Just as Rita was about to switch to a new hiding spot and continue her bait operation, she ran straight into the little seahorse.
Unlike his earlier arrogant swagger, the seahorse now floated toward her like a tornted soul. He barely glanced at the cat trotting past him and made no move to attack.
Rita had no intention of pulling a stunt like changing her form and pretending to be soone else to get close to him again. Since he wasn't attacking, she didn't bother to stop.
But then—unexpectedly—he turned around and followed her.
Rita: ?
The seahorse asked in Scorpio dialect, "Have you seen Lania Kaia Pine Bloom?"
"Ran into her about half an hour ago. Not since," Rita owed.
The seahorse stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly said, "Wanna team up? We split any map fragnts we find. Once we each complete a set, we leave together."
Rita glanced at the second divine talent unlocked on his profile: [Ignite Teammates, Warm Baby Seahorses].
It was a skill that, once a team agreent was ford by any ans, allowed damage to be redirected to a teammate. And once a team was ford, it lasted for a full hour—no disbanding mid-way.
The only possible downside was the tir, which shortened as the number of damage transfers increased.
Once again, Rita was amazed by how uniquely tailored this guy's divine talent seed—just like Nivalis's [Master Thief Dragon].
Except the seahorse's skill went even further: it explicitly included his real na in the description.
Rita: "Gonna pass, thanks."
"Wait!!" The seahorse called out again, worried she'd bolt. He spoke quickly, "Do you have any food? I'll trade Blocks for it!"
Rita skidded to a stop and turned slowly, eyes gleaming.
Of course! She could sell food in the maze!
Players were burning through stamina fast, and when stamina dropped to zero, they'd be forcefully sent back to the starting room. There was no way every player had packed enough food.
This was it—business was booming!
She'd need to adjust her skill loop though.
Swap out the [Mysterious Power] [There's a Cat Here] rotation for [Mysterious Power] [No Logic].
Because to sell large quantities of food, her pet would need to handle the supply chain. That ant soone could trace the food back to her, regardless of what form she used to deliver it.
Sa reason she couldn't use [The Free Stuff Always Costs the Most.] by bartering at for Blocks—it would blow her cover.
The safest route was to use her real identity to buy supplies.
Then use [No Logic] to bend perception—if everyone believed [Cat's Ideal] wasn't in her possession, she could safely deliver food under their noses.
She had to price things smartly.
Too low, and it wouldn't be worth the effort.
Too high, and players would just bring in their own food via teammates or pets.
Because even if stamina depletion reset their run and cost them 8% of their stats, players still had options.
At least 70% of the top players had teammates. Even solo players likely had pets.
If she priced things outrageously, players would just send their pets in bulk to buy food, making up the cost by selling the excess to others.
They'd need to carry their pets through the maze, but if pushed into a corner, many would absolutely do it.
Rita imagined herself in that situation at the February The Park.
Would she spend thousands of Blocks to buy at from a noob?
No—she'd have Nivalis carry a ton of food inside. The maze would get tougher, sure, but if the food supply was solid, it could be managed.
She'd buy food from weaker players, but only if the price wasn't insulting.
She couldn't let it feel like the weak were exploiting the strong.
She needed to set a price that would let her earn, and one the power players would tolerate.
A perfect balance where players would think, "Well, the maze has food delivery now. Might as well not drag my teammate in."
…
anwhile, after clearing the Ferris wheel, claw machine, bumper cars, and space pirate ride, Nivalis was nearly two ters tall and chowing down at a food stall in February The Park.
Nivalis: "She's been in there five hours and still hasn't co out... How many players are in the maze now?"
B8017913: "Between 12 and 4 o'clock, 812 players entered. Only 19 have exited."
Nivalis: "I'm telling you, she's in there doing food delivery and doesn't want to leave."
B8017913: "Obviously."
As it spoke, B8017913 accepted ten orders of grilled at from a nearby vendor and trotted to the Ferris wheel fence to wait for Rita.
…
Rita really didn't want to leave.
Piloting her space pirate ship through the maze, one hand on the helm, the other waving a packet of roasted at like a flag.
"Grilled at to restore stamina! Only 166g Blocks per serving! Last one left! If you've got a three-piece set fragnt, just throw in 66g Attribute Blocks and it's yours!"
"Six—a number full of magic! If you know, you know."
"Limit two per player!"
Soon enough, a player flagged her down, traded a three-piece fragnt plus 66g Blocks, and got the at.
Rita flew the ship to an empty zone, used [Let the Party Begin] to restore mana, and summoned the deep-blue helm to return to the Ferris wheel waiting area.
The gingerbread man at the gate looked at her, then at B8017913 handing over more grilled at.
These two had completely turned the waiting zone into their personal base of operations…
To prevent players from bypassing stamina loss with hoarded food, none of the vendor als were storable in inventory.
Worried soone might jump her and take the whole stash, Rita picked up small batches at a ti.
She also transferred normal Blocks to B8017913 for safekeeping, keeping three-piece ga items on hand to cover participation fees.
She was grinding for scraps—honestly, barely profiting.
The at sold at the vendor for 35g per piece… and she was selling it for 166g?
That was a bargain.
Only 166g Blocks to avoid losing 8% of your stats? That was basically a charity price!
At first, she wanted Nivalis to supply food from February The Park—cheaper there.
But after taste-testing, she found the at from March The Park restored noticeably more stamina.
To stay honest with her custors, she gave up on Nivalis's supply and stuck with B8017913 sourcing from March The Park.
Her conscience was clear.
Of course, she wasn't going to say any of that in the battle chat...
Even though she felt she was giving players an amazing deal, nearly 60% of the current ssages in chat were from March maze players, and the contents... she didn't want to know.
As Nivalis said: "I can no longer defend your public forum."
Nonsense!
She never defended it in the first place!
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