Online Game: I Started with Max Charisma and Caught the Goddess's Eye - Chapter 384

Chapter 384: Chapter 384: I Have a Better Idea
Drumph took half an hour to recount in detail everything that had happened in the Imperial Capital.

Everyone had assumed that after successfully withstanding the monster horde triggered by Zenobia, the Imperial Capital would no longer face any major threats.

But unexpectedly, the monsters left behind after the horde dissolved weren’t easily eliminated.

Worse still, as time went on, the number of monsters within the city actually increased.

This situation became a real headache for the high-ranking officials of the Imperial Capital.

Under pressure from the upper echelons of the Federation, Morning Star and the military devoted tremendous effort to clearing the monsters from the urban areas.

Thanks to their determination, the monster numbers plummeted in the first two days.

However, this momentum didn’t last.

The monsters that had originally been hiding in the shadows suddenly began acting more aggressively, as if triggered by some unknown stimulus.

They no longer chose to hide—they started rampaging through the city instead.

What was truly terrifying was how these monsters appeared capable of self-replication.

In less than three days, order had completely collapsed across all districts of the Imperial Capital—except the core zone.

Morning Star and the military forces simply couldn’t contain the crisis anymore.

As a result, Morning Star’s supreme commander, Logan, began urging the organization’s members to look for alternative solutions.

The first person Drumph thought of was Luca.

After listening to Drumph’s account, Luca showed a hesitant expression.

He truly didn’t want to go back to the Imperial Capital.

Even though the monster horde had retreated, and Zenobia—severely wounded by the secret weapon left behind in Zenith Technology Company’s Dragon Gate Mountain laboratory—was now missing, Luca still didn’t feel it was safe to return.

The monsters currently roaming the Imperial Capital were all brought there by Zenobia.

There was a real possibility that they acted as Zenobia’s eyes and ears.

Zenobia had always been keeping a close watch on him.

Even if she had been critically injured, Luca worried that if she sensed his presence, she might attack again—recklessly.

And to make matters worse, Luca was far from being in peak condition.

After losing his Dominion Persona, he no longer had a powerful weapon that could stand against Zenobia.

While Luca was deep in thought, Drumph kept a close eye on his expression.

He could clearly see how torn Luca was—so he began trying to persuade him.

“I know you hold a deep grudge against the noble families in the Imperial Capital. You don’t want to risk your life protecting them! But I need you to understand—Imperial Capital isn’t just one of the Federation’s core cities.

There are countless industrial facilities within that city, and those facilities are absolutely critical to humanity. Without them, our soldiers won’t even have weapons to fight with.

What, are you planning to rely solely on game players to fend off the monster horde? The Eternal Game has already been shut down. No new players will be joining the fight!”

Drumph firmly believed his words were persuasive.

Luca slowly nodded.

“You’re not wrong. But I have a better idea.”

“Oh? You have a better idea?”

Drumph thought Luca was just trying to dodge responsibility.

From his point of view, there was no other option—Luca would have to take action himself.

Luca stood up from his seat, smiling.

“Why don’t we seek help from Zenith Technology Company? I assume they don’t want to see the Imperial Capital destroyed either, right?”

Drumph’s expression shifted to surprise.

But after his initial reaction, he realized Luca’s suggestion wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

The reason why the Federation’s upper leadership—including himself—hadn’t considered this earlier was because they were far too wary of Zenith Technology Company.

Zenith had always been shrouded in mystery, a powerful force most people preferred to avoid dealing with.

Moreover, the Federation didn’t want the company’s influence expanding even further.

Only a few aristocratic families had secretly maintained ties with them.

But now… things were different.

The situation in the Imperial Capital had deteriorated to the point where survival itself was at stake.

Under such circumstances, cooperating with Zenith Technology Company to save the city might be acceptable after all.

“I’ll need to think this through. And if we’re going to cooperate with Zenith, we’ll also need to go through official Federation channels to establish communication with their headquarters.”

Drumph was clearly being swayed by Luca’s argument.

He had already begun mentally drafting the next steps of their plan.

A wolfish grin split Luca’s face.

“No need to make it so complicated. One of Zenith Technology Company’s secret laboratories is located not far from our 102 Shelter—right in Daskhollow Canyon.”

Luca had finally revealed his true intention.

Even though the covert operation to infiltrate the Daskhollow lab had failed, that didn’t mean he had given up on his plan.

As long as he could convince Drumph, he might be able to walk into the Daskhollow secret laboratory openly—without hiding anything.

Drumph gave Luca a long, searching look.

He was well aware that Daskhollow Canyon was one of the four coordinates Luca had previously requested from him.

“If you don’t believe me, then fine,” Luca said casually.

“You can head back to the Imperial Capital right now and let the Federation’s top brass coordinate with Zenith Technology Company’s headquarters. But I suspect they’ll waste a whole lot of time.

They might not reach a consensus until after the Imperial Capital is completely overrun by monsters.”

Drumph hesitated for quite a while before finally replying,

“You’re right. Expecting the Federation and Zenith’s headquarters to agree on anything quickly is wishful thinking.

Alright—we’ll go directly to the Daskhollow secret lab.”

In the end, Luca had managed to persuade Drumph to head for the Daskhollow laboratory.

At that very moment, tension gripped the atmosphere inside the Daskhollow secret laboratory.

Commissioner Nova had just finished reviewing every detail regarding Luca and Quagmire’s escape.

To her, everyone in the base was utterly incompetent.

If she had the authority to act unilaterally, she would have chosen to execute every single person stationed there.

Across from her, Minister Brown and Liam stood nervously, waiting for her to speak.

Although the two had tried to pin all the blame on the now-deceased Dr. Smith, it was obvious—even to them—that their attempt to dodge responsibility was less than convincing.

“Do either of you have anything else to say?”

Commissioner Nova placed the file in her hand down and asked coldly.

“I do,” Minister Brown quickly stood up, flustered and anxious.

“I believe we still have a chance to capture Luca again. He’s currently at Shelter 102—not far from us.”

“You’re suggesting we launch an assault on a Federation shelter?”

Nova narrowed her eyes, her voice icy. “Do you have any idea what that would mean?”

While Zenith Technology Company’s relationship with the Federation had always been strained, the two sides had never been in open conflict.

Launching a direct attack on a Federation-controlled shelter would be the equivalent of declaring all-out war.

For Zenith Technology Company, starting a war with the Federation right now was absolutely unacceptable.

Minister Brown remained silent, meek and subdued.

He knew full well that his suggestion had already been rejected by Commissioner Nova.

“Madam Commissioner,” Liam finally spoke up, “I might be able to reconstruct an incomplete version of Luca using the data from the Dreamscape Device.

Perhaps we can extract more intelligence through this method.”

Nova gave a nod of approval.

“Excellent. Get to it immediately.

It seems there are still a few competent people left in this facility after all.”

As she said that, Nova made a point of locking eyes with Minister Brown for several seconds.

Minister Brown looked even more panicked, though he dared not say another word.

“That’s enough. Go handle your respective tasks.

I’ll be spending the next two days fully familiarizing myself with every aspect of this facility. After that, I will be taking full command here.

You’ll follow my instructions and nothing else.”

Originally, Commissioner Nova had only been dispatched to personally interrogate Luca.

She was not supposed to oversee any of Daskhollow’s broader operations.

However, with Luca having escaped and Dr. Smith dead, Zenith Technology Company’s headquarters had decided that Nova would now serve as the official commander of the Daskhollow base.

After Minister Brown and Liam left the room, Nova slowly shook her head.

“Useless. Every last one of them. Leaving them here won’t do me any good whatsoever.”

Muttering to herself in frustration, she flipped again through the files on Luca.

“You’re such a mystery… Why is headquarters so obsessed with you?

What secrets are you hiding, Luca?”

Nova’s curiosity about Luca was growing stronger by the minute.

Although she had already been briefed on him before arriving, she still couldn’t quite understand why Zenith’s top command was so fixated on this one individual.

But after arriving at the Daskhollow facility, she had accessed far more detailed intelligence related to Luca.

In her mind, Luca’s image had only grown more enigmatic.

From what she could tell, he had obtained extraordinary power relying solely on his own strength.

What made this man even more remarkable was that he had not only earned the recognition of the Federation, but also maintained intricate and far-reaching ties with numerous factions within the Eternal World.

And more importantly, Luca now possessed highly sensitive information related to artificial monster technology.

Artificial monster technology had always been an area of intense interest for Zenith Technology Company.

“I really would like to sit down and have a proper face-to-face conversation with you,”

Commissioner Nova murmured with a faint smile as she stared at Luca’s photo.

Just then, the phone on her desk rang sharply.

“Commissioner, we’ve just received an open transmission from Shelter 102,” came the voice over the line.

“Drumph, the head of Morning Star in the Northern Territory, is requesting to discuss a potential collaboration with us.”