Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat - Chapter 717

Chapter 717: The system arbitration and the Mad Engineer’s appraisal
“Should we go through the Formal channels? I don’t mind,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“Then let’s find a Master-tier Engineer—or higher—and call for a system arbitration. Whatever price they appraise this schematic for, I’ll pay it.” A smug grin twisted the man’s lips as he spoke.

‘This idiot is playing right into my hands, he thought.’

A Master-tier Engineer? They were practically mythical in the current state of the game. In the entire Northern Frontier, he only knew of one player who’d hit Master tier a few days ago: NoPaperOnTheBigOne from the All-You-Need Engineering shop.

The guy was a total lunatic, a legend who called himself the Mad Engineer. He was notoriously unstable and didn’t kiss anyone’s ass. Rumor was he’d recently closed up shop. A few days back, he’d hired a crew of NPC laborers to remodel the place. Nobody had seen the inside since.

The Engineers who worked for him had gone in a while ago… and not a single one had come back out. Days had passed, and nobody had a clue what kind of mad science project they were cooking up in there.

Now, this so-called Druid God, who hadn’t logged in for a while, was clearly out of the loop. He wanted a system arbitration?

Initiating one meant you could send an invitation to any registered Master-tier Engineer. Sending it was easy; getting them to actually show up was a whole other story. It depended entirely on their mood. If one was feeling generous and decided to do the appraisal, they’d earn some Reputation with the Artisan Guild. But if they were busy, or just in a foul mood, and no player Master could be bothered to come… once the timer ran out, a system NPC would step in.

An NPC would just use the basic vendor sell-price as a baseline. Which was a pitiful ten gold. A tenfold compensation would only be a hundred gold.

He was already savoring the look of pure defeat that would spread across the Druid God’s face. He’d grandly produce the hundred gold and shove it right in his face. Well, maybe not literally, but the fantasy was deeply satisfying.

“System Arbitration: Initiate!” Ethan commanded, pulling up the game’s adjudication panel.

The system required consent from both parties.

GetOutOfMyWay immediately hit ‘Accept.’

[Ding… Adjudication system initiated. Item for appraisal: [Engineering Schematic: Blazing Cannon]. Preliminary system scan: Current global quantity status: Rare.]

[Ding… Searching for nearest online Master-tier or higher Engineer… One player found: NoPaperOnTheBigOne.]

[Ding… Invite this player to serve as final appraiser? If invitation is declined or unanswered, a system NPC will provide the appraisal value.]

“Invite him,” Ethan said.

Witnessing this, GetOutOfMyWay smirked inwardly. He actually picked him. ‘That guy’s a complete psycho. He’s probably buried in some insane project right now. And even if he isn’t… does this relic really think his name alone is enough to make a madman come running?’

[Ding… Master-tier Engineer player: NoPaperOnTheBigOne, has accepted the invitation. Coordinates have been provided.]

The system chime echoed just as the thought finished forming in his head.

“Huh?…” The man was dumbstruck. He accepted? That lunatic actually accepted. He must have misheard the prompt and clicked ‘accept’ by accident.

‘Yeah, that’s it. Even if he accepted, there’s no way he’ll actually show up.’

He clung to that last, desperate hope.

“Open the gate!”

The shout came from the direction of the Renegade Alliance guild hall’s main entrance at that exact moment. Every head swiveled toward the sound.

Ethan just facepalmed. ‘Does this guy not know the meaning of wait a few minutes?’

He’d told the Mad Engineer to come and wait outside beforehand. But for the system to send the coordinates and for him to immediately start yelling to be let in… it was a bit on the nose.

GetOutOfMyWay, however, wasn’t thinking that critically. His jaw just hung open, staring at the man who strode into the courtyard.

“M-Mad Engineer… NoPaperOnTheBigOne?”

His voice came out as a strangled squeak. It was undeniably him. He’d seen the guy once before, even tried to recruit him. The stained, disheveled clothes and the bird’s nest of hair were his signature look.

“The hell did you call me? You’re the one who goes without paper! Your whole family goes without paper! Who the hell even are you? Get out of my way!”

The Mad Engineer marched right up to him, radiating an ‘I-walk-alone’ aura. He perfectly imitated GetOutOfMyWay’s earlier cocky posture and walked straight into him, delivering a solid shoulder-check.

GetOutOfMyWay, berated and shoved, instinctively sidestepped at the final “Get out of my way!”

The Mad Engineer swept past him without a second glance, forcing him back a step, and then stopped dead. His eyes locked onto the schematic floating in the air—the very item up for appraisal: Engineering Schematic: Blazing Cannon.

“Huh…?”

The man, all swagger and bluster a moment before, suddenly froze. He took one long look at the schematic, then his head snapped up, his eyes finding Ethan’s.

“Bos—”

He cut himself off.

Ethan shot him a sharp, warning glare.

“Bos—… I’ll take it! This schematic, I’ll pay…” The glare made him flinch. He swallowed his words, suddenly remembering why he was here. His eyes darted around shrewdly. He reached into his grimy pouch and pulled out a money bag.

Clatter… He dumped the entire contents onto the ground. A chaotic pile of gold coins of all denominations formed a messy heap.

“This is all I’ve got on me! Take it! The schematic’s mine now, alright?” He made a grab for the floating blueprint.

[Ding… Master-tier Engineer player: NoPaperOnTheBigOne, has appraised [Engineering Schematic: Blazing Cannon] at a value of 207,382 gold.]

[Ding… Appraisal complete. Market value of [Engineering Schematic: Blazing Cannon] is set at 207,382 gold.]

[Ding… Per the binding contract, Reynolds Trading Company is obligated to pay ten times the appraised value in penalties. Total penalty: 2,073,820 gold.]

[Ding… System judgment is now in effect. Reynolds Trading Company has ten hours to deliver the penalty funds to the signatory: Tears of the Fallen, Honorary Leader of the Renegade Alliance.]

[Ding… System enforcement initiated. All assets of personnel belonging to Reynolds Trading Company are frozen. No transactions are permitted for ten hours, except for transactions directed to Tears of the Fallen.]

[Ding… Enforcement countdown begun: 10 hours. If Reynolds Trading Company fails to voluntarily pay the penalty, the system will seize and liquidate company assets, with an additional 50% penalty fee (1,036,910 gold) levied.]

Line after line of system notifications flooded their views. The prompts weren’t just for Ethan’s group; simultaneously, every high-ranking member of Reynolds Trading Company heard them in their own interfaces.

In an instant, absolute pandemonium erupted within the ranks of the trading company.

A wide, predatory grin spread across Ethan’s face. He wasn’t the only one smiling; Celia, Victor, and the others wore identical expressions of triumphant glee.