhaps only a handful of incredibly lucky Lords or insane geniuses like Orion had managed to obtain a chest of this tier on the Third Day. This chest was the direct reward for slaying a Black Iron Boss.
"Open," Orion commanded, his eyes narrowing against the blinding light as the chest's lid opened on its own.
An epic, magical melody played softly, accompanied by a series of golden notifications flooding his holographic interface.
[Ding! Opening Treasure Chest (Silver).] [Obtained: 1x Blueprint: Blacksmith Furnace (Bronze)] [Obtained: 1x Hero Summoning Token (Bronze)] [Obtained: 1,000x Gold Coins] [Obtained: 1x Mid-tier Recovery Potion]
Orion's heart beat slightly faster. The results far exceeded his expectations.
"A Bronze-tier building blueprint and a Hero Token..." he muttered.
His current Summoning Gateway only summoned Troops. They were strong, but a 'Hero' was an entirely different entity. Heroes possessed vastly superior intelligence, the ability to lead their own armies (Leadership), and a Skill Tree that could be continuously developed and expanded.
He stored the token and the blueprint back into his ring. He would use them once they returned to the absolute safety of his Black Iron domain.
Orion then took out a massive weapon he had also looted from the Kobold Overseer's corpse earlier. It was a double-bitted battleaxe with a handle made of thick monster bone, its black blades exuding a bloodthirsty aura.
[Subjugator Double Axe (Black Iron)] [Attributes: Strength +10, Physical Attack +20%] [Passive Effect: 'Rending Wounds' - Every strike that connects with enemy flesh causes continuous bleeding.]
"Garrick, come here," Orion called out.
The bronze-armored giant stepped forward, smashing his fist against his chest in a salute. "My Lord."
"Your bronze battleaxe was destroyed while blocking the Kobold Boss's attack. Use this as a replacement." Orion tossed the giant weapon to Garrick.
Garrick caught it with one hand. The moment his thick fingers gripped the bone handle, a lethal aura radiated from his body. The combination of his bronze armor, giant Aegis shield, and this bone-crushing double axe made Garrick look like a god of war descended from the heavens.
"Your benevolence is my strength, Master. This axe shall cleave any mountain that blocks your path!" Garrick roared, his already absolute loyalty now seeming to be etched directly into his soul.
Orion nodded in satisfaction. "We head back to the territory."
The group stepped out of the mine cave and began their journey home. The sun was leaning toward the west, indicating that the afternoon was drawing to a close.
While walking safely within the protective formation of Lyra, Kael, and Garrick, Orion opened his holographic interface. He entered the [Chat Channel - Regional] menu.
As usual, the channel was filled with complaints. However, this time, the topic had shifted from mere starvation to absolute despair in combat.
"Damn it! My peasant's stone axe shattered after hitting a Goblin three times! How are we supposed to survive the Beast Tide if our weapons break?!" "Help! Does anyone have a metal weapon? I'm willing to trade 500 units of wood for even a rusty iron sword!" "This is ridiculous! The system didn't give us blacksmiths! How are we supposed to process the ore we mine?!" "Lord Arthur in the World Channel said he just built a smelting facility, but it takes 2 days to forge a single sword! We're all going to die before the seventh day!"
Orion chuckled softly reading the barrage of desperate messages. While the top Lords in the World Channel were just celebrating the successful forging of a single sword, he had 2,500 chunks of elite pure metal sitting in his pocket.
Orion opened the [Auction/Trade] menu. It was time to turn the economic wheels of the Endless Continent to his whims.
He had no intention of selling finished weapons; instead, he would sell the raw materials. He posted his auction listings.
[New Auction Listing from: Lord Orion Vance] [Item for Sale: 1x Black Iron Ingot] [Description: Elite-tier pure metal. No smelting required. Ready to be shaped or synthesized into advanced weapons and armor.] [Quantity Available: 500 Units] [Asking Price per 1 Ingot Unit: 200 Units of Wood & 200 Units of Stone, OR 1x Basic Magic Crystal]
He deliberately listed only 500 units to create artificial scarcity, preventing the market value from crashing.
As soon as he published the auction, Orion sent a single message to the [Regional Channel].
[Orion Vance: If you don't want to die bitten by Goblins because your stone axes broke, visit the Auction House. Pure Black Iron Ingots are available. Limited stock. The fastest to buy is the most likely to live.]
For the second time, Orion Vance's name detonated the regional channel. If on the first day he was known as the "God of Meat," he had now transformed into an utterly unreasonable existence.
"B-Black Iron?! Pure Ingots?! Are my eyes broken?!" "Where the hell did this monster named Orion come from?! Isn't he the one who monopolized the meat yesterday?!" "My God, the quality of these iron bars... this is equivalent to a reward from a Treasure Chest! And he has 500 UNITS?!" "The price is insane! 200 Wood and Stone for a single bar of metal?! But... but we can use it to build iron walls or synthesize stronger swords!" "Screw the price! Wood and stone can be gathered again, lives cannot! I'm buying 5 units!"
Just like the previous night, transaction notifications flooded Orion's interface.
But this time, the scale was massively larger. Lords who had survived until the third day had, on average, begun hoarding thousands of wood and stone. Those who initially hoarded basic resources were now willingly draining their entire savings to grasp a sliver of hope in the form of Black Iron metal.
During a mere ten-minute walk through the forest, the system's mechanical voice chimed relentlessly in Orion's ears.
[Ding! Auction Transaction Successful!] [Ding! Auction Transaction Successful!] ... [All 500 Units of Black Iron Ingots have been sold out!]
Orion opened his inventory. The numbers displayed there were absolutely absurd for a Lord on the third day.
He received a mixed total payment of: 50,000 Units of Wood, 40,000 Units of Stone, and 50x Basic Magic Crystals.
This single monopolistic transaction had granted him enough wealth to build a small town from scratch. He no longer needed to order Kael or Garrick to chop trees manually. He had essentially employed thousands of surrounding human Lords as his indirect mining coolies, while he simply sat back and reaped the exorbitant profits.
"Physical strength conquers monsters," Orion muttered with a crooked smile. "But economic power... conquers men."
As the sky began to darken, Orion's group finally spotted the gray glow of the Black Iron Protective Dome in the distance. The Automated Ballista Tower stood tall, rotating slowly to scan for threats.
The moment they stepped inside the 300-meter radius, the Overlord's Aura enveloped them. The fatigue from the epic battle against the Kobold Boss and the ten-kilometer trek instantly faded away thanks to the passive stamina recovery of 5% per minute.
Orion stood in the front yard of his sturdy steel-hard Wooden Cabin. Before him, he had 2,000 remaining Black Iron Ingots, roughly 70 Basic Magic Crystals, a Bronze-tier Blacksmith Blueprint, and a Bronze-tier Hero Token.
"Let's see," Orion said, pulling the bronze-glowing Blueprint from his ring. "Just how far this territory can evolve tonight."