100\% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full? Chapter 526 - Records

Days slipped by.

Reports kept arriving for Lucien, delivered at steady intervals. Each document was meticulously organized, filtered, and presented with the rapidly improving, almost frightening, proficiency of Lootwell’s dedicated recorder corps.

The majority of these were mundane matters.

Disagreements among merchants. Subtle manipulations of prices. Personal slights carefully veiled as formal correspondence.

These Lucien paid no mind.

Then, Elias made a personal appearance.

"Young Lord, we have uncovered something more significant," Elias stated.

Lucien leaned back subtly.

"How significant are we talking about?"

Elias set the collected documents down.

"Significant enough to be a nuisance. Not significant enough to demand immediate action."

A faint smile touched Lucien's lips.

"That is a most useful classification."

Elias offered no reciprocal smile.

He opened the records, and delicate, thread-like projections of tagged communications materialized in the air above the table.

The involvement of several different sect groups was evident.

Numerous private channels were also implicated.

And several names had already been flagged by the recorders due to pattern clustering, observed influence attempts, and alarmingly synchronized rhetorical styles.

Lucien began to read.

Soon, he let out a laugh.

Elias regarded him with a look of keen curiosity.

"Young Lord, you find this amusing?"

"Indeed, I do."

The reason for his amusement was simple: some individuals had begun to suspect.

A select few astute minds from various factions had started questioning whether the communication devices were more than they initially seemed. Their cautious inquiries had escalated into full-blown conspiracy theories, which then evolved into coordinated attempts at probing.

The logic was straightforward: If Lootwell possessed the capability to broadcast announcements to every single device, could it not also perform other actions? If Lootwell could deploy updates to these devices, was it possible that Lootwell could also monitor their usage? If Lootwell had the power to instantly expel individuals who contravened token-law, did this imply the entire city's system possessed a level of awareness beyond what outsiders should reasonably expect?

These speculations were far from foolish.

However, the subsequent records detailing their actions were even more compelling.

Certain voices from various sects began deliberately sowing seeds of fear within the broader public chats.

Rumors spread that Lootwell might be orchestrating a dangerous plan. Whispers suggested that Lootwell was not merely a city but an encroaching entity poised to engulf others. Concerns were voiced that Lootwell was excessively orderly, overly prosperous, too heavily fortified, and perhaps too eager in its welcome.

Within a sect channel, one individual, brimming with the misplaced confidence of a self-proclaimed paranoia expert, penned the following:

[If they possess the ability to insert words into our hands, what else might they be capable of sending?]

Another user responded promptly:

[Influence.]

A third, clearly determined not to be outmatched in displaying exaggerated caution, added:

[Perhaps even direct commands.]

Lucien raised a hand to cover his mouth, stifling his reaction.

Then, the records presented an even more astonishing turn of events.

Or perhaps, an improvement, depending on one’s appreciation for irony.

The very same individuals who had been attempting to cultivate suspicion around Lootwell started coordinating their efforts more directly within smaller, more private channels.

Some expressed a desire to "test" the city's limits. Others proposed planting hazardous items in public areas to incite widespread panic and subsequently blame Lootwell's organizational structure for the resulting failures. Some suggested deploying provocateurs. Others aimed to foment public discord among the various factions currently visiting Lootwell. One particularly tiresome Elder even put forth the idea of establishing a loose coalition, ostensibly "for the sake of mutual continental stability."

Lucien reread that particular entry twice.

Then, his laughter intensified.

"Continental stability," he echoed, a hint of amusement in his voice. "That is invariably the term frightened individuals employ when they wish to disguise their own ambitions and simultaneously secure witnesses."

Elias inquired, "Should we perhaps restrict their access?"

Lucien revisited the records, his mind engaged in contemplation.

That was undoubtedly the most straightforward course of action.

However, it was also the incorrect one.

If Lootwell were to suddenly block, restrict, or penalize them solely for expressing suspicious sentiments through their devices, their accusations would instantly transform into undeniable proof.

They would then be certain that their communications were under surveillance.

Worse still, every other individual would likely commence similar theoretical tests with even greater fervor.

No.

It would be far better to allow these clever individuals to revel in their perceived intelligence.

Better still, to let them believe their probing attempts had yielded no results whatsoever.

Lucien lightly tapped one of the projected threads.

"You did guess correctly, didn't you? This is precisely what bait looks like."

Elias's smile finally appeared, followed by a nod of understanding.

Lucien elaborated, "The initial wave of those messages is far too clean, too eager, and asks the identical question from diverse mouths."

He smiled once more.

"They were attempting to ascertain if we would react. Had we done so, their suspicions would have solidified into absolute certainty."

Elias cast his gaze back towards the ethereal threads, nodding slowly.

"So, we are to do nothing?"

"Not precisely."

Lucien manipulated the projected records, deftly separating several threads to one side and isolating a smaller cluster that only began to form after the initial anti-Lootwell probing subsided.

This secondary cluster presented a more sinister picture.

It was more candid.

Now that their theory regarding suspected surveillance had elicited no response, the same factions had visibly relaxed, commencing their schemes more openly through the communication devices.

Beneath the surface, the truth was revealed.

The genuine intentions lurking behind the facade of probing.

They were actively planning alliances.

These were being formed in anticipation of the possibility that Lootwell might expand excessively, becoming too large for comfort and eventually incorporating weaker powers into its domain, whether through legislative power, economic influence, or sheer relevance.

One prominent Elder typed:

[If we remain divided while it grows, we will one day wake up and find that our choices have been replaced by their systems.]

Another answered,

[Then we group before that day comes.]

A third added,

[Lootwell is not yet attacking. That is precisely why it is dangerous. It is making itself indispensable.]

Lucien sat in satisfied silence for a moment.

Then he nodded.

"A good choice."

Because he had not acted when they baited him.

And now, because he had remained still, they had shown their real hands.

Old sect elders were old sect elders everywhere.

Give them enough quiet and enough confidence, and they eventually started plotting out loud.

Lucien’s smile widened.

Lootwell had not threatened them.

It had only existed too successfully.

That alone had made them afraid.

He did not care.

Fear, after all, was not always a bad judge of reality.

Lucien sighed.

He can’t act yet.

If he acted too soon, he risked breaking the larger spread of the communication network before it rooted itself deeply enough into habit. The devices needed to keep moving. They needed to remain useful, desirable, and normal. If the world started seeing them primarily as tools of pressure too early, Lootwell would lose something more valuable than a few frightened sects.

So he would not strike first.

He did, however, begin making quieter decisions.

He pointed to the cluster.

"These people."

Elias nodded once.

"Assign recorder attention."

Lucien thought for half a breath.

"Enough to know what they eat, who they hate, what they fear, where they lie, and which weakness they would kill to keep unnamed."

That earned him the smallest shadow of a smile from Elias.

"I’ll arrange it."

Lucien leaned back again.

"As long as they do not move directly against Lootwell, let them gather. Let them speak. Let them write their own future vulnerabilities into our records."

Because they would.

Powerful people always did.

Enough chat records and one no longer merely knew what they planned.

One learned who resented whom, which alliance was brittle, which caravan route mattered too much, which supplier could be pressured, and which family hated another enough to become useful at the wrong time

Lootwell would watch.

And later, if needed, it would exploit.

That was enough for now.

Outside of that cluster, the records remained tolerable.

Minor skirmishes. Petty rivalries. Small humiliations. No true threat yet.

Not one worth lifting a hand for.

That, too, pleased Lucien.

•••

A few more days passed.

Kael and the others sent regular reports through their administrative links.

They were moving toward Maereth.

The first formal external branch of Lootwell would be established there, and not just anywhere in the region.

It would stand near the Liberator branch under Shadow’s authority.

Lucien approved of that.

It was a good arrangement.

A Lootwell branch beside a Liberator branch made coordination easier. Lucien also liked the idea of familiar people in faraway places.

...

Then another communication came.

It came through the communication artifact Seran had given him.

Lucien felt it activate, and he answered.

"I found one." Those are the first words the came out of Seran’s mouth.

Lucien sat up at once.

The air in the room changed.

"A goblin’s hidden world?"

Seran nodded.

"It took longer than I wanted. Their concealment is better than I hoped and worse than I feared."

That answer alone told Lucien much.

His eyes had already begun to gleam.

He asked, "What kind of world?"

Seran’s expression shifted slightly.

"A weird one."

That single word made Lucien want to go immediately.

There was a real chance it contained another bark of the Tree of Creation.

If so, then Lucien’s power could rise again.

"When should we go?"

Seran answered without hesitation.

"Whenever you’re free."

Lucien nodded.

"I’ll come as soon as possible."

They fixed the time quickly.

Once the communication ended, Lucien stayed seated for a moment, smiling to himself.

He rose and went to Vivian immediately.

She looked up from a dense spread of reports as he entered and, to her credit, understood at once that this was not a casual visit.

"You’re leaving?"

Lucien smiled.

"For a few days."

Vivian set down the reports and exhaled through her nose.

"That sentence used to worry me more."

"And now?"

"Now it worries me in a more organized way."

That made him laugh.

He gave her full authority before leaving.

Vivian accepted it without drama.

"I’ll leave everything to you first, sis."

Vivian nodded.

"Be careful, brother."

Soon, Lucien departed.

He took the Void Disc from the chapel, then leapt toward the Liberator Headquarters.

Lootwell behind him continued to breathe, trade, watch, teach, and spread.

And ahead of him—

another hidden world waited.