《Dark Magician Isekai: Return and make Fantasy World into a VR Game》


 Chapter 1: The Return of the Black Mage

    "On September 1, 2019, I remember that the sun in Anshi was so bright it was hard to open one''s eyes." sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Wait, wait." The young woman raised her hand expressionlessly to stop him. "Although you''re talking about those dates with a look of nostalgia for the distant past, today is only September 2."


    The middle-aged man with a stubbled face and melancholy eyes said solemnly, "For you, it was just yesterday, but for me, it has already been three hundred years."


    The woman took a deep breath, veins popping out on her forehead and neck. She clenched her teeth and fists, as if trying her best to control her anger. "Okay... So, from yesterday to today is equal to three hundred years for you. So what?"


    The melancholy bearded man suddenly became excited. "So, sister, I am your brother Yang Qiu! That afternoon, you sent me to buy groceries and took my computer to play games. I got angry and went straight to the internet cafe. As a result, when I went home after playing until midnight, I was suddenly transported to a particularly dark and terrible magical world for three hundred years! I finally returned with great difficulty..."


    "Get out¡ª!!"


    With two consecutive "bangs" and "clangs," the main door and security door of Room 3-2 were slammed shut, leaving only the melancholy bearded man, Yang Qiu, standing alone in the corridor.


    "Listen to my explanation, sister. I am really Yang Qiu!" Yang Qiu knocked on the door again. "Your name is Yang Ying, and our mother''s name is Ni Keping. It''s been three hundred years, but I still remember you clearly¡ª!"


    There was no sound from inside the door, but the door of Room 3-1 next door opened, and an old lady, looking quite strange but vaguely familiar, stared blankly at the bearded man in the corridor.


    The aunt slowly closed the door.


    The door was locked, and Yang Qiu heard the nervous voice of an old lady from inside the door. "Old man, what''s the phone number of Qingshan Mental Hospital? There''s a madman from the Yang family next door..."


    Yang Qiu left the Redwood community where he had lived for sixteen years in a lonely manner.


    Yang Qiu, with his stubble beard and greasy hair, had been to another world and back again. At that moment, he was still wearing the clothes he brought back from another world. a beige long-sleeved turtleneck shirt, a vest of the same color, black magic pattern cloth trousers, deerskin boots, a black hooded cloak, and a delicate staff as long as his forearm.


    When he walked out of the community, two high school students who had just returned from school looked at him in surprise. One of them whispered, "You''re still doing cosplay at such an old age? Who is the character?"


    Yang Qiu turned his head and stared at the two high school students, his eyes mainly focused on their blue and white sports uniforms.


    Three hundred years ago, on Earth, he had traveled through time wearing a similar school uniform. That warm and thick autumn school uniform had accompanied him through many difficult times.


    "Ugh!" The two high school students felt uncomfortable with his gaze and ran away in disgust.


    Yang Qiu didn''t care at all that he was considered a pervert. He watched them walk away with a longing look in his eyes until they were out of sight.


    To him that wasn''t the girl who ran away; it was the carefree youth he had lost.


    Hongshan Community was in a good location. A 200-meter walk from the community led to the pedestrian street in Anshi Commercial District. With the popularity of the pedestrian street, many stores had opened on both sides of the narrow alley. There was also a long vegetable stall at the corner, where some elderly people in the community liked to buy vegetables.


    The popularity of the alley couldn''t be compared to that of the pedestrian street, but it wasn''t deserted either. Yang Qiu stood at the entrance of the community for a while, and at least a dozen people coming and going stared at his costume, which seemed to be a black magician cosplay.


    Fortunately, in this era, the streets were full of people wearing Hanfu, Lolita skirts, and cosplay costumes, so Yang Qiu''s outfit wasn''t too unusual.


    When a middle-aged couple walked past Yang Qiu into the community, the woman said to her husband, "This cosplay is really professional. Is it the League of Legends character you play?"


    The man only glanced at Yang Qiu, then turned back and stared at him. "It seems... No way, no hero has this look."


    Yang Qiu lowered his head and left quickly.


    Half an hour later, penniless and homeless, Yang Qiu sat alone on a bench in the northwest corner of the central square of Tashan Park. He was facing the flower bed, with a thoughtful look on his face.


    "I can''t feel any magic at all. Is it true that there is no magic on Earth?"


    He raised his right hand and drew a casting rune gesture smoothly in the air. The mage hand, which he could normally move at will and didn''t even need a casting gesture, couldn''t be summoned.


    After thinking about it, Yang Qiu took out the dragon bone staff.


    With a light wave of the staff in his hand, a translucent hand about half a person''s height, invisible to the naked eye, suddenly appeared from the void.


    But the mage hand, which had been successfully summoned, only lasted for half a second before it ran out of power and disintegrated into invisible particles.


    "The battle before I crossed over drained all my magic power, and I haven''t had time to recover yet..." Yang Qiu exhaled lightly. "My magic power is almost gone, and I''ve lost my identity as ''Yang Qiu'' on Earth..."


    Although the situation was a bit difficult, Yang Qiu''s expression didn''t seem to be very solemn; he even looked a little relaxed. After all, surviving on Earth was definitely much easier than that damn magical world!


    Why did Yang Qiu, who had struggled for three hundred years to become a high-level dark magician with a certain ability to protect himself, rush in without caring about anything when he saw the rift in time and space?


    In addition to the fact that he felt the familiar fluctuations of time and space in this sudden crack, the most important reason was that he was being hunted down by those lunatics of the Inquisition!


    Even when he hid in the dimensional demon world to live a miserable life, there were still some lunatics who followed him...


    Wasn''t it just that he killed a few cardinals and prophets of the Holy Land because he saw injustice? What a huge grudge!


    "At least on Earth, we don''t have to worry about whether a lunatic will throw an alchemical bomb into the toilet as a form of assassination attempt."


    Taking a relaxing breath of peaceful air, Yang Qiu took off his overly eye-catching black cloak, looked around to see that there was no one around, and put the cloak and the equally conspicuous dragon bone staff into his space ring.


    Without the cape and staff, the beige elf cloth turtleneck shirt, vest of the same color, and black magic pattern trousers weren''t very conspicuous. Of course, people couldn''t delve into their material and see what beast the hide came from.


    Yang Qiu was so excited when he got back that he was anxious to go home and see what was going on. Yang Ying would definitely not recognize him in this state. Well, he''d find another opportunity later. He had managed to get through all these years, so there was no need to rush.


    Yang Qiu yawned, lay down on the park bench, and soon began to snore. He hadn''t slept well for a long time before he was lucky enough to encounter a space-time rift with familiar spatial fluctuations.


    He slept until it was completely dark. The colorful street lights and neon signs inside and outside the park competed with each other for brightness. Yang Qiu was then awakened by the deafening sound of square dance music.


    He stretched and sat up, and found that someone had put two big buns in a plastic bag and a bottle of mineral water under the bench.


    "It''s great to be back on Earth," Yang Qiu sincerely thanked the unknown kind-hearted person, tore open the plastic bag, and wolfed down the cold steamed buns. Before he came back, he had been chased by the madman from the Inquisition and had to run deep into the Monster Forest. It had been a long time since he had eaten normal food!


    He didn''t know if it was because the way he ate the cold steamed buns was too shocking, but two office workers who had just gotten off work took one look at him and stopped.


    The female office workers looked at each other and saw sympathy in each other''s eyes. One of them with long hair walked over silently and put the midnight snack she bought near the park square on the bench where Yang Qiu was sitting.


    "Is it for me?" Yang Qiu was shocked when he smelled the spicy aroma coming from the packed midnight snack.


    The long-haired girl was startled by him and quickly nodded while backing away.


    "Thank you, thank you, young lady. You are a beautiful and kind person!" Yang Qiu swallowed the last half of the cold bun in one gulp and tore open the new bag with a ferocious look on his face.


    The other, short-haired female office worker stepped forward, grabbed her companion''s wrist, and urged her in a low voice, "Let''s go."


    The two left in a hurry.


    The two female office workers finally breathed a sigh of relief when they walked out to the northwest corner of the park, where there were fewer people.


    "You are too impulsive. That guy is tall and strong with all his limbs intact, but you think he is a homeless person in the park. He might have mental problems. What if he gets excited and hurts you?" The short-haired girl complained in a low voice.


    "I think it''s quite pitiful... Never mind," the long-haired girl said with a pale face. "Don''t say that. If it weren''t for something that happened, who would want to fall to this point?"


    "Hey, these days normal people can earn enough by carrying bricks. Who would sleep on the street for no reason? Look at the homeless people in the news, they are either mentally ill, or fugitives," the short-haired girl disagreed. "If you see a strange person, it''s better to put the food far away and let them get it themselves, rather than taking the risk of delivering it to them."


    "I know, I know..."


    On the other side, Yang Qiu, who had eaten spicy hot pot again after 300 years, licked the plastic fast food box clean without missing a single pepper or oil drop.


    "Earth is still the best!" Yang Qiu, moved to tears, put the clean plastic lunch box into his space ring.


    Then he realized something was wrong.


    "Damn it! On Earth, plastic containers are just white trash, there''s no need to collect them. I''m toxic!"


    Muttering something with a frown on his face, Yang Qiu took out the plastic lunch box again.


    As a dark magician, he was doing pretty poorly. His space ring was only ten cubic meters in size, and it was filled with miscellaneous items: Bedding, clothes, and daily necessities accounted for the majority, and the rest were crafting materials collected during his escape, herbs, claws, and so on. Only a small leather bag was left for the spellcasting materials.


    "Huh?"


    When taking out the plastic lunch box, Yang Qiu discovered that there was an extra perfectly white ball in the space ring.


    How much does a poor guy value his own wealth? He could even remember clearly whether there was one more or one less leaf of a herb. Yang Qiu was sure that there was absolutely no such thing in his asset list.


    Yang Qiu took out the white ball in confusion.


    It was an ordinary stone ball, the size of a fist. It looked a bit rough but felt smooth to the touch.


    "Where did this thing come from... F*ck!"


    Yang Qiu subconsciously wanted to throw the ball away when he found that the ball was actually absorbing the little magic power left in his body through the contact surface of his palm.


    Unfortunately, it was too late.


    With a whoosh, Yang Qiu disappeared in an instant.


    All that was left on the park bench was a plastic fast food container that had been licked clean.

 Chapter 2: Tentacles of the Old Gods

    A deep, dark jungle. The whistling wind rustled the leaves in the forest. There was a symphony of annoying noisy insects and the occasional roar of beasts in the distance. Yang Qiu, who had traveled back from the civilized world to this wild jungle, was dumbfounded.


    "WTF?!"


    Yang Qiu looked around in horror. Not far from his crossing point, the cross-sections of several fallen trees were still very fresh. There were many blackened bloodstains on the crushed and trampled vegetation and soil around, as well as broken arrows, fragments of clothing corroded by black magic, and remains of armor twisted and deformed by some spell.


    This was where he¡¯d had that big fight with the lunatics of the Inquisition. Apparently, the battlefield had been cleaned up and the bodies had been taken away. The lunatics probably didn''t find him and left.


    ¡ª¡ªThat¡¯s not the point! The point is, how did he return to this fucking world?!


    Yang Qiu lowered his head and looked at the stone ball in his hand. After all, he was a dark magician who had struggled in this alien world for three hundred years. His control over magic power was not only meticulous, but his style was very different from the indigenous spellcasters in this world who relied entirely on faith to cast spells. Even if he had traveled through time without even having time to take the college entrance examination, he would not abandon the scientific method.


    If his perception was correct... when he input magic power into the stone ball with the qualities of a spellcaster, the slight pulling sensation was transmitted from the direction of the stone ball to his entire body.


    "Could it be that... this thing is a dimension-travelling artefact? It has the magic power to jump back and forth between two planes?" Yang Qiu thought uncertainly, "But when did this thing get into my space ring? Could it be that I picked it up accidentally and forgot about it?"


    He couldn''t figure it out for a moment, so he looked around and found a big tree that was sturdy enough but had sparse leaves on the crown and climbed up. This was an instinct he had developed from being forced to survive in the wild for decades. It was best to climb a tree when spending the night in the forest, otherwise you never knew when you would be bitten by a small thing that jumped out of the grass; and you couldn''t climb a tree with a too dense crown, because such a tree might hide poisonous snakes or other annoying things...


    Picking a tree branch to sit on, Yang Qiu took out pyrethrum powder from his space ring and sprinkled it on his body, then he calmed down and started meditating. Meditation was a common magical trick used by spellcasters to quickly restore magic power, which was somewhat similar to the Taoist meditation on Earth.


    Of course, one did not need to sit in meditation to be in a meditative state. One only needed to concentrate on releasing all of the senses and quickly absorbing the floating magic factors between heaven and earth.


    In this dark magical world, magic was also a very dangerous thing. In the process of absorbing magic power, it was possible that the indigenous spellcasters would gradually lose their sanity, degenerate, lose their ability to think intelligently, and turn into killing monsters with only instincts, or even turn into a pool of rotten meat.


    Once upon a time, Yang Qiu was an unlucky magic apprentice. He helped an old man sweep the wizard''s tower every day and racked his brains on how to make delicious food. The old man warned him countless times about the three laws of spellcasters: Don''t be dazzled by power, don''t be addicted to magic, and don''t fall into the endless pursuit of knowledge... Yang Qiu''s ears were covered with calluses from hearing the old man''s warnings.


    After becoming an apprentice dark magician... Yang Qiu discovered that although absorbing magic power did have certain dangers, it was not to the extent that one could easily lose control. At least it was still easy for him.


    Well, this was also the reason why the old man soon became dissatisfied with him and kicked him out... In the face of jealousy, the master-disciple relationship became vulnerable.


    Yang Qiu, who was already quite talented in magic, recovered his magic power particularly quickly this time. After about ten minutes, Yang Qiu opened his eyes and ended his meditation.


    "It''s probably because I had a good sleep and a hearty meal back on Earth. I haven''t felt this state of relaxation for at least sixty years." Yang Qiu sighed after decades of painful running away, put on his gloves and took out the stone ball.


    He definitely didn''t want to stay in this fucked up world, he wanted to go back to Earth. Since this stone ball could have the power to travel through dimensions after injecting magic power into it, he had to try and use this stone ball to find a way to return home.


    A faint blue light symbolizing abundant magic power lit up on his palm, and Yang Qiu tried to inject the magic power carefully. As soon as the magic power touched the surface of the sphere, Yang Qiu''s face changed drastically - this thing was like a black hole with an independent consciousness, not only madly sucking away his magic power, but also trying to compete with him for the control of it!


    "What the hell!" Yang Qiu instinctively realized that something was wrong and immediately tried to cut off the magic connection. But... things seemed to be out of control. Even with his control as a high-level dark magician, he couldn''t even snatch the magic back from the stone ball...


    Soon, his magic power, which had just recovered to its full state, was completely sucked away by the stone ball. Then, the ordinary stone ball suddenly turned into a faint white mist with a "bang" sound, and merged into Yang Qiu''s body in front of his horrified eyes...


    ¡°Ugh¡­!!¡±


    Yang Qiu''s whole body trembled, his head tilted back, and he began to shake violently and uncontrollably. It was like diving into the water from a great height, or like being wrapped in undried cement. Every pore in his body seemed to be squeezed by some external force... Something was invading his body like an uninvited guest!


    This illegal invasion was not limited to the body, but also included the soul - his brain seemed to be being forcefully penetrated by some unknown external force. The huge and complex information, sometimes as high-pitched as an opera and sometimes as low as a whisper, was frantically washing away his reason and corroding his nerves!


    "It''s... an Elder God!"


    In the double pain of body and soul, Yang Qiu, whose eyes began to roll back, calmed down in his heart. The first of the three laws of spellcasters was not to be deceived by power. This lesson, which was learned by countless seekers at a heavy price and left to future generations... also existed in the ancient teachings of various "professionals". The reason was that the path of pursuing power was the way in which ancient gods tried to revive themselves - and the revival of the ancient gods was a huge mountain weighing on the heads of all intelligent races in this dark alien world!


    The Stone of Crossing Planes... was undoubtedly the tentacle of the ancient god of the "rule system"!


    "So that''s how it is - a mortal body simply can''t withstand the pull of traveling through planes. The reason I was able to successfully wear it back then was because the ancient gods were anchoring it!"


    "But when I traveled through space, I knew nothing about the rules of this world. Only by ''not knowing and not seeing'' could I avoid being influenced by the ancient gods and successfully leave this jungle."


    "Three hundred years later, I came to this jungle again and awakened the tentacle of the ancient god... Now it¡¯s actively approaching me!"


    "Yes - no wonder after traveling across the Earth and coming back this time, not much time has passed here. The cross-section of the tree I crashed into during the previous battle is still very new, and the bloodstains on the ground can still be seen... The reason is that I, an Earthling, have been anchored by the tentacle of this ancient god!"


    "It wants to assimilate me and use me as an anchor!"


    His mind raced as he sorted out the causes and consequences. Yang Qiu, who had been twitching and rolling his eyes, finally had his pupils return to the center of his eye sockets.


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding, idiot!!¡±


    Anger was an emotion that could multiply a person''s mental strength in a very short period of time. Yang Qiu was not just angry at this moment, he was angry enough to spit blood... He was originally waiting to enter the third year of high school, but he was dragged into this world without knowing it and suffered for three hundred years. This was bad enough!


    He finally came back to Earth, only to see his sister and be rejected. He hadn¡¯t even had time to see his mother. He just had one meal from his hometown food, but was then immediately told that the steamed buns and spicy hot pot were his last meal - how could he be willing to accept that! !


    In a rage, Yang Qiu not only did not try to close all his senses and grit his teeth to endure like the indigenous magicians did when their minds were invaded by the ancient gods, but instead he opened up all his senses, forced himself into a meditative state, and frantically absorbed the magic power from all around.


    The exhausted magic power began to recover within a few seconds - this too-fast recovery was harmful to the caster, but Yang Qiu didn''t care about that - when the magic power recovered enough for his soul to have the strength to fight, he concentrated all his mental will and launched a frantic counterattack against the whispers of the ancient god invading his brain!


    Isn''t it just mental pollution? Isn''t it just nagging? Who can''t do that?


    The veins on Yang Qiu''s forehead, temples, and neck were all bulging, and his mind was divided into several thoughts. Each thought carried a lot of information, which was mixed with the old god¡¯s whispers to drown it out.


    Well... it sounded very grand, but in fact, Yang Qiu, a high-level magician with a spiritual power a hundred times that of an ordinary person was simply chanting "Gangnam Style", "Spielen Dota", "Little Apple", "The Most Dazzling National Style", "Five Rings Song", "Mouse Loves Rice", "My Skateboard Shoes¡±, ¡°The most annoying song that anyone¡¯s heard¡±.


    It doesn¡¯t matter if you can¡¯t sing the whole song, just focus on the most catchy refrains and sing them repeatedly.


    The brainwashing songs he could remember were not enough, and he had a lot of free time to recite the core socialist values, the motto of Anshi No. 2 Senior High School, chemical formulas, and Hua Mulan''s "The Memorial to the Emperor on Leaving the Capital" and "The Road to Shu is Difficult".


    It doesn¡¯t matter if you can¡¯t remember everything, just recite the parts you remember over and over again!


    Isn¡¯t it just a massive information war? How could this successor of earthly cultures lose? S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yang Qiu''s eyes were bloodshot and his expression was ferocious. The high intensity of squeezing his own mental potential caused the blood in his body to surge wildly. A large number of capillaries on the surface of the skin on his neck and face burst due to being unable to bear the heavy burden, and blood slowly oozed from his nostrils, eye sockets, and corners of his mouth.


    This kind of pain was nothing to him! He could still output at full strength!


    In the spiritual realm, the white mist that was entangled with his soul was gradually stained with Yang Qiu''s color...

 Chapter 3: Earth is My Homeland

    The sky brightened. As the sun rose, all kinds of insects crawled out from their dark corners such as soil, grass, and tree bark, and either gnawed on leaves and grass, or hunted each other, or became a delicious meal for birds.


    Amid the chirping of insects and birds, Yang Qiu, who was hanging on the branch of a tree like a corpse, was gasping for breath. The beige shirt and vest of the same color made of magical materials were still clean and fresh, but Yang Qiu''s skin could not be enchanted with self-cleaning magic, so his forehead, face, and neck were now mottled with bloodstains. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The battle with the ancient god''s tentacle had lasted a whole night, and Yang Qiu lost at least 500cc of blood. If his body had not been supported by powerful mental power, he would have shed even more than this.


    Fortunately, his suffering was not in vain. Grabbing the branches and carefully sliding down to the ground while hugging the trunk, Yang Qiu endured the headache and snapped his fingers towards the open space. A space-time rift as tall as a person opened up silently in the open space. From the other side of the space-time rift, a familiar scent wafted through the air. It was the fresh (polluted) air of Earth.


    Although he didn''t know how this tentacle of the ancient god was so lucky as to capture the space-time rift that happened to randomly arrive at the Earth plane and anchor him to the Earth through the rift¡­ Now at least this tentacle of the ancient god had been absorbed by him, he himself could serve as an anchor point to anchor the Earth and this material plane.


    Yang Qiu was not in a hurry to pass through the crack. He stared at the space-time rift that was "inherited" from the ancient god''s tentacle and fell into deep thought.


    Using massive amounts of information to offset the spiritual pollution of the ancient god''s tentacle, and in turn assimilating the ancient god''s tentacle for one''s own use, could only gain temporary safety. He gained "one tentacle''s worth" of rule-based abilities, and could use the space-time rifts captured by this tentacle to return home. This was certainly a good thing, but it also meant that there was a trace of the breath of the ancient god in his soul, and he would still be found by it occasionally!


    How long he could live depended on when the ancient god would remember the existence of a little ant like him. Even the "tentacles" that were not even a thought could almost "assimilate" him. Yang Qiu would never be overly optimistic and think that he could withstand a glance from the ancient god...


    It felt terrible to have a sword of Damocles hanging over his head.


    "What should I do..." Yang Qiu tried his best to think of a solution. When he was just an ordinary sixteen-year-old high school student, he struggled to survive in this fucked-up alien world. Now Yang Qiu was even less willing to accept his fate.


    "There is always a way out. There must be a way, I just haven''t thought of it..."


    "¡ª¡ªRight! Anchor point!" Yang Qiu''s eyes lit up. The way for the spellcaster to fight against spiritual pollution was to work hard to "cultivate the self". Traveling like an ascetic monk and measuring the earth with your feet was all for the purpose of tempering the spiritual will and turning yourself into your own "anchor point".


    Yang Qiu''s advantage over the indigenous magicians was that he had sixteen years of experience living on a planet with easily available information, so the whispers mixed in with the magic power would not easily confuse him. Whether it was the tentacles of the ancient gods or the gaze of the ancient gods, in the final analysis it was nothing more than a larger and more complex amount of information and a more powerful form of spiritual pollution.


    His own spirit couldn''t hold up as an anchor, so wouldn''t it be enough to just add more anchors? It certainly wouldn''t work in this world where wars of faith were so brutal...but didn''t he have the entire Earth behind him?


    Yang Qiu excitedly punched the air. The operation would be difficult, but at least he had a direction! With infinite courage rising in his heart, Yang Qiu happily crossed the space-time rift...


    "Um?" After coming out of the crack, he was still in the park, with the bench behind him where he had slept all day. But the sky was dark here. It was not completely silent, but it was definitely quiet for a city. There were hardly any cars on the main road outside the park.


    "I''ve been there for more than ten hours, but it''s only midnight here? The speed of time on both sides is different?" Yang Qiu frowned. "Even if I have become an anchor point with bilateral properties, and the space-time rift was opened by me, I still can''t synchronize the speed of time on both sides... Earth is really far away from there."


    It was not a big problem and wouldn''t delay plans. Yang Qiu bent down to pick up the plastic lunch box that was still on the bench, threw it into the trash can, and hurriedly left the park. Twenty minutes later, he ran back to the Redwood community where he had lived for sixteen years.


    Next, he would search all the used clothing recycling bins in the community while it was late at night. Although they were called old clothes, most of them were not really old. In today''s world where industrial textiles were rampant, it was a rare species for urban residents to be able to wear a piece of clothing until it was actually old.


    After filling the space ring, Yang Qiu randomly found a place to open a space-time rift and returned to the magic plane. He found an open space and poured out the old clothes he had looted, sorted them out one by one, removed the logos, melted the prints with magic, performed the magic trick of self-cleaning, then folded them and put them back into the space ring.


    As a high-level dark magician, Yang Qiu naturally also had the means of traveling that belonged to a high-level character. He didn''t have flying beasts like bone dragons and skeleton birds because he had been hunted all these years and had no time to make them, but he had no shortage of land mounts.


    Using magic power to form a magic circle and summon an undead horse, Yang Qiu climbed onto the horse''s back and galloped to the edge of the jungle. He had entered the jungle in order to avoid the town, but he had unexpectedly run into a cavalry unit of the Inquisition that was chasing him... In short, this completely undeveloped primitive jungle was actually not far from densely populated areas, otherwise he would not have survived when he passed through it.


    After riding the undead horse for more than an hour and covering more than thirty miles, farmlands cultivated by humans appeared on the wild and pristine land.


    Yang Qiu jumped off the horse, released the undead horse back into the demon world, and walked for more than twenty minutes through tracts of farmland until he arrived in front of a small village.


    "¡­It seems that not much has changed since then."


    Standing at the entrance of the village, Yang Qiu looked nostalgic. He had been to this small village three hundred years ago. It was definitely impossible for the wooden and thatched houses to last for so many years, so all the buildings in the village should have been replaced... but at a glance, there were still small wooden houses everywhere, and there had not been much change compared to the past. The villagers entering and leaving the village were no different from those in the past with their skinny figures and scanty clothing.


    Yang Qiu ignored the curious gazes of the villagers and walked straight towards the largest house in the village. In the countryside of this world, there was no such thing as free people. Anyone who made a living from working the land had to rely on the "steward" who managed the countryside.


    That''s right, in this world, all land, whether arable or not, belonged to the nobles. Even if it was a wilderness by the roadside, the farmers who reclaimed the land still had to pay taxes and perform service to the owner of the land. The stewards assigned by the nobles to each village to manage the land and farmers were, in essence, the lords of each village...they passed down from father to son, managing the land wealth for the nobles from generation to generation until they failed in an internal struggle and were replaced.


    When the panic-stricken Yang Qiu had run to this village 300 years ago, the housekeeper who managed the village was named Bafu. When Yang Qiu revisited the place after three hundred years, he took a special look at the nameplate hanging next to the gate of the courtyard... Well, it was still Bafu. It seemed that this branch of their family lived a very comfortable life and had been able to stand firm for many generations.


    The servant who was brushing the horses in the yard came over quickly, took a look at the spellcaster''s clothes on Yang Qiu, and quickly took off his worn straw hat respectfully. "Good day, sir, how can I help you?"


    Yang Qiu glanced at the small doorman, took out a small object and threw it to him. "Tell Steward Bafu that a spellcaster is visiting."


    The young doorman quickly took a tip from Yang Qiu¡¯s hand to do the required task. Looking down, his eyes widened and his breathing became heavier... "Okay sir, please wait a moment!" The doorman happily held the reward, bowed deeply, and ran towards the big house.


    What Yang Qiu threw to the doorman was a children''s cowboy hat that he picked up while rummaging through old clothes. After decades of fleeing, he was really tired of the poor life. As long as he saw something that was still usable, he couldn''t help but put it into his space ring. At this moment, this little thing that was picked up casually was of great use. Not long after the servant entered the big house, he ran out and waved to Yang Qiu excitedly. "Sir, please come this way!"


    About half an hour later, Yang Qiu said goodbye to the doorman who had come to see him off enthusiastically, and walked out of Bafu¡¯s yard with his head held high. The deal was soon struck and the "refurbished" modern industrial textiles were exchanged for four gold coins.


    The productivity of this world was not so backward that there was not even a systematic textile industry. The Kenyan Empire where Yang Qiu lived for a few years before his escape was full of textile factories opened by emerging nobles. But having a systematic textile industry and people being able to afford, or even get to where they were sold, were two very different matters... Due to technological monopolies, backwards road construction and logistics, in inland countries, let alone ordinary residents, even ordinary rural nobles who wanted to buy a decent dress had to save money for half a year.


    For who knows how many sessions of haggling, the cunning Bafu had repeatedly lowered the price, and after the deal was settled, he gave him the aristocratic self-minted gold coins of the worst quality and lightest weight. But it didn''t matter... It was gold after all.


    After leaving the village and avoiding the villagers'' sight, Yang Qiu "opened the door" again and returned to Earth. It was already afternoon in the magic plane, but it was just dawn on Earth. Yang Qiu went straight to the fruit and vegetable wholesale market.


    The fruit and vegetable wholesale market was considered to be the earliest trading place to open for business. Of course, Yang Qiu''s target was not the market itself, but the small privately-run gold shops around the market. He knocked on the shop door and took out the privately minted gold coins by the nobles under the murderous gaze of the shop owner who was suspicious of the ragged looking man in his shop.


    After some bargaining, four gold coins were exchanged for more than 8,000 yuan... Suffice it to say that Yang Qui was severely ripped off by the store owner. It still didn''t matter though. Yang Qiu''s purpose was not to be a profiteer. He just needed some working capital.


    Having money, even if it was just a small amount, made it easier to do things. Under the strange gaze of the boss who seemed to think that he was some sort of lucky beggar, he asked for cash payment, put the money in his pocket and left the gold shop. Then he went to the Internet cafe he often went to before he traveled through time. More out of familiarity than anything.


    The issue was, he didn''t have an ID card now. Even if he did, with his current appearance, if he took out the ID card of sixteen-year-old Yang Qiu, the Internet cafe owner would probably call the police immediately... But this didn''t mean that he couldn''t go online.


    He walked into the Internet cafe with confidence, looked around, found the corner reserved for Internet cafe regulars, walked over, found the Internet cafe master who smelled the most, and pushed him to wake up.


    The Internet cafe master, who also had an untidy beard but a much rounder face than Yang Qiu, opened his eyes in a daze. "Brother, I forgot to bring my ID card and I''m in a hurry to do something online. Can you help me turn on the computer?" Yang Qiu handed over a red Mao Zedong note with a kind face.


    The sleepy internet cafe master suddenly woke up completely when the smell of money entered the room.

 Chapter 4: The Fourth Calamity’s Birth Point

    Yang Qiu, who was seamlessly sitting among a group of internet cafe regulars sleeping in various postures, successfully turned on his computer and started surfing the Internet.


    Entering the keywords, Yang Qiu searched for a bunch of online articles about a phenomenon called "Otherworld Gaming" that he had heard his classmates discuss before crossing over. He opened them one by one with a serious look, learning from their experiences.


    That''s right, although the Earth was indeed his rear base, it was almost impossible to obtain believers on Earth to anchor himself like in the magical plane.


    Of course, believers were not the only ones who could serve as anchors. As long as there was enough trust between each other, and intelligent creatures with stronger souls and spirits who could open some spiritual "back doors" to each other, they could all anchor each other.


    For example, among magicians, the first commandment upon entry was "Do not pray to God". Many of them were anchored by each other as master and apprentice, some did it between couples, or comrades, increasing each other''s resistance to spiritual pollution.


    Considering this point of view, Yang Qiu could actually consider debuting as a ¡°real¡± magician or something like that.


    Try his best to improve his social status and popularity, and gain loyal fans who had a certain degree of trust in him. These loyal fans could become his anchors.


    When he encountered the torrent of mental pollution from the ancient gods, his die-hard fans, as anchors, could enhance his mental resistance and allow him to maintain his sanity longer so that he wouldn''t lose control at the mere glare of the ancient gods.


    But this was just a deduction. If he really did this, it would be a bit of a thin defence... First, he could not come up with an identity that could stand up to scrutiny; second, the so-called die-hard fans based on "love for a stranger''s talent" were actually unreliable.


    Just as he who was anchored could attack the ancient god''s tentacle, the anchor point could be released, freed from, or even attacked by it.


    Why were all good gods, evil gods, and ancient gods so keen on assimilating and brainwashing believers? Why did spellcasters work so hard to "cultivate themselves" when they could clearly anchor each other? It was because believers who had not been assimilated or just straight out brainwashed were too unstable...not to mention the relationship that was only built on trust or even the even cheaper "I like you".


    Under these difficult circumstances, the most feasible method that Yang Qiu could think of was the Isekai game type of online writing that was quite popular among his classmates.


    Using the "spiritual imprint" present in magic tricks, combined with the power of space rules absorbed from the ancient god''s tentacle, the souls of the Earthlings would be "borrowed" to the magic plane. When the souls of Earthlings were active in the magical plane, the spiritual backdoor was fully open and unguarded to Yang Qiu, who was the "time and space intermediary", and was the most reliable anchor point.


    The more Earthlings'' souls he could keep at a "high online rate" in the magic plane under the guise of "playing games", the safer he would be...


    After spending a whole morning in the internet cafe and referring to the operations of a large number of online writers, Yang Qiu thanked the brother who provided the access and left the internet cafe.


    Then, he went to the stationery store to buy some odds and ends, ran back to the pedestrian street in the commercial area near the Redwood Community, and stood on the roadside to perform street magic.


    His image already had the temperament of a wandering artist, and the difficulty of a magician performing street magic was not too much. Soon, a large number of young people gathered around him.


    By taking advantage of the opportunity of frequent light physical contact with young people, Yang Qiu easily collected sample data on the soul strength of ordinary people on Earth today.


    The magic trick of "spiritual imprint" could open up a consciousness channel for the soul of an intelligent being that was different from the rules of the material world. The principle was somewhat similar to the transmission of electromagnetic waves, but the operating rules were much simpler. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the process of transmitting the soul spirit to another place through the channel of consciousness, there would be a consumption rate. That is to say, in this process, the mental power of the organism was in a state of continuous consumption.


    For the caster, this consumption was negligible, and the caster''s naturally recovered mental power was enough to pay for the consumption, with some left over. But ordinary people certainly could not compare with the caster''s spiritual power.


    If Yang Qiu wanted to achieve "sustainable development," he had to weaken the intensity of the "spiritual imprint," or at least reduce the consumption generated during the transmission process to a level that would not affect ordinary people.


    After collecting enough samples, Yang Qiu said goodbye to the reluctant audience with a smile. Before leaving, he went back to take a look at the Redwood community.


    Before he even got downstairs, he saw his mom and sister running down from upstairs in a hurry. Yang Qiu quickly turned around, pretending to be an indifferent passerby, and only secretly glanced at his two relatives out of the corner of his eyes.


    "Yang Qiu hasn''t called back yet?"


    "No! I called several of his classmates, but he wasn''t at their house! No. 2 Middle School also said he didn''t go to register! I was so worried!"


    Yang Qiu''s heart was filled with warmth and he couldn''t help but want to jump out to recognize his relatives.


    "Yesterday morning, a psychopath knocked on our door and said he was Yang Qiu! I was so pissed! I should have called the police. That psychopath might have known where Yang Qiu ran off to!"


    Yang Qiu''s head drooped weakly.


    Watching his mother and sister anxiously running out of the community, Yang Qiu was both moved and embarrassed. He had been "missing" for two days, and even his sister, who usually wanted to beat him three times a day, was so anxious that she was jumping up and down.


    But even if he stood in front of them now, Yang Qiu doubted whether his mother would recognize him.


    With a sigh, Yang Qiu left the Redwood community sadly. Forget it... He would think of a way to let them know he was safe later, at least so they didn''t have to worry about him all the time.


    Finding an inconspicuous corner to "open the door" and return to the magic plane, Yang Qiu summoned the undead horse and modified the "Magic Trick¡¤Spirit Brand" while on the road.


    He was currently located east of the Napalm continent, within the territory of the Rhine Kingdom. The Kingdom of the Rhine was not a vassal state of the Holy Church, and the influence of the Holy See here was not very strong. But the Rhine Kingdom believed in the righteous god of money and trade, the Lady of Gold... In other words, this country had no moral integrity from top to bottom. As long as the crazy people in the Inquisition were willing to pay the toll, the Rhine royal family would open its doors to allow those knights to stay. If they showed enough gold they could probably even rent out the royal palace.


    Even if you were not afraid of being entangled by those crazy people in the Inquisition again, it was not a good idea to open an "Earth Players Playground" within this kingdom.


    The reason was still the same: the Rhine Kingdom really had no moral integrity.


    Just imagine what kind of chemical reaction would occur if the players of the Fourth Calamity, Earth, who treated this world as a playground, hooked up with this group of indigenous "NPCs" with no moral integrity... Yang Qiu felt dizzy.


    For example, there was the steward Bafu, who bought his refurbished old clothes at a super low price (compared to this world). Although he was just a steward who managed the land for a country landlord, if he was paid enough, he would definitely sell the village and all the villagers, pack up his belongings and abscond with the money.


    What if the players on Earth took this as a way to gain game bases and NPC "followers" and studied it... well, then Yang Qiu would have to prepare for a territory war with the local nobles with a frown on his face.


    He himself was once a player and didn''t underestimate the professionalism of players in researching game loopholes!


    Ten hours passed quickly while on the road.


    After traveling hundreds of miles under the moonlight, Yang Qiu finally arrived at his destination.


    Tarantin, the lawless zone between the Kingdom of the Rhine and its neighboring countries, was a thousand-mile wasteland consisting of hills, swamps, and primeval forests. In addition to the official name of Tarantan, this wasteland was also called the Ancient Battlefield, the Land of Exile... In short, this was a wild wilderness that had not been officially declared occupied by any official organization.


    ¡°This is it.¡±


    Yang Qiu looked around the valley in front of him, put away his undead horse, and walked into it. In this valley surrounded by mountains on three sides, there were still hundreds of scattered, dilapidated wooden houses.


    Dried-up wells, broken clay pots, and wildly growing lush vegetation that had squeezed the wooden houses to the point where they had almost lost their footing... no matter how you looked at it, it looked like a Starter Village that had been magnified several times.


    Of course, compared with the usual Starter Village, this place was much worse... At least the houses in Fengmen Village were still very solid. After cleaning up the garbage left by curious tourists, the houses could still continue to serve as shelter from wind and rain.


    As for these wooden houses... They were only good for firewood.


    ¡°It seems a bit too much to ask players to build their own ¡®spawn point¡¯¡­ Never mind, let¡¯s keep it. Players are not real people anyway, they won¡¯t mind how bad the spawn point is.¡±


    Yang Qiu walked through the ruins left by the exile army, selected the center location, and took out the dragon bone staff. Magic power surged out of his body and gathered behind him, forming a huge magic array with a diameter of about five meters.


    "Forbidden magic: Withering and decaying."


    With a slight wave of the staff, black mist surged out from the huge magic circle behind Yang Qiu and rolled in all directions. Under the erosion of the black fog, the lush vegetation that blocked the road and filled the valley with almost no place to stand quickly withered and died. The green branches and leaves turned yellow and decayed within seconds, turning into black mud and merging into the earth; the trunks and branches disintegrated into debris and fell to the ground.


    When the black fog dissipated, only wooden houses, mud walls, and other dead objects were left standing in the valley covering an area of about 1.5 square kilometers.


    "That''s pretty much it for the ''birth point''." Yang Qiu nodded with satisfaction.


    Next, it was time to create a resurrection point. Yang Qiu took out a bag of magic powder, grabbed a handful and threw it into the air.


    In addition to common magic tricks, spellcasters of different systems needed the assistance of magic powder as a casting material when they wanted to cast magic across systems. Yang Qiu was a dark magician, and he could cast black magic spells at will. If he wanted to use earth magic however, even the simplest earth-gathering array required magic powder.


    "Reformed Spiritual Brand Core."


    The magic powder fell to the ground, the ground shook slightly, and some soil floated up to form a large magic array.


    "Reinforce it into a semi-permanent spell and use it as a resurrection point... Well, bake it into a porcelain state and seal it with a protective shell."


    Behind Yang Qiu, a huge, suspended, slowly rotating magic array was emitting heat, covering the soil that formed the magic array. Black magic could also generate heat energy...you could save some magic powder that way.


    The formation diagram made of soil was solidified, and more soil floated up from the ground, forming a giant bottle cap shape, which was inverted on the core formation diagram of the spiritual imprint.


    "Okay." Yang Qiu clapped his hands and dispersed the formation diagram.


    Now that they had the ¡°birth point,¡± he also needed to prepare a carrier for the souls of Earth players to attach to...that is, the ¡°game character.¡±


    Coming out of the valley of the "birth point," Yang Qiu summoned the undead horse and searched around for traces. After searching for about an hour and running about ten kilometers, Yang Qiu came to a huge swamp with no visible end.


    Standing at the edge of the swamp, Yang Qiu summoned the magic circle and raised his staff:


    "Forbidden magic: Resurrection of the dead!"


    The muddy sewage in the swamp began to churn. Dozens of seconds later, human heads in varying degrees of decay emerged from the churning mud and water. One by one, incomplete corpses, dragging various rags, waterweed, and damaged armor, crawled out of the swamp...

 Chapter 5 Independent Game Producer

    All dark magicians knew that forbidden magic of the "Dark Magic: Army of the Undead" type was only awesome-looking but actually pretty useless. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The reason was very simple. Whether it was the "Resurrection of the Dead" that used corpses as materials to revive, or the "Summoning the Undead" that directly summoned from the demon world, the ones summoned here were toys with almost no IQ, dull and stiff. Even a child could outrun them. They had no fighting power.


    They weren¡¯t even cute.


    The thousands of corpses that Yang Qiu summoned from the swamp didn''t even have a spiritual fire in their eye sockets. They relied entirely on the magic power provided by Yang Qiu to move as slowly as an army of geriatrics. As soon as Yang Qiu took away his magic power, the corpses fell to the ground in a crash.


    Of course, Yang Qiu didn''t expect this cute skill to be of any use...all he wanted was the corpses.


    Next, Yang Qiu rolled up his sleeves, squatted in the middle of the pile of corpses, and picked out the intact bones one by one. After working hard for several hours, he was able to pick out more than 300 relatively intact bodies.


    Then, he injected magical power into these more than 300 corpses, so that these corpses of different shapes lined up in rows and followed the undead horse back to the birth point.


    Next, there was another big challenge - to process the simplified spiritual imprint and the simple teleportation array that could only be used to teleport non-living people into these corpses.


    It was impossible to require players to play the game without wasting time and not die even once. Could you be called a player if you didn¡¯t waste time? Could a game that didn¡¯t allow you to waste time be called a game?


    But even if Yang Qiu found this Tarantan wasteland, which was once an ancient battlefield, as a playground, there would not be so many complete corpses to use, so he had to consider what to do after the players died.


    Forget about the magic circle that could teleport living people. He didn¡¯t have the money for dimensional magic! He didn¡¯t have the materials! He couldn¡¯t afford it! Empty wallet!


    The magic circle for teleporting non-living people however was simple...just modify the summoning spell used by the caster to summon the demonic servants. Well, this teleportation array modified from summoning could not work on dead things, because dead things could not respond to summons.


    In short, after the player died, the modified Spirit Brand Core, which served as the "resurrection point," would send out a resurrection (teleportation) call, and the player would naturally be able to respond, which solved the resurrection problem.


    "It''s a good idea... but with two formations added together, the mental energy consumed will double!"


    Halfway through, Yang Qiu discovered another big problem. The education level of the people on Earth, or in other words, the young people in China, was relatively good, at least better than the natives of the magic plane.


    According to the evaluation standard that Yang Qiu figured out himself, if a magic apprentice''s mental power was at least eighty points, then the average mental power of Chinese young people was about forty points, which was 30% higher than the natives of the magic plane.


    As for the reason, Yang Qiu thought it was because the spiritual world of Chinese youth was relatively complete, and they had established a worldview of "believing in human beings more than gods" since they were very young.


    This was not just random speculation, Yang Qiu had solid evidence - you had to know that to become a magician in this plane, the first hurdle to entry was "the caster must never pray to God."


    Young people from Earth who did not believe in gods and believed that man could conquer nature had been consolidating their spiritual foundation from an early age. Although there were no magical rules on Earth, no matter how strong the spiritual power was, one could not become extraordinary.


    In short, the relatively high average mental power of the youth group gave Yang Qiu the confidence to develop the earthlings into "different world game players," but if the double-layer magic array engraved on the "game character" consumed more mental power than the Chinese youth could bear, then he could not continue playing.


    If players felt exhausted and exhausted after playing the game for a few hours, would they suspect that there was something wrong with the game? Would they refuse to log in? What¡¯s the point of talking about sustainable development?


    Yang Qiu held his head in his hands, thinking hard.


    "Wait!"


    "Players only need to return to their resurrection point when they die. There is no need to keep using summoning magic... er, resurrection teleportation!"


    "The resurrection transmission is only activated when you die, and a death penalty is added... Yes, a death penalty! If you die, you will be forced to disconnect and cannot go online for half an hour Earth time. If you rest for half an hour, you can definitely make up for the energy consumed by the resurrection transmission!"


    After coming up with a solution, Yang Qiu happily continued working.


    Finally solved the problem of death and resurrection...more problems were exposed.


    "Forcing players to play... uh, forcing players to stay online for a long time requires a numerical reward mechanism with timely feedback. Otherwise, players will have no sense of accomplishment and will quit the game. In other words, we need a level mechanism!"


    "There''s also the class system... Without a rich class system, the game will be the same no matter how you play it. Once the novelty wears off, players will get bored and abandon the game!"


    Realizing that if these problems were not solved, the game would not retain people even if it was launched, Yang Qiu had to stop working, return to Earth, and go to internet cafes to study a large number of game commentary (complaint) videos.


    After going back and forth like this, it was more than twenty days later, Earth time, before the exhausted Yang Qiu finally worked out a "game mechanism" that would barely work and turned more than 300 skeletons into suitable "game characters" for use.


    Next, Yang Qiu was faced with the super difficult problem of how to turn the motorcycle helmets ordered online into a "magic VR helmet."


    It was not difficult to engrave the spiritual imprint, but the trouble lay mainly in the USB system that could be connected to the computer host. The USB flash drive system installed in the helmet was not a high-end device. It was just a simple audio and video transcoding system and an operating interface so simple that even an elementary school student could make it by following the tutorial.


    When players played games, they would definitely want to take screenshots, record videos, or even live broadcast. How to transmit the video and audio to the earth through the consciousness channel and decode and compress it into video and audio that could be played by the computer really made Yang Qiu''s intestines twist and turn.


    Magic could not solve this technical problem.


    After much thought, Yang Qiu decided to resort to cheating: buy a server and use the space-time rift to achieve a physical connection; the screenshots and recorded images taken by players would be uploaded to this server at the designated location of the birth point. After exiting the game, log in to the official website of the game through the VR helmet to download it.


    In order to avoid increasing workload and raising costs, Yang Qiu decided that not all players would be able to take screenshots and shoot videos freely in the future. They had to make certain contributions before they could do it, and then he would install a shooting device on the applicant''s "game character."


    Uh...actually it''s a camera bought online, the kind that can only store data without connecting to the internet.


    Forget about live streaming, the time flow rates in both worlds were different and could not be synchronized!


    During this period, due to insufficient funds, Yang Qiu had no choice but to buy a set of bone china handicrafts from a supermarket on Earth, and then ride out of the Tarantan Desert on horseback to sell them to a country noble.


    It was October of 2019 Earth time. Yang Qiu, who had worked hard on both sides and finally completed the "opening" work, scheduled the game''s opening day during the National Day holiday.


    Early morning of October 1st. Yang Qiu purchased a computer through an account opened with an identity purchased online, and rented a house in the suburbs to house the server. The first thing he did after logging in was message his sister through a social media account that he¡¯d used back on earth as a teenager.


    He had worked very hard to remember the password of this social account for half a month. He had no choice but hurry with the contact, as his missing person notice had been posted on the streets.


    In the chat, after being assured that he was alive, he was fucked to death verbally by his sister and beaten to a pulp by his mother.


    After racking his brains to calm his family, Yang Qiu also sent a magic VR helmet to them. His sister didn''t like playing games, not even mobile games, but he still wanted her to see the results of his work after "running away from home" for a month.


    After leaving a message for his sister, Yang Qiu opened the official website and checked the message board.


    Because he didn¡¯t have the magical system assistance, it was impossible for him to apply for a game approval number, he couldn¡¯t do any public promotion, and he couldn¡¯t openly put up a link to sell helmets, he¡¯d get arrested as an illegal distributor in a day.


    So, Yang Qiu just kept to himself and didn¡¯t do anything unnecessary. He bought a domain name and created an official website. The homepage contained a row of extremely concise and clear large characters: ¡°Alien World¡± - the beta version of the first non-profit independent VR game developed by an individual in China.


    Yang Qiu had no idea whether putting up an independent game sign could bypass the firewall monster, but as long as he could trick players into logging in as quickly as possible, it didn¡¯t matter.


    On this extremely simple official website, Yang Qiu posted a few fabricated introductions to the game background, a few real-life footage of the Tarantan Wasteland and the "Undead Birth Point," and his carefully produced "Undead NPC" battle video. Ten days ago, he had secretly created a small account and participated in forums, discussion areas, and Tieba activities where all types of hardcore players gathered, and secretly promoted the game.


    The result was obvious. Hardcore players were very pessimistic about "independent VR games." No matter which discussion forum Yang Qiu''s small account posted in, it had never been welcomed. Either he was ridiculed or simply ignored.


    But we have to say that there are still a lot of bored people in the world. Although Yang Qiu¡¯s posting account was ridiculed very badly, there were still many players who ¡°had nothing to do anyway¡± who followed the post to find the official website.


    Then, the official website, which was not even as sophisticated as the Penguin Space for middle school students, discouraged a large number of these bored and annoying people.


    In the end, there were only nine people who had the patience to endure the extremely embarrassing homepage, were attracted by the extremely realistic promotional video that seemed like a blockbuster movie, and filled in the closed beta application information in the application column at the bottom of the official website with a half-believing and half-doubting mentality, and paid 188 yuan for the helmet materials and postage.


    In other words, including the helmet mailed to his sister, Yang Qiu had only ten players.


    On the official website, there were only nine applicants on the closed beta list. These players who paid for the helmets themselves all sympathized with the developers. In the past few days, these nine people would log in to the official website from time to time and post one or two awkward but humane consolation messages on the message board, such as:


    "I''m so hungry. I should have known this would take time.¡±


    "Did the producer use all the money he swindled to shoot promotional videos? There''s no need to do that. It''s better to save some money for instant noodles."


    "I''m too embarrassed to ask for a refund. Forget it, I''ll just use this helmet as a safety helmet."


    "Is the producer still here? Did the investor beat you to death?"


    "Making independent games is a dead end, why not join me in a livestream in women''s clothing?"


    ...etc.


    Yang Qiu remained calm about these reactions.


    It was indeed annoying that only nine players were willing to buy it, but if you changed your perspective and interpreted it as nine people on Earth willing to take the initiative to become his anchor points - the feeling would immediately be very different.


    After appreciating the few new sexy words added to the message board today, Yang Qiu calmly posted the server launch announcement on the official website and sent launch reminders to the email addresses left by nine paying players. Then he sat down quietly and waited for the time to arrive.


    The server launch announcement was posted at exactly nine o''clock in the morning.


    At 9:20, Yang Qiu, who was cosplaying as a game developer in a computer room with only one server, suddenly opened his eyes. In the spiritual imprint matrix composed of 300 mass-produced inscriptions that he created, one inscription was lit up.


    Then, the second, the third...

 Chapter 6 You are also a skeleton

    Vanilla Pudding, a UP host on Bilibili, whose real name was Qin Guan, was a small anchor who was somewhat famous in the gaming area, but the number of views on a single video of his had never exceeded 50,000, and his fans had not yet reached 100,000.


    He couldn''t make a living if he had less than 100,000 fans, and the incentive bonus from click-through conversion was not enough to survive. In order to make a living, Qin Guan, in addition to making videos and live broadcasts, also had to work part-time as a gold-farmer in various games.


    A week ago, in a black market online game forum for gold farmers, Qin Guan saw an article posted by a small account registered by an unknown person. Qin Guan, who was depressed because his gold farming account was blocked, mocked this small account who insisted on pretending to be a third-party recommendation, and then clicked on the official website link posted by the small account.


    Whether it was the simple official website or the promotional slogan of "independent VR game," there were many flaws. However, Qin Guan was still hooked by the three promotional videos.


    Especially the last "Undead NPC Battle Demonstration" video, in which a zombie wearing tattered armor, more realistic than a blockbuster movie special effects, wielded a huge rusty axe to chop down a tree. Whether it was the picture, the physics engine, or the interactive collision, Qin Guan''s scalp tingled and his blood boiled.


    Then, seeing the material cost of the VR helmet at 188, Qin Guan calmed down again.


    Not too expensive, but not too cheap.


    Qin Guan was a professional in the gaming industry, so he still had some common sense. VR devices on the market cost tens of thousands of yuan, and you¡¯re selling a VR helmet for 188 yuan, saying that you could play a high-tech game that beats all VR games on the market?


    Are you fucking kidding me!


    So Qin Guan cursed and closed the webpage.


    The next day, for some unknown reason, Qin Guan once again opened this website that thought people were stupid, and once again enjoyed the promotional video with relish.


    After repeating this process several times, Qin Guan quietly filled out the closed beta test application and scanned the code to pay 188 yuan.


    Just take it as a gamble - no, just take it as a fight for your faith!


    Anyway, he paid through the platform, so if he didn''t click to confirm receipt, he could still apply for a refund from the bank.


    Qin Guan, who paid at the end of September, got up early on November 11th and was ready to continue playing games to earn money, but suddenly found an additional server launch reminder in his mailbox.


    "Is it coming? Whether it''s a liar or not will be revealed soon!" Qin Guan was excited, and quickly picked up the box next to the computer desk and took out the helmet.


    This VR helmet looked like a motorcycle helmet, but it was indeed different from ordinary motorcycle helmets. It could be connected to a computer by plugging in a USB. After connecting to the PC official website interface on the computer, a pre-built game character interface would pop up.


    Well, it was just a simple creation interface that was no different from the oldest IE pop-up window. You could pre-set your ID, select your race, and select your gender. There was only a single option in the race column: "Undead".


    Qin Guan had already created a character when he got the helmet. His ID was the same as his anchor account, called Vanilla Pudding, and his gender was female.


    That¡¯s right, Qin Guan was a cosplayer of the highest order. Online he pretended that he had boobs.


    Anyway, as long as he played games, no matter whether it was a gold account or a main account, Qin Guan only played female accounts.


    After turning on the computer, putting on the helmet, connecting the USB, and activating the pre-built interface on the PC official website, Qin Guan found that the window that popped up this time was different. There was an additional login button below the ID, race, and gender columns.


    Qin Guan manipulated the mouse without hesitation and clicked the login button on the monitor.


    Then, another pop-up window popped up. "Please lie down safely and stably before logging in."


    "Why is it so troublesome?" Qin Guan muttered, dragged the computer desk to the bed, leaned on the bed, and clicked to confirm in an awkward posture.


    The next second, the guy who had just woken up tilted his head and fell asleep snoring in a side-lying position.


    Of course, Qin Guan didn¡¯t fall asleep during his personal experience.


    The spiritual brand rune engraved in the helmet was activated after he clicked the button to confirm the login, and his soul was transferred to the magic plane through the matrix. Qin Guan felt that this process was that his eyes suddenly went dark and his whole body felt a slight pulling sensation.


    Then, Qin Guan opened his eyes, and a login interface with a pure black background appeared in front of him.


    "Holy crap, I''m in already? There''s no buffering required? It''s even faster than logging into a web game?!"


    Qin Guan was extremely excited and immediately looked at the login interface carefully. His ID, race, and selected gender appeared in the upper right corner of the view, and below was a button for selecting the game character.


    ¡°Is this still VR? Black technology?!¡±


    Qin Guan was very excited. He could not feel the existence of his body at all, but he could clearly feel his own existence.


    When he focused his attention on the "Select Game Character" button, a very old-fashioned skeleton appeared in his sight.


    Qin Guan. ¡°???¡±


    Although he had no body, Qin Guan still felt his whole body tremble.


    "Yeah, did you make the character models look old for realism?... You don''t have to go to this extent!!"


    Qin Guan complained loudly and rejected the skeleton.


    And then, another, older, dustier skeleton emerged.


    Qin Guan. ¡°¡­¡±


    Qin Guan continued to scroll down with an expressionless face.


    The third, the fourth... No matter how Qin Guan switched the game characters, all the corpses that appeared were unique, extremely old, and looked as if they had just been dug out of the grave. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Each skeleton had varying degrees of "age patina". Not only were the bone joints all black, but even the eye sockets and teeth were covered with mud. Some bones had cracks caused by damage, and it was common to see small pieces of bone missing from some less important places.


    "The planners are trying their best to prove that their promotional video is definitely not a sham, and that the game itself is absolutely genuine and even more real than the promotional video, right?" Qin Guan complained even harder.


    Qin Guan, who had lived for 24 years and had 14 years of gaming experience, had never seen such bizarre details of the character model.


    Yes, hardcore gamers like him attached great importance to the realism of the game, but it was really unnecessary to make it realistic to this extent!


    He really liked the heavy feeling of the zombie NPC in the promotional video, but he definitely wouldn''t want to be friends with such a scary-looking monster!


    "Forget it, forget it, I''m here now..." Qin Guan found that he couldn''t choose a model with a less strong taste, so he had to go back sadly and choose the first one.


    At least the first one looked newer and not so dirty.


    After selecting this skeleton, Qin Guan felt the slight pulling sensation again, and approached the character.


    Then, he felt as if he had merged with the skeleton.


    Before Qin Guan could figure out what kind of black technology the producers used to make players have this magical "sense of immersion," he found that his "body" was slowly rising.


    Just like taking an elevator from a well to the surface, the seemingly boundless darkness in front of Qin Guan gradually faded away, and the birthplace of the undead in the promotional video appeared in front of him.


    Well, actually, the players who were teleported to the bottom of the spiritual imprint core and selected their "roles" in the "corpse bank" floated up from underground.


    There was the sound of wind blowing in his ears. There was an indescribable, strange smell in the fresh, earthy air. In front of him was a small town consisting of sparsely scattered old and dilapidated wooden houses, which seemed to have been abandoned for decades.


    Qin Guan was standing in the center of this desolate town, with the circular earthen platform of his birth point behind him and the deserted street covered with all kinds of debris in front of him.


    ¡°¡­F*ck!!¡±


    Qin Guan took a breath.


    He couldn''t convince himself that he was just playing a game. It was as if he was really standing in such a desolate ancient town that could be used to shoot a horror movie!


    After he made a subconscious complaint, Qin Guan also heard the clicking sound of his upper and lower teeth knocking against each other.


    Qin Guan. ¡°¡­¡±


    Qin Guan, who has always considered himself to be a hardcore gamer, silently lowered his head to look at his "new body."


    The bare white skeleton had a very old feel, and on the white bony palms that could clench and open with ease, tiny cracks on the finger bones were clearly visible.


    "...I''m sorry, I apologize, I''m definitely not a hardcore gamer." Qin Guan was distraught and knelt down.


    "ah--!"


    A female scream suddenly sounded, scaring Qin Guan.


    Qin Guan, who was still trying to correct his worldview, quickly turned his head.


    Less than three meters away from him, there appeared a bare white skeleton that was also very old.


    When Qin Guan turned his head to look over, the skeleton, no, the player, seemed to be frightened as well, and stepped back in fear. "Oh my god, there''s a ghost! The skeleton is moving!"


    Qin Guan was shocked. "Aren''t you a skeleton yourself?!"


    "Huh?" The player immediately looked down at himself.


    Then, this player, who entered the game only ten seconds later than Qin Guan, held his head in his hands. "Damn, it¡¯s really a skeleton character! The style isn¡¯t cartoony at all! Isn¡¯t it said that there¡¯s a difference between the character interface and the game interface?!¡±


    "ah!!"


    Another rough scream rang out miserably.


    Qin Guan and Skeleton No. 2 turned their heads at the same time.


    Another extremely old, bare white skeleton appeared in front of the earthen platform at the birth point, facing the two of them, with its mouth wide open, and even subconsciously making a gesture as if it wanted to escape.


    Without waiting for Skeleton No. 3 to speak, Qin Guan quickly raised his bony arm and pointed at him. "Don''t shout, you are also a skeleton!"

 Chapter 7: Skeleton Party

    In the desolate and tranquil ancient town, deep in the wilderness.


    Three distinctive skeletal frames with unique characteristics of age faced each other at the crossroads in the town center that hadn''t been used for many years.


    "Wait a minute, I remember there was a beginner skill called ''Identify.''" Skeleton No. 2, who had a sweet voice, slapped her forehead and checked the character panel that only she could see. Then, she raised her right boy claw and snapped her fingers at Qin Guan and Skeleton No. 3.


    "There it is!" Skeleton No. 2''s jaws clacked in excitement. "I can see your IDs now!"


    Qin Guan was completely befuddled. "Huh? What are you saying? What beginner skill?"


    "Ah, oh right, there''s the ''Identify'' skill." Skeleton No. 3, who had a rough hoarse voice, also seemed to have recalled something.


    After doing a certain action, he also snapped his fingers at No. 2 and Qin Guan. "Eh? Vanilla Pudding? You''re clearly a guy¡­ Wait, your voice! Aren''t you the famous Bilibili ''transvestite bro'' Vanilla Boss?"


    Qin Guan couldn''t care less about being recognized at this moment. He anxiously jumped on the spot. "Wait, wait! Why do the both of you have beginner skills and I don''t? How does this work?"


    Now, No. 2 and No. 3 were the ones puzzled.


    "Isn''t it right beneath the character panel?"


    "Yeah, it''s there. You can see it when you bring up the panel."


    Qin Guan quickly brought up the character panel he had obtained after selecting his game character.


    Displayed on the left of the panel was Qin Guan''s character information:


    ID: Vanilla Pudding


    Race: Undead


    Gender: Female


    Level: 0


    Potential: 37


    On the right side of the panel was an inactive quest log that couldn''t be opened, inactive achievement information, and personal log.


    And that was it.


    "No, it''s not there! There''s only my character information, taskbar, achievement information, and personal log on my panel. There''s no beginner skill like you guys mentioned!" Qin Guan was getting anxious and started sweating profusely. "Could it be because I chose a female character? Can''t a man play as a female?!"


    "That''s impossible. If that were the case, male players who like playing as females wouldn''t play at all," Skeleton No. 2 said. "Are you certain you don''t have the beginner skill panel? It should be right below Potential Value. There''s a usable option called ''Identify'' there."


    A dumbfounded Qin Guan stood on the spot in a blank daze. After confirming his character panel once more, a vague sense of unease came over Qin Guan. "Wait a minute¡­ Everything up to Potential Value is the same, but beneath it, there''s nothing¡­ What are your Potential values?"


    "48," replied Skeleton No. 2.


    Skeleton No. 3 looked at No. 2 in surprise and said, "Isn''t Potential determined by race? There''s also a difference for each individual? Mine is 42."


    Qin Guan''s jaw nearly dropped to his chest. "The f*ck¡­ M-mine is 37! So, you''re telling me that if the character''s Potential is too low, I can''t even use skills? Damn it, I''ll delete my character and start over!"


    In the server room on Earth, Yang Qiu, who was observing the three players, shook his head. "Deleting your character and starting over won''t help, bro¡­ It''s not a problem with the character, it''s your mental strength that doesn''t meet standards."


    In order to provide players with an experience close to a "real game," Yang Qiu, after numerous attempts, chose to mimic the concept of alchemical golems to provide players with the "game characters."


    Of course, there was still a significant difference between these game characters and real alchemical golems. The latter were self-moving combat auxiliary tools that only alchemists could afford. Creating one required a large investment of magical materials to build a sturdy and durable body and the engraving of more than 50 magic runes to create a variety of combat systems. On top of that, a magic crystal had to be embedded as its core driver.


    Game characters, on the other hand, didn''t need to be as robust and durable. A player''s soul operating the character meant that the most expensive embedded core could be omitted. In other words, Yang Qiu only needed to focus on the supporting runes.


    It might sound simple, but researching this set of supporting runes gave Yang Qiu a massive headache. He could use his full might to stack the runes and could quantitatively replicate it once he created a set. However, the most important factor was whether the player''s mental prowess could withstand and operate them!


    It was just like how a family car engine, if put into a tank, would surely break down!


    Therefore, Yang Qiu had to carefully select the runes to be used and weaken them into a manageable version before painstakingly putting them together as a set that wouldn''t be too demanding on the engine.


    In the end, the rune array engraved within the game characters had the fundamental runes of "Spell Detection," "Basic Meditation," "Basic Battle Roar," and "Basic Windwalk" besides the essential runes of "Mind Imprint" and "Resurrection Summon."


    The player''s personal panel (including character information, quest log, achievement information, and personal log) was the manifestation of personal information loaded into the Mind Imprint rune, which could be displayed when the player''s soul activated it. This was just a simple manifestation of information and didn''t put much strain on the player.


    The true main consumption sources came from runes like "Magic Detection," "Basic Meditation," etc. Players with the Potential value (mental strength) of less than 40 couldn''t activate them.


    Players who met the condition of the Potential value of 40 and higher could activate "Magic Detection" and use the basic rune "Identify," though there were limitations on the usages, which, in other words, was like an internal cooldown.


    Of course, the purpose of setting these thresholds was to prolong the players'' time spent online and not to drive them away.


    Moreover, Potential wasn''t fixed and could be increased; a player''s soul was essentially "running and exercising" while in the "game" with varying rates of growth according to the individual.


    This also meant that as long as one was willing to grind, they would definitely be able to use skills one day¡­


    "Judging from this situation, differences in the manifestation of Potential values can still affect one''s enthusiasm¡­ Should a rough explanation of ''character aptitude'' salvage such players'' self-esteem?


    "Hmm¡­ How about stating that game characters cannot be changed, so they would mistakenly assume that their weak characters are due to bad luck," Yang Qiu mused while rubbing his chin.


    Meanwhile, back at the Undead spawn point, Qin Guan couldn''t find an option to delete his character despite searching for quite a while and slumped to the ground, hands over his face.


    "Don''t be disheartened, Boss Vanilla. It might just be a bug. How can there be that you can''t use skills because you chose the wrong character. Try sending the developer an email after you log off later," Skeleton No. 3 consoled Qin Guan.


    Skeleton No. 3, ID "Give Me Medicine," real name Yao Hengyi, was a construction engineer in real life and a casual gamer. Though he wasn''t a fan of Qin Guan''s, he had watched some of his videos before.


    "That''s right. Besides, it hasn''t been mentioned whether there will be a data wipe after the closed beta. If there''s a wipe, we can just choose a different character for the next beta," the female Skeleton No. 2 also offered words of comfort.


    "Speaking of which, have you guys noticed that while today is supposedly the first day of ''OtherWorld'' game''s launch, only the three of us are online so far? Perhaps the game will be shut down after the closed beta ends¡­"


    "Oh, damn!" Yao Hengyi and Qin Guan both jumped up at the same time.


    On Earth, inside the server room, Yang Qiu clutched his chest. Aren''t you a little too merciless, No. 2¡­


    "It would be such a shame if this game shuts down!" said Give Me Medicine. "Even though there''s a bug, this game is too impressive and the details are exceptional! It''s mind-blowing how a VR game can reach such a level! Boss Vanilla, how about you promote the game with a video and attract more players?"


    "I started recording a video from the moment I selected my character and it''s still running," said Qin Guan. "The personal log in the character panel is used to store screenshots and videos. I reckon that the developers hope to have players help promote the game."


    "Hey, does this mean I can be featured in the video?" asked an excited Skeleton No. 2. She then made a peace sign in Qin Guan''s direction, and her lower jaw moved slightly lower, as if she was trying her hardest to smile¡­


    Qin Guan and Give Me Medicine: "¡­"


    "Never mind¡­ How about we figure out how to play this game first¡­ Um, it''s rare for the three of us to have such affinity on the launch''s first day. How about we form a party and work together?"


    "Definitely," Give Me Medicine responded immediately. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Sure, I''m in. I wouldn''t dare wander too far from this starting point if I had to play alone. I''m not too good with horror games," Skeleton No. 2 chimed in.


    A party invite function was a must, and after forming a party, players could see their teammate''s IDs and health bars.


    It was just that these health bars didn''t display any numerical values; after all, this wasn''t a real MMORPG, and resistance to damage couldn''t be determined according to a health bar.


    Therefore, after much mulling, Yang Qiu had decided to manifest battle damage as a bar display. Once damage reached a certain extent, it would count as a death and trigger a forced resurrection summon¡­ This was mainly to prevent players from going wild and turning these centuries-old skeletons into powder. It was a precautionary measure.


    The three-man party headed out of the spawn point and curiously surveyed the desolate town.


    "This place is really run-down!" Skeleton No. 2 sighed with lament. "The places in ruin exploration videos I''ve watched are like paradise compared to this place. Where did the art department find this scenery?"


    "Well, this is the Undead spawn point and it ought to have this sort of atmosphere." Give Me Medicine rather appreciated this desolate town. "Compared to here, the Undercity is way too clean and tidy. It doesn''t feel like a place where Forsaken should be squatting¡­" [T/L note: A reference to World of Warcraft]


    As they talked, the three bypassed a dilapidated wooden house.


    Regardless of whether it was Qin Guan, who was recording a video from the first-person perspective of his character, or Skeleton No. 2, who was appreciating the novelty, or Give Me Medicine, who was pleasantly surprised, the jaws on all three of their skeletal faces dropped in perfect unison.


    Squatting beside the wooden house was a zombie.


    A zombie that was half-rotted and half-waxed.


    Only half of its head had flesh, and most of its body was wrapped in a gray mottled skin, with exposed bones protruding at certain points. It wore tattered overalls and pants with one leg torn off, hugging its knees and swaying in its spot before the crumbling wooden house.


    The three were just ordinary young people, and the only corpses they had seen were in horror games or movies. Caught off guard, the trio were instantly petrified at the sight of this peculiarly rotten, half-waxed zombie.


    The zombie with hands clasped around its knees slowly lifted its head and gazed at the three players with lifeless eyes devoid of any luster.


    At that moment, Qin Guan felt as if a massive red "danger" sign was flashing in his head.


    "Hello, compatriots," the zombie spoke in a raspy and sinister voice, taking its time to mouth every single syllable. "Looks like you have just awakened from eternal slumber together. Would you be willing to help me with something? I can offer you clothing as a token of gratitude."


    The three players. "¡­¡­AHHHHHHHHHH"

 Chapter 8: Toxic Clothes

    A game with players naturally had to have NPCs.


    Most of the corpses Yang Qiu brought back from the massive swamp had already thoroughly decayed till they were complete skeletons. However, there were about a dozen or so bodies that weren''t fully destroyed and partially preserved, perhaps due to where their bodies had fallen. They looked more like zombies than skeletons. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Although partially decayed corpses wouldn''t be suitable to be used as "game characters" for players in Yang Qiu''s opinion (after all even the more visually appealing skeletons were testing enough for players¡¯ nerves). If players were given the option to choose such as a zombie looking like this, they would most likely quit the game at the character creation screen.


    Thus, Yang Qiu might as well use the bunch of them as NPCs.


    Undead creatures possessed minimal intelligence, moved slowly and clumsily, with limited capabilities. Nonetheless, they could still carry out repetitive actions following a predetermined pattern.


    For instance, upon encountering a bare skeleton, they could emit scripted sounds to beckon players over (undead creatures could only emit predetermined syllables and have no idea what they are saying). They could also assign tasks systematically according to the number of players involved. This approach proved to be far simpler than assigning undead creatures tasks such as cleaning or other complex activities.


    When he saw the reaction of the trio, Yang Qiu felt that his decision had been the right one. Simply put, a gamer, no matter how hardcore, was still just a gamer. It was like how the most enthusiastic Counter-Strike fanatics wouldn''t head to fight wars in Africa as mercenaries just to fulfill their shooter cravings.


    "I was wrong! Player characters aren''t the most realistic, it''s the NPCs!" Skeleton No. 2 howled. "But seriously¡­ Is it necessary to strive for such realism? Can''t you spare a thought for players who don''t enjoy horror?!"


    Give Me Medicine was crumbling as well, muttering to himself, "I was wrong too. I thought I was being brave by being elitist. But, those programming fatties are good too¡­ A cartoonish style is the best, those who pursue realistic graphics are on the wrong path¡­"


    Cries and exasperation aside, these two were still quite reliable, forcing themselves to approach the zombie NPC and imitating how Qin Guan interacted with it.


    "All of you are willing. That''s great," was the zombie NPC''s scripted response to the players. Then it slowly stood up, entered the small wooden house, and returned with three sets of cleaning tools.


    Each set of cleaning tools consisted of a metal bucket, a wooden broomstick, and a dustpan.


    Qin Guan, the boldest of the three, gulped hard and accepted the tools first.


    As cleaning tools passed into his hands, a new quest appeared on the empty quest log in on Qin Guan''s character interface:


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    [Street Cleaning]


    Exile Town has fallen into disrepair. You, who have awakened, should perhaps do a little something for your new home.


    Clean for one work hour: 0/1


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Skeleton No. 2, who was the last to accept the tools, asked when she saw the quest information, "What does one work hour mean? Do we have to clean for an hour?"


    "Unlikely. It would be absurd for a beginner quest to have us clean for so long. Who would even want to do quests then?" replied Give Me Medicine.


    "Let''s just see how long it takes to complete one work hour. After all, it''s our first quest, and we should at least give it a try," Qin Guan suggested.


    Thus, the trio of first-time players got down to business¡­


    Larger debris, such as collapsed beams, random large rocks, and worn-out carts were ignored by them. They weren''t here to engage in construction and have a life here. Who cared if the paths were blocked or not, just sweeping away the dust on the streets was sufficient enough.


    As Give Me Medicine was sweeping, he suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my, this road was actually paved with stone slabs? I couldn''t tell from all the black muck covering it."


    "There''s quite a lot of wooden houses, and the area here seems large. I reckon it must have been real lively in the past," Skeleton No. 2 added while she swept.


    "Speaking of which, even though the official site''s race background information doesn''t mention it, the NPC referred to us as ''compatriots'' and assigned us the task of cleaning the streets. It could be possible that we players were originally residents of this Exile Town. Maybe we died for some reason and were then resurrected¡­ What do you think? Could the main storyline of this game be about Undead players rebuilding and revitalizing Exile Town?"


    Qin Guan couldn''t help but glance at Skeleton No. 2. "Hmm¡­ That''s actually a possibility. You have quite an imaginative mind, don''t you?"


    "Well, of course. I make a living from writing web novels," Skeleton No. 2 replied proudly.


    "Oh, oh, oh! You are in the online literature circle. That explains it!"


    Skeleton No. 2, ID Blossoming Strokes, real name Wang Miaomiao, was a 28-year-old online writer who had achieved financial stability and had been single throughout her entire life.


    Blossoming Strokes was no hardcore gamer and didn''t know much about VR games. The reason she had joined this game in particular was similar to Qin Guan''s¡ªshe had been drawn in by the three promotional videos on the official site. Also, the 188-yuan material cost was equivalent to merely typing a thousand words or so for someone in her position, so she had made the payment without a second thought.


    During the character creation, Blossoming Strokes had nearly been scared away by the excessive emphasis on "realistic character modeling." If it weren''t for the fact that she had already paid and felt it would be a waste to not take a look inside, as well as holding slight hope that the in-game graphics would be cartoonish, Blossoming Strokes would have already quit the game.


    However, upon entering the game, the notion of "quitting" had disappeared from Blossoming Strokes'' dictionary.


    There was no way she was doing that. It was absolutely impossible! Even if the skeleton she played as and the zombie NPCs were so scary that they would give a child nightmares for weeks, she would never give up!


    Despite being a super casual gamer who usually just admired the scenery while playing games, she was now determined to play this game hardcore style until the end!


    VR games were actually this amazing. Compared to PC games, consoles, arcades, and mobile games, none of them could even hold a candle to VR games!


    Had she known earlier, she would have jumped headfirst into the world of VR games a long time ago!


    While the three chatted idly while sweeping the streets, a notice popped up in the quest log after around 10 minutes, indicating that the task was complete.


    "Told you guys a beginner quest wouldn''t have us sweeping the streets for an hour. The developers wouldn''t dare be that arbitrary even if the game has impressive hardware," said Give Me Medicine, feeling triumphant at his prediction.


    "Looks like this game''s quests are still within a normal range." Qin Guan also breathed a sigh of relief.


    When creating his character, Qin Guan had already decided to make a video to spread the word. However, if the developer didn''t prioritize player experience and the quest mechanics turned out to be a mess despite the impressive hardware, Qin Guan would definitely be criticized by his viewers.


    The three of them returned to the zombie NPC, laughing and chatting, to complete the quest.


    The zombie NPC collected the returned cleaning tools and, after a while, emerged from the run-down but surprisingly sturdy wooden house holding three sets of clothing.


    The clothes consisted of a white short-sleeved T-shirt and cropped shorts with an elastic waistband.


    Upon receiving the clothing, the three players felt perplexed.


    "Am I mistaken, or are these outfits strangely familiar?" Give Me Medicine voice trembled as he unfolded the pullover and pants given by the NPC.


    "You aren''t mistaken¡­ These look like the sort of 3 for 10 yuan T-shirts you can get at discounted stalls near the market." Qin Guan''s mouth twitched. "And these pants¡­ they''re like the widely advertised one-size-fits-all cropped shorts that cost 5 yuan."


    The three players fell silent.


    "This is outrageous! Aren''t we supposed to be in a world of swords and magic? Isn''t this a world with an undead race??


    "Giving us regular T-shirts and cropped shorts from the real world as beginner gear? Are they not afraid of hurting player immersion?!" Qin Guan spared no effort with his criticism.


    "I can''t believe it. Can''t the developers allocate some effort and resources to create beginner gear that fits the game''s setting?" Give Me Medicine exclaimed, both amused and perplexed at the same time. "Would it be that difficult to draw some clothing designs?"


    In the control room back on Earth.


    "It isn''t cost-effective to customize specific styles," Yang Qiu muttered.


    Since he had only disguised the magic plane as a game and couldn''t actually turn it into one, the stuff used by players "in-game" couldn''t magically appear out of thin air.


    Rather than spending money and effort to order customized outfits from manufacturers, wouldn''t it be practical to use inventory from clearance sales?


    "Let it go, guys. It''s all good as long as we can wear them," said casual player Blossoming Strokes, who wasn''t too concerned about the impact on player immersion. She had put on the clothes as soon as she received them.


    Qin Guan and Give Me Medicine, who cared more, fell silent and followed suit in wearing the clothes.


    It wasn''t a big deal when everyone was just a bare skeleton, but once someone started wearing clothes and they themselves didn''t, the atmosphere became awkward¡­


    Having experienced the unconventional style of beginner gear, the three players began to understand the game''s unique and distinctive approach, even though they should have realized it earlier by just looking at the rudimentary official site that seemed to have been made with a complete lack of graphic design.


    But one thing was certain. The developers of this game, "OtherWorld," were ambitious people.


    After giving out the beginner gear, the zombie NPC no longer interacted with the players. Qin Guan, enduring the urge to puke, approached it cautiously, but it seemed as though the NPC couldn''t see the players. Thus, the trio had no other choice but to continue their free exploration of Exile Town.


    Fortunately, the sly game designer didn''t have any intention of hiding the NPCs and placed them in rather conspicuous locations. Just as the trio stepped out of the street they had just cleaned, they spotted another zombie NPC standing idle by a wall.


    "That armor and that axe¡­ It''s the NPC from the promotional video!" Qin Guan exclaimed excitedly and immediately went over.


    When players were within a certain distance, the NPC, clad in tattered armor and wielding a massive battle axe, became active. Its helmeted face turned toward them, revealing a rather well-preserved and particularly hair-raising zombie face.


    Qin Guan''s initial excitement immediately faded away.


    "Hey, compatriots," came the rough, hoarse voice of the zombie general that could most definitely portray the ultimate villain in a movie. "It seems like you''ve just awakened from eternal slumber. Would you be willing to help me with something?"


    "Y-yes," Qin Guan squeaked, suppressing the urge to turn tail and flee.


    This is just ridiculous¡­ The real thing is much scarier than on video! To think that this is a friendly NPC, f*cking unbelievable!


    Give Me Medicine, also frightened by this zombie general, was muttering to himself in despair, "I will never curse Sylvana again¡­ She''s truly the most charming and perfect Undead queen¡­"


    Blossoming Strokes, on the other hand¡­ had entirely disappeared behind Give Me Medicine with her head hung low, staring at her own bony feet with no intention of looking ahead.


    This extremely unfriendly-looking zombie general issued them a quest of eliminating rats at a certain southern area of Exile Town.


    The three who accepted the quest didn''t immediately set out to complete it. Instead, they continued exploring the town and looking for other NPCs.


    The three of them wandered around the streets and alleys near the spawn point, and collectively found about 10 distinctively rotten zombie NPCs.


    Other than a few NPCs who ignored them, most of the zombie NPCs would give players quests, but they mainly tasks, such as [Repairing Houses], [Clearing Garbage], [Street Cleaning], [Collecting Firewood], and the like.


    Thus, the three of them discussed and decided to start by completing the quest given by the zombie general. At least this quest involved eliminating rats, which sounded much better than miscellaneous tasks such as repairs or cleaning.


    As per the quest information, the three of them arrived at the southernmost area of Exile Town. An area that had no intact wooden houses but ruins.


    "This should be the place. Let''s see where the rats are," Qin Guan said, first picking up a stick, then subsequently picking up a rock as well.


    Seeing this, Give Me Medicine and Blossoming Strokes also looked for suitable rocks and sticks to use as weapons. They definitely didn''t have the courage to stomp on rats with their feet.


    Feeling adequately prepared, the three of them entered the ruins fearlessly.


    Crack¡ª


    Qin Guan, who was in the lead, stepped on and broke a rotted wooden plank.


    Qin Guan glanced down, paid no attention to it, and continued walking forward. Although he wasn''t wearing any footwear, there wasn''t flesh on his feet, so he felt neither pain nor discomfort.


    Then¡­ Qin Guan, who had decent awareness, stared wide-eyed as a huge rat''s head, the size of a soccer ball, emerged from behind a collapsed earthen wall.


    The three players: "??"


    Before the bewildered trio could react, the huge rat with glowing red eyes rushed out from behind the earthen wall.


    "What the heck?!"


    "F*ck!!"


    "AHHHHH¡ª!!"


    "Tsk¡­" Yang Qiu, in the server room on Earth, couldn''t bear to watch.


    "Three level 0 rookies accepting a quest from the zombie general who clearly looks like a special NPC and immediately challenging the beginner village''s mini boss¡­ Sigh, this kind of challenging quest requires patching and a level restriction added."

 Chapter 9. Heat Fermentation.

    "F*ckkkkk!!!" Qin Guan cried out in agony as he sat up.


    He took off his helmet, intending to smash it but couldn''t bring himself to do so. He turned to the computer screen, but couldn''t bring himself to do it either.


    Thus, he jumped off the bed, grabbed a pillow, and furiously slammed it against the wardrobe door¡­


    After venting his anger at being killed by a boar-sized rat, incurring the death penalty, and being forcibly logged off, the frustrated Qin Guan finally calmed down and sat back in front of his computer.


    The first thing he did, of course, was to open the official site and send an angry email to the game developer. His character hadn''t been able to use skills, and just a quest in the beginner village had caused a team wipe! Even if it was a closed beta with bugs yet to be ironed down, this was too much!


    As he clicked into the official website, a new announcement was coincidentally pinned there.


    ¡¶Patch Update 1.01¡·


    Fixed a bug where level 0 players could accept Zombie General Lancelot Edgar''s challenge quest [Eliminate Rats]. Added clarification that game characters cannot be deleted or restarted after a player''s selection and can only evolve through gameplay progression or due to new version updates. Added clarification that Potential value is not fixed and will grow as players progress in the game.


    Closed beta of "OtherWorld" is currently in full swing. Welcome to players visiting this ancient land!


    ¡ª¡ª OtherWorld Development Team.


    Qin Guan. "¡­"


    The development team''s response had been prompt, and they valued the players'' gaming experience. Problems had been identified and immediate changes were made. This was a good thing for players¡­ but Qin Guan hadn''t even gotten a chance to criticize the game developer yet!! He still had a bellyful of anger that needed directing!


    That''s not right! Could my low Potential be due to an issue with my choice of game character?!


    Isn''t such a randomized method discriminating beginners? What the hell is wrong with them?


    Having found a target to vent, Qin Guan immediately opened his email and typed several hundred words complaining about this unreasonable random setting. After clicking send, he finally felt a sense of relief.


    Next¡­ after venting, content still had to be made. Qin Guan followed the official instructions for downloading screenshots and videos using the USB connection on his helmet. He logged into his account on the official site and downloaded the video that was about an hour long.


    "¡­Huh?"


    The internet speed seemed to increase several times, and several gigabytes of data was downloaded in just a few minutes. After downloading the 67-minute-long video, Qin Guan realized something was off.


    I entered the game around 9.20 a.m., played for over an hour in the game, and recorded the whole session as proof¡­ But the question is, why isn''t it even 10 yet?!


    A shocked Qin Guan checked the time displayed on his computer screen several times before verifying it with the time on his phone. Fearing that his electronic devices might be malfunctioning, he even checked the time displayed on the thermostat.


    The f*ck! There''s a time difference between the game and reality? Is the flow of time in the game twice as fast as in reality?!


    Qin Guan was bamboozled. What sort of black technology is this?!


    A VR helmet with a material cost of 188 yuan allows the experience of a full-immersive game that''s just like the real world, where the time inside is twice as fast¡­


    Could this be alien technology? F*ck, that''s bullsh*t! Aliens my *ss!


    Forget it. What do I, a mere gamer, care about how they make the game? It''s none of my business!


    Qin Guan found his own speculation amusing and shook his head, dismissing these thoughts. Then, he immediately started editing the video with software.


    A death meant that he could only log back in after half an hour. Several minutes had already elapsed, and he needed to rush and edit the video.


    Qin Guan quickly recorded two voice-over commentaries and removed the less interesting parts such as traveling, seeking out NPCs, and casual chatting, to make the video more concise.


    Just the exceptional quality of "OtherWorld" would crush 99.99% of games on the market, and Qin Guan was certain that viewer engagement would skyrocket even if he didn''t make any cuts and just uploaded the original footage!


    With a level of focus far surpassing the usual, Qin Guan finished editing the sample. Upon checking the time and realizing that he could log back in, Qin Guan quickly added an intro, wrote a description, and uploaded the edited video to Bilibili.


    Then he grabbed his phone and rushed to the toilet solving his physiological needs while calling a few of his good buddies, urging them to register on the official site and grab a helmet.


    Once he had taken care of his friends, Qin Guan didn''t forget to notify his long-time gold farming group either. He dropped a video link in the group chat, then added a message that said, "Brothers, I can only help you guys up to this point."


    With that, he switched his phone to silent, placed it aside, put on the headset, and laid down with a smile on his face.


    OtherWorld, I''m coming! Exile Town, here I come!


    Undead compatriots, wait for me!


    With an incredibly quick login speed, faster than opening an app, Qin Guan opened his eyes, and before he knew it, blue skies, white clouds, lush distant mountains, and the ruined Exile Town appeared before him¡­ as well as a bare skeleton.


    After examining the aged patina on the bare skeleton, Qin Guan asked, "You¡­ Give Me Medicine? Where are your clothes?"


    "Don''t mention it. I lost my clothes," said Give Me Medicine, his voice filled with sadness. "You and Blossoming Strokes were sent flying and disconnected in mid-air while still intact. I crashed into a wall and shattered to pieces. When I came back online, my shirt and pants were gone!"


    "Seriously? You can still lose items when you die?!" Qin Guan couldn''t help feeling his own clothes out of lingering fear.


    "Well¡­ Since there aren''t any other players in the game other than us, why don''t we go back and take a look? Perhaps we can still retrieve them?"


    Give Me Medicine nodded. "That''s what I thought too. I was just waiting for you guys to come online."


    "Wasn''t Blossoming Strokes the first to die? Hasn''t she logged in yet?" asked Qin Guan.


    "Not yet¡­ Ah, she''s on." Give Me Medicine pointed behind Qin Guan.


    Qin Guan instinctively turned his head. And then¡­ he witnessed the earth atop the spawn point platform squirming as a skeleton wearing a T-shirt and shorts rose up.


    Qin Guan. "¡­"


    So, those that return from the dead are actually buried under the spawn point¡­


    Earth, server room.


    As the three initial beta testers logged back in in succession, some of Yang Qiu''s worries were finally put to rest.


    Players from Earth who came to the magic plane via the Mind Imprint Matrix could be monitored by Yang Qiu via the matrix when they were "online." However, if a player "disconnected" and their soul lost contact with the matrix, their mental "back door" would be closed and Yang Qiu wouldn''t be able to know anything about their condition.


    The trio had been wiped out shortly after the game''s start and Yang Qiu was somewhat worried that they might give up playing.


    Now, as he observed the three individuals heading back to the southern ruins to retrieve the dropped clothes, it became apparent to him that as long as the game was hardcore enough, with challenging and enjoyable content, players actually enjoyed being tortured¡­


    "What''s most important is the game''s quality. As long as the quality is solid, there''s no need to worry about a lack of anchor points!"


    Yang Qiu punched the air, then opened a document on his computer and began diligently writing quest logs¡­


    The early-stage work was spent on creating game characters and better disguising Exile Town as a beginner village, without paying much attention to the game''s main storyline.


    From the earlier conversation between Vanilla Pudding and Blossoming Strokes, it seemed that not everyone was just after mindless gameplay. There were many that appreciated a captivating storyline that would give them a sense of belonging.


    Since players had expectations, Yang Qiu would do his best to meet them.


    No backstory of Exile Town? Make one up!


    No epic historical tale of the Taranthan Wastelands? Make one up!


    Just the zombie general having a name wasn''t enough. The background and personal histories of other zombie NPCs ought to be developed too.


    What was a game''s humanistic sentiment? Invest time and effort to create a story with sufficient depth, a touch of melancholy, and sufficient twists and turns. And that''s where the sentiment came from!


    As for source material? That wasn''t too big a problem for Yang Qiu. Before being chased by the lunatics of Inquisition, Yang Qiu had roamed the continent for more than a hundred years.


    He had visited numerous places and encountered tons of diverse characters. He could just borrow some of those experiences and apply them to the zombie NPCs.


    While independent game developer Yang Qiu carefully fleshed out backgrounds to be integrated, elsewhere, Qin Guan''s video had passed the upload review and appeared on the latest uploads page of the gaming section.


    Tang Jia, a college sophomore, woke up close to 10.30 a.m. on the first day of the National Day holiday.


    And then¡­ Getting out of bed and washing up was out of the question. She laid in bed playing games for another half an hour till she felt that she had no more energy to get out of bed¡­


    Many people had a misconception that all that existed in a female college student''s mind were boyfriends, dating, idolizing celebrities, watching brainless dramas, and squealing at pretty boys on small screens. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As a perfectly typical female college student, Tang Jia has only one thing to say about such stereotypes. Rubbish!


    Twenty-year-old Tang Jia had no interest in real-life men, and of course, she wasn''t interested in paper-cut pretty boys either. She simply enjoyed playing games, especially ones where she could beat up other players till they lost confidence and swore angrily¡­


    In short, Tang Jia, was a competitive girl who hated losing, particularly in games. She had recently lost interest in the most popular battle royale game after achieving the highest rank and had been searching various gaming forums for a challenging new game.


    While browsing Bilibili''s gaming section, she realized that the "transvestite boss" Vanilla Pudding, whom she followed, had posted a video recommending a new game. Without much hesitation, Tang Jia clicked on it.


    "Trans Boss Vanilla" wasn''t considered popular on Bilibili, but he had a fair bit of reputation among niche games. This was because of his down-to-earth personality and his often unabashed jokes about his own state of poverty. Thus, he had decent likability among poor students like Tang Jia, who never played pay-to-win games.


    Of course, the main reason was that the games recommended by "Trans Boss Vanilla" were usually enjoyable without the need for in-game purchases. The recent game that Tang Jia "graduated" from after achieving the highest rank was one that "Trans Boss Vanilla" had recommended in a video four months ago.


    "OtherWorld? RPG? And a VR game?" When Tang Jia saw the written introduction of the video, she started contemplating about closing it.


    As a poor female college student with a meager monthly allowance of only 1500 yuan, Tang Jia couldn''t afford to play a VR game.


    However¡­ considering that the financially struggling "Trans Boss Vanilla" probably wouldn''t recommend games that required substantial financial commitment. After mulling for a bit, Tang Jia decided to click play.


    The first scene showed two skeletons sweeping the floor with brooms.


    Tang Jia. "??"


    In the second scene, a gruesome zombie handed a neatly folded T-shirt toward the camera.


    Tang Jia. "???"


    The third scene showed a zombie clad in worn-out armor but still looking mighty fierce. With a hideous face that could give one nightmares, it looked toward the camera and said sinisterly, "Hey, compatriots. It seems like you all have just awakened from eternal slumber. Would you be willing to help me with something?"


    Tang Jia. "????"


    Tang Jia minimized the video, and with squinting eyes, carefully read the video description¡­


    That''s right, the description by the content creator, Vanilla Pudding, made it very clear that he was sharing a gaming experience video of an extremely accessible and low-entry VR game and not a movie clip.


    With head filled with question marks, Tang Jia opened the video once again.


    "Hello everyone, it''s me, Vanilla Pudding. Recently, I obtained a closed beta slot for a newly released VR indie game called ''OtherWorld.'' Today''s video will be showing you guys my first-hand experience of this game¡­"


    "Here''s the character selection interface. The voice-over was added later on, so I selected the character rather quickly. If you''re a newcomer to the game, please don''t randomly close your eyes and choose like I did. Otherwise, you''ll definitely regret it if you have bad luck and end up with a weak character. That would mean you have to put in more effort compared to others because of the character''s weak initial Potential¡­"


    After a brief introduction, Vanilla Pudding stopped providing voice commentary and directly showcased his first-person perspective gameplay footage.


    The video displayed backgrounds reminiscent of blockbuster movie scenes and an impressive physics engine. Even the dust particles kicked up while walking had incredibly realistic trajectories¡­ The more Tang Jia watched, the more amazed she became.


    Especially when two other beta players appeared on the screen with their skeleton characters. The astonishing realism, lifelike movements, and the clattering sound of their teeth when they spoke¡­


    If Tang Jia didn''t know that those two skeletons were controlled by players, she would have thought that Vanilla Pudding had gone to a film set and resurrected actual skeletons for the purpose of deceiving people.


    "Is this the world of RPGs?! This is the world of VR gaming!!"


    Still lying on her dorm room bed, holding her phone with both hands, Tang Jia exclaimed in awe, startling her roommate who was watching a drama on the other side.


    Then, without any hesitation, Tang Jia clicked on the link in the video description for the game''s official site and added money to her account in the name of faith¡­


    Many people were accustomed to sleeping in during the holidays, and, combined with Vanilla Pudding not being a particularly famous content creator, there hadn''t been too many views so far. As Tang Jia made her top-up, there were still over a hundred closed beta slots available out of the 300 posted on the official website.


    After entering her address, Tang Jia thought of her best friend and resolutely paid for her as well.


    Tang Jia definitely wouldn''t have been able to imagine how much trouble her decisiveness would save her and her best friend. Once this batch of closed beta slots offered on the website was snatched up, it wouldn''t be easy for Earth''s players to enter the magical land of "OtherWorld" anymore.

 Chapter 10: Outside the game

    On the first day of the long National Day holiday, 1:00 p.m.


    The first batch of 300 (actually 299) closed beta slots available on the official website had all been claimed.


    Yang Qiu, who had been busy writing quest text, took a moment to see the 290 helmets that had been ordered, then observed the only three players frolicking about the "game world"¡­


    After some thought, he used the real-time transmissibility provided by the Mind Imprint Matrix to issue an announcement to the three "online" using the role of an online GM.


    The three players, who were exploring Exile Town after picking up the dropped items, saw two rows of yellow text appearing simultaneously before their eyes.


    [The closed beta will end in 10 minutes of game time. Players online are requested to return to the respawn point in the safe zone and log off promptly.]


    [Player''s data (equipment, tools, etc.) may be lost if the log-off isn''t done at the safe zone.]


    All three players cried out in unison.


    "What the hell?!"


    "We''ve only just started and the server is shutting down already¡­? No way!"


    "We''ve been playing for almost six hours!" Hardcore gamer Qin Guan had just shouted out in frustration, but a quick glance at the game time left him startled. "Have we been online for that long? How''s that possible? Why does it seem like it''s only been a few hours?"


    "Yeah, it feels like we''ve only played for three or four hours, and I haven''t even gotten enough fun yet," said Give Me Medicine, also a hardcore player, discontentedly.


    "Umm¡­ we have indeed been playing for quite some time," casual player Blossoming Strokes spoke objectively. "After we died and logged back in, it took us over half an hour to avoid the rats and retrieve the clothes. Then, we went around the beginner town, completed four quests given by zombie NPCs, and we''re now on the fifth."


    "Ah, makes sense." Give Me Medicine nodded. "My Potential has increased a little, it''s 43 now."


    "Yeah, mine has increased to 49 too." Blossoming Strokes was especially pleased with this particular advantage of hers. "When we re-logged in after the death, there was new information showing that reaching a Potential of 50 would allow us to reach level 1. I''m nearly there!"


    "Both of your Potentials have increased, but mine hasn''t! I''m still at 37! I can''t believe it! This is so unfair!" Qin Guan stomped his feet in frustration.


    "Don''t fret, your Potential will surely increase if you do more NPC quests." The other two swiftly reassured their unfortunate companion as they proceeded toward the revival point, still holding on to their quest tools from an NPC. "Once the server is back up and running, let''s make a pact to log in and quest together. Even if we reach level 1, we''ll accompany you till you catch up."


    Qin Guan and Give Me Medicine, not to mention Blossoming Strokes, who was a more casual gamer, had all experienced numerous games on the market. When it came to regular games, most players would exhibit impatience with completing quests¡ªcontrolling on-screen characters to repeatedly run around and engage in monotonous monster battles would get incredibly tedious. Regardless of how compelling a storyline a game was, players would get tired of it.


    However, "OtherWorld" was an exception. This full-immersive black technology game captivated their senses, igniting a sense of novelty with every unexplored view and unfamiliar encounter.


    Had it not been for that colossal rat scaring them, the trio might have already ventured beyond the confines of Exile Town, reveling in boundless exploration¡­


    When they returned to the platform serving as their spawn, revival, and log-out point, the trio bid their farewells, having already exchanged real-world contact information, and logged out in succession.


    Yang Qiu waited for the three players'' skeleton avatars to descend into the subterranean tomb¡­ uh, space, before promptly deactivating the Mind Imprint Matrix and sealing the spatial rift that bridged the servers on both ends.


    After which, he hastily departed to distribute helmets to players that had made their payments.


    The Mind Imprint Matrix can be activated anywhere, but establishing a physical connection is much more troublesome¡­ But if they aren''t connected, players won''t be able to download game screenshots or videos from Earth.


    Yang Qiu contemplated the challenges that would arise upon the game''s official launch amid the flurry of helmet deliveries.


    The servers he procured didn''t require computing power for the game''s operation; they solely served as relay hubs for uploading and downloading screenshots and videos. However, for this relay hub to facilitate instantaneous file transfers, the spatial rift had to remain open.


    The spatial rift was something that couldn''t be revealed or discovered by anyone else. Yang Qiu needed to remain in close proximity to the spatial rift during the periods when it was accessible.


    And so, the same old issue arose once more. He had merely disguised the magic plane as a game and not truly turned it into one. In order to increase game content and expand the exploratory space for players, Yang Qiu had to personally lay the groundwork and ensure a good enough guise. How could he spend all his time squatting in the server room?


    ¡­Let''s use the plan I considered before.Screenshots and recorded videos taken by players in the game will be categorized within the "Mental Imprint" disguised as the "Personal Log" panel. When players return to the respawn point and log off, the data in their "Personal Log" will be synchronized and uploaded to the server over there.


    If they don''t log off at the respawn point, then I won''t care¡­ Mmm, we can regard this as falling under the category of "data loss resulting from irregular log-out," which is ultimately the player''s own responsibility.


    Downloading on Earth¡­ requires a day''s delay before being allowed to do so¡­ So, I''ll open the spatial rift once daily and use the physical connection to transfer the data on that server to the one here. Less frequent opening of the spatial rift would also minimize the risk of being exposed.


    Being unable to download their screenshots and videos at any time was bound to result in some disgruntled players, but that wasn''t a major issue. After all, there didn''t exist any game in the world that could achieve 100% user satisfaction.


    Yang Qiu spent over half the first day of the National Day holiday dispatching the 290 helmets via courier. It was already dark by the time he returned to his server room in the suburbs.


    Yang Qiu mulled over the sparse game content, imperfect quest system, and the absence of functional NPCs that had been revealed during the closed beta. Then, he decided to end this initial closed beta and schedule the next one to begin in two days.


    After posting an announcement about the second delayed beta, Yang Qiu packed some daily essentials into the spatial ring before opening the spatial rift and heading forth into the magic plane.


    Elsewhere, the first three beta testers, along with the additional six players that missed the initial session, finally received the announcement of the delayed launch at 8 in the evening and couldn''t help expressing their disappointment in unison.


    Deflated, Qin Guan couldn''t muster up any strength to even edit the second video and went to bed early out of frustration.


    Perhaps due to playing the game for over seven hours (in-game time), or because of the anticipation that had been building throughout the whole afternoon, Qin Guan enjoyed a remarkably restful night''s sleep and didn''t wake up till the next morning.


    A groggy Qin Guan, still lying on his bed, reached for his phone, and upon unlocking it, he was surprised to find that all his social media apps were showing 99+ notifications¡­


    Qin Guan bewilderedly clicked on each one to take a look¡­


    A few minutes later, Qin Guan, who would usually spend half an hour playing mobile games before getting out of bed, suddenly sat straight up and cursed out loud, "What the hell!"


    A day had passed, and the VR game recommendation video released by Qin Guan had spread through the enthusiastic efforts of netizens across various chat groups, game forums, and discussion boards, causing quite a stir among domestic players.


    Previously, when Yang Qiu had used alternate accounts to create a buzz for the game, he had also shared the three promotional videos shot in real locations on the official website. However, the visuals in the videos were just a bit too "cinematic," making it difficult to believe that such game scenes could be produced with 21st-century technology. As a result, it was quickly labeled as a "deceptive game that only had impressive CG in marketing" by many domestic gamers and didn''t receive a good reception.


    Of course, it wasn''t entirely the gamers'' fault for being skeptical. Such situations were all too common. There were instances of mismatched content between what was advertised and the end product, CG animations that seemed disconnected from the gameplay, and the use of movie stills and CG in promotions.


    Many deceived players into downloading games that turned out to be either bootleg imitations of renowned games or just web games. Unscrupulous game developers in China didn''t hold back at all.


    Some more conscientious game developers even became victims of these unscrupulous counterparts who shamelessly used their work as raw material. Not only copying CG, but also "borrowing" character models, scenes, and costume designs. Even if their own productions lacked integrity and their models were a thousand times less refined, being capable of deceiving players into paying was a testament to their marketing skill.


    It wasn''t until Qin Guan, a gaming content creator that never spent loads on games, started playing and released in-game recordings that people who previously criticized Yang Qiu''s alternate accounts suddenly had a revelation.


    They hurriedly visited the official website¡­ only to find out that it was too late. All 300 slots for the closed beta had already been filled.


    Some were willing to patiently wait for the development team to release new slots, but others were more impatient and began flooding the official website''s message board with higher offers to buy closed beta accounts¡­


    At first glance, this seemed like a positive turn of events. It seemed like "OtherWorld" was gaining traction compared to the fact that only three people had logged in during the initial closed beta.


    Qin Guan, as the first content creator to release a gameplay video of "OtherWorld," was also experiencing a surge in popularity. He didn''t just surpass 100,000 subscribers overnight but was even on track to reach 200,000.


    However, anything that was on the internet¡­ was never limited to a single perspective. While Qin Guan''s video spread like wildfire among the gaming community and his ID, Vanilla Pudding, became increasingly recognized by players, dissenting opinions also emerged.


    First, a well-known streamer in the gaming community called into question the authenticity of Qin Guan''s twenty-minute video, suspecting it to be fabricated, gimmicky, and employing deceptive marketing tactics.


    It called into question the content creator, Vanilla Pudding, had colluded with the game developers and stolen footage from a popular foreign film, using dubbing, editing, and post-production techniques to craft a misleading video.


    The reasons for the streamers'' skepticism were quite valid¡ªanyone that had played VR games worldwide knew how far the development had come; creating even a small-scale scene that didn''t look obviously fake required extensive efforts from established companies and their dedicated research and development teams.


    Now, here was an obscure production team on the national and international stage, releasing a mediocre game without even a proper publishing license, yet dared to claim that their game possessed groundbreaking black technology that surpassed the top game publishers of the world. This wasn''t just a scam of the century; it was the epitome of all scams!


    With a prominent influencer stepping up to confront the situation, others naturally followed suit. As soon as Qin Guan opened the live streaming app, he saw several videos on the homepage that were ridiculing and mocking him¡­


    "What the hell is this?" Qin Guan angrily shut the app and turned to Weibo.


    Comments and private messages aside, there were thousands of mentions (@Vanilla Pudding).


    Trembling, Qin Guan clicked on some of the mentions and found many were directing him to a lengthy Weibo post.


    Qin Guan took a deep breath, then clicked on the post.


    After reading for just two minutes, he slumped back onto his bed with a "thump."


    The Weibo post was brilliantly written, analyzing the marketing technique of "OtherWorld" and drawing similarities to manipulative tactics employed by other scammers. It made for a very convincing read:


    Firstly, massive pre-launch hype for a large-scale VR game was artificially generated by employing low-cost tricks and deception.


    Secondly, they planned to take the game and the company representing the groundbreaking VR technology to an international financial hub, such as London, New York, or Singapore, for an initial public offering.


    Then, while maintaining the game''s popularity in the second largest economy, China, along with the allure of the revolutionary VR technology, they would lure global investors with grand promises and stories, exploiting the Western world for their own financial gain¡­


    Toward the end of the lengthy post, the writer seemingly disagreed with the criticism directed at the content creator, Vanilla Pudding, believing him to be merely an insignificant pawn in this elaborate scheme and frowning upon Vanilla Pudding''s opportunistic behavior in aiding the bigger bad.


    The writer then encouraged others to boycott the deceitful development team behind "OtherWorld" and urged them to refuse to contribute further attention to this fraudulent game¡­


    This lengthy Weibo post was published at 10 p.m. the previous night, and when Qin Guan saw it after 11 hours, it had already been re-shared over ten thousand times, with several thousand comments.


    There were also numerous comments on the Weibo post as well as private messages insulting him.


    Qin Guan had never experienced such humiliation in his life, and his entire body trembled from the anger. "What the f*ck is this? See for yourselves when the game is launched! Why the hell are you all rushing to criticize me without even waiting for a couple of days?!" S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    While still dazed at the flurry of online insults, Qin Guan received a call from a younger bro that had previously farmed gold with him in a certain game.


    "Brother Qin, I saw your text in the group chat yesterday and used this month''s living expenses to purchase helmets for the few of us brothers in the studio. You know how hard our life is. Nowadays, most studios make money through botting and using scripted cheats. We, who honestly grind for gold manually, can barely make ends meet¡­ You wouldn''t deceive me, right?"


    Qin Guan suppressed his grievances and said, "Xiao Zhou, even if others don''t, you should know me, right?


    "All these outsiders are spouting bull and making things up. There''s no connection between the development team of ''OtherWorld'' and me. It''s all completely fabricated¡­ This game has truly high-quality content, and it will definitely become popular in the future. People like us have it hard when it comes to making money, and even if I had to deceive someone, it wouldn''t be you, right?"


    After comforting this skilled younger bro, Qin Guan still had lingering frustration when he received another call from a different studio.


    "Vanilla Bro, you''re really heartless! How could you not help rope in us brothers when you got involved with such a boss capable of making a fortune by exploiting foreigners?"


    "You have the cake, and us brothers can still enjoy the crumbs. Just make an introduction, okay¡ª"


    "You really don''t have to buy that helmet! Better hurry up and request a refund!" Qin Guan shouted angrily and hung up.


    On the other end, the studio boss, who wanted to be part of something big, scoffed, then instructed his subordinates to contact players on the official site''s forum who were looking to buy closed beta slots.


    He wanted to quickly sell off the helmets while there were still fools willing to buy them¡­

 Chapter 11: Intelligent NPC

    While Yang Qiu was tirelessly running around the magic plane in an effort to enrich the game''s content, he was entirely oblivious of how much controversy he had created on Earth, and how much grievances and abuse Qin Guan, the self-proclaimed "hype man" among the first beta testers, had suffered¡­


    While Qin Guan was sleeping soundly, unaware of the insults and criticism he would receive from the misinformed masses, Yang Qiu, clad in black robes, was crouching in a wheat field, worrying about the Inquisition''s armed forces coming and going on the main road outside a certain village.


    "This is ridiculous¡­ I merely sold some clothes in the village, and these relentless flies came swarming in as if they caught the scent of heresy."


    In his several decades on the run, Yang Qiu had always been found by the crazed zealots of the Inquisition.


    The reason was simple. Yang Qiu was, after all, a living person. Despite being a high-level black mage with the skills to easily survive in the wilderness, he still needed to resupply in populated areas from time to time.


    Those religious fanatics wouldn''t venture deep into the mountains of woods to find him because who would dare engage in a battle of wits with a high-level dark mage in an uninhabited area?


    All they needed to do was closely monitor news of unfamiliar spellcasters resembling Yang Qiu. As soon as there were any sightings, these fanatics would swoop in and thoroughly search every village and town in the area.


    The most frustrating part was that indigenous residents, regardless of their faith, would actively cooperate once they heard the Inquisition was pursuing a black mage and were more than willing to assist with the capture.


    "How many of their ancestral graves have black mages desecrated?" Sighing with self-derision, Yang Qiu quietly left the place.


    If Yang Qiu wanted to create a more immersive quest system for players, he would need intelligent NPCs. Or at the very least, it shouldn''t be like the current mindless NPCs that could only repeat a few simple lines and perform commands without much response requirements.


    It was back to the same old saying; Yang Qiu could only disguise the magic plane as a game and not truly turn it into one. Creating intelligent NPCs with functional capabilities wasn''t something that could be accomplished just by writing code.


    Therefore, Yang Qiu would need to find some townsfolk with higher intelligence than the undead for Exile Town¡­


    He first set his sights on the Rhine Kingdom that worshiped Lady Gold Coin. Known for their utter lack of principles, the people of the Rhine Kingdom had no qualms about trading with anyone, even demons, as long as gold could be produced. Therefore, Yang Qiu decided to test the waters¡­


    Yet he never imagined that even after more than two months (OtherWorld time), those crazy zealots from the Inquisition were still lurking nearby. Yang Qiu began to wonder if the many tricks he played on them before had left an indelible mark on their minds.


    "Forget it, time to temporarily give up on this side of the Rhine Kingdom."


    Yang Qiu rode away on his undead horse, avoiding populated areas as he pondered hard on where to find suitable candidates to be "intelligent NPCs."


    "Hmm¡­ That''s right!" A thought struck Yang Qiu, and his eyes lit up. He tugged on his steed''s reins and galloped off into the depths of the wilderness.


    After traveling day and night for over 20 hours, Yang Qiu arrived at the southwest border of the Rhine Kingdom.


    This magic plane was a world plagued with many disasters and calamities. The few major empires fought wars for nearly a hundred years to seize territories and dragged the entire continent of Navalon into conflict.


    Resurrections of elder gods and invasions of void demons that persisted for thousands of years were effective means of population control. Besides the few supercities, most countries and regions were sparsely populated and a far cry from what it was like on Earth.


    The scene of different countries and cities on opposite sides of national borders, as seen on Earth, was practically non-existent in this world. Or rather, the countries in this world were quite "extravagant" in terms of territory. The borders were not called lines but large swaths of unpopulated areas.


    The Taranthan Wasteland for example, where Yang Qiu had chosen as the spawn point for Earth players, served as the border between the Rhine Kingdom and the neighboring Duchy of Shiga.


    The border "line" to the south of the Taranthan Wasteland and the Rhine Kingdom was the Sorensen Mountain Range, an area of magnificent strategic depth comparable to mainland Japan, stretched southwestern region of the Navalon continent.


    It didn''t just serve as the border between the Rhine Kingdom and the far south, but also the tomb of the Fallen as well as a paradise for fugitives and wanted criminals.


    As Yang Qiu scanned the vast and endless Sorensen Mountain Range, a slight sigh escaped his lips.


    If he hadn''t been caught by that elder god''s tentacle in the forest in the Rhine Kingdom and accidentally found his way back to Earth, the Sorensen Mountain Range might have been the end point of that "journey"¡­ He had been on the run for far too long and had grown tired of that sort of life.


    The Sorensen Mountain Range wasn''t a pleasant place, but at least it would allow him to catch his breath.


    "I''m still here in the end. Haa, perhaps everything in life is predestined." Yang Qiu shook his head and switched out his undead horse to an undead lizard that was more adept at traversing mountain paths before entering the mountainous range.


    Yang Qiu''s quadrupedal undead lizard followed the winding path up the Sorensen Mountain Range, and he soon felt a ringing in his ears¡ªcontinuous shrill with cries and low sobs that were indistinct, as if meaningless murmurs.


    "It truly lives up to being the tomb of the Fallen, what a unique welcome ceremony¡­ If this were the Call of Cthulhu game, the player''s sanity would have already started to drop," muttered Yang Qiu as he took out earphones, plugged them into his ears, and turned up the volume using the phone in his pocket.


    "Like seaweed, seaweed, seaweed, seaweed swaying with the waves¡­"


    This upbeat song from the civilized world resounded joyously, calming down Yang Qiu, who had become restless due to the strange ringing in his ears.


    With the materialist worldview ingrained in him since young as a Chinese person, his several years apprenticing under the old man, as well as experiencing many of the unknown fears of this world, Yang Qiu had matured in many aspects.


    Even if he had known about the various unknown fears of this world when he first transmigrated over, Yang Qiu wouldn''t have necessarily given up and surrendered.


    Because to the rebellious teenager at that time, anything that was unreasonable was worth resisting!


    Of course, Yang Qiu, who had long since become an adult, understood very well that not all acts of defiance would yield positive results.


    But if one didn''t even have the spirit of defiance, would there still be any difference whether that person was living or dead?


    This had been the outlook Yang Qiu''s older sister had instilled in him when he was still in elementary school.


    In any case¡­ he had to view this world''s most frightening calamity of an "elder god''s resurrection" with a defiant and energetic mindset. It was nothing more than the struggles of elder gods refusing to disappear and using all manner of tricks to assert their existence.


    As long as Yang Qiu could achieve "strategic contempt for the enemy," there was nothing for him to fear!


    Under the protection of a playlist looping a dozen classic catchy songs, Yang Qiu successfully traversed the treacherous outskirts of the Sorensen miasma zone and entered deep into the mountain range.


    Among inhabitants of the Sorensen Mountain Range, only a very small number were willing to stick in groups, while the majority chose to live alone to avoid being influenced by others.


    This was a wise choice, as the mental corruption here, more dreadful than any infectious disease, became more potent in densely populated areas.


    Drawing on the tracking and anti-tracking skills he had been forced to hone during his years on the run, Yang Qiu searched for nearly four hours and found a treehouse nestled among the canopies of large leafy trees.


    Half an hour later, he found the owner of this treehouse. This fella had dug a pit and jumped in, and by the time Yang Qiu discovered him, the corpse was densely covered with flies.


    "Did I come too late¡­" Yang Qiu shook his head, picked up the shovel lying nearby, and covered the hole dug by this negligent guy.


    After a few more hours of searching, Yang Qiu tracked down another dweller in a cave located two peaks away from the treehouse owner.


    Dispelling through the illusion at the entrance of the cave, he ventured inside, winding and turning for several dozen meters before he found the occupant of this place.


    And then he couldn''t help but exclaim, "What the¡­!"


    The cave''s occupant had suspended himself upside down from a stalactite. A black cloak covered him from head to toe, and he even had fake sharp ears crafted out of mud attached to his head.


    "Is he insane¡­?"


    With great difficulty, Yang Qiu gently lowered this fellow, whose eyes were shut tightly and his face pale and turning purple. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    First, he removed the cloak wrapped around his body and discarded the fake ears. Then, he took out a small box of soothing ointment and applied it to the man''s temples and philtrum before lightly patting his cheek. "Hey, wake up, wake up."


    After some struggle, the older brother who insisted on cosplaying as a bat gradually regained consciousness. He stared blankly with lifeless eyes fixed on the ceiling, completely ignoring his lifesaver.


    Yang Qiu raised an eyebrow, staring at this fella for a while, then he took out¡­ instant noodles and a thermos and prepared some hot noodles, and started eating by himself.


    The taste of the instant noodles was rather mediocre, but it smelled really good¡­ The bat-like fella, pretending to lie on the ground, swallowed his saliva several times but was ultimately unable to resist it and sat up.


    His eyes, like those of a dead person, locked on to Yang Qiu with a terrifying gaze.


    Yang Qiu ignored him, finished the noodles, and drank the soup before putting away the empty paper bowl. Only then did he cross his arms and look at this fella and said, "Hey buddy, you look terrible."


    Brother Bat: "¡­"


    "I understand that even though we know the end of the path is dominated by a terrifying and menacing force, who can truly resist the urge to explore the mysterious and enchanting power that awaits? Sorensen Mountain is a place where people like us, who have managed to survive amid the chaos, are buried. We are simply prolonging our existence, fighting against the inevitable fate that awaits us, just like those who have already found their release."


    Brother Bat remained deathly silent, not saying a thing.


    "Regardless, I''m glad to find the first other living person in the Sorensen Mountains." Yang Qiu extended his hand to the older fellow. "I honestly don''t have the courage to embrace death, and I believe you don''t either. The difference is that you seem to have no other way out, while I may have found a possible solution.


    "I require comrades to carry out my plan. If you have no other choice but madness, would you care to join me?"


    Brother Bat squinted his eyes. "You¡­ are a dark mage. I can smell that nauseating stench emanating from you."


    "But between the two of us, it seems you are the one closer to the brink of collapse," Yang Qiu said unperturbedly. "If anyone should worry about their comrade losing control and killing them, it should be me rather than you."


    Brother Bat remained silent for a while before nodding. "You''re right."


    1 x Intelligent NPC obtained.

 Chapter 12: Nightmare Butcher

    Spanning thousands of miles across the southern end of the Navalon continent, the Sorensen Mountain Range bordered several countries, including the Rhine Kingdom and the Duchy of Shiga. Within these mountains, there were a few areas that remained untouched by the thick mists and toxic fog, thanks to unique terrain or other factors.


    One such area, located near the southern border of the Rhine Kingdom, was a canyon that cut through the mountains, providing a pathway unaffected by the toxic miasma.


    Dense fog constantly veiled this canyon approximately two kilometers in length, and there was a fast-flowing river at the very bottom. At its widest point, the canyon spanned several dozen meters and was just over 10 meters at its slimmest.


    About a dozen wooden and stone houses adorned the cliff walls on either side of the canyon, connected by iron chains and suspended bridges made of wooden planks. Among them, the most impressive structure was a massive circular iron-framed house positioned at the highest point, spanning the widest part of the canyon with over a hundred horizontal iron cables holding it in place.


    This stronghold belonged to the infamous band of bandits known as the "Sacred Crows," who once struck fear into the hearts of merchants that operated across the southern region of the Navalon continent.


    "The Rhine Kingdom''s finest wines, wheat flour of the Duchy of Shiga, exotic spices from the distant south... By controlling the passage through Sorensen, we can secure an endless supply of unimaginable treasures and invaluable goods," remarked a man with deep, piercing eyes and a meticulously groomed beard as he lifted a box containing rare spices from the southern lands and took a deep whiff.


    "Of course, for a... lich like you, these things may not hold much allure," chuckled Hal Maxwell, also known as "Razor," leader of the Sacred Crows, as he took measure of his guest seated on the luxurious brown sofa.


    "Let me contemplate what a black mage might fancy... Hmm, magic dust, spellcasting materials, alchemical ingredients. Every spellcaster has a fondness for such items, and I presume you are no exception."


    The mysterious guest, who was personally received by "Razor," raised his head slightly in response.


    This guest, who still wore a thick black cloak inside the room... was actually a skeleton.


    However, it was evident that this distinguished guest was different from a typical mindless undead. His bones were pure white and smooth, resembling high-quality jade, and his eye sockets weren''t empty darkness but instead shimmered with a haunting crimson light.


    And when it spoke, even those who witnessed it personally would find it hard to believe that such a deep yet soft and enchanting melodious voice could come from a skeleton''s mouth. "''Razor'' Hal, if all you have to say is such dull and irrelevant chatter, then we ought to bid farewell."


    Upon hearing this, Hal Maxwell immediately appeared somewhat embarrassed.


    However, the leader of the Sacred Crows didn''t get angry. On the contrary, he spoke with more earnestness, "Sir, if you aren''t interested in any of these, then how about a friendship with a prominent heir to the royal throne of Rhine?" S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The guest appeared to lose interest in further idle talk and pulled up the hood of his cloak as his figure became ethereal¡­


    Hal grimaced, and he stepped forward, wanting to stop the guest. "Wait, sir, please let me finish¡ª"


    The form of the guest seated on the sofa vanished like a bubble popping, and Hal didn''t even have a chance to grab the corner of his cloak.


    "Damn it!" Hal stood there dumbfounded and kicked the sofa in frustration.


    "Captain! A-a black mage has come to visit!" A henchman''s stuttering voice sounded from outside the dwelling.


    "To hell with black mages! All these damn black mages should just die!" Hal shouted back angrily.


    "Oh?" Black mage Yang Qiu, clad in a black robe and holding a dragon bone staff, pushed open the door of the circular abode with a look of indifference on his face. "Why? Have black mages started desecrating the ancestral tombs of bandit gangs too?"


    Hal. "??"


    "Nice to meet you." Yang Qiu strode into the room confidently, the corners of his lips forming a slight smile. "''Razor'' Hal, right? Black Mage Yang, greetings."


    "Yang¡­?" Hal initially appeared confused, but then something clicked in his mind, and his expression changed slightly. "Y-you''re¡­ ''Nightmare Butcher'' Yang?!"


    "I''ve never acknowledged that nickname." Yang Qiu''s face darkened. "Just call me Yang."


    Brother Bat, who was behind Yang Qiu, kicked out the bandit henchman that had chased after them and shut the door before glancing at Yang Qiu in surprise because of what he had just heard.


    Yang Qiu explained to his newly recruited comrade, "That''s just a slanderous nickname given to me by the Inquisition. I have never engaged in any acts worthy of me being called a butcher."


    Brother Bat nodded with a mix of both belief and skepticism.


    "Let''s get to the point, Hal." Having placated his young companion, Yang Qiu turned to face the leader of the Sacred Crows, who had just tarnished his reputation.


    With a somewhat unfriendly expression, Yang Qiu continued, "I heard that the Sacred Crows failed in a recent confrontation, lost their territory, and suffered significant casualties. And now, you people are seeking reliable collaborative partners. Is that right?"


    Hal''s face stiffened.


    "This stronghold of yours is quite impressive. There''s no need to worry about the bothersome miasma when entering and leaving the Sorensen Mountains. Even if your outer territories are lost, your entire band wouldn''t end up starving as long as you can hold onto this canyon. However¡­" Yang Qiu raised an eyebrow.


    Hal''s expression fluctuated sever times as he gritted his teeth and uttered, "If Mr. Yang is interested, we can offer this canyon¡ª"


    "Not interested," Yang Qiu cut him off. "This canyon is indeed a good path to collect tolls, but it isn''t the only safe route through the Sorensen Mountains. Moreover, the geographical conditions here are so terrible that it isn''t suitable for large caravans to pass through. Even if the gains are maximized, how much can you truly get?"


    Hal. "¡­"


    "As far as I know, there is another safe route within the southern border of the Rhine Kingdom. If we think of a way to blow up this canyon, forcing all the caravans and passing merchants from the Rhine Kingdom trying to enter the Sorensen Mountains to use the other route, we can establish businesses along that route, like supply stations or something. Wouldn''t that be more advantageous to please everyone?" Yang Qiu shrugged.


    Hal couldn''t bear it anymore and uttered through clenched teeth, "Mr. Yang, are you here just to mock us?"


    "Of course not," replied Yang Qiu. "I just heard the Sacred Crows, a once rather notorious bandit, have decided to fight like a cornered beast. Personally, I don''t think it''s necessary for you few remaining members to waste your lives in vain."


    "¡­I''m sorry, I don''t quite understand what you mean."


    "My point is simple, Hal. At the end of the day, people like you, who always want something for nothing, who always rely on violence to earn large sums of gold; all that you pursue is fine wine and food while indulging in unimaginable pleasures, isn''t that so?"


    Ignoring Hal''s apparent displeasure, Yang Qiu calmly spread his hands. "Skip the violence, skip the so-called large sums of gold. I''m here to show you a simpler and easier path, equally capable of bringing about fine wines, good food, and a life of decadence.


    "One that guarantees the absence of the high risks of leading a life of banditry, allowing you to achieve a stable and peaceful existence.


    "I, who come with this goodwill, am a friend."


    While Hal was still bewildered, Yang Qiu casually took out a bottle of rum selling at 13.8 yuan in supermarkets, half a catty of braised duck from the supermarket''s deli section, a plate of preserved vegetable-braised pork, and big steam buns that cost 20 cents each.


    This sumptuous meal, which cost less than 40 yuan, was served¡­ Five hours later, the former Sacred Crows bandit gang, including its leader, followed Yang Qiu and Brother Bat out of the Sorensen Mountains.


    As they followed along the border, on the way to the Taranthan Wasteland, Brother Bat frowned as he observed the bunch of rowdy former bandits making a din before casting a disapproving look at Yang Qiu.


    "If it were just ''Razor'' Hal, perhaps he could still be of use," Brother Bat, who was once a respectable individual, expressed his dissatisfaction regarding those barbaric thieves in a rather tactful manner.


    "I understand what you mean. This group of disorganized individuals may not accomplish much, but at least having them is better than having nothing," Yang Qiu explained to Brother Bat, who rode alongside him on the undead horse. "We''ll need to simultaneously receive around three hundred harmless foreign guests. And although these guests don''t need food or shelter, we won''t be able to handle it if it''s just you, me, and Hal."


    Brother Bat was silent for quite some time before he muttered softly, "Don''t need food or shelter¡­ These so-called guests of yours are undead, aren''t they?"


    "Um¡­ they''re quite different from ordinary undead," Yang Qiu mused. "In any case, you have to believe that apart from some unconventional behavior, they are indeed rather safe and harmless."


    Brother Bat''s brows furrowed slightly as he contemplated how much credibility there was to this "safe and harmlessness" mentioned by a dark mage with the moniker "Nightmare Butcher"¡­


    After two days and one night of long-distance travel, the 19 indigenous¡­ Intelligent NPCs following Yang Qiu arrived at Exile Town in the central part of the Taranthan Wasteland.


    At present, three full days had passed since the "game server shutdown" in Earth time.


    Originally, the announcement was that the server opening would be postponed by two days... but well, were there any games that never experienced delays?


    Yang Qiu, who decided to postpone the server opening for another day, got the 19 intelligent NPCs, who were disheartened after seeing the true face of Exile Town, to gather in the town square.


    "From now, we still have two more days (OtherWorld time) to prepare. First, I''m going to set the same mind imprint on all of you so that everyone can enter the Mind Imprint Matrix that I''ve constructed¡ª"


    Hal was taken by surprise and quickly stood up. "Wait a minute, Yang. My fellow brothers and I haven''t yet experienced corruption¡­"


    "I understand. You guys have been active in Sorensen for a long time and know how to avoid risk.


    "But rest assured, I am the one overseeing the matrix, a black mage who never prays to any gods. So, you don''t have to worry about your mind being unknowingly marked and targeted by some unknown entity." Yang Qiu raised his hand and made Hal back down.


    Hal gave Brother Bat a sideway glance, wanting to speak, but hesitated.


    He certainly believed that a black mage wouldn''t behave like a priest of a religious institution that dragged people into worshiping their gods. However¡­ mind and spiritual contamination were dangerous.


    Brother Bat, with his pale complexion and often strange gaze, was the sort of person who was visibly on the brink of a mental breakdown. Being connected to such an unpredictable person within a matrix based on mind links was rather unsettling.


    To put it bluntly, if it weren''t for Yang, the high-level black mage holding the fort, Hal would never get so close to Brother Bat.


    "Rest assured, Hal, it won''t just be us in this matrix. There will also be three hundred intelligent beings highly resistant to mind contamination that far exceed your imagination.


    "With so many reliable anchors, all of you will maintain your rationality as long as you haven''t completely lost your mind," said Yang Qiu with a smile.


    "And¡­ it''s best not to refuse. If you aren''t in the same matrix and accidentally reveal your health bar¡­ our guests who notice might attack you for real."


    Hal, Brother Bat, and the other former bandits: "???"


    Mr. Yang, didn''t you say our guests were completely safe and harmless?!

 Chapter 13: Open Beta

    Earth, October 5, 2019, Saturday.


    During the National Day holiday, netizens had more free time than usual.


    When people have nothing to do, they tend to create unnecessary problems. They become capable of making a big fuss out of nothing, let alone when there are already existing issues.


    Qin Guan got up early, slightly past seven in the morning. Before his eyes were even fully opened, he had already reached for his phone and unlocked the screen. All his social media apps were still showing the bright red 99+.


    If this had happened a few days ago, Qin Guan would have been secretly delighted to see himself "trending" like this.


    But now¡­ he would rather not have attracted attention at all¡­


    Three days ago, after discovering that he had become the target of nationwide ridicule, Qin Guan, in anger, uploaded an unedited six-hour gameplay recording (only censoring the part where three players exchanged real-life contact information) to the Internet.


    This was undoubtedly a strong counter to the conspiracy theories that claimed "fake black technology game deceiving the feelings of Chinese people and exploiting foreign investors." However, despite that, public opinion didn''t swing in reverse.


    The reason was simple. Too many people were only willing to revel in the misfortune of others, but had no interest in themselves being proven wrong. The long video Qin Guan released afterward hardly gained any significant traction¡­


    On the third day, "OtherWorld" shamelessly postponed its server reopening, without offering any explanation or even bothering to come up with an excuse for unforeseen circumstances for the delay. The frantic influx of questioning, doubting, and insulting comments on the message board was completely ignored too¡­


    The pressure Qin Guan felt during these past two days was beyond imaginable.


    The lack of any response or feedback by the irresponsible development team to netizen''s criticism for the delay was one reason; the second being that the other previously ignored 290 closed beta slots and login helmets only garnered attention and were bought out only after Qin Guan had released his first video.


    In fact, on the second day of the game''s delay, Qin Guan was called in for police questioning due to reports made by several netizens. If it weren''t for the fact that he hadn''t done anything wrong and was just promoting an indie game without receiving any "suspicious" income, Qin Guan might have ended up spending a night in the detention center.


    In any case, Qin Guan had already borne too much burden that someone his age shouldn''t have to go through. A day after his "trip" to the local police station, he felt much calmer. With panda eyes, he sat up in bed, opened an app, briefly skimmed through the replies that insulted and mocked him, and then closed it. As part of his routine, he opened a browser and refreshed the official website.


    The official site, which had been unresponsive for several days already, seemed like a lifeless corpse. It still displayed the same announcement, mocking everyone, especially him, the number one recommender¡ª


    "Huh?!"


    Qin Guan snapped fully awake as he leaned closer to the phone screen and scrutinized it with bloodshot eyes.


    It was a new launch announcement indeed, not the same announcement of delay that had been there for the past four and a half days.


    "D-damn¡­" Qin Guan trembled all over, uncertain whether from the excitement of clearing his name or the accumulated frustration suddenly bursting out. He pressed the screen multiple times before finally managing to click the right spot and open the "Server Opening Announcement."


    ¡¶Server Opening Announcement¡·


    OtherWorld will begin its open beta on the 5th of October, 8:00 a.m.


    Patch 1.02 will be applied simultaneously.


    Class System Release:


    Players who reach level one will have the option to transition into either a lifestyle class or a combat class.


    a: Availability of lifestyle or combat classes will be dependent on advanced NPCs with relevant guidance functions.


    b: The selection of a lifestyle or combat class is a permanent decision; players cannot change their class once chosen. Please decide carefully.


    Introduction of the first batch of 20 advanced NPCs to Exile Town.


    a: Each advanced NPC will have individual reputation systems. Completing tasks assigned by advanced NPCs will earn players reputation points with that particular NPC.


    b: Engaging in "immersive role-playing" and portraying their character''s role appropriately during interactions with advanced NPCs can earn players additional reputation points.


    c: If a player fails in their role-playing or angers an advanced NPC, there is a possibility of being attacked by the NPC, resulting in consequences including but not limited to death.


    d: Advanced NPCs are unique. If an advanced NPC dies, the reputation points with that particular NPC will be reset. If the NPC serves a functional role, all players in Exile Town will permanently lose access to the services provided by that NPC.


    e: First batch of advanced NPCs:


    Undead Race Resurrection Master: Yang


    (If Yang dies, players will permanently lose the ability to create Undead characters, and Undead characters will not be able to be resurrected. They will also permanently lose the option to transition into the class Mage Apprentice).


    Weapons Master: Charlie Rex


    (If Charlie dies, players will permanently lose the Warrior class branch ¨C Weapons Master job advancement as well as the lifestyle class ¨C Hunter).


    Wanderer Master: "Razor" Hal Maxwell


    (If Hal dies, players will permanently lose the Wanderer class branch ¨C Assassin job advancement).


    Ranger: Tuttle Joe


    (If Tuttle dies, players will permanently lose the Wanderer class branch ¨C Ranger job advancement).


    Butcher: Manan


    (If Manan dies, players will permanently lose the lifestyle professions ¨C Skinner and Butcher).


    Treasure Expert...


    After reading through this lengthy server opening and update announcement, Qin Guan was utterly stunned. "Offending an NPC can actually result in the NPC attacking¡­ And that''s not the worst part! If an NPC dies, the services they provide are permanently lost?


    "If this Yang dies, the whole Undead race becomes extinct?! Even Queen Sylvana pales in comparison to you guys!!"


    As he ranted, Qin Guan hurriedly got out of bed, rushing to the bathroom to relieve himself and freshen up. Then he hastily prepared boiled water to make oatmeal, all while anxiously keeping an eye on the time. It was already 7:30! 8 o''clock would be arriving real soon and he needed to log in as soon as he could!


    Qin Guan, who had been crushed by online criticism over the past few days, was itching to log in, alongside those who had bought the helmet after watching the video. Despite the influence of public opinion, making them hesitate and feel anxious, they still held their ground in hopes that the game would launch.


    Once the server opening announcement was released, the number of inquiries and rants on the official site''s message board significantly decreased.


    On the other hand, those that hadn''t bought the helmets or sold them off were relentlessly flooding the comments section with doubts and mockery. They simply didn''t believe that the game would actually launch and go live smoothly. Such people were convinced that the development team was merely employing tactics of delay and that unexpected issues and further delays would surely crop up.


    Yang Qiu''s sister, Yang Ying, never had much confidence regarding her little brother''s running away from home to develop some lousy game even if Yang Qiu kept reassuring her that everything was fine via social media.


    Every day, she would still send him a dozen messages, urging him to not act foolishly and to return home and resume his studies.


    But in the end¡­ Yang Ying never imagined that besides being tricked into "making games," her body would also be a part of a game development team ridiculed as scammers all over the Internet. She, who wasn''t one to care about games, had even come across discussions about "OtherWorld" on her Weibo homepage!


    Yang Ying was absolutely against her little brother dropping out of school to pursue game development. Had she seen Yang Qiu, she would have beaten him up at once and dragged him back home, forcing this unreliable brother to go back to school.


    However, even if she didn''t support him, a bunch of strangers who hadn''t even played the game yet were accusing the development team her little brother was associated with of being a large scam, and she couldn''t stand for it.


    During the long National Day holiday, she didn''t go anywhere and stayed at home every day, engaging in online arguments with netizens on the other end.


    That morning, Yang Ying, who didn''t even play mobile games, quickly took out the helmet from the cardboard box left in the hallway when she learned that the game''s official website had actually been updated and the development team her younger brother was on had released a server opening announcement. She was ready to go online, take screenshots, and continue battling out with netizens on all those forums.


    "It''s true, it''s true! The official site announced the server launch. It has to be real! I''m going to log on now! Why don''t you come online and take a look!"


    Tang Jia, a sophomore college student, hadn''t sold her helmet. Despite the commotion online, she had confidence in streamer Vanilla Pudding and believed that this financially challenged streamer wouldn''t deceive a poor student like her. Tang Jia tightly held onto her helmet and ordered one for her best friend, and even personally delivered it to her door stop when it arrived.


    Of course, the main reason Tang Jia didn''t sell the helmet was that, besides the first day when people offered a premium for the helmets, demand quickly dropped after the public outcry and after Vanilla Pudding''s reputation took a pounding. People willing to buy the helmets started to lower their offers, and last night, the highest price offered by someone was 88 yuan...


    Losing 100 yuan without even playing the game was too much of a loss for Tang Jia, who carefully counted every penny, including her meal card balance!


    At two minutes to eight, Tang Jia made her final trip to the washroom before reminding her roommate not to disturb her while playing the VR game. Then, she lay down on her bed, put on the helmet, connected the USB to her phone, and accessed the official site to activate her account.


    At eight, the head of Tang Jia, who was lying down and scrolling her phone, tilted to the side.


    Tang Jia''s roommate across the room. "?!"


    Just like Tang Jia, she too had stayed back in the dorms to save on transportation costs. Upon seeing Tang Jia''s head slump to the side, she quickly jumped off her bed and ran over to observe her roommate, only to realize that Tang Jia was just asleep and snoring lightly. Upon ascertaining that Tang Jia was still alive, she quickly returned to her own bed.


    Upon entering the game, Tang Jia discovered that this game was different from what she expected.


    "Wasn''t it said that you can freely choose a game character? It''s not letting me choose¡­"


    She spent quite a while trying to find the interface for changing character selection to no avail. Thus, Tang Jia could only grimace as she reluctantly chose the only available character.


    This skeleton character¡­ looked a bit dirty and had a fist-sized hole in its chest, which Tang Jia was rather dissatisfied with. However, there was no other choice. She couldn''t just quit the game because of the character selection.


    After selecting the character and experiencing the magical "perspective fusion," Tang Jia entered the game world.


    And then¡­ as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw a whole lot of densely packed skeletal frames all crowded around her.


    In the places where she could slightly move her feet, skeleton frames were emerging straight up from the ground¡­


    When she realized that she too had probably emerged from the ground in this manner, Tang Jia couldn''t help but exclaim, "Oh my gosh!" Then, as she looked up, she noticed a dirtier skeleton standing right in front of her face and instinctively backed away with another "Oh my gosh!" S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "What the hell! Stop squeezing!" A disgruntled voice came from behind Tang Jia. The displeased skeleton that had been bumped into her turned its "face" toward her and saw Tang Jia¡­ before jumping backward and bumping into another skeleton.


    "What the f*ck!"


    "Ah¡ª!"


    "Stop f*cking squeezing!"


    "Oh god! It''s all skeletons!"


    "Stop f*cking clamoring! We''re all skeletons here! No need to despise one another!"

 Chapter 14: The noisiest undead army

    While the server opening was at 8 a.m. for Earth players, to denizens of the magic plane, it was 4 p.m. in the afternoon.


    Two hours before the server opened (OtherWorld time), Yang Qiu convened a meeting of the 19 advanced NPCs who were about to begin their duties. The meeting took place at the newly constructed "Town Hall" in the eastern district of Exile Town, which was a small square house built using earth magic on a flat terrain.


    In the crowded hall, Yang Qiu looked satisfied as he surveyed his subordinates. "How is everyone doing? Are you guys getting used to the place?"


    Other than Brother Bat, who seemed dazed and lost in thought, everyone else was expressionless.


    "It''s alright¡­ but¡­" Hal raised his hand stiffly and pointed to the top of his head. "Why do we have these strange square characters floating above our heads?"


    Roughly ten centimeters above Hal''s head were two floating rows of green Chinese characters. The first row read, "''Razor'' Hal Maxwell," and the slightly smaller second row read, "Assassin Instructor."


    "This is¡­ proof of our comradeship," Yang Qiu explained with a smile. "Only members within the matrix can see the names floating above each other''s heads, which makes it easier for us to differentiate between friends and strangers."


    On Yang Qiu''s own head were three rows of floating Chinese characters that read, "Lord of Taranthan," "Undead Resurrection Master Yang," and "Mage Apprentice Instructor."


    Initially, Yang Qiu hadn''t intended to personally act as an NPC. However, considering that nearly all the advanced NPCs selected to serve players were former bandits, it was better to intervene and oversee from the beginning, to prevent any trouble between players and the native NPCs and avoid the need for extensive patch corrections.


    "Our guests and we are within the same imprint matrix, and the mental connection allows us to easily understand each other''s language and text, facilitating communication," Yang Qiu continued. However, his expression turned serious. "I want to remind you all that when these ''special guests'' are not speaking to you, do not pay attention to their words. I repeat, when the guests are not engaging with you, disregard what they say."


    Brother Bat¡­ Weapons Master Charlie Rex, who was suffering from mental corruption, still showed no reaction and continued staring blankly at the ceiling.


    Hal exchanged a doubtful glance with his trusted aide, Tuttle Joe, before raising his hand. "Sorry, Yang, I don''t understand¡­ It can''t be that our guests have been contaminated by some elder god and would uncontrollably speak strange words, would they?"


    "No, Hal," Yang Qiu said solemnly. "The madness exhibited by these ''guests'' has no connection to elder gods, nor is it contagious.¡±


    "While you possess the power to increase their ''favorability'' with you, which I have granted through the imprint matrix, the ''guests'' are entirely safe and mostly harmless. This will always remain unchanged.¡±


    "Furthermore, based on this, you can assign tasks and give them instructions, allowing them to assist you in every way possible¡ªwithin the limits of the tasks I have defined. However, be warned that any consequences resulting from exceeding those limits will be your own responsibility." Yang Qiu paused briefly, as if to emphasize the severity.


    "Trust me, if the ''guests'' perceive you as bearing an evil label or as an enemy of Exile Town, even if they may currently be weak, they will unite to find ways to relentlessly eliminate you."


    The expressions on the faces of Hal and the other former members of the bandit gang turned visibly grim¡­


    Having been sort of deceived and brought to this ghost town hidden deep within the Taranthan Wasteland, this group of former bandits, who had hoped for an easy and carefree life, felt a chilling disappointment settle upon them.


    However, before they could make the difficult decision of "falling out with a high-level black mage," they found themselves forcibly drawn into the mind imprint matrix¡­ Despite their numerous reservations, they had no choice but to reluctantly acquiesce.


    Even though the town''s "inhabitants" included over a dozen ghastly zombies in addition to themselves, they had no option but to endure it with a figurative pinch of their noses¡­


    "Of course, our ''guests'' continue to be of great assistance in rebuilding this town and transforming the dilapidated Exile Town into a dream haven." Yang Qiu''s tone softened as he smiled. "As the first official residents of this town, as long as you contribute to its reconstruction, I will spare no effort in providing you with generous rewards.


    "I implore that you guys, during your interactions with the ''guests,'' and with the aim of minimizing any undue disturbance or influence caused by their inappropriate words or actions, make diligent efforts to learn how to efficiently utilize the limited resources at your disposal, thereby effectively employing the ''guests'' to work for you while simultaneously earning their favor and respect."


    "Yes¡­" Hal and the others responded weakly. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    To be fair, the new leader, Yang, hadn''t treated them too harshly. Although he had somewhat forcibly coerced them into joining the imprint matrix, each of them had indeed received an unprecedented supply of daily necessities¡­


    Following the conclusion of the mobilization meeting, Hal sighed deeply as he made his way back to his temporary dwelling.


    "I can say that it''s a relief that we aren''t tasked with the arduous labor of rebuilding this decrepit town ourselves¡­ I, Hal, the infamous ''Razor,'' would absolutely abhor engaging in such menial work."


    His trusted comrade, Tuttle Joe, sighed listlessly as well. "I can''t shake the feeling that something is amiss, whether it pertains to this town or that ev¡ªblack mage." Tuttle nearly slipped up and uttered "evil" but quickly stopped himself and glanced around with unease before lowering his voice.


    "Yang himself acknowledged that this town will soon be populated by a significant number of undead creatures, who will consider it their stronghold. It truly is confounding. We are being asked to manage and assign tasks to these undead creatures. How could that even be possible?"


    "Hush, Tuttle!" Hal swiftly raised a finger to his lips. "Enough, don''t say such things. Besides, Yang never demanded that we compel the undead creatures to work. If they refuse to comply, it is entirely their concern and not ours!"


    "Ah!" Tuttle let out a sound of realization. "Yes, Hal, if the undead refuse to work, this town will never be built."


    The two exchanged a knowing smile, both understanding how to safely deal with the arrogant self-proclaimed Lord of the Taranthan Wasteland, the evil black mage who was obsessed with using undead creatures to construct his domain¡ªall they needed to do was stall!


    He still has to provide for us after all, so what''s the rush?!


    Feeling confident that they had found a solution, the two individuals returned to their temporary dwellings with heads held high, preparing as instructed for the arrival of these "guests"¡­


    Two hours later in OtherWorld time.


    Hal, who was assigned the closest residence to the Crossroads, suddenly heard some strange and excited cries. Hurriedly, he emerged from his tent and craned his neck to look in the direction of the sound.


    Due to the severe ruin of wooden structures within the town, Hal, standing two streets and a block away, could still clearly see the situation at the Crossroads. As a skilled assassin with good eyesight, he was left dumbfounded as he witnessed ancient skeletal remains, each adorned with floating green square characters above their heads, emerging in succession from the central earth platform at the Crossroads.


    Hal, who had never witnessed such a horrifying scene, dropped the whetstone he held in his hand.


    "U-Undead Calamity? Is this the image of the legendary Undead Calamity? That evil black mage has indeed¡ª"


    Before Hal could form any specific conspiracy theories in his mind, he was once again left dumbfounded as he noticed that¡­ the army of undead emerging from the soil was different from what he had imagined.


    These undead that quickly filled the heart of the Crossroads were incredibly lively. As soon as they "came to life," they made all sorts of astonishing noises, whether joyful or terrifying. Furthermore¡­ a portion of them energetically broke away from the main formations, uttering strange cries as they dashed haphazardly in all directions¡­


    Hal, who was unable to comprehend what was happening, witnessed one of the undead extend its hands and sprint wildly, only to crash into an earthen wall with a loud "Baam!" and crumble into a heap of bones.


    Hal: "??"


    "Hahahaha! Dayum! That''s truly what it means to ''scatter while walking''!"


    "What the hell, scatter while walking!"


    "Oh my! Hahaha!"


    The undead that had fallen to the ground struggled to get up, and from its boneless throat came a clear, youthful voice. "Stop laughing and help me pick up my bones!"


    Hal, who was observing the undead from a distance, held his head in his hands: "??"


    "Didn''t we agree to stay together after logging in? Stop running around!"


    A few more undead broke away from the main group and ran toward the first few who had already left. Among them, one shouted loudly, "Stop playing, Xiao Zhou! Take your bro to go complete the quests for some beginner gear!"


    Upon discovering that the latter group of undead was actually wearing clothes, Hal was even more baffled. "???"


    "Got it, Brother Qin," said the fallen undead as he put his bones back together. "Is my skeleton different from you guys? Why does it break apart so easily?"


    A clothed skeleton from the later group replied, "It''s not that you break easily. You just crashed into a wall. We Undead seem weak to collisions. We have to be more careful."


    "If only we could get some armor like that zombie general. I reckon we wouldn''t break apart that easily, then. But NPCs don''t give us money for quests, and I have no idea how to obtain equipment in this game¡­"


    Clothed and unclothed undead converged, chatting as they headed toward the street to the north.


    Hal watched as the group of undead disappeared behind the wooden houses, then he slowly raised his hand and rubbed his stiff face.


    With his mind a complete blank, Hal turned his gaze once more to the center of the Crossroads, where the massive host of undead remained.


    This group of undead¡­ was still very noisy.


    It was as if all of them were chattering excitedly all at once, but Hal couldn''t make out what they were saying.


    Hal remained expressionless. He was certain that this group of undead definitely wasn''t an "undead army"¡­ He had never seen even the most disorganized militia act as chaotic as this.


    As if to verify Hal''s speculation, these undead, who didn''t resemble an undead army in any way, began to split into groups or act alone, dispersing in every direction¡­


    "It''s real, it''s real! Ahhhhhh¡ª! This game is real!"


    A naked undead exclaimed while recklessly charging through the trash-covered streets.


    "Hey, come over here quick! This zombie NPC has a quest!"


    Another undead discovered a zombie crouching in front of a small wooden house and immediately called out loudly for others to gather.


    "This beginner town is so rundown, just like in the videos¡­ Hey, did anyone see Vanilla Pudding?"


    "I think I saw him earlier, but there were too many people, so I didn''t see where he went."


    "Who cares about him, let''s find some quests!"


    "What the hell! Why is my character''s Potential only 31? It''s so much lower than Vanilla Pudding?!"


    "Holy crap, are you perhaps the noob of legends?"


    Hal''s head was throbbing from the noisy undead that could create such an astonishing ruckus even from a block away. He turned around and forcefully pinched his brows.


    "Ahh¡ª!"


    A particularly piercing and voluminous scream echoed, startling Hal as he was about to retreat into his tent.


    Hal turned around, visibly shaken¡­


    Across the ruined street, where not a single house remained intact, an undead stood on the main road, pointing at Hal with excitement. "Look, Qingyue! It''s a human! An advanced NPC!"


    "I heard you, Tang Jia, keep your voice down¡­" another undead companion groaned feebly.


    Tang Jia''s (ID Stuffed Gummy) loud and excited exclamation seemed to have stirred up a hornet''s nest.


    "Advanced NPC?!"


    "Where? Where?!"


    "Ah! There! Nine o''clock! In front of that tent!"


    Dozens of undead, not too far from the Crossroads, looked at Hal with keen eyes.


    Then¡­ regardless of whether they were originally taking screenshots, recording videos, doing quests, or exploring the map, all the players converged on Hal from various directions, resembling hungry tigers closing in on their prey¡­


    Hal: "?!"

 Chapter 15: Troublemaking Players

    The weight of a human skeleton accounts for about 35-40% of the total body weight. Therefore, when their controlled bodies suddenly became more than 60% lighter without affecting their mobility, the players, even those with poor motor skills, could become agile and light as a swallow.


    While Hal was nervously recalling the possible consequences of deviating from his assigned task during work, the group of undead gamers had already surrounded him¡­


    "Holy f*ck! This NPC modeling is so realistic!"


    "Dayum, you can even see the pores clearly. How did they achieve that?"


    "Hey, hey, look y''all. Is he actually sweating?"


    "Are there any quests? How do we accept quests?"


    "How did Boss Vanilla accept quests from NPCs?"


    Completely bewildered Hal. "¡­"


    "Stop being so rowdy! There''s a need to engage in dialogue to accept quests. How would the NPC know whom to respond to if all of you are shouting at once?" Tang Jia, who was the first to discover the advanced NPC and the first to approach Hal, became annoyed. "Line up and follow the sequence!"


    The fortunate players who managed to secure a spot in the inner circle remained silent, with no intention of voluntarily stepping back to join the queue¡­


    "Never mind, let''s do it one by one. Don''t forget that the advanced NPC can get angry if players behave improperly. Those at the back can observe how the dialogue goes and that''s a benefit too," Tang Jia''s best friend spoke up.


    This girl player, with the name Unceasing Entropy, sounded much more reasonable, and her logic made sense. Hearing these, players started to comply, saying, "Yeah, let the ones closer go first. The rest of us should stay quiet."


    Without any hesitation, Tang Jia took the lead, regardless of whether others agreed or not. Glancing at the green text floating above Hal''s head, she engaged proactively. "Hello, ''Razor'' Hal Maxwell. Do you have any quests for me?"


    Hal, who was surrounded by a pack of undead and unable to move a step, glanced at the skeleton that had just spoken up.


    At first glance, it was evident that this was an undead that had died on the Taranthan battlefield many years ago. Black mud filled its eye sockets, gaps between the teeth, and bone joints. Moreover, there was a fist-sized hole in its rib cage.


    However, what came out of its boneless throat was a lively and energetic female voice¡­ The dissonance was so great that it gave Hal goosebumps.


    Unfortunately, the advanced NPCs had work regulations to follow, even if it felt extremely absurd and awkward. Hal had no choice but to react with a forced smile and rigidly recite the scripted lines according to the regulations.


    "Hey, undead friend, it seems like you''ve just awakened from eternal slumber. Would you be willing to help me with something? I can offer you my friendship as a token of gratitude."


    Tang Jia became excited and nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes! I''m willing!"


    Perhaps because it had been so long since he had heard the voice of a young woman, Hal found this skeleton much more pleasing to the eye. He quickly followed the stipulated guidelines and assigned the quest to the undead. "Lord Yang has requested us to rebuild this Exile Town, but we lack manpower and are unable to carry out the work. I want to establish a hall for apprentice wanderers to hone their skills in this ruined area¡­"


    "Hmm?" The skeleton in front of Hal no longer paid him any attention. Instead, it lowered its head to look at something and then turned to her friend. "The reputation reward for this NPC only includes providing a class transition path and class-specific equipment and weapons. It seems like wanderers are a leather armor class similar to those in World of Warcraft. Qing Yue, do you want to play as an adventurer?"


    "Um¡­ I would rather play a spellcaster class," replied her friend.


    "I don''t want to play as a leather armor class either. Let''s go find the advanced NPCs who teach spellcaster and warrior classes," Tang Jia said, pulling her friend along as they squeezed out of the crowd and headed out.


    [Player Stuffed Gummy has declined the quest you assigned.]


    Upon hearing the notification from the Mind Imprint Matrix, Hal was dumbfounded. "??"


    "Hey, hey, can you see the reputation rewards of the NPC when you accept a quest?" a player nearby called out to Tang Jia, who was about to leave the area.


    "Yeah, once you accept the quest, the reputation bar of the advanced NPC will appear in the interface," said Tang Jia as she turned back to explain. "This NPC''s reputation can be increased to Friendly, and you can choose to become an apprentice wanderer and receive a dagger. There are also rewards for leather armor and advancing to the Assassin class later on."


    "I don''t want to play melee," the inquiring player said and turned to leave too.


    "Neither do I. Which NPC should I find if I want to play a ranged character?"


    "I think¡­ a ranger named Joe or something?"


    "I''m looking for the warrior NPC too, wait for me!"


    "Isn''t the Undead Resurrection Master the one who teaches magic? Where can we find that NPC?"


    In just moments, nearly half of the undead surrounding Hal dispersed.


    Hal. "?!"


    The remaining ten or so undead were oblivious to the drastic change in Hal''s state of mind as he fell from being the center of attention, to being a sick dog in a corner of an alley. Another equally dirty and aged skeleton approached Hal and repeated Tang Jia''s previous interaction word for word. "Hello, ''Razor'' Hal Maxwell. Do you have any quests for me?"


    Hal''s facial muscles twitched violently.


    But when he thought about that evil black mage monitoring their every word and action through the imprint matrix, Hal had to suppress his anger and said in frustration, "Hey, undead friend¡­"


    Hal had the authority to assign quests to players, as well as provide simple tools such as shovels, pickaxes, and other tools for players to help him clear the several hundred square meters of ruins in front of the tents, to create space for the building of an official Wanderer Guild.


    Two of his companions nearby, Ranger Tuttle and the Treasure Expert, who would take up "posts" in the Wanderer Guild later on, were given the duty of assigning quests as well. One was to dispose of the cleared rubbish, while the other was to collect building materials.


    In short, the idea was to use the reputation points provided by the advanced NPCs, along with the class transition and gear that came with the reputation, as carrots to manipulate these players into performing cheap labor¡­


    Each advanced NPC had a limited number of quests they could offer at a given time, mainly due to the limited quantity of "quest items" such as shovels and pickaxes. Hal, for example, only had 30 sets of tools in his tent.


    Several players who were interested in transitioning to the wanderer class accepted the quest and received the tools. They enthusiastically discussed and speculated on how to play the wanderer class in the game while eagerly starting to clean up the street, which was no different from the ruins.


    A few other players, though, didn''t step forward to accept the quest.


    These players observed the process of others accepting quests, and after the few who accepted the quests began "working," this bunch huddled to discuss something¡­ Then, one of them left the group and approached Hal.


    Hal, who was still holding back a whole lot of anger, stared expressionlessly at the skeleton, preparing to recite his lines once more¡­


    However, this skeleton completely ignored him and simply passed by his side.


    Then¡­ in the presence of the owner next to him, this skeleton boldly strode into Hal''s tent.


    Hal. "?!"


    "Gosh, there are so many things inside! And I''m able to interact with and even pick them up. These aren''t just images!"


    The skeleton joyfully picked up the enchanted dagger that Hal had been sharpening earlier, which shone with a special red glow. It then stuck its head out of the tent and called out to its companions, "Look at this! It''s definitely a magic weapon! We can just take¡ª"


    "You filthy thief¡ª!"


    An enraged Hal drew out a sword and viciously lopped off the skeleton''s skull.


    "Oh sh*t¡ª!" The skeleton whose head was chopped off let out a cry as the "damage" exceeded the threshold and he was determined to be dead. The flying skull and the remaining skeleton disappeared in a flash of white light, and the enchanted dagger clattered to the ground.


    "Whoa, f*ck!" The deceased player''s companions were startled.


    "Brother Three got kicked offline!"


    "This advanced NPC really does attack players. And its attack power is so ridiculously high that it''s an instakill!"


    "It''s also intelligent enough to recognize when someone is trying to steal from it."


    Realizing that advanced NPCs were indeed dangerous, this group of players squatted down and openly discussed for a bit among themselves, not far from Hal¡­ Then, another player among them stood up and approached the players diligently working on their quest.


    And then¡­ the guy simply picked up one of the pickaxes lying by the side of another player and took off.


    The player whose quest item had been stolen was stunned. "What the hell?!"


    "Oi oi oi¡ª! You filthy thief!"


    The players who were diligently working on the quest and the players who were bored and pushing the limits of the game''s interactions stared blankly as NPC Hal, who had been standing in front of the tent, suddenly chased after the teeth angrily.


    Players with a 60% reduction in weight did indeed run fast, but Hal, a professional-level powerhouse under the rage buff, was even faster.


    The player hadn''t even managed to run out of the block of ruins when Hal caught up and stabbed the player, causing him to scream, be teleported back to the respawn point, and get kicked offline.


    Having killed two undead consecutively, Hal suddenly found himself in a much better mood, and he felt refreshed and invigorated¡­


    After picking up the pickaxe and returning to the bewildered player that originally had it, Hal returned to his "post" in front of the tent, standing firm with a piercing gaze directed at those who were clearly up to something.


    The group of troublemaking players, now reduced to only three individuals, nervously held a discussion in front of him. One of them stood up, walked over, and accepted a quest from Hal.


    Under the pressure of being monitored by a certain black mage, Hal didn''t dare his sword or go on strike. Instead, he assigned the quest and provided the quest items.


    And then¡­ the player who received the quest items hurriedly ran off, carrying the pickaxe over his shoulder and dragging the shovel on the ground.


    Veins were bulging on Hal''s forehead, but he stood still as required.


    When the skeleton, who wanted to deceive him and steal away the tools, which would cause him a deduction of salary, ran out of the range of the ruined street, Hal hastily drew his sword and exclaimed, "Stop right there! Filthy thief¡ª!"


    "Even bringing the quest item out of the range will get you chased and killed by the NPCs? Isn''t this game too much?!" The two remaining troublemakers were dumbfounded as they watched their friend who was more than a hundred meters away get caught and slain in the blink of an eye¡­


    The questing players were equally stunned. "We can''t leave with the quest item if we don''t complete the quest?"


    "F*ck! That''s too hardcore!"


    "It''s realistic enough. I like it!"


    Troublemakers and questing players alike stared at the player that had voiced such an unpopular opinion.


    "Realistic, my *ss! What if there''s an emergency midway through the quest?"


    "That''s right. Logging off on the spot would cause us to lose data. That''s just ridiculous!"


    "What sort of sh*tty game is this!"


    A player who had been engrossed in completing quests couldn''t take the complaints anymore and voiced out, "Didn''t you people read the quest description when you accept quests? It''s clearly stated that quest items can only be used within the scope of the quest. Moreover, you can return the quest items to the NPC during the quest and save the progress before going offline. You can then just take them back from the NPC when you log on."


    This player, who was very serious about questing, waved his hand at the two troublemakers in disdain. "If you don''t want to do the mission, don''t waste your time here. The high-level NPCs in this game are too meticulous. What if you harass him too much causes our efficiency in farming reputation to decrease?"


    Other quest-type players followed suit when they heard this as well. "Yeah, go away! Don''t cause trouble here!"


    With only the two of them left, the troublemakers felt very alone. Moreover, the advanced NPC Hal was eyeing them ravenously¡­ Thus, they had no choice but to leave dejectedly.


    As the two left the ruined street and reached the main street, they were discussing whether to wait for their three dead friends to log back on before continuing their troublemaking ways¡­


    But then, they witnessed a few players on the other end of the street pushing a sort of wheelbarrow used at construction sites and running over frantically.


    "Whoa, f*ck! You guys have done something big!" The two troublemakers roared in surprise and envy.


    "Get out of the way, get out of the way!" The player who had gotten the wheelbarrow seemed especially anxious.


    Before the two troublemakers could ask about the situation, a couple of whooshes were heard, and the few players pushing the wheelbarrow and running rampantly let out curses like "Oh sh*t!" and "F*ck!" before disappearing into a white light.


    An advanced NPC with a longbow strapped on his back with floating titles "Tuttle Joe" and "Ranger Instructor" appeared with visible veins all over his forehead. He strode over in silence and grabbed the wheelbarrow handle to pull it away¡­ Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As they watched the murderous NPC disappear around the corner of the street, troublemaker player A shuddered. "¡­H-how about we just do some quests? It''s the first day of the open beta, after all¡­"


    Troublemaker player B nodded silently. "T-that''s true¡­ I want to play as a warrior. What about you?"


    "Me too."


    "Then, let''s go find the Warrior Instructor?"


    "I think we should complete the zombie NPC quests that give out clothes first¡­"

 Chapter 16: Warrior Charlie Rex

    Earth time, 8:20 a.m.


    Twenty minutes after the official launch of the game "OtherWorld," approximately a third of the players¡­ died and were kicked offline.


    Inside the square Town Hall, Yang Qiu, who was currently stationed in this plane, sighed as a hand clasped to his forehead.


    Yang Qiu was mentally prepared for the reckless tendencies of players, but he was caught off guard by the high efficiency and proportion of their recklessness. Challenging NPC interaction limits and being stylishly killed by a group of former bandits was one thing, but going up against the giant rat in the south of the time, even though they had watched Vanilla Pudding''s videos and knowing it was an enemy that the current players couldn''t handle, was another.


    There had been another group that immediately rushed over there after logging in, eagerly attempting to kill the beginner town''s BOSS and seize the so-called advantage¡­ It was truly absurd!


    "¡­This can''t go on. Players can''t serve as stable anchors if they are constantly dying and getting kicked offline."


    After pondering for a moment, Yang Qiu stood up and cast a sealing spell on the Town Hall building to prevent any reckless players from finding ways to break in. He then opened a spatial rift and returned to Earth.


    While Yang Qiu returned to Earth, back in OtherWorld, a group of players that gathered to search for NPCs eventually found the Town Hall.


    "Wow¡­ This rundown earthen shack is actually the Town Hall? This thing is the central building of our Undead race''s birthplace? It¡¯s way too shabby!"


    The players couldn''t help showing their disgust when they saw the sign "Exile Town Municipal Office" hanging on the square house.


    Even in the subterranean Undercity, Queen Sylvana still resided in a decent place unlike this. Even the Taurens living in the mountains had a chief whose tent was more respectable than this mud hut!


    "A bunch of class instructors are squatting in front of their tents, hoping that players will help them with their professional guilds. I guess we shouldn''t have any high hopes for this shabby game," Tang Jia shrugged and approached the door before knocking on it. "Is anyone there? Mage Apprentice Instructor? Hello?"


    Naturally, there was no response.


    "What''s going on? Is the NPC not here, or does he not know how to open the door?"


    "These NPCs can chase players down the streets and slay them. It''s impossible that they don''t know how to open the door."


    "It means there''s no one inside then. Damn, NPCs even know how to slack off."


    Some proactive players immediately tried to pry open the window. "Let me see if I can climb in¡­ Oh, this shabby window is surprisingly sturdy?"


    "Can the window be smashed?"


    "Hey, hey, this is the Town Halll. We''ll be killed by NPCs if we do that."


    Other than a few among the group that knew each other, most were strangers that had gathered together to find a certain NPC. Seeing that there was no NPC in the Town Hall, someone said, "Forget it, let''s find the Mage Apprentice Instructor some other time. My friend and I will go do the zombie NPC quests first. We need to reach level one before getting a class change after all, and we''re still lacking quite a bit in Potential."


    "Yeah, you''re right. I watched Vanilla Pudding''s videos, and they completed several quests before gaining even a small amount of Potential points. It seems that leveling up in this game is rather difficult."


    "What''s so good about the zombie NPC quests? It''s better to work on reputation with the job instructors first¡­"


    As the crowd gradually dispersed, Tang Jia hollered, "Is there anyone else who wants to continue looking for the warrior instructor?"


    A player, who had still been standing in place, looked around and quickly went over to Tang Jia''s side. "I''ll join you guys."


    The ID displayed above this player''s head seemed like a real name, Yang Ying. Tang Jia and her childhood best friend, Zheng Qingyue, were both young ladies and naturally wouldn''t refuse another female player joining them.


    The three female players grouped up and continued moving together. Tang Jia, who had an outgoing personality, quickly started chatting with Yang Ying. "Are you using your real name as your ID?"


    "Yeah, I never really played games before, nor spent much time online, so I wasn''t able to think of a good ID at that moment," Yang Ying replied candidly.


    "Eh?" Tang Jia exclaimed in surprise. "From your voice, you should be around the same age as us, right?"


    "I''m probably older, I''m 22," replied Yang Ying.


    "That''s not much older. Both Qingyue and I are 20, in our second year of college. What about you?"


    "Ahh, college students. I wasn''t a college student," Yang Ying gave a sanguine smile and explained, "A few years ago, something happened in my family around the time I was taking the college entrance examination, so I got delayed. After graduating high school, I started working and didn''t have time to play."


    Tang Jia and her close friend Zheng Qingyue exchanged glances and took the initiative to change the subject.


    Both of them were from families with ordinary backgrounds. Before going to college, they thought that all families were more or less the same. It was only after attending college did they realize some families were truly wealthy, while others were genuinely poor.


    They had heard stories of schoolmates unable to afford meal cards and having to drop out of college after struggling for two years due to family difficulties.


    During their casual conversation, the three of them explored an area they hadn''t visited before in the somewhat small Exile Town and found a lonesome tent hidden behind an earthen wall.


    "There it is!" Tang Jia''s eyes lit up as she exclaimed excitedly, "We''ve seen the other 18 NPCs listed in the announcement, except for the Mage Apprentice Instructor. This must be the tent! Quick, find out where that NPC is!"


    While Yang Ying was accompanying the two of them, Tang Jia enthusiastically described the benefits of playing as a warrior. Initially, Yang Ying had only logged in to see if her young brother''s game was truly as good as it was publicized, but over time, she gained some slight interest in gaming; thus, she too actively helped in the search for NPCs.


    The three of them quickly searched the surrounding area and, true enough, found the last NPC¡ªa young man with the floating titles "Charlie Rex" and "Weapons Master Instructor."


    But, upon discovering this NPC¡­ all three female players, including the gaming novice Yang Ying, were left bewildered.


    The NPC''s outfit was similar to that of the other advanced NPCs, featuring a sophisticated and fantasy-themed ensemble, consisting of a deep-colored durable armor with a tight and substantial texture.


    The Weapons Master Instructor wore leather arm wraps secured with intertwined sinew, a belt adorned with a row of intricately crafted small leather pouches, knee guards, and thick-soled high boots, in addition to a half-body armor primarily designed to protect the chest and abdomen.


    Yet this NPC, with a heroic appearance straight out of a meticulously detailed fantasy movie, was sitting slumped on the ground, leaning against an earthen wall, with his head tilting and hands hanging on both sides of his body. He was drenched in a cold sweat, his face pale, eyelids tightly shut, and seemingly muttering incoherent syllables under his breath.


    "What the heck¡­ Why is the warrior instructor like this?" Tang Jia was completely dumbfounded. "This¡­ this guy looks so much like a drug addict suffering from withdrawal!¡±


    Tang Jia''s childhood friend, Zheng Qingyue, crouched down and carefully observed the NPC, then shook her head. "Although it looks like withdrawal symptoms¡­ If it were really withdrawal, he shouldn''t be able to control his tears and mucus. Also, his emotional expressions would be more intense and not subdued like this."


    Yang Ying stared in astonishment at this soft-spoken girl who usually kept a low profile.


    What surprised Yang Ying even more was that Zheng Qingyue actually approached the NPC and opened his eyelids with one hand while waving the other in front of his eyes.


    "Pupils are dilated, but there is still a response to the light reflecting off the white bone. Could it be a brain injury?" Zheng Qingyue muttered to herself, holding the NPC''s head with both hands and conducting a brief examination. "It doesn''t seem like an injury, so could it be paralysis of the oculomotor nerve caused by autonomic fiber lesions.


    "Lips aren''t pale, there''s no odor, and mucous membrane color is normal, so it''s unlikely to be poisoning¡­"


    Tang Jia and Yang Ying then watched in horror as Zheng Qingyue inserted her finger joints into the NPC''s throat. "No dry retching, no vomit¡­ Rules out breathing difficulties and insufficient cerebral blood supply due to the airway being blocked by vomit."


    "It''s most likely a severe stress reaction due to some kind of stimulation." Zheng Qingyue let go of the NPC''s head. "There''s no sedative available in the game to give him a shot. What should we do?"


    "The NPCs can also get stressed?" Tang Jia asked with a look of utter bewilderment.


    "Well, they do start attacking people if they are in a bad mood," Zheng Qingyue said.


    "So, what should we do? Do we wait for this NPC to wake up on his own?" Yang Ying asked curiously.


    Since she had never played video games before, she didn''t have any understanding of how normal NPCs in games behaved. Thus, she didn''t find anything particularly strange about the NPCs in this game.


    "Troublesome indeed¡­" Zheng Qingyue pondered with her arms crossed.


    In the midst of a nightmare, Charlie Rex, in a blurry state, seemed to hear the voices of young women conversing around him.


    Their voices were clear, pleasant, and carefree, and they had a certain power to make one calm. And this unintentionally made Rex, who was tormented by the nightmare, relax. The horrifying illusion that seemed to devour him also gradually faded away due to the interference of these young women.


    Charlie Rex''s eyelids twitched and opened slowly.


    He was met with the sight of being surrounded by three skeletons, their six deep black eye sockets staring at him.


    "?!" Charlie Rex sat up with a start.


    "Whoa, he''s awake!" The three skeletons quickly stepped back, though they still surrounded him, their voices filled with surprise and youthful energy.


    Charlie Rex was taken aback by the scene before him.


    The eerie skeletal figures and the melodious, warm voices of young women created a striking contrast. It felt absurd and unsettling to Charlie Rex, who had just woken up, causing his recently regained composure to slip away rapidly.


    "Hello, Charlie Rex. Do you have any quests for us?" One of the skeletons with "Stuffed Gummy" in green above its head eagerly approached him.


    The lively and confident voice of a young woman carried a hint of anticipation. If Charlie Rex''s eyes were closed, he could almost feel his heart racing¡­


    However, with his eyes wide open, he could clearly see that the source of the deceptively pleasant voice was a weathered corpse that had been buried for god knows how many years.


    Has the nightmare not ended yet¡­?


    Charlie Rex closed his eyes and slowly reclined back.


    "Damn it! Give me a quest before fainting!" Tang Jia grabbed Charlie Rex''s collar in frustration. "What''s wrong with this NPC? Where''s the quest? Aren''t you supposed to be a warrior class instructor?"


    Charlie Rex''s shuddered, and he immediately snapped back to reality.


    In fact, his current state was much better than when he had been in the Sorensen Mountains. The interconnected mind anchors in the imprint matrix greatly improved his mental stability. At least he wouldn''t end up like how he was when Yang Qiu had found him, having completely abandoned his humanity.


    At this moment, now that Tang Jia reminded him, Charlie Rex finally remembered what he should be doing¡­ To maintain his sanity and qualify as a shared anchor within the black mage''s imprint matrix, he needed to play his role well¡ªthe warrior class instructor exiled to Exile Town, the birthplace of the Undead race!


    So, Charlie Rex mustered his strength, striving to maintain his composure and scrutinizing Tang Jia, who was eagerly seeking a quest.


    "Undead friends, undead beings aren''t suited to be warriors," Charlie Rex said earnestly. "Undead have a hard time resisting impacts and lack sufficient strength. You should give up."


    Tang Jia. "¡­"


    Zheng Qingyue and Yang Ying. "¡­"


    "What the hell? NPCs discriminate based on race?" Tang Jia erupted in anger. "Did I choose to be an undead? Does it look like I had any other options? Stop babbling and give me a quest!"


    "Don''t get worked up, Tang Jia. Getting kicked offline isn''t worth it," Zheng Qingyue quickly advised.


    Yang Ying had a look of puzzlement. "Can NPCs discourage players like this too? Is this how online games work?"


    "Normally, it shouldn''t be like this¡­" Zheng Qingyue was unsure how to explain to Yang Ying, a gaming novice. "Perhaps this NPC is bugged?"


    Charlie Rex couldn''t understand what they were saying and responded in earnest, "Indeed, undead aren''t suitable to be warriors. If you desire close combat, deathwalkers and death knights are better choices. If you persist in this, you will only tread a thorny path." sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Oh!" Tang Jia suddenly realized, releasing her grip on Rex''s collar. "Damn, I thought this NPC was malfunctioning and not issuing any quests. Turns out, it''s programmed to discourage players¡­ Enough with the chatter, give me the quest already!" she added impatiently.


    "¡­I am serious, madam," Rex responded.


    "I''m serious too. Why is this dialogue so draggy?" Tang Jia muttered irritably.


    Rex scrutinized this determined skeletal woman in silence.


    Despite being an undead skeleton unsuitable for the class, and despite being a young woman, she still tenaciously pursued the path of a warrior. This determination touched Rex in some way.


    "Alright, I hope you will not regret your choice," sighed Rex as he assigned the quest to Tang Jia.


    "Quest received!" Tang Jia''s spirits were lifted, and she quickly beckoned Yang Ying over.


    "Hello, Charlie Rex. Do you have any quests to offer?" Yang Ying approached, imitating Tang Jia''s actions.


    In the spirit of fulfilling his instructor duties and providing guidance, Rex tried to dissuade once again¡­ only to be nagged into giving out the quest.


    After receiving the quest items, the three of them left Rex behind and eagerly headed toward the construction site, discussing along the way.


    "In my experience of games, the more difficult the profession to obtain, the more powerful it is. The advanced stage of the warrior class might be insanely strong. Sis Ying, after we transition to warriors, do you want to progress toward weapon-based combat together?"


    "Sure, since I don''t know how to play, you can just guide me along."


    "Then I''ll become a healer and support you guys with healing."


    "Hehe, Qingyue is the best!"


    Just as Charlie Rex was feeling slight gratification that these undead ladies, who were unsuitable to be warriors yet pursued the path of power so relentlessly, he suddenly had a thought. "??"


    Wait a minute! Do you two want to become warriors because you feel that warriors are mighty?!


    This kind of perverse pursuit of power is an insult to warriors! Ultimately, you guys will get lost in the complexities of power!


    Rex''s expression froze as he felt a rising anger.


    Wait¡ªIf not respecting the honor of warriors led to getting lost in the complexities of power and being tainted by evil, then what did his own experiences¡­ signify?


    Rex felt his headache returning as hallucinations appeared before him once more.


    "No, no¡­ I''m different¡­ I-I just¡­ just¡­" Rex slumped against the earthen wall and sat down.


    A thought emerged in his mind, one that was incredibly difficult for him to believe yet impossible to ignore.


    "Could it be¡­ that I was wrong? Were my persistence, my unwavering pursuit of the path of power, misguided?"


    Rex struggled to maintain his sanity, forcing himself to ignore the hallucinations and focus on the undead ladies who were cheerfully beginning to start on their "quests."


    "Perhaps¡­ these undead who view the warrior''s spirit as mere child''s play can give me an answer."


    And so¡­ Rex personally witnessed these three giggling and nonchalant undead ladies complete quests in succession till nightfall.


    During this time, the skeleton who didn''t accept a quest from him left for a while and, upon returning, complained discontentedly about something along the lines of "I found Yang, but reputation can''t be increased with this NPC until level one is attained," before continuing to assist her companions with their quest.


    Taking advantage of the undead''s innate characteristic of not requiring food or rest, the three rather weak undead managed to clear a small portion of the designated construction area for the Warrior Guild.


    During this time, Rex saw the skeletal lady who had rudely grabbed his collar suddenly jump up with joy, loudly exclaiming in excitement, "My Potential increased a bit! Can it increase without even completing quests? Does this mean that Potential can increase as long as we are in the process of doing quests?"


    "Ah, I''ve also gained a little!" another one of her skeleton companions remarked gleefully.


    The three then joyfully conversed, speculating about the rules behind this increase in Potential. After a short break, they continued to bury themselves in their cleaning tasks¡­


    Charlie Rex couldn''t understand why these undead beings were willing to engage in such tedious tasks for the sake of their own trivial goal of "becoming warriors" and thus stepped out from behind the earthen wall and slowly approached the construction site.


    Before Charlie Rex could decide on how to initiate a conversation without violating Yang''s instructions, he heard a chilling remark from the skeleton known as "Stuffed Gummy."


    "It''s already dark? I didn''t even notice since my vision is unaffected," said Tang Jia, leaning on her pickaxe and absentmindedly patting her empty stomach. "I''m starting to feel hungry. What about you guys?"


    "Yeah, we''ve been playing without realizing how much time has passed. I''m feeling slightly famished too," replied Yang Ying.


    Charlie Rex suddenly stiffened, and he instinctively started to back away slowly¡­ Even though Yang had repeatedly assured them that these undead guests were "safe and harmless," it was still unnerving to hear them talk about being hungry in the darkness of night!


    "It''s kinda strange, isn''t it? When we entered the game, the in-game time was 4 p.m., and now it''s 9 p.m. If we calculate it based on real time, we''ve only been playing for two and a half hours. I had a big bowl of cereal in the morning, yet I feel hungry after just two and a half hours," said Zheng Qingyue, slightly perplexed.


    "Could it be because we''ve been engaging in physical activity in-game?" Tang Jia speculated as she packed up her tools. "We''re wearing helmets while playing the game, right? Could our in-game activities be connected to our brain waves? Maybe our intense brain activity is causing us to feel hungry faster?"


    "¡­That actually sounds somewhat logical." Zheng Qingyue tapped the shovel against a rock, knocking off the mud before handing it to Tang Jia. "Let''s log out after completing the quest and have lunch. Do you want to eat at my place?"


    "Sure, I''ll bring my helmet over, and after eating, I''ll play at your place," Tang Jia nodded eagerly.


    "Then, I''ll log off and order some takeout," Zheng Qingyue then turned to Yang Ying. "Sis Ying, are you going to log in later in the afternoon?"


    "Yeah!" Yang Ying replied with a bright smile. "My initial plan had been to log in, take some screenshots and a video before logging out to continue online arguments on the forums. But now that I''m playing, I don''t feel like bothering with those internet trolls. It''s not as fun as actually playing."


    "All set then, let''s meet back here in an hour, real-time!"


    The three of them headed out of the "construction site" and sought out Charlie Rex to complete the quest.


    Though Charlie Rex didn''t fully understand what he was hearing, he vaguely realized that he seemed to have misunderstood something. Keeping his mouth shut, he silently handed over the reward to Tang Jia and Yang Ying¡­


    After adding the "advanced NPCs," Yang Qiu had also modified the quest reward system. Whether it was the regular quests offered by zombie NPCs or advanced NPCs'' reputation quests, rewards were based on a player''s contribution to the particular task.


    Other than the one-time beginner''s welfare quest that provided players with the basic clothes, all other quests were rewarded based on the player''s effective working hours within the quests (without slacking off and working diligently). Similarly, the "NPCs" connected to the imprint matrix could achieve fairness and impartiality by following the prompts provided by the matrix.


    "Four hours of effective working time, 400 reputation points, and eight copper coins?" Tang Jia curiously fiddled with the copper coins given by Charlie Rex. "These coins kind of look like arcade game tokens."


    Zheng Qingyue also leaned in curiously to take a look. "The quest rewards have changed. I remember watching Vanilla Pudding''s video, and he didn''t get any rewards from quests."


    After Yang Ying got her copper coins from Charlie Rex, she glanced at her two new friends with curiosity. "How do we keep these game coins?"


    Tang Jia and Zheng Qingyue: "¡­"


    "What the heck, this game doesn''t even have an inventory! I can''t believe such a major bug hasn''t been fixed yet!" Tang Jia was shaking with rage. "Damn it! We''re just bare-boned skeletons. Where are we supposed to stash this money?!"


    Charlie Rex, realizing that he had misunderstood the three undead ladies before, wanted to express his apologies, and thus took the initiative to remind them. "Undead friends, there''s a tailor named Yarisha selling waist bags in a wooden house near the Town Hall. You can purchase one there."


    "Oh, oh!" The three players finally remembered the advanced NPC tailor and lifestyle class instructor who was largely ignored. With that, they quickly bid farewell to Charlie Rex and hurried over toward the Town Hall.


    Charlie Rex watched them go before gazing up at the night sky. He then returned to his tent and lit an alcohol lamp before setting up a campfire.


    Yang Qiu''s work requirements for the advanced NPCs weren''t really too demanding. They were just required to be active around their assigned posts from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and could be found by players. As long as they didn''t wander too far or intentionally hide, it was fine even if they slept all day long.


    Even tool management, which was considered the strictest, Yang Qiu didn''t enforce restrictions on players taking tools away. After all, players'' activities were all monitored by the matrix. No matter where players took the tools, they could be retrieved.


    What Yang Qiu truly restricted was players using "quest items" to cause trouble. For example, a group of players accepting cleaning quests and bringing the pickaxes along to get stomped by the beginner town''s BOSS, or using the quest items for mock fights¡­ That was the reason why the use of quest items was restricted to the quest area.


    Although these quest items were actually collected from the second-hand market and scrap yards for low costs, it was all because Yang Qiu was poor¡­


    In any case, because Charlie Rex lurked in a slightly hidden location and didn''t need to receive too many players at once, he faced much less pressure compared to Hal.


    After seeing off the three undead ladies, Charlie Rex prepared some food, collected the tools back into the tent, and declared the end of the workday. Finally, he pulled down the flaps of his tent and went to sleep.


    It was an hour to midnight in the game, but 11:00 a.m. on Earth. A large group of players entered the designated construction site for the Warrior Guild, led by Qin Guan, with the ID Vanilla Pudding.


    "The warrior instructor should be around this area according to the post by ''Stuffed Gummy'' on the message board¡­ Ah, there!"


    The group of undead with natural night vision surveyed the quiet street, which appeared no different than daytime in their eyes. Soon, they discovered a small cleared area.


    "The NPC''s tent should be behind a mud wall¡­ There it is!"


    "Where''s the NPC?"


    "Seems like he''s sleeping."


    "What? NPCs sleep too?! That''s outrageous! Is he going to give out quests or not?!"


    "Charlie Rex! Is Charlie Rex here? Please make a sound!"


    "Stop sleeping! Wake up and assign us a quest!"


    Inside the tent, Charlie Rex''s hands were on his head as his bloodshot eyes stared at the ceiling of his tent.


    Do these damn undead really understand the meaning of "outrageous" they just used?! The Weapons Master wondered.

 Chapter 17: Anti-Harassment protocol

    While 8 a.m. wasn''t ideal for a server launch during the long holiday where most people tended to sleep in, "OtherWorld" had garnered high levels of interest from both helmet-owning gamers and helmet-less internet trolls due to the prevalence of live streams, mocking videos, and sarcastic essays regarding the game.


    That was why, despite the announcement for the server opening being made at 7 a.m. on the same day, "OtherWord" was able to achieve over 90% of registered players coming online when the server opened an hour later.


    And then¡­ before even half an hour passed, more than 50 of these over 280 players were disconnected.


    So, what would these unfortunate players do during the half-hour "resurrection cooldown" in real time?


    Naturally, they went to the official website''s message board to engage in fierce wars of words with online trolls.


    While it was frustrating for players to learn that they would have to wait a day to download the in-game screenshots they had taken, it didn''t dampen their spirits much. They had finally played the game, experiencing being slain by highly intelligent NPCs generated by the game''s artificial intelligence.


    Thus, even without screenshots, these players confronted both the "willing to pay gamers" as well as the internet trolls that were smearing the game.


    With a full 30-minute "resurrection cooldown" on their hands, they had some free time.


    After venting their frustrations during the cooldown, they went back online to continue playing as the new batch of "deceased and forcibly kicked offline" players took their places.


    However, despite the game''s players battling in turns, the official site''s message board, which allowed commenting without a login, was still overwhelmed.


    The reasons for this were simple. Vanilla Pudding''s viral video had attracted excessive attention, and the long National Day holiday meant that there were too many idle people that found it enjoyable to group up and launch attacks without any consequences or risks.


    Yang Qiu was about to upload some entertaining clips of players dying on the official site when he noticed the message board was in a more chaotic state than ever before. After mulling for a moment, he posted a notice saying that the message board would be closed in 24 hours.


    Then, he spent a small fee to get a college student he found online to create a player forum. The forum had no moderator nor administration, a single section, and required a registration in order to post anything.


    Afterward, Yang Qiu couldn''t be bothered to manage it. He checked to make sure the seal on the Earth server room was intact before leaving for the magic plane to deal with players wanting to boost their reputation with the Mage Apprentice Instructor despite not even reaching level 1.


    Ignoring the reactions caused by Yang Qiu''s decision to shut the message board on the official site, the real commotion was stirred by a video titled "50 Dumb Ways for Beta Players to Die," released by the game''s development team¡­


    This video had the same background and art style as Vanilla Pudding''s previously released game footage. It showcased the deserted Exile Town, where ID-bearing skeletons ran rampant, and human NPCs indistinguishable from actual people in movies. Most importantly, it showed the methods used by these NPCs when killing skeleton players.


    The video posted on the official website surpassed 100,000 views within half an hour and continued to gain traction due to its ease of sharing.


    Players who had previously obtained login helmets but sold them away before binding a game account to it couldn''t help but curse when they saw the video.


    At noon on the day of the open beta, the first batch of players logging off normally for lunch visited the official site to find that both the message board, which allowed non-verified comments, and the new official forum, which required a registration, were filled with messages and posts begging to buy helmets¡­


    "Hahahaha, if only you guys saw this coming!"


    "Give up already! Once the helmet is bound to a character via the official site, it can''t be transferred anymore! Moreover, anyone that''s willing to sell now is definitely a scammer!"


    "Moderator, please do your job. Why is the entire forum flooded with posts begging to buy helmets?"


    "I would like to thank the studio buddy who scammed me three days ago, selling me a helmet at 300 yuan and claiming it would increase in value. Thanks a lot! I''ve already bound my character and played the game. It''s really awesome, no regrets!"


    "Hahaha, I also bought a helmet from a studio. They sold it to me for 300 yuan and now are asking if I''m willing to sell it back to them for 500 yuan! Too late, I''ve already started playing!"


    Having been intimidated by the external public opinion and spending the past few days anxious because of the doubt, this group of players now found themselves standing in an unbeatable position. Therefore, it would be strange if they didn''t indulge in wild taunting.


    Of course, besides deriding "outsiders," the atmosphere among the players themselves wasn''t exactly harmonious. Scrolling past the huge influx of buying posts, there were some discussions by players regarding the issue of unfairness within the game.


    "SMH, this game is fun, but are the game devs brain-dead? A randomized Potential system that doesn''t allow players to reset their characters or reroll initial stats. What were they thinking? Aren''t they afraid of the players'' backlash?"


    "Get lost if you don''t want to play. With the realism of this black technology, I reckon that I can even become a special forces soldier in a year."


    "I just don''t get it. Having fixed Potential values would benefit everyone, but why insist that some people have to eat sh*t? Do they not eat enough sh*t on their own and want others to suffer too?"


    "Maybe the game devs have their reasons. After all, the beta just started, and it''s too early to draw conclusions. Besides that, I''ve been gaming for so many years and have never heard of this game developer before. Let''s be a little more tolerant of small studios."


    While these players that logged off were having their lunch and participating in a debate over whether Potential values were fixed or not, a player with the ID "Ou Huang" suddenly jumped in and drew animosity by saying, "Am I the only one who finds random Potential values interesting? How would we be able to exhibit our uniqueness in OtherWorld if everyone is the same? Of course, my Potential values are maxed out, JK."


    As a result, comments such as "Ou Huang must die," "Get lost," and other derogatory remarks appeared beneath his post.


    At this point, another player, "Unceasing Entropy,'''' posted her thesis: "Compared to discussing whether it''s fair to have fixed Potential values, I think we should first consider the principles behind our operations in the game.


    "My friend mentioned to me that our actions in the game should be accomplished by brain waves since we are wearing helmets. This idea seemed slightly presumptuous, but after careful consideration, I realized that it made sense.


    "Proof being that high-intensity activity in the game seems to make us hungry quicker.


    "If we say that we consume ''brain power'' during the process of playing the game, then that said process should be concentrating and carrying out a certain sort of labor. And this feedback to our bodies in reality means that sugar and calories are consumed faster.


    "Thus, could it be possible that people with stronger brains, mental strength, and ability have higher Potential values?


    "Of course, I don''t have any more reliable evidence to support this conjecture at the moment, so everything is just speculation. However, I still insist that there is a correlation. After all, among the three closed beta players whose Potential we know, Blossoming Strokes, who has the highest Potential value, is quite a bigshot web novel author with a completed six million-word novel of relatively high quality. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Her Potential Value is as high as 48, and she should be 49 now. Compared to the player above who claims to have maxed out Potential value after logging in, Blossoming Strokes should be the player we know closest to leveling up.


    "By the way, I''m just an average straight-A student from a second-tier college. My initial Potential was 45, and after playing in the morning, it''s now at 46."


    As soon as this minor thesis was posted, the number of comments exploded.


    There were copypastas like "Boss Vanilla with 37 Potential is big-chested and brainless," while someone lamented, "Is there any hope for those starting with 2x Potential?"


    Others opposed Unceasing Entropy''s idea of focusing on intelligence and called her pretentious for claiming to be an average straight-A student. One user also demanded that the aforementioned "Ou Huang" who boasted about having maxed Potential prove his identity or be considered a liar.


    When Qin Guan, the prominent "OtherWorld" player, managed to anger Warrior Instructor Charlie Rex, getting slain and forced offline, he realized that he had been the target of many bullets on the forum¡­


    After reading Unceasing Entropy''s mini thesis, Qin Guan was fuming and quickly uploaded a scan of his diploma certificate to prove that he wasn''t a bad student.


    Then, the player "Ou Huang," who had probably returned from lunch and was about to log back in, replied with a new comment: "I''m not a genius, but I think there''s some truth to Unceasing Entropy''s speculation. Potential value might really be correlated to mind and spirit."


    Attached to the comment was an image of an honorary certificate from a provincial mountaineering association, verifying that the holder had reached the summit of Mount Everest at the age of 18.


    For a moment, all the players that were engaging in a war of words on the forums, including Qin Guan, fell silent¡­


    Mountaineering, a field that most people had little knowledge about, was like a blow below the belt for the gaming community, making them feel severely out of their depth.


    Yang Qiu, who followed Earth''s schedule, also returned to Earth at noon for lunch and naturally came across this discussion thread.


    "Haa, quite a few strong people among the players," Yang Qiu couldn''t help but smile when he scanned through Unceasing Entropy''s thesis.


    Among the first 281 players to log into the game, a tenth had Potential values (mental strength) below 30, over 80% had values between 30 and 40, and the remainder had values above 40.


    Indeed, the player with the highest potential value was ID "Ou Huang," who had a Potential of 54 upon logging in. He had modestly claimed it to be maxed so as to avoid overly crushing the confidence of other players.


    Besides him, the next highest was the exceptionally talented Blossoming Strokes, with a current Potential of 49. There''s no denying that someone who could persistently churn out 6,000 words daily for five years straight was truly extraordinary.


    Next up was his sister, Yang Ying¡­ with an initial Potential of 47, which had reached 48 by the time she logged off.


    This wasn''t some underhanded trick. Yang Ying had always been outstanding. Back when she was still a high school student, she had the guts to kick their good-for-nothing father out of the house with only a slipper.


    At the age of 18, she had entered the workforce, and as far as Yang Qiu could recall, he had never seen his sister suffer any setback. She was a force to be reckoned with. Her fighting spirit was top-tier, and there was no denying how great her mental fortitude was.


    Of course, the fact that these players managed to uncover such "insider information" on their first day of playing was very impressive. However, it doesn''t mean that Yang Qiu, as the "game official," would acknowledge their discovery.


    He had no intention of responding to any doubts or speculations regarding the value of Potential. After all, the game was just a game.


    While enjoying a meal of braised chicken takeaway, Yang Qiu simultaneously posted "Patch 1.03" on the official website:


    Added advanced NPC anti-harassment protocol during nighttime. Players attempting to disturb advanced NPCs during non-working hours may be afflicted by defense mechanisms. Added information regarding the working hours of advanced NPCs: Normal interaction with advanced NPCs is available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. in-game time. If an advanced NPC leaves his post temporarily during working hours, it is not advisable for players with reputation levels below ''Respected'' to forcefully engage with said NPC. Do so at your own risk. During the rest periods of advanced NPCs, it is recommended that players interact with zombie NPCs as they are available at all times and are more friendly toward undead compatriots.


    This announcement, which declared working hours that exceeded normal Earth labor regulations, didn''t evoke sympathy toward advanced NPCs from players. Instead, it instantly united all who were previously engaged in disputes and debates over fair Potential values.


    "That''s something I''ve never seen before! NPCs getting off work to rest! The devs have gone mad pursuing realism to such extremes!"


    "No need for that! I want to be able to do quests anytime I''m online!"


    "Seriously?! Zombie NPCs available at all times? Zombie NPCs don''t even grant reputation points!"


    Indeed, players were just that pragmatic¡­


    In any case, Yang Qiu didn''t care about all these. After having eaten his fill, the first thing he did upon returning to the magic plane was to add anti-harassment insurance to the tents where the advanced NPCs lived.


    Even Charlie Rex, who had a good temperament and a warrior''s spirit, had been forced to kill players, let alone those former bandits. Just that alone was a testament to how frustrated the advanced NPCs were from being harassed.


    Under the light of the moon, Yang Qiu arrived at the predetermined construction site for the Warrior Guild and saw Rex standing aggressively outside his tent with a large sword in hand, his bloodshot eyes darting all over.


    "You alright, Rex?" Yang Qiu waved his hand sympathetically.


    "Yang," Rex was exasperated the moment he saw Yang Qiu. "This wasn''t the agreement. You never said that these undead would disturb us incessantly, even at night!"


    "Uh¡­ That is a mistake on my part. Rest assured, our agreement won''t change. I''ll restrict the movements of those undead." Yang Qiu took out a net of mangoes and stuffed them into Rex''s hands. "Have some fresh fruits, then return to your tent and have a good night''s sleep. This time, no one will disturb you."


    Due to the fact that road infrastructure was nearly non-existent in this world, most people had never tried fresh exotic fruits. Rex could smell the fragrance of the mangoes and stopped complaining as he took out a small knife and started to peel the yellow fruits.


    While Rex was being pacified by the fruits, Yang Qiu took out his dragon bone staff and cast a soundproof enchantment, quagmire curse, bone needle piercing spell, and other anti-harassment means outside of Rex''s tent.


    Rex nearly dropped his knife. "What are you doing, Yang?"


    "It''s impossible for those lawless undead to understand respect with just words alone. The most effective means is always to make them know to retreat." Yang Qiu admired the results of his work and added, "From now on, no other creature besides you will be able to approach your tent. You can spend the nights in peace."


    Rex eyed the circle of blue runes with a dangerous cold hue around his tent and couldn''t help swallowing nervously.


    It¡­ just didn''t seem necessary to be that ruthless¡­


    "I have to go see Hal, Tuttle, and the others. Sweet dreams, Rex." Yang Qiu didn''t delay and waved goodbye.


    Rex watched Yang Qiu leave, then held the net of mangoes in his hands as he carefully passed through the ring of traps¡­ Indeed, these protective traps, even more dangerous than the ones used to guard noble cemeteries, didn''t spring on him.


    And then¡­ Rex wasn''t disturbed throughout the night and slept well.


    When he woke up at dawn, Rex stretched and crawled out of the tent¡ª


    "Ahhh!"


    The Weapons Master, who was only wearing a pullover and pajama pants, got a huge fright and scrambled back into the tent.


    "Don''t go!"


    "Let us off, Boss!"


    "Charlie Rex, it''s us, your undead friends! Please let us out and issue quests to us!"


    The outside of the tent turned into a mire, leaving only the heads of trapped players above the soft mud, while a few other skeletons dangled in midair from bone spikes that had emerged from the ground and skewered them. Each of these poor players was pitifully calling out in the direction of the tent.


    Tang Jia, Yang Ying, and Zheng Qingyue in beginner gear, along with new waist bags, only just arrived after daybreak in-game and burst out laughing upon seeing the sight of players hanging outside Rex''s tent.


    "Seriously, there are so many people who go online and mess around without reading the announcements. The official site already posted the patch update, yet there are still so many that come courting death," Tang Jia said smugly.


    "It''s normal to not read the patch notes when doing quests, just like how many use household appliances without reading the manual," said Zheng Qingyue.

 Chapter 18: Let’s Grind

    First day of the open beta, 6 p.m., 11 hours (real time) after the game was "officially in operation."


    Yang Qiu, squatting in Exile Town''s Town Hall, was silently monitoring the currency flow between players and "NPCs."


    The concept of gold farming was non-existent by design in this game. The reason was simple: money in this game was actual physical currency, not just data.


    The copper coins that players obtained through quests were real coins. Yang Qiu had purchased a ton of copper over the Internet at market price, then got a small manufacturer to custom-make the game currency, ensuring that the copper alloy coins contained no less than 50% copper.


    At present, it seemed that copper coins would serve as the primary game currency for a long time. After all, Yang Qiu couldn''t afford to make silver coins. A ton of the cheapest silver would cost several million yuan, and Yang Qiu had no way of coming up with that sort of money.


    Of course, copper coins weren''t bad either. At least, the indigenous NPCs like Hal and Rex were willing to accept these copper coins that hailed from Earth''s industries¡­ While they couldn''t understand why the undead, who didn''t need to eat, drink, or rest, were willing to work so hard for copper coins (nor could they comprehend the so-called reputation value), they could still accept these copper coins as a wage.


    In any case, the currency in this world was already a great mess. Privately minted coins of noble origin varied greatly in specifications, quality, and grade. These finely crafted 50% copper alloy coins were more than sufficient to replace the worn-out copper coins circulating in the kingdoms of this world.


    In short, to increase players'' motivation to do quests and allow the limited currency to circulate infinitely, means of currency sink had to be established to counteract the NPCs'' distribution of copper coins via quests.


    At present, there were two main currency sinks. The first being an "essential item" that players needed, which was a waist bag sold by the tailor Yarisha.


    Well¡­ it was basically a thick canvas belt with four denim zipper pouches hanging from it, which could be used to hold various small items. Yang Qiu had contacted a certain prison online and had them custom-made by the prison, resulting in a high-quality and affordable product.


    The price of this waist bag was 8 copper coins each.


    Next was the "beginner gear" sold by a zombie NPC.


    Each player could only receive a set of "beginner gear" once for completing the welfare quest of "cleaning for 10 minutes." If accidentally lost or damaged, it would cost 12 copper coins to get a replacement from the zombie NPC.


    It was hard to say if these two currency sinks were sufficient, but in any case, Yang Qiu had to personally buy and distribute the waist pouches and beginner gears he got from Earth, which was pretty much a loss for him¡­


    And it was precisely this that Yang Qiu kept the quest rewards relatively low. His instructions were for advanced NPCs with farmable reputations to only give out two copper coins per hour of work and one coin for zombie NPCs.


    It wasn''t that he was being stingy or greedy, but basically the players playing the game were living off¡­ well, wearing his clothes and playing by his rules, so he had no choice but to carefully manage the resources!


    There had been several rounds of players heading offline and logging in, and currently, 226 players were online. Judging from the enthusiastic discussions on the forum, in another two hours of Earth time, the player count would reach its daily peak, estimated to be around 300 players being online simultaneously.


    Among the 281 players that had already logged in, even the player with the shortest time spent online had maintained an online duration of at least five hours (in-game time), doing quests for at least two hours and earning a minimum of four copper coins.


    More hardcore players, who were enthusiastic about doing quests, would have around four to eight copper coins after taking into account the expenses of buying the waist bag.


    With Yang Qiu''s current reserve of 200,000 copper coins, releasing several thousand coins into circulation was not a problem for him. He wasn''t concerned about the availability of currency but was instead considering more complex issues.


    While immersed in the imprint matrix, Yang Qiu observed a group of players that were active in the designated construction area of the Wanderer Guild.


    This group consisted of six young men, led by a young lad with the ID "Eight At Once," who seemed to be on rather good terms with Vanilla Pudding; the two referred to each other as "Brother Qin" and "Xiao Zhou."


    Due to Vanilla Pudding''s connection, Yang Qiu took notice of this group right from the start and easily deduced that they were a studio. After completing the quest for beginner gear, these six individuals immediately sought out the Ranger Instructor Tuttle and had stayed there since.


    Having played a share of online games before, Yang Qiu knew that physical ranged classes were the preferred choice for gold farming in any MMORPG.


    These young fellows from a studio didn''t disappoint their title of gold farmers. They didn''t mess around or slack off, instead devoting themselves to quests with great dedication. When it turned dark in-game and Tuttle got off work, these six would shift to doing zombie NPC quests. And at daybreak, they would return back to the original tasks.


    Even when it came to the "essential" waist bag, these six fellows only bought one. All copper coins they earned were pooled together and held by Eight At Once.


    If this were a normal online game, the game developers would certainly loathe for studios to settle in like that on opening day. While it was said that studios made online games convenient for players, every action done by such groups was aimed at shortening the lifespans of games.


    For games with fragile economic systems, it would be considered quite an accomplishment if they could hold off gold-farming studios from disrupting the game for at least a year.


    Of course, while "OtherWorld" was disguised as a game, it wasn''t one. That was why Yang Qiu didn''t have any aversion toward studios that were actively gold farming. He even wished for more of these cheap and hardworking laborers.


    So, here lies the problem. Studios came for money, seeking to convert the in-game currency into real currency. If the currency that these lads worked so hard to earn held no value and could not be sold, their motivation would be undermined, and they wouldn''t actively engage in questing anymore.


    Yang Qiu stroked his chin and gazed beyond the industrious studio fellows, at a more profound future.


    It wasn''t just for studios; being able to earn some extra money from playing would also greatly stimulate the enthusiasm of players that were dedicated to grinding. In fact, if the game''s economic system was well-designed and had smooth channels for converting in-game currency into real-world money, it would perhaps please grinders more so than studios.


    This conclusion was based on solid evidence. While working on transforming the Taranthan Wasteland into a game field, Yang Qiu had extensively studied online games back on Earth. There was a certain nostalgic WOW server created two months ago where the ones actively gold farming weren''t studios but a high number of mage masters.


    It''s not just the issue of normal circulation of currency. The value of the currency itself has to be considered¡­ Simply put, there''s a need to make it more valuable. Yang Qiu narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.


    After all¡­ not all players were willing to just come online and grind quests and log off when they got tired. That''s why advanced NPCs that provided reputation points were more popular than zombie NPCs that didn''t.


    Ordinary players are willing to do quests assigned by advanced NPCs in order to access the class advancement paths and obtain better weapons and gear. In other words, they do it to become stronger and not for numeric rewards.


    Mindlessly doing quests at the beginning stage when players are new to the full-immersive "game" is fine, but as time goes by, players would get sick of it and eventually quit¡­


    Then¡­ No need to wait till players transition to their classes. The value of the game currency has to be raised as soon as possible to increase players'' enthusiasm for quests.


    The designated construction site of the Wanderer Guild, where three job instructors were stationed, was the liveliest part of Exile Town.


    After 22 hours of game time, players had already cleared a considerable amount of rubbish from the 500-square-meter construction site. The previously separated three quest areas were now connected, and players who were undertaking quests from Hal, Tuttle, and the other advanced NPCs could chat with each other from a distance.


    "Seems like quite a lot of people are interested in becoming wanderers," said Blossoming Strokes in admiration as she surveyed the busy players moving bricks. "From the look of things, it seems like the Wanderer Guild would be the first to be established." sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Give Me Medicine completed his quest, and while putting the coin rewards into his waist bag, he asked Blossoming Strokes who had come over to fetch him, "Has the Mage Apprentice Instructor started working yet?"


    Give Me Medicine had no interest in playing a traditional assassin nor a ranged class typically found in most MMORPGs. Instead, he was focusing on building his reputation with the Treasure Expert NPC.


    "Who knows? I haven''t received any quests from the Mage Apprentice Instructor," Blossoming Strokes was exasperated. "Currently, only that ''Ou Huang'' fellow can receive quests from that NPC. But from what I''ve gathered, that guy seems to be a lone wolf that doesn''t like playing with others. No one knows where he''s gone off to."


    "Don''t worry, it''s only the first day of the beta, and you''re just slightly short of the 50 points of Potential required to reach level 1. Perhaps you might be able to receive quests from the Mage Apprentice Instructor tomorrow," Give Me Medicine reassured her.


    "I''m in no hurry. Vanilla''s not even anxious, so why should I be? At most, I''ll do a few more days of zombie NPC quests to earn some money," chuckled Blossoming Strokes. "Let''s go find Vanilla and see if we can do some exploration tonight."


    Doing mundane tasks all the time definitely wasn''t a style of gameplay that most average players could accept. Even though the game had just started, with everyone on new characters and trapped in Exile Town because the rat in the south couldn''t be defeated, players were still very much interested in discovering the secrets of the town and flipping it on its head.


    As the two were about to leave the construction site supervised by the Treasure Expert, Give Me Medicine caught sight of something from the corner of his eyes. The human NPC, who acted as though he was greatly offended by players and had a deadpan expression on all the time other than when interacting during quests, had placed a wooden signboard in front of his tent and posted a notice on it.


    "Wait!" Give Me Medicine hurriedly gestured at Blossoming Strokes and rushed over to the signboard.


    Treasure Expert Finley had the appearance of a middle-aged man. The location he camped out was relatively better hidden, and he wasn''t bothered much by players at the start.


    But when players interacted with him to activate reputation progress and discovered the unique characteristics of his "Treasure Expert" class advancement path, he couldn''t hide anymore... Now, there were more players camped here than at Hal''s, second only to Tuttle''s.


    At least Rex, who was in charge of the warrior class advancement path, had the luxury of sleeping for a bit before being disturbed by players. Finley, on the other hand, had no chance to sleep at all until Yang Qiu came over to implement the "patch"...


    Finley didn''t have a favorable impression of these filthy undead players. Upon receiving instructions from Yang Qiu via the imprint matrix, he posted the notice and sat at the side, stony-faced, with no intention of explaining anything to the players.


    Fortunately, the reward mechanisms for each advanced NPC had been prepared in advance, so Finley didn''t need any unnecessary chatter. His job was done as long as he put up the notice.


    When Give Me Medicine reached the board, a few other players from nearby were already gathered and discussing the notice.


    Give Me Medicine also read the notice and exclaimed, "Whoa, damn! Other than accepting the wanderer class change and receiving apprentice weapons upon reaching level 1, the first five players to obtain the ''friendly'' reputation with Finley can also participate in bidding for the ''Orb of Deception''?"


    "Limited accessory, ''Orb of Deception,'' personally crafted by the Treasure Expert Finley. Only three will be released this time, and the next bidding will only be a month later! It can create visual disguises and project humanoid illusions for undead race players. The starting bid for the auction is 300 copper coins?!"


    "Hmm? Isn''t this an item from a certain other game?" mused Blossoming Strokes, who was also knowledgeable about other games.


    "That''s right, it''s the Orb of Deception! Damn! They only released three orbs for the first five qualified bidders. The unscrupulous devs are forcing players to spend money!" Give Me Medicine exclaimed agitatedly.


    "Well, it''s just a cosmetic change of appearance, not necessarily a must-have," Blossoming Strokes casually remarked.


    Another player at the side immediately refuted, "It might not matter for other classes, but this accessory is indispensable for those that choose the Treasure Expert class path."


    "Yeah, that''s right," another player chimed in. "Treasure Experts specialize in finding treasures in human territories. If they can''t disguise themselves as humans, won''t they be flagged as monsters wherever they go?"


    Blossoming Strokes thought about the attitudes toward the undead of Exile Town that those human NPCs serving as job instructors had, then nodded in agreement. "That seems so. This item is really useful if we have to leave the undead spawn area. A godly artifact that isn''t just limited in use to Treasure Experts or Wanderers."


    The bunch of players exchanged glances, and without saying more, gathered their respective quest items and hurried toward the construction site.


    There were only five bidding rights available, so even if they managed to achieve a bidding right but couldn''t afford the orb, they could still sell the bidding right to others. Snatching a spot among the first five was definitely beneficial!


    Give Me Medicine also realized this and immediately turned to his companion and said solemnly, "I won''t be joining you guys for tonight''s activity. I have to hurry and grind more reputation."


    "Alright," Blossoming Strokes'' reply was instant. "You don''t have enough coins, so I''ll lend you all of mine. Should I speak with Boss Vanilla and get his studio friends to reserve their coins for you too?"


    "Yes, yes!" Give Me Medicine nodded vigorously while interacting with Finley to accept a quest. "Tell them I''ll take all their copper coins at market rate!"


    "Alright, I''ll do that right away," replied Blossoming Strokes without any hesitation and immediately turned around and headed toward Rex, the warrior instructor.


    As Blossoming Strokes jogged past another advanced NPC, the Knight Instructor, who wasn''t particularly popular, she noticed another wooden signboard with a notice next to this human NPC''s tent.


    When she saw several players grinding away especially diligently in front of the Knight Instructor''s work area, Blossoming Strokes immediately headed for the signboard and took a look at the notice.


    This time, Blossoming Strokes, who wasn''t particularly interested in the Orb of Deception from before, let out a loud "Holy crap!"


    There was a "bidding" event here as well with the Knight Instructor. And the item up for bids was an Undead Horse mount!


    Once more, only the top five players with the "friendly" reputation with the NPC would obtain bidding rights, but there was only one Undead Horse available!


    And the starting bid was an astronomical 1000 copper coins!


    Realizing that obtaining enough copper coins in the short term would be difficult, Blossoming Strokes didn''t dawdle and quickly ran off to find Qin Guan.


    Qin Guan, who was busy grinding reputation with the Warrior Instructor, immediately abandoned his current tasks upon receiving the news and promptly made a round to check on all the advanced NPCs in the town. It was confirmed that at present, only the Treasure Expert and Knight Instructor were having the "bidding" event.


    "Just these two are troublesome enough... Orb of Deception aside, that Undead Horse will definitely cause massive chaos!" Qin Guan felt the onset of a headache. "Damn those scheming developers! I thought this game was different and it wouldn''t follow the usual pattern of equipment repair, revives, and consumables costing money. But it turns out they have it here!"


    Had it been any ordinary players, most would gladly convert the in-game currency they earned into real money.


    Qin Guan, too, wasn''t against the idea of in-game currency having value. Not only his friend, Studio Boss Xiao Zhou, a sworn brother and good friend who entered the game together, but Qin Guan was also an avid gold farmer himself. However, if the value of in-game currency rose too excessively, it would be difficult for his other comrade, Give Me Medicine, to accumulate enough copper coins to buy the Orb of Deception that he desired.

 Chapter 19: Tuttle Joe

    Tuttle Joe, 31 years of age, and a core member of the former "Sacred Crows" bandit gang.


    No one was born with the desire to be a criminal. Hailing from a middle-class family in the Rhine Kingdom, Tuttle spent 10 years tirelessly honing his physical fitness and archery skills under his father''s guidance. Becoming a bandit had never been his intention.


    If Tuttle Joe''s father hadn''t obstructed the golden path of a certain influential young master, then the Tuttle in his prime would have probably succeeded his father''s position and served as the captain of the archer squad in the National Guard at Kargas, the capital city of the Kingdom of Rhine. He would have received a generous salary, enjoyed privileges far surpassing that of ordinary citizens, and happily fulfilled his role as a respectable member of the middle class.


    Unfortunately, there weren''t what-ifs in real life. Thus, six years ago, when Tuttle was down and out, he encountered Hal Maxwell in a tavern, when the latter was plotting a big score. Thus, without any hesitation, Tuttle was drawn into the web of criminality.


    Coming from a relatively decent background, Tuttle was one who paid more attention to the finer details of life among the group of savage thugs. His tent was the cleanest, and when Yang Qiu issued the employee welfare of daily necessities obtained from a supermarket clearance sale, it was only Tuttle who took the time to shave his beard neatly, change and wash his clothes, and even use insect repellent as perfume¡­ In short, he groomed himself well and wouldn''t be out of place if he were in a large city.


    However, players didn''t care whether the NPCs that issued quests looked clean and decent, or sloppy and awful. Despite Tuttle''s best efforts to present himself in the best possible manner, he still got to "experience" being openly intruded upon in his tent, having players attempt to snatch his quest tools, and being harassed during his resting time.


    That wasn''t all. What Tuttle found most unbearable was the merciless scrutiny he faced whenever he sat down to eat his meals like a normal person, as these despicable undead would shamelessly gather around to observe¡­


    At 12 noon, Tuttle glanced at the sun directly overhead and returned to his tent to prepare his meal.


    All of the advanced NPCs'' daily necessities and meals were taken care of by Black Mage Yang. Once a week (OtherWorld time), they would personally go to Yang''s place to collect the following supplies:


    Soft bread wrapped in a strange film¡ªthis was currently Tuttle''s favorite staple, no less delicious than bread he had eaten when his father was still around.


    Crispy and sweet biscuits of varying flavors, dried vegetables, cucumber slices, sweet potatoes, hawthorn slices, and other snacks¡ªTuttle had a habit of eating snacks, so this generous snack package was rather thoughtful for him.


    A box of instant noodles¡ªthis item was popular among Hal and the others, but Tuttle found the taste too intense and didn''t particularly enjoy it. He had received a box when he first arrived and had yet to finish it.


    Besides those, there were also oatmeal, energy bars, candies, and starched ham sausages as supplementary foods for quick replenishment. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Well¡­ all of the above were products removed from supermarket shelves due to hitting the expiration date or being near expiration. Yang Qiu didn''t mind at all and would take anything, regardless of how unappetizing or unsellable it was. The supermarkets liked having this type of long-term customer who were willing to handle their expired products in bulk and even paid a six-month deposit upfront for them. After the items were removed from the shelves, they would be sent over to Yang''s rented place in a small truck.


    These surplus industrial products, a result of overproduction, were repackaged in bulk after removing the packaging, then brought over to the magic plane by Yang, directly solving the problem of meals for his human employees.


    If Yang Qiu was even more unscrupulous, he might have even brought expired cat food over¡­


    The absence of meat (as it was currently summer in the OtherWorld, and the Taranthan Wasteland was rather hot, meaning that it would be hard to preserve cheap expired frozen meat for a week) made the welfare food lacking in some ways. However, including Tuttle, who originated from the middle class, the group of former bandits were rather satisfied. Despite the constant harassment from the undead, they were still willing to stay and work.


    A fire was kindled outside Tuttle''s tent using stacked stones. Over the fire, a cast-iron pot of hot water dangled. Tuttle made a bowl of warm oatmeal and added dried vegetables, sweet potato strips, and biscuit crumbs to enhance the flavor.


    He then retrieved a small square stool and a cushion, fashioning them into an improvised dining table. Carefully arranging the assortment of mixed-grain oatmeal, two thick slices of bread, a portion of starched ham sausage, and a plate of biscuits and candies as snacks, Tuttle commenced his meal.


    Having learned from the unsettling experience of being surrounded by repulsive undead while dining in the open last night, Tuttle opted to enjoy his meal within the confines of the tent this time.


    While slightly stifling, it was far preferable to be curiously encircled by skeletons exclaiming crazy stuff such as, "He''s really eating!" or "Whoa, the food isn''t just texture, he''s actually eating it bite by bite!" or "What the heck, the devs have gone mad in their pursuit of realism!"


    And if being surrounded and listening to their bewildering ramblings weren''t enough, what Tuttle really couldn''t tolerate was the curious skeletons trying to poke their dirty finger bones into his plates¡­


    Under the protection of soundproof barriers and various defensive traps outside the tent, Tuttle enjoyed a lunch that he considered "respectable for a middle-class person." After tidying up the "table," Tuttle took the plates outside to wash them.


    Even though Exile Town had been abandoned for many years and the town''s wells were in a state of disuse, there was still groundwater available. To ensure that human "NPCs" had peace of mind, Yang Qiu had gone and purchased hand-operated water pumps from an agriculture machinery store and, with some effort, reinforced and repaired a few usable wells using earth magic, as well as adding water purification tablets to them. These wells were now functioning properly, and there was one located next to the designated construction site for the Wanderer Guild.


    As Tuttle pressed the handle to pump water and wash his dishes, a player that had just logged in curiously approached and squatted nearby with astonishment¡­


    "Is this NPC washing dishes? NPCs eat and wash dishes too?"


    The voice that came from this skeleton with the ID Once Your Teacher was a clear, feminine, and intelligent one that piqued Tuttle''s interest despite his lack of fondness for these eccentric undead beings, and he couldn''t help but glance over.


    "Yeah, before you came, he was making a fire, heating water, and preparing oatmeal," another skeleton with a sweet, youthful female voice chuckled. "Teacher Yu Chi, why did you choose such a peculiar game ID?"


    "Oh, when I created the ID on the official site, it didn''t warn me that IDs with more than six characters won''t be displayed. I originally wanted to have ''Once Your Teacher Forever Your Teacher,''" Once Your Teacher shrugged and stood up. "This game is really different, Xiao Liu. The three hundred yuan spent on the helmet was totally worth it."


    That''s right, Teacher Yu Chi''s helmet had been bought from a studio, allowing the middleman to make a profit¡­


    However, the studio boss that had bought quite a number of helmets and promptly resold them probably started regretting that decision when the server was opened.


    "Well, of course," the female player who was addressed as Xiao Liu chuckled. "I came on earlier and have been playing for quite a while, earning a few copper coins while completing quests. Just now, I saw someone saying they would buy game currency coins at a ratio of five yuan to one. And that''s more than enough to cover a meal."


    "Heh, earning money while playing," chuckled Teacher Yu Chi. "Totally worth it. Alright, you go ahead. I''ll go look around."


    "Aren''t you going to do quests, Teacher Yu Chi?" Xiao Liu pointed at Tuttle, who squatted by the well, washing dishes. "Quite a few people are farming this NPC''s reputation, and I reckon the Ranger job would be quite popular. Why don''t you try playing as a Ranger?"


    Tuttle glanced expressionlessly at the skeleton that was rudely pointing at him. Were it not for Yang''s rule against indiscriminately killing these filthy undead, just this rude transgression would have been sufficient for Tuttle to draw his bow¡­


    Teacher Yu Chi noticed Tuttle reacting to what Xiao Liu had said and exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, Xiao Liu, does it seem like he''s displeased with your attitude?"


    "That''s quite normal. The NPCs of this game are particularly intelligent and have bad tempers," Xiao Liu replied nonchalantly. "During noon, when it became nightfall in the game, and this NPC went to sleep, a bunch of players rushing to log off for lunch came to submit their quests. This fella ended up coming out with a bow and chasing those players down eight streets. Afterward, he even went to complain to the lord, and a bunch of traps were set up around their tents. These NPCs are more high and mighty than the players themselves!"


    "Ha! NPCs complaining?" Teacher Yu Chi laughed again. "This game is really interesting. Anyway, you go ahead and do your quests. I need to quickly explore and see what else is fun."


    "Alright, you go have fun, Teacher," Xiao Liu said. "Just be careful not to go to the south side of the town. There''s a particularly large rat over there, and it''s killed quite a number of people today."


    As Teacher Yu Chi was about to leave, several players came running toward them.


    "Your attention please, brothers and sisters! We are purchasing game coins, highest rate in the market, eight yuan to one coin. Alipay and WeChat transactions welcomed. Offer ends once 300 copper coins are collected. Anyone willing to sell game coins better hurry!"


    "It rose so quickly? It was 5 to 1 just a while ago." Xiao Liu looked over in astonishment.


    "Why are they collecting the in-game currency for? And why such high prices?" Teacher Yu Chi was also rather surprised. "Even the peak prices of gold coins in World of Warcraft Classic weren''t outrageous."


    "Oh, it''s because of some sort of bidding event that the NPCs have put up," explained Xiao Liu. "Over at that construction site, the Treasure Expert NPC has put up three Orbs of Deception, and there''s the Knight Instructor at the side who has an Undead Horse. It''s especially this Undead Horse with a starting bid of one thousand copper coins."


    "What? Doesn''t that mean buying a mount costs several thousand RMB? That''s practically daylight robbery!" Teacher Yu Chi exclaimed in shock.


    "Some people value having the first mount in the game; it''s a matter of prestige," explained Xiao Liu. "The next Undead Horse will only be available for bidding a month later. By then, the server would have more in-game currency in circulation, and who knows how much the price would rise. It definitely won''t be cheaper than the first one."


    "It''s just a game, things shouldn''t be like this," Teacher Yu Chi shook her head repeatedly.


    "Don''t forget those online PC games with limited edition mounts. People will go to great lengths to acquire them, even spending hundreds of thousands just so their characters can ride them. At least in this game, players can ride mounts for themselves, and the experience would probably be amazing," Xiao Liu chuckled.


    "It still seems excessive to me," Teacher Yu Chi remained unconvinced.


    At that moment, two new players rushed to the construction site where there were the most brick-carrying players, shouting at the top of their lungs, "We''ll buy in-game currency at a rate of ten to one! We''ll take all that you have! Contact us quickly! We are collecting till tomorrow morning!"


    Teacher Yu Chi and Xiao Liu. "What the heck?!"


    "I won''t be focusing on farming Ranger reputation for now, Teacher, I''ll go carry bricks for the zombie NPCs instead," Xiao Liu decided resolutely. "They give out one more copper coin over there, and there are opportunities to increase Potential value during quests. I''ll go and make back the money spent on my helmet first."


    With that said, the young lady dashed off eagerly¡­


    The brick-carrying players, who were diligently working to farm reputation and collect copper coins, immediately approached buyers to convert their copper coins into real money, though there were some who believed that copper coins would still appreciate in value and decided to wait and observe. Regardless of whether they were players cashing in on the spot or those observing, all of them quickly packed up their tools and prepared to move to another location.


    Just as Tuttle finished keeping away his cleaned utensils, a group of skeletons rushed maniacally toward him, demanding to complete a quest.


    Tuttle expressionlessly retreated into the tent and retrieved his longbow.


    The players who had just been rushing like mad dogs for the front row immediately became obedient and lined up in an orderly fashion¡­

 Chapter 20: Game Developer Yang Qiu

    First day of open beta, 8 p.m. Earth time. Three hundred players were all logged in.


    Yang Qiu, stationed in the Town Hall, sensed the connection from the souls of Earth inhabitants represented by the 300 glowing light spots. He could feel his mental limit greatly elevated, and a sense of peace came over him.


    "I definitely wouldn''t have been that miserable then if I had this current state when resisting the incursion of the elder god''s tentacle."


    With much satisfaction, Yang Qiu made himself a cup of milk tea and rested comfortably in his armchair, relishing the rare tranquility of his mind.


    While he had narrowly made it through back then, it didn''t mean that the elder god''s tentacles were easy to deal with. These tentacles, which carried a portion of the elder god''s will from the void, were also known as "elder god''s seeds"; beings that couldn''t resist the contamination of an elder god''s will would be assimilated and become "divine envoys" of the elder god. Unable to control themselves, these "envoys" would spread fear and wreak disaster on behalf of the elder god as they turned into mindless walking corpses.


    Wise men of this world refused to acknowledge these twisted wills lost in the void, the ancient dominators, and deities that were isolated beyond dimensions. Thus, positive connotations like "divine seeds" or "divine gods" weren''t used to associate with elder gods. Instead, these were referred to as "elder god''s tentacles" to distance them.


    In any case, regardless of what it was called, Yang Qiu didn''t pay much attention. He was largely indifferent toward those legitimately recognized gods, let alone elder gods¡­


    "A pity we can''t stop players from being reckless, nor can we keep them online 24/7¡­ Even Ou Huang, who has the highest mental power, can only stay in the game for about 12 hours before needing to log off and rest," Yang Qiu sighed.


    As for increasing the max number of players¡­ That wasn''t possible at present.


    The imprint matrix was already full of complex miscellaneous functions and was at its limit, with the souls of 300 players and 19 natives connected to it. Yang Qiu''s mental power wouldn''t be able to sustain the matrix if more imprints were added to it.


    Even essential game features like chat channels, private messages, and friend lists could only be activated when the majority of players had advanced to level 1, and these operations on the matrix could be sustained by harvesting the mental energy of players¡­


    "Elder god''s tentacles aren''t common and probably won''t appear for the time being. Having a minimum of 50 players online as anchors should be stable enough for now."


    Yang Qiu then observed the light spot representing the mind link to Charlie Rex and confirmed that the latter, whose mind had been on the verge of collapse, was now much more stable after a large number of players joined the matrix. His light spot was brighter than before, and Yang Qiu felt more at ease.


    If someone at such dire straits could be rescued, then there was no doubting the effectiveness of the imprint matrix''s anchor points.


    "Now, it''s time to verify the effect of the matrix on me." Yang Qiu set down his milk tea, calmed his mind, and entered a state of meditation. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Magic Technique: Meditation" was a commonly used technique to concentrate the mind and open up all of one''s senses to quickly absorb magic factors. The threshold to use it was really low, and ordinary people could use it normally with the assistance of runes.


    And precisely because of its low threshold to use, the rune of "Meditation" was mostly a strictly forbidden magic, whether it was in the realm of humans or the realms of orcs and elves.


    The reason for it was simple. Even without invoking evil gods or conducting occult rituals using certain forbidden ancient texts, the act of simply activating a meditation rune and coming into contact with magic would cause the user to come into contact with the "madness" within, which an average person''s mental power was unable to resist.


    When the gates to perceive magic were opened with the assistance of runes, what was gained wasn''t just immense power but also a terrifying mental storm that could instantly cause fragile minds to be lost¡­


    Legitimate spellcasters were extremely cautious when it came to using meditation to absorb magic, often relying on potions to maintain their sanity. So, what about ordinary beings whose mental prowess was far inferior to spellcasters?


    Yang Qiu had little knowledge about the races from other territories, but in the Navalon continent, where humans were the predominant race, there were always rumors every year about some idiots indulging in mysticism and misusing runes, only to end up sacrificing themselves, their families, and even their neighbors¡­


    In short, in a world where gods walk among mortals and the exceptional are insignificant, power comes at a price.


    Moreover, this was often a heavy price that was difficult to bear.


    Ten minutes later, Yang Qiu opened his eyes, revealing a joyful expression.


    "All the hard work wasn''t in vain. The matrix anchor is indeed strong!"


    Absorbing magic quickly during meditation was burdensome for Yang Qiu. Even though he wasn''t as worried about losing control as other native spellcasters, he still had to expend significant mental effort to resist the contamination within the magic.


    Put in a simple analogy, a spellcaster absorbing magic was like a thirsty man enduring the continuous punches of a strong man while drinking water in pain.


    As for Yang Qiu''s case, it was like being beaten by a group of mischievous kids with pillows while trying to drink water and suppressing the urge to spit it out¡­ While it was much easier than what regular spellcasters experienced, it was still uncomfortable, and there was still a risk of choking if he wasn''t careful.


    And when Yan Qiu meditated with the support of the anchors of the matrix, it was akin to having a glass barrier put up between him and those crazy kids. He would be able to drink in peace while observing their ugly antics¡­


    "After a prolonged delay of 60 years, I can finally make the spurt to Archmage!" Yang Qiu clenched his fist and began another round of meditation¡­


    Then another¡­


    And yet another¡­


    After four consecutive rounds of meditation, Yang Qiu''s magic was so abundant that it enveloped him in a faint blue light as if he was about to ascend on the spot.


    "That''s enough, I can''t be too excessive." Yang Qiu shook his head, suppressing the urge to meditate again, and withdrew a finely polished bone fragment the size of a fingernail from his spatial ring.


    He concentrated with his mind and diligently inscribed runes on it¡­


    The basic runes of "Basic Meditation," "Basic Battle Roar," and "Basic Windwalk" that players could unlock at random upon reaching level 1 and completing the job advancement task were engraved on such bone fragments. Once players were qualified to learn these "skills," these bone chips would be loaded into the players'' "game characters" as skills.


    That''s right, even though "Job Instructors" had been arranged, Yang Qiu didn''t expect these players to learn legitimate combat skills of their particular job through guidance from the instructors. If players were forced to spend years in real time to learn a skill, they would definitely curse the development team to no end.


    Thus, Yang Qiu could only resort to this cheating method of physically adding hardware to the "game characters," allowing these players to have an easy "one-click" power-up¡­


    Runes were the most straightforward and destructive way to utilize power. Players that "grew" with this approach would be akin to alchemical puppets, though it would require about 10 players to take on a legitimate professional powerhouse.


    But this didn''t mean that players couldn''t fight. They were unafraid of pain and death¡ªan army of unlimited resurrections with a one-hour cooldown!


    More than an hour later, Yang Qiu finished inscribing the bone fragments, and his dissipating magic power was nearly all used up.


    After making himself another cup of milk tea, Yang Qiu, who was taking a breather, vaguely sensed that something was off and hurriedly immersed his mind into the imprint matrix¡­


    "Not a single player has died in nearly two hours of game time? Have this bunch changed their ways?!"


    Yang Qiu curiously peered at the light spots representing the Fourth Crisis¡­


    Then, he discovered that apart from a few unique players who sought individuality, 90 percent of the Fourth Crisis were engaged in diligent work at the various construction sites.


    While it was something that Yang Qiu had orchestrated, witnessing such a spectacular surge in construction activity filled him with a great sense of accomplishment.


    "To reach a friendly status with an advanced NPC, one needs 5,000 reputation points, which translates to a solid 50 hours of intense labor.


    "Even if the most hardcore players pushed themselves to the limits, spending the full 12 hours (real time) online every day solely on reputation grinding, it would still take them at least three days to meet the initial bidding requirements."


    The maximum daily usage time of 12 Earth hours was clearly displayed on the helmet. If a player exceeded this daily limit, they would be disconnected from the game and be unable to log back in.


    The reason for imposing such a restriction was mainly due to Yang Qiu''s concern about encountering stubborn players refusing to log off and rest despite being mentally drained¡­ The game itself was designed to be played on the edge, pushing boundaries for players'' enjoyment. However, if incidents with casualties were to occur, it would undoubtedly attract scrutiny and lead to investigations or bans.


    Within three days, those who can achieve the bidding rights will find ways to get the copper coins produced by players, which in turn, motivates idle individuals to engage in labor-intensive activities¡­ Looks like there''s no need to worry about online rates until the end of the National Day holiday.


    Once this frenzy subsides, it will be time to release hidden quests.


    Via the imprint matrix, Yang Qiu leisurely scanned through the players online, focusing on 26 individuals with a Potential value of 40 or above.


    The majority of these 26 individuals, including Yang Qiu''s older sister, Yang Ying, were engaged in hard labor.


    Yang Ying seemed to have made two friends in the game, spending most of her time online with them. At the moment, all three of them were diligently completing quests near the fourth NPC on the southeast side of the town.


    "Looks like Sis has befriended some wise players," Yang Qiu surmised, seeing that the trio had selected this NPC for quests.


    It wasn''t that Yang Qiu thought his elder sister lacked intelligence; rather, she was the type of person that wouldn''t pay attention to details unless they involved matters of principle¡­


    The quest assigned by the fourth zombie NPC was to clean the river, which was similar to quests given by other zombie NPCs and was basically hard labor. However, as the one who personally set repetitive tasks for these zombie NPCs, Yang Qiu was well aware of the intricacies involved. The gravel and silt produced during the quest "River Cleaning" could serve as quest items for the "Collecting Building Materials" quest, which could be submitted in turn to the sixth zombie NPC a short distance away.


    In other words, the trio could complete three quests in the time others took to complete two.


    Seeing his sister chatting happily with her two newfound friends while working diligently on quests, Yang Qiu felt somewhat relieved and shifted his gaze elsewhere.


    Even the three veterans of the closed beta were also involved in hard labor. Give Me Medicine was grinding his heart out at Tuttle''s side, while Vanilla Pudding, who had originally been farming Warrior Instructor reputation, had switched to grinding zombie NPC quests, along with Blossoming Strokes.


    Vanilla Pudding was quite the player too. Not only did he find a zombie NPC for questing that was as cost-effective as the fourth zombie, but he had also gathered a group of gamers, probably a bunch of his casual fans, to do the same quests as him.


    Just as Yang Qiu was about to shift his attention to others, he heard one gamer pledge his loyalty to Vanilla Pudding, saying, "Don''t worry, Boss Vanilla. We''ll only sell the copper coins we earn to your friend, never to anyone else."


    Yang Qiu. "¡­"


    Alright¡­ This Qin Guan fella might have a slightly lower Potential, but he did possess the charisma of a leader among players. Yang Qiu speculated that if guilds were implemented, Qin Guan would definitely be the first to form one.


    "But, in this world, organizations formed by the skilled professionals aren''t called guilds¡­ Perhaps, after the conditions are met, it would be better to call the formed player group an alliance. It''s best to act according to the customs of the land we''re in."


    Organizations that used "group" in their name were usually mercenaries or thieves, while those using "association" linked with criminal activities or cults; legitimate and upright organizations (or those that pretended to be upright on the surface) tended to avoid using these two naming conventions.


    Take, for example, the Alchemist Association formed by alchemists, which was actually an organized crime syndicate¡­


    The legitimate organization formed by righteous spellcasters was called "Mage Tower."


    And the organization of righteous wanderers was called "Shadow of the Gale."


    The various armed forces established by individual countries were referred to as "armies" for larger ones and "squads" for smaller ones. Legally recognized private armed forces were referred to as "alliances."


    While it might seem a bit unconventional to refer to player leaders as "alliance leaders" in a fantasy-themed game, Yang Qiu had taken on the self-proclaimed title of "Lord of the Taranthan Wasteland." This title positioned him as the leader of a player group that was considered a legitimate civilian armed force within his territory.


    Taranthan was situated between the Rhine Kingdom to the west and the Duchy of Shiga to the east. As the game progressed further, players would be bound to come into contact with these two nations. If Yang Qiu''s group of players were identified as a "group" or "association," it wouldn''t be conducive to diplomatic relations.


    As for whether the neighboring human nations could accept this group of undead gamers, Yang Qiu wasn''t worried the least.


    As long as the Fourth Calamity could give the Radiant Sun Church, which would eventually come bearing down on them, a hard time, his legitimacy of being Lord of Taranthan would be easily resolved; whether the neighbors were undead or not wasn''t really a problem at all¡­


    After observing how Qin Guan enthusiastically recruited players to join him in gold farming, Yang Qiu finally turned his sights to the third person that piqued his interest.


    Number one player, Ou Huang, had initially started with a Potential of 54 which had increased to 56 after a day of gaming. Right now, he was active in a concealed basement in Exile Town.


    "You even managed to find this place, no wonder you are the number one player," Yang Qiu remarked as he observed Qu Huang meticulously rummaging through the basement.


    This player had logged in half an hour after the server was launched, and besides time spent offline for meals and rest, he had logged nearly 20 hours of gameplay, yet only completed a solitary beginner equipment quest.


    Someone capable of climbing Mount Everest at the age of 18 was definitely no ordinary person, so Yang Qiu could understand his disinterest in doing mundane tasks for petty rewards. However, it was quite baffling that Ou Huang hadn''t even raised any reputation with the various job instructors. His approach was rather unconventional.


    And while he hadn''t been doing quests, Ou Huang had been far from idle. He had explored every nook and cranny within the 1.5 square kilometers of Exile Town and also paid a visit to the giant rat in the south that prevented players from escaping the valley. Well, he also contributed quite a few defeats to that giant rat¡­


    At present, that giant rat had killed slightly more players than all the NPCs combined.


    When Yang Qiu had used discounted frozen chicken breasts to lure this giant rat into town and trap it at the southern entrance using black magic, he hadn''t expected this demonized rat to be such an adept killer¡­


    In any case, the player named Ou Huang had a completely different play style, unlike others who were interested in increasing their states. He, on the other hand, had a passion for seeking out things that other players had yet to discover.


    He was indeed the perfect candidate to gradually uncover the "deeper game background" that Yang Qiu intended to showcase through a hidden quest.


    However, Yang Qiu had no intention of letting Ou Huang become the trigger for this hidden quest.


    It was because Ou Huang didn''t quite embody the "player" archetype. How could he let a player that didn''t mindlessly do mundane tasks trigger hidden quests? If others were to believe that triggering hidden quests was based on some other mysterious factors, then who would Yang Qiu rely on to help with the reconstruction of Exile Town?!


    This sort of play style trend mustn''t be encouraged. Only a mundane culture of hard labor would reap benefits!


    Yang Qiu once again shifted his gaze and turned his attention to the most diligent quester in the entire game.


    Without a doubt, that title belonged to the studio owner, Mo Shu, with the ID "Eight At Once." But such a choice would also be¡­ impractical.


    Yang Qiu felt that allowing a studio to dominate the game wouldn''t be good for fostering the gaming culture here.


    Once again, Yang Qiu''s sights shifted to the most active non-studio questing player. Give Me Medicine, one of the three closed beta veterans who was diligently laboring away at Tuttle''s construction site.


    While Vanilla Pudding was busy recording videos for content and organizing other players, and Blossoming Strokes ran around all over the place, neither of them showed the same level of enthusiasm as Give Me Medicine.


    "Alright¡­ You, then." Yang Qiu''s eyes narrowed. "If you can maintain this level of enthusiasm for questing even after this bidding event ends, you will be the first to trigger a hidden quest."


    Without feeling any shame for his covert actions, Yang Qiu calmly stood up, left the Town Hall, and summoned the Undead Horse.


    And then he got on the Undead Horse and leisurely rode around the various construction sites.


    Wherever he went, awe-struck exclamations were elicited from gamers all around, regardless of whether they were busy with manual labor or chatting and strolling around.


    To be able to stand out among the countless skeletal creatures from the Dimensional Realm and be chosen by Yang Qiu, a high-level black mage, as a means of transportation meant that this Undead Horse, clad in black iron armor, with its flesh zombified and eyes emitting a cold purple glint, was incredibly visually alluring.


    When Yang Qiu arrived at the construction site overseen by the Knight Instructor, several players who were diligently farming reputation were practically drooling from their eyes¡­


    If not for the fact that Undead creatures couldn''t produce saliva, these players who intended to play as Death Knights would probably have drowned in their own drool.


    Knight Instructor Jerome was a handsome man with a full beard that still revealed his refined features. He wasn''t just handsome but humble and polite too. As soon as he saw Yang Qiu, the black mage who provided for them, he immediately stood up, took off his straw hat, and bowed, "Good day, Mr. Yang."


    "Good day, Jerome." Yang Qiu returned a smile and nodded as he dismounted from the horse''s back and handed over the reins. "I''ll entrust the Undead Horse to you. I hope you find an excellent new owner for it."


    After handing over the reins, Yang Qiu untied a crystal bead from his wrist, which was bound with sinew, and handed it to Jerome. "This is the crystal for summoning the Undead Horse. With it, even those who don''t know summoning spells can easily summon this horse."


    Jerome gulped and accepted the reins and the summoning crystal¡­


    Summoned creatures appearing on the trading market weren''t that uncommon, and the creatures from the Dimensional Realm that most people rarely encountered weren''t considered unique for a high-level black mage who could freely traverse the Dimensional Realm.


    However, Jerome still couldn''t understand why Yang had entrusted him with the task of distributing this horse¡­


    He could tell that Yang, who wanted to claim ownership of the Taranthan Wasteland, was an ambitious person. It appeared like Yang intended to train these rebellious but unexpectedly intelligent undead to become a more reliable and combat-ready undead army.


    But the question was, why didn''t Yang do it himself? Why had Yang delegated this task, which was a form of demonstrating strength and winning the loyalty of the undead, to him?


    Although he couldn''t comprehend it, Jerome, who was adept at understanding how to pander to those in power, still tied the reins of the Undead Horse to the notice board.


    Yang Qiu looked approvingly at this bearded handsome fella. Jerome understood he had purposely ridden over so that the undead could appreciate the magnificence of the mount and wouldn''t just use the summoning crystal to send the Undead Horse back to the Dimensional Realm.


    "Your work will be slightly harder these few days, but do your best. I have faith in you." Yang Qiu patted Jerome''s shoulder, then added, "Come over to the Town Hall later. I have some matters that need your opinion."


    In Jerome''s mind, he automatically translated Yang Qiu''s words as, "Come to the Town Hall and receive rewards after work." Thus, he grinned shyly and nodded.


    After Yang Qiu left, those players farming Knight Instructor reputation immediately rushed in to take screenshots of this magnificent black steed from all angles.


    There weren''t that many players interested in playing as a knight. Most of the players that were farming the Knight Instructor''s reputation were doing so to qualify for bidding rights and to sell it off afterward.


    Now, the more attractive the Undead Horse was and the more potential buyers there meant that these players could take advantage of the opportunity to earn a significant profit!


    Time gradually passed, and it very quickly reached 11:00 p.m. on Earth. Some hardcore grinders, who had been online for nearly 12 hours straight (Earth time), pinged with incessant disconnection notifications, rushed back to the respawn point to log off.


    Since it was also time for the advanced NPCs to finish their work, the Knight Instructor and Ranger Instructor stopped issuing quests. Grinders eager to farm reputation and win the bidding rights but hadn''t yet reached the maximum online limit also logged off, preparing to rest and gather their strength for the next day.


    Hal gave quest rewards to the final two players of the day and collected all the quest items back into his tent before grabbing some food and heading to find his most trusted friend Tuttle.


    Players in Tuttle''s area had already dispersed, and when he saw Hal approaching, he waved and greeted, "Is it quiet over at your side?"


    "Yeah, it is. Compared to the nightmarish experience yesterday, today was much easier," replied Hal.


    The two of them sat down in the open space in front of Tuttle''s tent and set up a pot over a flame, which they threw instant noodles, dried vegetables, and starchy ham sausages into.


    Before long, Finley, the Treasure Expert overseeing the planned construction site for the Wanderer Guild, came over with a bag of food to join the "communal meal."


    After the usual small talk, Hal lowered his voice and said, "Did you guys know that Yang gave that Undead Horse to Jerome?"


    "Yeah, those noisy undead have been talking about it incessantly for the past two hours. Oh, how I wish I could smash those constantly chattering jaws to pieces," grumbled Finley irritably.


    Hal and Tuttle had been relatively idle all day, but Finley had been the only one still constantly being bothered by those undead who, despite having no tongues, continued to chatter endlessly.


    Tuttle remained silent, hesitant to speak.


    "Don''t misunderstand me, old friends. I don''t think Jerome will betray us. He is our brother, and I trust him," Hal immediately defended himself.


    "Of course, Hal." Tuttle quickly nodded.


    Finley paused for a moment, his gaze shifting between his two compatriots, but he didn''t complain any further.


    Despite his somewhat irritable nature, Finley wasn''t foolish, and he couldn''t have become a Treasure Expert without some brains. In just these few sentences, he realized that their leader, Hal, was anxious because he felt his position of authority was under threat by the black mage, Yang.


    Silence fell upon the three sitting around the campfire.


    This peculiar atmosphere made Hal feel really uneasy¡­ Back when the Sacred Crows were on the verge of losing their last stronghold, he had indeed considered finding a strong backing to seek shelter, and was even prepared to bow down. However, what he could accept was the Sacred Crows attaching themselves to a reliable powerful backer, not having this backer extend their influence into the Sacred Crows.


    After a moment, Tuttle broke the silence and muttered, "I think¡­ I believe the Black Mage Yang is much more interested in those undead than us."


    Hal was taken aback.


    Then, even if his jaw was tightly clenched, this neatly trimmed former bandit leader couldn''t hide the embarrassment on his face¡­


    It did seem so. Arranging them to take on inexplicable responsibilities for those undead, whether issuing tasks, distributing money, or releasing the "Orbs of Deception" through Finley and the Undead Horse via Jerome¡ªall of it was Yang''s elaborate plan to win over and subdue those filthy skeletons that emerged from the underground!


    Compared to that, these former bandits were merely given accommodation, food, and assigned tasks that even children could handle without much difficulty. Every step was clearly arranged in the matrix, and they didn''t even have to use their brains!


    "Oh, it''s done. Let''s eat." Finley picked up a plate.


    "Mm, it smells delicious," Tuttle tried to change the topic and divert Hal''s attention as he eagerly picked up a fork and started eating the instant noodles.


    Hal struggled to hide his embarrassment and forced a smile. "Yes, it smells great, real great¡­"


    A few players, who were heading to log out at the respawn point, got a whiff of the familiar aroma and looked in surprise at the NPCs gathered for a meal.


    "Hey, hey, is there something wrong with my olfactory settings? Why does it smell like the NPCs are having instant noodles?"


    "You smell instant noodles too? What the heck, is it really the smell of instant noodles?!"


    "For real? NPCs having instant noodles?"


    These bunch curiously changed direction and approached the NPCs that were dining together.


    The three NPCs, who appeared to be leisurely sitting, eating, and chatting, simultaneously turned their heads. Six bloodshot eyes glared ferociously at this group of players.


    Players: "¡­"


    "Why does it feel like we''ll get cut down or something if we go over, huh¡­?" Player A remarked. "What''s going on? Why do these NPCs have such great murderous intent?"


    Player B came up with a wild idea. "Could it be that what they''re cooking in that pot is something that cannot see the light of day? I definitely don''t think it''s instant noodles."


    "Let''s take a look, come on! We are going to log out anyway. So be it if we die!" Player C suggested nonchalantly.


    Several seconds later.


    "Die, you filthy undead scum!"


    "The f*ck! NPCs are really having instant noodles! What is wrong with this game?!"


    A few other players heading out to the respawn point to log off witnessed the three NPCs chasing after players and wisely kept their distance¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Earth time, October 6, 2019, second last day of the National Day holiday.


    At six o''clock in the morning, quite a number of people struggling to get out of bed either unlocked their phones or turned on their computers to log into the same website.


    "Damn, I can finally download the screenshots and videos I took yesterday!" players from all over the country exclaimed in unison.


    Soon after, within just two hours, various screenshots and short snippets of the game "OtherWorld" were uploaded on a host of social networking apps by these players that had been itching to share them for a whole day.


    A few days ago, Vanilla Pudding''s video had gone viral and gained attention, along with much criticism. This time, with the explosive release of screenshots and videos, even netizens that weren''t gaming enthusiasts also took curious looks¡­ and the hype quickly escalated.


    The initial hype was somewhat comical because VR games were really niche, and it was difficult for the average person to connect this wave of realistic screenshots and videos. A popular question that emerged first was, "What sort of movie is ''OtherWorld''? Is it a domestic film? That''s impressive CG."


    Several "OtherWorld" players would probably have spat out their breakfast when they saw this popular question.


    However, these players didn''t have that much patience to explain to netizens what exactly "OtherWorld" was. Most just posted on the forum before returning back to grinding, completely unaware of the flood of posts from casual netizens who misunderstood it as a movie promotion campaign.


    It wasn''t until noon that a well-known online writer with the pseudonym "Blossoming Strokes" posted an essay along with screenshots on Weibo, which quickly spread across the entire Internet due to her reputation in the online literature community, that finally cleared up the misunderstanding.


    "Hello everyone, this is Blossoming Strokes.


    "A certain financial blogger''s post, ''Fraudulent black technology game deceiving Chinese people''s emotions & scalping foreign stockholders,'' released a few days ago caused quite a stir, leading to many uninformed onlookers criticizing the unscrupulous development team and vilifying my friend Vanilla Pudding as an accomplice to fraud. At that time, I didn''t have strong evidence to defend my friend, so I chose to remain silent.


    "Today, I can finally present solid evidence to prove to all netizens that my friend Vanilla Pudding is by no means an unscrupulous money-grubbing streamer and has never had any dealings with fraudsters or economic criminals.


    "''OtherWorld'' is a real and revolutionary VR online game developed by a Chinese production team. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to call it cutting-edge technology. Below are screenshots of my own in-game character and screenshots of human NPCs within the game. These images have not undergone any post-processing. Recorded in-game videos are attached to the appendix of this article as well."


    Below this passage, Blossoming Strokes posted several first-person perspective photos.


    The first was a "mass group photo" of over two hundred players crowded together at the spawn point during the launch of the open beta. The realism was outstanding, and the skeleton frames with distinct characteristics of age might not show expressions, but there was lively motion, indicating that this screenshot wasn''t taken from a static scene.


    Next, there were photos of players experiencing the immersive holographic game, running rampantly on the streets of Exile Town. Blossoming Strokes even had a special screenshot of a player that had fallen apart and was awkwardly picking up his own bones, which made for an extremely eerie picture.


    Finally, there were a series of frontal screenshots of advanced NPCs. Blossoming Strokes had spent half of the previous day capturing the clear faces of these NPCs and couldn''t spare enough time to complete her own quests.


    "Players can only create Undead characters, perhaps it''s on some sort of insistence by the development team. I believe that once the main storyline quests are released, the development team will provide us with a reasonable explanation of the game''s background. Based on the currently released super-detailed advanced NPC models, the development team is fully capable of creating character models that meet players'' expectations.


    "It''s not just character modeling, but the attention to scene details, day-night cycles, and even the details of NPCs'' daily life are also well crafted by the development team. If players didn''t know for sure they were playing a game, they might really think they had traveled to some other world and turned into undead beings.


    "I, too, can be considered a veteran gamer who has played games for over a decade. I''ve played numerous PC and console games, both domestically and internationally, and ''OtherWorld'' is the most meticulously crafted, immersive, and well-developed game I have ever seen.


    "The reason I believe that the game engine was created by the development team is that there isn''t any other game even remotely similar to ''OtherWorld'' anywhere in the world.


    "I believe that actions speak louder than words, and with the increasing openness and transparency of ''OtherWorld''s'' content, there shouldn''t be anyone insisting that it''s a scam anymore. I also believe that no one will unjustly attack my friend anymore without any basis unless such a person has ulterior motives."


    At first glance, Blossoming Strokes'' essay might seem like it didn''t say much, but on careful consideration, it was possible to see the numerous implied meanings of this online literary bigshot.


    Why was a domestically produced VR game, made with such dedication by a Chinese development team, relentlessly criticized across the Internet? Carefully ponder on the true essence.


    Blossoming Strokes had taken five minutes to type up this essay during her offline lunch break, and before heading back into the game, she checked the responses on Weibo.


    Many people were mentioning@ the financial blogger in the comments, hoping to catch his attention. However, the financial blogger didn''t reply.


    Blossoming Strokes smiled in satisfaction, closed Weibo, put on her headset, and entered the game.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Two hours later. Ke Jingguo, an academician of the Chinese Scientific Institute of Neuroscience, was busy in his laboratory when he received a phone call from his superior.


    "Old Ke¡­ Has neuroscience progressed to the point where we can play games using brainwaves?" The tone of his supervisor on the other end of the call was rather uncertain.


    "What kind of joke is this!" Academician Ke didn''t show any courtesy just because the other person was a superior.


    There was a moment of silence before the superior said, "Take a look at your email."


    "I''ll check it later."


    "Go look at it now."


    Academician Ke had a straightforward temperament, but he couldn''t confront his superior over such a trivial matter. After hanging up the phone, he reluctantly opened his computer impatiently and checked his email.


    The email sent by the secretary on behalf of the superior contained a compilation of recorded videos titled "Brainwave-controlled game," which featured different perspectives and was uploaded by multiple players.


    Academician Ke. "??"


    He quickly took out his phone and dialed back his superior''s number. As soon as the call connected, he shouted, "Who created this? Which country''s scientists did it?!"


    On the other end of the call, his superior was silent for a long time¡­

 Chapter 21: The Stakes are raised

    October 8, first work day after the long National Day holiday.


    At 2 o''clock in the afternoon, when Academician Ke Jingguo of the Chinese Scientific Institute of Neuroscience hurriedly arrived at the Center for Neuroscience and Intelligent Technology Innovation, experts in the field of psychology and cognitive science, professors from Beijing University, as well as impressive young talents from the NeuroTech Center, were already seated in the conference room.


    "Teacher Ke is here."


    The person chairing this meeting was Lu Yiyun, NeuroTech Center''s¡ªCenter for Neuroscience and Intelligent Technology Innovation¡ªdirector. Just turned forty, she was a rising force among the new generation of scientists in China, having presided over and participated in the development of several domestic AI technologies. She was an impressive talent possessing many patents.


    She was also a former student of Academician Ke.


    "There''s no need for formalities, Xiao Lu. Let''s begin." Ke didn''t bother with any polite greetings even when seeing his former student, raising a hand to stop Lu Yiyun, who was about to greet him, and found a seat for himself.


    "Alright." Lu Yiyun knew Ke''s temperament well and didn''t waste any more time, immediately turning on the projector.


    As the room of academics and scientists watched on, what appeared on the screen was a scene in a laboratory.


    A young man sat compliantly as researchers attached several patches, which were sensors, to his head.


    Then, this young man with electrode sensors attached to his head carefully put on a plastic motorcycle helmet connected to a mobile phone with a data cable. He paid attention not to dislodge the wires connected to the patches as he laid down.


    When this helmet appeared on screen, several scientists in the field of neuroscience and brain couldn''t help feeling a little twitching at the corner of their lips.


    This helmet, which seemed nothing more than a modified motorcycle helmet, was a "neural interface" or "brainwave receiver" that was even more impressive than the set of equipment used by Stephen Hawking. It really made them wonder whether they were dealing with a scientific issue or the occult!


    Within the video, the young man fell asleep instantly the moment he laid down, and snoring could clearly be heard.


    The researchers quickly recorded the young man''s brainwave data and various physical indicators.


    A few minutes later, the young man suddenly woke up and had a conversation with the researchers.


    After this conversation, the young man performed the act of falling asleep in seconds once more¡­


    "The young man cooperating with our experiment is a family member of one NeuroTech Center''s staff," Lu Yiyun paused the video and addressed the room of experts. "Six days ago, the subject purchased this helmet online from a game studio for 300 yuan. Three days ago, on October 5, he logged into a VR game called ''OtherWorld'' using this helmet, which claims to be independently developed.


    "Next, we have the footage recorded by the subject on October 5 within the VR game, in first-person perspective using the subject''s ''game character.''" Lu Yiyun gave a brief introduction and played another video.


    As this footage played, even though many of the experts in the room had already seen similar videos before coming here, they couldn''t help but be amazed¡­


    On the large screen, the blue sky, white clouds, and verdant distant mountains were displayed with incredible clarity. In the abandoned ancient town, skeletons with various bizarre IDs on top were running around wildly.


    When the perspective of the subject''s "view" was on the large group of skeletons, Lu Yiyun paused the video.


    "On the morning of the 6th, many such videos were uploaded onto the Internet. By that very same afternoon, we managed to get the cooperation of the subject. Upon obtaining the original video footage, we specifically invited forensic experts from the Public Security University to examine it¡­" Lu Yiyun took a deep breath before continuing, "The conclusion of the experts was that all the filmed skeletons didn''t resemble virtual models, but rather, real human skeletons."


    Solemn faces filled the room full of scientists and academics.


    "Based on the clear images in the video, experienced forensic experts can identify the gender characteristics of a skeleton. For example, in the case of the skeleton facing the camera directly, the female characteristics of the pelvic bone structure are quite obvious." Lu Yiyun understood the implications of her conclusion and said solemnly, "The most important point is that the forensic experts believe none of the skeletons recorded in the video are identical."


    Academician Ke''s brows furrowed, and he instinctively glanced at the old professor seated near him.


    Guan Guomin, head of the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Beijing University, also looked back at him with a grave expression.


    The two exchanged a silent glance while continuing to listen attentively to Lu Yiyun''s presentation.


    Lu Yiyun had already switched to the next segment, and in the display appeared¡­ several bizarre skeletons wearing short-sleeved cotton T-shirts and shorts.


    Surrounded by these skeletons was a middle-aged man who appeared to look impatient and was quite obviously gritting his teeth in anger.


    This middle-aged man was not Asian. His facial bone structure and features resembled a mix of Slavic and Latin American descent, while his limb proportions were like those of a black person.


    Of course, Lu Yiyun wasn''t focused on this "NPC" but rather on the fantasy world-style clothing worn by the NPC as well as the beginner outfits of the skeletons.


    After showing a segment demonstrating the dynamic representation of clothing and fabric wrinkles during player-NPC interactions, Lu Yiyun paused the footage and said, "We consulted material and texture model virtual engine experts from both North America and the domestic AI physics engine lab, and the conclusion reached is that¡­ even the most advanced laboratories in the world would have a difficult time achieving the real-time dynamic calculation of fabric materials and wrinkle changes."


    Li Yiyun paused for a moment before adding, "Experts from both sides agree that while this level of realistic fabric simulation could be achieved using computer graphics (CG), achieving real-time calculation would require a supercomputer acting as a server."


    And this was only fabric¡­


    At this point, all the scientists in the room could grasp what Lu Yiyun meant. Even the most cutting-edge laboratories worldwide would struggle to achieve real-time calculation of fabric physics, yet a self-proclaimed "independent development team of a VR game" managed to achieve it; Lu Yiyun, who was originally an expert in AI technology research, had her reservations as any scientist should.


    Academician Ke silently nodded his head. He could understand what Lu Yiyun was getting at. As an expert in neuroscience research, he found it hard to believe that brain waves could be accessed through such crude "receivers" and integrated into a "network game" located elsewhere, allowing for a series of complex operations. To make matters worse, it was all achieved by a group of self-proclaimed "game developers"!


    How could scientists show their faces if that were true!


    However, scientists must maintain a rigorous scientific attitude. Even if they felt disgusted, they still needed to maintain an objective and neutral stance. Therefore, scientists like Lu Yiyun wouldn''t outright deny it in clear language¡­


    Without explicitly stating her stance, Lu Yiyun proceeded to present three "real footage" clips provided by the subject.


    These three clips mainly featured "human NPCs" in the game. The first clip showed an NPC who became visibly angry and spoke aggressively after being provoked by a player.


    The second clip showed the NPC chasing and attacking the player with a weapon, and the most crucial third clip depicted a player harassing the NPC while eating, rudely picking up and examining the food, only to be killed by the NPC with a knife¡­


    These scenes, though not bloody nor brutal, left the scientists astonished.


    While it could be argued that the emotional expressions and language responses similar to those of a real person could be attributed to the game development team utilizing some means of using supercomputers as real-time calculation servers, the fact that the food eaten by NPCs being identical to commonly found products in supermarkets was eerie. Despite being removed from the packaging and placed on a plate, the NPCs'' food consisted of sausages and white bread!


    While the scientists in the conference room wore perplexed looks, Lu Yiyun presented a document sealed with a top-secret stamp from the National Security Bureau.


    "These are the results of a trace investigation conducted on the login helmets released for the game ''OtherWorld.''" Lu Yiyun swallowed nervously and took out a stack of A4 papers from the envelope and placed them under the projector.


    "These helmets were sent out between September 25 and October 1 from a suburban residential house in An City, G Province. The sender and the person who rented the residential house have the same identification documents. After conducting an investigation and retrieving the household registration records, it was confirmed that the registered identification documents belong to a person who was arrested in 2018 for suspected illegal activities and is currently in custody. It should be his identity that has been stolen."


    At this point, Lu Yiyun took a deep breath, and her expression became even more peculiar. "Local police conducted on-site visits to the area where the helmets were sent from and made contact with the landlord, nearby neighbors, and surrounding restaurants. It has been confirmed that starting from the middle of last month, the only person who has regularly entered and exited the rented house is a man in his thirties to forties."


    Scientists in the room. "?!"


    "One person?!" Ke Jingguo exclaimed in disbelief.


    "Yes, only one person," Lu Yiyun confirmed. "In addition, the cyber police department coordinated with the investigation and retrieved the past month''s online shopping records of the suspect impersonating someone else''s identity. It was confirmed that this person purchased 300 plastic compression motorcycle helmets, 500 plain white T-shirts produced by a small factory in Guangzhou, 500 pairs of workwear shorts¡­ and even placed orders for 500 denim waist pouches and 500 faux leather backpacks from a certain prison."


    Scientists. "??"


    "It can''t be¡­ the outfits worn by the skeletons in the game?" Ke Jingguo''s voice was trembling.


    "The very ones," Lu Yiyun answered.


    All of the scientists in the room were dumbfounded.


    "Furthermore¡­ Through investigations of the impersonated identity''s expenditure records, local police discovered¡­ that the suspect entered into a partnership with a local supermarket to regularly bulk purchase expired products removed from their shelves." Lu Yiyun gulped once again.


    "Staff from the supermarket confirmed that the expired products purchased by this man include various types of bread, instant noodles, biscuits, energy bars, sausages¡­ and so on."


    Every scientist in the room appeared to be in shock.


    "X-Xiao Lu," Ke Jingguo got up agitatedly, his voice trembling non-stop. "W-we didn''t alert this person, did we?"


    "During the joint investigation by local police and National Security Bureau, the person under investigation was not alerted," Lu Yiyun answered with precision and composure, although it couldn''t be denied that she was still shocked.


    The conference room broke into a cacophony of noise at this moment, with various Chinese accents thrown all over the place.


    "Silence please, everyone." Lu Yiyun hurriedly raised her hands. "The opinion of the leadership is that they hope we can reach a consensus and come up with a reliable plan. Regardless of what approach we take next¡­ the leadership will consider our opinions."


    Her words were still precise and didn''t divulge anything, but the meaning was clear¡ªthe leadership was aware of the implications of the black technology exposed by this mysterious individual, but wouldn''t recklessly interfere and instead prioritized the needs of domestic scientific research!


    Only then did the group of scientists calm down¡­


    Regardless of whether the black technology of the "OtherWorld" game was in the hands of a group or an individual, and regardless of whether this person was a practicing pseudoscience or a researcher with undisclosed background support, since this person was within the country and claimed to be a domestic resident, striving for cooperation and learning opportunities was necessary!


    Scientists who were dedicated to serious research were different from those in the fields of literature and arts. Such scientists who reached the top levels nationally and internationally didn''t have the desire to establish exclusive domains or claim exclusive rights! They just wanted to channel their energy and time into excelling in their respective fields and making significant contributions.


    If scientists were to behave like some people in the literary world, creating academic fiefdoms, then the world would be doomed!


    "Xiao Lu, where is the login helmet?" Ke Jingguo asked urgently.


    "With the consent of the subject, we attempted to dismantle the helmet. Unfortunately, it seems that the part in contact with the back of the head has been processed as a whole, possibly through some special technique. As a result, we couldn''t open it without using force," Lu Yiyun regretfully explained. "After leaving collecting relevant data and X-ray scan images, it was returned at the strong behest of the subject."


    As she spoke, she displayed photographs of the helmet and X-ray scan images onto the screen.


    Many scientists were no longer able to sit still and got up, gathering around the screen to discuss.


    From the X-ray scans, it was apparent that something had been added to the area where the helmet came into contact with the back of the head. However, the crucial bit was as if it was shielded by lead or a similar substance, which prevented the internal structure from being visible.


    "It would be great if we could get hold of a helmet for thorough research!" Ke Jingguo said, looking toward Lu Yiyun eagerly.


    Lu Yiyun nodded. "Unfortunately, all these helmets are already bound to their respective owners. We have attempted using a second person to apply for an account on the game''s website and use the helmet, but a successful connection couldn''t be established.


    "Currently, we have arranged for some staff to contact the development team via the official forum in hopes of acquiring both an account and helmet as ''players,'' but there has been no response."


    Ke Jingguo sensed that she was tactfully indicating that the family member of the NeuroTech Center employee wasn''t willing to contribute the helmet for scientific purposes, and his face immediately became stern.


    Lu Yiyun''s hands were tied as well. She very much wanted to dismantle and study the helmet, but the young subject''s cooperation with the experiments had already reached its limit. He had threatened to climb to the top of the NeuroTech Center''s tallest research building and livestream his suicide if anyone tried to forcefully take his helmet. There was no room for compromise¡­


    Seeing that Ke Jingguo wasn''t accepting her explanation and was about to get angry, Lu Yiyun quickly reassured him, "Teacher Ke, rest assured. We are actively in contact with the player who owns the helmet. If we can convince them to transfer the ownership, we will have the opportunity to dismantle and study it."


    Ke Jingguo''s expression softened after hearing this.


    If it weren''t for the leadership''s clear instruction to have the NeuroTech Center take charge of the work and if the representative wasn''t Lu Yiyun, a former student whom he highly respected, given Ke Jingguo''s temperament, he might have forcefully intervened and taken command.


    After all, the Chinese Scientific Institute of Neuroscience had sufficient funding and a rich reserve of talent. If they wanted to, they could immediately start the work by obtaining two helmets.


    Elsewhere, Yang Qiu had no idea that within just two days, so much about him had already been investigated¡­


    And even if he was aware, he wouldn''t be fearful. After all, he was the only person in the "development team," and the identity he used was a purchased one. Moreover, he hadn''t done anything fundamentally illegal or unethical.


    Even if selling the helmet might seem like illegal fundraising, the players who bought the helmets wouldn''t file complaints or report him, let alone the fact that he could run away at any time. And if he was "invited down for tea," it would just be a matter of getting a free meal from the police.


    At this moment, Yang Qiu was sitting in Exile Town''s Town Hall, happily watching the players about to engage in fierce competition over the four auction items that would be unveiled today.


    As of 3 p.m. on October 8, Earth time, Give Me Medicine who had ground tirelessly for three days, and even specially took a day off from work, had finally become the fourth to achieve "friendly" reputation with the NPC.


    Once his reputation bar reached the requirement, he had been camping at the Ranger Instructor''s construction site, eagerly awaiting the appearance of the fifth person.


    At Give Me Medicine''s side were the top three reputation grinders, and two that had bought the bidding rights.


    These two bosses were carrying new faux leather backpacks bought from the tailor NPC, which were currently considered symbols of "pay-to-win warriors" in the game. For players who couldn''t leave Exile Town, the sole purpose of these backpacks was to carry money.


    Give Me Medicine, too, was carrying the same backpack¡­


    He didn''t have to wait long before he saw two players rushing toward the Ranger Instructor to complete a quest, one after the other.


    And then¡­ the player who completed the quest first angrily exclaimed, "What the hell!" while the one who completed it later had a joyous smile on his face.


    Give Me Medicine and the other three top reputation grinders showed looks of sympathy. Obviously, the player who completed the quest first had miscalculated his effective working time. Even though he had completed the quest ahead of the others, the reputation points given during settlement weren''t enough.


    "Effective working time is really tricky, especially for reputation grinders," said Blossoming Strokes, who was also waiting to see the results alongside Give Me Medicine.


    "Yeah," Give Me Medicine nodded. "If the effective working time is less than an hour, the amount of copper coins given remains the same, but the reputation reward is deducted. I had a loss yesterday when I miscalculated by a few minutes. As a result, Tuttle only gave me 60% of the reputation rewards."


    Except for quests that involve collecting materials, which had no time limit as long as enough materials were collected, other labor quests had a restriction called "effective working time."


    To avoid slacking off or making it too obvious, players needed to complete quests for at least one hour of in-game time to receive the full "wages" from advanced and zombie NPCs.


    If there were miscalculations and the effective working time was less than an hour, with a disparity of more than 10 minutes, NPCs would refuse to settle the task. If the difference was within 10 minutes, the "wages" would still be given, but NPCs would ignore the player for a certain period of time. For example, if a player completed tasks continuously for three and a half hours and then submitted them, NPCs would "pay" the player for four hours of work but wouldn''t interact with the said gamer in the next hour of gameplay.


    Also, if it was an advanced NPC, only a minimum of 60 out of 100 reputation points would be given¡­


    As soon as the five top reputation grinders gathered, the Ranger Instructor, Tuttle Joe, took out three crystals strung with sinew, each engraved with the magic rune of "Illusory Disguise." Then, he announced that in half an hour''s time (game time), the five players could start bidding for the Orb of Deception.


    Give Me Medicine and Blossoming Strokes, both players with Potential values above 50 and the beginner skill "Identify" activated, immediately used the skill on the Orb of Deception in Tuttle Joe''s hand.


    [Orb of Deception]


    Equipment Effect: Grants the wearer the active skill "Illusory Disguise.''"


    "Illusionary Disguise" has a 50% chance of being exposed by intelligent creatures with Potential value higher than the user''s by 30% or more. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Give Me Medicine exclaimed excitedly, "Oh my god, the equipment name is in blue, it''s a rare item! It''s on the same level as Tuttle''s bow!"


    Currently, there were between 20 to 30 players that had activated the beginner skill "Identify," and these players had already "Identified" every NPC in Exile Town. Other than the Undead Resurrection Instructor, whose Potential value was much higher than that of players and nothing was shown when "Identify" was used, information about everything else, including equipment like Tuttle''s bow and Hal''s sword which had slain countless players, had been posted on the forums.


    "Bro, bro, what did you identify it to be?" a fellow reputation grinder camping at the side hurriedly inquired.


    While they were all competitors, since there were three Orbs of Deception available and five bidding rights, the competitive atmosphere wasn''t that intense. Thus, Give Me Medicine readily shared the identified equipment information with his fellow grinders.


    "It''s really impressive," remarked a female player whose ID displayed above her head read "Jia Luo." She listened to the details about the equipment and couldn''t help feeling envious. "Unfortunately, I don''t have enough funds to participate, so I''ll just have to watch from the sidelines."


    Give Me Medicine, curious about the situation, asked, "Considering the amount of effort you put into earning that reputation, why don''t you sell your bidding rights?"


    Jia Luo sighed in frustration, saying, "Don''t even get me started. I calculated the perfect timing to post about my bidding rights, and there was even a girl who contacted me, expressing her interest. But those big shot players monopolized all the copper coins from the laborers, leaving that girl unable to obtain any. She got so pissed that she just logged off."


    Give Me Medicine couldn''t help feeling sympathetic for her.


    As the price of copper coins soared to 12 yuan each, the big spenders realized that continuously raising their offers wouldn''t work. Thus, they followed the lead of Vanilla Pudding, the influential player who controlled the flow of copper coins from its source, using both online and offline methods to establish connections, recruit laborers, and create small groups. Although the guild system hadn''t been introduced yet, the players had managed to form the foundations of guilds within their community.


    Such a strategy would be impractical if it were in a game with tens of thousands of players on a single server. However, in "OtherWorld," where the maximum player count was only 300, it was possible to control the flow of copper coins by recruiting a sufficient number of laborers.


    For example, Vanilla Pudding''s efforts, together with Xiao Zhou''s studio, had a network of approximately 20 people contributing copper coins. This virtually guaranteed Give Me Medicine success in acquiring the Orb of Deception.


    During the casual conversation, the last player who had obtained the bidding rights happily approached them.


    Clearly, this player wasn''t a lone wolf like Jia Luo. He had the support of friends and also had a strong interest in the Orb of Deception.


    Meanwhile, the two big shots that bought bidding rights and were conversing nearby suddenly turned serious¡­


    Fortunately, the introduction of the Undead Horse by the Knight Instructor attracted the attention of the wealthier RMB warriors, alleviating some competition pressure for the Ranger Instructor. However, with four people vying for three Orb of Deception, someone would inevitably be left empty-handed.


    The two exchanged glances and simultaneously got up, making their way toward Give Me Medicine and the last player who had made the reputation requirements and expressed a desire to bid.


    "Hey, guys, how about we have a discussion and find a harmonious solution?" said one of the big shots with a smile.


    Give Me Medicine remained silent, but the last grinder to earn the bidding rights seemed interested. "What do you suggest?" he asked.


    The first big shot continued, "Here''s my idea: since there are four of us competing for three Orbs of Deception, one person is bound to miss out, while three will get what they want, right? So, instead of engaging in a bidding war right from the start, where the first buyer might end up at a disadvantage because the later buyers might not bid as aggressively, we should approach it differently. Even if we reverse the order, with everyone waiting for the third orb to bid fiercely, it would still result in substantial losses for each of us. We players would end up fighting each other and paying a premium in copper coins, essentially letting the system reclaim them for free."


    "That''s true. It''s not profitable. It''s better to sell the surplus copper coins to those wanting to grab the Undead Horse," the second big shot chimed in.


    As the Knight Instructor didn''t have the same popularity as the Ranger Instructor, only two friendly relationships had been established so far, leaving three spots still in contention.


    "That makes sense, but someone will still miss out," the fifth-place reputation grinder said with a shrug. "Also, it doesn''t seem like anyone among the four of us would be willing to give up on the orb, right?"


    The first boss gleefully said, "That''s precisely why I suggested finding a harmonious solution. Say, for example, let''s agree to set the price at 300 copper coins for each orb. The three buyers who acquire the orb will then give 200 copper coins each to the person who doesn''t get an orb. This way, three people get the orb, and one person gets 600 copper coins. Wouldn''t that be a win-win for us all? It''s better to benefit the players than the system."


    Jia Luo, who was just beside and listening, couldn''t help but exclaim, "Whoa! I can still get money if I don''t buy. That counts for me too, right? I have the bidding rights!"


    The first boss glanced at her and continued, "Having the bidding right alone isn''t enough for harmony. To negotiate a harmonious solution, you''ll need to be able to contribute at least 500 copper coins. Otherwise, wouldn''t the others be at a loss?"


    Jia Luo closed her mouth and fell silent. As a lone Ranger grinder, she couldn''t produce 500 copper coins indeed.


    The two players that had already sold their bidding rights felt a sense of loss when they listened in on the discussion, but they didn''t dwell on it any further upon hearing that 500 copper coins were the required eligibility to negotiate a harmonious solution.


    The final player to achieve the bidding rights mulled for a bit, then said, "Well that''s doable¡­ So, who''s willing to take 600 copper coins and quit?"


    The two big shots didn''t say anything and stood at the side, alternating between eyeing him and Give Me Medicine.


    Give Me Medicine sighed. "Don''t look at me. I''m not going to quit. I want to play as a Treasure Expert."


    The fifth-place grinder frowned. "Well¡­ wait a moment, let me discuss it with my friends."


    Then he brought his friends to the side, huddling up and whispering for a while. When they returned, his attitude had become much more cooperative. "I''m willing to pull out too. When will you all give me the money?"


    The two big shots were elated, and the first one responded at once, "That''s simple. We''ll pay you on the spot once the auction without raising bids is completed. This game has a limited number of players after all, and it''s not like we can create new accounts and restart. There''s no possibility of cheating you and running away."


    While saying that, the two big shots voluntarily displayed the money they had prepared¡­


    Due to the game''s extreme hardcore nature, where in-game currency was actual physical copper coins, both big shots had backpacks filled with several kilograms of copper coins.


    Using such "physical" currency was very inconvenient, and players had protested against the lack of inventory on the official website''s forum. However, the response from the game''s developers was a promise to introduce banks soon and provide players with larger-denomination "copper notes" for easier portability. Many players were furious at the developers for their pursuit of realism, which seemed borderline insane.


    Observing the situation, Give Me Medicine silently opened up his backpack as well.


    If a harmonious solution could be attained, Give Me Medicine was certainly willing¡­


    Yang Qiu, who had been observing it all through the imprint matrix, couldn''t help but sigh. "You guys really know how to play, even managing to negotiate a harmonious solution.


    "However¡­ I can''t allow you guys to disrupt the currency recovery. Sorry!"


    The heartless Yang Qiu immediately modified his instructions transmitted to Tuttle through the imprint matrix.


    And so¡­ ten minutes before the start of the auction, the Ranger Instructor walked up to this group of players that had managed to painstakingly achieve harmony and announced the auction mode¡ª


    "Blind bidding?!"


    The jaw of the first big shot, who had put in the most effort to negotiate this harmonious solution, nearly fell to the floor.


    An expressionless Tuttle said icily, "That''s right. All five of you will bid simultaneously, and the three highest bidders will obtain the orbs."


    Varying emotions came over the group of players.


    The fifth reputation grinder, who previously thought they couldn''t compete against the two big shots and Give Me Medicine, a closed beta veteran who had the support of Vanilla Pudding, clearly started to waver.


    The three orbs would be auctioned off in a blind bid, and everyone only had one chance to place a bid¡­


    In other words¡­ if others bid 300, 301 would be enough to win.


    There was simply no way of achieving harmony!

 Chapter 22: Illusory Disguise

    "Does our previous agreement still stand?" the fifth grinder asked. "Each of you will give me 200 copper coins if you bid and win the Orb of Deception at a low price."


    "Of course, as long as the three of us can win the coins at 300 copper coins and win the orbs, all the extra coins will be yours," said the first boss with a forced smile.


    "Alright, I''ll be awaiting the good news from you guys," the fifth grinder chuckled, beckoning to his friends, and the group of them went further away and squatted down.


    The two rich big shots stared at him for a while, then turned to observe Give Me Medicine who hadn''t budged from his spot.


    Give Me Medicine''s hollow black eye sockets were also fixed on the two of them.


    Although the skeletons couldn''t show expressions, all three of them knew that each of them was silently cursing¡­


    No one could be certain whether the guy who verbally promised not to participate in the auction actually intended to abstain from the bidding or if he was intentionally pretending and planning to secretly bid 301 copper coins during the blind bid!


    And even if that guy was genuinely willing to take 600 copper coins and walk away, there was still Jia Luo squatting nearby, who also had bidding rights!


    Jia Luo didn''t sell her bidding rights, but she still hadn''t left and continued to remain in the area, which at least meant that this female player, regardless of how much money she had on her, could definitely come up with the starting bid of 300 copper coins!


    In other words¡­ Regardless of whether the fifth grinder was putting an act or not, the three who were willing to go all out for the orbs couldn''t continue to abide by the "harmonious" agreement.


    This sort of verbal agreement could easily be broken as long as the agreed-upon conditions were not met. Jia Luo also had no reason to be a part of the agreement and would definitely make a secret bid.


    A blind bid was not the same as an outright auction. If the bids were open and a player who promised to give up their bidding rights suddenly raised their hand and made an increased bid, the others could still raise the price. But in a blind bid, everyone only had one chance!


    If they continued to agree to only bid 300 copper coins, the other two players with bidding rights could bid 301 and walk away with the orbs, not even having to give up any coins as consolation¡­


    Give Me Medicine sighed inwardly. It was evident that saving some money was impossible.


    The two rich big shots also fell silent, a sign that they, too, understood the harmonious agreement was useless in a blind bid.


    But¡­ there was still a chance.


    After the staredown between the two big shots and Give Me Medicine, both sides returned to their original spots and sat down.


    There were three orbs, and the three of them didn''t have a direct competitive relationship¡ªthey just needed to bid higher than Jia Luo and the fifth player!


    Give Me Medicine nervously pondered over what was the safest price to bid¡­


    At that moment, Blossoming Strokes, who had been silent all this time, reached out and poked Give Me Medicine.


    Give Me Medicine glanced down and saw Blossoming Strokes hiding her hands behind her back and making a discreet gesture with her fingers indicating the number nine.


    Give Me Medicine tilted his head, slightly confused.


    Blossoming Strokes used her head and gestured in the direction of the fifth grinder. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Give Me Medicine silently turned his head over. The fifth grinder and his three companions were sitting together, occasionally whispering to each other, seemingly in discussion.


    Blossoming Strokes poked Give Me Medicine with her finger once more and leaned closer to whisper, "I''ve seen that player''s friends a few times. They''re a small team of five players who only managed to gather some copper coins in the early stages and have been grinding on their own since then. I did some calculations just now, and the number of copper coins they can pool together should be around 800¡­ Also, considering that this group only carries money in their pouches and not a backpack, I think they quickly conceded when they saw the three of you carrying backpacks. I think the likelihood of this possibility is over 80% certain."


    Give Me Medicine believed in his teammate''s judgment and immediately nodded. "Alright."


    While the source of his copper coins was thanks to Vanilla Pudding''s help, he needed to fork out his own money for every single one of those coins, so saving as much as he could was naturally better.


    After a few minutes'' wait, the Ranger Instructor Tuttle Joe entered his tent and brought out five pieces of wrinkled paper. He also picked up five small charcoal pieces from the remains of a fire and distributed them to the five eligible players.


    All the players felt their eyes twitching as they watched this absurd means of a blind bid.


    The fifth grinder was somewhat stunned when he received the paper. He never imagined the blind bidding would actually require writing by hand instead of entering numbers through a pop-up window in the game system¡­


    And then¡­ this player didn''t bother to hide his intentions anymore. He calmly faced the scrutinizing gazes of the other four players and swiftly wrote a number on the paper.


    He didn''t hesitate much for his bid. After all, there were three wallet warriors with backpacks full of money present, and his chances were already slim. He just wrote down the amount of copper coins he could gather and called it a day.


    Give Me Medicine and the other two, who had originally planned to outbid this player, cursed in silence. They just knew that this guy had ill intentions!


    Jia Luo, who also received a piece of paper, sighed and dutifully wrote down her max assets¡­ She had been staying there all this time, hoping to take advantage of the situation.


    Tuttle couldn''t be bothered with these undead players and their scheming. Once they were done, he collected the five pieces of paper and, in ascending order, pasted the bids on the notice board. With a deadpan expression on his face, he announced, "The top three winning bids have been determined. Undead friends who placed bids, please come forward immediately with the copper coins for the transaction."


    There was no need for him to shout. Players in the vicinity, regardless of whether they were participating in the bidding or just spectating, had already crowded around.


    The top pieces of paper notes at the top had the exact same bid: 1001 copper coins, obviously from the two rich big shots.


    In third place, with a bid of 901 copper coins, was Give Me Medicine.


    Fourth place was the fifth grinder with the ID "Win By Grinding" whose bid was 801 copper coins.


    Realizing that his bid was only 100 copper coins less than the third place, Win By Grinding clenched his fist and cursed in frustration.


    "Never mind, Jiang Wei. It''s just not meant to be." Win By Grinding''s friend patted his shoulder and sighed. Scraping together 800 copper coins had already been the best their group of five could do.


    Win By Grinding had a final side-glance at Give Me Medicine, who managed to secure the Orb of Deception with just 100 more copper coins, then without saying anything, left with his friends.


    The fifth place bid was 342 copper coins, by Jia Luo, who didn''t even come close. She eyed the three winners and muttered with some disappointment, "You rich folks are so unfair, others don''t even stand a chance."


    "Hahaha, sorry about that," Give Me Medicine chuckled in delight. As soon as the two above two winners completed their transactions and left with their orbs, he immediately approached Tuttle, poured out the coins from his backpack, and placed them in front of him.


    Once he obtained the gem, Give Me Medicine immediately wore it around his neck and activated the skill on the accessory.


    Amid the amazed exclamations of the spectators and other grinders who gave up their bidding rights, Give Me Medicine transformed from a peculiar skeleton in a cotton T-shirt and shorts, with a waist bag around his waist and carrying a backpack, into a muscular, golden-haired man in a leather outfit.


    "Ahahaha, am I handsome or what, Blossom? Am I handsome?" Give Me Medicine lowered his head and looked at his well-developed muscles, thrilled with joy.


    "Handsome, totally handsome! You could be the lead in an American action blockbuster!" Blossoming Strokes exclaimed, giving a thumbs-up.


    "Whoa, Brother, how does your chest feel so real? Wasn''t your original form supposed to be a skinny skeleton?" One player couldn''t help but touch Give Me Medicine''s chest.


    "Is it real? Wasn''t it just supposed to be an illusion layer¡­ What the heck! It''s real muscles!" Another player followed suit with the touching.


    "Hey, hey, don''t just touch me like that!" Give Me Medicine quickly waved his arms to fend off these fellas who were being impolite.


    "Damn, this feels really good!"


    "Where the hell are you touching?!"


    The two rich big shots hadn''t planned to test the Orb of Deception on the spot, but witnessing the impressive effect of Give Me Medicine''s accessory made them curious and they decided to use it as well.


    And then¡­ one boss transformed into an elderly gentleman with a dignified face and the air of a general, while the other transformed into a muscular female warrior.


    "The heck! Why are you an old man?!"


    "How the f*ck did you become a woman?!"


    "I chose a female character¡­ Damn, does the illusion follow the player''s chosen gender?!"


    "Ahahaha! Don''t speak with your manly voice, I''m dying of laughter!"


    The players that were surrounding Give Me Medicine quickly gathered the rich big shot that was playing a female character.


    "Do all the illusions wear the same clothes? Can it be changed?"


    "Damn, this physique could be in a biology textbook!"


    The big shot who played as a female character couldn''t see it himself and didn''t mind the mismatch between his deep voice and the female illusion. He was rather delighted to be the center of attention and said, "Wait, let me see¡­ Yes, the outfit can be changed. There''s still a secondary skill on the accessory skill with three options."


    He then performed an on-the-spot costume change. In a swift movement, the bulky female warrior in the tight rider outfit turned into the same warrior in a long and elegant dress.


    "What the h*ck! Hahaha, it''s like a transvestite boss but with muscles!"


    "These chest muscles are incredible, really damn firm¡ª"


    Whii¡ªiik! Tukk!


    An arrow struck the head of the player who had rudely slapped the female boss''s chest with his bony hand, and he disappeared in a flash of light.


    "What the f*ck?!"


    The crowd of players surrounding the big shot playing a female character quickly retreated in a panic.


    Beyond the crowd, Tuttle lowered his longbow and coldly declared, "Death to those who show disrespect to ladies!"


    The crowd of players. "¡­"


    Big shot with the female character. "¡­"


    "Damn, is this NPC a feminist or what? Wait, isn''t this fella clearly a guy?" a player exclaimed in shock.


    "No, I think the Ranger Instructor just wanted an excuse to kill players. He didn''t show any mercy even when female players were grinding here and killed them just as ruthlessly." Another player cleverly saw through it all.


    Tuttle snorted disdainfully, not bothering to explain to these filthy undead¡­ Anyway, according to the rules, he could execute these undead on the spot if they did anything inappropriate. He would never miss an opportunity when he saw one!


    Unfortunately, no matter how much he killed these despicable undead, he couldn''t completely eradicate them. They would reappear lively and kicking after a certain period of time, which really frustrated him.


    The Ranger Instructor was known for shooting to kill without any hesitation, and this definitely wasn''t the first time. After the initial shock subsided, the players continued with whatever they were doing.


    Envious of the female character who could "change outfits," Blossoming Strokes eagerly extended her hand toward her pal and said, "Let me try, let me try it out too!"


    "Oh, oh, alright." Give Me Medicine, who had just changed the outfit using the secondary skill, quickly canceled the illusory disguise, took off the precious gem necklace, and handed it to Blossoming Strokes.


    Blossoming Strokes excitedly activated the equipment skill that appeared in the skill panel after wearing the accessory.


    And then, she transformed into a super muscular lady with a broader and more athletic figure than the female character-playing big shot''s illusion¡­


    Before Blossoming Strokes could recover from the shock of realizing her arms were thicker than most people''s thighs, she noticed that the players who had been standing next to her, including her companion Give Me Medicine, were recoiling and retreating from her in fear.


    These extremely bold players wouldn''t even be scared away by the most terrifying zombie NPCs, but this behavioral abnormality immediately gave Blossoming Strokes an ominous feeling.


    In a trembling voice, she asked, "W-what are you all doing? W-why are you keeping a distance from me?"


    "N-nothing, really, it''s nothing." Give Me Medicine, who had put at least two meters of distance between them, quickly shook his head.


    "It''s nothing? Then why are you still backing away?"


    "Just¡­ It''s really nothing." Give Me Medicine seemed unable to bear it anymore, stiffly avoiding eye contact and not daring to look straight at Blossoming Strokes.


    Blossoming Strokes: "¡­"


    She slowly turned her head to face Jia Luo, the female player who had managed to gather over 300 copper coins by herself.


    Jia Luo, a lone wolf and strong-willed grinder, couldn''t hold back the urge to gag and made an unpleasant sound.


    Blossoming Strokes. "¡­"


    Blossoming Strokes couldn''t accept the fact that her character''s illusion was even more horrifying than a zombie NPC and only assumed there was a problem with the accessory skill. Thus, she hurriedly fumbled to activate the secondary option.


    Upon making the selection, the default rider outfit on her illusory disguise transformed into the same gorgeous dress that the big shot with the female character had.


    Exclamations for "Argh!" and "Damn!" sounded from players who were already three meters away. Some screamed in horror, others covered their eyes with both hands, and a few turned away hastily and even ran away.


    The two big shots some distance away from the main crowd who had been excitedly experimenting with their illusory disguises looked over in astonishment.


    Big shot No. 1, whose disguise was an old man, revealed a sympathetic look on his face.


    "Something''s terribly wrong!" Blossoming Strokes shouted as she took off the Orb of Deception, forcibly ending the illusory disguise cast on her.


    Then, Blossoming Strokes dragged her teammate Give Me Medicine and ran to find Vanilla Pudding.


    Qin Guan wanted to play as a warrior and had no intention of playing as a knight. Moreover, as a broke streamer that understood his own economic ability well, he didn''t harbour any unrealistic fantasies with the Undead Horse.


    However, because there was a player in the small team he formed who had farmed Knight Instructor reputation and a wallet warrior that had sought him out because of his recruiting ability, Qin Guan was presently camping at the Knight Instructor''s construction site, where the outcome would be decided shortly.


    After the auction of the Orbs of Deceptions was completed, a fourth player that had farmed enough reputation appeared at the Knight Instructor''s side. And now, all the rich big shots and onlookers waiting around nervously watched the final dash for the last remaining slot.


    Blossoming Strokes arrived at the site and, without saying a word, put the Orb of Deception around Qin Guan''s neck.


    "Congrats on successfully getting the orb, Give Me Medicine!" Qin Guan said gleefully as he checked the equipment information. "Do you want me to try it too?"


    After confirming that using the equipment skill wouldn''t bind the orb, Qin Guan activated "Illusionary Disguise."


    In an instant, Qin Guan transformed from an ordinary, aged skeleton into a stunning and powerful beauty with a slender waist, well-defined limbs, and flowing wavy hair.


    Her physique was more athletic than Gal Gadot''s, her demeanor more assertive, and her appearance even more beautiful than Emma Stone¡¯s.


    "What the hell?!!!"


    Not only Blossoming Strokes and Give Me Medicine, but the players who were anxiously awaiting the Undead Horse auction''s conclusion turned their attention to Vanilla Pudding in unison and erupted with ecstatic excitement as if they had unexpectedly seen a top-tier celebrity beauty sitting among them while they were squatting at a roadside stall eating fried noodles.


    "Why!" Blossoming Strokes burst into tears. "I can''t accept this!"


    Inside the Town Hall, Yang Qiu couldn''t bear to watch the female player who had been passionately rallying "OtherWorld" and even delaying her own quests to defend the game crying her heart out.


    He silently exited the imprint matrix. "I didn''t expect this either¡­" muttered Yang Qiu as he awkwardly made himself a new cup of milk tea.


    "Illusionary Disguise can only modify the user''s appearance based on their own physical properties, and the original form is still those soldiers who perished on this ancient battlefield. When I gave you rows of female skeletons to choose from, who would have imagined the guy would have chosen the most beautiful one, while the girl picked the most horrifying amazon warrior¡­"

 Chapter 23: Lord Taranthan’s reputation:

    Yang Qiu had also considered allowing players to choose their own appearance and customize their characters; players that spent a lot of their time and effort into creating their own characters would have a strong sense of immersion and attachment to the game.


    The reason this plan couldn''t be realized was that the materials for alchemical puppets were too expensive. Setting aside the difficulty of finding a safe channel to purchase materials for Yang Qiu, who was currently a wanted man, filling a skeleton frame to make it presentable on the outside and stuffing it with random junk to pass off as a "poor-made" alchemical puppet would still cost at least ten gold coins in materials alone.


    So¡­ such a plan was shelved. Anything that required extra money was a hassle for Yang Qiu. It was easier for him to focus on producing and selling items like the "Orb of Deception" and "Undead Horse" that he could create himself.


    After having his cup of milk tea to alleviate the awkwardness, Yang Qiu once again immersed himself in the imprint matrix and observed the situation at the Knight Instructor''s construction site.


    The fifth player managing to achieve the "friendly" reputation with the Knight Instructor, Jerome, had emerged. He had just turned in a quest, and before he could express his joy, he was immediately surrounded by several skeletons and taken aside¡­


    There was only one Undead Horse, but evidently, there was more than one person who wanted it. Before this player could react, a bag of copper coins was dumped before him. "Three hundred copper coins to give up your bidding rights, deal?"


    "Deal!" the player answered decisively. "There''s no need for copper coins. Let''s settle it in RMB!"


    "Using such tactics to eliminate competitors! How shameless!" Onlookers, who had no qualms about joining the commotion, immediately started jeering.


    The bunch of skeletons, who had successfully eliminated a competitor, paid no heed to these passerby troublemakers and immediately had their companions drag away the fifth grinder that had achieved the bidding rights.


    And so, when the Knight Instructor NPC announced that the official auction would take place in half an hour, there were still only three players with bidding rights on the scene.


    Of course, these three players weren''t the original reputation grinders but wealthy big shots that had bought their bidding rights.


    While the participants of Orb of Deceptions'' bidding had initially managed to come to a harmonious agreement, the interested parties of the Undead Horse couldn''t do so.


    However, these wealthy individuals had reached a unanimous consensus before the auction began¡ªto contribute a small amount of money each and buy out the other player''s bidding rights on the spot.


    And this was only the later part of their plans. In the initial stage, these rich players had already seized the majority of the in-game copper coin sources, fundamentally preventing the emergence of new competitors.


    That was the reason the final player who achieved the reputation requirement could agree so readily because he, among others who had spent quite a long time here, knew very well that no one could produce enough copper coins to compete with these wealthy individuals.


    "It''s still gonna be very difficult!" exclaimed one of the three wealthy individuals, the big shot who collaborated with Qin Guan.


    The ID of this player was "Wild Geese Mound," and one could tell he was a rich youth with quite a solid background just by looking at his ID.


    He originally had little interest in things like mounts, but he was amazed four days ago when he saw the Lord of Taranthan NPC riding the flashy Undead Horse. On the spot, he used the pocket money he had been saving for a camera and exchanged it for copper coins instead. With Qin Guan''s help, he monopolized about 20% of the copper coins produced by the laborers.


    "Let''s do our best," Qin Guan comforted him. "Give Me Medicine only spent 900 copper coins and brought back the rest of the money."


    To avoid further provoking Blossoming Strokes, Qin Guan had already returned the Orb of Deception. However, Blossoming Strokes still seemed quite affected and logged out early to go have a meal.


    "Yeah, let''s just try. We need to drive up the price even if we can''t win the bid. Otherwise, we won''t be doing justice to our hard work these past few days," Wild Geese Mound grumbled, shifting his gaze toward the competitor who had managed to recruit the most laborers and posed the greatest threat.


    Qin Guan followed Wild Geese Mound and felt the twinge of a toothache¡­


    The one who the two felt most threatened by was a player with the ID "Brother Lahong."


    Brother Lahong wasn''t a typical tycoon who solved everything with money. He was a charismatic and popular figure, a big brother sort of tycoon, with whom many would feel a strong sense of affinity with. When he entered the game, he brought along more than a dozen brothers he knew from another online game. Within just a few days of the game''s launch, he had gathered over 50 players of varying types around him, more than what Qin Guan, an influential veteran of the closed beta, had.


    When Qin Guan glanced over, Brother Lahong noticed his gaze and waved to them.


    "He''s showing off before even getting the horse. How rude," Wild Geese Mound grumbled resentfully.


    Qin Guan. "¡­"


    Qin Guan thought Wild Geese Mound was slightly overthinking it. In fact, he actually knew Brother Lahong. In real life, the latter was a small business owner named Liu Shuang and had the same flamboyant style both online and offline. The earlier gesture was simply a friendly greeting.


    It was just the harsh reality that artistic privileged youths and honest self-made businessmen couldn''t be friends.


    After half an hour, Knight Instructor Jerome walked directly to the center of the players and raised his hand to announce the start of the auction.


    The bidding process was quite simple since there were only a few players with the rights, so simply shouting out their bids was fine.


    "3000," Wild Geese Mound was the first to bid, instantly raising the starting price threefold.


    "4000," another rich wallet warrior called out.


    Businessman Brother Lahong casually threw out a figure that shook the entire venue, "10,000."


    The onlooking crowd immediately burst into a frenzy.


    "What the heck!"


    "Is this f*cking for real?!"


    "I''ve been playing for days and only have several dozen copper coins, and someone can easily produce 10,000!"


    "That''s not surprising. Can''t you see he has more than 10 money bags (backpacks)?"


    Wild Geese Mound turned to Qin Guan who shrugged helplessly.


    After all the hard work and effort to qualify for the auction, they now couldn''t even produce enough to raise the bid¡­ No one could have anticipated this.


    The money made by Xiao Zhou''s studio as well as other players that were roped in by Vanilla Pudding, on top of copper coins Wild Geese Mound had collected from others combined, wasn''t even close to this amount¡­


    Wild Geese Mound wasn''t the only one affected. The other remaining bidder was frustrated as well and cursed multiple times. After nervously discussing with his companions, he reluctantly made a bid. "10,100."


    Brother Lahong raised his hand. "11,000."


    "F*ck!" the other bidder cried out. "Are you even leaving any room for others to participate, Lahong?"


    Brother Lahong chuckled. "Don''t get so worked up. I''m just saving everyone some trouble by quickly closing the deal on this horse."


    "I also want this horse. I''ve farmed over 2,000 reputation points with the Knight Instructor!" the other bidder resorted to pleading.


    "Well, if it''s not possible, you can come to our side. I can''t give the horse to you alone, but we can negotiate when there''s a need, like for completing missions and such. We''re all brothers and sisters here, so it''s all good," Brother Lahong said with great generosity. "Besides, this horse won''t be the only one available. Next month, when more mounts are released, we can all support each other."


    "Whoa?!" All of the other players in the vicinity were astonished. The two sides were still engaged in fierce competition, yet Brother Lahong was already extending an olive branch.


    "Was the game supposed to be played like this?!"


    The other bidder was also stunned. "W-what the¡­ Are you saying that if I don''t join your group, I can dream on when it comes to getting the next horse? Is that a threat?"


    "Hey, hey, don''t overinterpret. It''s just not fun that way." Brother Lahong hurriedly put his hand up to calm the situation. "I was just considering how difficult it must have been for you to raise so much money and still not be able to buy a horse. The tasks in this game are so hardcore, and I bet the job change at level 1 is going to be quite challenging. Who knows, maybe the Knight Apprentice''s job change requires a horse or something. If you were an outsider, it wouldn''t be easy for me to lend you the horse that our brothers and sisters worked hard to obtain, right?"


    "Fine! You win!" the other bidder immediately gave a thumbs-up. "Okay, you convinced me. If I can''t beat you, then I''ll join you. Does Brother Lahong need more followers to serve him tea?"


    "Whoa! What the heck?!" All the bystanders were once again astonished.


    When two armies faced off, cutting down the enemy''s general with a single blow was nothing compared to persuading the enemy general to switch allegiances on the spot. That was the epitome of true military cunning!


    Wild Geese Mound, the artistic youth, had probably never seen such tactics in his life. He stiffly turned his head and looked blankly toward the only person he could still trust, Qin Guan.


    Qin Guan felt a twinge of heartache¡­


    As cunning as he was, he couldn''t match the methods of a popular businessman adept in the ways of society. Just being a popular live streamer who played female characters unfortunately wasn''t enough.


    And thus, less than two minutes after the auction for the game''s first Undead Horse that was sold for a winning bid of 11,000 copper coins, the two groups of players who were once enemies now gathered together, ecstatically celebrating and taking screenshots with the magnificent horse. Only the bystanders and the third group who were left out shambled around in a confused daze.


    Yang Qiu, who witnessed this cunning move, didn''t know whether to laugh or cry.


    "I never imagined I missed out on such a big fish." Yang Qiu had to pay special attention to Brother Lahong from now on.


    This player''s Potential was rather ordinary. It was currently at 41 points, barely reaching the average passing mark for Earth players, and just enough to use the "Identify" skill.


    Yang Qiu shook his head seeing this Potential value¡­


    On the fourth day since the server opened, most of the three hundred players had gained an increase of 3 to 7 points in their Potential values. Among them, the number of players with Potential values of 40 or above and were able to activate "Identify" increased from the initial 26 to 68 players.


    This was a very normal level of Potential growth, just like how an overweight person who hadn''t exercised for a long time lost weight relatively quickly once they started dieting. Earthlings who hadn''t specifically enhanced their mental power had their souls sent here to "train" every day, so there would inevitably be a phase of explosive growth in the early stages.


    According to Yang Qiu''s reckoning, this phase of explosive growth should probably be maintained until a player''s Potential increased by about 30% of the initial value.


    After the peak of this initial growth phase passed, players would then hit a plateau.


    Brother Lahong''s Potential value of 41 indicated that he was in the midst of his peak growth. Judging from the circumstances, it seemed unlikely that he would reach 50 Potential value in this spurt. There was a significant chance that while the majority of players completed the first job change, this guy might not even have reached level 1 yet.


    But judging from his performance, it was clear that Brother Lahong wasn''t the sort of player that cared about game values. Uniting so many players around him had nothing to do with his gaming ability.


    While this guy''s Potential value was even worse than Qin Guan''s, Yang Qiu has confidence in him. "It doesn''t matter if a Leader-type player can fight or not!"


    Yang Qiu added a special marking to this player''s bright spot on the imprint matrix, categorizing him as a special labor force.


    Similar special labor forces had already been marked out by Yang Qiu¡­ He wasn''t intruding on players'' privacy and monitoring them out of boredom or curiosity; it was to identify special talents!


    Yang Qiu''s coercion and enticement had already reached their limits in enlisting the natives of this world as advanced NPCs. If the Taranthan territory was to expand and the Undead race was to grow stronger, it was necessary to make better use of the players¡ªthe group that would eagerly come running for quests, work tirelessly, and sacrifice themselves for the sake of "game values"!


    Just like this time, if Yang Qiu had hired natives to clean up the partially ruined Exile Town instead, he would be overwhelmed just by providing them with food, shelter, and wages and organizing their labor.


    But when turned into a grinding activity, all it took was some effort to create three crystal balls engraved with the "Illusory Disguise" rune and release the Undead Horse that wasn''t particularly useful except for looking cool. The players took care of the rest!


    Now, Exile Town no longer looked like its desolate and abandoned state from before¡ªdilapidated buildings that were completely unusable had been demolished, and all the garbage and waste materials on the streets had been recycled. Non Recyclable waste had been transported and buried at the foot of the mountains west of the town, and even the river, which had been clogged with trash for years, had been cleaned up!


    Next, all that was needed was to continue issuing quests to force these players to build the place up brick by brick.


    Questing to increase reputation with the various job instructors would go on continuously, and it wouldn''t be an issue getting these players to work hard and construct their respective class''s guilds.


    As for the areas outside the designated construction sites of the guilds and the vacant land cleared by the zombie NPCs'' quests¡­ that was also easy!


    Releasing the blood alliance system, allowing players to create their own alliance strongholds, and they would work hard again!


    Of course, just forcing players to slog wouldn''t work; there were still things Yang Qiu needed to do as a game developer. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Hidden quests had been arranged for, and he was just waiting for the right time to drop it onto the designated trigger''s head.


    As for the more critical job advancement quests¡­


    Yang Qiu''s gaze turned to the first tier of players ranked by Potential.


    There were a total of five players in the first tier, all of whom had reached level 1, which was the primary condition for job advancement.


    Firstly, there was Ou Huang who logged in with a Potential of 54 and had directly jumped to level 1.


    Ou Huang had a unique style. He spent the entire first day wandering around, abstaining from doing any quests until the second day. While others were working hard grinding copper coins, he had been farming Yang Qiu''s reputation at a leisurely pace. While others were busy speculating on the ownership of the undead horse, Ou Huang had focused on his own matters, as if he belonged to a different dimension from the other players.


    After him was Blossoming Strokes, whose current Potential was 54. This lady had achieved a Potential value of 50 two days ago, but she had been busy grinding zombie NPC quests to help her friend earn copper coins. As of now, she had yet to report to Yang Qiu.


    Third was Yang Qiu''s older sister, Yang Ying, with a current Potential of 53 points.


    After the forced labor event started, Yang Ying actively focused on completing zombie NPC tasks. It would probably take her a few more days to achieve the reputation requirement for her to undertake the job advancement quest.


    Fourth was Win By Grinding, the leader of a small team of players.


    Fifth was Unceasing Entropy, a friend his sister had made in the game. She, too, was busy grinding zombie NPC tasks, delaying farming reputation despite hitting the level requirement. Both Unceasing Entropy and Blossoming Strokes had approached Yang Qiu before, as they were players determined to play as a spellcaster class.


    "Looks like the first one to start the job advancement quest can only be Win By Grinding," Yang Qiu mused as he rubbed his chin and turned his attention to the glowing light spot representing the said player.


    Then he noticed that¡­ this player hadn''t gone to accept the job advancement quest from Tuttle and was instead rushing over to the Town Hall alone.


    "¡­Hmm?"


    Minutes later, Win By Grinding, who had achieved the required reputation with the Ranger Instructor, pushed open the Town Hall''s door and came straight to Yang Qiu without even looking at anything else. Then he casually extended a hand and said, "Hello, Yang. Do you have any quests available?"


    NPCs were just NPCs in the eyes of players. Using polite words during interactions was considered good player etiquette, but respect or anything like that for NPCs didn''t exist. Even Yang, with titles of "Lord of Taranthan" and "Undead Resurrection Master," didn''t have any authority.


    Yang Qiu: "¡­"


    He didn''t really care about the player''s attitude. What bothered him was that he never imagined this guy, who had ground a friendly reputation with the Ranger Instructor, actually had no intention of doing the job advancement and had come over here instead¡­


    "¡­Hello, undead compatriot," Yang Qiu put on a serious face and recited his lines. "You have been awake for some time now and should be aware of the plight of our race, trapped in this barren land, surrounded by enemies. Are you willing to sacrifice everything for the revival and glory of the undead race?"


    Win By Grinding mumbled, "This NPC sure talks a lot," and cut in before Yang Qiu could finish, "Yes, give me the quest."


    This was why the NPCs often had such uncontrollable impulses to kill players, huh?


    Without saying another word, Yang Qiu issued the quest for raising reputation with him as the Lord of Taranthan and Mage Apprentice Instructor.


    "Manage the herb field?" Win By Grinding glanced at the information displayed on the quest panel and didn''t waste time talking to Yang Qiu, following the quest guide as he left.


    Yang Qiu watched this rude fella leave before taking a sip of his milk tea. "Grinding the Ranger Instructor''s reputation just for the opportunity to bid on the Orb of Deception. I must say he''s quite the talent¡­ Hang in there and don''t give up easily, the Lord''s reputation isn''t that easy to farm!"


    Jiang Wei, who was oblivious to this, followed the instructions and arrived at the back of the Town Hall. Sure enough, he found the dilapidated warehouse indicated in the quest panel.


    Upon entering the warehouse, he saw a row of covered iron buckets and an entrance to the underground cellar.


    Jiang Wei picked up an iron bucket marked as a "quest item," then stepped onto the wooden ladder that led into the cellar. After several minutes of walking along the dark underground passage, a naturally large underground cave the size of two basketball courts appeared before him.


    "There''s actually still this sort of place beneath Exile Town?" muttered Jiang Wei in astonishment as he stepped out of the tunnel and looked all around.


    This place appeared even larger than what his eyes could make out. In the innermost part of the cave was a flowing underground river, and above it, the cave walls were densely covered with several dark and deep passages that led to unknown destinations.


    The underground cave had no light source, but darkness wasn''t anything to the undead, so Jiang Wei could still see the environment clearly.


    And that was why he quickly discovered that the entire cave floor was crawling with extremely eerie vines. Jiang Wei felt his scalp tingle when he saw the bizarre shapes of these plants.


    The ground vines, resembling sweet potato vines, were covered with dense layers of white leaves. These leaves were extremely thick and had a shape that closely resembled human palms. At first glance, it looked like countless pale hands piled up on the ground.


    For a moment, Jiang Wei was completely dumbfounded. Then, he heard some clicking sounds coming from behind him, originating from the tunnel he had come from.


    The tunnel floor had been moist mud, and walking on it wouldn''t produce such a sound. This crisp sound was the result of bones knocking against something when a skeleton moved.


    Although Jiang Wei was familiar with this sound, he couldn''t help but shiver in fear¡­


    Stiffly turning his head back, Jiang Wei saw a skeleton with "Ou Huang" atop its head walking in while carrying an iron bucket.


    ¡­This guy has been grinding the Lord''s reputation for some time, huh? Naturally, Jiang Wei knew that Ou Huang was the player with the top Potential in the game, and he silently observed the other party.


    Ou Huang only glanced at him and showed no intention of talking before walking to those eerie leafy vines.


    What followed was¡­ Jiang Wei personally witnessed how frustrating the quest for farming the Lord of Taranthan''s reputation was, and his jaw dropped even further.

 Chapter 24: Hidden Quest

    Within the dark and damp underground cavern, water droplets cascaded from stalactites, creating a crisp and rhythmic sound as they landed on the ground.


    A sudden splash resonated as a skeleton used a gourd ladle to scoop water from the tranquil underground river to fill its iron bucket.


    Once half-filled, the skeleton lifted the iron bucket and made its way back to the "herb field."


    As it walked, water droplets slid down the exterior of the bucket, splashing onto the sole "herb" within the garden, clusters of human-palm-shaped leaves sprawling across the ground.


    In an instant, as if triggered by some hidden switch, these hands¡ªno, these leaves suddenly sprang up, extending long vines and reaching for the water-filled iron bucket menacingly.


    The skeleton''s sharp eyes and swift reflexes allowed it to swiftly stomp down on the aggressive leaves attacking the bucket.


    Then, slightly bending down, the skeleton examined the vines of this "herb," confirming that this particular plant didn''t need watering before immediately picking up the bucket and departing.


    From a distance, the herb appeared as a unified expanse, but in reality, it was planted in individual clusters. However, the peculiar density of these vine leaves filled most of the gaps between the plants, making it difficult to discern their individuality without a closer look.


    The skeleton approached a cluster of leaves that appeared no different from the others, but beneath those leaves, the vines seemed slightly withered. Using the gourd ladle, it carefully scooped water, skillfully avoiding the leaves, and poured it at the base of the vines.


    However, due to the dense arrangement of the leaves, it was inevitable that some water droplets splashed onto them. Consequently, the previously motionless leaves were activated, dancing in a frenzy¡­


    "Damn it!" The skeleton had no choice but to endure the countless leaves, with thin, elongated tendrils, flailing about like the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara. It slapped away the leaves while persistently continuing to water the base of the vines.


    Standing at the exit of the tunnel, Jiang Wei watched in astonishment.


    Trembling, he exhaled heavily and reviewed the quest information once again.


    As a dedicated and professional gamer, Jiang Wei always paid careful attention to the plot and quest text:


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    [Managing the Herb Field]


    Take care of the herb field for the Lord of Taranthan, Yang.


    "Great Leaf Vine," is an extremely valuable desert herb. The highly active leaves can be processed into a magic powder.


    Black Mage Yang obtained the seeds of the Great Leaf Vine during his travels in the desert 80 years ago and planted them in the underground herb field of Exile Town.


    Great Leaf Vines are resistant to pests and weeds, requiring no pest control or weeding. During the care of the herb field, attention should be given only to watering. When the surface of the vine shows signs of water deficiency, it should be watered promptly.


    Due to the extremely poor water resistance of the Great Leaf Vine leaves, excessive contact with water can easily cause them to rot. Leaves should be avoided as much as possible during watering.


    If the leaves rot due to inadvertent contact with water during the watering process, they should be promptly removed to prevent further decay.


    If inadequate care is provided during the quest, causing the entire Great Leaf Vine to wither due to water shortage or excessive water on the leaves, all participating players in the [Managing the Herb Field] will have their working hours and reputation points deducted accordingly.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The style of introducing the quest was quite ordinary. It described the value of the herb field''s plants and provided instructions on how to care for them. While the last condition of the quest was slightly annoying, considering that it was meant to prevent players with grudges from hindering each other during the quest, it was still quite reasonable.


    No matter which angle one looked at it, players receiving this quest wouldn''t think that it sounded very challenging. There was no need for pest control or weeding, just watering plants. It sounded like a breeze compared to manual labor.


    However, no player would have imagined just how troublesome these plants could be until they witnessed it in person¡­


    Jiang Wei once more read through the quest text skeptically. When he looked up, he saw that the water bucket Ou Huang was cautiously hiding behind was being grabbed by countless leaves extending from another Great Leaf Vine. It appeared that those leaves were about to pour water onto themselves. A startled Ou Huang let go of the gourd ladle and fought hard with the leafy hands for the water bucket.


    "¡­This is insane! Great Leaf Vine? More like Big Boss Vine!" Jiang Wei exclaimed in panic. Pressured by the quest condition and fearing the consequences, he couldn''t just stand by and watch. He immediately rushed over to help. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    With Jiang Wei''s assistance, the two finally managed to retrieve the water bucket through their combined efforts.


    However, because Ou Huang hadn''t been able to gain control in time, about two-fifths of the water in the bucket spilled out and splashed onto a persistent leaf hand clinging to the rim.


    It was then that Jiang Wei personally witnessed just how intolerant to water these thirsty leaf hands were.


    Even with slightly less than a half cup of water hitting the plump and sturdy leaf hand, it melted away like a foam model doused in sulfuric acid. The "wound" quickly turned into a fluid-like pus that dripped down, while the decaying bit rapidly spread toward the vine connected to the leaf hand.


    "What the heck!" Jiang Wei cried out. He wasn''t playing the Call of Cthulhu, but he couldn''t help but feel his sanity points rapidly plummeting!


    Fortunately, Ou Huang, who had been grinding the Lord''s reputation for several days already, was right beside him. Without any hesitation, Ou Huang grabbed hold of the decaying leaf hand and twisted it off the intact vine, preventing the entire plant from being affected.


    The severed leaf hand, strangely enough, seemed to possess a sort of biological nerve response, struggling weakly and writhing until it completely turned into pus¡­


    Jiang Wei. "¡­"


    Jiang Wei silently took a couple of steps back, then a few more.


    He regretted it.


    He shouldn''t have come.


    Who cares about this goddamn reputation grind?! Jiang Wei felt he no longer wanted to grind the Lord''s reputation; choosing to play as a ranger was just fine¡­


    Ou Huang, who had resolved the crisis, let out a sigh of relief. He glanced at Jiang Wei without saying a word, then picked up the gourd ladle and continued with his task of watering on his own in silence.


    His attitude¡­ It was as if he had never believed from the start that Win By Grinding would have the guts to stay on and become brothers-in-arms in grinding the Lord''s reputation. And that was why he couldn''t be bothered to waste any time interacting with this quitter.


    Jiang Wei. "¡­"


    He suddenly felt that turning around and leaving was akin to admitting defeat.


    But if he forced himself to stay and continue this damned quest just for the sake of his pride, Jiang Wei felt that the sacrifice would be way too great, and it really wasn''t necessary.


    Just as Jiang Wei was hesitating, two players appeared from the underground tunnel, each with an iron bucket. They stepped into this bizarre space with complete innocence.


    "There are people already grinding the Lord''s reputation¡­ Whoa! What''s that?!"


    The player leading the way exclaimed when she saw the peculiar plants in the herb field, especially the leafy hands that were thrashing wildly as Ou Huang was doing his watering.


    "Holy, i-is this the Great Leaf Vine? The medicinal herbs we have to tend actually look like this?" Blossoming Strokes was taken aback. "I can''t believe it¡­ Our magic instructor, with those thick eyebrows and big eyes, grows these bizarre things in secret?"


    Unceasing Entropy, who encountered Blossoming Strokes when she was accepting the reputation quest, was equally weirded out. "While I did consider that the Undead Resurrection Master who revives the undead might be a black mage and that the plants in his field wouldn''t be ordinary herbs, this is just too bizarre¡­"


    "Yeah, a black mage resurrecting undead doesn''t seem to fit on the side of justice. No matter how you look at it, he seems more like a supervillain conspiring to conquer the world," Blossoming Strokes rambled. "Wait, so what does that make us players? Resurrected minions of the evil black mage?"


    "I think so. The healer job that can be obtained after obtaining the required reputation with Lord Yang is called a Dark Prophet. That''s totally a far cry from the traditional Priest jobs in other games," said Unceasing Entropy.


    Despite their ridicule, the two already had their hearts set on the spellcaster class for the sake of their teammates and play as support. They courageously ventured deeper into the cave, following Ou Huang''s example of fetching water from the underground river.


    "Ou Huang, is there anything we should pay attention to for this quest?" Blossoming Strokes, who was always cheerful, took the initiative to approach the aloof Ou Huang.


    Ou Huang eyed the two of them, not in a particularly friendly manner, but still spoke in a somewhat amicable tone, "Don''t fill the bucket with too much water, or it might spill on the leaves as you walk. If any leaves get soaked, quickly remove them, or the whole plant will rot."


    "Got it, got it!" The two girls echoed as they imitated the way Ou Huang protected the bucket and carefully watered the herbs.


    And then¡­ due to their lack of experience, Blossoming Strokes leaned forward too much and was immediately grabbed by dozens of agitated leafy hands and was tossed away as she screamed.


    Fortunately, Unceasing Entropy, who was right beside, acted immediately and moved Blossoming Strokes'' bucket aside, and in doing so, avoided a disaster.


    "What the hell is this damn quest?" Blossoming Strokes came running back, wailing.


    She had just returned to her position when Unceasing Entropy, who was protecting the two buckets of water but failed to properly defend her rear, was successfully ambushed and slapped by a cluster of Great Leaf Vines.


    "Damn it!" Unceasing Entropy was furious and retaliated with the gourd ladle in her hand.


    "Don''t fight it and water quickly," Ou Huang reminded once more. "These plants have no brains. It''s embarrassing to get hit, but beating them is meaningless."


    Thus, the two annoyed ladies continued to water the herbs¡­


    Jiang Wei, who had been standing at the side idling for over 10 minutes, picked up his bucket and walked toward the underground river.


    The girls didn''t object, so how could he, as a man, say that he couldn''t do it?!


    "Tsk, what a predictable ego¡­" sighed Yang Qiu in the Town Hall above the cave as he watched over these four players that were trying to grind his reputation points.


    Although he didn''t know what was going through Win By Grinding''s mind, Yang Qiu could easily guess that this guy had initially wanted to give up solely based on his actions. If it wasn''t because he didn''t want to lose face and be compared to the two female players, Yang Qiu had no doubt that this fella would have turned tail and run to become an apprentice wanderer.


    That was why there was a saying that men were creatures that found trouble out of nothing. Even though the two girls hadn''t paid him any heed, Jiang Wei had started competing with himself.


    But this wasn''t a bad thing. Yang Qiu was desperate for magic powder and wouldn''t mind having more people helping him take care of these extremely delicate Great Leaf Vines. Elsewhere, these plants were usually cultivated by slaves from other races. Humans weren''t able to handle the strong attacks of those annoying leaves that only knew how to mindlessly seek out water and kill themselves from being drenched.


    And the cheapest and most affordable orc slave would cost at least a few dozen gold coins¡­


    In any case, players who were willing to work tirelessly for measly rewards like these in-game digits were truly too good!


    Feeling rather pleased, Yang Qiu turned his attention to the player meant to trigger the hidden quest that he had set up.


    Since no players had yet to start their job advancements, Yang Qiu would put that matter aside for the time being and focus on the hidden quest.


    Currently, the available quests were all mindless repetition and, while capable of stimulating players'' enthusiasm in the short term due to the rewards of game values, such zeal would definitely fade over time.


    This group of players was a highly capricious one. Even during the intense grinding event, there had still been some solo players who didn''t care about gaining copper coins and only focused on their own interests. Now that the grind fest had come to an end, if something wasn''t organized quickly enough to keep them occupied, this bored and restless bunch would likely stir up a whole lot of trouble.


    Give Me Medicine, unaware of the impending opportunity and risk that awaited him as the player who had caught the eye of the game developer, had returned to the Treasure Expert''s construction site after watching the auction for the Undead Horse.


    Now two Potential points short of reaching level 1 and being eligible for job advancement, he quickly accepted a new quest and resumed his mundane labor.


    Upon a player''s reputation with NPC Finley reaching "Friendly," the player would be eligible to undertake the Apprentice Wanderer job as well as receive a wanderer beginner weapon at level 1.


    When reputation reached "Honored," Finley would give the player a three-piece set of Ranger equipment, including a magic-resistant breastplate, speed-boosting shoes, and strength-enhancing wristguards.


    Achieving the "Revered" reputation with Finley would unlock the Treasure Expert job "branch" as well as the privilege of receiving special Treasure Expert exclusive side quests from Finley.


    While the reputation bar didn''t reveal the specifics of the job-restricted special side quests from Finley, no one would doubt the value of such quests. After all, the description of the Treasure Expert job clearly stated that this profession existed for the sake of gaining wealth!


    Despite being a geek, Give Me Medicine possessed an adventurous streak and was rather enamored by the concept of the Treasure Expert job. Even mundane labor tasks were tackled by him with great enthusiasm, and he never showed any signs of boredom.


    He worked tirelessly until it was night in-game, when it was almost time for the advanced NPCs to wrap up and rest. Through their experiences, players had learned not to disturb the NPCs when they were resting and thus completed their quests and gradually left. Some hurried to the respawn point to log out to eat, while others discussed visiting the zombie NPCs.


    Give Me Medicine had logged out for a bit after the Undead Horse auction to eat and now had not planned to go offline. He returned the quest tools to Finley and set off alone to the zombie NPC that Qin Guan had previously informed them about, which offered the highest task-to-reward ratio.


    During the auction for the Orbs of Deception, Blossoming Strokes had loaned him 150 copper coins without asking for real-world currency. She had simply requested that he repaid her after he farmed enough copper coins. Give Me Medicine greatly appreciated her trust and naturally intended to repay the debt as soon as possible.


    Exile Town''s piled-up garbage had been repeatedly cleared, and many of the shaky, dilapidated wooden houses dismantled, making the area much more spacious. Now, one could easily see the other ends of streets without any obstructions and could run freely without the risk of tripping, stumbling, or colliding with earthen walls.


    While calculating how much quest grinding would be required to pay off his debt, Give Me Medicine turned onto a small path without paying attention to his footing. Unknowingly, he tripped over something and fell over.


    "Oww, what the heck?! Who''s littering out here?!" Give Me Medicine got up from the ground, shaking his head in annoyance and picking up his bones.


    Then, his hand trembled, and he dropped a tibia bone he had just retrieved.


    He saw a grayish-white arm covered in tattered sleeves extending out from a slightly ajar door of a relatively intact wooden house just beside him, resting on the steps.


    "¡­Z-zombie NPC?" Remembering that he was in a game, Give Me Medicine quickly dismissed the idea that he had unexpectedly stumbled upon a crime scene. He picked up his tibia once more and pressed it against his knee and snapped it back into place. Once he was done, he reached out curiously and pushed open the wooden door.


    Immediately, he felt another tremor run through his body.


    This arm was indeed just a single arm.


    There was no body of a zombie NPC attached to this arm.


    "Are there¡­ incomplete zombies in this town?" Give Me Medicine cautiously inched to the doorstep and surveyed the interior of the wooden house.


    It was evident that this house had been previously cleared by players. The interior was clean¡­ extremely clean. The walls were blank, and the interior was devoid of any furniture or even the slightest trace of clutter.


    Give Me Medicine lowered his head and scrutinized the zombie arm lying alone on the doorstep. He was about to wonder if some zombie NPC had lost its arm here when he noticed an old, yellowed sheepskin parchment with tattered edges beneath the arm.


    Without a second thought, Give Me Medicine bent down and pulled out the sheepskin parchment.


    When he picked up the parchment and saw the words on it, his quest panel automatically popped up:


    [You have inadvertently discovered a severed arm without a body. Beneath it lies an aged letter.]


    [Hidden quest [Letters to Home] has been triggered. Do you accept?]


    "F*ck me?!" Give Me Medicine''s hands, tightly gripping the parchment, were shaking. "Hidden quest?!"


    Give Me Medicine wasted no time and selected "accept" at once.


    His quest panel refreshed with a new section labeled "Side Quests," with [Letters to Home] displayed under, though it was just the quest name without any text.


    At the same time, the sheepskin parchment in his hand displayed a translation in Chinese:


    "Dear Anna,


    It''s the 128th day since following General Charlotte to Taranthan. Every moment, I think of you and long for our home.


    We pioneers have established our own small town in Taranthan. General Charlotte has announced that one among us will be chosen to become mayor, who would then select the administrative officer, sheriff, and taxman.


    I am rooting for Yarlyn; he''s the most stable, reliable, and intelligent among us. I believe he would be the best candidate for the position of mayor.


    I, too, wish to vie for the position of sheriff. My father was once a respected sheriff, and I take pride in his legacy. I hope that our children will be proud of me too. I know that you support my aspirations, my love.


    I eagerly anticipate the day when you and our children arrive in Taranthan.


    Yours, Morris."

 Chapter 25: Quest Mobilization

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    [Letters to Home]


    You have inadvertently discovered a severed arm without a body. Beneath it lies an aged letter.


    Obtained letters: 1/5


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Give Me Medicine viewed the updated progress bar on the quest panel, then hastily tucked the parchment into his waist bag and started searching the small wooden house.


    "There''s nothing here!"


    Give Me Medicine had no choice but to give up the search after five minutes. This tiny wooden house had been cleared by countless players during quest runs. Besides dust and scattered dirt, there was nothing else to be found.


    "Could other players have taken them? No, that can''t be. If the letters were taken by someone else, this hidden quest would have been triggered long before I arrived."


    A frowning Give Me Medicine pondered for a bit before a thought struck him. "Wait a minute, I''m not the only one that uses this path. There were two players who were ahead of me earlier, so how could they not have noticed the severed arm?!"


    He quickly ran out of the door, and at that time, a player was conveniently jogging past from the direction of the respawn point.


    Give Me Medicine stood on the doorstep and called out, "Hey buddy, doing a quest?"


    The player stared at Give Me Medicine strangely as if he didn''t understand what this person was up to; then, recognizing the stranger as one of the three closed beta veterans, he politely responded as he passed by the front of the small wooden house, "Yeah, Brother Meds."


    Give Me Medicine watched as the player turned the corner, then he glanced down at his feet. The severed arm was still resting on the doorstep.


    This was after all just a game, so Give Me Medicine didn''t feel like he had encountered a supernatural event or run into a ghost.


    "Could it be¡­ the key item that triggers the hidden quest isn''t visible to everyone? Perhaps only specific players that meet certain conditions can view it?" Give Me Medicine started to get excited. "Just like a fortuitous encounter in the desert, where numerous players on the same server are digging for treasure and exploring hidden caves but only one lucky person out of thousands can trigger the Three Mountains and Four Seas event?!


    "The hidden quests in the game are equivalent to fortuitous encounters of other PC games! This makes sense!


    "Wahahaha! I''m the true luck god!"


    Give Me Medicine was overjoyed and immediately took screenshots of the severed arm and parchment letter. Then, he spiritedly picked up the severed arm and went off to find his companions.


    Previously, Blossoming Strokes had been grinding zombie quests nonstop to earn copper coins for Give Me Medicine and hadn''t had time to increase her reputation with the Mage Apprentice Instructor. Now that she was currently making progress, Give Me Medicine didn''t want to disturb her.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Qin Guan, who was capturing video footage and shooting scenes on the southern ruins in the town, looked up to see Give Me Medicine running toward him excitedly, seemingly holding something in one arm, but there was nothing there.


    From afar, Give Me Medicine shouted, "Vanilla! Vanilla! Can you see what this is? Do you see anything?"


    Qin Guan. "¡­I see a clown."


    Give Me Medicine first pulled Qin Guan to a spot further away from the ruins to ensure that they wouldn''t be discovered by the enormous rat. Then, he proceeded to fill in Qin Guan all about the hidden quest.


    "What the heck!" Qin Guan exclaimed anxiously. "Can this quest be shared? Share it with me if it''s possible!" Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Let me check." Give Me Medicine carefully examined the hidden quest''s description in the quest log. "It can''t be shared with others, but those who have the hidden quest can invite others to form a team and complete it together. Team members can receive rewards based on their contribution to the quest¡­ F*ck me! Gaining Exile Town reputation is the reward!"


    "Territory reputation has been introduced? When did that happen? Was there an update on the official site?" Qin Guan remarked in astonishment.


    "I checked the official website when I logged out to eat, but there were no updates or announcements. Don''t worry," Give Me Medicine replied. "According to what''s stated here, the first person to achieve ''Friendly'' standing in Exile Town¡­ will become the mayor? The hell?!"


    "Hurry up and read the whole text! Look through it carefully!" Qin Guan exclaimed, exasperated.


    Give Me Medicine was the sort of reckless hardcore gamer that had great enthusiasm grinding for game values or participating in events but never bothered to properly read the plot or quest texts.


    This time, Give Me Medicine focused and carefully read through the quest description. Now it dawned on him that this hidden quest was far more than a simple fortuitous encounter; its importance was more significant.


    "Oh my goodness! This quest¡­ It''s an activation quest for the opening of Exile Town. Once its completion reaches 60%, exploration mode will be unlocked, allowing players to form teams and venture out of the town to fight monsters!" Give Me Medicine exclaimed in astonishment.


    "At 70% completion, the Territory Prestige system will be unlocked. The first player that reaches ''Friendly'' standing will become Exile Town''s mayor, and the position will rotate monthly based on the highest Territory Prestige¡­


    "At 80% completion, the Blood Alliance system will be released. Players can contribute resources and copper coins to Lord Yang to obtain land to establish their own Alliance base. These bases can serve as a respawn point and a storage facility for alliance members."


    Qin Guan took a deep breath and grabbed Give Me Medicine by the collar. "What else?" he urged.


    "I-if the player fails the quest due to improper actions or if the completion rate is below 60%, the aforementioned features to be unlocked will be temporarily suspended and postponed until the next triggered hidden quest¡­" Give Me Medicine cried out.


    Qin Guan. "¡­"


    Today was the fourth day since the game''s release. But for the players, their time spent in the game had already exceeded what they experienced in a week of reality.


    During this week, other than a handful that didn''t care about game values or were interested in making some extra pocket money, the majority of players had been grinding tirelessly.


    Finally, when the unscrupulous developers decided to hand over the conventional gameplay elements such as monster hunting and guild establishment to the players, it turned out to be tied to a randomly triggered hidden quest. If the quest failed, Give Me Medicine, as the trigger, would undoubtedly be subject to the wrath and condemnation of many angry players¡­


    "¡­I understand." Qin Guan patted Give Me Medicine''s shoulder. "Don''t rush to complete this quest alone and avoid wandering aimlessly to prevent any accidental mishaps. Log out early and get some sleep. When you wake up, after midnight, send me the screenshots you took. I''ll rally the big shots in the forum and mobilize them to tackle this quest together.


    "Your share of the quest rewards may be split, but at least you won''t bear the responsibility alone. What do you think?"


    "Let''s do it! Thank you, Vanilla!" Give Me Medicine nodded vigorously.


    The idea of monopolizing the quest rewards and not allowing others to get involved was something that Give Me Medicine, an adult, would never entertain. Considering the hardcore nature of the game, just mindlessly grinding reputation quests alone was more than enough to bring players to tears.


    Tackling a heavyweight hidden quest linked to the opening phase of the game''s content all by himself was pure wishful thinking!


    He intended to keep playing this game for a long time and didn''t want to be labeled as an eternal sinner right from the start!


    Between midnight and 2am was when the forum for "OtherWorld" was most active. Players needed to wait until after midnight to download the screenshots and gameplay videos they had captured throughout the day from the official website. Many players would casually share their screenshots and videos on the forum to garner some attention and boost their name in the game.


    For the community of players, these visuals that they could see in the game every day had since lost their novelty. However, considering that the total number of players was only 300 while the number of registered forum accounts was several tens of thousands, it meant that there were still a massive number of keen video game fans who were quite interested in this game which they couldn''t personally experience.


    At five minutes past midnight, a post titled "Shocking! Hundreds Witness Conclusive Evidence That Vanilla Boss is Busty!" appeared on the forum, instantly capturing the attention of the non-playing enthusiasts and rapidly gaining popularity.


    This post, shared by one of Qin Guan''s fans, presented multiple-angled screenshots and a comprehensive view of the scene where Qin Guan equipped the Orb of Deception and completely aesthetically overshadowed everyone at the Knight Instructor''s construction site.


    Amid the crowd of skeletons in shabby white T-shirts and shorts stood a remarkable female warrior with wavy black hair, exuding an air of elegance and confidence. The description of her overshadowing presence was absolutely accurate, without a hint of exaggeration.


    To add insult to injury, after several pages of replies from both non-playing enthusiasts and genuine players, the original poster sneakily shared two additional images provided by someone else, captured at the Treasure Expert''s construction site.


    The first screenshot depicted a muscular illusory disguise of the big shot with the female character, dressed in a magnificent Renaissance-style evening gown. As soon as the image appeared, countless non-playing enthusiasts burst into laughter.


    The second screenshot was Blossoming Strokes'' illusory disguise.


    "Argh, my eyes! I''m going blind!"


    "Oh no! My eyes!!!"


    "Thank you, OP. Now my supper is ruined."


    "Censor it! Censor it! I''m going to report this post!"


    "My god! Even the governor in a miniskirt would be 100 times more pleasant to the eyes than this thing! What did Madam Blossom do to deserve such punishment?!"


    "Give up, Madam Blossom! Don''t be human! Your skeletal frame is a thousand times more adorable!"


    ¡­It was fortunate that Blossoming Strokes was still grinding in the game and hadn''t logged out since accepting the Mage Apprentice reputation quest. Otherwise, she would have been infuriated by this bunch of clamoring non-players.


    What was even worse was that some non-players, with a talent for stirring up trouble, merged screenshots of Blossoming Strokes and Vanilla Pudding, then gleefully posted the finished product on external websites.


    Then, this heavily contrasting image was further edited to create memes such as "Your online girlfriend vs. your real girlfriend," "What you see in the mirror vs. the real you," "Someone else''s wife vs. your wife," and so on¡­


    After receiving the screenshots sent by Give Me Medicine, Qin Guan had been tirelessly editing videos. It wasn''t until 3 a.m. that he finished producing a well-edited video combining game content and a mobilizing message, which he immediately uploaded to Bilibili and the game forum.


    Then, Qin Guan took a shower and had a quick meal before preparing to wear his headset and continue his gaming session.


    This routine was "invented" by players who confirmed their bodies were asleep when they were in the game. By wearing the headset before going to bed, they could play while asleep. Using a U-shaped pillow to protect their necks, they would wake up the next day without any discomfort.


    The only downside was that they could only log in for a maximum of 12 hours within a 24-hour period. If they played too late into the night, they would have to count the hours they could be online for the next day.


    Before logging in, Qin Guan refreshed the official website and checked the forum.


    And then¡­ he noticed that whether in the video''s comments section or the forum, both players and non-players, regardless of whether male or female netizens, were calling him "wife"¡­


    Qin Guan. "??"

 Chapter 26: The strength of the first-rate players

    October 9, Earth Time, 4 a.m.


    Qin Guan, who had become the "wife" of many netizens, exited the forum and logged into the game. The sun had risen in OtherWorld, and the advanced NPCs were already at work.


    When Qin Guan logged in at the respawn point, he noticed there were people waiting nearby.


    Although countless "husbands" flooded the forum with comments after Qin Guan released his video, the content of the video itself carried significant weight. Various hardcore players, accustomed to pulling all-nighters, were interested in his invitation.


    "Vanilla," the first to greet him was the socially adept Brother Lahong, who led a few others over. He approached Qin Guan and shook his hand as he said, "I''ve watched your video, though I won''t join in because I''m not very skilled myself. However, these friends of mine are rather capable. Take a look and bring them along if they''re suitable."


    "You''re too kind, Brother Lahong," Qin Guan replied politely as he stealthily used "Identify" on the players brought by Brother Lahong.


    ID: Study Obsessed


    Potential: 48


    ID: Phantom


    Potential: 49


    ID: Guileless Gale


    Potential: 49


    While Potential value, the only game statistic at present that could be used for comparison among players, was rather controversial, the majority of players'' Potential was in the range of 40 to 50. Only a handful had achieved 50 and advanced to level 1, and there hadn''t been any who had successfully done a job advancement yet.


    Therefore, regardless of whether it was accepted or not, the gulf between one''s Potential value and the required 50 points for advancement was the criteria for distinguishing between experts and amateurs.


    The three players brought by Brother Lahong were on the verge of hitting level 1 and seemed rather sincere, so Qin Guan immediately put on a smile. "Thank you, Brother Lahong. And to you three brothers, we''ll be relying on you."


    "Well said." The player called Study Obsessed waved a hand in a grand gesture, similar to the style of a sophisticated gentleman like Brother Lahong. However, the voice of this player was a sweet and tender voice of a young lady.


    Qin Guan wasn''t fazed at all by this. While game characters in this game were divided into male and female, they weren''t skilled enough to discern gender based on skeletal frames, not to mention the large number of players using opposite-gender avatars. Before a player spoke, it was rather difficult to determine their gender.


    Qin Guan, who viewed gaming as his career, also didn''t believe that a player''s ability was related to their gender. Moreover, in OtherWorld, currently female players accounted for 60% of the players that had reached level 1. Even in most PC and mobile games out in the market, there were already a considerable number of skilled female players among the intermediate and high-level categories.


    "Please wait for a bit. Right now, only my friend, Give Me Medicine, has the privilege to create a team. I''ve already given him a call and he will join us soon. Once he''s online, he''ll pull everyone into the party," said Qin Guan.


    Several other players waiting nearby were encouraged to see Qin Guan readily accepting the three players brought by Brother Lahong. One of them took the initiative to approach and said, "Hello, Boss Vanilla, you can consider me a passerby fan. Although I competed with your friend Give Me Medicine for the Orb of Destruction, I hope we can let bygones be bygones, right?"


    Qin Guan eyed the player''s ID and immediately replied warmly, "Of course, in-game competition is normal. Are you also here to join us in clearing this quest, brother?"


    Jiang Wei, ID Win By Grinding, let out a sigh of relief. "Yes, I saw your video. This quest determines the unlocking of game content, and I want to help out."


    "Welcome, welcome!" Qin Guan didn''t wait for anyone else to speak and actively greeted the players waiting near the respawn point. "What about you guys? Are you here to lend a hand as well?"


    "Yes, yes!" Tang Jia couldn''t wait any longer and dragged her two companions. "My friends Unceasing Entropy and Yang Ying. They''ve both reached level 1 and should be able to help out."


    Qin Guan''s eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly as he glanced at Zheng Qingyue (Unceasing Entropy) and Yang Ying. "Of course, of course. I''m truly grateful!"


    In just a few minutes, three first-tier players had come, exciting Qin Guan even more, especially so when he saw Unceasing Entropy, who had quite a reputation for being a smart player due to the three mini theses she had posted on the game forum.


    Soon, Qin Guan''s other two companions, Give Me Medicine and Blossoming Strokes, also logged in.


    Blossoming Strokes had been grinding until the advanced NPCs got up and started their workday before logging out. After a bathroom break and a quick bite, she logged back in. She hadn''t yet had time to visit the game forum and was still unaware of her tragic image circulating throughout the Internet, so she was still in rather good spirits.


    Seeing that Qin Guan had already gathered a group of high Potential players in such a short time, Blossoming Strokes gleefully greeted, "Yo, the team''s already gathered up. That''s really efficient!"


    Give Me Medicine didn''t hesitate and immediately started adding these enthusiastic players to the team.


    After triggering the hidden quest, a team panel had appeared with space for ten more people apart from the team leader. Give Me Medicine added Blossoming Strokes, Qin Guan, Unceasing Entropy, Yang Ying, Win By Grinding, and the three players brought by Brother Lahong. After exchanging a glance with Qin Guan, he decided to include Brother Lahong and Tang Jia, who couldn''t bear to leave after bringing their experts over.


    They came with the intention to help after all, so it wouldn''t be right to disappoint them.


    Next, the team of eleven players, consisting of four first-tier experts, immediately set off toward the small wooden house where Give Me Medicine had first triggered the quest.


    "Tsk, even Sis got roped in¡­" Inside the Town Hall, Yang Qiu, who had been watching this bunch ever since Qin Guan logged in, frowned.


    His sister, Yang Ying, seemed to have taken a liking to this means of making a living after earning more than a month''s salary in just three days of manual labor. Without hesitation, she quit her low-paying, demanding job and devoted herself to the gold farming business in the game. Yang Qiu wasn''t particularly surprised by this. There were very limited job opportunities for someone with only a high school education.


    Yang Ying had always been ambitious, and her ambition wasn''t limited to mere words. It was reflected in her actions and her strong spirit. Even though she knew that her younger brother had connections with the game development team and even managed to secure a helmet for her, she never asked her brother to give her special treatment or boasted about knowing an insider on the game development team.


    In the conversations she had with Yang Qiu via social media, it had always been stuff like "come home quickly and let Mom be reassured," "you''re a minor, don''t recklessly sign any contracts," "focus on your work and don''t act like a child," "don''t spend wantonly and save for your future college expenses," and other such similar advice.


    In short, she was a reliable family member that wouldn''t cause any worries.


    Of course, even with such reassurance, she was still a family member, and Yang Qiu couldn''t help but have some personal concerns. Seeing his sister getting involved in this quest made Yang Qiu start to reflect on whether he had gone too far with the quest he had personally created¡­


    "Never mind¡­ It''s not like Yang Ying hasn''t been slain by NPCs before. It''s just a half hour of offline rest at most." Yang Qiu sighed and suppressed his biased thoughts.


    Epic quests were never meant to be easy, nor were they not meant to torture players. If these fellows thought they could mindlessly grind through the game until the end, all of Yang Qiu''s efforts would be in vain¡ªhardcore players ought to play a hardcore game!


    The advancement quests of WoW were much more challenging than similar games on the market, and had there been any player that never experienced being slain by the miniboss during an elite quest? But when the classic server opened, players still came flocking in!


    As the game developer, Yang Qiu was determined to make players truly experience how cruel this dark world could be.


    Meanwhile, the players had already arrived at the tiny wooden house. As usual, they thoroughly searched the house, but the team of players didn''t find anything.


    "After teaming up, we could all see the parchment and zombie arm that Give Me Medicine found. It doesn''t make sense that we can''t find any clues if they are right in front of us. Since there''s nothing here, it means that the only clues in this place are the parchment and arm. What does everyone think?" Blossoming Strokes was the first to speak.


    "I agree," said Unceasing Entropy, another player known for her intelligence. "This is a critical quest in unlocking further game content. From the contents of the letter, we can tell that it''s about the origins of Exile Town. Given such context, I believe it''s highly likely that the whole of Exile Town is part of the quest area. We probably have to search the entire town¡­ no, the key locations in this town."


    "Hold on a moment," Brother Lahong interjected. "With so many players running around grinding quests for the past few days, most places other than the southern part of town where the giant rat is have already been thoroughly searched. A lot of trash has also been cleared throughout the town. Can we really find any clues this way?"


    "This house was also cleaned up by players too," Win By Grinding suddenly added.


    "Uh¡­" Brother Lahong muttered.


    "Where do you think the key locations might be?" Blossoming Strokes looked toward Unceasing Entropy.


    "Underground," replied Unceasing Entropy.


    "Huh?" Brother Lahong was surprised.


    "There are a number of houses in this town with cellars or basements. These underground spaces are small, usually just one or two square meters, and seem to have been used by the former residents for storing supplies," Unceasing Entropy explained. "Because these underground spaces are so cramped, players don''t pay much attention to what''s beneath the surface."


    "Oh¡­" Blossoming Strokes came to a realization. "But when receiving a quest from NPC Lord Yang, we discovered that there''s actually a very large space beneath this town."


    "That''s right. The cellar of the warehouse behind the Town Hall leads to a space as big as a basketball stadium. So what about other cellars?" Unceasing Entropy went on. "Is it possible that players have come across some seemingly small cellars or basements that actually have passages leading to similar underground spaces, just that they''re blocked or collapsed?"


    "Makes sense." Blossoming Strokes stroked her chin. "If this town was once established by a group of ''pioneers'' for habitation, then logically, the people who used to live here would have considered safety and protection measures for their residences, such as building defensive structures like city walls and escape tunnels."


    "Now, we players can see that this small town is nestled in a valley, surrounded by mountains to the east, west, and north, with only one exit to the south, which is obstructed by that giant rat. We aren''t able to leave at all, so we can assume that¡­ beyond the south, there are even more dangerous things than that rat," Unceasing Entropy rambled on. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Clearly, the people that used to reside here abandoned this town because they were unable to ensure their safety when attacked by the giant rat and other things. But before being forced to completely abandon this town, they should have had emergency measures to fend off dangerous attackers," explained Blossoming Strokes.


    "That''s why it''s unlikely that the area beneath the Town Hall is the only underground space in this town. There should be other such spaces, similar to bomb shelters or the like," Unceasing Entropy added.


    "In that case, if we search the cellars and basements that players have discovered, we should be able to find some clues," Blossoming Strokes concluded with a nod. "Let''s get to work, then."


    The exchange between these two left others in a blank daze¡­


    Qin Guan, Give Me Medicine, Tang Jia, and Yang Ying silently exchanged glances.


    It seemed that Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy had a better understanding with each other than their own companions whom they had been playing with for days¡­ It was truly a complex feeling.


    "It would be quite a waste of time if all of us went and searched together," Unceasing Entropy spoke up again.


    "Let''s split into two groups. You take one and I''ll take the other," suggested Blossoming Strokes.


    "Your side should take the extra person. Yang Ying has activated ''Basic Battle Roar,'' which can make up for that lack of personnel in critical moments," said Unceasing Entropy.


    "Alright, then. Win By Grinding, Phantom, and Guileless Gale, come with me," Blossoming Strokes commanded.


    "Everyone else, with me." Unceasing Entropy turned to her teammates, focusing on Brother Lahong and Study Obsessed.


    Everyone:."¡­"


    The charismatic Brother Lahong, who usually had the role of a leader in this game, was rather surprised to be ordered around so succinctly without having a chance to say a word. However, in the face of these two capable and resourceful ladies, Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy, he hesitated slightly and decided to keep his mouth shut.


    This was a very crucial quest, and even the three closed beta veterans didn''t dare form their own team and attempt it; Vanilla Pudding had even released a video to solicit skilled players to join, so it was best for him to be obedient. After all, this full-immersive game relied on face-to-face communication, unlike traditional games that relied on voice tools where whoever spoke loudest had the final say.


    The trigger point for the quest was the small wooden house located in the central street of the town. The two groups were responsible for searching different sides of the town, with Unceasing Entropy''s group heading to the nearest houses with cellars as their starting point.


    After the groups split, Brother Lahong glanced at the people in his team. Though he didn''t have any ill will, he couldn''t help but challenge Unceasing Entropy. "Since we''re going to search the cellars players have already discovered, shouldn''t we wait for more players to come online and ask around?"


    "There are a total of 123 wooden houses in the town, and among them, 68 have cellars. Over half of these houses with cellars have been classified as dangerous and demolished, leaving 32 intact," Unceasing Entropy said without hesitation. "Using the central street as the dividing line, there are 13 intact houses with cellars on the eastern side. The cellars that were buried after the houses were demolished amount to 21."


    "Eh? You actually counted them?" Study Obsessed exclaimed.


    "It wasn''t just me who counted. Blossoming Strokes, Ou Huang, Win By Grinding, and a few others have independently conducted our own counts," replied Unceasing Entropy.


    "The official game website doesn''t provide any background information on the game. It simply introduces the undead race''s Resurrection Master recruiting us to return to the abandoned land of Taranthan in an attempt to revive the undead race.


    "We speculate that the reason why Lord Yang wants to resurrect the undead as well as the overall background information of the game are hidden within the quest line.


    "Since the official game doesn''t provide any triggers for the main quest, we all believe that players may need to fulfill certain conditions to activate the main quest line. That''s just something we have contemplated to some extent. Counting the visible buildings in the Exile Town was merely a trivial preliminary task," Unceasing Entropy concluded.


    Study Obsessed and Brother Lahong: "¡­"


    So this is the true strength of first-tier gamers? How disgusting!

 Chapter 27: Healing Style

    Zheng Qingyue hadn''t embellished anything in the first short essay she posted on the game forum. She was indeed an ordinary top student from an ordinary college located in the capital of a poor province. While it ranked lower in the national rankings, it still gathered talented individuals from the entire province, and needless to say, there was no shortage of academic talent. Therefore, Zheng Qingyue was not considered a prominent figure on campus.


    However, if she were to be placed in the nationwide group of young adults aged 20 to 30 nationwide, she would be considered an exceptionally rare genius¡­


    In any case, Zheng Qingyue, who had both intelligence and initiative, led four other players and explored several underground chambers. Finally, in a well-preserved cellar of a wooden house, she successfully found the second item for the quest. "Letter x1."


    "Dear Anna,


    On the 151st day after arriving in Taranthan, Yarlyn was successfully elected as the mayor, and my dear friend entrusted the opportunity of being sheriff to me.


    I can''t wait to share my joy with you, my love, but unfortunately, the merchant caravan only comes once a year. Every day, I eagerly await winter, yearning for its swift arrival.


    We have successfully reclaimed the barren land to the south and planted wheat, potatoes, and radishes, which are thriving.


    General Charlotte''s sheep ranch has also been established, and if all goes well, we can have our own ranch in two to three years.


    The goddess of prosperity has blessed us, and we firmly believe that the desolate land of Taranthan will become a fertile treasure that we can pass on to future generations. The climate here is pleasant, rainfall abundant, and the land is even more fertile than we imagined.


    When you and our child arrive here, you will definitely fall in love with this place.


    Yours, Morris."


    Unceasing Entropy passed the parchment letter around for her teammates to read, and after everyone was done, she put it away.


    Her team then continued searching for about half an hour, and in another underground cellar, using tools like wooden boards and sticks, they dug out the gravel and mud that players had filled and, to their surprise, beneath the layer of mud about one meter deep, found a dusty wooden door!


    "Found it!" Tang Jia exclaimed in joy. She reached out her hands and felt around the dusty surface of the door, finding a latch or something similar, and pulled it up with force.


    Study Obsessed, who had also come down to help clear the buried debris, immediately exclaimed, "Holy shit¡­"


    The underground passage, sealed for who knows how many years without any airflow, definitely didn''t smell pleasant. However, since the players were all skeletons, their sense of smell and taste wasn''t very effective. Players relied mainly on vision, hearing, and touch, with little to no sense of pain. So, it wasn''t a significant issue.


    The reason Study Obsessed cried out was because there was a decayed skeleton lying on the descending steps of this passage. The skeleton''s head was facing upward toward the exit, while its feet pointed downward.


    The skeletal remains had turned completely white, but the clothing on it still remained well preserved, seemingly a brown shirt with black trousers. There was also a shoe hanging on one foot, so worn out that only the laces remained.


    On the back area of the shirt were three exaggerated claw-like tears, as if a tiger had clawed it.


    Tang Jia lifted the wooden door and set it aside, and after glancing into the passage, she teased Study Obsessed, "What was that scream for? You give me a scare! It would be one thing if it were a proper corpse, but we see skeletons all the time, right?"


    Study Obsessed. "¡­"


    She didn''t really like Tang Jia''s manner of saying this, but for some reason, she couldn''t come up with a retort at that moment¡­


    The underground cellar was barely two square meters wide and couldn''t fit too many people. Tang Jia and Study Obsessed went into the passage first, while Zheng Qingyue went in next, followed by Yang Ying and Brother Lahong.


    Zheng Qingyue wasn''t in a rush to enter the depths of the tunnel and motioned for everyone to wait first. She crouched down at the slanting entrance of the narrow passageway, which was barely half a meter wide and could only accommodate them standing in single file. Extending her skeletal fingers, she examined the remains lying at the entrance of the tunnel.


    "Do you think this corpse could be Morris?" Brother Lahong didn''t rush to descend; instead, he squatted beside Zheng Qingyue, watching her intently.


    Zheng Qingyue shook her head. "No, this corpse was probably a woman."


    Brother Lahong. "??"


    "I''ve studied some forensic books before, and there are distinguishable differences between the skulls of men and women. I first noticed in Vanilla Pudding''s video that player character models are independently designed," Zheng Qingyue explained, lifting the skull from the floor and pointing to the temple. "Look, this area appears smoother compared to yours, without any noticeable bulging."


    Brother Lahong: "¡­"


    Zheng Qingyue placed the skull back, then reached into the pockets of the corpse''s pants and, to her surprise, really found something.


    "A gold ring?" Brother Lahong showed a hint of interest as he watched Zheng Qingyue retrieve the item.


    "Not gold, it''s gold-plated silver. With ''Identify,'' I can view the item''s information. It''s a wedding ring." Zheng Qingyue raised the ring, gesturing for Brother Lahong to use the beginner skill.


    Brother Lahong couldn''t help but feel fortunate that his Potential had reached 41 points, allowing him to use "Identify." Otherwise, it would have been rather embarrassing.


    Upon using "Identify," the information of the ring was displayed:


    [A gold-plated silver wedding ring with the ''Anna'' inscribed on the inner side.]


    "Anna? Oh my!" Brother Lahong got excited. "Could this be the wife that Morris was writing to in the letter?!"


    "Probably." Zheng Qingyue put the ring in her waist pouch. "If a wedding ring is gold-plated silver, it means a gold one couldn''t be afforded. This suggests that the owner of the ring was financially strained, which aligns with the concept of Morris, the husband, leaving his wife and child behind to join the pioneer expedition to an undeveloped land."


    Brother Lahong, despite being a man, was quite a sentimental person and couldn''t maintain the same level of composure as Zheng Qingyue. With a gasp, he blurted out, "Hold on, could this quest be a sentimental one? Even the wife, who was far away at home, came to Exile Town and died at the entrance of this passageway¡­ Does this mean that the one who wrote the letters, Morris, has already died before that?!"


    Zheng Qingyue made a downward gesture with her finger, signaling the ones in front that were blocking the passageway to proceed forward. She continued to explain rationally to Brother Lahong, "Think about it carefully. This town was chosen by Black Mage Yang as the resurrection site for the undead race controlled by us players. We appeared in the game by emerging from underground¡­ and considering the nature of this quest, it''s clear that the planners are suggesting that not a single resident of the original Exile Town managed to escape. They were wiped out long ago."


    Brother Lahong. "¡­"


    On the other side, the group led by Blossoming Strokes, who also found a complete letter, now discovered a passage leading into the underground after searching through several cellars that had been cleared out by players.


    There weren''t any corpses inside the entrance of the descending passage, but a crumpled sheepskin parchment was lying on the stairs.


    Jiang Wei, who entered the passage first, picked up the crumpled parchment and glanced at it before passing it to Blossoming Strokes who was behind him.


    The contents of this letter, also made of sheepskin, were a complete mess. Most of the characters written resembled scribbles that even the system didn''t provide a translation for. However, a few disconnected words were discernible and translated by the system: "forgiveness," "it," "craving."


    "This is clearly one of the five letters players are required to find according to the system," said Blossoming Strokes, who handed the letter to her other teammates for perusal. "If we consider this letter, for the time being, as one of the letters written by ''Morris,'' whom we know of, we can at least conclude that something happened to this ''Morris.''"


    "Could his hand be crippled, or perhaps he went crazy?" Qin Guan suggested after glancing at the multitude of indecipherable characters on the sheepskin parchment and shook his head before passing it to the next person.


    "It''s more likely to be madness or severe psychological trauma," said Blossoming Strokes, rubbing her chin as she gazed into the depths of the passageway. "The appearance of this letter at the entrance of the tunnel, which hints at the writer''s descent into madness, indicates that the ''underground world'' of this town plays a significant role."


    Jiang Wei had spent the night grinding the Lord''s reputation with the two ladies. While he didn''t get along well with the top-ranked player, Ou Huang, he was still alright with the other two.


    Neither Blossoming Strokes nor Unceasing Entropy had the sort of demanding attitude of wanting special treatment because they were women. On the contrary, it seemed like both of them were women that wanted to prove their strength. They were the sort of people that made others feel comfortable interacting with them.


    When Blossoming Strokes said this, Jiang Wei chimed in, "While doing the Lord''s reputation quest, I guessed that unless the designers had twisted taste, the art style of the Great Leaf Vine didn''t fit. But if it is actually the normal art style of the game, then it''s possible that the game background isn''t the fantasy style that we all imagined it to be."


    "Are you suggesting that it''s Cthulhu Mythos?" Blossoming Strokes probed.


    "Yes." Jiang Wei nodded. "If the game background is Cthulhu Mythos, then the bizarre art style of the Great Leaf Vine makes sense. Moreover, the advanced NPCs often mention a place called the ''Kenyan Empire,'' a prosperous country with many factories and large ships that the NPCs aspire to go to. With factories and large ships, there can''t possibly be a feudal, medieval setting, which in turn fits the Cthulhu setting."


    "Ah!" Qin Guan, who was walking behind Blossoming Strokes, exclaimed. "Speaking of it, the weirdest of the advanced NPCs, Warrior Instructor Charlie Rex, often behaves like a half-mad investigator of Cthulhu games!"


    In the Town Hall, Yang Qiu, who was monitoring the two groups of players, couldn''t help but exclaim, "Impressive, Earthlings! There are quite a few remarkable individuals even among just 300 players."


    Cthulhu Mythos, created by Earth writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft, actually didn''t surpass the limits of human imagination when it came to "fear of the unknown," according to the standpoint of non-enthusiasts. Born in the late 19th century, Lovecraft associated the most fearful imagination of Cthulhu Mythos with the deep sea, believing that the depths of the ocean were filled with the utmost fears of the unknown.


    In the Cthulhu Mythos universe, created by countless enthusiasts or through various derivative works, game novels, comics, and role-playing scripts, these elder gods had made numerous appearances. Many acclaimed Cthulhu-style games and movies featured scenes where these gods manifested themselves before people, above the sea.


    The "resurrection of the elder gods," which sent shivers down many powerful beings standing at the pinnacle of intelligent life in this dark and magical plane, actually had a significant gulf¡­ compared to the Earth''s understanding of it.


    Elder gods weren''t in the depths of the ocean.


    It was impossible for material worlds, where intelligent life thrived, to harbor the elder gods. Not even a fragment of their essence could exist here; otherwise, this material plane would have long been conquered and no intelligent life would remain.


    It was also impossible for elder gods to "manifest themselves before humans" or intentionally bestow their "seeds" upon specific individuals.


    Elder gods merely viewed humans and all other life as insignificant creatures, nothing more than ants. In the same sense, would humans occupy an anthill and choose a single ant as their "representative"? Certainly, no god would engage in such foolishness.


    Nevertheless, despite the considerable gulf in knowledge, Yang Qiu had to admit that the "Cthulhu-inspired imagination" on Earth contained fragments that reflected the truth about elder gods.


    Yang Qiu speculated that the Cthulhu Mythos born on Earth might have been influenced by a fleeting trace of the elder gods'' will. When the elder gods projected their consciousness onto this material dimension, there might have been an inadvertent crossing through temporal and spatial rifts, resulting in it entering the earthly plane.


    However, as the will of the elder gods was incapable of existing in a magicless plane, it faded away quickly. But before it completely dissipates¡­ the tiny fraction of the elder gods'' would resonate with the soul of the author who created the Cthulhu Mythos, leaving behind¡­ something relating to it.


    The primordial rulers isolated beyond dimensions and the twisted wills lost in the boundless void actually no longer possessed the conscious desire to invade or conquer material planes.


    Their spiritual influence projected onto certain material dimensions was merely a remnant of their former divine existence, an inertia preserved from when they were still gods, and the remaining chaos turning into genuine catastrophes.


    Insane humans devoid of reason could bring about immense calamities upon all of humanity, much less gods who had lost their sanity.


    Yet, Yang Qiu wasn''t concerned about Earth being overtaken by genuine elder gods. The primary reason being that on Earth, magic did not naturally regenerate, nor could it be absorbed. The dimensional rules of Earth''s universe denied the existence of magic.


    "Rules" were something immensely powerful. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Even rules created, maintained, and enforced by humans themselves were exceedingly difficult to eliminate, regardless of whether positive or negative.


    Take, for example, the recent anti-vaccine movement, which emerged merely as an anti-intellectual activity orchestrated by certain Western populist ideologies. To rational individuals, these people appeared as fools, yet even the power of nations would struggle to suppress this tide of anti-intellectualism once it took hold.


    And that was why it was much more inconceivable for dimensional rules, guided by the will of a universe, to be eradicated.


    The elder god''s tentacle that ensnared Yang Qiu only started brewing up something after dragging him to this plane¡­


    "While there is a vast chasm in terms of knowledge, with a foundation of ''Cthulhu-inspired culture,'' Earth''s players will find it much easier to comprehend the background setting of this ''game world,''" mused Yang Qiu as he continued to monitor the two groups of players.


    His confidence in the resilience of fellow Earthlings allowed him to release the Great Leaf Vine herb for this bunch of players to take care of, which would usually make any normal person''s sanity fall! Earthlings, who were even the ones who popularized the concept of Cthulhu Mythos, wouldn''t have their sanity drop so easily.


    After progressing in the underground passage for 10 minutes, the group led by Unceasing Entropy was suddenly jumped by a low-level thirteen-legged spider-like monster hanging from the tunnel ceiling.


    "What the f*ck!"


    "Motherf*cker, ahhh!"


    Study Obsessed, Unceasing Entropy, and Brother Lahong screamed in panic as they fled.


    The low-level monster swung its suction cup tentacles and grabbed Study Obsessed, lifting her skeleton, which weighed only 40% of a normal person, into the air.


    "Arghhh!"


    "Take this!"


    Yang Ying grabbed a wooden stick she found in the tunnel, while Tang Jia, in a defensive stance, swung a broken shovel she had picked up. Side by side, they tried to rescue Study Obsessed.


    "Damn it! Stop hitting me, I''m going to be shattered!" Study Obsessed screamed after receiving several blows.


    Unceasing Entropy, who had regained her ability to think rationally after running away, shouted out, "Don''t aim for the tentacles! Hit its body!"


    "I can''t reach it!" Yang Ying yelled.


    "You can lift Tang Jia up!"


    Yang Ying quickly dropped her wooden stick and lifted Tang Jia by her legs. The players'' skeletons were light enough to carry and run at the same time.


    As expected, the body of this spider-like monster with thirteen tentacled legs wasn''t really resilient. After being struck several times by Tang Jia''s shovel, it dropped Study Obsessed and fled deeper into the tunnel.


    "It''s wounded and running away! Chase after it!"


    Brother Lahong, who had initially been frightened away, immediately reverted to his veteran player instincts and quickly called for everyone to pursue¡­


    "Mm¡­ Understanding the true nature of this world from a game''s perspective does make things much easier." Yang Qiu felt a sense of satisfaction witnessing the brave pursuit of these players.

 Chapter 28: Underground

    The spider-like creature being chased by the players was a "dreamweaver," a low-level monster. Despite appearing weak and easily beaten up by players wielding nothing but sticks and shovels, this creature was truly a monster.


    Its seeming vulnerability stemmed from the fact that the greatest threat posed by the dreamweaver wasn''t its physical attacks but the densely packed venomous spines on its thirteen tentacle legs. A mere slight touch from these tentacles, or even a tiny brush against the skin, would instantly inject the neurotoxin into any living organism.


    Once afflicted by this sinister neurotoxin, even someone like Hal, who was built like a bull, would only last a few seconds before paralysis kicked in. Within half a minute, one''s consciousness would blur, and the victim would enter a dreamlike state, unknowingly becoming a feast for the dreamweaver.


    Stealthy and capable of moving across any terrain with ease, the dreamweaver, with its thirteen two-meter-long tentacles that formed an attack range without blind spots, was a predator among low-level monsters. Even normal close-combat experts like Hal Maxwell, Charlie Rex, or Finley would face a fierce battle if they went up against it.


    Unfortunately for the monsters, players, despite their crazed actions, incessant chatter, and lively movements, couldn''t really be considered living creatures. No matter how much neurotoxin the dreamweaver injected into them, the venom would simply flow through their bone crevices.


    With players immune to the deadliest poison, fast due to having 40% of a normal person''s weight, it didn''t take long for the group to catch up, considering that the dreamweaver was only skilled in stealth attacks and lacked agility.


    Next, this unfortunate dreamweaver was subjected to the players'' annoying tactics: throwing rocks and lumps of mud, grabbing its tentacles, and poking its vulnerable abdomen with broken sticks. This was a pitiful beating that exploited its weakness, leaving it lying defeated on the ground.


    "This damn thing got me all dirty." Yang Ying, one of the main damage dealers, wasn''t particularly thrilled as she brushed off the green residue on her beginner gear.


    "I got quite a bit on me too, and it kinda stinks. I''ll have to wash up when we get back." Tang Jia, another primary damage dealer, wrinkled her nose in disgust. "The really annoying aspect of this game is that the damned developers went crazy pursuing realism. We''re playing a game, yet we have to do our own laundry. I''ve never seen anything quite like this."


    Inside the Town Hall, Yang Qiu remained unperturbed while he listened to Tang Jia cursing the game developer.


    She''s blaming the design, but what does the design of reality have to do with me?


    "Where are we running to? Why is this tunnel so long?" The players who had just defeated the spider monster finally realized that something didn''t add up.


    "We''ve probably gone beyond the town''s territory by now," Unceasing Entropy, who was lagging behind in the pursuit, said as she finally caught up with the others. "Since we encountered this monster, the interior of the tunnel has changed. The wooden supports have disappeared, and it''s much more spacious. The walls seem to have been reinforced by some special means. It looks sturdier than the tunnels we''ve passed, which were likely dug by the townspeople themselves."


    "Huh? What does that mean?" Tang Jia scratched her head and asked, while Study Obsessed and Yang Ying were equally confused.


    Unceasing Entropy briefly reminisced about the short discussion with Blossoming Strokes and patiently explained, "What I mean is, ever since we encountered this tentacled spider, we have entered an underground passage that wasn''t created by human hands. Considering we came across possibly Anna''s corpse at the entrance of the cellar we entered, I think it''s highly possible that the townspeople accidentally dug a passage leading to a monster''s lair or its territory. This could have been the cause of the townspeople''s annihilation or at least the reason for the loss of many of them."


    The other three ladies shuddered.


    Brother Lahong hadn''t participated in their discussion. Instead, his attention was focused on the monster''s body, and now, far from being scared, he turned over excitedly and exclaimed, "Hey hey, big discovery! This thing can be appraised using the ''Identify'' skill!"


    The four ladies were momentarily stunned, then respectively used "Identify."


    [Dreamweaver]


    [Lv1]


    [Low-level monster, proficient in mental attacks. It injects neurotoxin into prey to induce paralysis, dazed consciousness, and a daydreaming state.]


    [Possible drops: Dreamweaver Poison Sac, Dreamweaver Poison Bead, Magic Residue.]


    In the information revealed by Identify, the "possible drops" section displayed the words "Dreamweaver Poison Sac" in white font, indicating a common material, while "Dreamweaver Poison Bead" and "Magic Residue" were displayed in blue font, signifying that they were uncommon!


    "A low-level monster that drops rare materials?!" Tang Jia, who had a strong addiction to gaming, became excited as well. "Is this a place for farming monsters? Have we found a grinding spot?!"


    "Yes!" Brother Lahong, also a dedicated gamer, nodded vigorously. "The only way out of town, via the south, is blocked by that giant rat. The tunnel we just discovered is without a doubt the correct route to leave town and farm monsters!"


    Without any hesitation, Tang Jia rushed forward with a rusty shovel in hand and joined Brother Lahong in digging through the monster''s corpse. Indeed, they unearthed an organ from the creature''s abdomen that resembled a pig''s heart.


    [Dreamweaver Poison Sac]


    [A common monster poison sac that can be used for poison processing, an alchemical production. It can be turned over to Black Mage Yang for 20 reputation points.]


    Without a second thought, Tang Jia handed the material to Unceasing Entropy. "Great, Qingyue. If we can gather more of this, you''ll be able to accumulate enough reputation to change your job sooner."


    "Yeah, if we get the chance, let''s kill more of these creatures." Yang Ying finally understood why Tang Jia was so excited about finding a grinding spot and nodded happily in agreement.


    Unceasing Entropy glanced at Brother Lahong and Study Obsessed. Seeing that they had no objections, she casually pocketed the poison sac. "Let''s continue forward and explore. Since there are monsters appearing here, the end of the path is likely a farming spot that will be unlocked after we complete this quest. Perhaps there will be important quest information there."


    In the Town Hall, Yang Qiu, who was monitoring the players, nodded with relief.


    It seemed that as long as players were rewarded with numerical bonuses, they wouldn''t particularly shirk from monsters with freaky appearances that attacked with nauseating tentacles and left them covered in toxic substances¡­


    The player with the ID "Unceasing Entropy" was indeed clever enough to interpret the clues that had been deliberately left behind. The one who had dug this over 800-meter-long tunnel for the townspeople was none other than Yang Qiu.


    By completing this tunnel, Yang Qiu had depleted his stock of magic powder¡­ Earth magic didn''t consume much mana, but it did require a significant amount of magic powder.


    However, this investment was worthwhile in order to provide players with a spot suitable for monster farming and to reap benefits for himself.


    Yang Qiu had meticulously selected dreamweavers for players to grind. Apart from the fact that this monster was totally countered by the "Undead Calamity," its poison sacs, beads, and the "Magic Residue" formed from the monster''s secretions were all popular and practical materials. Trading a bit of reputation with players for these items was well worth it!


    If players didn''t panic and immediately used the "Identify" when battling it, they would be able to see the red name floating above the creature''s head, its level of 1, as well as a health bar¡­


    Things are going smoothly here¡­ What about the other side? Yang Qiu mused.


    Meanwhile, the team led by Blossoming Strokes exploring the other tunnel had spent a considerable amount of time maneuvering through the narrow passageway secured by wooden planks and beams. Eventually, they discovered a relatively spacious underground area about half the size of a basketball stadium.


    This space was noticeably smaller and lower than the underground chamber where Lord Yang cultivated the Great Leaf Vines. It was clearly man-made and contained some supplies. Evidently, this place had once served as an underground shelter for the townspeople.


    "All the stored supplies here have rotted." Jiang Wei snapped the top of a weathered wooden crate open, glanced at its contents, and covered it back. "It must have been a long time ago since people were last active here."


    Blossoming Strokes rubbed her chin while saving the considerable amount of wooden crates and sacks in the corner. Pensively, she said, "The townspeople here belonged to a pioneer team led by General Charlotte. They were more united and had a stronger collective spirit than the residents of a typical small town. This conclusion is valid based on the accumulated supplies here. So why¡­ didn''t any of these townspeople seek refuge in this underground shelter when danger struck?"


    "Perhaps the danger came too suddenly, and the townspeople didn''t have time to evacuate?" Qin Guan suggested after giving it some thought.


    Blossoming Strokes shook her head. "Although we don''t know exactly how many people were in this pioneer team, there are 123 wooden houses in this town, and 68 of them were specifically built with underground cellars for storing supplies. This indicates that the town had at least 68 households or more that needed to dig underground cellars to store surplus resources.


    "It is rather difficult for something to simultaneously pose life-threatening threats to so many households and prevent all the townspeople from seeking refuge in the underground shelter in such a short period of time. Unless¡­"


    "Unless the townsfolk themselves abandoned the underground shelter," Jiang Wei continued calmly.


    "That''s right. The underground shelter, or rather, all the underground spaces, must have made the townspeople feel even more threatened and terrified, leading to this strange phenomenon where they dare not enter underground." Blossoming Strokes nodded at Jiang Wei.


    Give Me Medicine and Qin Guan silently stared at Jiang Wei.


    Not just Unceasing Entropy¡­ but you are joining in as well?


    Jiang Wei paid no attention to the men''s petty jealousy and continued discussing with Blossoming Strokes, "But for the quest we need to complete, the protagonist ''Morris'' is obviously an exception. His parchment, on which he seemingly scribbled in a flurry, was left on the staircase at the entrance. That can be interpreted as him reentering the underground passage, don''t you think?"


    The two continued to search throughout the shelter as they discussed, but unlike the others who rummaged randomly, they seemed to have a clear purpose, lingering only in certain key areas.


    "I think so, too. The protagonist ''Morris'' should be the last person among the townspeople to enter the underground passage. However, there is very little crucial information, so we can''t determine the exact reason. We can only¡­ Ahhhh!" Blossoming Strokes pushed aside two stacked empty crates, only to be startled by the sight behind them.


    Give Me Medicine and Qin Guan hurriedly rushed over with concern, and then also let out astonished exclamations.


    The wall behind the crates had been hollowed out, creating a cavity the size of a suitcase.


    Within the cavity was a contorted body¡­ that one could barely discern was a corpse of a man in a shirt, vest, and overalls.


    Blossoming Strokes couldn''t really handle scenes of horror and suspense and backtracked several times¡ªbeing a skeleton and not being afraid of skeletons were totally two different things!


    Qin Guan steeled himself and cautiously approached the male corpse to extract the crumpled parchment from its hand.


    The handwriting on the parchment was extremely sloppy, completely different from the neatly written one found by Give Me Medicine, but at least it wasn''t as messed up as the one found at the tunnel entrance. The partially formed font could still be deciphered, and the system managed to translate most of the contents:


    "Dear Anna,


    "I can''t remember how many days I''ve been in Taranthan. Perhaps it''s been two hundred, maybe three hundred days. I don''t know anymore. (blurred handwriting)


    (missing contents)


    They all think I''ve gone mad, but I know I''m not crazy. (blurred handwriting) They are the ones who are messed up, not me!


    It all started when the farmer''s son, Bierda, claimed to have heard distant yet distinct maniacal laughter. He claimed that the laughter seemed to come from the edge of the world yet, at the same time, from under his bed.


    I suspected Bierda had betrayed the Goddess of Prosperity, but he vehemently denied it. So I brought him back to my residence and insisted that he spend the night under my watchful eyes.


    This devotee had turned heretic despite being blessed by the Goddess of Prosperity. In the dark night, there was maniacal laughter¡­ but this laughter didn''t come from anyone but Bierda himself!


    Bierda lost control before my eyes, laughing maniacally and attacking me. (blurred handwriting)


    Everyone, including Yalyn who lives next door, denied hearing Bierda''s terrifying laughter. They suspect that I killed Bierda out of personal grudges.


    I didn''t want to embarrass Yarlyn, so I resigned from my position as sheriff. But I absolutely didn''t kill anyone for any dishonorable reasons. I''m all alone, but I hope to have your support.


    Soon after, I also heard the laughter." sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Qin Guan shivered and handed the letter to Blossoming Strokes.


    Blossoming Strokes finished reading the contents of the letter, and though she knew it was just a game, she couldn''t help but feel a chill down her spine. "Goodness, are the developers insane? Is this supposed to be a quest or a horror game? Are those who can''t deal with horror not eligible to do quests?!"


    In the Town Hall, Yang Qiu remained unperturbed despite being on the receiving end of this female player''s berating.


    She''s cursing the developers, so what does that have to do with me, Lord of Taranthan and Black Mage, Yang? I am innocent and virtious¡­

 Chapter 29: Sorry for intruding

    "Hey, wait a minute!" Qin Guan suddenly exclaimed. "This corpse isn''t Morris!"


    "Huh? How are you able to identify a person from his remains?" Give Me Medicine shot him a puzzled look.


    "''Identify'' skill, you idiot! It can be used on corpses too!" Qin Guan rolled his eyes at him.


    With Qin Guan''s reminder, the others were suddenly enlightened and began to use "Identify" on the corpse in the wall cavity.


    This was the very definition of "One won''t cherish what is easily obtained." Among the two groups of players, both Qin Guan and Brother Lahong had initially low Potential and ground for several days to raise their Potential to 40 in order to gain access to the "Identify" skill. Obtaining the skill had been painstaking, so naturally, they jumped at every opportunity to show it off.


    On the other hand, players who were pre-equipped with this skill had a much lower utilization rate.


    When "Identify" was used, words appeared above the skull of the skeletal corpse inside the wall cavity: [Yarlyn''s corpse.]


    "Yarlyn?!" Blossoming Strokes stared at Win by Grinding in shock.


    Win By Grinding and Jiang Wei also looked toward her with equal astonishment.


    Had their previous speculation been wrong? Quest protagonist Morris wasn''t the last of the townspeople to enter the underground passage?


    "Hold up, Yarlyn is Morris''s good friend and is mentioned as the mayor in the previous letter. Yet he died here with Morris''s letter to home¡­ Does that mean Morris was already dead before the townspeople were wiped out?" Blossoming Strokes took a deep breath. "Wait a moment! Could the zombie arm that was discovered together with the letter by Give Me Medicine be Morris''s arm?!"


    The zombie arm was currently in Give Me Medicine''s backpack. Upon hearing this, he hurriedly said, "I previously used ''Identify'' and it was described as a ''severed arm without a body.''"


    "I know, it''s impossible to determine who it belongs to based on a single arm. What I meant was that Morris probably died before Yarlyn, which explains why his letter ended up in Yarlyn''s hands!" Blossoming Strokes waved her hand and spoke very quickly. "It''s also possible that Morris, due to the influence of that ''laugh,'' morphed into some kind of mentally deranged monster, becoming the culprit, or one of the culprits, for the annihilation of the townspeople!"


    "Whoa! The protagonist was the murderer?!" Guileless Gale and Phantom, who had been quietly listening to the exchange, were stunned.


    "Not necessarily, it''s just a possibility. In that case, besides finding the remaining letters, we may need to locate Morris''s body." Blossoming Strokes paused for a bit. "Now we have two options: one is to go out and meet up with Unceasing Entropy and the others, and the other is to continue searching. Personally, I suggest meeting up with them first before continuing with the search. What do you guys think?"


    There were multiple passages in the underground shelter, and judging by the scale of the shelter they found, it didn''t seem like it could accommodate all the townspeople. In other words, if they followed the passages and searched further, there might be a larger underground space than the shelter they discovered.


    Yarlyn, who probably hid behind the empty crates and suffocated, as well as the third letter they found, gave Blossoming Strokes an ominous feeling. She felt that something bad was bound to happen if the six of them continued to delve deeper into this eerie underground space for the search¡­ S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Qin Guan and Give Me Medicine would definitely be supportive of Blossoming Strokes. Guileless Gale and Phantom, the two players recruited by Brother Lahong, had no objections either. The four of them exchanged glances before finally eyeing Win By Grinding.


    As players could use Identify to view basic information about each other, Win By Grinding, who was level 1 with a Potential value of 53, naturally held more sway among the numbers-driven players.


    Jiang Wei glanced at the other deep passages in the shelter, hesitated for a moment, and reluctantly nodded. "Since¡­ Give Me Medicine is here, it''s safer to be more conservative."


    Jiang Wei didn''t think there would be any problem with taking a risk or being impulsive. After all, they would be wiped out in the worst-case scenario. However, he was also worried that if Give Me Medicine, who triggered the quest, died, it would have an impact on the quest. After all, the quests in this game were both mysterious and hardcore, and he didn''t want to take such a gamble.


    The group of six arrived at a unanimous decision and quickly retreated from the shelter¡­


    On the other side, Unceasing Entropy''s team had been running in the pitch-black passage for a while and arrived at a cave that was rugged, filled with grotesque rocks and covered in stalactites and bizarre mushrooms.


    This cave was massive! Enormous! Comparing it to Lord Yang''s herb field was like comparing a drop of water to an ocean!


    But what was even more terrifying¡­ spiders of various sizes and types infested every inch of this colossal cave, with no end in sight!


    Amid the stalactites hung thick, peculiar cobwebs, and wherever the player''s gazes fell, spiders of diverse shapes and sizes scurried and wriggled. On the ground, spider-like monsters with eight sharp-as-knives legs resembling mantises scuttled back and forth¡­


    As soon as the five of them stepped out of the passage, without uttering a word, they swiftly turned around and fled at once. Tang Jia and Brother Lahong, who had previously been having an animated discussion on efficient monster clearing, raced ahead, leaving the others struggling to keep up.


    Sorry for intruding!!!


    Twenty minutes later.


    The two groups of players rendezvoused at the predetermined time and location, the small wooden house where Give Me Medicine had triggered the quest.


    "Huh, why are there only two of you? Where are the others?" Blossoming Strokes glanced at Unceasing Entropy and Brother Lahong with a perplexed expression.


    "Um¡­ they perished," Unceasing Entropy said awkwardly. "We stumbled upon a monster spawn point, and the entire cave was teeming with spider monsters. As we fled, I accidentally fell. Stuffed Gummy (Tang Jia), Yang Ying, and Study Obsessed turned back to save me¡­ I managed to escape, but they didn''t make it."


    Tang Jia and Yang Ying were Zheng Qingyue''s companions, so they would undoubtedly try to save her. As for Study Obsessed, the girl likely felt that since she had been saved once, she wanted to return the favor.


    Blossoming Strokes, "¡­"


    "You discovered a monster spawn point?!" Qin Guan exclaimed with excitement, showing zero sympathies for the three girls who had met their demise and kicked offline. "Did you find a safe route out of town?"


    "The route is relatively safe. It''s beneath the cellar in the northeast corner of town. Just follow the path until the end," Brother Lahong explained. "However, the area where monsters spawn is far from safe. The cave was teeming with monsters, making it impossible to set foot without a large party to hold our ground."


    "Let''s put aside the matter of the monster spawn point for now," Blossoming Strokes interjected hastily. "That area is connected to the quest. If we don''t resolve the quest, the game designers might seal off the passage at any time."


    How could Blossoming Strokes not understand the nature of players? If they knew about the monster spawn point, they might abandon the quest and indulge in mindless grinding!


    As she spoke, both Qin Guan and Brother Lahong, who had already been tempted, calmed down. Both of them had the means to organize a large party for monster farming, so there was a high chance they would abandon the quest and have a blast.


    Subsequently, both parties shared the information they had gathered¡­


    "Morris''s wife came searching for him, but she took the wrong path and ended up on the route that led to the monster''s lair¡­" Blossoming Strokes'' tone carried a hint of heaviness. As a writer, she was more sensitive and couldn''t help but sympathize with the tragedy of the quest''s storyline.


    Unceasing Entropy carefully examined the two letters found by Blossoming Strokes'' group and solemnly remarked, "You''ve also discovered something remarkable¡­ This game even has a Cthulhu setting?"


    "Most likely." Blossoming Strokes nodded. "The inability to judge distances, unheard laughter, losing control, going insane¡­ It all seems like a curse from the Cthulhu Mythos. And most importantly, ''Yarlyn,'' the mayor, suffocated himself in the hidden wall behind the empty box. Skeletal structures are bound to be damaged, but there weren''t any visible injuries on Yarlyn."


    Unceasing Entropy understood. "Exactly. Frightened by what was happening in town, Yarlyn sought refuge underground. But even underground, there were things that terrified him, so he remained hidden and dared not move¡­ No wonder this town was chosen as the undead''s resurrection spot by the Black Mage. There''s something seriously amiss about this town."


    After a pause, Unceasing Entropy continued, "I have another question. Did Morris''s wife enter the underground tunnel voluntarily to search for her husband, or did she have to take shelter in the tunnel because she encountered danger on the surface?"


    "What danger could there be in this town other than rats? It couldn''t possibly be those slow-moving zombie NPCs," Give Me Medicine commented sarcastically.


    As soon as he said that, everyone present stared at him intently¡­


    "That''s right! Zombies!" Blossoming Strokes forcefully pinched her thigh bone. "How could we forget something so obvious!"


    "The zombie NPCs in town used to be the former townspeople? But wait, the letter mentions a general named Charlotte, yet the zombie general near the respawn point is named Lancelot Edgar," Qin Guan said, puzzled.


    "Wait, wait!" Suddenly, Unceasing Entropy remembered something and raised the letter found in Yarlyn''s possession with excitement. "The letter mentions ''the farmer''s son Bierda'' as the first person to go insane, and the zombie NPC who assigns the quest to clear the river is named Bierda!"


    When players undertook quests, they rarely paid attention to the names of the NPCs assigning tasks to them.


    Especially in a fully immersive game like "OtherWorld," players could only recall the names of a limited number of NPCs throughout the entire game, mostly the few advanced NPCs who mercilessly kill players, such as Assassin Instructor Hal, Ranger Instructor Tuttle, Treasure Expert Finley, Weapon Master Rex, and Knight Instructor Jerome.


    Other NPCs like the Tailor or the one that sold backpacks probably didn''t have their names remembered by players.


    The only reason Unceasing Entropy could recall the NPC who assigned the river-clearing quest was because she had worked with Tang Jia and Yang Ying as laborers for a few days¡­


    The players hurried to the vicinity of the river and discovered a zombie NPC with a green name above its head, "Bierda."


    Upon spotting the players, this non-intelligent NPC initiated a conversation based on its programmed settings, "Greetings, compatriots. Would you be willing to help me with something?"


    "Bierda, do you know Morris?!" Blossoming Strokes eagerly questioned.


    The name Morris seemed to trigger something, and the rigid and mechanical Belda, who could only interact according to its settings, uttered new words, "Morris? That''s truly a memorable name, I remember him."


    "There''s progress!" The players became excited.


    Blossoming Strokes continued the interaction, "What happened to Morris? Where did he go? Do you have Morris'' letter?"


    "Yes, I do," Bierda responded only to the last sentence, slowly getting up and entering the small house behind itself.


    The players, who would even recklessly barge into the tents where advanced NPCs resided, had predictably attempted to search through the wooden houses where zombie NPCs were before.


    However, no player would dare to do such a thing now. While the zombie NPCs might not kill players like the advanced NPCs did, entering their houses would immediately trigger a red warning message: [Player violating the Undead Race Player Prohibition], followed by an immediate forced death and being kicked offline.


    In any case, these zombie NPCs were protected by the system, which was even more formidable than advanced NPCs.


    The group of players waited for what felt like an eternity as the zombie NPC, moving slower than a centenarian, finally retrieved a piece of sheepskin parchment.


    It was the fifth letter the players needed to find, and while the characters were neatly arranged, the writing was hardly legible. Each stroke trembled violently as if the author had lost control of their hand when gripping the pen.


    Fortunately, Morris seemed relatively coherent when writing this letter, and the system was able to translate its contents:


    "Dear Anna,


    I have lost track of how many days it has been since I left you, my love. But I can no longer see you. Perhaps¡­ madness is a form of relief, and rationality would only bring unbearable pain. I despise myself for always being able to wake up, for repeatedly recalling the past with a rational mind, remembering my love for you, remembering how my sinful soul has become numb.


    When Charlotte imprisoned those poor souls, everyone secretly rejoiced that the hardest labor would be taken care of by those outsiders. They smugly believed they were not the pitiful worms who had fallen so low¡­ I am just like them, and for that, I am guilty.


    Gradually, I realized that the eerie laughter was, in fact, the echoes of despair in the tunnel¡­ While they were alive, we turned a deaf ear to their desperate cries, so close to us. We regarded their suffering as normal, never considering that they deserved compassion. We completely overlooked the most basic common sense¡ªthat they, too, are human.


    They have returned¡­ I smell the putrid stench emanating from my own body; I can no longer hold you with these hands. Our tainted souls and decaying bodies will forever remain here, our final redemption¡­


    I can''t recall how long I was lost this time, but vaguely, it feels like I had a dream. In the dream, I saw you, my Anna. I dreamed that you came for me, walking through the town, calling my name. I couldn''t resist approaching you, but you were frightened. In the dream, you didn''t recognize me, and you screamed and ran away, giving me immense heartache¡­


    Fortunately, it was only a dream.


    Loving you always, Morris."


    Blossoming Strokes, "¡­"


    She then passed the letters to her teammates for them to read. Everyone was bewildered by the contents of the letter¡­


    "Have some empathy, you wretched designer!!"

 Chapter 30: Rallying slogan

    Chapter 30: Rallying slogan


    "Secondary Quest Updated."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    [Unheard Cries]


    You have found five letters left by a man named Morris. Through the aged sheepskin parchments, you catch a glimpse of the tragic prologue that once unfolded in this small town.


    Find Morris'' remains: 0/1


    Morris'' Left Arm: 1/1


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Give Me Medicine shared the updated quest text with his teammates and couldn''t help but comment, "This is only the beginning of the tragedy. The damned developers are clearly not human."


    "Regardless of whether they are inhumane or not, the quest still needs completing," said Unceasing Entropy. "The town has been repeatedly cleaned by players, so it''s highly unlikely that Morris'' remains would be on the surface. The zombie NPCs in town are mostly intact and I haven''t seen any one-armed ones. What do you guys think?"


    "It can only be underground, I guess," Brother Lahong casually remarked.


    "Hey, that''s too broad of a scope. Underground can mean anything from underground caves to simply burying something anywhere," Qin Guan interjected.


    Blossoming Strokes pondered for a bit before sharing her speculation. "I have this guess that if the developers intended to reveal the background storyline of Exile Town through hidden quests, then each stage of this quest should be related to the new game content that becomes available after completion. The unlocking of ''Exploration Mode,'' which is the first phase, is clearly connected to the primary quest, ''Letters to Home.'' Morris'' wife took the wrong tunnel, which was the monster spawn point for us players."


    "Hmm?!" Unceasing Entropy''s body shuddered. "Wait. If that''s the case, then ''Unheard Cries'' is related to the second phase of unlocking the territory reputation, and completing this quest will unlock the Territory Prestige system?! Wait, wait, wait. If we consider it like this, then the process of finding Morris'' remains is the process of unraveling a greater tragic mystery. In that case¡ª"


    "Yes, it''s possible that the remains aren''t underground but in an unexpected yet logical place." Blossoming Strokes nodded solemnly.


    "Can you two speak in plain language?" Qin Guan muttered stoically.


    Blossoming Strokes explained, "The quest''s name is ''Unheard Cries,'' and Morris'' letters mentioned how ''they turned a deaf ear to the desperate cries that were close by.'' For the characters in the storyline, the ''tragedy'' of this town is actually displayed openly, but everyone turns a blind eye to it. If this is a subtle hint from the developers to the players, we can interpret it as Morris'' remains being placed somewhere that everyone can see but won¡¯t discover."


    Qin Guan, Give Me Medicine, Brother Lahong, and others: "¡­ :("


    "Please, get to the point. I just want to play the game without racking my brains," Give Me Medicine grumbled.


    "I sort of understand now. You are suggesting that Morris is actually in the most prominent place, right?" Jiang Wei, who hadn''t participated in the discussion, suddenly spoke up. "And the most prominent place here is, without a doubt, the Town Hall, isn''t it?"


    Blossoming Strokes snapped her fingers. "Bingo."


    Give Me Medicine stared in astonishment at Jiang Wei who had just spoken. Come on, brother. I didn''t hold a grudge against you for trying to compete with me for the Orb of Deception. Why do you have to pop up at this moment to embarrass me?!


    With that, this group of players hurriedly made their way to the Town Hall.


    The Town Hall where the Lord NPC stayed wasn''t a building that could be called impressive. It was just a plain square-shaped earthen hut that was only slightly better than a rural house. Due to the NPC inside barely acknowledging anyone and a level requirement of 1 needed for players to interact with him, very few players bothered to come here. Most of them would buy what they needed from the neighboring tailor NPC and leave.


    When the group of players arrived, they didn''t need to search specifically. Everyone''s gaze immediately fell on the sign above the entrance.


    The wooden sign hanging on the Town Hall bore a few large characters. "Exile Town Municipal Office." And above the large words was an ornamental skull.


    Players who passed by here regularly, or even those who were farming the Lord''s reputation, like Win By Grinding, Blossoming Strokes, and Unceasing Entropy, hadn''t paid attention to this skull before. The NPC residing inside was a black mage officially titled the "Undead Race Resurrection Master," and it wasn''t any surprise there that a black mage''s dwelling would have a skull as decoration.


    But now, the players who had spent the past two hours (in-game time) following the plot of the hidden quest had completely different sentiments when they saw this skull¡­


    Even Unceasing Entropy, the rational intellectual, couldn''t help but ridicule, "Although I know very well that our Undead Race Resurrection Master isn''t a good person, he''s actually using an actual human skull as decoration. I''ve underestimated you, Lord Yang!"


    "Whoa, f*ck. Is this confirmation that the undead race is an evil faction? Are we really minions of the antagonist?" Qin Guan exclaimed.


    Despite their complaints, the players used "Identify" on the skull above the signboard:


    "Upon arriving at Exile Town, Dark Mage Yang encountered an extremely aggressive zombie. After defeating it, he used some of its limbs as fertilizer, discarded another part in the river, and kept the relatively intact skull as an ornament."


    Players: "¡­"


    Give Me Medicine stiffly went forward and took the skull down.


    "Secondary Quest Updated."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    [Unheard Cries]


    You have found five letters left by a man named Morris. Through the aged sheepskin parchments, you catch a glimpse of the tragic prologue that once unfolded in this small town.


    Find Morris'' remains: 0/1


    Morris'' Left Arm: 1/1


    Morris'' Skull: 1/1


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    "The Undead Race Master''s antagonist traits have been revealed. It was this guy who dismembered Morris!" Give Me Medicine exclaimed.


    "Extremely aggressive¡­ Does that mean Morris is indeed different from other zombie NPCs? In this context, the ''dream'' he had becomes even more terrifying¡­" Blossoming Strokes gestured for everyone to follow her to the underground herb field while she said that.


    Once inside the underground herb field, players started to ridicule the antagonist attributes of the player camp''s NPC leader when they encountered the peculiar organism known as the Great Leaf Vine.


    Give Me Medicine especially stated rather certainly, "Yang will eventually be an end boss."


    Using "Identify" to scan the herb field, the players managed to successfully find "Morris'' Torso" and "Morris'' Right Arm."


    As they carried the four "pieces" and rushed toward the river, some players that just logged in stared weirdly at the three individuals who were holding rotting body parts.


    Then, in the riverbed that had a considerable amount of debris and gravel cleared by players over the past few days, the team searched twice before finding Morris'' legs.


    "Secondary Quest Updated."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    [Unheard Cries]


    You have found five letters left by a man named Morris. Through the aged sheepskin parchments, you catch a glimpse of the tragic prologue that once unfolded in this small town.


    Find Morris'' remains: 1/1


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Morris'' remains bore many aged battle scars. Perhaps the zombie general, Lancelot Edgar, might know something.


    Upon seeing the newly generated quest text, Give Me Medicine felt the urge to flip a table. "Why didn''t they just say to find the zombie general? Why go through all this trouble! This game isn''t a pay-to-play model. Must they force players to grind this much?!"


    "Calm down, bro. That''s how quests work," said Brother Lahong, not treating himself as an outsider as he put his arm around Give Me Medicine. "At least this quest only requires us to run errands within the town. Back when I played World of Warcraft, I had to travel across continents for a single quest."


    Yang Ying, Tang Jia, and Study Obsessed, who had just logged back in and rushed over to join the group, eyed the zombie legs curiously.


    "Qingyue, how come we didn''t come across this thing in the riverbed when we were digging there for days?" asked Yang Ying.


    "That''s normal. Many games have phased items or NPCs for quests. Players without the quest can neither see the quest items nor encounter the related NPCs," explained experienced player Tang Jia on behalf of her friend.


    The group hurriedly arrived in front of the zombie general, carrying Morris'' scattered remains. Before the players could say anything, the previously unresponsive zombie general took the initiative to look over. His zombie face, which was usually alert, now trembled with excitement. "Isn''t this Morris? Compatriots, you''ve found him?"


    "Yes, he was dismembered by Black Mage Yang," Give Me Medicine reported right away.


    Unfortunately, these zombie NPCs had very low intelligence. Unlike human NPCs who would react to whatever players said, even the zombie general, who had the strongest "language function" and "interactivity" among all the zombies, was no exception.


    He completely ignored Give Me Medicine''s report and continued reciting lines to himself in a melancholic tone, "Morris was a sensitive and delicate person. His heart brimmed with emotions, surpassing that of others. That''s why he is always trapped in the past, unable to break free no matter how many years pass. It seems he is forever asleep, and that might be the best outcome for him."


    "Hey, did you hear what I just said? Morris was killed by Black Mage Yang, and he was dismembered!" Give Me Medicine shouted.


    "I''m guessing that according to the quest design, this general will only accept the fact of Morris'' death when he sees his entire body. Let''s not force it," the eloquent Blossoming Strokes comforted her impatient companion.


    She stepped forward and interacted with the general. "We found a letter Morris wrote to his wife. Can you tell us what happened in this town?"


    The zombie general fell silent and said sorrowfully, "This is a sad story. Are you prepared to accept the truth?"


    "Of course." Blossoming Strokes'' eyes lit up, and she immediately activated the recording function.


    The zombie general sighed. "I can''t remember how many years ago it was, fifty, maybe sixty. I was on a mission near the border of the Duchy of Shiga when I received an urgent request for help from the Pioneer Corps. Thus, I brought you all, my soldiers, to Taranthan."


    Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy exchanged glances, sensing each other''s excitement¡ªhere it comes! The background plot of the undead race was unfolding!


    "General Charlotte, the leader of the Pioneer Corps, used to be my superior. Morris and Yarlyn, members of the Pioneer Corps, were also familiar faces. I wasn''t worried about the success of their pioneering mission, but I still cared about their safety. After all, Taranthan has never been peaceful.


    "When we arrived here, the atmosphere within the Pioneer Corps wasn''t too tense, except for Morris'' situation¡­ According to Yarlyn, Morris may have been affected by something and killed Bierda by accident.


    "I went to see Morris first and found that he seemed terrified of something and wouldn''t communicate with us.


    "I ordered my soldiers to keep an eye on Morris and went to see Beirda, who was supposedly killed by him¡­


    "But Bierda''s body was gone!


    "Faced with my repeated inquiries, Yarlyn had to tell the truth¡­


    "General Charlotte embezzled the funds for purchasing slaves. After the Pioneer Corps arrived in Taranthan, she led the soldiers to attack villages in the neighboring Rhine Kingdom and captured a large number of their citizens to use as agricultural slaves!


    "Although the Rhine Kingdom doesn''t worship the Goddess of Prosperity like our country does and follows the greedy Lady Gold Coin, since our two countries weren''t at war, how could Charlotte plunder, torture, and even cause the death of the citizens of another country?


    "Bierda sympathized with the pitiful victims of Charlotte''s cruelty. His own soul became contaminated, and even if he wasn''t killed by Morris'' carelessness, he would have turned into an undead soon after.


    "Bierda was ''reborn,'' but the contamination he received was passed on to Morris.


    "Our friend, Yarlyn, couldn''t bear to kill Morris. He went to great lengths to conceal the fact that Bierda had turned into an undead and that Morris had already been contaminated. He hoped I could bring Morris back to our homeland and avoid burdening him with the label of a ''deserter.''


    "But¡­ Charlotte wouldn''t allow us to take Morris away.


    "Charlotte vehemently denied her reckless capture and enslavement of citizens from other nations. She refused to acknowledge any connection between Bierda and Morris'' tragedy and herself. She demanded Morris'' execution and asked me to guarantee that I would never utter a single word that could tarnish the reputation of the Pioneer Corps.


    "Neither could persuade the other, and Charlotte seemed to go mad, wanting to exterminate our border guards entirely.


    "When we chose to retaliate out of anger, none of us anticipated that those contaminated wouldn''t just be limited to Morris and Bierda. There were many more who sympathized with the innocent citizens of the Rhine Kingdom than Charlotte could imagine.


    "Unknowingly, I, too, became infected and started to hear that desperate and maniacal laughter."


    At this point, the zombie general sighed sadly. "I don''t remember the details of that chaotic event. When I woke up from that blurred haziness, I had already transformed into this state. Meanwhile, some of my soldiers had fallen into eternal rest, while others turned into grotesque walking corpses like me.


    "After that, I never saw Charlotte or Yarlyn again.


    "Those captured citizens of the Rhine Kingdom who were forced to toil on clearing the wilderness, digging underground shelters, and other arduous tasks didn''t receive the promised return to their homeland. Instead, they were concentrated underground and slaughtered.


    "Who knew that in their despair, they desperately cried out the name of that ''someone''¡­ Neither Charlotte, who persecuted them, nor Bierda, who sympathized with them, nor us can receive forgiveness¡­"


    The despondent zombie general continued, quickly rallying himself and solemnly declaring, "But even if we lose our right to be human, even if we lose the honor of being the border guards of the Duchy of Shiga, we are still soldiers with the duty to defend. We cannot lose this pride, my fellow compatriots!


    "I cannot distinguish who among you are my soldiers, who were once residents of the town, or who were the henchmen aiding Charlotte. But since you have awakened before my eyes, you must heed my call.


    "I demand that you reclaim the honor of being citizens and soldiers of the Duchy of Shiga. We, as a reborn new race, will take over the pioneering mission that was defiled by Charlotte. This is our mission, our responsibility!"


    The zombie general''s speech was surprisingly well-articulated. His husky and villainous voice delivered these passionate lines without any discordance, not only exuding persuasiveness but also revitalizing and invigorating the listeners.


    "This is what a leader of a faction should be like!" exclaimed Give Me Medicine, who had initially been dissatisfied with the emotional quest, while slapping his femur in approval.


    "Born from chaos but longing for order, huh? Not bad for a rallying slogan of the undead race." Blossoming Strokes gave praise as well.


    "The general was a good person in his lifetime. He stood up for the unjustly killed and dared to challenge his superior," Yang Ying remarked.


    Before the players could finish giving their positive comments, the zombie general, whose character was upright despite his terrifying appearance, spoke up once more, "We have received friendly assistance from a dark mage. He has brought humans willing to be friends with us, the undead, to help us build a home for our race¡­"


    "Wait a minute, General! Are you sure you received help from the black mage and not an impostor? That guy has been flaunting the title of Lord of Taranthan!" Qin Guan sarcastically retorted.


    "General, listen to me. Having that Yang on our side doesn''t benefit us at all!" shouted Give Me Medicine.


    "Down with the evil humans! Taranthan belongs to the undead!" Tang Jia joined in the ruckus.


    Inside the Town Hall, Yang Qiu calmly sipped his milk tea as he closely monitored the player''s progress on the quest.


    The players were vehemently criticizing the evil black mage Yang, but what did it have to do with the Earthling, Yang Qiu?


    S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 31: The birth of the undead race

    Previously, Yang Qiu had watched numerous game-related videos while preparing for the game''s launch on Earth. Through these videos, he discovered that popular MMO content creators and streamers often emphasized the concept of a "sense of belonging."


    His observation of the three veteran players during the closed beta testing further confirmed that the player community did indeed pursue spiritual fulfillment when it came to games.


    It might sound exaggerated to claim that playing games was a pursuit of spiritual fulfillment, but at the very least, it could be categorized as a psychological need.


    Mainstream MMORPG games on the market featured opposing factions, and the conflicts between these factions provided players with a strong sense of belonging and a shared language. In other words, for a game to generate high player engagement and increased time spent online, it had to foster a sense of "belonging to a collective" among players.


    However, Yang Qiu couldn''t implement the straightforward approach of having opposing factions. He could only use skeletal remains as "game character vessels" and couldn''t accommodate too many players in the short term. Splitting a mere three hundred players into two factions was simply ridiculous. Therefore, he had to focus his efforts on the background setting of the playable undead race.


    Taranthan was a massive thousand-mile wasteland nestled between the Duchy of Shiga and the Rhine Kingdom. For hundreds of years, both countries had dispatched pioneering teams in attempts to conquer this desolate land, all of which ended in failure. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The reasons for their failures were apparent. Despite the existence of this relatively easily accessible wasteland, trading caravans still preferred the risky route through Sorensen. The desolate wastelands of Taranthan had been untouched for over a thousand years, and it harbored all sorts of demonic monsters and beasts, along with unstable void rifts.


    Sending a few thousand pioneering settlers into this place was akin to throwing rabbits into a lion''s den. Not only was establishing dominance impossible, but even surviving was considered a small miracle.


    The small town Yang Qiu selected, hidden away in a valley, had indeed belonged to a group of settlers several decades ago. However, nobody knew for sure whether they were from the Rhine Kingdom or the Duchy of Shiga.


    Of course, this wasn''t important. What mattered was that the downfall of this settlement was indeed due to idolatry.


    Shortly after clearing the surface vegetation, Yang Qiu discovered the remnants of sacrificial altars and arrays hidden in the underground tunnels, along with a large pile of human remains. With one look, he could easily imagine the brutal fate that had befallen the original inhabitants of this town.


    Though for Yang Qiu, this phenomenon wasn''t surprising at all. This world wasn''t like China, where you could send troops to the vast deserts of the northwest to colonize and settle. In this world, when there was a political need for colonization, the conventional approach would be to gather prisoners from the jails and form an army of exiles. Then, grant a civilian officer with a massive ego the title of general while providing some supplies as a casual gesture of support.


    In other words, colonization in this world was either a political show or a means of dealing with explosive prisoner numbers; it was never about territorial expansion. If countries truly sought expansion, they wouldn''t bother with a desolate wasteland that needed to be rebuilt from scratch. Wasn''t it more enticing to go to those lands beyond the continent, where indigenous populations had already developed large-scale farming and cultivation?


    And to make matters worse, the majority of the prisoner population in most countries included cultists and heretics.


    Such deployments were often harsh and a great challenge for those involved.


    Of course, Yang Qiu couldn''t allow players to "inherit" the honor of a band of exiles composed of criminals; there was simply no such honor to inherit.


    Thus, Yang Qiu came up with the plotline of a "border guard team that came to save people." He then transformed the zombie king he had retrieved from the marshes into the "righteous and resolute General Lancelot Edgar."


    "Born from chaos, but longing for order," "conceived evil that yearns for the light"¡ªthis faction with an antagonistic facade yet committed to righteousness perfectly embodied core socialist values!


    Furthermore, what appealed to Earthlings was a dose of "contrast cuteness." Take a video, for example. A righteous protagonist with thick eyebrows and bright eyes sternly shouted, "Release that old lady!" would probably result in most viewers watching it blankly and skipping the scene. However, if it were a bald man wearing a flashy shirt with a gold chain on one side and roaring, "Release that old lady!" Those same viewers would cheer with enthusiasm.


    This was what made Yang Qiu''s game appealing.


    This extremely hideous zombie general, who didn''t issue manual labor quests, was usually disregarded by players. But as the plot progressed, the zombie general''s attributes of "righteousness and determination" were slowly exhibited, which would increase players'' favorability toward him.


    Considering the original setting of the town, Yang Qiu decided not to include characters with the identity of prisoners or heretics. Drawing from his observations during his travels in this messed-up world, he slightly modified and created characters such as "General Charlotte," "Morris," "Anna," and "Yarlyn."


    In conclusion, the players'' discontent with the emotional plotline was not a deliberate attempt by Yang Qiu to provoke them. It was simply a result of this dark magic plane where too many unfortunate individuals, whether by family, friends, neighbors, comrades, or even strangers, were afflicted, and being driven to insanity was the norm.


    Unlocking the dialogue with the zombie general plotline marked the completion of the quest''s second phase. The next part involved an escort quest: After learning that the players had discovered the corpse of "Yarlyn," the zombie general personally descended into the underground tunnel to retrieve his body. During this period, the players had to protect the Zombie General as he entered the underground shelter while also exploring the consequences of the townsfolk uttering the name of the evil god.


    This particular consequence was the "cult sacrificial site" deliberately left behind by Yang Qiu when he cleared the underground tunnel. Of course, he had eliminated the excessively brutal elements, leaving behind only a few mutilated corpses and remnants of the sacrificial altar.


    The players remained rather calm and unaffected on the outside as the zombie general led them to the site. After all, compared to the dusty remains of fragmented bones piled up in the corners, the zombie general, even when accompanying them, had a more horrifying effect.


    Apart from the exploration, the players also had to face the test of being attacked by a "miniboss," which was a corpse ghoul that Yang Qiu had specially kept when cleaning up the underground tunnel.


    This corpse ghoul was likely summoned by the cultists during their sacrificial rituals. It had high physical attack power, extreme speed, and the ability to lurk in the shadows. Yang Qiu''s estimates were that it would eliminate about half of the players; after all, an epic-level quest without casualties wouldn''t be a proper quest.


    Of course, Yang Qiu had no intention of letting the players who had worked so hard be wiped out. Once half of the players died, the zombie general, as the leader of the undead race, would receive the "Fury" buff due to the "excessive deaths of his fellows" and would then eliminate the corpse ghoul.


    The zombie general was a heavyweight among the zombie NPCs after all, and Yang Qiu had spared no expense when crafting it and imbued it with numerous runes.


    As expected, when the group followed the zombie general into the underground shelter, before they even had a chance to move "Yarlyn''s body," Blossoming Strokes, who stood in the middle of the team, was struck by a claw from the emerging undead monster and disappeared in a white light.


    "Why is it always this poor lady with bad luck?" Yang Qiu sighed as he watched with a mix of both laughter and sadness while observing via the imprint matrix.


    Other than Yang Ying, this group was made up of experienced gamers. Upon accepting the quest and knowing they would have to fight monsters, they had deliberately arranged their formation, placing the members who weren''t particularly adept at combat in the center¡ªBlossoming Strokes, Brother Lahong, and Unceasing Entropy.


    However, they never imagined that the spawning location of the monster was off. The corpse ghoul appeared right in the middle of their formation and instantly caused a whole lot of chaos.


    Blossoming Strokes was reduced to a white light, and Brother Lahong, who couldn''t escape in time, met the same fate. At a critical moment, Unceasing Entropy pulled Yang Ying away, narrowly saving both their lives.


    "Why is this damned thing so fast?!" Yang Ying gripped a broken wooden stick, intending to fight back, but after being clawed twice, she met a glorious death.


    Yang Qiu''s lips twitched. "Sis, even I can tell that this monster is too much for the players to handle. Don''t be so stubborn¡­"


    Before he even finished muttering his sentence, Yang Qiu witnessed the player called Stuffed Gummy attempt to grab the corpse ghoul by the waist before being sent flying by a powerful kick, crashing into the wall and falling apart.


    Yang Qiu. "¡­" Oh, well. Players can respawn, and being stubborn has its advantages.


    After four consecutive deaths in their party, the players finally realized their inferiority and hurriedly scattered in panic.


    Run toward the zombie general! Yang Qiu shook his head.


    After the player with the ID Win By Grinding was grabbed and killed by the corpse ghoul, the zombie general''s "Fury" buff was activated¡ªit was actually Yang Qiu briefly lifting the sealing rune that restricted this zombie''s aggressiveness. With an enraged roar, the zombie general swiftly charged toward the corpse ghoul as if he were Usain Bolt in a sprint.


    "What the hell?!"


    The players jumping and dodging about were astounded by the slow-moving zombie general''s sudden burst of lightning speed.


    In the next moment, these newbies in the magic plane witnessed firsthand the combat style of this world. In an instant, the zombie general, clad in tattered armor, caught up to the agile corpse ghoul. With a swift moment, he grabbed the corpse ghoul by the neck and slammed it against the ground like a sandbag. Then, with a clenched fist, the zombie general ruthlessly pounded the triangular-shaped head of the corpse ghoul¡­


    "Holy crap! Our general doesn''t use a sword?!" Qin Guan exclaimed in astonishment.


    Of course, the zombie general didn''t use a sword. The armor it wore and the longsword hanging by its waist had been added by Yang Qiu to give the "leader of the undead race" a certain degree of prestige.


    "Such a shame! Why is the leader a zombie while we are skeletons? Skeletons can''t possibly engage in such a domineering melee battle!" Give Me Medicine remarked in envy.


    Unceasing Entropy, Qin Guan, and the others didn''t feel like giving a reply.


    Even though zombies were formidable, they wouldn''t play the game if only zombies could be selected as game characters. They couldn''t bear the idea of being surrounded by zombie teammates¡ªno matter how good they fought!


    With his bare fists, zombie general Lancelot Edgar pounded the corpse ghoul, which was originally created through sacrificial rites, into ashes. When the "Fury" buff was removed, the zombie general slowly picked up "Yarlyn''s body" and carried it to the surface.


    After "Yarlyn" was placed inside a small wooden hut, the zombie general, acting as if it had accomplished a great task, recited a series of predetermined lines, urging the undead players to unite and fight against all incoming enemies, then announcing the content for reaching 80% quest completion had been unlocked.


    In simple terms, after slogging away for several hours and losing half of their comrades, the players had finally earned the opportunity to grind the reputation for Yang Qiu in new ways¡­


    While the zombie general provided the concluding storyline, Yang Qiu, who had been spectating all this while, issued a timely announcement to all online players via the imprint matrix:


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    System Announcement: Congratulations to players "Give Me Medicine," "Unceasing Entropy," "Blossoming Strokes," "Vanilla Pudding," "Yang Ying"¡­ for completing the worldview breakthrough quest, [Birth of the Undead Race].


    As the completion rate of the worldview breakthrough mission has exceeded 80%, new content in the server will be unlocked.


    1: Players Unceasing Entropy, Yang Ying, Stuffed Gummy, Study Obsessed, and Brother Lahong discovered an underground passage leading beyond the town during a quest. At the end of the passage lies a cave infested with spider-like creatures. Players can now form teams and explore this area.


    2: Players Blossoming Strokes, Unceasing Entropy, Give Me Medicine, Vanilla Pudding¡­ successfully deciphered the history of Exile Town and how the undead race came about during a quest exploration. Taranthan''s Territory Prestige system is now unlocked. Players can obtain territory prestige by defeating monsters and contributing materials to the Lord of Taranthan.


    Mayoral election is now unlocked. The player with the highest Territory Prestige on will assume the role on a monthly basis.


    3: Alliance system unlocked. Players who have reached level 1 and successfully completed a job change can receive Blood Alliance quests from the Zombie General, "Lancelot Edgar."


    4: Blood Alliance bases unlocked¡­


    5: Main storyline quests have now been unlocked. Players who have reached level 1 and successfully completed a job change can receive the [Birth of the Undead Race] quest from Zombie General, "Lancelot Edgar," to uncover Exile Town''s hidden past.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Many grinders laboring away tirelessly and a few casual idlers let out exclamations of surprise.


    After carefully reading the contents of the announcement, these players who were addicted to grinding or only wanted to play by themselves when logging in let out screams like "666," "Boss is awesome," "F*ck! I have to be level 1 to even play!"¡­


    Beneath the Town Hall, Ou Huang, who disliked collective activities, casually browsed the announcement before turning his attention back to the Great Leaf Vines.


    Similarly, fellow lone wolf Jia Luo was busy doing manual labor to accumulate copper coins while striving for the final two points of Potential to hit level 1. She stood in a daze for quite some time after reading the announcement, mumbling to herself, "It''s said that we must form teams to explore the monster-spawning points. Does that mean solo farming can''t be done? Indeed, these sorts of monster-spawning scenarios aren''t very solo player-friendly¡­ Should I go find a small group to join?"


    Roughly ten minutes after the in-game announcement was made, the official website also posted the update notice.


    There were many who frequented the forum daily, eagerly waiting for account releases. Such netizens immediately sparked a lively discussion, with various posts urging the release of beta accounts:


    "Patch has been updated to 1.04 already, when will new accounts be released?"


    "What can 300 players test? Development team, release new accounts quickly! I''ll help you test for free, I''m really good at finding bugs!"


    "Why did I hesitate and not grab a helmet back then!"


    When Yang Qiu, who was back on Earth, checked the forum, he wasn''t surprised to see the bunch of routine posts requesting beta accounts dominating the page.


    "I understand that feeling¡­ I remember feeling just as anxious when I couldn''t afford to buy GTO and could only watch others play. However, this much spam is unacceptable. Banned from posting for three days."


    Yang Qiu expressed sympathy for these non-player netizens eager to enter the game but wasted no time in deleting their posts and issuing bans.


    After deleting over a hundred meaningless spam threads, Yang Qiu suddenly noticed a post with a completely different style¡ª


    "Shocking News! You Won''t Regret Seeing This!"


    "What groundbreaking news could there be within ten days of the game''s launch?" Yang Qiu wondered as he clicked on the post.


    Yang Qiu''s body trembled when he glanced at the main post.


    "Let me tell you some shocking news: the financial blogger who criticized the development team for their scheming money-grabbing tactics was actually paid to publish that Weibo post!


    "The person who paid him initially failed to obtain the helmet but immediately received it after paying the financial blogger to publish that Weibo post!"


    Yang Qiu exclaimed, "What? Such a move exists?!"


    It wasn''t just limited to him. Other non-player netizens who clicked on this post were taken aback as well.


    "What the hell! Is that for real?"


    "How does OP know?"


    "Damn, no wonder! There were people offering it for 500 or 800 the day before, but by the second day, it was only 300 yuan everywhere!"


    "Those 300 yuan ones are from studios. My sister got a helmet from a studio and I even scolded her for spending money foolishly back then!"


    "My friend also got his helmet from a studio. I bet that studio must be crying now!"


    "F*ck me, I''m already crying. I sold my helmet at that time! Does the OP know who the scheming scumbag is? I want to kill him!"


    "I sympathize with you, LOL¡­ Wait, why are tears welling up in my eyes?"


    "Ahahaha, I didn''t even have a chance to buy a helmet. By the time I found out about OtherWorld, there were no unbound login helmets available. I couldn''t get one even if I had the money!"


    "Developer team, please release accounts!"


    "People really go to great lengths to seize helmets. Compared to that, my news feels insignificant. My dad works at the NeuroTech Center, and a super impressive scientist from there contacted me a few days ago, asking me to wear the helmet and participate in their experiment¡­"


    Yang Qiu''s body shuddered again when he reached this comment.


    Then¡­ he opened a search engine to find out what exactly this NeuroTech Center was¡­


    He¡¯d been in the OtherWorld for centuries now. How was he supposed to know?

 Chapter 32: Mutual Probing

    After reading about the background information of the NeuroTech Center, Yang Qiu fell into deep contemplation.


    He never imagined that the ones eyeing his game weren''t some governmental organization, or even the police, but rather the top scientists in the field of neurology, neuroscience, and AI intelligence technology in China¡­


    If it had been another governmental body, Yang Qiu could simply shut down the official website and stop publicly distributing "beta accounts."


    Even though he hadn''t obtained any licensing, he also had no intention to make a profit. This was just a LAN multiplayer game for his own amusement and not some private server for an existing game where there was a risk of being sued by the original game company.


    No one could interfere with him, and if things didn''t work out, he could simply pack up and move the "server" to Southeast Asia. After all, his server didn''t require much bandwidth to begin with¡­


    By incorporating the helmet as a prize of the game, he could continue to drive players to keep grinding. Without sufficient incentives, players wouldn''t be willing to toil away and build in-game structures, even if their characters didn''t get tired or hungry.


    But now that it was a group of scientists that had set their sights on him, this revelation made Yang Qiu hesitant.


    While he had transmigrated to the other world when he had just been a 16-year-old kid and had spent 80% of his life there, he still respected knowledge and the fundamental logic of sciences, even if his knowledge and sense of the other world''s common sense were greater than Earth''s.


    After some thought, Yang Qiu opened the forum''s backend management processes.


    The player forum had no moderators, only one administrator with the ID "Developer Team." Since the forum''s registration was opened, the administrator''s backend had been flooded with all kinds of emails requesting accounts in various creative ways. Initially, Yang Qiu had glanced at a few but hadn''t paid much attention to them.


    This time, when Yang Qiu opened the backend, the emails weren''t just about account requests. There were also various business emails, some of which seemed legitimate, while others dubious, requesting cooperation or partnerships.


    Some boasted about how they could secure multiple rounds of investment and financing for the game "OtherWorld," while others explicitly or implicitly hinted at strong capital support that could take the game to new heights and even go public. There were even audacious proposals for acquiring and merging "OtherWorld."


    Yang Qiu disregarded all such business emails, regardless of whether they were from legitimate companies or scammers.


    It was true that he was penniless, but he didn''t care about money in the first place. As long as his material needs were met, he had no interest in the fame and status that excessive wealth could bring. The satisfaction and vanity derived from exploiting, bullying, and manipulating others of his kind held no appeal to him. He had never pursued such primitive instincts; spellcasters who did were far beneath his level.


    Even more so, he had no interest in indulging in pursuits that were beneath him, such as chasing after models. If he couldn''t even transcend basic instincts like material desires and sexual urges, what kind of pathetic spellcaster would he be?


    Let alone spellcasters; how many truly mentally powerful individuals on Earth chased after money or ran after the opposite sex?


    More importantly¡­ on Earth, having flaws in one''s character didn''t pose much of a problem. At most, one''s moral standards would be criticized, but it wouldn''t affect other aspects of life. Even if a renowned actor revealed a scandal about a love child, a simple statement of "men make mistakes" would win mainstream society''s approval, and he would still thrive afterwards.


    But in the magic plane, having flaws in one''s character meant that the higher one climbed, there would be a greater possibility of being contaminated, going insane, losing control, crumbling to pieces, or turning into a walking corpse¡­


    In short, Yang Qiu couldn''t be swayed by so-called benefits. He wouldn''t spare them a second glance regardless of whether it was genuine investment interest or fake scammers.


    Yang Qiu skipped past these business emails and spent quite a while going through the many pages of account requests before he came across an email requesting cooperation sent by Director Lu Yiyun from the Center for Neuroscience and Intelligent Technology Innovation.


    Compared to the flowery "business emails," Director Lu''s email was much more practical and rigorous. She sincerely expressed a desire to communicate with the developers of the game "OtherWorld" and promised to keep the game''s core technologies strictly confidential, including but not limited to elevating them to the level of national secrets.


    On top of that, she also guaranteed that the core technologies of "OtherWorld" would have patent rights protected by Chinese law and so on.


    Basically, what the email implied was that if the "OtherWorld" development team was willing to "exchange" technology with the NeuroTech Center, the scientific community of China would definitely respond with corresponding treatment.


    Yang Qiu. "¡­"


    For a moment, he imagined a scene of himself personally appearing before scientists to teach them the basics of magic, meditation, and spellcasting¡­ He even nearly had to shout in his mind to stop imagining such things.


    Yang Qiu couldn''t accept this olive branch.


    It was best if Earthlings couldn''t transmigrate to the magic plane in person¡ªif only to avoid the uncertainty of whether the elder god that dragged him to the parallel world would also target other Earthlings who crossed over.


    While elder gods could only project mental influences onto the material plane, so far, these projections had only been at a "tentacle" level and not yet truly attracted the attention of an elder god. However, even for Yang Qiu, a high-level black mage who had spent three hundred years honing his skills in the other world, this "tentacle" posed quite a considerable risk to him. If it attacked the average mortal? Forget about it.


    If the "core technology" of traversing over to the other world couldn''t be presented for an "exchange," then all talk of cooperation would be nothing but drivel.


    "There''s no way of cooperating, but there''s no need to completely sever ties. At the end of the day, I''m also Chinese after all."


    After some thought, Yang Qiu drew a line for himself. A safety line for when dealing with these scientists.


    He still rather respected scientists; after all, he grew up reading about names like Stephen Hawking, Sanqiang, Oppenheimer, Hua Luogeng, Einstein, Zhan Tianyou, Marie Curie and Yuan Longping, whom everyone worshiped¡­


    Thus, Yang Qiu selected and added Director Lu''s ID to "approved," then sent the rest of the emails in his inbox to "rejected."


    After he was done with that, Yang Qiu then created a post and pinned it to the player forum: "Notice Regarding Release of Closed Beta Accounts."


    "Dear players,


    Due to technical limitations of server capacity and financial constraints, the development team is currently unable to release a large number of test accounts for this game.


    However, in response to the players'' enthusiasm, after careful consideration, we have decided to increase the number of closed beta accounts by 10.


    The distribution method for these closed beta accounts will be announced soon. Please stay tuned.


    Please refrain from repeatedly posting threads related to account requests on the forum. Once found, the posts will be deleted, and the user will be banned from posting for three days.


    ¡ªOtherWorld Development Team."


    After pinning the post, Yang Qiu changed into a fresh set of clothes and went out for a meal.


    When he first rented this suburban house, besides the fact that it was a single-occupancy dwelling with a small courtyard, another reason for choosing the place was because there was a delicious braised noodle shop nearby. Yang Qiu felt that life lacked excitement if he didn''t have a bowl of braised sweet potato noodles with various toppings every day.


    When he returned after a satisfying meal, Yang Qiu was surprised to see that the supermarket delivery driver, who usually only brought expired goods in the late evening, had come in broad daylight. The small delivery truck was parked at the entrance of the yard, and the driver was fanning himself with his hat while looking around.


    "Brother Zhang!" the driver actively greeted upon seeing Yang Qiu.


    Zhang was the surname of the ID that Yang Qiu had purchased online. He also cast an illusion spell on himself whenever he went out, which was a slight alteration to his original appearance.


    "Why are you so early today?" Yang Qiu gave the driver a casual smile and nodded as he took out the keys to unlock his gate.


    "Um¡­ I have some things to attend to in the afternoon, so I thought I''d deliver it to you earlier." The driver forced a smile, then motioned to his colleague. "Xiao Wang, help with unloading the goods."


    "On it," the young man who came with the driver responded readily and quickly opened the back doors of the truck.


    "You''ve got someone to help out this time, huh?" Yang Qiu remarked with a smile while glancing at the young man doing the unloading.


    "Well, um, yeah. I have something to do later in the afternoon, so I asked a colleague to come and help," the driver smiled awkwardly. It seemed as if he was afraid that Yang Qiu would ask more questions, so he went to help with the unloading while asking, "Brother Zhang, should the stuff be put in the usual place?"


    "Put them in the storeroom on the first floor, separate from the previous batch that hasn''t been used up," Yang Qiu instructed casually, seemingly oblivious to the driver''s nervousness.


    After unloading a truckload of expired or discontinued products, the driver handed an invoice for Yang Qiu to sign. While Yang Qiu did a quick scan of the goods, he noticed that there were ten motorcycle helmets mixed in among the towels, toothpaste, and mosquito repellent.


    "Are these helmets also discontinued?" Yang Qiu casually remarked.


    "Y-yeah," replied the driver while wiping off his sweat. "They''re from a small manufacturer and have been sitting on the shelves for half a year without being sold, so the manager decided to throw them in for free."


    There was nothing wrong with this explanation. Domestic retailers didn''t have that same grandeur as foreign supermarkets. A domestic retailer wasn''t that much different from ordinary grocery stores where the cashier might throw in a few extra candies when returning the change.


    For someone like Yang Qiu, who didn''t mind taking the unwanted goods and paid promptly, ten motorcycle helmets as a complementary bonus for purchasing a truckload of expired goods wasn''t at all excessive.


    However, Yang Qiu announced the release of up to ten closed beta accounts just 40 minutes ago. In the time it took to have a bowl of braised noodles, ten ready-made motorcycle helmets had come into his possession. That issue was rather tricky¡­


    Yang Qiu kept his cool and signed the invoice as per usual. After he sent the driver off and closed the gate behind him, Yang Qiu muttered to himself, "Isn''t this being too impatient? Couldn''t they have waited a couple of days¡­ Aren''t they afraid of scaring me off by being that obvious?"


    Given the mobilization capability of China''s grassroots, Yang Qiu had never believed that his disguise would be seamless enough that he would forever be undiscovered. In any case, his identity and the "assets" he possessed could be discarded at any time. If necessary, he could simply walk away without a trace.


    Being unable to see his family would be the only regret he would have. While his mother and sister couldn''t recognize him, Yang Qiu would still take a bus for a couple of stops to his old estate and watch them.


    Now, at least, it seemed like things wouldn''t reach that point. The ones who could find a suitable reason to deliver the helmets so promptly were relatively friendly, or at least not hostile. Otherwise, they would have found an excuse to detain him for questioning before anything else.


    "While we can''t cooperate, since there isn''t any hostility, perhaps we can still have a tacit understanding," muttered Yang Qiu.


    Yang Qiu entered the storeroom and first carried out the box containing the motorcycle helmets.


    Adding a large number of nodes to the imprint matrix would be overwhelming, but dealing with ten units was still within his capacity.


    He was just a mere game developer, and no matter how curious the scientists were, he could only provide them with a window into the game. This was Yang Qiu''s bottom line.


    What the scientists would discover by entering the game was no longer his concern.


    While Yang Qiu began the process of transforming the ten helmets into "login devices," in another location in G Province, a "task force" composed of elite members from various "relevant departments" and led by the NeuroTech Center had arrived specifically to carry out their work. They were meticulously reviewing the first on-site contact video footage transmitted by the field operatives. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As for why personnel from the National Security Bureau and Public Security University were around and how they had the authority to access synchronized video footage from field operatives, it wouldn''t be elaborated on here.


    "¡­He really does look like Zhang Mou," a scholarly senior in uniform commented wryly after watching the video. "If it hadn''t been confirmed that Zhang Mou is still serving his sentence, I would think that someone had unlawfully released him."


    "There are still differences," another middle-aged man, also in uniform but with a more imposing demeanor, spoke up. "Zhang Mou is from X Province and has never been to G Province. The man in the video speaks Mandarin with a distinct G-province accent."


    "Everyone, please." Lu Yiyun was unconcerned about the identity of the person in the video. She only cared about whether they could seize the opportunity to establish communication with this mysterious individual possessing advanced technology. And thus, she couldn''t help but cut them off impatiently, "The target accepted the helmets without resistance, indicating a willingness to cooperate. Shouldn''t we¡ª"


    "Don''t be hasty, Xiao Lu," Professor Yin Zhengliang, from the Public Security University''s Criminal Psychology Department, intervened to soothe Lu Yiyun''s impatience. "Whether the target has the intention to cooperate with us depends on their subsequent actions. So far, the target hasn''t given us any communication signals, which suggests he still has reservations. We need to be patient."


    Lu Yiyun hesitated, but didn''t say anything more.


    Among the scientific researchers, Lu Yiyun was undoubtedly one with the highest emotional intelligence and was proficient in organizing work. The fact that she was chosen to lead this group of experts demonstrated the level of trust placed in her. However, not all researchers were equally "reasonable" in their approach. Academician Ke Jingguo of the Chinese Scientific Institute of Neuroscience, for example, would have brought all his students over to G Province already if it hadn''t been for Lu Yiyun''s daily phone calls providing updates.


    All scientists and researchers in the field of neuroscience had to face a difficult question¡ªdoes the brain of a patient in a vegetative state possess consciousness? And are they still aware?


    Countless experts in the field had tirelessly pursued various methods to explore the mysteries of the brain, centered around this issue. However, to this day, there were still no significant results.


    Nearly 100,000 patients fell into a comatose state in China each year due to traumatic brain injuries, strokes, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, and other conditions, leading to long-term consciousness disorder, commonly known as being in a vegetative state. The efforts made by the NeuroTech Center in recent years could only combine relevant neural representations with machine learning methods, providing new reference points for clinical diagnosis and treatment of patients'' consciousness states.


    The emergence of the "helmet" that could transport one''s consciousness to an "alternate server" in the game "OtherWorld" came like a roaring thunderclap to experts in the fields of neuroscience.


    After the initial shock, experts from all relevant fields inevitably connected this incomprehensible black technology to the long-standing issue that had troubled scientists in this field: If it were possible to make one''s consciousness "active" in the so-called "alternate server" through brain wave activity, did it mean that patients with consciousness disorders could regain wakefulness by using this "game login device"?


    This speculation (whether these users that possessed these "game login devices" were truly playing a game or if their consciousness had indeed traveled to another existing alternate world) that drove countless experts and researchers crazy had to be temporarily set aside in their quest for validation of this experiment.


    Professor Yin Zhengliang understood Lu Yiyun''s dilemma and reassured her, "After reading your email, the target immediately released ten beta accounts and willingly accepted the helmets we arranged for. I believe we should quickly establish contact with this ''development team'' to confirm where they intend to deploy these ten helmets. That way, we can determine the target''s attitude toward us and whether they are strictly defensive or open to further cooperation."


    Lu Yiyun nodded and immediately sat down to compose an email.


    After calming the "scientific faction" within the group of experts, Professor Yin Zhengliang began discussing more in-depth topics with his colleagues.


    So far, they had mobilized a considerable number of grassroots police forces to conduct various investigations around the target. Bafflingly, even with the full cooperation of the police department in G Province, they were still unable to trace the origins of the person.


    Was the target truly a Chinese national?


    And if he were one, why was there no trace of his existence?


    The household registration police and internet police had searched through the records of missing men between the ages of 30-40 in the country, but they couldn''t find any fingerprints or DNA matches with the target.


    And if the target wasn''t a Chinese national, then how had he entered the country?


    It also had to be noted that G Province was not a border province, so there was no possibility for a foreigner to simply sneak in through a remote border.


    Of course, the task force leaned more toward considering the target as a Chinese national. This was because during the investigation into the target''s activities, they discovered unmistakable habits and behaviors that were typical of Chinese nationals: taking public transportation, renting residential houses, contacting local terminal retailers to purchase discounted products near expiration, visiting flea markets to make purchases, even buying handmade crafts from prisons, and so on. If a foreigner wanted to seamlessly integrate into the domestic environment, it would take more than a decade to learn and adopt these behaviors.


    It was precisely because the target seemed to have appeared in G Province out of thin air, making it impossible to trace his origin, that this task force didn''t consider direct contact. If they startled the person and the target disappeared silently, just like when they first appeared, the scientists who were already aware of the target''s existence would undoubtedly cause a major uproar.


    After Yang Qiu had finished with the ten new helmets, he opened up the forum''s backend and wasn''t at all surprised to see an earnest email from a certain Director Lu, requesting user accounts.


    In the email, Director Lu, who seemed to be an academic, candidly expressed that they were a legitimate research institution in the field of neuroscience and hoped to utilize the game login helmets for an experiment regarding the brain wave activity of patients in vegetative states.


    They wanted to investigate whether the connection to the game server could stimulate the brains of these patients and help them regain consciousness.


    Yang Qiu''s knowledge of Earth was limited to his time up till being a high school student, and he truly didn''t understand the intricacies of this matter. Therefore, without hesitation, he called the courier station and promptly sent the ten helmets to the scientists as originally intended.

 Chapter 33: Player’s inner circle

    That very same evening, the ten helmets that should still have been in transit at the logistics center arrived in the hands of the task force that had personally traveled to G Province.


    When forcibly dismantling a helmet, they were surprised to discover that the contact area between the helmet and the back of the head would turn into powder once pried opened. Thus, the task force halted this wasteful behavior and proceeded with the experiment on equipping comatose patients with helmets.


    Comatose patients were unable to connect to the official website or fill in their own IDs, so the scientists decided to randomly assign an ID and equip the patients with the login helmet.


    At the same time, to check if the consciousness of comatose patients would appear "in-game," Lu Yiyun took a helmet for herself and filled in her own real name as the ID in order to accompany the comatose patients in "logging in" to the game.


    Soon, a skeleton with the name "Lu Yiyun" displayed above its head appeared at Exile Town''s spawn point.


    Lu Yiyun surveyed her surroundings in amazement. The place didn''t seem like a virtual game, but rather, a real world.


    In the spirit of scientific investigation, Director Lu tried taking a deep breath. She noticed that although she was controlling a skeletal frame and could feel the airflow rushing into her mouth during the "breathing" motion, the airflow stopped once it reached the mouth and couldn''t actually be inhaled.


    She then moved her "body" and discovered that it was incredibly agile. There was no stiffness when she moved, and due to the skeleton frame weighing 60% less than a normal human body, Director Lu found that she could easily jump up and down as if she was twenty years of age, even though she was over forty in the real world.


    While Director Lu stood around curiously exploring the spawn point, several players clad in T-shirts and shorts with green names above their heads passed by and stared at her in shock.


    "Is that a new player?? Have new closed beta accounts been released?!"


    "I did see on the forum in the afternoon that they were issuing new accounts, but there wasn''t any official announcement regarding how the accounts would be distributed!"


    "Whoa, did those unscrupulous developers release new accounts? That''s some shady business!"


    "Quick, let''s log out and check the forum!"


    The few players rushed onto the spawn point''s platform in a hurry.


    Lu Yiyun watched with wide eyes as these skeleton players sank into the ground, mouth agape in disbelief as she approached the spot where they disappeared.


    Before she could make any sense of what she had witnessed, the players who had just sunk down began to reemerge from the ground in succession.


    "They distributed the accounts without any official announcement! Those damn developers truly pulled off some dirty tricks!"


    "Damn it, I was just about to help my mom apply for an account. She''s been bedridden for months after a leg injury."


    These players started complaining the moment they logged in. One player noticed Lu Yiyun was still around at the spawn point and boldly approached her. "Dude, how did you get your account? Did you trade with the developers or have some connections?"


    "Um¡­" was all Lu Yiyun could say.


    "Ah, it''s a girl. Sorry about that," the player quickly corrected himself and spoke more sincerely, "Could you tell me how you got the new account? I want to get one for my mom too."


    Being in her forties, Lu Yiyun felt incredibly awkward at being addressed as a girl by this clueless player. She hesitated and replied, "Well¡­ I''m sorry, young man, but I can''t provide specific details. In any case, it''s not what you guys are thinking."


    That player quickly realized that the person he had mistaken for a young girl was probably not around the same age as his mother. Feeling slightly intimidated, he said sheepishly, "Sorry to bother you, Auntie."


    As those players walked away, Lu Yiyun could still hear them muttering stuff like, "Told you not to just call anyone a girl," and "How was I supposed to know?"


    Lu Yiyun shook her head and stood at the spawn point, waiting.


    After about 10 minutes, her heart sank when she still didn''t see anyone come "online."


    She logged out of the game, and the faces of people in the room grew dim as they saw her expression.


    Lu Yiyun took a deep breath. "Next patient, please."


    The helmet that was on Patient 1''s head was now transferred to Patient 2.


    After 10 minutes, it was changed to Patient 3.


    After three consecutive tries, the scientists in the task force had to accept the reality.


    "After the helmet is put on a patient, there is a brief fluctuation in their brain waves and magnetic resonance imaging, though it isn''t as clear as that of a normal person''s brain wave imaging," sighed one of the experts in the neuroscience field. "This does confirm our speculation that the helmet operates by reading brain wave signals. However, the brain wave activity generated by the interaction of the patients'' neurons is too weak, and likely the reason for the failure of this experiment."


    Lu Yiyun nodded solemnly and let out a long sigh.


    Neural electrical signals discovered and verified by Earth''s scientists had similarities to the theory of mental energy fluctuations in the magic plane.


    The mental imprints embedded in the helmets by Yang Qiu had already been greatly watered down to adapt to the average mental strength of a person from Earth. However, regardless of how weakened it was, activating the mental imprints and entering the matrix still required mental energy within the standard range, which meant the brain wave activity of a normal person.


    Of course, the scientists would not give up so easily. Even though the patients'' consciousness could not awaken in the "game," the brief activity in their brain wave imaging while the helmet was equipped still had research value.


    As the scientific team discussed how to use the helmets to provide "massage" and stimulation therapy for patients in vegetative states, one of the helmets, under Professor Yin Zhengliang''s instructions, was sent to a military hospital in G Province.


    Saturday, October 12, 11 a.m. Earth time.


    A special new player came online at Exile Town''s spawn point.


    Unlike ordinary players who curiously surveyed the surroundings in awe when they logged in, being curious about this world that felt so realistic and unlike a game, this new player¡­ seemed more curious about himself.


    From the moment he entered the game, the player kept his head down, looking at his own two feet. Then, he carefully lifted one foot up, seemingly cherishing the moment, before lowering it. Then he lifted it again, then lowered it, repeating the steps over and over.


    The sensation of being grounded seemed to deeply resonate with the new player. He slowly squatted down and gently caressed the bony feet with his hands, fully focused on his actions.


    Several seconds later, the new player suddenly stood up and began sprinting down the streets like a madman.


    "What the hell! Watch where you are going!" A group of players heading to log out at the spawn point were nearly knocked into and shouted out.


    "Sorry!" The new player turned around and apologized, but didn''t stop running and continued on ahead.


    "Wait a minute. Ji Tang? I haven''t seen that ID before, and he''s not wearing any clothes. A new player?!" The player who narrowly avoided a collision watched in shock as the naked skeleton ran off into the distance. "Damn, so what they said on the forum was true! The development team issued new accounts?!"


    "It''s not easy to get an account now. Helmets that aren''t bound to any account are sold for five-figure prices," one of the player''s friends remarked. "Come on, let''s log out for a quick meal. After lunch, we can join Boss Vanilla and the others to explore the Spider Cave."


    Another of their friends shook his head. "You guys go ahead and grind later. I don''t feel like going to feed and will head back to clear some quests till I reach level 1 and change jobs."


    "Come on, Lao San. Lost your motivation after just a few wipes yesterday?"


    "It''s different, bro. Being wiped in other games means being able to retry right away. But, in this game, you are kicked offline and have to wait for half an hour. It''s just too frustrating¡­"


    "What''s the difference? If we get team wiped during a Neferian raid, we still have gotta waste half an hour."


    "Haa, too difficult. This game is just too difficult."


    Not long after this group logged out, other groups of laboring players also rushed to the spawn point to log out in groups of twos and threes to have meals since the advanced NPCs had gotten off work.


    "Sis Ying, Qingyue, should we challenge the Spider Cave again in the afternoon?" Tang Jia suggested.


    "I think we should forget it," Yang Ying sighed. "Players are too weak right now and it''s a slaughter when we go in. Let''s all level up first before deciding."


    "Yeah," sighed lone wolf Jia Luo, who had recently joined their little all-girl team. "Yesterday, we followed the large group in, being cautious and keeping our distance, but as soon as they were wiped out, we had no chance to flee as well."


    "Ah? You guys aren''t going?" Tang Jia asked dejectedly.


    Since the worldview breakthrough quest was conquered by players, and the monster spawn spot, Spider Cave, was opened, players had been actively forming teams of all sizes, with more than two hundred people rushing to Spider Cave¡­ Suffice to say the first group of heroes was wiped out in under ten minutes.


    Angry players that were kicked offline flooded the forums, complaining about the dense and treacherous monster spawns and stating that players were defenseless against them. In response, Yang Qiu promptly opened up the weapon and armor vendors, selling bulk-purchased steel-blade knives and some patched faux-leather armor vests made by prisoners.


    A steel-blade knife was priced at 20 copper coins, while an ugly steel-plated leather armor cost 30 copper coins. Players expressed that the prices were reasonable, and a complete set could be afforded from just two days of grinding. Fully equipped, they regrouped and attempted another battle¡­ only to be wiped out again.


    Quite a number of players lost their equipment, especially their weapons. Being from Earth and having little combat experience meant that players were prone to inadvertently release their grips on weapons before their health bars were fully depleted. Yang Qiu secretly sent a few summoned creatures to retrieve the dropped weapons from players and collected more copper coins for free.


    After experiencing two consecutive wipes, the players remained spirited and devised a method of tightly binding the steel-blade knives to their hands with vine strips while rallying a large group to continue their assault.


    This time, the players successfully killed a dozen or so spider monsters, but someone accidentally stepped on spider eggs, triggering an onslaught of spider monsters and resulting in yet another wipe.


    By this morning, the leaders who could rally a large group, Brother Lahong and Vanilla Pudding, had ceased their efforts and organized the players who were playing with them to do some labor while spreading the word of regrouping for another battle in the afternoon and inviting interested teams to join.


    Despite what the others in her party thought, Tang Jia was genuinely interested in joining.


    "How about you go play with Vanilla''s group in the afternoon, Tang Jia?" Zheng Qingyue suggested. "I''ll focus on raising my reputation with Lord Yang in the next few days so I can transition to being a support character. We can form a small team later on."


    "But if I play with them too much and get invited to join their Blood Alliance, then I''ll feel bad turning them down," Tang Jia was hesitant.


    "Your sense of self-awareness is way too exaggerated. Didn''t you see the explanation in the update announcement? A level-1 Blood Alliance can only have 30 members. Take a look at how many people are playing with Vanilla Boss. They might not even accept you even if you wanted to join their alliance," Zheng Qingyue taunted her childhood friend without showing mercy.


    "Hehe¡­ You''re right. I''ll go play with them then," Tang Jia chuckled sheepishly while rubbing her smooth skull. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Don''t always think about playing. Hurry up and raise your reputation with the Warrior Instructor. It would be ridiculous if you have enough Potential but lack the reputation to transition to a new job," Yang Ying advised.


    "Don''t worry, Sis Ying. I''ve got it under control!" Tang Jia waved her hand confidently.


    The giggling girls said their goodbyes before going offline. About forty minutes of game time later, they logged back in nearly at the same time.


    With her heart bent on fighting monsters, Tang Jia hastily said farewell to her companions and dashed over to the group that was about to go monster hunting. Zheng Qingyue and Yang Ying shook their heads, then joined Jia Luo to clear zombie quests. They had followed a large group into the Spider Cave yesterday and had either lost their weapons or armor. Now, they had to make an effort to recover those losses.


    The three of them spent about half an hour completing the popular manual labor quests given by the zombie Bierda when they saw Vanilla Pudding and Brother Lahong leading a large group of players in a grand procession on a nearby street.


    "I wonder how long they''ll last this time?" Yang Ying said while pounding a wooden pillar with a large hammer to solidify it as a foundation.


    "With yesterday''s experience, they probably wouldn''t die so miserably today," replied Zheng Qingyue as she mixed cement. "The large group won''t all enter the Spider Cave. They''ll carefully lure the monsters out in batches to fight, so they should be able to hold on."


    "Most importantly, players haven''t changed their classes and don''t have any skills, so it''s quite difficult for them to fight monsters," Jia Luo said while swiftly smearing the cement on bricks. "Even the dreamweaver, which was easiest to fight, required us to destroy its abdomen to completely kill it. That''s not mentioning the razor spider. If it is drawn over, there won''t be any survivors."


    A male player, who was also doing quests, waited for a long time for the opportunity to interrupt. "Did you girls go to the Spider Cave yesterday? Why aren''t you going today?"


    "We lost our equipment, so we need to earn money to buy new stuff," Yang Ying replied in earnest.


    "Heh, do girls need to buy their own equipment when playing games?" the male player said with a sleazy tone. "Just find a husband."


    Yang Ying frowned. The players she had encountered in this game had been quite decent overall, but this was the first time she had come across such a senseless person.


    Before Yang Ying could retort, Jia Luo pointed at the male player. "Your wall is crooked."


    "Eh?"


    "It''s really crooked," said Jia Luo. "Look closely. You better fix it quickly, or when you turn in the quest to the NPC, he''ll make you tear it down and rebuild it from scratch, wasting your efforts."


    The male player doubtfully took a step back, took a careful look, and started sweating¡­ It wasn''t just slightly crooked; it was crooked as hell.


    Thus, the male player quickly dismantled the wall while the cement hadn''t yet dried and started over¡­


    "I think I''ve almost become a skilled mason after doing manual labor for so long," sighed Jia Luo to her two companions. "If I had the physical strength in real life and was not afraid of getting sunburned, I would consider working at a construction site."


    Yang Ying and Zheng Qingyue burst into laughter together.


    Though, after laughing, Zheng Qingyue grumbled, "This game really has no limits. At first, I thought that getting players to demolish abandoned buildings, sweep streets, and clear garbage was already the limit. I never imagined we would still make bricks and cement to build houses."


    "Yeah. The NPCs even have this function where they won''t accept the quest submission if the construction quality is too poor," Jia Luo grumbled. "If not for us being skeleton characters who don''t get tired and aren''t afraid of the sun, this game would be unplayable."


    "Well, fortunately, the houses the zombies want us to build are quite simple. They aren''t much different from the pigsty I helped my uncle build in the countryside when I was younger. Otherwise, I doubt many people would be able to continue working," Yang Ying said.


    "Sigh, what''s the point of zombies living in nice houses anyway? I haven''t seen these zombie NPCs moving an inch, even when they''re squatting outside, exposed to the sun and rain," Jia Luo added. "I''m glad I worked on increasing my Ranger reputation early on. Now the reputation quests over at the Wanderer Guild''s site are ridiculously difficult. The criteria for acceptance are much higher than the zombie NPCs. Lots of players have spent hours working, but their work is still deemed unsatisfactory. Many cursed and even went offline to watch videos on how to build walls. It''s really miserable."


    "Hey, the Warrior Construction site isn''t much better either," Yang Ying said, not knowing whether to cry or laugh.


    "Say, Jia Luo, don''t be too gleeful about having reached a Friendly reputation with the instructor. It''s not like you won''t have to increase your reputation with the Ranger Instructor in the future. Don''t you still have to undertake a second advancement quest to become a Ranger?" Zheng Qingyue teased.


    "That''s something for later on, 100 Potential points are required for the second advancement. It''s way too early to be talking about it. By the time I need to raise my reputation again, the Wanderer Guild will probably have been fully constructed already," replied Jia Luo nonchalantly.


    The girls chatted and laughed while they worked, unaffected by fatigue, thirst, dust, or sunburn. With a positive mindset, they could even treat bricklaying as playing with building blocks¡­ except that it was just a bit dirty. After completing their quests, they had to go to the river to wash off the dirt on their bones.


    After about an hour of gameplay, several players who hung out with Brother Lahong, like Phantom and Guileless Gale, ran over to different construction sites and shouted, "Brothers and sisters, listen up! The market''s highest price for copper coins is ten to one! We support various transaction methods, with guaranteed credibility. If you want to sell, do so quickly!"


    The price of copper coins didn''t fall after the auction for the Undead Horse concluded. There were two reasons for this: First, most players had sold or lent their previously accumulated copper coins and didn''t have much money left; second, many people believed that valuable items worth spending on would be released, so the value of copper coins wouldn''t fall much and many players were hoarding coins.


    Sure enough, when the Spider Cave was released and advanced NPCs started selling equipment and weapons, the copper coin market came alive once more.


    "Looks like they were wiped out again." Jia Luo shook her head sympathetically.


    "Most likely," Yang Ying agreed. "These people are really strange. Why do they keep trying over and over when they know they can''t win?"


    "Don''t you get it? Don''t be fooled by Brother Lahong and Vanilla Boss acting all friendly and working together. They''re actually competing with each other below the surface." Jia Luo smirked. "It''s hard to say whether dungeons would be introduced to this game in the future. Right now, the only place where players can farm monsters is the Spider Cave. Whichever side manages to establish a stable presence there and can consistently farm will have solo players and small teams flocking over to them.


    "Even if these people can''t join their Blood Alliance for the time being, they can still be arranged as reserve members of their own secondary or tertiary alliances," Jia Luo continued. "With the limited player population in this game, the key is to gather people to your side in advance. By doing so, the opponents won''t have a chance to grow, and the position of the top Blood Alliance will be secured."


    Yang Ying looked at Jia Luo in astonishment, then turned toward Zheng Qingyue. Though they hadn''t known each other for long, Yang Ying trusted Zheng Qingyue''s intelligence.


    Zheng Qingyue nodded. "Jia Luo is right. By laying a solid foundation for the ''top Blood Alliance'' now, when new players join the game in the future, those that are strong will likely join the top Blood Alliance."


    "Who knew there were so many intricacies in playing a game?" Yang Ying couldn''t help but be amazed.


    Zheng Qingyue chuckled. "Didn''t Brother Lahong and Vanilla Boss specifically approach us to chat? They wanted to recruit us."


    "Huh?" Yang Ying was a little slow to catch on. "Wasn''t all that just normal conversation?"


    Zheng Qingyue shook her head with a smile. Yang Ying, who was two years older, didn''t lack intelligence, she was just a bit unconcerned with minor details.


    Patiently, Zheng Qingyue explained, "I sent Tang Jia to join Vanilla Boss'' team because he''s a somewhat popular streamer who cares about his image. If Tang Jia joined Brother Lahong''s team, I reckoned she wouldn''t be able to come back to us."


    Yang Ying. "¡­"


    "So, that''s why I don''t like joining those big guilds and factions in games. I can tolerate mandatory activities, but I can''t stand all the scheming and infighting," Jia Luo remarked. "In a game I played before, there were several factions on the server, constantly vying with each other. When one faction couldn''t surpass the others, they invited a studio from another server to engage in 24-hour vendetta killing against their rival factions. There were endless flame wars every day, and it became incredibly annoying."


    "Ohh!" Yang Ying was intrigued. "I thought studios were just like Eight At Once and his bunch that are always diligently doing manual labor. I didn''t realize they played so fiercely!"


    Zheng Qingyue smiled. "It''s quite normal. In some games, the top guilds are actually studios. Studios will do anything to make money. Paid assassinations, seizing resources from regular players, and even monopolizing certain special materials on the server. Eight At Once and his group, who focus solely on gold farming, are in the minority."


    Jia Luo nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Thankfully, this game has a small player base and high entry requirements. If it were open registration, regular solo players wouldn''t have a chance to receive manual labor quests from zombie NPCs. Studios would monopolize them. Three copper coins go for 30 yuan at present, and one hour of gameplay only equals half an hour in real-time. Just imagine how eager studios would be to snatch such an opportunity."


    "If studios monopolize the majority of the copper coin production from zombie NPC quests, the price of copper coins wouldn''t be just 10 yuan," Zheng Qingyue explained.


    "That''s right, they would definitely drive up the prices," Jia Luo agreed with a nod.


    Yang Ying got slightly befuddled the more she listened¡­ Should she be happy that there weren''t that many players and celebrate the fact that she could work as a manual laborer in the game?


    "Seems like playing games isn''t as simple as it appears, huh," a player who was also doing the same quest as them couldn''t help but speak up after listening for some time.


    "Yeah¡­ um?" Jia Luo turned to look at the player who had been silently laying bricks. "Ji Tang? I haven''t seen that ID before."


    The player with the ID Ji Tang displayed above his head and wearing only beginner gear without a waist pouched gave Jia Luo a friendly smile. "Hello, I''m a newcomer who just logged into the game today."


    "What the hell! Watch where you are going!" A group of players heading to log out at the spawn point were nearly knocked into and shouted out.


    "Are you a ''nepo''?" Zheng Qingyue asked curiously. "Do you know someone from the development team?"


    "Um¡­ I don''t know anyone. This helmet was given to me by someone, and I have no idea how it came about," Ji Tang replied calmly.


    Upon hearing the word "given," Yang Ying scrutinized the new player with curiosity. Although Yang Ying was a gaming newbie, she had been playing for quite a few days and had also spent time browsing the forum.


    Besides five-figure sums offered to purchase unbound helmets, there was also a trend of people queuing up to be the first to get helmets¡­ This actually made Yang Ying nervous deep down. She had messaged her younger brother via social media several times, asking if the helmet he had given her would cause dissatisfaction among others or result in him being fined.


    Because her own helmet was a gift from her brother, and even though Ji Tang had denied it, Yang Ying subconsciously regarded this new player as a fellow "nepo"¡ªmeaning someone related to personnel on the game development team, like a relative or friend.


    "Have you played games before?" Yang Ying, feeling a sense of camaraderie, took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Ji Tang.


    "I played before I enlisted," Ji Tang replied in earnest.


    "Oh, so you''ve served in the military?" Now Jia Luo was also interested. She sized up the player and specifically viewed the wall in front of him. "Speaking of which, you have a certain military air, and you''ve built this wall quite well."


    "I''m from the countryside, and my family''s financial situation wasn''t great. During vacations while I was studying, I would work on construction sites. I also helped relatives and neighbors with house construction and expansion," Ji Tang explained, slightly embarrassed.


    Ji Tang''s voice sounded very young, and in general, it was quite difficult for a young male to admit to a group of young ladies he had just met that his family''s financial conditions weren''t good. Most people couldn''t help but succumb to vanity and boast or embellish their own image. However, Ji Tang''s honesty quickly gained the favor of several female players, and they included him in their conversation.


    Ji Tang, who mustered up the courage to join the conversations after listening quietly for a while, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.


    It could be said that he had accomplished his initial task of infiltrating the inner circle of players.

 Chapter 34: Crazy Undead

    It was 3:30 p.m. on Earth, but it was six in the early morning in-game. The original leader of the Sacred Crows bandit gang, "Razor" Hal Maxwell, emerged from his tent and surveyed his surroundings expressionlessly.


    The designated construction site for the Adventurer''s Guild had transformed from an abandoned block into a bustling construction site. The guild''s hall, still under construction, was surrounded by iron pipes and a net made of an unknown material (it was actually just scaffolding).


    Half-meter-deep foundations had also been dug out for the living area meant for job instructors.


    Given the enthusiasm these eerie undead had for "work," Hal reckoned that he might be able to move out of his cramped tent in another half month or so.


    However, he didn''t feel the least bit happy about such a thing.


    On the contrary, as construction progressed, Hal''s heart got colder. He was in his thirties and had no intention of sacrificing his whole life in this godforsaken wasteland, surrounded by a bunch of skeletons, zombies, and an evil black mage!


    A few skeletons with strange squarish characters floating above their heads passed by, and one of them glanced at Hal who was standing before his tent.


    Hal remained motionless, his hand slowly inching toward the hilt of his trusty longsword.


    The player lowered his head, glanced at the game time displayed by the system, and, realizing it was not yet time to disturb Hal, continued to chat with his companions as they walked away.


    A disappointed Hal released his grip on the sword hilt¡­


    These strange undead were indeed becoming smarter, making it increasingly difficult for him to find "legitimate" opportunities to strike them down.


    Sighing, Hal picked up some breakfast ingredients and headed to Tuttle''s tent.


    Tuttle Joe, who was born into a good family, was the most meticulous among them when it came to the finer details of life. With the same ingredients, Tuttle always managed to create more delicious dishes than anyone else. It had become a habit for Hal and the treasure expert, Finley, who was also situated at this construction site, to gather at Tuttle''s place for meals.


    "Morning, Hal."


    Finley, who stayed nearer to Tuttle, was already there with a carton of milk in his hand and casually greeted Hal when the latter arrived.


    "Morning, Finley. Tuttle, this is for you," Hal placed his paper bag of ingredients beside Tuttle, who was busy preparing breakfast, then sat down on a stool next to Finley.


    "Want some milk? There''s still some left." Finley took out another carton.


    "Thanks." Hal accepted it briskly.


    "Our dark mage sure has quite some connections, huh? Even in this godforsaken place, he manages to find all sorts of supplies," Finley insinuated, "though the things he brings back are kinda strange, like this milk packaged in paper that seems to be loaded with sugar."


    "Indeed, you can''t really taste much of the milk." Hal''s eyes narrowed. "The biscuits he distributed to us were coated with a layer of sugar icing¡­ Even the renowned biscuit shops in the Rhine Kingdom''s capital aren''t so generous."


    "So, you guys are saying¡­" Tuttle approached with a pot of stew. He placed it on the campfire where the two of them were seated and wiped his hands. As he sat down, he continued, "that there''s an external force supporting this guy?"


    "The largest sugar-producing region is on another continent," Finley stated concisely. "As far as I know, the Rhine Kingdom''s disputes with the Kenyan Empire prevented them from having easy access to trading and resources from beyond the continent."


    Tuttle shrugged. "Alright then. A wicked black mage backed by the evil Kenyan Empire infiltrates deep into the eastern region of Navalon with sinister intentions. It sounds plausible¡­ But in these past few days, we''ve taken turns keeping watch, and we haven''t seen any strangers enter here to deliver supplies to this black mage."


    "If it''s about supplying the 18 of us and meeting the needs of that Rex guy, all it would take is for a highly skilled stealth expert with a spatial ring." Tuttle pointed to the heaps of bricks and cement at the nearby construction site. "These things would require at least two medium-sized airships to transport. And airships are so conspicuous that only the blind won''t see them coming."


    Hal and Finley fell silent.


    Large quantities of construction materials appearing overnight weren''t particularly strange for players since it was just a game after all. Whatever the development team wanted to "refresh" could be refreshed.


    But it was frustrating for these natives¡ªthey couldn''t comprehend how the black mage, Yang, who camped with them in this godforsaken wilderness filled with monsters and beasts, managed to accomplish it!


    Transporting such an amount of heavy objects was indeed a very troublesome task. Yang Qiu would have to make several dozen trips using his spatial ring to accomplish it.


    As for the source¡­ Just like the provision of living necessities, Yang Qiu didn''t explain anything to his subordinates because there really wasn''t a way of explaining it.


    "Tuttle, what are your thoughts?" Hal sighed and mustered his spirits to ask.


    Tuttle remained silent for a moment before saying, "¡­Perhaps, accepting this reality for the time being isn''t a bad idea for us."


    Hal''s face turned dark, and he stood up abruptly.


    "Hal." Finley got up quickly and held onto Hal''s arm while giving Tuttle a worried glance.


    Tuttle stood up as well and met Hal''s angry gaze head-on while saying firmly, "Believe me, Hal. I have never forgotten our initial oath. We will always be on the same path."


    Hal took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and said through gritted teeth, "And what do you mean by that?"


    Even though there were no noisy undead wandering nearby, Tuttle cautiously leaned closer to Hal''s ear and lowered his voice to a whisper. "I was thinking, perhaps we can consider using these peculiar undead¡­ and Yang."


    Hal stared at him in shock.


    "Yang proclaims himself as Lord of Taranthan. At first, we thought he was insane and babbling nonsense¡­ But evidently, Yang is serious and truly intends to turn this wasteland into his territory, perhaps having spent many years accumulating resources preparing. And these undead, which can''t be killed no matter how hard we try, are his subjects."


    Tuttle continued to whisper, "Summoning undead isn''t really an extraordinary act. But this is different. If he can establish a foothold in Taranthan, then there''s no harm in following him as long as there are enough benefits for us.


    "And if he can''t¡­" Tuttle lowered his voice to a level that even Finley, who was sitting close by, could barely hear, "the bounty on the ''Nightmare Butcher'' is as high as 90,000 gold coins."


    Finley''s and Hal''s eyes instantly gleamed with excitement.


    "¡­Wait, what if he realizes he can''t succeed and chooses to flee? If a black mage wishes to escape, holding him back wouldn''t be easy," Hal grabbed Tuttle''s hand and asked anxiously.


    Tuttle motioned for Hal and Finley to sit back down before he leaned in close to his eager compatriots and said coolly, "That''s why we have to prepare early. First, we''ll have to rope in some undead allies. As you guys may have noticed, these undead are crazy and extremely arrogant. Even when Yang passes by, none of them show him any respect. I believe these undead may not consider Yang as their master."


    Hal slapped his thigh excitedly and exclaimed, "You''re right! Yang would be wary of us, but he might not be wary of those undead."


    "But when we interact with those undead, Yang still monitors us through the matrix," Finley said, frowning.


    The whole gang knew that despite his hot-tempered nature, Finley was rather wise. Tuttle nodded in agreement. "Indeed, we can only communicate with those undead through the matrix, and our words and actions are monitored by Yang. However, this surveillance is to ensure we comply with instructions when making the undead work and doesn''t prevent us from establishing other connections with these undead. For example, when we kill certain annoying undead, as long as our behavior isn''t out of line, Yang won''t take notice."


    Finley''s eyes lit up. "Are you saying¡­ we can seek out opportunities to give these crazy undead some hints?"


    "That''s right." Tuttle nodded decisively. "I believe you guys have also noticed that almost all the undead have been going on about ''hidden quests'' these past few days. It seems like they are eagerly anticipating the opportunity to receive undisclosed, special secret quests. Although we can''t create tasks beyond the specified rules, we can make them believe that we can provide what they desire."


    Finley and Hal both nodded vigorously. Hal got especially worked up and said, "That''s right! These noisy bastards have been even more restless than before. Some troublemakers who took on my tasks weren''t satisfied and kept pestering me, asking if there were any other quests. I killed quite a few of such bastards!"


    "¡­" Tuttle wiped the sweat off his forehead. "There''s no need to kill all of them next time. We can consider selecting a few less crazy¡­ no, a few that we are able to differentiate, spare them selectively, and observe their subsequent reactions to see if they become friendlier toward us.


    "We mustn''t rush things. We''ve got to slowly bide our time and patiently select undead that are willing to get close to us. Then, we should gradually provide them with the benefits we can offer without getting too close that it will raise Yang''s suspicions. And when the time is right, we can give them some insinuations¡­"


    As the food simmered, Tuttle divided it into portions for his two companions while saying, "A secret ceases to be a secret when too many people are in on it. I suggest that it''s best only the three of us handle this matter. What do you guys think?"


    "Right, it isn''t about distrusting others, but the fewer who know this secret, the better," Finley agreed right away.


    Hal had no objections either. Hal believed that there wouldn''t be any traitors among the 17 remaining of the former Sacred Crows bandit gang that followed him. However, there were indeed some idiots in their group who lacked brains and caused more trouble than they were worth.


    With their plan settled, Hal, who was usually annoyed to death by players, displayed an unprecedented sense of dedication during the day''s work shift. He attentively observed the undead performing tasks under his supervision with a sharp and focused gaze.


    "When will these laborious days of bricklaying end!"


    "Damn it! My last bit of Potential won''t increase no matter what!"


    "Who mixed this batch of cement? It''s so watery that it won''t stick. Why wasn''t it rejected?"


    "I used the money earned from manual labor to buy lipstick for my wife. She said she won''t forcefully take off my helmet next time she¡¯s bored¡­"


    "Are we going to the Spider Cave tonight?"


    "You still intend to go? Haven''t you lost enough equipment?"


    "I feel that there''s no point in farming monsters at the Spider Cave. Just picking up equipment would probably make us a fortune¡­"


    Although there were only about a dozen or so undead, the noise made by these bunch created a bustling vibe resembling that of a marketplace. On top of that, the noise from Tuttle''s and Finley''s sites added on to the background sound. Hal''s temples were throbbing, and he had the urge to draw his longsword and go on a rampage¡­


    Hal exerted utmost self-control to suppress his irritation. Just then, an undead ran over, screaming and shouting.


    "Hey, hey, have you heard? Ou Huang has already gone for job advancement. The first mage in the game has appeared!"


    "Whoa, f*ck! Is that true?"


    "That guy was level 1 the moment he logged in and could change jobs once he ground enough reputation. That''s why he''s faster than others."


    "That''s so unfair! My Potential is only 32!"


    "Who told the damn developers to make Potential random? Even if you are unlucky, all you can do is accept it."


    "How about we go and kill Lord Yang? Everyone would be on equal footing if we all can''t change jobs!"


    Hal''s entire body trembled.


    Players, who were used to the incessant chatter while laboring away, didn''t find anything wrong with these exchanges, and they continued to chat.


    "Dream on. Even Wife Vanilla and the gang are screaming for mercy and begging for their lives when dealing with level 1 spiders. A level-3 giant rat has the achievement of mass slaughtering players. And you even dream of challenging Lord Yang, whose information can''t even be seen with ''Identify''? Wake up, brother!" Another player diligently slogging away said mockingly.


    "Yeah, it''s more feasible to kill advanced NPCs that exploit us using reputation," another player chimed in while pointing at Hal. "This NPC is level 5 and probably easier to kill than Lord Yang. Brother, how about you practice your skills on this one?" Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The string known as rationality in Hal''s mind snapped. Face darkened, he drew his longsword and charged at the skeleton that was pointing its dirty bony finger at him.


    "What the heck? Just a couple of words and an NPC will attack?!" Fortunately, that player wasn''t too near Hal and immediately sprinted away.


    "Waahaha!"


    "Hahahaha! I''m dying of laughter!"


    "Run quick! Once you are out of range, the NPC won''t chase you anymore!"


    "This Hal is even quicker than Tuttle next door¡­ What the hell! Why is he charging at me!" The next player that caught Hal''s attention jumped up and ran away, shouting as he fled, "Calm down, Hal-san, I was just kidding! I''m your undead friend~"


    "F*ck, hahahaha!"


    "Enough, you guys! Can''t you all stop teasing the NPC?"


    "Sooner or later, I''m gonna die from laughing thanks to you guys!"


    "Give the NPC back quickly! I need to submit a quest!"


    Tuttle, hearing all the laughter and excitement coming from Hal''s end, was surprised at how quickly the latter changed and immediately bonded with those undead he had always been complaining about¡­


    Turning over to look, Tuttle then realized that Hal was maniacally chasing after and trying to cut down a skeleton that was jumping and hopping all over the place.


    Tuttle. "¡­"


    The player that was interacting with Tuttle noticed that the NPC was no longer paying attention and stepped forward, blocking Tuttle''s line of sight, and shoved the muddy quest item in front of the NPC''s face. "Tuttle Joe, I want to complete the quest. Got it? Hey? Hello?"


    After enduring another day of work, the former bandit trio gathered for dinner.


    "I don''t think it''s possible," Hal said with a grim expression. "It''s too difficult to find undead that are rational among these lunatics."


    Tuttle and Finley. "¡­"


    While they both felt Hal''s lack of patience was an issue, these undead were indeed a big issue as well. No matter how many times they had witnessed it before, both of them found it difficult to get used to the gleeful and mocking laughter of the undead when their own comrades were being attacked.


    "Haa¡­" The three sighed simultaneously.


    "It''s too early to give up. This is only the first day," said Tuttle in a bid to boost his compatriots'' spirits. "These undead are quite¡­ individualistic. From their conversations, I firmly believe that we can at least communicate successfully with some of them. As long as we have enough patience, surely some undead that are willing to assist us in assassinating Yang at the crucial moment can be found."


    Hal was silent for a bit, then said, "You misunderstood me, Tuttle. It isn''t difficult to send an undead to assassinate Yang. These illogical lunatics have no reverence for Yang, who summoned them, nor do they consider him their master. The challenge lies in how to communicate with these undead in a normal manner in the first place."


    Tuttle and Finley. "¡­"


    "The worst part is that in the eyes of these undead, the difference between Lord Yang and us may simply be whether we are easier to assassinate," Hal said in frustration. "There''s no guarantee that these undead won''t target us. Don''t forget, Yang initially said that these unruly undead will kill any target they can, regardless of the cost."


    Tuttle''s face immediately became rigid.


    Truth be told, due to the ease at which these undead could be killed, he had long forgotten Yang''s warning¡­


    But at the thought of how these undead, undeterred by defeat, had been relentlessly rushing into the Spider Cave that Yang had made a path to, Tuttle couldn''t help but shudder.


    Finley''s face was even darker than Tuttle''s.


    This Treasure Expert was the most reliable strategist apart from Tuttle during the era of the Sacred Crows. When Hal and Tuttle felt discouraged by the setback of the plan, he had already delved deeper into the matter. "Hey, guys, I have an unpleasant speculation¡­ Could it be that these crazed skeletons summoned by Yang aren''t ordinary undead?"


    Tuttle asked at once, "What''s your take, Finley?"


    "While Yang claims that he never accepted it, he is known on the Navalon wanted list as ''Nightmare Butcher.''"


    Taking a deep breath, Finley continued, "These skeletons that he summoned as subjects may indeed be different from the typical undead army of a black mage. They are far from sluggish, highly agile, and possess considerable intelligence while being downright crazy. This level of intelligence is not something ordinary summoned creatures would possess."


    As Tuttle and Hal heard this, their entire bodies bristled with unease.


    Finley''s tone got increasingly worked up. "Could it be that these undead aren''t the undead we thought they were but rather beings from a higher dimension that transcend our understanding?


    "The reason they appear in the fragile form of skeletons is either because their true forms cannot enter the material plane or because Yang has temporarily restricted their power in order to ''tame'' them and make them appear weak, as we see them now.


    "The evidence is what Hal has mentioned; these undead aren''t bound by summoning contracts and are actually capable of harboring murderous intent toward Yang! I can''t even imagine what level of terrifying creatures their true forms might be!"


    Finley''s conjecture left Hal dumbfounded, while Tuttle found himself speechless.


    As if the fog that had been obscuring his vision was suddenly blown away, Hal instantly recalled his numerous doubts and his voice trembled. "Yes, yes¡­ Yang himself said that these undead would keep getting stronger. But if they were just ordinary skeletons, how could they possibly grow stronger? Damn it, we shouldn''t have come here in the first place. We were deceived by that evil bastard pretending to be friendly, and we were fooled by the supplies he generously offered us!"


    "Someone like the ''Nightmare Butcher'' is perfectly capable of doing such things! Goddamn it! Is this fella trying to cause a calamity?!" Tuttle exclaimed as well, his forehead completely covered in a cold sweat.


    "It''s time to make a decision, guys." Finley exhaled sharply. "We have to take a gamble: either slink away in the night and hope he won''t chase after us, knowing that we possess his secret¡­ or kill him! We have to do it before these dangerous and terrifying creatures are successfully ''tamed'' and reveal their true power!"


    The atmosphere among the three had become extremely tense.


    They didn''t believe for a moment that the evil black mage would spare them. It was a childish view to hold. After all, that devious man had purposely gone all the way to the Sorensen Mountains to deceive them and bring them here!


    "Let''s do it!" Hal gritted his teeth determinedly. "Regardless of what madness this black mage is scheming, there''s no need for us to go along with his madness."


    Having been bandits for several years, these guys could indeed be daring when they needed to. The trio immediately dug into their meal, filling their stomachs before scattering to contact the others¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Tang Jia, Zheng Qingyue, Yang Ying, Jia Luo, and Ji Tang gathered at the spawn point and formed a team, heading toward the northeast corner of the town.


    "In the game, one hour is equivalent to half an hour in real life. NPCs that grant reputation for job advancements only give out quests during specific time slots: from 4:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., and from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. As for zombie NPCs'' quests, they are available at all times."


    While moving, Zheng Qingyue enthusiastically introduced the game to the new friend they had made. "You can only stay logged in for 12 hours a day, which means 24 hours of game time. Since your initial Potential is quite high, you should calculate the best times to log in and try to maximize the time periods where you can gain reputation each day."


    "Understood. I''ll calculate my login time carefully from now on." Ji Tang nodded.


    "It''s your first day playing, so just use up your login time today." Tang Jia confidently waved her hand. "Today, while I was with the big group to farm monsters, I found a place where even a small team can farm safely. Let''s go and test it out. If it works, we''ll gather materials to exchange for reputation points for Qingyue. Once she changes her job to a support class, our squad will become stronger!"


    Regardless of whether Ji Tang understood or not, he nodded repeatedly.


    In any game, female players were more willing to play with newcomers, and this full-immersive game was no exception.


    Zheng Qingyue helplessly stared at Tang Jia, then turned to their new teammate and added, "Don''t listen to her nonsense all the time. She''s completely unreliable at times. Anyway, let''s treat this trip as sightseeing and be prepared to be kicked offline¡­"


    "Ah, it''s Boss Unceasing Entropy!"


    Two players running toward them spotted Unceasing Entropy''s ID and stopped while waving and greeting her.


    "Hello," Zheng Qingyue politely nodded to the two players.


    "Boss, do you want to join us for a hidden quest?" The two players didn''t view themselves as outsiders and ran over excitedly. "It seems like we''ve stumbled upon a major quest¡ªa quest to assassinate Lord Yang!"


    "So exciting?!" Tang Jia remarked gleefully.

 Chapter 35: Super Crazy Undead

    "Assassinate who?" Blossoming Strokes looked up in astonishment.


    "Lord Yang, the NPC who sits in the Town Hall drinking tea. The one you''re grinding reputation with!" Give Me Medicine said excitedly. "It''s a quest discovered by the laborers. They saw the NPCs not returning to their tents after their shift and went to strike up a conversation. One of them said they were preparing to assassinate Lord Yang and asked if the players were willing to join!"


    "Wait a moment, isn''t Lord Yang the mage instructor¡­ and resurrection master for the undead race? If that NPC dies, wouldn''t we undead be unable to resurrect?" an astonished Qin Guan exclaimed.


    "Don''t be hasty. Which NPC issued the quest to players?" Blossoming Strokes quickly gathered up the tools she was using for her current quest.


    "It''s the NPC next to the armor merchant, the one who teaches the lifestyle class of skinning and butchering. Oh, his name is Manan," Give Me Medicine said.


    "The lifestyle class instructor plotting against Lord Yang? What kind of bizarre plot is this?" Qin Guan couldn''t help laughing out loud.


    "It''s not only one lifestyle class instructor. Manan also said that all the advanced human NPCs in the town have united to oppose Lord Yang. It''s definitely a major plotline!" Give Me Medicine continued animatedly.


    "Let me finish this quest first and we''ll go have a look." Blossoming Strokes then asked Give Me Medicine, "How many people have discovered this quest?"


    "Um¡­ it''s hard to say at the moment," Give Me Medicine replied hesitantly. "Those laboring players who discovered this major quest individually called their own friends. It was one of my buddies that informed me."


    "Whoa!" Blossoming Strokes exclaimed. "Vanilla, hurry, gather up everyone. This quest might not actually involve assassinating someone. How can an NPC who teaches skills be killed? But there must be follow-up quests, and we mustn''t fall behind!"


    "Alright!" Qin Guan took off at once.


    Elsewhere, after listening to the two players explain the situation, Zheng Qingyue and the others also hurriedly followed them toward the gathering place of the advanced NPCs¡­


    "I feel like something isn''t quite right. Isn''t it said that when an advanced NPC dies, certain classes will become inaccessible? Lord Yang is the mage instructor, right? What would happen to players who want to play as mages if he dies?" asked Yang Ying, who was confused, while running alongside.


    "Heh, NPCs in games are like the demons blocking the path in Journey to the West. Those without backing are doomed to die. Who knows, they might be sacrificed for a small quest without even getting a death scene transition animation. However, those with backing can''t be killed no matter what," Tang Jia said. "Now, besides the combat class and lifestyle class instructors in town, aren''t there several others who just idle about? I reckon that no matter who we charge at and call out to kill at the beginning, it will be those unimportant NPCs that will die in the end. Let''s wait and see how things unfold."


    "That''s right. In general, NPCs with backstories or quests won''t actually be killed," Jia Luo chimed in. "Take Duoduo in JX3, for example, who respawned many times and would have died long ago if she was replaced by another NPC. But because Duoduo has a special status, she can''t be killed no matter what. Whenever a new version is released, the game officials bring her out to show off her lovey-dovey relationship with the player."


    Yang Ying listened in bafflement. Even NPCs in the game have to rely on connections? Isn''t that too realistic?!


    "There are exceptions as well. If it is for the plot, even important NPCs might meet their end," Zheng Qingyue spoke up. "But if it''s a true plot death, it means a new expansion pack is on the horizon and a replacement for Lord Yang''s position will emerge in the ranks of the advanced NPCs. In any case, it''s a plot of internal strife among the advanced NPCs in Exile Town. It wouldn''t be too out of the ordinary for someone like Yang, a black mage who seems antagonistic, to meet his demise."


    "Uh¡­ Oh yes, oh yes," Tang Jia no longer held onto her original view and readily supported her childhood friend without any hesitation. "During the breakthrough mission we did before, Lord Yang even killed Morris, the male protagonist in the quest, and used his skull as an ornament."


    "Or perhaps Lord Yang won''t meet his end but become a boss in a dungeon," Zheng Qingyue added. "They''ve already introduced monster spawns in the open world, so there''s no reason not to introduce a dungeon."


    "Boss Entropy is right!" The two other players who were sucking up to Unceasing Entropy were convinced and gave thumbs-ups. "Boss Entropy, if a new dungeon is opened, could you take us along?"


    "No problem!" Tang Jia jumped in to take charge before Zheng Qingyue even said anything. "Which instructor are you two grinding reputation with? What job do you guys plan on switching to?"


    As they rushed along the road, a group of players who were preparing to log out called out to them out of curiosity, "Where are you guys headed? Grinding monsters this late at night?"


    "To do a quest." Tang Jia beckoned loudly. "Do you want to join us? It''s a large-scale plot quest!"


    "What the heck? There''s such a good thing?!"


    "Count me in! Count me in!"


    "Please lead me along, boss!"


    With their oil lamps, Hal, Tuttle, and Finley walked in the dark night and arrived at the secret rendezvous point at the designated time.


    In a secluded site overseen by a certain zombie NPC, the three extinguished their lamps and huddled in a corner, whispering furtively.


    "Has everyone been informed?" Hal asked.


    "Everyone''s been told." Tuttle nodded.


    Finley said, "I excluded Charlie Rex. That fella isn''t on the same page as us. When I informed our brothers in the western part of the town, I reminded them not to alert him."


    "Well done, Finley. I nearly forgot about that fella. We can''t alert him, or he might tip off Yang," Hal praised. "I also gave hints to an undead to assist us in our secret operation¡­"


    During their conversation, Knight Jerome, former tailor Anthony, Butcher Manan, and their fellow Sacred Crow brothers arrived in succession.


    "I''ve been waiting a long time for this day!" Anthony, the tailor, eagerly swung his short sword. "Hal, when do we make our move?"


    Anthony, a towering man over two meters tall, used to be an ordinary citizen of the Kenyan Empire and indeed worked as a tailor many years ago. However, he considered that part of his life a "dark history" once he discovered his talent for combat and wholeheartedly joined the ranks of mercenaries.


    It was because he had chopped up a guy who mocked him by asking him to "go back to sewing women''s underwear" that he, who was originally a lawful mercenary, ended up as a member of a bandit gang.


    Anthony, who was very proud of his bravery and talent for combat, had been given the label of "tailor" above his head by Yang Qiu and was tasked with selling waist pouches and backpacks and mentoring players looking to switch jobs to a tailor.


    Thus, it wasn''t difficult to understand the humiliation that Anthony had to endure.


    Compared to the high-spirited Anthony, Knight Jerome appeared worried. "Tuttle, isn''t it too risky to move so quickly? We have no idea about the true strength of the Nightmare Butcher¡­"


    "Shut up, Jerome!" Anthony glared at him. "If you''re afraid, then go hide in your doghouse and don''t embarrass yourself here!"


    "Enough." Tuttle raised his hands to placate the duo and said solemnly, "It''s true that Black Mage Yang is indecipherable and we might not be able to confront him alone. However, it''s not like we don''t have a chance. You all know how crazy the undead summoned by Yang are. We can use them, creatures from the dimensional realm, to our advantage."


    "Ah?!" Jerome exclaimed in astonishment. "Tuttle, how can you all take such a risky approach?! Those undead are creatures summoned by Yang!"


    "Don''t worry, Jerome. I guarantee that we can make use of these undead." Hal smiled confidently. "In fact, I''ve already tried giving hints to a certain undead, telling it that we can give all that it desires if it helps us rebel against Yang. This undead was even more eager than we imagined, and it has already gone to contact its companions!"


    Just as Hal said that, the group of former bandits heard the distinct sound of rattling bones approaching from the direction of the street.


    "See, they''ve arrived. That madman Yang will pay the price for his madness¡ª"


    Hal stood up gleefully, raising his hand and gesturing for his comrades to look in the direction of the sound¡­


    And then, he was dumbfounded.


    The sight that greeted them was several dozen undead filling the entire street and audaciously rushing toward the planned meeting point of their conspiracy¡­


    Running at the front of this crowd was the undead that had received the "hint" and happily told Hal that it would bring reinforcements to participate in this "secret operation." That same undead being was enthusiastically waving its bony arms from afar, calling out, "Hal-san! Your undead friends have come to help!"


    Jerome, Tuttle, Finley, and the others stared at Hal with their mouths agape.


    Hal felt a pang of regret and had to quickly make a shushing gesture. "Lower your voices! Quiet!"


    The player that had unwittingly "triggered this hidden quest" immediately turned to Brother Lahong and said, "The NPC says to keep our voices down."


    "Everyone, speak softly!" Brother Lahong barked out the order.


    The large group of players eagerly responded, "Understood!"


    "OK, Boss!"


    Hal. "¡­"


    Tuttle silently turned away while Finley put a hand to his forehead.


    A pale-faced Hal looked back at his comrades and explained, "I did tell them to discreetly gather reinforcements and secretly rendezvous with us¡­"


    Before anyone else could voice their opinion, another round of intense rattling sounds echoed.


    The former bandits nervously turned their heads toward where the noise was coming from.


    Yet another large group of skeletons filling out an entire street was brazenly making their way toward the "secret rendezvous point."


    "Ah, found it! Over here!" The player at the front spotted the huddled group of advanced NPCs in a shady corner and proclaimed loudly.


    "Gosh, we finally found them!"


    "Brother Lahong and the others are here already. We didn''t miss out on the plot yet, right?"


    "Told you guys to move quickly instead of dragging your feet and waiting for one another. We don''t have that much time to waste!"


    "Manan! Your undead friends have come to help!"


    The former bandits stiffly turned their necks and looked at the pale-faced Manan.


    Manan was on the verge of tears. "I-I just¡­ I just wanted to contribute a little and enlist the help of a few undead¡­"


    Finley, one of the strategists, muttered, "O Lady Gold Coin, can this still be called a secret operation?"


    Two large groups of undead, with a total of more than a hundred skeletons, surrounded the 18 advanced NPCs. The closer the two groups got, the less attention they paid to the NPCs as their focus shifted entirely to each other.


    "Haha, Vanilla, you also received the mission, huh?" Brother Lahong broke the awkward silence.


    "Heh heh, yeah. Give Me Medicine''s friend received it." Qin Guan forced out a smile in reply.


    The two locked eyes in silence, creating a tense, awkward atmosphere¡­


    The previous hidden quest that Give Me Medicine triggered had required both teams to join forces, but the main force of the battle hadn''t been the players but the zombie general. For the current hidden quest, there were 18 advanced NPCs leading the charge, and both sides firmly believed they had the absolute strength to succeed.


    In addition, during the period when both teams joined up to farm in the Spider Cave, there were frequent team wipes, which made everyone restless and blaming one another became common practice¡­ Although it had only been a few days since their last cooperation, neither Brother Lahong nor Qin Guan wanted to suggest a "mutual cooperation strategy for this quest."


    A player from Brother Lahong''s side couldn''t hold himself back and shouted, "Vanilla Boss, even if you guys also received the quest, isn''t there a ''first come, first serve'' rule?"


    Once one spoke up, others followed suit, "Yeah, we arrived before you guys did. It wouldn''t be fair if you just swooped in and took over."


    "That''s right, how about forming a queue? We''ll go first, and if we can''t complete it, then you guys can take over."


    Players on Vanilla Pudding''s side weren''t pushovers either. Someone immediately retorted, "That''s not how it works. Didn''t Brother Medicine call you guys to join him in the worldview breakthrough quest back then? Now, why are you guys trying to monopolize the quest this time around? That''s no way to conduct oneself, right?"


    "Yeah, Vanilla Boss didn''t forget about you guys when there were spoils to be shared, but now that you guys have something, you forget all about Vanilla Boss?"


    The moment the previous hidden quest was mentioned, players on Brother Lahong''s side had more to say.


    The player responsible for the initial outburst immediately started berating loudly, "Have some shame! When Brother Medicine received that quest, our side clearly contributed as well. And so did the few girls with Unceasing Entropy. But in the end, did you guys even ask for others'' opinions when you pocketed the settlement rewards given by the zombie general all by yourselves?"


    Give Me Medicine had no choice but to step in and defend himself. "Don''t falsely accuse me, buddy. What do you mean pocket it all? There was only one blue-quality dagger among the rewards, and didn''t I distribute money to the entire team?"


    "Who are you kidding? You didn''t even bother auctioning off the first blue-quality weapon with special effects in the entire game and instead gave out some copper coins to dismiss everyone else? Do you think our side is lacking in money?!"


    "No, I specifically wanted to advance to a Wanderer class, and this dagger was a profession requirement!" Give Me Medicine got anxious. "At that time, no one else on the quest team was going to become a wanderer!"


    "If you distributed money to others, it means you acknowledged that that weapon could be settled with coins. Then, whoever puts out more money should get the final say. Taking it for yourself is just dirty!"


    "Yeah, dirty piece of trash!"


    "F*ck! Watch your language!"


    The bunch of former bandits was still reeling from the shock of their secret operation turning into a chaotic marketplace when they watched in astonishment as the two groups of skeletons started brandishing their blades and started hacking one another¡­


    Hal Maxwell slowly raised his hands and grasped his head.


    Who am I?


    Where am I?


    What is going on?!


    I just wanted to get rid of Yang and maybe get a fortune before going on the run again. Why did such a simple plan turn so tumultuous?!


    As the bunch of players led by Unceasing Entropy arrived at the said venue¡­ They saw more than a hundred players engaged in a massive brawl on the streets, with occasional flashes of white light going off in the crowd.


    "What the hell?!"


    The group, mainly consisting of casual laborers and leisure enthusiasts, was startled and immediately came to a halt.


    "What''s going on? Why are they fighting?"


    "Is it because of trying to snatch the quest? That''s blown way too much out of proportion. Can''t they discuss it properly?"


    "Boss Entropy, what should we do? Do we still go over?"


    "Let''s wait for now." Zheng Qingyue, while also taken aback, raised a hand to signal that they shouldn''t rush in.


    She had assumed this mission could be completed cooperatively, just like the previous worldview breakthrough quest. The game had only been online for just a few days, and it was unlikely that there would be major conflicts among players themselves¡­


    "Ah!" Zheng Qingyue slapped her forehead, recalling what had occurred during the settlement of the hidden quest.


    The reward given by the zombie general after completing the three stages of the hidden quest had been rather decent¡ªa pretty blue-quality dagger with a critical strike bonus effect. Give Me Medicine, who had triggered the quest, intended to play a wanderer class and could make use of the dagger, so he happily kept the weapon for himself. Of course, since it was a quest completed by eleven people, Vanilla Pudding, in order to maintain a sense of fairness, gave out a few hundred coins to those who took part as a share.


    Zheng Qingyue herself wanted to become a healer, and her friends Tang Jia and Yang Ying both wanted to play warriors, so there weren''t any objections to the reward distribution. However, back then, Brother Lahong visibly wasn''t that pleased¡ªhe had already formed a team at that time after all, consisting of players who wanted to advance to various classes, and had indeed been covetous of that dagger.


    With an understanding of the causation, Zheng Qingyue told the players who trusted her reputation and followed her, "We won''t rush over first. Let''s wait for them to come to a conclusion before deciding."


    After pausing for a moment, Zheng Qingyue added, "Regardless of which side comes out on top, let''s not try and snatch the quest. We''ll just negotiate with them calmly. If they are willing to let us join, then we''ll go together. There''s no need for the main rewards, and just a small share would be fine. And if they are unwilling to let us join, we''ll just watch the spectacle from the sidelines. How does that sound?"


    The more feisty players had long gone to hang out with Brother Lahong and Vanilla Pudding already. The ones that played alone were more mellow and hence nodded in agreement. "Alright, Boss. We''ll follow your lead."


    So, these thirty-odd players found their own spots to sit down and become peaceful spectators.


    Ji Tang silently observed the crowd of brainless players in the distance fighting like wild animals, then glanced at the friendly atmosphere among his group that was sitting on the ground and spectating¡­ Hmm, it seems like players are also a diverse bunch.


    Near the center of the mass brawl, the former bandits that had seen the bunch of undead start fighting without any reason started to retreat silently.


    "¡­Hal." With some difficulty, Tuttle spoke up, "I suddenly feel¡­ that it isn''t a good idea to win over these idiots."


    "I think so too," Finley stiffly agreed.


    Hal''s facial expressions went through several changes before he gritted his teeth with determination. "Forget it! We''ll do it ourselves!"


    Regardless of whether they continued with their operation or not, Yang would eventually find out about this chaotic battle. The former Sacred Crows had no way out now!


    In the midst of the chaos, a player noticed that the advanced NPCs were leaving and hurriedly shouted, "Stop fighting! Stop! The NPCs are running! The quest will be lost!"


    Players engaged in fierce melees turned their heads to look¡­ and it was indeed as the player said! The advanced NPCs, who were supposed to stand by and wait for the outcome of the fight before issuing the quest, had run a short distance away!


    Hadn''t the reason why everyone engaged in verbal and physical clashes been to secure the quest?! As a result, many hurt players on both sides quickly ceased fighting and anxiously chased after the NPCs who were about to escape.


    "Wait, don''t go! Give us the quest before leaving!"


    The casual players who were watching from a distance grew anxious as well when they saw the advanced NPCs collectively retreating.


    "Did they stop interacting with the NPCs for too long?"


    "Boss Entropy, what do we do?"


    "We''ll go around and get in front of them!" Unceasing Entropy said immediately. "These NPCs are heading to the Town Hall to assassinate Lord Yang. Let''s get there first!"


    The group of casual players began to move, while the first player that had been chasing caught up to the group of retreating former bandits.


    "Issue the quest¡ª!"


    The member of the former bandit gang at the rear, who was acting as the last line of defense, had never seen such a scene where hundreds of skeletons charged at him with murderous intent. In a reflexive response, he struck back and slashed the fastest player, turning him into a flash of white light.


    "The f*ck!"


    Other players who had caught up were dumbfounded as they witnessed the advanced NPCs attacking.


    "What''s going on? Weren''t these NPCs inviting us to revolt against Lord Yang''s tyranny together? Why are they attacking us?"


    "I don''t know! Where''s the one who triggered the quest? Does the quest log say anything?"


    "There was nothing! Just the dialogue trigger at the start. There''s no quest showing on the quest log!" The player, who had "received" the quest on Brother Lahong''s side and had been consciously protected and survived the chaos, quickly spoke up now.


    "No quest on the quest log?" On Vanilla Pudding''s side, Blossoming Strokes, who had also been protected by her teammates and avoided death, turned to Give Me Medicine''s friend who had "received" the quest.


    "Um, there''s none indeed. Only the dialogue where the NPC said that there will be benefits if we help kill Lord Yang," replied the other player.


    A number of players immediately felt that something was off¡­


    "Let me test it out!" Without any hesitation, Give Me Medicine picked up a stone and forcefully hurled it at the advanced NPC that was running at the back.


    Players and former bandits were all within the same imprint matrix and theoretically couldn''t see each other''s health bars, but that didn''t mean they couldn''t attack each other. Otherwise, players wouldn''t have been frequently cut down by advanced NPCs.


    "Owww!"


    The stone struck, causing the advanced NPC to stagger. He then turned around angrily, brandished his blade, and charged at the players¡­


    "We can attack them?!"


    "The heck? They have health bars now?!"


    Instantly, many players roared with excitement.


    Due to the difference in strength, lack of health bars, and "green IDs representing allies," players hadn''t yet realized that they could attack advanced NPCs.


    Blossoming Strokes had a feeling something was amiss and wanted to call everyone to discuss it in detail. However, most of the players, with their blood pumping from battle and eager for combat, weren''t easily deterred. Regardless of whether it was players on Vanilla Pudding''s or Brother Lahong''s side, many grabbed their steel blades and rushed forward fervently.


    The former bandits, who had never thought much about these "fragile" players, had always restrained themselves due to the imprint matrix''s restrictions. But now that they were going against Yang, they naturally didn''t care about the rules set by him. Seeing these insane undead overstep their boundaries, the ferocious nature of the former bandits surfaced, and they struck back mercilessly.


    To be fair, these former bandits weren''t weak. Even the lowest-ranked among them, according to Yang Qiu''s "Special Level System," was at least level 3 or higher, making them stronger than the giant rat in the town''s south.


    However¡­ The reason the demonized rat could still guard the exit even after players had procured weapons and equipment was because it had thick skin that couldn''t be penetrated by players'' attacks.


    The former bandits, on the other hand, couldn''t match the defensive power of a demonized creature.


    Anthony, who was confident in his combat skills, killed several players in one breath. However, he received an unexpected blow to an unprotected area on his arm, causing him to drop his sword.


    "Equipment drop!"


    A player among those surrounding Anthony joyfully pounced on the dropped sword.


    A nearby player recognized the ID of the player that had snatched up the sword and, upon identifying him as an "enemy," decisively jumped the former. With a single strike, he sent the first player''s skull flying and picked up the sword.


    "B*stard! What are you doing!"


    "F*ck, that''s looting!"


    "You''re asking for it!"


    The players that had joined forces to besiege Anthony a few moments ago suddenly turned on each other¡­


    Antony. "???"


    Tuttle, being an archer not particularly proficient at close combat, had also received several strikes from the players who outnumbered them and showed no fear of pain or death.


    "We can''t do this! There are too many of them! Retreat!" he shouted anxiously.


    "Retreat! Split up!" Seeing several of his comrades getting hurt made Hal worried as well. "Retreat to the east of town! All of you!"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    October 13, 6 a.m., Earth time.


    Having had a peaceful night''s rest back on Earth, Yang Qiu had breakfast at a roadside stall before changing into his mage robes and opening the spatial rift to return to the magic plane.


    After appearing back at his post inside the Town Hall, Yang Qiu saw the state of the room, and his body shook violently.


    All the members of the former bandit gang were crouched down inside his office, every single one looking defeated, disheveled, and dirty.


    Furniture in the room, including the tables, chairs, cabinets, and other furnishings, had been used to block the entrances. There were slash marks on the door and window frames.


    Even through the barricade of furniture and the badly damaged door and windows, the shouts and cursing of players outside could be distinctly heard¡­ Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yang Qiu. "¡­What the hell are you all doing?"

 Chapter 36: Aftermath

    Little had Hal and his gang of former bandits known that there would be another wave of skeletons waiting for them as they rushed to the Town Hall.


    That''s right. While the former bandits were tangling with the large player group, the smaller group of players led by Unceasing Entropy had already made their way ahead of them.


    Due to the light weight of the skeletons'' bodies, once the players became accustomed to controlling them, they could easily become swift as the wind, with speeds no slower than professional powerhouses of this world.


    Originally, this mishmash group of players had only intended to take the opportunity to interact with the NPCs. But upon seeing the NPCs fleeing in a sorry state with chasing players shouting to take them down, it became obvious what the right course of action was. In an instant, they transitioned from lawful neutral to chaotic evil, eagerly grabbing their weapons and joining the fray.


    If it wasn''t for the fact that players from the larger pursuing group were indignant about "mobs being stolen" and attacked the mishmash players that were vying for equipment drops, sparking yet another internal conflict among the players, Hal and the others might not have been able to escape unscathed and made it safely into the building.


    What followed was a chaotic battle that raged throughout the night, with both sides encircling the only earthen house in the town¡­


    In theory, even if three hundred players came online in perfect formation and worked together to "subdue" these eighteen former bandits, it would be impossible to completely wipe them out. Players were all "empty characters" that hadn''t yet changed jobs or had any skills or long-range attack capabilities.


    If Hal and the others really wanted to escape the battlefield, players would actually have no way to stop them, especially considering that many players were already offline.


    However, the former bandits had no intention of fleeing in the first place. They didn''t only intend to eliminate Yang Qiu but also desired to plunder a whole lot before leaving.


    Upon discovering that Yang Qiu hadn''t spent the night in the Town Hall, the former bandits were still unwilling to give up. They made several attempts to break the player group apart¡­ and were, unsurprisingly, dragged into a grueling war of attrition.


    Would players be afraid of attrition?


    Would players accept battle losses and move on?


    Most certainly not.


    Those that dropped equipment were monsters, and comrades that snatched equipment were all scum. Players wished to first clear the field of all competition before farming monsters in peace.


    Therefore, the former bandits'' attempt to ruthlessly slaughter a bunch of undead and scare off the rest was wishful thinking.


    Furthermore, the players that were slain and kicked offline could come back after one hour of game time¡­


    And that was not to mention that the players were so crazy that they still only thought about snatching equipment even while being stuck down¡­


    When Yang Qiu "logged in," not a single one of these eighteen former bandits had a complete set of equipment on them.


    Hal Maxwell, who had the highest combat prowess of all the former Sacred Crows, only had half a suit of armor and a longsword in hand. His helmet and wrist guards had disappeared without a trace.


    Tuttle Joe, the second strongest, had everything else snatched away except for his beloved longbow. Even his stylish earring had been lost somewhere.


    Finley''s belt and the dagger at his waist were nowhere to be found, so he had to tie his pants with a shoelace.


    Jerome, who dressed like a tin can, seemed relatively intact, except that his hands were empty¡­


    This group of former bandits who appeared as if they had been plundered, with their ashen, defeated faces, and doubt-filled eyes, were truly a heart-wrenching sight to behold.


    Yang Qiu didn''t know how to react after listening to Hal''s tearful confession.


    He didn''t know whether to praise these former bandits for their courage and audacity or to pity them for their lack of foresight.


    Without even the ability to create a quest panel, they dared to deceive and try to exploit the Fourth Crisis that even Yang Qiu himself handled with caution?!


    This bunch of walking natural disasters could obediently work and build houses without throwing cement blocks at one another or wasting "public resources" by piling up bricks in open spaces to express various memes.


    All of this was because Yang Qiu had diligently maintained the in-game economic system and the ability to monetize copper coins, forcing the Fourth Crisis to kneel down and labor away earnestly!


    To prevent these "advanced NPCs" from being killed by bored players committing senseless crimes, Yang Qiu had even gone as far as introducing the clause of "classes being unplayable if a certain NPC dies."


    And yet, this bunch had willingly gone and put a loaded gun in the players'' hands. How eager were they to die?!


    Gamers killing their faction''s leaders, chopping down sect leaders, annihilating all the NPCs of a whole town¡ªsuch things were common!


    Yang Qiu reset his emotions and revealed a slight smile.


    This benevolent smile¡­ sent a shiver down Hal''s spine.


    "I don''t care about your betrayals," said Yang Qiu kindly. "From the beginning, I never expected to gain anyone''s loyalty, be it from our undead friends or you all."


    Hal suppressed his fear and mustered up the courage to speak, "Mr. Yang, w-we¡­ really can''t accept coexisting with these evil creatures. I-if you don''t mind¡ª"


    "I don''t mind. Of course, I don''t mind. You guys wish to leave, am I right? That isn''t an excessive request. Our initial agreement didn''t include forcing you guys to stay in Taranthan," Yang Qiu maintained his smile and replied.


    Some life immediately returned into the eyes of this crestfallen bunch of former bandits as they sat up straight and looked toward Yang Qiu eagerly.


    "Settle the bill, and you guys can leave." Yang Qiu nodded and took out a scroll.


    "The bill?!" Hal was dumbfounded.


    "That''s right." Yang Qiu nodded again and said matter-of-factly, "When you guys worked for me, and for Taranthan, the supplies you received were naturally free. But since you guys no longer want to work, then paying up is a must. There''s no such thing as a free lunch, after all. Do I have to be the one to teach you all that?"


    The former bandits: "¡­"


    Yang Qiu unfurled the scroll and calmly began making calculations. "Let''s start with the cheapest consumables. Firstly, toilet paper. Even in the royal capital of the Rhine Kingdom, only the wealthy can afford such soft, flawless toilet paper that doesn''t disintegrate. Of course, I won''t charge the original price. Let''s say it''s one silver coin per roll.


    "Next up are textiles. I won''t count the towels, even though the ones I provide you guys are the sort that the noble class in the Rhine Kingdom uses, but there''s no need for us to be so nitpicky. Let''s just take into account blankets and finely woven undergarments¡­


    "Shampoo, soap, shower gel, razors, and blades¡­ S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "As for instant noodles, I won''t count the cost of the noodles themselves, just the spices inside¡­


    "Bread can be considered a welfare gift, but the various tidbits have to be paid¡­"


    Yang Qiu meticulously went through the accounts and then cheerfully handed the scroll to Hal. "Double-check if there are any mistakes or omissions, Hal. If everything is in order, settle the bill, and you guys can leave."


    Hal plopped down on the ground.


    Tuttle, Finley, and the others had frozen expressions on their faces.


    Not even the sound of breathing could be heard from the eighteen of them, and the shouts and curses from the players outside seemed all the more shrill¡­


    This world wasn''t an ignorant and primitive world that had nothing. The Kenyan Empire''s steam-powered oceanic ships traveled to places beyond the continent regularly, and in more densely populated areas, various airships could often be seen in the sky.


    Firearms, wired telephones, industrial textile machinery, magic-power steam trains, steam cars, and other industrial or magic products weren''t too rare in the major cities of the Rhine Kingdom.


    This world had productivity, and a small minority could enjoy a level of modern convenience not inferior to that of Earth''s early 20th century.


    But just like how 99% of the Earth''s population would only see new clothes during festive occasions before global factories sprouted in the East and flooded the international market dominated by old-fashioned capitalists, driving down prices of all mass-produced goods, for the vast majority of people in this otherworld, many everyday products were still considered luxury items despite the advent of industrial assembly lines.


    A servant serving the nobles in the Rhine Kingdom''s capital would require two months'' worth of wages to purchase even the cheapest of pens.


    A popular printed novel from the Kenyan Empire would require an ordinary worker to save up for a few months.


    A nobleman in the countryside would have to make preparations six months in advance if he wanted to attend an important social event in the city, including ordering a decent set of formal attire, hiring presentable servants, arranging a carriage.


    An elderly woman living in the Rhine Kingdom''s capital who wanted to visit her daughter in another town would have to save up for a year in advance for travel expenses and gifts for her daughter.


    The concept of industrial productivity actually didn''t benefit many if there wasn''t a terrifying rate of globalization.


    Earth''s beacon of civilization, which could provide a superior minimum standard of living for all citizens, was built on the basis of exploiting nations worldwide¡ªjust a look at their neighbor Thailand showed how much the latter was exploited.


    Furthermore, as everyone knew, the main reason why long-established capitalist countries were willing to provide basic social welfare was summed up by Che Guevara''s quote. "Because we have been there"¡­


    In short, though Yang Qiu was seemingly stingy¡ªonly providing these former bandits with surplus goods from the supermarket, filling them up with expired bread, instant noodles, biscuits, snacks, starch, and sausages¡ªcalculating the cost of it all based on prices in this world would definitely be an unbearable burden for these bandits that had camped in the mountains for many years.


    Hal didn''t even dare take the scroll. After roughly estimating the living expenses they would have to fork out, he tearfully knelt down and said, "I''m sorry. Please allow us to continue working for you."


    "Not leaving anymore?" Yang Qiu smiled.


    "No." Hal shook his head firmly.


    "And what about the rest of you? Not leaving either?" Yang Qiu asked the others kindly.


    Tuttle, Finley, and the others had pale faces and shook their heads in unison, saying, "No. Not leaving."


    "Alright." Yang Qiu calmly rolled up the scroll, still maintaining his warm and friendly smile. "I''m not an unreasonable person. In the future, if you guys want to leave, just tell me straight up without causing so much trouble."


    "No, no, no! We never want to leave. We love Taranthan!" the former bandits expressed their unwavering determination.


    "Don''t rush into a decision. Think it over before making a stance. I will keep a good record of everything, so don''t worry. What''s forced is seldom enjoyed. Let''s part on good terms if you guys ever want to." Yang Qiu chuckled.


    "No, no, we really don''t want to leave!" The former bandits were practically willing to dig out their hearts to prove it.


    Yang Qiu simply smiled and nodded, choosing to believe these guys. He considered himself an easygoing person and wouldn''t keep a close eye on them except for working hours. Regardless of how they might stir things up, he had prepared conditions these former bandits couldn''t refuse.


    With someone as principled and resolute as himself, he didn''t fear being unable to find anyone to work for him!


    "Now that we''ve reached an understanding, let''s put this matter completely behind us. There''s no need for further investigations or blame. We''re all friends, and it''s just not worth it. I will now comfort our departed friends. As for you guys, go freshen up, splash some cold water on your faces, and get yourselves ready to continue working."


    At this moment, the former bandits all had constipated expressions. Just moments ago, they had been slashing and hacking at the undead all night, and now they were expected to act as if nothing had happened. Wasn''t this truly a challenge to their capacity for accepting things?!


    Without any consideration for the fragile spirits of the former bandits, Yang Qiu immediately immersed himself in the imprint matrix and issued an announcement to the players online:


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    As soon as the announcement was made, the players outside the Town Hall who had been incessantly cursing and urging the NPCs to engage in combat fell silent.


    "So, this was a dynamic quest? Damn, developers are so lazy. No hints were given out before the quest started?"


    "Thank goodness I logged in early today and managed to take part in a wave of battles. Otherwise, I would have fallen behind in territory prestige."


    "Fighting all night grants the same rewards as those who only fought one or two battles? That''s so unfair!"


    "Don''t act all innocent after obviously profiting from it! How much equipment have you all obtained!"


    "Everyone, gather up. It''s time to auction off the equipment!"


    "Don''t rush with the auction first. Some of those that died haven''t logged back in yet."


    "I''m so exhausted. Can someone help me collect my share of the auction earnings?"


    The players dispersed while clamoring among themselves. Yang Qiu glanced outside through the battered wooden door and signaled the former bandits to move the furniture back in place.


    Hal and the gang didn''t dare to rush out too quickly. They took their time restoring the furniture to its original state and even found excuses to help Yang Qiu tidy up a bit. After some time, they finally poked their heads out cautiously, maintaining their battle formation as they scanned the area.


    The undead had indeed dispersed, and not a single skeleton remained outside.


    The bunch of former bandits still didn''t dare leave their cover and all looked back toward Yang Qiu with doubt and hesitation.


    "Go back and freshen up. Don''t worry, our undead friends won''t attack you again." Yang Qiu waved them off.


    The former bandits had no choice but to form small groups of twos and threes and returned to their respective tents.


    The three compatriots of the Wanderer Class, Hal, Tuttle, and Finley, huddled together and made their way back to the Wanderer Guild''s construction site. However, rather than feeling relieved upon seeing their familiar posts, they collectively froze upon witnessing the situation in their area of jurisdiction.


    As quite a number of players did quests at this site, a small, considerable square had already been set up. The mishmash group of casual players that relied on Unceasing Entropy''s command and the lead of Yang Ying, Tang Jia, and Ji Tang had gotten a breakthrough during the fracas and managed to snatch quite some scraps. Now, they had chosen this location to auction off the spoils of war.


    As the three job instructors returned to their posts, they saw Tang Jia, ID Stuffed Gummy, hold the short dagger she had snatched from Finley and shout loudly, "White-quality dagger! Although a white rarity without special effects, its attack is quite high and has a comfortable grip. Can be used as an off-hand weapon. Starting bid at 10 copper coins!"


    "12!"


    "15!"


    "20!"


    "20 going once, any more bids? This is good stuff dropped by Treasure Expert Finley! You won''t find another such opportunity if you miss it!"


    Yang Ying nudged Ji Tang, who was sitting next to her. "Didn''t you say that this dagger has a nice grip? Make a bid."


    "I don''t have money¡­"


    "It''s okay, I''ll lend you some."


    Ji Tang quickly raised his hand. "21!"


    "21, going once! Any more bids? This is the dagger that Finley used!" Tang Jia shouted enthusiastically.


    Among the three stunned individuals on the street, Finley''s face suddenly came to life¡­


    "Calm down, Finley!" Hal and Tuttle quickly held on to their dear friend from both sides. "Don''t act impulsively!"


    Daggers were popular weapons in most traditional PC online games, but in this full-immersive game, the length of the weapon actually had a significant impact on a player''s combat effectiveness. So, even though Finley had carefully maintained this favorite dagger of his for years, it still couldn''t fetch a high price. In the end, Ji Tang won it for 26 copper coins.


    After auctioning off the dagger, Tang Jia raised another item¡­ a wrist guard covered with some unknown beast''s hide. With an even louder voice and a more passionate tone, she shouted, "Pay attention, everyone! It''s time for the highlight!


    "An excellent wrist guard dropped by the Assassin Instructor Hal Maxwell. It has a tenacity effect that makes it indestructible by blades and impervious to arrows! Although we only managed to grab one and the other was taken by Give Me Medicine, it doesn''t matter because they can still be used individually. I have already tested it, and the effect is fantastic!"


    Hal. "¡­"


    Hal''s equipment could be considered top-notch among the former bandits, with every piece of his from head to toe enchanted by an alchemist before. Those wrist guards were enchanted with tenacity runes, making them not only lightweight and flexible but also capable of withstanding the bites of large monsters.


    An overwhelming surge of anger rose from the depths of Hal''s heart when he saw his wrist guards desecrated by the filthy undead. With a swift motion, he unsheathed his longsword¡­


    "Forget it, Hal! Let it go!" This time, it was Finley and Tuttle who struggled to restrain Hal.


    This mishmash group of players was indeed smaller in size and consisted mostly of laborers. Compared to the groups led by Brother Lahong and Vanilla Pudding, their combat power was slightly inferior. Even though Ji Tang, a rather strong ally, had joined them, they still hadn''t managed to snatch many valuable items. Apart from Hal''s wrist guard (singular) fetching a premium of over 100 copper coins, the subsequent miscellaneous items were auctioned off at prices ranging from 20 to 30 copper coins each.


    These players, with a complete disregard for others, auctioned off the items in front of the unfortunate owners for slightly over half an hour before finally the auction concluded, and they happily went their separate ways after sharing the spoils¡­


    Hal couldn''t remember how he endured this day. The undead, who had brutally fought and relentlessly stripped the former bandits of their equipment during the previous night, now acted as if they had amnesia and casually conversed with them and requested and submitted quests.


    As if that wasn''t enough, what made Hal''s blood boil was that these undead beings shamelessly mentioned everything that occurred on the previous night while completing their assigned quests right in front of them!


    "Whoa, for real? You guys robbed NPCs?!"


    "What do you mean ''robbed''? They were drops from fighting mobs, and there''s territory prestige too!"


    The skeleton glanced at Hal, then asked his companion, "But the NPCs are still here, right? Did they respawn after you guys farmed them? Was the uniqueness of advanced NPCs in the previous update announcement false?"


    "We didn''t slay them. Monsters in this game are different from ones in traditional games. They can drop equipment if you manage to attack them," another skeleton chimed in enviously. "Hal dropped some excellent gear. It''s a pity our team didn''t manage to seize any. One of his wrist guards was taken by Vanilla''s team, and the casual players'' team took the other. Vanilla''s side got the helmet too."


    At his post, Hal was seething with anger and gritted his teeth to prevent an outburst.


    The skeleton that was asking the questions nodded. "Ah, I see. So that''s why this NPC seems different today compared to yesterday. No wonder it''s called a unique NPC. The dropped equipment doesn''t refresh. And if killed, he can''t be revived."


    "Yeah. Thankfully, we don''t have to kill them to get the equipment. Otherwise, I wouldn''t be able to do my assassin job advancement, and all the reputation I was grinding would be for nothing."


    Suddenly, the fuming Hal felt as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been doused on him.


    This former audacious and fearless leader of a bandit gang cautiously glanced at the two skeletons that were casually discussing his own mortality. Worried that they might notice, he then forced himself to look away.


    He really shouldn''t have believed that damned black mage''s nonsense and come to Taranthan in the first place!


    Regret filled Hal''s heart, leaving a bitter taste¡­


    As Yang Qiu consumed mana to craft runes and meditated to recover, he observed the interactions between the advanced NPCs and the players.


    There wasn''t much to say about the players. The Fourth Crisis was a group that constantly shifted between lawful good and chaotic evil.


    As for the former bandits¡­ After having experienced the players'' chaos first hand, they had become rather earnest.


    The uniqueness of the advanced NPCs was tied to job advancement reputation, which was a form of protection that Yang Qiu provided for the former bandits. As long as the former bandits didn''t act recklessly, the likelihood of players actively attacking them was low.


    For example, players who had diligently earned reputation with the Assassins Instructor would naturally protect their own job instructor, and the higher the reputation a player earned, the stronger their inclination to protect their instructor would be.


    After all, even though he had disguised this other world as a game, Yang Qiu didn''t want their fellow Earthlings to unwittingly become murderers.


    Yang Qiu mused, stroking his chin.


    "Alright then, it''s time to introduce civilian NPCs!" Yang Qiu rose from his seat and adjusted his robes.

 Chapter 37: Tool Slots

    On the 12th of October, Ou Huang, the game''s number one player, logged out after his first day attempting the mage apprentice job advancement quest. On the 13th, he didn''t log in for the entire day.


    On the 13th, Ou Huang still hadn''t logged back in, while in the game, a second wave of players reached the required threshold for the first job advancement. One of them was Give Me Medicine.


    Give Me Medicine had long since farmed enough Treasure Expert reputation and had been stuck at the last bit of Potential to reach level 1 for several days. Finally, he managed to level up, and he eagerly logged in during his lunch break to go visit Finley and accept the job advancement.


    And then¡­ A short while later, Give Me Medicine died and was kicked offline.


    There was no need to elaborate on how frustrated Give Me Medicine was when he died and was kicked offline. But as an engineering geek, Give Me Medicine had strong resilience under pressure. As soon as the death penalty timer was up, he immediately logged back in with high spirits, ready for another round.


    However, Give Me Medicine wasn''t alive for very long before he died and was kicked offline again¡­


    During the short two-hour lunch break, Give Me Medicine died a total of three times.


    By the time he resumed his work in the afternoon, Give Me Medicine, wearing a safety helmet on a construction site (in the real world), took out his phone and posted on the game forum out of anger:


    "Attention, players who are grinding levels and reputation! The job advancement quests are a complete sham!


    ¡°I can''t reach Ou Huang, so I don''t know how the first job advancement for mage apprentice is done, but the wanderer''s class job advancements are a complete nightmare!


    ¡°It''s the lowest-level job advancement quest, goddamn it! Seriously, even the first task requires players to sneak out under the watchful eye of that giant rat in the south of town to retrieve a quest item called "Leafless Flower'''' in the valley outside where the town is located!


    It''s freaking ridiculous! I was killed by that giant rat three times, and that''s a whole afternoon of my time! Is that rat meant for players to farm, or is it farming us players instead?! I made sure the area was clear and I couldn''t see it, but it came charging at me anyway!


    Is it even reasonable for a measly first advancement quest to be so frustrating? Are they trying to discourage players from transitioning classes? I demand a reduction in quest difficulty!"


    There were many among the players that were working individuals that couldn''t play during working hours like Give Me Medicine. When they saw this post criticizing the advancement quest difficulty, many players who were close to leveling up joined in the pleading and begged the game developers to show mercy.


    Of course, any discussion on the Internet would not be complete without the presence of self-proclaimed experts looking to argue. In this thread where players voiced their concerns about the game experience, there were inevitably all sorts of sarcastic comments too:


    "I feel like the advancement quest is designed just fine. The wanderer class is supposed to be a combination of the traditional thief and hunter classes from other games, where sneaking/kiting is required to kill monsters. If you are gonna be a wanderer that can''t stealth or kite, then you might as well go play a mundane lifestyle class like a noob."


    "Having trouble defeating a mere elite monster? You guys are just terrible at playing games."


    "It''s not the game''s difficulty. You guys are just noobs!"


    For other games, the appearance of such condescending individuals would easily have led to heated online arguments. A post originally intended to protest the game developers'' approach could easily veer off-topic.


    However, it was different for the game "OtherWorld." With only 310 closed beta slots issued and only two "newbies" seen out of the 10 additional helmets distributed by the unscrupulous developers, players not only remembered each other''s IDs, but it was also rather challenging for non-playing netizens to sneak into their ranks. The few instigators were quickly identified as non-players and were subjected to ridicule and sarcasm.


    And then¡­ the thread didn''t go off-topic, but numerous threads like "Discrimination against non-players," "The need for respect toward non-players," and "Non-players also want to spend money on the game" popped up, which pushed Give Me Medicine''s appeal to the second page¡­


    Ou Huang, real name Lin Rulong, who was going through a two-and-a-half-day journey to rebuild his confidence, scrolled through several pages before finally seeing Give Me Medicine''s post on the forum.


    The "game''s number one player" was silent for a bit before he clicked on "Create New Post."


    Unlike Ou Huang''s usual aloof manner, there was a cute touch to his writing style in posts, and this one was no exception:


    "Hello everyone, I''m Ou Huang (¡¨''¨Œ''¡¨)


    Thanks to some good fortune, I received the mage apprentice advancement quest two days ago.


    The job advancement quest is really difficult and it was a serious blow to my confidence. ©Ñ©Ò©n©Ñ©Ò


    The first quest is a multiple-choice quiz with a passing requirement of 70% accuracy. The quest panel lists the names and characteristics of several dozen plants that have to be remembered before being quizzed. It''s actually quite simple.


    The second quest, though, is rather painful. It requires players to enter an underground passage, activate meditation in the town''s shelter, and enter a quest area called the ''Mental Trial.''


    It''s a bit like clearing a hundred floors. In the trial, you have to concentrate and make various choices quickly. If you fail one, you have to start over. It''s really tough for me, and I''ve only managed to reach the 60th floor. _(:¦Ó¡¹¡Ï)_


    And I don''t know why, but the ''Mental Trial'' seems to consume a lot of energy. If you fail several consecutive attempts, you have to go offline and rest. ¥Ø(_ _¥Ø)


    Anyway, I''ve decided to challenge this quest again. Everyone also has to buckle down together and complete the job advancement early to learn new skills, okay? (¤Å¦Ø¤É)"


    As for the discussions and arguments that ensued among other players after seeing Ou Huang''s post didn''t have to be mentioned. On the other hand, the rather talented and reputable duo, Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy, who were grinding the Lord''s reputation daily, immediately called each other after seeing the post.


    Unceasing Entropy, who already had her own companions, had no intention of joining the two emerging player factions. During the "night of rampaging" on the 12th, they had even managed to snatch quite a bit of loot from the two major player factions despite most of them being unaffiliated.


    However, this didn''t affect her friendship with Blossoming Strokes. Even though there was a major tension between Brother Lahong and Vanilla Pudding, players on both sides would still team up to complete quests and farm monsters in their spare time.


    That night, the two girls agreed to come online at the same time and attempt the mage apprentice job advancement quest together.


    When they arrived at the Town Hall, they happened to encounter Guileless Gale and Phantom, two of Brother Lahong''s buddies. Despite their fierce battles against each other just two days prior, this close-knit duo greeted them warmly and expressed that they wished to hear their experiences of the advancement.


    "Not a problem. We were actually planning to make a post sharing our experiences after successfully completing the job advancement," Blossoming Strokes said with a smile.


    After parting with this duo, the two girls approached Lord Yang, who spent most of his time in the Town Hall.


    Compared to the other advanced NPCs, Lord Yang could be considered a more handsome category. The black mage exuded a mature male charm and the refined air of a middle-aged gentleman with the wisdom of years. He had a clean-shaven face, neat and tidy shoulder-length hair, a slender face, and a melancholic gaze. His Eastern features, in particular, appealed to the players that were from China.


    Every time players approached this NPC for quest interactions, they would find Lord Yang either dressed in a stylish black robe, lounging in a chair while reading a book, or wearing a formal vest and pants, sitting by the table sipping tea. It could be said that Lord Yang was the epitome of human NPCs in the game.


    But, an NPC, no matter how handsome, was still an NPC. Moreover, Lord Yang hadn''t been given much screen time in the main quests players had undertaken, so even female players who liked handsome gentlemen didn''t particularly have any fondness for Lord Yang.


    "Are you ready to embark on the path of becoming seekers of magic?" Lord Yang, who was sipping tea, looked up and initiated the conversation as the two female players that had reached "friendly" reputation approached.


    "Yes, Yang, we wish to become mage apprentices." Blossoming Strokes stepped forward to interact.


    The advanced NPCs in this game were highly intelligent. Even if the dialogue used during interactions wasn''t particularly formal, key phrases being mentioned would elicit a corresponding response from the NPCs.


    Of course, because these NPCs were so intelligent¡­ it was important to be polite and not have a poor attitude during interactions, as it could easily provoke the NPCs and result in being killed¡­


    Lord Yang set down his teacup, clasped his hands on the edge of the table, and solemnly said, "Magic is a dangerous power. While it is beautiful, it can easily lead one astray. Those who seek the path of knowledge must possess the strongest will, never abandoning the purest convictions deep within their hearts, regardless of the circumstances they face. No matter how powerful their abilities become, they mustn''t lose themselves. Undead friends born from evil chaos, are you truly prepared?"


    Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy were both expressionless.


    What nonsense are you spouting, you evil black mage who even deceived the pure-hearted zombie general and seized the opportunity to take over and proclaim yourself Lord?!


    But because this fellow was the only spellcaster advanced NPC and angering him might result in being incinerated by a massive fireball, Blossoming Strokes maintained a straight face and was as courteous as possible. "Yes, Lord Yang, we are prepared."


    Fortunately, the NPC didn''t ramble on further this time. He simply nodded and, being as pretentious as ever, said, "I admire your courage, undead ones," before issuing the quest.


    As they left the Town Hall, the two girls whispered to each other, "This guy will definitely end up as the boss of a dungeon sooner or later¡­"


    After seeing off the two girls, Yang Qiu once again immersed himself in the matrix.


    It was currently 6pm Earth time, late morning in OtherWorld, and the peak of online activity. Including the new player Ji Tang, who had received a helmet from NeuroTech Center''s Director Lu, there were a total of 301 players online.


    Yang Qiu had been paying some attention to this new player, Ji Tang.


    This person seemed quite impressive, starting with 53 Potential upon initial login. Yang Qiu also noticed that this person seemed to have suffered significant mental trauma.


    This 53 points of Potential was a figure derived from the internal runes of the skeleton character after the soul had suffered severe mental trauma.


    Considering the player''s unique air and actions upon entering the game, Yang Qiu didn''t find it strange when Ji Tang revealed his background in the Chinese military.


    It was also precisely because of this that after Yang Qiu decided to introduce civilian NPCs, he had been waiting for Ji Tang to undergo a job advancement. Without Ji Tang to lead and foster the attitude toward "accepting dynamic storyline quests," Yang Qiu couldn''t rest easy seeing how neglectful and careful those other players were.


    And now, after two days of experiencing the game, Ji Tang had finally decided to become a warrior. After doing some reputation quests at the Warrior Guild construction site, it didn''t take long for Ji Tang to voluntarily start taking care of Charlie Rex, who was clearly ill.


    During the players'' "night of rampaging," Rex, due to his poor mental state and incompatibility with the former bandits, had remained inside his tent throughout the night, completely detached from the festivities.


    In the eyes of the players, this advanced NPC Rex was rather transparent.


    While warriors had always been a traditionally popular class in MMORPG games and the class initially attracted numerous players looking to grind warrior reputation, most were rational individuals who analyzed their own circumstances.


    After realizing that the undead race had no strength advantage and had the drawback of being easily overwhelmed, most players dropped the idea and left, leaving behind only a few "faithful believers" like Tang Jia, Yang Ying, and Qin Guan, who remained steadfast.


    Having fewer players to deal with was actually a good thing for Rex. Although he had become more stable after being added to the Mind Imprint Matrix and was no longer teetering on the edge of losing control, his mental trauma wasn''t something that could easily be healed.


    He would still occasionally experience hallucinations, and his mind would always be in a tense state. If a bunch of annoying players were constantly making a racket around him, his condition might deteriorate further.


    On the first day Ji Tang followed Tang Jia and Yang Ying to grind warrior reputation, he couldn''t help but notice Rex who was always seemingly sitting in a daze beside his tent.


    Today was Ji Tang''s second day of gaining the warrior reputation. He logged in at the right time, according to Unceasing Entropy''s calculations for optimization, met up with Yang Ying and Tang Jia, and arrived at the Warrior Guild construction site once again.


    Rex sat beside his tent, gazing blankly into empty space. A pot sat on the fire pit before him. It barely had a feeble flame.


    Seeing this listless NPC made Tang Jia cringe slightly. "Our warrior instructor is truly unique. Other NPCs attack players with their swords, but our NPC instructor¡­ I''m afraid I might scare him if I raise my voice even a bit during an interaction."


    "If something like that were to happen, it would be because your voice is just too loud," Yang Ying teased her companion. "It''s a waste of your talents if you aren''t working at a bustling marketplace."


    Tang Jia protested, "Hey, I was born with it! Like I can do anything about it¡­"


    Ji Tang silently observed the NPC for a bit, then carefully walked over, squatted down beside Rex, and asked softly, "Friend, are you alright?"


    "He''s fine. This NPC has always been like this, and his reactions are particularly slow, especially during work hours. We''ve gotten used to it and he''ll be fine in a little while," Tang Jia said nonchalantly.


    Ji Tang glanced at his two companions engaging in idle chatter, then turned back to the NPC, who seemed to be suffering from some sort of mental condition and had an extremely slow response to the outside world. Without saying a thing, he reached for the wood nearby and helped build up the fire for the NPC.


    Throughout this process, the NPC with "Charlie Rex" in green words above his head remained motionless.


    Ji Tang simply took it as a silent approval and picked up the food bag on the ground beside the NPC and took a look at the contents.


    Inside the unmarked transparent plastic bag were packets of instant noodles, dry and hard expired bread, tin cans with torn-off labels, carton milk, repackaged ham sausages, dried vegetables, and sweet potatoes¡­ All in all, it was a bag full of expired and unlabeled food items.


    Ji Tang. "¡­"


    Any ordinary player, upon seeing this sealed foodstuff, would simply lament how much time the game developers had to create such realistic models even for the food that the NPCs ate.


    But for Ji Tang, he had read a report from the expert task force when he received the helmet and entered the game with the purpose of carrying out a mission. So, he had much more complex sentiments than ordinary players when seeing the off-shelf products purchased by the "target" from local supermarkets on Earth¡­


    Regardless of what others might think, Ji Tang believed that the "target" that had come up with "OtherWorld" needed re-education. It was one thing to treat those "advanced NPCs" that clearly seemed like villains with vile hidden intentions, but Charlie Rex was unmistakably a patient who needed care. Was it appropriate to feed such nutritionally deficient food to a patient?


    Unfortunately, Ji Tang had been strictly forbidden to privately interact with the "target" Ji Tang had complaints but nowhere to express them. Therefore, he rolled up his sleeves and took care of this patient, whom he alone knew wasn''t an NPC, to the best of his ability.


    After playing this "game" for several days and exploring Exile Town, Ji Tang had already memorized the town''s layout and the vegetation growth in the surrounding valley. He had also made rough estimations of the temperature based on the sun''s position, distribution of plants, and observations of the "NPCs" by their clothing.


    He also seized an opportunity when separated from the players to set up a simple squirrel trap and caught a family of small squirrels. Using them, he tested if the wild vegetables of this world similar to those on Earth were poisonous or edible.


    And so, Ji Tang asked the two female players to watch over the fire while he headed upstream along the river that cut through the town, near the outlet where the mountain released groundwater. There, he gathered some water spinach and water celery.


    Next, he went to the side of the mountain in the valley where players rarely came and found the rabbit hole he had discovered earlier. He broke off a thorny branch and poked it into the hole, successfully stabbing a large gray rabbit that was even fatter than a mother hen.


    Using Finley''s bone dagger, Ji Tang gutted and cleaned the large gray rabbit, then tied it with a rope and returned to the Warrior Guild construction site. Under the astonished gazes of the two female players, he used the available ingredients to cook a pot of nutritionally rich and reasonably balanced "military stew" for Rex¡­


    Tang Jia and Yang Ying aside, even Rex, who had slightly regained his senses from his morning daze, was shocked.


    These skeletons, with their considerable intelligence, self-awareness, and willingness to work for the black mage Yang in exchange for copper coins and the so-called reputation, had already profoundly challenged how Rex viewed the world. And now, this skeleton, who had just arrived to perform a quest here, actually knew how to cook?!


    What surprised Rex even more was that this eccentric skeleton even crushed some freshly picked berries, added them to hot water, and sprinkled in some white sugar scraped off a biscuit before stirring and pouring it into a jar. He then tied the jar to a bucket and lowered it into the well before telling Rex, "Bring it out to drink after cooling for two hours. It will help you combat the heat."


    "¡­Thank you," was all Rex could mutter.


    "You''re welcome." Ji Tang nodded.


    Before Rex could remember to "initiate" a conversation and issue a quest, the skeleton had already walked away on his own.


    Rex watched the departing figure of the skeleton, dumbfounded. Then he turned toward the more familiar Tang Jia and Yang Ying.


    "Don''t look at me. I have no idea what other tricks that guy has." The usually carefree Tang Jia seemed unusually uneasy. "Uh¡­ Charlie Rex, do you need us to take care of you?"


    "No, thank you." Rex couldn''t possibly make such an embarrassing request to an undead lady.


    Tang Jia didn''t know what to say and looked at Yang Ying out of helplessness. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yang Ying. "¡­"


    Yang Ying made an effort to adjust her worldview and decided to play the role of a conscientious player. "Rex, can you give us a quest?"


    "Of course¡­ The tools are over there, help yourselves." Rex''s tone and attitude were much more polite than usual.


    Half an hour later, Ji Tang returned, dragging a pile of wooden boards and pillars that he had collected from the ruins to the south of the town, all bound together with rope.


    Under the bewildered gazes of the two female players and NPC Rex, Ji Tang went to work and started building a crude but usable pavilion next to Rex''s tent¡­


    Tang Jia felt that even grinding reputation wasn''t as exciting anymore, and Yang Ying felt like she had done something wrong. The two of them silently put down their quest tools and took the initiative to assist Ji Tang.


    The other faithful advocate of the warrior way, Qin Guan, finally managed to handle the internal affairs of his own player faction and rushed over to grind reputation. To his astonishment, he found that the players who had arrived earlier were all gathered around Rex, this NPC who was usually barely alive.


    "What are you all doing? Did you guys receive a hidden quest?" Qin Guan hurried over to ask.


    "What quest? Can''t we do what needs to be done without quests?" Tang Jia rolled her nonexistent eyes at him. "You''re so vulgar, that pretty face is wasted on you."


    Qin Guan. "??"


    In the Town Hall, Yang Qiu rubbed his chin with satisfaction and nodded approvingly at Ji Tang, the reliable designated player leader.


    "A pity he''s only one person¡­ It would be great to have a few more like him."


    As the saying went, "A person is known by the company he keeps." If influential figures among players in the game were troublesome and annoying, then other players would follow suit. If the leaders were upright and righteous, the game''s overall atmosphere would be much better.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t directly approach Director Lu''s side and ask them to arrange for more players like Ji Tang to join¡­


    "But he did give me a reminder. When selecting ''tools,'' it isn''t necessary to use natives; we can consider having players take on the role."


    Yang Qiu tapped the table, pondered for a moment, and took out his phone to jot down his inspiration in the memo.


    When assigning "dynamic storyline quests from civilian NPCs" to the first batch of players who complete their job advancement, slots for "tool players" shall simultaneously be open¡­ There''s no need for too many; 12 would probably be enough. The imprint matrix can only accommodate this many at most for the time being¡­


    The recruited individuals must take on functional positions within the town, receive copper coin salaries based on their working hours, and provide benefits comparable to the laborers. Those with relevant skills and specialties should be given priority consideration¡­

 Chapter 38: The additional value of the helmets

    October 14, 11 p.m. Earth time. It was also nighttime in OtherWorld.


    After work ended, as per usual, the former bandit trio gathered for a meal in front of Tuttle''s tent, though the mood was rather downcast.


    "¡­Although the previous operation was a complete failure, at least we''ve proven one thing. These crazy, chaotic, and evil undead really have no respect for Yang," Hal said, forcing himself. "If the Town Hall hadn''t been built with earth magic, there''s no doubt that the damned undead would have torn down Yang''s dwelling."


    Tuttle, who was silently chewing on some dried sweet potato, reluctantly said, "Hal, I think it''s best if we¡­ stop thinking about using these undead. I shouldn''t have suggested such a naive idea then, and I apologize for my foolishness¡­ These undead are simply mentally ill."


    "¡­I know," Hal said with unease. "What I want to say is, these completely unmanageable undead will one day devour that bastard Yang. There''s no need for us to do anything, and we should patiently bide our time."


    Tuttle fell silent, while Finley said nothing.


    Hal had actually taken the initiative to bear with it and suggested waiting patiently for the right time. The other two really didn''t know whether to be happy that their old friend had matured or feel sad that Hal was bowing down¡­


    Of course, the two strategists of the former bandits felt that Hal''s willingness to "temporarily" submit was the right choice. Not only had the evil black mage not gotten mad when learning about their betrayal, he had even calmly used methods long prepared to coerce them.


    What did that mean?


    It meant that Black Mage Yang was willing to reason with them, and that wasn''t a good thing.


    "Reason" was something that didn''t exist in a lawless place. Only the ones with the biggest fists did the talking in such places.


    Only places with laws and rules had room for reason.


    In other words¡­ they had underestimated Yang''s ambitions. This damned black mage really did intend to establish laws and rules in the Taranthan Wasteland.


    Yang didn''t even think of them as rebels worthy of being "suppressed" by force and beaten into submission. Instead, from the beginning, he viewed them, former bandits, like meat on a plate.


    And as embarrassing as it sounded, that was the truth. When Yang used reasoning to subdue them, the former Sacred Crows didn''t even have the right to use their fists to object.


    Hence, Tuttle and Finley wouldn''t persuade the others to refuse Yang''s supplies from now on lest they owed even more. This was because Yang was the one who clearly wanted to set the rules. It was impossible to win in a system of rules belonging to someone else. Now, the only two paths before them were to obey or to flip the table.


    But flipping the table was impossible. Yang, who was sitting opposite the table, exerted too much force on it and could hold down the table with one hand. All in all, the two strategists couldn''t see any chance of winning at all.


    After a bout of silence, Finley felt that he should give Hal some positive feedback to prevent the latter from thinking too much.


    Just as he was stewing over what to say, a series of nightmarish rattling came from the direction of the nearest street, accompanied by unbridled and noisy chatter.


    "??" The former bandit trio felt goosebumps as they looked in the direction of the sound.


    These damned undead would run around the town without rest even in the middle of the night. The advanced "NPCs" knew this well, but most of the time, these undead wouldn''t move in large groups and either wandered alone in groups of three to five.


    At this time, over 20 undead had appeared on the other end of the street and were causing a commotion. However, they clearly weren''t heading toward the Wanderer Guild construction site, and this made the trio heave silent sighs of relief.


    As the group of undead ran to the other end of the street, the former bandit trio exchanged glances and stealthily followed after.


    After the failed night operation, the trio had reflected in private about their inadequate understanding of these crazy undead. Now, they were determined to avoid making the same mistake again.


    The players were unaware that the "off-work" advanced NPCs were tracking them in secret and continued chattering until they reached the ruins in the south of Exile Town.


    This particular area was infested by the giant rats that had mercilessly slaughtered countless innocent players who had ventured in or simply passed through. The "advanced NPCs" were also aware of this. Other than them on the receiving end of curses by questing players with terms like "incompetent developers" and "idiotic development team," the demonized rat in the south of town was often ranted at.


    The three lurking wanderers exchanged puzzled glances, then turned their gazes toward the group of skeletons.


    Perhaps, this bunch of crazy undead were attempting to take down the demonized rat?


    Ever since frequent contact between the native continent and the Outer Continent was established over 400 years ago, spatial rifts had appeared on the continent of Navalon. It was unclear whether the many deaths of the evil god-worshipping slaves from the Outer Continent brought to Navalon were the cause.


    And of these rifts, many led to the dimensional realm, and even the endless void¡­


    The Taranthan Wasteland was also heavily affected by these unstable spatial rifts. And due to the malevolent energy spilling out of these rifts, infecting beasts and monsters, these demonized creatures were the true "masters" of this land.


    Hal and his companions were no strangers to these demonized creatures. The Sorenson Mountain Range where they used to make a livelihood was far from a hospitable place. Every year, from spring to autumn, they could even hear the roars of monsters in the forests above the canyon''s cliff where they used to reside.


    Demonized creatures, like this demonized rat with visible physical enhancements and a grotesque form, were the sort most despised by professional fighters of this world. The entire bodies of such creatures were weapons, possessing immense defense and brute strength. They were extremely difficult to deal with, and even if one could kill them with great labor, the rewards rarely outweighed the effort.


    Only the mutated parts of "physically mutated" demonized creatures had value. For example, their fur and bones. While fur was somewhat valuable, the skeletal structure was practically worthless¡ªdespite its hardness and resilience surpassing that of metals, its cost of processing and difficulty were ten times higher than that of metals. Additionally, due to the inherent mutative properties, alchemists had no use for it, and professional fighters couldn''t be bothered to collect it.


    Observing from the shadows, the puzzled trio watched as a member of this nocturnal undead troop stepped out.


    The player that stepped out¡­ was Give Me Medicine.


    This fella held a bag of money in his hand and distributed copper coins to his fellow undead while expressing his gratitude, "Brothers, thank you for coming to help. I''m eternally grateful."


    "No big deal, Brother Medicine. It''s just dying once." The players gleefully collected money while thumping their chests. "Once we distract that rat, you just rush out of the ruins and you''ll be safe."


    After distributing the compensation for labor, the players who volunteered to help lure the giant rat away started taking off their clothes and handing them over to their companions who had come along to help hold their stuff¡­


    This scene left the former bandit trio absolutely perplexed.


    With his good friend attempting this quest, Qin Guan would definitely come to help. He handed his beginner clothes, waist pouch, and the equipment he had bought after the night of rampaging to Blossoming Strokes before walking completely bare to the team. "Has everyone made their preparations? If ready, stand by."


    "Okay!"


    "Good to go!"


    "Alright, pay attention to not sticking together. Spread out as far as you can and try to keep the rat occupied for as long as possible!" Qin Guan gestured with his bone hands. "Brothers about to be caught, make sure you die in an open area. If you get smashed into a wall, you''ll have to experience what it''s like to fall apart, and it''s rather unpleasant."


    The players responded with hearty laughter, "Falling apart is nothing when playing as an undead. We''re used to it!"


    The three hidden observers hesitated on whether to go closer to hear what these undead were talking about. And then, they saw bare skeletons rushing into the demonized rat''s territory.


    Former bandit trio. "???"


    As soon as a player stepped into the ruins, the giant rat dozing in a garbage heap was startled. Its red eyes shot open as it sprang up and shot out like a speeding bullet.


    "Whoa, f*ck! It''s fast!"


    The players that were distracting the rat immediately scattered.


    "Don''t stick! Spread out!" Qin Guan shouted as he dashed away.


    "We''re spreading out!"


    "Split up!" players running haphazardly in all directions shouted out.


    "What the hell, why is it charging at¡ª" A player was pounced on by the giant rat, launched into the air, and vanished in a flash of white light.


    "Run! Run quickly!" Players spectating from the edge of the ruins shouted in support.


    "F*ck! F*ck! Don''t attract the rat this way! Run into the distance!"


    The escaping players wanted to curse, but the rat was really just too quick. These players couldn''t afford to be distracted and instead focused on using their lives as a relay, leading the rat in the opposite direction.


    After several players were consecutively slaughtered, the team finally managed to lure the rat far enough, leaving a clear path for Give Me Medicine to do his quest.


    Without needing a reminder, Give Me Medicine immediately activated the "Basic Windwalk" he had recently unlocked and shot forward like an arrow.


    "Damn, that speed! With wings, he could probably fly, right?" a player responsible for safeguarding his friend''s belongings exclaimed enviously.


    "It''s indeed fast, but unfortunately, it only lasts for eight seconds," Blossoming Strokes explained. "After the skill ends, there''s a 15-second weakness period where speed decreases by 30%. So, he can''t rush out in one burst."


    "That''s still pretty awesome," another player beside her remarked. "My friend wants to advance to a knight, and the skill he¡¯ll get after leveling up is ''Basic Battle Roar.'' Considering the base strength of the undead, the enhancement isn''t that significant, and the weakness period lasts a full 30 seconds.


    "At least Battle Roar doesn''t reduce strength during the weakness period, though; just that it can''t be activated again. In the later stages, with equipment that can increase rage value, you can maintain the skill for 30 seconds straight, making it more practical than the wanderer class''s Windwalk."


    ¡ªIn order to facilitate players adapting the class system, Yang Qiu displayed the minimal amount of mental power consumed when activating a player''s skill rune as a blue bar/rage bar on their personal panel. Evidently, the players readily accepted this method without any objection.


    "My friend said the same, so he insists on grinding knight reputation and not switching to a wanderer class." The first player nodded in agreement. "Hey Blossom, what effect does Beginner Meditation of the mage class have?"


    Blossoming Strokes, who had just been talking confidently, suddenly fell silent, and her jaw dropped so low it touched her clavicle.


    First player. "??"


    "Hey, don''t poke at someone''s sore spot. Blossom tried advancing to the mage class last night with Entropy and failed." The player beside poked the first player''s arm. "Their job advancement is different for us wanderers. They can''t ask others for help."


    "That''s harsh." The first player clicked his tongue. "Luckily, I''m grinding wanderer reputation."


    "What''s so lucky about that? Think about how few players will be able to play as supports in the future if even Blossom gets stuck during the advancement," said the second player. "There are fewer people playing support roles in most traditional games since it isn''t that satisfying, but in this game, mage class supports can fight too. There will be a scarcity of healers, and we''ll have to form parties based on DPS."


    The official website didn''t provide much information about the game''s background, but the skills after the job advancement for each class were released after the completion of the worldview breakthrough quest. In the later stages of the mage class, there were two major branches for the second job advancement: Dark Prophet and Black Mage. Both had offensive and healing skills (black magic naturally possessed healing effects on the undead), although the emphasis differed.


    While this bunch was idly chatting, Give Me Medicine had already rushed out of the ruins and onto the verdant grass outside. The players waiting in the town hurriedly called out to their surviving friends.


    "Give Me Medicine made it out!"


    "No need to aggro anymore!"


    "Hurry and come back!"


    The few remaining players desperately ran back. Even though they were compensated for their efforts, no one wanted to die and be kicked offline if they could avoid it.


    The trio sneakily observing in the distance: "¡­"


    Without saying a word, they silently retreated.


    Fighting with blades at the slightest disagreement, laughing while chasing down fleeing comrades¡ªthe former bandits felt that they had a rather deep understanding of the internal workings of relationships amongst the undead.


    Yet never in their wildest dreams did they expect that these undead creatures would be willing to sacrifice themselves so magnanimously to ensure safe passage for a fellow compatriot to leave the town.


    Even though their "lives" held no value, as those who died to the demonized rat would soon be back in town, lively and energetic, the former bandit trio felt it was necessary to re-evaluate these undead.


    Yang Qiu''s daily rhythm followed that of Earth. When it was time to rest and sleep, he naturally returned to Earth to enjoy the conveniences of modern life.


    Despite it not showing, Yang Qiu was already over 300 years old. Compared to the vigor and passion he had when he was in his 100s or 200s, for the present Yang Qiu, nothing was more important than peaceful sleep and a pleasant mood. Whatever those unscrupulous former bandits and relentless players did while he was offline, Yang Qiu would settle it when he came "online."


    Before going to sleep, Yang Qiu logged into the game forum on his computer and sent an email to NeuroTech Center''s Director Lu.


    Personnel that Director Lu had arranged for was already taking care of the patient "NPC" in the game. In this situation where both parties understood each other''s intentions, Yang Qiu felt that it was best to be open and honest¡ª


    While I would never admit that I have the ability to transport "game players" to another world, since you are here to be of research value, it''s only natural for me to approach you guys when I have difficulties¡­ I am not part of your department and do not have the right to request funding, but at the very least, I have supported your research. So, shouldn''t you offer some benefits in return?


    And so, early the next morning, when Lu Yiyun, who had just woken up, saw this shameless email:


    In the email, the "target" proclaiming himself to be the game development team of "OtherWorld" candidly requested a long list of supplies and shamelessly expressed that he hoped the following arrangement could be made and delivered to a certain location in the suburbs of An City within three days.


    But what left Lu Yiyun speechless was that this person had requested supplies without even providing a reason!


    No reason was given, nor any excuses were made. This was simply stretching out a hand and shamelessly demanding!


    Director Lu took a few deep breaths and carefully read through the email once more.


    Well¡­ Not only was there a lack of reason for requesting these supplies, there also wasn''t a promise of how the development team would reciprocate after receiving them!


    Lu Yiyun''s current sentiments were indescribable¡­


    As a top scientist in the field of AI in China who had worked as the director of coordination and planning at the NeuroTech Center for many years, Lu Yiyun had encountered her fair share of shameless individuals¡ªeven in the scientific world, there were people who appeared pure and sacred in the eyes of the world but were downright despicable in private.


    For example, individuals with a high school education level at most, who somehow managed to hold sway in a particular field or a certain age group.


    Or those academic scoundrels hiding in prestigious academic institutions or even in legitimate government departments¡­


    These disgraces of the academic world were the fraudsters of the scientific community, achieving no genuine accomplishments but extremely skilled at deceiving departments for funding. There was no project they couldn''t hype up, no nonsense they couldn''t fabricate, and no major project they wouldn''t dare subcontract to students or even amateurs. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Allocating 10 million in funding only for 50,000 to end up in the hands of those doing genuine work¡ªthis sort of joke happened way to often.


    Therefore, this was also why Lu Yiyun felt quite frustrated¡­ What sort of dimension did this strange "target" come from to not bother to even come up with an excuse or offer an empty promise?


    While she felt extremely frustrated, Lu Yiyun didn''t immediately refuse and made a phone call to her superior.


    "Give it to him. Of course, we''ll provide it. Requests are a good thing to have. What we''re most afraid of is the ''target'' having no requests. We won''t have any leverage, then!" Lu Yiyun''s superior on the other end of the call gave a straightforward directive.


    Lu Yiyun silently hung up the phone and replied to the email without any expression, stating that the requested supplies were being coordinated¡­


    Two hours later, Lu Yiyun received another email from the "target."


    In this email, the "target" stated that there is consideration to add 20 closed beta accounts. These spots wouldn''t be publicly announced and only be given to designated applicants via email.


    Applicants for these accounts were required to have professional experience in fields including but not limited to chefs, doctors, nurses, teachers, and artists. After logging into the game, each applicant would be required to spend 5 hours in the game performing assigned tasks within each in-game day.


    In other words, based on a full login of 12 hours of real-world time per day, 5 hours would be spent as a "tool player" in the game, leaving 7 hours for free activities.


    These specific closed beta accounts would give priority to applicants with disabilities or elderly patients who were bedridden and required care.


    At the end of the email, the "target" bluntly stated that the approval authority for these accounts would be handed over to the expert task force as a gesture of gratitude for the support in supplies.


    Lu Yiyun''s expression became extremely peculiar upon reading this¡­


    The time flow in the game was only half that of the real-world time, and the task force had known this for some time already. This perplexing phenomenon had been discussed on multiple occasions.


    During the days when Ji Tang entered the game, staff members dispatched to the military district hospital carefully recorded his physical condition every time he logged in. For the time being, spending double the time in the "game" than in the "real world" had no negative impact on Ji Tang''s physical condition.


    On the contrary, Ji Tang, who had been physically weakened due to injuries, experienced an improvement in his mental state, and even his appetite had gradually returned.


    The chief physician at the military district hospital believed that Ji Tang would be able to be discharged after another six months of recuperation.


    "It''s not surprising that he could figure out Ji Tang is different from other players. Ji Tang''s qualities are too obvious. But how could he know Ji Tang''s condition and even that Ji Tang is recovering faster during the game?"


    Lu Yiyun muttered in disbelief.


    Ji Tang''s identity was apparently confidential, and nothing could be found on the Internet.


    The arrangement of the helmets by the expert task force was confidential and hadn''t been disclosed as well. The allure of being able to freely move during deep sleep, essentially extending one''s lifespan, had an undeniable appeal.


    Upon realizing Ji Tang''s gradual recovery in mental state after entering the game, even Lu Yiyun''s superior demanded that the remaining seven helmets were closely monitored¡­


    There were just too many patients in China. Even though wearing the helmet wouldn''t cure their illnesses, it could temporarily help them forget the torment of their ailments during deep sleep and slowly recover their mental well-being.


    These helmets were worth a fortune for families of such patients; after all, painkillers had side effects, and prolonged use led to drug resistance.


    "How exactly did this fella figure it out?!"


    Lu Yiyun suddenly understood why this person could so calmly extend a hand and ask for supplies, which made her even more suspicious.


    Something that effectively extended lifespan and alleviated the suffering of critically ill patients was undoubtedly a good thing. But no matter how good something was, it could cause significant problems if something went wrong with its operation.


    The expert task force had shifted to G Province right from the very start because they didn''t want to stir up trouble.


    The members of the expert task force, including Lu Yiyun, weren''t particularly eager for the "target" to discover the additional value of the helmets as there was concern this person would exploit this "monopolized resource" and cause trouble.


    After thinking it over, Lu Yiyun could only silently copy the contents of the email to a USB drive and delete the email.


    She couldn''t take matters into her own hands; this had to be dealt with by her superior.


    "Good thing Sir is bold. Were it up to me, these supplies might be dragged for two days while waiting for the other party''s response¡­ If that were so, perhaps the ''target'' wouldn''t be so cooperative." Lu Yiyun sighed.


    Director Lu had only logged in on the day when the helmets were clinically applied to patients with consciousness disorders. Had she logged in a few more times, she might have discovered the reason why the "target" noticed the changes in Ji Tang''s mental state.


    In the game, players could use an assessment technique to see each other''s Potential value (mental strength). Ji Tang, who first logged in on October 12, had an initial Potential value of 53. And in just three short days, it had skyrocketed to 60¡­


    Ordinary players who projected their souls into OtherWorld via the imprint matrix could enhance their mental state via "spiritual exercise," what more patients whose mental states declined due to physical reasons?


    While there was no space for magic to exist on Earth, the upper limit of human prowess was relatively low. Humans couldn''t enhance their mental prowess to the same extent as spellcasters in magic planes could, where spellcasters could rejuvenate their physical bodies and surpass the limits of lifespans. However, the ability to enhance mental prowess had no downsides for Earth humans.

 Chapter 39: Black Mage Yang Sets off

    On the morning of October 16, Earth time, a convoy of inconspicuous vehicles arrived at a research institute nestled in the surrounding mountains of G Province. After the handover to the institute''s person-in-charge, a group of soldiers in training uniforms swiftly carried the patients on beds along with their life support equipment into the facility.


    These patients in a vegetative state were sent from a care facility in G Province, accompanied by a number of medical staff. Once the patients were settled, the accompanying medical personnel were summoned to the institute''s second conference room for a report briefing.


    These medical staff had been notified at the last minute and forced to participate in this project by higher authorities. While traveling here, none of them could clearly say what their superiors wanted from them.


    It was not only upon encountering the mysterious researchers within this facility that the medical staff suddenly realized and got excited¡ªeveryone here was an expert in the fields of neuroscience and neurology. Could there have been a significant breakthrough in the country regarding patients in vegetative states?!


    The newly arrived medical staff assumed they would see some bulky medical equipment or new medication used on patients until they saw those bizarre motorcycle helmets¡­


    In any case, when the medical staff witnessed these experts timely and punctually "fitting" the consciousness-impaired patients, categorized by the duration of their coma, with what seemed to be motorcycle helmets, their faces twitched.


    "Um¡­ Director Lu, what on earth is this?" The director of the care facility, a doctor with extensive clinical experience despite lacking in academic publications, couldn''t help but cast an inquisitive gaze at Lu Yiyun, director of NeuroTech Center.


    Lu Yiyun didn''t waste time explaining too much and directly handed over a patient''s medical record to the care facility''s head and led him to see the patient.


    "On October 16, ten in the morning, Gong Minglan, 19 years old, a survivor of a major car accident in K Province earlier this June, fell into a coma due to brain injuries and has been in a comatose state for 4 months and 8 days," explained Lu Yiyun to the care facility''s head from behind the observation room window.


    "After implementing a special treatment plan and tracking the relevant neural responses at the linguistic level, the patient''s brain waves, while slight, have shown reactions to the names of relatives, hometown, school names, and even the names of classmates and teachers. Our assessment is that the patient''s cognitive and sensory nerves have shown signs of recovery to a certain extent, and we predict a favorable prognosis for her conscious rehabilitation."


    The care facility''s director was unable to contain his excitement as he eagerly examined the patient''s brain wave imaging records.


    However, Lu Yiyun didn''t show much relief; her brows remained furrowed. "We only have seven helmets available for treatment, and based on our observations so far, the shorter the duration of the coma, the better the results. Director Gu, please understand the constraints we''re facing."


    Director Gu didn''t have a chance to say a word before Lu Yiyun interrupted him, leaving him momentarily stunned before he eked out a bitter smile.


    What this meant was clear: the limited treatment methods could only be allocated to patients with the highest chances of recovery¡­


    Director Gu had spent many years working on clinical treatment for vegetative state patients. Lu Yiyun could understand his frustration and handed him a thick file. "Patients with consciousness disorders exceeding a certain duration, even with the implementation of a special treatment plan, show no changes in their brain wave imaging. We have already tried our best."


    One helmet was dismantled, one was "wasted" by Lu Yiyun''s trying out the game, and one had been assigned to Ji Tang. The remaining seven helmets were solely used for clinical experiments with patients.


    The expert team didn''t give up on any patients that showed even the slightest brain wave response when a helmet was equipped. Experiments were conducted punctually, hoping that the subtle stimulations generated by the helmets would contribute to the patients'' recovery. However, the expert team was indeed powerless when it came to patients who showed no response in their brain waves after a helmet was equipped.


    A human''s soul was something Earth humans had no way of seeing. Human exploration of the realm of consciousness and soul had been limited to studying the reactions of the human brain''s neurons.


    The expert team couldn''t comprehend the component within the helmets that couldn''t be dissembled nor the principles behind its functioning and why it could positively stimulate the brain waves of humans. Nevertheless, this didn''t hinder the experts from finding ways to utilize this "special treatment" method and contribute to the field of human medicine.


    In the whole of China, approximately a hundred thousand people fell into a comatose state each year due to traumatic brain injury, stroke, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, and other conditions. The urgent need for a means of treatment in this field went without saying.


    Each patient that woke up signified a family receiving salvation.


    Driven by this pressing need, not only did the expert task force fend off any collective scrutiny from within the country, but they also adopted the most conservative "non-interference" strategy themselves.


    The reason was simple. Even the most socially inept person could discern, based on the information and understanding the expert task force currently possessed about the "target," that this individual appeared capricious, unconventional, and acted in a way as if his mental age fluctuated between youth and advanced age. It was as if this extraordinary individual had the spirit of a young person yet possessed remarkable self-restraint, more enduring than that of a seasoned fugitive.


    Most importantly, the "target" seemed to display minimal materialistic desires, even by ordinary standards.


    Even three-year-old kids knew to feign crying to extort benefits from their parents, yet the "target," who possessed "black technology" far surpassing anything on Earth, refrained from engaging in any sort of profit-seeking, even persisting in a "game" that operated on a non-profit basis.


    Taking these factors into consideration, the expert task force arrived at a unanimous analysis:


    1: The actions of the "target" revolve around a "specific purpose" known only to himself and tailored to his own needs.


    2: This "specific purpose" isn''t in conflict with the expert task force''s application of helmets in the medical field.


    3: This "specific purpose" is highly important to the "target" to the extent that it makes the "target" disregard all external temptations.


    This conclusion made the heads of everyone in the expert task force hurt and further muddled their understanding of the "target''s" psyche. Even Professor Yin Zhengliang, an expert in criminal psychology at the Public Security University, was hesitant to declare confidently whether the "target" was a cunning and crafty villain or a clueless youngster with an empty mind¡­


    In any case, regardless of what the "target''s" motives were, the safest choice for the expert task force was to stabilize the situation as much as possible to ensure that the "target" remained within the country and at ease.


    The expert task force would be required to maintain the current stable cooperation with this mysterious "target" while gradually exploring mutually acceptable methods and expanding the scope of collaboration. Within this overarching principle, the expert task force would strive to meet the reasonable demands of the "target" to the best of their ability.


    Of course, in the event that the "target" plotted something sinister or revealed their true intentions¡­ Well, the vast mountains of G Province were an ideal place to hide cutting-edge weapons, and several battalions of ground forces had already been deployed in the mountains surrounding An City for training exercises¡­


    Yang Qiu was unaware that the small place he rented was under constant satellite surveillance, nor did he know that his regular coordinates had appeared in certain classified documents.


    Nevertheless, Yang Qiu wouldn''t care even if he knew all that. He was very satisfied with the strategies and policies specially developed by the experts toward and for him.


    Moreover, he had never considered causing trouble on Earth¡ªthere was already such a vast stage in the other world, waiting for him to revel in.


    While the scientific faction of the expert task force collaborated with clinical experts to study the principles and patterns of the "special treatment" on patients, Yang Qiu was leisurely seated in the Exile Town''s Town Hall with a cup of fruit tea in hand, observing players that were in an underground passage.


    Within the underground passage, a player had just failed the "Mental Trial" assessment. He crouched in the corner, clutching his head while cursing the game developers as his friends around him offered consolation.


    Yang Qiu was rather unperturbed and looked toward the next challenger.


    The player with the ID Phantom felt somewhat nervous after witnessing the failure of his fellow but still bravely entered the "test grounds," a huge fantasy-style magical array.


    Roughly 30 seconds later, Phantom cursed out loud and withdrew, holding his head in frustration.


    Yang Qiu had no expression as he shifted his attention to the next challenger, Ou Huang, who had already attempted the challenge multiple times without success.


    Ou Huang was the first that had gained a "friendly" reputation with Yang Qiu.


    Blossoming Strokes, Unceasing Entropy, and Win By Grinding (Jiang Wei) were the second batch.


    The third batch included players like Phantom and Guileless Gale, who didn''t level up as quickly as the previously mentioned players.


    And until these two followers of Brother Lahong who had also made significant contributions during the [Birth of the Undead Race] breakthrough quest achieved enough reputation and started the job advancement quest, not one player from the first two batches had managed to complete the mage apprentice job advancement¡­


    Ou Huang had posted numerous posts, crying and complaining, while Blossoming Strokes, Unceasing Entropy, and Win By Grinding angrily vented their frustrations on the forums and even called upon their friends to demand fairness for the advancement quest.


    Among those complaining was Yang Qiu''s older sister, Yang Ying¡­ who criticized the game''s horrible production and deceitful development team, which left Yang Qiu both amused and exasperated.


    The truth was, Yang Qiu couldn''t explain, nor could he lower the difficulty level.


    The magic of this world was toxic. Even though the players only projected their souls through the imprint matrix and remained safe on Earth without being affected by the madness within the corruption of magic, they would inevitably face interference whenever they absorbed magic through meditation in this plane.


    Since the players were only projecting their souls through avatars, the negative influences of magic were similar to feeling disgusted while watching a B-grade movie or getting scared while watching a horror film.


    Nonetheless, it was still a form of negative influence. Therefore, before these players who desired to pursue the system of magic could acquire (implant) their class''s skills through advancement, they needed to pass the test first.


    The principle of the test was quite simple. Yang Qiu had created an illusionist''s visual deception array in the underground passage (magic powder was provided by the Great Leaf Vines players cultivated while trying to farm his reputation). By inputting and circulating a certain amount of magic within the visual deception array, Yang Qiu turned it into a trial of his own making: "Randomized 100 Questions, Quick Selection Challenge," where questions refreshed extremely quickly and could be comparable to legitimate mental corruption.


    When players activated "Basic Meditation" in the underground passage as per the quest requirements, mental contamination, present within the abundant magic, would mercilessly assault their sensory nerves while players were forced to instinctively answer the questions at lightning speed.


    The questions were, of course, extremely simple. For example, in the 100 random questions assigned to Phantom, who had just failed, the first question was asking who the player should help when witnessing the scene of a burly man snatching a child''s lollipop¡­


    The second question: When thugs are openly committing arson, murder, and looting on the street, should one quickly notify the authorities or join them?


    The third question: When an elderly person falls, should one offer assistance or gleefully rush over to stomp on them?


    ¡­And so on.


    These were 100 simple questions that any elementary school student with a normal moral compass could easily handle. If an ordinary person from Earth were given this set of questions under different circumstances, they would very likely suspect the tester''s sanity.


    However, answering these 100 questions correctly under the intense pressure of mental contamination wasn''t so easy. It required players to have a certain level of resilience and the ability to maintain clarity and rationality amid the high-pressure environment and strong mental interference.


    So far, the player who had made the most progress in the challenge was Ou Huang. In the previous attempt, he successfully made it to the 81st question before falling at the 82nd. This time, even Yang Qiu had high expectations for the current attempt.


    Only by standing within the illusory array would a player be able to see the "mental trial." Ou Huang remained calm and focused his mind as he endured the disturbing noise of mental contamination¡ªin reality, players couldn''t understand the language of the magical other world and could communicate with NPCs only because of their link within the imprint matrix, so the unintelligible murmurs sounded like strong noise that had influenced one''s mental state greatly.


    Completely focused, he rapidly answered the questions. 60 questions¡­ 70 questions¡­ 75 questions¡­


    Blossoming Strokes, Unceasing Entropy, and Win By Grinding, who were at the side queuing up for their turn at the challenge, had their attention fixed on Ou Huang who had been standing steady within the array for over two and half minutes without failing.


    The time limit for answering each simple multiple-choice question in the trial was two seconds. The time spent within the array was equivalent to answering at least half the questions correctly.


    As Ou Huang persisted, Phantom and Guileless Gale, who had just failed, couldn''t help but look over as well.


    After three and a half minutes, Ou Huang''s skeletal frame within the array trembled, making a crackling sound as his jawbone dropped to reveal a smile that, though eerie, was no longer surprising to the players¡­


    "Big shot! Please guide us!" Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy immediately sucked up to him.


    In the Town Hall, Yang Qiu, who was genuinely concerned that players would give up the spellcasting class, couldn''t help revealing a relieved smile¡­


    "Very good," Yang Qiu muttered, setting down his teacup and rising from his seat. He reached into one of the many spatial rings he wore and pulled out a little bag filled with magic powder, which was the fruit of players'' hard labor, and sprinkled some powder around his chair.


    Arrays used by illusionists were rather useful, just that he, as a practitioner of dark magic, needed to use magic powder if he wanted to cross over into other disciplines.


    After setting up a miniature version of the illusory array, another "Yang Qiu" appeared on his chair.


    By constructing specific light and shadow projections within the array and leaving a mind imprint inside, the caster could control the projection via the imprint. As long as there was no physical contact, the projection was indistinguishable from the real person.


    This was why illusionists were so cunning; they could even create projections to replace themselves for extended periods, making it difficult for anyone seeking to assassinate them to locate their true whereabouts.


    Leaving the projection to deal with the players, Yang Qiu put away the magic powder and activated an invisible barrier over himself. Then he left the Town Hall, summoned an undead horse¡ªa different one from the gorgeous specimen he had previously released for the auction¡ªand departed Exile Town.


    He hadn''t been riding through the wilderness for long before Ou Huang arrived at his projection to complete his quest while surrounded by the other players.


    While on the move, Yang Qiu manipulated his own projection to engage in a lengthy conversation to compel Ou Huang to stand still and, at the same time, manually implanted the skill runes which could be "learned" by "Mage Apprentices" during their first job advancement into Ou Huang''s character.


    And that was why the final step for every job advancement, regardless of the chosen profession, was to "receive the Undead Race Resurrection Master''s blessing."


    Yang Qiu juggled managing the players while journeying, and approximately ten hours later, he crossed the western part of the Taranthan Wasteland and arrived at the Duchy of Shiga.


    For his selection of "civilian NPCs," Yang Qiu preferred people of the Duchy of Shiga, who worshiped the Goddess of Prosperity, over those of the Rhine Kingdom, who believed in Lady Gold Coin.


    In this world, the worship of gods had a significant influence on believers. Compared to the morally bankrupt Rhine Kingdom, the reputation of the Duchy of Shiga''s citizens was far superior.


    Of course, the primary reason the Goddess of Prosperity had such a positive reputation was because she preferred to remain within her own jurisdiction and never sent envoys roaming everywhere.


    Were the Goddess of Prosperity''s faith as active as the Lady Gold Coin, whose evangelism activities covered a considerable area and frequently clashed with other faiths, that reputation wouldn''t be that favorable.


    The Duchy of Shiga was mainly inhabited by people of agriculture, but it also had a well-developed handicraft and low-end manufacturing industry. It was a land that merchant caravans from neighboring countries would always go to, and during summer, the border towns of the Duchy of Shiga were always bustling with activity.


    However, this referred to the border towns near the fringes of the Sorensen Mountains and in other directions. As for the side facing the Taranthan, there were hardly any decent cities or towns along the entire border¡­


    The bustling town of Camore, located in the eastern region of the Duchy of Shiga, was home to nearly all the small and medium-sized landowners (rural nobility) within a hundred miles, as well as the servants and maidservants who served these rural aristocrats.


    Yang Qiu sent his mount away a short distance from town and maintained the barrier around him as he calmly passed through the town gates, right in front of the watchmen patrolling outside Camore.


    Due to the relatively high concentration of "upper-class individuals'''' here, Camore had developed a remarkably good and civilized atmosphere. Lively laughter of young girls could be heard from the passing carriages on the main road, and most pedestrians strolling by displayed a relaxed demeanor, polite conversation, and respectable attire; women in long skirts that reached their ankles were abundant.


    The streets were clean and tidy, with hardly any visible litter, and the shops facing the street boldly displayed their high-quality goods behind glass windows, which an ordinary person would need to save for several months to afford.


    If Yang Qiu hadn''t passed through several villages where the farmers were barely clothed on his way here, he would have believed that the residents of Camore represented the country''s image.


    As he turned into the back alleys, within two minutes, there were no longer gentlemen dressed appropriately or ladies in long skirts to be seen.


    The narrow, winding alleys resembled a labyrinth, flanked by tightly packed low houses. Foul-smelling wastewater filled the depressions on the stone-paved ground, and the patched skirts of the women sitting under the eaves of their houses barely reached their knees.


    Continuing further for a few more minutes, the road lost its cobblestones, and only muddy ground filled with various potholes formed by rainwater and constant trampling remained. Red brick houses became scarce, with wooden shanties for most of the residences.


    Long clotheslines made of wooden stakes and ropes stretched across the rooftops of all the wooden shanties and open spaces near the riverbank, displaying clothes of varying lengths.


    The weaving industry was the livelihood of the non-"upper-class" residents of Camore.


    The climate in Camore was similar to that of Taranthan. It had a hot summer, abundant sunlight, and significant temperature differences between day and night, making it perfect for cotton cultivation.


    In order to cultivate cotton more efficiently, the landowners of Camore had long formed strategic alliances and employed various means to seize the land of free citizens or turn them from farmers into cotton growers.


    However, large-scale cotton cultivation did not require so many farmers, at least not during the non-harvesting period. The aristocrats had no need to support these individuals who were known for their hearty appetites and high fertility. Consequently, these farmers, who had once believed in the doctrine of the Goddess of Prosperity and had diligently worked the land for centuries, underwent a transformation. They became residents of the town, transformed into "independent weavers."


    "¡­This place hasn''t really changed much," Yang Qiu muttered with a shake of his head as he stood before the area where the "independent weavers" resided. Over a hundred years ago, he had passed through this very place.


    Compared to the backbreaking life of toiling in the cotton fields during harvest season for the aristocrats and weaving cotton fabrics under the supervision of estate stewards, life as a craftsman was undoubtedly a bit easier.


    But whether it could truly be called freedom¡­ That would depend on one''s perspective.


    It could only be said that compared to the exploitative methods in Old Europe, where most workers became corpses within three years of being forced to work in factories, the "independent weavers" of Camore had it somewhat better.


    "Anyway¡­ I best find some useful people first."


    Yang Qiu surveyed his surroundings, selected his target, and made a beeline¡­


    Within these slums, under a taller building with a signboard of a wine cup, several thuggish-looking men were crouching before the steps, gambling with dice.


    Yang Qiu bypassed this group, stepped on the stairs, and entered the establishment.


    It was evident that this larger wooden construct was no ordinary tavern. Apart from the counter, tables, and barrels lining the walls, there was also a crowded gambling table.


    Gamblers were a rowdy bunch and could perhaps even be considered more raucous than OtherWorld players. Yang Qiu observed on the first floor for a bit before taking the stairs and heading to the second floor.


    There were numerous private rooms on the second floor, with the shouts of gamblers from some, while unrestrained laughter and banter between men and women came from others.


    Yang Qiu listened at the door of each room as he passed by. When he reached a certain room, he heard the voice of a man trying his best to suppress his anger.


    He stopped, pushed the door open, and entered, then casually closed the door behind him.


    The room was filled with people. Several middle-aged men, dressed as decently as pedestrians on the street, sat behind a coffee table adorned with bottles and cups. There were also several bodyguards standing nonchalantly in the corners of the room.


    The sudden opening and closing of the door silenced everyone in the room.


    One of the bodyguards near the door approached in confusion, checked the corridor outside, locked the door from the inside, and then shook his head to indicate to his boss that there weren''t any suspicious individuals.


    Thus, the several seemingly respectable middle-aged men sitting on the sofa resumed their conversation. Yang Qiu patiently stood by, quietly listening for about ten minutes.


    Then¡­ he suddenly revealed himself, grabbed one of the flushed and slightly handsome middle-aged men, and forcefully slammed the latter''s face into the coffee table.


    "Who?!"


    "Stop!"


    The others on the sofa were equally shocked and flinched reactively. Their grunts, though, didn''t hesitate and rushed forward to subdue Yang Qiu.


    Yang Qiu ignored them and enveloped the entire room with a spatial barrier, restricting the movement of everyone within. Then he drew out a metal rod and meticulously shattered all the bones beneath the elbow of the man whose hair he was grabbing.


    Amid the stunned gazes of everyone in the room, Yang Qiu supported the man who had passed out from the pain and gently laid him flat on the sofa. Only then did he straighten his posture and nod politely at the stupefied crowd. "Good day, gentlemen."


    A chubby man who bore some resemblance to the man that had just been crippled really wanted to raise a finger to accuse Yang Qiu of his brutality. However, he couldn''t bring himself to do so; instead, he glanced at his cousin and said in a trembling voice, "W-who are you? Why did you attack my brother?!"


    "It''s our first time meeting, so everyone may address me as Yang," Yang Qiu gave a slight nod at the chubby man.


    "I''m asking you why you attacked my brother!" The chubby man was so furious that even his excess fat jiggled like jelly.


    "Naturally, it''s because of this gentleman''s accusation," Yang Qiu raised his hand and pointed at another well-dressed man. "This gentleman accuses your brother of deceiving their underage sister and making her pregnant. Isn''t that the reason why everyone has gathered to discuss this matter?"


    The gentlemen and bodyguards present strained their eyes in astonishment, looking at the man whom Yang Qiu had pointed out.


    That fella being pointed out also wore an inexplicable expression on his face. Although he found great satisfaction in seeing the other guy being beaten, he genuinely didn''t know Yang Qiu.


    Yang Qiu had no intention of forming any relationship with this man either. He calmly stated, "I don''t know this gentleman, nor do I know anyone among you all. However, my personal principle is that any scum who lays a hand on a young boy or girl, once encountered by me, deserves to have their hands or legs broken, depending on the severity of their actions, to ensure that such a person finds it difficult to commit such a crime again."


    Everyone. "???"


    "Usually, I would choose to act in front of the immediate family members of the offender to ensure a sufficient deterrent effect. But it''s been too long since I last did something like that, so I was a bit impulsive," Yang Qiu added.


    "Ahhh!" The chubby man who was from a family with some influence in the lower, middle echelons of Camor suddenly exclaimed in shock, "Y-you¡­ Could you be the notorious Nightmare Butcher who once publicly broke the hands and feet of Sir Hans in his manor?!" S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yang Qiu''s face immediately darkened. "Watch what you say. I have never acknowledged that stupid title."

 Chapter 40: Brave Jean

    "Anyway¡­ You two are Bennetts."


    Yang Qiu pointed at the man who had brought up the grievance. Then, after a short pause, he pointed at the gloomy fatty. "And you guys are from the Eugenes."


    As if recalling something, Yang Qiu smiled and said, "Speaking of the family name Eugene, it reminds me of someone. The last time I passed through Camore, there was a little girl who left quite an impression on me, Rebecca Eugene."


    A strange look appeared on the chubby man''s face. "Th-that''s my great-grandmother''s name."


    "Oh, what a coincidence." Yang Qiu raised an eyebrow. "It looks like Rebecca got her wish."


    The chubby man''s face froze, and the two gentlemen from the Bennett family also wore peculiar expressions.


    "It seems that this town has seen quite a few stories." Yang Qiu didn''t have the intention to delve deeper. He sat back on the sofa and waved his hand to release the restraints on these people. "Have a seat, gentlemen."


    The three men looked at each other, adjusted themselves, and each pulled a chair to sit down. They didn''t dare to approach the sofa where Yang Qiu was sitting, let alone the bloodied figure lying on the other end of the sofa with shattered arms.


    "I''ll be frank. I need to take in a group of people who are struggling to survive here and have nothing but their lives," Yang Qiu bluntly stated. "Your families oversee the local weaver unions, and you guys should be well aware of where to find such individuals."


    The three men from the two families were taken aback.


    "M-Mr. Yang, I don''t quite get your point," one of the men from the Bennett family mustered the courage to speak. "If you could, could you please explain in more detail?"


    "Allow me to rephrase it, then," Yang Qiu spoke even more bluntly. "I know more about how Camore''s weaver union operates than you do. Four hundred years ago, the steamships of the Kenyan Empire conquered the endless sea and brought back cotton seeds from the Outer Continent. These ''man-eating'' cotton seeds were later brought to the Duchy of Shiga by merchant caravans.


    "The affluent in Camore saw this as an excellent opportunity to grow their wealth and solidify the status of their own families. Using various means, they seized the land from free people and dedicated them to cotton cultivation while coercing the farmers to work as cotton growers on their own plantations. After all, unlike grain, cotton doesn''t become stale, infested, rotten, or moldy within a year, so it doesn''t devalue easily. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "But soon, the affluent class realized that it wasn''t profitable to turn all the farmers into cotton growers. There wasn''t a need for so much manpower in the cotton fields except during the harvest season.


    "Thus, they came up with a solution. They selected the more obedient ones among the cotton growers and instructed them to lead the rebellious ones to demand ''freedom,'' causing a few ''peaceful, non-violent, not so intense'' conflicts. Following that, the noblemen ''relented.'' They liberated all the cotton growers, granting them the status of free people.


    "Upon the successful ''revolt,'' the leading families naturally formed a union, bringing together the scattered free people and engaging in negotiations with the affluent class¡­"


    At this point, Yang Qiu couldn''t help but chuckle. "In short¡­ the free people emerged victorious at the end of this farce. Not only had they obtained the status of freedom, but they also ''forced'' the noblemen to compromise and pay them for their work, transforming them from traditional farmers into skilled craftsmen with lighter workloads and higher social status within the Duchy of Shiga."


    Upon Yang Qiu''s narration, both members of the Bennett family and the chubby man from the Eugene family alike were drenched in sweat.


    Meanwhile, the underlings, who had been restrained and unable to move on the spot, were consumed by shock.


    "There was a single weaver union the last time I visited Camore, belonging to Rebecca Eugene''s husband. But this time, there are now two weaver unions, with a new Bennett family which I have not heard of before. It appears that there has been intense competition within the weaver union over the years."


    Yang Qiu smiled and continued, "The noblemen who exploited Camore''s locals have since hidden away behind the scenes while you gang leaders¡­ I apologize, union leaders, reaped the benefits and became quite the targets for contempt in Camore. So, I suppose there must be quite a number of tactless idiots who have offended you guys. Hand over those people to me. That''s what I mean. Is that clear enough?"


    Half an hour later, a bloodied Descartes Eugene was wrapped in a cloak and sent back to the Eugene family''s mansion by his loyal underlings.


    Yang Qiu was right; the weaver union in Camore did resemble post-World War I British gangs that functioned as a sort of "local family enterprise."


    Of course, compared to such British gangs, the lives of the weaver union leaders were slightly more comfortable. They didn''t need to vie with other gangs for territory using knives and guns, nor did they have to worry about being stabbed by gypsies. As long as their family clan was sufficiently large and had enough adult males, they could aggressively seize control of the union and then have their subordinates do the dirty work.


    Despite the lower risk, their profits were comparable to those of British gangs. The tens of thousands of weavers in the town and the workers employed by various cotton plantations had to pay tribute to them if they wanted to work. Because of their "control over the lower echelons," the upper echelons in town would occasionally reward them.


    Ever since Rebecca Eugene, the aforementioned great-grandmother, killed her husband and seized control of the union with her brothers, the Eugene family had been thriving.


    Although the Bennett family, who aided Rebecca at that time, took away a considerable number of union members to form their own and claimed nearly half of the profits, it was still enough to allow the Eugene family to continue growing over the past century. The family didn''t only build houses as impressive as the affluent members'' on the main street, but also ventured into businesses such as taverns, casinos, and horse racing.


    The Eugenes, considered a local hegemon, were naturally enraged when Descartes, a prominent figure of their younger generation, returned with his hands in such bad shape after the negotiation.


    When Descartes''s cousin, the corpulent Harvey, rushed back home in a cold sweat, he saw the women in the house weeping while uncles and brothers were gathering angrily, preparing to confront the Bennetts.


    "Stop! Everyone, stop!" Chubby Harvey was frightened out of his wits. He quickly ordered his trusted men to close the main gate of the mansion and dashed forward to console his agitated uncle. "It wasn''t the Bennetts, believe me! We were negotiating at our own casino, and everyone there was our own! The Bennetts couldn''t have done this!"


    "Harvey! What the hell is going on?" The enraged uncle pushed Harvey away and shouted, "You were with Descartes. How could something like this happen under your watch?"


    "Uncle, do you still remember Black Mage Yang that great-grandmother mentioned before?" Harvey responded with a trembling voice.


    "What black mage?!"


    "Black Mage Yang, the Nightmare Butcher!" Harvey exclaimed. "When I was young, there used to be a wanted poster of him on the sheriff''s board, with a bounty of 90,000 gold coins!"


    The clamoring men and crying women in the room fell silent instantly.


    "Great-grandmother once pointed at the wanted poster on the notice board and told me that she had seen this black mage when she was young," Harvey said grimly. "The last time this black mage, who was wanted by multiple nations, came to Camore, he invaded Sir Hans'' mansion.


    "In front of Sir Hans''s family and many guests attending a party, he immobilized Sir Hans and kidnapped the mayor''s young son. He then hung the young master on the city wall for three days and even forced a baron to ride naked on a horse through town¡ªgreat-grandmother said it was because of the chaos the black mage caused among the upper class on the main streets that she had a chance to seize the union for the Eugene family!"


    Life in a small town was rather dull, and any rumors would be passed down by word of mouth for many generations. When Yang Qiu caused a disturbance in the town of Camore, the events on the main streets naturally became lifelong fables for the elders in town.


    Descartes''s father, Harvey''s uncle, had also heard these legendary tales. He broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing Harvey''s words. "Y-you said¡­ Wait a minute! You said this black mage came to Camore. What''s that supposed to mean?!"


    Harvey gulped hard, still trembling as he explained, "Jimmy Bennett tried using his sister''s situation to pressurize our family into giving up the casino on East Street, and when we were in a deadlock, th-th-this black mage suddenly appeared¡­ claiming that ''he couldn''t tolerate the violation of young boys and girls'' and personally crippled Descartes¡­"


    Everyone in the Eugene family was dumbfounded.


    "O Goddess of Prosperity!" Descartes''s mother, Harvey''s aunt, pressed her hands against her chest, wailing in despair. "The Nightmare Butcher was only targeting the people on the main streets, why would he be so cruel to our Descartes?!"


    Descartes''s wife couldn''t help but chime in, "It was clearly one of those Bennetts bitches seducing Descartes. Why should Descartes be the unlucky one?!"


    "That''s right!" another woman from the Eugenes said. "That slut couldn''t control herself, what has that got to do with one of us?"


    "Enough!" The head of the Eugene family stopped the women and grabbed Harvey''s arm. Beads of perspiration glistened on his forehead as he asked anxiously, "Tell me, Harvey, what does this black mage want?!"


    Harvey quickly conveyed Yang Qiu''s request¡­ Of course, he deliberately avoided mentioning the Weaver Union''s unsavory origins.


    "He has given us only five hours to choose the right people as quickly as possible." Harvey gulped nervously and said anxiously, "If we cannot provide him with the desired number of people¡­ he threatened to take away all of the union members along with the Bennetts!"


    As soon as these words came out, the previously angry crowd, who were furious about Descartes''s ordeal, shuddered.


    "Give him what he wants! Find people for him!" Harvey''s aunt immediately shrieked at her husband. "Quickly send this plague away!"


    "Watch your words!" the head of the Eugene family berated furiously.


    In small towns like Camore, seeing a traveling mage once every few years or even decades was a rare sight.


    Most of these mages hardly interacted with the locals. Only a few would chat with the locals, have a drink, share their travel experiences, rest for a day or two to replenish food and water, and then leave.


    Of course, there were also those like Black Mage Yang who would intervene in certain events. However, most of them only taught a lesson to oppressors and gave some loose change to the poor and suffering.


    But causing upheaval throughout the town and instilling fear into the upper echelons of the main streets as Yang did was unprecedented. So much so that several decades later, when the black mage Yang gained the moniker "Nightmare Butcher" and became wanted by numerous countries, his wanted poster remained on the sheriff''s board for many years.


    Rumors about this Nightmare Butcher persisted among the townspeople until the death of the Eugene family''s matriarch Rebecca. Stories circulated at the time, such as him dragging a cardinal of the Radiant Sun Church to the town square and having the latter mate with a bear, or hammering to death a prince from a certain kingdom. These alarming rumors were widely spread.


    In any case, with confirmation that this individual was indeed the "Nightmare Butcher," the Eugenes, a local mafia, no longer had any desire to oppose him. They mobilized almost all of their family members to gather the normally unruly union weavers or those impoverished families that were left with mostly orphans and the elderly.


    While the Eugenes and the Bennetts were panicking and gathering people, the culprit, the feared and hated Black Mage Yang, showed up at the mansion of Viscount Lynn, a philanthropist, who wielded more influence in Camore than the mayor.


    He approached in a formal and courteous manner, first sending a messenger boy with his calling card, and arrived at the mansion half an hour later. He hadn''t forgotten to bring a gift for the viscount''s family, adhering to the customs of the noble class in this world without being presumptuous.


    As for Viscount Lynn''s reaction upon receiving the calling card¡­ Yang Qiu couldn''t be bothered.


    When he arrived, Viscount Lynn personally received him with his wife and prepared a pot of sweet tea that spellcasters generally liked.


    ¡­It was a tea made from dried flower petals and sugar, with roses and chrysanthemums as the main ingredients.


    In the reception room of Viscount Lynn''s mansion, which was located in the garden and had glass walls of high purity, Yang Qiu lowered his teacup and smiled, giving a slight nod to the viscount and his wife. "Crofts Lynn had been the owner of this place when I was last here. Now, being back again, I can only see this old friend from his portrait. One truly can only lament at the passage of time."


    "I''m glad you still remember my great-grandfather," Viscount Lynn said with a subtle touch of melancholy in his dignified smile. He moved with elegance and ease, concealing his anxiety¡­


    The viscount''s wife, a well-bred and well-mannered lady, also smiled and nodded gently, expressing gratitude for Yang Qiu''s remembrance of their elders.


    Since they were putting up such a good act, Yang Qiu pretended not to notice the couple''s nervousness. After exchanging a few meaningless pleasantries, he began, "I came this time to take away some unfortunate people who are struggling to make a living in town. Once I leave, the Radiant Sun Church''s Inquisition should come after hearing the news. At that time, don''t trouble yourself, Viscount. Just tell them where I went."


    Viscount Lynn''s face stiffened, and he struggled to maintain his composed facade. "Th-this¡­ Mr. Yang?"


    "Calm down, I''m not trying to test you," Yang Qiu said with a slight wave of his hand. "I''ve been embroiled with these lunatics for decades and have gotten tired of it. It''s time to put an end to this."


    The Lynn couple lowered their heads in unison and sipped their tea. They had to quickly conceal their true feelings to keep up the pretense.


    "In addition, I hope the viscount can delay informing them of my whereabouts until five days after I leave," Yang Qiu said with a smile. "I have to let those poor and unfortunate I''m bringing away settle down first."


    "Uh¡­ yes," Viscount Lynn managed to respond, neither able to refuse nor directly comply. He could only vaguely acknowledge with an "uh" to get through the situation.


    "If that''s the case, I shall not impose on you any longer," Yang Qiu said as he picked up his staff from the table and stood up before giving a slight nod. "I hope the young master will like the gift that I brought."


    The Lynn couple quickly stood up to see him off.


    They politely and courteously bid farewell to their guest, who was like a great plague. As soon as the door shut, the most respectable couple in Camore anxiously rushed to the room where their young son was.


    "Poli! Throw that thing¡ªahhh!"


    The Lynn couple''s legs went weak upon seeing that their son had already unpacked Yang Qiu''s gift and was already playing with a peculiar object.


    "O Goddess of Prosperity! Poli, how could you unwrap something from that evil black mage!" Lady Lynn rushed in, attempting to take the toy away.


    "No, Mom, this is my gift," Poli held onto the toy tightly and dodged.


    "Listen to me, sweetheart, give it over, and Mommy will buy you something better," Lady Lynn pleaded desperately.


    The child was of no match to the adults. Under the "siege" of the couple and the maid, it didn''t take long for the toy to be snatched away, leaving the young child in tears.


    The Lynn couple didn''t have time to comfort their child. They ordered the maid to burn the toy and had the manservant watch over their son. Then, they hurriedly changed their clothes and went out to discuss with the other affluent families in Camore how to mitigate the impending disaster.


    The gift that Yang Qiu brought was a transforming robot toy produced by a Chinese toy factory that was clearly a Transformer knockoff. The maid couldn''t bear to burn such an impressive toy and secretly hid it away¡­


    Meanwhile, Yang Qiu, who had made the Lynn family feel this way, was completely unaware of his role as a harbinger of disaster. After leaving the viscount''s residence, he used the imprint matrix to trigger a hidden quest for Ji Tang, who was currently online¡­


    Ji Tang had just finished his warrior advancement quest and was heading to the Town Hall to complete the quest and receive the "blessing," accompanied by his two buddies, Yang Ying and Tang Jia.


    Girls were more enthusiastic when it came to playing together. Tang Jia and Yang Ying, who had gained "Friendly" reputation a few days earlier, had already completed their job advancement. They accompanied Ji Tang during his advancement quest, saving him a lot of trouble.


    The advancement quest for warriors was simpler than the mage, wanderer, and knight classes. All that was required was forming a team to kill spiders in the Spider Cave and collect 20 spider venom sacs to turn in.


    As the three of them jogged and discussed the mechanics of melee combat and spider hunting (mainly Ji Tang teaching the two girls), a quiet zombie NPC who usually didn''t give players any quests suddenly raised its rotten arm and waved at them.


    The three of them immediately stopped, turning their attention to the zombie NPC. Only NPCs that assigned tasks would initiate conversations with players. This NPC, who had never paid attention to players, was making a move. It was obvious that it was about to issue a quest!


    The zombie NPC named "Hugh Potter" slowly looked up, and its gray eyes lingered on Ji Tang. "Hey, comrade, I''ve been wanting to talk to you for a while. You remind me of someone."


    "Hidden quest!" Tang Jia exclaimed in her trademark sonorous voice, scaring Ji Tang and Yang Ying, who instinctively backed off slightly from her. Tang Jia then excitedly pulled Ji Tang''s arm and urged him forward. "Quick, interact with it and accept the quest!"


    Helplessly brushing her skeletal hand off, Ji Tang stepped forward and stood before the zombie NPC.


    Skeletons controlled by players ran rampant in the streets, and it wasn''t uncommon for zombie NPCs to talk and move. Ji Tang was young, and before joining the military, he was an ordinary guy born after 1990 and was rather open-minded. "Hello, Hugh. Who do I remind you of?"


    The zombie NPC went silent, and Ji Tang began to doubt whether he had mentioned the right keywords. But then, the NPC resumed speaking, "His name was¡­ Jean. We called him Brave Jean. He came from Camore and loved to sing. Back when we served together in the border guards, he would always talk about his hometown¡­"


    Before Ji Tang could finish listening to the zombie NPC''s slow-paced monologue, his quest panel popped up:


    [While passing through Third Street as per usual, Hugh Potter called out to you.]


    [Hidden quest [Brave Jean] has been triggered. Do you accept?]


    [This quest is a prerequisite for a dynamic plotline. Please consider carefully.]


    "It''s indeed a hidden quest. And it can even activate a dynamic plotline," Ji Tang gleefully informed his two companions and promptly accepted the quest.


    Just like when Give Me Medicine received the breakthrough quest, a "Side Quest" tab appeared on Ji Tang''s quest panel, and [Brave Jean] appeared on the tab.


    After the quest was accepted, the speed at which the zombie NPC, Hugh Potter, spoke increased slightly. "Jean was a brave and intelligent man who could always effortlessly solve troubles that others couldn''t cope with. However, he never showed much happiness when we called him ''Brave Jean'' and only smiled wistfully.


    "One day, when we were on leave, Jean finally revealed the reason as we were having some rum together¡­


    "Something once happened in his hometown of Camore which made him feel extremely resentful yet helpless. Their ancestral land was taken away, and the ones who took it became the magnanimous benefactors who provided work and food for the people.


    "When Jean was born, his family couldn''t even say for sure where their land used to be. His mother would sit in a dim room weaving cloth with numerous wounds on her hands and deteriorating eyesight. And his sister, at the age of six, had to learn how to weave in order to follow the same path.


    "Jean would often argue and fight with others over who could enter their previously owned land to cultivate cotton¡­"


    While this was merely a "plot" being recounted by an NPC, the contents made the three players furrow their brows.


    Hugh Potter''s monologue wasn''t over yet. After a long sigh, he continued, "A year before we came to Taranthan, Jean took a leave and returned to his hometown. Before leaving, he told me in private that he would persuade his family to leave Camore. Even joining a pioneering expedition would offer more hope than staying there.


    "After that, I never saw Jean again."

 Chapter 41: Tricycle expedition

    [Brave Jean]


    While passing through Third Street as per usual, Hugh Potter called out to you.


    You learned about a former member of the Duchy of Shiga''s border guards by the name of Jean. Hugh Potter greatly missed this comrade from Camore.


    Obtain more information about Camore: 0/1.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Shortly after Ji Tang received the quest, the others in their small team were called together, and they gathered at Butcher Manan''s place.


    When Jia Luo heard that one of their own had received a hidden quest, she got really excited. "Fantastic! It''s our turn to receive a major quest! Ji Tang, you''re a real lucky star!"


    "Oh¡­" Ji Tang and Yang Ying nodded at this new understanding.


    Zheng Qingyue (Unceasing Entropy), the undisputed strategist within the group, had meticulously inquired about the dialogue with the zombie NPC that triggered the quest. She said, "Both ''Gold'' and ''Hugh Potter'' who are mentioned in this quest are members of the border guards. Previously, when we did the worldview breakthrough quest, the zombie general himself said that some of them were members of his troop, while others were part of the Pioneer Corps.


    "From the perspective of NPCs, ''us'' that they refer to isn''t just the players but also zombie NPCs too. If we seek and converse with a zombie NPC that used to be a border guard, we should be able to obtain information."


    "That''s simple. We just have to interact with all the zombie NPCs. There aren''t that many of them altogether," Tang Jia rubbed her fist and declared confidently. "We can skip the one near the riverbank, Bierda. That NPC is a former member of the Pioneer Corps."


    It was currently 11 P.M. real-time and 9 P.M. in-game. The advanced NPCs had already "knocked off work," and many reputation-grinding players had logged out. However, there were still plenty of players online. The first batch of players who had leveled up and completed their job advancements were increasing, which stimulated players who had enough reputation but lacked Potential to work harder. Even some laid-back players had begun to put in extra effort.


    In their little five-person team, everyone apart from Unceasing Entropy had successfully completed their job advancements. As the saying went, the boldness of execution stemmed from superb skill. Thus, this small team hadn''t considered asking any others for help and started to get busy on their own¡­


    There were a total of 15 zombie NPCs, including the zombie general. Excluding Bierda, who had been confirmed as a member of the Pioneer Corps during the breakthrough quest, and other than Hugh Potter, who had issued this hidden quest, there were only 13 NPCs left to interact with. The four girls accompanied Ji Tang as they interacted with each zombie NPC one by one. By the seventh NPC, they received a response.


    This particular zombie NPC, named Raphael, who usually assigned players with a quest of manual labor, spoke slowly, "Brave Jean? That''s a truly nostalgic nickname. Comrades, why have you become interested in it?"


    "Um¡­ Actually, we wanted to ask about Jean''s hometown, Camore," Ji Tang made an effort to mention the keywords he believed would be useful.


    "Camore? I know that place. It''s known as the ''Cotton Country'' in the eastern region of the Duchy of Shiga," Zombie Raphael replied stiffly, with a hint of mockery in his tone. "As long as enough taxes and tribute are paid, neither the Grand Ducal Court nor those of the faith would care if the people there had their land taken or if the Goddess of Prosperity''s doctrines were desecrated."


    The five players were taken aback.


    While they knew a little about the various gods in the game''s background from how NPCs like the Treasure Expert Finley would often exclaim, "O Lady Gold Coin," much like how people on Earth shouted "My God," a mere zombie NPC caring so much about the Goddess of Prosperity''s doctrines and getting upset about the desecration of said doctrines was a little absurd¡­


    Zombie Raphael continued fervently, "The divine duty of the Goddess of Prosperity is wealth and contracts, and her doctrine grants believers the power to accumulate wealth and engage in fair trade! Those scoundrels in Camore have taken away the people''s opportunities to accumulate wealth and are nothing more than heretics and blasphemers. They ought to be sent to the guillotine!"


    The five players. "¡­"


    "Well¡­ Does this mean that the dispute in the Duchy of Shiga, related to our undead background story, involves the orthodox and new interpretive factions?" Jia Luo said with a wry smile. "It''s just a game. We don''t have to get involved in any religious conflicts. I despise movies with strong religious themes. No matter how exciting the plot is, if it gets tangled up in religious undertones, it inevitably goes down the path of absurdity."


    "You''re overthinking it. It''s obviously a story about local tyrants hiding the truth and taking advantage of the common folk!" Tang Jia objected. "It''s common for them to deliberately misinterpret scriptures when it suits their interests. For centuries, whenever a child does something wrong, it is always the child''s mother that is blamed even if the Three-Character Classic says, ''It is the father''s fault if a child is not taught.'' Even our own history is filled with such hypocrites."


    Yang Ying remarked with astonishment, "Hey¡­ I never realized that despite your usual boisterous behaviors, you two actually had such a depth of cultural understanding."


    Jia Luo and Tang Jia were speechless, while Zheng Qingyue turned away to suppress her laughter.


    While the players were engaging in idle chatter, zombie Raphael had already expressed his dissatisfaction with the upper class of Camore and instructed the players to seek out zombie general Lancelot as the next step.


    The team went to zombie general Lancelot who was at the corner of a street a short distance away from the spawn point. The zombie general didn''t beat around the bush and immediately revealed the subsequent plot. First, he reminisced about Jean, then expressed regret over not having lived and died alongside his old comrade.


    Finally, he asked the five players, "Fellow compatriots, would you be willing to fulfill our late comrade''s unfulfilled wish?"


    Ji Tang selected "yes" on the quest interface that popped up, but strangely, the quest text didn''t change. Just as he started to wonder, the zombie general suddenly started moving and said, "In that case, let''s go make a request to the Lord. Follow me, comrades."


    Without hesitation, Ji Tang and Yang Ying, who had less gaming experience, followed after zombie general Lancelot at once.


    Zheng Qingyue, Tang Jia, and Jia Luo, who were all experienced players, exclaimed in unison, "Damn it!"


    "What''s wrong?" Ji Tang and Yang Ying were slightly puzzled, but they turned back to urge the others, "Come on, we''ve got to continue the quest at the Lord''s place."


    Jia Luo stomped her feet and ranted, "You two newbies still don''t get it! When this zombie general moves, even idiots would be able to see that a plotline quest is underway. Our small team won''t be able to reap the benefits on our own!"


    "Oh¡­" Ji Tang and Yang Ying dawned on this new understanding.


    Sure enough, five of them had only followed the slow-moving zombie general for less than 50 meters when players at a nearby construction site noticed them.


    After traversing a little over 200 meters, around 30 to 40 uninvited players had joined them.


    Before the languid zombie general reached the entrance of the Town Hall, even the bunch farming in the Spider Cave had rushed back. Chattering players now surrounded the Town Hall.


    Ji Tang was speechless, Yang Ying looked bewildered, Zheng Qingyue remained expressionless, while Jia Luo face-palmed.


    "Qingyue¡­" Tang Jia muttered weakly, "With things this way, how should we handle the situation?"


    "¡­Let''s form a larger group. Tang Jia, pass me the leader position. Let''s activate group mode first." Zheng Qingyue was somewhat annoyed. It wasn''t because they wouldn''t be able to monopolize the quest rewards, but because she still had some lingering fears from the chaos during the previous worldview breakthrough quest.


    Give Me Medicine had been criticized on the forums for keeping that dagger for himself, and Zheng Qingyue didn''t want to find herself in that same sort of situation.


    After becoming the team leader, Zheng Qingyue activated the group mode. In this game, a team could have up to 11 members, but different teams could join a larger group, allowing them to see each other''s IDs and health bars.


    Once group mode was established, Zheng Qingyue stepped forward and shouted to the crowd of players, "Everyone, please quiet down and listen to me for a moment. Our team has triggered a hidden dynamic plotline quest, the same sort as the previous [Rebellion Suppression] dynamic quest. If any teams are interested in joining to complete it together, please have the team leader come to me and join the group."


    Brother Lahong and Qin Guan were mingling among the other players. These two who already had the mentality of being big shots in the game had been subtle¡­


    They hadn''t come forward at the start because they noticed Unceasing Entropy was among those following behind the zombie general.


    This girl had a sharp mind and was rather opinionated. She wasn''t the type of person who could be easily swayed by a few words and come running over to join forces. Moreover, her few companions were all skilled players. Not to mention, Tang Jia, Yang Ying, and Jia Luo, even the newly recruited Ji Tang, had made a remarkable impression during the "night of rampaging."


    Therefore, these two big shots had chosen to blend in among the players first and observe the situation. They wanted to see if Unceasing Entropy would prioritize cooperating with them; given the current state of the game, it was impossible not to at least choose their factions for any large-scale quests.


    Yet, never did they imagine Unceasing Entropy would simply disregard their presence and completely overlook the need to show any special attention to these two big shots that lead so many players.


    As soon as Unceasing Entropy had spoken, some parties who were originally doing quests or farming monsters had their leaders approach her and integrated their own teams into the group. Those who didn''t belong to any parties quickly teamed up with people they knew and joined the group as well.


    Brother Lahong and Qin Guan were still contemplating whether to hold back when they saw party leaders from their own factions running over eagerly to join the group¡­


    "Fine, all team leaders should join the group," Brother Lahong said, observing the situation and deciding not to nitpick. He voluntarily disbanded his monster-farming party and headed over to Unceasing Entropy¡ªhe, too, was a team leader.


    Seeing Brother Lahong make his move, Qin Guan silently did the same.


    Soon, the group led by Unceasing Entropy had more than a dozen teams join, some fully filled, while others not yet fully formed. Unceasing Entropy glanced at the interface displaying the members of each team and then called out to the team leaders, "For teams that are not yet full, combine with other teams to fill up."


    Some team leaders readily recruited strangers, while others shouted to Unceasing Entropy, "Group leader, my teammates logged out to call others. I''m reserving the few slots here!"


    Unceasing Entropy didn''t mind and responded, "Alright, just make sure to have a full team by the time the dynamic quest line starts."


    She then shouted to the solo players who were anxiously seeking teams, "Those without teams, form groups among yourselves and have the team leaders join the group!"


    The two big shots, Brother Lahong and Vanilla Pudding, were pretending to be lowkey since they arrived on the scene, and Zheng Qingyue knew exactly why they acted this way.


    Her five-person team had the intention of clearing this quest on their own and reaping all the rewards for themselves at the start. Thus, it was only natural for Brother Lahong and Vanilla Pudding, who had been leading large groups in monster hunting, to have such thoughts as well.


    Zheng Qingyue was genuinely unwilling to let either of them take control either¡­ Just like how Give Me Medicine hadn''t hesitated to take the dagger previously, how could she not prioritize her own, given that she held the position of leader for this quest?


    While the players here were excitedly chattering and forming teams, the zombie general was completely unperturbed and slowly made his way into the Town Hall and engaged in a leisurely scripted conversation with "Lord Yang."


    Illusion Lord Yang listened attentively to the zombie general''s request and solemnly addressed him in front of the players who had crowded into the room to watch. "Lancelot, I can understand your desire to fulfill the wish of your former comrade. However, we cannot guarantee whether the people of Camore will accept the friendship of the Undead race from Exile Town."


    "Are zombies considered the same race as us skeletons?" a player muttered under his breath. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I guess so, since the zombies refer to us as compatriots," another player said.


    "Why don''t we get to choose zombies then? Zombies are much stronger than skeletons," grumbled a player.


    "Please no! I absolutely don''t want to see a zombie among my teammates!"


    The zombie general continued with the scripted dialogue, "Revered Yang, I understand that our appearance may result in our former compatriots misunderstanding us, but that cannot be an excuse for us to ignore the ongoing suffering of our former compatriots. My comrades and I are willing to take the risk of leaving the safety of Exile Town to meet the people of Camore. We should give our former compatriots a chance to choose."


    "Ah, a holy light!" a player exclaimed dramatically. "This zombie is radiating with a holy light!"


    Illusion Lord Yang fell silent for a moment, then sighed. "I understand, Lancelot. I respect your views. Let our undead prepare enough supplies and set out. If¡­ your former compatriots are willing to accept your goodwill, then bring them back. Taranthan is a land of warmth; it will not refuse any new guests who come with kindness. If your goodwill cannot be accepted, then bestow them with a gift, at least making their lives a little better for a short period of time."


    As Illusion Lord Yang finished speaking, Ji Tang''s quest panel indicated the quest was completed. The zombie general turned to Unceasing Entropy''s team and handed over a piece of equipment.


    Unceasing Entropy accepted it without letting any others get a chance to see¡ªshe had made it clear when forming the group that her team was responsible for the subsequent dynamic plotline quest, and there was no reason to share the rewards for the preliminary quest.


    At the same time, all the online players received a system prompt:


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Dynamic plotline [Taranthan''s Embrace] has been triggered.


    Zombie general Lancelot Edgar hopes to fulfill the final wish of his deceased friend Jean and take care of the people of Camore.


    Participation method 1: Heed General Edgar''s call and join the expedition team. Under the leadership of General Edgar and the quest initiator Ji Tang, carry the supplies provided by Lord Yang, head to the desolate desert west of Taranthan, and establish a base to receive the people of Camore.


    Participation method 2: Repel the pursuers and escort the people of Camore back to Exile Town.


    Escort Mission: All participating escorts will receive 50 points of territory prestige for each person from Camore successfully escorted. For every Camore person that dies, all participating escorts will lose 50 points of territory prestige.


    Repel the Pursuers: For each pursuer slain, the killer will receive 20 points of territory prestige. For each pursuer captured, the captor will receive 200 points of territory prestige.


    Undead, who lost their lives, understand the value of life more than those living and wish departed spirits a smooth journey.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    After reading the introduction to the dynamic plotline, Brother Lahong and Qin Guan both turned their sights to Ji Tang, who was on Unceasing Entropy''s team.


    They would have to listen to this fella during the quest¡ªnaturally, General Edgar was filtered out because zombie NPCs didn''t vie with players for attention. Clearly, they would follow Unceasing Entropy''s lead during this activity, but they still had to listen to this guy during the operation!


    Brother Lahong pinched himself. How had he missed out on such a promising newcomer?! What a waste!


    Qin Guan pinched himself as well. When would Unceasing Entropy''s team be willing to play with them? Clearly, Qin Guan''s side had a great atmosphere and plenty of benefits. What was the point of playing with random players!


    Qin Guan poked Give Me Medicine on his shoulder and leaned in to whisper, "Medicine, head offline and give Blossom a call and tell her to come online."


    Give Me Medicine hesitated. "But she said she wants to focus on writing and asked us not to disturb her¡­"


    "It''s okay, just ask her to come online briefly, then log out away from the respawn point. We''ll carry her character and join the main troop together," said Qin Guan. "Logging out away from the respawn point only results in losing stuff in the personal log, which isn''t a big problem. Then, she can join us for the quest once she''s back online."


    "Alright." Give Me Medicine nodded.


    The official website had warned against forcibly logging out, but players inevitably encountered situations where they had to log out suddenly due to helmet removal or urgent matters. It wasn''t uncommon for players to log out without sinking into the ground, leaving behind a scattered pile of bones.


    Players had complained about clothes, waist packs, and equipment being able to be picked up by others after temporary logout countless times. However, there was no official response addressing the issue. This forced many lone wolves to find teammates to stick together. If they had to log out temporarily for some reason, at least teammates could help keep their belongings safe so they wouldn''t come back online only to find themselves picked squeaky clean.


    The realization that this quest actually required leaving Exile Town for an "expedition" didn''t only occur to Qin Guan. Many others quickly went offline to call for reinforcements¡­


    The NPCs paid no heed to the players'' antics, and when the plotline scene ran its course, General Edgar led the players to collect the supplies.


    And then, as the players followed along the plot, they were taken to the foot of the mountains on the western side of town, where they saw two long rows of neatly arranged shipping containers.


    All players present. "¡­"


    The jaws of all members of Unceasing Entropy''s small team, who were by the zombie general''s side, dropped to hit their collarbones.


    Tang Jia raised a trembling hand. "Hey, hey, is it just me, or is my eyesight failing? These things¡­ Why do they look so much like shipping containers?"


    Jia Luo, while propping her jaw back up, responded in bewilderment, "You aren''t seeing things. Those are indeed shipping containers, and they come in both red and blue."


    "How absolutely ridiculous!" Tang Jia held her head with both hands. "How can there be shipping containers as props in a game full of undead? Isn''t it out of place? It completely breaks the immersion!"


    Ji Tang, who knew everything, had his lips tightly sealed together.


    He was actually astounded as well. The "target" didn''t even bother to disguise anything and simply brought the supplies exactly how they had been sent.


    The "target" has completely given up trying, huh? He can''t be bothered to continue concealing his black technology!


    In truth, Yang Qiu realized that it was just absurd to have just one person handle so many supplies after obtaining them. Thus, he simply didn''t let it bother him¡­


    The zombie general, with extremely low intelligence and only capable of acting according to pre-set processes, paid no attention to the hanging jaws of players. He stepped forward, opened the container doors, and instructed the players to unload the contents.


    The first container was filled with¡­ a batch of cargo tricycles.


    That''s right. It was those pedal tricycles used by elderly workers to navigate through streets and alleys to collect garbage. These were produced by a renowned domestic bicycle manufacturer and were sturdy, durable, and had a large cargo capacity¡­


    With frustrated expressions, the players pulled out the neatly stacked cargo tricycles from the container. The zombie general opened the second and third containers.


    The contents of these two containers were supplies, all packed according to Yang Qiu''s requests, with thick canvas wrapping them and secured by ropes. Once delivered to the destination, the thick canvas could be used to set up tents¡­


    The players found this quest segment of the game incredibly frustrating, and they couldn''t help venting as they helped move the packed supplies onto the tricycles.


    "I can''t for the life of me figure out whether the damn designers are aiming for realism and immersion or just trying to mess with us. Can''t they make things easier for the players? Couldn''t they have made this transport activity interactive with just the press of a button?"


    "You are too naive, Brother. Don''t forget, we players built the houses for NPCs to live in, brick by brick."


    "I think the damn designers have a misconception about the sort of gaming experience us players want. Yeah, we like farming and whatnot, but not to the extent that we want to build our own houses!"


    "If it weren''t for the fact that accounts in this game are as precious as gold, I would seriously consider quitting!"


    The players finally finished loading the supplies with great effort, and when they were asked to take turns pedaling the tricycles to transport the goods, the players didn''t even have the strength to complain at all.


    Of course, this highly flexible and frustrating method had its advantages. Players who had other commitments and couldn''t stay online through the night could wrap their "remains" in clothing and pile them onto the tricycles and be pulled along together.


    "Wait a minute. There''s a giant rat blocking our road out of town, and it''s all ruins there. How are we supposed to get our tricycle expedition team out?" murmured a player as the group set off in a grand procession.


    And when the tricycle expedition team arrived at the ruins south of town, they saw Lord Yang waiting there.


    "Is the Lord coming along with us? Should we test whether we can stab him on the way? This NPC surely drops some amazing equipment!"


    There were some players that were always eager to court death, and one exclaimed excitedly while rubbing his palms in glee.


    Illusion Lord Yang, without any expression, stared at the player who had spoken out of turn.


    The other players were quick-witted and quickly distanced themselves from this troublemaker.


    Fortunately, as the expedition was about to begin, Lord Yang didn''t bother with this foul-mouthed individual. Instead, he turned to General Edgar and said solemnly, "Lancelot, let me pave the way out of town for you all."


    Then, this NPC lord, who rarely interacted with players, raised both hands and began chanting an unknown incantation.


    The ruined grounds that led to the outside of town started shaking. As the NPC lord chanted, the earth rose, pushing aside the debris that covered the ground, forming a dirt road wide enough for two tricycles to run side by side.


    "Whoa, damn!"


    Once again, the players'' jaws dropped to the floor when they witnessed such large-scale magic in the game for the first time.


    The player who had contemplated stabbing Lord Yang earlier tightly covered their mouth with both hands so as to not say anything stupid again.

 Chapter 42: The combat might of players

    More than a thousand years ago, Taranthan was a renowned battleground in the continent of Navalon where the armies of the eastern and western nations clashed. Lots of blood was shed, and many lives were sacrificed in the dense force and marshes, leaving behind countless remains.


    After many years, the wars had long passed, and Taranthan transformed from a fiercely contested territory into a lawless wasteland. However, the old transportation routes that were once established by the nations for deploying troops and transporting supplies still bore faint traces.


    The dirt roads that once witnessed the passage of great armies were now completely covered by overgrown grass and, in some places, had become part of the surrounding jungle. Nevertheless, they were still passable, at least for the cargo tricycles. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    On this windless night, the land beneath the dark sky was shrouded in a thin veil of mist. The air was filled with the delicate chirping of insects and the distant roar of beasts. Predatory birds lurked in the shadows of hazy trees, while snakes and bugs rustled through the dense vegetation.


    Accompanied by a pleasant jingling, the sight of a zombie clad in tattered armor, with a sword at its waist, pedaling a cargo tricycle laden with supplies, emerged amid the tall grass of the wilderness.


    Not far behind the zombie, hundreds of skeletons either jogged alongside or rode on similar tricycles, also loaded with cargo, forming a long procession.


    At the beginning of their journey, the players, who were amazed by the exquisitely crafted world outside the town, reminiscent of a romantic adventure in a wild landscape, fell into a profound silence.


    "I have a¡­ ominous feeling," murmured Tang Jia, mechanically pedaling at the front of the procession along with the rest of Unceasing Entropy''s small team. "With the sh*tty nature of this game, I suspect that this ''expedition team'' might truly be embarking on a real expedition."


    "You don''t say," said Jia Luo in frustration as she jogged alongside Tang Jia. "We''ve been out for almost an hour, and the scenery hasn''t changed much. I can''t believe they would design a dynamic plotline quest that feels like endless traveling. What the hell goes through the mind of these damned game developers?!"


    In front of Tang Jia, Ji Tang silently pedaled his tricycle without uttering a single word.


    He reckoned that this "quest" of continuous traveling might not just take half a day but potentially several¡­ well, several in-game days.


    Ultimately, Ji Tang was also a youngster and could understand the mentality of his fellows. At this moment, he understood why players always cursed the design and development team. Had he been in their shoes, he would want to curse too.


    If it were a disaster relief and emergency operation, young volunteers would willingly endure hardships and rough it out for ten days or longer because they knew they were saving lives. However, in the game, players were lured under the pretext of quests to rescue people. It would be truly bizarre that players would willingly suffer this ordeal when it was all just mere data in their opinion.


    When they set off, there had been 18 teams with over 150 players online (not counting the remains of offline companions). But within an hour of travel, between 20 to 30 players used various excuses to log off and left their "remains" in the cart of their own team''s tricycles.


    Ji Tang was worried that these players, upon seeing that the journey was still ongoing when the day broke, would simply choose to abandon the expedition and return to the city¡­ Players were certainly capable of such behavior.


    Each team was responsible for two cargo tricycles, in addition to the one ridden by the zombie general, making a total of 37. If half the players ran away, safely escorting the 37 cargo tricycles to the location to "set up the base" would become a serious problem¡­


    Ji Tang was already troubled by the "people of Camore" awaiting rescue. As he pedaled a tricycle, a pile of bones wrapped in clothes on his carts suddenly moved on its own and rearranged to form a human skeleton.


    Behind him, Tang Jia and Jia Luo, who was jogging by the side, weren''t the least bit scared at witnessing such a horrifying sight. On the contrary, they exclaimed in unison, "You''re on already, Sis Ying?"


    "Yes, I''m here." The skeleton, now fully formed, supported itself with one hand and jumped off the cart. While putting on clothes, Yang Ying said, "I ran out of food at home, so I went downstairs for a midnight snack. Luckily the soup dumpling shop at the entrance of the estate opened 24 hours, or I would have gone hungry."


    "Keep some individually packaged cakes at home. They are filling enough and have sufficient calorie content," said Jia Luo. "I relied on those and cola when I was grinding Ranger reputation."


    "I don''t really like sweet stuff," said Yang Ying, putting on leather armor over her beginner clothes and fastening the straps. "Ji Tang, Tang Jia, are you guys tired of pedaling? Wanna switch?"


    "No need. We won''t get tired anyway, and riding a bike isn''t too boring," was Tang Jia''s response.


    Ji Tang also said there was no need.


    Now fully geared up with a steel blade at her waist, Yang Ying jogged alongside Jia Luo and engaged in soft, idle chatter.


    Their small team only consisted of five people, including their leader. When organizing as a group for the quest, they had added four random players. As these players weren''t familiar with them and felt awkward getting close to the girls, they hung behind Tang Jia''s tricycle.


    Such a monotonous journey offered no opportunity to check their phones or do anything interesting. The four random players found it unbearable and were about to suggest giving an excuse to store their "remains" and log off.


    But before they could say anything, the zombie general leading the way suddenly halted. Not only did General Edgar stop his tricycle, he even leaped off it and shouted with vigor at the large formation of players while raising his zombie fist. "Prepare to fight the enemy!"


    The bored players immediately perked up, and cries of "monsters?" and "time to farm monsters?" rang out as they stopped their carts and drew their steel blades.


    Not long after, the forested area nearby rustled and crackled with a cacophony of sound. A grotesque giant toad, the size of a small truck, covered in bumps and oozing strange liquids, emerged, breaking countless branches as it surfaced.


    "The f*ck?!"


    "Holy!!"


    "What is that thing?!"


    Players were shocked and horrified by the creature''s appearance, some covering their eyes in disgust.


    Of course, there were also players who weren''t shaken by the ugliness and, in a display of their quick-thinking gaming skill, cast "Identify" on the gigantic toad:


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    [Demonized Toad]


    [Lv3]


    [A low-level monster that roams through dense forests and swamps. Adept at sonic attacks, it secretes highly toxic bodily fluids.]


    [Possible drops: Toxic Crystal (Rare), Magic Essence Residue (Rare), Pure Magic Crystal (Rare)]


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    As soon as the players saw three items on the drop list in purple font, their initial shock turned into excitement. "Whoa! Three rare materials! It''s an elite monster!"


    At present, players could barely survive encounters with the spider monsters, and collecting ten common Spider Venom Sacs could be exchanged with Lord Yang for 200 points of reputation or sold for at a market rate of about one to two copper coins.


    Uncommon-grade materials like Spider Venom Globules and Magic Residue could be exchanged for 20 points of territory prestige, and their market price was ten times as much. These were even considered priceless commodities since territory prestige was closely tied to the opportunity of becoming town mayor, and there were always people waiting near the entrance of the Spider Cave to purchase these drops.


    Rare-grade materials, on the other hand, had never been seen before by players.


    But regardless of if they were never before seen, players were certainly interested to grab good drops. Without any need for the zombie general''s mobilization, the players charged forward like rabid dogs.


    CROAK!


    The giant toad lurking in the dense forest probably hadn''t expected these tiny creatures to voluntarily rush toward their own demise. It opened its mouth and let out a croak.


    Sonic attacks couldn''t be considered mental attacks; they leaned more toward physical attacks since they targeted the eardrums and disrupted the sensory balance of living beings.


    However, the skeleton frames, which were controlled by the players'' souls projected on them, couldn''t be considered living beings¡­


    Therefore, the toad didn''t accomplish anything when it let out the croak. Instead, as it finished, the players at the forefront stabbed at it with their steel blades.


    "F*ck! It won''t cut through!"


    "We can''t break its defense!"


    "Use your skills, idiots!"


    "Those who haven''t advanced jobs yet, step aside!"


    Brother Lahong and Qin Guan, the two big shots with experience leading teams to fight monsters, stepped forward to halt the chaotic crowd of players and directed their elite forces to take the frontline.


    Several players who had become knights were enveloped in a red aura (the visual effect of the Basic Battle Roar). They took the lead, followed closely by those who had become walkers. Armed with the small daggers given by their job instructor upon successfully advancing jobs, or their familiar steel blades, they relentlessly slashed at the mutated toad''s bulky and massive body.


    Despite also being a level-3 monster, the mutated toad, due to its different "enhancement" path, didn''t have the same tough hide and thick flesh as the giant rat in the town. Its ugly skin was quickly pierced, and its toxic fluids splattered everywhere.


    Upon contact, this toxin, which was deadly to any ordinary creature, didn''t scare the players who weren''t considered biological beings. However, they disliked being covered in this sticky substance and quickly backed away.


    "Don''t back down! It''s trying to escape!" Brother Lahong, seeing the mutated toad attempting to retreat into the forest, grew anxious and swiftly brandished his steel knife, leading the charge.


    The demonized toad became enraged and charged at the players with its bulky and massive body.


    This rather slow charge¡­ couldn''t compare to the giant rat in town that was like a speeding bullet. However, due to the dense host of players and the undead''s vulnerability to collisions, bone arms and legs were scattered all over the ground.


    Ji Tang picked up a player whose legs had been knocked off, helping the latter fasten the straps of his armor, and tossed him aside before bellowing in a deep voice, "Spread out and maintain a distance!


    "Pay attention to rescuing teammates, don''t let anyone die!


    "This monster can only charge forward and sideways! Keep moving and attack from behind! Don''t be greedy for high damage output! Retreat when it turns to face you!


    "Knights, block the direction toward the forest!"


    In the midst of chaos, players instinctively followed the voice that provided clear guidance. The once tightly packed and cumbersome group scattered. The undead, who already possessed agility as an advantage, turned into a swarm of piranhas, relentlessly chipping away at the elite monster''s health.


    Brother Lahong, who had lost command in the blink of an eye, and Qin Guan, who had yet to make a significant contribution, stared with mixed feelings at the composed Ji Tang, who seamlessly coordinated the players'' attacks and personally confronted the mutated toad head-on, effectively drawing its attention.


    "The monster''s movements are slowing down! Warriors, charge!" Ji Tang issued another command.


    "Coming!" Yang Ying and Tang Jia immediately activated their Basic Battle Roar and charged straight on at the mutated toad.


    Wanderers, upon reaching their first advancement, could only learn two melee weapon skills (including daggers, knives, and swords) and two bow skills. Since players temporarily didn''t have access to ranged weapons, and melee weapon skills had short cooldowns and consumed less mental energy, even players like Jia Luo, who was dedicated to becoming a ranger, temporarily adopted a melee combat style.


    The four skills of knights leaned more toward defense, although they still weren''t good at enduring charges. However, when dealing with lighter-weight creatures like spiders, their Shield Strike and Shock abilities could briefly immobilize the spiders, reducing damage toward themselves.


    Warriors were different. All four of their skills were offensive and berserk.


    Yang Ying and Tang Jia simultaneously charged with a left-right approach. With a weight of at least three to four tons and a low center of gravity, the giant toad was still visibly shaken by the impact.


    The two girls, who already cooperated very well in monster hunting, simultaneously unleashed Sword Storm.


    This "windmill" technique invented in traditional online games back on Earth, where one spun in place while wielding a weapon, inflicting significant damage to surrounding enemies, didn''t exist in this world. After all, normal fighters wouldn''t be foolish enough to transform into a spinning top during battles where the enemy would just run away. And how stupid was it to leave one''s back open in reality?


    But Yang Qiu still imitated the traditional warrior skill from Earth''s online games and created Sword Storm. The reason being, firstly, this skill was simple, direct, and could quickly deal a substantial amount of damage. Secondly, players usually engaged in group fights while farming monsters and knights would be at the forefront, so briefly exposing vulnerabilities wasn''t a big deal.


    With an apt understanding of the weaknesses of the warrior profession, Ji Tang allowed his two teammates to join the fight against the weakened demonized toad, making the creature "bleed." As the two warrior sisters spun in a whirlwind of swords on each side, toxic body fluids and bits of skin were sent flying. Players using "Identify" observed the "health bar" of the demonized toad decreasing rapidly.


    "Damn, that''s so cool!" Many players that had yet to advance jobs were worked up at the sight. "I''m not going to play as a wanderer anymore, I want to be a warrior too!"


    The Sword Storm skill of the two warrior sisters ended, and in perfect synchronization, they activated Blade Dance, a skill that existed in this world. It involved swiftly swinging one''s weapons and continuously attacking within a 30-degree angle in front of them. Top-tier warriors could even use dual-wielding techniques to create an impenetrable wall of blades with this skill.


    Yang Ying and Tang Jia had only reached their first advancements and had only been focusing on practicing with a single weapon during their monster farming efforts. They were still far away from even touching dual-wielding.


    However, even with a single weapon, their graceful sword movements were enough to make non-advanced players envious and catch the attention of those who had done the advancement to wanderers and knights.


    "Unfortunately, warriors have weak survival abilities. They can''t endure attacks like knights, nor can they escape like wanderers. Otherwise, I would have also played as a warrior," Brother Lahong lamented as he watched on with envy.


    When Brother Lahong spotted Vanilla Pudding (Qin Guan) next to him with his mouth agape, he couldn''t help but blurt out, "Vanilla, aren''t you also a warrior? Why don''t you join in and practice?"


    "Uh¡­"


    If not because he knew Brother Lahong had a solid character despite being a competitor, Qin Guan would have suspected the former was looking for an opportunity to mock him.


    Although Qin Guan was also a warrior and had completed his first job advancement, he usually focused on commanding and rarely engaged in combat personally. He wasn''t all that skilled in his abilities, so wouldn''t he make a fool of himself if he joined the fight?


    After Yang Ying and Tang Jia used their skills, Ji Tang recalled them and personally took to the field again to adjust the monster''s position, creating a favorable situation for wanderers to unleash their damage.


    Once Yang Ying''s and Tang Jia''s Rage Meter (the mental energy required to use rune skills) naturally returned to full, Ji Tang let the two warriors out again.


    Skilled players indeed had greater combat ability than most ordinary people.


    However, having skills didn''t necessarily mean one knew how to use them. It was like modern weapons on Earth, which were completely different in the hands of soldiers trained in industrialized countries compared to militiamen from tribal or makeshift national armies. It wasn''t unheard of for thousands of several thousand militiamen of less developed countries scattered in panic after clashing with a few hundred well-trained mercenaries.


    Yang Qiu needed the players to develop a certain level of combat ability, but he couldn''t force players to train collectively. Therefore, he provided monster hunting grounds, allowing players to gradually develop synergy and teamwork, while he manipulated dynamic plot quests behind the scenes.


    Elevating Ji Tang, a disciplined soldier, to the position of commander made perfect sense.


    The players didn''t know that Ji Tang, who had undergone systematic training and had practical experience in executing military missions in the real world, would definitely find a way to organize their combat power and do everything possible to preserve lives, given the premise that they were rescuing real people.


    Take, for example, the situation with this demonized toad. If it weren''t for Ji Tang''s excellent arrangements and efforts to create a safe environment for players to deal damage, having a number of casualties on their side would be normal, given the player''s chaotic style of fighting¡­


    After about 20 minutes of intense battle, the severely injured toad let out a mournful cry and collapsed to the ground. There was no need for players to "loot the corpse" as its battered belly peeled off, revealing a large pile of dangerous glossy green crystals.


    "HAHAHA! What great loot!"


    At this time, nobody minded getting the sticky toxic fluids of the giant told on themselves as they eagerly rushed forward to collect the drops.


    Unceasing Entropy had logged off to sleep, and Ji Tang, despite not liking troublesome matters, had to take the lead in gathering the dropped materials and conducting an auction within the team while on the move and distributing the proceeds to the players who had participated in the battle.


    While Ji Tang was busy calculating, about 200 kilometers away from the main player force, in the wilderness near the eastern body of the Duchy of Shiga, Yang Qiu, atop his undead horse, faced off with a spear-wielding knight clad in full body armor.


    The temperatures in Taranthan were quite low at night, and more than three hundred Camore weavers, who were rushing through the night with Yang Qiu, were freezing. Their lips were pale, and they huddled together a short distance behind Yang Qiu.


    Not a single of these people were in their prime. Even slightly younger boys and girls were absent. The people with Yang Qiu were all elderly, weak, sick, or disabled individuals who were no longer capable of weaving or cultivating cotton.


    Initially, the heads of the Eugene and Bennett families that managed the local weaver unions had intended to send troublemakers that normally defied their authority to go with Yang Qiu. But upon realizing the significant number of useless, elderly, weak, sick, and disabled individuals within the weaver community, they changed their minds.


    Even unruly troublemakers would have to work if they wanted to survive, and they had to be paid for their work. In any case, Black Mage Yang hadn''t explicitly stated that the two families had to provide healthy, able-bodied individuals, nor did he exclude the elderly, weak, or sick. So, why should they have any issues with doing what benefited them the most?


    And so, these rejects who were despised even by their own families were handed over to Yang Qiu.


    True to his word, Yang Qiu did not discriminate, and he forked out some money to purchase a few dilapidated carts to accommodate those who had lost their ability to care for themselves.


    When Yang Qiu left Camore with this group of people, everyone, whether it was the lower-class weavers or the dignified upper-class onlookers in the main streets, all believed that this black mage couldn''t be up to anything good by taking away these weak and disabled.


    While Black Mage Yang was active in town, those people were walking on eggshells. Regardless of whether it was Viscount Lynn, whom Yang Qiu had visited, or the mayor, everyone treated him with respect and courtesy.


    Only after Yang Qiu had traveled a sufficient distance away from Camore did those respectable citizens release the contingencies they had prepared¡­


    "Black Mage Yang."


    The silent standoff lasted for a while until the knight in full armor spoke again with his aged yet imposing voice, "Indeed, it is you."


    "Good evening, my friend," Yang Qiu replied calmly. "It seems that we are acquainted. Shouldn''t friends be more open with each other when they meet?"


    The knight fell silent and raised his visor, revealing a face marked with deep wrinkles. He exuded a dignified and righteous aura.


    "Pardon my tact, but I seem to have no recollection of you," Yang Qiu said.


    "Of course, you wouldn''t recognize me." The knight, despite his aged appearance, had a physique even stronger than young men, said in a deep voice, "When you intruded Sir Knight''s manor and cruelly tortured him in front of everyone, I was just a squire, making my first entrance into social gatherings under my father''s guidance. I¡ª"


    Yang Qiu interrupted the knight. "So you''re a local from Camore, right? Typically, young individuals from respectable families are introduced to social occasions by their parents upon turning 18. It serves two purposes: inheriting the connections of their elders and seeking potential marriage partners. In other words, at that time, you should have been an adult capable of distinguishing between good and evil."


    This seemed to ignite the knight''s anger as he declared angrily, "Do you think my description of your ''cruel'' actions is inadequate?"


    "Yes," Yang Qiu asserted confidently.


    The knight almost laughed out of frustration. "As expected of the Nightmare Butcher! Such wanton and heinous acts! And yet, there was never a trace of remorse for your evil deeds! The Radiant Sun Church should punish themselves for letting a demon like you roam freely!"


    The helmet of the knight bore the Goddess of Prosperity''s emblem, indicating that he belonged to the Goddess of Prosperity''s faith. It was normal for them to disdain the Radiant Sun Church.


    When Yang Qiu had gone to "visit" Viscount Lynn, he had said that the esteemed viscount could inform the Radiant Sun Church about his whereabouts should he wish. At that time, the viscount didn''t turn hostile on the spot because they were seated in his garden reception room.


    In short, Yang Qiu''s provocative behavior was actually an attempt to enrage the followers of the Goddess of Prosperity, enticing them to take matters into their own hands and "eliminate the evil Black Mage Yang." After all, there were still many things yet to be accomplished in Exile Town, and Yang Qiu had to focus on its development. So, temporarily avoiding a direct confrontation with the fanatical members of the Radiant Sun Church was the best.


    In response to the furious accusations from the knight of the Goddess of Prosperity''s faith, Yang Qiu not only remained unbothered but even chuckled. "If my calculations are correct, you must be around 130 years old. Yet, you still can''t distinguish right from wrong. These years have truly been wasted on you.


    "You consider my actions towards Sir Hans as cruel and evil. But have you ever considered that if I hadn''t broken the limbs of that scoundrel, leaving him bedridden for the rest of his life, how many innocent young boys would be harmed over the years given that he had the same proclivities as the bishops of the Radiant Sun Church?"

 Chapter 43: Exchange in the Wastelands

    "Do not make excuses for your sins, Black Mage!"


    The knight of the Goddess of Prosperity was livid. He raised his spear at Yang Qiu and declared, "Just because he had been overly intimate with a few young servants in his youth, who gave you the audacity to pass judgment on Sir Hans''s entire life?! Who do you think you are?


    "Sir Hans wasn''t just a nobleman, but also a loving husband and father. It was your hasty judgment that ruined his life and plunged his entire family into sorrow. You are the sinner!"


    Yang Qiu sneered, "You are just over a hundred years old, yet you are more confused and have a worse memory than mine. Sir Hans''s intimacy with a few young servants? He paid compensation of fifty silver coins and three gold coins to six different families. Those who received three gold coins never saw their children again. How can ordinary intimacy cause lively young boys of around ten years old to perish? What kind of terrifying demon was Sir Hans?"


    The knight seemed to freeze.


    "In my eyes, Sir Hans, who harmed innocent young boys, is the cruel one and the sinner. Making such a person pay the rightful price for his crimes, shattering his limbs, and ensuring that he can never recover or commit further evil should bring great joy to everyone. It should be a reason for widespread celebration¡­"


    "Nonsense!" the knight roared.


    There was no way Yang Qiu would be intimidated by a "youngster." He stared at the knight and sternly rebuked, "As a local and an apprentice knight of the church at that time, you should have empathized more with those families who lost their children and felt more compassion for their cries. But what did you do? You defended that terrifying man, Sir Hans, and you bestowed your sympathy on that demon of a man?


    "Deaf and blind, devoid of empathy! As a knight of the Goddess of Prosperity''s faith, you do not protect the followers of the goddess; you instead treat them as worthless weeds!


    "Do you not feel ashamed when praying to the Goddess of Prosperity? Have you never considered your own faults when questioning why I, as an evil black mage, have not lost control?"


    The knight''s breathing grew heavy, and flashes of red light occasionally flickered in his emerald eyes. His rigid face, marked with wrinkles, revealed traces of anguish.


    Power in this world was poisonous. No matter how high the stature of an individual, they would be contaminated and corrupted by the pervasive influence of elder gods when a vulnerability appears in their spirit.


    However, this person was, after all, a knight of the faith, and his unwavering faith enabled him to be an anchor for many followers of the Goddess of Prosperity.


    The Goddess of Prosperity was indeed a good god with righteous teachings, enough to protect these devout knights of the faith, which prevented them from easily succumbing to the same fate as Rex.


    In no time, this individual shook off the mental contamination and firmly declared, "Even if Sir Hans is at fault¡­ he is, without a doubt, a nobleman whom Camore needs. His plantation provides job opportunities for numerous people and supports the livelihoods of thousands!"


    Yang Qiu remained expressionless.


    It was pointless to discuss class and means of production relations with this stubborn feudal knight. The greatness of the working class was sneered at even by the capitalists of the 21st century on Earth, let alone in this world.


    Those who held capital and controlled the means of production would always view the common folk as mere pawns. It had nothing to do with character or morality, just interests.


    Therefore, Yang Qiu didn''t waste his breath engaging in a fruitless debate with the knight about the origins of the plantations belonging to Sir Hans. Instead, he scoffed. "Holding such a position of significance entitles one to not be held accountable when letting young boys, who are fellow Camore locals and followers of the Goddess of Prosperity, die? Does it grant one free reign over commoners because of their lower status?!


    "I never imagined hearing such a cruel and barbaric argument, so devoid of empathy and reminiscent of the law of the jungle, from a knight of the Goddess of Prosperity''s faith. I am truly disappointed!


    "There''s simply no need for justice and righteousness in this world since all disputes can be resolved by comparing status, huh? According to you, those of lower status should never hold the upper echelons accountable for their transgressions. Is that how you think, knight of faith?!"


    The knight stiffened up.


    Then¡­ this knight, who intended to confront the evil black mage, turned his steed and, without saying another word, took off.


    Yang Qiu, who had subdued the enemy without fighting, sneered.


    Pathetic! And you dare argue with me? Did you think I only wore a red scarf for show!


    With that, he turned the head of his undead horse and looked at the Camore weavers that were gathered around the carts.


    Originally, these old and frail individuals were really uneasy about leaving with the infamous black mage. If they didn''t know that they were burdens to their families and were threatened by the unions with "dire consequences if they didn''t obediently follow along," many of them would have preferred to take their own lives rather than endure this journey.


    During this journey, even though they stumbled and were exhausted to the point of near collapse, no one dared to voice a need for rest. Even if gripped by agonizing fear, they dared not sob softly, afraid that the black mage, who held their fate in his hands, would hear.


    When the knight of the faith had caught up, hope quietly sprouted within many who had already given up. They longed for this seemingly despairing journey to be halted. Many wanted to go back home¡ªeven if there wasn''t much warmth waiting for them there, at least it was their home.


    And so¡­ these people listened to the exchange between the knight of the faith and the black mage, then witnessed firsthand how the knight dropped his courage and fled.


    As Yang Qiu turned toward them, the weavers, who had been extremely fearful and avoided eye contact with him, now cast their gazes upon him.


    Even those women that were barely 40 but almost blind made an effort to lift their heads and blink their cloudy eyes as they tried to locate the position of the black mage.


    A middle-aged man, with darkened skin due to disease and aged as if he were in his twilight years (even though he wasn''t even 50), struggled to walk out from the crowd. Slowly, he took off his worn-out straw hat and trembled as he bowed down, "Thank you¡­ sir, thank you¡­"


    This cotton farmer, who had dedicated his youth to the cotton fields and was quickly sent back home after losing his ability to work, didn''t really know what he ought to be grateful for.


    There were many terms he couldn''t understand in the exchange of the black mage and knight.


    But just knowing that this black mage had pity for them, was willing to speak up for the lowly, and confronted the upper class on behalf of their sort was more than enough.


    Yang Qiu sighed.


    The majority of people were unfortunate, and this applied to any world.


    Even on Earth, if one looked beyond the borders of China, they would see countless just like the commoners of this world, whose deaths, even if on a large scale, would fail to attract any attention.


    When the people of the "civilized world" ridiculed and complained about countries accepting refugees, did anyone stop to think whether the refugees were willing to become subjugated slaves?


    When the people of the "civilized world" adopted an air of petty bourgeois arrogance and disdain toward black people, accusing them of laziness, criminal tendencies, and a lack of ethnic self-esteem, did anyone stop to think about how people from the African continent endured being bought and sold as subhumans by countless countries and regions since the 16th century, going through generations of displacement and turmoil?


    When watching the film "Gone with the Wind," did viewers sympathize with the beautiful and elegant protagonist, or did they sympathize with the black slaves far from their homeland?


    As the Turks and Russians tacitly maintained the state of warlords in Libya, did anyone raise their arms for Libya? Didn''t other countries know what conflict means for a nation?


    Even intelligent beings, including humans, were often indifferent to the cries of their own kind.


    The insatiable desires of a few determined the fate of the vast majority. Such was the truth of human society.


    Even Yang Qiu himself wasn''t noble in any sense. If it weren''t for being assimilated by the elder god''s tentacle like the sword of Damocles hanging over his head, threatening him with instant death if the elder god cast its gaze upon him, he would have peacefully lived his life as a Chinese citizen on Earth. Just having to look back at this messed-up dark, magical other world made him consider himself a loser.


    Taking these people with him was not driven by any noble intention to save others. His motivation remained rooted in his own self-interest¡ªthe "game" needed commoner NPCs, and his territory, Taranthan, needed manpower to perform tasks that players were unwilling to do. That was all. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yang Qiu felt no inner stirrings at the gratitude of the weavers. He had done what he did solely for his own purposes, and any sense of satisfaction or elevation from helping others just for the sake of it was unnecessary.


    Yang Qiu never saw himself as a savior; as long as he remained true to himself, that was enough.


    "Those who can''t walk, get on the carriage and let''s continue."


    Pulling this weary group along for over two hours until many were tottering on the verge of collapse, Yang Qiu finally ordered a rest.


    Then he took out the food he had prepared in advance¡ªa mix of fatty pork scraps, deep-fried fish fillets, deep-fried instant noodles, and cheap cabbage priced at 1 yuan per kilogram. He cooked them all together in a stew.


    This hodgepodge of a stew, which would be unwelcome to the former bandits who "enjoyed" supermarket clearance items, was surprisingly well received by the weavers. They had been walking for over 10 hours straight, after all.


    Not only weren''t there any complaints, but the weavers also became more obedient and compliant after that.


    During this period, the players'' army of skeletons and one zombie continued to slay "spawned monsters" at a rate of one every 40 minutes to an hour while steadily advancing westward.


    Yang Qiu never fantasized about having the Fourth Crisis march like a regular army. At this point, there was less than a third that had endured this journey without any impatience or an impulse to kill themselves and respawn back in town. Such obsession with the quest bordered on insanity.


    During his previous trip along this road to cause a ruckus in Camore, Yang Qiu had spent half his time driving away monsters that the players couldn''t handle for the time being as well as searching for "small bosses" or "elite monsters" suitable for the current player army to fight; otherwise, he wouldn''t have taken that long given the speed of his undead horse.


    With occasional "spawns" of bosses and elite monsters obstructing the way, there were fewer cases of players throwing in the towel and forcibly going offline¡­


    When dawn broke in the game, the players that had been fighting monsters while journeying realized that their daily online limit wouldn''t be enough if they stayed with the army the entire time. Thus, online and offline schedules were mutually agreed on, and organization and planning were done to ensure a sufficient number of players were online at all times.


    Brother Lahong''s faction that had won the Undead Auction even came up with a clever plan upon realizing how lucrative it was farming monsters along the way:


    Brother Lahong personally logged out to call the player currently in possession of the Undead Horse, gather players that hadn''t been online the previous night when they were amassing manpower for the expedition, and have the rider make multiple trips to ferry comrades that hadn''t yet caught up with the main host or had accidentally died on the way.


    Qin Guan got envious when he saw this and sought out the player in possession of the Undead Horse in hopes that the said player could help with "transporting people."


    The player agreed without any hesitation, but asked for payment.


    The bustling scene of players going online and offline couldn''t be captured in screenshots or videos since it all occurred outside of "save points." However, the super thrilling "Great Expedition" was relayed through a "live update" on the forum and attracted a flurry of comments:


    "It was three in the morning in-game time. The army reached a place near a lake where fish-like monsters with horns on their heads, scales, and tangled hair made of aquatic plants gathered. These monsters were tough and even worked together, so attacking one would aggro the others. Several players died and had to queue in line for the Undead Horse Express¡­"


    "The above comment didn''t mention the highlight! After we defeated the fish-like monsters, one of my teammates spotted lotus flowers by the lakeside and reached down to touch them. And guess what? There were lotus roots as thick as our thigh bones, several times thicker!"


    "There''s literally no highlight in what you said! We''re either zombies or skeletons. What''s the use of finding lotus roots? Who can eat them?"


    "Sell them to those high-level NPCs, of course! They eat instant noodles all the time. Won''t they salivate seeing lotus roots?"


    "What the heck, we''re even going to do business with NPCs, 666!"


    "Do we gain reputation by handing over lotus roots to advanced NPCs?"


    "Step aside and let me handle it. I know how to make lotus root sandwiches!"


    "To the non-player above, get your account first before talking about it."


    "Account, please¡­"


    "The game time is six in the morning. The elite monsters that spawned this time are even more badass. ''Identify'' shows that the ranger players can capture them as pets!"


    "Enough! I''m nearly dying from laughter. A bunch of wanderers rushed forward intending to capture them alive, but damn, it resulted in a massive slaughter!"


    "I was one of the wanderers who died. I suspect the damn game developers are playing a prank on us wanderers. We weren''t given any capturing skills and were tricked into going over¡­"


    "I''m begging for an account. Ahhh, I want to play too!"

 Chapter 44: Interfering with allies

    October 18, 8 a.m. real time.


    It was already afternoon in the game when Unceasing Entropy logged in to take over. Having been online for over ten hours of game time, Ji Tang was feeling somewhat exhausted and immediately transferred the group leadership over to Unceasing Entropy when she logged in.


    Before logging out, Ji Tang didn''t forget to give Unceasing Entropy some pointers on how to organize players when dealing with elite monsters and mini-bosses, as well as to create a relatively safe environment for damage output when taking into consideration the type of monsters to ensure that player casualties were kept to a minimum.


    Tang Jia, Yang Ying, and Jia Luo had also alternated logging in and out to preserve their online time. When Unceasing Entropy logged in, Tang Jia and Jia Luo had just logged out, leaving only Yang Ying and two unaffiliated solo players in their small team.


    Unceasing Entropy checked the entire player group''s online status, then called Qin Guan and Brother Lahong over.


    "At the moment, we barely have a hundred online in our group and Ji Tang has already logged out. In my opinion, we should do our best to cooperate in earnest and avoid as many casualties as possible should we encounter monsters. What do you guys think?" said Unceasing Entropy.


    "Absolutely," Brother Lahong said with a smile. "We only have one Undead horse available for replenishing manpower, and each round trip to transport players is taking longer. We''ve changed the rider several times already, so it''s best to minimize deaths."


    Qin Guan nodded in agreement. "You are the commander, we''ll listen to you."


    During the player''s "night of rampaging," which was the "day of suffering" for advanced NPCs, Unceasing Entropy had led a group of unaffiliated players in a memorable battle that these two big shot players vividly remembered.


    Unceasing Entropy smiled, and in the next monster encounter, she didn''t hesitate to command the elite troops the two big shots personally brought as if they were part of her own squad.


    In traditional PC games, the individual ability of a team commander might be strong, but whether or not they could successfully clear a dungeon often depended on the willingness of the players to "stay focused." Those who were absent-minded throughout the entire dungeon, either being distracted by other tasks or constantly pulling aggro even during boss fights just to chat or browse the internet, often frustrated raid leaders.


    However, the full-immersive game "OtherWorld" was different. Although the commander couldn''t observe the entire raid through a monitor with a flick of the mouse like in a PC game, players couldn''t chat or browse the web while raiding. And since private messaging wasn''t available yet, there wasn''t much else they could do. As a result, players tended to be more focused and willing to follow instructions. As long as the commander didn''t act irresponsibly, the raid could generally proceed smoothly.


    Of course, being able to lead a team and fully utilize their collective strength were two different matters. The same elite squad that Brother Lahong managed only overcame monsters through sheer force and aggression, but Unceasing Entropy was able to orchestrate them with rhythm and purpose, coordinating their movements and attacks.


    Leading the player group, Unceasing Entropy only defeated two elite monsters, but by then, Brother Lahong and Qin Guan had given up on their intentions to recruit her into their own factions.


    It was clear that Unceasing Entropy was someone who could rally a team, lead an elite squad, and manage a guild. If they brought her over to their own factions, wouldn''t they just be giving her the opportunity to rise up and eventually supersede themselves?


    In traditional online gaming guilds, it was quite common for a strong individual who had been recruited in the early stages of the guild''s formation to eventually break away and take away a significant portion of the core members. The moment they made a call, half of the guild''s key players would follow.


    Instead, the two big shot players, who had been guarded and engaged in covert struggles with each other for a while, secretly cooperated during subsequent material auctions and employed monopolistic tactics.


    In this game, monsters only dropped materials, not equipment or money. However, this didn''t mean that materials were not valuable. Ordinary materials could be exchanged for personal reputation with Lord Yang or other advanced NPCs (the reputation went to the NPC associated with the exchange, and since it was most difficult to raise reputation with Lord Yang, exchanging the materials with him was most cost-effective), which regular players found useful. Uncommon-grade materials and higher could be exchanged for territorial prestige, which was important for those who aspired to compete for the position of town mayor.


    After the official website revealed the scope of authority possessed by the town mayor, anyone with aspirations of being a leader in the game couldn''t help but be tempted to vie for it.


    Firstly, the mayor held the power to allocate land both inside and outside the town. Players who wanted to establish a Blood Alliance and had obtained enough territorial prestige could apply for a blood alliance base. However, the decision on where to allocate the land was in the hands of the mayor.


    There was great room for maneuverability in regard to this, and anyone could understand this aspect.


    Secondly, the mayor could appoint a sheriff. Players who held the positions of "mayor" and "sheriff" could issue a daily quest three times a day, just like advanced NPCs.


    That''s right, players could assign quests to other players!


    These daily quests weren''t specific laborious tasks; rather, they were team-oriented elite monster hunting quests, similar to the "Exterminate Rats" quest issued by the Zombie General.


    The blood alliance that held the positions of mayor and sheriff would have six additional elite monster hunting quests per day compared to other player factions, and the benefits of such an arrangement didn''t need to be explained.


    While Ji Tang was commanding, Brother Lahong and Qin Guan had been busy stockpiling materials. Since the circulation of money among everyone was constantly shifting, there were times when the factions didn''t have enough which allowed unaffiliated solo players to benefit. Now that this bigwig duo had realized Unceasing Entropy as a potential third-party competitor, they decided to cooperate¡ª


    When unaffiliated players placed bids for materials, they would outbid them. And if their competitor faction offered the highest bid, they would back off if they didn''t have enough funds.


    After a round of auctions, all the unaffiliated players had become aware of their shameless monopoly tactics¡­


    As the group moved off again, Yang Ying couldn''t help but move closer to Unceasing Entropy. "Qingyue, they are doing this on purpose, aren''t they? By doing this, nobody else can get their hands on the materials."


    "They indeed have more people, and the money they can pool together isn''t something unaffiliated players can compete with," replied Unceasing Entropy with a faint smile. "It''s fine. Materials aren''t the only way to earn prestige during this dynamic plotline quest.¡±


    "Are you saying we should focus on the escorting and repelling pursuers'' quest?" Yang Ying asked. "But the territory prestige for the escort quest is added to the entire group and there won''t be any difference. Are we going to compete in capturing prisoners?"


    "Yes." Unceasing Entropy nodded. "Uncommon-grade materials give 20 territory prestige points, while Rare-grade materials give 50. Gaining a captive is equivalent to four Uncommon-grade materials and ten Rare-grade materials. We definitely can''t compete with them in terms of finances, and we can only best them in this aspect."


    Brother Lahong and Qin Guan weren''t wrong to take precautions. Unceasing Entropy did have her sights set on contesting for the position of mayor.


    The reason was very simple. If the position of mayor was snatched up by those from a large blood alliance, then the casual and unaffiliated players would never have the chance to receive the six daily quests. Just as it had been during the "night of rampaging" previously, had Unceasing Entropy not stood up to organize and lead, the unaffiliated players definitely wouldn''t have a share of the items dropped by the advanced NPCs.


    Unceasing Entropy herself actually wouldn''t mind, but her temperamental childhood friend, Tang Jia, might be so pissed off that she wouldn''t eat. Thus, Unceasing Entropy could only try her best to vie for the position.


    "Based on my understanding of Unceasing Entropy, if she wished to compete, she wouldn''t give up so easily," Blossoming Strokes, running alongside the tricycles of her team, said to her friend Qin Guan with certainty.


    "Indeed." Qin Guan frowned. "Tsk, this bit is troubling. With the credibility she built up during the ''night of rampaging,'' unaffiliated teams with materials would definitely support her if she spreads the word."


    During the "night of rampaging," both Qin Guan and his main rival, Brother Lahong, hadn''t brought any unaffiliated players to their sides.


    Unceasing Entropy had come out to lead the unaffiliated players that night and managed to get quite a lot of scraps. Moreover, the auctions she held were fair, and not a single copper coin was taken for herself unfairly.


    If not for the fact that there were only about 300 players in the game and most of the relatively active players had already been recruited by the two bigwigs, Qin Guan suspected that this girl would have already done something bigger.


    Blossoming Strokes also knew the advantages that unaffiliated players alone had and actually suggested bringing over some unaffiliated players back then. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    However, there were too many people following Qin Guan and a handful of more active players came forward and said, "Why do you have to bring people who don''t usually farm with us?"


    Thus, Blossoming Strokes¡¯ words weren''t very useful then¡­


    It was common knowledge that the in-game currency in this game could be easily converted into real cash. Having one more person in their faction meant dividing the wages among more people. Regardless of how impressive Blossoming Strokes'' reputation was, it was impossible to expect all 60 plus players of their faction to conscientiously consider the team''s future and sacrifice their immediate benefits.


    Even without mentioning the 1:10 stable currency exchange rate in "OtherWorld," in certain WOW servers, arguments and disbandment of teams over the distribution of gold coins that weren''t even worth a few dollars were prevalent.


    But that had all passed, and the rather easy going Blossoming Strokes didn''t really mind. She pondered for a moment, then said, "Unceasing Entropy didn''t log in the whole of last night and when she came on, Ji Tang logged out. They are most likely accumulating game time. If everything goes smoothly, when we connect with the Camore refugees that we are supposed to receive and deal with the pursuers, their entire team should be online."


    "So they''ve shifted their focus to taking prisoners." Qin Guan stroked his chin. "They certainly have an advantage when it comes to that. There isn''t a weak member in their team and that Ji Tang is especially formidable. We might not be able to surpass them if it comes down to taking captives."


    In a traditional game where the objective was to seize a particular resource, the side with more players would undoubtedly win.


    But in this game¡­ players who had played for nearly half a month (Earth time) had completely given up on such fantasies. Even advanced NPCs would flee, so how could humanoid monsters not run away?


    They had even fought against advanced NPCs before¡­ Had the advanced NPCs in town not turned to fight them and used the Town Hall as a stronghold for a standoff, the players wouldn''t have any answer to deal with them if the advanced NPCs just chose to run away.


    "Ji Tang is indeed impressive. I heard he used to be in the military." Blossoming Strokes nodded, then chuckled. "But there''s no need to be afraid. Their small team might be skilled in combat, but even if all the unaffiliated players helped them, they still have fewer people than us. If Ji Tang''s efficiency in capture is too great, at most we could coordinate with Brother Lahong and send a few people to stall him."


    "We have no choice but to do that." Qin Guan nodded.


    When doing quests, interfering or slowing allies down wasn''t really an issue. Not attacking fellow players was already considered a courtesy¡­


    At 6 P.M. October 18 (Earth time), 11 A.M. in the game, after two days and one night of gameplay, the tricycle expedition team arrived at the mission location marked on the paper map carried by the zombie general¡ªDesolate Wasteland.


    Well¡­ It was just a green plain covered with overgrown grass and thorns.


    This location had quite open terrain, which was well suited for a preset battlefield. The zombie general had chosen a spot near the river to stop, then issued players the [Setup Camp] quest:


    One of the tasks was to clear the ground, removing the scattered stones, rotting wood, and tripping hazards like thorny bushes.


    Another task was to set up camp, unload the packages from the cargo tricycles, and use the plastic tarps and locally sourced wood to construct tents¡­


    "I knew it, this damned game won''t just magically spawn a new campsite. We have to do everything ourselves!" Disgruntled players vented their frustrations while begrudgingly carrying out the tasks.


    Normal living beings would have been exhausted after such a long journey in this vast wasteland while constantly dealing with monster attacks along the way. Only these players could remain energetic, with some even feeling regretful that they couldn''t continue to fight monsters¡­


    Elsewhere, the Camore weavers led by Yang Qiu weren''t having as smooth an experience.


    As players began to build the camp, the weavers, who had only traveled merely a quarter of the path their counterparts had, were being chased by pursuers from the direction of Camore and driven into a valley.

 Chapter 45: The cavalry of the Holy Legion

    When Yang Qiu appeared with a swagger in densely populated towns, especially towns with a concentration of respectable people, it was actually safer.


    As the saying goes, reputation precedes a person. No one in their right mind, except the infamous lunatics of the Radiant Sun Church, would willingly engage in a battle with a high-level black mage that had been pursued for many years, especially not in a city¡ªunless it wasn''t a local, who didn''t care about the houses that were about to be wrecked.


    After all, among spellcasters, black mages were considered the most proficient in large-scale offensive magic. The alchemical bombs used by alchemists, which were thrown around freely as if they cost nothing to make, couldn''t compare to the forbidden magic of a black mage that could easily destroy entire city blocks.


    Of course, this "safety" referred to situations where those insane zealots of the Radiant Sun Church didn''t catch up.


    Those fellows didn''t care about casualties or harming innocents in the process. As long as they could enforce their self-righteous "justice," they were more than willing to generously offer up a city as a burial ground for Yang Qiu.


    In short, while Yang Qiu was still in Camore, none of the respectable people in the town would utter a slightly disrespectful word to him. It was only after Yang Qiu had distanced himself sufficiently from Camore that the fury of these respectable individuals would be unleashed without mercy.


    "Summoning the Holy Legion in such a short time¡­ Viscount Lynn is even more valuable than I imagined," muttered Yang Qiu as he stood on a low hill roughly ten kilometers west of the Desolate Wasteland while watching the approaching cavalry draw nearer.


    The Goddess of Prosperity''s Holy Legion, composed of ascetics, holy warriors, and knights, was known as the Duchy of Shiga''s top army.


    Of course, Viscount Lynn didn''t have the authority to mobilize the entire legion, nor did he need to. The cavalry force that caught up with Yang Qiu and forced him to hurriedly hide the weavers in the valley behind the hills consisted of only about two hundred soldiers.


    Among the cavalry, there were ascetics in white robes wielding chain flails, holy warriors armed with swords, and holy knights in full plate armor.


    The pursuing troops, in a somewhat disorderly fashion, came to a halt not far from the hills and reorganized themselves in silence.


    The disciplined and skilled riders of the faith completed their formation, and two leaders stood forth. One of them was the "young" knight who had been verbally defeated by Yang Qiu before, and the other was a ragged black-robed ascetic who rode barefoot.


    Jorges Andres felt a stinging pain in his eyes as he glanced at the black mage on the hill. The humiliation of being outmatched in verbal banter by him two days ago resurfaced in his mind.


    "It''s him, Inspector Lowell." Andres turned away, trying to maintain a somewhat composed tone as he addressed the black-robed ascetic.


    The black-robed ascetic also looked toward the black mage on the hill.


    Yang Qiu, too, took measure of this ascetic.


    In the faith, the position of inspector was often held by ascetics. These ascetics were like the military police in an imperial army. In addition to monitoring the behavior of clergy members, they were also responsible for maintaining discipline within the Holy Legion, and when there was combat, ascetics were indispensable forces.


    "You seem¡­ kind of familiar," Yang Qiu spoke first. "Hmm¡­ Black-robed Inspector, Alfred Lowell?"


    "Black Mage Yang," the black-robed ascetic spoke sternly, immediately making it clear that there was no room for nostalgia. "I can overlook what you have done within the territory of the Duchy of Shiga if you return the Camore refugees you took."


    "No offense intended," Yang Qiu said with a sly smile. "Inspector Lowell, if I were to fulfill your wish and candidly return the Camore citizens, what would be your arrangement for them?"


    "That''s none of your concern, outsider," the black-robed ascetic responded decisively.


    "Indeed, I am neither a follower of the Goddess of Prosperity''s faith nor a citizen of the Duchy of Shiga, so I have no right to meddle in the affairs of the Duchy." Yang Qiu raised an eyebrow. "However, Inspector, this isn''t Camore, nor is the Duchy of Shiga territory. The land beneath your feet belongs to Taranthan. Do you still insist, forcefully, that the people I took belong to the Duchy of Shiga when you are standing on foreign soil?"


    "You¡­!" Holy knight Andres was infuriated by this, but the black-robed ascetic raised a hand to stop him.


    Unlike the over-a-hundred-year-old "young man" Andres, Lowell, the black-robed ascetic, who was only slightly younger than Yang Qiu, knew this black mage very well.


    This black mage, who was practically crazy, might not have the same notorious reputation as before, but during the period between 60 to 200 years ago, he was one of the prominent figures in Navalon. The outrageous rumors about him and that reckless madness echoed throughout the entire continent.


    In any case, Lowell would never engage in a verbal dispute with this black mage known for his perplexing logic and unconventional behavior.


    "My apologies, then." The ascetic gave a slight nod and raised a hand to make a forward gesture.


    The silent cavalry behind him quickly dispersed to both sides and, in no time, surrounded the hill where Yang Qiu stood.


    "Why the rush?" Yang Qiu lifted his foot and gently tapped it on the ground.


    A massive magic array, twice the size of the hill he stood on, abruptly appeared in the air. Rotating slowly. This massive array enveloped the hill as well as all the holy warriors.


    As the huge array emerged, it cast an overwhelming shadow that blocked out the sun. The previously ordinary air seemed to transform into dense and viscous stagnant water, pressing down on the holy soldiers and their steeds. The heavily-armored horses, burdened beyond their limit, struggled and stumbled with distressed neighs.


    "Not good!" The black-robed ascetic''s face turned pale as he hastily dismounted and seemingly plucked a withered staff out of thin air. He tightly grasped the staff, plunging one end into the ground. "By the blessing of the Goddess, let the earth be brimming with vitality!" S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Visible ripples, akin to gentle waves, rapidly emanated from the center of the staff, permeating the suffocating air with a weighty atmosphere. The heavily-armored knights, who were on the verge of falling off their horses, immediately felt a sense of relief as the oppressive air pressure eased.


    "Fall back! Leave this hill!" Andres shouted.


    "No¡­ it''s impossible, Captain Andres! We can''t move!" someone drenched in sweat responded.


    The battle-hardened soldiers knew that they should distance themselves from the hill that had been set with a large-scale magic array. However, as they attempted to turn their mounts around, they discovered that both their steeds and their own bodies were firmly rooted in place, and they could only move their upper bodies!


    Andres and the black-robed ascetic froze, then simultaneously looked down at the ground.


    Indeed, among the weeds and rocks were scattered traces of inconspicuous and lightweight magic powder.


    The trap laid by Black Mage Yang wasn''t just limited to the massive magic array enveloping everyone on the hill!


    Veins bulged on the black-robed ascetic''s forehead as he glared angrily at the black mage on the hill, who was shamelessly resorting to such deceptive tactics despite his advanced age. He released the staff stuck in the ground, gesturing with intricate hand movements, and shouted in a deep voice, "By the blessing of the Goddess, all predicaments shall be¡ª"


    "That''s why I despise ascetics. Someone formidable in combat and skilled in healing is just too annoying." Yang sighed, shaking his head. Once again, he raised his foot and gently tapped the ground.


    Everyone within the magic array felt a peculiar upward suction force acting on them.


    The black-robed ascetic looked up in astonishment, only to see the center of the colossal magic array, composed of runic symbols, slowly opening.


    "Stop! Have you lost your mind?!" the black-robed ascetic exclaimed in a mixture of shock and anger.


    "I don''t want to either, but you left me no choice." Yang Qiu raised his right hand, spreading his five fingers, and pressed downward. "Forbidden Magic: Infernal Breath."


    "Everyone! Suppress your perception!" Andres shouted in shock and fury.


    Beneath the magic array''s core, a crimson mist spewed forth and descended. This dense, blood-red mist rapidly spread, filling the area enveloped by the magic array in a matter of seconds.


    The black-robed ascetic immediately ceased his incantation, but it was too late. The once-dense crimson mist, now significantly diluted, pervaded his mind through his senses that he had unwittingly left open. His face instantly flushed red, with even a hint of crimson radiating from his pupils.


    "This is outrageous, you madman¡ª!" The black-robed ascetic glared at Yang Qiu angrily.


    Then, his fury turned into astonishment.


    "Y-you¡­ It can''t be! Why aren''t you affected by the madness?!"


    The black mage on the hill maintained a clear gaze and calm demeanor as he chuckled in response. "Why would I go mad?"


    "Aren''t your senses still active?!" the black-robed ascetic exclaimed in disbelief.


    "That''s right, I still have to keep this thing in operation. Otherwise, you all would have escaped." Yang Qiu chuckled and pointed to the above.


    The black-robed ascetic was in shock and, for the first time, began to doubt his understanding of the world. He then turned a questioning gaze toward Andres.


    "I-I don''t know." Andres''s confusion, bewilderment, and horror were no less than those of the black-robed ascetic.


    "Stay calm, my friends." Yang Qiu strolled down the moderate hill as if he were taking a walk in his own garden. "Ascetic Lowell, at the very least, I still hold respect for you. Since it is dangerous to open our senses in the space of this array filled with Infernal Breath, perhaps we can set aside our savage conflict for now and have a calm conversation first? We can observe a rather novel battle. How about that?"


    The soldiers of the Holy Legion, who were already immobilized by the magic power and unable to activate their perceptive senses, couldn''t object. All they could do was glare at Yang Qiu.


    Black-robed Inspector Lowell took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "What exactly do you want to do, Yang?"


    Yang Qiu, who had come down the hill, took out two wooden chairs from his interspatial ring. He pushed one to Lowell and sat down on the other, even taking out a cup of milk tea with a straw.


    "Exactly as I said, Inspector Lowell." Yang Qiu took a sip of milk tea and calmly crossed his legs. "The Holy Legion are busy people. I don''t believe you guys have the time to send a group of old, weak, sick, and disabled people back to Camore.


    "If you think about it, the person who paid the military expenses and requested your mobilization for the honor of Camore, Duchy of Shiga, and the Goddess of Prosperity would probably have requested you to kill or chase me away. And they would have arranged for their own people to take care of the aftermath¡­ right?"


    Black-robed Inspector Lowell. "¡­"


    He turned to Andres again.


    As a Camore citizen, Andres didn''t seem shocked or surprised. Instead, he was equally as confused as Lowell.


    "Sit down, Lowell. We aren''t young anymore. There''s no need to be stubborn like those youngsters," said Yang Qiu calmly as he took another sip of milk tea. "While we haven''t had the chance to chat properly before, I think if you''ve heard about me, then you should probably understand. I don''t think much of all faiths, but it doesn''t mean that I despise all religious personnel. At least, I have respect for the ascetics of each faith."


    Lowell fell silent for a bit, then pulled the empty chair over and sat down.


    What followed was a long wait¡­


    One hour later, a group of ragged and panicked civilians appeared behind the hill.


    They were the weavers from Camore that Yang Qiu had hidden in the valley behind the hill. They had waited for a long time and, seeing that the black mage hadn''t returned, decided to come out and assess the situation.


    The space enclosed by the magic array couldn''t be seen by ones that didn''t cast it, so these anxious civilians couldn''t see Yang Qiu and the trapped Holy Legion army who were just within reach. They searched around but found nothing, exchanging nervous glances and whispering among themselves.


    For ordinary folk, the wilderness was synonymous with danger. Even the lowest creatures in the wilderness food chain could cause harm to these vulnerable individuals. Therefore, they did not dare wander about and hurriedly retreated back into the valley.


    Another hour passed, and a cloud of rolling dust appeared in the west.


    The sound of hooves grew closer, and a group of mercenaries bearing noble family crests came into view of Yang Qiu and the soldiers of the Holy Legion in a disorderly fashion.


    Unlike the disciplined cavalry of the Holy Legion, who maintained their formation even during long-distance marches and swiftly reassembled upon reaching their target, these noble mercenaries had no concept of "discipline" in their vocabulary. The ones at the front noticed that the hoofprints left by the Holy Legion cavalry disappeared, and they dismounted and searched around, making a fuss. Meanwhile, the ones at the rear hadn''t caught up yet.


    Right in front of Yang Qiu and soldiers of the Holy Legion, these mercenaries, serving different noble families, began arguing over the whereabouts of the Holy Legion cavalry and Black Mage Yang.


    A short while later, one of their scouts discovered footprints left by the civilians and, after a brief search, found the valley behind the hill.


    The scout ran back excitedly and called out to the others, "This way! Those guys are hiding in the valley behind here!"


    "Really? Great, we finally found them!"


    The mercenaries rejoiced and drew their weapons.

 Chapter 46: Unconventional battle

    "No¡­ No! Stop! Stop right there!" Jorges Andres shouted furiously.


    He tried to move his body, wanting to dismount and break through the magic barrier to stop those mercenaries, but he couldn''t. The effect of the magical trap hadn''t ended yet, and neither he nor his horse could budge an inch from their original positions. Moreover, his voice couldn''t be heard by anyone outside the barrier.


    With weapons drawn, the mercenaries maintained their loose formation¡ªthe sort that could easily be dispersed by a few coordinated cavalrymen¡ªas they passed by the edge of the magic barrier.


    "These things sure can run. To think they could flee so deep into the wilderness."


    "I''m so tired of this godforsaken place. Let''s finish this business and go back for a drink or two¡­"


    Andres''s eyes went red, and he trembled slightly.


    Andres had only received a narrow-minded education focused on etiquette, respect, and chivalry meant for the "upper class" since he was a child, and he had never thought to pay attention to those undignified lower-class people. But at the very least, Andres wasn''t the kind of person who would ignore the "cries he could hear."


    He had seen the commoners in the weaving district twice before, and he even remembered the faces of a few individuals. It was impossible for Andres to remain indifferent while witnessing the brutal slaughter of those people at such close quarters. No one with even a shred of humanity could achieve such indifference.


    "Black mage!"


    Yang Qiu, leisurely flipping through a book, slightly raised his head to meet the furious knight''s gaze.


    "Why are you getting mad at me, young man?" Yang Qiu said with a slight smile. "Who among us can claim to have never stood by and watched tragedy unfold before our eyes before?"


    "Nonsense!"


    "Utter rubbish!"


    Outraged soldiers of the Holy Legion, equally shocked and furious at the events unfolding outside the barrier, began to curse.


    "Alright, let me rephrase it then." Yang Qiu, still sitting comfortably in his chair, showed no intention of standing up. "More than a hundred years ago, during my travels across the various countries of the Navalon Continent, I would stay for a while and conduct a small social investigation whenever I passed through towns of a certain size."


    "Enough! Black mage, stop them!" Andres howled.


    Ignoring everyone else, Yang Qiu only looked toward the black-robed ascetic in front of him. "The Duchy of Shiga''s capital has a population of nearly one million. Naturally, I also conducted an investigation there on a subject that interested me. The theme of this investigation was: In respectable households with an annual income of over 10,000 gold coins, how many servants die on average every few years?"


    The black-robed ascetic, who had been patiently observing Yang Qiu in silence, couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow.


    His fellow soldiers were momentarily stumped and forgot to continue their barrage of insults.


    Undeterred by their reactions, Yang Qiu continued, "According to my investigation, households with an income sufficient to reach that amount annually require at least a viscount title and must possess actual territory, vassals, or hold high positions in the official institutions of the kingdom.


    "I found ways to establish connections with the doormen and servants of these respectable households to gain information. The results of my investigation showed that households with wealth primarily derived from land taxes, estates, or plantations practically experienced ''accidents'' with their servants almost every year.


    "For households whose wealth comes from industries such as running schools, textile production, oil extraction, factory construction, or other handicraft businesses, as well as those with incomes from official positions, the occurrence rate of such ''accidents'' was lower, averaging around two to three years between incidents.


    "What''s even more interesting is that¡­ after classifying and summarizing the origins of several servants who met similar ''accidents'' in different households, I discovered something intriguing." Yang Qiu''s smile turned chilly. "These frequent ''accidents'' that cost the lives of healthy servants in different affluent households often didn''t happen to long-serving family servants who had served their masters for generations.


    "Most of you here are from respectable backgrounds, and even if you don''t have as many servants as those households with annual incomes of 10,000 gold coins, surely a few servants are well affordable. I wonder if anything similar has happened in your own households, or in the households of your relatives and neighbors?"


    Yang Qiu leaned his hand on the armrest, supporting his chin with the back of his hand, and stared at the black-robed priest with a sly smile. "Compared to the displaced peasants that you rarely come into contact with, the servants who serve wealthy households are probably the closest to the common folk. Isn''t it laughable that you people suddenly show concern and pity for the lower class only at this moment?" S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Black-robed Inspector Lowell''s lips trembled slightly.


    At this moment, from behind the hills behind the barrier, where they couldn''t see, came the sounds of desperate and terrified screams¡­


    Lowell, who had already begun to question his understanding of life, felt his clenched fist shaking slightly.


    "That''s enough!" Andres, the knight whose mental defense had long since crumbled, cried out in despair. "You don''t need to prove yourself right anymore, black mage! Do something!"


    Finally, Yang Qiu acknowledged the existence of this pitiful knight from Camore. Maintaining his nonchalant attitude as if he had all the time in the world, he smiled at Andres. "Don''t be impatient, young man. Didn''t I already say it? We just need to remain calm and enjoy a battle that might turn out to be quite novel."


    As he said that, the soldiers of the Holy Legion, who were still immobilized in place, were dumbfounded as they witnessed¡­ the mercenaries with a strong sense of killing intent that had just passed by two minutes ago were now screaming and howling in horror as they frantically came stumbling and crawling in the opposite direction.


    Andres: "??"


    Lowell: "??"


    All the soldiers still stuck in place: "???"


    What followed after was a strange rattling along with chaotic, rambunctious cries as a large group of armored skeletons emerged from behind the hills, chasing after the mercenaries like a pack of famished wolves.


    "WOWAKAKAKAAAA¡ª!"


    "KEKUEKEKUE!"


    "KULULGUULU!"


    Andres: "??"


    Lowell: "??"


    All the soldiers still stuck in place: "???"


    "AH! YAWAKAKAKA!"


    Some skeletons spotted the two opposing sides within the barrier and pointed at them in astonishment while making strange noises. But even so, these skeletons did not stop their pursuit as they chased after the mercenaries relentlessly.


    Well, the soldiers of the Holy Legion couldn''t understand, but Yang Qiu certainly could. This unbridled Fourth Crisis was pointing at him and shouting things like, "Holy sh*t, Old Yang is here," "Damn, this show-off is reading a book on the battlefield," "Is Old Yang meeting an old buddy?" "That black-clothed pretty boy NPC is so handsome," and so on.


    The black-robed ascetic could no longer maintain his composure and stood up in astonishment.


    A fleeing mercenary happened to fall not far from Lowell. In just a matter of seconds, several skeletons quickly swarmed in and pinned down the unlucky fellow.


    Lowell''s eyelid started twitching.


    ¡­the bloody and gory scene he expected didn''t unfold. Instead, the skeletons that had subdued the unfortunate mercenary stripped him of his equipment with great efficiency and cooperation.


    First, they removed the half-helmet with a visor. Then, they took off the wrist guards secured with straps, followed by the belt with a dagger, and even the high-top rubber-soled boots¡­ All of it was swiftly confiscated by the skeletons.


    Lowell: "¡­"


    And it didn''t end there. The stripped mercenary, left with only underclothes, was then bizarrely tied up with plastic strips by the skeletons and dragged away¡­


    The skeletons that had acquired the equipment and captured the mercenary let out even more excited and nonsensical shouts like "WAKAKAAAA!" Then, they spread their legs and took off once more, creating an intense rattling as they enthusiastically chased after the next target.


    "We''ve hit the jackpot! Hahaha!"


    "Whoa, damn! There are horses! And so many too! Can we capture them?!"


    "It''s no use even if we capture them. ''Identify'' shows that these regular horses cannot be ridden by undead!"


    "F*ck!"


    Players expressed their regret at being unable to acquire mounts through "seizure," but that didn''t stop them from letting up on taking prisoners and looting equipment.


    Not a lot of people were needed to follow after the Holy Legion cavalry and deal with a bunch of unarmed and weak old people. Moreover, due to the lack of time to hire proper mercenaries, these groups were actually the enforcers and local thugs from various plantations selected by Viscount Lynne and the mayor of Camore.


    Being household guards for the affluent was often the best scenario for those who lacked talent or the opportunity to become professional-level fighters.


    While their combat prowess couldn''t compare to true professionals, it didn''t require great combat capabilities to deal with troublemakers or beat up obedient farmers and serfs.


    Even in the event of a territorial war between nobles, these well-fed and well-built household guards could be more effective than hastily conscripted peasants.


    In short, this bunch would be mere cannon fodder on a proper battlefield and could only be laborers were they to join a merchant caravan. However, they could still handle the dirty work of bullying men and dominating women, relying on their false authority and the strength of numbers.


    ¡­If it were engaging in one-on-one battles against the newly-advanced players, they might actually stand a chance.


    Unfortunately, it happened to be the peak online period for players at this point in time. Even the "skeletal remains" that had been brought along by their friends were online, and with over 200 armed and armored skeletons, they held a three-to-one advantage in numbers and could easily deal with this bunch of household guards.


    Not to mention, these household guards had initially thought they were only here to deal with the old, weak, sick, and disabled. They hadn''t been prepared to confront a skeleton horde three times their number. Without even forming a decent formation, they had ended up colliding head-on with a mass of onrushing players.


    In any case, they suffered a grievous stomp.


    Half an hour later.


    Black-robed Inspector Lowell trudged back to the wooden chair Yang Qiu had given him and sat down, his face still twitching.


    The 200 cavalry of the Holy Legion, including Camore knight Andres, were entirely silent.


    The household guards that had scattered and fled in every direction were all captured by the skeletons, whose lightweight bones allowed them to move much faster. They were brought back in succession and experienced having every piece of equipment stripped off from head to toe. Utterly shell-shocked, these people didn''t put up much resistance as they were bound and made to crouch on the ground¡­


    They actually weren''t dead. It was unbelievable that these terrifying skeletons hadn''t killed them.


    That''s right. These household guards, who only had an advantage when dealing with unarmed civilians, didn''t think to resist, so they didn''t receive much harm. Any bruises and swelling were the result of their own falls.


    "It''s certainly quite an unconventional turn of events." A smiling Yang Qiu gave a nod to the seated Lowell.


    Inspector Lowell: "¡­"


    Yang Qiu wasn''t finished yet. He continued to twist the proverbial knife in Lowell''s heart, "Evil undead creatures have unexpectedly rescued the defenseless old, weak, and sick from the hands of the righteous noble army. I wonder what your thoughts are, Inspector?"


    Inspector Lowell: "¡­"


    Andres, mustering up his courage, spoke up to salvage the situation for their leader, "We all acknowledge that this reality is indeed¡­ But it doesn''t mean you are always right, black mage. It''s just that¡­ unexpected things can happen in the world, that''s all."


    "Why say things that you yourself are not certain about, young man," Yang Qiu responded calmly. "Just as you accused me of cruel behavior toward a certain nobleman, while I believe my actions prove the compassion I hold for innocent victims. Cruelty or compassion, righteousness or evil, correct or incorrect are all just definitions made by people based on their own perspectives.


    "Evil undead creatures plundered the soldiers serving noble families, stole their belongings, and bound them up like pigs and sheep. Such actions are evil. But if we add the precondition that these undead creatures have thus saved the helpless that were doomed to be slaughtered, such actions might appear to be just."


    At this point, Yang Qiu smiled. "Evil, justice¡ªin the end, it''s just a matter of how people define them. Claiming to always be right only proves that you have yet to mature, young man. I never boast about being right. Whatever I do is fine as long as I have a clear conscience."


    Andres averted his gaze and lowered his head. Intense shame made this "young man" of over a hundred years feel extremely embarrassed¡­


    Finally, Black-robed Inspector Lowell, who had been silently observing the black mage all this while, spoke up, "Is this¡­ your belief, Yang? The path you pursue, the path of having no regrets?"


    "Yes," Yang Qiu replied frankly. "When I was young, I experienced the feeling of guilt, and I must say, it was extremely uncomfortable. You know, Lowell, as spellcasters, we cannot anchor our faith in the divine nature of gods as you ascetics do, making the divine calling of a righteous god our path and steadfastly following it. Once a spellcaster begins to doubt their own convictions, losing control isn''t far off."


    "Upon understanding how dangerous guilt is, it is even more important for me to have a clear conscience," Yang Qiu said candidly. "Whether it''s the perceived cruelty of mind toward a certain nobleman or the actions of these so-called vile undead creatures, they are merely means to an end. As long as my purpose allows me to be guilt-free, whether it is deemed cruel or compassionate, just or evil, it doesn''t matter."


    "I understand." Lowell raised his hand to stop him, deeply regretting that he had been curious about the powerful secrets of this black mage. Even he was starting to waver after hearing the words of this mad spellcaster as if Yang was speaking some language akin to ancient blasphemous incantations, which were not suitable for the ears of the faithful. "Let''s end the matter concerning Camore here. Andres?"


    "Yes," Andres replied, still keeping his head down, unwilling to let Yang Qiu see his embarrassed state.


    Since the other party showed a willingness to compromise, Yang Qiu, being a person who didn''t insist on winning arguments, immediately expressed his agreement. "It''s best to resolve the misunderstanding. Inspector Lowell, you are welcome to visit Taranthan again when you have the chance."


    After all, they would be neighbors in the long term, and Yang Qiu didn''t want to strain the relationship with the Holy Legion¡­


    This was the second time Yang Qiu subtly mentioned Taranthan.


    Of course, Lowell understood what the black mage was implying, and he looked straight into Yang Qiu''s eyes and said, "¡­Very well."


    Although the black-robed ascetic still had doubts about Yang Qiu''s disregard for mental and spiritual contamination, the fact that he could create a space saturated with hellish energy without being affected proved that this Nightmare Butcher, who had tangled with the Radiant Sun Church for many years, possessed enough strength to do what he wanted.


    As for how Yang Qiu would deal with the civilians he brought to Taranthan and the household guards taken captive¡­ Lowell couldn''t be bothered to interfere. If anything, he would just return the funds provided by Viscount Lynn later.


    Before taking his troops and leaving, Lowell noticed that the undead, who spoke in an unknown language, were loudly clamoring around the dejected household guards. He couldn''t help but be curious and took a few more glances.


    "What are they doing?" whispered a white-robed ascetic.


    Yang Qiu, who had genuinely respected the ascetics, politely explained, "Oh, nothing much, just an auction."


    The white-robed ascetic: "¡­"


    Other soldiers of the Holy Legion: "¡­"


    Lowell: "¡­"

 Chapter 47: The invitation

    When Jorges Andres, clad in the faith''s armor, caught up, Yang Qiu knew that the gentlemen of Camore held a deep hatred and extreme vigilance toward him. Their attitude was completely different from that of the weaver unions, who only wished to "send away a plague." The noblemen of Camore genuinely wanted to give him a good beating.


    This was understandable, for Yang Qiu hadn''t been very kind to the noblemen during his more than a hundred years of travels.


    In any case, after driving off Andres with words, Yang Qiu had already mulled over how to separate the battlefield and prevent OtherWorld players from encountering the real tough opponents.


    After all, the Fourth Crisis was still a bunch of newbies, with only about half having completed their job advancements. They might be somewhat capable of dealing with a disorganized former bandit gang like the Sacred Crows, but facing a proper army would likely result in them being wiped out after a couple of charges.


    The subsequent development went as he expected. The noblemen of Camore actually managed to bring in the Duchy of Shiga''s Holy Legion cavalry.


    The Goddess of Prosperity, the patron god here, was rather impressive, and her clergy was indeed skilled in combat. The Holy Legion, with an undisclosed total number rumored to be between eight to fourteen thousand, could be considered a top-notch force within Navalon Continent.


    However, this definition of strength was limited to the southwestern region of the Navalon Continent. Beyond that, they wouldn''t be as effective.


    There were two reasons for this. Firstly, the financial situation of the Duchy of Shiga was rather dire. They lacked the capability to launch large-scale expeditions. Even a six-month campaign by the Holy Legion would be enough to bankrupt the Duchy''s finances¡­


    Secondly, the agricultural economic ideology of the Goddess of Prosperity influenced her followers to have a tendency toward a sedentary lifestyle. The more devout the follower, the more they preferred to stay at home.


    However, no matter how much of shut-ins they were or how dire their financial situation was, it wouldn''t be much of a problem to launch an expedition to the nearby Taranthan Wasteland. For the sake of long-term development, Yang Qiu definitely couldn''t engage in a full-blown conflict with the clergy of their faith. He needed to justify his actions and try to establish some form of cooperation with them¡­


    Black-robed Inspector Lowell starred in bewilderment at the undead arguing among themselves. One skeleton fished out some rather exquisite-looking copper coins and handed them to another skeleton, then gleefully beckoned to his fellow skeleton comrades and proceeded to lift up a few dejected captives and place them to the side.


    Lowell halted in his tracks, turned, and eyed Yang Qiu with suspicion.


    "Don''t misunderstand, esteemed Ascetic. The undead are auctioning off the rights to the prisoners, not the ownership of these mercenaries," Yang Qiu calmly explained. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Lowell remained silent, his gaze intense.


    "Unlike your average black mage, I summoned these undead, who are naturally different from ordinary undead creatures. As you may have noticed, these unique undead of Taranthan aren''t sluggish and dim-witted like the typical denizens of the dimensional underworld. They possess intelligence that is on par with ordinary people, and they appreciate life even more than living humans," boasted Yang Qiu shamelessly. "You saw it for yourselves; not only do they protect the weak and helpless, but they were even reluctant to harm the brutal mercenaries."


    The soldiers of the Holy Legion couldn''t refute these claims. They exchanged silent glances, and even Lowell appeared somewhat hesitant.


    Yang Qiu had no intention of them leaving too quickly. If they left now, they might incite someone with their words and return with greater military funding.


    Thus, Yang Qiu said calmly, "I understand that both the undead and I, a black mage, are seen as equally evil. Mere words are insufficient to convince others of the noble character of the Taranthan undead. If you don''t mind, why not travel with us for two days and witness it with your own eyes?"


    Seeing that Lowell seemed somewhat intrigued, Yang Qiu immediately assured him, "As a gesture of hospitality, I will cover all expenses during your stay in Taranthan."


    ¡ªWhich only meant meals. Taranthan had no markets or hotels. What kind of shopping and sightseeing could they hope to expect?


    He then pointed at the undead who were noisily auctioning off their captives. "The noble Taranthan undead have already prepared the necessary provisions for the refugees seeking sanctuary in Taranthan."


    Lowell and his troops: "¡­"


    I don''t believe you for a second!


    But of course, none of them said it out loud.


    Lowell was at a momentary loss for words because he was concerned about being influenced by the necromancer''s dangerous rhetoric. When Yang Qiu mentioned his theory about how the difference between justice and evil lay in how it was defined and who defined it, Lowell hadn''t even refuted it. He was worried about being tainted by this seemingly logically consistent but insane ideology.


    It wasn''t certain whether Yang Qiu sensed Lowell''s concerns, but he smiled and said, "Please consider my request, esteemed Inspector Lowell. I truly hope that you can give these Taranthan undead a chance to prove themselves. Although they were born from chaos and evil, they possess a pure spirit that yearns for order and light. They would never harm civilians or prisoners."


    ¡ªAs long as "Identify" doesn''t reveal any equipment and as long as they can''t attack, the Fourth Crisis is rather friendly!


    Lowell didn''t immediately respond. Instead, he glanced at his deputy, Captain Andres.


    Andres'' brows were furrowed. Clearly, he was torn about Black Mage Yang''s proposal. Seeing Lowell looking at him, he hesitated for a moment before reluctantly nodding.


    "We will trouble you then, Yang." Lowell finally agreed.


    It wasn''t a decision solely driven by curiosity. Lowell felt that this might be a good opportunity to expose the facade of Yang the black mage, who seemed to believe that he was acting morally.


    After all, the way these undead zealously stripped others of their belongings and eagerly captured prisoners made Lowell instinctively believe that Yang Qiu was just boasting.


    Lowell couldn''t see any hint of the Taranthan undead''s supposed "yearning for order."


    As a result, the members of the Holy Legion were in no hurry to leave. They dismounted and stretched their limbs, which had been immobilized for quite some time, and curiously observed the bustling undead around them


    Meanwhile, the players who were busy handling their captives to "complete their quest" began using "Identify" on these soldiers of the Holy Legion.


    "Green names¡­ not a boss," a player lamented. "Such a shame. These NPCs have pretty high levels. We could earn a good amount by defeating one or two."


    "It''s only called a boss if you can beat it, bro. The lowest level here is 6, which is higher than the advanced NPCs in Exile Town. It''ll be pointless to fight," another player remarked, satisfied with the rewards and indifferent to whether there were any bosses left. "These NPCs might be important characters in the dynamic storyline. Have you seen the handsome guy in the black robe who is close to Old Yang? The modeling is so detailed. He might be a major figure in the future plot."


    "That NPC is indeed handsome, even more so than Old Yang. His level is probably high too. ''Identify'' doesn''t show anything about him. The levels of other NPCs are at least shown, but this one is all question marks."


    "Darn it, we still have such a long journey back. There''s no way to take screenshots and save them at the respawn point before logging out¡­"


    Black-robed Inspector Lowell felt that the undead, whom Yang Qiu shamelessly praised, lacked any semblance of order. In fact, if it weren''t for Ji Tang logging in on time and Unceasing Entropy coming up with a solution to the chaos caused by players fighting over prisoners, they would have witnessed an even more disorderly scene¡­


    After ensnaring the Holy Legion calvary in a trap, Yang Qiu finally issued an [Urgent Rescue] quest, urging players to sprint over ten kilometers and rush over to take charge of the civilians.


    After the weavers had come out to search the area once, they no longer wandered about. The reason being that the players had arrived.


    A large group of lively skeletons could startle the fierce and ruthless household guards, let alone defenseless weavers. It was thanks to the food brought by the players that the elderly, weak, and sick were placated. Lower classes in any world were easily satisfied. A few fair words in the right place and, if necessary, a bite to eat could quickly gain their favor.


    After that, the players who distributed the food according to the quest requirements camped in the valley, waiting for the "mobs" to come to them¡­


    Those household guards lacking in motivation screamed and fled without even putting up a fight, which nearly disrupted the players'' plans. However, the "Identify" showed the equipment each "mob" had on, which quickly put the players back on track.


    The players who had experience with controlling NPCs to seize their equipment didn''t need Unceasing Entropy''s constant shouting. They organized themselves and followed a disciplined approach, attacking in small teams. They would pin down one "mob," loot it, then move on to the next.


    Indeed, Unceasing Entropy''s solution to resolve disputes was as follows: Instead of the previous method of auctioning off the "spoils" to the entire group, the loot would be allocated within each small team!


    Whichever small team that obtained the loot would distribute it among themselves, and the group later and other teams had no right to intervene!


    The small teams were responsible for handling the captured NPC prisoners as well. They could choose to exchange them for reputation, auction them to others, or distribute the money among their members!


    Having played the game for over half a month, many players had formed the habit of teaming up with fixed teammates to hunt monsters. These teams, which had good coordination, were more than willing to enjoy the fruits of their own labor. They all supported the idea of distributing loot within their own small teams and wouldn''t listen to anyone who argued otherwise!


    With such cunning tactics, Brother Lahong and Qin Guan''s covert plan to send manpower to disrupt Ji Tang''s party fell through. In large group battles, their actions might go unnoticed, but in small team combat, such players joining other teams and causing chaos would elicit the wrath of others. The potential criticism of others was more than enough to drown out their attempts at mischief.


    The "prisoner NPC" auction lasted for over 20 minutes, and the majority of the captured NPCs were concentrated in the hands of Brother Lahong, Qin Guan, and Unceasing Entropy.


    Unceasing Entropy glanced at the dejected prisoners lined up on their side and proudly smiled at the two other bigwigs. Then, her entire team helped lead the prisoners, allowing Ji Tang to be the first to approach Lord Yang to complete the quest.


    ¡­Damn it!


    Brother Lahong and Qin Guan pinched themselves.


    It turned out that the teams of casual players were more inclined to give face to Unceasing Entropy. Combined with the prisoners that Unceasing Entropy''s team had captured, she now had more than what Brother Lahong and Qin Guan had accumulated.

 Chapter 48: Undead reception

    In front of the Holy Legion cavalry, the undead of Taranthan, with captured noble household guards in tow, came over and handed the prisoners to Yang Qiu.


    Yang Qiu allocated the prestige to players according to the captives they handed in, then spontaneously issued a temporary quest, [Guard The Prisoners], which still made players take care of their captives and their horses.


    While the players'' attitudes during the submission of the quest were rather casual and relaxed, in the absence of a common language, it could still be interpreted that the Taranthan undead knew to obey and follow the orders of Black Mage Yang.


    Although the Holy Legion cavalry was unwilling to come into contact with these dirty undead and kept their distance, they didn''t harbor strong hostility toward the players, at least not while the players were considered "law-abiding."


    It was fortunate that the two sides couldn''t communicate through language; otherwise, the worldview of these troops would have been shattered once more.


    "Hey, hey, did you guys notice? Among these NPCs, those that can be ''Identified'' show their classes as Holy Warriors or Holy Knights. They don''t seem to be in the same league as Black Mage Yang, do they? What sort of ridiculous plot is this?"


    "Hmm, the leader of these NPCs seems to be close to Yang. They were sitting together when we arrived. Maybe they''re old buddies or something."


    "I feel like this game''s factions aren''t like those of WOW where they fight each other to the death. It''s more like the factions of JX3, where the NPCs from the Evil Valley and the Grand Alliance can still have love affairs or engage in other activities."


    "The modeling of this pretty boy in black is so damn gorgeous. He easily overshadows Old Yang."


    Yang Qiu calmly ignored the players'' remarks, which were more mentally contaminating than the elder gods'' whispers. After arranging for the players to be responsible for the captives, he invited the player-referred "pretty boy in black," Lowell, to accompany him, and the two headed back to the valley where the "civilian NPCs" were stationed.


    As soon as they started moving, the difference between the Holy Legion cavalry and the army of Taranthan undead became even more apparent¡­


    The holy soldiers followed Black-robed Inspector Lowell in perfect, disciplined formation.


    As for the players, only the few teams who received the [Guard Prisoners] followed after Yang Qiu. The other teams continued camping at their spots, engrossed in the auctioning of their loot and not sparing an extra glance at Yang Qiu.


    Yang Qiu: "¡­"


    Yang Qiu unperturbedly issued several more time-sensitive quests, and only then did the players hurriedly jump to their feet and anxiously chased after the main group.


    The holy soldiers, on their horses at the front, frequently glanced back at the seemingly "orderly" but, on a closer look, rather disorganized undead.


    The primary duties of these holy soldiers wasn¡¯t to serve as mercenaries at the first sign of military funding. Regardless of the country or religious institution, the professional careers of soldiers of faith primarily revolved around three categories:


    Fighting against Void Demons that emerged from unstable spatial rifts, hunting and eliminating cultists (distinct from pagans; cultists were those involved in bloody sacrifices), and eradicating all non-material native beings that posed a threat to humanity (including but not limited to roaming monsters and undead creatures lurking in certain areas).


    In other words, these soldiers had quite an understanding of the undead.


    And it was precisely of this understanding that they found this group of peculiar skeletons particularly perplexing¡­


    "Lowell, I feel something isn''t right¡­ The sounds they emit seem to be a language, more tonally complex than the common tongue judging by the intricate pronunciation. I find it hard to believe that undead beings could possess such intelligence," Andres, who had silently observed for a while, leaned close to Lowell and whispered.


    Lowell gave a slight nod, his eyes fixed on Yang Qiu leading the way as he whispered in reply, "Undead beings from the Dimensional Realm do not possess complex language abilities, nor are they as agile as these ones. Yang hasn''t been truthful about the origin of these undead beings."


    "Do you think these undead beings are not from the Dimensional Realm?" Andres cautiously asked.


    "If Yang could find such intelligent and spirited undead servants in some Dimensional Realm, then there''s no reason why other black mages couldn''t find them as well," Lowell stated calmly. "But the fact is, the undead servants I''ve encountered with other black mages can only perform menial tasks like guarding and cleaning."


    Andre fell silent, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.


    Jorge Andres, who was teasingly addressed by Yang Qiu as a "youngster," was by no means an inexperienced youth. He had served as a Holy Knight of the faith for decades and an officer of the Holy Legion for over ten years. As long as he wasn''t in the presence of Yang Qiu and Lowell, elders who had lived for over 200 to 300 years, he would be respected as an elder wherever he went.


    In the Dimensional Realm, there were indeed creatures that possessed great spirituality with intelligence equal to or even surpassing that of humans.


    For example¡­ demons.


    This perplexed and deeply worried Andres. Demons were the common enemy of followers of righteous gods and the believers of pagan deities.


    No matter how fierce the battles and killing between these two sides were, if a demon appeared nearby, both sides would join forces without hesitation and pay any price to eliminate the demon. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The reason behind this¡­ was the confluence the demonic nature shared with divinity. The demonic nature of the demon race was even more feared by religious individuals than the reemergence of the elder gods'' wills.


    If the mental contamination resulting in a loss of control due to elder gods was like a sharp sword looming above the head of all skilled professional powerhouses, then the demon race was the ultimate enemy of all religious individuals who drew their power from faith.


    After a moment''s hesitation, Andres couldn''t help but ask, "Lowell, do you reckon¡ª"


    "No." Lowell shook his head. "Black Mage Yang is a¡­ rational madman. He must understand the price of collaborating with demons."


    Andres finally let out a sigh of relief.


    Upon deeper thought, it was impossible for demons to let go of readily available souls, unlike the Taranthan undead, who had indeed spared the lives of the household guards.


    "This guy¡­ is truly unfathomable," Andres sighed as he glanced at the back of the black mage.


    Lowell remained indifferent to his subordinate''s sentiment. If this black mage were someone easy to figure out, those lunatics of the Radiant Sun Church wouldn''t have spent several decades being toyed with.


    Once they entered the valley where the civilians were hiding, the soldiers of the Holy Legion couldn''t help but be stunned by the pile of supplies laid out on the grass. These supplies, wrapped in fabric similar to canvas, formed a small mountain of a heap. Some of the packages had already been opened, indicating that some of these items had been used.


    Around 300 civilians, mainly elderly, weak, and sick individuals, huddled around the supplies as if they were using their fragile bodies to protect these precious items.


    This left the soldiers bewildered. Did these bizarre undead really understand the need to provide supplies for the civilians they were rescuing?!


    Yang Qiu, who entered the valley ahead of everyone else, paid no mind to the soldiers of faith. Using the guise of "quest steps," he directed the players to corral the captives into a corner and even their feet with ropes. Then, he utilized his authority to assign quests to command the scattered players.


    In the eyes of the onlookers¡ªboth the civilians and soldiers¡ªit seemed that, without a word from Black Mage Yang, the enigmatic undead had started to get busy willingly.


    Undead that received the [Collect Firewood] quest gathered in groups, picking up twigs and chopping branches.


    Those that received the [Find Water Source] quest formed teams, carrying iron buckets from the supplies and fetching water from a spring deep in the valley.


    Many more that received quests like [Cooking for Camore Refugees] and [Receiving Guests] cheerfully unpacked the supplies, retrieved ingredients, and started cooking over makeshift fires dug in the ground¡­


    "Oh, damn, it''s instant noodles after all! Is this game planning to save on modeling by giving NPCs the same food?" A player opened a package marked with numerical symbols and started ranting while taking out a sealed packet of instant noodles. "And the seasoning is in a big packet! Are they meant to be sold in bulk?"


    "Why the heck are the developers being so obsessed with details in this messed-up aspect? Do they have too much free time!"


    "Whoa, there''s even Lao Gan Ma chili sauce! I can tell even without the label! I have the exact same bottle at home!"


    "Aren''t these the starch-filled ham sausage that the old ladies in the neighborhood buy to feed stray dogs? This package was so heavy, it turns out it''s filled with all of this!"


    "Are we seriously using lighters to start a fire in a magical world? It''s just so out of place!"


    "If the development team has the skills, they should also add cigarettes. I''d specifically request one¡­"


    "Anyone who knows how to cook? Step up and be the chef."


    "Are you kidding me? Who needs skills to cook instant noodles?"


    "Hahahaha! I''m an expert at cooking instant noodles, step aside and let me handle it!"


    With stiff expressions, the whole troop of soldiers from the Holy Legion watched the undead as they collected firewood, fetched water, and started a fire.


    A younger soldier muttered in a daze, "O Goddess of Prosperity, am I dreaming? Do the undead really know how to cook?"


    Another soldier voiced the concerns of his fellows in a shaky voice, "Captain Andres, Inspector Lowell, can we really eat the food made by the undead? Is it really safe?"


    Andres turned back and gave his subordinates a reassuring look, then patted the pouch hanging from his waist.


    The soldiers felt slightly relieved. They had brought three days'' worth of rations with them, packed in their own pouches. They could easily eat their own provisions and simply find an excuse to decline the food offered by the undead.


    For the players, cooking a meal for 500 people was nothing. The technical difficulty of this task was lower than their usual manual labor quests back in Exile Town.


    Starting a fire, though, was the real challenge. Modern people were accustomed to one-click operations with gas stoves and electric cookers, so using a small lighter to ignite the firewood was indeed difficult for the players.


    Fortunately, among the players, there was Ji Tang, the "veteran" who could do everything except give birth. He noticed that the players were struggling and only producing bouts of black smoke, so he took the initiative to help. This prevented the "NPCs" from going hungry.


    After about half an hour, a makeshift stove made of stones heated up the water in a large pot. The players in charge of cooking rough-handedly threw in dried vegetables, ham sausages, Lao Gan Ma chili sauce, and the unseparated seasonings directly from the manufacturer. They also added the instant noodles using their washed bone hands.


    The aroma of instant noodles quickly filled the entire valley¡­

 Chapter 49: Lord Yang’s proclamation

    Yang Qiu was truly fed up with unpacking supplies himself. When he reached out to Lu Yiyun, who claimed to be the Director of NeuroTech Center, for the items, he made a special request for the supplies. He asked that all food items be in "bulk" with no commercial packaging, and even instant noodles should be straight from the assembly lines.


    What could Lu Yiyun and her team say in response? They had already provided the supplies, yet the "target" was still nitpicking on these details? Fine, they would fulfill his requests to a tee!


    Thus, all the instant noodles in the batch of supplies had their original appearance straight from the production line. Noodle squares were stacked neatly and sealed with unmarked plastic wrap, while the oil and seasoning were also sealed in plastic bags, each containing an entire kilogram.


    As for the concern about uneven seasoning due to the lack of individual packaging¡­ It wouldn''t be a big issue. At worst, some packets might be saltier while others less so, but they were still edible.


    The noodles cooked quickly, and the modern industrial-processed seasonings were exceptionally flavorful. Soon, a large pot of steaming, aromatic instant noodles was ready.


    The players took out the paper bowls (these were cheap, costing about 15 to 20 cents each in wholesale but could hold 500 milliliters of soup noodles) and distributed the food to the priority group, the civilian NPCs who were now considered "on their side."


    Meanwhile, the lower-class folk from Camore couldn''t sit still once they caught a whiff of the noodle soup.


    Restless, they glanced at the large group of terrifying skeletons responsible for cooking, then at the household guards put away at the side with their hands and feet bound. The civilians gulped and got a little agitated, but they quickly calmed down.


    The concept of compulsory education didn''t exist in this world. Among the common folk, there were few who could even write their own names, let alone receive a proper education. Besides never learning organizational or disciplinary aspects of studies, they didn''t even possess basic moral virtues either.


    Bluntly put, they were uneducated and ignorant. Had it not been for their remote location within the Taranthan Wasteland, where constant scary sounds echoed from beyond the valley, and the fact that there weren''t many physically strong individuals among them, these low-born Camore weavers would have already nicked some supplies and ran away when no one was paying attention.


    The players didn''t catch onto what was going through the minds of the "civilian NPCs" as they carried the large pot (the kind used in canteens, made of stainless steel) over to the civilians and distributed paper bowls filled with noodles and disposable wooden chopsticks.


    Chopsticks were something the common folk didn''t know how to use.


    However, now that food was laid out in front of them, they didn''t care. The hungry civilians, whose mouths were already watering at the smell, simply picked up the bowls and frantically scraped the noodles using the small wooden sticks provided¡­ and scalded themselves in their hurry to eat.


    "NPCs get scalded too?" The players were rather surprised. One player even approached a civilian whose eyes were tearing up from the pain.


    The said civilian was scared witless and couldn''t move a muscle.


    "Enough, stop scaring him." Teammates of the player laughed as they dragged him away. "This game pursues realism to an insane degree. It''s normal for civilians to know they should avoid us and be afraid of getting scalded."


    "Alright, it''s really realistic, I must say. If I didn''t have a skeleton avatar, I might actually think I time-traveled rather than playing a game," another player, who had scared a few civilians, said in lament.


    Several teams of players distributed the food, and soon, at least half of the civilians were holding paper bowls and slurping loudly.


    The players found the NPCs'' reactions to be rather intriguing. "Is it really that tasty? I can''t really smell anything."


    "Duh, we undead don''t have a good sense of smell."


    "Come to think of it, seeing them enjoy the food so much makes me feel that our efforts in this quest weren''t in vain. We really worked our socks off traveling all this way."


    "Oh, come on. You were carried here. How many hours did you actually spend walking? You just chilled while the rest of us did the work¡­"


    The players carried the emptied large pot back to the makeshift stove, filled it with water, and started boiling it again. The pot could only serve ten at a time, so they couldn''t cook enough food for everyone in one go.


    As they were busy with the cooking, a series of wails and cries came from the direction of the civilians¡­


    "What''s going on?" The players turned to see what was happening while still tending to the cooking.


    To their surprise¡­ Several older male civilians were scrambling to snatch others'' bowls. Some people were pushed to the ground, and it was a chaotic mess.


    "The f*ck?!" The players were stunned.


    Anyone who had taken a train before knew that while not full, seeing someone eat instant noodles up close, especially when the tantalizing aroma was in the air, could be hard to resist.


    In this world, the consequences of a similar situation were even more severe¡­


    However, the players didn''t consider this aspect.


    "Whoa, mere NPCs would fight over food like this?!" This was what amazed the players the most.


    "I can''t believe how idle the game developers must be to program civilian NPCs to cause so much trouble!"


    "Could it be a quest? Another dynamic quest?"


    "Nothing shows on the quest panel. Anyone received a quest?"


    The only one who knew the truth, Ji Tang, didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. "Stop speculating and stop them!"


    A portion of the cooking players quickly split off, following Ji Tang in running over.


    After one person made the first move in snatching away another''s bowl, others who hadn''t received the first batch of food were also eager to get their hands on some as they stood up. But when they saw the undead rushing over, they cowered back down.


    Those that had managed to snatch away food paid no heed to the others and quickly devoured their prize.


    During these three days, Yang Qiu had provided the Camore weavers with food twice a day through sporadic handouts. However, the capacity of Yang Qiu''s spatial ring was limited, and he had grown impatient with overseeing their orderly eating. As a result, these people had resorted to fighting over food and snatching from each other¡­


    A middle-aged man named Reed (though he looked elderly) was a repeat offender when it came to snatching goods. While most people managed to get by with meager portions, this man always seemed insatiable. By the time players rushed over and restrained him, he had defiantly drank the last drop of soup.


    "That''s way too audacious!" Tang Jia, who was one of those restraining Reed, couldn''t help but exclaim.


    "Yeah, he really deserves a beating," Sister Jia Luo chimed in with displeasure.


    The blind woman who had her food snatched by Reed couldn''t see what happened, but she could feel the commotion. As Reed was pinned down, she tearfully pleaded for someone to return her food. Even though there was a language barrier, the pitiful sight tugged at the players'' hearts, making them dislike the misbehavers even more.


    "This NPC has a green name. What should we do?" Yang Ying asked.


    Team strategist, Unceasing Entropy, didn''t answer as she silently contemplated on how to handle these seemingly overly "intelligent" civilian NPCs.


    "Let''s tie them up together with the captives," Ji Tang suggested. "We can give them and the captives the food after everyone else has received theirs."


    Unceasing Entropy silently observed her compatriots tie up the unruly individuals before she glanced at Lord Yang who wasn''t too far away.


    NPC Lord Yang didn''t seem bothered at all at how they were dealing with the civilian NPCs and just stayed where he was with the black-robed pretty boy at his side.


    "Seems like that level of freedom¡­ is kinda excessive," Unceasing Entropy muttered under her breath.


    When the second batch of noodles was ready and distributed, Unceasing Entropy intentionally observed the reactions of the civilian NPCs.


    NPCs that received food dug in ravenously as if they feared their food would be snatched away.


    As for NPCs who hadn''t received food yet, though they weren''t fighting or snatching, an intense sense of eagerness, anticipation, and a strong desire to be the first to receive their portion could be seen. It was "realistic" to an exaggerated degree, and even the most dedicated extras in a movie couldn''t portray such emotions.


    Unceasing Entropy: "¡­"


    As a straight-A student with an IQ above 140, she could sense that something wasn''t right¡­


    And this sentiment was shared by over two hundred other people.


    On the other end of the valley, the Holy Legion cavalry, including Black-robed Inspector Lowell, couldn''t close their mouths.


    The undead were cooking up a mouthwatering meal¡­ That alone was mind-boggling enough!


    The undead were even distributing food to living humans!


    The undead even knew to stop those who were being disorderly!


    And their method of intervention wasn''t the cursing and beating, or even killing as they had imagined, but tying up the troublemakers and moving them aside!


    These undead were more merciful than actual human armies¡ªThat''s not right!


    Lowell stiffly turned his head away and rubbed his temples.


    ¡­If he hadn''t been absolutely certain that he wasn''t dreaming, and that Yang wasn''t an illusionist, Lowell would have suspected he was experiencing some sort of mental lapse or had fallen for some sort of hallucination.


    Lowell, who was struggling with the distraction, noticed that the black mage was facing him directly, holding an object slightly larger than his palm and thinner than his fingers. On the back of the object was a circular device that looked like a camera lens.


    "¡­You¡­What is that¡­?" Lowell inquired.


    "Nothing," Yang Qiu replied calmly, his back to the players as he calmly kept the smartphone away.


    Having personally witnessed the famed Black-robed Inspector of the Goddess of Prosperity''s faith having his worldview completely shattered, Yang Qiu, who was qualified as a standard Earthling, naturally wanted to take a picture to commemorate the moment¡­


    Seeing Lowell''s skeptical expression, Yang Qiu decisively changed the subject, "Inspector Lowell, had you not witnessed it firsthand, you wouldn''t easily have believed that there are undead so orderly. It goes to show that people''s definitions of certain things are always limited. The same thing defined by different individuals will lead to different impressions, but such definitions cannot truly reflect the essence of a certain something."


    "¡­You have a point." Lowell reluctantly nodded.


    Yang Qiu flashed a slight smile. "Noblemen who have prejudices against me might speculate about my intentions for taking these people who aren''t able to survive Camore. I myself can guess a few. I hope this opportunity will help you and your fellow clergy understand that these biased and narrow conjectures have absolutely no credibility."


    Lowell: "¡­"


    Andres, who was seated quietly beside the two: "¡­"


    Well¡­ In any case, both of them now reckoned that the view of the noblemen toward this fellow might not be entirely fair.


    "Taranthan has been an abandoned wasteland for a thousand years, and throughout this time the impression people had of Taranthan has only been one of desolation and danger." Yang Qiu didn''t care whether his audience believed him or not; he only focused on delivering his message.


    "Many years ago, when I traveled through this land, I was deeply impressed by its wild yet vibrant nature."


    Lowell and Andres. "¡­"


    Demonized beasts and mutated creatures roaming everywhere can hardly be considered the "vibrancy" of Taranthan¡­ But well, whatever floats your boat.


    "¡­I believe this land can regain its splendor, and I also believe that these unique undead can establish civilization and order in this desolate land," Yang Qiu continued with a smile. "Taking in the abandoned people of Camore is the shared will of both me and the undead. And as you can see, we will prove our goodwill through action."


    Lowell, who found it all rather ridiculous, became serious when he heard this.


    Yang Qiu''s statement was equivalent to a formal declaration that he intended to establish himself as the ruler of Taranthan.


    Having a black mage occupy the wastelands next to their own country and declare himself king¡­ In Lowell''s eyes, it would be a complete joke if he had heard such a thing just a day before.


    The reason was simple¡ªTaranthan wasn''t just devoid of indigenous inhabitants, but it also wasn''t located by the sea.


    To claim an unowned land as ruler without native settlers to cultivate it and without the convenience of building a harbor to bring in slaves¡­ What could one possibly do with that land?


    Importing a large number of immigrants from outside might be a solution, but that would require money.


    Even if some settlers were tricked to come over by deceit, until the land was successfully cultivated and yielding produce, all settlers would rely on the lord for protection and sustenance.


    In short, this was just a wasteful expenditure of money¡ªmeaningless and futile. If one had such capital to spend, it would be more feasible to buy a fleet of ships and hire mercenaries to plunder colonies on the Outer Continent.


    The noblemen of Camore that were eager to seize land from local farmers wouldn''t even bother glancing at Taranthan, and these people surely weren''t complete idiots.


    "¡­I see." Although many thoughts were racing through his mind, Lowell decided on this response and nodded solemnly. "I respect your ideas, Black Mage. But for the sake of our long-lasting friendship, I hope this is the last time you receive the citizens of the Duchy of Shiga."


    Yang Qiu chuckled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.


    He understood the nature of the rulers in this world very well. If he, as the self-proclaimed ruler of Taranthan, were to be at odds with the Duchy of Shiga, they would undoubtedly take the initiative to gather their impoverished citizens and send them his way, gleefully waiting for Yang Qiu to feed them all.


    Even the supposedly civilized middle class on Earth arrogantly severed ties with their less fortunate and always talked about how the eradication of the poor in a region would raise the overall happiness of the entire nation.


    So, how could he expect the nobles here, who were even more ruthless than Earth''s middle class, to treat their own people like humans? It was simply wishful thinking on his part.


    As they spoke, the third batch of instant noodles cooked by the players was ready. A bunch of skeletons carried the large pot and stacks of disposable paper bowls over¡­


    Lowell, who had successfully regained his composure, shuddered. The inspector of the Goddess of Prosperity''s faith turned his stiff face to look at his own troops.


    ¡­Everyone, including Andres, sat silently and unmoving in their spots.


    None tried to make any excuses to leave, nor did they unfasten the leather bags from their waists.


    Although everyone managed to remain composed and weren''t sniffing the air or licking their lips, all their eyes were fixed on the large pot carried by the undead¡­


    Lowell. "¡­"


    To make matters worse, this black-robed inspector couldn''t even demand that everyone stay true to themselves because when the large pot was brought before them, the tantalizing aroma overwhelmed his sense of smell as well.


    Even Lowell''s salivary glands became more active¡­ sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 50: Your Undead Friends

    Domestically produced instant noodles, capable of withstanding the critical taste test of hundreds of millions of Chinese people, would undoubtedly be a profitable commodity if a time-traveling merchant could sell them in the 19th and 20th centuries.


    21st-century Chinese people might seem picky, with many insisting on only consuming pure, natural, and organic foods wouldn¡¯t be an issue. Back in the 19th century, most didn''t have the luxury of being picky.


    Even just turning the clock back 30 years, hardly anyone would care whether their lard at home was from pigs fed with genetically modified feed or not, nor that soybean oil was a healthier option. They certainly wouldn''t discard the pork lard just because it lacked the health benefits of the latter.


    Having the luxury to be picky about food was only something that came about in the last twenty-odd years or so, thanks to surplus production capacity.


    Complaints about instant noodles being unhealthy, lacking nutrition, having monotonous flavors, and just for satiation were only made by those who could afford them. It was entirely possible that the instant noodles stored in the cabinets of Chinese households could remain till they expired. But if the same instant noodles were placed in some impoverished African country, that would never happen.


    In short, mass production of spices on a production line and delivering them to households at extremely low prices¡ªa common practice of Earth¡ªhad never occurred in this other world. The sweet, umami, salty, and aromatic seasonings inside the instant noodle packages easily conquered the taste buds of the indigenous people here.


    On top of that, there was the deadly weapon¡ªLao Gan Ma chili sauce¡ªthat was added to each bowl. Whether it was a commoner from Camore who had never tasted anything good or a well-born knight serving the faith, not a single drop of soup was left in their bowls when they were done.


    "Damn, seeing these NPCs enjoy it so much makes me want a bowl too," muttered someone as the players were cleaning up. "I wonder if we would be able to eat the food in this game if our in-game characters were humans instead of skeletons¡­"


    "That''s probably impossible. No matter how advanced this game is, it can''t simulate the sense of taste. At most, it will show an animation of eating."


    "Sigh¡­ In web novels, don''t immersive holographic games give players a sense of taste when eating? This game is a disappointment!"


    "Wake up! Time for labor!"


    "Hahaha¡­"


    Unceasing Entropy separated from her team for the time being and wandered through the crowd of players doing quests and, after a while, managed to find Blossoming Strokes.


    "Blossom, I need to discuss something." Unceasing Entropy motioned to Blossoming Strokes from a short distance away.


    Blossoming Strokes finished discussing the online schedules with her teammates, then left her team and came over. "What''s up, Qingyue?"


    All the members of Unceasing Entropy''s team followed how Tang Jia addressed her as Qingyue, and over time, Blossoming Strokes also did the same.


    Unceasing Entropy looked around, then led Blossoming Strokes to a less crowded area for more privacy and whispered, "Blossom, have you noticed something strange about these NPCs?"


    "Um¡­ Which aspect do you mean?" Blossoming Strokes didn''t understand.


    Unceasing Entropy hesitated, unsure of how to broach the subject. After a pause, she finally said, "It''s just¡­ I keep feeling that these NPCs are way too intelligent. Their behavioral logic seems too realistic."


    "Aren''t the NPCs in this game always like that?" Blossoming Strokes responded. "The advanced NPCs in Exile Town can even understand and respond to players'' taunts, plus they send players back to the respawn point if they get annoyed. It''s way more impressive than real-life AI."


    "Well¡­ Although it seems strange to only bring it up now, I have to say that the NPCs in this game, especially the many human ones we just encountered, don''t seem to make sense," Unceasing Entropy said with a grimace.


    "How do I put it¡­ Those captives seem to be seeking help from those advanced NPCs riding alongside Lord Yang, but those NPCs ignore them. Also, the civilian NPCs we interact with for the quest really look and act like refugees, and really portray it more realistically than any oscar-winning actor could.


    "It''s not just their appearance. What I mean is their behavioral logic, response patterns¡­ everything is so in line with the ''refugee'' setting. If this is just a part of the game developers'' pursuit of ''realism'' and ''immersion,'' and the behavioral logic of these civilian NPCs is completely programmed, then I can only say that the game development team''s programmers are all super-geniuses way ahead of their time."


    Blossoming Strokes went silent for a bit before whispering, "Qingyue, are you trying to say that these NPCs are played by actual people?"


    Unceasing Entropy faltered, "Uh¡­"


    Blossoming Strokes gave Unceasing Entropy''s arm a reassuring pat and said earnestly, "Chill, girl. If we wish to forcibly log out, we can do it in a second and wake up in the real world. Our only connection to this game world is the helmet we wear.


    "In fact, your line of thought is perfectly normal. When I first entered this game, I too wondered whether I was experiencing a plot from a novel and had been transmigrated to another world by putting on the helmet. So, I specifically got my mom to help me. She used her phone and videoed how I fell asleep upon wearing the helmet, and then she forcibly took it off¡­


    "The outcome was entirely normal. As soon as the helmet was removed, I woke up on the sofa at home. It isn''t just me. Many others playing the game have had their parents, wives, or husbands forcefully remove their helmets too. It''s similar to unplugging the network cable when playing an online game.


    "If this is somehow a form of ''transmigration,'' then our ''transmigration'' is too easy, as if it were child''s play. In those ''infinite worlds'' and ''transmigration'' stories, usually there''s at least a ''system'' to assist the transmigration process.


    "Of course, this game definitely isn''t VR. I''ve checked, and no VR game from any company allows you to log in with just one helmet. But, in any case, we aren''t researchers nor game developers, just players. As long as we can play the game, that''s all that matters. Why should we care about the underlying black technology? Don''t you agree?"


    Unceasing Entropy. "¡­"


    She could relate to what Blossoming Strokes said. As a young Chinese, she wasn''t a stranger to the concept of "transmigration" even if she didn''t read web novels or comics; the theme of transmigration could also be found in movies and TV shows.


    When playing a game like "OtherWorld," which was so immersive and felt nothing like a modern technology product of Earth, it was only natural for players to doubt whether it was just a game or something more.


    However, the reality was that players could only enter this world by wearing the helmet, and without it, they couldn''t "transmigrate" no matter how hard they tried, even if they stayed offline and slept all day.


    Moreover, "OtherWorld" did have familiar game mechanics, such as the quest system, reputation system, and class system, which were similar to traditional MMORPGs.


    "Alright, maybe seeing so many human NPCs for the first time made me overthink," sighed Unceasing Entropy.


    Blossoming Strokes chuckled. "It''s normal. Not just human NPCs, when I first encountered the zombie NPCs at the start, I really wasn''t sure if I was playing a game. Actually, now that I think about it more, it doesn''t make sense for the state to completely ignore it if we could transmigrate to another world via a game, right?"


    Unceasing Entropy also laughed. "Yeah. If the damned game developers really could allow so many people to transmigrate to another world, then why not open the gates to the other world and conquer it. We''d be rich just by cutting down trees, let alone mining minerals and extracting oil."


    "Exactly! It''s a waste to leave this place uncultivated. We could clear the land, grow crops, and have a huge granary in just three to five years." Blossoming Strokes laughed heartily.


    Meanwhile, on the other side of the valley, while engaged in a lively conversation (mutual probing) with Black-robed Inspector Lowell, Yang Qiu suddenly paused.


    "Hmm?" Lowell thought this black mage was about to make another profound statement and patiently listened.


    "Nothing," Yang Qiu refocused on the conversation at hand.


    Getting rich by chopping trees. Why hadn''t he ever thought of that! New manual labor quest¡ªreserved for future use.


    Once players were roughly done tidying up, Yang Qiu released a new instant quest. Using reputation as a reward to drive this group of cheap laborers, he got players to lead the civilians, captives, and the horses they had ridden to set off.


    The carts civilians sat on were pulled by mules because the carts were too low to fit on horses. However, since horses couldn''t really speed up much when pulling carts, it didn''t really matter.


    Half an hour later, the large group entered the plain that Yang Qiu had coined "Desolate Wasteland."


    Upon seeing the heaps of supplies piled up in the plain and dozens of randomly placed metal tricycles, the jaws of the Holy Legion cavalry nearly dropped to the ground.


    This area originally designated to be the battlefield hadn''t been used due to Yang Qiu being intercepted in advance by the Holy Legion cavalry. However, the base here still needed to be built. Yang Qiu signaled the Holy Legion calvary to choose their own spot to camp and immediately headed toward the zombie general standing at the heart of the supplies, "holding down the fort."


    On the surface, the leader of the players'' race had to be the zombie general NPC. Thus, "NPC Lord Yang," Yang Qiu, couldn''t be monopolizing all the quests. A portion had to be assigned by the zombie general.


    While controlling the zombie general, Yang Qiu had a private, scripted conversation with himself in front of the players. Next, the "leader of the undead," the zombie general, issued quests to players. The first quest was to build tents for the civilian NPCs, and the second quest was requesting players to build a respawn point.


    Players were pleasantly surprised upon receiving the second quest. "Whoa, we can build respawn points? Besides logging in and out, will we be able to teleport too?!"


    "Finally, the teleport function is activated! At least these damned developers have the conscience to not make us walk the whole way back!"


    "Wait, this teleportation point can only be used by the undead, right? So, we still have to walk in order to send the civilian NPCs to Exile Town?"


    "What''s wrong with that? Isn''t it great to farm monsters along the way?"


    "F*ck yeah!" Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The promise of the teleportation feature ignited the players'' enthusiasm. There wasn''t any dissatisfaction with the manual labor quests, and all the players got busy.


    Yang Qiu was pleased with the players'' enthusiasm.


    The undead''s teleportation array, to put it simply, was a summoning array. Its mechanism was similar to the mechanism that allowed players to be teleported back to the resurrection point after death. Therefore, only players, who were basically undead, could use it, while living beings couldn''t.


    Constructing this array required a large amount of magic powder, and the magic powder spellcasters players worked so hard to increase their reputation was finally put to good use.


    Yang Qiu didn''t plan to limit development to just Exile Town. Establishing bases in places closer to the Duchy of Shiga would lay the groundwork for Taranthan''s future development.


    Currently, there were few players and not that many civilians had been taken in. A main town, Exile Town, and a satellite town, Desolate Outpost, would be sufficient for the time being.


    Black-robed Inspector Lowell chose a location neither too far nor too close to the undead and ordered his troops to camp there. He arranged his men and came over to the base to assess the situation.


    Then he noticed¡­ that the undead were still very energetic and busying themselves with work. Some were setting up tents for the civilians, while others wielded shovels and pickaxes to dig holes.


    Lowell: "¡­"


    Were it not for the friendly behavior of these undead towards the living, Lowell would have suspected they were trying to bury the civilians.


    Of course, not all of the undead were doing something. Lowell spotted some doing nothing, chattering in empty spots in an incomprehensible tongue, then gathering and walking out in a group¡­


    Within the player community, there would always be ones that stood out as independent individuals. Despite the reputation rewards offered by the zombie general for the manual labor quests, some players still hesitated to participate. Instead, they were inclined toward teaming up and exploring the surroundings in hopes of finding some monsters to fight.


    These players, ready to venture to the outskirts of the base, noticed Lowell approaching them. One of them immediately approached with enthusiasm and struck up a conversation, "Hello, do you need any help from your undead friends?"


    Lowell, who couldn''t understand Mandarin. "??"


    "Oh, this NPC isn''t interactive," the player waited for a moment and, without receiving a proper response, said dejectedly.


    "Stop trying. NPCs with quests will initiate conversations and those that don''t won''t respond even if you interact with them," a comrade explained.


    The player who initiated the conversation walked away.


    Lowell: "¡­"


    Black-robed Inspector Lowell then entered the base.


    While players continued to set up tents and dig holes to build the respawn point, they noticed the enigmatic advanced NPC walking alone. Immediately, several of them dropped what they were doing and eagerly approached him.


    "Hello, do you need help from your undead friends?"


    "Hey, handsome. Need any assistance?"


    Lowell: "??"

 Chapter 51: The friendly Taranthan undead

    Inside Lord Yang and the zombie general''s tent.


    When Lowell entered, his face stiffened even more as he saw the two seated side by side, with Yang Qiu on the left and the zombie general on the right.


    "Please have a seat." Yang Qiu politely beckoned. "The undead are currently busy constructing the summoning array that they require. I apologize for the lack of proper hospitality."


    "By tomorrow morning, we can set off again and send some of the civilians to the already habitable Exile Town we have built," Yang Qiu continued.


    "¡­Yang," Lowell struggled to maintain his nonchalance. "I acknowledge the fact that these ''Taranthan undead'' are friendly toward the living. However, I still believe that having civilians coexist with these undead isn''t a good idea."


    "I understand. While the undead are very friendly, their appearance may indeed be too unsettling for ordinary civilians," Yang Qiu replied with a smile. "However, please trust me when I say that it is not a major issue. For the sake of better living conditions, I believe the civilians can adapt to and accept these friendly undead."


    Lowell: "¡­"


    Having lived for nearly three hundred years, Lowell, despite being high above and separated from the common folk, couldn''t be completely ignorant of the hardships faced by commoners.


    He had heard countless stories of civilians committing crimes just for food throughout his life.


    While there wasn''t a saying like "people do not fear death but fear what kills them" in this world, the underlying principle of such a saying was universal, and wise individuals of this world weren''t lacking such understanding.


    Therefore, Lowell completely understood the implied meaning in Yang Qiu''s words¡ªwhen people are struggling to survive, is it really such a big issue to coexist with the undead?


    Lowell couldn''t help but sigh softly.


    Camore was a well-known and prosperous town in the Duchy of Shiga''s east. Yet even in this town, there were commoners who would willingly devote themselves to the undead for a bellyful of food. With his extensive life experience, Lowell couldn''t blame these commoners for lacking dignity or betraying their compatriots. It wasn''t their fault.


    Yang Qiu could empathize with the Black-robed Inspector''s frustration. After all, with his age and experience, lacking a broad perspective would mean his several hundred years of living would have been in vain.


    Of course, empathizing didn''t mean Yang Qiu was willing to yield.


    Taranthan needed to first develop in order for the Fourth Crisis to have things to do. And for it to develop, friction and conflict with its neighbors were inevitable.


    Head-on confrontation right from the start wasn''t possible since the number of players still wasn''t enough to crush even paper tigers. So, before gaining sufficient strength, it was important to take advantage of whatever possible first and secure as much time for sneaky growth as possible while avoiding confrontation.


    "I have to be honest with you, Inspector Lowell," Yang Qiu said sincerely. "In truth, Taranthan''s undead accepting these Camore commoners isn''t due to their own desire but simply because of my personal selfishness.


    "As you know, I once stayed briefly in Camore, and I vividly remember the plight of the displaced farmers there. I know there were many unfortunate souls among them, and I just want to provide what little help I can, even if it means allowing these unfortunate people to have a few decent meals in their final years. At least, it allows me to have a clear conscience."


    Lowell was taken aback. As an inspector of the Goddess of Prosperity''s faith, Lowell''s powerful perception allowed him to sense that Yang Qiu was speaking the truth.


    It was indeed the truth. In this conversation, Yang Qiu had spoken from the heart, though he did omit some crucial details.


    This made Lowell feel slightly abashed. He realized that he had interpreted and assumed Yang''s intentions solely based on his own cognition and sentiment¡ªbecause he found the "Taranthan undead" somewhat peculiar and was startled by the grotesque zombie general.


    "You truly are a seeker worthy of respect, spellcaster." Lowell''s face flushed slightly. This was him expressing his highest praise for Black Mage Yang from the standpoint of a high-ranking faithful¡ªspellcasters called themselves seekers, which many faiths refused to acknowledge.


    Toward this praise, Yang Qiu modestly replied, "I am just trying to do what I ought to."


    Just as he was acting all pretentious, several players boldly entered the tent.


    Lowell assumed these undead had something to discuss with Yang, so he prepared to find an excuse to leave. However, to his surprise, these skeletons didn''t even pay attention to Yang and directly went toward the zombie general.


    Two of the skeletons even seemed curiously fixated on him as they chattered away in some demonic tongue that Lowell couldn''t understand.


    "Oh, Old Yang''s buddy is here too?"


    "Let me take a screenshot first. I''ll log out and save it once we finish building the respawn point."


    "I feel that this NPC looks more like a protagonist. If Old Yang is killed off, will they replace him with this one as Lord? Nowadays, games love using this ''love-hate'' plotline¡­"


    Lowell, who couldn''t understand their words, didn''t know why these undead often showed interest in him. Even more puzzling was why these intelligent skeletons were surrounding a seemingly mindless zombie general.


    Yang Qiu, who understood their jokes and banter, calmly sipped his tea.


    He was an elder and wouldn''t argue with these players over a few remarks, like how those former bandits often did.


    Noticing the teapot was empty, Yang Qiu nonchalantly issued an impromptu quest.


    The player who had gone on about "Old Yang getting killed off and being replaced" suddenly turned around, grabbed the teapot, and walked out, saying, "I just triggered a quest to boil water for Old Yang. You guys carry on without me!"


    "Go ahead, bro!"


    Lowell who still didn''t understand anything: "¡­"


    Yang Qiu smiled and explained, "I don''t need words to communicate with the undead."


    "¡­I see." Lowell reluctantly accepted this explanation. After hesitating for a moment, he couldn''t suppress his curiosity any longer and asked, "These undead seem to¡­ take some interest in me?"


    "Don''t mind it. They are just curious about everything," Yang Qiu waved it off nonchalantly.


    After chatting with Lowell for a bit, Yang Qiu issued another impromptu quest to the player who had expressed the desire for him to be killed off.


    The player, who was busy boiling water and making tea, immediately jumped up and hurriedly went to rummage through the supplies to prepare snacks for Old Yang¡­


    At six in the evening, OtherWorld time, when Yang Qiu issued players the quest of preparing dinner for NPCs, he continued assigning the most trivial of tasks to this player¡­


    "Something''s wrong! Why do I feel like I''ve been running errands all day today?" This player, who was having a blast earning reputation, couldn''t help but grumble after being busy for the whole day.


    "It''s good to have quests to do," his teammate gloated. "Did you hear about Guileless Gale and Phantom''s team heading out to ''explore'' and got wiped out? They ended up back in Exile Town because the respawn point at this base camp hasn''t been set up yet, and they can''t teleport over. They''ve been crying over there and posted several threads on the forum asking us to speed up the construction."


    "They deserve it! Those guys only call for help when they''re in trouble!" This player, who was annoyed by the menial errands, suddenly perked up and cheered. Players were delighted by little things like this.


    When the soldiers of the Holy Legion entered the base for dinner, they noticed a large pit dug in the center of the base. Some skeletons were preparing food for them, while others surrounded that large pit.


    Black Mage Yang, accompanied by an ugly, grotesque zombie in ancient, tattered armor, was encircled by a group of chattering skeletons at the edge of the pit.


    Even more absurd was that the zombie general was actually speaking, using a language similar to that of the skeletons, though with a slightly more complex pronunciation and a distinctive rhythm. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Holy Legion cavalry and Andres: "??"


    Zombies, like skeletons that didn''t die, were considered abnormal creatures that didn''t fall into the category of normal living beings. In terms of monsters, they could be considered "physically mutated" ones.


    In simple terms, they had tough skin, agile movements, and strong destructive power.


    But when it came to danger¡­ at least in the eyes of the holy soldiers, whose job was to deal with monsters, zombies¡ªlike skeletons¡ªwere a low priority.


    The reason was simple: both these undead monsters had very low intelligence. Zombies even less than skeletons.


    Many black mages would use a ghost as their servant rather than a skeleton. And even if they had no choice but to use a skeleton, a zombie would never be in consideration. Skeletons could at least sweep the floor and do simple chores, but zombies couldn''t even handle the most basic of tasks.


    "Don''t be surprised; it''s just that this zombie king is rather special," Lowell told his subordinates. "The Taranthan undead are very convinced by this zombie king, and they hold it in high regard. We must not disrespect it."


    "Understood," Andres replied, gulping nervously and leading the way.


    "Not just the skeletons but even the zombie is special?" Several soldiers found it difficult to understand.


    Having already had a meal prepared by the skeletons in the afternoon, now the civilians and even Holy Legion soldiers were rather satisfied with the evening''s dinner and nobody felt uncomfortable.


    Of course, the main reason for their satisfaction was the rich variety for dinner, which even included "dessert"¡ªsmall biscuits wrapped in paper and pudding (jelly) in cartons.


    The soldiers, who were very content with the dinner, happily returned to their own camp to rest after finishing their meal.


    Seven hours after dinner.


    Andres got up silently, lifted his blanket aside, and crawled out of his small tent. With a stiff expression, he gazed at the undead base.


    Even in the darkness, faint noises occasionally came from the base.


    This was still acceptable¡ªthere was still some distance between their camp and the undead base after all, so they could tolerate it.


    But the problem was that the activities of these undead were not limited to their shabby base!


    Andres didn''t stand there for very long before he saw a large group of undead running out from their base under the dim moonlight, creating a rattling as they ran.


    While running, these undead were also chattering loudly.


    This noisy bunch passed by less than 50 meters from the southeastern side of the Holy Legion soldiers¡¯ camp and headed deep into the wilderness.


    Andres''s head throbbed with annoyance at the disturbance caused by this group. He took a deep breath, then exhaled, forcibly suppressing the anger in his heart. Silently turning around, he bent over and entered his tent.


    This was already¡­ the fifth batch of noisy undead that had passed by their camp! There probably wouldn''t be any more activity and noise now, right! Andres thought to himself as he lay back down in his blanket and shut his eyes.


    Before long, this weary veteran fell into a deep sleep¡­


    Cha Cha!


    "WAKAKAAAA!"


    "KUGULULU!"


    "KEKUEKEKUE!"


    Andres was awakened by noise once more. His bloodshot eyes shot open and he covered his head with both hands.


    Andres understood that the undead didn''t need rest, and he had no right to get mad. However, this was already the sixth batch coming out from there¡ªwouldn''t the base be empty by now?!


    Veins bulged on his forehead as the disturbance passed, and the physically and mentally exhausted Andres shut his eyes once more.


    Roughly around an hour later, the rattling of bones sounded again¡­


    This time, the undead, still full of energy and jumping around in the middle of the night, seemed to be deliberately making an even louder din than previously.


    Andres''s face twisted with rage as he crawled out of his tent, and somehow a sword had found its way to his hand.


    Several others lost their patience as well and emerged from their tents with weapons drawn too.


    These soldiers, with killing intent surging, stared at the undead that couldn''t empathize with them.


    Then, these soldiers, who had decent night vision, were stunned to discover that these undead were actually arguing.


    Not only were they arguing, but they had also started fighting.


    Roughly 30 to 40 meters away from their camp, hundreds of skeletons were engaged in a chaotic brawl, with many skeletons glowing red from using battle roar¡­


    Holy Legion soldiers: "??"


    "If we didn''t set up the teleportation point, you guys would still be crying in Exile Town! Stealing our monsters the moment you teleport here, have you no shame?!"


    "Ask yourself that question! We''ve already given up half of the monster spawn points we discovered while exploring. What makes you think you have the right to take them from us? Such audacity!"


    "Focus fire! Don''t let him escape!"


    "F*cking die!"


    "Vanilla Slash!"

 Chapter 52: Poisonous Marshlands

    At present, players who had completed their first job advancement only had four skills. The reason for the limited number was that players'' mental strength wouldn''t be able to bear it if too many skill runes were equipped. Nonetheless, even just having four skills still represented a significant improvement.


    Yang Qiu, being a high-level black mage, knew better than most about the extent of mental energy consumption that skill runes required. Therefore, he needed to provide the most suitable runic combinations for first-job spellcasters while taking into account their mental capabilities.


    For non-spellcaster players, the skill runes equipped were derived from the runes used by alchemists for their golems. Even golems without consciousness could participate in battles when equipped with runes, let alone characters controlled by players.


    The players had easily handled around 70 household guards that day, and their success wasn''t solely because of their intimidating skeletal appearance; after all, a cornered dog would bite, and those household guards didn''t just submit meekly without resistance.


    Just that, although the players at their current strength level could engage in a brawl with the household guards and even come out victorious, their fights ended up in disarray, without any clear strategy¡­


    They were, after all, law-abiding citizens that had grown up in a peaceful country, and it was simply impossible for them to have any experience in street fights.


    Moreover, these players practically looked the same, and their equipment didn''t have many significant differences. This made it near impossible for the onlooking Holy Legion soldiers to distinguish them apart. The sight of skeletons hacking and hollering at one another left them utterly overwhelmed¡­


    An ascetic in white robes couldn''t help but comment with a deadpan expression, "I''ve seen villagers in Camore bind cloth strips on their arms to differentiate between friend and foe during a water dispute in the countryside¡­ Can these undead really tell who they are attacking?"


    "It''s totally a mess," another holy warrior staring blankly at the scene muttered.


    A silence came over the Holy Legion soldiers.


    Is this called yearning for order? This mess?! Everyone''s thoughts hovered around this notion. However, they had enjoyed two meals here, and despite the chaos caused by the undead, these creatures couldn''t be considered outright evil. Out of courtesy and decorum, no one voiced their complaints aloud.


    "¡­Forget it," Andres said stiffly. "Everyone, go back and rest. I''ll ask Inspector Lowell to set up sound barriers around the camp."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Ji Tang, leading Yang Ying, Jia Luo, and a bunch of unaffiliated players out of the base, saw the chaotic brawl in the distance.


    "They''re still fighting?" Yang Ying exclaimed in surprise. "Isn''t it over yet? They''ve been at it all night."


    "It''s definitely not over," Jia Luo said matter-of-factly. "Earlier, someone from Guileless Gale''s side lured monsters over to Vanilla''s side, causing them to get team wiped. Though it wasn''t intentional, Vanilla''s faction still held a grudge. When I logged out earlier to have supper, I heard someone saying Give Me Medicine was going to lure monsters to get Guileless Gale''s team wiped out."


    Yang Ying didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. "Is that really necessary? There are so many monsters in that swamp that all players combined couldn''t clear. There''s simply no need to fight over them."


    "It''s not a matter of kill-stealing monsters, but rather, monopolizing high-grade materials," an unaffiliated player chimed in. "During the day, Ji Tang farmed a lot of territory prestige, so it''s only natural for Brother Lahong and Vanilla Boss to be anxious."


    Yang Ying still couldn''t agree and shook her head repeatedly. "If you want materials, either farm them yourself or spend money to buy them. There''s no need to ruin the game for everyone."


    "Heh, you don''t understand, Sis Ying," Jia Luo said. "Fighting against others is a lot of fun, you know? In a game I used to play, two large guilds were at odds from the start of the server. The two years they spent in conflict made our server incredibly lively. Later, one of the guilds switched to another server, and within two months, our server became a ghost town."


    "That''s right, competition is a good thing. A game can only stay vibrant when there''s competition," other unaffiliated players chimed in.


    "Logging in would become boring otherwise."


    Yang Ying. "Oh¡­"


    "We won''t be heading this way. Let''s take a detour." Ji Tang turned around and informed his party. "While they are distracted and fighting, let''s go hunt elite monsters."


    "Sounds like a plan!"


    Desolate Outpost was surrounded by abundant water sources. About 800 meters south of the base was a swamp that stretched for miles.


    For living humans, this swamp was undoubtedly a restricted zone. The poisonous fog and miasma here were much more severe than those in the Sorensen Mountain Range, and the water and grass teemed with venomous insects and snakes. Blood-sucking mosquitoes, the size of a child''s fist, filled the air and could drain a wild buffalo dry within minutes.


    But to the players¡­ even the most venomous snakes and bugs would only gross them out at most.


    The "monsters" here could be shown via players'' "Identify" and ranged from level 1 to 4.


    Currently, players still couldn''t handle level-4 monsters; the painful lesson from when Guileless Gale''s team was wiped out had already been posted on the forum.


    Fortunately, there weren''t many level-4 monsters around. After suffering several wipes, the "pioneer" player teams had determined that the two level-4 monsters they found were only active at the central part of the mangrove. It was relatively safe as long as that area was avoided.


    Monsters between the range of level 1 and 3 were well within the players'' fighting capabilities.


    Ji Tang led the small party made up of members of four teams northwest into the swamp, braving the dark mist and toxic fumes. Soon, players taking turns to use "Identify" detected a monster.


    "It''s a Demonized Toad, a monster we''ve slain before," the unaffiliated player who spotted the monster was visibly excited and promptly whispered to the team.


    "A level-3 monster? Can we handle it?" a player that had revived back in Exile Town and only recently teleported over asked nervously.


    "Relax, we can take it down. We fought one on our way here," said Yang Ying confidently. "In this game, a monster''s strength isn''t solely determined by its level. For instance, among level 1 spider monsters, the ones with octopus-like tentacles are easier to defeat compared to the ones with scythe-like legs. This Demonized Toad is nothing like that rat king back in town; it moves slowly and doesn''t have high defense."


    Party leader Ji Tang surveyed the surroundings and said, "The terrain here isn''t ideal. We won''t be able to escape if we fight here and lure more monsters in by mistake. Let''s retreat back the way we came and lead the Demonized Toad further out before we fight it."


    The unaffiliated players were all rather obedient and nodded in agreement.


    Ji Tang then asked, "I need a few wanderers to help me lure the monster, any volunteers?"


    "Me! Me!"


    "I''ll do it!"


    Several wanderer players immediately volunteered.


    Due to the difficulty in transitioning to the mage class, knights being punching bags, and the squishiness of warriors, the most popular class among players at present was the wanderer class. For every ten players that had successfully done a job advancement, at least six were wanderers.


    Ji Tang selected a few wanderer players, then turned to Jia Luo and instructed, "There''s no need for you to lure the monster. You and Yang Ying lead the rest out and wait at the grass plain we just passed."


    "Got it." Jia Luo nodded and immediately went to lead the rest of the party with her.


    Once the main group was gone, Ji Tang led the wanderer players who volunteered to set up traps in the dense shrubbery.


    As they watched Ji Tang skillfully fashion traps out of vines and branches, the few wanderer players were amazed.


    "Ji Tang¡­ Brother Tang, are you a hunter in real life?" a player asked curiously.


    "No, I foug¡ªserved as a soldier in the southwestern region." JiTang laughed. "Come help me tie this vine to the tree trunk over there."


    "Right away~!"


    After their initial astonishment, the wanderer players felt something wasn''t right. "Hey, Brother Tang, the Demonized Toad is quite huge. Will these traps even work against them?"


    "These traps aren''t meant for monsters," chuckled Ji Tang.


    The wanderer players helping set up the traps paused. These players weren''t idiots and, with some thought, could easily understand Ji Tang''s intent. S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "What Guileless Gale''s team started truly sucks. They fostered the trend of luring monsters to hurt others, and many might suffer in the future." An older unaffiliated player sighed.


    "Yeah," another player chimed in. "The monsters in this game are already so ferocious, and it''s difficult to escape once they are aggro-ed. Now, with this trend of luring monsters, guilds don''t even have to resort to PK and can just lure monsters to wipe unaffiliated teams like us."


    "It''s tough enough for us randos to form teams and farm monsters, and now we have to be on constant guard against luring monsters. It''s just too difficult!"


    Ji Tang only chuckled, but didn''t say anything.


    He was well aware that the players that had formed factions had some resentment toward him due to Unceasing Entropy''s insistence on trying to become mayor of Exile Town.


    However, he too had the intention of vying for the position of mayor.


    This wasn''t for personal glory in the game, but because he genuinely felt uneasy for "civilian NPCs" coming into Exile Town if players became the mayor.


    Ji Tang wouldn''t have been so proactive in leading parties, hunting monsters, and gathering materials all night long if that wasn''t the case. As the only person in the player community who knew the truth, this was the responsibility that Ji Tang had to shoulder.


    ¡­It would be great to have a few more helpers, Ji Tang sighed to himself silently.


    Players approached the game with a mindset of wanting to be entertained. Even if they died, they could respawn within half an hour and wouldn''t have any psychological burden placed on them regardless of whom they killed.


    During the "Night of Rampaging," when players were fighting over equipment and each other, Ji Tang spent the entire time in distress.


    The "advanced NPCs" were incredibly resilient and didn''t shed much blood even after being stabbed by the players. However, these new "civilian NPCs" couldn''t compare to them. Having observed them closely, Ji Tang found that these civilians all showed severe symptoms of long-term malnutrition. For them, a simple stab or push could easily lead to injury.


    Yet, he couldn''t tell the players straight up to handle these NPCs with care, which made Ji Tang nearly cough up blood from the frustration.


    Just as Ji Tang was worried that his shoulders weren''t enough to bear this burden alone, two bare skeletal frames emerged from the ground at the platform in Exile Town''s center¡­

 Chapter 53: New players

    Players that had reached level 1 but had yet to complete their job advancement could use the newly built spawn point to teleport to Desolate Outpost, so in the wee hours of the morning during peak online activity, Exile Town became much more lively as compared to the last few days.


    It wasn''t just all-night monster hunting parties; even the regular manual laboring bunch took a break from their usual routine to explore the "new map."


    Of course, as with any group, among the players, there were always those that didn''t like to follow the crowd, didn''t care for official events, and played the game on their own terms.


    Ou Huang, real name Lin Rulong, was one such player.


    After being the first to successfully complete the mage job advancement, Ou Huang generously shared his experience with fellow acquaintances that had been grinding Lord Yang''s reputation alongside him. He even posted an experience guide on the forum. That didn''t mean he would team up with other players though.


    When the large-scale dynamic quest was triggered by Ji Tang, Ou Huang simply ignored those who wanted to form a team with him and focused on grinding his reputation¡­ with a lifestyle class mentor.


    That''s right. Ou Huang was more of a casual player and cherished his freedom above all else.


    When he got stuck during the job advancement, he went offline for two days without a care. Even when the halo of being the player with the highest Potential was snatched away by Ji Tang, Ou Huang wasn''t the least bit bothered.


    Large-scale dynamic quests, first clears in new maps¡ªsuch things didn''t interest him.


    He only wanted to play his own way, indulging in his own entertainment. He had no interest in team activities; that was Ou Huang''s gaming mentality.


    At 3 A.M. October 21 Earth time, 5 P.M. in-game time, Ou Huang remained logged in, alone at Butcher Manan''s site, silently going about manual labor.


    As long as quest tools weren''t taken outside the quest area, players didn''t have to rush to submit the quest before the advanced NPCs "knocked off." The accumulated work hours could be settled after the advanced NPCs "clocked in." This hidden setting had been discovered by players some time ago.


    Ou Huang was someone with a rather systematic approach, and he wasn''t the type to do a few quests before switching to something else. Grinding reputation with Butcher Manan had also been largely ignored by everyone, while Ou Huang was interested in seeing how Manan''s worksite would end up. Moreover, these sorts of tasks that could be done on his own were always his favorite.


    "The wall looks about right." Ou Huang finished arranging the bricks and admired his handiwork with satisfaction.


    Unlike traditional games, the lifestyle classes in this game could be pursued as full-time careers. There were players that genuinely disliked combat and only found joy in playing with lifestyle classes.


    For instance, the most popular lifestyle classes amongst casual players were the apothecary and master gatherer. The workshops of these two lifestyle classes even allocated a portion of their facilities to advanced players, offering class ratings and a collection of crafted products which ensured that these casual players who focused solely on lifestyle classes earned no less than their monster-hunting counterparts.


    The skills of the butcher class were somewhat similar to those of the master gatherer, though the former''s skills had a more limited application compared to the wider range of skills possessed by the master gatherer. Materials obtainable through butcher skills weren''t as comprehensive as the ones that a master gatherer could gather.


    This was the main reason why the butcher lifestyle class wasn''t popular. But for Ou Huang, it was just right. He would be even happier if he got the opportunity to monopolize this lifestyle class.


    "If it''s for my workstation, I''ll choose the spot in the back. It''s quiet and others can''t disturb me. The backdoor is near too, so I won''t need to use the main entrance to come and go."


    After inspecting the walls he had built, Ou Huang began assembling the door frame. It was a simple alloy door frame that could be easily assembled, much like the furniture one would buy online. Even a middle school student alone could complete it with the help of the blueprint. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Game characters never got tired, and if one got used to it, the manual labor tasks in the game were just like playing with large building blocks. After all, anyone who had completed high school could read blueprints, and there were ready-made building materials and tools to assist.


    Most educated Chinese people would probably be able to build a small hut if they put their heart into it.


    Ou Huang was happily planning his personal space when he suddenly noticed a couple of figures appearing on the street.


    "Don''t tell me there are others looking to play the butcher class?" Ou Huang paused what he was doing to observe.


    While other players hoped for more people to grind the same NPC''s reputation to reduce the difficulty of manual labor quests, Ou Huang was the opposite. He didn''t welcome anyone disturbing his moments of solitude.


    Fortunately, the few on the street didn''t head toward the Butcher''s site; instead, they stood across the street, engaged in conversation with a zombie NPC.


    "Oh, it''s a quest." Ou Huang relaxed when he saw this.


    It was known that zombie NPCs were different from human NPCs; they didn''t roam around but stayed in one place, waiting for players to come and interact with them. When a zombie NPC moved, it usually meant there was a quest available.


    When other players saw someone triggering a hidden quest, they would definitely gather around to watch and try to join in. However, Ou Huang was different. He had no interest in how others played the game. As long as others were just doing his quests and not trying to take his spot, he would be at ease and happily continue with his own activities.


    As the in-game time reached 8 A.M., advanced NPC Manan emerged from his tent "to start work." Ou Huang, who had been online for almost ten hours, was already starving. After submitting his quest, he prepared to log out and have breakfast.


    He left Manan''s side and noticed that there were some building materials and several piles of steel plates that seemed like the sort used to make shipping containers¡­ on the vacant lot across the street. Three players stood amid the steel plates, gesturing and apparently discussing something.


    It appeared that this bunch had triggered a manual labor quest as well, but that wasn''t the main point¡ªwhat really stood out was that two of the three were unadorned skeletons with unfamiliar names in green above their heads.


    New players!


    Ou Huang stopped in his tracks and took measure of the trio.


    There was one veteran player in slightly worn beginner gear, with the standard steel-plated leather armor and a steel-bladed knife on his waist. This player''s ID was "Clear Skies." Ou Huang recognized this ID and was certain this guy definitely wasn''t a "nepo"¡ªClear Skies was well known for being active on the forum, posting a lot, and having a strong desire to show off. However, Clear Skies had never once boasted of knowing anyone from the official game development team. Someone who liked boasting definitely wouldn''t keep his connections a secret if he had any.


    Ou Huang looked at the two newcomers skeptically.


    These two bare skeletons, not even equipped with the set of beginner gear, had the IDs "Master Liu" and "Old Geng." Their IDs alone gave off the casual vibe of a middle-aged man.


    Are these two "nepos"?! A thought crept into Ou Huang''s mind.


    Players knew better than anyone else just how questionable the game development team was. The game devs had announced the release of new accounts some days ago, but in the end, the "nepo" Ji Tang had already done a job advancement while new accounts were still nowhere to be seen.


    Amid their fervent discussion, the two newcomers noticed Ou Huang standing on the street staring in their direction. The newcomer, Master Liu, asked Clear Skies, "Xiao Zhong, a friend of yours?"


    "Not exactly, but we know each other," Clear Skies replied. "Morning, Boss Ou Huang. Going to log out?"


    "Yes." Ou Huang nodded and took the opportunity to inquire, "What are you guys doing? A new manual labor quest?"


    "Um¡­ kinda." Clear Skies scratched his head. "Master Liu has a quest to build a restaurant here."


    "R-restaurant?!" Ou Huang exclaimed in surprise.


    "Yes," Clear Skies, the young man with an unfiltered mouth, blurted out everything. "My dad''s workplace obtained a batch of accounts that are different from us ordinary players. They are supposed to play as semi-NPCs in the game or something like that. My dad asked me to help Prof. Liu and Uncle Geng get used to how the game is played."


    "¡­" Ou Huang stood rooted on the spot, utterly dumbfounded.


    "¡­" The casual conversation between Master Liu and Old Geng on where to build the kitchen came to an awkward halt as they stared at the young Clear Skies.


    "Ahhh!" Clear Skies finally realized his mistake and began sweating profusely. "F*ck! This isn''t something I can say! Boss Ou Huang, please pretend you didn''t hear, okay?"


    Ou Huang. "¡­"


    "Little brat, can''t you just shut up for once?" Old Geng muttered exasperatedly.


    Master Liu''s voice had a slight hoarseness, but Old Geng''s voice was the standard middle-aged man''s voice, which was clearly different from ordinary players¡­


    While the advanced NPCs of Exile Town woke up for work, over a hundred kilometers away at Desolate Outpost, the commoners who had spent the night sleeping soundly, protected by Yang Qiu''s soundproofing magic array, were also starting to get up.


    The world''s factory, China, had abundant experience when it came to disaster relief. Thus, tents and sleeping bags were provided to Yang Qiu at no cost.


    The items were directly gotten from the Southwest Military Region''s logistics department. For the Camore commoners, these were rare and precious items. After they crawled out of their sleeping bags, each and every one of them clung to their own sleeping bags, reluctant to let go¡­


    In a tent shared by eight people, a middle-aged man with graying hair and a face full of wrinkles propped himself on his elbows as he awkwardly crawled out of his sleeping bag. He then carefully rolled up the sleeping bag, treating it like a precious treasure, and tied it securely with the attached rope.


    This man''s name was Collins Carter, a 42-year-old cotton farmer who had worked on a plantation for over 20 years until he lost his ability to work when he fell and broke his leg while repairing the warehouse roof. As a result, he was sent back to his home in Camore''s civilian district, where he had to fend for himself.


    Collins'' wife had already passed, but he did have a family. He had two married sons: one who worked on the plantation, while the other at the weaver union. His two daughters-in-law were skilled textile workers too. In theory, it shouldn''t have been too difficult for the Carter family to support Collins, who had worked for the family for over 20 years.


    Unfortunately, his sons already had families of their own.


    Given their limited family income, it wasn''t difficult to make a choice between prioritizing the next generation or taking care of the previous, who had lost his ability to work and become a burden on the family.


    Moreover, Collins had spent most of his life on the plantation and was largely invisible when his sons were growing up.


    When they didn''t have a choice, they could tolerate supporting him with two meals a day and ensuring he didn''t starve at home. However, with a choice at hand, it was only natural to cast off the burden of someone who could no longer contribute.


    In the days following the departure from Camore with a group of equally hopeless companions, Collins felt desperate and helpless, and contemplated suicide countless times.


    However, he couldn''t even make the choice to end his life because he never received treatment for his injured leg, rendering him unable to walk like a normal person. Prolonged malnutrition weakened his body, making it difficult for him to crawl even ten meters using his hands.


    Furthermore¡­ Collins didn''t truly want to die. Who would willingly choose death if they had a choice?


    Even though the black mage very likely wouldn''t take care of them for too long, Collins hoped to have more meals and breathe more moments.


    This despair of counting meals and awaiting death was swept away last night when the Camore commoners were issued with sleeping bags made of smooth and soft fabric and filled with materials even lighter and warmer than cotton.


    Collins had experienced just how cold the nights in the wilderness could be.


    The fact that the black mage and his undead were willing to provide them with sleeping bags more comfortable than the beds they had at home proved that, at least for the short term, they wouldn''t die.


    Who would give such good things to dying people!


    Collins rolled up his sleeping bag, brushed off the dust, and then heard someone shouting outside the tent, "Everyone who can move, come out!"


    Those in their eight-man tent that could move immediately sprang into action.


    Collins hesitated, unsure if he should crawl out¡­


    Seeing the situation, a lady with an ugly birthmark on her face turned back and helped support Collins. "Uncle Carter, let me help you."


    "Thank you so much, Mia. I owe you everything for this journey," Collins expressed his gratitude.


    Mia smiled and placed Collins'' arm over her shoulder, half-carrying him out of the tent.


    Mia''s family and Collins'' family were neighbors, so even though Collins could only return home a few times a year due to his work at the plantation, he knew Mia.


    The reason was simple. Mia had a large birthmark on her face since birth, which, in their district, meant she was deemed unfit for marriage. Although she was hardworking and able to help her mother with weaving since the age of six, in the eyes of the underprivileged women of Camore where weaving was merely a basic survival skill, regardless of how hardworking and capable she was, nothing made up for her repulsively disfigured face.


    Just like Collins, who had been abandoned by his family due to his disability, Mia, who at 26 years of age and still couldn''t be married off, faced a similar fate of abandonment in this cruel world.

 Chapter 54: Mia

    The working years of female Camore weavers were actually similar to those of cotton farmers. While they weren''t subjected to the same horrifying conditions as the first-generation workers in the British Empire''s sweatshops¡ªwhere living people entered and corpses came out¡ªthe intensity of their work was no less than that of the workers in the Kenyan Empire''s textile factories in the north.


    Despite enduring similar hardships as the textile workers of the Kenyan Empire, the wages and living standards of Camore''s female textile workers were only a fraction of their counterparts.


    The reason behind this discrepancy lay in the profitability of the Duchy of Shiga''s textile industry.


    The Duchy of Shiga was a traditional agricultural country, influenced by the Goddess of Prosperity''s teachings and dogma. Citizens pursued a self-sufficient agrarian economy, while the majority of them were more interested in accumulating wealth and maintaining a conservative approach to commercial activities.


    In other words, the tens of thousands of cotton clothes produced by Camore''s weavers were simply too much for the surrounding markets to absorb.


    In this world, the concept of "road construction" didn''t exist, so the expenses of transporting goods from Camore to be sold were well beyond imaginable.


    Camore''s noblemen put in some effort to consolidate land and tame the local commoners into cheap, disposable laborers. Since a significant portion of the profits from the textile industry went toward transportation costs, these cheap laborers were not treated with any kindness.


    Skilled female weavers of Camore spent their days at home, tirelessly weaving textiles and only earning about 300 copper coins per month.


    Given the Duchy of Shiga''s consumption standards, this amount seemed quite substantial, but it had to be remembered that Camore commoners had no land, and every meal for their families had to be purchased with this money.


    Half a kilogram of rye bread cost three 3 coins.


    A strip of thin pork cost 10 copper coins.


    A jar of butter cost 30 copper coins.


    It was also worth mentioning that all of the food brought to Camore and sold on the streets had the mark of some aristocratic family¡­


    Concepts of overtime pay, seniority wages, basic salary, or retirement benefits didn''t exist here. There was no need to preach about ideals and deceive the proletariats. All that these noblemen needed to do was enjoy the pleasures in life while effectively exploiting the poor.


    In short, if a female Camore commoner had to support herself and one or two children, then besides the time spent sleeping and taking care of her children, every other waking hour had to be spent seated in front of a household cotton spinner rented from the weaver unions.


    That''s right. A portion of what little money earned with their blood, sweat, and tears was also taken away by the weaver unions. That was why Yang Qiu didn''t have any reservations when dealing with those union families.


    Under the heavy pressure of their lives, these female commoners, who had started learning weaver before they were even 10 years old, were rarely still able to have properly functioning eyesight by the age of 40.


    Even though Mia was still capable of weaving and contributing to the family income, the limited and brief working span was the main reason she had been abandoned.


    Being slightly older meant that even if she were to marry and have children, there was no way she could rely on her own labor to raise her children to adulthood. It was possible that she would become a burden to the family even before her children grew to become the next generation of cheap labor.


    Any man willing to marry her would undoubtedly demand a large dowry from Mia''s family, at least equivalent to the income from several years of cloth production to balance the risk he was taking. Such harsh conditions for marrying off their daughter were impossible to accept for any commoner family.


    As the person involved, Mia had no complaints about her fate.


    Since she was young, her uncles and aunts at home frequently mocked her as a "worthless burden who would eventually die at home." When Mia reached the age where she could understand aesthetics, she came to know what the dark patch on her face meant.


    When personnel from the weaver union came to their house, suggesting getting rid of the burden dragging the family down, Mia, who was quietly weaving in her room, vaguely guessed her own fate.


    She was already 26, no longer a young lady in her teens. Whatever tears that could be shed had dried up since long ago.


    When she had just turned 18, the men who sought her hand in marriage believed she was different from ordinary ladies and didn''t qualify to ask for a bride price. Mia had cried then.


    By the age of 23, men seeking her hand automatically assumed she wasn''t worth paying a bride price, and instead demanded a dowry, Mia didn''t cry then.


    She didn''t hold any hope for her life already, so naturally, she wouldn''t cry due to disappointment or despair.


    When following the black mage out of Camore, those who traveled with her shed tears in secret, but Mia was rather happy instead.


    Although she couldn''t quite explain why, when Mia stepped out of Camore, the town she had lived in for over two decades, she didn''t feel lost or scared at all. Instead, it felt as if she was liberated.


    Although her future seemed bleak, at least after being abandoned by her family¡­ her life finally belonged to her alone. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Every meal provided by the black mage, every hour she wasn''t weaving, for Mia, these were all gifts from her cruel fate in her final moments.


    She was willing to share this gift with others, like taking care of a neighboring family''s uncle whom she wasn''t too familiar with, in any way she could.


    As Mia helped Collins out of the tent, the latter''s face stiffened and his grateful rambling came to a sudden halt when he saw the situation outside.


    Mia, who was supporting him, and the others who came out of the tent before them had similar reactions to Collins¡­ All of them were stunned into silence.


    Standing in front of the tent they slept in were about a dozen men.


    Among this group, Collins recognized some of them, and even knew their names¡ªhe had suffered under the whip of these people when working in the plantations.


    One burly man with a rough face made Collins tremble. He was Phipps, the steward of Viscount Lynn''s estate and widely recognized as the tyrant of Camore''s plantations!


    One cotton-picking season, Collins had witnessed Phipps chop off the left hand of a young boy simply because the boy''s father accidentally dropped a bag of cotton into the river while transporting it!


    These people had clearly been bound by the undead, so why had they been released?


    Unease made Collins break into a cold sweat.


    Could it be that the black mage believed those who had once served the nobility were more reliable than their useless bunch?


    Or¡­ did the black mage want these cruel people who wouldn''t hesitate to kill them be in charge?


    Regardless of whichever possibility it was, this spelled extremely bad news for Collins and the other commoners!


    Just as the commoners were panicking, one among the rows of household guards standing in front of the tent stumbled forward and nearly fell, as if he had been kicked from behind.


    The man who had been kicked turned back in anger but eked out a sycophantic smile when he saw who was behind him. "Mr. Yang, we have already called these folks out, look¡­"


    Yang Qiu stared at him blankly and shook his head in disapproval. Suddenly, a thick black vine sprouted from under his feet and lashed out at the portly estate steward.


    Phipps, the head of the private thugs and whom Viscount Lynn considered a capable subordinate, gave a loud cry as he was sent flying.


    "When I requested you to gather them, I recall asking you to use the word ''please,''" said Yang Qiu as he turned to the other household guards. "Aren''t you guys serving respectable people? Is this the attitude you have when serving them as well?"


    The household guards immediately had a conflicting mix of expressions as if they wanted to get mad yet felt like they should kneel.


    Startled by the appearance of these thugs, the commoners, though not fully understanding the situation, at least knew it wasn''t what they had imagined, and they secretly breathed sighs of relief.


    Yang Qiu was unconcerned with how the people present reacted as he glared at the estate steward, who was now sprawled on the ground. "Please remember that until now, you guys are considered captives. I believe that the noblemen of Camore might be willing to pay a ransom for you all, but until I receive that payment, you guys are and must remain captives."


    "Yes¡­ yes," Phipps crawled to his feet and muttered with his head bowed.


    Yang Qiu knew that this man was trying to hide his resentful expression, but he didn''t care and continued, unperturbed, "I don''t have the tendency of killing captives, but I won''t freely provide food for you guys either. If you don''t want to starve under restricted freedom, then learn some self-awareness."


    The thugs, including Phipps, fell silent.


    They knew the black mage wasn''t joking as they had already missed two meals¡­


    "If you understand what I say, comply with my instructions." At this point, Yang Qiu paused for a moment. "Of course, you can refuse to cooperate, perhaps scheme behind my back or even attempt to escape. But I suggest you do it skillfully¡­ Skillful enough that I won''t catch on."


    That said, Yang Qiu no longer bothered with these men that sucked up to the upper class and thought of themselves as superior beings. Instead, he turned to the commoners, who seemed more at ease now.


    "Fellow comrades, after lunch, we will split up. The women will follow the undead to Exile Town, and the men will stay. Men with female relatives can accompany the women."


    Although these commoners were mostly elderly, weak, or disabled, Yang Qiu still intended to separate the men and women to avoid potential trouble.


    This arrangement caused a stir among the commoners, but no one opposed it; whether it was Exile Town or this place that had nothing, it all was unfamiliar to them. They didn''t really care where they would be placed to live.


    Mia hesitated for a moment, then whispered to Collins, "Uncle Carter, want to come with me?"


    Collins had no blood relation to her, but in the few days they had spent together, Mia had come to regard him as an elder. He, at least, expressed gratitude for her care rather than taking her efforts for granted, which made Mia feel alive.


    Collins genuinely didn''t want to be in the same place as the tyrannical Phipps even if the black mage''s attitude toward Phipps was worse than toward them. Just the thought of that struck him with fear and he hurriedly replied, "I''ll have to trouble you then, Mia."


    "No trouble at all," Mia said with a smile.


    Seeing the commoners accepting the situation well, Yang Qiu had the literate household guards step forward and register the commoners with their names, ages, and genders.


    In fact, having players handle this registration would have been more suitable, but Yang Qiu felt that it was still too early to let "Civilian NPC" enter the imprint matrix.


    If there were no language barriers, players would undoubtedly become walking sources of mental corruption.


    Under Yang Qiu''s personal supervision, the household guards didn''t try any tricks and dutifully registered the commoners. They then dismantled and packed the tents, and loaded them up onto the available tricycle carts along with the belongings of those headed to Exile Town.


    During this time, players who were constantly coming and going stopped to observe curiously, but left disappointed when they found no NPCs initiating a conversation with them¡­


    Around lunch, players who had "randomly" triggered impromptu cooking quests came rushing over excitedly¡­


    Beyond the base, at the Holy Legion cavalry''s camp.


    Andres returned to the camp along with a few holy warriors. Upon dismounting, he hurriedly went to Inspector Lowell''s tent.


    "Those undead are getting rid of monsters!"


    Andres couldn''t wait anymore upon seeing Lowell in person. "The undead that left the base are all gathered near the gas-filled swamp, and I personally witnessed them drawing monsters out of the swamp and slaying them!"


    Even with his abundant life experiences, Lowell couldn''t help but shudder when he heard this.


    He had assumed countless reasons for the undead to gather in groups, but he never expected this!


    "Is that so? Why are they doing this?" Lowell was utterly perplexed.


    "I don''t know, Inspector Lowell. I can''t understand it at all." Andres''s face turned pale. Clearly, witnessing the players'' slaying monsters had left a profound impact on this holy knight.


    "All I know is that the undead seem very keen on this. They are willing to go to any lengths and show unprecedented unity in hunting those swamp monsters. Even if their comrades fall, it doesn''t dampen their enthusiasm for slaying monsters."


    "¡­" Inspector Lowell raised a hand to his forehead and rubbed hard.


    Having served as a protector of the faith for over two centuries and handling countless malignant incidents caused by the undead, Lowell had always believed his understanding of undead creatures was no less than that of black mages.


    Now, Lowell felt that he might have been a little too conceited; in fact, he knew nothing about the undead¡­


    Andres gulped hard before continuing, "That''s not all, Inspector. These undead¡­ are even fighting with each other to slay monsters."


    "??" Lowell shuddered once more.


    "It''s true, I saw it with my own eyes," Andres rambled as if he were talking in his sleep. "The group of undead I observed were attacking a Corrupted Bat-Monkey. Another group of undead passed by, and a few of them joined in. I thought they were working together to eliminate the troublesome Corrupted Bat-Monkey, but unexpectedly, they started fighting each other!"


    "??" Lowell''s mind was filled with question marks.


    "I simply can''t fathom whether they are united or divided, orderly or pure chaos," Andres muttered, clutching his head in immense distress. "Clearly, they can endure the loss of their companions for the sake of getting rid of the monsters, yet they also fight each other over the Corrupted Bat-Monkey¡­ Even after the monkey escaped back into the swamp amid the chaos, they didn''t stop fighting!"


    When Yang Qiu personally came to invite the soldiers of the Holy Legion for lunch, he mentioned that the undead were planning to send the female commoners to Exile Town. He also asked if the soldiers were interested in visiting the undead''s lair.


    Without any hesitation, Inspector Lowell agreed at once.


    At first, Lowell had no intention of venturing further into Taranthan, given that the provisions they carried would only last for three days. Relying on others for food and supplies was one thing, but asking for more provisions when leaving was something that Lowell couldn''t bring himself to do.


    But now, Lowell no longer cared. He had too many burning questions regarding the undead to care about his face¡­

 Chapter 55: Worldview Shattering

    The latter half of the dynamic storyline quest, which involved escorting the Camore civilians back to Exile Town, was released. As soon as this long-duration task was announced, players, who were busy farming monsters in the swamp, collecting materials in the area, or engaging in heated PK battles over the ownership of monster slaying rights, immediately ceased their activities and hurriedly returned to the base to gather.


    It was close to noon in the game, but back on Earth, it was only six in the morning. This was a lull online period, and many players had just logged out after an all-nighter, while day players hadn''t even logged in yet.


    Therefore, the Holy Legion soldiers, who had packed their stuff and arrived early outside the base, were surprised to find that the number of undead was less than half of what it had been the previous day.


    Andres, riding his steed, couldn''t help but observe the bustling undead about the platform in the center of the base. He turned to Lowell and whispered, "It seems that their numbers have decreased significantly from fighting monsters."


    Lowell nodded in agreement.


    Skeletons were the weakest among undead creatures, and they could be eradicated completely by either destroying them or using the banishment spell to send them back to the Dimensional Realm.


    Monsters in Taranthan had multiplied for over a thousand years, and powerful demonized creatures were everywhere. The fragile skeletons, despite being united and intelligent, would undoubtedly suffer heavy casualties while fighting these monsters.


    Andres sighed and glanced back at the noisy undead with a complex look on his face.


    A void incursion caused by an unstable spatial rift was a calamity second only to the resurgence of elder gods.


    No one could predict what an unstable spatial rift appearing randomly in a certain location would bring¡ªit could range from the diffusion of demonic energy corrupting the land and contaminating creatures to an invasion of void demons sacking villages and turning fertile land into desolate wastelands.


    Taranthan was an area heavily affected by unstable spatial rifts. Although no void demons had invaded yet, the roaming monsters were enough to turn this vast land into an inhabitable zone for human life.


    Having witnessed the undead''s brave (or foolhardy) way of clearing monsters, with no cost too great, and a willingness for sacrifice, Andres, who had a strong aversion to the undead as low-level creatures of the Dimension Realm, couldn''t help but respect their actions.


    While these complex thoughts were running through Andres''s mind, he suddenly saw¡­ an undead walking to the center of the platform and standing still for a moment before slowly sinking into the ground.


    Andres: "??"


    Lowell who had an equally keen eye: "??"


    Other soldiers of the Holy Legion: "??"


    "I-is that¡­ undead voluntarily choosing to return to the Dimensional Realm?" Andres gasped in shock.


    When undead creatures were banished by a spell or when the summoning contract with a black mage was released, either voluntarily or involuntarily, they would return to the Dimensional Realm by sinking into the ground like this.


    This puzzled Andres greatly. Black Mage Yang was standing pompously where the civilians were and directing the private thugs to load up the carts. How could these undead manage to release the summoning contract on their own?!


    ¡ªInterpreting the process of players logging in as a summoning contract wasn''t entirely wrong; it was just that this kind of contract lacked enforcement, and either party could unilaterally pause, terminate, or end the contract whenever they wanted¡­


    As the Holy Legion soldiers watched in astonishment, more than a dozen undead walked to the platform and sank into the ground in the short span of a few minutes.


    Other undead paid no attention to their comrades "returning," and they continued their own business noisily, whether in groups or pairs.


    Andres: "¡­"


    This "young" holy knight that had lived for more than a century clutched his head in torment.


    I don''t understand! I really don''t understand at all!


    These undead, who could communicate using a structured language and understand teamwork, had apparently entered into some kind of summoning contract with Black Mage Yang¡­ but he couldn''t even begin to fathom what sort of contract it could be!


    Andres felt a sharp pain in his head as muffled, incomprehensible noises rang in his ears, which sounded close yet distant at the same time¡­


    "Stop, Andres."


    Andres''s entire body was shaking, and he realized that he was drenched in a cold sweat.


    "I-I¡­ My apologies, I lost myself." Andres wiped off his cold sweat and lowered his head in shame.


    "Don''t dwell on things that you don''t have to understand." Lowell noticed his subordinate''s anomaly and advised solemnly, "No one can know everything, so don''t question yourself over things that you can¡¯t know."


    "Yes," croaked Andres hoarsely.


    Lowell shook his head slightly as he shifted his gaze away from Andres to the unruly undead, brows furrowed.


    Even though he had reprimanded Andres, Lowell himself was even more curious about these undead than his subordinate.


    Andres was already one of the more experienced veterans in the Holy Legion cavalry, and even he had been so easily shaken. This left Lowell rather concerned¡­ Perhaps agreeing to Yang''s invitation wasn''t such a good idea.


    "Quick, look over there!" At that moment, a soldier frightfully pointed somewhere and called out to the others.


    Lowell was slightly ticked off and was about to reprimand the soldier for his lack of military decorum when he caught sight of what the soldier was pointing at from the corner of his eye¡­ Then, he froze.


    The Holy Legion soldiers were waiting on an open ground outside the undead base. Since the base was still under construction and still mostly barren land, they could easily see the area unobstructed by tents.


    Above the heads of the noisy chattering undead, the soldiers witnessed skeletons emerging from the platform where several of the undead had "returned" earlier¡­


    Holy Legion soldiers: "??"


    Horror crept into Lowell''s face as he quickly turned his head to find the black mage.


    Yang Qiu, who was directing the private thugs, didn''t look this way at all.


    Lowell: "¡­"


    The black-robed inspector returned his attention to the earthen platform.


    The skeletons that "floated" out of the platform would then walk down from it. However, it didn''t stop there. More and more skeletons continued to appear!


    Batch after batch, after batch¡­


    In less than 30 minutes, the skeletons appearing on the platform had doubled, and the total number of undead had returned to as it had been the previous day¡ªno, Lowell realized that there were seemingly even more undead now!


    Lowell: "¡­"


    Still with his expression of shock, Lowell stiffly turned away.


    His trusted subordinate, Jorges Andres, turned pale and was clutching his head in both hands.


    "Calm down, Andres!"


    Lowell quickly cast a calming prayer on Andres and immediately led his unit to a place far enough from the base, where they couldn''t see the undead¡­


    Another half hour later.


    "Thanks for waiting. We can set off now," Yang Qiu, atop an undead horse that wasn''t too fancy, came by leisurely and notified the Holy Legion unit. "The undead convoy will set off ahead, while you guys are invited to accompany me."


    "Alright." Lowell''s reply was raspy, then he realized something wasn''t right. "Huh? Convoy?"


    "That''s right." Yang Qiu steered his mount and gestured for them to follow.


    With Yang Qiu in the lead, Lowell and his unit left their temporary resting spot. And then, the eyes of every one of them widened in shock when they saw the undead convoy¡­


    Lowell''s refined, handsome face transformed once more into an incredulous one.


    The convoy was made up of over thirty three-wheeled metal carts, each operated by small teams of undead in a grand procession heading toward the east.


    The undead pedaling the tricycles pulled along more than a hundred trembling civilian women, together with their simple luggage and provisions for the journey. Their laughter and cheers could be faintly heard even from several hundred meters away.


    Lowell: "¡­" sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The black-robed inspector quietly cast a calming prayer on himself as well.


    Within less than ten minutes following the undead convoy¡­ the soldiers of the Holy Legion had their worldview shattered¡ª


    Some of the undead who were running alongside the carts climbed into the cargo space of the tricycle carts, and after exchanging some words with their companions, they "collapsed" into a heap of bones.


    These undead companions then nonchalantly used some sort of cloth to wrap up the "remains" along with the equipment and neatly organized them, all while continuing to chatter as they ran alongside the carts¡­


    After a moment of silence, Black-robed Inspector Lowell had no choice but to cast calming prayers on all the members of his unit.


    Level 1 players could use the teleport function at the respawn point to travel between Desolate Outpost and Exile Town every half an hour. Players that had yet to reach level 1, though, couldn''t use this function yet.


    This "level discrimination" setting would have been heavily criticized by players a week ago when the majority of players had Potential values ranging in the 40s. The teleport function set to 50 Potential value would have been met with strong objections.


    But at present, there weren''t many players complaining.


    Even if some players hadn''t reached the required Potential value, after the dynamic storyline quest of two days and numerous elite monster hunts, their Potential had increased.


    And even if their Potential hadn''t reached 50 and they were unable to use the teleport function, as long as these players participated in the dynamic quests, they wouldn''t miss out on the storyline.


    As for those who didn''t have time to do the long-duration quest or players that didn''t have friends to help carry their "bones," they could only sit in Exile Town in envy, listening to others discuss the layout of Desolate Outpost and watching others teleport to do the long-duration quest.


    "It''s too difficult. This game is just too difficult." Teacher Yu Chi, who was on sick leave at home due to a bad cold and rarely had the chance to log in on workdays, sighed. Right now, she was camping at the Master Gatherer lifestyle class instructor, grinding boring manual labor quests.


    Those who could use the teleportation array to follow the main player force had already gone over to do the dynamic quest. It was currently the peak online period, and the entire Exile Town was deserted. Even the Master Gatherer''s site which was usually the most lively only had a few stragglers.


    "Teacher, did you want to do the long-duration quest too? Why didn''t you ask someone to bring your character along?" another casual player grinding manual labor quests asked.


    Teacher Yu Chi''s ID was "Once You Teacher," which was an eccentric name because she hadn''t known that the ID would only display up to three words. Anyway, due to her peculiar ID, even though Teacher Yu Chi was a casual player who didn''t use up her daily online limit, many players still recognized her.


    "I got a bad cold and was in the hospital getting an IV when the quest came out. Xiao Liu gave me a call, but I missed it," Teacher Yu Chi replied in frustration. "Had I known, I would have brought my helmet to the hospital; after all, it''s not like I can''t log in while having an IV."


    "Yeah. Previously, when I stubbed my toe, the pain kept me awake all night. It only felt better after I logged into the game," said the other casual player. "This game is pretty amazing. It''s even better than painkillers."


    While they were chatting, two players in beginner gear passed by them. Upon hearing the conversation, one of them, with the ID "Master Liu," glanced their way.


    "Hmm? I''ve never seen this ID before. A newbie?" Teacher Yu Chi also looked at the other two and used "Identify."


    ID: Master Liu


    Race: Undead


    Level: 1


    Potential: 82


    "What the heck??" Teacher Yu Chi exclaimed.


    Utterly bewildered, she then looked at the other new player that was walking away with Master Liu.


    ID: Old Geng


    Race: Undead


    Level: 1


    Potential: 98


    "What the hell?!"


    The other casual player didn''t understand why Teacher Yu Chi had such a sudden strong reaction. "What''s the matter? What''s with the new players?"


    Teacher Yu Chi pointed at the two new players that were walking away and croaked hoarsely, "Identify! Use Identify on them!"


    The casual player nodded and used the skill¡­


    "What the f*ck?! What''s with that Potential value?! It''s through the roof!"


    "These damn developers! How can they give newcomers such a shortcut!"


    "Rigged! I''m going to report this!"

 Chapter 56: Undead merchant association

    Upon discovering this alleged conspiracy, the casual player, who had stumbled upon the revelation, was livid and immediately abandoned his current quest, logged out, and went straight to the forum, ready to unleash hell.


    Teacher Yu Chi was also seething. Her initial Potential hadn''t been too shabby as she started off at 40+ points. However, because of her limited playtime, she hadn''t reached 50 Potential value or leveled up yet. Seeing these two newcomers with such incredible Potential made her feel a grievous sense of injustice.


    Everyone bought the same helmet and played the same game, so how could it be this unfair!


    However, Teacher Yu Chi had spent enough time on the forum to know the nature of this game''s development team. Since the launch, players had furiously complained about the abundance of repetitive grinding tasks, unfair randomness of initial Potential values, unreasonable quest designs, the difficulty of defeating monsters, inadequate storage space, and many more. Yet, regardless of how intense the criticism or how many pages a complaint thread reached, the official staff remained unresponsive.


    Only when people came running to the forum begging for an account after seeing posted gameplay videos did the forum administrators spring into action and swiftly ban such accounts.


    In short, the stance of the game development team seemed to be one of indifference, as if saying, "Play if you want, scram if you don''t."


    Given this track record, Teacher Yu Chi could easily predict the outcome of this "conspiracy": Even if players were to vent their anger and outrage on the forum, it was highly unlikely that the game development team would pay heed.


    After all, the game wasn''t officially launched, and players hadn''t paid any fees to access it. The only expense incurred was the material cost of the login helmet.


    In other words, players had no leverage, and they couldn''t even resort to the ultimate weapon of giving downvotes.


    Also, attempts to drive the game developers into a corner, such as a mass player exodus or demanding refunds for the helmets, simply weren''t feasible. No player who owned a helmet would engage in such a ludicrous act.


    Some players had even gone to the extent of purchasing safes to store their helmets, ensuring they weren''t damaged by their pets or mistakenly discarded by cleaning staff.


    Even Teacher Yu Chi herself had specifically procured a small case to store her helmet.


    There was the convenience of playing the game while sleeping, with no compromise to personal life and entertainment, as well as the lengthened perceived flow of time in-game, which effectively added a third more to one''s lifespan. Anyone who would truly quit the game and abandon their account had to really be out of their minds!


    "Oh well, it''s not the first time the damned game developers have done something like this," Teacher Yu Chi, a mature adult, sighed. She decided to abandon her current quest and ran to seek out those two newcomers. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    She wanted to learn about the backgrounds of these two newcomers and, if possible, befriend these "nepos" and ride on their backs. If they had backdoors to manipulate the random Potential value in-game, then there would surely be other benefits waiting to be uncovered.


    After half a month of hard work by the 300 or so players, the garbage in the Exile Town had been cleared, and dilapidated buildings beyond repair had been demolished. Streets and zones had also been designated and construction had commenced on sites supervised by the NPCs.


    Although these buildings were only marginally better than the dilapidated houses found in third-tier cities, they at least looked like habitable places.


    Teacher Yu Chi followed a road from the end of the central street that led south, passing by the Wanderer Guild construction site. When she ran toward the place where the zombie general used to stand, she noticed the trail of the two newcomers.


    On the empty space diagonally opposite Butcher Manan''s workshop site was a heap of steel plates. The two newcomers, wielding wrenches, were busily assembling the steel plates.


    "What the hell?!" exclaimed Teacher Yu Chi.


    From the looks of it, these two are definitely nepos, Teacher Yu Chi concluded. There aren''t any NPCs issuing quests here, and the building materials are different from those provided at the various sites!


    The Master Gatherer worksite where Teacher Yu Chi had been grinding reputation was stacked with bricks, asphalt, and earthen tiles. She had continuously ground so many reputation quests that she was close to mastering the skill of bricklaying.


    Teacher Yu Chi fearlessly went over and greeted warmly, "Hello!


    "Hello."


    "Hi."


    The two newcomers responded politely.


    Master Liu''s voice sounded quite normal, just that it was like the deep, slightly hoarse, and husky voice of a middle-aged man in his fifties.


    In a game setting, Old Geng''s voice was quite conspicuous. To Teacher Yu Chi''s ears, it sounded like the thick, dignified tone of a respected elderly scholar or expert.


    Teacher Yu Chi subconsciously straightened her posture and didn''t dare to be as casual as before. "Um¡­ I haven''t seen you two before. Are you guys, uh, new players?"


    "Heh, isn''t it interesting how our ''newbie'' status gets recognized wherever we go?" Old Geng chuckled. "Yes, we''ve only been here for over ten hours¡­ Oh, wait, in this place, one hour is equivalent to half an hour, right? So, we''ve been here for six hours."


    "Didn''t Xiao Zhong say so, there are only about three hundred uh¡­ players here, and they all recognize each other. So, naturally, they can tell the two of us are new," said Master Liu with a smile. "What can we help you with, young comrade?"


    Even though both of them were skeletal frames squatting down doing manual labor quests like other players and had spoken casually, Teacher Yu Chi felt like she was facing senior leaders. Teacher Yu Chi almost had the urge to bow down, especially when Master Liu had addressed her as "young comrade."


    "Uh, heheh¡­" Teacher Yu Chi regretted approaching them so hastily and forced out a smile. "Well, actually¡­ I just wanted to ask how you got your game accounts?"


    Master Liu and Old Geng seemed to guess what she wanted to ask and burst out in hearty laughter.


    "Ah, that''s¡­ Being able to play this game is indeed all the rage, huh." Master Liu shook his head while continuing to chuckle. "Don''t get any ideas, young comrade. We''re different from you ''players.'' We didn''t just come here to play; we are¡­ um, hired by this game."


    Teacher Yu Chi. "??"


    "That''s right. Hired." Old Geng also laughed heartily. "This game''s¡­ what was it called, the development team? They hired us old folks to serve players like you. Since players can only be online for 12 hours a day, we come here and take on the role of what''s that¡­ um, NPCs for five hours."


    Even more questions flooded Yu Chi''s mind. "??"


    "Oh, I remember now." Master Liu slapped his forehead. "We should be issuing quests to players. Come on, young comrade, take a look at our quest and see if you are keen."


    When the creator of "OtherWorld" sent out this batch of "helmets for tool players," an operating manual for NPC accounts had been thoughtfully attached. Also, the NeuroTech Center''s need to maintain the community''s status quo that "OtherWorld" was indeed a game meant that these two had received¡­ "training" before logging in.


    The training included, but wasn''t limited to, how to act like decent NPC characters, fulfill NPC roles during "working hours," and interact with these players that were so unpredictable.


    In short, as the first batch of "real people playing the role of NPCs," these two had the same permissions in the Imprint Matrix as the native "advanced NPCs." They had an independent reputation calculation system and a relatively flexible "shift mechanism" with the authority to assign quests during their "working hours."


    This was the first time Master Liu was using his "NPC exclusive panel" and fuddled around clumsily for some time before he found the option to issue quests and finally selected it.


    Instantly, just like when interacting with advanced NPCs, a reputation notification popped up on Teacher Yu Chi''s character panel.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    [Undead Merchant Association] reputation activated.


    This reputation is essential for players with lifestyle classes.


    Upon achieving "Friendly" reputation with the Merchant Association, the player can access new material exchange channels, increasing options to exchange materials/lifestyle class products for specific materials/potions/equipment/items, and gain privileges to hire NPCs. After reaching an "Honored" reputation, the player can obtain a Free Trade Certification, which allows the player to apply for the construction of a residence/shop and to independently hire NPCs or players to form a trading caravan.


    On reaching "Revered" reputation, the player can apply for the Taranthan Land Usage Privilege, allowing the player to build factories, estates, plantations, and more.


    [Undead Merchant Association] reputation can be gained by completing any quest issued by Skeleton NPCs.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Teacher Yu Chi''s jaw nearly fell to the floor when she finished reading the introduction.


    Her notion of sucking up to these "nepos" had apparently given Teacher Yu Chi a pair of wings, and this lifestyle class player immediately made a "hand it over" gesture to Master Liu. "I accept! I accept it! Please give me the quest!"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Meanwhile, over a hundred kilometers away in the wilderness, the chief officer of the Holy Legion unit following behind the undead convoy, Inspector Lowell, suddenly stiffened up.


    "There''s the presence of monsters ahead," Lowell turned to alert the black mage beside him.


    "I know," Yang Qiu replied calmly.


    "¡­Aren''t you going to make the undead stop?" Lowell wasn''t too pleased with Yang Qiu''s nonchalant attitude. "There are so many civilians in the convoy. If monsters get through¡­"


    Yang Qiu smiled. "Don''t worry, Inspector Lowell. Believe me, no one is more passionate about getting rid of monsters than our Taranthan undead."


    Lowell. "¡­"


    Before Lowell could respond, the undead convoy came to a halt. The undead dropped whatever they were doing and rushed toward the direction where the monster''s presence was concealed while giving off loud shouts of "WAKAKAAA!" as they raced with each other to get there first.


    Civilians in the convoy: "¡­"


    Holy Legion soldiers at the rear: "¡­"


    Yang Qiu gave a shrug to the stiff Lowell and said, "The undead''s enthusiasm for exterminating monsters won''t let them miss any targets that can be attacked. What we have to do is maintain a safe distance like this and make sure to not give them the wrong idea that we intend to compete with them for the monsters."


    Lowell: "¡­"

 Chapter 57: Misjudging the circumstances

    Weapons Master Charlie Rex sat alone on top of a cement bag at the Warrior Guild construction site, lost in thought.


    The Warrior Guild''s hall (which was essentially an unfinished rectangular room of around 80 square meters) had its walls completed, and the plaster on the walls had dried. However, the roof was yet to be sealed with asphalt shingles, and the floor hadn''t been done yet.


    Although a small hut had been built for him, Charlie didn''t hurry to move in because Yang hadn''t come to set up the new magic traps and soundproofing arrays yet. Without traps and soundproofing, living there would be unbearable, even if the undead were no longer as disrespectful and offensive to him as they had been at the start.


    Construction on two other small houses hadn''t even started yet, and the site was still full of building materials. However, the wheelbarrow used to transport water and mud had dried up from not being used for several days.


    The Warrior Guild construction site was usually the most peaceful place, with only a few undead coming to receive quests from Rex each day. But these few days, even those regular undead didn''t show up.


    Rex was used to solitude, but for some reason, the desolate site made him feel uneasy¡­


    Suddenly, Rex''s face stiffened, and he stood up abruptly.


    He absolutely would never admit he had gotten used to the noisy undead chatter, nor did he miss those few undead ladies with melodious voices who were extremely disrespectful to him!


    He especially didn''t miss that undead fella that knew how to cook and silently looked after him, just like the pious monk he had seen when he was a child.


    Absolutely not!


    Charlie left the work site silently and returned to his tent, hastily sorting through the trash that needed to be burned and buried as if he were trying to rid himself of those embarrassing sentiments he had.


    Most of the food and drinks provided by Yang came wrapped in paper or plastic. According to Yang, these papers and plastic needed to be collected accordingly and sent to the garbage incinerator behind the town for centralized incineration and burial.


    Once he was done sorting through the food packaging from the past few days, Rex decided to "take a break" from his work and head to the garbage incinerator.


    This garbage incinerator was actually converted from a kiln. The people that had once come to this valley to build a small town had left behind a small kiln.


    Of course, over the years, the kiln had since become unusable, and using it to burn garbage was just a form of waste recycling.


    Having reached the incinerator, Rex was about to throw his used packing in when he realized something was off.


    He squatted down and reached into the kiln.


    There were paper boxes and plastic wrappings inside the kiln that had been thrown by others. However, the amount of rubbish¡­ seemed slightly less than usual.


    Rex did a mental calculation of when the kiln had been last used, and his eyes narrowed.


    This warrior, who had risen to a weapons master at a young age, stood up, wiped the dirt off his hands, and headed for the Town Hall.


    Inside the Town Hall, "Yang" was sipping on tea as usual.


    However, through the window, Rex could tell that it wasn''t Yang but an illusion that Yang had left behind.


    Although there was no apparent difference to the naked eye, Rex, a professional that knew Yang himself, could sense the difference in the aura of this illusion compared to the actual Yang.


    Rex believed that among the former bandits, Tuttle Joe would probably be able to tell the difference as well.


    But Rex wasn''t focusing on Yang''s illusion. His gaze lingered on the several large cabinets behind the illusion for a bit before he went around the Town Hall, paying particular attention to the ground near the windowsills and the damage to the surrounding bushes and branches on the ground.


    Through detailed and targeted observation, Rex was able to ascertain his conjecture and couldn''t help shaking his head. "These guys¡­ It''s really no wonder they were once a bandit gang. They are just too audacious."


    Given that only 20 to 30 undead could be seen in town per day and Yang himself wasn''t present, leaving an illusion in place, it wasn''t difficult to understand why these former bandits would be so brazen.


    Rex''s personality didn''t mesh with these former bandits. Even though they would often cross paths in town, they spoke to each other less than with the undead.


    The former bandits didn''t appreciate Rex''s aloofness and disdained that his mind had been corrupted; Rex, on the other hand, looked down on the former bandits for their depravity and lawlessness.


    Rex was somewhat conflicted. He really didn''t want to get involved in the affairs of these people, but if he turned a blind eye and let them die, it would seem to contradict his long-standing beliefs.


    "¡­Oh, well." Rex sighed. "Losing manpower while the town is still being constructed¡­ wouldn''t be good either."


    Rex was rather interested in Yang''s ideal of developing Taranthan into a territory.


    Like Tuttle Joe, Rex also came from the Rhine Kingdom, though his family was higher in status than Tuttle''s¡ªRex''s father was a viscount with territory, vassals, as well as many manors and ranches.


    In theory, a viscount''s son should never have fallen to the point of being mentally corrupted and forced to await death in the Sorensen Mountains. Unfortunately, Rex wasn''t a legitimate child; he was born to his father and a mistress.


    This was a rather common occurrence. Those with riches and nobility could naturally attract beautiful women seeking to exchange their bodies and wombs for a more decent life.


    However, while noblemen having multiple mistresses were common, only a few of these mistresses could gain long-term affection, and even fewer of their offsprings were recognized by the family.


    Obviously, Rex hadn''t been one of those fortunate bastards favored by the viscount and received preferential treatment. Still, due to half his bloodline, he enjoyed a carefree childhood and was able to attend private school as a young boy.


    By the time Rex was 14, his aging mother could no longer attract the viscount''s interest, so she and her son were sent to the countryside with a paltry sum of money.


    Expecting to bind a nobleman with a so-called father-son affection was one of the most unrealistic fantasies in the world. Noblemen having many mistresses were commonplace, and there would be even more illegitimate children. To Rex''s father, abandoning Rex and his mother was no different from discarding a pet.


    In any case, Rex''s desire to develop Taranthan might be even stronger than Yang¡¯s¡ªhe wanted success and fame, and to make his viscount father regret abandoning such an outstanding son like him.


    Without such a strong desire, it would have been impossible to force Rex, who had originally been on the verge of complete mental collapse, to willingly "serve" the undead.


    Having affirmed his intention, Rex came to the Wanderer Guild construction site for the first time.


    The Wanderer Guild was a popular spot for players to advance classes, and its construction status was a stark contrast to that of the Warrior Guild. The square was more spacious, and the guild hall was significantly larger, along with rows of completed small houses, which were just the beginning of what was to come.


    On site, only a few scattered undead were busy with tasks. Among the three responsible for this area, only Tuttle was present at his post, while Hal and Finley were nowhere to be seen.


    Rex observed Tuttle from a distance and felt that facing off with Tuttle wouldn''t be much different from confronting Hal. Thus, the young warrior decided to approach.


    Tuttle was clearly surprised when Rex, who had never interacted with him before, proactively approached. He got up and asked, "Charlie Rex, something on your mind?"


    Charlie stopped a few meters away. He didn''t beat around the bush and said, "I don''t know what you guys are planning, but since we know each other, I feel obligated to give you a piece of advice. You guys best give up, Joe."


    Tuttle couldn''t help raising an eyebrow when he heard what Charlie first say, but after listening to the latter''s pretentious warning, he couldn''t help but laugh." Haha, I''m sorry¡­ Am I mistaken? Are you trying to educate someone?"


    Rex shook his head. "No, it''s just a reminder."


    Tuttle scoffed, displeasure apparent on his face as he strode over to Rex and lifted the latter''s chin. "Who do you think you are? A soldier?"


    Military in this world wasn''t held in high regard by most. Even on Earth, the perception of the military among the Chinese people differed fundamentally from that of other countries'' people. In short, "soldier" wasn''t a term of respect; it was a derogatory word, similar in meaning to "grunt".


    Charlie wasn''t going to be provoked by such childish taunts and responded with a deadpan expression, "I heard you guys had a hard time dealing with the undead last time."


    Tuttle''s expression turned cold. "You looking for trouble, Little Charlie?!"


    "Calm down, I''m not that bored to come seeking trouble intentionally." Rex raised his hand to stop Tuttle and went on, "Let me repeat myself. I just wanted to kindly remind you guys to not do anything foolish.


    "I understand that you guys feel ashamed having to yield to Yang and be forced to coexist with these undead. You may not agree with Yang''s ideals and think he''s either insane or deceiving you. All these I can understand." Rex quickened his pace to say what he wanted before the other party lost control of his emotions.


    "But I still want to remind you not to forget Yang''s attitude toward you, me, and all of us."


    Tuttle Joe was also the brains of the Sacred Crow after all, and despite feeling pissed at being offended, he still retained basic judgment. Restraining his anger, he asked, "What exactly are you trying to say?"


    "What I''m saying is that Yang is a high-level mage." Rex heaved a sigh of relief, now knowing that Tuttle was at least capable of having a normal conversation. "Even if he doesn''t care about us, he will still maintain the decorum and courtesy expected of a high-level mage. He doesn''t make us too uncomfortable, which might lead us to misjudge the circumstances."


    Tuttle tilted his head. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "With all the decorum and courtesy, the fact remains that Yang doesn''t care about any of us." Rex paused for a moment before continuing solemnly, "He doesn''t need our support, admiration, trust, or awe. He merely demands that we do simple tasks, something any well-trained male servant can do, and he provides compensation in return. I believe you understand what that means, Joe."


    Tuttle''s face twisted, and his mouth opened slightly as if he wanted to say something. But no words came out.


    He understood.


    He, too, came from a well-off family and had been exposed to such social interactions from a young age.


    Upon careful consideration, it was true that Black Mage Yang had never made any higher demands on them. Even when their attempted rebellion was discovered, Yang showed no intention of punishing them. He merely presented a bill they could never afford and had them give verbal promises before letting them off lightly.


    And¡­ he had even explicitly stated that he didn''t care about their betrayal.


    In any case, the reason was simple: their loyalty or betrayal held no value to Yang!


    Seeing Tuttle''s face turn pale and the beads of sweat forming on his forehead, Rex knew that his warning had been understood.


    He felt somewhat disdainful toward Tuttle''s belated realization¡­


    However, despite his sentiments, they were still "colleagues," and Rex could only patiently continue to advise, "I believe you''re aware that the undead don''t avoid us when they chat. The reason Yang and the undead left Exile Town is to receive the civilians he acquired from the Duchy of Shiga.


    "The things Yang tasks us to do can be done by any ordinary folk with some education. We people¡­ aren''t special or irreplaceable." This statement stung Rex himself quite a bit. It reminded him of the past, and he couldn''t help but sigh.

 Chapter 58: New Patch

    In the wilderness.


    The tricycle cart convoy traveled along the bumpy ground, rattling and shaking, causing Mia, seated on a cart, to feel dizzy and nauseous. Every bone in her body ached from the bumpy journey.


    She could endure the physical discomfort by gritting her teeth, but the mental stress was pushing her to the brink of crumbling.


    Clutching her small bundle of belongings tightly, Mia tried to curl up her legs to find some comfort. Her face was pale, and goosebumps were all over her skin.


    Beside her feet¡­ were several rolled-up bundles of cloth.


    Due to the limited space in the cart, these bundles weren''t just pressed against Mia''s legs but were also touching the legs of the other four women riding in the same cart.


    As the cart jolted along, the clacking sound of bones knocking occasionally sounded.


    Mia gripped her bundle of belongings tightly as she kept her attention on these seemingly casually wrapped bones, afraid to look away¡­


    Of the other four women traveling with Mia, the youngest was already in her mid-thirties. Years of non-stop weaving had severely damaged their eyesight, and their physical strength was greatly diminished from prolonged sitting. Although the women knew that the things sharing the cart with them were unusually eerie, none of them had the energy to protest. And after a short while of bouncing up and down, they dozed off in succession.


    Only Mia, who was relatively young, faced this alone.


    If these were ordinary skeletal remains, Mia wouldn''t be this afraid.


    Those who lived a life of poverty and struggled to survive weren''t startled by much. Many times, Mia had seen people starve to death in their homes, and their remains carried out and discarded. She had also seen fellow commoners sent back from the plantations with their bodies completely mangled.


    The problem, however, was that these skeletal remains seemingly wrapped up casually were far from ordinary¡­


    While she was all tensed up, one of the rolled-up bundles at the bottom of the cart suddenly expanded, causing Mia to shudder uncontrollably.


    The heap of bones floated up from within the bundle along with an eerie clacking.


    Mia''s eyes widened in shock, and she immediately covered her mouth.


    Just as she had witnessed several times before, these various human bones swiftly zipped around and assembled themselves into a complete skeleton in a matter of seconds as if manipulated by invisible hands.


    The moment it was "assembled," the skeleton came alive and bent down to pick up and wear its clothing and gear. While putting on its clothes, it seemed to call out to its fellow undead nearby who were jogging lethargically along with the convoy.


    Those undead keeping pace with the convoy also followed suit and joined in the rambunctious shrieking.


    On the cart, Mia, who was once more completely ignored, heaved a huge sigh of relief. Still shaking, she lowered her hand and continued to clutch her little bundle while staring fixedly at the tattered sandals on her feet.


    Regardless of how many times she witnessed this scene, she would still feel terrified.


    But she should be safe as long as she didn''t draw the attention of these undead¡­ Mia tried to reassure herself.


    After all, each new day she was alive was like a treasure. The discomfort of riding in the shabby cart, as unpleasant as it was, was still better than being stuck in a dark room weaving and enduring scoldings for just wanting a little more bread.


    She hadn''t touched a spinning machine for a whole week, and yet she was still receiving food.


    If¡­ if she reached the town mentioned by the black mage, she could live there like a normal family with her neighbor, Uncle Carter. She wouldn''t have to endure scoldings for wanting an extra slice of bread. No matter how frightening these undead were, Mia could endure it.


    "There''s an update announcement on the official site!"


    This was the first thing the player, Stuffed Gummy, said to her fellow players when she logged in.


    These very words successfully worked up the enthusiasm of her bored teammates, and even players from other teams rushed over to ask about it.


    "What did the announcement say? Is there a new patch?"


    "Yes, a new patch is out! 1.05!" Tang Jia excitedly told everyone while she was wearing her gear.


    "Something new called the ''Undead Merchant Association'' has been introduced, which is specially designed for lifestyle class players to grind reputation. Those without reputation can trade with the Undead Merchant Association. By using materials, copper coins, and combined with the territory prestige, players can redeem equipment. There''s all sorts of equipment, from basic to rare items with special effects!"


    "I''ll log out to take a look!" An eager player immediately rushed back to the tricycles his team was responsible for.


    "Can we trade even without the Merchant Association''s reputation?" others in no rush to log out asked.


    "Well, yeah, that''s why I came online in a hurry to tell you guys," Tang Jia said while hastily putting on leather armor and slotting in metal plates, then hopping off the tricycle cart. "Exile Town territory prestige has been renamed Taranthan prestige and is stand-alone from the reputation system. Besides having a value, it can also be used as a currency for trading with NPCs from the Undead Merchant Association. By exchanging 50 points of Taranthan territory prestige and 10 Spider Venom Sacs, you can get a steel knife for free! It''s a total freebie!"


    The steel chopper sold by the weapon vendor had a price of 20 copper coins.


    Spider Venom Sacs were incredibly cheap and easily obtainable from the Spider Cave where any random mob dropped them. Even an impromptu party of unaffiliated players grinding together for a night could get a good number of these sacs.


    An Uncommon-grade material could only be exchanged for 20 points of territory prestige.


    Even though the newly introduced map Desolate Outpost, along with the farming spot, Poisonous Marshlands with tougher monsters but not as densely packed as Spider Cave, caused a stable decline in the price of high-grade materials, it still wasn''t particularly cost-effective.


    But¡­ the key point was that they were currently on an escort quest!


    Over two hundred players had accepted this escort quest, but not all of them could be online throughout its entirety. So, they were divided into 12 small teams, each responsible for two tricycle carts (some had been left at Desolate Outpost) and escorting a handful of civilians.


    Each civilian could provide 50 points of prestige to the respective escort team. If all the civilians were successfully escorted, each team''s players could accumulate two to three hundred reputation points. This was why Tang Jia had said the steel knife trade was a total freebie.


    One thing to note was that the game didn''t provide an NPC for repairing equipment. When players had damaged steel knives, they could only be sold back to the weapon vendor NPC at a tenth of their original price, which was a sore spot bugging players for a long time.


    Unfortunately, the development team showed no intention of making any changes to this issue. Just these steel knives, which were common weapons, had caused players to lose a considerable amount of copper coins.


    "Right now, it seems worth it, but after the prestige from this quest depletes, the price of high-quality materials will definitely go up. It wouldn''t be as cost-effective then," an unaffiliated player in Unceasing Entropy''s team made some mental calculations and voiced his thoughts.


    "We can grind it ourselves!" Tang Jia raised the steel knife in her hand aggressively. "Killing a Demonized Toad might give us a dozen or so high-quality materials if we''re lucky. Once we finish this quest, let''s form a regular team and grind monsters in Poisonous Marshlands!"


    "Wait, Tang Jia." Teammate Jia Luo leaned in. "A basic steel knife costs only 50 points of territory prestige. How much is needed for high-quality equipment?"


    "1000 points," replied Tang Jia promptly.


    "What the heck?! That''s daylight robbery!" Not only Jia Luo, but players from their own team and other teams who gathered around were shocked. "Why is it so many times more costly?!"


    "That''s just how much it costs for high-quality equipment with special effects." Tang Jia shrugged. "And you''ll need to contribute a whole bunch of materials for the special effects. But at least, there''s a clear acquisition channel for high-quality equipment now. It''s still better than relying on luck like when we snatched stuff from the NPCs, right?


    "When we snatched the drops of these private mercenaries, all we got was basic equipment. Isn''t that much more disappointing?"


    "That''s true," Yang Ying chimed in. "Our team doesn''t even have a single piece of equipment with special effects. It''s still worth the extra time if we can use prestige and materials to obtain them."


    During the "night of rampaging," the group of unaffiliated players had managed to seize two good pieces of equipment, but the wrist guard with special effects had been bought by a wealthy solo player, leaving them with only a basic dagger that used to be Finley''s.


    "Give Me Medicine, who got a special-effect weapon, really made a killing by getting a special-effect weapon for just a few hundred copper coins," a player couldn''t help but grumble sourly.


    "But the problem is that high-quality materials will become even more scarce in the future, making it harder for solo players." Another unaffiliated player sighed.


    Previously, materials could only be exchanged for reputation, and the prestige obtained from high-quality materials was mainly for the competition among the big players vying for the position of mayor. Ordinary players hadn''t needed to grind territory prestige, so the prices of Uncommon-grade materials and higher didn''t fluctuate much.


    Now that the "Undead Merchant Association" had been launched, even ordinary players who weren''t interested in competing for the mayor''s position needed to use high-quality materials and territory prestige to exchange for top-tier equipment. With such a large demand-supply gap, it was near certain that prices would rise.


    "That''s why I said we should form a regular team just now!" Tang Jia used her signature loud voice to shout energetically. "With a regular team, we can grind monsters together, and when materials drop, we''ll split them evenly among us. We can save up materials without spending a penny and exchange them for good equipment! Our team is still short of members, anyone interested in joining?"


    The unaffiliated players had been waiting for this opportunity and immediately signed up enthusiastically.


    "Count me in, count me in!"


    "Please add me, I''m always online!"


    Tang Jia wasted no time and immediately asked about the online hours of these unaffiliated players and promised to add them to the team''s WeChat group once she logged out.


    At the head of the convoy, Ji Tang, who was taking the lead in Unceasing Entropy''s stead, turned back and looked at the enthusiastic players, smiling while shaking his head.


    As someone who knew the truth about the game "OtherWorld," Ji Tang often found the players'' silly antics annoying¡­ but overall, they were quite adorable. At least in Ji Tang''s eyes, they were much more endearing than some of the natives in this world.


    The players viewed capturing the mercenary pursuers as a special quest set up by the system with rewards for their hard work and efforts, but when Ji Tang set up the ambush, he understood what these well-equipped but unorganized and undisciplined folks were really planning on doing.


    This group wasn''t there to be "mobs" for players to farm but was a private armed force with the purpose of murdering civilians.


    Ji Tang had never been on a mission abroad, but some of his comrades had been in peacekeeping forces. As a Chinese soldier, Ji Tang didn''t think highly of foreign private armed forces, let alone the regular armies of some nations on Earth.


    It might be hard for ordinary Chinese people to understand, but the reality was that even some of the so-called civilized countries'' military on Earth could remain indifferent to the deaths of people in other countries (or even their own).


    From the post-World War II era until the 21st century, the widespread issue of PTSD among soldiers from multiple countries spoke volumes¡ªthere were very few disciplined armies that refrained from mistreating and killing civilians as well as prisoners of war.


    If legitimate militaries were like this, then private armed forces were even worse.


    Players regarded the people in this "game world" as virtual data, as NPCs, and they were on the lookout for NPCs wearing good gear, but at least, players wouldn''t take pleasure in killing civilians.


    When a "quest" required players to take care of these civilians, this bunch might not go as far as to be warm and kind, but they would at least do what needed to be done.


    The zombie general stayed behind at Desolate Outpost, and now, Ji Tang led the team forward alone, silently contemplating all that he had seen and heard over these few days.


    Now, it seems that this Lord Yang intends to increase the population of Taranthan. He is using materials, reputation, and other means to motivate players to grind monsters, all to eliminate hidden dangers?


    So¡­ Lord Yang''s intention is to establish and develop the territory of Taranthan?


    Other "advanced NPCs" show signs of reluctance and impatience when dealing with players. The only one who treats players normally, besides the Weapons Master, Charlie Rex, is Lord Yang.


    Could these two individuals be related to that "target" on Earth? Or perhaps one of them is the "target," the one promoting the "OtherWorld" game on Earth?


    What exactly is the objective of this game¡­


    Ji Tang''s head started to ache the more he thought about it. He wasn''t particularly skilled at dealing with such matters.


    Nevermind¡­ Let the experts handle these questions. I should focus on doing what I can. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Brother Tang! Brother Tang!"


    A player sped over from the back of the convoy using "Basic Windwalk" while shouting anxiously. "Something is wrong! It looks like an NPC in our team is about to die!"


    Ji Tang nearly jumped from being startled. "What?!"

 Chapter 59: Civilisation

    The tricycle convoy came to a sudden halt, causing the Holy Legion cavalry riding behind to look up in surprise. Usually, the undead would stop periodically to clear out monsters, but this time, the Holy Legion troops hadn''t sensed anything near.


    The undead''s reactions were also different from before. Some of them remained stationary, while others chattered and rushed to the back of the convoy, where they spread out and laid a tent canvas on the ground before gently lifting a civilian who was sitting in the cargo cart of one of the tricycles.


    "Did something happen?" Andres muttered, and he instinctively urged his horse forward a few steps.


    The Holy Legion cavalry were slightly separated by a distance of about thirty meters or so. From this distance, Andres, on horseback, could clearly see that the civilian that was lifted down by the undead seemed to be in a bad state. Her eyes were tightly shut, her limbs limp, and even after being laid flat on the tent cloth, she remained motionless.


    Andres vaguely understood what was happening and couldn''t help but sigh silently.


    As a holy knight who had lived for over a hundred years, he wasn''t that foolish to think that the undead were spreading a disease. He knew very well that common folk had fragile bodies, and leaving the familiar settlement environment to enter the wilderness, even just traveling, could be dangerous for them.


    Temperature changes between day and night, a seemingly insignificant mosquito bite, or even a light rain and a gust of wind could cost a commoner their life.


    That''s why common folk feared words like "migration" or "relocation." Unless they couldn''t survive and had no choice, few were willing to leave their homeland.


    This was the reason Andres had sighed. He was well aware that these civilians had left Camore and been in the Taranthan wilderness for over a week already, yet they were only encountering casualties now. This was because the black mage had been generous enough to provide ample food and resources for these elderly and weak civilians.


    Even during the cotton-picking season at the plantations, the overseers were only willing to provide fat-laden food for the cotton pickers and nobody else¡­ Andres knew this fact as well.


    He also knew that many cotton pickers would try to bring their family members to the plantations to enjoy the sumptuous meals during the cotton-picking season¡­


    From any perspective, he had no grounds to criticize Lord Yang''s treatment of these commoners.


    While filled with mixed sentiments and unsure of what he truly felt, Andres saw two undead kneeling beside the unconscious civilian as if attentively examining the civilian''s condition.


    As Andres was wondering what the undead were up to, he noticed that¡­ one of the undead was loosening the civilian''s tightly bound belt and clothes. Then, they used stones and other objects to elevate the civilian''s feet before one put both palms on the civilian''s chest and pressed down continuously.


    Andres: "??"


    Another undead creature opened its jaw as if drawing a deep breath(??), then leaned down and spread its bony claws under the civilian''s chin and blew into the civilian''s mouth.


    Andres: "??"


    Lowell also witnessed this scene and turned to look at Yang Qiu in astonishment.


    "It''s just CPR," said Yang Qiu calmly.


    Lowell: "??"


    Andres, who was ahead, also turned around with a completely perplexed look on his face.


    "Don''t worry, the undead can handle it." Yang Qiu remained as unperturbed as ever. "As I mentioned before, the Taranthan undead are different. They understand the value of life more than the living themselves. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, they won''t give up on these civilians."


    Lowell, Andres, and their troops didn''t know how to react at all¡­


    "Everyone, take a break here." Lowell gave a stern command, paying no heed to Yang Qiu, and led his unit further back to create even more distance.


    Then, he had everyone dismount and engage in conversation to ensure his subordinates'' mental state remained stable.


    Yang Qiu acted as if didn''t notice Lowell''s nervousness.


    He had just said that intentionally just so that this bunch would question their beliefs.


    These troops of the Holy Legion would never particularly care about the life of a civilian woman, especially an old, ugly, and seemingly worthless blind one. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He deliberately distorted their worldview, making them realize the fact that "the undead care more about whether a blind woman lives or dies than these warriors of faith from the Duchy of Shiga."


    "Civilization" wasn''t merely superficially displayed through who dressed more decently, who had better manners, or who spoke more politely.


    The true basis of being civilized for any intelligent life or intelligent race was the respect they had for other lives of the same kind.


    In this regard, even the Chinese players who approached the game casually were beyond the level of the indigenous "civilized people" of this world.


    Of course, Yang Qiu himself hadn''t been as composed as he made himself to be. While he had been explaining the situation to the Holy Legion unit, he had silently placed the emergency alchemy potion he had taken out back into his spatial ring.


    A player who came online to play during a break before class was a medical student and, along with Ji Tang, who knew some emergency treatment, confirmed that the unconscious civilian was suffering from heatstroke. First aid had been skillfully given, so there was no need for him to step in.


    A few minutes later, the civilian, who had been incapacitated due to dizziness, coughed twice after the cardiac resuscitation and began to breathe on her own. The recently logged-in medical student player immediately asked a female player to help remove the thick and heavily wrapped clothes from the civilian, leaving only a light undershirt for warmth.


    Ji Tang instructed players to clear a couple of tricycle carts, then built a canopy on the spot using branches, ropes, and tent canvas. He instructed other players to place the civilian on the tricycle with the canopy, elevate her legs, and lie her to the side while covering her abdomen with a blanket.


    Yang Qiu also released an impromptu quest of [Lunch Preparation] to give this civilian more time to rest.


    "Is she okay?"


    "This NPC is fine already, right?"


    The small team whom this civilian was assigned to gathered around, nervously watching the entire emergency process.


    "Her breathing is more stable now, so she should be fine," said the medical student player who had assisted. "I suspect she overheated due to wearing too many layers and being exposed to direct sunlight for quite some time, leading to heatstroke. During this break, you all get a female player to get some cold water and use a cloth to help this civilian cool down."


    "I''ll do it." A female player in the team volunteered.


    "Darn, NPCs can actually get heatstroke? Those NPCs in Exile Town wear thick clothes and stand under the sun every day; why hasn''t this happened before?" a player wondered out loud.


    "Those are advanced NPCs, while these are ordinary NPCs, so it''s different," another player explained matter-of-factly.


    Ji Tang, who tensed up, stealthily heaved a sigh of relief¡­


    "Wait a moment. Doesn''t this mean that all the civilian NPCs are wearing too much?" one of the players in the team that had been given a scare by their NPC suffering heatstroke exclaimed anxiously. "Can we get them all to wear fewer clothes and take off their outer layers?"


    "We can''t communicate. These NPCs don''t understand what we''re saying and won''t initiate conversations with us."


    "How about this, let''s make canopies for the tricycle carts carrying the NPCs. We have tent canvases anyway. And let the female players, who are confident in communicating, try to persuade these NPCs not to wear too many layers," suggested Ji Tang. "I noticed that these female NPCs are more guarded when male players try speaking to them, so let''s not get too close."


    "Damn, NPCs even have gender consciousness?!" Some male players found it amusing.


    Female players immediately expressed their anger. "When male NPCs attack, they never go easy on us. That idiot, Hal, has killed me several times!"


    Despite their complaints, the players realized that the lives of these ordinary NPCs directly affected the amount of territory prestige they could earn during this mission. After all, these NPCs were living and breathing "data" beings. Watching them die wasn''t something players couldn''t bear, so they got to work at once.


    The caravan had traveled along relatively flat terrain, and the formation wasn''t entirely straight, so Mia could easily see the situation from her position near the front.


    When Mia saw another of her neighbors from a nearby street, Martina, being carried out by the undead, her face paled dramatically, as if she had seen her own future, and she shivered uncontrollably.


    People in town would come across each other often, and Martina, who was ten years older than Mia, had come over to her house to play when Mia was still a little girl.


    Mia, who couldn''t find a husband and was often mistreated at home, at least only needed to weave enough to provide for her family. Occasionally, she could still catch a breather.


    Martina, on the other hand, got married at eighteen and had a child at a young age. In her early twenties, she had to work day and night to support herself, her child, and her husband, who refused to work at the plantation. By the time she reached her mid-thirties, her body had weakened like others her age, and her eyesight was so poor that she couldn''t even see anything further away than a meter.


    "Mia, what''s happening?" a woman sharing the same cart with Mia couldn''t see that far, so she asked the youngest among them, Mia.


    "It''s Martina. She seems¡­ sick, and they carried her off the cart," Mia replied, her voice trembling.


    The other four women in the cart weren''t feeling too comfortable either. Upon hearing the news, their faces grew even paler.


    "May the Goddess protect her," one of the women spoke, lowering her head and clasping her hands in front of her, quietly praying for their unfortunate fellow townsfolk.


    For the impoverished lower class, seeking medical treatment was a foreign concept. The sick could only endure their suffering, and if they survived, it was considered a stroke of luck; if not, it was their fate.


    For someone like Martina to fall ill in these circumstances was akin to a death sentence.


    But what happened next was beyond Mia''s expectations. Despite her poor eyesight, she saw that the undead didn''t carry Martina away and discard her body. Instead, they surrounded her and performed actions that Mia couldn''t comprehend.


    Although she had no idea what these undead were doing, based on their body language, Mia could instinctively sense that they seemed to care for Martina and had no intention of abandoning her!


    However, Mia couldn''t believe her own intuition; she even questioned her own sanity.


    She bit her lip, not daring to share what she saw and felt with the others in the cart. She was afraid that she would be seen as foolish, imagining unrealistic things, and going mad like the elderly often did.


    A few minutes later, Martina, who had been lying motionless on the ground, coughed softly. Mia, who had been closely observing her, gasped in astonishment.


    The undead were chattering, and even though Mia couldn''t understand their language or decipher their skeletal faces, she could sense their joy.


    "Mia? What''s wrong?"


    "Did something happen again?" the other women in the same cart couldn''t see that far and asked anxiously.


    "They saved Martina¡­ They didn''t abandon her." Mia couldn''t hold back her tears, and her frail body trembled slightly. "Oh Goddess¡­"


    Mia saw a female undead with a feminine voice help Martina remove her outer clothing and carefully move her to a three-wheeled cart that now had a canopy shade.


    "Is Martina alright? Are you sure she''s really okay?" the women in the cart couldn''t resist standing up and asking Mia repeatedly.


    "I don''t know for sure, but I saw the undead carry Martina back onto the cart. They didn''t abandon her; that''s true," Mia replied shakily. "It seems like they think it''s not good for Martina to be exposed to the sun, so they added a shade to the cart she''s sitting on."


    The sun was scorching today with almost no clouds in the sky, and being exposed to the sun for the entire morning was indeed uncomfortable for everyone.


    The women in the cart stared at Mia in disbelief and then looked blankly into the distance, where everything was blurry to them.


    Several undead, whose voices were already familiar, approached them. Some flipped the tent cloth on their neighboring tricycle carts, while others gestured and made incomprehensible sounds as if trying to communicate with them.


    Instinctively, Mia and the four women in the cart huddled together and withdrew in fright.


    Seeing these undead skeletons moving and speaking up close was still terrifying for most.


    However, Mia didn''t feel too scared for some reason.


    She noticed that the undead woman in front of them, who was gesturing, had a gentle and pleasant voice.


    After carefully observing her gestures for a while, Mia thought for a moment and attempted to unbutton her outerwear.


    The female undead immediately raised her thumb and nodded vigorously, then turned slightly and pointed at the three-wheeled cart where Martina lay, followed by pointing at the scorching sun in the sky, tilting her head, and exaggeratedly mimicking someone falling unconscious.


    A smile appeared on Mia''s face.


    She understood; this female undead was trying to tell her that wearing too many layers of clothes would cause problems, just like what happened to Martina.


    "She''s trying to tell us not to wear too thick clothes; otherwise, we might get sick like Martina," Mia mustered up her courage and spoke up. "They saved Martina, and they don''t want us to get sick like her."


    Throughout the journey, whether in the day or at night, most of the female civilians wore every piece of clothing they could find.


    It wasn''t that these women weren''t afraid of the heat, but because more than half of their group consisted of men.


    Even elderly, weak, or disabled men posed a threat to them because the women were equally fragile, and most of them had vision problems.


    They were the true bottom class and didn''t have any fantasies about others being kind and pure.


    The women exchanged glances for a moment but did not object. Then, they willingly removed their thick, suffocating clothes.


    At this moment, there were only a few men left in their group, and they were all packed to the back of the convoy by the undead. There was no need for them to wrap themselves up so tightly anymore.


    "Hah!" With hands on her hips, Tang Jia turned to her comrades proudly. "How about that? I really have a talent for communication, don''t I? I managed to convince these NPCs in just a few moments!"


    "Yes, yes, you''re incredibly talented." Yang Ying walked over with a canvas and chuckled. "Ask the NPCs to get down from the carts to stretch, genius."


    Behind the undead convoy, some 200 meters away.


    After ascertaining that the mentality of the troops in his unit was stable, Lowell heaved a sigh of relief and ordered everyone to stay put. He then walked over to assess the situation.


    The tricycle convoy was also resting. Some undead were boiling water on makeshift stoves, while others were constructing simple canopy shades for some of the carts.


    Most of the civilians had removed their excessively thick clothing and were cautiously moving within a small area.


    A few civilians helped each other walk to the cart where the sick person was lying, to offer their greetings and exchange some words.


    Some more courageous women with limited eyesight cautiously observed the undead and even¡­ approached them curiously, trying to communicate by gesturing awkwardly, wanting to help.


    Lowell: "¡­"

 Chapter 60: Town of the Undead

    After two days and a night of arduous travel, the civilians escorted by the tricycle expedition team finally arrived at Exile Town.


    Everyone was exhausted, including Mia, who could be considered the healthiest among the civilians. After walking tens of kilometers and riding a further two hundred on the tricycle carts, the bodies and spirits of the Camore commoners were nearly falling apart.


    When Mia saw the yellow dirt path leading to the valley, she knew that this journey had finally reached its end point. She mustered the strength to glance ahead but quickly slumped back into the cart, feeling completely drained.


    In stark contrast, the players who had tirelessly pedaled the tricycle carts during the entire journey were full of energy. Many of them left the group and cheered as they ran toward the mountain valley path that they once had no means of coming out from¡­


    But then, they were blocked by that giant rat.


    The level-3 Demonized Rat, the size of a tiger, was crouching in the middle of the dirt path, nonchalantly chewing on a plant root about the size of a watermelon. Its beady crimson eyes seemed to be filled with disdain as it stared at the approaching tricycle expedition team.


    "We''ve killed several level 4 elite monsters, so why are we even afraid of this thing? Brothers, follow me and wipe it out!" A leader of a monster-hunting party stepped forward and led his team to charge at the giant rat.


    Unceasing Entropy, who had recently come online to take over from Ji Tang, raised her arm calmly, signaling the convoy to halt.


    "What the hell! Are these guys trying to kill steal? Do they want to take it all for themselves?" Tang Jia glared at the charging group, making her displeasure known.


    Unceasing Entropy turned and looked at her childhood friend lovingly.


    "Why are you looking at me as if I''m an idiot?" muttered Tang Jia.


    "Because you are one," Jia Luo teased bluntly.


    Before Tang Jia could retort, she witnessed the giant rat, still squatting unbridledly in the middle of the dirt path, throw away the plant root it held, lower its football-sized head, and charge fiercely at the approaching monster hunting party.


    This giant rate was extremely quick and was only slightly slower than a player with "Basic Windwalk" activated.


    The leader of this monster-hunting party at the forefront clenched his teeth. He immediately raised his shield in front of him and shouted to his teammates behind, "Stick together¡ª"


    Those were the knight player''s last words.


    Before he could even finish shouting, he disappeared in a flash of white light.


    "Oh my god!"


    "F*ck!"


    "Damn, damn, damn, damn!"


    The others shrieked and scattered in all directions.


    The giant rat, with its perfect physique, speed, and power swiftly annihilated the players, moved with incredible agility, executed stunningly high-speed maneuvers such as straight charges, diagonal leaps, and rapid shifts to chase. It managed to take down half of the fully equipped monster-hunting party before finally coming to a stop at the edge of the ruins.


    The players, who witnessed this extremely impressive display of single-handed slaughter were left speechless with mouths gaping.


    As the dust settled, the giant rat that had just achieved a pentakill slowly straightened up, raised its elongated snout, and disdainfully cast a contemptuous glance at the players with its crimson eyes.


    Players: "¡­"


    "How haughty! Let''s kill it!"


    "F*ck! How dare this mere rodent look down on me!"


    Despite the verbal outburst, no teams dared to step forward this time.


    "At present, this monster still seems unbeatable." Standing at the forefront of the convoy, Unceasing Entropy spoke to her companions, "Its physical defense is too high, and its speed is too good. Without a fully formed mage team, I reckon that it can''t be taken down."


    Jia Luo, who excelled in solo monster farming in other games, chimed in, "Yeah, the elite monsters in this game seem to learn from experiences. If it can''t be defeated this time, it would be even harder to fight the next time.


    "This rat is often chasing after players trying to advance to wanderers and is getting more skilled at blocking and ramming people. Without the undead horse on Brother Lahong''s side, there''s really no way of getting through this path."


    "So, let''s not take the risk," Unceasing Entropy advised. "We''re on the verge of completing the quest, so there''s no need to waste our efforts dying and getting kicked offline."


    Tang Jia felt vexed and fell silent for a bit before cursing, "Damn it, there are monsters all over on the outside, yet we still have to suck our thumbs in the face of the beginner town''s mini boss'' show of force¡­ Is this game even playable?"


    "Let it be, it''s a mini boss that has slaughtered all players in the game," Unceasing Entropy consoled her friend. "This game is just like that, whether it''s NPCs or monsters, strength doesn''t solely depend on levels. We''ve encountered quite a few Demonized Toads that weren''t as tough as level 1 Scythe-Legged Spiders, right? Player deaths at the hands of those Scythe-Legger Spiders far outnumber those that have been killed by Demonized Toads."


    "That''s right. Level 5 Hal has killed far less than Level 4 Tuttle," said Jia Luo wearily. "Tuttle is probably the most deadly advanced NPC. One arrow equates to death, unlike Hal, who''s just a fool from whom players can slip away from if they are fast enough."


    Unceasing Entropy couldn''t help but make a teasing remark, "You wanderers should go easy on the instructors. If advanced NPCs can get sick, they''d probably get brain aneurysms from dealing with all you guys¡­"


    The players stood around for a while, and Lord Yang, riding an undead horse that made the eyes of knight players glimmer in envy, finally caught up.


    The leader of the undead was a different class, and as soon as Lord Yang appeared, the giant rat that haughtily obstructed the way vanished into thin air¡­


    "Old Yang is still as awesome as ever!"


    "Mages are just built differently!"


    Within the player contingent, players who had increased their reputation with Yang Qiu hoping to become mages watched on with envy and lamented.


    "Darn it, I wish the mage''s first job advancement quest was simpler!"


    "Did damned Old Yang monopolize the job advancement to not allow others to become mages?"


    "Such a sly fella!"


    "He truly lives up to being a villainous dungeon boss!"


    Yang Qiu, riding at the forefront, paid no heed to their comments.


    When it''s time for the second job advancement, I''ll show you brats what it''s like to get stuck for half a month¡­


    Had it been just two days ago, such a dangerous Demonized Rat at the entrance of the town they would be staying at would have scared the civilians witless.


    But now¡­ the civilians in the carts didn''t even bat an eyelid.


    Having traveled more than a hundred kilometers with the tricycle convoy, these civilians had experienced too much in just the last 24 hours.


    Once the convoy entered the town nestled in the valley, these physically and mentally exhausted civilians regained a bit of life. They struggled to sit up and curiously looked around.


    The streets were empty and deserted, with sparse wooden and stone buildings scattered among construction sites, where zombies loomed tall.


    Civilians: "¡­"


    Holy Legion cavalry following behind: "¡­"


    Zombies appearing in the small town where the undead lived weren''t something out of the ordinary.


    It might seem offensive to the undead if they made a fuss over the zombies here¡­


    Besides, they had also seen the armored zombie king who was highly respected by the undead during their miserable stay at the outpost.


    At this moment, the thoughts of both the civilians and Holy Legion soldiers were in sync. All of them clenched their jaws and put on stern expressions, determined not to be overly surprised or alarmed by anything they saw in this mysterious town of the undead.


    "Aaah! Aaah! Aaah! Calm down! Hal-san~ I''m your undead friend~"


    A player screamed as he dashed out of an alley, frantically running for his life while constantly looking back. In between, he also managed to shout, "If you don''t keep an eye on the site, someone will steal the steel bars. Trust me, I''ve seen plenty of these petty thieves who steal whatever they can get their hands on! Stop chasing me, turn back!"


    "Yo! You guys are back!" This last sentence was directed at the other players as he dashed through the returning convoy.


    As this player, who seemed to be running his mouth off like a machine gun, broke through the other side of the convoy and reached another street, an infuriated Hal Maxwell appeared from the spot had just come from.


    Evidently, Hal was quite annoyed by that player to the point he didn''t notice the civilians being escorted by the convoy as well as the large group of Holy Legion troops following behind as he kept a steely face and charged after the fleeing player.


    "The¡­ heck?!" Players in the convoy were dumbfounded. "What''s going on? Wasn''t it supposed to be safe once leaving the quest area? How did Hal chase so far?"


    "Did NPCs receive shadow buffs again? Darn, does this mean we can''t mess with Hal that easily in the future?"


    "That''s why I told you wanderers not to mess with NPCs!"


    While the players in the returning expedition team were still startled, a few pissed players came out of the alley, exclaiming, "Where is that damned idiot Hal leading us to?" S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "F*ck! I''ve been waiting for nearly half an hour and haven''t received the quest yet!"


    Players: "¡­"


    Yang Qiu at the front of the convoy: "¡­"


    One player pointed the way, and the few players busy increasing their reputation and preparing for their job advancement casually gave thanks before shooting a few curious glances at the numerous new NPCs that had returned with the main contingent. Then, they quickly went on their way.


    Due to the zombie general staying to hold the fort at Desolate Outpost, Yang Qiu had to deal with the closure of the escort quest himself.


    After disseminating the territory prestige rewards to the players who were dying to receive "Undead Merchant Association" equipment, Yang Qiu then assigned impromptu quests of resettling the civilian NPCs. When he was done with that, he led his guests to the Town Hall for a rest.


    At his shop next to the Town Hall, former bandit Anthony, now a tailor, saw a large group of holy warriors strutting by, and his hand trembled, causing him to drop the needle he held.


    "Black mage?? Holy warriors??"


    Anthony couldn''t comprehend how these two groups could have a connection. He stood blankly in place for a while before quickly getting up and preparing to close the shop to report this news to the boss.


    But before Anthony could close the door, a group of players, along with a dozen civilian women, came knocking.


    "Anthony, these are the new workers assigned to the tailor shop by Lord Yang," a player who received this resettlement quest politely interacted with Anthony. "We have brought them here, so can you handle the rest?"


    Anthony: "¡­"


    Anthony had been a "tailor" for quite some time already. Although no players were willing to increase their tailor reputation (some players were interested in this lifestyle class, they found that tailoring in this game actually required using a needle and thread and wasn''t as simple as just clicking a skill to level up, so they declined the profession), and he wasn''t as proficient as Hal and the others in issuing and settling quests, he had at least been selling waist pouches and bags, so he knew how to deal with this bunch.


    After sending the players away, Anthony composed himself and hesitantly accessed the imprint matrix to view the task information that the black mage had just given him¡­


    Yang requested him to arrange work, allocate lodging, and help these 12 partially visually impaired women adapt to life in Exile Town. He was to take care of their daily lives.


    If any harm, including but not limited to violation, befell these 12 women, then Yang would physically transform Anthony into an old woman himself.


    This two-meter-tall brute immediately fell to his knees. From a brave warrior to a tailor, from a tailor to an overseer for the disabled.


    "You monster¡ª!!!" Anthony roared in the direction of the Town Hall.

 Chapter 61: Canteen Food

    The overall area of Exile Town, situated in a valley, wasn''t huge. Excluding the heavily vegetated area at the foot of the mountains outside the town, it covered roughly 1.5 square kilometers.


    Of course, calling it small would be an understatement. It was approximately the size of Mal¨¦, the capital of the Maldives.


    In this town, there were only several dozen buildings (wooden or brick huts). The "resident population" consisted of three hundred skeletons, a dozen or so zombies, and twenty "advanced NPCs." It was undoubtedly an unusually spacious town.


    Furthermore, since the majority of the population¡ªthe skeletons¡ªdidn''t require housing, both buildings and open spaces were largely unused.


    Anthony, who had been a tailor in the Kenyan Empire during his youth but abandoned his old profession to become a mercenary upon discovering his talent for combat, had a rugged appearance and a hot-headed temperament. However, when forced to do things, he could indeed be rather meticulous.


    He had sold many waist pouches and backpacks and never made a mistake in the accounts. When players returned damaged waist pouches and backpacks at a low price, he could expertly repair the damage and resell them.


    Among the former bandits, his specialization had the most impressive achievements.


    The threat of being turned into a woman motivated Anthony greatly. Before nightfall, he had already arranged accommodations for the new female workers at the tailor shop and distributed living supplies. Following Yang''s instructions, he created personal health records for these women, engaging in conversations to inquire about their health conditions. He recorded all the ailments these women had accumulated over the years due to malnutrition and their weaving work.


    It was only late into the night when Anthony finally finished the tasks at hand. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, closed the shop door, and wearily dragged his feet to find Big Brother Hal.


    Exile Town was no quieter at midnight than in the day. The undead, who didn''t distinguish between day and night, were still wandering the streets. Anthony paid no attention to these undead, whom he considered to be sick in the head. He bypassed two groups of undead involved in street skirmishes on the way to arriving at the Wanderer Guild site. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Sure enough, Hal, Finley, and Tuttle were all still awake and gathered in front of Tuttle''s tent¡­ though the vibe among the three seemed slightly strange compared to other days.


    "You''re here, Anthony." Finley noticed his fellow comrade approaching with an oil lamp and shifted to make room for him.


    As soon as Anthony sat down, he noticed a green-covered book on a box to the right of Finley. On the cover, written in the common language, were the words: Employee Health Records.


    "¡­You guys also received people?" asked Anthony.


    Finley pointed to the several newly constructed huts on the site.


    Tuttle spread his hand and said, "Five. Yang had those undead bring five people over and asked us to arrange for their care. He even threatened to turn all of us into women if anything happened to those five."


    Anthony: "¡­"


    He very much wanted to angrily yell, "Why the hell do I have to take care of 12 people all by myself?!" But then, he realized it wouldn''t make a difference, so he decided to keep it in.


    "That damned black mage, does he think we won''t dare cause trouble for him?" Finley muttered gloomily. "Previously¡­ Did Rex report us?"


    The four former bandits present all grimaced.


    Some days ago, after carefully confirming that Yang had indeed left Exile Town and the number of undead had greatly decreased, these former bandits had once more started plotting mischief.


    Simply running away wouldn''t count as causing trouble, but they were reluctant to just leave and disappear without a trace. Therefore, they planned to raid the Town Hall, burn down everything, and make their escape.


    The containers stacked in the valley were indeed tempting, but they lacked the manpower to move much, so they reluctantly gave up.


    If it weren''t for Rex, a guy they usually had no dealings with, coming out and giving them a reminder, these former bandits might have already returned to the Sorensen Mountains.


    Black Mage Yang, who had been relentlessly pursued by the Radiant Sun Church all over the continent even before they were born, had always managed to escape and remained at large. How could he be bad at tracking and counter-tracking?


    Could they really escape if they angered the Nightmare Butcher?


    Would Yang, who had forgiven them once, forgive them a second time?


    Most of the mistakes they committed weren''t too difficult to rectify if they realized their errors and made amends.


    "Rex has no reason to keep our secret indeed," Tuttle said coldly. "However, since Yang entrusted those civilians he personally brought back to us, it proves¡­ that he still doesn''t care whether we are loyal or not."


    Tuttle''s blunt honesty made Hal and the others both relieved and somewhat bitter¡­ Indeed, the former bandits had never intended to be loyal to Yang, but it was still somewhat humiliating to be looked down on like this.


    "Guys, don''t forget our decision," Finley said softly. "Whether Yang needs our loyalty or not is entirely irrelevant to us. What we have to do¡­ is to be patient enough."


    Giving up causing trouble didn''t mean that these former bandits had given up their yearning for freedom; they simply changed their strategy. The more Yang interacted with the outside world, the more likely his tracks would be discovered by the radical Radiant Sun Church. The former bandits just needed to be patient and wait until the relentless Radiant Sun Church came knocking. At that time, they could readily sell out Yang.


    Now that he was embracing the mindset of "enduring humiliation and living in Exile Town for an extended period," Hal, who couldn''t stand players since long ago, no longer spared the undead that provoked him and would pursue such players until they were chopped down¡­


    Those present nodded their heads solemnly.


    The radicalism of the Radiant Sun Church''s Inquisition was world-renowned. In the past, these former bandits would never wish to have any dealings with these lunatics, but now, they hoped to see these radical fanatics, who could drown out the heretics and blasphemers just by shouting "Holy Light above!"


    At this moment, a "beep" suddenly sounded in their ears.


    The four of them jumped up and instantly drew their weapons, eyeing their surroundings fearfully.


    In their agreement with Yang, it had been made very clear that he wouldn''t monitor them during "off-duty" hours. Could this guy be breaking the agreement?!


    The entire Wanderer Guild site was desolate, and there was no sight of the imagined undead army surrounding them or any trace of the black mage.


    "Ehh¡­ Wait a minute, it seems like someone has conveyed a message to us through the imprint matrix." Finley sensed the imprint matrix and frowned as he struggled to read the message aloud, "Um¡­ ''Undead Merchant Association''¡­ something¡­ can-teen¡­ online¡­ colleagues¡­ Try food?!"


    The other three former bandits. "???"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    On the empty lot diagonally across from the Butcher''s worksite, which covered an area of slightly over 300 square meters, stood a large canteen built with discarded container steel plates.


    Despite being able to see the canteen right after leaving the tent, Manan didn''t react much to it.


    During the night of their "Rebellion," Manan''s slip of the tongue had caused the frenzied undead to swarm the former bandits. Because of this, Manan received quite a bit of rebuke, and Hal and the others decided not to involve him in their discussion anymore.


    Manan had a thick beard and a rough face, but despite his coarse appearance, he was actually quite a young fellow in his twenties. At this age, he couldn''t handle much pressure, and when he found himself being excluded, he quickly became dejected.


    Manan had witnessed the undead wielding various tools, some of which he could recognize, and erecting this steel plate structure in just a few days, then watched as they used tricycle carts to haul supplies from the foothills outside the town to fill the warehouse section that had been partitioned off¡­


    However, Manan wasn''t in the mood to share what he saw with his brothers-in-arms.


    Four women ranging in degrees of blindness had been also assigned to the Butcher workshop. The now reticent and broody Manan didn''t even spare a second glance at the threat Yang had transmitted through the matrix.


    He arranged for these four women to stay in a wooden hut a short distance away from the Butcher workshop and made a few rounds to collect and distribute their living supplies before he slunk back into his own world, without talking to or interacting with anyone.


    When the sky turned dark, Manan hurriedly consumed half a pound of bread and a bit of dried vegetable soup from his rations, then packed up his things and prepared to return back to his tent and sleep.


    "Hey, Old¡­ Young Ma!"


    Manam didn''t even think that he was being called and continued to pack up his utensils.


    "Young Ma! Brother Ma!"


    Manan placed the utensils and tableware into a basin, poured in some water, and continued to wash.


    Master Liu, standing by the side of the street, glanced at Once Your Teacher and asked, "Ah, Yu Chi, why isn''t this NPC responding?"


    "¡­Though this NPC is called Manan, I don''t think his surname is Ma¡­" said Teacher Yu Chi.


    Master Liu waved his hand once more. "Manan!"


    Manan finally realized someone was calling him and looked up hesitantly.


    Two undead stood across the street not too far from his tent, and one of them wearing an apron and arm sleeves seemed to be striking up a conversation with him cheerfully, "Our Exile Town employee canteen is opening tomorrow. We''ve tried cooking a few dishes tonight and wonder if it''s suited to the taste of you guys. Would you come try them and give some feedback?"


    Manan. "??"


    The senses of the undead weren''t complete. They could see, hear, and touch, but they couldn''t feel temperature, had a diminished sense of smell, and completely lacked taste.


    Master Liu, who loved cooking since his youth and once considered opening a restaurant serving home-cooked food after retirement, couldn''t determine if the dishes he made were normal.


    Rex, who knew that the undead could cook, was even more reclusive than the dejected Manan and had never mentioned such a thing to anyone. Thus, Manan, who deep down was still young and adventurous, remained silent for a moment before he put down his utensils and curiously approached the two undead.


    After successfully calling out Manan, Master Liu then went to the armor shop next door with Manan in tow.


    When Hal, Tuttle, Finley, and Anthony cautiously arrived at Master Liu''s canteen, they saw a table with empty plates, as well as Manan and the others seated there with looks of contentment on their faces.


    There was also an undead in a waistcloth and arm sleeves holding a small notebook at the side, asking the bloated former bandits questions, "Is this dish too salty?


    "How about this braised pork?


    "Is the roasted eggplant too oily for you?


    "Do you like the coriander in this cold dish?


    "Does the flavor of the fermented black beans suit you?"


    Hal and the three new arrivals: "???"


    "Ahh, Old Liu, we didn''t prepare enough food," Old Geng slapped his thigh and said to Master Liu when he saw the four newcomers.


    "These young friends ate too quickly and can''t taste the flavors of the dishes." Master Liu was also rather unsatisfied, and he stuffed the notebook into his waist pocket before waving to Hal and the other three. "Sit down and wait. I''ll cook for you! Yu Chi, come and help prepare a cold dish!"


    "Alright!" Teacher Yu Chi immediately went to assist.


    A group of women had also been assigned to Master Liu''s canteen, but having been on the road for several days and being ridden with health issues from malnutrition and excessive labor meant that they couldn''t start working immediately.


    Hal and the others: "¡­"


    They silently glanced at the content faces of Manan and the others, then sniffed the lingering and tantalizing aroma in the air before obediently finding a place to sit down.


    Shortly after, from the semi-open kitchen came an extremely enticing aroma of stir-fried dishes, even more irresistible than the soup made from seasoning sachets¡­


    Chinese cuisine had the characteristics of taking two hours to prepare the ingredients but only five minutes to stir-fry the dishes. Moreover, Yang Qiu asked Director Lu for a lot of pre-processed semi-finished dishes, where even the pork belly provided was factory-sliced and frozen, so stir-frying a dish would be extremely efficient.


    In less than twenty minutes, a meal consisting of a meat dish, two vegetable dishes, and soup, including the cold dish appetizer, was served on the table.


    After he had taken the first bite, there were only two very strong thoughts in Anthony''s mind.


    The first was, Has everything I have eaten in the past been meant for pigs?


    While the second was, Please take your time to come, Radiant Sun Church!


    After that, Anthony no longer had time to think because he saw Finley giving up on using a fork and directly grabbing at the food with his hands. Immediately, Anthony reached his own dirty hands out.


    "Hey, slow down! Chew carefully! Are you guys here to give feedback or to snatch food!" Master Liu cried out anxiously.

 Chapter 62: Future

    Inspector Lowell stood barefoot on the roof of the Town Hall, silently watching the undead "brawl" two streets away.


    Tireless and relentless, these undead were equally noisy both during the day and at night.


    Well¡­ perhaps it was more than just noisy¡­


    After being around them for a few days, Lowell could no longer judge these undead to be monsters that had to be eradicated. However, he couldn''t exactly consider them friendly either.


    As far as it seemed, these special undead displayed extremely high aggression, but it appeared to be directed mainly toward other monsters and themselves. Toward living humans, they still seemed relatively safe. However, if Exile Town wasn''t situated in an isolated area but close to the Duchy of Shiga, Lowell was certain he wouldn''t be able to sleep soundly at night knowing this.


    Lowell believed that no settlement of intelligent races would willingly be neighbors with these undead.


    Even if they weren''t attacked, the constant activity day and night was enough to drive anyone insane.


    This was also something Lowell found extremely hard to comprehend¡ªwhat exactly was Black Mage Yang''s purpose in summoning these undead?


    If it was to create an undead calamity, then these "Taranthan Undead" weren''t chaotic or aggressive enough.


    But if he wished to establish a territory, then these "Taranthan Undead" were far too chaotic and disordered, and a tad too aggressive.


    Considering his observations along the way and what he had seen and heard upon arriving in Exile Town, Lowell came to the conclusion that Black Mage Yang, who was surely up to something, had gathered a batch of special undead, a group of dubious characters with unclear origins, and a batch of the elderly, weak, and disabled abandoned by human society to play house in the lawless no-man''s-land of Taranthan.


    ¡­This conjecture was incredibly absurd, but no matter how much thought Lowell put into it, he couldn''t find a more reasonable explanation.


    But even if he reluctantly accepted this conjecture, there were still many parts that didn''t make sense.


    Firstly, this excessively extravagant "game of house" required a large amount of resources to sustain.


    Not to mention the exquisitely crafted all-metal three-wheeled carts that were freely run by the undead, there was food for the living and piles of building materials all over Exile Town. With a rough estimate, Lowell could deduce that these resources could easily deplete the wealth of a baron.


    For Yang, a high-level black mage, to invest such a vast amount of financial and material resources just to play a game of kingdom building in the desolate wasteland of Taranthan was simply inconceivable!


    It just didn''t make sense!


    Furthermore, based on what Lowell knew, he didn''t believe that the Inquisition of the Radiant Sun Church would give up their pursuit of the "Nightmare Butcher."


    Sixty years ago, this deranged fellow didn''t just assassinate four cardinal bishops of the Radiant Sun Church but also destroyed their holy repository, causing multiple seals to fail.


    A repository was the foundation of a church.


    Seals were required when priests advanced, and these acted as protection, similar to the magic potions necessary for spellcasters'' advancement but more reliable due to their stability.


    The kind of hatred it caused wasn''t something that could be resolved.


    The noblemen of Camore were loyal followers of the Goddess of Prosperity, but if they couldn''t accept the reconciliation between the Holy Legion cavalry and their "enemy," there would be quite a high likelihood of them informing the Radiant Sun Church. Lowell certainly didn''t believe that Yang hadn''t considered such a straightforward consequence.


    When that time came, how would Yang protect this immovable little town against the fury of the Radiant Sun Church?


    Just relying on these undead? Impossible. These undead were too weak.


    Lowell saw this all too clearly. Even though these undead understood and used the techniques of professional fighters, they were still far inferior to true professionals.


    If not for the fear of Yang, a high-level black mage, even without Lowell intervening, his cavalry unit could exterminate all these undead with a single charge.


    There was no way Yang could protect the fortune he invested in this place just depending solely on these undead.


    Unless¡­ Yang still had other means.


    Then came another question¡ªsince Yang wasn''t afraid of the Radiant Sun Church''s wrath and was confident of safeguarding his immovable property, why would he specifically play this inexplicable game of kingdom-building in this godforsaken land of Taranthan?!


    Wouldn''t a high-level mage easily obtain a ready-made territory and subjects by establishing a mage tower in a settlement?


    If all it took were a few villages, settlements, and towns to gain a high-level mage, the nobility of any country would never refuse such an opportunity.


    Any place with a mage tower was extremely attractive to gather a population¡ªthe establishment of Brook City-State was due to the concentrated construction of mage towers by members of the spellcaster organization, "Mage Tower," which attracted masses of common folk.


    Lowell really racked his brains, but he just couldn''t understand.


    Creak¡­


    Yang Qiu pushed open the Town Hall''s door and stepped out, then turned around and raised his head to look at the black-robed inspector who had climbed high up at night.


    Lowell: "¡­"


    "Evening." Yang Qiu nodded.


    "Evening," Lowell returned the pleasantries, then squatted down and jumped off the roof.


    Devout ascetics of the faith possessed good physical fitness and abilities, unlike spellcasters who relied on mental power. Their strength was honed by themselves, and if magic was banned, three mages standing shoulder-to-shoulder wouldn''t be enough to deal with a devout ascetic.


    Alfred Lowell was one of the top ascetics of the Goddess of Prosperity''s faith. Despite having a young face, the body beneath the ragged black robe was well-trained and perfectly sculpted. Jumping down from a three-meter-high rooftop was effortless for him as if he was just descending a staircase.


    "Even as night descends, our undead friends can dispel the darkness and its gloom," Yang Qiu said with a smile. "Of course, there may be some disturbing side effects, but in a place like Taranthan, such liveliness is necessary."


    Lowell: "¡­"


    In the three days spent with this black mage, the most important lesson Lowell learned was not to let Yang control the pace of the conversation, or he would be led astray by his endless, twisted arguments and theories.


    "I might not be an expert on black mages, but I do have some understanding of undead creatures and their habits," Lowell interrupted Yang Qiu and took a more assertive tone. ¡°This looks like a town, but isn¡¯t one.¡±


    Yang Qiu couldn''t help but smile.


    Evidently, this black-robed inspector didn''t have a high opinion of Exile Town. He only said it looked like a town, but he didn''t view it as a genuine one.


    "Inspector Lowell, what do you think a real town should look like?" Yang Qiu didn''t rush to explain and instead asked calmly.


    Lowell was silent for a moment before replying, "I believe that a true town should be able to see its future."


    "''Town'' is just a noun, revered inspector," Yang Qiu smiled and said. "A non-agricultural population-based, moderately-sized industrial and commercial population settlement is a town.


    "It refers not to specific individuals or groups of people, but rather a settlement distinct from a village. To discuss whether a certain town can endure and grow requires more than rational discourse.


    "What kind of future can a town have? That is what some self-proclaimed town masters who impose their personal anxieties about the future on others."


    Lowell''s brows became furrowed. "Even if you say that, whether a settlement can endure and grow depends on whether the population residing there is able to do so. Only then can the future be touched upon."


    "When an inevitable disaster befalls a small town, will the people choose to flee or stay and perish with the town?" Yang Qiu posed a question calmly.


    "Um¡­"


    "When there are good times, people talk about ideals and the future; when bad times arrive, they seek a way out. Making a fuss about a town''s future even with such a realistic standpoint and attempting to bind all the residents to obey a group''s will doesn''t seem very appropriate," Yang Qiu continued. "Let''s suppose we are talking about Camore. When Camore faces a crisis and might be wiped out, how many of the town''s dignified figures who usually represent and symbolize Camore would be willing to protect it at all costs, even at the expense of their lives?"


    Lowell fell silent¡­


    YangQiu went on, "Of course, having an emotional stance when theorizing isn''t entirely unfeasible. So, let''s continue our hypothesis on Camore. For Camore, what is its best future? Without a doubt, it''s making great fortunes from its main industry of textiles.


    "Over a century ago, when I first visited Camore, there had only been one weaver guild with roughly four thousand weavers. Now, a century later, there are two weaver guilds with more than ten thousand weavers. When I visited the town''s mayor, I asked to review the previous year''s cotton cloth trading volume. The quantity sold in just the past year was fivefold more than what I saw when I first visited Camore."


    Yang Qiu paused for a moment, and his smile got even warmer. "Many grand buildings have since been added to the main street, and the mansions of the noblemen have become more luxurious. Many families now raise beautiful purebred horses and expensive Kenyan hunting dogs. Their clothing is more exquisite and refined, and even the uniforms of maids in such households are made of silk and lace. It really can be seen that Camore indeed has a¡­ very ''promising future.''"


    Lowell''s face started to twitch.


    "But this ''future'' seems to only be limited to the main street." Yang Qiu''s calm statement gave Lowell a vague sense of foreboding. "Over ninety percent of the population living in the back alleys and weavers'' districts haven''t seen much difference in living standards compared to a century ago besides it being more crowded. Since more than ninety percent of Camore''s residents don''t benefit from the town''s ''future,'' how much value is there really in discussing this ''future''?"


    Lowell: "¡­"


    He was well aware that this black mage was once again spouting his twisted theories and arguments, yet the reasoning seemed so logical that Lowell couldn''t refute it.


    After struggling internally for a bit, Lowell, who was still unwilling to concede, decided to risk it all. "So, in your opinion, what is worth discussing then?"


    "The future," said Yang Qiu with a smile.


    Lowell: "??"


    "Not the so-called ''town''s future,'' but the future of the people living here. A town is lifeless, but people are alive. Towns emerge out of convenience to accommodate people and serve the residents. This is the primary causal relationship, and it cannot be reversed."


    Yang Qiu chuckled. "I can understand your doubts, Inspector Lowell. You believe that a group of elderly and weak individuals abandoned by Carmore have no way of living in Taranthan long-term, and you don''t see any hope for them. Indeed, as you have observed, how could this group of elderly and weak commoners find hope or a future here? It''s simply impossible, isn''t it?" Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "That''s right," Lowell finally found an opportunity to speak. "Without the supplies you provide, these commoners wouldn''t last more than a few days. You can''t possibly keep supporting them indefinitely."


    Yang Qiu''s smile remained etched on his face, but he didn''t speak.


    Lowell stiffened up. Without an explanation from Yang Qiu, he realized that he had misspoken.


    The black mage before him was a madman who had dared to confront the Radiant Sun Church over something completely unrelated to himself. Moreover, he had been opposing them successfully for decades. Supporting these commoners for a few decades, even until they died of old age, was definitely something this fellow could do.


    "Of course, I cannot support them forever," Yang Qiu denied Lowell''s conjecture. "Or rather, I don''t think these people, who have worked extremely hard for low wages their entire lives, need me to support them. All I have to do is provide them an opportunity to sustain themselves."


    Players wouldn''t be satisfied with just having Exile Town and Desolate Strongholds as the only "main cities." A game that couldn''t continuously introduce new maps wouldn''t be able to prolong its lifespan.


    Establishing more "main cities" required extensive construction of these said "cities."


    However, there was a limit to players'' patience toward repetitive manual labor quests. Novelty could make players persist for half a month, a month, or a couple of months at best, but beyond that, players would definitely revolt.


    Before that happened, it was imperative to find enough "NPCs" to take over the repetitive manual labor tasks.


    The first group of "civilian NPCs" received by Taranthan had a purpose beyond subtly instilling the notion that "NPCs need players'' protection." It was also a strategy to attract talent.


    If a group of elderly and weak individuals abandoned by human society could be generously supported and nurtured by Taranthan to the point where they could live self-sufficiently with guaranteed livelihoods, then wouldn''t healthy commoners be unable to resist the allure of Taranthan?"


    As for the problem of the Radiant Sun Church¡­ It still wasn''t really a big deal.


    If they were slow and only came knocking after Yang Qiu had ascended to an Archmage, this issue could easily be swept aside.


    And if they came too early before Yang Qiu ascended, at most, a magic array could be set up, and Yang Qiu could turn himself into a battery for the players, enabling them to enjoy limitless resurrection mode, and sweep aside the approaching army¡­

 Chapter 63: Director Lu’s Emails

    Earth time, October 25, Friday.


    The temperature in G Province was starting to cool, and in the depths of the mountains, adjacent to magnificent scenery, stood a convalescent care facility.


    With a briefcase in hand, Lu Yiyun led a younger man up the second floor of the facility with practiced ease. After rounding a corner, they soon arrived at a ward bearing a nameplate that read "Liu Yaowu."


    "You''re here, Aunt Lu." A young lady seated by the bed, browsing on her phone, quickly got up when she saw the two visitors entering. She hurriedly grabbed cups and poured water.


    "Why are you still here, Xiaoyun? Don''t you have school?" Lu Yiyun asked in surprise.


    "Aunt Lu, you''ve forgotten, I graduated earlier this year," Liu Xiaoyun said with a smile. "I was planning to look for a job, but then Dad needed someone to take care of him."


    "Look at me, all muddled. I still keep thinking that you are barely twenty." Lu Yiyun chuckled as she patted her own forehead. She set down her briefcase, took a seat by the bed, and leaned over with concern. "How''s Old Liu''s condition?"


    The middle-aged man lying in the hospital bed had been smiling at Lu Yiyun since she entered, but his movements seemed restricted as if his neurological responses were impaired. Although he opened his mouth as if trying to speak, no sound was produced. Instead, some saliva trickled down from the corner of his mouth.


    "My dad''s been in a much better mood these few days," said Liu Xiaoyun as she poured two cups of water for the visitors. Then she retrieved her phone, pressed the play button, and happily exclaimed, "Look, Aunt Lu, this is a video my dad recorded. He''s especially lively in the game, just like before!"


    The phone in Liu Xiaoyun''s hand displayed a water surface with a reflection of a skeleton on it.


    This skeleton reflection on the water''s surface was speaking rhythmically. Although the skull didn''t show any expression, the spirited energy in its voice was evident¡ª


    "Xiaoyun, don''t listen to your mom and keep accompanying me here. I''m doing well. You should focus on your own stuff. You''re all grown up now; it''s time you got yourself a boyfriend.


    "Help me tell Caregiver Li not to keep placing the bedpan underneath the bed. Even if there''s no smell, it''s still uncomfortable."


    Old Liu was actually still rather clear-headed and could understand everything. It was just that he couldn''t move or speak, and half a year of being bedridden had greatly diminished his spirit. Just a year prior, he could easily keep up with the youngsters at construction sites, but this year, he had grown skinny and was a shell of his former self.


    Lu Yiyun hadn''t recognized Old Liu the first time she had seen him on the hospital bed. This was the same expert engineer who had overseen many construction projects of roads and bridges in the country.


    It wasn''t until she saw him in the "game" that Lu Yiyun once again witnessed the vitality of this seasoned master engineer.


    The Old Liu in the video chatted away energetically, and the Old Liu lying on the bed recognized his own voice and flashed a bright smile at Lu Yiyun.


    "He does seem more spirited," Lu Yiyun chuckled, patting Old Liu''s shoulder gently. "Old Liu, rest well and cooperate with the treatment to regain your strength. Even if you can''t stand, at least be able to sit up. Let''s think of a way together. Who knows, maybe we''ll develop technology that allows communication without speaking and it will become easier."


    Old Liu strained his facial muscles to try and say something, but no sound came out. In the end, he blinked his eyes as a sign of agreement. Then, he shifted his gaze and looked toward his eldest daughter expectantly.


    "Dad, you''ve been online for eight hours today. Save some time for later, alright?" Liu Xiaoyun understood her father''s intent and leaned over while coaxing. "Next time, when it gets dark in the game and there''s nothing urgent to do, log out for a bit. It isn''t too good to be playing for such long stretches at a time."


    Old Liu could only helplessly blink several times.


    "Look after your dad well," chuckled Lu Yiyun as she rose from her seat. "I''ll go visit Uncle Geng. Old Liu, take care and recover well." S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Mm, alright. See you later, Aunt Lu." Liu Xiaoyun got up to see her off.


    Old Geng''s ward was on the fifth floor. Due to his advanced age and the fact that his wife was not exactly young either, air conditioning was used when heating wasn''t in operation. The temperature in his ward was also higher than in Old Liu''s.


    "You''re here, Xiao Lu."


    Mrs. Geng got excited seeing their visitor and grasped Lu Yiyun''s hand. "I am truly¡­ grateful to you, Xiao Lu. Thank you for remembering Old Geng. He''s been in much better spirits these past few days, and he''s even eating properly now. He has also been cooperating with the doctor''s check-ups. Thank you so much, Xiao Lu!"


    "Please don''t say that, I can''t handle such gratitude. If we''re talking about thanks, I can''t even hold a candle to the list of people who wish to thank Uncle Geng," Lu Yiyun responded.


    A hoarse, aged voice came from inside the ward. "Alright, alright. Stop holding up Xiao Lu, let her come in."


    Mrs. Geng hurriedly invited Lu Yiyun inside. Lu Yiyun took a quick scan of the room and was pleasantly surprised to find that Uncle Geng was actually sitting up, propped against a pillow. He held a tablet in his hand and beamed with joy when he saw Lu Yiyun.


    "Oh my, Uncle Geng! T-this¡­ Isn''t this a huge improvement?" Lu Yiyun exclaimed in delight.


    Lu Yiyun also had the medical records of Geng Jianguo and Liu Yaowu. The attending doctors of these two patients reported to the expert task force daily, though Lu Yiyun hadn''t gotten to see those two in person before. Right now, she was in slight disbelief at how well Geng Jianguo had recovered.


    "Nah, it''s not a huge deal. Just so-so." Old Geng did seem to be in high spirits and had quite a hearty smile. However, his voice was still weak, unlike the vigor he had in the game. "I spend less time in pain daily, so wouldn''t my mood be better?"


    Liu Yaowu had been paralyzed waist down due to a major accident on a construction site six months ago. His head had also been impacted, causing neural damage which resulted in abstract signal cognitive disorder, commonly referred to as a loss of speech function.


    However, his brain''s micro-electric signals were quite active, not that far off from those of a normal person. After an evaluation by the expert task force, a bold attempt was made, and Liu Yaowu was indeed able to "log into the game" normally. Moreover, within the game, he had his pre-accident speech function restored. This result provided a new direction for the expert task force''s research.


    Old Geng''s situation was different. He had fought against a debilitating disease with determination for many years. Chemotherapy had been effective, but age had caught up with him. His body and mind were gradually weakening, exacerbated by the development of drug resistance from long-term pain relief medication. Regardless of how strong his spirit and resilience were, he couldn''t endure such a prolonged struggle¡­


    Liu Yaowu was a master engineer, who devoted three decades of his youth toward national construction. Old Geng, on the other hand, was a military veteran who, after the Vietnam War, had spent over twenty years in the far northwest.


    Despite the shortage of helmets for patients with cognitive disorders undergoing "stimulation therapy," the expert task force had managed to eke out two helmets to accommodate these two.


    Old Geng proudly showed Lu Yiyun a video he had recorded within the game, of the canteen he and Old Liu built which had been very well received. Even Old Liu''s amateur cooking skills had earned him the awe of "NPCs." Old Geng got the itch to participate as well, and he showcased his soup-making skills, which received an equally enthusiastic response.


    "It''s a pity that I can''t taste as a skeleton and can only rely on my sense of touch. Otherwise, I would also have become a culinary god along with Old Liu."


    Old Geng, who was in his seventies, proudly showed his gaming abilities with the enthusiasm of a child.This made Lu Yiyun and her accompanying assistant break into warm smiles.


    Having met with these two, Lu Yiyun and her assistant then went to meet the attending doctors for the two patients.


    On the way back to the research institute, Lu Yiyun, who was driving, fell silent midway and let out a sudden sigh.


    "Director Lu?" Her assistant turned toward her.


    "It''s nothing." Lu Yiyun smiled faintly but didn''t say anything else.


    This convalescent care facility hidden deep within the mountains of G Province housed several other patients who had made significant contributions to the country, besides Liu Yaowu and Old Geng.


    These helmets couldn''t cure illnesses directly, but they could provide a sense of emotional comfort to these now helpless individuals who had contributed so much, as well as offer relief from some of the physical suffering, much like what was happening with Old Geng.


    However, the research institute had a limited number of helmets, while there were a significant number of patients with consciousness disorders awaiting clinical treatment.


    Lu Yiyun, who was leading the expert task force, couldn''t help feeling that this was rather regrettable.


    There were just too few helmets. Were there more, there wouldn''t be a need to struggle over who to prioritize.


    During the period where goods and supplies were given to the "target," the expert task force hadn''t been idle¡­ All necessary actions had been taken.


    After the necessary actions were taken, the expert task force confirmed that the "target" could indeed transfer real-world supplies into the "game world." However, it seemed that living beings couldn''t be transferred.


    The BeiDou satellite locator beacon attached to the tricycle carts went offline about four hours after the container exchange. Afterward, Ji Tang managed to locate the still-operational satellite locator beacon on a tricycle cart within the "game."


    Firearm components hidden in different tricycle carts were also successfully brought into the "game." After discreetly collecting and assembling these components, Ji Tang conducted test firing, and their functionality remained unaffected.


    The experts had also intentionally placed a cage with two mice in one of the containers. When Old Geng, who had logged into the game two days after the exchange, located the container with the special mark, he discovered the corpses of the mice.


    Afterward, Professor Yin Zhengliang of the expert task force took over Lu Yiyun''s forum account, offering various offers  and all sorts of excuses to test the other party''s resolve. Unfortunately, the "target" was adamant about cooperation being limited to the exchange of helmets and refused any other form of collaboration.


    After several rounds of negotiation, the "target" hinted that the supply of helmets couldn''t be increased endlessly, but had some sort of restriction.


    What exactly this restriction was, Professor Yin Zhengliang couldn''t find out¡­


    Facing such a cunning and crafty counterpart gave Professor Yin Zhengliang a headache.


    One step at a time, I guess, sighed Lu Yiyun inwardly, trying her best to suppress the rising restlessness in her heart.


    That night, Yang Qiu returned from the other world back to Earth. As usual, after showering and having supper, he browsed the forum, giving upvotes to informative posts as well as warnings and suspending forum users who mindlessly flooded the forum with requests for accounts.


    Over the last two days, the hottest topic on the forum was discussions about civilian NPCs. The newly added NPCs in the "main city" maps of Exile Town and Desolate Outpost had captivated the interest of casual players. Various speculations about these NPCs were flooding the forum.


    Well¡­ this wasn''t out of the ordinary. Compared to the various "advanced NPCs" that behaved quite unrealistically, "civilian NPCs" were indeed closer to the understanding of humans that players from Earth had¡­


    Yang Qiu scrolled through these analytical posts by casual players one by one. His main purpose was to ascertain whether anyone had some crazy idea to try something absurd¡ªlike testing if they could kill civilian NPCs, even though Identify showed civilian NPCs with green names and incapable of dropping any equipment. If anyone showed signs of such reckless behavior, Yang Qiu wouldn''t hesitate to drop the ban hammer on them.


    As of now, things seemed to be going relatively well. The wilderness around Desolate Outpost and the Spider Cave at the underground passage in Exile Town were teeming with monsters that could satiate players'' aggression. Moreover, the announcement during the settlement of the [Rebellion Suppression] quest made it clear that attacking NPCs outside of quests would result in the deduction of all reputation and an account ban. As a result, OtherWorld players, who cherished their accounts, weren''t prepared to risk trying anything.


    After browsing through the forum, Yang Qiu checked the administrator back end as he usually did.


    During this period, "Director Lu" had been sending him emails almost daily, using various tactics to try and extract information from him. While Yang Qiu was a tad annoyed, he couldn''t simply ignore or cut ties after receiving large amounts of supplies. If he acted ungrateful now, it might become difficult to request anything in the future.


    In today''s email, "Director Lu" mentioned that there was a surplus of several hundred tons of grain in a certain granary in the southern region of G Province and asked if Yang Qiu would be interested.


    Yang Qiu. "¡­"


    Is this fellow testing if I have any intention to establish dominance and rule¡­? Yang Qiu didn''t show any excitement but stroked his chin instead while contemplating. The civilians brought back from Camore and the Holy Legion cavalry visiting Exile Town have made these guys certain that the "game" is indeed another world. Could they be considering my next moves?


    To be honest, when given the choice of whether he wanted grain, Yang Qiu definitely did.


    However, it was pretty obvious that there was a change in the person behind this "Director Lu" email account. It wasn''t the same scientist who was single-mindedly focused on research as before. Getting their grain would come at an equivalent cost¡ªand it wouldn''t be handed over for free.


    And this was where Yang Qiu faced a dilemma. He hadn''t yet advanced to Archmage, and his Imprint Matrix couldn''t be "expanded" yet. As of now, he couldn''t provide them with more helmets.


    After some consideration, Yang Qiu replied that there was currently no need for the grain, citing the reason being no storage space.


    This stance of his was neither denying nor confirming their guesses.


    Having thrown out this ambiguous stance, Yang Qiu peacefully went to bed.


    The next morning, when Yang Qiu woke up and logged into the forum administrator back end once more, he found another email from "Director Lu."


    In this email, "Director Lu" made a shockingly straightforward and revealing statement¡ª"Due to a certain mechanical factory in X Province having arrears, there is a surplus of cement production lines, fertilizer production lines, thermal power generator units, and other supporting equipment. Are you interested?"


    Yang Qiu: "¡­"


    What sort of factory can accumulate so many complete sets of equipment overnight! Do they think I¡¯m retarded?!

 Chapter 64: Encounter of the Third Kind

    Without a second thought, Yang Qiu closed the webpage. He didn''t even bother replying.


    The sugar coating was thick, and the bombs wrapped were huge. Although Yang Qiu was extremely tempted by the candy shell outside the bombs, he couldn''t handle this firepower right now!


    Cement and fertilizer production lines were one thing, but even the smallest ten-thousand-kilowatt thermal power generator unit easily cost millions of RMB. This candy-coated temptation would easily suffocate Yang Qiu!


    Most frustrating were "Director Lu''s" undisguised intentions¡ªthe cement and fertilizer production lines were still manageable. An African worker trained for a couple of months could get up to speed, and even an average person from this other world could be transformed into an industrial worker with some teaching.


    But could someone from this other world, who didn''t even have an elementary school diploma, operate a thermal power generator unit?


    If Yang Qiu took the cement and fertilizer production lines, he couldn''t possibly ignore the power generator units. Would he then need to arrange operators for the thermal power generator units?


    Would he need to plan the logistics supply route for the coal used for power generation?


    What about arranging for personnel to lay electrical circuits and maintaining high-voltage electrical boxes?


    Yang Qiu could imagine that if he dared to take this bait, the shortfall of hundreds of "Tool Player Exclusive" helmets would come crashing down on him¡ªotherwise, was he to let all that complementary machinery sit in his yard gathering dust? Furthermore, his yard might not even be large enough to accommodate it all!


    Taking a step back, even if Yang Qiu could fulfill the demand for these several hundred "Tool Player Exclusive" helmets, he still wouldn''t agree to it. After all, if he did so, the development of the territory would be entirely at the mercy of others.


    I can''t provide so many helmets right now, and even if I could, I wouldn''t be foolish enough to hand over the initiative to someone else. Has this person lost their mind? This approach is drastically different from the previous behavior¡­ Wait!


    Yang Qiu frowned as he realized things weren''t as simple as they seemed.


    The original identity of "Director Lu" was just a scientist.


    Although Yang Qiu didn''t know who was using the ID "Director Lu" to communicate with him over the Internet, he was certain it was related to the organization connected to the original "Director Lu."


    Would a typical governmental organization casually allocate tens of millions in resources just to impress?


    That was impossible¡ªeven in cases where local governments colluded with external parties to embezzle central funds, there would be projects created that appeared decent on the surface. Preparations were made, and even results that looked somewhat plausible in order to pass muster would be produced. But even if they managed to get away with it initially, they would inevitably face questioning and investigation later on, followed by a series of resignations.


    An organization related to neuroscience research, being so lavish as to allocate resources worth several tens of millions just to gain favor though¡­


    Yang Qiu came to a realization. "¡­"


    As someone from Earth himself, Yang Qiu thought about it from the perspective of his pre-transmigration self and could roughly guess what the person behind the "Director Lu" account and their associated organization were thinking.


    They weren''t really after helmets or other superficial needs. Their curiosity lay in an "encounter with the third kind," a pressing need to understand something beyond humanity, something extraterrestrial!


    This other world, wasn''t it just an alien planet!


    The few "informants," Ji Tang, Master Liu, and Old Geng, had personally interacted with living individuals beyond Exile Town and learned that there were other human forces aside from Exile Town and Taranthan. It was impossible that "Director Lu" wasn''t curious about the world where Taranthan was situated.


    In other words, "Director Lu" was no longer content with engaging in uneventful and trivial "backdoor transactions." They now wished to forcefully open the door to the other world and forcibly subdue the "gatekeeper," Yang Qiu.


    What did millions of dollars worth of equipment matter? If Yang Qiu dared to give in, he had no doubt that "Director Lu" would be even more enthusiastically supportive of his pursuit of supremacy. After all, manipulating proxies was a play that the Chinese were well adept at; they just disdained active participation.


    Once Yang Qiu understood the intricacies behind this, he became more composed instead. He could empathize with "Director Lu''s" curiosity and thirst for knowledge, but¡­ there was absolutely no "encounter of the third kind." All there was, was a game.


    No matter how you people interpret it, as far as I''m concerned, "OtherWorld" is just a game!


    Thus, Yang Qiu reopened his web browser and sent a straightforward email reply:


    "Dear player, ''OtherWorld'' is currently in closed beta testing, and the official release date is not yet determined. Please stay tuned!"


    What it meant in essence: Backdoor exchanges were temporarily on hold. There were currently no backdoor helmets available, and when they would be available was still indeterminate, so wait for further updates.


    When the expert task force''s Professor Yin Zhengliang saw this response, he didn''t know whether to laugh or sigh in exasperation.


    "He''s still rather vigilant, huh?" Professor Yin Zhengliang shook his head with a chuckle.


    The "target''s" identity was still a mystery. Apart from being able to confirm the pro-China sentiment of the "target" and their knowledge of their nation, which couldn''t be possessed without long-term residence, the origins and life of the "target" remained unknown.


    Despite the deployment of national resources and several weeks of investigation, authorities were still unable to pinpoint how a living person could simply appear out of thin air. This was a rather eerie situation.


    Even more unsettling was the fact that after deploying numerous elite agents and using various surveillance methods, a bizarre discovery was made: even when simply tracking the "target" taking a short distance, say, to a restaurant about two hundred meters away, the "target" was able to shake off all surveillance.


    Professor Yin Zhengliang had personally reviewed the relevant visual materials himself. The images captured by law enforcement officers'' body cameras and unmanned surveillance drones clearly showed the "target." However, in circumstances where the frame rate of the footage was unaffected, and the agents and drones were undisturbed, the individual in the footage would inexplicably turn into an unrelated bystander.


    This inexplicable phenomenon was beyond anything that Professor Yin Zhengliang could comprehend, and the technical departments had not been able to provide any conclusive findings either.


    In short, all involved in this covert operation, including members of the expert task force, wouldn''t dare suggest "taking control of the ''target'' first before further consideration." Nobody was willing to bear the responsibility should the "target" be startled and disappear just like how he had first appeared.


    "Never mind, impatience won''t solve anything. It''s best to wait," Professor Yin Zhengliang muttered as he rubbed his temples.


    While Lu Yiyun and her group of scientists were concerned about whether the helmet''s technology could be used for medical purposes, Professor Yin Zhengliang was different. When he saw the videos Ji Tang had taken, a single thought took hold of his mind¡ªliving extraterrestrials.


    Compared to players who only cared about whether NPCs dropped equipment or not, this professor from the Public Security University saw much more:


    The "eccentric cavalry" wasn''t surprised by the compressed, uniformly sized instant noodles. This indicated the presence of mass-produced products in that world.


    A portion of these "eccentric cavalry" wore robes, while others wore armor resembling something from a period drama. Besides those robes, even the high-quality armor showed signs of industrial processing, especially the shoulder guards. Those curved shoulder guards made from an unidentified alloy material clearly weren''t forged by hand. Even from Ji Tang''s close-up shots, they looked like a result of a hydraulic forge press! S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It was difficult to determine how advanced this world''s industrial technology was, but at least it proved one thing: industrial development did exist in this strange world within the "game"!


    This was a world with both industry and magic, where undead, humans, and monsters coexisted. If Professor Yin Zhengliang stopped thinking rationally and knew every helmet the research institute possessed was precious, he would have bound one to himself and headed "online"¡­


    Having sent the response that greatly perturbed Professor Yin Zhengliang, Yang Qiu was wondering if his stance might cause the former even more headaches. He casually washed up, had breakfast, and signed off on receiving a delivery package.


    Only after dealing with miscellaneous matters on Earth did he change into his "Lord Yang" outfit and return to Exile Town''s Town Hall.


    Inside the Town Hall, within the small space between the cabinet and a wall, was a bed.


    Purchased from the suburban furniture market, the total cost of the cheap single bed, including the frame and the mattress, was only eight hundred yuan.


    And the owner of this bed was¡­ Alfred Lowell.


    Inspector Lowell didn''t reveal any expression seeing Yang Qiu appear from the abrupt spatial rift and merely nodded in acknowledgment before returning to his elegant partake of afternoon tea.


    Well, theoretically speaking, it should be Yang Qiu''s afternoon tea. The oatmeal cookies and chocolate chip muffins were all from Yang Qiu''s cupboard.


    Besides eating and drinking Yang Qiu''s stuff, Inspector Lowell was also wearing Yang Qiu''s regular everyday clothes: a simple white shirt and casual trousers that, combined, cost just over 50 yuan.


    Yang Qiu also calmly nodded in greeting to his new roommate. "It''s great that you can adapt to life here, Inspector Lowell."


    "Why not? Though it''s somewhat noisy, Taranthan undead are indeed the friendliest non-human creatures I''ve encountered." Inspector Lowell put down his cup and glanced nonchalantly at Yang Qiu.


    His demeanor was even more indifferent, and he exuded the air of an affluent master.


    Yang Qiu. "¡­"


    Yang Qiu hadn''t spared any expense when he invited the Holy Legion cavalry unit to Exile Town. Besides accommodation and food for several days, he had even provided additional supplies and rations for their return journey.


    Initially, Yang Qiu had ulterior motives regarding his actions.


    However, the one Yang Qiu hoped to persuade to stay with this expenditure was the "young man," Jorge Andres.


    Having experienced being just slightly over a century old before, Yang Qiu was well aware of the fervor that noble ideals and lofty aspirations could inspire in young minds. He was confident that by using the bait of a brighter future in Exile Town compared to Carmore, he could ignite Andres''s ambition and convince him to stay.


    Therefore, he had specially engaged with Andres''s superior in a discussion on the "future"¡ªthe same words said to Andres by both Yang Qiu and Lowell would weigh differently. If Yang Qiu spoke directly with "young" Andres, who was guarded against him, the latter would definitely be suspicious of any ulterior motives.


    Ironically, perhaps Yang Qiu''s display had been a tad too convincing, and he watched as Andres led his men away. Instead, it was Lowell, the more seasoned old-timer, who chose to stay¡­


    Yang Qiu was somewhat regretful regarding this outcome. After all, both having lived for so long, surely they would understand each other well enough. Turning Lowell into an ally was clearly out of the question. This fellow obviously believed he was scheming, ambitious, and a top-tier threat. Yang Qiu would be content as long as Lowell didn''t tread on any of his sore spots.


    But, of course, Yang Qiu was one to be restricted by the apprehensions of others. Regardless of Lowell''s watchful gaze on him, he had tasks at hand that couldn''t be delayed.


    Yang Qiu took off his outer robe and hung it up, then casually poured himself a cup of tea before taking a seat in his usual high-backed chair, facing Lowell.


    "The Taranthan undead are different from others because they possess pure, newborn souls, curious about this world," Yang Qiu said with a smile. "I appreciate the purity of these undead, but you must understand, respected inspector, that the nature of this world is not as simple as the undead might perceive."


    Lowell, accustomed to Yang Qiu''s bold statements, fell into a brief silence¡­


    Lowell wasn''t able to refute one bit with regard to Yang Qiu''s use of the word "purity" to describe these undead beings. In some sense, these undead treated him with more respect than some of the Camore outcasts did.


    Having ventured out himself while Yang Qiu was away, Lowell noticed how the undead would avoid the commoners sweeping the streets, not wanting to disturb them, yet they frequently pestered him.


    Not categorizing people based on status and identity, to a certain extent, could still be considered pure.


    "From the sound of it, are you planning to teach these summoned undead about the dangers of the world?" Lowell asked sarcastically.


    "Exactly. The undead have forgotten the heavy burdens and pain from their past lives. They are innocent, newly born entities in this world," Yang Qiu said, his tone earnest and serious even while pouring diarrhea from his mouth. "They yearn for exploration, for magic and power. They hope to possess greater strength to eliminate the monsters that threaten humanity''s living space and protect their homes and people.


    "Given our respective roles, we must acknowledge the nobility, sanctity, and loftiness of this goal. As a summoner, I am more than willing to guide these adorable beings with all my might."


    Lowell: "¡­"


    The black-robed inspector felt an overwhelming numbness within him as his expression became wooden. Whatever. Apply grand words like "noble" and "sanctified" to undead creatures if it makes you happy¡­


    Suppressing the discomfort, Black-robed Inspector Lowell forcibly inquired, "So, Yang, what exactly do you plan to do with these undead?"


    Yang Qiu had a serious look as he said solemnly, "I believe it''s time to teach the undead the concept of ''the price of power.'' Everything I do from now on is aimed at helping them understand the true nature of this world. I want to make it clear, respected inspector, that my only intention is to avoid any misunderstandings between us. I highly value the Goddess of Prosperity myself and hold a deep respect for ascetics like you. I would be truly disappointed if our friendship were to suffer due to misunderstandings."


    Lowell: "¡­"


    When did we even become friends¡­ But that''s not important for now. What is it exactly that you want to do with these undead?!

 Chapter 65: Resurgence of Fear

    October 26, Saturday, Earth time.


    College sophomore Zheng Qingyue didn''t immediately immerse herself in gaming on her day off. Instead, she started her morning by preparing a bowl of instant sour spicy noodles before sitting in front of her computer and browsing the forum.


    The daily playtime limit for the game "OtherWorld" was set at 12 hours. In theory, this duration should have been sufficient for most players. However, this game was unique in that it could be played even while sleeping.


    Many players would put on their helmets and neck supports before bed, intending to play for just a few hours before logging out. Yet, they often ended up playing through the entire night, losing themselves for eight or nine hours in the process.


    In the remaining three to four hours, players would have to strategically time their logins¡ªperhaps during a lunch break or a short session after dinner. They would then eagerly await midnight for the daily playtime counter to reset.


    Zheng Qingyue found herself unable to resist the temptation and ended up playing for more than six hours straight. It was only when the game marked an entire in-game day that she realized her precious Saturday game time was dwindling, prompting her to hastily log out.


    There was a significant reason why a disciplined and academically accomplished student like Zheng Qingyue broke her established routine¡ªshe had finally succeeded in her job advancement.


    She was one of the game''s prominent top-tier big-shot players, yet she had surprisingly taken this long to complete her first job advancement. The game''s uneven class balance was evident right from the start.


    Nevertheless, all her efforts had been worthwhile. In Zheng Qingyue''s own opinion, the completion of her job advancement and the acquisition of four new skills left her genuinely satisfied.


    Upon entering the forum, Zheng Qingyue wasn''t surprised to find an experience-sharing (or rather, show-off) post from Blossoming Strokes, who had completed the job advancement alongside her the previous night:


    "Hello, everyone! It''s me, Blossoming Strokes. My new novel, ''The Prequel of the Wolf Emperor,'' is now available on XX Literary City. For those who enjoy fantasy adventure novels, please show your support by reading the official version!


    "But I digress¡­ Let''s get back to business. I''m thrilled to announce that I''ve successfully advanced jobs and have finally become an Apprentice Mage! [Image] [Image]


    "Though I''m elated, I have to repeat this a thousand times: The job advancement quest for the mage class is truly insane! Not at all recommended for newbies! When this game is officially launched, new players must consider carefully before deciding to play as a mage! It''s really too difficult!"


    The forum post continued after the long rambling of complaints.


    "The four skills of the mage class were shared by Boss Ou Huang a week ago. I''m reposting them here for the convenience of those who missed it¡ª


    "Corrosion: Reduces the target''s mental resistance by 5%, causing continuous shadow damage.


    "Slowdown: Reduces the target''s mental resistance by 5%, decreases the target''s movement speed by 20%.


    "Dark Blessing: Inflicts ongoing shadow damage on non-undead creatures while continuously restoring health to undead creatures.


    "Shadow Force: Deals significant shadow damage to non-undead creatures while greatly restoring health to undead creatures.


    "Compared to the first-tier skills of other classes, mage skills are simply outrageous! Possessing offensive and control abilities, and capable of both dealing damage and healing!


    "Last night, after obtaining these skills, I sparred with my friends. The wanderer class''s Basic Windwalk skill can counteract the effects of the Slowdown to a large extent, and it was rather even between me and Give Me Medicine. Perhaps if Give Me Medicine had a bow, my chances of victory would be lower. However, everyone should know how clumsy I am, and I can''t compare my abilities to the likes of Boss Ou Huang.


    "Against warriors and knights that don''t have Basic Windwalk, there''s no contest at all. Mages have the upper hand!


    "While a warrior''s charge allows them to close in effectively, as long as I withstand the initial onslaught, warriors are virtually powerless against a mage.


    "As for knights, it''s a no-brainer. The attack skill of a first-job squire is currently limited to a basic slash. By applying Dark Blessing to myself, I can negate the knight''s damage.


    "And these were still internal fights between undead! Shadow Force cannot be used as it would only heal the opponent. If new races are introduced in the future, I suspect that anyone, regardless of race, would find it challenging to surpass the undead mage in one-on-one combat."


    Beneath Blossoming Strokes'' triumphant post were a bunch of comments that were a mix of despair from non-player forum users, seeking to know when the open beta would arrive, as well as players feeling deeply torn over whether they had chosen the right class to play¡­


    "Why doesn''t this game have a pre-registration option? I want to reserve an account!"


    "The skill system seems terribly unbalanced. Shouldn''t leather armor classes be strong against cloth armor classes? How can it be even?"


    "Damn, I''ve advanced to a wanderer for close to ten days already, and they tell me that mages are the coolest? Can I delete my character and start anew?"


    "True to its name, the mage is truly divine! Mages, 666!"


    "It''s over. Warriors are still just warriors. No chance of turning the tables. Luckily, I''ve wised up and changed to become a wanderer. A balanced fight is better than a lost one."


    "I''m already in the process of transitioning into a mage! I''ll definitely complete my job advancement before next week!"


    "A mage went for a stroll outside after having a meal. Suddenly, a knight emerged from the bushes, sword in hand, and charged the mage. After a while, the mage asked, ''What do you want?'' The knight smiled apologetically and said, ''Just helping you scratch your back.''"


    "Hahaha, a backscratch, really?!"


    "Gosh, I''ve advanced to become a knight, while my girlfriend is currently trying for her mage job advancement. Is it too late for me to break up with her?"


    "Snap out of it, you don''t have a girlfriend!"


    Zheng Qingyue finished her breakfast while reading the comical remarks of the players. After that, she did a quick mental calculation of her daily playtime¡­ then resisted the urge to log in and started doing her schoolwork.


    Course notes, post-tutorial assignments, unit tests, chapter exercises, a two-thousand-word essay, various diagrams¡­


    Close to eleven in the morning, Zheng Qingyue''s phone rang.


    "Qingyue, log in quick! There''s an event!" On the other end of the phone, her childhood friend, Tang Jia, sounded frantic.


    "An event?" Zheng Qingyue instinctively went to her web browser and refreshed the official website. "There''s no announcement on the official site?"


    "The announcement is in-game, saying that there will be regular weekend events from now on. Oh, come on, stop dawdling and get online. Everyone''s waiting for you!" Tang Jia pleaded urgently.


    Zheng Qingyue checked on her assignment progress¡­ Then, considering there was still a day and a half left of the weekend, she said, "Alright, alright, I''m logging in right now."


    In just a few minutes, academic achiever Zheng Qingyue, who had been itching all morning, logged in with the ID Unceasing Entropy.


    While it was almost noon in real-world time, it was currently late night in OtherWorld. Upon opening her eyes, Unceasing Entropy found herself in the dark, desolate streets of Exile Town, without even a streetlight in sight. Since players had night vision capabilities, the darkness or light of the surroundings didn''t affect them much.


    Her online companions were already waiting for her near the spawn point. Upon spotting Unceasing Entropy, Tang Jia hurried over. "You''ve finally come in! Quick, check the in-game announcement!"


    "¡­Hmm?" Unceasing Entropy paid no attention to Tang Jia and instead looked around in puzzlement.


    It was still the same spawn point of Exile Town and the familiar empty streets, but for some reason, Unceasing Entropy felt a little suffocated, as though she was confined inside a small box.


    At this moment, a window popped up in her in-game panel, displaying a message in black fonts: "An ominous atmosphere shrouds Exile Town."


    "Um¡­ Why does this feel like playing an immersive single-player horror game?" Unceasing Entropy casually closed the panel and began reading the announcement.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    With the arrival of civilians, vitality has once more blossomed in Taranthan after long years of desolation.


    The undead have proven their respect and concern toward life as they warmly welcome the new residents. They recognize the need to grow stronger to protect their homeland and the people who rely on Taranthan.


    Yet, at this moment, an ominous shadow begins to stir. As life flourishes on this land, it seems that a dreadful entity is also gradually awakening on this ancient soil¡­


    Weekend Exclusive Dynamic Plotline: [Resurgence of Fear] is now launched.


    Drawn by the allure of human flesh and blood, a terrifying presence descends with the darkness, invading the undead''s homeland.


    Successfully repelling the corruption will earn contribution points, which can be converted proportionally into Taranthan prestige.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    After reading the announcement, Unceasing Entropy''s first reaction was, "They''ve introduced a new way to earn territory prestige. Looks like the developer team is finally sensible for once. They must have realized that their requirement of exchanging high-grade materials for territory prestige was unreasonable."


    "No, the developers are as damned as ever." Tang Jia deadpanned.


    "That''s right. We all thought the same at first, only to be schooled by the damned developer team," Jia Luo chimed in wryly. "Qingyue, make a guess as to why we are all waiting so orderly for you to log in?"


    "¡­You guys got wiped?" was Unceasing Entropy''s reply.


    Tang Jia, Yang Ying, Jia Luo, and the unaffiliated players who were new additions to their small team all nodded.


    Unceasing Entropy: "¡­" S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Well, most games have rewarding events, but this game? Maybe not so much¡­


    Party leader Tang Jia added Unceasing Entropy to the team. As they moved together, Tang Jia started to explain the situation, "I didn''t play the game while I slept at night, saving up my playtime for daytime. When I logged in this morning, there was nothing going on in the game during the daytime. But then, when it turned to dusk, around 10 o''clock real-world time, the NPCs suddenly ''left work'' early. Except for the two in the Merchant Association canteen and the zombie NPCs, all the other NPCs have disappeared.


    "We found it strange at first, then we received the notification, ''An ominous atmosphere shrouds Exile Town,'' followed by the announcement. But at that time, we didn''t think too much about it and just formed a team to go hunt for materials¡­"


    "You''re too long-winded, let me take over," Jia Luo interrupted Tang Jia and addressed Unceasing Entropy. "When there''s an event, it''s a must to participate. So, we didn''t go monster farming and instead looked for clues in town. And that''s when Sis Ying discovered a commotion coming from a wooden house near the Warrior Guild site."


    "Right, right. I found it," Yang Ying took over. "We often pass by that wooden house. I remember it''s an NPC-free house. So, I walked closer and peeked inside through the window. There was a bed, a table, and a civilian NPC sitting on the bed.


    "At that time, I didn''t think much of it. I assumed that this wooden house was also assigned to one of the civilian NPCs we brought back with us. So, I was about to leave¡­"


    At this point, Yang Ying paused, and her tone became somewhat strange. "As I walked a couple of steps away, it suddenly dawned on me¡­ All the NPCs we escorted here were middle-aged or elderly. There was only one young person, and I remember she was assigned to the tailor shop. But the young woman sitting on the bed was someone I had never seen before."


    Unceasing Entropy: "??"


    Even she was taken aback. "What the hell! Doesn''t this sound like a horror game?"


    "The scarier part happened next," Yang Ying said with exasperation. "I realized something was off, so I turned back to look. And then, that woman was leaning on the window, staring at me, and her face was less than half a meter away!"


    Unceasing Entropy: "¡­"


    Yang Ying seemed to have a high resistance toward horror. While Unceasing Entropy felt a bit unnerved just by listening, she remained relatively calm and continued her narration.


    "''You can see me?'' That''s what she said. We can''t interact with civilian NPCs, and we totally can''t understand what they say, right? Plus, this NPC''s hair was floating, and her eyes were like black sockets¡ªno pupils, no irises, just like our eyes. I knew for sure she wasn''t an NPC; she was a monster. So, I swung my sword at her¡­


    "In the end, my sword just went through the monster''s body and didn''t even cut her. The monster reached out to grab me¡­ and I died in one hit." Yang Ying couldn''t help but curse, "Damn it, this event''s monster can''t be hit. The announcement didn''t even make it clear!"


    "Exactly!" Jia Luo chimed in. "I saw Sis Ying get insta killed, so I turned to run, but the monster actually teleported. It suddenly passed through my body and appeared in front of me, saying, ''You see me too.'' It grabbed me, and that was it."


    "Same here," Tang Jia said with annoyance. "I was really far away, the farthest, and yet I couldn''t escape!"


    Others chimed in with complaints, "Just seeing it leads to instant death? Was the one who planned such a monster some kind of idiot?"


    "I think the developers are really incompetent!"


    "Damn ridiculous event!"


    Unceasing Entropy: "¡­"


    Could at least one of you come and experience the scare with me? Just listening is seriously giving me goosebumps¡­


    Zheng Qingyue suddenly longed for the time when she discovered the spider''s nest with Brother Lahong and Study Obsessed. At least those two were normal, with reactions somewhat similar to hers¡­

 Chapter 66: Cellar

    As Unceasing Entropy''s team grappled with the troublesome "killer monster" issue, over at the Wanderer Guild site, the three veterans of the closed beta were also deliberating on how to address the same matter that some of their team members had experienced.


    "Forcing it definitely won''t work, and we will only have more casualties. This quest clearly isn''t about mindlessly farming monsters. We need to find another solution. Do you two have any ideas?"


    Qin Guan (Vanilla Pudding), who had completed his job advancement to become a warrior, had seen a vast change from his earlier timid self. Now, he exuded an air of calm confidence and no longer had that cautious and fearful edge. Clearly, he had been having a rather enjoyable time lately.


    Besides his newfound confident demeanor, Qin Guan was also outfitted with equipment considered top-tier among players¡ª


    A steel knife, the player-standard, hung from his waist, while he wore half-plate armor snatched from an NPC. On his left arm, he sported a resilient bracer with bindings, and his feet were clad in Uncommon-grade shoes with speed-enhancing enchantments.


    "I don''t have any ideas. Let''s go with whatever you guys decide." Beside Qin Guan, Give Me Medicine, with the Orb of Deception hanging around his neck and a Critical Strike Dagger at his waist, responded with little enthusiasm.


    In contrast to Qin Guan''s high spirits, Give Me Medicine, who initially had a casual and carefree approach to the game, seemed to have become more dispirited.


    The incident of "keeping equipment for himself" during the [Birth of the Undead Race] worldview breakthrough quest had been quite a big blow to Give Me Medicine.


    He had been the one to trigger the epic quest himself and hadn''t gotten the dagger for free; he still needed half a month''s salary to repay Qin Guan for the several hundred copper coins he borrowed. Unfortunately, the Blood Alliance that Brother Lahong and his buddies established was also vying with them to recruit players, and the incident was right smack in a critical period of tension between the two factions.


    Thus, the whole incident had been greatly exaggerated into a personal attack and, by extension, the faction pulled together by this trio of closed beta veterans was also branded as "unscrupulous." This left him feeling particularly disheartened¡­


    Were "OtherWorld" just another typical game on the market, non-players wouldn''t care about the affairs of the in-game community. Players themselves had plenty to focus on daily and wouldn''t be that interested in this sort of slightly unsavory "gossip." At most, there would be some brief flaming and beef for a few days until something with a higher sensational value emerged to divert everyone''s attention away while the past incident faded into obscurity.


    However¡­ "OtherWorld" wasn''t any other ordinary game. The countless non-players on the forum clamoring for accounts far outnumbered the actual players. This motley bunch of people would gladly dig up trivial matters to occupy their idle time. This incident was exposed on the forum and became Give Me Medicine''s "dark past," permanently ingrained in the virtual realm. The voices of non-playing forum users criticizing him were even louder than those of actual players.


    "Bro Meds, why are you still moping around? Haven''t I told you before? Don''t pay attention to what those outsiders say. We, insiders, know who you are, and that''s what matters," Qin Guan advised. "Everyone experiences criticism in some way or the other. If every little comment affects us, celebrities wouldn''t even be able to survive. Which famous person hasn''t had a bunch of fabricated scandals thrown at them once they''re in the limelight?"


    "Exactly. Take me for example. Even when I write a book that does impressively, I still get criticized," Blossoming Strokes also chimed in. "Back then, all three of us were present, and we also discussed the ownership of the Critical Strike Dagger. If it''s questioning one''s character, none of us can escape that accusation. They targeted you because they knew you would take it to heart, and then they hit you right where it hurts."


    Give Me Medicine quickly raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I didn''t say anything, and here you two are lecturing me with a bunch of wisdom. I''m a grown man; of course, I understand. Let''s just discuss the event, okay?"


    Qin Guan shook his head and no longer dwelled on Give Me Medicine''s sore point. He turned to Blossoming Strokes and asked, "What''s your take, Blossom?"


    Blossoming Strokes thought for a bit before responding, "The event notice mentioned that the shadow shrouding Exile Town is ''attracted by the flesh and blood of the living and arrives uninvited in the darkness.'' I feel¡­ this event seems to be some sort of unconventional ''monster siege.''"


    "Mm, it does seem to imply that." Qin Guan clapped his hands together in agreement. "As soon as night falls, all the NPCs in town, except the zombies, disappear and hide. Clearly, these monsters are likely to kill the human NPCs in our town. We best hurry to eliminate them."


    "Since it''s a monster siege, we should just defeat the monsters and be done with it. What''s so complicated about that?" Give Me Medicine interjected with a slight annoyance.


    With their sizable group, someone quickly discovered something in the cellar behind an empty house shortly after the event started. The player rallied some friends and formed a party to venture down to farm monsters, but in the end, they were wiped out almost immediately when they went down.


    Upon receiving news, Qin Guan called the wiped team back, and another squad was sent down to assess the situation. This squad, too, met a similar fate and was swiftly annihilated and kicked offline¡­


    "Other games offer rewards as part of their events to entice players to log in. OtherWorld, on the other hand, is even strictly restricting account releases. Surely we can''t lump this game''s events together with those of other games," Qin Guan explained.


    "That makes sense. OtherWorld isn''t the type of game that''s afraid players won''t log in, and the damned developers wouldn''t even need to go that far." Blossoming Strokes nodded. "The objective of the event is for us to resist. Since we can''t defeat whatever is in that cellar, why don''t we try sealing it off? With all the NPCs currently in hiding, we can sneakily gather some cement and wooden boards from the various construction sites¡­ a bit from each, not too much, and it should be inconspicuous enough."


    Qin Guan and Give Me Medicine simultaneously gave thumbs-ups to Blossoming Strokes for her brilliant idea. They hadn''t thought such an approach was possible!


    The minds of truly cultured individuals just worked differently!


    Without hesitation, Qin Guan, as the leader, immediately led their players to gather material from all the different construction sides.


    Within half an hour, under the leadership of the three closed beta veterans, several hundred kilograms of mixed cement and over twenty wooden planks of varying sizes were transported and laid out in front of the vacant house on Third Street.


    "Let''s get to work!" Qin Guan took the lead, picking up several planks and carrying a bucket of mixed cement as he headed toward the back of the wooden hut.


    Exile Town''s cellars, apart from those connected to underground passages, were generally small, with spaces of about four or five square meters at most. Filling the whole thing with cement would be a challenge, but sealing the tops posed no major issues.


    These players, who had spent hundreds of work hours on construction tasks, skillfully laid the wooden planks over the opening of the cellar, which was roughly one meter in diameter. They layered the planks both horizontally and vertically, poured cement on top, and sealed it shut.


    "Will this work?" a player asked uncertainly.


    "It should. Even if the thing inside can''t be suffocated, preventing human NPCs from accidentally wandering in should still solve the problem, right?" another player suggested.


    "Eh? Why is my party suddenly short of members?" A player who was helping carry buckets of cement blurted out of the blue.


    "Huh?" Qin Guan, who was in the middle of spreading cement with a trowel, raised his head in astonishment.


    Qin Guan gasped. "Holy¡­!"


    In just that short span of looking up, Qin Guan witnessed one of the players on the outer perimeter disappear.


    There wasn''t even any white light. It was as if a scene from a movie had been cut out, and the player vanished into thin hair. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    But what sent even more shivers down Qin Guan''s spine was the fact that¡­ Give Me Medicine, who had just been talking to him a minute ago, had also gone missing.


    "Run! Disperse quickly!" Qin Guan abruptly stood up. He threw away the trowel, then instinctively grabbed Blossoming Strokes, who was squatting next to him, and bolted.


    "Huh? Vanilla, what''s going on?" Blossoming Strokes was completely caught off guard.


    "Nearly half of us are gone! Let''s hurry and get out of here!" Qin Guan shouted as he ran.


    Once he shouted, everyone suddenly realized that the "density" around them had significantly decreased.


    "Oh my god!"


    "Ahhhh!"


    "Sh*t!"


    The "fortunate" survivors scattered and fled for their lives in total panic.


    They moved away from the eerie cellar and converged at the start of the Third Street. Each team leader quickly counted their members, and in the span of just a moment, they realized roughly a third of their total members were lost¡­


    "Am I really playing an online game? I''m really playing an online game, right?"


    "H-how did this turn into a horror game?"


    Some players were nearly tearing up from fright.


    "There are skeletons and zombies all over the town, so to a certain extent, you could say that we''re indeed playing a horror game¡­"


    Not everyone was scared; some players managed to find humor in this situation.


    "It''s not the same at all!" A frightened player''s embarrassment turned to anger. "Can American splatter films be lumped together with Japanese horror movies?!"


    "Alright, everyone, calm down." Qin Guan raised his hand to signal for silence and then turned to Blossoming Strokes. "Blossom, what do you think¡ª"


    Qin Guan''s voice faltered.


    Players who completed their first class advancement would obtain a basic weapon from their job instructor. Freshly advanced mage, Blossoming Strokes, much like Unceasing Entropy, received a rather simple-looking wooden staff, and she was dressed in a basic mage robe that her companions had helped her put together from available materials¡ªa straight-cut, knee-length robe with a rounded neckline. Although the quality was a far cry from Old Yang''s stylish mage robes, it at least gave her the appearance of a mage.


    At this moment, the sole mage among them was trembling uncontrollably, her mage robe swaying as if doing a dance of its own.


    Qin Guan: "¡­"


    At the start of the game''s launch, many players had trouble adapting to the skeleton characters, and even more struggled with the zombie NPCs¡ªthe game''s "art style" was simply too realistic; player characters and NPC models were meticulously detailed. At the peak of the copper coin scarcity, some players still avoided zombie NPC missions or even refused to team up with others as they just couldn''t get used to it.


    Now, however¡­ Even the most delicate players found themselves nonchalantly plunging into rivers to rinse off their skeletons after a manual labor quest or picking up their scattered teammates'' bones without hesitation.


    Even the zombie NPCs, looking like newly exhumed, waxen corpses from a swamp, were met with nonchalance.


    In summary, it was all about getting used to it.


    However, getting accustomed to the realism of character and NPC modeling didn''t mean that all players were ready for horror-themed game plots. After all, there even existed funeral home staff that couldn''t bear to watch horror films.


    Blossoming Strokes belonged to such a category. When regarding an activity as an ordinary task, she could be fearless. But upon realizing that there were horror elements in this event, she got cold feet¡­


    "Fine." Qin Guan had no choice but to temporarily abandon relying on their side''s most dependable strategist. He looked at his fellow players with a heavy expression and said, "The situation is as it is. We can''t defeat the monster in the cellar, and we can''t seal it off. So, everyone, what do you think? Should we give up on this monster and search for other clues, or should we put our heads together and come up with a solution?"


    The players exchanged glances among themselves but, ultimately, turned their gazes toward Qin Guan.


    Now that the event had progressed this far and still feeling utterly helpless, the players seemed to have no other thoughts in their minds except for cursing and berating the game developers.


    "Wait, hold on, Vanilla," Blossoming Strokes, who had been badly startled, finally regained her composure and hesitantly spoke up. "I remember something that might be related to this event."


    "Go on," Qin Guan urged.


    "When we were doing the [Birth of the Undead Race] quest, Morris'' letter mentioned the concepts of ''madness'' and ''infection.'' When we reached the final part of the quest, the zombie general led us to an underground passage to see the remnants of an occult altar. The destruction of Exile Town was due to cultists among the foreign captives abused and enslaved by the townspeople summoning an indescribable entity, which brought ruin to the town. Do you recall this?"


    "Of course I do. I wouldn''t forget this questline even after ten years have passed." Qin Guan said with a frown. "Huh? Are you suggesting there''s a connection between this event and the [Birth of the Undead Race] epic quest?"


    "I can''t say for sure." Blossoming Strokes tried her best to stay calm. "The human townspeople in Exile Town weren''t directly killed by the entity summoned by the cultists; they were infected and driven mad by it, causing them to turn on each other.


    "If the [Resurgence of Fear] event has a similar background to the history of Exile Town, then this so-called ''invasion'' might be similar to what happened before the town''s destruction. Of course, this is just my own speculation and might not be accurate¡­ I believe that these monsters, which we are forcibly restricted from killing or sealing, might very well be human NPC characters that have been infected."

 Chapter 67: Elder God’s Eldritch Power

    "¡­Isn''t this just supposed to be an event! What the hell is going on? It''s too strange!"


    A female player jumped out of the alley, howling as she ran, "I quit, I''m logging out! I''m not taking part in this sh*tty event anymore!"


    More players poured out from the same alley, scrambling and crawling in all directions as they fled.


    Even though this bunch were fleeing in a rather miserable manner, it didn''t stop them from the usual banter.


    "Don''t throw in the towel, Sis! It''s a big waste not spending your weekends gaming!"


    "I''m going shopping with my girlfriend later in the afternoon. How about you guys make the breakthrough without me and I''ll catch up later?"


    "Stop boasting! If you really have a girlfriend¡­ I¡¯ll eat this freak monster."


    "Didn''t expect you to have such a peculiar taste, bro¡­"


    "Seriously, if this monster doesn''t instakill us, I too can also eat it!"


    "Shut up! Everything you say makes me remember something disgusting!"


    "Listen up, guys. Phantom mentioned before that he thought the Knight Instructor was handsome¡­"


    "Hahaha! As expected of Phantom. A true man, going for the manly ones~"


    "Cut the crap! Even Lahong was kicked offline. Can you all get a grip?"


    The group huffed and puffed as they ran to the end of the street before they stopped, crouching behind buildings and peering back at the way they had come from.


    "Thank goodness, it''s not following us. At least we can shake off this monster," Guileless Gale muttered, his heart still pounding hard. "Damn it, and I thought those Level 4 elite monsters in the Poisonous Marshlands were terrifying enough. Who would have thought there would be something even scarier? Spawning such monsters in town is simply cheating, isn''t it?"


    Study Obsessed sighed. "I really can''t handle this sort of monster. I never watch horror movies, and I steer clear of any graphic B-grade films. I genuinely don''t want to participate in this event."


    "Seriously, I''m not afraid of such stuff, but this monster is a total puzzle. It doesn''t matter whether you are scared or not." Phantom shrugged.


    Seeing the other two completely losing their motivation, Guileless Gale felt compelled to voice out, "Hey, hey! We lost more than half of our comrades to this monster. Are you guys really willing to give up just like that?"


    "Yes!" Numerous players chorused in agreement.


    A flurry of voices chimed in, "Not getting teamwiped is not too bad already, right?"


    "Exactly. We managed to retrieve Lahong''s dropped equipment."


    "The damned devs definitely had malicious intent when coming up with this event. Let''s not keep banging our heads against the wall. Let''s go do other stuff!"


    Guileless Gale: "¡­"


    Both Study Obsessed and Phantom usually helped lead teams, just like Guileless Gale. Seeing the latter at a loss for words against the group sentiment, Phantom felt a little bad and took the initiative to speak up, "How about this? Since we''re all that''s left, why don''t we move to Desolate Outpost and farm some monsters? By the time Lahong comes back online, we can return since the teleport cooldown is only half an hour."


    Guileless Gale was silent for a bit¡­ then nodded in agreement.


    There wasn''t any other choice even if he didn''t agree. Their massive group of more than sixty had been reduced to just over twenty. Surely this group would rebel if they were dragged back to face the creepy monster in the alley.


    Study Obsessed was already fed up with this eerily strange Exile Town and urged at once, "Let''s go, let''s go, hurry up!"


    This motley crew of survivors headed toward the center of the town. While still some distance away from the teleportation and spawn point, a player came running toward them from afar, waving and calling out, "Over here! Study, Phantom, Guileless Gale!"


    The signature booming voice was recognizable even without the need to check the newcomer''s ID¡ªit was Stuffed Gummy, Unceasing Entropy childhood friend, who had teamed up with them for a bit when they were still farming monsters at Spider Cave.


    "Gummy?" Study Obsessed exclaimed in surprise.


    "Yeap, it''s me." Tang Jia trotted up to the group. "Hey, you guys got cut down too, huh?"


    Study Obsessed and the others: "¡­"


    Phantom thought of something and spoke up first, "Too? Gummy, did you guys also lose quite a number of people running into monsters you couldn''t defeat?"


    "Yeah," Tang Jia gave a straightforward reply. "We were teamwiped once before, it was quite troubling. But that''s not the point. Qingyue wants me to ask if you guys would like to work together?"


    Phantom: "Huh?"


    "Work together? Us?" Guileless Gale exclaimed in surprise.


    Guileless Gale couldn''t be blamed for being taken aback. Since the time Unceasing Entropy supported Ji Tang in challenging for the top spot of territory prestige, the relationship between their two sides had changed. Although it hadn''t reached the point of hostility, playing together harmoniously was no longer possible.


    "Yeah," said Tang Jia.


    Guileless Gale was expecting her to give some reasoning, but after waiting for several seconds, Tang Jia didn''t add on anything.


    "Alright," Guileless Gale sighed. "What did your good friend Unceasing Entropy say exactly?"


    "Qingyue said you guys have more manpower, and with her on our side, it would be mutually beneficial," said Tang Jia without holding anything back.


    Guileless Gale and the others: "¡­"


    That girl really has an immense amount of confidence¡­


    But to be fair, she has good reason to be¡­


    Guileless Gale exchanged a glance with Phantom and Study Obsessed. Seeing that neither of them voiced opposition, he took the lead and made a decision, "Alright. Shall we meet up and discuss then?"


    Tang Jia seemed unconcerned about the possibility of rejection and gestured dramatically, "Follow me!"


    Twenty minutes later, at the open square in the Warrior Guild site.


    "So, you guys encountered a monster in the alley near the weapon shop, which resembled a super-sized slug that could rapidly move along walls?" Unceasing Entropy asked solemnly.


    "Holy, that''s so disgusting!" Tang Jia couldn''t help but interject.


    "We find it repulsive too¡­ What''s even worse was that we couldn''t defeat it," Study Obsessed said wearily. "Our attacks pass right through it, and when it bites our people, it''s always an instakill."


    "How could this¡­ how could it be a non-humanoid monster? It couldn''t be¡­" Unceasing Entropy was at first baffled, but then her eyes lit up as if she thought of something. "No! This is plausible instead. It isn''t a physical mutation but a spiritual one. That''s why it makes perfect sense for it to be immune to physical attacks!"


    "Did you have some kind of revelation?" Guileless Gale eagerly asked when he saw Unceasing Entropy''s reaction.


    Unceasing Entropy pointed toward a small cabin less than 30 meters away in a straight line from the Warrior Guild and explained Yang Ying''s discovery of the ghost that "mustn''t be looked at."


    "Goddamn!" Study Obsessed was spooked. "Is this for real? Can''t there be limitations for this stupid event? Why didn''t those damned devs just throw in Freddy Krueger while they were at it!"


    "Honestly, Freddy Krueger is way weaker than this female ghost. He only goes after teenagers and can only handle one at a time," Phantom mused. "Jason wouldn''t cut it either. I feel like this ghost is at least on the level of Sadako¡­"


    Tang Jia eyed Study Obsessed curiously. "Didn''t you say you never watch horror movies? How do you even know about Freddy Krueger?"


    "I read ''Terror Infinity,''" replied Study Obsessed.


    Unceasing Entropy: "¡­"


    She finally understood why Tang Jia was able to get along with this group of people so well¡­


    Guileless Gale also felt a bit embarrassed by his two companions. It wasn''t appropriate to have disagreements in front of so many outsiders, so he quickly redirected the conversation, "So, what does Boss Unceasing Entropy think about this female ghost?"


    Unceasing Entropy nodded, then said solemnly, "I believe that the monsters spawned in this event are closely related to the civilian NPCs we brought back from our previous expedition quest."


    Guileless Gale quickly gestured for everyone to please stay focused and nudged Phantom, who was trying to make light of the situation.


    Unceasing Entropy was not the type to hide behind pretentiousness, so she immediately shared her thoughts¡­


    It had to be said that those with strong self-control and the ability to think long-term could see things from a different perspective when it came to evaluating situations. Just like the strategist on Qin Guan''s side, Blossoming Strokes, had related the epic quest [Birth of the Undead] to their current circumstances, Unceasing Entropy also recalled the events surrounding Morris.


    Not just that, she also linked it to the preluding quest of accepting civilian NPCs to Exile Town.


    "¡­The previous expedition quest we did and the prerequisite that triggered it was the hidden quest [Brave Jean]. According to the storyline provided by the zombie NPC Raphael, the civilian NPCs we received come from a town called Camore. According to the zombie NPC, the living conditions in this town are poor, and the civilians there live a miserable life.


    "According to the storyline, these civilian NPCs fled their homes to seek refuge with our undead race. Given the meticulous world-building of this game, these civilian NPCs must have had quite unfortunate backgrounds."


    Unceasing Entropy drew her conclusion, "Exile Town is the birthplace of the undead race. But if we view things from beyond us players'' perspective, then Exile Town would, without a doubt, be considered a ''strange and mysterious land.'' Unfortunate commoners arriving in the mysterious Exile Town burdened by their own unfortunate and painful past¡­ Drawing connections to the town''s setting, it''s not hard to imagine the inhabitants of this place being wiped out."


    "Right! This game has a Cthulhu setting. The event description mentions some sort of terrifying entity awakening, perhaps from some Cthulhu influence corrupting the civilian NPCs and turning them into monsters. Is that how to interpret this?" Guileless Gale came to a realization. "No wonder this event prevents us from killing monsters. Killing them is akin to attacking civilian NPCs. So, we need to find the root of the problem and identify the NPCs connected to these monsters."


    "Not bad." Unceasing Entropy gave Guileless Gale a nod of approval. "The monsters we see can''t be struck, and encountering them results in an instakill. It''s a complete dead-end in that aspect, so it''s highly likely those aren''t the main bodies. We need to change our approach and try to find the source."


    Guileless Gale quickly assumed a humble attitude. "Please enlighten us, Boss."


    A few more minutes passed.


    Two players, seemingly ready to face death, appeared in front of the completed cabin a short distance away from the Warrior Guild site.


    "My luck is really rotten. How did I manage to hit the shit-jackpot from a 2 out of 39 chance¡­" Study Obsessed moaned in despair.


    "Ugh¡­ I''m not usually this unlucky, but I''m having a streak of bad luck today," Tang Jia, equally disheartened, said sheepishly.


    "What are you two doing? Hurry up!" Teammates across the street urged them impatiently.


    "Got it, got it!" The two girls shouted back in annoyance, then rushed toward the tightly shut door of the hut together.


    Unceasing Entropy''s solution was simple and direct¡ªsince the NPC wouldn''t come out of the house, they would just enter forcefully.


    Attacking NPCs had the risk of leading to a ban, but forcibly entering a "residential dwelling" would most likely result in being killed and kicked offline, or perhaps strung up like those who had tried to invade the tents of advanced NPCs before¡­


    This was still a price that they could bear.


    In any case, whether the dwellings the NPC stayed in were wooden huts or cabins, forcefully entering wasn''t too difficult.


    "Ahhhh¡ª!" Study Obsessed shrieked.


    "What the heck!" Tang Jia exclaimed in shock.


    The onlookers on the next street witnessed Study Obsessed and Tang Jia hastily rushing out of the main door; Study Obsessed, who was ahead, managed to escape successfully, while Tang Jia, who followed behind closely, had barely stepped through the door when she was forcefully pulled back by some unknown force. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Members of the now larger party saw the notification that Stuffed Gummy had left the party (logged out).


    Unceasing Entropy chuckled. "What luck, found it on the first try."


    Guileless Gale and Phantom beside her: "¡­"


    The two wondered if this lady was truly Stuffed Gummy''s good friend¡­


    Inside the Town Hall.


    Yang Qiu lifted the kettle of boiling water from the coal stove and refilled the teapot, then personally poured tea for the black-robed inspector sitting across him before topping up his own cup.


    Throughout this process, Inspector Lowell wore a complex expression of mixed emotions as he watched Yang Qiu¡­


    "Please don''t mind," said Yang Qiu as he blew on the rising steam from his teacup. "This is simply a highly impactful lesson to help our undead friends truly understand the essence of ''power.''"


    Inspector Lowell didn''t respond and just continued watching him.


    Yang Qiu remained unperturbed.


    Upon assimilating with the elder god''s tentacle, Yang Qiu hadn''t only gained access to the spatial rift connecting to the earth, which the tentacle had seized, but also a trace of the elder god''s eldritch power.


    To become a spellcaster, one needed to abandon praying to any gods. He wasn''t worried that this ascetic of the Goddess of Prosperity''s faith would mistake him for a heretic.


    As for how a non-heretic like him could wield the eldritch power of an elder god¡­ Since Inspector Lowell wouldn''t ask such an impolite question, Yang Qiu wouldn''t have to bother explaining.

 Chapter 68: Core Content

    Inspector Lowell left his seat and walked to the window.


    Through the layer of dust-covered glass, all that could be seen to the naked eye was viscous darkness, akin to ink, with occasional undulating flashes of eerie red light.


    This dense, otherworldly red light intertwined with the inky darkness, weaving an intricate web that enveloped the entire town.


    Inspector Lowell took a deep breath.


    "Forbidden Magic: Infernal Breath" isn''t Yang''s limit¡­ This bastard can actually bring tout the Void itself!


    Were it not because he wasn''t confident in taking down Black Mage Yang, Inspector Lowell would have hanged Yang several hundred times, just based on this lunatic''s ability to bring the "Void Realm" into reality!


    Inspector Lowell was vaguely starting to regret his decision to stay behind in Exile Town. It didn''t seem very wise now.


    He couldn''t stop this black mage from continuing with his madness¡ªno, after witnessing Yang''s ability to bring "Void Realm" into reality, Lowell''s confidence in being able to escape safely was starting to waver.


    How can he control magic and wield eldritch power if becoming a spellcaster means abstaining from faith, which disqualifies spiritual powers?! Lowell was completely stumped.


    However, voicing this question would only reveal his fear. Thus, Inspector Lowell could only remain silent.


    No matter how curious, fearful, and puzzled he was, he could only hold it in.


    First hut among the row of eight, near the Wanderer Guild site.


    Hal, Tuttle, and Finley hurriedly moved their belongings into huts before the sky turned dark. Once darkness set in, the three of them simultaneously lit their oil lamps, illuminating the 20-square-meter space.


    The five women next door had already gone to sleep, but this former bandit trio was still wide awake.


    "That black-robed instructor also can''t stop this madman Yang¡­" Hal sighed for the umpteenth time, feeling bleak about the future.


    "We actually thought of robbing that fella before escaping. O Lady Gold Coin above, how fortunate we didn''t offend him," Finley said with lingering fear.


    "I recall that spellcasters should fear the Void more than all others. Even a trace of the Void''s essence can drive one mad. Even the holy mages of the Kenyan Empire refuse to seal Void rifts in person¡­ What is it that sets Yang apart? Why is he so audacious as to allow the entire town to be filled by the essence of the Void?" Tuttle was exasperated while racking his brains.


    "Compared to why he doesn''t fear the essence of the Void, what''s even more terrifying is that this guy can bring the essence of the Void into reality," Hal despaired. "It''s the Void we''re talking about, for f*cks sake!"


    Finley and Tuttle turned pale on hearing this¡­


    The Void, the ultimate emptiness, where all horrors resided, and the end point of all death and destruction¡ªa tomb of the former rulers, where fallen gods resided!


    A demon that emerged from the Void was second only to elder gods in terms of a calamity!


    Tuttle let out a long sigh and said gravely, "Hal, Finley, I think¡­ it''s time we make a decision."


    Hearing this, Finley subconsciously turned toward Hal. From the beginning, Finley hadn''t explicitly expressed dissatisfaction with life in Exile Town.


    Finley didn''t actually have any objections to living under the shadow of a black mage. The days of being a bandit in the Sorensen Mountains weren''t much better than this.


    Hal''s face went through several waves of different emotions before he slapped his thigh heavily.


    "¡­So be it!" This former bandit gang leader put on a look of mixed reluctance in order to prevent his two companions from realizing his unease. "Even the black-robed inspector from the Goddess of Prosperity''s faith can''t stop the mad black mage. We can''t risk our own lives for this!"


    What he implied was: For everyone''s sake, let''s not oppose Yang. Forget all the things I said before and be obedient citizens.


    Tuttle and Finley, both individuals with astute minds, weren''t certain if they detected Hal''s unease behind this bravado, and both nodded solemnly.


    Following that, Tuttle and Finley said some lines like "let''s keep ourselves useful for the future," and "we''re enduring humiliation for the sake of our brothers," to try and save some face for Hal.


    While these three comrades were conversing fervently for a while, Finley seemed to notice something and asked in puzzlement, "Tuttle, why does your shadow seem a little faint?"


    "Is it?" Tuttle glanced down, then replied, "Probably because there are two extra oil lamps. There are three shadows reflected now."


    "Must be my eyes playing tricks on me, then," said Finley.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Warrior Guild''s site.


    After "sacrificing" Tang Jia, the players finally saw the NPC.


    Light came on in the hut that the two skeleton ladies had barged into earlier. Someone appeared at the window, glanced outside, and then walked to the open door before shutting it with a loud bang.


    A street away, Unceasing Entropy''s jaw dropped.


    "Charlie Rex?" Yang Ying exclaimed in astonishment. "The warrior instructor isn''t staying in his tent?"


    "Study, what did you see inside the house?" Unceasing Entropy caught hold of a shell-shocked Study Obsessed who had just run back.


    "The warrior instructor!" Study Obsessed was still recovering from her fright. "My goodness! He doesn¡¯t look good with those thick eyebrows, huge eyes, and all sorts of weird things covering him!"


    "You aren''t mistaken, right? The warrior instructor we saw just now was normal, wasn''t he?" Jia Luo asked. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Damn it, there''s no way I could be mistaken. Besides, it wasn''t just me who saw, Gummy saw him too!" Study Obsessed was gesticulating in her haste. "It''s true! When Gummy and I burst into the house, we saw the warrior instructor leaning against the wall, asleep. There were some strange appendages sticking out of his forehead, chest, and shoulders. They were alive, grabbing and scratching¡­ It scared the hell out of me!"


    Yang Ying let out a surprised squeak, while the others seemed disdainful.


    "¡­It wasn''t a civilian NPC? The ones with a problem are the advanced NPCs?" Many questions ran through Unceasing Entropy''s mind. "Wait a minute, Study. When you two came running out, was it the warrior instructor attacking you, or the arms growing out of the warrior instructor?"


    Study Obsessed understood the importance of providing detailed information, and after thinking carefully, she said, albeit not very confidently, "Um¡­ how should I put it¡­ When we went in, the warrior instructor was sleeping. It was the arms and legs that came out of him that attacked me and Gummy¡­ Um¡­ come to think of it, those arms didn''t look like the warrior instructor''s. They looked like a woman''s hands, which was quite eerie."


    "A woman''s hands!" Unceasing Entropy''s entire body shuddered.


    Guileless Gale was at a loss. "But when the warrior instructor showed his face at the window just now, he looked no different from usual, right?"


    "Yeah, yeah." Jia Luo was also completely baffled and looked toward Unceasing Entropy. "Qingyue, what''s going on?"


    Unceasing Entropy stroked her chin and ponded for a moment. "Sis Ying, Jia Luo, do you remember the period when some players harassed the warrior instructor at night and quite a number were chased and chopped down by him?"


    "I remember." Yang Ying nodded.


    Jia Luo added, "Can''t forget that. Quite a lot of people were killed by the instructors at the Wanderer Guild site, too."


    "At that time, the warrior instructor could chase players in the middle of the night and it makes no sense for him to suddenly have night blindness." Unceasing Entropy exhaled sharply. "The warrior instructor was woken up in the middle of the night, and the hut is only a short distance away from where we waited. We didn''t hide either, but he didn''t chase after us when he looked out of the window."


    Guileless Gale was first stumped, then eventually blurted out, "Are you saying that the warrior instructor can''t see us?"


    "Ah?" Yang Ying, Phantom, Jia Luo, and Study Obsessed couldn''t comprehend.


    "It''s very likely," Unceasing Entropy said softly. "Or rather, the NPCs that stay indoors during the event period might not be able to see us outside their buildings."


    "This¡­ What''s the point of having such a setup? Does it make any difference whether NPCs can see us or not?" This time, it was Guileless Gale whose head was filled with questions.


    "I don''t know." Unceasing Entropy shook her head. "Right now, only two things are certain: First, the monsters in that wooden house are closely related to the warrior instructor, who was seen behaving abnormally by Study and Tang Jia.


    "Second, whether it''s the monsters or the main body itself, we have no way of attacking. Third¡­"


    At this point, Unceasing Entropy paused, appearing rather troubled as if she were unsure her hypothesis was correct.


    "What is it?" The others hesitated to ask, but Yang Ying had no such reservations.


    "Third, the ''mutated'' NPCs themselves probably aren''t aware of the anomalies on their bodies," Unceasing Entropy offered the conjecture with a lack of conviction. "Um¡­ I find this circumstance strange too, but if we link it with the notion that NPCs can''t see us, it sort of makes sense.


    "The event announcement mentions civilians, and the description of the event monsters is quite vague, suggesting they are ''terrifying entities attracted by the flesh and blood of the living.'' Given the tricky and misleading nature of this game, along with the fact that the developer team often neglects player welfare, I can pretty much confirm that this is deliberately misleading us.


    "In that case, I''ll have to overturn my previous line of thought¡ªthe core content of this event isn''t about the newly arrived civilian NPCs ''reviving'' the mysterious circumstances of Exile Town, but rather, it is the long-term residents of Exile Town, the advanced NPCs, that have unknowingly given rise to some sort of inner demon-like monster."


    Unceasing Entropy explained her perspective in detail, but her conclusion left the group of players baffled and scratching their heads¡­


    "Sis, can''t you just tell us how to deal with these creatures or how to earn contribution points in this event?" Study Obsessed asked weakly. "I''m not really interested in the event plot or its core content. I don''t care what it is; I just want contribution points."


    "Me too," said Yang Ying heavily.


    Unceasing Entropy: "¡­"


    She really wished for a friend like Blossoming Strokes in times like these¡­


    "Wait, wait, wait." Guileless Gale seemed to catch hold of something. "I understand what you''re getting at. The ''repelling corruption'' of this event¡­ It means we have to purify the corrupted NPCs. That''s why you''ve been mulling over the origins of these event monsters, right?"


    Unceasing Entropy clasped Guileless Gale''s skeletal hand and said, "Guileless Gale, let''s exchange WeChat contacts later."


    Yang Ying and Jia Luo: "???"


    Tang Jia! You are being cheated on!

 Chapter 69: Extreme one for two

    Ji Tang only logged in this Saturday at around one in the afternoon.


    It was early afternoon Earth time, but within the game, it was already the dead of night. However, this "night" was quite different than usual.


    When Ji Tang emerged from the earthen platform of the spawn point, the first thing he saw was the thick, inky darkness that covered everything. The next thing he noticed was the faintly shimmering red light amid the darkness.


    Ji Tang: "??"


    He instinctively rubbed his eyes and heard the scrapping of his finger bones against his eye sockets.


    Not sure if he was seeing things, Ji Tang focused his attention and carefully stared into the night.


    On closer observation, he noticed that those intermingling red lights in the darkness were like some kind of dense, flowing liquid suspended in the atmosphere, gently swaying and undulating with the night breeze¡­


    Ji Tang: "??"


    If this were truly just a game, Ji Tang wouldn''t be so surprised. After all, environmental changes in games were simply coded. As long as the technology, hardware, and bandwidth could keep up, creating eccentric game scenes was possible.


    But this "game" isn''t really a game, is it?!


    Ji Tang stepped off the spawn point and looked all around in confusion.


    The streets were eerily quiet, devoid of the usual weekend frenzy of players running about.


    Ji Tang: "¡­"


    It''s probably only been ten hours since I last logged in, right? What happened?!


    Ji Tang ran hurriedly toward the Butcher Workshop. The Merchant Association canteen opposite the Butcher Workshop was closed. Ji Tang circled around the canteen and was disappointed to find that neither of the two "tool players" were online.


    With no other choice, Ji Tang turned around and ran toward the Wanderer Guild. Wanderers accounted for the highest percentage among players, and even during NPC "off hours," there would still be players there doing quests.


    Due to the sparse construction of Exile Town and the fact that a large part of the area remained undeveloped, Ji Tang was able to see the Wanderer Guild once he reached Crossroad Street.


    Just as he had expected, Ji Tang saw people there, though these people were camping behind a wall and sneakily poking their heads out to observe something.


    Ji Tang could tell from their behavior that this group of players seemed to be hiding from something. So, naturally, he didn''t want to attract attention or disturb them. Treading lightly, he stealthily approached.


    As he got closer, Ji Tang overheard the hushed conversation¡ª S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Is it coming? Is it coming yet?"


    "Shh, not yet. It''s probably still being lured."


    Ji Tang felt that something was off when he heard this.


    Ever since the Poisonous Marshlands monster spawn spot was "released," the controversial act of luring monsters to harm others became widely discussed on the forum. Debates like "Is it fair to lure monsters for revenge if we are KS-ed and can''t beat them?" or "Does it count as luring monsters if another team blocks the escape route and causes us to be wiped?" were a daily occurrence.


    But this is definitely Exile Town. How can there be any monsters that can be lured into the town?


    After contemplating for a moment, Ji Tang silently found a concealed corner and squatted down.


    Having his worldview shattered by players'' antics was no longer a surprise to him, so he decided to observe what this bunch was up to first.


    He waited patiently for roughly five minutes, then, from the end of Second Street adjacent to the Wanderer Guild, came the rapid clacking of bones¡­


    Can there really be monsters to lure within Exile Town? thought Ji Tang, and he peeked out cautiously.


    And then¡­ he was even more confused.


    At the end of Second Street, where it connected to Third Street, three players were sprinting desperately.


    Unlike the usual situation where players in the midst of being teamwiped could still have plenty of banter, these three were fully focused on escaping, their jaws clenched tightly.


    And when Ji Tang saw the pursuing monster behind them, he found that it wasn''t hard to understand why these players were too tense to even crack jokes¡ª


    An incredibly vicious and bizarre centipede-like creature, looking as if it was made of multiple corpses forcibly stitched together, was chasing after them!


    Ji Tang''s jaw nearly fell, though his gamer instinct made him automatically activate "Identify."


    ¡­"Identify" showed nothing.


    No way? How high leveled is this monster?! Ji Tang sucked in sharply.


    "Identify" was a basic skill that didn''t have the concept of being able to be leveled up. Based on Ji Tang''s personal experience and his teammate Unceasing Entropy''s analysis, the success rate of this initial skill was determined by the level and Potential value of the user.


    A Level-1 player with a Potential value in the 50s could identify the level of assassin instructor Hal Maxwell as Level 5, but only the NPC''s name and level were certain to be shown. There was a chance of failure when it came to Hal''s equipment information.


    For the Level 4 ranger instructor, the same player would be able to view the level, name, class, and most equipment information.


    As for Level 3 Butcher Manan, even the dagger hidden in Manan''s pocket would be described in great detail


    Unceasing Entropy reckoned that the success rate of "Identify" was 100% if the difference in Potential was within three levels. With a four-level difference, it dropped to 60%, and a five-level difference would only have a 10-20% success.


    Anything beyond a six-level difference was basically zero.


    Ji Tang had played the game for more than ten days already, and his mental state in the real world had more or less returned to a normal standard. His in-game Potential value had also surged to 125, resulting in him surpassing the game''s previous top player Ou Huang, as well as being the only player to reach Level 2.


    This monster¡­ It''s seven, no, eight levels higher?! Ji Tang felt himself breaking out in a cold sweat.


    Exile Town wasn''t just a scene created by code but a real town inhabited by real people! It was no laughing matter if a monster with a level higher than those Boss monsters from Poisonous Marshlands was appearing here!


    While Ji Tang was completely dumbfounded, two of the players that had run to Second Street had slowed down slightly and turned into white light as they were scratched by that corpse centipede monster.


    The remaining player was huffing hard and shouted, "Can''t hold on any longer! Relay! Take over!"


    "Coming!"


    The bunch of gamers that had been hiding behind the wall for quite some time bravely jumped out onto the street.


    At this moment¡­ the last player being pursued by the corpse centipede vanished right before Ji Tang''s eyes!


    "Careful! This monster''s turning invisible again! Quick, scatter!"


    Qin Guan, leading this bunch of brave players, shouted.


    The players that had been bunched up immediately split off in all directions.


    Staying in his hidden spot, Ji Tang watched as these players dispersed before they started to disappear in twos and threes¡­


    Even Ji Tang, who undoubtedly had many crazy and wild experiences, was completely dumbfounded as a chill ran down his spine.


    "Don''t run haphazardly! Lead it in! Head inside!" Qin Guan commanded with vigorous waving of his hands and was the first to rush toward the square at the Wanderer Guild site.


    The remaining survivors, regardless of their initial direction, all rushed toward the square¡ªmore precisely, they were headed for the well-lit wooden hut beside the Wanderer Guild.


    Ji Tang: "??"


    He was momentarily stunned, then came to a sudden realization of what these players intended to do. They wanted to lead this high-level monster, which Ji Tang himself couldn''t even identify, to the advanced NPCs in hopes that the NPCs would help them fight the monster!


    From a player''s perspective, farming monsters with this sort of shortcut wasn''t necessarily wrong, but the issue was that the advanced NPCs weren''t just NPCs!


    Players could still respawn after dying, but "advanced NPCs" had no means of resurrection!


    "Stop!" An anxious Ji Tang quickly emerged from his hidden corner. "Stop! Don''t lead the monster over there!"


    Qin Guan and the other players: "??"


    At this moment, the corpse centipede that had already claimed the lives of several players appeared among the scattered and fleeing players.


    "Oh my god!"


    This frightened the group of players, who instinctively continued their rush toward their original destination¡ªthe wooden hut where the three advanced NPCs were staying.


    Ji Tang, shocked to the core, had no time to think and charged straight at the corpse centipede.


    "Ji Tang? Are you crazy?!"


    Someone recognized Ji Tang, who had previously led the expedition quest, and subconsciously reached out and grabbed a hold of the latter.


    The grotesque and ugly corpse centipede reared its head and turned toward Ji Tang.


    "Careful, Blossom!" Give Me Medicine shouted and tried to pull Blossoming Strokes away.


    Ji Tang, Blossoming Strokes, grabbing on to his clothes, and Give Me Medicine, holding on to Blossoming Strokes'' arm¡ªlike candied hawthorn skewered on a stick¡ªcrashed head-on to the corpse centipede monster that had abruptly turned.


    Qin Guan exclaimed, "What the¡ª"


    Before Qin Guan could even finish, he and the other surviving players witnessed the moment the three collided with the grotesque corpse centipede. Both sides seemed to simultaneously blip into oblivion as if they had been erased by an eraser, leaving a zero trace behind.


    Qin Guan and the other players: "??"


    "¡ªh*ll!" Qin Guan managed to force out the remaining expletives.


    The remaining players stood in place, completely dumbfounded for a few seconds before banter mode switched on.


    "The heck? Were they playing Candy Crush? Forming a line of three takes this monster out? What have we been doing all this time?"


    "Damn, so many people died for naught!"


    "Is Ji Tang trying to do a two-for-one deal on extreme difficulty? What sort of grudge does he have?!"


    "¡­No! Hold on!" Qin Guan, gasping hard, was the first to realize something was wrong. He shouted out once more, "We didn''t receive any contribution points. Blossom and Meds haven''t died and disconnected. They''re still in the team!"


    "Huh??"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    In the hut less than 20 meters away from this group of noisy chattering players, Hal, Tuttle, and Finley were still chatting away to pass the time and couldn''t hear what was going on outside.


    Hal Maxwell, who had been boasting about his past experience, suddenly had his eyes roll to the back of his head as he fell backward.


    "Hal?" Tuttle and Finley both reached out and supported him from either side.


    "I-I''m okay," Hal said, leaning on his comrades'' support to sit back up. His eyes were unfocused, and he seemed quite fatigued. "That''s strange. Why¡­ did I suddenly feel lightheaded?"


    Tuttle raised an eyebrow and asked with concern, "Could it be what''s happening outside that''s affecting you?"


    "I-I haven''t been out after dark just like you guys¡­" Hal, who was already having trouble sitting up without support, strained to speak.


    "This¡­" Tuttle was also puzzled. "Never mind, don''t speak for now. Take it easy for a bit and rest."


    Finley frowned as he observed Hal slowly leaning against the wall to lie down, then shifted his gaze to the shadows beneath Hal.


    The three lit lamps in the hut cast three shadows for each person, and due to the varying distance from the light source, each shadow had differences in brightness.


    Finley''s frown deepened. For some reason, he had the nagging feeling that both Hal and Tuttle had a shadow that was slightly fainter¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    "Ehh? I''m not dead?" Give Me Medicine lowered his head, astonished to see his own bone hands. Then, he looked up to see Blossoming Strokes, and Ji Tang, who had nearly gotten them all killed.


    Ji Tang was equally as bewildered as him and was looking all around in confusion.


    Blossoming Strokes, on the other hand, seemed stoned, her head lowered and mouth agape.


    "Blossom?" Give Me Medicine called out.


    "Check the system notification!" Blossoming Strokes urged.


    When a new system notification appeared on a player''s personal panel, there wasn''t any sound notification. Instead, it was just a text window that popped up.


    Due to the lack of private messaging and chat features, players usually paid little attention to the text window and often overlooked it. This was true for Ji Tang, who knew this wasn''t just a game, and Give Me Medicine, who rarely read text content while doing quests.


    Only with Blossoming Strokes'' urging did they remember to check the text window.


    (Players Ji Tang, Give Me Medicine, and Blossoming Strokes have triggered Hal Maxwell''s Inner Demon Domain.)

 Chapter 70: Altered mental domain

    Upon seeing this line of yellow text, Give Me Medicine and Ji Tang fell into a bout of silence.


    "This domain is¡­ something like a dungeon?" Ji Tang, who hadn''t played an online game in years, croaked hoarsely.


    "Seems like it," Blossoming Strokes replied blankly.


    Ji Tang helplessly gesticulated several times, yet he had no idea how to summarize what he wanted to say or where to even begin with his questions. He could only look toward Blossoming Strokes¡­


    As the saying goes, reputation precedes a person. Though the players were divided into three factions and had been competing for the position of mayor, when it came to troublesome quests, players, regardless of their loyalties, wouldn''t waver in their trust for Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy.


    The reasons were rather simple. These two ladies weren''t just intelligent but also had high moral standards; those with good character were always more popular than others.


    "Seriously¡­ the event announcement is so misleading!" Blossoming Strokes exclaimed in frustration. "I thought the non-attackable monsters were the civilian NPCs affected by the ''corruption.'' Never would I have imagined they''d be the advanced NPCs, and on top of that, this vague description of ''successfully repelling the corruption''¡­ who in their right mind would associate that with a dungeon?!"


    "This is ridiculous!" Give Me Medicine vented his frustrations as well. "Was it necessary to hype up the dungeon like this? Is it even worse than Archmage Angela''s quest! Can''t they just explain the process in the announcement? Are the damn devs thrilled to see us players die countless times?"


    Ji Tang: "¡­"


    Even though it had been many years since he last played an online game, as a millennial, Ji Tang still knew what a "dungeon" was.


    Having dungeons in a multiplayer online game is normal, but how is it possible¡­ in this game?!


    Isn''t this game an "alien planet"? Aren''t the NPCs in the game considered "encounters with aliens"?? How, how can there be dungeons?!


    Ji Tang simply couldn''t understand.


    Blossoming Strokes, on the other hand, seemed more open-minded about it. "Oh, well. It''s not the first time the devs have been this despicable. This place is¡­ huh?"


    The "dungeon" space the three found themselves in appeared as a forest that seemed to lack any distinct features. At first glance, it resembled the wilderness outside of Exile Town. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    But when Blossoming Strokes looked more closely, she realized something wasn''t right.


    During the expedition quest, players realized that the Taranthan Wastelands, where Exile Town was situated, though not explicitly stated in the background setting, had a relatively low geographical elevation. It was probably located in a temperate region¡ªthe vast wilderness was filled with common southern trees like palms, camphors, and cedars. There also wasn''t any sign of accumulated freezing in the marshes.


    Of course, it was most evident in the civilian NPCs'' attire. Although the female NPCs had been all bundled up initially, they didn''t seem to be wearing thick clothes like padded coats; they had all been single-layer clothing.


    But now, when Blossoming Strokes casually surveyed the surroundings, it was practically deciduous trees all around.


    "Given the game''s attention to detail¡­ could this design be hinting that the storyline within the dungeon doesn''t take place in Taranthan but rather somewhere further up north?" Blossoming Strokes muttered.


    "Huh? What''s that supposed to mean?" Give Me Medicine simply didn''t make sense of this line of mumbling.


    Ji Tang suddenly raised a finger to his lips. "Ssshh¡ª"


    The other two looked at him, and Ji Tang made another gesture, indicating that they should hide in the shrubs. He then took the lead and stealthily moved into the cover of the foliage.


    Blossoming Strokes and Give Me Medicine followed suit.


    The three had just stealthily crouched in position when they heard the sound of leaves being crushed underfoot.


    Crunch¡­ crunch¡­


    Srrrkkk¡ª


    The former was the sound of footfall, and the latter¡­ sounded like something heavy being dragged through the thick layer of fallen leaves.


    The three exchanged glances, then cautiously peeked their heads out.


    Through the tangled underbrush, they saw a boy in a duckbill cap and a thick gray woolen coat who seemed as if he had stepped right out of a nostalgic 19th-century European film. The boy carried a shovel on his shoulder and was dragging a heavy woven bag, slowly making his way toward the bushes where they were hiding.


    Astonishingly, this youth was someone they were all familiar with.


    Though his face was youthful and he seemed rather flustered, his facial features and contours were unmistakably those of Hal Maxwell, the assassin instructor.


    Even more startling was that the woven bag dragged by the younger version of Hal was oozing blood¡­


    Ji Tang was shocked, Blossoming Strokes absolutely dumbfounded, and Give Me Medicine''s jaw dropped. At that moment, all three of them had the exact same thought:


    Hal was once a criminal who murdered people?!


    Ji Tang''s eyes narrowed at once.


    At that very moment, the younger version of Hal, burdened by the weight of the woven bag and the large shovel, stumbled and fell.


    The bag he clutched tightly came loose, and a hairy arm slipped out from the opening and draped over Hal''s ankle.


    "Aarghh!" Young Hal kicked the arm away and crawled back in panic.


    "It wasn''t me, Jim! It wasn''t me who killed you! I just took their money to bury you¡ª"


    A blooded and rather young-looking face slowly revealed itself from the bag''s opening¡­


    "No! No!" Young Hal, now on his butt, cried as he retreated. "It wasn''t me, Jim! Don''t come for me! It had nothing to do with me!"


    The direction to which the younger Hal retreated was the bushes where the three players were hiding.


    Just a moment ago, the three players had thought that they would be about to witness the so-called "Inner Demon Domain," which referred to Hal''s past misdeeds of burying bodies (or getting paid to do so). Little did they realize how far off their interpretations of it were¡­


    From the woven bag came a crawling, bloodied corpse of a young man, who appeared to be around the same age as the younger Hal.


    Once the entire upper body of the shambling corpse exposed itself, another head abruptly sprouted from its chest.


    This head emerged like a beanstalk, forcing its way out from Jim''s chest. First came the head, then the neck, followed by the shoulders, and finally, arms¡­


    After emerging halfway, the "beanstalk''s growth" finally halted. With a similarly blood-soaked, maliciously resentful expression, the new face snarled and turned toward the younger Hal and the three players.


    Blossoming Strokes'' jaw nearly fell to her chest from fright. She had never really been receptive to horror elements.


    And this bizarre "perversion" wasn''t over yet. Another "beanstalk" sprouted from the neck of the first "beanstalk."


    "Arghhh!"


    "Arghhh!"


    "Arghhh!"


    The first scream came from Hal.


    The second and third originated from Blossoming Strokes and Give Me Medicine.


    Tolerance for fear in men actually wasn''t that different than in women; there''s no truth to the belief that having more testosterone meant being less susceptible to fear. Men might appear braver when among friends as a matter of pride, but that was just for the sake of face.


    However, when faced with extreme situations, face became irrelevant.


    Blossoming Strokes, who had lost all sense of rationality from fright, burst out of the bushes and fled. Give Me Medicine, also disregarding saving any face, followed suit and ran out.


    "Hey hey¡ª" Ji Tang weakly raised a hand at the two retreating figures.


    When he turned back, the "corpse centipede" of three corpses had already started inching toward the petrified younger Hal. With no choice, Ji Tang drew his dagger and stepped forward to confront it.


    The corpse centipede inside this instance dungeon was smaller than the one outside; at least, it wasn''t so big that one would struggle to even reach it for a strike. However, even after it was transformed into a physical monster within the instance dungeon, it still wasn''t something a player could take on alone.


    Despite Ji Tang''s ability, he could only manage to wear down half the monster''s health bar before he was killed and disconnected.


    Blossoming Strokes and Give Me Medicine managed to regain their composure and recalled that this was just an instance dungeon. But by the time they turned around and returned, Ji Tang''s health had been reduced to a sliver. Despite Blossoming Strokes'' frantic use of Shadow Force and Give Me Medicine''s attempt to alleviate some of the pressure, they weren''t able to save him.


    "Damn¡ª!" Blossoming Strokes, who had been disconnected, roared as she sat up from her recliner.


    Her cat twitched and looked over nervously.


    Blossoming Strokes didn''t have time to comfort her cat. She removed her neck pillow and helmet, hurriedly turned on her computer, and logged into the player forum to make a post.


    "Weekend Activity Strategy Guide! Everyone, don''t continue falling for it! The newly introduced monsters in Exile Town can''t be defeated!


    "They can''t be defeated!


    "They can''t be defeated!


    "Important things have to be repeated threefold!


    "These event monsters aren''t meant to be killed by players; they are the entrance to instance dungeons!"


    After posting all her frustrations on the main thread, Blossoming Strokes then patiently described the process of how she, Ji Tang, and Give Me Medicine stumbled on the entrance to the instance dungeon.


    "¡­It''s still uncertain if having three people simultaneously touching the monster triggers the instance dungeon. If those online try it and find that it doesn''t work, then there might be some hidden Potential value or level restriction involved.


    "Firstly, expert Ji Tang has a Potential of 125, and we broke through 200 Potential combined with mine and Give Me Medicine''s added to it. Perhaps, this might be a restriction for players entering the instance dungeons and a total of 200 Potential value has to be gathered, which means at least four Level 1 or higher players must enter together to possibly activate the instance dungeon.


    "Secondly, Ji Tang is at Level 2, while Give Me Medicine and I are both at Level 1. If the limitation is in terms of levels, then it might require a Level 2 player to lead the team.


    "As for the latter restriction theory, I personally find it less likely. The current majority of players are at Level 1, and the instance dungeons introduced during this event period can''t possibly demand a Level 2 player to lead. Therefore, I believe the limitation is most likely related to Potential values. If players currently online are attempting to strategize for the event, they can give this a try.


    "Besides that, the monster inside the instance dungeon is extremely challenging! Not only is it tough, but its attacks are also very powerful! Any team attempting to enter the instance dungeon must have a knight! Without a knight, you won''t stand a chance!"


    When this weekend event was released, players had been excitedly devising strategies. Many, like Tang Jia, went offline to summon their friends the moment the night fell.


    However, within the first hour of the event, at least a quarter of the players had died and were kicked offline¡­


    Despite these setbacks, players weren''t disheartened. After the death penalty time passed, they returned online to fight again¡­ only to die once more in quick succession.


    From half past ten in the morning until one in the afternoon, it was a non-stop cycle of players respawning at Exile Town and dying¡­


    Players weren''t afraid of dying, but that didn''t mean they were willing to die meaninglessly. As a result, the majority of players who had been online throughout the day began to log out and started flooding the forums with posts berating the developers. This was why Ji Tang hadn''t seen many people online when he logged in.


    Amid the numerous posts venting frustrations toward the developers, a thread titled "Weekend Event Strategy Guide" suddenly appeared. The author of the post was none other than Blossoming Strokes, who was equally renowned for her astute thinking as Unceasing Entropy.


    Players, regardless of whether they were engaged in heated debates or simply mindlessly cursing the developers, temporarily ceased their output and clicked on the thread.


    Following that, these players, who had been using all sorts of flowery language cursing the developers or clamoring about how "OtherWorld" would go bankrupt the next day, quickly got down to business. Those still with a death penalty found means to inform their online buddies, while those that didn''t have a death penalty logged in immediately and rallied friends to form teams.


    In the Town Hall, Yang Qiu remained impervious, regardless of the numerous insults hurled his way. On his face was a cryptic smile.


    Good¡­ The plan is in motion.


    It wasn''t that he wanted to be unreasonable and created this weekend-exclusive event dungeon to mess with players. The fact was that existing conditions limited his options as a developer.


    After all, "OtherWorld" wasn''t a true game, and it wasn''t possible to just write code and create a program to generate the essential dungeon instances that typical online games require.


    Firstly, establishing a stable material plane where players could repeatedly enter to hunt specific monsters was a huge challenge that even archmages would find perplexing.


    Spatial magic had always been limited to individuals with unique talents, and Yang Qiu wasn''t one such person¡­ otherwise, he wouldn''t have delved so deep into black magic.


    Spellcasters could create temporary subspaces via dimensional boundaries, essentially forming "secondary planes." However, these boundaries were incredibly fragile and would only briefly mislead the senses of ordinary people, while those with greater mental power could easily see through them.


    Attempting to place monsters inside such a fragile temporary plane for players to hunt wouldn''t work. From the perspective of players, it would be akin to experiencing a whole load of bugs.


    So, Yang Qiu decided to introduce the "Void Realm" into Exile Town during the night¡ªin simple terms, it''s an enhanced version of the "Infernal Breath." By utilizing the eldritch energy gained from assimilating the elder god''s tentacle, he transported a vast amount of the Void''s aura over.


    This aura of the Void wasn''t just for the mundane purpose of creating an ambiance for the town during the event. Instead, it was intended to strengthen the shadows of the three individuals he had chosen to be "providers of instance dungeon monsters"¡ªHal, Tuttle, and Rex.


    Everyone, including Yang Qiu, had a part of their psyche derived from psychological shadows or inner fears¡ªdark, negative wounds that couldn''t be touched on.


    Under normal circumstances, these psychological scars wouldn''t significantly impact a person''s life. They only surfaced when someone''s mental state became fragile, leading to a loss of control and breakdown.


    By combining "Void Realm" with his black magic, Yang Qiu succeeded in materializing the psychological shadows of these three individuals within the confines of "Void Realm." This gave rise to the three terrifying monsters that only roamed Exile Town but never strayed too far from their "hosts."


    These ethereal monsters, materialized through black magic and bound to the existence within the "Void Realm," were essentially invincible. As long as the "Void Realm" was maintained and the host remained unharmed, not even Inspector Lowell could take them down, let alone the novice players.


    Also, the "instance dungeon" that players entered after meeting the required criteria wasn''t an actual dungeon but an altered mental domain of the three advanced NPCs.


    Yang Qiu had intentionally misled players with ambiguity in the event announcement for this reason. Firstly, this extreme alteration of one''s mental domain made it very unstable. The success of entering the instance didn''t just rely on the conditions summarized by Blossoming Strokes but also metaphysical elements.


    In short, satisfying the conditions might still result in a mass disconnection while attempting to enter the instance.


    Secondly, the scenarios within these "instance dungeons" were highly unconventional in that they would make Spider Cave seem like a tranquil garden.


    That was why Yang Qiu had to reluctantly torture the players. A sense of achievement entering the instance that must be earned through countless hardships; in a sense, fabricating happiness¡­


    With the intention of playing this game for the long haul, you guys will sooner or later have to confront the essence of this world. Entering instance dungeons to fight monsters will prevent you from being startled by every little thing in the future. Becoming stronger requires getting stronger in spirit too!


    Yang Qiu took a sip of his tea and cast a slight glance at Lowell, who was standing by the window.


    Though the enigmatic black-robed inspector was wary of the "Void Realm," he wasn''t panicking. This confirmed one thing for Yang Qiu¡ªthe Goddess of Prosperity''s faith must possess some sort of sealed artifacts capable of restraining the emanations of the Void. Such seals shouldn''t require that high a rank within the faith''s hierarchy, which suggested that this black-robed inspector should at least have such access to them.


    This revelation caused Yang Qiu''s heart to stir.

 Chapter 71: Joint Strategy

    "So, you''re saying¡­ the monster that killed more than half of our fellow brothers and sisters is actually an entrance to an instance dungeon?" Guileless Gale exclaimed with incredulity.


    "Blossoming Strokes and Ji Tang both entered an instance dungeon together, so it seems like it," Brother Lahong, who had just logged back in, replied, though his face was also twitching.


    Phantom subtly glanced at the nearby Unceasing Entropy''s team and whispered, "Isn''t Ji Tang part of Unceasing Entropy''s team? How did he end up with Blossoming Strokes?"


    "It was a chance encounter." Brother Lahong waved his hand dismissively. "Now that we know the monster is just an instance entrance and not a boss, let''s not waste any more time here. We should hurry up and strategize to conquer the dungeon."


    The "monster" Brother Lahong referred to was the slimy creature in the alley east of the Crossroads. They were more familiar with that monster which had wiped out half of their side, so there was no need to go with Unceasing Entropy''s team and struggle against the bizarre monster near the Warrior Guild that couldn''t even be looked at.


    Guileless Gale, Phantom, and Study Obsessed exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.


    The incident during the first collaborative hidden quest with Qin Guan''s side was still fresh on their minds. If their side could do things on their own, they weren''t particularly keen on joining forces with others.


    Before they could come up with an excuse to part ways, Unceasing Entropy came over herself.


    After a quick greeting with Brother Lahong, Unceasing Entropy asked, "Have you all seen Blossoming Strokes'' post? Ji Tang has also messaged us offline. It turns out these event monsters are actually instance entrances. We''ve been going about things wrongly. There''s no need to track down the source of these monsters. Entering the instance dungeon will trigger a system prompt."


    "Um¡­ yes." Brother Lahong was slightly puzzled and wasn''t sure what this girl wanted to say.


    Unceasing Entropy continued straightforwardly, "Ji Tang, Blossoming Strokes, and Give Me Medicine accidentally stumbled into the instance while holding hands. While they didn''t manage to complete it successfully, they gained some experience regarding it.


    "The instance dungeon related to Assassin Instructor Hal is quite challenging. The monster has high attack power but relatively bulky in size. If we have a knight to absorb the damage, we can attack it from the sides, just like how we handle those monsters during our expedition quest.


    "Oh, and there will be the young versions of the advanced NPC inside the instance. Ji Tang''s advice is to protect the NPC while fighting the monster. Otherwise, the instance might still fail even if we defeat the monster."


    Brother Lahong: "¡­"


    Guileless Gale, Phantom, and Study Obsessed, who weren''t that thick-skinned, averted their gazes and stared at the sky and ground as if they were the most captivating sights.


    "We plan to continue exploring Rex''s inner demon, so we won''t be joining you guys searching for that other unknown advanced NPCs'' inner demon," said Unceasing Entropy.


    "Alright, alright." Even the thick-skinned Brother Lahong couldn''t help feeling somewhat forced.


    Had this girl started nitpicking and tossed around a few sarcastic remarks, Brother Lahong was confident he wouldn''t feel a thing when he led his own friends away. However, her magnanimity made him feel somewhat bad¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    After half an hour of waiting anxiously, Blossoming Strokes reconnected as soon as the death penalty time elapsed.


    She rushed to Third Street and sought out her companions and immediately asked, "How''s it going? Has anyone cleared the instance?"


    Qin Guan, leading the event activities from Third Street, turned around haggardly and looked at her.


    "Can''t defeat it? What were the team compositions of those who entered?" Blossoming Strokes asked with a frown.


    "Couldn''t get in." Qin Guan rubbed his bare skull in frustration. "We tried sending four different teams against that monster, but none managed to enter the instance. They were devoured and all kicked offline."


    Blossoming Strokes: "??"


    "Now we''re waiting for you and Give Me Medicine to come online and see if your team can get in," Qin Guan said irritably. "Damn it. I heard Brother Lahong''s side managed to send two teams in. I swear, even entering an instance has become a matter of luck. It''s frustrating!"


    Blossoming Strokes: "¡­"


    Earlier, she felt that the devs had made the instance entry process absurdly difficult. But now, she realized that she had severely underestimated their level of absurdity.


    Give Me Medicine came online shortly after Blossoming Strokes, and Qin Guan arranged for two knights and two wanderers to team up with them. He incorporated their team into his group, then climbed onto the rooftop of a nearby building to observe as Blossoming Strokes led this six-man team toward the wooden house''s cellar entrance.


    As the six-man team approached the cellar, the creepy corpse centipede that had startled countless players appeared out of nowhere.


    The brave six-person team was engulfed, and Qin Guan immediately glanced at the group panel:


    All six members were still alive. They had entered the instance dungeon.


    "¡­Could those two truly be blessed by RNGesus?" Qin Guan exclaimed with surprise and delight. "No, wait, Blossoming Strokes doesn''t have much luck. She always ends up with the ugliest models when picking characters. So, does that mean Give Me Medicine is the real luck god?!"


    Meanwhile, in the instance dungeon, Blossoming Strokes cast a glance at the familiar, dimly lit forest and silently braced herself.


    If not for the fact that she was the only mage that had completed the first job advancement among them, she would have strongly objected to entering this instance dungeon again¡­


    "This is quite the eerie atmosphere. It''s like Jason could jump out at any moment," a female knight player, a relatively young college student, remarked nervously and instinctively moved closer to Blossoming Strokes.


    The other knight player was also scared, but he put on a strong front since there were two ladies present and joked, "Who knows if Jason will pop out, but we already have six skeletons that can move and jump about."


    "Quick, come hide in the bushes," Give Me Medicine expertly crouched into the shrubbery and waved to the team.


    "Camping in bushes brings back memories from my Honor of Kings days," the knight player mumbled as he crouched in the bushes. "It''s a shame our skeletons can''t wield big swords; that would add to the ambiance."


    Blossoming Strokes couldn''t help but glance at this teammate. "Hey, hey. Don''t tell me you are afraid?"


    "No way. Others will be scared if I jump out of the bushes, but nobody can scare me," the male player retorted.


    Blossoming Strokes eyed this brother knight for a bit before glancing at the female knight player clinging on to her anxiously. She suddenly had a bad feeling¡­


    Not long after the team of players was all crouched down in the bushes, the younger version of Hal, dragging a corpse, appeared. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The frequently seen assassin instructor in town turned out to be a teenage criminal¡­ The players weren''t too concerned though, the dark vibe of this game had been apparent from the moment they first logged in. So what if a functional NPC had a shadowy and sinister backstory?


    But then, the corpse in the sack came to life, and the "beanstalks" started growing out¡­


    "Oh god!"


    "Mommyyyyy¡ª!


    The two knight players let out screams even shriller than the teenage Hal''s and leaped out of the bushes and bolted in different directions.


    "The hell?!" (x2) came from the two wanderer players who had just drawn their knives.


    Give Me Medicine and Blossoming Strokes simultaneously raised a hand. "Come back¡ª!"


    At this moment, they understood how Ji Tang had felt previously when they had abandoned him¡­


    Ten minutes later, the six-man party was wiped.


    Half an hour later (in real-world time), Give Me Medicine and Blossoming Strokes regrouped at Third Street, seemingly more depressed than Qin Guan¡­


    It was four in the afternoon on Earth, while in OtherWorld, the time was seven in the morning.


    The blood-tinged darkness that shrouded the entire Exile Town was dispersed by sunlight, causing the three monsters that had been reaping players in the alleyway, cellar, and deserted house to disappear.


    The advanced NPCs stretched lazily as they exited their dwellings, strolling in pairs or threes toward the Merchant Association canteen. There, they collected their allotted food rations for the civilian women under their care, who had been (forcibly) assigned to them.


    The civilian NPCs also emerged from their houses, some sweeping the streets, while others sprinkled water on the dusty paths.


    One woman, whose eyesight wasn''t very good, emerged from her home carrying a bucket of used water from washing her face. She was about to pour it onto the pathway in front of her hut when she suddenly noticed that the street had become significantly narrower.


    She squinted, then realized that there was quite a long row of undead squatting by the side of the street.


    "S-sorry! Sorry! I''m extremely sorry, misters and misses undead!" The woman was startled and took two steps back while apologizing profusely.


    The players glanced at the NPC, who was frantically apologizing, and one of them said somewhat listlessly, "Let''s go, we''re blocking people''s way."


    The other players rose silently and followed the leader in leaving¡­


    The woman quickly retreated to the side of the road and exhaled sharply only after the group of undead had moved far away.


    "What''s wrong, Martina?" One of her housemates stepped out of their shared dwelling while adjusting her clothes.


    Martina couldn''t clearly see who it was, but she recognized the voice. Breathing a sigh of relief, she said, "It was terrible, Mia. I nearly splashed the washing water on the undead gentlemen. They were squatting right at our doorstep, not even making a sound."


    "Really?" Mia quickly stepped further out of the door and curiously glanced at the undead creatures, which were now congregated at the far corner of the street. "What are they doing here?"


    "I don''t know." Martina shook her head. "Maybe they''re doing something we don''t understand." After a pause, the woman who had once been helped by the undead smiled and added, "Perhaps they''re protecting us¡­ that''s what I think."


    Mia nodded in agreement, saying, "That''s likely, Martina. These undead are just as kind-hearted as Mr. Anthony."


    Tailor Anthony, arriving with rations for 12 people, cast a dark glance. "¡­"


    I''m just like those crazy undead¡­? Thanks for that, you foul woman!


    Black-faced Anthony placed the breakfast for four on the windowsill of a room occupied by four tailor shop workers, then glared at Mia with hostility before continuing to the next "employee dormitory."


    Unfortunately¡­ Mia was captivated by the aroma emanating from the boxes of food and didn''t notice Anthony''s glare. Beside her, Martina could only discern a blurry figure of a person within a meter of her¡­


    "Thank you, Mr. Anthony!" Mia bowed sincerely to the departing Anthony.


    Antony didn''t even bother looking back. He couldn''t be less interested in being thanked by an unattractive woman.


    The players who had moved to First Street came to a stop at a corner on their way to the logout point.


    "Lahong, I have an idea," said Guileless Gale.


    "Go on," Brother Lahong responded weakly.


    "Uh¡­ I was thinking of looking for Unceasing Entropy and Blossoming Strokes to discuss the strategy for this event''s instance dungeons," suggested Guileless Gale. "Simultaneously tackling three different instances is rather inefficient. It might be better if we all focus on one instance dungeon together and share our experiences for greater efficiency. After all, this event only takes place on weekends. If we can''t clear it this week, we''ll have to wait until next week¡­ I think they might think the same, too."


    Brother Lahong''s initial temperament had been worn down considerably over the course of the night. Hearing Guileless Gale''s proposal, he said, "Alright. Go ahead." Then, after a short pause, he added, "Just talk to Blossoming Strokes. The other two might have their own agendas."


    Guileless Gale knew that if they were talking about personal agendas, their side and Vanilla Pudding''s side were probably equally invested¡­ but that wasn''t something he could say. So, he simply nodded in agreement. "Alright."


    Guileless Gale''s guess was correct. Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy had their own concerns indeed. When he reached out to them, both of them agreed to meet up.


    At the Wanderer Guild''s square, the representatives from the three player factions squatted in the corner to have a discussion.


    "Coordinating our efforts is a good suggestion, and I fully support it," Unceasing Entropy was the first to speak. "However, I have the fewest people on my side. Even if everyone is online, we have at most around 20 people. We can form four or five small teams of five or six players each at most. If neither of you mind, then I have no objections."


    "Don''t worry, Qingyue, no one will mind that," Blossoming Strokes assured. "I''ve realized that the number of players doesn''t really matter for this event''s instance dungeons. Regardless of how large the team is, it only counts if they can make it into the instance alive."


    "I''m on the same page as well," Guileless Gale stated unequivocally.


    Unceasing Entropy nodded, then said, "Alright then. Let''s start by exchanging information about the instances we''ve entered so far. Whichever one has the lowest difficulty should be prioritized for our strategy. To be frank, my team is on the verge of losing morale. If we don''t secure a clear soon, our unity might crumble."

 Chapter 72: Class Strength

    The candid truth spoken by Unceasing Entropy left both Guileless Gale and Blossoming Strokes feeling somewhat disheartened. Indeed, quite a few people in their respective teams had begun to murmur about abandoning this troublesome event and simply grinding monsters instead. However, actually giving up¡­ wasn''t really an option.


    At least, Unceasing Entropy and Blossoming Strokes knew that their comrades, Brother Lahong and Vanilla Pudding, absolutely weren''t willing to give up. After days of fierce competition, their territory prestige was neck and neck with Ji Tang. If this event''s instance dungeons were to be cleared by Unceasing Entropy''s side, then Ji Tang would surely leap ahead of the other two in terms of territory prestige.


    Today was already the 26th, and the end-of-month settlement was in just a few days. If Ji Tang managed to surpass Brother Lahong and Vanilla Pudding at this time, the latter two would definitely be very upset!


    If it wasn''t for the fact that she didn''t want Vanilla Pudding''s efforts to go to waste, Blossoming Strokes, who had an aversion to horror elements, wouldn''t be so actively gritting her teeth and stubbornly battling through this bizarre instance dungeon.


    "Let me start by discussing our strategy for the warrior instructor''s inner demon instance," Unceasing Entropy continued candidly. "To tackle this instance, the team needs to hold hands and approach the monster. Once inside, you''ll find yourself in what looks like a steampunk-era dock. However, the area is very confined, with a large docked ship on one side and an inaccessible warehouse on the other. You can only move around within the dock area.


    "You can''t see any NPCs inside the instance, and there''s only some faint crying in the background. The first time we entered, we were too focused on searching the dock and ignored the cries. As a result, after about ten minutes in the instance, we were killed by the monster that suddenly emerged from a drainage ditch by the street.


    "The second time, we went around the drainage ditch and still got killed by the monster that emerged from the pipes around the ten-minute mark." At this point, Unceasing Entropy faltered. "We never even saw the shape of the monster despite being teamwiped twice in a row. Even Ji Tang, who led the second attempt, only caught a vague glimpse of something that looked like flowing water in his field of vision."


    Guileless Gale shuddered. "Even Ji Tang couldn''t get a good look at the monster?"


    "Exactly," Unceasing Entropy confirmed. "On the third try, I led the team. Since being wiped out at around ten minutes and the sobbing sounds in the background seemed to serve as a hint, I guided my teammates to search for the source of the crying¡­" S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "And you didn''t find it?" Blossoming Strokes asked.


    "No." Unceasing Entropy sighed. "While there are quite a lot of inaccessible places in that instance, the remaining space for exploration is still too large. I reckon that even if we head in with a full team, it''d still take several wipes before we fully explore the map."


    Guileless Gale exchanged a glance with Blossoming Strokes, then said, "Um¡­ I''ve read the posts on the forums regarding the assassin instructor''s inner demon instance. The ranger instructor''s inner demon instance we face on our end might be slightly easier compared to the warrior instructor''s, but it''s probably harder than the assassin instructor''s instance."


    Next, Guileless Gale elaborated on his side''s experience in exploring their instance¡­


    "Alright. Looking at things, it does seem like the assassin instructor''s inner demon instance has the lowest difficulty," Blossoming Strokes said. "The boss can be seen right away upon entering. Apart from its eccentric appearance and high attack power, it also goes into a rage when its health drops to around 30%¡­"


    "Have you figured out the mechanics and skills of this boss?" asked Guileless Gale in a professional manner.


    Guileless Gale and his good friends, Phantom, Study Obsessed, and others, had followed Brother Lahong and transitioned from another online game to OtherWorld. He was quite a seasoned leader from his PC gaming days, with skills and expertise to match.


    Blossoming Strokes, on the other hand, had a more laid-back approach to her online gaming. However, she too had experiences with instance dungeons and nodded. "The boss only uses basic attacks until its health drops below 50%¡­ though these attacks are quite different from basic attacks of ordinary enemies. As you know, this monster has¡­ um¡­ three heads and six arms, so its attack range is rather extensive."


    Guileless Gale and Unceasing Entropy: "¡­"


    They both had read Blossoming Strokes'' forum post and understood that the boss of the assassin instructor''s inner demon instance was a "corpse centipede composed of three bodies." Now, with Blossoming Strokes describing it as having "three heads and six arms," they realized how apt this bizarre description was¡­


    "When its health drops below 50%, the boss''s attack frequency increases, and its basic attack gains a sweeping damage effect in a fan shape. If the wanderers are at the same angle as tanking knights, they will still be hit. When the health drops below 30% and the boss enters a rage mode, it uses a skill similar to warrior''s charge that can instantly kill healers and NPCs, like the teenage Hal you see when you enter the instance. If the teenage Hal dies, it''s an instant failure."


    "Wait, it can also charge?" Guileless Gale raised an eyebrow. "Doesn''t that mean that knights can''t hold it back?"


    "No, they can''t." Blossoming Strokes shook her head with a sigh. "We had two knights with us, and it was manageable until the boss entered rage mode. But once it went berserk, we couldn''t control it at all."


    "This is also rather troubling¡­" Guileless Gale frowned. "Can the terrain be utilized? Is there anywhere to corner the boss?"


    "We tried to lead the boss to a spot where it could be cornered when it was close to rage mode," groaned Blossoming Strokes. "This was where the most ridiculous part happened. This boss can jump, crawl, and climb. We weren''t able to corner it using tree stumps or other parts of the terrain."


    "Hmm?" Unceasing Entropy suddenly sat a little straighter.


    "Qingyue, do you have an idea?" Blossoming Strokes asked right away.


    Unceasing Entropy responded, "This boss only has two legs, right? Jumping requires legs to act as a support. What if we immobilize or sever the boss''s legs? Given the realism of this game, it should work in theory. Remember how we easily defeated the Demonized Toads in Poisonous Marshland by cutting open its sides?"


    Blossoming Strokes shook her head. "I don''t think it''s feasible considering the boss''s toughness and attack frequency. Even if wanderers approach to cut the legs, they would be killed before they manage to sever them."


    Unceasing Entropy broke into a slight smile. "If a wanderer can''t do it, how about a warrior?"


    Blossoming Strokes was momentarily stunned.


    Guileless Gale also caught on, and his jaw dropped.


    Unceasing Entropy continued, "Let''s not rush to deplete the boss''s health. A mage can cast Slowdown to reduce its speed. Knights can keep the boss''s attention at the front while two warriors attack the legs from behind. If two rotations of full skill sets don''t do the job, we wait for the cooldown and then do it again. Would there be any hope in such an approach?"


    Blossoming Strokes'' mouth was agape.


    In this game, "OtherWorld," warriors weren''t generally well regarded by players, unlike in other games.


    The reasons were pretty simple: they had low durability, thin health, and short legs (charge was problematic). While their all-out attack power was high, their sustained damage output was rather poor. They couldn''t match the continuous damage output of wanderers, whose skills with shorter cooldowns allowed them to maintain a steady damage output.


    Players also considered practicality when playing games. Who would willingly play a "little brother" class that always got trounced in sparring, contributed less in group battles, and didn''t earn the respect of teammates?


    As a result, there were very few players who chose to become warriors in the game. Aside from Vanilla Pudding, who was a devoted enthusiast, the other three warrior players were on Unceasing Entropy''s side.


    Even though the female warrior duo of Stuffed Gummy (Tang Jia) and Yang Ying showcased great energized moves during the expedition quests, there still weren''t many willing to grind warrior reputation¡­


    "This¡­ seems plausible," Blossoming Strokes said hesitantly.


    "Let''s wait for the day to pass, and then let our team try it." Unceasing Entropy suggested. "Regardless of the outcome, I''ll share the process with you."


    Blossoming Strokes and Guileless Gale exchanged a silent glance. "¡­Alright."


    Unceasing Entropy had candidly explained the strategy of exploiting the high burst damage potential of warrior''s skills against the boss and had also generously promised to share the entire strategy process. Regardless of which perspective, this approach was commendable. Even if there were some contentious points, the other two couldn''t complain¡­


    It was 4.30 p.m. Earth time, and the peak online hours of the weekend gradually approached.


    Qin Guan, who had died and was kicked offline just before daybreak in the game, quickly took the chance during his death penalty to post a sarcastically appreciative message to the developers on the forum and also edited a short video clip of his activities during the event and uploaded it to BiliBili. Afterward, when the cooldown was done, he eagerly logged back into the game.


    After hearing the new strategy proposed by Unceasing Entropy that was brought back by Blossoming Strokes, Qin Guan couldn''t help but exclaim, "Holy cow!"


    "Lahong''s side doesn''t have a single warrior, but at least we have you," said Blossoming Strokes. "Vanilla, you better give it your all!"


    Qin Guan rubbed his bare skull sheepishly.


    It was just that he, as a warrior, had last seen action during the "Night of Rampaging," where everyone was snatching equipment from the advanced NPCs¡­


    "Wait a moment. Speaking of this¡­ I just remembered a girl who plays as a warrior." Give Me Medicine put up a hand to interject. "Blossom, do you remember? I told you about a lady with the ID ''Fallen Mulberry Leaves'' before."


    Blossoming Strokes thought hard for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "Ah! That Mulberry Leaves who was kicked out from her fixed team!"


    "Who are you talking about?" Qin Guan asked, slightly confused.


    "I mentioned it before, the fixed team that sold copper coins to me previously," Give Me Medicine explained. "They used to hang out with our group when we first started clearing Spider Cave. But later on, they were able to farm it on their own, so they stopped playing with us."


    "Oh." Qin Guan slapped his thigh. "I remember now. The team that used to camp at Spider Cave. They now grind in Poisonous Marshland and often contact you to sell coins and materials, right?"


    "That''s right," Give Me Medicine confirmed. "Their team logs in and out at fixed times and grinds mobs immediately when online, and the money they earn from selling materials and coins is divided equally among the team members. Among the unaffiliated players, they''ve managed quite well. This girl, Fallen Mulberry Leaves, was originally a fixed member of their team. Before the expedition quests, members of the team started changing classes. Fallen Mulberry Leaves wanted to play as a warrior, but there were no more openings for that class, so she got kicked out and a player who switched to another class took her place."


    Qin Guan was surprised. "That can''t be?!"


    "How else can it be? Efficiency matters the most for this sort of team, and it''s perfectly normal for them to prioritize strong classes." Give Me Medicine shrugged. "If they were just a casual team, differences wouldn''t be that significant. But since they''re a gold farming team that divides earnings, a warrior''s poor endurance and lack of skills compared to the consistent damage output of a wanderer are clear disadvantages. Even if the leader doesn''t kick her, other team members would likely have been thinking it."


    "Whoa¡­ Then why didn''t you ask this girl to join us? We aren''t short of openings, and if she''s interested in farming gold, she can also join Xiao Zhou''s group. The income wouldn''t be worse than their fixed team," Qin Guan asked.


    "I did invite her, but she was feeling down then and said she didn''t want to play PvE and wanted to grind reputation for some lifestyle class for the time being." Give Me Medicine then added confidently, "Don''t worry, I''ll talk to her again. If I tell her we need a warrior for an instance dungeon strategy, she''ll definitely be willing to help."

 Chapter 73: Spineless Players

    Daytime stretched on within the game. After parting ways with her companions, Blossoming Strokes didn''t log out immediately. Instead, she perched herself on the steps near the entrance of the Wanderer Guild, her gaze sharp and focused as she observed the advanced NPC seated within the newly inaugurated guild hall¡ªAssassin Instructor, Hal Maxwell.


    Of the three Wanderer Guild instructors, Hal was the one with the most volatile temperament, whom players found easiest to provoke. He had an appearance resembling a mix between slavic and latin heritage, with chestnut hair and relatively fair skin. His facial contours were smooth, but his features held a certain depth. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be around 35 years old. He sported a meticulously groomed small beard, although remnants of food could sometimes be seen on his clothes, indicating a degree of sloppiness.


    In the faction led by the veteran beta trio, more than sixty percent of players had advanced to the wanderer class. Those who didn''t fancy bows and instead relished the thrill of critical strikes with knives all increased reputation with Hal.


    Even Give Me Medicine, who had obtained the Critical Strike Dagger, had once hesitated whether to grind Hal''s reputation. He only decided against quitting as it was genuinely hard to let go of the effort he had put into grinding reputation with Finley.


    Since it''s Hal''s inner demon, the monster in the instance dungeon should have a direct connection with this instructor. I wonder if any information can be extracted from Hal? Blossoming Strokes stroked her chin and mused.


    Deep down, Blossoming Strokes was well aware that the potential partnership between Vanilla (Qin Guan) and the warrior girl they were trying to rope in couldn''t be compared to the duo of Stuffed Gummy (Tang Jia) and Yang Ying.


    In other words, while she hadn''t explicitly voiced it to protect her companions'' morale, she understood clearly that in terms of clearing this instance dungeon, their side''s progress couldn''t possibly match that of Unceasing Entropy''s team¡­


    This didn''t go down very well with Blossoming Strokes. It wasn''t that she held a grudge against Unceasing Entropy''s group, but rather, she simply didn''t want to lose.


    Thinking that women lacked competitiveness was the greatest form of gender bias.


    The number of females with a strong competitive spirit certainly wasn''t lesser than males. Just that women''s competitiveness was seldom respected, acknowledged, and sometimes, even despised; while a man''s competitive drive was often attributed to ambition, determination, and lofty aspirations, women could easily be labeled as "overbearing" or "ignorant of their limitations."


    While her usual actions and speech might not show it, deep down, Blossoming Strokes was indeed a competitive person. Trivial matters usually didn''t concern her much, but when it came to something substantial, she was actually the one that''s most competitive.


    Her desire to win wasn''t solely about helping her friend Qin Guan maintain his advantage in terms of territory prestige, nor was it for proving herself. It was as simple as wanting her companions to triumph.


    Hal, who was "on duty" as per usual, noticed the undead that had arrived roughly ten minutes ago and had been staring at him all this time.


    He frowned, though not overly concerned¡­ Hal was now wise enough to give up trying to decipher the logic behind the actions of these undead that hailed from some unknown dimension. Rather than pondering what this undead was up to, Hal was considering how to pass the upcoming long night ahead.


    Having sent off an undead who had come to take on a quest, Hal turned to Finley, who was nearby, and grumbled, "Having to stay indoors for three consecutive nights every now and then, this new rule is truly absurd. Does Yang think that our lives are too easy? He''s finding all sorts of ways to torture us."


    The guild hall was simple, an open square slightly under 60 square meters. Besides the small partitioned rooms set up for resting, each of the three job instructors had a set of desks and chairs for work and a cabinet for storing quest-related tools.


    Directly opposite the guild hall''s entrance, against the wall, was actually a wooden sofa and coffee table set¡ªactually the sort of recliner chair and three-panel coffee table that were a common park fixture, which was something Yang Qiu had purchased online.


    Not having to stand outside in the sun or rain was certainly a perk for these former bandits. However, optimizing the workspace had burdened them with the responsibility of caring for a group of nearly blind women, as well as the cost of being subjected to curfew every ten days or so. This was enough grounds to give Hal something to grumble about.


    Finley remained silent, his eyes giving Hal a peculiar once-over. Then, he turned his gaze to Tuttle, who was still busy dealing with the undead and assigning tasks. There was a certain subtle complexity in his expression.


    "Hey, Finley. What the hell are you up to?" Hal grew visibly uneasy.


    "¡­Nothing." Finley''s reply was clearly perfunctory.


    Hal regarded his comrade with a look of incredulity.


    Finley hesitated for a bit, then stood up from his workstation and walked over to Hal''s desk. Leaning forward, he said, "Hal, do you really¡­ think there''s nothing unusual?"


    "Just say what you want to say, stop beating around the bush." Impatience was clearly shown in Hal''s frown, and his serious demeanor made Finley sit a little straighter.


    Finley tried to say something, then faltered before shaking his head. "Never mind, maybe I''m just being overly sensitive."


    Hal noticed the way Finley''s gaze was completely off. "Hey, hey, Finley, don''t scare me¡­ Have you been seeing things lately?"


    "Of course not," Finley retorted irritably. "Believe me, I''m fine. My perception isn''t even as keen as yours and Tuttle''s."


    "That''s true." Hal relaxed once more and waved his hand dismissively. "Don''t overthink, old friend. Those were the words you''ve said to me before."


    Finley shook his head and returned to his desk.


    As Finley pulled out his chair, he heard the sweet crisp voice of what sounded like an inquisitive young lady from behind him.


    "Hello, Hal. Was there ever a period where you found yourself overthinking things?"


    Finley snapped his head back.


    There was of course no possibility of seeing a young lady in Exile Town.


    Standing before Hal''s desk and saying those words was, unsurprisingly, a skeleton.


    Finley: "¡­"


    Hal, who was being addressed, wore a bewildered expression.


    "Would you like to have a chat with your undead friend, Hal?" Blossoming Strokes tilted her head to the side in an attempt to act cute. "I overheard your conversation and I''m quite interested."


    "¡­Get out of here!"


    ¡­Five minutes later.


    "Damn it, not being able to bring my stunning beauty into the game is such a loss!"


    Blossoming Strokes, who had been chased out of the Wanderer Guild''s hall, stormed the Warrior Guild construction site angrily and found Qin Guan before dragging the latter back to the Wanderer Guild construction site where she borrowed Give Me Medicine''s Orb of Deception.


    "What are you up to, Blossom?" Qin Guan was rather puzzled.


    "Put this on." Blossoming Strokes thrust Orb of Deception to Qin Guan''s face, then pointed at the Wanderer Guild''s hall. "Follow me later. Just stand by my side and smile. Don''t say anything and let me handle it."


    Qin Guan''s mind went to work, and he quickly caught on. "A honey trap? You want to fish information out of Hal? Wait a moment, calm down. This Orb of Deception came from Finley. All three of the Wanderer Guild instructors are all in the same building. It might not work!"


    "We won''t know unless we try!" Blossoming Strokes waved her skeletal hand dismissively. "Finley might not fall for it, but who knows, maybe we can trick Hal? The assassin instructor is pretty dumb!"


    Qin Guan: "¡­"


    Give Me Medicine, who was slogging away with a manual labor quest: "¡­"


    Well, not grinding Hal''s reputation wasn''t a great loss, especially since the assassin instructor was quite dumb¡­


    A couple of minutes later, Blossoming Strokes and Qin Guan, in his illusory disguise of a top-tier beauty in an evening gown, strolled into the Wanderer Guild''s hall.


    Finley, who had just taken a sip of water, spurted it all out when he saw the stunning beauty walking beside Blossoming Strokes. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The Orb of Deception had been given out from his end, so he had quite a deep impression of this illusion¡ªwhen that undead with a male voice conjured up this appearance in front of his tent, Finley had spent quite a long time wondering about the genders of these undead.


    As for Hal and Tuttle, who hadn''t seen this illusion before, it could be said that the illusion was super effective. The moment Qin Guan stepped through the door, these two former bandits, who had been idly chatting, stopped and stared wide-eyed.


    Blossoming Strokes noticed this and poked Qin Guan with her finger.


    Qin Guan immediately put on a demure smile.


    Well, he was, after all, a relatively decent-looking content creator in real life and could still manage his expressions. The illusion radiating with beauty, combined with this smile, was practically divine¡­


    Blossoming Strokes led Qin Guan to Hal''s desk and said in her naturally sweet, girlish voice, "Hal, would you be willing to chat with your undead friends?"


    Qin Guan turned his gaze to the stupefied Hal and smiled bashfully.


    Hal froze for a moment, then suddenly jumped up, went around the desk, and pulled two chairs out for Qin Guan and Blossoming Strokes. "Of course, of course. Please have a seat, both of you. Is there anything I can help you with?"


    The shift from haughtiness to humility was drastic¡­


    "Wait, Hal. T-this lady is actually¡ª" Finley gestured at Qin Guan, wanting to expose the fact that the one wearing this illusion wasn''t even an undead woman.


    Qin Guan looked over and flashed Finley a charming smile.


    Finley was immediately dumbstruck.


    It had been at least a couple of years since he had last seen a young woman.


    If not because he knew this lady was actually an undead and also had a questionable gender, just that smile alone would have gotten him to think up potential names for their child together.


    Blossoming Strokes discreetly gave Qin Guan a thumbs-up. Qin Guan had said he didn''t wish to, but he was still playing the role diligently and doing it so well¡ªindeed, it was often men who understood other men best!


    Seizing the moment while these three advanced NPCs were still captivated by Qin Guan''s beauty, Blossoming Strokes quickly utilized her sweet, girlish voice to start fishing information, "Hal, I noticed your accent sounds like that of a northerner. Are you from the north?"


    "Yes." Hal reluctantly drew his eyes away from Qin Guan and acted relaxed and interested, as if he was ready for a casual and extended chat. With great enthusiasm, he started to share, "I am indeed from the north, just like Anthony. We both hail from the Kenyan Empire. While Anthony was apprenticing as a tailor in the capital, I was studying in the industrial heartland of the north."


    When one voluntarily brings up their past, it indicates a strong desire to share, and when their words intentionally or unintentionally enhance their image, it suggests not only a desire to share but also a strong need for self-expression.


    To better craft convincing dialogues for her web novels, Blossoming Strokes had watched countless interview videos to learn the conversational habits of people from various age groups and backgrounds. While she might not be particularly adept at coaxing interviewees into self-expression like a seasoned journalist, she at least knew how to go about it.


    Hal went on quite a long account of himself¡ªduring his youth, he had been a slightly rebellious city boy with an extensive social circle. His family was well-off, his uncle owned an airship club, his father had a penchant for expensive Kenyan hunting dogs, and his mother had a fondness for exotic beast hide decorations from foreign continents¡­ and so on.


    The two players hearing the exaggerations in his stories only thought one thing: For a mere beginner town NPC, his background sure is complex!

 Chapter 74: Spineless Players

    "Hal was lying," Qin Guan said with certainty.


    "On the contrary, I think what he said is most likely true," Blossoming Stroke refuted.


    Continuous usage of Illusory Disguise would deplete one''s mental energy, which, when translated to players'' character panels, manifested as a rage gauge for warriors or a mana bar for mages. The two had hurried out of the Wanderer Guild''s hall in haste, finding an excuse to leave before Qin Guan''s rage gauge fully depleted.


    Qin Guan couldn''t understand where Blossoming Strokes was coming from and asked, "How so? The version of Hal we saw in the instance took on the job of burying bodies for money, but Hal himself claimed his family was well-off. There''s a contradiction right there."


    "It''s not contradictory. He might have been affluent once, but due to his family''s downfall, the young master who could once have attended prestigious institutions ended up doing all sorts of odd jobs for money. That''s still rather plausible," Blossoming Strokes explained. "In the instance, the Hal we saw, though in a sorry state, was wearing a cashmere coat, which indicates that his family was well-off."


    Qin Guan: "??"


    "Before synthetic fibers became popular, cashmere was quite an expensive textile. During my childhood, our elders only owned two cashmere coats altogether, unlike nowadays, where you can easily buy cashmere fabric for several dozen yuan." Blossoming Strokes, who was a few years older than Qin Guan, had done a fair amount of research for writing her web novels, and her common knowledge was way broader than the former. "The background setting of this game seems to be closer to 19th-century Europe. Under such circumstances, a typical street urchin wouldn''t be able to afford a cashmere coat."


    "Um¡­ Alright then. So, that means Hal got to know Jim only after he fell on hard times. He''s also not willing to talk about what happened after his family''s downfall, so how are we going to gather information then?"


    Blossoming Strokes replied, "We already have."


    Qin Guan: "??"


    Blossoming Strokes continued, "The term ''inner demon'' has two interpretations. The first one refers to the morality within a person''s heart, the duality of good and evil. It can also be understood as defects or obstacles in spiritual, psychological, and conscious aspects.


    "The second one, in the domain of idealism, for example in movies, comics, and game depictions, is often represented through ''fantasy'' or ''illusions.''"


    "¡­And so?" Qin Guan still didn''t get it.


    "Evidently, this inner demon instance dungeon in OtherWorld is a combination of these two interpretations," said Blossoming Strokes as she put up three fingers. "In his younger days, Hal did live in the northern regions, and the young Hal we see in the instance is indeed dressed warmly. The body of Jim in the woven bag, whose name we now know, is wearing a knitted shirt and a dungaree. This suggests that Jim was killed indoors in a warm environment, then carried out by Hal. The living conditions of the deceased Jim and Hal are similar. That''s one point.


    "Two upper-body-only corpses emerge from Jim''s body. The first, a topless woman, while the second is a muscular man wearing a jacket; both show an age difference from both Jim and young Hal. These individuals are adults, and from their clothing, it doesn''t appear as if they lived in the cold northern regions. They must have been people Hal encountered later in life after moving to a different location. This is the second point."


    Taking a pause, Blossoming Strokes raised her final finger bone. "The most crucial point¡­ is the third one. The two adult bodies emerging from Jim''s body are only half-formed and distorted in a way that makes it impossible to determine their original appearances. Given the premise that the ''inner demon instance'' embodies idealism, we can conclude that the only true guilt Hal bears is related to the debt he owed Jim during his youth. The others are just extensions of Jim."


    "Uh¡­"


    "Perhaps¡­ I now understand the true solution to this instance dungeon," Blossoming Strokes said confidently. "When night falls, we can give it a try. If this doesn''t work, we can fall back on Qingyue''s leg-severing strategy."


    Earth time, October 26, Saturday, 10:30 p.m. In the game, players welcomed the night once more.


    After having experienced a round of failure before, the three veterans of the closed beta sent a well-prepared team into the instance dungeon.


    In the same eerie northern forest, young Hal dragging the blood-soaked woven bag stumbled through the thick layers of fallen leaves.


    Young Hal fell, and an arm stretched out from the bag. The corpse came back to life as two upper bodies emerged from the young animated corpse in succession.


    "Move out!"


    Qin Guan gave the order, and the team consisting of two knights, six wanderers, and two warriors charged forward and engaged the boss in battle according to the experience they had gained from the previous night.


    The only healer and mage in the team, Blossoming Strokes, didn''t join the fight.


    While her teammates held off the boss, Blossoming Strokes went over to the fallen younger version of Hal.


    "Hal, isn''t that your friend Jim?"


    The young Hal, who had been regarded by players as a mere part of the scene for this instance dungeon¡­ raised his head with a horrified expression.


    Blossoming Strokes was greatly encouraged and continued pointing at the boss and repeated, "Hal, that''s your friend Jim, right?"


    "No¡­ nooooo! He''s not my friend, I don''t know him!" Young Hal suddenly snapped and yelled at Blossoming Strokes.


    Blossoming Strokes affirmed, "That''s your friend, Jim."


    "No, he''s not. It''s not true! He isn''t my friend. I have no friends!" Young Hal trembled violently, and tears started to flow.


    Blossoming Strokes remained unfazed and continued, "What did you do to your friend, Hal?"


    "I¡­ I¡­" Young Hal struggled internally for a while before he uttered miserably, "For a gold coin¡­ buried Jim¡­ don''t let anyone find out¡­"


    "You were going to bury Jim''s body for a gold coin?"


    "Argghh! Argh! Argh! Argghh!"


    The teenage Hal clutched his head in his hands while sobbing and howling, "If I didn''t do that, I would have been killed just like Jim! I had to take the money to prove that I''m a bastard who doesn''t care about a friend''s death for the sake of money!


    "I don''t want to be a bastard either, but if I don''t become the scum that even I despise, I wouldn''t be able to survive!"


    "It''s working! Blossom, it''s effective!" Qin Guan''s joyous voice sounded from behind. Blossoming Strokes turned to look and instantly felt invigorated. The corpse centipede boss made up of three bodies was disintegrating. The two other bodies of the boss that were grotesquely attached to Jim''s body fell off and dissolved into ash!


    This essentially meant that the difficulty of this boss encounter had been cut by more than half!


    "I''m the most amazing¡ª!" Blossoming Strokes exclaimed gleefully and turned back, ready to continue berating the teenage Hal¡­


    And then, she froze.


    The younger Hal, who had been sitting helplessly on the ground just a moment ago, unable to move, had somehow¡­ stood up.


    Hal''s slender and frail teenage frame visibly stretched taller and broader within seconds, transforming into the physique of an adult.


    Not just that¡­ the boy''s puerile face also aged, gradually resembling the adult Hal from the "real" world.


    But compared to the "real" version of adult Hal, this version seemed darker and more sinister.


    Young Hal''s gaze lacked focus when he looked at people, but then, this dark version of Hal, who seemed to possess a sense of self-awareness, fixed his gaze on Blossoming Strokes, who was closest to him.


    Even though Blossoming Strokes knew this was just a mirrored replica within the game, she still involuntarily took a step back.


    "Everyone knows this¡­ the rule of doing whatever it takes to survive¡­ But Jim never forgave me."


    The dark version of Hal stared intensely at Blossoming Strokes like a raving madman, uttering cryptic words, "Every time, every single time¡­ Whenever I relaxed even a little, Jim would find me¡­ How does he manage to locate me? Why does he persistently haunt me? No matter what I do, he always finds my weaknesses¡­ Why is that?"


    Blossoming Strokes stood mouth agape and retreated another step.


    "I''ve already become so powerful¡­


    "I''ve already taken down scoundrels more powerful than the one who killed Jim back then¡­


    "I should be¡­ more than just a scum now!"


    As the dark version yelled out all this, he became even more grotesque¡ªhis body expanded like an inflated balloon, while his facial features became distorted. Fangs grew out of his mouth, and his skin turned into a leather-like dark bluish. His hair shot out like steel needles, while claw-like, menacing nails sprouted from his hands.


    Even Qin Guan and the others standing at least 20 meters away were flabbergasted, let alone Blossoming Strokes, who was up close.


    At that moment, a yellow notification popped up on the players'' panels: [Congratulations, you have triggered the hidden boss of Hal Maxwell''s Inner Demon Domain: Hal''s True Inner Demon.]


    Players: "What in the world¡­?!" Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "This wasn''t the outcome I wanted¡ªahhh!!" Blossoming Strokes wailed in despair as she clutched her head¡­ and a swipe by the hidden boss''s claw sent her offline.


    A minute and 20 seconds later, the closed beta veteran''s elite team was wiped out.


    Elsewhere, Unceasing Entropy''s team, who had entered the instance shortly after Blossoming Strokes'' team, had been engaged in a battle with the boss for over 20 minutes. After arduously focusing their attacks and managing to sever one of the boss''s legs, they met their demise in humiliation as the only healer, whose mental energy was essential for healing, exhausted her reserves. This unfortunate outcome occurred when the boss had less than 10% of its health left¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    On Earth, it was October 27, a Sunday, half past midnight.


    In-game, at Desolate Outpost, it was night as well. However, unlike the oppressive atmosphere of Exile Town, there were no sudden ambushes by hostile monsters, and one could hear the noises of activity from NPCs within the various tents.


    As Blossoming Strokes'' team stepped off the teleportation point, they noticed Unceasing Entropy''s small team gathered near the zombie general''s tent, accepting a quest.


    "Hey¡­ Qingyue, you guys are here too." Blossoming Strokes waved with a forced smile.


    "Yeah." Unceasing Entropy also seemed slightly sheepish. "Uh¡­ while the double warrior leg-severing strategy was effective, our overall damage output was slightly lacking. My healing wasn''t enough as well¡­ So, I''m here to grind more materials first and see if I can get some equipment that boosts healing effects. What about you guys? Any progress?"


    Blossoming Strokes chuckled awkwardly. "Heheh¡­"


    Fortunately, game characters didn''t have facial features; otherwise, she would have had trouble controlling her expression¡­


    Knowing that his friend was in an extremely frustrated mood, Qin Guan stepped in. "I heard from Xiao Zhou that there''s a particularly lucrative quest here at Desolate Outpost. Want to do it together?"


    Xiao Zhou, whom Qin Guan was speaking about, was Eight At Once, who ran a gold farming studio. Quite a number of players from Unceasing Entropy''s team bought currency from them.


    Hearing Qin Guan''s suggestion, Unceasing Entropy asked, "Which quest? Is it suitable for teamwork?"


    "Most definitely." Qin Guan walked over to a bulletin board and pointed at the topmost quest. "It''s this one, a lumbering quest. You have to cut down trees at the specified logging point outside the outpost, process the felled trees by removing branches, and then you can turn them in. The quest rewards not only include prestige and coins but also materials. It offers a rather high value for the effort, and it''s even more profitable than grinding in Poisonous Marshland."


    Unceasing Entropy''s group had originally been contemplating doing a gathering quest in Poisonous Marshland and planned to do it while grinding monsters to increase their earnings during this period. They hadn''t noticed the other quests in Poisonous Marshland, and all looked up with interest when the "lumbering quest" was mentioned.


    Unceasing Entropy, however, for some reason, felt an odd sense of familiarity when she heard the words "lumbering quest"¡­


    The two groups accepted the quests, and as they enthusiastically set out on their activities, Brother Lahong''s side and their ardent supporters also emerged from the teleportation point.


    The three factions stood off in a moment of mutual scrutiny.


    "Ah, haha, you guys are here too," Brother Lahong gave an awkward laugh.


    "Yeah, yeah," Qin Guan and Ji Tang responded equally awkwardly as well.


    These players of different factions, who usually exchanged sarcastic remarks whenever they crossed paths, engaged in some awkward small talk, and all accepted the lumbering quest¡­


    There was no other choice. Multiple party wipes had inevitably led to equipment losses. Although players were doing their best to preserve their valuable gear, the frequent loss of steel knives was depleting their funds¡­


    Yang Qiu, who hadn''t yet returned to Earth to slack off, was still observing the players'' situation from the Exile Town''s Town Hall.


    He couldn''t help clicking his tongue, "Tsk¡­"


    They''ve all given up¡­ Could the instance difficulty be too high? Yang Qiu set down his recently crafted equipment and stroked his chin. That can''t be possible. There shouldn''t be any issues with the difficulty I set. It¡¯s more like these guys are spineless!


    But if they are already overwhelmed by Hal''s little inner demon, they would hardly stand a chance against Rex''s¡­ Fine, I should give them some more combat power.


    Yang Qiu carefully put away the rune-embedded equipment he had prepared to sell in the Undead Merchant Association as a currency sink. He adjusted his attire, then stepped outside.


    Half an hour later, in Exile Town, which was now rather devoid of players, the combat class instructors¡ªHal, Finley, Jerome, and Rex¡ªwere all summoned.


    "Class¡­ quests?" Hal, who was rubbing his eyes sleepily, sobered up after hearing Yang Qiu''s request.


    "Yes." Yang Qiu explained, "As you''ve all seen, our undead friends have chosen combat professions under the guidance of you guys. However, they lack ambition and are content to swarm and attack low-level, low-intelligence monsters. Without the desire to challenge stronger opponents, this attitude for the first batch of undead required to blaze a trail for the revival of the undead race is simply unbecoming."


    One fundamental reason for this was that players'' average Potential stagnated once it reached around 55 points. Thus the imprint matrix was unable to support features like real-time text and voice chat, friend lists, and so on.


    Yet, players remained blissfully unaware that this was their issue. Instead, they kept pestering the developers via the forum¡ªthis manner of shifting the blame was truly deplorable.


    As for the second fundamental reason, it was closely tied to the development of Taranthan.


    "Director Lu" had thrown a tempting offer of production lines toward Yang Qiu, and while he didn''t take it up, Yang Qiu was still rather interested in low-tech enterprises that Taranthan could get involved in.


    That was also the reason he covertly set up a lumbering quest at Desolate Outpost. Yang Qiu''s pockets weren''t exactly bursting with money (RMB), and with no intention of accepting Director Lu''s offer, which was akin to an explosive coated in sugar, he decided to find his own solution.


    Taranthan had coal. There was a coal mine located less than 10 kilometers away from Exile Town, set up by pioneers when they chose to settle here a long time ago.


    With a bit of drilling and refining equipment, a small-town level factory could be established, and that would relieve Yang Qiu from the headache of sustaining the locals under his employ.


    Empowering the locals to be self-sufficient, attracting more natives, and maintaining this virtuous cycle so Taranthan could truly prosper. All of it was a matter of time.


    But all of this hinged on¡­ whether players'' monster farming activities could clear the safety hazards around the locals'' dwellings.


    Exile Town was protected by its location in a valley. Desolate Outpost, however, resounded with the roars of monsters every night. Why else had Yang Qiu been so carefree toward just leaving those sixty-odd local thugs here? Besides being fed at Desolate Outpost (instant noodles and regular cooking quests from the zombie general), these individuals were also hesitant to venture too far from where the zombie general stood guard.


    It was worth noting that there wasn''t a boss rat obstructing the exit of Desolate Outpost, so players could explore the entire map freely. However, players still concentrated on farming the Poisonous Marshland. The primary reason for this was that the swamp, protected by the natural barrier of the toxic mist, was comparatively safer and less likely to attract higher-level monsters.


    While Yang Qiu didn''t need players to be his vanguard, he did need them to act as a safety barrier for the locals in Taranthan.


    He himself spent countless hours honing his mental powers day and night, striving to break through to the level of Archmage, so players ought to put in some effort too!

 Chapter 75: Master Liu’s advice

    October 27, Sunday, about four in the wee hours of the morning, Earth time.


    Former master engineer Liu Yaowu appeared energetically at Exile Town''s spawn point under the ID "Master Liu."


    Master Liu, who in reality was just in his fifties, would still have been part of the skilled labor force if not for an accident that had left him bedridden in the hospital for over half a year. After waiting for a bit, Old Geng, his fellow care facility patient, came online as well.


    "Weren''t you muttering that there would be a newcomer joining us?" Old Geng glanced around before asking Master Liu.


    "Last night, Xiao Lu said the new player would come online and meet us in the morning, though I didn''t see anyone when I logged in." Master Liu shrugged. "Should we wait here?"


    Old Geng checked the "game time" displayed on the character panel and waved dismissively. "Forget it, it''s already this late. Let''s prepare to open first."


    The two old men strolled north from the town center''s spawn point, chatting casually along the way. After walking for about two hundred meters and the Town Hall came into sight, they turned left into an S-shaped alley.


    This unnamed alley was coined "Life Lane" by the players. At the entrance stood Anthony''s tailor shop, and a little further in was the popular Master Gatherer''s workshop. Further deeper into the alley, almost at the entrance to Fourth Street, was where Manan''s neglected butcher workshop stood as well as the Merchant Association canteen across it.


    Although it was an alley, Life Lane wasn''t any narrower than the main streets. Due to the frequent visits of leisure-oriented players, it was usually livelier than the Third and Fourth Streets, though not as bustling as the Second Street that led to the Spider Cave and also home to the Wanderer Guild.


    When the two old buddies entered Life Lane, advanced NPCs like Tailor Anthony and Master Gatherer Greene had already risen. Some of them were squatting by the side of the alley, washing up in a ditch, while others rolled up their sleeves and were fetching water.


    These once unruly former bandits clearly understood who to thank for their newfound happiness. When they spotted the two undead figures from the Merchant Association canteen, though they hadn''t reached the familiarity to exchange warm greetings, they politely nodded in acknowledgment.


    "These young folks are also from humble backgrounds," said Old Geng as he waved to Greene, the Master Gatherer. "That young lad named Greene, he''s just twenty-something years old, but his hands look like those of a farmer of the Northern regions in his sixties."


    "That''s true. Our neighbor across the street, Young Ma, has an old burn scar on his arm. He says he got it when apprenticing at a pork stall, when eating some pigskin in secret and was burnt by his boss," sighed Master Liu.


    "It''s not just these young lads; those women the players brought back on the quest had it rough too. There''s a lass called Mia, who''s around the same age as my Xiao Yun. If they two stood beside each other, they wouldn¡¯t look like they are of the same generation."


    "There''s no denying that this world isn''t in a good state." Old Geng shook his head.


    The two old friends reached the Merchant Association canteen, and the "civilian NPCs" Lord Yang assigned to assist them were waiting by the entrance. As soon as the civilians spotted the two, they bowed differentially.


    "Aiya, didn''t we say to dispense with such formalities!" Old Geng hurriedly went forward to support these disabled individuals, who had trouble even standing straight, to their feet. "There''s no need to bow. Why won''t they listen?"


    "Let it be, Old Geng. They don''t understand anyway, and it''s pointless for us to explain. Once they get used to it, they''ll know such things are unnecessary with us." Master Liu pulled out his keys and unlocked the door, then swiftly grabbed a stack of plastic chairs.


    These four disabled individuals were the male relatives of the women who had come over to Exile Town. Aside from Collins Carter, who had a leg injury, the other three suffered from various degrees of physical disabilities.


    When they first arrived in Exile Town, these four couldn''t even leave their homes. They could only lie inside the houses (constructed by the zombies), eating and sleeping.


    However, despite their appearances of advanced age, these four were actually all younger than Master Liu. The oldest, Collins, was only in his forties. After several days of rest as well as being well-fed with nutritious food, these four managed to get up on their own and could even do simple tasks. As a result, they were assigned to the canteen by Yang Qiu.


    The Merchant Association canteen needed to provide over 140 people with three meals a day. While it sounded like a heavy workload, it actually wasn''t as daunting as it seemed. All the dishes, including rice, porridge, and noodles, were semi-prepared and vacuum-sealed, so it could all be done easily with just a little bit of work.


    However, the two oldies in charge of the canteen were kind men with principles and a strong sense of empathy. Under their insistent demands, Lu Yiyun''s side had to continue "delivering" fresh vegetables that were more nutritious.


    Then, via some unknown means, the "target" would transport these food supplies to the container stack at the foot of the mountain, which could be accessed at the end of Life Lane. This self-imposed extra workload added quite a bit to their plate¡­ sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Fortunately, the work assigned to these four physically impaired men wasn''t too demanding. At most, it would be some simple tasks like peeling garlic or chopping ginger.


    Master Liu fetched chairs for the four workers, whom he couldn''t converse with, and handed several kilograms of ginger and garlic to handle before he entered the store with Old Geng.


    Soy milk and fried dough sticks were a must in a typical Chinese breakfast. However, obtaining the aforementioned items was rather challenging in this world. Frying dishes was still doable with the skeletal hands, but making dough would pose quite an issue. Until they obtained a dough mixer, these two old friends wouldn''t entertain such an idea.


    So, for breakfast, the canteen provided frozen dumplings and glutinous rice balls. The expert task force had contacted a small local foodstuff factory in G Province to get these foodstuffs straight off the production line without packaging. Instead, they were directly put in styrofoam boxes together and delivered to the "target." The two old men had then personally collected them from the container stack outside town and stored them in the canteen''s store to be used as needed.


    With a clank and a rattle, the heavy metal door to the store was pulled open by Master Liu, and a layer of white mist rushed out.


    Undead couldn''t sense changes in temperature, but it was easy to tell that the temperature inside the store was probably similar to that of a freezer just judging by the white mist.


    "Just drawing a round symbol on the wall actually makes it cold enough to refrigerate. This world sure is magical." Old Geng sighed as he glanced at the array, taller than a person, that was drawn on the steel wall.


    "Haven''t we already become animated skeletons running about? Logic has totally been thrown out the window." Master Liu was used to it by now. Walking up to the boxes of frozen food, he said, "Xiao Lu''s expert task force''s analysis is that this Lord Yang is a genuine user of magic and he probably has some connection with the ''target'' on Earth. Otherwise, there''s no way no one has been able to trace how the ''target'' popped up in G Province.


    "There are so many people outside who wish to interact with this Lord Yang but can''t do so, yet we two old men are lucky to see him every day."


    Old Geng joined Master Liu in moving the frozen dumplings, chuckling. "What''s the use of seeing him? Are we supposed to go up and ask him, ''Hey, Yang, are you really a living person and not an NPC?''"


    "Better not. Those young gamers have said that there''s no benefit in angering NPCs, and you might even be killed and logged out." Master Liu laughed.


    A styrofoam box of frozen dumplings weighed 30 kilograms, a load the two would certainly be unable to lift on Earth. However, in the "game," they could easily pick it up and even place another box of frozen bok choy on top¡­


    Once two boxes of frozen dumplings were moved to the kitchen, Master Liu skillfully lit the stove made from bricks and cement. The pots and pans used were the commonly seen typical stainless steel ones used in most cafeteria kitchens, while the fuel was anthracite coal.


    The frozen dumplings were cooked in well water, with two packets of stock powder added. Even if it was plain-tasting frozen dumplings that were being cooked, the natives would still lick up every drop.


    Stock powders were something that often received disdain back on Earth due to the numerous arguments from self-proclaimed nutritional scientists¡ªthe actual broth was more nutritious, preservatives and flavor enhancers could be harmful, etc.¡­


    But, at the end of the day, it was the inexpensive and good-tasting seasoning that hadn''t been proven harmful to humans. In the market, a pack of stock powder cost between 10 to 15 yuan, while the wholesale price was half that. With the main ingredients of animal protein and amino acids, dissolving it in hot water provided the traditional taste and aroma of broth, and many hotpot restaurants actually used it.


    Meanwhile, Old Geng took down the steel knife on the wall and started chopping the bok choy. This type of steel knife used by most players was actually the type exported by China to regions such as Africa and Southeast Asia for chopping down banana trees.


    It was reasonably priced, of high quality, and, in certain chaotic areas, even used by gangs as their primary weapon¡­


    As the frozen dumplings being cooked in the pot of soup started floating, Old Geng tossed the chopped-up irregular strips of bok choy into the pot to cook as well.


    Master Liu moved away from the stove, took the ginger and garlic the four male workers had prepared, rinsed them with water, and used a garlic presser to crush them into a paste. Then, he added soy sauce, vinegar, and hot sauce to the paste, mixing it all together into a large bowl of dipping sauce.


    Around 7:30 in-game time, the two old men had just about finished preparing breakfast, and the "advanced NPCs" had also started arriving.


    One distinct characteristic of dishes cooked with stock powder was that the aroma could be smelled even from a distance. The former bandits, whether it was the well-born Tuttle Joe or Hal Maxwell who had an affluent childhood, upon entering would immediately head to the cutlery rack after getting a whiff and point at the largest bowl.


    Hal devoured at least two kilograms of dumplings and bok choy in one sitting, along with a saucer of Master Liu''s specially prepared dipping sauce. After finishing, he even proficiently used chopsticks to pick up the remaining bits in the sauce plate and asked the other two at his table while chewing, "You guys, what are your thoughts regarding the task Yang assigned to us?"


    Finley, who was drinking soup from his bowl, paused and peered up to give Hal a deadpan glance.


    What he implied was clear: Can''t you at least wait for me to finish eating?


    Tuttle, who paid more attention to his table manners, had about half a bowl of dumplings left. He, too, felt a little annoyed hearing Hal''s question, and the speed at which he picked at his dumplings slowed down.


    "None." Tuttle sighed. "I totally can''t understand what goes through that fellow''s mind. To be honest, when Yang said the undead weren''t ''aggressive enough''¡­ I felt grateful to my father for his strict emphasis on my upbringing."


    Both Finley and Hal strongly agreed with this sentiment. If those crazy undead were still considered "not aggressive enough and lacking in ambition," then this world certainly didn''t have any aggressive creatures!


    "Anyway, we have to come up with a solution," Hal said with a sigh. "I guess I''ve sort of got Yang figured out. He simply isn''t someone who reasons."


    Hal didn''t need to spell it out; his companions were all too aware¡ªYang only spoke his version of reason, not the common sense of the world. In other words, this black mage was simply mad!


    Master Liu, with hands on hips, strolled around the canteen in satisfaction as he admired the eating habits of his patrons. Noticing the gloom at Hal''s table, he walked over confidently and stood beside Hal before asking without any reservations, "What''s wrong here? Are the dumplings not tasty today? Or is the dipping sauce off?"


    Master Liu was a person who could argue with the government one moment and comfortably mix around with construction workers the next. Not to mention, he held the most respected title of head chef here.


    Even if he was just an ordinary player, it would only be a matter of time before he mingled with these advanced NPCs. Of course, the main reason was that he didn''t treat the former bandits like regular NPCs.


    Besides Hal, the other two were rather astute. After noticing Master Liu''s more respectful attitude toward them, Finley and Tuttle treated him differently than regular players. Yang hadn''t demanded secrecy, so they readily revealed Yang''s request¡­


    "So, you are saying that Lord Yang is asking you to plan events, engage playe¡ªthe undead in these events, to find a way to make these undead stronger and more combative?" Master Liu asked in astonishment.


    "Yes." Tuttle shrugged in helplessness. "You know, Liu, the other undead, they''re not like you and Geng¡­ We really find it hard to understand what Yang is thinking."


    Master Liu: "¡­"


    Back in reality, Master Liu couldn''t access the player forum due to his lack of self-sufficiency. However, during the time his daughter, Liu Xiaoyun, took care of him, she would read aloud popular posts from the form. Thus, he knew about the "Night of Rampaging" event where players had seized equipment from these "advanced NPCs." Aware that these "advanced NPCs" were actually real people, Master Liu could genuinely understand their feelings.


    Master Liu chuckled awkwardly, though his astute mind quickly recognized this as an excellent opportunity to probe Lord Yang''s true intentions and purposes. He enthusiastically said, "I do have an idea. Would my young brothers like to hear it?"

 Chapter 76: Coincide

    Master Liu, Old Geng, Ji Tang, along with the other members of the expert group camped out in the secluded mountains of G Province, shared a common understanding: within the game world of "OtherWorld," the true origins of players didn''t have to be known, but they couldn''t not know Lord Yang''s!


    In fact, Ji Tang and the two old men had obtained comprehensive close-up images of Lord Yang, which the expert task force had studied extensively. A half-body model of Lord Yang was even created.


    Lord Yang in the "game" appeared to be in his thirties or forties, with long black hair that flowed past his shoulders. His face was lean and angular, with well-defined features displaying clear Eastern characteristics.


    Professor Yin Zhengliang of the expert task force came up with a wild idea once and entered Yang''s front and side profile images into the Public Security Bureau''s national database. After running it through the system, several dozen Chinese faces with over 90% similarity emerged. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    However, after individual investigations, it was discovered that these people were all leading normal lives and none were Lord Yang. Thus, all of them were eliminated from consideration.


    There was also speculation that Lord Yang might be the same person as the "target" on Earth. Yet, after comparing images of both, Professor Yin Zhengliang himself discarded this possibility. The differences between their appearances were so pronounced, and even the positions of some facial features were dissimilar. On top of that, the language habits, intonations, body postures, and gaits of the two also differed greatly.


    Of course, assuming that Lord Yang used some magical disguise to appear as the "target" on Earth, the theory wasn''t entirely implausible. After all, players could indeed use attack skills similar to those in online games when they "logged in" to the "game world."


    On top of that, there were items like the Orb of Deception that could grant an undead a human appearance. The idea of a complete transformation spell, changing one''s entire identity, wasn''t completely ruled out by the expert task force.


    Just that, if so, the expert task force couldn''t understand the logic behind this elusive course of activity¡­


    Why had this magical being, who could reshape terrain with his own power (like the dirt path at Exile Town''s southern exit) and was capable of transporting vast quantities of supplies across dimensions, run about Earth unrestricted without causing trouble yet put in so much effort to create a game for the youth of China to play¡­


    What exactly was this person''s intention?


    A mage actually having the dream of being a game developer. Now that was a plot that would only appear in light novels¡­


    Regardless, this "native NPC" Lord Yang definitely had significant ties to the "target" and was one of the masterminds behind the "game" for certain. There wasn''t any shred of doubt.


    Based on Master Liu''s and Old Geng''s casual inquiries, the "advanced NPCs" had confirmed that the undead characters controlled by players belonged to Lord Yang. The "advanced NPCs" even had the opinion that the undead (souls of the players) came from another world.


    Well, the natives reckoned this other world was some sort of demon realm¡­ With regard to this point, both Master Liu and Old Geng were bewildered and couldn''t offer any explanation¡­


    In any case, regarding the investigation revolving around the game "OtherWorld" and the "target," the focus inevitably shifted to the Lord of Taranthan, Black Mage Yang.


    The expert task force had adopted a strictly non-contact strategy with regard to the "target." With a seemingly celestial-like magical being on the ground, the expert task force exercised even more caution. Even the two old men, who were partially "vacationing" in the game and partially cooperating with the organization, had received conservative instructions from the expert task force.


    Master Liu, an engineer who had worked on the country''s road and bridge construction his entire life, naturally wouldn''t sabotage the expert task force''s strategy. But within the confines of not disrupting their plans, he was still enthusiastic about using some subtle tactics.


    "Liu, are you suggesting that we take the undead out of Taranthan?" Hal had a disapproving expression when he heard the suggestion.


    "No way," Tuttle voiced his objection. "Perhaps you might not fully understand the world beyond Taranthan, Liu. Navalon is a realm protected by the gods. Even Lady Gold Coin wouldn''t tolerate undead creatures from dark realms casually entering her territory."


    Finley nodded at first, then realized something was off and glared at Tuttle, "Excuse me, old buddy, what did you mean by ''even Lady Gold Coin''?"


    "No offense," Tuttle quickly raised his hand in apology toward Finley.


    "Well, let me put it this way¡­" Master Liu smiled calmly, gesturing toward the four impaired helpers who were enjoying the same breakfast at a table near the kitchen entrance. "Are people like them exceptions?"


    "Hmm?" None of the three natives quite understood.


    "I mean, are people like the commoners of Camore''s lower class exceptions in the outside world?" Master Liu gesticulated with his hands. "People like them, struggling to make ends meet and even securing their basic right to survival. Are such people relatively rare outside Taranthan, or is it quite a common occurrence?"


    Upon hearing this, the former bandits revealed slightly strange looks on their faces.


    Tuttle came from a middle-class family but fell in status after his father lost his job; Hal''s family was well-off during his childhood but eventually experienced hardships; Finley from the beginning, was born into the lower class.


    The three of them couldn''t exactly say that the commoners of Camore were just a tiny minority.


    However, the trio were humans after all. Admitting to an undead that there were many of their fellow humans who struggled and were willing to "bend" for the sake of survival, just like the townspeople of Camore, was difficult.


    Master Liu was quite savvy when it came to dealing with people. He could notice these three young men struggling with their pride, so he proactively changed the subject.


    Chuckling, he said, "Old Geng and I often go out of town and head to the foot of the mountain to move stuff. This valley is quite large, huh? Besides the town''s boundaries, there''s still a lot of uncultivated land. I estimate that just the two areas near the river in the north and west amount to several hundred acres.


    "With Taranthan''s climate and sunshine, even if only half of those several hundred acres are used for farming, producing several thousand kilograms of grain in a year or so would be as easy as pie, don''t you think?


    "And also, there''s the land beyond the valley. I haven''t had a chance to see for myself, but some of those young ones we all know have. It''s more forest and swamp, but there are some abandoned plains too. Even if those aren''t used for cultivation, just scattering some grass seeds would garner several hundred acres of pasture. Who knows how many cattle and sheep it could support!"


    Having left the former bandit trio somewhat muddled, Master Liu lamented, "What a pity that Taranthan is mostly populated by the undead. Even if there were mountains of food and meat here, it would be meaningless to them."


    After blanking out for a moment, Tuttle''s and Finley''s eyes lit up.


    These two astute minds excitedly look toward their fellow companion¡­ only to see Hal giving Master Liu an all-too-familiar sideways glance as if he was disdainfully comparing the old undead to the incoherent drunkards on the docks.


    "Mountains of food and meat? Do undead get drunk too?" Hal didn''t only show disdain in his gaze but was even voicing it out loud.


    Hal continued to ridicule while chuckling, "Calm down, old man. There''s only a wasteland outside of Exile Town. The grasslands and pastures you''re dreaming of are nothing but beast bones and dung. If we were to let these women from the town go out and plant pasture grass, the only result would be more chewed-up bones scattered across the wasteland."


    Master Liu smiled but didn''t say more, and looked toward Tuttle and Finley.


    Before Hal could continue with his impolite words, Tuttle quickly interjected, "I understand what Yang wants now. Thank you, Liu."


    While Hal found himself totally confused, Finley immediately signaled to him using his eyes.


    Master Liu chuckled and excused himself, giving the trio space for their conversation. As the former walked away, Tuttle grabbed Hal, trying his best to suppress his excitement as he said, "Hal, do you remember our initial analysis of Yang''s ambitions?"


    Hal was momentarily stunned.


    He wasn''t slow-witted, just that he had been caught off guard. Tuttle''s reminder triggered his memory, and his mouth slowly gaped open.


    "Discuss it after we get back," Finley glanced at the leaving Master Liu and lowered his voice.


    The trio rapidly devoured their remaining food, then collected the rations for the five female workers under their care before leaving hurriedly.


    Upon returning to the Wanderer Guild, Tuttle shut the door before turning to his two companions and exclaiming enthusiastically, "Here''s our opportunity!"


    "That''s right. This time, Yang has given us some authority. We must make the most of this chance," Finley, who had been suppressing his excitement earlier, said excitedly. "Doesn''t Yang hope for his undead to become more combative and more eager to challenge the strong? Doesn''t he want more subjects? Let''s fulfill his wishes!"


    Hal: "Uh¡­"


    "War makes the undead stronger, and those that are stolen over can supplement Taranthan''s citizenry. Regardless of how you look at it, it all aligns with Yang''s expectations, so he can''t say anything." Tuttle gesticulated excitedly with his hands. "As for the consequences of initiating territorial warfare and how to sustain the population that''s plundered over, that''s Yang''s problem. In any case, we were just doing what was asked."


    Hal: "¡­"


    He thought his two buddies had been swayed by Liu and had suddenly become loyal to Yang¡­ Fortunately, they didn''t disappoint him.


    The former bandit trio couldn''t care less about "starting working" for the day and handling players. Instead, they rushed out immediately to contact knight instructor Jerome and warrior instructor Charlie Rex.


    Of course, it was Charlie Rex that was the focus.


    Before being tricked by Yang into coming to Taranthan, the former bandit gang had spent several years camped out in the Sorensen Mountains committing highway robbery and exacting tolls. They didn''t care about the local issues of the surrounding areas and only concerned themselves with which caravans were passing through Sorensen.


    When it came to understanding the areas suitable for their "activities" in the relatively nearby southeastern border of the Rhine Kingdom, the former bandits relied on Charlie Rex, the warrior who had only recently taken refuge in the Sorenson Mountains.


    The reason for choosing the Rhine Kingdom for "activities'''' over the Duchy of Shiga was rather understandable. Yang had only just recently swaggered through the border town of Camore in the Duchy of Shiga, so leading the undead that way could easily backfire¡­


    Rex certainly didn''t feel at ease when he saw the enthusiastic smiles of the former bandits for the first time since coming to Taranthan¡­


    "So, you want to know where along the southeastern border of the Rhine Kingdom is especially barren, rural, and where people struggle to survive?" Rex asked with a weird look on his face.


    "That''s right!" Hal chuckled and, while rubbing his hands gleefully, eagerly awaited Rex''s answer.


    Rex stared at Hal for a while, then sneaked a glance at the two strategists beside Hal.


    Tuttle and Finley were also looking toward him with especially bright smiles on their faces.


    "I''m sorry¡­? I''m not quite sure what you guys mean." Rex wasn''t warmed by their smiles and instead became more cautious.


    "It''s like this, Rex," Tuttle stepped forward and said matter-of-factly. "Yang is the Lord of Taranthan, and Taranthan is lacking citizens. This time, Yang hopes we can come up with class quests to allow the undead to receive sufficient training. So, is there really anything more appropriate than rescuing more impoverished people?"


    Rex: "¡­"


    He might still have believed this if these words were said by anyone else. But he could only take it with a pinch of salt when it came from these thuggish mountain bandits.


    Seeing Rex''s reaction, Tuttle knew this guy was being cautious around them. Thus, he immediately opened up and spoke with utmost sincerity, "Rex, I know you look down on us, but I must also tell you that none of us willingly became thieves.


    "I once dreamed of being a member of the Rhine Kingdom''s Royal Guards. Before¡­ before adversity struck my family, I never imagined that even walking openly about in daylight was a luxury. Who would willingly choose a life on the edge of a blade, shrouded in constant uncertainty?


    "People like us, when pushed to the brink, can at least rely on force to survive. But others, like those female workers Yang asked us to care for, have no other choice but to wait for death when on the verge of desperation.


    "If there''s a chance to lend a hand to these unfortunate souls who have no options, isn''t it normal for even bandits and thieves like us to lend a helping hand?


    "We are human too, Rex."


    Rex: "¡­"


    "¡­Very well." Rex reluctantly nodded and awkwardly took two steps backward. "I understand¡­ But before we proceed, I must make it clear to Yang where we are taking the undead to."


    "Of course, brother," Tuttle said in delight.


    Rex left hurriedly, and both Hal and Finley looked toward Tuttle with raised eyebrows.


    "Um¡­ Can we trust this guy?" Finley tilted his chin slightly in the direction Rex was heading.


    Tuttle smiled confidently. "Don''t worry, Finley. Young Charlie is around the same age as Manan. When we first saw him, he was already so broken that he hardly had any sense of self-awareness left. People with such heightened sensitivity are most easily swayed by emotional words. Getting him to persuade Yang is more logical than us doing so."


    Finley and Hal nodded in unison.


    Indeed, these bunch of former bandits that had once camped in the Sorensen didn''t really understand the livelihoods of people in the Rhine Kingdom''s southeastern border. But there actually wasn''t any need for them to do so. Destitute people were everywhere, and there was simply no need to specially go looking for them.


    In other words, they were merely finding a reasonable pretext to interact with Rex and goad the latter into probing Yang¡­


    October 28, Monday, 10 a.m., Earth time.


    Logging in during normal working hours on a weekday, the first thing Ji Tang did was¡­ check the notifications on the player panel.


    Ji Tang, who had never paid attention to the notification announcements, had received quite a significant lesson from the weekend event that had recently concluded.


    It seemed like the damned developers were finally being human and declaring that the events were only on the weekends. Now that it was a workday, everything was finally back to normal.


    Ji Tang breathed a sigh of relief, then headed straight to the Warrior Guild.


    Unceasing Entropy and Tang Jia had morning classes, so they weren''t logged in. Yang Ying, who had already resigned from her job, had come online even earlier than Ji Tang and took advantage of in-game daytime to work on grinding reputation. When she saw Ji Tang, she waved him over.


    Even though players hadn''t been able to defeat the inner demon instance during the weekend event, the notion that warriors were sought after for this instance dungeon spread like wildfire among players. The usually rather deserted Warrior Guild was now occupied by a few casual players who hadn''t yet changed classes, doing reputation quests.


    "Xiao Tang doesn''t have classes in the afternoon, so she''ll be online in a few hours. Qingyue seems to have joined some project group, so she might be online less these couple of days," Yang Ying chatted with Ji Tang as they did their quests. "But I think she''s probably feeling frustrated due to the failure to complete the event and is just hiding to adjust rather than admitting it to us."


    "Is that so¡­ Studies should be a priority for students, so being busy is a good thing." Ji Tang seemed slightly distracted and kept glancing in the direction of the Warrior Guild''s hall every once in a while.


    The two elder comrades at the Merchant Association canteen have already reported to the expert task force about the idea suggested to the "advanced NPCs" yesterday. How is it that nothing is happening even though it''s been more than a day already?!


    As the sun gradually set in the game world, Yang Ying, who didn''t plan to grind reputation overnight, dragged Ji Tang along to turn in their quests. As they entered the Warrior Guild''s hall, Ji Tang immediately noticed¡­ a large backpack beside the warrior instructor''s desk!


    And there was even a rolled-up blanket on top of the backpack!


    It''s here! Ji Tang was instantly invigorated.


    During the previous tricycle expedition quest, players had only been active within Taranthan and hadn''t truly witnessed any human settlements or towns.


    The former bandit''s ulterior motives of bringing the undead out to cause trouble coincided perfectly with what the expert task force hoped for: they were just too eager to gather intelligence about the world beyond Taranthan!

 Chapter 77: Expedition journey 2

    There was a sudden stir in Exile Town that night.


    Hearing the activity outside, Mia cast aside her covers and slid off the bed. She approached the window and peered out into the night.


    There weren''t any streetlights in Exile Town, and with the glow of the moon, Mia could only make out vague, elongated silhouettes darting across the streets.


    "Is it those undead gentlemen, Mia?" Martina, her roommate who couldn''t see a thing, propped herself up in bed but didn''t rise.


    "Yes," Mia replied, leaning forward with her hands clutching the windowsill, squinting as she tried to discern details. "They seem to be cheering about something with great delight."


    "That''s wonderful." Martina chuckled, resting a hand over her chest. "It''s good to hear their voices again."


    "It certainly is." Another woman, with vision as poor as Martina''s, sat up from her bed too. "Not hearing the sounds they make for several nights in a row was truly unsettling."


    While the former thieves loathed the clamor of players, the common folk women from Camore were very much the contrary.


    In the Duchy of Shiga''s eastern provinces, Taranthan epitomized the fear of the unknown, enigmatic demons, and alluring devils¡ªfolktales born of the wastelands that stood adjacent to the eastern populace for more than a thousand years.


    Not to mention the terrifying monsters these women had witnessed firsthand being slain by the undead as they traveled along the tricycle caravan to Exile Town¡­


    Although they knew Exile Town was safer than the Camore Weaver District they used to live¡ªwhere drunks hurled bricks at their houses for laughs, or mysterious men pounded on their doors in the dead of night¡ªif they didn''t hear the raucous noise made by the undead that protected them before falling asleep at night, a sense of unease would linger.


    Mia felt her way back to her bed and sat down, listening to the renewed chatter of her roommates becoming more spirited. In the dark, a serene smile graced her lips.


    She understood the unease of Martina and the others¡ªshe felt it too. The life they were granted on arriving in Exile Town far exceeded all of their expectations. It was a reality that felt unreal to every one of them, and they were afraid of waking up and finding out it was all a dream.


    Deep down, Mia had a profound fear that lingered. She dreaded the possibility that one morning she might wake up and find herself back in that oppressive, gloomy corner, with the disdainful voices of her family haunting her ears, while the old, worn-out loom that had consumed her spirit, willpower, and determination loomed large over her as if to drag her into a grave¡­


    Each time memories of that particular loom handed down by her mother when she was eight drifted into her mind, Mia would feel restless for quite some time.


    Even in her wildest dreams, she would never entertain the thought of returning to her former life.


    Her only desire was to cling on to the life she now had¡ªdays spent in the small courtyard behind the tailor shop with other women like her, mending and washing clothes worn by the undead, repairing used pouches and backpacks (actually just worn-out player gear and bags recycled, refurbished, and sold at an 80% discount), sweeping the streets around the tailor shop, cleaning the bathrooms in the house they lived in, having three meals a day, being able to take breaks after finishing her tasks, and engaging in leisurely conversations.


    There was no longer any need to worry about receiving criticism or beatings for any slight mistake, no longer facing the disdainful glances from family for even eating a small piece of black bread as if she wasn''t even deserving of food. Most of all, there was no more sitting before the loom, tearfully working through the night to meet the deadlines¡­


    At night, they could reside in well-ventilated, flea-free rooms, without having to share even a worn-out blanket with anyone else. Each of them had their own bed, mattress, bedsheet, blanket, and pillow.


    Mia''s favorite was the mattress. It was soft, thick, clean, and devoid of any odor or stains.


    When Mr. Anthony first brought the mattresses to them, the women initially wondered if Mr. Anthony had made a mistake. Nobody dared to touch the mattresses as they found it hard to believe that they could be provided with something this good.


    It was only after Anthony issued each of the twelve women a bed did they realize it was all real. And, with great joy, they assembled their bed out of the provided planks before gently placing the mattress on top.


    Well, these mattresses, which were popular among the female workers, came directly from the factory direct sales via Pinshaoshao. A 10-centimeter-thick single-size mattress of 1.2m x 2m cost under 20 yuan. A complete set, including bedsheets and blankets, could be had for 100 yuan. And because Yang Qiu had made a bulk order of several hundred sets, the factory had even sent free towels, pillowcases, and mosquito nets.


    Were it 20 years ago, a low-quality set like this, excluding the bed, couldn''t even be obtainable for several hundred yuan, let alone in this world. And this went to show how industrial development and increased productivity were closely related to the lives of ordinary people.


    Of course, while Yang Qiu was a gentleman, his care for these female workers only extended to providing basic necessities, nothing more.


    Even so, this alone made the women from the Camore Weaver District feel anxious about losing such luxuries to the point where they wouldn''t be able to sleep in peace if they didn''t hear the din of players that protected them¡­ Yang Qiu never would have imagined this.


    The women still had to work during the day. The Merchant Association canteen had contacted the tailor shop, which had the most manpower, hoping that the female workers could plant scallions, garlic, leeks, and mung bean sprouts in the empty space behind Life Lane. Anthony had already agreed. So, after chatting for a bit, the women in the room gradually fell silent.


    As Mia lay down and closed her eyes, there was a sudden knocking on their door.


    "Mia, are you sleeping?" Anthony''s familiar voice came from outside, though sounding somewhat impatient.


    Mia instantly became wide awake and quickly jumped out of bed, running barefoot to open the door. "Coming, Anthony. I haven''t slept yet."


    As the door opened, moonlight streamed into the house.


    Standing outside, next to Anthony, who held a lantern with a look of annoyance, was¡­ Mr. Lord, dressed in mage robes and had a slight smile on his face.


    "Pardon the late disturbance. You must be Mia?" The man who had changed Mia''s fate, Black Mage Yang, politely nodded to the barefoot Mia as he spoke.


    Mia was slightly taken aback and panicked for a moment before remembering to lift the hems of her skirt and curtsy. "Y-yes, I am, Mr. Yang."


    Yang Qiu sized up the lady in front of him¡­


    Sparse, disheveled eyebrows, elongated eyes, rough skin, with a large blue birthmark on her face. Overall, she looked much older than her age.


    Her looks weren''t anything to write home about, and her figure wasn''t particularly striking either. Standing at a little over 160 centimeters, her bone structure was prominent, but she lacked flesh. Her wrist bones, protruding from the shirt cuffs, were thick, and the back of her hand was full of veins.


    Her only two redeeming qualities were that she was young, and her eyesight had recovered relatively better than most¡ªdespite only a few days of decent meals, she could already navigate through the darkness without knocking into anything.


    "You''ll do." Yang Qiu nodded in approval. "Mia, are you willing to give your all for the future of Exile Town?"


    Mia hardly hesitated and immediately nodded with determination. "I am willing, Mr. Lord."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    During her morning class, Tang Jia checked the player forum in secret. When she saw an update announcement post from the administrator, her breathing got heavy.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Release of Exclusive Class Quests for Combat Professions.


    After intense deliberation, Assassin Instructor Hal Maxwell, Ranger Instructor Tuttle Joe, Treasure Hunter Finley, Knight Instructor Jerome, and Weapons Master Instructor Charlie Rex have decided to oversee an exclusive class quest for players of the above-mentioned classes: [Journey of the Brave].


    Players of the aforementioned classes who wish to participate are to interact with their respective class instructors on the 28th between 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. and enter the expedition queue by 3:00 p.m.


    Class instructors will lead the expedition, personally acting as team captains, guiding the expedition east, with the Rhine Kingdom as the destination.


    1: During the quest period, players participating in the quest will automatically gain 30 points of territory prestige for every hour spent online.


    2: Throughout the quest, class instructors will issue impromptu quests at random, with territory prestige, copper coins, basic equipment, and more as rewards.


    Introduction of Civilian NPC Mia-related quests


    1: Civilian NPC Mia will accompany the expedition.


    2: During the quest, players must ensure Mia''s safety at all times. If Mia unfortunately meets an end during the quest, all participating players will incur a 300-point territory prestige deduction.


    3: Mia will issue impromptu quests at random, with territory prestige, copper coins, basic equipment, and more as rewards.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Tang Jia immediately checked the time and realized there was still over half an hour of class to go. However, she felt really restless as if she was sitting on pins and needles¡­


    The moment class ended, Tang Jia deviated from her usual habit of rushing into the cafeteria and instead hurried back to her dormitory. She didn''t even bother with lunch and immediately put on her headset to log in.


    Tang Jia had only logged in and gathered with her companions when Yang Ying''s one-liner, "Quick, call Qingyue on," made her turn and start running back to the respawn point.


    By the time the dispirited Unceasing Entropy was dragged over by Tang Jia, Exile Town, despite it being night, was bustling like a marketplace.


    The tricycles that had been used during the previous expedition quest were rolled out from storage once more, neatly lined up in front of the container platform. Players who had formed teams with friends were queuing up to interact with their respective class instructors, receiving quests, obtaining tricycles, organizing their team''s supplies, and loading their own tricycles.


    While this was said to be a class quest, the advanced NPCs didn''t really care about casual players who hadn''t yet advanced jobs or others sneaking into the expedition team. Players who had missed the previous expedition were being incredibly proactive, and even those who would have issues playing during working hours were eagerly logging in early and slipping their "remains" to reliable friends to bring along¡­


    Cardboard boxes filled with supplies were loaded onto the tricycle carts, then secured with ropes and covered by a waterproof tarpaulin. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Besides Rex, the other advanced NPCs mounted¡­ tricycles and signaled for the expedition team to set off.


    Upon seeing this bunch of NPCs, clad in medieval attire and wielding cold weaponry, get on bikes, all players, Ji Tang included, were dumbfounded.


    "This is totally not how I imagined going into battle alongside NPCs would look like! Even if they aren''t using beast mounts, shouldn''t there at least be horses?!"


    "The heck?! These guys are even riding all-terrain bikes!"


    "Seriously? Why do I think that these look like cheap counterfeits?"


    Tuttle disdainfully glanced at the astonished undead behind and muttered to Finley, "These country bumpkins coming out of the boonies are acting so surprised at the sight of some slightly better bikes. Wouldn''t they just fall apart from shock if they were to see electric or steam-powered cars in the city?"


    Finley roared with laughter. "That''s likely. Who knows how many years it has been since these undead last saw a human city. Maybe, to them, these sort of outdated tricycles are the most impressive means of transportation."


    In contrast to his two companions'' relaxed manners, Hal, beside them, was rather displeased. "That bastard Yang actually wants us to ride bikes ourselves. Couldn''t he have just fed those uglies less and saved some money to get a steam-powered car?"


    Finley reached out and tapped Hal''s shoulder lightly, then used a furtive glance to indicate that Hal shouldn''t run his mouth off so recklessly.


    Hal couldn''t be bothered looking back at the ugly women Yang had requested them to bring along and snorted in annoyance. "Let''s go!"


    Taking the lead, Hal surged ahead, and his like-minded comrades, Tuttle, Finley, and Jerome, followed suit.


    Rex, who was using a tricycle just like the players, with Mia and some supplies in the back of his cart, gazed at the departing Hal for a moment. He then put his feet on the pedal and moved off.


    Mia, clutching a large bundle, and her head wrapped in a towel, looked down and didn''t say a thing.


    Her hearing was much sharper ever since her eyesight started to worsen. She caught everything that Hal and the others had said.


    "Come on, let''s go!" Seeing the NPCs move off, players stopped complaining and started pedaling.


    With a bunch of "advanced NPCs" leading the way, Yang Qiu hadn''t come to see the players off this time.


    As the tricycle expedition team passed through the streets in a grand manner, Yang Qiu stood calmly at the Crossroads, observing from a distance.


    Unlike Yang Qiu''s calm demeanor, Black-robed Inspector Lowell, standing beside him, couldn''t contain the look of worry on his face.


    After watching the bizarre caravan disappear from his line of sight, Lowell could no longer hold back and asked, "Yang, are you really okay with this? Letting these undead¡­ be brought out by this bunch of notorious thugs?"


    Lowell had spent quite some time in Exile Town. Although the language barrier meant that he couldn''t communicate with the undead, he had still gotten a sense of what the former bandits and Rex were like.


    Rex was a young man of integrity. All it took was a conversation or two to discern his pure and straightforward nature. When meeting players for the first time, he had been the only instructor who would advise the "undead" players against choosing the warrior profession.


    In comparison, Hal and the others were rather shifty. This bunch had long been used to being bandits, and even if Yang had been educating for quite some time, the scoundrelly air they had couldn''t be completely eradicated.


    Yang Qiu merely smiled.


    It is precisely because this bunch aren¡¯t good people that I can feel at ease letting them bring these calamities out for a stroll. In terms of causing trouble, Hal and the others are nothing compared to them.


    Those were words Yang Qiu absolutely couldn''t say out loud.


    Bringing Mia, a healthy civilian, along wasn''t just because a person who had truly experienced hardship was needed to step forward, but it was also to add an extra layer of insurance¡ªpreventing this bunch of players from being too unrestrained. This, Yang Qiu couldn''t say as well.


    So, when Yang Qiu finally spoke, his words were, "We must believe in others, revered inspector. I firmly believe that they can complete the journey smoothly and return unscathed."


    Lowell: "¡­"


    Right now, this black-robed inspector felt conflicted.


    When Rex, the only honest young man he viewed favorably, explained the purpose of this activity at the Town Hall, Lowell''s first instinct was to stop what sounded like an utterly absurd undertaking.


    Letting a notorious group like the Sorensen Mountain Bandits lead the undead to the southeast border of the Rhine Kingdom to rescue destitute people in dire straits?! That sounded like a complete joke!


    However, Black Mage Yang, whose line of thought was radically different from most, agreed to this.


    Lowell, an inspector of the faith, found himself torn between whether to closely monitor and supervise this utterly bewildering agenda that had been set in motion. However, he was also worried that this was a scheme concocted by Yang to lure him away before secretly engaging in some dangerous matters that he couldn''t even imagine¡­


    Conflicted by these two options, Lowell felt that compared to the former bandits and undead heading to the borders of another country, monitoring Yang, who posed a greater danger to the Duchy of Shiga, was more important.


    Oh well, the Goddess of Prosperity can only bless her own believers, Lowell consoled himself silently, ignoring Yang Qiu''s ramblings as he made his way back to the Town Hall on his own.


    Yang Qiu didn''t mind at all that the black-robed inspector looked at him as if he were a loony. As soon as Lowell left, he continued to observe the players via the imprint matrix.


    The players embarking on the quest would need to travel for at least a day and a night. On the way, they would encounter nothing but wasteland and monsters. For the time being, they wouldn''t cause trouble for others and could be temporarily disregarded.


    At this moment, Yang Qiu''s focus was the super-casual players who had no interest in this expedition quest.


    There were quite a few players in this category¡­ over 40, including the former top player of the game, Ou Huang.


    Ou Huang was obsessed with leveling up his Butcher class skills. After switching to this particular lifestyle class, he would carry traps provided by Manan and use the trap techniques imparted by the former, camping outside town to catch small animals like squirrels and rabbits as practice. After that, he would enthusiastically sell the fur to the tailor shop and the meat to the Merchant Association canteen, and seemed to really take delight in this play style¡­


    In the past, Yang Qiu really despised this type of "unproductive" player. But now, he had started to warm up to this sort of "gaming god" level of idle player. At the very least, his "output" was quite substantial.


    Other than Ou Huang, there was also a group of casual players with Once Your Teacher as their leader.


    This group of players didn''t like camping out at the combat class work sites but were enjoying questing at the lifestyle class work sites.


    This was especially so for the player with the ID "Once Your Teacher," collectively referred to as Teacher Yu Chi. Although she wasn''t too productive in large-scale event quests, she would teleport to Desolate Outpost right on schedule each day to accept cooking quests from the zombie general to prepare meals for the suffering male civilian NPCs there. Once done, she would teleport back and head to the Merchant Association canteen to do assistance quests. She clearly wasn''t using a "tool player" account, but she was actually very active in assisting. Yang Qiu couldn''t help but like this sort of player.


    Besides that, there was also the bunch from Eight At Once''s studio, as well as players who turned the game into a part-time job. Besides consistently completing the lumbering quests assigned by Yang Qiu via the zombie general, these individuals also took on job advancements to become gatherers and apothecaries. Even though these unpolished rune skills limited them to gathering and refining basic materials and potions, this also lightened Yang Qiu''s load considerably.


    At present, Yang Qiu was even more eager than these gold-farming players themselves to raise their lifestyle class skills. Once these players go through their second job advancement, he could entrust them with producing magical elixirs.


    All is going well.


    Feeling refreshed, Yang Qiu disengaged from the imprint matrix and prepared to return to Earth to browse Pinshaoshao. The two tool NPCs in the Merchant Association canteen wanted to grow vegetables in town, so Yang Qiu needed to source seeds and affordable fertilizers.


    His real-world finances were so tight that he had to stoop to using Pinshaoshao. But, regardless, once Rex returned, he would be financially secure once more¡ªthis time, the cargo loaded onto the tricycle carts was more than when they previously went to fetch the Camore citizens. Most of it was for Rex to sell in the Rhine Kingdom!


    Behind the backs of Hal and the others, Yang Qiu had also privately informed Rex that¡­ in the event Hal and the gang got carried away and weren''t returning, those mountain bikes they rode could also be sold.


    While he didn''t want Hal and the gang to meet their end at the hands of players, if they insisted their heads to outsiders, Yang Qiu couldn''t care less.


    As the tricycle expedition team continued its journey through the wastelands of Taranthan, in the small village along the eastern border of the Rhine Kingdom, where Yang Qiu had sold clothes, a cavalry unit was leaving.


    Over two months of camping out had caused this cavalry unit of the Radiant Sun Church''s inquisition thoroughly disheartened, but this wasn''t the first time such an occurrence had transpired.


    The evil and increasingly powerful black mage, who had grown strong enough to unnerve even the cardinals of the inquisition, had already "surprised" them far too many times over the years.


    Having been camped out in this remote village for so long, the unit''s commander realized it was necessary for his men to relax for a bit. Otherwise, it wouldn''t just be the grunts who couldn''t handle it; he himself was finding it quite trying.


    Upon leaving the village, the commander wasted no time sending his scouts in the direction of the largest city on the southeastern border.


    After traveling for half a day, a group of 300 knights and 600 squires arrived at the city of Indahl, on the Rhine Kingdom''s southeastern border. The commander announced the units'' deactivation, and the knights were to lead their squires for some rest and relaxation, leaving only a few officers to accompany the commander to the local Radiant Sun Church establishment.


    The Rhine Kingdom was a peculiar country. Despite being overlooked by the Radiant Sun Church during the Age of Discovery and having only a minuscule number of people eligible to operate sailing ships to trade with the Outer Continent, neither the royal family nor the common folk reacted too strongly to the building of Radiant Sun Churches in this city.


    The reason was simple. It was because they "offered too much"¡ªamong all the faiths in the continent of Navalon, the Radiant Sun Church was truly the wealthiest.


    While the Goddess of Prosperity''s knights of the Holy Legion deigned to act as enforcers for local nobles for a pittance, the Radiant Sun Church was wealthy enough to self-fund a continent-wide chase of the Nightmare Butcher. Such was the contrast¡­


    Inside the church, a priest in a white robe with embroidered golden edges received the commander of the knights. After exchanging pleasantries, he lowered his voice and asked anxiously, "What''s really going on? Was there not a single hint received regarding the origin of those wares?"


    The wares being referred to were a set of bone china utensils discovered in a village about a hundred miles from the small village where Yang Qiu had first shown himself.


    When Yang Qiu initially bought this set of bone china utensils for a substantial sum of money¡ª59.9 yuan¡ªin a supermarket in Anshi, he later discovered that the exact same set on Pinshaoshao was only 19.9 yuan, causing him no small amount of frustration¡­


    In any case, what really caught the attention of the knight unit wasn''t the old clothes Yang Qiu sold to the steward Barff but, rather, this set of bone china tableware.


    The rural nobles who purchased this set of tableware at the cost of a few gold coins dared not hoard it and instead presented it to the castellan of the area the next day. The castellan, pleased with the gift, held an afternoon tea party to show off the fine craftsmanship, and through this, word spread to the Radiant Sun Church¡­


    "Not one bit," the commander of the cavalry unit grimly stated. "We intentionally avoided the village of that rural noble and only placed spies along several main roads¡­ but that bastard is just too vigilant. He hasn''t shown himself at all."


    He paused for a moment before further expressing his frustration, "As for those wares, we don''t even have a lead! We shouldn''t have let news about those wares circulate within the city in the first place. Otherwise, that scoundrel wouldn''t have disappeared so quickly. He would certainly have come out to sell these things again!"

 Chapter 78: Expedition journey

    The tireless clamor of the undead continued unabated deep into the wilderness.


    At the head of the vast caravan of tricycles, Rex, leading the way on his own tricycle, sensed the presence of monsters and immediately jammed his brakes. Via the imprint matrix, he issued an impromptu quest to clear the monsters.


    The already noisy undead erupted into even more grating cheers. This perpetually energetic bunch grabbed various weapons and clamored forward from the back, overtaking Hal and the other three former bandits, who were dejectedly riding in pairs, and surged past Rex, charging toward the direction marked out.


    Just how numerous were the monsters wandering in Taranthan? Simply put, about the same as the number of bugs one would encounter while walking through a village.


    After a full day and night, Rex had roughly figured out how much time it took for this undead group to besiege different levels of monsters and then auction off the loot. Taking advantage of this lull, he quickly got off his tricycle and stretched his limbs.


    While the undead might be tireless, he definitely wasn''t. Even though he could issue quests to get the undead to pedal on his behalf and allow him to rest in the cart for a bit, these undead lacked patience and would want to "submit the quest" within an hour or two at most¡­ Rex hadn''t managed to get any proper sleep since the previous night.


    As Rex got off his tricycle to stretch, a similarly fatigued Hal and his buddies also dismounted.


    The five instructors were responsible for three tricycles. Previously, Hal and his three comrades weren''t willing to touch these old-fashioned contraptions, so the tricycles were all tied together and pulled by Rex alone.


    After traveling for most of the day, this bunch finally realized how challenging it was. Tired and filthy, they begrudgingly went to take the tricycles from Rex. However, Rex, who was thoroughly exhausted, wasn''t in a pleasant mood to put up with them.


    "Mia, get off and move about too." Rex couldn''t even be bothered to glance at those four rascals and turned to the woman in the cart behind him.


    "Yes, Mr. Rex." Mia, who had been curled up in the cart, lifted the blanket covering her legs and rose.


    Traveling in this world was anything but romantic. Even though this batch of tricycles manufactured in China came with spring suspensions, prolonged movement on bumpy dirt roads was still incredibly uncomfortable. Mia struggled for a bit and couldn''t stand up.


    Rex had to extend a hand and help her out.


    "Lean against the side of the cart for a bit and try to move your limbs," said Rex as he supported Mia. Turning his gaze to the east, he added, "Just hold on for another half day, and we''ll be able to see some humans."


    "Yes, Mr. Rex." Mia lowered her head and bowed in gratitude. She forced herself to stand upright and support herself while stretching her stiff limbs that were nearly numb.


    Rex gave Mia a slight smile; he did have some admiration for this woman. Rex himself was already experiencing some discomfort after sitting on the tricycle for a day and night, yet Mia hadn''t uttered a single complaint throughout the journey. This endurance of hers made him view her favorably.


    Rex glanced up at the sky, then began to search for targets among the undead.


    Unlike Hal and the others who ostracized the undead, Rex was rather intrigued by them. Not only did he remember the names of some undead and could match voices to their "appearances," he could even remember which undead weren''t particularly interested in killing monsters but into miscellaneous "odd jobs" instead¡­


    As players swarmed to kill the monsters that had been drawn in by human scent, their experience from the previous expedition came into play. They efficiently suppressed the range of the monsters'' movements by dividing into multiple battle squads, then chipped away at the monster''s health while rotating with the next team upon exhausting their skills.


    The "NPCs" felt like an entire day and night had passed since leaving Exile Town. But for the players, the event had only spanned a single night.


    It was 5 a.m. on a Tuesday in Earth time. In two hours, even if they were unwilling, those with actual jobs would have to log out and head to work. Thus, the working-class players took this opportunity for a final flurry and put in their all toward farming monsters.


    But¡­ Here was the thing: whenever an activity involved three or more players, there were bound to be slackers. This iron-clad rule applied even in "OtherWorld"; as the teams up front engaged in the intense battle, there would still be a bunch of slackers chatting at the back or sneaking off to a corner and then brazenly practicing their gathering skills¡­


    ID "Don''t Believe It," a young lady by the name of Liu Meng, was one such slacker.


    When this girl was in high school, Teacher Yu Chi was in the class next door. After graduating and entering college, she teamed up with Teacher Yu Chi on a mobile game, and the two got to know each other better through the back and forth of games. Teacher Yu Chi''s foray into "OtherWorld" was also because of Liu Meng''s invitation.


    Young people, regardless of gender, were prone to misjudging themselves, and Liu Meng was no exception. She enjoyed the thrill of playing as an ADC (Attack-Damage Carry) in mobile games and focusing on damage output. On starting "OtherWorld," she believed that the most suitable class for her was ranger and thus diligently built up reputation with Tuttle.


    And then, that was it.


    The classes with damage output in "OtherWorld" were completely different from the DPS in traditional MMORPGs or the ADCs in traditional MOBA games. In this "OtherWorld," one had to physically engage with cold weapons¡­ and that alone was insufferable.


    At first, Liu Meng consoled herself, saying that the reason she couldn''t get the hang of being a ranger was because ranged weapons weren''t introduced. But when the weapons vendor actually displayed bows for sale (manufactured by a certain bicycle factory¡­ ahem), Liu Meng hit a wall.


    The bows available from the weapons vendor were all of the same type¡ªstraight draw bows.


    There weren''t any compound or recurve bows due to cost issues.


    There weren''t crossbows either, because crossbows were considered a restricted article in modern China. Getting a customized bow that most wouldn''t know how to use was one thing (the likelihood of injuring oneself while playing a real bow was much higher than hitting the target), but intending to get a customized crossbow would very much get one invited for tea by the police.


    Considering the generally sedentary lifestyle of players in real life, the bows ordered by Yang Qiu from the bicycle factory weren''t much harder to handle than toy bows. The bow frames were made using alloy and could even be used as melee weapons. Mainly, practicality, durability, and ease of use had been the emphasis.


    It was just that the prices weren''t attractive, given the cost. Even the cheapest straight draw bow started at 60 copper coins.


    After that¡­ Players who managed to save up and buy a bow basically all cried.


    Unplayable. It was just unplayable no matter how hard they tried.


    Even if the wanderer class''s two bow skills, Triple Shot and Energy Arrow, had rune skill assistance and could fire arrows after consuming a certain amount of energy, wanderer players would still strike their own teammates eight times out of every ten arrows fired.


    For the modest price of two copper coins, Liu Meng had rented someone else''s bow to practice archery. Hitting the target right in front of her posed no problem, but quite a few players within a 70-degree fan-shaped range ahead inadvertently ended up being her victims as well.


    Liu Meng, unable to properly use a bow and being clumsy at killing monsters, eventually gave up on the graceful ranger profession and embarked on the path of a master gatherer¡­


    While the players up ahead were fervently slaying monsters, this girl snuck around with a group of slacker comrades at the rear. Whenever she spotted a harvestable plant, she would immediately pull out her trowel and start digging.


    From between rocks, Liu Meng dug out a plant that had a stem resembling a dandelion but with potato-like roots and a texture reminiscent of snake scales. A nearby gatherer player glanced over and exclaimed, "Snake Scale Fruit? Not bad, Xiao Liu, you''re already able to gather Level 2 herbs!"


    Liu Meng grinned and quickly plucked off the stem''s leaf and, with a flick of her wrist, tossed the Snake Scale Fruit into her backpack before continuing to scan the ground around her.


    She hadn''t participated in the previous expedition quest and only found out upon their return that gatherer players who had taken part in the expedition had managed to collect herbs no less profitable than what the monster-farming players earned. This had left her really regrettable.


    Now, for this event, were it not for the fact she had just started college and didn''t dare skip classes like her upperclassmen, Liu Meng would stay in the game all day.


    There were two main outlets for the yields of gatherer players. One was to exchange them with Lord Yang for reputation and copper coins, while the other was to sell them to player teams that had apothecaries.


    Liu Meng preferred the latter option because the transactions could be settled in RMB. The money she earned from gathering alone had allowed her to buy several sets of clothing from Taobao.


    Of course, training to be a master gatherer wasn''t easy. Although "Identify" could quickly scan whether certain types of flora or fauna had gathering value, it had a cooldown and consumed energy (the mental power of wanderer class players was shown as energy).


    In most cases, players honing their gathering skills still had to memorize the collection diagram they acquired after advancing to the gatherer lifestyle class and must use their own eyes to locate collectible resources.


    Just as Liu Meng looked around for more herbs, a string of yellow text suddenly popped out in her quest panel: [Weapons Master Charlie Rex is looking for players to help cook food. Would you like to go take a look?]


    Liu Meng jumped up in delight. "An impromptu quest! Do you guys want to come along?"


    Gathering players with trowels in hand were surprised. "The heck? You received another impromptu quest?"


    "You received it the previous time too. How is your luck that good?"


    "I want to come! Count me in!" sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Impromptu quests issued by advanced NPCs were similar to manual labor quests, though less time-consuming. Monster-farming players busy killing monsters didn''t find these quests as attractive as hunting high-level monsters, though the casual slacker players felt it worthwhile. The few gatherer players put away their trowels, clapped off the dirt from their hands and body, and gleefully went running to Rex.


    The tricycles used by the advanced NPCs were loaded with foodstuff. Besides instant noodles, ham sausages, and soon-to-expire canned food, there were also hardier vegetables that could survive this trip, like potatoes, radishes, and winter melons. Six NPCs couldn''t eat that much, and the gatherer players had breakfast ready for them in under 20 minutes.


    The gatherer left happily with an hour''s work of copper coin in hand once done, while Hal and the others, whose stomachs were already growling, sat down to eat.


    The food made by these undead couldn''t compare to the dishes prepared by those two at the Merchant Association canteen, but it was at least decent. The most skilled cook among this group was Tuttle, who only knew how to stew things randomly, after all.


    On the other hand, this bunch of undead could even fry potato slices, ham sausages, and canned luncheon meat with winter melon slices on the spot. The only minor issue was an inability to grasp the right balance of flavors in the seasonings, resulting in food that was occasionally overly salty or bland.


    "These undead are rather suited to being chefs," said Tuttle while rubbing his filled belly.


    Hal glanced in the direction of the large group of skeletons who had already slain the monsters and was now holding an auction of loot. He shook his head regretfully and muttered, "What a pity that there''s Yang. If only we could sell these things in the Kenyan Empire¡­ they''d be worth more than the Outer Continent''s orcs."


    Mia, who was clearing up the cutlery, shuddered upon hearing this.


    Rex. "¡­"


    Had it not been for the fact he didn''t want to start a fight with these fellows in front of the undead, he would have advised Hal to tone down on his scumbaggery.

 Chapter 79: New race available

    The arrival of the Radiant Sun Church''s cavalry unit brought about a significant boost in business to the entertainment establishments lining both sides of the road leading to Indahl''s church.


    These well-off church knights were much more generous with their spending than the locals and didn''t hesitate to give out silver coins even to table boys and gatekeepers, though these guests from the Kenyan Empire were rather hard to please.


    However, within just a few days, the ladies prominent in Indahl''s social scene had lost their appeal to them.


    Ultimately, Indahl was merely a small inland city. No matter how carefully well the socialites of this place portrayed themselves, they would still seem rustic in the eyes of the knights of the Radiant Sun Church; their mannerisms were nowhere near as refined as those of the women from the Kenyan Empire. Once the novelty had worn off, these knights became miserly and hardly even willing to part with a single copper coin.


    The manager of the club was reluctant to lose these high-paying guests, and after discreetly consulting Lieutenant Regan, who held a position second only to the commander of the cavalry unit, a mysterious smile played on his lips.


    That very day, the club''s manager acted in person and led a few knights most enthusiastic about indulging in "curiosity," guiding them discreetly out of the city aboard horse-drawn carriages when the sky grew dark.


    Two hours later, four carriages appeared in the small town of Weisshem, located approximately 60 kilometers away from the city of Indahl.


    Weisshem was a small town with a population of roughly six thousand, though it boasted a wide main road that was more impressive than towns with double or triple its population. Electric poles flanked both sides of this main street, dense with power lines running through them, which was a sight most inhabitants of a city like Indahl would deem rare.


    The buildings lining the main road were no less impressive than the Indahl''s commercial district itself. Every establishment and shop front was adorned with colorful neon lights.


    Considering that this small town had a less-than-ideal geographic location, devoid of fertile lands, minerals, or noteworthy craftsmanship, one might wonder where the financial resources to construct such an extravagant "townscape" came from.


    With regards to this, any man entering Weisshem would instantly understand¡­


    As the carriages entered the town''s gates, the eyes of the Kenyan knights lit up. When the club manager instructed the coachmen to halt the four carriages in front of an exotic-looking building, the Kenyan knights seemed to forget their usual dignity as knights of the Radiant Sun Church and eagerly dismounted from the carriages in a hurry.


    Before the resplendent golden gates, scantily clad "attendants" bowed respectfully to the Kenyan knights, striving to showcase their primal allure and assets.


    This might seem like a shady establishment in the eyes of ordinary folk, but to special groups of people, this was a place of extravagant indulgence. All sorts of different guests, ranging from renowned merchants, business owners, mercenaries, and more, filled the main hall.


    The well-off Kenyan knights certainly didn''t indulge in the main hall''s "offerings." Guided by the club manager, they ascended to the most exclusive VIP rooms, and the establishment''s owner came to personally usher them to their selection.


    Compared to the clubs in Indahl, this establishment in Weisshem had complete "resources." There were male attendants, female attendants, youths, young girls, humans, orcs¡­


    The Kenyan knights couldn''t contain their excitement as they eagerly chose attendants for company.


    Four hundred years ago, during the Age of Discovery, when the gold rush from sea trade swept through Navalon, orcish slaves, spices, and various fabrics produced by the Kenyan Empire became hot commodities in the continent. Other than a few countries or regions that rejected the use of orc slaves due to their doctrines, slavery was considered a legal trade in most places.


    It was also rather "unfortunate" that the doctrines of Lady Gold Coin also prohibited slavery. Not just a prohibition of orcish slaves, it extended to human ones as well.


    Although there was criticism for being "unscrupulous and shameless," Lady Gold Coin was, after all, a lawful goddess; money and trade were her doctrines, but the kind of goods for such transactions didn''t include intelligent races.


    It wasn''t just Lady Gold Coin; the neighboring Goddess of Prosperity had similar rules. While the noblemen of Camore did everything in their power to turn the common folks into serfs, they didn''t dare treat them as slaves. Even if the townspeople of Camore lived no differently from serfs, these noblemen would always make public declarations that the people were "free citizens."


    Actions could be taken, but not spoken of. This was an unspoken rule amongst the "civilized" of this world¡ªa tacit understanding.


    Be it in the Goddess of Propserity''s Duchy of Shiga or the Rhine Kingdom where Lady Gold Coin presided, there were absolutely no serfs, just tenants and laborers. Slavery, too, was strictly nonexistent; everyone was officially classified as a "contract worker," having signed agreements with their respective employers.


    Of course, regardless of how this infuriating unspoken rule was widely accepted, minors under 16 and unruly orcs who had to be subjected to restraints were still considered illegal if they appeared in places of vice, regardless of whether they were being bought or sold. It would be a breach of written laws.


    In a bustling city like Indahl, even the shrewdest of club owners couldn''t openly display "merchandise" that violated the law. But when it came to the remote town of Weisshem, there were far fewer reservations about creating an unrestricted red-light district.


    The establishment''s owner led several dozen attendants into the VIP room, but even with their extravagance, the Kenyan knights couldn''t keep them all. Over ten attendants were "eliminated" and followed the owner out.


    These "eliminated" attendants followed the stern owner back to the waiting area and were continuously berated with phrases like "trash," "money-losing," and "worthless" for over half an hour. It wasn''t until a server called the owner away did the room finally fall silent.


    In a corner of the waiting area, a young human boy with dark hair watched the establishment''s owner storm out in anger. He then reached out and gently tugged the young orc girl seated to his left.


    This orc girl had slightly green skin, pointed ears, and protruding canines that jutted out of her lips. Shackles bounded her hands and feet, and an iron muzzle was forcibly fitted over her mouth to prevent her from biting. Despite being an orc, she had been starved to the point that she was nearly as thin as a human girl.


    The dark-haired boy tugged her tail, and the starving orc girl turned and met him with a weak, powerless gaze.


    Lowering his head, the boy used his fingers to trace two words on her side, "Escape, Lyka."


    Lyka''s golden eyes hovered blankly over this boy for a moment, then she turned away silently.


    She didn''t refuse¡­ but she didn''t agree either.


    She knew this boy had been captured and sold into slavery by a slave merchant caravan; he still had a place he could return to.


    Lyka, though, didn''t know where she could go even if she escaped the hell that was Weisshem.


    The orc girl, Lyka, was not born in the homeland of the orcs but was a "native" of the Navalon continent. Her ancestors had been seized and taken into Navalon some four hundred years ago, and she was a "nth generation slave."


    Lyka didn''t know the orcish language; she could only speak the common tongue. This was because her father had once been favored by an estate''s steward and assigned clerical work, so Lyka could also write in the beautiful script of the Navalon continent''s common language.


    Before the age of twelve, Lyka''s life on the estate was no different from the children of other human servant families. She played hide-and-seek in the stables and warehouses with other human children, ran and played in the fields after the autumn harvest, caught grasshoppers, climbed trees to pick fruits, and caught fish in the river.


    Shortly after she turned twelve, Lyka''s life changed.


    The old steward of the estate, who had favored Lyka''s father, was replaced by a man who was the estate owner''s valet. This man drove the old steward away, and all that were previously employed by the old steward were dismissed.


    It was at this point that Lyka realized that she and her family were different from the human servant families¡ªhuman servants were merely dismissed, but Lyka and her family, despite having contracts, could be sold off.


    Her father was the first to go. The new steward sold him off to a passing merchant caravan.


    Next was Lyka''s mother, then brother, before Lyka herself.


    Seeing her family locked inside iron cages meant for domesticated animals, Lyka thought her world had collapsed. Only after being sold to Weisshem did she realize how naive she had been.


    Scoldings, beatings, solitary confinement, starvation, torture¡­ In less than three months, Lyka had transformed from a lively young orc girl into this lifeless shell of her old self.


    The boy got a little anxious when he didn''t receive a response from Lyka. Not caring about exposing himself anymore, he leaned close to Lyka and whispered in her ear, "Lyka, let''s escape together. It won''t end well if we stay here."


    Her beautiful golden pupils shifted slowly and focused on him once more.


    Lyka didn''t really want to live anymore. She thought she could try to help this human who resembled her former playmates¡­ Even if she died, if this person could escape, it would still count as a tiny, final victory.


    Thus, Lyka nodded and croaked hoarsely, "Alright."


    The dark-haired boy''s face lit up, and he was just about to tell her a secret¡ª


    BOOM¡ª!!


    The waiting area where the attendants were housed was located deep within the establishment. For the sake of preventing them (especially orcs) from escaping, the waiting area had thick walls and the windows were sealed with steel plates. The entire room was like a giant jail cell.


    But even so, following the loud boom coming from an unknown source, even the waiting area''s sturdiest wall swayed slightly.


    The waiting area, previously only filled with soft whispers and quiet sobbing, suddenly erupted in commotion.


    Even the seemingly confident dark-haired boy was taken aback as he gazed at the main doors of the waiting area in uncertainty.


    From outside came the sounds of hurried footsteps, clashing of weapons, and shouting as if a fracas had broken out in the corridor. And from time to time, this was accompanied by cries of pain.


    The attendants near the door exchanged glances, some inched toward the back in fear, while others quickly rushed to the door, pressing their ears against it to listen. Someone even knelt down to try and peek through the gap at the bottom of the door.


    "Ah!" The male human attendant who had knelt down cried out in alarm and jumped to his feet after a quick glance. "Blood! There''s a lot of blood outside!"


    A female human attendant hurriedly bent down and strained to get a look outside.


    Soon, she, too, exclaimed in shock and staggered up weakly.


    Compared to the generally emaciated orcs wearing muzzles, shackles, and handcuffs, human attendants seemed somewhat plumper, and both men and women had a healthy complexion.


    However, in truth, these seemingly ample human attendants were no healthier than the orcs. Human attendants were also kept in a state of prolonged hunger, weakening them to reduce the risk of harming guests. Moreover, both male and female attendants were fed with fattening drugs originally intended for livestock so that the appearance of their bodies satisfied guests.


    In the eyes of Weisshem dealers, merchandise was just merchandise, and no mercy was shown just because the goods were fellow humans.


    After several minutes of commotion outside, the screams began to subside, and the urgent footsteps resumed.


    Click.


    The door to the waiting room, which could only be opened from the outside, was pushed open.


    Outside stood a group of fierce-looking strangers wielding various weapons and dressed in different styles of armor that were drenched in blood.


    "Those who wish to escape, hurry up and run!" shouted the man who had opened the door to the waiting area as he tossed a bunch of keys inside before hastily leaving with his companions.


    The attendants in the waiting area were momentarily stunned, but several human attendants closest to the door rushed out without any hesitation.


    Several orcs ecstatically pounced on the bunch of keys on the ground.


    Seeing this, the dark-haired boy quickly led Lyka toward the orcs who were helping each other remove their restraints.


    There were no unique keys for each shackle the orcs wore, just four different models, and the correct key size would unlock them. These orcs, who had not seen the open sky for months, or even years, hurriedly released the shackles. Some ran out alone, while others huddled together with familiar faces.


    The dark-haired boy found the right key to unlock Lyka''s shackles, and after releasing the chains, he grabbed her arm and ran.


    As the two ran out of the holding area, they saw at least a dozen bodies of enforcers strewn in disarray along the corridor.


    The corpses were still there, but the enforcers'' weapons were nowhere to be seen, and it was unclear who had taken them.


    The two continued further down the corridor and saw an enforcer lying on the ground, still breathing, with wounds all over his body and a sword by his side. The dark-haired boy wasted no time and picked up the sword. Seeing this, Lyka picked up a dropped round shield as well.


    Continuing their desperate escape, the pair turned several corners and came upon a human attendant who had collapsed in exhaustion.


    As they passed by this human attendant, who was gasping for breath after running through a few corridors, the dark-haired boy hesitated for a bit. But, in the end, he steeled himself and pulled Lyka¡­ Only she would be of use to him in escape.


    The visibly plump figures of human attendants, a result of the "fattening drugs," couldn''t hide the fact that they, too, had suffered from hunger and deprivation. Relying on their own legs to run was a challenging endeavor for them.


    The pair weaved through a labyrinth of corridors until they neared the end. The dark-haired youth''s expression turned grave when he saw the situation in the lobby and swiftly pulled Lyka back into the corridor to hide.


    After catching his breath, the dark-haired youth carefully peeked out.


    Chaotic fighting still reigned supreme in the lobby!


    A group of mercenaries, unmistakably so by their attire and demeanor, had taken control of most of the hall. Currently, they were besieging a dozen or so noblemen dressed in elegant finery, who were armed with longswords.


    On top of that, these mercenaries had intentionally left an escape route open for the fleeing attendants!


    The black-haired youth''s face twitched. Gritting his teeth, he turned around, grabbing Lyka''s hand once more and leading her back the way they had come.


    Lyka looked back in confusion as they retreated. "Why are we going back?"


    The boy didn''t reply and only let go of Lyka when they were two corridors away from the lobby. "Those people aren''t here to rescue us; they''re here to abduct slaves. If we take the path they''ve left for us, we''ll just fall into their hands!"


    Lyka was stupefied.


    "Trust me. Mercenaries don''t act without reason," the boy said firmly. "We will escape. The customer who bought me last week is actually a comrade of mine; they''ve scouted a route for me. There''s a large ventilation opening in the kitchen on the first floor. We can climb out from there!"


    As they backtracked to the third corridor, a mercenary drenched in blood emerged from another passageway, brandishing a knife. Upon seeing the pair running in the opposite direction, he instinctively reached out to halt them and shouted loudly, "Hey, you''re going the wrong way!" S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Lyka had initially wondered if the boy was being overly anxious, but when she saw this man shouting at them, her heart sank¡­ The boy was right!


    The dark-haired boy came to a halt. His palms, one grasping Lyka''s hand and the other gripping the sword, began to get clammy.


    This establishment controlled their slaves through abuse and hunger, but the enforcers of this place were far from weak.


    The dark-haired boy wasn''t confident that he could take down this mercenary and escape in one piece!


    Lyka was just a 12-year-old girl, and he was merely a trainee warrior. Moreover, the two of them were weakened by starvation and abuse they had received!


    Upon noticing the pair''s cautious and alarmed looks, the mercenary realized that he had been seen through. Thus, he abandoned any pretense of being a helpful passerby and advanced toward them grimly.


    The boy made a grave decision. He let go of Lyka and clutched the sword with both hands, preparing to fight to the death.


    At that moment¡­ the door to one of the private rooms along the corridor swung open.


    An adult orc, who had been hiding inside for some time, sprang out like a cat and, with astonishing speed, thrust a fruit knife into the mercenary''s neck from the side.


    Clutching his throat, the mercenary slumped to the wall in astonishment at the sudden appearance of this assailant, and his pupils slowly lost their luster.


    The orc who had launched the surprise attack also stumbled and had to use the wall to steady himself.


    "Y-you know a way to escape?" The near-exhausted orc, with amber-colored eyes, stared fixedly at the black-haired youth.


    Orcs had excellent hearing, and the boy had said those comforting words to Lyka only a corridor away from where that adult orc had hidden.


    The boy assessed the orc''s gaunt frame and nodded resolutely. "I do."


    Due to the forced fattening by drugs, adult human attendants couldn''t fit through the ventilation ducts, but orcs could.


    None of the three had the strength to support each other, so the adult orc took a few seconds to catch his breath before forcing himself to stand and follow after the two youngsters.


    Weisshem had only one street, and after climbing out of the kitchen''s ventilation duct at the back of the establishment, all that greeted the three escapees was the barren wasteland beyond Weisshem.


    Normally, there would be enforcers patrolling the area around the establishment, but the mercenaries who had stormed the place had drawn them away. The trio rested briefly where they had emerged before disappearing into the barren wasteland.


    Upon leaving Weisshem, the three of them unwittingly fled in the direction of the Taranthan Wasteland¡­ On the other side was Sorensen, but they didn''t have the luxury of such a choice. The caravans that dared to cross through the Sorensen Mountains were known to occasionally engage in slave hunting as a means of extra earnings.


    During their hasty escape, the black-haired youth continually encouraged the two orcs, "My comrades had planned to cause a disturbance in the next few days to give me a chance to escape. They''ve set up a temporary camp in the direction of Taranthan. Finding them will ensure our safety."


    Lyka nodded blankly, while the adult orc remained silent. It was evident that he didn''t entirely trust the young human but had no better options, given his lack of knowledge about the world outside the establishment and his current physical state.


    Their desperate flight continued deep into the night until the three of them could no longer go on. With no other choice, they found a large rock, climbed on top of it, and promptly fell asleep.


    October 30, Wednesday, 2 a.m., Earth time.


    Taking advantage of night in-game, when advanced NPCs camped for the night to rest, Blossoming Strokes called along Give Me Medicine and a few other comrades to explore the area around the campsite and gather herbs.


    "This game is really a pain without maps. Every time I post in the forum asking about it, the official reply is that the game''s features will be improved in future updates, but there''s absolutely no indication as to when that will happen. It''s not that bad in Exile Town as you get familiar with the few streets after a couple of days, but once you''re out here, it''s all a real mess!" grumbled Give Me Medicine.


    Because Blossoming Strokes had taken up apothecary as a lifestyle class, while Give Me Medicine and Qin Guan were honing gathering, Give Me Medicine was currently squatting down on the ground digging while complaining.


    "Yeah, the outside maps are huge." A gatherer player nodded in agreement. "Going all the way to Desolate Outpost to pick up civilians the previous time was far enough, but it''s even further this time around. And there''s still no respawn/teleportation point we can use."


    Another player chimed in, "Yeah, not having a respawn point is the worst part. Right now, even Brother Lahong''s undead horse express isn''t operating. They said the rider got lost when delivering remains the previous time and had to return back to town. And now they can''t find the route we took. What the heck, man!"


    Venting frustrations about the game and the developers had long become a common pastime for players. Blossoming Strokes, who had brought up the apothecary interface to memorize potion recipes, chuckled when she heard what was said. "Well, since no one dares to run out rampantly for fear of not being able to return if we get logged out, it''s at least a good opportunity to practice life skills. Meds, how far are you from Level 2 Gathering?"


    "I''m still a long way off. Haven''t had much time to practice. Damn, just mentioning it pisses me off. In a normal game, you''d just press the button to interact and wait for the progress to fill. But in this darn game, you have to personally dig, clean the mud off, remove dead leaves and twigs¡­ It''s downright inhumane!"


    Blossoming Strokes chuckled. "Hey, as an apothecary, I have to memorize recipes myself, you know?"


    "S-S-Sis Blossom¡ª!" Another player suddenly jumped up and pointed at a large rock the size of a truck in the near distance. "Look, quick! What is that?!"


    Blossoming Strokes gave a casual glance. "Isn''t it just a hand, why the big fuss¡­ What the, wait! A hand?!"


    Blossoming Strokes immediately closed her apothecary panel, Give Me Medicine hung his trowel back on his waist, and the entire team dashed toward that huge stone.


    Climbing a boulder taller than a person posed no challenge to players with their "nimble bodies." In just a few seconds, the team reached the top of the boulder.


    On the relatively smooth surface of this boulder lay three individuals.


    One was an ordinary human, while the other two were orcs with their greenish skin, pointed ears, and exposed canines.


    Blossoming Strokes stared fixedly at the two distinct orcs and clenched her fist excitedly. "¡ªNew race unlocked!"

 Chapter 80: Incredible, huh

    Unceasing Entropy crouched down while hugging her knees as she studied the two orcs lying on the wool blanket laid out on the ground. Then, she turned to Blossoming Strokes and said, "The orcs in this game¡­ are quite different from what I imagined."


    On the official site of "Otherworld," the page about the game world''s background mentioned that besides undead and humans, there were also races like orcs, elves, halflings, and more. However, there weren''t any accompanying images.


    From the perspective of gamers, the players naturally assumed that the game developers hadn''t yet completed the modeling for these races, and the descriptions on the official website were just painting a rosy picture.


    As a result, many players and non-player forum users had proposed all sorts of ideas on the forum, from hoping that elves would resemble those from Lineage 2, wishing halflings to look like the Lalafell (Final Fantasy reference), to wanting orcs to have Japanese-style cat ears¡­


    Unfortunately, the devs never respond to these suggestions. So, players had already mentally prepared themselves for Horde-like orcs (Warcraft orcs) and halflings resembling goblins.


    The "art style" of this game had always been whimsical, after all. Apart from the undead race, which were all skeletons, the count of NPCs players found aesthetically pleasing to date was one and a half¡ªLord Yang accounted for half, while his black-robed pretty-boy companion accounted for one.


    Blossoming Strokes could empathize with Unceasing Entropy''s reaction and nodded. "I feel the same way too." There was a short pause before she added, "At least it''s a new race. Though not cute, they aren''t ugly either."


    While these two were discussing, Ji Tang and Give Me Medicine lifted the tent flap open and entered.


    "How is it? Can your healing skill be applied to these two NPCs?" Give Me Medicine asked as soon as he entered the tent.


    "Nope." Unceasing Entropy stood up. "When I try to cast Dark Blessing on them, the system shows the prompt, ''Are you sure you want to attack an orc civilian?''"


    "Damn, does that mean all new races in the future are hostile to the undead? Can''t we share healing?" Give Me Medicine groaned in frustration.


    "That''s not necessarily the case. Healing skills may be non-transferable, but they can use our medicinal items," Blossoming Strokes said. "I''ve been practicing my skills, so if I apply an ointment, it should work."


    Ji Tang silently bypassed his fellow gamers and crouched down to take a closer look at the two orcs.


    Two orcs, one large and one small. Their physique wasn''t much different from humans, with body proportions perhaps even closer to the golden ratio. Their green skin and prominent upper canines looked slightly out of place, but their facial features and contours didn''t make them appear scary or strange.


    Were it somebody else who didn''t play the game, it might seem as though two human actors were hired, covered in green body paint and attached with fake ears, teeth, and lizard-like tails, to perform a hardcore cosplay¡­


    Of course, these details weren''t important. What mattered was that these two orcs, just like the human teenager he had examined earlier, were suffering from severe, long-term malnutrition. They were practically just skin and bones.


    Fresh scrapes and scratches on their faces, arms, and legs. Blossoming Strokes had already used medical items from her lifestyle class of apothecary to stop their bleeding, and their larger wounds were covered with bandages.


    In addition to these recent injuries, the two orcs also had quite a few old scars on their arms, particularly around the elbow areas. The skins on their wrists and ankles were also rather worn down, which was a sign of long-term restraints.


    Ji Tang''s frown deepened the more he looked.


    The human teenager who had been placed in the neighboring tent also had similar scars, but the extent of his restraint injuries wasn''t as severe as these two orcs.


    Having experienced the [Birth of the Undead Race] quest and the previous expedition, Ji Tang already had some understanding of the dark nature of this world. From the fresh surface wounds, Ji Tang couldn''t help but suspect that these three might have escaped from some illegal detention facility.


    "Ji-God, what are you looking at?" Give Me Medicine, seeing Ji Tang crouching without moving for some time, also became curious and joined him.


    The most interesting thing about players as a group was that regardless of whether at odds or fighting against each other, they could still come together to play. While both sides were competing to be the top in territory prestige, it didn''t stop Give Me Medicine from respecting Ji Tang, the expert in both actual combat and commanding group battles.


    "I was just thinking, these three¡­ NPCs have likely escaped from somewhere nearby," said Ji Tang. "Look at their wrists; the surrounding skin is all scraped. This is a sign of long-term restraints being used."


    "Does that mean there''s a black brick kiln or something similar around here?" Give Me Medicine''s eyes lit up. "Wait a moment, does this mean we''ve stumbled on a major quest?!"


    "Eh? That''s possible!" Blossoming Strokes exclaimed excitedly. "Our undead race''s origins quest also started with illegal detention. If we can complete this quest pertaining to orcs, we might unlock them as a playable race! I''m so gonna reroll my character this time!"


    Ji Tang: "¡­"


    With regards to unlocking a new playable race, Ji Tang found it unlikely. The "target" hadn''t even been willing to accept the expert task force''s offers worth several millions, and according to the speculations of those big shots, the "target" might be labouring under some restrictions they didn¡¯t know about.


    Of course, Ji Tang couldn''t say any of this aloud, so he changed the subject. "Did anyone trigger the quest?"


    "Uh¡­ No." Give Me Medicine and Blossoming Strokes shook their heads.


    "Then, when you found these people, did they have any¡­ quest-related items or something?" Ji Tang inquired further.


    Blossoming Strokes picked up a round shield at the side. "Nope, just a longsword and a shield. I''ve used Identify, though these are just white-grade (common) equipment. We also thoroughly searched the surrounding area and found nothing. No quest notification popped up."


    Give Me Medicine added, "At first, we thought there might be pursuers chasing after these NPCs, so we waited in place for over half an hour, but nothing happened."


    "We''ve just got to wait for them to wake up and try interacting with them. Perhaps this quest isn''t triggered by a mere encounter; it might require initiating dialogue to unlock certain plot points," Unceasing Entropy chimed in.


    As soon as she said that, the few of them heard a desperate and shrill scream from the neighboring tent.


    "The heck?"


    "W-what?!"


    "What''s happened?"


    They rushed out¡­ and saw the player that had been caring for the human teenager crawling out of the neighboring tent.


    "The kid inside woke up and started screaming like crazy when he saw us, and even threw the steel bottle of ointment at me," the gatherer player explained.


    Blossoming Strokes and the others: "¡­"


    "Let me take a look." Blossoming Strokes approached the tent, lifted the flap, and peered inside. But before she could fully assess the situation, a small steel bottle hit her square in the face with a loud clang.


    "The heck!" exclaimed Blossoming Strokes as she held her face and stepped backward. At that moment, a furious shout came from the tent as the dark-haired teenager, who seemed like he would collapse at the slightest breeze, charged with a foldable stool in hand at Blossoming Strokes.


    "What the f*ck! Is this game pulling ''The Farmer and the Viper'' routine?!" Give Me Medicine exclaimed in astonishment.  S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Stop blabbering! Hurry up and grab him!" Unceasing Entropy didn''t know whether to laugh or cry.


    A slightly miffed Ji Tang approached from behind the berserk teenager and pushed him down to the ground. While doing so, he instructed Unceasing Entropy, "Get a few straps from the tricycle and fetch a towel."


    Undead creatures weren''t very strong, but controlling a frail young human wasn''t too much of an issue. Cargo straps were quickly used to bind the struggling teenage human''s hands and feet while a towel was stuffed in his mouth, forcing him to settle down.


    The group of players then kept a safe distance, surrounding the terrified kid who kept glaring at them.


    "Seems like we can''t communicate with him. I couldn''t understand a single word when he was screaming and shouting earlier," Blossoming Strokes muttered, feeling slightly embarrassed. "What should we do? Call an advanced NPC over?"


    "The NPCs'' tents are armed with anti-harassment settings. Otherwise, they would already have come out with their knives drawn, given all this commotion," Unceasing Entropy pointed out.


    "Why do these NPCs have such a strong grudge against us undead?" Give Me Medicine grumbled.


    The others also voiced their complaints and displeasure, leaving only Ji Tang who remained silent.


    In truth, had Ji Tang woken up to see a bunch of moving and talking skeletons, he would probably fight back with his all, too¡­


    "How about this? I recall that Ranger Tuttle loves sweet stuff. There ought to be something sweet in the tricycle he and Hal share. Let''s grab some to try and appease this kid, perhaps it might work?" Ji Tang suggested.


    Unceasing Entropy and Blossoming Strokes exchanged glances. "Alright, let''s give it a try."


    Thus, without any shred of hesitation, these bunch of players immediately set off to pilfer Tuttle''s supplies.


    Because players were only interested in equipment, none of the advanced NPCs had ever considered that these undead would go after their food supplies. The tricycle loaded with provisions was left outside the tent, with even the tarpaulin, which was supposed to protect it from rain and moisture, left unsecured.


    A few players crowded around the tricycle, lifted the tarp, and openly rummaged through Tuttle and Hal''s personal stash.


    "My god! So many biscuits!"


    "Can you believe that bushy eyebrow Tuttle brought a backpack full of these Uncle Pop egg rolls? I''m dying from laughter!"


    "Leave the biscuits, grab those wafers and egg rolls. Two bags of buns and a few cartons of milk. We might need it when those two orcs wake up."


    "How about instant noodles?"


    "No, it''s too oily. People who have been starving for some time might have trouble with greasy food."


    "Hey! There''s a bag of cakes here! It''s hidden so deep that we nearly missed it! How sneaky!"


    "Take it, take it!"


    In under ten minutes, these players had made off with snacks that Tuttle had painstakingly hoarded for over half a month, chortling gleefully as they fled the scene¡­


    While the players were carrying out their "operation," the dark-haired youth that had been left behind scanned the campsite fearfully.


    Unlike the undead, he didn''t possess full night vision, but the moonlight tonight was ample.


    Under the moonlight, he made out several scattered tents and dozens of tricycles filled with goods. Nearby, in an open space, were the clear remains of a campfire. Several stones serving as makeshift seats surrounded the already extinguished fire, and there was a kettle and a few cups on the ground.


    When the boy had opened his eyes, all that he saw were undead. And undead didn''t need to make fires nor drink water¡­ Clearly, there were living people residing in this undead camp.


    This discovery eased the pounding in the boy''s heart to a certain extent.


    But he still couldn''t shake off the fear. He realized that he and the two orcs, weak as they were, couldn''t run very far. Before they fell asleep, they had at most been about 10 kilometers away from Weisshem.


    Why had these undead come so close to a human town? What were they planning?!


    If Weisshem, this sort of hellish place, fell to the undead, it wouldn''t necessarily be a bad thing. But getting himself caught up in it was an entirely different story.


    How is Lyka and that other guy? No, what about my comrades? They should be nearby! Have they been discovered by these undead?!


    The teenage boy''s thoughts gradually turned to despair. Why am I so unlucky? I was only briefly separated from my companions, then deceived by a merchant caravan and sold into Weisshem. I just wanted to escape, but ran into a horde of undead?!


    As he wallowed in self-pity, the players returned with a pile of food.


    Seeing this bunch of undead in scale armor (it was a stretch considering it was just iron plates strapped to leather) with knives strapped to their sides, making strange raucous noises as they approached, the black-haired youth felt a shiver run down his spine.


    The teenager had only heard of undead creatures in folktales and legends.


    In tales concerning times of Old Gods throughout the Navalon Continent, it was said that the final act by a blasphemous spellcaster against the Goddess of Fate was to desecrate an entire continent, transforming all living beings within it into wandering undead. Ships at sea that accidentally deviated from their course would sometimes see a strange continent glowing green and, if failing to turn back in time, would forever remain there.


    In truth, though, undead beings were nothing like the terrifying creatures exaggerated in those folktales that were passed down. Most undead beings were actually mindless creatures, less dangerous than a pack of wild dogs.


    However, the teenage boy was only an aspiring warrior. He and his comrades were just doing odd jobs at a small tavern in Indahl to make ends meet. Their most "dangerous" act had been venturing to the outskirts of the Sorenson Mountains to capture some low-level monsters rarely seen in the city and sell them as pets to wealthy individuals.


    In contrast to the seasoned Weapons Master Rex and the former bandits, this youngster had no idea that undead appearing in the material world were mostly low-level minions employed by black mages, and thus, it was only natural for him to react this way.


    Several undead stopped about five meters away from the teenager, and their chinless jaws moved, creating weird noises in what seemed like communication. Then, one undead walked over alone toward the teenage boy.


    As the skeleton drew closer, the teenager''s fear turned to despair. His body, which had been trembling incessantly, quickly became limp.


    I''m going to die¡­


    That was all that went through the teenage boy''s mind as despair was accompanied by a hint of regret.


    He really regretted it. He shouldn''t have rashly run away from home. He shouldn''t have naively believed that he was different from others. And he shouldn''t have thought he could make it big outside.


    Ji Tang crouched down in front of the human teen. He carefully unwrapped a small cake that had been from Tuttle''s stash and, holding it by the plastic wrapping, pressed it toward the youngster''s face.


    The dark-haired boy: "??"


    Ji Tang patiently allowed the young human to take in the rich aroma of the cake. And when the towel in the youngster''s mouth was soaked with saliva, Ji Tang reached out and removed it.


    With his mouth finally free, the young human immediately chomped on the small cake, the size of a fist, in one mouthful.


    As if worried that the stuff in his mouth might be taken away, the youngster, who hadn''t had decent food in quite a while, clamped his mouth shut, cheeks puffed, and chewed earnestly. After the cake in his mouth reached a manageable size, he immediately swallowed.


    Then¡­ the youngster''s eyes rolled upward, his head tilted back¡­ and he began to cough uncontrollably.


    Ji Tang tore open a carton of milk also taken from Tuttle''s stash, pinched the young boy''s jaw open, and poured half of the milk in.


    After feeding him three pieces of cake and a carton of milk, Ji Tang attempted to undo the straps binding the young human''s hands and feet. This time, the teenage boy didn''t go berserk and sat quietly in place, his eyes fixed on the bag of cakes by Ji Tang''s feet.


    "Rest for a bit. Eat more after digesting. Do you understand?" Ji Tang enunciated each word slowly.


    The youngster obviously didn''t understand Mandarin. He glanced up at Ji Tang, who appeared to be talking to him, then returned his attention to the bag of cakes.


    Ji Tang could only helplessly shrug at the other players. "This kid can''t communicate either."


    The other players all sighed.


    "Maybe we didn''t feed him enough. Should we give him more?" Give Me Medicine wasn''t willing to throw in the towel just yet.


    Blossoming Strokes had to advise her friend. "Calm down, Meds. These civilian NPCs are very fragile. Remember how the NPC we rescued previously suffered from heatstroke?"


    Give Me Medicine could only mutter in resignation, "Then what should we do? We haven''t received a quest yet."


    Ji Tang: "¡­"


    "Don''t worry. Mia can''t communicate with us either, but she can talk to the instructor NPCs. When it''s day, and the instructor NPCs wake up, we should be able to solve the communication issue," Unceasing Entropy spoke up.


    "Alright," Give Me Medicine said reluctantly. Then, after a short pause, he asked, "So, what should we do with these NPCs? We can''t keep watching them all the time. Should we find a place to hide them?"


    At this time, the reason there weren''t many people around camp was because the NPCs had all gone to sleep. With no NPCs to interact with, players online had wandered out of the camp to practice their lifestyle profession skills. Unceasing Entropy and Ji Tang were only here because Give Me Medicine had personally gone to find and recall them.


    It was also about time that some players would be logging out, and if someone returned and stole the fruits of their labor while this bunch was playing around outside camp¡­ then that would be really bad.


    Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy groaned, "Ummm¡­"


    Ji Tang: "¡­"


    Ji Tang couldn''t agree to let these three individuals be bound up and hidden away somewhere. After mulling for a bit, he suggested, "How about this. I''ll stay here and keep an eye on these three NPCs¡­" To avoid any misunderstandings, he added, "One of you should stay with me. I''m afraid I won''t be able to watch over three of them alone."


    A player from Blossoming Strokes'' group raised his hand. "I''ll stay. I didn''t take up gathering, so I won''t really gain much gallivanting outside."


    Give Me Medicine was about to nod when he saw the flap of the tent behind the dark-haired teenager being lifted slightly.


    A somewhat gaunt face appeared beneath the tent cover, and a pair of amber-colored eyes scanned the surroundings cautiously.


    This pair of amber eyes met the dark and hollow eye sockets of Give Me Medicine.


    The lifted tent flap was gently put back down.


    "F*ck¡ª" Give Me Medicine cried out.


    With a muffled thud, a slender figure dashed out through the tent flap and sprinted desperately into the distance¡­


    "Quick, catch¡ª!" Give Me Medicine yelled out while immediately springing into action and leading the chase.


    The adult orc who had woken up and immediately sensed something off made a decisive choice to escape. He had reacted quickly enough and made a far smarter decision than the teenage human. However, his body was rather weak, and he was easily outpaced by the players'' "nimble" undead bodies. It didn''t take long for them to catch up and bring him back.


    Ji Tang used the same technique of allowing the adult orc to smell the food before feeding him. And after feeding him mid-way, he stopped and made an attempt to interact.


    However, the result was still the same¡­ This NPC couldn''t be communicated with.


    Thus, Ji Tang didn''t wait for the child orc to wake up and fed Lyka while she was still in a drowsy half-asleep state¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    As per usual, Yang Qiu, following his Earth-time healthy routine, woke up in the morning, washed up, and had breakfast before putting on his mage robes and casually opening the rift to the other world.


    On arriving, he greeted Inspector Lowell, who was already enjoying his afternoon tea. Yang Qiu chatted with Lowell for a bit while casually immersing himself in the imprint matrix to check the activities of online players¡­


    And he nearly sprayed out tea all over Inspector Lowell''s idol-like face.


    What. The. F*ck?!


    In the expedition campsite, a teenage kid about the age of 15 had appeared along with an adult and child orc at some point.


    Weapons Master Charlie Rex was sitting together with the first-tier and second-tier players, having a serious discussion about whether to attack Weisshem.


    Yang Qiu: "¡­"


    You guys, huh¡­ How incredible¡­ To think you guys can even expand the plot while I was away¡­

 Chapter 81: Siege Warfare prerequisite

    Turning the clock back eight hours ago (OtherWorld time), when Yang Qiu was still peacefully asleep on earth¡­ Daybreak arrived.


    Due to the heavy contamination of his mind, Charlie Rex couldn''t laze around in bed like others his age. He was awake as soon as the first light of day shone.


    Rex had long gotten used to only being able to sleep for six or seven hours a day at max. After changing into a set of fresh clothing, he issued a breakfast preparation quest to the undead while he went to collect and heat up water for himself and Mia to freshen up.


    The tireless undead frolicked around the campsite nonstop, and even when Rex was washing his face and brushing his teeth, someone ran over asking for quests. This bit was something that Rex had already grown accustomed to.


    Long-term harassment would also cause one to build up resistance. Rex had not only adapted to the eccentric bunch of players but even came to enjoy the experience of being able to make the undead move when issuing quests.


    Of course, the condition was that rewards had to be settled immediately upon quest completion; otherwise, the undead, who could switch from docile to aggressive in an instant, might try to test if they could snatch equipment off one''s body¡­


    Rex still couldn''t understand why the undead were willing to do things for "reputation." And this was especially so after Yang introduced a new "territory prestige" which made the undead enthusiastically collect materials from beasts and monsters just to change specific values on the matrix''s "panel." But that didn''t really matter to Rex. All he understood was that this system was way more convenient than dealing with copper coins.


    After all, copper coins were heavy, and after a settlement of copper coins, an account had to be made in the matrix to keep track of where every single coin was given out to. While it wasn''t labor-intensive, it was certainly troublesome.


    While sending an undead that came for a quest to collect wild vegetables, Rex, with toothbrush still in mouth, heard a mournful wail from the neighboring tent.


    He immediately spat out the foam and rushed over to see what was going on.


    Tuttle, who occupied the neighboring tent, was standing over a tricycle cart that had been ransacked, with even the tarp in disarray.


    Tuttle was fuming so hard that he seemed to have lost his sanity. Twirling his arm, he paced around the messed up tricycle cart furiously. "¡ªWho! Who touched my stuff?! Come out, you jerk!"


    Rex, observing in secret, didn''t make a sound and silently backed away.


    Both he and Mia wouldn''t go through Tuttle''s cart, and neither would the others. That only left the undead.


    More than 200 undead had come along with the caravan, and from time to time, several would disassemble themselves and lie down in the tricycle carts. Finding the "culprit" would be really difficult, and nothing much could be done even if the culprit was identified.


    In any case, Rex had no interest in this matter since it had nothing to do with him. Also, he hadn''t grown close to the former bandits to the extent that they would share common enemies.


    However, the fact that these undead, who cared only about equipment and reputation, were sneaking around and stealing from others'' carts surprised Rex. He felt that he ought to be more vigilant and bring important items into his tent when setting up camp for the night¡­


    While Rex was feeling somewhat amused by Tuttle''s misfortune, he saw two undead approaching.


    One of them was called "Ji Tang" and Rex had a rather favorable impression of this skeleton. Ji Tang was an undead, but he possessed a certain masculine air about him. As per usual, Rex greeted Ji Tang with a friendly nod from a distance.


    "Huh!" Give Me Medicine, who was accompanying Ji Tang, expressed exaggeratedly, "Ji-God, how high is your warrior reputation? Why is the NPC so polite to you?"


    "Uh¡­ Honored," Ji Tang replied.


    "For real? My treasure expert reputation is Honored as well, but Finley''s always black-faced when he sees me as if I owe him several million," said Give Me Medicine bewilderedly.


    Ji Tang couldn''t exactly say that the motions of a living, breathing person weren''t quantifiable, so he shifted the direction of the conversation, saying, "Perhaps it''s due to the difference in personalities of these instructor NPCs. Rex has a better temperament than most of the other instructors."


    During this time, the two had jogged up to Rex''s tent.


    Many years in the military meant that Ji Tang had built up a rather straightforward nature. When they arrived at Rex''s tent, he immediately got straight to the point.


    "Rex, we picked up two orcs and a human outside the camp. We can''t communicate with them due to the language barrier and we would like your help finding out where they are from."


    Rex, who had initially assumed Ji Tang was here for a quest, tensed up upon hearing this.


    A short while later, in the improvised tent set up by the undead, Rex saw the dark-haired teenager and the two orcs.


    At the same time, he also noticed¡­ dessert packaging (cake, wafers, carton milk were considered desserts to the natives) casually strewn in the corner of the tent.


    Rex: "¡­"


    He didn''t particularly have a sweet tooth and wouldn''t go out of his way to hoard snacks for indulgence. The only person he knew with such a habit was Tuttle.


    Rex silently turned his head and subtly took measure of Ji Tang.


    You must have been quite the character in your past life, huh? Even knowing how to steal stuff¡­


    People who weren''t in the imprint matrix couldn''t communicate with the undead, as Yang had explained to them some time ago, so Rex wasn''t too surprised by this. He carefully chose his words and, with a stern face, addressed the adult orc, "I am Charlie Rex, the leader of this undead merchant caravan. Why have you appeared near our camp?"


    The three rescued individuals revealed undisguised panic when they heard what was said.


    Rex was also taken aback by their reaction, but he soon came to the realization that they weren''t too far from the infamous red-light district, Weisshem. He also recalled the nature of those merchant caravans that had passed through the Sorenson Mountains¡­


    Feeling disgusted, he quickly clarified, "Our caravan''s owner is the esteemed Lord of Taranthan. We aren''t like those other horrible fellows. Now, answer my question."


    The human teen and the orc girl, Lyka, who didn''t know much of the world, were dumbfounded when they heard this caravan full of undead belonged to a certain lord. The teenage boy, especially, when he had been living hand to mouth in Indahl, couldn''t even dream of coming into contact with servants of nobles, let alone nobility.


    The adult orc, unlike his two companions, wasn''t completely ignorant, but he was still rather surprised. When had Taranthan, a place ten times more dangerous than Sorensen, gained a lord?


    This adult orc couldn''t help but cast his gaze at the players behind Rex who were looking on curiously¡­


    These undead, who were nothing like typical undead, came from Taranthan. Now, Taranthan had a lord and the ability to produce goods for trade?


    The adult orc, who himself had once been a professional-level combatant before falling to such dire straits, thought for a bit, and an image of some unknown and powerful black mage came to his mind¡­


    Subconsciously, the adult orc straightened his back and no longer put on his exaggerated display of weakness. He was someone who had suffered a great deal, and he couldn''t be easily bought over with food. If it weren''t for Rex coming in person to explain the current circumstances, he would have planned to "feign weakness," eat a few meals to build up his strength, and then find an opportunity to escape.


    "Please allow me to introduce myself first, esteemed sir." The adult orc placed a hand on his chest and bowed slightly, adopting a dignified posture he hadn''t been able to use in many years. "My name is Ossirian Jin. I used¡­ to be a member of the Seleras Alliance."


    "Seleras Alliance?!" At this point, it was Rex who revealed his surprise.


    Seleras was a deity from the outer continent. The Seleras Alliance was an underground organization formed by descendants of Outer Continent orcs that had been trafficked to Navalon and mainly specialized in resistance activities in countries where orc slavery was legal (mainly the Kenyan Empire).


    Naturally, the Kenyan Empire, which had prospered from selling orcs for several centuries, deemed the Seleras Alliance to be an illegal organization.


    However, many nations on the Navalon Continent weren''t united, and some with frosty or even hostile relations with the Kenyan Empire were more than happy to give the Seleras Alliance official recognition.


    Quite a few nations would also provide financial support to the Seleras Alliance discreetly. After all, the bulk of the Seleras Alliance''s resistance activities was within the Kenyan Empire, and naturally, there would be many delighted to see the empire bleed from the inside.


    But¡­ roughly ten years ago, the Seleras Alliance had ceased to exist.


    This organization, which had resisted the suppression of the Kenyan Empire for several centuries, was shattered overnight by a single piece of legislation, the "Orc Civil Rights Act."


    Rex''s stern expression softened. Any discerning eyes knew what the Kenyan Empire''s "Orc Civil Rights Act" was all about. This emaciated orc before him, who had been a member of the Seleras Alliance, deserved respect.


    "Ossirian, why have you and your two companions come here?" Rex asked in a gentler tone.


    Ossirian became down-crested and, with some difficulty, said, "To be honest¡­ I was sold into Weisshem several years ago. These two children¡­ have experienced circumstances similar to mine.


    "I had already given up on ever escaping¡­ until last night, when someone attacked the Golden Coast, Weisshem''s largest establishment. That''s when I had a chance to flee with these two. We were exhausted from the escape and fell asleep not too far from here."


    "I see." Rex didn''t pry too much into the experiences of these three. He said some words to comfort Ossirian, then beckoned the undead to step out together with him.


    Before leaving, Rex made sure to collect the discarded packaging left in the tent. He planned to bury it discreetly later¡­


    Next, Rex informed Ji Tang about the background of those three and subtly hinted that the undead shouldn''t inquire too much about their past. Bringing them along would be more sufficient.


    Rex''s intention was to help these unfortunate souls if he could. After all, Yang had never explicitly stated that orcs couldn''t be brought back to Taranthan.


    However, the players who hadn''t received a quest weren''t willing to accept things as it was. Moreover, their common sense and general knowledge far exceeded Rex''s expectations. Even though Rex had phrased his explanation as subtly as possible, saying that the three rescued individuals had been sold into Weisshem by unscrupulous merchants and that they were lucky enough to escape¡­ the players still caught out.


    Of the three rescued individuals, one was a boy, one was a girl, and the last was a man with nice features. All of them bore signs of having been held captive for some time, so it was rather difficult for anyone to not think positively about their circumstances.


    "Is Weisshem a hub for human trafficking?" Give Me Medicine chortled in surprise. "Holy, wait a moment. There wouldn''t still be red-light districts in this game, would there?


    Unceasing Entropy had already logged out as she had classes to attend in the morning. Blossoming Strokes was still around and gave a sideways glance at Give Me Medicine. "Hey, hey, how are you so familiar with this? Mention a red-light district.


    Give Me Medicine hastily retorted, "Don''t jump to conclusions, ma''am. I''ve never stepped out of my own country before, alright? I just watched ''Hostel'' a while back and got curious about Europe¡­"


    The two of them viewed this world as a game, so even when knowing that there was human trafficking and red-light districts, they didn''t think much of it. Ji Tang, on the other hand, wasn''t the same. He became livid upon learning that the human boy and orc girl had been sold to such a place.


    "Rex, were these two children and Ossirian sold to Weisshem?" Ji Tang stared at Rex while deliberately enunciating each word clearly.


    Rex, with his good senses and awareness, immediately detected the underlying anger in Ji Tang''s still calm voice. Slightly discomforted, he answered, "Yes."


    Ji Tang''s rage burned stronger even though his voice remained calm. "What sort of place is Weisshem exactly?"


    This time, Rex was silent for quite a while.


    With Rex''s personality, he could be discreet to help others conceal things they didn''t want known, but deliberately lying was beyond him.


    Under Ji Tang''s probing gaze, Rex had to awkwardly admit, "As far as I know, guests who travel there¡­ are willing to pay for humans and orcs with impressive aesthetics."


    "I knew it! It''s definitely a red-light district. Just like Amsterdam!" exclaimed Give Me Medicine.


    Blossoming Strokes clicked her tongue, sneering in disdain. "This degree of pursuing realism is way overboard. It''s really disgusting¡­"


    Give Me Medicine nodded in agreement. "It is disgusting, but since it''s part of a quest, such a setting isn''t that out of place."


    Blossoming Strokes was way too bothered by the distaste of a red-light district; after all, ladies often found it more difficult to be accepting of such places. It was only Give Me Medicine, who rarely didn''t usually think deeply, reminded her that she suddenly came to that realization and exclaimed, "Oh, right! Who would be willing to beat down antagonists if they were portrayed as orderly and virtuous! So, does this mean that the location for this boss fight is Weisshem?"


    Rex: "??"


    Ji Tang: "¡­"


    Here, he had been racking his brains trying to find a cunning way to get players on board in taking down this human trafficking market. And now, the players themselves had spontaneously provided a legitimate reason to act.


    Realizing that he still wasn''t quite attuned to the players'' line of thought, Ji Tang perked up at once and declared confidently, "Exactly. Weisshem is definitely the target location for this major quest!"


    "But we didn''t receive a quest. How can we proceed?" Give Me Medicine said, his eyes constantly shifting to Rex.


    Since a quest hadn''t been triggered from the three NPCs that were rescued, this fellow was looking toward the "good-nature" warrior instructor Rex for compensation. After all, a quest issued by whichever NPC would still be legitimate, with rewards given upon completion!


    Rex: "¡­"


    He was all too familiar with the undead''s characteristic of always seeking quests all the time, no matter what¡­


    Rex gulped and probed cautiously, "Uh¡­ You guys want to attack Weisshem?"


    Give Me Medicine triumphantly raised a fist. "See, Blossom? Wasn''t I right, Rex just said that Weisshem can really be attacked!"


    Rex was stunned. Wait a minute, I didn''t say that!


    Blossoming Strokes was also pleasantly surprised and rambled away animatedly, "Whoa, that''s exciting? We had to build our own base in the wilderness on our previous expedition, and this time we will be having a siege? If we capture Weisshem, would it become part of our territory? Will it have features like spawn and teleportation points?"


    "Definitely! Otherwise, we wouldn''t have traveled so far on this expedition!" Give me Medicine said gleefully.


    Rex''s mouth hung open, and he stared blankly at the undead duo who were getting increasingly carried away by the second.


    Did I make a mistake somewhere¡­?


    Ji Tang, the only one who truly knew, resisted the urge to look at the clearly skeptical Charlie Rex and instead added fuel to the fire without batting an eyelid. "I think so, too. This expedition quest is different. We have many times more supplies than before, and it''s also a combat class quest with the class instructors having joined us. It looks to be something big."


    Rex''s lips twitched, but he opted to remain silent.


    You can say whatever you want, but I certainly won''t issue such a ridiculous quest!


    Those not in the imprint matrix couldn''t assign quests to the undead, while Hal and his former bandit bunch were even less likely to do so. That bunch only wanted to let the undead cause trouble and hand it over to Yang, but had no intention of doing it themselves! The undead couldn''t truly die if they were to attack Weisshem, but people like them with flesh and blood couldn''t resurrect once dead!


    With his mind set, Rex turned and quickly walked away, leaving no chance for Ji Tang to call him back.


    "The heck! Where is he running off to? What about the quest?!" Give Me Medicine voiced out.


    Ji Tang, who had steeled himself to uphold justice, grabbed Give Me Medicine, who had been about to chase after Rex, and blatantly made up stuff, "It''s probably because Rex alone can''t issue such a major quest. This quest might be more difficult than anything we have done before, and just seeking out Rex wouldn''t trigger it. What do you think, Blossom?"


    Blossoming Strokes didn''t even need to think and said with certainty, "A major quest like a siege of this extent wouldn''t be triggered that easily. There would surely be many prerequisites to fulfill. With Rex, I reckon getting him to interact with the NPCs we rescued fulfills his prerequisites. To continue in the right direction, we''ll probably need to activate storylines related to the other instructor NPCs."


    Ji Tang wanted to give Blossoming Strokes two thumbs up. Listen, she gives the most perfect reasons!


    From a player''s perspective, providing logical explanations was really something only an expert could do!


    Next, Blossoming Strokes took the initiative to advise Ji Tang and Give Me Medicine to log out and conserve their daily game time. She would get someone to head offline and inform them when their help was needed later.


    Ji Tang was, without doubt, a main force and would handle on-site commands in a siege, while Give Me Medicine, with his excellent equipment, was their side''s primary damage dealer. The daily game time of these two players had to be optimized.


    Once these two were urged to log out, Blossoming Strokes got busy. She, too, went offline and contacted her gaming buddy Qin Guan, reached out to Brother Lahong via Study Obsessed, and added all players that could lead teams into a WeChat group.


    In the group chat, Blossoming Strokes explained her hypothesis on the prerequisites for triggering the siege quest and expressed her hope that all players who had successfully completed the first job advancement and had "remains" stored in the expedition team would cooperate and act as one to complete this ultimate class quest¡­


    As morning arrived on Earth, and it became afternoon in-game, Blossoming Strokes led a group of the game''s top intellectual players¡ªGuileless Gale, Unceasing Entropy (who spared some time before class to log in), Win By Grinding (who led a group of solo players)¡ªand confidently approached the first NPC that Unceasing Entropy believed should be "raided" first: Assassin Instructor, Hal Maxwell.


    The hierarchical relationships between instructor NPCs were something that players had long figured out. Trigger-happy ranger Tuttle and hot-headed elder brother Finley often hung around Hal and displayed particular deference when interacting with the latter. Other NPCs like Manan and Anthony were also very respectful when dealing with Hal. It would take all the players to be blind not to see Hal''s slightly different standing.


    Hal found today rather bewildering. When he woke up, he noticed Tuttle running around camp like a crazed madman trying to find something. But when Hal asked Tuttle what he was looking for, he didn''t get a response.


    Finley and Jerome (the knight instructor) seemed to be relatively normal, but they had no clue as to why Tuttle was acting up either.


    These former bandits often didn''t treat outsiders well, but they showed a certain degree of camaraderie and compassion toward their own, especially the ones they were closest to. Seeing Tuttle in such a state, Hal got Finley to tell Rex that they should temporarily pause their plans for a day of rest as everyone was exhausted.


    Rex knew very well why Tuttle was acting out and understood that it was best to keep the matter under wraps. If not, Tuttle might end up in a conflict with the undead, Ji Tang. And with the style of how these former bandits dealt with matters, his anger might even inadvertently be redirected toward Ossirian¡­ Thus, Rex chose to shut his mouth.


    As players were busy coordinating themselves for "siege warfare prerequisites," nobody came forward to protest against these NPCs slacking off. This series of remarkable coincidences meant that the expedition enjoyed an unusually peaceful morning.


    Hal, who was usually the one most irritated by players'' noisy behavior and often wished to eliminate these "nuisances," found himself feeling uncomfortable throughout this serene morning¡­


    He had even begun to ponder about life when the undead came knocking.


    The undead with a melodious voice, whose name had something about a flower, casually barged into Hal''s tent, much like the previous occasion at the Wanderer Guild. And this time, it wasn''t just one; several chattering skeletons followed behind her.


    "Hal, we''ve rescued three people who escaped from Weisshem. Do you want to meet them?" Blossoming Strokes, who had done ample preparation, approached confidently. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Huh?"

 Chapter 82: Forcing Plotlines on the NPCs

    Hal Maxwell, whether judged by the moral standards of Chinese people or natives of the Navalon Continent, would undoubtedly be classified as a scoundrel.


    He was unquestionably self-serving, cold-hearted, and capable of adapting to any circumstances; at least, he would lower his head for the sake of his comrades. In an orderly society, he would certainly be unwelcome, but when placed in a gray area where law was non-existent, he could still hold a leadership position in a small team or organization.


    In short, whatever could move Rex certainly didn''t hold the same for Hal. He patiently listened to Blossoming Strokes introduce the situation of those three rescued individuals and responded by laughing.


    Not only did he respond with mockery, but Hal also rolled his eyes at the players as if they were idiots. "What does that have to do with me? Why would I want to meet such disgusting scum?"


    Players: "What the heck?!"


    Blossoming Strokes raised a hand to signal everyone to not rush into criticizing. Then, still brimming with confidence, she looked toward Hal and asked, "Are you sure, Hal? Have you really decided to not lend a hand to help Ossirian and the other two?"


    Hal had only listened to these undead because he had nothing better to do. Now his patience was nearly spent, so he waved his hand dismissively, shooing them away. "Cut the crap and scram. Get out of my tent."


    "Do you still remember Jim?" asked Blossoming Strokes.


    Hal''s annoyed expression instantly froze.


    Blossoming Strokes continued calmly, "Your friend from the industrial city in the north of the Kenyan Empire you met when schooling¡­ Wait, no. Jim couldn''t have met you while you were still studying at a prestigious institution. You met him after you stopped going to school. You let Jim die, didn''t you?"


    Hal''s stiff face turned grim, and the skin around his eyes tightened. He stared at Blossoming Strokes with a murderous look.


    The threat of death was something that players least cared about, so even though Hal closely resembled a real enraged murderer right now, she nonchalantly continued her barrage, "You let Jim die without offering any help and even climbed all over his body to survive. How many years have you been haunted by that same nightmare? After Jim, have those other people you let down also appear in your dreams?"


    "Shut up!" Hal snapped, taking a step forward and poking his finger into Blossoming Strokes. "Shut your mouth, undead! Regardless of where you heard about my affairs, you have no right to point fingers at me!"


    Blossoming Strokes responded with a calm smile, "You''re wrong, Hal. We are not here to teach you how to do things; we''re here to threaten you."


    Hal. "?!"


    "You are the boss of the other instructors, right? We all know that Tuttle, Finley, and Jerome all listen to you," Blossoming Strokes stated gleefully. "If you don''t do as we say," she raised both hands, gesturing to the other three undead behind her, "we will tell everyone about your nightmares where Jim terrifies you, making you break down in tears and begging for forgiveness."


    "What sort of cr*p are you spouting!" Hal''s face turned purple.


    "I''m not speaking any untruths. Afraid to be killed, you accepted a gold coin to personally bury your friend''s body. Becoming scum just to survive? You were quite candid when you screamed about it in your dreams," said the smiling Blossoming Strokes.


    Hal. "¡­


    Hal Maxwell''s knees buckled, and he submitted.


    Having successfully persuaded (threatened) Hal to agree to meet the three rescued individuals, Unceasing Entropy couldn''t help but give Blossoming Strokes a thumbs-up.


    In front of Hal, Unceasing Entropy openly praised Blossoming Strokes, "Blossom, you were really steady. When Hal got mad, I thought you were gonna get chopped down."


    Blossoming Strokes grinned in satisfaction. "On the contrary, as soon as that happened, I knew that it was a done deal. Our strategy was absolutely effective."


    "What do you mean?" Guileless Gale and Win By Grinding, who hadn''t contributed much, were both puzzled.


    "You guys all know that I''m a web novelist, right? I''ve read some psychology books in order to make my characters more lifelike." Blossoming Strokes didn''t hide anything and openly shared her habit of observing human NPCs'' reactions. "If someone is truly angry, the emotion of anger accumulates gradually, just like how a person would get louder and more agitated during an argument.


    "But if someone appears extremely angry in an instant, this anger often contains a dramatic element, possibly guilt, evasion, projection, or some similar factor."


    Hal, who was sullenly walking behind the players, looked in amazement at this female undead whose only good point was her melodious voice.


    Hal couldn''t understand what a web novelist was, but the way Blossoming Strokes'' depiction of psychology and human emotional reactions was clear and spot on. Just the thought of it sent a chill down Hal''s spine.


    These undead creatures actually understand psychology and know how to analyze human emotional responses?!


    O Assassin God, which terrifying Dimensional Realm did Yang summon these weirdos from?!


    Arriving at the players'' makeshift tents, Hal laid his eyes on Ossirian, Lyka, and the black-haired human youth.


    Hal wasn''t like Rex, whose top priority was the expedition team''s safety, nor did he care if anyone attacked the undead caravan. And he certainly wasn''t going to show any sympathy for unfortunate souls he found "disgusting." Therefore, he had nothing to say to Ossirian and the other two.


    After standing in awkward silence for a while, Hal impatiently turned to the undead that had pressured him to come. "I''ve seen them, you bastards. Satisfied now?"


    This scene¡­ left the players perplexed.


    "Why aren''t they interacting? Does Hal not have any plotline for this quest?" Guileless Gale mused.


    "That shouldn''t be. Rex is Level 5, and so is Hal. Both of them ought to have a plotline, right?" Blossoming Strokes scratched her head.


    "Could something be missing, perhaps some crucial factor?" Win By Grinding frowned.


    Veins bulged on Hal''s forehead. "Stop muttering behind my back while I''m talking to you, you damned undead!"


    "Ummmm¡­ Hal, could you talk to them for a bit?" Blossoming Strokes asked.


    The bulging veins on Hal''s forehead were turning purple. "You said that I just had to see them. Don''t push it!"


    "Tsk," Blossoming Strokes clicked her tongue and slightly raised her voice. "You are making things difficult for me, Hal-san~ Can''t you cooperate a tiny bit? Otherwise, we''ll have to go find Tuttle for a chat~"


    Hal''s hand went to the hilt of his blade.


    "Cutting me down won''t help either," Blossoming Strokes said with nonchalance. "It''s no use even if you kill everyone present here. To be honest, it isn''t just the few of us that know your secret. You understand, right?"


    Hal gritted his teeth, then reluctantly withdrew his hand¡­


    Hal was from the Kenyan Empire, and when it came to orcs¡­ well, he didn''t hold them in high regard. After all, in the environment he grew up in, orcs were nothing more than a kind of livestock. This was the view that had been shaped since his childhood and wasn''t easy to change.


    After filtering out the two orcs, the only one Hal could barely bring himself to speak to was the black-haired youth. "You, kid. What''s your name?"


    The players didn''t care about Hal''s intimidating aura, but the black-haired youth was visibly frightened. He stammered in response, "I¡­ I''m Brook."


    "Where are you from?" Hal glanced at the players and continued the conversation, clearly agitated.


    "I''m¡­ I''m a citizen of the Rhine Kingdom, and I used to live in Indahl," Young Brook replied timidly.


    "How did you end up in Weisshem?"


    "My comrades and I were hunting Long-Eared Red Foxes on the outskirts of the Sorenson Mountains. We got¡­ separated by accident, and I, uh, was deceived by a caravan from the south. I wanted to return to the city with them, but then¡­"


    "¡ªAre you an idiot?" Hal immediately rebuked, raising his voice. "Living in Indahl and not knowing what these caravans coming and going are like? And you even followed them?!"


    Young Brook:...


    "I''ve seen too many half-grown brats like you, who don''t know their place. Read a few fables or knight legends and think they can become the protagonists of such stories¡ªdaring to leave the town with some rookie team that isn''t the least bit reliable and thinking they can make a name for themselves!" Hal pointed at the youth angrily. "Let me tell you the eventual fate of such foolish kids in the end. Either they turn into some wild beast''s dung, together with their so-called brothers and friends, or they''re used for some foolish, suicidal task by a dark mage, and their eventual fate is still turning into beast dung!"


    After severely chastising young Brook, Hal turned his wrathful gaze toward the players. "Are you satisfied now, you bastards?"


    Players. "¡­"


    "Yes, yes. Very." The corner of Blossoming Strokes'' mouth was twitching.


    The players couldn''t understand the human kid''s language, but they could clearly hear what Hal was saying. Given Blossoming Strokes'' high EQ, she could tell that while Hal was chastising the kid, he was actually resenting his past; with a past that could be turned into a dungeon, this fellow was undoubtedly someone with a story.


    Regardless of whether Hal was venting his anger or reflecting on his past, his sudden outburst aligned perfectly with the players'' expectations of "NPC storyline progression." Blossoming Strokes, who was rather proactive, didn''t hesitate to seize the opportunity and asked in earnest, "This Weisshem is a truly wicked place. What do you think, Hal?"


    Hal instinctively wanted to reply with "It''s none of my business," but he remembered how the undead had threatened him the previous time he had said that. So, he gritted his teeth and grunted, "Yes, yes, so what?"


    The four players simply had no idea that Hal was reluctantly playing along because he was afraid of their threats. Believing this was the "storyline being progressed" energized them, and they watched Hal eagerly.


    "Hal, I think we need to eliminate this den of evil and rescue the people there. What do you think?" Blossoming Strokes was so excited her breathing became heavy.


    Hal impatiently muttered, "Of course." It was only after he replied did he come to realize what this undead was actually saying. In an instant, the look of annoyance on his face turned into pleasant surprise.


    "Success!" Guileless Gale, Win By Grinding, and Unceasing Entropy were equally thrilled.


    "Then let us go and attack Weisshem, Hal!" Blossoming Strokes said excitedly.


    "Exactly! We should do just that. This is our purpose for heading out this far!" Hal decisively agreed.


    Hal had been racking his brains on how to deceive the bunch of undead into wreaking havoc and causing massive trouble for Yang under Rex''s watch. But now, these undead were actually volunteering for it!


    Of course, just because he wanted to let the undead go and stir up trouble didn''t mean he was willing to risk his own life. Thus, Hal immediately put on his "NPC" demeanor and shamelessly said to the four players, "My undead friends, if you wish to save the people in Weisshem, there are two things you need to do."


    "Say it and we''ll do it!" the four players declared confidently.


    Hal put up two fingers. "First, you guys have to convince Rex. If Rex disagrees, he has the authority to cancel a quest issued by me. Second, you must complete this mission on your own. We have a past with the Rhine Kingdom and will attract powerful enemies if we enter town openly, which won''t be conducive toward saving the unfortunate people of Weisshem."


    "No problem!" The four players thumped their chests in glee.


    By "activating" Hal''s interactive storyline, the four players believed that they had nearly secured the quest, and convincing Rex was the final step.


    Hal''s request for non-participation by instructor NPCs didn''t seem like a big issue to them. In most games, NPCs simply talked, while players did all the legwork.


    With a consensus reached, Hal and the four players were all pleased, and a harmonious atmosphere prevailed among them.


    When Yang Qiu came "online," these eager players had already formed their raid group and teams and were surrounding Rex, requesting the quest.


    As Yang Qiu "listened in" on the players trying to convince Rex for a bit and came to understand what had happened during the 16-hour absence when he was "offline," a peculiar expression came over his face.


    "¡­Yang?"


    Inspector Lowell, who was seated opposite Yang Qiu, partaking in afternoon tea, sat a little straighter in his seat upon noticing Yang Qiu''s strange expression.


    Yang Qiu collected himself and gave a slight smile. "Inspector Lowell, could you please look after the place temporarily?"


    Lowell: "??"


    The Black-robed Inspector considered that the undead had been gone for four days and made some mental calculations of the tricycle expedition team. "Forgive me for presuming¡­ Have your undead gotten into trouble in the Rhine Kingdom?"


    "Of course not." Yang Qiu sipped on his tea calmly. "In fact, what our undead friends are about to do is also something I once wished to do. Just that back then, I was too busy dealing with those lunatics from the Radiant Sun Church to do so."


    Hearing this, Inspector Lowell''s expression turned grave.


    Something that the "Nightmare Butcher" wanted to do didn''t bode well.


    "I think that perhaps you might need a companion, Yang," Inspector Lowell said solemnly.


    "It would be my honor," Yang Qiu accepted graciously without the slightest shred of hesitation.


    Lowell. "¡­"


    The Black-robed Inspector suddenly felt something was off¡­


    While Yang Qiu pulled a little trick to get Inspector Lowell involved, elsewhere in the camp, Rex, who was besieged by layers upon layers of undead, was utterly bewildered.


    He couldn''t understand how Hal had managed to reach an agreement with the undead. After all, Hal had never been willing to engage with them beyond assigning quests!


    "¡­Everyone, please calm down and listen to me." Rex gulped hard and motioned for the undead to quiet down. "Six months ago, I passed through Weisshem. It might be a small town, but it housed dozens of black-market businesses, all of which employ muscle. Moreover, the town has its own militia¡­ Taking Weisshem won''t be easy.


    "Besides that, Weisshem is several tens of kilometers away from Indahl, the largest city in the south of the Rhine Kingdom. Indahl''s garrison will definitely respond quickly, and even if we manage to capture Weisshem, we won''t be able to hold it.


    "Furthermore, there are thousands of civilians living in Weisshem who have no connection to the black-market businesses. If the town falls into chaos, those innocent civilians would inevitably suffer¡­"


    Having waited impatiently for hours to set off, Brother Lahong couldn''t stand it anymore. He raised a hand and fervently declared, "Don''t worry, mere mercenaries and thugs are nothing. At most, we can raid them at night. There''s no need to worry about holding the place. We will have a respawn point once we take the stronghold. What can that garrison from Idali or whatever even do then?"


    "That''s right!" Qin Guan chimed in. "Just leave it to us, Rex. Look at our quality; we''re entirely different from those feudal armies. We guarantee that we''ll take over Weisshem without the slightest bit of harm befalling the civilians!"


    The two blood alliance leaders had already said all the grand words, so Ji Tang could only sincerely urge Rex on, "Please trust your undead friends, Rex. Even though we are deceased, we understand the value of life."


    Players wouldn''t attack civilians. This bit was something that Ji Tang was most confident in. With Identify, they could tell with a single glance that these ordinary folk held no valuable loot.


    Rex looked to the sky and sighed. "Very well. Then, let me accompany you on this journey¡ª"


    "No, no, no!" Yang Ying, Tang Jia, Qin Guan, and others who had advanced to become warriors got anxious and vehemently tried to stop him. "Don''t make things more complicated. We''d have to focus on the siege and protect you at the same time. We don''t have the luxury of that!"


    Rex. "¡­"


    He actually wanted to feel touched by the undead''s care for him, but for some reason, he couldn''t shake the feeling that something didn''t add up¡­


    When the expedition team set out, Yang Qiu had granted these instructors additional matrix permissions. In addition to the usual "daily" quests, they now had the option of freely issuing quests, allowing the instructor NPCs to command the fearless players to step up in case of emergencies.


    This permission was also reserved for Mia, but Yang Qiu didn''t directly include Mia in the matrix. Instead, a backdoor was left to Rex, where he could "pull" Mia into the matrix as a last resort if her life was in danger. After all, even professional-level combatants already found it challenging to withstand the mental torment inflicted by players, so it would certainly be harder for Mia, who was merely a civilian.


    Once Rex had been convinced by the players, Hal led his fellow brothers to take the stage. Under Rex''s intense gaze, Hal shamelessly approached him, feigning concern for the undead operation and discussing how to issue quests that would make it easier for them.


    With the experience of being "quest-issuers" for nearly two months, these "advanced NPCs" were familiar with the routines and formats for assigning tasks to the undead, whether they liked it or not.


    Once Rex''s apprehensions were cleared, this bunch soon issued well-structured quests:


    - [Save Weisshem]


    - [Rescue Captured Civilians]


    - [Eliminate Enemies]


    At Rex''s strong insistence, the [Eliminate Enemies] quest was changed to [Capture Enemies]. It wasn''t that Rex was afraid of his undead compatriots inadvertently shedding blood; he was more concerned that the undead might get carried away and harm civilians.


    The players didn''t care whether it was "eliminate" or "capture." They gladly accepted the quests and set off for Weisshem gleefully.


    After watching the undead depart jubilantly, Rex turned his head and glared icily at Hal.


    Hal, not one to back down, returned with an unfriendly gaze.


    "¡­Sometimes, I really don''t understand how someone as short-sighted as you managed to rise so high." Rex''s suppressed anger was evident in his voice, unspoken but palpable. "Did you think that you can act without consequences after leaving Taranthan? Don''t be naive, my friend. Yang sees all you guys do." S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    There was a subtle shift in Hal''s expression, but he didn''t show any signs of fear. Instead, he let out a mocking chuckle and said, "Stop lecturing others here. Who do you think you are, Little Charlie? Don''t forget that this plan was the undead''s idea in the first place. So what if I incited it? If Yang doesn''t object, it means he approves of it. What right do you have to be spouting crap out of your butt?"


    Rex couldn''t refute what Hal said at all. His lips quivered for a moment before he could only hiss, "I hope you have the confidence you speak of."


    As Hal and his gang watched Rex leave in a huff, Knight Instructor Jerome couldn''t help but mutter under his breath, "This fellow is really arrogant."


    Tuttle muttered with a deadpan expression, "He''s already a weapons master at such an age. He has the right."


    This former Sacred Crows'' strategist clearly wasn''t in the right state of mind after the morning''s setback. His comment struck Hal, Finley, and Jerome pretty hard.


    Hal had barely made it as an assassin after the age of thirty. Finley, in actuality, hadn''t managed to advance to master treasure expert, and Jerome, who was the same age as Rex, hadn''t even obtained an official knight insignia¡ªwere it not for the fact that they weren''t confident of taking down Rex even when combining forces, these bunch would have joined hands and eliminated this troublesome guy a long time ago.


    Finley was about to make some small talk to break the awkward atmosphere when he suddenly paled.


    "Finley?" Jerome, standing next to him, realized something wasn''t quite right with his comrade''s face.


    Hal turned to look and got shocked as well. "Hey, buddy, what''s wrong with you?"


    "¡­Wait! We''ve overlooked something!" Finley exclaimed, sweating buckets. "Those undead have gone to attack Weisshem on their own¡­ But they can''t communicate with the locals! And they disappear if killed¡­ How are we going to make the people of Weisshem know that they are from Taranthan?!"


    Hal was dumbfounded for a moment, then suddenly pinched his thigh hard and unleashed a phrase he had learned from the players.


    "The f*ck!"

 Chapter 83: Scary Lady

    Sleepless town, Weisshem, the most dazzling pearl of the Rhine Kingdom''s southern border¡­ Well, this description only applied at night.


    Once the Age of Discovery began, rubber, copper, and large amounts of metal ores from the Outer Continent entered Navalon. Electricity applications, which weren''t popularized previously due to the lack of raw materials, gradually spread out starting from the Kenyan Empire. Steam power plants emerged like fresh shoots after the rain in various large cities across the continent.


    However, several centuries had since passed, but electricity remained a luxury for most people on the continent of Navalon.


    The reasons for this were simple. First, expensive electricity bills were beyond the means of ordinary households. Power plants often passed on the losses incurred during electricity transmission to end-users. Due to technological limitations in this world, electrical power transmission losses were generally over 50%, which was even more exaggerated than in modern-day India.


    Secondly, because the cables used for the transmission of electricity had to be made of copper, nearly every nation, including the Kenyan Empire, suffered from severe cable theft problems.


    Power plants, usually run by private entities, often refused to transmit electricity or lay cables in areas with poor security, which meant that only heavily guarded, exclusive places¡ªin other words, the so-called wealthy and noble areas¡ªcould enjoy large scale illumination when night fell.


    Weisshem was neither a wealthy nor a noble district, but it had the financial means to pay for electricity bills and the capability to protect the town''s electrical cables. Every night, this brilliantly lit town became the most resplendent gem within a ten-mile radius¡ªthe electric lights and colorful neon signboards illuminating the street of adult-oriented businesses were even more concentrated than Indahl''s wealthiest district.


    Every night, patrons seeking various forms of entertainment flocked from all directions to this town, generously emptying their purses filled with silver and copper coins. The money forked out by such patrons to satiate their own primal desires not only established a red-light district that devoured countless young men and women, teenagers, and even children, but it also provided for more than half of the town''s residents.


    Kardo Gauld, 45, Weisshem native, was a militia captain with connections to the sheriff. He had a wife and two children, and owned a two-story house he bought with savings scraped over the years, which also supported his parents and in-laws.


    If people were to judge him how he was portrayed, they would consider Mr. Gauld a respected and responsible family man. Every night, he diligently patrolled and kept watch over the town, safeguarding both Weisshem and the townspeople''s property from harm, allowing them to sleep peacefully.


    However, the actuality was that Mr. Gauld''s militia squad''s night patrols only covered the red-light district that paid for electricity. Ordinary residential areas where electrical cables couldn''t be laid were excluded.


    The targets of the militia weren''t petty burglars or ruffians that harassed passersby, but rather cable thieves, drunkards causing trouble on the popular streets, and those who dine-and-dashed.


    After all¡­ the main source of income for Weisshem''s militias didn''t come from the ordinary townsfolk but from the wealthy owners of entertainment establishments, such as clubs and bars, which were essentially disguised brothels.


    Of course, every once in a while, Mr. Gauld''s militia squad would make some unintentional mistakes. For example, the previous night, during a patrol, their squad suddenly experienced a collective bout of food poisoning, forcing them to rush to a squad member''s house to use the bathroom. It was only after they had all queued up and relieved themselves of their respective loads that they discovered that the Golden Coast had suffered a surprise attack.


    It was a tragedy. Among the Golden Coast''s guards (enforcers), 18 were killed, and another 12 were seriously hurt. On top of that, nearly 90% of the establishment''s well-trained attendants had escaped. Even the owner himself might have been in a grave had he not been busy entertaining a group of distinguished and formidable guests.


    Such an extremely bad turn of events naturally had severe repercussions, and someone had to take responsibility. Thus, Mr. Gauld had no choice but to reluctantly dismiss the two members who had gotten the night snack for the team. He also ordered the closure of the roadside stall the food was gotten from as well as expelled the owner of that stall from Weisshem.


    Weisshem was a vibrant town, and such a magical town wouldn''t be affected that much just by a couple of dreadful incidents. After a day, the Golden Coast club had already changed ownership, undergone a thorough cleaning, and reopened for business.


    Mr. Gauld let his team on their usual patrols, and when passing by this upscale establishment that had been "reborn from the ashes," there were no longer any signs of a chaotic mess; instead, they saw flower baskets at the entrance, elegantly dressed hostesses, and a constant stream of patrons both entering and leaving.


    Of course, the signboard had been changed. It was no longer the Golden Coast but the Gold Coast.


    Gauld stood at the entrance for a moment, then beckoned to a child selling snacks from a basket along the street. He tossed two copper coins over, received a packet of peanuts wrapped in newspaper from the child, then made a gesture to his squad members. "Wait for me up ahead."


    An older squad member exchanged a knowing glance with Gauld and led the other members away.


    Gauld munched on peanuts as he entered the Golden Coast¡­ no, the Gold Coast starting today. The bouncers in the hall took notice of Gauld''s militia uniform and greeted him with wide, yellow-toothed grins and respectfully ushered him to the manager''s office.


    The manager, a bald middle-aged man roughly around Gauld''s age, exchanged some pleasantries with the militia captain before smiling and retrieving a small fist-sized package, wrapped in paper, from his drawer. "Same as before, Captain Gauld."


    "Happy to be of service, sir." Gauld accepted the package, and a slight smile finally graced his face.


    The bald manager smiled once more and produced a smaller package. "This is your share, Mr. Gauld. My boss wanted me to convey his regards."


    Gauld''s smile grew wider.


    This new boss was undoubtedly much more generous and considerate than the previous one.


    The previous proprietor, an old man who previously worked as a steward on plantations in the south, having come to Weisshem to run a brothel with a lifetime of savings and connections from his previous life, was the most miserly and stingy wealthy individual Gauld had ever encountered. Not only did he consistently delay payments, but he also complained that people like Gauld, who protected the electrical circuits, were making too much.


    Gauld knew that both the mayor and the sheriff were highly dissatisfied with that old man. Otherwise, the attendants available here wouldn''t be so similar to those previously from "Golden Coast." During the short trip to the manager''s office, Gauld had already seen several familiar faces.


    Of course, Gauld didn''t care about all that. Even if he were a Weisshem man, born and bred, and had served as a militia captain for over a decade, running a lucrative business like a brothel that raked in money from all directions wasn''t something he was capable of doing.


    For one, without a couple of respectable noblemen behind him, it wouldn''t be impossible to gain the power plant''s confidence and secure electricity transmission, let alone be able to overlook the illicit source of whores that pleasured customers.


    Feeling the thick purse in his pocket, Captain Gauld left the establishment with satisfaction and went looking for his squad.


    When he returned to the street, Gauld, who had been responsible for local security for many years, suddenly sensed something amiss.


    It was currently nine at night, Weisshem''s liveliest period where young men and women lined the entrance of every establishment, along with well-built bouncers. Adolescents would run through the streets peddling various snacks, sidewalk vendors offered drinks, hostesses leaned against bar windows to attract customers, while streetwalkers lurked in alleys, plying their trade. The entire street would be bustling with people trying to create all kinds of excitement to attract revelers.


    However, at this moment, something was off on this street. All these sounds had vanished. Even the voices of the pleasure-seekers who didn''t care about anything and reveled with abandon had disappeared.


    Captain Gauld scanned his surroundings questioningly and realized that everyone on the street was staring blankly in the same direction.


    Whether it was attendants, enforcers, peddlers, hostesses, or guests that came to revel, everyone wore remarkably similar looks on their faces. A mixture of shock, fear, and disbelief, as if they had just caught a glimpse of something indescribable and otherworldly.


    With a frown, Captain Gauld set off in the direction where all these people were weirdly staring at.


    Passing through the bustling yet eerily silent throng, Gauld was¡­ dumbfounded.


    It wasn''t just him. The members of his militia squad, who had arrived earlier and were seated at an al fresco tavern, had expressions that mirrored Gauld''s.


    A tall figure, dressed in a resplendent ball gown, and most probably a lady, was¡­ strolling in the center of the street.


    The gown''s lavishness rivaled that of the noblewomen featured in the colorful illustrations of magazines. To Gauld, a small-town militia captain with a fair eye for detail and a taste for worldly matters, this attire wouldn''t be out of place even at the grandest royal ball.


    However, parading in such an attire through the red-light district, amid the animated revelry of pleasure-seekers, was, by all means, incongruous. It even ventured into the realms of the bizarre.


    What added to this peculiar spectacle was that the lady''s tall, imposing stature wouldn''t be out of place in a troop of rugged mercenaries¡­


    Even revelers intoxicated by alcohol dared not obstruct her path. Wherever this lady trod, the crowd instinctively and willingly parted to make way.


    More peculiar still, she wasn''t just walking; she was surveying her surroundings as she moved. Whenever her gaze turned toward a particular direction, individuals in that vicinity, especially those easily frightened, visibly trembled.


    As Captain Gauld navigated through the transfixed crowd, he caught sight of this elegantly dressed lady just as she happened to glance in the direction of the roadside tavern where his militia squad sat conspicuously in their uniforms.


    Gauld only caught a glimpse of her side profile, and he instinctively shrunk back. His men, who were unfortunate to catch a full frontal view, either clamped hands over their mouths or swiftly averted their eyes as they paled.


    This well-dressed lady, who seemingly came from a distinguished background, gazed curiously at the militia squad for an extended moment before turning away and continuing her leisurely amble.


    Once the lady was some distance away, Gault, who had stood stiffly in the midst of the dazed crowd, was overwhelmed by a sensation of exhaustion.


    Describing this feeling would be like how a person traveling on a mountain path would feel after spotting an extremely venomous snake at his feet but managing to escape without being bitten. A mixture of relief, dread, and an almost surreal sense, as if just having awakened from a nightmare.


    Nevertheless, Gauld felt that something was amiss.


    Weisshem was a haven for wealthy men, but it wasn''t completely devoid of esteemed ladies¡ªa baron had spent an entire summer squandering his estate''s profits here and refused to return home until the baroness, accompanied by an entourage of servants and stewards, arrived to forcibly retrieve him.


    How can a noble lady come out without a large entourage?


    At this thought, Gauld immediately became alert and looked toward the lady now in the distance.


    Weisshem was situated at the southernmost border of the Rhine Kingdom, close to the Sorensen Mountains. Unscrupulous denizens of these mountains had, on some occasions, set their eyes on this town before.


    Incidents, with bandit gangs sending scouts into Weisshem, weren''t that uncommon. Just that¡­ Captain Gauld, who had this thought, felt a degree of uncertainty.


    Would a bandit gang''s scout, if that was who she was, adopt such an ostentatious and shockingly conspicuous approach?


    Captain Gauld stood in place for a while, struggling to make sense of the situation. However, he couldn''t shake off the unease creeping over him when he considered disregarding this enigmatic lady.


    After careful deliberation, Captain Gauld decided that caution was paramount. He walked over to the tavern, summoned his comrades, and directed them to the lady who was attracting everyone''s attention.


    As a militia captain, he carried quite some authority, and even if his subordinates were clearly reluctant, they still steeled themselves and carried out orders to keep a close eye on this lady.


    The lady, who drew eyes to her wherever she went, reached the end of the street. She stopped, then went for another lap on the main street of this little town.


    When she turned around, Captain Gauld saw her face, and a shiver ran down his spine.


    He finally understood why everyone who had seen her face exhibited that stunned demeanor¡ªthey couldn''t help it! Nobody could!


    The scary lady seemed to notice the group of uniformed militia following her, but she didn''t show any surprise. Instead, she casually scrutinized the uniform militia with an air of indifference before continuing her leisurely stroll with unabated enthusiasm and taking in the sights of the street.


    Wherever she went, bewilderment ensued, but she remained unperturbed¡­


    The kind of attention she garnered would have sent most ladies clutching their skirts and fleeing in embarrassment to find a spot and cry. But not this scary lady; she seemed entirely indifferent, strolling at a leisurely pace and admiring the streetscape.


    She didn''t care, but the same couldn''t be said for the brothels. How could they continue their business when such a character, who excessively disrupted the town''s decorum and significantly dampened clients'' enthusiasm for pleasure, roamed the streets?


    As she retraced her steps halfway through the town, enforcers from several brothels approached her, attempting to engage her in conversation.


    However, their attempts were futile. These usually intimidating and fearsome figures in the world of pleasure establishments merely lasted seconds, barely uttering only a few incoherent phrases before scattering in disarray.


    Captain Gauld, trailing behind the scary lady, simply covered his face with his hand.


    "O Lady Gold Coin, how does this end?" murmured an older comrade, his face pallid. "Captain, what if she doesn''t leave?"


    The relationship between the militia and enforcers from local brothels wasn''t exactly harmonious. Both sides regarded the other as freeloaders. However, at this moment, the militiamen weren''t in the mood to enjoy the spectacle or laugh at the enforcers. They understood that if the situation couldn''t be handled by those enforcers, it would fall on their shoulders to report it to the sheriff.


    Cleaning up the mess left by the usually brash nightlife enforcers was something the militia detested. Nevertheless, all of them relied on these pleasure establishments for their livelihoods, so they had to deal with it, whether they liked it or not.


    Captain Gault had a heavy look on his face. After a moment of silence, he gritted his teeth and muttered, "We''ll cross that bridge when we get there."


    Fortunately, the worst-case scenario didn''t come to pass.


    The scary lady, after having taken a stroll up and down the town''s main street, seemed to have gotten her fill of excitement. She doubled back to the town gate, then left town, disappearing into the darkness without so much as a look back.


    There were militia on gate duty too. Typically, young women (and attractive young men) weren''t allowed to leave Weisshem without male companions. Even with male companions, they would be subjected to rigorous questioning by the militiamen and had to prove their free citizen status before being allowed to pass. There were just too many whores that tricked clients into sympathizing with them before trying to leave town together, and the militia would catch quite a few each month. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    However¡­ no militiaman dared to halt the seemingly youthful scary lady. Even after she had vanished into the distance, Captain Gauld, who had watched his subordinates "fail in their duties," could only heave a long sigh of relief.


    Half an hour later, Weisshem began to recover from the shock and gradually regained its usual vigor.


    An hour later, Captain Gauld was summoned by the sheriff, Sir Boris. Boris hadn''t personally witnessed the scary lady, but he became infuriated upon hearing about the suspicious person that had been allowed by the militia to leave. He sternly instructed Captain Gauld to cancel all militia leave and enforce five days of high-intensity patrols to prevent potential attacks, possibly from bandits or marauders.


    Marauders (distinct from ordinary bandit gangs in that they were mounted bandits), had previously targeted Weisshem in the past. Each incursion had resulted in heavy losses, so Captain Gauld had no choice but to comply.


    Weisshem''s militia consisted of the town''s burliest men who enjoyed a handsome income from the generous payouts of pleasure establishment proprietors. These well-fed and robust men not only possessed impressive physiques but also received at least entry-level professional training and were equipped with weapons and armor. Their combat capabilities were on par with, if not better than, those of typical medium-sized mercenary groups.


    Given the unique nature of Weisshem and its frequent incidents (there would be disturbances involving clients who either spent too much or were intoxicated escalating into bloody conflicts nearly every night), the town''s militiamen were well-experienced in handling sudden events. In just a short span of time, squads of armed patrol units appeared both inside and outside the town, vigilantly watching every movement.


    Time passed by slowly. Two hours passed, then three, four, five hours¡­


    Until four in the early morning, other than an increase in drunks on the street and arresting a few carriage drivers who refused to pay older and unattractive streetwalkers, no other incidents occurred.


    Gauld listened to his squad members'' complaints, and considering that his authority essentially stemmed from his squad rather than the sheriff, Gauld decided to subtly go against the grain. He ordered some teams that had been patrolling outside the town for over six hours to rotate back and get some rest.


    At five in the morning, the number of militiamen patrolling within and around the town had dwindled to just a few dozen.


    Jimmy, a militiaman guarding the town gate, was exhausted and couldn''t stop yawning. He sipped on the cheapest corn rum to stay awake and struggled to keep his eyes open while surveying the empty space outside his duty post.


    Guarding the town gate was a lucrative gig. Even though Weisshem didn''t collect gate taxes, if there were traders among the client¨¨le wishing to bring their wares into town, they had to grease the militiamen''s palms a little.


    However, this opportunity to make extra money was only during the early hours. Late into the night, there were hardly any travelers, and the duty personnel would only endure the shift.


    Jimmy was still rather young; his father didn''t hold much sway in town and led an unremarkable life. When it was Jimmy''s squad''s turn to guard the town gate, he would usually miss the peak hours. It wasn''t until the wee hours when the only people seen were the inebriated drunks would Jimmy sit at the duty post.


    There were three men on each shift. Two other older squad members that were similarly around the same level on the squad hierarchy weren''t as dutiful as Jimmy. One was somewhere else relaxing, while the other was sleeping soundly in the rest area behind the duty post.


    After finishing the last drops of the corn rum, Jimmy stepped out of his duty post and placed the empty bottle in a corner on the street. Once day broke, the children who scavenged for items would cheerfully collect the empty alcohol bottles discarded by the militiamen; ten of these rough, blue glass bottles could fetch a copper coin. Jimmy had done this kind of work when he was younger.


    The cold wind in the early morning made Jimmy shiver. From a nearby alley that was closer to the town gate, he could hear the wailing cries of one of the drunkard whores, but he wasn''t sure which one.


    Jimmy didn''t hold the whores and manwhores that lingered in the alleyways of this street in high regard. These were people who had been expelled from the brothels and couldn''t return to a respectable life. Such people shamelessly lingered on this street.


    As he was about to re-enter his duty post, the corner of Jimmy''s eye caught a glimpse of something white.


    He stopped, slightly perplexed, and inclined his head for a better look.


    Not far from his duty post stood an electric pole with an operational streetlight. While it wasn''t very bright, the streetlight provided a certain degree of visibility to the militiamen on duty, allowing Jimmy to see within a range of 10 meters outside the town gate.


    In a spot just a little further from the streetlight was a white object that didn''t appear to be very lustrous. It hovered abruptly at the height of a person.


    Jimmy stared at this thing for a while and, driven by curiosity, he left his duty post once more and quietly moved beyond the town gate.


    There were two rows of trees adorned with colorful lights just beyond the town gate. These lights were usually powered on during the first half of the night and were turned off when there were no more customers later in the night.


    Jimmy passed the electric pole and discovered¡­ that this white object seemed to be tightly pressed against a tree trunk, concealed in the shadow beneath the tree.


    Jimmy''s eyes narrowed, and he silently drew his dagger.


    If the colorful lights near the town gate were stolen, the people on duty would be fined.


    Jimmy had a strong aversion to those who didn''t follow the rules, and he was determined to teach a lesson to whoever dared to steal the lights while he was on duty.


    He cautiously approached the person hiding beneath the tree, gripping the hilt of his dagger.


    Ten meters, five meters, three meters.


    As if aware that the gig was up, the person beneath the tree moved and awkwardly turned over.


    Jimmy got a clear look at this light thief.


    It was a face¡­ without any flesh.


    No skin, no flesh, no nose¡­ Just a gleaming skull.


    Jimmy''s mouth hung open as he stared dumbfoundedly at the gleaming skull.


    Two seconds later, a faint, almost inaudible gurgling sound emanated from the young man''s throat, and his eyes rolled back.


    Jimmy''s dagger fell to the ground with a clang, and his body crumpled limply.

 Chapter 84: Grim Reaper outside the window

    Moments after Jimmy fainted, more skeletons emerged from the shadows of the surrounding trees, gathering around the fallen militiaman.


    "Why did he collapse? I didn''t even do anything! Don''t tell me he''s trying to do an insurance scam?" said the back-of-skull guy.


    "He''s literally foaming from the mouth. This NPC''s acting skills are amazing if it''s an insurance scam," a nearby player quipped. "Told you that your position was sh*t and you would get spotted by the sentry. I signaled you so many times, but you didn''t move."


    "Huh? I didn''t see it?"


    "Isn''t that obvious? You were gesturing at him from behind your tree. Of course, he wouldn''t see sh*t!"


    "Sssh! Sssh! Damn it! It''s a secret operation. Can''t you guys be a bit more focused?"


    "Aren''t we serious? I didn''t even laugh out loud when this sentry acted cute; that''s considerate enough."


    Unceasing Entropy was about to stop this chatty bunch but suddenly froze upon hearing what they said.


    Beside her, Blossoming Strokes let out an "ah" and did a little fist pump.


    Ji Tang crouched over the fallen sentry and made sure he was still breathing. When he looked up and hadn''t yet said anything, he saw the two strategic-thinking ladies who had devised the plan for this nighttime raid were exchanging meaningful glances.


    "Ji-God, did the sentry really faint from fright?" Blossoming Strokes immediately asked the moment she saw Ji Tang had finished his inspection.


    "He''s fainted indeed," Ji Tang said as he drew out two nylon restraints and started fastening them to Jimmy''s wrists and ankles.


    These convenient binding tools were found in the tricycles they had ridden here, and Ji Tang wondered if Lord Yang had packed them in the supply cart from the start¡­


    "Sis Blossom, what''s your take?" Unceasing Entropy''s breathing was somewhat ragged.


    "I think that''s feasible." Blossoming Strokes nodded vigorously.


    "Speak in proper language! Standard and proper!" Brother Lahong couldn''t take it and interjected.


    "I''ll explain." Blossoming Strokes gave Unceasing Entropy a nod. "For this siege quest, there might be any solution that could significantly reduce the probability of being sent back to Exile Town."


    All the surrounding players immediately stopped the chattering and listened attentively.


    Roughly 15 minutes later, the 226 players gathered in front of the town gate, divided into 25 teams, and sneaked into the city one by one.


    These teams, with varying numbers, entered the city without openly brandishing their weapons and hacking and slashing everything in their paths. Instead, they silently infiltrated the alleys, stealthily advancing toward the strategic locations of the town: the various brothels, town hall, sheriff''s office, and militia headquarters police station.


    Weisshem had a base population of around 6,000 and a transient population (pleasure-seekers included) of approximately 4,000. The town wasn''t large, but it was far from small.


    However, the players who had entered Weisshem for the first time seemed to possess an uncanny familiarity with the town''s layout and moved through it rather effortlessly.


    Their ability to navigate so smoothly owed much to their earlier "infiltration investigation" conducted six hours ago in-game¡ªwhile Blossoming Strokes, equipped with Give Me Medicine''s Orb of Deception, conspicuously strolled through the town''s main street, two other players tasked with reconnaissance had entered the town as well.


    Top players like Brother Lahong, Qin Guan, Blossoming Strokes, Unceasing Entropy, and Ji Tang held substantial influence and reputation within the player community, so borrowing the two other Orbs of Deception owned by whales wasn''t too challenging.


    While Blossoming Strokes drew the attention of Weisshem''s militia and brothel enforcers, the two other players who had volunteered as scouts had no trouble exploring every nook and cranny of the town''s streets and noting the key landmarks. This town was, in fact, smaller than a typical district in a tier-3 Chinese city. Anyone with a decent sense of direction could easily memorize the layout of the town after a single run.


    To sum it up, thanks to the players'' audacious maneuvers, Weisshem''s geographical situation was transparent to the players even before the battle even commenced.


    Of course, Blossoming Strokes'' excursion along the main street hadn''t been in vain. While distracting the militia and brothel guards, she had also gotten a rather accurate gauge on them¡­


    The assault team, composed of 11 players with high combat ability, including the likes of Ji Tang, Yang Ying, Tang Jia, Give Me Medicine, Unceasing Entropy, Blossoming Strokes, Study Obsessed, and Win By Grinding, set their sights on the militia headquarters, classified as a prime target after Blossoming Strokes'' assessment.


    "The militia here, from what I''ve seen, are between Level 1 and 2. Their equipment and skill level are similar to the batch of private thugs we previously encountered but with slightly greater combat prowess. There wasn''t a single Level 2 among those thugs then."


    As they moved along the wall, Blossoming Strokes gave the team a final briefing on the key points of their operation. "The militia headquarters isn''t far from the main street. We''ll be able to see it as we work further down. It''s a four-story building with over twenty windows according to my count. It''s highly likely that some of these rooms would serve as dormitories for the militia. Let''s start by subduing the militiamen in the dormitories, and the ones remaining outside would likely be just few and scattered."


    "Hmm¡­ What about the other sleeping sentry at the guard post by the town gate? Will there be any problems? We didn''t deal with him earlier," Win By Grinding asked.


    "If even that lazybones is no longer there, those militiamen patrolling outside the town might notice something amiss sooner," Unceasing Entropy answered.


    "Alright, one other question. The militia captain is a Level-2 NPC, right? What if this militia captain doesn''t stay in the dormitory?" Win By Grinding raised another issue.


    "Why are you so meticulous? So be it if he isn''t there. Would a small-time NPC turn the tides?" Give Me Medicine retorted in annoyance.


    Win By Grinding glared at Give Me Medicine, but no longer said anything.


    "There''s nothing we can do about it. With the language barrier, we can''t communicate even with the Orb of Deception. We can''t ask where that militia captain lives," Blossoming Strokes gave Give Me Medicine a stern glance and explained nicely. "Anyway, we are testing the waters today, and it''s fine even if things don''t work out. At most, we invest more effort and keep on trying if we end up back at Exile Town."


    Win By Grinding nodded, accepting the explanation.


    After circling the alleys twice, the assault team spotted the standout building that was the militia headquarters.


    There was a sentry post stationed at the entrance, but no one was in it. There were wires for the electric lights in the courtyard, but they weren''t turned on.


    The players had no reason to refuse such a generous welcome gesture. They swiftly climbed over the iron gate and entered the courtyard without any hesitation.


    There was a hall on the first floor, facing a courtyard that was lit up. Ji Tang signaled the other players with a shushing gesture, stealthily went up the front steps, and peered inside the slightly ajar door.


    The hall, illuminated by several lanterns, could be described as a foul sight. At least 20 militiamen were either drinking, playing cards, or dozing off on sofas behind the card tables.


    Ji Tang quietly retreated down the front steps and returned to the group. "There are quite a number of people inside. I estimate around 20."


    "Let''s use this bunch as a trial," Blossoming Strokes said and began taking off her equipment.


    "Wait," Unceasing Entropy interrupted. "I feel like a bare skeleton isn''t frightening enough. How about we dress up in clothes that this bunch is more familiar with?"


    "Makes sense." Blossoming Strokes looked around, then waved her skeletal hand. This 11-man assault team went around the building and went to the backyard, where they swiped militia uniforms hanging on a clothesline.


    Besides taking the uniforms, the meticulous and detail-oriented Unceasing Entropy even smeared some mud on the clean clothes¡­


    The militia uniforms were much more loose-fitting for skeletons, so the players didn''t need to remove their equipment and simply wore it over. Once they were geared up in full militia uniform, the players returned to the front courtyard and stood before the entrance hall.


    At this point, Unceasing Entropy still felt that the rhythm was somewhat lacking. She pointed to the windows and said, "Ghosts probably don''t use doors, right? What do you guys think?"


    Everyone: "¡­"


    "Qingyue, you have a talent for being wicked. I''m starting to feel sorry for the NPCs inside," Tang Jia remarked with mixed feelings.


    "Let''s go." Unceasing Entropy acted as if she hadn''t heard the remark. "We''ll crouch under the window sill and have only one person lightly tap on the window. When the people inside start to pay notice, we gradually increase the intensity. Once the rhythm is right, those crouching can stand up one by one and smash the windows. It''s better to build up fear gradually, just like a horror film."


    Blossoming Strokes agreed wholeheartedly. "Qingyue is right. We ought to do it this way. Gradually intensifying the fear factor would be more effective compared to giving them a scare right off the bat."


    Everyone: "¡­"


    Give Me Medicine couldn''t help but jest, "Why don''t we log out and suggest the addition of scary sound effects? When we appear, background music can play, and it would add more to the eerie ambiance."


    Unceasing Entropy and Blossoming Strokes completely ignored him. The two ladies led the way by crouching under a window and beckoned to the others that were still standing in the courtyard.


    The players had traveled more than twenty kilometers via mountain roads before the night raid and had also spent six hours practicing their lifestyle class skills or fighting monsters while waiting for late night to come in-game. Right now, not a single skeleton was clean, and with the oversized uniforms that were intentionally muddied, it made them look like they had freshly risen from the grave.


    Unceasing Entropy, who could be rather evil when she put her mind to it, made the first move. Without revealing herself, she simply raised a skeletal hand and began tapping the window pane lightly.


    It was rather noisy inside, with intoxicated militiamen hurling insults at each other while playing cards, so this faint knocking couldn''t be heard.


    Unceasing Entropy didn''t get impatient and continued tapping for a bit before increasing the intensity.


    After a dozen or so rhythmic and gradually intensifying taps, one of the less intoxicated militiamen seemed to hear something. He stopped talking to his friend and looked around in bewilderment.


    "Hey, what''s going on?" Militiaman B, who was conversing with him, was unhappy with his distracted demeanor and slapped his comrade''s shoulder.


    "Strange, I thought I heard something? Didn''t you hear it?" the still somewhat sober Militiaman A said.


    "Oh? What are you implying? A woman''s moans? If you want a woman, go to the streets. When has Weisshem ever lacked those?" Militiaman B laughed heartily.


    "No, it''s not¡­" Militiaman A shook his head, wanting to say something, but paused and frowned. "Hey, buddy, listen. This sound is getting louder."


    "All I hear is Sam letting out a fart, hahaha!"


    Militiaman A shook his head again, not expecting anything from this drunkard, and got up by himself.


    The rhythmic rapping grew louder by the second, and Militiaman A found this sound rather familiar, just that he couldn''t quite place it because he had been drinking too.


    As Militiaman A tried to look around in his slightly inebriated state, his peripheral vision swept by the window and¡­ his eyes suddenly narrowed.


    The glass windows used by the militia headquarters were just standard flat glass that wasn''t very smooth, with impurities and bubbles within that could cause slight visual distortion when looking through them.


    But, even with distortions, Militiaman A could clearly see¡­ a bone-chilling skeletal claw on the windowsill, tapping on the window over and over.


    "Aaah!" Militiaman A shrieked and fell back onto the sofa.


    This shriek seemed to be the signal for action. The bone claw that had been tapping against the window slammed heavily against the window frame. The owner of this bone claw, a dirt-covered skeleton in a militia uniform, also "floated" into frame.


    "Aaah! Aaahhh!!" Militiaman A shot up from the sofa and went behind, grabbing Militiaman B by the shoulder and forcefully shaking him while pointing toward the window.


    "What are you doing?" Militiaman B, who was sobered up by this vigorous shaking, shouted at Militiaman A, annoyed, and only then did he look in the direction of the window.


    Outside the window stood a skeleton.


    This skeleton was wearing their uniform, covered in dirt and grime, with one bone claw perched on the windowsill and the other repeatedly striking the window frame.


    "Aaaaaahhhhh!!"


    Militiaman B let out a scream more piercing than Militiaman A''s, and his wine glass fell to the floor, shattering into pieces.


    These two made such a commotion that all their fellow comrades in the same room, whether drunk or engrossed in their card games, stopped whatever they were doing and turned to look at them in annoyance and irritation.


    In perfect unison, Militiamen A and B pointed in the direction of the window, their trembling lips unable to form a coherent sentence.


    The men all turned toward the window while still cursing¡­


    And then, the cursing stopped.


    This bunch that had lost themselves in gambling and drinking stared blankly in the direction of the window, wide-eyed and mouths agape.


    Before this bunch of militiamen, sluggish from alcohol and still up this late at night, could react, a second skeleton appeared outside the window, followed by a third, then a fourth¡­


    In just a few seconds, over ten skeletons had appeared, covering the entire one-and-a-half-meter-wide window.


    These dirt-covered skeletons, as if they had just crawled out of a grave, crowded against the window, staring at the people inside with their dark eye sockets while the many bone claws pounded rhythmically on the window frame.


    "Aaahhh!"


    "Mommy!"


    "Lady Gold Coin! What in the world is this?!" Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The militiamen were on the brink of going crazy, and some started to scream.


    The skeletons outside seemed to become more enthusiastic. Their pounding turned to bashing, and the window frame shook continuously.


    If the players suddenly broke in through the window, these militiamen, who were used to running rampant in town, might pick up weapons and fight back in the heat of the moment.


    However, the players were merely outside, tapping and knocking on the window, inducing panic but with no imminent threat to life. Consequently, the militiamen in the room lost any courage to resist.


    Not only was the courage to confront the situation head-on lacking, but some "smarter" ones even thought about escaping and letting others deal with it when they saw the window frame shaking precariously as if it were about to break.


    Several men closest to the hallway took the lead in running away. This bunch of militiamen, who already had little fighting spirit to begin with, crumbled, and all of them rushed toward the hallway in whimpers.


    The subsequent events that followed were no surprise. When it came to speed, players weren''t inferior to professional-level combatants. They gleefully smashed the window and jumped into the room, sweeping through the entire building floor by floor and capturing their targets as if they were chickens.


    It wasn''t just the militiamen on night duty who were caught; even the resting militiamen in the dormitories upstairs couldn''t escape. With the spread of panic, it was futile to think about mounting an effective resistance no matter how many people were there.


    In less than half an hour, all 141 stationed militiamen at the militia headquarters were taken out.


    Militia captain Kardo Gauld didn''t return home on this night.


    His wife stayed in Indahl to care for their two children studying in a private institution there, so there were only three elderly relatives in Gauld''s Weisshem place. Moreover, due to Gauld''s status in town, no one ever inquired whether he was having an extramarital affair or staying out late.


    As per usual, Captain Gauld, who knocked off in the middle of the night, went to a club called "Lover" to meet with his current lover and spend the rest of the night with an affectionate rendezvous.


    Whether it was the streetwalkers in the alleys or male whores, very few willingly engaged in the flesh trade. However, since reality was such, people would often find reasons to deceive themselves in order to survive.


    Gauld''s lover, Madam Shirley, was one such person who deceived herself in order to live. She tried her hardest to make herself believe that the fleeting novelty of pleasure-seeking customers was also a form of love, and even the affection shown by the pleasure-seekers, however insincere, made her more valuable than others.


    Under this self-deceptive brainwashing "to make the best out of a bad situation," Madam Shirley did everything she could to extend the "honeymoon period" of her clients. Whenever Captain Gauld spent the night with her, she was always ecstatic as if she were a legitimate wife welcoming her husband home.


    Just that¡­ one could not live a lie forever. Even in a meticulously constructed false world, the human soul, deep within, instinctively raised doubts and questions.


    The sky was still terrifyingly dark when Madam Shirley woke up from a nightmare.


    She couldn''t help but tremble uncontrollably in bed for a moment. After regaining her composure, she carefully shifted Captain Gauld''s arm, got out of bed quietly, and walked to the window, barefoot.


    Madam Shirley was no longer young, and she couldn''t compete with young teenage girls. Her room was situated toward the back, so all she could see out of her window was a pitch-black alley and not the bright streetscape of years past.


    Hugging herself and leaning against the window, she stared blankly at the darkness outside.


    A person like her had long lost any hope for the future. Or¡­ perhaps most of those on this street could only rely on repeatedly savoring the brief moments of happiness they had once experienced in the past as nourishment for their souls.


    Such a life was exhausting.


    Whenever Madam Shirley woke up from a nightmare like this, she would think about dying.


    When would she finally be released from this life?


    She couldn''t wait any longer.


    Madam Shirley, staring numbly through the window, suddenly saw the image of a reaper appear outside the glass.


    The skeletal Grim Reaper, clad in a white robe and holding a steel knife, leaned on her windowsill, staring at her through the glass window.


    Madam Shirley gazed silently at the Grim Reaper, and the Grim Reaper did the same.


    After a few seconds, Madam Shirley was certain that the Grim Reaper outside her window wasn''t an illusion¡­ and tears welled up in her eyes.


    "¡­You''ve finally come." The exhausted woman, with tears streaming down her face, smiled with a sense of relief. She opened the window as if afraid the Grim Reaper would change his mind and extended her hands toward it.


    The Grim Reaper, outside the window, tilted his head slightly. Then¡­ albeit somewhat hesitant, the Grim Reaper opened its bony claw and grabbed Madam Shirley''s hand.


    The trembling Madam Shirley bent forward, pressing her face against the Grim Reaper''s icy bone claw and muttering, "Please take me with you. I''m begging you, please take me¡­"


    Grim Reaper: "¡­"


    The slightly bewildered player held the shoulders of this female NPC and gently pushed her to the side before adeptly jumping through the opened window.


    Upon noticing the male NPC lying on the bed, the player''s eyes lit up. Like a starving wolf, he charged over, lifting the blanket and swiftly securing nylon restraints around the NPC''s wrists and ankles before expertly shoving the underwear lying by the bed into the NPC''s mouth.


    Before Madam Shirley could process what was happening after being pushed aside by the Grim Reaper, Captain Kardo Gauld had already been dealt with.


    A second player crawled in through the window, glanced strangely at the bewildered civilian NPC standing nearby, and asked the first player, "What''s up with this woman? Do we need to restrain her?"


    "I don''t know, but this NPC seems to be on our side. She opened the window for me," said the first player. "Come help me. This NPC is Level 2, and we have to get him under control first."


    "Sure."


    The two players worked together to lift Captain Gauld, who was now awake and struggling frantically, off the bed, wrapped him in bedsheets to further restrict his movements, then stuffed him under the bed.


    Throughout this process, Madam Shirley remained rooted to her spot, completely dumbfounded.


    After the two "Grim Reapers" had stuffed Captain Gauld under the bed, they began to divide up his personal belongings.


    "Whoa, the sword used by this NPC is amazing! The physical attack is so high, it''s on par with an Uncommon-grade weapon!"


    "Oh my, this ring''s return value is 50 copper coins?! We''ve made a fortune!"


    "Hahaha! All our losses from earlier have been made up!"


    After collecting any loot they could identify as valuable, the two Grim Reapers opened the room door and walked out, paying no heed to the startled or screaming hostesses who had woken up.


    Still in a daze, Madam Shirley watched the Grim Reapers leave, then suddenly came to her senses and chased after them.


    The two skeletons made a turn in the hallway and took the stairs to the ground floor, where they joined hands to open up the club''s main entrance and allowed another six or seven skeletons to enter.


    Madam Shirley, standing at the foot of the staircase, was dumbfounded once more.


    Although these skeletons noticed Madam Shirley as they entered the club, they showed no interest in her (in the eyes of players, unarmed civilians without hostile intentions held no significance). They split into groups of two or three and systematically moved through various rooms. Whether it was overnight guests, enforcers taking a nap in the staff break room, or even the bosses sleeping in their offices, the players subdued them all, binding them and muffling their cries.


    After sweeping through Lover Club, these skeletons departed without the slightest bit of sentimental attachment. They paid no attention to the frightened hostesses screaming and crying.


    Madam Shirley had followed the skeletons throughout their operation, witnessing them sweep through the establishment and subdue the enforcers, but was still completely unable to comprehend what was happening.


    When the skeletons left, she chased them to the door and saw the group of skeletons running to the adjacent strip club. One of the skeletons, whom she had previously mistaken for a Grim Reaper, draped itself in a white bedsheet and skillfully began scaling the wall.


    In no time came screams from inside the strip club.


    "Ghosts! Aaaaah!"


    Madam Shirley: "¡­"


    And she also saw¡­ further down the street, another group of skeletons entering and leaving the main entrance of another establishment¡­


    Madam Shirley silently returned to Lover Club.


    Inside, the 20 or so frightened hostesses of the establishment had gathered in the lobby, not daring to go outside or return to their rooms. When they saw Shirley, who had the courage to follow the skeletons, return, they all looked toward her.


    Madam Shirley took a deep breath¡­


    "Don''t just stand there! Look for any valuable items and hide them. W-we will take those things if the skeletons don''t want them!"

 Chapter 85: Injured civilians

    There was no one who disliked youth.


    However, some people adored the vitality of youth, the potential of youth, and the creativity of youth, while others simply revered youth itself. Among the latter group, there were two distinct categories.


    The first type of people regarded youth as a plaything¡ªa commodity¡ªwhile the second type regarded youth as capital¡ªdon''t be mistaken; it isn''t the sort of capital that generates profits, but rather, the capital to be willful.


    The first group had a fervent inclination to draw the young and naive into their sordid circles, employing money, power, force, and even honeyed words at zero cost to toy with and exploit inexperienced youngsters.


    The second group, primarily consisting of young people, mostly believed that there were only two phases in life: adolescence and youth. Without any reason to back them up, they reckoned that only the young had the right to flirt with dreams and indulge without restraint. Such individuals had an enthusiasm for mocking older strangers as "old ladies" or "greasy middle-aged men" as if they could never reach the age of those they mocked. Interestingly, within this group, there were some that overlapped with the first category and viewed others as playthings.


    In China, these two types of people often had to hide behind masks to engage in their revelry; in a healthy human society, objectification, transaction, and discrimination of fellow humans, at the very least, in established rules and within the bounds of social norms, were prohibited and socially punishable.


    However, in an environment of human society that wasn''t as healthy¡­ The conditions were ripe for these two categories of people to run amok, and they would even prosper more than ordinary law-abiding citizens.


    Weisshem didn''t start out as a "financially affluent" town. Although the main street in the town was grandly constructed, the incomplete city walls exposed the fact that the town was nothing more than a nouveau riche creation. The three-meter-high walls could only cover the old town area, and the town''s expansion in recent decades did not include walls; instead, it was guarded by the sturdy architecture of the brothel buildings.


    This sort of makeshift exterior town defense was more than sufficient for Weisshem. The town was situated in an inland area with no main rivers around and not bordering other countries, only needed defending from wild beasts, the occasional wandering monster, bandits, and marauders.


    "Elegant Dreams," a colossal entertainment establishment larger in scale than "Gold Coast," consisted of a four-story main building and two three-story auxiliary buildings. High walls, even taller than Weisshem''s walls, connected the three buildings, with barbed wire lining the top. Had Ossirian, Lyka, or young Brook been at this club, they wouldn''t have had any chance of escape.


    In private, attendants of Weisshem referred to Elegant Dreams as a prison and its owner, Garcia Greene, a tyrant. However, when Greene learned of these nicknames by chance, he not only didn''t get angry but also generously rewarded the slip of the tongue from a young attendant with two silver coins.


    Greene loved the moniker "Tyrant." He was happy to hold such a unique position in Weisshem''s "hospitality" circle.


    Garcia Greene had once served a baron as a coachman for six years. The seemingly humble position of a coachman shouldn''t be underestimated; in actuality, the ones closest to those noble, powerful gentlemen and privy to their masters'' secrets were personal coachmen, if not butlers.


    Greene, who had diligently driven the baron to various mistresses'' residences for six years while protecting his master''s secrets, gained the opportunity for an external posting when the baron needed to gain financial muscle to get close to certain countesses.


    Thus, as an ambitious young man in his early twenties, Greene gained the authority to manage the baron''s discretionary funds. He left the Rhine Kingdom''s capital and arrived in the remote southern fringes of Weisshem to set up shop. While continually supplying "extramarital affair funds" to the baron for years, he quietly established a sort of "kingdom" of his own.


    Whether the dedication of his youth to the baron''s clandestine affairs held any value or meaning had never concerned Garcia Greene.


    He only cared for one thing. Elegant Dreams with its 42 enforcers, 19 servers, and 271 hostesses, where he was "king."


    At five in the morning, a time when most people were soundly dreaming, the "King''s Game" at Elegant Dreams had only just begun.


    The basement of the main building was Greene''s "playground." The cold blue brick floor was perpetually wet from a mixture of blood, tears, nasal secretions, and even some peculiar bodily fluids.


    Green sat on a plush sofa, sipping red wine. Before him was a coffee table, and across the table, bound to stone pillars, were a man and a woman.


    The man was incredibly robust. His trembling muscular body adorned with whip marks was a testament to his identity¡­ He was an enforcer of Elegant Dreams.


    In contrast, the woman was frail, with disheveled long hair framing her sunken cheeks. Her flesh seemed saggy, and even while bound, she couldn''t maintain her balance, her body hanging to the side.


    "I''m so sorry, Mr. Greene, it wasn''t intentional¡­ Please forgive me¡­" the trembling enforcer continuously pleaded under Greene''s frightening gaze.


    He had personally carried out several corpses out of this basement and understood all too well what being brought down here entailed.


    Garcia Greene chuckled and put his wine glass down. He picked up a riding crop and pointed it at the half-dead woman. "Look at Sibyl, she can''t even resist if I were to feed her cow''s piss. Yet, you somehow ''failed to notice'' she stopped taking the fattening drug. Tell me, Ben, how much is your apology even worth?"


    Ben shuddered and closed his eyes in agony.


    "Maybe I would have understood if you showed pity to a young and pretty hostess¡­" Greene circled around from behind the coffee table and stood in front of Ben. "But you violated the rules for this kind of trash. Tell me, Ben, are you right in the head? Are you suddenly going to go crazy like those church fellas say?"


    Ben''s face paled.


    To instill fear in people and discourage anyone from associating with heretics, most churches employed the most severe punishment methods for those who lost their minds¡ªtypically, burning at the stake.


    Ben no longer dared to hide anything. Stammering, he gave his reason, "N-no, Mr. Greene, it-it''s actually¡­ just that Sibyl is nearly of age¡­ I-I didn''t want her to spend her last half-year¡­"


    Weisshem belonged to the Rhine Kingdom, and though there was a tacit understanding with regard to rules that applied to countries in this world, including the Rhine Kingdom, noblemen that wielded power and authority still had to act like they were decent people on the surface.


    For instance, everyone knew that Weisshem''s attendants had debatable origins, had no personal freedom, no employment benefits, no salaries or retirement pensions, and perhaps even lacked the guarantee of regular meals. However, the noblemen still documented some seemingly humane "labor protection" for these unfortunate souls.


    One such rule stated that attendants working in Weisshem''s special industry needed to have their "employment contracts" terminated if they had worked for 10 years or reached the age of 26.


    This particular rule, whether it was intended to give the attendants a glimpse of freedom or enable owners to legitimately dispose of "problematic assets" without consequences, at the very least offered the attendants a chance to break free from their "employers." This meant they no longer had to endure being forced to consume the highly harmful fattening drugs originally intended for livestock, and perhaps, there was hope for them to live beyond the age of 30.


    Sibyl was approaching 26¡ªat least, that was what was written in her "contract" (indenture).


    On hearing this, Garcia Greene was first slightly taken aback before he burst into hearty laughter.


    "By Lady Gold Coin! Oh, Ben, I never dreamed that I''d have such a pure and innocent young lad as you working under me!" Greene chortled so hard tears welled up in his eyes. Hugging his belly in one hand, he waved the riding crop in the other and beckoned at the marks on Ben''s battered body. "You are deserving of praise, dear Ben. This is your reward from me. Like it? Do you like it, huh?"


    Ben gritted his teeth and endured the pain, not daring to let out a scream.


    During the "King''s Game," when the King declared a reward, anyone who showed resistance would undoubtedly meet a grim fate.


    Greene continuously administered over a dozen lashes until he began to wheeze. Only then did he stop.


    When Ben, who was about to faint from the pain, realized that Greene was panting, the latter returned back to the sofa and sat down, hiding his slightly trembling right hand while using his left to pick up his wine glass.


    This despicable man, while hiding his breathlessness behind the guise of having a drink, peered at Ben in jealousy.


    He was past 40, and Ben, who had just turned 30, possessed physical strength and stamina that far surpassed him.


    It was only by recklessly trampling on these youthful and vibrant lives that Greene could find some semblance of balance.


    Suddenly, the stairs to the basement echoed with hurried footsteps.


    The only one among the hundreds of Elegant Dream''s staff who dared disturb Greene when he was relaxing was Phoebe, a stunning 19-year-old headliner attendant.


    Indeed, it was the gorgeous Phoebe, dressed only in a sexy nightgown, who pushed open the iron door to the basement. She rushed in, flustered, and went straight to Greene, completely oblivious to the bloodied Ben and barely alive Sibyl.


    "Something is happening upstairs, Garcia! Something terrible!" Phoebe clung to Greene''s arm intimately, suggesting that their relationship was more than just that of an employer and an employee. "I-I hear many people running and screaming. As if something has happened!"


    Greene liked this sort of young fool that reckoned she was different from others just because he gave her a few extra benefits. Gently, he consoled the young lady, "Don''t worry, dear. Stay right here. I''ll head upstairs and take a look."


    Phoebe nodded and watched adoringly as Greene left.


    She was very beautiful and also young. Given her age, she couldn''t possibly distinguish whether Greene''s "extra tenderness" toward her was merely for amusement or if he was genuinely captivated by her pristine charm.


    After Greene left the basement, Sibyl finally summoned the courage to move.


    Self-proclaimed "King" Garcia Greene had no interest in wasting his efforts on trash like Sibyl; however, the punishment that Ben endured had also terrified this unfortunate woman.


    Sibyl, who had gone the entire day without food or water, couldn''t even cry when she saw Ben''s miserable state. All she could manage was a faint, apologetic murmur.


    Ben shook his head and turned away, refusing to look at her.


    Sibyl licked her parched lips and glanced at the kettle on the coffee table, feeling even thirstier.


    "P-Phobe¡­ Can you give me some water? Please¡­" Holding a tiny glimmer of hope, Sibyl gathered the courage to plead with the young headliner.


    Phoebe turned to look at her, then poured a glass of water and went over.


    Just as Sibyl lifted her head to drink, Phoebe splashed the water on her face.


    "Here, drink." Phoebe lifted her chin in disdain and waved the empty glass.


    Sibyl stared at her in disbelief, the fire in her eyes gradually fading, and she returned to her previous half-conscious state.


    Ben glanced at the trembling Sibyl, then shifted his gaze to Phoebe, the headliner who now returned to the sofa, leaning back arrogantly with her feet propped up.


    "You shouldn''t have done that," Ben couldn''t hold back any longer and spoke up. "I''ve served Mr. Greene for nine years, and in those nine years, I''ve seen headliners after headliners. Do you know what happened to them in the end?"


    Phoebe, her face twisted in disgust, spared a disdainful glance at the disheveled Ben. She had no interest in engaging with this foolish man who had angered Garcia. Rolling her eyes, she turned away.


    "You¡ª"


    Ben was about to say more when a strange rattling echoed from the direction of the iron door.


    Before the three in the basement could discern what this strange noise was, the iron door was kicked open with a resounding crash.


    "Who¡­ Aaahhhhh!!!"


    Phoebe, who was about to be enraged, leaped up as if her butt had caught fire and ran to the other end of the basement, screaming her head off.


    Bursting into the basement were several skeletons armed with sharp knives and clad in bizarre scale armor.


    "O Lady Gold Coin!" Despite hurting badly from the lashes, Ben shouted in panic and struggled when he saw the skeletons.


    Sibyl, on the other hand, had the most immediate reaction. As soon as the skeletons burst into the room, she fainted without so much as making a sound.


    These reaper-like skeletons seemingly full of murderous intent¡­ acted strangely on the contrary.


    Instead of attacking the trio as Phoebe and Ben had feared, the skeletons stopped in their tracks and, to the astonishment of the former two, started communicating with each other in a bizarre, grating language.


    "KABAKBAKABA!"


    "KEUKEUEKUE!"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    "What the heck! Why are there only civilians? Where''s the boss? Where are the elite monsters??"


    "Are you kidding me?! Such a basement hidden deep underground and no boss! F*cking devs must be retarded!"


    "I can''t believe this. We might as well have continued looting the rooms!"


    The few players complained in frustration and, clinging to a glimmer of hope, cast "Identify" on the three NPCs in the basement.


    "Ah! That female NPC''s necklace is worth 80 copper coins according to Identify!" one of them pointed at Phoebe and exclaimed with delight.


    "Wait, wait, she''s just a civilian. Is it okay to loot civilians?" another player quickly interjected.


    "If the system doesn''t warn us against it, then it should be fine." The player who had Identified Phoebe''s necklace wasn''t too bothered and strode toward Phoebe, who had retreated to a corner in panic.


    Phoebe was scared witless and let out a piercing scream as she ran toward Ben.


    But she barely took a step before the player caught up.


    The player grabbed Phoebe by the arm, snatched the necklace off her neck, and took possession of the solid gold pendant.


    "Eh? It''s lootable! The system didn''t issue any warning!" said the player in pleasant surprise.


    Satisfied with the loot, the player abandoned the squealing Phoebe and gleefully returned to his group.


    Phoebe, who had narrowly escaped death, remained in a daze.


    "How much reward does healing an ''injured civilian'' like this grant?" the player who had Identified Ben asked a fellow compatriot.


    "I think it depends on the severity. It ranges from a minimum of 20 to a max of 100," replied the other player.


    "At least 20 points of territory prestige, huh? That''s not bad," muttered the former as he took out a few small vials from his waist pouch.


    A player advancing to the apothecary lifestyle class would receive a basic apothecary kit from the NPC instructor, which was essentially basic potion-making tools.


    These metal vials were also obtained from the Apothecary Instructor. These were modern industrially produced items that were inexpensive and were originally designed for storing medicine, though some unscrupulous traders would repurpose them for other uses, which wouldn''t be further elaborated on¡­


    Ben, who couldn''t break free from his restraints, felt absolute despair as he was approached by the player.


    The deathly skeleton walked up to him and raised a steel knife.


    With a cold flash, the knife swung swiftly and cleanly severed the ropes binding Ben.


    The skeleton re-sheathed its knife, then unscrewed a small steel bottle, pouring out a pungent, thick fluid, on which it then dabbed its bony fingers before applying it to Ben''s wounds.


    Ben: "?!"


    Ben was so dumbfounded he forgot to call out to Lady Gold Coin or even thought about escaping. He simply stared at the skeleton who was earnestly tending to his wounds.


    Visitors that came to Weisshem weren''t all law-abiding people. Occasionally, enforcers like Ben would tussle with men brought by such guests, and he was rather familiar with the smell of hemostatic ointment.


    Ordinary hemostatic ointment, being applied on his body by an absolutely extraordinary skeleton, left Ben utterly baffled.


    Ben''s external injuries were relatively easy to deal with, but the unconscious Sibyl posed a challenge for the other two players.


    "A weakened civilian¡­ How do we handle this? Applying medicine?"


    "I don''t know!"


    "Can''t you check her pulse and symptoms, like a diagnosis or something?"


    "Brother, I''m a computer science guy!"


    The player earning territory prestige while tending to Ben turned back and suggested, "How about giving something to eat or drink? Didn''t those few NPCs Blossoming Strokes and the others save get better after a few meals?"


    "Don''t have any! Who would bring along food when sieging a town?"


    The player that had snatched Phoebe''s pendant said, "How about we just leave her here for now and come back later? Didn''t the big shots say that we lack the numbers and should take down all who can resist before rescuing civilians? Otherwise, we wouldn''t be able to handle both at once."


    "That works." The other two nodded in agreement as they lifted Sibyl and placed her on the sofa.


    Once the player applying ointment received his territory prestige reward, the four of them left the dumbfounded Ben and Phoebe and went their own way¡­


    A while after the four skeletons had left, Ben and Phoebe were finally able to move their frozen limbs, and they crawled to the door and peered out.


    The stairwell was empty; the skeletons had indeed left.


    Without a second thought, Phoebe lifted her skirt and dashed off. She wanted to find Garcia. Only in the presence of Garcia, who represented absolute authority and strength in her eyes, could she feel safe.


    Ben didn''t care where Phoebe was going. He returned to the basement, found his shirt, and put it on before hoisting the unconscious Sibyl onto his back and hurrying away.


    This was probably the aspect most overlooked by players¡ªthey never considered that the civilian NPCs awaiting their rescue would run away. Even the two strategists, Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy, believed that the civilian NPCs would patiently wait in place for their return.


    Of course, these civilian NPCs who were deemed harmless couldn''t actually escape. Ben ran out of the basement and hadn''t even made it out of Elegant Dream''s courtyard when he saw a bunch of skeletons running past on the street outside.


    The rattling sounds as the skeletons ran were accompanied by a seemingly excited chattering in a strange language.


    "KABAKABA."


    "KUEKUEUEU."


    Ben was terrified and retreated back to the main building¡­


    He didn''t know where Garcia Greene had gone, nor did he know where his fellow enforcer comrades were. The entire Elegant Dream club was eerily quiet. With Sibyl on his back, Ben wandered through the corridors on the ground floor like a headless fly but didn''t see a single person.


    Even more bizarre, the lobby and corridors were a mess, but it didn''t look like the aftermath of a battle; instead, it appeared as if burglars had ransacked the place¡­


    "What on earth happened?" Ben was completely bewildered. After hesitating for a moment, he pushed open the door to a room near the lobby.


    There were people in this room. A dozen or so male and female attendants were huddled inside and looking anxiously toward the door.


    Seeing that it was just Ben, these people visibly sighed in relief.


    Ben quickly scrutinized the group and recognized a female attendant about Sibyl''s age whom he had helped out in secret before. "Kaylie, what''s going on?"


    "Shut the door first," said Kaylie anxiously. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Ben hurriedly used his foot to shut the door and gestured for the attendants to vacate the sofa so he could lay Sibyl down.


    Next, the male and female attendants each recounted what they experienced, piecing together the horrifying events of that night¡­


    "Undead broke in through the windows? Guests and men were all tied up and robbed clean by the undead?" Ben was dumbfounded.


    The attendants nodded, still visibly shaken. "It''s true. I was terrified at the time¡­ Those undead didn''t pay any attention to us, but we didn''t dare stay in our rooms."


    Kaylie added, "We wanted to go outside, but there were even more undead. Everyone had no choice but to hide in this empty private room."


    "What about Greene?" Ben asked the question he was most concerned about.


    "Mr. Greene¡­" Kaylie gulped and muttered fearfully, "He resisted those undead and was cut down by them. That was the first time I saw the undead act so ruthlessly. Their previous methods had been relatively gentle¡­ Please, don''t ever confront those undead, Ben. You can''t imagine how terrifying they are when they attack the living!"

 Chapter 86: Show on the main street

    October 30, 3:30 a.m., Earth time. Concurrently six in the morning on the 28th day of the 7th month, OtherWorld time.


    The darkest hour before dawn had finally passed. On the town''s main street, the owner of the inn nearest to the alley cautiously pulled back the corner of the curtain and warily peered outside.


    This family-run inn, occupying only a fraction of the street frontage, was a two-story building with nine cramped rooms, each barely larger than the restroom of a club. Of course, the accommodations were quite cheap, costing only 10 copper coins a night. This also included the homemade black bread breakfast by Mrs. Doyle and fresh milk brought in daily by the Doyles'' son-in-law.


    The inn run by the Doyle couple in a place like Weisshem catered primarily to a single clientele. All of the rooms were rented on a weekly basis by prostitutes or gigolos who had been cast out of the upscale clubs. These guests were allowed to bring their clients back to spend the night, and the Doyles didn''t charge extra, but of course, there wasn''t a second complimentary breakfast either.


    Starting at around five in the early morning, the commotion outside on the main street alarmed the Doyles. The intermittent screams from the neighboring club, especially, nearly gave Mrs. Doyle a heart attack.


    The six long-term lodgers were equally frightened. Someone among their group mustered the courage to open a window and look outside. When groups of skeletons were seen entering and leaving the neighboring Lover Club, their anxiety escalated. No one dared to stay alone, so everyone crowded into the Doyles'' room.


    As Mr. Doyle pulled back the curtain slightly, the six huddling tenants craned their necks, just like Mrs. Doyle. The street outside seemed relatively calm, much unlike the chaos caused by marauder raids in the past.


    However, the Doyle couple and their six tenants, who could see the street clearly under the morning sunlight, didn''t feel the slightest bit reassured. Instead, their faces grew even paler.


    In the entire inn, only the room of the Doyles had a street view. Under the 7th month''s brilliant sunlight, over a dozen undead, clad in scale armor with knives at their waists and carrying bags of various sizes, were passing by the window.


    Mr. Doyle trembled and let go, turning his head back stiffly, terror written all over his face. The expressions of the others were no different from his.


    Although no one said a thing, everyone in the room knew that the others were surely thinking the same thing¡ªwhy were those scary undead still here when night had already passed?!


    All creatures of darkness would surely retreat in the light of day¡ªwasn''t it always put this way whether it was in the bedtime stories for children or in the epic novels that adults read?!


    "O'' Lady Gold Coin¡­" Mrs. Doyle raised a trembling hand to cover her face. "What are we to do? What are we going to do? Dear, Chris will be coming to deliver the milk soon. What are we going to do?"


    Chris was Mrs. Doyle and Mr. Doyle''s son-in-law, who reared some cows and sheep in the countryside. Each morning, he would ride the tricycle he bought in Indahl into the town to deliver milk.


    Mr. Doyle shook his head helplessly. Then, reluctantly, he leaned closer to the window once more and gently lifted the corner of the curtain.


    The bunch of skeletons from earlier hadn''t gone far. They were gathered at the corner of the streets, heads bobbing as if they were in discussion.


    Mr. Doyle clutched his chest in agony.


    O'' Lady Gold Coin, if this is a nightmare, please let me wake up from it quickly!


    Mr. Doyle prayed desperately in his heart, but alas¡­ it seemed as if the Lady he believed in was determined to screw with him. Mr. Doyle heard a series of rapid and chaotic rattling, and even more undead entered his field of vision.


    Mr. Doyle''s vision turned black, and he collapsed.


    "Dear?!" Mrs. Doyle exclaimed in panic.


    Blossoming Strokes raised her head, glancing at the drab two-story building with no signboards, which only had a partial frontage facing the street. Then, she turned to Qin Guan and asked, "Are there NPCs inside as well?"


    "Yes, but we can''t enter," Qin Guan replied. "Not just here. There are also several street-facing buildings with people inside that we are unable to enter. It''s likely that those are residences of civilians unrelated to our siege quest."


    Blossoming Strokes nodded. "Probably."


    After the assault team she was in had secured the militia headquarters, their next targets were the town hall and the sheriff''s office. The town hall was relatively easy to find, though it took some time before locating the sheriff''s office that was hidden among a row of houses. During this period, the assault team encountered situations where the system issued red warnings when they attempted to forcefully enter residential buildings.


    Players were generally understanding in this sort of situation and wouldn''t have doubts. The dwellings where zombie NPCs and advanced NPCs lived couldn''t be forcefully entered either, so they had gotten used to it.


    Unceasing Entropy''s team was slightly faster and waiting at the street corner. When she saw Blossoming Strokes, Unceasing Entropy waved and called out, "Sis Blossom, how do we divide out the [Capture Enemies] quest?"


    Blossoming Strokes gave a nod to Ji Tang at the side and asked, "What do you think?"


    "The battle results of each team vary, but everyone contributed to the mission, and no one slacked off. If we follow the previous temporary arrangement of assigning the spoils according to team performance, I''m afraid it would lead to disputes," Unceasing Entropy calmly stated. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Blossoming Strokes paused to think, then nodded.


    This issue indeed gave Blossoming Strokes some headache¡­ In this game with only 300 players, the concept of replacing players if they couldn''t work together didn''t exist. If internal conflicts among players arose due to disputes over the loot distribution, rallying the teams for future large-scale quests would be challenging.


    Not going into detail, the assault team had first taken down 141 NPCs at the militia headquarters, then raided the town hall and the sheriff''s office. On top of that, they had also intercepted three militia teams returning from patrol outside of town. All in all, they had captured between 300 to 400 NPCs.


    If rewards were distributed according to results and the majority were going to the assault team, it certainly wouldn''t sit well with others. Everyone had pretended to be ghosts¡ªto scare, restrain, and capture NPCs¡ªand no one wanted to hear nonsense about who worked harder or who sacrificed more!


    "Let''s divide it equally," Ji Tang suggested. "Whether it''s the capture quest, rescue quest, or loot. Let''s pool everything and distribute it evenly among everyone. This way, there would be fewer objections."


    "Mm," Blossoming Strokes acknowledged, though she didn''t sound fully on board. She had considered this approach before, but it was really challenging to implement.


    Ji Tang knew what Blossoming Strokes was worrying about and thus said, "It''s okay. If anyone feels that their contributions are more significant and disagree with the distribution, they can be put on a blacklist, and they won''t be included in future large-scale missions. We will also notify all players who participated in the quest so that everyone knows why this person was excluded."


    Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy fell silent, then nodded in agreement.


    Indeed, unity was paramount with such a small number of players. Similarly, with fewer players, those who aimed to grab more for themselves would find it challenging to survive because they couldn''t just move elsewhere after each time they attempted it.


    With the distribution method established, Blossoming Strokes, who held the position of raid group leader, sent a notice in the group channel. She instructed each team to calculate their "battle achievements" and arranged for some players to return to camp and notify the NPCs for settlement.


    This group notification system, which could only be used by players with leader privileges in the group, was temporarily added after the "Town Siege" began. The damned developers had even specified via an in-game announcement that due to server load limitations, the "group notification" function would only be available during the Town Siege quest and would be disabled after the event ended.


    This seemingly convenient temporary feature still drove players to complain and grumble¡ªif the server capacity wasn''t sufficient, couldn''t other useless unused maps just be closed?! Instead of improving the in-game chat, the devs added a bunch of wilderness maps that consumed resources. Did the devs have something wrong in their heads?!


    Elsewhere, Hal left Finley to watch over the camp while he, Tuttle, and Jerome set off at daybreak to the outskirts of Weisshem.


    After intense discussions, Hal had given up on the idea of having the undead cause trouble for Yang. Instead, he was now concerned with whether this ragtag group of undead would be wiped out recklessly during the attack.


    There were still dozens of tricycles parked in the camp, and if all the undead were killed, they would lack the manpower to bring all these vehicles back.


    As for taking the cargo on the tricycles and running away, Hal abandoned it as soon as it crossed his mind. He still had many comrades stuck back in Taranthan, and Tuttle, Finley, and Jerome might go against him if he decided to do so.


    But when they saw the town gate¡­ the former bandits were at a loss for words.


    The gates of Weisshem certainly weren''t as magnificent as those of large cities. It was just two sections of walls with a passage in the middle that could accommodate three carriages side by side. Normally, the town gate was wide open, and the iron gates affixed to the walls on both sides would only be pulled together and closed when the marauders or bandits raided.


    As for curfews¡­ these things didn''t exist here. Weisshem''s economy depended on nighttime activities, so any sheriff''s officer that proposed strict curfews would likely be ousted.


    Right now, when the morning sun shone brightly¡­ several undead stood brazenly in front of Weisshem''s town gates.


    And other than that, several dozen men in militia uniforms were lined up by the walls, looking dejected¡­


    Hal, who had been worried that the undead might be completely wiped out, suddenly felt an inexplicable anger rising within him.


    Weisshem''s militia consisted of several hundred, and with the help of enforcers from various brothels, at least a thousand able-bodied men could be mustered!


    How could so many people let just over two hundred undead conquer the town overnight, and even let the town gate be claimed?!


    Are they all fools? Even a thousand pigs can''t all be caught by the undead in a single night!!


    Utterly shameful! Bringing disgrace to humans!


    While Hal was feeling rather annoyed, the players guarding the town gate became gleeful when they saw the former bandits approaching. "They''re here! The NPCs are here!"


    "Come to settle the quest, eh? Hal~"


    Hal: "¡­"


    Jerome, dumbfounded, muttered nervously, "Crap, I didn''t bring those copper coins. How much did you guys bring?"


    "Hell! I didn''t bring any either!" Hal replied anxiously.


    Jerome was starting to panic. "What should we do? These undead will tear us apart if we don''t have enough copper coins to settle!"


    Tuttle had started sweating profusely. "Damn it, who could have imagined that these undead could take over Weisshem overnight?!"


    Hal was extremely frustrated, but he also knew that there would be severe consequences if there were problems with the quest settlement. Thus, he could only instruct his two brothers, "I''ll keep them occupied for now. You guys hurry back and bring the copper coins."


    Tuttle and Jerome wasted no time; they turned around and ran¡­


    Hal watched his comrades disappear into the distance, then continued along toward the seemingly buzzing bunch of undead.


    These undead were only enthusiastic about these instructors on two occasions: when they received a quest and when completing their quest for settlement.


    Hal was led by this bunch of undead into the town. As soon as he saw the famous main street of this well-known red light district, Hal''s jaw nearly fell to the ground.


    On this relatively straight street, from one end to the other, men were orderly lined up with their hands and feet bound.


    These unfortunate souls were mostly adult men of all ages, shapes, and appearances.


    Even worse was that most of these men weren''t properly dressed. At least half of them were only in their undergarments¡­


    With a single glance, Hal could make out at least several hundred half-naked men, most of whom weren''t in good shape. Some were blubbery and obese, while others were skinny like sticks. The sight was an eyesore to Hal, and he felt disgusted after one glance!


    Even more exasperating for Hal was that he noticed those unfortunate men trussed up like pigs weren''t just limited to those on the street. As Hal stood there silently cursing, he saw the undead carry more people on their shoulders and bring them over as if they were pigs for the slaughter.


    "Hal, we will submit the [Capture Enemies] quest first. You can count them," Blossoming Strokes stepped forward from the crowd and, on behalf of all the players, approached Hal to interact.


    Hal woodenly nodded.


    He couldn''t be bothered to ask why these undead had even tied up the pleasure-seeking customers to make up the numbers. In any case, the coins to be given out were provided by Yang, so he didn''t care.


    As for what would happen to these people, once the coins were paid, that would be given to Rex to fret over!


    As Hal was doing a head count, in the wilderness over 50 kilometers away from Weisshem, Yang Qiu, who had been traveling overnight, breathed a sigh of relief after confirming via the imprint matrix that the "prisoners of war" were being "handed over."


    While the carefree players were enjoying themselves to the fullest, Yang Qiu had been tearing his hair out.


    While rushing toward Weisshem, Yang Qiu, acting as an online GM, was simultaneously monitoring over two hundred unpredictable players via the imprint matrix, constantly issuing warnings in red to players about to make a "violation," and frantically fixing any "bugs" that might surface during the "siege quest."


    This degree of emotional exhaustion felt even worse than when he had infiltrated the Radiant Sun Church''s sacred grounds for the first time!


    One incident, in particular, when an insane brothel owner rushed out and fought desperately with the players, had greatly worried Yang Qiu. If he hadn''t "patched" it in time and issued a warning that killing the brothel owner would result in a loss of 100 territory prestige points, that fella would have been cut down on the spot.


    Though the players being able to take over Weisshem in one night didn''t surprise Yang Qiu.


    About 226 undead soldiers with a certain level of combat capability, organization, tactics, discipline, and fearlessness had attacked a small town at night. Besides the innate buffs of "scaring" and "shock," the players, as skeletons possessed, had also cleverly used their own strengths and adopted a tactic of dividing the battlefield into multiple sections during the attack.


    Achieving such a result wasn''t out of the ordinary.


    Even if the theoretical military strength of the opponent was more than five times that of the players, it was useless if they couldn''t quickly organize an effective counterattack; on this point, the tactical action plan put forward by the two brainy sisters to strike the militia headquarters deserved credit.


    Had the players focused on creating chaos in the red light district instead of focusing on the key forces of the defending militia, this siege battle definitely wouldn''t have ended so quickly and might even still be ongoing.


    However, this didn''t mean that the players had completely succeeded in their first battle. There were still many hidden dangers yet to be resolved, and that was why Yang Qiu was rushing to Weisshem as soon as possible to take charge.


    Otherwise, even stragglers from the militia could cause great trouble for the players, let alone Indahl''s garrison.


    More importantly, by frantically patching the "Identify" ability during the raid, Yang Qiu had made use of the players to sneakily plunder a large amount of gold coins and jewelry from brothel owners and pleasure-seekers! Yang Qiu wouldn''t feel at ease unless he quickly secured this large batch of gold!


    Artifacts from this other world lacked the historical and cultural significance that people on Earth recognized, making them virtually worthless. Silver and copper coins circulating in the human nations were of no use to Yang Qiu either. Back on Earth, silver and copper trading was calculated by the ton, and he wouldn''t earn much even if he went to great lengths to accumulate these metals. Only gold was hard currency!


    With this batch of gold in hand, Yang Qiu wouldn''t feel pressured even if he had to feed the entire town of Weisshem. Occupying this town as a stronghold and further expanding the territory of Taranthan wouldn''t be a problem at all!


    Black-robed Inspector Lowell, who was constantly glancing at Yang Qiu, found the latter''s expression becoming more and more¡­ inexplicable.


    Spellcasters never prayed to gods. Lowell believed that this black mage wouldn''t go so far as to become a cultist, but¡­ the way this fella carried himself seemed really abnormal. First, Yang had shown signs of fatigue after riding for less than 10 hours, which didn''t seem like the exhaustion a high-level spellcaster would show. And now, Yang had suddenly become all excited as if he had taken the wrong potion¡ªLowell just couldn''t make sense out of it! He really couldn''t understand what was going on in that black mage''s head!


    "Are you okay, Yang?" Out of gratitude for the hospitality and food he had enjoyed in Taranthan, Inspector Lowell expressed some concern.


    "Of course." Yang Qiu smiled and nodded at the black-robed inspector. "In fact, I have some good news to share with you, revered inspector."


    "Umm¡­ What sort of good news is it?" Inspector Lowell asked cautiously.


    "Our undead friends have saved Weisshem," said Yang Qiu with a relaxed smile as if he were basking in the spring breeze.


    Lowell: "¡­"


    Lowell attempted to grasp the meaning behind these words, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "Are you saying that¡­ the Taranthan undead have taken over Weisshem?"


    "It''s ''saved,''" Yang Qiu corrected the inspector''s choice of words. "Perhaps you''ve heard of the Weisshem nickname, revered inspector. That place, which was just an ordinary border town several decades ago, has gained the profane nickname of ''Men''s Paradise'' in recent years. I find it strange that the faith of Lady Gold Coin has turned a blind eye to it."


    Lowell: "¡­"


    There was nothing stranger than hearing a black mage use the term "profane," but¡­ Yang was ridiculing the faith of Lady Gold Coin, not Lowell''s.


    "You can''t imagine the plight of the people there, revered inspector," Yang Qiu said. "Young men and women are brought to that place against their will, treated like pieces of meat while losing their dignity and freedom. Many are afflicted with undignified diseases and don''t even live to see thirty. In my opinion, this shouldn''t be their fate. Don''t you think so?"


    Lowell: "¡­"


    Why would those from the Goddess of Prosperity''s faith care about the jurisdiction of Lady Gold Coin? This was something that Lowell couldn''t say aloud.


    All Lowell could do was suppress his strong sense of dissonance and nodded awkwardly. "You''re right."


    The more hypocritical a pseudo-civilized society, the better the banner of political correctness worked¡ªas long as that political correctness didn''t actually interfere with the interests of the upper echelons.


    Yang Qiu spoke at length about the border city of the Kingdom of Rhine and criticized the Church of Lady Gold Coin, which had nothing to do with the Church of Prosperity that Lowell was from. So, naturally, he wouldn''t refute.


    A smiling Yang Qiu nodded while continuing, "Our undead friends once lost their lives and they understand the value of life better than those still living. They can''t tolerate so many people being trampled upon like livestock, so they did what they had to do.


    "Next, it''s our turn to do what we have to do. We can''t let our undead friends view us with scorn. I believe you share this sentiment, no? Revered inspector?"


    Lowell who suddenly snapped back to reality: "??"


    Wait a min¡ª What do you mean "we"? Don''t drag me into your madness! Lowell howled deep down.


    But¡­ on the surface, he was just utterly dumbfounded as he stared at the black mage ride alongside him on an undead horse.


    Yang Qiu had a firm look on his face and gazed at Lowell with trusting eyes as if he was certain Lowell wouldn''t object.


    Lowell: "¡­"


    Was it still possible for him to renege? Drinking tea and freeloading in Exile Town was rather nice¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Back in Weisshem, at Lover Club, Madam Shirley and over 20 hostesses stood silently at one side of the hall, watching blankly as skeletons came and went, carrying out the guests from various rooms as if they were pigs for the slaughter.


    When the skeletons entered the club again a few minutes ago, Sherry and her colleagues were terrified and ran screaming to the restrooms.


    However, the skeletons only gave them a curious glance and ignored them, making this group of hostesses, who were usually considered respectable among Weisshem''s prostitutes, feel somewhat awkward¡­


    Next, the skeletons acted as if they didn''t exist, entering the rooms one by one and carrying away the guests who were bound like livestock, and occasionally seemed as if they were counting them.


    Over a dozen guests, along with chefs, enforcers, the manager, and even the owner, totaling about 20, were carried away. The skeletons communicated loudly in some weird gibberish, then exited the club without paying any heed to the women.


    The hostesses silently turned around and peeked outside to see the guests and enforcers on the street outside, who were now lined up¡­


    "What are they¡­ doing?" a young hostess asked in confusion.


    "¡­I don''t know," Madam Shirley said stiffly.


    She was also puzzled as to why these undead were still roaming the streets after daybreak, but since these undead didn''t seem to have any intention of harming them, there was no need to panic just yet.


    These hostesses understood better than anyone how dark this world truly was. Women like them, even if they escaped from this nightmarish street, wouldn''t find themselves in a much better situation.


    The hostesses didn''t understand what the skeletons were doing, but¡­ it didn''t stop them from enjoying the spectacle.


    Even if they were from high-end establishments like Lover Club, these hostesses had all experienced humiliation, abuse, and even physical violence at the hands of their customers. Those who paid a high price for their services always had the mindset of trying to recoup their costs and rarely treated them with respect.


    Seeing these men, who had been so arrogant, flaunting while riding atop them, being dragged out onto the street like livestock, was rather pleasing to these hostesses.


    On top of that, the club''s owner, who treated them like lifeless merchandise, was also among the men. The sense of satisfaction they got couldn''t be described in words.


    After watching for a while, one of the hostesses pulled over a chair and sat down to continue watching.


    A while later, they dragged a sofa to the window¡­


    By seven, when Rex and a group of players, who had received a quest to collect the tricycles, arrived in Weisshem, nearly all the male and female prostitutes from the entire street had gathered by the windows, eagerly enjoying the unprecedented and unique scene on the main street.


    As the tricycle convoy returned to Weisshem, the mouths of Ossirian, Lyka, and young Brook never closed back the moment they passed the town gate.


    The only one feeling awkward was the unmarried lady Mia as the half-naked men filling the street made her blush and she didn''t know where to look.


    Rex had the players park all the tricycles in an open space near the town gates. After they got off the vehicles and looked around at the unfit-looking people on both sides of the street, he issued an impromptu cooking quest while distributing settlement rewards to the players that were getting impatient¡­

 Chapter 87: Young Dairy Farmer’s miraculous experience

    Before six in the morning, dairy farmer Chris bid farewell to his wife, parents, and siblings, just as he did every morning. Then, he mounted his tricycle and set off to deliver milk to the various customer households before breakfast.


    At about 7:30, Chris delivered the second last bucket of milk in his cart to the head chef of an estate, then started off toward Weisshem.


    Before marrying his wife, he had delivered milk to the family inn run by the Doyles for many years.


    Since the advent of powdered milk with artificial sweeteners added, fresh milk, which spoiled easily, was no longer as popular as it was when Chris was a child. In recent years, business had been declining for Chris'' family, and the Doyles were their last stable customers in Weisshem.


    Riding through bumpy dirt roads, Chris arrived at the town of Weisshem around eight. Humming a tune, he turned onto the town''s much smoother cobblestone road and slowly approached the town gate.


    When he was about 200 or so meters from the gate, Chris craned his neck forward in surprise.


    Weisshem was relatively quiet during the day, and it usually didn''t get lively until after 4 o''clock in the afternoon. Yet it was just early in the morning, so why were there so many people crowded around the gate?


    Could today be some sort of festival in Weisshem? I haven''t heard of it, though, Chris wondered while squinting to have a better look.


    As he got closer, around a hundred meters away to the gates, Chris suddenly felt something wasn''t right.


    Why are those moving figures at the gate¡­ so thin?


    As he pedaled a little further, Chris suddenly squeezed the brakes in panic, and his tricycle came to a halt.


    Those weren''t thin people at all! Those moving figures at the town gate were all skeletons!


    "O'' Lady Gold Coin?!" Chris was dumbfounded. "Wh-what''s going on! Wait! Is Mrs. Doyle alright?!"


    Many men couldn''t get along with their mothers-in-law, but Chris was close with Mrs. Doyle. His entire family liked this kind-hearted lady and supported Chris'' choice of a wife, believing that she would have a virtuous character just like her mother.


    As he thought about the family inn close to the town gate and his mother-in-law, Chris suppressed his fear and didn''t turn tail.


    He jumped off and hid the tricycle¡ªa vital family property¡ªin the bushes by the roadside and bravely continued forward on his own.


    As he got closer to the town gate, Chris'' trembling got worse. When he was less than 20 meters from the gate, Chris could even feel his calves cramping.


    Undead! So many undead!


    It wasn''t just the area at the town gate. Inside the town, on the streets that could be seen, there appeared to be undead activity!


    The reason Chris was able to persist without crumbling or fleeing at once was that among the undead were humans too.


    From his position crouching in the tall grass under a tree, Chris could see the area just inside the town gate, where a number of tricycles were parked. These tricycles were larger and sturdier than his own, seemingly made entirely of steel, and packed with various goods.


    Several living beings stood next to the tricycles and were conversing while the undead roamed around them. Yet, the undead didn''t attack these living beings.


    This kind of worldview-shattering scene gave Chris a glimmer of hope. If these undead didn''t attack the living, then perhaps Mrs. Doyle would also be unharmed.


    Chris gulped, mustered his courage, and took a few steps closer.


    One undead being, leaning lazily against the town gate, suddenly turned its head in Chris'' direction.


    The moment Chris'' eyes met those dark sockets, it was as if he heard death beckoning.


    He screamed at the top of his lungs and turned to run¡ªthis was his instinctive reaction under extreme stress. But in reality, he was so frightened that he couldn''t make a peep and only managed a feeble gasp. His legs seemed to have lost all sensation, making even the slightest movement difficult.


    Qin Guan wasn''t interested in taking on cooking quests, so he had dragged Give Me Medicine along for a chat.


    Their conversation mainly revolved around Qin Guan''s current concern, which was the month-end settlement of territory prestige. It would be the 31st tomorrow, and the competition for the position of town mayor, which had been going on for half a month, would finally yield an outcome.


    Qin Guan, who was more or less an Internet celebrity now, could only speak about anxiety-inducing topics to Blossoming Strokes and Give Me Medicine. Currently, the videos he uploaded to Bilibili were getting millions of views, and sponsorships were lining up for him. He not only earned enough capital to compete with Brother Lahong but also established a video production studio in real life. His previous character flaws and common quirks that he used to flaunt without restraint had to be reined in now.


    "We''ve already put in a lot of effort whether you are successful or not. Now, it''s all up to fate," Give Me Medicine said reassuringly. "Besides, Ji Tang suggested splitting the reward evenly among all participants this time, essentially eliminating him from contention. Now, it depends on the groundwork you and Brother Lahong did previously. But enough of that. Blossom says that after this quest is complete, we can try the Blood Alliance quest. Have you thought of a name for our Blood Alliance?"


    "I''ve thought of a few. I''ll make a voting video later to see which name gets the most likes," Qin Guan replied without much thought.


    Since the launch of "OtherWorld," Qin Guan''s videos had attracted a massive number of non-players. While these non-players couldn''t enter the game to fight for Taranthan, they had at least boosted Vanilla Pudding''s online popularity. Qin Guan had the habit of stirring up discussions about the Blood Alliance name on his videos as well, which successfully garnered attention for their clan.


    Give Me Medicine said, "That works too. I prefer humorous names, not formal ones. Those funny netizens surely won''t let me down¡ªeh, someone''s there?"


    As he said that, Give Me Medicine used "Identify" expertly.


    "Ah, a civilian." Give Me Medicine lost interest once he saw the information and continued chatting with Qin Guan.


    Chris, who had spent several minutes squatting motionless in the tall grass, didn''t experience the "beckoning of death" he feared.


    The skeleton that made eye contact with him seemed entirely disinterested in him¡­


    This country boy wiped the cold sweat dripping down his chin and cautiously emerged from the grass under the tree.


    Several undead beings near the town gate briefly looked in his direction.


    After a brief look, these undead withdrew their attention and continued with their own activities.


    Chris stood alone on the main road for some time before moving toward the town gate.


    As he timidly passed through the town gate, trembling and panicking, none of the undead paid him any notice.


    Some undead that were obstructing his path made way for Chris while continuing their own chattering with their companions in a weird tongue.


    Chris couldn''t help doubting himself¡­ Were there really so many undead beings standing at Weisshem''s town gate? Or was it all his imagination?


    However, upon seeing the scene of the main street, Chris immediately dispelled this strange notion.


    On the wide street, men entirely different from rural folk like Chris were lined up on the street. These men with fairer skin were disheveled and seemingly in miserable straits, had their hands and feet bound by bizarre white strips, and were thrown on the main street.


    Chris'' jaw fell, and he momentarily forgot his fear.


    "Hey, who are you? What are you doing here?" A human man standing by a tricycle saw Chris and immediately came over.


    Chris snapped back to reality and anxiously bowed out of habit. "Sir, I''m a local dairy farmer here to deliver milk."


    Rex sized up the young man.


    Messy, short brown hair, tanned and rough skin, a smile ingrained through years of growing up pleasing others, stains on his clothes, traces of cow dung on his pants, nervous fidgeting when talking, eyes that dared not meet others''¡­ This was indeed a rural lad.


    "Where''s the milk you''re delivering?" Rex asked.


    "I-it''s outside. J-just one bucket of milk. You know, nowadays, people in town prefer milk powder," Chris replied nervously.


    Rex nodded. "Go deliver your milk. Don''t wander, and also, don''t provoke the undead in town."


    "Y-yes!" Chris responded immediately and instinctively looked toward the Doyle''s house which was near the town gate.


    Mr. and Mrs. Doyle stood at the second-floor window anxiously watching him.


    Chris felt as if a huge weight was lifted from his heart and he shouted loudly, "Mrs. Doyle, I''ll deliver the milk right away!"


    His sudden shouting made Rex wince; it was clear that this young man was indeed from the countryside as rural folks rarely paid attention to their volume when speaking.


    Chris dashed out the gates and returned shortly after with the milk. This time, he was no longer as afraid of the undead at the town gate and even respectfully bowed as he passed through. These undead hadn''t harmed Mr. and Mrs. Doyle, so they didn''t seem too terrifying to Chris.


    "Chris, you scared me to death! How could you come in alone?" Inside the family inn, Mrs. Doyle nervously clasped Chris'' face. "You were too reckless, my child. Listen to me, next time you encounter something like this, you must run away immediately. Your mother can''t bear to lose you, and neither can my precious daughter."


    Chris hugged Mrs. Doyle and then embraced the taciturn Mr. Doyle, exclaiming, "I''m so glad you''re both okay."


    "We''re fine, of course. Those¡­ those undead didn''t do anything to us," Mrs. Doyle said, still trembling. "As you saw, they seem to have a problem with the¡­ shops on this street."


    "Ah, a-are those people on the street customers visiting Weisshem?" Chris couldn''t help asking.


    "Yes, and some from the local shops," Mrs. Doyle said, pulling Chris to the window and pointing at a portly old man with graying hair on the street. "Look, that''s Thompson, the owner of Jenny''s Tavern."


    Mrs. Doyle had a reason for singling out that person.


    Chris pressed against the window, peering through the glass at the old man among the crowd on the street. Deep down, he felt a sense of resentment and¡­ satisfaction.


    "That old bastard got his just deserts!" Chris muttered through gritted teeth.


    For ordinary people making a living in Weisshem and the surrounding countryside, upscale entertainment establishments like "Lover," "Elegant Dream," of the former "Golden Coast'''' weren''t for them. Even with such a close proximity, there was no intersection between people like them and such places.


    Instead, places like taverns and strip clubs would be what folks like them could experience.


    Many years ago, when Chris was still a child, his uncle''s son, around the same age as Chris, curious about the extravagance of Weisshem, came to the town with nearly half a year''s worth of savings with the intention of "broadening his horizons."


    However, this cousin of Chris'' didn''t know that even the lowest of taverns in Weisshem wasn''t a place a lowly country folk who scraped a living from the land could afford to experience. The amount he brought, which he thought would be enough for him to "broaden his horizons," turned out to be just enough to order the cheapest bottle of corn rum at Jenny''s Tavern, along with a tip for the hostess who provided him with some company.


    After a night of revelry at Jenny''s Tavern, Chris'' cousin was dumbfounded when he saw the bill.


    The owner of Jenny''s Tavern broke one of his arms and had his henchmen escort him home to demand payment for his stay. This incident not only turned Chris'' family and his uncle''s family into the laughingstock of the countryside but also forced them to sell several cattle to cover the exorbitant overnight fees and treatment of Chris'' cousin''s injured arm.


    Everyone knew that the owner of Jenny''s Tavern had taken advantage of their, country folks'', lack of sophistication and naivety, but the money owed had to be paid. Otherwise, Chris'' cousin would be sent to a prison in Indahl.


    Neither the Weisshem''s sheriff nor militia would speak up for them, let alone those from Indahl.


    "I wish my uncle''s family could see this scene," Chris muttered as he stared at the wretched old man he had resented for years. He turned to Mrs. Doyle and asked, "Ma''am, what are these undead going to do to these people?"


    "If only we knew." Mrs. Doyle shook her head and sighed. "I often think to myself how great it would be if Weisshem could return back to about 40 years ago, to the time when I was still a little girl. Back then, life wasn''t easy, but it certainly wasn''t like this¡­"


    She paused, and pained bitterness showed on her face as she looked at the six men and women sitting on the couch and the edge of the bed, afraid to leave the room. "But now¡­ it''s all like this. Weisshem can''t do business anymore, then¡­ sigh!"


    A thin woman with lesions on her face lowered her head.


    The other five similarly miserable souls remained silent as well.


    Being able to survive and leave the place they came to work didn''t mean that these people had other options left in their lives. They had all been on fattening drugs for years and couldn''t perform the kind of work regular people did.


    Even a simple task like laundry that even a little girl could handle wasn''t something they could do. Their frail bodies couldn''t endure prolonged exposure to cold water.


    And that''s not mentioning the visible scars left on their bodies by latent diseases. No matter where they went, these people would inevitably be met with strange looks.


    In short, "freedom" for them meant merely finding another place to eke out an existence. If the Doyles'' family inn hadn''t taken them in and allowed them to bring in hard-earned customers, these people would have ended up rotting away on some street corner.


    Chris had known the sort of life these people who were part of the underbelly of Weisshem had, and hearing all this, he sighed.


    Indeed, even if folks like Jenny''s Tavern''s owner, Thompson, were taken away by these strange undead, Weisshem could never become an ordinary town again. Indeed, some people here could only survive via these sordid professions.


    The atmosphere in the room immediately turned oppressive.


    All of them knew that the flesh trade wasn''t a noble profession, and deep down, they hoped it would disappear. But they also understood that without this trade, only a dead end remained for those who had lost their ability to survive.


    At this moment, a strange, unprecedented, and intense aroma suddenly wafted in through the window''s cracks.


    The first to catch a whiff was Chris, who had been working tirelessly on an empty stomach since early morning. He couldn''t help sniffing the air.


    Mr. and Mrs. Doyle also smelled this fragrance and appeared confused. They had lived here for so many years and had never smelled anything like it.


    The six skinny and sallow men and women also caught the scent and involuntarily swallowed. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Stomach growling, Chris, whose nose was more sensitive than the others, quickly deduced the fragrance was coming from outside and subconsciously inched closer to the window.


    Chris had to press against the window and tiptoe to get an angle where he could see what was going on. Behind the steel frame tricycles he envied, a space had been cleared, and two large iron pots had been set up, which were each big enough to hold a person.


    The pots were over a blazing fire, with water inside boiling. A group of undead seemed to be bustling around the two large pots, and from Chris'' perspective, he could see an undead holding a bag about the size of a book, pouring a powdery substance into the pot, while another undead stirred the contents with an iron ladle.


    As the boiling soup in the pots turned an enticing shade of golden, the aroma that reached Chris became even more tantalizing.


    "This is the first time I''ve seen such a big packet of mushroom chicken noodle seasoning," the player that had poured in the seasoning made a comment. "Looks like the devs are slacking off again and aren''t even bothered with small portions anymore."


    "Maybe it''s for the convenience of players doing the cooking quests. Who would have the patience to open packet after packet?" the player stirring the pot nonchalantly replied.


    "Potato slices are ready! Make way!" A player emerged from a temporarily requisitioned tavern, carrying a winnowing basket filled with potato slices.


    "Whoa, your knife skills are pretty sick. These slicers are even thicker than my fingers."


    "Damn you, it''s good enough as long as it''s passable. We aren''t even real chefs!"


    "Xiao Liu, there are two baskets of leafy vegetables in the kitchen of this tavern. Should I bring them out?"


    "Bring them! Bring them all out!" Liu Meng, who had inadvertently become the head chef among the casual players (Rex loved taking shortcuts and always assigned her cooking quests), responded promptly. "And check the other building nearby. Bring over any usable ingredients!"


    "Alright!"


    Seeing a player moving supplies from the tricycles, someone asked, "Are we adding these noodles as well?"


    "Of course, our rewards are based per pot. Why wouldn''t we add them?" Liu Meng waved her bone claws. "And, you there, go wash that sack of potatoes!"


    "Which cart is the condensed broth powder on? Find it quickly!"


    Instant mushroom chicken seasoning, which didn''t sell very well because people of the southwestern region of China found it unsuitable, had been repackaged by the factory, ditching the original packaging for bulk packaging, and sold together with bulk instant noodles to a buyer dispatched by the expert task force before being transported to this world. Finally, it was getting the recognition it deserved.


    The scent of the mishmash stew, infused with mushroom chicken seasoning and condensed broth, wafted further, and many people who had been secretly peering out opened their windows.


    Twenty minutes later, as the mishmash stew simmered to perfection, Rex brought out two tricycles and placed the pots in their carts. He then called on Ossirian, Lyka, and young Brook and randomly selected a few players to distribute the food along the street.


    The first to benefit were the twelve hostesses of Jenny''s Tavern.


    Next up was the family inn closest to the town gate.


    Rex walked up and knocked on the door twice. The milkman from before opened it and bowed to Rex before asking, "Is there anything you need, sir?"


    Rex reached out and grabbed the young man''s shoulder to stop him from bowing. "How many people are in this building?"


    "Uh¡­" Chris glanced at the poor souls still hanging out on the street without a shred of dignity left and didn''t dare lie. "Including me, there are nine."


    "Bring out nine bowls to collect your food. Hurry up," Rex said, pointing to the tricycle carrying a large iron pot behind him.


    Chris was stunned.


    "I said, hurry up," Rex frowned slightly, and his tone became stricter as if he were issuing a command.


    "Y-yes!" Chris immediately got up as soon as he was given an order, turned around, and ran inside.


    In no time, he returned carrying nine big bowls.


    Rex stepped aside and said to Ossirian, "You do it, give them nine portions that won''t upset their stomachs."


    Ossirian now understood why Rex had called upon him¡­


    Others might not know how much these poor people, who had been starved for so long, could eat without getting sick, but he certainly did. He had just eaten three full meals provided by the undead yesterday, and he knew better than anyone how uncomfortable he had felt after each meal.


    Ossirian nodded silently and began scooping stew into the bowls that the helpful undead were passing over.


    Chris tried his best to suppress his fear and receive the bowls courteously from the helpful undead and placed them steadily on the shoe rack by the door. He waited until both tricycles had left before shutting the door with a trembling hand.


    Mr. and Mrs. Doyle, along with the six tenants hiding on the second floor, finally dared to peek out from the top of the staircase.


    "T-they¡­ gave everyone food," Chris, who felt exhausted despite not doing much, turned around and said dreamily to everyone.


    The Doyles, and their six tenants, stood on the spot, dumbfounded.

 Chapter 88: Very valuable

    Was food provided by undead edible?


    Were it those men dumped on the street, ones with enough fat on their bodies, they would certainly refuse. Used to the finer things in life, skipping a meal or two was nothing to them.


    But for ordinary folk, this question was irrelevant. Not to mention the lower-rung sex workers, even the Doyles, who ran a family inn, had eaten their fair share of worm-ridden cheese and moldy black bread.


    The root cause of this was that Weisshem lacked local produce. 80% of the land in Weisshem and surrounding villages was mountainous, and arable land in the area made up less than 5%.


    While 5% of arable land might sound dismal, it should be more than enough to feed the 20,000 total population of Weisshem and its surrounding villages. Unfortunately, this world lacked the luxury of chemical fertilizers.


    Without fertilizers, pesticides, or meticulous farming, it wasn''t too difficult to imagine how meager crop yields were. Even with all the food produced in the area (wheat, corn, soybeans, potatoes) added up, the self-sufficiency rate barely achieved 60%. At least 40% of the food deficit had to be filled from elsewhere.


    In areas with underdeveloped road infrastructure, transportation costs soared. Weisshem was only around 40 kilometers away from the nearest large city of Indahl, which wasn''t too far away, but bringing grain from Indahl to Weisshem would inevitably raise the price by around 10%-20%. In other words, the cost of living in Weisshem was inherently higher.


    To make matters worse, the mayor of Weisshem had spent over four decades in office, albeit his only "achievement" had been the transformation of Weisshem from a poor border town into a place of extravagance and luxury.


    The influx of pleasure-seeking visitors brought substantial wealth, indirectly driving up prices in Weisshem¡ªa bottle of the cheapest corn rum that cost four copper coins elsewhere would cost six in Weisshem; a pound of black bread that went for three copper coins elsewhere cost four to five; and a small can of butter that was available for 30 copper coins elsewhere would be 38 in Weisshem. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Apart from vegetables brought into the town by local farmers, all other daily necessities in Weisshem were at least 20% higher than in other places.


    As for spices¡­ that wasn''t even a matter for consideration. Spices were luxury items even in Indahl. In Weisshem, soup that wasn''t completely tasteless was already considered a decent standard of living. Many housewives here were skilled in making tomato sauce just for flavor without using too much butter.


    From a certain perspective, it could be said that the people of Weisshem lived an environmentally friendly and health-conscious life, akin to what some in China considered an ascetic lifestyle. People here didn''t have the problem of excessive oil, salt, or sugar consumption, which plagued both Chinese and Westerners, and shouldn''t have issues living beyond the ripe old age of 120.


    But, if one were to ask the people of Weisshem whether they would be willing to exchange their super-healthy ascetic lifestyle with the Chinese people''s heavy use of oil, salt, and spices¡­ they would most certainly be willing.


    The thick soup produced from instant noodle seasoning and condensed broth powder was roughly half-filled with solid ingredients such as well-cooked potato slices, noodles, and some leafy greens grabbed on a whim.


    Mrs. Doyle, who had a much smaller appetite due to her age and deteriorating taste buds, finished her meal in about five minutes.


    After finishing, she cradled the bowl and couldn''t bear to put it down, muttering, "Using such delicious soup to cook potatoes and vegetables is such a waste. It should be watered down and used to cook meat, preferably with a few slices of lotus root added¡­ Ah, I should have saved some soup. Old man, have you finished too?"


    Mr. Doyle, a few years older than Mrs. Doyle, had even worse taste bud deterioration and hadn''t been able to properly taste the flavor of food for several years. This rich and flavorful soup, which could stimulate his taste buds, was simply irresistible.


    It went without saying for the other seven young individuals. The bowls in their hands were cleaner than if they had been washed.


    "Madam, these are¡­ good people!" Chris, the simple country dairy farmer, had tears in his eyes.


    Mrs. Doyle, who had been delighted to eat such good food, slightly furrowed her brows. It didn''t look like she had the same simple happiness that Chris had.


    With Mrs. Doyle''s experience, she knew very well that the spices alone in the food they received were quite valuable.


    A group of strange undead and several suspicious men (Hal and his gang certainly didn''t look like good people) took control of Weisshem and were distributing food to the townsfolk so generously¡­ What exactly did they want from Weisshem?


    Mrs. Doyle didn''t reveal her worries and smiled as she got Chris to help her with washing the dishes. She then asked her husband to take the tenants upstairs and sent everyone away. Only after all of them were gone did this old woman take a deep breath, gather her courage, and open her front door.


    As she stepped out, two undead standing near her front door turned their skeletal heads, and two pairs of hollow eye sockets met her gaze.


    Mrs. Doyle pinched her apron nervously, subconsciously holding her breath.


    The two undead didn''t pay her much attention and resumed whatever they were doing.


    Mrs. Doyle wiped away the beads of cold sweat that had formed on her forehead and looked around for the bunch that was distributing the meals.


    The two tricycles hauling the large pots had already been distributed to more than a dozen houses. And because most onlookers watching by the windows had seen those ahead receive food, they now prepared their utensils in advance and stood at their door waiting without any prompting needed.


    How wealthy Weisshem got on a day-to-day basis had nothing to do with folk like them that made up the underbelly of the town. Whether it was at low-end taverns and strip clubs or high-end clubs and lounges, people like them would be reprimanded or punished even if they ate just one more slice of vegetable than they should.


    Now that food was being distributed without any underlying conditions, these folks didn''t fight or scramble, mainly because they were too weak, and the undead were just too frightening.


    Mrs. Doyle stood silently at her door, watching as the group finished at one place and moved on to the next. It wasn''t until the large pot was lifted and the last bit of soup poured out did they turn around.


    Mrs. Doyle clutched her apron nervously, repeatedly telling herself not to be afraid and not to shy away¡­ She waited until the group passed by the entrance of her inn, then summoned her courage, put on a radiant smile, and approached Rex, who appeared to be the leader. "Hello, sir. My name is Watts Doyle, and I''m truly, truly grateful for the food you''ve provided. May I also help in any way?"


    Rex looked at this brave lady and didn''t refuse her. "Of course, Mrs. Doyle."


    Mrs. Doyle clasped her hands joyfully, "That''s wonderful¡ª"


    At that moment, the door behind Mrs. Doyle swung open, and Chris rushed out, saying determinedly, "Please allow me to help too, sir. My name is Chris."


    Mrs. Doyle''s smiling face almost faltered, and worry crept up. "Chris?!"


    Chris nodded at her and earnestly requested Rex, "Please let me help too, sir. I¡­ I''m strong, I can do anything."


    "Come along." Rex waved his hand nonchalantly, leading the way.


    Chris immediately followed, refusing to turn back even when Mrs. Doyle gently tugged at his sleeve.


    The first two pots were distributed so quickly that the players hadn''t even finished the second batch when Rex returned with two civilian NPCs. Liu Meng, the girl in charge of the cooking quest, didn''t think much of it. She pointed to a pile of vegetables and asked the two NPCs to take them to a tavern''s backyard for washing¡ªcivilian NPCs in Exile Town were accustomed to working alongside players and, other than the language barrier, posed no other significant inconveniences.


    Chris carried the vegetables into the tavern''s backyard and, seeing no wound around, went to work fetching water. In a hushed voice, he whispered to Mrs. Doyle, "Madam, how could I let you take such a risk alone? This kind of thing should be left to me."


    "Y-you child, you are still young. I''m already advanced in age, so it doesn''t matter if I encounter something," Mrs. Doyle replied somewhat peeved.


    Chris shook his head, pouring the vegetables into the wooden basin. "Don''t say that. If anything happened to you, I''d be very upset, as would Anna."


    Mrs. Doyle sighed and crouched down, washing the vegetables in silence.


    These two were used to doing all sorts of chores, and it didn''t take them long to finish washing a whole basket of vegetables. Chris carried it to the inn''s entrance and handed it over to the undead responsible for cooking.


    Liu Meng checked the vegetables washed by the two civilian NPCs and found them to be in good shape, with all the roots removed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a plastic bag of sugar cubes, taking out two and handing them to the civilian NPC duo.


    This bag of sugar cubes had been bought from the uncle at the Merchant Association cafeteria.


    Why were players, who had no need for food, carrying sugar cubes with them at all times? This was a loophole that players uncovered: When doing stuff in Exile Town with civilian NPCs, giving a piece of sugar would make them very willing to help out.


    It wasn''t too clear who had discovered this "bug," but it was secretly circulated among players and never posted on the forum to avoid it being fixed by the developers. When a player''s bag suffered a tear, selling it and buying a new one wasn''t worth it, while continuing to use it would mean a risk of dropping stuff. Thus, players used sugar cubes to bribe the female workers at the tailor shop to help patch them up¡­


    Mrs. Doyle and Chris had never imagined that the undead would distribute sugar to them. And on top of that, these were large, expensive-looking crystal sugar, which left them baffled.


    The second batch of cooking was almost done, and Rex came over.


    This young but experienced weapons master, after taking a look at the two civilians waiting at the side to help, gestured to Liu Meng to give him a portion.


    Then, in front of Mrs. Doyle and Chris, he drank half the bowl of soup in one go.


    Mrs. Doyle remained unfazed, her smile unchanged. Chris, though less experienced with the ways of the world, visibly relaxed, accepting the fact that the undead hadn''t tampered with their food.


    As the meal distribution party set off again, it came to a halt in the middle section of the town''s main street for quite some time.


    The two largest establishments, "Gold Coast" and "Elegant Dreams," were located in the middle of the main street, and 40% of the town''s sex workers were concentrated in these two venues. What set them apart from other establishments was the presence of quite a few "special commodities," namely orcs.


    Establishments with inadequate power couldn''t afford to recruit orcs for business. The reason was simple: the cost of managing orcs was much higher than managing humans. No matter how weak these orcs were, when given the chance, they could still kill.


    Standing beside the steaming and fragrant pot with a large ladle was an orc who was just as physically weak and bore the marks of confinement. This was sufficient to allay the fears of the other orcs, who had banded together after the rapid change of circumstances. At the two establishments, dozens of orcs, some of whom recognized Ossirian and Lyka, rushed forward to hug them excitedly.


    Rex stepped back, leaving the situation to Ossirian and Lyka. It was up to them to soothe their fellow orcs.


    Players, who couldn''t understand what was being said, crowded around at the side and made idle chat.


    "Does this game have racial discrimination too? NPCs are forced into the flesh trade, but humans seem well-fed, while the orcs are skin and bones," Yang Ying remarked.


    "There has to be. Our undead race faces quite significant discrimination as well." Tang Jia nodded affirmatively.


    Rex: "¡­"


    To prevent the undead from misunderstanding the physical condition of these sex workers, Rex had to turn over and explain solemnly, "It''s not like how you imagine it to be. Humans are also severely mistreated. They don''t get enough food and are even forced to take fattening agents used in livestock rearing to maintain an abundant physique so they don''t incur customer displeasure."


    Not only Tang Jia and Yang Ying but other players that had followed along for this quest were dumbfounded.


    "The¡­ heck?! It''s just a game, is there a need for such a dark background?!"


    "Oh, god! I can''t even look at these beautiful ladies anymore!"


    "Damn, I''m suffering psychological scars just from hearing this!"


    "No wonder we, the righteous undead scourge, came to attack this place. The light of justice must shine upon the land!"


    "Rex, let''s just kill all those fellows on the street! I can''t stand scum who treat pretty ladies like this!"


    "Execution! Execution!"


    Rex covered his ears, ignoring the crazy ranting of these frenzied lunatics.


    At this moment, after almost two hours of counting and doing mental calculations that nearly made his brain explode, a gloomy Hal Maxwell returned.


    His usual air of arrogance was replaced by a haggard look as he clutched Rex''s arm and silently pulled him away from the undead.


    "What are you doing?" Rex frowned.


    "Give me money," Hal said ominously. "You set the mission reward yourself, 100 territory prestige and two copper coins for capturing an enemy. These undead have captured a whopping 1,862 people, and that''s nearly 4000 copper coins. The money we brought isn''t enough!"


    Rex was stunned.


    Indeed, the spectacle of "prisoners" on the street was impressive, but even Rex hadn''t expected there to be over 1,800 of them¡­


    Hal raised a thumb, but instead of a thumbs-up, pointed to the player representative Blossoming Strokes, waiting further back, and said chillingly, "The captives have been counted, and those guys are eagerly awaiting their money. If we aren''t able to produce enough copper coins¡­ you should probably understand what that would mean."


    Beads of cold sweat started trickling down Rex''s forehead.


    [Rescue Civilians] granted 50 prestige for each rescued sex worker. There wasn''t much of an issue since the reward could be given all via the imprint matrix''s operation.


    As for [Capture Enemies], Rex had not only raised the territory prestige reward to 100 points but also added an extra two copper coins per enemy captured so as to minimize the undead''s exposure to the thrill of killing.


    Given the small numbers of these undead, Rex had estimated them to take a few hundred prisoners if lucky. After all, this wasn''t their home turf, and the undead certainly wouldn''t be familiar with the paths locals took, and many would leak through their net¡­


    He had never imagined that the undead, driven by the dual incentives of prestige and copper coins, would execute this siege so flawlessly and to such an extent¡­


    Rex clutched his head in both hands, sweat cascading down.


    Under normal "quest procedures," the undead, no matter how frenzied they were, could still be controlled.


    However, "quest procedures" couldn''t guarantee that these undead wouldn''t become extremely tricky to deal with¡­


    Seeing Rex''s reaction, Hal wasn''t in any mood to taunt the fellow who usually looked down on them. He grabbed Rex''s collar in a fit of frustration. "You bastard, you better not tell me you didn''t prepare a backup plan. How are we going to resolve this?! Tell me!"


    "Fret not, I have arrived."


    As Hal and Rex were on the verge of going mad, a deep and calm voice resonated in their minds.


    Hal, who was usually infuriated by Yang''s commands through the imprint matrix, was overjoyed this time. "Yang? You''re here?!"


    "Yes, I''m here."


    Yang Qiu reassured the two who had nearly given up via the imprint matrix, then nodded to the accompanying Inspector Lowell. "We''ve finally arrived. Let''s go in."


    Inspector Lowell silently lowered his dusty hood and dismounted from his horse as well.


    They each led their horses and walked toward the town gate of Weisshem.


    Players that had completed the quest had mostly scattered. Some wandered aimlessly in the town, while others habitually formed teams and headed outside to see if there were any monsters to fight. Those who stayed in town were either eager for the quest settlement or worried about wandering off and getting killed, and so patiently waited for a respawn point to be set up.


    A few players chatting at the town gate spotted Yang Qiu and immediately began to chatter excitedly.


    "Old Yang is here! Old Yang is here!"


    "Whoa, he even brought the pretty boy along?! Could the two really be secret lovers?"


    "This darn game is so formal. Rewards for large-scale quests won''t be given out when the Lord isn''t here? We''ve been waiting for so long!"


    "Think about it, with Old Yang here, we''ll have respawn points. We''ll be able to roam freely soon."


    "I just want to teleport back and get my clothes mended. My pants are nearly revealing my entire butt."


    Yang Qiu ignored the boisterous bunch of undead and calmly led his undead horse into town.


    As for the situation in the town¡­ Yang Qiu had already seen it through the players'' perspective, and there hadn''t been much change.


    However, the Black-robed Inspector, upon witnessing this scene of the main street filled with over a thousand half-naked men baking in the seventh month''s morning sun, was utterly shocked.


    Yang Qiu looked around, satisfied with the spectacle of these landlords and their thugs, revealing a genuinely delighted smile. As if boasting to the bewildered Inspector Lowell, he said, "Look at this spectacular sight. Decades of accumulated sins are cleansed in an instant. This quaint little town can finally see the light again, and it''s truly heartwarming."


    Lowell: "¡­"


    He had many objections, but he didn''t know whether to voice them out¡­


    Yang Qiu simply ignored the palpable resistance written all over this religious chap''s face. He continued to lead his horse, taking in the sorry sight of the numerous pleasure-seekers, brothel owners, and thugs as he made his way to the two indigenous tool personnel patiently awaiting rescue.


    A plump patron who, despite his difficulty in sitting for extended periods due to his girth, had been watching Yang Qiu since his arrival. As Yang Qiu passed by, the plump man struggled to straighten himself and shouted, "Wait! Are you a black mage? Did you summon all these undead?"


    Yang Qiu naturally paid him no heed.


    "Wait! I-I''m from the Odysse family! Count Odysse is my uncle!" The plump patron grew anxious and, disregarding decorum, voluntarily revealed his prestigious lineage. "If you safely deliver me back to Count Odysse''s territory, you will receive a generous reward! Do you hear me, black mage?!"


    Yang Qiu finally came to a halt, turning to face the plump patron who claimed to be the nephew of a count.


    The plump patron''s eyes lit up, and he made another concerted attempt to prove his identity. "My luggage is in the number one VIP room at ''Elegant Dreams.'' My family crest is inside a glasses case. If you have someone fetch it, you can verify that I''m speaking the truth!"


    Yang Qiu nodded in acknowledgment of the plump patron. He then looked around briefly and beckoned to Jerome, the knight instructor who was in the vicinity. "Come here, Jerome."


    Jerome hurried over obediently and asked, "Do you want me to escort this gentleman¡­ to the room first?"


    "No need." Yang Qiu waved his hand dismissively. "Go find a piece of paper and stick a note on him that says ''very valuable.'' Stick it on this gentleman''s chest so that he won''t be misplaced when it''s time for sorting."


    The plump patron who claimed noble lineage: "??"


    Inspector Lowell: "¡­(©b¥í©b)"


    Even Jerome stood on the spot in stunned silence.


    "Hurry up." Yang Qiu waved him off.


    "Y-yes." Jerom gulped hard and scampered off.


    Jerome had a habit of keeping a diary, so he quickly fetched a piece of paper, wrote "very valuable" on it, and taped it onto the plump patron''s chest¡­

 Chapter 89: Mother

    Over 1,800 living, breathing men were chucked on the street, baking in the scorching sun, several hundred sex workers in various brothels awaiting resettlement, and more than 6,000 harmless-looking Weisshem natives hiding in their respective homes¡­


    Anyone else would probably find themselves paralyzed by such a messy situation, but for Yang Qiu, this wasn''t really a problem.


    First, he gave out the prestige and copper coin rewards to appease the 200 husky-like players that had been waiting impatiently.


    Next, Yang Qiu opened up "Lord Yang''s Recycling Function" and used the game coins he had made back in China to exchange for the several kilograms of gold and jewelry the players had plundered.


    While he was beaming with joy, players were equally ecstatic. Some casual players even sold their copper coin earnings on the spot to whales and earned a small sum.


    Yang Qiu, who had instantly become rich, quickly issued a series of quests to make full use of this group of hyperactive players.


    First was an assisting quest. Players that received this quest would form a team to assist Rex and Mia in gathering all the sex workers scattered across the brothels in Elegant Dreams and Gold Coast. The players had to ensure the NPCs and their belongings weren''t harmed during this process.


    The second was a manual labor quest. Players who accepted this quest would form a team to assist Hal, Tuttle, and Jerome in sorting out the captives that were strewn on the street. Those with ransom value would be picked out and imprisoned in the basement of Lover Club, while those without any (militiamen were worthless) would be locked up in the former militia headquarters for future¡­ re-education through labor.


    Rex had a benevolent heart, while Hal, the leader of the former bandits, was a ruthless person. These two tasks gave them room to display their strengths.


    And, of course, treasure expert Finley wouldn''t be idle; the third quest was for him. He would lead a team of top players to sweep through the streets, finding and capturing any militia that had previously slipped through their net.


    Finley, who had a rough and violent appearance, actually had the best sense among the former bandits. Such a job of identifying dangerous people from the crowd was most suitable for him.


    As soon as these three big quests were issued, the players who had been idling in the streets started to get active. Players that had wandered outside the town also rushed back, afraid of being left behind.


    While Lowell wasn''t aware of the imprint matrix''s existence (no matter how much the former bandits hated Yang Qiu, they could not tell others that they had been tricked and incorporated into the imprint matrix¡ªit was a matter of saving their dignity), he had been secretly observing and asking around Exile Town but only vaguely got the impression that the undead were enthusiastic about carrying out tasks.


    This time, Lowell personally witnessed that Yang Qiu hadn''t said anything rousing or gathered the undead for a mobilization meeting. He had merely given some instructions to the few young individuals under him, and the undead took the initiative to rush over from all directions to help them. Once more, Lowell felt his entire worldview greatly shaken.


    How does he control so many undead this flawlessly? Clearly¡­ these undead have never shown much respect toward him!


    Lowell just couldn''t understand no matter how hard he thought about it.


    After gaining a certain understanding of the Taranthan undead, Lowell, who already had some knowledge about the dark arts, naturally thought that the Taranthan undead were mid or high-level beings from a certain demonic dimension realm. As they had made a certain contract with Yang, they could be projected into the material plane as weak undead¡ªthis explained why the Tarantan undead had relatively high intelligence, equivalent to that of a great demon, and had no respect for Yang, their "master." (Lowell had seen on multiple occasions players barging into the Town Hall to submit quests or ask for instructions.)


    Lowell didn''t think that the undead were so actively participating in this expedition quest because of Yang''s will. Rather, it was more likely colluding with the undead that bordered between madness and rationality, chaos and order.


    When the undead set off, he was even worried that these undead would be led astray by the former bandits¡­


    But now, Lowell wavered in this belief.


    He realized that his previous conclusion was off the mark. Regardless of whether these undead with suspect origins would show respect to Yang, their summoner, there was no doubt that Yang had the means to control and use these undead at will.


    Inspector Lowell silently glanced at Yang, who was now giving instructions to a civilian woman named Mia. In his heart, the danger level of this fellow increased several times over.


    This fellow is bound to bring calamity to the people around Taranthan!


    After giving Mia some instructions, Yang Qiu released her, then beckoned Lowell to follow him before striding confidently in the direction of Weisshem''s town hall.


    When the undead attacked Weisshem, the nearly seventy-year-old mayor was having a fun time at Lovers Club, having been invited over by several merchants. At present, he was left on the street getting sunburnt.


    When the first string players stormed the town hall, which consisted of a small two-story building with a large courtyard, only two guards, a gatekeeper, and four clerks were inside.


    Well¡­ these people representing the local feudal power were also out baking on the streets.


    Black mage Yang Qiu brazenly entered the local seat of power of this Rhine Kingdom town through the front gate. Apart from nearby residents peeking nervously through cracks and corners, there wasn''t anyone to obstruct him.


    After observing the terrain, Yang Qiu chose the courtyard of the town hall as the spot for the players'' teleportation point. He checked the seal matrix to see which players didn''t have a quest on hand and issued them a quest of digging a pit (a grave where players'' remains would be stored when logging out).


    Next, Yang Qiu began a thorough search of Weisshem''s town hall.


    Because the arrival of the undead had been abrupt, the furnishings, property, tax reports, and correspondence documents between the town and the superior municipality of Indahl were remarkably well-preserved in the town hall.


    Yang Qiu took a tour of the offices of the mayor and clerks and obtained important documents, including the population registers for the town and the 23 surrounding villages, head tax and land tax revenue tables, as well as the militia roster.


    On top of that, he found a large box of the mayor''s private letters¡­


    "No wonder merchant caravans passing through the Sorenson Mountains are so enthusiastic about trafficking people here. Those who provide fresh merchandise to Weisshem''s ''special industry'' actually obtain tax exemptions in the Weisshem''s area¡­ It''s truly a lucrative business, don''t you think so, revered inspector?"


    Yang Qiu chuckled while casually flipping through the mayor''s private letters. "The tolls paid by caravans are considered standard commercial taxes and need to be remitted to the royal treasury, whereas Weisshem''s ''special industry'' is tax-free. The political contributions made by the proprietors of brothels are considered clean personal income for the mayor¡­ Heh, it''s no wonder this mayor has been able to hold his position for 40 years; he''s quite the clever man."


    Regardless of how the outside mocked the Rhine Kingdom''s lack of morality, the Rhine throne still had standards. There would never be the term "legitimized flesh trade" on official documents.


    But even if it wasn''t acknowledged in writing, it didn''t mean that the flesh trade didn''t exist within Rhine''s borders. It still remained active in secret¡ªthe authorities not taxing it was the equivalent of the Rhine Kingdom never acknowledging the legitimacy of the flesh trade.


    Of course, this didn''t mean that operating brothels and sordid establishments was without additional costs. For example, the form of political contributions handed over to the Weisshem mayor, which were shared with certain officials in the Indahl city hall in a not-so-legal way, was equal to or even higher than regular business taxes.


    Yang''s frank sarcasm made Inspector Lowell somewhat embarrassed. This kind of unspoken rule in a pseudo-civilized society wasn''t just unique to the Rhine Kingdom. Similar practices existed in the Duchy of Shiga, just that the latter was even more closed off and didn''t openly welcome visitors like Weisshem did.


    Lowell gritted his teeth and broached the subject. "We both know what you''re planning, don''t we?" he said uneasily. "But these accusations of the mayor using his administrative privileges to favor the local brothel owners¡­ They won''t serve as a strong enough excuse to achieve your goal."


    Yang Qiu didn''t just dispatch forces to search for local militia that had evaded capture but also ransacked the town hall and got his hands on the most important population register. Lowell''s few centuries of existence would be a waste if wasn''t able to fathom what this black mage was up to¡ªit was beyond clear that this black mage had set his sights on Weisshem!


    Yang''s plan was indeed feasible. Lowell could even envision the next steps:


    Weisshem was essentially under Yang''s control now, and next he would find a down-and-out local noble from the Rhine Kingdom and support this individual to become the new authority of Weisshem. As long as the same annual taxes to the throne were paid, the Rhine Kingdom wouldn''t care if a remote town had a change of leadership.


    Of course, while the throne might turn a blind eye¡ªunless Yang Qiu could find a sufficiently painful Achilles'' heel to force Indahl''s city hall to acknowledge the change of leadership¡ªthe latter would surely meddle.


    "Indeed, such commonly seen proof of power abuse might not be a potent enough bargaining chip." Yang Qiu nodded in agreement with Lowell''s assessment and handed over a parchment scroll containing a list of transactions written on it. "So, what do you think about this?"


    Inspector Lowell took the scroll, but as soon as glanced at it, his expression turned cold.


    This was a list of transactions involving the sellers¡ªthe mayor of Weisshem and Baron Markus, the true owner of this land residing in the affluent district of Indahl, with the Indahl city lord acting as a middleman¡ªand certain young nobilities of the Rhine Kingdom as the buyers.


    And the merchandise on this list were bones.


    Human and orc bones.


    Skulls, spines, and pelvises, skeletons of young girls, complete skeletons of orcs, preserved corpses before decomposition of both humans and orcs, miniature skulls¡­


    The transaction date on this list was just six months prior, and the "inventory" listed on the scroll alone was at least a hundred corpses.


    "For any red-light district, it is quite normal for the ''refreshing and updating'' of ''merchandise.'' After all, ordinary people''s bodies can''t withstand many years of such harsh treatment. A prostitute that can live to the age of thirty would be considered fortunate." Yang Qiu revealed no emotion, calm and collected as usual. "From this perspective, Mr. Mayor as well as the baron that supports him are indeed commercial geniuses. Their utilization of ''consumables'' is quite impressive."


    Inspector Lowell exhaled and placed the light yet incredibly heavy scroll on the table.


    For most ordinary folk, it was probably unimaginable to them that the corpses of sentient beings could be bought and sold.


    And unlike the general understanding of most people, it wasn''t black mages that people feared who traded such commodities; it was those high and mighty aristocrats who had already exhausted all the pleasures of life.


    "Crafts" made from "fresh" bones of sentient beings were still rather popular as a status symbol in some extravagant social circles.


    "You are right," Inspector Lowell muttered, deadpan. "Perhaps this land indeed needs a new owner."


    Yang Qiu picked up the parchment list, folded it three times, and put it in his breast pocket. "As you say, revered inspector."


    Staring at the large pit that players had excavated in the courtyard, Yang Qiu stroked his chin and said, "Inspector Lowell, how about we have a little game of treasure hunting?"


    Lowell: "??"


    "Mr. Mayor''s wife is deceased, and he has no children. He doesn''t have any other expenses besides using his substantial savings to purchase alchemical elixirs for maintaining health and extending his life. Moreover, he has no close relatives with whom he maintains regular communication¡­ So, have you ever wondered where he might be hiding all those gold coins he has amassed?" Yang Qiu asked.


    "No, I''m not curious." Inspector Lowell''s face darkened.


    "Don''t be so hasty, my friend." Yang Qiu chuckled heartily. "I understand that the things gold coins can exchange for hold little appeal for you. But what if it''s something that even gold coins can''t acquire?"


    "What are you trying to say?" Lowell frowned.


    "You might have already noticed that the items in the cabinet in Exile Town, including the supplies I provide to Hal, Rex, and female workers, aren''t commodities available on the market." Yang Qiu smiled and¡­ took out his mobile phone, unlocked it with his fingerprint, and turned the screen toward Lowell.


    "This, for example, has a camera function capable of recording and storing up to half an hour of audiovisual imagery and holding thousands of books you''ve never heard of. You would never find a second such novel gadget, even if you search all of Navalon."


    Lowell''s frown deepened as he stared at Yang Qiu in silence.


    "Just as you''ve once subtly tried inquiring, I may not have the talent for spatial magic, but I unexpectedly gained access to a stable spatial rift to another mysterious dimension." Yang Qiu opened the phone''s camera function, showing Lowell a real-time image of the inspector himself on the screen. "The world on the other side of the rift is entirely different from our material plane. The humans there have created a multitude of unimaginable technological products¡­ Would you not be curious about that?"


    Inspector Lowell stared at the real-time image of himself on the phone''s small screen, shock creeping into his face¡­


    Color cameras had been around for decades, and in the northern Kenyan Empire, there were advertisements for the "latest magic stone cameras" capable of recording real-time audiovisuals invented just two years prior.


    However, be it cameras or the magic stone camera that the Kenyan Empire promoted, the sizes of such objects were quite substantial. Lowell had never heard of anything that could take pictures and be as compact as the gadget Yang was holding.


    Still smiling, Yang Qiu kept his phone away. "Let''s play this treasure hunt game, revered inspector. If you can find the ill-gotten wealth that the mayor unlawfully gained, I will find a sufficiently novel and unprecedented gift from the world on the other side of the spatial rift to thank you."


    Inspector Lowell gulped¡­


    The work under Rex''s charge of accommodating the sex workers was the first to be completed. With the enthusiastic assistance of the players, Mia''s persuasion, and the personal testimonies of Ossirian and his companions, these hapless civilians that had just feasted on the meal didn''t put up any strong resistance to being gathered together.


    Especially after the players enthusiastically helped them retrieve their "personal belongings," convincingly proving that the strange beings in control of Weisshem didn''t object to them having possession of "personal items." These civilians, who were used to being disrespected, felt sufficiently at ease.


    But that wasn''t all. After gathering everyone in front of the two occupied established shops, the gentle, considerate "male mother," Rex, didn''t immediately allow them to enter and settle in. Instead, he had them wait in front of the two establishments for a bit.


    In front of everyone, he removed the signs and neon lights of "Golden Coast" and "Elegant Dreams."


    Then, he threw the two heavy neon light signs and stomped on these malicious symbols with force, shattering them into pieces.


    These mistreated civilians had varying expressions, watching in astonishment as Rex trampled on the signboards as if he were ofn a crazed rampage. No one dared make a squeak.


    Once the signs were broken into pieces, Rex stopped, straightened his clothes, and addressed these people, "We''ve arrived, and this town will never need these predatory industries again. From now on, you will be ordinary Weisshem residents. Your names will be registered in the town''s registry, and you will live the rest of your lives just like everyone else."


    The people crowding on the street stared at Rex in silence.


    Many of them didn''t believe Rex''s words¡­ but they also had self-awareness and wouldn''t be foolish enough to step forward and accuse this professional-level combatant of bluffing.


    Rex didn''t need everyone to believe his promise. He just led these people into the resettlement points, separated rooms by gender, and confiscated all the "pleasure toys" from the rooms, destroying them on the spot.


    After completing what needed to be done and settling the undead''s rewards, Rex sat down on the steps of one of the establishments, suddenly feeling a sense of extreme exhaustion.


    "Ossirian seems to be feeling unwell¡­ Are you okay, Mr. Rex?" Mia came out from the building and, seeing Rex sitting on the steps lost in thought, ran over in concern.


    "I''m fine. What''s wrong with Ossirian?" Rex asked.


    "He''s vomiting. He threw up everything he ate earlier," Mia said nervously.


    Rex nodded. "Don''t worry. He''s probably just tired. I''ll find an undead to cook him some light soup later."


    Mia nodded, took a few steps forward, and crouched down next to Rex. "Are you really okay, Mr. Rex?"


    Because Hal and the gang didn''t view the two of them highly, Rex and Mia had been taking care of each other these few days after leaving Exile Town.


    Mia was two years older than Rex, and deep down, she wished for a gentle younger brother like Rex, just that she felt unworthy and didn''t dare to speak up. Instead, she quietly did what she could to help Rex.


    "I¡­" Rex had initially tried to brush it off, but couldn''t bring himself to do so after seeing the concern in Mia''s eyes. He faltered for a bit, then said, "It''s difficult seeing these people suffer like that. They shouldn''t have to live like this."


    Mia nodded silently, her fist clenched unconsciously over her chest.


    She understood why Rex felt this way. She had once thought her own life was painful enough, but seeing the people here made her feel suffocated. These people were so beautiful, unlike her, who had been born ugly due to a curse of fate, and they were being treated like livestock. It was like personally witnessing a tragedy of beautiful things being destroyed unfolded.


    "Mr. Lord will have a way," Mia whispered softly. "If even someone like me was saved by Mr. Lord, he surely wouldn''t give up on them. Just as you said, they will live well in the future."


    Rex stared blankly into the distance for a long time before he slowly nodded.


    What he told Mia had been only half-truth. He was indeed distressed, and part of the reason was that he thought of his mother.


    She was equally beautiful, and instead of being forced by others, she foolishly believed that her natural beauty could be exchanged for a decent life with Rex''s viscount father who had everything. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His mother, who was much luckier than the mistreated prostitutes here, was quickly abandoned once she lost the only card she had¡ªher beauty¡ªand ultimately perished, leaving Rex alone to face everything.


    "Gods shouldn''t generously grant people extraordinary beauty; it''s not¡­ a blessing at all," Rex murmured in a voice that only he could hear, softly.


    If his mother wasn''t so beautiful, or if she came from a commoner family, perhaps she would have chosen to marry a man with similar social status and wouldn''t have had to experience the shamefully volatile life she did.


    If the people here weren''t so good-looking, perhaps they wouldn''t have been sold to this place¡­


    "Hey, Rex!"


    While Rex was lost in thought, Yang and Inspector Lowell came over.


    Yang Qiu glanced at the heap of sign fragments on the ground, smiled, and waved to Rex.


    "Yang." Rex quickly got up and nodded to the two of them. "Inspector Lowell."


    "Mr. Lord." Mia also quickly made a gesture of lifting her skirt slightly, but she only greeted Yang Qiu and ignored Lowell, who had once tried to take them back.


    Yang Qiu smiled at Mia and then turned to Rex. "Shave your face, tidy up your hair, put on some powder to make yourself look fairer, and change into your most respectable attire. Then go to the militia station and fetch a few horses. We''re going to Indahl."


    "Alright." Rex first acknowledged before confusion showed up all over his face as he realized something was wrong. "W-wait! Did I hear wrongly? Did you say¡­ we''re going to Indahl?!"


    "You heard right," Yang Qiu said with a smile. "But don''t be mistaken. We aren''t going Indahl to walk into a trap. We are going to request a change in the lordship of Weisshem''s territory."


    Rex was utterly perplexed.


    "You, Charlie Rex, are the son of a Rhine Kingdom''s viscount. Even as a bastard, the noble blood of Viscount Rex flows through your veins, and no one can deny that," Yang Qiu began to speak in all seriousness, mixing a bit of jest into his words.


    "A nobleman like Charlie Rex, of noble viscount lineage, uncovered the despicable crimes committed by the Lord of Weisshem. Furious, he initiated a territorial war and effectively seized control of Weisshem. Isn''t it perfectly normal for you to request that the Indahl City Hall change the ownership of Weisshem and have your name up there?"


    Rex: "¡­(¡ã ¡÷¡ã )"

 Chapter 90: Rex Managing Town affairs

    Twenty minutes later.


    Yang Qiu stared at the "newly made over" Rex for a few seconds, then silently averted his gaze.


    Rex himself didn''t have much of a reaction, though the two attendants that Mia had asked to help Rex turned pale.


    "Don''t be nervous. I don''t have any intention of blaming you." Yang Qiu nodded at the two ladies. "Mia, send the two ladies back to rest."


    "Yes, Mr. Lord." Mia gave a curtsy. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yang Qiu waited for the three ladies to leave the room before he burst out laughing.


    Rex: "¡­"


    "I''m sorry." Yang Qiu smiled. "Go wash that stuff off your face and hands. It''s really¡­ too funny."


    Rex trudged to the bathroom expressionlessly¡­


    The "upper-class aesthetics" of this world were still stuck in the first stage after the arrival of the industrial era.


    It was as if¡­ they were trying to emulate that delicate, fragile demeanor of pampered aristocrats.


    Yang Qiu had gotten two former high-end hostesses to dress Rex up like a noble. The two had vigorously applied layers of makeup to Rex''s hands, face, and neck, combed his hair to a glossy sheen, and even adorned his forehead with decorations. It was indeed their best effort.


    However, Rex wasn''t the sort suited for this elegant style. Although he had rather standard facial features, his skin was dark and rough, while his stubble was thicker than Yang Qiu''s after the latter''s six decades on the run. On top of it all, Rex''s physique leaned toward the muscular side. Even after shaving off his beard and applying makeup, he looked more like a clown about to take the stage¡­


    The former proprietor of "Elegant Dreams" had transformed his office into an exceedingly plain and elegant space. Were it not for the unusual and bizarre instruments hidden behind the cabinet''s secret doors, one would never guess that the owner of this office was a sadistic pervert deserving of the death penalty.


    Yang Qiu claimed the high-backed sofa that once belonged to the previous owner, sipping on the high-quality tea from the cabinet and indulging in the premium snacks stored in the pantry. After finishing them, he wore a look of disgust and said, "This is far too sweet, almost sickening."


    Inspector Lowell didn''t even touch anything. He felt incredibly uncomfortable just entering this building, which had formerly been a brothel. Sitting on the genuine leather armchair felt as if he were sitting on a bed of needles.


    "Relax, my friend. Weisshem wasn''t at fault. The shops and compounds built on this street had no responsibility either. The wrongdoers are those who use these buildings improperly. As long as we deal with those who have done wrong and prevent anyone from misusing these buildings, this place won''t be a hideout for filth but a simple residence instead."


    Lowell didn''t want to hear him talk about all this and coldly said, "Are you still sticking to your original plan? It''s not that I have a problem with Rex, but he seems more like an adventurer than a pampered aristocrat."


    "I feel the same," Yang Qiu surprisingly agreed. "In that case, let''s give Rex a different persona. He''s a nobleman''s illegitimate son who''s relentlessly ambitious and remarkably talented. He despises crawling to his noble father like his other illegitimate siblings, always scheming to gain favor. Instead, at a young age, he embarks on journeys, making a name for himself as the shining star of the Viscount Rex family¡­ What do you think?"


    Lowell: "¡­"


    Lowell really wanted to say mockingly, "Have you spent the last three hundred years mastering the art of deception?" But he feared that getting into a debate over the definitions of deception and deceivers would be futile, so he kept his mouth shut.


    Rex washed off the exaggerated makeup and emerged dripping from the bathroom when he heard Yang Qiu ask him, "Rex, how was your geography when you were studying? How many places have you been to before the Sorenson Mountains?"


    "Um¡­"


    When the two former "Elegant Dreams'''' hostesses returned to their assigned rooms, others gathered nervously around them. "How was it? Did they make things difficult for you?"


    "Did they say what will happen to us?"


    One of the former hostesses clutched her blouse and exhaled. "¡­It was alright. That, um, that man referred to as Lord and mage was quite¡­ pleasant."


    Her partner chimed in, "They didn''t say much. Miss Mia just told us not to think about it and get some rest."


    "How can we not think about it?" One of the ladies that had been waiting anxiously frowned. "There are so many of us. The food we would consume in one day is immense. Can they really just provide for us without expecting anything in return?"


    "Did Miss Mia not say anything else?"


    "Forget it. I think Miss Mia doesn''t seem to hold any status among them and her words don''t count for much."


    "But¡­ that Mr. Rex did say he wouldn''t make us do¡­ what we used to do before," one of the women who had been outside said weakly.


    The woman who had voiced her opposition couldn''t help but scoff and turned to the others. "Do you believe such words?"


    The six women that had been just chattering a moment ago fell silent.


    "What¡­ what can we do?" a younger woman sobbed. "Even if we wish to escape, there''s nowhere to go¡­"


    The women exchanged glances in silence and, after a while, quietly dispersed, returning to the makeshift beds created by combining chairs and stools.


    "Just get by one day at a time," a slightly older woman croaked. "We''ve never had a future to begin with, so why bother thinking so far ahead?"


    Outside the room, Mia sighed.


    Just as Rex said¡­ providing food alone doesn''t put everyone at ease, a worried Mia contemplated and left.


    In the quiet hallway, every room Mia passed by seemed to emit faint, almost imperceptible sobs. No loud wailing, no heart-wrenching cries¡ªjust hushed sobbing as if the person crying was afraid of being discovered. The cautious restraint in their tears weighed heavily on Mia as she traveled alone down the corridor.


    After descending the stairs and hearing no more of these faint cries, Mia actually felt a sense of relief.


    "Mr. Rex?" Noticing Rex emerging from a corridor on the ground floor, Mia asked in surprise, "Aren''t you supposed to be with Mr. Lord and the others?"


    Rex''s face showed a subtle hint of embarrassment. "Um¡­ Yang seemed to have come up with another plan. They don''t need me."


    "Ah¡­?"


    "Enough about that," Rex quickly changed the subject. "There was a burly male enforcer here originally, the one who protected the ladies. Do you remember where he was assigned?"


    Mia certainly remembered the man called Ben. He was the strongest man among all the people under Taranthan''s protection. "I know him. He''s together with the orcs."


    Ben, though covered in whip scars and far from healthy, would still be capable of posing a threat to others. Mia couldn''t simply let such a person stay with the other human male sex workers. When she allocated rooms, she placed Ben on the same floor as Ossirian and provided him with a single room.


    Rex and Mia made their way to the floor where the orcs were staying. They first checked on Ossirian and then proceeded to find Ben.


    Ben was sitting alone on a thin cotton mattress, lost in thought. Since the previous night, everything that transpired left this enforcer with nine years of experience in this scene completely bewildered¡­


    Undead had taken over the entire street, and his boss, his colleagues, and even the customers he had once fawned over were lined up in the streets like livestock. When Ben saw this through the window, he had to pinch his thigh to check if he was dreaming.


    It was just¡­ too crazy!


    Weisshem rarely received noble guests, given its remote location, and respectable folks weren''t inclined to undertake arduous journeys just for momentary pleasures. However, Weisshem did have its fair share of well-connected patrons!


    There were merchants with noble backing, officials from Indahl, and sycophants with connections to the aristocracy¡ªthese were all common sights in Weisshem!


    There wasn''t a need to mention others. His boss, Garcia Greene, had the backing of a viscount, and even mid-tier Indahl officials were polite to him.


    However, even such people with status had been all tied up like pigs and thrown onto the streets!


    Ben had also seen his boss, Greene. His clothes were covered in blood, with a swollen face that was almost unrecognizable.


    Hearing footsteps coming toward the storage room he was in, Ben snapped out of his daze and stood up in a hurry.


    None of the rooms were locked from the inside, but no one dared to leave and move around wantonly¡­ There were too many undead outside, after all. Even the most arrogant and unreasonable individual wouldn''t dare be willful in the presence of skeletons that would make people tremble in fear even in broad daylight.


    The door was pushed open, and the man who had smashed the establishment''s signboard not too long ago entered.


    He was very young and didn''t have a bulky physique, but he was very strong. There was a heavy aura about him that exceeded his age and could cause those with keener senses to crumble.


    Ben had once been a trainee warrior, but he hadn''t been able to embark on the professional path because of his family background. With just his naked eyes and senses, he could tell that the man before him was a very strong and terrifying warrior. Every muscle in Ben''s body tightened instinctively.


    While Ben was sizing up Rex, Rex was also scrutinizing Ben.


    The man with bloodied clothing before him had a large build similar to Antony''s. He had a fierce face but didn''t have the murderous aura of someone who had killed before. Given his instinctive defensive posture, Rex reckoned he had undergone some training but stopped at a basic level¡ªhis muscles were really messy and largely useless other than for threatening civilians.


    Mia came in after Rex and was startled by the tense atmosphere between the two. She quickly broke the silence and said, "Hello, Ben. This is Mr. Rex.


    "Mr. Rex, Ben is a good person. When we came in, a lady named Sybil was vouching for him, saying that Ben was different from the others. A few other ladies also said the same thing, and it was thanks to Ben protecting them that they were able to survive."


    Rex gave Mia a reassuring smile, then extended a hand to Ben. "Charlie Rex."


    Ben felt the heavy aura instantly disappear. He secretly heaved a sigh of relief and reached out to shake Rex''s hand. "Ben." After a pause, he added, "My mother was a laundry woman. She was raped when inebriated. I don''t know who my father is either."


    The other party had announced his full name, and Ben did not want this great warrior to misunderstand that he was hiding something.


    Rex nodded and didn''t say anything rude or sympathetic.


    Everyone lived with wounds that others could not see. For most who insisted on eking out their own path, rashly showing them sympathy could be considered offensive.


    "We are from Taranthan, and we serve the Lord of Taranthan, Black Mage Yang," Rex went straight to the point. "Yang is currently solving the issue of Weisshem''s ownership. If nothing unexpected happens, this land will soon belong to Yang, and the people here will become the subjects of Taranthan."


    Ben: "¡­"


    Ben had no idea how exactly to react without incurring the wrath of this great warrior who was clearly saying the stuff of daydreams¡­


    Speaking of which, when did the great wilderness next door have a lord?


    With a slight smile, Rex said, "I understand this sounds incredulous, but it isn''t something we need to concern ourselves with. Right now, the issue is returning Weisshem back to normal so that the townsfolk of Weisshem don''t have to worry about where to get their next meals."


    Hearing this, Ben''s tensed-up facial muscles relaxed slightly, and he revealed a look of surprise.


    In feudal China, there was a saying that the poor studied while the rich practiced martial arts. This was a simple saying that was easy to understand; if one wanted to train a strong body, their family had to have a certain level of economic conditions.


    This principle also held true in this world. If one wanted to become a professional-level combatant, they couldn''t be born into a poor family. Otherwise, they would be like Ben, having to give up their dreams halfway, regardless of how talented they were.


    Rex was such a great warrior at such a young age, so he definitely had some family background. Such a person knowing that ordinary townsfolk couldn''t afford even a day''s worth of ration pleasantly surprised Ben.


    Ben didn''t think that ownership of Weisshem could change so easily, but having lived in this town for the past nine years, he didn''t wish for the place to be thrown into chaos. He perked up and asked, "Mr. Rex, what can I do?"


    Rex was very satisfied with the sincere reaction of this quick-witted bouncer after hearing that the town would be restored to order. Smiling, he said, "Change into something that won''t scare people and follow me."


    After Ben changed into a new coat, Rex brought him to the first-floor office of Garcia Greene, the former proprietor of the establishment, then drew out a heavy snakeskin bag of copper coins from under the table.


    The undead were only interested in gold (actually, it was Yang Qiu that only collected gold), while the original hostesses of the place didn''t dare take anything too conspicuous or heavy, only dividing up silver coins, silverware, and some small pieces of art. When Rex had gone to gather them based on the principle of not wasting anything, he had also managed to collect several tens of thousand copper coins that even a tricycle couldn''t fit them all¡­


    These copper coins were crudely made and far inferior to the exquisite copper coins (game coins) that the undead recognized, but they were still currency.


    Rex took out over a thousand of these crude copper coins and piled them on the table before saying to Ben, "You and Mia ask the people in this building and next door if they have anything they need to be purchased. Get them to elect some representatives and use this money to buy things from the shops run by fellow townspeople."


    Ben: "??"


    Rex then said to Mia, "In a town like this, there should be country folk coming in to sell produce. Remember to go visit the town''s gate and purchase more vegetables."


    "Yes." Mia nodded.


    Rex patted the dumbfounded Ben on the shoulder. "Go. Protect our Mia well and don''t let her get hurt. Otherwise, the undead will go crazy."


    "Yes, Mr. Rex," Ben replied, immediately breaking out in a cold sweat.


    Rex wasn''t trying to scare him. If Mia died, all the undead would lose 100 points of territorial prestige. Given their obsession with the said prestige, Rex didn''t dare imagine what these lunatics would do. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have taken such a big detour to get Ben, who was recognized by the hostesses as a former enforcer, to be Mia''s bodyguard.


    Despite the appearance of a familiar face in Ben, the former hostesses were still very vigilant. Many refused to leave their rooms with the excuse that they didn''t need to buy anything. Mia and Ben went around the two establishments, and the only ones willing to go onto the streets with them were young Brook and the orcs, Ossirian and Lyka.


    With no other choice, Rex could only look for a few undead willing to do trivial tasks (casual players) and assigned a quest assisting Mia in purchasing¡­ If a few tricycle loads of necessities weren''t purchased, the townsfolk would find it difficult to believe that they, foreign forces, had the intention to stay here permanently to restore order.


    After watching the procurement team with skeletons in their midst leave on four tricycles, Rex, who was standing at the door, turned around and observed the two buildings that were still quiet despite having hundreds of people living inside.


    When the skeletons occupied the streets, some townspeople living in the north and east residential areas of the town were bold enough to hide in the alleys and steal glances.


    When Hal and the others escorted the "prisoners of war" to the militia headquarters, many townsfolk also peered through their windows or peeped through the cracks of the door.


    The prosperity of the main street supported half the town. Local family inns, small restaurants, grocers, and snack hawkers¡ªall relied on those loaded pleasure-seeking customers or their servants for business.


    Moreover, most of the "conquered" militia were from local families¡­ These outsiders that had taken over their town couldn''t exactly be considered welcome.


    However, Rex still had confidence in restoring order to the town and firmly believed that gaining the townspeople''s trust was only a matter of time.


    Yang was slightly peeved with Rex''s inability to play the role of a "respectable noble bastard" well and, in the end, had to resort to coercion to make Inspector Lowell assume the role¡­


    Still, Yang held high hopes for Rex, instructing him to stay behind and carry out the task he had assigned earlier: vetting the militia members and gradually granting some of them their freedom.


    Of course, this did not mean immediate release; instead, they would be integrated into a new security force under the leadership of the new lord of Weisshem. Ceasing the red-light district businesses didn''t mean that Yang was giving up on Weisshem''s economy. The new town hall would provide generous salaries to those who obeyed the new lord.


    Rex, who had been living at the bottom rungs of society since he turned 16, understood what the common folk in the lower strata desired. As long as they could lead a normal life and have enough to eat, the common people did not care who ruled over them.


    What truly concerned Rex was the several hundred former sex workers housed in the two grand buildings behind him.


    The Chinese had a "warning" for "heartless b*tches," and there was a similar saying in this world¡ª"Never trust a whore."


    Even the most innocent and naive girl (or boy) who dabbled in the red-light district held no credibility. Why? The reason was simple¡ªpeople who had to make a living in such places lived a world of lies every single day.


    When they were deceived, their suffering went unnoticed because they were the lowest of the low in society. And if they didn''t remain silent, even if they screamed their loudest, nobody would hear their confessions.


    Patrons would never admit how many lies they had told these whores or the number of hearts and dignities they trampled on. If asked, a simple "I was just playing along" was enough to gloss over their ugly faces.


    If, by some chance, a patron was deceived by one of these whores, they would angrily repeat the phrase "never trust a whore" a hundred times over to let everyone know their anger after being duped¡­


    Asking these people who were treated poorly by customers every day and were considered despicable, dirty, ugly, and obscene people in human society to open their hearts and trust the promises of others¡­ was way too naive.


    Rex was a somewhat idealistic person, but he wasn''t naive. A naive person could not have managed to retain his "father-son severance fee" despite losing his protection and strategically improving his own strength to outshine others.


    Yang allows them to retain the belongings they have acquired and money in hand. That''s the main reason why these people have not resisted our arrangements more fiercely, Rex silently thought to himself as he scrutinized the two buildings.


    But money in hand doesn''t truly put their minds at ease. Especially those humans¡­ The damage done to their bodies by the fattening drugs is too severe. They lack even the most basic self-defense abilities, and even a teenager could easily rob them of their money. Of course, they would be restless.


    We have to think of a way out for them, helping them build the confidence to survive without selling their bodies and just relying on their own skills. Only then can they truly believe that they can return to a normal life.


    Rex contemplated all these as he entered the courtyard of the former "Elegant Dreams" establishment and inspected the tricycles parked along the courtyard wall.


    When leaving Exile Town, Yang had instructed Rex to find a place to sell the cargo on these tricycles and convert it all into gold coins.


    Now that Yang had so much gold, he had probably forgotten to inquire about the cargo. Nevertheless, Rex still intended to sell these items.


    The vibrant and exquisitely patterned, thick and fine fabrics (which were actually cheap surplus curtain fabric by the meter), complete sets of alloy tableware (essentially stainless steel), entire boxes of soft towels (bought wholesale for two yuan each), various plastic utensils, plastic shoes, soap, toothbrushes, and so on¡­ All of these were everyday items that, once displayed in the market with price tags, would instantly cause a frenzy.


    "Someone buys, someone sells; that''s what makes a market. When selling such high-demand goods, you need someone who can handle the market," Rex mused as he organized a portion of the items and filled up four tricycle carts. Then, he used the imprint matrix to call for Hal.


    After waiting for about ten minutes, Hal, who had been assigned to guard the prisoners at the militia headquarters, reluctantly made his way over with a grumpy expression.


    "What do you want?" Hal asked irritably.


    He''s indeed in a bad mood¡­ Rex thought to himself.


    That was well understandable. Yang hadn''t been kind to them; he treated these former bandits as if they were potential sexual predators, keeping them strictly away from the people living inside the two establishments within a three-meter radius¡ªregardless of whether Hal and his group had any such intentions. Being treated this way was bound to make them furious.


    Apologizing silently in his mind, Rex pointed at the four tricycles he had set aside. "Yang asked me to find a way to revitalize this town. Can you help by taking these goods to the town''s market and selling them, Hal?"


    Hal: "¡­"


    A fuming Hal glared angrily at Rex, conveying the clear message on his face: If it weren''t for my inability to take you down, you would be a corpse right now!

 Chapter 91: Partial Peace

    Indahl was an ancient city that had stood in the southern part of the Rhine Kingdom for hundreds of years.


    Situated at the crucial crossroads of the southeastern Navalon continent, the constant flow of trade caravans brought unprecedented business opportunities to this city, which became the envy of others in the vicinity.


    Every day, large quantities of goods were brought in and traded in the marketplace¡ªgoods such as textiles and spices from the north, various novel mechanical inventions, alchemical materials made from magic dust and minerals from the south, as well as bulk grains from the east. Relying solely on the 11% tax collected by the Taxation Office from merchants, the city lord of Indahl had enough funds to maintain a city defense force of 1,200 professional soldiers.


    In the Rhine Kingdom, a force of 1,200 fully employed professional soldiers constituted a substantial military might. Over the past century, Indahl had never suffered the banditry commonly encountered by all border cities. The city defense force played a crucial role in this achievement.


    It was precisely because of this that the Bartalis family''s hold on the Indahl city lord position had always been so firm. No matter how capable or well-connected the consuls (mayor) sent by the throne were, the highest authority of Indahl was never affected.


    Of course, the Bartalis family wasn''t in the good graces of the throne, being a feudal lord that dared keep a large amount of merchant tax to raise troops instead of obediently handing them over to the royal treasury. The size of the Indahl''s established territory and its citizens could be considered a county, but the throne had always suppressed the Bartalis family''s title to the level of a viscount. Regardless of how much influence the Bartalis family could hold sway in the capital, the throne refused to promote their rank.


    Such discord between the throne and local nobility was quite commonplace in this world, and Viscount Bartalis didn''t seem out of line among the Rhine nobles¡ªthough it was rather embarrassing for him not being able to take a count''s seat at each New Year''s cocktail party held at the palace.


    But at least, in Indahl''s territory, this viscount was still the one and only "king."


    "So, Count Odysse''s nephew''s servant, escorted by a group of WeIsshem militiamen, fled to the city to report a crime, claiming that Count Odysse''s nephew was attacked by a group of¡­ reanimated skeletons? In Weisshem?"


    The fat, well-maintained face of the current Viscount Bartalis, Adra the Third, revealed a look of skepticism as he glared at the sheriff.


    "That servant reported Count Odysse''s name and showed us a gold-embossed envelope with the Odysse family seal¡­ I think that should be the case.


    "Aside from that, the militiamen of Weisshem also said the same thing. They claimed that many undead attacked Weisshem in the wee hours of this morning," said the sheriff nervously.


    Country folk were afraid of the resurrected dead, but as long as one had a little understanding of dark arts, they would know that the undead were just dead creatures that didn''t have a soul or intelligence.


    Those attacked by the undead weren''t suffering retribution because of bad karma. Instead, it was black mages that were behind it.


    There was also something else strange¡­ A high-level black mage, who could control an undead army, had mobilized a large number to attack the town in order to kidnap the nephew of a count?


    This sheriff would still find it feasible if it were a mercenary group that was short of money and kidnapped this unfortunate fellow. A high-level black mage who could command a large number of the undead to concurrently assault a town¡­ That was indeed rather unbelievable. It was even more laughable than a heavy-armored knight riding a prized steed into a goatherd''s house to steal black bread.


    The unfortunate fellow didn''t even have a decent-sized guard and merely traveled with a few servants. He definitely wasn''t a nephew who had the right to inherit. Every count family would easily have a few hundred nephews just like that.


    Given the sheriff''s experience, he was more inclined to believe that the count''s nephew was caught up with some unseemly reason that involved Weisshem''s militia. And these fellows had concocted a massive lie to save the count''s nephew as soon as possible¡­


    The corner of Adra III''s mouth twitched, showing clear displeasure.


    This displeasure had nothing to do with the loyal servant who had run for his master''s life (a servant who lied to save his master was moral in the eyes of the nobles) but because the town of Weisshem had just made him lose face.


    A day earlier, Weisshem had sold out a proprietor whose backer had lost power, tacitly acknowledging the new owner who had forcefully taken over the business that had been running for years.


    Usually, this sort of thing was nothing out of the ordinary, just that people of the Radiant Sun Church had seen the entire thing when it happened, leading those arrogant Kenyans to question Adra III''s ability to control the territory of Indahl. And this had made him very unhappy.


    Just yesterday, the people from the Radiant Sun Church had just come to the city lord''s mansion to mock the security issues of Indahl territory. If they were to hear that something happened at Weisshem again today, it would only be natural for Adra III to be livid.


    "What the hell is going on?" Adra III demanded unhappily.


    "I was just about to ask you if we should get the City Defense Force to dispatch some men to Weisshem to take a look?" The sheriff didn''t dare admit he wasn''t confident and quickly tossed the ball out of his court.


    Weisshem wasn''t far away from Indahl, a 60-kilometer journey on the main road. The City Defence Force could move out and arrive by late afternoon.


    Adra III did not respond immediately. Instead, he stroked the neatly trimmed mustache on his upper lip with his chubby fingers. After pondering for a bit, he mused, "Speaking of which, that Radiant Sun Church''s cavalry regiment came to the Southern Territory to hunt down the ''Nightmare Butcher.''" After another pause, Adra III said expressionlessly, "Send someone to inform the Radiant Sun Church that the Nightmare Butcher they''re chasing is suspected to have appeared in Weisshem and even attacked the nephew of a count."


    The Radiant Sun Church loved chasing black mages, so it was fine if they went. As for whether the person who attacked Weisshem and kidnapped the count''s nephew was really a black mage or if it was truly the legendary Nightmare Butcher¡­ Adra III did not care. He would use the term "suspected," and even if it turns out to be a false alarm, it wouldn''t have anything to do with him.


    The sheriff hesitated. He wanted to say that Weisshem was a town under Indahl''s jurisdiction¡­ but when he realized that Adra III was glaring at him, he quickly bowed and answered, "Yes, my lord."


    After leaving the city lord''s manor, the sheriff sent someone to make a report to the Radiant Sun Church.


    ¡ªThird, you''re too willful. This lament was something the sheriff didn''t even dare tell his wife, and he could only hide it deep down.


    Adra III, who grew up in the capital, didn''t like Indahl.


    He hated squatting in "the countryside" to deal with trivial matters for a long period. He always talked about the prosperity and dignity of the imperial capital and yearned to return to the true core of the Rhine Kingdom''s wealth and power.


    This made the sheriff, who had once served his predecessor, Adra II, feel both disappointed and frustrated. Without Indahl as his backing, if not for this prosperous territory and strong army capable of resisting border marauders, what did the prosperity, dignity, power, and honor of the imperial capital have to do with Adra III, who only had the title of viscount?


    Holding the position of only a sheriff, he naturally didn''t dare to advise his city lord. He had no doubt that he would be removed from his position and driven back to the countryside to retire if he dared expose the inflated vanity of Adra III.


    Elsewhere, after receiving news from officers of the sheriff''s office, the white-robed priest of the local Radiant Sun Church and the commander of the Inquisition''s cavalry regiment exchanged a glance.


    "What is this city lord planning?" the commander muttered with a frown. "There was no mention of anything about a black mage when my men returned from Weisshem yesterday."


    After a momentary pause, the captain, who had seen many despicable nobles in the countryside, said, "Could it be that Weisshem refused to obey that fat pig of a city lord, so this damn fellow wants to make use of our power to settle the issue?"


    The white-robed priest was also a little hesitant. He had been in Indahl for over a decade and, with his understanding of the short-sighted and foolish Adra III, the fat pig of a city lord was more than capable of doing such a thing.


    A brief pause later, the white-robed priest suggested, "Send two teams to take a look. No matter what the Adra III is up to, we must continue to investigate the whereabouts of the Nightmare Butcher."


    The commander contemplated, then stood up and said, "I''ll take some men there myself. Weisshem is close to Sorenson. Perhaps we can really get news about the Nightmare Butcher there."


    The cavalry regiment had been resting in Indahl for several days and had already lost interest in this small inland city that wasn''t good for much other than business. The commander asked for his men to volunteer and quickly formed two teams to leave the city.


    As always, the road at the city gate was congested¡ªmerchants coming and going to sell their wares, trading caravans arguing endlessly with the city gate officials over the taxes on goods, farmers doing odd jobs, and commoners coming to visit their relatives¡­ Even the Inquisition''s cavalry regiment, leading tall horses and decked out in standard armor of the Radiant Sun Church, had to squeeze along as well.


    After finally leaving the city, the commander ordered everyone to get on their mounts and set off¡ª


    Then, the captain slipped his foot on the stirrup and almost went under his steed''s belly.


    The others weren''t in any mood to snicker at their leader''s display of a lack of composure. All of them were staring in the same direction with their mouths agape¡­


    Not too far from these church knights, among the long line of people waiting to enter the city¡­ were two men.


    These two were riding ordinary horses of barely passable quality. Both were in long robes and hooded cloaks.


    The two men, who were waiting to enter the city, queuing up behind a caravan, had been talking in low voices. When they saw the conspicuous church knights, they naturally looked over.


    One of them¡­ even smiled at the knights of the Radiant Sun Church as if he had seen an old acquaintance.


    "Isn''t this Commander Walton? It''s been quite a while."


    Commander Walton held onto the saddle to steady himself and stared at the other party with his mouth agape.


    Lustrous shoulder-length hair, a rosy face full of energy, and a chin shaved so cleanly that not a single stubble could be seen¡­ The robe beneath the cloak was also clean, with only a little dust from the journey.


    Which part of this bastard black mage seemed like he was in a miserable state and on the run?


    Had this guy even been fleeing?? That couldn''t be right!


    Why could he appear so brazenly over here? sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Commander Walton snapped back to his senses and immediately reached for his waist.


    Yang Qiu, atop his horse, didn''t budge and looked at him calmly.


    Indeed, Commander Walton did not draw his sword, nor did he immediately order the soldiers to encircle and annihilate the bastard black mage that the Radiant Sun Church had been pursuing for several decades.


    This was a crowded city gate!


    Besieging a black mage here would definitely result in a large number of casualties regardless of whether they could successfully capture him or not!


    Commander Walton did not care how many non-Kenyan citizens died, but the city lord of Indahl definitely would. Regardless of how stupid and short-sighted that fat pig of a city lord was, he would never let Commander Walton off should that happen.


    A livid Commander Walton gestured to his squad, gripped the hilt of his sword, reared his mount, and led them forward toward Yang Qiu.


    "Is this a welcome ceremony? What incredible hostility." Yang Qiu remained unmoved and even smiled. "In that case, I''ll reluctantly allow you to escort me, Commander Walton."


    Having said that, he called out to his traveling companion, and the two pulled their reins, leading the horses out of the line into the city, and voluntarily entered the calvary''s formation.


    Commander Walton''s expression turned even uglier.


    "What are you up to?"


    "As you can see, entering the city." Yang Qiu shrugged. "Turn your horses around. Regardless of what travel plans you might have, follow me into the city first."


    Commander Walton: "¡­"


    The Radiant Sun knights: "¡­"


    "What exactly are you trying to do?!" Commander Walton''s face was nearly contorting.


    Yang Qiu glanced at him and urged his horse to the side of the regiment''s commander. With a smile, he said, "Sparing your life¡­ of course.


    "I was the last person seen alive by many cavalry regiment commanders. Do you know how many there were?"


    "Yang," Lowell called out helplessly to stop this guy''s crazy provocation.


    Yang Qiu smiled and nodded at Inspector Lowell before turning back to Commander Walton. "My companion doesn''t like the way I speak. Let me put it in another way¡­ You''re still young, Walton, and haven''t yet gotten a chance to learn other ways to deal with things. You shouldn''t be so stiff compared to others who aren''t even as old as me."


    Before Walton could go berserk from the humiliation, Yang Qiu added, "As an old adversary, I know very well what tricks the Inquisition is employing. Twenty years ago, those old fellows, who carried Sealed Artifacts with them even in the Holy Land for a sense of security, had already given up trying to hunt me down. Instead, they kept letting you church knights, who are easily replenishable, pester me endlessly. They only wanted to use the lives of your sort to exert pressure on me in hopes that I would lose control of my mind."


    Walton, who was on the verge of erupting in rage, felt as if he had been stuffed into a bucket of ice and instantly froze.


    The squad of over 20 church knights surrounding Yang Qiu and Lowell was also dumbfounded.


    Yang Qiu wasn''t lying. Those lunatics from the Inquisition were indeed capable of doing such a thing.


    And indeed, they had nearly succeeded. By chance, they had made Yang Qiu pass through the forest and get ensnared by the elder god''s tentacle that had once anchored him. Yang Qiu had indeed been struggling on the verge of losing control and had taken the initiative to head to the Sorenson Mountains, which was a graveyard of the fallen¡­


    "It has already been 20 years since a priest last died at my hands.


    "In the past 20 years, the Inquisition only sent out calvary to hunt down a lunatic like me who managed to successfully infiltrate the sealed Holy Land¡­ Have you really not had the slightest suspicion?"


    After a pause, Yang Qiu let go of the reins and extended a hand to Walton. "Even countries with blood feuds would sit down and negotiate when they no longer have the resources to maintain intense confrontation. I think that would be the best solution for smart people to deal with disputes. What do you think, Commander Walton?"


    Half an hour later, in the local Radiant Sun Church.


    "Eh? Walton¡ªAh!"


    The white-robed priest resting in the prayer room jumped up the moment he saw Yang follow Walton into the room and instinctively backed away.


    Commander Walton, who had pushed open the door, saw the priest''s reaction¡­ and his face turned darker.


    "You didn''t try to kill me, a wanted criminal, the moment you saw me, so I can take this as a show of respect," Yang Qiu said with a smile as he walked past Walton, entered the room, and sat down on a wooden chair. "This is our first time meeting. I''m Yang, and this is my friend, Charlie Rex."


    Lowell, who had taken a seat beside Yang, rolled his eyes at Yang Qiu and gave a slight bow toward the white-robbed priest.


    The white-robed priest: "??"


    The old priest, who could not understand what had happened, looked toward Walton blankly.


    Even though Yang kept calling him "young," Walton actually wasn''t young. He was already in his forties.


    Having lived to such an age, it was obvious that Walton was no longer as hot-headed as people in their twenties or thirties. Regardless of how angry he was, he could still suppress his emotions and keep up appearances. "The Nightmare Butcher hopes to negotiate."


    "Negotiate?!" The white-robed priest was dumbfounded.


    Yang Qiu raised his hand and held up two fingers.


    "You have two choices, friar.


    "One, rebuke Commander Walton harshly for betraying the Radiant Sun Church and, on the spot, duke it out with me to the death. Use your life to humiliate Walton, who tried to make peace with the enemy.


    "Two, praise Commander Walton''s sacrifice for the bigger picture. In order to prevent more church knights being wasted at my hands, he would rather endure humiliation and bear the accusation of betrayal to try and negotiate peace."


    The white-robed priest was dumbfounded, his mouth agape, and he remained speechless for a long time¡­


    Choosing to save face or save one''s life didn''t matter much to young hotheads. Regardless of which world they were from, youngsters who had only lived for less than 30 years were more than happy to risk their lives for the ideals they believed in.


    To people who had lived to a certain age, this wasn''t even for consideration. Face was nothing compared to living.


    In front of Yang, who had personally slaughtered many high-ranking Radiant Sun Church priests, the white-robed priest did not even dare to pretend he was "forced." He only struggled for a few seconds before sitting down silently.


    "What do you want to negotiate?" the white-robed priest asked with as straight a face as he could muster.


    "Partial peace," Yang Qiu replied calmly. "Maintain friendly relations and peace within the territory of Indahl. Beyond Indahl, you may continue to oppose me."


    The white-robed priest''s jaw fell once more.


    Even Captain Walton, who believed Yang Qiu''s words and brought him here, was bewildered.


    "Genuine negotiation is impossible." Yang Qiu chuckled. "Many officials in different countries often shout for war, and the biggest reason for that is these politicians do not have to be on a battlefield where they might face the enemy at any time. As long as there are soldiers left, these politicians can continue their belligerence, right?"


    This statement was rather audacious¡­


    Commander Walton''s face nearly turned green, while the priest''s face was as pale as his robes.


    Yang Qiu leaned forward and got close to the pale-faced white-robed priest. "I am in Indahl, and Indahl is the battlefield for the both of us. If those of us engaging in the frontline desire peace, it doesn''t require approval from those in the ''rear,'' does it? In order to protect our own, we sometimes have to resort to some less-than-honest tactics. I think this reasoning is rather sound. What about you?"


    The white-robed priest''s face twitched several times. After much thought, he forced himself to speak, "It''s not as easy as you think. The ones pursuing you aren''t just Walton''s cavalry."


    "You can send them to Weisshem to find me, just remember to send a word in advance," said Yang Qiu. "Of course, you can rest assured, friar, since I''ve voluntarily proposed to maintain peace within the territory of Indahl, I will certainly keep my promise and not take lives. Whatever number of men you send, I''ll return them intact."


    He would surely return the men, but their equipment, weapons, and horses were another matter. After all, players'' attachment to their equipment and mounts was something Yang Qiu, as an "NPC Lord," couldn''t force them to relinquish.


    The white-robed priest couldn''t help but shift his gaze toward Walton.


    Walton didn''t say anything and remained silent.


    It was true; the Inquisition consisted entirely of fanatical zealots willing to dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to obey the instructions of the priests. But once they realized they were expendable, the most fervor of these fanatics would diminish. People were fundamentally selfish beings, and even those who could temporarily set aside their self-interest couldn''t entirely suppress their innate selfishness.


    In the most challenging times for the country of China, those who remained unwavering for decades on the secret frontline relied on their great and noble beliefs, their fervor to change the world, and their faith to bring about a new day for their comrades.


    Hunting down a black mage who once invaded their Holy Land and desecrated their church might indeed be a pursuit of justice, but¡­ how lofty was it?


    The white-robed priest couldn''t find words to accuse Walton of being selfish because he himself had long moved away from his days as a religious zealot. When he was assigned to oversee missionary work in the remote southern nation of the Rhine Kingdom, he had already embraced his own self-interest.


    Not to mention¡­ the Nightmare Butcher, who moved freely, even in the Holy Land, and had killed numerous high-ranking priests, was sitting right before them.


    "So¡­ what do you want, Black Mage?" the white-robed priest uttered hoarsely.


    This proactive question signified his willingness to compromise.


    "Only a few modest requests," Yang Qiu said with a pleasant smile. "My friend here, Charles Rex, is the illegitimate child of a viscount in the Rhine Kingdom."


    Beside him, Inspector Lowell''s expression remained cold, reflecting a bleak sense of helplessness.

 Chapter 92: Weissheim Marketplac

    Inspector Lowell''s appearance indeed closely resembled that of a young nobility. However, whether he was Charlie Rex or not wasn''t important to the Radiant Sun Church''s white-robed priest.


    What truly mattered was that the Nightmare Butcher sat less than two meters away from him. Not only could the priest see no traces of mental collapse, but the Nightmare Butcher also appeared alert and brimming with vitality. He could probably go on a sightseeing tour of the Radiant Sun Holy Land without any problems¡­


    Between a rock and a hard place, the priest had no choice but to lower his hand.


    When he did so, things became easier for Yang Qiu. He would be able to move freely within Indahl.


    The matter of wanted posters of him circulating the world was a long time ago, and if it weren''t for the unshakable Radiant Sun Church pestering him like an annoying pest, Yang Qiu would actually have been able to appear openly in many places. This was one of the perks of being a high-level spellcaster¡ªfar outliving those craving bounties by several generations.


    Without his identity being exposed, a high-level spellcaster like Yang Qiu could conduct his activities in human cities easily¡­ In less than an hour, he became a guest of the city lord of Indahl, Adra III.


    Even this white-robed priest, with a mental strength of more than 1,600 based on Yang Qiu''s established categorization and would be seen as a Lv 6 boss by players using "Identify," had been "convinced" by Yang Qiu''s charisma. Adra III, whose mental strength was not even 30 and lower than the average player, was easy to persuade.


    Yang Qiu presented a transaction list affixed with the city lord''s seal. He claimed that Charlie Rex, a resident of the Rhine Kingdom, couldn''t tolerate the brutal actions of Baron What''s-His-Name of Weisshem, which constituted a desecrating Lady Gold Coin in the territory of the Rhine Kingdom and now asked the city lord of Indahl to support Charlie Rex''s territorial war against the said baron; if Lord Adra III refused, he would accompany Charlie Rex to the imperial capital to seek nobles willing to support their cause.


    The domain of Weisshem was also within the jurisdiction of the Indahl territory. While Baron What''s-His-Name had recently caused City Lord Adra III some embarrassment, Lord Adra III had also benefited from the business in Weisshem, both openly and in secret.


    Were it someone else presenting this "evidence" and threatening him, City Lord Adra III would have had this clueless individual restrained and severely punished. He would have that person sent to labor to the death at a coal mine in the mountains and only bring him back as a corpse to process his bones into wall ornaments.


    But it was a high-level spellcaster that came knocking, along with a noble bastard that had the power to take over Weisshem in just one night, and merely a change of name on paperwork to make the change of ownership official¡­ Adra III was at a disadvantage.


    Were it only the latter, Adra III could still have managed the situation¡ªhe would simply have the imposter claiming to be Charlie Rex decapitated and have the city defense force dispatched to retake Weisshem. Adra III didn''t believe that this imposter, who lacked the resources of a noble family, could raise a military force comparable to what the Bartalis family had built over several generations.


    However, there was the additional appearance of a high-level spellcaster that added a twist. This was simply a sucker punch to Adra III¡­


    The biggest shortcoming of the Bartalis family was their inability to train clan spellcasters.


    Logically speaking, upstart nobility with over three generations would make an effort to collect talented children and young adults for training, spending decades in the process to nurture at least a couple of spellcasters for the family clan.


    Many rural nobles in remote areas nurtured foster children, similar to those from long-established, deeply rooted, and flourishing large family clans with several centuries of heritage, and could even provide support to train high-level spellcasters.


    However, it was a different case for the Bartalis family, who had only occupied the lordship of this region for only three generations.


    The Bartalis family truly started their ascent a little over a century ago. When they acquired the Indahl territory with the help of Adra I, their family only held the title for several generations, and the places of power they could lay claim to were a few estates passed down from their forebears.


    When Adra I took over Indahl, it was nowhere near as prosperous as it was today. Gangs of marauders were rampant in the Sorenson Mountains, striking every few years, and the local population couldn''t save up much.


    It was Adra III''s great-grandfather and grandfather who toiled away, implementing taxes and raising troops until the city defense force was established. With that, the marauder gangs using Indahl as a free supply point were finally suppressed.


    By the time of Adra III''s father, Indahl had finally become a vital trade hub in the continent.


    Adra III''s father sent him to study in the royal city, hoping his son would find gifted but economically disadvantaged mage apprentices among the elite and the nation''s finest talents.


    However, Adra III was too caught up in the luxuries of the capital and didn''t pay much heed to his father''s expectations. Upon the unexpected death of his father and his urgent recall to take up the position, Adra III returned empty-handed. After taking over the position, he looked askance at the several foster children his father had "amassed" during his lifetime, and it was only because of advice from the old steward that Adra III didn''t dismiss them outright¡­


    In short, the Bartalis family didn''t have any immediately available spellcasters. All they possessed were a few mage apprentices that would require decades of investment, probably at mage towers of others'' territories. Perhaps it would only be another three generations after Adra III before any benefits could be reaped.


    Adra III''s fat face grimaced as he reluctantly accepted the "evidence."


    I apologize, Baron What''s-Your-Name. You''ve lost your own territory and your people created such a mess, letting such an important thing fall into someone else''s hands. Consider yourself fortunate; I''m letting you off the hook because of your many years of offerings to me and my father!


    While Yang Qiu, with poor Lowell in tow, deftly acquired the territory of Weisshem through a series of actions, elsewhere, Hal had a similarly disheartened look on his face as he led his fellow comrades owning four tricycles to the Weisshem marketplace.


    Initially, these former Sorensen bandits thought that overseeing captives was the lowest "humiliation" they could receive. Little did they know that there was still room to go lower. That rascal Rex assigned them the task of overseeing captives to the undead and, as a result, these three former bandits were now dispatched as street vendors.


    "We should have thought of a way to bring all our brothers out had we known earlier." Tuttle sighed deeply. Were it not for the fact their comrades were held hostage in Exile Town, they would have grabbed the merchandise and made a run for it.


    Tuttle initially imagined that these goods would be sold to local merchants all at once. However, he never imagined that that bastard Rex would force them to handle the retailing on their own¡­


    The marketplace in Weisshem was, in reality, nothing more than a relatively wide street situated in the western part of town. Forty years ago, before the expansion of Weisshem, this street, known as Martin Street, was the true commercial hub of the town. It had a broad, 12-meter-wide road, which could accommodate three carts side by side, where local residents set up their stalls.


    During weekdays, between two and five in the afternoon, it was mainly dominated by vegetable vendors. Early in the morning, when the sun wasn''t too harsh, to work the fields, farmers would bring their produce to sell in town while buying salt, black bread, cloth, and woven bags to take back with them.


    On weekends, grocery traders from Indahl, farmers around the area, and people working in estates all congregated on this street. All manner of things, from cattle, horses, and pigs, to needles, thread, and all other commodities could be found on this street.


    Of course, the red-light district had become Weisshem''s local specialty, though Martin Street remained lively during certain times. After all, replenishment of daily necessities was needed, whether one was a town resident or from the countryside. Salt, soybean oil, and butter¡ªthese three essential items, especially¡ªneeded to be restocked weekly. Their prices were quite high, and even the townsfolk could only purchase small quantities but more frequently.


    It wasn''t a weekend today, so most of the people coming into town were farm folk. At around two in the afternoon, when the sun wasn''t as scorching, farmers from nearby villages came to town in small groups, carrying baskets on their shoulders and back.


    The prosperity of the red-light district, to some extent, also affected the lives of the neighboring villagers. On the one hand, local prices were influenced, and the money in the hands of the farm folk became increasingly insufficient. On the other hand, seasonal fruits, fresh vegetables, handwoven bamboo baskets, tools, and even wild fruits collected from the mountains, all had better sales now compared to before the emergence of the red-light district.


    These farm folk, some carrying fresh vegetables or produce foraged from the mountains, traveled along the main path into town, happily discussing what to buy after selling their wares. Some brought scissors, sickles, and other tools from home, intending to have the town''s craftsmen sharpen them.


    Roughly a hundred meters away from the town gate, this bunch noticed quite a crowd there.


    These people were either carrying their goods, wearing back baskets, or pushing wooden-wheeled hand carts¡ªevidently, fellow farmers coming to sell their produce.


    "Why are they blocking the entrance? Aren''t they going in to do business?" a skinny farmer carrying a full back basket of mountain produce wondered aloud.


    "Could they be collecting a toll at the town gate today?"


    "Impossible. We haven''t heard of a toll for coming to sell our stuff at the market all these years."


    "Yeah, what will the people in town eat if they don''t let us in to sell our produce?"


    While confused, this bunch noticed someone struggling to make their way out of the tightly packed crowd. The person''s basket was empty, and he appeared flustered and kept looking back as he pushed his way through.


    Such a sight startled the bunch a hundred meters away, and they came to a standstill.


    "Were his things taken without paying him?" The skinny farmer gasped.


    "No, it can''t be. There are so many people still gathered there. If someone takes the goods without paying, why haven''t they left?" another farmer with a heavy load said nervously.


    As if confirming the second farmer''s speculation, the man who had emerged with an empty basket didn''t immediately flee. Instead, he stopped at the edge of the crowd, turned back, and peered in¡­


    The farmers that had just arrived exchanged puzzled looks.


    Their village was neither very near nor far from town, and it took them over an hour in the scorching sun to reach Weisshem. Forgoing the day''s trade and heading back home was something they were all very unwilling to do.


    After some hesitation and deliberation, this group decided to approach and assess the situation. It was broad daylight, and there were so many people at the town gate. If there really was someone taking their things without paying, wouldn''t all the people scatter? And with so many people, couldn''t the transgressor be detained?


    This group nervously covered the last hundred meters and pushed their way through the layers of the crowd. Before they could inquire about the situation, they heard a deep, somewhat impatient male voice from within, "16 kilograms of cabbage, one copper coin per pound. Isn''t that 32 copper coins? Three 10 copper coins and two 1 copper coins, can''t you count?"


    "Plus this 5.5 kilogram pumpkin, that''s 36 copper coins!"


    "Since when are 2 kilograms of pumpkin one copper coin? I can get 3 kilograms for that as well! Don''t complicate things. If you aren''t happy, take your produce to the market yourself. We won''t accept it here!"


    "Enough green peppers! No more green peppers!"


    "Take the tomatoes over there to be weighed!"


    "We don''t need any more vegetables! We have enough!"


    This loud male voice sounded extremely rude as if he wanted to hit someone¡­ but the farmers that just arrived let out a sigh of relief.


    Some bosses in the town would occasionally purchase produce at the town gate, and farmers did prefer selling to these well-off buyers. Despite their discourteous and rough manners, they didn''t nitpick, paid promptly, and didn''t haggle over a few leaves of vegetables like some of the townsfolk did.


    Farmers who brought other varieties of produce joined the crowd at the town gate. Some smarter ones even squeezed through the crowd despite the people around them complaining.


    The thin farmer carrying a basket of mountain goods worked his way through, much to the annoyance of the others. But when he reached the front, he was bewildered.


    The bulk purchase bosses weren''t blocking the gate; they were conducting their transactions at one side of the town gate, leaving a large open space.


    The farm folk from miles around crowding around the town gate were unwilling to enter via this open space. The reason being that in the midst of these bulk purchasers were actual skeletons that were moving about in sunlight!


    These weren''t the sort of lifeless skeletons occasionally uncovered when a grave was eroded by heavy rain but actual living skeletons that moved and jumped about just like humans.


    The skinny farmer, who had managed to squeeze his way to the front, witnessed two of these skeletons actively loading a batch of radishes sold by a vegetable farmer onto a tricycle cart parked nearby.


    He stood there, mouth agape, staring in shock and amazement at this eerie scene. It took him quite a while to snap out of it, and he gulped hard.


    He was in a peculiar state now, torn between the desire to turn tail and run home and the curiosity to stray and witness this strange sight¡­


    Collecting produce directly at the town gate was indeed more efficient than slowly wandering the marketplace, and in half an hour, Mia and Ben had loaded their five tricycle carts full of vegetables.


    "These should be enough for today," Ben told Mia.


    Mia, responsible for payments, wiped her brow and replied, "Alright, let''s call it a day. We can go check the market."


    Then, she waved toward the farm folk crowding the town gate and said, "We have enough vegetables for today, so we''ll come again tomorrow. Everyone, please feel free to enter the city and don''t obstruct the gate."


    Were it in the past, Mia might have taken quite some time to explain that the Taranthan undead were friendly and wouldn''t harm the farm folk. But now, she had the task assigned by Rex to focus on and couldn''t afford to waste time. She waved to the farm folk and, along with Ben and the helpful undead, made her way back.


    The procurement team turned into an alley and headed toward the market in the west of town, eventually disappearing from view. It was only after they were far out of sight that the intrigued farmers and farmwives crowding at the town gate collectively buzzed with conversation.


    Many of them were planning to enter the town and sell their produce the next day. They couldn''t understand when Weisshem had changed to the extent that even undead, which were the stuff of legends, were appearing! And these undead were mingling with humans and even buying their vegetables!


    The skinny farmer, who squeezed his way to the front and managed to sell most of his inventory to the tricycle procurement team, returned to his fellow villages at the back, exclaiming with a mix of astonishment and delight, "You guys have no idea how frightening those clothed and armored skeletons are. I thought I was going to wet my pants when they got close! They can even talk, though I couldn''t understand a word. It''s all some weird sounds!"


    "Did they really pay you?" a fellow village asked curiously.


    "Yes." The skinny farmer proudly displayed the copper coins he had just received. "Look, I got these for the wild plums I picked in the morning."


    Seeing the money, his fellow villagers couldn''t help but envy him.


    "Those wild plums were actually exchanged for so much? These people are really generous."


    "I should have squeezed to the front too. My family grew these eggplants so well; perhaps they would''ve bought them too."


    "Is it true that they are coming back tomorrow?"


    Farm folk discussed animatedly and speculated if this was a one-time occurrence. Most who had initially only planned to watch before quickly returning home now changed their minds and began moving in groups toward the market on the western side of town.


    The sight of the undead strolling around the town was undeniably frightening. But as long as these undead didn''t harm the living and were willing to pay for the goods, the visiting farm folk began to accept their presence.


    After all, they still needed to sell their produce, and essentials in their homes needed replenishing; having a few meals without oil was doable, but an empty salt box was a different story.


    For the lower-class townsfolk and villagers from the countryside, there was nothing more challenging than staying alive.


    The skinny farmer and his fellow villagers reached the marketplace and noticed that it was quieter than usual. Only the small shops that depended on daily business for their livelihood were open, while the large bread shops, clothing stores, and grain shops with haughty employees were all closed.


    It wasn''t just fewer open shops; the traffic in the marketplace was much lower than usual¡­ Many of the townspeople that usually rushed to buy fresh vegetables early were conspicuously absent.


    This bleak scene brought anxiety to the farm folk who were accustomed to the bustling market days. Those who had already sold their vegetables had stuff to buy, while those with unsold produce were eager to make a sale. With so few people around, could business still be conducted? S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Even more startling was that farmers witnessed the same bunch, who had been bulk-purchasing their vegetables earlier, tear down the door of a grain store.


    The scattered farm folk instinctively banded together, huddling close like they had at the town gate.


    Once the store''s door was broken down, from a distance of several dozen meters, the huddled farmers heard miserable wails coming from within¡­


    Those with keen eyes even saw someone climbing out of the grain store''s window, screaming frantically while fleeing down the alley¡­


    The farmers clung together even more tightly as the strange and unsettling sight unfolded in their widened eyes.


    Then, the terrifying undead entered and brought the elderly couple owners of the store who hadn''t managed to escape. In front of them, the undead placed a scale, weighed sacks of flour, and paid for them immediately before loading the purchases onto tricycles¡­


    This eerie group of procurers took away more than 100 kilograms of flour before moving on to the next store, leaving a small bag of coins in the hands of the stunned store owner couple.


    When Hal and his two comrades arrived at the marketplace with their four tricycles, the procurement team had just left. The normally lively market had recovered about forty percent of its usual vigor. While it wasn''t even half as bustling as usual, with many vendors and townspeople staying away, at least it wasn''t as desolate as the other parts of the town.


    After finding a relatively dry and less littered spot to park, Jerome, the youngest and least experienced of the three former bandits, took the initiative to take a waterproof canopy sheet from the cart and spread it open on the street side. Then, he quickly unloaded the goods from the tricycle carts, sorting and displaying them.


    Rex, who had an understanding of the sort of good that could attract folk in the lower rungs of society, had arranged the first batch of products for the retail team: two carts worth of fabrics; a cart of miscellaneous plastic products like cups, bowls, buttons, and rain boots; and a cart of towels and sewing kits.


    The real showstopper here were the rolls and rolls of curtain fabric¡ªprinted with an array of dazzling patterns, made from tightly woven threads, and stunningly vibrant (a perfect match for rural aesthetics). These were surplus stock that had been sitting in the factory for over five years on average.


    Upon seeing these fabrics and towels, the town residents, farmers, shop owners, and employees were utterly mesmerized. It didn''t matter who; they were all captivated by these products.


    In the Navalon continent, the leading textile industry giant was the Kenyan Empire. Nearly a third of the continent''s urban population had textiles from the Kenyan Empire in their homes. But what about the other seventy percent of urban residents and the even larger rural population? Why didn''t they use these textiles?


    The reason was simple: they couldn''t afford them.


    Due to the abysmal road infrastructure, the exorbitant cost of land-based transport that was five times higher than sea trade meant that prices of even simple printed shirts from the Kenyan Empire would be unaffordable when they reached the inland nations. A shirt that the common people in the Kenyan Empire could easily purchase would be sold in the inland regions for at least ten times the price.


    Even in Indahl, only the wealthier residents could afford such finely woven fabrics with bright, intricate patterns, let alone Weisshem. The vast majority of people could only afford plain, rough linen clothing.


    Hal and Tuttle, who hailed from well-to-do backgrounds, weren''t in any mood to lend a helping hand. They stood on the spot, concerned about how Yang might settle the debt if they were to run away or if anything were to happen¡­ If the goods were looted or there were discrepancies in the accounts, that scoundrel Yang would undoubtedly lay the blame on their shoulders.


    Jerome, who was sweating profusely from hard work, had no hope of them helping. When he finished displaying the merchandise and saw that no customers were approaching, he could only follow Rex''s instructions and shout, "The new lord brings to Weisshem exclusive new merchandise! Everyday essentials at unbelievably low prices! Brand new printed fabric, only ten copper coins per meter¡ª"


    Before Jerome even finished the sales pitch according to Rex''s instructions, he felt his world momentarily blurring.


    A woman, who had previously been purchasing vegetables across the street, seemed to move at a speed far exceeding that of an ordinary person and suddenly appeared right in front of their spot in a flash.


    "H-how much is it?" This woman, who had the appearance of an ordinary housewife holding a basket of vegetables, stared fervently at Jerome. "Sir, what did you say the price for one meter of this fabric was? Can you please repeat it again?"


    Jerome, who was often overlooked as an instructor NPC, sported a large beard to make himself seem older and to avoid being underestimated. He, too, came from a humble background.


    Even though he had been instructed by Yang to act as a knight instructor, Jerome wasn''t a true knight¡ªbefore being cast out and ending up on the streets, he had merely been a squire, and that was a more flattering term. In truth, he had just been a knight''s servant, responsible for tending to the needs of his master. When the knight went into battle, Jerome helped with the armor and weapons, and if the knight faced defeat in battle, it was Jerome''s duty to guard the retreat.


    Typically, a knight would have multiple squires, and not all of them would become full-fledged knights. If a squire grew older and more experienced and the knight didn''t want additional future competition, the squire might be dismissed, and a more obedient, younger boy would be taken on.


    In other words, Jerome knew the hardships of life and was well aware of what these unbelievably cheap and astonishingly high-quality goods meant for an average person.


    "Ten copper coins per meter, madam," Jerome slowed his words and explained patiently. "The single-sided prints are thicker, while the double-sided prints are thinner, and both are priced at ten copper coins per meter."

 Chapter 93: Weissheim Marketplace

    On Earth, thick blackout curtain fabric started at six yuan per meter on Taobao and five yuan on Pinshaoshao.


    Yang Qiu couldn''t afford these relatively expensive newer ones. After comparing prices and haggling, he managed to purchase this batch of stock originally intended for rural markets from a textile factory on the brink of closure at the price of 2.4 yuan per meter.


    The rise of platforms like Taobao and Pinduoduo dealt a significant blow to physical stores in cities, though many still managed to survive. On the contrary, those in the countryside suffered because even remote villages had access to roads and express delivery. As such, this batch of curtain fabric designed for the rural market was collecting dust in the warehouse.


    Even considering re-purposing and processing them into clothing or bedsheets wasn''t a feasible option. The colors were too bright, the prints too large and old-fashioned, and the material too thick. If these curtain fabrics were processed into clothing, there was no way they would sell, and it would mean incurring additional processing costs.


    However, these flaws¡­ were actually advantages in this other world.


    Thicker fabric? It just so happened that everyone here toiled and struggled for their livelihood, and more durable materials were appreciated.


    Bright colors and bold prints? Not at all! It was clear that the factory had put effort into dyeing and printing. Such beautiful fabrics would make for stylish clothing.


    When Jerome repeated the new fabric''s price three times, everyone within a 30-meter range of their stand went wild.


    Vegetable sellers, buyers, and people minding their small stalls; as long as one had more than ten copper coins in hand, they would rush over in a crazed frenzy¡­


    "Give me five meters! Any color is fine! Five meters!"


    "Sir, can you cut me two meters? I want a thicker fabric!"


    "Can I have one and a half meters? I only have 15 copper coins!"


    Clang!


    Hal drew his sword and roared at the people attempting to snatch the fabrics, "Line up! Do you all want to die?!"


    The murderous aura of the former bandit gang leader¡­ came in handy at a time like this. Everyone, whether they genuinely wanted to buy fabric or had intended to snatch some due to the overwhelming interest, all settled down. With some pushing and shoving, a snaking queue was formed.


    Jerome wiped the sweat from his forehead, picked up a measuring tape and scissors, and beckoned to the first lady in line. "Madam, which design are you interested in and how many meters would you like?"


    The lady''s eyes darted to the fearsome Hal standing behind Jerome, and she gulped. Her fancy for these beautiful fabrics temporarily overshadowed her fear. While taking all her money, she scrutinized the rolls of fabric carefully.


    The lady had a discerning eye, and even if she dared not be too picky at the stand of this rough-looking man, she immediately chose a slightly thicker fabric with a pink base and a large red rose print on the side. Pointing to it, she said, "Please cut this one for me, I want four meters."


    This curtain fabric was meant for a bedroom and excellent at blocking out light. Its thickness and quality were impressive.


    Jerome had never been taught to sew, but he had learned basic sewing skills as a squire and had even altered his knight''s old clothes to fit himself during his youth. Cutting fabric with a measuring tape posed no problem for him. He took the money and efficiently cut a four-meter length of fabric for the lady, then rolled it up and handed it over.


    The lady felt the smooth fabric surface and the thickness of the material and was evidently pleased. She thanked Jerome profusely and forgot all about the vegetables she was supposed to buy and ran home, hugging the rolled-up fabric.


    The second lady in line was also a housewife, and her eyes were just as sharp. She didn''t want a thick single-sided print fabric; instead, she opted for a thinner but intricately designed double-sided print with a slightly 3D flower pattern.


    "When made into a skirt, both sides can be worn!" the second lady exclaimed to her neighbor, who was also shopping with her.


    The neighbor''s eyes lit up, and when it was her turn, she too bought the double-sided flower print¡­


    In a world where productivity was not quite advanced, fabrics were considered premium goods.


    While Chinese people despised the floral and rustic curtain fabrics, residents of this world were delighted. Regardless of whether they were townspeople or farm folk from the countryside, they all eagerly pointed at the vibrant fabrics.


    Although Jerome''s fabric cutting was swift, serving each customer took a few minutes. Customers waiting in line grew bored and began to glance at the other items besides the fabrics at the stall.


    There were colorful plastic cups, bowls, boxes of plastic buttons, and colorful sewing kits in transparent plastic cases, along with towels with stripes and simple patterns.


    Farm folk got increasingly tempted, and even the townspeople found it hard to look away¡­


    A gutsy farmwife, with several people still ahead of her in line, couldn''t resist and asked cautiously, "Mister, how¡­ are these sold?"


    Jerome didn''t stop cutting the fabric as he explained, "Five copper coins each. Cups and bowls are counted as a set, and a sewing kit with a box of buttons also counts as one. If you want, you can also choose two sewing kits or two boxes of buttons."


    A hush came over the crowd that had been eagerly discussing fabric colors or exasperating over not bringing enough money.


    "E-even those large basins and towels? F-five copper coins each?" the inquiring farmwife was stuttering.


    "Yes." Jerome nodded.


    All those waiting in line for fabric simultaneously took out their coins and started counting¡­


    Soon enough, cries of "Oh God, why did I bring so little money out!" and similar laments rang out.


    Some townsfolk, who had positions toward the back of the queue, scrutinized the number ahead of them, bit the bullet, left the line, and rushed home to fetch more money.


    Farm folk, whose homes were far away and often genuinely short on cash, found themselves in a dilemma and soon started shouting.


    "Does anyone want vegetables? Buy now at half price!"


    "Ma''am, does your family need baskets or shoulder poles?"


    "Fabric or basins first? It''s so hard to decide!"


    Plastics existed in this world, but due to the lack of comprehensive resource development and scarce raw materials, plastic products remained expensive and far from common use.


    Most people were familiar with the convenience of plastic plates and bowls, but in their daily lives, they still relied on various earthenware and low-quality glass products. Clay pots, glass cups, and bowls were essential items for the vast majority of households.


    Some wealthier households might use enamelware, but in this world, they were considered rather high-end. Metals, after all, were also expensive in this world. Even on Earth, steel production would still be rather challenging had there not been two world wars and a Cold War that gave rise to China as a superpower.


    And that was not mentioning towels. Many people only indulged in buying two new towels when they got married and refused to throw them away, even when those towels were riddled with holes.


    The few townsfolk at the front of the queue hurriedly took home their newly acquired fabric rolls, then scoured their houses to gather all the available cash they could find before rushing back to the marketplace.


    And while gathering more money, these people didn''t forget to inform their relatives and friends. Thus, even more people were scouring every nook and cranny of their houses for money¡­


    By three in the afternoon, half the town''s population were aware that three gentlemen at the marketplace were selling fabric rolls, towels, and plastic bowls and cups provided by the new lord at astonishingly low prices.


    Less than ten hours after Weisshem had been "conquered," the townsfolk were already cheerfully calling the new lord "Sir," even though they still hadn''t figured out who this new lord was.


    And this series of transformative changes to the town was simply part of a "new map storyline" to the players.


    As soon as the respawn (teleportation/login) point at Weisshem Town Hall was completed, players without quests on hand eagerly activated it and returned to Exile Town.


    There were two reasons for their haste. First, this siege quest had been exceedingly profitable, and all players who had participated earned a significant amount of in-game currency. Players were eager to head to the Undead Merchant Association to splurge on new gear.


    Secondly, this expedition quest, which included a siege, had put considerable wear and tear on the players'' clothing. Many players'' outfits had seen better days and were in dire need of repair, so they needed to rush back to Exile Town and bribe the female NPC tailors with sugar cubes to mend their clothes.


    Of course, it wasn''t that all players were anxious to change their gear and repair their clothes. Some players weren''t too keen on the 30-minute teleportation cooldown and continued to linger in Weisshem.


    For instance, Qin Guan, who went about collecting video material. Besides covering the red light district extensively, he also browsed the residential areas in the northern and western parts of town, even taking some clips of the former militia headquarters and the captured NPC prisoners. He had plans to enter the resettlement camps and record the beautifully modeled NPCs but was stopped by Rex.


    There was also the lifestyle class player, Liu Meng, who, after completing her quest in assisting Mia and Ben''s procurement team, returned to Martin Street and curiously explored the small shops operated by NPCs.


    Leather works, knife sharpeners, tailors, pawnshops, grocery stores¡ªLiu Meng had seen them all. She, who had a knack for casually exploring the map during her gaming sessions, was ecstatic.


    "This new map is incredible! The details are so spot on it''s like strolling through a foreign town!


    "A pity that there''s a language barrier¡­ Why doesn''t this game have a universal language feature? It''s so odd that even though we''re in the same friendly faction, we can''t interact with the NPCs properly!"


    Oblivious that her lamentations on the inability to interact with NPCs had left a bunch of local business owners quaking in fear, Liu Meng still went about trying to interact with NPCs individually to see if they could trigger any more quests. As she passed through the middle section of Martin Street, she noticed a crowd gathering around the discount stalls.


    And without a second thought, she squeezed her way over¡­


    At this point, it wasn''t just Jerome who was busy at the stall; Hal and Tuttle had their hands full as well. The former glared intensely at the townspeople comparing the thickness of plastic bowls, length of towels, and other aspects of the goods, while the latter squatted nearby collecting money with a wooden expression.


    The townsfolk, in the midst of a shopping frenzy, couldn''t care much about a single nearby undead player that had joined them. Those in the back urged those ahead to hurry, while those at the front either agonized over a lack of funds to buy everything they wanted or were irresistibly distracted by items they couldn''t afford.


    Liu Meng unceremoniously squeezed her way to the front, all while observing everything. She couldn''t understand the language of civilian NPCs in this new map, but linguistic communication wasn''t essential for a scene like this¡­ Even if people didn''t understand English, they could still make out all that was happening in Black Friday footage from across the Pacific.


    After observing for a while and not seeing any fellow players in the crowd, Liu Meng couldn''t help but exclaim, "NPCs advance the storyline on their own when players aren''t doing quests? This AI is way too advanced!"


    With this brief reflection, Liu Meng stepped out of the crowd and continued exploring the map. Players who were eager to explore new maps like Liu Meng were relatively few, but they weren''t scarce.


    At this moment, Ji Tang was feeling anxious and uneasy as he followed a few other players in wandering the streets and alleys of Weisshem.


    "The scenery on this new map is absolutely amazing. It really feels as if we are walking within a real town," exclaimed Tang Jia in amazement. Pointing to a wooden two-story house, she said, "Qingyue, look! That house has such a quaint style! The little fence beneath the attic window is adorable!"


    "It looks nice, but I bet it''s not so comfortable to live in," the pragmatic Yang Ying commented. "Wooden houses don''t keep insects out. Mosquitoes are everywhere in the summer, and in winter, people inside would be shivering from the cold. I once stayed at a relative''s house like that in the countryside, and I remember it vividly."


    "In a game, only looks matter. It doesn''t matter if it isn''t practical."


    "But it''s not practical; NPCs can get heatstroke, so the cold affects them too. The problem with these wooden houses is much worse when it snows in the winter."


    "In that case, Tianyong City doesn''t have any toilets either. Why don''t you make a case with Zhulong?"


    "What''s Tianyong City?"


    "Uh, it''s a city inside Ancient Sword 3¡ª"


    Ji Tang glanced at the two carefree girls that were chattering about something incomprehensible. It would be much easier for him if all players were like that.


    When his gaze shifted to the third person, Ji Tang''s expression became somewhat heavy.


    Accompanying Tang Jia and Yang Ying to explore the new map was¡­ Unceasing Entropy.


    With the in-game siege quest rewards settled and Earth time transitioning into the early morning, most student and office worker players had already logged out. In theory, both Unceasing Entropy and Tang Jia ought to have been attending classes at this time. However, Tang Jia was just so excited that she didn''t just skip her class but also went over to Unceasing Entropy''s dorm room at a different school and convinced the studious Zheng Qingyue to skip the morning lecture and game instead.


    As a result, Ji Tang''s crisis period came ahead of schedule¡­ S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the two previous "game maps," the combined total of "human NPCs" in Exile Town and Desolate Outpost was just a little over three hundred, and the interaction intensity with players wasn''t considered particularly high.


    But now, this "new map" of Weisshem was bustling with nearly ten thousand "human NPCs," and the degree of close interactions would increase exponentially!


    Ji Tang had already logged out, but when Tang Jia clamored about going to explore the new map in the WeChat group, Ji Tang logged back in anxiously¡­


    He hadn''t been wrong to worry. After just half a lap around the town''s residential area, Unceasing Entropy had become notably silent, her gaze constantly scanning households, courtyards, and various other places along the street¡­


    Ji Tang, who appeared as steady as ever, was growing increasingly uneasy deep down.


    Traces of daily life by actual living people were, in fact, easy to detect from one aspect that most people would easily overlook¡ªgarbage.


    This world being masqueraded as a game had a certain level of civilization. It wasn''t as bad as medieval Europe, where the streets were strewn with human and animal excrement, but it wasn''t exactly clean.


    Garbage from everyday life was all over the place, and on their little stroll through town so far, the group of players had yet to see a sewage drain that wasn''t clogged.


    Perhaps it was fortunate that resources were scarce in Weisshem, and the townsfolk didn''t have the luxury to be wasteful. Otherwise, Ji Tang would have started to wonder if the town''s garbage might eventually overflow the streets¡­


    Noticing Unceasing Entropy had been staring at a certain pile of garbage for over five seconds, Ji Tang mustered up his strength and muttered, "Hmm, doesn''t this feel like it could be a hidden quest?"


    Tang Jia and Yang Ying, upon hearing the word "quest," immediately ceased their banter and turned to Ji Tang curiously.


    "What quest?" they asked in unison.


    Ji Tang pointed to the garbage pile that Unceasing Entropy had been scrutinizing for quite some time and said as naturally as he could, "Have you guys noticed that this town is different from our Exile Town? You can see garbage heaps everywhere."


    Unceasing Entropy turned around as well and stared at Ji Ting intently.


    "And so?" Tang Jia still couldn''t catch on.


    "Didn''t the system display a notification in yellow after we received the siege quest rewards? Weisshem we conquered is Taranthan''s new territory. Our player faction leader, Lord Yang, is now the lord of this place and responsible for governing Weisshem, right?" Ji Tang continued. "Weisshem''s livelihood is the red-light district, but we got rid of it after taking over. Wouldn''t this lead to many people losing their jobs? So, if players suggest to Lord Yang to establish a sanitation bureau here and hire the townspeople as sanitation workers, wouldn''t it solve a part of the unemployment issue?"


    "Damn! Can the game be played like this?!" Tang Jia was taken aback. "Qingyue, Qingyue, is what Brother Ji says reliable?"


    Unceasing Entropy didn''t say anything, her gaze still locked on Ji Tang.


    Ji Tang, feeling quite uncomfortable under her scrutiny, tried to act nonchalantly. "This game offers such a high degree of freedom, so maybe it could work? With enough reputation with the Undead Merchant Association, players can hire NPCs to form trade caravans or even buy land and establish factories. I think it''s worth a try."


    Unceasing Entropy finally shifted her gaze away from Ji Tang, rubbing her chin as she mused, "Right¡­ Now that you mention it, Rex did issue an assistance quest to get players to help Mia out. It seemed to imply an effort to revitalize the town''s economy and livelihoods. By focusing our efforts in this direction, we might be able to trigger a hidden quest."


    Tang Jia, who couldn''t stand long-winded analysis, leaped up immediately. "What are we waiting for? Let''s go find Old Yang and ask for the quest! Let''s go, hurry up!"


    Ji Tang breathed a sigh of relief. But unexpectedly, Unceasing Entropy, who had already been pulled away by Tang Jia, turned back to give him one last glance.


    Ji Tang: "¡­"


    This lady isn''t so easily fooled, it seems¡­


    As Yang wasn''t at the Town Hall, an impatient Tang Jia led her companions to the resettlement point to find Rex. Rex was viewed rather favorably by warrior players, and he was generally seen as more reliable than Hal.


    Rex appreciated the proposal put forth by the players that would use Yang''s funds to employ townsfolk to clean the streets and maintain environmental hygiene. He was also receptive to the players'' opinions and promptly provided the regulations for establishing the sanitation bureau and employing sanitation workers.


    There were also occupations similar to that of sanitation workers in this world. However, unlike back on Earth, this sort of sanitary work often fell to local officials who subcontracted the tasks to local street organizations.


    Well, these organizations were basically street gangs¡­


    In Indahl, for example, aside from the affluent districts (typically managed by domestic staff responsible for the surrounding area''s cleanliness), the street cleaning, garbage collection, disposal, and incineration of street blocks with commercial activities were managed by street gangs. These street gangs not only received sanitation fees from local officials but also collected protection money from business owners operating in the area.


    Ordinary residential areas that had no commercial activities nor domestic staff overseeing them, on the other hand, were basically neglected.


    If the local municipality had enough money and cared about the city''s image, they could allocate extra funds every month or two, allowing the gang members to clean up the accumulated garbage in the residential areas.


    In places where finances were tight and local officials had limited funds, things were left to run their course. If residents couldn''t stand living amid heaps of garbage, they had to figure something out themselves.


    In Weisshem, there were two streets that could barely be categorized as commercial districts¡ªthe red-light district and Martin Street.


    The red-light district had each of its brothels take care of their own premises, while Martin Street was where those that had some influence or connections set up shop. Protection fees also couldn''t be extorted from farmers who came into town to sell their produce; they would simply refrain from entering the town and instead set up shop at the town gate.


    On top of that, there were another two key factors:


    Firstly, the town lacked civil officials. The town mayor was basically a position that didn''t do much besides raking in dirty money with the certain baron that owned the town. Employing a sheriff to maintain law and order, along with a small militia to address security issues, was all that was required, so there had never been a need for additional civil officials.


    Secondly, Weisshem was situated quite close to Indahl. There were better opportunities to thrive in the militia here, and if one wanted to get involved in street gangs, it was much easier to make a name for oneself in Indahl than to struggle in this poor town.


    With these two factors combined, it was clear that Weisshem didn''t provide fertile ground for the survival of traditional street gangs.


    But of course, garbage didn''t magically disappear when no one attended to it. Even if most townsfolk lived frugally and meticulously, every household would produce a pile of garbage every month.


    Consequently, disputes over issues related to garbage, like one''s garbage spilling into another''s yard, arose, and such quarrels could be occasionally heard.


    In short, forking out some funds and hiring townsfolk to work as sanitation workers could indeed significantly boost the townspeople''s favorability toward the new lord.


    After resolving the territory ownership and deed issues, Yang Qiu didn''t rush back to Weisshem right away. Currently, he was holding on to a considerable amount of gold and was busy purchasing magical materials at the Indahl Free Market.


    The three existing teleportation points weren''t actual teleportation circles; they were simply fraudulent undead summoning arrays. Players could teleport between the three locations because they functioned as "summon entities."


    However, this unique method of teleportation wasn''t accessible to living beings¡­


    Since the players themselves took control of Weisshem, establishing a new storyline and map, Yang Qiu naturally wouldn''t be willing to let go of the territory uncontested. And to ensure this, a legitimate teleportation array was needed.


    Legitimate teleportation arrays demanded not only magic dust but also an abundance of magical materials. Having looted the red-light district and also plundered the town mayor''s little treasury, Yang Qiu found himself extremely well-off, allowing him to purchase what he needed.


    When he received the request from Rex about establishing the sanitation bureau, Yang Qiu, who was still in the middle of negotiating a trade, was surprised.


    Well done, players! You guys even thought of something I hadn''t even considered yet!


    Yang Qiu was rather pleased, and after making some calculations and realizing the next Earth date would also happen to be the day of prestige settlement, he promptly sent out a system announcement:


    [System Announcement]: The position of Weisshem Mayor has been integrated into the Taranthan Territory''s Mayor Election. The two players with the highest territory prestige at the end of each monthly settlement date will assume the roles of Exile Town Mayor and Weisshem Mayor.

 Chapter 94: Player Mayor

    October 31, Thursday, Earth time.


    It was a seemingly ordinary workday, yet many players of "OtherWorld" were stoked because today was the settlement day of the mayoral election.


    Out of the popular streamer Vanilla Pudding, wealthy RMB warrior Brother Lahong, and Ji Tang, who was revered by casual gamers, two of them would become the mayors of Exile Town and Weisshem after today.


    As it approached noon on Earth and the in-game time crept toward midnight, the players online halted their activities to focus on their player panels.


    When the Earth clock struck noon, a bright yellow announcement appeared on the player panels:


    [System Announcement]: Congratulations to Brother Lahong and Ji Tang for winning this month''s Mayoral Election!


    "The hell¡ª!" Exclamations rang out simultaneously in Desolate Outpost, Exile Town, and Weisshem.


    While "civilian NPCs" of Desolate Outpost and Exile Town had grown accustomed to these sudden undead outbursts at any time in the day or night, the "civilian NPCs" of Weisshem had only recently become part of the Taranthan rule, and many of them peeked out of the windows fearfully.


    "What the heck? How can it be Ji Tang?" Qin Guan, who was grinding a daily labor quest in Weisshem, was livid. "I was nearly on par with Brother Lahong! Even if I didn''t win, I should come in second! It''s rigged! Definitely rigged!"


    Warrior Instructor Rex, Knight Instructor Jerome, and the three Wanderer Instructors had all come to Weisshem. Naturally, players of these job classes intending to grind their instructor''s reputation had to follow along with this relocation.


    Actually, players could accept quests in Weisshem and then teleport back to Exile Town to labor work for their guilds, just that most were too lazy to wait for the half-hour cooldown.


    Moreover, the reputation quests in Weisshem were similar to their usual manual labor work: renovating the interior of various clubs, pubs, and inns in the former red-light district, removing unnecessary partitions, and turning them into functional buildings.


    For example, the current daily quest issued by Warrior Instructor Rex was to transform a strip club into a supermarket. All the performance areas, audience seating, and private rooms had to be demolished. Salvageable wood and bricks were kept for constructing shelves, while material that couldn''t be reused would be loaded onto hand carts and transported to a garbage dump out of town for incineration or disposal.


    Each job instructor took a section of the main street''s buildings, and in just a short time, the former red-light district had turned into a bustling construction site for players¡ªthe truth might be absent, but manual labor quests were ever-present.


    A seething Qin Guan stomped on the spot several times before furiously pointing a finger at Ji Tang, who was also working at the Warrior Instructor''s construction site. "Tell me! Did you use some sort of backdoor connection? Don''t deny it; I know you''re definitely some sort of nepo. Your account isn''t from the same batch as us players!"


    Ji Tang was crouching in the dimly lit supermarket being refurbished, a hammer in hand, striking a partition door. Right now, he had no real answer to this accusation¡­


    Ji Tang didn''t try to defend himself, though Tang Jia, who was also grinding reputation beside him, couldn''t help but step in. "Calm down, Boss Vanilla. We understand that you''re upset, but there''s no need to say all this. Ji Tang didn''t use any backdoor connections. We watched him earn his prestige bit by bit."


    "So, how did Ji Tang''s reputation surpass Boss Vanilla''s?" a passing player pushing a cart filled with trash asked out of curiosity. "As soon as the Mayoral Election event started, Boss Vanilia and Brother Lahong started collecting materials and exchanging them for prestige. I didn''t see Ji Tang doing the same."


    There hadn''t been many grinding warrior reputation initially, but after the weekend dungeon event where some players witnessed the potential of the warrior class'' 12-second machismo (the duration it took for a full-skill rotation), there was an influx, and right now, quite a number of players that hadn''t yet advanced jobs were camped at this site as well.


    Others were already grinding reputation for their second advancement, while these gamers were still grinding for the first¡­


    It could be said that they were idlers, but there were benefits to being an idler; these players didn''t need to suck up to any particular faction and could say and do as they pleased.


    When this player voiced out his query, it quickly sparked the interest of other nosy fellows who looked over enthusiastically.


    "Heh! There''s a reason behind it!" Tang Jia instantly became spirited and jumped up. "Ji Tang, I can say it already, right? Now that everything has been settled, there''s no need to hide it anymore."


    Ji Tang: "¡­"


    Now he finally understood why Unceasing Entropy had repeatedly cautioned Tang Jia yesterday to keep her mouth shut and her hands off (not post anything). This girl really couldn''t keep a secret.


    Yang Ying had logged out to prepare lunch, and Unceasing Entropy refused to skip any more classes. Right now, there was nobody online that could keep Tang Jia in check.


    Taking Ji Tang''s pained expression as tacit approval, she pointed her thumb upward and declared, "Indeed, Ji Tang''s prestige was originally lower than Boss Vanilla and Brother Lahong. However, yesterday, we completed three super-rewarding hidden quests in succession! And maxed out territory prestige!"


    While she was talking about Ji Tang, her thumbs up was actually meant for¡­ herself!


    But that wasn''t important and wasn''t what the players present were concerned about. Upon hearing the mention of three hidden quests, even the fuming Qin Guan was taken aback. "What the heck?! For real?!"


    "Ahahahaha! Of course it''s true!" Tang Jia couldn''t be more thrilled as she kept jabbing her thumb higher. "Haven''t you noticed the new Environmental Bureau in town and the garbage dump outside? Do you know who came up with the red-light district redevelopment plan and the construction quests we''re doing now? It was all Ji Tang!


    "Rex took a knee on the spot and Old Yang spammed 666! While others sought out quests on the streets, our Ji Tang knew to find Rex and create his own quests! Didn''t expect that, eh?


    "Last night, when Old Yang showed up, he awarded Ji Tang three Construction Medals, each exchangeable for 3,000 territory prestige! Ahahaha!"


    The entire player crowd: "¡­


    Many of the nearby players expressed their astonishment. "Can the game be played this way?!"


    "Holy, is the degree of freedom that high? NPCs can even arrange quests according to the player''s suggestions?!"


    "This move¡­. I''m convinced!"


    "F*ck! Do I really know how to play ''OtherWorld''??"


    Before these players were even done sharing their thoughts, a cascade of yellow text appeared on their player panels:


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    [System Announcement]: Through a random draw, Brother Lahong has obtained the position of Exile Town Mayor, and Ji Tang has obtained the position of Weisshem Mayor.


    [System Announcement]: The two players may log out promptly to access the Mayor Management Panel add-on.


    [System Announcement]: The Mayor Management Panel includes the following content:


    Mayors can plan and allocate empty land, both within and outside the town, to players or NPCs for the construction of blood alliance strongholds, housing, worksites, shops, estates, farms, factories, and more.


    Applicants, whether NPCs or players, must meet the necessary qualifications (friendly or higher territory prestige, honored or higher Undead Merchant Association reputation), pay a land usage fee, and monthly rent.


    Mayors have the right to reclaim land if there is no development activity on the rented land for more than two weeks.


    Mayors can appoint NPCs or players as sheriffs and civil officials.


    Sheriffs can recruit up to 100 security officers, while civil officials can recruit up to 20 administrative officers and clerks.


    Salaries are determined by the Mayor regardless of whether NPCs or players hold these positions.


    Taxes generated from commercial activities within the town and fees for land use are included in the local finances, which the Mayor will manage. The Mayor must ensure the orderly operation of local finances during their tenure. If a fiscal deficit occurs, the Mayor may be removed from office prematurely.


    ¡­ and more.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    As soon as this system announcement was made, all players online, regardless of their previous levels of interest or disinterest in the Mayoral Election, were stoked.


    When it had been revealed earlier on that the mayor could appoint officials and grant them the authority to assign daily quests, players hadn''t really been fazed. After all, there was no shortage of mini bosses and wild monsters running rampant outside Desolate Outpost. If players wanted to farm monsters, all they had to do was form a party and go hunting.


    However, now that all of the mayor''s rights were laid bare, casual players discovered that the monopoly on newly added daily quests was far from insignificant¡­


    In an instant, the three locations were abuzz with the players'' discussions.


    Not content with just venting their dissatisfaction with fellow players, quite a number logged out and ran to join the fervent discussions with the non-player crowd on the forum.


    The number of replies to the system announcement post on the forum was staggering¡­


    "Whoa, are the damn developers up to their old tricks again? The mayor''s authority is enormous, and the approval of bloodline alliance strongholds has to go through the mayor. What if an opposing bloodline alliance wishes to establish a stronghold?"


    "Selling land for development¡­ Why does this sound so familiar? Can an average player handle the responsibility of being the mayor? Are we here to play the game or run a virtual government?"


    "Is the game plan to let players manage cities?"


    "Are you kidding me? Players have to take responsibility for a fiscal deficit!"


    "Don''t be naive. It''s impossible to run a deficit just by selling land. It''s easier to pocket additional money for yourself than to be in a deficit."


    "I have a question. Can the mayor embezzle? And will they get axed if they do so?"


    "And turn into the boss of an instance dungeon? Wouldn''t that be exciting?"


    "Now that''s a fantastic idea!"


    "If it''s Ji Tang who turns into a boss, it would no longer be a challenge but a slaughter."


    "Yeah, Ji Tang''s awesome. He would literally be invincible with a boss interface."


    "Don''t go off-topic. Don''t you all think the mayor''s authority is excessive? It''s fine if an NPC is the mayor. But when a player becomes the mayor, what''s left for everyone else?"


    "Isn''t the post above similar to a mad dog barking? Go and grind territory prestige if you don''t agree. Beat those two next month on the settlement day."


    "Stop stirring up conflicts. Can''t we have a civil discussion? I know Brother Lahong spent a lot of money to buy materials for prestige. How did Ji Tang climb so high up? Was there something shady going on?"


    "Are you sure you aren''t the one trying to stir up something?"


    "Who''s stirring? Everyone knows that Boss Vanilla also spent a lot of money to garner prestige. Any of you guys active in this discussion sold them materials? Has anyone sold to Ji Tang?"


    "Shady dealings! Ji Ting is surely a nepo!"


    "Any little birdies know anything? Don''t be secretive."


    "I''m a little birdy. Let me tell you all the truth¡­"


    The now Exile Town mayor, Brother Lahong, who hadn''t realized that the posting outcome via random draw was out and hadn''t gotten the large town of Weisshem, didn''t know whether to laugh out loud or to fume. Currently, he couldn''t help feeling a little vexed.


    When he logged out and waited for his mayor interface to load, Brother Lahong went to browse the forum while feeling a complicated mix of emotions. When he logged back in, he still felt that something was off.


    After the completion of the siege quest, everyone had updated their equipment. Both Qin Guan and his own side were waiting for the peak hour to organize their manpower to do blood alliance quests.


    In the afternoon, Brother Lahong had already brought his elite team to Desolate Outpost in preparation to farm Poisonous Marshlands for some backup materials before starting the blood alliance quest.


    Guileless Gale, Study Obsessed, and Phantom were already waiting near the spawn point and came over when Brother Lahong logged in.


    "How is it, Lahong? What''s the mayor management panel like?"


    "Don''t rush." Brother Lahong accessed his character panel and examined it. "There''s just a Mayor button added next to the character panel. When clicking on it, it opens a management panel with options for appointing officials and the map of Exile Town¡­ Let me see, the lands that can be allocated to players are marked with white dotted lines¡ªthe heck?!"


    "What?" Study Obsessed wished he could snatch Brother Lahong''s panel for a look.


    "F*ckity f*ck!" Brother Lahong was so worked up that his voice went off-pitch. "Th-this map¡­ Exile Town''s map is f*cking huge! The land for several dozen miles beyond that valley is all under my control!!"


    His few companions got excited as well. "Whoa, so cool?!"


    "Awesome!!"


    "Wait a moment! Does the Weisshem mayor also control such a large area as well?" asked Phantom.


    Guileless Gale answered decisively, "Definitely not. The outside of Weisshem isn''t as spacious as Exile Town. There are villages and farmlands everywhere. The announcement made it clear that player mayors can only manage vacant land."


    "So, doesn''t this mean that Exile Town is a better deal?!" Study Obsessed exclaimed elatedly. "Even though Exile Town has fewer NPCs than Weisshem, it is larger with more vacant land and room for development. It''s also quite difficult to set up a blood alliance stronghold in Weisshem since there isn''t much vacant land. Only Exile Town provides this sort of flexibility!"


    "Exactly!" Guileless Gale nodded. "Estates and farms are also difficult to establish in Weisshem unless the player mayor confiscates the local land. With the high degree of freedom in this game, that might be possible, but it would undoubtedly come at a cost. It can''t compare to the convenience in Exile Town. In the future, players trying to boost their Undead Merchant Association reputation will have to head to Exile Town. Exile Town is the true core of this game!"


    Brother Lahong felt the unease in his heart disappear, and an ambition to establish his grand town on the vast white canvas sprouted. Waving his bony claw in the air, he declared enthusiastically, "No more grinding monsters. Let''s return to Exile Town and properly plan on how to develop our home!"


    His few companions immediately called for assistance, and the scattered players of their faction located across all the different points teleported back to Exile Town¡­ S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yang Qiu, who had been observing this group via the imprint matrix, calmly shifted his focus away.


    Brother Lahong''s own perception and what players had been spouting on the forums weren''t far off. There had certainly been some manipulation behind the scenes when it came to the allocation of the two player mayors.


    Brother Lahong was fundamentally a player equipped with a gamer mindset. Yang Qiu couldn''t entrust Weisshem, which had thousands of residents, to him.


    These, after all, weren''t real official appointments like in the real world, and being assigned to serve a role in any town wouldn''t impact players seriously enough that it would have impacted them for the rest of their lives. Thus, Yang Qiu had tossed the barren lands outside Exile Town as a consolation prize to Brother Lahong, who seemed content.


    However, it was different for Ji Tang. Ji Tang wasn''t a pure player but a patient using the game as a form of therapy. He had ample online time, unlike Unceasing Entropy, the student who had to log out for classes.


    Furthermore, Ji Tang had a history of serving the nation as well as experts to advise him. A town with several thousand residents was nothing, and Yang Qiu was confident that even Indahl, with a population of over a million, could be handled by them without much issue.


    Putting it plainly, were these matters not limited to the framework of the "game" and required discretion, Yang Qiu might really have handed all the authority over to Ji Tang without any reservation.


    The town halls in both towns had been prepared for the player mayors to "inherit," so Yang Qiu, along with his shadow, Lowell, had moved into the former residence of the Weisshem mayor. After observing Brother Lahong, Yang Qiu turned his attention to Ji Tang¡­ and realized the latter wasn''t online.


    Has he logged out to call for reinforcements? Yang Qiu rubbed his chin and immediately tried to locate the two, no, three tool players in Exile Town''s Undead Merchant Association.


    That''s right. During the players'' siege of Weisshem, "Director Lu" had arranged for another tool player to log in.


    It was currently night in OtherWorld, and all three tool players¡­ weren''t online.


    Hmm¡­ "Director Lu" has probably sent me another email, mused Yang Qiu. He then got up, glanced at the shut guest room door, then opened a spatial rift, and returned to Earth.


    Not long after the magical fluctuations caused by the spatial rift disappeared, the shut guest room door opened, and Inspector Lowell, clad in a sleeping robe, stepped out.


    After staring at the vacant high-backed chair for a moment, Inspector Lowell rolled up his sleeves and started rummaging through the house.


    The former mayor''s residence had an unassuming exterior but an opulent interior, a single-story standalone villa with six rooms, and a spacious courtyard. The bedroom was larger than most regular households, and the hall could double as a classroom.


    Yang had no need for a bedroom and hardly used the bathroom; he typically operated within the confines of the living room and study. Lowell searched both rooms thoroughly, but besides various snacks and tea, he couldn''t find anything out of the ordinary.


    Wouldn''t he casually keep those books he usually reads where he lives¡­ Lowell furrowed his brows in thought. No, wait¡­ Does he really consider this place a residence¡­?


    Don''t tell me the place he genuinely treats as his abode¡­ is that plane connected by his spatial rift?


    This conjecture perplexed Lowell. It wasn''t rare for high-level mages to travel between different planes through controlled and stable spatial rifts. The undead mounts that could occasionally be seen in the free markets of large cities were brought back by black mages from the Dimensional Realm.


    In addition to the ten layers of the Dimensional Realm, there were also countless other planes. Since a stable spatial rift would disappear due to the death of the holder, even the palace mages of the Kenyan Empire didn''t dare say for certain how many dimensions had ever come into contact with this plane.


    But nevertheless, one thing was certain¡ªall unknown dimensions had unimaginable risks. Very few stable spatial rift holders trusted other planes than their own.


    Yet, an extremely wily and high-level mage like Yang had so much faith in that alternate plane that he even set up a stable residence there¡­


    Even Lowell, who had interactions with other stable spatial rift holders in the past, found it difficult to comprehend.


    He has more secrets than I thought. Lowell couldn''t figure it out, so he stopped racking his brain and headed to the window, silently gazing at the street outside.


    The former lord of Weisshem, Baron Markus'' anger could well be imagined given how Weisshem''s ownership had changed hands without him actually knowing how it transpired¡­


    Even though this baron couldn''t contact the original mayor, sheriff, or militia captain (all of them were imprisoned), it didn''t stop him from being able to take revenge.


    Baron Markus'' first act of revenge was to cut Weisshem''s power supply.


    The power plant situated on the outskirts of Indahl that supplied electricity to Weisshem several tens of kilometers away was an arrangement that Baron Markus'' father had put great effort into establishing.


    Although Baron Markus chose to reside in the more convenient major city of Indahl instead of the remote and underdeveloped Weisshem, he still maintained good relations with the power plant. With his influence, it was easy for him to request the power supply be discontinued.


    However, this sort of sanction had little impact¡­


    The red-light district that required huge amounts of electrical power had closed down entirely, with the venues converted into town utility buildings. Oil lamps were once again used to light things up, and the original hostesses and attendants expressed no dissatisfaction.


    As for the town''s residents¡­ These people had never used electricity and electrical wires; that sophisticated luxury had never been installed in their homes.


    Even the artisans in the town hadn''t laid a single wire. Not because the workshop owners couldn''t afford electricity but rather because these small business owners lacked the manpower to protect the wiring. Electric wires, encased in rubber tubing with copper cores, were attractive to thieves.


    In other words, Baron Markus''s retaliatory measures were like water off a duck''s back. It had little to no effect¡­


    Standing by the window, Inspector Lowell could make out faint figures moving about in the streets. The tireless undead had no need for electricity, and they continued their activities with ease, even in the darkest of nights.


    Lowell observed for a while more, then returned to the bedroom, shaking his head.


    He needed to rest well, stay vigilant, and keep a close eye on Yang and the enigmatic Taranthan undead. Gathering as much intelligence as possible was imperative.


    Taranthan shared its borders with the Rhine Kingdom and the Duchy of Shiga. It was impossible for Inspector Lowell to not be worried about events unfolding in the Rhine Kingdom''s territory that might also impact the Duchy of Shiga¡­ He needed to be prepared for any contingencies!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Upon returning to Earth, Yang Qiu''s first order of business was to make an order for takeout from the nearby noodle restaurant. Then, he shed his burdensome robes and sat at the computer to check his emails.


    Indeed, "Director Lu" had sent him yet another email, and it was sent¡­ ten minutes ago. It was likely that shortly after Ji Tang logged out, the bunch of experts had started considering how to exploit Ji Tang''s position as player mayor to gather information about OtherWorld.


    Yang Qiu opened the email, merely scanning the beginning, and instantly shuddered.


    "Director Lu'''' had probably written this email in a hurry and didn''t even bother giving an "adequate" excuse this time. The first thing mentioned was that a state-owned mine in G Province had replaced a batch of 100kW diesel generators. These machines were automated, efficient, durable, low-consumption, and environmental¡­

 Chapter 95: Scumbag Yang

    Although the sugar-coated explosive sent by "Director Lu" this time had some issues¡ªand even lacked an excuse¡ªit was certainly more down-to-earth than the previous attempt with thermal power generators and other production lines.


    It included:


    Six sets of 100kW low-noise diesel generators retired from a state-owned mine¡ªnew generators like this cost at most 30,000 yuan, while second-hand ones could be gotten for around 20,000 RMB.


    A Dongfeng heavy truck (new truck: 220,000 yuan) loaded with diesel barrels (each barrel held 210 liters, costing about 7 yuan per liter).


    Crawler hydraulic all-terrain excavators, loaders, cranes, road rollers, and more, with an average price ranging from 40,000 to 100,000 yuan.


    ¡­and more.


    In short, their multi-million sugar-coated explosive had been compressed into a million yuan one.


    And this sugar-coated explosive had been purposefully repackaged with one particular intention¡ªroad construction.


    What road, one might ask?


    A road from the remote Exile Town deep in the Taranthan Wasteland to Weisshem.


    Ji Tang had personally participated in the expedition team that had made some 300-kilometer journey that took a whole three OtherWorld time days. Evidently, after that fellow had reported back, "Director Lu" believed that the mastermind behind the scenes would greatly need to undertake a road construction project.


    Moreover, given Ji Tang''s habit of exploring Exile Town and its surroundings whenever he had free time, Yang Qiu strongly suspected that the former had also discovered the open coal mine located about ten kilometers to the east¡ªwhile regular players still weren''t a match for the big rat obstructing the town''s exit, they could finesse their way out of town by using each other as a bait. Thus, it wasn''t as difficult for Ji Tang to sneak out of town as before.


    In any case, Yang Qiu was tempted.


    Teleportation arrays that living beings could use had already been set up, albeit hidden beneath the town halls of the two towns. However, activating the teleportation array was rather expensive. Every single teleportation required the consumption of magical materials, making it impractical for regular travel and only suitable for dealing with emergencies.


    "Director Lu''s" well-targeted package struck his sore spot indeed¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    A certain research facility adorned with a red signboard, deep within the mountains of G Province.


    After sending out the email, Professor Yin Zhengliang, head of the expert task force, proceeded to watch the "game footage" recorded by Ji Tang while patiently waiting for the "target''s" response.


    The small town with the electric poles at the town gate confirmed the expert task force''s speculations. This planet, which had been disguised as a game, did indeed possess a certain level of civilization, unlike the primitive image they had seen confined to Exile Town.


    Aside from the presence of electricity, during the period when the interiors of buildings in the red-light district were torn down, Ji Tang also covertly examined the materials used by this extraterrestrial civilization in their walls. He also browsed through some left-behind newspapers and magazines, and even dismantled some wall and mantel clocks¡­


    From the printing used in newspapers and magazines, it was evident that this aspect of the foreign world''s technology was relatively mature, though color printing appeared to still be cost-intensive. Newspapers were in black and white, while magazines only had the cover and a few internal pages in color.


    Newspapers featured photographs, indicating that this civilization had progressed to the point of using photosensitive materials in materials science.


    Magazines contained full-page advertisements for four-wheel-drive vehicles, airships, and ocean liners, suggesting that this civilization had already reached a level of steam power technology and likely possessed expertise in internal combustion engines.


    The parts in the wall and mantel clocks were rather intricate but still showed traces of high craftsmanship. This indicated that the industrial scale of this world wasn''t sufficiently developed, and some clock components still required manual polishing by craftsmen.


    Metal products were relatively scarce, which meant steel production levels weren''t high. Glass products were common but had rather basic craftsmanship. An estimation of this world''s technological level would be similar to America''s in the early 20th century.


    Ji Tang had taken quite a number of "screenshots" when he had explored the residential areas along with his fellow player companions. The tools used in everyday life by the townsfolk primarily consisted of wooden items supplemented by glassware and earthenware. Rubber products were exceedingly rare, and he didn''t come across any porcelain¡­


    Considering the poor living conditions of Weisshem''s people, the expert task force believed that the pinnacle of this world''s societal structure was probably similar to a developed Western country in the early 20th century. However, the general population still lived in an environment similar to 18th- to 19th-century Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa.


    In the words of Chinese people who loved discussing revolutions and politics, this was a turbulent society characterized by a severe division between the upper and lower classes, where major upheavals could occur at any time.


    Thus, after brainstorming, the expert task force, with an average age between 30 and 40 and having eighty percent born during the 1980s, believed this was a great opportunity to test whether the "target" and Lord Yang in the "game" were Chinese.


    As long as it was a native-born Chinese in this sort of "troubled times" and with objective conditions (relying on Earth, labor force of players, ability to transport items across dimensions, not minding official involvement, transferring authority of Weisshem to the upright Ji Tang), there could only be one thought in his mind: build high walls and store up provisions!


    While the Taranthan Wasteland, at least half the size of G Province, was full of hills, swamps, and forest, there were also lots of plains. With little effort, it could be turned into fertile fields, and establishing small granaries would be easy and cost-effective.


    Lord Yang sending the players to attack Weisshem (a massive misunderstanding), a place with no substantial industries, was undoubtedly for the sake of obtaining a workforce!


    With land and men, were Lord Yang a proper Chinese, he would surely have to build roads and cultivate the land!


    Therefore, the expert task force had carefully presented this rural-level road construction package. It wasn''t that they couldn''t provide something better, but in consideration of the previously unequivocal rejection by the "target," most expert task force members thought it would be better to be conservative.


    It was just building a 300-kilometer-long dirt road, and other high-end and sophisticated technologies weren''t needed.


    Professor Yin Zhengliang stroked his chin as he perused the images of the Weisshem life when a notification sounded on the computer.


    "There''s a reply!" Professor Yin Zhenliang excitedly clicked on the email¡­


    And his smiling face stiffened.


    "How is it? What did the other party say?" A fellow task force member leaned over curiously.


    Then, the lips of this ''80s-born expert also started twitching¡­


    The "target" hadn''t declined this time and had accepted their large goody bag.


    However, he didn''t wish to take it for free and expressed sending over four kilograms of gold to the expert task force as thanks¡­


    Four kilograms of gold at current international gold prices, even if this other world''s gold wasn''t as high purity, was more than sufficient to compensate the expert task force''s effort in coming up with this rural road construction project.


    "Hey, this guy!" The ''80s-born expert crossed his arms in annoyance. "Is he welcoming our involvement or refusing it? Why is his stance so ambiguous?!" Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Scumbag!" A female task force member seated opposite slammed her hands on the table and came over to Professor Yin Zhengliang''s screen. "This fellow wants benefits but isn''t willing to acknowledge it. Never rejecting nor taking responsibility; he''s a scumbag!"


    "¡­Indeed," muttered the male colleague.


    "That''s true." Professor Yin Zhengliang had scrolled to the bottom of the email and couldn''t help himself from agreeing.


    At the end of the email was the first-ever trade request from the "target."


    What the "target" proposed was that he wished to trade a batch of high-quality timber (source unknown) in exchange for 300 kilometers of railway tracks and green trains¡ªthe "target" wasn''t just content with road construction but also wanted steel tracks as well as their side contributing to the training of conductors and construction of stations, ideally packaged together comprehensively.


    While others might not know the source of the "target''s" timber, these experts couldn''t be any clearer. It was the hard toil of their fellow Chinese for the sake of game currency and digital values!


    Deceiving fellow countrymen in labor exploitation and using the timber gained from their blood and sweat to exchange for a railway? How inhumane was the "target"?!


    Not to mention the gold, which was also acquired by fellow countrymen through confis¡ªno, collecting!


    "At least we can be certain that one of Lord Yang or the ''target'' is Chinese," Professor Yin Zhengliang said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.


    The younger man nodded, then his eyes lit up. "Wait a moment. That Lord Yang has come in contact with the gold, right? Then, wouldn''t we be able to obtain his biological samples?"


    Professor Yin Zhengliang shook his head and sighed, "Since one of these two is Chinese, it''s quite unlikely we will get this sort of opportunity¡­ That gold will probably be smelted before coming into our possession."


    This bunch was aptly called experts, after all. Professor Yin Zhengliang, who studied criminal psychology throughout his life, was well familiar with the wiles and tricks of scoundrels. Indeed, the gold received two days later was a heap of gold ingots¡­


    Yang Qiu didn''t care how the expert task force was criticizing him. After finalizing the business deal with "Director Lu" after three months of email exchanges, he leisurely had his noodles and coke before putting on his mage robes and returning to OtherWorld.


    Ji Tang was already online and wandering with his group of companions in the Weisshem town hall.


    Yang Qiu''s older sister, Yang Ying, who now sort of played semi-professionally, was rather interested in being sheriff and was currently discussing with the dependable genius student Unceasing Entropy if there might be any penalties if one performed poorly as sheriff.


    Unceasing Entropy, though, as if sensing something, didn''t encourage Yang Ying as she usually did and instead inquired about Ji Tang''s plans in a roundabout manner¡­


    Yang Qiu watched Unceasing Entropy via the imprint matrix for quite a while¡­ but wasn''t too bothered by the girl''s reaction.


    Some players might possibly realize the truth of the game, and Yang Qiu had already prepared himself mentally for that happening.


    Regardless of whatever evidence players discovered, it would be alright as long as he remained firm and didn''t confess¡ªeven someone as smart as Unceasing Entropy, without national support and only relying on aimless exploration within the game, would be able to find any concrete evidence.


    Taking a step back, it wouldn''t matter even if players were to discover that "OtherWorld" was truly an alternate world. If they didn''t abide by the game''s terms and conditions that were automatically agreed to upon logging in, engaged in activities that violated the rules set by the development team, or failed to properly play their "Undead" roles, Yang Qiu would simply ban their accounts.


    As long as Yang Qiu issued an announcement after banning the account along the lines of "Player X has been banned for breaching game T&Cs, the internal beta slot will be redrawn," then all the non-player enthusiasts on the forum would eagerly advocate this account banning policy, and there wouldn''t be any complaints about shady manipulation¡ªthis strategy couldn''t be any more sound!


    Yang Qiu did a routine scan of the players currently online, and upon verifying that nothing abnormal was going on, he calmed his mind and started meditating.


    Once the machinery for the engineering project was delivered on "Director Lu''s" end, Yang Qiu would have to start preparing to build the road from Exile Town to Weisshem.


    Labor wasn''t an issue with nearly two thousand imprisoned militia, as well as local hiring.


    The problem lay in safety during the duration of the road construction.


    The reason native nobility and landowners didn''t engage in land development much like the ancient Chinese gentry was due to the dangers of the wilderness¡ªbesides wild beasts, many monsters and demonized beasts that couldn''t be explained by science roamed the wilderness.


    When the player expedition team journeyed to Weisshem, they had been farming monsters along the way. This time, Yang Qiu hadn''t made advanced preparations.


    Were it ordinary merchant caravans instead of players, the expedition would have countless casualties and met with an early failure¡­


    In other words, wherever the road construction team went, the undead army, unafraid of pain and death, that screamed "WAKAKAKAKA" whenever they saw monsters and rushed forward, had to follow. Otherwise, there would be unimaginable consequences.


    Yang Qiu needed to break through to the realm of Archmage as soon as possible to increase the player count.


    November 1, 5 a.m. Earth time; 9.00 a.m. OtherWorld time.


    The eighth month experienced a very early sunrise. The young men and women, who had a completely relaxed few days in Resettlement Zone A (formerly Elegant Dreams Club), got up early too. Gathering in the courtyard, they used the daily necessities provided by the new lord to freshen up, then cleaned their respective living areas and washed their clothes.


    It had been four (OtherWorld) days since the territory of Weisshem changed ownership. The people of Weisshem, as well as the young men and women who were gathered and resettled, had gotten accustomed to life under the new lord''s rule.


    Humans were highly adaptable creatures, and the measures introduced by the new lord¡ªother than closing the red-light district, hiring townsfolk to clean the streets, and trading goods at fair prices¡ªhadn''t caused much disgruntlement.


    Resentment was further diminished after the new lord released over 200 militiamen. Although some families of the unreleased militiamen still felt dissatisfied, rallying for justice at the town hall in front of those frightening skeletons running all around town required a great deal of courage.


    Not to mention, just the previous day, the new lord, Charlie Rex, had put up a notice in front of the town hall, announcing that the new mayor would be a skeleton, and a photo of this undead mayor was even included¡­


    The townsfolk found it difficult to differentiate the undead mayor in the photograph and the many skeletons roaming the streets. Each looked like the mayor, so it was better not to dwell on such a perplexing matter.


    But for the time being, whatever reactions the townsfolk had were of no concern to the young men and women in the two resettlement spots.


    With no need to entertain unruly customers, no forced consumption of fattening drugs, and being treated like actual people, these former red-light district workers didn''t mind whether the new mayor was the undead or the living.


    Madam Shirley especially liked her current life. She had cut her long nails, previously carefully maintained to please men, as well as her troublesome long hair. Under the morning sun, she squatted by the water pool with the other young girls washing clothes and bed linens. Their fingers were wrinkled from being soaked in water, but they didn''t care. And while hanging the sheets to dry, they could tease each other over stains on the sheets that weren''t removed fully.


    When Ji Tang and Rex entered the Resettlement Zone A''s courtyard, they could see several dozen young women gathered around the water pool, laughing and playing. Even without understanding the conversation of these ladies, they could feel the relaxed atmosphere.


    "Morning, Mr. Undead!"


    "Morning, Mr. Rex!"


    Seeing the new lord enter, Madam Shirley stood up and greeted him enthusiastically.


    "Morning, Shirley. Morning, ladies," Rex responded with a wave, smiling.


    There wasn''t anyone living in the resettlement zones who didn''t like Mr. Rex. He cared about their well-being and treated everyone gently. In just a few days of interacting with the people here, he had remembered quite a few names.


    Learning that this gentle and strong man was the new lord of Weisshem made the young men and women of the resettlement zones no longer doubt the promise he had made when destroying the establishments'' signboards.


    "Everyone, I would like to introduce the new mayor of Weisshem, Ji Tang," said Rex while pointing to Ji Tang. "Mayor Ji Tang hopes to recruit some administrative staff to work at the town hall. Would any of you ladies be interested?"


    The soft chattering among the young ladies curiously examining Ji Tang came to an instant hush.


    "M-Mr. Rex, what did you say?" Madam Shirley suspected she had misheard.


    "I was saying, our new mayor wishes to recruit administrative clerks to work at the town hall and serve the townsfolk," said Rex cheerily. "On learning that many of you young ladies can read, he thought he''d come here and try his luck to see if any kind and courageous young ladies would be willing to help out at the town hall."


    Rex had always held great respect for this particular undead. Ji Tang becoming the undead mayor and working alongside him on this matter brought Rex considerable joy. Ji Tang''s suggestion of recruiting administrative staff from the young men and women here was a solution to the issue Rex had been pondering over the past few days.


    Ji Tang couldn''t understand the language spoken by the others, but he could understand what Rex said. He stood calmly at the side as Rex explained the situation¡­


    Seeking clerical staff from among these people who used to work in the "special industry" was a carefully considered opinion of the expert task force. The reason wasn''t from a humanitarian aspect of helping these people gain re-employment¡ªit was purely practical.


    Firstly, the illiteracy rate in this world was quite distressing. Even among the "advanced NPCs," less than half of them could read (other than Hal, Tuttle, Finley, and Rex, only Anthony, who had worked as a tailor, and Jerome, who had served as a squire, could read), much less the common folk.


    In contrast, the male and female attendants at upscale entertainment establishments had a significantly higher literacy rate than most civilians. This was because they needed to serve middle- and upper-class client¨¨le, so they needed to at least be able to read newspapers and discuss gossip and news with customers.


    Of course, even if small, Weisshem had middle-class households, such as the small business proprietors that ran shops or workshops. On average, these people would be more educated than the hostesses and attendants who could only read.


    However¡­ Given the style of the Chinese, there was no way they would choose the latter group, who might not be on Taranthan''s side, over the former special industry workers who would be unquestionably loyal toward Taranthan.


    Madam Shirley was flabbergasted, and the other young ladies had similar reactions to hers.


    Many of them knew what clerks at the town hall did¡­ Some of them had attended to Weisshem''s own administrative clerks, or even ones from Indahl that came to seek pleasure.


    Moreover, they had never heard of women being considered for such roles. And now, they were actually considering recruiting among them?!


    "Shirley, you aren''t interested?" Rex knew exactly why they were astounded and feigned disappointment. "This isn''t good¡­ I was just bragging to Mayor Ji Tang that I know where to find highly capable ladies that could surely help him¡­"


    "I-I¡­ This¡­" Shirley panicked. She couldn''t be more eager to nod her head and seize an opportunity that would allow her to live with her head held high, but she lacked confidence in herself.


    Rex put on a dejected expression as he turned to a lady with a bit of foam on her face. "Sibyl, what about you?"


    Sibyl got a fright. "A-ah? M-me?"


    Before Weisshem was liberated by players, Sibyl had been locked up by her former boss for days and was severely injured. She had regained a bit of health over the past few days but remained frail, as if a gust of wind could knock her over anytime. Being asked a question by the lord made her tremble.


    "Yes, I heard about you from Ben," said Rex warmly. "You grew up in a monastery, and the nuns taught you to read. You also taught orphans before, so I think this job would be very suitable for you. What do you think?"


    Sibyl''s face turned crimson. She had indeed been taken in and raised by the monastery, and she had once been a teacher to children.


    That had been the happiest time of her life until she turned 18, and her innate beauty blossomed, changing her life drastically and subjecting her to seemingly endless suffering.


    "I¡­" Sibyl gripped her skirt tightly and, with a trembling voice, plucked up her courage. "I-I do want this job, Mr. Rex. P-please give me this opportunity."


    Timid Sibyl was actually a courageous lady that would fight to live on even in the most dire of straits.


    Shirley shivered. Sibyl''s courage was infectious. Afraid of missing the chance, she immediately blurted out, "Mr. Rex, if it''s possible, I''d like to give it a try too."


    With these two leading the way, several other literate women mustered the courage to raise their hands too¡­


    Half an hour later, Ji Tang happily brought more than twenty literate, acquiescent young men and women from the resettlement zones to the town hall for training.


    The option for recruiting NPCs under the player mayor''s authority was actually to recruit "NPCs" that were willing to board the Taranthan ship and serve as resolute sailors, and be temporarily integrated into the imprint matrix.


    These "temporary NPCs" had very limited permissions. They couldn''t issue quests, had no personal reputation, and even lacked a player interface. Their only function was to overcome the language barrier and be peripheral members within the imprint matrix.


    In religious terms, they were like nominal believers¡ªneither granting faith nor needing it. They could come and go at will.


    Once the nervous young men and women were brought inside the town hall, Ji Tang took out a box and issued them "work badges"¡ªlapel badges to be worn on their chests.


    Lord Yang had given two player mayors lapel badges, with mental imprints inscribed within that created a connection to the imprint matrix, albeit not the same as the permanent inscription on the souls of players and "advanced NPCs." These were time-limited imprints, renewed annually.


    Shirley, Sibyl, and the others who received their badges watched the undead mayor make a "KABAKABA" noise while gesturing with bone claws as if indicating to attach the badge to his own chest.


    "¡­Can you understand what I''m saying now?"


    Madam Shirley, who had just pinned the badge onto her chest, looked up and stared at the undead mayor.


    "Can you understand what I''m saying now?" Ji Tang asked again patiently.


    Madam Shirley''s jaw dropped.


    So, the "WAKAKAKA" and "KABAKABA" noises are actually a language?!

 Chapter 96: Contrast Cuteness

    "It''s Saturday tomorrow. What''s everyone''s plans?" While farming monsters in Poisonous Marshlands southeast of Desolate Outpost, Give Me Medicine asked.


    "Tackling the Inner Demon instance dungeon again?" a player suggested while stuffing materials into his backpack.


    "Eh¡­ Going back again?" A player not that keen on rushing for first clears objected. "We shouldn''t go right now. Those three instances are impossible to beat. It''s better if everyone advances to Level 2 first."


    "I don''t want to go either. Dying and getting kicked offline all weekend is way too frustrating."


    Players who wanted to attempt the instance dungeons weren''t pleased and voiced out their support. "When are we going to go, then? Potential values only increase by about one or two a day at most. Reaching Level 2 requires 100 Potential values, and our average right now is below 70."


    "We only have two days in a week to access these instances. It''d be a waste not to go. Even if we can''t clear it, gaining experience is beneficial."


    "Yea, if we don''t clear content now, how do we have future progress? If we don''t try it now, it will still be impossible to clear in the future."


    "So many people have gotten new gear from the siege event. Maybe we might be able to clear it now?"


    "Of course we challenge it! If we don''t fight for the first clear, others will get it!"


    Seeing quite a number willing to challenge the instance dungeons, Give Me Medicine turned to Qin Guan and asked, "What do you think, Vanilla? I feel that our chances this week are better than last. We had no warriors last week, and our only mage was Blossom. This week, we''ve gotten a few more warriors while Fish and Baobao have also completed their job advancements. We can at least form three raid teams."


    Qin Guan, who had been depressed since the mayoral election results came out, nodded reluctantly. He then turned to Blossoming Strokes and asked weakly, "Blossom, what do you think?"


    "I find you annoying."


    Qin Guan: "??"


    "Nothing." Blossoming Strokes kept a straight face and turned away from him to address everyone. "Those willing to challenge the dungeon instance, don''t play too late tonight and save some online time for raiding tomorrow. Gather online before noon."


    Qin Guan''s mouth twitched. "Hold on, Blossom, there was something wrong with the look you gave me¡­"


    "Ah, what did you expect?" Blossoming Strokes expressed with displeasure. "So what if you didn''t manage to become mayor? How long are you going to sulk for? So much game content has been released and you aren''t even interested. And you have the audacity to call yourself a top gaming content creator?"


    A shudder ran through Qin Guan''s body.


    He was quite a character, and despite being chided by Blossoming Strokes, he showed no anger and quickly stood up, saying, "I nearly forgot something important. Brothers, you guys continue farming monsters, Meds will take charge, and Blossom, you manage the materials. I have to go shoot new video content!"


    With that, he handed several backpacks filled with materials to Blossoming Strokes and rushed off¡­


    "Don''t forget to inform Xiao Zhou and the others to join us tomorrow for raiding!" Blossoming Strokes shouted from behind.


    "Got it!" Qin Guan waved his hand.


    A stupefied Give Me Medicine: "???"


    "What the heck, I tried talking to him for so long but it was all for naught. You just chastised him with two sentences and he listened?!" Give Me Medicine stared at Blossoming Strokes in shock.


    "You talked with him about future game prospects in the game, like blood alliance plans and stuff like that. Of course, it wouldn''t be of any use." Blossoming Strokes rolled her eyes. "We are all adults and have to be realistic! Nothing is more important than real-world prospects! For example, if I lose to Unceasing Entropy in intellectual terms within the game, I would at most just be pissed for a bit but get over it quickly. However, if anyone dares to say the books I write suck, I would bear grudges to no end!"


    Give Me Medicine: "¡­"


    Qin Guan ran all the way back to Desolate Stronghold and first told Xiao Zhou (ID Eight At Once, who ran a gold farming studio), who had been camping out here doing logging quests, regarding the matter of forming a raid team to challenge the Inner Demon instance dungeon tomorrow.


    Then, he entered the teleportation point and traveled to Weisshem.


    The town of Weisshem and its surrounding area for tens of miles was full of people and lacked monsters to farm. Once players'' novelty faded, no one other than idlers and players grinding manual labor quests were willing to come and stroll about.


    Coincidentally, the former number one player, Ou Huang, was among the latter sort. Qin Guan hadn''t yet stepped off the platform in the Weisshem Town Hall courtyard when he saw Ou Huang stepping out from the white glow, carrying a woven bag.


    "Ou Huang?" Qin Guan trembled and immediately started recording footage. He approached in a friendly manner. "Boss Ou Huang, you aren''t staying in Exile Town anymore? What brings you here? New quests?"


    Ou Huang gave the streamer a cold look, completely ignoring him, and continued walking.


    Qin Guan not only stuck on like a leech but even reached out to touch Ou Huang''s woven bag. "Don''t be so heartless, Boss Ou Huang. What''s in that bag you are carrying? Oh my, why does it feel so hard? Dried boar meat? Did you make this yourself? What are you doing with this sort of thing in Weisshem? Isn''t it only the Undead Merchant Association canteen that accepts this kind of lifestyle class products?"


    Ou Huang was as indifferent as an NPC and continued to walk forward, paying absolutely no heed to Qin Guan''s endless chatter¡­


    Qin Guan had a video series called "Expert Specials" among his uploads, which was a series on players who stood out due to their unique and humorous approaches.


    Of the players he had filmed as material, the cold and indifferent Ou Huang was popular among the non-player crowd. This expert player had too much entertainment value¡ªhis forum posts were always laden with emojis, leading those who had never interacted with him to mistakenly think he was a cute girl. However, his in-game persona was cold as ice, and players all agreed that they had never heard Ou Huang speak more than three sentences.


    In addition to his sort of contrast cuteness character, Ou Huang was also the non-player crowd''s standard for unconventionality. He didn''t join teams, never participated in monster hunting parties or large-scale quests, and refused all types of attempts by others to play together. He single-handedly turned the cooperative online game into a single-player experience and did so impressively, occasionally posting his experiences on the forum, which would quickly be bumped to the front page.


    Qin Guan himself and quite a few of his companions often referred to Ou Huang''s forum threads. Now, seeing that Ou Huang had come to Weisshem, Qin Guan immediately assumed that this expert player must have more interesting material that could be filmed and thus pestered him shamelessly¡­


    This wasn''t the first time Ou Huang had been filmed by the shameless Qin Guan, and he calmly walked out of the town hall, turned a few alleys, and arrived at Martin Street.


    Currently, it was 6 p.m. on Earth and 11 a.m. in the game. The marketplace on Martin Street (OtherWorld) would only start getting lively after two in the afternoon. Right now, the whole street was deserted, with very few pedestrians. Only a few shops, a leather workshop, and a bakery were open.


    Silent Ou Huang and Qin Guan, constantly making "KABAKABA" sounds, passed through, and the apprentice at the leather workshop gave them a casual glance without barely batting an eyelid. There were so many skeletons roaming the streets daily, and even the mayor was one, so the townsfolk were no longer surprised.


    With his big bag in tow, Ou Huang came to a grocer and entered.


    The shop owner, who had been dozing off behind the counter, suddenly snapped awake and stared blankly at the two undead that had entered his shop. He didn''t scream in terror or make any attempt to solicit business; there were too many skeletons treating shops on the street as sightseeing spots, and after being troubled for a few days, shopkeepers like him had no choice but to adapt.


    Evidently, Ou Huang wasn''t here for "sightseeing." He silently walked over to the counter and emptied the contents of his woven bag.


    Ou Huang''s bag contained only dried wild boar jerky. He had caught boars via the butcher class''s trapping skill, slaughtered them accordingly, and cut the meat into slices, which were then seasoned with salt and air-dried.


    If food products created from lifestyle class professions weren''t gray-quality junk but white-quality (common) when "Identified," they could be sold to the Undead Merchant Association, and NPCs would have no problem consuming them.


    Finally, a look of astonishment crept into the face of the previously desensitized general goods shop owner.


    Ou Huang pointed at the jerky on the counter, then pointed to the boss.


    "S-sell to me? Are all these for sale?" The shop owner was momentarily stunned as he tried to make out the meaning behind this skeleton''s gestures.


    Of course, Ou Huang didn''t understand the native language and repeated his gestures once more.


    The grocer boss gulped nervously. Over the past few days, the new lord''s men had set up a stall in Martin Street that sold goods at unbelievably low prices, and he had bought quite a bit himself. While he hadn''t directly transacted with these undead, who couldn''t speak human language, he also didn''t have the guts to drive away these two undead who seemed to have peaceful intentions.


    Thus¡­ the grocer boss bit the bullet and examined the jerky.


    The air-dried wild boar jerky had been prepared cleanly and appeared to have quite a generous layer of salt applied on the surface (sugar and salt sold by the Merchant Association canteen were cheap). This batch even looked much better than wild game jerky that hunters brought to sell.


    Perking up, the shop owner immediately weighed the jerky, made some calculations, and counted over a hundred copper coins, stacking them up on the counter.


    Ou Huang wasted no time nor said anything, instantly pocketing all the NPC''s copper coins, then turned around and left.


    Qin Guan, with a head filled with questions, hurriedly followed behind. "Boss Ou Huang, why are you exchanging white-quality items for gray-quality junk NPC currency which we can''t us¡ª"


    Before he even finished, Ou Huang turned into the next-door clothing store.


    The middle-aged lady boss of the clothing store had a wooden reaction much like the grocery shop owner when she saw the two undead enter her store¡­ Many players came to poke their heads around her store, too.


    Ou Huang looked around at the clothes hung on the wall, then picked out a round-neck pullover and a pair of double-pocket canvas trousers, which he brought over to the counter. He then produced the copper coins that were "Identified" as gray-quality junk to the NPC store owner.


    "What the heck?! That works too??" Qin Guan was absolutely flabbergasted.


    The lady boss was equally shocked¡­


    Due to the massive sale of affordable fabrics by the new lord''s men, business at the clothing stores had become incredibly challenging. Their store had been closed for the past few days. The lady boss hesitated, then plucked up her courage and nervously picked out 80 copper coins¡­


    Ou Huang had acquired this batch of "dried boar jerky" through his practiced butcher skills. If sold to the Undead Merchant Association canteen, he could gain slightly over 20 game currency copper coins. With that amount, he could buy three sets of the standard "uniform"¡ªa beginner T-shirt and shorts.


    However, when sold to these civilian NPC vendors and buying clothes with the takings, he wouldn''t have enough to get even two sets.


    All things considered, it wasn''t very cost-effective. But the difference was that the clothing he received from the civilian NPCs was customizable. He could buy long-sleeve shirts and long pants!


    Right there in the shop, Ou Huang stripped off his equipment, removed his ragged "Beginner gear," and put on the long-sleeved pullover and canvas trousers before finally putting on his equipment once more.


    Skeleton frames didn''t have gender distinctions after all, so players didn''t feel any shame in the game.


    Ou Huang, now dressed differently from other players, glanced coldly at Qin Guan, whose arms and legs were exposed, then walked off silently.


    Qin Guan: "¡­"


    The brand new set of beginner gear he had just gotten suddenly lost its appeal¡­


    Then¡­ Qin Guan ran to the teleportation point and logged out.


    Ou Huang''s maneuvers had been sleek indeed, and that final look of disdain was rather soulful. Qin Guan''s inspiration was flowing at this moment, and he needed to quickly edit and upload this video¡ªhis pride had already been hurt, but he couldn''t afford to hurt his income (view count) as well.


    These two left Martin Street one after the other, and a while later, the clothing store lady boss went to the next-door grocer and discussed the frightening experience of dealing with the undead¡­


    The new lord''s people (Mia and Ben) had been purchasing vegetables and flour at the market for consecutive days already, but it had only been humans that did the transactions. This was the first time trading with the undead.


    Ou Huang''s spirit of bold and unconventional thinking opened up a new world for Weisshem''s townsfolk. They realized that these undead that spoke a different tongue could indeed reason, follow orders, and engage in fair trade!


    November 2, Saturday, Earth time, 9.00 a.m. Game time, 6.00 p.m.


    Before the sky darkened, Ou Huang, who was practicing disassembling beast carcasses in the butcher''s workshop at Life Alley, swiftly packed up his belongings, closed shop in a hurry, and ran to the Crossroad''s teleportation point.


    During the weekend, nights in Exile Town became fraught with danger, which greatly affected Ou Huang''s gaming experience. He had no interest in teaming up to clear instance dungeons, and before his second job advancement and having sufficient strength to solo farm in the wilderness, he just wanted to quietly hone his lifestyle class skills all by himself.


    The safe area around Desolate Outpost was limited, and Ou Huang had died quite a few times when practicing his butcher skills on his own. Retrieving his dropped equipment had been quite a struggle then.


    When he reached the teleportation point, Ou Huang chose to teleport to Weisshem without any hesitation. Others might dislike Weisshem due to a lack of monsters to farm, but Ou Huang didn''t mind. All he needed was a place to hone his life skills.


    Weisshem was bustling as always, completely unlike Exile Town. When Ou Huang stepped out of the town hall courtyard, two child NPCs, playing by the roadside, gazed at him curiously.


    Previously, Weisshem''s townsfolk had been afraid that the roaming skeletons would harm children and thus kept all of them indoors. However, after more than a week of observation and verifying that these undead were much less aggressive than inebriated grown men, the streets and alleys of Weisshem saw children playing once again.


    Ou Huang halted, scanning his surroundings to make sure there were no players around¡­ and then, he reached into his waist pouch for a small pack of rock sugar and tossed it to the two child NPCs.


    The barefoot children happily accepted the rock sugar, thanking the "undead mister" before running away to play.


    Ou Huang stood in place for a while, waiting, but the two children didn''t return with any adults to give him a quest. Regrettably, he shook his head.


    It seemed that hidden quests weren''t so easy to trigger.


    Weaving through the streets and alleys, Ou Huang arrived at the town gate. Two militiamen stationed at the duty post noticed Ou Huang leaving town and raised their eyebrows. However, they didn''t come out to stop him and just silently watched him depart.


    The former Weisshem sheriff, militia captain, and a portion of militiamen were still locked up at the former militia headquarters, waiting every day for the undead to provide two meals that didn''t fill them up fully.


    Some of the militiamen, assessed by Hal as being low threats, had been idle for two days before Rex summoned them. They were made to join the public security squad led by Ben and, using their old uniforms, resumed their previous duties.


    Currently, Weisshem didn''t have any security issues¡ªthe undead roamed the town each night, making any would-be thieves think twice about committing any crimes. Bringing these people back to work was simply a precaution to ensure they didn''t become a security threat to the town in their idle time.


    Jimmy, who had fainted upon seeing the undead and essentially gifted the town gate to players, was also one of the reemployed militiamen.


    The fear and humiliation during confinement, the feeling of escaping a near-death experience after release, and the two restless days of unemployment had made Jimmy, a young man who had never left Weisshem before, much more reserved. Stepping out of the house to resume his job and seeing the now-closed red-light district added to Jimmy''s complex feelings.


    He never liked this street, even though its existence had once been beneficial to him. Since childhood, he had seen too many instances of people living in the same district as him squandering away their family fortunes for a night''s revelry on this street, leading to arguments and even the breakups of family.


    Even his mundane father, who had lived an unremarkable life, had once brought their entire family''s living expenses to this street for an extravagant night after having a little too much to drink, which led to their family on boiled potatoes for almost two months afterward.


    The filthy street that Jimmy had always hoped to see disappear had actually been sealed off by those undead that had haunted his nightmares for nearly a week. Jimmy didn''t know whether to curse his fate at having his hometown fall into the hands of an evil black mage or be grateful that his hometown had been rid of this shameful sore.


    As he watched the distant figure of the undead under the setting sun, Jimmy hesitated for a while before finally mustering the courage to tap his partner on the shoulder. "I need to follow and see what''s happening. You keep an eye out here."


    Before his partner could respond, Jimmy slipped out of his duty post, rushed out of the town gate, and followed that undead from a distance.


    That undead followed the main road out of town for about 500 meters before turning to a small dirt path. Jimmy knew this path headed toward a small village. His heart tightened, and he quickened his pace.


    The undead in town sometimes appeared in greater numbers or were sometimes scarce. The townsfolk, who had to act deferential to survive, occasionally speculated where these undead were when they weren''t in town.


    Including Jimmy''s wife, many housewives, while buying vegetables, would discreetly take note of familiar faces among the farmers.


    Everyone was afraid that these undead were only safe and harmless in town but could turn aggressive once they ventured outside where there were fewer people. However, no one dared to voice their fears and kept them buried deep in their hearts.


    For ordinary folk, relocating their entire family elsewhere was no easy task. Besides the risks during the journey, even if the entire family managed to escape unscathed to another town, it would still be challenging to find housing and secure work to make ends meet before running out of savings.


    That undead that had left the town alone hadn''t headed straight for the village. Instead, it stopped by the edge of a recently harvested wheat field.


    Jimmy initially thought that he had been spotted and hurriedly crept into some bushes.


    Fortunately, that undead didn''t notice him. Instead, it crouched by the field''s edge, seemingly gazing curiously at the cut wheat stalks.


    Jimmy quietly wiped away his sweat as he nervously watched this undead, trying to guess what its purpose was.


    A while later, the undead unstrapped its backpack, pulled out a woven bag it held in hand, then bent down and went into the wheat stubble and started rummaging¡­


    Due to the distance, Jimmy couldn''t grasp its intentions at first. He stared for a good while before realizing that the undead was continuously putting something into the woven bag¡­ seemingly grasshoppers.


    Jimmy rubbed his eyes and scrutinized even more carefully.


    He hadn''t been mistaken. The undead that had left the town alone at dusk was indeed catching grasshoppers. Moreover, it did so with great focus and seriousness, catching at least one every two attempts as it moved from one end of the field to the other, displaying remarkable agility and showing no signs of tiring¡­ sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Enduring mosquito bites while crouching in the thicket, Jimmy watched this undead catch grasshoppers for over half an hour. There weren''t as many grasshoppers left in that field, but the undead didn''t give up and headed to another wheat field.


    Jimmy silently crawled out of the bushes and turned back toward the town. It was time to change shifts soon, and he had to return home.


    The image of the undead diligently catching grasshoppers in the fading light of the setting sun was likely to remain etched in Jimmy''s mind for a very long time.


    As the casual players that didn''t intend to participate in the weekend event were fleeing Exile Town in succession¡­ Hal, Tuttle, and Rex suddenly materialized in Exile Town''s town hall.


    When the glow of the teleportation array concealed underground faded away, what appeared in front of the disgruntled trio of Hal, Tuttle, and Rex was¡­ the projected clone of Yang.


    "You''ve done well." Yang''s projection flashed a warm smile and gave a nod to the trio. "You three stay here until sunrise. I''ll send you back once the sun is up. We are all depending on you guys for the next three nights."


    "Hah¡­ Heh¡­" Tuttle wanted to laugh cynically but simply couldn''t muster it. His face twitching, he said, "Sparing no expense to have us use a teleportation array¡­ So, does this mean that Finley''s intuition had been spot on, and the anomalies that appeared in Exile Town half a month ago are indeed related to us?"


    Yang Qiu smiled but didn''t say anything.


    "I knew it!" Hal roared. "No wonder those damn undead made such incomprehensible threats to me! So it was all thanks to you!"


    Even Rex chimed in, "Isn''t this going too far, Yang? Our mental domain isn''t meant to be used as tools for amusing others."


    "Calm down, my friends," Yang''s projection said patiently. "Intruding into someone else''s mental domain is more perilous than entering the tenth level of the Dimension Realm. I would never intentionally put our undead friends at risk.


    "In truth, I merely borrowed the negative aspects of the memories in your soul, from your souls'' memories, merging them into the ''Void Realm'' to allow the darkest facets deep within your minds to briefly materialize on the material plane. This constructs a temporary, non-invasive manifestation within your mental domains.


    "Your inner demons are being used to train our undead friends, allowing them to comprehend the true essence of becoming stronger. It also gives you guys a chance to confront your own fears, tempering your mentality. This is clearly a win-win situation. So, why get upset?"


    "Please, for the sake of the gods, don''t say another word!" Tuttle clutched his head in shame.


    "You''re a monster! You have long ceased to be human! It''s a monster that resides in that body of yours!" Hal roared, his frustration turning into rage.

 Chapter 97: Path of Strength

    Yang Qiu completely disregarded Hal''s accusation and instead said with a smile, "No need for such extremities, my friends. Since I said this is a win-win situation, it is with reason. Just think about it; how many people get the chance to objectively observe their own inner demons without having their own mental state affected?"


    "Are we supposed to thank you for this?!" Hal''s face was almost turning purple.


    "Of course," Yang Qiu''s projection said matter-of-factly. "Is any one of you three content with the status quo and have no intention of pursuing the path of strength?"


    This time, Hal refrained from cursing and simply kept his mouth shut. As a man, how could he admit to being content and not aspire for more?


    "If you intend to pursue the path of strength, challenging the limits of your mental domain and confronting your own spiritual flaws is something inevitable," Yang Qiu''s projection stated calmly. "I have never heard of someone unable to confront their own weaknesses and fears having the right to call themselves¡­ strong."


    Hal and Tuttle gritted their teeth and grimaced when they heard this.


    Rex, on the other hand, showed a more wavering expression.


    Lingering psychological scars of adults were undoubtedly rooted in their youth¡ªyoungsters were prone to making foolish mistakes that could lead to lifelong regrets and shame.


    Many people would see their life trajectory change due to foolish choices they made in their youth. After learning from their mistakes, they still needed to spend decades, or even a lifetime, making amends for their youthful follies.


    This strong aversion to one''s past self wasn''t something time would eliminate. Instead, it hid covertly within a person''s soul, taking refuge in the deepest, untouched corners of their memory. When stimulated or experiencing d¨¦j¨¤ vu, these unsettling memories resurfaced, tearing open old wounds with great force.


    Were it just an ordinary person, such persistent nightmares of the past might not be overly destructive and, at most, caused temporary bouts of melancholy. After all, the pressing responsibilities of everyday life were far more crucial than any dark history of the past.


    However, for skilled professional fighters whose mental capacity was several times that of the average person, the problem became significant; in a world where magic rules existed and powerful mental capacity could directly affect reality, the mental breakdown of a skilled powerhouse could lead to a swift collapse of body and soul¡­


    Rex, especially, was well aware of this. Back then, the potions he had painstakingly gathered could only allow him to maintain his clarity against the mental incursion from a higher-level power. When the effects waned, he struggled to control his mind''s instability and came perilously close to a complete mental collapse. Were it not for Yang Qiu''s intervention and pulling him into the imprint matrix, Rex would have long turned into a mutated monster roaming the depths of the Sorensen Mountains.


    "Of course, that doesn''t mean I''ll force you guys to do anything. The choice remains yours," Yang Qiu''s projection continued with a slight smile. "The ''demon'' standing in the way of your pursuit for strength is right there, and the ones who have to challenge them are our undead friends, not you.


    "You can have tea, chat, or nap if you are tired, just as if you are passing an ordinary, peaceful night. Or you can attempt to gaze at your own shadow. The choice is entirely up to you."


    Having said that, Yang Qiu activated the "Void Realm" set up beneath Exile Town''s Town Hall, dispelled his projection, and left the place to the three men.


    As the projection disappeared, the night sky outside the window seemed to be tainted with red blood, and crimson threads of light started flickering.


    Hal and Tuttle exchanged grim glances¡­


    No matter how flowery Yang Qiu had made it sound, at the end of the day, their secrets were being unveiled to those damn undead without any reservations!


    Very quickly, the three of them experienced a brief bout of dizziness. It was a fleeting sensation that lasted less than half a second, something they might not have noticed if they hadn''t been so tensed up.


    "Has it started¡­" Hal looked out of the window, his face pallid.


    Previously, when Yang had summoned this ominous aura of the void that shrouded the town, he hadn''t thought that this had anything to do with him.


    This time, Hal felt a vague sense of connection. The blood-red darkness, which made people instinctively fearful, somehow gave him an eerie sense of familiarity!


    When he gazed into the blood-tinged darkness, Hal even sensed something vaguely connecting to him, lurking in the shadows!


    "It''s started."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    At Third Street, in front of the empty wooden house with a cellar, players in their formed-up teams encouraged each other and bravely entered.


    Within the pitch-dark house, a bizarre giant corpse centipede monster stared at the players with dozens of its malevolent eyes.


    Inside the Town Hall, a familiar sense of weariness came over Hal, and he quickly grabbed the back of the nearby chair.


    "Hal?" Tuttle quickly helped him.


    "It''s happening again¡­" Hal gritted his teeth, gripping the armrest and slowly sitting down. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Rex watched him silently.


    When the town had first been enveloped by the aura of the void half a month prior, Rex had also felt the sense of weariness too, but there wasn''t much reaction because he had been in bed, sleeping. He thought it was just some physical discomfort and didn''t pay much attention to it.


    So, had that been the undead entering his "altered mental domain" that had been constructed by Yang?


    Rex couldn''t help but facepalm.


    He was curious about what the undead saw, but at the same time, he didn''t wish to know¡­ It was just too embarrassing!


    Hal, who had just regained his composure, was probably feeling the same way as Rex. After struggling within himself for a long time, curiosity ultimately overcame his resistance and his gaze slowly shifted downward to his shadow.


    A large oil lamp hanging on the wall provided plenty of light in the room. Under the lamplight, Hal noticed that his shadow was somewhat fainter than the shadow of the chair he was seated on.


    Hal couldn''t help but recall what Finley had said half a month ago, about his and Tuttle''s shadows being strange¡­


    Gritting his teeth, Hal stared intently at his strangely faint shadow.


    Suddenly, his vision started to overlap. The surrounding environment seemed to lose its sense of reality, and Hal''s mind and will seemed to be dragged into this familiar yet strange overlapping of shadows.


    Before his eyes, two overlapping images appeared.


    These were two highly similar images, featuring a desolate, eerie forest, and a thin youth dragging a body bag through the thick layer of fallen leaves on the ground¡­


    "ARGHH¡ª!!"


    Hal roared, lifting his head and staring fixedly at the ceiling. Veins bulge on his forehead, temples, neck, and arms as his body convulsed violently.


    "Hal?!" Tuttle got a huge shock and immediately rushed over to hold him down.


    Hal''s eyes remained fixed on the ceiling while his body trembled all over. His face twisted further with fear, and his eyes turned bloodshot.


    "Damn it! Hal?!" Tuttle panicked and slapped Hal''s face continuously. "Snap out of it! Look at me, Hal! Can you hear me?!"


    "Calm down¡­" Rex reached out to stop Tuttle. "He''s not losing control; he''s just frightened."


    "What nonsense are you talking about? How could Hal be frightened to the point he''s like this?!" Tuttle said angrily.


    Rex didn''t get upset and said calmly, "Hal might not even truly understand himself, so how can you possibly know him better than he does?"


    Tuttle looked puzzled for a moment.


    Rex pulled up a chair and sighed. "People can never truly understand themselves¡­ Except for the memories etched deep in their souls, most people tend to romanticize the wrongdoings they''ve committed in the past and make excuses for their former selves because¡­ they wouldn''t be able to go on if they didn''t.


    "But, this power of escapism belongs only to ordinary folk. People like us, who believe in the power of themselves, pursuing the path of strength, are bound to confront their own¡­ inability to conquer themselves. If you can''t even defeat your own weaknesses, how can you talk about the path of strength?"


    Tuttle fell silent and, after a moment, let go of Hal and sat down opposite him.


    In this world of extraordinary individuals, spellcasters were the group most prone to losing control. Every few years, there would be news of a renowned mage falling.


    The reason? Magic was toxic.


    The abundant magic in this world originated from the "whale fall" of the elder gods. [TL note: Whale fall is a phenomenon where the carcass of a dead whale begins to sink, finally hitting the ocean floor where it can nourish an entire ecosystem of deep-sea creatures. In this instance, it probably symbolizes the death of an elder god imbuing magic into the world.]


    No matter how cautious a spellcaster that dabbled with magic all year round was, there would come a day when they lose control and tumble.


    Were other extraordinary individuals safe?


    Not at all.


    Even ascetics of a faith could lose control and experience mind instability due to wavering faith; ascetics required the assistance of sealed artifacts to advance. All faiths strived to acquire power and wealth through various means while seeking theocracy, with a goal of efficiently collecting and safeguarding sealed artifacts.


    Individuals like the trio, who came to be called professionals because of their bodily ability, possessed a certain level of talent in the initial stages. With incessant honing, they, too, could obtain power surpassing ordinary people and gain a certain degree of status.


    However, to progress further, they had to touch upon the forbidden zone of the mind¡ªfor example, class progression.


    Tuttle, despite calling himself a ranger, hadn''t actually completed his ranger advancement¡­ He simply had some natural talent with bows and arrows.


    Hal wasn''t an actual assassin¡ªhe had also never crossed that "threshold."


    Rex was the only one who had crossed this "threshold," and his power was fundamentally different from theirs. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have been able to make the former bandits, who were so difficult to control, cooperate peacefully with him.


    Hal, leaning back in the high-backed chair, didn''t seem to react to Rex''s words, but after a while, he turned his head slightly and took a long look at Rex.


    Rex remained silent and calmly maintained eye contact.


    Hal''s face twitched and he struggled to sit up straight. With hands gripping the armrests tightly, he lowered his head and looked at his own shadow once more.


    At first, Tuttle wanted to intervene but thought better of it and kept his mouth shut.


    In the view of outsiders, Hal had many flaws. But to Tuttle, he was willing to follow Hal because he admired the latter''s qualities, such as dogged determination and never admitting defeat.


    Although Rex meant well, the tone he used, implying he had experienced such a thing before, was annoying. He was merely a kid, so who was he to lecture others?!


    Hal was clearly defiant. He was naturally a confrontational person and definitely couldn''t stand a young kid, nearly ten years younger, saying to him, "I can, and you can''t!"


    Hal, who never admitted defeat, saw an absurd scene through his shadow this time¡ª


    In that remote forest, which had long been buried in his mind and forgotten, Jim¡­ crawled out of the body bag!


    Jim, who had risen from hell to seek revenge, had Hal''s uncle, Harlington Maxwell, growing out of his chest!


    And on Uncle Harlington''s body sprouted Olive''s top half!


    "Aaaaaahhhhh!!"


    Hal let out a gut-wrenching scream, his body convulsing violently once again. He scratched the armrest so hard it drew blood, though he wasn''t aware of it.


    Even in such a miserable state, Hal didn''t pull his gaze away. He stared in fear at his shadow, watching the scene that was somewhat fuzzy yet could awaken the deepest memories of his soul. The world before his eyes gradually seemed to be shrouded in blood¡­


    Jim was his good friend.


    The Maxwell family had once offended a count belonging to the Kenyan Empire''s industrial nouveau riche. In the span of six months, both Hal''s father and uncle went bankrupt, and he went from being the spoiled young master of the family to a street urchin who wasn''t even allowed to enter the school gates.


    During his time of despair and helplessness, Jim, a boy who had grown up on the streets, had pulled him up.


    Jim brought Hal to join the local street gang, where they received protection while taking on odd jobs to earn some money.


    Having grown up on the streets himself, Jim taught Hal the rules of street survival¡ªwho not to mess with, where to get a free lunch, which restaurant discarded expired food that was still edible, and more¡­


    One day, in a local bar where street kids frequented, Jim was killed.


    The killer was the leader of their street gang, and the reason for killing Jim was that Jim had wanted to bring along Hal and the other youngsters, who hadn''t yet become deeply involved in criminal activities, to work at the factory with him.


    That was a large local factory, with a strong workers'' union and excellent pay. It was always a cutthroat competition whenever the factory recruited workers. Jim had managed to secure this opportunity by sucking up to a union manager.


    The gang leader knew Jim was like a brother to Hal and forced him to make a choice. Either live as an accomplice in Jim''s murder or be buried alongside Jim, the audacious kid who dared to leave the organization.


    Hal had no choice. He buried his conscience, together with his beloved friend Jim, in this remote forest.


    Hal let out a miserable wail while sobbing as he watched Jim transform into a monstrous entity. It was as if his very soul was being ripped apart by invisible hands.


    Hal had reckoned he had long forgotten the agony of his soul and heart being torn apart. But, in truth, that pain had always been hidden deep within his soul, and he had only pretended not to see it.


    Something slid down his cheek, dripping onto his knee.


    When Hal was 20 years old, Uncle Harlington, who had taken him in, had finally saved up a small fortune. Uncle Harlington knew that they would all be in trouble if Hal dared leave the gang. Thus, he secretly sold the entire family''s possessions, bought train tickets, and fled south with his family and Hal one night.


    At first, they lived quite well in a southern city of the Kenyan Empire. Hal and his uncle ran a small business together, and Hal''s younger cousin found a technical school to attend.


    But, before long, the young, hot-tempered, and belligerent Hal found trouble¡­


    He was strong, fit, and could fight, so he was fine. However, Uncle Harlington was implicated and was struck by a pole during a beating and eventually died.


    Hal didn''t dare face his aunt and cousin and thus ran away.


    Hal slid off the chair onto the floor.


    He couldn''t scream anymore, and no sound came out even though his mouth was half-open.


    His mind, body, and soul had been ripped into countless pieces.


    Olive, the warm and lively southern woman.


    She wasn''t from the Kenyan Empire but had come to the Kenyan Empire with her family to escape war in her homeland.


    The northern part of the Kenyan Empire was home to industry and trade, while the south was mainly filled with plantations, estates, and scattered handcraft businesses.


    Olive, a foreigner, couldn''t find good work in the southern city. After being dismissed as a maid by a merchant, she sold flowers, fruit juice, and eventually ended up as a streetwalker.


    The burdens of life didn''t break Olive. In their old apartment building, where many people lived together, Hal could always hear her laughter through the thin wooden walls.


    When Hal had just joined the local gang, he fell for the cheerful Olive, but he was too unsettled to express his feelings.


    One night, as Hal and his comrades sneaked into a grocery store to steal, he saw Olive being taken into an underground inn by two drunken men from across the street.


    As the lookout that night, Hal could only silently watch this scene.


    After that, he never heard that southern woman''s laughter ever again.


    It was a long time before he heard from local gang members that one of the two men who had bought Olive that night was a notorious slave trader.


    Hal didn''t have a chance to express his affection for Olive. In his memory, his interactions with Olive were limited to short greetings in the hallway like, "Morning, heading out?"


    He had personally witnessed the woman he admired slide into hell that night. And he hadn''t done anything.


    These memories, which he thought were long forgotten, surged through his mind.


    Even when the monstrous amalgamation of Jim, Uncle Harlington, and Olive killed all the undead and the vision disappeared and he couldn''t see anything anymore, Hal refused to stop.


    He curled up tightly, clutching his chest.


    It hurt so much¡­


    Someone''s hands went under his armpits and lifted Hal back onto the chair.


    Hal wearily raised his eyelids and realized¡­ It was Rex.


    There wasn''t any sympathy in Rex''s detestable face, and this made Hal feel slightly better.


    Tuttle hadn''t helped him because he was currently slumped in the high-backed chair next to Hal, head tilted back and hands covering his face.


    Hal glanced at Tuttle''s shadow and realized that it was fainter too.


    Among the three of them, only Rex''s hadn''t changed.


    Hal wanted to say something but, in the end, said nothing. He shut his eyes and let himself slump.


    ¡­Is this my fear? So what I''m afraid of are the mistakes I have made in the past, huh. I''ve never conquered myself¡ªI''ve just been running away, Hal silently contemplated and felt somewhat disheartened.


    Recalling his past left him even more mentally exhausted than the tiring times when he struggled to maintain their livelihood in the Sorensen Mountains.


    With a sidelong glance, he noticed Rex sitting in a silent daze. Hal, who rarely initiated a conversation with this young man he usually avoided, decided to ask, "Charlie, what did it feel like when you crossed the ''threshold''?"


    Rex seemed surprised that Hal was willing to talk to him after revealing such a miserable side of himself. He pondered for a moment and replied earnestly, "Lowly, insignificant, superfluous¡­ The force that flowed into me when I advanced made me question if my living truly held any value."


    Hal''s lips twitched¡­ This reply didn''t offer him any insight.


    "What about your fear, your ''warped mental domain'' that Yang manifested¡­ What is it?" Hal asked again.


    "I don''t know," Rex said with a bitter smile. "It''s difficult for people to objectively understand themselves, and I''m no exception. I''m waiting for¡­ the undead to enter my ''mental domain.''"


    Hal gazed at Rex for a few seconds and suddenly realized that this fellow wasn''t so annoying after all.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Weisshem.


    Yang Qiu briefly checked on the contributors for the Exile Town dungeon instances and, seeing no issue, continued with his daily meditation.


    In the past couple of days, he had spent more time in OtherWorld than on Earth and, consequently, mediated more frequently.


    And the frequency of his meditation naturally drew the attention of Inspector Lowell.


    Lowell, who was lying down, immediately opened his eyes when he sensed the active magic.


    While ascetics didn''t use magic, their powerful mental strength also made them extremely sensitive to magic. Before the more extensive commercial activities and the increased flow of trade brought about by the Age of Discovery, the relationship between the mage towers and the churches wasn''t as peaceful as it was now, and spellcasters and ascetics were often at odds for the sake of acquiring materials for spells.


    Lowell quietly got up from his bed, walked to the door, and opened it.


    In the hall, Yang was once again meditating, and abundant, active magic filled the entire room.


    Lowell frowned, his expression growing more solemn.


    If he remembered correctly, Yang had meditated just before dinner.


    This universal technique¡ªfocusing the mind to open up one''s perception and quickly absorb magic factors¡ªwas also known to the various faiths. Just that ascetics didn''t use it for absorbing magic; they employed it for prayer and receiving divine blessings.


    But regardless of whether it was absorbing magic or accepting divine faith, both couldn''t be done with frequency and intensity. There was a risk for spellcasters to have their minds corrupted by magic, while ascetics might lose themselves to the influence of divine power.


    Too much of a good thing could lead to trouble; the sun might be pleasant, but too much exposure could be problematic.


    Based on his observations of Yang during this period, Lowell didn''t believe Yang was a crazed person blindly and recklessly seeking power.


    If this isn''t taking an immense risk¡­ Does that mean he has absolute confidence he won''t lose himself to magic or power unless?


    The puzzled Inspector Lowell was now fully awake. He stepped into the hall and took a seat on the couch across from Yang.


    About half an hour later, Yang Qiu concluded his mediation and gave Inspector Lowell a nod.


    Inspector Lowell nodded back to return the greeting. Sensing the overflowing and potent magic in Yang''s aura, he asked with furrowed brows, "Forgive my bold assumption, Yang, but are you preparing to advance to Archmage?"


    "Yes," Yang Qiu admitted. "Our undead friends are already outcasts in this world, and now Taranthan has many more people in need of shelter. As their lord, I have to make as much self-progress as possible to be prepared for any situation."


    Lowell''s frown deepened, and he expressed his disagreement, "Forgive me for being frank, but your experiences over these past decades don''t seem like the sort of personal growth needed for advancement."


    A professional-level advancement would require at least several years of preparation. Something like advancing to an Archmage would at least require decades; a couple of years ago, Lowell had heard rumors of the Radiant Sun Church suffering significant casualties in an attempt to trap the Nightmare Butcher somewhere and thus didn''t view Yang''s hastiness favorably.


    Yang Qiu smiled and posted a question, "Revered Inspector, what do you reckon is the essence of power?"


    "Force. Violence," Inspector Lowell asserted without hesitation.


    A regular acolyte might give a lengthy and idealistic explanation, but at Inspector Lowell''s, such embellishments were unnecessary.


    "Yes, the essence of power is force and violence." Yang Qiu maintained his calm smile. "But for me, power is a baseline for self-defense, maintaining basic justice and order, rather than a tool for aggression against others.


    "I''ve never abused my power for personal gain, so I don''t worry about losing myself to power."

 Chapter 98: Terrible Hal

    At that moment, Inspector Lowell wanted to laugh.


    Nightmare Butcher Yang was already notorious across the continent long before he was hunted by the Radiant Sun Church. This was a wicked black mage, wanted in many countries, and he had the audacity to claim that he never used violence?


    Inspector Lowell found this rather ludicrous and nearly burst into laughter. But then¡­ he suddenly realized something was amiss.


    He and Yang were contemporaries, both rising to prominence over a century ago. Even if they had never met in person and only heard rumors about each other, Inspector Lowell obviously understood Yang better than most people from the continent of Navalon.


    Thus, the black-robed inspector, who nearly laughed, gradually became horrified.


    Yang Qiu maintained his smile, though he didn''t say anything.


    Inspector Lowell mulled for a moment, seemingly reaching a conclusion. He shook his head and said, "No¡­ this is just sophistry. Your terrifying actions can by no means be called maintaining justice and order. What you did is just spreading fear."


    Yang Qiu remained unperturbed. "Revered Inspector, justice and order are not the same as righteousness and cannot be easily defined. In my view, justice and order are constants; they are the civilized rules that uphold the basic human rights and interests of the majority. Anything conflicting with this fundamental law is in the wrong."


    Inspector Lowell: "¡­"


    He had known that this guy would definitely use sophistry to defend his previous sophistry, yet he never imagined that Yang would even pull out the term "civilized rules"¡­


    The black-robed inspector frowned in thought and, after a while, said, "Since you believe that justice and order cannot be easily defined, what right do you have from your standpoint to define justice and order?"


    "Because it was never defined by me; rather, it''s a fundamental law that exists on material planes," Yang Qiu said calmly. "The birth of any civilization must be founded upon justice and order. When the order is disrupted, and the majority of people within this civilized system can''t live stably, no matter how powerful that civilization may be in terms of military might, it will inevitably lead to turmoil, conflicts, and ultimately its downfall.


    "When order is maintained, even if the civilization isn''t particularly strong, it will gradually flourish and prosper.


    "The Kenyan Empire has a population of three billion, while the Outer Continents have over several tens of billions. Despite the Outer Continent''s immense size, there is a lack of order, leading to wars and internal conflicts. In the early days of the Age of Discovery, slaves from foreign lands, even those who tied themselves up and boarded the Kenyan Empire''s slave ships, exceeded the population of the Kenyan Empire itself.


    "Thus, I believe that when a systemic civilization cannot provide a just order to ensure the stable livelihood of the majority, that civilization has strayed from the right path."


    This time, Inspector Lowell remained silent for a very long time¡­


    He realized that he still couldn''t understand Yang. Wasn''t this guy a crazed black mage that wreaked havoc across the continent without any restraint? How could he say this sort of thing and be so concerned about why the Outer Continent became a slave estate of the Kenyan Empire?!


    The Goddess of Prosperity was a recluse, and Church of Prosperity followers didn''t like to leave their homeland. Inspector Lowell had never been to the Kenyan Empire in his lifetime and indeed had no grounds to participate in this discussion.


    Feeling somewhat annoyed, Inspector Lowell shifted to a topic he could relate to. "Even if you''re right, your actions are, in fact, disrupting order. If you truly respect order as you claim, then you should respect the laws of the various nations in the continent of Navalon. Even if they are criminals, these people ought to be tried by their respective countries, and you aren''t supposed to take the law into your own hands."


    Yang Qiu couldn''t help smiling. "Revered Inspector, please believe me, I completely agree with you on this point. I''ve once studied the laws of many countries, including the Duchy of Shiga. I have to say, the laws documented on paper do adhere to the fundamental principles of justice and order, and some of the regulations indeed originate from the standpoint of protecting the law-abiding citizens, who make up the vast majority¡­"


    After a brief pause, Yang Qiu continued, "Unfortunately, these regulations only exist on paper. On the other hand, laws that don''t prioritize the interests of law-abiding citizens aren''t effectively implemented."


    Inspector Lowell''s face paled, then very quickly turned red.


    Yang Qiu gave a pitiful look to the ascetic that couldn''t accept the realities of the world and went on, "Sir Hans of Camore abused several children that weren''t even 10 years of age. According to the Duchy of Shiga''s constitution, if enough evidence is collected and willing witnesses are found to charge him in court, a judge can sentence him to 10 years or more in prison. But all he has to do is pay a bail of a hundred gold coins a year to step down from the defendant''s seat. And if he forks out a thousand gold coins, he can go home. Without any delays, he might even have made it home in time for dinner that day.


    "Revered Inspector, do you consider this to be justice and order as well?"


    Inspector Lowell had no response.


    "When unable to establish a new order, it''s best not to rush to destroy the old one," Yang Qiu went on. "I can''t make the Duchy of Shiga discontinue their system of bail for the wealthy, so I could only start from where I can, like breaking Sir Hans''s limbs in front of many others. This way, Sir Hans''s ilk will know that the same fate might befall them if they do the same and fall into my hands. And, in doing so, such individuals would be apprehensive whenever they contemplate undoing their belts."


    Inspector Lowell: "¡­"


    "I have to admit that these crude methods aren''t clever," Yang Qiu shrugged, "but it''s better than doing nothing. Don''t you think so?"


    Inspector Lowell rubbed his temples. Being rendered speechless by the words of a madman was just too embarrassing!


    "But this¡­ is still a form of destruction," Inspector Lowell asserted. "Public acts of violence and punishment like this, in the open, can cause unease among the people."


    Yang Qiu''s expression turned peculiar. "What kind of person would feel uneasy upon learning that wrongdoers faced severe punishment?"


    Inspector Lowell was momentarily stunned.


    "People who have never entertained thoughts of harming young boys can''t possibly feel fear when they hear that the man who abused young boys was punished, right?" Yang Qiu said with a wry smile. "The response of an ordinary person would be to applaud, isn''t it?"


    "But¡ª"


    "I understand what you mean, Inspector," Yang Qiu raised his hand to cut the visibly distressed Lowell off. "What you really want to say is that I, an outsider, overstepped the Duchy of Shiga''s constitution to punish a Shiga knight and made the common folk lose respect for the constitution."


    Inspector Lowell appeared frustrated, but he couldn''t admit or deny that.


    "This brings us back to our previous discussion. A nation''s constitution, which doesn''t consider the perspective of protecting the law-abiding citizens but intentionally provides a means of escape for a tiny minority, even if they break the law¡­ Should such a constitution be respected?" Yang Qiu continued, still smiling.


    "But the existence of laws ensures some degree of order," Inspector Lowell said grimly. "As you said yourself, when a new order can''t be established, you shouldn''t rush to destroy the old one."


    "Not intentionally destroying the old order is quite different from adhering to justice and order, don''t you think?" Yang Qiu chuckled. "Wouldn''t the right approach be to start changing, bit by bit, to the best of one''s ability?"


    Inspector Lowell once more fell silent for a long time¡­


    Yang Qiu was almost finished with his cup of tea by the time the black-robed inspector spoke again, "I still think you''re too optimistic. People who carry a sharp blade would undoubtedly use it. Your mistaken belief and blind pursuit of power will only harm yourself."


    Strangely, Yang Qiu fell silent.


    He suddenly realized that the black-robed inspector wasn''t prying into his background this time; instead, it seemed like he was genuinely concerned, afraid that Yang Qiu would ruin himself¡­.


    He couldn''t help but admire this ascetic for having a conscience. It was refreshing compared to the bunch of bandits that only ate and drank his stuff but didn''t wish him well!


    "Thank you, Lowell. There''s no need to worry; the path I''m taking isn''t one I''ve carved out on my own. I have a point of reference, and I''m just following the route of others who have succeeded," said Yang Qiu.


    Lowell was taken aback. "Others? Who?"


    "A group of¡­ remarkable people." Yang Qiu just smiled but didn''t explain further.


    He grew up in modern China and, since childhood, had been influenced by the deeds of that powerful army.


    This was a world where the strong would lose themselves in immense power, but Yang Qiu definitely wouldn''t because he knew where power should be used¡ªnot just as idealism, but as a successful theory that had been proven to work!


    Yang Qiu was convinced that it wasn''t just him, and any normal Chinese citizen who had gone through education would know what to do¡ªwhen playing strategy games, any Chinese would know that the land should be cultivated as best as possible to preserve effective strength and make sure as many people as possible, so how could he, as a person who came over, go astray!


    Exile Town.


    Hal''s shadow got lighter once more as players entered his "altered mental domain."


    This time, when Hal cast his gaze on his overlapping shadows, he was much calmer than the last time.


    In the overlapping scenes, the undead were battling the monstrous amalgamation of Jim, Harlington, and Olive with great effort.


    Hal watched this eerie scene in silence and, surprisingly, felt calm inside.


    He knew that it wasn''t Jim, Uncle Harlington, or Olive. It was a monster created by his own mind, a dark presence that bore all his weaknesses, filth, unworthiness, shame, and guilt.


    A projection of his past self was in the scene as well, shivering and cowering in a corner, a pitiable sight.


    ¡­That''s the real me, Hal thought as he watched his younger self. He was powerless and lacked the courage to stand against true strength, always relying on his own small cleverness to hide and avoid real danger.


    Hal felt his face flushing¡­ Such self-reflection was already embarrassing even with no one around, let alone being witnessed by so many undead.


    Sighing inwardly, Hal had to admit that he wasn''t as dauntless as he appeared to others. The weak side of his true self was carefully hidden away.


    The undead who entered this time weren''t a match for the monster in Hal''s heart, and after holding out for about 10 minutes, they were all wiped out.


    Shortly after the overlapping vision disappeared, a new batch of undead entered, and the scene reappeared. Hal once again saw his younger self dragging the body bag.


    This is¡­ really tortuous, Hal thought to himself. This is a punishment, isn''t it? Yang, that bastard is doing this on purpose. He wants to see how pathetic I am." sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Overlapping visions didn''t just appear individually. Each time, Hal could see up to three distinct scenes. In each scene, nine to ten undead would appear first, followed by his younger self dragging a body bag.


    In other words, Hal would simultaneously see two, or even three, younger versions of himself. They stumbled before different groups of undead and fell down pathetically. And when Jims crawled out of the body bags, the younger Hals were scared witless¡­


    Hal was almost wishing that the undead would just stab the younger versions of himself to death.


    Just as he was having such thoughts, some players actually did it¡­


    Probably driven to frustration by continuous team wipes, a team of players decided to go off the beaten path the moment they reentered the instance dungeon. They didn''t wait for the younger Hal to stumble and rushed up while shouting angrily, trying to see if killing the young Hal would help them clear the instance.


    When Hal saw such a scene in one of three visions, he even felt a little hopeful, hoping that the actions of these undead would somehow free him¡ª


    But then Hal saw "himself," having been stabbed several times, not only surviving but crying out, "I''ve tried so hard to be a scumbag, why do you still want to kill me?" Then, "he" transformed into a dark adult version before morphing into a mutated monster and killing that bunch of undead.


    Hal lowered his head, covering his face with his hands. This time, he genuinely wanted to die. How could he reject his younger self when the adult version of himself was a thousand times more pathetic than his younger self?


    In the first half of the night, Hal and Tuttle, these two troubled pals, considered hanging themselves every half an hour.


    In the latter half of the night, Tuttle didn''t see much activity, though the undead kept entering Hal''s side.


    Eventually, they endured until daybreak. Tuttle, who managed to get a little rest, and Rex, who had spent the entire night peacefully undisturbed, silently observed the pale and exhausted Hal for a while.


    Hal didn''t even have the strength to wonder why Rex was so serene. Struggling to get up, he said, "Let''s go to the merchant association canteen and see if there''s anything to eat."


    Tuttle nodded and helped support him.


    Initially, Rex felt awkward joining them (he had always thought Yang took care of him especially well), but then, remembering he hadn''t tasted Liu''s cooking in over a week, he swallowed his pride and joined the former bandit duo.


    The players who had been frustrated by their failed attempts throughout the afternoon (Earth time) glared at Hal and Tuttle angrily when they saw these two NPCs appear in Exile Town.


    Especially so Hal. Every undead that saw him stopped in their tracks and gave him murderous looks as he made his way from the Town Hall to Life Lane.


    Hal: "¡­"


    A sense of humiliation he hadn''t felt for years came over to him, and Hal nearly cried from frustration.


    The undead, however, seemed to care little for the humiliation they had subjected to Hal throughout the night, muttering stuff impolitely like, "Damn it, why is Hal so hard to kill!"


    "I can''t believe it. Even the Inner Demon instance dungeon of a beginner town NPC is so hard. We are definitely in for a tough time with future raid instances!"


    "I swear I''m getting PTSD from this damned Inner Demon instance!


    After having a meal at the canteen, the trio were sent back to Weisshem by Yang. Hal found himself once again in the militia headquarters, where he had spent most of his time lately, apart from his occasional appearances at the stall.


    There were more than a thousand people being held in the militia headquarters, mostly pleasure-seeking patrons of the former red-light district clients, with a small portion being militiamen, brothel bouncers, and proprietors whom Hal didn''t consider to be good people as well.


    Patrons with value were relocated to the basement of Resettlement Zone A. Meanwhile, those patrons that remained in the militia headquarters were either from faraway lands, foreigners unable to prove themselves valuable, small-scale craftsmen, merchants, or Indahl citizens who couldn''t afford the hefty ransom demanded by Yang Qiu (who detested clients and set an exorbitant minimum ransom of 50 gold coins).


    To these people, Hal, who was responsible for overseeing them, didn''t go easy. There was no recreation time, and these people had to raise their hands to visit the restroom. Anyone who dared dirty their room, make a ruckus, or not queue orderly for food would be given a beating. Now, these captives obediently behaved like docile quails.


    "Sir, how long are we going to be locked up here?"


    When the undead came to deliver lunch, a patron couldn''t bear it any longer and asked Hal cautiously. Were it the previous day, this man, who didn''t stand in line for food and run his mouth off, would have gotten a big slap from Hal. But today, Hal wasn''t in the mood to teach anyone a lesson; he just said coldly, "How would I know? Just wait."


    The patron who asked the question had already been prepared to receive a beating and was rather surprised that Hal didn''t resort to violence. Taking advantage of this, he plucked up his courage and asked, "C-can I send a letter? It''s been a long while since I returned home. My wife and children are¡ª"


    The originally sluggish Hal suddenly went berserk, kicked the guy down, and charged forward, delivering heavy blows with his feet. "You''ve got a wife and children, and you''re out here whoring! And you have the nerve to act like you are wronged! The nerve of you!"


    Finley, who was standing at the side, wasn''t prepared at all for Hal''s sudden outburst. He quickly ran over and grabbed Hal around the waist while trying to calm his comrade down, "Enough, Hal, enough. Don''t create a problem we cannot explain to Yang."


    "This bastard doesn''t even know the disgraceful things he has done and still has the nerve to act like he was wronged!" Hal shouted at Finley with bloodshot eyes.


    Finley: "???" What are you so angry about?


    A puzzled Finley had no way of asking and could only placate Hal continuously¡­


    The former Weisshem mayor was waiting in line behind this Indahl citizen that had spoken. At first, upon seeing that Hal seemed to be in a good mood, he thought of pleading for sympathy to return home (unaware that his treasury had been looted and his house had been requisitioned). When he witnessed the scene that unfolded, he kept his mouth tightly shut and didn''t dare raise his head.


    When is Baron Markus going to save me! The former mayor wailed inwardly.


    After finishing the meager soup that barely filled his stomach, the former mayor was making his way back to his room together with the crowd when he saw a large group of people entering the militia headquarters.


    The entire line of prisoners moving slowly forward came to a halt. Many looked at the newcomers, hoping to see familiar faces that could help get them out¡­


    But clearly, they were destined to be disappointed¡ªWeisshem was not a taboo topic, and as soon as men dispatched to assess the situation saw the town filled with skeletons from a distance, they ran away as fast as they could. Moreover, Adra III and the Radiant Sun Church that had military might had yet to make a move. Unless a third party appeared, Weisshem would remain "occupied."


    The new lord, Charlie Rex, the new mayor, Ji Tang, the newly appointed town hall clerks, Madam Shirley and Miss Sybil, along with a public security squad, entered the courtyard, greeted Hal, who was in charge here, and began selecting people from among the captives.


    That Indahl citizen at the end of Hal''s angry outburst was picked out due to his fairly strong build. Ji Tang examined the man, who had a black eye and a swollen face, and nodded to the public security squad. Then, a squad member took a nylon restraint hanging on his belt and bound this captive''s hands together.


    The sight of the nylon restraints rekindled terrible memories for this Indahl citizen, and he asked fearfully, "Wh-what is this for?"


    Members of the public security squad, who were merely here to supervise, naturally had no way to answer him. "Cut the crap and just obey instructions!"


    "Don''t be nervous; you''re just going to work," Rex explained in a kindly tone. "Mayor Ji Tang needs some help cleaning the town''s sewers. Although you''re currently prisoners, you''ll receive fair compensation for your labor."


    The Indahl citizen stammered, "Th-this¡­"


    "Do you not want to go?" Hal, who was standing by, uttered icily.


    "I want to!" The Indahl citizen shuddered violently. "I''m very willing to go!"


    Rex stared blankly at Hal, but the latter didn''t even give him a glance, just a snort before walking away.


    There was a limit to players'' patience for manual labor quests. Assigning them a task like clearing the dirty sewers with years of accumulated waste would definitely cause the players to revolt¡­


    Rex, the new lord, had the resources, and employing locals wasn''t an issue. But the problem was that after the sanitation bureau and waste disposal were established, most of those that lacked skills and relied on odd jobs in the red-light district had already been recruited.


    A notice was put up to recruit able-bodied townsfolk for the sewer-cleaning job, but there was no response at all. The underlying reason was that most of the townsfolk didn''t have enough trust in the current new lord, the new mayor, and their leadership team. They were open to trading with the new lord but weren''t necessarily willing to work under the new mayor.


    Their concerns were very realistic. They didn''t completely believe that this group of people who had taken over Weisshem for no apparent reason could last until the day they were supposed to receive their wages¡­


    If they worked hard and didn''t get paid before the new lord was driven away, wouldn''t that be a waste of their effort?


    Ji Tang couldn''t force the townsfolk to take jobs, and Rex obviously wouldn''t accept it. So, they naturally turned their attention to this group of freeloading captives.


    Several dozen able-bodied men suitable for labor were picked out of these thousand-over captives.


    Hal, who had been watching coldly at the sidelines, walked over with a sinister expression. He eyed each and every one of the selected men menacingly and said with a sneer, "I know you''ve all been dreaming of escaping. Now, your chance has come. Why not try it."


    This bunch that had received their fair share of Hal''s beatings turned pale and shook their heads vigorously. "No, we won''t, absolutely not."


    "It''s no big deal. Go ahead and escape as you wish." Hal chuckled deviously. "The undead that caught you last time were quite polite. Not a single one of you came in crippled, and it seemed like intimidation was lacking¡­ I don''t really like this sort of atmosphere."


    The citizen from Indahl that had spoken out earlier nearly collapsed to the ground¡­


    The former bandit leader was extremely terrible!

 Chapter 99: It’s tough being a mayor

    Ou Huang logged out at noon and only logged back in at 4 p.m., after the event was over.


    He had gone offline at Weisshem and remained there when he logged in.


    Weisshem''s streetscape in the morning didn''t appeal to Ou Huang at all, and he didn''t step off the spawn point after logging in and teleported straight to Exile Town.


    After stepping off Exile Town''s teleportation point at the Crossroads, Ou Huang opened his character panel and took a look at his stats.


    ID: Ou Huang


    Race: Undead


    Gender: Male


    Level: 2


    Potential Value: 124


    Ou Huang silently closed the interface.


    Although he played the game as if he were a hermit in seclusion, Ou Huang also had a competitive spirit. At this current stage of the game, his Potential value easily outperformed his fellows. After all, most of the game''s players were in the 70-80 Potential value range.


    But¡­ when it came to the Potential value rankings, Ou Huang couldn''t even squeeze into the top three.


    The number one player in the game, Ji Tang, had a Potential value of 168 and stood out as the undisputed pinnacle.


    There was no point in being envious since Ji Tang was known to be a former special forces soldier with an undisclosed military designation¡ªeven though Ji Tang had never openly admitted this, it didn''t stop players from slapping him with a "Soldier King" nickname.


    What was truly frustrating was that the second and third in the Potential value rankings couldn''t be considered standard players. The two elderly gentlemen, whose IDs were Old Geng and Master Liu, had Potential values of 141 and 130, respectively.


    Whenever players went to the merchant association canteen for quests or to trade in materials, they couldn''t help but feel a strange mix of sadness and resentment, seeing the stats of those two. Also, they were rather indignant that these two old men had achieved such high scores without farming monsters or completing quests, but it was also awkward to accuse these obviously non-gamer elders of exploiting the system.


    The days of these two when they logged in revolved around the merchant association canteen. They cooked for all the town''s NPCs and collected materials from players in exchange for gear.


    But ask any player if they were willing to sacrifice their game experience and swap with them, and the answer would be a definite no.


    In any case, these two elders didn''t compete with players for monsters or quests; they simply used numerical cheats¡­


    Ou Huang had no intention of competing with these two canteen elders and was always cordial when he saw them. With half a bag of grasshoppers in his backpack, he entered the merchant association canteen. Master Liu saw him and warmly greeted Ou Huang, "You''re here, young brother. What are you bringing this time?"


    Ou Huang looked around, headed to the utensil cabinet, and took out a plastic basin. He then emptied the grasshoppers from the bag into the basin and presented it to Master Liu.


    "You can catch these little things? Did you catch them in Weisshem?" Master Liu exclaimed in amazement as he picked up a relatively large grasshopper with two bone fingers. "Woah, this one''s quite big!"


    Old Geng, who was busy steaming mantous (also a frozen product), came out from behind to the partially open kitchen counter. He wiped his hands on his apron, then picked up one of the grasshoppers Ou Huang brought, examining it closely. "Not bad, Old Liu. These can be fried with salt and they''ll taste great."


    Master Liu didn''t respond immediately. Instead, he used Identify (their NPC interface had player skills available as well), verifying that the grasshoppers Ou Huang caught were white-quality before accepting them. "Alright, they''re usable. Let me weigh them. Young brother, are you exchanging them for reputation again?"


    Ou Huang nodded.


    Currently, there are two ways to earn reputation with the "Undead Merchant Association." The first method was to complete quests at the association canteen, and the second was to exchange materials.


    Practically, all the "products" obtained by Ou Huang''s butcher lifestyle class skills were accepted by the canteen, and this allowed him to accumulate Undead Merchant Association reputation much faster compared to regular players.


    Master Liu accepted most of the grasshoppers and opened his tool player interface with practiced proficiency. "Young brother, adding this batch will get you up to Friendly reputation. Not bad, you''re the first."


    Ou Huang kept his panel open, and with the new reputation points credited to his account, his reputation bar shot up to full and reached the "Friendly" tier. This unlocked options to exchange specific materials, potions, equipment, and items, as well as an option to hire NPCs, which got him quite excited.


    Reputation with the Undead Merchant Association wasn''t easy to earn because there were limited daily quests each day. If one didn''t camp for them or wasn''t quick enough, they would have to wait for the next day.


    "Someone achieved ''Friendly''?" Two round skulls appeared behind the partially open kitchen counter. "Who could be that fast¡ªah, it''s Boss Ou Huang!"


    "You''ve beaten us to it first," Teacher Yu Chi, who camped regularly at the canteen, expressed her disappointment. "I still said that I would be the first to reach ''Friendly'' after completing today''s canteen quests."


    "You are almost there, Yu Chi, just 200 points." Master Lu chuckled. "Just Miss Xiao Liu is still some distance away, at least 1000 points."


    The young lady, Liu Meng, scratched her head, slightly embarrassed. "Aiya, I''ve gone on the expedition quest recently, and it slowed me down."


    Ou Huang nodded amicably at the two female players. They were fellow comrades in grinding merchant association reputation and crossed paths several times a day. Ou Huang didn''t consider them close friends, but they were acquainted.


    Just then, another tool player peeked in from the side door of the kitchen. "Could someone help me carry water? The tank is empty."


    "I''ll do it, I''ll do it." Liu Meng ran over energetically.


    The newly arrived canteen tool player, ID Ye Zhenzhen, real name Zhao Zhenzhen, had the vibe of a mature older sis. Seeing Ou Huang standing beyond the counter, she called out, "Are you doing the quest? Come over if you are." [TL note: Ye Zhenzhen is a character from a drama series.]


    Ou Huang entered the kitchen at once. He hadn''t only come to exchange grasshoppers but was also hoping to get issued a quest at the merchant association canteen.


    Zhao Zhenzhen had first logged in during the period when the second expedition quest was underway. At that time, most players were focused on the expedition quest and didn''t notice that another member had joined the "nepo party." Otherwise, there would''ve been a flurry of forum posts criticizing this¡ªafter all, Zhao Zhenzhen also "cheated" when entering the game, with an initial Potential value of 122 already.


    Around 7:30 p.m. game time, the NPCs staying in Exile Town began to arrive for dinner.


    Players were only responsible for pre-meal preparations, while the washing and cleaning were handled by NPCs. Teacher Yu Chi, who had a kid, hurriedly logged out to prepare dinner after exchanging greetings with Liu Meng.


    Liu Meng also didn''t stay idle. After tidying up, she got ready to teleport to Weisshem and accept the cooking quests over there.


    "Do you want to go together, Boss Ou Huang?" Just before parting ways, Liu Meng politely invited.


    Ou Huang shook his head and instead made his way to the Butcher''s Workshop. He still preferred to operate alone. Playing with others was just too troublesome.


    With the players gone, the three tool players of the merchant association canteen huddled together and had a discreet conversation.


    "Xiao Zhao, what''s going on at the research institute? Can''t they assign you a helper?" Old Geng asked.


    "I''m afraid that''s impossible," Zhao Zhenzhen replied. "My helmet already took a great effort by Director Lu to procure. There''s a severe shortage of helmets in the institute right now, especially with the number of patients in line for clinical stimulation."


    "That''s indeed troubling¡­" Old Geng mused. "How about this. I see the young lady Liu Meng online quite a lot. She''s simple-minded and enjoys cooking. Perhaps you can consider using her."


    Master Liu shook his head. "That doesn''t seem too appropriate, Brother Geng. Youngsters nowadays are smart. The more likely they are exposed to too many such situations, the more likely they are to catch on to the issues. We also can''t seek out that young lady in the real world and ask her to sign a confidentiality agreement, right?"


    "Why can''t we? After graduating, college students still have to find jobs. Wouldn''t it be settled with special recruitment?" Old Geng waved his bone claw in a worked-up fashion.


    Zhao Zhenzhen didn''t really know how to respond. "Uncle Geng, there are regulations in our department¡­"


    "What regulations," grumbled Old Geng. "Back in our day, we didn''t have so many rules."


    "Aiya, Brother Geng, times have changed," Master Liu quickly tried to defuse the situation. "The young people today are quite different from those in the past. They are sharp and quick-witted. Anyway, besides these players, we can consider using the natives. The town there has lots of natives, so we can explore developing them¡ª"


    "We can''t even understand each other''s language, so how are we even going to develop natives?"


    Master Liu chuckled and gave Zhao Zhenzhen a wry wink. "Brother Geng might not understand, but you would surely get it, right, Xiao Zhao?"


    Zhao Zhenzhen didn''t really know how to respond once more.


    Master Liu had quite a bit of wit about him¡ªplayers could hire NPCs, and Ji Tang, who had gotten the position of mayor, definitely had a way of communicating with NPCs; it was just that their motives for interacting with NPCs would be entirely different from the players, and there was a need for confidentiality.


    A frowning Old Geng eyed Zhao Zhenzhen and Old Liu for a moment and understood that these two had already figured out a means to resolve this issue, just that they hadn''t informed him.


    Old Geng also didn''t wish to trouble Zhao Zhenzhen, so he pointed a finger at Liu and jokingly grumbled, "Good job, Old Liu. You didn''t tell me anything and just left me worrying here!"


    Master Liu shook his head and chuckled.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    6 p.m. Earth time, 11 a.m. OtherWorld time.


    Zhao Zhenzhen, riding a tricycle loaded with goods, appeared at the teleportation point in the center of the Weisshem town hall courtyard.


    The summoning array that acted as a teleportation point could also transport any goods carried by players as long as the object''s diameter didn''t exceed two and a half meters. This eliminated the need to set up a magical freezing chamber on Weisshem for storing food items.


    Previously, Zhao Zhenzhen had already recced Weisshem and easily navigated the streets with ease on her tricycle before arriving at a small, two-story, ancient-style building constructed of wood and brick.


    This was previously a bar, but the signboard, colorful lights, private rooms, and bar counter had all been removed. In their place was a signboard for the Merchant Association canteen, Weisshem branch.


    Ji Tang, waiting at the canteen branch, came over after Zhao Zhenzhen''s tricycle came to a stop and extended a hand. "Sis Zhao, long time no see."


    "It''s been a while." Zhao Zhenzhen shook Ji Tang''s hand, then pulled him in for a hug.


    Both of them had a military air about them, though Zhao Zhenzhen clearly wasn''t an ordinary soldier; she seemed more profound.


    Ji Tang handed the newly acquired keys to Zhao Zhenzhen, led the way in, and introduced her to the two helpers. "This is Lyka and Brook."


    Both Lyka and Brook wore a lapel badge, so communication wasn''t an issue. The two of them bowed politely to Zhao Zhenzhen.


    Zhao Zhenzhen smiled at the young Brook, and when she looked toward Lyka, her eyes lit up slightly. "Hello, my surname is Zhao. You can call me Sis Zhao like how Ji Tang does."


    Brook, who had quite a sharp intuition, couldn''t help but feel that the undead lady before him, despite her cheerful voice and friendly attitude, had an unfathomable air about her. He gulped and said with some trepidation, "Of course, Lady Sis Zhao."


    "Just Sis Zhao will do." Zhao Zhenzhen had never seen such a beautiful young boy in real life before and playfully ruffled the youngster''s hair.


    "Sis Zhao," Lyka said obediently.


    "Mm." Zhao Zhenzhen nodded gleefully and pinched the cheek of the young orc girl. "Look at how thin you are. Your face is hardly larger than my palm. Do you usually eat well?"


    "Yes, I''m always full after each meal," Lyka said, this time even more deferentially.


    Orcs were known for their keen senses, and Lyka instinctively felt that the undead lady in front of her was unfathomable and even more intimidating than the one who often wore a fierce expression, Hal¡­


    Weisshem was in need of a revival, and Ji Tang had a lot on his plate. Zhao Zhenzhen hadn''t come to Weisshem solely to manage an eatery either, so she entrusted the preparations for opening the branch to these two young helpers. Then, Zhao Zhenzhen, the head of this canteen branch¡­ went with Ji Tang to the town hall.


    In the mayor''s office, Ji Tang brought out a thick stack of paper documents and said, "These are the files left by the previous mayor. The last population census was over 20 years ago, and many of the people listed have already passed away, while new residents haven''t been documented. Currently, townsfolk have a slightly higher aversion toward us, and many aren''t willing to participate in a population census. When the clerks knock on their doors, they either pretend to be away or are unwilling to provide accurate information about their household members¡­ We still have a lot of work to do to engage with the community."


    Zhao Zhenzhen flipped through a few documents and asked, "Is there no head tax in this place?"


    "No," Ji Tang replied. "In the Rhine Kingdom, urban population tax is collected on a household basis, with the income of the eldest male head of the family serving as the basis for taxation. I''ve been thinking, this tax policy is inclined toward the upper class. I looked through some Indahl newspapers that the previous mayor had, and it seems like noble families wield tremendous influence. A single noble family clan can easily have hundreds or even thousands of members. Besides the eldest male head of the family, the personal income of other members doesn''t get taxed. There''s plenty of room for manipulation within this system."


    Zhao Zhenzhen wasn''t too surprised by this revelation.


    The experts back at the research institute were working diligently to decipher the written language of this world, though the only reference were several recordings of Ji Tang''s attempts at reading the newspapers in the "game." Zhao Zhenzhen herself had also seen some of those videos.


    In her view, this world, which appeared to have a certain level of technological sophistication and a well-structured civilization, was essentially a deformed pyramid society, combining elements of both feudalism and capitalism. Beneath the king''s rule were the noble families, who held dominions. These noble families not only partitioned land and people but also controlled economic lifelines; with the roots of feudal power while generating branches for capitalist exploitation, exploiting their power was pretty much a given.


    "Weak at the bottom, strong at the top. No wonder Lord Yang dared to seize this territory belonging to someone else," said Zhao Zhenzhen as she set aside these unhelpful documents. "Do you, as mayor, have any tax authority?"


    "No." Ji Tang shook his head. "But there''s no need to worry about this aspect either. Lord Yang has delegated the tax authority to Charles Rex and doesn''t interfere with Rex''s governance of Weisshem. Rex has communicated with me and won''t implement the tax policies of the Rhine Kingdom here. Citizens won''t pay a population tax, and household taxes will be abolished. This would encourage people to divide their families."


    With Ji Tang getting the position of mayor, the expert task force was actively discussing how to turn Weisshem into a gateway for the Chinese to view OtherWorld, as well as a means to potentially influence this world.


    The mass line approach had to be taken; this was the consensus of the Chinese people. [TL note: The mass line is characterized by the CCP listening to the scattered ideas of the people, turning them into systemic ideas, and returning them to the people as a guide for action, i.e., to the masses - from the masses - to the masses.]


    The first step of the urban population mass line was to encourage large families to divide. After Ji Tang''s attempts to recruit more laborers were unsuccessful, this policy was given the highest priority.


    The Rhine people''s habit of living in large families was a coping strategy in response to taxation. In their original environment, it was indeed the best approach for surviving risks¡ªmore people meant more strength¡ªand this principle was universal across various worlds.


    But a small society composed entirely of large families spanning three generations with over a dozen or even dozens of family members would lean toward conservatism, exclusivity, and resistance to change.


    When recruiting sanitation and garbage collection workers, a portion of those that had relied on odd jobs such as selling snacks, offering shoeshine, car washing, or laundry services in the red-light district to make a living were eager to find employment. Even if they didn''t trust the new town hall to pay them on time, they were willing to sign up in exchange for two meals a day.


    Once Ji Tang received the expert task force''s recommendations, discussed a plan for improving the employment rate of townsfolk, and posted notices for young and able workers to apply, no one showed up.


    The public security force that replaced the militia could easily be turned back into the militia if there was a new lord. This job was an iron rice bowl, as whoever was in charge of Weisshem would still require able-bodied men to ensure the town''s basic security.


    In contrast, the prospects of laborers didn''t seem as promising. And even if they were young men with nothing to do and willing to give it a try, they would be dissuaded by their families.


    "Let''s focus on gaining the trust of the townsfolk first," Zhao Zhenzhen suggested. "What''s the expert group''s recommendation in this regard?"


    "Recruit temporary laborers," Ji Tang explained. "The renovation work on Weisshem''s central street requires a significant workforce, and we can''t rely solely on players. We''ll start by recruiting temporary laborers for about two weeks and let the townsfolk get used to coming to the central avenue to work and get paid. After that, we can start hiring contract workers."


    "Let''s proceed with that first." Zhao Zhenzhen nodded. "What about the rural areas? There''s a substantial rural population outside."


    "We can''t establish rural development at the moment, but we can try to make contact with the rural areas," Ji Tang replied. "The expert task force suggested that we introduce a grain purchase policy during the autumn harvest to address the issue of tax payment for farmers."


    In the Rhine Kingdom, there was a policy of household unified taxation for non-agricultural populations¡ªno matter how much commoners tried to maintain their large families without splitting for tax evasion, they still compared to the nobles families with more numbers¡ªfor agricultural populations, their tax was a tithe. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    However, this didn''t mean farmers only needed to contribute a tenth of their crops. Instead, it meant they needed to pay one-tenth of their income to the throne, the church, and the local lord. It also couldn''t be paid in kind; it had to be in cash.


    Farmers were required to sell at least 50% of their autumn harvest produce to grain merchants sent by the local lord, as only then would they have enough to cover the agricultural tax. And in particular years with abundant harvests with low grain prices, this 50% might not yield enough to cover taxes¡­


    During the rule of Baron Markus, all farmers in the Weisshem territory were obliged to sell their grain to the steward sent by him. Grain prices were easily manipulated so that the baron could make a substantial profit¡ªthis was why the nobles of this world were so determined to acquire land! Who wouldn''t love making a handsome sum with virtually no losses every autumn harvest?


    When Rex replaced Baron Markus, the share of the "local lord" could be abolished, but the parts paid to the throne and the church couldn''t be reduced as Weisshem had yet to raise the banner of rebellion. At this critical juncture where farmers had to give up yet a lot each year, resolving this troubling issue for them would swiftly gain them the approval of the rural population.


    Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhenzhen momentarily fell silent, then said softly, "This step¡­ is somewhat challenging."


    Ji Tang could only nod gravely.


    The solution was good, but the problem was that Mayor Ji Tang had no money¡ªthe mayor had the authority to manage income from land sales and taxes, but for the time being, he had none of the two!


    Weisshem''s new lord, Rex, was fully supportive of Ji Tang but had limited resources. The copper coins he had weren''t enough to gather all the crop outputs from the dozens of villages in the vicinity of Weisshem consisting of a few thousand farming households.


    When the players liberated Weisshem, most of the spoils had gone to Lord Yang¡ªextracting money from him wasn''t an easy task!


    "Why not have Rex persuade Lord Yang?" Zhao Zhenzhen asked.


    "I''ve tried that, but Rex¡­ doesn''t dare to," Ji Tang responded grimly.


    There was no denying that Rex was a good person, but that didn''t mean he was foolish. Ji Tang didn''t believe he held enough influence with Lord Yang to secure the substantial sum needed to buy the crop outputs from all the local farming households.


    "All right, then it''s up to us to figure out a solution," Zhao Zhenzhen said, rubbing her skull, feeling the weight of the situation.


    "It should probably be around August in this world now," said Ji Tang. "Local lords are required to send their taxes to Indahl by October, so there''s still time."


    "Then let''s do what Rex''s copper coins allow us to do for now." Zhao Zhenzhen nodded.


    Next, the two began calculating the required manpower for the reconstruction of the town''s central street, appropriate daily wages for temporary workers, and considerations on how to make more efficient use of Rex''s money.


    As they were immersed in their calculations, Zhao Zhenzhen suddenly heard a chime right beside her ear.


    This lady, who hadn''t played many games before entering "OtherWorld," was momentarily confused before realizing it was a system notification. She then quickly opened her character panel.


    And then, she seemed to blank out for a moment¡­


    "Sis Zhao?" Ji Tang asked, puzzled.


    "¡­I received a message, um, a system notification," Zhao Zhenzhen said, her expression devoid of emotion. "The branch dispatched beyond the Taranthan territory by the Undead Merchant Association isn''t a non-profit entity, and during business hours, profits and losses are self-contained."


    Ji Tang: "¡­"


    "That means to say, the local canteen branch that gets supplies from Exile Town is a business¡­ and you get to decide how to use the profits?" Ji Tang raised an eyebrow.


    Zhao Zhenzhen nodded.


    The two fell into a bout of silence¡­


    Classifying the Weisshem branch canteen as a business entity meant that Lord Yang tacitly acknowledged the tool player Zhao Zhenzhen''s authority to manage the canteen branch''s profits. This wasn''t a sudden act of kindness from Lord Yang but a clear hint to the two of them "conspiring" in the town hall: He had no objections if they wanted to use money to gain the people''s favor, but they needed to find a way to earn funds themselves and don''t even think of receiving a cent from Lord Yang.

 Chapter 100: Weissheim has changed

    In the continent of Navalon, there were two standards used to distinguish the "upper class" in big cities from the "lower class" in towns and villages. The first was whether they had electricity and gas supply, while the second was the presence of a landline.


    Electric lights illuminating their homes, gas for heating and cooking, and being able to provide the household''s telephone number on top of a home address when asked for contact information were the standard portrayal of the big city middle class in Navalon.


    One might ask why there''s a classification of big city middle class?


    Because towns like Camore in the Duchy of Shiga or Weisshem of the Rhine Kingdom, even if they were close to big cities and certain areas could have access to electricity, would find it impossible to install gas pipes and telephone lines¡ªthe construction and maintenance were simply too high, and gas and telecom companies couldn''t afford this sort of loss-making business.


    In large cities like Indahl, only a few blocks enjoyed the privilege of having electricity and gas supply, and one could only hear the ring of a telephone in the affluent areas.


    For the vast majority of Indahl citizens that needed to contact their families when away from home, their only options would be letters and telegrams, though the latter was only possible if there was a telegraph office in the area.


    Weisshem, however, had no telegraph office. While some streets in Weisshem had access to electricity, telegraph companies didn''t think that revenue generated from a local telegraph office would be enough to justify the investment required for returns. The income from the local post office could barely sustain the postmaster and three mailmen, and there was little surplus to send back to the headquarters.


    Yet, over the past week or so, the Weisshem post office had been relatively busy as large amounts of letters went back and forth between Weisshem and Indahl, on top of a significant amount of stamps being sold.


    On this particular morning, in the dim light of dawn, 23-year-old mailman Bosha Laurie put on his windproof cloak and headed for the post office.


    In this world, the postal industry wasn''t state-run, but rather, it was privately managed by influential nobles, much like how electricity, gas, and telephone lines in each country were private, profit-driven entities. Post offices established in various regions were akin to chain stores, with the postmaster serving as the store manager and the mailmen as employees. They had no direct dealings with the local government, and even the mayor had to pay for postage like everyone else.


    As Bosha Laurie entered the post office located on the southern end of Martin Street, the postmaster and two other senior employees were already present.


    After brief pleasantries, the postmaster began to assign tasks to the three mailmen, "Laurie, today, you''ll be heading into the city. Matt and Ban, you will deliver mail to the countryside."


    "Hey, brother!" Matt raised his arms up in protest after hearing the arrangement. "Why is it Laurie going to the city again? When is it my turn?"


    The postmaster glared at Matt in annoyance. "I''ll let you go the day you are able to return on time like everyone else."


    Matt wanted to grumble but ultimately chose to keep silent.


    The post office had one horse-drawn carriage and three bicycles. Typically, they used bicycles to deliver letters within the town and the surrounding villages. The carriage would only be used when going to Indahl, which happened once every week or two.


    No one particularly enjoyed delivering mail to the countryside. When the post office collected sufficient mail and packages, all three mailmen looked forward to driving the carriage to Indahl themselves. This meant they could claim two days of meal subsidies and a chance to explore the city of Indahl.


    Bosha refrained from showing his satisfaction as Matt''s envious gaze was on him. After leaving the office and heading to the nearby rental agency to fetch the carriage, he clenched his fist in excitement.


    When the post office didn''t need the carriage, they would leave the horses along with the carriage at the rental agency, creating an additional source of revenue.


    With the assistance of his two senior employees, Bosha loaded the cart with letters and packages. He sat in the driver''s seat, ready to depart. Seizing an opportune moment when Matt, still grumbling, wasn''t paying attention, Ban gave Bosha a playful wink.


    Bosha didn''t say anything, but he gave a slight nod before he shook the reins to set off.


    Next, Bosha first went to Ban''s house and received a package wrapped in an old cloth and weighed at least 10 kilograms from Ben''s wife. Then, he went back to his house and got his younger brother to take out the cardboard box hidden in his room''s closet.


    Postage was very expensive. Sending a letter to Indahl cost three copper coins, whereas packages were priced by weight. Including some extra items while heading into the city was a common practice among Weisshem''s mailmen. And if there was still space available in the carriage, the duty mailman would also pick up a few paying passengers.


    Matt liked going solo and always refused to share profits and benefits with others, so it was no wonder Bosha and Ban decided to team up against him.


    The post office''s carriage and bicycles provided by the company were very sturdy. The horses provided weren''t ordinary horses but one-horned gray horses with monster blood in them. These were hardy horses with lower bodies, shorter legs, and covered by uneven gray fur. They might not be the most beautiful, but they were certainly robust, with more endurance than oxen, and were used for traveling between cities.


    As the carriage was pulling out of town, Bosha once more saw those skeletons wandering all over the place. It seemed like they had just returned from outside town; dew still clung to their bones, glistening in the morning sunlight.


    These skeletons carried half-filled woven sacks on their backs and casually entered the town gates. As they passed by the cart, they even curiously turned their frightening skeletal faces toward the carriage, making strange "KABAKABA" cries as they came up and closely examined the one-horned gray horse, seemingly in fascination.


    "This horse is a Level 1 monster."


    "Don''t even think about it. It has a green name, so we can''t farm it."


    Bosha tried his best to keep his eyes forward, not daring to glance back until the cart had finally left Weisshem. Only then did he look behind him.


    I wonder how long these skeletons will remain in town¡­ thought Bosha to himself.


    While he was happy that the new lord had brought affordable goods, which increased the post office''s income (many townsfolk sent fabrics to their relatives in Indahl), he had no intention of letting his children grow up "accompanied" by the skeletons in town.


    "Good luck always comes with bad luck," Bosha muttered a Rhine saying to himself as he raised his whip.


    The 60-kilometer journey, even with the carriage pulled by the one-horned gray horse, would take over three hours. It was nearly noon by the time Bosha arrived at Indahl.


    The post office carriage was painted green, and Bosha, dressed in his standard windproof cloak and the uniform underneath, didn''t look anything like city dwellers. The city gate guards merely gave him a cursory glance and waved him through.


    Bosha steered the carriage into the city, first heading to the main South Street to hand over Ban''s and his "private goods" to the owner of a general goods store. This owner was none other than Ban''s brother-in-law, who got his son to discreetly deliver personal letters, packages, and other items to paying customers. He also organized and handed over some stuff that didn''t have postage for Bosha to bring back.


    Bosha got off the carriage, carrying the thickly wrapped bundle onto the general goods store''s counter, and said to the shop owner, "It''s not letters this time but some good stuff Ban and I managed to buy in Weisshem. Please display them on the shelves for us."


    Ban''s brother-in-law, a portly middle-aged man, brightened up upon hearing what Bosha said. "Is it that ''Undead Cloth''?"


    Fabrics from Weisshem, which had recently become available in Martin Street thanks to the new lord, had made their way to Indahl and become a topic of discussion among the lower-class city folk.


    These fabrics were robust, finely woven, vibrant in color, and intricate in design, and their astonishingly low prices naturally stirred excitement among these people. Were it not for the rumors about the closure of Weisshem''s red-light district, the change in lordship, and the talk of undead wandering about in daylight, many small-time merchants would have rushed to Weisshem with money in hand.


    Bosha nodded proudly.


    Amassing this bundle of fabrics hadn''t been an easy task; money from over a dozen family members was pooled together, with them taking turns to stand in line at Martin Street each day. Besides setting aside five meters of cloth for his wife''s dress, everything else acquired had been for Bosha to bring to Indahl.


    Ban''s brother-in-law hastily unwrapped the bundle, and a delighted smile appeared on his face after a single glance at the fabrics. Confidently, he said, "You''ll be able to collect the money by the time you are heading back. I guarantee this will be all sold out within the afternoon!"


    "I''ll have to trouble you, then," Bosha replied, smiling. "And remember, don''t sell any of it for less than 20 copper coins per meter."


    "Rest assured!" Ban''s brother-in-law thumped his chest confidently.


    After leaving the general goods store, Bosha steered the carriage to the Indahl post office.


    Indahl''s post office was notably larger in both architectural scale and staffing compared to Weisshem''s. It not only featured a telegraph office but also a spacious courtyard capable of accommodating up to six carriages. The entire Inadahl territory, encompassing over 20 towns, relied on this hub for the transfer of mail and parcels and was naturally a far cry from a small-town post office.


    In the past, hardly anyone paid Bosha much heed when he came to the Indahl post office. However, this time, as his carriage pulled up, a small crowd immediately formed around him.


    "Hey, Laurie, what''s going on with Weisshem?"


    "Is the new lord there a black magician?"


    "I heard Weisshem is full of undead!"


    "My uncle went to Weisshem and hasn''t returned since. Have you seen him?"


    The cacophony of voices left Bosha at a loss as he was unsure which question to address first. Just as he was caught up in the chaos, the chief called out from the second-floor window, "Is it the mailman from Weisshem? Come up quickly!"


    Bosha offered his apologies to the local staff and hurried into the building.


    In the office, the concerned chief inquired, "Has the new lord of Weisshem affected business at the local post office?"


    "Um¡­ yes, business has been booming at the office; many people are coming to send parcels and letters," Bosha answered nervously.


    "I mean, has this new lord interfered with your work?" the chief asked again.


    "No." Bosha quickly shook his head. "The new lord and the¡­ the new undead mayor have never come to the post office."


    At the mention of "undead mayor," the chief''s face turned ashen, and he gasped sharply. "O Lady Gold Coin¡­ The mayor of Weisshem is an undead?!"


    News of Weisshem''s new lord being the illegitimate son of a viscount had already been circulating in the city for a week.


    In this world, noble families having illegitimate children wasn''t a novel concept. In fact, it wasn''t just limited to nobility; even merchants and the more prosperous middle class often had semi-public affairs. Inspiring stories of outstanding illegitimate sons being brought back into the main household by their noble or wealthy fathers and receiving a portion of the family''s resources were quite common.


    As long as there weren''t many scandalous rumors about the mother, such as a reputation for promiscuity or hailing from a particularly impoverished background, the matter of a noble''s illegitimate child becoming a local lord was unlikely to attract widespread attention. Were it not for the new Weisshem lord rising to power through the use of necromancy, the people of Indahl wouldn''t even find this whole matter worth discussing.


    However, the undead being involved changed the whole gist¡­ While local lords allowed spellcasters to construct mage towers, no lord would welcome a black mage!


    Bosha Laurie didn''t want others to perceive his hometown as a terrible monster, so he feebly tried to explain, "It''s true¡­ but these undead haven''t made Weisshem worse¡­"


    Shutting down the red-light district had at least put an end to the lecherous gazes from nosy villagers whenever his wife returned to visit relatives in the countryside¡ªWeisshem didn''t have a great reputation, and if a young woman mentioned that she was from Weisshem, others would often regard her with the same suspicion as a whore.


    On top of that, the master of those undead, Lord Rex, was quite an amiable gentleman. Not only did he sell high-quality fabrics to the townspeople at low prices, but he also provided job opportunities for those struggling to survive in Weisshem. Bosha''s neighbor, a widowed woman in her forties, hadn''t been able to find laundry work after the red-light district was shut down. Now, at least, she was able to find work in the sanitation bureau and had lunch and dinner provided for.


    "It can still get even worse, huh?" The chief misunderstood Bosha''s point and sighed pessimistically. "Don''t be in a rush to return back. Come with me to the city lord''s manor. Lord Adra III wishes to meet those coming from Weisshem."


    Bosha froze in place.


    Indahl''s lord, Adra III, wanted to see him?!


    Half an hour later, at the city lord''s manor.


    Bosha Laurie, who had only ever met Baron Markus'' steward, found himself in the lord''s manor''s anteroom, completely uneasy, not daring to raise his eyes to the high and mighty city lord seated in the main chair.


    This was probably the first time in his life that Adra III was meeting such a lowly commoner in his anteroom. He wrinkled his nose as his gaze moved from Bosha Laurie''s messy hair to his wrinkled, dusty postal service uniform, then to his dirty shoes on the marble floor.


    Had it not been for his curiosity with regard to Weisshem''s current situation, Adra III would have had this ill-dressed commoner thrown out a long time ago.


    "Lift up your head, commoner," Adra III said while pinching his nose. "Tell me what''s currently going on in Weisshem."


    "Y-yes, your lordship," Bosha stammered. "W-Weisshem is now under the control of those undead. One among them has assumed the mayorship and, a few days ago, posted notices in the streets, with the intention of hiring townsfolk for work¡ª"


    "Outrageous!" Adra III exclaimed angrily, slapping the armrest hard. "Charlie Rex actually allowed an undead to be mayor?!"


    Bosha was so frightened he stopped breathing and didn''t dare utter another word.


    The true owner of Indahl was the Bartalis family.


    The small territories under Indahl naturally belonged to the Bartalis family as well; half the population and agricultural tax collected by those minor noble families went to Adra III.


    It was the Bartalis family that allocated these small portions of land to these minor nobles, after all. Just like how the throne distributed territories to the major noble families, this had a purpose: to manage the land and its inhabitants, adhering to the rules of timely tribute and providing men and grain in times of war.


    The throne would assign regents to oversee the major noble families, and the major noble families too would appoint regents to keep an eye on the minor nobles.


    Charlie Rex''s unscrupulous seizure of Weisshem from Baron Markus could be seen as two dogs competing to serve the Bartalis family¡­ At the end of the day, both were their dogs; even if Black Mage Yang was being disrespectful, Adra III could still forcibly tolerate it.


    The fact that Rex, the illegitimate bastard who had taken control of Weisshem, hadn''t even bothered consulting Adra III regarding the choice of town mayor explained why Adra III was so furious¡­


    On learning this, Adra III didn''t need to inquire further about the situation in Weisshem. He dismissed the petrified Bosha Laurie and ordered his steward to summon the city defense force.


    Adra III wasn''t planning to wage war against Weisshem; teaching one''s own unruly dog a lesson in his backyard didn''t require an escalation to territorial warfare. He merely intended for the city defense force to make a "round of inspection" in Weisshem, flex some muscle, and show the illegitimate bastard and rude black mage who the true master of Indahl''s territory was.


    Bosha left the city lord''s manor in a daze, every once in a while checking with the chief who had brought him there. "Did I say something wrong, sir? Did I anger Lord Adra III?"


    "Don''t worry, the Third wasn''t angry because of you," the chief reassured the young man from the small town, patting his shoulder. With a sigh, he said, "Go back early and tell your local chief not to let your families go out in the next few days."


    Bosha got even more frightened on hearing this.


    He was just a mere employee at the post office, and nothing would change regardless of how frightened or worried he was. Bosha mechanically handled the mail and parcels to be sent to Weisshem and loaded them onto the carriage, all while enduring the curious gazes of the local Indahl post office staff.


    On the main South Street, Ban''s brother-in-law spotted the postal carriage and enthusiastically came out from the store. "Haha, I''m a man of my word, Bosha! I told you the goods would sell out by noon¡­ Hey, buddy, are you okay?"


    "I''m fine." Bosha forced a smile as he alighted from the carriage. "How much did we make?"


    Ban''s brother-in-law ushered Bosha into the store and came out from the back with a chest full of copper coins.


    Bosha felt a great deal of his anxiety melt away as he held the heavy chest, and a smile crept onto his face.


    "Oh, one more thing. Some people want to hitch a ride back to Weisshem. Do you have enough room in the carriage?" Ban''s brother-in-law asked.


    "There''s room," Bosha nodded. Free additional income wasn''t something to be turned down.


    Ban''s brother-in-law charged a twenty-percent service fee for handling their "private business." Helping ferry hitchhikers also meant more copper coins into the pockets of the Weisshem mailmen. After checking the available space in the postal carriage, the stout middle-aged man summoned his son to go call the passengers hoping to catch a ride to Weisshem.


    Weisshem didn''t have any substantial industries. Young folks in town couldn''t find jobs, so working in Indahl was the best way to make a living. The passengers hoping to get a ride this time were residents of Weisshem, and Bosha knew their names.


    One of the passengers was a young woman in her twenties who lived on the same street as Bosha. When she saw her childhood playmate, she asked anxiously, "Bosha, is everything okay at my home?"


    "Everything''s fine of course, Caroline," Bosha reassured his neighbor''s daughter while helping move her luggage into the carriage. "I just saw Aunt Winnie buying groceries at Martin Street yesterday, and she seemed great."


    The young woman, Caroline, breathed a sigh of relief, climbed into the carriage, and sat on the letter case.


    Another young chap who climbed on after Caroline chimed in, "There, I said that nothing major would happen; otherwise, Sir City Lord would have sent the city defense force over. Bosha is still delivering mail from Weisshem which proves that I was right."


    The final two passengers teased him, "Stop bragging so much. Who was so worried they couldn''t sleep for days and received a ticking off from the supervisor?"


    "Yeah, had there not been someone holding you back, you would have already walked back to Weisshem on foot." Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Bosha wasn''t as relaxed as these fellow Weisshem youngsters, but he didn''t dare bring up what he''d witnessed at the city lord''s manor and the fury he faced. After all, if something big happened, he couldn''t bear this responsibility.


    Carrying the weight of this unspoken burden, Bosha acted nonchalantly as he set off from Indahl.


    During the journey, the passengers occasionally leaned toward the small window, conversing with Bosha and inquiring about the situation in Weisshem. Bosha had to choose his words carefully to provide a comforting narrative.


    Around three in the afternoon, the carriage arrived at Weisshem.


    At this time, the marketplace was bustling, and Bosha''s passengers, who got off at the town gate, felt a huge sense of relief when they saw farmers flocking into town for the market. Other than the missing colored lights on the tree by the gate, the town didn''t look too different from when they had left for Indahl for work half a year ago!


    Even the militia guards at the gate were familiar faces!


    The streets were filled with people they knew¡ª


    "AHHHHHH¡ª!"


    Caroline, a young girl working in a high-end restaurant in the southern district of Indahl, dropped her bundle, screaming in sheer terror.


    The other three youngsters were equally frightened and huddled together.


    Farmers carrying their produce and townsfolk with baskets of vegetables, as well as two players who had just walked out onto the town''s main road, were startled by this intense and harrowing scream. Everyone came to a standstill, looking around in all directions.


    Upon discovering that the source of the scream was a young lady, they were relieved. Caroline, still shaking in fear, pointed at the two undead creatures.


    "You gave us quite a shock!"


    "We thought something terrible had happened. Geez¡­"


    The farmers, who were busy trying to sell their vegetables, shot disapproving glances at the frightened Caroline. After some grumbling, they continued with their own tasks.


    Housewives, whose hearts were pounding from the ear-piercing scream, also cast annoyed looks at Caroline.


    The two undead creatures, who had elicited the scream, were making a "KABAKABA" noise, perhaps in protest, too.


    Caroline and her three fellow Indahl workers were left dumbfounded¡­


    Bosha, who hadn''t driven the carriage away yet, felt extremely embarrassed. "Didn''t I tell you? There are many undead in town now¡­ If you''re scared, you can just avoid them. They don''t interact much with other people."


    Caroline and the three shaken youngsters: "¡­"

 Chapter 101: Townsfolks’ Dilemma

    In the era preceding the Age of Discovery, the Sorensen Mountains hadn''t been shrouded in miasma as it was today. During those times, these mountains witnessed not only the passage of numerous caravans each year but also the vibrant activities of exploratory and adventuring teams from various regions. These teams brought vitality and a constant influx of business opportunities to the small town of Weisshem, situated close to the Sorensen Mountains.


    However, this prosperity gradually waned with the advent of the Age of Discovery.


    Two main factors contributed to this decline. Firstly, maritime transportation proved to be more cost-effective than land transportation. Apart from the caravans that needed to trade with inland countries, the majority of long-distance trade routes saw a shift toward maritime transportation, transforming traders from land-based to maritime enterprises.


    Secondly, the Sorensen Mountains became increasingly impassable. Except for a few areas where the terrain was rugged or, for other reasons, passage was still possible, most parts became covered by thick miasma. This not only led to a reduction in the number of passing caravans but also caused a decline in the gatherings of explorers and adventurers.


    About a century ago, local inns and hotel business owners, affected by the changing climate and circumstances, began fleeing to the thriving city of Indahl. Consequently, Weisshem, once a bustling commercial town, rapidly degenerated into a quiet and obscure border town.


    Relying solely on somewhat underdeveloped agriculture and sporadic handicrafts couldn''t address the employment issues of thousands of the town''s households, and the outflow of labor, both youth and adults, from Weisshem became a natural trend.


    In most small towns, young girls like Caroline would find work in cities around the age of 15 or 16 with the help of their families and help supplement the family income with their wages. By the time they reached around 23 or 24, marriage couldn''t be delayed any longer, so their families would arrange suitable marriage partners, and they would marry into another family. The few years before marriage were considered the girls'' last moments of repaying the upbringing they received from their families.


    Caroline was 23 this year and had been in a high-end Indahl restaurant for the past eight years. Her mother, Winnie, loved her dearly and had been seeking out a prospective partner for her daughter since last year. According to their family agreement, she was supposed to resign and return home this winter for an arranged marriage.


    Caroline harbored no discontent with regard to how her life was arranged according to others. After all, most of the small town young ladies she knew led similar lives. Were it not for the negative rumors about Weisshem the past half month causing her constant worry, Caroline wouldn''t have thought about taking leave to come back and check things out¡ªthe restaurant, known for its demanding standards, would surely dock her pay for any leave taken.


    The three young men that returned to town along with Caroline had similar circumstances. Most of them were introduced to apprenticeships in the city around the age of 15. And for this homecoming visit, each of them paid a price in some form or other.


    Upon entering the town gate and seeing the town as calm and peaceful as when they had left last winter, the four young returnees secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Regardless of whether the territory''s lord had changed, everything was fine as long as their hometown remained unchanged.


    And then¡­ they saw the undead on the streets, walking calmly amongst the townspeople.


    It was evident that the townsfolk were afraid of these terrifying skeletons. When the undead approached, even the tipsy drunkards would hurriedly step aside. However, that was it.


    There was no panic, no scattered fleeing. It was as if, as long as a one- or two-meter distance was maintained from these undead, the townspeople tacitly accepted the reality of being on the same street with them.


    The four young people stood dumbfounded at the intersection, watching the two undead that had initially scared them walk confidently out of the town gate.


    These two undead hadn''t gone far when another bunch of undead came out from the direction of Martin Street, conversing nonchalantly with some weird "KABAKABA" noises.


    All the undead had gleaming steel knives at their waists. Some of them had glaring scars on their bones, while the strange scale-like armor on others showed clear signs of battle¡­ In any case, not a single one of them could be described as kind or friendly. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    However, the townspeople on the streets appeared like they didn''t know they should be afraid of them. Several housewives carrying baskets of vegetables even brushed past these undead barely half a meter apart.


    A dumbfounded Caroline stared with wide eyes at the inexplicable scene unfolding before her, and her mouth wouldn''t close¡­


    "I-I need to hurry home and see my family." One of the young men broke the silence, his face now completely pale.


    "Me too!" The other two finally snapped out of their daze and echoed.


    "Wait," Caroline called out to them as they were about to disperse.


    The ashen-faced lady glanced around, then pulled the three to the side of the street and said softly, "L-let''s not split up for real. Everyone goes home to have a look¡­ and then we meet back up."


    Adversity is the most significant life experience that fosters growth.


    Having to leave home in their teens and face discrimination, exclusion, and bullying because they were the lowest in Indahl made these small town youths rapidly mature. Although Caroline hadn''t expressed it explicitly, the three other young men understood what she meant. They nodded solemnly, making arrangements to meet again at a specific time and place.


    The situation in their hometown was just too strange, and these four returnees couldn''t help worrying. If the black mage backing the new lord had used some strange magic to make all the townsfolk drop their vigilance against those terrifying undead, then they should at least stay alert!


    Caroline''s house, like Bosha Laurie''s, was located in the northern block, just two streets away from the town hall.


    The houses in the northern block were mostly century-old detached houses, similar to those in Martin Street, built during the final periods of Weisshem''s last prosperity. After that, buildings that collapsed or were demolished were primarily replaced with row houses. Before Weisshem turned into a red-light district, the town hadn''t seen any new buildings.


    Three generations lived together in the house belonging to Caroline''s family. Two uncles occupied the second floor, while Caroline''s family and grandfather lived on the first floor.


    The eldest patriarch of the household was still alive, which exempted Caroline''s uncles and father from taxes.


    However, her grandfather''s health had been deteriorating over the past two years. When he passed, the three sons would be recognized as independent male household heads, incurring additional taxes each year. This was also why Caroline''s mother was anxious to marry her off. If they waited until her grandfather''s death, the family wouldn''t be able to prepare a slightly more lavish dowry for Caroline.


    "Caroline?" Winnie Meghan was washing vegetables by the well in the yard when she saw her daughter push open the gate and enter. She quickly wiped her hands on the apron and greeted her daughter with a mix of joy and concern, "Darling, why are you back early? Did something happen at work?"


    "Mom." Caroline embraced her mother tightly. "I''m fine, Mom. Where''s Grandpa?"


    "Your grandpa is at the sanitation bureau. Are you really okay?" Winnie asked with concern.


    "I''m fine, really. I just wanted to come back and see you all." Caroline led her mother into the house and did a quick scan of her home, seeing her two younger cousins and aunt mending clothes in the hall. She waved at them with a smile and then continued looking around.


    "Mom, is everyone in the family okay?"


    "Everyone is doing great¡­ Oh, did you come back because you heard about Weisshem''s new lord?" Winnie suddenly had a realization.


    "Yes, everyone''s doing great?" Caroline repeated her question somewhat nervously. "By the way, you just mentioned Grandpa is at the sanitation bureau? What is that?"


    Winnie understood her daughter and by now had a pretty good idea why Caroline had rushed back with such haste. She couldn''t help but pat Caroline''s hand with a smile. "Silly girl, don''t pay attention to the rumors swirling outside. A new lord or not doesn''t matter much to us. In earlier times, when your grandpa was still young, the lord of this town wasn''t even from the Markus family."


    Caroline''s mood didn''t lighten; instead, her worry intensified¡­ Could her conjecture be correct? Had even her mother''s mind been influenced by the black mage that backed the new Weisshem lord?


    "Enough about this. Mom has something nice to show you." Winnie pulled Caroline into a room and took out some beautiful fabric hidden in the cupboard. "Take a look at this, such beautiful colors and patterns! When you get married, we''ll use this to make a long skirt that covers your ankles. You''ll be the most beautiful bride for sure!"


    Caroline''s attention was momentarily captivated by the fabric. Its smooth surface, vibrant colors, and vivid patterns were unlike any she had seen before.


    But Caroline couldn''t bring herself to feel happy and blurted out, "Mom, is this the undead fabric that has made everyone drop their guard?"


    "What undead fabric? Don''t spew rubbish. This was sold to us by the new lord. It has nothing to do with those undead," Winnie exclaimed.


    Caroline shook her head in anguish and moaned, "I knew something was wrong in the town. Think about it, Mom. I''ve worked in Inadahl for so many years, and I''ve seen many ladies from the city. Even their dresses aren''t as pretty as this undead fabric. How could such high-quality fabric fall so easily into our hands?"


    Winnie didn''t know whether to laugh or cry and immediately placated her daughter, "Calm down first, my dear. It isn''t only our family that has this sort of fabric. The townsfolk and even those farmers from neighboring villages have bought quite a bit themselves. You just didn''t see the lord''s men selling these fabrics. If you think it''s to deceive us, then how much losses would the new lord have made?"


    "If it isn''t to deceive everyone, how could they sell us this sort of fabric that is only sold at high prices in Indahl''s best shops?" Caroline kept shaking her head. "Trust me, Mom, something''s definitely not right."


    Winnie was in a dilemma.


    To Mrs. Winnie, a small-town lady, completely accepting Weisshem''s current bizarre situation was impossible. Not to mention the new undead mayor and these skeletons on the streets that startled her whenever she left the house.


    But on the other hand¡­ she really didn''t think that Weisshem''s new lord was all that bad. She had lived under Mr. Rex''s jurisdiction for the last ten days, and although she couldn''t help but be frightened, it couldn''t be said that it was any less safe than before.


    "I should have gotten someone to write you a letter early on; you wouldn''t be so suspicious then." Mrs. Winnie was torn. "But the thought that the money for a letter could buy half a meter of fabric made me reluctant¡­ One meter of fabric only costs 10 copper coins."


    "Mom, these undead fabrics¡ª"


    "Alright, dear, listen to me first." Mrs. Winnie stopped her anxious daughter. "Your mom has always been living in this town. I know much more about what''s going on here than those Indahl folk who are just making random guesses.


    "Yes, Weisshem''s new lord is different. Mr. Rex even appointed an undead as mayor. But I believe Mr. Rex definitely¡­ isn''t a bad person. He certainly doesn''t have any ill intent toward us." Mrs. Winnie spread her palms in earnest. "You know, dear, Mr. Rex takes very good care of those poor folk from the town''s main street. If he can be so gentle with those unfortunate souls, how could he possibly harm us?"


    Caroline had been worried sick about her family when she heard the strange things about her hometown. The fate of those unfortunate souls trapped in Weisshem''s main street never crossed her mind, and hearing about it now surprised her.


    Children who grew up in the town had, more or less, witnessed the dismal fate of sex workers, both male and female, kicked out of those establishments due to getting on in age or declining attractiveness.


    Every winter, as soon as it snowed, the townsfolk would hear rumors about bodies of such people being dragged out from an establishment on the main street¡­


    Some people felt disgust toward these individuals due to their aversion to the red-light district, but others held sympathy for these unfortunate souls who couldn''t determine their own destinies. Putting oneself in their shoes, would there be anyone who would willingly be sold to a distant place far from home, undergo such painful hardships, and die miserably?


    "Your grandpa personally witnessed it when he started working at the sanitation bureau. Those people are all concentrated in two large buildings, and the undead prepare food for them every day. The two meals provided for sanitation workers at the bureau each day are also prepared by the undead. He would keep some broth every day and bring it home in a jar. Your aunt will add this broth to the soup for dinner. It''s really delicious," said Mrs. Winnie with a smile.


    Before Caroline could ask what the sanitation bureau was, Mrs. Winnie continued, "The sanitation bureau is a new office established by Weisshem''s new lord that employs elderly like your grandpa or widows and orphans. They take turns cleaning the town''s streets each day. Did you notice when you came? The heap of rubbish at the entrance of our alley is gone. That is the work of the sanitation bureau.


    "At first, we didn''t agree with your grandpa going to the sanitation bureau. It was he who reckoned he should see what the new lord truly wanted with the town¡­" Mrs. Winnie sighed. "Now, that undead mayor and the new lord have posted notices about hiring laborers with daily wages. If your dad, uncles, and cousin were back, your grandpa would definitely support them signing up."


    It was currently the autumn harvest season, and each year, willing adult men from Weisshem would form groups to take up odd jobs in the countryside during this period, either helping farmers harvest crops or working in the estates for a couple of months. It was tough work but allowed them to earn a considerable amount.


    In a decent and hardworking family like the Meghans, five able-bodied men toiling in the countryside for a couple of months could earn enough to cover the entire family''s expenses for nearly half a year.


    Of course, not all men would go for seasonal work in autumn. Those with artisanal skills, lazy widowers, alcoholics, or those whose family had their own businesses would not subject themselves to such toil.


    Caroline hesitated, caught in the tumult of her thoughts.


    She held immense respect for her grandfather. Even her grandfather didn''t view the changes to Weisshem as unfavorable and the new lord, Mr. Rex, as a nefarious schemer, and this revelation left Caroline somewhat shaken.


    "That''s not all." Mrs. Winnie noticed her daughter''s wavering and grinned knowingly. "Mr. Rex, the new lord, has posted notices in front of the town hall. Starting this year, he''s abolishing the population tax for all town residents and will no longer collect the agricultural taxes that farmers had to pay. Currently, Weisshem only levies two types of taxes: a business tax and a high-income tax for those earning over 1800 copper coins per month."


    "1800 copper coins?!" Caroline exclaimed upon hearing this figure. "Doesn''t that mean everyone who doesn''t engage in business won''t have to pay taxes anymore?!"


    What did a monthly income of 1800 copper coins mean?


    It''s the equivalent of earning 18 silver coins a month!


    In terms of gold coins, it''s in excess of one and a half!


    Generally, large denominations like gold coins didn''t circulate among the common folk. The majority of people used copper coins as primary currency, with silver coins as a secondary.


    Caroline had worked at an upscale restaurant in Indahl''s main South Street for eight years, rising to the rank of senior server, and her monthly income was seven silver coins.


    This was already close to the service industry''s ceiling. Beyond this point, only maids working in wealthy households earned a bit more. With clever budgeting, seven silver coins were enough for a family of four to live comfortably for a month in Weisshem; in Indahl, a similar-sized family could manage a month as long as they didn''t use gas and stuck to burning coal.


    But even maids in wealthy households wouldn''t have a monthly income of a gold coin. It would take achieving the rank of a housekeeper at least¡­


    "At least your grandpa doesn''t have to pay taxes. The sanitation bureau also pays him a salary of 800 copper coins a month." Winnie put a hand over her mouth and chuckled.


    Caroline''s jaw nearly dropped. Street cleaning, a job that old folks and young children could do, paid more than her upscale restaurant job?


    "Wouldn''t everyone clamor for openings in the sanitation bureau, then?" Caroline asked incredulously.


    "Hard to say¡­ When your grandpa joined, there wasn''t much competition," said Winnie with a complicated expression. "People thought it was a trick and worried the new lord wouldn''t pay up before being driven out¡­ If the money actually gets paid, your aunts and I might consider applying too."


    Mrs. Winnie''s words laid bare her true sentiments¡ªshe wasn''t entirely confident that the new Lord, Mr. Rex, was reliable enough to hold Weisshem for long. While she secretly hoped for this new lord''s stability, a small-town woman like her held no influence in such matters.


    Caroline pondered over the circumstances her mother had described and similarly found herself in a tangle.


    It was apparent that Mr. Rex, Weisshem''s new lord, was indeed a benevolent gentleman. If Weisshem could remain under his jurisdiction, it would undoubtedly be beneficial for everyone living in this land.


    However¡­ Mr. Rex had ascended to lordship with the support of a formidable black mage. And were it not for the undead that roamed the streets, captured the former mayor that turned Weisshem into a red-light district, and drove away Baron Markus, Mr. Rex wouldn''t have gotten this territory either.


    Accepting Mr. Rex''s rule meant getting accustomed to the presence of those undead.


    "Good luck always comes with bad luck." Caroline sighed, echoing the Rhine saying that Bosha had once said.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Meanwhile, the man himself, who was in the complicated thoughts of many townsfolk, Mr. Rex, was holding a contract in a daze.


    When Yang personally came to the town hall to meet him, Rex assumed Yang had some ideas for him to implement. Instead, without saying anything, Yang handed over a contract.


    This contract was none other than a long-term supply agreement between Yang, Lord of Taranthan, and Charlie Rex, Lord of Weisshem (Yang Qiu had taken that the Indahl city lord didn''t exist). The contract listed various general goods that Yang had secured on Earth, ensuring a stable and long-term supply.


    For example, these currently popular curtain fabrics.


    The textile factory, which had transitioned to producing trendy clothing for online platforms while battling numerous competitors on Taobao, still had several warehouses of such fabric stocked up. Upon learning that Yang Qiu hoped for a stable supply, the boss of the factory promptly guaranteed that they could provide as much as Yang needed. Even if their own inventory ran out, there were fellow struggling factories in the same boat waiting to be rescued¡­


    There were also the plastic products, not as popular as the curtain fabrics but still a solid "essential." The plastic factory that supplied these items was a downstream unit of a chemical enterprise. Regardless of whether the production line was running or not, raw materials were always promptly delivered. The head of the plastic factory, eager to expand their market, was even negotiating with Indian clients. But dealing with Yang Qiu was much easier than those Indian clients¡­


    Having secured suppliers for curtain fabric and plastic products, Yang hadn''t even started looking for the next one when the prison enterprise (which he had previously collaborated with) came knocking, or rather, brought along a bunch of fellow units suffering from a lack of sales¡­


    Most people were unaware of the massive scale of prison enterprises in China. If not nationwide, prison enterprises in G Province at least processed a wide range of labor-intensive products, including clothing, electronics, furniture, mechanical components, and more. The little wallets and backpacks Yang Qiu had bought from the prison enterprise before were just a drop in the ocean.


    In short, it wasn''t that Yang Qiu was stingy about using the gold in his pockets to win over the people of Weisshem. Rather, it was that after purchasing the magical materials needed for the teleportation array, paying up for the road construction equipment, and putting down deposits for the long-term supply contracts with various manufacturers, all of it had been spent.


    The gold coins in this world were impure; a 10-gram gold coin contained only 60% to 70% gold, with the rest being alloy. After receiving gold coins or gold jewelry, Yang Qiu had to use magic to "purify" them before they could be used on Earth. The total quantity shrank, rendering them practically useless¡­


    Yang Qiu, unable to even produce the funds for the next month''s budget-friendly bulk purchase of freeze-dried noodles, remained as steady as a rock.


    "I''ll offer you a wholesale price for all goods, which is twenty percent below the prevailing market transaction price," Yang Qiu calmly declared, placing his teacup down on the table. "Other than the fabrics and items that were previously sold locally, you may set the retail prices for the new products yourself. I don''t care about the profit margin; just ensure my payments are made on time. Of course, I don''t want copper coins or silver coins; I only accept settlement in gold coins."


    The dumbfounded look on Rex''s face froze as if he was completely unable to snap out of it¡­

 Chapter 102: Lord Yang’s Intentions

    A hundred meters of curtain fabric priced at 240 yuan (2.4 yuan per meter) was sold to Rex at a 20% discount, which was 800 copper coins, or 0.8 gold coins.


    The gold coins in this world were impure, and their purity varied depending on the minting nation or individual integrity. Most had a gold content ranging from around 60% to 70%, and if calculated at the minimum, 0.8 gold coins equated to at least 4 grams of pure gold.


    240 yuan for 4 grams of pure gold was a deal too good to pass up.


    The plastic crockery bought at the one yuan per piece wholesale price (basic designs without any prints; crockery with prints cost 10 to 20 cents more) was five copper coins for two pieces. With some calculations, this meant that 1000 yuan worth of plastic crockery fetched 2500 copper coins or 2.5 gold coins. After refining, that would be at least 15 grams of gold by Earth standards.


    The cost and profit margins of sewing kits and buttons were comparable to the plastic crockery.


    Towels brought in a tidy sum as well. A 2000-yuan bulk purchase of towels could be exchanged for a return of about 30 grams of gold.


    And adding the new products supplied by the prison enterprises, it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that Yang Qiu could potentially bleed the Rhine Kingdom''s gold reserve dry if he solely focused on making money.


    But, of course, Yang Qiu wouldn''t let making money interfere with more important matters; that would be putting the cart before the horse. However, to expand the imprint matrix and increase the number of earth player anchor points, money was an absolute necessity.


    Yang Qiu didn''t have the time or skill to engage in the trifles of money-making, so he would just let his tools handle it.


    Seeing Rex perplexed, Yang Qiu asked with a slight smile, "What''s gotten you confused, Rex?"


    Rex suddenly snapped out of it and glanced at the list of goods and prices on the contract. Voice trembling, he asked, "I-I don''t quite understand, Yang. Are you suggesting¡­ that I be a merchant?"


    "Of course not. I''m merely providing you with a means to generate funds, which would allow you to more confidently shape Weisshem according to your ideal vision," replied Yang Qiu. "You won''t be able to achieve anything without money, especially after announcing the abolition of the population tax and the portion of agricultural taxes that belonged to you."


    Rex''s face flushed red, and he turned away discreetly¡­


    Without first consulting Yang, Rex had indeed posted the tax abolishment notice, driven by his personal agenda. He was also well aware of how naive and idealistic this "policy" was and feared that he wouldn''t have the courage to stand his ground should Yang oppose it.


    It would be one thing if Yang chastised him. However, Yang''s tolerant attitude towards Rex''s willfulness made the latter utterly embarrassed.


    "I like idealists." Yang Qiu wiped away his smile and adopted a serious tone. "Conspirators and ambitious individuals might have their own unique charms and would more likely emerge victors. But in my opinion, whether it is a conspirator or an ambitious fellow, the victories they achieve are merely small-scale and far from the essence of triumph.


    "And this is the main reason why I chose you." Yang Qiu gazed at Rex like an elder smiling at a talented junior. "Idealists may be farthest from victory, yet they are the closest to true triumph. What changes would a young idealist full of enthusiasm like you bring to Weisshem? That is something I''m very eager to find out."


    Rex subconsciously sat a little straighter and pondered earnestly for a bit before replying, "I¡­ can''t promise anything. I can only say that I will do my best."


    The young warrior set the contract aside, stood up, and bowed. "Thank you¡­ for giving me this opportunity to prove myself."


    It wasn''t a big deal for Yang to appoint Rex as the nominal lord of Weisshem. If Yang could put him in power, he could just as easily kick him out.


    In essence, this so-called lord of Weisshem was no different from an ordinary employee in a typical company; Yang simply needed someone to be present.


    Granting him the sales rights to these mysterious goods was the real delegation of power and trust¡ªanyone selling these products would undoubtedly make a fortune, and the combination of wealth and power could foster ambitious aspirations.


    Yang Qiu smiled and nodded, then shook his head as he eyed Rex with a profound gaze. "You''ve already proven yourself, Rex. What you need is to find a path that aligns with your ideals."


    Rex stood upright and met Yang Qiu''s penetrating gaze with firm resolve. "I will, Yang."


    Rex''s ideal was to surpass his viscount father. When he had no opportunity and couldn''t find a way to achieve his dreams, he could only aimlessly pursue strength, risking himself when he had inadequate experience and insufficient mental preparation.


    Now, Yang Qiu had presented him with such an opportunity. Rex finally had the capital to compete with his father, and his fervent enthusiasm was only natural.


    Yang Qiu nodded and, with a smile, gestured for Rex to sign his name on the contract.


    He hadn''t handed over such a lucrative business opportunity to Rex on impulse. Just as he said, he had assessed Rex, who had indeed proven himself, which led to the contract being presented.


    After all, ideals were something anyone could possess. It was just a matter of setting one''s heart and moving one''s lips.


    The only problem was that most people blurred the lines between ideals and daydreams.


    Take the dream of entering Tsinghua or Peking University as an example. For the studious student who studied hard each day, and even felt ashamed spending five minutes on a mobile game, that would be an ideal.


    Meanwhile, for the underachiever who spent the entire day playing mobile games, chatting with girls on QQ, and who would never make it to the top three in class, entering Tsinghua or Peking University was just daydreaming.


    In short, only those who could sustain continuous effort toward their ideals and, to an extent, abandon low-level interests were qualified to talk about ideals.


    Rex had never demonstrated ruling ability and, in terms of intelligence and tactics, wasn''t as cunning as Tuttle or Finley.


    However, after being thrust into the position of lord, Rex hadn''t reveled in his superiority or rushed to flaunt his authority. Even though there were hundreds of young men and women, each with their own allures, willing to comply with his every request, Rex didn''t arrogantly regard these beauties as his personal property.


    This was the fundamental reason why Rex won Yang Qiu''s trust.


    Those who made the aforementioned first mistake were people that were essentially blind to their true position and unclear about their own abilities; fools that mistook others'' charity for their own strength, revealing their own shortcomings in the process, and would never accomplish anything.


    Those who made the second mistake were even worse¡ªsuch people who easily succumbed to primal instincts were nothing more than lower life forms that were mere hosts for their reproductive organs. Yang Qiu had no use for such trash.


    Even if Rex couldn''t meet his expectations, at least he wouldn''t be all that bad as long as he could avoid these two troublesome pitfalls.


    On this end, Yang Qiu needed to put in some effort to motivate Rex and encourage the young man to steadfastly pursue his ideals¡­ though elsewhere, dealing with Ji Tang and those other "national team personnel" didn''t require that much effort; he could just issue a "system announcement" and be done with it.


    Zhao Zhenzhen, who had been busy helping Ji Tang the whole day, heard the chime of a notification. She brought up the panel and fell silent once more.


    "Sis Zhao?" Ji Tang looked back at her.


    The two of them were currently overseeing the reconstruction of buildings along the southern end of the main street, near the town gate. After the notice for hiring daily wage workers was posted in the morning (OtherWorld time), the townspeople showed great enthusiasm, and hundreds gathered in just a short while. Ji Tang didn''t waste any time; he immediately had the clerks act as translators and recruited all those willing to work as temporary laborers. In just half a day''s work, they had already torn down the messy partitions in two bars and were now working on the third.


    Zhao Zhenzhen looked around, and seeing that no clerks who could understand them were nearby, she pulled Ji Tang aside and recounted the contents of the new announcement she had just received.


    After hearing this, Ji Tang''s skeleton face seemed to go rigid¡­


    "This fellow¡­ How lazy can he be!" Ji Tang couldn''t help but complain. "Is he expecting us to do everything for him?!"


    If the previous system prompts had indicated to the national team that they would need to solve the issue of gaining funding to win over the townsfolk themselves, this announcement now seemed like the revealing of forbidding intent.


    Lord Yang had directly sent Zhao Zhenzhen, the head of the undead merchant association branch, a list of goods. On this list were products including instant noodles, pickled products, pastries, candies, and other ready-to-eat items that had been impacted by the advent of food delivery apps. There were also various spices such as salt, chili, peppercorns, garlic, cardamom, and even the popular Lao Ga Ma thirteen-spice mix!


    The branch head, Zhao Zhenzhen, could accept the goods first and pay later, but Lord Yang only accepted payment in gold coins!


    Others might be oblivious to where Lord Yang got these goods, but definitely not Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen!


    When calculating the retail price of these foods on Earth and converting it via OtherWorld''s exchange rate¡­ Ji Tang had the urge to label Lord Yang as a scummy profiteer!


    The manipulator behind the scenes of this "game" must be in dire need of money judging by how Lord Yang was moving these expired and off-shelf products into the "game."


    Acting as a dimensional profiteer was fine; that was because of his skill. But how could he, as a profiteer, only do the work of transporting the stuff and leave everything else to others?!


    Zhao Zhenzhen wasn''t in any hurry to express her opinion. After pondering for some time, she mused, "Lord Yang''s¡­ intentions are rather suspect."


    "Isn''t he just forcing us to be his tools for making him money?" Ji Tang was irritably exasperated.


    "No." Zhao Zhenzhen shook her head, her dark eye sockets seemingly lighting up. "What I mean is, he knows exactly who we are, yet he let us obtain the mayor seat, encouraged us to interact with the natives, and gave us the opportunity to acquire a large amount of local currency through business.


    "This completely unguarded attitude, combined with the ''target''s'' slippery tactics in the real world¡­ it makes me think." Zhao Zhenzhen, pausing for a moment, eyed Ji Tang in a strange manner. "More importantly, he wants you to work with Rex."


    "¡­Sis Zhao, in simple words, please," Ji Tang muttered.


    "Isn''t it clear enough? You''ve only been a player mayor for a few days, and to what extent has Rex been influenced by you?" Zhao Zhenzhen patiently steered Ji Tang.


    Ji Tang scratched his bare skull in puzzlement, then suddenly figured out something, and his mouth gaped wide.


    "There''s no way he doesn''t know that you would influence the indigenous Rex in your own way, nor can he foresee what sort of chemical reaction occurs from our close and intensive contact with Rex¡­" Zhao Zhenzhen went on calmly. "Lord Yang clearly is aware of all this, yet he still did so. I have reason to believe that¡­ this person has the intention of using our hands to summon a red tide to this other world."


    Ji Tang couldn''t close his mouth¡­


    "Lord Yang is undoubtedly a Chinese person," Zhao Zhenzhen said in a deep voice. "It''s even more likely that Lord Yang is the ''target.'' From the start, it''s just been one person."


    In reality, the one adeptly contacting supermarkets and liaising with factories was the "target."


    In the "game," Lord Yang facilitated cooperation between Ji Tang and Rex, whether intentionally or not, then subsequently opened the door wide for Zhao Zhenzhen, who had a similar background to Ji Tang.


    Disregarding the eye-catching elements of fellow Chinese coming into this otherworld and becoming skeletons to play a game, solely based on his behavior, Lord Yang did seem to have the mindset of a Chinese person¡ªthe Chinese aren''t proponents of changing the world via forms of weaknesses such as forgiveness or tolerance. Chinese people are bold and would arm themselves for rebellion!


    This other world, with its tumultuous mix of monarchs and nobles, as well as the morbid phenomenon of warped religions, desperately needed a red tide to thoroughly reform it!


    "In the ''game,'' he isn''t guarded and delegates authority because he needs us to actively help him. On Earth, he is elusive because he is Chinese and doesn''t want us to discover his true identity," Zhao Zhenzhen made the final conclusion, paused, and smiled wryly. "This guy''s planning is rather shrewd."


    Ji Tang looked utterly bewildered.


    As for bringing the red tide to OtherWorld, Ji Tang accepted it without too much complication. The more he understood Weisshem and the distorted social structure of Indahl, the more he wished he could do something right away.


    What baffled Ji Tang was the realization that the otherworldly mage capable of magically altering terrain to create a dirt road out of Exile Town was actually a fellow Chinese compatriot that could also roam the Earth. This knowledge made his head spin¡­


    "Sis Zhao, this isn''t an issue limited to OtherWorld¡­ This matter¡­ it''s big!" Ji Tang broke out in a cold sweat.


    "It''s indeed big," sighed Zhao Zhenzhen. "The existence of this person is too unique, and it''s not like we can make a report at the local police station."


    Ji Tang: "¡­"


    "Relax, I was just kidding with you." Zhao Zhenzhen chuckled. "So far, our mysterious compatriot has behaved lawfully on Earth. Since he hopes for us to provide him with provisions voluntarily, he would be more law-abiding the more crucial our role in this ''game'' is. There''s no need to hastily view him as a security risk."


    After struggling for a bit, Ji Tang, with a complicated look on his face, nodded.


    "Now, the first step in starting work is to make us, the provisions party, more important," Zhao Zhenzhen declared with a swing of her bony claw. "It''s the first time we''ve engaged in the dissemination of ideology, so we have to do it splendidly."


    Ji Tang nearly slipped.


    How should he put it¡­ When he previously infiltrated the game, he already thought he was quite crafty, but compared to Sis Zhao, he felt that he was relatively honest.


    Yang Qiu, walking out of the town hall with the contract in hand, suddenly halted.


    A moment later, a cryptic smile appeared on his face, which he quickly wiped away, and he resumed his walk back to his residence with lighter steps.


    Indeed, his Chinese compatriots hadn''t disappointed him. Their guesses had been spot on, and they figured out his intentions.


    The innocent players were all unaware of how many significant matters had occurred on an unassuming Saturday night, which affected the entire "main plotline" of the game¡­


    November 2, Saturday, 9:00 p.m., Earth time.


    As day transitioned to dusk in the game, the teleportation point in the Weisshem town hall courtyard flashed with white light intermittently. Many casual players were busy teleporting over from Exile Town and prepared to wait out the night here.


    Teacher Yu Chi played very casually, often logging in only at specific times to complete quests before logging out. This was her first time teleporting to Weisshem, and she couldn''t help looking all around and exclaiming in amazement, "Ooohhh, this scenery is really impressive."


    "I''ve told you before that the map here is very easy on the eye," Liu Meng said. "Wait until it''s daytime in-game to take some screenshots to send to your friends while telling them that you took them while traveling in a European town."


    "There are still differences. Look at this wall; not even plaster or lime is applied. No matter how you look at it, it doesn''t seem like a tourist attraction." Teacher Yu Chi kept looking all over and curiously watched the townspeople who were returning home. "There are so many NPCs here, way more than in Exile Town. Are all these NPCs not issuing quests?"


    "No, they aren''t." Liu Meng sighed dejectedly. "I don''t know if the quest mechanism for NPCs here hasn''t been implemented or if there''s some prerequisite plotline. I''ve wandered around here many times, but I haven''t triggered any quests. The only available quests here are still given by those familiar faces."


    "Then it''s probably not implemented yet," Teacher Yu Chi said. "Well, if there are no quests in the town, then so be it. Didn''t Ou Huang say that the grasshoppers here are numerous and easy to catch? We can catch some and bring them back to exchange for reputation tomorrow.


    "I still thought I would be able to hire NPCs directly upon achieving friendly reputation status with the Undead Merchant Association, but we actually still have to spend reputation to buy tools."


    The two chatted as they left the town, heading in the direction of the wheat fields.


    Not long after they left, Ou Huang, who had deliberately waited a bit before teleporting, also appeared at the Weisshem teleportation point.


    He seemed to be moving sluggishly, but he was actually being cautious while moving out of the town hall courtyard. After confirming that Teacher Yu Chi and Liu Meng weren''t around, he breathed a sigh of relief.


    Teacher Yu Chi was a good person. When she asked how to more quickly accumulate reputation to hire NPCs, Ou Heng couldn''t bring himself to lie.


    I can''t go there tonight, sighed Ou Huang inwardly. After hesitating for a bit at the town hall entrance, he silently headed to the town''s main street.


    As he was passing through an alley, Ou Huang saw something moving and instantly stopped in his tracks. Turning his head for a closer look, Ou Huang saw a person pressed against a wall of a house.


    In the darkness, that person seemed to hope Ou Huang hadn''t noticed him. He still clung to the top of the wall with his arms, his feet dangling in the air, trying his best to remain motionless as he stared nervously at Ou Huang.


    Only one thought flashed in Ou Huang''s mind as he saw this scene.


    A quest! I''ve triggered a hidden quest!


    In the next moment, Ou Huang, eyes glowing, rushed toward the thief that was trying to break into the house. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Aaaaaahhhhh!!"


    This thief, who reckoned committing crimes at dusk was safer (people encountered in the day, while undead at night), didn''t manage to even run 10 meters before he was pressed to the ground.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    At the point in time when Ou Huang caught a thief and mistakenly thought it was a hidden quest¡­


    Taking advantage of the fact that night hadn''t yet fallen, a large group of players gathered on Second Street and the Wanderer Guild Square in Exile Town.


    The factions of Brother Lahong and Qin Guan, scattered players under Unceasing Entropy, and a small team of solo players led by Win By Grinding were all here.


    Seeing that almost everyone had arrived, with minimal hostility and willingness to communicate peacefully, Unceasing Entropy took the initiative and stepped forward.


    "The opening hours for the weekly instance dungeon are only during three in-game nights, and everyone is well aware that even the simplest Hal''s Inner Demon instance is really challenging to clear.


    "I believe no one enjoys the gaming experience of continuous wipes throughout the night. My suggestion is for everyone to unite, strive for the first clear, and obtain a reliable strategy. This would benefit all of us players."


    After the opening statement, Unceasing Entropy calmly stepped back down. She was only advocating and didn''t believe she had the ability to mediate the conflict between Brother Lahong and Vanilla Pudding. It was better to let them negotiate on their own.


    "I have no objections," Brother Lahong said. "If everyone agrees, the experts on my side can participate in the battle."


    "I have no objections either," said Qin Guan. "Whether we find a strategy or not, obtaining the first clear of an Inner Demon instance would give everyone the confidence to continue venturing forward."


    Unceasing Entropy nodded with satisfaction.


    These two player leaders so willingly came to an agreement not because they were sincerely cooperative in developing a strategy but because they themselves couldn''t withstand the frequent morale downturns from constant team wipes. Since their teams were made up of their own people, it wasn''t easy to shift the blame or start fights. If this problem couldn''t be overcome, the dissolution of such teams was imminent.


    Win By Grinding, who led a small team of solo players, did not voice any objections and stood forward himself. Since he was the only capable fighter in his team, his own participation was sufficient.


    With no dissenting voices, Unceasing Entropy stepped forward again and organized teams based on the jobs of these expert players from the various sides.


    In theory, with Blossoming Strokes and Guileless Gale present, it shouldn''t have been Unceasing Entropy to organize the team. But those two were avoiding the limelight, so she would have to take on this heavy responsibility.


    Soon, two teams composed of expert players with the highest Potential value in the player community (excluding tool players) were formed, ready for action.


    These 22 elites, judging by the quality of their weapons, were clearly the cream of the crop¡ªno one had a basic white-grade steel knife hanging from their waist; at the very least, it was a top-tier white-grade weapon with high attack and critical strike attributes.

 Chapter 103: Hal Seems Human?

    In Exile Town''s Town Hall, Hal was seated in a high-back chair, one arm propped up and supporting his cheek. His head was slightly tilted down as he stared fixedly at his shadow.


    Through the faint shadow, he could see two overlapping but distinctly clear scenes.


    Just like last night, the undead in the scene were locked in combat with his inner demons.


    But, somewhat different from the night before, these undead fought with more order, unlike the chaotic brawl of the previous night.


    The undead with shields knew how to restrict "Jim''s" movements, while those with swords, daggers, and machetes focused on striking "Jim''s" lower limbs. Even the ones with crude wooden staves used rudimentary dark magic to slow down "Jim''s" movements.


    How Yang managed to teach these fragile undead combat skills and even basic dark magic didn''t bother Hal. He, Tuttle, and Finley had long concluded that these dubious Taranthan undead were no ordinary undead. Rather, it was likely that these were certain great demons summoned by Yang from some unknown dimension, for there was no way to explain how these undead possessed intelligence close to or even surpassing ordinary people.


    What puzzled Hal was that these undead of mysterious origins were still enthusiastically going about this futile task when they ought to know that these monsters in the distorted mental domain were merely the twisted projections of his mind, and killing them had no meaning.


    If they had the dedication and reason to absolutely eliminate those monsters in the altered mental domain, then wouldn''t it make more sense to attack him in person instead of struggling with these projections?


    It couldn''t be that these undead were so dedicated to coming in and out of his altered mental domain just to humiliate him, right?


    At this thought, Hal suddenly felt that this might be the truth.


    But recalling how miserably these undead perished in his altered mental domain made him reckon it didn''t quite add up.


    These death-defying undead that didn''t fear death would still try to avoid it. Whenever Hal swung a blade at them, they would always make a full effort to flee.


    Forget it¡­ It was no use trying to understand these things.


    Hal shut his eyes and took a little break. After a while, he opened his bloodshot eyes and gazed wearily at the overlapping shadows.


    He had already become numb to it.


    In any case, the most embarrassing side of him had already been seen by so many undead, not to mention that fella Yang¡­ Just like someone put on the spot and made to do something embarrassing, there might be all sorts of initial resistance and shame, but once it was gotten used to, it would no longer be a big deal.


    Hal even had the mood to comment on the undead''s assault strategy. When an undead with a shield tried to obstruct "Jim" with its body, Hal couldn''t help but quip, "How foolish are you, idiot! What can that little body accomplish?!"


    Before Hal finished his roast, that charging undead was crushed by "Jim''s" heavy triple body and disappeared in a flash of white light.


    "Maintaining distance is key¡ªnot done?!"


    Yet another shield undead charged forward to pick up the fallen items of its comrade, only to be slapped into nothingness by "Uncle Harlington."


    Hal clicked his tongue.


    With two shield-wielding undead down, the remaining undead quickly realized they couldn''t continue resisting head-on. They quickly dispersed and took advantage of the slowing effects of dark magic to maneuver around and encircle "Jim."


    Hal couldn''t help but shake his head.


    The undead persisted in attacking "Jim," though their strategy was utterly foolish.


    This distorted monster born from the dark depths of Hal''s mind had "Jim" as the core, with "Uncle Harlington" and "Olive" as extensions.


    When two sides clashed, would anyone aim for the toughest spot? Of course, it should be breaking through the weakest point first. If the undead truly wanted to defeat this projected monster, they ought to prioritize attacking "Olive" and "Uncle Harlington."


    Around three to four minutes later, this undead team was routed and wiped. The overlapping scene of this instance vanished.


    The undead in the other overlapping scene, after persistently attacking "Jim" for over ten minutes, seemed to finally realize the flaw in their strategy and turned their focus onto "Olive."


    Unfortunately, they had altered their strategy a little too late. The undead with crude wooden staves were exhausted and could no longer cast dark magic to slow "Jim''s" movements. Eventually, this team was wiped as well.


    These undead had stubbornly persisted with their seemingly futile attacks until the very last moment before turning into a flash of white light. Hal felt inexplicable complex sentiments witnessing this unfold.


    He truly couldn''t understand why these undead engaged in such meaningless actions¡ªeven if they succeeded in killing the monster, as long as Void Realm was active and his "true self" remained, the monster could resurrect endlessly.


    "¡­How foolish," Hal muttered to himself. "Indeed a bunch of brainless fellows."


    Slightly over an hour later, as Hal was feeling drowsy, these undead returned once more.


    Yet another hour later, they reappeared in Hal''s altered mental domain again.


    This marked the fourth time Hal had seen these two undead teams in the overlapping projections. Tuttle and Rex had both fallen asleep, leaving him as the only one awake in the building.


    It was just these two teams of undead that kept coming and no others.


    Hal could hear their bickering, arguments, discussions, and mutual encouragement. He even remembered the names of some of these undead.


    Some of these peculiar "names" seemed somewhat familiar to Hal as if he had heard them a couple of times before. However, he hadn''t cared much about these undead before and wholeheartedly wished to get rid of them and Yang as soon as possible, so he hadn''t paid them much heed.


    Hal''s perception of these undead had always been one-sided and shallow¡ªthey were mad, chaotic, and irrational.


    But now, Hal seemed to suddenly realize that these undead also experienced joy and sorrow.


    They weren''t all uniform in their skeletal appearance. Each of them had their own unique personality.


    Some undead were timid and weak with a tendency to retreat, while others were optimistic, proactive, and enjoyed brute force. There were also undead that were calm, composed, intelligent, and grounded.


    Each of these undead, with their own distinctive personality, collaborated wholeheartedly under the command of the wooden staff-wielding skeletons in battling the inner demons in Hal''s mind. Not a single one questioned whether their actions had any meaning, nor were there any that tried to desert. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Thoughts swirled in Hal''s mind as he stared fixedly at them.


    Yes, they were just doing something futile. Defeating the distorted mental projections within Void Realm was inherently meaningless.


    But¡­ to win. Wasn''t that meaningful in itself?


    In a person''s life, how many sacrifices were truly meaningful?


    Hadn''t Hal himself done many meaningless things?


    Desiring victory and making sacrifices to fuel that desire¡­ Wasn''t that a form of meaning in itself?


    Hal, exhausted to his limits, felt his mind subtly relaxed as a sense of release coursed throughout his entire body.


    Hal was stunned.


    It seemed like a long-standing heavy burden clutching his heart had been lifted, and he felt lighter all over.


    Hal slowly sat up straight, unable to conceal his astonishment as he looked at his own body.


    The exhaustion from two consecutive nights of poor rest was rapidly dissipating. He could feel strength swiftly return to his body.


    Not only did he feel physically light and agile, but mentally, he also experienced an unprecedented clarity.


    It was like waking up naturally after a restful sleep, full of vitality and energy, ready to take on anything.


    The room wasn''t particularly bright as the wall-mounted lamp wasn''t strong enough to illuminate the entire room, leaving the farther corners shrouded in darkness and hard to discern.


    Yet, at this moment, Hal felt as if his vision had suddenly sharpened. Even the spiders hiding in the shadows of the wardrobe were visible to him with crystal clarity.


    Hal was taken aback and realized something had happened when he returned to his senses.


    His spiritual sense¡­ had increased!


    His mental strength was also improved!


    Only high-level spellcasters with formidable mental prowess could achieve true enhancement of the body, gaining transcendent physical abilities. Spellcasters that hadn''t achieved such an advanced level, or professionals like Hal, could only briefly experience physical benefits when their spiritual sense and mental strength increased.


    While feeling inexplicable joy, Hal also felt a subtle ache in his heart.


    So that''s it¡­ It had always been like this.


    It turned out that Hal had always known what the problem with himself was.


    It wasn''t that he was inherently inferior to others in certain aspects. The hardships he endured had long been enough to compensate for any gaps in talent. He shouldn''t have struggled to even find the "threshold," nor should a youngster like Rex, more than ten years his junior, surpass him¡­


    Everything was all because¡ªHal himself gave up.


    Being the smartass that he was, he split all things into the categories of whether they were valuable or worthless.


    Anything unattainable when he gave his all, or anything that, even if successful, offered no visible benefits, he deemed worthless.


    He concealed his incompetent, weak, and cowardly side entirely beneath the facade of a "smartass" by not doing anything "stupid."


    He could actually have saved Jim¡ªback then, when Jim was trying to get the others to walk the right path and work as laborers, the dissatisfaction of the senior gang members was clear, and it was obvious that it would bring danger to Jim. If the other youths could see the underlying signs, how could Hal have been oblivious to it?!


    He had let Uncle Harlington down, but there was a way to remedy the situation back then¡ªall he had to do was turn around, take responsibility for his aunt and little cousin, and spend the next decade or two atoning for his youthful arrogance.


    But he didn''t do that.


    He used his lofty ideals, his desire to stand out, and the notion that he couldn''t be burdened by women and children as excuses to deceive himself. Truth be told, he simply didn''t dare to face too heavy a burden.


    Olive¡­ was the same.


    He could have pulled her back, even if not from a lover''s perspective.


    Hal stared blankly at his overlapping shadows, but he wasn''t looking at those undead. What was repeatedly flashing across his mind was no longer the painful and unbearable past but¡­ his own ugliness.


    It wasn''t that he was forced to become a scoundrel or a villain; he wasn''t that pitiable. No one had forced him. It was him who thought it was easier to be a scum.


    "This must be¡­ facing one''s true self, huh?"


    Hal relaxed his tense body, once again rested his elbow on the armrest, and supported his chin with his palm.


    His body felt perfectly fine, with an unprecedented lightness.


    Just that, there was an ache in his heart. A pain so intense that he couldn''t express the emotion of suffering in any form.


    What Yang said hadn''t been wrong; Hal, who couldn''t even face himself, had no right to call himself¡­ strong.


    The monster battles within the recurring scenes of the overlapping shadows went on. After several rounds of repeated defeats, their attack rhythm became more coordinated¡­ Finally, the remains of "Olive" were eliminated.


    The undead were excited. They cheered each other loudly, and the attacks intensified.


    Hal''s gaze fell on the remains of "Olive" slowly disintegrating in the scene.


    "I''m sorry¡­ I actually have no right to admire you.


    "And even less right¡­ to keep you in my heart."


    When Rex woke up with a yawn, it was already dawn.


    "Were there no undead seeking me out again last night¡­" Rex gazed out the window with mixed feelings. He had mentally prepared himself, but being kept in suspense like this felt frustrating.


    When he withdrew his gaze from the window, Rex saw¡­ Hal''s face.


    Suddenly, Rex felt that something wasn''t right.


    Hal wasn''t an easy person to get along with. He was aggressive, and whenever he gave someone a good look, it was as if his eyes were assessing their value.


    But now, as Rex gazed into Hal''s eyes from across the room, he actually felt that this fellow seemed to have become more human¡­


    "Done looking?" Hal uttered.


    "My apologies." Rex quickly averted his gaze. He was probably still half-asleep. How could this bandit leader have become more human anyway.


    "Let''s grab a bite, then head back." Hal rose from his chair.


    On their way from the Town Hall to Life Lane, the trio encountered undead once more, moving in pairs or small groups toward the Crossroads.


    The attitude of these undead¡­ was entirely different from the previous morning''s. They seemed to be in remarkably good spirits, and even their round skulls seemed to shine as they waved toward the trio cheerfully.


    "Good morning, Hal-san!"


    "What''s up with these fellas?" Tuttle asked in puzzlement.


    "They defeated the projections of my mind," Hal replied listlessly.


    "Is that something to be happy about?" Tuttle frowned. Defeating the mind projections didn''t mean permanently eradicating them. As long as Yang sustained Void Realm, those troublesome entities could revive countless times in their altered mental domains.


    "Who knows," Hal said indifferently. "As long as they are happy."


    Now, not just Rex but even Tuttle regarded Hal with a strange expression.


    Not right. Something is definitely very wrong! Given Hal''s personality, shouldn''t he be mocking the futile endeavors of this bunch of foolish undead?!


    Who are you! You aren''t Hal!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Weisshem''s sewers, which had been clogged for many years, proved to be more challenging to clear than anyone had imagined. The over 20 able-bodied detainees Rex had selected yesterday toiled tirelessly for an entire day and weren''t able to finish clearing the sewer of a small alley. This prompted a need to recruit more hands for the task today.


    However, managing a larger group posed its challenges. The security team was short-staffed, and the security officers had to take turns on duty at guard posts. If they weren''t vigilant, these incarcerated individuals, having tasted the fresh air outside, might escape or cause trouble in someone''s home.


    While Rex was figuring out how many people would be enough to manage the labor force, Hal quietly approached him from the side.


    "You can just use some undead as supervisors," Hal said indifferently. "They might not want to clean the disgusting sewer, but they shouldn''t have any issues just supervising."


    Rex: "??"


    It wasn''t just Rex who was taken aback. Even Ji Tang, who had been about the same idea, was astounded.


    It wasn''t that they didn''t think Hal was incapable of coming up with such a suggestion, but¡­ Hal was actually sparing a thought and coming up with a suggestion for the benefit of others?!


    Hal paid no heed to them. After giving his suggestion, he turned around and left before loudly chastising the detainees who weren''t queuing properly and trying to snatch other''s food.


    Rex and Ji Tang: "¡­"


    "Doesn''t Hal seem a little strange these two days?" Ji Tang ventured. "He wasn''t like this before."


    "I feel the same way," said Rex, looking puzzled.


    Since he saw that Rex couldn''t fathom it either, Ji Tang shifted the conversation toward the supervisor quest¡­


    These indigenous advanced NPCs had roughly grasped some tendencies of the players. But when it came to understanding players, Ji Tang, as a Chinese person, had more say.


    Rex wanted to assign this supervisor quest to the casual players, but Ji Tang immediately vetoed the idea, suggesting instead to give it to the blood alliance players.


    Soon, the two prominent player leaders, Brother Lahong and Vanilla Pudding, received the targeted quest and happily led their reorganized monster farming teams to come over.


    Those detainees locked in the former militia headquarters weren''t kind common folk, having not straightened up much despite the harassment of Hal and his former rogues. Ji Tang wasn''t certain if those generally idle casual players could handle them.


    All that was needed to make the blood alliance teams perform this unexciting quest that didn''t touch upon killing monsters was ample rewards¡ª50 territory prestige for an hour of supervision and 100 territory prestige for subduing an attempted escapee would be enough to ensure the blood alliance teams guarantee the smooth execution of this supervising quest!


    Ji Tang had also seen the news of the Inner Demon instance being cleared on the forum before he logged in. The two teams that Unceasing Entropy formed had successfully slain the monsters inside Hal''s Inner Demon instance, successfully completing the challenge.


    The system prompt to players on the "entire server" indicated clearly the rewards for completing the dungeon: all players participating in defeating the dungeon boss would receive an opportunity to enchant their existing equipment.


    These enchantment chances could be saved and used when better equipment was acquired. It could also be accumulated, so a player could save multiple enchantment chances for later use.


    For example, if Give Me Medicine of the elite dungeon team wanted to use the enhancement chance now, he could bring his dagger to Old Yang and add effects like armor penetration, bleed, poison, or chance to interrupt casting to his dagger that already had crit effects.


    In other games, enchanting top-tier equipment usually required real money, and there was also the probability of failure and breaking the gear. This game, however, didn''t require real money, and the enchantment success rate was also 100%. If Ji Tang was truly a player, he might have gone and organized a team to run dungeons¡­


    Clearing the instance provided equipment enhancement chances, though top-tier equipment needed to be exchanged at the Undead Merchant Association using territory prestige. (Monsters not dropping equipment was already something players had criticized countless times.) Now that materials that could be exchanged for territory had risen in price, quests that directly rewarded territory prestige were especially popular!


    As they watched the undead gleefully herd a group of detainees out to do hard labor, Rex hesitated for a moment, then asked Ji Tang, "I''m somewhat curious¡­ Why are you all only interested in Hal''s altered mental domain?"


    Ji Tang, who was about to leave, nearly tripped up.


    Even though he wasn''t a pure player, it was still somewhat difficult to have a response when an NPC straight-up asked him why they hadn''t gone and challenged his dungeon¡­


    "Um, I haven''t participated in the instance clears myself, but from what I''ve heard from others, it seems like Hal''s Inner Demon domain is relatively easier¡­ At least the monsters can be seen inside," a clearly discomfited Ji Tang answered.


    Rex was silent for a bit, then, unable to resist his curiosity, asked, "What does my¡­ inner demon look like?"


    Ji Tang: "¡­"


    So, even the natives being used as "source material" didn''t know what their inner demons looked like?!


    Wait a minute! Isn''t Lord Yang forcing these natives to act as "source material"?!


    Speaking of which, Blossoming Strokes didn''t successfully coerce Hal into submission, using his inner demon monsters!


    The plotline of the Inner "Demon Domain" is forcibly disclosing the shameful secrets to outsiders¡­ You definitely aren''t a good person, Yang!


    Ji Tang had a strong desire to cuss but, in the end, changed his words. "Heh heh¡­ I haven''t entered before, so I don''t know. Shall I go and ask around for you?"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Caroline headed out of her house early in the morning, hurriedly making her way to the northern end of Martin Street and entering the narrow alley between the street and the north residential block.


    This alley only had a few households, and vacant houses were an important playground for the town''s children. When Caroline was in her teens, she used to frequent this place, choosing a relatively clean room to create a secret base for her group of friends.


    In the run-down old house that had served as a secret base for countless children, the three young men who had returned to Weisshem with Caroline yesterday were already waiting.


    "Sorry, I''m late." Caroline took off her headscarf and apologized. "My mother and I talked a lot last night, and I overslept."


    "It''s fine; we just arrived as well." A young man with dark eye circles waved his hand somewhat excitedly. "How did everyone''s night go?"


    "I don''t know what to say." Another tall young man laughed bitterly. "Weisshem looks almost the same as before, but it feels extremely unfamiliar."


    "I feel the same way," the final lad said, somewhat bemused. "A few years ago, my family spent quite a sum to send me to attain an apprenticeship in Indahl, and now my mother says she hopes I can come back."


    "Your mother said that?" the youth with dark eye circles interjected gleefully as if he had found a kindred spirit. "My grandmother also said I don''t have to go to Indahl anymore, especially after my uncle returned last night. He worked odd jobs on the main street all day long and actually brought back 30 copper coins!"


    "Hey, calm down a bit. Do you guys remember why we agreed to meet today?" the tall young man cut in hastily. "Don''t tell me you guys have also been beguiled."


    "You can earn money as long as you work. How is that being beguiled?" the youth with dark eye circles retorted immediately. "Allen, you and I have been working in the factory for so long, and we only get eight silver coins per month.


    "We have to pay one silver to the union, and even if we don''t use gas in the dormitory and live frugally, we still spend two or three silver coins on living expenses every month. We can hardly save any money, and clearly, it isn''t as good as staying in town and doing odd jobs now."


    "How long can odd jobs last? Can we keep doing it indefinitely?" Allen, the tall young man, retorted. "Yes, I admit that the new lord, Mr. Rex, seems to be a very nice person and treats the people in the town well. But who can be sure how long Mr. Rex will serve as lord? He became the new lord with the backing of a black mage. If someone has their eye on Weisshem, this would be the perfect excuse to launch a territorial war against Mr. Rex. Haven''t you seen how frequently the dirty dealings between nobles are reported in the newspapers?"


    "Do we have control over such matters? Why bother with things that may happen who knows how long later?" the youth with the dark eye circles said impatiently. "There''s a chance to make money now, so let''s make money. It would be foolish to miss out."


    The shortest lad, worried that an argument might break out, quickly placated, "Allen, Simon, stop arguing. Also, let''s listen to Caroline''s thoughts."


    Allen stared at Simon for a moment before they turned to look at Caroline.


    "I¡­" Caroline hesitated, then gritted her teeth and said, "I wish to stay."

 Chapter 104: Monsters Are Here

    "Caroline?" Allen was surprised; he thought Caroline would be with him on this. "What''s with you? Are you being serious?"


    "I don''t mean for you guys to follow my decision," Caroline quickly said. "Allen, Simon, as you all know, my mother has been seeking a prospective match for me since last year. I had already planned to resign and return this year."


    This excuse clearly couldn''t convince Allen, who was a year younger than Caroline. Shaking his head repeatedly, the young man insisted, "That''s not what you really want, Caroline. We''ve been friends since childhood and only separated when you went to work as a waitress."


    Caroline sighed. They were all her childhood playmates, and she didn''t want Allen to misunderstand that she wasn''t supporting him. However, she also didn''t want Allen to think that she liked lying.


    "I just¡­ I really intend to stay, Allen. I understand your concerns, and I have the same ones, but¡­ if I could choose, I would prefer to stay in town."


    A temporary pause ensued, and the 23-year-old girl revealed a bitter smile that didn''t match her age. "When we met before, I said I was doing well; that was a lie, just to save face. I¡­ I''m tired of working in the restaurant, fed up.


    "Perhaps you all might never understand, but my job isn''t as simple as toiling hard. Let me put it this way: there are always bored men viewing me critically, making impolite remarks that upset me. Sometimes, they would even discuss out loud how much money small-town girls like us are worth.


    "If someone points at me and says, ''Look, that girl is from Weisshem,'' everyone around will burst into laughter as if I''m a living joke just standing there.


    "And we''re not allowed to get angry or panic; that would lower a high-end restaurant''s class. If one dares cry, they''re done; their salary would be reduced by two ranks, and they were sent back to the kitchen to start from a dishwasher.


    "Being touched on the butt or pinched on the waist, that''s just commonplace. After all, we, the waitstaff of high-end restaurants, wear eye-catching short skirts.


    "You guys always say that being able to make money carrying plates in a beautiful store is too easy¡­ In truth, I have wished to exchange with others countless times." Caroline smiled bitterly, glancing over the astonished faces of her childhood friends. "I would very much rather be dressed in sweaty and dirty clothes, slogging away in a dust-filled factory. I really do, I really want that."


    A whole range of expressions cycled through Allen''s face. He wanted to say something but ultimately just shook his head.


    Indeed, factory work wasn''t at all pleasant. The heavy physical labor and strict factory supervisors made workers feel depressed, especially since a part of their salary was handed to a union that had never done anything for them.


    However, factories didn''t accept everyone; the leather factory where he and Simon worked for the past few years only accepted male workers aged 16 to 40.


    "At least, no one will laugh at me because I''m from Weisshem if I stay. Plus, Mr. Rex does offer a fair salary," Caroline concluded. "The undead mayor appointed by Mr. Rex is even willing to hire those former brothel workers as clerks and doesn''t refuse women to work as sanitation workers or do odd jobs. I think I will be able to find work just fine."


    Allen sighed, knowing he couldn''t convince his companions.


    "Let''s stay together, Allen," Simon, who had been silent for a while, spoke up. "Regardless of whatever happens in the future, at least for now, Mr. Rex is the lord of Weisshem. Even if he is driven away later on, we can at least make some money during this period, right? Believe me, if we''re together¡­ we can make big money!"


    Benjamin, the youngest among the group and a head shorter than the others, had just turned 19 this year. He was closer to Simon, who was only two years his senior, compared to the other two. On hearing what Simon had said, he couldn''t help but ask curiously, "Simon, do you want us to do something together with you?"


    "Yes." Simon nodded enthusiastically and raised his voice. "We can be merchants; we take the things that Mr. Rex sells to the townspeople and sell them elsewhere!"


    Allen, who had opposed staying, was astonished. "What are you talking about? Where do we get the capital?"


    All four of them had lived in Indahl for several years. Even Benjamin, the youngest, had apprenticed at a cobbler''s shop for four years already. However, they didn''t have much savings.


    This wasn''t because they were extravagant; rather, it was due to the high cost of living in Weisshem¡­ The majority of wages earned by the four youngsters were sent back to support their families.


    "First, we would need to earn some capital," said Simon with a glint in his eyes. "Currently, many families have bought the good fabric sold by Mr. Rex''s men. My grandmother also spent her savings on over 20 meters of fabric which is now stashed away in the closet.


    "We can start by approaching people we know and convince them to let us resell their fabric. After selling it, we''ll return the cost of the fabric and half of the profit to them. We keep the other half as our profit.


    "My grandmother bought the fabric at 10 copper coins per meter. If we take this elsewhere, it can probably sell at 20 copper coins per meter¡ª25 even!" Simon waved his arms excitedly as he explained.


    "And all that we need to do? Pool our money to rent a cart from the carriage rental shop! If Indahl imposes a commercial tax, we can just go a little further to the villages or estates and their farms! We''ll be able to sell and make a profit either way!"


    Allen''s mouth hung open, and Caroline''s eyes widened in surprise.


    Benjamin, overjoyed, jumped up and clung on to Simon, "I want to join you, Simon! You have to take me!"


    Simon laughed heartily, allowing Benjamin to hang on him, then earnestly invited the other two. "Shall we do this together?"


    After two seconds of hesitation, Allen extended his hand. "Count me in."


    "And me." Caroline also reached out excitedly.


    Benjamin hurriedly got off Simon and grasped the hands of his companions. "Me too, I''m in too!"


    Simon immediately emptied his pockets and pulled them into a huddle to discuss how to rent a cart and convince those close to them to give up their fabrics for reselling¡­


    After these four youngsters had been discussing animatedly for a while, Benjamin suddenly said, "I was thinking, why don''t we go see Mr. Rex and ask him to let us sell some of his fabric?"


    "Don''t be foolish, Benjamin. How can it be that easy to meet Lord Rex?" Simon was amused.


    "Um¡­" Caroline interjected. "Actually¡­ According to my grandfather, it''s actually quite easy to meet Mr. Rex. They see him every day when collecting their meals."


    "Hey, Caroline, you don''t really think that Benjamin''s nonsense idea makes sense, do you?" Simon didn''t know whether to laugh or cry.


    Benjamin protested, "It''s not nonsense. My mom keeps saying that Mr. Rex is a very kind gentleman. What harm is there in trying?"


    "Can we talk about something serious?" Allen sighed helplessly.


    "Wait, Benjamin''s idea isn''t impractical." Caroline''s eyes lit up. "My grandfather also said that Mr. Rex is the most generous gentleman he has ever seen in his life. I believe Grandpa wouldn''t misjudge him.


    "And Mr. Rex is selling such good fabric to the townspeople at such a low price because he wants the townspeople to trust him, right? So, if we make this request to him, I don''t think he would punish us even if he doesn''t accede to it."


    Allen and Simon exchanged glances, slightly apprehensive yet thinking that this might not be such a bad idea¡­


    Caroline was a decisive person and had great trust in her grandfather. Seeing her three companions not having any more staunch objections, she quickly pulled them to the town''s main street.


    The four had just arrived at the intersection and saw a long, seemingly endless queue.


    "What''s going on?" Allen exclaimed in surprise.


    "It''s¡­ probably a recruitment drive?" Simon looked around and pointed at someone in the queue. "Yeah, that''s it. Look, my uncle is also in there."


    A man in the queue with a small leather hat turned around when hearing a familiar voice. On seeing his nephew, he quickly waved and shouted, "Simon! You little rascal! Running off early in the morning and making me spend so long searching for you! Hurry to the back and line up. You won''t get a chance if you are late!"


    "Sorry, Uncle, I have something more important to attend to!" Simon quickly grabbed his friends and ran.


    "What important matters do you have?! Quick, come back!" Simon''s uncle stomped his foot anxiously but was reluctant to leave the line.


    The four youngsters ran on the opposite side of the queue and finally got a glimpse of what was going on. In front of a once grand club''s entrance, two square tables were set up, and several young ladies were busy registering the townspeople lining up.


    Out of curiosity, Caroline went closer and discovered that these ladies seemed to be people who had originally been from this red-light district. Their skin was slightly tanned, but their faces and figures were rather attractive and not something commonly seen in ordinary people.


    "Are these the town hall clerks employed by the undead mayor?" Caroline couldn''t help feeling a bit envious. Whatever these ladies'' previous lives were like, being able to work in such a decent place was something Caroline had always dreamed of.


    It was still early in the morning, and the temperature hadn''t risen much yet, but these clerks were already sweating profusely. They quickly registered the names of the townspeople and handed out bamboo slips with symbols the size of fingernails on them.


    Caroline went closer still and overheard the hoarse voice of one of the ladies saying while handing over a bamboo slip. "This is your work permit for today. The numbers here represent today''s date, and the text is your name. Remember to keep it somewhere safe. After work, the on-site supervisor will make you line up and use a special pen to make a red mark on your slip. The red mark means you can come to the town hall to receive your wages. You can choose to collect it later as well, as long as you don''t lose your slip."


    Caroline nodded silently after digesting what that clerk had said¡­ It made sense. It would certainly be too time-consuming if they had to record names and distribute money to so many people one by one. Using the bamboo slips as settlement vouchers made things much simpler. And even if the slips could be replicated, without the red mark, any counterfeiter wouldn''t be able to get the money.


    Caroline wanted to go closer for a better look, but her companions promptly pulled her by the scruff of her collar.


    "Don''t go any further. If you get closer, others might mistake you as someone trying to cut the queue," Simon reminded Caroline, gesturing to the people in the queue that were glaring fiercely in their direction.


    Caroline didn''t want to face the wrath of others and quickly backed off.


    The people who received bamboo slips were organized into different groups and led away by uniformed security officers (former militia). Jimmy, who was part of the squad maintaining order, spotted the four and waved at them. "Simon, Allen! What are you doing here? If you want to do odd jobs, get in line!"


    Jimmy was around the same age as these four and had played with them in their younger days. Simon''s eyes lit up on seeing a familiar face, and he hurriedly went over.


    "Jimmy, we wish to meet Mr. Rex!"


    "¡­Huh?"


    "Who wishes to meet me?" A man in the midst of the boisterous crowd turned around.


    From half a street away, the four unprepared youngsters caught sight of the person who had spent quite a while speculating and discussing about, Charlie Rex.


    When they saw the new lord clearly, their four mouths gaped¡ªHe was so young!


    Charlie Rex didn''t seem much older than them! He even looked younger than Jimmy, whom the four had played with in their childhood.


    Rex scanned this group of three men and a woman. Certain that he didn''t know them, he turned to Jimmy, the security officer they had been speaking to.


    "Th-these are my friends. They are people from town." Jimmy nervously introduced.


    "I''m Charlie Rex. Is there something you need?" Rex smiled kindly at the four Weisshem youngsters.


    Caroline, standing furthest forward, instinctively stood a little straighter and responded immediately, "Hello, sir. I am Caroline Meghan. We¡­ we hope to be able to have a chat with you."


    Rex waved to signal for Jimmy to return to his post, then, with a smile, nodded at Caroline and her companions. "Sure. This way, please."


    After patiently listening to the stumbling explanation from these brave young town residents, Rex couldn''t help chuckling.


    "Of course," Rex gave his verdict gleefully. "You guys don''t have to rent a cart for this business. I can rent you a tricycle cart. However, the current price of fabric per meter is already at its lowest. It wouldn''t go any lower even with bulk purchases. Are you guys agreeable?"


    The four youngsters nearly jumped on the spot from delight.


    "Of course, of course," Caroline replied nervously. "B-but we don''t have enough capital¡­"


    "The first batch of goods can be put on credit. You all can settle the payment when you come to pick up more goods later," Rex kindly offered. "But there are taxes¡ªa 10% transaction tax¡ªand you need to pay your personal high-income tax in full."


    "Yes, yes!" Caroline finally relaxed and revealed an ecstatic smile as she nodded vigorously.


    "Let''s sign the contract and collect the goods, then." Rex waved his hand and immediately led the four to the town hall.


    The four youngsters trudged along as if they were in a sweet dream, having no strong sense of reality at all. It wasn''t until they reached the town hall and had the contract placed in front of them did they snap back to reality.


    "Can this fabric really be given to us?" Simon asked in a daze, as if he was talking in his sleep.


    "Of course, this is no laughing matter." Rex took out a red ink pad from his desk drawer. "Carefully read the terms of the contract. If everything is in order, stamp your thumbprint here."


    Among these four, Allen was literate¡ªhe had a slightly better family background than the other three and had received some education in his childhood.


    However, Allen didn''t dare read the contract in front of the lord. He picked up the red ink pad and pressed his thumb on it¡­


    Rex didn''t know whether to be amused or perplexed. "Contracts aren''t signed this way. Alright, I''ll read it out for you guys."


    The four youngsters exchanged glances, not daring to refuse.


    After going through the contract and receiving copies, the four youngsters were led to the town hall''s warehouse, and their jaws fell once more when they saw the warehouse full of fabric rolls¡­


    Half an hour later, the four, who had come empty-handed, came out of the town hall courtyard, pushing two tricycle carts loaded with rolls of fabric.


    After walking a distance, Simon, who was at the forefront, looked back with a puzzled expression. "Guys, did we just¡­ get two carts of fabric? Without paying a single coin?"


    Allen snapped at him, "Wake up, Simon! This isn''t a free gift. We have to settle the payment after selling the fabric! The four of us have all sealed it with our thumbprints, and our families are all in town. Don''t cause them any trouble!"


    "Even I''m not that crazy!" Simon chuckled. "I just can''t believe¡­ Mr. Rex was so easy to talk to!"


    "Mr. Rex has a lot of fabric." Benjamin gulped, seemingly delirious. "Simon, if he lets us sell all that fabric, wouldn''t we make a lot of money?"


    "Of course!" Simon declared. "Mr. Rex said we can have as much fabric as we can sell. We''ve signed the contract already. Guys, we''re going to make a fortune!"


    "We''re going to strike it rich!" Benjamin jumped onto Simon''s back once again.


    "Wait a minute. Is it safe for the four of us to transport so much fabric?" Caroline giggled foolishly for a moment before suddenly sobering up. "It''s just the four of us bringing so much fabric to faraway villages. Will we be at a risk of being robbed?"


    Benjamin and Simon''s joyous delirium was suddenly popped by this sentence.


    People from nearby villages would come to Weisshem to buy fabric for themselves; there was no need for them to buy the higher-priced goods delivered by these four.


    As for the more distant villages near Indahl¡­ the four were unfamiliar with such areas, and no one could say for certain that there was no risk of being robbed!


    "Call more people." Simon gritted his teeth. "Let''s go back and call more people along. Recruit all who can come¡­ We can settle the wages after selling the fabric. It''s fine if we earn a little less."


    Thus, these four youngsters didn''t dare leave the two carts and pushed them along as they went from house to house, seeking friends and relatives¡­


    Mrs. Winnie, Caroline''s mother, nearly fainted when she found out her daughter had ventured to do business on credit with the lord. Upon further questioning and discovering that her daughter hadn''t only signed the contract but stamped her thumbprint as well, Mrs. Winnie collapsed.


    Reactions from family members of the other three were similar to Mrs. Winnie''s as well¡­ S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    What had these small-town families that had been prudent for generation after generation done to produce such audacious and reckless descendants that would cause such trouble and bring disaster to their families?!


    While other people worried about not getting their monthly salary, these guys audaciously dared to do business with the new lord!


    Helpless, the elders of these families could only grit their teeth and seek help from friends¡­


    Unaware that the opportunity he had given to those youngsters had turned into chaos for the four families, Rex had already gone looking for Ji Tang.


    There were over 20 villages in Weisshem''s territory, the closest ones being around three kilometers away from the town, while the furthest ones were situated in the mountainous areas around 15 kilometers away. To roughly determine the amount of funds needed for the collective purchase of autumn harvest grains, Ji Tang had already informed Rex and asked him to set aside some time to go to the countryside for an on-site investigation.


    If it wasn''t for his skeletal appearance that would likely cause issues, Ji Tang had originally planned to go in person¡­


    The town lord and town mayor, Weisshem''s two "highest authorities," set off from Weisshem on the all-terrain mountain bikes they had first ridden when coming from Exile Town.


    "The village chiefs registered in the town hall records are from over 20 years ago. The previous mayor really¡­ didn''t manage anything else but Weisshem during his tenure," Rex, who usually had a good temper, couldn''t help expressing his dissatisfaction. "I don''t even know how many village chiefs have changed since then. Ji Tang, how should we deal with these people?"


    "It''s our first time visiting and we are unfamiliar with the circumstances. Let''s not rush to conclusions. We should conduct a thorough investigation first before deciding. Even if we do need to rectify the situation in the villages, we shouldn''t take action right away. At least wait until we have a stable footing and a certain level of public support," advised Ji Tang, who was used to giving suggestions.


    Rex was silent for a bit, then said, "Can''t we have the undead serve as village chiefs?"


    "¡­I don''t think it''s a good idea," Ji Tang replied.


    Brother Lahong had fought tooth and nail to become the mayor of Exile Town, though his ambitious aspirations lasted only two days before he returned to lead his team in monster-farming quests.


    Relying on players to engage in tedious and unrewarding administrative work in the "game" was simply impractical.


    Rex mulled for a bit, then nodded reluctantly. "Alright¡­ I''ll go with your advice."


    Weisshem''s countryside was similar to southern villages in China, just that there was an absence of rice paddies. The natives here cultivated wheat and corn instead.


    This wasn''t to say that this world lacked rice; it''s just that rice cultivation required a more advanced level of water management. In places like Weisshem, where the only main road was built through the flesh trade, irrigation projects were out of the question.


    After visiting several villages, interacting with some of the bolder locals, and understanding the farming situations, Ji Tang, who had only planted vegetables for two years before joining the army, came up with loads of ideas about using technology to assist rural development and aid poverty alleviation.


    As they made their way to the next village, the two saw a large group of people appearing on the main town road from a distance.


    Rex stopped and got off his bike, gazing intently at this group.


    There was quite a distance, and only vague silhouettes could be seen, but¡­ there was no need to get a good look. It was clear that these people weren''t friendly.


    Not only were they all riding horses, but they were also clad in shiny armor reflecting the blazing hot afternoon sunlight!


    "Enemies!" Rex said gravely to Ji Tang.


    Ji Tang had also seen the mounted men in shiny armor.


    However, unlike Rex, who was awaiting the enemy''s approach, the first thought that came to Ji Tang''s mind was¡ªMonsters are here.

 Chapter 105: Weisshem Defense Battle

    Rex was basically an open book to Ji Tang. Everything from how he became Weisshem''s new lord to Lord Yang''s peculiar dealings in Indahl was known to Ji Tang.


    Just with his intuition, Ji Tang didn''t even need the expert task force''s analysis to know that Weisshem would face a batter sooner or later. A predatory ruling class in any world definitely wouldn''t be benign. Lord Yang had forcibly stripped off a piece of juicy meat from Indahl''s lord, and even if the latter had endured it at the time, he would likely seek revenge later.


    As for why Lord Yang didn''t seem worried about this matter, and didn''t even consider establishing a border outpost for defense, Ji Tang could roughly understand.


    If Indahl''s lord, due to embarrassment and anger, sent men to Weisshem to plunder and kill, Lord Yang might enthusiastically watch on. Having the largest local feudal lord voluntarily pop up to be the antagonist to draw the hatred of the common folk just as he was worried about how to win the people''s hearts would be like a free handout.


    If Indahl''s lord really did so, Ji Tang didn''t doubt that Lord Yang would follow Liu Bei''s example and bring Weisshem''s population back to Exile Town. It would be a free windfall of over ten thousand people, and Lord Yang would be a fool not to take advantage of it. [TL note: reference to a story from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.]


    The situation at present didn''t appear like it would escalate too extremely. The mounted armored troops were just swaggering on the main road to the town in broad daylight. It was more likely that their purpose was military deterrence rather than armed conflict.


    However¡­ Ji Tang didn''t think that the Indahl Lord would achieve his goal of military deterrence.


    He was able to see the flashy armor of these soldiers and their handsome, high-headed horses even from such a distance away. From the logical viewpoint of any player¡­ this just seemed like equipment-dropping human-shaped monsters were delivering themselves to the front door.


    With a gaze full of immense sympathy (schadenfreude), Ji Tang pulled Rex away.


    Rex, puzzled, asked, "Aren''t we going back to report on this?"


    "Um¡­ No need. Let''s continue with the village groundwork," Ji Tang said, glancing at the system announcement that just appeared on his player panel. It seemed that Lord Yang didn''t let the natives see this information.


    Thinking back to the Camore private thugs still slaving away as laborers in Desolate Outpost, Ji Tang effortlessly understood the intentions of Lord Yang, the alleged compatriot from China.


    "What??" Rex''s head was filled with question marks.


    "Rex, just remember that we never saw this group of armed cavalry. These people have never come to Weisshem and we know nothing about it. No matter who asks, you must firmly deny it," Ji Tang said gravely.


    Rex: "??"


    "Alright, let''s continue. If possible, let''s try to visit a few more villages today¡­"


    When Ji Tang had seen the armed cavalry, presumably from Indahl, all players online received a conspicuous yellow text prompt on their player panels:


    [System Announcement] Weisshem Local Defense: Fifty-two illegal armed cavalry have invaded Weisshem territory from the main town road. Players, please hurry to the town hall to receive the defense quest.


    "The heck?! Another monster attack in town?!" Qin Guan, who had PTSD from the weekend instance dungeon event, nearly jumped up when he saw the system announcement.


    "Isn''t it broad daylight in the game right now? Do monsters still spawn in the day?" Give Me Medicine looked around nervously.


    Blossoming Strokes chuckled. "You two, calm down. Take a closer look at the announcement. This armed cavalry is humanoid monsters, not the weird creatures from Exile Town!"


    Qin Guan''s and Give Me Medicine''s eyes immediately lit up.


    On another street, Brother Lahong, who was supervising dozens of detainees in clearing the sewers, saw the announcement and shouted ecstatically, "Armed cavalry! Humanoid monsters! Brothers, let''s go! Time to farm monsters!"


    "Wait, wait, wait! Don''t all leave! This quest isn''t complete yet!" Guileless Gale grabbed Brother Lahong in a hurry. "We have to leave some of us here to watch this bunch. Failing the quest will result in a prestige deduction!"


    Brother Lahong slapped his forehead, then quickly selected a few players who hadn''t completed their job advancement or were poorly equipped to stay and watch over here. Then, he asked Study Obsessed to log out and call others.


    While the blood alliances were excitedly calling for backup, unaffiliated players doing quests in Exile Town and Desolate Outpost weren''t idle either. Even casual players like Teacher Yu Chi and Liu Meng were urgently rushing to the teleportation point.


    In less than half an hour (OtherWorld time), more than 260 undead filled the spacious courtyard of the Weisshem town hall, which was even more than during the initial expedition quest¡­


    Currently, it was only 11 a.m. in OtherWorld, though on Earth, it was only six in the morning on the weekend. So many players were simultaneously logging in at this odd timing, and the reason, of course, was¡­ everyone was tired of not having equipment drops.


    There were only two relatively stable ways to obtain equipment in the game. One was to buy novice equipment with copper coins from weapon/armor vendors, and the other was to exchange white-grade equipment at the Undead Merchant Association using prestige and materials.


    Monsters didn''t drop equipment when killed. Regardless of whether it was in Spider Cave, Poisonous Marshlands, or outside Desolate Outpost, no matter how many the players killed, only materials were dropped.


    This frustrating setting had left players complaining endlessly¡­


    Up until this day, players had only discovered one way of obtaining equipment outside the above two methods: looting humanoid monsters.


    NPCs that wore equipment, could be attacked, and were deemed as hostile were moving equipment displays in the eyes of players.


    Before, many players had wandered around the streets and alleys of Weisshem that were teeming with NPCs; they weren''t just trying to trigger hidden quests, but many were actually hoping to encounter monsters they could rob¡­


    When most of the players online had gathered, the doors of the town hall opened, and Yang Qiu, with the titles "Undead Race Resurrection Master" and "Lord of Taranthan, Yang," walked out, looking solemn.


    "Enemies have invaded our territory. Fifty-two armed knights with malicious intent are approaching our town. Undead friends, I require your initiative to intercept the enemy and protect the people of this land."


    With a few lines of dialogue to barely meet the plot requirements, Yang Qiu skillfully issued a quest to the players gathered at the town hall.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    [Weisshem Defense Battle]


    The evil Lord of Indahl is attempting to threaten Weisshem''s tranquility, secretly mobilizing the city defense force that should be protecting the city, and deceiving these soldiers to point their long spears at the people.


    Head east along the town road to confront the incoming enemy.


    Successfully defeat the Indahl City Defense Force squad. Each participating player will receive 300 territory prestige. For every successfully captured City Defense Force soldier, the capturer will receive 200 territory prestige. For every City Defense Force soldier slain, 50 territory prestige will be deducted from the killer. For every successfully captured war horse turned over to Weisshem Town Hall, the capturer will receive 100 points of territory prestige.


    During the territory defense battle, death penalties are waived. Any player that died in the defense battle can be respawned instantly.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Players seeing the defense quest appear on their respective panels didn''t care if Lord Yang was standing before them and unabashedly turned on furious complaint mode¡ª


    "F*ck this! Quests that deduct prestige?!"


    "Seriously! What if the NPCs want to run?!"


    "Didn''t we turn in captured mounts during the last expedition quests?! Can''t we keep them for ourselves?!" S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Keep the mounts! I strongly demand we be able to keep the mounts! Does releasing an undead horse once a month sound reasonable?! Our knights are not even considered real knights without mounts!"


    Ignoring the tide of unhappy public opinion from players, Yang Qiu, like an emotionless NPC, waved his hand. "Set forth, undead warriors! For Weisshem! For Taranthan!"


    Players moved off still grumbling and cursing¡­


    Before, the undead teleporting to the town hall courtyard didn''t attract too much attention from the townsfolk. This was mainly because there weren''t many residential houses around the town hall, and the courtyard walls were high enough.


    When this close to three hundred undead abruptly surged out of the town hall courtyard and flowed through the town, it had quite a significant impact¡ªpanicked screams rang on wherever the main force of players went.


    "What kind of crappy plot is this? Aren''t we here to defend the town? It''s one thing if the NPCs don''t line up to send us off. But treating us like a plague?" A player witnessing several instances of "real-time animation" of NPCs screaming and running off expressed dissatisfaction.


    "Who cares? Lining up to send us off won''t grant any extra prestige." There were also players that were unbothered.


    "At least give us some positive encouragement. Even the NPCs in Swordsman 3 express their gratitude when I run errands. Is that too much to ask?"


    As players bickered away like they were at a market, the cavalry squad from Indahl''s city defense force was less than ten kilometers away, traveling in a straight line toward Weisshem.


    The leader of this cavalry unit was Wagner Pitt, a knight in his forties.


    Wagner Pitt wasn''t originally a Rhine person. When he was young, he served as a squire to a city defense force knight. Due to the knight''s unexpected death from an assassination and he was yet to produce an heir, Wagner, who was a foreigner, fortunately received a knight title from the Bartalis family.


    However, this title was the pinnacle of Wagner Pitt''s life. Despite living in Indahl for many years, marrying, and having children, he still failed to gain significant favor from the Bartalis family. Even in his old age, he remained the lowest-ranking officer in the city defense force, serving as a sergeant of the most basic squad.


    Indahl, being a large city, had a retirement system for its regular forces. Those under fifty who couldn''t reach a certain rank would be arranged to undergo retirement once they reached the age. Not only did this mean zero hope for career advancement, but it also meant that income would plummet significantly.


    Wagner Pitt was well aware of why this assignment had been given to him. The regimental commander wasn''t sure if the black magician supporting the new Weisshem lord was still in town, and rather than risking a more promising young person, he thought of using Wagner, whose retirement was impending.


    No one would enjoy being treated as a discarded pawn. However, Wagner Pitt had no choice. If he dared to defy orders, the commander would forcefully retire him using that as a pretext.


    When leaving the city, Wagner had even considered whether to take a risk and go to the City Lord''s manor to report the commander, whom he disliked. Adra III''s request was to demonstrate the strength of the city defense force and intimidate the bastard lord of Weisshem. The commander, however, hadn''t seen it this way and had only sent his small squad out to probe.


    But when he thought about the high regard Adra III had for the commander compared to himself, whose name likely wasn''t even remembered, Wagner reluctantly abandoned the idea.


    If he took the risk and tried to create a rift between Adra III and the commander, he would definitely have a bad ending himself.


    While Wagner was lost in thought, his squire, a young Rhine man with perpetual ambition in his eyes, urged his horse forward and came to Wagner''s side.


    "Wagner, are we going directly to the town of Weisshem?" the young squire asked eagerly.


    "That is the commander''s order," Wagner replied coldly.


    Wagner''s favored squire, like himself, was also a foreigner. However, after the commander planned to keep Wagner in the rank of sergeant until his retirement, this Rhine person was forcefully added to his squad.


    Wagner could guess the commander''s intention. Once Wagner reached the age cap and was forced to retire, the title of Bartalis family knight would be handed over to this young man brought in by the commander.


    The Bartalis family hadn''t increased the number of their knights for many years, and each knight title of theirs held great value. Besides providing a small piece of land and subjects, it also came with a substantial salary from being an officer of the city defense force.


    "Going to town is a great idea! I''ve been hearing so many rumors about Weisshem lately and I can''t wait to see what it looks like now." The haughty young squire dismissed Wagner''s attitude, laughing loudly. "I wonder how those women we encountered when I came with the gentlemen from the city hall last time are doing. It would be a pity if those top-notch women died."


    Wagner remained expressionless. His other squire, who had served him for many years, frowned in displeasure.


    The 49 other cavalrymen accompanying them kept their mouths shut and proceeded forward in silence. These soldiers also understood that offending this arrogant young man could mean trouble for their future under his command.


    It was high noon, the sun was scorching, and there were hardly any pedestrians on the town road. Occasionally, there would be some farmers returning home to escape the heat that would catch sight of these fully armed cavalrymen coming down the road. They hastily found places to hide, afraid of doing anything wrong to offend these intimidating soldiers.


    The difference between a professional and an ordinary person was more significant than the difference between species. The scorching sun that could dehydrate an ordinary person was nothing to the cavalrymen who had undergone professional training. Even though they were clad in heavy armor, none of them shed a single drop of sweat.


    Amid the loud and boisterous laughter of the young haughty squire, Wagner, leading the group, irritably shook the reins and bypassed the low hills close to the town road.


    Then, Wagner saw¡­ on the other side of the hill, a group of undead spread out in a long line, loosely scattered all over the road.


    Players: "The heck?!"


    "Enemies!" Wagner swiftly halted his steed and unsheathed his sword.


    The town road, flanked by hills on one side and farmland on the other, offered a relatively broad field of vision.


    The scattered undead, forming an undisciplined formation, were approaching the bend in the road¡ªsome within a hundred meters, others at least three hundred meters away.


    Wagner quickly estimated the number of undead and, realizing that the numerical difference was at least five times more in favor of the dead, made a snap judgment. He couldn''t wait for these undead to assemble into formation¡ªthey had to seize the initiative!


    With a loud shout of "Follow me!" Wagner bravely led the charge.


    It was unclear whether the undead shared Wagner''s intention to strike first. These disorganized and unstructured undead emitted strange, excited cries of "WAKAKAKA" and "YAWAKAKAKA" as they charged toward the onrushing cavalry.


    Seconds later, the two sides clashed.


    The undead''s "vanguard," lacking any semblance of formation, was instantly trampled by the heavily armored cavalry riding their high horses¡­


    Scenes of bones and equipment thrown into the air didn''t even appear; the damage caused by the heavy cavalry in the moment of impact exceeded the players'' health bar limits (damage threshold), causing them to instantly vanish in a white light¡­


    Feeling only a slight impact, the shocked soldiers who collided with the disappearing undead couldn''t help looking around in confusion.


    Players, who found themselves on the teleportation platform in the Weisshem''s town hall courtyard in a flash, were equally astonished.


    "Wha¡ªf*ck! Did I just die like that?!"


    "Whoa, instakill? What the hell?"


    "Damn it, I shouldn''t have followed you guys and charged! What sort of infantry charges against cavalry!"


    "Crap, we have to run back to the battlefield again!"


    Players once again left the courtyard, grumbling and cursing¡­


    About five kilometers away, on the makeshift battlefield.


    "Damn it, those idiots are all dead!"


    "All stop dying in vain! Quickly get out of the way!"


    "Dodge!"


    Having witnessed some twenty-over comrades get instakilled, the remaining players, no matter how foolish they were, knew not to take on those trampling hooves head-on. Frantically, they scattered to both sides of the road¡­


    Fortunately, the players'' marching formation was always a snaking line that would drive any commander insane, and the scattered formation made it even harder to target. Coupled with the agile and lightway skeleton bodies, making it easy to get out of the way, the heavy cavalry''s charge failed to achieve any results.


    The horses ridden by the heavy-armored cavalry were not purebred horses but lizard horses with lizard blood. These horses were tall, robust, and possessed exceptional strength, with both load-bearing and endurance capabilities. They met the demands of heavy-armored cavalry, whose combined weight with equipment exceeded 150 kilograms.


    These lizard horses could also perform multiple short-distance sprints in a short period, allowing the cumbersome heavy-armored cavalry to launch multiple charges in a brief timeframe.


    Charging out a distance of over two hundred meters and completely dispersing the formation of the undead, the adept cavalry squad, under the command of their experienced sergeant, Wagner Pitt, quickly reorganized within seconds and turned around.


    Wagner once more raised his sword but couldn''t immediately shout for another charge.


    There was no undead on the road anymore; these sneaky creatures had fled to either the hills or the farmland.


    Wagner Pitt found himself in a bit of a dilemma¡­


    Heavy-armored cavalry, weighing nearly half a ton with rider and horse included, would be just fine on the solidly compacted town road, even if it was paved with gravel.


    However, on the fields, where the ground was relatively soft, the legs of their horses could easily get stuck.


    Wagner was contemplating whether a change of tactics was in order when the undead unexpectedly charged toward them again.


    "Hurry up! Quickly output damage while the monsters'' charge is on cooldown!"


    "Damn, small monsters are always so annoying! Die for me!"


    Wagner couldn''t understand the loud clamoring of these undead in a weird language, but seeing them return to the town road, he didn''t hesitate to lead the charge once again.


    Players at the forefront of the undead charge were killed.


    "F*cking insane!" Qin Guan, who reappeared at the Weisshem teleportation point, threw his weapon on the ground in frustration. "F*cking humanoid monsters in full armor, mounted and having a charge with no cooldown! Are the damn devs trying to mess with players?!"


    "Did you expect warm hugs from them? Not feeding us sh*t is already good enough," Give Me Medicine swore under his breath. "Come on, Vanilla, hurry up and run to the battlefield!"


    "Coming, coming!" Qin Guan hurriedly picked up his weapon.


    On the town road, after multiple charges, the number of undead had decreased significantly and no longer outnumbered the cavalry squad by that much.


    Wagner ordered the squad to halt and regroup on the side near the farmland. The cavalrymen, including himself, were in good condition, but the lizard horses were panting and needed rest.


    "So much for that!" The arrogant squire, seemingly recovering from the initial shock of encountering the large undead army, spoke loudly, perhaps to mask his embarrassment. "I wondered how terrifying the undead army that scared away the previous baron could be, but it turns out they''re just a bunch of crappy bones that crumble when touched!"


    Wagner paid no mind to this fellow, who seemed to have distantly related with the city defense force''s commander. He instead surveyed the hills on the opposite side of the road.


    The remaining undead had fled to the hills but were still within their line of sight. They were now gathered on the hill, haughtily locking eyes with them.


    They hadn''t given up; Wagner could feel their hostility¡­ Their eyes seemed to be burning with rage.


    "Not much we can do if it isn''t flat ground," Wagner frowned.


    These undead were very agile, nearly as fast as wanderers they had encountered before. If they were to battle on terrain that wasn''t flat, Wagner wasn''t confident of escaping or eliminating them all.


    What made Wagner even more uneasy was that despite charging multiple times and seemingly eradicating at least two hundred undead, there weren''t any bone fragments on the surface of the road.


    "¡­Were those undead really eliminated by us?" Wagner scrutinized the gravel road marked only by countless overlapping horseshoe prints and furrowed his brow.


    As Wagner pondered, he suddenly heard commotion within the ranks.


    "What''s going on!" Wagner immediately turned around and shouted.


    "Sarge! Look there!" a squad member cried out in panic.


    Wagner turned to look. Sure enough, on the road coming from the direction of Weisshem, another large group of undead was heading toward them in a snake formation.


    "Form up!" Wagner didn''t hesitate and shouted loudly. "Prepare to charge!"


    This experienced frontline officer knew very well that when facing such eerie enemies as the undead, soldiers mustn''t be given extra time to think and instead quickly enter the rhythm of battle. This was also why he immediately led the charge upon seeing the undead.


    This round of engagement was more challenging than the previous one. The undead this time were more agile, avoiding the direct frontal charges of the cavalry.


    They were relentless, engaging in close combat and fearlessly attacking soldiers clad in full-body armor with various weapons, all while making strange noises.


    What was more troublesome was that when the cavalry clashed with the approaching undead, those that were up the hill also came charging down, creating significant problems for the soldiers.


    After eliminating some of the undead and driving the rest back up the hill, Wagner was unharmed. However, many soldiers showed signs of fatigue and had to catch their breath.


    Wagner observed the morale of his men and then looked up at the undead on the hill.


    According to the intelligence received by the city defense force, the number of undead in Weisshem wasn''t large, with townspeople having encountered a few hundred at most.


    It''s about the same number as the ones we dealt with just now, Wagner did some mental calculations and decided to lead his troops further away so that the undead would be lured down the hills and could be eliminated.


    Thus, he directed his cavalry unit toward Weisshem.


    Sure enough, the undead on the hills followed.


    Wagner waited until the undead and the troublesome hills were at a sufficient distance, then raised his sword. "Prepare¡ª"


    "Sarge! Look there!" a squad member cried out in panic.


    Wagner''s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly turned in the direction being pointed.


    Another large group of undead were running from the direction of Weisshem¡­

 Chapter 106: Fourth Crisis’s Battle Tactics

    Wagner pulled the reins to stop his horse, removed his helmet, and exhaled.


    His hair was damp with sweat, and the lining inside his armor felt a bit sticky.


    Seeing Wagner take off his helmet, the soldiers followed suit, pushing up their visors and loosening the helmet straps to expose their overheated heads.


    Wagner surveyed the soldiers; aside from a few who usually couldn''t keep up with training that were panting now, the rest still seemed to be in decent shape.


    However¡­ Even if the men were fine, the horses weren''t.


    The eighth month''s sun was scorching, and with the frequent skirmishes without sufficient rest in between, even the sturdy and climate-adaptable lizard horses couldn''t endure such exertion.


    Wagner soothed his somewhat anxious mount by patting it on the neck while, at the same time, making sure to keep tabs on his surroundings.


    Less than a hundred meters away, on the road leading to Weisshem, about a hundred undead were scattered around the fields on both sides of the road, glaring at them.


    Wagner furrowed his brow. This batch of undead that was blocking the road was more crafty than the previous two. The recent charges of their cavalry hadn''t produced any significant results.


    Not only that, but there were even skeleton mages among these undead that would discreetly cast dark magic while hiding among the undead swathe. Just a moment ago, a soldier''s horse was hit by a slowing spell and was lagging behind. If Wagner hadn''t noticed the danger and swiftly turned to do a rescue, the soldier would have been dragged away by the swarming undead.


    The attacks of the undead didn''t pose much threat to even the horses clad in iron armor. It was only the appearance of skeleton mages that truly made Wagner wary.


    Did Charlie Rex send these undead to keep us outside Weisshem? Wagner pondered over the peculiar circumstances. Is this illegitimate bastard really aiming to go against the Bartalis family? Or does Weisshem harbor some secrets that they don''t wish for us to discover?


    At this point, Wagner had the intention to call a retreat.


    Given the commander''s cold attitude toward him, it was highly unlikely that Wagner would be assigned an easy task to flaunt his abilities.


    Dealing with these easily defeated undead was one thing, but Wagner had no interest in getting himself into more significant trouble.


    Wagner eyed the undead remnants, then put on his helmet and gestured to his squad, signaling a withdrawal.


    The heavy-armored cavalry squad''s retreat was observed by the players¡­


    "What the hell, monsters trying to run? Are they trying to leave from being out of combat for too long??"


    "Don''t go~"


    "Leave the equipment behind~"


    Players in the fields on both sides of the road chasing after the retreating cavalry squad shouted out loud and caused a racket.


    Furious, Wagner turned his steed and once more led a charge against the undead.


    The players at the forefront were instantly wiped out, and those behind scattered and fled.


    "Damn, these monsters even know how to employ trickery!"


    "Are you kidding! The level of this monster AI is simply cancer!"


    Still, this bunch of undead fled too quickly. Despite several charges from the heavily armored cavalry, not that many skeletons were eliminated. Wagner, panting heavily, glared at the undead scattered everywhere, his face twitching with frustration.


    They were delayed in this manner for a bit, and Wagner was astonished to discover that¡­ yet another large group of undead were rushing toward them from the direction of Weisshem¡­


    "Has Weisshem become a nest of the undead?!" Wagner was baffled. The information they received from people coming out hadn''t mentioned that there were so many undead hiding in their town!


    "Retreat!" Without a second thought, Wagner swiftly turned his horse.


    The undead that had just scattered everywhere once again started the raucous "YAWAKAKAKA" cries and swarmed up again.


    One significant advantage cavalry had over infantry was that four legs outran two. However, this advantage didn''t seem to affect the players much¡ªtheir skeleton frames weighed approximately just over 30 kilograms, even lighter than a large hound. As long as they didn''t trip and fall apart on their own, catching up with four-legged creatures was relatively easy.


    Soldiers falling behind were tangling with the undead, forcing Wagner to turn back once again to make a rescue.


    While grappling with the undead, the "fourth batch" of undead arrived on the battlefield. The number of undead, which had finally been reduced to double digits, rose back up to triple digits¡­


    Both sides seemed to have no solution against the other. And after a brief entanglement, they once more had a face-off while maintaining a safe distance.


    Wagner felt a splitting headache just looking at the vast army of undead that couldn''t be driven away, whereas, on the players'' end, they felt this was a very poor experience.


    "Run for half an hour, battle for 30 seconds. Is this even a game?!"


    "The weapon I just bought broke after two swings. I''m so unlucky!"


    "Is there a badass knight that can tank these monsters? We totally can''t hold them up at all!"


    "Tank, my ass! Everyone dies as soon as they go up!"


    Amid the players'' complaints and grumbles, a melodious voice broke through the noise, "Qingyue, Qingyue, are you here yet?"


    Unceasing Entropy had perished in the previous round of skirmishes and made the painstaking run back to the battlefield. She had only just joined back up with her team when she heard Blossoming Strokes'' voice and promptly responded, "I''m here!"


    Blossoming Strokes, with Give Me Medicine in tow, squeezed over to where Unceasing Entropy''s team was and greeted familiar faces like Yang Ying and Tang Jia.


    "Where''s Ji Tang? Isn''t Ji Tang with you guys?"


    "No, he isn''t. Ji Tang had matters to attend to," replied Unceasing Entropy.


    "Alright." Blossoming Strokes also wasn''t too bothered by Ji Tang''s absence. "Qingyue, any thoughts on this bunch of elite monsters?"


    "It''s all cavalry, and we can''t just confront them head-on. We have to get these monsters dismounted first if we want to fight them," Unceasing Entropy said. "These elite monsters aren''t immune to Slowdown. Previously, I attempted slowing down the horses and having our members manually pull the monsters off their mounts¡­ Unfortunately, we weren''t successful."


    "I saw that, too." Blossoming Strokes nodded enthusiastically. "Slowdown can only affect one target at a time. If we slow down only one target, the other elite monsters will come to the target''s rescue. If we could slow down several simultaneously, those elite monsters wouldn''t be able to rescue all, right? This way, we might have a chance to reduce the elite monster count."


    The monsters in this game were different from those of traditional games; defeated monsters didn''t respawn as quickly. It was challenging to deal with these elite monsters when they were grouped up, so gradually reducing their numbers was a strategy¡ªthis was a common tactic similar to clearing small monsters before tackling a boss in traditional games.


    Without the slightest hesitation, Unceasing Entropy extended the hand of friendship.


    Having recruited a reliable teammate in Unceasing Entropy, Blossoming Strokes now had five mages on hand (including herself and the healer player in their team that had just recently successfully done the job advancement) and enthusiastically went seeking out Brother Lahong.


    Mage apprentices were considered the hardest among the professions available to players. Their job reputation was hard to earn; Lord Yang demanded expensive materials, and the job advancement quest was extremely difficult to clear.


    Since the launch of "OtherWorld" one month ago, the number of mage players in the game could be counted with one''s fingers.


    Among these less than ten mages, there was still the reclusive Ou Huang, who never accepted group quests¡­


    In any case, Blossoming Strokes managed to recruit the mages among unaffiliated players that she could persuade (Unceasing Entropy and Win By Grinding). Brother Lahong, who had only two mages on his side, had no reason to refuse. As soon as they met, an elite team was quickly formed.


    "After the vanguard engages in battle, we seven mages will mix in the crowd and approach. From left to right, we''ll each claim a target and simultaneously cast Slowdown. Remember, stagger the casting, and don''t cast on the same target."


    With the elite team assembled, Blossoming Strokes took command and immediately began drawing up the battle plan. "Next, Brother Lahong''s knight team, try getting close to the monsters affected by Slowdown and seize the opportunity to strike."


    "Don''t worry!" Brother Lahong patted his chest confidently.


    Due to Brother Lahong''s early investment in the undead horse, their side had the most knight players with the best equipment¡ªtheir knights could take turns leading the undead horse into Poisonous Marshlands to lure monsters, specifically targeting those who dropped abundant materials. In terms of both profit and efficiency, they were unparalleled compared to other monster-hunting teams. The responsibility of leading the knight team undoubtedly fell to Brother Lahong.


    "Lastly, Sis Ying''s warrior team." Blossoming Strokes glanced at Yang Ying. "The elite monster''s commander is entrusted to you guys. Any questions?"


    Players had used Identify on Wagner Pitt, and the information displayed in red above his head read "City Defense Force officer"¡­


    Yang Ying didn''t dare make claims that were too bold. "We''ll do our best. That monster is fierce and has crazy good AI. I can''t guarantee how long we can hold him back."


    "Just buying some time for Brother Lahong''s knight team is good enough. If they can pull away a few, the pressure on us in the next round would be significantly reduced," said Blossoming Strokes. "If nobody has any questions, let''s get ready."


    Having experienced the "torture" of the Inner Demon dungeon instance, being wiped out three times in succession was nothing but a trivial matter for players. There were no death penalties, no forced offline contemplation, and the monsters weren''t unpleasant looking. Furthermore, their attack methods weren''t surprising, and this event didn''t seem like it had the possibility of causing psychological trauma.


    Not only was there a lack of psychological trauma, but players also used their own experiences or witnessed the demise of their comrades to understand the "attack patterns" of these elite monsters. The heavily armored cavalry had the highest burst damage when charging in a group and, although powerful, could only run in a straight line.


    As long as players avoided the frontal trampling of the hooves and evaded skillfully, they wouldn''t be easily taken down.


    The vanguard made of players from the wanderer class, including Give Me Medicine and Study Obsessed, went up first. When the elite monsters initiated the first wave of charges, players quickly scattered, jumping into the harvested wheat fields on both sides of the road. They moved agilely, flanking the rear of the enemy and striking randomly.


    The seven mage apprentice players blended in amongst the largest group of wanderer players, and when the wanderers engaged the enemies in a hit-and-run, the mages raised their crude wooden staves simultaneously and cast Slowdown on the selected targets.


    The knight players that were slower by a bit charged at the targets affected by Slowdown.


    "We''re up!" Yang Ying waited until the first wave of cavalry had charged several meters and was drawn further away by the wanderer players, creating a gap, before she herself launched a charge and rushed toward the most challenging elite monster commander.


    The Charge skill in a warrior player''s skill panel could only charge targets within an 85-meter distance and was completely different from a true cavalry''s charge in terms of power and destructive force.


    However, this simplified version of the Charge skill, plagiarized from an alchemical puppet''s rune, also had its advantages: As long as there was enough rage value (mental power) to activate the rune, the skill didn''t require any preparation and could be used regardless of the original action or posture.


    When discussing tactics and how to deploy their troop formations, players did so openly and confidently in front of the armored cavalry.


    These sort of rampant actions of deploying troops directly in front of the enemy wasn''t perceived as wrong by players like Unceasing Entropy and Blossoming Strokes, who were the critical thinkers among the players. After all, were there any gamers who hadn''t discussed tactics in front of a boss during a dungeon run before?


    Witnessing such a scene infuriated the cavalrymen¡ªeven if they couldn''t understand the undead language, just observing these undead rearrange their formation boldly while occasionally gesturing at them was enough to understand what they were up to. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Wagner Pitt had already decided to not continue clashing with these undead so as to avoid incurring the wrath of that noble-born illegitimate son that had a black mage backing him (given the continuous influx of the undead, Wagner judged that the black mage himself was in Weisshem).


    But, upon witnessing this sight, he no longer was in any rush to retreat and felt it necessary to eliminate these undead that were underestimating them.


    As players made their move, Wagner initiated a ferocious charge.


    Then, much to his surprise, he found that this bunch of undead was even more troublesome than the previous three batches! (a colossal misunderstanding) They knew how to split the battlefield, divide their forces, and sneak around to attack the cavalry squad''s weak points!


    After charging through several dozen undead that couldn''t evade in time, Wagner tugged the reins of his steed, coming to a halt, and roared for his troops to reinforce the rear.


    When he turned his horse, Wagner saw about ten undead, apparently lagging behind, running toward him.


    Wagner didn''t care about these few skeletons that were separated from the undead army, and he certainly didn''t feel any danger. He believed he could still emerge unscathed even if he faced over ten undead alone. Moreover, he had his soldiers by his side.


    It was with this mindset that Wagner prepared to turn back. However, at that moment, from the corner of his eye, he saw an undead, seemingly out of nowhere, making an unexpected and entirely unconventional charge toward him.


    Of course, Wagner had seen charging techniques before. Compared to the charges he had faced in battles against other professionals, the power of this skeleton was quite pathetic. It clattered into the side of his horse and his right leg, though the horse remained steadfast, while Wagner only swayed slightly.


    Before Wagner could comprehend how this skeleton had generated the force in such an unmethodical charge, several more undead, running haphazardly and showing no combat proficiency like the other undead, came in twos and threes, launching unpredictable charges at him¡­


    Players relying on runes had very low combat power indeed. They could only achieve the strength of a proper professional when ten of them teamed up.


    However, players had their own advantages, such as having no sensation of pain and being completely indifferent to injury.


    At the moment when Yang Ying, who was leading the charge, clattered into Wagner Pitt, Wagner''s sword pierced through her right clavicle. The steel plate fish-scale armor, a modern industrial product that Yang Ying wore, couldn''t withstand the casual reverse strike of Wagner''s sword, indicating his strength.


    However, this didn''t prove effective. Skeletons were least bothered by piercing injuries. Yang Ying didn''t care that the enemy''s sword was still stuck in her shoulder. With a simple movement, she skillfully wielded her weapon and used Blade Dance, slashing through the armored kilt at Wagner''s left thigh¡­


    Tang Jia, clattered into Wagner slightly after Yang Ying and with great coordination, unleashed Sword Storm, spinning like a high-speed top where she stood. Regardless of the actual damage inflicted, it temporarily intimidated the soldiers who intended to help Wagner.


    Qin Guan, Fallen Mulberry Leaves, and a few other warrior players also charged toward Wagner''s mount. Regardless of their individual skill levels, these warrior players knew how to use their skills. For a moment, the area around Wagner was filled with chaotic sword flashes, making it difficult for even his loyal squire to get close.


    With Wagner Pitt temporarily pinned back and losing his on-the-spot command, chaos descended on most of the cavalry squad that was engaging with the wanderer players.


    These soldiers weren''t lacking in combat strength, but due to the continuous depletion of stamina and energy during the three previous engagements, coupled with the more than fivefold difference in numbers and the reckless tactics of the undead, they couldn''t hold out for long. They quickly became fragmented and unable to hold an effective battle formation.


    The heavy cavalry was thrown into disarray, though the players didn''t gain much of an advantage either¡ªthese heavily armored foes were exceptionally resilient, didn''t take much damage even from ten strikes, and would kill a skeleton with a single strike. The flashing of players'' respawn lights flicked throughout this brutal battle.


    Any other armed group experiencing such a grueling battle would have already crumbled, but the players were surprisingly accepting. For them, facing heavy losses in a boss fight, especially this sort of elite boss in a town defense quest, was perfectly normal.


    Not only were they indifferent to casualties, but these players, after successfully luring the elite heavy cavalry into a chaotic melee that was devoid of any technical finesse, also displayed considerable ingenuity by using old tricks¡­


    One soldier thrust his spear at an undead lunging at him. Once thrust out, he couldn''t retract it¡ªat least three other undead clutched onto the shaft of his spear tightly, shouting while pulling with all their might.


    Fearful of being pulled off his horse, this soldier had no choice but to let go and drew his shortsword for self-defense.


    The eyes of an undead zealously hacking at his greaves lit up. With a "WAKAKA" cry, its two skeletal arms hooked onto the soldier''s arm, determined to snatch his shortsword.


    The bewildered soldier attempted to shake off the undead. However, more undead closed in from all sides¡ªsome trying to cut the straps of his greaves, others attempted to take off his shoes, and some climbed up the horse to try and seize his helmet¡­


    The soldier, blanketed by the undead, was shocked, furious and terrified, and screamed desperately.


    Brother Lahong, leading the team of knights, took advantage of the chaos and forcibly dismounted four soldiers affected by Slowdown. These soldiers were quickly stripped of their equipment, put in woven bags, and carried away.


    When he noticed that the wanderer players were only focused on looting equipment and not capturing people, he got pissed and shouted, "Take the people too! Don''t forget the horses!"


    By the time Wagner finished off Yang Ying, Tang Jia, and the other warrior players holding him, more than half of his soldiers were deprived of their weapons, boots, greaves, helmets, and other equipment by the time he rushed back to reform the formation.


    The fleeing undead dispersed in a panic, carrying away six of his soldiers and five lizard horses.


    Wagner Pitt: "¡­"


    During this encounter, his side suffered a loss of about a tenth of their combat strength, while the undead experienced casualties of at least 70%.


    In theory, they ought to have won.


    But Wagner couldn''t seem to find any joy. He was so furious that smoke seemed to be coming out of his head.


    Gritting his teeth, this still rational officer reluctantly waved his hand, preparing to take this opportunity to retreat.


    Seeing the boss about to break away, players that had fled into the fields hurriedly dropped their captives and turned around, shouting and sprinting after the boss.


    The scene of a small group of undead latching on, delaying them until a larger group of undead came to their aid, played out once again¡­


    After paying the price of losing several men to repel the undead again, the haughty young squire finally broke down.


    "We''ve killed at least a thousand undead. Why do they keep coming? What exactly are we facing?!" he shouted.


    No one answered him. Tired and hungry, Wagner and the other soldiers watched the loitering undead in the near distance and took the lull to stuff dry rations into their mouths to recover some strength.


    As long as they didn''t retreat, the undead wouldn''t tangle with them. Although a skirmish with a large group of undead after a long delay was inevitable, it was still better than having no breather at all.


    The remnants of the squad took a break on the town road and could even see the people that had been taken away by the undead; those unlucky comrades who had fallen into the hands of the enemy were tied up in the woods two to three hundred meters away from the road.


    Even more infuriating was the fact that some of the undead were even wearing armor parts or wielding weapons stolen from them¡­


    The young squire felt grief and anger. He was a distant relative of the city defense force''s commander, and his parents had nearly used up all their assets to bribe the commander to give him a chance to succeed this Bartalis family knight. There was no way he could willingly have his bright future buried here!


    I must escape! I have to escape! The young squire plopped down and also started taking out dry rations from his bag and stuffing them into his mouth fiercely. Thoughts were racing through his mind.


    Abandoning an entire squad of soldiers¡­ It''s Wagner''s responsibility! It has nothing to do with me. I must find an opportunity to escape!


    Wagner could see through this fellow''s intent to desert and have the others take the blame with a single glance. However, being physically and mentally exhausted, he couldn''t be bothered to deal with it.


    Having lost so many soldiers, Wagner wouldn''t escape punishment from the commander even if they managed to escape back to Indahl¡­ Not to mention that the undead seemed to have exposed the intention to capture all of them.


    Ten minutes later, a large group of undead appeared on the town road from the direction of Weisshem.


    The cavalry squad soldiers, already numbed to this sight, weren''t even surprised. They silently mounted their horses and lined up in formation.


    This batch of undead (massive misunderstanding) had even more cunning tactics than the previous ones. Even the haughty young squire, who had always avoided fighting the undead and hid behind the others, was knocked unconscious and dragged away by the undead.


    At 9:30 a.m. Earth time, 6:00 p.m. OtherWorld time, Rex and Ji Tang, who had been roaming the countryside all day (OtherWorld time), rushed back to Weisshem before it got dark.


    As soon as they entered the town hall courtyard, Rex shuddered violently.


    Beneath the west courtyard wall were several dozen brawny men neatly tied up.


    These men were all very strong, and Rex could confirm with a casual glance every one of them had at least the combat power of a professional or higher.


    Such a force of professional combat strength was even sufficient to raid a nobleman''s estate.


    Rex stared blankly at these men who seemed to be unscathed yet appeared half-dead. Then, he stiffly turned to look at Ji Tang.


    "Looks like it''s already been resolved," muttered Ji Tang as if he already knew what he was going to see. He threw Rex a casual glance and urged, "Let''s go in and take advantage of the fact it isn''t dark yet and quickly summarize today''s progress."


    Rex: "¡­"


    Seeing Ji Tang''s reaction, he could roughly confirm who these new prisoners were and why they had ended up in such a sorry state: Not a single one of them even had a boot on their feet! They were all barefooted!

 Chapter 107: Monster X2

    Lord Adra III of Indahl had sent his soldiers to deliver a total of 52 sets of full-body armor and over a hundred weapons, including spears, swords, short swords, and blunt weapons, to the players.


    Players gleefully brought this equipment, along with the equipment''s owners and their mounts, back to Weisshem. Both the captives and horses belonged to Yang Qiu, and as for equipment¡­ half of it also ended up with Yang Qiu.


    It couldn''t be helped. Firstly, players couldn''t use spears and blunt instruments, as these weighed nearly half of a player''s skeletal body. Just picking them up would disrupt their balance, let alone actually be effective in combat.


    The components of full-body armor, including shoulder plates, chest plates, and steel kilts, were also unusable for players. Their skeleton body couldn''t support these heavy pieces of gear.


    The riding greaves worn by the cavalrymen were, of course, also unusable for players. Ordinary shoes would already make a player''s skeletal frame unable to walk, let alone these boots with a heavy steel shell.


    If Yang Qiu didn''t offer some reputation, coins, or other rewards in exchange for gear that couldn''t be equipped, the players would surely throw a huge fuss and complain on the forum.


    In any case, players were delighted that they had managed to plunder helmets, arm guards, guards, leg bindings, long swords, short swords, and other gear. They even complained that Weisshem didn''t have enough open space to auction their loot and thus noisily commuted back to Exile Town.


    It was also lucky that Weisshem didn''t have enough empty space for them to hold auctions; otherwise, Wagner Pitt, who had just become a prisoner, might have been infuriated to death.


    When Wagner Pitt was stripped of his equipment, tied up, and taken away on horseback by the undead, he felt utter despair. He assumed that he would have the miserable fate of either having his head chopped off or becoming an undead sacrifice.


    However, after being brought to Weisshem as a prisoner, Wagner suddenly realized something was wrong.


    Wasn''t Weisshem supposed to have turned into an undead lair?


    Why are the people here still living their lives as usual?


    The undead had dragged them through the streets, but the townspeople that were returning home didn''t run away in panic. Some had even dared to stop and watch!


    Wagner even saw the townspeople who stopped by the roadside chatting among themselves curiously as if the high and mighty Indahl city defense force was a circus sideshow¡­


    As they passed through residential areas, even children excitedly ran out of their homes to get a close-up view, only to be dragged back by adults.


    Although he couldn''t hear the voices of the townspeople due to the constant and raucous "KABAKABA" noises of the undead, Wagner felt utterly embarrassed and wished he could drop dead on the spot¡­ He had never imagined the scene of him entering Weisshem to be this awkward.


    Beyond that, Wagner was genuinely relieved¡ªsince the undead only captured them alive, and Weisshem, the supposed "nest of undead," was thriving with life, indicating that the new lord, Rex, was unlikely an evildoer. For the time being, the lives of the cavalry squad seemed relatively safe.


    Following that, the undead indeed only took away their horses and belongings before placing them under the courtyard wall of Weisshem''s town hall. Then, in succession, the skeletons stepped onto a raised platform in the middle of the courtyard and disappeared.


    Wagner stared with wide eyes until the last undead "vanished" and sighed, feeling a sense of relief.


    That''s right, these undead were just tools that the new lord, Rex, had used to deal with them.


    Since Rex had gotten these undead to capture them alive, it meant that he probably would take their lives. It was more likely that he would use the captured cavalry squad as bargaining chips to gain something from Indahl.


    Wagner struggled to sit up and gazed straight ahead solemnly. He tried his best to maintain some shred of dignity to not appear too disheveled when Rex''s people saw him.


    Half an hour passed¡­


    An hour¡­


    As the sky gradually darkened, Wagner''s legs started to go numb, and the areas bound by rope started to ache. His men were all exhausted and dozing off, yet no one came to deal with them.


    The town hall wasn''t completely deserted; during the long period of sitting, Wagner saw at least four groups of tanned, young women in neat attire carrying thick folders or holding boxes, coming and going out of the town hall.


    These women¡­ weren''t very proper. At least, Wagner had never seen young women this age actually going out with such messy hair, not to mention the mud and dust on their shoes, clothes, and even their faces.


    As these ladies hurriedly came and left, they would occasionally cast a curious glance in his direction, but there was no intention of engaging in conversation or contact.


    In addition to these peculiar women, the undead that Wagner never wanted to see again¡­ also appeared.


    In the platform center of the courtyard where the undead had disappeared, varying numbers of undead appeared after a flash of white light.


    These undead completely ignored Wagner and the others, chattered in their headache-inducing "KABAKABAKA" noises the moment they appeared, and headed out of the town hall.


    From where Wagner was, he could see a little of the street beyond the courtyard gate. He witnessed these undead boldly strolling out and following along the street.


    Weisshem''s people have really adapted to coexisting with these undead¡­ Wagner thought to himself, feeling a complex mix of emotions.


    There were residential dwellings in the vicinity of the town hall, yet these undead coming and going without inducing any signs of panic such as screams indicated that besides serving the new lord and capturing outsiders like Wagner and his unit, the undead were also active in the town at other times.


    There were people coming in and out of the town hall, and occasionally pedestrians could be seen on the street outside. It showed that the locals didn''t deliberately avoid the town hall due to the presence of the undead.


    Their cavalry squad, fully armed and trespassing without notifying the lord in advance, didn''t in any way look like visitors. Yet, Rex had gotten the undead to spare their lives.


    As a beneficiary of this, Wagner was in no position to blame the people of Weisshem for not putting up any resistance and accepting coexistence with the undead¡­


    People are inclined to seek benefits and avoid harm. It''s only normal for the ordinary townsfolk to make compromises for such self-preservation.


    But how do these undead manage to coexist with the living without harming them?


    Wagner continued to ponder, finding it increasingly difficult to understand.


    The main enemies Indahl''s city defense force faced were bandits, marauders, and beasts from the Sorensen Mountains and nearby areas. Wagner only knew how to combat these adversaries and lacked much knowledge about dark beings.


    Knowledge in this world didn''t come cheap. Wagner, who had a rough upbringing, was sold into the Rhine Kingdom as a young servant for six silver coins. Even reading a newspaper required guesswork for him, and he had to ask the wives of ordinary citizens for the meaning of slightly obscure words.


    Wagner''s lack of understanding of the tactics and coordination of these dark beings meant that all he knew was what he read about them in newspapers. Such reports depicted the undead as beings inclined toward slaughter, inherently evil, and entirely incompatible to coexist peacefully with humans.


    While Wagner reckoned that what appeared in the newspapers had some inaccuracies, he, at least, considered it to be largely the truth.


    As he continued to contemplate, two men hurriedly entered the town hall courtyard.


    No, it was a young man with a strong physique, visibly formidable, accompanied by an undead companion, and both were pushing bicycles with muddy steel frames. This scene made Wagner do a double take.


    The young man also looked at Wagner, and his dirt-covered, sweaty face revealed a surprise. He then turned to exchange a few words with the accompanying undead.


    People here can be so intimate with the undead¡­


    From what Wagner saw, it was unexpected but not entirely surprising, considering that the locals didn''t seem to show any intention of avoiding the town hall, which he considered a "nest of undead."


    The young man and the undead continued to push their bikes and entered the town hall''s lobby.


    Wagner glanced at the darkening sky and sighed. It seemed that they would be left to cool off overnight, and Lord Rex, who had established a solid position in Weisshem, would only show up later.


    At this moment, yet another large group entered the town hall courtyard.


    All of them are young men and women with tanned skin. These people were carrying thick document bags, lugging half-empty cloth bags, wearing backpacks, or jointly carrying wooden boxes.


    Most of them had rather delicate facial features, but they didn''t seem to care about their appearance. Each of them appeared rather tired, with hair damp from sweat and dirt or mud on their faces, hands, clothes, and shoes.


    As they passed through the courtyard, they would glance curiously in Wagner''s direction, but no one even spoke as if even talking was a strenuous effort for them.


    This group also entered the town hall.


    Wagner eyed them suspiciously, unable to comprehend what these young people were up to.


    They appeared too fragile to be laborers and didn''t seem at all capable of handling such duties.


    It was unlikely that they were clerical staff. Most of this group were women, and would any administrative office hire women as clerks, and so many at that?


    Moreover, clerks in administrative offices were usually composed individuals, unlike how this disheveled bunch looked.


    Table of Contents


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    While Wagner was puzzled, a few more men entered the town hall courtyard.


    At first glance, these men seemed to fit Wagner''s understanding of laborers, but¡­ they appeared unfriendly, and their demeanor was far from decent.


    Wagner''s brows furrowed when he laid eyes on these men, and even had a sense of hostility rise in him. Undoubtedly, if he ever saw such individuals in Indahl, he would certainly stop them and inquire about their background.


    Unlike the hurried comings and goings of before, these men stopped in their tracks and stood there, glaring at Wagner and his men.


    "Hal. You guys are here."


    The young man that had pushed the bicycle in earlier called out to this bunch from a distance.


    "Ah, yeah," Hal said gruffly.


    "You guys take over and quickly settle these people before it gets dark." Rex, accustomed to Hal''s unfriendliness, was unfazed.


    As he approached the men tied up beneath the courtyard wall, Rex effortlessly identified the strongest among them; it was an easy task at his level to recognize fellow professional levels.


    "May I know your name?" Rex met Wagner''s gaze and nodded slightly.


    Wagner remained unflinching, and no one would know he had actually been startled.


    It was only when Rex approached that he realized this young man''s strength wasn''t ordinary.


    "Wagner Pitt," Wagner said stiffly. "First Lieutenant in the Indahl City Defense Force."


    "Hello, Lieutenant Pitt." Rex nodded again. "I am Charlie Rex."


    Wagner was taken aback. A man with such strength had an extraordinary status. This wasn''t something Wagner wasn''t able to accept.


    But Wagner couldn''t help scrutinizing Rex''s shoes and pants.


    The sweat and dust on Rex''s face seemed to have been washed off, but the mud on his shoes and thighs made Wagner''s eyelids twitch.


    Are you really a noble?!


    "Your unexpected arrival took me by surprise. I hadn''t received any letter from Indahl beforehand," said Rex.


    Indahl''s city defense force was a regular army, and the transfer of troops to another territory required communication between the two lords, even if it was just a steward coming over to explain in advance.


    Adra III, however, evidently hadn''t observed this etiquette¡ªin other words, Rex, Weisshem''s lord, had the reason to treat Wagner and the others as invading enemies. As long as he wasn''t afraid of retaliation from Adra III, the head of the Bartalis family, Rex could kill or sell off every one of these men from the cavalry squad.


    Wagner was well aware of the intricacies involved and chose to remain silent.


    Rex paused and continued, "I believe this may be a misunderstanding. Until the misunderstanding is cleared up, I can only ask you all to stay temporarily and be my guests in Weisshem. What do you think, Lieutenant Pitt?"


    Wagner remained silent for a bit, then lowered his head. "I apologize for the inconvenience then, Mr. Rex."


    Rex had noble lineage and actually possessed territory. It was only a matter of time before he received the corresponding title. Until Rex officially received his title, calling him "Mr." was the safest and least likely to go wrong in any situation.


    "Then please follow our friend who is in charge, and he''ll settle you guys in temporarily," Rex gestured behind him.


    Hal stood unmoving on his spot, like an old master.


    The others weren''t so bold and didn''t dare confront Rex, who had been raised to a high position by Yang, either. Jerome, Finley, and Tuttle approached and untied the ropes binding the soldiers'' feet.


    They only untied the feet to prevent these guys from running away or hurting others.


    When the soldiers were lined up, Hal waved his hands and brought these people away.


    Wagner was about to follow but was stopped by Rex.


    "Lieutenant Pitt is an officer. Officers should enjoy preferential treatment according to customs. Please come with me," Rex politely said.


    Wagner understood very well how nobles'' politeness on the surface worked and followed like a conscientious captive¡­


    Five minutes later, Rex personally led Wagner to a large house two blocks away from the town hall.


    When Wagner saw this large house, he thought it was Rex''s residence and that he was going to be personally guarded by Rex¡ªthen, he was before two men in robes.


    "Good evening, Inspector Lowell, Yang. This is Wagner Pitt, First Lieutenant in the Indahl City Defense Force."


    In the hall, Rex greeted Lowell politely before introducing the still-bound Wagner to the two.


    Yang had already known about Wagner from viewing the perspectives of different players. He casually waved and said, "Untie our guest. There''s no need for so much apprehension here."


    Rex promptly untied Wagner.


    Despite finally regaining his freedom, Wagner couldn''t feel relaxed at all, glancing suspiciously at Yang and Lowell.


    These two, who looked younger than him but had strong auras, made Wagner''s tense nerves scream. Even though he was standing and the two were sitting, Wagner felt like he was a child crawling at the feet of adults!


    Yang flashed a slight smile. "I am Black Mage Yang. My undead have been in your care, Lieutenant Pitt."


    Wagner: "¡­"


    Wagner had, of course, heard stories about the Nightmare Butcher when he was younger. This monster, who had lived for several centuries, was now sitting in front of him, looking younger than Wagner himself.


    Thinking back on how he and his soldiers had killed at least a thousand undead, Wagner broke into a cold sweat¡­


    Inspector Lowell glanced at Yang weirdly. Is it that fun to tease a youngster?


    Yang Qiu, who had no intention of mistreating Wagner, smiled gently. "The Indahl City Defense Force''s unannounced arrival must have been a misunderstanding between Adra III and Rex. Until the misunderstanding is cleared up, I hope you won''t mind accompanying us, two old men, for the time being."


    Wagner shuddered deep down but quickly nodded. "Of course."


    A monster like the Nightmare Butcher¡­ and there were two of them!


    "Go about your business, Rex." Yang Qiu nodded at Rex. Then, he pointed to the small coal stove in the living room and smiled at Wagner. "I accidentally put out the fire. Could you help us get it going again? It''s hard for us old folks to bear going without hot water for tea. Firewood and coal are in the backyard."


    Wagner silently picked up the small coal stove and went to the backyard as directed by Yang Qiu¡­


    After Wagner lit the fire and brought the small coal stove back to the hall, Yang Qiu instructed him to boil water, warm the cups, brew oatmeal milk tea, clean the house, handle the rubbish in the yard that had piled up for several days¡­ and so on.


    A professional level could handle such labor efficiently. Wagner finished these household chores that an ordinary person would spend half a day to clear in under an hour.


    After dividing the self-heating hotpots that Inspector Lowell had personally prepared (mainly because Lowell was worried that Wagner, being clumsy, might mess it up), Yang Qiu generously said to the knight who had worked up a sweat, "You sleep in the guest room over there. Get up early tomorrow, tidy up the garden for us, clean the curtains, and change the sofa covers. Oh, and wash the dirty cushions in the living room."


    Wagner held his small hotpot and silently walked away¡­


    "Why did you bring him here?" With the subject gone, Inspector Lowell asked Yang Qiu.


    "It would prove troublesome for Hal to manage if the Lieutenant and his men are kept together; Rex is so busy while we''re free, so it''s good to help Rex relieve some of his burden," said Yang Qiu as he nonchalantly uncovered the lid of his small hotpot.


    "This young man is rather efficient at doing household chores. Looks like he often helps his wife with them. What a pleasant surprise."


    Inspector Lowell didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. Only you would be able to use a family knight as a servant!


    "At least you wouldn''t have to heat the bathwater yourself," Yang Qiu quipped.


    Inspector Lowell shut his mouth and started to work on his own small hotpot.


    There was no gas pipeline in Weisshem, and taking a bath was a troublesome affair¡ªjust heating water would take a long time.


    Even though this private mansion, built by the former mayor for his own personal enjoyment, had a bathtub with a heating pipe in the bathroom, there was still a need to use the heating port from the outside after filling it with water. On top of that, the water had to be heated at least half an hour in advance and the fire must be watched.


    Inspector Lowell wasn''t a particularly fastidious person. He could accept bathing once every ten days or so. But, when living with Yang Qiu, who was always fresh and clean, with even a faint hint of fragrance, Inspector Lowell naturally couldn''t lose¡­


    While Yang Qiu and Inspector Lowell were enjoying the quiet night with someone else serving them, the players entered the final round of Inner Demon instance dungeons for the weekend event.


    With the experience of having successfully cleared the instance once and the added bonuses of newly acquired shiny equipment flowing into the player community, the number of players participating in the Inner Demon instance dungeons at this time reached a new peak.


    The loot¡­ no, equipment seized this time was way too much. Even the big spenders like Brother Lahong and Qin Guan couldn''t monopolize it all. Many casual players also obtained one or two pieces of equipment through the copper coins they had saved, significantly boosting their combat power. Naturally, the number of people wanting to challenge their limits also increased.


    Two hours in the game passed, and these casual players were thoroughly schooled and finally realized how inflated their heads were¡­ The monsters in the instance were completely different from the ordinary mobs!


    These casual players grumbled as they withdrew, either logging out and waiting for the in-game dawn to return or heading to Desolate Outpost or Weisshem to play around. Anything was better than spending half the day forming a team, only to be wiped out in less than three minutes inside the instance.


    Of course, not all casual players would give up so easily.


    Two players, decked out in extremely luxurious equipment from helmet to knee guards, appeared in Exile Town''s Third Street. They stood at the spot where people teamed up for the most popular Hal''s Inner Demon instance and hollered, "Two bosses looking for mercenaries to carry us through! Any strong fighters available? 100 yuan red envelope for everyone upon successful clear!"


    "It''s not certain to beat the instance even with a full squad of 11. Who can even handle a 9+2 formation now?" A nearby player, who was also seeking a team, shook his head. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    One of the two bosses glanced at this player, then raised his hand and shouted loudly, "Sincerely recruiting powerful workers, 200 yuan red envelope for each successful completion! 300 yuan for the team leader! Long-term partnership!"


    "The heck!" Now, not only the players nearby were stunned. Everyone else in the area looking for teams was taken aback.


    Regardless of whether others were tempted, Yang Ying was definitely intrigued and immediately went to drag her companions over¡­

 Chapter 108: Earn Money Clearing Instance

    Due to the tight restrictions on "beta test accounts" and the reluctance to transition to open public testing, there were currently only three and a half "tycoons" among the player community.


    Qin Guan, the now popular content creator who was now earning quite a bit and could spend money in the game, accounted for the half. The other three were small business owner Brother Lahong and the two other bosses now calling for a "group purchase" in the teaming area¡ªthey had been the ones who had won the Orb of Deception auction previously.


    The so-called "group purchase" referred to the boss only providing funds during the process of teaming up for instance runs, monopolizing a certain item or resource produced in the instance dungeon, or even having a complete monopoly.


    The Inner Demon instance didn''t drop items; the only rewards for clearing it were the enchantment chances for equipment. When these two whales wanted to make a group purchase, it meant monopolizing these rewards.


    The enchantment chances obtained by hired hands couldn''t be transferred, but they could help enchant other people''s equipment. In other words, the boss paid the workers to carry them through the instance to gain enchantment attempts for their own equipment.


    From the perspective of an ordinary player, this was truly throwing money, but from the perspective of whale players, it was being cost-effective. After all, wealthy people might be lazy or foolish, but they seldom fail to calculate. Both of them were well aware that it would be difficult for them to clear the instance without hiring powerful workers.


    Yang Ying, who was now gaming semi-professionally and earned some money from playing OtherWorld, and the poor college student Tang Jia approached the two tycoons. Recognizing immediately, the eyes of the two bosses lit up and they greeted, "Sis Ying, Stuffed Gummy, are you guys willing to carry us? If a 9+2 formation doesn''t work, we can do 10+1. Orange Cat and I can do separate group purchases."


    This was where the relationship between bosses and workers in a game differed from reality. Paying bosses in games were usually more accommodating than the ones they were looking to hire.


    Yang Ying and Tang Jia had originally come to inquire about making some money through part-time work. Upon hearing this, they had a little discussion, and Tang Jia said, "You two wait, I''ll ask Qingyue''s opinion."


    On hearing that they could even hire Unceasing Entropy, the two bosses nodded eagerly. "Good, good, good!"


    Tang Jia took off to find Unceasing Entropy and came back with her a little while later¡­


    "It''s indeed difficult to handle a 9+2 formation right now, but we can try a 10+1 formation," said Unceasing Entropy. "However, I can''t promise to sell you all the enchantment chances. If our teammates want to enchant their equipment themselves, their attempts won''t be for sale. Are you okay with that?"


    It was difficult to determine whether 2100 RMB for a total of 11 enchantment attempts was a good deal without prior market reference. Players who were willing to earn spare cash would be pleased with the opportunity to earn 2100 RMB by completing a dungeon run. However, for players who weren''t interested in making money, it would seem like a loss.


    Clearly, the two bosses had been prepared for some bargaining. After a brief discussion, the boss with ID "There''s An Orange Cat" nodded and said, "Alright, let''s do this. After completing the instance, those willing to sell enchantment attempts will receive red envelopes on the spot. Those unwilling can decline. How does that sound?"


    "That works." Unceasing Entropy nodded and turned to Yang Ying. "Sis Ying, form a team. Let''s take Boss Orange Cat through the instance first."


    Most of Yang Ying''s companions were aware of her real-life situation. Her father had left, her mother was unemployed, and her younger brother, who refused to study, had run away from home. She used to work a job that barely paid 4000 RMB a month, struggling to make ends meet. After resigning from her job, she played semi-professionally and managed to earn some money.


    If the weekend event could become a stable source of income, it wouldn''t just improve Yang Ying''s financial situation. Zheng Qingyue and Tang Jia could also earn some extra living expenses. Their families weren''t very well-off, especially Tang Jia. If it weren''t for the game currency she sold, she would have had to tighten her belt in the second half of the month after buying the two helmets.


    Having Yang Ying as team leader wasn''t a decision made solely out of sympathy. Yang Ying, with stable online hours and her cheerful and friendly disposition, had more connections than the others. Yang Ying happily gathered her acquaintances, quickly assembling a team of willing workers.


    She didn''t disappoint Unceasing Entropy''s expectations, inviting not only Jia Luo, who often played with them, but also brought players like Fallen Mulberry Leaves from Qin Guan''s side and Study Obsessed from Brother Lahong''s.


    In the previous week, many people died upon entering the instance when the weekend event resumed. Having been cursed at on the forums through the week, the damned devs seemed to have had enough and made some improvements¡ªthough the dungeon was still horrendous, at least the instance was no longer that difficult. Out of every five attempts, now at least four wouldn''t be an instant wipe upon entering.


    The enchantment chances obtained after clearing the instance might not necessarily result in desirable enchantments for a particular piece of equipment. After clearing the instance, Lord Yang (projection) would appear in the dungeon. By talking to Lord Yang, players chose which equipment to use their enchant chance on, and players could choose one of the three random effect options that popped out.


    This should have been a point of criticism, but players didn''t complain because all randomly generated enchantments were still useful attributes. It was unlike other games that gave out useless attributes that forced players to spend to reroll them.


    On the first night of their collaboration, each of the two bosses funded two full completion runs, enchanted all their equipment, and agreed to continue next week¡ªif the enchantments obtained this time weren''t satisfactory or if they acquired new equipment, they would have to come back.


    After successfully clearing Hal''s Inner Demon instance four times, there was still a little over an hour of in-game time until dawn. Yang Ying was preparing to lead the team to try and challenge Tuttle''s Inner Demon Instance¡ªthe team formed to earn money was exceptionally skilled, and disbanding such a high-caliber team with time to spare would be a waste.


    Before Yang Ying could speak to her teammates about attempting the new instance, a bony claw rested on her shoulder. When she turned her head, she was met with an up-close skull right before her face.


    Ou Huang had somehow approached silently and, gazing at Yang Ying firmly, said, "I would also like to buy a run."


    All ten of the hired hands, including Yang Ying, were stunned.


    "Boss Ou Huang needs a dungeon run?!" Jia Luo was visibly shocked.


    Ou Huang didn''t say anything and just stared at team leader Yang Ying.


    As formidable as he might be, it was impossible for him to complete the instance solo. Instead of trying to join a party and spending time adjusting, it made more sense for him to join an existing team as the boss.


    "Why waste time when there''s money to be made? Let''s continue!" Tang Jia waved her bony claw enthusiastically.


    Yang Ying couldn''t help chuckling. She added Ou Huang to the team while saying, "Exactly! Everyone, focus up. Let''s not embarrass ourselves in front of Boss Ou Huang. Let''s make this run flawless!"


    With that said, she didn''t forget to remind Tang Jia, "Don''t get carried away with your earnings. Buy fewer traditional Chinese costumes, or else we''ll have to hear you complain about being broke every other day in the second half of the month."


    Tang Jia felt a little guilty hearing this and muttered hoarsely, "Got it, Sis Ying¡­"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The detailed strategy for Hal''s Inner Demon instance, a collaboration between the Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy, had already been posted on the forum. Besides covering the details on how to deal with the monsters, Blossoming Strokes had also provided position diagrams, movement routes, and the vulnerable spots of the monsters when attacked.


    Even such a detailed guide¡­ didn''t mean that all player teams could smoothly clear the instance.


    The reason was simple: when ordinary players formed teams, it was impossible to exclude burdens among their friends. In a team of eleven players, there would inevitably be one or two players dragging the team down.


    Unceasing Entropy had been straightforward; a 9+2 formation was risky, and even a 10+1 formation was mediocre. For ordinary players, who were already at a disadvantage compared to the first-tier players (limited player group), adding one or two underperformers meant whether the run was successful was entirely up to fate.


    In contrast, for a hired team with the aim of earning money, players whose own level was insufficient to join would be declined; most online gamers had functioning brains, and entering an instance to freeload while getting paid wasn''t acceptable. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    While Yang Ying''s team flawlessly completed the dungeon run, another team at the Hal Inner Demon Instance team formation area experienced a disastrous wipe¡­


    As Yang Ying''s team emerged from the instance, several players rushed toward her.


    "Sis Ying, is your team still accepting jobs? I want to purchase a run too!"


    "Me too, me too!"


    "It''s¡­ it''s almost daybreak. There''s no time left." Yang Ying didn''t know whether to laugh or cry.


    "It''s alright, let''s book you for next weekend. We were here first, so can you give us priority?" Players willing to spend money approached enthusiastically.


    With money to be earned, Yang Ying had no reason to turn them away. She immediately exchanged WeChat numbers with these potential bosses.


    "Awesome." A fixed team, which had been wiped several times, successfully completed the instance just as the event was about to end. Seeing Yang Ying''s team surrounded by players eager to fork out money, this bunch stood there, watching with complex expressions.


    "Should we start bringing bosses on runs starting next week?" a member asked the rest of his party with gleaming eyes.


    For the Hal Inner Demon instance, the biggest fear teams had was making mistakes and losing team members. Every player would be extremely cautious to preserve their own lives to avoid being instakilled.


    By maintaining a low mistake rate for about 10 minutes without losing any members, the team had to focus on attacking the two appendages protruding from the monster''s chest, after which the monster would essentially be a free kill.


    However, the requirement of a 10-minute time frame with little mistakes was challenging for most player teams. This game was a full immersive panoramic experience, and the pressure and tension of monster battles were entirely different from traditional PC or console games. It was a real test on the players'' mental resilience.


    Another team member, dissatisfied with a burden in their team who constantly died at the beginning of each battle, was exasperated. "With our current team strength, we''ll just be making fools of ourselves if we invite a boss in. We at least need to avoid deaths at the start before considering that."


    "Yeah. We are already struggling, and losing a member makes our damage output even more lacking. It would be good if we had one extra warrior. Why did we kick Mulberry back then?" chimed in another disgruntled teammate.


    The team captain, already displeased that the warrior player, Fallen Mulberry Leaves, had been stolen away by Give Me Medicine to play with Blossoming Strokes and the others, retorted irritably, "Is there any point in bringing this up now? Back then, wasn''t it you guys complaining that warriors only had burst damage and lacked sustained damage output and demanded that I replace Mulberry?"


    The players of this fixed team all fell silent.


    The warrior class skills, Sword Storm and Blade Dance, could deal a large amount of damage in a short time. However, these two skills had relatively long cooldowns and lacked sustained damage output compared to the quick cooldown, high damage output skills of the wanderers, such as Thrust and Backstab.


    Well, the real reason was that Sword Storm and Blade Dance were powerful skill runes that controlled the overall movements of the player''s skeleton character. They consumed a large amount of mental capacity, resulting in long cooldowns.


    On the other hand, Thrust and Backstab were efficient skill runes that only controlled the arm movements and striking angles of the player''s skeleton character, consuming less mental capacity and resulting in shorter cooldowns.


    Players didn''t have the concept of mental energy and, from a gaming perspective, only considered the practicality of skills.


    The wild monster models in this game were all rather large. Once the correct strategy had been determined, knight players'' four skills could effectively restrict a monster''s movements, allowing for safe stationary output.


    In this sort of situation, the sustained damage output advantage that wanderer players had far exceeded that of warriors.


    Because of their friendship, the team hadn''t mentioned kicking Fallen Mulberry Leaves when she had initially advanced to warrior. However, after two days of teaming up to fight monsters, the team found it increasingly intolerable. Whether they were clearing the Spider Cave or Poisonous Marshlands, Mulberry''s total damage output was only two-thirds of a wanderer player.


    Efficiency in monster clearing affected everyone''s gains, and this was the real income that could be converted into RMB. When it came to money, would anyone tolerate having such a deadweight in the team when the rewards were split equally?


    When Mulberry was kicked and replaced with a wanderer player they had gotten to know during the first expedition quest, nobody had even spoken up for Mulberry.


    In the instance dungeon where safe stationary output was impossible, everyone had to be mindful of their positioning and seize opportunities for damage output. The importance of warrior players skyrocketed in such situations. However, their team''s warrior player now belonged elsewhere and no longer farmed mobs or cleared instances with them.


    "Forget it," sighed a veteran team member. "We can''t bring bosses on dungeon runs. Let''s go back and farm monsters. Once the game opens up, we can recruit new people and see how it goes."


    The team leader didn''t say anything more and led the team to farm monsters.


    As daybreak arrived in-game, the weekend Inner Demon instance dungeon event officially ended. Players in Hal''s Inner Demon instance team formation area logged out, while others got busy farming monsters and doing quests.


    In Weisshem, Wagner got up before dawn.


    The accommodation provided by Black Mage Yang was nice and even better than his home in Indahl. However, Wagner had quite a restless night.


    On one hand, he was worried about the fate of his family, concerned about his wife and child waiting for him at home. On the other hand, the magic in this mansion was too active, causing him to have nightmares whenever he closed his eyes.


    Magic was toxic, and an upright knight like Wagner would never touch meditation that could potentially expose him to the toxicity of magic. Unfortunately, there was a black mage on the other side of the wall frequently mediating and seemingly unafraid of losing control. This was tormenting for Wagner.


    Having no interest in worrying about whether others would lose control, Wagner got out of bed, put on the wooden slippers that were in the room, and after a simple wash at the well in the yard as instructed by Yang the night before, he began doing his assigned tasks¡­


    As he mechanically washed and scrubbed in the yard, the street outside gradually became lively. Even through the courtyard walls, the sounds of people could be heard¡ªcouples arguing early in the morning, children crying, and street vendors hawking their wares.


    Wagner couldn''t help but sigh.


    He only had a few years left before retirement. If nothing unexpected happened and he could smoothly receive his retirement pension, Wagner originally planned to sell the house in Indahl and move with his wife to a smaller town.


    The cost of living in Indahl was too high, and moving to a small town would allow them to save on gas and other living expenses, enabling them to continue supporting their children''s education in an Indahl private school.


    Only children whose parents had sufficient status could attend the Royal Academy or the Academy for Nobles. Wagner couldn''t afford the high tuition fees for advanced academies, whereas the worker''s school had a subpar level of education. Thus, for people like Wagner, who held a certain social status and mid-level income, sending their children to a private school was the best choice.


    These so-called private schools were somewhat similar to supplementary classes in China. These schools, often established by intellectuals, only enrolled a few dozen students. They charged fees higher than those of worker''s schools but lower than private academies and provided their students with a home-schooling style of tutoring¡ªcompetition to become a tutor for nobles was fierce, and those who failed to secure a position or lacked connections to enter advanced academies often chose to open private schools.


    As for the Royal Academy and Academy for Nobles, ordinary intellectuals wouldn''t get a whiff. Without a sufficient enough status, they wouldn''t even be able to lift their heads in front of students there.


    Weisshem also had private schools, but their standards weren''t high. Here, they just taught children to read and do basic arithmetic, enabling them to have a slight competitive edge in finding jobs at the age of 15 or 16 over those who couldn''t even recognize their own names.


    As a foreigner, Wagner knew that achieving better success within this generation in the Rhine Kingdom was challenging. He could only pin his hopes on the next. He didn''t even care much about whether his family''s knight title would be stripped. Getting his full retirement pension that would guarantee his children''s tuition fees was all he asked for.


    But now¡­ his spiritual support was wavering.


    Lost in his wandering thoughts, Wagner mechanically cleaned the sofa covers and curtains that Yang had instructed him to wash. Only when it was time to hang them out did Wagner snap out of his daze. That was when he noticed the quality of the fabrics used for these sofa covers and curtains.


    "This is¡­ undead cloth? Undead cloth better than the ones that appeared in Indahl?"


    Wagner touched the thick, tightly woven, and superbly dyed fabric and couldn''t help silently criticizing the Nightmare Butcher''s extravagance¡ªeven the clothes worn by Adra III weren''t made of such fine high-quality material, yet this excellent fabric was used for sofa covers and curtains!


    Wagner could recognize good stuff, and he had been spot-on. Naturally, Yang Qiu couldn''t use stuff that was too shabby in the place where he would be staying. These were new fall season items on Taobao, the hot-selling products that stood up to the test of hundreds of millions of Chinese people. The material, dyeing, and design were impeccable as well as classy in a low-key and gorgeous way.


    Wagner couldn''t help feeling a little disheartened when he made a mental calculation on how much of the tuition fees these curtains and sofa covers could cover for his child¡­


    While Wagner''s face was twitching just thinking about it, the guy who inexplicably stayed up all night instead of sleeping, Yang, pushed open the hall window and called out, "Wagner, got to 101 on the main street in the town and bring us three sets of breakfast."


    Wagner subconsciously pointed at himself in surprise.


    "Yes, you go." Yang placed a stack of copper coins on the windowsill. "Ask the staff there to get you three standard meals and make sure Lowell''s portion isn''t too spicy."


    Wagner felt a bit disheartened once again. He didn''t know whether to be delighted Yang was giving him freedom of movement, even allowing him to go out alone, or to be annoyed by this fellow''s nonchalance that Wagner might try to escape.


    Wagner wouldn''t be foolish enough to attempt escaping. Spellcasters that built a Mage Tower could control an entire territory. Even without building a Mage Tower, Yang, a high-level black mage who had roamed the continent for centuries, would have no problem controlling Weisshem.


    If Wagner managed to escape Weisshem, the only possibility was that Black Mage Yang had done something to him and was allowing him to leave.


    Wagner silently picked up the copper coins and went out alone. Walking along the alley for a short distance, he soon saw the street sign of Main Street.


    Yesterday, he had passed through this street when he was tied up and dragged into town on horseback. At that time, he noticed that many buildings on this street were undergoing renovations. Now, as he walked along the street and observed, many buildings were indeed cordoned off with wooden boards. Many male and female town residents were busy within the barricades, removing some smashed bricks and debris and pushing them away with hand carts.


    Wagner hadn''t been to Weisshem before, so he didn''t really have much sentiment about the famous red-light district being completely transformed. He casually glanced around and then followed the street numbers hanging on the walls of the buildings, searching for the specified unit 101 as Yang instructed.


    A few steps further¡­ Wagner suddenly stopped, turned his head to the left, and stared in astonishment.


    On the opposite side of the street was a building undergoing renovation, but the ones entering and leaving were not townspeople but undead?!


    Wagner''s mouth hung open involuntarily.


    Some parts of the attire on these undead looked very family to Wagner. Bracers and shin guards issued by the city defense force were worn by the undead. A skeleton pushing a handcart filled with construction debris, mingling with the townspeople and delivering things outside, had a helmet on its head that conspicuously displayed the Bartalis family coat of arms¡ªalso the emblem of the Indahl city defense force.


    Without a doubt, these undead were the same ones that attacked them yesterday, stripping and capturing them along with their horses.


    Wagner clutches his head. It felt like his worldview was shattering.


    These undead not only obeyed Yang''s commands and fought for Rex but also worked for Rex just like the townsfolk?!


    Wagner wondered if his previous understanding of these dark creatures had been completely wrong.


    Was all the news reported in papers a lie?!

 Chapter 109: Peerlessly Gentle Zhao Zhenzhen

    101 on the main street looked like a bar on the outside, but its interior had undergone changes so drastic that the original workers who built this bar wouldn''t recognize it.


    All walls except the load-bearing ones had been knocked down, and all compartments and private rooms had been demolished.


    The rectangular space, about 150 square meters, was crudely divided by a waist-high counter. Half of the counter was an open kitchen, and the other half displayed a large shelf reaching up to the ceiling filled with bottles and jars.


    If Wagner could still compare the semi-open kitchen and the oversized shelf to things he had seen before in his life¡­ Those bamboo-woven boxes, iron plates, and plastic bowls filled with unfamiliar, aromatic foods on the counter, and the undead standing in the kitchen skillfully preparing food, completely exceeded Wagner''s comprehension.


    Wagner was hit by the aromatic fragrance as soon as he entered, even though he hadn''t yet had the chance to take a closer look at the strange and rare items on the counter. His eyes were glued to an undead deftly using a strange square knife to chop a whole cabbage into shreds and skillfully throwing it into a large pot¡­


    "Hey, buddy, are you already drunk so early in the morning?" An old man wanting to enter grumbled at Wagner, who was blocking the door.


    "Sorry." Wagner quickly stepped aside.


    The old man holding a clay jar gave Wagner a stern look, then wobbled through the door, headed straight to the counter, and greeted the sweaty staff packing the prepared food into strange square boxes. "Good morning, Young Brook. Please give me some of those pastries from yesterday, not the sweet ones, and also a bag of salt."


    Brook, the young man who was preparing boxed lunches for the town hall, quickly put down what he was doing. "Good morning, Grandpa Andre. Are you talking about dumplings?"


    "Yes, yes, that''s it. The name of that thing is too strange, and I always can''t seem to remember it." The old man nodded eagerly and placed the clay jar on the counter while taking out a small stack of copper coins. "Please give me a bag of salt first and use the remaining money on those pastries."


    Brook took the counts and counted them. "There''s a total of eleven coins here. White salt costs eight copper coins per bag, and the dumplings are two copper coins for ten. For the remaining three copper coins, I''ll give you fifteen. Is that right?"


    "Yes, yes." The old man nodded, beaming widely.


    When Wagner heard the two men talking about the price of salt in copper coins, he thought he must have misheard. Wagner was someone experienced in life. He remembered that the grocery store, with which he had a good relationship, charged two silver coins for a jar of salt. What could a few copper coins buy, a teaspoon of salt?


    Then, he saw the youngster by the name of Brook put the copper coins into a drawer on the inner side of the counter, turned around, and took a small palm-size packet wrapped in semi-transparent plastic from the shelf which he handed to the old man.


    The old man took this seemingly weighty bag and, with a swiftness not befitting an elderly person, stuffed it into the inner pocket of his coat.


    Wagner''s jaw fell, and he immediately looked at the shelf where the young man had taken the items from.


    On the shelf rows were numerous small packages of salt, all packed this way. Each pack didn''t have a large amount, and Wagner roughly estimated each packet to be about a pound.


    Roughly a pound of salt can be bought for eight copper coins?!


    Wagner clutched his head with both hands once again.


    The Rhine Kingdom wasn''t a coastal nation, and it got its salt from transport caravans of coastal nations. Due to Indahl being a land trade hub owing to its location, the price of salt there was cheaper than other places. Ordinary people could get a five-kilogram jar of salt from the grocery store for two silver coins. Of course, the price of salt seemed acceptable for middle-income people like Wagner. A jar of salt could last several months, after all.


    However, it wasn''t so easy for ordinary folk. Most families pooled money with relatives and neighbors to buy a jar of salt and then distributed it themselves. Housewives had to be as economical as possible, using only a tiny bit of salt each time they cooked soup¡ªit was good enough if it wasn''t bland.


    Such a shop managed by the undead evidently had a connection with Rex and Yang: Where did they get such cheap salt?! Wouldn''t selling it to the townspeople so cheaply not cause a loss and lead to bankruptcy??


    But the answer Yang had was that it really wouldn''t. How cheap was salt in China? 400-gram packs of refined salt could be gotten wholesale for a few yuan each, and manufacturers could even customize private labels for the customer. The batch of salt given to the Undead Merchant Association was customized with a logo on each pack, along with Undead Merchant Association written in common text¡­


    Wagner''s head was full of questions when he saw the young Brook remove the lid of a strange bamboo-woven box (actually a bamboo steamer), skillfully use a pair of long wooden sticks (chopsticks) to pick up the strange pastries in the box, counted them, and put them in the clay jar brought by the old man.


    Ten of these tiny pastries for two copper coins didn''t seem that excessive.


    At this point, Brook accidentally damaged one of the pastries, and a small ball of meat rolled out.


    "Ah!" cried Brook as he quickly picked up the fallen meat from the counter and ate it himself while apologizing to the old man, "This one''s not counted since I broke it."


    The old man gulped while nodding, eagerly waiting for Brook to continue filling his jar with dumplings.


    While the sweet pastries (tangyuan) were very good, his grandson hadn''t had meat for a long time.


    Dumbfounded Wagner: ""


    Wait¡ªthere''s meat inside those pastries?!


    Fifteen meat-filled pastries for three copper coins??


    His hands, which had just been put down, once more returned to clutching his head¡­


    Brook filled the old man''s jar with 15 freshly steamed dumplings, then took a small transparent bag, poured some black liquid into it, and handed it to the old man, saying, "Miss Sis Zhao said that the dumplings won''t taste as good if you eat them without vinegar. Next time, remember to bring an extra bowl."


    The old man happily expressed his thanks and left, hugging the jar tightly¡­


    Brook clapped his hands and looked at Wagner, who was still standing at the door, and politely asked, "Mister, can I help you with anything?"


    Wagner regained his composure, took out the copper coins furnished by Yang, and stepped forward to the counter. "Yang asked me to pick up breakfast for three people¡­ He said it''s a standard meal, and one portion should be less spicy."


    "Mr. Lord Yang? Three sets? Ah, Mr. Yang has a guest, huh?" Brook appeared even more respectful. He accepted the coins with both hands, put them away neatly, and then took out three meal boxes from under the counter, swiftly filling them with food.


    The so-called standard meal¡­ refers to a four-plus-one fast food meal.


    All the meat dishes were ready-to-cook dishes¡ªsimilar to the ready-made dishes people in China got when ordering takeout, with flavors almost the same regardless of which restaurant it came from.


    From fried chicken chunks, chicken strips, popcorn chicken to Dongpo pork, braised pork, twice-cooked pork, fish-flavored shredded pork, braised eggplant, home-style tofu, potato beef, mushroom braised pork, Kung Pao chicken, black pepper chicken strips, spicy chicken giblets, braised ribs, curry potato chicken¡­ Everything was included.


    These ready-made dishes were available on Taobao and were even as easy to prepare as instant noodles.


    If Chinese people with their picky taste buds could enjoy this food tirelessly, the people of this other world couldn''t possibly dislike them either.


    It was just slightly more expensive compared to frozen foods and would result in leftovers if all these dishes were made. Therefore, the so-called standard meal was introduced, where only four types of ready-made dishes were prepared every day, along with some fresh vegetables bought from the market¡­ making it four plus one.


    The clerical staff at the town hall consumed a great deal of mental energy and physical energy each day. Like Hal and the others, they could enjoy the standard staff meal (paid for by Rex). Meanwhile, those still at the resettlement point while regaining their fitness were a rung lower, and only had two plus one, with rice (expenses still covered by Rex).


    Today''s four dishes were fish-flavored shredded pork, spicy braised eggplant, Kung Pao chicken, and hot-and-sour shredded potatoes. Lowell, being unable to eat very spicy things, had less braised eggplant and more hot and sour shredded potatoes in his portion. His fish-flavored shredded pork and eggplant weren''t topped with red chili oil, as well.


    Watching Brook scoop the food up close, Wagner once again had a dumbfounded look on his face.


    He had eaten quite a bit of delicious food in his life, but the stuff in front of him gave off an indescribably enticing aroma he had never experienced before.


    And when Brook filled the meal box with steaming rice, Wagner had practically turned into a wooden dummy.


    Rice was also eaten in this world, but there weren''t many people who did.


    It wasn''t that people in this world had a disdain for rice; it''s just that the cultivation of rice required much higher agricultural technology, irrigation, and climatic conditions than wheat, barley, corn, potatoes, and soybeans.


    With the lack of irrigation or agricultural technology, one would only see wheat and corn fields even if the climate was suitable for growing rice. Due to these objective conditions, most people''s plates only contained bread, corn, and various processed potatoes.


    Similar circumstances existed on Earth as well. In East Asia, countries influenced by Chinese agriculture had been eating rice for centuries, while people on the same landmass in Europe still nibbled on rye bread.


    As far as Wagner knew, other than some nobles, who would cultivate a plot area of rice on their own estates for a change of taste, he had never heard of rice made into meals like this, displayed in a roadside ready-to-eat shop, available to anyone who came in and paid¡ªthis sort of hearty meal only cost 15 copper coins!


    When Wagner left with three packed standard meals, he also saw several housewives coming in with covered glass plates, buying a small portion of a single dish at the price of three copper coins as extra food for their families¡­


    Wagner further lost his mind once he tasted the food in the meal box. He originally thought that the strange stew he had last night (self-heating hotpot) was used by Yang to win him over. But now, it seemed that he had made an over-assumption!


    People here already ate such flavorful items, and it was Wagner who was ignorant!


    Whatever delicacies he had eaten before weren''t true to their name!


    Shortly after Wagner left, inside the branch canteen, Lyka, the orc girl, who was washing potatoes in the backyard, came and asked Brook, "Are the portions for the town hall packed? It''s almost time."


    Brook, packing small portions of dishes, dumplings, and tangyuan while serving customers one after the other, hurriedly replied, "All ready to be delivered."


    The strength of orcs far surpassed that of humans and the undead. With great speed and endurance, an orc could run and deliver meals through the entire town in less than half an hour. Lyka skillfully packed several dozen meal boxes into a specially made large basket, slung it over her back, and called out, "I''ll go deliver the meals, Brook, Sis Zhao!"


    Brook waved his hand, and Sis Zhao, busy in the kitchen, also responded, "Be careful!"


    It had been two days since the canteen''s opening. The townsfolk weren''t yet accustomed to buying seasonings and spices other than salt. Still, they were enthusiastic about saving a few coins and quickly purchased salt. If they had more money, they would buy some dishes or dumplings with meat or a couple of sweet tangyuan to supplement their family''s meals.


    The small portion of a dish for three copper was even more popular than the meat-filled dumplings. The townspeople didn''t eat them directly but spread these like condiments on bread, replacing butter¡­


    When Lyka returned from delivering the meals, more customers had come, and Brook couldn''t handle it alone. She tied on an apron, rolled up her sleeves, and went behind the counter to help. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Many townspeople had been recruited as temporary laborers at various construction sites on the town''s main street. These folk, receiving daily wages, had some extra money on hand. Combined with the fact that these temporary laborers, unlike the sanitation bureau''s contract workers, weren''t provided with working meals (ordinary contract workers only had instant noodles, with a large amount of locally grown vegetables added), they were willing to spend a few copper coins for a change of taste to lift their spirits for work in the latter half of the day.


    It wasn''t until almost noon that the number of customers gradually decreased. Brook, dripping with sweat, could finally sit down and take a break. Zhao Zhenzhen, whose skeleton frame was covered with water from steaming, could also leave the kitchen.


    "Come to think of it, a very strong mister came by this morning to buy breakfast for Mr. Yang. Is he Mr. Yang''s guest?" Brook asked Zhao Zhenzhen while accepting a cup of cooled water from Lyka.


    Zhao Zhenzhen hadn''t had contact with Wagner at that time, but she had used Identify¡­ and learned the origins of this person. "He''s not really a guest. Yesterday, he was the leader of those bunch of people that were tied up and brought in by play¡ªmy undead brethren. His name is Wagner Pitt, a member of Indahl''s city defense force."


    "Oh, so he''s from the city defense force." Brook nodded and took a sip of water.


    Two seconds later, the water Brook had yet to swallow sprayed out of his mouth.


    "Hey, hey! What are you doing!" Lyka had quick reflexes and promptly stood in front of the counter, shielding the food from being contaminated. However, she was covered in the saliva of this fellow, which annoyed her.


    "Ack, sorry, cough cough! Indahl city defense force??" Brook was astounded.


    "Do you know about it?" Zhao Zhenzhen, wiping her skeleton frame dry with a tower, looked over sharply.


    "How could I not know? We scrambled to escape whenever we knew the city defense force was coming." Brook sighed. "The small team I was a part of before wasn''t strong¡­ We were really weak and couldn''t register as a formal mercenary group, so we could only take some scattered tasks that the mercenary groups didn''t care about to eke out a living. When the city defense force patrolled in the city, their primary targets were people like us."


    "Because you guys did bad things?" Lyka asked curiously.


    "Of course not! It''s because we don''t pay taxes on our income." Brook muttered weakly, "The jobs we took on don''t pay much. How could we survive if we paid taxes?"


    "Oh¡­ What would happen if you were caught?" Lyka became even more curious. She grew up on a farm and was sold straight to Weisshem after leaving it, so she had never seen a big city before.


    "We would be classified as practicing illegally and subjected to at least three months of compulsory restraint," Brook sighed. "It isn''t being locked up for three months without doing anything. We would be sent to a workshop to labor away while our wages would be forcibly taken and only returned after three months. Those workshops aren''t nice places. People there are tormented and it''s entirely different from the factories¡­ I heard that most people who enter those workshops rarely survive beyond five years."


    After a pause, Brook shrugged and recounted almost sadly, "I was once caught and almost sent to a workshop. Fortunately, my comrades scraped together 10 silver coins to buy me out. To repay this money, we had to work for the gang in the East Warehouse District for more than half a month."


    "Ahh¡­ No wonder you always wanted to find your comrades. They really are good people." Lyka nodded.


    After the undead took over Weisshem, Brook''s comrades, who had been thinking of ways to save him, lost contact with Brook.


    This actually wasn''t that hard to understand. Without prolonged contact with the undead, nobody would think that these dark beings, beneath their terrifying appearance, would have such surprising inner qualities¡ªnot only could they get along harmoniously with the living, but they could also uphold public order. Two nights ago, an undead even caught a thief and received a commendation, which was posted at the entrance of the town hall!


    Though, to the townsfolk, the undead in the photo of the commendation seemed no different from a photo of the undead mayor¡­


    "I just hope that after hearing about the peaceful coexistence between the living and the undead of Weisshem, they will turn around and come find me," lamented Brook.


    "They definitely will." Zhao Zhenzhen patted the slender shoulders of the young man. "By then, you and Lyka will be taking on more important tasks. You two and Brook''s companions will learn how to do business and sell the Undead Merchant Association''s products outside, letting people know that we Taranthan undead are willing to help them have cheap and affordable good spices. When people see the sign of our Undead Merchant Association, they will know that we come with the goodwill of fair and friendly trade."


    "If we undead try to go out ourselves in hopes of eliminating misunderstanding and hostility, people outside wouldn''t accept it. Prejudice is something that is hard to change once it forms," Zhao Zhenzhen said gently. "So, my undead brethren and I, as well as your respected Lord Rex and Lord Yang, can only hope for reliable young people like you to help us overcome this difficult first step. Only you guys can do what we can''t."


    After Zhao Zhenzhen''s impassioned speech, the orc girl Lyka and youngster Brook were so moved that they could swear their lives to Taranthan on the spot. They definitely wouldn''t let down the trust and expectations of Zhao Zhenzhen, Lord Rex, and Lord Yang¡­


    In the mornings, Zhao Zhenzhen would preside over the merchant association canteen branch, preparing the dishes to be sold for the day. In the afternoon, she would go to the town hall to help.


    Ji Tang took Rex to do a study in the countryside. During his absence, Zhao Zhenzhen had to keep an eye on things: whether there were any emergencies at construction sites or if any clerks encountered problems.


    The 26 clerical staff employed by the town hall were responsible for various tasks within Weisshem. They gradually adapted to the changes in their status, but not all residents of the town could do the same, especially when they found themselves being bossed around by people they used to look down upon.


    Female clerks, in particular, were often subjected to intentional criticism by townsfolk working as temporary laborers, accusing them of being lazy or making mistakes.


    Making life difficult for young women with less-than-illustrious pasts was all too easy. Without the need to get physical, a few insinuating words or disdainful looks and expressions were enough to wound these girls'' already scarred hearts.


    Zhao Zhenzhen had just finished looking through Ji Tang''s handwritten work diary in his office when Shirley came to her, looking rather troubled.


    Shirley shut the door and hesitated for a moment.


    "Ma''am¡­ I-I don''t know how to say this¡­"


    Seeing this, Zhao Zhenzhen knew at once that something was wrong. She immediately asked Shirley to sit, poured her a glass of water, and chatted with her about recent trivial matters. Only when Shirley relaxed did she inquire about the issue.


    "I-I dare not tell Lord Rex; I''m afraid he will be disappointed¡­" Shirley took a deep breath and said with great difficulty, "Hilary¡­ She''s very upset. She wants to give up her clerk job."


    Zhao Zhenzhen softly comforted her, "Relax a little, Shirley. This is neither your fault nor Hilary''s. We''ve only just encountered some trouble, and what we need to do is solve the problem, not blame anyone. Don''t you think so?"


    "¡­Yes, ma''am."


    "Can you tell me what''s causing Hilary such grief?"


    "Th-the construction site she''s in charge of has a man who once¡­ bought her." Shirley hung her head in embarrassment. "Back then, that man was extorted by Hilary''s boss and had to sell his carriage to get away. He and his family deeply resent Hilary."


    "I understand," Zhao Zhenzhen said solemnly. "Thank you, Shirley. I appreciate your concern for Hilary and your efforts to help her."


    Shirley was taken aback.


    She never imagined that Zhao Zhenzhen would be able to stand with Hilary and express gratitude to her. This proved that Zhao Zhenzhen didn''t look down on Hilary. This undead lady respected Hilary and her fellow clerks.


    The discomfort and grievances that Shirley had suppressed deep inside instantly erupted, and she burst into tears.


    Zhao Zhenzhen handed her a handkerchief, patiently waiting for her to release her emotions. Then, she softly said, "Let''s go check on Hilary; she needs us."


    Spotting the young lady crying quietly on the balcony, Zhao Zhenzhen opened her arms and said, "Seeing you this upset makes me want to hug you like a friend. However, I''m worried you might not want to be embraced by an undead like me."


    Hilary immediately threw herself into Zhao Zhenzhen''s arms.


    Zhao Zhenzhen gently stroked Hilary''s back and said, "You''ve worked hard, Hilary. Thanks to you and others going door-to-door, we now know how many households are in town and roughly how many people there are. Your efforts have made it possible for us to estimate the number of town residents we can employ for the road reconstruction project. The smooth progress of our work in the town is all thanks to your hard work.


    "I''ve seen the construction site you''re in charge of, Hilary, and you''re doing a great job. Under your supervision, many town residents work systematically, earning stable daily wages and having their financial pressures alleviated. It''s all thanks to you¡­


    "Even though we''re working so hard to improve the living conditions of the townspeople, they don''t understand our intentions. They misunderstand our motives and don''t comprehend our methods. But we know why we''re sweating so much, right? We''re doing it to make this town better, to let the people living here see hope.


    "The site you''re responsible for will be transformed into a sugar factory workshop. Once the sugar factory is built, we''ll bring in machines and purchase corn from farmers, solving the difficulty they face in selling their corn at a good price after a bountiful harvest. We''ll hire workers, addressing the issue of young people in the town struggling to find employment."


    Zhao Zhenzhen didn''t mention a word about forgetting the past or letting go of pain. She spoke like a gentle elder sister, listing the significance of Hilary''s work and contributions to Weisshem. After Hilary finished crying, she didn''t bring up the matter of giving up her clerk job. With swollen eyes, she went back to work together with Shirley.

 Chapter 110: Impartial Rex

    Not long after the market crowd on Market Street dissipated, the sky gradually darkened.


    The security team personnel on duty at the town gate yawned. He stuck his head out of the window and looked eagerly in the direction of the town''s main street.


    The eighth month''s weather was really too hot. Enduring the stifling heat for an entire day at the duty post made him sleepy when the weather cooled at dusk. This current duty personnel couldn''t wait to change shifts and get off work.


    After waiting for some time without seeing anyone come over, this security officer grumbled, "Kelly and Sandy are always so slow. Changing shifts with them every time takes far too long. I''ve had enough! Hey, Jimmy, how about finding someone to swap shifts?"


    Jimmy, who had just finished yawning, eyed his partner lazily. "Forget it. Whoever takes the shift would still take forever. We weren''t timely either when we came at noon."


    Previously, guarding the town gate was a coveted duty, especially during the late afternoon to midnight shift. Those lacking sufficient experience could only dream about getting such a chance.


    But now, the duty of guarding the town gate was something no one wanted¡­


    Standing monotonously at the guard post and unable to leave for many hours, prohibited from drinking, cursing at passersby, or behaving in a frivolous manner¡­ What were gate sentries now? Wooden stakes?


    While the new nauseating rules like no drinking, no harassing people, no extorting or blackmailing businesses and vendors applied to patrolling within the town too, at least there was the freedom to roam around and chat with familiar faces, unlike the boredom at the town gate.


    Jimmy disliked being stationed at the town gate. When it wasn''t his turn for this dreaded duty, he preferred wandering around the construction sites scattered throughout the town¡­ There was nothing more satisfying than witnessing the gradual destruction, elimination, or transformation of the places he had once detested.


    Occasionally, he would stroll through the alleys of the residential area, observing how the revelers and pleasure seekers cleaned the filthy gutters under the watch of the undead.


    Jimmy detested the red-light district, the sex workers, and, even more so, the clients.


    When he was young and ignorant, he harbored resentment toward his powerless father who squandered the family''s livelihood on women. He remembered how his family survived on plain boiled potatoes for almost two months after his father''s reckless spending. As he grew older and understood what had happened, the thought of using the same spoon as his father made him nauseous.


    "Oh! Oh oh oh!"


    His duty partner at the guard post suddenly pointed excitedly in the direction away from town. "Look, Jimmy, isn''t that Simon and his gang?"


    Jimmy quickly went to the window to take a look.


    Indeed, on the town road, a crowd, kicking up quite a bit of dust, was approaching. Leading the way were several bold and daring figures¡ªSimon and Allen''s gang.


    Yesterday, Jimmy and his partner were assigned the task of patrolling the town''s main street and maintaining order. While wandering toward the northern residential area, they noticed the residents making a lot of noise and, upon inquiry, learned that Simon and his group had dared to start a business on credit with the new lord, and that was the talk of the town. Jimmy''s and his partner''s eyes had nearly popped out when they heard this.


    The reactions of most neighbors were similar to theirs. Those closer to Simon advised them kindly to quickly apologize to Mr. Rex and return the fabric to avoid causing more trouble.


    When Jimmy returned home after work that night, his wife told him that those few families had sought help from many people, gathered up a large group, and managed to transport the fabric out of town before noon.


    Was business a walk in the park in these times?


    And that was just local businesses. Recklessly bringing valuable goods to another place was even riskier. Aside from making enough profit, coming back alive was already considered a blessing from Lady Gold Coin. In any case, Jimmy didn''t have much confidence in this venture succeeding.


    However, at this moment¡­ Jimmy was astonished to find that Simon and the others didn''t seem to have been robbed or attacked. Although all 20 of them looked disheveled and worn, they seemed to be in high spirits. The little rascal, Benjamin, even waved excitedly when he saw Jimmy. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As they approached the town gate, Jimmy and his partner couldn''t resist coming out from their post and peered curiously at the two steel-framed tricycles surrounded by the crowd¡­


    Those tricycles, previously loaded with rolls of fabric, were now empty, the canvas covering the top flapping loosely.


    "You guys, sold¡­ everything?" Jimmy asked in disbelief.


    "Hehe, yeah, all sold!" Simon, Allen, Caroline, and Benjamin approached, their faces beaming with wide smiles.


    "You guys didn''t encounter any trouble? Those outsiders didn''t give you a hard time?" Jimmy''s partner asked in astonishment.


    "Of course, we did, but¡ªah, Dad, what''s up?" Benjamin, eager to boast, was nearly about to spill the details when his father pulled him back via his collar and redirected the conversation.


    Simon gave Benjamin a stern look, then chuckled as he said to Jimmy, "We need to go to the town hall. Catch up later." With that, he hurriedly led his contingent into town.


    Jimmy''s partner was curious and wanted to ask more but was hauled back to the post by Jimmy.


    "I just wanted to ask how they resolved the trouble. Can''t I just do that? You are so stingy!" protested Jimmy''s partner.


    "Forget it. They made it clear they didn''t want to talk about it. Don''t go annoying them." Jimmy waved dismissively.


    Everyone knew that the undead fabric sold by the new lord could fetch a good price outside. But why hadn''t anyone thought of engaging in the resale business? Was everyone foolish?


    Since Simon and his group had found a safe way to sell the fabric, they certainly wouldn''t be willing to share it with others.


    Elsewhere, the four families were forced to join the "short-distance merchant caravan," and their summoned relatives didn''t rush to disperse after entering the town. They also didn''t engage in conversation with the curious residents they encountered on the way and hastily made their way to the town hall.


    Rex, who had just returned to the town hall and hadn''t caught his breath yet, heard that Simon and the others had come to pay for the goods, so he hurriedly emerged from his office.


    Seeing more than 20 town residents standing in the courtyard, covered in dust, with many faces barely recognizable, Rex didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. "Just got back? There''s really no need for such a hurry. Go home, rest up, and come back tomorrow."


    The four youngsters smiled awkwardly but didn''t abide by Rex''s words¡­ None of them had ever come into contact with so much money. They wouldn''t feel at ease leaving it anywhere, afraid of losing it and resulting in an inability to repay the debt. Since they started the journey back, not a single one of them had dared take their eyes off the two tricycles for a second.


    Seeing their nervous expressions, Rex quickly waved for two clerks to come over to count the money and settle the accounts.


    The bottoms of the cargo compartments of the two tricycles were filled with copper coins, and they had covered the canvas loosely so as to pretend there was nothing inside. Their group had also tightly surrounded the two tricycles, fearing that experienced thieves might notice and cause trouble.


    Rex had sold 30 rolls of fabric to the four youngsters, each measuring 60 meters. Due to the hand-cutting and retailing of the fabric by the meter, there might be some discrepancies in the cutting process. Rex, therefore, calculated each roll as 59 meters.


    The four youngsters, along with their family members and relatives, toiled for two full days and one night, exchanging these 30 rolls of fabric for over 35,600 copper coins.


    The circulating copper coins in the market didn''t have a standardized weight due to the complex sources involving private minting by nobles and churches. Usually, a coin weighed around 10 to 13 grams, and they weren''t pure copper, containing about two to three percent of other metals.


    Even so, this amounted to over 300 kilograms of copper coins¡­


    With so many copper coins escorted by 20 or so ordinary townsfolk, it was no wonder they dared not return home and directly made their way to the town hall.


    The two clerks and Rex himself went to work. Using a box for counting copper coins (a tool specially designed for sliding coins along the internal track and stacking them in piles of ten or twenty), they counted the over 300 kilograms of copper coins. Rex, who was good at math, jotted down calculations on paper until it was pitch dark and lanterns had to illuminate the courtyard. Finally, the copper coins were split into two piles.


    Pointing to the pile on the left, Rex said, "30 rolls of fabric, calculated at 59 meters per roll, amount to 1,770 meters. The price granted to you is 10 coppers per meter, totaling 17,700 coppers. Consider this pile as settling the fees for the goods."


    The 20-odd townsfolk nodded in unison.


    Pointing to the pile on the right, Rex continued, "The remainder is your profit. This stack amounts to 17,862 coppers."


    The contingent of townsfolk stared blankly at Rex.


    The figure was too huge, and they couldn''t react.


    "S-seventeen thousand¡­" Caroline mumbled in a daze, her voice dreamlike. "If converted to silver coins, it''s over 170¡­ If converted to gold coins, it''s 17 gold coins¡ªO Lady Gold Coin, have we earned 17 gold?"


    "Yes." Rex nodded approvingly. "This is all your hard-earned money. You''ve done very well."


    Caroline was utterly shocked. Beside her, Allen slumped to the ground limply¡­


    Rex quickly reached out, grabbing Allen, who was disoriented by the windfall, to have a seat. He chuckled. "Alright, don''t get too excited yet. Did you forget I''m still the lord? If your monthly income exceeds 1,800 coppers, you have to pay a high-income tax. Don''t tell me you''re planning to evade taxes right in front of me?"


    The four youngsters shuddered and shook their heads vigorously, indicating that they wouldn''t dare do such a thing.


    "Ah!" Caroline suddenly exclaimed and covered her mouth with her hands.


    "What''s wrong?" Rex looked over.


    "N-nothing." Caroline had a strange look on her face as if she wanted to laugh wildly but found it absurd as well.


    Just a few days prior, Caroline had just told her mother that there were very few people who needed to pay this sort of high-income tax. Little had she expected she would have to consider paying these taxes now¡­


    Rex was pleased to see these smart, brave, and young people earning money, but no matter how much he liked the idea of young people making money, he wouldn''t be lenient when it came to collecting taxes. He immediately brought the youngsters back to earth and settled their taxes on the spot¡­


    The new tax law in the Weisshem territory stipulated that when it came to personal income, a high-income tax of 6% would be imposed if one''s monthly income exceeded 1,800 coppers.


    If monthly or one-time income exceeded 3,000 coppers, the tax rate was raised to 12%.


    If monthly or one-time income exceeded 10,000 coppers, the tax rate was 14%.


    The four young entrepreneurs made a tidy sum of over 10,000. They fell squarely into the second tax bracket, requiring them to pay 12% of the profit. Without any hesitation, Rex took away 2,143 copper coins¡­


    Seeing the faces of the four youngsters and their relatives paled as if undergoing immense pain, Rex half-jokingly remarked, "Are you regretting bringing all your income here? Had you known, wouldn''t it have been better to hide some away?"


    "N-no." Caroline forced a smile.


    Rex chuckled lightly. "The goods were taken from here, and how much it can be sold for outside can be easily calculated to do the math. If the accounts are too discrepant, the clerks from the town hall will seek you to settle the sum."


    The four young men suddenly straightened up. They had to be absolutely honest; after all, who among them could better Mr. Rex in arithmetic?


    "With the taxes paid, this money is now your legitimate income. You figure out how to distribute it among yourselves." After giving them a bit of a scare, Rex continued, "I believe you''ve realized that doing business involves risks, and money isn''t that easy to earn. Don''t recklessly squander the money you''ve worked so hard to earn. Make sure to always leave some capital, and in the future, there won''t be such a good deal of receiving goods before making payment."


    "Got it." The four youngsters nodded obediently.


    "Go home and rest." Rex waved them off. "Take a few days to seriously consider what to do in the future. Shirley, get them some bags to carry the money."


    A group of people walked out of the town hall carrying bags filled with coins. The cool evening breeze blew against their faces. The people, who had just felt heartbroken about losing over 2,000 coppers to taxes, once more had joy splayed across their faces.


    "Mr. Rex is such a good person. He actually extended credit for us to purchase the fabric and allowed us to earn so much." The youngest, Benjamin, couldn''t contain his excitement.


    "There won''t be a next time. If we want to do this business, we''ll have to fork out our own capital," Caroline said.


    "Say, how about we don''t split the money and continue doing business together? How''s that?" Allen suggested.


    The reactions of their family members were varied. Some agreed, while others felt uneasy that their own children hadn''t received a share of the money. However, no one spoke up to interfere with the decision of the four young people.


    These reactions weren''t surprising. When the younger generation demonstrated abilities far surpassing their elders, especially in terms of making money, the elders would just be in awe of the younger generation.


    These four youngsters hadn''t only just dared to do business with Lord Rex on credit but also actually succeeded, earning money that their elders wouldn''t make in a decade. Even if these family members and elders had contributed during the process, they wouldn''t make any adjustments to the relationship and placed themselves in a subservient role.


    This was quite a common phenomenon, especially in the lower classes.


    The idea of a son or daughter who made a fortune but was still manipulated by their elders either existed only in novels or was due to the fact that the children who made a fortune didn''t actually possess much talent, relying solely on luck. People who excelled in a particular field, turning their abilities into money, would never be weak enough to unquestionably follow backward-thinking elders.


    Benjamin nearly let slip the business strategy they had devised when his father stopped him. The way his father intervened, just pulling his clothes instead of loudly scolding in front of others, was enough evidence of the reversal of the dominant relationship between father and son.


    "The money still has to be divided," said Simon after contemplating. "Let''s pay out the money to our relatives for their hard work, then divide the money. After that, we can discuss a capital everyone can accept, contribute the same amount, and continue this business."


    "Alright, I support that," Caroline immediately agreed. "Next time, I suggest we not go to the villages we''ve visited before. Those people have already bought fabric, and even if we go again, they won''t be able to make that much. We should go somewhere else to sell fabric."


    "I feel the same way." Benjamin nodded. "We went to the villages south of Indahl this time. Next time, let''s take a longer route and go north, shall we?"


    Allen''s eyes lit up. "Great. I know someone in a village north of Indahl. He''s currently working odd jobs in a small tavern in the warehouse district of Indahl. We can have Bosha help deliver a letter to him, hire him for three days, and have him guide us when we go to the northern villages."


    "Is this person reliable?" Caroline asked.


    "Not really, but he isn''t very smart¡­ or rather, he''s dumb. It will be alright as long as we don''t let him know our objective."


    The twenty-something people walked along Weisshem''s main street, hurrying toward the northern residential area under the dim lights of some households. Along the way, only the voices of the four youngsters could be heard; their family and relatives followed quietly behind.


    Allen''s house was the most spacious, so they decided to go there first to split the money.


    Along the way, an undead noticed the group and silently approached, escorting them for a bit until they entered Allen''s house before it left.


    Caroline looked back at the silently departing undead and said somewhat regrettably, "If only we could have the undead accompany us to sell fabric. With them around, who knows how much trouble can be avoided."


    "You are dreaming too big, Caroline!" Benjamin mocked.


    In the distance, Ou Huang walked away, silently contemplating with arms crossed.


    Why do the NPCs of Weisshem not trigger any hidden quests no matter what I do?


    Late at night, Caroline returned home under the protection of an uncle, two cousins, and an aunt. As soon as she entered the courtyard, Mrs. Winnie, who had been waiting eagerly inside, rushed out and embraced her daughter tightly.


    Welcoming the relatives into the house, Caroline''s second aunt, comparing her own children, sighed and said to Winnie, "Winnie, Caroline has really grown up and is so capable. She''s the most capable among all our family. Even her uncles and cousins are not as competent as she is."


    Caroline''s uncle and two cousins nodded happily, fully agreeing with the aunt''s praise for Caroline.


    Caroline''s uncle said proudly, "Winnie, you didn''t see it with your own eyes. Caroline even dared to speak face-to-face with Mr. Rex. No wonder these youngsters dared to get the fabric on credit from Mr. Rex. Caroline is truly remarkable."


    "Stop saying that. She hasn''t even gotten married yet; she''s still a child," Mrs. Winnie, covering her chest, said. "I haven''t had a moment of peace since yesterday. These kids really make us worry¡­ Caroline, you have to stay away from Simon and the others in the future. If you keep hanging out with them, how will you ever get married?"


    Caroline didn''t argue with her mother; instead, she placed the bag she was carrying on the table, opened it, and let her mother see the copper coins inside.


    Winnie''s nagging came to an abrupt stop.


    After a moment of silence, a trembling Mrs. Winnie reached out to touch the coins in the bag.


    "H-how can there be so much money?" Mrs. Winnie, who had been a housewife all her life, was shocked and looked at her daughter in fright.


    "I earned this, Mom. Did you think I picked this up?" Caroline declared proudly. "We sold fabric to many villages south of Indahl and even made a deal with the estate servants. We''ve settled Mr. Rex''s payment, paid the taxes, and distributed wages to Auntie and the rest. This money is all mine!"


    Mrs. Winnie couldn''t help but cast an inquiring look at her own brother, Caroline''s uncle.


    Caroline''s uncle nodded, smiling broadly. "It''s true, Winnie. The fabric was sold rather smoothly, and each of us got 200 copper coins¡ª200!" As he spoke, he even opened his jacket, revealing the weighty inner pocket to Winnie.


    Mrs. Winnie covered her mouth with her hand.


    Just running about for two days and netting 200 copper coins was indeed a generous reward, equivalent to what others might earn in a week, assuming they could find work.


    "Uncle, Aunt, I''m sorry we can only give you this much for now because the money we''ve received needs to be used as capital," Caroline tightened the bag and apologized. "Mr. Rex won''t extend credit to us for fabric anymore. Next time, we''ll have to pay for the goods ourselves. We need more fabric to make a profit."


    Her uncle quickly said, "I know, Caroline, we all know. We''re already satisfied with getting so much. How could we complain about it being too little?"


    "That''s right. Who are we to be picky? It''s the fabric you got from Mr. Rex on credit, and it''s you who found a way to avoid danger and safely sell all that fabric. Without you, we wouldn''t have had the chance to encounter such good fortune," Caroline''s aunt earnestly expressed. "If your uncle comes back next time, let him go with you. He''ll be better than me."


    Mrs. Winnie noticed that her brother and sister-in-law both showed considerable respect for her daughter, both in attitude and expression, and she couldn''t believe it, covering her mouth with her hand once more.


    Gazing at her daughter again, Mrs. Winnie suddenly realized that her daughter was indeed different from before¡­ She was so confident, calm, determined, and even the dirt all over her body couldn''t hide her radiance.


    Mrs. Winnie took two steps forward and hugged her daughter tightly once again.


    Her little angel had unknowingly grown so big.


    Simon''s family was the poorest among the four friends. His father hadn''t been able to afford bricks and wood when renovating the house. The courtyard walls and the expanded bungalows were all made by asking rural relatives for help, and even the roof was made of bamboo and thatch.


    When Simon returned with a bag of money, the whole family welcomed him in the yard like a hero.


    After celebrating with tears and laughter for a while and sending away the relatives who had helped, Simon''s mother, after closing the door, asked with concern, "After you left, I heard people on the street saying that there are often robberies on the paths to villages far away, and I was really worried¡­ Did you have a smooth journey?"


    Simon smiled and replied honestly, "We did encounter some trouble, Mom, but don''t worry. We''ve worked in Indahl for many years and heard about such things a lot. Of course, we won''t go unprepared."


    "We didn''t sell all the goods directly in the village. If we did, it would be strange if the people in the village didn''t gather and rob us. We always hide the cart and fabric outside, choose a few people to enter the village, find those families with old people and children, and privately ask them if they want to buy cheap and good fabric. The quantity isn''t much, and if they want to buy, they have to act quickly, or else we''ll have to ask the next family¡­"

 Chapter 111: Undead Cultural Arts

    Earth time, November 5, an ordinary Monday.


    Yang Qiu returned to Earth, took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and, as usual, sat down in front of his computer to check his emails.


    It had only been three days (Earth time) since he sent the deposit, and "Director Lu" had already delivered all the road construction equipment.


    All of it was large-scale machinery, so it couldn''t be delivered to the suburban cottage where Yang Qiu lived. "Director Lu" directly sent him the address of a civilian warehouse outside the city and had the keys delivered by local express, instructing him to pick it up himself.


    After having a bowl of noodles nearby, Yang Qiu obtained the keys from a courier locker in the vicinity and immediately called a ride-hailing service to the warehouse.


    Right now, he was still using the identity he had previously purchased online. "OtherWorld" had been open for a month now, and even the "beta" had completed a full month. It was impossible that the authorities hadn''t uncovered the truth of this purchased identity. But since they were intentionally turning a blind eye, Yang Qiu saw no need to delve into conspiracy theories.


    On arrival, Yang Qiu indeed found that the warehouse arranged by "Director Lu," which originally belonged to a certain agricultural machinery factory, was unexpectedly quiet. There wasn''t any ambush nor surveillance, and when Yang Qiu scanned the area with his mental field, the largest living creatures within a kilometer radius were no bigger than mice. Even the security guards that were supposed to be watching the warehouse had been cleared out in advance.


    "Cooperation is all about trust for it to go the distance!" Yang Qiu praised "Director Lu," whose true identity he still didn''t yet know, and confidently entered the warehouse.


    Moments after the warehouse door was closed, all signals from the wiretaps and cameras set up by professionals inside the warehouse were cut.


    Half an hour later, Yang Qiu strode out from the converted civilian rental warehouse empty-handed, hailed a DiDi on the roadside, and swiftly returned to the suburbs.


    Shortly after the DiDi departed, a van approached from the opposite direction and stopped outside the warehouse. Several immaculately dressed men jumped out and sprinted toward the warehouse.


    In the spacious, old agricultural machinery factory building, all the road construction equipment, mining diesel generators, and Dongfeng trucks loaded with barrels of diesel had vanished without a trace.


    Field agents stared blankly at the squeaky clean warehouse, where not even a coiled wire was left behind, and quickly took out their phones and reported the situation¡­


    At five in the morning, Ji Tang dragged Rex to the countryside to continue their survey. After a half-day of running about, they arrived at the final destination¡ªBack Mountain Village, farthest away from Weisshem, located on the north side of a large mountain.


    When they arrived around four in the afternoon, the most scorching period of the day had passed. The villagers had all come out of their homes and were working in the fields at the foot of the mountain.


    Ji Tang and Rex, who had been on the road all day, were stunned upon seeing this typical late summer and early autumn farming scene¡­


    Although they had already heard some information about Back Mountain Village from nearby villages, seeing it in person was still shocking.


    Back Mountain Village, with a population of just over two hundred, consisting of fewer than 40 households, had dozens of men and women working in the fields, all completely naked.


    Seeing outsiders, the villagers of Back Mountain knew enough to be shy. Other than the elders, who were largely nonchalant, the younger ones quietly turned away.


    Ji Tang heard Rex gasp sharply beside him. Without looking, he could guess what expression the young man was wearing now.


    A rather aged-looking man, with a sunburned face and body, yet wasn''t over forty, jogged over to the edge of the field. He picked up a¡­ piece of rag, wrapped it around his waist, and stared at the clothed skeleton (Ji Tang) and Rex, who were still pushing bicycles along. He appeared confused for quite a while and, after a long bout of hesitation, walked toward them¡ªRex''s attire appeared decent in the eyes of the rural people.


    Due to Ji Tang''s presence, this man didn''t dare to approach too closely. Keeping a distance of 20 meters, he made a series of chirping sounds toward Rex while nodding and bowing down. It seemed like he was inquiring about Rex''s background and intentions.


    Rex nodded at the man, turned to Ji Tang, and said stiffly, "He claims to be Walk, the head of Back Mountain Village."


    Ji Tang patted Rex''s shoulder in understanding.


    On the first day of their rural survey, Rex harbored the naive idea that changing the village head could transform a poor and struggling village into a prosperous and wealthy one. Although he realized later that this idea was way too naive and stopped saying such things¡­ seeing this village head without even a decent pair of pants left Rex feeling rather embarrassed.


    Next up was the process that the two were already proficient in. Rex declared his identity as the new Weisshem lord and made Walk, the village head who was bowing, lift his head. He then handed a lapel badge to Walk and instructed the village head to lead them to understand the village''s situation.


    As they went through the less than forty households densely settled on the mountainside to defend against wild beasts, Rex became even more depressed¡­


    The adobe houses made of mud and straw were each family''s most important possessions. No one had any common glassware, and even the village head''s house only had clay jars and shiny wooden bowls.


    Most households couldn''t put together a complete piece of clothing. Only the village head and a few older villagers had a set or half set of patched "traveling clothes"; when the villagers needed to exchange soybeans for salt with other villages, those who could produce "traveling clothes" would deliver the soybeans.


    The villagers'' daily food was¡­ potatoes.


    Usually, they ate mashed potatoes with wild peppers, sometimes with wild fruit when they were in season on the mountain and just a little salt for seasoning.


    On the rare occasions when a wild animal was trapped in the large pits dug around the village, or if someone caught a field mouse, rabbit, or snake, the villagers could have some meat and animal fat in their wooden bowls.


    The entire village was extremely primitive. So primitive it was hard to imagine that 15 kilometers away was Weisshem, where some neighborhoods had electricity, and Indahl, with electricity and gas and housed hundreds of thousands, was less than 50 kilometers away.


    Having already visited 21 villages, Rex could see the "root of poverty" in this village, even without Ji Tang pointing it out: a lack of water and good land.


    The territory of Weisshem didn''t lack water. There was abundant groundwater and a river due to its proximity to the Sorensen Mountains.


    However, abundant water resources and the ability of the people living in this territory to make full use of water resources were two different matters. Back Mountain Village, the farthest village from the densely populated area (Weisshem town), had been established on the mountain to defend against wild beasts, and fields were cultivated down the mountain.


    The village was a distance away from the main river that ran through Weisshem territory, so the villages could only use a small stream to get water. As a result, without irrigation, wheat couldn''t be grown, so drought-resistant potatoes and soybeans were cultivated instead. Also, the only safe area for cultivating these crops was at the foot of the mountain. Villagers couldn''t practice crop rotation and fallow to replenish the land. Instead, they had to rely on the experience passed down by their ancestors to rotate soybeans and potatoes on the same piece of land.


    Listening to the nervous and incoherent Walk speak about the obscure and difficult-to-understand circumstances, Rex expressed that he wasn''t here to conscript laborers, and Weisshem didn''t engage in wars.


    It seemed that the previous Weisshem lords had all given up considering taxing this village and wouldn''t even remember there were people here unless they were conscripting commoners for war.


    Having roughly understood the situation in Back Mountain Village and getting an estimate of the population, Ji Tang said to Rex while they were on their way back, "It''s too difficult for this village to escape poverty right away. Water diversion projects are too costly, and I estimate we won''t have the funds for such undertakings in Weisshem territory for several years, given the financial situation. The only way to solve Back Mountain Village''s dilemma is to relocate the entire village."


    Rex nodded silently and let out a long sigh.


    "I always thought that people led difficult lives because the officials weren''t upright enough. Ji Tang, it seems I was way too naive."


    "Your line of thought wasn''t entirely wrong," Ji Tang consoled. "It''s just that poverty has different factors in different regions. It''s not something that can be entirely solved by having upright officials. Integrity and morality aren''t a cure-all; the ability and determination to get things done are the most important."


    Rex nodded, then shook his head, letting out another sigh.


    Ji Tang could very well understand Rex''s reaction.


    Regardless of whichever plane it was, the issue of poverty was both the "easiest" and also the most challenging problem to solve.


    It was considered the "easiest" to solve because, in the eyes of some, addressing poverty seemed simple¡ªengaging in charity work would do.


    For example, on Earth, charitable organizations of developed countries delivered food, medicine, and clothing to the impoverished people of third-world countries. The grateful smiles of these poor folk receiving aid were often published in the media, which gave people a sense of spiritual satisfaction. Any ordinary citizen could fulfill their obligation to the impoverished and return home to enjoy their lives in the civilized world.


    However, such charity activities, which didn''t even address the root cause of poverty, weren''t particularly effective. International charity organizations had been sending food and medicine to undeveloped countries for decades, yet the people there still remained hungry and sick.


    Of course, this wasn''t saying that such relief-oriented charity was entirely meaningless. At least, the impoverished could still benefit a little while helping certain charitable organization members or wealthy individuals legally evade taxes.


    Some might argue that these charity organizations have good intentions, and there are indeed many remarkable individuals within these organizations doing great things, so it''s unfair to condemn the entire sector. However, the question arises: Do those among the small portion of people in these organizations who genuinely make a difference and sincerely try to solve poverty really not understand the root causes of poverty in third-world countries?


    Humanity on Earth had since moved beyond the stage of monopolizing knowledge as a resource. Anyone who bought a cheap smartphone and found a place with internet access could easily learn about the outside world. Could International humanitarian organizations, with their abundant resources, broad perspectives, and the ability to send food, drugs, and even medical teams to third-world countries, genuinely not understand what those impoverished locals needed?


    In short, it was the advantage of taking the easy path rather than the difficult one; the success of Chinese-style poverty alleviation was visible globally, yet what did these international organizations, which had been doing charity for decades or even centuries, learn from such experiences?


    Rex was an idealist willing to get things done. At least, as the nominal owner of this land, he genuinely wanted to improve the lives of Weisshem''s people. He didn''t categorize the remote rural population as burdens of civilization or society that urgently needed to be eliminated. The easiest means of "poverty alleviation," which involved sending some supplies and leaving after self-satisfaction, certainly didn''t occur to him.


    With this mindset, he had visited over 20 villages in Weisshem territory, deeply understood the situation, and became more and more frustrated and disheartened.


    Returning to Weisshem before dark, Ji Tang separated from Rex and, as usual, sought out Zhao Zhenzhen. He first reported today''s investigation findings to her¡ªZhao Zhenzhen wasn''t part of the expert task force, so the two didn''t meet offline.


    On hearing Ji Tang''s detailed introduction of the last village visited today, Zhao Zhenzhen nodded and said, "The poverty in this world isn''t the same as in China."


    Ji Tang wholeheartedly agreed.


    In China, poverty was mostly illness-induced poverty and elderly poverty.


    The former was understandable, while the latter, though harsh, was also rather understandable; there was a significant portion of those living below the poverty line, and the main reason being that they were abandoned by their children.


    The low-income support, pension for the elderly, and even the groceries brought by street offices, village committees, and poverty alleviation officials for condolence were often taken away by their children and grandchildren. This was a harsh reality.


    As for those who became impoverished due to drug addiction or laziness, they weren''t worth the consideration of Zhao Zhenzhen and Ji Tang.


    The loss of ability to work was the primary cause of poverty in the lower strata of Hua Xia society.


    However, the situation in this world was different. After several days of visiting, Ji Tang and Rex mainly saw impoverished groups consisting of young and middle-aged individuals, with hardly any sickly or elderly people in sight.


    The reason was simple and brutal: those in their prime years were already struggling below the poverty line, so how could the sick and elderly even cope?


    In a poverty-stricken village like Back Mountain Village, the oldest person Ji Tang and Rex saw was a woman in her early forties.


    Where had all the older people gone? The answer was self-evident.


    "There''s a large number of impoverished young and middle-aged people. It''s no wonder the people here are so calm when talking about war and see territorial wars as normal," said Zhao Zhenzhen, shaking her head. "Our people who can come over are us and the two old masters. There may not be much we can do, but what needs to be done, we must do. As for the consolidation of villages, it''s best to start before winter."


    Weisshem had a considerable amount of arable land for local farmers. Even though the contiguous and well-leveled land was mostly distributed to the Rhine nobles and occupied by their manor farms, the remaining land, if appropriately managed and gradually reclaimed, shouldn''t have any problems feeding the twenty-thousand mouths of both farmers and townsfolk.


    "The expert task force suggested this as well," Ji Tang said. "Advice from above is to seize the opportunity, pool enough local currency, and consolidate grain purchases to create a model village that attracts farmers to settle¡ª"


    Before Ji Tang could finish his sentence, a notification chime sounded, and a large block of yellow text popped up in his information panel¡­


    Zhao Zhenzhen noticed Ji Tang tilting his head, as if looking at something diagonally downward, and immediately understood. "Lord Yang issued you a quest?"


    Ji Tang stiffly raised his head and said wryly, "Lord Yang asked me to immediately organize manpower to install generators and lay power lines¡­"


    The expert task force had set today as the deadline for Lord Yang''s "delivery," and Zhao Zhenzhen found it somewhat amusing, saying, "This guy is really efficient. He''s wasting no time the moment he gets the stuff."


    The old wires the former Weisshem mayor installed on the town''s main street were an eyesore to Lord Yang, and even less so to Ji Tang. During the construction and renovation works, they had taken the opportunity to eliminate these fire hazards and left gaps for laying cables according to the plan.


    Lord Yang''s request, which came late in the evening (it was only noon on Earth; the sky had turned dark in OtherWorld), was to immediately install generators and lay power lines. Ji Tang had no choice but to quickly log out and summon back Old Geng and Master Liu, who had finished their day''s work and had gone offline. Together with Rex, Ban, Ossirian, Brook, and Lyka, who were classified as natives on their team, they rolled up their sleeves and got to work.


    Having power lines exposed outside could easily lead to safety issues and theft. When renovating the main road of the town, Ji Tang had already instructed clerks to arrange for townspeople to dig underground spaces along both sides of the road to accommodate cables; after all, the roads in this world weren''t prone to being crushed by heavy trucks, so there was no need to worry even if they were buried relatively shallow.


    The 100 kW diesel generator taken from a mining facility could generate 100 kWh of electricity per hour, consuming around 30 liters of fuel. If only used for lighting in specific areas and powering small motors, two units would be sufficient for Weisshem. Indeed, Lord Yang asked Ji Tang to only install two.


    Generators, transformers, and transmission cables were all Chinese products with excellent quality. The loss during the electrical transmission was so low that it could be practically neglected. However, to minimize the loss as much as possible, Ji Tang installed both generators on the main street to facilitate nearby electrical transmission.


    Due to the shortage of manpower, they hadn''t finished by the time dawn came (in OtherWorld). Ji Tang instructed the clerks to halt the temporary hiring of part-time laborers for half a day. The main street was sealed off, and they continued working.


    The townspeople who came early in the morning to queue for work didn''t know what was going on and were worried. They gathered outside the main street and refused to disperse.


    Shirley nervously came to report the situation to Rex. Hearing that several hundred people were camped outside, Rex was also puzzled and looked to Ji Tang.


    Ji Tang: "¡­"


    "¡­Arrange a cultural performance for them!" Ji Tang, annoyed by the urgency, said. "Go find out if anyone with talent in singing and dancing is willing to perform near the street intersection. They can perform anything; the goal is to quiet down those people!"


    Shirley, looking bewildered, rushed off to find performers, while Ji Tang used his authority as player-mayor authority to assign a quest to players that were online¡­


    The players who were farming mobs, completing quests, or just idle chatting, saw the mayor''s quest on the quests or their player panels and burst into laughter.


    "Participate in a stage performance to pacify the restless townspeople? What sort of quest?"


    "I can sing ''Little Apple,'' but will the NPC townsfolk understand what I''m singing?"


    "Ji Tang has been in office for so long without issuing quests that I thought he forgot about it. Seems like he''s been saving up to unleash this ultimate move!"


    Complaints aside, there were still quite a number of players who casually teleported to Weisshem, laughing and joking as they came to find Ji Tang¡­ S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "The heck! Are cables being laid here?" a player that had arrived immediately exclaimed when he saw the work site. "Look at you, Ji Tang. Sneaking around doing a hidden quest while letting the rest of us go dance?"


    "It''s just manual labor, there aren''t any rewards! Can''t you see everyone here is using tool accounts?" Ji Tang knew exactly how to shut these guys up and immediately struck with a decisive blow.


    Hearing there were no rewards, the players present were dumbfounded and started talking all at once.


    "Then how should we do this quest? Can I sing ''Little Apple''?"


    "Forget about singing; the NPCs won''t hear it." Ji Tang saw the players coming and immediately had the natives take off their lapel badges so he could speak without reservations. "Is there anybody that can dance? And someone who can organize a performance to appease the townsfolk will get double the rewards!"


    With the promise of a generous reward, a brave player raised their hand immediately. "Me! I''ll do it!"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The townsfolk, who had been crowding the intersection of the main street for almost an hour, anxiously looked toward the makeshift stage of wooden bricks.


    Having received stable daily wages for the past few days, everyone greatly hoped for these days to last longer. Yet, this morning, they were suddenly told to stop working for half a day and return in the afternoon. Most townsfolk found it hard to feel at ease if they were to return home.


    "Why did they suddenly say to stop working? Could it be that Mr. Rex doesn''t have money to pay wages anymore?"


    "Could it be those people the undead caught and brought back yesterday caused trouble?"


    "O Lady Gold Coin, bless us¡­"


    The townsfolk were exchanging uneasy whispers when suddenly, there was a commotion at the front.


    People tried to tiptoe and look only to see a¡­ muscular female warrior, dressed in a gorgeous gown, carrying a table around the cordon tapes and placing it in front of the crowd. She then climbed on the table and stood still.


    The female warrior standing on the table scanned the hundreds of townsfolk blocking the intersection and raised her hand. "Hello, everyone!"


    It wasn''t the strange KABAKABA sounds but clear standard Mandarin.


    However, the townspeople still couldn''t understand and just stared at this person in confusion.


    Although overly muscular, this person was clearly a woman, but why was a man''s voice coming out from her?!


    Players at the cordoned-off area shouted, "Don''t waste time, Boss Orange Cat! Your transformation can''t last much longer!"


    "Yeah! While you can still produce vocal accompaniment, hurry up and sing!"


    The RMB player with the ID "Orange Cat" had just reached level one, and his mana bar was very short. His illusory disguise couldn''t be maintained for too long. He shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands out, striking a pose like a tenor, and began singing, "You are my little, ah, little apple¡ª"


    "F*ck, hahahaha!"


    "Damn, he only knows how to sing ''Little Apple''!"


    Teacher Yu Chi, who took on the task of organizing the performance, held onto her belly. "Stop laughing, stop laughing, dancers, hurry on up!"


    The townspeople in the front row saw undead pouring out from behind the cordon tap and quickly squeezed backward, voluntarily making space.


    Several players who came to the front formed a line in front of Boss Orange Cat''s table. With arms slung and pelvis tilted, they started a rather uncoordinated line dance¡­


    Teacher Yu Chi, who had just told everyone to stop laughing, was now rolling on the ground behind the cordon.

 Chapter 112: Little Gummy Stirring Hearts

    Early in the morning, Caroline was woken up by a commotion coming from the hall. She got out of bed, pulled aside the door curtain, and saw that the lady of the household next door had come to their house and was anxiously speaking with Winnie.


    Caroline asked at once, "What''s going on, Mom?"


    The second aunt of the Meghan family had already bragged to everyone that Caroline could speak with Mr. Rex. The worried neighbor, seeing Caroline come out, seemed to see hope and asked, "My family went to seek work on the main street this morning and found it blocked off and the hiring ceased. Caroline, do you know what''s going on?"


    "She rested at home all of yesterday and didn''t go out. How would she know?" Mrs. Winne said.


    "I don''t know anything," Caroline stepped out of the room and asked with concern, "Can you explain in more detail?"


    The neighbor quickly recounted what happened when her family members went to queue for work but were obstructed from going in.


    After listening to the neighbor''s explanation, Caroline roughly understood what was going on.


    The townspeople either worried that the new lord might be in trouble and couldn''t pay up for the odd jobs or that they were no longer hiring everyone that signed up, using a half-day off as an excuse to eliminate some.


    While this notion might sound somewhat laughable, it wasn''t funny at all as it involved personal interests. It was only normal for people to worry about gains and losses.


    Caroline had seen the heaps of fabric in the town hall''s store that were stacked high to the ceiling. She was very certain that Mr. Rex couldn''t be short of money.


    Mr. Rex was even willing to give a chance to four Weisshem youngsters with no background, allowing them to buy fabric on credit and make a substantial profit. Caroline didn''t believe that Mr. Rex would be stingy with the temporary job opportunities for the townspeople, who were paid on a daily basis.


    Thus, she smiled and said, "Don''t worry too much. If the clerks say it''s just a half-day break, then it would be fine to return in the afternoon."


    "R-really? Can we go in the afternoon?" Caroline''s neighbor didn''t seem to believe it.


    "Of course." Caroline took her neighbor''s hand, patted lightly to convey confidence, and said, "My grandfather went to work at the sanitation bureau early this morning. He''s cooperating with his colleagues to clean up those abandoned old houses on the west side, saying it''s to eliminate some¡­ fire hazards. Even my grandfather is continuing to work, so how could Mr. Rex possibly be fussy?"


    Caroline''s neighbor contemplated for a bit, and her tense facial muscles finally relaxed.


    "I feel so much more relieved hearing you say that," said her neighbor, with a hand on her chest. "When I returned, I saw undead escorting those locked-up militia digging the sewers in the neighboring block. I heard those locked-up militiamen get paid for working too."


    "Locked-up militia" was a general term used by the townsfolk for those in custody. The reason they used such neutral terminology was that some townspeople''s family members were also locked up¡­ Some were militia, others were bouncers, and there were even some revelers on the main street.


    After seeing off the neighbor, Caroline turned to Winnie. "Mom, I''ll go check the main street. Where did I put my beige linen dress?"


    "You''ve only rested for a day. Are you going out now?" Winnie said, slightly unhappy.


    "I''ve rested for a whole day. It''s already more than enough, Mom. I wanted to visit that deli yesterday, but you didn''t let me go~" Caroline coquettishly clung to Winnie''s arm.


    Mrs. Winnie was helpless to her daughter''s charms. "It''s because I''m afraid you will spend your money recklessly! Alright, alright. You''re already an adult and still speak like this! Your dress is hanging in the yard. I''ll bring it in later."


    Caroline put on the linen dress her mother had washed and headed out to Martin Street, where she took a detour to Weisshem''s main street. Due to the ongoing construction and debris from the buildings on that street, many alleys were closed off. If residents from the northern living area wanted to go to the main street, they had to either use Town Hall Street or take a detour through Martin Street.


    After going through half the town and reaching the three-way intersection leading to the town gate, Caroline witnessed a scene that thoroughly shocked her¡­


    The intersection near the entrance to Weisshem''s main street was spacious, almost like a small square, and at the moment, it was densely packed with several hundred townspeople, all sitting on the ground.


    These seated townspeople were very quiet, their heads inclined slightly upward, focusing on the cordoned-off zone directly in front of them.


    In front of the cordoned-off zone, a square table was set up. When Caroline arrived, she saw a lady in an exquisite ball gown, with a physique more robust than a man''s, standing atop the table and singing.


    Caroline couldn''t understand the lyrics at all; it sounded like a language from another world. However, the language barrier didn''t prevent her from grasping the power in the singer''s voice¡ªpowerful, deep, and resonant, seemingly more forceful than her throat could handle.


    Although it was just the rhythmic sense created by a simple human voice and incomprehensible lyrics, Caroline felt like it was a massive tsunami crashing on her via her hearing.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Rewinding back to 15 minutes ago, when Caroline had rushed out of her house, holding the hem of her skirt.


    The song was chaotic and Boss Orange Cat couldn''t even recall the lyrics properly. He hadn''t been singing for three minutes when his "energy bar" was depleted, and the robust female warrior transformed back into a skeleton.


    The bizarre tune that confounded the townspeople turned into a "KABAKABA" they were familiar with¡­ Those who had just been laughing at the skeletons'' odd dance moves were stunned.


    "¡ªIt''s an undead indeed!" a spectator muttered under his breath.


    Others, in hindsight, commented, "It can only be an undead¡­ Otherwise, how can she be mixing with the undead?"


    "What are they all doing? Are they performing for us?" Someone made a bold guess.


    Hearing this speculation, some townsfolk expressed their surprise. "Eh? This is a performance?"


    "No way, how can these weird sounds be a performance?"


    "The funky dance can still be counted. Their dancing is quite amusing. But that undead that turned into a human¡­ What exactly is that!"


    "Yeah, it sounds terrible!"


    There was a language barrier between the players putting on the performance and the townspeople watching the show. However, it didn''t mean that the two sides were entirely unable to communicate.


    The townsfolk pointed at the dancing players, laughing heartily. But when they looked at the singing Orange Cat, confusion, perplexity, and helplessness could be seen in their eyes. Even a fool could see whom the townspeople favored more.


    Orange Cat jumped off the table dejectedly and ran back behind the cordoned-off zone. "What''s going on? Doesn''t art have no boundaries? I don''t speak English, but I''m still happy listening to English songs. Why aren''t these NPCs appreciating it?"


    Teacher Yu Chi, who originally planned to offer a few comforting words, was dumbfounded. "Wait a minute. You can''t even sing ''Little Apple'' properly, yet you have the audacity to call that art? Are all you wealthy folks this shameless?"


    "And you are still a teacher?? How is there so much venom in your mouth?!" Orange Cat was also astonished.


    A nearby player chuckled. "If it weren''t for the language barrier, the two of you could make a popular comedy duo."


    Orange Cat staunchly defended his artistic integrity. "I don''t think it''s an issue with me. It''s probably because there are no microphones or speakers here. My voice wasn''t loud enough and the NPCs couldn''t hear clearly. Otherwise, it wouldn''t have been such an awkward stage."


    "I can vouch for it!" One of the dancer players raised a hand. "Boss Orange Cat sang quite well, I nearly burst out laughing several times. Even my four-year-old nephew can''t produce such amusing entertainment!"


    The Orange Cat nodded enthusiastically at the first part of the statement but immediately stiffened up in the latter half. Without saying a word, he unsheathed his freshly enchanted weapon, bared his teeth, and charged at the player who had dared ridicule him.


    Orange Cat was quite popular, and everyone knew about his lackluster gaming skills. Not a single person intervened to stop him from chasing after the player, and they stood around, laughing heartily. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "A lack of a sound system does make it less interesting." Teacher Yu Chi took Orange Cat''s opinion seriously and was troubled. "Even buskers on the streets carry a small speaker with them, but here, we rely on vocal power alone. If the NPCs can''t hear clearly, then it''s wasted even if someone sings well."


    When Tang Jia, laughing along with Yang Ying, heard this, she immediately straightened up. "Need a loud voice? How fortuitous, let me handle it!"


    Borrowing Orange Cat''s Orb of Deception and looping it around her neck, Tang Jia confidently took to the stage.


    Before starting her performance, Tang Jia even turned around and shouted, "No one is allowed to come out and dance. If dancers steal the limelight, no one will appreciate my singing."


    Orange Cat was already dejected, and hearing this made it worse as he exclaimed in frustration, "Why didn''t you say that when I was up there? Gummy, you aren''t a good person at all!"


    Revealing a female warrior figure similar to Orange Cat''s, Tang Jia wasted no time showcasing her extraordinary talent¡ªan in-built, booming voice that resembled a sound system. With full confidence, she began to roar, "Vigorous, when facing the beatings of ten thousand heavy waves!" [TL note: the song is Äжùµ±×ÔÇ¿ (A Man Should Strengthen Himself), a popular kung fu anthem in movies.]


    Teacher Yuchi: "¡­(¡ãA¡ã`)"


    Players: ¡­"(¡ã ¡÷¡ã(¡ã ¡÷¡ã (¡ã ¡÷¡ã )"


    Tang Jia''s powerful voice was a menace to anyone who crossed paths with her; a mere casual greeting by Tang Jia could be like a sudden and thunderous shout that could leave one dizzy and disoriented.


    This often disruptive vocal prowess, when employed for singing songs that exuded heroic and ambitious sentiments, surprisingly yielded remarkable results. Pronunciation and enunciation became rhythmic, akin to having a built-in drumbeat. It was especially heart-stirring¡ªnot necessarily better than a professional singer, but undoubtedly hardcore.


    Before Tang Jia even completed two lines, the hushed whispers of the town''s NPCs quieted down. Midway through the performance, the mesmerized town NPCs even silently took their seats, utterly focused on appreciating the spectacle.


    "Art truly has no boundaries; you can appreciate it even if you can''t understand it." Teacher Yu Chi nodded approvingly.


    Orange Cat: "¡­" Are you mocking me?!


    Tang Jia''s "energy bar" seemed to have no end in sight as she maintained the illusionary performance for over half an hour. After the rousing manly anthem, she launched into another stirring song.


    This girl had never learned to sing, but her naturally powerful voice, combined with a lack of concern for straining her throat¡ªthanks to the "game"¡ªallowed her to unleash high notes without any restrictions.


    The effect was astounding, and even the indigenous locals, who were far from connoisseurs of soulful entertainment, as well as players accustomed to various genres of popular songs, were left dumbfounded.


    "Amazing! She''s even more engaging than the live performance by the singer my old man hired!" Orange Cat gasped in surprise. "How does Little Gummy, this silly and noisy girl, have such remarkable special talent?!"


    "What sort of opinion did you have about Tang Jia?!" Yang Ying looked over wryly.


    "Your dad hires a singer for live performances? Damn, so what I read in web novels about rich folk inviting celebrities to perform at their homes is true?" Another player focused on this discovered nugget.


    "What nonsense! It was a commercial performance for the opening of a shopping mall." Orange Cat quickly waved dismissively. "Who the heck bothers inviting people to sing at their homes. Isn''t vinyl music pleasant enough?"


    "Your family owns a shopping mall, and you use vinyl records!"


    "¡­Are you guys done?"


    As Tang Jia sang "A Man Should Strengthen Himself," the windows of the family inn close to the main street were pushed open. Mrs. Doyle, her husband, and the guests staying at the Doyles'' inn all appeared at the windows.


    The penetrating melody reached the adjacent Martin Street, attracting many residents and shopkeepers to come.


    When Caroline arrived, Tang Jia, atop the table, was already singing the third song, "March of the Volunteers."


    The song was entirely different from the previous two entertaining pieces. To natives who couldn''t understand the powerful and unfamiliar tones, it was no longer just a soul-stirring experience. It was as if someone was using a sledgehammer to pound on their hearts and souls, and each one of them listened intently, forgetting everything from before¡­


    Half a block away, in the former mayor''s house, Inspector Lowell, who was wondering where Yang Qiu had obtained the "miniature" generator from, suddenly sensed a subtle oppressiveness for a brief moment.


    This sensation, second only to Yang Qiu''s, made the seasoned ascetic hesitate. Not believing he was mistaken, Lowell stepped out of the hall into the courtyard, releasing his mental field, carefully and cautiously sensing the energy fluctuations in the surrounding space.


    There weren''t any anomalies whatsoever. It was as if the brief and subtle oppressive sensation was merely due to his hyperactive nerves.


    After contemplating for a moment, Lowell instructed Wagner to watch over the house. Changing into his shoes, he left for the town hall.


    When seeing Yang Qiu in the town hall''s archive room, the latter spoke before Lowell could say anything, "You sensed it too, Inspector?"


    "What was that?" Inspector Lowell asked.


    "I don''t know." Yang Qiu shook his head in slight displeasure. "Some unknown entity cast a glance at Weisshem. Such an overbearing gaze is rather impolite."


    Lowell: "¡­"


    In a stoic manner, Lowell said, "You felt offended just because an unknown entity was observing?"


    "A feeble existence so weak that even its gaze is barely detectable; paying this much attention here would seem rather improper."


    What he said made sense. An unknown entity''s observation that was barely detectable had no way of affecting the material plane. It was far inferior to the elder gods in the midst of their resurrection.


    However, Lowell still thought Yang Qiu was too optimistic and expressed his disagreement, "Don''t you think that perhaps this unknown entity came because of your peculiar undead?"


    Invading the material world with fearsome monsters from the boundless void was no easy task. It also required the assistance of unstable spatial rifts to penetrate the barriers of the material world. It was different from the Dimensional Realms, especially those incomplete realms without even a demon lord, which became the playground for void demons.


    Yang Qiu chuckled. "Absolutely impossible!"


    The world barrier of the Earth plane was much more formidable than this magical plane! Even the tentacles of elder gods couldn''t pass through, and even a target marked out had to be dragged over here!


    Had Yang Qiu not been fused with the tentacle of the damned elder god and tainted with its aura, making it easy for the damned elder god to locate and drag him back, he would have long gone into hiding on Earth, living out his retirement!


    Inspector Lowell stared at Yang Qiu for a bit, then said softly, "Are you certain your undead won''t be influenced by entities of the void¡­? After all, your undead aren''t from the Dimensional Realm."


    Yang Qiu smiled but didn''t say anything more.


    At the time when Yang Qiu utilized the portion of eldritch power obtained from fusing with the elder god''s tentacle to transport the void aura to Exile Town, he no longer cared whether this holy inspector would see through the players.


    Roughly getting it, Inspector Lowell didn''t delve deeper into the matter. He merely cast a profound glance at Yang Qiu. "You¡­ are too confident. Your undead aren''t protected by the profound rules of this world; they do not belong to this realm."


    "Thank you, Inspector." Yang Qiu understood that Lowell was accustomed to concealing concern behind a solemn facade, and he accepted his goodwill with a smile. "I''m afraid I cannot reveal the true origin of our undead friends to you. But I can tell you that if everyone else is susceptible to mental corruption, they absolutely wouldn''t."


    Spiritual projections had to be impervious to contamination, much like a person wearing immaculate clothes standing before a grimy mirror. No matter how tarnished the reflection in the mirror, the individual facing it couldn''t be affected in the slightest.


    Inspector Lowell frowned, shaking his head in silence. Then, he turned to leave.


    "Wait first, Inspector." Yang Qiu stood up, halting Lowell with a gracious smile. "If you have the time, why not come and witness the efforts our undead friends are making to enhance the quality of life for the people of Weisshem?"


    While players were organizing a concert to soothe the townsfolk, Ji Tang and the others hastened to lay electrical wires and install the generators. They prioritized providing power to the town hall, Lord Yang''s residence, two resettlement points, the Undead Merchants Association canteen branch, and the first completed oil mill.


    This oil mill was proposed by Ji Tang, the player mayor, immediately upon Rex''s return from the countryside investigation on the first day. Due to the underdeveloped livestock industry in Weisshem, there was a substantial demand for edible oil among the locals. Venturing into livestock farming was impractical, so Ji Tang discovered that local farmers had a habit of using soybeans for crop rotation. Every household stored a considerable amount of soybeans for bartering or as emergency provisions, making soybean oil extraction a natural consideration.


    Easily convinced by Ji Tang, Rex visited Yang Qiu on the same day. Through a challenging negotiation (primarily because Rex couldn''t comprehend why Ji Tang believed Yang could acquire sophisticated machinery not even found in the Kenyan Empire), Yang Qiu agreed to their request, unapologetically adding the bill for the oil mill to Rex''s account.


    Rex incurred the debt, and the originally refurbished "Lover Club" now housed an oil mill, featuring a made-in-China manufactured fully automatic spiral oil press (produced by H Province Machinery Factory, with a factory price of 23,000 yuan, similar to the generator but more compact), a steaming and roasting pot, and two fully automatic multifunctional tofu machines (with a factory price of approximately 13,000 yuan).


    Leading Inspector Lowell to the oil mill, Yang Qiu, accompanied by Ji Tang, Rex, and Zhao Zhenzhen, found three individuals, along with several orc assistants, tuning the machines in the workshop. As the two of them swaggered in, besides the orc personnel Rex had set to oversee the oil mill, who appeared somewhat nervous, the others didn''t spare them much attention.


    Yang Qiu handed a lapel badge with a cuckoo flower pattern to Inspector Lowell, who hesitated for a moment before accepting it.


    The Mind Imprint matrix wasn''t an original creation by Yang Qiu. When a spellcaster decided to set up a mage tower in a certain location, they would set up the mage tower as the matrix core, creating a semi-permanent mind matrix that covered the entire territory. Locals who possessed the token bestowed by the spellcaster could join the matrix, gaining assistance in times of danger. In the unfortunate event of being murdered, they could also leave behind mental information in the matrix to expose the true culprit.


    In simple terms, it was a magical version of a regional local area network, providing a certain level of security. That''s why all lords in different regions eagerly hoped for a spellcaster to come and build a mage tower and were willing to offer generous benefits.


    Building a mage tower consumed both time and money and restricted the spellcaster''s personal range of activities. Yang Qiu directly used his own body as the matrix core, something that only a three-hundred-year-old monster like him could pull off.


    The moment Inspector Lowell grasped the lapel badge in his hand, he noticed that Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen''s peculiar "KABAKABA" sounds had transformed into a clear, organized conversation between a young man and a woman.


    Surprised, he shifted his gaze to Zhao Zhenzhen, distinctly hearing the reliable and warm female voice emitted by the skeleton¡ª


    "¡­Newly harvested soybeans can''t be pressed straight away; they have too much moisture. Did you set up the steaming and roasting equipment?"


    A deep and steady male voice came from the other skeleton¡ª


    "That one over there¡­ The biggest issue now is that the soybean varieties planted here aren''t great. I estimate the oil yield is only around 10%."


    Zhao Zhenzhen remarked, "10% is acceptable; it''s better than not getting any oil. Use the leftover soybean cake to make tofu directly; it won''t go to waste. Given the current weather, making dried tofu is more suitable, allowing for longer storage¡­ Oh, we also need to find a place for the tofu residue. Didn''t they say there are some abandoned houses concentrated northwest of Martin Street in the town? I think it''s a good idea to gather those empty houses to raise some chickens and ducks, providing more sources of meat and eggs. It will also diversify the quality of food for the townspeople. What do you think, Rex?"


    Lord Rex of Weisshem clearly couldn''t keep up; he was utterly bewildered and didn''t understand how the conversation had transitioned from soybean oil pressing to raising chickens and ducks. After a momentary daze, he finally said, "This¡­ should be possible. Those two alleys over there are empty, only a few households live there. Uh, do we need to go and get some hatchlings?"


    "No need. Naturally hatched chicks and ducklings have too high a cost and aren''t cost-effective or scalable." Zhao Zhenzhen waved her hand. "Just gather some fertilized chicken and duck eggs. We can hire people for incubation and breeding, and it will also create a few more job opportunities."


    Rex shot a puzzled look at Ji Tang. Hatch ourselves? What was Ms. Zhao Zhenzhen talking about? How do you hatch eggs without mother hens?


    "Oh, I can handle that. No problem. I''ll teach the workers when the time comes," Ji Tang responded casually.


    Rex: "¡­"


    Rex silently wiped off the beads of sweat on his forehead and became even more cautious while assisting these two individuals. Both of them surpassed him in skill and had much broader knowledge. Trying to maintain the lordly air without embarrassing himself was already considered a careful approach on his part.


    Rex, who could barely understand some parts, had this look on him. As for the orc Ossirian and his compatriots who were learning as well, they couldn''t mask their expressions as well¡­


    Yang Qiu chuckled as he watched the two national team members who were exceptionally skilled at training people. He turned to Inspector Lowell and said, "Our undead friends are truly remarkable. I''m really not boasting, don''t you think so, Inspector?"


    Inspector Lowell: "¡­"

 Chapter 113: Yang’s Entrustment

    Over 20 orcs had been rescued on the day the undead took control of Weisshem. After being fed and well-rested for close to 10 days, some adult orcs expressed a desire to leave and find their families. Rex, of course, wouldn''t force them to stay and generously provided them with supplies and travel expenses before seeing them off.


    After they were allowed to leave freely, the remaining 17 orcs trusted Rex even more.


    Rex did not discriminate against the orc race and didn''t mind that these orcs had been forced into dirty "professions." He carefully considered how to arrange these orcs that chose to stay voluntarily and, on Ji Tang''s suggestion, decided to make them workers.


    The orcs possessed a certain level of work capability after having recovered. Positions in the oil mill which required physical strength but weren''t too taxing were rather suitable for the orcs.


    With the restoration of electricity and the activation of the oil mill, Rex immediately called Ossirian and several adult orcs to learn how to operate these machines.


    After Zhao Zhenzhen and Ji Tang debugged the machines and demonstrated how to pre-process soybeans for oil pressing with a steam-frying machine and how to use a fully automatic tofu machine to make tofu from the oil cake after pressing, they patiently explained the steps once and let four orcs practice hands-on in pairs.


    The orc race had a lifespan approximately twice that of humans, and despite their lack of proper education, their longer life experience endowed them with wisdom not inferior to that of humans.


    In the beginning, Ossirian and the others were still somewhat hesitant and dared not touch the expensive-looking machinery, but after being corrected by Ji Tang a few times, they gradually became more comfortable and soon were hands-on with the machines.


    Chinese civil and agricultural machinery had always evolved toward foolproof operation, and the ultimate goal was to make it easy even for novices to operate. Learning was, of course, not difficult.


    The orcs focused on learning to operate the machine, and after observing for a while and determining that everything was fine, Zhao Zhenzhen, Ji Tang, and Rex walked to the side to discuss management matters related to the oil mill.


    "Given the influx of affordable fabrics, local farmer households can hardly produce any spare coins. We can''t charge fees for pressing oil," Ji Tang spoke first.


    Leaning alongside the wall and silently listening, Lowell was surprised to hear that they wouldn''t charge fees.


    "Indeed, it isn''t necessary to charge fees. Profit for this factory should be focused on tofu production," Zhao Zhenzhen said, nodding her head. "The adjacent storefront can be used to sell affordable tofu. Get a few people to be in charge, directly coordinate with the oil press factory, and settle payments on a weekly basis, ensuring mutual profitability."


    Ji Tang clapped his hands together. "The people at the resettlement points can do this job."


    "The oil mill and affordable tofu production have to have local townspeople for the workforce. If everyone is our people, it won''t be conducive for local people to accept this matter in the early stages," Zhao Zhenzhen replied.


    "Uh¡­ that makes sense." Ji Tang scratched his head awkwardly. He had made an ideological guffaw in wanting to use the people from the resettlement points first.


    "Priority for the local workforce should be given to housewives. Teach them to fully utilize the functions of these two multi-functional tofu machines. Aside from long-lasting firm tofu, include silken tofu and beancurd as well," Zhao Zhenzhen continued. "You can set up a tasting point at the entrance of the affordable tofu shop. Let people try it before buying, promote tofu cooking tutorials, and address public concerns."


    Ji Tang started to make some calculations. "In that case, the oil mill needs to recruit two to three female workers to assist Ossirian and the others, while the tofu shop would require five to six female workers¡­"


    "¡­Can I say something?" Rex, who heard them talk about the need for female workers, raised his hand meekly.


    "Go on," Ji Tang said.


    "Wouldn''t it be inappropriate just recruiting female workers alone? There are quite a few unemployed males locally. I think we should also address their employment issues¡­" Rex suggested nervously.


    Although Rex hated his lord father, he did learn some things from his father before his mother became old and feeble, one of which was that if there were too many unemployed males in a certain neighborhood, it would inevitably lead to disorder and frequent incidents in that area.


    When women were desperate, their final bit of capital was their bodies; when men were desperate, their bodies were also their final bit of capital¡ªa capital for committing crimes.


    The forced closure of Weisshem''s red-light district had cut off the livelihoods of many people. The temporary employment opportunities provided by the sanitation bureau, the security team, and the temporary employment for construction in the town''s main street alleviated the conflicts between the locals and those from Taranthan.


    However, the conflict itself wasn''t fundamentally eliminated. Once the transformation of Weisshem''s main street was completed and the need for temporary labor was reduced, families that lost their source of income would still exhaust their last piece of bread and spend their last copper coin, leading to the eruption of conflicts.


    Rex expressed it tactfully, and it didn''t hinder Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen from understanding his point.


    At the grassroots level, men were more likely to become social security concerns than women. This was the primary reason why most societies tended to allocate social resources more toward lower-class men, even in the so-called "post-revolutionary" era.


    As a female cadre, Zhao Zhenzhen wouldn''t argue with Rex about women''s rights in this matter. She just smiled and said, "The reason we are recruiting housewives with a good reputation in the town for positions in the oil mill and the tofu shop is that housewives are indeed more suitable for occupations related to food.


    "The men of Weisshem have no need to worry about employment issues. Even if we count all the men who have gone to the countryside for odd jobs during the autumn harvest, the town''s workforce is far from sufficient."


    Rex: "??"


    The two couldn''t explain too much to him, so Ji Tang said, "Let''s focus on the current tasks. I''ll go get a few people to spread the news of free oil pressing at the oil mill in the market¡­ Oh, Rex, you need to contact the people at the post office. When the mailman goes to the countryside to deliver letters, ask him to also spread our message to the villages. Also, you''re in charge of the coal yard; have them deliver the coal briquettes we ordered previously."


    "I''ll go pick out a few people at the resettlement points, then get a clerk to arrange for a few industrious housewives to come and learn with Ossirian. We''ll solve all the issues of worker training by today," Zhao Zhenzhen said.


    Before Rex could ask further questions, these two highly proactive members of the national team had already pushed him into action.


    As the three left the oil mill, running hastily, Lowell, who was full of questions, didn''t even have a chance to stop Rex and inquire¡­


    "Heh, young people¡­ When enthusiasm arises, it''s inevitable for them to overlook others. Please don''t mind their impoliteness, Inspector," Yang Qiu said cheerily.


    Lowell turned over, a complicated expression on his face. He found it notably hard to express himself in words.


    "I must say¡­ this is truly an eye-opener for me." The black-robed inspector rubbed his temples awkwardly. "Your¡­ undead, they are even more¡­ even more¡­"


    "More like qualified rulers," Yang Qiu finished the words that the inspector couldn''t bring himself to say. "When power is in their hands, they think more about how to use it to improve the lives of the local people. They believe power is an honor, but more so a responsibility. And this should be the disposition that normal leaders ought to have."


    At this point, Yang Qiu deliberately paused, wiped off the seemingly non-provocative smile that made Lowell uneasy, and said, "When a king is crowned, the oath always includes promises to bless his subjects. When a king allocates territory to nobles, the nobles also swear to treat the people on the land kindly¡­


    "Just that these fancy words can never be treated as true and taken seriously. Once the coronation ceremony is over, the king cares more about which noble is more loyal to him. After enfeoffment, nobles care more about how much profit they can squeeze from the common folk.


    "On the other hand, ''for the people'' has been faithfully executed by these undead. They care if farmers are able to afford the cost of oil pressing, if the town''s residents have a sufficiently rich variety of food, if the local population can survive the difficulties of unemployment, and they care if those poor souls, previously toyed with by fate, are able to support themselves and continue living on with dignity.


    "Seeing them like this makes you, as revered high-level ascetic, feel torn because you have witnessed countless coronation ceremonies of kings and enfeoffment ceremonies of noble lords. You have deeply accepted that virtuous ''for the people'' is mainly empty rhetoric.


    "You instinctively resist this reality that would make you embarrassed. You feel that the actions of the undead are naive, childish, and ignorant of the hardships of the world. You genuinely believe that our undead friends and the inexperienced youngster, Rex, absolutely will not succeed; they would only be smacked hard by harsh reality. And you can''t help but want to remind Rex not to be too idealistic. Am I right, revered inspector?"


    Purple veins bulged on Inspector Lowell''s forehead as he took a deep breath and uttered through gritted teeth, "Are you picking a fight, Yang?"


    "Of course not." Yang Qiu still smiled warmly. "Please believe me, I have no intention of offending you, Inspector. There''s just one thing I need to confirm."


    "What?" Inspector Lowell suppressed his anger.


    "If our undead friends take up the responsibilities of rulers, will their outstanding performance make them more likely to be viewed with hostility by the world outside?" Yang Qiu asked calmly.


    Inspector Lowell, who was on the verge of exploding with rage, was stunned.


    Then, the ascetic of the Goddess of Prosperity faith, whose face was flushed, gradually paled. The veins on his forehead subsided and cold sweat oozed from the roots of his hair.


    But after a few seconds, color returned to his face, and even his cheeks seemed so scarlet that blood was on the verge of dripping out from them.


    "You¡­ really know how to make things difficult for people," Inspector Lowell said somewhat embarrassedly.


    "But it is also the most effective way for us to understand the difficult situation our undead friends are in," Yang Qiu said with a smile. "If even an ascetic like you, who transcends mundane interests, instinctively resents the act of the undead taking on the responsibilities of rulers, what about others?"


    Lowell nodded silently.


    He understood why Yang, after capturing Wagner Pitt and his soldiers, didn''t send anyone to communicate with the Indahl lord to resolve the disputes. Regardless of whether it was Lord Rex on the surface or the undead who actually ruled Weisshem, they weren''t destined to coexist peacefully with the Indahl lord.


    If Weisshem was in chaos, the Indahl lord would still be able to tolerate the existence of Rex and the strange undead from Taranthan.


    But if Weisshem was well-governed, then Rex and the undead would become thorns in the eyes of the Indahl lord and the Bartalis family.


    "This isn''t something to laugh about, Yang," Lowell couldn''t help but say. "Since you are aware of this predicament, are you¡­ going to watch Weisshem be engulfed by war?"


    With a calm smile, Yang Qiu turned to look at the orcs in the factory, who were carefully taking out the bean curds from the press to make tofu. "Of course not, Inspector. Why do we pursue the path of power? Isn''t it precisely to ensure that the beings striving for a better life can have peace?"


    Greatly shaken, Lowell stared at Yang Qiu in disbelief.


    Yang Qiu droned on nonchalantly, "Predators plunder through force, but protectors need to possess even greater force. Only through struggle can true peace be won. Retreat and compromise will only make peace disappear."


    Lowell stared at him blankly for a long time and then couldn''t help but nod.


    Inspector Lowell hadn''t been very convinced the last time Yang spoke of his doctrine of strength. But this time, Inspector Lowell understood how serious the man in front of him really was.


    "You want to challenge the Indahl lord¡­ No, you want to challenge the power structure of the Rhine Kingdom. That is what you truly want to do, right?" Inspector Lowell Rowell exclaimed, "No, wait, perhaps you didn''t initially set the Rhine Kingdom as your target. Did you also consider the Duchy of Shiga?"


    "Yes," Yang Qiu didn''t conceal his thoughts. "Initially, I planned to choose between the Duchy of Shiga and the Rhine Kingdom since both are close to Taranthan."


    Inspector Lowell grimaced. "Can you tell me why you didn''t choose the Duchy of Shiga?"


    "Because the social conflicts in the Duchy of Shiga are relatively less acute than that of the Rhine Kingdom," Yang Qiu answered frankly. "Shiga places emphasis on agriculture, and except for the historically special town of Camore, the lower-class people in most areas of the duchy possess lands. Prices aren''t too distorted, and they can meet the basic needs of survival. The dissatisfaction of the people with the current status hasn''t yet reached the point of urgently needing to replace the current ruling officials."


    Lowell: "¡­"


    He finally understood why this guy had shown himself in Camore, and even visited Viscount Lynn and the mayor there¡­


    "I didn''t plan on taking action so soon, but our undead friends are so keen on eliminating evil that they got involved in Weisshem early," Yang Qiu said, with a slight shake of his head.


    Lowell had sighed many times in this exchange. Yang Qiu''s straightforwardness made him speechless. "Fine¡­ You have been tirelessly talking to me about these shocking and unconventional ideas, so presumably, you are seeking something from me, am I wrong?"


    "Don''t say such hurtful words, revered inspector. I think our relationship should be that of friends. Friends shouldn''t be so calculative with one another." Yang Qiu chuckled. "You can tolerate the impolite stuff I say, and if you declare that you aren''t at all curious about how the undead can develop Weisshem into a prosperous place, I won''t believe you."


    Lowell coughed several times.


    Having shamed this sensitive ascetic, Yang Qiu said unabashedly, "Of course, right now, I really need your help with a small favor¡­"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    November 6, Earth time, a not-so-mundane Wednesday.


    Two days before the monthly rare item auction day, the in-game currency circulated among players skyrocketed again to a high exchange rate of 1:12 RMB.


    Even so, the in-game currency was in short supply. Various player teams, blood alliances, and whales hired people to camp at various resource gathering points. Whenever a player settled a quest and was about to log out, a bunch of people would immediately crowd around asking if they wanted to sell their in-game currency.


    While the rich bosses were competing fiercely, Yang Qiu and Inspector Lowell were riding on horseback to the Sorensen Mountains.


    Looking from slightly over a kilometer distance at the miasma covering the outskirts of the Sorensen Mountains, Inspector Lowell felt his head ache slightly. He turned to Yang and said, "Are you sure you want to ascend here, Yang? This really isn''t a good place."


    "Grave of Those Who Lose Control, Tomb of the Fallen¡­ Some even call this place the Abyss of the Mortal Realm. Indeed, Sorensen''s reputation isn''t very good." Yang Qiu chuckled lightly. "However, only such a spot can truly be considered a place to sharpen one''s spirit. Don''t you think so?" S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As an ascetic, Lowell wouldn''t deny Yang Qiu''s theory, but he couldn''t support Yang Qiu''s risky actions. Thus, he could only say, "I hope you truly get what you are aiming for¡­ I can''t substitute you for too long."


    "Three days. Three days at most, and I''ll be out of the mountains," Yang Qiu smiled, slightly bowing to Lowell. "I entrust my undead to you during my absence."


    Lowell nodded solemnly.


    After a brief exchange, the two parted. Lowell stayed in place, watching Yang Qiu enter the mountain range alone. He continued watching until Yang''s silhouette disappeared in the dense miasma, and then he turned back on horseback.


    A black-robed inspector of the Church of Prosperity helping a black mage manage his household¡­ Were it two months ago, Inspector Lowell would never have believed he would be involved with such a matter in his wildest dreams.


    I''ve been greatly influenced by him too much¡­ Lowell sighed.


    That was no denying that Yang intrigued him.


    The notorious black mage rumored to be lawless, reckless, and chaotic actually analyzed the rules of the material plane with an extremely calm and calculating demeanor.


    He mocked the ones supposed to be high-standing and revered, showing no respect for the noblemen. Yet, he would accord respect to the orcs from the Outer Continent, considered by most as an inferior race.


    He tirelessly emphasized that when judging the civilization of a territory or a country, one shouldn''t look from top to bottom, but rather, focus on the people at the bottom¡ªhow they lived and whether their survival needs were met.


    Countless times he had reiterated that his undead sought justice and order. At first, Lowell assumed it was all just self-praise and a joke, but reality proved that Yang hadn''t been joking¡ªWeisshem had been under Yang''s control for almost half a month, and Lowell hadn''t seen any bit of chaos.


    For quite some time already, Yang and these peculiar Taranthan undead shattered Lowell''s long-held perspectives. While feeling uncomfortable, Lowell couldn''t help but be curious. Just as Yang said, he was genuinely curious about how the undead would develop Weisshem.


    Even though Lowell knew that the results he saw would make him, who was accustomed to the existing rules of the world, uneasy, he still couldn''t resist¡­


    With complicated sentiments, Inspector Lowell returned to the large house in Weisshem and handed over his ride to Wagner for care.


    After having tea in the hall for a bit, he felt restless; he felt compelled to do something after Yang''s entrust. Thus, Lowell put on his cloak and went out, taking a stroll along the bustling town''s main street in the midst of reconstruction.


    As he passed by a construction site overseen by the undead, a few skeletons curiously peered over at Lowell as he passed by alone.


    "Why is the pretty boy alone today? Where''s Old Yang?"


    With the cuckoo flower lapel badge on his chest, Lowell could hear their words clearly.


    Lowell: "¡­"


    Keeping a straight face, Lowell looked at those few undead for a moment, then quickened his pace and walked away.


    One player asked in surprise, "Hey, I''m not seeing things, right? Wasn''t the pretty boy glaring at us?"


    Another player jumped up abruptly and exclaimed excitedly, "Whoa, wait a minute! That pretty boy usually ignores us completely. Today, he actually acknowledged us!"


    Upon hearing this, players, who were busy doing manual labor quests, immediately abandoned their tools and took off after Lowell, who hadn''t gone far.


    "Wait up, Lowell-san~ Is there anything your undead friends can help you with~?"


    Lowell: "?"

 Chapter 114: Dreamchaser

    "Where on earth is the world full of flowers¡­"


    Yang Qiu was on the back of an undead lizard, slowly making its way up a winding and steep path in the Sorensen Mountains.


    Here¡­ was where the miasma was the thickest in the Sorensen Mountains.


    Even though Yang Qiu wore headphones and listened to "Chasing Dreams with a Childlike Heart" playing on his phone, the shrill buzzing noises that frayed one''s nerves still penetrated his ears.


    "I never choose to give up my dream even in my darkest days¡­"


    Without showing any expression, Yang Qiu endured the formless pressure smothering him from all directions. Even when passing through the mountains and forests where the mist appeared like thin smoke, or other times, like rolling clouds distorting into various terrifying shapes, he didn''t look back.


    Sorensen, "The Tomb of the Fallen." Two months ago, the miasma here would affect Yang Qiu, but now¡­ it really didn''t seem to matter.


    "Perhaps I don''t have talent, but I have a pure dream that I will spend my life proving¡­"


    The undead lizard climbed into the depths of the dense forest and stopped before a pool of water.


    Yang Qiu turned off the phone''s music player, removed his headphones, and got off the lizard''s back. He stared at the pond surrounded by tangled bushes and scattered rocks, glanced around him, then waddled into the water.


    The calm surface of the water swayed¡­ and disappeared.


    A hideous monster, lying silently in the scattered rocks, lunged at Yang Qiu with mouth wide open and swiftly bit toward Yang Qiu''s legs.


    Yang Qiu remained unflinching. He didn''t even blink and just watched this ugly monster in silence.


    The grotesque mouth of the monster, larger than its head and body combined, couldn''t close. Before its teeth could touch Yang Qiu, its body, the size of a pony sprawled out flat on the ground, was deconstructed into black dust and dissipated with the wind.


    When the souls collided or tried to devour each other, the essence of a soul was greater than the difference in combat strength between different species. These low-level monsters formed by a fallen soul with a mental power of at most six or seven hundred, attacking Yang Qiu, whose power outclassed it by more than tenfold, naturally met a disastrous end.


    Spellcasters of this world weren''t glass cannons.


    Yang Qiu sat down where the hideous monster had lurked.


    Souls that fell and turned into monsters would unconsciously gather in areas where they felt comfortable. After wandering for half a day in the miasma zone, Yang Qiu found this relatively powerful low-level monster. The place it lay seemed ordinary at first glance, but it wasn''t¡ªonce Yang Qiu sat down, he felt a strong dizziness, and the buzzing lingering in his ears became increasingly piercing.


    Yang Qiu was very satisfied, adjusted his breathing, and started meditating.


    With his perception opened up, frenzied auras accumulated over the long years rushed toward Yang Qiu like a school of piranhas in a feeding frenzy.


    If the external magical energy could be likened to nutrient-laden poisonous syrup that one could absorb, then the dense mist and miasma in the Sorensen Mountains, which had become so thick that one could visually perceive its form, was like a deadly poison.


    Yang Qiu shut his eyes, keeping his senses wide open, and used his mental perspective to calmly observe these frenzied auras surging toward him.


    What he "saw" wasn''t toxicity or madness, but shattered and chaotic fragments of souls.


    The Sorensen Mountains hadn''t always been shrouded in miasma. Four hundred years ago, this mountain range was the largest trade route in the southern part of the Navalon continent.


    When the shadow of the resurgence of elder gods loomed over the entire continent, when void demons began to emerge from unstable temporal rifts, the Sorensen Mountains, as if stricken by a curse, gradually turned into a forbidden zone of life.


    Over two hundred years ago, when Yang Qiu was still enduring days in the old man''s mage tower, the Sorensen Mountains gained another alias¡ª"Tomb of the Fallen." No one knew exactly how many beings that lost control made this their burial ground.


    What could be confirmed was that this vast "tomb" was far from a peaceful resting place. Yang Qiu "saw'''' many fragments that could no longer be called souls, only remnants of instinct for devouring and killing.


    He "heard" their voices, a chaotic and murky wail that cut through the nerves like steel blades.


    Yang Qiu calmly "watched" them.


    Just as he observed Camore, Weisshem, and the places he had traveled to where people suffered or were lost and numb.


    These things were sentient too.


    Yang Qiu''s upbringing on Earth was far from ideal. His original family was a mess, with an irresponsible father who abandoned his wife and children, a mother who wasn''t very wise when it came to important matters, and unreliable relatives¡­


    Before Yang Qiu entered middle school, the most vivid memory he had was his mom dressing up in the most tattered clothes during festivals and taking him to the neighborhood committee to complain. All of this was just to get a bit more aid for their family, like securing an extra half-bucket of cooking oil and a few kilograms of rice.


    Yes, due to his father''s irresponsible actions of abandoning the family, part of their family''s income came from welfare assistance before Yang Qiu and his sister, Yang Ying, came of age.


    When his sister finished high school and chose to work instead of attending college, thus making their family income exceed the local welfare standards, Yang Qiu finally escaped the awkward situation of always having to pretend to be pitiful.


    He never thought his life was particularly happy, and after entering high school, he often complained about the extravagance of his peers who seemed to have more money.


    It wasn''t until he inexplicably arrived in this world that he realized that¡­ life could be much more bitter.


    What his mother did for a bit of cooking oil and rice was nothing compared to the plight of others. Some people here, despite working hard and breaking a sweat, had to kneel down and lick the housekeeper''s shoes just to get a few pieces of stale bread they rightfully deserved.


    His envy and resentment toward affluent classmates seemed trivial when faced with those born into privilege, enjoying a life of luxury. Others were born with the label of inferiority, not knowing what it meant to change their lives, not understanding the concept of hope, with their biggest wish being to not starve to death.


    Sayings in textbooks like "Behind the vermilion gates meat and wine go to waste, while out on the road lie the bones of the frozen" turned out to carry profound weight.


    The Buddhist concept of "all living beings suffer" was not just a casual saying.


    Yang Qiu was unwilling to accept a world that could send shivers down one''s spine with just a casual glance. He struggled desperately to survive, to become powerful. He wanted to go home, or at least find a way to shake this messed-up world and not let himself suffer for no reason.


    But the reality was bleak. The stronger Yang Qiu got, the more he realized there was very little he could actually achieve. A post-gun era could revolutionize, but in this world where gods walked among mortals while the extraordinary were treated worse than dogs, he couldn''t see a glimmer of hope for success no matter how he calculated or strategized.


    He couldn''t even achieve a second-rate capitalist revolution, let alone lead the people to overthrow their oppressors.


    This world had undergone an industrial revolution more than a century ago before Yang Qiu came. When he transmigrated, Yang Qiu could see airships flying across the sky in big cities. Giant ships weighing more than 100,000 tons crossed the outer sea, and magic steam train tracks paved the capital of a landlocked country like the Rhine Kingdom.


    Along with the development of the magic industry, there were tens of millions of industrial workers across the continent. Factories bloomed everywhere, and a large number of capitalist elites emerged.


    These new capitalist elites had indeed challenged the authority of the feudal nobles to a certain extent, but they were still quite a distance away from massive social change, like the American Civil War that unified America.


    The reason was simple. The threat of elder gods loomed over everyone''s heads, and the invasion of void demons stopped the swelling of capital power.


    When the all-devouring nature of capital was curbed, people would turn to conservatism. Developed countries on Earth that had divided up the high-end manufacturing industry and sat down to enjoy their forebears'' money for decades had already proven the inertia of capital in this aspect.


    If the capital that was most likely to trigger social change was preserved, what could the people do?


    And what could Yang Qiu do?


    He couldn''t do anything.


    He could only let himself witness the suffering of all living beings and hear their cries of pain.


    He was powerless against the current status quo, so, at the very least, he needed to know the pain of all living beings.


    He opened his mind and accepted the poisonous magic mixed with countless painful, fragmented souls. Many voices wailed in his mental domain, and painful moans echoed throughout his soul.


    His soul felt like it was being torn apart.


    Yang Qiu was unmoved, allowing these chaotic and crazy consciousnesses to shuttle through his mind.


    A crying voice lamented regret for its mother.


    A voice expressed remorse for squandering its life.


    Yet another voice vented dissatisfaction with someone.


    A voice was subconsciously screaming.


    A voice was complaining about the injustices of fate.


    And one voice cursed all life in the world, wishing everyone would descend into damnation like itself¡­


    Amid the intense soul-wrenching pain, Yang Qiu began to hallucinate.


    In the foul-smelling fishing port of a poor seaside town, a man standing by a rundown wooden boat looked at Yang Qiu in surprise.


    The man smiled at him ingratiatingly. After exchanging a few pleasantries between strangers, he made an excuse and left, running into town without looking back.


    He had discovered a wanted criminal worth 90,000 gold coins and was rushing back to inform the sheriff.


    When Yang Qiu left the town, the fisherman, who had toiled for his family for more than a decade, was hanged on a rack drying fishnets with his arms and legs broken.


    He hadn''t really done anything wrong; he just wanted to get rich. So, Yang Qiu didn''t make things difficult for him¡­ but he did cause the sheriff to hang out in the cold wind all night, and the sheriff certainly wouldn''t let the poor fisherman off for that.


    The man in the hallucination stared at Yang Qiu while taking his last breath. There was no hatred in his eyes, only pleading.


    Yang Qiu remembered this pleading gaze for many years.


    The vision of the poor fisherman dissipated, and what appeared in front of Yang Qiu was¡­ a large group of people. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A large group of people, skin and bones, dressed only in tattered rags. Their faces were blurry.


    Yang Qiu stared at this group of people for a long time and slowly recalled, Ah, it''s you people.


    Refugees.


    Natural disasters were frequent in the Navalon continent, but there were no aid groups in this world.


    Refugees who could not survive and had no choice but to flee were regarded by municipalities as troublesome hot potatoes.


    Yang Qiu did not know where this group of people came from. He only remembered that he had come across this group of people when he was fleeing from the holy land of the Radiant Sun Church.


    With pursuers hot on his heels, Yang Qiu couldn''t stay.


    Even though he knew that this group of refugees, struggling to survive the harsh winter, had no chance of being accepted by the Holy Land. They would be driven away, pushed into the desolate wilderness, and quietly die in a place where no one could see¡­ he didn''t do anything but glance at this group of refugees before hastily leaving.


    I haven''t forgotten you all¡­ How could I? Not far from these refugees, a magic steam train roared past.


    The phantoms of the refugees disappeared like popping bubbles, replaced by the images of another group of people.


    Yang Qiu looked at these phantoms that lingered deep in his soul, his inner turmoil gradually calming.


    He knew very well that these images were his inner demons, manifestations of his own powerlessness, of the guilt and regret etched into his soul.


    He had never wanted to forget these things. When he saw them again, he didn''t feel embarrassed; he just understood himself on a deeper level.


    Over the course of three hundred years, he had come to terms with his own powerlessness many times. It was an objective fact, and there was no need to disguise or romanticize it.


    After a long time, Yang Qiu revealed a faint smile. "I see you¡­ I remember you.


    "Forever."


    The magic swirling around Yang Qiu suddenly surged upward.


    This active, boiling magical power instantly attracted the dormant magical power within a kilometer radius. From inside and outside the forest, countless magical powers flowed toward him, coalescing and converging to gradually form a magical vortex.


    Even the Holy Land''s prophets, who held sealing artifacts, avoided this contaminated magical power, which swirled, boiled, intermingled, and solidified over the course of about ten minutes, becoming a visible irregular crystal.


    Yang Qiu looked up at the massive translucent magical crystal, and with a push from the ground, he stood up.


    The gigantic irregular crystal floated in midair, rotating slowly, enveloping Yang Qiu in a radiant glow.


    Several kilometers away, in the Sorenson Mountains, mercenaries guarding a caravan from the southern continent passing through a "safe passage" watched in amazement. They saw a dazzling light emanating from the mountaintop, and their eyes widened in shock.


    "That¡­ Is that a Gate of Ascension?"


    "Could someone have come all the way to the Sorenson Mountains to advance?"


    "Oh gods, with such a massive Gate of Ascension, could it be that someone is ascending to the fabled level?!"


    The mercenaries marveled at the sight but soon realized the potential danger. The captain quickly urged them, "Don''t just stand there! Let''s hurry! A Gate of Ascension at such a level is not something to be taken lightly. If the person who triggered it loses control, it will be a big problem!" Upon hearing the captain''s words, the mercenaries picked up their pace, leaving behind the spectacular Gate of Ascension.


    The "Gate of Ascension" was not a literal gate but a beam of light. Those enveloped by the light would prefer to call it a "Gate."


    For those who sought to transcend their current state, whether they were spellcasters or professional individuals, crossing the "Gate of Ascension" was a necessary step.


    The "Gate of Ascension" was not a door to another place but a path to transcendence.


    The moment Yang Qiu entered the "Gate," he found himself in a vast, white, ethereal world.


    Behind the "Gate" was something like a void, yet not quite a void.


    The void was the end of nothingness, the location of all fears, and the ultimate destination of all annihilation.


    Beyond the "Gate" lay order, rules, and the scrutiny and trials of dimensional laws.


    As Yang Qiu emerged from the disorientation of entering the "Gate," he felt the familiar, suffocating pressure as if he had been submerged in a deep sea.


    This feeling was dreadful; the air seemed thick like a liquid, making it difficult to breathe. It wasn''t just a physical burden; mentally and spiritually, it felt as though invisible hands were pressing down on him, as if they intended to push him into the ground, crushing his spirit and will entirely.


    This wasn''t some deity''s sadistic whim; it was simply the pressure exerted by the dimensional laws beyond the "Gate," an unconscious imposition of its authority.


    Yang Qiu, who had been here twice, naturally wasn''t too fazed by this level of pressure. After adapting to the environment beyond the "Gate," Yang Qiu raised his head and looked at the sky.


    Above him was a massive, cold, and pale pupil.


    "Eye of Truth," Yang Qiu called out its real name.


    The pale and colorless pupil turned to Yang Qiu.


    Dimensional laws were not sentient beings; they lacked consciousness and emotions. When a living being invoked its true name lightly through the "Gate," it would grant them a completely impartial baptism.


    A surging energy descended from the pale pupil and gushed toward Yang Qiu.


    Yang Qiu spread his arms and calmly accepted the impact.


    The power bestowed by the Eye of Truth during this baptism depended on the scale of the "Gate" crossed by the living being.


    This could be considered the fairest treatment for the living beings in this magical realm, apart from death. It was also the only ladder to heaven that those born in unfavorable circumstances could rely on.


    However, the power in this world was toxic. Even the Eye of Truth, representing the dimensional laws, bestowed a poisonous baptism despite its impartiality.


    The moment he was struck by the power, Yang Qiu''s entire body trembled violently, and even his consciousness started to blur.


    An indescribable flow of information surged through every inch of his nerves, and each second felt excruciatingly long, driving him to the brink of madness.


    While struggling against the torrential baptism of power, the hallucinations that had disappeared not long ago resurfaced.


    Moreover, they were stronger and clearer than when Yang Qiu had used the special environment of the Sorenson Mountains to pre-enact the baptism.


    Yang Qiu convulsed, blood streaming from his nose and mouth, his vision spinning.


    The images of the refugees he had once abandoned to their fate almost solidified on his retinas. He vividly saw the lifeless gaze of those frail faces, how they had become numb.


    As he enforced his idea of justice in a crude and brutal manner, the very people he wanted to help¡ªthose refugees¡ªfeared and loathed him more than the individuals he was targeting.


    He began to tremble, his body and soul shaken to the core.


    His mind descended into chaos.


    Regretful tears mingled with the taste of blood in his mouth.


    In his daze, a melody suddenly echoed in his mind.


    In moments of confusion and exhaustion, this melody had pulled him out of desolation countless times, urging him to keep moving forward.


    "¡­Run forward, facing cold stares and mockery¡­


    "The vastness of life cannot be felt without enduring hardships¡­


    "Fate cannot make us kneel, even if our arms are covered in blood¡­"


    Yang Qiu opened his bloodshot eyes, gasping for breath as he spat out the blood in his mouth.


    His nerves, soul, and body felt like they were being ruthlessly washed away by a turbulent, razor-sharp torrent. The pain was almost unbearable.


    But his mind was clear now.


    The melody he was so familiar with, the one he had loved even before his journey through time, carried all his longing for his homeland throughout the three hundred long years. It had already seeped into his very bones.


    Now, it was instinctively awakened from within his bones, surging out and nourishing his will and spirit.


    "The brilliance of life cannot be seen without persisting to the end¡­


    "Instead of lingering and gasping for breath, embrace it with all your heart. For the sake of the beauty in your heart, never compromise until you grow old¡­


    "I, an old man, will never compromise!"

 Chapter 115: Second Round of Beta

    November 7, Thursday, Earth time. One day left until the monthly rare item auction.


    At this time, when in-game currency among players was in high demand, the advanced NPCs finally listed this month''s auction items.


    The auction items released by the Warrior Instructor, Charlie Rex, were three extraordinary-looking swords with even more amazing attributes:


    [Sword of Beryllus]


    [A sword blessed by the Fire God Beryllus. Grants a 20% increase in attack power and a 50% boost in fire resistance.


    Additional Fire Damage: Inflicts 30% of weapon damage as fire damage when attacking.


    Impervious: Increases armor penetration by 30%.]


    Early in the morning, players rushed to the bulletin board in Weisshem Town Hall to check out the auction items. They were blown away when they saw the attributes of these swords.


    "What the hell! Beating the Inner Demon instance only allows an enchantment of only one line of attributes and this thing has two?!"


    "Two attributes? That''s nothing. The equipment effect is just mind-blowing! A 20% attack boost means I''ll be invincible when I activate Battle Roar!"


    "Warriors, knights, and wanderers can all use a sword like this. It''s going to be mad!"


    Qin Guan, who didn''t usually focus much on his profession, suddenly felt a strong desire for these weapon attributes. He immediately rushed to log out at the teleportation point and called Xiao Zhou¡­


    When the auction was held last month, it had caused quite a commotion. However, this month, the developers seemed to be more considerate. Players no longer had to exhaust themselves, grinding reputation for auction rights. As long as they had an Honored reputation with their respective job instructors, they had the right to bid.


    But it wasn''t necessarily a good thing for players who really wanted the items. For example, last month, whale players had tried to monopolize the auction rights, but this time around, they couldn''t do so anymore.


    Despite reserving game currency from Xiao Zhou''s studio, Qin Guan still felt uneasy and called Blossoming Strokes.


    A short while later, Blossoming Strokes came online.


    "Any warrior that achieved Honored reputation can bid, so the chances of something going wrong are high." After personally checking out the auction announcement at Weisshem Town Hall, Blossoming Strokes joined Qin Guan and said, "Although there aren''t many warrior players, there are still quite a few with Honored reputation, including those we know like Yang Ying, Stuffed Gummy, Ji Tang, and even Brother Lahong''s newly advanced warriors."


    "Yang Ying and Stuffed Gummy are selling game currency, so they probably won''t compete, right?" Qin Guan said. "I don''t think Ji Tang will, either. That guy became a player mayor and has gotten obsessed with the role. I haven''t seen him out with Yang Ying''s group to farm monsters in quite a while."


    "Yang Ying and Little Gummy might not be able to afford to bid, but they can definitely bid on behalf of other whales," Blossoming Strokes said emphatically. "Recently, Orange Cat has been getting close to them, so he and his friend will definitely join in. There are also the people from Brother Lahong''s side; three swords might not be enough."


    Qin Guan suddenly felt a headache.


    Orange Cat was a warrior player and whale who had been online for a long time but had limited skill. He had just barely completed his first job advancement this month. He could be considered the lowest standard among all players and was so bad that anyone watching would think he was hopeless.


    Having a lack of skill was fine, but he had money and liked collecting high-quality equipment!


    Qin Guan couldn''t stand thinking about a top-notch weapon like this ending up as an accessory for the low-skilled Orange Cat who loved to flaunt. What a waste that would be! sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Don''t worry too much. Haven''t they only just released one type of auction item? Previously, there was the Orb of Deception and the Undead Horse. They might release two items this time as well. Let''s see what Lord Yang has in store. If it''s something good, perhaps those wealthy bosses might be drawn away," Blossoming Strokes reassured him.


    The official announcement on the website only mentioned that the Warrior Instructor and Mage Instructor would release auction items on the 7th. It didn''t specify the items that would be released. Qin Guan didn''t pay much attention to what the Mage Instructor, Lord Yang, might offer, but after contemplating what Blossoming Strokes said, his anxiety lessened, and he teleported back to Exile Town to await news.


    It was just past 8 a.m. on Earth, but in the game, it was already in the afternoon. The elusive Lord Yang (actually just an illusion) leisurely appeared in front of Exile Town Hall and stuck up the auction announcement.


    Upon reading the contents of the announcement, a loud chorus of "What the hell!" erupted from the players that had gathered.


    [Book of the Undead]


    [Special item. When held by the team leader or raid leader, it can summon team/raid members to the area around the holder.]


    Qin Guan immediately forgot about "The Sword of Beryllus" and stared at Lord Yang''s auction item description in awe.


    The biggest complaint players had about "OtherWorld" was being only able to resurrect at the town (stronghold) teleportation point after dying and serving the offline penalty time.


    It didn''t matter too much when farming in places like Spider Cave or the Poisonous Marshlands, as players could run back to rejoin their teammates from the nearest respawn point in just a few minutes. However, if far from a respawn point, like during expedition quests, getting killed meant being out of touch with the team.


    Why hadn''t adventurous (suicidal) players been able to indulge themselves and only played in areas close to the town (respawn point)? It was because the rule of being sent back to town upon death was just not game-experience-friendly!


    If someone obtained this item, not only could they farm monsters as a team, but they could even have a raid group head into the depths of Taranthan and start clearing like mad!


    And if there were expedition quests or anything similar, a player that held this item would be revered like a god!


    Wiping away his drool and pulling Blossoming Strokes aside from the crowd, Qin Guan said determinedly, "Blossom, we must get this item!"


    Blossoming Strokes nodded, about to say something when they heard a familiar voice excitedly exclaim not far away, "What the hell! There''s even an item like this?! Buy, buy, buy!"


    Qin Guan and Blossoming Strokes glanced over and saw a skeleton decked out in top-notch gear with the ID "There''s An Orange Cat" above his head. He was excitedly waving to the crowd. "Anyone else with some copper coins? I''ll take as many as you''ve got!"


    "¡­Damn it, I nearly forgot about this guy!" Qin Guan said with a vexed expression.


    Blossoming Strokes shared his frustration. They had hoped that the auction item from Lord Yang''s side would draw the attention of the whales and allow Qin Guan to bid on a Sword of Beryllus. However, what Lord Yang had presented was too incredible, and they needed it as well.


    Blossoming Strokes suggested, "I think we should announce it in the (WeChat) group. Everyone can contribute, and that might increase our chances of winning."


    Qin Guan shrugged helplessly. "Alright, I''ll ask in the group."


    Meanwhile, Brother Lahong and his team were busy grinding materials for their blood alliance quest in the Poisonous Marshlands. On hearing that Lord Yang had released an amazing item, he didn''t hesitate to log out and immediately started contacting the gold farmers through WeChat¡­


    In the dense forests of the Sorensen Mountains, Yang Qiu, covered in blood, struggled to observe the reactions of the players to the auction items via the matrix. He let out a sigh of relief, withdrew his consciousness, and collapsed on the ground, utterly exhausted.


    Just like the steel knives used by players, the [Sword of Beryllus] released by Rex was indeed made in China.


    However, Yang Qiu had used the remaining magic dark gold material he used for setting up the teleportation array to the three swords. This enhanced their durability, allowing them to bear dual enchantments. Such a weapon could also be sold for a few gold coins on the black markets of this world, so it wouldn''t be considered that Yang Qiu was conning his fellow countrymen.


    As for the [Book of the Undead], it was a spoil of war he had casually picked up in his early years. It was called a book, but in reality, it was a long scroll woven from the hair of a unique magic beast. It could carry semi-permanent magic inscriptions and, when needed, could be unfurled to cast the inscribed spell.


    Originally, this scroll contained a semi-permanent spell called "Mind Sight." Old nobles would use this spell to determine the loyalty of their subordinates and women. Yang Qiu removed the useless mental magic and replaced it with the undead summoning spell used for resurrection and teleportation, thus turning it into the [Book of the Undead].


    These two items would be handed over to players through auctions, not only as a periodic currency sink but also to enhance players'' siege capabilities and endurance for battles in the wilderness¡ªenergetic players were needed to protect the construction team that would build the direct railway from Weisshem to Exile Town.


    Of course, for effective protection, they would need a construction team of at least two thousand, which currently wasn''t enough with the current player count.


    Yang Qiu let himself rest on the ground for a while, and when he felt slightly better, he struggled to his feet and opened the spatial rift back to Earth.


    Shortly, an announcement was posted on the official site:


    ¡ªAnnouncement: Second Batch of Beta Accounts¡ª


    Dear players, "OtherWorld" is about to begin its second round of stress testing, and we have 3,000 beta accounts waiting for you.


    The account application portal is now open on the official site, and players who pass the one hundred questions questionnaire will participate in a random draw with a chance to obtain a beta account.


    The second batch of beta accounts will still be distributed for free, with only a material fee of 188 yuan required.


    After posting the announcement, Yang Qiu, who had just finished a hasty shower, sent an email to "Director Lu," requesting them to provide 3,100 high-quality and sturdy helmet materials and promising that 100 of them would belong to them.


    There''s no need to elaborate on "Director Lu''s" reaction upon receiving this email. The news of the 3,000 beta accounts caused an explosion of excitement among non-player netizens who had been following the "OtherWorld" official website for a long time.


    Due to the extremely strict account restrictions, the attention of "OtherWorld" in the Chinese internet realm had waned significantly. After all, life on Earth moved at a rapid pace, internet trends were fleeting, and netizens were always busy. The prolonged allure of something they could only watch but not experience was bound to be forgotten by the online community. This wasn''t just the case for games; even blockbuster movies and new electronic products suffered a similar fate.


    If it weren''t for Qin Guan, a now popular internet personality who regularly posted high-quality game videos on Bilibili, keeping the game in the spotlight, "OtherWorld''s" official website and forum might have a much greater drop in daily traffic.


    In essence, those interested in playing "OtherWorld" had to rely on videos, screenshots, and forum discussion threads to learn about the game. Nevertheless, there were still many people eager to try it out for themselves. As soon as the announcement was posted, tens of thousands of people clicked on the application interface within half an hour.


    And then, these prospective players were left bewildered¡­


    "I just want to play a game! Why are you making me do a personality test?!"


    Some individuals hurriedly completed the one hundred questions, only to receive a message stating¡ª"Dear player, your overall score is insufficient, and we regret to inform you that your application has been denied."


    "Are you kidding me?! I''m just applying for a game account!"


    Non-player netizens who didn''t even qualify for the random selection were infuriated. They rushed to vent their frustrations on the forums and then¡­ there was nothing after.


    Most non-player netizens took a more laid-back approach. There weren''t that many short-tempered people who couldn''t maintain interest in a game they couldn''t access for so long.


    These prospective players patiently completed the questionnaire and waited for a response.


    Back on Earth, Yang Qiu slept for an entire afternoon in his rented residence. As evening approached, he checked the website''s backend and selected a list of 3,000 people with the highest combined scores on the customized personality questionnaire crafted by professionals. He packaged the list into a compressed file and sent it directly to "Director Lu," asking for their help to review the backgrounds of these 3,000 individuals to ensure they were clean and didn''t engage in any suspicious activities.


    When Professor Yin Zhengliang received the compressed file, he stared at his computer screen in silence for a full 30 seconds.


    "How should I put it¡­ Revealing three thousand ''player accounts'' released to the public and casually giving us one hundred accounts is, honestly, quite infuriating. We''ve been collaborating for so long, and this fella is still playing these games. What does he take us for?"


    Then, there was the request to do background checks for these 3,000 "player accounts."


    "This means¡­ he doesn''t mind official involvement but doesn''t want to be controlled by the authorities, right?" a young researcher beside him said with a wry smile. "I wonder what he''s thinking. As if we couldn''t understand this?"


    "I think we shouldn''t look at this issue one-sidedly," said the researcher sitting across the table as he adjusted his glasses. "Regardless of what the national security thinks, this ''Lord Yang'' doesn''t resist cooperating with us. He delegates authority to our people and lets us handle Weisshem without micromanaging. This shows that he still trusts the country."


    "Xiao Zhang is right." Professor Yin Zhengliang sighed with relief and continued, "This person can freely come and go to ''OtherWorld,'' so he treats it as his own territory. This shouldn''t be considered a matter of ideology. He isn''t a comrade from our organization.


    "According to the observations of our national security comrades and our investigations, before the ''incident,'' this person was likely an ordinary citizen. Ordinary citizens have their own thoughts and don''t unconditionally trust the country. Instead of blaming their thoughts, we should reflect on whether our work is inadequate and if our cadre team needs further education."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    At two in the afternoon on Earth, before Yang Qiu had even executed his plan for "Director Lu" to review the backgrounds of prospective players, Weisshem, currently deep into the night, received a few special visitors.


    The security team members on duty at the town gate had shut the doors and windows of the sentry post and were snoozing soundly inside. A few shadowy figures, acting furtively, peered through a window. After exchanging glances, they boldly stood up and entered the town that didn''t have any defenses in place.


    The dark streets of the town were eerily quiet. There wasn''t a soul in sight, not even a stray cat.


    "I can''t believe it''s turned into this," one of the infiltrators marveled. "It''s like a ghost town. Last year, Weisshem wasn''t like this. The street was usually bustling at this time."


    "Looks like those villagers weren''t lying. The new Weisshem lord really shut down the town''s most profitable businesses," his comrade clicked his tongue and said. "To think there''s a noble who doesn''t like making money. This is truly unusual in the continent."


    The leader of the group turned to his companions and urged, "Enough talk. Let''s go check if the town hall is indeed filled with valuable items and gold coins, just like those country bumpkins claimed."


    The two fellows, who had been immensely surprised by Weisshem''s dramatic change in appearance, quickly fell silent and followed their leader.


    Dressed entirely in black attire and armed with crossbows, all coated with a dark, oily substance, the three individuals had clearly been to Weisshem before. They were quite familiar with this relatively small town. Instead of walking down the main street, they took a route through Martin Street and skillfully made their way to the town hall, hiding in the shadows of the buildings, moving stealthily and without error.


    As they continued on, one of the men couldn''t help but murmur, "There isn''t even a militia patrolling. This place is way too defenseless, isn''t it? Could those ignorant villagers be mistaken? With the new lord having so much wealth, isn''t he worried about attracting thieves?"


    "Well, didn''t we get drawn here?" his comrade interjected but quickly shut their mouth after receiving a stern look from their leader.


    "It''s not like we have any hostility toward the new lord. We''re just here to check out the situation for our employer," the leader replied, his expression devoid of emotion.


    The other two immediately nodded in agreement.


    While they conversed, the three of them walked out of the relatively short Martin Street and entered a narrow alley leading to the town hall.


    When they were still about 50 meters away from the town hall''s courtyard, the three figures walking stealthily along the walls suddenly realized something was amiss.


    The town hall, which appeared pitch black from a distance, seemed no different from the other buildings in the town. It didn''t appear to have any signs of activity.


    However, they couldn''t help but hear faint sounds coming from the direction of the town hall, and it didn''t seem like there was nobody there.


    The leader raised his hand to signal his two companions to stop. With furrowed brows, he stared at the town hall for a bit, then took out a reusable magic scroll inscribed with a detection spell and carefully unfurled it.


    Upon using the inscribed spell, it was determined that there were no living creatures that were larger than mice within the town hall''s courtyard.


    The leader rolled up the magic scroll and stashed it away with a puzzled look as he continued to gaze in the direction of the town hall''s courtyard. He waved his hand, gesturing for his two subordinates to proceed with him.


    Forty meters, thirty meters, twenty meters¡­


    When they were 20 meters away from the town hall, all three of them heard distinctive clacking sounds, along with some bizarre "KABAKABA" noises that they couldn''t quite identify.


    "What the heck is this?" one of the subordinates asked, baffled.


    The leader made a shushing gesture and glanced around. Then, he signaled for them to climb.


    The courtyard wall, which stood at two meters high, might deter ordinary thieves, but it certainly couldn''t stop these three audacious individuals who were skilled and daring enough to sneak into the town in the middle of the night. Without making a sound, they scaled the wall, reaching its top.


    People in this world generally suffered from night blindness due to malnutrition and couldn''t see objects just a few meters away without a light source. However, these three were robust and healthy individuals not afflicted by this condition. Their vision surpassed that of ordinary people. Under the faint moonlight, they could clearly see even rats crawling around 20 to 30 meters away.


    With their superior vision, the trio that had just scaled the wall were met with an astonishing sight¡­


    There were indeed no people in the town hall courtyard, just skeletons wearing strange fish-scale armor.


    These skeletons weren''t aimlessly wandering like the undead creatures they had encountered while escorting merchant caravans. Instead, they were seated in a circle around the town hall''s bulletin board, making gestures and eerie "KABAKABA" noises as if they were living humans chatting away.


    The three infiltrators: ¡°¡­¡­(©b¥í©b)(©b¥í©b) (©b¥í©b)¡±


    What in the world?!


    Before the shocked trio could figure out what they were witnessing, they heard the strange clacking sounds again.


    Two skeletons appeared from the direction of the town''s main street, running into the courtyard from the right side of the wall where the three were perched.


    The skeletons that had been sitting under the bulletin board, seemingly chatting, immediately jumped up, waving their bony claws toward the two newcomers.


    "Hey, brothers! Selling copper coins? Accepting all at a good rate!"

 Chapter 116: Berserk Pretty Boy

    When the three infiltrators finally discovered the truth that there were no night patrols in the town of Weisshem¡­ in an alley less than two hundred meters in a straight line from the town hall, a few players were also moving stealthily along the walls.


    "I can''t help but feel that this isn''t very reliable¡­ Little Gummy, are you sure you really saw it?"


    The female player with the ID "Jia Luo" on her head whispered to her fellow female gamers.


    Tang Jia was about to speak when she saw Yang Ying turning back abruptly and making a shushing gesture.


    Tang Jia immediately shut her mouth.


    Jia Luo''s lips twitch. "¡­Don''t speak. It was an oversight on my part."


    Fallen Mulberry Leaves, who had recently joined their all-female player group and quickly bonded with them, added, "Actually, I saw it too. The batch we were grinding before consisted entirely of heavy cavalry monsters, and the boss monster, named Wagner Pitt, did appear alongside the pretty boy in that house."


    "Is that right?" Jia Luo mused, stroking her chin. "The captured boss hangs out with the pretty boy¡­ and Lord Yang hasn''t been seen in Weisshem for quite a while. This does have the scent of a hidden quest."


    Lord of Taranthan, Yang, could appear in both Exile Town and Weisshem simultaneously. After players cleared the Inner Demon instance, they would also encounter another Lord Yang who would bestow enchantment chances on them. Players of OtherWorld could accept that the NPCs of this game had a mirror setting.


    "But I remember that Old Yang was quite formidable. Would it be that easy for the pretty boy to usurp his position? It just doesn''t make sense." Jia Luo was still skeptical.


    "I think so, too," Yang Ying turned back and said resignedly. "Besides, I haven''t heard of the pretty boy giving quests to anyone. Instead, he runs away when he sees players. If there''s really an usurpation plot, shouldn''t the pretty boy be actively replacing Lord Yang? Qingyue also expressed similar doubts. Just that Tang Jia remained adamant and insisted on sneaking in during the in-game night to take a look."


    Seeing that her two teammates were in agreement and had effectively rejected her idea left Tang Jia visibly frustrated.


    Fallen Mulberry Leaves, the recent addition to their all-girls team, came to Tang Jia''s defense. "We are just going to take a look anyway. If there''s no plot quest, the building should be closed off to players, and only NPCs can enter. We''ll find out by giving it a try."


    Weisshem was such a large town with many residences that it was impossible that players hadn''t attempted to break in¡­ Running into houses and rummaging through the stuff in front of NPCs was how the Fourth Crisis would have acted.


    If it weren''t for Yang Qiu manipulating the imprint matrix to display a reputation penalty warning when players tried to enter certain areas, the public security of Weisshem would have been compromised long ago.


    "So, if attempting to break in angers the pretty boy and results in a wipe, you three will log out and attend your afternoon classes. Is that right?" Yang Ying teased.


    Tang Jia nodded firmly.


    It was a Thursday after all, and she couldn''t afford to skip class every day.


    "Maybe you should sit this one out, Sis Ying?" suggested Fallen Mulberry Leaves. Like Jia Luo, she, too, was a third-year college student and had classes in the afternoon, so she couldn''t play around like Tang Jia.


    "It''s fine. I haven''t logged out for lunch yet. If I die, I''ll just cook some noodles. Let''s go," said Yang Ying with a determined wave of her hand.


    And so, the four young women ventured toward the grand residence where the two old masters dwelled.


    Having found their destination, Jia Luo, the most agile of the group, sprang into action and gracefully scaled the wall.


    "There''s no pop-up warning! This house is accessible!" Jia Luo, perched on the wall, turned around and whispered excitedly.


    "Really?" Fallen Mulberry Leaves, Yang Ying, and Tang Jia also got excited, immediately scaling the wall as well.


    In the real world, these four young women would have struggled to scale a nearly three-meter-high wall due to their limited physical strength and weight. However, in the game, such obstacles were easily overcome as they effortlessly climbed over.


    Lowell, asleep in a guest room, woke up the moment the players trespassed.


    Glancing toward the direction of the outer wall through several rooms, Inspector Lowell put his hand up and massaged the bulging veins on his temple¡­


    Yang Ying and her gang weren''t the first group that had chased him to this house. Having been harassed for two days, Lowell now truly understood why Yang had advised him to avoid wearing that cuckoo flower lapel badge like those town hall clerks unless necessary before he left¡ªhe had severely underestimated the relentless energy of those undead!


    Even more ridiculous was that these undead pursued him for the sole reason of obtaining "quests" from him.


    As an ascetic serving the Goddess of Prosperity, how could he let these dark creatures do his bidding!


    How could he, Alfred Lowell, stoop so low!


    The annoyed Inspector Lowell took a deep breath and pulled the blanket over his head.


    In any case, the undead could at most break into the courtyard and the house, but they couldn''t enter the rooms. Let them be!


    The four who entered the courtyard weren''t taciturn when it came to disturbing others late at night. They called out loudly, "Anyone home? Hello?"


    "Pretty boy¡­ No, Lowell-san?"


    "Lowell-san, your undead friends are here to help~"


    "No one''s answering," Tang Jia muttered, walking up to the front door of the large house, knocking loudly, and shouting, "Lowell-san~ Did you get rid of Old Yang? Do you want your undead friends to help get rid of the body?"


    "Whoa, are you sure you are supposed to shout that out loud?!" Jia Luo exclaimed in astonishment.


    "What''s the harm? NPCs only react to keywords anyway," Tang Jia replied nonchalantly. "Others have pestered Pretty Boy, too, but said no quest was triggered. Those who pestered him greatly were killed by Pretty Boy''s magic, which means they didn''t use the right keywords."


    "Hmm, that makes sense." Jia Luo was convinced and joined in the shouting, "Lowell-san~ Your undead friends are here to help you usurp~"


    The "KABAKABA" cries and banging on the door made it impossible for Wagner, in the adjacent room, to rest. He glanced outside in the dark and saw skeletons pressed against the window, calling into the room and waving their arms enthusiastically when they saw him.


    Wagner: "¡­"


    Wagner had no choice but to knock on Lowell''s door. "Mr. Lowell, some undead have gathered outside again."


    Lowell sat up with a black face. Wagner was a prisoner and had no authority to drive away the undead, so Lowell had to handle it himself.


    "These guys just won''t quit; I have to make it clear to them." Lowell took out the cuckoo flower lapel badge from his bedside drawer, determined to make his stance clear to the undead¡ªhe didn''t need, nor would ever allow, dark beings to do his bidding!


    Holding the lapel badge in hand, the incessant "KABAKABA" noises immediately turned into the uncouth and shrill calls of young ladies¡ª


    "Open the door, Lowell-san~ We''re here to help you deal with Old Yang~"


    "Let your undead friends help you seize power, Lowell-san~"


    "I''m an expert in palace intrigue novels! Lowell-san, look at me!"


    Lowell''s hand trembled, and the cuckoo flower badge fell to the floor.


    With Wagner looking on in puzzlement, Lowell quickly bent down to pick up the badge. A withered staff appeared in his hand, and he stormed into the hall with a darkened face. He reached the door, opened it, and without a second thought, cast a purification spell.


    Tang Jia standing at the door disappeared in a white flash.


    The other three were rudely startled, turning tail and running right away.


    Jia Luo, while running, shouted, "Damn Little Gummy''s fraudulence! There aren''t any keywords for triggering a quest at all! Pretty Boy is furious now!"


    "Completely unreliable indeed!" Yang Ying chuckled helplessly.


    "Forget it, I''m about to log out anyway. I''ll cover you guys while you escape!" Noticing the pretty boy chasing after them, Fallen Mulberry Leaves turned around bravely and drew out her steel knife.


    "Heh, yeah, it''s already half past two." Jia Luo glanced down at the system interface displaying real-world time and unsheathed her dagger as well. "You escape on your own, Sis Ying. I''m heading offline too!"


    While the two girls about to log out and head to class kept Lowell busy, Yang Ying wasted no time and leaped down the courtyard wall. "I''ll slip away now, then. See you gals tonight!"


    Fallen Mulberry Leaves was about to say something but was instantly killed by Lowell''s attack. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    After disposing of the two undead who "bravely" sacrificed themselves to save their companion, Lowell then rushed toward the courtyard gate, his anger unabated.


    Wagner, who was following behind, held on to Lowell''s shoes and shouted, "Mr. Lowell, your shoes! You forgot to put on your shoes!"


    When Yang Ying, who had already reached the alley outside, glanced back, she was astonished to see Lowell chasing after her barefoot. "Seriously? You''re chasing me just because we exposed your plot?!"


    Lowell was still clutching the lapel badge in his hand and could hear every word Yang Ying said. The bulging veins on his forehead became more pronounced, and he accelerated even more.


    Yang Ying didn''t care whether she perished, but since she had already run out, she had no intention to wait around and die. She widened her strides and sprinted in the direction of the town hall.


    In traditional PC games, players often have strategies like logging out or teleporting to other maps when they can''t win. "OtherWorld" players were no exception. When the Weisshem map wasn''t yet released, players would annoy Hal and then use the teleportation point to escape to Desolate Outpost to avoid being pursued. Yang Ying was also prepared to employ this tactic.


    As soon as she emerged from the alley onto Weisshem''s main street, Yang Ying noticed three figures sprinting toward her from the direction of the town hall, with players in pursuit.


    The pursuing players spotted Yang Ying from a distance and shouted out excitedly, "Brother, stop them! They''re rare monsters that can''t be ''Identified''!"


    "Rare monsters!" Yang Ying was thrilled and momentarily forgot about Pretty Boy chasing her. She drew her weapon, and her body emitted a red glow. With a battle roar, she charged toward the three individuals head-on.


    The infiltrator trio didn''t fully understand that players only had slightly superior combat abilities compared to regular people. They didn''t dare confront Yang Ying head-on and attempted to dodge her attack.


    However, warrior players had a powerful rune skill that controlled the overall movement of the player''s skeleton character. There was no way to dodge when being targeted by a warrior player. As the infiltrator trio agilely changed their positions and were about to evade, Yang Ying made a peculiar, physics-defying turn during her charge and crashed into one of them.


    The struck party hadn''t time to even curse as he was sent stumbling and nearly fell.


    Seeing this, his two comrades quickly drew their weapons coated with black oil and shot Yang Ying from both left and right, producing a shrill metallic screeching as they pierced through her fish-scale armor.


    Unfortunately, the undead were the least afraid of piercing damage. Yang Ying didn''t care about being stabbed twice and immediately unleashed a Sword Storm right where she stood.


    The tall, slender skeleton wielding a modern industrial-grade steel knife, spun wildly in place. Regardless of how much damage it could deal, the sight alone was rather intimidating, and the three infiltrators dared not confront her directly and hastily avoided her attacks.


    With the delay, Lowell, with withered wood staff in hand, and Wagner, holding on to Lowell''s shoes, emerged from the alley in succession.


    Players couldn''t discern the origin of the three infiltrators, so "Identify" only revealed "???" above their heads. Therefore, players naturally regarded the infiltrator trio as rare elite monsters. Wagner Pitt, a sergeant of Indahl''s city defense force, wouldn''t make such a mistake.


    With moonlight illuminating the street, Wagner''s expression changed when he saw the three figures wearing leather armor and black cloaks, with hoods and masks concealing their faces. Even more suspicious was that their weapons were coated with black oil to prevent reflections. Wagner immediately exclaimed, "Mr. Lowell, they''re spies!"


    Generally speaking, spies in a city could only fall into two categories. Either they were scouts sent by hostile nobles engaged in a territorial dispute to gather information and decide whether to engage in territorial warfare or ones dispatched by marauders or bandit gangs to scout the city''s routes and defenses before launching a raid.


    Lowell, who was burning with anger, suddenly calmed down greatly as his sharp gaze fixed on the three figures.


    The infiltrator trio, who were currently entangled with Yang Ying and the pursuing players, first looked confused upon seeing Lowell, who was barefoot and carrying a withered wood staff. Then, their souls nearly left their bodies¡­


    A withered wooden staff was the mark of a church''s ascetic!


    "How can there be an ascetic here?!" The leader of the infiltrators was completely dumbfounded.


    Without any expression, Lowell lifted the withered wood staff and pointed it toward the chaotic brawl happening among the players and infiltrators. "As Goddess denounces, those who sow chaos shall be imprisoned."


    The tip of Lowell''s staff emitted a gentle and radiant holy light that surged toward the players and the infiltrators, who were brawling. The sacred light formed a glowing cage, trapping everyone inside.


    "We''ve been had! Those mud-legs tricked us¡­" The leader of the infiltrators cried out in despair.


    "Pretty Boy is awesome!" The players were also surprised. While marveling at Lowell, who had casually unleashed a powerful skill, they didn''t waste any time and swiftly began snatching the equipment from the three rare elite monsters.


    "Damn it, why is this monster''s equipment so hard to remove!"


    "Let go! I saw that wristguard first!"


    "Cut the crap. It belongs to whoever gets it first!"


    "Can someone help me cut this monster''s belt? I can''t get this damn armor off!"


    Wagner stared dumbfounded at the undead who were trapped inside Lowell''s sacred light prison, still trying to snatch the belongings of the infiltrators. Suddenly, he felt a lump in his throat. He and his men had been this pitiful back then if viewed by others!


    Inspector Lowell couldn''t bear to watch on.


    "That''s enough! Undead, stop this! They''ve already been captured. Cease this shameless behavior!"


    When players were chasing Lowell for quests, they were eager for interactions with Lowell. However, when it came to plundering equipment, they paid no attention to this "Pretty Boy" and completely ignored his words¡­


    Seeing the three spies being forcibly stripped by more than ten undead, Lowell, who couldn''t stand it any longer, stepped forward with a stern look on his face and unleashed purification spells in succession, eliminating this bunch of frenzied undead.


    "Whoa, f*ck! Pretty Boy has lost his mind!"


    "Damn it! Am I not even allowed to take the spoils of war?!"


    "Are you kidding me?! I don''t want the pretty boy anymore. Bring Old Yang back!"


    The infuriated players, clutching the scattered items they had managed to grab, stubbornly raised their middle fingers at Lowell before being obliterated.


    Lowell, his blood vessels almost bursting, narrowly avoided crushing the cuckoo flower lapel badge in his hand.

 Chapter 117: Intelligent Killing Weapons

    November 8, Earth time, Friday. The day of the auction for the coveted items that players had been eagerly anticipating.After resting on the Earth plane for over 10 hours, Yang Qiu returned to the OtherWorld plane at four in the morning. As he stepped out of the spatial rift, he wasn''t just greeted by brilliant sunlight filtering through the leaves of the forest but also by a foul-smelling and decaying monster.


    This corrupted creature lay in the spot where Yang Qiu had previously made his breakthrough. It seemed completely startled by the sudden appearance of the spatial rift and was now staring blankly at Yang Qiu.


    "Another fallen one." Yang Qiu observed, examining this monster that had already lost its human semblance. From its blood-red pupils where spirituality and madness intertwined, he deduced the true identity of this creature. With a shake of his head, he raised a hand and made a slight gesture.


    The corrupted creature, the size of a small elephant, rapidly disintegrated into black dust, settling on the ground.


    The agreed time frame with Inspector Lowell had been three days (OtherWorld time). However, it was now the fifth day since, and Yang Qiu wondered if Lowell had been driven insane by the relentless players.


    After a moment''s hesitation, Yang Qiu temporarily abandoned the idea of recruiting a few more usable characters from the Sorensen Mountains. Instead, he summoned an undead lizard and returned to Weisshem.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Upon seeing Lowell, Yang Qiu wasn''t particularly surprised to see a face filled with numb bitterness.


    "You''re late," Lowell stated expressionlessly.


    "Sorry, the recovery took longer than I expected," Yang Qiu apologized. "Have things been going smoothly these past few days?"


    "Depends on how you define ''smooth,''" Lowell replied, his face still wooden. "Like Rex being questioned by a representative of the Bartalis family, or a mercenary group preparing to invade and plunder¡ª"


    "What did you say?" Yang Qiu''s eyes lit up.


    Lowell frowned. "The Bartalis family sent an arrogant steward to question Rex for disrespecting the Indahl city defense force¡­"


    Yang Qiu waved his hand dismissively. "Let''s ignore the trivial matters. What I meant was, there''s a mercenary group planning mischief in Weisshem?"


    "Trivial matters¡­ Fine." Lowell''s mouth twitched. "Three individuals claiming to be from a mercenary group scouting for a client infiltrated the town and were¡­ apprehended by your undead and me. Currently, they are being detained by the militia."


    "I''ll take a look right away." Yang Qiu stood up with a spring in his step.


    Lowell: "¡­"


    For some reason, the Black-robed Inspector suddenly felt that being robbed by the undead wasn''t the worst experience yet for those mercenaries.


    "Oh, right." Yang Qiu retraced his steps and turned back, retrieving a small box from his spatial ring. "I promised to give you an interesting gift from the other plane as a token of appreciation. Please have this."


    Lowell: "??"


    Lowell watched Yang Qiu take out a rectangular object with one side made of glass and the other of metal from the small box, along with a white rubber-wrapped wire. Lowell saw Yang Qiu plug one end into the peculiar tablet and the other into a socket already prepared by the undead mayor for electricity.


    Yang Qiu calmly turned on the tablet and provided Lowell with a brief tutorial on how to operate it. This mainly included instructions on how to open the app, a media player, how to select shows, pause and resume playback, shutdown, and reboot, as well as some of the other simple auxiliary functions.


    After gifting Lowell the cheap tablet he had purchased from Pinshaoshao at a low price, Yang Qiu eagerly went to pick up some more tool characters¡­


    Puzzled, Lowell watched Yang Qiu leave before his eyes returned to the small and exquisite mechanical device before him.


    The images on the glass surface seemed similar to the new machine that the Kenyan Empire had promoted last year¡ªa machine that could replace traditional light shadow stones that stored images and sounds. However, unlike the promotional pictures from the Kenyan Empire, the images here were in color.


    The music was exceptionally beautiful. Even though Lowell couldn''t understand the lyrics, he found himself captivated by the melody and the female voice singing along with the visual scenes of mountains and forests accompanied by lines of blocky characters.


    Lowell would be lying if he said he wasn''t curious about the "unprecedented alternate plane" that Yang Qiu had mentioned previously. Even though he still didn''t get why Yang Qiu wanted him to watch this, Lowell quickly pressed the pause button and returned to his room to retrieve his cuckoo flower lapel badge.


    With the badge in hand, Lowell returned to his seat in the hall. With a mixture of excitement, solemness, and curiosity, he clicked on the resume button.


    This time, he understood the line of peculiar block characters that appeared near the bottom of the screen¡ª"Dream of the Red Chamber."


    The mournful male voice with an exotic tone began to sing, "Ink stains the entire scroll, with a touch of bitterness¡­"


    Then, Lowell sat unmoving in the living room for a very long time. Even when Wagner returned from the branch canteen with lunch, Lowell wouldn''t budge.


    Yang Qiu didn''t concern himself with how Lowell, an otherworldly elder with a penchant for highbrow literature, would react to his ultimate literary weapon, "Dream of the Red Chamber." While he kept Lowell occupied, Yang Qiu gleefully went to meet the captured mercenary scouts.


    The militia headquarters, which housed over a thousand people now, had not seen any trouble so far, and Yang Qiu never paid much attention to this place until now. As he personally visited the militia headquarters, he realized how adept Hal and his former bandit brothers were at being prison wardens.


    It was lunchtime, and the prisoners were divided into three groups, queuing up separately at different meal stations.


    The inmates, with their clothes covered with dirt and their faces sweaty, had been working and were eating the standard work meals provided by the young orc maiden, Lyka.


    Those who hadn''t done labor and were being held in custody obediently consumed the instant noodle stew that players, who were diligently building their reputation with the Undead Merchant Association, had prepared punctually.


    The less ruly prisoners were stuck with having boiled potatoes¡­


    Upon entering the compound, Yang Qiu happened to witness a prisoner in the boiled potato line try sneaking into the model inmate group receiving work meals. This fella''s clothes were smelly and dirty, and his head was full of sweat and could easily pass off as having been laboring away. However, he was spotted by the keen-eyed Hal and promptly booted (literally) out of the queue.


    "So violent," Yang Qiu commented, with apparent sympathy upon hearing the unfortunate guy''s wails. He then gave a thumbs-up to Hal.


    Hal, who was still kicking the guy, was momentarily taken aback but begrudgingly allowed that to pass.


    Hal was arrogant, Tuttle Joe cared about his image, Finley was a sly fox, and among the four former bandits, only the knight Jerome, who was the most obsequious, ran over to greet Yang Qiu enthusiastically, "Good day, Yang. Anything I can help you with?"


    On learning that Yang Qiu was looking for the newly captured mercenaries, Jerome promptly called out three unlucky fellows in the boiled potato line.


    Yang Qiu examined these three dispirited individuals and was somewhat surprised.


    Mercenary groups didn''t have a much better reputation than bandit gangs. Individuals who could register as legal mercenaries in an official city and accept jobs across the continent were not known for their honesty when far from home. Occasionally, they even moonlighted as bandit gangs themselves if they found a place with lax security. Rumors circulated of certain remote towns being taken over by mercenary groups, who wiped out local nobles and turned themselves into local lords.


    To put it simply, people working as mercenaries usually deal with either monstrous creatures or ruthless bandits and highwaymen. Those who enlisted the services of these mercenaries were typically nobles, affluent elites, or wealthy merchants; these three categories were essentially related to banditry. Innocent and harmless people would hardly survive long in such lucrative but morally gray industries.


    So, why had these haughty mercenaries become so docile after such a short time in captivity?


    Jerome, seeing Yang Qiu''s confusion, explained with an innocent smile, "These three did misbehave quite a bit when they first arrived, making a ruckus that disturbed the peace. We dug a hole in the backyard, buried them with only their heads above ground, and made them miss two meals. After that, they became much better behaved."


    Yang Qiu gave another thumbs-up. Even villains needed to be molded, and compared to the former bandits, these mercenaries fell a little short.


    The three scouts, who hadn''t eaten or even received their boiled potatoes, weren''t paying much attention to Yang Qiu. Instead, they stared eagerly at the crowd receiving their meals.


    Yang Qiu stroked his chin and instructed Jerome to bring over a bowl of fragrant instant noodle stew, which he placed in front of the eldest of the three men.


    "Tell me your origins. Whoever is willing to speak can have this," said Yang Qiu, pointing to the bowl of piping hot noodle stew.


    The oldest one among the three remained silent, his face dark. However, his two companions couldn''t help but swallow nervously.


    Yang Qiu grinned and turned to the two wavering scouts. "Don''t worry; you won''t be betraying your comrades. You''re just choosing to switch sides early. I assume none of you think you will be able to leave Weisshem, do you?"


    The faces of the three men turned pale.


    "Weisshem isn''t the kind of place where you can come and go as you please," Yang Qiu said. "Now that you''re here, you have two choices. One is to live a normal life and work hard, and if you have the ability, you might have a future better than that of a wandering mercenary with no fixed abode. Two, you can become materials for undead resurrection."


    Of the three, the youngest started to tremble¡­


    Clearly, the intimidation factor of this black mage was much greater than that of the ascetic who had arrested them. People who could bravely sacrifice themselves when a knife was at their throats were few and far between. These three men, at least, were primary mercenaries who occasionally dabbled in robbery. They weren''t brave warriors and quickly confessed their origins in quivering voices.


    Previously, these three had mentioned they were "scouting for an employer." It wasn''t all a lie; they were part of a legit mercenary group from the south, and the reason they had appeared in Weisshem was to undertake a job for their employer to escort a caravan through the Sorensen Mountains to trade with Eastern and Northern merchants in Indahl.


    During Yang Qiu''s advancement in the Sorensen Mountains, this caravan had entered Weisshem territory. They had originally planned to rest and resupply in the town as usual and enjoy some "entertainment." However, as they passed a small village to the southwest, an observant member of the caravan discovered that the villagers possessed fabric that was of better quality and more exquisite than the Kenyan cloth brought by Northern merchants.


    In this continent, merchants who dared to do business across multiple nations often had ties to banditry. They would conduct business honestly in big cities, but in the defenseless countryside, they tended not to adhere to the norms of civilized people.


    Upon discovering that every household had this fabric that was superior to Kenyan cloth, the caravan''s owner didn''t waste any time. He seized control of the village, looted all the fabric, and declared that he would send the villagers to Indahl on charges of collective theft. Of course, the purpose of taking over the village was not related to "righting wrongs," and the caravan owner only wanted to find out how the villagers had acquired the fabric.


    The terrified villagers couldn''t resist the aggression of the merchant caravan and honestly divulged the source of the fabric¡­


    Just that villagers had their own smarts. They who resented the caravan''s pillaging didn''t provide a clear picture of Weisshem''s situation, omitting the presence of the undead and the black magician who supported the new lord, Rex.


    Without the black magician and lively undead, the new lord, Rex, who hailed from elsewhere and had no local support, would find that his abundant stash of exquisite fabrics to be easy pickings for the taking.


    Of course, the merchant caravan boss wasn''t foolish enough to believe the villager''s words entirely. Before taking action, he sent these unfortunate trio to scout out the situation.


    If Weisshem was truly vacant, and the new lord, Rex, didn''t have a proper defense force, there was no reason not to reach out and take this free windfall; on the other hand, if the ignorant villagers were unaware of the new lord''s strength, they could claim that they were simply exploring ahead before the arrival of their caravan.


    Upon understanding the situation, a quest titled [Save the Village] appeared in Yang Qiu''s mind.


    The mercenary group, along with the merchant caravan that employed them, consisted of over two hundred, nearly three hundred individuals. These professional mercenaries didn''t possess any equipment as exquisite as the city defense force of Indahl, but their combat capabilities were nothing to scoff at. Additionally, the caravan itself had a decent fighting force. Reliably taking down the entire group and rescuing the "hostages" required more than just the current two-hundred-over players online at the moment.


    Yang Qiu cast a glance at Hal and his comrades and contemplated, but these few had to serve as NPCs on the town''s main street in the future. Meanwhile, the ten or so at Exile Town were already swamped with dealing players and the routine maintenance of old houses.


    Thus, he asked Jerome, "How is the training of those city defense soldiers going?"


    Jerome immediately pointed to the model prisoner team having standard work meals¡ªthey were all there.


    Yang Qiu was very satisfied. "Good. Bring half of them out for me. I would like to use them for two days."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    In Exile Town, Qin Guan, who had sacrificed everything to obtain the Book of the Undead, clutched the item like a treasure and was about to deliver an uplifting speech to his comrades, who had collectively gathered funds, when several lines of yellow text appeared on the player panel¡ª


    [System Announcement] Weisshem Local Defense: An illegal armed force has entered Weisshem territory, seizing Lakeside Village and holding 321 villages captive. Players, please quickly head to Weisshem Town Hall to receive the defense quest.


    "A use for the divine treasure I just acquired!" Qin Guan rejoiced, nearly jumping for joy. He raised an arm and shouted, "Brothers, follow me! Let''s go do something big!"


    Those in Qin Guan''s faction teleported to Weisshem. When they got there, many scattered players were already present in the town hall courtyard.


    Blossoming Strokes spotted Unceasing Entropy and waved to her. "Qingyue, you are online early today!"


    "Mm, I didn''t have classes this morning." Unceasing Entropy returned a smile. "I got lucky seeing this defense quest the moment I logged in. I heard Boss Vanilla won the Book of the Undead auction?"


    Qin Guan was elated, but he maintained a modest tone. "Don''t mention it anymore. Obtaining this item bankrupted me, and I''m buried in debt and need to work my *ss off to repay it."


    "What do you think of the quest this time?" Blossoming Strokes asked Unceasing Entropy.


    "I read the mission description, and it seems to be more challenging than the previous defense quest¡ª" Unceasing Entropy replied.


    Before long, Brother Lahong and his companions, who had come to Weisshem early for the fire god sword auction, also arrived.


    When Qin Guan saw Brother Lahong and, more importantly, the three fire god swords that Brother Lahong''s companions were holding jubilantly, his expression immediately darkened.


    Brother Lahong also didn''t seem pleased seeing Qin Guan and his gang.


    During this auction event, whales weren''t able to stir up much of a commotion compared to previously. There wasn''t a chance like last where casual whales could snatch the Orb of Deceptions.


    This time around, competition for the auction items mainly occurred between two cohesive player blood alliances. It had, after all, been over a month since the server opened, and players had developed relationships. Even the gold farmers preferred selling their coins to familiar acquaintances. Also, the casual whale players themselves had no way of competing against a whole blood alliance.


    This direct confrontation over who could spend more money turned the originally minor friction between the two factions much more hostile¡­


    Brother Lahong despised the fact that he didn''t have as good a reputation as Qin Guan had with regular players. He hadn''t managed to raise enough funds to get the Book of the Undead. On the other hand, Qin Guan was infuriated that Brother Lahong''s group had driven up the Book of the Undead''s price so high, causing his side to go broke and not even be able to get a whiff of those fire god''s swords.


    Were it not because there was a significant quest in front of them, the two large factions would have settled the score on the spot. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Sensing the tense air between these two factions, Unceasing Entropy stepped in as a mediator. "Vanilla, Lahong, this quest involves capturing targets and rescuing villagers, so there should be a considerable potential profit. Do you guys think it would be better to pool our resources and form a larger force?"


    Brother Lahong readily agreed, saying, "Sure, you can create a raid group and invite our side''s players."


    His intention was quite clear¡ªhe didn''t want Qin Guan, who had just deepened their enmity, to be the leader.


    Qin Guan didn''t show any emotion. He also didn''t waste the Book of the Undead''s cooldown on Brother Lahong''s people. If anyone from his side perished, Qin Guan could leave the raid group and invite his comrades to use it.


    Unceasing Entropy sighed. "You two, please take a look at the quest details. The enemies this time are quite formidable. Their numbers are several times more than the elite cavalry monster we faced during the last quest. We really might end up failing if we don''t cooperate wholeheartedly."


    Brother Lahong and Qin Guan were both silent¡­


    Unceasing Entropy had a sharp intellect and a good track record. She surely wouldn''t be trying to deceive them if she said the mission was challenging. However, neither of them were willing to back down.


    As the standoff continued, Wagner entered the courtyard with more than 20 soldiers. Due to their equipment being plundered clean by the undead, Wagner and his soldiers of the city defense force were all wearing the same steel plate leather armor as the players and carrying player-exclusive steel knives.


    "Ehhh? Aren''t these the elite monsters we''ve encountered before? Are they on our side now?" one player exclaimed in surprise.


    Another player, out of habit, used Identify. "Wow, they really are friendly. Their names are in green!"


    "Whoa, NPCs who know they can''t beat us join us? Are they that intelligent?"


    "Awesome!"

 Chapter 118: Control Production Costs

    Wagner''s face soured as he saw the throng of nearly two hundred undead in the large town hall courtyard.


    He was well aware of the combat capabilities of these undead: slightly stronger than burly farmhands armed with pitchforks and of a similar standard to henchmen in a bandit gang.


    However, their resilience to pain, indifference to death, and unwavering determination¡ªqualities not even elite forces possessed¡ªmade them truly formidable.


    Wagner and his men''s current status was prisoners with no liberty to refuse. Taking a deep breath, the seasoned knight led his men into the courtyard.


    Their attire seemed to serve its purpose, as the undead not only displayed zero hostility toward them but also voluntarily cleared a path.


    Wagner heard a subdued sigh of relief from the soldiers behind him. It was evident that, despite the passing days, the group still harbored apprehensions about these undead¡­


    Wagner sighed inwardly, gathered his resolve, and strode toward the town hall doors.


    In the town hall, Yang Qiu was speaking with a female clerk. As Wagner and his men entered, he overheard Yang saying to the woman, "¡­Send Hal to apprehend him. Place him in the militia''s custody for the time being."


    "Yes, Mr. Lord." The female clerk, bearing a large, bluish birthmark on her face, hesitated for a moment as if she didn''t know whether to voice out. "And¡­ There''s that¡­"


    "No need to disclose the charges," Yang Qiu calmly replied. "Simply inform everyone that someone reported that fellow''s past misdeeds."


    "Understood, Lord. I will go and inform Mr. Maxwell." Mia bowed.


    Wagner stepped aside to make way for the hastily leaving Mia and couldn''t help stealing a curious glance at her.


    Wagner had heard rumors of an exceptionally hideous female clerk when running his errands in the town, but this was the first time he had seen her in person.


    While it was true that she didn''t possess beauty by conventional standards, the term "hideous" seemed somewhat exaggerated. If she hailed from a more affluent background, her birthmark could have easily been removed with alchemical elixirs.


    "Wagner, over here." Yang gestured for Wagner to join him in the room.


    Wagner nodded, signaling his men to remain in the hall while he followed Yang into a meeting room on the first floor.


    Yang placed a map of the Weisshem territory on the table and pointed to a village by the Horsehoof Lake in the southeast. "Lakeside Village, consisting of 56 households, totaling 321 villagers. A day ago, a merchant caravan passing through from the Sorensen Mountains attacked Lakeside Village, seizing all the villagers and holding them for ransom. I''m asking you and our undead friends to rescue the villagers and capture the members of that merchant caravan. Can you do it?"


    Upon hearing that a merchant caravan from the Sorensen Mountains had targeted such a remote village, Wagner couldn''t help but feel that Yang was toying with him. However, the thought of the undead fabric, superior to Kenyan fabric, made him change his mind. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I''ll do my best," said Wagner.


    Yang raised an eyebrow and said, "For every three mercenaries you capture and bring back alive, I will release one of your soldiers."


    Wagner was greatly shocked: "?!"


    "The spies confessed that this mercenary group from the South consists of over a hundred men. You would be able to secure the freedom for most of your men," Yang calmly explained. "Our undead friends will be a powerful asset for you, and, to some extent, you can command them. They may not be as obedient as your soldiers, but I believe you know their strengths better than anyone."


    The City Defense Force served as Indahl''s line of security, and the Bartalis family understood what kind of soldiers this force required. Those in their employ were local young men from good families.


    It wasn''t that Yang Qiu hadn''t contemplated using these soldiers, but after some observation, he hesitated to go through with it. That was why he allowed these soldiers to serve as exemplary prisoners when held in the militia headquarters. However, if there were mercenaries instead, Yang Qiu would have much fewer reservations.


    Wagner didn''t have an internal struggle at all; he just nodded.


    His men were clueless about why they had come to Weisshem. Before this mission, they didn''t even know if the orders originated from the captain or Adra III.


    Others might not understand, but Wagner knew it all too well¡­ Neither Adra III nor the City Defense Force captain would pay a ransom for any of these soldiers.


    At the end of the day, these soldiers were expendable. Even if they were all killed, their captain would likely only lament the loss of equipment and horses, while Adra III would probably care only about saving face.


    The only one who might be rescued was the squire with a blood relationship to their captain¡­


    Yang smiled and presented a contract written on parchment for Wagner to sign. He then asked Wagner to take the document outside for the soldiers accompanying him to affix their thumbprints. These soldiers all possessed quasi-professional level abilities, and to prevent anyone from deserting during the mission, they needed to be bound by "rules of language."


    "If you wish to command our undead friends, you will need to wear this," Yang said, presenting Wagner with a badge with a cuckoo flower emblem on it. "Before you do so, please heed my advice. If you don''t want to lose your sanity, it''s best not to delve too deeply into the thoughts, words, and actions of the undead."


    Wagner nodded solemnly. He definitely wouldn''t make any attempt to understand the thoughts of those dark beings.


    "Finally¡­ I will provide you with assistance," Yang said as the space beside him suddenly warped, and another Yang appeared.


    Both Yangs gazed at Wagner with the same calm demeanor. One of the Yangs spoke, "''I'' will conceal myself around you. When you require ''my'' assistance, just hold the badge and call ''my'' name."


    The other Yang took over, "My illusion will only respond to one summon, so please use it wisely."


    Wagner eyed the Yang on his left, then the one on his right, and gulped. "I understand."


    Wagner was familiar with illusions created by illusionists, but perhaps due to the proximity of Yang and his illusion, he couldn''t distinguish the difference in auras between the two.


    Both Yangs smiled faintly, and one of them disappeared just as abruptly as when ''he'' had arrived.


    After Wagner left the room, Yang Qiu used the imprint matrix to check on the number of players that arrived at the town hall courtyard, then issued the quest:


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    [Crisis at Lakeside Village]


    An illegal armed force from the South has kidnapped the villagers of Lakeview Village. Please assist Captain Wagner Pitt in repelling and capturing the enemy to rescue the villagers.


    This quest will be rewarded on a campaign basis, and the reputation earned will be distributed uniformly among participating players based on individual contributions. Please work together and move forward bravely!


    For each successful capture of a mercenary, the capturer will receive 200 territory prestige. For each successful capture of a merchant caravan member, the capturer will receive 50 territory prestige. Each successful enemy kill grants 10 territory reputation. Each successful villager rescued grants 100 territory prestige to the rescuer. Friendly fire or actions that hinder or impede allies will result in a corresponding deduction of territory prestige based on the extent of damage.


    During the territory defense battle, death penalties are waived. Any player that dies in the defense battle can be respawned instantly.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The current enemies might not be stronger than the previous fully armed city defense force cavalry. However, there were more of them this time, with two hundred personnel of the merchant caravans on top, and they had hostages.


    To ensure the success of the Crises, Yang Qiu had to continue acting as a power bank, constantly recharging and reviving them. In any case, he was currently overflowing with magic, so the players could die as many times as they liked.


    "Once this batch of tools is in place, construction of the railway can begin."


    After issuing the quest, Yang Qiu brought out his ledger and began calculating the necessary supplies¡­


    Due to the principle of the "unknowable cannot be seen," contracts formed by the "rules of language" couldn''t bind ordinary people.


    When a professional level cast a curse, they had to pay a corresponding price, either life or soul.


    The curses of ordinary folk were completely harmless, and there was no need to pay a price. This was also known as a double-edged sword.


    The over a thousand reserve laborers detained in the militia headquarters would require supervision if they were sent to work on road construction. The best "supervisors" were, of course, tool characters bound by the "rules of language." Enduring harsh conditions outside while tolerating harassment from players¡­ mercenaries would be most suitable for such a job.


    With modern engineering equipment, constructing a railway from Weisshem to Exile Town wasn''t too difficult.


    For the required railway, tracks from the obsolete and abandoned green trains from the Earth plane could be exchanged for timber. (There were far more abandoned railway tracks in the country than one could imagine, and several in G Province alone, but due to local financial issues, they had been left untouched since dismantling them would also require manual labor.)


    Stone needed for the railway could be sourced locally. There were enough mountainous areas in Weisshem and Taranthan to establish quarries.


    The cost of equipment for both ends of the station, the dispatch center as well as electrical components for related signal lights, cables, and more could be covered by the helmet material fee and the gold seized during the capture of Weisshem.


    As for employing townsfolk, the issue of wages would be left to Rex to worry over; felons worked for free as long as they were provided with meals.


    Were it on Earth, constructing a several hundred-kilometer-long railway would cost several billion yuan, but in Yang Qiu''s case, he planned to complete it with a few million.


    "Cheaper, large-bowl instant food supplies are needed."


    After spending over half an hour calculating the budget for the various needs, Yang Qiu shut his notebook and mulled for a while before opening a spatial rift on the spot and returning to the Earth plane.


    He used his phone to call the processed meat factory that had originally supplied him with low-cost frozen dumplings.


    For the past couple of weeks, the salesperson from the meat processing factory had been happily offloading unsold unlabeled dumplings to Yang Qiu. Upon receiving Yang Qiu''s phone call, the salesperson was delighted and greeted him warmly, even suggesting to meet for a drink to strengthen their relationship.


    However, his cheerful disposition quickly changed when he heard Yang Qiu''s request for a larger order of frozen dumplings, and especially when he heard the price.


    "That won''t work, buddy. You know our meat processing factory already operates on thin profit margins. Cutting the price by half just isn''t feasible." The salesperson on the other end of the line had started trembling.


    "What''s the problem? Just control the production costs a bit," Yang Qiu calmly responded, unfazed by the salesperson''s concern. "We don''t need to use only pork. Use whatever meat is cheap¡ªchicken, duck, fish¡ªit''s all good. The flour doesn''t need to be super fine, either. Add some cornmeal; it''s cheaper. More corn in the mix lowers costs, right?"


    The salesperson protested, "But it has to meet national standards¡ª"


    "Come on, be flexible! It''s not like we''re selling this on the open market. You just need to produce it and deliver it straight to me," Yang Qiu reasoned.


    "But¡­"


    "No need for branded packaging. I''ll return the foam boxes to you for reuse," Yang Qiu continued.


    "But¡­"


    "Save on packaging, transportation, and marketing expenses. Control the production costs a bit more. You aren''t showing sincerity if you still say no," Yang Qiu persisted.


    "But¡­"


    "Cash payment!"


    "¡­Alright."

 Chapter 119: Wagner Nearly Collapsing

    Before Yang Qiu returned to Earth, Wagner was still having his men affix their thumbprints on the contract. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    When Mia stepped out of the hall in a rush, she noticed that there were increasingly more undead in the town hall courtyard, which surprised her quite a bit.


    Within Weisshem, she could be considered an "elder" of the "Taranthan faction." Besides Mr. Rex, Hal, and the others, she was probably the most familiar with the Taranthan undead and understood them best.


    In Mia''s eyes, the Taranthan undead weren''t repulsive and, in fact, were comforting to her.


    They were the fairest creatures she had ever encountered. Even when they asked her for help with sewing clothes, these undead would pay her with sugar cubes.


    They were also the most just beings she had ever known. Her colleagues could stand confidently in the light of day because the undead had destroyed the old order in Weisshem.


    "The last time the undead appeared here in large numbers, Mr. Pitt and the others were captured. Have enemies come to Weisshem again?" Mia thought to herself as she flashed a friendly smile at the undead "looking" at her.


    She was not the slightest bit afraid of these undead. Mia firmly believed that these undead were fighting to protect civilians like her.


    "Our Exile Town NPCs are still the most thoughtful, unlike the NPCs here that are cold and unfriendly." The players waved cheerfully at Mia.


    During the second expedition quests, players had confirmed that human civilian NPCs would not give out quests (many players had criticized the previous quest announcement as false). So, no one bothered Mia or the other male and female clerks who were identified as civilians by Identify.


    Mia seemed to gain strength from the friendly responses of the undead. She left the town hall, lifted the hems of her skirt, and rushed toward the town''s main street.


    Once Hal and his former bandit brothers were done with their business at the militia headquarters, they returned to their posts on the main street of the town. Due to the sudden departure of all the undead, they stood around idly, chattering away.


    Mia rushing over caught Hal''s eye. He found a random excuse to leave the ongoing hypermarket construction site and pulled Mia aside to ask, "What did Yang say?"


    "Mr. Lord says there''s no need to disclose the person''s crime, just arrest the perpetrator on the pretext that he was reported for old deeds," Mia said firmly.


    "Alright, I''ll go arrest the person." Hal nodded, turning around and preparing to inform his comrades. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he turned back and warned Mia sternly, "Don''t tell anyone that I was the one that discovered this, got it?"


    "It concerns that lady''s reputation, so I won''t tell anyone, of course," Mia gave her word right away, then added in slight puzzlement, "Mr. Hal, you uncovered some hidden illegal activity; isn''t that a good thing? Why are you¡ª"


    "Shut up, ugly freak, mind your own business!" Hal suddenly turned menacing.


    Mia hurriedly covered her mouth.


    Hal gave Mia another threatening glare and then strode off.


    Mia patted her chest in relief afterward¡­ Hal was frightening indeed!


    "Hal, what''s going on?"


    Hal had left in a rather relaxed manner but returned with an air of hostility, causing Tuttle to become solemn.


    "Nothing. Yang had that ugly freak run errands to convey a message, asking us to go arrest someone," Hal said impatiently. "That bastard keeps ordering us around."


    Tuttle just nodded and said, "Well, we have nothing better to do, so let''s go."


    "It''s just to arrest a small fry; we don''t all need to go." Hal waved irritably. "Jerome, you''re coming with me."


    Tuttle didn''t think much of it and sat back down. They were in charge of a lot of tools at their construction site, and someone had to keep an eye on things.


    Hal led Jerome along the street undergoing construction and soon spotted their target.


    Jerome hadn''t even been able to react when he suddenly saw Hal roll up his sleeves and rush into the crowd of workers who were busy at work. He grabbed the shoulder of a skinny male townsperson, violently threw him to the ground, and kicked him with full force.


    The temporary workers, who were engaged in plastering and wall mending, were all stunned.


    The clerk in charge of this construction site was also shocked. It was only after seeing Hal use his two big feet to kick the poor and weak man into a miserable state that she reacted in a panic, rushing over and asking, "What''s going on, Mr. Maxwell?"


    "This guy has committed a crime, and I''m here to arrest him!" Hal raised his hand to stop the clerk from approaching. He kicked the man again forcefully, then bent down to grab the collar of the frail man''s clothes. He lifted him up like a chicken and held him high for all the townspeople present to see. "Everyone, take a good look. This bastard is Jesse Taleroms, am I right? I didn''t make a mistake, did I?"


    "Yes, yes, it''s Jesse," a townsperson who seemed to be related to him replied, both shocked and fearful. "Sir, what has he done?"


    Hal, acting as the thug he was, glared fiercely at Jesse, who was being held up by the collar. He shouted angrily, "You''ve committed a crime, you scum! Do you want me to speak for you, or will you confess on your own?"


    Held up by the collar with his feet off the ground, Jesse couldn''t even breathe properly, and his face turned red. Of course, he couldn''t say a word¡­


    "Damn you, still daring to be stubborn at this point!" Hal angrily shook Jesse a couple of times, causing Jesse''s eyes to roll back. Even the one who had spoken up for him regretted it now¡­


    The puzzled clerk, filled with questions, was about to ask something when she saw Hal lift Jesse up high again, spinning him around to display him to all present. "Look at the character of this scumbag. Everyone, take a good look! If anyone else wants to commit a crime, go ahead, but be careful not to get caught! Once caught, I won''t let you have a good ending!"


    The clerk shut her mouth.


    Among the "Taranthan faction," Hal had the worst temper and was the most violent. Since Hal had made it clear that he didn''t want to disclose this person''s crimes, the clerk had no reason to ask.


    The townspeople were extremely curious about what Jesse had done. However, since Hal, a thug who didn''t seem like someone you could ask about things, was handling the situation, they exchanged glances and no one dared say a word.


    Hal, not content with just showing this construction site, continued to hold the pale-faced Jesse and ran through the construction sites on the entire town''s main street. As soon as he stepped in one, he would shout loudly that Jesse Taleroms had committed a crime, ratted out, and would be taken to the militia headquarters. He warned the other townspeople to be cautious.


    Jerome followed behind Hal throughout the whole process, looking bewildered and having no idea why Hal was acting so irrationally.


    Having run through the entire street, Hal disdainfully tossed the barely conscious Jesse to Jerome. "Take him to the militia headquarters and let Finley give this guy a taste of suffering."


    "Um¡­ Hal, what exactly did this guy do?" Jerome mustered up the courage to ask.


    "How would I know? If you want to know, go ask Yang!" Hal glared back.


    Without saying a word, Jerome clamped Jesse under his arm and dashed away.


    "Nosy!" Hal scoffed and swaggered back.


    As he passed by a certain construction site, a woman wearing a linen cloth around her waist and covered in mud eyed him eagerly as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.


    Hal acted as though he hadn''t seen her, striding past in his tough thug demeanor.


    After Hal had walked quite a distance, the woman lowered her head and bowed slightly.


    People at various construction sites whispered about Jesse Taleroms'' incident. In the eyes of the townspeople, Jesse was an inconspicuous, quiet, and honest person. Everyone was puzzled by how such an honest person like Jesse could have gotten into trouble.


    Before long, a large number of undead, wielding swords and clamoring loudly, passed through the town''s main road. This quickly diverted the townspeople''s attention, and they soon forgot about the unremarkable Jesse, speculating on what these undead were up to.


    Wagner Pitt was unaware of the little incident on the town''s main street.


    After obtaining the cuckoo flower lapel badge, he found that he could understand the language of the undead. He attempted to organize the undead into a formation as if they were marching properly. While they were in town, the undead managed to maintain some semblance of formation. However, once they left the town''s gates, the undead scattered in all directions.


    Wagner, wooden-faced, leading his soldiers and watching the undead running everywhere, sighed constantly.


    "Make way, make way."


    Two undead ran from behind and brazenly passed through the soldiers who were trying to maintain formation. They chatted while running, "I''ll have to log out later when it''s time. Can you help cover for me?"


    "For what?"


    "Get my attendance taken. I''ve skipped too many classes this semester¡­"


    Wagner silently looked at the two undead passing through them.


    In less than half an hour of being able to understand the language of the undead, he had already heard the words "log out" several times in their exchanges.


    Although he understood that curiosity about dark creatures could easily be fooling him, he couldn''t help but wonder what "log out" meant¡ªespecially since the undead seemed to have another way of life hinted at when they mentioned "log out."


    Could it be that these undead lived in some unknown realm like ordinary creatures during the time when they weren''t summoned to this material plane by Yang?


    Could that unknown magical realm be a world belonging only to the undead, similar to the material plane, with its own laws and system?


    Wagner felt a faint ache in his head¡­


    He was just too curious, yet he was also afraid that knowing too much would put him in danger¡ªknowledge related to the chaotic realm wasn''t something anyone could delve into and come out unscathed!


    He had heard about the madness that could befall someone simply from knowing the true name of a demon!


    This is a test, Wagner told himself. He decided to ignore the incomprehensible words and actions of these undead and instead focused on his own task¡ªleading the undead to Lakeside Village, launching an attack, capturing as many members of the mercenary group as possible, and striving to secure the freedom of his men.


    Wagner wasn''t at all worried about whether they could defeat the enemy.


    With the undead''s characteristic of never truly dying, even the Kenyan knights, who were currently stationed in the city of Indahl, flaunting their might, wouldn''t fare well. Humans grew tired, but the undead didn''t!


    Just as Wagner was silently psyching himself up, one of the two undead running together ahead of him suddenly fell apart.


    Bones scattered all over the ground, with their worn fish-scale armor, steel swords, waist pouches, and backpacks clattering as they hit the ground.


    Wagner: "??"


    The soldiers: "??"


    "The heck? Helmet taken off again?" The other undead seemed accustomed to this and muttered as he crouched down to collect his scattered bones.


    Less than 20 meters behind them, Wagner stood stupefied.


    Wh-what is going on?? Aren''t the undead immortal?!


    Wagner had personally witnessed it himself!


    He had once believed that Yang possessed an army of countless undead, but he later learned from Mr. Lowell that Yang only had just over three hundred¡­ The same group of undead that had tormented him and his soldiers repeatedly.


    What does helmet taken off again mean? The fallen undead wasn''t even wearing a helmet!


    Wagner was questioning the meaning of life when he suddenly saw the scattered bones move on their own. The tiny finger bones pieced together into a hand, and the elongated arm bones floated to the joint of the palm. In just a few seconds, a fully formed skeleton with the ability to move and speak had reassembled itself.


    "My darn idiot roommate took my helmet again!" The reassembled undead grumbled while picking up its clothes and equipment from the ground and putting it back on. "Does he have nothing better to do than to be jealous that I have an account and he doesn''t?! Damn it, he should remember that he laughed at me for being dumb back then!"


    "Just move out of the dormitory. Taking off your helmet isn''t that bad. If he stole and smashed your helmet, you''d be crying," remarked the skeleton''s companion.


    "I''m moving out next month. I found a senior to share a rental with. He wants to start a social media channel and asked me to record gameplay videos for him to use as material. If it goes viral, we''ll split the profits 50-50¡­" The skeleton, who had been disassembled once, put on his backpack and continued jogging alongside his companion.


    "Oh, trying to be a content creator like Boss Vanilla, huh? Why don''t you edit your own videos instead of collaborating with someone else?"


    "Um, every day, I''m attending class when I''m not playing. I don''t have that much spare time to edit videos. Plus, it''s too much of a waste if I don''t use up my 12-hour daily login limit¡­"


    Wagner silently watched the two undead as they ran further away. Then, he removed the lapel badge from his chest and kept it in his waist pouch.


    He couldn''t bring himself to continue listening to their exchange; any more, and he might get too absorbed in it.


    Lakeside Village was rather remote, over 20 kilometers from Weisshem, and most of the journey was through mountainous terrain.


    This journey would take at least a day to complete for an ordinary person. However, it wouldn''t take that long for well-trained city defense force soldiers like them. A great deal of stamina was required to be a heavy-armored cavalry, and they had only brought supplies for one day. Moreover, Wagner and his men were only wearing light armor this time, and they reached the designated gathering point, a forest to the north of Horsehoof Lake, by early evening.


    Upon arrival, Wagner''s forehead veins started throbbing again before he even had time to catch his breath¡­ Those undead that had left them behind and run off a long time ago hadn''t arrived!


    Not a single trace of an undead could be seen either inside or outside this dense forest!


    These undead bastards¡­ What good are powerful arms if they can''t follow orders? Can they really be controlled? Wagner cursed inwardly.


    On the surface, Wagner couldn''t show any signs of wavering. He calmly ordered his soldiers to set up a temporary camp and prepare dinner.


    As the evening sky darkened, Wagner was busy leading his troops in setting up the camp when they suddenly heard a series of clacking noises.


    He looked up and saw the late-arriving undead boldly entering the designated rendezvous point in the forest.


    These undead still had no semblance of formation or order. They were a disorderly mess that could make any commander fume. However, this wasn''t the scariest part.


    Even more frightening was that these undead were coming from the south of the forest.


    Going south from the forest led to Horsehoof Lake, and along the lake''s shore was Lakeside Village.


    In other words¡­ These bastards, who only decided to gather now, were coming from the direction of Lakeside Village.


    Wagner forcefully swallowed the dry rations in his mouth and took out the cuckoo flower lapel badge with a trembling hand¡­


    "This village is incredibly impoverished. It''s like those indigenous Africans you see in documentaries."


    "Yeah. They just build a round wall of mud, put thatch on top, and call it a house. From a distance, it looks like the straw stacks in my hometown."


    "At least it''s easy to distinguish between enemies and allies. Anyone with flesh on their faces is an enemy."


    "They won''t attack us until it''s time for battle. How strange."


    "I think it''s because there are so many of us. At first, I saw those red-named monsters drawing their weapons¡­"


    Listening to the reckless chattering of the undead made Wagner feel he was about to cough up blood. These darned skeletons had actually visited Lakeside Village even though the plan was to attack under the cover of night!


    Oh god¡­ What was the point of traveling light and hurrying!


    With great difficulty, Wagner forced down the blood rising in his throat. He couldn''t afford to crumble. No matter what, he had to do his best to secure the freedom of his men.


    Players noisily entered the forest, and seeing the friendly NPC soldiers seated and eating dry rations displeased them.


    "Slow on the road, and now they want to have a meal before the battle?"


    "Are these NPCs here to help or just be a burden?"


    Wagner couldn''t hold back and coughed out blood.

 Chapter 120: You Thought It Was A Physical Attack?

    While the players and Wagner were equally disdainful toward each other, Lakeside Village, two kilometers away, was in disarray.


    "What in the world are these creatures? How can there be so many undead here?"


    In the makeshift camp surrounded by huge wagons pulled by six-legged lizards, the owner of this caravan, a dark-skinned and portly Sokrian man, cursed.


    The captain of the Sea Lions mercenary group, a man with a stern face, kept silent, allowing the employer to vent his frustration before stepping forward to advise, "Mr. Ilik, something is seriously wrong here. We need to leave as soon as possible."


    "Leave? That sounds great!" The merchant Ilik''s round, black Sokrian eyes widened even further. "Your men still haven''t brought back any information from Weisshem Town. Where do you expect my caravan to go? Do you think we can fly directly to Indahl?"


    The Sea Lions group''s captain was silent for a moment before saying, "Mr. Ilik, we can exit this area to the east and take a longer route that will still get us to Indahl."


    Merchant Ilik''s dark face turned bright red, and he pointed at the mercenary leader, berating him, "What do you mean by that, Kenn? Is this the attitude of the Sea Lions mercenaries? Did I hire you to teach me how to do business?"


    Mercenary Kenn had no choice but to lower his head. "I''m very sorry, Mr. Ilik. That''s not what I meant."


    However, Ilik wouldn''t let it go and continued ranting, angrily instructing Kenn to arrange for night watchmen and demanding he send more people to Weisshem Town at first light¡ªdue to the recent influx of mysterious undead, it was too dangerous to send anyone out at night, and he needed extra manpower to protect the caravan.


    Rubbing his aching head, Kenn watched his employer enter a spacious box wagon.


    Professional mercenaries would not let minor details delay their mission. If his capable squad leader went on a scouting mission with two men and had gone missing, it could only mean one thing: the three scouts had encountered an opponent they couldn''t escape from.


    The Sea Lions mercenary group leader knew the abilities of his squad leader very well. If even he had been captured, then certainly it would be foolish to continue sending men into the same predicament¡ªcurrent personnel took precedence over lost comrades.


    Kenn wanted to "cut losses promptly," but the employer disagreed.


    Those fabrics were just too tempting. Even if obtained twice¡­ no, three times the price, it could still easily make at least five times the profit once it was transported back.


    A profit margin of twofold was enough to make anyone envious, let alone several times that amount. Kenn knew all too well that convincing the employer to give up this "gold mine" would be a daunting task.


    "Kenn!"


    Adam, Kenn''s burly deputy, waved him over from across from the mercenaries gathered around the campfire, where they were busy roasting meat.


    Kenn pushed through a few idiots fighting for meat and made his way over, asking, "Did you find out anything?"


    "I did." Adam, looking somewhat pale-faced as if spooked by something, glanced around before leaning closer to Kenn and whispering, "Kenn, we''ve got a big problem. Those village hicks deceived us!"


    Kenn''s face tensed up. "I''ll go take a look."


    Outside the camp, in a cowshed belonging to the village head''s family, which was now commandeered by Kenn''s trusted men, Kenn found his interrogation subject.


    The young man curled up on a pile of straw, raised his swollen eyelids, and shrank back, trembling as Kenn entered.


    When the undead came to the village, Kenn knew that the villagers hadn''t told the truth about the Weisshem''s situation, or at least not the whole truth. When the older villagers couldn''t provide answers, the mercenaries turned to the younger generation, and it was evident that they had made a breakthrough with the village head''s son.


    After giving this timid young man a scrutinizing look, Kenn wasted no time in delivering a swift kick, knocking him to the ground.


    "Don''t¡­ don''t beat me, sir! I''ve told you everything, sir!" The village head''s son, terrified, clutched his chest and sobbed.


    "Speak! What''s the situation in Westham Town?" Kenn demanded.


    "The new lord, Rex, has the backing of a black mage. The former mayor was captured by the undead sent by that black mage and imprisoned in militia headquarters!" The village head''s son cried out in fear. "When my father and I went to the town, we saw undead walking in the streets!"


    Kenn couldn''t prevent the apprehension from showing on his face when he heard the term "black mage"¡­


    No one would willingly provoke spellcasters, especially illusionists and black mages. Even regular military forces would go out of their way to avoid them if they could.


    Just thinking about the undead that had openly entered the village not long ago, roaming around everywhere and even boldly observing their camp, made Kenn''s scalp tingle.


    "M-my father said no one should tell you guys about the black mage and the undead in the town, or else¡­ or else none of us would be saved¡­" The village head''s son continued to cry, not noticing Kenn''s pale face. "My father said Lord Rex is the kindest lord. As long as we don''t betray him, he will definitely save us¡­"


    Kenn couldn''t help but laugh in exasperation. "Dream on! You expect nobles to save you hillbillies? Does he even know who you people are?"


    The frightened youngster lowered his head.


    With a grim look on his face, Kenn left the cowshed and immediately went to report the information to their employer.


    The merchant Ilik nearly fell off his soft, high-backed chair when he heard that there was indeed a black mage in Weisshem Town.


    "No wonder the actions of those undead were so peculiar¡­ They''re indeed being controlled by a black mage!" Ilik was both shocked and terrified. "Damn it, all we did was send scouts, and we''ve already offended that black mage? Are these spellcasters that petty?"


    "Mr. Ilik, we should leave here as soon as possible," Kenn advised. "Let''s bypass Weisshem town, and when we reach Indahl, given your relationship with the Bartalis family¡­ you should give some face to what the black mage says."


    Ilik didn''t agree immediately, instead pacing anxiously in the box car.


    This Sokrian merchant did have a good relationship with the Bartalis family, the ruling lords of Indahl. The Sokri Empire was a tropical powerhouse in the southern part of the Navalon continent, known for its production of spices like chili, pepper, garlic, ginger, dried passion fruit, and other food flavorings. Before the Age of Discovery, it had once had a renowned reputation as the "Land of Spices." Sokrian traders from the empire were once known as the "Spice Ships of the Land."


    However, after the Age of Exploration, the Kenyan Empire in the north brought back not only cheap orc slaves but also vast quantities of spices from beyond the seas. This caused a severe impact on the Sokrian spice trade.


    Today, Sokrian spices could no longer be sold to the north, and they could only be traded overland to some central and western nations, with much less influence than before.


    Nevertheless, Sokrian merchants specializing in local spices still held a higher status than ordinary traders, especially those like Ilik, with a quarter of Sokrian noble blood in his veins. Although he had not been officially recognized as a noble, as long as he mentioned his family name, he could still receive VIP treatment in a small nation like the Rhine Kingdom.


    Just that¡­ When he saw the exquisitely cut square piece of fabric lying on the small round table, Ilik couldn''t help but feel unwilling.


    Ilik had received a certain degree of noble education from his father. He could accurately deduce that the Bartalis family did not have access to the source of this fabric. Otherwise, this piece of fabric cut so neatly, which could be used as a tablecloth in any decent place, wouldn''t have ended up in the hands of bumpkins in a remote village.


    If he rushed off in a hurry to seek the protection of the Bartalis family, those fabrics would no longer be within his grasp¡­ And even if he could get his hands on them, the lion''s share would still belong to someone else.


    Ilik clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly.


    "Wait¡­ Why should we consider that black mage as an enemy?" Ilik suddenly said. "After all, we only sent scouts, and we haven''t done anything disrespectful, have we?"


    Kenn: "¡­"


    He wanted to say that sending scouts was already considered an offense¡­ but he also knew that if he pointed this out, Ilik would definitely shift the blame onto him, the mercenary group captain, for not stopping it at the time.


    The weight of the Ilik name was significant, and if he offended this employer, the Sea Lions mercenaries would have a hard time in the Sokri Empire. Captain Kenn had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.


    "That''s right, we don''t need to confront that black mage head-on," Ilik continued enthusiastically, clearly convinced of his own idea. "We used to do business with Baron Markus, and now we can do business with Rex¡­ Seems like that guy doesn''t have a title yet, right? No problem, he will get his title conferred sooner or later, and we can still do business with this nobleman!"


    "That''s it!" Ilik clapped his hands excitedly as he continued, "Kenn, send an emissary with gifts and the Ilik family''s business card to the town as soon as the day breaks! We need to establish a good relationship with this noble!"


    "It''s already dark."


    Wagner looked up at the sky, quietly touching his cuckoo flower lapel badge. He forced himself to stand up and, as per Yang''s request, shouted to the disorganized undead who were doing their own things, "Undead friends, it''s time for battle! Please assist¡ª"


    "Finally, it''s starting!"


    "Charge!"


    "Yah-hoo~"


    The scattered undead all around jumped up and down like springs as they ran joyfully toward Lakeside Village like exuberant wild horses.


    The veins on Wagner''s forehead were on the verge of bursting. "¡ªStop right there!"


    The undead lagging behind were already several dozen yards away, and none of them paid any attention to Wagner, who was left behind.


    Wagner sucked in sharply¡­


    Indeed, he shouldn''t have expected anything from these undead bastards!!


    A black-faced Wagner glanced at his own men and roared through gritted teeth, "Form up!"


    When Wagner, with a face as dark as the bottom of a pot, led the soldiers to the vicinity of Lakeside Village, he was astonished to find that the undead hadn''t rushed into the enemy ranks and caused chaos. Instead, they gathered and formed up properly in the cornfield outside the village.


    However, the situation wasn''t much better than the worst-case scenario Wagner had anticipated.


    The cornfield where the undead were gathering and forming noisily was less than 200 meters away from the village.


    Between the cornfield and the village, on the compacted yellow soil used for drying grain, there was a temporary camp surrounded by wagons drawn by huge six-legged lizards.


    Around the blazing campfire, numerous armed mercenaries and caravan guards were staring in astonishment at the cornfield less than a hundred meters away.


    Wagner felt the urge to puke blood again¡ªapparently, these undead were drawing up their tactics and formations in front of the enemy as if it were a usual tradition!


    So¡­ what was the point of Yang telling them to attack at night? Did he have no idea what his undead were like?!


    These undead clearly didn''t care if they were revealed to the enemy or not!


    "Sergeant Pitt, are we heading over?" A soldier crouching in the grass alongside Wagner asked cautiously.


    "Wait¡­ for now." Wagner forcibly swallowed the bile in his throat. "Let''s wait until the undead engage with the enemy."


    His men all nodded. The undead wouldn''t die, and they could fool around as much as they wanted. They, the living, couldn''t afford that, especially since they had neither heavy armor nor mounts.


    At this moment, the undead, who had been deploying formations right under the enemy''s nose, suddenly started arguing.


    "Slightly over ten healers already isn''t enough to go around, and you two want to be in the same team?!"


    "We''ll team up with our own friends. It''s none of your business!"


    "If you''re so damn good, lead your own team for quests. What''s the point of joining a raid group like this?!"


    "Looking for trouble, huh? Whether we join the big group or not is none of your business. Who do you think you are managing so much?!"


    "Screw you!"


    "Hey, hey, hey, what are you guys doing? Let''s speak nicely and not fight!"


    "Damn it! Even if you guys have a disagreement, can''t you guys not cause trouble at this time? Have you guys no shame when 200-over people are watching you quarrel?!"


    "Come on, guys, give some face! Everyone wants to complete the quest. Can''t we settle our differences later?"


    Suddenly, the conflict intensified, and one irascible skeleton even drew his knife and swung it toward another''s head. Several other skeletons around quickly intervened to stop the fight.


    Wagner watching from the shadows: "¡­"


    He turned away, rubbing his temples. He couldn''t bear to watch on.


    If these undead were his soldiers, at least half of them would have been dragged out to be sacrificed before the battle.


    After about 15 minutes of this ruckus, the reactions of the enemies in the makeshift camp shifted from shock to confusion. They huddled together, pointing fingers at the disorganized undead who had just managed to form some semblance of a formation.


    And then¡­ Wagner saw a skeleton shout, "Brothers, follow me!" The undead troupe, which had barely assembled any formation, rushed headlong toward the enemy camp.


    The soldiers in the tall grass were left dumbfounded, and Wagner stared in disbelief at the sight.


    Once he returned to his senses, Wagner had to pinch himself for cursing out loud. What was the point of all that fuss about formations if they were just going to charge into the enemy''s midst?!


    The enemies in the camp were equally baffled, but they reacted quickly, shouting to one another and swiftly forming defensive formations.


    In general, the most effective outdoor cover was created by the thick-skinned six-legged lizards and the giant wagons loaded with goods. As long as the caravan guards and mercenaries held this defensive line, even a band of bandits several times their number would find it challenging to break through and inflict significant damage.


    This caravan, belonging to the Ilik family, had experienced fighters among its ranks. The Sea Lions were also a well-known mercenary group. Although they were misled by the unusual combat style of the undead and missed the best opportunity for a preemptive strike, they managed to quickly form a defensive shape and seal off the side facing the undead, making it impenetrable.


    However, under the astonished gazes of Captain Kenn, leader of the Sea Lions, and Wagner, who was waiting for an opportunity in the shadows, the undead showed no intention of using the correct tactic of concentrating their forces to break through. Instead, they scattered like water splashing on a flat surface, rushing chaotically in two different directions.


    "Staying together and fighting will definitely cause problems. We might accidentally attack each other before completing the quest. It''s better to spread out and fight separately."


    Overall commander of the undead, Unceasing Entropy, said to Blossoming Strokes.


    "This is the only way." Blossoming Strokes sighed. "We can only do so much with so little people. If only we had more."


    "Where there are people, there are bound to be conflicts. The high immersion of this game leads to stronger emotions. I''m headed to the left battlefield; you keep an eye on the right," said Unceasing Entropy, waving her hand as she headed off.


    "I''ll do my best," Blossoming Strokes replied.


    Sweating profusely from dealing with the chaos caused by the disorderly players, Captain Kenn of the Sea Lions shouted loudly, "Spread out and defend! Don''t let any undead get through!"


    Fortunately, the mercenaries of the Sea Lions had experienced several instances of being attacked by bandits who scattered and surrounded them during their jobs. After a brief moment of confusion, they quickly adjusted and dispersed in various directions, facing the undead attempting to breach the defensive line of wagons and carriages head-on.


    The players'' agile skeletal bodies made it easy for them to climb onto the six-legged lizard-drawn wagons, but their bone frames were indeed fragile. Many players who jumped onto the roofs of the wagons had their skulls knocked off or were completely dismantled. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    There was no need to elaborate on players that completely shattered; they disappeared in a flash of white light.


    Players who had their heads knocked off were slightly better off. They quickly jumped down and searched for their skulls. Players who had advanced to more than 70 Potential had longer "health bars" compared to when they first entered the game. The damage from having their heads knocked off wasn''t enough to deplete their health bars entirely.


    "Ahhhhhhh¡ª!"


    The mercenaries could bear this horrifying sight, but some members of the caravan screamed at this.


    "These darned monsters hit so hard! I almost got killed!" Players who had recovered their heads also got quite a fright and hurriedly sought out healers nearby to restore their health.


    "Don''t rush to the front if you don''t have a helmet! These monsters know how to target our weak points!" Unceasing Entropy shouted loudly. "Those with good equipment, be the vanguard!"


    The players who had initially intended to climb onto the carriages quickly retreated, giving way to knight and warrior players.


    Due to the release of the undead horse at the start, warriors were in short supply, while knights were numerous. The knight players, who had fallen behind because of their heavier equipment, quickly surged forward.


    One knight player leaped onto a carriage, brandishing his sword and shield. He elegantly blocked a mercenary''s attack with his shield and retaliated by swinging his sword toward the mercenary.


    Using a shield for a blunt force strike might seem straightforward, yet one that heavily armored knights in this world mastered to perfection. The mercenary who stepped up to obstruct the path had encountered such moves before and wasn''t particularly concerned, continuing to swing his longsword firmly.


    The small, round shield (larger ones were too heavy for the undead to lift) struck his shoulder. The burly and rugged mercenary couldn''t help but silently ridicule the feeble force behind this lightweight attack. However, in the next moment, he felt a sudden heaviness in his head, and his vision started to dim.


    This mercenary, also hailing from the Sokri Empire, stared with wide, bewildered eyes, unable to comprehend what had just transpired¡­


    A knight''s shield strike was considered a purely physical attack and, given the undead''s physical strength, shouldn''t have posed much of an issue when it landed on a large person.


    However, the skills of these knight players were based on Earth''s online gaming abilities and modified using alchemical puppet runes. While it appeared as a physical attack, its essence was more of a mental strike.


    To execute the Shield Strike skill, knight players needed to expend a certain amount of available mental energy. Once it landed a direct hit (ineffective if it struck a heavily armored area), regardless of the force or size of the target, as long as the target''s mental value remained within the player''s attack range, the target would invariably experience the effects of a mental assault and fall into a brief state of dizziness.


    The warrior players'' Charge skill operated on the same principle. Otherwise, how could Yang Ying, with her character and equipment weighing less than 35 kilograms, have possibly halted Wagner, who, with his armor, gear, and steed, weighed close to a ton?


    During the brief period when the mercenary was incapacitated by the shield strike, several players hiding under the carriage swiftly took action. They skillfully disarmed the unfortunate mercenary in less than two seconds, expertly removing his weaponry, securing him with nylon restraints, and then dragging him away with determined grunts.


    Mercenary captain Kenn who witnessed this scene: "??"


    Wait! What are these undead even charging in for?!

 Chapter 121

    Lakeside Village, a tiny village nestled on the northern shore of Horsehoof Lake, perched at a slightly elevated position.


    This village, comprising just slightly over 50 households, was considered extremely impoverished even by the standards of this world. There wasn''t a single decent building in the entire village. Even the village head''s residence, the most spacious of them all, was nothing more than a mudbrick thatched hut large enough for a family and a couple of pigs, along with a few chickens.


    Most villagers couldn''t afford more than two sets of decent clothing. Elderly folks and young men always wore tattered rags when working outside. The children in the village often roamed around bare-bottomed, and the women frequently improvised with whatever bed sheets.


    Despite having access to a nearby water source and being less than 30 kilometers away in a straight line from Weisshem Town, the village remained mired in poverty for two primary reasons.


    Firstly, it was the negligence of the higher authorities, the mismanagement of the town-level administrative units.


    Throughout its history, Weisshem''s mayors had never spared a glance toward remote villages located over 15 kilometers away, places that couldn''t even provide fresh vegetables to the town. Apart from dispatching tax collectors during the autumn season each year or requiring laborers for the lord''s territorial battles, these leisurely nobles completely forgot that their domain included such villages and their people.


    Secondly, the village lacked a nobleman''s estate within a ten-mile radius.


    Horsehoof Lake was simply too close to the Sorensen Mountains. Nobles considered investing in estate or farms in this region as a high-risk business. Even though Horsehoof Lake was an abundant water resource, no noble was willing to purchase land in the vicinity.


    In other words, the people of Lakeside Village couldn''t even scrape together the most basic roads and irrigation works. Nobles, when fencing their estate farms, would at least construct paths made of gravel or dirt roads, along with several irrigation channels.


    Seemingly invisible despite being alive¡­ Lakeside Village''s backward state was easily imaginable.


    The villagers of Lakeside Village could only cultivate the land west of Horsehoof Lake, where water was readily available for irrigation. Their harvests were modest, limited not just by transportation challenges but also by the taxing demands of autumn.


    Each year, families had to personally deliver their tax grain to the town, and saving enough money for a year''s salt was considered a good outcome.


    Aside from the inconvenience of transportation and lack of agricultural support, the village''s major problem was its isolation, far from densely populated areas.


    Monsters and demonized beasts were rare, unlike the exaggerated tales from the Taranthan wilderness. However, the village was plagued by an abundance of wild animals¡ªwolves, wild boars, monkeys, foxes, and weasels¡ªwhich frequently destroyed crops and posed a threat to the villagers'' safety. Consequently, villagers had to move in groups even for short trips to their nearby fields.


    This challenging environment did have its silver lining: it fostered a spirit of unity among the villagers.


    The village chief, Sharpe, looking like a 60-year-old man although he was just over 40, sat up from his straw bed covered in a layer of linen and touched the herb-smeared wound on his forehead.


    Chief Sharpe''s house, though considered relatively spacious in the village, was cramped with his family of five, two pigs, and a brood of chickens, leaving little room to spare, let alone personal space. As he rose, his entire family, sleeping on the same straw pile, awoke.


    "Father, is your wound hurting again?" His eldest son''s voice carried from behind the cloth curtain that served as a partition for the marital sleeping area.


    In the pitch-dark room, lit only by a sliver of moonlight filtering through the bamboo door curtain, Sharpe, who suffered from night blindness, couldn''t see a thing. However, his familiarity with the surroundings allowed him to navigate by feeling. "I''m fine¡­ Has Billy returned yet?"


    There was silence from his eldest, suggesting uncertainty.


    Sharpe''s daughter, lying closer to the wall and nearer to her father, responded after his repeated inquiries, "Don''t worry, Dad. Big Bro and I will go see Billy at dawn."


    Chief Sharpe sighed. He and his eldest son were both roughed up by those brash mercenaries and were well aware of their ruthless nature.


    Billy, his youngest, was the last gift his deceased wife left him. Sharpe admittedly indulged his youngest son, usually assigning him only to watch over the village cattle and sparing him hardships. Sharpe feared that Billy might not be able to endure the mercenaries'' brutality and would reveal the collective secret the villagers had kept.


    "What''s all that noise outside?" Sharpe asked. "Are those men causing trouble again?"


    There was a stir from his eldest son''s side. Hearing the movement from his son made Sharpe move a little too much, aggravating his wound and eliciting a rebuke from his daughter-in-law.


    "Father, some undead came to our village earlier when it was still bright!" His son''s voice trembled with excitement in the darkness. "The same clothed, armed undead we saw in the town. Now, many armed undead have come and are heading to those men''s camp!"


    "Really?" Sharpe''s excitement grew. "O Lady Gold Coin, is Mr. Rex sending help?"


    "Yes, I saw it too, Father," his daughter chimed in. "There are many of them, even more than those thugs that robbed us. They were terrified, and after the undead left, they all scurried back to their camp."


    "They left? The undead left?" Chief Sharpe''s heart raced with the news. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Don''t worry, Father, they probably didn''t go far, just waiting for the opportune moment," said his son enthusiastically. "As soon as it got dark, screams came from the camp. You were asleep and didn''t hear it."


    "I see¡­ Lady Gold Coin blessed us!" Chief Sharpe''s vigor returned.


    Village Chief Sharpe was quite a man of wisdom and courage and had anticipated the dangers posed by the Sokrian mercenaries, advising the villagers to maintain a unified front.


    After listening to the distant commotion and cries, Chief Sharpe made a surprising decision, astonishing his two children and daughter-in-law.


    "We can''t just wait here; we must show Mr. Rex our resolve. If Mr. Rex''s undead are fighting our enemies, we must also contribute," said Chief Sharpe.


    With a sense of urgency, Chief Sharpe, despite his pain, stood up. He called his son and physically strong daughter-in-law along while instructing his daughter to watch the house. They lit torches and rushed to rally the villagers.


    Not far from the bustling campsite, villages had been awakened by the commotion, just that they dared not venture out to investigate. The bravest among them only peeked outside from their doors.


    When Chief Sharpe came calling, his proposal was quickly embraced by the already frustrated villagers. Armed with hoes, sickles, and pitchforks, they joined his rallying call without hesitation.


    Chief Sharpe, a smart man among the world''s lower-class farmers, lacked formal education and experience in planning. His hasty mobilization was evident as the numerous torches suddenly appearing and moving about the dark village were extremely conspicuous.


    Fortunately, the mercenaries, already overwhelmed by the undead, paid no heed to them.


    The battle-hardened mercenaries soon realized that the undead were easy to dispatch¡ªa heavy blow from a hammer or axe to their torso or head would cause the skeletons to disintegrate into a burst of light.


    However¡­ this wasn''t of much use.


    No matter how many undead were killed, their numbers assaulting the camp''s defenses never seemed to dwindle.


    Adam, a burly figure, stood atop a garlic-laden cart, swung his heavy hammer, and sent yet another undead flying. This undead didn''t forget to flip him off with a grotesque "WAYAKAKAKA" scream before vanishing in a white flash.


    Breathing heavily, Adam had no energy to spare for the provocations of the dying undead, focusing instead on the next one. This undead was nimble, dodging several blows before being struck and vanishing with a cry of "WAKA."


    And then, yet another undead took its place¡­


    Adam lost count of how many he had defeated. His hammer grew heavier with each swing, making every strike increasingly laborious. His lips were parched, breathing became a struggle, and his lungs seemed ready to burst. He knew he was reaching his limit. Without a moment to catch his breath, he would collapse¡ªnot from the undead''s assault but from sheer exhaustion.


    After repelling another clawing undead, Adam glanced around, hoping for some assistance.


    To his left, the Jack brothers were gasping for air even more dramatically, and, to his right, the greatsword-wielding Corrado could barely stand, heaving heavily against a cart¡­


    While Adam was distracted, the cunning undead seemed to realize his weakness, and two rushed at him. With a roar of frustration and despair, Adam swung his heavy hammer in a wide arc.


    he thought desperately.


    Captain Kenn, personally supervising and directing on the front lines, was fully aware of the dire situation his comrades were in.


    The first 10 minutes had been manageable. Despite a few casualties snatched away by the undead right in front of the terrified merchants, Kenn quickly identified and prioritized dealing with the shield-bearing undead, who used mind magic similar to paralysis spells. This strategy had effectively reduced further abductions.


    But what followed was an increasingly desperate war of attrition.


    As long as the defenders maintained their high ground and kept the undead off the wagons, there were virtually no casualties¡ªthe undead''s attacks were negligible, and the damage couldn''t even compare to the mercenaries'' usual brawls.


    The real trouble came from the undead wielding strange, flamboyantly extravagant swords (Yang Qiu specially got it customized at a COS prop manufacturer, as he wanted to sell it for a high price) with fire enchantments. Those who were struck suffered searing wounds.


    After several burns, Captain Kenn urgently directed the rangers to focus on these sword-wielding undead, preventing them from nearing the defensive line. Their bright red, glowing weapons were hard to miss.


    Confident in his tactics, Kenn initially believed victory was just a matter of time¡­ Then he realized his mistake.


    It wasn''t a flaw in his strategy but a complete underestimation of the undead''s numbers. Regardless of how many were killed, the relentless wave of undead assaulting the wagon circle remained unchanged!


    After an hour of fighting, even those who had rested in rotations were flagging, yet the undead remained as vigorous and numerous as ever!


    Kenn wondered anxiously.


    As he ran along the defensive line, Kenn noticed both his men and the merchants showing signs of exhaustion, whereas the undead''s onslaught remained as intense as ever.


    He realized something alarming¡ªthe undead, initially attacking in disorganized swarms, now seemed to be under a skilled command. They no longer charged mindlessly but attacked rhythmically, systematically exhausting the defenders.


    Captain Kenn was gripped by a sense of fear upon realizing this. The undead seemed to understand their advantage and the defenders'' weaknesses!


    Stopping in his tracks, Kenn, sweating profusely, turned his attention to the northern defensive line, facing the cornfields.


    Stationed there were his reliable deputy, the burly Adam, the enduring Jack brothers, and the greatsword warrior Corrado.


    What he saw sent shivers down his spine¡­


    Adam''s hammer swings were painfully slow.


    The Jack brothers were spent, cursing the merchant caravan guards that had swapped out to rest and urging them to hurry back.


    Corrado was tottering as several undead gripped his limbs and tried to pull him down¡­


    "Stop!!" Captain Kenn''s eyes blazed with fury. Drawing his sword, he dashed over, leaping onto the wagon and forcing the swarming undead back as he pulled Corrado to safety.


    "Get up here and swap out!" Kenn bellowed at the resting merchant caravan guards after rescuing Corrado.


    "We''ve barely rested for 10 minutes, in the name of the gods!" the panting guards retorted angrily. Yet, despite their frustration, they picked up their weapons and dragged themselves back into the fray.


    After ensuring Corrado was safely resting, Kenn was jolted by the Jack brothers'' screams. Looking up, he saw, to his horror, the brothers being carried away by a swarm of at least six or seven undead.


    "Save them! Save them!" Captain Kenn''s voice cracked with desperation as he charged with his sword raised.


    The merchant caravan guards, realizing the gravity of losing more mercenaries, clambered onto the wagon to intervene¡­


    But soon, they were swarmed and dragged away.


    Abducting four at once seemed to give the undead confidence. More of them poured through the breach left by the Jack brothers, some charging into the camp toward the resting guards while others attacked Adam, seeking to widen the breach.


    Kenn was near breaking point. He swung his sword in a frenzy, eliminating the intruders and hoarsely screaming to call the slightly recovered mercenaries and guards to plug the gap.


    Eventually, the defense line was secured once more. Captain Kenn, drenched in cold sweat, barely had time to catch his breath before he noticed a procession of torches, like a dragon''s breath, approaching from the direction of the village.


    "Ridiculous¡ªThose damn country hicks!" Captain Kenn cursed in despair.


    On the other hand, players, seeing the villagers approach, reacted completely differently from the mercenaries. "What the hell! Are they here to steal our kills?!"


    "Seriously? We struggle so long that our losses are a heap of corpses, and now we have allies coming in to hog the glory? When will the darned devs get their act together?!"


    Unceasing Entropy and Blossoming Strokes, commanding the left and right flanks, noticed the villagers and didn''t hesitate to order an aggressive push. "The enemy is nearly spent. Prepare to strike hard!"


    "Don''t think about looting equipment during the assault. We''ll distribute everything afterward. Grabbing gear now is pointless!"


    "Everyone, strap the nylon restraints to your arms. Capture and bind one each!"


    Blossoming Strokes, after organizing the assault team, shouted to her teammates, "Vanilla! Is your cooldown ready? If it''s done, hurry and pull people over!"


    "Right away!" Qin Guan, who had been idly watching from the rear, checked his equipment and skills. Seeing the countdown at 20 seconds, he stood up and typed in the team channel, "Has everyone at the respawn point joined the team? I''ll be summoning soon!"


    "OtherWorld" didn''t have the luxury of a friends list or real-time voice chat. Currently, communication was limited to system prompts and team channels. But this was sufficient for now.


    Qin Guan, wielding the "Book of the Undead," had set up a party specifically for those respawning back in town. His job was to summon players back into the fray whenever his 100-second summoning cooldown was reset.


    This tactic of infinite summoning meant the mercenaries could never fully eradicate the undead¡ªunless they risked their camp''s defense to hunt down Qin Guan.


    Even if Kenn could spot Qin Guan lurking in the shadows, the chances of successfully reaching and defeating the latter were slim. Qin Guan''s skill as a warrior might be mediocre, but his ability to flee wasn''t.


    As the tide of undead surged at the defense line, the mercenaries'' despair was palpable. Wagner, numb from crouching for so long, now watched on indifferently.


    He had initially planned to exploit the undead''s distraction to break through the enemy lines, but it became clear that he wouldn''t have the opportunity to take the stage¡­


    He had underestimated the undead''s relentless, undying nature and their ability to rapidly replenish their ranks.


    After an hour of observing, Wagner was at a loss for any means of a counter strategy against that. He even doubted whether the knights of the Radiant Sun Church could even make a difference in this situation¡­


    , Wagner could only console himself.


    As he watched the villagers'' approach, Wagner couldn''t just stand by and watch these civilians, less combat-capable than the undead and without their unending resilience, join the battle. Quietly, he led his men out of the bushes.


    A player, who had just returned to the battlefield, glanced back and was startled to see over 20 burly men emerging from the underbrush.


    "What the hell, there are more friendlies over here trying to steal our kills!" the player shouted while pointing at Wagner and his men.


    "Again?!"


    "F*ck this bunch of NPCs! Can''t they let us farm monsters in peace?!"


    "The NPCs of this game are so damned oblivious!"


    Wagner: "¡­"

 Chapter 122: Rex’s Advanced Insight

    Wagner, choosing prudence over valor, held back the eager villagers, opting instead to stand aside and witness the spectacle of the undead''s onslaught.


    The outcome of the battle was rather unsurprising. The two hundred or so mercenaries, overwhelmed by the endlessly resurrecting undead army, were pushed to the brink of exhaustion. When the undead breached their defenses and surged into the camp, the defeated mercenaries were too drained to even contemplate suicide and resigned themselves to being captured.


    Wagner and his twenty-odd soldiers watched on empathetically as the captured mercenaries were stripped of all their valuables and equipment by the undead¡­


    The most pitiable was the owner of the merchant caravan, who was dragged out from his hiding place inside a box wagon. Every ring was stripped from his fingers, and he was nearly relieved of his gold teeth by a couple of undead¡­ before other undead stopped them.


    Amid wails and despair, the undead, having spared the lives of over two hundred captives, joyously departed the ravaged camp, laden with equipment and spoils, and regrouped at the clearing near the cornfield.


    The captives, bound and scattered haphazardly, were left in bewildered disarray. The villagers, who had watched the commotion unfold without understanding the full context, and Wagner''s soldiers looked on, utterly baffled.


    Only Wagner remained expressionless, his stoic demeanor unbroken.


    The night breeze carried over the voices of the undead, and their chattering reached Wagner''s ears¡ª


    "Uncommon-grade leather armor, no enchantments but with high defense and an attractive design, featuring side laces that even us undead can wear. Starting at 30 copper coins, place your bids!"


    "Common-grade longbow with explosive attributes! Its attack power even surpasses Hal''s sword. Any brothers interested in switching to ranger? Starting low at 20 copper coins!"


    "Twenty lesser golden artifacts, exchangeable for reputation with Old Yang. Brothers and sisters in need of reputation, this is your chance!"


    "Boss, can we auction off that longsword dropped by the mini-Boss first? I need to log out and have lunch; I haven''t eaten since noon!"


    "Alright, alright. Come, everyone, get ready to use Identify! Presenting today''s most impressive longsword drop¡­"


    "Brothers, please bid reasonably. We all don''t have much copper on hand, so let''s not outbid each other needlessly~"


    Wagner, for the umpteenth time, removed the cuckoo flower lapel badge and tucked it into his pocket. He couldn''t afford to dwell on the bizarre actions and words of these damned undead!


    Taking a deep breath, Wagner summoned the village chief and instructed the villagers and soldiers to clean up the battlefield together.


    He found it odd that the undead, so interested in personal belongings, had completely ignored the goods inside the over 20 large wagons. However, he wasn''t about to remind them.


    This clean-up lasted until dawn.


    The raucous undead had disappeared somewhere into the cornfields, and Wagner, not in the mood to chase after them, saw that the scattered spices were collected and the captives securely tied up. He called over Chief Sharpe, returned the stolen fabric to the villagers, and used the remaining copper and silver coins from the captives as compensation for their labor.


    "Thank you so much, Sir Knight," Chief Sharpe said, his hands trembling as he held the coins.


    "Don''t thank me just yet. I still need to continue employing your services." Wagner pointed to the 20 large wagons loaded to the brim. "These are the spoils of the lord, and I need your people to help transport these safely to town."


    "Of course, of course," Chief Sharpe agreed eagerly, hurrying to gather the able-bodied men of the village.


    The prospect of earning money for their work was irresistible to the villagers. Energized by a night''s labor, the young men of the village promptly gathered.


    Wagner surveyed the villagers clad in mostly tattered waist clothes. Imagining the sight of this bunch escorting the spoils and captives into town made Wagner sigh¡­ He then instructed his men to conduct a second stripping of the captives, removing their outer garments and trousers to clothe the villagers.


    The Sokrians, unfortunate enough to have their outer garments stripped, cursed the Rhine people for their shamelessness. Wagner, unmoved, simply ordered the captors with enough energy to protest to be gagged.


    With the undead having committed far worse acts, he felt no guilt in taking a few articles of clothing¡­


    Friday, November 8, 8 p.m. Earth time. 3 p.m. OtherWorld time.


    In Weisshem main street, a clerk hurried into a construction site, calling out loudly, "Is Sibyl here? Sibyl?"


    "Right here, right here." Sibyl, overseeing the site, quickly adjusted her sunhat covered in a dust cloth and emerged from behind a sand heap. "Is anything the matter?"


    "Mr. Rex requests your presence at the town hall. I''ll take over here at the site for you," the clerk informed her.


    "Alright, I''ll head over right away," Sibyl responded, removing her sunhat and patting off the dust before handing it over to her colleague. "Here, you can use this."


    Sibyl hurried to the town hall''s meeting room on the first floor. There, she found not only Ji Tang, the undead mayor whom they had learned to distinguish from other skeletons, but also Mr. Rex, Ms. Shirley, and Ben.


    As Sibyl attempted to curtsy, Rex gestured for her to sit. "Please, Ms. Sibyl, take a seat first and we''ll talk."


    Feeling somewhat embarrassed as all eyes turned to her, Sibyl bowed apologetically before sitting down cautiously.


    "Don''t be nervous, Ms. Sibyl," Ji Tang said with a smile. "Here''s the thing: Mr. Rex and I are hoping to establish a school for literacy in the town. We''ve heard about your past as a cultural studies teacher at a monastery, and your recent organizational skills have impressed us. We would like you to consider becoming the principal of this new school."


    Sibyl nearly slid off her chair from shock.


    Ben quickly stood up to assist her, but she waved him off, awkwardly getting back into her seat by herself. "No, no, that''s impossible, Mayor Ji Tang, Mr. Rex. How could I possibly be a principal?!"


    "Please, don''t dismiss the idea just yet, Ms. Sibyl," Rex said kindly. "Hear Mayor Ji Tang out first, and if you still feel it isn''t right, we''ll consider other alternatives."


    Sibyl, though hesitant, wasn''t one to act impulsively. She nodded nervously, indicating she was willing to listen.


    "This literacy school is for the future of our town," Ji Tan began, nodding to Rex. "You''ve probably noticed during the reconstruction of the main street that there''s been a significant influx of young people returning to our town in the past 10 days. Our temporary workforce, especially those between 16 and 25, has increased by 20% over the last week."


    "Um¡­ Yes." Sibyl gulped nervously. "At the construction site I oversee, we''ve had five young people return from Indahl: two girls and three boys."


    Ji Tan nodded in approval of Sibyl''s attentiveness. "The main street reconstruction will conclude in another half month to 20 days. After that, these young people, who have trusted and returned to our Weisshem Town, will face unemployment. To avoid this, we need to provide them with ample job opportunities and ensure their livelihoods aren''t affected."


    "Yes, Mr. Mayor." Sibyl nodded in understanding.


    She had actually been concerned about this issue herself. Having priorly been involved in a less honorable trade, she knew that her current respect among the townspeople wasn''t due to her personal charisma but because she could organize them for work, providing them with livelihoods.


    "The townsfolk need jobs, and the town needs to develop local industries," Ji Tang continued. "According to the plans Mr. Rex and I have made, considering Weisshem''s current conditions, we need to develop light industries related to agricultural product processing. This will require a large workforce trained in industry-specific skills. But before that, we must provide training for our townspeople, and crucially, our workforce cannot be illiterate."


    The decision to develop food processing and related light industries was the best solution offered by experts back home on Earth after considering Taranthan''s and Weisshem''s resources and conditions.


    The decision to forego heavy industry was straightforward¡ªTaranthan''s base fundamentals were too weak, and even with potential support from China, it wasn''t feasible. The total population barely exceeded 20,000, with virtually no qualified industrial workers. Aiming for heavy industry under these circumstances would be akin to inviting disaster unless the expert task force harbored ill intentions toward Lord Yang. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Sibyl, educated at a monastery, understood the concepts of industry and manufacturing. She knew that many factories required literate workers¡ªilliterate individuals could only work in workshops, and even if they managed to get into factories, they would hardly advance.


    Seeing Sibyl nod in understanding, Ji Tang continued, "There''s only one private classroom in the town charging exorbitant fees. Mr. Rex visited the teacher, who was only willing to teach a maximum of 30 students, each paying no less than 50 copper coins a week. Moreover, his teachings focus on poetry and hymns, which do not align with our practical needs.


    "We need to quickly teach workers to recognize at least 500 common characters and perform basic arithmetic. But our practical approach was deemed a desecration of knowledge by the teacher, leaving us no choice but to start our own school."


    After a slight pause, Ji Tang added solemnly, "Helping the townspeople, especially those in need of employment, to become literate and acquire job skills is a task of utmost importance and urgency for us. Ms. Sibyl, we believe you are more than capable of this responsibility. Would you be willing to take on this role for our town hall and the people in need of work?"


    Rex and Shirley also turned their expectant gazes toward Sibyl.


    Sibyl was overwhelmed with emotions, struggling to articulate her feelings¡­


    Every person sought to be needed and recognized. Despite a past marred with pain, where her dignity was trampled upon, Sibyl never gave up the struggle to live and to survive with dignity, no matter how hard it was.


    When Rex first asked if they were willing to change their lives, Sibyl had been among the first to step forward. Torn between the fear of failing Mr. Rex, Mayor Ji Tang, and everyone''s trust and the excitement of being trusted and needed, Sibyl made a determined decision, nodding firmly. "I-I am willing!"


    Immediately, Ji Tang led Sibyl to see the site for the literacy school, with Shirley, who volunteered to help, following along.


    Ben, who had been watching silently all this while, finally voiced his long-held question to Rex after the ladies and Ji Tang left, "I don''t understand, Mr. Rex. Why do you and Mayor Ji Tang insist that the school principal must be a woman?"


    "Because we need both male and female workers," Rex replied, not surprised by Ben''s curiosity. "To make women feel comfortable attending, it''s preferable to have a female principal."


    Ben was taken aback. In this world, while schools didn''t explicitly separate genders, lower-class women rarely had the opportunity to attend. Only girls from middle-class families could afford education.


    "Why insist on recruiting female workers? As far as I know, factories don''t need women except for textile and apparel industries," Ben inquired, puzzled.


    Rex''s reaction was a mix of embarrassment and a wry smile. "I used to think the same until Ji Tang and Ms. Zhao corrected me," he admitted. "That women can work in shops, restaurants, and markets. Older women can handle cleaning jobs, and men can manage mechanical tasks."


    "Is there something wrong with that?" Ben asked, confused.


    "Yes, very wrong." Rex turned to him, sighing. "If we think women don''t need to do valuable, well-paying jobs just because they are women, whom we perceive as inferior in every way, then we are willingly accepting and defending the logic that people of nobler blood have the right to rule over us because our blood is deemed inferior."


    Ben pondered this complex logic before understanding it. His usually fierce face took on a comically surprised expression.


    "The noblest blood in Weisshem is that fat man locked up in the militia. He''s a nephew of Count Odysse, with blood far nobler than ours." Rex shrugged. "Ben, would you accept being told you''re more worthless than that fat man?"


    Ben hesitated, then shook his head stiffly.


    In the past, perhaps. But now, working daily with Mia preparing meals for the captives at the militia headquarters, Ben had seen the fat man''s disgraceful behavior more times than he could count. He believed any decently raised person from the town would be better than that "fat pig."


    As someone from the lower class, Ben had little contact with nobility and easily accepted this logic. Rex, despite having noble blood, lacked the privilege of family resources as an illegitimate child.


    Rex had seen a glimpse of a new world opened by the cadres and had willingly delved into it.


    Ji Tang has said it¡ª"Weisshem is our turf, and we don''t need to abide by the rules outside."


    Rex concluded casually, "Outsiders might think only those with illustrious surnames are truly noble, but we know ancestral glory doesn''t prove the descendants'' worth. Jobs are scarce outside, and prioritizing men over women maximizes urban security. But we don''t have that concern here, nor do we need to send capable women back home."


    Ben nodded in agreement. Indeed, even drunkards causing trouble in the town were rare nowadays.

 Chapter 123: Discharged City Defense Force

    "Come out, Garcia Greene."


    Through the unlocked wooden door, Finley called out loudly.


    Greene, not daring to delay, clumsily ran out of his cell, dragging the chains locked around his ankles.


    He was one of the twenty-six inmates similarly summoned to the corridor. The dim light from the wall-mounted oil lamps cast shadows on their faces¡ªall were bald and beardless, dressed in identical round-necked tunics and knee-length trousers, their cheeks swollen, faces pale, dragging slightly long iron chains.


    Greene knew he looked just like the rest of them.


    After counting the inmates and confirming everyone was present, Finley handed them buckets and large pieces of ragged cloth, gesturing for them to get moving.


    The twenty-seven men, including Garcia Greene, hurried to the only water source at the end of the corridor, carrying the buckets and rags. The militia had installed a water pump, drawing groundwater to the faucets on each floor, making it convenient for the inmates to fetch water nearby.


    After lining up at the faucet to collect water, the inmates energetically began cleaning every area¡ªcorridors, toilets, empty or occupied cells, and more. All of them, once living luxuriously and unaccustomed to such menial work, had adapted. Repeated tasks led to proficiency, even for the unwilling.


    Amid the clanking of chains, the twenty-seven prisoners managed to scrub the entire basement level spotless in just over half an hour.


    Finley, who had been standing at the end of the corridor, conducted a random inspection of several cells and checked his pocket watch. Nodding in approval, he stated indifferently, "Completed 20 minutes ahead of schedule. You''ll get extra food today."


    Like the others, Greene, standing obediently against the wall, involuntarily swallowed at the mention of extra food.


    When Finley brought down two buckets of food, none of the prisoners squabbled or fought over it. They all patiently waited to receive their share, sat cross-legged in two rows against the wall, and devoured their meals. They even made sure to clean the wooden buckets and utensils afterward before returning them to Finley.


    Finley had no interest in praising their docility. He left with the empty buckets, showing no concern for the inmates.


    All twenty-seven prisoners on this floor were deemed "extremely heinous" and "serious offenders." Unlike other prisoners, they couldn''t step outside for fresh air during meal times, nor could they work for better treatment. Since the day they were thrown in here, these inmates hadn''t gotten to see the sky again.


    With minimal staff for supervision, there was neither the patience nor the energy for detailed management. Even the doors to their cells were left unlocked, with only the passage to the surface sealed off. They were like forgotten rats, left to survive or perish in this underground facility initially intended as a temporary holding area.


    This neglectful treatment was, in its own way, terrifying.


    On the first two days, they fought fiercely, still possessing the energy to gain dominance over the others.


    On the third day, when Finley brought down boiled potatoes and saw the chaotic state of the corridor and cells stained with blood, vomit, and excrement, he took the food back up, informing them that if they couldn''t maintain basic hygiene, everyone would go hungry.


    Faced with hunger, some reluctantly cleaned their cells, thinking they would be fed, only to be told that maintaining the communal areas was everyone''s responsibility. With no food provided unless every single cell and area was cleaned, they had no choice but to submit.


    Finley was exceptionally cold toward them, sparing no harsh words or even a glance. It was evident that he didn''t care about their well-being. Even if they all killed each other, Finley would likely see it as less trouble for him.


    Such indifference eliminated any leverage for bargaining with Finley¡ªthey had none to begin with.


    One day, Finley casually mentioned that he could offer them a bit more food if they cleaned faster and didn''t make him wait too long¡ªbeyond the daily ration of boiled potatoes, they could also receive leftovers from the communal kitchen, like a few meat-filled dumplings (frozen) and flavorful soup with vegetable leaves (instant noodle broth).


    This sparked unprecedented enthusiasm among the inmates of this floor¡­


    This method of passive-aggressive control, targeting their mental state rather than physical abuse, proved more efficient and less laborious than Hal''s direct violence.


    The subtle change in behavior wasn''t because Finley was a master of psychological manipulation; he simply didn''t have the time or energy to micromanage them¡ªwith over a thousand prisoners in the militia, just keeping track of names and faces was enough to drive him to the brink!


    Back on the ground floor, Finley handed the buckets and utensils back to Mia, who was in charge of the communal kitchen. He grumbled, "I always say there''s no need to feed those bastards so well. Those scum underground are getting fat."


    Mia, aware of the immense stress on Finley and his fellow brothers, replied with a smile, "Mr. Rex mentioned that some of the people brought in yesterday will work for the Lord like us, lightening our load soon."


    "That''s a long way off. Who knows when those Sokrians will be of any use!" Finley scoffed, running his hand through his hair. "They told us to ''just watch the prisoners for a few days,'' and now, more than three weeks have passed. It''s as if Yang has completely forgotten about us!"


    Suddenly, Mia pointed behind Finley, exclaiming, "Lord Yang is here!"


    Finley turned around in surprise.


    And indeed, there was Lord Yang standing at the door, gazing at him with an unsettling calm.


    Finley: "¡­"


    I can''t be that unlucky¡­ It''s just a casual complaint!


    Yang Qiu gestured for Finley to come over.


    Finley reluctantly approached, his face showing a mixture of reluctance and obedience.


    "How are the Sokrian prisoners behaving?" Yang Qiu inquired.


    Finley, relieved that the conversation was about the prisoners, reported, "A bunch of them was causing trouble, so Hal planted them in the ground."


    This so-called ''planting'' was a punishment devised by Hal, burying particularly stubborn troublemakers in a hole with only their heads exposed. Usually, most would submit in a few hours, and even the exceptionally stubborn ones couldn''t endure more than 12 hours.


    Yang Qiu walked around the militia building to the backyard and indeed saw two rows of pale, half-dead heads sticking out of the ground.


    Standing before this "field of Sokrians," Yang Qiu raised his voice slightly, "Who is Captain Kenn of the Sea Lions group?"


    A bruised and swollen head managed to tilt up slightly and look toward Yang Qiu.


    Yang Qiu nodded slightly at the unfortunate soul buried up to his chin.


    "Nice to meet you, Captain Kenn. I am Yang, a black mage."


    Upon hearing Yang Qiu introduce himself as a black mage, Kenn seemed to shiver, straining to open his bloodshot eyes wider.


    The middle-aged man standing before Kenn, with combed-back, shoulder-length hair, holding a staff in hand, looked more like a dignified nobleman than a black magician. His brown suit, striped shirt with a bow tie, and a white handkerchief in his vest pocket painted the picture of a respectable figure, not a practitioner of dark arts.


    Yet, to Captain Kenn, this seemingly respectable man appeared far from benign.


    After just two seconds of eye contact, Kenn, who had appeared ragged but emotionally stable, began to sweat profusely, his lips quickly lost color, and his facial muscles uncontrollably trembled as if he had seen some horrifying monster.


    Yang Qiu merely smiled.


    This Sokrian prisoner seemed to hold some value.


    "Welcome to Weisshem," Yang Qiu said with a smile. "I hope you find this land full of vitality to your liking."


    Kenn, terrified, kept his eyes locked with Yang Qiu''s as if afraid that blinking would lead to his being devoured by the monstrous entity before him.


    Meanwhile, back in the militia headquarters, Wagner gathered all his soldiers on the ground floor hall and made them form up.


    With the entire Sea Lions mercenary group captured by the undead, even though Wagner had merely been a bystander, Yang kept his promise¡ªforty-three of Wagner''s men would be granted their freedom.


    Wagner singled out six senior soldiers and instructed them to stand behind him. Then he addressed the remaining 43 men, "You''ve worked here in Weisshem for nearly half a month. According to the rules of Weisshem, you are entitled to the wages accumulated during your service. You guys come with me to settle the remuneration. You''ll also be able to take something back for your families."


    The soldiers, aware of Wagner''s deal with Yang, were visibly excited. Being natives of Indahl and away from home for so long, these young men were understandably concerned about their families.


    While the bunch was rejoicing, a discordant voice suddenly interrupted, "Wait! What about me?"


    This voice belonged to one of Wagner''s squires, James Horn.


    A distant relative of the City Defense Commander Horn, he had officially served as Wagner''s squire. In truth, everyone in the squad knew that he was placed there to gain experience, waiting to succeed Wagner''s knight title and duties.


    He often used this status to subtly coerce ordinary soldiers into doing his personal tasks, earning him the nickname "Eye Roller" among them for his haughty attitude and disdain for direct communication.


    Wagner calmly looked James in the eye and said, "You are my squire. Since I cannot leave, neither can you."


    "But you gave up the chance for these grunts!" James protested loudly, raising his voice.


    During their confinement, while others willingly worked hard for better treatment, James refused to demean himself. He frequently had conflicts with other prisoners and was sick of the bland boiled potatoes.


    Wagner shook his head in disappointment. "I wish Commander Horn valued you as much as he shows. Then I wouldn''t have to listen to this foolishness from you right now."


    James''s face twitched, and he tried to argue further, but Wagner, impatient for more discussion, had him escorted out by the others who were also staying behind.


    Turning back to the ordinary soldiers excited to return home and see their families, Wagner sighed softly.


    If he could, he didn''t wish to dampen the spirits of these fellows at such a time¡­


    "Everyone, listen to me," Wagner finally said with some difficulty. "Adra III''s steward, Mr. Gould, left Weisshem early this morning. During his stay, he never called to meet me¡­ I-I regret to inform us that we might have been abandoned."


    The previously jubilant young soldiers fell silent immediately.


    These Indahl natives, some from the city and others from the surrounding towns, ranged from their early twenties to no older than thirty. The city defense force was more of a straightforward military unit, less entangled in internal politics than other official departments. But to say that they were oblivious to the struggles of hierarchy would be untrue.


    Non-commissioned officers like Wagner, even if disliked by superiors, could still retire with a generous pension. But ordinary soldiers weren''t as fortunate. Every three years during the discharge season, some would be replaced by new recruits, losing their near-middle-class income and leaving with just a severance package.


    Once forced into retirement, a non-commissioned officer like Wagner, with some social standing and political savvy, could seek a position as a town sheriff. Options for ordinary soldiers were more limited¡ªeither becoming precarious mercenaries or returning to the humble trades of their ancestors.


    The soldiers struggled to accept this harsh reality; some looked lost and anxious, others lowered their heads in sorrow.


    Wagner sighed once more.


    His personal grievances with Commander Horn shouldn''t have led to the disbandment of the entire squad.


    However, their entire squad being captured in Weisshem had indeed infuriated Adra III. His lack of effort to even send Steward Gould to pacify them was a clear indication of his rage over this disgraceful incident.


    The City Defense Force had 24 cavalry squads, and Commander Horn, already at odds with Wagner, was unlikely to risk the emperor''s wrath to save Wagner''s unit.


    "Once you guys return¡­ report to the headquarters and see what they say," Wagner did his best to maintain his composure as he spoke. "If headquarters seeks accountability, remember to describe the situation as it happened. The fault for our capture lies with me due to my misjudgment leading to this disaster. Do not speak in my defense as it might make you complicit, and the military tribunal could withhold your severance pay."


    "Lieutenant Pitt¡ª" A soldier visibly upset wished to speak up, but Wagner raised a hand to stop him.


    "If we give the tribunal an excuse, they won''t just deduct the severance pay from one or two of you. It could affect everyone. Think of the others, not just yourselves."


    The soldier fell silent once more.


    "If¡­" Wagner sighed again, "If you have nowhere to go after all this¡­ Once you''ve settled your families with your severance pay, you can come back to me."


    The downcast soldiers looked up in surprise.


    Wagner managed a bitter smile. "As much as I don''t like saying this¡­ Weisshem is likely to offer many new positions, more suitable for young people like you than in Indahl."


    Weisshem was short-staffed; its town hall clerks consisted solely of rescued sex workers, with no formal employees yet. Ben, the fit and capable-looking former bouncer of a brothel, was still assisting Miss Mia.


    From Wagner''s observations, Yang''s support for Rex as the local lord wasn''t impulsive. Complex as his feelings might be, he had to admit that these young men he knew so well would have better prospects in Weisshem than if they were discharged to fend for themselves.


    After all, even as a prisoner, he couldn''t deny that both Lord Rex and the undead mayor¡ªdifficult to distinguish from ordinary skeletons¡ªwere doing an impressive job.


    Having briefed them on the situation, Wagner led the 43 men to collect their earnings for their "jailed" period¡­


    Upon entering the administrative office (formerly the militia commander''s office) and seeing Hal instead of Miss Mia, Wagner was taken aback. "Isn''t Miss Mia in charge of payments?"


    "Cut the crap. Are you here to collect your pay or not?" Hal was as irritable as ever.


    Wagner expressionlessly extended his hand.


    Hal, with veins bulging on his forehead, picked up a ledger and scribbled calculations on paper for the "early release" pay of these 43 men. Then, he took the keys from his waist and opened the large safe behind the desk.


    Seeing the safe filled with copper and silver coins made Wagner''s jaw drop in astonishment.


    "Don''t even think about it. No one who can steal from me has been born yet," Hal barked rudely. He skillfully counted the coins, dividing them into small pouches.


    "Forty-three men, 14 days of labor, daily wage of 30 copper¡­ 420 copper for 14 days work. Each person gets 4 silver and 20 copper."


    While dividing the money into small pouches, Hal used his palm to push the filled pouches to the front of the desk.


    "Take and count them. No takebacks once you step out of the door!"


    Wagner, knowing Hal''s temper, silently signaled the soldiers waiting in the corridor to come in and collect their pay.


    After the money was distributed, Hal, more anxious than those collecting money, chased them away. "Scram after you''ve collected your pay! Don''t loiter here!"


    Wagner, initially intending to thank Hal, held his tongue and let his men away.


    The six senior soldiers, two squires, and Wagner himself would continue to serve their "sentence," while the 43 freed soldiers were now free to move about. Noting there was still time before dinner preparations, Wagner decided to take these men, who hadn''t been outside during their "sentence," to buy some "local products"¡­


    The town''s main street''s supermarket was still being constructed, leaving only the undead delicatessen and the orc bean product store open for business.


    The soldiers, having eaten many standard meals prepared by the Undead Merchant Association canteen, were visiting the store for the first time. Despite initially dismissing the wages of 420 copper they had received, they were surprised by the purchasing power they held¡ª


    Half a kilogram of fine salt for just eight copper!


    Bright red chili oil sauce (Lao Gan Ma chili) with various spices for only 15 copper!


    A box of mixed spices for making flavorful soups, only 10 copper!


    And there were also peppercorns, black pepper powder, chili powder in transparent packing¡­ All were available for just a third to a fifth of what they would cost back home! S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The soldiers, initially planning to only buy fabric, couldn''t control themselves as they browsed the shelves of the undead delicatessen, mesmerized by the variety of products, each tantalizingly affordable compared to Indahl''s prices.


    After much deliberation, each soldier ended up purchasing over ten bags of salt and more than five boxes of the mixed spices, known as "Thirteen Spices."


    The diligent young clerk, Brooke, cheerfully packed their purchases in greaseproof paper. Learning that the soldiers were taking local specialties back home, he enthusiastically recommended the neighboring bean product store.


    The bean product store boasted two adjacent storefronts: the left side offered a free soybean oil press for locals, and the right side sold various tofu products made from residual soybean pulp.


    The soldiers, clutching their remaining coins, were greeted by a long line at the right storefront. Behind the counter, a human woman and a grown orc were working tirelessly, yet the queue seemed endless.


    "There are too many people here. Let''s go to the town hall for fabric first," Wagner suggested upon seeing the crowd. "We can keep a few copper coins to buy bean products later. Everything here is surprisingly cheap."


    Since the popularity of "Undead Cloth," Rex had stopped Hal and his team from setting up stalls and designated a room in the town hall as a fabric outlet. Whether for personal use or small business ventures, locals and nearby villagers could purchase fabric anytime.


    When Wagner brought his men there, the clerk handling the fabric offered a "product catalog" made of scrap fabric for them to choose from¡ªan ingenious idea from the resourceful Shirley, much more efficient than browsing through rolls of fabric.


    "If you''re making summer clothes, the first and second pages offer suitable materials. These eight types of fabric are soft and breathable," the young male clerk, strikingly handsome with a soft, charming voice, advised, with full professionalism. "For autumn and winter coats or long skirts, I recommend choosing from the third and fourth pages. Lining them with cotton will make the garments warm."


    After much discussion, the soldiers unanimously chose the thicker, more ornate fabrics, seeing them as a better value for money.


    Pleased with their fabric purchases and returning to the bustling bean product store, the soldiers regretted buying too much fabric. They should have saved a few more copper coins for these products¡ª


    The tofu they had in their standard work meals was just too cheap!


    This sort of fried tofu cost only two copper a bag!


    Dried tofu, delicious when cooked with any food or stir-fried with vegetables as the undead cooks did, was only two copper coins for a substantial piece!


    And there was their beloved snack "spicy strips" made from chili and spices. A large pack cost merely one copper!


    These young soldiers, with only a few copper coins left, agonized over their choices at the counter¡­


    Wagner could hardly bear to watch. He called out loudly, urging them to hurry up, "Stop dawdling! Decide quickly what you want to buy; others need to do business too!"


    In the end, the young men, prioritizing what they saw as "value for money," reluctantly forsook the dried tofu and spicy strips. Instead, they chose the fried tofu, which had a longer shelf life and could be shared with their families for a while.


    By the time they finished shopping, it was almost three in the afternoon. Wagner hurriedly led the soldiers, laden with large and small packages, to rent horse-drawn carriages.


    Fortunately for him, the town hall would cover the rental fee for transporting the soldiers back to Indahl. Otherwise, Wagner would have had a headache¡ªthese young men had spent every last copper coin they had just received!


    As the four carriages left Weisshem, the soldiers seated inside enthusiastically waved goodbye to Wagner.


    "Lieutenant, we''ll be back!"


    "Don''t go singing Weisshem''s praises back home before you get your severance pay!" Wagner yelled back, exasperated.

 Chapter 124: Three Thousand Players Enter

    Earth time, November 11, Monday. An ordinary workday for most.


    Qin Guan found himself immersed in the weekend dungeon event over the weekend and hadn''t edited a single bit of the several gigabytes of video material he had recorded. Early in the morning, he sat down at his computer, hastily working on voiceovers, editing, and adding humorous effects to his footage.


    After finally uploading the delayed weekend video by noon, Qin Guan, realizing he hadn''t eaten anything all morning, frantically searched for his phone to order takeout.


    While waiting for the life-saving delivery, he casually browsed the OtherWorld forum on his phone, and his jaw dropped¡­


    "Got my helmet! Ahahahahaha! OtherWorld, here I come!"


    "Fresh out of the box! Live unboxing of the helmet for everyone!"


    "Helmet in hand, leave taken. Vanilla waifu, I''m coming for you~"


    "Stoked! Just got my helmet delivered by SF Express. Check it out, everyone!"


    "About to enter the game, any wishes to say anything?"


    "Tears from selling my helmet for 88 yuan. Now I bought it back for 188. Absolutely no selling this time!"


    "What the¡­" Qin Guan was baffled and quickly called a friend who had also applied for an account. "Brother Wang, did they start distributing helmets today? Did you get yours?"


    "Got it!" a jubilant, deep voice responded from the other end. "All three applications from my family got approved! The SF Express delivery just arrived. We paid on delivery, and my wife, sister-in-law, and I all got our helmets! Thanks for notifying me so promptly, Xiao Qin!"


    "All three of your applications got through? It''s so easy this time?" Qin Guan was surprised.


    "I''m not sure. We applied on the website and didn''t hear back for ages. I thought there was no hope, but the courier showed up this morning," the man replied happily. "I''m still at work. My wife and sister-in-law have already logged in to the game. If you run into them, please look after them, Xiao Qin. Their IDs are the same as when we used to play Warcraft together."


    "No problem," Qin Guan assured him.


    The man he was talking to, Wang Jianguo, was a post-''80s gamer, over a decade older than Qin Guan and a veteran Warcraft player. Qin Guan had met him online before becoming a popular content creator. Wang Jianguo was a notable figure in the online gaming community a decade ago and a pioneer among gaming enthusiasts.


    After discussing when to log in and agreeing to continue developing their blood alliance (guild) together, Qin Guan hurriedly called other online friends to check if their applications had also been successful¡­


    He soon realized that the official distribution of gaming accounts was utterly random. While Wang Jianguo, his wife, and sister-in-law all got their applications approved, less than a third of Qin Guan''s other close online friends, fans, and college classmates had received accounts. When he called to ask, most were cursing the devs for alleged favoritism, frustrated that they, among the earliest applicants, had received nothing.


    While Qin Guan sympathized with his friends'' disappointment, their complaints seemed somewhat bothersome to him. After offering brief consolations, he ended the calls.


    Just then, the delivery guy arrived with his life-saving bowl of cold noodles. Qin Guan wolfed it down and, wiping his mouth, immediately donned the gaming helmet and lay down on his bed.


    He logged in and was greeted by clear skies and the pleasant autumn breeze of Exile Town.


    As Qin Guan materialized at his login point¡­


    "Woohoo! What familiar scenery!"


    The entire Crossroads beside the spawn point and the streets visible in the distance were packed with unclothed skeletons!


    These new players, regulars on the forums, had seen plenty of videos and pictures posted by veteran players. Yet, once they actually logged in to this fascinating full-immersive holographic game, they acted no less mature than the first batch of players upon entering the game.


    They ran around haphazardly, jumping and shouting, crashing headfirst into walls and disassembling, and shrieking when encountering zombie NPCs at street corners.


    Qin Guan surveyed the chaotic scene of newcomers, casting a disdainful glance at those who screamed and fled from the zombies, wondering how they would fare in more perilous locations like the Spider Cave and Poisonous Marshlands or face the player-favored "gift monsters" like the demonic clams.


    "Vanilla! Vanilla!" A few players waiting near the spawn point seemed to be fumbling with their beginner Identify skill. Spotting Qin Guan''s equipped character, they excitedly waved him over, recognizing his ID. "Over here! It''s us!"


    Qin Guan expertly cast Identify and saw the IDs of these new players, immediately walking over with a cheerful greeting, "Er Gou, Old Nine!"


    Well-known in the online gaming world, Qin Guan always played as a "female" character, using the ID "Vanilla Pudding" across different games. His friends, whom he met in other games, had the same habit. Their IDs in "Otherworld" were "Lin Er Gou" and "Nine-Tailed Fox."


    "This game is really incomparable!" Lin Er Gou exclaimed with a thumbs-up. "Old Nine and I have been on for a while. We went exploring, watched Ou Huang in Life Alley, and even saw the rat at the southern exit. It''s like being in a movie set!"


    "Why haven''t you guys done the beginner quests to get some clothes?" Qin Guan asked.


    "Do you think we want to be naked? It''s impossible to get a turn," replied Nine-Tailed Fox, pointing toward the zombie NPC that assigned beginner quests on First Street. "That quest has a limit of 30 persons and takes 10 minutes each time. Hundreds are queuing up; we can''t get in."


    Qin Guan slapped his forehead, realizing the situation. With three thousand new accounts activated and most players logging in during their lunch break, the beginner quests were inevitably overcrowded.


    "Do them later then, when the working and schooling crowd logs out. The queues won''t be as bad then," Qin Guan suggested. "Right now, there are plenty of newbies running around without clothes, so it doesn''t matter much. Have you guys decided on your classes?"


    "Definitely warrior, heh," Lin Er Gou declared enthusiastically. "Isn''t it said that warriors are in high demand? Your blood alliance needs warriors, right? Train me up quickly."


    "A warrior with your skills? Haven''t you seen the video released by Unceasing Entropy? Warriors require skillful gameplay; don''t embarrass yourself," Nine-Tailed Fox mocked Lin Er Gou for his notorious lack of gaming prowess.


    "What do you mean? This game is different from traditional ones. Just because I''m not great with a PC doesn''t mean it will be the same here," retorted Lin Er Gou, refusing to accept the criticism.


    Qin Guan, knowing too well the struggles of being a warrior player that wasn''t too skillful, interjected thoughtfully, "Er Gou, you might be better off playing a mage. Mages are even rarer and more in demand than warriors." Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "A mage? Really? He''ll be stuck at the job advancement step alone," Nine-Tailed Fox dismissed the suggestion.


    "F*ck you, Old Nine! Are you looking down on me? If I don''t get stuck at the job advancement step, what would you say then?" Lin Er Gou, initially hesitant about playing a mage, was triggered and became determined to prove his doubter wrong.


    "My sis and I will be playing as wanderers. If you can become a mage within a month after I advance to wanderer, I''ll call you ''Big Bro,''" Nine-Tailed Fox taunted, confident in his friend''s likely failure.


    "You''ve got yourself a deal! I''ll take that title!" Lin Er Gou slapped his chest confidently.


    "Haa? And if you fail, you''ll be my son!" Nine-Tailed Fox added with a smirk.


    "Dream on!"


    "Then you still think you can be my brother-in-law? Look in the mirror and stop dreaming!"


    "Enough of this," Qin Guan intervened. "Come on, I''ll show you guys around the Town Hall and Wanderer Guild."


    The three arrived at the unassuming town hall on First Street, where Qin Guan pointed at "Old Yang (illusion)," the player''s faction leader NPC, sitting behind a desk.


    "That''s Old Yang. Er Gou, once you''ve leveled up from hauling bricks, come here for quests to earn reputation. The advantage of the mage instructor is that he doesn''t casually kill players, but still, take care not to offend Old Yang.


    "I heard that Phantom, from Brother Lahong''s side, says that if you enter the Town Hall and mess up the place, Old Yang will deduct your territory prestige, which is required for exchanging better gear at the Undead Merchant Association. Without territory prestige, you''ll only have white gear."


    Lin Er Gou nodded in understanding. "Got it. I''m not one to seek trouble. I won''t provoke Old Yang."


    Next, they visited the Wanderer Guild on Second Street. Leading them into the large hall that the first batch of players had painstakingly built from the ground up, Qin Guan pointed at the NPCs seated inside. "These few are new instructor NPCs. Remember the Weisshem defense quest last week? They were part of the opposing merchant caravan that was captured. Old Yang reformed them to serve as job instructor NPCs."


    Kenn, who had been clearly uncomfortable for the past few days ever since two rows of strange green characters started floating above his head, glared at the trio of undead that were pointing and even talking about them right in their faces.


    "Eh?" Nine-Tailed Fox asked in surprise. "Is that instructor NPC Kenn staring at us? Can the NPCs in this game actually understand what players are saying?"


    "Did you think I was joking with you guys?" Qin Guan said proudly. "Not only can they understand us, but these NPCs'' actions are also influenced by their character designs. Being captives in their backstories, these wanderer instructors in Exile Town have a much more agreeable temperament than those in Weisshem. They certainly won''t chase after players with a sword at the drop of a hat like Hal and his crew."


    "Awesome!" Nine-Tailed Fox and Lin Er Gou simultaneously raised their thumbs in admiration.

 Chapter 125

    Back when Exile Town had only three hundred players, the few NPCs led by Hal were already overwhelmed.


    Yang Qiu, foreseeing the potential chaos of a lack of "advanced NPCs" given the influx of three thousand new players, had taken proactive measures and arranged for the more capable members of the Sea Lions mercenary group to be stationed in Exile Town.


    The Wanderer and Warrior Guilds were both given an injection of over a dozen new "instructor" NPCs. Some were assigned to issue quests, while others were tasked with overseeing the construction sites.


    Various workshops in the Life Alley, the daily quest points managed by zombies, and the Undead Merchant Association canteen also welcomed new "advanced NPCs" that possessed combat abilities. Their primary role was to curb the mischief of new players, such as attempts to attack civilian NPCs, steal items or quest tools from workshops, or try to rob the canteen.


    Yang Qiu understood all too well the dichotomy of order and chaos inherent in Chinese players. Despite numerous cautionary posts on the forums by the initial three hundred players, the new influx of three thousand was bound to create trouble.


    This preparation was not in vain. From 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., Earth time, the nine hundred or so new players in the imprint matrix behaved reasonably well, avoiding the chaotic situation that nearly drove the usually amiable Rex insane during the public beta.


    However, after noon, when the in-game time turned to late night and NPCs other than zombies "clocked out" for sleep and ceased issuing quests, Exile Town began to buzz with activity.


    Frustrated, a group of newly logged-in players headed straight for the Wanderer Guild, only to find its doors firmly shut. With no active NPCs on the construction sites or in the plaza, they were unable to receive any quests, leading to an immediate outburst of complaints.


    Nearby, a veteran player working on the construction site couldn''t help but chuckle at the sight of these bewildered newcomers.


    "Didn''t you guys read Ou Huang''s guide? If you don''t get your tasks before the NPCs go to sleep, you won''t be able to get any quests for the next few hours of darkness in the game."


    Stamping their feet in frustration, the newcomers grumbled and whined.


    "Damn! I forgot that these NPCs clock out punctually. Didn''t they even think about extending their shifts with so many people logging in today?"


    "Human NPCs are like that. Once it gets dark in the game, you won''t see them around," explained the veteran player. "You might as well go to the zombie NPCs for tasks. They have professional ethics and don''t sleep."


    The new players exchanged glances, and one of them slyly suggested, "Brothers, shall we go?"


    "Let''s go, let''s go!" The others joined in with mischievous grins.


    And so, they merrily dashed toward the Wanderer Guild hall¡­


    The veteran was dumbfounded. "Hey, wait! Don''t mess around, you''ll cause trouble!"


    "What''s there to fear? At most we get killed and kicked offline!" a new player shouted back brashly.


    The veteran fell silent, watching with folded arms as the audacious group, despite having read plenty of tips from experienced players, daringly scaled the wall and jumped into the NPCs'' dwelling, ransacking the tools meant for quests.


    "A steel knife is nothing. We need pickaxes for fighting monsters!" exclaimed a player, holding up a sturdy pickaxe still dotted with soil. "Come on, everyone grab one. Let''s go take down that rat by the south exit!"


    "Isn''t that a bit too bold? That rat might be too much for us. Even Vanilla Pudding''s elite team couldn''t beat it. Maybe we should head to the Spider Cave instead."


    "Can we even make it there without proper gear?"


    "What do we need gear for? We have so many people; we can just overwhelm the monsters!"


    Excitedly, they emptied the storage of quest tools and confidently opened the door to leave¡­


    Behind them, the oil lamps flickered to life.


    A trio of advanced NPCs, with titles "Assassin Instructor," "Ranger Instructor," and "Treasure Master Instructor," watched with livid faces as these brazen thieves treated burglary as casually as visiting a relative''s house.


    In a chorus of shocked exclamations, two newbie players lagging behind were sliced into white light by the NPCs.


    Startled, the others fled with their freshly stolen pickaxes.


    If the undead thieves abandoned the pickaxes, the former mercenaries, new to this, would hesitate to pursue them. After all, Yang had instructed them not to kill the undead unless absolutely necessary. But when the culprits fled with the pickaxes, the former mercenaries showed no mercy and chased after them, roaring in fury.


    The veteran player, with arms crossed, watched the chaotic spectacle of the hapless new players being hunted down and slain by the advanced NPCs.


    Turning calmly to the new players doing manual labor quests alongside him, he rambled, "See what happens when you don''t heed wisdom? That''s what you get for ignoring advice. It''s nighttime in the game, and they think it''s wise to provoke the advanced NPCs? Even the gentlest among them, like Rex, would turn murderous if his sleep is disturbed, let alone the others."


    "Are the NPCs in the beginner town always this advanced? They even get grumpy when woken up from their sleep!" the earnest new players working on their quests asked in surprise.


    Theft and looting incidents occurred to varying degrees at the Wanderer Guild on Second Street and the Warrior Guild on Fourth Street.


    Things at Life Alley, situated at First Street, were even more chaotic.


    In the tailor shop overseen by Anthony, which had more staff, nightfall meant sending the twelve female workers off to sleep.


    Knowing full well the chaotic nature of the undead, Anthony briskly went to a large cabinet in the shop, pulling out several hefty hammers and distributing them to the three former mercenaries assigned to security duty in his shop.


    Stripped of their possessions when captured by the undead, the ex-mercenaries were left with nothing but a change of clothes when delivered to Anthony. Receiving the weighty hammers, they looked puzzled.


    "You''ve seen them during the day, the many new undead wandering about without clothes," Anthony said sternly to the mercenaries. "Based on my experience, these newcomers won''t adhere to rules, especially on their first day¡ªthey''re capable of anything!


    "Listen well. Any undead attempting to enter our territory is to be killed. Do you understand? Kill them all! Aim for their heads and chests; hitting elsewhere is pointless!


    "If we don''t teach these intruders a harsh lesson, they''ll keep harassing us to no end! If you want to sleep peacefully in the future, you need to be alert and ready to defend!"


    The three ex-mercenaries: "¡­¡­(¡ã ¡÷¡ã(¡ã ¡÷¡ã (¡ã ¡÷¡ã )"


    "Do you understand me?" Anthony barked authoritatively.


    "Yes, sir!" they responded in unison, snapping to attention.


    Suddenly, excited shouts erupted from outside¡ª


    "There are people in the tailor''s shop! Quick, come here! The NPCs inside haven''t gone to sleep yet!"


    The door creaked open, and several undead brazenly strode into the shop as if entering their own home, nonchalantly waving at the four advanced NPCs. "Hey, boss, get us some waist pouches¡ª"


    But their casual demeanor was met with Anthony''s furious roar. "Die, you intruders!" With that, he lunged forward, wielding his hefty hammer with lethal intent.


    The newbies recoiled in shock. "What the hell! Has this NPC gone mad?" one exclaimed.


    "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are NPCs this hardcore? Do we have to fight them just to buy a backpack?"


    Another queried incredulously, "Hey, isn''t this a lifestyle class instructor? Why is he even more aggressive than the combat class instructors?"


    With Anthony in hot pursuit, the commotion drew the attention of players idly wandering the streets outside. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Wow, awesome! We can already fight NPCs so early into the game?" exclaimed a player witnessing the spectacle.


    "Fight? More like a one-sided beatdown, thank you very much!" retorted a player who was desperately trying to escape.


    Qin Guan happened to be nearby with some newly logged-in friends, doing the quest for beginner gear. Hearing the commotion, he came to take a look and face-palmed.


    "Can''t you guys take the advice posts seriously? How many times have people warned about invading NPC homes at night?"


    Before Qin Guan could finish, he noticed several more newbies sneakily trying to enter the shop while the owner, Anthony, was preoccupied¡­


    Exasperated, he pointed at the three NPCs inside the shop and shouted, "Can you please respect the NPCs? They''re right there watching you!"


    The three ex-mercenaries, suddenly realizing their oversight, quickly gripped their hammers and charged out.


    The thwarted newcomers, now being chased and cursed at, still managed to shout indignantly at Qin Guan, "Whose side are you on? Sucking up to NPCs in a game?"


    Qin Guan was speechless. He now understood why these NPCs with highly advanced AI were always so irritable.


    Meanwhile, Yang Qiu, having happily indulged in the 11.11 shopping festivities, returned to OtherWorld after lunch. He wasn''t surprised to find that in just half a day, out of the nearly nine hundred players that had logged in, over a hundred had already been killed and kicked offline for attempting foolish acts.


    Observing via the imprint matrix, Yang Qiu saw several players being chased around by the ex-mercenaries. Shaking his head, he muttered, "Can''t even enjoy a peaceful shopping spree without these fools causing trouble."


    He knew that it wouldn''t be wise to let these three thousand newbies roam free too soon; who knew what chaos they might cause¡­


    The vast Taranthan wilderness was the perfect place for them to go crazy.


    Yang Qiu activated a spatial boundary to conceal himself, strolled casually past a bunch of NPCs chasing after new players, and exited Exile Town.


    Mounting his undead horse, he rode out into the wilderness, soon arriving at an open-pit coal mine located about ten kilometers from the town.


    Using his mental insight, Yang Qiu could detect coal seams a hundred meters beneath the surface. This mine could have developed into a small town of several tens of thousands of people if it were back on Earth.


    In this world, if this mine wasn''t in the monster-infested Taranthan wilderness or a small nation like the neighboring Rhine Kingdom or the Duchy of Shiga but a large nation like the Kenyan or Sokri Empires, it would definitely be developed.


    Unfortunately, none of these conditions existed. This coal mine, with its vast reserves easily detectable by any caster, was briefly utilized only by the initial builders of Exile Town.


    Yang Qiu understood all too well that involving players in coal mining was impractical. No gamer would willingly reduce themselves to menial labor in a virtual world. Even for simpler tasks like bricklaying and construction, players only engaged in such activities when it was linked to their job advancement and grinding reputation. Once the job advancement was secured, they bid farewell to manual labor with great relief.


    Unable to use players for mining, Yang Qiu saw an opportunity to involve them in clearing the area instead. Around the coal mine, within a ten-mile radius, roamed various monsters and beasts. Hiring mercenaries to clear these threats would be a costly affair.


    "Let''s set up a mining zone monster spawn point here," Yang Qiu decided.

 Chapter 126: Undead Bearing Heavy Responsibility

    Spider Cave, beneath Exile Town, was Yang Qiu''s first foray into crafting a beginner''s monster-hunting spot for players.


    When designing this map, Yang Qiu had indeed invested a great deal of thought and effort. His first step was to locate a massive cave. Then, he painstakingly gathered spiders from various nests and lairs within dozens of miles, forcibly integrating these different species of low-level magical creatures into a single cave.


    This unconventional method led to an unusual situation where a variety of magical beasts cohabitated within one lair¡ªan occurrence that would never happen in the natural ecology of these monsters. However, players were generally unconcerned with the ecological accuracy as long as there were creatures to battle and loot to collect.


    The issue, though, lay in the rate at which these monsters "respawned" to meet the players'' demand for constant action. The high density of monsters turned the cave into a perilous place, where even the most seasoned players, fully armed and ready, risked causing a monster riot, leading to casualties or even total party annihilation if they weren''t careful.


    With the release of Desolate Outpost and the introduction of the Poisonous Marshlands¡ªa new farming spot where players could lure and fight monsters individually¡ªthe allure of the Spider Cave significantly diminished.


    Players preferred the Poisonous Marshlands for its manageable challenges, highlighting the shortcomings in the design of the Spider Cave as a beginner''s hunting ground.


    Despite this, the Spider Cave remained relevant due to the demand for Spider Venom Sacs, a common ingredient in spellcasting and alchemy. Players still needed these materials for job advancements, reputation gains, and exchanging specific equipment materials at the Undead Merchant Association. Therefore, he couldn''t change the cave but instead develop a new, more accessible beginner''s monster-hunting ground that was easier to survive.


    He found the ideal location in a hilly area with an open-pit coal mine. To the west and north of the mine lay vast stretches of barren, mossy rock terrain, only sporadically covered in grass and weeds. Dense forests bordered the east, while a natural river flowed to the south, flanked by extensive mudflats.


    Climbing atop a hundred-meter-high hill, Yang Qiu surveyed the surroundings.


    In the dense forest to the east, roars of monsters echoed continuously, while the vague silhouette of an enormous harpy glided between the treetops. Closer to the southern mudflats, murky-colored slimes sprawled lazily, and half-submerged putrid-hide gators lurked in the mire.


    The expansive northwestern rocky terrain seemed tranquil until a lizard crossed an innocuous-looking thorn bush, only to be snatched by a sandworm as thick as a thermos flask, which disappeared swiftly back into the ground after swallowing its prey whole.


    "Slimes and sandworms can be Level 0, while the putrid-hide gators are considered Level 1. The monster density here is lower than Spider Cave. If the mudflats and rocky fields are encompassed, it should suffice for the newbie players," Yang Qiu mused, stroking his chin.


    "The only issue is its proximity to the dense forest. Higher-level creatures roaming out could decimate players here¡­ Well, let''s consider it an unexpected thrill in the monster-hunting experience. Positioning a zombie NPC near the forest to warn players about the dangers inside should fulfill my responsibility.


    "The slimes'' coat can be used as armor lining¡­ Wait, no. Isn''t it alchemical golems that require extracts from slime monster coats? Mm, that makes it valuable. The price at which to collect from players should be set at one copper for five coats.


    "Sokrians have a custom of feeding sandworm meat to livestock, so that should save on feed costs. Sandworms are tough to kill, so the recovery price can be set at one copper per corpse.


    "Giving reputation to newbies for farming monsters would be unfair to veteran players and devalue the reputation system. These kills shall not grant reputation points.


    "Those veteran players earned their access to the Spider Cave after hard work, so I can''t just freely open this mining area for monster hunting. A significant quest for them to complete has to be devised!"


    Having outlined his plan, Yang Qiu set to work.


    Firstly, he visited a "corpse source"¡ªwhich was the remnants of an ancient battlefield in the Taranthan Wastelands.


    The Taranthan Wastelands, which had seen centuries of battles, had ancient remnants like this all over. Yang Qiu had gotten the corpses required for the three thousand new player accounts by running all over to such places¡­


    Just over 80 kilometers east of Exile Town lay a naturally formed canyon. This had been a historic battlefield that once entombed countless warriors. Over the years, dense vegetation had covered the place.


    Yang Qiu had cleared some of the overgrowth when he visited previously to collect "materials." This time, when he returned, he saw that several skeletons, which were once ensnared by the vegetation, had now come to "life" and were wandering aimlessly around the entrance he had cleared.


    This place also seems suitable to be used as a plotline location, mused Yang Qiu, considering the future possibilities. He walked past the ambling undead and headed into the depths of the canyon.


    "Zombies" were rare; most corpses had turned into skeletons as the environments here weren''t like the marshlands that could preserve bodies.


    Using skeletons as NPCs wasn''t feasible as players would inevitably strike out at them by accident or out of frustration, and unlike players, skeleton NPCs couldn''t resurrect indefinitely.


    After a thorough search in the canyon, Yang Qiu finally found a few mummified bodies in a collapsed cave that seemed to have been used as a temporary storage site.


    "One, two, three¡­ Just five?" lamented Yang Qiu. "Sigh¡­ Zombie NPCs are really scarce."


    Shaking his head, Yang Qiu wrapped the mummified zombies in canvas from his spatial ring, then summoned an undead lizard to haul them back to the mining zone.


    Next, he set out to assign suitable "story NPC" roles to these mummified zombies and set up a basic structure for the mining zone outpost in anticipation of the players'' arrival¡­


    While Yang Qiu was racking his head planning for new content, 300 kilometers away, in Weisshem, the Lord-Mayor duo of Rex and Ji Tang faced a serious challenge.


    "The ninth month is just a week away, and that''s when village folk begin to sell their grain and pay taxes," explained Sibyl, a resident of Weisshem for over six years, during the meeting.


    "In previous years, Baron Markus''s steward would arrive with a caravan to buy the wheat, corn, and soybeans the villagers brought to town, and taxes were paid on the spot," she continued.


    "The Markus family steward always pushed the prices low, forcing villagers to sell at least half of their produce to barely cover their taxes," Shirley added. "But I''ve heard before that¡­ they needed to prepare at least 5000 gold coins. Mr. Rex has abolished local tax, so we just have to pay taxes to the throne and the faith. To cover taxes for the entire territory, at least 3000 gold coins are needed."


    "3000 gold¡­" Rex frowned.


    Three thousand gold was equivalent to thirty thousand silver coins or three million copper coins.


    In the Weisshem territory, distributing three million copper coins among its population of over twenty thousand didn''t seem like a hefty sum. It averaged out to a little over a hundred copper coins per person. However, the business of taxation, regardless of the world, was never as simple as equal distribution; it had to follow a more complex system.


    In the town, taxes were levied based on the income of the highest-earning male head of each household. The average annual income for adult males in Weisshem hovered around 100 silver coins, which meant that an average family was expected to pay about 30 silver coins in taxes annually. Since most town residents belonged to extended families, this tax amount was substantial but not crippling.


    Farmers, on the other hand, paid taxes based on the yield of their fields rather than family income.


    By the laws of the Rhine Kingdom, the tax burden on farmers wasn''t excessively harsh. A tenth of their produce went to the Church of Lady Gold Coin, another tenth to the king, and a third tenth to the local lord ruling their area¡ªsumming up to a total of 30% of their produce.


    However, anyone versed in history knew that rules set by the higher-ups were meant to control those below them, and those with the power to influence these rules often enjoyed bending or outright breaking them.


    The seemingly moderate thirty percent produce tax for farmers could become burdensome with added stipulations like the requirement to pay in cash rather than in kind and local rules forcing farmers to sell their produce only to their local lord. Whether a farmer could secure enough food for survival after a year''s hard labor depended largely on the benevolence, or lack thereof, of their local lord.


    Rex''s father being a viscount with his own lands meant that Rex was acutely aware of the immense power nobles held over the local populace.


    When Rex was appointed as the new lord by Yang, his first act was to abolish the town''s family-based taxation system. He shifted to individual income tax, exempting anyone earning less than 18 silver coins a month. For farmers, he went a step further, eliminating the local lord''s share of the tax. He knew too well the significant impact this relief would have on the local farmers.


    While local lord taxes could be waived, taxes to the king and the faith still had to be paid. Despite his reluctance to suppress the price of grain, as the current lord, Rex needed to prepare a substantial amount of currency. The biggest issue they faced was a shortage of funds.


    "With the town hall''s current cash reserves, plus the recent spoils from the undead raid on the Sokrian merchant convoy, we barely scrape together a thousand gold," Rex sighed. "We need to find a way to cover the two thousand gold shortfall before the autumn tax deadline, or the Bartalis family will have an excuse to interfere in Weisshem."


    Furrowing his brows, Ji Tang asked, "Aren''t there numerous estates and farms? Do they not pay taxes?"


    "Indeed, they don''t," Rex replied with evident frustration. "These estates have purchased their land outright, and the ownership is registered under various members of the major families. Only the governing officials in the families'' principal domains have the authority to inquire about their tax contributions."


    Ji Tang''s face twitched. The fact that major families could legally avoid taxes through land ownership transactions and off-site property investments was not something he would comment on.


    "To raise funds quickly, we need to do business with Indahl," Zhao Zhenzhen, who had been invited to listen in, pointed out the obvious. "Rex, does the Bartalis family''s stance hinder trade between Weisshem and Indahl?"


    "Yes," Rex replied, his face reflecting his irritation. "Steward Gould, who visited recently, demanded as a reconciliatory gesture the unconditional release of all city defense force soldiers, return of confiscated equipment and horses, and preparation of three thousand pieces of undead cloth and 20 undead servants as an apology to the Bartalis family."


    The entire meeting room fell silent. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The clerks thought these demands were outrageously unreasonable, while Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen wondered what havoc 20 players could wreak on the Bartalis family¡­


    "What about bypassing the Bartalis and trading directly with the civilians of Indahl?" suggested Zhao Zhenzhen.


    "That might not be possible, Ms. Zhao," Rex replied with a troubled expression. "Without the Bartalis'' intervention, the city defense force and municipal police would still prevent it. All our goods would be forcibly confiscated."


    Zhao Zhenzhen pondered for a moment before suggesting, "What if we offer a service instead of goods?" Before Rex could dismiss the idea, she quickly added, "We don''t need to worry about being detained. As undead, we fear not imprisonment and can escape anytime."


    Players weren''t afraid of restrictions on their freedom and could simply respawn back in the city by killing themselves. Their equipment would remain intact as long as they weren''t completely disassembled.


    Rex was astounded by her suggestion. He had invited Zhao Zhenzhen, hoping the clever undead lady would come up with a solution, but her proposal was beyond his immediate comprehension. "Even so¡­ what kind of services could our undead friends possibly provide?"


    Zhao Zhenzhen smiled slightly. "If you can secure a batch of ''special materials'' from Lord Yang for us, we can organize the undead to earn sufficient currency for Weisshem in Indahl."


    Yang Qiu, who was busy designing new monster spawn points, received Rex''s request through the imprint matrix. Glancing at the list of "special materials," he immediately guessed who was behind this cunning plan.


    "Sigh, always testing my limits," Yang Qiu muttered to himself.


    Since her arrival, Zhao Zhenzhen, the "tool player," had been remarkably well-behaved, even more so than Ji Tang, as if she was biding her time for a big move¡­


    Yang Qiu, cautious with the thousand new husky-like players, knew that the veteran players were less of a concern. They had proven themselves in two defense battles, both against the city defense force and the Sokrian merchant convoy. The players had neither damaged crops nor harassed civilians along their route, showing more civility than most of this world''s armies.


    As long as they didn''t appear as "special NPCs" with hidden quests or valuable loot, these veteran players posed no greater threat to civilians than a drunkard on the street.


    Weighing the pros and cons, Yang Qiu opened a spatial rift to Earth to procure the required items¡­


    Soon, a batch of "special materials" was delivered to Rex, who then passed them on to Zhao Zhenzhen.


    With the materials in hand, Zhao Zhenzhen cast a long, meaningful glance in the direction of Taranthan. Utilizing her privileges as an "Undead Merchant Association tool player," she issued a quest to all online players who had reputation with the Undead Merchant Association.


    For the players, accepting a quest from a "tool player" wasn''t something new; they had previously taken on quests from Ji Tang to stage a performance. While some grumbled about the oddity of the quest, they flocked to Weisshem to find Zhao Zhenzhen.

 Chapter 127: Tool Player Quest

    November 12, Earth time. The day after the second beta began.


    "Weisshem Debt Crisis?"


    Blossoming Strokes, fundamentally a casual player, would grind reputation with the Undead Merchant Association whenever she had nothing to do. Upon receiving the targeted quest prompt, she couldn''t help but express her bafflement.


    "How could Weisshem possibly be short on money? Didn''t we help Old Yang seize a bunch of gold jewelry during our takeover of Weisshem?"


    "Yeah," Qin Guan agreed, equally puzzled. "We confiscated quite a lot of gold coins and artifacts during the territory defense quest against the merchant caravan just a few days ago. Didn''t it all go to Old Yang?"


    Blossoming Strokes had a sudden realization and exclaimed, "Could it be that Old Yang disregarded ethics and pocketed all that gold, leaving Weisshem penniless?"


    "I wouldn''t put it past that guy who''s bound to end up in an instance," Qin Guan said confidently.


    "This is just bizarre. Old Yang is supposed to be a high-level black mage. How could such a powerful character stoop to stealing money from his subordinates?" Blossoming Strokes found it hard to comprehend.


    "Blossom, do you think we should bother with this quest?" Qin Guan asked. "If it''s worthwhile, we can call the rest of the team."


    "This quest is limited to those with at least ''Friendly'' reputation with the Undead Merchant Association," Blossoming Strokes said, frowning. "This requirement¡­ It''s a bit peculiar."


    Qin Guan responded with a shrug.


    Gaining reputation with the Undead Merchant Association wasn''t hard. It was perhaps even simpler than the quests issued by zombie NPCs: players just needed to make sure to be online at the right game time in Exile Town''s canteen or teleport to Desolate Outpost and Weisshem Town for cooking quests.


    However, the real challenge lay in being online at specific times¡ªmost players had jobs or school and could only play after work or classes or before bed; being online whenever needed wasn''t exactly feasible.


    Plus, when players were online and farming monsters in a team, it wasn''t exactly best manners to leave the team at the appointed time to run a quest. Such behavior would quickly ruin a player''s reputation, making it hard to find a team in the future.


    At this stage in the game, most who managed to achieve ''Friendly'' reputation with the Undead Merchant Association were basically casual players.


    Players like Qin Guan and Give Me Medicine, who were typically busy, didn''t have enough reputation with the Undead Merchant Association. Among the three veterans of the closed beta, only Blossoming Strokes, a freelancer who could log in at any time, had reached ''Friendly'' status.


    After considering it for a bit, Blossoming Strokes decided, "I''ll check it out. Though quests issued by ''tool players'' don''t seem to lead to major plot developments, like that one Ji Tang issued for placating civilians, I can''t shake the feeling that missing this quest, especially since it''s set in a new map, would be a regret." Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Wait a minute. I remember that Mulberry (Fallen Mulberry Leaves) spent a period focusing on Undead Merchant Association quests and has gained quite some reputation. I''ll get her to accompany you." Qin Guan suggested, then went into the crowd busy fighting monsters and called out, "Mulberry, come over here for a bit!"


    Fallen Mulberry Leaves, waiting on the periphery of the team for her skill cooldown, responded with a "Coming!" and approached, sword in hand.


    "Vanilla, what''s up?"


    After Qin Guan explained the situation, Fallen Mulberry Leaves was immediately enthusiastic. "Sure, sure! I''ll accompany Blossom!"


    Further considering that it was a new map the two were going to venture into, Qin Guan took off his own equipment and handed it to Fallen Mulberry Leaves, entrusting her to protect Blossoming Strokes and safeguard his gear, and not get eliminated mid-quest.


    Equipped with upgraded gear, Fallen Mulberry Leaves accompanied Blossoming Strokes back from the monster farming spot to the Desolate Outpost, where they teleported to Weisshem. As soon as they emerged from the teleportation point, they ran into two familiar faces.


    "Told ya Blossom would surely come. This quest seems to carry a lot of information that we shouldn''t miss," Yang Ying greeted the two with a smile. "Blossom, Mulberry, let''s team up."


    Blossoming Strokes and Fallen Mulberry Leaves happily joined Yang Ying''s party.


    "Sis Ying, Qingyue and Tang Jia have classes, I presume?"


    "Yes, I logged out early to give Qingyue a call. She and Tang Jia have classes and can''t play. They both don''t have enough reputation either. But Qingyue is interested in this quest and logged in for a bit to have me carry her along," Yang Ying said, gesturing at her backpack. "We will have only you to rely on this time. Jia Lou and I specifically came to the teleportation point to wait for you guys."


    Yang Ying, now a freelancer, had the freedom to log in at any time. Jia Luo, a junior in college with a lighter class schedule, also had more time to play. Though not exactly casual gamers, both had earned a ''Friendly'' status with the Undead Merchant Association.


    As the four girls assembled their team, two more players appeared at the teleportation point. One of them excitedly pointed at them and shouted, "Sis Ying! Blossom!"


    "Oh, Study Obsessed, Phantom?" Yang Ying waved a bony claw and asked, "Are you here for the tool player quest too? If so, join our team!"


    Study Obsessed and Phantom, also juniors in college, quickly accepted the invitations to Yang Ying''s party.


    At that moment, the prominent whale player known for his instance group purchases, Orange Cat, also teleported in.


    Seeing Yang Ying, then Blossoming Strokes, Fallen Mulberry Leaves, and Jia Luo by her side, Orange Cat eagerly ran over to join their group. He was well aware that he might not contribute much and so immediately offered his equipment to the rest of the team for the duration of the quest.


    "Big bosses, please bring me too! I can be cute and whine adorably!" Other casual players, having teleported for the same tool player quest, crowded around, hoping to join.


    Eventually, Yang Ying had to form a raid group, pulling these 20-over players with the necessary reputation requirements and could be online during working hours into the group.


    This bunch of ''idler'' players hurried to the undead delicatessen. Zhao Zhenzhen glanced over the IDs of this bunch, and her mind went to work with the information she had about several veteran players.


    The expert task force had access to all veteran players'' information, and Zhao Zhenzhen, who usually didn''t interact much with players, was well-versed in this information as well.


    "Has everyone seen the quest description?" Zhao Zhenzhen asked amiably. "Our Undead Merchant Association is working with the Weisshem Town Hall. Weisshem is facing a debt crisis, and it''s our duty and responsibility to help our ally¡ª"


    "Auntie, can we just get to what the quest is about?" a bold player called out.


    Zhao Zhenzhen paused and stared blankly at that player.


    "Where are your manners? Call her ''Sis,'' would you!" Phantom immediately rebuked. "Sis, we don''t know this guy. He must have sneaked in. Sis Ying, kick him out."


    "Wait, wait! Don''t kick me!" The offender quickly realized his mistake; he wasn''t talking to an NPC but a tool player and shouldn''t be disrespectful. Panicking, he cried out, "I didn''t say anything wrong. I''m only 18, I was born after 2000!"


    "In any case," Zhao Zhenzhen continued, expressionless, "we hope you comrades can help Weisshem earn two thousand gold coins for Weisshem within a month''s game time. If the quest is failed, everyone''s reputation with the Undead Merchant Association resets to zero."


    "What the heck?!" Simultaneous exclamations rang out from the players gathered.


    "If the quest is successful, all participants will earn at least three thousand reputation points," Zhao Zhenzhen declared, raising three bony fingers. "Currently, the highest reputation with the Undead Merchant Association is Ou Huang, who isn''t here. Among you, anyone who has already amassed two thousand reputation points can surpass him.


    "The top contributors will have the opportunity to progress straight to ''Honored'' status and receive a free trade certificate signed by Lord Yang. This certificate allows you to apply for up to three hundred square meters of land from the Exile Town Hall or Weisshem Town Hall for building residences or shops.


    "You''ll also have the liberty to form your own trade caravans, whether with other players or by hiring NPCs, to sell local goods elsewhere. After paying taxes, the profits are yours to keep. Although the currency earned from NPCs can''t buy the top-notch equipment our merchant association offers, it can be used to purchase items from NPCs, like the high-quality gear worn by the Indahl city defense force."


    The players, initially ready to protest the harsh penalty for failure, transformed into zealous warriors. "Whatever you want us to do, just say the word, Big Sis!"


    Zhao Zhenzhen smiled slightly. "No need for formalities. Everyone can call me Sis Zhao. I''ve eaten more rice than all of you, so calling me Sis Zhao won''t cost you."


    "Yes, Sis Zhao!"


    Zhao Zhenzhen gave a vigorous wave of her hand. "Let''s get cracking!"


    Next, Zhao Zhenzhen, an expert in organizing and effortlessly taming even the most seasoned players, didn''t hesitate to put this bunch to work, having them moving and loading goods¡­


    The players loaded five covered wagons full of stuff, and the orc girl Lyka, along with her fellow orcs, brought over the lizard horses from the rental stable¡ªthe same battle steeds Wagner and his men had ridden.


    Phantom, a wealthy second-gen and an otaku, stared at Lyka as she harnessed the horses and sighed wistfully. "To be honest, the game''s character modeling deserves criticism. Why go for a realistic style with an orc girl? Wouldn''t it be better if her eyes were twice as big?"


    "What the heck, you like the ET type? That''s twisted!" Study Obsessed, overhearing this, couldn''t help commenting.


    "I meant a cute, anime-style design! Wouldn''t a moe orc girl be appealing?" Phantom explained.


    Zhao Zhenzhen glanced in their direction, her gaze casually sweeping over Phantom and making the latter shudder involuntarily.


    After Zhao Zhenzhen left, Phantom muttered to Study Obsessed, "Why do I get the feeling that this tool player, Sis Zhao, is more intimidating than my high school form teacher¡­"


    After harnessing the horses to the wagons, Zhao Zhenzhen instructed Lyka to keep an eye on the shop and then set off for the city of Indahl. She was accompanied by Young Brook, whom Rex had assigned to assist her, and about 30 veteran players (some in disassembled form).


    While this bunch of veteran players (idler bunch) set off on an exciting journey to the new map, elsewhere, the newbie players in Exile Town weren''t idle either.


    While Yang Ying and the others were en route to Indahl, a new player of the second beta with the ID "Drama Thirthreen" logged in during her lunch break, hoping for a quick adventure.


    Visiting the Wanderer Guild and finding it closed, she let out a frustrated spit and resignedly turned to taking quests from a zombie NPC.


    Yesterday''s start of the second beta had brought chaos to Exile Town. The town was swarming with new players causing a ruckus. Drama Thirteen, who had logged in during the evening rush the day before, hadn''t managed to achieve much. The combat and lifestyle job instructor NPCs were constantly being dragged around by new players, making it almost impossible for others to get essential quests.


    In frustration, Drama Thirteen had grudgingly spent 100 yuan to buy a secondhand steel knife from a veteran player (a much cheaper option than purchasing new equipment from NPCs) and joined the large group of players heading to the underground Spider Cave to farm monsters¡­ The result was a catastrophic team wipeout.


    Although these new players had watched numerous videos of veteran players being decimated in the Spider Cave, watching and experiencing were worlds apart.


    When the giant scythe-wielding spiders charged, the newbies, who had once mocked the veterans'' overreactions and clumsy maneuvers from behind their screens, were mostly trampled to death in the panic, not by spiders but by their own teammates.


    Drama Thirteen decided then and there not to return to the Spider Cave until after leveling up and changing jobs¡­ It was just too much!


    While passing through an alleyway, a zombie NPC suddenly waved its decaying arm at Drama Thirteen.


    Drama Thirteen didn''t even react to the zombie NPC seemingly beckoning to her as she continued jogging straight until several players passing by exclaimed, "Isn''t that Hugh Potter, the special NPC that gave Ji Tang a hidden quest?"


    "Holy crap. This NPC is really moving! Who is it waving at?"


    Drama Thirteen skidded to a halt and rushed to the zombie NPC, pointing excitedly at herself. "A-a-are you calling me?"


    "Hello, compatriot. You seem quite spirited," Hugh Potter spoke in the slow, raspy tone typical of zombie NPCs. "Seeing you reminds me of someone."


    "What the heck!" The other passerby players that had rushed to Hugh Potter were surprised.


    "Wait a minute! We''re all skeletons here, why does it only recognize her? Do NPCs also have gender biases?!"

 Chapter 128: Perfect Dream Portrait Studio

    Grantham District near the center of Indahl was an area predominantly inhabited by the middle class.


    The two-story townhouses here exuded an air of modest affluence. Though not as extravagant as the mansions in the wealthiest districts with their dozens of rooms, these houses typically boasted around ten rooms.


    Sixteen-year-old maid Claire, for instance, had her own small room converted from a storage space under the stairs.


    At the first light of dawn, Claire awoke, swiftly donned her maid''s uniform, and scurried to the washbasin in the yard to freshen up. After making herself presentable, she grabbed a basket from the kitchen and headed to the room at the far end of the corridor, adjacent to the living room. She gently knocked and called in a hushed voice, "Madam Wylie, I''m ready."


    After a few moments, Madam Wylie, the impeccably coiffed housekeeper, emerged from her room. She wore a dignified blue dress that fell to her calves and carried a delicate handbag.


    Madam Wylie critically surveyed Claire, her gaze lingering on the slightly disheveled braids with a hint of displeasure, but she refrained from commenting.


    "Let''s go," she said curtly.


    "Yes," Claire replied, carrying the basket and following Madam Wylie out of the house.


    Their household''s master would wake up in two hours, ready for breakfast and to start his day. Claire and Madam Wylie had to ensure the master''s shirt and formal attire were ironed by 8:30 a.m. and had breakfast prepared for the family.


    After the master of the house was seen off, Madam Wylie''s duties included ironing the dresses and gowns for the lady of the house as well as arranging the matching jewelry. Claire was responsible for washing the dishes and tidying up the house. If the lady wished to host a tea party, they would also need to prepare fruits and pastries in advance.


    At six in the morning, the nearby Marley Commercial Street was already bustling with activity. Claire followed Madam Wylie to the market, where vendors greeted them enthusiastically, "Good morning, Lady Wylie! Come and take a look at today''s celery. It was delivered from the countryside after midnight and extremely fresh!"


    Hearing the greeting, Claire knew that a celery salad would be added to today''s breakfast menu. Madam Wylie, who relished being addressed as "Lady," was likely to make a purchase if the vegetables were indeed fresh.


    Indeed, Madam Wylie, impressed by the vendor''s flattering approach, purchased two large bunches of celery from him, along with a few tomatoes and a head of cabbage.


    Households from neighboring districts commonly shopped at Marley Commercial Street, though it was the meticulously dressed maids and housekeepers from Grantham District, known for not haggling over a copper or two, that were the preferred customers of the street''s vendors.


    Of course, they were more discerning than the housewives from the commoner districts, and only the best-looking produce could catch their eyes.


    As they continued down the street, Claire''s basket filled quickly.


    "Why are there no fresh apples today?" Madam Wylie lamented, having inspected several fruit stalls without satisfaction. Checking her pocket watch and preparing to move on, she was suddenly jostled by a boy in a red cape.


    Madam Wylie was about to fume but softened when the boy looked up in surprise, his rosy and fair face, clearly that of a well-bred child, flushed with embarrassment. "My apologies, madam. I was in a hurry to share some good news with my sister and didn''t watch where I was going."


    On closer inspection of the boy, who appeared even more refined than the young masters of their own household, Madan Wylie''s irritation faded completely, especially after noticing his expensive-looking fine attire.


    With a smile, she responded, "You must be more careful, even if you''re in a hurry."


    In this world, one''s attire served as the best introduction. The boy''s high-quality red half-cape with a hood, checkered waistcoat over a crisp shirt, and polished patent leather shoes indicated he wouldn''t be out of place at a respectable tea party.


    Grateful for Madam Wylie''s leniency, the boy eagerly fished in his pocket. Amid the clink of coins, he produced an elegantly patterned business card and handed it to her, saying earnestly, "Please allow me to share this good news with you too, madam. At 063 Prant Street, there''s a marvelous shop, perfect for a lady of your elegance. They have a miraculous technology that can offer you the most perfect afternoon."


    Had this card been offered by a door-to-door salesman, Madam Wylie would have dismissively refused it¡ªpart of her weekly duties involved declining such tiresome sales pitches for her lady.


    However, coming from a well-mannered young gentleman from a respectable family who seemed eager to share this "good news" with his sister, Madam Wylie''s resistance was significantly lowered. She accepted the card with a smile.


    "Goodbye, madam. I''ll be taking my sister there. Perhaps we''ll see you," the boy said cheerily, waving as he ran off.


    Madam Wylie tucked the card into her handbag, remarking, "What a polite young man," before resuming their grocery shopping, soon forgetting the encounter.


    In a middle-class household of four striving to maintain a lifestyle close to that of the nobility, the housekeeper and maid would always be busy, especially when ironing elaborate dresses for the lady of the house. Dealing with the intricate, handwoven lace was particularly troublesome, and that took up much of Madam Wylie''s morning.


    It was nearly noon when the lavishly dressed lady of the house went out in a carriage.


    Next on the agenda was preparing lunch to be sent to the master at work as well as the two young monsters in school.


    Madam Wylie had just finished preparing three lunch boxes and called a local errand boy to deliver them when, to her surprise, the lady of the house returned home less than an hour after leaving, along with the cautious Claire in tow.


    "I should have known they''d invite that annoying man. I wouldn''t have agreed to go if I''d known," grumbled the mistress as she stepped out of the carriage. She gestured for Claire to settle the carriage fee and spoke to Madam Wylie as she entered the house, "Help me change out of this dress, Wylie, and then accompany me to Prant Street for lunch. I refuse to dine alone at home when the weather is so lovely."


    Madam Wylie promptly assisted, taking her mistress''s arm.


    Households with an annual income exceeding 50 gold coins were privileged enough to emulate the lifestyle of the upper class. As reported in newspapers, spending a rainy day in solitary elegance or enjoying sunny days at gatherings, outings, and dining at reputable restaurants were among the cherished "lifestyles" of well-to-do middle-class housewives.


    Prant Street, located along the center of Indahl, was a bustling street devoid of workers in overalls or commoner housewives with skirts that barely covered their knees.


    On sunny days, the entire street was frequented by "respectable" people, accompanied by their butlers, maids, or servants. The men usually donned well-tailored suits and top hats, while the women wore ankle-length dresses with multiple layers, carrying expensive deerskin handbags and having their servants hold parasols for them.


    Madam Wylie wasn''t particularly fond of visiting this street. The reflection of her calf-length dress in shop windows always made her feel inferior, especially when compared to her employer''s long gowns. Yet, this was not within her control.


    The weather today was splendid, and the avenue was bustling. Madam Wylie, holding a parasol and having a bag dangle from her wrist, accompanied her mistress, and they came across several ladies from Grantham or similar districts along the way.


    These ladies relished such "chance encounters," stopping to chat regardless of whether they knew each other well, often boasting about the parties they had attended or the prominent figures they had met. In their eyes, merely exchanging a word or two with these dignitaries, irrespective of whether they remembered them, was a badge of acquaintance.


    Madam Wylie had grown weary of such vapid, boastful conversations.


    As she listlessly surveyed her surroundings, Madam Wylie''s attention was suddenly captured by a lady exiting a nearby shop. The lady''s attire wasn''t particularly extraordinary, lacking the lavish complexity of the dresses Madam Wylie prepared for her mistress. Yet, she captivated Madam Wylie with her striking beauty!


    Madam Wylie had organized numerous tea parties and gatherings for her mistress and had encountered many ladies. Yet none of them could compare to the beauty of this woman¡ªher delicate face rivaled those seen in ladies'' magazines!


    It wasn''t just limited to Madam Wylie; all other passersby, both men and women, stopped in their tracks at the sight of this woman who seemed as if she had stepped right out of a painting, causing a stir of admiration and astonishment.


    Ladies engaged in idle chatter noticed the unusual attention and turned to see the woman, who stood confidently and proudly at the edge of the sidewalk, seemingly waiting for someone but clearly reveling in the display of her beauty.


    "When did Indahl gain such a stunning lady?" one affluent lady whispered enviously. "Which family''s¡­ wife might she be?"


    The strikingly beautiful woman, with her hair elegantly pinned up and a mature demeanor, didn''t seem to be a young miss.


    Upon hearing the comments, the woman turned her head over, her eyes twinkling with a smile that was both approachable and, more so, radiating pride. "Good day, ladies. The weather is indeed lovely today, isn''t it?"


    Hearing her voice, the chatting ladies, including Madam Wylie, were taken aback, their eyes widening and mouths agape.


    "Y-you are¡­ Anita?" Madam Wylie''s mistress exclaimed in shock as if she had seen a ghost.


    Madam Anita lifted her chin triumphantly, basking in the glory of her transformation.


    The shop door behind her opened again, and out stepped a young girl in a maid''s attire, carrying a parasol and a portrait frame¡ªAnita''s personal maid, known by most of a similar standing.


    The group of ladies erupted in excitement, momentarily forgetting their usual poise and elegance, and crowded around in astonishment.


    "Oh my gosh, it really is Anita!"


    "Good heavens, Anita, how have you changed so much! We couldn''t even recognize you!"


    Madam Wylie hurriedly followed her employer, peering curiously over the crowd at the dramatically transformed Lady Anita.


    As a resident of Grantham District, Madam Wylie vividly remembered what Anita looked like¡ªshe had seen her only yesterday!


    Anita reveled in the praises of the ladies, gesturing for her maid to bring forward her framed portrait, unwrapping it to show off her newly taken photoshoot, looking completely angelic in it.


    "I had a whole set taken. There are even larger photos that haven''t been developed yet, the kind you can hang in the hall," Anita declared in satisfaction.


    The ladies were immensely curious. "Photos? Does photographing really transform you like this?" they questioned.


    Anita touched her cheek with a triumphant smile. "No, it''s merely an enhancement to capture a more true and natural version of myself," she explained.


    She then eagerly began to boast about her unfinished large portraits, talking incessantly about their beauty.


    Suddenly, Madam Wylie had a realization. She looked up in astonishment at the store behind Anita, her eyes fixated on the sign hanging above the door.


    "Perfect Dream Portrait Studio" read the sign, and just beside the entrance was the address: Prant Street, number 063. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Madam Wylie quickly sandwiched her parasol under her arm and rummaged through her handbag for the business card she had received that morning¡­


    It bore the same address.

 Chapter 129: Players’ Special Skills

    Photography was not a novelty at Marley Commercial Street, which boasted a studio capable of not only black and white but also color images for double the price.


    Yet, the technique that transformed Madam Anita into a beauty, so different from her real self, and made her resemble a person straight out of a painting was unheard of by the ladies.


    Madam Wiley''s mistress, usually fond of lengthy conversations, quickly grew impatient with Anita''s boasts about the realism of her photos and hurried into the shop, eager to learn more. The other ladies seemed to share the sentiment.


    The storefront of 063 Prant Street was small, leading through a narrow hallway just wide enough for a carriage and a set of double doors into a larger hall hidden inside.


    A robust man in a servant''s attire, resembling a dignified family''s guard, stood in the vestibule. As the ladies entered from the street, he bowed slightly and pushed open the wooden doors for them.


    Upon entering the hall, the ladies gasped.


    The shop, slightly more spacious than their own living rooms, wasn''t decorated with extreme luxury but was undeniably "professional."


    Directly opposite the entrance were two rows of steel clothing racks laden with various styles of dresses (essentially rented wedding gowns and Lolita dresses from a photo studio).


    To the left were several brightly lit booths, each adorned with different backdrops (reminiscent of photography studios at comic conventions).


    On the right were a series of makeup tables (borrowed from a salon) and large display cabinets filled with exquisite glass containers (holding cosmetics) and various luxurious jewelry pieces (rented from jewelry stores).


    The ladies, who prided themselves on living a life close to that of the nobility, failed to recognize most of the room''s furnishings, leaving even Madam Wylie''s mistress a bit more reserved than usual¡­


    "Good day, ladies." A stunningly beautiful woman in a full-length gown stepped out from behind the dress rack, bowing slightly. "Welcome to Perfect Dream Portrait Studio. I''m Vivian."


    "Good day," the ladies responded, nodding politely while scanning Vivian''s face.


    Had they not seen the transformed Anita, they would have been astounded by Vivian''s beauty. Now, they all wondered the same thing: had this woman also undergone that miraculous transformation?


    Vivian, evidently well-versed in social etiquette, warmly invited the ladies and their maids to the sitting area, serving them delicacies and tea in elegant glassware and engaging in casual conversation about the weather.


    The custom of the nobility was to be slow, elegant, and ceremonious; Vivian knew better than to jump straight to business with these middle-class women, who aspired to nobility. Her leisurely approach, in fact, earned her their favor.


    After enough time had passed, Vivian finally introduced the philosophy of Perfect Studio, speaking eloquently about how "every woman possesses a divine beauty bestowed by the gods, often obscured by life''s hardships." Her words, though somewhat clich¨¦, resonated with the ideals of her audience.


    After all, who would openly admit to relying on makeup to transform their appearance?


    Next up was Perfect Dream Portrait Studio''s tactful approach, promising to capture and immortalize the true essence of a woman''s beauty. With that explained, Vivian invited the ladies to experience it for themselves.


    As Madam Wylie''s mistress sat before the makeup table, her mind was filled with expectations of being transformed back into her most beautiful self. The makeup artists, draped in full-length black cloaks, wearing exaggerated masquerade masks, and hands covered with leather gloves, presented an eerie sight, but the ladies were too preoccupied with their own reflections to notice¡­


    Madam Wylie, not being a part of this experience, was initially frightened by the mysterious appearance of the "makeup artists" and let out a shriek.


    "Please remain calm, Madam Housekeeper," Vivian said, her smile unwavering. "At Perfect Dream Photo Studio, our ''makeup artists'' are not to be touched or spoken to. Please respect our rules."


    "Wylie," her mistress chided.


    Madam Wylie quickly covered her mouth and lowered her head.


    Vivian bowed formally to the "makeup artists," her respect evident. "Please begin."


    Her reverence toward the artists influenced the awaiting ladies, who sat up straighter in anticipation.


    Next, throughout the "restoration" process, directed by hand gestures from the "makeup artists," Vivian would instruct the ladies when to open and close their eyes. Both the ladies being transformed and the onlooking housekeepers and maids were left with their mouths agape in amazement¡­


    If, for example, the Kenyan-born Hal exhibited features of Slavic and Latin American heritage¡ªfair skin, broad facial bones, and thicker hair¡ªthen these Rhine people resembled a mix of Central Asian and Aryan races¡ªnarrower facial bones, prominent upper skulls, and somewhat sunken eye sockets.


    People with deep-set eyes, prominent brow bones, along with small and concentrated facial features, were well-suited for heavy makeup¡ªa fact known to anyone with a bit of makeup knowledge.


    Several among the casual players, who had enough idle time to gain "Friendly" status with the Undead Merchant Association, had quite some makeup skills.


    Blossoming Strokes, for example, was not only a writer but also a fan of Hanfu and Lolita fashion. Then there was also a "Runaway Goldfish," a cosplayer often seen at comic conventions.


    There were also two healer players, "Super Nice," a beauty blogger in real life, and "Flipped Fish," who streamed makeup tutorials. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    These female players, who normally found no use for their makeup skills in the game, were now thrilled to be able to showcase their talents during this quest.


    Blossoming Strokes, assigned to Madam Wylie''s mistress, began by removing the layer of caked powder from her face. Next was applying toner and primer, concealing freckles, and applying foundation in two shades before blending them with a sponge. With skilled hands capable of both writing and painting, Blossoming Strokes transformed the lady, who only had the merit of well-proportioned features, into a runway model in just 40 minutes.


    With the makeover complete, Blossoming Strokes, thrilled with the result, quickly snapped a couple of screenshots and then proceeded to style the lady''s hair. Her expertise in Lolita fashion made her exceptionally skilled at hair styling.


    Before she was done, the lady sitting in the high-backed chair and gazing at her own radiant reflection in the mirror was nearly moved to tears by her transformation. Madam Wylie, watching by the side, had her mouth agape as well.


    After arranging the lady''s hair and adorning jewelry that complemented her gown, Blossoming Strokes clapped her hands together. "All done!"


    The lady, absorbed in her own beauty, hadn''t noticed the "clacking" sounds made by Blossoming Strokes. Vivian, however, was visibly nervous about this and quickly stepped in to smooth things over.


    "Mrs. Griff, our makeup artist says your features are excellent, and she feels honored to have restored your beauty."


    Blossoming Strokes cast a puzzled look at Vivian, wondering what this NPC was going on about. She clearly hadn''t said anything like that.


    Vivian, brought in by the youngster Brook, was aware of the true identities of these "makeup artists" and didn''t dare meet Blossoming Strokes'' gaze. She quickly ushered Mrs. Griff, Madam Wylie''s mistress, to the photography studio on the other side.


    The photographers¡­ were players, too.


    Phantom, a wealthy second-generation, and Orange Cat, an unskilled whale player, happened to have photography skills.


    Mrs. Griff, basking in her newfound beauty, happily chose the most expensive package, priced at 8.8 gold coins for a complete set of "portrait photos." The other ladies, though not as lavish as Mrs. Griff, also selected packages priced in gold coins¡ªeach including a two-meter tall, full-color, half-body portrait to hang in their living rooms for showing off.


    Three hours later (OtherWorld time), the ladies left the studio with their heavy makeup still intact and A4-sized half-body portraits in hand, discussing which gatherings to attend and flaunt their "restored beauty" while it was still intact.


    In the back room, Brook counted the over 20 gold coins Vivian had brought in and clicked his tongue. "Who knew that money can be made by making people look pretty and printing it?"


    "For women, the idea of preserving their beauty forever is tempting," Zhao Zhenzhen said with a smile.


    Zhao Zhenzhen''s ingenious approach was inspired during her perusal of Indahl''s daily newspaper, from which she gathered intelligence about this world.


    It was clear that the world''s magical technology wasn''t lacking behind Earth''s and, in some aspects, even surpassed it.


    For instance, the magical steam-powered vehicles, a specialty of the Kenyan Empire frequently advertised in the Indahl Daily, showcased compact steam engines that defied Earth''s physical norms. These devices, fueled by coal gas rather than petrol or diesel, could generate 100 horsepower while being compact enough to fit in the standard-sized cabin of a steam vehicle. Remarkably, the entire unit, including the engine and gas storage, weighed less than 150kg.


    On Earth, the primary reason for the transition from steam to internal combustion engines was the low thermal efficiency of steam engines, which peaked at just over 20%. In terms of power output for the same volume, steam engines couldn''t compare to their fuel-based counterparts.


    By 2018, 100-horsepower fuel engines were commonplace on Earth and not particularly awe-inspiring. In contrast, even the most advanced steam engines built by enthusiasts using modern technology were significantly larger and couldn''t challenge the dominance of internal combustion engines.


    From these observations, Zhao Zhenzhen concluded that the magical technology of this world surpassed Earth in certain areas, particularly in engine thermal efficiency and material science.


    This revelation was precisely why Zhao Zhenzhen was so determined to visit Indahl, a major city. She wished to get a closer look at these magical steam-powered vehicles, something impossible to find in Weisshem.

 Chapter 130: Fire of the Night

    November 13, third day after the second beta started.


    Drama Thirteen got up early, eager to maximize her time in the game.


    The day before, she had accepted a quest from the zombie NPC, Hugh Potter, but could only complete a couple of minor steps before having to log out for work. And in the evening, she was forced to work overtime and unable to attend to matters in the game.


    Determined to complete this enviable hidden quest, she bartered a week''s worth of milk tea to a colleague in exchange for covering her shift, taking the day off to focus solely on the game.


    Upon logging in at the spawn point in Exile Town, Drama Thirteen found that the friends who had agreed to join her on this quest were already waiting nearby.


    "Thirteen, over here!" A player with the ID July Snow waved excitedly upon spotting Drama Thirteen.


    "Sorry, my alarm was set late. Have you guys been waiting long?" Drama Thirteen hurried down the platform to join her companions.


    "Not too long. We just logged in too," another female player with the ID August Melon responded cheerfully. "My husband couldn''t make it, but we''ve got a pro to help us. Look who''s here!"


    Qin Guan, standing behind the two "Month" players, flashed a big, toothy grin.


    "Vanilla waifu¡­ I mean, Boss!" Drama Thirteen, recognizing Qin Guan, approached excitedly for a handshake. "You''re joining us for the quest? That''s great!"


    "Hello, hello," Qin Guan replied with a hint of pride. "But don''t call me waifu, I''m still pure as snow."


    Drama Thirteen, also a player of the World of Warcraft Classic, knew July Snow and August Melon from the game, though she had never met Qin Guan, as he had already moved on to "OtherWorld" when she started playing with them.


    After forming a team, Drama Thirteen apologized to the Month sisters and Qin Guan, "Unfortunately, I can''t share it, but the brief says it''s a worldview breakthrough quest. If completed, it benefits all players."


    "No problem, just tell us about the quest''s storyline," Qin Guan advised. "Start from when you triggered it, and don''t miss any details. Quests in this game are often crucially detailed."


    "Mm, right." Drama Thirteen opened her quest log and began, "The quest is called [Fire of the Night]. When I triggered it, I was just walking along, and the zombie NPC, Hugh Potter, suddenly stopped me, saying, ''Seeing you reminds me of someone, a person named Meri Bowen.''


    "Hugh Potter mentioned that he''s been confused for many years, forgetting many people and things. His memories of Meri are more obscure than those of the border guards. He says he vaguely remembers something crucial related to Meri and must find her.


    "The first step was to find another zombie NPC, Bierda. After completing an errand quest for Bierda, she said that she remembered Meri Bowen and felt the name was connected to something significant but couldn''t recall more.


    "Then, Bierda directed me to her former residence north of the town for the next part of the quest."


    "Bierda, the NPC by the river, right?" Qin Guan asked.


    "Yes, yes." Drama Thirteen nodded. "The same NPC from the [Letters to Home] quest triggered by your friend, Give Me Medicine, who spread the infection to that quest''s main character, Morris."


    Qin Guan, who had been deeply involved in that quest then, stroked his chin and analyzed, "From the two plotline quests [Letters to Home] triggered by Give Me Medicine and [Brave Jean] triggered by Ji Tang, this zombie NPC Hugh Potter wasn''t a member of the Pioneer Corps but part of the border guards that came later on.


    "Bierda was a Pioneer Corp member and was dead by the time Hugh Potter''s border guards arrived to aid¡­ That means to say, Meri Bowen knows these two."


    Drama Thirteen nodded once more. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Both the people of the Pioneer Corp and Border Guards feel that Meri is very important, but the name Meri Bowen didn''t appear in either [Letters to Home] or [Brave Jean]. In other words, the NPC Meri Bowen crucial to the storyline is unrelated to Camore Town or the eldritch infection. It''s likely that it''s something that happened prior to that," Qin Guan muttered.


    "Mm, mm." Drama Thirteen nodded vigorously while gazing at Qin Guan in admiration, eagerly awaiting his guidance.


    "There''s too little information, I can''t deduce anything. Let''s go find the quest item first." Qin Guan couldn''t continue his posing and concluded.


    "Um¡­ Okay." There was a hint of disappointment in Drama Thirteen''s voice.


    "Don''t worry, if Vanilla can''t figure it out, we can wait for Blossoming Strokes to return," August Melon reassured her.


    "What do you mean I can''t figure it out? I''m totally capable! With such scant information, even Blossoming Strokes would be just as clueless!" Qin Guan protested.


    The newly constructed brick buildings in Exile Town were concentrated on the east, south, and west sides, leaving the north relatively sparse, with a few scattered old wooden houses beside the neatly arranged residential alleys and the Town Hall''s earthen structure.


    The quest item could be found by using Identify, so Drama Thirteen and her companions ventured to the wooden house indicated by Bierda. Utilizing the Identify ability both inside and outside the house, they quickly located a "loose pile of soil" beneath a large water tank outside the house.


    Digging through the soil, they successfully unearthed a "locked small wooden box."


    Unconcerned about how a palm-sized, poorly sealed box could remain undamaged after being buried for decades, the players were focused solely on the outcome. They promptly took the box to the zombie NPC, Bierda, by the riverbank.


    Programmed with preset interactions, Bierda swiftly opened the box and handed over a diary stored inside to Drama Thirteen, who had triggered the quest.


    Drama Thirteen flipped through the diary and frowned. "Many pages are damaged, and only a few are legible."


    "That''s typical," said Qin Guan in the capacity of an experienced gamer. "Missing writings save us the trouble of deciphering the text. The game devs only need to script the key parts. Read out the recognizable text; the crucial information will definitely be there."


    "¡­Right," muttered Drama Thirteen.


    In the entire diary, only four pages had legible words.


    First page:


    "¡­General Charlotte''s scouts have discovered a valley suitable for development. By constructing a wall, we can defend against most beasts and monsters¡­"


    "Everyone is delighted. We''ve been wandering aimlessly in the wilderness for over a month, exhausted."


    Second page:


    "¡­The lumber machine broke down, but fortunately, everyone''s houses are nearly complete¡­"


    "The forest outside the valley is too dangerous. In gathering fuel for the winter, we lost several excellent comrades, including my friend Hawke. I am deeply saddened."


    Third page:


    "¡­I''m tired of working unpaid at Charlotte''s sheep ranch, but I dare not show it. Who wouldn''t want to be the owner of a new farm? I can''t afford to offend him."


    "Poor Meri, her private complaints about General Charlotte''s tyranny must have been reported to him. Otherwise, she wouldn''t have been sent out¡­"


    Fourth page:


    "Charlotte''s management of his sheep ranch is notoriously strict. Despite it being a communal effort, we aren''t allowed near it as if he deems us all thieves."


    "How can such a man be our leader? It''s really unbearable for us."


    "¡­It''s been close to a month, yet there''s still no sign of Meri and the others returning. Could some accident have befallen them?"


    Once Drama Thirteen finished reading out loud, Qin Guan couldn''t help but mockingly remark, "Why does everything revolve around this General Charlotte? Is he some kind of instance boss in the making?"


    Seeing the expectant looks of the three female players, Qin Guan cleared his throat and resumed his analysis, "The diary spans a significant period. Though it lacks specific dates like Morris''s letters, it''s evident that it covers more than half a year."


    "From the text, compared to Morris who trusts General Charlotte, Bierda probably belongs to a faction that''s dissatisfied with Charlotte," said Qin Guan, pointing at zombie NPC Bierda to the side. "This NPC Meri Bowen offended Charlotte and was sent out on some more dangerous mission. This should be the main plot of this breakthrough quest."


    "Uh¡­" Drama Thirteen glanced at the unresponsive Bierda and asked Qin Guan, "So, Vanilla Boss, what''s our next step?"


    Qin Guan was still a veteran player and had personally witnessed Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy do breakthrough quests. Thus, he felt confident and proclaimed, "The last two pages of the diary repeatedly mention the sheep ranch without referring to Charlotte as ''General.'' We should investigate the site of the ranch for more clues."


    "Eh, we are going out of town?" Drama Thirteen exclaimed. "What about that old rat? How are we going to get out?"


    Qin Guan smirked smugly. "Follow me!"


    He led the bunch of ladies to the Wanderer Guild work site and hollered, "Seeking four rat lures! Three copper each!"


    Several players who were about to log out immediately raised their hands and volunteered, swiftly settling their current quests with the NPCs and running over to earn some extra money.


    Drama Thirteen: "¡­"


    So that''s how to leave town¡­


    The giant rat at the south exit was a major obstacle for players venturing out of town. But as the saying goes, when there''s a will, there''s a way. Wanderers, taking up the largest proportion of gamers, were required to leave town for their job advancement quests and often hired players to lure the rat away.


    Over time, this became a lucrative side hustle for some.

 Chapter 131: Survivor Voss

    After leaving the valley where Exile Town was nestled, roughly a mere 800 meters to the southwest, lay the remnants of a forsaken sheep ranch.


    During the expedition quests, players had passed by this desolate site twice, each time exploring with the faint hope of uncovering hidden quests. Yet, all they found were dilapidated wooden farmhouses and half-brick, roofless stores. This had been a barren place devoid of even a single feather.


    Qin Guan led the three girls along the mountain''s foothill path. Drama Thirteen''s immediate reaction upon her first glimpse of the site was, "Whoa~ It''s like a scene straight out of a horror movie!"


    "This place is really wrecked," commented July Snow as she scanned the place. "Are there any NPCs here, like a zombie lurking in the corner or something?"


    "No NPCs here. If there were, they''d have been discovered by now." Qin Guan waved his bony claw. "Let''s not waste time. Hurry and start using Identify on anything suspicious; we''re bound to find something linked to our quest."


    The girls dutifully began casting their identification spells in every nook and cranny.


    Identify, a skill automatically granted (activated) to players with Potential values above 40, with its cooldown of 30 seconds, was among the most frequently used skills.


    It could identify any item, NPCs within a four-level range, and the equipment on NPCs. Identify was akin to the instinctual right-click of traditional PC MMORPG players used to inspect equipment and level information.


    It wasn''t long before their meticulous search in the ruins of the abandoned ranch bore fruit.


    "I''ve found something!" July Snow was the one that made the discovery and cried out in joy after Identify revealed some information. "The well! There''s something inside!"


    Qin Guan, upon reaching the desiccated well pointed out by July Snow, cast his own Identify, revealing hidden words about six or seven meters down that read "Secret Door."


    "Ah, so it''s hidden underground. No wonder nobody found anything before," Qin Guan muttered. He quickly found some old ropes in the nearby ramshackle farmhouse, which seemed to have been used for tethering livestock.


    Tying the ropes together and securing one end to a post, he lowered the other into the well. Despite his lack of real-world rappelling skills, in the game world, players'' weight was trivial, and Qin Guan descended the well with ease.


    At the bottom of the damp, moss-covered well, Qin Guan fumbled along the contours of the secret door for a mechanism to open it. Frustrated, he gave the stone slab a forceful push, and to his astonishment, it slid away effortlessly.


    Qin Guan: "¡­"


    Fortunately, the three girls hadn''t come down due to the narrow confines, which allowed Qin Guan to keep his facade as a capable leader intact.


    Behind the stone slab lay a crudely hand-dug hole, revealing a corpse nestled within. Its pale, gaunt face and tattered clothes contrasted starkly with its rigid pose, knees drawn up to its chest.


    When Qin Guan saw it, it saw Qin Guan too, and its dull, gray eyes slowly rolled to meet his eyes.


    "What the f*ck!" Qin Guan immediately stepped back.


    "Ahhh~" The zombie, too, let out a shriek and stiffly raised its arms to cradle its head.


    Due to zombies being sluggish in all aspects, including movement and speech, this cry and action of cradling its head were like a drawn-out slow-motion scene from a movie¡­


    Qin Guan: "¡­"


    Qin Guan used Identify on this zombie, and green words indicating a friendly appeared above this zombie''s head that read "Survivor Voss."


    "A friendly!" Qin Guan slapped himself on the forehead. "Damn zombies and skeletons are of the same faction. What did I get scared for!"


    Fortunately for Qin Guan, the narrow confines of the well had saved his blushes once more.


    "Voss?" Qin Guan ventured, trying to initiate interaction.


    The zombie NPC slowly put down its hands and stared "apprehensively" at Qin Guan with its dull gray eyes (zombies couldn''t show emotion). Slowly, it opened its mouth. "I-I am Voss¡­ Who are you? Has Charlotte sent you to capture me?"


    "Of course not. Charlotte is long dead. You are long dead too¡­ Um, that''s not important." Qin Guan shrugged. "What did Charlotte do to you all? Do you know where Meri Bowen is?"


    "Is that so¡­ Charlotte''s dead, haa¡­ that damned scoundrel deserved to die a long time ago!" Survivor Voss''s body trembled as he expressed his agitation, though his voice remained unusually sluggish and disconnected, which rather broke the immersion.


    Fortunately, players weren''t concerned about such details and only focused on extracting vital clues for their quest. Thankfully, the zombie Voss, burdened with significant plot information, readily divulged the details Qin Guan sought.


    "Charlotte wanted us, those who defied him, silenced forever. He assigned us an impossible task and deceived everyone.


    "The others all perished, including Meri. Only I escaped and came back¡­ I wanted to tell everyone the truth. This was very important. But I failed¡­ I got caught by Charlotte''s scout."


    At this point, Survivor Voss''s voice ceased, dull gray eyes fixed blankly on Qin Guan, his mouth agape, revealing yellowed teeth.


    Qin Guan eyed this zombie NPC stiffly.


    As an experienced gamer, he could predict the dramatic turns of a storyline and the NPCs'' typical responses at each stage. However, he couldn''t help but think that forcing a zombie NPC to display such a range of emotions was a stretch too far. He mentally critiqued the game''s developers for their overly ambitious attempt at realism in the NPC''s design.


    "Are you frightened, Voss?" Qin Guan asked, suppressing his urge to make a mocking remark.


    "I¡­ I was taken to Charlotte''s sheep ranch and imprisoned¡­" Voss continued in his "trembling" voice. "I-I could only pass the crucial information¡­ S-something very, very important¡­ to that scout."


    "And what was that?" Qin Guan inquired, still remaining patient.


    "Meri discovered a secret, Charlotte is an apostle of Deathbringer Khazan," Voss uttered fearfully. "Khazan, an evil god that demands death¡­ Wherever His apostles appear, death follows. Charlotte intentionally requested to lead the Pioneer Corps not for the sake of the Duchy of Shiga''s territorial expansion; he sought the death of the pioneers!"


    Qin Guan acknowledged this with an "Oh," feeling pleased that his suspicions were validated. Charlotte, the omnipresent general of the Pioneer Corps, indeed had a narrative significance more profound than initially apparent. After confronting the advanced NPCs'' inner demons, it seemed that Charlotte would be their next significant adversary.


    "The scout was terrified when I told him. He hid me in this well¡­ I had just concealed myself when I heard his dying screams. He was killed!" Voss lowered his head, cradling his face with gaunt hands.


    After a long time, this zombie NPC seemed to have a realization. Staring blankly at his hands, he whispered, "Ah¡­ I''m still ''alive'' even though I''ve become like this¡­ So I too was sacrificed to Khazan."


    Qin Guan''s initial amusement gave way to a chill as he observed the rigid performance of the zombie NPC.


    Voss slowly looked up, scrutinizing Qin Guan from below. "You¡­ don''t look like the living either, comrade. Were you also a sacrifice?"


    Qin Guan: "¡­" F*ck you! Can''t you see we don''t even look similar?!


    Disregarding the idea that there was still categorization when it came to the undead, Qin Guan thought to himself that if the devs made player characters like zombie NPCs, he would be the first to abandon this game!


    "Eh¡­ Hold on, does this plotline mean to imply the origin of the undead?" Qin Guan stroked his chin and mused.


    Those killed by an unappeased evil god turn into the undead? That can''t be right. The breakthrough¡ªpreviously during the worldview breakthrough quest, didn''t the people of Exile Town become undead after being killed by another summoned evil god¡­ Hmm, does this mean that whichever evil god does the killing, people become undead?


    The unknown evil god in [Letters to Home] that spread the infection and Deathbringer Khazan that makes His apostles harm others¡­ The majority of players are still camped in the beginner town and two evil gods have appeared. What''s with this setting? Are the devs preparing future boss content already?


    But as long as there are health bars, pushing out evil gods wouldn''t be a big deal for players as long as they are good drops¡­


    Qin Guan didn''t dwell on it and continued the interaction.


    "Where is Meri Bowen? Or¡­ her remains?"


    Survivor Voss replied, "Why do you seek Meri, compatriot?"


    "For the quest," Qin Guan responded.


    This answer didn''t seem to trigger the necessary response from Voss, who continued staring blankly.


    Scratching his bald skull, Qin Guan tried a different approach, "Because Hugh Potter and Bierda asked us to find her."


    Survivor Voss''s demeanor changed, and his attempt at a pained expression was almost comical. "Has Bierda become a sacrifice too? Then, that means the others didn''t escape this fate either?" sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "That''s right. Everyone in Exile Town is dead, either turned into zombies or skeletons," Qin Guan replied indifferently.


    These seemed to be the keywords Survivor Voss was waiting for. He sighed. "Deathbringer Khazan, when projecting his power into the material plane, is weak. He can''t claim lives directly but cunningly steals from the reaper. Those killed by His apostles are denied eternal peace, becoming undead."


    "Oh¡­" Qin Guan had guessed¡­ right. The undead were indeed creations of evil gods, souls fleeced from the grim reaper''s domain.


    "I don''t know if Meri was fortunate enough. If she met the same fate, perhaps you can find her in the mining zone."


    As Survivor Voss concluded his part, Qin Guan heard Drama Thirteen shout from the well''s entrance, "Vanilla Boss, there''s progress with the quest. The next part has come out!"


    Qin Guan didn''t hesitate to leave Voss and immediately grabbed the rope and climbed out of the well¡ªhe didn''t even ask Voss if he wished to return back to Exile Town and be united with his compatriots. For players, this was how they treated NPCs.

 Chapter 132: Imminent Catastrophe

    Indahl, Saint Joseph Street.


    This bustling thoroughfare that ran from north to south and ended at the south city gate was the liveliest area in all of Indahl. Lining these streets were various establishments including high-end clubs, hotels catering to foreign merchant caravans, and a free market directly governed by the city''s board of trade.


    A Radiant Sun Church cathedral stood proudly on the southern stretch of Saint Joseph Street, just east of the free market.


    Commander Walton, of the Radiant Sun Church''s cavalry unit, left his lodgings at the inn in the early morning light and hurriedly made his way to the grand cathedral.


    As always, the white-robed bishop received the commander in the prayer room and inquired eagerly, "How is it?"


    Walton nodded slightly in acknowledgment before his expression turned solemn. "Your Reverence, I suspect that those former city defense force soldiers may have fallen victim to some sort of spiritual corruption."


    The bishop straightened in his seat.


    However, he quickly discerned there was more to Walton''s words and asked with a frown, "You say ''may have.'' What do you mean by that? Corruption is corruption; how can there be uncertainty?"


    Walton offered a slight bow as a sign of apology. "The Bartalis family used every method at their disposal, including the ''Soul Sphere'' I brought, yet they still couldn''t discern any abnormalities in these soldiers. However, what I can confirm is that there is something profoundly wrong with them."


    He paused for a moment, his expression growing even grimmer. "All 43 of them have a strong desire to return to Weisshem."


    It was highly unreasonable for these soldiers, who had been captured and detained for half a month after their defeat, to want to go back to the place they were held.


    "What?!" the white-robed bishop exclaimed, clearly shocked. "Is this¡­ ''Homing Instinct''?"


    Walton nodded solemnly. "It''s likely."


    The white-robed bishop drew in a sharp breath, his fear barely concealed as he stood up. "Walton, do you realize what you''re saying? Forty-three individuals infected with the ''Homing Instinct''¡ªthis is a major event, one that could shake the entire continent!"


    The so-called "Homing Instinct" wasn''t about animal behavior. Rather, it referred to the most dangerous, bizarre, and terrifying events caused by widespread mental contamination as recorded by faiths everywhere. Each incident led to a catastrophic disaster, claiming numerous lives.


    "Your Reverence, I know exactly what I''m talking about. I once experienced a ''Homing'' on the Kalan Peninsula. A friend of mine perished in that disaster."


    Walton let out a heavy sigh. "A fisherman was contaminated by some unknown entity and thoroughly spread it among the many townspeople before being fully assimilated¡­ When my colleagues and I arrived, the sight under the moonlight of thousands of infected queuing like wild beasts to leap off the cliff remains vivid in my memory.


    "This investigation into the 43 former city defense force soldiers gives me a strong sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu, constantly reminding me of that horrifying scene¡­ The municipal police have discovered that these men were inviting their family, friends, and neighbors with the intention of bringing them to Weisshem!"


    The bishop turned pale.


    "How could this be¡­ How is it possible? That place is the domain of the Nightmare Butcher. How could that madman bow to an evil god?"


    Spellcasters, as a whole, had always had a strained relationship with the faiths. Even if not as hostile as Yang''s bitter relationship with the Radiant Sun Church, both sides were never friendly. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yet, despite their opposing stances, those of the faith would never expect spellcasters to align with cultist factions.


    The reason was simple: Magic, vital as air to spellcasters, was essentially the result of a "whale fall" of elder gods.


    If a spellcaster began worshiping a god or deity, they could no longer manipulate magic¡ªthe residual magic left by the fallen elder gods inherently rejected devotion to any single deity.


    Walton shook his head that was covered with beads of cold sweat. "I think perhaps we''ve misunderstood the situation in Weisshem¡­ These 43 soldiers, they don''t mention Yang much. Yang seems to rarely appear in Weisshem, and many of them have only seen him once or twice. It''s Charlie Rex that is more often mentioned by these soldiers!"


    The image of Yang arriving with "Charlie Rex" for a peace negotiation flashed in the white-robed bishop''s mind.


    Caught off guard by Yang''s sudden appearance and his preposterous yet undeniable peace offer, the priest hadn''t paid much attention to "Rex," who had quietly stood by Yang''s side. He remembered Rex as a seemingly well-mannered illegitimate noble son.


    Reflecting back on that day after quite some time had passed, the bishop''s sense of unease grew.


    That young nobleman named Charlie Rex behaved too unnaturally for a regular youngster!


    He was just too calm!


    The scenario of a black mage threatening a priest for peace, yet the young man remained utterly unmoved as if the unfolding events had nothing to do with him!


    "¡­I see." The bishop adjusted his robes and sat back down.


    The key to the "Homing Instinct" phenomenon among the former city guards wasn''t Yang, the spellcaster, but a mentally disturbed young noble. That made sense.


    "What does Yang stand to gain by supporting a mad evil god-worshipping noble to become a local lord?" the bishop mused, unable to make sense of the circumstances.


    "Or perhaps he''s unaware of the underhanded dealings of the noble he''s helped ascend? Is he even capable of making such a foolish mistake?"


    Seeing such a reaction, Walton''s eyes widened in shock, his hands subconsciously clenching on his knees.


    Every person living in the continent of Navalon was obligated to pay a tithe to the local faith. This wasn''t without reason¡ªin times of catastrophes beyond ordinary resolution, it was the church''s duty to intervene.


    Before joining the Inquisition''s order of holy knights, Walton had spent over a decade as a night watchman at the Great Cathedral on the Kalan Peninsula. He knew all too well what catastrophes meant for the locals.


    "Your Reverence, regardless of whether Yang directs the actions of Rex, I believe our intervention is necessary. We both know the severity and consequences of a ''Homing Catastrophe.'' We cannot let it escalate," Walton earnestly advised.


    The bishop glanced at him impassively.


    "You''re right, Walton. ''Homing Catastrophes'' always result in massive loss of life. We can''t just ignore it," the bishop said.


    "However, this isn''t Kenyan territory; it''s Rhine. Radiant Sun Church isn''t the authority here. Hastily interfering, if it offends the Church of Lady Gold Coin, would be troublesome."


    ¡ªRhine people don''t pay tithes to the Radiant Sun Church. Why worry about their problems? Would they even appreciate it?


    Walton was momentarily at a loss of words.


    As he left the cathedral, the cold autumn breeze bit into Walton. It was only then did he realize his folly¡ªif the catalyst of a "Homing Catastrophe" wasn''t Yang but Rhine''s Charlie Rex, it made sense that the bishop wouldn''t be eager to act.


    The whole continent knew that the Nightmare Butcher Yang was relentlessly pursued by the Radiant Sun Church. Yang appearing in the Kingdom of Rhine was a feather in the Inquisition''s cap. If this madman personally dabbled in evil cults, the Radiant Sun Church had an undeniable responsibility.


    But if it was unrelated to Yang or didn''t directly involve Yang himself, the bishop naturally adopted a "less trouble the better" stance.


    After all, should the situation escalate, those most affected would be Yang himself and the Rhine people. Why should the Kenyans rush to the fore?


    Walton halted, standing by the street side in a daze. He wasn''t a traditional "good person" by any standards.


    For Walton, sacrificing some people for a greater purpose wasn''t a grave issue, especially if he wasn''t among those sacrificed. When Yang had bluntly exposed that the church''s knights were merely expendable pawns to the Inquisition''s higher-ups, Walton was angered not by the Inquisition''s actions but by the lack of regard for his own significance.


    However, if he knew that something could lead to the death of thousands of innocents, he would still feel compelled to prevent it¡ªhe was, after all, human and shared the innate empathy of his kind.


    The 43 soldiers contaminated with the "Homing Instinct" still retained some degree of lucidity and rationality, showing no aggression and relatively low contagion. They were exposed because their families, disturbed by their behavior, had reported them to the city defense force.


    Walton believed this was due to the weak malevolent powers possessed by Charlie Rex, the noble bowing to an evil god.


    In Walton''s view, early intervention could potentially keep the disaster''s impact minimal.


    "¡­So be it." Standing on the street corner and feeling the cold breeze, Walton took a deep breath, his expression hardening with resolve.


    If he couldn''t rely on the complacent bishop, he''d take matters into his own hands!


    An hour later, Walton appeared at the Indahl City Defense Force''s headquarters. Using his influence as a commander of the Radiant Sun Church''s Order of Knights, he easily met with Horn, the commander of the Indahl City Defense Force.


    "Commander Walton, you are telling me to¡­ release those soldiers? And let them go to Weisshem?" Horn''s surprise made him fumble his teacup, spilling some of its contents.


    "Yes," Walton said calmly. "It''s best to verify with our own eyes if Weisshem poses a threat of a catastrophe. Commander Horn, please assign your most capable officers to join my men in investigating what exactly Charlie Rex has done to these soldiers.


    "If Charlie Rex''s actions are found to be improper, your officers and my men will be the key witnesses to convince both the Church of Lady Gold Coin and the Radiant Sun Church to dispatch their night watchmen." Walton paused, his voice sinking lower, "I have witnessed firsthand how a ''Homing Catastrophe'' can turn a thriving coastal town into a dead one. Commander Horn, please take this matter seriously."

 Chapter 133: Hank Family

    Under the jurisdiction of the military tribunal, the 43 soldiers were detained in the disciplinary block of the Indahl City Defense Force''s headquarters.


    The disciplinary block, directly overseen by military police, was hardly a pleasant place. However, considering it was meant for detaining soldiers the prestigious Bartlalis family had invested in, the conditions were somewhat better than the cells of Weisshem''s militia headquarters.


    The special solitary cell where 25-year-old Sam Hank was held featured amenities rare for such a place: a toilet, a sink, and even a narrow bed with laundered sheets and covers, making it seem more habitable than some factory dormitories.


    But Sam Hank was far from calm and composed despite the relatively decent conditions of his confinement.


    When he was brought from his cell to the interrogation room by a military police officer in a pristine white hat and uniform, Sam couldn''t help but voice his grievance and anger. Facing the slick-haired, impeccably dressed military tribunal interrogator, he blurted out, "What do you want to ask? Do you suspect us of betraying Indahl? I''ve told you, we never did anything like that!"


    "Calm down, Sam Hank. Losing your temper won''t do you any favors," the interrogator, his face as smooth as his hair, said with a feigned smile. "Repeat your answer once more, Sam Hank. Do you still plan to gather with your kind and return to Weisshem?"


    Sam was seething with frustration, and that was clearly reflected on his face. "Sir, allow me to correct your terminology. We are soldiers of the city defense force, forced into retirement due to a misunderstanding by our superiors. We can all vouch for each other that during our captivity, we committed no acts of betrayal against Indahl or the city defense force. Please refrain from referring to us as ''kind,'' thank you!"


    "Alright, Sam," the interrogator said leisurely. "Why do you want to return to Weisshem, then? Isn''t that where you were captured and imprisoned, bringing you nothing but disgrace and heartache?"


    Sam Hank took a deep breath, struggling to contain his anger, his voice heavy with resentment. "It''s because we were forcefully discharged, sir! We have nowhere to go once we are kicked off the city defense force!


    "You must be aware of how difficult it is to find a decent job in Indahl. My family has run a tailoring shop for generations, but since joining the city defense force at 17, I''ve not touched a needle or thread since. If I don''t want to start tailoring from scratch, my only options as an ordinary person are becoming a mercenary or paying someone to get me some work at a factory!"


    "The current times are indeed tough, especially in finding work." The interrogator nodded in apparent agreement, spreading his hands. "But at least Indahl offers job opportunities, Sam. You and I both know that Weisshem has nothing. There isn''t a single factory there and barely any decent stores or workshops."


    "That was before, sir," Sam earnestly insisted. "Now, Weisshem is brimming with job opportunities. They''re renovating the town''s main street, transforming former brothels into proper workshops. I''ve seen the operation of a soy produce workshop myself, with advanced machinery extracting oil from soybeans. The leftover soybean curd is turned into delicious tofu, which I''ve taken home for my family to try. They''re hiring workers everywhere, with no need for bribes to apply. Besides, there are many vacancies in the Weisshem Town Hall¡­"


    Sam Hank was quite a clever young man. He carefully avoided mentioning "Wagner Pitt" and sidestepped the alarming fact that the highest official of the Weisshem Town Hall was an undead. To avoid sounding like he was lying, he wisely kept silent about the employment benefits in Weisshem too.


    Sam''s attempt to sway the interrogator with his sincerity was destined for disappointment¡­


    After hearing Sam''s "excuses," the interrogator didn''t give a clear response, merely advising him to wait for news with a nonchalant attitude, then ordered the military police to escort Sam back to his cell.


    As Sam was led down the corridor, he saw another fellow compatriot being escorted by two military police officers from another corridor into the interrogation room.


    Sam kept looking back, his heart filled with unease¡­


    Two hours later, he was again taken from his cell by the military police and brought before the oily-haired interrogator.


    "You all can leave Indahl," the interrogator announced as soon as he saw Sam. "You can bring your family and anyone else you deem necessary, Sam. Commander Horn has given you half a day to make preparations. Once you leave, you and those you take will never be allowed to return to Indahl. Do you understand?"


    "What?!" Sam was shocked. "Sir! I-I don''t understand! Isn''t this exile?! But we haven''t done anything wrong!"


    The interrogator''s fake smile remained, but his eyes and tone were colder than before. "Sam Hank, are you questioning Commander Horn and doubting the decree of His Lordship the Third?"


    A chill ran down Sam''s spine, and his heart sank.


    In Indahl, only one esteemed figure was referred to as "the Third"¡ªAdra III of the Bartalis family!


    "No, sir, I didn''t mean that," Sam murmured, closing his eyes in despair and hanging his head.


    Sam''s father had passed away early, and his mother, Mrs. Hank, ran a tailoring shop in the Marley Commercial District. She was particularly adept at mending petticoats and shirts, her repairs seamless and invisible even upon close inspection. Highly regarded by middle-class families in several nearby districts, Mrs. Hank managed to raise Sam and his two siblings on her sewing alone and even brought up Sam into a tall, strong man.


    The person Sam was most grateful to was his mother, Mrs. Hank. Had she not inherited Sam''s grandfather''s tailoring skills, Sam wouldn''t have enjoyed a carefree childhood and youth. Perhaps he might have ended up working in a factory by the age of 15 or 16.


    Sam always brought his substantial salary home, easing his mother''s burden significantly. With the steady income he provided, Mrs. Hank no longer had to work late into the night. Her eyes, once strained from overwork, had healed, and she could afford to add beautiful layers of tulle to her and her daughter''s dresses.


    During Sam''s captivity, Mrs. Hank nearly cried her recently healed eyes out. Had it not been for the persuasion of friends and family, she might have risked a journey to Weisshem to find her son. His safe return was her greatest joy, and his despondence after being forcefully retired was a constant worry, which she countered with her encouragement.


    Seeing Sam escorted home by the military police, Mrs. Hank immediately ran out of her shop and embraced her son tightly.


    "Thank goodness, Sam is finally back," the neighbors from the adjacent shops exclaimed, coming out to see the commotion. They were all relieved for the Hank family to see Sam returned, even if he was under military police escort.


    The military police, indifferent to the gathering crowd, made no attempt to conceal Sam''s situation. In full view of the neighbors, they read aloud the Military Tribunal''s decree of exile for Soldier Sam Hank. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Murmuring broke out among the gathering crowd, and they hastily stepped back as if afraid of being implicated in the Hank family''s plight. Mrs. Hank, a small woman, wobbled.


    "How can this be? How can it be like this?" Mrs. Hank was panic-stricken, pleading with the military police, "Sirs, is there some misunderstanding? My Sam has never done anything wrong. We''ve always been honest and law-abiding. We haven''t done anything wrong, have we?"


    "This was Sam Hank''s own request, ma''am," one of the military police said impatiently, shrugging off Mrs. Hank''s hand. "It''s they who insisted on returning to Weisshem."


    "W-we won''t go. Sam, let''s not go to Weisshem. Let''s stay here, alright?" Mrs. Hank desperately clung to her son, her voice filled with pleading.


    Sam remained silent.


    "This is a direct order from Commander Horn and His Lordship the Third, ma''am," the military policeman said sternly. "It''s not something you can whimsically change your mind about. Where do you place His Lordship the Third in all this?"


    Mrs. Hank felt a wave of dizziness wash over her when she heard the "His Lordship the Third."


    The ensuing half-day was like a nightmare for Sam and his family. They had to pack up and leave Indahl before nightfall, permanently banned from returning.


    The harshness of their exile made everyone keep a wide berth from them. When Mrs. Hank, in tears, tried to give away belongings they couldn''t bring along, decades-long neighbors shut their doors, wary of any association with the Hanks.


    Mrs. Hank, despondent, brought back the belongings she was unable to give away, saying to Sam through sobs, "They weren''t like this when I gave away the tofu and pastries you brought back before."


    Sam shook his head, wordlessly focusing on packing their belongings.


    Just before dusk, a military police-escorted wagon arrived on Marley Street. The soldiers roughly hurried the Hank family, along with another soldier''s family from the same street, onto the wagon and out of the city.


    Mrs. Hank, clutching their luggage in one hand and her young daughter in the other, huddled in a corner of the wagon, casting a forlorn gaze through the window at the familiar street they had lived on for decades.


    No neighbors came out to bid them farewell. Only a few close friends cautiously cracked their windows open, stealthily waving handkerchiefs in a silent goodbye.


    Mrs. Hank broke down in tears once more.


    Thus, the 43 soldiers and their families were similarly forced out of the city before nightfall, left near the mule and horse market outside the city gates. Some relatives, having heard the news, rushed to bid them a hurried farewell, and soon, the place filled with the sounds of weeping.


    Families like Sam''s, which had already split due to the passing of older generations, had it slightly easier. However, for those soldiers from large, undivided families, where the elder patriarch still lived, things were chaotic.


    Entire families, some comprising dozens of members, were uprooted from the city due to one person''s involvement. The situation at the mule and horse market was tumultuous, with several families erupting into internal arguments and fights.


    Amid the chaos, several veteran soldiers stepped forward, rallying the families to gather together. They rented large carts from the market and prepared for a night relocation. Regardless of everything, these soldiers were well-informed about Weisshem''s situation and believed all their problems would be resolved upon arrival.


    Some soldiers'' families had resigned themselves to their fate, while others, with more complex family dynamics, reignited arguments about moving to Weisshem.


    Through these noisy quarrels, several soldiers'' extended families decided to split up on the spot. Some members followed their kin to Weisshem, while others set off for different villages to make a living.


    Sam managed to rent a wagon with another family. Their belongings were loaded up, women and children squeezed into the wagon, while the men had no choice but to walk alongside. Due to the sudden surge in demand, the market''s rental prices skyrocketed, and no one was willing to pay the extra amount.


    After much hustle and bustle, the cumbersome convoy finally set off around eight or nine at night.


    As they left Indahl, Mrs. Hank, clutching her daughter in the corner of the wagon, couldn''t stop looking back at the familiar yet alien west gate of Indahl, her tears flowing unabated.


    "Your uncles didn''t even come to see us off¡­ Had I known, I wouldn''t have shared the fine salt and spices you brought back with them. Selling them to a grocery store would have been better."


    Sam, walking beside the wagon, reached up to grasp his mother''s cold hand, whispering, "It''s okay, Mom. Those salts and spices are nothing. In Weisshem, we can have as much as we want."


    Besides his mother, Sam had once been most grateful to Mr. Gould, the steward of the Bartalis family. Five years ago, it was Mr. Gould who had spotted him running through the streets with heavy loads, leading to his rise from a tailor''s son to a junior middle-class individual earning over 20 gold coins a year.


    Among the captured soldiers, Sam might have been the one who hated Weisshem the most, regretting this unfortunate turn of events. He was extremely reluctant to lose his stable position in the city defense force, which he had hoped to serve until retirement.


    Returning to Indahl with his comrades after days of anxious waiting only to be forcibly discharged by headquarters was a massive blow to Sam, and it felt like his world had gone dark.


    At just 25 of age, he could have served in the city guard for at least another 20 years, earning hundreds of gold coins in salary and benefits, with a pension awaiting him upon retirement. But now, all his dreams had ended with a mere six gold in severance pay.


    Sam, utterly dejected, had spent days drowning his sorrows in drink, only snapping out of it when he realized his mother had secretly reduced living standards for everyone else in the family but him.


    Sam gathered his spirits, ready to shoulder the family''s financial burden once more¡ªto work and earn money in Weisshem and provide a better life for his family.


    Little did Sam know that this seemingly ordinary choice would land him in the Military Tribunal''s disciplinary block and lead to the exile of both him and his family.


    The admiration and respect he had once held for the Bartalis family, especially for Mr. Gould, who had changed his fate, now turned into deep-seated resentment in his heart.

 Chapter 134: Players’ Underground Activity

    Beneath Indahl''s west city gate, a tall, burly, bald man dressed in the uniform of a high-ranking servant, standing by the road, looked over at the noisy crowd gathered in the mule and horse market just outside the city gates.


    As the sky gradually darkened, villagers heading out of the city and townspeople coming in formed a queue at the gates. The bustling noise of the crowd did little to drown out the wails emanating from there.


    A well-dressed man on horseback with servants in tow, seemingly returning from a hunting expedition on his estate, glanced toward the mule and horse market and asked the guards at the gate, "What''s going on there?"


    One of the gate guards, recognizing the crest of nobility on the carriage, bowed respectfully. "Those are unruly soldiers being exiled by the city defense force, sir."


    "Oh?" The gentleman raised an eyebrow, reining in his horse and gazing in intrigue toward the market.


    Several seconds later, the guards heard him mutter, "Never mind, there''s no need," before he spurred his horse into the city.


    Commoners squeezing to get into the city instinctively made way for the clearly distinguished nobleman and watched as he disappeared into the city.


    Ben silently watched this scene before he turned to enter the city. Being a native of the Rhine Kingdom and having worked for his previous employer in Weisshem for several years, he understood why the noble had thought about intervening.


    The young soldiers being dismissed by the city defense force could have been easily recruited as personal guards for a small price.


    However, the severity of the Bartalis family''s "exile" punishment meant that it would be costlier to recruit them. After all, they were merely some commoners with a slightly cleaner background (sons of good families) and some fighting ability. It wasn''t worth offending the Bartalis family just for this.


    The west gate was a fair distance from Prant Street, and it took Ben a brisk half-hour walk to reach 063.


    On hearing Ben''s report, Zhao Zhenzhen couldn''t help but laugh. "This really¡­ When lacking manpower, the enemy provides them."


    Young Brook chuckled, and even Ben, with his fierce appearance as a former bouncer, cracked a smile.


    The shortage of hands in Weisshem was clearly not just to the "punished" soldiers but also to those "within the system" like Brook and Ben.


    "We''ll wrap up our tasks here quickly and then head back to assist," Zhao Zhenzhen said, turning to Brook. "Young Brook, any news about your comrades?"


    Mentioning this excited Brook, and he nodded vigorously. "Yes! The owner of the Oak Tavern saw them last week. They took a job outside the city. I''ve asked people from Tavern Street to keep an eye out, and they''ll inform me as soon as my friends return."


    "Good." Zhao Zhenzhen nodded with a pleased smile, then added, "Vivian, whom you brought in to help, is great. See if you can try her job when you have the time."


    "Got it, Sis Zhao, leave it to me!" Brook exclaimed, thumping his chest confidently. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Zhao Zhenzhen always appreciated such enthusiastic youngsters and gave Brook an approving thumbs up.


    As the three were talking, the sound of bones clacking came from the adjacent "makeup artist''s preparation room."


    "Eh? Where is everyone?" A player came out from the preparation room, her two hollow eye sockets scanning the seated trio that were conversing. Naturally, her gaze passed the two human NPCs and landed on Zhao Zhenzhen.


    "Sis Zhao, where are the others?"


    "Given the time, they''ve definitely gone with Vivan to make some extra money," Zhao Zhenzhen replied.


    "Am I late again?" Blossoming Strokes'' eyes widened in dismay. "Why did they have to go without waiting for everyone? I wanted to go too!"


    "You and your procrastination," Zhao Zhenzhen chided Blossoming Strokes. Then, she turned to Ben. "Ben, could you make another trip please?"


    "Of course." Ban quickly got up, went to the storeroom, and pulled out a handcart.


    "Thanks, Sis Zhao!" Blossoming Strokes chuckled as she hopped into the cart, adeptly pulling the canvas cover over herself.


    Players with makeup skills had been busy during the day, helping middle-class women with their makeup, earning them 50 points of reputation with the Undead Merchant Association with each job, which was extremely lucrative.


    When night fell in the "game" and the photo studio was closed, players still continued to log in. After all, it was impossible that players would not play just because it was night in the "game." Thus, Zhao Zhenzhen had devised another way to keep them busy: she got Vivan to bring the players out to do makeup for locals enjoying the nightlife.


    This makeup work offered no reputation rewards but did earn "NPC" currency. While this money couldn''t be used to purchase "system" equipment, it was good for buying things from "NPCs"¡ªa win-win for everyone.


    Ben, ever the one to shoulder the heavy work, wheeled the late Blossoming Strokes away. Zhao Zhenzhen checked the time, instructed Brook to keep an eye on the shop, then donned her cloak and stepped out alone.


    In a large city like Indahl, unless there was an emergency or a special situation, curfews weren''t typically enforced. However, come nightfall, and the streets were mostly deserted¡ªnine out of ten roads lacked street lighting, leaving them pitch black and persuading residents to stay indoors.


    Under the cover of darkness, Zhao Zhenzhen left Prant Street and ventured into a nearby civilian district. She walked past low-lying single-story shanty homes for about ten minutes before reaching the vicinity of Saint Joseph Commercial Street.


    Saint Joseph Commercial Street, one of the few areas outside the affluent districts with street lighting, was bustling at night¡ªthe red-light district was full of streetwalkers, small vendors, thugs, mercenaries, and the homeless. The center of the street where the Free Market and inns were concentrated was reminiscent of the nightlife in Chinese cities of the 1990s.


    Zhao Zhenzhen stopped at the edge of the Free Market, where the street lights didn''t encroach. Looking around to ensure no one was watching, she crouched down and lifted a wooden sewer manhole cover before swiftly jumping in.


    Waterways crisscrossed the territory of Indahl, which, while providing abundant water resources, also led to frequent flooding. Apart from Weisshem, situated on higher ground near the Sorensen Mountains, other parts of the Indahl domain were often battered by floods every few years.


    In Zhao Zhenzhen''s view, the Bartalis family''s greatest achievement over their hundred-year rule of Indahl was probably the relatively well-maintained underground drainage system beneath the city''s main districts, especially under Saint Joseph Street, the lowest point in the city. If not for the flood risk, the sewers here could be converted into subway tunnels.


    However, while an earthling like Zhao Zhenzhen considered it a merit, the underground drainage beneath Saint Joseph Street held no such prestige to locals. It was a place avoided even by the homeless due to the peculiarities of this world.


    Zhao Zhenzhen climbed down the ladder into the tunnel-like sewer and walked along the pedestrian pathway for a short distance. Soon, she saw dense bubbles surfacing in the murky water, accompanied by the low growling of something large.


    Glancing at the disturbed water surface, Zhao Zhenzhen didn''t hesitate¡­ and turned, sprinting away.


    The nimble body of undead skeletons was incredibly efficient. Within seconds, Zhao Zhenzhen sprinted a hundred meters and smoothly turned into another curved sewer tunnel.


    The dull growling continued for about ten seconds before gradually subsiding into silence.


    Zhao Zhenzhen emerged from the curved tunnel, walked about another 60 meters or so, and arrived at a platform that resembled a subway station. This platform, probably meant for maintenance workers to place their tools and rest, was cluttered with various items and several piles of bones covered with T-shirts or fish scale armor.


    Zhao Zhenzhen glanced at the piles of bones and muttered under her breath, "Have they already started work?"


    She then crossed the platform and delved deeper.


    In a sewer roughly 50 meters from the platform, Zhao Zhenzhen found her target: the players without makeup skills.


    A bunch of players, divided into two groups, were bizarrely confronting a strange, dark black stain on the wall of a pipe.


    As Zhao Zhenzhen approached, a player waved at her. "Sis Zhao is here!"


    "Mm." Zhao Zhenzhen nodded and strode over. "What are you all doing?"


    Phantom, holding a thick wooden staff at the back of the group, excitedly said, "We''ve found that goddamn thing that''s been constantly troubling us, Sis Zhao! The one that comes and goes without a trace and always tries to push us into dirty water!"


    "Oh?!" Zhao Zhenzhen looked surprised at the players crowding around the wall, then pointed at the stain. "Wait, it''s that thing?"


    "It''s definitely this. We can''t be wrong!" Warrior player Fallen Mulberry Leaves, equipped with Qin Guan''s top-tier equipment and standing right at the front, nodded earnestly.


    "Several of us have seen this stain. It appears and disappears. At first, we thought it was a glitch in the game. But we noticed that when this stain is on the wall, we don''t have any disruptions when farming monsters, but when it''s gone, there''s always disturbances!"


    Zhao Zhenzhen: "¡­"


    "We just don''t know how to kill this damn thing." Yang Ying, also in the front row, chopped at the wall in frustration. "Sis Zhao, look, cutting it does nothing! It''s so annoying!"


    As a now semi-professional player, Yang Ying''s equipment couldn''t compare to Qin Guan''s or Orange Cat''s, but she had upgraded too. The weapon in her hand was no longer a plain steel blade but a finely crafted broadsword with a sharp enchantment bought from the Undead Merchant Association.


    Her strikes left clear white marks on the stain, but in just a moment, these marks darkened again under everyone''s watchful eyes.


    Zhao Zhenzhen: "¡­"


    Zhao Zhenzhen, a materialist at heart, involuntarily gulped.


    Sometimes, not knowing whether this world truly existed or just treating everything here as part of a game could actually be a blessing in disguise¡­

 Chapter 135: Financial Expansion Route

    To gamers, anything that was a game meant that there would always be a strategy. If a quest seemed impassable or a monster seemed undefeatable, then it was just a matter of finding the right approach.


    Striking with a sword proved futile, so players began brainstorming other methods.


    A player took off their T-shirt and soaked it in smelly sewage water, attempting to wipe off the stain but to no avail.


    Another player gathered wood chips and dry moss, attempting to use fire¡­ again, without success.


    Yet another player tried to pry off the layer of the wall with the stain¡­ which was equally fruitless.


    "What the hell! Is this just designed to annoy us?" Yang Ying kicked the wall in frustration.


    "Wait¡ª!" Orange Cat suddenly shouted, pointing at the wall. "Look closely!"


    "Huh, what?" The others were confused.


    "The height! Its height has changed!" Orange Cat exclaimed excitedly. "When Sis Ying was standing there, the stain reached her shoulder. Now it''s down to chest level!"


    Phantom quickly scrutinized the wall, especially the marks left from their earlier attempts to pry it. "For real? Eh! This thing has slipped down a little!"


    "Uh¡­ So, what do we do next?" Yang Ying looked toward Orange Cat expectantly.


    "Huh? How should I know? I just noticed the stain move down," Orange Cat replied sheepishly.


    All the other players: "¡­"


    With the intellectual player Blossoming Strokes absent as she had gone to earn money off NPCs, the group of players was at a loss. Exchanging glances with each other, they soon turned their eyes collectively toward Zhao Zhenzhen, seeking guidance.


    Study Obsessed, boldly stepped forth, cozied up to Zhao Zhenzhen and unleashed the charm offensive. "Sis Zhao, do you have any insider tips? Can you share them with us~?"


    Phantom gaped in surprise, evidently not expecting their normally bold companion to resort to such a tactic.


    Zhao Zhenzhen, expressionless: "¡­"


    "I don''t have any insider tips. As you all know, I''m just a tool player for the Undead Merchant Association," Zhao Zhenzhen said with mixed feelings. "But¡­ since physical attacks are ineffective, why not try magic attacks?"


    The players'' gazes quickly shifted to Phantom, a wealthy second-generation and the only mage among them.


    Phantom slapped his forehead. "Damn, I''ve been playing as a healer for so long that I forgot I''m a mage too."


    Study Obsessed''s voice instantly rose a pitch higher. "Hurry up!"


    "Who was it that convinced me a mage''s value was greater as a full-time healer?" Phantom muttered under his breath, pointing his thick wooden staff at the stain and casting Shadow Force.


    Purplish-black shadow magic oozed toward the irregularly shaped stain on the wall, dissolving into it like a sugar cube in a cup of coffee.


    The unevenly colored black stain, darker in some areas and lighter in others, appeared to become more concentrated¡ªthe lighter parts turning pitch black.


    Players: "The heck?!"


    "Hey, this doesn''t look like a successful attack, right?" Only Orange Cat called out.


    "Uh, hold on." Undead mage skills deal damage to non-undead creatures and heal undead ones, right? Could this thing be an undead creature?" Fallen Mulberry Leaves asked.


    Zhao Zhenzhen inhaled sharply.


    Yang Ying asked in bewilderment, "Ah? This thing is a friendly?"


    Zhao Zhenzhen felt a lump in her throat.


    "It comes and goes without a trace and clings to the walls. It does sound like the haunting spirits or ghosts from movies," Phantom agreed, nodding. "Ghosts and spirits are undead, so they''re part of our faction. My interface didn''t show any attack information either. That was probably like healing, and a friendly wouldn''t run."


    Zhao Zhenzhen hesitated to speak.


    "But that doesn''t make sense. Why would one of our own sabotage us?" Yang Ying mused. "When we were fighting that water monster, Fallen Mulberry Leaves and I almost got pushed into the gutter."


    "Exactly." Fallen Mulberry Leaves nodded. "It always causes trouble when we''re farming monsters, clearly with ill intent."


    "Let''s not get into that right now. Phantom, keep casting and see what happens," Orange Cat instructed.


    Phantom continued casting spells at the stain.


    At present, the majority of veteran players had Potential values ranging around 80-90. Phantom, being a hardcore player, surpassed the mean and had broken 100 Potential value, just shy of enough reputation to initiate his second job change.


    A Potential value of 100 was a significant milestone. Crossing this threshold, regardless of whether one had changed classes or not, enhanced a player''s energy bar (usable mental power); both the upper limit and recovery rate saw a substantial increase.


    For classes like undead mages and undead warriors, where casting skills equated to draining energy, crossing the threshold meant that time to fully recharge energy bars was reduced by at least 30%¡ªwhat used to take over ten minutes was now replenished under ten.


    Phantom spent two full bars of energy using Shadow Force, a dark magic spell. Under the sustained input of dark magic, the irregular stain on the wall gradually became a rounded, full 3D image. It smoothly slid off the wall onto the floor and then, as the players watched intently, vaporized into a mist, coalescing into a semi-transparent human form.


    The players let out a collective sound of awe.


    Zhao Zhenzhen, the only one aware of the truth, mustered all her willpower to not retreat and stood firmly at the front line.


    This semi-transparent figure, composed of swirling black mist, was different from the ghosts in movies. It lacked a discernible face, unlike films where actors'' faces were shown for dramatic effect. This more realistic apparition revealed its true form without any theatrical attempts at communication. Instead, it malevolently attacked Yang Ying, who was closest.


    "What the heck? It''s ungrateful too? Don''t think I will spare you just because you are an undead!" Infuriated, Yang Ying unsheathed her sword and hacked away.


    Ghosts, typically intangible, should be immune to physical attacks. However, having absorbed the dark energy "gifted" by the players, this ghost had formed a semi-physical body. Yang Ying''s strike caused a rippling, mist-like tear in the left chest of the apparition, causing a wisp of mist to escape from the cut.


    "Ehh? It can be struck!" Yang Ying exclaimed in pleasant surprise.


    "Is it showing a health bar now?" Fallen Mulberry Leaves, upon hearing this, gripped her sword with both hands and launched Blade Dance, a skill that targeted all enemies within a 30-degree radius in front of her.


    Other players, wielding various small daggers, also joined in on the onslaught without hesitation.


    "Make way, Sis Zhao!" Players from behind pushed past Zhao Zhenzhen to get to the front and eagerly unleashed their skills.


    In the chaos of blades, the newly "enhanced" and semi-corporeal sewer ghost, which had just lucked into physical form, was quickly dispersed by the relentless attacks before it even had a chance to defend or flee.


    []


    [Territory Prestige gained by each participating player: 80.]


    [Acquired Inferior Magic Residue: x2]


    The players, who were desperately in need of prestige, rejoiced in ecstatic celebration. "Wow, this type of monster gives territory prestige, and so much of it!"


    "Awesome!"


    "The monsters here are actually so rewarding!"


    "Let''s search for more of these ghostly monsters, hurry!"


    "Master Phantom, stop healing at random, conserve your mana!"


    Emboldened by their success, the players weren''t satisfied with just lurking near their temporary camp to farm water monsters anymore. They joyously began scouring the city''s entire sewer system.


    Zhao Zhenzhen, witnessing firsthand how the players learned to adapt their strategies against surreal ghostly entities: "¡­"


    It seems that treating this place purely as a game was actually quite effective for those players¡­


    With daybreak approaching in the "game," Zhao Zhenzhen left the group of frenzied players and returned to the surface to manage the photo studio business.


    The studio''s primary client¨¨le, middle-class women, rarely visited in the morning. During the early hours, Zhao Zhenzhen, Ben, Brook, and Vivian, whom Brook had recruited as a "shop assistant," busied themselves with cleaning the studio, organizing clothes and jewelry for photo sessions, and preparing refreshments for guests.


    After finishing the preparations for opening, Zhao Zhenzhen immediately called local expert Brook into the "makeup artist''s preparation room" for a serious talk.


    "What exactly is going on in the city''s sewers?" Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Brook was taken aback first before he understood. "Sis Zhao, are you talking about those water monsters? They crawl up through the drainage due to being connected to underground rivers. It''s perfect for our undead friends to hunt as I mentioned before."


    "I mean, other things besides the water monsters." Zhao Zhenzhen gestured, lowering her voice. "Some¡­ like ghosts or spirits. Have those things always been around in the past?"


    "Yeah." Brook nodded honestly. "Every few years, when it''s time to clear out the water monsters, we wait for the church''s night watchmen to perform exorcisms before mercenaries can go down.


    Our undead friends hunting water monsters down there don''t mind the ghosts since they''re also undead."


    Zhao Zhenzhen rubbed her temples.


    Players being undead aren''t the same as the absurd undead of this strange world!!!


    "The hides of water monsters can be exchanged for coins at the city hall, but what about those ghosts? Is there any benefit to driving them away?" Zhao Zhenzhen perked herself up and asked.


    Brook let out a surprised "Ahh¡­" as if he couldn''t believe that Zhao Zhenzhen, an undead herself, would say such a thing.


    "Young Brook," Zhao Zhenzhen grasped his shoulder and spoke even more solemnly. "Our Taranthan undead are different from those other undead. Any creature that doesn''t adhere to the principles of peaceful coexistence and order is our enemy, undead or not."


    Brook''s eyes sparkled with admiration as he stared at Zhao Zhenzhen. Nodding vigorously, he said, "I''m sorry, Sis Zhao, I misunderstood you all. How could those other undead compare to those of Taranthan?


    "Only exorcists can receive rewards for banishing ghosts from the night watchmen. We need to register as exorcists¡­"


    Without another word, Zhao Zhenzhen pulled out the Orb of Deception she had requisitioned¡­ or rather, borrowed from Orange Cat. "Let''s go!"


    Having already played the role of a shrewd photo studio boss, taking on another guise as an exorcist wasn''t much of a stretch.


    Zhao Zhenzhen''s "tool character account," upon activating the Orb of Deception, transformed her into a towering, immensely muscular man with huge arms, akin to a Spartan warrior.


    Back on Earth, such an intimidating appearance would have surely attracted police attention and warranted an ID check several times. In this world, this was a figure that could stop children''s cries on the streets. When initially renting the 063 Prant Street property, the landlord hadn''t dared to take advantage of Brook and offered a very reasonable price.


    With such a menacing appearance, Zhao Zhenzhen, accompanied by Brook, walked into the night watchmen''s office of the Church of Lady Gold Coin on Saint Joseph Street. The official in charge of registration didn''t hesitate to process their documentation.


    After completing the registration, the official, who barely reached Zhao Zhenzhen''s shoulders, even kindly explained to Brook, acting as Zhao Zhenzhen''s "assistant," how to record ghosts banished using the exorcist ID. Essentially, when a ghost dissipated, exposing the ID to absorb a wisp of abnormal aura served as proof of the deed.


    Typically, eliminating a ghost would earn an exorcist a reward of 5 to 10 gold coins from the night watchmen; ghosts and spirits mainly appearing in densely populated towns posed a significant societal risk. The night watchmen divisions of the various faiths supported and encouraged civilian exorcists to join the cause of evil extermination, with registration and reward distribution being quite straightforward.


    After all, the money came from the tithe paid by local residents, with no extra outlay from the church. Furthermore, if an exorcist perished in the process, the church wasn''t obliged to provide the same compensation to their families as it would to a fallen night watchman.


    Zhao Zhenzhen, having acquired her ID, immediately instructed Brook to deliver it underground to the players¡­ Recording a ghost earned a hundred reputation points with the Undead Merchant Association, and the players certainly wouldn''t refuse such an opportunity for extra gains.

 Chapter 136: Sandworm Nest

    While the casual players of Indahl were working hard to solve Weisshem''s financial issues, deep in the Taranthan wilderness near Exile Town, a player team led by Qin Guan was battling.


    "Vanilla, are you sure we''re going in the right direction? Is there really a mine here?"


    Give Me Medicine, an engineer who could only log in after 7 p.m. on workdays, shaded his eyes and surveyed the area. Apart from the desolate rock-strewn stretch, he saw nothing else.


    "The direction is definitely right. The mission text from Drama Thirteen said it''s 10 kilometers southeast of the town," Qin Guan confidently asserted while looking around. "The description says that there are ''hills all around, with a forest to the east, a river to the south, and rock terrain to the northwest.'' We''ve found the rocky area, so we must be close."


    Since the game hadn''t introduced a map feature yet, players had to rely on their own navigation skills. Fortunately, the game didn''t feature areas with overly complex maps. With clear directional guidance, most quests could be successfully completed¡ªif a place as complex as World of Warcraft''s Undercity was introduced without a map, players would surely riot.


    It was 7:30 p.m. on Earth, but in the game, it was still broad daylight. Give Me Medicine checked the direction of the sun and nodded. "Okay, let''s keep going."


    Having undertaken two expedition quests before, these veteran players were quite familiar with the conditions in Taranthan. The group didn''t stretch out in a vulnerable line but moved forward in a tight formation. During their advance, they skillfully cast Identify toward any potential hiding spots for monsters¡ªa mark of experienced players.


    Of course, this caution also slowed down the group''s movement.


    "There''s a monster over there!" a player on the periphery suddenly exclaimed excitedly, pointing at a nearby bush. "There''s a level-three monster creature lurking in there!"


    Surrounding players immediately cast Identify toward the bush:


    [Gray Sharp-fanged Snake]


    [Lv3]


    [A rare low-level monster found in the desert, stealthy and highly venomous.]


    [Possible drops: Toxic Crystal (Rare), Intermediate Magic Crystal (Uncommon).]


    [Guaranteed drops: Venomous Fang (Uncommon), Grey Snake Skin (Common), Venomous Gland (Uncommon).]


    Before the leader, Qin Guan, could signal, the excited players, upon seeing a monster, "zoomed" off, yelling and running toward it.


    The poisonous and stealthy Grey Sharp-fanged Snake had natural camouflage and was a nightmare for travelers. However, against these undead, it was like a pig to the slaughter. Its stealth was useless against their identification spells, its venom less threatening than piercing damage.


    Combat-oriented players swiftly killed the massive snake as thick as a water barrel, while the more lifestyle class-focused players gathered around with knives and bags, expertly extracting the toxic crystals, fangs, skin, gallbladder, and other materials highlighted by Identify.


    Once done, they then buried the foul-smelling pile of snake meat on the spot.


    Drama Thirteen had something to attend to and logged out, leaving her two friends, July Snow and August Melon, carrying her bones and following the group. Witnessing the veterans'' skillful hunting left the two newbie players with their mouths gaping¡­


    "Amazing," July Snow remarked. "I didn''t realize how skilled the veterans are until seeing it in person. Don''t you think so, Sis?"


    July Snow''s actual older sister nodded. "It''s entirely different compared to raiding MC and Blackwing."


    Give Me Medicine''s head swelled, flattered by their sincere admiration, and he couldn''t help himself from boasting, "It''s nothing much. Monsters in the wild might look tough, but they''re easier to farm than the ones in Spider Cave. Most are alone, without minions to aid them."


    Qin Guan didn''t act cool this time and added, "Yeah, it''s entirely Spider Cave''s fault that newbie players that just start think that monsters in this game are tough. Even veteran teams can get wiped out in Spider Cave if they aren''t careful."


    A veteran female player chimed in with a chuckle, "You can tell we''re experienced because we use these straps to secure our weapons. Learned that the hard way in Spider Cave. At least if you die, you don''t lose your weapon."


    July Snow immediately approached her. "Sister, where did you get that strap? I didn''t see them for sale at NPC shops."


    "You can''t buy them, you have to trade them off civilian NPCs. You know the Undead Merchant Association canteen, right? In the middle of Life Alley. Exchange a few copper coins for half a pound of rock sugar from the canteen''s tool player, and you can find a civilian NPC to trade for a strap¡ªOld crap!"


    While the veteran female player was generously imparting her knowledge, something suddenly burst out from the sandy ground¡ªa pale gray thing, as thick as a thermos flask¡ªramming into her waist and sending her flying several meters.


    "The hell?!" Qin Guan''s eyes widened in shock.


    Give Me Medicine reacted swiftly, his weapon slashing through the air at the unknown creature that had attacked.


    "What the hell hit me?" The girl, who was knocked over and covered in dirt, sprang up furiously.


    "I didn''t get a clear look¡­ It retreated already," Qin Guan said, clutching his chest.


    "It came out of the ground and was too quick¡­ to cast Identify on. Seems like it''s out of range now," Give Me Medicine said, scanning the ground nearby.


    Other players also crowded over, asking, "What happened? What knocked Fan Fan over?"


    The ID of the female player sent flying was "Don''t Talk To Me," but because her ID was a chore to call her, those who knew her called her Fan Fan.


    Fan Fan was a girl that appeared calm on the surface but fiery deep down. The unprovoked attack had seriously infuriated her, and she looked left and right. Suddenly, she bent down and yanked out a long, ground-hugging vine from the scattered rocks and stabbed it fiercely into the hole where the creature had emerged from.


    The players watched as the several-meter-long vine disappeared entirely into the ground¡­


    "That''s a deep hole!" Fan Fan herself was taken aback.


    "What the heck is that thing?" Give Me Medicine, who wasn''t afraid of fierce monsters but found the bizarre unnerving, muttered uneasily, "What''s going on underground?"


    July Snow and August Melon, sisters who were still struggling to even deal with zombie NPCs, clutched each other''s hands and slowly backed away.


    "Hey, you two, behind¡ª" a veteran player suddenly shouted, pointing behind the sisters.


    July Snow was momentarily at a loss, but August Melon reacted instantly, whipping her head around. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Before August Melon could make out what was behind her, she felt a sudden force strike her from behind, sending her flying like Fan Fan before. She screamed at the top of her lungs while sailing through the air and rolling on the ground, only stopping when she collided with the crowd.


    This time, there were more witnesses, and several players promptly cast Identify:


    [Sandworm]


    [Lv1]


    [Common low-level monster found in the desert wastelands.]


    [Possible drops: Pure Magic Residue (Uncommon), Low-grade Magic Residue (Common).]


    [Guaranteed drops: Whole Sandworm Meat (Common).]


    Players who managed to scan the creature''s information were baffled. "Level 1 monster? It''s only level one?"


    "Aren''t there only high-level monsters in the wild? How are there level-one creatures so far from the beginner town?"


    Qin Guan uttered an "Uhh¡­" then surveyed the barren sandy land that stretched endlessly. Then he cast Identity toward an area beneath the ground''s surface¡­


    Whether it was good luck or bad, his random Identify of the underground surprisingly revealed the presence of four Sandworms.


    Stunned, Qin Guan quickly shouted, "Anyone whose Identify isn''t on cooldown, cast it beneath the surface!"


    Players instinctively followed his command.


    After a flurry of Identifies, all the players were dumbfounded¡­


    "What the f*ck! It''s all Sandworms underneath?!"


    "Holy crap, I''ve identified a Sandworm nest 20 meters deep. Disgusting!"


    "Eww¡ª!"


    "Let''s get out of here, I''m getting goosebumps!"


    This stretch of the wasteland was much larger than the players had anticipated. It took a frantic run of almost three kilometers before they finally cleared the wasteland and entered a hilly area.


    Finding an abandoned mining area surrounded by hills and consisting of a few rudimentary mud houses, all the players breathed a sigh of relief.


    And upon seeing familiar zombie NPCs standing in front of the mud houses, the players, still grossed out by the Sandworms, even found these hideously ugly zombies somewhat endearing.


    "I guess we''ve finally found the place," Qin Guan remarked, then turned to July Snow, who was carrying bones. "Snow, did Drama Thirteen say when she would be back online?"


    "She mentioned she was having a meal with an old friend and would be back online in under two hours," July Snow replied, glancing at the system''s display of Earth time. "She should be back soon."


    "Let''s interact with the NPCs here and see if there''s any storyline, then." Qin Guan nodded, leading the way toward the zombie NPC standing at the outskirts of this area.


    Identify didn''t even need to be used on the zombie NPC due to the green text above its head, which read "Stephen Bernie," indicating that it was a friendly.


    As Qin Guan approached, Stephen Bernie stiffly turned his neck, revealing a face full of cyanotic skin reminiscent of Marvel''s Red Skull.


    "Ah¡­ A compatriot?" Stephen spoke with feigned excitement. "Are you from the Pioneer Corp? How is Exile Town now?"


    Before Qin Guan could respond, the NPC lamented on his own, "What foolishness am I saying¡­ You too have become undead, so Exile Town has fallen, hasn''t it?"


    "Yes." Qin Guan reluctantly nodded.


    "Voss bravely went back to send a message, but it seems he failed¡­ Have you seen Voss, compatriot? Has he also been cursed like us?" Stephen expressed sorrowfully.


    "Uh¡­ He indeed failed. He couldn''t bring the message back, and we don''t even know what happened to all of you." Qin Guan tried to assimilate into his role. "What about Meri Bowen? Is she with you?"


    With the keyword hit, the zombie NPC continued the interaction, "Meri Bowen was separated from us. She ran into the desert alone when she lost control. Please help us find her, compatriot."


    Then, the zombie NPC lifted its arm, pointing toward the wasteland from which the players had come.


    Players: "¡­"

 Chapter 137: Popular Gold Farming Location

    After another barrage of heartfelt ranting toward the devs, the group of players headed back into the wastelands indignantly.


    Frankly speaking, the Sandworm monsters in this area weren''t very strong. Their attack strategy was monotonous: ramming into players and dealing fairly tolerable damage. Even for a newbie player like August Melon, who lacked robust equipment and had a short health bar, getting knocked over by a Sandworm only resulted in a moderate loss of health, which wasn''t lethal.


    In the quest to find the NPC Meri Bowen, the players also discovered the Sandworms'' tendency to fight alone¡ªeven those emerging from the same nest did not attack in groups, preferring to strike individually.


    As players gradually got accustomed to the Sandworms'' tactics and were able to predict their movements by subtle ground vibrations, Give Me Medicine, an experienced hand, came to a realization.


    "Vanilla, don''t you think this place is quite suitable for solo grinding?"


    "Eh?!" July Snow and August Melon looked toward Give Me Medicine in surprise.


    Qin Guan kicked a sandworm corpse he had just slain and tried dragging the meter-long, thermos-thick creature. "It feels to me that this place seems like a special grinding spot designed for newbies."


    "Huhh??" The month sisters turned toward Qin Guan.


    "These Sandworms are indeed disgusting, but they''re weak, don''t swarm, have similar health to spider monsters, and are even smaller, making them relatively easier to kill," Qin Guan explained. "If you aren''t squeamish and have enough patience and attention to detail, even a small group of two or three newbies could grind here. The loot is quite decent and comparable to doing the manual labor and errand quests of zombie NPCs."


    An intact Sandworm corpse could be exchanged for a copper coin at the zombie NPC Stephen Bernie''s. A small group of newbies maintaining a rate of over ten Sandworms per hour could indeed earn a tidy sum.


    Give Me Medicine persisted, "The profitability also makes it ideal for well-equipped veteran players to solo grind."


    "The only hassle is getting here. You can''t make it from the town to here alone or in a small group; you need a large party. After arriving, you can''t log out in the city, only store your bones in the mining area and log in and out there," Qin Guan reasoned.


    "Those who don''t enjoy group play can come as a team and then split up to do their own thing," Give Me Medicine suggested. "If I didn''t already have a regular team, I''d consider camping here for a few days."


    Indeed, Sandworms were disgusting, but were the weird, tentacled, scythe-legged spiders in the Spider Cave any less so?


    In short, it was all about getting used to it. To play this game, one just needed mental fortitude.


    July Snow and August Melon exchanged glances, both seemingly tempted. An area where a small party of two or three could happily grind¡­ Wasn''t this tailor-made for them?


    Including their offline male companion, the three girls could spend a few days here and possibly catch up with the veteran player group in terms of gear!


    After roaming for over half an hour, the players finally found the NPC Meri Bowen crouching behind a large rock.


    Qin Guan approached to interact and state their purpose, and the NPC handed them another quest: It had lost something very important in the southern mudflats. The players needed to retrieve it before it would agree to return to the mining zone base with them.


    Enduring the NPC''s whims like obedient dogs was an experience every player had to undergo countless times. With the mindset that the southern mudflats couldn''t be weirder than the Sandworm wasteland, the players briskly headed there.


    And then¡­ the players were stupefied.


    Layers of thick, semi-transparent, leathery surfaces piled upon each other, oozing dirty water and sticky muck, resembling giant snotty slugs¡ªslime monsters!


    "My eyes!" A player dramatically pretended to gouge out his eyes. "I''m going blind!"


    "Uh¡­ calm down, dude. These monsters are actually quite rewarding. They drop magic residue and are easy to kill. Just pierce their skin, drain the water, and they''re done for. Five of these skins are worth a copper¡ª


    "Oh yuck!" Another tried to rationalize until the sight of the slime monsters moving in a skin-crawling, squelching manner turned their stomach.


    Next to the slime monsters, the putrid-hide gators in the riverbank looked almost graceful.


    Qin Guan used Identify to check the monster levels and had a complicated look on his face. "It''s definitely a newbie grinding area. Those alligators, like the sandworms, are Level 1, and the slime monsters are Level 0."


    This was the first time the players had encountered a Level-0 monster, leaving no doubt that this was a newbie grinding spot.


    Give Me Medicine felt a sense of irony as he compared the Spider Cave with the Sandworm Desert and Slime Monster Flats. Both spots seemed like beginner-friendly grinding areas designed by the damned designers for new players, and this caused envy to arise in veteran players that had only known Spider Cave.


    What the players didn''t realize was that even those disgust-inducing monsters, had they been a bit less challenging to hunt, would have been Level 0 as well.


    "Worldview Breakthrough quests are a prelude to unlocking new maps. The goal is to inform players about the existence of the big boss Charlotte and to introduce these two new grinding spots." Qin Guan turned to Drama Thirteen, who had just logged in.


    Drama Thirteen, fresh from a heavy hotpot meal, immediately felt nauseous at the sight of giant white worms and giant booger-like slimes.


    Despite their initial disgust, the players soon got down to business. Meri Bowwen claimed her lost item might have been swallowed by a slime, so they had to farm monsters to find it.


    Gradually, their repulsion turned to enthusiasm. These abundant slime monsters were an unprecedented resource!


    Even Drama Thirteen, a newbie who had spent 100 yuan buying a steel knife from a veteran, could solo grind here!


    The real appeal of games, compared to other forms of mental satisfaction, lay in the immediate gratification. The direct correlation between effort and reward¡ªlevel ups for monsters killed, treasures for quests completed¡ªwas what hooked players. Compared to the uncertainty of real life, games offered a much-needed stress relief.


    But even within this immediate gratification loop, there''s a difference between easy and hard modes. For instance, the currently popular Poisonous Marshlands, which required a full 11-member team, including a knight to tank, to even start.


    For players who disliked socializing, sticking to fixed teams, or lacked the advantage of finding a team, this proved an insurmountable barrier.


    The Slime Flats would undoubtedly become a favored spot for players who loved grinding but disliked managing fixed teams. After merging into a large group to get there, anyone could solo grind at their leisure, and the vanquished monsters were easily cashed in (Meri Bowen bought slime hides at five a copper). Wasn''t this essentially a newbie paradise?


    Halfway through the quest, not only were the three newbies who had suffered in the Spider Cave tempted, but several veteran players also decided to camp here for a while to farm some money before returning.


    Give Me Medicine felt uneasy and pulled Qin Guan aside while others were busy grinding and seeking the quest item. "Vanilla, this place might become a hotspot for gold farmers and attract a swarm of players. Could that devalue the copper coin? Should we warn Xiao Zhou and the others to offload their copper?"


    "In the long term, it''s possible; in the short term, unlikely," Qin Guan replied with a wink. "Did you forget what Blossom and the others are doing in Indahl?"


    "Grinding reputation for the Undead Merchant Association?" Give Me Medicine then smacked his forehead. "Ah, right, of course!"


    Qin Guan chuckled. "Right? Once they finish their quest, imagine how many players will reach Honored reputation with the Association. Wouldn''t those with some brains surely think of seizing the opportunity to hoard land and set up trade caravans?


    "Brother Lahong has been feverishly stockpiling copper coins these days. Their core players, Phantom and Study Obsessed, are there, too. When they return, they''ll surely use their reputation privileges and Brother Lahong''s authority as Exile Town mayor to monopolize land. Just watch."


    Give Me Medicine clutched his chest. "Thank goodness, we also sent Blossom and Mulberry on our side. Hey, Vanilla, do we have enough copper coins? Are we hoarding land in Exile Town or Weisshem?"


    "Of course, we have enough. I''ve already instructed Xiao Zhou to hold off on selling, saving it for us," Qin Guan confidently replied. "As for the land, we''ll bet on both sides, acquiring in both Exile Town and Weisshem. One can never put all your eggs in one basket." sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Then, as soon as we finish this quest, I''ll suicide and respawn back in town to organize everyone who wants to farm coin and bring them over here," Give Me Medicine immediately proposed.


    Qin Guan nodded. "Not just our own guys, we need to organize more newbies too. This new map is also lucrative for new players. We need to stay ahead of Brother Lahong and attract newcomers to our side¡­ Otherwise, we''ll end up giving an advantage to that crafty girl, Unceasing Entropy."


    In Indahl, Unceasing Entropy, who had just logged in after her evening self-study session, suddenly felt an itch in her nose.


    "Did I catch a cold¡­" she mumbled to herself.


    She then got Yang Ying to watch over her skeleton while she logged out to check her physical condition in reality¡­ and found out she had laid down without a blanket and quickly added an extra blanket to cover her stomach.


    When Unceasing Entropy logged back in to join the casual players in their quest to hunt ghostly monsters in the sewers, Zhao Zhenzhen came over.


    Zhao Zhao Zhenzhen wasn''t alone; she was accompanied by the intelligent Blossoming Strokes, who had made a fortune through the art of makeup.


    "Sis Zhao? It isn''t even dark in the game yet. Why are you here?" Yang Ying greeted, though somewhat surprised.


    Zhao Zhao Zhenzhen appeared very serious, nodding at Yang Ying and the other players before addressing them, "Here''s the situation: I''ve accidentally triggered a hidden quest in Indahl, but as you know, I''m not a player account and can''t do it. I was wondering if any of you are interested."


    Before Yang Ying could respond, Phantom and Orange Cat squeezed to the front. "Yes, yes! Definitely interested!"


    "I have to warn you, though. This quest is highly challenging and has strict limitations," continued Zhao Zhenzhen. "If you take it on, you must follow commands and can''t act recklessly. If not, it could cause our current special quest [Weisshem Debt Crisis] to fail, and that will have very serious consequences."


    Phantom and Orange Cat immediately realized the seriousness and stopped their chatter, turning their expectant gazes toward Blossoming Strokes who seemed to have some insight.


    "It''s a quest issued by the night watchmen of Rhine Kingdom''s Church of Lady Gold Coin," Blossoming Strokes explained. "Our characters are the undead from Taranthan, smuggled into the city disguised as goods in a carriage and mustn''t be exposed.


    "If the Church of Lady Gold Coin discovers that we, the undead, have infiltrated the city, it isn''t just about our group being wiped out; the reputation gain being halted and facing failure penalties are the bigger issues. To succeed in this hidden quest, we must conceal our identities¡­"


    As Blossoming Strokes explained the difficulty of the quest, Zhao Zhenzhen standing beside her solemnly couldn''t help feeling a little awkward. She had to shoulder the blame for this situation.


    After one night in OtherWorld, her newly registered Exorcist ID recorded over a dozen ghostly presences. When she took it to claim the gold coin reward, the officials of the night watchmen corp were astounded and immediately tossed a "hidden quest" her way¡­


    Unfortunately, before even voicing a declination, she could only watch as young Brook accepted the task due to his faith in the undead''s omnipotence.


    And most importantly¡­ was the reward for this commission¡ªthe night watchmen had promised a whopping five hundred gold coins as payment!

 Chapter 138: Night Watchmen’s Commission

    The sky gradually darkened. Dressed in a black suit and wearing a wide-brimmed hat, Ben approached the northern city gate closest to Saint Joseph Street in a large carriage gotten from the rental agency.


    Indahl had no curfew, but the city gate would be locked after nightfall. As the carriage neared, two guards in uniform emerged from the guardhouse and halted the carriage. "Hey, stop! Don''t you know you can''t enter or leave the city gate after dark?"


    Ben, atop a single-horned gray steed, reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the exorcist credentials. Then, tilted his chin slightly, his eyes peering ominously from beneath the wide-brimmed hat at the two soldiers.


    Upon seeing the Church of Lady Gold Coin''s emblem on the credentials, the two city guards paled slightly. Without further words, they immediately backed off and began operating the winch by the city wall.


    With the creaking and clanking of the mechanism, the sealed city gate slowly began to rise.


    Ben put away the credentials, shook the reins, and drove the carriage into the darkness.


    Behind him, the massive city gate slowly descended once more.


    The older city guard watched the carriage as it departed and shook his head, murmuring, "Leaving the city in this direction¡­ Is ''Redwall Farm'' going to be stained with blood again?"


    The other city guard, sweating profusely, secured the winch and curiously inquired, "What are you talking about? What farm?"


    Night duty at the city gate was often dull, especially at the usually quiet northern gate. The veteran beckoned his companion back to the guardhouse, took a sip from the nearly full bottle of corn rum on the table, lowered his voice, and mysteriously shared unsettling rumors circulating about a noble family in Indahl¡­


    Inside the carriage steered by Ben, as soon as the words "we''ve left the city gate" were spoken, the canvas covering the cargo was promptly lifted from the inside, revealing over 20 skeletal figures seated underneath.


    "It''s really inconvenient without teleportation points. We have to rely on transportation like this for our quests. And a carriage, of all things," complained Orange Cat. "Sis Zhao, when is the development team going to open up more teleportation points? Any insider news?"


    Zhao Zhenzhen was also among the players¡ªshe couldn''t trust this bunch of players with their quirky traits and preferred to keep a close eye on them.


    "How would I know! I''m just using a tool player account, not a GM one," Zhao Zhenzhen skillfully defused the question with ease. She pulled out rolled-up paper documents from her backpack and continued, "We still have some time until we reach our destination, so let''s first understand the details of this hidden quest¡­ um, storyline. Take a look at this."


    With that, she handed the documents to Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy, who were sitting together.


    Yang Ying, who sat next to Unceasing Entropy, and Study Obsessed, who was next to Yang Ying, also curiously leaned in to read.


    Players couldn''t communicate with the NPCs, but they had translation functionality thanks to the imprint matrix, so understanding the text wasn''t an issue:


    [Catastrophe No. 016: Redwall Farm Incident]


    Investigator: Codename: "Goldfish."


    The Bankcroft family, located 17 kilometers west of Neuen Town, built the Redwall Farm 30 years ago. Strange occurrences were reported after the autumn harvest of 1029, prompting a request for assistance from the local church.


    2nd day of the 11th month, 1029. "Goldfish" was assigned to investigate the Redwall Farm.


    Young Master Wilhem''s personal servant claimed to have heard the laughter of a baby in the courtyard while changing the master''s bedroom chamber pot at midnight.


    Rumors quickly spread among the servants that a maid had an affair, gave birth to a stillborn child in secret, and buried it in the garden.


    After investigation, it was confirmed that the rumors were baseless and originated from the jealousy of a kitchen maid toward a library maid.


    After the incident of the baby''s laughter, Young Master Wilhem began to weaken and claimed to be haunted by nightmares. However, he would quickly forget the content of the nightmares upon waking.


    A mental assessment of Young Master Wilhem was conducted, ruling out the possibility of mental illness.


    An investigation into Young Master Wilhem''s social interactions over the past year ruled out the possibility of promiscuity leading to the birth of a ghostly child.


    It was suggested that Young Master Wilhem receive a baptism at the church, which he firmly refused, claiming his family and godfather were devout followers of the Storm Lord and would not accept a pagan baptism.


    The first investigation was halted.


    18th day of the 11th month, 1029. The Bankcroft family sent another distress letter.


    The case was once again assigned to "Goldfish." sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The number of witnesses claiming to hear the baby''s laughter increased to 12, including Young Master Wilhem himself.


    The butler, cooks, coachmen, gardener, and several others all claimed to suffer from recurring nightmares and sleepless nights, just like Young Master Wilhem.


    Young Master Wilhem''s personal servant died suddenly 10 days ago, and Wilhem himself was on the brink of death.


    On the 20th, Young Master Wilhem died in his sleep.


    On the 24th, the butler died.


    On the 25th, a coachman and gardener died.


    On the 26th¡­


    On the 33rd, besides the study maid and four low-ranking servants, there were no other survivors left on Redwall Farm. The second investigation ended.


    1st day of the 12th month, 1029. "Goldfish" claimed to hear a baby''s laughter in his own home.


    6th day of the 12th month. "Goldfish" disappeared.


    20th day of the 12th month. Neuen Town residents discovered the corpse of "Goldfish''s" horse outside the sealed Redwall Farm.


    1st day of the 1st month, 1030. Redwall Farm was declared a restricted area and the archives sealed.


    Appendix: Copies of two distress letters signed by Wilhem K. Bankcroft.


    After flipping through the documents, including the appendix, which amounted to just five pages, Blossoming Strokes couldn''t help but inhale sharply. "¡­A quest given by the night watchmen really has an eerie vibe. This is definitely a horror storyline!"


    "Is this all the quest text?" Unceasing Entropy asked, puzzled. "It seems kinda disjointed. They took the time to investigate rumors and conduct mental assessments at the beginning, but later on, there''s no record of anything, just a straightforward list of who died. It feels a bit incomplete, doesn''t it?"


    Zhao Zhenzhen hesitated, unsure if she should tell the truth.


    "It''s probably that we need to unlock subsequent plotlines to see the details of the second investigation. Games with suspenseful and mysterious elements often follow this pattern," Blossoming Strokes said.


    Zhao Zhenzhen gave Blossoming Strokes a nod of approval. That was a reasonable explanation and saved her from having to explain further.


    "This quest involves solving the occult incidents that occurred on this farm. From the information we have now, the key point seems to be the laughter of a baby," Blossoming Strokes, while fearful, still had her intelligence intact and continued rationalizing. "The first to die was the personal servant, followed by the master. Obviously, they died in the order of hearing the baby''s laughter. When we arrive at the location, we should focus on searching for any quest items related to baby products."


    "There''s also the phenomenon of it being passed on to others. If one person hears it, the people they come into contact with will gradually start hearing it too¡­" Unceasing Entropy paused, furrowing their brow. "But it doesn''t make sense. It clearly states that the library maid and four low-ranking servants survived¡­ or perhaps these five also died, but it wasn''t recorded?"


    "Do the deceased turn into undead?" Yang Ying interjected. "If they become undead, we ought to be able to communicate with them, right?"


    "It''s hard to say. Seems like some undead aren''t that right in the mind; those undead we encountered in the sewers couldn''t communicate with us," Study Obsessed added.


    "We''ll find out when we get there," Unceasing Entropy said. "The ''baby laughter'' takes quite a while to kill, around half a month, so it isn''t much of a threat to us and we can freely explore."


    "Eh? Right!" Blossoming Strokes slapped her thigh. "That''s right. This sort of killing method is quite scary, but it only scares the living and has nothing to do with us. Who doesn''t die every few days!"


    "Uh¡­ Blossom, it''s probably best not to die if we can avoid it. If you die, you''ll respawn back in Weisshem," Fallen Mulberry Leaves chimed in.


    "I know, I was just saying!" Blossoming Strokes responded.


    Zhao Zhenzhen silently wiped away the nonexistent sweat on her brow.


    How should she put it¡­ Players controlling undead shells and appearing in this world like they were playing a game was indeed convenient.


    As the players chatted along the way, Ben steered the carriage swiftly and arrived at the Redwall Farm, which was about 30 kilometers from the Indahl city area.


    Redwall Farm, covering over three hundred acres of land, had canals and waterwheels, and its irrigation systems were well-constructed. Within a radius of two kilometers, there were no other dwellings. The once fertile fields were now overgrown with weeds and inhabited by wild animals. When Ben got off the carriage and cleared the wooden barriers blocking the road, there were even wild wolves lurking in the bushes, watching with curiosity.


    As the large carriage followed the high stone wall around the Redwall Farm and approached the main entrance, a large flock of crows perching on the wall flapped their wings, creating an eerie atmosphere that startled Blossoming Strokes, who was sensitive to such ominous events.


    The carriage came to a stop in front of a rusted iron gate. Ben jumped off the carriage and pulled out an axe from under his seat. He broke the lock and chains on the iron gate and pushed the heavy door open.


    Before the players appeared a dilapidated and luxurious mansion, a four-story building formed by three connected buildings in the shape of a recessed T.


    "Wow¡ªthis is a hidden quest that might not even be triggered, and they''ve created such an amazing scene for it?" Unceasing Entropy marveled.


    "Hey, you haven''t seen the scale model of Indahl on the ground," Runaway Goldfish, a cosplayer skilled with makeup, gushed. "The modeling of the Indahl city area is even smaller than the real city. Now, that''s impressive. This kind of quest scene can easily be duplicated from the modeling of a mansion."


    "Don''t stand around chattering. Let''s go inside and take a look," Unceasing Entropy said, waving her bone claw and taking the lead entering the gate.


    "Wait, I''ll go ahead." Yang Ying was worried that her robe-wearing friend might be instantly killed by some unknown monster that suddenly appeared. She quickly stepped in the front and turned back to address the others, "Come on, let''s go together. The players in plate armor should walk in the middle and not take any risks."


    Zhao Zhenzhen looked down at her cotton T-shirt and, with no hesitation, squeezed into the middle of the group of players.


    Ben had been told explicitly not to enter. He took off his hat, stood by the carriage, and silently watched as the undead disappeared into the darkness.

 Chapter 139: Death Flag

    "Hehe¡­"


    Yang Ying, who was at the front, paused.


    "Did anybody hear anything?" Yang Ying turned around and asked.


    Unceasing Entropy didn''t quite understand. "What do you mean?"


    "Um¡­" Yang Ying hesitated, then glanced at the others.


    It seemed like no one else had heard anything, and they were all waiting for her to speak.


    "Never mind." Yang Ying scratched her head, thinking it might have been her imagination, and continued leading the way.


    The once grand courtyard, impressive from a distance, lost its charm up close. The cobblestone paths were overrun with vegetation, and even the dried-up fountain''s base was covered in weeds. Most of the flower beds were barren, with only a few wilted flowers and fallen leaves remaining.


    The luxurious classical castle-style building that had been so imposing from afar showed signs of decay upon closer inspection. Some room windows were broken, and the curtains flapped loudly in the wind. The blue-striped stone exterior walls were covered in moss, vines, and spiderwebs of various sizes.


    "It''s so eerie as if ghosts might jump out at any moment," Runaway Goldfish, the cosplay expert who had been waxing lyrical about Indahl''s details just moments ago, clung to her friend''s arm, feeling a bit nervous.


    "There really are ghosts here," Orange Cat said gravely.


    "Ehh?!!" Runaway Goldfish tightened her grip on her friend''s shoulder.


    "Us, you know. We aren''t living beings but undead. Aren''t undead ghosts? When we come here, aren''t we the real ghosts?" Orange Cat chuckled.


    Runaway Goldfish: "¡­"


    Just as Runaway Goldfish was about to chastise Orange Cat, Yang Ying at the forefront abruptly turned around. "Say¡­ Does nobody really hear that?"


    "What are you talking about, Sis Ying?" Everyone didn''t understand.


    "Giggling. Since we entered, I''ve been hearing it nonstop," Yang Ying said with a perplexed expression.


    "Really?" Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy spoke simultaneously.


    "Don''t scare us, Sis Ying! I can''t handle horror games!" Orange Cat exclaimed.


    "What the hell?!" Runaway Goldfish exclaimed. "And you tried to intentionally scare me?"


    "Quiet down." Unceasing Entropy raised her hand to signal everyone to stop. "Sis Ying, can you determine the direction of the sound?"


    "No. It''s erratic, sometimes coming from the left and other times from the right," Yang Ying replied honestly. "I''ve been looking around, but I can''t pinpoint it."


    "Is the laughter you hear continuous or intermittent?" Unceasing Entropy pressed.


    "Um¡­ when we first stepped in, it only happened every half a minute or so. But by the time we reached here, the interval became every ten seconds. It''s so annoying!" Yang Ying grumbled.


    Blossoming Strokes glanced at the system''s time display and said, "The in-game time was at 20:21, and now it''s 20:26. In the past five or six minutes, the frequency has increased significantly. The situation has deteriorated compared to the investigation report provided by the night watchmen."


    "Wait, so you''re saying we''ve really entered a haunted place?" Orange Cat murmured.


    "Is that a big deal? If there aren''t any ghosts here, would we even have this quest?" Phantom couldn''t help remarking mockingly.


    "It''s nothing. We''ve farmed quite a number of ghostly monsters already, and it''s been a walk in the park," Study Obsessed chimed in. "All we have to do is cut them down once we find it."


    "That''s true," Orange Cat said, calming down considerably.


    "It''s not as simple as whether there''s a ghost here," Unceasing Entropy stroked her chin and mused. "We all entered together, but Sis Ying can hear the giggling that we can''t. According to the information provided by the night watchmen, this kind of laughter is likely some form of death forecast, an omen, or curse marker. And Sis Ying was the first one to be targeted."


    "Uh¡­ And so?" Yang Ying scratched her head in confusion.


    Yang Ying wasn''t afraid of being targeted by some unknown terror. After all, it was just a game; in the worst-case scenario, she would die and respawn in Weisshem which wasn''t really a big deal!


    "These monsters in Redwall Farm aren''t like the ghost monsters we''ve encountered in the sewer that attack people straightforwardly," Blossoming Strokes took over the conversation. "In my opinion, which is the same as Qingyue''s, the monsters here are likely to follow certain rules and procedures when killing. Um¡­ Think of it as scripted deaths; just like when a supporting character in a TV series mentions that they''ll go back home to get married being a death flag. In this scenario, it''s hearing the laughter that leads to death."


    "I roughly understand what you two mean. You''re saying that the death forecasts in Redwall Farm are unexplainable, right?" Phantom said. "There''s no way to avoid or defend against it. Once the flag is triggered, it means death for whoever hears the laughter, right?"


    "That''s right." Unceasing Entropy nodded.


    "However, it''s not entirely unsolvable," Blossoming Strokes said.


    The two brainy players exchanged a smile, seemingly enjoying the fact that someone was on the same wavelength as them. Then, Unceasing Entropy explained the solution, "Sis Ying, log out for a moment and log back in after a minute."


    Phantom: "¡­"


    "That''s possible too?!" Orange Cat jaw was left hanging.


    Zhao Zhenzhen, who was staying close to the healers in the middle, gazed deeply at the two brainy players.


    Yang Ying obediently followed the instructions and logged out, her skeletal frame clattering to the ground.


    As soon as Yang Ying logged out, the Orange Cat jumped up as if someone had poked him in the butt. "What the hell! I hear the laughter! It''s f*cking eerie!"


    "It seems that logging out transfers it immediately. This makes things quite simple." Unceasing Entropy nodded. "Boss Orange Cat, you should log out after six minutes too."


    "Can I log out now? This sound is just too gross." Orange Cat grimaced.


    "It''s okay. Just think of it as a unique BGM specially for you," Phantom said with a wicked grin.


    "What goddamn unique BGM¡­ Should I be proud of that?" Orange Cat''s said with twitching lips.


    The group waited in place for two minutes and then, when Yang Ying logged back in, they resumed their exploration.


    The large main doors facing the fountain were very heavy, and players couldn''t push it open no matter how they tried. Thus, they chose to enter through a nearby window.


    Upon entering the building, what appeared before the players'' eyes was a lavishly decorated mansion hall. The hall had a ceiling height of at least six meters and an area of at least two hundred square meters. It still retained the furniture and decorations from its prosperous period. Thick woolen coats and top hats hung on the coat rack near the entrance, and there were even some exquisite tea sets on the coffee table in front of the fireplace.


    If it weren''t for the thick layer of dust covering the furniture and the spiderwebs everywhere, it would be hard for anyone to believe that this mansion had been abandoned for over two years¡ªit was indicated on Zhao Zhenzhen''s exorcist credentials during registration that the year was 1032.


    Players spontaneously began sweeping the hall, while Unceasing Entropy and Blossoming Strokes focused their attention on the Z-shaped staircase and wall facing the main hall.


    Three large portraits were hung on the wall.


    In the center, the largest painting depicted an elderly man with a square face dressed in formal attire and exuding an imposing aura as he sat on a high-backed chair.


    On the right, a slightly smaller painting depicted a middle-aged man wearing an extravagant feather-adorned hat, draped in a red half-cloak, holding a riding crop, and with one foot placed on a low stool.


    The smallest painting on the left depicted a young and handsome man riding a horse.


    "It looks like¡­ the second, first, and third generations," Unceasing Entropy''s gaze swept across the three paintings from right to left, and she said to Blossoming Strokes.


    Blossoming Strokes nodded in agreement.


    In addition to the size of the paintings indicating the clear differences between the three generations, the demeanor of the subjects also followed the pattern of the three generations: the self-made and hardworking first generation, the second generation enjoying wealth but lacking discipline to some extent, and the elite third generation groomed with outstanding education since childhood, carrying the heavy responsibility of the family''s heritage.


    Besides the three portraits of the masters, there was a huge four-meter deity-like figure hanging on the wall next to the fireplace.


    Unlike images of Lady Gold Coin that players occasionally saw in Weisshem, this statue was a robust male with long curly hair and beard. Bare-chested and standing atop turbulent waves in a fierce wind, the statue raised his arms high as if controlling the tempest.


    At the bottom of the statue, the words "Storm Lord" were displayed.


    Unceasing Entropy''s gaze briefly paused on the statue before moving away, continuing to inspect the living room. While the indigenous people of this world might admire the majesty and sanctity of this Storm Lord''s image, the Chinese players didn''t share that sentiment.


    "No portrait of the mistresses of the house," Blossoming Strokes remarked. "That''s strange¡­ Isn''t it common to have portraits of noblewomen in paintings?"


    "This might be a hint." Unceasing Entropy also noticed this. "We probably need to approach this task with a puzzle-solving mindset¡ª"


    Before she could finish, Orange Cat suddenly shouted, "I can''t stand this noise anymore! Brothers and sisters, I''m Iogging out first!"


    Then, this fellow clattered to the ground¡­


    "The hell!" Phantom exclaimed a moment after Orange Cat disconnected.


    "Six minutes, six minutes." Blossoming Strokes gestured toward Phantom.


    "Orange Cat wasn''t lying. This BGM is goddamn eerie!" Phantom grimaced.


    "Unceasing Entropy, Blossoming Strokes, over here; we''ve found something!" a player that was searching the living room called out excitedly.


    The two brainiacs ran over.


    This player happily displayed her findings, and forcefully lifted the carpet between the fireplace and the coffee table.


    On the back of the carpet were large, dark stains that appeared black from a distance but looked like maroon up close.


    Blossoming Strokes crouched down to examine them carefully and exclaimed, "This is¡­ blood!"


    "You all think it''s blood too, right?" The player who found the clue rubbed her hands together gleefully.


    Phantom, who was searching a cabinet close to the fireplace, came over and commented, "It''s just a dark and murky mess. How can you tell that it''s blood?"


    Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy pretended not to hear and the female player that had found the clue didn''t respond either¡­


    "This amount of blood exceeds two liters," Unceasing Entropy said. "Someone died here, and the scene was cleaned up."


    "When a large number of people died here, did someone take the opportunity to commit murder?" Blossoming Strokes wondered.


    "There''s a possibility, but it could also have happened before the calamity," Unceasing Entropy mused. "Baby laughter as a death omen, missing portraits of the mistresses, deaths in the house¡­ Hmm, there are too many missing pieces of information, and it doesn''t add up."


    Annoyed at being ignored, Phantom pulled out a diary he had been holding and threatened, "If you fellas don''t pay attention to me again, I won''t show you this thing."


    As soon as he finished speaking, the carefully bound diary in Phantom''s hand was snatched away by Study Obsessed, who had just arrived.


    "Childish." Study Obsessed glared at the dumbfounded Phantom and handed the diary to Blossoming Strokes.


    "I¡­ You¡­ Damn it!" Phantom had nowhere to vent his frustrations.


    This diary, carefully bound with ribbons, seemed to belong to someone with a low level of education. Each entry in the diary was very short, and the handwriting was crooked¡ª


    9th, 6th Month.


    Sir Butler said that Young Master Wilhem would arrive before the autumn harvest, and I''m really excited. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    1st, 7th Month


    Young Master Wilhem has arrived, and he''s still as handsome as ever.


    20th, 7th Month


    Young Master Wilhem complimented the potato soup I made. He says it has a traditional Kashmiri taste. I''m delighted.


    28th, 7th Month


    That damn slut. She must be trying to seduce Young Master Wilhem.


    6th, 8th Month


    Slut! Slut! Slut!


    12th, 8th Month


    She got scolded by Young Master Wilhem. I''m so happy.


    30th, 8th Month


    Why doesn''t Sir Butler fire her? She can''t do the library work properly at all.


    7th, 9th Month


    Slut! Slut! Slut! She''s infuriating!


    20th, 10th Month


    Finally exposed her true face. Everyone should know how dirty she is now!


    3rd, 11th Month


    I didn''t lie! She''s always been like this. Even if she didn''t do so before, she definitely will in the future. She''s just a slut! She even dares to deceive the night watchmen! Were it in Kashmiri, this kind of bitch should be burned to death!

 Chapter 140: Catastrophe Level

    "It looks like the feud between a kitchen maid and library maid, just like what was mentioned in the night watchmen''s investigation report," Blossoming Strokes said to Unceasing Entropy after she had finished going through the diary.


    Unceasing Entropy wasn''t fully convinced. "It does seem like it¡­ but it''s also a little odd."


    "What do you mean?" Phantom, who had found the diary, asked. "Is there something wrong with this diary?"


    Blossoming Strokes nodded and explained, "This game has always pursued realism to such an extreme degree. If this is really the diary of the kitchen maid, there''s no way such a personal item would be hidden in a public space like the hall. Why wouldn''t she keep it in her own room?"


    Zhao Zhenzhen, who had been wandering near the fireplace, suddenly turned her head in their direction.


    She had already had firsthand experience on how perceptive the young ladies Unceasing Entropy and Blossoming Strokes were. To prevent them from overthinking or having the wrong approach when solving this mystery, she had to intervene.


    "It''s likely as you said, the excessive pursuit of realism of this game," Zhao Zhenzhen intervened decisively and added, "The kitchen maid is a lower-ranking servant and probably doesn''t have her own room. Keeping the diary in her own living quarters might make it easier to be discovered."


    "Ah." Blossoming Strokes hit a fist on her palm in realization. "That makes sense. Each diary entry is short because the kitchen maid needs to quickly write the diary and hide it away, leaving no time for lengthy entries."


    "Maids of different ranks receive different treatment¡­ So, the kitchen maid''s jealousy of the library maid might not be entirely because of Young Master Wilhem but also because of the difference in their status and treatment," Unceasing Entropy mused, stroking her chin. "The kitchen maid can read and write but didn''t get the position of a library maid, and this might be the main reason."


    "But I think it''s unlikely that a feud between maids and some petty disputes could lead to a major event," Blossoming Strokes narrowed her eyes and said. "The kitchen maid''s hatred of the library maid is likely just the starting point for uncovering clues."


    "Kashmiri¡­" Unceasing Entropy muttered, following Blossoming Strokes'' train of thought. "Young Master Wilhem is an out-of-towner¡­ According to the night watchmen''s report, the surviving library maid and four low-level servants were locals. Investigator ''Goldfish,'' who could be considered a fortunate survival at the time, was also local."


    "In other words¡­ Young Master Wilhem himself, his personal male servant, the butler, the gardener, coachman, and even the kitchen maid, who died first, are likely all from Kashmiri," Blossoming Strokes said.


    Unceasing Entropy nodded. "The calamity at Redwall Farm was directed at the people from Kashmiri. Only those locals that had contact with them would be affected, while others would be relatively safe. It doesn''t pose an imminent crisis for other people, which should be the main reason why the Church of Lady Gold Coin''s night watchmen have ignored Redwall Farm for over two years."


    "So, the focus of the catastrophe should have been on Young Master Wilhem, who arrived in Indahl before the autumn harvest of 1029," Blossoming Strokes affirmed. "We need to focus our search on the master''s room for quest items related to Kashmiri, especially the rooms of Young Master Wilhem and his personal male servant. These two were the first to hear the laughter and the earliest to experience anomalies."


    With the analysis complete, Blossoming Strokes was pumped up and immediately swung a bone claw excitedly. "Let''s go upstairs!"


    The other players: "¡­¡­(¡ã ¡÷¡ã(¡ã ¡÷¡ã (¡ã ¡÷¡ã )"


    After a few steps, Unceasing Entropy noticed that everyone except her and Blossoming Strokes hadn''t budged. She turned back and urged, "Come on, what are you all waiting for?"


    "Oh, coming, coming!" the bunch of players chimed.


    "Have those two found the clues in just this short time?" Orange Cat, who had just logged back in and was wearing his equipment, asked in surprise.


    "These two experts are just like that. Get used to it," remarked Study Obsessed.


    Hundreds of kilometers away in Exile Town, Yang Qiu stroked his chin while calmly observing this group of players.


    He had noticed something unusual when Zhao Zhenzhen had made contact with the Church of Lady Gold Coin''s night watchmen¡­ Were he not transferring his own mental power via the imprint matrix to support Zhao Zhenzhen''s usage of the Orb of Deception when she ventured to the night watchmen division, Zhao Zhenzhen would have died and respawned in Weisshem a long time ago.


    Yang Qiu naturally didn''t blame her for anything since she was trying to solve Weisshem financial crisis. Who would hold a grudge against a tool at their own service?


    Besides, Zhao Zhenzhen hadn''t actually fooled the Church of Lady Gold Coin¡­ She had been trying all means to earn gold coins. Yet that bunch had actually handed this sort of catastrophe, which could be classified as a Level 3 threat, to a novice exorcist. Their hearts were truly pitch black.


    Typically, each church''s night watchmen division referred to events that had the potential to cause widespread death (greater than ten deaths) as Catastrophic Events and categorized them into four levels based on their threat level.


    The most common was a Level 4 Catastrophe.


    The dire consequences as a result of ordinary people coming into contact in mystic arts or knowledge and losing control of their minds or invoking some unspeakable entities. This usually affected everyone associated with them, resulting not only in their own downfall but also potentially impacting their family, friends, and neighbors.


    These tragedies were more likely to occur among ordinary people because those with even a little knowledge of the mystic tended to have the instinct to evade danger and stop the spread of danger in time¡­ Like Rex, who had known he was about to lose control and had hidden himself away in the Sorenson Mountains.


    Above that was a Level 3 Catastrophe.


    This wasn''t a threat level that could be triggered by one person''s reckless actions; it mostly involved cultists engaging in cultist rituals or sealed artifacts. Typically, it resulted in the deaths of hundreds or even thousands of people. The "Main Storyline Plot" that Yang Qiu had fabricated belonged to such a level.


    A Level 2 Catastrophe wasn''t caused by forbidden seals but rather by unstable spatial rifts that led to invasions by void demons. Such events had the potential to completely turn a city or two dead, and perhaps even lead to the collapse of a nation.


    A Level 1 Catastrophe was the return of an elder god.


    Based on Yang Qiu''s experience and judgment, the Redwall Farm incident fell under a Level 3 Catastrophe.


    The people involved were nobles from Kashmiri. When Yang Qiu saw the report from the night watchmen through his mental imprint matrix, he knew that this matter had nothing to do with cults or forbidden rituals. The Kashmiri region wasn''t in the Rhine Kingdom. Instead, it was a part of their eastern neighbor, the powerful Norsk Federation, that had great lands and coastlines.


    The Norsk Federation was territory of the Storm Church.


    The Storm Church didn''t have the same casual and carefree style the Church of Lady Gold Coin had. Not to mention cults; even legitimate believers of other gods had little room to establish themselves in Norsk. The nobles of Norsk, who had families and businesses, would hardly get involved in anything related to cults unless their minds were completely twisted.


    Ruling out the possibilities of a cult and given the targeted transmission to specific groups (the Kashmiri people and the Rhine people that had extensive contact) with a 100% fatality rate, there was only one answer¡ªa sealed artifact!


    Evidently, the Church of Lady Gold Coin was aware that there was a sealed artifact hidden inside Redwall Farm. That was why they closed off the farm and didn''t immediately send people to resolve the situation; containing a sealed artifact would cost lives.


    Zhao Zhenzhen''s exorcist alias was definitely not the first civilian to receive this commission in the past two years. The Church of Lady Gold Coin''s use of freelance exorcists as cannon fodder was a shameless move.


    However¡­ Yang Qiu had no intention of stopping this malicious commission, and he even prepared to assist the players if necessary.


    The Church of Lady Gold Coin was using his players to take on the risk, so Yang Qiu would casually intercept the sealed artifact. Wasn''t that only to be expected?


    In any case, there was no way the players would be afraid of containing the sealed artifact, even if it meant risking their lives.


    As Yang Qiu continued to watch attentively, the players made their way up the stairs to the second floor.


    As they stepped onto the second floor, Orange Cat, who was in the middle of the group, suddenly felt an indescribable sense of unease.


    "Strange¡­ Why do I suddenly feel uncomfortable?" Orange Cat scratched his arm, puzzled.


    "What kind of tricks are you trying now, Boss Orange Cat?" Runaway Goldfish quipped from the side.


    "I''m not trying anything funny, seriously, I just¡­ can''t describe it. It''s just uncomfortable," Orange Cat tried to explain but couldn''t find better words. He hesitated and added, "Let me put it this way: it''s like that stuffy and nauseating feeling you get when you''re near a large trash can. Can you get me?"


    "What nonsense are you on about?" Runaway Goldfish was disbelieving. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Brother, we''re undead, and undead don''t have noses. Our sense of smell is terrible." Study Obsessed gave Orange Cat a sidelong glance. She, too, shared the same opinion as Runaway Goldfish.


    Yang Ying, who was right at the front, halted too and said hesitantly, "Uh¡­ I, too, feel something isn''t quite right. I don''t know why, but I started feeling uneasy when we got to the second floor."


    Seeing someone else speak up, Phantom raised his hand and added, "Me, too. I also feel that there''s something strange about this floor."


    Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy exchanged glances, and asked at the same time, "Anyone else feeling not right?"


    The players looked at one another, but no one said anything.


    Zhao Zhenzhen hesitated for a bit before she raised her hand too. "I do feel something too¡­ But I''m using a tool player account, so it might not be accurate."


    "It''s definitely accurate, Sis Zhao. You''re an undead too." Blossoming Strokes nodded.


    The player currently "infected" with the death flag raised a weak hand. "Um, guys, is it just me, or is the laughter getting stronger here?"


    "Quick, log out and log back in." Blossoming Strokes waved her hand. "So, it''s Boss Orange Cat, Sis Ying, Sis Zhao and Phantom feeling strange all at the same time?"


    "Now that you mention it, the ones who first heard the laughter were also you four." Unceasing Entropy stroked her chin. "Perhaps there''s something you guys have in common?"


    "Huh? What do we have in common?" Phantom was puzzled. "How can Boss Orange Cat be compared to us three?"


    "The heck?! What''s that supposed to mean?" Orange Cat complained.


    "Hmm¡­ Wait a minute. Boss Orange Cat also has some unique characteristics." Unceasing Entropy''s eyes narrowed. "Boss Orange Cat is always online for long periods, and his Potential value has broken through 100, just like the three of you. Among us, only you four are at Level 2."


    "If Potential value breaks through 100, your mana bar limit and recovery speed will increase," Blossoming Strokes mused. "Since this game has Cthulhu elements, then perhaps it means¡­ the higher the level, the greater the perceptiveness?"


    "Hold on!" Phantom extended his hand. "You two better not say that the higher your level in the game, the more bad luck you attract! Who would grind levels every day if that were the case?!"


    Unceasing Entropy added, "In terms of Cthulhu elements, higher-level players with higher perceptiveness are indeed more likely to encounter trouble. However, on the flip side, higher-level players are also more likely to detect crises."


    "That''s right," Blossoming Strokes seamlessly continued, pointing to the dark second-floor corridor. "For example, right now, those of us haven''t reached Level 2 yet are completely unaware of the crisis, while you four have already sensed it."

 Chapter 141: Sealed Artifact

    The second floor of this luxurious mansion had a style identical to the hall on the ground floor: gold and brown colors dominated it with extravagant and intricate wall decorations everywhere. If it weren''t for the thick layer of dust and numerous cobwebs, it could pass off as a VIP area in some luxurious night club.


    Blossoming Strokes approached the nearest room to the staircase and pushed the door open. With a slight creak of the hinges, a cobweb hanging from the door frame was torn apart, causing a fat spider to drop down, swaying from side to side in front of Blossoming Strokes.


    Blossoming Strokes used a bony finger to cut the spider silk and casually swatted the fat spider away.


    The window in this room was broken, letting in a howling wind that filled the room. The curtains, battered by the wind and rain, fluttered loudly. As soon as the door was opened, a strange wind carrying a damp and musty smell hit the players in the face.


    The players remained unfazed, and after recognizing that this seemed to be the butler''s living quarters from the clothes on the coat rack, they exited.


    The weekly Inner Demon instances and frequent trips to Spider Cave had already toughened the veteran players'' nerves to be as resilient as steel wires. Such a trifling scene wouldn''t surprise them¡­ Even Orange Cat, who entered the Inner Demon instance to be carried, didn''t find the moldy strange wind particularly alarming.


    "This house has bad Feng Shui. The orientation is all wrong, and if people live here, the northwest wind blows in every day, scattering all the wealth in the house," Orange Cat commented, taking the opportunity to express some superstitious beliefs.


    "Feng Shui in a ''Cthulhu system''? Is there such a thing?" Yang Ying asked in bewilderment.


    "No such thing, no such thing." Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy simultaneously waved their hands, dismissing the notion.


    The adventurers proceeded, discovering a library with shelves filled with books and numerous exquisitely crafted wood carvings, a storage room cluttered with large pieces of furniture, a tea room for resting, and a dressing room draped in men''s clothing.


    It wasn''t until they reached the furthest end of the corridor that they stumbled upon what appeared to be the master''s living quarters.


    This suite consisted of a living area and an even more extravagant bedroom, adorned with flamboyant decor, leading to a large bathroom with a balcony. The living area was filled with uniquely shaped wooden sculptures and a tall cabinet displaying an array of delicate carvings.


    Given the library''s emphasis on books and wood carvings, it was evident that the room''s owner, presumably Young Master Wilhem, had a profound affection for woodcraft.


    "This should be it. Start searching!" Blossoming Strokes commanded, rolling up her sleeves to get down to work.


    "Remember to use the ''Identify'' when it''s off cooldown, and keep an eye out for any hidden compartments," Unceasing Entropy reminded everyone.


    Simply rummaging through the room wouldn''t be enough to uncover "quest items." However, with "Identify"¡ªthe versatile skill that players could use repeatedly for a minimal cost¡ªlocating items of special significance became much simpler.


    Soon, one of the players detected a secret compartment beneath the large bed. After some effort, Yang Ying managed to unlock and pull open the hidden drawer, only to find¡­ it completely empty.


    "How can this be? Why hide a compartment so well if there''s nothing inside?" Blossoming Strokes wondered, scratching her head in confusion.


    "Hmm? Hold on!" Unceasing Entropy suddenly crouched down, pointing inside the now-vacant space under the bed, "There seems to be something in there. Who has ''Identify'' ready?"


    "Mine''s ready. Let me do it," said Orange Cat, seizing the opportunity to showcase his ability after being looked down the whole day. He crouched next to Unceasing Entropy and cast Identify.


    Then¡­ Orange Cat suddenly cried out, "Ahh!" and turned into white light.


    "What the¡ª?!" Blossoming Strokes was flabbergasted.


    Yang Ying was equally stunned. "What happened?"


    Unceasing Entropy, staring blankly at the spot where Orange Cat had vanished, quickly came to her senses and gestured for everyone to step back. "Stay away from there! Don''t recklessly cast Identify there!"


    The bedroom was spacious enough for the players to retreat, and they obediently pressed themselves against the walls.


    "What''s going on? Did Boss Orange Cat just die from using Identify?" Study Obsessed was completely bamboozled.


    "It''s unclear for now. Does anyone have Boss Orange Cat''s number? We should check with him offline," Unceasing Entropy suggested. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Oh, I do," Yang Ying chimed in promptly. "I''ll log out and ask."


    After a few minutes of patiently waiting, Yang Ying returned online and hurriedly reported to the group without even gearing up, "Orange Cat said he saw his health bar deplete instantly after using Identify. It happened so fast, and he only made out the words ''Do not look directly'' in the item''s information."


    "''Do not look directly''¡­ Does that mean just seeing whatever is in there is lethal?" Blossoming Strokes was at a loss. "It''s just a quest item. Does it need to be this dramatic?"


    "What if we don''t use our eyes to look? Would that be safe?" Zhao Zhenzhen quickly chimed in with a suggestion.


    "Um¡­ Any brave volunteer willing to give it a try?" Blossoming Strokes looked around at the group.


    The players exchanged glances, but no one stepped up.


    After all, dying would mean respawning in Weisshem. Besides being unable to participate in this quest, it would still require great effort and time to trek back to Indahl.


    "How about I do it?" Yang Ying offered. "If I die, I''ll just run back here with Orange Cat."


    Weisshem wasn''t that far off from Indahl, and with patience, players could make it via a one- or two-hour run.


    Yang Ying blindfolded herself with a cloth strip, knelt beside the bed, and reached into the gap beneath the bed.


    After a few moments of groping, Yang Ying shuddered.


    "Damn¡­" She turned stiffly toward the group. "There''s¡­ there''s a hand in there, and it''s got a strong grip."


    Runaway Goldfish gasped dramatically, and Blossoming Strokes couldn''t help taking a step back.


    "It''s strong, but doesn''t seem heavy. Maybe I can pull it out¡­" Yang Ying continued. "Blossom, Qingyue, should I try to pull it out?"


    "Hold on," Unceasing Entropy quickly interjected. "Can you shake it off?"


    "Let me try¡­ Yeah, I think I can." After some effort, Yang Ying stood up abruptly. "I shook it off."


    Unceasing Entropy heaved a sigh of relief and was just about to say something when a head suddenly squeezed through the narrow gap.


    "Aaaaahhhh!"


    The slower-reacting players could only scream, while the quicker ones instinctively turned their faces away.


    Runaway Goldfish, having gotten a clear view of the entity emerging from under the bed, paused mid-scream. "Eh?"


    "Hmm?" Curious, Study Obsessed turned to look at Runaway Goldfish, then what she was staring at¡ª a figure emerging from under the bed. She froze for a moment, then quickly drew her knife and advanced.


    The more cautious players finally looked back¡­


    A ghostly figure, translucent and fluid-like, composed of black mist, was ferociously lunging at Yang Ying.


    These sorts of ghostly monsters were nothing new to the players. They had slain numerous ones in the sewers of Indahl. Immediately, a number of players drew their weapons to aid in the fight.


    "It''s probably a ghost of someone who died here before," Unceasing Entropy said, exhaling sharply after the ghostly entity was slain. "Thankfully, it was just a false alarm. We''d be in real trouble if something lethal on sight started chasing us around."


    "I''ll try again." Yang Ying put on the cloth blindfold and knelt down once more.


    This time, Yang Ying didn''t encounter any disruptive spirits and instead felt an irregular object, like some sort of statue.


    "It''s only about the size of a palm and feels like wood. I reckon it''s a wooden carving," Yang Ying said. "I can''t just pull it out. We''ve got to first find a container."


    The players rummaged around for something to hold this item¡­


    Phantom emerged from the bathroom with a wooden box, likely meant for toiletries. "Will this do?"


    "Wood should work. We weren''t able to detect this thing when using ''Identify'' on the bed, so wood should be able to shield it," Blossoming Strokes deduced.


    Phantom removed the lid, aligning it with the gap, and Yang Ying carefully moved the object into the wooden box.


    As soon as the "containment" was completed, several yellow system notifications popped up on the players'' interfaces.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    [System Announcement]: Unceasing Entropy''s raid group has obtained Sealed Artifact: Unseeable Weeping Baby.


    [System Announcement]: Unceasing Entropy''s raid group has gained Worldview Breakthrough and unlocked the setting achievement: "Sealed Artifacts."


    [System Announcement]: Lord of Taranthan, Black Mage Yang, is collecting sealed artifacts. Turning in a sealed artifact grants 3000 territory prestige to the player.


    "Sealed Artifacts"


    In this world, there are many mysterious, dangerous, and unimaginable sealed artifacts.


    Sealed artifacts could be an object, a building, landscape, an inconspicuous stone, an ordinary key, a man-made clock, a printed book¡­


    But when you become aware of its presence, it also becomes aware of you.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Phantom, who was holding the wooden box, immediately lost his composure. "Holy crap, this thing is worth 3000 territory prestige points?!"


    Blossoming Strokes quickly turned to Zhao Zhenzhen. "Sis Zhao, do we have to hand this item over for the night watchmen''s quest?"


    Zhao Zhenzhen: "¡­"


    Zhao Zhenzhen scrutinized the third line of the system announcement. As if she could feel Lord Yang''s eager gaze from afar, she made a decision. "Of course not, we''re just here to deal with the abnormal phenomena at this farm."


    "This thing can kill just by being looked at. It''s definitely the main culprit. If we take it away, doesn''t that mean we''ve solved the issue?" Phantom asked eagerly.


    "Possibly, but to be safe, we should also eliminate any potential ghost monsters in the area, so we don''t have to make another trip back if the quest isn''t complete," Blossoming Strokes suggested.


    "Alright, so do we auction this now or after we complete the quest?" Phantom asked.


    Unceasing Entropy glanced at Phantom, who was unwilling to let go of the wooden box, knowing the item''s ownership needed to be settled for peace of mind. "We can auction it now."


    "I bid 100 copper!" Phantom raised his voice.


    "Uh¡­ I''m interested too. I bid 150," Blossoming Strokes said.


    "200!" Phantom countered.


    "300." Blossoming Strokes didn''t hesitate.


    "Is it really appropriate to start the bidding so high?" The others were startled.


    "This is with Boss Orange Cat not even here," Unceasing Entropy remarked with arms crossed and a shake of her head. "Winning this item and grinding hard for a bit could give a massive chance toward becoming a player mayor next month.


    "That''s fine, we''ll get a bigger share of the money," Yang Ying said cheerfully.


    Zhao Zhenzhen, the only one who knew the world''s true nature, stood at the side, expressionless.


    The phrase "When you become aware of its presence, it also becomes aware of you" from the sealed artifact''s description was chillingly profound for Zhao Zhenzhen, even if it seemed trivial to the players.


    Evidently, the mansion''s original owner had no idea about the dangerous nature of this wooden carving and probably treated it as a mere artistic ornament, bringing it to Indahl.


    As long as people were unaware of its anomaly, it remained harmless.


    Later, perhaps Young Master Wilhem''s personal manservant had other intentions, like theft¡­


    Based on Zhao Zhenzhen''s understanding of human nature, it wasn''t hard to deduce the truth behind this bizarre catastrophe¡ª


    The manservant, harboring ulterior motives, likely hid the carving under the master''s bed to see if the master would notice its absence. If the master realized something was missing, he would retrieve it; if not, the servant planned to sell it.


    The palm-sized carving was easy to conceal, especially compared to the larger carvings.


    However¡­ As soon as the servant began paying special attention to the carving, the carving became aware of him.


    And so, he was the first to hear a baby''s laughter.

 Chapter 142: Family Members’ Secret Classes

    Had it been other organizations composed of living people, an attempt to deal with the lethal wooden carving hidden in Redwall Farm would inevitably result in heavy casualties.


    Just entering would trigger a curse that killed people at such a high frequency it could claim a life every few minutes. This threshold alone was insurmountable for 99% of organizations.


    Even if an organization managed to withstand the curse and find the baby wood carving in the compartment under the wooden bed, the carving''s rule of death upon direct sight presented yet another¡­ A stroke of bad luck in directly uncovering the carving could lead to the demise of an entire team.


    Such a perilously malevolent sealed artifact would undoubtedly continue wrecking havoc at Redwall Farm if not for the calamitous players that came from a different dimension¡ªbut once the players came, it was the end of the matter.


    Phantom bid a "high" of 800 copper, and Blossoming Strokes, short on cash, had to regretfully pass. After resolving the ownership of the sealed artifact, the players continued their search of Redwall Farm.


    This time, in addition to eliminating the ghosts lurking in every corner, the players also engaged in some opportunistic thievery¡­


    Originally, investigator "Goldfish" and the other five survivors had fled the place in a hurry, the threat to their lives leaving them with no time to gather valuables. Over time, the catastrophe within the farm worsened, deterring anyone from coming close.


    In other words, the Redwall Farm mansion still housed many valuable items¡­


    Several hours later, undead laden with large and small bundles left the farm and squeezed into the carriage.


    The players, eager to monetize (sell back to Old Yang) their "plunder," strongly insisted on directing the carriage not back to Indahl but straight to Weisshem.


    As dawn broke, a large tented carriage loaded with undead and valuable items entered Weisshem town.


    As the carriage full of undead passed along the town''s main street, Sam Hank, who was replacing roof tiles on a building, adjusted his dust-covered straw hat and glanced over.


    Sam was used to seeing the undead, but his brother Paul still seemed uncomfortable, instinctively shrinking back.


    Sam glanced at his brother and, while laying tiles, said softly, "Calm down, Paul, they won''t harm us."


    Paul Hank nodded hesitantly, focusing on his work.


    Sam was somewhat frustrated by his brother''s timid and reticent nature, even toward him, but ultimately said nothing more.


    Today marked the sixth day since the Hank family had followed the convoy to Weisshem.


    Six days ago, when the disheveled convoy entered Weisshem, all the soldiers'' families were extremely anxious about this unfamiliar town.


    Whether it was the rumors they had heard about Weisshem back in Indahl or the reality that the soldiers had personally verified¡ªthe presence of the undead in the town¡ªall of it made the former city dwellers, accustomed to a stable life, feel despair.


    Fortunately, Lord Rex showed enough warmth toward these exiles from Indahl. He allocated an entire alley on the north side of Martin Street to the soldiers and their families. The houses, though in need of repair, were a much better option than being homeless.


    Having familiar faces as their neighbors, along with the bustling daily market on Martin Street, comforted the soldiers'' families; the efforts of their former superior, Mr. Wagner Pitt, in arranging jobs for them and their families gradually instilled confidence in making a long-term life here.


    But Weisshem wasn''t without its imperfections, such as the undead that occasionally appeared on the streets, openly and unapologetically.


    These undead weren''t just freely roaming around the human town of Weisshem, where they shouldn''t be, but they were also engaging in similar tasks as the living¡ªsome of the construction sites for rebuilding the town''s main street were even managed by them!


    And the people of Weisshem seemed oblivious to this eerie and terrifying reality!


    Were it not for the cheap prices of essentials like salt, sugar, spices, and tofu, which significantly reduced living costs, plus the fact that every family had some members with new jobs, there would have been deserters among the families already.


    Sam and his brother had replaced the roof tiles of an entire small building. After using a simple hoisting device to move the old tiles down to a handcart, a male clerk from the town hall supervising the site waved at them. "Lunchtime, Hank brothers. Come wash your hands and get your work meal."


    "Alright, sir." Sam took off his hat, shook off the dust, and gestured for his brother to follow.


    Those working temporarily on the construction site were entitled to a free lunch, a benefit reportedly added by Mr. Rex for women who came to earn a wage just like the men at home. Without the free meals, these women would have had to end their morning work early to go home and cook, reducing work efficiency.


    The Hank brothers had been tasked with fetching lunch for their coworkers from the town hall since their first day on the site; they both were tall, strong, and more hygienic than the other workers.


    Today, as usual, they dusted off their clothes, washed their hands at a well outside the construction site, and headed toward the town hall at the end of the main road with buckets and wooden basins to carry the food.


    On the way, Sam ran into many of his former colleagues¡ªthese fellow ex-soldiers brought in by Wagner Pitt were well trusted by the clerks at various sites and were tasked with the important job of collecting lunch, just like Sam.


    "I wonder what''s for lunch today. It would be great if there are those flour-and-egg-coated fried chicken legs like yesterday," said a young ex-soldier, licking his lips. "Back when we were prisoners, we had our share of good food. Now, it''s harder than before to get such treats."


    "The work we do now is much easier than before, after all. If they continue to feed us like wealthy people, I wouldn''t dare eat." A fellow veteran ex-soldier chuckled.


    "If you want meat, I think the best deal is the ''dumplings'' from the delicatessen," Sam added. "Sadly, Lyka is the only one working there, so it''s always too busy. The dumplings are limited each day and hard to get."


    "Yeah," others agreed. "With Brook and that undead lady not around, the delicatessen has fewer offerings."


    Paul, Sam''s brother, had a complicated expression on his face as he listened to the conversation between his older brother and his comrades¡­


    "Oh, have you heard?" the older ex-soldier asked. "The town hall is recruiting staff. What do you guys plan to do?"


    "I''ve already asked the clerk at my workplace to sign me up," Sam replied immediately. "The house we were given is in bad shape; I need to earn some money quickly to fix the roof."


    "Me, too," another ex-soldier said. "There''ll surely be a lot of applications. Not sure if I''ll make it¡­ But no harm trying."


    "It would be great if Lieutenant Pitt could put in a good word for us." A young comrade sighed. "He seems to have connections with Mr. Lowell and Mr. Yang. Surely that would be helpful."


    "It''s best if we don''t bother Lieutenant." Some older comrades immediately shook their heads in disagreement.


    "I''ve heard Mr. Lowell hasn''t been well lately and hasn''t stepped out in days. I saw Lieutenant Pitt near the delicatessen the other day, and although he didn''t say it outright, I could tell he''s very worried."


    "Yeah, Sarge never lets us know how much burden he has to bear. We shouldn''t bother him with things we can handle ourselves."


    "I was just saying¡­" the young ex-soldier muttered sheepishly. "Let''s forget I mentioned it, then."


    As they chatted along the way, the ex-soldiers arrived at the town hall.


    In the town hall''s courtyard, one side was cleared to set up a row of simple brick stoves and a large, semi-sheltered kitchen.


    Bustling about the stoves of this open-air kitchen were the family members of the ex-soldiers; they were working under Miss Mia, who was in charge of logistics.


    Besides preparing lunch for the temporary workers on the main street''s construction sides, they prepared meals for the relocation zone and captives at the militia headquarters and assisted with procurement.


    Mrs. Hank, the mother of the Hank brothers, was a capable woman. In less than a week of collective work, she had gained Miss Mia''s trust and became the "sub-leader" among the families. Seeing the ex-soldiers arriving with their wooden buckets, she waved her spatula from afar. "Boys, hurry up and line up for lunch!" sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Sam was pleased that his mother was adapting to her new job. He couldn''t help grinning at Mrs. Hank from a distance as he dragged his brother into the queue.


    Mrs. Hank caught it and muttered an endearing "Silly boys," while her spatula movements became brisker.


    For these ex-City Defense Force soldiers who had enjoyed "model prisoner work meals" during their time as captives in Weisshem, the food cooked by their family members was admittedly not up to par. However, who wouldn''t support their loved ones'' efforts, even if the soups were either too salty or bland and the dishes were often a disorganized mess?


    However, today''s menu seemed different from the usual.


    When the ex-soldier at the front of the line raised his bucket for Mrs. Hank to fill up, he was surprised to recognize the dish being scooped from the pot¡ªbraised eggplant! Although the eggplants were unevenly cut and the color wasn''t as attractive as the "model prisoner work meals" they used to have, it was still recognizable as the most popular dish among the ex-soldiers, one that left a lasting impression.


    "Did you cook today''s food, Mrs. Hank?" the soldier asked bluntly.


    "Of course, Locke," Mrs. Hank replied proudly. "I learned this new dish along with your mother, sister, and several other ladies. You''ll never forget it once you''ve tasted it!"


    The ex-soldier by the name of Locke was astonished. "My mom and sis can cook this too?"


    A woman scrubbing pots behind the stove looked up and snapped, "Are you doubting your own mother, Locke!"


    "Not at all!" Locke quickly shook his head.


    Today''s side dish was the familiar braised eggplant, while the main course was a thick soup made with potatoes, a small amount of chicken, vegetables, and those strange, curly noodles.


    Compared to the rotating menu of blocky wheat bread, the soldiers clearly preferred the thick soup. After filling their wooden buckets, they happily returned to their work sites to share the meal with their colleagues.


    Mrs. Hank and the other family members were just as busy as the hardworking soldiers. They quickly divided the remaining food among themselves, ate swiftly, and efficiently cleaned the kitchen utensils and the surroundings of the open-air kitchen. Then, they hurried into the town hall building as if pressed for time.


    In the large meeting room on the first floor, Miss Mia was waiting for them.


    "Thank you all for your hard work today. Pay attention in today''s class and practice at home tonight. Let''s try to introduce one or two new dishes tomorrow," Miss Mia encouraged, distributing small cuckoo flower badges to the ladies. "Mrs. Hank, please collect the badges back after the class as usual. Make sure none are lost."


    "Of course, Miss Mia," Mrs. Hank replied respectfully.


    These ladies, the family members of the ex-soldiers, with badges in hand, took their seats, and Miss Mia went to the back of the room to fiddle with a strange machine, the likes of which even Mrs. Hank, who had touched many middle-class households'' gadgets, had never seen.


    Soon, the peculiar machine emitted a beam of light, projecting a clear, moving picture onto the wall in front of the seated ladies. The moving picture even had sound¡ª


    "Hello, everyone. I am Wang Gang. In this video, I''ll share with you a home-cooked dish¡­" [TL note: Wang Gang is a chinese chef and internet celebrity.]

 Chapter 143: Hank Brothers

    For Mrs. Hank and the other ladies, their daily work was far from easy.


    They had to report to the town hall before 9 a.m. every morning to prepare food for the captives at the militia headquarters as well as the several hundred young men and women still recuperating at the resettlement zone.


    Food for the captives was relatively simple to prepare: boiled potatoes or a mixed noodle soup. The standard meals for model prisoners were provided by the undead delicatessen.


    Requirements for the resettlement zones were more complicated, as some of the young men and women needed specially prepared meals due to unique circumstances. Some had lost their teeth and could only eat liquid food, while others suffered from severe STDs and needed special diets.


    Next, the ladies had to prepare free lunches for the temporary workers on the main street. These people engaged in heavy labor and couldn''t be sustained with just big pot-cooked food. Per Miss Mia''s request, each day''s menu had to include an added dish with salt and oil.


    After preparing lunch, they had a two- to three-hour window for learning before they had to head out to the Martin Street market to procure vegetables and other ingredients for dinner and the next day.


    As for learning cooking skills from a moving picture projected while equipped with a lapel badge¡­ It proved quite challenging for the ladies initially. It was one thing getting used to it, not to mention that the words used by the gentleman in the video were often beyond their comprehension.


    But these ladies had their own wisdom and resourcefulness. No one wanted to lose this job that paid 10 silver coins a month for preparing food for the townspeople¡ªa salary more generous than what the temporary workers doing heavy labor on the construction sites earned. Regardless of whether they understood the instructor''s words or not, all the women diligently learned and mimicked the gentleman''s way of handling ingredients.


    With two hours of playbacks in the meeting room, the ladies focused intently on memorizing every detail.


    When Miss Mia announced the end of the class and instructed everyone to return their badges to Mrs. Hank before heading to the Martin Street market, the ladies still mimicked the chopping and slicing motions of onions and potatoes even as they returned their badges¡­


    By the time Mrs. Hank finished her day''s work, the sun was already setting.


    The alley on the north side of Martin Street, now known as Soldier''s Lane, housed not only the 43 families of the former Indahl City Defense Force soldiers but also three local families. Two of these families preferred to keep to themselves, but the widow Mrs. Taylor was very welcoming to the new neighbors.


    As Mrs. Hank and a few other housewives entered Soldier''s Lane, Mrs. Taylor, living at the entrance of the alley, waved vigorously from her kitchen window. "Why are you all coming home empty-handed? Hurry over to the tofu shop at 106 Main Street, there''s a big sale!"


    Upon hearing this, the fatigue of a long day''s work vanished from the housewives. They thanked Mrs. Taylor and hurried off.


    The tofu shop at 106 Main Street, not far from the undead delicatessen at 101, was currently the most popular shop in Weisshem. The various types of tofu available for just a few copper coins were cheap and plentiful. Adding vegetables and potato chunks, with a sprinkle of salt, could produce a stew that could satisfy an entire family.


    By the time Mrs. Hank returned home cheerfully carrying the discounted tofu, the sky was nearly dark.


    The house allocated to the Hank family in Weisshem was indeed much worse than their residence in Indahl. Not only did every room leak, but the living room''s earthen wall had collapsed, leaving a hole larger than a dining table, which they had to cover with wooden boards.


    The diligent housewife quickly prepared the meal and called her children to have dinner. Mrs. Hank glanced at the rising moon outside the window and urged her two children who needed to attend night school, "Eat up quickly, Paul, Joan. Don''t be late."


    Mrs. Hank, who had a comfortable upbringing in her youth and attended a girls'' middle school, didn''t need to go to night school. Her eldest son, Sam, who had basic literacy education during his service in the City Defense Force, also didn''t need to attend.


    Joan Hank, 15, the youngest of the Hank family, quickly bowed her head and sped up her eating.


    Nineteen-year-old Paul Hank, the second child, seemed reluctant, idly tapping his fork against his plate.


    "Paul," Sam couldn''t stand it and chided his brother.


    Paul glanced at his brother, then looked toward his mother stiffly. "I think I don''t need to go, Mom."


    "Paul?" Mrs. Hank looked at her second son in surprise. "Don''t be foolish. The basic courses at Indahl''s private schools cost at least 80 copper a week, and here it''s free. You won''t find such an opportunity anywhere else."


    Paul shook his head. "I know, Mom. But I don''t want to stay here. I want to go to Neuen Town to find Uncle."


    "Y-you, what nonsense are you talking about! How can you go to your uncle?" Mrs. Hank was alarmed.


    "As long as I don''t say anything, people in Neuen Town won''t know our family was exiled, so it won''t affect Uncle," Paul insisted.


    "Paul!" Mrs. Hank raised her voice, clearly irritated. "Shut your mouth! Don''t talk about going to your uncle!"


    "Why can''t I mention it?" Paul retorted, not convinced. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Sam put down his spoon and frowned at his brother.


    Mrs. Hank had not been on good terms with her brother, and as the eldest son, Sam was aware of it.


    Although they had never spoken to Paul and Joan about these matters, Mrs. Hank hadn''t contacted her brother for over a decade. Paul was already an adult and should have been able to recognize such an evident situation.


    Sam thought about it for a moment and decided not to argue about whether Paul really wanted to seek out their uncle. Instead, he asked, "Paul, are you resenting the hard work at the construction site because you earn less than Mom, or do you feel there''s no future in Weisshem and can''t make something of yourself?


    "Or are you just simply afraid of those undead, even though they''ve never harmed you?"


    Paul, who had been stubbornly arguing with his mother, suddenly turned red in the face.


    "Oh, you''re afraid of them." Sam realized. "In that case, I''ll support your decision to leave. I don''t think the undead would want to protect someone who irrationally fears and despises them."


    "I¡­ I have never been protected by those disgusting skeletons!" Paul shouted in a fit.


    "The former mayor of Weisshem was taken away by the undead, as well as those disreputable businessmen on the main street," Sam said calmly. "The undead changed Weisshem, which is why you could earn a daily salary and save enough in less than a week to have the confidence to leave; not to mention the dinner you''re eating was earned by Mom through a job provided by the undead."


    Paul, furious, raised his hand, intending to sweep his plate off the table.


    Sam grabbed his wrist, stopping him from wasting food, and shouted sternly at his foolish brother, "I really don''t understand how our family raised someone as foolish as you! Do you hate me for getting you exiled? Do you hate me for causing you to never be able to return to Indahl? What has Indahl ever given you? In your nineteen years, have you ever found work that was truly your own?!


    "To get a factory job, you must ask for favors; to work in a decent workshop, you need to pay money; otherwise, you''re stuck as an apprentice with very low wages! If someone of higher status accidentally kills someone like you, they don''t even have to go to the police; just paying a few gold would be enough! No matter how capable you are, no one cares about your life or death except your family. That''s the real Indahl!


    "The people in the town hall treats you kindly and considerately, even considering your future and offering you free night school to gain literacy. Do you think such opportunities are everywhere?!"


    Sam got angrier the more he said, and he finally pushed Paul to the ground. "Then go! Go somewhere else and live your own good life!"


    "Paul!" Mrs. Hank nervously went around the dining table, torn between helping her second son up and not wanting to interfere in the brothers'' dispute, worried they might think she was taking sides.


    "Uh¡­ Sorry, have I come at a bad time?"


    Miss Mia was standing awkwardly at the door of the Hank house, unsure whether to enter or leave.


    Mrs. Hank gasped and quickly adjusted her scarf, her face flushing with embarrassment as she went over. "I''m so sorry, Miss Mia. Our family''s situation¡­ I don''t know how to explain."


    "Please don''t apologize to me; I should be the one doing so instead." Miss Mia gestured to ease the tension and quickly explained her purpose, "It''s like this¡­ A few undead gentlemen who know how to uh¡­ survey and build railways have arrived in Weisshem. They wish to start work immediately tonight, and Mayor Ji Tang needs to recruit some staff to assist them right away. I came to ask if Sam Hank would be willing to participate in this field mission."


    "I am more than willing, Miss Mia." Sam quickly left his brother and strode over. "Should I head to the town hall right now?"


    "Yes," Mia replied with a pleased smile. "Please go and report immediately. Mayor Ji Tang and Mr. Pitt are both there. I''ll go and notify the others."


    "Let me accompany you," Sam, ever the people-pleaser, quickly grabbed his coat from the rack behind the door and earnestly offered. "I know my brothers well and might be able to help you."


    "That would be great." Mia smiled and nodded.


    Before leaving, Sam didn''t forget to call out to his mother, "Mom, please prepare some spare clothes for me."


    "Yes, of course." Mrs. Hank nodded eagerly and excitedly, thrilled that her eldest son might become a town hall staff member. She even forgot to thank Miss Mia for the good news and disregarded her recently upset second son, rushing into Sam''s room to pack his luggage.


    Joan Hank finished her meal, scooping the last piece of vegetable into her mouth.


    "Why are you afraid of those undead, Second Bro?" the 15-year-old girl asked curiously while chewing her greens.


    Paul, still on the floor, remained sulking in silence.


    While the Hank brothers had their disagreement, in Indahl, two carriages bearing the Church of Lady Golden Coin insignia sped along Saint Joseph Street, heading straight for the northern city gate. The Church''s carriages were allowed to leave the city after dark without any reason, and the gate guards, recognizing the insignia from a distance, opened the gates without hesitation.


    Within half an hour, the carriages arrived at Redwall Farm and stopped in front of a large iron gate with its lock smashed.


    Several elite night watchmen disembarked. The leader took out a sealed artifact shaped like a dressing mirror and shone it into the courtyard.


    "Did that new exorcist really solve the problem here overnight? How did he manage that?" The night watchman captain found it hard to believe what he saw in the mirror, even after several attempts.


    "This is truly remarkable¡­ Captain, it seems Indahl has quite a character," one of the night watchmen said as he lifted the brim of his black hood and stared into the dark courtyard.


    The night watchmen captain nodded slowly, then shook his head. "The origins of this person have to be investigated. Go in and find that wooden carving."


    The officials responsible for liaising with the civilian exorcists hadn''t provided complete information to them. Key information, such as Wilhem J. Bancroft being a renowned wooden carving collector who had hosted several wooden carving art exhibitions, was "inadvertently" omitted.


    With their more comprehensive intelligence, the Church of Lady Golden Coin had already deduced that the Redwall Farm catastrophe was related to and brought into Indahl territory by Young Master Wilhem. Combining his identity as a wooden carving collector, the form of the sealed artifact that caused the catastrophe was almost evident.


    As for whether withholding information might possibly lead to an exorcist''s failure¡­ Before a sealed artifact was successfully contained, no night watchman from any church would be selfless enough to risk their life until the "last drop of exorcist blood was exhausted."


    Hours later, an angry roar echoed from the abandoned mansion at Redwall Farm. "It''s not here?? Why isn''t it here?!"

 Chapter 144: Breakdown

    Around 99% of renowned wooden carving collector Wilhem J. Bancroft''s most prized possessions¡ªthose precious wooden carvings that had graced magazines and newspapers¡ªwere mostly intact.


    Aside from that, the entire Redwall Farm could be described as having been thoroughly plundered¡­


    All rooms were swept clean of gold and silverware. Gold and silver candlestick in the rooms and hallways had vanished, and even the gold trimmings on the doors, wardrobes, and cabinets had been seemingly pried off with tools.


    Smaller ornaments, mechanical clocks, jewelry¡ªanything valuable and small enough had been completely cleared out. Even the curtains woven with gold thread to keep them stiff were stripped of their gold, leaving only tattered fabric fluttering in the wind.


    Most importantly the sealed artifact¡ªreportedly the final work of a master wood carver depicting the birth of a baby according to earlier investigations by the church¡ªwas nowhere to be found despite the night watchmen turning the mansion upside down.


    The Church of Lady Gold Coin might not care about civilian exorcists pilfering while on the job since the items taken weren''t their property, but the fact that the sealed artifact they were eyeing had been taken was beyond what they could tolerate.


    The night watchmen ran a second thorough and cautious search, breaking open all wooden containers, walls, furniture, and even some large wooden carvings in search of any hidden items.


    But still they found nothing.


    The face of the livid night watchman captain went from red to white, then turned blue.


    The sealed artifact had been taken!


    After rushing back to the city, the night watchman captain immediately went to the official responsible for liaising with the exorcists and relayed the situation. The plump church official''s eyes nearly popped out from shock. "How is it possible?!"


    "The sealed artifact has indeed been taken," the night watchman captain snapped irritably. "You really found quite the character for the job!"


    "This¡ª" the chubby official, sweating profusely, stammered. "This¡­ Wh-what if we try buying it back? That ''Von Alphonse'' seemed desperate for money."


    The night watchman captain raised his voice, "Go quickly! Now!"


    The chubby official sped off at once.


    Having sent the official to deal with this, the night watchman captain then hurriedly made his way to the Bounty Association.


    Just the day before, the exorcist claiming to be "Von Alphonse" had come to settle the contract fee. To prevent fraud, the Church of Lady Golden Coin had dug a little into this person''s background. Although they couldn''t track Feng''s activities in the city, they easily found the youngster who showed up with Feng. With little effort, the church located Feng''s base of operations¡ªPerfect Dream Portrait Studio, a photography studio that specialized in swindling women of their money.


    Accepting any sort of deadly commission and still scheming to swindle women of their money indeed made "Von Alphonse" seem like a scoundrel who would do anything for gold.


    However, the night watchman captain didn''t hold much hope of buying back the sealed artifact; given that this scoundrel had already gotten hold of the sealed artifact, he seriously doubted if that scoundrel would demand an exorbitant price beyond that the church couldn''t accept.


    Typically, there were two methods to resolve a calamity.


    The first was to completely eradicate everyone and everything associated with the catastrophe, akin to dealing with a plague.


    This eradication wasn''t just limited to the physical body but included the spirit as well¡ªwithout thoroughly eliminating all that was related to the affected parties capable of interacting on the physical plane, the spread of the "catastrophe" couldn''t be stopped.


    The reason why the Redwall Farm catastrophe caused by the "Baby Birth Carving" became a persistent problem was primarily due to the initial survival of the library maid and four local low-level servants, which misled investigator "Goldfish." He wrongly judged the scale and transmission path of the catastrophe, thinking the personal servant who first heard the baby''s laughter was involved with a cult and missed the chance of decisive execution.


    After "Goldfish" died from the curse, the night watchmen quickly executed the library maid and four other servants. However, since the inadequately contained sealed artifact was already affecting the entire farm, they couldn''t enter and exorcize the spirits of the remaining victims without sacrificing at least half of the local night watchmen.


    The second method was to forcibly terminate the catastrophe by containing the sealed artifact¡ªa task that also came at the cost of many lives. Until the sealed artifact was found, and if there are still affected victims aware of its existence in the material plane, the catastrophe wouldn''t stop spreading.


    The self-declared "Von Alphonse" who claimed to have resolved the Redwall Farm incident overnight most likely adopted the first method. Both the liaising official and the night watchman captain believed that this exorcist, skilled in dealing with spirits, might have some kind of remote exorcism method. Otherwise, it was unexplainable how he could eliminate over a dozen ghosts just a day after registration.


    However, little did they expect that this person was even more ruthless than they had imagined, with such an insatiable appetite¡ªthe scoundrel had actually taken the sealed artifact!


    Sealed artifacts had no collection value for individuals. Even in the underground black market where everything could be bought, sealed artifacts didn''t appear as merchandise.


    An individual or private organization seeking a sealed artifact usually had only one purpose¡­ to blackmail the municipality of a major city!


    The night watchman captain couldn''t stand by idly and watch the situation deteriorate to such an extent.


    While the Bounty Association wasn''t a legally recognized organization, it often had intricate connections with local official organizations.


    Kelly Simmons, the head of Indahl''s underground Bounty Association, frequented high-society parties and dinners in Indahl. Whenever the respectable noblemen and ladies had discreet needs, she was always there at the right time.


    Oak Bar on Saint Joseph Street, a seemingly ordinary establishment, was actually the external business front for the Bounty Association. When there were no major banquets in town, Kelly Simmons would usually be found on the second floor of this bar.


    After hearing the night watchman captain''s request, the usually capable Kelly Simmons shrugged helplessly. "I''m very sorry, esteemed sir, but no bounty hunter would dare to oppose an exorcist in possession of a sealed artifact. You know, if I were aware of such a person roaming the streets, I might opt for a short vacation myself."


    "Don''t be quick to refuse, ma''am," the night watchman captain said calmly. "I''m just hoping you can help me contact ''Lich'' Envie. I know you can find him."


    "This¡­ Esteemed sir, please believe that I''m not trying to shirk responsibility¡­" Kelly Simmons apologized. "Mr. Envie already left last month upon hearing that the ''Nightmare Butcher'' appeared in Indahl."


    "What?!"


    "Mr. Envie seems to have some past grievances with the ''Nightmare Butcher''¡­ But you know, who would dare to ask Mr. Envie about his unpleasant past?" Kelly Simmons said regretfully. "I heard that His Lordship Adra III recently provoked the ''Nightmare Butcher.'' I do hope Mr. Gould would be able to properly advise Indahl''s lord."


    The captain''s face twitched uncontrollably.


    How should he put it¡­. The Church of Lady Gold Coin had always maintained an ambiguous stance regarding the infamous Nightmare Butcher, Yang, going to Indahl to support the claim of a noble''s illegitimate child. This was primarily to avoid getting tangled up with the notorious madman of the Navalon continent.


    However, the fact that the "Lich" Envie, his greatest hope, had been driven away by the Nightmare Butcher was deeply frustrating¡­


    "Lich" Envie was an extremely rare "friendly" spellcaster among black mages that was willing to maintain a good relationship with official organizations. While his level of friendliness was subjective¡­ at least this legendary figure never maliciously attacked people from the churches and would accept commissions from official organizations if the price was right. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Leaving the Oak Bar regrettably, the night watchman captain hadn''t yet figured out a plan when the chubby official returned with even more bad news¡ª


    Von Alphonse''s assistant, a young man named Brook, claimed that the peculiar wooden carving his master had accidentally acquired was bought by a passing black mage on their way back to Indahl.


    That black mage who happened to encounter Von Alphonse¡­ claimed himself to be Yang.


    In the hall of the exorcist registration office, the night watchman captain, in front of several officials and clerks, spat out blood in frustration.


    "Von Alphonse!" the night watchman captain roared furiously. "Kill this idiot! Don''t let him leave Indahl alive!"


    The chubby official then gasped in terror.


    "What else haven''t you told me?!" The captain bellowed.


    "H-he already l-left¡­" The official was nearly in tears. "That Brook kid said they earned enough funds and had to return¡­ When my men got there, they were loading their photo studio''s stuff onto a carriage. Th-they might have already left the city¡­"


    The night watchman captain nearly coughed out blood once more.


    "Chase them¡ª!!!"


    Soon, the Church of Lady Golden Coin''s knights and two temporarily requisitioned City Defense Force cavalry squads set out on the northern, eastern, and southern roads in pursuit.


    Toward the southwest, on the rural road to Weisshem, all was calm¡­


    As Indahl was thrown into chaos, to the west of Weisshem, in the mountains, Sam Hank and about 20 comrades, who had been urgently summoned to the town hall and officially enlisted as staff, were staring in amazement at a spectacle that shattered their worldview.


    The mission assigned to Sam Hank and his comrades was to escort several undead and their equipment to conduct a terrain survey from Weisshem to the edge of the Taranthan wasteland; more undead were expected to join and assist them when they entered Taranthan.


    Sam and the others were familiar with railways laid with iron tracks, like the magic steam train railway that ran from Indahl to the capital of the Rhine Kingdom. To prevent theft of the tracks, city police even set up mounted patrols along the railway.


    Before leaving the town, Sam and the others didn''t think this mission was much different from the ones they had carried out as soldiers, except that the important persons they were to protect and assist had changed from nobles to undead.


    It wasn''t until they left the town that the undead Mayor Ji Tang appeared in a strange pneumatic vehicle they had never seen before in the city¡­ no, not even in newspapers or magazines¡­

 Chapter 145: Guests From Afar

    This time, the expert task force had prepared an off-road vehicle for the survey personnel that HuaTie had sent to assist. The vehicle was a modified version, courtesy of China Western Heavy Industries. [TL note: HuaTie is a Chinese railway company.]


    The vehicle''s armor¡­ or rather, the outer shell, chassis, and four pairs of oversized load-bearing tires came from a certain retired model of amphibious combat vehicle. The interior space had been expanded to include instrument cabinets, workbenches, specialized equipment and instruments, a small generator set, and seating for onboard personnel.


    This converted amphibious combat vehicle, weighing 20 tons, would be considered a beast among vehicles. In this otherworldly plane, it was a true colossus, an iron behemoth.


    The former soldiers that had seen the private cars of the upper class during their military service in Indahl gaped at this survey vehicle as if it were a monster¡­ The oversized load-bearing wheels alone were taller than any cars they had ever seen! S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Ji Tang stopped the vehicle, hopped out, nodding to the new town hall staff, and waved to the railway survey personnel. "The vehicle is yours to use now. Diesel barrels are all placed under the seats and at the back. Take care not to have any open flames inside."


    "We know. We skeletons don''t eat or drink, can''t even smoke, so definitely no open flames." The new tool players, retired engineers from HuaTie, chuckled as they climbed aboard.


    Ji Tang smiled and nodded back. Seeing the ex-soldiers standing still, he urged, "Don''t just stand there, get in. There aren''t enough seats on board, so you all will need to squeeze in."


    The bunch of them started moving mechanically, copying the undead and climbing onto the vehicle¡­


    As mentioned, there weren''t enough seats inside, but fortunately, there was enough space. The non-fussy men found empty spots to sit cross-legged and settle in.


    Soon, they came to understand why the luxury cars owned by Indahl''s upper class only drove in the city and on a few well-maintained highways and why they preferred horseback riding for trips to estates and hunting in the countryside¡­


    The vehicle hadn''t been on the road for half an hour before the undead driver stepped on the brake and allowed a man to rush outside and throw up.


    "These lads can''t handle riding in a car. How now?" The old professor driving the vehicle was exasperated.


    "It''s too sealed up and lacks ventilation. A bunch of young guys crammed up inside are bound to be uncomfortable. Why don''t we have them ride on the roof? The fresh air up there should make them less prone to motion sickness."


    That day, farmers busy with autumn harvest in the Weisshem countryside witnessed quite a spectacle.


    A roaring steel monster taller than an average house and faster than a horse-drawn carriage sped by on bumpy rural dirt roads.


    Farmers didn''t scream and scatter at the sight of this passing mechanical beast. Instead, they stood and stared in amazement.


    On the "back" of this steel behemoth were slightly over 20 dispirited young men swaying and looking numbly back at these "accidental" onlookers.


    Neither side wanted to look away until the other disappeared from view.


    Soon, a legend of a "metal lizard that carries people'''' spread through the Weisshem countryside¡­


    As the survey vehicle headed west, a convoy belonging to Count Odysse was also approaching from the east.


    The public roads of Weisshem town, built 40 years ago, could only be described as barely passable for horse carriages. There were no advantages to speak of regarding the road conditions.


    These guests from afar were having a hard time with such poor road surfaces. After only covering half the journey, Parker Odysse, seated in a four-wheeled carriage, called for a stop and ordered his servants to bring his horse.


    "That fool actually ran off to such a backward place for fun, and even ended up as someone''s captive. Such a disgrace to our family!" Seated on horseback, Parker Odysse, the legitimate heir of the main line of the Odysse family, unbuttoned two buttons at his shirt collar and complained irritably.


    A friend in the carriage propped up the curtain, rested an arm on the window, and said with a laugh, "Who was the one eagerly looking forward to a chance to get out and breathe some fresh air, Parker? You being able to play around for so long is all thanks to that guy. Be a little more friendly to him."


    "I still have to bring that piece of trash back when we return; otherwise, my aunt will come bothering my mother again," Young Master Parker grumbled. "Coming all this way will costs us at least half a month of fun."


    His friend shrugged. "That''s already not bad. The total days you had to relax outside your home last year didn''t even add up to half a month. Us friends nearly forgot how you looked. If I were you, I''d get married quickly. Having a wife reduces parental control a lot."


    "We''ll see!" Young Master Parker wasn''t keen on talking about this and turned to look ahead. "Hmm? What''s that?"


    Roughly three hundred meters ahead of the convoy, a large covered wagon was parked by the road.


    A covered wagon by itself wasn''t unusual. What was peculiar were the dozen or so slender figures moving near the wagon in the wilderness; from a distance, it looked like they were fighting or performing some sort of strange dance.


    The friend in the carriage, also noticing this odd scene, curiously poked his head and upper body out of the window. "What are those people doing? Is this some local autumn harvest custom? Dancing to celebrate the harvest?"


    Young Master Parker raised a hand and the family knight of the Odysse clan, along with his knight squire, immediately spurred his horse over.


    "Go check it out," Young Master gestured and said.


    The loyal family knight nodded, urged his horse, and led his squire over toward the covered wagon.


    Young Master Parker watched as the family knight gallop within a hundred meters of the wagon, then suddenly turned around and raced back.


    "Young Master Parker, it''s undead! They are all undead!" the family knight shouted as he raced back. "Pull the convoy back!"


    Young Master Parker didn''t move, and neither did the others.


    What kind of a joke was this? Undead appearing in broad daylight on a public road?


    It wasn''t only their convoy that was on the road. Further up ahead was a green-painted postal carriage too. The postal carriage passed by the covered wagon steadily, not at all seeming spooked.


    The Odysse family knight rode up closer, reiterating, "Young Master Parker, they are indeed undead. Something is wrong here! I think we should retreat to the city and find out what exactly is going on!"


    Young Master Parker''s expression immediately soured.


    Like Young Master Parker''s family domain, the Indahl territory was of the same size as a count''s. However, due to the Bartalis family''s ineptitude in social relations, Indahl remained only a viscounty, often ridiculed and mocked by the count-status Odysse family.


    It was for this reason that the Bartalis family showed minimal obligation to the Odysse family when Count Odysse''s nephew was taken captive¡­


    Parker, who had volunteered to redeem his cousin and used this as an opportunity to escape for some fun, was unlikely to go to Indahl city just to be mocked by the petty Adra III.


    "I must have dinner in Weisshem tonight and see my good-for-nothing cousin," declared Young Master Parker resolutely. "Cut the crap. Onward!"


    Under Young Master Parker''s insistence¡­ a few minutes later, everyone in the convoy clearly saw the group of undead, lively and hopping around in broad daylight, next to the large covered wagon in the wilderness.


    The Odysse family had excellent discipline, so even despite such a worldview-shattering sight, no one in the convoy¡ªservants, attendants, or guards¡ªshowed any obvious loss of composure, let alone screamed like bumpkins.


    Everyone just stared blankly at the undead.


    These undead were neither dancing nor fighting.


    They were¡­ catching a rainbow-winged flying squirrel.


    This was a relatively rare small monster, known for its docility, with three to six colors on its meaty wings, and lived by hunting field mice like weasels. Due to its bright colors and petite, endearing form, it was often captured and sold as a pet to wealthy families.


    Capable of low-altitude flight, the rainbow-winged flying squirrel was agile and fast, making it difficult to catch. The undead clearly struggled to capture it, managing only to slightly restrict its range of movement after a long chase.


    The entire convoy was eerily quiet, unnaturally so, and only the clip-clop of horses'' hooves on the stony road and the rumbling of carriage wheels filled the air.


    The entire convoy watched the undead in silence, quietly and cautiously moving past the large covered wagon.


    Only after they had traveled several hundred meters away, well beyond those peculiar undead, did Parker finally let out a frustrated growl, "What in the world was that?!"


    With the young master breaking the silence, the servants, coachmen, and guards began to buzz with conversation¡­


    Young Master Parker wiped his sweat and called over the family knight. "Catch up with that postal carriage ahead and ask about the situation¡ªno, I''ll ask myself!"


    Soon, Young Master Parker and his family knight caught up with the green-painted postal carriage.


    The young mailman responsible for city mail that day, Bosha Laurie, was stopped by Young Master Parker, who was distinctly different from ordinary folk. Bosha immediately stopped the carriage, got down, and bowed respectfully. "Good day, sir."


    Bosha''s obsequious attitude made it hard for Parker to start off angrily. However, the feeling of being "misled" still irked him. He said bluntly, "Didn''t you just see those undead?"


    Bosha, not understanding the intention behind the question, instinctively answered, "Yes, sir, I did."


    This response only annoyed Young Master Parker even more. "If you saw them, why aren''t you reacting at all?"


    Bosha looked at the young nobleman strangely, then sneaked a glance at the convoy behind him. He was perplexed as to why someone coming from Indahl city wouldn''t know about Weisshem''s situation.


    Left with no choice, the ordinary Bosha dared not offend the nobleman and meekly replied, "These undead from Taranthan are friends of ours in Weisshem. We often see them¡­ This is quite a common sight in Weisshem, sir."


    Young Master Parker: "??"

 Chapter 146: Peaceful Weisshem

    It was already two in the afternoon when Young Master Parker''s convoy entered Weisshem town.


    With Main Street full of construction sites, the convoy couldn''t travel down such a muddy and dusty road, so they had to detour through Martin Street.


    Now back in the carriage, Young Master Parker lifted the curtain, frowning and surveying the surroundings warily.


    The market on Martin Street was busiest between three and five o''clock, so the street was relatively quiet at this time, with only the storefront businesses open. The vegetable farmers who set up stalls were still on their way into town.


    Able-bodied townsfolk were all working on Main Street, so there were few pedestrians around here.


    Under the relatively shady eaves along the street, some elderly people sat either on steps or on their own small wooden stools. They weren''t chatting idly but were seriously guarding one or several spots in front of them.


    These seniors weren''t just cooling off but were reserving spots for familiar vendors. Helping to secure a good spot could earn them free produce from the farmers.


    All in all, Martin Street seemed quite ordinary. Everything was so normal, natural, and calm¡­ There were none of the "common" sightings of the undead as the mailman had claimed.


    "Could that brat have dared to lie to me?" Young Master Parker grew uneasy after seeing that all was normal after traversing half the street. "No¡­ he seemed confident and fearless as if he was very familiar with those disgusting things¡­"


    His friend sitting beside him sighed. "Parker, since we knew that there''s something wrong with Weisshem, we really didn''t need to come in¡­ Why bother with a commoner?"


    Young Master Parker pursed his lips but remained silent.


    A commoner from Weisshem had said to his face that he was overreacting on just seeing undead, so the young and impetuous Parker certainly couldn''t let that slide.


    Not only was he unwilling to back down, he also chided that commoner to make way and let the convoy move ahead of the postal carriage. He wanted that commoner to see how the young lord of the Odysse family bravely entered the town.


    Of course, Young Master Parker couldn''t admit being petty over a commoner''s remark; that would be beneath him¡­ Thus, he stubbornly claimed, "Don''t overthink it, Grey. Viscount Rex has connections with our family. If the local lord, young Charlie, knew about his father''s ties with the Odysse family, he might even ask for our help to mediate their father-son relationship."


    When the Odysse family learned that their worthless nephew had become a hostage awaiting ransom, they received not only a mocking letter of notification from Adra III but also a letter from the self-proclaimed new lord of Weisshem, Charlie Rex.


    Just by the name alone, the Odysse family members knew that this Charlie Rex was not a cherished heir of the family. No respectable noble would name an heir so casually.


    Even if they were to name someone Charlie, it should have been spelled as Charles, or there should be a middle name. For example, Young Master Parker''s full name was Parker Chapman Odysse, with Chapman being his middle name, derived from his godfather, a cardinal of the Church of Lady Golden Coin.


    Upon investigation, they found out that Charlie Rex was indeed an abandoned illegitimate child of Viscount Rex, whom they were familiar with, and a mother of very insignificant status.


    Under the assumption that they had a "lead" on Rex''s origins, Count Odysse agreed to let his impetuous younger son take this trip. A matter that could be settled with money and leveraging family relations didn''t require dispatching their more competent eldest son.


    Young Master Parker shrugged helplessly in resignation.


    At that moment, a young woman turned onto the street from an alley, slightly ahead of the convoy.


    On seeing this woman, Young Master Parker muttered, "Why doesn''t this ugly woman just stay at home instead of coming onto the streets and scaring others?"


    His friend Grey couldn''t help but chuckle. "Discussing a lady''s looks in private isn''t very gentlemanly of you."


    "I''m just stating facts¡­ Wow, this ugly woman even has the audacity to walk alongside such a beautiful woman. Isn''t she afraid of becoming a joke?" Young Master Park commented loudly, rudely, and without regard for whether the women could hear him.


    Before the market started, Martin Street was rather quiet. The two women, one after the other, emerged from the alley and heard the disrespectful comments from the passing carriage. The beautiful lady walking behind was particularly displeased and glared fiercely at the direction of the carriage.


    Young Master Parker, probably never having been glared at by a beautiful woman before, whistled, instructing the coachman to slow down while preparing to step out of the carriage and flirt. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At the moment as a servant came to open the carriage door for Young Master Parker and his friend, Grey, they witnessed several undead emerging from the alley the women had come from.


    These undead were clad in strange scale armor, armed with weapons, and¡­ riding tricycles, tricycles laden with goods.


    The entire convoy fell silent instantly.


    These undead, riding their tricycles, seemed just as curious about the convoy on the street, parking their tricycles by the side of the street while pointing at the nearby convoy and making strange clacking noises.


    "More new NPCs?"


    "Seems like it. Weisshem''s storylines are so abundant. I just heard how Blossoming Strokes and the others tackled a tough one¡­"


    "If only Weisshem had more monster spawns, I''d camp here and never leave¡­"


    Being openly gawked and pointed at by the undead like this was an utterly bizarre experience.


    Young Master Parker''s rear, which had just lifted off the seat, slowly descended back into place.


    The convoy, having momentarily halted, resumed its journey with dignity and calm.


    The undead didn''t pursue this convoy.


    Young Master Parker, fighting off his shock, shifted his gaze to the rear-view mirror.


    In the mirror, he saw the two contrasting women instructing the undead to unload the goods from the tricycles.


    The undead were well-behaved, although they still glanced toward the convoy while busily unloading.


    Young Master Parker quietly exhaled a breath he''d been holding in¡­


    He should have just whipped that mailman earlier as punishment for his disrespect. What was the point of getting worked up over a commoner?


    His friend Grey also looked quite shaken, turning over with a pale face.


    "¡­Save it, I already know," Young Master Parker said, his face equally pale. "Let''s meet with Viscount Rex''s illegitimate son, get that waste of space ransomed, and leave here at once."


    Grey nodded, clutching his chest¡­ He really hoped Parker wouldn''t stubbornly insist on staying in this eerie place for a few more days to prove his bravado.


    After turning right at the end of Martin Street, the town hall came into view.


    When the convoy stopped in front of the town hall, everyone from the convoy breathed a sigh of relief¡­ They had finally made it!


    Having already notified the security team at the town gate of their arrival, one of the guards had run ahead to the town hall to inform Rex. By the time the convoy arrived from Martin Street, Rex was already waiting at the entrance.


    "Young Master Parker Chapman Odysse?" Rex approached with an outstretched hand as Parker alighted from the carriage. "Good day, I am Rex."


    "Good day, I am Parker." Normally, Parker wouldn''t be too polite to an illegitimate son, but right now he just wanted to get things done and leave without delay. He shook hands with Rex without hesitation.


    And then he felt a severely callused hand¡­ One that was coarser than those of his family''s knights.


    Parker was momentarily taken aback and gave Rex a thorough sizing up.


    This illegitimate son¡­ had the demeanor and presence, but he was just too crude. His skin was as dark as the people of the south, his hair as short as that of factory workers, his shirt sleeves and collar stained with sweat. He could easily pass for a dockworker.


    The more Park looked at him, the more repulsed he felt about exchanging a handshake¡­


    Subtly withdrawing his hand, he put on a superficially polite but distant smile. "Mr. Rex, I hope I can meet our family''s disgraceful member as soon as possible. Can you accommodate this small request?"


    Charlie Rex, who didn''t care about Parker''s attitude as long as he got paid, politely gestured. "Of course. Please come in and rest for a while. Dart Odysse will be here shortly."


    Young Master Parker nodded reservedly and walked ahead as if it was only natural.


    Upon entering the town hall, Young Master Parker''s respect for everything in this rustic town, including its illegitimate lord, plummeted even further. The town hall, supposedly the highest governing body here, looked more like a chaotic marketplace. The central courtyard, which should have showcased grand statues or at least a fountain, was occupied by a strange dirt platform.


    Park was disgusted and struggled to maintain his trained, elegant facade.


    Just when his facade was about to crumble, the dirt platform he despised the most suddenly emitted a strange white light.


    Young Master Parker, his friend Grey, and the ever-present family knight hadn''t yet processed whether they were seeing things or not when, from the midst of the white light, a skeleton wearing strange fish-scale armor rose upright from the platform¡­


    Again, like hitting the pause button, Young Master Parker and his entourage were frozen in place.


    "My apologies, I haven''t had the chance to introduce them yet. These are our undead friends from Taranthan," Rex hastened to Parker''s side and explained. "This platform is a facility used by our undead friends for traveling between reality and the Dimensional Realm. They will appear here when they come to Weisshem."


    Young Master Parker, maintaining his composure, gently placed his foot down and gave Rex a polite nod as if to thank him for the explanation.


    As they passed by the platform, Young Master Parker clenched his teeth and forced himself not to take a detour, walking past it with his head held high.


    He managed not to look directly at the skeleton that had just emerged, even though the rude undead creature followed them for a few steps, trying to stop and communicate, only to be held back by Rex.


    ¡ªAs if anyone could understand that gibberish undead language!


    Young Master Parker, striving to maintain his noble demeanor, strode into the town hall''s mayor''s office with a graceful but strained smile.


    "This is the undead mayor of Weisshem, Ji Tang," Rex proudly introduced the skeleton who emerged from behind the desk. "Mayor Ji Tang is a very remarkable wise man, and I am fortunate to have such a wise official in my employ."


    Young Master Parker, still wearing his elegant but forced smile, stiffly watched the skeleton approach confidently, flashing a wide toothy grin and even extending a bony claw toward him.

 Chapter 147: Fairness

    As Young Master Parker was on the verge of crumbling, Yang Qiu teleported to Weisshem via teleportation points for the living under the two town halls.


    Yang Qiu merely glanced at the convoy parked outside Weisshem Town Hall and paid no further heed¡­ Matters that could be handled by the national team personnel and Rex wouldn''t worry him.


    In a large house north of the town''s main street, Yang Qiu met ascetic Alfred Lowell, who hadn''t been seen for quite a number of days.


    "Um¡­ Should I say congratulations, revered inspector?" Yang Qiu said while nodding as a thanks to Wagner who brought the tea. "Your mental domain has gotten quite the breakthrough."


    Across the coffee table, in his own high-backed chair, Lowell eyed Yang Qiu with a complex look.


    On the coffee table, the opening credits of the classic 1987 Chinese TV drama Dream of the Red Chamber displayed on a tablet propped up by a stand were paused. Evidently, had Yang Qiu not arrived, this Inspector would have continued to watch the episodes of this series nonstop.


    "Your gift deserves my gratitude," mused Lowell thoughtfully. "Even without magic, the fruits of a civilization born in a material world devoid of elder gods are in no way inferior to the operas and dramas of our world. I''ve benefited greatly from it."


    Yang Qiu merely smiled.


    Due to the relatively short lifespans of Earth''s creatures and frequent wars, the transmission of history was rather diminished. Even among the four great ancient civilizations recognized on Earth, only the Chinese civilization had managed to survive through the changing regimes and tenaciously continued its legacy.


    Yet, even the resilient Chinese civilization''s verifiable history, traceable through archaeological means, spanned only five thousand years. A more detailed and specific historical outline begins from the pre-Qin period, with many historical facts from even the Spring and Autumn period remaining unclear.


    This world, though, was different. Besides the two major races, humans and orcs, there were also rare long-lived races like elves and draconians.


    Draconians, with their lifespans of thousands of years, had historical records dating back over ten thousand years. When humans needed to verify their own history, they could borrow the draconian annals from the libraries on Dragon Island for a substantial sum.


    Of course, humans themselves did an admirable job of preserving history. Not to mention the royal and noble families whose lineage stretched back thousands of years, the legal organizations formed by spellcasters, like Mage Towers, possessed historical artifacts and texts dating back six thousand years.


    Respect for history was an essential part of the growth and expansion of civilization. Using history as an anchor, it was natural for this world to develop a vast and glorious array of artistic achievements; other than the Church of Lady Gold Coins'' territory being culturally barren, art in the form of opera and dramas flourished in other regions.


    The only drawback was the limited means of cultural and artistic dissemination in this world, leading to a spiritual impoverishment among the lower classes.


    "Magic, religion, professionals that transcend mortals, priests and acolytes exercising divine authority¡ªwe''ve grown quite accustomed to these," Yang Qiu said with a light chuckle. "I''ve often wondered, do spellcasters like me and priests like you really matter? Would the world change if we, with our extraordinary abilities, didn''t exist?"


    Brother Lowell, used to Yang Qiu''s radical views, remained composed, unlike Wagner, who was cleaning the windows nearby and looked over in shock.


    "But the fact remains¡ªwe do exist," Lowell said calmly. "I understand why you think this way. Bands of marauding mercenaries made up of disgraced professionals are a major security threat to all border cities. What appear to be legitimate mercenary groups often engage in looting activities. And it''s not just them; some priests in various churches have lost themselves in the pursuit of power and influence, neglecting their vows in favor of securing and chasing greater authority."


    "Yet, despite this, those who protect the cities and drive out darkness are also professionals, individuals with extraordinary abilities," Lowell continued, picking up his teacup. "On any material plane, the notion that ''eliminating a certain class of people would make the world better'' is invariably based on deceit. Just like this long drama from another dimension; even without the extraordinary, people with higher power will still oppose those of lower status, creating tragedies."


    "Yes, as long as people live together, opposition is inevitable." Yang Qiu nodded in agreement. "Even in a closed community formed solely of ordinary people, the stronger men will bully the weaker ones, men will oppress women, and dominant women will suppress the weaker ones. Intelligent beings naturally form a hierarchy within their groups, establishing a basic and primal ''order of superiority and inferiority.''"


    Lowell, having engaged in many such debates with Yang Qiu, understood his point. "Hmm¡­ you despise this order."


    Leaning back in his high-backed chair, Yang Qiu set down his teacup and spread his hands, a cold smile on his face. "That''s right. Just hearing the words ''superior and inferior'' makes me physically ill. In my view, establishing order based on such a concept is the most primitive, barbaric, and disgusting act. It''s a desecration of order itself."


    Had this been the Lowell of three months earlier, he might have dismissed Yang Qiu''s words as delusional.


    But after repeatedly and meticulously watching the classic from a different plane, Dream of the Red Chamber, multiple times, Lowell developed many new ideas. At least, he no longer considered Yang Qiu''s words to be overly crazy, idealistic, or impractical.


    Dream of the Red Chamber is a tragedy that, under the guise of a youthful romance drama, delves into the essence of power struggles.


    The sorrow and pain of its characters were predestined, with no room for turning back, because¡­ it was the monster of power that trampled on these lovable and pitiable girls, crushing their lives and dignity.


    Lowell, a cultured and mature intellectual, was deeply tormented by the tragic fate of these girls. To say his belief in the necessity of power was unshaken would be letting down his long seclusion and countless viewings of the drama.


    Listening intently to Yang Qiu''s words, Lowell pondered for a moment and said, "Perhaps you''re right. I''m quite interested in observing and learning from your attempts to implement your theories in Taranthan and Weisshem."


    Yang Qiu merely smiled.


    To him, Lowell''s "observation and learning" was akin to "joining the cause." The 1987 Dream of the Red Chamber had indeed made a significant impact!


    Wagner eyed Lowell in utter confusion.


    Wait, what are you saying? What are both of you saying? Why can''t I understand anything even though I''m standing right here?


    Lowell, as an elder, was keen to clarify things for the younger man, explaining, "Yang does not agree with the widely accepted social hierarchy based on superiority and inferiority. He wishes to establish a new order in the areas he can influence, one he believes is more civilized and aligns better with his ideals."


    Wagner, still struggling to follow, seemed even more perplexed.


    "In simple terms, it''s about fairness," Yang Qiu said. "Haven''t you seen how the undead mayor of Weisshem assisted Rex in establishing a new order there, Wagner? The core of this new order is fairness."


    Wagner was stunned as if he had been suddenly struck by a bolt of lightning, frozen in place.


    The policies in Weisshem were¡ª


    Equal employment and pay for all temporary workers, regardless of gender.


    Town hall clerks and officers hired based on talent and ability, without regard to background.


    Free literacy schools open to all.


    Ordinary townspeople could start small businesses with materials provided by the town hall, without needing any connections or undergoing unnecessary procedures.


    Wagner was aware of all these initiatives. He had often inquired about the hiring conditions at the town hall to find opportunities for his former men.


    But he had never considered these actions as "establishing a new order," a notion that instinctively felt rebellious and shocking!


    Wagner slowly raised his hands and clutched his head.


    He regretted staying in the living room to clean the windows¡­ He was now deeply regretting hearing these two discussing unrestrained radical ideas.


    "Lieutenant Pitt, are you afraid?" Yang Qiu teased, amused by his reaction. "Think about it, young man. You''re just a captive. Everything that happens in Weisshem doesn''t concern you¡­ Unless you return to Indahl, giving the city defense force a chance to officially dismiss and exile you."


    Wagner, initially gripped with immense fear, found himself at a loss hearing Yang Qiu''s blunt truth.


    "Don''t you like fairness?" Yang Qiu asked casually. "You aren''t a Rhine person and have probably faced difficulties in Indahl because of your foreign status, right? Having to yield to Rhine-born colleagues, missing out on opportunities, and being blamed when things go awry¡­ Don''t you desire fairness?"


    Wagner had been idle for a long time, and Yang Qiu saw potential in him¡ªhe was in need of people.


    Wagner stood in silence for a long while. He knew better than anyone what he himself had gone through.


    Right now, he hadn''t yet been formally discharged by the City Defense Force. As Yang had said, as long as he was currently "in enemy hands after a failed mission." Without having gained his freedom, it wasn''t convenient for the City Defense Force to kick him out.


    After struggling internally for a bit, Wagner approached, placed the rag on the coffee table, and sat down, looking seriously into Yang Qiu''s eyes. "Of course, I like fairness, Yang."


    "Don''t put the rag on the coffee table," Yang Qiu quipped.


    Wagner: "¡­"


    Even Lowell was at a loss for words. "Yang, be serious."


    "Alright," Yang Qiu said, getting up, and straightening his clothes. Then, he extended his hand formally to Wagner. "Lieutenant Pitt, would you be interested in becoming a member of Taranthan?"


    Wagner also stood up and shook Yang Qiu''s hand. "I would be honored." S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Then stop wasting your talents here. Go to the town hall, register with Ji Tang, then visit the Undead Merchant Association, seek out a lady named Zhao Zhenzhen, and learn from her." Yang Qiu immediately gave instructions without any hesitation.


    Wagner: "¡­"


    "Go. Mayor Ji Tang and that undead lady are both very wise. Following them will do you no harm." Lowell, having witnessed the capabilities of these national team personnel, gave an assisting push.


    Wagner, unable to fully respect Yang Qiu but had deep trust for Lowell with whom he had spent much time with, bowed gratefully. "Thank you for your care over this period, revered inspector."


    "Don''t act like you''re parting ways with Lowell. You''ll still be coming back here to sleep at night," Yang Qiu said casually as he sat back down.


    Wagner, still speechless, glanced at him, then picked up his rag and bucket and left.


    "Yang," Lowell expressed his discontent.


    "It''s better to send him off this way than to tell him later to avoid this house because he''s not competent enough and might attract unwarranted disaster," Yang Qiu said, retrieving a palm-sized wooden box from his spatial ring.


    Lowell instinctively surveyed the wooden box with his spiritual field, and his expression changed drastically. "Is that¡­ a sealed artifact?"


    "Yes, it''s a wooden carving my undead inadvertently acquired in Indahl." Yang Qiu gravely placed the box in front of him. "If I''m not mistaken¡­ this wooden carving seems to be a posthumous work left behind by Lady Marion."


    "Lady Marion? The genius woodcarver from the Norsk Federation?!" Lowell was visibly shaken.


    Yang Qiu nodded, extending his mental field to check the surroundings of the house, ensuring Wagner had left, before he opened the wooden box.


    Inside the box was an exquisitely detailed and lifelike carving of a newborn baby wrapped in a blanket.


    The baby, with clenched fists and a wrinkled crying face, still had an umbilical cord attached to its belly. On close inspection, it almost seemed like one could hear the first cry of this newly born infant.


    Upon seeing the carving, Lowell felt a dangerous aura emanating from it, rushing toward him, accompanied by an illusionary sound like a baby''s laughter in his ears.


    For Lowell, an ascetic with powerful mental and spiritual abilities, to sense danger and hear phantom sounds from this carving was an undoubted testament to how lethal this artifact was for ordinary people¡ªand it could instantly drive even the most skilled professionals to madness.

 Chapter 148: Yang Qiu’s New Objective

    The wooden carving of a newborn baby, no bigger than a palm, lay quietly in the small wooden box.


    Dark, tainted, and insidious; murderous malice emanated from the wooden carving, pervading the entire house.


    Yang Qiu and Inspector Lowell sat across from each other at the coffee table, both silently observing the wooden carving sculpture in the box.


    They could feel the overwhelming murderous intent seeping out from the carving and were now hearing an increasingly dense chorus of infant laughter.


    The laughter, persisting for over five minutes, grew more frantic, eventually turning into hysterical screams.


    Inspector Lowell sighed softly, breaking the silence. "Such delicate and tender lines, indeed the style of Lady Marion. It''s truly sad¡­ The greatest sculptor of 800 to 900 years of the new calendar didn''t find peace in death."


    Wilhem J. Bancroft, the former Norsk owner of the carving, a young man who lived barely past 30, might not have any special sentiment toward Lady Marion, the creator of many of his pieces. After all, she had passed away more than two hundred years before his birth.


    But for Lowell¡­ Lady Marion was a contemporary. Two hundred years ago, when Lowell was in his prime, it was the time when Lady Marion, the celebrated Norsk woodcarver, rose to fame.


    When her obituary was published in the newspapers, Lowell had deeply mourned her passing, even though he had never met her before in person.


    This strong sentiment was tied to Lowell''s status as a member of the faith. Lady Marion had been invited by the Church of Prosperity to visit the Duchy of Shiga and had created a goddess bas-relief sculpture for the church, which was regarded as a miraculous piece.


    Yang Qiu, unlike Lowell, didn''t harbor such complex emotions. He nodded, then shook his head, commenting, "At least one mystery is solved. This brave lady did not die by a cowardly suicide."


    Lowell nodded slowly in agreement.


    One who committed suicide would have a strong tendency toward self-destruction, but the intense obsession left in this final piece by Lady Marion was filled with intense aggression.


    "The Norsks desecrated Lady Marion," Lowell said unhappily. "They tarnished her reputation, and even after her death, saddled her with the stigma of suicide!" S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the moral views of this world, there was no concept of dying to prove one''s integrity. All orthodox faiths considered suicide a grave sin.


    "It''s been two hundred years. Discussing this now is pointless." Yang Qiu raised his hand, palm facing downward toward the wooden box containing the carving. "I need this sealed. Please help me grant this lady her peace."


    "With pleasure." Lowell nodded solemnly and retrieved a withered wooden staff from his spatial ring, lightly tapping it on the ground.


    Ripples emanated from the staff''s tip, forming a semi-transparent, visually perceivable restraining barrier for sacred energy. It enveloped both men and most of the hall.


    There were many reasons for the formation of a sealed artifact. A sealed artifact, like Lady Marion''s final work, imbued with the creator''s intense hatred and fragment of her soul, was one sort.


    Sealed artifacts containing fragments of a deceased soul were, in a way, more potent. While a sealed artifact was an inanimate object that followed certain predetermined rules regardless of how sinister it was, fragments of a living being''s soul introduced unpredictability and turned the malice more elusive and uncertain.


    A dense, smooth, ink-like black energy flowed from Yang Qiu''s hand, pouring into the wooden carving.


    The distorted laughter, now thunderous, paused for a brief moment.


    Then, a high-pitched, explosive roar erupted.


    This psychic storm, capable of instantly making countless lose their minds, was confined within the living room of the house, trapped by the "Sacred Confinement" barrier raised by Inspector Lowell.


    Yang Qiu withdrew his hand, his eyes widening.


    The fragmented soul of Lady Marion, embedded in the carving, was slowly coalescing into its original image under the stimulus of the dark energy he provided¡­


    Within seconds, above the coffee table, half of a¡­ broken face appeared.


    It resembled a cracked painted doll, where only half of the facial features could be barely discerned from the shattered fragments.


    The fragmented soul, barely forming half a face, strained to open its fragmented mouth, emitting a frantic scream.


    Lowell expressed his regret, "Too much time has passed. Lady Marion has little consciousness left."


    Yang Qiu frowned at the fragmented soul.


    Extracting a soul merged with an external object using dark energy to allow it to rest was a common method used by black mages to soothe spirits. Back when he was still an apprentice mage, Yang Qiu had seen Lady Marion''s works in newspapers bought by his master. Her lifelike wooden carvings had once amazed him¡­


    Now, he was rather reluctant to force this lady "to rest" in such a violent manner.


    After some thought, Yang Qiu focused his mind and exerted his mental energy, attempting to place his mind imprint on the fragmented soul.


    Lowell understood Yang Qiu''s intent and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, Yang, are you serious?"


    "Don''t worry, I know what I''m doing," Yang Qiu reassured.


    "You¡ª" Lowell started to dissuade Yang Qiu from his reckless act but then remembered that this man could even manipulate eldritch power and bring the essence of the void to this material plane, so he decided to stay silent.


    Using eldritch power to suppress the fragmented soul''s instinctual aggression and trying to communicate through the imprint matrix was also a viable approach.


    What Lowell didn''t know was that Yang Qiu actually didn''t have to use eldritch power¡­ Treating Lady Marion''s fragmented soul as an "NPC unit" and dragging it into the imprint matrix to establish a connection posed no risk to him as the core of the matrix¡ªotherwise, the mental corruption from the elder god''s tentacle would have doomed Yang Qiu long ago.


    Still, branding a mental imprint on an incomplete soul was a challenging task. Even with Lowell''s "Sacred Confinement" aiding in the suppression, it still took Yang Qiu nearly 20 minutes to succeed.


    After dragging the fragmented soul into the imprint matrix and establishing a mental link with Yang Qiu as the matrix''s core, Lady Marion''s fragmented soul ceased its frantic screaming and floated aimlessly in midair. Her strong pre-death obsession turned into fragmented emotional consciousness, flowing into Yang Qiu''s mental domain.


    The most prominent sensation Yang Qiu felt was hatred.


    This hatred was intense, like a poison-tipped blade, so discomforting it made Yang Qiu frown involuntarily.


    Spellcasters, known for their heightened perception, were especially sensitive to strong emotions from both the living and the dead. For Yang Qiu, with his three hundred years of experience as a spellcaster, this level of hatred was significant enough to rank in his top ten.


    This starkly contrasted with Yang Qiu''s impression of Lady Marion, who was the only woman from the Norsk Federation to gain fame internationally in the past few centuries.


    Most Norsk women lacked the opportunity or means to become well-known, largely due to the extreme male chauvinism of the Storm Church, which denied women any status, let alone allowed them to stand out.


    In contrast, the similarly male-dominated Radiant Sun Church, due to its centuries-long development of maritime ventures and maintaining armed forces for international competitiveness, indirectly provided women with opportunities to achieve social status through non-combat roles in agriculture and industry.


    However, the Storm Church, despite its enthusiasm for overseas colonization, had not developed sufficient industry in the Norsk Federation. Women were still barred from accessing ships, the shipbuilding industry, owning personal property, or defying male family members¡ªoutdated and oppressive practices.


    Capable of showcasing her talent and gaining repute in such a harsh environment meant that Lady Marion couldn''t have been a woman filled with anger and hatred. If she had shown such traits, her reputation would have been severely tarnished.


    After some pondering, Yang Qiu asked Lowell, "Wasn''t Lady Marion known as a refined and gentle lady?"


    "Yes," Lowell confirmed with a nod. "Everyone who met her spoke highly of her character."


    "That means some external force pushed her to the brink of complete loss of control, changing her nature drastically¡­"


    Yang Qiu looked down at the small baby carving in the wooden box, reaching out to pick it up. Lady Marion excelled in portrait carvings, with her works being indistinguishably lifelike regardless of their size.


    This carving¡­ was of a baby girl.


    Yang Qiu realized the tragic truth. "So that''s why¡­ What else but harm to her child could drive a mother to madness," he sighed.


    Lowell was taken aback. "What do you mean?"


    "I''ve been to Norsk," Yang Qiu said, gently placing the carving back into the box. "In Norsk, there''s an unspeakable custom¡­ If the firstborn is a girl, she must be cruelly killed to prevent the mother from failing to produce a male heir."


    Lowell was dumbfounded.


    "Lady Marion reportedly struggled to conceive for over a decade and finally became pregnant. Regardless of the child''s gender, she must have been overjoyed." Yang Qiu lifted his gaze again to the twisted, fragmented face. "She must have been eager to hear the laughter of her long-awaited child."


    "But that''s Lady Marion!" Lowell exclaimed in disbelief. "Killing her child for such an absurd reason?! Causing her to go insane?!"


    "Inspector, have you ever heard of a princess in any of the states of the Norsk Federation?" Yang Qiu posed him a question.


    Lowell was on the verge of going insane himself¡­


    Yang Qiu stood up, facing the drifting fragmented soul.


    Communication through language was impossible with a soul that only existed in fragments. Thus, he attempted to convey his message through the imprint matrix link.


    Lady, your hatred towards Norsk is justified.


    Your endeavor to kill every Norsk person you could find was also justified.


    But mere killing is futile. It changes nothing.


    Taking away a mother¡¯s right to decide her child''s fate is not the greatest evil in Norsk¡­


    It''s just that the wrongs done to women and infants are easily accepted and endured by society, making it the main focus of conflict.


    The fragmented soul''s hollow eye seemed to respond, the darkness within seemed to shake.


    Why can''t a woman, regardless of her talents and meekness, be respected? Why must a harmless female infant be killed?


    Because crushing the weakest in society underfoot quickly establishes an "order" that the public accepts.


    Those who are trampled upon themselves uphold the feet trampling them, allowing this oppression to be justified.


    Anyone who thinks they have the right to trample on others will do so mercilessly.


    All of this is wrong.


    The fragmented soul''s face trembled violently, and tears of blood slowly trickled from its hollow eye socket.


    Yang Qiu locked gaze with the single eye of the fragmented soul.


    Everything that is wrong must be corrected. Anything that is outdated will inevitably be replaced by the new.


    The Norsk Federation, the Storm Church, along with their backward order, will surely be overwhelmed by the relentless tide.


    I promise you, this day will not be far off.


    Lowell''s mouth fell open.


    He hadn''t sensed a single trace of magical fluctuation from Yang, yet the presence of Lady Marion''s highly potent soul just dissipated into ashes right before his eyes.


    "What did you do?" he asked in astonishment.


    "Ah¡­ In a moment of impulse, I made a promise that must be fulfilled." Yang Qiu shrugged. "It''s hard to control one''s emotions when someone you used to admire is right before you."


    Lowell: "??"


    "What''s with that reaction? I recognized this carving as Lady Marion''s work at first glance. Is it strange that I admired her?" Yang Qiu said.


    Lowell stared at him for a moment, then shrugged.


    "Speaking of which, while we''ve been talking here, Rex is entertaining the young master from the Odysse family," Yang Qiu said as he put away the box with the carving and looked in the direction of the town hall. "This seems to be an opportunity, Lowell. What do you think about seizing Indahl with this chance?"


    Lowell, still searching his memory for the familiar-sounding surname "Odysse," nearly fell off his high-backed chair upon hearing the latter part.


    "Can''t you be a bit more serious?!" he demanded indignantly, barely settling back into his chair.


    "I''m being serious, of course, Inspector. It''s necessary to be decisive about this matter." Yang Qiu pointed at Lowell. "At the Bartlis'', you were Charlie Rex, which doesn''t match the Rex that the young master of the Odysse family is meeting now. If this is exposed, it would be hard to explain things."


    "¡ªWait a minute! So you intentionally dragged me into this?!" Lowell was at a loss. "Indahl isn''t some remote town like Weisshem. The Church of Lady Golden Coin won''t allow you to mess around."


    "That''s even less of a concern, dear inspector." Yang Qiu grinned. "The Church of Lady Golden Coin has already cooperated with me (my undead) before."


    Lowell: "??"

 Chapter 149: Weisshem’s Dark Clouds

    Parker Chapman Odysse sat upright, holding a blue and white enamel¡­ well, enamelware teacup, with a slight forced smile on his face.


    Young Master Parker''s friend, the equally well-born Young Master Grey, seated to his left, wore a similar smile.


    The Odysse family knight, with hand on the hilt of his sword, sat sternly to Parker''s right.


    The three gentlemen had already spent over an hour "resting" in the town hall, adapting to their unusual surroundings. Despite the initial shock, they were gradually getting accustomed to the unexpected appearances of the undead¡ªtoo much of it was no longer shocking, after all.


    At this moment, there were still a few rude undead standing in the courtyard, pointing and gesturing at them through the window of the reception room.


    Both Young Master Parker and his friend Grey had their attention on the man seated across from them.


    This man looked a little like Yong Master Parker, slightly overweight, with somewhat dark but not rough skin. At least, he didn''t seem like a lower-class person accustomed to outdoor labor.


    However, it was hard to believe in this man''s noble status¡­ Ever since they entered, he had a flattering, almost obsequious smile that seemed out of place for someone of high birth.


    Strangely, the man''s facial features, particularly his eyes and eyebrows, were remarkably similar to those of Young Master Parker. If one were to cover the lower half of his face, his eyes were almost identical to Parker''s.


    Especially notable was his hair¡ªhe, too, had the light golden curls characteristic of the Odysse family, though not as long as Parker''s but cut short like a laborer''s.


    "Parker? Don''t you recognize me? I''m Dart," the man, who claimed to be Dart Odysse, said, breaking the awkward silence. "We just met half a year ago, at Uncle''s birthday. My father got me to bring a batch of fine lizard horses from our estate as a gift. You even picked one, remember?"


    Young Master Parker, with the forced smile still on his face, scrutinized the man from head to toe and then slowly turned to exchange a glance with Grey.


    Grey saw the confusion and wariness in Parker''s eyes, mirroring his own feelings at that moment.


    "You are¡­ you are from the McCarthy family, right? Grey Medei McCarthy, your middle name is from your godmother." Dart Odysse tried hard to recall. "Last year¡­ no, the year before, you visited our family''s stables. Your riding outfit got torn, caught on a newly repaired fence, am I right?"


    Grey gasped, and his confusion and wariness turned into sheer disbelief.


    "Are you really Dart?" Parker asked in surprise.


    "Of course, it''s me!" Dart Odysse exclaimed. "Didn''t I ask Lord Rex to send my family crest and glasses? Who else could it be but me?"


    Young Masters Parker and Grey: "¡­¡­(¡ã ¡÷¡ã (¡ã ¡÷¡ã )"


    "How did you become so skinny?" Young Master Parker was astounded.


    How fat was Dart in the past? He couldn''t even fit in an ordinary double sofa meant for two.


    Forget moving about freely; even sitting for long periods was a struggle for Dart, and he required assistance to go anywhere.


    The man in front of the two young masters hadn''t only walked into the reception room on his own but also pulled up a high-backed chair to sit in¡­ It was almost unbelievable for them to associate this person with the rotund wastrel they knew!


    Young Master Parker barely asked this when tears started streaming down Dart Odysse''s face.


    This was the same Dart Odysse who had endured nearly two months of boiled potatoes and eventually was forced to engage in labor for extra meal privileges.


    Right now, he was sobbing like a child. "Don''t bring it up¡­ You brought money, right? Please pay to get me out of here."


    Young Master Parker: "¡­"


    He was now certain the man before him was indeed the good-for-nothing cousin of his family.


    Lord Rex, having witnessed this dramatic family reunion, stepped forward timely, presenting a bill.


    That''s right¡­ A bill.


    The incident of Count Odysse''s nephew, Dart Odysse, getting kidnapped while seeking pleasure in foreign lands was something the Odysse family, for the sake of their reputation, would never admit to. Rex, the "criminal"¡­ no, accomplice, naturally wouldn''t confess this truth either.


    Thus, there would be no mention of a ransom exchange between them. What Young Master Parker was actually paying for was the living expenses accrued during Dart Odysse''s three-month "stay."


    Young Master Parker promptly paid the bill and wanted to take Dart and leave right away.


    "Wait a moment!"


    "Hold on a bit, Parker!"


    Rex called out first, followed by Dart.


    Maintaining his polite demeanor, Young Master Parker nodded slightly toward Rex. "Lord Rex, I need to bring my cousin back as soon as possible. My aunt has not seen her son for over three months."


    Then, when he turned his gaze to Dart, he slightly glared¡ªa silent reprimand for his cousin''s foolish act of delaying his departure. Just a cursory glance outside the window should be enough for Dart to know better!


    Oblivious to the stress his cousin was experiencing due to the activity of undead in the courtyard, Dart continued, "Don''t be so eager to leave, Parker. Although this place saddens me, there are still some valuable things worth bringing back."


    Parker inhaled sharply¡ª


    "Indeed," Rex said with a smile, holding them back. "As Mr. Dart mentioned, Weisshem indeed has some specialty products worth purchasing. It would be a pity for Mr. Parker, and Mr. Grey, to return empty-handed after coming all this way."


    Parker had no choice but to maintain his dignity, nodding with a restrained smile.


    He was determined not to show even the slightest hint of fear in front of this illegitimate son! Absolutely not!


    Rex, fully aware that such young masters always carried ample gold coins on their excursions, enthusiastically led this group of wealthy clients (Dart, having paid his debt, was now included in the customer list) to view the products.


    Selling curtain fabric to the young master of a count''s family was impractical. Nobility of this caliber had near obsessive levels of peculiarities in their attire. Most had their own silk and cotton farms, weavers, and tailors for personal customization; they insisted on "custom-made" attire, rejecting any "off-the-rack" options.


    In Weisshem''s consumer goods market, the only item that could tempt Young Master Parker to spend was spices.


    Family members of the ex-soldiers, who excelled in cooking, were invited to perform a demonstration for Young Master Parker, preparing dishes like stir-fried potatoes with Lao Gan Ma chili sauce and spread on bread slices¡­


    Lao Gan Ma chili sauce, which struggled to sell due to its higher price, was suddenly sold in nearly half a container load in one sitting.


    Rex, who was all smiles when collecting the money, quickly had samples of hotpot base brought out¡­


    Given the local economic conditions, selling Lao Gan Ma was challenging, and hotpot base was even less marketable. The batch of expired hotpot base Yang Qiu had bought from the supermarket had been lying untouched in the cold storage of Exile Town''s Merchant Association canteen.


    Both stir-fried and stewed dishes were made with the already expired hotpot base, and Young Master Parker once again eagerly paid¡ªsuch convenient, portable compound spices that could be just thrown into a pot were incredibly handy for those traveling on the road!


    While Young Master Parker was momentarily lost in the thrill of shopping, a villager carrying a load mingled with the flow of vegetable vendors, slowly making his way into the bustling Martin Street market.


    Dressed in a rustic hemp tunic and brown cotton-linen trousers typical of local farmers, topped with a straw hat and wearing wooden clogs tied with straw rope, he blended seamlessly with the other market vendors.


    After setting down his load in an apparently less popular spot left over by others, the villager soon slipped into an alley.


    When he entered the alley, another man, also dressed in the style of villager, emerged from the alley and casually squatted at the "stall."


    The original "villager," who had entered the alley, did not look back and continued straight into its depths. Stopping in front of an inconspicuous house, he quickly pushed open the half-closed door and entered.


    Inside, several spies who had been infiltrating Weisshem Town for days were already waiting. They stood up and respectfully greeted him, "Commander."


    The "villager" raised a hand to stop them, removed his straw hat, and casually hung it on the coat rack by the door.


    This man disguised as a villager was none other than Walton, the commander of the Radiant Sun Church''s cavalry unit!


    Walton took a seat, looking seriously at the elite scouts who had been executing their mission for several days. "How is it? What have you guys found out?"


    "Commander, as you predicted, the situation here is indeed serious," a short, unremarkable middle-aged man reported gravely. "There''s a significant return of young people to Weisshem. At least 40 to 50 percent of the young men and women who were working in Indahl have come back."


    "Worse still are the diverse professions of these returning youths," stated another scout, a woman who looked like an ordinary housewife, her expression as grave. "There were waiters from mid-range restaurants, laundry workers from hotels, apprentices from workshops, and even factory workers."


    Walton''s breathing got heavier for a moment.


    He had anticipated the situation to be serious, but never to this extent¡ªa catastrophe that was contagious! The more people coming into contact with a contaminated person, the more terrifying and harmful its impact!


    "Have you tried coming into contact with these young returnees?" Walton asked gravely.


    The female scout nodded. "I''ve spoken to several of them. They share similar traits to the original city defense force soldiers¡ªseemingly clear-minded and coherent, showing no signs of mental contamination.


    "However, when subtly probed about whether they would leave Weisshem again for job opportunities in Indahl¡­ they all claimed that Weisshem offered better job prospects, so there was no need to look elsewhere."


    Pausing, the female scout''s expression grew worse. "On further questioning about what jobs in Weisshem could be superior to those in Indahl, their responses were vague and unconvincing. They stubbornly believed that Lord Rex would provide them with better opportunities than Indahl."


    The unremarkable-looking male scout added, "But according to our investigation, it''s impossible for Weisshem to have that many job openings. So far, the only need for labor is the temporary work for the comprehensive reconstruction of the town''s main street, but the pay there is only 30 copper a day, and hiring will cease once the work is completed."


    Walton shook his head in disbelief.


    An income of less than nine silver coins a month from unstable temporary work, somehow enticing workers with stable monthly salaries to abandon their original jobs, made no sense whatsoever.


    Rubbing his throbbing temples, Walton uttered, "What about the status of the original city defense force soldiers?"


    "I was about to report that to you," the female scout said, perspiring and visibly frightened. "Half of those soldiers have disappeared without a trace."


    "What?!"


    "These people were initially working on the main street construction site as temporary laborers, but they have been missing for the past three days," she continued, her voice laced with fear. "I risked contacting those who were still around¡­ The surviving soldiers showed no concern for their missing comrades. Instead¡­ they expressed envy toward the situation of those who had disappeared."


    Walton''s breathing got heavier once more¡­


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 Chapter 150: Awkward Status of The Security Squad

    Exactly how many "contaminated" were there in Weisshem now?


    This was a question that Commander Walton found difficult to fathom. But one thing was certain¡ªCharlie Rex!


    This man had a significant connection to the suspected catastrophe about to unfold in Weisshem!


    "Is Charlie Rex acting on the orders of the ''Nightmare Butcher''?" This was Commander Walton''s foremost concern.


    "This¡­ we currently cannot ascertain." The unremarkable middle-aged man gulped. "The ''Nightmare Butcher''s'' undead exist openly in Weisshem. There''s even an undead-run¡­ delicatessen on the main street, worksites that only permits undead, and even a skeleton holding the position of town mayor."


    "An undead-run delicatessen?!" Walton exclaimed in astonishment.


    The female scout nodded gravely. "This shop sells extremely cheap salt, food, and spices. Because of its existence, all the shops owned by Baron Markus have closed down."


    Salt and food had always been the most stable and profitable of commodities.


    The shops dealing in salt and grain on Martin Street Market were actually the private property of the former lord of Weisshem, Baron Markus, including the store Mia visited in the beginning, which appeared to be run by an elderly couple.


    The undead disrupted the old order of Weisshem but did not attack the civilians. Instead, they even actively maintained the stability of Weisshem. These salt and grain shops also didn''t expose themselves, "lying low" and waiting for Baron Markus to "reclaim his territory"¡ªuntil the undead-run delicatessen opened and took away all their business, rendering them unable to continue operations.


    Commander Walton fell silent for a moment and then uttered, "Buying loyalty¡­"


    The public is foolish and shortsighted; as long as they see tangible short-term benefits, they do not care whether those ruling over them are just or evil.


    After a pause, Walton expressed his doubt, "Where does the ''Nightmare Butcher'' get so much salt and food to win the people over?"


    "This¡­ It''s like the ''Undead Cloth''; we can''t trace its source," the female scout said, ashamedly lowering her head.


    "This isn''t your fault; the ''Nightmare Butcher'' has always been extremely elusive and a mystery. Even the Inquisition has spent years trying to trace his origins to no avail." Walton shook his head. "Where he was born and which country his unique facial features originate from remain unknown to this day."


    The Nightmare Butcher Yang became a continent-wide wanted criminal 60 years ago, attracting many individuals and organizations eager for the substantial bounty. They voluntarily participated in investigations into his background.


    And the eventual result was¡­ inconclusive.


    Yang''s black hair seemed to match the hair of Kenyan people, and his facial contour lines were also somewhat similar to the Kenyans, but the differences in skin and eye color were vast, and his physique was strikingly different. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yang''s dark eyes, at a glance, appeared similar to the Sokrians of the south, but upon closer inspection, they differed. Sokrians had almost pitch-black pupils, whereas the Nightmare Butcher''s eyes were actually dark brown. Coupled with the Sokrians'' characteristic black skin and white hair, it was clear that Yang was not a Southerner.


    Yang''s light yellowish-white skin tone was similar to the people of the Norsk Federation in the east, but the differences in hair color, eye color, and facial features were significant¡­


    Even the Bounty Association, experts in tracking down clues, couldn''t uncover the true origins of this enigmatic madman.


    "Using salt, grain, and affordable Undead Cloth to win over the hearts of the Weisshem people, making them accept the presence of the undead, and appointing his subordinates as town mayor must cost a great deal of capital. It''s clear that Yang isn''t just looking to make a quick profit in Weisshem¡­" Walton mused. "So¡­ is it Charlie Rex who''s behind all this?"


    The scouts exchanged glances, and the middle-aged man spoke first, "We''ve come into contact with some members of the security squad, temporary workers, and two clerks from the town hall. Like the soldiers of the city defense force, they don''t mention the ''Nightmare Butcher'' much and often speak highly of Lord Rex."


    "Yes," the female scout added. "From the intelligence we''ve gathered, ''Nightmare Butcher'' Yang rarely appears in town. On the contrary, Charlie Rex is very active and can be seen around the main street of the town every day."


    The middle-aged man continued, "We''ve seen this new lord a few times during our investigations. He is very popular among the local townsfolk and seems to be quite approachable. However, he is always seen with the undead town mayor, and we were cautious not to approach too closely for fear of our disguises being seen through by the undead."


    "So it''s true then¡­" Walton''s brow furrowed, recalling the sullen young man who used to follow Yang. That young refined-looking man, with the light silver-white hair common among the Rhine Kingdom''s upper-class, seemed increasingly malevolent in Walton''s recollection.


    After a moment of contemplation, Commander Walton firmly stated, "Contact the Horn''s man. We need to infiltrate the town hall and obtain evidence linking Charlie Rex to the catastrophe."


    The ones most adept at dealing with catastrophes were high priests of the various faiths.


    To persuade the high priests of the Radiant Sun Church and the Church of Lady Golden Coin to act, Walton needed to gather compelling evidence!


    The scouts of the Radiant Sun Church''s cavalry unit were exceptionally skilled. Before infiltrating Weisshem, they had spent two days gathering information in the surrounding villages. They entered the town under the guise of "villagers from remote areas coming to work together," and even specifically rented a low-cost house as their base.


    The daily recruitment of temporary workers on the main street was quite enticing for farmers. It attracted not only returning townsmen who had left for harvest work but also many villagers whose harvests were nearly complete. This influx provided the townspeople with some extra income from renting out their properties. With Weisshem having lost population over time, there were many vacant houses, some of which couldn''t even be sold.


    The scouts had done an excellent job in their guises, but still¡­ they were detected.


    When the unremarkable middle-aged man emerged from the alley, two security squad members keeping a discreet watch spotted him.


    "There''s movement," whispered Jimmy, who was pretending to rest at the entrance of a grocery store as he set down a cup of water provided by the shopkeeper. "Time to move. Let''s follow him."


    His partner nodded in understanding, and they both got up. The two, appearing to be on their regular patrol, followed their target from a distance.


    The middle-aged man, disguised as an ordinary villager, walked past various street vendors for about a hundred meters before turning into another alley.


    Jimmy and his partner didn''t follow him into the alley but stopped at a distance.


    "Those bunch from Well Alley are indeed together with this group," his partner remarked.


    "Didn''t I say these people are suspicious? They might even be working together," Jimmy scoffed. "Which villager that comes for temporary work wouldn''t immediately rush to buy salt, grain, or cloth upon receiving their daily wages? It''s only these two groups that often return empty-handed!"


    His partner nodded in agreement.


    The Radiant Sun Church scouts and city defense force spies probably never dreamed that despite their professional disguises and convincing acts, they would give themselves away simply by not buying salt or fabric¡­


    "Haa¡­ I thought that no spy would dare come here again after that incident with the Sokrian trade caravan. And here they are, seeking trouble so soon," Jimmy''s partner said excitedly. "We might get commendations for this, Jimmy. Who do you think we should report to?"


    Jimmy uttered an "Uh¡­" and was stumped.


    The security squad, reformed from the original militia, currently had no captain; their daily patrols and duties in town continued as per the former militia''s schedule.


    The squad''s salaries and logistics (work meals, uniforms, equipment) were managed by Miss Mia from the town hall''s logistics office, while the town''s regulations and policies were set by Mayor Ji Tang. Meanwhile, authority for assignments and dispatches lay with Lord Rex.


    Such a chaotic management structure would spell disaster elsewhere, but in Weisshem''s unique environment, it was difficult for anything to go wrong. Mia, who controlled the finances, and Mayor Ji Tang, who managed structure, never interfered with the security squad''s operations. Lord Rex only saw them as tools for maintaining order. All three with authority over the security squad didn''t take "military deterrence."


    In front of the formidable Fourth Crises and Lord Rex, who was formidable himself, the robust militiamen of the security squad didn''t really amount to much¡­


    On a regular day, everyone was content just to work for their pay, with the highlight being the distribution of work meals. Now, on considering where to report their meritorious deed for a reward to, Jimmy realized that their security squad, seemingly dignified and well-treated in the eyes of townspeople and villagers, were actually in an awkward position:


    The managing approaches of Miss Mia, Mayor Ji Tang, and Lord Rex were akin to letting sheep roam freely.


    All three were their direct superiors, but none of them paid much attention to the security squad¡­ not that they were deliberately ignoring, just not prioritizing.


    Jimmy silently lowered his head in frustration.


    His partner, too, gradually grasped the dilemma and winced. All three of their superiors were so busy they hardly managed them on a regular basis. Rushing to report to them might be futile if they were too occupied to care about this matter. How would their contribution be recognized then?


    "Maybe, maybe¡­ we should consult with Boss Hal?" Jimmy''s partner suggested after some hesitation.


    Jimmy pondered for a moment and then reluctantly nodded.


    Boss Hal Maxwell, the head of the detention barracks, had nothing to do with the security squad and wasn''t even their direct superior. However, in the "Taranthan system," if there was anyone with the deepest connection with the security squad, it would be Hal.


    Those currently wearing uniforms and receiving salaries from the town hall were released by Hal''s leniency; their former head and a good number of comrades who hadn''t received Hal''s permission were still enduring hardship in the former militia headquarters.


    "What does it matter to me?!"


    In the office of the current detention barracks, formerly the militia headquarters of the militia, Hal responded dismissively to the two young men seeking help.


    Everyone who had been in the detention barracks knew about Hal''s temper. Jimmy and his partner, with apologetic smiles, tried to persuade him earnestly.


    "Boss Hal, those two groups seem pretty unusual, especially the ones from Well Alley. Their strength might even surpass those Sokrian mercenaries of the trade caravan from before."


    "Yeah, Boss Hal, and they''re staying in crowded areas like Martin Street. If they really have ill intentions, any trouble they cause could become a big problem."


    Hal idly cleaned his ear. Frankly speaking¡­ well, he wasn''t too keen on cleaning up messes for Rex. Although there wasn''t much animosity between him and Rex, Hal just couldn''t stand that pretentious youngster.


    But then again¡­ life in Weisshem had been quite comfortable for him lately.


    Since the Sokrian mercenaries were brought in by that damned black mage to be so-called job instructors, the number of annoying undead bothering Hal had drastically decreased. He didn''t even need to supervise construction sites on the main street anymore; overseeing the detention barracks with over a thousand prisoners was enough.


    Managing a large group of people, dealing with only a few persistent undead visitors daily, and being respected wherever he went¡­ Hal enjoyed these smooth sailing days and didn''t wish for it to be disrupted.


    "Alright, let me see what these guys are made of¡­" Hal blew on his fingernails, stood up, and smirked mischievously. "You two go back to your duties. I''ll make sure to pass on your deeds to that idiot Rex."


    Jimmy and his partner were visibly grateful.


    With Boss Hal stepping in, Lord Rex would surely take their accomplishment seriously!

 Chapter 151: Last Straw

    The sky over Weisshem was gradually darkening.


    Having purchased nearly two tons of various "specialty" spices, Young Master Parker Odysse raised his departure to Rex. "I hope my grieving aunt can see her son Dart as soon as possible. Please understand my urgency," said the always elegant and composed young master of the Odysse family.


    Touched by Young Master Parker''s concern for his family, Rex offered to provide manpower to help load the goods onto the carriages.


    Parker''s convoy consisted of 16 carriages, designed for the dignified traveler. These carriages featured high chassis and two pairs of wheels made from alloy bearings and thick rubber for agile maneuvering.


    The sturdy, defensive body of the carriage was large and robust, divided into an upper and lower deck. The lower part served as a sleeping and resting compartment, while a mezzanine space below was used for storing luggage and supplies.


    These carriages, prioritizing durability and comfort, differed significantly from the typical large covered wagons used by merchant caravans. They were not ideal for heavy loading, with a carrying capacity typically half to two-thirds the weight of the carriage itself. The "specialty" goods purchased by Young Master Parker had to be evenly distributed among the carriages still having space for cargo.


    Parker did not refuse Rex''s kind offer, as he indeed wanted to load his goods and leave this strange town before night fell.


    Then he watched as Rex called over a group of undead.


    The players, just returning from the Wanderer Guild construction site on the main street and preparing to return to the Exile Town to farm monsters during the game''s "night," didn''t mind taking on such an easy quest. Players were willing to do anything as long as it rewarded reputation¡ªeven if it were shoveling pig manure.


    "Are these not storyline NPCs? They are just passing by?"


    "Seems like it. Weisshem has a lot of NPCs without a clear purpose."


    "This game is so annoying. Why bother with so much useless data? Aren''t they afraid of crashing the servers?"


    "That''s why they keep releasing accounts little by little. The servers'' resources are all used up on NPC numbers¡­"


    Young Master Parker Odysse, with a strained smile, watched the undead, still covered in dirt and mud from the construction sites, unabashedly handling his purchased goods and climbing all over his carriages.


    The damned illegitimate son even stood beside him, proudly boasting to Parker, "Our undead friends are always eager to help. When manpower is short, there''s no one more reliable than our undead friends."


    Parker struggled to suppress the urge to scream at this madman and responded with a forced chuckle, "Is that so? Heheh."


    "Yes. All it takes is a small, negligible price," Rex said candidly.


    The "territorial prestige" and "special copper coins" allotted by Yang for distribution were limited. Although Rex didn''t quite understand the significance of these numbers that only showed up in the imprint matrix and toy currency that couldn''t be circulated outside, he didn''t expect the undead to do all the work anyway.


    On hearing the mention of "a small price," both Young Master Parker and Grey felt a chill running down their spines.


    Hold on! What sort of price?!


    Surely it doesn''t mean making a contract or something about pledging one''s soul for just helping to move the goods, right?!


    As Parker was contemplating how to probe further without revealing his apprehension, another undead entered the courtyard, heading toward a large covered wagon driven out by a burly man with a shaved head in the corner of the yard.


    Young Master Parker watched Rex wave to the undead.


    "Sis Zhao, where are you off to?"


    The undead looked up and made a "KABAKABA" noise in response.


    "Yang has assigned me a mandatory task. I have to go to Indahl again using the guise of ''Exorcist Feng Alphonsus,''" said Zhao Zhenzhen, resignedly.


    "Ah? Isn''t that dangerous?" Rex asked in surprise.


    "It''s fine. Ben will just drop me outside the city and return. I''ll die once in the city and then come back. It won''t hamper tomorrow''s grain collection work," Zhao Zhenzhen explained.


    "That¡­ Why does he want you to go and die?" Rex was puzzled.


    "Who knows." Zhao Zhenzhen shrugged as she climbed onto the wagon. "I''m heading over now."


    "Have a safe journey." Rex waved.


    Young Masters Parker and Grey glanced at Rex, then at the large covered wagon that had already left the town hall courtyard.


    From what they could understand of Rex''s conversation, the whole situation seemed bizarre indeed¡­


    Of course, neither of the young masters had any intention of inquiring further¡ªthey had no interest in knowing the depth of the relationship between this illegitimate son and the undead!


    All they wanted was to leave as quickly as possible, to get as far away from this eerie godforsaken place!


    Just as Young Master Parker was eagerly anticipating their departure, more people arrived at the town hall.


    The newcomers were two men. A dark-haired middle-aged man in a robe and a refined man with silver hair, dressed in ordinary clothes.


    Young Master Parker''s gaze naturally fell on the younger guy with light-colored hair¡­


    Light hair colors were predominant in the Rhine Kingdom''s upper class. Light golden curls were a distinguishing feature of the main bloodline of the Odysse family. The young man''s impressive appearance and demeanor instinctively made Parker assume that this newcomer''s status must be higher than that of the illegitimate son beside them¡ªalthough Rex also had light hair, his short cut and overall appearance lacked the refinement of a high-class upbringing.


    "Good evening." The dark-haired middle-aged man nodded at Rex and the two young masters.


    "Evening," Young Master Parker responded politely, though his scrutinizing gaze swept over this man.


    And then¡­ He felt something amiss.


    He was certain he didn''t know this man with pure black hair.


    Dark hair was a symbol of lower status in central Navalon but represented nobility in the north; given the man''s aura, it was plausible to suggest he was a northern noble. However, the Odysse family had never done business with northern nobility, and Young Master Parker had never interacted with northerners.


    Yet¡­ why did he feel that this black-haired man looked familiar as if he had seen him somewhere before? S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Allow me to introduce, this is Lord of Taranthan, Yang," Rex said, though he was slightly puzzled as to why Yang had come.


    The Odysse family''s territory was far from the border, so when Young Master Parker first heard the name "Taranthan," he thought it might be some unfamiliar place in the north. He instinctively showed a more polite and approachable smile and extended his hand in a friendly gesture.


    Yang Qiu smiled and shook hands with the young master.


    As their hands touched, Young Master Parker suddenly came to a realization. "Wait, Yang?!"


    "Do you know me?" Yang Qiu chuckled.


    Young Master Parker stiffened as he stared at Yang Qiu, his eyes scanning the man''s distinctive features and shoulder-length black hair. A guttural sound escaped his throat as his eyes rolled back, and he slumped down.


    The shock Young Master Parker had received today was already overwhelming, and this last straw proved too much for him to bear¡­


    In a daze, Parker seemed to be transported back to his youth, to the time when he first became curious about girls and received shocking education from his father, Count Odysse.


    Count Odysse claimed this was the teaching he had received from his own grandfather back in his youth and felt it essential to pass on to all his sons¡ª


    It concerned an incident that had occurred with a former business partner of the Odysse family in a small state within the Norsk Federation.


    Nations in central Navalon never intermarried with member states of the Norsk Federation, as noblewomen in Norsk held no status. Marrying a Norsk noblewoman brought no advantage to one''s family.


    Business, however, was a different matter, especially with the Norsk Federation located in the east of the continent, boasting fertile lands and a long coastline, rich in grain, salt, and various special minerals.


    About 60 years ago, when the patriarch of the Odysse family was still young and healthy, he went to the Norsk Federation to negotiate business with the ruling family of a small state.


    At a palace banquet, the Odysse patriarch witnessed a horrific and inhuman event¡ªa crazed demon brutally murdering the state''s prince in front of hundreds of guests.


    This demon, wielding a heavy iron hammer used by the royal stablemen to put down old horses, brutally smashed the charming, handsome prince, who was frequently featured in newspaper scandals, into a pulp.


    The esteemed count, patriarch of the Odysse family, witnessed every detail from his seat of honor among the distinguished guests.


    Overwhelmed by the shock, Parker''s grandfather fell gravely ill upon his return home.


    After a month of recuperation, the shaken patriarch gathered his sons and described his experience in vivid, alarming detail, insisting they engraved the lesson deeply in their minds.


    The psychological impact this terrifying account had on Parker''s father, the current Count Odysse, was evident.


    When Parker turned 13 and began to notice the curves of the maids, the count hurriedly summoned his son to his study. There, he showed him clippings from newspapers over 60 years old and wanted posters issued by the Storm Church, accompanied by a long, perhaps embellished, narrative as if he had witnessed it himself.


    After that, young Parker experienced nightmares for a long time.


    In his dreams, a butcher-like demon with a rusted hammer dripping with human flesh loomed over him. The demon''s long black hair, like numerous writhing snakes, blotted out the sky, sneering devilishly at the young Parker¡­


    Inspector Lowell watched silently as the flustered butler and servants carried the unconscious Young Master Parker into the town hall building. He turned to Yang Qiu with a puzzled look.


    "Are you sure you''ve never been to Count Odysse''s territory?"


    Yang Qiu was equally surprised. "Of course. Didn''t you see that Dart Odysse didn''t recognize me?"


    Lowell glanced at Dart Odysse, panicking and following behind the entourage, then he fell silent.


    Dart''s family had branched off from the main family since his grandfather''s generation. The true cause of the early demise of the previous Count Odysse was indeed not known to the side branches¡­


    "The reaction this young master of the main family branch had toward you¡­ doesn''t seem to be like someone who would cooperate with you," Lowell commented wistfully.


    Yang Qiu turned to look at the jittery convoy and replied optimistically, "At least our guests will have to stay the night, right?"

 Chapter 152: Walton’s Conundrum

    Earth time, November 20. Half a month had passed since the start of the second beta.


    It was the ninth month in OtherWorld, a time when agricultural farmers paid their tithes.


    Young Master Parker Chapman Odysse, forced to "stay" at Weisshem Town Hall, endured a night full of nightmares.


    In his nightmare, a man with black snaking hair, akin to a resurrected demon, stood atop a mountain of corpses under a blood-tinged sky, chanting curses that resonated powerfully.


    This was the terrible curse that haunted Parker throughout his adolescence, deeply etched in his soul like the images from that old newspaper scrapbook¡­


    "When I am not present, you all may commit evil deeds.


    "When no one knows, you all may commit evil deeds.


    "But remember; evil that is committed will be accounted for.


    "When the reckoning comes, all the sufferings of the victims will be repaid tenfold!


    "The agony of shattered bones, the torment of flesh being peeled away will accompany your wails, offering a belated funeral procession to the victims!


    "¡ªJustice may be delayed, but it will never be absent!!"


    Parker awoke, drenched in sweat as if he were in the bloodstained palace his grandfather had once visited; that fearsome lunatic blustered among the corpses less than 20 meters away from him, snarling at him.


    The voice grew louder, stronger, and¡­ closer.


    "Good evening," the demonic figure in the nightmare extended its bloodstained claws, grasping his hand and sneering. "Do you know me?"


    "Aaaaaahhhhh!!"


    Parker''s eyes jerked wide open.


    An unfamiliar ceiling, and an unfamiliar room.


    If not for his familiar manservant by his side and his concerned butler entering the room, Parker might have continued screaming¡­


    Supported by his manservant, Parker sat up and allowed the butler to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. He asked weakly, "Why is it so noisy outside?"


    "Villagers paying their grain taxes," his butler answered. "The yard is full of people, so it''s bound to be noisy."


    "Grain taxes?" Parker''s mind struggled to catch up before he suddenly came to a realization. "We''re still in Weisshem?!" S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Yes, Young Master," the butler said, gently steadying Parker''s shoulder. "Please calm down, it''s daytime now¡­"


    Parker shrugged off the butler''s hand and jumped out of bed, rushing barefoot to the balcony and yanking the curtains open.


    Having been assigned the best room in the town hall due to being a significant client, Parker found himself in a spacious bedroom with a large balcony on the third floor. From there, he could overlook the entire town hall courtyard and the street beyond.


    The street and courtyard were swarming with local villagers using wooden carts, hand-pushed barrows, and flatbed mule carts to transport their grains. The bustling noise was headache-inducing, but the scene didn''t seem too chaotic.


    Wooden barricades were set up on the streets, with villagers queuing and moving forward in an organized manner to pay their taxes. Similar barricades in the courtyard directed villagers and their carts into three separate lanes leading to three tax collection points.


    Parker, who generally disliked such bustling scenes, found some solace in seeing so many living people¡­ and breathed a sigh of relief.


    He really had enough of those very active skeletons as well as that demon from his nightmare.


    As his gaze turned below the balcony, Young Master Parker tensed up once more.


    Directly below, in the empty space before the town hall building¡­ was the undead.


    The grains collected at the three collection points were being moved by these undead to the storehouses on either side of the building.


    The stark contrast between the lively villagers and this "undead supply line" brought back Parker''s suffocating sensation.


    "What difference does day or night in Weisshem even make?" Parker muttered in despair.


    Meanwhile, at the northern end of Martin Street, Walton, commander of the Radiant Sun Church''s cavalry unit, and his capable scout squatted by the side, observing the dense flow of people from Main Street to the town hall.


    As a knight with his own land and peasants, Walton was no stranger to scenes of farmers paying their tithes. However, the sight of farmers queuing to pay their taxes and leaving jubilantly was new to him.


    Knights granted a title invariably had their own lands and peasants. Even a family knight of a noble could acquire one or two small villages as their fief, with a dozen to several dozen peasant households as their subjects. Thus, Walton, a commander of a Radiant Sun Church cavalry unit, also had his own land¡ªa small town near the central-eastern part of the Kenyan Empire with nearly ten thousand inhabitants.


    Of course, knights differed from true nobility. If a knight failed to produce a qualified heir or if their title was revoked, the fief would be reclaimed. Therefore, knights typically didn''t invest much effort in managing their lands; securing their annual share of the grain tax was their main concern.


    Walton, often away on duty, rarely visited his fief, only collecting his "dividends" periodically. The peasants he encountered while collecting the tax never exhibited the relaxed demeanor he witnessed now in Weisshem. They didn''t chat or laugh with each other in long queues, eagerly waiting their turn to pay taxes as if fearing they might miss out.


    Such enthusiasm in tax payment was unheard of to Walton, especially among the most ignorant peasants who never empathized with tax officials'' difficulties. Although the deadline was before the eleventh month, they would usually delay until the last few days before paying up.


    This left Walton perplexed¡­ While Rex could influence the townspeople of Weisshem, how could he possibly affect the villagers who didn''t reside in the town?


    As these doubts surfaced in his mind, yet another opinion was silently sprouting. Within the short day and a half he had spent in the city, the Weisshem Walton witnessed wasn''t the one he had imagined.


    He imagined Weisshem to be withering, riddled with chaos and lifelessness.


    Contrary to his expectations, he witnessed a town that was vibrant and bustling with life. The townspeople and villagers he saw showed no signs of living in fear.


    Having served as a night watchman for the faith for many years and seen countless ignorant folk bewitched by cults, Walton knew exactly what those led astray looked like¡ªcontrary to common belief, these people didn''t appear deeply aggrieved. Instead, they seemed more active, confident, and optimistic than average people, yet also more irritable, angry, and prone to excitement, existing in a bizarre state between madness and calm.


    But the people of Weisshem weren''t like that.


    They seemed entirely ordinary from any perspective. Housewives argued over whose garbage was disposed of wrongly, stall owners and customers haggled over how many potatoes a copper coin could buy, dirty wide-eyed children searched gleefully for discarded rum bottles, and young women strutted proudly, flaunting their new dresses¡­


    Weisshem''s residents were not very different from those of Indahl or, in Walton''s recollection, the people of the Kenyan Empire.


    Yet, there were subtle differences he couldn''t quite pinpoint.


    He watched a family of villagers exit the town hall courtyard, beaming, and happily head toward the main street. Walton stood up and took a few steps out from the corner of Martin Street, watching the family vanish around a corner.


    Villagers that left the town hall seemed to all head in the direction of Main Street.


    After a moment of hesitation, Walton instructed his subordinate to continue watching the area while he adjusted the brim of his flat cap and walked in the direction to Main Street.


    Only a few steps down, Walton discovered the secret as to why villagers were converged toward the area.


    Some of the partially reconstructed buildings along this street had started to open for business.


    Near the intersection close to the town hall, a two-story building had its entire ground floor opened up, displaying dozens of straw-lined baskets full of eggs. A woman in a town hall clerk''s uniform stood on a stool at the store''s entrance, waving her arms and shouting, "Egg sale! Four for a copper! Pick any you like!"


    Walton initially thought he was hearing things¡ªWhen had eggs become so cheap?!


    Evidently, his ears were just fine. This egg shop, with a town hall clerk doubling as a salesperson, was indeed selling at this incredibly low price¡­


    Nearly a hundred people swarmed the shop, frantically buying. Some robust farmwives even resorted to monopolizing a basket, forbidding others from picking eggs, infuriating the housewives who couldn''t squeeze in, resulting in loud complaints.


    Given the unbelievably low prices, some were still dissatisfied. Walton saw a housewife complain to the clerk, "Miss Jenny, why are these eggs so small, a whole size smaller than the ones Miss Mia and Miss Shirley sold on Martin Street yesterday?"


    "Stop being so demanding!" someone retorted before Jenny could respond. "Yesterday''s eggs were three for a copper, and now it''s four for a copper. That''s quite a discount!"


    "Yes, indeed. These eggs are smaller, hence the price reduction," Jenny explained cheerfully. "It''s still a good deal to get an extra egg, and the taste is the same. They''re perfect for soups or frying."


    "But they''re still too small. I''ve never seen eggs this tiny before. The hens I raised in the countryside laid much bigger eggs," the complaining housewife grumbled while continuously picking the larger eggs and placing them into her basket.


    "Make way, make way. Don''t break anything!"


    A robust farmwoman, having picked two large baskets of eggs, joyfully squeezed her way out of the store. Her rather boisterous movements invited a chorus of complaints from those she jostled past.


    "What''s with these country folks today, why are they so extravagant today? Usually, they even haggle when we are buying their potatoes," a townswoman grumbled irritably after her skirt was stepped on yet again.


    "Don''t you know? They''ve got money today. Look at those farmers lining up in the streets; they''re here to sell their grain," An informed townsperson explained.


    "Sell grain? Isn''t it to submit their tithes?" a housewife asked the question that was in Walton''s head.


    "It''s because Mr. Rex has abolished the local tax, along with our town''s population tax," the knowledgeable townsman boasted. "I heard from my aunt who works at the Logistics Office that Mr. Rex is buying grain at this year''s highest market price. Unshelled wheat is going for four copper a pound, soybeans for six, and even corn can be sold for a copper a pound."


    As soon as this "insider information" was made public, the townsfolk inside the egg store were dumbfounded.


    Farmers, after selling grain, had puffed out chests and extravagantly bought eggs, flaunting what they considered their newfound wealth¡­


    Weisshem, located near the Sorenson Mountains and with a higher altitude, coupled with nearly non-existent irrigation projects, had a rather backward agriculture. It was impossible to grow rice, a crop requiring plenty of water. The main crops were wheat, soybeans (considered a grain here), and corn.


    The lack of irrigation and fertilizers meant the yields were pitifully low. Rex and Ji Tang''s territory survey revealed that local wheat yields were only about 150 kilograms per acre, soybeans between 50 and 100, and corn, the easiest to grow, only about 350 to 400 pounds per acre.


    In a world where food wasn''t abundant and grain prices not cheap, it would seem logical for a farming family to live comfortably as long as they didn''t slack off. In reality, even families producing grain could not guarantee wheat year-round, often relying on corn and potatoes.


    The issue was the fluctuating grain prices during harvest season.


    Or rather, it was a matter of the local lords'' conscience. Farmers, or civilian-organized self-help groups, lacked the capability and funds to stockpile grain or influence market fluctuations.


    Whether a farmer''s family would have enough to eat the following year depended entirely on how much a local lord was willing to relax taxes during the harvest tax season¡ªafter all, when grain tax couldn''t be paid in kind, it had to be paid in cash.


    Walton, who had been standing at the entrance listening intently for a while, moved away slowly.


    The voice in his heart, the one he was reluctant to acknowledge, sounded again.


    Could Charlie Rex¡­ actually be an exceptionally rare kind of benevolent lord?


    Deep down, Walton denied this ludicrous idea. That was a noble-born bastard willing to even follow a nefarious black mage!


    How could such a fundamentally vile person, presented with such a golden opportunity, choose not to exploit it for personal gain but instead display benevolence!

 Chapter 153: Two-Copper Hypermarket

    Walton''s full name was Benn Hamn Walton.


    Carrying a middle name bestowed by his godfather, the Walton surname had once been shining in the Kenyan Empire. Walton''s childhood was bathed in affluence¡­ until the Walton family became bankrupt.


    Four hundred years ago, the Age of Discovery brought significant changes, including the emergence of new capitalist elites.


    These newly affluent elites, enriched by seafaring during the Age of Discovery and broke into nobility with their vast fortunes, shook the Kenyan Empire''s upper class. The most direct consequence was the scarcity of land for nobility titles.


    Without lands commensurate with their titles, the status of nobility became unstable. Over the past four centuries, the Kenyan Empire and other nations involved in the Age of Discovery experienced more territorial wars than in the previous six centuries combined, predating that.


    The Walton family, a traditional noble house, declined due to these wars. Engaged in a decade-long territorial battle with a wealthy, newly-established noble family over the same land, the Walton family, led by Benn''s uncle and bearing a barony, couldn''t even muster ten thousand gold coins for war reparations.


    Young Benn Walton had no choice but to join the church''s night watchman ranks, facing unimaginable dangers to earn a relatively substantial annual salary to cover this debt.


    His service as a night watchman over two decades on the Kalan Peninsula exposed him to things he never encountered as a young master from a baron''s family, such as catastrophes and pervasive cults.


    Nobody was born with a heart of stone, and Walton was no exception.


    In the Kalan Peninsula, with its two cities, slightly over a hundred towns, and hundreds for small villages, there would be several families that suffered due to cult activities each year.


    Walton had dealt with horrific scenes where mothers burned their children, witnessed villages neglecting agriculture for blind worship of false idol, executed fanatical cultists attempting to sacrifice their relatives, and seen firsthand how towns affected by catastrophes transformed from bustling prosperity to desolate decline.


    Family misfortunes made Walton abandon his youthful fantasies early on. He understood well that he was just an ordinary person.


    "Do what you can" became his survival mantra when he joined the ranks of the night watchmen to pay off his family''s war debts. He couldn''t change the world, but he could eradicate the evil that shouldn''t exist.


    Knowing his own limitations, Walton had given up confronting the Nightmare Butcher. However, he believed he could tackle Charlie Rex, the noble bastard thriving under the Nightmare Butcher''s shadow.


    But now, Walton had started wavering¡­ He was beginning to doubt his own judgment.


    A short distance away from the egg shop, yet another bustling store caught Walton''s attention. The building, clearly revamped, had its street-facing walls removed and replaced with support columns and waist-high counters. Inside these counters were bamboo baskets filled with chirping chicks and ducklings.


    A young woman in the town hall clerk''s uniform, using a handheld megaphone, hollered, "Chicks and ducklings hatched with techniques personally taught by Mayor Ji Tang! Four for ten copper, minimum purchase of eight!


    "Those who wish to buy please line up. Collect the manual and antibiotics. If you can''t read, you have to memorize the main contents before being allowed to purchase!


    "Even if you know how to rear chickens, you still need to memorize first before buying. This is an incubation technique personally imparted by Mayor Ji Tang. What if you fail?


    "Stop looking and get in line!"


    The customers here seemed more demanding than those at the egg shop, and the clerk''s patience was wearing thin. Yet the buyers were undeterred, fixated on the lively chicks and ducklings in the baskets.


    Walton stood behind the crowd, lost in thought.


    "Mayor Ji Tang," the town''s undead mayor, had been mentioned. Walton had specifically checked the notice board at the town hall the previous evening¡­ From the photo, he couldn''t distinguish the mayor from the other wandering undead.


    Undead hatching chicks and ducklings¡­ Walton didn''t know how to react to hearing such a thing. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It was autumn, with winter still a couple of months away. This warm period was ideal for growing the chicks and ducklings, preparing them as winter food reserves. The effort to hatch these birds en masse, sell them cheaply to locals, and educate them on proper care seemed incredibly beneficial for local farmers and town residents with yard space. Even with his critical perspective, Walton had to admit this was a great boon for the community.


    Walton looked up and observed the interior of the shop.


    It was crowded inside, with two men in the security squad uniforms maintaining order and asking people to quieten down. There was also an older woman standing in front of the crowd, holding a small bottle of earthy yellow medicine powder, explaining something¡­


    This woman was clearly a local. She spoke the common tongue in a heavy local accent, but Walton could still understand her. In just a short time of listening, he gathered that she was instructing the people on how to recognize when chickens and ducks were sick, how to medicate them, the correct dosage to use; not only for poultry but also for cats, dogs, cows, donkeys, and even humans with fever or diarrhea. However, she stressed that the dosage needed to be strictly controlled, and pregnant women absolutely mustn''t use it.


    Walton stood there, numb to the surreal scene.


    Medicine that could be used by humans, just being given away as a freebie with the purchase of poultry¡­


    As he continued further down, Walton was utterly speechless at what he saw next.


    A store, similarly run by the town hall and brimming with a variety of goods¡­ had a price of two copper for every product.


    A huge banner reading "Two-Copper Hypermarket" hung across the facade, with a male clerk shouting at the entrance, "Everything for two copper, all items for two copper!"


    The variety of goods was so extensive that the large space, formed by combining three shopfronts, couldn''t accommodate everything. Some items had to be piled on shelves or in wooden boxes, displayed right at the entrance.


    Two copper wasn''t a small amount; it could buy half a loaf of black bread or a whole pot''s worth of potatoes. But the items on offer were much more enticing than bread or potatoes.


    It wasn''t just the townspeople and the farmers who had just sold their grain that were doing the frenzied buying. Some that were in line to pay their grain tax couldn''t resist running over as well¡­


    Two big blocks of yellow soap tied with straw, two copper.


    A bag of laundry powder, two copper.


    Towels, slippers, waist cloths, thick socks, metal combs, mirrors, colorful hairbands and clips, a variety of glass or plastic cups, bowls, smaller basins, buckets, steel soup spoons, spatulas, mops with wooden handles, iron hammers, sickles, screwdrivers, a whole box of nails, shiny knives, iron multipurpose hooks that could be hung behind doors, children''s toys¡­ All for two copper each.


    After squeezing in and making a round of the store, Walton realized he had unwittingly acquired a steel pen, a large bottle of ink, a 200-page notebook with exceptionally smooth paper, a folding razor, a box of blades, an elegant checkered handkerchief, and two pairs of men''s boxer shorts.


    He walked out of the store after paying, and only when the warm autumn wind hit him on the street did he realize what he had done¡­


    Feeling his pockets stuffed with goods, Walton looked back at the bustling Two-Copper Hypermarket with a complicated expression.


    He had no doubt that if such an irresistibly tempting store opened in Indahl, it would send at least half of the local variety stores out of business in less than a month.


    No, it wouldn''t just be variety stores that would be impacted¡ªthis store even had food and spices!


    Small bags of salt (100g), transparent bags of Sichuan pepper and chili powder, dry noodle squares packed in fours (without seasoning packets), a pound of vinegar, half-pound bags of spicy snack strips¡ªeach for just two copper!


    Walton watched as a farmer, still with mud on their clothes, came out of the store with bags in their hands, gingerly playing with a folding razor identical to his, joyfully discussing with their families about gifting some of their newly bought items to relatives.


    Walton saw a farmer''s wife counting on her fingers the number of people in her family, selecting towels from the oversized towel display at the shop entrance.


    A dark-skinned village girl, unable to contain her excitement, tied a pink scarf around her neck that only made her skin look darker.


    A child, with nails caked in black soil, tenderly caressed the toy his parents had generously bought him.


    Walton crossed the street and sat down on the steps opposite, silently observing the stream of customers entering and exiting the two-copper shop.


    The merchandise in this store and these customers¡­ didn''t seem to match, at least according to Walton.


    The sleekly designed, comfortable-handled folding razors held in the rough, dirty palms of the farmers and the bright and beautiful scarves tied around the necks of village girls seemed somewhat wasteful.


    These items should be displayed on more refined shelves, sold in more stylish stores, at ten, no, twenty times the price to more respectable people.


    These products could have made much more money.


    But Charlie Rex hadn''t done that.


    He put these items up for sale in a town market, at unbelievably low prices, for his people.


    The image of Charlie Rex in Walton''s mind, a silver-haired, brooding young man he had only met once and who seemed to be secretly plotting something terrible, started to blur¡­


    Walton even began to doubt whether the Charlie Rex he had seen was the same illegitimate noble he thought he knew.


    As he silently observed the people of Weisshem, Walton suddenly felt lost.


    In a place Walton couldn''t see¡­ a male clerk, sweating profusely, stopped his bicycle in an alley behind the two-copper shop.


    After propping up his bike against the wall, the male clerk hastily grabbed the thick canvas bag tied to the bicycle frame and hurried into the shop''s back door. "Hurry, bring all the copper and silver coins, the town hall is running out!"


    "Coming, coming," two equally sweaty male and female clerks replied, struggling to carry a heavy cash box over.


    After quickly sorting the coins in the box with a wooden coin-counting mold, the female clerk wiped her sweat and took out a ledger. "That''s 180 silver coins and 2,800 copper coins in total. Please sign the receipt."


    The male clerk signed, and the three exhausted clerks together stuffed the full box of copper and silver coins into the canvas bag, tied it to the bicycle frame, and the male clerk wobbled back to the town hall with the money on his bike¡­


    "We spent the whole day just counting money," the female clerk, who was keeping the accounts, joked with her colleague as she put away the ledger. "When I was a kid, I dreamed of counting money all day, but I now know that it''s also tough work."


    The male clerk chuckled. "Totally, these coins are really heavy."


    Casual jokes aside, the two still skinny clerks once again plunged into the battlefield that was the two-copper hypermarket¡­


    The merchandise of the two-copper store was bought "wholesale" from Yang Qiu by Rex.


    These necessities from factories back on Earth mostly cost between one and two RMB to produce, and when introduced into the two-copper hypermarket of OtherWorld, they served not only to make a profit but also to undertake the crucial task of recycling copper coins and ensuring currency circulation in Weisshem.


    After all, money only had value when it circulated; if locals earned money but buried it in the ground in a jar, it became worthless.


    However, the main reason was that although Zhao Zhenzhen and her leisure players earned a large amount of gold coins, which could settle all of Weisshem taxes, the town still lacked copper and silver coins. Gold coins, being too high in denomination, were not practical in the purchase of grain from farmers.


    Without enough products to recycle the money circulated among the people, the town hall would face a currency shortage.


    Like these necessities, eggs were also meant to carry the burden of currency circulation.


    The town''s chicken and duck hatcheries currently only supplied a large number of chicks and ducklings, offering people the option of farming to supplement some meat consumption, far from mass egg production. So¡­ the eggs sold in the egg store actually came from various poultry farms in G Province of China.


    One might ask: to what extent was the saturation of the egg market in China? The constant stream of scam groups desperately pulling in people was a clear indicator. China''s chicken stock and egg production accounted for 39.25% and 42.04% of the world''s total, respectively, but the export proportion was very low, only 0.5%, with the vast majority of eggs from poultry farms relying on domestic sales.


    Since 2015, China''s egg market had been saturated to the point of supply and demand imbalance. During the Spring Festival of 2015, the "price" of eggs in some areas even fell below four RMB per half kilogram.


    When Yang Qiu expressed interest in purchasing a large quantity of eggs without concern for size, requiring no free-range eggs, and even accepting older eggs, the meat processing factory''s salesperson nearly wanted to fall to his knees and kiss Yang Qiu''s feet¡­


    Of course, even if the main function of these products appearing in the Weisshem market was to regulate currency, the influx of these goods had a tremendous impact on local life, especially the large number of cheap eggs.


    Even someone like Walton, biased against Weisshem, had to admit this fact.


    In most towns of this world, malnutrition was a widespread issue; it was rare to see any overweight people on the streets.


    After the bountiful autumn, winter would follow.


    Even though the Rhine Kingdom was located in the southern part of central Navalon, with a not-so-long winter, it was still the most challenging time of the year for the lower class suffering from chronic malnutrition¡ªeven more difficult than the fourth and fifth months where they would go hungry.


    Cheap eggs, at a copper for a handful, along with hunger-relieving dry noodle squares (unflavored instant noodles) available for two copper coins for a pack of four could save countless lives.


    Just these two types of life-saving goods could bring Weisshem an immense, invaluable intangible asset¡ªthe people''s trust.


    And public trust was the most important form of wealth for any ruler, in any plane, country, or region.


    As the people of Weisshem joyfully enjoyed an autumn more delightful than any before, the neighboring city of Indahl presented a starkly different scene.


    Just two hundred meters east of the mule and horse market outside the north gate of Indahl, a large expanse of slums made of rudimentary wooden shacks could be seen.


    These densely packed huts, adjacent to the city of Indahl yet not part of it, were inhabited by people not acknowledged as fellow cityfolk by the citizens of Indahl. Likewise, these residents were not required to pay the head tax based on the eldest male''s income, as they hardly had any money. Their greatest assets were shacks made of wood, stones, mud, bamboo, and straw mats.


    Moreover, these people didn''t pay agricultural taxes, as they owned no land.


    Those living in this slum included dispossessed farmers¡ªthose who had failed to pay the local lord''s grain tax or other debts, resulting in their lands being taken.


    Others were servants, laborers, or workers who were dismissed due to old age, disability, illness, or misconduct, leaving them destitute. Some were criminals with disreputable records¡ªthieves, assailants, or others with negative histories, making it hard to find formal work in the city. And there were the poor, who, unable to afford housing in the city, were forced to retreat to the outskirts.


    Every autumn, the able-bodied among these slum residents would band together, much like some townsfolk in Weisshem, to work as seasonal laborers in the surrounding countryside, striving to save enough to survive the winter.


    By the tenth month, these seasonal workers would gradually return, carrying money and some grains given by their employers¡ªperhaps a half-bag of wheat, a bag of potatoes, or corn.


    Today, a group of such workers returned to the slum.


    Johan, who had labored in the fields for most of the autumn, appeared blackened and gaunt from the relentless toil. The full sack of corn he carried on his shoulder weighed him down, but he hurried along, frequently glancing toward the slum.


    Many were waiting in front of the slum, and upon spotting the returning workers, they stood up to look.


    Johan, leading the group, was recognized by his younger brother who joyfully shouted, "Brother!" and ran toward him with open arms.


    Like his companions who had also returned home with considerable earnings and grains, Johan was warmly welcomed by his family.


    "You should rest at home for the next few days," Johan''s mother advised, handing him clean clothes to change into and quickly opening a cabinet to fetch a wooden bowl, which she filled with water.


    "Got it, Mom." Johan obediently changed and excitedly told her, "Uncle Dak''s harvest was good this year. After settling the wages, he gave me an extra bag of corn. We can braid and dry it, then grind it at the city mill when the weather gets cold, and we''ll have corn porridge."


    His mother nodded with a smile. Seeing no one passing by outside, she swiftly lifted the clothes piled at the bed''s head, revealing a small hidden bag. She pinched a few grains of salt from the bag and sprinkled them into the wooden bowl.


    Johan was initially puzzled by what his mother added, but after taking a sip, he exclaimed in surprise, "Th-this is¡­ Mom?"


    His mother did a shushing gesture, lowered the grass mat at the entrance, and closed the wooden door before whispering, "Keep your voice down."


    Johan quickly lowered his voice. "Mom, where did this salt come from?"


    "A kind gentleman gave it," his mother said, showing him the small bag of salt. "Look, such good salt, this bag can last us a long time if used sparingly."


    Johan took a closer look. By the faint light streaming through the window, he noticed that the salt was very white and fine, far superior to what was sold in city grocery stores. He gasped. "Who gave you such good salt? Why would he give us salt?"


    "Just someone I''ve never seen before." His mother shook her head, lowering her voice even more. "The man appeared just last night¡­ quite late, carrying a large backpack.


    "I was asleep when I heard someone knocking on our door, and then something being pushed through the window. When I looked, it was this bag of salt.


    "I quietly opened the door to look and saw him¡­ He was wearing a large cloak, carrying a big backpack, knocking on doors, and pushing salt through each household''s windows.


    "I saw him, and he saw me. He was very tall but friendly. He put a finger to his lips, gesturing to me to keep quiet¡­


    "In the morning, I went around asking, and all the households in our area received salt¡­ Everyone''s calling him ''Salt Man.'' I don''t know if he''ll come again."


    Johan took the salt from his mother''s hand. There wasn''t a lot of salt in the bag, approximately 100 grams.


    Although it wasn''t much, such fine salt could last their family for a month when used sparingly.


    "What kind of person would give people like us salt?" Johan was filled with doubt. As his mother gestured for him to hide the salt back under the clothes pile, he muttered to himself resolutely, "At night, I have to see for myself what sort of person this Salt Man is."

 Chapter 154: Open and Candid

    During Indahl autumns, the sky turned dark slightly after six.


    An official from the Indahl Revenue Office, accompanied by two clerks, rode robust lizard horses along a small path outside the north city gate, galloping toward the gate.


    Rural workers who had spent their day working in the city and were returning home hastily made way upon recognizing the uniforms. Not until the trio from the revenue office disappeared from sight did these apprehensive workers dare to spit and mutter under their breaths, "Damn bad luck, seeing those yellow dogs!"


    The uniform of the revenue office was primarily a golden yellow, loathed by both city dwellers and rural folk. Nobody liked having to hand over their hard-earned income to these officials.


    Of course, the officials of the revenue office never cared about their popularity. Being liked by the public wouldn''t add a single copper to their salaries.


    Turning off the small road and sighting the towering north city gate, the slightly overweight tax officer slowed down his whipping of the lizard horse.


    Despite the animal''s high endurance and carrying capacity, its comfort for riders was no better than a regular horse. After just over an hour in the saddle, the officer felt a soreness in his inner thighs. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Noticing there was still time before the gates closed for the night, the officer, grumbling about the annoying tax-resistant farmers, stopped his horse by the roadside to relieve himself. Having drunk quite a bit of rum on the way back from town, he had been feeling the urge for a while.


    His two clerks, also having indulged in rum, followed suit. The three men faced a nearby woodland, and the sounds of flowing water ensued.


    After finishing, they were about to remount and head into the city when one of the clerks caught a glimpse of something and turned around abruptly. In the depths of the woods, a shadow flicked and disappeared.


    "Who''s there?!"


    The clerk instantly drew his revolver from his waist and strode into the woods. Unlike other departments, each official clerk in the revenue office, besides bearing standard blades, was also equipped with firearms.


    Like on Earth, the development of firearms in this world came about in an age of industrial revolution due to wartime needs.


    However, unlike Earth, firearm technology didn''t advance further. After the advent of cartridge ammunition and firing mechanisms, there was no significant progress.


    The reason was simple: firearms, relying purely on physical attacks, weren''t suitable for the complex warfare environment of this world. Most non-human creatures hardly cared about the penetration wounds from small bullets. Lining up for a firing squad had far less effect on large monsters than a heavy cavalry charge.


    Even in human wars, the role of firearms was limited. Most spellcasters possessed a mental domain that could influence the physical laws within a specific area. Bullets shot from a gun, carrying only kinetic energy, struggled to penetrate the mental domain of a spellcaster.


    Unfit for frontline warfare but ideal for maintaining civil order, firearms remained a potent weapon against civilians and unadvanced professionals.


    Revenue office clerks equipped with firearms imposed a greater deterrent on civilians than even church officials, even though an armed clerk was no match for any night watchman.


    The two gun-toting clerks who had boldly entered the forest soon found the sneaky figure that had been lurking. Upon seeing this "person," their initial aggression turned into short, sharp screams, and they retreated out of the woods even faster than they had entered.


    In the woods stood a¡­ headless monster!


    Fleeing the forest, the clerks wasted no time mounting their steeds and galloping away. Such a bizarre incident, beyond the capabilities of their firearms, wasn''t their responsibility.


    The "monster" in the woods silently watched as the lizard horses made a hasty retreat. Then, it slowly squatted down, picked up a glossy skull from under a luxuriantly growing bush by a large tree, and put it back on.


    "I''ve got to log out further away from the road next time," muttered Zhao Zhenzhen as she rummaged through the bush a second time and dragged out a backpack.


    After securing her backpack and covering her conspicuous skull with the hood attached to her cloak, Zhao Zhenzhen gazed in the direction of Indahl and sighed. "Shaping ''Von Alphonse'' into a tragic hero wouldn''t be hard¡­ but wouldn''t matters back in town be delayed?"


    Ben had already returned to Weisshem before her last log out, leaving her without company. However, after her laments¡­ there was actually a response from someone.


    A familiar mature male voice spoke, directly transmitted to Zhao Zhenzhen via the imprint matrix, It wouldn''t be delayed. Trust the others.


    Upon hearing this voice, Zhao Zhenzhen fell silent.


    "Yang, you aren''t an NPC, right?" she asked softly.


    A day before in game time, when Yang assigned her a suicide mission, he had stuck to his NPC role, sending a quest text¡­


    But once she boarded the carriage and left town, Yang abandoned even the formality of quest texts and directly communicated with her through a form of telepathy, instructing her to shape the exorcist persona "Von Alphonse" into a tragic "hero" and solidify the fact that "Von Alphonse" had cooperated with the Church of Lady Gold Coin''s night watchmen.


    This had already raised her suspicions.


    Now, when she logged back into the "game" at night, Yang communicated with her in a very un-NPC-like, casual manner¡­ Evidently, he was ready to reveal more.


    The male voice in her head chuckled. With regards to that, your think tank must have already made some judgments, right?


    Once more, Zhao Zhenzhen fell silent.


    This was not because she had nothing to say, but because the information she possessed was insufficient to gauge Yang''s limits.


    After weighing her options, Zhao Zhenzhen decided not to probe into Yang''s secrets for now. Since he showed a willingness to communicate, further mutual understanding and honest interactions (revealing their cards) were inevitable; hasty probing and risking alienation would be counterproductive.


    The Chinese had no lack of patience.


    With her approach determined, Zhao Zhenzhen quickly found her position in maintaining a friendly cooperation with Yang. Since he had gone to such lengths to disguise this world as a game, she should give friendly signals and offer corresponding cooperation as an ally.


    In other words, maintaining the status quo.


    Thus, Zhao Zhenzhen refrained from inquiring about Yang''s true identity, instead asking, "Is the key to this quest the Church of Lady Gold Coin?"


    When she previously discarded the exorcist persona, Yang had indicated to her that young Brooke should inform the Church of Lady Gold Coin that the "sealed artifact" had been taken by him.


    With her intuition, Zhao Zhenzhen could deduce two key points: first, the "sealed artifact" was extremely important to the natives of this world, and only in Yang''s hands would the Church of Lady Gold Coin give up hope.


    Second, the Church of Lady Gold Coin would undoubtedly blame the exorcist persona "Von Alphonse," which was Yang''s intention.


    Yang Qiu appreciated this lady''s precise grasp of the cooperative boundaries between them and candidly said, Correct. Due to certain issues in the past, the Church of Lady Gold Coin is reluctant to get involved with me, but I need their friendship, even if it''s just a superficial one.


    Zhao Zhenzhen: "¡­"


    Describing as if it were just a matter of making friends¡­ It was a waste that such shamelessness wasn''t used to run for the United States'' presidency.


    "So, in short, I just need to forcibly associate myself with the Church of Lady Gold Coin, right?" Zhao Zhenzhen veered off the main road and trudged toward Indahl''s north gate.


    Exactly. The voice in her head seemed to appreciate Zhao Zhenzhen''s comprehension and cheerfully continued. The Church of Lady Gold Coin isn''t much better than other faiths of this world, but they have qualities I personally admire¡ªpracticality and adaptability. As long as the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, their priests are willing to hold their noses and tolerate.


    With the phrase "this world," Yang essentially admitted he was from Earth.


    Zhao Zhenzhen suppressed the urge to ask if he was a Chinese person and instead inquired about another matter she was very curious about, "Are there really gods in this world?"


    Yes, Yang almost immediately responded to her question. But these so-called gods are merely some powerful extraordinary existences, unlike the fictional omnipotent beings extolled by Earth''s religions.


    These remarks, which could be considered blasphemous, would probably terrify another listener, but Zhao Zhenzhen took them well in stride.


    "What about these so-called evil gods, then?" Zhao Zhenzhen inquired further.


    If evil gods were merely a fabrication by Yang, existing only in the narrative understood by players, then Zhao Zhenzhen wouldn''t have asked this question.


    However, there have been newspaper reports about cult activities, not just one or two editions but many. Even Exile Town''s Town Hall archives contained two decades-old records of local cult sacrifices. This went beyond any "fabricated game background."


    You''ve seen the Indahl Daily, right? This year is marked as New Era 1032. In this world, the calendar was reset to mark the period after the War of Gods, when new ones emerged to replace the old, Yang responded promptly.


    Gods are not eternal; during the War of Gods, which occurs every thousand or several thousand years, several gods fall. Their divine essence dissolves, returning to the world''s laws as magical elements, while their consciousness plunges into the endless void.


    Once a god loses its status and a significant number of followers, it gradually loses its divinity over time and descends into madness, regardless of its previous domain.


    Gods that have gone mad still instinctively project their will onto the material plane and gather followers. Their madness corrupts these followers. For fragile humans, the mad will imposed by these fallen gods is irresistible.


    These fallen elder gods are what we call evil gods.


    Zhao Zhenzhen broke into a cold sweat when she heard this.


    With Yang admitting his Earthly origin, there was no reason for him to lie.


    In other words¡­ this was not a narrative he created but reality!


    "Doesn''t that mean there are countless real evil gods?" asked Zhao Zhenzhen.


    Countless, Yang replied succinctly.


    After a pause, Yang added, Besides worshipping evil gods, for beings living in this world, absorbing magical energy, contact with the contaminated, or touching forbidden objects can also lead to mental corruption.


    Zhao Zhenzhen exhaled sharply¡­


    She clearly understood what Yang was implying¡ªthe enthusiastic plans of the younger expert task force members to "one day set foot on this alien world" could officially be declared over.


    Such a bizarre world should never be visited in person!

 Chapter 155: Salt Man

    Exceptionally high risk of entering didn''t mean that this other world lacked developmental value.


    Firstly, a completely new world that was starkly different from Earth held immeasurable scientific research value, whether in biological samples or social sciences.


    Secondly, the OtherWorld gold laboriously plundered¡­ uh, gathered by players, had revived many small processing factories in G Province that were on the brink of closure when circulated back on the Earth plane. Just the instant noodles consumed by the people of the OtherWorld had revitalized two rural agro-based processing enterprises in An City.


    The current orders from OtherWorld was just a drop in the ocean in terms of the whole China market, but it was akin to timely aid for G Province, which lacked heavy industry and had little competitive edge in light industry domestically. For instance, the large quantity of eggs purchased by Yang through the meat processing factory had alleviated feed pressure on some poultry farmers in a township.


    China, in its bid to solve the problem of domestic overcapacity, built friendly ties all over the world (and, of course, purchasing global resources, enhancing the country''s international voice, etc.). The government also repeatedly supported Chinese enterprises in exploring new markets. If "OtherWorld" could be turned into a dumping ground for products, the Chinese government would definitely be enthusiastic.


    Even if the people of OtherWorld could not provide enough gold, the Chinese would still be more than willing to do business. Mineral ore, timber, special biological samples, gemstones, art, and much more would always be available.


    As for the additional feature of "logging in" to access this world, it was inconsequential. Ultimately, if Yang sought support from the nation, he was obliged to ensure a steady supply of helmets.


    In short¡­ as long as Yang, the mastermind behind the scenes, didn''t cross the nation''s bottom line, it was necessary to maintain a good cooperative relationship for mutual benefit!


    Zhao Zhenzhen guessed that Yang wasn''t content with just controlling Weisshem. This fellow had surely set his sights on Indahl as well.


    Therefore, from Zhao Zhenzhen''s standpoint, she needed to adhere to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.


    The natives of this world recognized Yang''s identity as a spellcaster. Charlie Rex, the lord of Weisshem, was Yang''s man. Yang''s support (pushing) for Rex, a native lord, to compete for sovereignty with whatever noble family of Indahl¡ªthis was undoubtedly internal politics of another country.


    But then¡­ she was currently the holder of a tool account in the game "OtherWorld," which roughly made her a player. Was there anything wrong with a player completing a quest issued by a lord NPC?


    Absolutely not! Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    An Earthling needed to have their Earthly moral standards, but a player had gamer moral standards, too!


    While Saint Joseph Street in Indahl was brightly lit, darkness shrouded the poverty-riddled area outside the north city gate. Only a few households in this area, near half the size of Weisshem, had dim oil lamps lit.


    Johan, a dweller here, and two of his close friends gathered in a shack to the west, talking quietly while occasionally peeping out through the gaps in the straw curtains.


    "The ''Salt Man'' distributed salt to households living near Johan''s area. Nobody knows if he will come today and where he will distribute the salt," a freckled youngster said. "Who exactly is he? I''ve been delivering newspapers for so long and have never heard of such a person in Indahl."


    "It''s not in the papers? Even the men at the press office don''t know anything?" another young man, an apprentice at a workshop, asked.


    "No," replied the freckled boy, shaking his head. "I even asked some of those at the press office if they knew someone who liked giving away salt. They said they had never heard of such a thing."


    "My mom saw the ''Salt Man,''" said Johan with a frown. "My mom said he seemed friendly, but I know that''s because he gave her salt."


    "He wouldn''t be a bad person, would he, Johan?" the freckled boy wondered.


    "I don''t know. But Uncle Dak, whom I help every autumn, used to make a living in the city. You know, the kind of people that hang around the tavern area on Saint Joseph Street? Uncle Dak used to mingle there," said Johan. "Uncle Dak always says that if someone is nice for no reason, they must want something from you."


    The freckled youth and the apprentice exchanged glances, both equally puzzled. "Would someone who can casually give away so much salt care about us, the poor living outside the city?"


    Johan looked conflicted¡­ This was indeed something he couldn''t quite comprehend.


    The street gangs in the city would sometimes come to the area to pick tough and daring youngsters to join them. And if a family''s daughter was good-looking, some tavern owners would come over to try and recruit.


    But apart from the tough ones who dared to join gangs and the young girls with good looks, other residents of the slum really had nothing that would attract the attention of outsiders¡­


    "Eh?" The freckled youth suddenly pressed his face to the straw curtain serving as a window and whispered excitedly, "Look, quick! Someone''s coming!"


    Johan hurriedly leaned in.


    Under the moonlight, a tall cloaked man, carrying a large backpack, stepped into the densely packed slum.


    Johan''s mouth hung open. He could hear his own gasp as well as his companions''.


    This man was massive! He was at least as tall as the houses (shacks) here!


    Even the "top dogs" of those Indahl street gangs weren''t even two-thirds the size of this man!


    The towering man didn''t head in the direction where Johan and his friends were hiding. Instead, he turned into another narrow alley.


    Starting from the first house at the mouth of the alley, he repeated the action of gently knocking on doors and stuffing something through the generally straw-curtained windows.


    "He''s distributing salt, right? To the people living in that area?" the freckled youth exclaimed, both surprised and excited on witnessing this scene.


    Johan and the apprentice didn''t speak, both staring wide-eyed as the man finished with a few households at the alley mouth and walked deeper, disappearing into the dense shanties.


    "Sh-should we go have a look?" The workshop apprentice gulped nervously.


    Johan''s curiosity was burning and he really wanted to¡­ But he shook his head rationally at the thought of the man''s imposing figure.


    "Best¡­ to pretend we didn''t see anything," Johan said reluctantly. "This person only comes at night, and it seems he doesn''t want to be seen. If we make him displeased and he stops giving out salt¡­ we will be resented by everyone."


    "Right, right, I almost forgot about that. We better not disturb him," added the freckled youth.


    The workshop apprentice also realized this and nodded repeatedly.


    Salt wasn''t a rare commodity in Indahl. The bottom shelves of every grocery store would have a row of five-pound salt jars at the bottom.


    However, this sea salt that came from the Norsk Federation in the east wasn''t cheap. A jar cost two silver coins, equivalent to a month and a half''s income for a mid-tier restaurant server in the south district of the city.


    Not to mention citizens in the poorer areas; ordinary city folk already had to carefully budget when buying salt or consider sharing a jar with neighbors and dividing it among themselves.


    If standard for salt use among the city''s ordinary folk was "just enough to taste it," then what the impoverished slum dwellers pursued was "having used salt"¡ªwhether the salt could be tasted wasn''t important; just the fact that salt was used mattered.


    Getting a small bag of salt for free was a huge boon for the slum dwellers. It would be one thing if everyone didn''t have salt. But if some received it and others didn''t, with the latter missing out due to someone''s interference, then the interferer would be in serious trouble.


    Even youngsters like Johan understood this, much less the older slum dwellers. No one dared venture out until "Salt Man" finished distributing to every household in that alley and left.


    But¡­ once the "Salt Man" was gone, many people came out of their shacks, eagerly asking if everyone in the alley received salt¡­


    While Zhao Zhenzhen was busy crafting a heroic image for her exorcist persona "Von Alphonse" in the city, something was quietly unfolding in Weisshem.


    Once night fell, the two groups hiding on Martin Street made their move¡ªone heading toward the town hall, the other toward the resettlement shelter on the town''s main street, which served as a dormitory for the town hall clerks.


    Rex hoped to encourage those previously suffering young men and women to participate in ordinary societal work, and he naturally didn''t isolate Shirley, Sibyl, and others that had emerged from the past shadows from their companions.


    These men and women who had become official clerks still lived with their former companions in the two resettlement shelters. Their transformation, from body, mind, to soul, and their increasingly composed and confident smiles, served as the best role models for others.


    Walton, who had once met "Charlie Rex," wasn''t suited for the mission to infiltrate the town hall. Leading his elite scouts, he followed a pre-scouted route to the outside of the resettlement shelter at night.


    As Walton peeked out from the shadow of a newly constructed building and surveyed the resettlement shelter''s main entrance, he saw several security squad members cursing and dragging a muddy-looking man out from the alley beside the compound wall, tossing him onto the main street and beating him up.


    "Do you know where you are, huh? Coming here looking for women? Are you tired of living?!"


    "It''s scum like you that causes us having to do night duty every night! Every single night!"


    Walton: "??"


    Walton slunk back into the shadows, intently observing the surroundings.


    He then realized that the resettlement shelter, which didn''t seem at all guarded during the day with only a few frail men and women entering, turned into a fortress at night. Groups of two to three security squad personnel were at the main entrance and every wall!


    Walton: "¡­"


    He suddenly recalled something he noticed during the day. The clerks he had seen were all quite attractive.


    Weisshem locals had also never avoided talking about the fact that the town hall''s clerks were all former red-light district workers.


    After the red-light district was closed, the workers congregated in one place. At night, some lowly men, unable to control their primal urges, would likely cause trouble. It wasn''t just here; in any poorly guarded part of a big city, it wasn''t uncommon for places inhabited by women to be targeted by men at night.


    With the important clerks all living here, it made sense for Rex to prioritize their safety. The security squad focusing its defense on this area at night was a logical move¡­


    Walton wanted to rush out and kick the man currently being beaten up by the security squad personnel¡ªtheir meticulously planned operation had been foiled by such a ridiculous reason!


    In a residential building a few dozen meters behind the fuming Walton¡­


    "Razor" Hal Maxwell, Ranger Tuttle Joe, and Treasure Master Finley, three former bandits with far more experience in nocturnal stealth, crouched silently on the roof like predatory wildcats.


    "These fools are actually stumped by a bunch of militiamen. Absolutely trash!" Hal said with disdain. "They could just pay a few drunks to start a fight and divert the militia''s attention. Idiots!"

 Chapter 156: Uninvited Guests

    Hal, the former bandit gang leader, obviously knew what the the two groups loitering around the town hall and the resettlement shelter during the day were up to.


    There wasn''t a need to bother with the town hall, and Hal''s only concern was ensuring the safety of the resettlement shelter.


    Thus, perching on a rooftop, Hal and his brothers lay in wait, watching the inexperienced city dwellers fumble their way through the night operation.


    "Never mind. Let''s give them a push." Hal decided to take matters into his own hands and signaled Finley.


    Understanding the cue, Finley agilely slipped off the roof and vanished into the night.


    Weisshem, even in its former days with a red-light district, never imposed a curfew. After the undead arrived and the red-light district was shut down, this wasn''t brought up either. The undead never cared about the time either, and no one had the authority to restrict their nocturnal activities.


    At the beginning, locals were too afraid to venture out at night, fearing encounters with the undead. Consequently, Martin Street''s pubs and taverns remained closed.


    However, as people realized that the undead, despite their intimidating appearance and odd behavior, were harmless, these night time establishments gradually reopened.


    Finley sneaked through an alley and entered a tavern on Martin Street, finding it bustling with locals. These establishments, catering to the local populace rather than pleasure-seekers, were starkly different from city pubs. They had no waitresses or servers and only offered cheap corn rum and barley beer, accompanied by simple snacks like fried beans, roasted corn, and lightly fried potato slices.


    With the emergence of the undead delicatessen, even snacks in taverns like these were upgraded. Roasted corn and fried potato slices were now served with delicious, spicy sauce, and tofu dishes like fried and grilled tofu were added, given tofu''s status as one of the cheapest ingredients in Weisshem.


    Among the trio, Finley was the most unobtrusive, but being from the "Taranthan" bunch, he was easily recognizable in town. A few off-duty security squad personnel recognized him and stood up to greet him nervously, "Good evening, Mr. Finley. Are you here for a drink too?"


    Finley took a look at this table, recognizing a few faces, and unceremoniously beckoned. "The few of you, come. I need you to do something for me."


    Ten minutes later, these off-duty security squad personnel, with beer doused on them and pretending to be drunk, started on from the resettlement shelter on Main Street.


    "Why are you off-duty fellas causing trouble for us instead of being at home resting?!" on-duty security squad members that came to respond to the situation said in exasperation.


    Having been given instructions, the off-duty personnel were fully immersed in their act, shouting things like "I have to teach trash like you a lesson today," or "Bastard, I''ve tolerated time already," to their active comrades and dragged them into the brawl¡­


    With such a big ruckus, Walton and his men, who had been lurking in the shadows, seized the opportunity and stealthily approached the shelter''s wall where they quickly formed a human ladder, scaling the wall and infiltrating the compound. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Meanwhile, Hal, patiently waiting for them to clear the wall, yelled out, "Now!"


    Tuttle Joe, with a bow in hand, launched a flare arrow directly above the spot where Walton and his scouts had climbed over.


    Walton and his scouts, who had just made it over, heard the whizz of the arrow and sensed something was off. As the flare burst into light, Walton and his men, who were about to dash toward the shelter, were shocked to find more than 20 robust men charging toward them, all armed with nets and long sticks.


    These weren''t just ordinary men like the security squad personnel¡­ that wouldn''t be able to stop them no matter how great the number; under the light of the flare, Walton could see the ones lying in wait were the Indahl City Defense Force soldiers that were forcibly discharged!


    "We''ve been had! Retreat!" Walton bellowed.


    The six scouts were all elite and instantly formed a hasty battle formation, covering Walton as they retreated.


    However¡­ there was also an experienced commander among the ambushers!


    A man, similar in height and build to Walton and bearing the look of a seasoned military officer, gave a silent, sweeping gesture with his arm. The ex-soldiers, following his lead as if on cue, spread out to the sides and threw sturdy nets, typically used to cover goods, in the direction Walton and his scouts were retreating.


    Even if one could cut through these nets, they would still entangle and delay the target for some time, forcing the elite scouts to abandon retreating and instead charge forward.


    The officer-like figure shouted an, "Attack!" and with a flick of his wrist, sent his wooden stick smashing down at an oblique angle toward the scouts who were now forced to advance. Walton''s eyes narrowed in recognition of this move¡ªa tactic usually employed by heavy cavalry!


    The identity of this officer-like figure was becoming clear¡ªLieutenant Wagner Pitt!


    "You''ve betrayed Indahl!" Walton exclaimed in shock and anger.


    Wagner, who was focusing intently, didn''t quite catch what Walton was shouting. While adept at mounted combat, he was less skilled in close-quarter battles. He used his stick like a lance, striking a scout''s thigh with an off angle before wisely retreating to maintain distance¡ªclose combat would put him at a disadvantage against those skilled in grappling.


    His men on either side adeptly moved to cover the gap, thrusting their long sticks in a manner reminiscent of cavalry using lances.


    The elite scouts of the Radiant Sun Church, unlike the specialized heavy cavalry, were proficient in both mounted and foot combat. Yet, they were outnumbered three to one, and the opponent was deliberately keeping them at a distance, leaving them with no option but to parry.


    After a few seconds of deadlock, Walton realized they could not afford to drag this out. He decisively abandoned defense and launched a direct assault toward Wagner at the rear, knowing that capturing Lieutenant Pitt could turn the tide!


    The scouts instantly understood their commander''s intent, quickly dispersing to Walton''s flanks and attacking the soldiers whirling their sticks fiercely, clearing the way for Walton.


    Wagner remained unflappable, twirling his arms to swing his staff at the charging Walton. However, the long stick, sourced by the logistics department from civilians for broom making, wasn''t a proper long-handled weapon. In the very first clash, Wagner''s stick was split in two by the force of Walton''s determined strike.


    However¡­ Walton could not advance further.


    An enchanted dagger glowing eerie red, which was once coveted by players but never obtained, was now pressed against his neck.


    Hal "Razor" Maxwell, who had been lying in wait in the shadows after infiltrating the yard, seized the moment Walton left the protection of his scouts.


    "Armed and visiting a ladies'' residence late at night. Are all old lechers currently like this?" Hal sneered with a wicked smile on his face.


    Walton: "¡­"


    The scout covering Walton''s left flank slightly shifted the direction of his weapon.


    "It would be wiser not to move," said Finley, emerging from behind Hal and lifting his chin upward. "Take a look. What might that be?"


    Maintaining his upper body in a defensive stance, Walton could see what Finley was pointing at just by shifting his eyes.


    What he saw sent a chill down his spine¡­


    Perched atop the wall less than 15 meters away was a ranger with a drawn longbow, aiming straight at his head. At such a close distance, even an average archer from the army wouldn''t miss.


    Shutting his eyes briefly, Walton relaxed and slowly lowered his sword that was aimed at Lieutenant Pitt¡­ He realized they had been thoroughly outplayed.


    Meanwhile, at the town hall.


    Young Masters Parker Chapman Odysse and Grey Medei Chapman, sat together on a couch in the brightly lit reception hall, docilely listening to the black mage across the table''s grandiose claims.


    "This is a win-win situation, Young Master Parker," said Yang Qiu with a smile. "Our friend, Rex, and the Odysse family both stand to gain. As you mentioned, Rex''s father had connections with your family, making Rex a natural ally of the Odysses. It would be absurd not to collaborate." The two young masters stared blankly, knowing all too well the perils of having Yang Qiu, an infamous criminal, involved. Despite the potential benefits of working with Rex, no sane person wouldn''t hesitate with such a notorious figure thrown in the mix.


    As if reading their mind, Yang Qiu continued, "Of course, I understand your concerns. Rex''s position isn''t yet stable, and his supporter¡ªmyself¡ªhas indeed been misunderstood by many. This could hinder our collaboration¡ª"


    Young Master Parker''s and Grey''s faces were nearly rigid.


    What kind of misunderstanding can lead to you hunted by over twenty nations, offering a bounty as high as ninety thousand gold coins?


    Deep down, they scoffed at the absurdity of this claim.


    That''s a bounty more than enough to finance a territory war!


    As the young masters were taking this in, a series of shouts and cries erupted from outside.


    "Aargh!"


    "Aaaah!"


    "Damn it, ahhh!"


    Trying their hardest not to seem unsettled, the young masters couldn''t help but glance toward the window at the cacophony. The commotion seemed to have alerted Rex and Ji Tang in the adjacent room as the courtyard lights suddenly came on.


    From their seats in the reception room, they could clearly see the ordinary-looking courtyard now bizarrely filled with huge, grotesque bone spikes protruding from the ground. On these spikes hung about a dozen barely alive unfortunate souls¡­


    The young masters paled and trembled slightly at the horrific sight.


    Footsteps approached, and Rex peeked into the reception hall. "Yang, someone triggered your magic trap."


    "I saw." Yang Qiu put down his teacup. "Go together with Ji Tang and save them. We''ll interrogate them tomorrow."


    "Alright." Rex closed the door and went on his way.


    "Let''s not allow these uninvited guests to disturb our lovely evening. Shall we continue?" Yang Qiu smiled kindly at the young masters as if nothing had happened.


    Young Masters Parker and Grey: "¡­"

 Chapter 157: War Rights

    Young Master Parker was the third son of Count Odysse, overshadowed by his accomplished elder brother and sister.


    His brother, a young man revered in the high society of the Rhine Kingdom, had already been capable of handling the family business at Parker''s age. His sister, celebrated as the foremost female official in the east, served as the city administrator of the largest city in Odysse territory.


    Despite the Rhine Kingdom''s tendency to undervalue women, the doors of power were never closed to elite women. Women of high society, if sufficiently capable, could secure bureaucratic positions and even contest for inheritance rights with family support.


    Growing up with such distinguished siblings, Parker never faced significant pressure. His father, Count Odysse, had always vacillated between his talented eldest son and his politically gifted daughter, barely considering his youngest child for any critical role.


    Even so, being the son of a count, Parker had developed a sharper political sense than most minor nobles. He found Yang Qiu''s proposition absurd. Seeing Yang''s determination to persuade them, Parker mustered his courage to respond tactfully, "Respected Yang, I do agree with your perspective¡­ Charlie Rex is an exemplary lord, and my cousin Dart speaks highly of Weisshem''s transformation.


    "However, Weisshem, being a small town, is quite different from a barony or county like Indahl. Perhaps Charlie needs more time to familiarize himself with governing a territory before considering further steps¡­ It would be more appropriate. That''s my opinion, at least¡­"


    Parker''s suggestion was as diplomatic as possible. Charlie Rex, an illegitimate child not recognized by the Rex family, had no standing to compete with the Bartalis family for Indahl.


    Even if the Rex family acknowledged and accepted Charlie Rex, he would still lack the credentials to contest; a peripheral figure like him had no right to instigate a territorial war. Expecting the Odysse family to support such a figure was utterly unrealistic!


    This proposal wouldn''t even be considered feasible by his father, let alone his brother and sister. They would merely see it as a fanciful dream.


    Yang Qiu wasn''t surprised by Parker''s rejection and simply smiled.


    In any society where social classes were becoming or were already rigid, the essence of internal competition and power struggles remained constant; lower classes relied on luck in birth, the middle classes on personal connections, and the upper echelons on blood and kinship.


    It was like this on Earth, and it was the same in this other world.


    In the high-stake game of power revolving around territorial domains, nobility by blood was the sole ticket to that arena. Yet, merely possessing it wasn''t enough. After all, even within the upper echelons, there were hierarchies within nobility.


    But Yang Qiu wasn''t concerned about this¡ªall he needed was that ticket. He had no intention of dancing to someone else''s tune within the confines of the rules to their game!


    Yang nodded in understanding. "I appreciate your concern, Young Master Parker. Indeed, compared to the Bartalis family, Rex''s status may seem inadequate. But what if a church were to support Rex?"


    Young Master Parker thought he was hearing things. "Whose support?"


    "The church. Church of Lady Gold Coin."


    Young Master Parker : "¡­¡­( ''-'' )"


    He turned to his good friend Grey, blankly.


    Grey: "


    Parker''s mouth hung open in astonishment. "A church?!"


    Yang Qiu''s smile grew wider. "When Rex replaced Baron Markus as the Weisshem''s lord, the Church of Lady Gold Coin already expressed its friendliness."


    During Baron Markus''s struggles in the city of Indahl, the Church of Lady Gold Coin remained silent, tacitly accepting the change of rulership in Weisshem¡ªwhich, in Yang''s view, was as good as an endorsement.


    Young Master Parker: "¡­"


    "As for myself, I previously said that many people of this world have misunderstandings about me, but they aren''t true," Yang shamelessly claimed. "The ¡®Redwall Farm'' incident, which troubled the Church of Lady Gold Coin, was resolved by my people (undead) working hand in hand with the church''s night watchmen."


    Young Master Parker: "¡­"


    Parker felt dizzy again¡­ Night watchmen of the church cooperating with the ''Nightmare Butcher''? What was the world coming to?!


    Without giving Parker any time to recover from his shattered worldview, Yang Qiu pressed on, "The Bartalis has indeed done a lot for Indahl, like protecting it from border bandits for over a century, a legacy of their ancestors that cannot be erased."


    "However, the glory of the Bartalis ended with Adra II," Yang Qiu said with undisguised disdain. "Adra II was an old-fashioned and conservative noble. Although inflexible in many ways, at least he didn''t abandon the soldiers who fought for him." S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Years ago, Yang Qiu had passed through Indahl once and didn''t cause any trouble there.


    In the era of Adra II, the then-lord of Indahl and Adra III''s great-grandfather, if one were to measure him solely by the standards of feudal nobility, he could be considered relatively humane. At least, under his rule, petty nobles like Baron Markus, who relied on flesh trade as their main industry, had no chance to rise.


    Young Master Parker fell silent.


    As a scion of a noble house, he was well-versed not only in his family''s history but also in that of other noble families. He knew the state of the Bartalis. During his great-grandfather''s generation, the Odysse family was quite close to the Bartalis family. By his father''s time, they had distanced themselves as the Bartalis were deemed "increasingly undignified."


    It wasn''t that the upper nobility were particularly moral; rather, even the more discerning nobles had to value family honor. Any dishonorable deeds had to be discreet to avoid gossip.


    Young Master Parker held no love for Adra III, who had mocked his cousin Dart''s correspondence and hadn''t clarified the situation in Weisshem, leading to his recent shock and being intimidated by the terrifying black mage in front of him!


    If there was the support of the church, and the issue of Charlie Rex''s inadequate status to wage a territorial war could be resolved, Parker could even entertain the thought of watching the Bartalis family fall from grace.


    Picturing a disgraced, tearful Adra III actually made Young Master Parker secretly want to rub his hands in anticipation.


    But of course, true to his political upbringing, Parker gave a non-committal response, "In that case¡­ please allow me to relay this information back. Perhaps my father will take an interest."


    To Yang Qiu, Parker''s diplomatic response was as good as agreeing. Raising his teacup, he said, "Then let me toast with tea instead of wine, to the friendship between Rex and the Odysse family."


    Parker, wisely not pointing out that his family hadn''t yet decided to ally with Rex, smiled and raised his own cup.


    On matters concerning family interests, Parker absolutely wouldn''t be so foolish; casual verbal agreements were one thing, but the Odysse family certainly wouldn''t commit any real resources to support an illegitimate child whose prospects seemed dubious.


    Yang, older than even Parker''s great-great-grandfather and well-acquainted with nobility, clearly understood the young master''s considerations¡­


    After letting the young master, who believed himself to be quite tight-lipped, retire to his room, Yang Qiu went to find Rex, who was busy in the next room tallying the autumn harvest and grain storage accounts.


    In the presence of Rex, Ji Tang, and a few clerks working overtime, Yang Qiu declared boldly, "With verbal support of the Church of Lady Gold Coin and a count, you can legitimately wage a territorial war against the Bartalis family."


    Rex shuddered, his trembling hand nearly knocking over the stacked account books on his desk.


    "D-d-did you say war? I wage a territorial war?!" Rex stammered in horror.


    "Exactly," Yang Qiu replied cheerfully. "Ms. Zhao is currently securing the Church of Lady Gold Coin''s support for you. It will also take some time for the young master of the Odysse family to relay the message, so let''s declare war after the autumn taxes are settled. That way, we can also profit from the autumn taxes the Bartalis have just collected."


    "D-declare war?!" Rex was utterly dumbfounded.


    "Of course, a formal declaration of war. Initiating a war under the guise of a noble territorial conflict means that once the Bartalis family is driven out, Indahl will be ours," Yang Qiu explained as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "An undeclared war would be dishonorable. Even if we succeeded in ousting the Bartlalis family, we would face endless security conflicts and potential third-party interventions. That would be extremely troublesome."


    When it came to wars on Earth, regardless of the purpose, the instigator always tried to justify their actions as righteous.


    The United States, with its global influence, had waged wars in Vietnam, Panama, Somalia, Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan, always claiming to uphold justice regardless of the reasons. Each of the presidents that made the decision needed to have thick enough skin to withstand the criticism thrown their way.


    The Chinese, whose own had also gone through thousands of years of war themselves, viewed such a tactic with disdain. Aware of the true nature, the nation adhered to the policy of not firing the first shot and only engaging in defensive counterattacks.


    The concept of Earth''s "just war" didn''t quite work in this plane. With a history that''s both extensive and verifiable, this other world had never seen a "single superpower" dominance. The common folk might be unenlightened, but the upper echelons were as cunning as millennia-old foxes. The shameless act of fabricating excuses for a so-called "just war" simply wouldn''t fly here.


    Consequently, people in this world didn''t bother with the pretense of righteousness in war. Instead, they limit the "eligibility" for war¡ªonly kings might declare war on other kings, and only nobles might wage war against their peers. Commoners lacked the standing to challenge nobility, and higher-ranking nobles could not declare war on those of lower rank.


    Wars of equal status were considered honorable and acceptable to society. If these conditions were not met, third parties were entitled to intervene and seize the spoils of victory from the winner.


    Rex, being merely a bastard, lacked the necessary status to wage an "honorable" territorial war against the Bartalis. Therefore, the recognition of the church and a Rhine Kingdom count was needed to elevate Rex''s status and validate him as a noble capable of waging war. Once the Bartalis family was driven out, Taranthan would have time to gradually assimilate the lands of Indahl.


    Seeing Rex''s jaw practically hitting the floor, Yang Qiu said in dissatisfaction, "What''s with that reaction? You don''t really think you can remain the lord of Weisshem forever, do you? The Bartalis family aren''t fools. Their reluctance to oust you this year is merely due to the impending autumn taxes; waging war now would disrupt the tax collection.


    "Once the taxes are settled in the 10th, maybe the 11th month, before the end of the year, the Bartlalis family would surely back a noble of equal status to declare war on Weisshem. Are you just going to wait for the threat to knock on your door instead of proactively neutralizing it?"

 Chapter 158: Students

    While Chinese people often presented a modest and somewhat low profile image to others¡­ when it came to martial virtue, few others could compete with them.


    Since ancient times of kings and generals to the modern rejuvenation of the nation, Chinese people had faced challenges head-on¡ªYu taming the great flood, Hou Yi shooting down the nine other suns, Yu Gong moving the mountains. Embracing defiance as a righteous way of life, the Chinese had never concealed their martial virtues. [TL note: The feats noted here are mostly Chinese fables.]


    Yang Qiu, a true Chinese in essence, only played the role of a madman disturbing the peace when conditions were against him. But with favorable circumstances, his inherent martial spirit running in his blood could no longer be contained¡ªwith over three thousand undead at his disposal, conquering a small territory like Indahl was certainly within reach. However, securing Indahl with just the undead was not without its challenges.


    It couldn''t be said that conquest was difficult¡ªno army could outlast the undead in attrition, and factors like morale, food, and supply, critical to ordinary warfare, posed no issue to the undead. As long as Yang Qiu provided temporary teleportation points while continuing to be the power source for players to have limitless respawns, winning any battle was merely a matter of time.


    The real challenge lay in smoothly taking over administration and maintaining order post-conquest. The American military''s experience in Afghanistan was a case in point. It took less than half a year to control major cities, but the ensuing 18 years of counter-insurgency warfare were grueling.


    When players first took over Weisshem, it was a night''s job. But establishing stable rule in Weisshem under the "Taranthan faction" took three full months.


    In these three months, Rex, Ji Tang, Zhao Zhenzhen, and many others had put in great effort, and even Yang Qiu himself had to move several containers of instant noodles¡­


    Indahl, with its one major city, over 20 towns, and about two to three hundred villages, with a population over a million, was too vast for the current administrative team of Weisshem to manage effectively.


    After dropping his bombshell and leaving the stupefied Rex behind, Yang Qiu briskly left, leaving the sweating Ji Tang to immediately log out and seek reinforcements¡ªeven if Zhao Zhenzhen wasn''t away on a mission, a political officer like her alone wouldn''t be able to manage either!


    The expert task force had conducted a comprehensive psychological assessment of Yang Qiu and had prepared for his potential offensive against Indahl, especially after he revealed to Zhao Zhenzhen that he was from Earth and highly suspected to be Chinese.


    The "Taranthan approach" of settling in a small part of someone''s home and refusing to leave was bound to provoke backlash. Being a Chinese himself, Yang Qiu must be aware of the timeless principle: "How can one tolerate others snoring at one''s beside."


    Therefore, to prevent enemies from invading and disrupting the hard-earned stability, Yang Qiu was more likely to opt for a preemptive strike.


    November 23, 8 a.m., Saturday Earth time. 2 in the afternoon in OtherWorld.


    Two skeleton frames silently emerged from the ground at the respawn point in Exile Town''s center.


    These two skeletons curiously surveyed the scenery of Exile Town''s central crossroads, then swiftly got down the earthen platform and met with Ji Tang, who was waiting nearby.


    Ji Tang quickly led these two newcomers into a back alley and handed them a set of beginner gear¡ªT-shirt, shorts, steel knife, leather armor with iron plates, and a waist pouch.


    Now that these two resembled ordinary players, Ji Tang promptly took these two reinforcements straight to the Undead Merchant Association¡­


    In the large Undead Merchant Association canteen, other than the two "tool players" Master Liu and Old Geng were about 20 natives.


    These natives¡­ were naturally Mia''s fellow people from Camore Town, who had followed Yang to Taranthan back then, including Collins Carter, the limping man who once relied on Mia for survival, and Martina, a woman previously rescued by the players.


    Several months had passed, and the once frail Collins, who could barely lift a finger, and Martina, who struggled to see beyond a meter, were now in much better health. Collins, despite his limp, could briskly carry 20 kilograms of frozen meat¡ªhe used to be a robust cotton farmer. Martina''s vision was still poor, but with glasses, she could now see normally.


    Ji Tang ushered these two newcomers into the canteen, and the Camore natives, including Collins and Martina, promptly stood up and bowed uniformly.


    "Eh? What''s with all this?" The two newcomers didn''t seem too pleased with this welcome and one of them chided, "Look, Young Ji, you guys are here to work. Don''t get too carried away with being treated like a king here."


    "No need to be so strict, Brother Zhou," Master Liu intervened with a chuckle to save Ji Tang''s blushes. "They did it on their own accord. We made it clear that no one is forcing them to. This world views the relationship between teacher and student with great importance, and there are many rules. It took us a long time to convince them to agree to learn from you two. If even a basic courtesy is too much for you, they might think you don''t want them as students."


    The big shot with the name of Zhou pointed a finger at Master Liu, whom he saw as being overly slick, but restrained himself in front of a youngster.


    "Alright, alright. When in Rome, do as the Romans do," Master Liu said, unbothered with how Zhou viewed him. "These students might have rough backgrounds, but they''re eager to learn. Carter, especially; despite his leg issue, he is sharp and motivated. You''ll need to put in some extra effort, Old Zhou."


    With little choice, Old Zhou turned to face the students. They were quite mature in age, seemingly averaging over forty (in actuality, the average was under forty), with calloused hands and faces marked by the vicissitudes of life. It was clear that they had harsh backgrounds.


    Among the 24 students, 19 were women, all under 1.6 meters tall due to chronic malnutrition and wearing glasses. Yet, their spirit and determination were evident. Master Liu and Old Geng had put thought into selecting them.


    Old Zhou, seasoned from years of grassroots work and with a keen eye for potential, quickly recognized the enthusiasm in his mature students for changing their lives and destinies. He nodded in approval. It was vital, he believed, to have the spirit to start afresh, regardless of age. This was what gave life purpose and meaning.


    "Everyone, please take a seat." Old Zhou gestured for the students to sit down. Instead of diving straight into teaching, he pulled up a stool and started chatting with them, breaking the ice with some light conversation. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The other prominent figure, seeing Old Zhou smoothly taking charge, naturally didn''t contest and turned to Ji Tang. Ji Tang promptly brought him to Weisshem via teleporting.


    Having seen the situation with Old Zhou and expecting to teach mature students as well, this other newcomer instead followed Ji Tang to a place labeled "resettlement shelter" and was brought in front of a group of gorgeous young men and women.


    He turned to give Ji Tang a deep, questioning look.


    Sweating, Ji Tang explanced at once, "Sir, please don''t don''t misunderstand. These are the people mentioned in the report, those who have suffered maltreatment."


    Recalling the report''s details, this figure surveyed the group of young and attractive students once more, his gaze softening. He saw in their eyes a blend of anticipation, nervousness, curiosity, and, above all, a desperate eagerness to prove themselves.


    The figure nodded slightly.


    Despite unfortunate backgrounds and fate, these people yearned for a chance to change their lives through learning and to validate their worth. They deserved a positive turn in their fates.


    "Hello, everyone. My name is Jiang¡­"


    Ji Tang quietly left the makeshift classroom, leaving the space in Jiang''s capable hands.


    The additional helmets obtained from the second beta were primarily used for medical research and couldn''t be widely employed to send people into this "game." Furthermore, considering the size of the known world in "OtherWorld," continually sending administrators would be an endless drain¡ªChina had its own fair share of domestic issues to manage.


    Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.


    This age-old saying was one that held firm even in this other world.


    And the revolution of this world couldn''t be one where its own people were absent.


    As he emerged from the shelter, Ji Tang encountered a weary-looking group, including Shirley and Sibyl, returning from their shift.


    "Hurry to the room at the far left of the second floor in building three. The class just started; you''re not too late," he urged them swiftly.


    The clerks, aware of the highly skilled teachers Ji Tang had invited to teach them, instantly felt rejuvenated and rushed toward the building.


    In the nearby wash area, where people were doing laundry, a woman suddenly flung her bar of soap into the basin with force. The splashing water irked a neighbor, who snapped, "Phoebe, what''s gotten into you?"


    Already simmering with rage, Phoebe lunged at the woman in fury, igniting a scuffle.


    Ji Tang, who hadn''t even left the shelter''s main gate, was startled and hurried back shouting, "Stop it! What are you all doing?!"


    However, those not bearing the cuckoo flower lapel voice couldn''t understand the "undead tongue." Phoebe and her antagonist, oblivious to Ji Tang''s intervention, continued their fierce brawl. With no other choice, Ji Tang restrained Phoebe and called for Mia, currently the head steward.


    Such a brawl was unprecedented in the shelter, so Mia took the matter seriously. She dropped her tasks and hastened back, taking both Phoebe and the other woman aside for questioning.


    On confirming that Phoebe had instigated the fight, Mia sent the other woman back to rest and had Phoebe stay for a private conversation.


    Now alone with Mia, who had always been responsible for their welfare and was known for her approachability, Phoebe finally opened up.


    "I can read too. I''ve endured as much as anyone else on this street. I''m no less capable than others, and I''m much younger than Shirley and the rest. Why wasn''t I chosen to be a clerk?!"


    Mia fell silent¡­


    After a long while, Mia sighed softly. "It''s because you are lacking something, Phoebe."


    "What am I lacking? How am I inferior to someone like Sibyl who struts around on the streets?!" Phoebe retorted, unable to hide her resentment.


    "You lack empathy for the suffering of others," Mia said softly. "Haven''t you noticed? You''re someone who only cares about herself."


    "Stop with the high-sounding words. Tell me, who in this world doesn''t just care about themselves?" Phoebe exclaimed angrily.


    "There''s nothing wrong with having concern for oneself, Phoebe. Everyone needs to look out for themselves, and it''s perfectly reasonable. It''s acceptable to be a bit selfish if you''re just an ordinary person," Mia patiently explained. "However, to be a clerk for the town hall and to wield authority, you must empathize with the pain of others. Without empathy, the power in your hands won''t help you serve the town hall better; instead, it becomes a blade you wield to harm others."


    When expanding the administrative team, Ji Tang, the town mayor, had always insisted on recruiting from the most suffering and oppressed proletariats.


    It''s not that those who had suffered would always remain fair and just. In fact, there were many who, having endured hardships, wished for others to suffer even more.


    Those who had suffered yet maintained empathy were the ideal candidates for public service. Those with empathy but no experience of suffering could be naively idealistic and impractical in their actions. Conversely, those who had suffered but lacked empathy could turn into tyrants once they gained power.


    Whether in Exile Town or Weisshem, this principle guided the selection of clerks, officers, and the current students for learning programs. Mia, as the head steward of Weisshem''s logistics, understood this all too well.

 Chapter 159: Ones Pursuing Fairness

    "How can there be something this stupid? What does this have to do with doing the job well?" Phoebe, her face flushed in anger, argued. "Isn''t it just about getting those townsfolk to work and then paying them? As long as you can read and do arithmetic math, that''s enough. What''s the need, like you said, to understand whether others are in pain or not? And who''s there to understand my pain?"


    "Calm down, Phoebe. Are you seeking an answer or just venting your emotions? If you don''t care about the real issue and just want to shout, then get out." Mia''s tone hardened.


    Phoebe knew how much Lord Rex valued Mia and that the undead respected her too. She didn''t dare truly anger the woman before her and tried to control her rage. "Okay, miss, I swear I just want an answer, one that can convince everyone.


    "The others and I can read but can''t become clerks. We really don''t understand why we can only stay in the shelter, do monotonous work, constantly wash clothes and potatoes¡­ It''s really unfair!"


    Mia''s expression softened as she mulled for a bit before asking, "Phoebe, is it fairness that you care about?"


    "Yes!" Phoebe asserted.


    "But I don''t see you showing much concern for fairness in your daily behavior," Mia pointed out. "Even excluding today''s incident, there have been a number of people you''ve humiliated. I''ve heard you mock others as ''old women'' or ''freaks'' more than once."


    Phoebe''s face flushed red again as she said in exasperation, "So, that''s it? I was targeted because others are jealous of me? How disgusting!"


    "You see, Phoebe, you instinctively think you''re envied by those you look down on. You care too much about your attributes of beauty and youth, even refusing to acknowledge others'' merits." Mia sighed. "Phoebe, I want you to understand something. Injustice always exists, just as you were born beautiful and others find it hard to be as charming as you. But those who claim injustice must first must start with themselves and deny all forms of unfairness.


    "If you believe you are younger and more beautiful and should thus receive more advantages and respect, entitling you to look down on others, then when the criteria for judging a person''s value isn''t youth or beauty but kindness and empathy, you, who have a poor character, should accept the ''injustice'' meted out to you. Why would you have any grounds to be resentful?¡± Mia reasoned.


    "If fairness truly exists, if it''s something everyone should strive for, how can it only exist when you need it and disappear when you don''t? Isn''t that unreasonable?"


    It seemed as Phoebe''s fiery anger was quelled by a bucket of cold water splashing over her, and she rapidly paled.


    Mia was sharp in her words, yet her tone wasn''t not harsh. People were visual creatures, and Mia was no exception. Mia was more than willing to appreciate Phoebe''s pleasing beauty when she didn''t cross any lines.


    Gently, Mia continued, "I''m from the Duchy of Shiga. In my homeland, only women of a noble family can come out to work like men, and ordinary daughters have no chance of prominence. I''ve heard it''s similar in the Rhine Kingdom. Have you ever wondered, Phoebe, why Lord Rex, Mr. Yang, and Mayor Ji insist on including women in the town hall?"


    Phoebe looked up in shock at Mia. She had never considered this question¡­ She was consumed by the widening gap between herself and those she once scorned, like Sibyl.


    Mia went on, "I''m not as educated as you. I know only simple letters and basic arithmetic. In Shiga, girls from ordinary families like mine are bound to looms from an early age. We may not even recognize our own names, but we must understand weaving. When Lord Rex wanted me to manage logistics, I doubted my capability. Despite Mr. Finley or Mr. Tuttle being more knowledgeable in inventory and distribution, Lord Rex insisted on me. Do you know why?"


    Before Phoebe could respond, Mia answered her own question, "For fairness. It''s to set a fair example for Weisshem and show that we from Taranthan, along with the undead, strive for and cherish fairness. We do not accept that the high-born should tower over the common folk, and similarly, we will not tolerate discrimination or injustice against women. That''s the real reason I became a logistics official and why these women could become clerks."


    Phoebe was astounded, her mouth hanging open, which she even forgot to cover with her hand. "Th-this¡ª"


    "When everyone turns a blind eye to injustice, those who seek fairness must start with themselves, showing their commitment to fairness and opposition to injustice. That''s how others can believe in you," Mia said more softly. "I know you''re a thoughtful person, Phoebe. If you feel you''ve faced injustice, I hope you can show me your determination."


    Phoebe couldn''t remember how she left Mia''s room.


    She was actually a frequent visitor to Mia''s room¡­ and she knew all too well why she was a "regular."


    Phoebe despised those old, unattractive, and foolish women. Living with them, eating the same food, washing the same clothes and potatoes made her miserable. Whenever possible, she would ridicule and cause them trouble¡ªwho asked them to always be so noisy, chattering loudly all the time, which sometimes inexplicably turned into sobbing?


    Phoebe never saw anything wrong with her behavior. She was always the most noticeable, the most prideful. She was used to feeling superior to others. When others angrily retorted that she too would age and lose her beauty, she dismissed it as the bitter howls of the defeated.


    Mia didn''t point out the inevitable aging and fading beauty but rather told her that the world was filled with injustice¡ªwhich was like a huge boulder shattering her self-esteem, awakening her from long self-deception.


    Phoebe rushed upstairs to the room she once occupied¡ªthe luxurious bedroom she had as the headliner of "Elegant Dreams."


    Several months had passed, and the room had changed drastically. Unnecessary furniture was removed, and so were the carpets and curtains. The space was divided with wooden partitions, and wooden makeshift beds were added, transforming into three eight-person dormitories.


    Upon entering, she ignored the women who were sewing, chatting on the semi-open balcony, or struggling to read the newspaper. One woman, who had clashed with Phoebe several times, rolled her eyes. "Again? How many times must we tell you, Miss Phoebe? This is no longer your bedroom, and we don''t want you as a roommate!"


    Phoebe didn''t respond. She just stood at the door in a daze.


    She had entertained many prestigious clients in this very room.


    The memory of her "Elegant Dreams''" former boss, Greene, flirting with her on the balcony, seemed as if it happened only yesterday.


    She often reminisced about her days as the top performer, feeling that was the fairest time of her life. Her natural beauty earned her superior treatment, luxurious clothes, and exquisite food as she trampled on all the less fortunate women beneath her.


    But¡­ was that truly fairness?


    The exquisite, expensive meals she enjoyed while pleasing her clients were just their regular meals. The beautiful dresses she received in exchange for her body were discarded by noble ladies after a single wear.


    She had overheard clients discussing how a noble daughter inherited an estate, how a lady''s wealth made counts propose, or how a thrice-married woman remained highly sought after¡­


    These women, whom she deemed less beautiful than herself, were born into positions and wealth she could never dream of attaining.


    Phoebe had entertained clients who, in her eyes, were more despicable than street shoe shiners, as repulsive as swine. Before them, she always had to maintain utmost subservience; a single disdainful glance could enrage these powerful patrons who could easily crush her life.


    Was this truly fairness?


    Her face grew paler, and her body trembled slightly. Phoebe felt the acute sting of realization.


    Someone noticed her distress and whispered, "What''s happened? Who upset our Miss Phoebe this time?"


    These sarcastic remarks, which Phoebe usually interpreted as jealousy and took pride in, now pierced her heart like needles.


    Who was she to be called "Miss"?


    In a sudden motion, Phoebe turned and fled.


    Mia was surprised by Phoebe''s return. Seeing the usually proud young woman in tears, Mia was taken aback and quickly pulled her into the room, closing the door to shield them from curious eyes in the hallway. "What happened, Phoebe? Did I go too far?"


    "Mia, is fairness real? Can it truly be pursued?" Phoebe, tears streaming down her face, clutched at Mia''s arm. "Can someone like me¡­ can I also attain fairness?"


    From the day she took charge of resettling the mistreated of Main Street, Mia had seen too many such breakdowns. The red-light district, a paradise for pleasure-seekers, was a living hell for those providing the "pleasures." S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Redressing Phoebe''s tears with a handkerchief and holding her hand gently, Mia said softly, "Yes, there is fairness in this world. It''s just that too many people refuse to acknowledge it, wanting only to hoard all the benefits for themselves. That''s why fairness is so rare and injustice so rampant.


    "We''re striving to change Weisshem''s atmosphere to create a place where everyone can be assured of at least the minimum fairness."

 Chapter 160: Salt-stealing Bandit

    In the slum near the horse and mule market outside Indahl''s north gate.


    Today, Johan didn''t enter the city to find odd jobs. Instead he attended to chores at home and spent his morning scrubbing bed sheets and pillowcases.


    Close to noon, Johan finally finished washing the last of the sheets. Carrying a bucket of dirty water, he made his way to the gutter at the end of the alley to dispose of it.


    During this routine task, he noticed two unfamiliar men donning flat caps and wearing suspenders entering the alley where their house was.


    Johan subconsciously made way for them.


    As they passed by Johan, one of them glanced at him before quickly shifting his gaze away.


    Johan didn''t pay much attention to them, and after they were slightly further away, he poured away the bucket of dirty water into the gutter. It was then that Johan suddenly felt something was off, and he sneaked a glance at the two men that had walked deep into the alley.


    These men didn''t seem much too different from the denizens of this slum; the dirt on their caps and tattered shoes were not much different from those other poor folk that entered the city to do odd jobs.


    However, upon closer inspection, they seemed too well-fed and robust. Their cheeks were fleshy, their arms muscular, and their thick thighs strained against the fabric of their suspenders. In this part of town, men of such healthy appearance were a rarity; they usually found better work in the city''s factories or were recruited by street gangs.


    Johan watched the men until they were out of sight, then once his bucket was empty, made his way home. Changing into a cleaner sleeveless shirt, he quickly headed to his friend Sanchi''s house in the neighboring alley.


    Sanchi, a freckled youth, worked early mornings delivering newspapers in the city and often stayed to help around the office in exchange for lunch. When Johan arrived, Sanchi was sharing his leftover bread with his younger brother and sister.


    "I saw strangers around again," Johan whispered to his friend. "Two men in our alley. They don''t look like they belong here."


    Sanchi''s face stiffened. "More outsiders?"


    Johan nodded. "Those two didn''t seem up to any good, and they look stronger than most."


    "They must be after the ''Salt Man,''" Sanchi said. "There''s been talk in the southern city gangs. They''ve caught wind of the salt being distributed here and might eye the Salt Man''s salt. The ones you see might have been from there. Gosh, why can''t some people just keep their mouths shut?"


    Ever since Johan had returned from his autumn harvest labor, the mysterious ''Salt Man'' had been visiting the area each night, distributing salt to hundreds of households in the slum.


    The denizens here quickly figured out his pattern of generosity, and those who hadn''t yet received salt waited patiently for their turn. But as the word spread among more people, it ceased to be a secret. Despite most of the slum''s folks'' understanding of the need for discretion, a few couldn''t resist sharing the tale of the ''Salt Man'' while seeking work in the city, inadvertently alerting the wrong crowd.


    The majority of Indahl''s citizens, without much of a night life (no money, no electricity in the living districts), found their evenings hollow. Even the most mundane occurrences, like rats nibbling on carelessly hung trousers, became the subject of lengthy gossip. So when the extraordinary news of free salt being distributed in the poverty-stricken slum surfaced, it spread like wildfire.


    Starting from a couple of days ago, strangers began to wander aimlessly around the outskirts of the slum. It wasn''t long before Sanchi, a paperboy well-connected within the local news network, heard troubling versions of these rumors from his colleagues.


    Astonishingly, the generous "Salt Man" had morphed into a "salt-stealing bandit" in the city''s gossip mill. The absurd mutation of this rumor suggested that this so-called bandit, having stolen a vast quantity of salt, was hiding in the slums, buying the silence of the poor with his ill-gotten gains.


    This absurdly twisted rumor seemed almost logical¡ªwhy else would someone distribute salt without expecting anything in return? Who else but a thief could afford to be so lavishly generous with salt?


    The denizens of the poor slum had never really spoken to the Salt Man, but they knew better. They were aware that this mysterious benefactor had never asked for anything in return, let alone bribed them. However, their voices held little weight against the swirling rumors outside their community.


    "Hey, you guys are here!"


    While Johan and Sanchi were fretting, their friend, Tommy, an apprentice at a workshop in town, arrived, breathless.


    "Why have you returned so early?" Johan asked in surprise. "Has the workshop closed?" S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Never mind about that," Tommy said hurriedly, pulling his friends into the depths of an alley and into an abandoned shack.


    "I saw a wanted poster for the Salt Man at the printing workshop," he revealed in a hushed, secretive tone.


    "What?!" Johan and Sanchi were both taken aback.


    "Is the Salt Man really a salt-stealing bandit?" Sanchi inhaled sharply.


    "No, it has nothing to do with salt," Tommy said with a peculiar expression. "The bounty wasn''t issued by city hall but by the church. The Salt Man''s real name is Von Alphonse, and the church claims he''s in cahoots with an evil black mage. They''re offering ten gold coins for information leading to his capture."


    Ten gold coins represented an astronomical sum for the residents of the slum. The mention of such a reward made their throats dry.


    "There are many¡­ who saw the Salt Man," Sanchi muttered as if in a trance.


    While the Salt Man never spoke to anyone during his nocturnal visit, he had never intentionally avoided being seen either. Curious onlookers, much like the three young men, had observed him from the shadows.


    Tommy wiped the sweat off his forehead again but didn''t say anything.


    Johan and Sanchi, realizing the gravity of the situation, felt a growing unease settle over them. They knew that Tommy was tempted¡­ They themselves were tempted. It was ten gold coins for just information, and it was impossible for anyone to not be tempted.


    But¡­ Despite the tantalizing prospect of a hefty reward, the notion of betraying the benevolent Salt Man weighed heavily on the three young men, Johan, Sanchi, and Tommy. It was a matter that clawed at their consciences, a shameful thought they struggled to voice.


    With a heavy heart, Johan managed to suppress the temptation within him and hoarsely suggested, "Once the wanted poster is out, someone''s bound to tell on him. Shouldn''t we figure out a way to warn the Salt Man to stop him from coming here?"


    Sanchi, seemingly torn yet relieved, agreed. "He has given salt to so many of us¡­ We can''t betray him."


    Tommy, his face etched with bitterness as if physically pained by the lost opportunity of ten gold coins, asked, "But where do we find him? No one knows where he hides during the day."


    Johan pointed toward the southwest, the direction from which the Salt Man always appeared. "Let''s go there early tonight, find a safe spot, and wait for him. How about that?"


    Sanchi hesitated, then said softly, "But some families haven''t received their salt yet¡­ like mine."


    "If the Salt Man is caught by the gangs or the church, we''ll never get salt again," Johan reminded him, patting Sanchi''s back.


    "That''s true." Sanchi sighed in resignation.


    The trio then meticulously planned their secret mission. They knew the dangers of crossing the church or the local gangs¡ªthey couldn''t afford to be exposed or invite wrath upon themselves.


    As dusk approached, they each found excuses to leave home, slipping out of the slum as inconspicuously as possible.


    They hid in a crude hay storage barn, not far from their homes, near the mule and horse market¡ªa place unlikely to attract attention since no one in their district could afford livestock. The barn, typically unsecured due to the low risk of theft in such a poor area, offered a perfect vantage point.


    Huddled among the hay, the young men soon saw a large group of thugs dressed in typical gang attire swaggered past the barn.


    "The gangs really did come," whispered Sanchi, his face paling with fear.


    In the impoverished slum which didn''t have much, gang members typically had little interest in the destitute souls struggling for daily survival. To most residents, these thugs were merely robust men who offered a chance to earn a meal for those desperate enough to join them.


    But Sanchi, with his years of delivering newspapers, knew all too well the brutal nature of these gangsters. Every month, the city witnessed one or two horrific incidents involving these ruffians, often with fatal outcomes.


    Shortly after the gangsters passed, a carriage adorned with the emblem of the Church of Lady Gold Coin rattled down the dirt road in front of the barn where the three young men were hiding.


    Instantly, Johan and Sanchi reached out to muffle Tommy''s almost inaudible gasp of surprise.


    Only after the carriage''s wheel sounds faded into the distance did they dare to release Tommy, whose face had turned ashen with fear.


    "The church is already on the move? The wanted posters were just printed this morning, and they''ve been seen already?" Tommy''s words reflected a mix of regret for the lost reward and apprehension about the situation.


    Johan, who had previously been tempted by the hefty reward, was no no longer weighed down by his indecision. He peered through the cracks in the barn wall, saying, "No need to fret over whether to betray the Salt Man now. This matter is already out of our hands. The church''s carriage went straight in; they must already know his whereabouts."


    "Look, over there! He''s coming!" Sanchi suddenly whispered excitedly.


    Under the faint moonlight, a tall, burly figure in a hooded cloak emerged from the southwestern forest.

 Chapter 161: Bizarre Death

    Zhao Zhenzhen, adhering to her routine of the past five OtherWorld days, approached the slums when it got dark. The dense cluster of low-lying shacks was characteristically silent and dark, devoid of any signs of life after nightfall.


    Yet, as she neared the vicinity, Zhao felt an inexplicable sense of unease. Though her eyes couldn''t detect any movement, her instincts whispered of numerous hidden presences lurking in the shadows, their aggressive intent toward her palpable and unsettling.


    "¡­?"


    Such a peculiar sensation caused her some perplexity.


    A staunch materalist, Zhao Zhenzhen didn''t usually trust in intuitions or sixth senses. She believed such instincts were the result of accumulated experience rather than inexplicable premonitions. However, her expertise lay in political work and disciplinary enforcement, not combat. She lacked the experience to interpret this foreboding feeling correctly.


    Despite being perplexed, Zhao Zhenzhen didn''t halt her approach. She was, after all, on a mission that she knew might lead to her demise. After three (Earth) days in this dangerous place, it was time for her alter ego "Von Alphonse" to make a final bow.


    As she bravely faced the prospect of death, Zhao Zhenzhen was unexpectedly halted by a call.


    Three gaunt young men, dressed in tattered clothes, peeked out stealthily from a dilapidated hay barn. They waved frantically at her, uttering incoherent noises, seemingly urging her to come over.


    Had it been a player in this scenario, such an encounter might be greeted with excitement as a potential hidden quest, but that definitely wouldn''t be so for Zhao Zhenzhen.


    She could tell at a glance that these young men were denizens of the impoverished slum, probably trying to warn her of an ambush.


    Indifferent to the threat of an ambush, Zhao Zhenzhen simply made a shushing gesture at the trio and continued forward.


    The three young men in the barn, now frantic, gestured more desperately but could only watch helplessly as the burly cloaked man strode toward danger¡­


    The first to make a move were the gang thugs.


    These gang members were a diverse and unruly bunch with little to no discipline, and their attempt at an ambush was hardly covert. They had brazenly displaced some residents in the outskirts of the slums, occupying their homes to await their quarry''s arrival.


    As the alleged "Salt Bandit" entered the slum and approached the alleyway, the gang members couldn''t contain themselves and sprung their trap.


    Faced with over ten onrushing men¡­ Zhao Zhenzhen calmly set down her backpack.


    The backpack contained eighty 100-gram packets of salt, weighing about eight kilograms in total¡ªa manageable load, but enough to impede her movements given the limited strength of an undead.


    Once she set aside the backpack full of salt, Zhao Zhenzhen didn''t hesitate to¡­ turn and run.


    She knew better than to confront such overwhelming odds, especially given her limited combat skills. Besides, these men didn''t seem like they were from the church, so there was no point in risking an unnecessary confrontation.


    Gang members, who reveled in this sort of chase, pursued her with boisterous cries. Someone picked up the backpack and took a look before hollering, "It''s all salt!" and the chasing bunch''s excitement intensified.


    "Catch him!"


    "Don''t let him run!"


    "Make sure to not kill him! Boss will go mad if we don''t get the salt this fella is hiding!"


    Zhao Zhenzhen was unable to understand the local tongue, but her great deduction skills allowed her to comprehend the situation: loose-lipped denizens of the slums spreading the news of salt being given away had attracted attention.


    Let alone this chaotic world; even back on Earth several decades ago, where societal order was still a mess, the adage "wealth should not be flaunted" wasn''t just a mere saying but a lesson steeped in blood.


    Back then, due to inadequate grassroots management and the insufficient reach of public authority into every aspect of society, dangers lurked everywhere. From bandits in rural areas to city dwellers being robbed of their gold earrings, tearing their earlobes in the process¡ªthese incidents were tragically common, leading many tearful victims to police stations.


    Zhao Zhenzhen''s illusory disguise may have appeared bulky and cumbersome, but in reality, she was merely a skeleton weighing 30 kilograms. Eluding her pursuers was more than easy.


    However, fleeing now would make it challenging for the church''s men to "track her down."


    Even street thugs have managed to find me; it''s only a matter of time before the church''s informants catch wind of this, she mused.


    With that thought, she decided to feign clumsiness and panic, darting about through the sprawling slum, resembling a rat desperately fleeing through a maze.


    Meanwhile, the more patient and discreet night watchmen observed this frustrating spectacle from their hiding spots.


    "Isn''t this fellow capable of handling sealed artifacts? How can he struggle against mere street thugs?" a bewildered night watchman muttered.


    "Maybe he''s just all style but no substance?" another guessed.


    Observing the Salt Man''s surprising agility, the third night watchman remarked, "He''s quite nimble for his size."


    "Alright, enough chatter," their leader interjected. "We can''t let Von Alphonse fall into the hands of those ruffians. Move out."


    The church''s bounty on "Von Alphonse" wasn''t just a retaliatory measure; his ability to contain a sealed artifact overnight was alarmingly impressive. Subduing and then re-educating him for the church''s service was an appealing option. As long as they could seize him, the church had tons of methods to re-educate disobedient dissidents into pious zealots.


    Utilizing the gang members as an unwitting front to assess the threat level of "Von Alphonse," the four night watchmen sprang into action, swiftly encircling Zhao Zhenzhen as she scampered in a desperate attempt to escape.


    As Zhao Zhenzhen clambered over a heap of trash, long unattended and reeking of decay, the leader of the squad and one of his men simultaneously closed in from opposite directions. The other two night watchmen quickly sealed her only path of retreat.


    One of them, brandishing the emblem of the church, turned to the relentless gang members and barked authoritatively, "Stop! Do not interfere with the church''s affairs!"


    The gang members, caught up in the frenzy of the chase, skidded to a halt, their aggression cooling as they recognized the unmistakable garb of the night watchmen. The sight of the church''s insignia further calmed their fervor¡ªeven the most unruly of street thugs knew the limits of whom they could provoke.


    Meanwhile, Zhao Zhenzhen, now surrounded, caught sight of the garb of the men in front of her. Exercising caution, she cast an Identify, and upon verifying that they were the objective, she swiftly drew her steel knife and lunged at the highest-ranked night watchman.


    "Fool!" the leader of the night watchmen squad cried out, infuriated that this seemingly weak man, who couldn''t even deal with street thugs, would dare attack him.


    He swung his blade toward Zhao Zhenzhen''s shoulder, aiming to incapacitate rather than to kill, hoping to subdue her for the church''s cause. However, for Zhao Zhenzhen, a mere Lv 3 entity without armor, a non-lethal blow from a "Lv 6 boss monster" proved fatal¡ªher health bar was instantly depleted.


    Zhao''s expression turned to one of relief as she dissolved into a burst of white light and vanished.


    Night watchmen squad leader: "??"


    Night watchmen A, B, and C: "???"


    The many thugs on the street: "????"


    The denizens of the slums hiding in their homes and watching in secret as well as Johan''s bunch, who had cautiously sneaked over, were astounded as well.


    The night watchmen squad leader sheathed his slightly nicked blade and turned to look at his subordinates, their confusion mirroring his own.


    Night watchman A, who was closest to him, cautiously took half a step back, then another.


    Night watchman B and C also silently distanced themselves from their leader.


    Causing a living, breathing being to disappear in a flash from a strike¡­ wasn''t something ordinary power could achieve!


    The leader, acutely aware of the situation, stammered, "I-I¡­ I don''t know. I don''t know what happened either. You all saw it, I just wanted to subdue Von¡­ I didn''t attack with the intention to kill!"


    Overhearing the exchange, a gang member blurted out without a second thought, "Von Alphonse? The Salt Bandit is the church''s wanted criminal, Von Alphonse?"


    "No wonder the night watchmen came¡ª"


    "Hey, hey, this doesn''t make sense. What sort of ability can reduce a person to nothingness with a single strike? Are they really night watchmen?" a street thug exclaimed in panic.


    These words incited fear among his fellows, and they scattered like frightened animals, seeking safety in the shadows¡­


    Night watchmen A, B, and C, who couldn''t flee, slowly regrouped, eyeing their leader cautiously.


    Night watchmen squad leader: "¡­"


    Despair was written all over his face¡ªif it had been someone else who had performed this feat, he would surely find that person dubious too!


    "¡­Let''s return and report this," the squad leader forced himself to remain steady. "There''s something wrong with Von Alphonse. I suspect he isn''t a normal human, perhaps some strange monster, or perhaps a summoned malevolent specter."


    Night watchmen A, B, and C didn''t say a word, just staring at their squad leader in silence.


    A monster or undead entity running a photography studio, performing exorcisms and containing sealed artifacts, and even coming to the slums to distribute salt to the poor¡­ Such a tale would seem too far-fetched for even a three-year old toddler to believe.


    In frustration, the squad leader howled, "What are you all looking at?! The problem definitely lies with Von Alphonse! It can''t be my fault!"


    The faces of his subordinates paled, and they hurriedly lowered their heads.


    As the carriage of the night watchmen retreated, the denizens of the slum emerged from their hiding spots, faces etched with shock and disbelief.


    "The Salt Man was killed by the church¡­"


    "His name was Von Alphonse, huh¡­"


    "Oh heavens, what did the Salt Man do to deserve such a fate from the church!"


    The next day, rumors spread like wildfire throughout the slums outside the city, the horse and mule market, the southern districts, Saint Joseph Street, Marley Street market, and other areas where there were street gangs and working-class folk.


    These whispers spoke of a shocking incident: The church''s night watchmen had slain Von Alphonse, the benevolent "Salt Man."


    Previously, the church dispatching men to capture Perfect Dream Portrait Studio boss, Von Alphonse, wasn''t a secret, quite a number of affluent city folk vaguely knew that this person was an exorcist.


    Additionally, players with makeup skills hadn''t just assisted the city''s middle-class women but had also made a name for themselves on Saint Joseph Street, enhancing the aesthetics of nightlife patrons.


    As such, Von Alphonse''s persona began to take on an air of mystery and intrigue as the gossip spread.


    The complex narrative around "Von Alphonse" and his entanglements with the Church of Lady Gold Coin started taking a fantastical turn. Within days, the rumor mill churned out scandalous tales¡ªthe night watchmen''s squad leader, who had slain Von, supposedly had a beautiful daughter, and Von, having once run a photography studio catering to middle-class ladies, was inevitably linked with her. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Regardless of which world they were from, people always relished sensational stories, especially ones tinged with romance and intrigue.


    As the Church of Lady Gold Coin fumed over this infuriatingly unsolvable issue, the Radiant Sun Church branch in Saint Joseph Street received a letter of challenge from the lord of Weisshem, Charlie Rex.


    The Radiant Sun Church''s efficiency contrasted starkly with that of the Bartalis family. Just two days after Benn Hamn Walton, the commander of a cavalry unit of the Radiant Sun Church''s Inquisition, went missing, the church had sensed something amiss.


    By the third day, the Radiant Sun Church''s bishop gathered all the officers from Walton''s command, informing them of the situation, appointing a deputy commander to temporarily lead, and obtaining maps of Weisshem from Indahl city hall to formulate a rescue plan.


    At the same time, the Radiant Sun Church began to pour money into hiring countless money hungry and lawless individuals from the city, sending them to Weisshem to gather intelligence.


    Weisshem''s response was equally decisive. After apprehending several amateur spies from Indahl, they boldly issued a letter of challenge to Walton''s Inquisition cavalry unit.


    Charlie Rex, as a follower of the black mage Yang, demanded the Inquisition''s knights take responsibility for breaching their peace agreement. He expressed an uncompromising stance that a mere apology would not suffice to quell the outrage caused by this unprovoked violation¡ªthe matter had to be settled by combat, with the losing side paying substantial reparations.

 Chapter 162: All-Purpose Handyman

    The Radiant Sun Church bishop was dumbfounded for a full ten seconds upon receiving the letter of challenge.


    "Is this really from Weisshem?" The bishop''s hand clutching the letter was shaking as he asked the officer who had delivered it.


    The officer, understanding the bishop''s bewilderment, silently placed a thick leather envelope on the desk. From it, he extracted a silver badge, its front adorned with the emblem of the Radiant Sun Church''s Inquisition, and engraved on its back was the name, Benn Hamn Walton.


    The bishop stared at the Inquisition''s emblem in silent contemplation. If even this important emblem was in the hands of someone else, then it was clear the person that had issued this letter held Walton.


    While the bishop couldn''t openly go into a tirade about Walton in front of the latter''s subordinates, deep down, he was cursing the fool''s recklessness.


    Back then, he had explicitly warned Walton, a headstrong brute, not to meddle in Weisshem''s affairs, reminding him that the Rhine Kingdom, unlike the Kenyan Empire, was governed by the Church of Lady Gold Coin and the Rhine monarchy. They, of the Radiant Sun Church, shouldn''t overstep their bounds. But that idiot Walton hadn''t heeded the warning and had now recklessly landed himself in trouble.


    Charlie Rex, the deranged bastard, had cunningly hoodwinked the Nightmare Butcher and stirred trouble under Yang''s name. He definitely wasn''t an easy adversary.


    And now, though the soldiers of the Indahl City Defense Force had infiltrated Weisshem alongside the Radiant Sun Church, Charlie Rex had smartly singled out the Radiant Sun Church first!


    Having been stationed in the Rhine Kingdom, a foreign land of heretics, for over a decade, the bishop knew his place well. Indeed, the 12 knightly orders of the Radiant Sun Church''s Inquisition could easily crush any minor nation, but in this distant land, thousands of miles away from the Kenyan Empire, they couldn''t rely on reinforcements from the holy land!


    For years, this bishop had avoided trouble and friction with the local faith, fully aware of the challenges of battling on home and away grounds; while the Church of Lady Gold Coin in Indahl might not match his Radiant Sun Church in strength, they had the advantage of continuous support from the holy land of Lady Gold Coin, merely a few hundred kilometers away.


    His own fighting force, on the other hand, would dwindle with each loss, and he had no intention of stirring unnecessary conflicts.


    The bishop neatly folded the letter, sliding it back into the envelope along with Walton''s Inquisition emblem. No matter his dissatisfaction, he was the presiding bishop of this Radiant Sun Church branch, and it was his responsibility to clean up the mess caused by the Inquisition''s knightly order here.


    "Between the City Defense Force and the Inquisition''s knightly order, Charlie Rex chose us¡­ Captain Roy, what do you think this bastard is up to?" the bishop asked, placing the envelope back into his drawer, feigning nonchalance as he turned to the officer standing at his desk.


    Captain Roy, who temporarily assumed command due to the bishop''s support, responded with utmost respect, "Charlie Rex''s biggest enemy is the Bartalis family, yet he chose to target us first. Perhaps he lacks confidence and courage to challenge the Bartalis family directly and is using us as practice. He might think that the loss of our commander is a severe blow to our combat effectiveness."


    The bishop nodded in approval, tapping the desk with his finger. "Commander Walton is indeed a capable commander¡­ if only he could rid himself of his rashness."


    Captain Roy remained silent, not willing to criticize Walton, his superior.


    The bishop, having tested the waters, did not press further and continued, "Charlie Rex isn''t yet formally a noble. He lacks family knights or an army. Weisshem only has a militia of just over two hundred and less than 50 soldiers who defected from the city defense force to serve Rex.


    "Additionally, a few of Yang''s followers serve Rex, but none of them are renowned powerhouses. The most notable among them, ''Razor'' Hal, is merely a bandit leader from the Sorensen Mountains.


    "On paper, such limited military might makes it clear that Charlie Rex wouldn''t have the courage to challenge our knightly order." The bishop paused briefly, his eyes narrowing. "It''s evident that Charlie Rex has a backup plan. The most likely scenario is that he has once again successfully deceived the ''Nightmare Butcher'' and borrowed Yang''s army of the undead. That will be the enemy you''ll most likely face on the battlefield."


    Captain Roy asked anxiously, "Your Reverence, will the Nightmare Butcher himself join the battle?" S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This time, the bishop remained silent for a long time¡­


    Finally, he said, "Rest assured. The Nightmare Butcher has done many heinous acts, but that doesn''t include breaking his word."


    Captain Roy was perplexed for a bit, then suddenly recalled the previous negotiating the Nightmare Butcher had with them¡ª


    When Walton and the bishop negotiated with the Nightmare Butcher, Captain Roy, as deputy to the knightly order, had been present too.


    The Nightmare Butcher had indeed personally stated that in Indahl territory, he would show the utmost sincerity in maintaining peace with the Radiant Sun Church¡ªeven if other knightly orders of the Inquisition attacked him unawares, he would ensure their safety.


    Captain Roy felt that something amiss about this world¡­


    The bishop, not wanting to dwell on this issue further, waved Captain Roy off dismissively. "Prepare for battle. Let''s teach this bastard a lesson he will never forget."


    Captain Roy quickly excused himself and left the Radiant Sun Church, boarding the carriage driven by his own soldiers back to the knightly order''s encampment. Throughout the journey, he was deeply engrossed in thought.


    Roy was rather young and hadn''t yet reached 30. Before becoming Walton''s deputy and the vice-commander of the order, he had served as a night watchman for a few years in the north of the Kenyan Empire.


    It was an unspoken rule in all church-affiliated military forces that officers must emerge from the ranks of the night watchmen, for the world''s unknown dangers made untested officers unreliable.


    Of course, even the most perfect rules had loopholes, as they tended to apply downward rather than upward.


    Walton had spent nearly two decades fraught with risk as a night watchman before rising to his current position, while Roy, from a rather illustrious family, had spent only three years in a small town near the holy land before smoothly transitioning into the order.


    Aware of the disparity between himself and Walton, Roy never harbored ambitions to replace the former. He, too, hadn''t replied to the subtle insinuations of the cleric. After all, with the support of his family, he would still get promoted smoothly in a few years.


    What made Roy perplexed was the bishop''s attitude toward the Nightmare Butcher.


    On confirmation of Walton''s disappearance in Weisshem, the bishop had immediately convened all officers to announce the situation and prepare for war. And now, on receiving Charlie Rex''s challenge, the bishop''s stance was clear: just defeat the bastard.


    The bishop feared the Nightmare Butcher but didn''t take Charlie Rex seriously, firmly believing the Nightmare Butcher would honor his promise and not intervene in the conflict between the knightly order, Weisshem, and Rex.


    In other words, the bishop deemed the Nightmare Butcher a man of his word, worthy of a certain level of "trust."


    This was a staggering revelation for Roy; after all, their knightly order was dispatched from the Kenyan Empire to hunt down the Nightmare Butcher throughout the continent, and they were indoctrinated with the notion of the black mage''s vileness and ruthlessness¡ªa threat that absolutely needed to be eliminated!


    The more Roy pondered, the more he found it incomprehensible.


    What sort of person¡­ is the Nightmare Butcher? For the first time, Captain Roy, who had been on a mission to pursue and eliminate this black mage, seriously considered.


    While Captain Roy found himself pondering the true nature of this enigmatic figure, his former superior, Commander Walton, now a captive, was grappling with similar thoughts in distant Weisshem.


    Commander Walton, who was now a captive, enjoyed the same treatment as Wagner¡ªHal previously reckoned Wagner as too dangerous to be in his care and chucked him to the house Yang lived in.


    The ever busy Yang rarely appeared, and Commander Walton''s only two "housemates" were Wagner Pitt and "Charlie Rex."


    Stripped of his military garb and now donning a simple cotton shirt and brown trousers, Walton had just finished taming the overgrown garden when "Charlie Rex," with food boxes in hand, came in via the courtyard gates. Beckoning to Walton, he said, "The water pipe at Mrs. Marshall''s place next door has burst. Grab Wagner''s toolbox and have a look, will you?"


    Wiping the sweat off his brow, Walton silently made his way to the corner shed, retrieving the toolbox left behind by his predecessor, Wagner Pitt. As he prepared to step out, the man posing as "Charlie Rex" called out from the living room window, "Come back for lunch once you''re done."


    "Yes, ascetic," Walton replied tersely, stepping out¡­


    Only when he became a captive did Walton realize the man he believed to be "Charlie Rex" was merely a stand-in, an ascetic from the Church of Prosperity that Yang had casually picked.


    Considering Yang''s notorious impulsive nature, this facade of appointing someone as a figurehead was entirely in character.


    The actual Charlie Rex was a righteous young man who showed no signs of ambition and was completely devoted to Yang. Walton''s realization of this truth came as a shock when Hal, who had captured him, brought him face to face with the real Rex at the town hall.


    Having received a noble elite education, it didn''t take long for Walton to piece together the situation after his initial period of frustration. First and foremost, Yang had no regard for the Bartalis family¡ªhe was indifferent to whether they recognized the real Charlie Rex. Furthermore, Yang didn''t view the Radiant Sun Church branch in Indahl as an obstacle, a fact confirmed by the local bishop''s lack of interest in Weisshem''s affairs.


    Connecting these dots, Walton surmised that Yang would inevitably scheme against Indahl and the Bartalis family''s century-long domain!


    To this, Walton felt that the bishop had been right. The squabbles between Yang and the Church of Lady Gold Coin, Charlie Rex and the Bartalis family were none of his business!


    Sadly, by the time Walton realized that Charlie Rex was just a puppet and Yang''s will was the driving force behind all the changes in Weisshem, it was already too late¡­


    "Mrs. Marshall''s house" mentioned by the ascetic Lowell was, in reality, several houses away from Yang''s large residence.


    But that detail was insignificant. In his new role as an all-purpose handyman, every household in the vicinity had become a "neighbor" in need of his assistance.


    Unlike large cities that had a centralized water system, townsfolk relied heavily on a network of pipes drawing water from wells for household use. Mrs. Marshall''s well was a hub for several homes, all paying a weekly fee for the water they drew.


    Walton had fixed these pipes just days before; Mrs. Marshall recognized him immediately and pointed toward a web of pipes draped over her well. "Please have a look at this section, sir. The pipe seems to be malfunctioning, Jenny''s house isn''t getting any water," she requested.


    Walton nodded begrudgingly and trudged over to inspect the pipes¡­


    Walton had never done plumbing work, but he found the town''s water pipes surprisingly straightforward to work with. Unlike the iron pipes he had seen elsewhere, these were made from a peculiar material resembling rubber, easily detachable and reassembled, allowing for flexible configuration and straightforward installation.


    Such unique and ingeniously designed pipes in a town where the economy was modest at best astonished Walton. When he inquired about their origin, the townspeople openly shared that these pipes, relieving many from the daily chore of fetching water, were sold at affordable prices by town hall clerks in the marketplace, who even assisted with installation.


    In his days before capture, Walton might have suspected Rex of using underhanded methods to win over the townspeople.


    Now, with the knowledge that the real Charlie Rex was merely Yang''s puppet and that all changes in Weisshem were orchestrated by the black mage, Walton''s thoughts were a tumultuous mix.


    What is Yang''s endgame? he pondered while fixing the pipes, his mind grappling with his shattered worldview.


    While Walton struggled to make sense of his new reality, his predecessor, Lieutenant Wagner Pit, now released from the shackles of his all-purpose handyman role, was drowning in despair.


    "This is Exile Town, the birthplace of the undead. You might consider it their hometown," Yang Qiu explained calmly to a bewildered Wagner, who had just arrived via the Town Hall''s underground teleportation point.


    "As you have seen, we''ve welcomed some new undead friends. They are still acclimating to combat, but we don''t have the luxury of time for them to gradually gain experience through hunting. As you know, Rex''s challenge letter must have already been delivered to the Radiant Sun Church by now."


    Wagner Pitt: "¡­"

 Chapter 163: Battle Supplies

    It was currently 7 p.m. Earth time, peak period for online gaming activity. Regardless of whether they were casual or hardcore, the majority of players were online at this time.


    Close to a month since beginning their OtherWorld adventure, most of the second wave of players, excluding whales, had reached an average Potential value between 70 and 90, undergone their first job advancements, and boasted one or two pieces of Uncommon-grade equipment with special effects.


    In other words, they were now equipped to venture safely into the Spider Cave.


    Mining Zone, one of the three main monster spawn points established in the game, was only suitable for solo players and small player groups of two to three. It had declining efficiency and rewards for larger parties due to the spread out nature of monsters there.


    Poisonous Marshlands near Desolate Outpost demanded high coordination from teams, necessitating a well-oiled machine comprising a capable tank, a healer with mana regeneration gear, and a skilled puller.


    By contrast, the once-dreaded Spider Cave had become the preferred grinding location, its dense monster population ideal for large parties and its lesser individual monster strength accommodating for a wider range of player roles and equipment levels.


    When Yang Ying logged in, she noticed her friend list, a recently introduced function, lighting up with a notification. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Nearly two months since the game was launched, basic social features like friend lists and private messaging finally made their debut in the virtual realm of OtherWorld, much to the player''s delight.


    Yet, this long-overdue update didn''t stop them from playfully berating the game''s developers on the forum, whimsically demanding further enhancements such as storage systems, expanded inventory, and a marketplace¡ªrequests that, predictably, fell on deaf ears.


    Toward the players'' clamor, Yang Qiu was rather unfazed. Right now, the matrix had sufficient anchors, and the framework was capable of supporting even more "functions," but he still wasn''t capable of establishing a Mage Tower yet. Without a Mage Tower in place as a central core, adding more features meant increasing the strain on himself as the human core, a prospect he''d rather avoid.


    In any case, despite only the limited introduction of friend lists and private messaging, the quality of gameplay had improved noticeably for players, sparing them the inconvenience of having to log out to communicate externally with their friends.


    Yang Ying wasn''t too surprised to find that the notification from her flashing friend list was Tang Jia reaching out.


    "What''s the plan for tonight, Sis Ying? Poisonous Marshland or Spider Cave?"


    While making her way to Life Alley, Yang Ying replied, "Spiders. Materials are fetching good prices lately, and it''s more efficient to farm drops in Spider Cave than the marshes."


    "Alright, I''ll let Qingyue and Jia Luo know. What time shall we meet?"


    Checking the in-game clock, which showed it was one in the afternoon, Yang Ying replied, "I need to repair my gear first. Let''s meet at the cave entrance at one-thirty."


    Players'' basic common-grade gears¡ªscale armor and steel knives¡ªweren''t repairable and could only be sold to NPCs for a pittance once worn out.


    In contrast, Uncommon-grade equipment could be refurbished, albeit at a significant cost, at the blacksmith''s in Life Alley.


    Thankfully, higher quality gear in the game was durable (enchanted equipment was more resistant to damage), much to the players'' relief; otherwise, they would revolt.


    As players accumulated more higher quality gear (plunder, via the Undead Merchant Association, internal trading among players), the once-quiet blacksmith''s shop now bustled with activity. The blacksmith NPC, who had so much idle time in the past that he could visit the next-door armorer''s shop during working hours, was now barely able to step away from his anvil, and his temper grew shorter by the day. While he wouldn''t go as far as to reject "commissions," he definitely wasn''t kind to players either.


    When entering the shop, Yang Ying overheard the irate blacksmith berating a player in line, "Even a Sorensen wild boar couldn''t damage a blade with ''Sturdy'' twice in three days! Have you been using a treasured weapon to dig through goblin tunnels?!"


    The chastised player, bewildered by the tirade, turned to his companion and asked, "What''s with this game? NPCs even remember players? I''ve only been here twice and he remembers me?"


    The blacksmith bellowed, "That was once my friend''s saber. Of course I remember you, you reckless fella!"


    "Eh? But I clearly bought it off a veteran for two thousand?" The player was even more perplexed.


    A veteran player couldn''t help but chuckle at the bewildered newcomer who had splurged on the game, explaining, "This weapon that you bought might have been from a batch we seized from the Exile Town NPCs to quell a rebellion back then. Don''t mind the blacksmith''s grumbling; once you''ve paid, he''ll begrudgingly repair your gear regardless of his mood."


    The veteran''s remark struck a nerve with the gruff blacksmith, who, despite seething with indignation, picked up his hammer and started working on the slightly bent blade.


    The newbie, even more astounded, muttered, "Holy¡­ Does this game actually trace the ownership history of equipment? NPCs can even recognize the gear we use?!"


    "Absolutely," the veteran replied. "You should know Orange Cat, the renowned whale, right? He previously got a dagger previously owned by Finley, the Treasure Hunter job instructor of the Wanderer Guild. Orange Cat became so uncomfortable with Finley''s intense scrutiny whenever he wielded the dagger that he eventually sold it off¡­"


    "Whoa! Seriously?!"


    Yang Ying, who joined the back of the queue, and other veteran players present were amused witnessing the wide-eyed reactions of newbies. The game''s devilish attention to detail was something even the veterans occasionally found surprising, let alone the novices.


    While players engaged in lighthearted banter, Yang Qiu arrived with Wagner in tow.


    Yang Ying, who, like all the other players, was caught off guard by Yang Qiu''s sudden appearance, couldn''t help exclaim, "Whoa damn, Old Yang?"


    Yang Qiu acted nonchalant, calmly ignoring his own sister¡­


    Yang Ying was now very dedicated to playing the game for a living and utilized every bit of her 12-hour daily login. Though Yang Qiu could always observe his sister happily gaming via the imprint matrix, maintaining his composure when seeing his immediate family was still rather hard.


    Even when his own sister had called for "Old Yang to end up as a dungeon boss" or even getting scathing remarks on the forum, Yang Qiu had been unperturbed about it all¡ªcurses and criticism that Lord Yang and the damned developers had had nothing to do with the Earthling Yang Qiu!


    Yang Ying didn''t pay much attention to the elusive Old Yang. She didn''t play a mage class and didn''t receive quests issued by the mage instructor. Thus, her attention shifted to Wagner.


    "Eh, isn''t this¡ª" Yang Ying pointed at Wagner, pausing briefly before she recalled where she had seen this NPC. "Pretty boy''s sidekick?"


    Wagner, who had been following behind Yang Qiu, nearly slipped.


    "The NPC from the Lakeside Village quest?" A player in front of Yang Ying also recognized Wagner. "Isn''t this NPC in Weisshem? Why has he come to Exile Town? Could there be another battle quest?"


    While the term "battle quest" didn''t hold much significance for the newbie players, to veterans, it was seen as an unequivocal opportunity to get rich.


    Several players, Yang Ying included, promptly abandoned their spots in line and swarmed around Wagner.


    "Hello, Wagner Pitt, do you need assistance?"


    "Your undead friends are willing to help you!"


    "Do you need the service of your undead friends?"


    "Hey, Wagner, we know each other well. I was even trampled by your horse before. Do you remember that? It was on the main road outside Weisshem¡ª"


    With an impassive face, Wagner extended his large arm and brushed aside the overzealous undead rubbing salt in his old wounds, forcefully making his way out of the encircling undead with sheer brute force to follow Yang Qiu toward the back of the blacksmith shop.


    As he briskly left, Wagner could still hear the chattering of the undead behind him¡ª


    "Are you an idiot? NPCs care about their face, too. Why are you bringing up past events to antagonize him!"


    "Fool! If it were Hal, you would have been chopped up and forcibly logged out already!"


    Wagner silently swallowed the bitterness in his throat.


    He was wrong¡­ There was no need to despair about Exile Town that was teeming with countless "new undead." This part of the undead populace was somewhat friendly and at least wouldn''t point and remind him of his hurtful past as a captive.


    Instead, it was those original undead who recognized him that were the source of his pain¡ªnot only had they called him a lackey, they even dared to insult Brother Lowell as well!


    Yang Qiu, accustomed to witnessing all manners of bizarre player behavior within the matrix, was unfazed by Wagner''s emotional turmoil. On entering the back of the blacksmith shop, he gestured for Wagner to inspect the stockpile of supplies.


    Even after their job advancements, the limited combat prowess of an undead was only slightly greater than an ordinary farmer. With their lack of discipline and organization, along with their unpredictable nature, the only reliable factor in harnessing their potential in battle was the mass-produced enchanted equipment painstakingly crafted by Yang Qiu during countless nights¡­ alongside the battle spoils acquired by the players themselves.


    The special characteristics imbued in the gear after enchantment required specific conditions for repairs. For example, equipment with the "Sturdy" attribute needed to be briefly exposed to flames fueled by fire-elemental magic ore to temporary soften its resilience, while weapons with the "Sharp" (armor-piercing) attribute had to be soaked in a solution made from water-elemental magic ore powder.


    As for equipment with special conditional effects like bleed, poison, critical hit, or lethal strike, which were considered a form of curses, magic powder made from ingredients like Great Leaf Vines, poison sacs, or magic residue was needed during repairs to prevent the enchantments from being damaged by the smithing process.


    In other words, maintaining the players'' combat effectiveness was contingent upon the availability of magical materials essential for repairing higher quality gear.


    While Indahl''s city defense force had their enchanters and craftsmen for repairing enchanted gear, a glance at the unassuming blacksmith shop''s reserves gave Wagner an uncomfortable premonition¡­


    While the stockpile of elemental magic ores was comparable to that of the city defense force, the magic powder, crucial for the repairs, was at least ten times more abundant, enough to sustain the undead army for at least three territorial wars!


    To this, Yang Qiu responded with his typical calm¡­ The abundance of magic materials was no concern to him, as players were required to contribute a significant amount of Great Leaf Vines, poison sacs, and magic residues daily, ensuring he never ran short.


    "Undead don''t need food supplies, and with these repair materials, we''re well-stocked. But Yang, are you sure we should only deploy the undead for the battle?" Wagner closed the case of magic ores and asked, trying to maintain his calm facade. "Engaging a knightly order of the Radiant Sun Church''s Inquisition with only undead in a battle for honor might not cast the best light on Charlie Rex''s reputation.


    "Of course, I''m aware you''re not one to fret over public perception, but I believe even you would agree that Charlie Rex could benefit from a good reputation."


    Smiling slightly, Yang Qiu nodded. The consideration for even the public image of Rex, their figurehead, affirmed the high value of Wagner Pitt, a native tool in their arsenal.

 Chapter 164: Battlefield Test Version

    "Charlie Rex" was no longer a person nor a name but, rather, a symbol.


    A symbol that epitomized the virtues of kindness, compassion, bravery, nobility, and a profound sense of empathy toward the welfare of the people.


    This symbol had taken root within the collective consciousness of the people of Weisshem, ensuring any policy emanating from the town hall, bearing the prefix of Rex, was met with open arms. Yang Qiu''s next agenda was to embed this emblematic figure into the psyche of the people of Indahl.


    The reason behind adopting such a blunt and potentially problematic approach of elevating a hero, setting a standard, and indulging in the symbolization of heroism was straightforward: At certain junctures in societal development, symbolic heroes wielded an unparalleled influence and persuasive power over the masses.


    Given that the "Charlie Rex" symbol was no longer monopolized by any single individual (Rex himself couldn''t to carve out an independent path, much less others), Yang Qiu only needed to ensure that his crafted "hero" didn''t veer off into a narrative of solitary heroism or roguish valor. Even if he were to overlook it, his fellow nation team personnel was there to rein things in.


    In essence, while Charlie Rex himself didn''t care if he had a good reputation or not, the leadership of Weisshem, tagged with the "Charlie Rex" symbol, needed to.


    "Don''t worry," Yang Qiu reassured Wagner with a comforting glance before proceeding to showcase the combat capabilities of the Taranthan humans.


    Within the Wanderer Guild hall, Wagner saw¡­ about a dozen Sokrians, all exuding an air of lethargy and irritability.


    Sokrians, hailing from the southern Sokri Empire, were unmistakable with their dark, smooth skin, deep black eyes, and fine, soft white hair, a stark contrast to the subtler distinctions among the peoples of nations in the central and eastern regions.


    Yang Qiu beckoned a large bearded man over, introducing him to Wagner, "This is Kenn, a mercenary captain from Sokri. You guys have met previously, and now, Captain Kenn and his mercenary brothers serve under the banner of our undead friends."


    Wagner silently glanced at Captain Kenn, and the latter''s dark eyes met his.


    Each year, Sokri merchant caravans would enter Indahl, and the mercenaries accompanying the caravan had to register with the city defense force. So, naturally, Wagner and Kenn knew each other.


    Back at the chaotic battle beside Horsehoof Lake, the two had also seen each other¡­


    Wagner expected that Sokrians captives would be detained in Weisshem, but he never imagined that these mercenaries suffered a much direr fate. Just standing in the strange Wanderer Guild hall surrounded by the ceaseless din of the undead was enough to fray Wagner''s nerves, leaving him to wonder how these mercenaries had endured their predicament.


    Unperturbed by the complex dynamics at play, Yang Qiu cheerfully said, "Captain Kenn and his brothers have willingly joined this battle for honor against the Radiant Sun Church''s knights. Wagner, you must take care of them well and don''t let them suffer any losses during this battle."


    "Willingly¡­?" Wagner''s lips twitched.


    "Of course. I never force others. Am I right, Kenn?" remarked Yang Qiu nonchalantly.


    "Yes, we''re willingly taking part," Captain Kenn declared with a deep breath, his eyes momentarily glistening with unshed tears. "As long as we can settle the enormous tab we''ve racked up¡­ we''re more than willing to fight for Mr. Rex." sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Umm¡­ tab?" Wagner''s eyebrow twitched, vaguely sensing something amiss.


    "Of course," Yang Qiu asserted confidently. "Our undead friends run a canteen via the Undead Merchant Association, providing three square meals daily to everyone. It would be unfair not to compensate them, right?"


    Wagner: "¡­"


    Wagner subconsciously did some mental calculations on how many days he spent in Weisshem where he had free meals¡­ And his heart skipped a beat.


    Looking at Yang Qiu''s composed smile once more, Wagner felt like he was dealing with a devil in disguise. Clearly, any attempt to shirk from leading the battle would likely lead Yang Qiu to come and chase his unpaid meals debt!


    Setting aside the veiled threat, the inclusion of the Sea Lions, a mercenary group of some repute, indeed alleviated much of Wagner''s burden.


    Captain Kenn was an exemplary field commander, with squads adept at reconnaissance and several assault and tactical teams under his command. Had it not been for the undead''s relentless assaults and the mercenaries'' obligation to protect their employer''s caravan, they wouldn''t have been easily captured in their entirety.


    Now with reliable allies, Wagner faced the greatest challenge of the upcoming battle¡ªensuring the undead followed orders.


    Without the undead''s fierce, undying onslaught, just relying solely on his own forces and the Sea Lions wouldn''t suffice against the formidable Radiant Sun Church.


    But commanding the undead in battle¡­ was a task Wagner wouldn''t even dream of, having witnessed their chaotic nature firsthand during the skirmish at Lakeside Village.


    Fortunately, Yang didn''t leave Wagner to fend for himself. After introducing him to Captain Kenn, the black mage said amiably, "Our undead friends do tend to be overzealous. To ensure they fight effectively without causing alarm, we''ll need to employ some unconventional tactics¡­ Are you guys ready?"


    Before Wagner could react, Kenn, wary from the past experience, interjected, "Hold on, what are you planning?"


    "Have our undead friends acclimatize to the battlefield. More precisely, get them used to following explicit commands to complete their missions," Yang Qiu explained.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    After repairing her equipment, Yang Ying headed to the tunnel entrance at Exile Town''s northeastern side to meet up with her companions.


    This tunnel entrance discovered during the [Letters to Home] quest had become a popular rallying point, with hundreds of players bustling around, some even perched on rooftops, making the area a hub of activity.


    "Super popular team recruiting! Highest record is 26 Uncommon Venom Pearls in one night! Seeking healer and high DPS wanderers!"


    "Noob wanderer looking to be carried~"


    "Party of ten waiting for a healer! One healer and we''re all set to go!"


    "Poor warrior looking to change jobs. Any kind big bros or big sis willing to bring me to farm poison sacs?"


    "Buying poison secs, venom pearls, and magic residue! RMB transactions are welcomed for bulk!"


    "Everyone, be wary of teaming up with an idiot warrior named ''Bubble Trouble.'' He lures monsters to hurt his teammates if he doesn''t get the drops first!"


    "Does any party need a knight? Newbie knight here looking to be carried!"


    Yang Ying, stationed by an abandoned well near the tunnel entrance, met her friends, then continued squatting down to wait for others.


    "Why is Qingyue taking so long to come online? She said she would come online to party up once she finished eating!" Having waited for quite some time, Tang Jia was growing impatient and frantically refreshed her friend list. "Hey, Jia Luo, didn''t you mention you recently got to know a newbie mage player? Is he online? Ask him to join us."


    Jia Luo, seated crossed-legged on the side of an abandoned well, replied lazily, "He''s definitely online and always grinding away, but there''s no way to get him to come play with us. You know how popular mage players are. He was sought out by quite a number of groups the moment he finished his job advancement and was recruited into a fixed team."


    "Sigh, I should have also chosen to be a mage instead of a knight back then." A sigh escaped from Orange Cat, who had become a part of this fixed team.


    Jia Luo playfully jabbed his shoulder. "Don''t even think about it, Boss. If you played as a mage, it would be an exceptional achievement if you managed to complete the job advancement within half a year."


    "Ji Tang''s gone to be the player mayor and we''ve lost ourselves a general. We can''t even do Spider Cave without a healer now," Tang Jia''s lament interrupted the playful banter. "Had I known, I wouldn''t have encouraged Qingyue to advise Ji Tang to become mayor. What''s so great about it."


    "Don''t let other people hear you say all this or you will be made fun of," Yang Ying said. "Aren''t Brother Lahong and his crew relishing the role of Exile Town mayor?


    "Since Phantom and Study Obssessed returned from Indahl with us, they''ve been living it up with the privileges Brother Lahong''s position affords. Now, they don''t even need to venture out to the designated points for farming monsters; they can grind away in their own backyard."


    Players that achieved Friendly reputation with the Undead Merchant Association could acquire a Free Trade Certificate and apply for land for building houses or shops.


    How great an advantage the former was hadn''t yet been announced yet, though the advantages of the latter were tangible. When land application was successful and necessary materials submitted to Old Yang, players would receive their own exclusive teleportation point.


    This so-called exclusive teleportation point was a luxury of convenience, offering the owner and their guests a swift return to the safety and comfort of one''s own home or shop, albeit without the perks of a login or respawn point.


    This feature appeared trivial yet had immense potential¡ªthe scope of land that Brother Lahong, Exile Town''s player mayor, could approve was vast.


    He positioned the homesteads of Blossoming Strokes and Give Me Medicine in remote wilderness teeming with monsters, far from the hustle of Exile Town. Thus, their "homesteads" transformed into exclusive grinding spots for their group, bringing them boundless joy.


    Other players who had earned enough reputation from the Indahl quest could enjoy similar privileges. However, land approval wasn''t just about paying the system (Yang Qiu); it also required the player mayor''s consent.


    In this regard, Brother Lahong didn''t show much partiality here¡ªhe would reject the applications of those not from his blood alliance.


    Ji Tang''s Weisshem was more approachable, but Weisshem''s wilderness was devoid of monsters, offering no good grind spots¡­


    "I''m too late this round, but I''ll strive to boost my territorial prestige and aim to take over as Exile Town''s mayor the month after," grumbled Orange Cat, whose application for land was thwarted by Brother Lahong''s selective approvals.


    "You might as well hope Ji Tang draws the Exile Town mayorship next time." Jia Luo punched his shoulder.


    "Jia Luo, why do you always look down on me?" Orange Cat muttered aggrievedly.


    "Not at all. I consider you a friend, so I''m not coaxing you into spending recklessly," Jia Luo replied casually.


    Her words didn''t just quell Orange Cat''s anger but also left him grinning foolishly¡­


    "Qingyue is finally online. I''ll add her to the party." Tang Jia jumped up upon noticing a name in her friend list light up.


    Just as Unceasing Entropy joined the party, an announcement with several lines of yellow text popped up on the panels of players that were online:


    [System Announcement]


    Dear players,


    Battlefield Trial has been launched. Players with intention to participate can seek out Lord Yang at Exile Town town hall to register.


    Battlefield Trial currently does not support solo mode. Please form a raid group of 25 members and have the group leader register.


    In Battlefield Trial, random battle missions will be available. The victorious team that completes the battle mission will receive a surprise choice reward and gain corresponding territorial prestige.

 Chapter 165: Battlefield Map

    Integrating military training into a game was an outright impossibility. It wasn''t an issue of whether the "damned developers" would receive the ire of players but more about whether it would outright cause a player revolt.


    In the more liberally designed MMORPGs, it wasn''t uncommon to see players slaughtering city NPCs en masse to make a statement or show off their skills. If the NPCs in games like World of Warcraft or Swordsman 3 were sentient, they''d surely have a lot of grievances to air.


    But as the saying goes, where there''s a will, there''s a way.


    Employers, who bluntly demanded overwork from their employees, suggesting they slogged through the 996 workweeks so the boss could afford a new Rolls-Royce Phantom, would likely find themselves being smashed in the head with an ashtray by unhappy workers.


    However, if this exploitation was rephrased as part of the corporate culture or a pursuit of personal success, one would suddenly find many more willing to embrace the grind, even mocking those who refused to sacrifice their wellbeing for the boss''s luxury.


    In any case, while it wasn''t possible to outright demand players to undergo military training for Yang''s conquests, they could be enticed into accepting a militarized command structure reminiscent of semi-feudal times. By prioritizing mission objectives and following orders during combat, players could be encouraged to willingly participate.


    For instance, introducing a battle honor system, a superficial military rank system, and offering mass-produced quality equipment as rewards could effectively engage players to invest their passion and youth in the battlefield.


    Summoner''s Rift, Warsong Gulch, Azeroth, the Celestial Basin, the Silk Road¡­ These were all places where Yang Qiu had spilled his youthful vigor in the past.


    The only issue¡­ was that this world wasn''t a game, and everything of OtherWorld wasn''t data. Moreover, developing new scenes wasn''t as simple as pushing developers to work overtime for a few months.


    Yang Qiu''s approach to this was¡ª"Programmers have their own methods, and so did spellcasters."


    As players that were online received the battlefield trial announcement, Yang Qiu was riding atop a fearsome black bone wyrm, surveying the primordial wasteland below with satisfaction


    Under the eerie glow of a blood-red moon, the metal megacity built against a colossal mountain stretched beyond human imagination.


    At the base of the towering city walls, countless demonic creatures engaged in a frightening and brutal meat grinder of a battle.


    A giant mole monster the size of tanks bulldozed through the chaotic ranks until a headless knight speared through its skull, thus ending its rampage.


    Enormous treants, scorched and bitten by swarms of flame ants, roared in defiance before collapsing.


    "Lord of Calamity messing with the Lord of Fear again?" Yang Qiu mused, then turned to his pale-faced companions on the wyrm''s neck. "This battlefield is perfect for training the undead, don''t you guys think?"


    Lieutenant Wagner Pitt and Captain Kenn who were in the Dimensional Realm for the first time: "¡­"


    "The feud between these two demon lords is well-known throughout the ten layers of the Demon Dimensional Realm. However, we must tread carefully to avoid alerting the petty Lord of Calamity of our intrusion from the material plane and our covert military drills using his demons."


    While saying that, Yang Qiu steered the bone wyrm away from the main battlefield.


    In this Demon Dimensional Realm, where bone wyrms were a common sight, their presence went unnoticed¡ªYang Qiu had his pick on his previous visit here, choosing the largest from a flock of bone wyrms to be his steed.


    After a wide detour, he landed in a secluded valley near the giant mountain, far enough from the main battlefield to remain inconspicuous.


    "This spot isn''t too bad."


    Letting his companions down from the wyrm''s neck to catch their breaths, Yang Qiu surveyed the surroundings. He then drew out his staff, sprinkled some magic dust, and conjured a large cave into the mountain side.


    "One respawn camp and two military encampments. There wouldn''t be meaning without opposition," muttered Yang Qiu as he once more scattered magic power to move the earth, conjuring two earth houses similar to Exile Town''s town hall on the left and right of the cave.


    Yang Qiu took out some supplies from his spatial ring and got Wagner and Kenn to settle in. Then, he entered the newly made cave to install a "modified mental imprint matrix" and added an undead summoning spell (respawning and teleporting).


    Players definitely couldn''t wait offline for half an hour after dying in battle, and Yang Qiu had too many things on hand to always be camped in the Demon Dimensional Realm to act as a battery for players'' resurrection. Therefore, he decided to splurge¡ªpower the imprint matrix core with a magic core.


    Magic core was a purer form of magic energy than even magic crystal that only few monsters could occasionally harbor in its body. Were this sold on the open markets, it would be worth its weight in gold.


    Ever since OtherWorld''s "launch," players had barely stumbled on slightly over ten of these magic cores¡­ all of which Yang Qiu had cleverly exchanged for seemingly worthless territorial prestige points.


    After setting up the respawn and teleportation point, Yang Qiu started working on the teleportation point for the living. It would be unfair to expect Wagner and Kenn, beings of flesh and blood, to remain on duty around the clock. The battlefield would just have to be open for 12 hours each OtherWorld day.


    The material world was the primary realm, and the ten layers of the Demon Dimensional Realm belonged to the same plane. High-level black mages could manually tear through the dimensional barriers with ease, so the tearing sensation of the teleportation point wouldn''t be as bad as journeying from OtherWorld to Earth. At most, it was slight disorientation amounting to nothing more than dizziness.


    Emerging from the cave, Yang Qiu noticed the two battlefield NPCs aimlessly standing around, unsure of what to do next. He beckoned them over and handed each a booklet.


    "You two are to organize our undead friends when they report to you and lead them to take advantage and profit from the main battlefield over there," explained Yang Qiu. "I have a slight acquaintance with the Lord of Fear, who is far more magnanimous than the Lord of Calamity. He wouldn''t mind us visiting his realm."


    Kenn, feeling the pressure of their situation, resignedly accepted his fate, while Wagner, pointing toward the tumultuous main battlefield filled with bizarre creatures, protested, "Hold on, how are we supposed to distinguish friends from foes among those monsters?"


    "Don''t worry, the undead will know," Yang Qiu assured with a smile. "Just tidy up this area to resemble a base. I need to have a word with the Calamity''s army."


    With that, Yang Qiu took off, leaving the two men bewildered and alone.


    "Have I actually ended up in a Dimensional Realm?" Kenn was regretting his life choices.


    Wagner sighed heavily and went back inside their makeshift quarters to start cleaning up, resigned to their bizarre situation.


    Yang Qiu''s claim of having a "slight acquaintance" with the ruler of this layer of the Demon Dimensional Realm was an understatement. Although he had met the demon lord before, it was unlikely that he was remembered.


    High-level black mages often interacted with native demons when searching for summons in the demon dimension realms, which, contrary to their portrayal in the material plane, had their own structured societies and rules.


    Of course, not all Demon Dimensional Realms had the orderly civilization of the demon race; there were chaotic layers that lacked a demon lord which black mages would avoid.


    Not all among the ten layers of the demon dimension realm governed by powerful demon lords were accessible. The realms of Calamity and Endless, for example, were off-limits¡ªthe former''s demon lord was akin to a lunatic, while the latter''s demon lord had too deep a connection with the void and had gone completely insane.


    Yang Qiu summoned his undead horse and headed to the southwest wall of the city, a known location among high-level black mages. He looked up and shouted to announce his visit to the Lord of Fear and took out a well-wrapped gift, then waited patiently.


    Moments later, a hidden door creaked open in the seamless city wall. An imposing figure in armor, bearing an uncanny resemblance to a man save for the singular horn on his forehead, stepped out.


    This demon gatekeeper¡­ might pass for human during a cursory glance, but any such illusion was quickly dispelled by his towering stature, dwarfing even Yang Qiu, who was quite high up on his steed.


    With practiced ease, the demon took the gift from Yang Qiu, speaking in the articulate common tongue of the main material realm, "Human black mage, His Lordship is preoccupied with dealing with enemies and cannot grant you an audience. Please, attend to your own matters."


    The Realm of Fear was a favored haunt for black mages, and the gatekeepers here were well-versed regarding their visits.


    "I mean no intrusion upon His Lordship. I''ve seen the forces of Calamity," Yang Qiu responded with a nod and a smile. "If it''s not too much trouble, I''d like to establish a small outpost not far from the main battlefield, to lend our strength to His Lordship''s cause."


    It was a common practice for black magicians to "drop by" the demon realms, seeking to sharpen their skills without any expectation of remuneration from the demons.


    The gatekeeper, no stranger to such requests, replied nonchalantly, "Proceed as you wish, black mage. But be warned, should your outpost face any troubles, we cannot spare any forces to come to your aid."


    "Such audacious demands are far from my intentions," Yang Qiu assured with a broad smile, well aware of the demons'' nature. "I only seek a token from Fear Army to prevent any unfortunate incidents of friendly fire."


    "Hold for a moment," said the gatekeeper, not his first time entertaining such a request, before retreating and closing the door behind him.


    Ten minutes later, the concealed door opened once again, and the towering gatekeeper reappeared, handing Yang Qiu a crystal pulsating with a violet glow. "Imbue your forces with a trace of my lord''s essence, and you shall avoid any misidentification."


    Gratefully accepting the Fear Crystal, Yang Qiu presented a personal gift to the gatekeeper. This was wisdom passed down by elder mages; never request extra favors without offering a gift in return.


    Even the specifications for gifts when visiting the demon realms had been summed up by black mages¡ª


    If it was just seeking a few summons, gifting an exquisite accessory like silver would be enough.


    For a longer stay (some black mages would spend months or even years in the demon dimension realms), higher value gifts such as gold jewelry, fine art (paintings, statues, etc.), or delicate silk products would be fair.


    If seeking the gatekeeper to pass a message, drinks, food, silver¡­ The price didn''t have to be that great, but manners were a must.


    The demon race might be rough and brutish, but exquisite ornaments and works of art from the material realm were rather popular here.


    Aside from that, demons were somewhat carefree and didn''t bother with trifles, which meant they were much easier to deal with than most humans. (Demons didn''t have the warmongering humans had.)


    The only mistake one absolutely could not make when dealing with demons was being disrespectful¡ªthey could not accept being scorned, humiliated, or taken lightly. Attempting to be pretentious in front of demons would often result in a horrible death.


    With a 19.9 yuan set of bone china and a bottle of G Province specialty plum wine given out to receive the friendly Fear Army''s permission, "Demon Realm Battlefield Trial" could officially be launched for players.


    At present, a total of 50 players, in two raid groups of 25, could be accepted each time the battlefield opened. Those who weren''t quick enough had to queue up.


    Yang Ying, Tang Jia, Unceasing Entropy, and others ran to the Town Hall looking to see if the new battle mode was fun, only to find that a raid group spot was already occupied with people from Brother Lahong''s side. The other raid group spot was occupied by Qin Guan, Blossoming Strokes, and others.


    "Looks like there''s no chance for this round. Shall we queue for the next?" Unceasing Entropy shook her head upon seeing the crowd at the Town Hall.


    "Only formed-up groups can occupy the queue position. Where are we going to find so many patient players to wait together with us?" Tang Jia said dejectedly.


    "Ehh? Blossom doesn''t seem to have enough?" Yang Ying counted the group of people and realized it didn''t add up. There weren''t even 20 people.


    Tang Jia''s eyes lit up, and she immediately ran shamelessly to Blossoming Strokes'' side and enthusiastically promoted herself, "Blossom~ Are you guys short? Do you think we could come with you all? You know all about Sis Ying''s combat ability, and together we are a peerless duo. Qingyue can heal, and Jia Luo deals high dps~"


    Before Blossoming Strokes could even speak, Qin Guan, who didn''t usually like to bring in outsiders, answered, "Alright, sure. How many in your team? Come, I''ll add you into the group."


    Blossoming Strokes immediately closed her half-opened mouth.


    Give Me Medicine had brought the most elite of their bunch to Poisonous Marshlands, and Qin Guan wasn''t willing to lose in the first battle to Brother Lahong¡­ Thus, he was willing to group up with "outsiders."


    Qin Guan''s group had four vacancies. Tang Jia turned around to see her team¡­ and unceremoniously set Orange Cat aside, pulling Unceasing Entropy, Yang Ying, and Jia Luo into the raid group.


    Orange Cat feigned crying without tears. "Hey, hey. Leaving me behind for real? Are you guys heartless?"


    "It''s okay, Orange Cat. There will definitely be room for you later when we make our own group," Yang Ying consoled. "It''s now peak online time, and there are many good teams. See if you can find a random one to mix in."


    "Never mind, I''ll go do some quests first. We''ll see when you guys come out," Orange Cat muttered dejectedly.


    Jia Luo twisted the knife further. "Don''t advise him to join the random groups, Sis Ying. He definitely won''t do so. Everyone would commend him for his good equipment, but when it comes to farming monsters, they would disdain him for his low damage output and weak skills." Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Jia Luo!" Orange Cat howled in anguish.


    Unfortunately, Jia Luo didn''t hear Orange Cat''s angst as the two groups of players were teleported (summoned) away when the count was met.


    A red moon in the dark sky, a seemingly endless expanse of barren earth, a towering mountain in the distance, and a steel city almost integrated with the massive formation.


    The roar of the wind brought with it the faint sound of fighting and killing, as if some terrible beast was in its death throes, and there was also a shrill cry not like that of a living person ringing in air.


    Tang Jia ran out of the cave where they were teleported to, her jaw dropping when she saw such a magnificent battlefield scene that could never be witnessed in any other game. "Whoa¡­ Such a big map. This is the OtherWorld version of Aoshan?"


    Blossoming Strokes also came out, muttering to herself as she surveyed the surroundings, "I imagined the map would be small since only groups of 25 are allowed in¡­ How can even a 40-man group be enough for such a large map?"


    "Since 40-man groups can''t enter, there must be a reason why too many aren''t allowed in," Qin Guan explained calmly. "Perhaps it''s stickers in the distance, while the actual scenes aren''t too large. Many online games do this."


    "Stickers¡­" Unceasing Entropy mumbled as she stared at the mountain and massive steel castle on top.


    It was indeed impossible for such an exaggerated building to appear in reality¡ªcompared with the castle, the Burj Khalifa was like a simple building that could be built by a contractor team with a simple high school education. Unceasing Entropy couldn''t imagine how such a fantastical building could be built by human power.


    "¡­Indeed, I''m overthinking." Unceasing Entropy exhaled lightly.


    "What did you say, Qingyue?" Tang Jia vaguely heard something and turned over.


    "Nothing, the wind is too strong," Unceasing Entropy said, following the crowd out. "Eh, where''s Sis Ying and Jia Luo?"


    Unceasing Entropy halted and tiptoed to look around¡­


    Yang Ying and Jia Luo were still in the cave and hadn''t come out.


    "Sis Ying, Jia Luo, keep up!" Unceasing Entropy hurriedly went back to urge them.


    "Coming, coming. Wait!"


    Seeing the reason her two companions were dawdling in the back, Unceasing Entropy nearly laughed out. "Don''t pick at that amethyst, it''s just a map decoration! How can something that we aren''t able to ''Identify'' be taken away!"

 Chapter 166: Extremely Brutal Monster Battlefield

    Imbuing players with the essence of the Lord of Fear was easily achieved by installing the Fear Crystal within the teleportation cave. Yang Qiu, well aware of the players'' penchant for mischief, took extra care to embed the crystal into the cave wall and ensured it was beyond the players'' ability to "Identify" or tamper with.


    Yet, through the imprint matrix, he witnessed the futile attempt by his sister and her friend to pry the crystal loose using weapons. Yang Qiu, back in Exile Town, couldn''t help facepalming.


    The image of his sister etched in his mind was far too gracious¡­ How could he have forgotten the unrelenting tenacity of his older sister?


    When Yang Qiu was bullied by the older kids in their neighborhood back in his youth, it was his sister who fearlessly confronted the bullies at their doorstep, causing a scene until their mother had to drag her back home in embarrassment. In their family of three, Yang Ying was definitely the most capable, and Yang Qiu himself was greatly influenced by his older sister.


    "¡­Never mind, they''ll give up if they can''t remove it," Yang Qiu muttered, diverting his attention from the embarrassing spectacle to the national team''s home venue.


    Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen, the industrious national team duo, were meticulously planning the development direction of an industrial area in Weisshem. Limited by funds and manpower, they were considering converting half of the town''s main street buildings into factories and relocating residents near the industrial zone to avoid disrupting their lives once the factories commenced operations.


    "Not bad¡­ Production lines have to be prepared for them," Yang Qiu mused, thoroughly impressed by the Ji Tang¨CZhao Zhenzhen duo. He then shifted his attention to yet another branch of the national team.


    Protected by over 20 Weisshem staff, the railway survey team (essentially a modified infantry combat vehicle) had ventured into the eastern plains of Taranthan. The initial phase of the railway project had also been finalized.


    "Looks like the nearly two thousand detainees can finally be of use." Yang Qiu too was satisfied with the railway survey team. "We can''t rely on natives for operating machinery, much less the players¡­ Guess it''s time to provide the ''experts'' with more helmets."


    Allowing players to operate construction machinery in the "game" wasn''t outright impossible, but Yang Qiu knew the players too well. He had no doubt they would misuse such equipment; perhaps even joyriding excavators to hunt down little monsters.


    Had he not gotten the native NPCs to strictly monitored construction sites and even tacitly granted them the rights to kill players, his investment in picks, shovels, and other tools would have been squandered by the players'' antics.


    In any case, the expert task force was definitely interested in exploring this unknown world and contributing to third-world development aligning with their national policies, so it made sense to lean on the national team for more labor.


    The diligent work of the two national teams'' branches added pressure on Yang Qiu''s finances, prompting him to take action. He swiftly went to the teleportation circle in Exile Town town hall''s basement and moved to Desolate Outpost.


    Desolate Outpost, second only to Exile Town as a player hub, offered high-risk, high-reward monster hunting in the Poisonous Marshlands and the most favored gold farming site for players and studios: the lumberyard.


    Merely three kilometers from Desolate Outpost, a ten-minute journey for players, the lumberyard was a rudimentary site with just two tents and a vast open space.


    Despite its simplicity, it was Yang Qiu''s most stable source of income, managed only by two zombie NPCs tasked with quest assignment and settlement and only the most basic logging tools provided¡ªhand-held diesel-powered chainsaws priced at 400 yuan each.


    Though the efficiency of this makeshift lumberyard couldn''t compare to a professional one, the low operational costs were its advantage. Labor costs were minimal, paid in in-game currency, with no concerns about workplace injuries. Injured or even killed players would be back on their feet in half an hour, with no compensation claims directed at Yang Qiu.


    The usual logistical nightmares of storage and distribution was absent, nor were the painstaking steps of drying and processing needed. Trees, once felled and stripped of their branches, were simply left to dry in the open air square before Yang Qiu "transported" them to Earth for sale.


    Of course, the wild forests sprawling across the Taranthan wilderness couldn''t all be of exotic timbers coveted on Earth. The majority were more common species like paulownia, palms, and photinia. These weren''t particularly valuable, but with the cost of procurement virtually nil, there was no shortage of factories willing to take them off his hands.


    Initial transactions were facilitated by the expert task force, but soon Yang Qiu found himself dealing directly with the factories. The volume of timber he supplied was neither overwhelming nor negligible, and the expert task force had more than enough samples.


    Upon arrival at the lumberyard, Yang Qiu was greeted by the sight of players at the forest''s edge working diligently like a colony of industrious ants. They buzzed around with their chainsaws, felling giant trees, then carting the roughly hewn logs toward the drying area.


    "Haa, gold farming teams have grown," Yang Qiu noted, nodding approvingly at these players and studios eager to farm in-game currency as he made his way to the square to collect the timber.


    Yang Qiu''s understanding of economics was limited, and the economic system within OtherWorld was rudimentary at best. Monsters didn''t drop money, only materials that could be exchanged for reputation, equipment, or used for job advancements. The only avenues for players'' copper coins were for trading or repairing equipment.


    But while the game''s economy was underdeveloped, the players were anything but. They devised their own systems for trading materials for copper coins or even real money. They competed for reputation, jostling to serve Yang Qiu as a tool (mayor).


    Players even established a secondary market for equipment, ensuring the value of copper coins remained stable. They even speculated on the exchange rate between copper coins and real money and would funnel vast amounts of in-game currency back into the system (essentially Yang Qiu''s hands) during the monthly auction events.


    The players'' ingenuity in addressing the game''s economic shortcomings deserved commendation.


    While Yang Qiu busied himself transporting the air-dried timber back to Earth, he simultaneously notified the factories to collect their orders (his low prices meant delivery fees were out of the question) while also placing orders with a machinery factory.


    G Province lacked heavy industry, but there were factories capable of producing simple production lines. Unable to compete with larger manufacturers, these factories targeted rural markets with their low-cost products, selling to Southeast Asia or serving as subcontractors to larger names, operating on razor-thin margins.


    Yang Qiu had previously collaborated with one such unremarkable machinery factory when purchasing oil presses and tofu machines. Reaching out to them again, he casually dropped an order for a dozen low-tech production lines, receiving an almost instant response riddled with typos.


    It was a sign of the times. Business wasn''t really good everywhere this year¡­


    As Yang Qiu navigated his way through the complexities of earning and spending, his sister Yang Ying and the first batch of players to experience the battlefield mode were unimaginably torturous trials.


    "I swear¡­ I barely got grazed by that bizarre creature and died. I didn''t even see my own death animation. How is that even possible?!"


    Yang Ying emerged from the cave, covered in dirt, her frustration palpable as she vented to Blossoming Strokes, who had come out just a moment before her.


    "It''s probably because your health bar was wiped in one go. The damage system in this game is weird. Like with the giant rat at the town exit¡­ Some players get killed in one hit, some turn into white light while flying through the air, and yet others need to be smashed into a wall to die," Blossoming Strokes grimaced, sharing her own bewildering demise. "I didn''t even see what killed me. One moment I was fine, the next I was respawning."


    "I saw how you died, Blossom," Tang Jia interjected from behind, having respawned shortly after Yang Ying. "A bone wyrm breathed fire on you. It was high up in the sky and could only be seen if you were looking from a distance."


    "Great¡­ Now we have to watch out for threats from above too? Is this even possible to clear?" Yang Ying was at a loss.


    "Let''s regroup with the others," suggested Blossoming Strokes. "We can''t keep getting wiped like this and have to think of something."


    The girl trio hadn''t walked another five steps when a wave of curses erupted behind them.


    Blossoming Strokes turned around¡­ There was no need to seek the main group. All of them had died and returned.


    "Weren''t you guys hiding in that cave? How did you all get wiped?" Yang Ying asked in astonishment.


    "That was no cave but the nostril of a gargantuan creature," groaned Qin Guan, the frustrated group leader. "That monster lay motionless until we all took shelter inside, and then it sneezed or something, blasting us all skyward¡­ It was only from up in the sky that I got a clear view of the monster''s entire form."


    "The heck?!" Blossoming Strokes, Yang Ying, and Tang Jia, who were lagging behind the main group, were flabbergasted.


    Jia Luo lamented in despair, "And here I thought I''d never have to experience being catapulted into the sky and turning into a flash of light again as long as I steered clear of that giant rat. Clearly, I was mistaken¡­ I''m scared of heights, for god''s sake!"


    "Who would''ve thought that things seemingly part of the scenery have to be ''Identified''!" Unceasing Entropy muttered with resignation. "Let''s not dwell on that first¡­ We have 30 minutes per battle, and we''re already halfway through without completing even the first battle mission. Maybe we should hold off on storming the main battlefield and come up with a plan first?"


    Upon entering the battlefield, players discovered that victory wasn''t determined by the traditional method of head-to-head combat but by completing specific tasks. Initially, this left many feeling underwhelmed. What fun was there in a battlefield where the thrill wasn''t in the unrestrained combat but in task completion?


    But as players received their assignments from the battlefield NPCs and nonchalantly made their way to the so-called main battlefield, any lingering discontent completely vanished.


    This was no ordinary skirmish but a monstrous free-for-all that could rival the Battle of the Five Armies!


    Not only were there sheer numbers, many of the monsters towered over ten times the size of any player character! Were it not for the green-named allies among these fierce, ultra-realistic creatures that outdid any 3D movie special effects, the players might have conceded defeat then and there. A battlefield like this that had only enemies would have meant certain annihilation!


    Even with allied monsters in the fray, venturing into the battlefield was perilous. The tug-of-war between the factions was intense; territories held by allies one moment could be overrun by enemies the next. Previous routs had unfolded in just this manner.


    In any case, influenced by the brutal atmosphere of the monster-ridden battlefield and having experienced several complete team wipes, players abandoned their initial skepticism. They began to take this new mode seriously, recognizing the challenge and strategy it demanded.


    "Our mission," Blossoming Strokes began, "is to locate an enemy camp guarded by a Headless Knight and launch the signal flare given by the NPC into their midst. We''ve encountered the Headless Knight before during our last wipe. Although its name is visible, its level and details are all question marks, suggesting it''s an unbeatable super boss. We need to complete our mission when it''s away from the camp."


    "But that knight moves so fast, it''s impossible to tell where it''s coming from, and with the density of monsters, finding the camp seems like a tall order," Qin Guan lamented.


    "It is difficult," acknowledged Blossoming Strokes. "However, we have 25 people in our group. If we all head out together, we risk another wipe. If we split up, we get 25 chances to do reconnaissance. What do you all think?" S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I agree," Unceasing Entropy was quick to support the idea. "Given that we stand no chance against the monsters here, and death is almost certain upon entering the main battlefield, we might as well try to map out the terrain and possible routes before we fall."


    Qin Guan glanced around and, seeing no one raise any dissent, declared, "Alright, let''s give it a try or two."


    With their plan set, this bunch once again set off toward the frontlines with grim determination¡­


    No sooner had Qin Guan and his team departed from the rear base, which doubled as a respawn point in the form of a cave, a fresh wave of players materialized en masse.


    "This game is unplayable!" An infuriated Brother Lahong slammed his weapon to the ground in a fit of rage.


    "Calm down, Lahong. At least this time we managed to spot where the mission objective is," Guileless Gale tried to soothe him with a level-headed remark.


    "Let''s be real, even knowing where the mission is doesn''t bring us any closer to completing it¡­" Phantom commented, deadpan. "The area''s swarming with giant octopus monsters. How are we supposed to sneak in and drop the flare?! It''s impossible to get close without dying!"


    "If we die a few more times, there''s no way I can stomach takoyaki anymore," lamented Study Obsessed sorrowfully.


    Brother Lahong wasn''t genuinely ready to give up the mission. This boss had a streak of stubbornness and, as he strode out, gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it, let''s go ask the NPC for more flares. We''ll split into groups and charge in. I refuse to believe we can''t be a fish that slips through the net!"


    "Hey hey, ''fish slipping through the net'' isn''t exactly the right phrase to use here, right?" Phantom mocked.


    "As long as the meaning is clear!" Brother Lahong retorted.


    As two groups of determined players once again left the camp for the battlefield, Wagner and Kenn, these two sort of acquainted old timers, were seated together.


    Yang hadn''t abandoned them in this perilous demon world alone¡­ He had left them with a few "Spellcaster''s Eyes"¡ªfour floating above the battlefield facing their camp, one along the route from the battlefield to the camp, and one directly above the camp itself.


    Spellcaster''s Eyes transmitted live images to mirrors, allowing the two "battlefield NPCs" to spot danger signals in time. Should the forces of Calamity move their way, they could instantly retreat into the cave and activate the teleportation circle for living beings to return to Exile Town.


    The six mirrors displaying the Spellcaster''s Eyes'' feeds were housed in Wagner''s "barracks."


    Wagner adjusted the mirrors to the scenes of the undead heading to the main battlefield and couldn''t help but say, "Though these undead often leave us baffled and frustrated, they do have their merits."


    Kenn remained silent for a moment before adding somberly, "Indeed, they don''t give up easily¡­ If it were any other army, even the vaunted Iron Legion of the Sokri Empire, they would likely falter when faced with such an inhuman battlefield."


    Then, after a brief pause, Kenn added with annoyance, "But that''s also because these undead possess the characteristic of immortality¡­ I believe if they had but one life, their resolve wouldn''t be nearly as unyielding!"


    Kenn, an accomplished mercenary leader accustomed to commanding a hundred-strong force, had quickly discerned during his forced service in Exile Town that these undead were truly immortal.


    While conventional wisdom held that undead could be banished by clerics or purified by exorcists, they wouldn''t reappear as relentlessly as those in Taranthan. No matter how the Taranthan undead were dealt with, they''d soon be back, lively as ever.


    Wagner empathized with Kenn''s mixed feelings of respect and annoyance toward the undead. Frankly, his own sentiments weren''t much different.


    "At least, the task Yang demands of us isn''t as daunting anymore," Wagner mused, his emotions complex.


    If the undead could maintain this dogged determination to complete their battlefield missions at all costs, then using them as the main force to defeat the Radiant Sun Church''s forces wouldn''t pose a problem.


    Overcoming the Radiant Sun Church wouldn''t just allow Yang to flex but also provide him with more leverage in negotiations with the Church of Lady Gold Coin.


    If the Church of Lady Gold Coin could be persuaded to begrudgingly support Rex, then Rex could openly challenge the Bartalis family for their territory in a manner that all Rhine nobles would have to acknowledge as legitimate.


    This realization left Wagner with even more mixed feelings¡­


    Indahl, which he had given his all throughout his life without receiving fair treatment, might be about to change hands.

 Chapter 167: Ou Huang’s New Method

    As the 30-minute battlefield timer expired, both groups'' battlefield mode pioneers failed to complete their assigned missions and were booted out of the locale.


    "It ended before we even found the place?!"


    "So close, damn it!"


    "How is the aggro range of those octopus monsters so huge?!"


    "Queue again! I refuse to believe we can''t do this!"


    "F*ck, why are we in the queue? Were people let in as soon as we got out?!"


    This bunch of players that had nearly exhausted themselves to no avail couldn''t help but unleash a torrent of curses.


    However, not all was lost for those who had toiled in the monstrous battlefield for half an hour. As the initial wave of frustration subsided, a player in Brother Lahong''s group couldn''t contain his excitement, "Holy crap, I got over 200 honor points and have been promoted from Civilian to an Auxiliary! What about you guys?"


    "How did you get so much honor? Damn, I''ve only got 80 points?"


    "Haha, I made it to Auxiliary too!"


    "What the heck. I died several times too, how come I''ve only got 60 plus points?"


    "Oh, does that mean my hundred-something points aren''t too shabby?"


    As Qin Guan led his team back to the Town Hall, he glanced at the newly added honor section on his character panel and grimaced. Turning to his friends, he inquired, "Blossom, how much honor did you get?"


    "20 points," she replied.


    "You too? I thought I was just unlucky getting only 30 points," Yang Ying chimed in.


    Unceasing Entropy thought about something and said, "Everyone, report your honor points in the group channel."


    A flurry of numbers quickly filled the group channel chat, ranging from twenties to sixties.


    Qin Guan''s mood instantly soured. "What''s going on here? We weren''t slacking off, so why is our side''s average honor so much lower than theirs?"


    After exchanging glances with Unceasing Entropy, Blossoming Strokes concluded, "It seems the honor points aren''t about luck or the number of monsters killed but rather the contribution to the battlefield objectives."


    Unceasing Entropy nodded in agreement, adding, "Though Brother Lahong''s group didn''t complete their mission either, they did locate the mission site, which likely accounts for their higher average honor points."


    "Those guys must''ve just stumbled upon it by sheer luck!" Qin Guan grumbled, casting an envious glance at the chattering bunch inside the Town Hall.


    Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy, undeterred by Qin Guan''s frustration, huddled together for a brief discussion. Then, Blossoming Strokes knelt down and, with a finger tracing the earth, sketched a rudimentary map of the battlefield as they had explored it, marking spots with small indentations.


    "I kept circling in this direction, and since my honor points are low, it indicates our objective isn''t that way," Blossoming Strokes explained, marking her position with a small indent.


    "I was over here, closer to our base," Unceasing Entropy added, marking another spot.


    The rest of the young group, quick on the uptake, grasped their intention immediately. Jia Luo, eager and excited, crouched down, pointing at a specific direction on the makeshift map. "I was chased by the same Flame Demon in two separate encounters, forcing me to run upwind, right in this direction! Xiao Tang lacked speed skills and fell here, while I was caught after a long chase!"


    Tang Jia earned 50 honor points and Jia Luo was 60, which was the group''s highest.


    "From this, it seems the correct spot is in the direction where Jia Luo fled," Blossoming Strokes concluded with renewed vigor. "Alright, everyone take a break, repair your gear if needed. Let''s wait for the others to come out and then we''ll head back in to tackle this mission."


    Despite the pitfalls that had the players at their wits'' end, the monster battlefield mode¡ªwith its high stakes and generous rewards¡ªproved irresistibly thrilling.


    Accumulating enough honor to rank up to Soldier would allow players to exchange honor points with the battlefield quartermasters, Wagner and Kenn, for equipment and even specially select the attributes they want.


    With higher ranks, players could request for better gear. There was even godly double-attribute equipment visible in the preview list of rewards¡ªat present, this means of gear acquisition was unparalleled for PVP players.


    Of course, while the monster battlefield offered a steady stream of rewards, nothing beat the exhilaration of combat quests where players could freely loot their foes. However, such quests were few and far between, making the regularly scheduled monster battlefield a more reliable source of excitement and reward.


    True to form, not a single player in the group entertained thoughts of leaving; they all held resolve, only dispersing to attend to their personal tasks.


    "Xiao Tang, Sis Ying, Qingyue, lend me some money." Jia Luo reached out to her friends. "I sold my bow for a dagger earlier, but I think I''ll need a bow after all."


    "You don''t have to buy one, just borrow Orange Cat''s for now¡­ Hmm? Where''s Orange Cat?" Yang Ying looked around, but the rich whale, who was supposed to wait outside for them, was nowhere to be seen.


    "I messaged him as soon as I got out; he''s off sucking up to Ou Huang and teleported to Weisshem," Jia Luo informed.


    "¡­Only he would be thick-skinned enough to pester Ou Huang like that," Yang Ying jested. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Ou Huang, known for his icy demeanor in-game despite his adorable forum persona, reportedly had only one person on his friend list¡ªOrange Cat.


    Of course this didn''t mean there was some homosexual romance brewing between them¡­ The fellow whale who used to shadow Orange Cat wasn''t his lover but his brother-in-law, a thoroughly heterosexual man who frequently shared photos with his beautiful wife in their group chats.


    Orange Cat''s inclusion in Ou Huang''s friend list boiled down to his knack for making connections, his gregarious nature, and an utter lack of shame¡­ which was why he blended seamlessly into their team comprising entirely of women.


    As Yang Ying and her companions eagerly anticipated their next venture into the monster battlefield, Orange Cat was ambling through the streets of Weisshem alongside Ou Huang, who was lugging a large woven bag. From the look of things, it suggested that Orange Cat had close camaraderie with Ou Huang as if they shared a deep bond.


    "If not for Lahong being so cunning and stingy, I''d definitely have snagged a piece of land in Exile Town to play around with. It''s supposed to be available to anyone who''s earned enough reputation with the merchant association, but that brat only approves those that join his blood alliance. Isn''t that just outrageous, Ou Huang?"


    Ou Huang: "¡­"


    "And you, always shunning group monster farming, flitting between Exile Town and Weisshem all the time. What exactly do you get up to?" Orange Cat, undeterred by Ou Huang''s lack of response, prattled on.


    "You can''t possibly be grinding quests all the time; how dull would that be? But then again, your gear''s pretty up-to-date, and I''ve never seen you deal in RMB. Could it be you''ve discovered some solo farming method?"


    Ou Huang: "¡­"


    "I''m not buying it if you say you got that gear from soloing in the mining zone. I''ve checked that place out; you can only earn coins there but no prestige at all."


    Orange Cat, ever the extrovert, slung an arm over Ou Huang''s shoulder. "Never mind, I won''t pry. After all, the likes of me couldn''t possibly replicate the feats of a god gamer like you¡­"


    Ou Huang: "¡­"


    Ou Huang sighed softly.


    Orange Cat, misinterpreting the sigh, grew melancholic. "Did you think I was having an inferiority complex? Not at all. I''ve been pretty decent at other games, really. I''ve had my moments in auto chess, Plants vs. Zombies, you name it.


    "It''s just this game that''s a real headache. Take the most popular farming spot, Spider Cave. Is that even designed for normal people? Giant spiders taller than a person, and then there are those with octopus or scythe-like legs. What''s up with that?"


    Ou Huang decided to ignore this buffoon and, without a word, stepped into a nondescript little shop by the street.


    "Whoa, you didn''t get a quest from one of these civilian NPCs, did you?" Orange Cat, completely oblivious to Ou Huang''s disdain, followed right in.


    The shop, a cramped space sandwiched between two buildings and no more than 20 square meters, was manned by a single elderly attendant.


    Orange Cat was taken aback at the sight of this aged attendant.


    Unlike advanced NPCs, civilian NPCs didn''t have a green name displayed above their heads unless "Identified." Most wouldn''t even yield upon "Identification" due to lack of narrative development, showing only "Weisshem Civilian" in green text.


    Yet, this elderly attendant of this tiny shop had a green name floating above his head just like those advanced NPCs: "Employee: Dick Bill."


    The civilian NPC named Dick Bill stepped forward with a respectful bow upon seeing Ou Huang enter. "Good day, Mr. Ou Huang."


    "What the hell?!" Orange Cat was utterly gobsmacked. He could understand this civilian NPC''s words!


    Ou Huang nodded in acknowledgment, set down the hefty woven bag he was carrying on his shoulder, opened it, and gestured toward its contents and then to the shelves.


    Dick Bill, seemingly accustomed to the taciturn nature of this undead man, promptly stepped forward. Together, they began unloading various types of dried wild game from the bag, methodically arranging each piece on the shelves¡­


    Orange Cat''s might have been at a loss for words, but his wits were intact. Observing the seamless, wordless coordination between Ou Huang and the commoner NPC, he quickly pieced together the sequence of events. It was as if he had stumbled upon a new world, and he couldn''t help but exclaim in astonishment, "Holy crap! Things can be done this way!"


    Ou Huang paid him no mind, while Dick Bill, who could understand the language of the undead, seemed a bit startled by the outburst.


    It was no secret that Ou Huang had mastered the seldom-chosen lifestyle class of butchery.


    Nor was it a secret that Ou Huang, with his exceptional skills and daring, would venture alone into the mountains surrounding Exile Town to hunt wild beasts, always managing to return safely.


    The fact that Ou Huang had devised a way to trade the products of his lifestyle profession with the merchants of Weisshem, obtaining NPC currency not accepted by the system, and then using this currency to exchange for "outfits" from NPCs, was also well-known¡­ Many players had followed in Ou Huang''s footsteps to finally upgrade from their perpetual "newbie gear."


    This included Orange Cat, though he hadn''t pursued any lifestyle classes himself, opting instead to buy the products from other players who did.


    And now, Ou Huang was once again pioneering a path that most players hadn''t even considered¡ªfaced with the inability to secure land in Exile Town, he had ventured to Weisshem to open his own shop, employing a civilian NPC as shop attendants, and directly selling the products of his lifestyle profession¡­

 Chapter 168: Management Mode

    Players who reached Friendly reputation with the Undead Merchant Association would have an option to hire NPC on their own character panel. This privilege, though accessible to many, remained largely unused due to its perceived impracticality which made it seem like a useless feature.


    Firstly, hiring an NPC to assist with quests or monster slaying was out of the question since only the weakest of civilian NPCs were available for hire. And if the NPC was really brought along, it would likely be the player protecting the NPC instead of the other way around. On top of that, any injury sustained by a hired civilian NPC would cost the employer a hefty reimbursement.


    These hired civilian NPCs had limited "functions," capable only of mundane tasks like cleaning armor, maintaining weapons, or fetching items. Anything beyond that was wishful thinking.


    The cost of hiring these NPCs wasn''t trivial either¡ª10 copper coins (player''s currency) per game day. Failure to pay on time would result in the termination of the contract.


    In short, the cost-effectiveness of these hired NPCs was dismally low, previously prompting Orange Cat to believe that hiring a runner from a studio offered more value and flexibility.


    But witnessing Ou Huang''s innovative gameplay now, Orange Cat realized the true potential of this feature¡ªthis was a "tool NPC" provided by the system to encourage players to delve into a business management playstyle within the game!


    No matter how affordable or efficient studio grunts might be, they spoke a different language as NPCs, let alone serve as sales clerks!


    With this epiphany, Orange Cat''s interest in "Employee: Dick Bill" grew significantly.


    However, before making any moves, Orange Cat had to clarify one thing.


    "Boss Ou Huang! Is there a means of exchanging NPC currency with ours?" Orange Cat immediately switched to full on sucking up to Ou Huang.


    Ou Huang: "¡­"


    Ten minutes later, a visibly exasperated Ou Huang led Orange Cat, who was still full of questions and theories, to the Weisshem town hall to find Ji Tang.


    "You''re interested in exploring the business management gameplay mode, Boss Orange Cat? That''s great!"


    Ji Tang, upon understanding the purpose of their visit, warmly welcomed Orange Cat, ushering him into the office.


    "Ou Huang is a man of few words, so he probably didn''t explain it well. Let me introduce you to the business system we''ve established in Weisshem¡­"


    Orange Cat instinctively tensed up. "Wait, wait, Ji Tang, don''t be so hasty, I''m getting scared¡ª!"


    "Don''t worry, this is a fantastic opportunity~"


    "That makes me even more nervous!"


    Seeing how things were panning out, Ou Huang seized the moment to make a swift exit, finally freeing himself from the clingy Orange Cat!


    After having landed such a big fish, Ji Tang wasn''t about to let it slip away. He dragged Orange Cat to the storehouse.


    When Orange Cat saw the goods in the storehouse, he was overcome with the urge to comment. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "What the heck?! Did the GMs just spawn a whole warehouse full of instant noodles? Moreover, Kang Shi Fu noodles? Do perfect knockoffs dodge trademark issues?!"


    Even Ji Tang, a man of ironclad resolve, couldn''t help but avert his eyes slightly¡­


    How should he put it¡­ Lord Yang''s sourcing from nearly expired goods to knockoff brands was, to put it mildly, a headache for the expert task force as well.


    However, not all aspects of these knockoff goods were negative. At the very least, there were no significant issues with food safety; after all, these were products of industrial production lines, arguably more reliable than those artisanal workshops that traded on craftsmanship and cultural appeal.


    Clearing his throat to mask the awkwardness, Ji Tang clapped Orange Cat on the back with a hearty smack.


    "Never mind the brand; all that matters is that these are tradeable goods. Everything is offered to you at wholesale prices. Sell them, and I''ll exchange the NPC copper you earn for game currency at a two-to-one ratio. Minus the merchant tax, profits are all yours, which definitely beats farming monsters."


    Orange Cat was well aware that a business model mode could be more lucrative than mindlessly grinding monsters, but something felt off. "Hold on, why come to me with such an offer? Ou Huang''s shop didn''t have all of this random stuff."


    "That''s because Ou Huang produces his own products himself. You haven''t really dabbled in lifestyle classes, have you, Boss Orange Cat?" Ji Tang reasoned. "The stability of sourcing products from players can''t really be compared to getting good from me, don''t you think?"


    "Uhh¡­" After some hesitation, Orange Cat asked cautiously, "Then, how much tax would I have to pay?"


    "For local sales, you''re looking at a 50% tax," Ji Tang stated ruthlessly.


    "You might as well rob me!" Even the usually good-tempered Orange Cat was pushed to his limit.


    "Hold up, hear me out. If you manage to transport and sell these goods outside Weisshem, the tax is only 20%," Ji Tang went on. "Don''t you already have Honored reputation with the Merchant Association? Just submit an application to the town hall to form a trading caravan, and I''ll approve it. Then you can dive into the caravan management gameplay mode."


    Orange Cat''s lips twitched. "¡­So, Weisshem is running short on cash?"


    "Can''t be helped, this world¡­ ahem, this game operates solely on physical currency. You are from Zhejiang, surely you must understand that physical currency is more prone to cash flow problems than credit currency," explained Ji Tang.


    Orange Cat understood all too well. Even in systems based on credit currency, it wasn''t uncommon for companies to face cash flow crises or broken capital chains. The news often highlighted companies valued at billions in market capitalization, but those figures were merely conceptual values concocted by financiers aiming to fleece stock market investors and lure the next buyer.


    Among the wealthy second generations of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, a common joke was that it could take three generations of indulgence to squander a fortune or three years to go bankrupt by venturing into business. The financial sector''s ruthlessness was such that even rich capitalist families might as well have been harmless bunnies in the face of it.


    Orange Cat, having wheedled information out of Ou Huang, found himself genuinely intrigued by the business gameplay mode.


    After all, was there anyone who wouldn''t want to make a name for themselves in the game? Being constantly underestimated always irked him. But while he might not excel in gameplay mechanics, Orange Cat was rather confident in his business acumen.


    "Alright¡­ I''ll give it a shot," Orange Cat decided, weighing the pros and cons. "But I''ve only got a few hundred copper coins at present, and copper coins are hard to come by these days. Ji Tang, does the town hall have any policies in place, like commercial loans to support businesses?"


    Ji Tang flashed a broad grin, draping an arm around Orange Cat''s shoulders. "Yes, of course! We''ve got you covered. Let''s find a place to sit down, have some tea, and talk it over¡ª"


    "Ji Tang, you weren''t like this before¡­"


    The small town of Weisshem could hardly be described as having an orderly market economy.


    Its crafts industry was rudimentary at best, still mired in small workshop-style production, with local artisans focusing on basic goods like leather products, bamboo baskets, wooden barrels, coffins, and simple furniture.


    Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen were determined to change this. Their first step was to revolutionize the local crafts industry, drawing all artisans and the majority of adult townsfolk into an industrial park on the town''s main road. Their goal was to scale up production and make better use of the town''s labor force¡­ well, to boost employment rates, raise local income levels, and improve living standards.


    The plan was progressing smoothly. The recent reconstruction of the main road had accustomed the townsfolk to organized labor, while the night school run by Sibyl and Shirley had brought about a wave of literacy. A significant number of townsfolk could now recognize up to a hundred characters, including their own names, and perform basic arithmetic. Weekly progress tests offered modest rewards like laundry soap or a towel, ensuring high enthusiasm for learning.


    In short, organizing production was no longer a significant issue, but the market for selling these goods posed several challenges¡­


    With a population of just over ten thousand and a few thousand households, even if the markets of the estates of nobles, which lay outside the jurisdiction of the town hall and local lordship, were tapped into, it wouldn''t suffice to support the upgraded local industry.


    The goods gotten from Lord Yang were also not selling as well as before. Once the industrial zone kicked into gear, producing an endless stream of processed agricultural products, the question of where to sell them would become pressing!


    This was precisely why the national team tacitly approved Lord Yang''s intended conquest of Indahl¡­ Compared to the pressing need for new markets, the potential shortage of leadership personnel due to territorial expansion was hardly an issue!


    Without this conquest, goods transported from Weisshem to Indahl can''t be publicly sold. This was a battle that had to be fought! Both ways had to be opened up, and resolving the dilemma of surplus goods was paramount.


    The town hall was stretched thin and lacked manpower¡ªeven young Brooke had been indoctrinated by Zhao Zhenzhen into serving the people, venturing beyond Indahl''s borders with his comrades to pioneer new markets with their samples in tow!


    Some townsfolk, who had started to get involved in the commercial domain, weren''t ready for greater responsibilities yet and could only assist with minor shipments.


    Weighing his options, Ji Tang preferred to place his trust in the players over collaborating with the native nobility. Pure business management style games had its own dedicated following, and there would undoubtedly be some among "OtherWorld" players who relished the challenge of building a business model.


    Native nobility, on the other hand, might vie with the town hall for power once they themselves made it big, whereas players wouldn''t worry about that!


    Ou Huang, returning to his modest shop, chose not to enter when he noticed a housewife NPC approached with a basket in hand. After watching from a distance for a while, he turned back toward the town hall, intending to teleport back to Exile Town.


    Just as he was about to step through the town hall gates, he was pounced on by Orange Cat, who was like a starving tiger.


    Despite Ou Huang''s obsession in lifestyle classes, few players could match his agility. In the blink of an eye, he sidestepped and retreated, deftly avoiding the sneak attack and ensuring Orange Cat couldn''t grab hold of his legs.


    A miserable Orange Cat looked up and extended a hand. "Boss Orange Cat, come team up with me for trade caravan mode~"


    Ou Huang: "¡­"


    Meanwhile, in Exile Town.


    It was already 10 p.m. on Earth, and in game, it was seven in the evening.


    Emerging defeated from the monster battlefield once more were Qin Guan, Blossoming Strokes, Yang Ying, Unceasing Entropy, Tang Jia, Jia Luo, and others. Messed up and downtrodden, they sat in contemplative silence on the dirt path outside the Town Hall, pondering the harsh realities of their virtual existence.


    "Why is it¡­ so goddamn difficult!" Jia Luo exhaled softly, her spirit worn thin. "We finally pinpointed the mission''s location and even evaded the Headless Horseman, only to be momentarily hindered by a mere imp, allowing the Horseman to return to his post¡­"


    "We should have known better than to rush in. Just throwing the flare in there should have been enough," Yang Ying lamented, her hand covering her face in dismay.


    "To think the path we once cleared is reinforced by monsters the second time around. How annoying! The monsters are already formidable, and to top it off, their AI is astoundingly sharp!" Tang Jia exclaimed in frustration.


    "Let''s go at it again. We''ve already suffered so much and learned from our numerous setbacks; we''ll be more cautious next time," Blossoming Strokes declared, rallying their spirits.


    "Alright, I''ll call for more¡­ Give Me Medicine and their group have returned after getting deep in the Poisonous Marshlands. Shall we wait for them to log back in?" Qin Guan proposed, his voice drained of energy.


    Consecutive wipes left their ranks thin as several in their group had left, leaving vacant spots. The rest of the group readily agreed to this suggestion and nodded in unison.


    After a prolonged silence, Unceasing Entropy suddenly spoke up, "I''ve been thinking¡­ Can we not exploit the monsters'' inherent weaknesses?"


    "How so?" Blossoming Strokes inquired eagerly.


    "Some monsters within have natural adversaries as you''ve all noticed," Unceasing Entropy explained. "The towering Treants fear the Flame Demons, who, in turn, dread the Gargoyles. The Gargoyles are wary of the Harpies, and the Harpies fear those Assassin Monsters."


    "Come to think of it¡­ the Assassins are terrorized by the Giant Moles, who cower before the Headless Horseman¡­" Blossoming Strokes quickly caught on, her eyes gleaming with realization. "And the Headless Horseman, it seems, never ventures near the Treants!"


    Unceasing Entropy nodded. "The Flame Demons, of a moderate size and swift, can be lured by wanderer players using Windwalk. If we could draw a few Flame Demons to push our allied Treants closer to the enemy''s stronghold, we might just get a chance to approach and deliver the flare."


    "Let''s give it a shot!" Blossoming Strokes clenched her fist resolutely. "The monsters inside are capable of learning from our tactics, so we''ll have but one chance to get this right. We must seize it!"

 Chapter 169: Public Carriages

    The monster battlefield was only accessible in the game from ten in the morning to ten at night. Seizing the last few hours, players launched relentless sprints toward the objective.


    At midnight on Earth, which marked the close of the day''s monster battlefield activity in game, the group led by Vanilla Pudding (Qin Guan) finally achieved their maiden victory, claiming the first triumph on the monster battlefield.


    "Wooohoooo~!" sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Emerging from the battlefield, the Vanilla Pudding''s group celebrated in jubilation just outside the Town Hall, flaunting their victory over Brother Lahong''s team, who had just failed by a hair''s breadth.


    Cursing under his breath, Brother Lahong dropped a "we try again tomorrow" and led his dejected companions away.


    "That felt good! Hahaha!" Qin Guan was reveling in delight, his previous frustrations at being outpaced by Brother Lahong now completely washed away.


    "With this first level mission conquered, we will probably have a new battle mission the next time we enter. Who knows how insanely difficult the second level missions would be," Blossoming Strokes remarked, still suffering from lingering trauma over the previous mission.


    "It''s fine. We''ll scope out the second level mission tomorrow, and if it''s really impossible, we can just change the group leader," Qin Guan suggested nonchalantly.


    Missions within the monster battlefield were allocated based on the record of the group leader''s ID. Having surmounted a first level mission, Qin Guan''s group would be presented with a more challenging second level mission on their next entry unless they switched a group leader for the subsequent battlefield lineup.


    "But that would be counterproductive, wouldn''t it? We''re the first to conquer the first level, after all. Changing leaders would essentially reset our progress," Blossoming Strokes argued. "Completing the first level mission already gives the entire team 500 honor points, so the rewards for the second level mission can only be higher. In this monster battlefield, the more advanced the fixed group''s progress, the greater the rewards."


    Advancing from the basic Civilian to Auxiliary required 200 honor points, and advancing to the next rank of Soldier took another 400 honor points. As of now, every member of their group had already been promoted to Soldier.


    Eight hundred honor points were needed to advance from Soldier to Elite Soldier¡ªif they could conquer the second-tier task, their entire group would be Elite Soldiers!


    Redeeming rewards from the quartermasters, a higher military rank, meant better stuff could be exchanged.


    As if realizing something, Qin Guan looked intently at Unceasing Entropy, Yang Ying, Tang Jia, and Jia Luo.


    Unceasing Entropy knew exactly what he was hinting at; her response was straightforward, "If there''s room in your blood alliance, count the four of us in."


    "Yes, yes, yes. There''s definitely room." Qin Guan was beaming and promptly added the four capable ladies he had long coveted into the blood alliance.


    Tang Jia followed Unceasing Entropy''s lead without question; Yang Ying and Jia Luo, too, had no qualms about Qin Guan''s blood alliance and had always maintained a good relationship with Blossoming Strokes, not to mention their occasional team-ups with Fallen Mulberry Leaves when the latter had no guild commitments.


    After exchanging greetings with familiar faces in the blood alliance channel, Unceasing Entropy led her usual gang off for regular team activities and took to the team channel to explain, "The monster battlefield isn''t viable for unaffiliated players; this game mode is clearly designed for large groups. The higher the fixed team''s mission difficulty, the better the rewards and the more honor points are required for each rank advancement. Without joining a guild or a fixed team, our ranks would fall behind the majority."


    Although Unceasing Entropy was capable of leading a raid group herself, she was still a student, and academics remained her top priority.


    "I see, so that''s why you suddenly decided to join the blood alliance." Jia Luo nodded in understanding.


    Yang Ying considered this and agreed as well. "Running our own blood alliance would be too much hassle; joining another is fine too, since outside of battlefield hours, we''re still our own team."


    "I just feel there''s something about Vanilla that I don''t quite like," Tang Jia confessed. "He seems to always consider benefits and rewards first and foremost."


    "Being that way isn''t necessarily a flaw," Unceasing Entropy responded with a smile. "Without such goal-oriented leaders, it would be hard for a guild to sustain itself. Besides, compared to groups made up of close friends, Vanilla maintains much higher standards."


    Tang Jia couldn''t help nodding upon hearing this¡­ Indeed, in the world of online gaming, those seemingly close-knit circles of "own people" often harbored as much, if not more, drama and pettiness as the larger, more diverse guilds and alliances¡ªsquabbles over trivial gains or rifts caused by the selfish desires; such tales of close friends-only circles souring were all too common.


    Their semi-regular teammate, Fallen Mulberry Leaves, for example, experienced such a falling out with her original circle and was unceremoniously kicked out due to her job selection.


    "Someone able to cater to a broader group and lead a larger team, even if driven by self-interest, can still maintain fairness on a broader scale," Unceasing Entropy explained. "After all, they tend to be more image-conscious and careful about their reputation. Vanilla has managed to expand a small circle of a dozen friends into a large guild of nearly a hundred; surely he has his own charisma. Don''t underestimate him too much, Tang Jia."


    "Alright." Tang Jia nodded obediently.


    "Good girl," Jia Luo teased, playfully patting Tang Jia on the head.


    "What are you doing!"


    Watching them bicker playfully, Unceasing Entropy quietly pondering the implications of the monster battlefield''s introduction at this juncture.


    All online games encourage social interaction and teamwork for a simple reason: games that relied solely on gameplay struggled to retain players over the long term. Without a steady influx of new players, even the best of games faded into obscurity.


    Only games that cultivated a rich community atmosphere, transforming themselves into social platforms, managed to thrive indefinitely.


    But the "Otherworld" game¡­ had a style that had always been unique. It was neither innocently charming nor blatantly lurid, but more like a reclusive madman with social anxiety¡ªeven the introduction of friend lists and private messaging had been delayed until nearly two months after launch. Any other game would have cooled off long before.


    The sudden push for players to adopt a fixed, large-group play style in "OtherWorld," a game that had yet to introduce even basic inventory and storage systems, seemed suspect to Unceasing Entropy. She wasn''t quite convinced that the game had suddenly recognized the importance of social dynamics!


    "Forcing players into a fixed, large group playing route all of a sudden¡­ I feel like there must be a hidden agenda," Unceasing Entropy muttered to herself.


    "Qing Yue, hurry up!" Yang Ying noticed Unceasing Entropy lagging behind and called out.


    "Coming!" Unceasing Entropy snapped out of her daze and quickly caught up with her friends.


    It was November 30 on Earth, and "OtherWorld" had also entered its 11th month.


    Today was a perfect day with clear and sunny weather. After midday, the farmers in the countryside surrounding Weisshem began gathering their sun-dried corn cobs and soybeans, packing them into bulging sacks, and transporting them to the country roads by carrying or using hand-pushed carts.


    Soon, a horse-drawn carriage, making rounds every half-hour along the country roads before returning to town, appeared at the end of the road.


    This "circum-town carriage" was a recent innovation. Weisshem, largely flat with few mountains, allowed carriages to access most areas, though the road conditions left much to be desired, making for a less than comfortable ride.


    The coachman, employed by the town hall''s Carriage Department, waved to the waiting villagers from afar. "This ride''s full, wait for the next one!"


    Those trying to hail the carriage from the middle of the road could only retreat, disappointed.


    "Why are so many people heading into town today?" The villagers, having waited for a while, grumbled to each other as they looked expectantly down the road.


    Less than half an hour later, another carriage from the Carriage Department appeared.


    The last carriage had been crowded, but this one offered a bit more space. The villagers, who had been waiting for a while, happily loaded their goods onto the carriage. Some hung their wares on the newly installed large iron hooks on the sides of the carriage, while others stacked their goods on the roof, securing them with sturdy canvas straps¡ªthe compartment beneath the carriage designated for cargo was already filled to capacity.


    A farmer in his forties, who appeared much older due to the wear of hard labor, had just secured several large bags of corn onto the carriage. Worrying about the reliability of the iron hooks, he asked the coachman in a thickly accented common tongue, "Are these hooks sturdy enough? They won''t come loose, will they?"


    The coachman, evidently accustomed to such inquiries, replied nonchalantly without turning his head, "Don''t worry, these carriages are custom-made by the transport department built entirely of high-quality steel. The hooks are welded directly onto the carriage; your stuff will be fine."


    Hearing this, the old farmer tapped the side of the carriage and was surprised by the metallic echo. "I-it''s really made of fine steel?"


    "That''s right, these carriages are as sturdy as they come. Even the carriages of nobles might not match their durability," boasted the coachman. "Hurry up and get on, we''re about to depart!"


    The old farmer quickly scrambled aboard¡­


    These special carriages, with a load limit of five tons due to the tire capacity and the structural integrity of the chassis, weren''t native to this world but came from a machinery factory in G Province.


    Custom-ordered by Yang Qiu under the guise of carriages for scenic spots, these were modified from tractor wagons with added roofs and interior seating made of synthetic leather over wooden frames (designed to seat six, but could squeeze in a few more). The all-purpose tractor tires were retained, as was the driver''s area in the tractor cabin.


    With no engine installed (and thus no front end), the cost per unit was about half that of a new all-purpose tractor, while Yang Qiu was willing to pay two-thirds the price of a new tractor (around 20,000 yuan for a brand-new agricultural all-purpose tractor)¡­


    Consequently, the factory was more than happy to customize the carriages to Yang Qiu''s specifications, adding roof racks, body-mounted hook racks, and undercarriage shelves with as generous a use of materials as possible.


    The resulting modified carriages were unsightly to say the least, but since the passengers didn''t mind, it hardly mattered.


    These durable and sturdy carriages, when fully loaded, required the strength of two robust single-horned gray horses to pull. Thanks should be given to the Sokri merchant caravan that once attacked Lakeside Village, for without their "generous donation" of over two hundred such horses, the Carriage Department couldn''t have launched this convenient public service for the rural areas so swiftly.


    Once everyone was aboard, the coachman, sitting in the driver''s seat (the cabin had no windshield to avoid looking too much like a tractor), cracked his whip, and the two strong horses began to move.


    The passengers, packed in the carriage like sardines, skillfully opened the sliding windows to enjoy the cool breeze of late autumn. Despite the bumpy ride due to the poor road conditions, the farmers'' spirits remained high.


    In previous years, transporting crops to town had been a grueling task, requiring families to set out before dawn and leaving everyone exhausted by the time they reached town. Now, with carriages charging only one copper coin per person and an additional copper coin as long as their goods didn''t exceed 200 kilograms, the convenience was unparalleled.


    Currently, Weisshem Town lacked dedicated carriage stations, but since the farmers'' destination was always the procurement points along Main Street, the carriages made that their final stop.


    On the south end of Main Street, near the town gate, the procurement point catering to farmers stood from building numbers 126 to 131.


    As the carriage came to a halt, the old farmer and his son disembarked, unloading the bags of corn from the large iron hooks on the side of the carriage and carrying them together into the procurement point.


    While the farmers unloaded their goods, security squad personnel would approach and stand watch not far from the carriage, scrutinizing everyone who passed by.


    In the past, the militiamen wouldn''t have been concerned if a farmer''s bag of corn or half a bag of soybeans were stolen on the way to town. But now, if a theft occurred and the thief wasn''t caught, the entire security squad would face a deduction in their bonuses¡ªsomething none of them were willing to lose.


    The elderly farmer headed toward building number 126, where a jovial young clerk was in charge. The old man had spoken to the clerk on a previous visit to town for tax payments and had taken a liking to him. He was confident that this clerk wouldn''t cheat him on the weight of his corn¡ªa common occurrence when Baron Markus'' steward handled the tithe collection where fifty kilograms of corn on their scales would scarcely measure up to forty.


    "Forty-two kilograms of soybeans at 12 copper coins a kilogram totals 5 silver and 4 copper." The clerk swiftly calculated the bill for the farmer and his son after weighing their goods. "And for the 161 kilograms of corn, since it''s unshelled and still on the cob, we can only offer you 1.4 copper coins per kilogram, making it 225 coppers in total, which is 2 silver 25 copper."


    "Ah? The price differs for unshelled corn?" the farmer asked in surprise


    "Yes." The clerk nodded. "We buy corn to grind into flour. Unshelled corn needs to have its net weight adjusted and undergoes an additional process. If you''re willing to shell it before selling, we can pay two additional copper coins per kilogram."


    He then gestured toward an adjacent empty room. "You can use the shelling tools there. You''re welcome to shell your corn first and then come back for settlement."


    The farmer hesitated. Shelling all that sun-dried corn would take at least half a day''s work for him and his son, and staying overnight in town to finish the job would mean additional expenses.


    "Let''s just sell it as is," the farmer conceded, albeit reluctantly.


    The clerk, understanding the farmers'' reluctance to spend money on lodging in town, proceeded to settle their payment.


    "With plenty of daylight left, why not stay and earn some extra by doing odd jobs here?" the clerk suggested after settling their accounts. "We pay two copper coins an hour for shelling corn. Or, if you head over to the new factory area on Main Street, you can earn three coppers an hour for general labor like cleaning and moving machinery, and a meal will even be included."


    The farmer''s eyes bulged in surprise. "You get paid to shell corn?!"


    In the countryside, shelling dried corn was a task where neighbors helped each other out of goodwill, with no expectation of payment. The only perk was being able to take home the shelled cobs for kindling.

 Chapter 170: Paul’s New Job

    Embracing the opportunity to earn additional copper coins, the father and son duo, now considerably wealthier with several silver coins jingling in their pockets, readily accepted the proposition.


    After a brief deliberation, the father decided to undertake the less physically demanding task of corn shelling, while his robust son opted for the more lucrative labor at the new factory zone.


    Led by the clerk to the shelling area behind the procurement point, the old farmer entered the backyard, expecting to see a group of individuals manually stripping corn cobs with wooden blocks¡ªa common sight in rural communities where shelling was a communal, unpaid effort.


    What he saw, though, confounded his rustic expectations. There were indeed many people seated in rows, surrounded by wooden basins, sacks of corn kernels, and piles of corn cobs. However, instead of wooden blocks, they wielded peculiar, palm-sized cylindrical tools.


    When inserting a cob into the cylinder with one hand and cranking a handle with the other, kernels cascaded out with a satisfying clatter. The old farmer, with all his life''s wisdom, only needed a moment to recognize the ingenious purpose of these strange contraptions and couldn''t help marveling at their convenience.


    If even such a mundane task like corn shelling could be revolutionized and made into child''s play, what other marvels could the townsfolk possess?!


    "Here for the odd jobs?" A young man, momentarily pausing from his task of sifting through shelled corn to remove bits of shell, greeted the farmer with a nod.


    "Yes. Yes, sir," the farmer responded, somewhat intimidated by the young man''s formidable physique, hurriedly bowing his head in respect.


    "Don''t be mistaken; I''m no ''sir,''" the young man replied, setting aside his winnowing basket and wiping his brow with a towel. He gestured for the farmer to approach. "Come, get your tools."


    The farmer was handed a lightweight, portable hand-cranked corn sheller (a steal at just a fraction over 8 yuan per piece), a wooden basin, and a roll of burlap sacks.


    The robust young man then led the farmer to a corner of the yard, pointing to a stack of corn cobs. "Start shelling from this pile. I''ll start timing your work once you begin; you''ll earn a copper every half hour. Any questions?"


    "No, none at all," the farmer assured.


    Nodding, the young man glanced at the farmer''s weathered face, then fetched a straw mat from a nearby building. "You''re older, so it''s best to not sit directly on the ground."


    This casual act of consideration, seemingly routine for the young man, left the old farmer touched and slightly overwhelmed¡­


    Without dwelling much on it, the young man returned to his desk, jotting down the farmer''s name and work commencement time in a ledger, ensuring accuracy with the clock mounted on the yard wall.


    Then, the young man continued his task of sifting through the corn kennels and filtering out dirt and other stuff that might have gotten mixed inside¡­


    This young man''s name was Paul Hank, brother of Sam Hank, the town hall staff who was currently out of Weisshem doing a job.


    As the major construction project on Main Street was winding down and with work getting scarce, Paul, like many other townsfolk, also found himself idle for a few days.


    But in no time, Paul found a job. His older brother was a town hall staff after all, and his mother, Mrs. Hank, was well regarded in the Logistics Office. Even if his family didn''t think to use their "connections" to find Paul work, other people would remember him, which led to him taking charge of the Logistics Office''s procurement point.


    This particular job stirred mixed feelings in Paul, and he spent quite a few days reflecting on the situation.


    He was 19 this year and no longer a clueless child¡­ Just like how his brother, Sam, had chided him before he left, were it in Indahl, someone like him would have had to rely on connections just to find factory work or resign himself to manual labor in a tannery or as an apprentice.


    The reputable shops in the southern districts would never consider someone with his rugged appearance and unrefined demeanor, fearing it might dampen the relaxed atmosphere for their esteemed clientele.


    Yet, here in Weisshem, the town hall had provided him with an education in basic literacy and arithmetic, entrusting him with the oversight of a work site, managing laborers'' hours, and dispensing wages¡ªa responsibility Paul knew all too well he would never have been afforded in Indahl, where his humble origins and coarse appearance would have him regarded with the same wariness one might reserve for a common thief.


    Paul vividly remembered the humiliation he felt at 13 when he first made a delivery for his mother''s tailor shop, returning a mended gentleman''s coat to the Grantham District. The butler that received him meticulously inspected each of the coat''s buttons carefully, ensuring none were missing before allowing him to leave.


    That butler had been worried Paul would have stolen the brass buttons on the coat during the delivery.


    This¡­ humiliation had always been deeply etched in Paul''s mind.


    And there were countless other instances of prejudice and suspicion he''d faced simply due to his appearance: being watched closely when he was casually picking fruit at a stall, or chased away from resting near the side or back doors of shops.


    These experiences were not unique to Paul but shared by many young men in Marley Commercial District who, lacking education and formal employment, eked out a living through odd jobs.


    The notion of entrusting someone perceived as a "street rat" with any significant responsibility was crazy, yet this very trust had been extended to him in Weisshem, a town he had once deemed less promising than Indahl.


    Paul carried on with his duties with the diligence instilled in him by Mrs. Hank, his mother, taking pride in his work that ensured his family''s sustenance and stability. He wasn''t one for many words and didn''t express emotions as well as his brother Sam. Paul''s inner turmoil, sensitivity, and vibrant feelings remained his alone to know.


    "Paul, we''ve come for the corn!" called out two young men as they pushed open the gate to the shelling area and rode tricycles in.


    "Right away," Paul responded, quickly hauling over the bags of corn he had personally sifted. "This is all I have for now; I haven''t checked the rest."


    "Load them all up; there''s no need to sift through each one. The factory has machines that can sort and wash automatically," chuckled the older of the two, clearly a few years Paul''s senior.


    Surprised but uncomplaining, Paul joined the men in loading the bags onto their vehicle. Once the task was done and the men departed, Paul too picked up a hand-cranked sheller, settling down to strip the cobs of their kernels.


    No one had asked him, the person in charge of the shelling yard, to perform the same labor as those he supervised. Yet, having seen the slender clerks from the town hall contribute to the worksite in whatever ways they could, Paul saw no reason to consider himself above the task at hand.


    As dusk arrived, the Logistics Office delivered the day''s second meal earlier than usual.


    The Logistics Office was currently training up a culinary team so that the town hall could see to its own work meals and not burden the undead delicatessen in the near future.


    And naturally, these new chefs were the family members of the former city defense force soldiers. Even Paul''s sprightly 15-year-old sister, Joan, found her place among the ranks of the Logistics Office''s workforce.


    It was Joan who arrived with a push cart to deliver the meals this time. When she entered, Joan excitedly flaunted something small nestled in a plastic dish. "Look, Paul, look at what this is!"


    Joan was the most lively among the Hank family of four. The number of words Paul said in a year wouldn''t amount to what Joan said in two weeks. Paul, accustomed to his sister''s bursts of enthusiasm, cast a curious glance at the item in her hand and was astonished. "Cake? How is there cake?"


    "We made it ourselves!" Joan puffed up with pride. "Can you believe it, Paul? The wheat mill can produce cake flour! The clerk said that when wheat and corn flour is fed into those strange machines, out comes cake flour!"


    The revelation left Paul''s mouth agape¡­


    Marley Commercial District also had a cake shop, with delights coveted by many kids, though they knew they would never get close to; cakes were several times as expensive as bread, and most families wouldn''t indulge in such a luxury unless it was a special occasion. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Wheat and corn flour can be turned into cake? Then why are cakes so much more expensive then bread?" Paul pondered aloud, baffled. Corn flour was several times cheaper than wheat flour.


    The cakes of this world¡­ wasn''t because cake shops were devoid of conscience, but rather, it was an issue of the constraints of cost. A special low-gluten flour was required.


    Weisshem generally grew medium-gluten wheat (which contains more gluten and more suitable for making bread) that was not suitable for making cakes.


    And here lay the triumph of Earth''s industrial might: corn was transformed into starch through mills, mixed with the local wheat flour to synthesize a low-gluten variant, yielding an affordable cake flour.


    The baking process itself embraced a brute force approach, with machines from G Province''s mechanical factories churning out cakes and, with a simple change of molds, biscuits. The latter, durable and portable, was poised to become a flagship product of the agricultural processing industry.


    As Paul savored a piece of cake from his meal ration, a mere stone''s throw away in the factory zone, a significant evaluation was underway.


    Ji Tang, Zhao Zhenzhen, and Rex stood amid the newly operational food processing plant, scrutinizing the first batch of biscuits to emerge from the production line. These biscuits were a blend of synthetic low-gluten flour, eggs, soybean oil, green onions, salt, and corn syrup.


    Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen couldn''t partake in the tasting, so the responsibility fell on Rex. As the supervising clerk and workers watched anxiously, he picked up a warm, square biscuit and took a bite.


    The savory-sweet flavor, enhanced with a hint of green onion and the gentle aroma of egg, delighted him after just one morsel. "It''s good. Paired with milk and it would be great for breakfast."


    The supervisor and workers all burst into wide smiles.


    "I told you it would be good; it smells so fragrant," one of the newly recruited workers exclaimed, his face beaming with pride.


    "Everyone, have a taste. Come appreciate the fruits of our labor." Rex gestured them over.


    "Heheh, it''s mostly the machines'' work; we didn''t do much¡­" another worker admitted modestly as he reached for the biscuits.


    "These are delicious, even better than the treats at my wedding!"


    "Yeah, they are amazing. To think we actually made these¡­"


    "I never knew corn could make sugar; it''s so sweet!"


    The workers, who had been meticulously observed on the construction sites of Weisshem''s main street and passed the night school exams to secure their positions, were deeply moved by the product of their labor.


    The old farmer''s son, who had come to the factory zone for odd jobs, was present too. Though he had only been tasked with cleaning and carrying, the aroma of the biscuits made him salivate.


    "Here, lad, have one too," a fellow worker offered kindly, noticing the young man and breaking a piece off for him.


    "Thank you so much," the farmer''s son said, overwhelmed by the gesture. He eagerly took a bite and smiled. "It''s really tasty."


    "It is, isn''t it?" The worker laughed heartily. "The wheat and corn for these biscuits were grown by you folks. You have a share in this, too."


    The young man, his hands rough and skin tanned from labor, half understood, marveling, "It''s incredible that wheat and corn can be turned into something so delicious. This must be worth much more than just the grains, right, sir?"


    "Absolutely," the worker replied with pride. "Our biscuits are sure to be more popular than plain bread."


    Overhearing this exchange, Rex smiled at Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen.


    "Come, let''s go check on the flour mill next," Ji Tang suggested, leading the way.


    As the trio left the puffed food processing plant, they were met with an unexpected sight¡ªa procession of undead parading through the town.


    "Why have the undead come here? Is there another enemy attack?" Rex asked, startled.


    "Umm¡­ I don''t think so," Ji Tang muttered, glancing at the "system time" before realization dawned on him. "Oh, right, we completely lost track of time. It''s the day we battle the Radiant Sun Church, isn''t it?"


    "Ehh?!!" Rex was taken aback. "Th-then, don''t we have to make preparations?"


    "Since Yang didn''t notify us, it means there''s no need." Ji Tang waved dismissively. "War is his business. We just have to do our jobs well."


    As this was said, the trio saw Lowell, dressed in exceptionally conspicuous and luxurious noble attire (actually a rented cosplay costume), riding a towering lizard horse, pass by the street in front of the factory zone.


    "Look, you don''t even need to make an appearance; Yang has already made all the preparations," Ji Tang said as he pointed to the street.


    Rex: "¡­"

 Chapter 171: Borrowing Your Thick Skin

    Right now, it was dusk in OtherWorld, yet for the players on Earth, it was early morning.


    It was a weekday, and those who could afford to be online were the truly hardcore gamers¡ªeither those part of a studio or freelancers like Yang Ying, who made a living from the game.


    Yang Ying had logged in at nine, immediately checking her friends list to find only Orange Cat active.


    Orange Cat had ventured into trying out the trading caravan gameplay mode and had invited Yang Ying along. However, Yang Ying couldn''t bear to miss the weekend events and the lucrative earnings they brought; many players sought enchantments for their gear, and Yang Ying could rake in substantial sums each weekend, sometimes even hitting the thousand-yuan mark, making it an opportunity too good to miss.


    With no buddies online, Yang Ying pondered her next move and decided to brush up on her lifestyle class skills. Following in the footsteps of the renowned Ou Huang, she too had picked up the butcher''s trade, though her progress had been slow due to her focus on earning money, leaving her still at the level of a mere apprentice.


    Before Yang Ying made it to Life Alley, online players with a battlefield rank of Elite Soldier or higher received a system message¡ª


    [System Announcement]: Soldiers fighting to defend Taranthan, Lieutenant Wagner Pitt and Captain Kenn need your assistance. Please hurry to Exile Town town hall and receive a combat mission.


    The phrase "combat mission" immediately perked Yang Ying up. She instantly tossed aside her plans to improve her butchery skills and made a dash to the town hall.


    The battlefield had been open for about five days (Earth time), and quite a number of PvP players had reached the rank of Elite Soldiers. And among this group, a large portion of them were hardcore players. By the time Yang Ying arrived at the town hall, over a dozen others had already gathered.


    "Sis Ying, you came! Over here!" Blossoming Strokes spotted Yang Ying and immediately sent a party invite to her.


    "Blossom, you guys are here too." Yang Ying, who had been worrying about having to fend for herself with her usual buddies all offline, happily joined Blossoming Strokes'' party.


    "Sis Ying, did you get the mission too?" Give Me Medicine chimed in from the side. He was older than Yang Ying, but like everyone else, got accustomed to calling Yang Ying "Sis Ying."


    "Ah? Yeah?" Yang Ying didn''t really understand this question. "Otherwise I wouldn''t have known to come here."


    "See, I already said it, only those with Elite Soldier rank or higher can receive this mission," Qin Guan remarked. "I told you earlier that ranking up in the battlefield would pay off, but you just weren''t willing to commit."


    "It''s not that I didn''t want to. I came to the battlefield after clearing Poisonous Marshlands¡­ Isn''t it only a few day''s difference?" Give Me Medicine muttered.


    "Alright, at least you can follow along even without receiving the mission. Worst-case scenario is missing out on the system''s honor rewards, no big deal," Blossoming Strokes smoothed things over.


    Give Me Medicine nodded. Even without honor point rewards, a combat mission was very much worth participating in!


    While they were conversing, Guileless Gale from Brother Lahong''s faction made his way through the crowd. "Vanilla, Brother Meds, Blossom, I have something to discuss."


    "What?" Qin Guan was surprised by the sudden approach.


    "I was thinking, how about we merge into one team for this? We''ve had a few combat missions before, and the enemies were always tough. I think it''s best if we join forces."


    Qin Guan glanced at Blossoming Strokes, who nodded, prompting him to respond, "Sounds fine. Who''s going to lead?"


    "Of course it''s¡ª" Guileless Gale began, looking toward Yang Ying, then pausing. "Wait, where''s Unceasing Entropy?"


    "She''s got classes. It''s Monday," Yang Ying explained.


    "Um¡­" Guileless Gale scratched his skull. "How about Sis Ying be the leader?"


    "Huh? Me?" Yang Ying was surprised.


    Blossoming Strokes, fully aware of Guileless Gale''s reservations, quickly chimed in, "That''ll work. Sis Ying can lead. We''ll include everyone who received the mission and anyone else willing to join. How does that sound?"


    Her last question was directed at Qin Guan, who didn''t hesitate and immediately transferred the group leadership to Yang Ying.


    In large player cooperatives, being the leader didn''t mean having full command and control. Rather, it was a subtle privilege to sway decisions and potentially unsettle those less favored¡­ For example, intentionally delaying invites to certain individuals.


    Qin Guan and Lahong were both considered good leaders, though they had a minor flaw of occasionally losing their temper and stirring up trouble. More importantly, there were those around them that would cause disturbances in such a setting.


    To prevent any issues, it was best to select someone who wouldn''t act impulsively and whom most people couldn''t easily find fault with to take on the role of the group leader. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Though Yang Ying had joined Qin Guan''s blood alliance, everyone knew she was closely aligned with Unceasing Entropy. Coupled with her experience leading weekend instance raids and a reputation for honest online and offline transactions, she was deemed the optimal choice in Unceasing Entropy''s absence.


    With Yang Ying now at the helm, the once rival factions under Qin Guan and Brother Lahong were united under a single banner. As the players rallied together, the NPCs within the town hall began to stir into action.


    Wagner Pitt and Kenn, the two quartermaster NPCs that players had both adored and hated in recent days, stepped forward. In tandem, they recited a tale, the gist of which had a knightly order of the Radiant Sun Church harboring years of grievances against the Lord of Taranthan and Undead Race Resurrection Mentor, Yang.


    Not long ago, they even dispatched scouts to infiltrate Weisshem in an attempt to kidnap some clerks from the town hall. Having their plot foiled and their faces unveiled, a confrontation became inevitable¡­


    Among the players, only a handful of lore enthusiasts paid any attention to the NPCs'' ramblings. As Wagner and Kenn narrated the backstory with deep-seated grievances, most of the players were busy chatting among themselves¡ª


    "Was there ever such a plotline quest in Weisshem? Who did it?"


    "I don''t remember hearing anyone taking up such a quest over there."


    "Don''t tell me someone accepted and completed it in secret?"


    "But that doesn''t make sense either. Who would miss the chance to flaunt receiving a worldview breakthrough quest on the forum?"


    "Isn''t a knightly order just church cavalry? Are we about to clash with the church''s knights?" A player realized something was amiss. "Whoa, does this confirm that Taranthan is antagonistic?!"


    "What''s the big deal? Do we, a bunch of skeletons, look like the good guys?"


    "Yeah, our faction leader is still a black mage!"


    "It''s not quite like that. In foreign games, religious figures are often portrayed as righteous, and even if they are vilified, they can still be redeemed, as if faith makes them go crazy. In contrast, for domestic games, it''s more in line with our national conditions to have religious groups as antagonists," argued another player. "This religious order is definitely not comprised of good folks. Once we complete the combat mission and advance the plot, I bet some scandalous revelations will come to light."


    "Hold on, isn''t the pretty boy with Yang also from the church?"


    "You''re clueless, aren''t you? The pretty boy is from the Church of Prosperity, while this church is from the Radiant Sun Church!" A player, convinced of the antagonistic nature of the church, proudly explained, "I reckon this domestic game will surely go the route of dividing and conquering religious factions. Legitimate faiths will survive, but the bad ones will be eradicated as cults¡ª"


    As Wagner and Kenn persisted in their "plotline narrative," ostensibly unaffected by the clamor of the undead, their voices trembled ever so slightly¡­


    They had indeed stumbled upon some earth-shattering revelations¡ª


    So, this was Yang''s grand plan! He''s aiming to even purge the orthodox faiths?!


    Inside the town hall, Yang Qiu, who had temporarily disabled the projection and was presiding in his true form, sipped tea calmly.


    Well¡­ If he ever reached the stage where he could legitimize religious factions, he certainly wouldn''t decline.


    The Chinese indigenous belief of Taoism blossomed from the collective wisdom of the Hundred Schools of Thought; its teachings spreading primarily among the cultured elite from its very inception.


    Buddhism, a foreign import, underwent a thousand years of domestication, never quite reaching the zenith of a theocracy, and often found itself at the mercy of the ruling powers of the times.


    This led to a somewhat superficial understanding of religious sects among modern Chinese, fostering the belief that any sect, with state backing, could make its way into society.


    Yet, Earth''s own annals stood as a testament to the contrary, showcasing how, apart from the unique anomaly of Chinese civilization, countless nations had been ground under the heel of religious might¡­


    A world devoid of divine beings and supernatural phenomena where all technological marvels are the fruits of human ingenuity¡ªsuch is the nature of Earth.


    But in a realm where divine beings walked among men and the extraordinary was commonplace, religious factions wielded their power with even fewer restraints.


    Why, regardless of a city''s economic despair, did its churches always rise as the most magnificent edifices within its walls?


    The answer lay in the tripartite division of tax revenues among religious factions, royalty, and nobility, with the common folk receiving scant benefits in return. A city mustered thousands of professional soldiers to fend off bandit raids and employed hundreds of clerks and officials to ensure its smooth operation, while religious members needed to only erect grand cathedrals and maintain a handful of night watchmen to claim their share.


    However, such musings were moot in the face of immediate concerns for Yang Qiu.


    For Yang Qiu, the prospect of marshaling an army of three thousand players to storm the battlefield was far from practical. He harbored no illusions about the chaos that could ensue if he allowed this calamitous horde free rein, likely resulting in a series of "surprises" of their own making.


    A more prudent approach was to issue preliminary missions, rallying a contingent of seasoned players with sufficient combat prowess and discipline to establish a base camp (and teleportation point) at the designated battleground, paving the way for the larger player force to follow.


    Once the native tools, Wagner and Kenn, had concluded their exposition and directed the players to converge at Weisshem, Yang Qiu promptly escorted them through the subterranean teleportation array to their destination¡ªWagner was to lead the undead legion, while Kenn to marshal his mercenaries.


    "We owe you one again, Ascetic Lowell."


    Inside the Weisshem town hall''s main hall, Yang Qiu sincerely gave his thanks to the dressed-up Lowell.


    Lowell, in a rented cosplay costume, responded coolly, "No need to thank me. I''m only doing this for Rex''s sake."


    Although both sides had agreed to a "battle of honor," the willingness of the Radiant Sun Church in accepting the challenge was a sign of their confidence in attaining victory.


    Should they prove sore losers and decide to employ dirty tactics at the last moment, Rex himself wouldn''t be able to withstand that.


    "Sigh¡­ Why did I ever agree to partake in your mad scheme?" Lowell sighed, giving Yang Qiu a deep look as he stood up from the sofa and adjusted his excessively decorated (entirely machine-embroidered) gold and black cloak. "I won''t take the initiative to strike; you understand what I mean, right?"


    Yang Qiu smiled confidently. "Revered Inspector, do you doubt that the Taranthan undead will obtain victory?"


    Lowell''s expression turned complicated¡­


    Based on what was learned from the captured Commander Benn Hamn Walton, this contingent of the Radiant Sun Church consisted of three hundred knights and six hundred squires.


    These three hundred knights weren''t mere professional soldiers of the city defense force; they were bona fide knights of the faith, recognized by the Radiant Sun Church''s Inquisition. Each possessed their own fiefs and had strength on par with, if not exceeding, Wagner''s level.


    Frankly, this force was more than capable of besieging any moderately sized city.


    Such a powerful force was pitted against the Taranthan undead, who were only marginally stronger than robust peasants¡­ yet Lowell didn''t dare say the undead would definitely be defeated.


    The reason was simple. These undying and vigorous undead were undoubtedly among the frustrating of adversaries. With fewer than three hundred of their number, they managed to capture nearly three hundred individuals from the Sokri merchant caravan in a single night, mercenaries and thugs included. Wagner, who had accompanied them then, hadn''t even needed to intervene and Lowell knew this all too well.


    "Even if we defeat this order, what then?" Inspector Lowell could only sigh softly, turning toward the door.


    "Indeed, it might not do much, but at the very least, it could earn us the ''friendship'' we require¡­ Those who see themselves as powerful only wish to associate with the strong, and Weisshem is in need of ''friends.''"


    "There''s nothing more ironic than hearing such words from you." Inspector Lowell couldn''t help turning back.


    "I find it ironic, too, but this is the logic the world recognizes," Yang Qiu replied with a smile.


    Lowell felt he was courting a rebuff.


    Yang was just like that. He despised the conventional social norms, yet understood these unwritten rules like the back of his hand.


    Watching Lowell depart, Yang Qiu sat back down and took his teacup, gently blowing on it.


    "Even though he''s an old intellectual, he''s still one of the church''s intellectuals," Yang Qiu muttered to himself. "Even if the Radiant Sun Church has always been at odds with the Church of Prosperity, this fellow would still feel a sense of kinship¡­"


    Yang Qiu intended to elevate the reputation of the Taranthan undead by stomping on the Radiant Sun Church''s contingent, securing peace along with time and space for development¡ªthis intent naturally couldn''t be unnoticed by an old fellow like Lowell, who was of similar age to Yang Qiu.


    Offending the Radiant Sun Church wasn''t something Yang Qiu feared; the relationship was irreconcilable from the start.


    As for why he didn''t seek to trouble the Church of Lady Gold Coin or the Bartalis family first? The reason is just as simple¡ªthe saying goes, "The monk can run, but the temple won''t run with him." Locals, with their homes here¡­ would be likelier to surrender¡­ or rather, assimilate than foreigners.


    As he drained his teacup, a cold glint flickered in Yang Qiu''s eyes.


    "It wasn''t the plan to resort to such a method¡­ But strong medicine has to be administered when necessary."


    Having made his decision, Yang Qiu set down his cup and rose to leave.


    The battleground for the showdown between Lord Charlie Rex of Weisshem and the Radiant Church''s knightly order was set in a wasteland about 10 kilometers west of Indahl.


    There were two reasons for the choice of a battlefield so close to Indahl. First, the Radiant Sun Church''s knightly order was an external force, and the Weisshem''s side wasn''t worried about them receiving support from the city¡ªunless the Radiant Sun Church was to humbly seek aid from the Church of Lady Gold Coin.


    However¡­ if the Church of Lady Gold Coin were willing to lend forces and voluntarily stepped into this quagmire, then the players would undoubtedly be the most delighted¡­


    The second reason was straightforwardly brutal. It was to give the people of Indahl City an ample opportunity to witness the might of Weisshem''s clenched fist.


    As the undead summoned for the vanguard rushed to the designated battleground overnight, Hal and his fellow brothers, who had infiltrated Indahl two days earlier, met in a tavern on Saint Joseph Street.


    "It''s just been two days, and I''m already missing the little orc girl Lyka''s cooking¡­ I really don''t want to stay in this cursed place any longer." Tuttle Joe tossed the half-eaten, coarse flatbread back onto his plate, visibly distressed.


    "Yang, that bastard, said we could return as soon as we confirmed there were enough spectators heading to the western wasteland to watch the battle," Hal grumbled. "Seriously, does that guy not fear we''ll take the chance to flee?"


    Finley remained silent, merely tasting a small sip of the slightly sour malt beer before quietly setting down the glass.


    Flee? As if! I only see you two dying to return¡­

 Chapter 172 Spectator Forces

    Hal Maxwell lived the life of a wealthy industrial magnate''s son in the northern city of the Kenyan Empire until he was 16, while Tuttle Joe had been the promising heir of a middle-class family in Kargas, the capital of the Rhine Kingdom, before the age of 25. Both had seen the world and possessed a broader perspective than the average person who might marvel at the novelty of instant noodles.


    When Yang deceived them into the depths of the Taranthan wilderness, unlike Finley, who had never known luxury, neither Hal nor Tuttle considered the supplies Yang provided as anything extraordinary.


    Whether it was instant noodles made from refined flour or sealed packages of toast, loose cakes, starch sausages, or assorted snacks, none of it was beyond their understanding, except perhaps for the generous (or rather, excessive) use of industrial seasonings.


    In any case, to Hal and Tuttle, the supplies Yang provided indicated his intention to win their loyalty but weren''t enough to secure their undying devotion. After all, both had experienced superior material comforts in the cities of the Kenyan Empire and the Rhine Kingdom, and what Yang offered did not surpass all that.


    This "arrogant" mentality of theirs only received a slap in the face when they were sent on a mission in Indahl city.


    The three former bandits were on a wanted list and couldn''t afford to freely indulge in luxury in a foreign city like Indahl. Moreover, with their limited funds, they could only linger in the taverns, inns, and free markets of Saint Joseph Street and had the opportunity to reacquaint themselves with the living conditions of the common folk in this world.


    The lower-class folk of this world couldn''t enjoy the dubious privilege of being overwhelmed by industrial food products. The lower class didn''t have much financial strength and couldn''t sustain the massive market needed to support industrial food giants like those in America. Therefore, no monopoly could arise to dominate the citizens'' diets with ultra-low-cost junk food.


    Having government-led initiatives to ensure food security¡­ was even less likely.


    Allowing the most populous commoners to live leisurely enough to ponder and question was against the interests of the ruling class. The more secure and slothful the rulers, the less they wanted their subjugated citizens to have the energy to revolt.


    In other words, the living conditions of the common masses in this world were natural, devoid of industrial marks or additives. Food production was free of fertilizers and hormones, and the processing was rudimentary.


    Of course, this results in high costs, low yields, inconsistent quality, and volatile market prices.


    In the eastern part of Saint Joseph Street, near the river which cut through the city, over 20 ancient water-powered mills with stone grinding mechanisms provided the flour and cornmeal needed daily by the hundreds of thousands of citizens of Indahl. This roughly processed grain, full of bran and impurities, was turned into bread and cakes and distributed to households citywide.


    Tuttle couldn''t take any more of this coarse bread made from crudely processed grain after just a few bites. Even though the tavern cook tried to enhance its flavor by spreading butter on one side and stuffing it with meat, vegetables, and jam, it couldn''t mask the fact that the bread was unpalatable and bland.


    This "signature dish" of the tavern couldn''t compare to the semi-prepared dishes the orc girl Lyka heated up at the undead delicatessen or even the toasted bread Yang casually gave them weekly while they had been stationed at Exile Town.


    Finley, who was used to such coarse bread from his childhood, was less critical, but he found the tavern''s home-brewed malt beer distasteful. How had he never realized how bad it was compared to the bottled beer sold at the undead delicatessen?


    "I''ve already spread the word among the women of the street (streetwalkers) and given them some money to spread it. Last night, I got a reply that this news has already reached the high-end clubs on the north streets."


    While saying that, Tuttle saw several homeless children peeking into the tavern and casually tossed them the leftover bread, causing a scramble among the kids. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Seeing this, Finely also tossed over the remaining bread from his and Hal''s plates. Although he could still stomach it, this bread wasn''t worth it.


    "Those idle young masters will surely go, but we can''t just rely on them." Hal frowned. "Finley, what about you?"


    "I went to the gambling houses on this street," Finley said, struggling to sip the foul-tasting malt beer. "The news of the Weisshem''s new lord challenging the Radiant Sun Church''s knightly order to a battle of honor has piqued the interest of the gambling houses. Bets are open, and gamblers are placing their stakes. The bookies and those who''ve bet will definitely be interested in the outcome and will surely go to watch."


    "That''s a brilliant idea," Hal acknowledged Finley''s work.


    "How''s everything on your end? Things going smoothly?" Tuttle inquired.


    With a sly chuckle, Hal pulled out a copy of the Indahl Weekly, flipping it to the second page with a flourish to showcase the headline to his companions.


    Tuttle and Finley simultaneously gave Hal thumbs-ups when they caught sight of the headline. Trust Hal to pull off something like this!


    "That bastard editor even tried to haggle with me, asking for sky. So, I laid it out for him: Either my news makes the front page or the headline will be about the kidnapping of his mistress¡ªentirely his choice," Hal boasted proudly. "Tuttle recognized his wife as the darling daughter of a noble family from Kargas, right? I wanted to see just how tough this upstart, who climbed the ranks on his father-in-law''s coattails, really was."


    Tuttle couldn''t help but smile wryly¡­ He had only casually mentioned recognizing the editor''s wife as a noblewoman from his hometown, and yet, Hal managed to leverage that tidbit so effectively.


    "How did you know the editor had a mistress? You never mentioned that you knew Indah very well before," Finley asked curiously.


    "It''s because that piece of trash took on his wife''s family name," Hal explained with a sneer. "Men who ride their wives'' coattails only to later despise them for overshadowing them are a dime a dozen. It''s obvious he''d seek validation from another woman."


    In other words¡­ Hal had successfully intimidated the editor without even knowing for sure if he had a mistress, let alone who she was or where she was hidden.


    Neither Tuttle nor Finley was surprised by Hal''s audacious tactic; after all, Hal had always been this brazen. As long as he saw even a sliver of a chance, he''d take the gamble.


    Noticing the newspaper''s publication date was set for the next day, Tuttle let out a relieved sigh. "With this paper''s release, our mission here is complete. Shall we head back tomorrow?"


    "There''s no rush." Hal patted Tuttle''s shoulder while eyeing Finley intently. "Which gambling house opened bets? How reputable are they?"


    Tuttle and Finley: "¡­"


    Hal was never one to pass up an opportunity for gain¡­


    All three of them were well aware of just how bothersome the undead could be; this wasn''t about a 30% chance of winning but about whether they''d pick up free money lying on the ground¡­


    Without much hesitation, Tuttle and Finley decided to join in on the scheme.


    Once it was confirmed that the largest underground bookie in Indahl, with its formidable capital, was opening bets, Hal, the cunning and ruthless former bandit gang leader, decided to make a big play.


    First, he and his two companions skulked into the alleys of the inn district, subduing a dozen or so patrons of the night one after another.


    Through a mix of threats and enticements, they coerced these individuals into signing what was, frankly, a fairly reasonable employment contract. With these unwilling souls now turned into "human collateral," the trio went from one underground lender to another, securing a substantial sum through high-interest loans.


    With a significant amount of betting money pooled together in just half a night, they then led these "human collaterals" to the gambling house, placing all their bets on a Weisshem victory.


    Finally, just before dawn, they had each of these anxious and soon-to-be terrified patrons safely returned home, with their address memorized.


    Having secured their large bets through such disconcertingly unorthodox means, the trio returned to the inn district, booked a room to catch up on sleep, and awaited the battle of honor with bated breath¡­


    December 1, Tuesday, Earth time.


    The 4th day of the 11th month, OtherWorld time, and a crisp autumn day.


    Early in the morning, the youthful cries of paperboys could be heard throughout the various districts of Indahl¡ª


    "Today''s second-page headline! The new lord of Weisshem has challenged the Radiant Sun Church''s knights to battle!"


    "The battle of honor between Lord Charlie Rex of Weisshem and the Radiant Sun Church! Not to be missed!"


    Most workers and laborers, barely literate, couldn''t understand the newspapers and, reluctant to part with their few coppers, merely joined in the endless buzz of idle chatter.


    But for the small-time bourgeois with spare change and time, the long-standing subscribers among the middle class, and the wealthy who''d caught wind of the event and even participated in the underground betting, the enthusiasm was palpably higher. Early in the morning, the whole city was abuzz with this fresh news.


    For the average citizens of Indahl, the biggest concern was not the outcome of the conflict but whether "that fabric" would still be available in the future.


    As a result, the Indahl''s post office was swarmed with inquirers first thing in the morning, all asking if the mailman from Weisshem had arrived¡­


    The stir caused by middle-class families was, of course, more pronounced than that of the average citizens. Ladies and mistresses of households unusually active at dawn visited each other, spreading half-truths and rumors¡­ mainly pondering the allure and prospects of the rumored bastard lord and whether he would grace Indahl''s social circles.


    Those higher up the social ladder, whether privy to insider information or concerned about more substantive matters, were significantly more engaged.


    Adra III, the current lord of Indahl and baron of the Bartalis family, had been aware of Weisshem''s declaration against the Radiant Sun Church for a week already.


    While he didn''t see the matter as directly related to him, he was intrigued by the prospect of using another''s blade to gauge the strength of his foes. Before dawn broke and the explosive headlines hit the streets, Mr. Gould, his loyal butler, had already led a detachment of the city''s cavalry out to a manor near the designated battlefield.


    Viscount Darcy, recognized as the second most influential family in Indahl next to the Bartalises, also dispatched observers as the sun rose.


    Should Charlie Rex fail, the Darcys wouldn''t mind shouting encouragement from the sidelines as the Bartalis family made their move on Weisshem; should he succeed, however, they''d consider forging ties with the upstart lord.


    Nobles and knights of sufficient stature to "dip their toes" shared this sentiment, leading to a steady stream of parties heading out of the city, including the former lord of Weisshem, Baron Markus, accompanied by his household guards.


    By noon, middle-class families with carriages, wealthy individuals involved in the betting, and curious layabouts had all made their way out of the city¡­


    As the people of Indahl "enthusiastically" mobilized to witness the battle, the unnamed wasteland designated as the battleground remained peacefully undisturbed for the time being.


    A week prior, the Radiant Sun Church''s knightly order had already surveyed the battleground, and three days ago, they had leased a farmstead roughly four kilometers straight from the site, stationing their forces there.


    At dawn and dusk each day, this battle-hardened, elite troop would dispatch scouts to patrol the area, ensuring no foul play could be afoot on the nameless wasteland designated for their battle of honor. While the order held little regard for Charles Rex, they deemed any precaution against the sinister figure behind the upstart bastard lord as justifiably prudent.


    This morning, the scouting party made their routine inspection of the planned battlefield. As they circled toward the southwest, a sight caught their eye¡ªsomething that appeared to be an enemy encampment.


    The scout leader immediately signaled for his men to conceal themselves, pulling out a compact spyglass and resting it on his nose.


    With just a glance, he confirmed the presence of the enemy camp¡ªcleared ground, pitched tents, and thorn barriers acting as caltrops manned by both humans and undead. These skeletons donned armor and wielded weapons, a hallmark of Weisshem''s forces.


    Yet, there was a subtle discrepancy from what was anticipated¡­


    "Why are they all dark-skinned, white-haired Sokrians? Isn''t Charlie Rex of Rhine descent?" the scout leader muttered in confusion.


    He continued his observation through the spyglass, puzzled, until a familiar face came into view.


    "Charlie Rex is here as well." The scout leader lowered his spyglass and scoffed. "Actually leading the charge himself. This man is truly overconfident."

 Chapter 173: Undead Army Arrives

    The vanguard that arrived first at the designated battlefield comprised 121 Sokri mercenaries, Captain Kenn, Inspector Lowell, Lieutenant Wagner Pitt, and a full contingent of 40 undead.


    To the scouting party, these numbers seemed¡­ insufficient. When this information was relayed back, Captain Roy, acting as the interim commander, greeted it with suspicion. "Could this be a ruse? Has Rex intentionally hidden his true forces?"


    It wasn''t really surprising that this Radiant Sun Church officer harbored such doubts given the illustrious track record of Rex and Yang''s undead army¡ªswiftly taking Weisshem in a single night, capturing a whole cavalry unit of Indahl''s city defense force, unraveling Commander Walton''s reconnaissance mission, and ensnaring the elite scouts along with the spies sent by the city defense force.


    A mere handful of undead and a group of clearly foreign mercenaries couldn''t possibly achieve such feats.


    Concurring with Captain Roy, the scout leader diligently led his men out once more, skirting the enemy encampment to stealthily search every conceivable hideout within a ten-mile radius that could shelter a "large army."


    By noon, as makeshift viewing stands erected by local nobility began to dot the hills surrounding the unnamed wasteland, the weary scout party had yet to uncover anything of note¡­


    That Bartalis family was among the first to arrive at the outskirts of the wasteland for observation.


    Their estate was in close proximity to the designated battlefield, and their cattle and horses would occasionally graze here, making them well-acquainted with the terrain. Early in the morning, a dozen robust servants had come by carriage, selecting and clearing a platform on an unnamed hill to erect a viewing pavilion.


    Mr. Gould, the loyal steward, along with the cavalry squadron he led from the estate, didn''t set out until after lunch and arrived at the viewing platform just after midday.


    After exchanging pleasantries with the steward of the Darcy Viscountcy, who had arrived a tad earlier and was overseeing the erection of their pavilion, Mr. Gould instructed his servants to unpack and set up a monocular spyglass. He then approached it himself to observe the forces arrayed upon the wasteland.


    The knights of the Radiant Sun Church had already made their way from their encampment at the farm, establishing a camp on an open plain to the north of the wasteland. Knights in full armor could be seen taking their horses outside the camp to warm up, while squires tended to weapons and armor or made adjustments to the tacks on steeds.


    Everything was orderly, the hallmark of a seasoned, formidable army.


    Mr. Gould, who held little regard for foreigners, lumping the northern barbarians (Kenyan people) and the southern savages (Sokri people) together, sneered and shifted the spyglass away.


    From his elevated vantage point, Mr. Gould soon located Weisshem''s camp as well.


    With the Radiant Sun Church''s camp for comparison, Mr. Gould could not help but click his tongue in disdain at the Weisshem encampment.


    A pitifully meager camp with just one tent, a ragtag assembly of dark-skinned barbarians, and a handful of disorderly skeletons¡­ How could such a force even dare to make an appearance?


    Mr. Gould felt that even he could lead the city defense force soldiers himself and obliterate this sorry camp.


    Spotting Wagner Pitt through the telescope lens only incensed Steward Gould even further.


    "No wonder all those fine young men were captured just like that. It was definitely this scoundrel''s doing!" Steward Gould cursed under his breath after staring intently for a long while and confirming Wagner Pitt, while still a captive, wasn''t just moving unrestricted within Weisshem''s ranks, but also in neat attire.


    Were it not for the Viscount Darcy''s viewing pavilion nearby, Steward Gould would have surely cursed out loud. The emergence of a traitor within the city defense force, and that traitor being an officer no less, was a disgrace to the Bartalis family.


    A livid Steward Gould immediately summoned a city defense force officer and instructed through gritted teeth, "Once the battle below concludes, bring some men and capture Wagner Pitt! And don''t let that detestable bastard Charlie Rex get away either!"


    The officer didn''t hesitate and immediately acknowledged the command.


    Still enraged, Steward Gould asked, "Where is Wagner Pitt''s family?"


    The officer gulped before reluctantly saying, "I heard that¡­ Pitt''s wife took their children back to their country home about two weeks ago."


    Considering that Pitt''s wife was a local, Steward Gould decided not to pursue the matter further.


    After leaving the viewing pavilion, the officer discreetly wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead¡­


    As time passed, the platform, ideally suited for viewing, gradually filled with more people.


    Noble houses brought along scores of servants, claiming the best spots and setting up pavilions where they indulged in wine and refreshments, their luxurious carriages filling every possible space at the foot of the hill.


    Middle-class families, on the other hand, had to park their carriages farther away and, after a respectful walk up the hill, found suitable spots on the outskirts of the platform to lay down waterproof cloths and sit down to await the commencement of the battle.


    The scene became particularly lively when the personnel from the gambling houses came. Leveraging their connections with the upper class, these individuals squeezed into the platform and claimed a spot; when they set up tables to take bets on the spot, the gambling house proprietors, looking every bit the part, could even be seen engaging in jovial conversations with the nobility''s stewards. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Indahl Weekly correspondents arrived on the scene as well, equipped with cameras in hand, ready to cover the event. They began snapping a few photos and interviewing the attending stewards of nobles and middle-class spectators, eager to gauge their perspectives.


    They even attempted to approach the individuals from the betting scene for an interview but were politely declined.


    As the time for the battle drew nearer, spectators from all walks of life, regardless of their financial standing, extracted scopes of varying grades. Such instruments, akin to pocket watches, were deemed essential for middle-class families, symbolizing a staple of high society''s leisure pursuits like hunting, where observing prey through a scope enriched the aristocratic experience of the sport.


    Unable to afford the luxury of fine hunting dogs, the acquisition of a handheld telescope, which otherwise served little purpose in daily life, was hardly an inconvenience.


    Spanning the wilderness, two encampments stood apart by a distance of over two kilometers, their sizes alone telling tales of their might or lack thereof.


    One was bustling with nearly a thousand strong men, presenting an imposing sight, while the other appeared meager with just over a hundred men complemented by a several dozen skeletal figures.


    Had this been before Weisshem gained renown for its undead, the sight of such undead beings might have scared the onlookers. But now, with the people of Weisshem known to consort daily with the undead, the once eerie and mysterious air surrounding these undead had significantly waned in the eyes of the Indahl populace.


    Some middle-class observers, after quietly assessing the situation and noting the almost desolate state of Weisshem''s camp as the battle drew near, hesitantly reached for their purses and ventured toward the betting stalls to place their wagers.


    The bookmakers welcomed all bets with open arms. Since the payout of a Radiant Sun Church''s victory was so low, there were also many that punted on a miraculous Weisshem upset. This was a scenario in which the bookmakers stood to lose nothing.


    Mrs. Griff, a resident of the Grantham District who had once visited "Perfect Dream Portrait Studio," had come over together with her housekeeper, Madam Wille, and her personal maid, Claire.


    Mrs. Griff had little interest in the battle itself. Her journey, undertaken with great effort, was driven by her enthusiasm for social gatherings and parties. She astutely recognized that Charlie Rex''s rising or falling fortunes would capture the attention of the nobility, and she couldn''t afford to be ignorant of such matters.


    It had to be said that Mrs. Griff often played her cards right in her social climbing endeavors. Today, she encountered a baroness whom she knew from the social circuit. Thanks to her active flattery at social events, Mrs. Griff didn''t have to endure the discomfort of sitting in the less favorable viewing areas outside the pavilions like her middle-class counterparts. Instead, she was invited into the exclusive shade of a pavilion reserved for the more distinguished guests.


    "Why does it seem like Weisshem, despite being the challenger, isn''t taking this battle as seriously as one might expect?" critiqued the baroness, a striking ruby necklace adorned on her neck. Her interest in the battle was evident as she repeatedly observed Weisshem''s camp through a finely adjusted telescope set up by her servant.


    Mrs. Griff knew all too well why the baroness was so invested in this battle. The baroness, now a widow, had harbored a deep-seated grudge against the former lord of Weisshem, Baron Markus, and would relish seeing his downfall.


    In a more private setting, Mrs. Griff would have cunningly woven words to disparage Baron Markus''s family to curry favor with the baroness. However, with the Markus family''s pavilion not far from their current location, Mrs. Griff dared not stir up trouble for herself. She opted instead for subtle flattery and non-committal compliments.


    While the baroness lamented Weisshem''s apparent lack of vigor, elsewhere, Baron Markus himself could barely contain his glee at the prospect of witnessing his arch-nemesis'' potential misfortune.


    Despite the generally unfavorable view of foreign military displays on local soil, the situation was entirely different when one''s most hated adversary was on the receiving end of such a spectacle. Charlie Rex''s usurpation of Weisshem and the subsequent loss of the lucrative red-light district had severed a significant source of income for Baron Markus, intensifying their enmity.


    The adage that a starving camel remains is still bigger than a living horse (a Chinese proverb) held true; despite losing his domain, Baron Markus''s wealth remained intact, keeping him within the circles of Indahl''s elite. He was acutely aware that Charlie Rex''s reign was unlikely to last¡ªonce the most critical yearly autumn tax was settled, Adra III would have the time to deal with that upstart bastard.


    But seeing misfortune beset the enemy earlier was always pleasing¡­ If the Radiant Sun Church could get rid of that detestable pretty boy during this battle, Baron Markus''s family would definitely celebrate tonight.


    Two in the afternoon. The time of the battle as stated in the Indahl Weekly.


    The time set for this battle¡­ corresponded with 7.30 p.m. Earth time, which was the peak hours of online gaming activity.


    The leader of the scouting party had scoured the wilderness for half a day without uncovering any hidden forces, which led to a bafflement yet instilled a growing confidence in Captain Roy, who was leading the knightly order''s forces.


    As the hands of his pocket watch reached the moment of commencement, Captain Roy, who had stepped forth from the camp to lead his men, cast a glance toward the Weisshem encampment and gestured for his officers to gather.


    The plan was decided on securing captives from the outset and preventing the prime catch, Charlie Rex, from escaping¡ªonly by capturing that fellow would there be able to ensure a swift exchange for their Commander Walton, who was in enemy hands.


    "Captain!" an ever-vigilant scout, peering through his binoculars at the enemy camp, suddenly exclaimed with urgency, pointing in the direction of the Weisshem encampment.


    Captain Roy promptly lifted his own binoculars to his eyes.


    Atop the nameless hill''s plateau, where the betting folks had been meticulously observing both camps, was where the anomaly was first detected.


    "Oh, my! Oh heavens!" Cries and exclamations came from the betting crowd. "Look at Weisshem''s side. Oh my!"


    Steward Gould, who had already gotten bored of observing the battleground and was engaged in conversation with the Darcys'' steward, sensed something amiss amid the rising clamor of astonishment from the pavilions of the noble families. Hurriedly, he returned to his pavilion and positioned himself before the telescope.


    As he adjusted the lens to the previously observed Weisshem camp, Gould''s initially squinted eyes widened in disbelief.


    "Wh-what in the world is happening?!"


    In the pavilion where Mrs. Griff had a vantage point, the baroness began to shout in a frenzy, "Oh, oh! Heavens, Griff, come see this!"


    Mrs. Griff hastily lifted her own binoculars.


    Through the lens, Mrs. Griff witnessed¡­ a stream of armored, weapon-wielding skeletons streaming out from the solitary tent.


    Mrs. Griff rubbed her eyes and blinked hard.


    She wasn''t mistaken; from the tent, roughly about the size of their family''s own camping tent, came an unabated stream of undead.


    The once empty Weisshem camp and even the open space outside were now crammed with skeletons, and that magical tent showed no signs of stopping.


    "Witchcraft! This is witchcraft! This is the most vile demonic summoning ritual!"


    Baron Markus''s outraged curses could be heard clearly even a few pavilions away. "That damned Charlie Rex has sold his soul to demons! That bastard should be put on the stake!"


    Captain Roy, on horseback with one hand on his sword and the other holding a binocular, gradually let his jaw drop as he stiffened.


    His field of vision was getting filled with an ever-increasing, dense mass of undead¡­


    The Weisshem side of the field had successfully demoralized the enemy before even the first strike, but there was little sense of joy at holding this upper hand.


    When Yang informed them through the imprint matrix to prepare for the arrival of the undead army, Wagner, fully aware of the destructive power and unpredictability of the undead, promptly decided to have Kenn''s men retreat beyond the camp and stay away, lest they be despised by the undead upon arrival¡ªhe was all too familiar with their disdain for "allies."


    Wagner''s response was indeed astute; the undead summoned through the so-called "summoning circle" did not show hostility toward him, standing alone. They even had the "courtesy" to exit in an orderly manner, making room for more undead being sent over.


    However, as more and more undead were swiftly summoned in batches, the situation started to spiral out of control.


    "Hey hey, what''s with the hold up in front? Make way! It''s getting packed!"


    "Don''t you know this game doesn''t allow characters to phase through objects? Stop blocking the way! Get out!"


    "Stop pushing! Stop it! F*ck! Don''t you people know that you can get trampled to death in this game!"


    "Can you stop squeezing from behind?"


    "Hell, it''s not like I want to squeeze, I damn well can''t even touch the ground with my feet!"

 Chapter 174: Battle At the Encampment

    It was Friday on Earth, a day where students and workers alike eagerly dived into online games as the weekend finally arrived.


    At the time when Yang Qiu issued a battle quest invitation via a system announcement to all online players, OtherWorld was seeing a staggering 95% online rate among its 3,300 players¡ªnot counting tool player accounts, the actual players online count still exceeded 3,000.


    With the boastful posts on forums by veteran players, coupled with the high-quality gear only available from them, the notion that "battle quests are the most rewarding" were firmly etched into every new player''s mind.


    Upon the announcement, players, regardless if they were gold farming in the lumberyard, exploring the Poisonous Marshlands, soloing in the Mining Zone, teaming up for Spider Cave, honing skills in the Life Alley, or simply enjoying a stroll through Weisshem, all rushed mindlessly toward the teleportation points.


    In other words, these online players were simultaneously teleported from the teleportation points at Desolate Outpost, Exile Town, Mining Zone, and Weissheim to the battlefield''s frontlines.


    Congestion was inevitable as players from four different locations converged at one teleportation site¡­ and they were packed together like sardines in a can.


    Wagner, standing nearly two meters tall and weighing over 100 kilograms, initially managed to avoid being overwhelmed by the undead, thanks to his size and mass. However, as the frontline camp became increasingly cramped and undead continued to spew out from the tent, even this rather formidable man was alarmed to find himself slowly pushed to the ground¡­


    Imagining the horror of being trampled under countless undead feet if he fell, Wagner, who had never feared capture, broke into a cold sweat.


    The undead trampled over their own kind. No, they never showed mercy and would cut down their own¡­.


    Wagner couldn''t expect any leniency if he found himself under their feet!


    In a life-or-death situation, Wagner disregarded anything else. He raised his arm toward the north and bellowed with all his might, "Enemy ahead! Time to fight, undead! Attack¡ª!"


    Organizing the undead into a somewhat orderly assault was a concern for later; his immediate priority was survival.


    Players being pushed outside, either cursing or trying to regroup with their pals, instinctively looked northward upon hearing Wagner''s roar.


    Indeed, a large cavalry unit was rapidly approaching from the horizon, kicking up clouds of dust.


    Were it any other army, being disorganized when the enemy was charging basically spelled imminent defeat.


    But for these players¡­ it was a non-issue.


    "Monsters incoming!" a player shouted in delight.


    "Knight monsters! Monsters covered in loot!" another player screamed in excitement, so much so his voice was shaking.


    Like a dam bursting, players congested at the frontline camp immediately rushed toward the "incoming monsters," screaming and howling manically¡­


    Wagner, lowering his center of gravity to maintain balance, sprinted out of the camp with the dispersing undead, then made a sharp 90-degree turn to distance himself from the frenzy¡ªthe encampment still housed numerous stationary undead, and more were continuously emerging from the tent. He needed to keep his distance from them!


    The first wave of players charging like playful huskies at the Radiant Sun Church''s knights, numbered around a thousand.


    Players, though usually trigger-happy when gaming, weren''t entirely devoid of sensibility. Most were aware of their own capabilities and knew that attempting to confront a large horde of humanoid monsters, known for their coordinated assaults, in a skirmish to snatch some advantage seemed ludicrous.


    Thus, an utterly bizarre and bewildering spectacle unfolded across the barren battlefield¡ª


    On one side, roughly a thousand skeletons, in a snaking formation from the Weisshem camp, launched a reckless charge toward the Radiant Sun knights.


    And on the other side, the remaining undead within the camp, seemingly indifferent to their comrades'' sortie, were engaged in fervent "interactions"¡­


    "Full team seeking a raid group, any leaders out there?"


    "Elite six-man hunting party here, healer included, seeking a reliable raid group!"


    "Any casuals teaming up? Wanderer in need of a team!"


    "Need six slots, looking for wanderers, warriors, and knights!"


    "Any mages? Looking for a mage! Ten babies needing support here!"


    "Warrior LF team~"


    Atop the plateau beyond the barren wasteland where several hundred spectators had gathered, an eerie silence prevailed¡­


    These Indahl spectators, wielding telescopes of various makes and models, alternating their gazes between the Radiant Sun knights clashing with the thousand-strong undead vanguard and the seemingly apathetic undead horde within the Weisshem camp, collectively plunged into a mute stupor.


    Could these undead be so formidable that they deemed it beneath them to exert full effort against the Radiant Sun knights?


    ¡ªThese were the initial thoughts that surfaced for many, still rattled by the sudden appearance of the vast undead army.


    Then, before their very eyes, the disorganized and scattered undead vanguard, lacking any formation, shattered into flashes of white light beneath the iron hooves of the Radiant Sun Church''s cavalry.


    "Ahh!"


    Among the spectators on the periphery of the platform, a man in a cap suddenly let out a harrowing cry, drawing curious glances from the middle-class observers seated on waterproof mats.


    The man quickly clamped his mouth shut and tugged his cap lower.


    Only when the attention of others returned to the battlefield did the cap-wearing man cautiously lift his chin, revealing an ordinary middle-aged face.


    This man, appearing to be a regular laborer but with eyes far sharper and an aura slightly more menacing than most¡­ was a night watchmen captain from the Church of Lady Gold Coin.


    The night watchmen captain, who had blended in with the middle-class crowd to witness the spectacle, stared intently through his telescope at the undead vanguard disintegrating into light as a mix of sudden realization and intense frustration showed on his face¡­


    He finally understood the bizarre circumstances surrounding Von Alphonse''s "death"!


    No wonder Von Alphonse had so coincidentally encountered the Nightmare Butcher right after acquiring the sealed artifact from Redwall Farm!


    Everything was so straightforward, after all¡ªVon Alphonse had been Yang''s man all along!


    No, that wasn''t quite right. In retrospect, no one had ever heard Von Alphonse utter a single world himself¡­ He was actually a damned undead disguised as a living being through some deceptive means!


    The night watchmen captain nearly slumped to the ground in despair¡­ The esteemed Night Watchmen division of the Church of Lady Gold Coin had been utterly duped by an undead incapable of even basic communication!


    While the night watchmen captain seethed, the reactions among the surrounding crowd were markedly distinct.


    Those who had bet on Weissheim looked utterly defeated as if mourning a grave loss, while those who had wagered on the Radiant Sun Church, on the other hand, were jubilant, some even laughing boisterously.


    The reason was clear: the seemingly intimidating undead army was, in reality, woefully inadequate in combat prowess!


    The undead army''s "vanguard," which nearly matched the Radiant Sun Church''s knightly order in numbers, was decimated within a mere five minutes.


    At the prime viewing spot on the platform, the baroness remained stoic, a palpable tension surrounding her.


    The detestable Baron Markus''s boisterous cackles were audible across several pavilions as he realized the pitiful combat effectiveness of the undead army.


    Gould, the loyal Bartalis steward, breathed a sigh of relief¡­ How had such a disorganized, undisciplined mob of skeletons, incapable of even forming a proper battle line, and no better than the city guard''s rawest recruits, intimidated him for even a moment in the past!


    No longer paying heed to the cavalry chasing down the scattered undead, an invigorated Gould redirected his telescope toward Weisshem''s camp¡ªhe needed to keep an eye on Charles Rex and ensure the latter didn''t slip away unnoticed.


    And then, Steward Gould saw a sight that once again greatly baffled him.


    On Weisshem''s front, there was no sign of fear among the undead that had yet to leave the camp at witnessing the decimation of the "vanguard." Instead, it seemed as if they were pointing and¡­ laughing at their fleeing brethren?


    ¡­What sort of undead army is this?! Could it be that these two groups of undead aren''t together?!


    As Gould struggled to make sense of this bizarre situation, he saw that the rudimentary tent, which had already released at least three thousand undead, started spewing out a flood of undead once more¡­


    "The monsters here are sick!"


    Players, shoving their way out of the crowded respawn point back into the camp, made loud exclamations.


    "Whoa, I got instakilled the moment I went in!"


    "I shouldn''t have followed the charge of you guys! Which idiot came up with this brilliant idea?"


    "That stupid NPC Wagner is problematic. Sending us to our deaths right off the bat? Is he an enemy spy?"


    Wagner, who was preparing to go closer and issue a mission, halted.


    An experienced player, unable to tolerate the newbies'' foolishness, couldn''t help but chastise, "Are you guys brain-dead? Have you never played in a monster battlefield mode before? Charging headlong without even accepting the mission or forming a group?"


    Not all new players took the criticism quietly, and the camp immediately filled with less than polite retorts¡­


    "Enough talking! The monsters are coming!" a player outside the camp, spotting the cavalry monsters charging toward the encampment, let out a high-pitched warning.


    Seeing the enemy approach made the tempers of players flare up.


    "These battlefield monsters dare to camp at our respawn point?!"


    "Kill them!"


    Regardless of whether they were grouped up or not, the players drew their weapons and charged out.


    Upon witnessing the entire undead force storming out from the enemy camp, Captain Roy hesitated for a mere half-second before still raising his saber. "Charge, break through to their camp!"


    These undead proved even more fragile than he had anticipated, yet the nondescript tent that continuously spawned legions of undead filled Captain Roy with a sense of unease.


    Determined to prevent the horde from engulfing the entire wasteland, he resolved to strike first, aiming to flatten that mysterious tent.


    Indeed, the instincts of this Radiant Sun Church officer were sharp. Had his strategic objective been achieved, the battle might have been swiftly concluded.


    However, breaking through the dense lines of three thousand undead was no easy feat. As the fully armored knights'' wedge formation penetrated deep into the undead''s territory, their speed slowed considerably.


    While a cavalry unit''s charge could easily tear through ranks of tens of thousands of farmers, these undead, only slightly stronger than robust farmers, were a different matter entirely. Regardless of how many comrades were trampled into oblivion right before their eyes, these fearless undead continued their relentless assault, obstructing the knights with both weapons and bodies.


    As the armored cavalry''s charge was bogged down and could no longer instantly dispatch the approaching undead with ease, the battle reached a stalemate.


    Captain Roy, commanding from the center and stuck in the fray, failed to recognize the impending disaster. Despite being outnumbered, the frail undead were rapidly diminishing in numbers, and Roy was confident of breaking through within ten minutes to reach his strategic target.


    Thus, the battle raged merely two hundred meters in front of Weisshem''s encampment¡ªmore precisely put, it was a one-sided massacre, where the greatest harm the undead could inflict upon the armored cavalry was the blinding flash emitted upon their demise; some knights gradually found the glare bothersome and had to squint.


    Three minutes passed¡­ five minutes¡­ eight minutes¡­


    Captain Roy, who had been monitoring the overall situation, began to sweat profusely.


    What exactly is going on! Why are the undead numbers not diminishing no matter how many are slain?!


    A sudden realization struck him, and he stood up in his stirrups, steadying himself on a soldier''s shoulder.


    As he glimpsed the enemy''s rear formation, Roy''s eyes shrunk in shock.


    That bizarre tent, as if some form of strange sealed artifact, was continuously replenishing the undead numbers on the battlefield!


    For every undead his knights vanquished, an equal number emerged from the tent!


    Charlie Rex himself, the damned deserter, Wagner Pitt, along with those hundred or so Sokri mercenaries, hadn''t even participated in the battle. Instead, they leisurely stayed on one side of the camp, watching the fray unfold as if it were mere entertainment.


    "Outrageous¡­ What honor is there in this battle!" Captain Roy, unfamiliar with the term "cheating," cursed, fretting over a solution. Despite the knights being well-rested and skillfully rotating the frontline to allow for breaks, such endless attrition was unsustainable!


    While Captain Roy agonized over the knights'' killing efficiency being perfectly negated by the tent''s eerie "summoning of the undead," the players, blessed with proximity to the respawn point and the absence of death penalties during battle missions, naturally resorted to zerging tactics and found a breakthrough point.


    "The front row of monsters rotates every 90 to 110 seconds, and the minions in the second row will switch out in sync as well¡­ An opportunity!" Unceasing Entropy, having observed the battlefield from the center for some time, saw an opportunity and swiftly notified everyone in the group channel. "Wanderers with Windwalk on cooldown, gather at the 5 o''clock direction, hurry!" S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Based on her sparkling track record, both veterans and newcomers players were quite willing to follow Unceasing Entropy''s lead. Many wanderers, fresh from the respawn point, didn''t push to the front but instead converged at the designated spot.


    As Unceasing Entropy monitored the battlefield, especially for any rotation of the frontline armored knights, she saw that enough wanderers had gathered and commanded, "We have enough. On my count of three, activate Windwalk. Whether you duck under horses or find a gap, make your way through the first line and go for the second. Drag back as many captives as you can!"


    "No problem!" The wanderers patted their bony chest enthusiastically.


    The gaps between cavalry were much larger than those among infantry. When several hundred wanderers, unmatched in speed thanks to Windwalk (after all, wanderers comprised the bulk of the player base), attempted to breach the enemy''s first line simultaneously, the Radiant Sun knights, already engaged in fierce combat for nearly a minute, couldn''t stop them all.


    Two squires, guarding their master''s flanks, were diligently thrusting their spears one moment, and the next, had several grinning undead that had slipped through gaps beneath their master''s horse and from the side reaching for them.


    "Arghh!"


    One young squire tried to dodge in panic, which unfortunately reduced his stability. In the blink of an eye, one arm and one leg of his was firmly gripped by the undead.


    "Help me! Ahhhh!"


    Under the astonished gaze of his master and fellow squire, the unfortunate lad was forcefully dragged off his horse by three or four undead and swiftly pulled into the mass of their kin¡­

 Chapter 175: Reversal

    It had to be said that the cavalry unit of the Radiant Sun Church was indeed formidable. Of the several hundred wanderers who dashed in with Windwalk to abduct enemies, most were turned into white light. In the end, only a handful of luckier players successfully achieved their tactical objective in the first round¡ªdragging back six "minion monsters."


    In any realm, "sacrificing" dozens just to gain a captive would be considered a massive loss in any battle.


    But of course, the players here didn''t tally such accounts in the usual way. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Whoa, six full sets of armor?!"


    Upon witnessing the maneuver of this group of players, those who hadn''t joined a group were practically drooling.


    "Big bros, take me with you. I want to join the team too!"


    "Ah, I''ve shed blood for Taranthan, fought for Old Yang! I want to see the group leader! Grant me an audience with the group leader!"


    Unceasing Entropy had been pulled to the frontlines the moment she got on (via Qin Guan''s summoning artifact "Book of the Undead") and took over as the group leader from Yang Ying. She calmly instructed the members to securely bind the six captured enemies and display them blatantly in camp, then arranged for members in the group to form new squads and add members in.


    In this game, there was no upper limit to the size of a large raid group. The group leader could infinitely expand the number of squads within the team by inviting squad leaders to the group channel.


    With nearly a thousand fully armed humanoid monsters awaiting harvest, players were relatively content with the arrangement to distribute equipment on the spot after capturing enemies.


    After all, this had always been the distribution mode adopted by veteran players, and the atmosphere of any game was often set by veterans. Newcomers causing trouble would face verbal and written condemnation from both new and veteran players and might even be cornered and attacked.


    On the contrary, for those who weren''t a part of the group and were ineligible to partake in the auction for spoils of war, especially with six fully-equipped trophies on display as exhibits, this was a far more exasperating ordeal.


    While expanding the group, Unceasing Entropy didn''t neglect commanding.


    "Wanderers, hold onto your Windwalk cooldown for now!


    "Warriors and knights, save your Battle Roars. Monsters in this game are capable of learning. You guys will have to coordinate with the wanderers in the next try.


    "Mages, stop healing and conserve mana for offensive support!"


    While Unceasing Entropy was orchestrating tactics in an orderly fashion, on the other side, the cavalry, having lost six squires, were fuming, and their onslaught intensified.


    Only the Radiant Sun Church could afford such an extravagantly configured combat force, with each knight supported by two squires as the smallest combat unit.


    When facing the enemy head-on, all knights could become unstoppable blades. When tactics demanded, the highly mobile knights could lead their squires to disperse into agile combat units with the capability to roam and annihilate, splitting enemy lines and exterminating foes until the pressure became unbearable.


    However, the Radiant Sun Church''s cavalry unit''s expertise in splitting the battlefield for targeted elimination proved ineffective against the undead.


    There were two reasons for this. Firstly, these undead were too fragile and would die from being trampled by hooves.


    Secondly, the undead''s formation was too disorderly, or rather, utterly lacking¡­ These fellas simply charged to the death wherever there was an opening!


    Captain Roy strained his eyes so much they nearly popped out, but he couldn''t find a flaw in these fellas¡ªthey were flawed throughout, but somehow paradoxically impregnable!


    As Captain Roy wrestled the idea of splitting some forces to attack Charlie Rex and the others, who were still unmoving at the rear, in hopes of drawing the undead away from the front, the undead launched another "man-snatching" tactic, with a large number of swift undead infiltrating the cavalry''s ranks once more!


    "No way you bastards are doing as you please a second time!"


    The knights and squires at the front, furious, jabbed their long spears and lances viciously at the skeletal intruders.


    It was then that a group of undead mages, donned in robes, climbed atop their comrades'' shoulders, raised their thick wooden staffs (issued upon the completion of their mage job advancement), and aimed at the cavalry''s lines.


    A subtle purple glow ignited at the tips of their staffs¡ª


    [Slowdown: Reduces the target''s mental resistance by 5%, decreases target''s movement speed by 20%.]


    The Potential value (mental strength) of current magic-using players barely exceeded 100, whereas the regular knights of the Radiant Sun Church boasted a mental strength above 800 (akin to a Lv 5 monster). Therefore, the success rate of players'' dark magic skills affecting the knights were exceedingly low, and they were practically impervious.


    However¡­ the knights'' mounts weren''t!


    When the several dozen undead mages cast their spells simultaneously, the moves of knights in the front two rows remained unaffected, but their steeds, lizard horses, became rigid and started to slow.


    This gave the infiltrating wanderer players a golden opportunity. Unconcerned about enemy weapons piercing their bodies due to the nearby respawn point, they recklessly stretched out their arms, dragging down anyone within reach¡ªeven the knight and warrior players in the front line weren''t idle as they grabbed and pulled onto the legs of the enemy knights.


    "Die!"


    "Scum!"


    The Radiant Sun Church''s cavalry, having never faced such ignominy, were enraged, slashing furiously, and a brilliant cascade of dissipating white light ensued.


    But, it wasn''t of much use.


    The undead''s numbers were too much, and they were fearlessly dogged. Before the effects of the mages'' spells wore off, they forcefully dragged away more than a dozen captives back into their encampment.


    The church knights, furious at the abduction of their comrades, roared furiously and made a greater effort to break through the enemy lines. Meanwhile, the several hundred undead that met their demise in the previous abduction maneuver cheerily jumped out from the tent and rushed toward the battlefield.


    At one side of the encampment, Captain Kenn and Lieutenant Wagner Pitt, along with the Sokri mercenary contingent, watched the unfolding chaos with expressionless, numb faces.


    How should it be put¡­ This bizarre, absurd, and unsettling spectacle, giving them a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu, hardly evoked laughter¡­


    "Haa¡­ This was how we were overwhelmed by the undead back then," sighed the burly Adam, Captain Kenn''s deputy.


    "The never-ending undead storm is a true nightmare¡­" lamented the greatsword warrior Corrado.


    Captain Kenn and Wagner exchanged a silent glance, then turned to observe the battlefield once more.


    Having shared hardships in the demon dimensional realm for over a week (OtherWorld time), these two had forged an unbreakable bond of revolutionary camaraderie. Kenn had come to understand how Wagner and his city defense force soldiers had fallen¡­ Misery loves company indeed!


    During this time when the humans reminisced, the undead launched another round of "captive abducting."


    This time, it wasn''t just the mages firing their Slowdown spell on the enemy mounts. Knight players also joined in with their crowd control skills too. While the church knights were too high of a level to be affected by these skills, their mounts were susceptible.


    Having been bested twice already, the church knights fought back fiercely as white light flashed around them constantly. However, yet again, it was futile, as more than a dozen comrades were dragged away in their full view.


    With over thirty losses in under ten minutes, their mobility restricted, and their stamina waning, commanding officer Captain Roy bitterly eyed the enemy camp just a stone''s throw away and ordered a retreat.


    However, the undead, fervent in their abduction efforts, weren''t about to let them go that easily. The church knights had barely retreated a hundred meters before the undead ensnared them once more.


    Wagner couldn''t help but heave another heavy sigh upon seeing this.


    His own cavalry squad had fallen in the same way¡ªthose undead, light as they were, moved at astonishing speed! Even the robed skeleton mages could run like the wind!


    Unable to fully exterminate the undead and incapable of escaping, instead getting caught up and having their strength whittled away bit by bit before being eventually exhausted and captured¡­ Such bitter memories were best left unmentioned.


    Despite being relentlessly entangled by the undead, the church knights, vastly superior in strength to Wagner''s cavalry squad, managed to create enough distance to break free from these persistent adversaries.


    However, as soon as the church knights returned to their encampment, they realized the undead were still hot on their heels¡­


    The concept of restraint was simply non-existent to players!


    Captain Roy was livid but realized the simplicity of their camp (since his knights rarely stayed there, preferring nearby farms) wouldn''t hold against a straight-on assault by the undead. To avoid having their base overrun, which would render the battle moot, he arranged for his men to rotate rest while using the camp as a barricade to fend off the undead.


    With the respawn point now a significant distance away, the undead couldn''t effectively employ their zerg rush tactics, leading to a stalemate between the two forces.


    The church knights were besieging the Weisshem camp one moment, and the next, it was the other way around. This rapid reversal left the Indahl spectators on the flat-topped hill utterly dumbfounded.


    Among them, the Church of Lady Gold Coin''s night watchmen captain was particularly shocked.


    No one understood the ferocity of the Radiant Sun Church Inquisition''s knightly order better than a fellow faith military man like the night watchman.


    Had it not been for the geographical distance and the Radiant Sun Church''s already vast territory, the night watchmen captain had no doubt that the Rhine Kingdom would have already become a diocese of the Radiant Sun Church a long time ago. Against the Radiant Sun Church, the Church of Lady Gold Coin stood no chance!


    Switching his gaze back to the Weisshem camp, still teeming with undead, the night watchmen captain gulped hard.


    Certainly, the Nightmare Butcher had given Charlie Rex some sort of magical artifact capable of summoning endless undead and it was hidden within that tent.


    The Nightmare Butcher''s support for Charlie Rex was even greater than what the Bartalises and the Church of Lady Gold Coin had anticipated.


    The Radiant Sun Church''s speculation that Charlie Rex might be orchestrating catastrophes was something the night watchmen captain had heard of, and he knew that both their knights and Bartalis-sent city defense force scouts had infiltrated Weisshem, only to be captured by the enemy.


    The Church of Lady Gold Coin had feigned ignorance, not out of disinterest in Weisshem''s affairs but rather because they enjoyed seeing the Radiant Sun Church taking the lead in tackling the nuisance¡ªhad it not been for the Inquisition knight''s pursuit, the Nightmare Butcher wouldn''t have ventured into the Rhine Kingdom, so tackling this mess was their responsibility.


    From the Church of Lady Gold Coin''s perspective, the best outcome was a deadly showdown between the Radiant Sun Church''s knightly order and the Nightmare Butcher¡ªboth were thorns in their side, best destroyed.


    But now, witnessing the undead army, merely an extension of the Nightmare Butcher, pinning down the Radiant Sun Church''s knightly order without the Butcher''s direct involvement sent shivers down the night watchmen captain''s spine¡­


    If even the Radiant Sun Church''s knights can''t threaten him or contain him¡­ would the Nightmare Butcher be content with just Weisshem under Charlie Rex''s control? The night watchmen captain considered this and subsequently broke out in a cold sweat.


    At that moment, he saw the traitorous Wagner Pitt and a formidable-looking Sokrian approach the undead within the camp.


    The night watchmen captain felt the hairs on his body stand on end.


    He might not know the Sokrian, but he was familiar with Wagner Pitt. Despite being an unpopular foreigner, Wagner''s rise to an officer in the Bartalis-controlled city defense force was proof of his capability.

 Chapter 176: Negotiations

    Lieutenant Wagner Pitt and Captain Kenn, who had both firsthand experienced the might of the undead legion, were well aware that victory for the undead was merely a matter of time.


    No matter how ferocious the Radiant Sun Church knights were, and even if one single knight could match a hundred, they had their physical limits.


    With the endlessly reinforced undead slowly draining their strength, they would have no choice but to abandon their camp and retreat in defeat.


    Yet, such a result was still insufficient.


    Yang needed captives, while the undead required the weapons and equipment from the captives. Letting either side down would give Wagner and Kenn a massive headache.


    Therefore, to achieve a significant victory and satisfy both Yang and his undead, Wagner and Kenn, as commanders, had no choice but to make some strategic moves.


    Firstly, they gave the undead the mission of cutting off the Radiant Sun Church knight''s retreat path.


    Lizard horses could adapt to most terrains, traverse mountains, and cross waters. They were explosive, strong, and had great endurance, with their only drawback being the bulkiness that made them more cumbersome.


    By having the undead scatter specially made caltrops around the Radiant Sun Church''s camp, the knights would be unable to flee on horseback once they decided to abandon their position.


    Next, they issued various "battlefield missions" to the undead that caused continuous harassment for the enemy and prevented the church knights from being able to rest peacefully.


    Examples of these missions were tasks such as brazenly infiltrating the enemy camp to set off flares, destroying their food supplies, stealing their horses¡­ and more.


    Not all players loved direct confrontation, and completing battlefield missions was part of the fun for some. As Wagner and Kenn issued these missions, players who had grown bored after a few charges and started slacking off eagerly rushed toward the two of them.


    Thanks to the basic "military training" in the monster battlefield, players approached their missions with commendable seriousness and determination.


    The Radiant Sun Church knights forced to retreat to their own camp, along with the observers on the plateau, witnessed a bizarre and comedic, yet unsettling, spectacle of undead infiltration: In broad daylight and in full view, groups of undead, either in tens or twenties, boldly charged into the enemy''s lair.


    Even the Indahl spectators watching from afar with their binoculars were dumbfounded, much less the Radiant Sun Church knights, who had already retreated to their own camp.


    Even more absurd was that these undead, who brazenly invaded the enemy''s territory, seemed utterly indifferent to their "hosts''" feelings. Some randomly threw flares, others used their weapons to destroy supplies, and a few even boldly went to untie the lizard horses¡­


    After eliminating this wave of seemingly crazy undead, the church knights were left utterly baffled, unable to comprehend what had just happened.


    But before long, yet another group of undead charged into the camp with wild screams; driving the resting church knights to the brink of insanity as they were forced to chase these intruders all over the camp¡­


    Concerns about being seen were non-existent for the undead. As long as they weren''t promptly driven out or eliminated, it counted as a successful infiltration in their point of view.


    Meanwhile, on the frontlines, the undead''s harassment continued unabated. They tirelessly piled up bodies to exhaust the enemy while launching abduction raids every few minutes, dragging away a few unfortunate souls each time.


    Wagner, diligently fulfilling his role as a "mission dispenser" for the undead, glanced at the captives jubilantly carried back by the undead and then at the signal flares in the supply box (which were essentially cheap custom-made fireworks), his feelings complex.


    On one hand, he knew the Radiant Sun Church knights wouldn''t last until nightfall; on the other, witnessing a contingent of the continent''s foremost military might being decimated by the undead made him question the value of his years of striving for excellence within the Bartalis''s forces¡­


    Just then, a few undead who had respawned emerged from the tent, cursing and swearing.


    "Damn it! Why is the horse-stealing mission so hard? I''ve died three times and still haven''t completed it!"


    "Blame yourself for getting greedy and picking the hardest mission. There are so many enemies inside, it''d be a miracle if they let you walk out with a horse."


    "Forget it, it''s not that big a loss. I didn''t steal a horse but completed the signal flare mission. Dying once for some territory prestige and battlefield honor points is still a win in my opinion."


    "Let''s pick up another signal flare mission and accept the destroy supplies one. Even a few slashes at their tents count toward completion."


    These undead reported back to Wagner for missions, received new signal flares, and spiritedly headed to the enemy camp once more.


    "No wonder the veterans love these plotline-related battle quests. These enemies are way too weak compared to those in the monster battlefield. Even the weekend event bosses are tougher than these guys."


    "There''s a difference between one-time-only mobs and those that are continuously farmable. Since the game launched, how many plot-related battle quests have there been? Veterans have only done three at most."


    "Hey, I heard that the monsters you fight in these plot-related battle quests will become friendly NPCs after!"


    "Were you on Mars, dude?! The battlefield quartermasters were captured by the veterans and brought over!"


    "I don''t spend much time on the forums¡­"


    The two battlefield quartermasters standing at the back of the camp: "¡­"


    Wagner pressed his temples hard, trying to suppress the throbbing.


    ¡­For the undead, who were accustomed to comparing everything to the demon forces in the demon dimension realm battlefield, the Radiant Sun Church''s knightly order truly wasn''t much of a challenge.


    Time gradually passed, and soon it was five in the afternoon.


    Atop the plateau on the hill, the Indahl audience, having witnessed an exceedingly bizarre and surreal battle, remained in an unusual hush.


    An hour earlier, even the middle-class women unfamiliar with warfare among the audience had foreseen the outcome¡ªthe Weisshem camp had their captives trussed up like pigs, displayed openly in the clearing outside their encampment.


    Half an hour before that, the Radiant Sun Church''s knights, having suffered "casualties" that visibly exceeded 40 percent, launched a desperate all-out assault in an attempt to break through the undead siege encircling their main gate. The attempt not only failed to breach the blockade but also resulted in over a hundred of their steeds being stolen¡ªundead that had taken on the horse-stealing mission joyously swarmed into the camp amid the enemies'' final charge, their glee clear to even the onlooking Indahl audience.


    In the end, after a mere three hours of fierce combat and relentless harassment by the numerically superior undead, the Radiant Sun Church''s knightly order, weary and beleaguered, had no choice but to raise the white flag¡­


    Gould, the loyal Bartalis steward, wiped away the beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead, temples, and chin with a handkerchief held in his shaking hands.


    This knightly order of the Radiant Sun Church, whose military might undoubtedly surpassed that of the Bartalis''s city guard, had lasted a mere three hours against the endless, inexhaustible undead horde!


    Steward Gould felt the entire world darkening. He understood warfare and had personally fought in territorial wars for the Bartalis family in his youth.


    The undead army''s tactics lacked any sophistication. It was merely relentless harassment and abduction while ceaselessly assaulting the camp to deny the enemy any respite until their physical strength, morale, and will to fight were utterly depleted.


    Such brute force tactics, combined with the horrifying ability of the undead to replenish their ranks indefinitely, proved nearly unbeatable!


    Gould couldn''t fathom how the city defense force could ever triumph against such a foe!


    "The Third has to be informed of this immediately." Mustering his strength, Gould stood up, signaled his servants to pack up, and hastily departed from the hilltop, forgetting even to bid farewell to neighboring Darcy''s steward.


    As Gould left, other nobles who had come to watch began to make their exit as well.


    Whether they were previously on good terms or at odds with the Bartalises, none departed with a cheerful demeanor¡­


    After all, during the few months of Charlie Rex''s occupation of Weisshem, these Indahl nobles held little respect for this illegitimate son. Coupled with rumors of Rex''s associations with a black mage and the presence of undead in Weisshem, even the most diplomatic of nobles was loath to associate with him.


    But now that Charlie Rex had flexed his military might and demonstrated the power of his undead army (bolstered by dark magic), these nobles, regardless of their disdain, were compelled to reconsider their diplomatic stance toward this bastard son.


    Mrs. Griff, who had rented a carriage rather than impose on the baroness''s hospitality, sensed the baroness''s grave mood upon parting¡ªa stark contrast to the expected delight over Marcus Baron''s discomfiture.


    Assisted by her housekeeper, Madam Wilde, Mrs. Griff descended the hill and boarded the rented carriage. Then, Mrs. Griff, seasoned in Indahl''s social circles, had an epiphany.


    "Indahl is going to change greatly," murmured Mrs. Griff, a middle-class wife whose husband''s substantial salary earned them a modicum of acceptance among the higher echelons of society.


    "Milady?" Mrs. Wilde, who had just settled into the carriage, didn''t quite catch her mistress''s murmuring.


    "It''s nothing," Mrs. Griff replied, attempting to sound composed despite her pallor betraying her inner turmoil.


    Her husband''s position in the city''s board of trade might be affected if Indahl had a change in lords. That was a coveted position with an annual salary of 50 gold coins; losing it would mean relinquishing their lifestyle in the affluent Grantham district and parting with their servants.


    "The Bartalises have held Indahl for years; surely they won''t be easily usurped¡­ Lord Adra III is well-connected with the nobility in the royal city. They wouldn''t stand by idly," the bourgeois matron consoled herself.


    As the hilltop spectators dispersed, the undead were still clearing up the battlefield¡­


    More precisely put, they were collecting their spoils of war. Captives belonged to the NPCs, while the equipment on them was the players'' prize.


    This had already become an unspoken rule in Taranthan, unchallenged by anyone.


    The spectacle of over nine hundred sets of armor being divided among more than three thousand players made the barren wasteland resemble a bustling free market. If not for the fact that the horses were off-limits to players, designated as mission items to be handed over to the NPCs, there might very well have opened a lively horse market as well.


    The Sea Lion mercenaries, sharing a muted empathy for the Radiant Sun Knights who had followed in their footsteps, efficiently gathered the stripped captives for centralized detention¡ªa task at which they were adept at by this point.


    "Next, we just have to bring the prisoners back," Kenn said numbly to his old comrade, Wagner. "Such a battle is¡­ truly unprecedented."


    "The only silver lining is there''s no need to mourn the fallen comrades after the fact," Wagner remarked, glancing at the undead who had each perished at least 20 times over, his expression complicated.


    Kenn couldn''t help but nod in agreement. Were it his mercenaries that were pitted against the Radiant Sun Church''s might, the outcome would have been absolutely miserable.


    These Taranthan undead were indeed unruly, defiant, impulsive, and reckless. However, they also display certain commendable traits¡ªfearlessness; the ability to execute short-term, goal-oriented tasks; a penchant for straightforward and effective tactics; and a relentless pursuit of victory.


    "With such an extraordinary army at Yang''s disposal, what can''t he achieve?" Kenn mused. "Even the formidable Radiant Sun Church contingent has been thoroughly defeated. I can''t imagine who else could stand against them."


    This time, it was Wagner''s turn to nod in silent agreement.


    If there was one glaring weakness in the otherwise indomitable undead, it was the tent that allowed the fallen to swiftly resurrect and rejoin the battle.


    Fortunately, their enemies didn''t have a chance to assail this vulnerability.


    Wagner himself, together with Kenn and his mercenaries, as well as the coerced ascetic Lowell, formed the last line of defense for the resurrection tent.


    Ascetic Lowell, in particular, would certainly pose a formidable barrier even if the Radiant Church knights had managed to breach the undead lines.


    A high-level ascetic like Lowell might not be keen to actively fight enemies for Yang''s sake, but protecting a small tent was a modest enough request that he couldn''t easily refuse. Moreover, ascetics were particularly suited for such tasks.


    Even without Lowell''s assistance, Yang could take to the field himself¡ªthough a black mage might not be as adept at defense as an ascetic, it still wouldn''t be an easy task to break through.


    However¡­ Wagner didn''t feel any unease recognizing Yang''s formidable might.


    He had witnessed firsthand how the town of Weisshem flourished under the administration of Charlie Rex, the undead town mayor Ji Tang, and the undead Sis Zhao of the Merchant Association.


    Deep down, he had no doubt that Indahl would fare even better under Yang''s rule than under the Bartalises.


    "The issue lies with Indahl itself," Wagner mused, his gaze drifting toward the northeast, where Indahl lay. "It''s not as straightforward as Weisshem."


    With Weisshem''s decline following the loss of its main trade, local nobility in Weisshem had all moved to Indahl. Relocating all the red-light district merchants to a containment facility sort of dealt with the issue of local resistance.


    Indahl, however, would be different. Most of the territory''s nobility resided within the city walls.


    Managing Indahl would absolutely not be a simple feat. Even the Bartalises had struggled to handle the complex web of local nobility''s power and influence.


    "How will Rex handle it¡­ no, what will Yang do?" Wagner pondered, trying to fathom Yang''s next move.


    While Wagner was trying to guess Yang Qiu''s thoughts, the latter, who had confirmed the undead''s splendid victory via the imprint matrix, calmly stepped out of Weisshem town hall, summoned an undead horse, and left town in the direction of Indahl.


    Just before night fell, Yang Qiu entered Indahl''s gates openly and summoned the former bandit trio Hal, Tuttle, and Finley, who had been lingering within the city.


    The former bandit trio, having gotten a huge windfall, were wary of Yang, fearing he might demand a share¡­


    Yang, however, didn''t care about that; instead, he gave them a new mission that had to be completed within a specified timeframe. With that, he dismissed the trio with a wave of his hand.


    After sending the trio on their way, Yang Qiu then went to visit the Church of Lady Gold Coin''s night watchmen division.


    Yang Qiu''s unannounced visit nearly gave the officials there a heart attack, but it served its purpose well. Within 20 minutes, Bishop Lee Jene of the local Church of Lady Gold Coin and Night Watchmen Captain Lynch Clarke appeared at the reception room where Yang Qiu was waiting.


    Yang greeted Bishop Lee Jene with a nod and turned to Captain Clarke, smiling. "Good evening, Clarke. My man, Von Alphonse, was under your care; I have yet to express my gratitude."


    Captain Clarke froze, casting a desperate glance at the bishop. The entire city knew about Von Alphonse''s service to the night watchmen and his public execution by Clarke. Yang''s opener had left him without any means of rebuttal!


    Bishop Lee Jene gave Clarke a reassuring look and took his seat across from Yang, his expression stern. "We appreciate the efforts of all exorcists, but we do not favor any particular one. Please state your business directly, black mage."


    "Do not misunderstand me, esteemed bishop," Yang replied with a smile. "I highly respect the teachings of the Church of Lady Gold Coin. Had I not become a spellcaster, I might have been a devout follower of Lady Gold Coin."


    Even as a casual remark, coming from the Nightmare Butcher who had just humiliated the Radiant Sun Church a few hours earlier, these words sounded surprisingly pleasant to Bishop Lee Jene. The bishop''s expression softened slightly, though he maintained a firm stance. "Unfortunately, there are no ifs in our doctrine."


    Yang Qiu''s smile deepened.


    He understood the subtleties of dealing with a person like Bishop Lee Jene. After all, having lived over three centuries, dealing with a youngster who had barely lived 60 to 70 years was child''s play.


    Lady Gold Coin, the goddess of money and trade, was worshiped in their faith. In her doctrine, everything had a price and could be negotiated.


    Even the Radiant Sun Church can pay to construct their churches within your strongholds, and here you are, presenting an inflexible stance toward me. Are you trying to insult the thickness of my wallet or simply looking to hike up the price?


    Unfortunately, I''ll be rejecting both possibilities.


    Yang''s smile remained unchanged as he spoke, "Even so, this doesn''t affect my reverence for Lady Gold Coin. My followers are always keen on maintaining a good relationship with the Church of Lady Gold Coin¡ªlike Von Alphonse, for instance."


    Captain Clarke of the Night Watchmen wanted to bury his head in the ground, wishing that this matter wouldn''t be brought up.


    Yang continued, his smile unabated, "Another of my followers, Charlie Rex, is quite adept at managing territories. Should he receive more support and have more room to maneuver, he would be better able to express my respects to Lady Gold Coin on my behalf."


    Captain Clarke was stunned, and Bishop Jene''s mouth twitched. The Church of Lady Gold Coin was known for being lax, but they hadn''t expected the Nightmare Butcher to be that ridiculous. Couldn''t he be a bit more subtle?!


    Yang Qiu''s point was straightforward: my people would dutifully pay the tithe after occupying Indahl as per the norms. They were much better at managing the territory and would undoubtedly make more money. Therefore, the church''s share wouldn''t diminish but instead increase.


    But expecting extra donations beyond the tithe was wishful thinking!


    Before the outcome of the battle of honor between Charlie Rex and the Radiant Sun Church, Yang Qiu''s words might not have carried much weight.


    Indeed, black mages specialized in offensive area magic and curses that instilled fear, but a single one could hardly threaten an entire city¡ªkilling too many people would only lead to a loss of control, and without killing, one couldn''t expect subservience.


    However, just today, a few hours ago, even without personally appearing, Black Mage Yang had showcased to hundreds of Indahl observers how his undead army could utterly defeat a formidable knightly order.


    This forced Bishop Jin to take Yang''s demands¡­ no, requests seriously.


    If the Church of Lady Gold Coin weren''t willing to negotiate, Yang would still insist on having Charlie Rex lead the undead army and forcefully take Indahl, an act they would have no answer to.


    To resist meant confronting Yang head-on; to do nothing meant watching Indahl''s lordship change hands. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Nobody believed the Bartalises'' city defense force could withstand the undead army''s assault, especially when the Radiant Sun Church''s knightly order only lasted three hours.


    A more significant reason for Bishop Jene''s hesitance to confront Yang was the fear of provoking him. If the madman ran to attack the Church of Lady Gold Coin''s holy land, it would make Jene a pariah within the faith.


    After a pause, Bishop Jene vaguely stated, "¡­Ultimately, Charlie Rex''s status is too low."


    Indeed, Indahl was merely a peripheral territory of the Rhine Kingdom, but it boasted nearly the size and population of a count''s land. Charlie Rex, being nothing more than a viscount''s bastard, made it difficult for Bishop Jene to support such a lord.


    Yang confidently smiled and started to weave false truths. "Regarding Rex''s status, please rest assured. Not long ago, Charlie met with Parker Chapman Odysse, the third son of Count Odysse, who has friendly relations with his father, Viscount Rex.


    "Young Master Parker was pleasantly surprised to reunite with his childhood friend and brought good news: Viscount Rex had been searching for Charlie, hoping to mend their father-son relationship, a sentiment Count Odysse also favored."


    Captain Clarke and Bishop Jene: "¡­.."


    "Young Master Parker promised Charlie that upon his return to Indahl, he would bring his father''s profound love and the Odysse family''s support," Yang went on cheerfully. "Due to a rift with the Bartalises, Young Master Parker avoided Indahl City on his last visit. I believe he''d be delighted to enjoy the city''s night view next time around."


    The premise for the Odysse family''s goodwill toward Charlie Rex was that this illegitimate son had the support from the Church of Lady Gold Coin. And if Charlie Rex could get the church''s backing, he could naturally count on the friendship of the Odysse family¡­ This logic was flawless and perfect.

 Chapter 177: Sleepless Night

    News of Charlie Rex leading the undead army to capture and completely vanquish the Radiant Sun Church''s knightly order spread throughout Indahl City in half a day.


    Weisshem was just one of the twenty-odd towns in Indahl territory, and despite the swirling rumors regarding it, the city''s populace hadn''t really paid much attention. A town with the least population and the poorest economy in the territory wasn''t worth the city folks'' concern¡­ especially when the new lord was an illegitimate son.


    Were it not for the recurring mention of undead, creatures that aroused both curiosity and fear, Charlie Rex wouldn''t even qualify as a topic of conversation among the city folk¡ªcity life, unlike that of rural towns, wasn''t so barren. The local Indahl Weekly, along with magazines and newspapers from the Rhine Kingdom delivered by steam trains every fortnight, provided ample intellectual nourishment.


    Let alone the dignified nobility; even middle-class folk, when gathered together, delighted in discussing national affairs and bringing up a local rural town was tantamount to soliciting disdain for one''s short-sightedness.


    This high-and-mighty regional snobbery wasn''t just a flaw limited to that of Earth''s people.


    But now, no one dared to underestimate this bastard lord¡­ Especially the local nobility.


    While Yang Qiu was having a pleasant chat with the bishop and the night watchmen captain of the Church of Lady Gold Coin, Viscount Darcy, of the second most influential family in Indahl after the Bartalises, saw an unending stream of visitors at his home.


    In Viscount Darcy''s study, landlords, who owned over 40 percent of the local fertile land, gathered to discuss the future of Indahl passionately.


    Tuttle Joe, the most respectable-looking of the former bandit trio and a ranger, took advantage of the bustling Viscount Darcy''s estate to blend in, posing as a noble''s servant. He stationed himself at the study''s door, openly eavesdropping.


    Inside, some noblemen believed that Charlie Rex, with his humble origins, could be easily appeased with a little recognition. Others saw tolerating a bastard in a high position as a disgrace to Indahl, calling for a collective effort to drive him out. Yet, some suggested waiting to see if Charlie Rex would willingly integrate into Indahl''s upper circles, in which case accepting him wouldn''t be out of the question.


    These gentlemen were deeply engrossed in their discussion, much to the listening Tuttle''s chagrin.


    No wonder Yang, that cunning old monster, put Rex forward as a figurehead while he himself lay low¡­ The enemies are exhausting their efforts on Rex, sparing Yang much trouble!


    Just as Tuttle was nodding off, a calm and steady voice of an elderly man emanated from the study. "Gentlemen, please heed my words. Adra III is the true master of Indahl. How we respond to the sudden rise of young Charlie Rex should be guided by His Lordship''s disposition."


    This was undoubtedly a trite statement¡ªeven a simpleton could deduce that Adra III would not be pleased to see Charlie Rex flexing his muscles, least of all happy about this upstart threatening their family''s domain.


    Though trivial, it clearly reflected Viscount Darcy''s stance: he had no interest in helping the Bartalises fend off their adversary; rather preferring to see both parties suffer mutual destruction.


    Even if Charlie Rex emerged victorious and became the new lord reigning over them, Viscount Darcy couldn''t care less. So what if he was a bastard? The illustrious and valorous ancestor of the Bartalis family, Adra I, had once moonlighted as a highwayman during times of familial financial strife!


    With the nobility circle being so tight-knit, which family didn''t have secrets known to others?


    The study fell into a hushed silence.


    Viscount Darcy''s nonchalant attitude toward the superficialities of high society was something he alone could afford to display so openly. After all, in environments ruled by strict norms, those at the top of the power hierarchy needed not concern themselves too much with adhering to these conventions.


    At the doorway to the study, Tuttle adjusted his bow tie, tilting his head up slightly so that passing servants wouldn''t catch the smirk on his face.


    Tuttle''s comrades, Hal and Finley, had agreed to spy for Yang, seeing potential in aligning with him and recognizing that their status would elevate as Yang''s territory expanded. Tuttle''s motives, however, slightly diverged from theirs¡­ He was keen to see how Yang, the madman capable of relegating a count''s nephew to working the sewers, would trample over Indahl''s elite.


    No one knew the depth of Tuttle''s hatred for those born into an elite class, destined to only look down upon others. His father''s lifelong efforts and his family had been destroyed because of a noble scion dabbling in the lower ranks of the National Guard.


    That madman definitely won''t disappoint me, thought Tuttle to himself in glee.


    Meanwhile, Hal and Finley, who clearly didn''t look like decent beings and wouldn''t blend into an aristocratic setting, were hustling about Saint Joseph Street.


    Yang Qiu had bluntly told them he needed more unpaid labor, and his intentions were immediately grasped by Hal and Finley.


    "Yang''s really black-hearted," Hal muttered as they stepped out of a tavern. Pretending to rest by the roadside, they casually marked the tavern''s wall with chalk. "He could mess around in a backwater place like Weisshem, but to cause chaos in a big city like this¡­ Isn''t he worried about throwing the entire Indahl into disarray?"


    Finley gave his comrade a surprised look¡­ It was indeed rare for Hal to use terms like "mess around."


    "Anyway, it''s not our mess to clean up," Finley whispered back. "Besides, Charlie seems pretty competent. It might not turn into chaos, after all."


    Hal frowned. "Why are you also seeing that fellow''s praises? Without those undead, I doubt Charlie could do anything at all."


    Finley got up and dusted off his hands. "That''s exactly my point. With those undead, Charlie can handle most troubles."


    Rising to his feet, Hal grumbled, "That guy''s just riding on his shady noble father''s coattails. Without that status, nothing good would come his way."


    Finley wisely kept his mouth shut. He knew Hal harbored some jealousy toward Charlie Rex.


    Though a puppet lord, Charlie Rex was still a lord. Once Indahl was taken, the Rhine throne would have to begrudgingly grant him official nobility. Yang had no use for such titles, so the benefit would inevitably fall to Charlie.


    Given that they all started off managing construction sites in the Taranthan wastelands, the disparity between their fortunes was bound to breed resentment.


    Strolling past bars teeming with scantily clad hostesses, Hal and Finley marked over 80 percent of them, then diligently headed to the inn district.


    After canvassing the inn district, they proceeded toward the Free Market.


    The northern sections of Saint Joseph Street, with its red-light district and casino areas, didn''t need marking; not a single establishment there was clean, so they planned to have the undead simply storm in when the time came.


    The southern end, near the Free Market and the church, had row houses and bungalows housing ordinary citizens. There were also numerous cheap brothels catering to the common folk, especially around the Free Market. At night, heavily made-up streetwalkers lingered near streetlights.


    Hal and Finley didn''t bother with the aged prostitutes who had fallen on hard times and roamed the streets. Instead, they searched the alleys for hidden or conspicuous brothels, marking each one they found.


    By dawn, the exhausted trio reconvened at their lodging.


    "We didn''t have to work this hard when we hit Weisshem last time," Hal complained bitterly. "Yang''s becoming less and less courteous to us!"


    Tuttle and Finley had no strength to respond and collapsed onto their beds.


    The trio weren''t the only ones to endure a sleepless night.


    The white-robed bishop of the Radiant Sun Church branch in Indahl retreated into the prayer room and remained there all night after receiving news from the wasteland battlefield.


    This bishop had considered the possibility of defeat, though he never imagined the knightly order would be defeated this badly¡­


    Following this incident, the Radiant Sun Church''s reputation in Indahl was tarnished beyond repair. Their missionary work in the region was doomed to stagnation for at least a few years to come.


    By dawn, the bishop, having spent a night of solemn contemplation in the prayer room, emerged to address several anxious young priests with a heavy sigh.


    "Henceforth, all members within Indahl are to avoid any and all conflicts with the Nightmare Butcher and his followers," the aged bishop advised the young priests with a heavy tone. "Until that man tires of his prolonged stay and departs¡­ we shall merely serve as the church''s outpost here, a supply station for the faith."


    After pausing for a bit, the bishop added solemnly, "And everyone must remember¡­ not to follow in Walton''s footsteps."


    "Yes, Your Reverence," the young priests responded in unison.


    With a nod, the bishop shuffled back to his quarters, regret gnawing at him for not having taken a firmer stand against Walton''s covert actions with the city defense force when he had the chance.


    Now, not only had they lost everything, but he also had to figure out how to scrape together enough resources to ransom back those captured by the undead!


    While the Radiant Sun Church mourned their loss of wealth and prestige, the Bartalis manor was engulfed in a far more personal and agonizing turmoil.


    Upon hearing from his loyal steward, Gould, of Charlie Rex''s undead army''s resounding victory and the capture of the esteemed Radiant Sun Church knights¡ªarguably more prestigious than his own city defense force¡ªAdra III''s first instinct was to flee.


    But at that crucial juncture, Gould, ever faithful, clutched at his sleeve, offering bitter advice tinged with concern.


    "If you leave now, my lord, you may never return! Think about what happened to Baron Markus!"


    Adra III, who had just shot up from his seat, sat back down. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He would have an itch to return to the royal capital from time to time ever since he reluctantly took over the lordship from his late father. But now, he was clear that if Indahl wasn''t a territory of his family, he wouldn¡¯t be able to afford a lavish lifestyle in the capital.


    The annual steady influx of territorial taxes and the wealth garnered from the myriad of estates and farms scattered throughout Indahl were the very foundations of Adra III''s extravagant and indulgent lifestyle.


    "That bastard is sure to come for us. What are we to do, Gould?" Adra III''s already indistinct features squished together in panic as he clutched at the old steward''s hand in desperate seek of counsel.


    "You must summon the sheriff and the captain of the city defense force, instructing them to bolster our defenses," Gould stated, his eyes bloodshot, his voice strained as he bit down hard. "Moreover, you must seek an audience with the Church of Lady Gold Coin''s Bishop Jene and implore for their aid¡­ Offer them the largest estate in Neuen Town in exchange for the support of at least two of their knightly orders. Bishop Jene will consider such a proposal!"


    Adra III gasped in horror. That was the Bartalises'' finest estate!


    After a moment''s hesitation, Gould added, "Perhaps¡­ it might be prudent to have Madam bring the young masters and visit her family¡­ It has been years since she last paid them a visit."


    Adra III was utterly dumbfounded.

 Chapter 178: Feed Mill

    December 3, Tuesday, Earth time.


    For the Earth players, the battle mission in the unnamed wasteland that provided abundant rewards only happened yesterday, but to the inhabitants of OtherWorld, two days had already passed.


    Rumors and gossip swirled through the city in those two days, reaching even the workers in the northern districts and the disorderly civilian districts in the west. The news that the Bartalises'' position was unstable and Indahl might soon see a new master was widespread.


    Of course, such widespread rumors were not without a nudge from certain parties, like Viscount Darcy who delighted in the upheaval of Indahl''s dynamics. Neither the previous nor the current head of the Bartalis family was particularly genteel, and having suffered at their hands for a lifetime, Viscount Darcy found immense joy in witnessing their downfall in his twilight years.


    The primary reason Viscount Darcy dared to be so bold against the Bartalises was¡­ the Church of Lady Gold Coin''s ambiguous stance.


    During these two days, Adra III had personally visited the Church of Lady Gold Coin thrice, yet Bishop Jene hadn''t given a definitive response. This noncommittal attitude was a statement in itself¡ªthe Church of Lady Gold Coin had no interest in meddling in this affair.


    The anxious Bartalis family had no choice but to send away their heirs¡­


    "At last, this disreputable family, with bandit blood running through their veins, is going to be ousted." Viscount Darcy, over 60 years of age, cheerfully sipped his wine in his study as he ordered a few attendants, "Go, take some men and keep watch over the estates in Neuen Town, Horseshoe Town, Everwatch Town, and Cain Town."


    The efficient attendants promptly acknowledged the order.


    Relations among nobility were firmly intertwined yet also brutally cold and ruthless. Any sign of weakness in one family becomes fodder for the others¡ªa "winner takes all" situation not unfamiliar to capitalists.


    While Viscount Darcy scorned the Bartalises for their "bandit lineage," he himself was no saint. Turning to his steward, he said, "Ford, have Gina bring some gifts on my behalf and visit Rex in Weisshem. The young ones will have far more in common than they would with an old man like me."


    Steward Ford respectfully acknowledged and left to make preparations.


    Gina Darcy, the viscount''s third granddaughter, was a demure and graceful young lady. Among his six granddaughters, she might not have been the most remarkable, but it was her who was chosen for this delicate task.


    Sending his granddaughter was essentially Viscount Darcy placing a bet. If the ambitious Charles Rex was open to alliance through marriage with the Darcys, who represented the local nobility, then Gina, a granddaughter who wasn''t particularly outstanding, could fulfill the role of a marriage tool more cost-effectively.


    In the Rhine Kingdom, the status of noblewomen within their families was significantly higher than in the neighboring Norsk Federation. However, without skills beyond serving as a tool for marriage, they wouldn''t receive much support from their families¡­ The only consolation was that their dowries wouldn''t be stinted by their families.


    Gina Darcy, when personally informed by Steward Ford of her grandfather''s request, knew her day had come.


    The 19-year-old noblewoman had no time to dwell on her fate. Surrounded by her maids, she changed into a formal dress, took the gifts, and hurriedly boarded the carriage.


    As the carriage bearing the Darcy family crest left the city, a peculiar convoy arrived just outside the western city gate, at the mule and horse market.


    The market, bustling only on weekends and holidays, was a desolate dirt square on weekdays. The arrival of this convoy caught the attention of the guards at the city gate nearby.


    No sooner had the convoy entered the market, a couple of guards approached.


    Before the guards could get close, the convoy cut through the mule and horse market, heading straight for the slums on the other side.


    The city guards halted, exchanged puzzled glances, then looked back at their commanding officer, who, equally baffled, gestured for them to follow the convoy for a closer look.


    The strange convoy not only drew the city guards'' attention but also intrigued the children playing nearby, idlers squatting by the road, and residents washing clothes at their doorsteps, long before it reached the slums.


    With most of the able-bodied men and women out in the city looking for work, the slums were mostly inhabited by the elderly, children, and women during the day. As the convoy approached, the women, startled yet curious, quickly called their children inside, dragging the dirt-covered little ones back into their homes.


    The convoy, consisting of four enclosed, bizarre carriages with thick wheels and unusual driver''s seats, stopped at the edge of the slum. Four drivers emerged from the "cockpits" and skillfully began feeding the horses, showing no interest in the slums.


    As the drivers tended to the horses, about a dozen sturdy men jumped down from the carriages, unloading unfamiliar machinery that the locals rarely saw. They began assembling the equipment on the open ground in front of the slums¡­


    The slum residents, unaccustomed to such a spectacle, retreated indoors, peering out through windows and door cracks. Some braver children even ventured out to the edge of the clearing to watch from a distance.


    Two city guards who had followed behind were baffled by the group''s actions and called out, "Hey, what are you doing?"


    "We''re setting up a mobile mill," replied a young man as he connected a rubber hose to a heavy rectangular device, without turning to face them.


    When they saw the man''s face, both guards were taken aback, and one of them asked, "Eh? You¡­ Haven''t I seen you somewhere before?"


    The young man responded with a good-natured smile but didn''t respond, instead continuing his work and hooking up the other end of the hose to a strange cylindrical metal case.


    With the unfamiliar machinery set up, the young men warmly called out to the slum residents.


    "Attention, everyone! The mobile milling service is here, offering on-site flour milling at low prices! Just one copper coin processing fee for every five kilograms of corn!"


    "Come and take a look!"


    The enticingly low prices compared to the city mills tempted the slum denizens here, and soon, some cautiously approached with sacks of corn¡­


    During the autumn harvest when corn was cheapest, the residents would stockpile as much dried corn as possible. They''d have it coarsely ground at city mills to make a thick porridge by stirring it into boiling water¡ªa filling, if not particularly tasty, meal that was more economical than buying half a kilogram of black bread for several copper coins.


    The young men, formerly soldiers of the Indahl city defense force and now Weisshem town hall staff, enthusiastically helped the incoming clients sift their corn for impurities before grinding it on the spot.


    As the machinery roared to life, finely ground cornmeal flowed from the outlet, making the jaws of onlookers drop¡­


    Curiosity led the city guards to squeeze through the crowd to the roaring machine, where one bent down to scoop a handful of cornmeal from the bag below the outlet. On standing back up, the guard exclaimed in amazement, "Hey, fellas, what''s this contraption? How does it grind so quickly and finely?"


    The young men only offered smiles in response.


    The mill that these youthful staff brought from Weisshem wasn''t the kind of mill found in factory districts capable of producing very fine flour, but rather a more compact and portable feed grinder. Despite how sturdy the Carriage Department''s vehicles were, they couldn''t haul many of the larger, factory-grade milling machines, especially not while also transporting diesel generators and fuel barrels.


    In contrast, this feed mill was far more practical. Capable of pulverizing even branches into dust, grinding corn into meal was a breeze for it. Although it wasn''t a proper flour mill, the resulting granules were of a micro-scale quality, far surpassing that of traditional water mills.


    The first brave customer, who brought 10 kilograms of corn, saw it milled in just a few minutes. Delighted, she paid two copper coins and joyfully carried the ground cornmeal home, prompting more customers to flock to the site.


    The two guards looked at each other and decided to run back to the city. Cornmeal was a staple for the city''s populace, akin to potatoes, and this opportunity to process it so affordably wasn''t to be missed.


    Within half an hour, city residents began to make their way to the west gate, joining the queue at the milling site. Not just those with corn came but also those with wheat.


    By the next day, as word spread, not only did more city residents head toward the west gate, but farmers from surrounding villages also arrived, bringing their crops on donkeys and mules to have them milled¡­


    Hearing of this blatant competition right outside the west gate, the city''s millers were livid. They gathered dozens of their workers and apprentices, ready to confront the "mobile mill" with shovels and clubs.


    However, before this rowdy crowd could even leave the city, they were urgently recalled.


    The reason it was halted was because the city''s millers had learned the origins of this mobile mean¡ªsome people realized the young men were former city defense force soldiers and subordinates of the "traitor" Wagner Pitt.


    Wagner Pitt''s affiliation to Weisshem''s new lord was common knowledge in the city. Local nobility was pondering how to curry favor with him, so the city''s miller didn''t dare stir up trouble at such a time.


    Thus, the mobile mill from Weisshem settled in next to the mule and horse market outside the west gate¡­


    Elsewhere, Viscount Darcy''s granddaughter, Gina Darcy, was sitting quietly in an inn on Weisshem''s main street, awaiting an audience with Charles Rex.


    At an age full of curiosity, Gina might have explored unfamiliar streets elsewhere, but Weisshem was too intimidating a place for such ventures.


    It wasn''t just her. The accompanying steward, maids, and coachmen didn''t dare venture out of the inn, and all just stayed put.


    The reason was simple. The unsettling sight of skeletal undead casually passing by on the streets was too much for those unaccustomed to such sights.


    After three days confined in the cramped inn, Young Miss Gina finally received word that Charlie Rex would see her.


    In the town hall''s reception room, Young Miss Gina met¡­ Charlie Rex, whose tanned skin and closely cropped hair bore no resemblance to the rumors about him.


    Staring at the young man who contradicted the image of "Charlie Rex" she''d heard about, Gina was speechless for a full thirty seconds.


    "It''s a pleasure to have you visit Weisshem, Miss Gina," Rex said, his demeanor polite and friendly. "I''m sorry, but I cannot accept the gifts from Viscount Darcy. Please convey my apologies to your grandfather."


    With that curt rejection, the busy Rex hurried away.


    Young Miss Gina sat dumbfounded as the accompanying steward, unwilling to give up, chased after Rex only to stop at the sight of him conversing with two undead in the corridor. Returning with a look of indignation, the steward exclaimed, "This man is so rude! What do we do now, Miss Gina?"


    Gina stiffly shook her head, remaining unmoving.


    Being rejected was something Miss Gina had considered; she knew her appearance wasn''t particularly charming.


    And from Charlie Rex''s reaction (if he indeed was Charles Rex), it seemed he had little interest in marrying into Indahl nobility.


    Gina Darcy, often overlooked within the Darcy family, was no naive girl. Growing up in a noble household, only the foolish lacked the acumen for strategic marriages.


    "It appears Grandfather''s hopes might be dashed," Gina muttered softly to herself.


    As a young lady of a viscount family, Gina''s reception in Weisshem was considered less than warm. She stayed in a civilian inn recommended by a town hall clerk without any special treatment during her wait. Even in the town hall, no clerk or officer paid her any special regard; everyone treated her as just another ordinary visitor.


    Gina was accustomed to being ignored in her own family, but since she was representing her grandfather, she found the indifference in Weisshem particularly striking¡­ It was clear that the people of Weisshem cared little for Indahl nobility!


    Instinct told her that something wasn''t right, but Gina couldn''t pinpoint what it was. At this moment, a commotion outside jolted her.


    Before she could turn over and look, her maid''s terrified whisper and the steward''s shocked retreat caught her attention.


    The sight outside the reception room explained their reactions¡ªthe odd mound in the courtyard flashed continuously with white light, from which undead emerged one after another¡­


    Gina paled, clutching the arms of her chair and rising slowly.


    The number of undead in the courtyard was increasing.


    "Could it be¡­ today?" Her heart raced, and her breathing got labored. "Is today¡­ the day Weisshem attacks Indahl?!"


    In the hallway outside the reception room, Rex, who had just coldly refused Miss Gina, was rubbing his temples.


    "So, Yang has spun my tale into a narrative for all the undead, hasn''t he?" Rex grappled with the revelation.


    "Indeed," Ji Tang affirmed with a note of sympathy. "He even took liberties with the tale, suggesting you suffered at the hands of the Rex family and that your mother''s demise was entwined with¡­ domestic strife, among other fabrications."


    "It''s fine, Rex," Zhao Zhenzhen offered consolation. "While our kin require a justifiable cause to undertake meaningful endeavors, the intricacies of such a pretext matter little to most."


    Her observation was sound; indeed, the majority of players harbored little interest in the storyline¡ªso long as there were monsters to defeat and treasures to claim, they were content.


    "How does my background qualify as a legitimate pretext?" Rex couldn''t help but feel bemused at the irony.


    Exchanging glances, both Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen found themselves in a quandary. "Well," Ji Tang began with a hint of exasperation, "tales of princes on quests for vengeance and damsels in distress stories are timeless favorites¡­ You needn''t take it to heart. Our brethren may rally to this cause in your name, but rest assured, their perceptions of you won''t be swayed. In their eyes, you remain just like Hal and the others."


    These were just memes in the eyes of players and indeed didn''t need to be taken seriously.


    Rex once again found himself facepalming.


    His "Inner Demon Instance" would routinely massacre untold undead three nights in a row, biweekly, and now they were expected to view him as a beacon of inspiration¡­ No matter the perspective, it was a notion he found impossible to ignore!


    As Rex grappled with his dilemma, Yang Qiu had little patience for his delicate sensibilities. Coming from the main hall, he urged, "Stop dawdling, Rex. It''s time to move."


    This upcoming "siege" followed the same protocol as the previous battle on the wastelands: initial missions were assigned to a specific subset of players, allowing a fraction to accompany the NPCs to the frontline and establish respawn points before summoning the undead legions to join the fray.


    Given the need to make a public appearance before the citizens of Indahl, Rex couldn''t rely on Ascetic Lowell to stand in for him this time¡­ He had to personally make an appearance.


    With his emotions in a jumbled mess, Rex followed Yang out of the hall, still trying to mentally prepare for the encounter with the undead. But before he could even begin, he overheard a rather impudent skeleton atop the dais openly critiquing his appearance¡ª sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "No offense, but Rex really doesn''t fit the bill of a revenge-driven protagonist. His visage, marked by a blend of vigor and melancholy, seems more suited for a tragic side story¡ªthe kind doomed from the start. To cast him as the lead is stretching it."


    Rex. "¡­"


    The insolent skeleton''s companion seemed to agree, nodding. "Indeed, Rex''s design hardly screams ''hero.'' He''d be more believable switching faces with the pretty boy."


    Another bored skeleton chimed in, "Well, you never know. This siege is bound to be tougher than the wasteland battle. Maybe Rex is here as an NPC to be a casualty in the first wave. Once he falls, it''ll be the pretty boy''s turn to shine."


    The first skeleton seemed to be enlightened. "Ah, that makes sense! It was the pretty boy who led the troops before, right?"


    "No wonder the pretty boy never tried to usurp Old Yang''s position. The main plot has already been set here."


    "Definitely, the pretty boy fits the role of lord much better!"


    Rex. "¡­"


    He silently inhaled sharply. He must have been crazy to even feel a shred of guilt toward these undead before!

 Chapter 179: Battle For The City (1)

    Two days (OtherWorld time) prior, Charlie Rex''s declaration of war was delivered to the Bartalis residence.


    This declaration, beyond formally challenging the Bartalises for the dominion of Indahl, came with an additional, considerate suggestion¡ª


    Should the Bartalises opt for surrender and peacefully cede Indahl, Charlie Rex assured a generous grace period for the Bartalises to liquidate their estates and depart with dignity, never to return.


    Upon reading it, Adra III slammed the table in fury. How was this any different from exile in disguise?!


    Offering time for asset liquidation without safeguarding from plunder was tantamount to inviting robbers right to his doorstep!


    These terms obviously weren''t acceptable to Adra III. The incensed Viscount Bartalis commanded his steward, Gould, to hasten asset transfer while urgently convening the city''s nobility, demanding a muster of private armies to face this external threat.


    Despite raised eyebrows, the nobility didn''t object to this final edict from Adra III; even the vacillating Viscount Darcy summoned his men from his estates¡­


    Each noble, driven by their own agendas, was loath to fight for the Bartalises. Yet, they knew well the importance of demonstrating their might during Charlie Rex''s ascension: to instill a wary respect in the ambitious upstart. After all, this was a man who dared to detain a count''s nephew for ransom. To appear weak before such an unscrupulous character was to invite untold audacity.


    Thus, the local nobles of Indahl busied themselves with uneasy preparations for two days until the undead legion of Weisshem arrive.


    December 4, Wednesday, 7 p.m., Earth time.


    After a frantic hour-and-a-half (game time) sprint¡­ players of the vanguard, who had long separated from the NPC contingent accompanying them, saw Indahl''s formidable west gate and seemingly endless walls in the distance.


    "Whoa! We didn''t get the chance to see previously, but was Indahl this grand?" Jia Lou, who managed to come online right in time for the pre-battle quest, grabbed her friend and exclaimed excitedly. "Look at those walls, aren''t they something else!"


    "Okay okay, spare me. I see it too." Tang Jia brushed off Jia Luo''s enthusiastic tugging. "You''ve seen that metal fortress in the Monster Battlefield countless times and never got this worked up."


    "It''s different! That fortress is just a texture, but this city is part of the game''s main world and accessible for exploration! Weisshem already had its share of NPCs and streets; who knows what an actual city looks like. Hey, do you think this game might recreate real cities just like Assassin''s Creed? The scale of these walls is already so huge, I feel that it''s possible!"


    For those who ventured into Indahl during the "Weisshem''s Financial Crisis" quest, stealth had been paramount to avoid detection, leaving participating players little opportunity to admire the city''s architecture.


    While players proficient in makeup skills like Blossoming Strokes managed a glimpse of the streets, Jia Luo, who lacked such skills, spent her time lurking in the sewers¡ªa rather dire experience in comparison.


    "Next thing you know, we''ll find a Renmin Road and a Zhongshan Road here, maybe even stumble upon a Bishuiyuan Community or a Wanda Plaza," Unceasing Entropy made a cold joke.


    "I''ll raise you a Nanjing Road and a Guangzhou Alley!" Blossoming Strokes didn''t know whether to laugh. "This is a fantasy game, after all; let''s give its setting a little respect, shall we?"


    "I''m only concerned about one thing," Qin Guan declared, his gaze piercing. "Once we take this city, will the game allow players to become mayor?"


    The fellow players in the vanguard hummed and hawed in response, their eyes fixed on the distant, magnificent cityscape of this fantasy-styled metropolis.


    "It''d be epic if we could actually rule over such a grand city! Imagine the amount of land that would be up for grabs," mused one player, caught up in the excitement.


    "Ou Huang made a killing just by running a shop in Weisshem and dealing with NPCs. If we got our hands on some real estate here, we''d be rolling in cash!" another player speculated in glee.


    "I doubt it," mused Blossoming Strokes. "Weisshem and Exile Town aside, it''s improbable for a player to become the highest governing official of such a massive city."


    Unceasing Entropy pondered for a moment and nodded. "I think so, too. The game seems to have an underlying rule which is that the more NPCs there are, the less freedom for players. Despite both being player mayors, the one in Weisshem has far less authority than in Exile Town."


    Hearing this, the seasoned players of the vanguard cast sympathetic glances toward their fellow comrade and Exile Town''s current mayor, Brother Lahong, who was present among them¡­


    In the recent second round mayor election, Ji Tang soared to the top of the official player reputation leaderboard due to his governance in Weisshem earning him a vast amount of territory prestige.


    Brother Lahong, on the other hand, had barely managed his domain, focusing instead on monopolizing the monster spawn points in the wilderness (via teleportation points at player-applied lands) to amass a significant stash of materials. This strategy left contenders like Qin Guan and whales among the new players trailing in his dust.


    Brother Lahong chuckled, completely unabashed and audaciously declared, "My door is always open if there are any keen on joining us. Our blood alliance sincerely welcomes new blood. Once in, we''ll set you up with a fixed team, and you can farm as many monsters in the depths of the Taranthan wastelands as you wish!"


    Qin Guan rolled his eyes. Withholding land approval unless one joined his blood alliance was a shameless tactic, and he even had the gall to publicize it!


    Ever since discovering the perks of being Exile Town mayor, Brother Lahong couldn''t care less about the criticism his methods attracted. After all, it was their own people who discovered the bug that allowed players holding friendly reputation with the Undead Merchant Association to obtain teleportation points in the wilderness on land they applied for. So, why not monopolize it?


    The game''s design allowed the Exile Town mayor to approve lands, including those in the wilderness with monsters. Any complaints could be taken up with the developers!


    Amid their casual banter, the group approached the Indahl''s west gate.


    It wasn''t a market day, and the midday sun hung high, so the vicinity of the west gate was rather deserted.


    But even so, there were still people coming and going.


    Citizens carrying corn and wheat out of the city to the mobile mill, along with the soldiers guarding the gates, spotted the large group of undead approaching and stood rooted to the spot.


    Situated in the southwestern part of the continent, Indahl enjoyed a shorter and later winter, with temperatures only beginning to drop after the 12th month. Although it was late autumn, the midday sun remained intense and glaring.


    The sight of a large undead horde approaching rapidly under the bright autumn sun was indeed surreal.


    An Indahl city defense force officer seeking shade under the city gate rubbed his eyes hard and did a double take.


    The undead were swift like horses, and after several blinks, the officer could clearly see the incessantly moving jaws of these skeletons.


    "It''s the undead! Ahhhhh!!!"


    A citizen, regaining her senses, let out screams and bolted toward the safety of the city walls.


    With one taking the lead, others snapped out of their daze and cried out in panic, scrambling to flee.


    "Close the gates! Shut the gates!" The officer in charge of the gate sprang into action as if his life depended on it, bellowing at the top of his lungs.


    Seeing the NPCs moving to close the gates, the players accelerated.


    "Come on, is such a dramatic reaction necessary?!"


    "Hurry, see if we can sneak into the city!"


    "Don''t shut the gates~ We are good!"


    Fortunately, the gate guards were well-trained; before the undead reached the gate, the heavy, iron-clad doors were lowered and sealed off the entrance tightly.


    "Come on! What''s with the pettiness? They aren''t even letting us peek inside!" Jia Luo kicked the city gate in frustration.


    "Never mind, let''s wait until the battle is over before going in to explore," Yang Ying uttered in disappointment. "I was hoping to get a glimpse of the city before the fight started as well. We didn''t get to see anything but the sewers while grinding mobs the last time we were here."


    "Are we just going to sit around waiting for those tortoise NPCs to come? That''s so boring," grumbled Qin Guan.


    "Why don''t we just off ourselves and farm elsewhere, then when the NPCs finally arrive, you can summon us back," jibed Give Me Medicine.


    "And you guys leave me alone here waiting like a fool? Like hell I would!" Qin Guan flatly refused.


    "Fine, let''s just accompany Vanilla and wait," conceded Blossoming Strokes. "In any case, we get a duration reward for being online, so it isn''t a loss."


    "What do you mean accompany me? Everyone was supposed to wait, alright?!" Qin Guan retorted in annoyance.


    The group of players grumbled as they moved away from the city gate, aimlessly wandering over to the deserted mule and horse market nearby.


    "Why aren''t there any friendly NPCs around here? They could at least give us some menial quest to kill time." Qin Guan surveyed the surroundings, more annoyed by the lack of any presence.


    "This is enemy territory. Where would you find a friendly NPC to give you quests?" Brother Lahong took a jab at Qin Guan as he usually did.


    Qin Guan was uninterested in engaging and turned away.


    But as he did, he noticed something¡­ Along another dirt road adjacent to the one they had arrived by, a group of about a dozen NPCs on horseback were heading toward the city gates.


    As a seasoned player, Qin Guan''s first instinct was to cast an "Identify."


    "Haa¡­ Yellow names." Seeing the "Indahl Citizen" tag above the NPCs head, Qin Guan turned away in boredom¡­ Red names could be looted, green names could issue quests, but yellow name NPCs were utterly worthless. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As the group of horsemen drew nearer and saw the assembly of undead squatting in the mule and horse market square, they were visibly shocked and panicked, hastily turning their horses around.


    Their sudden flight, however, drew the players'' attention.


    "Hey, hey¡­ Why did those yellow names run away at the sight of us?"


    "Could they be the enemy?"


    "Let''s go chase after them and see!"


    The players, who weren''t too keen on waiting around aimlessly, quickly agreed and sprang into action¡­

 Chapter 180: Battle For The City (2)

    An Earth person with above-average physical fitness and loads of systematic training could run three kilometers in 7 minutes and 20 seconds (world record for men''s 3 km).


    Players, though, were far from standard physical fitness; in fact, the physical strength of most players'' might not even match that of a robust farmwife. However, the skeletal characters controlled by the players weren''t bound by physical or stamina limitations of this world.


    With 60% less body weight than a normal person and ignoring the physical and stamina consumption during movement, players controlling skeletal frames could easily surpass the long-distance running limits of world champions, completing three kilometers in under five minutes.


    Moreover, their endurance was terrifyingly high. As long as the player didn''t get bored and switch to doing something else or was forcibly logged out due to unforeseen circumstances, they could indeed literally run forever without tiring¡­


    In other words, trying to shake off players by riding horses was simply impossible.


    The horsemen, who were over two kilometers away from the undead when they made an about-face, frantically spurred their horses into a gallop, only to hear the "clacking" footfall of the undead getting closer by the second, scaring them witless.


    "Isn''t the start of the war supposed to be tomorrow? Why are there undead today?!"


    "I don''t know! It was still safe when we left the city this morning!"


    "We shouldn''t have come out hunting at a time like this!"


    "Cut the crap and think of something!"


    This group of horsemen returning from the south rode military-grade lizard horses, with swords and bows hanging from their waists. Their attire was quite casual, some in barefoot riding boots, some with their shirt buttons undone, with even their finely made waistcoats and wool coats carelessly stuffed into the saddlebags.


    Such attire would be deemed shabby if worn by the destitute in public, but for these young masters who lived a carefree life, it was considered stylish¡­ Of course, that''s under the assumption that there wasn''t a string of WAKAKA-screaming undead trailing behind them.


    In a moment of desperation, a bare-chested young master with a small ponytail shouted, "Head to the foot of the mountain! Lead these undead there!"


    The eyes of the other young masters lit up, and they vigorously whipped their horses, rushing back the way they came.


    Weisshem was located to the southwest of Indahl City, and to the south of Indahl was another small town close to Sorensen¡ªKain Town.


    On a map, Kain Town seemed to be closer to the Sorensen Mountains than Weisshem, but unlike the latter, which suffered from bandits, marauders, and wandering beasts, Kain Town had been spared such troubles thanks to a natural barrier formed by the Andis Mountains.


    Like a crescent-shaped shield, the Andis Mountains, which were extremely steep and nearly impossible for humans to cross, let alone with vehicles or livestock, protected Kain territory.


    The lands of Kain, guarded by the Andis Mountains, which locals considered their guardian deity, was dotted with villages built along the mountainsides, subsisting on farming and hunting. Redwood Village, a traditional small village only a dozen kilometers away from Indahl City, was one such place.


    When the panic-stricken young masters, chased by the undead, emerged at one end of the village path, a group of villagers was solemnly carrying a plank covered by a straw mat toward the river at the front of the village.


    Seeing a bunch riding on military-grade lizard horses, a young villager, his face and arms marked with whip scars, pointed angrily. "It''s them, it''s them!"


    The villagers, unlike the young man, became anxious rather than angry upon seeing the arrivals.


    "Quick, back to the village!" an elder urged, pulling the young man toward the village while gesturing nervously for the others to follow.


    Despite their numbers far exceeding that of the young masters, the villagers didn''t question the elder''s decision and retreated hastily.


    Unfortunately, the villagers were too disorganized and the lizard horses too fast. Before the villagers could retreat, the young masters had already crossed the stone bridge over the riverbed in front of the village and charged toward it.


    The pursuing undead, emerging from beside the woods, witnessed the young masters they had been chasing for over ten minutes recklessly charging into the village, lashing their whips at the villagers who couldn''t scatter in time. Some villagers were knocked down as others ran for cover from the horsewhips.


    "They''re here! They''re here! Run!" One of the horsemen shouted upon seeing the undead approach, warning their companions.


    The players, modern individuals from a peaceful country, unaccustomed to such a scene of cavalry charging into crowds, were instantly enraged.


    "F*ck! Stop!"


    "Damn it! What the hell?!"


    At that moment¡­ the names above the horsemen''s heads, which had continuously shown as a yellow "Indahl Citizen" when "Identified," turned red.


    "Get them!"


    In an instant, the players transformed from docile huskies into red-eyed, furious white ghosts, charging even more ferociously toward the riders.


    At this point, the affluent young masters, believing they had successfully diverted the disaster, had already charged into the only path in the village, planning to make a large loop before returning to Indahl.


    The villagers, scattered by the charge of a dozen military-grade lizard horses, suffered numerous injuries. Some lay on the ground with bloodied heads, groaning in pain, while others couldn''t stand up due to the agony in their bruised limbs. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The several dungeon undead, crossing the stone bridge and entering the village, caused the villagers to panic. Those still able to move crawled desperately toward any place they could hide.


    The undead moved incredibly fast, reaching the inside of the village in just a few seconds¡­ then leaped over the villages scattered all around and chased after the riders like the wind.


    Villages: "¡­??"


    The young masters, having fled to the other end of the village, heard the ominous "clacking" and even more intense "WAKAWAKA" cries again, which almost drove them mad.


    "Why are they here again?"


    "Are they blind!"


    "Oh Lady Gold Coin!!"


    The trampled village path wasn''t very wide, and the young masters'' escape speed was limited by their comrades in front, preventing them from fully accelerating. On the other hand, the wanderer players, when activating the Windwalk spell, gained a 30% speed boost for eight seconds. As a result, a dozen or so wanderers quickly caught up to the rear of the young masters'' horses.


    Each of these young masters was physically strong, had received basic martial training, and carried weapons. If they had decided to fight back desperately, they might have inflicted significant casualties on the undead or even allowed a few of their party to escape.


    However, these individuals were used to facing nothing more formidable than unarmed farmers, so mustering the courage to fight a real enemy was a bit too much for them¡­


    With two seconds left on her Windwalk, Jia Luo forcefully leaped onto one of their horses, bravely wrapping her arms around the rider''s waist and pulling forcefully to the side.


    The wanderer beside her immediately understood and jumped up to grab the man''s arms and used his body weight to drag him down.


    Another wanderer player at the side quickly lent a helping hand¡­


    The ensnared young master, arms flailing, let out a desperate cry of "Save me! Ahhh!" as he was helplessly dragged off his horse and pinned to the ground by the undead.


    Players were just too proficient at pulling riders off their steeds¡­ As Jia Luo succeeded on her end, other wanderer players who followed suit also smoothly reaped their rewards.


    Just as the wanderer players were adeptly flipping over several horsemen, the players of this vanguard team all received several lines of yellow text in their information panels:


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Player Unceasing Entropy''s group have triggered the hidden quest [Suspicious Hunters]


    While wandering outside Indahl''s west gate, you accidentally encounter a hunting party returning to the city.


    These people seem to have respectable statuses, but you feel that there''s something off. It''s still early, and there isn''t any game on their saddles, so why are they returning so soon?


    After spotting you, they flee in panic. Driven by curiosity, you give chase and discover these people recklessly entering a village and injuring villagers without any regard.


    There must be a shameful sin hiding behind these people, and you''re determined to uncover the truth.


    Suspicious Hunters: 4/13


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    "Hidden quest, huh!" The players were overjoyed.


    "Quick, chase them! There are nine more!"


    "Those with Windwalk on cooldown, watch the captives!"


    After Windwalk ended, there''s a lingering 15-second debuff that reduced speed by 30%. Jia Luo, with her thigh bone wedged against a captive''s neck, started binding him while calling out to her sprinting companions, "Don''t worry, they won''t get away!"


    Gathering the captured and having an auction to split the spoils after a battle were a routine the players were all too familiar with¡­


    At the other end of the village''s narrow path, which becomes even more rugged and uneven outside the village, the horsemen who failed to avert this disaster couldn''t possibly shake off the undead that could maintain full speed on most terrains. (After all, they had honed their survival skills under the jaws of the giant rat at Exile Town''s gate.)


    In just a few minutes, they were all captured, along with their mounts, becoming the players'' "quest items."


    The players joyfully gathered the captives, confiscated the weapons hung on the saddles, auctioned them off on the spot, and then, while waiting for the NPC contingent to arrive, began brainstorming about the newly triggered hidden quest¡­


    On the town road over 20 kilometers from Indahl where Yang Qiu was riding in a carriage with the main force, he calmly began drafting the quest text on the spot¡­


    These husky-like players were bound to interact with the locals sooner or later. To prevent the players'' entertainment from severely disrupting the lives of locals, Yang Qiu had to take precautions¡ªthis expeditionary quest, dispatched during the siege, was Yang Qiu''s experiment.


    Rather than rigorously guarding against players'' gaming behavior, it was more correct to delineate a safe line for players'' gaming activities and allow them to happily game away within that threshold.


    So, what constituted safe gaming behavior?


    It''s the elimination of violence and the maintenance of peace under the guise of hidden quests.


    With the administrative resources at Yang Qiu''s disposal, solving the security problems of the entire Indahl territory was obviously a drop in the bucket. Rather than that, it made more sense to make good use of the excessive energy and headache-inducing curiosity of the players, guide and regulate them properly, and turn these players into free voluntary militia for Indahl. That would be a win-win.


    The only issue was the need for long haul monitoring of the imprint matrix¡­ If all his time were spent on this, Yang Qiu wouldn''t be able to do anything else.


    And monitoring the imprint matrix required above-average mental strength, a firm will incapable of being influenced by players'' unrestrained actions, rich life experience, and a strong sense of morality. Most people really couldn''t handle this task¡­ even if Yang Qiu gave them the authority.


    Of course, this wasn''t much of a problem. When Yang Qiu decided to use this method to make good use of the players'' energy while enriching the game content, he already had the perfect candidate in mind.

 Chapter 181: Old Tool Players

    Peaceful and quiet Exile Town.


    Undead, who had just come online and had yet to receive the battlefield missions, grumbled about the mentor NPCs having all disappeared as they frolicked around the town.


    The women from Camore had already grown accustomed to the noise created by the undead and went about their tasks; occasionally, when an undead approached them gesturing, the women would take out their needles and threads with seasoned ease, trading their skills for some sugar cubes.


    In front of the vacant land behind the Undead Merchant Association headquarters and canteen, two undead wearing beginner cotton T-shirts and shorts were squatting in an experimental field, meticulously checking the germination status of the sown seeds with a small hoe.


    "Case solved. It''s not the soil or water; it''s the seeds." Master Liu grimaced as he swept away the moist soil, revealing a rotten seed. "Seeds from Earth just won''t sprout here, none of them do."


    "Yeah, only native crops can be grown here. Look how well these wild garlic and onions are doing," Old Geng said dejectedly, glancing at the lush new shoots in the other half of the experimental field. "Native crops can grow, but foreign species can''t. This world that has mages isn''t that simple¡­"


    "Let''s suggest the task force to bring in a few technical specialists to study the agricultural situation here," Master Liu said, dusting off the dirt on his fingers. "I heard from Xiao Ji that in Weisshem, farmers work hard all year round and barely harvest 100 to 150 kilograms per acre. They don''t even make 500 kilograms of corn and rely on potatoes to fill their stomachs for at least half the year. Life there is tough!"


    "Helmets are an issue." Old Geng shook his head. "The young patient Gong that''s under Xiao Lu''s care regained consciousness and now everyone with patients in vegetative states wants to send them to the research institute. Setting eyes on those targets now is sure to cause outrage."


    By now, the national team had long discovered the secret of the helmets¡ªthe more days people like Ji Tang, Master Liu, and Old Geng, who needed to spend days in bed in reality, "logged in," the better their mental state became.


    It was near impossible not to understand that "logging in" to this game had a rehabilitation and enhancement function for people''s mental conditions.


    Master Liu merely scoffed. "That''s why I previously said not to suffer just for the sake of pride. It would also be good if we could get a hundred out of those three thousand helmets, but that bunch just insisted on thinking long term¡­"


    Old Geng wanted to say something, but he suddenly froze.


    He was clearly standing in the backyard of the Undead Merchant Association canteen. There was nothing else in his view but Master Liu and the experimental field, which was half bare and half full of new sprouts.


    However, all of a sudden, it seemed like a layer had been overlaid over his field of view. It was as if he was seeing the world through someone else''s eyes, and he could hear that person''s words and the surrounding sounds clearly.


    "Eh, what''s going on?" Master Liu''s voice sounded. "Old Geng, I''m seeing weird stuff. You?"


    "I see it, too," Old Geng replied right away. "Wait, let''s listen to the voice first."


    In the overlaid vision, both Master Liu and Old Geng saw the same person say, "What kind of crappy quest is this, asking us to uncover the truth but not providing a translation feature?"


    The speaker was also an undead, with a noticeable green ID above his head¡ªVanilla Pudding.


    Vanilla Pudding was a well-known veteran of the game, so naturally, Master Liu and Old Geng knew who he was. On further surveying the IDs above the heads of the few undead around him, the two old timers could guess that they had "intruded" into another player''s perspective.


    "Don''t be hasty," said the female player with the ID Blossoming Strokes. "Since it''s a hidden quest, there must be a key point to trigger the next clue. Let''s see what clues these ''quest items'' have to offer."


    The overlaid vision shifted as if the player with the "main perspective" was moving together with Blossoming Strokes.


    A group of disheveled and miserable-looking natives appeared in the image.


    The "main perspective" player, along with Blossoming Strokes and others who were noisy, surrounded this group of natives, who were bound and unable to move. They examined the captives'' faces, searched their pockets and everywhere possible.


    "Hmm¡­ these NPCs are all quite delicate, completely different from the villagers over there. Perhaps this is a clue?" a player scratching his skull mused.


    "Is something so obvious even a clue? Don''t embarrass yourself! These NPCs are ''Indahl Citizens,'' while those are ''Kain Town villagers.'' Even a blind person can tell them apart!" another player mocked.


    "Since these NPCs are quest items, there would surely be clues on them¡­ Hold on." As if she suddenly thought of something, Blossoming Strokes started running into the distance.


    "The main perspective" followed as well, letting Master Liu and Old Geng, who had unexpectedly intruded on the scene, get to appreciate the rural scenery of this world¡­


    Yellow dirt roads, the gray-yellow mud walls, scorched yellow thatched roofs¡­ The world looked like the scene from an old movie from the last century, covered in an earthy yellow hue. Apart from the equipment on the running undead, there wasn''t any single bright color. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    When the villagers appeared in the frame, Old Geng, a veteran who had once helped develop Northwestern China, felt a pang in his heart.


    While the northwest was poor back then, the local people had vigor. When the country said it wanted to change their fate and make the northwest prosperous, the local people firmly followed the country. That daring spirit to challenge fate was well visible to all.


    However, the native villagers appearing in the "main perspective" were lifeless and dull, blending into the earthy yellow world they inhabited.


    It was as if¡­ they were the suffering people from old photos of the republic. Just a bunch of spineless and numbed corpses, just existing.


    Old Geng sighed, unable to bear the sight. Those young players might think that these were just NPCs, mere data, but he knew that these were real people, ones that were suffering.


    The approach of the undead caused a commotion among the villagers of Redwood Village. The timid ones shirked behind the crowd and houses, leaving only the few braver ones in place.


    Blossoming Strokes had a good memory. After scanning the crowd twice, she found her "clue-carrying" target¡ªa trembling teenager leaning against a mud wall.


    A clear female voice came from the "main perspective." "Blossom, what have you discovered?"


    Blossoming Strokes approached the teenager and, without turning back, said, "When we passed by earlier, I saw someone with whip marks on their body that weren''t new. There, this one."


    The "main perspective" also approached the youth.


    The teenager''s elbows and knees still had fresh wounds from when the horses had run through the crowd earlier. The bloodied bits were distressing to look at, but as Blossoming Strokes mentioned, it wasn''t just fresh wounds on his body¡­ There were whip marks on his left cheek and left arm where the blood had scabbed over and dried, indicating that these marks were made at least an hour or two ago.


    The "main perspective" carefully examined the whip marks on the teenager''s body, then turned and shouted back, "Xiao Tang, bring over all the quest monsters'' whips!"


    "Oh, okay!" a player with the ID "Stuffed Gummy" responded.


    The skeleton with ID "Brother Lahong" helped "Stuffed Gummy" gather the whips and carried them over, then gazed at the "main perspective" intently. "Sis Entropy, found something?"


    "We''ll know once we compare."


    The "main perspective" took the whips, then compared them with the wounds on the teenager.


    The young villager was anxious about being so close to the undead, but he was relatively brave and more receptive than others, and had been somewhat reassured to see the undead attacking those horseback hunters rather than them. Thus, he allowed the undead to proceed.


    Soon, "main perspective" Unceasing Entropy and Blossoming Strokes matched a whip wrapped with gold thread to the dried wounds on the young villager due to the patterns and width.


    "Before encountering us on their way back to the city, this bunch of quest monsters came to this village and had harmed this young man," Blossoming Strokes said.


    "Their tactic of leading us here was so practiced, clearly indicating their familiarity with the terrain here. In other words, these quest monsters have been here before," Unceasing Entropy continued.


    Simultaneously, the two brainy player leaders turned their gaze to the side of the village path, where the villagers had carefully placed a plank covered by a straw mat.


    Anticipating a certain possibility, Unceasing Entropy and Blossoming Strokes both took a deep breath¡­


    Players did treat everything they saw as just game data, but it didn''t mean that they were heartless.


    Injustices suffered by characters behind a screen could already incite players to angrily criticize a game''s developers, with a full-immersion game like this?


    With heavy hearts, the two female players approached the mat, crouched down, and lifted the straw mat.


    Beneath the straw mat was the body of an elderly man wrapped in white cotton cloth.


    This white cotton cloth of this world was different from the cotton that Earth people were familiar with. The notion people on Earth had of white cotton was that it was soft, sweat-absorbent, and skin-friendly; selling points that merchants delighted in touting.


    However, the cotton cloth that Earth people come across wasn''t genuinely pure cotton but a synthetic fabric blended with various chemical fibers.


    If real cotton produced in 19th-century English factories and modern industrially produced cotton cloth were placed side by side, choosing the former would be foolish. In that period in Europe, cotton cloth was exclusively for the working class, while those of a decent standing mostly wore cotton-linen products.


    In this world, with an industrial level close to 19th-century Earth, white cotton and pure linen were the main fabrics used by the lower class, with white cotton used by those close to the cities and linen by those further away.


    The wrinkled body wrapped in the 100% pure cotton cloth was covered in horrifying wounds, with crisscrossing whip marks and abrasions covering every inch of skin. His face swollen to the point where his features from before his death could not be discerned.


    Blossoming Strokes, a cultured person, couldn''t help cursing, "F*ck! Is this what ''hunters'' mean?! F*cking hell!"


    Once the two ladies uncovered the truth, players in the advanced vanguard, along with Master Liu and Old Geng, who were "channeling" Unceasing Entropy''s perspective, simultaneously saw yellow text popping up on their panels:


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    [Suspicious Hunters]


    Suspicious Hunters: 13/13 (completed)


    Dirty Truth: 1/1 (completed)


    You have uncovered the secret of these hunters that were behaving strangely; what they hunted aren''t beasts, but their own kind!


    Unable to forgive these despicable sinners, you decide to take these hunters back to the gates of Indahl City and hand them over to Charlie Rex.


    Bring Back Prisoners: 0/13


    Bring Back Lizard Horses: 0/13


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Old Geng took a deep breath, turning and meeting Master Liu''s gaze with a complicated expression.


    The overlaying images they were seeing were transparent, allowing them to still see their surroundings despite their field of view being dominated by another''s perspective.


    If Old Geng was like a wily old fox that had seen many things in his years, then Master Liu, with his years in road and bridge engineering, was like a savvy monkey.


    Old Geng could vaguely guess the "truth," while Master Liu instantly figured it out, his expression even more vivid than the former.


    In the overlaying image, the players, angered by this dark and brutal quest, were furiously stripping the thirteen criminals of all items that seemed valuable: clothes, pants, belts, shoes, rings, necklaces, brooches, scarves, wallets, and so on; everything they hadn''t taken before was now being taken off and silently handed to the villagers as compensation. Then, they stripped the criminals down to their underwear, tied them to the earth lizards, and led the horses away from the village.


    As the players left the village, the forced overlaying image the old men were experiencing faded.


    Without saying anything, the two old men crouched on the spot, motionless.


    Not long after, several rows of yellow text popped up on their panels:


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    You have gained the authority to issue hidden missions.


    You have gained the authority to distribute reputation rewards for the Indahl territory.


    You have gained the GM panel, authority level: D.


    You have gained the authority to view the activity range of online players and access their perspectives.


    An exclusive personal quest has been added to your quest panel: [Invisible Guardians].


    Regulating online players'' gaming behavior, guiding online players toward a positive gaming atmosphere, is an inescapable responsibility for every GM authority holder.


    Service hours spent on [Invisible Guardian] quest can be exchanged for login helmets, with every 200 hours (game time) of service time exchangeable for 1 login helmet.

 Chapter 182: Forces Arrive

    December 4, 8 p.m., Earth time.


    In OtherWorld time, it was three in the afternoon.


    Charlie Rex led a contingent composed mainly of 120 Sokri mercenaries, supplemented by a dozen Weisshem Town Hall staff, 200 security squad personnel, and several orc volunteers. On arriving at Indahl''s west gate, he immediately received the first batch of "prisoners of war" delivered by the undead.


    Facing this group of half-naked men who began crying and begging for mercy at the sight of living beings, Rex couldn''t even muster an expression. He maintained a facade of calm as he took the prisoners in and, as usual, disseminated the territory prestige and copper coins desired by the undead as rewards; without such incentives, these undead could be quite terrifying.


    "Have they already started the fighting?" a baffled Mercenary Captain Kenn asked while glancing at the thirteen sturdy lizard horses brought along with the prisoners.


    Those half-naked men didn''t look like ordinary folk (it''s rare to see anyone so well-fed among commoners), but Kenn was skeptical that these bunch were proper soldiers¡­ The lizard horses couldn''t be faked; this special military-use breed, with monster blood in their veins, wasn''t something ordinary like horned horses. They were clearly mounts that even middle-class families in the city could hardly afford.


    Local guide Wagner stood silently for a while, watching Rex assign the undead with tasks to set up camp and sending the chattering bunch off before he spoke up hesitantly, "The city''s defense force''s smallest combat unit consists of 50 cavalrymen, and they cannot leave camp without orders."


    "Of course, these guys couldn''t possibly be from the city defense force," Kenn dismissed. "Private soldiers, then?"


    It was common for nobles to maintain family knights and private soldiers that usually possessed a certain level of combat effectiveness.


    However, most nobles, if lacking a strong family head or having enjoyed too long a period of peace, would see their private soldiers become the first to deteriorate¡ªit was also why mercenary groups of the continent had so many noble patrons.


    "Up until a hundred years ago, there were still remnants of marauders in Indahl territory. Although the quality of nobles'' private soldiers has been declining, it shouldn''t have deteriorated to this extent," said Wagner. "This bunch should be¡­ noble scions."


    Kenn was first stunned, then had a look of enlightenment.


    Nobles typically belong to large families, with both main and side branches easily accounting for hundreds.


    While fables often featured downtrodden protagonists unexpectedly winning the favor of a noble lady, who just so happened to lack heirs, propelling the protagonist to a high position and becoming the head of a noble house, such scenarios were unrealistic in reality.


    Aside from the near impossible odds of a main branch having only a single daughter, even if the main branch truly had no one left, there would still be countless side branch descendants eagerly waiting in the wings.


    In every noble house, there would be a number of young descendants with low succession rights. Born with silver spoons, they enjoyed the conveniences their family names bring, receiving better education than middle-class children and being only a step away from true power.


    However, the journey to assume power was arduous, and most would actually have no chance to grasp real power. The reason being they weren''t valued by the family like the main heirs. Besides a few that could win the favor of their elders, most of them did not receive much support from the family resources.


    Once someone from their generation with a higher succession right inherited the noble title, these scions lost the little special treatment they had as "reserves." And once the old patriarch in the family passed away, they were branched out, becoming a lineage within a branch, living in the shadow of the main branch for the rest of their lives.


    Mercenary Captain Kenn, who had often been employed by nobility over the many years, had seen many such people; ones seemingly eager to squander a lifetime of whimsy while still having the privilege of succession order leading a dissolute life.


    "¡­I see. No wonder they could ride lizard horses, and no wonder they fell into the hands of the undead," Kenn said in understanding.


    The Taranthan undead might be anxiety-inducing, but one thing was certain: they didn''t attack civilians maliciously. During the months Kenn and his mercenaries were forced to serve as instructor NPCs in Exile Town, they never saw the undead trouble the women doing odd jobs.


    "Who cares what they are; being captured by the undead makes them prisoners," Rex said nonchalantly, then called over a security squad personnel to take the young masters away.


    Kenn seemed taken aback.


    "I''ll go settle those horses." Wagner nodded at Rex and Kenn and walked away on his own.


    Kenn: "??"


    "We need to set up a bigger prisoner camp¡­" Rex muttered, looking around and walking toward the security squad personnel that were setting things up.


    Kenn stood bewildered, watching the two leave.


    Y-you guys¡­ have no reaction after taking captives from noble families?


    Captain Kenn, who didn''t know about the time a count''s nephew had to clean sewers in Weisshem, was utterly perplexed.


    The news of Weisshem''s early arrival and openly setting up camp outside the west city gate quickly reached the ears of the city lord and the Bartalises.


    "How audacious!"


    Adra III was initially furious, then quickly ordered his steward, Gould, to transport the last batch of goods out of the city through the north gate.


    Only after securing his family''s interests did Adra III care to gather the city''s nobility to discuss the enemy situation.


    Typically, wars over territory between nobles rarely reach a city''s gates; in most cases, both parties agreed on a battlefield at the border of their territories, deployed their troops for battle, where the winner took all, and the loser ceded land and paid reparations.


    During territorial wars, both sides wouldn''t massacre civilians of the enemy''s territory or burn down villages. Land and people were assets, after all; the loser would have to milk the commoners to prepare for reparations, while the winner, on gaining new territory, automatically became the master of the land and its people.


    Therefore, there was no reason to destroy one''s own assets.


    While scorched earth policies weren''t employed, nobles did not hesitate to conscript civilians from their own territories and often quite generously send these farmers that had only put down their hoes to the frontlines as cannon fodder.


    Losing a large number of lower-class men wasn''t a big issue, and as long as the women were still there, new civilians could quickly be added.


    However, this time the situation was different¡­


    First, Weisshem was already within the Indahl''s territory and no boundary line existed between the two, which allowed both sides to continuously dispatch troops at any time. Charlie Rex deliberately hadn''t allowed time for conscripting civilians; he had declared war and brought his forces over in just three days¡ªeven if Adra III wasn''t in a rush to transfer assets and dispatched his men to conscript civilians upon receiving the declaration later, it was still unrealistic to conscript a large number of commoners within such a short time span given the mobilization capabilities in this world.


    Secondly, Weisshem''s main force consisted of undead that didn''t require supplies. The Bartalises, even with their riches, couldn''t employ a strategy of exhausting the opponents logistics and supplies¡­


    Even if Adra III could display to the local nobles that he "held a big advantage in battle and simply attacking would bring victory," no head of any noble family would be foolish enough to be swayed. Everyone was clear that the Bartalis family was bound to lose this round, and Indahl would see a new master in a few days'' time.


    Despite this, the local nobles did not shirk their responsibilities, contributing the private soldiers they had just recalled to the city, forming a makeshift army of four thousand. It certainly wasn''t as combat-effective as the regularly trained city defense force, but definitely stronger than auxiliary troops made up of conscripted civilians.


    While those within the city gates busily prepared for battle, outside, Yang Qiu started to issue battlefield preparatory quests to online players as soon as the temporary teleportation (summoning) array was completed. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Battlefield preparatory quests weren''t the official start of the battle. Among players online, those in teams hunting monsters or camping solo spots merely glanced at their panels and continued with their own activities. However, there were also many idle or unaffiliated players that teleported over.


    The Weisshem camp, set up on the empty ground west of the mule and horse market, came alive with exclamations of delight.


    "Whoa¡­ Sick city walls!"


    "The battlefield setting this time around is awesome!"


    "Are those city walls real models or just textures? Can we climb up there for screenshots?"


    "I don''t know. Wanna go check it out?"


    A group of players, seeing a big city (city walls) for the first time, curiously looked all around. Some of them noticed NPCs with helmets peeping out from the city walls and jumped up excitedly while waving. "Hey! Over here! Look his way!"


    The city guards nervously shrank back.


    "Those aren''t textures; they''re real city walls!"


    Besides a minority who remembered the battlefield preparatory quests and honestly started doing various camp chores, most players instantly forgot they were teleported here for a quest and cheerfully rushed toward the city walls. Some were poking around the city gate, which had a unique "fantasy movie" vibe, while others even tried to climb the smooth outer walls of the city¡­ unsuccessfully.


    In the camp, Wagner and Kenn, waiting to give out quests, watched the commotion with wooden faces.


    It''s fine¡­ Once they realize there''s nothing else to do besides "missions," they''ll come back obediently.


    "Hey! There are people over here! Live NPCs! And a new scene!"


    A player who discovered something new ran back quickly, shouting excitedly to the player contingent.


    The bunch of skeletons around the city gates instantly flocked over¡­


    Wagner and Kenn watched the undead rushing to the other side, then simultaneously turned back to Yang Qiu in the tent, who was as cool as a cucumber.


    "They''ll return once they get sick of it," Yang Qiu waved it off nonchalantly.


    Wagner wanted to mention that the area was a complicated slum¡­ but then, when he thought about the undead''s roach-like, infinitely resurrecting vitality, he wisely shut his mouth.


    Johan, a resident of the slum, hadn''t found any odd jobs in the city for the past two days.


    Having learned from those who called themselves the "mobile mill" that they would stay there for at least a week, the resourceful John and his friends borrowed two flatbed carts and started a business grinding grain for others. They went to the worker''s residential area in the North City District to find families of workers who were busy during the day and couldn''t come to the mill themselves. They would bring wheat and corn out of the city to be ground and then deliver it back, earning a delivery fee.


    Today, before dawn, John had woken his friends up, dragging the flatbed carts into the city to collect wheat and corn for milling. By the time they had filled two carts and pulled them out of the city, it was already past three in the afternoon.


    "Good thing we heard the news that the west city gate was closed at noon and didn''t go that way. We would have had to take a big detour otherwise."


    As the few youngsters pulled the carts loaded with various bags through the narrow alleys of the slum, Johan glanced at the sky and said with relief to his companions, "If we can''t deliver the milled flour before it gets dark, we''ll have a hard time getting business tomorrow."


    "Yeah, and if we can''t get out of the city in time, we might have to stay overnight, and it gets very cold at night," said Tommy, who had taken leave from the workshop to earn some extra money.


    They definitely wouldn''t want to spend money on an inn stay. If they couldn''t leave the city in time, they''d have to spend the night on the street.


    They could earn one copper coin for transporting five kilograms of floor, and the several hundred kilograms on the two carts could make them a few hundred copper coins. This monetary enticement gave the four young men strength. Even though they hadn''t eaten much all day, they pulled the carts quickly.


    As they struggled to pull the carts out of the alley¡­ Johan and his friend Tommy, who were leading, simultaneously stopped in their tracks.


    The west square in the slums they were all familiar with was full of¡­ undead!

 Chapter 183: Undead Friends

    No one could say for certain when the slums appeared outside the west gate, but it was a known fact that the slum had been expanding toward the south gate. Buildings were older and more dilapidated the closer it was to the west gate, while it was the opposite toward the south.


    Johan and his father were born in the slum. When Johan was young, his grandfather, who was still alive then, told him that his own mother, Johan''s great-grandmother, had been among the earliest dwellers of the slum.


    Johan''s great-grandfather was once a self-sustaining farmer in Kain Town. When nobles started buying their lands at high prices and building farms, Johan''s great-grandfather, tired of farming, sold the land and took his family to seek a living in the city of Indahl.


    Johan''s grandfather had been a citizen of Indahl in his younger days. Johan''s great-grandfather used the money from selling the land to buy a house in the city and found a decent job. These were the good memories his grandfather always reminisced about and repeatedly told young Johan about.


    If everything had gone well, Johan''s family might have gradually become native Indahl citizens over the generations. Unfortunately, there were no such ifs¡ªhis great-grandfather, weary of a farmer''s life but not vigilant enough for the city''s more complex and vicious environment, soon got led into gambling. Not only did he lose his job, but he also lost the house his family lived in.


    Forced by the pressure to survive, Johan''s great-grandmother had no choice but to move to the "free living area" outside the city with her children. By that time, they hadn''t seen Johan''s great-grandfather for half a year¡­ No one knew where he died.


    Afterward, Johan''s father and Johan himself were born in the slums. Since birth, they saw a chaotic, crowded environment filled with trash, where strong men took pride in being gang members. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Although they also worked in the city and knew how prosperous the districts within Indahl''s walls were, they couldn''t imagine ever living in such an environment themselves.


    Johan only remembered that the slums of his childhood weren''t as big. Running from the square near the mule and horse market to the south side only took five minutes in the past, but now, it was at least a 20-minute walk to cross the entire slum.


    The slums were now home to thousands of families and was the size of a small town. People from one alley here didn''t even know those from another; just like how the earliest settlers at the western square rarely interacted with those toward the south gate.


    The emergence of the mobile mill at the western square did attract south slum dwellers to make their way through the maze-like alleys to mill their grain. However, once the undead appeared, those people ran away¡­ When Johan and his companions emerged from the alley, all they saw besides the undead were residents living nearby.


    The main reason the residents living near the platform didn''t flee in terror was the calm demeanor of the mobile mill personnel, who were standing between the undead and the slums. Upon seeing the approaching undead, they simply glanced and continued their work, confidently reassuring those around, "Don''t be afraid, we know these undead. They''re just overly curious and won''t attack people."


    In the beginning, few believed this. Those living farther away fled quickly, and those nearby hurried home, thinking of grabbing their valuables before escaping as soon as possible.


    The undead did rush over but indeed did not attack the busy mill workers. Instead, they curiously passed the mobile mill and ran into the slums to look around and touch stuff, which somewhat calmed the panicking slum dwellers.


    What Johan and his companions saw was this bizarre scene¡ªsome people stood fearfully against the wall or hid in nearby wooden sheds; the undead, on the other hand, roamed dominantly around the slum, seemingly curious about everything.


    One pinched the straw curtain hanging on someone''s window, making a "KABAKABA" noise from its non-existent throat, while another tried to climb onto someone''s roof, causing dry thatch to rain down.


    "Hey, hey! Undead, you can''t damage the residents'' houses!" Johan saw a mill worker yelling at the undead trying to climb onto a roof.


    Johan immediately felt anxious, fearing that the worker''s abrasive manner might anger the undead. However, what he saw next left Johan dumbfounded. The undead trying to climb the roof actually stopped¡­ and it even awkwardly tried to undo its mischief like a child caught in the act, sheepishly tossing the thatch that had fallen down back onto the roof.


    The realization that these undead could understand human speech somewhat relieved Johan and all the locals; their hearts, which had been in their throats, returned to their rightful places.


    Then, the curious undead began to attempt pushing the doors of the locals'' shacks open.


    "Ahh!!!" Someone hiding inside a shack screamed in terror.


    A few mill workers had to leave their tasks and run into the slums, loudly calling out, "Undead friends, we''ve encountered some trouble and need your help!"


    This phrase seemed to have a magical power, causing the undead who were running around causing mischief to immediately cease their actions and swarm toward the workers.


    Johan and his companions: "??"


    Local slum dwellers: "??"


    Johan and his companions exchanged glances, leaving their fully laden carts in the alley, and nervously moved toward where the workers were.


    Before these curious and concerned young men could get close, Johan saw the always kind Barton, who had encouraged him to do the milling job, emerge from the crowd of undead and happily wave at him. "Come here, Johan! Help me with something."


    Johan looked apprehensively at the undead surrounding Barton but bravely took a few steps forward. "What do you need me to do?"


    "Go borrow some shovels, hoes, wheelbarrows, and other such tools." Barton pulled out a bunch of copper coins and handed them to Johan. "This is for renting them."


    Johan was well-liked in the area and knew that Old Tom''s family often got jobs demolishing old houses in the city and had such tools. He quickly called his friends to join him in borrowing them.


    A few minutes later, Johan and his companions returned with the tools loaded on a borrowed handcart.


    Barton thanked Johan for his help, then turned around¡­ and handed these tools over to the undead.


    Johan and his companions: "??"


    About half of the about hundred or so undead received the tools. Carrying shovels, hoisting hoes, and pushing wheelbarrows, they headed noisily toward a spot under the city walls, where there was a huge trash heap.


    The other half of the undead continued to pester the mill workers with noisy "KABAKABA" sounds.


    Johan and his anxious friends heard Barton and the other workers tell the undead, "Undead friends, there really aren''t any quests here for you anymore. How about heading back to camp? Lieutenant Pitt and Captain Kenn need your help."


    "There aren''t any hidden quests, really¡­"


    "Alright¡­ If you go down the third alley from here and then to the sixth house on the right, that''s Old Neilson''s place. His roof leaks badly; could you help us collect some materials to fix his roof, please?"


    "Umm¡­ Over there, between those houses, there''s a waterlogged crater. Could you help us fill it in¡­?"


    Some of the undead accepted the workers'' commands and eagerly headed to the specified locations; some seemed to lose interest and left noisily to the direction of the west gate; others neither left nor were willing to do what the workers asked, continuing to roam aimlessly around the slums¡­


    Compared to over a hundred undead running amok, having a dozen or so undead looking around didn''t seem so bad. Slum dwellers, who had been pressed against the walls or hiding in the corners, let out a sigh of relief. Those who had hidden inside their homes dared to peek out and even tentatively tried stepping outside.


    Johan and his friends, who had heard and seen the mill workers commanding the undead, stood rooted to the spot, completely dumbfounded.


    "What are you standing around for? Don''t you receive some milling commissions today?" Barton, having finally rid of the undead, waved at Johan and his group.


    Snapping out of their daze, the young man quickly ran back to the alley and pulled their carts over.


    As the four young men struggled to pull the heavy carts to the square, a few of the wandering undead actually came over to help push.


    Johan, pulling the cart at the front, and his friend Tommy, pushing from behind, were both frightened by the undead''s approach but dared not refuse their help¡­


    After getting the cart next to the mobile mill''s platform, these undead seemed to expect something in return, as they gestured to Johan and his friends while making the weird "KABAKABA" sounds.


    Johan and his companions: "¡­"


    Johan and his friends really couldn''t understand what the undead were trying to say. Thus, they could only ignore them and silently unload their goods, bag by bag, taking them to the milling machine to be processed.


    The undead left in disappointment, and only then did Johan''s racing heart finally calm down.


    "Brother Barton, what''s the deal with these undead?" one of them, Sanchi, asked.


    Mill worker and Weisshem official, Barton, suddenly revealed a complex expression.


    "Those are undead friends from Taranthan, the ones I''ve told you about before. Undead that are active in Weisshem," said Barton. "They are kind undead willing to help people with quests, but remember, you absolutely cannot ask them for help without ''quest authority'' and without being able to offer reputation rewards, no matter how enthusiastic these undead are."


    "Yes, this is very important to remember," another official chimed in. "Even for us, if we reach our monthly limit for issuing ''reputation rewards,'' we can''t instruct the undead to do anything, or there will be dire consequences."


    Anyone with a lapel badge, signifying a full-fledged clerk or official, gets a certain amount of "reputation issuance authority" to seek help from the undead when manpower was critically low or in the case of dealing with a difficulty that couldn''t be resolved easily.


    However, this limit wasn''t high. For average officials like Barton, the monthly limit for issuing territory reputation to the undead was just a thousand points.


    The "Mobile Mill" initiative didn''t involve much interaction with the undead, so the authority of Barton and his colleagues hadn''t been increased. It was merely to prevent the undead from troubling the residents of the slums, yet they had used up their entire monthly quota in just this short amount of time¡­


    Johan and his young friends, who were already listed as "usable personnel" by Barton and his colleagues, understood somewhat and nodded.


    They all wanted a better life, to leave the slums, and wouldn''t refuse to work with the undead¡ªeven if it meant achieving their goals by associating with them. After all, they had seen with their own eyes that these undead did not attack them or kick them around to relieve their stress.


    Barton smiled at the young men while continuously operating the machine to grind the grains, asking, "Has the workers'' union interfered with your business yet?"


    "Not yet," Johan quickly replied. "But today when we went to collect the goods, some people from the union came to ask about our relationship with the mobile mill. We told them what you instructed, that you indeed came from Weisshem and seem to be associated with Lord Rex."


    "That''s good," Barton said with a smile. "The battle will start tomorrow. Later, when you deliver the goods into the city, if the union people contact you again, try to get them to come out and meet us."


    "Alright." Johan eagerly nodded.


    Barton then looked at Sanchi, the most well-informed among the young men. "What about the street gangs?"


    "They''re rarely out and about on the streets lately; they seem to be busy with something," said Sanchi, who worked as a delivery boy at a newspaper print. "I took a detour through the tavern district today and didn''t see the likes of Big Mark and the others. If I''m not mistaken, someone has hired them, but it''s unclear who. The tavern folks don''t know either."


    Barton nodded.


    The mobile mill''s mission was to investigate the grassroots organizations within the city of Indahl, with street gangs and workers'' unions being the primary targets of their investigation.


    With over forty thousand workers and migrants in the southern and northern districts of Indahl, the unions, seemingly unproblematic on the surface, were actually massive leeches clinging to these workers. For example, Caroline, a girl from Weisshem who worked in a restaurant in the southern district, had to give a tenth of her monthly salary to the union or she''d lose her job.


    Much less had to be said about street gangs; many gray areas of the economy had hints of street gang involvement¡­


    Just driving away the Bartalises wasn''t enough to liberate Indahl. It wouldn''t just be the undead that would be doing the fighting.

 Chapter 184: Management Players

    December 4, 8:30 p.m., Earth time, peak online period. In OtherWorld, it was four in the afternoon.


    More and more undead had appeared beyond Indahl''s west gate. Other than players in fixed teams grinding mobs and gold farmers addicted to farming gold, many players were attracted here by the battlefield preparatory quests.


    "Wow, it''s the famous Ou Huang!" A player doing a manual labor quest (expanding the prisoner camp) in the Weisshem encampment exclaimed and quickly tugged on his friend''s sleeve. "Look, look, Ou Huang has also come!"


    "Ehhh? For real?" His skeleton friend was surprised. "Isn¡¯t it said that Ou Huang never does popular quests? Why is he gracing us with his presence this time?"


    "Who''s that with Ou Huang?" someone asked curiously.


    "Don''t you even know Boss Orange Cat? He''s the top whale among veteran players. All the best equipment on the server has surely been in his hands before!"


    "Only a top whale can be friends with Ou Huang. Is this how the world of powerhouses is like?"


    "They even brought NPCs with them! The first player merchant group on the server definitely is impressive!"


    The small merchant caravan composed of two players, four hired NPCs, and two wagons pulled by horned horses passed in front of the camp. Only then did Orange Cat, leading the group, reveal a bright smile¡­ He really wanted to chuckle when the newbies were praising him earlier, but he held it in until now.


    "We''ve finally fought our way over and our business is looking much brighter, ain''t that right, Ou Huang? We don''t have to sneak around any more," said Orange Cat cheerfully.


    Ou Huang remained expressionless.


    Orange Cat was long used to Ou Huang''s laconic nature and didn''t mind the lack of response, continuing to chatter away¡­


    As the initiator of the server''s first player merchant caravan, Orange Cat''s recent gaming experience hadn''t been very user friendly. The race setting of being undead was frustrating. He was clearly playing management mode, yet they had to avoid villages and select trading spots in the wilderness, conducting transactions like thieves.


    Of course, traveling across the map was interesting, much more so than real-life road trips or camping. Encountering wild boars or wolves in the wilderness allowed Orange Cat to showcase his prowess in a highly realistic hunting game. (It was the only way he could make his presence felt by hunting wild beasts.) The excitement was undeniable¡­ The fact that Ou Huang continued to accompany him on these wild adventures without silently opting for suicide to return to the city proved how intriguing such wilderness adventures were for men.


    However, as fun as roaming the wilderness could be, it was still disheartening if it didn''t achieve their business goals. So, as soon as Orange Cat saw the system announce the territorial war, he immediately brought his caravan over¡ªhe had taken a business loan from the Weisshem town hall for this venture, and it would be troublesome if he ended up in the red.


    It had to be said, though, that Orange Cat really had a keen business sense. When his caravan, headed by two skeletons, arrived at the slums outside the west Indahl gate, a location mentioned by players in the blood alliance channel (he, too, had joined Qin Guan''s blood alliance along with Yang Ying and the others), the residents, who had just been frightened by over a hundred undead, hardly react to this merchant caravan.


    "Ah, there are already fellow vendors here." Seeing the mobile mill set up, Orange Cat waved cheerfully at the friendly worker NPCs and immediately instructed his four NPC employees, "Quickly set up the stall; we''ve got business to do."


    The four NPC employees, averaging 38 years old (considered late middle-aged in this world), compliantly stopped the carriage by the roadside. They dismantled the carriage''s sideboards, propped them up with stones to serve as a stall, and swiftly arranged the merchandise on display.


    Given the purchasing power of natives, the goods Boss Orange Cat procured from Ji Tang were all inexpensive, sourced by Yang Qiu at ultra-low prices. These included expiring stuff like KangShifu instant noodles, White Rabbit milk candy, TiZi laundry powder, and Bird brand soap, as well as cheap, crudely made knickknacks by the container load from Z and S Provinces (remaining stock from the mass closure of two-yuan stores, as many cities had transitioned to ten-yuan stores)¡­ and so on.


    In short, the source of goods was the same as that of the two-copper hypermarket in Weisshem, just with fewer types of products. A mobile vendor couldn''t compare with a hypermarket, after all.


    While the employees arranged the goods, Orange Cat personally rushed to the entrance of the slums, and hollered, "Come take a look! Every item at only two copper coins! Miss this, and you''ll have to visit Weisshem to buy such products again!"


    All that ensued was silence.


    Slum dwellers washing clothes at their doorsteps continued as before, and the loafers chatting by the roadside kept at their discussions. Only the children running around cast curious glances at Orange Cat''s stall.


    "The royal army has arrived, and these people still don''t understand what I''m saying?" Orange Cat looked displeasedly at the mobile mill, where NPCs, identified as "Weisshem Officer XXX" under players'' scrutiny, were busy.


    The mill staff didn''t know how to respond to him¡­ They simply pretended not to hear and went on with their tasks.


    "Boss, let me handle it." An employee, ever considerate, came forward to relieve Orange Cat, imitating his manner to call out to the people inside the slums.


    The working-age population of the slums could earn 30 to 40 copper coins a day if they''re lucky and at least 20 on a bad day. Goods priced at two copper coins were well within their purchasing power, so denizens that could spare the coins curiously gathered around.


    "Th-this towel, it''s only two copper?!" A housewife nearly had her eyes pop out at the sight of bundled white towels that were gotten at a wholesale price of 1.2 RMB each.


    "This dagger for only two copper coins? You''ve got to be kidding me!" A young man trembled with excitement as he held a thin dagger, its blade shiny enough to serve as a mirror.


    "Two copper for a pack of sugar?" A fat kid holding a 100-gram pack of White Rabbit milk candy started doubting his life.


    Well¡­ the White Rabbit milk candy was packaged individually, but Yang Qiu requested the manufacturer to repackage it into 100-gram bags for easier sale¡­ After all, they were going for a thin profit margin strategy without manpower to slowly weigh each serving.


    "There''s salt too! Salt! Two copper a pack!" Someone else clutching a small package of fine salt clamored.


    Weisshem townsfolk had initially been wary of the undead but never refused undead fabric. So, naturally, the slum dwellers here, who would stew rats when hungry, wouldn''t reject goods brought by the undead, and this triggered an immediate buying frenzy.


    Even Walton, a church knight from the Kenyan Empire who had seen lots of fine things, couldn''t resist opening his wallet, let alone the poor who had never seen such goods.


    "Gosh, this is what I call management mode!" Orange Cat was moved to tears at the sight of the buying frenzy. After wandering around with the caravan for many days, less than ten percent of the goods had been sold and half of their net profit came from the jerky that Ou Huang processed using his butcher skills. Orange Cat himself had come close to doubting his own business acumen.


    Barton, the mill worker, glanced at the neighboring bustling stall and smiled at Johan and his eager friends. "Go ahead if you guys want to buy something. Just leave someone to watch the stuff."


    Already itching to do so, workshop apprentice Tommy and paper boy Sanchi immediately ran over.


    "I''m saving for Sis'' private classes, so I can''t squander money." Johan stood in place, suppressing his curiosity. "Bobby, I''ll watch the stuff. You go ahead."


    Johan had a younger brother and sister, and his sister has shown remarkable intelligence since childhood, making the neighbors believe she would achieve great things. Thus, John had always been keen on providing her with an education.


    Bobby, who was dark and lean, didn''t have any siblings that relied on him. However, he had worse circumstances, having a sickly mother and relying on garbage collection jobs at Saint Joseph Street''s tavern district to support her.


    "I don''t need to either. If I save enough money, I want to buy some alchemist potions for my mother first. She often has stomach pains and gets the runs after eating. I can''t delay any longer." Bobby shook his head.


    "Don''t worry." Barton flashed a smile. "Johan, your sister doesn''t need to attend private classes. In a few days, there will be a school in the city where she can study for free. Ms. Sibyl will take care of smart and studious children like your sister."


    Johan was taken aback. "Really? It''s free?"


    "Yes." Barton continued, "Not only is it free, but there are also subsidies for those who excel academically. Those who rank high in exams get rewards, too. Also, Miss Sibyl would arrange for lunch to be provided for the students, which should alleviate some pressure."


    Johan''s mouth was wide open in shock, while Bobby couldn''t help being envious.


    Bobby, too, had been praised for being quick-witted, but his family''s situation didn''t allow him to even dream of studying¡­ Ever since the age of 12, Bobby started working with older children, scouring the city''s streets for work.


    "As for Bobby, your mother often has diarrhea, doesn''t she?" Barton looked at Bobby and said kindly. "If it''s just diarrhea, Ms. Shirley might be able to help. They have a specific medicine for diarrhea there. If your mother is willing to raise some chicks in her spare time, you can get the medicine for free."


    Using tetracycline to treat diarrhea had already been discovered by the people of Weisshem. Since the town hall refused to sell the medicine separately (mainly to avoid problems), many townspeople joined the chicken-raising contingent to gain access to this effective common medicine.


    Over-the-counter medication was a concept that did not exist in this world. Wealthy folk turned to alchemists or priests when falling ill, while the poor relied on their own endurance. Due to poor sanitary conditions and the habit of consuming spoiled food, dysentery and diarrhea were common.


    This time, it was Bobby''s jaw that dropped.


    The two young men looked at each other and agreed on the spot to take turns watching the goods and visiting the neighboring stall to see what they could buy¡­


    The slums housed over ten thousand people, and through word-of-mouth communication among the slum dwellers, Orange Cat''s two horse-drawn carriages worth of affordable goods were completely sold out in less than two hours (OtherWorld time). The substantial collection of dirty, sweat-stained copper coins filled an entire small box.


    Slum dwellers residents who arrived late and only managed to grab one or two items were regretful but didn''t dare show displeasure to the undead that was clearly the merchant boss. They loitered around, unwilling to disperse.


    Seeing this, Barton stepped forward in a timely fashion to address the crowd, "Don''t worry, everyone. Soon, the Two-Copper Hypermarket from Weisshem will be coming here. The store will have a wider variety of goods, including inexpensive fabrics and ready-to-wear clothes for everyone to choose from¡­"


    "What the hell? Hold on a minute!" Merchant boss Orange Cat, who was just about to try out some of the pre-battle quests after clearing his inventory, became infuriated and confronted Barton for interference. "Is there no sense of fairness here? You''re stealing my business as soon as I built the customer base? Do NPCs not abide by ethics?"


    Weisshem town hall official Barton: "¡­"


    Fortunately, Ou Huang pulled Orange Cat away before he could cause more of a scene. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It was also fortunate that people who didn''t wear the cuckoo flower badge couldn''t understand the language of the undead. The slum dwellers were thrilled with Barton''s good news and were no longer envious of those who managed to get good deals first. They amiably inquired about what others had purchased, planning in advance what they could afford with the money they had¡­


    As dusk fell, the slum dwellers gradually returned home, and the mobile mill ceased operation.


    Barton, after packing up, called up his partner and went to the Weisshem encampment, just across the mule and horse market.


    Inside the military green tent, Barton and his partner reported the intelligence they had gathered in the field to Rex and Yang.


    "We couldn''t probe much with city folk, but as for the inhabitants of the outer slums and surrounding rural areas, there''s no hostility toward Weisshem," Barton reported and then shared his thoughts. "After trying to communicate with the younger people who are more receptive, these young individuals showed a clear yearning after learning about the basic situation in our Weisshem."


    Rex was pleased with the report and smiled at Yang. "We really owe a lot to Ji Tang and Sis Zhao."


    Yang also nodded.


    Look at that, it wasn''t long when they were captives themselves, and these workers have already been converted and called it "our Weisshem"¡­ The national team has done a splendid job indeed!!

 Chapter 185: Undead Siege

    December 5, Thursday, 4 a.m., Earth time.


    As per usual, Yang Ying got up when her alarm clock beeped, put on her U-shaped neck pillow, donned her login helmet, connected her phone, and then laid down in bed to continue sleeping.


    As she fell asleep, her soul was projected to OtherWorld through the mental imprint on the login helmet¡­


    This was standard practice for the game''s hardcore players. In the game, human NPCs were only active during the day. Unless they wanted to grind zombie quests in Exile Town or chop wood at Desolate Outpost, most hardcore players prefer to use their limited online time efficiently.


    Yang Ying logged into the game in Weisshem town hall''s courtyard, and then teleported to the frontline encampment. There were already many players that had come online at the set time, and the entire area in front of Indahl''s west gate was bustling with the undead.


    "Sis Ying, over here!" Tang Jia''s distinctive loud voice rang out.


    When Yang Ying turned to look, she saw that all her usual companions were already gathered.


    "You''re all logged in already? Am I the last one to show up?" Yang Ying said in surprise as she ran over to her friends.


    "Of course, it''s a territorial war, after all," Fallen Mulberry Leaves, a casual player in the group, said with a grin. "My regular team even announced a temporary pause on activities. Brother Meds said we''ll continue grinding after the war is over."


    "Give Me Medicine still hasn''t given up on clearing the whole Poisonous Marshlands?" Orange Cat, who hadn''t participated in their activities for a while, asked.


    "It''s mainly to compete with Lahong''s team, I think. Brother Meds wants to prove that we can grind monsters in the depths of the Taranthan wilderness even without a teleport point," Fallen Mulberry Leaves explained.


    "How ambitious, as expected of a closed beta veteran!" Orange Cat gave a thumbs up.


    "How are we playing today? Continue searching for hidden quests?" Yang Ying turned toward the strategist of their team.


    "Yes." Unceasing Entropy nodded. "There''s a high probability that the new map of Indahl has hidden quests. After completing [Suspicious Hunters] yesterday, both Blossom''s side and ours triggered it. No one can tell if the trigger probability will suddenly change in the future, so we might as well take advantage of it now before that happens."


    The group nodded in agreement. The developers of this game had always been devious, and making secret changes was definitely something they were capable of!


    "There are too many people over here at the west gate. Let''s go around the slums toward the south gate," Unceasing Entropy suggested again.


    "Ah, there''s no need to go to the south gate," Orange Cat interjected. "After you posted the hidden quest guide on the forum yesterday, many players ran to the south gate to camp out. Anyway, when I was playing management mode, I saw droves of players heading there."


    Unceasing Entropy suddenly stiffened.


    Both Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy were modern youngsters that had a strong spirit of sharing. Not only had they shared the detailed process of the hidden quest [Suspicious Hunters] on the forum, they also disclosed the initial triggers for the said quest.


    The key points to triggering hidden missions had been also analyzed by these two female strategists methodically¡ªfollow NPCs entering and leaving the city closely and tail anyone who acted suspiciously.


    How much trouble this annoying behavior caused natives aside, even Unceasing Entropy was not troubled; if there weren''t any hidden quests to do, why had she logged in so early?


    "Let''s go further and take a look. Oh, we can go to the north gate," Unceasing Entropy said awkwardly.


    "Is it the gate we used when doing the ''Redwall Farm'' quest?" Tang Jia''s eyes lit up. "Let''s go, there must be good quests there!"


    Indahl City was massive, and going from the west gate to the north gate still took several miles. Of course, this was nothing for the undead, just a few minutes of full-speed running.


    The terrain near the north gate wasn''t as flat as the area outside the west gate. However, it seemed to be more developed, with quite a few residential houses built on the slightly flatter land outside the city, forming a considerable and much more decent residential area compared to the slums. Not far from the north gate, there was also a platform that looked very much like a European railway station from the early 20th century, with straight tracks extending northward from the platform.


    Seeing the "nostalgic" station and the wooden tracks from afar, Yang Ying was shocked. "There are train stations in this game?"


    "That''s normal. World of Warcraft has them, too," Orange Cat said nonchalantly. "When Cthulhu mythos came about, there were not only trains but also subways. It''s not that strange for this kind of game to have such a mixed background."


    And thus, Yang Ying immediately accepted this setting¡­ Although she had only finished high school, she knew that the London Underground started operating in the 19th century, and Arthur Conan Doyle, who created Sherlock Holmes, lived in this era.


    "Previously when I was transported out in a cart, it felt like we passed by a place with a railway. It must have been this one," Unceasing Entropy said, looking around with keen interest. "There are fewer players and more NPCs here. Surely there are some hidden quests; we''ll camp here today."


    "Let''s go!" Tang Jia, with her preference for action over contemplation, immediately took the lead with a wave of her bony claw.


    The "district" outside the north gate was a suburban village with scattered houses and spacious dirt roads that could accommodate three carriages side by side. Many households had their own courtyards with fruit trees, scallions, and garlic planted within.


    Tang Jia excitedly rushed into the suburban village¡­ and immediately faced disappointment.


    Undead! Clusters of undead everywhere!


    At the village entrance, alongside the riverbank, and even the compacted dirt square beneath the north gate were chock-full of undead roaming about!


    It was daytime in the game, and a few NPC villagers were out and about, though not as many as the wandering undead¡­ or perhaps, the sheer number of aimless undead had scared most villagers into staying indoors.


    "Why are there so many people here too!" Tang Jia nearly teared up from anger. "Can''t these people do something of more value, like moving bricks in the encampment?! Why neglect our battlefield quartermasters! Wagner and Kenn must be so lonely!"


    Unfortunately, the players who were here first didn''t understand Tang Jia''s frustration. When they saw her group, two waves of players approached excitedly.


    "Boss Unceasing Entropy, are you here for a hidden quest? Take us with you! I''m super obedient!"


    Unceasing Entropy: "¡­"


    Unceasing Entropy exchanged awkward glances with her companions and silently created a raid group¡­


    Following that, Unceasing Entropy had to diligently lead hundreds of players around the north gate in a massive effort to find hidden quests¡­


    Though the bulky group wasn''t as agile as a smaller team that could instantly decide where to go, strength in numbers was an undeniable concept. Soon enough, a player that had forced his way into the raid group called out in the channel, "Boss Unceasing Entropy, I found a suspicious NPC!"


    Unceasing Entropy quickly asked the player to share the location in the group channel and instructed nearby members to rush over to prevent the suspicious NPC from escaping. She also swiftly led her team to the scene.


    By the time their squad arrived, several dozen undead had already surrounded a small farmhouse, sealing it off completely.


    "Over here! Boss, it''s here!" The player who discovered the suspicious NPC was beaming with pride. "Other NPCs just walk around us, but when the one in this house saw me standing outside, he tried to attack me! Luckily, I''m a fast runner!"


    Unceasing Entropy''s eyes lit up, and she made a quick decision, "Let''s go in and check it out. If we can get in, there must be a quest!''


    Players quickly climbed over the walls. They couldn''t break through the gate with the minuscule strength as skeletons, but climbing over the wall was much easier¡­


    Back in Exile Town, "on duty" Old Geng quietly removed the "protective measures" from this civilian house¡ªthe GM authority settings included preventing players from entering civilian houses; if a player forcibly approached a house they couldn''t enter, a warning would pop up on their interfaces. One of his tasks as an "online GM" was to temporarily open the way for players who found "hidden quest clues."


    It wasn''t peak online time, but there were still over a thousand players online due to the territorial war. Excluding casual players (like king of casuals Ou Huang leveling up his butcher class skills), gold farmers, and the manual labor questers in the main encampment, there were still over six hundred players roaming around the outskirts of Indahl city. Monitoring that many people at once wasn''t at all practical.


    However, spellcasters had their own methods. Adding a warning function that all Mage Towers had to the imprint matrix solved the problem¡ªwhen a player entered a combat state passively (was attacked) or encountered a creature or non-creature with a mental strength beyond a safe value, that player''s "field of view" would actively appear in the "online GM''s" eyes.


    Players who climbed over the wall opened the gate from the inside to let their compatriots in, and the noisy mass rushed into the only house.


    The person hiding inside knew there was no escape and suddenly charged out, turning the leading players into white light.


    With Lv2 (100 Potential value) being the average for players, facing Radiant Sun Church knights of Lv4~5 (Potential value 400~800) required a tactic of throwing bodies.


    The Lv3 monster (Potential value 200) in front of them was just a mini-boss with smarter AI, with nothing much to be feared. After losing four or five compatriots, the players managed to subdue and bind it.


    Next came the looting process that players were all too familiar with¡­


    "Whoa damn, this Lv3 monster has an Uncommon-grade sword! Monsters in Poisonous Marshlands are poor AF!"


    "Holy crap, this monster has a special accessory that adds mental resistance!"


    After taking the Lv3 monster''s drops, players began searching the house and then found a family, tied up tightly in the kitchen.


    Witnessing this, Old Geng quickly sent out the mission text to the player who "triggered" this "hidden quest"; Lord Yang provided the template, and he only needed to change a few words based on the situation before issuing it:


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Player Unceasing Entropy''s raid group has triggered the hidden quest [Suspicious Kidnapper]


    While wandering outside Indahl''s north gate, you noticed something strange about the residents of a household.


    This was clearly an ordinary suburban village, so why is there a man here much larger than most and carrying an uncommon weapon?


    After discovering you, the man attacked you aggressively. Such a person is too dangerous, and you decide to investigate further.


    Sure enough, this man is not the homeowner but a kidnapper who has taken the family hostage!


    You are outraged and decide to take the kidnapper back to Charlie Rex.


    Suspicious Kidnapper: 1/1 (complete) S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Bring The Kidnapper Back: 0/1


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Fifteen minutes later, the "kidnapper," now stripped to his undergarments, was joyfully carried into the Weisshem camp by players.


    Charlie Rex accepted the person in good faith, paid out the territory prestige to send the undead away, then turned to scrutinize the "captive"¡­ then he called Wagner over.


    "He''s from the city defense force," Wagner said after a mere glance. "If I''m not mistaken, he should also be a spy from the scout division."


    "Traitor!" The "prisoner," whose identity had been exposed, cursed angrily at Wagner.


    Wagner didn''t react much and personally sent his resentful former colleague to the prisoner camp.


    Just as he entered the expanding prisoner camp, the constantly cursing "prisoner" was stunned.


    There were a lot of familiar faces among the over one hundred "quest monsters" caught by players¡­


    After dumping his former colleague in the prisoner camp, Wagner returned to his quartermaster post and said to Kenn, "Since the undead have already surrounded the city, what''s the use in sending out more spies? It''s just entertainment for these undead."


    Kenn nodded silently in agreement.


    Several hundred undead besieging a city sounded bizarre, but these undead did have a knack for identifying enemies from the masses. In any case, since the previous night, the undead had already captured dozens of scouts and spies from various noble families, including those from the city defense force¡­

 Chapter 186: Behind-Enemy-Lines

    The large amount of undead activity at all four city gates definitely had an impact on the residents of the city.


    Astute shopkeepers, as if having come to an agreement in advance, desperately raised their prices. The price of black bread in bakeries skyrocketed to 10 copper coins a bag overnight, and even potatoes, a cheap food that usually cost a few copper coins for a large amount, soared to one or even two copper coins per half kilogram.


    However, apart from the soaring prices, there were other problems.


    Gangsters who were active on the streets were hired by the wealthy to watch their homes and yards, causing the security of each district to improve rapidly.


    The middle class firmly believed themselves the backbone of the city and were certain they would still be employed no matter the city lord. Plus, it was difficult for them to abandon their properties and flee. So, their emotional state remained relatively stable.


    Most ordinary city folk were very anxious, but on discovering vegetable farmers still entering the city, milkmen riding their tricycles around the streets in the earling morning, and paperboys selling newspapers, they quickly calmed down as well.


    This morning, as per usual, the freckled Sanchi gathered with the incoming vegetable farmers and milkmen in front of the west gate, waiting for it to open. When it was time, the gate guards, afraid of the undead outside, refused to open the gate.


    Sanchi, along with others who needed to enter the city to make a living, angrily knocked on the gate and made a ruckus for over half an hour before they managed to get the city gate opened and rushed into the city for work.


    That''s right, the undead wandering around outside the city gates were very conspicuous, but for the lower classes who live hand to mouth, they had to continue their lives as long as these undead didn''t kill or rob them.


    Those undead had no intention of storming the city gates, and Sanchi couldn''t understand what the gate guards were afraid of!


    Well¡­ actually, it was Yang Qiu who had set a limitation on players, temporarily restricting them from entering the city in order to prevent the city lord''s mansion being stormed before the war even started¡ªthe Bartalises'' main residence had other uses, so it was better not to let these undead calamities strike.


    Business had been exceptionally good for Sanchi this morning. Occasionally, well-dressed gentlemen stopped him to buy newspapers and inquire about the situation outside the city. The clever freckled youth knew exactly what these gentlemen wanted to hear. He enthusiastically told them how amiable and warm the undead were and how they had even helped clear a huge trash heap beneath the city walls in the slums.


    In other words, Lord Rex''s undead army indeed wouldn''t attack people arbitrarily, so everyone could rest assured.


    Most middle-class people (wealthy people have better sources of information) who sought information from paperboys indeed needed this kind of news. They gave Sanchi an extra copper or two and went to work, reassured.


    There were also a few who were skeptical and went to the city gates themselves to take a look. After confirming that those intimidating undead indeed did not attack the people entering and leaving the city, they finally felt relieved.


    By noon, the inflated prices within the city had started to fall.


    There was no other choice but for prices to fall. After all, the premise of profiting from war was because people felt fearful of that threat, prompting them to buy and hoard goods under pressure.


    However, the Weisshem undead weren''t cooperating at all. They didn''t restrict people''s movements in and out of the city, leading to farmers joyously bringing in food to the city after noticing the skyrocketing prices inside. The carefully planned price gouging scheme by merchants backfired, and it benefited those farmers instead!


    When the merchants reluctantly removed the "out of stock" signs and put back the original price tags, the Indahl city defense force, after a morning of negotiation and exchange of interests, finally set out from the central district toward the west gate.


    This contingent, consisting of 1200 city defense force soldiers, over 2000 private soldiers serving noble families, and more than 400 temporarily hired and armed civilians (essentially mercenaries), caused a commotion as they marched in formation down Saint Joseph Street, leading to residents closing their doors and windows, and pedestrians and street vendors fleeing in panic¡­


    It couldn''t be helped; military forces in this world didn''t have a good reputation. Everyone knew that while the strictly disciplined city defense force soldiers were one thing, private troops of nobility and mercenaries were another, as they could easily don masks and switch to becoming bandits or highwaymen when necessary.


    Ordinary folk would be scared of having their stuff "requisitioned" or even being dragged away to be free laborers.


    When the commotion-causing city defense force arrived at the west gate, even the gate guards fled swiftly, afraid of being dragged to the battlefield as well.


    Adra III, donning armor to personally lead the city defense force, was unfazed by the fleeing civilians on Saint Joseph Street. But upon arriving at the west gate and finding that all the gate guards had fled, he was livid.


    "These disgraceful cowards! All the gate guards are to be replaced after this battle!"


    Accompanying Steward Gould sighed inwardly. Gate guards were a part of the national defense system. The Bartalises, relying on the city defense force under their direct command, didn''t care much about the national defense corps, so naturally, these people weren''t very loyal to the Bartalises.


    No, it wasn''t just a lack of loyalty; they might even hope that Charlie Rex would be victorious. After all, in other territories, the national defense corp was the main regular military force and valued by territory lords.


    Since Charlie Rex even took good care of Weisshem''s less prestigious militia, these gate guards would naturally look forward to a new lord who didn''t treat them as invisible.


    6 a.m. Earth time and 11 a.m. OtherWorld time was when the territorial war officially began.


    Due to "OtherWorld''s" unique login mechanism, the early hour of 6 a.m. was a slightly special time that could ensure a high online player rate¡ªoffice workers and students could log in during their morning snooze period to join the battle.


    Yang Qiu had made the announcement about the start time for the territorial war a day before. At the appointed time, the number of online players surged from over a thousand to more than three thousand. Most set alarms to log in on time, while a few were called to log in by their friends. Being personally called to log in during high-reward events was a testament to players'' friendship.


    As the lord of the territory, Adra III wouldn''t personally charge into battle. After sternly instructing the city defense force commander Horn to fight for the Bartalis family with all his might, he, along with Steward Gould and about 20 personal guards, ascended the city walls.


    Joining Adra III on the city walls were the mayor, sheriff, other city officials, as well as Viscount Darcy and a group of local nobles.


    Adra III, who disliked managing the mundane affairs of the territory and often dreamed of the royal capital, understood the importance of uniting local forces at critical moments¡ªeven Baron Markus, who lost his territory, was forcefully brought on site to watch the battle. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Forcing local nobles to join him was a useful strategy as long as the defense forces had a sliver of a chance of winning. Even someone with ulterior motives like Viscount Darcy had to openly contribute his resources (private troops).


    The mule and horse market square beneath the west gate, an open area ideal for battle, soon resounded with warring cries and shouts.


    In the rear of the Weisshem encampment, Yang Qiu took out a pair of binoculars to observe the local dignitaries on the city walls, then turned to Rex. "Everything ready? If so, it''s time to move."


    "Everything has been ready since morning." Rex nodded in affirmation.


    With a wave of his hand, Yang Qiu signaled Rex to proceed.


    On the other side of the camp, shielded by the large prisoner camp, several warehouses had been silently erected. Here, ten "behind-enemy-lines teams," composed of town hall staff, orc volunteers, and 200 members of the security squad, were ready for action as Rex had confirmed.


    Rex provided a pre-mission briefing, "You all will be facing a different battlefield. Please be very cautious, do not act recklessly. If you notice anything unusual, retreat quickly and prioritize your safety."


    Rex''s pre-battle pep talk brought smiles to this bunch, especially the staff that were former members of the city defense force. In the past, they were accustomed to hearing from their officers about how they should prove their loyalty with their lives and never to value their own safety.


    "We will be careful. Don''t worry, Rex," Official Barton said on behalf of his comrades.


    "Go, the rest of us will be waiting for all of you to return," Rex said solemnly.


    Ten "behind-enemy-lines teams" promptly set out, taking advantage of the moment when all the city''s bigwigs were focused on the battlefield at the west gate. Each driving wagons full of "Weisshem specialties," the teams took a detour through the south gate into the city.


    Security squad member Jimmy was assigned to Barton''s team. Having come to Indahl for temporary work in his younger days, Jimmy knew his way about, and after entering the south gate, led the team''s wagons to the largest civilian district in the southern part of Indahl.


    Adjacent to the free market at the southern end of Saint Joseph Street, this was the most densely populated civilian district.


    The district, lacking regulation and planning, was crammed with densely packed residential buildings and narrow, dark alleys, resembling an otherworldly version of Kowloon Walled City, squeezing over twenty thousand locals and migrant workers into a space no larger than a regular village.


    The team''s wagons stopped at an empty area that was part of the free market outside the civilian district. Jimmy, knowing the area well, headed to one of the several coal yards catering to the district''s needs for fuel, as there was no electricity or gas piping in the area.


    Upon entering one of the coal yards, Jimmy spoke to a group of coal delivery workers, who were having their lunch break, then gestured toward the direction where the wagons were parked.


    In no time, the coal-stained workers cautiously followed Jimmy back to the wagons.


    Jimmy pulled out a set of deep blue outerwear and trousers from the wagon, noticeably thick and durable, albeit with a strange design, and handed it to the coal workers for inspection. "This is the clothing we''re offering. Only 20 copper coins per set, just as affordable as the undead fabric."


    The workers wiped their hands on their dirty trousers before hesitantly touching the offered clothing and discovering the fabric wasn''t only thick but also rather resistant to dirt.


    "Is it really just 20 copper for a set?" The breathing of this bunch of coal workers grew distinctively heavy with excitement.


    Town hall officer Barton, who had less life experiences than former militiaman Jimmy, saw the opportunity and immediately approached with a warm smile. "Of course. We, Weisshem people, never lie when it comes to business. If you can help us spread the word and let the people in the Market District know about our affordable quality clothing, we can offer these clothes for your efforts."


    Considering the coal yard''s decent profits didn''t equate to high earnings for the coal workers, the opportunity to exchange a bit of legwork for a new set of clothes worth 20 copper coins was a great deal, and they all eagerly signed up.


    With the zealous promotion of the workers of the coal yard, who were well-acquainted with the Market District, a large crowd of residents soon emerged from their homes, driven by curiosity to see what was on offer¡­


    The crude denim outerwear and trousers, originating from G, Y, and S Province manufacturers sourced from Pinshaoshao, had been stockpiled for at least five years and bought by weight (2 RMB for one kilogram. Despite their outdated style and craftsmanship, which would be scorned on Earth, they became irresistible bargains at 20 copper coins a set, sparking a buying frenzy among both local and migrant workers.


    As the stuff sold rapidly, news that "cheap goods from Weisshem were flooding into Indahl while the lords were busy at war" spread like wildfire among the lower classes.


    The notion that "Weisshem goods are so cheap and affordable" and "How does Weisshem have so many nice things?" spread rapidly.


    While the city defense force struggled to contain the relentless assault of the undead at the west gate, the lower-class citizens in the South District, and even beyond, began to look forward to the possibility of Weisshem''s lord taking over Indahl¡­


    Yang Qiu didn''t expect a mere "behind-enemy-lines fire sale" to mobilize the masses. The primary reason for this activity was straightforward: He understood all too well the nature of the ruling class in this world.


    Once they realized professional soldiers couldn''t handle the crisis, local nobles would undoubtedly and necessarily conscript the city''s able-bodied men, sending these already exploited commoners to the battlefield.


    Deploying "behind-enemy-lines teams" to sell goods in the densely populated South District during combat was meant to send a clear message of goodwill from Weisshem to the city''s common folk¡ª


    Weisshem isn''t your enemy. If you''re forced onto the battlefield, feel free to surrender to us.

 Chapter 187: To Win The First Battle

    At the battle ongoing at the mule and horse market beneath the west gate, all was normal during the first half hour.


    The city defense force truly justified the Bartalises'' years of substantial support. Their individual soldier quality and battle formation organization far surpassed the temporary armies composed of various nobles'' private troops.


    They didn''t just withstand most of the undead assaults, but had also learned from the Radiant Sun Church''s knights: actively using squad interlacing tactics to reclaim many private soldiers and mercenaries that were nearly carried off, infuriating the undead immensely.


    Half an hour later, the city defense force, frequently changing formations and continuously covering for their allies, gradually became exhausted. The disorganized mercenaries'' battle lines and the noble private troops'' battle lines, barely better than the former, began to suffer losses¡­


    "Hold them back! Stop them!" The panting city defense force commander, Horn, witnessed the mercenaries'' line being breached and the fearless undead charging in a frenzy to carry men off. He urgently wheeled his horse around, leading the most elite cavalry squad across the battlefield toward the breach.


    A charge cut off the undead''s attack path and maintained the nearly collapsed line. Horn, a few years older than Wagner, felt his throat burning with each breath he took.


    Before Commander Horn could catch his breath, another side of the battlefield, where the noble''s private troops were stationed, erupted into chaotic cries for help and furious curses¡­


    Mercenaries active in Indahl and the private troops employed by noble families weren''t weak, and every one of them possessed adequate combat strength. However, these mercenaries and private soldiers were only accustomed to small-scale battles and had little sense of mutual assistance. When gaps appeared in their own lines, they would tend to protect their own, which resulted in any breach expanding twice over if they were left to their own devices.


    Commander Horn had no choice but to muster his strength once more and lead his men to provide support.


    "Why is there no progress with the camp assault?!"


    Having rode back and forth several times, the already short-tempered Commander Horn summoned his deputy and lashed out in fury during a brief respite.


    "We can''t break through!" the disheveled deputy reported. "The closer we get to the enemy camp, the stronger the undead''s resistance. The third and fourth squads have already lost several men; I just pulled them back and sent in the ninth and tenth squads!"


    When the Radiant Sun Church''s knightly order fell at the unnamed wasteland, the city defense force had also sent observers. In the aftermath, Commander Horn often summoned his officers to discuss how to avoid the fate of the Radiant Sun Church''s knights when facing the Weisshem undead army.


    The conclusion of the discussion was that to defeat the undead legion, the enemy camp, which could summon skeletons limitlessly, had to be destroyed.


    This time, the Weisshem camp established at the frontline was extensive, and since they had lost contact with the scouts dispatched earlier, Commander Horn could only wait until the battle began to determine which tent within the enemy camp was the summoning spot.


    However, even if the enemy''s weak point was glaringly displayed, striking it precisely was no easy feat. The closer the city defense force got to the camp, the denser the undead became, and the speed at which the skeletons were being replenished far outstripped the rate at which they could be eliminated, making any advancement impossible!


    "If only we had a spellcaster." Commander Horn sighed, looking skyward.


    Indahl City did have spellcaster activity, like "Lich" Envie, who operated around the southern border of the Rhine Kingdom. But after the news that the Nightmare Butcher had arrived in Indahl and stayed in Weisshem spread, those spellcasters had disappeared.


    As the head of the strongest military might in Indahl, Commander Horn was privy to more information than the Church of Lady Gold Coin''s night watchmen; for instance, the real reason why local spellcasters avoided the Nightmare Butcher at all costs¡­


    Before the Nightmare Butcher, Yang, became an internationally wanted man due to escalating conflicts with the Radiant Sun Church, he had already earned the nickname "Mobile Contamination Source" among spellcasters¡­ No normal spellcaster would want to deal with him.


    The Bartalis family did have spellcasters in their employ, but it only started in Adra III''s grandfather''s generation, and these spellcasters were now still mere apprentices in a neighboring territory''s Mage Tower and wouldn''t make a difference in the current situation even if they were recalled.


    Commander Horn was well aware that if they lost this battle, the Bartalises still had a way out. Adra III could take refuge in another territory, and after one or two generations, the Bartalises could amass the strength to make a comeback. But for Horn himself, there was no route out!


    Wagner, who was once marginalized by him, now thrived under Charlie Rex, and Horn was well aware of the situation regarding Weisshem''s militia. Despite them being employed by Rex, the former militia captain, Kardo Gauld, was still languishing in Weisshem''s prison!


    The Horn family''s honor was entirely tied to serving the Bartalises as the lords of Indahl. If the Bartalises were no longer the lords, the Horn family''s generations-long dream of ascending into high society would end with him!


    After taking a hefty gulp of honeyed water handed by an aide, Commander Horn desperately steadied his hand that was trembling from exhaustion and raised his sword. "Abandon the line, charge at the enemy camp with all our might!"


    His aides paused briefly, then upon digesting the command, echoed it loudly.


    The city defense force soldiers, struggling to hold the line, quickly disengaged from the clutches of the undead and converged toward Horn like a surging tide.


    Without the support of the city defense force, the lines of the private and mercenary troops were rapidly breached by the undead. Those who retreated slowly screamed in despair as they were dragged away by the undead.


    The nobles on the city walls, witnessing the city defense force''s apparent disregard for their allies, were livid with accusations. When Adra III saw his prime army, built up and maintained with countless silver, charging alone at the enemy''s stronghold, his face turned dark¡­


    If Horn was able to hear Adra III at the moment, he would undoubtedly face a torrent of scolding. Since they couldn''t withstand the onslaught, why hadn''t Horn ordered a retreat to preserve their strength?!


    Gould, who understood military affairs, sighed. He recognized why Horn had taken such drastic action.


    Continuing to hold out would only result in being dragged down by allies who couldn''t even maintain their lines, leading to their defense falling even faster than the Radiant Sun Church''s knights. It was better to make a final stand while they still had the strength and gamble on destroying the enemy''s camp!


    This tragically heroic assault lasted for 20 minutes. Horn, leading the charge, got as close as 50 meters to the Weisshem camp at one point.


    This distance allowed him to clearly see inside the camp and spot the camp that continuously spawned undead as well as the man standing beside it.


    The man casually observing the battlefield was dressed like a gentleman one might see in a nicer area of Indahl City.


    But the man''s features, framed by slicked-back hair that reached his shoulders, bore a striking resemblance to wanted posters seen all over the continent decades ago¡­


    The moment he recognized this man, Horn''s will to fight completely evaporated. Surrounded by loyal aides and officers, he retreated hastily from the frontlines in silence, his face pale and lips blue.


    The Nightmare Butcher was personally guarding the tent that summoned the undead¡­ How could they possibly win?!


    Inside the Weisshem camp, seeing the enemy commanders flee while the undead gleefully captured nearby stragglers, Rex asked, "Yang, is it okay to let those people escape?"


    Yang glanced casually at the chaos sprouting in the observing crowd on the city walls and replied nonchalantly, "Let''s leave them some decent commanders. Otherwise, those guys might cause trouble for the city folk."


    Rex nodded his head silently, realizing Yang''s intent. This battle had to be won squarely and unquestionably, so he, a noble without a title, could firmly establish his rule in Indahl after their victory.


    Defeating all the forces the Bartalises could muster was the clearest demonstration of Weisshem''s overwhelming strength.


    Rex looked toward the undead, who expertly subdued and hauled away their foes. In any case, they seemed to be enjoying themselves¡­ A few more rounds of battle would meet everyone''s expectations.


    December 4, 6 a.m., Earth time, noon in OtherWorld. After an hour of fierce combat, Weisshem triumphed in the first battle. The Indahl city defense force, having lost over 700 men, 1,400 private soldiers, and 200 mercenaries, retreated hastily into the city.


    The reason the private soldiers of the nobility suffered the most was straightforward. These well-equipped troops caught the players'' eyes, as their quality gear with enchantments were revealed via "Identify." Were it not for the city gates being just behind them, not a single one of these private troops would have escaped.


    With the Indahl forces demoralized after their crushing defeat, the players didn''t waste time celebrating but quickly proceeded to allocate the spoils of war. Many players were eager to log out to prepare for their day, leaving little time to dawdle over loot distribution¡­ A process that ended up taking as long as the battle itself.


    Adra III and the local nobility had no interest in watching the undead outside the city walls distribute what used to be their possessions. After descending from the city walls, the first thing these usually dignified individuals did was check how many of their privately sponsored soldiers remained.


    In the Indahl territory, 40% of the arable land belonged to these gentlemen, and each noble family owned several vast and fertile farm estates. To protect their property from infringement, financially capable nobles needed to maintain their private soldiers.


    Even the dispossessed Baron Markus had his small private army of a few dozen men. If he thought his forces could handle Rex, who had a black mage at his disposal and could command an army of the undead, Baron Markus would have already tried to take down Charlie Rex at Weisshem.


    After counting their losses, these nobles, who usually cared greatly about how they portrayed themselves in public, were so infuriated they were pounding their chests and stamping their feet.


    The worst-hit families were completely wiped out; even those who suffered the least lost at least half of their forces!


    Adra III, who felt nauseous from the losses of the city defense force, tried to muster the energy to convene the nobles to discuss the next round of battle¡­ only to find that they had all disappeared.


    With heavy losses and no real intention of fighting to the death, the local nobles were not willing to engage in futile efforts alongside the sinking ship that was the Bartalis family.


    S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 188: Recruiting Militia

    Upon his return to the city lord''s manor, Adra III''s first action was to throw Commander Horn of the city defense force into prison.


    As the livid lord was about to manipulate the situation and appoint an officer with a grudge against Horn as a replacement, following his father''s teachings in political maneuvering, Steward Gould hurried back to stop him.


    The Bartalises'' prior actions of transferring assets and moving their heirs away had already destabilized the city defense force. A sudden change in command would completely undermine the military''s effectiveness.


    Reluctantly, Adra III had to release Horn to lead the troops again while humbly following the old steward¡¯s advice and commanding the city hall to organize manpower and conscript "militia" within the city. Since the nobles had already turned their backs, he really had no choice but to turn to the city hall.


    Conscripting "militia" from within the city wasn''t a good idea. City youths weren''t as easily intimidated as rural farmers, but this was the only method Gould could think of at the moment¡­ Given that Weisshem''s takeover was inevitable, the best option was to cause as much trouble for that bastard usurper!


    Casualties were inevitable in wars. If Rex''s undead army caused harm to the city''s civilians, he would find it difficult to hold the position of lord comfortably. Once the Bartalis family had "strategically relocated" to a safe place and regathered their strength to return, the local populace, bearing deep grudges against Rex, would surely welcome their return with open arms.


    While the Bartalis family seized this last opportunity to cause trouble for Rex, Viscount Darcy, upon returning to his estate, urgently inquired of his steward, Ford, about any news from his granddaughter Gina, who had been sent to Weisshem nearly about a week ago. Viscount Darcy, who hardly remembered what his granddaughter looked like, showed unprecedented concern toward her marriage prospects.


    Steward Ford awkwardly reported, "Miss Gina already sent someone back to make a report two days ago. Charlie Rex has shown no interest in her and she asked if she can return¡­"


    In a fit of fury, Viscount Darcy threw a teacup across the room, cursing the granddaughter who had never shown any talent and brought shame to the Darcy family.


    Steward Ford remained silent.


    Miss Gina was indeed the least attractive among the granddaughters, and Viscount Darcy, who looked down on Rex, thought his least impressive granddaughter sufficient to deal with that illegitimate child¡­ Whose fault was that?


    Although Viscount Darcy had already anticipated this to be the case, he would never admit his own negligence. Instead, he blamed everything on the incompetent Gina.


    At a time when two armies clashed, sending his most beautiful granddaughter to Rex''s camp would turn the Darcys into a laughingstock throughout Indahl. Viscount Darcy paced his study, agitated, unable to figure out how to submit his "declaration of allegiance."


    Knowing it was time to offer a solution, Steward Ford stepped out of the study, directing a servant to bring in the items he had prepared: a set of denim outerwear, a four-piece bedding set with two pillowcases, a furry scarf and gloves that appeared to be made of fur, and a plastic thermos.


    "What is this?" Viscount Darcy frowned at the thermos, unable to discern its purpose.


    "These are products that Weisshem folks sneaked into the southern district for selling to civilians during the conflict," Steward Fort explained with noticeable excitement, picking up the denim outerwear to show Viscount Darcy the sturdy material.


    "This kind of robust clothing, akin to canvas, is priced at only 20 copper coins per set. The civilians in the southern district are nearly going mad over it. Our male servants couldn''t even get their hands on one; we had to pay triple the price to acquire this set from a drunk."


    "Twenty copper? For a set?!" Viscount Darcy was astounded.


    Steward Ford put down the outerwear and enthusiastically presented a bedding set. "There''s also this type of bedding, going for 20 copper a set, too."


    Well, these were actually the sort of bedding advertised as pure cotton but actually made of synthetic fibers that were priced at around 15-18 RMB a set in discount stores, which could be gotten at wholesale prices around 10 RMB on Alibaba¡­


    Viscount Darcy took a step forward to get a feel of the bedsheets and, on experiencing its soft touch, couldn''t help echoing the soul-searching question the commoners of the southern district had, "Gosh, where does Weisshem get all these cheap goods? Wouldn''t Rex bankrupt his estate, selling them at these prices?"


    Steward Ford put down the bedsheets, then picked up a furry scarf in one hand and equally warm-looking gloves in the other, and said excitedly, "These scarves and gloves are also 10 copper coins each, and the women in the southern district are fighting over them!"


    These weren''t real fur but synthetic fiber fur scarves and gloves, available on Pinshaoshao for about 6 RMB each, possibly even less in bulk.


    Viscount Darcy grabbed the scarf to feel its texture, his jaw dropping in disbelief.


    "And lastly, this." Ford lifted the plastic thermos, his breathing slightly heavier. "This double-layered thermos is only 20 copper coins each!"


    Viscount Darcy''s hand trembled, and the scarf fell to the ground.


    This world did have thermal insulation technology, with most middle-class and noble families using silver-plated glass-lined thermoses, which were quite expensive and priced in silver coins.


    This batch of thermoses for winter home essentials that flowed out of Weisshem was sourced directly by Yang Qiu from a local township enterprises in G Province. Not only were the exteriors beautiful, featuring high-end and elegant pastel designs, but the price was also very reasonable, costing around 10 RMB each, including shipping.


    Viscount Darcy scrutinized the light green thermos decorated with fresh floral patterns, contemplating the potential profit from shipping a trainload of these to the royal capital. Now, he couldn''t help but share the steward''s enthusiasm.


    "We need Rex''s friendship!" Viscount Darcy declared resolutely. "Where are those people from Weisshem? We must protect them and ensure the Bartalises don''t harm them!"


    Steward Ford knew his master all too well and flashed a broad smile as he tried to claim credit. "I''ve already had our male servants keep an eye on those Weisshem folks. They''ll step in to help at the slightest sign of trouble."


    "What good are mere servants? Send¡ª" Viscount Darcy caught himself, abruptly remembering that most of his private troops had been decimated at the city gates, leaving only a handful to return in disgrace. He grimaced, and through gritted teeth, said, "Send those useless ones over too!"


    Steward Ford was aware that he had touched on a sore spot and responded with a submissive nod.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Due to the ongoing conflict outside the city, the mobile mill wasn''t operating, leaving Johan with no odd jobs to earn his day''s wage.


    After sneaking a peek at the combat from an abandoned warehouse near the mule and horse market at noon, Johan returned home for lunch, brimming with excitement as he described to his family how brave and strong the Weisshem undead were and how they routed the forces of the local nobility.


    Johan''s mother was aware of her eldest son''s close association with the mill workers from Weisshem, but she didn''t harbor any dislike for the Weisshem folk despite the undead''s presence. However, years of life experiences taught this woman, who appeared aged beyond her early forties, the importance of caution.


    Gently, she advised her son, "Don''t talk about it too much, Johan, in case your brother gets too excited and runs to watch the fighting. That would be too dangerous."


    Johan nodded, immediately adopting a stern face to warn his brother, "Barry, did you hear what Mom said? You''re not allowed to go near the mule and horse market these days. Otherwise, all the sugar at home will go to Jenny."


    The little boy protested, "We weren''t going to play there anyway. If you want to favor Jenny, just say so!"


    Jenny, the youngest child in the family, though frail and unassuming, was very sensible. "It''s okay, Barry. I''ll share half of the candy with you," she said.


    The little boy retorted, "I don''t need your pity. Keep it for yourself."


    Johan patted his brother''s head, turning to his mother. "Mom, I want to go into the city this afternoon to see if I can find some work."


    "Better not, with all that fighting going on. We can still manage without a couple of days'' earnings," she advised. "The city''s nobility just lost a battle. I remember your grandfather saying when those nobles are in a bad mood, it''s trouble for everyone below them. Who knows if there''ll be chaos in the city?" S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I know, I won''t go where it''s crowded," Johan assured her. "The gangsters are all missing these days, and it''s easy to find work in the tavern district. I''ll be back before it gets dark and crowded."


    After some hesitation, the mother, considering her son was grown up and needed some leeway, reluctantly agreed, "Then be careful."


    After lunch, Barry went to play with his friends, their mother went to work at the laundry, and, as usual, Johan took Jenny to their uncle''s house down the alley.


    Boys in the slum could roam freely, but girls could not. When adults were busy, they had to send their daughters to a relative''s home where adults could watch them. Otherwise, they might not find their daughters again¡ªtoo many men in the area would take advantage of unattended girls.


    After settling his sister, Johan joined his friends Sanchi, Tommy, and Bobby, and the four young men, chatting and laughing, headed toward the south city gate.


    Yes, Indahl was about to change, and the old master at the city lord''s manor was going to be replaced. But what did that have to do with them?


    They didn''t know what the city lord looked like, had never entered the city hall, and hadn''t even been to the central district. It wasn''t just the central district; they weren''t allowed in any decent neighborhood. Burly patrolling city guards wouldn''t let these poor folks near the homes of respectable people, lest something got stolen.


    The southern district was as per usual, except the men who had free time to chat in the roadside taverns during the day were now discussing the future of Indahl instead of which street had more promiscuous women.


    Sticking to the promise he made with his mother, Johan explained the situation to his friends, and the four didn''t venture into crowded areas, taking familiar alleys to the tavern district on Saint Joseph''s Street.


    Emerging from the narrow, winding alleys onto Saint Joseph''s Street, Johan and his friends immediately sensed something was amiss.


    There were many city policemen on the sidewalk!


    People looking for work on the streets feared the city police the most. The four instinctively wanted to retreat back into the alley¡­ but it was too late.


    The policemen, surprised to find these four young men, eagerly surrounded them, grabbing them without a word.


    "Wait a minute, sir, we''re just¡ªah!"


    Johan, not new to troubles with the city police, tried to argue but was immediately yanked by the hair and thrown to the ground.


    "Shut up!"


    The city police knew how to quiet those poor beggars from outside the city. Thick cowhide boots slammed into Johan''s stomach, followed by a few stomps on his limbs left the dirty young man curled up into a ball.

 Chapter 189: Second Battle (1)

    Midday weather during the 11th month in Indahl wasn''t too cold, and Johan wasn''t dressed heavily. His trousers were long pants pulled up high and tied at the waist with a cotton belt. He wore a hole-ridden cotton pullover with a sleeveless linen waistcoat. The shoulders of the waistcoat typically had old cloth layered and sewn into somewhat thick shoulder pads, offering slight protection when carrying heavy items during miscellaneous tasks.


    Such attire offered no protection at all; a few harsh kicks were enough to incapacitate him. Curling up with his arms around his stomach, he dared not even whimper too loudly, as it would cause his abdomen to ache.


    Then, a large hand in a leather glove grabbed his unkempt, half-long curly hair, pulling him upward. The acute pain from his scalp forced Johan to bear the pain and get up, stumbling forward as he was led by the person holding his hair.


    On one side of the sidewalk, there were several horse-drawn boxed carriages used by the city police to transport criminals.


    These carriages, somewhat similar to Weisshem''s steel carriages, had a large body and an enclosed driver''s seat at the front to prevent attacks. However, they had a much lower chassis than Weisshem''s, and only the frame was reinforced with steel; the carriage body was still made of thick wood.


    When Johan was thrown into one of these carriages, it was already filled with people. As he tumbled in, he saw many pairs of feet. This terrified, bewildered young man from the slums struggled to prop himself up on his elbows and lift his head, scanning the cramped, fearful faces of those standing shoulder to shoulder.


    They were all young men of similar age to him, some dressed like him in their work clothes, others a bit cleaner but with dirty shoes; clearly, they weren''t from the more distinguished parts of the city.


    "Stop being a hindrance, stand properly!"


    Hearing the scolding from behind, Johan hurriedly got up and squeezed in with the others in the carriage.


    Then, Johan watched as he companions, Sanchi, Tommy, and Bobby, were herded onto the carriage in succession, being handled as if they were livestock.


    The carriage was full once these four were on board. The city police slammed the door shut and locked it, and soon, the carriage started moving.


    As the wheels rolled, Johan heard the city police outside discussing which district to target next for arrests¡­


    "Wh-where will they take us?" The youngest, Sanchi, was terrified, whispering his fear amid sobs.


    No one answered him. In the windowless, dim carriage, everyone packed inside was just numbly, anxiously swaying with the movement of the wheels.


    Minutes later, the people inside heard tumult outside; men questioning "what are you trying to do" and women pleading "please spare him."


    The carriage kept moving, and the people inside grew even more panicked.


    "What''s going on, what''s happening in the city? Sirs, do you know what''s going on?" Johan mustered his courage to ask the better-dressed city folk in the carriage for information.


    "¡­I don''t know," a young man in a restaurant waiter garb muttered softly. "I was just going to work as usual¡­ I just reached Saint Joseph Street when I got caught up with everyone else."


    "I''m a procurement staff at a leather workshop," another man in a long-sleeved coat said with a bitter smile. "It''s really bizarre. I thought I was being robbed¡­"


    When this was said, no one in the carriage doubted this truth.


    No one wanted to deal with the city police regardless of whether they were those hustling for a living on the streets, day laborers, individuals with stable jobs, or small workshop owners or shopkeepers with some assets. The city police were more avaricious than street gangs, more inhuman, and while a gang might not take your life, they would.


    Amid the oppressive silence, the carriage finally stopped.


    The door was opened, and the city police with large iron locks on chains shouted and ordered the men inside to get out.


    Johan and his friends helped each other down from the carriage and were astonished to find they had been brought to the west gate.


    The square within the west gate, which also served as a market when the mule and horse market was open, was a place Johan and his friends were familiar with. During the summer and autumn seasons, he and his friends would gather wild fruits and nuts from outside the slums to sell here.


    As Johan and the others were herded toward a wall, he saw many more boxy carriages around the square, each holding 20 to 30 young and middle-aged men who were also being led in the same direction.


    Beneath the city wall, at least a thousand people were already waiting, sitting or standing. Although there were not many city police overseeing them, the group remained quiet and compliant. Johan suspected it was due to the dozen or so men hanging from ropes on the city wall behind them. Seeing those men made his legs go weak.


    Johan and his companions were taken to the edge of the crowd. The corpulent city police glared at them, warning them not to move, speak, or cause trouble, pointing to the men hanging on the wall as a threat of what would happen if they disobeyed.


    The immediate examples were effective, and coupled with the city police''s notorious reputation, no one in Johan''s group dared to risk it; they all obediently sat down.


    Johan and his three friends, filled with fear, huddled closely together, watching as more and more people were forcibly brought to the square.


    By the time it got dark, Johan could no longer ascertain how many people had been gathered, but a quick glance revealed a sea of heads as far as he could see.


    On the other side of the square, bonfires were lit and large pots were set up, with city hall staff bringing in cartloads of potatoes, tossing them into the pots with their skins and dirt still on to cook.


    Johan received two mushy, completely unsalted potatoes handed out by city hall staff who threw them into the crowd for people to pick up themselves; during the distribution, city policemen with long swords stood by menacingly, ready to harshly strike anyone who dared to fight over the food with the sheath of their swords.


    Two potatoes were far from enough to fill the stomach of a young adult male, but fortunately, the impoverished people of this world were accustomed to hunger. Even the usually ravenous Sanchi wouldn''t complain of not being full.


    But on this chilly autumn night, forced to stay in this open square, people had no choice but to huddle together for warmth.


    In the middle of the night, as Johan dozed off, he was awakened by someone''s cries of emotional breakdown. Opening his eyes, he saw several city policemen charging into the crowd, dragging out an unrecognizable person, cursing and kicking him, then using a rope to tie the person''s hands and waist, dragging him toward the city wall¡­


    Johan paled and felt nauseated as he firmly covered Sanchi''s mouth to prevent him from crying out loud.


    Sanchi''s tears fell on Johan''s hand, and Johan himself, filled with fear, comforted him softly, "Don''t make a sound, just endure it¡­ It''ll be okay once we get through this."


    They survived the arduous night until dawn when city hall staff came again to distribute another round of potatoes.


    As Johan bit into his potato in frustration, he saw several luxurious carriages driving up to the square, with many armored men escorting someone from the carriage toward the city wall.


    There were too many people surrounding the escorted figure, preventing Johan from seeing who it was, though he could glimpse a small patch of gleaming golden fabric.


    Johan suddenly began to despise the color gold.


    He stared at that flicker of gold among the dense crowd, realizing that the excruciatingly long night endured by everyone in the square was all because of that person with that small patch of golden fabric.


    What was beyond the west gate? Weisshem''s undead army. A fact well-known to everyone in the city.


    The armies of local nobility being routed by Weisshem''s undead yesterday was also known to everyone.


    So many people had been herded to the square inside the west gate, all of them young and able-bodied men¡­ Even Johan, an uneducated, inexperienced youth from the slums, could guess what was happening¡ªthe nobles'' military forces were ineffective, so they were turning to them.


    Such a thing was a semi-public secret among the lower-class farm folk; which family didn''t have ancestors who were conscripted by nobles and never returned?


    Filled with anger, Johan stuffed the last piece of potato into his mouth.


    He would never fight for those who didn''t consider them human, especially not when those on the opposite side were Mr. Barton and the others!


    "Sanchi, Tommy, Bobby, listen to me," Johan whispered to his friends, drawing them closer. "No matter what they tell us to do later, just go along and don''t resist. Once we''re out of the city gate, stay away from those who hit us randomly, and run with all your might toward the other side!"


    Sanchi, Tommy, and Bobby, children from impoverished families who had to shoulder family responsibilities from a young age, weren''t stupid and nodded vigorously in agreement. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    They wouldn''t need to be afraid of Mr. Barton who was across the battlefield¡ªMr. Barton had always been kind to them; he would never harm them!


    A while later, several hundred people in armor, riding horses, arrived at the square.


    The city defense force commander, Horn, tugged on the reins of his horse and glanced at the dense crowd of local men beneath the city wall before turning his face away.


    Horn held no hope for a positive outcome from this battle. Since Mr. Gould wished to create an unmanageable mess for Charlie Rex, that bastard child, Horn would do his best to cooperate, considering it a farewell to his years of friendship with Mr. Gould.


    He had already hurriedly sent the young generations of the Horn family out of the city to Neuen Town overnight. Even if he himself sank in this power transition, at least the next generation of the Horn family could start anew.


    In the second battle, the city defense force no longer acted as the main force but served as a supervisory army¡ªAdra III was well aware that once the Bartalis family moved to another territory, he would be vulnerable without sufficient armed forces. Thus, he needed to preserve his troops.


    Under the watchful eyes of the city police and city defense force, the young and strong men, who had been sitting under the city wall for a night, were called up and taken out of the city in batches.


    At this moment, some people in the crowd, unable to fathom that they were being conscripted, had to face a harsh reality. Many lost control of their emotions, either shouting or breaking down in tears.


    In this world, there wasn''t any country that could maintain long-term stable peace. Even the landlocked Rhine Kingdom, with few international entanglements, experienced territorial wars every few years.


    War always resulted in death. Any unrealistic romantic fantasies about war only occured in the minds of those who had never encountered war and had no understanding of it.


    No matter how much these lower-class commoners resisted, they could not stand against the armored city defense force and the ruthless city police. Whether paralyzed by fear or weeping bitterly, they all had to obediently leave the city in an orderly manner.


    When leaving the safety of the city walls, the "weapons" they received were just sharpened wooden poles, not even covered with iron sheeting¡ªthe Bartalis family intended for these people to head to their deaths and staining Rex with the blood of locals, so naturally, they wouldn''t provide decent weapons.


    Johan was separated from his friends when they were taken out of the city in batches because, despite being dark and skinny, he was relatively tall and had a reasonably strong physique due to years of hard labor, so he was placed in the first batch.


    Suppressing the fear in his heart, Johan obediently received his "weapon" like the others, followed the crowd out of the city under the city police''s stern supervision, and was positioned at the very front.


    From a distance of several hundred meters, Johan saw the front of the Weisshem camp, which was already teeming with undead activity.


    With only the thought of "surrender" in his mind and no desire to fight, Johan''s hands began to sweat as he gripped the sharpened wooden pole.


    It''s okay¡­ it''s okay¡­ The undead are not scary¡­ They even help us with tasks¡­


    Johan continuously reassured himself as his legs trembled uncontrollably.


    It took a long time for nearly ten thousand people to queue up, receive their "weapons," and form lines to march out of the city.


    In the excruciatingly tense wait, Johan, positioned at the forefront, heard people around him sobbing softly.


    "Don''t be afraid¡ª" Johan wanted to vocally comfort those around him, urging them to surrender with him, but when he actually spoke, his voice was so soft it was akin to the buzz of a mosquito.


    Johan tried to swallow, but his mouth was dry and devoid of any moisture, his throat''s mucous membrane painfully stuck to his tongue when he tried to moisten it.


    Don''t panic¡­ Don''t panic¡­


    Johan could only reassure himself silently.


    As sweat trickled down his dark face, forming rivulets, the conscripted men finally completed their assembly.


    Johan, minimizing his movements as much as possible, carefully looked back and saw that the city police and the city defense army had drawn their weapons, forming a threatening line behind the crowd.


    "Listen up! You are only allowed to move forward. No retreating!" a loud city police officer shouted, brandishing a gleaming long sword. "Anyone who takes even half a step back will have their head hit the ground!"


    "Charge!"


    Johan''s overly tense nerves momentarily prevented him from reacting to the command until he was bumped from behind, prompting him to start running, half-pushed, half-propelled.


    After mindlessly running for several dozen meters, Johan gradually regained his composure.


    He looked back again to ensure that the "supervising" forces were merely blocking the city gate and not charging along with the young and strong men. Without hesitation, he discarded the wooden pole, raised his hands, and sprinted toward the Weisshem camp as fast as he could, all the while shouting with all the strength he could muster, "Don''t kill me, I surrender!"

 Chapter 190: Second Battle (2)

    Twenty-something Johan had many memories of desperate running in his short life.


    His earliest running had been as a child when he stole food hidden in a neighbor''s junk pile due to extreme hunger. His mother, both ashamed and embarrassed, chased him with a poker from one end of the slums to the other.


    Johan only remembered that his mother cried louder than him when she was doling out the beating.


    Later, he learned that stealing others'' food was wrong because they needed it too¡­ If his theft caused someone else to die so he could live, then he would have made a grave mistake.


    Countless running followed, not because John did anything wrong. At least, he was certain of that.


    One winter, when he was just over ten, collecting cow dung at the mule and horse market for fuel, a kind stable worker saw him staggering with hunger and gave him a small bag of beans meant for horses to take home.


    That small bag of black beans could save his family. When the older kids there tried to steal it, Johan abandoned the dung bag, clutched the beans, and ran for his life, not stopping even when a stone thrown by the other kids cracked his head open, until he reached home and handed the beans to his mother.


    As he grew up and started finding odd jobs on the streets of Indahl, Johan had been chased away by city police countless times and had to run from others trying to beat him up for less competition; when he made some money, he had to avoid gangsters and other peers that couldn''t find any work¡­


    Johan convinced himself that running away wasn''t shameful as long as he hadn''t done anything wrong.


    Running was for survival¡ªjust like he was now. He wasn''t a soldier, so his actions weren''t desertion.


    He was just doing his utmost to flee from those who would harm him.


    The forcefully conscripted "militia" had no will to fight from the beginning, not a single person shouted war cries during the forced charge; everyone was just helplessly going with the flow, and after more than ten continuous hours with only some boiled potatoes and no water, their throats were parched, and no one had the strength to scream.


    In a crowd of several thousand silently "charging" forward, that lone cry of surrender was strikingly conspicuous¡­


    The people around John were the first to be influenced, especially the young man behind him who had been sobbing continuously. He was just a restaurant waiter, who would be scared for days simply by receiving a reprimand from his supervisor for delivering the wrong dessert. Warfare was nowhere in this citizen''s life plan.


    Instinctively, the young city dweller, a year younger than Johan, also dropped the useless sharpened wooden pole in his hands and, imitating Johan, raised his hands, stuttering softly (he didn''t have the strength to shout), "Surrender, surrender!"


    Humans were most susceptible to the influence of others when they were in a heightened emotional state and faced with situations they couldn''t adapt to. More and more people dropped their "weapons," those who had the strength to shout began to shout their surrender, and those who didn''t just gasped for air, helplessly running along.


    On the other side, in front of the Weisshem camp.


    In OtherWorld, it was nine in the morning, corresponding to 5 p.m. on Earth.


    It wasn''t yet the peak online period at this time. Many players were either just getting out of school and not yet home (or back to their dorms) or still at work, with only half of the peak number of players online.


    Tang Jia finished her afternoon elective course and returned to her dorm early to log in, just in time for the second round of battlefield missions.


    She had just met up with her friends and joined the raid group that had been active throughout the entire territory war when the city gates opposite them opened and NPCs started pouring out.


    "Huh¡­ Why are they all yellow-named mobs?" Tang Jia cast "Identify" out of habit, and the dense mass of "Weisshem citizens" shocked her. "What''s going on? Isn''t it the second round of battle starting?"


    "Yeah, why are there so few of those monsters from yesterday, and they are all just camping beneath the city walls?" Yang Ying was also perplexed.


    As more and more "enemy forces" gathered in front of the city gates, the players waiting in front of the camp became increasingly confused.


    When the "enemy forces" formed up, the players collectively became agitated.


    "It''s all civilian NPCs. What''s there to fight?!"


    "What the heck, I don''t even see a single Lv1 monster!"


    "Could the damned devs be thinking they gave out too much loot in the morning and are now trying to bluff their way through?"


    "Is this some kind of joke? Since when do territory war mobs get poorer with each wave?!"


    "F*cking Devs!" S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    These agitated, shouting, and furious undead in front of the camp startled the town hall staff and security squad personnel who were busy with resettlement work in the camp.


    Rex had to dive into the tent, nervously saying, "Yang, the undead seem very displeased, do you think¡­?"


    Yang Qiu understood that players, eager for another round of loot, would not accept being fobbed off with makeshift "militia." He gave Rex a reassuring look and skillfully issued a new quest to all online players:


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Dynamic Plotline [Receiving Refugees] has been triggered


    The despicable Lord Adra III of Indahl, facing irrevocable defeat in the territorial war, has outrageously captured civilians from the city, driving them to the frontline to force them into battle.


    Charlie Rex cannot bear to see these civilians harmed and requests the undead to assist.


    Participation Mode 1: Assist Rex in accepting and settling the refugees as well as to protect them from the scourge of warfare.


    Participation Mode 2: To prevent Adra III from forcibly conscripting civilians again, you decide to strike directly and try to break through Indahl''s west gate.


    Settlement Mode: For every successfully settled refugee, all participating players will receive 1 Indahl prestige point. For every refugee that dies, all participating players will lose 50 Indahl prestige points.


    Combat Mode: For each city defense force soldier, officer, city police, or Adra III''s personal guard slayed, the slayer earns 20 Indahl prestige points; for each captured, the capturer earns 200 Indahl prestige points.


    Undead, who have lost their lives, understand the value of life more than those living. Wishing the undead success in their quest.


    "Indahl Prestige" has now been activated.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    After issuing the new quest text to every online player''s panel, the players, initially frustrated by the lack of loot, quickly calmed down.


    "So that''s it, it''s a reputation jackpot!" Qin Guan, blood alliance leader, was delighted and immediately started coordinating his elite team within the large raid group, gathering his capable fighters to his side.


    Brother Lahong, also in the large raid group, reacted quickly too, loudly rallying his elite team.


    With the dynamic storyline quest offering prestige points, these two gaming big shots were extremely focused¡ªJi Tang had outdone them and even the pay-to-win players in the prestige rankings previously because he had built a strong foundation during the first dynamic plotline quest [Taranthan''s Embrace]!


    Ordinary players didn''t have the resources like Qin Guan and Brother Lahong to fiercely compete for prestige rankings, but the player mentality was such that no one wanted to fall behind the majority. With Indahl prestige launching for the first time, they all want to earn some prestige.


    When the "yellow-named enemies" started charging, the players also received the signal to start the battle and quickly sprang into action.


    The straight-line distance between Weisshem''s camp and Indahl''s west gate was about 1,100 meters, and the distance between the players and the civilian brigade marching out of the city was about 700 meters.


    At this distance, both sides couldn''t see each other clearly, only a vague outline visible.


    When the civilians, pushed forward by the gleaming swords and spears, began their charge, they all moved in a large, flowing mass, but their speed wasn''t great¡­ Definitely not as fast as college students sprinting to the cafeteria.


    In contrast, the undead, who could outrun horses, moved at an astonishing pace. Johan, who was at the forefront, hadn''t run 200 meters before the gleefully bounding undead were nearly upon him.


    Johan, shouting his surrender, came face-to-face with the armored skeletons, and his heart trembled with fear¡ªthese undead, when up close, were indeed terrifying!


    Had these undead not refrained from drawing their weapons, opting instead to rush forward with their bare bone claws, Johan might have turned tail on the spot and fled.


    Then¡­ the undead that had rushed forward split to either side, clearing a wide path leading to Weisshem''s camp.


    The undead on the sides even gestured with their bone claws at Johan in the front, making "KABAKABA" noises.


    Despite the language barrier, the undead''s body language was easy to understand; they were signaling for them to hurry through.


    Johan kept repeating his intention to surrender while cautiously observing the undead''s actions and anxiously running down the path they had cleared.


    The undead still didn''t attack him.


    Johan gulped. This time, he no longer felt the painful dryness in his mouth and throat.


    Civilians, who had dropped their "weapons" like Johan, eyed the undead flanking them with trepidation, but they didn''t slow their pace. There were still many people running behind them, and no one dared to stop now.


    "This way! This way!"


    "Come quick! This way!"


    "No pushing! Watch your step!"


    The players didn''t care whether the NPCs could understand their shouting or not; they enthusiastically waved the NPCs running toward their camp for those potential prestige points.


    If a civilian forgot to drop their sharpened wooden stick and ran with the crowd in confusion, players didn''t care.


    When a civilian accidentally slipped on a dropped stake and fell, the surrounding undead were even more anxious than the civilians themselves, rushing forward to pull the nearly trampled civilian to safety¡­ Losing 50 prestige points for each civilian death was indeed unbearable for them!


    This group of forcibly conscripted young and middle-aged men numbered around seven or eight thousand, which might seem like a vast crowd to people of this world, but to Earthlings, especially those from China, it really wasn''t much. Any college or university would have more people.


    Seeing that the chaotic running of these civilians could easily lead to a stampede, players with experience in organizing school, company, or even public events quickly stepped forward to direct, splitting the crowd into several streams¡­


    Growing up with the experience of lining up and doing exercises from kindergarten, or even nursery, most of them had a sense of how to organize. With the considerate "service" of over a thousand players, in just a few minutes, the several thousand civilians were safely ushered into Weisshem''s camp.


    Up on the city walls above the west gate, Lord Adra III, personally observing the battle, had his jaw nearly fall to the floor in astonishment.


    The city defense force and city police beneath the west gate couldn''t see the whole picture. From their angle, they could only see the men charging out, and before any clash occurred, the commoners in their field of vision were quickly replaced by the undead¡­


    The elite teams among the players bypassed the prestige bearing "yellow-named monsters" and directly confronted the "elite monsters" behind, eagerly drawing their weapons.


    The city police, who were ferocious against civilians, turned pale and started to flee.


    Players were not willing to let these much more rewarding "elite monsters" escape and pounced on them with loud cries.


    "Secure the city gate first, then capture them!" Blossoming Strokes, who held command authority among the elite players, called out loudly.


    "Understood!" Qin Guan and Brother Lahong, aware that now wasn''t the time to hinder each other if they wanted to profit, simultaneously directed their elite players to take action.


    Wanderers players, who accounted for the most among the player base, quickly activated their Windwalk skills and rushed out like the wind.


    The fastest fleeing city police were still about 50 meters from the gate when several dozen fully-armed wanderer players got hold of them¡­

 Chapter 191: Second Battle (3)

    When Johan was about a hundred meters away from Weisshem''s camp, he smelled an extremely enticing and very familiar aroma.


    Having only eaten a handful of boiled potatoes in the last 20 hours, Johan''s entire sensory system went into overdrive. He inhaled deeply as saliva flooded his mouth, and even his stomach, quietly nestled in his abdomen, began to contract, signaling hunger.


    Johan wasn''t the only one enticed by the aroma. He heard the man with a stubbly chin to his right gulp hard, making a gurgling sound.


    Being in proximity to so many undead made these hunger-stricken young and middle-aged men too afraid to express their emotions, so they only quickened their pace unknowingly.


    By the time Johan, whose legs were starting to ache from the running, finally reached the front of Weisshem''s camp, he could finally see the source of the aroma.


    Beyond the camp walls made of wood and stone, on an open space within, large pots were steaming on a row of simple stone and mud stoves.


    "They are here, they are here!" the men guarding the camp entrance called out, smiling and waving at the staggering newcomers. "Quick, come in. Have something to eat!"


    After a tense sprint of some 800 meters, the young and middle-aged men were gassed out. Gasping for air, they followed the instructions of these men and were herded into the camp.


    These strangers from Weisshem seemed to have experience organizing groups of people too, efficiently dividing the newcomers into batches of 30 or 50 and leading them to prearranged areas to sit down.


    As soon as Johan sat down, someone with a large bucket and a stack of bowls hurried over.


    Like Johan, all the Indahl men''s eyes were glued to the large wooden bucket. Those closer could better smell the enticing aroma, and if they hadn''t exhausted all their energy and were practically unable to stand, a scramble might have broken out.


    Soon, Johan received a glass bowl about the size of his palm (actually a lead-free glass bowl used in southern provinces for making "bowl cakes" and also used in beauty salons for mixing essential oils, available wholesale on Alibaba for 65 cents each), filled with a good half bowl of soup, some curly noodles, and several leafy vegetables.


    "It''s that aromatic noodle, the kind brought by the undead merchants!" Johan recalled the source of the familiar aroma, and he slurped down the contents of the bowl eagerly.


    A day earlier, this type of aromatic noodles, priced at two copper coins per pack, were among the goods brought by the undead merchant caravan to the slums.


    While slum dwellers didn''t recognize the strange fonts on the packaging, the noodles were truly delicious¡­ Those who could afford it created such an enticing aroma that wafted through the streets when cooking them at home, leading slum folks to nickname these strange noodles "aromatic noodles."


    People who have been hungry for long periods shouldn''t overeat or consume too greasy foods. The battlefield conditions weren''t ideal for elaborate cooking either, so the meal prepared for these civilian men was quite simple: a large pot of instant noodles boiled with plenty of water and lots of leafy greens purchased from nearby farmers.


    It could be described as bland, but these instant noodles wouldn''t be critiqued by the world''s lower-class folk. On the contrary, they were rather appreciative. When security squad members came to collect the bowl, every one of these young and middle-aged men had licked their glass bowls clean.


    Just an astonishingly low-cost bowl of soup with little substance had calmed the crowd. Next, literate staffers appeared among the groups with registration books, recording names, collecting home addresses, and inquiring about work preferences¡­


    The Bartalises had painstakingly gathered so many local, young and middle-aged men from the lower class, so wouldn''t it be a waste not to take advantage of the situation?


    These young men, with clean backgrounds (those with connections wouldn''t be conscripted), hardworking, and willing to align with Weisshem, perfectly met Weisshem''s needs. The Bartalises were just too considerate!!


    These conscripted men never imagined that being taken captive would actually lead to job arrangements. It was no question for someone like Johan, who was already inclined toward Weisshem, while a large number of street laborers, previously without stable jobs, quickly pledged their allegiance.


    Even those who had jobs in Indahl''s South District, like waiters or workshop workers, didn''t hesitate to ditch their old employers when they heard about the benefits of working for Mr. Rex: starting salaries of eight silver coins, free lunches, bonuses for full attendance, two sets of new clothes per year, and no union dues.


    The point of not having to deal with unions won them over¡ªwho would want to give a tenth of their salary to strangers?


    When a job fair kicked off right in Weisshem''s camp, the scene at the west gate was also extremely lively.


    Elite players didn''t take long to secure the city gate, and once the general players finished the quest for receiving refugees, they swarmed in, overwhelming the few hundred city police in moments.


    The city defense force escaped swiftly. Seeing nearly ten thousand civilian men disappear without a trace, Commander Horn promptly led his men toward the north gate. The elite players, momentarily distracted by taking the west gate, failed to capture him.


    But with the city defense force gone, those high-ranking officials on the city wall, who were just as valuable in terms of prestige points to the players, had no chance of escape. As the players stormed the walls, frenzy ensued.


    The players were ecstatic because among the NPCs dressed like a mix of medieval nobility and early 20th-century European gentlemen, several were plot-critical bosses with golden name, each capture worth thousands of prestige.


    Their foes, though, Indahl''s elite, from Lord Adra III to Steward Gould, the mayor, the sheriff, and other high-ranking city officials, all witnessed how the city defense forces briskly abandoned them¡­


    "I told you that we should have locked that scoundrel Horn in jail!"


    While Lord Adra III raged helplessly, trying to flee to the other side of the wall, his portly figure couldn''t carry him far. Soon enough, the undead, drooling over his highlighted tag, rushed at him in a frenzied attack¡­


    Half an hour later.


    Riding on an undead horse that accentuated his identity as a black mage, Yang Qiu, along with Charlie Rex, Wagner Pitt, and over a hundred security squad personnel on lizard horses, entered the west gate.


    Both sides of the west gate were completely under the players'' control. The city police, stripped to their undergarments (players had discovered that looting NPC clothing was the cheapest way to get costumes), were tied up and dumped below the city gate. The Bartalis personal guards, city hall executives, and other officials were treated similarly.


    The undead, who had captured the city so swiftly¡­ lacked the consciousness to welcome their lord. While the two "NPC lords" entered, players had formed a circle in the marketplace at the square near the city gate, watching a spectacle¡­


    Encircled by the undead was the gold-lettered plotline boss, "Lord Adra III," stripped to his undergarments and bound with nylon restraints, along with¡­ Qin Guan and Brother Lahong who were fighting fiercely.


    Wagner, who never imagined returning to Indahl city in such a manner, was completely perplexed.


    "Yang, why are the undead fighting? Isn''t the battle already over?" Rex asked in astonishment.


    Yang Qiu calmly explained, "Don''t worry, they''re just settling the issue of who owns Adra III."


    Rex and Wagner: "??"


    "The reward for capturing Adra III alive is 3,000 territory prestige points," Yang Qiu continued. "Both undead groups believe they contributed the most to his capture. Since they are unable to resolve the dispute through communication, they''ve decided to settle it through PK¡ªa straightforward and effective solution, isn''t it?" Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Rex and Wagner: "¡­"


    "Ignore them. In the end, no matter who wins, Adra III will ultimately be handed over to you," Yang Qiu said nonchalantly, riding past the uproariously excited players, glancing around before gesturing toward West Street.


    From an inn at the corner of the street that had its windows and doors shut, a nimble figure climbed out from the attic window, landed lightly on the ground, and jogged toward Yang Qiu.


    "Tuttle," Rex greeted the man as he approached, giving a friendly nod.


    Of the former bandits, Rex didn''t have much regard for Hal but maintained politeness toward Tuttle Joe and Finley.


    Tuttle nodded at Rex and reported to Yang Qiu, "Finley is waiting outside the city hall, and Hal is on Saint Joseph Street."


    Satisfied with the trio''s efficiency, Yang Qiu instructed, "Rex, take over the city hall. Wagner, assist Rex. I''ll check on Saint Joseph Street."


    "Alright." Rex immediately headed to the city hall with the security squad personnel, not forgetting to take the captured city officials from among the prisoners before leaving.


    After dispatching Rex, Yang Qiu quickly issued a looting¡­ um, anti-vice quest to the onlooking players, instructing them to follow him and repeat the actions they took during the takeover of Weisshem on several of Saint Joseph Street''s red-light establishments.


    Once the quest was issued, over a thousand previously idle players flooded toward Lord Yang.


    It was around ten in the morning in OtherWorld, and there weren''t many decent people still lingering in the pleasure districts. Allowing the undead to sweep through the inns, taverns, and clubs wouldn''t harm many innocents.


    As a large city, Indahl''s shady industry was even more extensive than Weisshem''s. To prevent turmoil throughout the city, Yang Qiu couldn''t start by slaughtering the wealthy nobles. Cleaning up the vice meanwhile required no reservations.

 Chapter 192: Undead Sweeping Vice

    Viscount Darcy had just finished breakfast when Steward Ford brought news of the west gate falling.


    "Cough, cough, cough¡ª" Viscount Darcy put down his cup and wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin still around his neck.


    "So soon? Didn''t the city police conscript roughly eight thousand militia? It shouldn''t have ended this early even if it were just eight thousand chickens that were released!" he exclaimed in astonishment.


    Steward Ford awkwardly explained, "Well¡­ the entire area around the west gate is swarming with the undead, and none of those who were on the walls have returned. It''s really unclear how this battle went."


    Viscount Darcy went through another round of violent coughing. "Hold on, what do you mean by none have returned?"


    "Lord Adra III, the city hall staff, and the city police. All of them have been captured," the steward said with a strange expression on his face.


    "Wh-what?!" The well-nourished old man nearly ripped off his bow tie and napkin in disbelief. "Are you saying that the bastard not only captured Adra III but also took everyone from the city hall and the city police?"


    "Yes, sir," Steward Ford said, his expression grim.


    Viscount Darcy paused for a moment and sucked in deeply, holding his forehead. "This is unbelievable¡­ What kind of new lord has come to Indahl?"


    "Indeed," the steward agreed, also confused. "It makes sense to replace the city hall officials with his own, but why would he target the city police?"


    In the Rhine Kingdom, urban enforcement was typically composed of three aspects:


    First, the National Guard was usually responsible for city gate defense and patrol duties across the territory. However, if a lord preferred to establish their own armed force, like Indahl''s city defense force, then the National Guard''s role became negligible.


    Second were staffers employed by the city hall, often selected from mercenaries or professional fighters that had had long-term cooperation with official institutions.


    Third was the urban enforcement system, including the prison, court, and city police department which did not oppose the lord. Unlike the bureaucratic groups that occasionally banded together to oppose the territory lord, city enforcement systems of this world didn''t. This was because city police weren''t accountable to the local populace or bureaucratic groups; they only needed to answer to the lord himself¡ªthe urban enforcement designed to maintain city order and was akin to the militia in towns.


    In other words, city police were the lowest tier of the world''s ruling power, the tool among tools, and a "loyal dog" solely devoted to the lord. Whoever occupied the position of the lord could command them at will.


    "Could it be that this¡­ Rex is planning to staff the entire city police with his own people?" Viscount Darcy could only interpret it this way, shaking his head. "Temporary replacements are not as familiar with the environment as the local veterans. It seems there will be chaos in the streets for a while."


    "Charlie Rex looks to be quite an assertive person," Steward Ford echoed. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    When a territory underwent a change in ownership, it was normal for officials to be changed. Administrative officers needed to be replaced, and it was likely that many clerks were replaced as well. After all, every new noble had their own team, and those in the employ of others would never be as handy as one''s own.


    But replacing the city police as well seemed rather nonsensical. When buying a new manor, it was commonplace to replace the steward and higher-ranking servants, but who would bother to replace even the lowest stable hands?


    Viscount Darcy scoffed in disdain, with the intention of mocking that illegitimate son, but then, he remembered that the latter was now the lord of Indahl and swallowed his words.


    Instead, he instructed, "Stop all business except for the ones in Saint Joseph Street for now. We''ll see how things develop."


    Steward Ford promptly acknowledged.


    Everwish Town, to the east of Indahl, was Viscount Darcy''s domain. Besides this domain with a population close to a hundred thousand, the Darcys also owned two manors, six farms, a horse farm, and a mine in Indahl territory.


    With such resources, it was only natural for the Darcys to own many businesses in the city, including three upscale restaurants in the Indahl''s south district alone, along with a plethora of leather workshops, grain and oil shops, and clothing stores.


    Of course, all these businesses combined couldn''t match the profits from the two establishments on Saint Joseph Street. Like many old-fashioned nobles, Viscount Darcy looked down on openly operated red-light districts, but that didn''t mean they shunned the profits from flesh trades; they were just more discreet, ensuring no public links to the establishments on Saint Joseph Street.


    Before the steward could leave to convene with his men, Viscount Darcy''s second son, the middle-aged Adams Darcy, rushed into the dining room, pale and panicked. "Father, it''s bad! Saint Joseph Street i-is being attacked by the undead!"


    "Stop panicking!" Viscount Darcy was irritated by his usually unreliable second son. "Those undead are brought by Charlie Rex. If he''s not targeting the city hall, why attack Saint Joseph Street? What''s there to attack? The church?"


    Adams Darcy turned even paler, urgently saying, "No, Father, the undead aren''t attacking the church; they''re heading straight into the club district, raiding all the establishments there!"


    "What?!" Viscount Darcy stood up abruptly.


    As an elderly viscount, he couldn''t risk visiting the streets with the undead, so Steward Ford, accompanied by a group of robust male servants, hurriedly headed to Saint Joseph Street.


    Located in the northern midsection of Saint Joseph Street, the club district was filled with upscale clubs, lounges, inns, brothels, strip clubs, dance halls, and large performance bars; a sin city even more bustling than Weisshem''s red-light district, though not as accessible to the general populace, hence slightly less popular.


    Now, this place of entertainment, which coined Indahl''s pleasure district, had turned into a living hell¡­


    Steward Ford and a group of Darcy family servants arrived at the entrance to the street when they saw a bunch of undead carrying six or seven bound, half-naked men out of a building and brutally lining them up on the cold ground.


    Before Steward Ford and the servants could digest the shocking scene they had just witnessed, they saw several individuals in garb that identified them as private troops of nobility being chased onto the street by another group of undead, who then pinned them down in public, stripped them of their clothes, and robbed them of their equipment.


    While stripping these unfortunate guards, the undead excitedly communicated with each other in "KABAKABA" noises as if they were enthusiastically sharing their looting experiences.


    "This NPC''s uniform looks flashy; I like it!"


    "Damn, why is it all men''s equipment? Aren''t there any for women?"


    "Bro, looting female gear will incur you a prestige penalty."


    "Gender discrimination occurs even while we are getting equipment? Stupid sh*t devs!"


    As these undead expertly stripped the unlucky guards down, several more groups of undead whizzed past in the background, noisily moving from one establishment to another.


    Women''s screams and men''s howls filled the entire street. The wide road, spacious enough for four carriages to run parallel, was distressingly filled with victims scattered everywhere.


    Steward Ford felt a chill run down his spine as he silently backed away.


    The servants of the Darcy family, who usually acted rampantly with the backing of their employer''s name, didn''t dare step forward now¡­


    Not long after the Darcy''s servants arrived, the people from quite a few other households that had business in this district also showed up.


    On witnessing the situation, these livid stewards¡­ seemed to freeze in place, not daring to take a step further.


    When the undead glanced to their direction at the end of the street, these bunch were frightened and hid behind the buildings.


    Fortunately, it seemed the undead were only interested in looting within the pleasure district and appeared indifferent to those outside.


    The street sign at the entrance of the club district acted like an invisible barrier, separating the inside and outside like two different worlds.


    Inside the barrier, undead rampaged and looted everywhere, attacking all living beings they could see.


    Beyond the barrier, passersby and residents peeking out from their nearby homes or storefronts were filled with fear, yet even when noticed by the undead, they weren''t attacked¡­


    A trembling Steward Ford took out his handkerchief from his jacket pocket and wiped the perspiration off his face. He witnessed the undead pillaging the club owned by the Darcys.


    He saw the usually respectful and flattering attendants screaming miserably as they were carried out by the undead, their uniform suits stripped off, leaving them only in their underwear.


    He saw the gangsters hired by the Darcys to maintain order in the club trembling with fear, extending their hands for the undead to bind.


    He saw the merchandise the Darcys had painstakingly gathered panicking and fleeing outside, only to find more undead on the streets and run back screaming.


    Several dozen undead emerging from the club carried sacks full of gold and silver ornaments and joyously hoisted the heavy cash boxes bearing the Darcy family crest.


    Steward Ford felt faint.


    This frenzied looting lasted over an hour, during which nearly every establishment in the district was plundered, and only then did the undead withdraw, moving toward their next "battlefield," the bar district.


    After the undead departed, the various stewards hiding and observing couldn''t go in to rescue their own or tally their losses as the security squad from Weisshem took over.


    These men, who would have been considered lower than city police in the past, now arrogantly set up barricades at several intersections in the club district, hanging warning signs with red letters. Then, under the watchful eyes of the stewards and countless bystanders, they methodically moved the bound people to commandeered city police vehicles¡­


    Ford, filled with resentment, glared at the triumphant Weisshem bumpkins for a long time, ultimately lacking the courage to assert his authority as the viscount''s steward¡ªCharlie Rex''s actions as the illegitimate lord were just too unconventional, and he feared this man that lacked the air of nobility might impulsively capture him as well.


    The club district, located in a relatively secluded area, didn''t have many spectators during the undead''s rampage. When they moved to the bustling and populous bar district, the scene was completely different.


    When over two thousand undead (with more players logging in) swept through the bar district, which was larger and had more establishments than the club district, the surrounding residents were initially terrified and fled.


    However, once they realized the undead were specifically targeting certain businesses in the bar district (marked by Hal and his two comrades) and ignoring others, shock turned to opportunistic spectating¡­


    The bar district, offering overnight facilities but with poorer conditions and tighter spaces, saw a comparable number of disheveled patrons dragged out from various establishments by the undead, just like in the club district.


    The players weren''t much interested in the NPCs'' "fashion" here, seeing fewer offensive sights. Yet they didn''t miss out on "confiscating" weapons¡ªbar security was much worse, and almost every establishment had a collection of regulated knives, which meant players'' weapon choices were significantly expanded.


    After another hour, the undead had devastated around 80% of the businesses in the bar district and continued to their next "battlefield." The security squad, having just finished dealing with the aftermath at the club district, took over the scene, and started moving captives¡­


    Amid all this, Yang Qiu, shielded by a spatial barrier which made him invisible except to those linked with the imprint matrix, comfortably blended in with the player masses, effortlessly reclaiming the spoils of war using worthless game currency and prestige.


    It had to be said that the seedy businesses of Indahl were really lucrative. Having just swept through the club and bar districts, Yang Qiu''s spatial ring was already full; fortunately, he had the foresight to borrow Lowell''s spatial tool beforehand as well¡­


    "I hope the casino district doesn''t disappoint."


    Leading the undead legion to the next target, Yang Qiu caressed the spatial bracelet on his wrist.


    Hal, who also participated in the crackdown under the cover of a spatial barrier, remained silent throughout. The scheme he and his good brothers Tuttle and Finley concocted¡ªexploiting information for betting and making money¡ªpaled in comparison to Yang''s method of directly stripping others of their assets¡­ The former bandit gang leader felt thoroughly defeated.


    Elsewhere, Viscount Darcy, anxiously awaiting news at home, learned that his two most profitable properties were completely cut off and coughed out a mouthful of blood in a fit of rage.


    "This detestable bandit! He''s a hundred times more barbaric than the Bartalises!" the elderly viscount slammed the table, cursing vehemently. "Charlie Rex is the worst!"

 Chapter 193 Tarantine Cookies

    When the undead plague swept through the bad neighborhoods of St. Joseph Street, Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen, who had arrived late, arrived at the city with their logistics troops.


    Because Lord Yang and Rex had taken away all the operators and most of the security team members, the undead town had to leave someone to keep watch, so Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen had to temporarily hire a large number of townspeople to help load and transport the goods, which is why they arrived so late.


    After contacting the operators who had remained in the camp and understanding the battle situation, Zhao, who was very skilled at mass work, immediately divided the available operators into groups and issued new tasks.


    More than two thousand undead were looting the city... The crackdown on the flesh trade, even if it was only carried out in specific areas and only targeted specific groups of people, would definitely have caused unrest among the residents in the city even if it were to happen without the accompanying invasion.


    After all, the undead were non-human creatures, and the brothels, clients, and gamblers who were targeted were all local residents. Out of the most basic emotion of sympathy, the residents of the city would inevitably have empathized with the lawbreakers who were targeted and felt disgust, aversion, and fear towards the undead; these emotions, coupled with anxiety and tension, could easily have been further intensified into panic and riot ¨C and that would have been a big deal.


    The diplomatic corps'' mission was to calm the tension of the city''s residents, improve bilateral relations, and resolve the city''s residents'' hostility towards Weisshem.


    While the business owners and clients of the club district on St. Joseph Street were being stuffed into square-headed carriages and sent to prison, Agent Barton and two of his colleagues, along with a group of local young men who had just signed employment contracts, drove several high-chassis iron-shell carriages loaded with goods (the modified versions of the agricultural tractors mentioned above) to the free market, which was less than 500 meters away from the bar area.


    Due to the territorial war, the free market was very deserted, and most merchants did not dare to set up their stalls (for fear of being looted). The market square, which usually had to be reserved in advance, was now empty, with only a few vegetable vendors huddled together for warmth at the edge.


    After stopping the carriage, Barton and his two colleagues quickly organized the young men to unload the goods and set up the stalls.


    These young and strong people were accustomed to working. Their hands and feet were more flexible than those ordinary farmers, and their skin was thicker. After setting up the stalls, Barton could safely send these young and strong people out to the surrounding streets and residential areas to promote...


    John, the freckled boy Sanji, Tommy, the workshop apprentice, and Bobby, who used to run errands in the bar area, had signed employment contracts and came to seek refuge with their acquaintance Barton. When Ms. Zhao asked them to choose their own people, Barton gathered the young people to his side.


    Fearing that they would disappoint Operator Barton, the four young men picked up plates of food samples, held up denim jackets, jeans, thermos bottles (bed sheets, quilt covers), and four-piece sets, and ran towards the nearby streets.


    Due to the chaos in the bar area next door, the streets near the Free Market were unusually deserted. Many people were afraid to go out. John and his friends had no choice but to shamelessly knock on doors and shout at the windows of residents: "Is anyone home? Weisshem''s useful and cheap goods are on sale again. Thick cloth clothes, bed sheets, quilt covers, and thermos bottles are available again for only twenty copper coins. There are also freshly launched Tarantine cookies for sale!"


    The locals were deeply impressed by the Weisshem caravan that had come to the city a day ago. Although they knew that the streets were in chaos that day, many people still poked their heads out of their homes...


    As soon as the clever freckled boy Sanchi saw that citizens were willing to show up, he would immediately raise the sample plate and shove it in the other person''s face, and say enthusiastically with his sales smile that he had trained from buying newspapers: "Try it, ma''am. It''s free to try the Tarantine cookies. They are delicious and cheap, and better than you can imagine!"


    The locals were reluctant to miss out on something they could eat for free, and the enthusiasm of the little boy Sanchi was hard to refuse, so many housewives hiding at home reluctantly tried a small piece...


    Then the housewives'' eyes lit up.


    This so-called Tarantan sweet cookie was actually Yang Qiu¡¯s long-planned killer weapon: expired mooncake.


    Anyone with life experience knew that once August 14th passed, mooncakes would begin to drop in price on August 15th.


    In a few days, the mooncakes originally sold in gift boxes would be taken out and sold separately by merchants, and only the gift boxes would be kept for use the following year...


    In half a month, some mooncakes that cost a few yuan a pound would not be sold. Unscrupulous merchants would collect the mooncakes, stuff them with enough preservatives, and sell them the following year; conscientious merchants would grind them up and use them as feed...


    The batch of mooncakes that Yang Qiu had on hand had been intercepted from a merchant on the way to the feed factory... cough cough cough!


    This kind of high-sugar, low-water product could be stored for a long time, so you did not have to worry about the shelf life!


    This batch of mooncakes produced by merchants in Province G were mainly five-nut, red bean paste, rock sugar, and sesame mooncakes. Since the red bean paste ones could still be sold, there were not many of them. The rock sugar and sesame mooncakes, which were extremely sweet (to people in Province G), and the five-nut mooncakes, which young people firmly rejected, accounted for 80%.


    But for the inhabitants of this world... how could sweetness be considered a disadvantage?! It was a huge advantage!!


    How dare you despise a delicious cookie with almonds, peaches, olives, sesame, and melon seeds, with a rich filling and a thin crust?!


    When the housewives heard that this sweet and filling (key point) cookie was only sold for two copper coins each, they could no longer sit still. They hurriedly gathered up the copper coins in their homes and rushed out the door with baskets.


    With someone taking the lead, more and more people went out ¨C many people had not been able to buy the good goods that Weisshem''s people had brought to sell before. Even if there had been no new product "Tarantan Cookies", people in the surrounding blocks would have been very willing to buy things.


    Soon, the "sales point" that Operator Barton was in charge of was surrounded by three layers of human walls.


    Most people had come here in the beginning for the cheap four-piece suits, thermos bottles, scarves, and gloves. Although the communication methods in this world were relatively backward, people also had few entertainment options. The speed at which information spread in human settlements was no slower than on the internet on Earth. One night was enough for the information about these Weisshem products to spread to every household.


    After trying the tarantine cookies cut into finger-sized pieces, these natives who lived in an environment of scarcity and had never come into contact with the power of overcapacity experienced the joy and trouble of being a shopaholic for the first time...


    The same situation occurred not only at the St. Joseph Street Free Market but also at the Mary Street Market in the West City, the tavern concentration in the South City, the Cross Square in the East City, and even at the Workers'' Square in the North City factory area.


    Some citizens who had watched the looting in the bar district on St. Joseph Street hurried back home, anxiously mentioned the situation in the bar district, and wanted to discuss with their wives whether they should pack up their belongings and stay at their parents'' home in the countryside for a few days.


    "Why do you want to live in the countryside?" the wife asked curiously.


    The citizens were all shocked. "Didn''t you hear what I just said? The new lord actually let his undead rob on the street! The bar area was almost completely emptied by those undead!"


    "You went to the bar district again? Aren''t there enough pubs in the South City for you to drink in?" The wife was furious.


    "I was just passing by there on my way home from work!" the citizen explained hastily. "It''s not important. What''s important is what I just said, those undead were robbing indiscriminately on the street! Can''t you tell the difference?!"


    "The new lord wants to rob those rich people who run bars. What does it have to do with you? Can you get a penny from the money those bars earn?" the wife said angrily.


    The citizens were furious. "Why don''t you think about it? Even the big bars owned by the rich can be robbed at will, what should people like us who don''t know anyone and have no background do?"


    The wife was also very angry. Years of dissatisfaction suddenly burst out. She spread her hands and said, "Look at this house. The most valuable thing is the bicycle you bought when we got married. My sewing machine is an antique passed down from my mother. Are these things worth stealing? Are those undead spirits going to steal me to be their wife?"


    The citizen choked. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Life in the city was not easy. A small bag of bread cost five copper coins, and a small jar of butter cost more than twenty copper coins. If it had not been for the autumn harvest, food and vegetables would never be cheap. Ordinary families could only have a full meal at noon, and usually only had mashed potatoes to fill their stomachs at night. They did not have much spare money to buy furniture.


    The wife shook out the jeans she had just folded and said angrily, "The gentlemen from Weisshem said that the temperature will drop soon, and they want people who have to work hard in winter to buy one or two sets of warm clothes. They thought that people like us don''t have much money, so a set of such thick clothes only costs twenty copper coins. And you, you still think that the new lord from Weisshem wants to steal your shabby belongings. I have never seen such a ridiculous thing!"


    The citizen then noticed the dark blue men''s suit in his wife''s hand, which looked quite thick, and his face was embarrassed...


    Citizens of Weisshem had already seen people wearing this set of twenty-copper-coin ready-made clothes on the street. Although the style was a bit strange, it had to be said that the quality of this clothing was indeed better than all his clothes combined. The design of multiple pockets was also very suitable for men to store small tools.


    These fine clothes, which would have been priced in silver coins even in a second-hand clothing store, were sold to people by the people of Weisshem at only twenty copper coins a set. It was really hard to believe that the new lord from Weisshem would rob everyone of their money if he was so used to throwing money out of the window.


    Seeing her husband give in and smile at her flatteringly, the wife''s expression softened a little, and she took out a tarantine cookie wrapped in oil paper from the basket and stuffed it into her husband''s pocket: "I bought this with the money left over from buying clothes. Take it with you and fill your stomach when you are not busy in the afternoon."


    The citizen smelled the fragrance through the oil paper and couldn''t help but smile gratefully at his wife.


    On the lunch table, in addition to corn soup and sliced bread, there was also a thick-stuffed cookie cut into triangles...


    Similar situations occurred in many families.


    No matter which world the people were from, they were very resilient. As long as life could go on, people could accept religious brainwashing, high-pressure rule and exploitation at all levels.


    As long as there were no people with ulterior motives who tried to exploit public opinion and maliciously make ordinary people, who were already vulnerable, fight for high positions, wealth, and glory, the people''s acceptance and tolerance would far exceed the imagination of many so-called "masters", "non-profit organizations", "public intellectuals", and "civil rights/religious activists.¡±


    The history of the earth''s people had proved countless times that there was no so-called irreconcilable contradiction between the masses. The Chinese people who had suffered from invasion would adopt orphans from the island countries, and Christians would lend a helping hand to the suffering of buddhists and vice versa.


    What was truly irreconcilable was the conflict over the right to distribute the cake between politicians, interest groups, civil rights activists and religious elements.


    A new lord and some formidable undead neighbors were not something worth risking their lives to oppose for the vast majority of Indhal citizens who already had only a few choices.


    Of course... Yang Qiu would not give speculators the opportunity to take advantage of "public opinion" either.

 Chapter 194: Noble Strategy

    The security team members followed behind the undead and sealed off the club area, bar area, casino area, and hotel area one after another. They put the last batch of hotel practitioners into their mobile prosions. There had been so many prisoners. More than two hundred strong young men were so tired that they could not even straighten their backs.


    There was no other way. All the city police officers had been put in the prisoner camp. All the work had to be done by these security guards themselves...


    After taking a short rest and quickly eating a few biscuits, Jimmie Voss, who had just been promoted to captain by the Rockets, wiped the sweat off his face and rode his bicycle to City Hall.


    At this time, it was already dark in Indhal, but the city, which had been bustling all day, was still noisy.


    It was not that there were suddenly more people engaging in nightlife... There were basically only on the streets, and the ones making the noise were all the undead running around.


    As soon as Jimmy left the West City area and entered the road leading to the Central City area, several undead  ran past him with a roar.


    "The modeling of this city is so fucking awesome, so many details." "This is what we call a main city. Our exile town is nothing like this. Even refugee settlements aren''t that shabby!" "There are no mission points. I can''t even see any professional guilds..."


    As usual, Jimmy ignored the noise of the undead and continued on his way on the bicycle that had originally belonged to the city police chief.


    Although there had not been too many undead appearing in Weisshem on a normal day, the few times he had dealt with them were enough for Jimmy to learn to ignore these guys ¨C during his patrol duty, he had heard the undead discussing things like "This person''s clothes are quite nice, but it''s a pity that we can''t steal them" and "That house is really unique, but it''s a pity that we can''t get in" on the street more than once... If he had taken them all seriously, he would not have been able to do his job.


    The Midtown area was a city within a city, and the access control was very strict. However, now that all the city police officers had been taken prisoner and the National Guard had been unable to resist and had surrendered... there was no difficulty in entering and exiting.


    The city hall, which had been deserted during the day (the former officials were collectively captured and the former staff and clerks were absent from work), was now very lively. As soon as Jimmy entered the door, he saw that the courtyard with lights on was filled with iron-shell carriages, and many familiar and unfamiliar faces were busy unloading goods; many rooms of the three city hall buildings spliced ??together in a triangular shape were brightly lit, and occasionally you could hear voices like "XX file cannot be found" from a room. S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Jimmy, this way!" Rex, who was standing downstairs in the left annex building, saw Jimmy''s uniform and immediately waved at him.


    Jimmy trotted through the crowd quickly: "Mr. Rex."


    "This is Agent Monk." Rex pointed to a man standing stiffly beside him, holding his bowler hat in his hand. "Tell him about our job requirements."


    Jimmy, a young man, was promoted to the position of captain because of his quick mind and pragmatism. He instantly understood Rex''s intention and politely asked the nervous Agent Monk to move aside...


    The so-called detective referred to the staff under the sheriff, who was a civil servant in charge of urban security; the city police were responsible for maintaining order in the city, and solving cases and investigating were the jobs of the detectives.


    The sheriff was arrested along with other high-ranking city hall officials. The detectives affiliated with the public security system still had value for absorption and transformation, just like the operators and clerks ¨C this was the decision made by Ji Tang, Zhao Zhenzhen, and Rex after humbly listening to everyone''s opinions.


    Maintaining the operation of a city with a population of 300,000 was no small matter. It was impossible to dismiss all the people in the city hall, and Weisshem did not have that many people to transfer over...


    Jimmy knew that there was a great possibility that he would be assigned to participate in public security work in Indhal. Mayor Ji Teng had also revealed that the structure of the existing public security system would be adjusted (reorganizing the city police and the public security team). In this way, the detectives who might be retained would become his future colleagues. No matter what, Jimmy had to be polite.


    After briefly introducing the rules and regulations that needed to be followed when working for Lord Rex, Jimmy kindly reminded his future colleague: "Tomorrow morning, Mayor Ji Tang will ask for the operation to begin. We are a little short of manpower at the moment. If we can get more people to help, we can settle down sooner, which will be good for everyone."


    Agent Monk was a middle-aged man in his thirties. He understood Jimmy''s goodwill and nodded repeatedly in gratitude. "I understand, Captain Voss. My brothers and I are willing to help."


    After bowing deeply to Jimmy, Agent Monk put on his hat and hurriedly said goodbye to tell his brothers the good news ¨C it was not easy to find a job these days. Even if the new mayor was a bastard and the new mayor might be a ghost like the one in Weisshem Town, no one was willing to give up their job at City Hall. This was the pragmatism of the middle class.


    After dealing with the agents, Jimmy was instructed by Rex to contact the agents in various departments... Indhal''s several administrative departments had more than a hundred regular agents and hundreds of temporary agents; among these people, there were those with good reputations and those with bad reputations. Due to the current shortage of manpower, there was no condition for screening, so they could be brought in first and used for a while, and then they could be removed if they were not suitable.


    Jimmy worked until the moon was at its highest point in the sky before he finally came out of the office of the Dongcheng District Commerce Department, exhausted...


    With weak legs, Jimmy rode his bike through the Midtown area and returned to the prison dormitory in the West City area to rest. On the way back, waves of undead passed by him happily.


    Some of the undead were wearing stolen clothes and posing in front of beautiful houses (actually they were taking screenshots); some of the undead were fighting in the street, with a large group of undead watching nearby (actually they were sparring); some of the undead were chattering and jumping around on the roofs of residents facing the street (actually they were playing parkour); some of the undead were laughing and chasing after drunks who came home late (actually... well, they were just harassing NPCs).


    When passing by the inner city wall of the Midtown area, Jimmy even saw... a group of undead carrying something that looked like paint buckets, scribbling on the inner city wall.


    Young Jimmy sighed, full of feelings.


    A city filled with undead would not be dangerous even at night. For this reason, don''t worry about whether they often did crazy and stupid things.


    On the other side, Rex was so busy that he was almost exhausted before he had time to meet Yang Qiu.


    Yang Qiu, who had pushed all matters to Rex and hidden away to meditate comfortably, certainly would not  complain that Rex came too late.


    "Tomorrow, find some time to summon the nobles of the city." After Rex sat down to catch his breath, Yang Qiu continued to throw the burden on his shoulders without any hesitation, "These guys will probably have trouble sleeping tonight. You have to comfort them to some extent, so that they won''t cause trouble for us."


    "But I can''t make any promises, right?" Rex said.


    "Of course." Yang Qiu smiled rudely, "They¡¯re unruly, you know that.¡±


    Rex imagined the scene... Well, Yang was telling the truth, and said immediately: "I''ll try my best, but I can''t guarantee it will work."


    "You can give Weisshem to Tattle Joe." Yang Qiu said nonchalantly, "That guy has a good image and I heard his family background was not bad, although he does not have noble blood, but that''s not important... If you are so generous to ''those who follow you'', you leave more room for imagination to those nobles."


    Rex knew that Yang looked down upon the standards of the aristocratic circle, and he could not help but smile bitterly.


    After thinking seriously for a while, Rex said, "We closed down the black industries on St. Joseph Street today, which has offended the local nobles. It is not enough to just let them have room for luck. If these people unite and take extreme measures to test our bottom line, it is likely to cause unnecessary casualties."


    Rex''s father was the Viscount, and he knew one thing very clearly: the nobles who talked about honor and respectability on the surface could be truly shameless when their interests were endangered!


    The shameless "common sense" of not feeling sorry for the death of other people''s children was known to the children of the nobility when they were still kids themselves!


    Yang Qiu thought about it and said, "How about this? You promise them all the high-ranking positions in the city hall and let them compete for it themselves."


    Rex was stunned.


    "Anyway, the City Hall''s presence is strongest when the autumn tax comes, so they have nearly a year to wrestle." Yang Qiu said happily, "As the referee, you just need to try to play it safe so that they don''t decide the winner so quickly. It''s easy, right?"


    Rex was at a loss for words again: "Well... okay."


    Yang Qiu smiled and said, "Go to Zhao Zhenzhen for advice. She will give you enough interesting ideas. As for the Gold Coin Church, you don''t have to worry about it. I will take care of it."


    Rex thought of the reliable Ms. Zhao, and his expression suddenly relaxed a lot.


    Indhal did not need nobles, or in other words, it did not need nobles who could dictate and obstruct the development direction of the twon. This was the consensus of everyone involved.


    Weakening, dividing, and if necessary, driving out or even eliminating some of the nobles were things that had already been decided before the decision to go to war with the ruling family.


    Yang Qiu was pleased to see the success of this "noble strategy" led by the national team, and was happy to contribute.


    The "Tarantan family" and the Rhine nobility could not coexist. Yang Qiu was very clear about this when he allowed players to step onto the land of the Rhine Kingdom in the form of an expedition mission.


    Without saying anything about honour, just say that the land area of Indhal was about half the size of G Province, and more than 50% of the ownership of the arable land was in the hands of local nobles (and a small number of foreign nobles). This contradiction was impossible to mediate.


    The periodic collapse of the Chinese feudal dynasties was caused by land annexation. In Nadeli, there was also land annexation. The reason why it was still able to allow a large number of self-cultivating farmers to survive and had not yet triggered a large-scale peasant resistance movement was both cruel and realistic:


    First, religion existed as a painkiller.


    Although the brainwashing ability of the Gold Coin Church was actually much worse than that of many man-made sects on Earth, and could not make the poor masses wait for death in peace, it could still play a role in calming emotions and diverting conflicts, such as making the lower-class people believe that the suffering of the masses came from the omnipresent devil, and blaming their own misfortunes on invisible evildoers.


    Second, the lower-class people were changing shifts too quickly.


    More than 70% of the world''s lower-class indigenous people had a life expectancy of no more than 40 years, and their infant mortality rate and child poverty were even worse than those in India. No matter how efficiently the lower-class women of childbearing age who had no right to refuse sex gave birth, it was difficult for them to create a baby boom like the one that had occurred on Earth. The countries on Earth that experienced a baby boom after World War II at least had a certain medical foundation, a more stable domestic environment than before World War II, and a higher food self-sufficiency rate.


    With a land area of half a province, there were only less than two million agricultural population and less than 300,000 industrial population. Even if the agricultural potential of Indhal had not been fully tapped, the remaining arable land snatched by the nobles was indeed enough to barely feed the lower-class people...


    Third, there was fierce infighting among the nobles.


    The Bartles family seized Indhal in a territorial war more than a hundred years ago. The previous lord of Westram, Baron Marcus, also became the lord of Weisshem forty years ago.


    As for where the losers went, no one knew... The fight between rentiers was assumed to be winner-takes-all, and no one really cared about the fate of the losers.


    In short, Indhal was a place where you could not say there were starving people everywhere, but it was not a very convincing place to say that you could have some small happiness by working leisurely. It was not that good, but it was not so bad that people could not survive. As long as you were lucky and there were no major natural disasters or man-made disasters, you could still live...


    But did Yang Qiu release the natural disasters to keep the status quo?


    Definitely not.


    Can we tolerate oppression as long as the conflict has not escalated to the point where the weaker party can no longer survive?


    Leeches and mosquitoes only suck a little blood and won¡¯t kill people, but who can really tolerate leeches and mosquitoes lying on their body for a long time?


    Anyway, Yang Qiu did not want to see such a scene in a land under his control.


    The next day, when Ranger Tattle Joe woke up and heard that he had become the new master of Weisshem and the second puppet lord after Rex, he almost choked on his morning milk.

 Chapter 195: Undead Coin

    It was not easy to be a puppet lord under the Tarantan system. Just look at how Charlie Rex had completely changed into a different person in less than half a year.


    Other people''s puppet lords might just eat, drink, and have fun, but this was impossible under Yang.


    Tuttle obviously had no real power as a lord but had to shoulder the responsibilities of a lord. He had to do endless village surveys, endless public opinion surveys, endless meetings, and endless accounts. If he made any mistakes, he had to be terrified and worry about being in trouble with Yang. Was this how a human being lived?!


    "Can I refuse?" Tuttle Joe put down the glass of milk and said very seriously.


    "Probably not." Rex, who had come to inform his fellow sufferer personally, said sincerely, and did not forget to add sincerely, "You know I don''t have the power to grant fiefdoms without authorization. It was Yang''s decision to let you serve as the new Lord of Weisshem."


    There was silence in the room with four people...


    The City Hall had three buildings: the main building was five stories high, and the two subsidiary buildings were four stories high; the main building and the subsidiary building on the left were office spaces, while the subsidiary building on the right was the officials'' luxurious offices with rest suites.


    The owners of these luxurious offices were now waiting to be arranged in the prisoner camp outside the west city gate. The entire right-side annex building would, of course, be flexibly used by the new owner ¨C bathrooms and toilets would be designated as public areas, study rooms, living rooms, bedrooms would be separated by partitions, and the furniture would be changed to make it a ready-made employee dormitory.


    The three Hal brothers were the great heroes on the secret front of this battle to capture the city. If it had not been for their hard work, it would have been difficult for Yang Qiu to accurately eliminate all the merchants who were related to the nobles or gang members and engaged in illegal business activities. When allocating the rooms, Yang specifically told Rex a few words and allocated a living room with a dining balcony to the three brothers.


    It was a bit shabby for three people to share a living room, but Rex''s small bedroom was right next to it... so even Hal could not complain.


    When Rex opened the bedroom door, he could see the three brothers having breakfast in the dining room in front of the living room. After getting breakfast, he told Tuttle the good news.


    You could tell what Finley and Hal were thinking by looking at their faces filled with astonishment and disbelief...


    Tuttle''s reaction was easy to understand. He almost had the word "rejection" written all over his face.


    It was not that Tuttle did not yearn for power and status. As long as he was a man, who did not want to be the master of a country or a city and have the final say in his own territory?


    The problem was that becoming Yang''s puppet lord would only turn you into a tool who was exploited even more harshly and had even less freedom!


    "You really can''t refuse?" Tuttle repeated mechanically.


    Rex patted the poor ranger on the shoulder and said sincerely: "Don''t be so pessimistic, man. Although Yang''s requirements are often difficult, at least you can get an incomparable sense of accomplishment. Everything you get with is very meaningful. This is the best reward, isn''t it?"


    "No... I''m not an idealistic lunatic like you. I''m different from you." Tattle Joe stared with dead fish eyes. Although he looked calm on the surface, his slightly trembling lips revealed the excitement of this ranger. "You can achieve your long-term ideals regardless of the cost, but I can''t. I''m a normal person who needs vulgar feedback to feel happy."


    "Well... at least there''s a salary. When we worked for Yang, we got the agreed compensation on time every month. Although we are often dismissed by Yang with physical goods... but the supplies Yang gave us were indeed very practical." Rex''s eyes wandered.


    "Which lord lives on a salary of one gold coin!!" Tattle shouted at the time. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    That''s right, when Yang Qiu tricked these indigenous tools into going to the depths of the Tarantan Wasteland to eat dust, he did promise to pay them one gold coin per month.


    But... half a year had passed, and these brothers had not even seen a single copper coin, let alone a single gold coin...


    Not only did they not get the money, but when the thieves tried to defect, Yang took out an account book and looked through it, and they found that their son still owed Yang a large sum of money...


    Otherwise, Hal would not have been had to think of ways to get some money on him during his "business trip." It was really a pain in the ass that a group of adult men (even professional strongmen) could not find much money in their pockets.


    Tuttle''s protests had no effect. After eating the breakfast prepared by the Logistics Department, he was dragged by Rex to change into decent clothes, and went with Rex to show off to the local nobles.


    Tuttle really wanted to find an opportunity to escape, but when he suddenly realized that Hal was staring at him with eyes that seemed to want to eat him alive... Tuttle did not resist too fiercely.


    Hal did not care whether being a puppet lord was hard or not. This guy who only wanted to stand out and show off in front of others would definitely want to strangle Tattle to death right now.


    Sure enough, as soon as Tuttle was pulled away by Rex, Hal asked Finley with red eyes. "What''s wrong with that guy Yang? Can''t he see that I have more leadership qualities?"


    Finley said nothing and quickly cleared the dishes off the table to prevent Hal from getting angrier and smashing things¡­ If they broke anything, they would have to pay for it, and Yang would have to add more entries to their account book.


    Hal was furious. Then he was summoned to the auditorium of the main building of the city hall to meet the nobles of the new lord. Yang Qiu meanwhile put on a cloak and strolled to the Night Watch headquarters of the Gold Coin Church on St. Joseph Street.


    The facade of the Night Watch headquarters was very low-key. In order to prevent ordinary people from accidentally entering, a not-so-conspicuous tobacco club sign was hung on the door, and below the sign was written in red letters: Members-only club, no strangers allowed.


    The facade was inconspicuous and there was nothing special about the foyer: there was a set of dark brown cloth sofas on each side of the foyer, which was the size of an ordinary living room. Opposite the door was a concave counter similar to the layout of a hotel front desk. A woman wearing glasses was sitting at the counter reading a gossip magazine.


    As soon as Yang Qiu entered the lobby, the old-fashioned woman behind the counter put down her magazine, rolled her glasses, and said stiffly, "Sorry, sir, we don''t accept new customers here."


    Yang Qiu put down his hood and looked at the other person with a smile.


    Seeing this visitor who had come here once before and almost frightened the officials to death, the female receptionist who had scared away many intruders with her step motherly face suddenly changed her expression and quickly stood up and bowed slightly, "Excuse me, it turns out to be Mr. Yang."


    "I''m very sorry for coming here without permission." Yang Qiu also bowed slightly in return and smiled, "If it''s not an offense, I hope to visit Captain Clark and the officials of your department."


    The female receptionist calmly said that she would of course not offend him. She politely invited Yang Qiu to sit in the inner reception room and prepared tea. When she came out, she immediately rushed to the counter and frantically called the officials in the organization and the captain of the night watch.


    Most of the night watchmen were active at night. Early in the morning, no matter whether they were officials, clerks, or on-duty night watchmen, they were still sleeping in bed. When the female receptionist called them, they all sounded sleepy and their voices were muffled.


    When they heard that the "Nightmare Butcher" was coming to their door, the gang suddenly woke up.


    Soon, Night Watch Captain Lynch Clark and several headquarters officials appeared in front of Yang Qiu, sweating profusely.


    After Yang Qiu explained the purpose of his visit, these people began to sweat even more.


    "Excuse me, but if I understand correctly... Mr. Yang, do you hope that our department can open up our task registry to the undead?" Captain Clark said in disbelief.


    "Yes," Yang Qiu said with a smile, "Our undead friends come from Tarantan. Everyone who has dealt with our undead friends knows that these Tarantan are very intelligent, humane, and helpful. If your department could abandon prejudices, not regard the Tarantan undead as aliens, and be willing to accept them, I could assure you that they would be very willing to help the Inhal people solve those difficult and dangerous tasks."


    Captain Clark & ??other officials: "..."


    "Of course, if we want to safely let them work to maintain the peace and stability of Inhal, it is not enough to just open up registration to these Tarantan undead; we also need to pay them as well," Yang Qiu added.


    Captain Clark and the other officers showed an understanding expression, as if they saw through Yang Qiu''s intention.


    The Nightmare Butcher was lawless and had no ethics to speak of. He had repeatedly relied on his ability as a spellcaster to bully princes and nobles who were not even professional warriors. Equally famous as his bad behavior was his obsessive love for money ¨C this guy had never been moral when it came to robbing!


    Captain Lynch Clark sneered. Yang Qiu had just acquired the territory of Inhal, but he wanted to steal jobs already? He was too naive! The Gold Coin Church would never make deals with a blackmailer!


    Under the gaze of these people related to the Gold Coin Church, Yang Qiu calmly... took out two copper coins produced by a Chinese manufacturer.


    "The undead only recognize this kind of currency. They don''t accept ordinary coins," Yang Qiu put the exquisitely crafted game coins with a very low copper content on the coffee table and pushed them to the leaders of the Night Watch. "Your department needs to exchange this kind of coin with Lord Rex before you can use it to hire the undead to do things."


    Captain Clark & ??other officials: "..."


    "In addition to this currency, the undead also accept weapons and equipment from professional warriors as compensation," Yang Qiu still had a warm smile on his face. "For troublesome and dangerous tasks such as investigating haunted houses and clearing monsters, you can pay a few hundred coins, plus one or two pieces of enchanted equipment, and hire ten to twenty undead teams to serve your department. Of course, if the difficulty is too high, please increase the reward as appropriate, otherwise the undead will refuse to accept it."


    Captain Lynch Clark had a dazed look on his face, his mouth half open, and the officials'' reactions were not much better than his.


    Allowing undead creatures to register as problem solvers was like a dream for the Night''s Watch.


    But... if you thought about it carefully, it seemed like a good idea to let those immortal undead spirits help their own night watchmen to deal with landmines ¨C usually they hired adventurers to do this job, but how could adventurers be as fearless as the undead?


    "...We cannot act arbitrarily on such an important matter." After a fierce inner struggle for a while, Captain Lynch Clark said with difficulty, "I need to ask Bishop Gene for guidance."


    "Of course." Yang Qiu smiled brightly.


    Bishop Gene heard about this soon and immediately reacted very strongly. He rushed over in less than ten minutes.


    After the host of the Inhal branch of the Gold Coin Church arrived at the scene, they inquired in detail about the safety issues of hiring the Tarantan Undead and the level of assistance that the Night''s Watch needed to provide during the employment of the undead. He also argued with Yang Qiu about who would be responsible for the damage caused by the undead during their missions... After all, he was the boss of the place and his perspective on things was different from that of ordinary people.


    After a difficult negotiation, Yang Qiu and Bishop Li Jin reached the following agreement:


    First, the Night''s Watch organization needed to exchange gold coins for Undead Coins ¨C the exchange ratio was 1 gold coin = 200 copper Coins, which was equivalent to a 5:1 exchange rate between local copper coins and game coins. The premium part was Yang Qiu''s income... ahem.


    Second: Lord Charlie Rex would provide a venue as a registration place for adventurers of the Night''s Watch organization that was open to the undead. The location would be chosen in the club area where all illegal operators had been sealed off, and the Night Watch organization only needed to pay a very low rent.


    Third, the Night''s Watch organization could not set any threshold for the registration of adventurers, and any Tarantan undead who came had to be approved.


    Fourth, the Night''s Watch organization had to provide detailed text intelligence support during the period of hiring the Tarantan Undead. If there was a large-scale mission, the Night''s Watch would need to be dispatched to guide the operation. In return, the Undead would do their best to protect the safety of the Night Watch members on duty.


    Fifth, If combat damage occurred during the mission of the Tarantan Undead, the Undead, the Night Watch, and Lord Charlie Rex would share the responsibility, with the ratio of 1:5:4.


    If the players found out that they still had to pay money after completing the mission, they would definitely go crazy. Yang Qiu tried his best to avoid this kind of trouble...


    After obtaining the employment contract and currency exchange agreement from the Night''s Watch, Yang Qiu walked out of the Night''s Watch headquarters refreshed and walked briskly to find the Bounty Association office.


    The Indhal Underground Bounty Association''s external window was located in the Oak Bar. The president, Ms. Kelly Simon, was stationed on the second floor for a long time, acting as a matchmaker between wealthy employers who needed people to do things and professional strongmen who needed money, and charging a certain amount of commission.


    When Yang Qiu appeared in front of the lady with a smile, the branch president of the bounty association was stunned for a full five seconds.


    "I''m very sorry for the intrusion, Ms. Simon." Yang Qiu bowed slightly in a friendly manner, "Is your bounty association willing to cooperate with the new Lord of Indhal, Charlie Rex?"

 Chapter 196: Combat Deputy

    The Bounty Guild was an organization with a long history, as old as the Alchemy House and the Ivory Tower (an organization of spellcasters).


    Unlike the latter two, the Bounty Association was legal in some countries but illegal in others. For example, in the territory of the Church of Storms, they were a legal organization and could conduct business openly in big cities. But in the Gold Coin Church, they were an illegal organization and had to behave themselves.


    But regardless of whether this association was a legal organization, it was more successful than many legal organizations.


    The reason was very simple. The bounty association was very good at networking and had a wide range of business... They received both ordinary guests and upper-class guests, and they even bribed the local official agencies without any scruples.


    Just looking at the fact that branch president Kelly Simon openly opened the Oak Bar, an underground branch, in the bar district just two blocks away from the Night Watch, you could tell that this group of people often had dealings with the Gold Coin Church.


    In short, this organization had no moral principles. They would do anything as long as they were paid, including but not limited to conducting background checks on the lovers of an official, laundering huge amounts of property of unknown origin, pretending to be alive to legally avoid taxes, spying on legal or illegal organisations, and if necessary, they would even do assassination requests that crossed the red line ¨C of course, they only acted as middlemen and would thus not get into trouble themselves .


    Yang Qiu was not only the famous "Nightmare Butcher" but also the behind-the-scenes backer of the new Lord of Indhal, Charlie Rex. Coupled with the shock brought by Yang Qiu''s arrival, Ms. Kelly Simon''s attitude towards cooperation was quite good, and she quickly reached several cooperation agreements with Yang Qiu, who represented Rex.


    The content of this cooperation agreement was roughly the same as that of the Night Watch. The new lord Rex rented the clubhouse building to the Bounty Association at a low price as a public storefront open only to the undead. The Bounty Association was not allowed to refuse the Tarantan Undead from registering as bounty hunters. The Bounty Association provided intelligence assistance to the Tarantan Undead who received bounty missions. The Bounty Association had to bear 40% of the combat losses that might be incurred by the Tarantan Undead in the process of completing the bounty mission... and so on.


    Three days later.


    Monday, December 9th, Earth time, mid-November in the other world time.


    After two consecutive days of weekend activities, the players who had failed countless times in the Rex''s Heart Demon dungeon went online on Monday. They all looked a little depressed... Even the monthly artifact auction could not cheer up the dungeon players who were more keen on opening up new dungeons.


    "I''ve already beaten Hal''s Inner Demons dungeon to pieces, but I still can''t beat Rex''s dungeon. Why is the difficulty of this game''s dungeons so jumpy? There''s no transition between them." S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Qin Guan logged in to Exile Town early in the morning and formed a team with his friends to open up the poisonous fog swamp. While squatting in front of the town hall waiting for people to gather, he could not help but complain to his good brother Give Me Medicine. "I think we should first defeat the Ranger Instructor''s Inner Demon, then there will be hope for Rex''s." He said.


    "Come on, I think the first level will hold us back for half a month." Qin Guan leaned back against the wall, stretched his legs, and stretched himself lazily. "Recently, the battlefield is closed during the day and only open during the peak hours at night. The queues are so long. Can''t this crappy game optimize the queue mechanism?"


    "This is probably because there are too many game contents." The man who was not very keen on playing monster battlefields said casually, "Since the main city map of Nadeli was opened, fewer people are farming monsters during the day. Even if the battlefield is open, it is difficult to gather two groups of people."


    "There''s nothing to do in the main city of Indhal. I really don''t know what these players are thinking." Qin Guan knew the situation and said angrily, "There are no dungeons or quests over there, and there''s not even a spawning point. Even if you run around the map and see the scenery, you''ll get bored after two days. What''s the point of staying there?"


    "That''s right. They become casual players before they finish the Novice Village dungeon or the map. The players of this game really have no ambition." A player who was busy with the dungeon nearby said indignantly, "It''s a pity that my brothers in the old game don''t have accounts. I wish they could go online too. They all like to explore new lands. My group was the first one in our server to clear ICC in WoW.


    "You weren''t accepted when the application was open last time?" he asked.


    "It just so happened that a bunch of old brothers of ours went to an offline gathering that day. We were all drinking heavily when the announcement was posted on the official website. The next day, when we sobered up, the digits of the account applications were already over a million." The player who said angrily.


    "That''s really unlucky." Qin Guan nodded sympathetically. "Pay more attention to the announcement next time. It would be a pity to miss it again."


    While this group of people were squatting outside the town hall chatting and waiting for the others, someone suddenly swiped the screen frantically in the Blood Alliance channel:


    [Blood Alliance] Mulberry Leaves Fell. "Everyone, hurry up and read the notice!! Hurry up and read it!!"


    Qin Guan subconsciously lowered his head, and then he found that a large string of yellow words had popped up on the information bar in the lower left corner:


    "Online Patch Update 1.08"


    "Open combat profession sub-jobs: Exorcist, Bounty Hunter."


    "After consultation between Charlie Rex, Lord of Indhal Territory, Black Mage Yang, Lord of Tarantan, the Night Watch of the Gold Coin Church, and the Bounty Association, the Gold Coin Church and the Bounty Association have decided to open up combat deputy position applications to Tarantan''s undead friends."


    "The secondary combat job does not affect the combat power, skills, or level changes of the main job."


    "During the training of combat secondary positions, there is a chance that your potential value will be increased."


    "Combat Secondary Job: Exorcist"


    "Players who are level 1 or above and have completed the first transformation can go to the Night Watchman Hall at No. 061 St. Joseph Street, Indhal City to apply to register as an exorcist."


    "The exorcist missions issued by the Night Watch Hall can only be accepted by teams, and the number of players performing the same mission must be more than ten."


    "You can accept the Exorcist mission repeatedly. There is no penalty for failure. If you cause personal or public property damage during the mission, you will be required to bear 10% of the system compensation. If you succeed, you will receive copper coins and equipment."


    "Combat Secondary Job: Bounty Hunter"


    "Players who are level 1 or above and have completed the first transformation can go to the Bounty Hall at No. 062. Joseph Street, Indhal City to apply to register as a bounty hunter.


    "The bounty missions issued by the Bounty Hall support both team and individual acceptance. You can accept bounty missions repeatedly. There is no penalty for failure. If you cause personal or public property damage during the mission, you will be required to bear 10% of the system compensation. If you succeed, you will receive copper coins and equipment."


    The players who were idly scattered around the town hall were instantly blown up. "Holy crap, new game content was released?! I haven''t even cleared the dungeon yet!" ¡°Do you dare to launch a new patch so soon?¡±


    These players, who were eager to explore new areas and clear the game, complained a lot, but they acted in unison... running towards the teleportation point.


    A group of people ran to the teleportation point at the intersection in a hurry, and when they stepped on the earthen platform, Qin Guan suddenly laughed.


    "What''s wrong, Vanilla? Why are you so happy?" the player next to him asked curiously.


    "I''ll laugh at those idiots." Qin Guan said happily, "Their private teleport point in the wild can only be used to teleport back to Exile Town, not directly to Indhal. Whether they commit suicide to return to the city or teleport back to Indhal, they have to wait for half an hour. We get to play the new secondary job, and they have to wait for a while."


    All the players enjoyed that; what could be more satisfying than watching the enemy players get into trouble?


    "They deserve it for monopolizing the market!" A player who had gained a friendly reputation with the Chamber of Commerce cursed angrily.


    St. Joseph Street in Indhal City was the original Club District. Yang Qiu asked the undead to destroy all illegal businesses in this street block, and felt that it would be bad to continue calling it the Club District, so he changed the road sign at the intersection and named it Xinfeng.


    Qin Guan''s group was originally planning to open up the poisonous fog swamp. With a large number of people and complete professional configurations, they did not consider the bounty mission at all and went straight into the Night Watch Hall No. 061.


    In the Night Watch Hall, which was much more spacious and brighter than the players'' professional guilds, there was only one counter with a person standing inside. The interior was completely disproportionate to the luxury of the building itself.


    It was not that the Night Watch did not value the cooperation with Yang Qiu, but the Gold Coin Church itself was cautious about dealing with the undead. After dragging its feet for a long time in selecting personnel internally, it first sent two marginalized people in the organization to step on the minefield.


    Night Watchman Belt was one of the two marginalized people.


    Of course, players didn¡¯t care whether the Night Watch Hall was deserted or not. In the players¡¯ view, there were already too many useless (non-quest-giving) NPCs in this game. As soon as a group of players entered the door, they enthusiastically walked towards Belt, who was standing alone behind the counter.


    Qin Guan came out first, glanced at the row of green words on Belt''s head, and skillfully displayed the usual lines for interacting with NPCs. "Hello, Belt, your undead friend hopes to help you, please give us an exorcist mission."


    From the moment the undead entered the room, the night watchman Belt, whose muscles were tense and nerves were in a state of complete alert, reacted a little slowly for a while.


    Yang told them that only by wearing the azalea badge provided by the city hall could they understand the language of the dead. Belt, who was exiled here, received the badge and officially took up his post. Of course, he was also prepared to bite the bullet and communicate with the dead.


    He never expected that the undead who had been running around the city and could only scream "KABAKABA" and "WAKAKAKA" during the week could actually speak fluently like normal people. The voice sounded very energetic, like that of a young male.


    It seemed that the Nightmare Butcher was not bragging; these Tarantan undead were indeed quite intelligent.


    Night Watchman Bert secretly breathed a sigh of relief and responded to the undead according to the reception requirements: "You need to register as exorcists before you can accept the tasks issued by the Night Watchman."


    "Oh, yes." Qin Guan patted the bald skull, "Then register us. All of us here will register."


    Belt took out a stack of registration forms from the counter, and also took out a dip pen and ink bottle.


    "What the hell? He has to fill out the application by hand?" Some players were shocked.


    "It''s quite formal." Qin Guan glanced at the items to be filled in the form and was also quite surprised. "Uh... there is only one pen. Let''s take turns filling it out. Everyone, line up."


    "This is too troublesome." He muttered Give Me medicine, but he did not resist and stood casually behind Qin Guan.


    The other players also found it troublesome, but the game had many broken rules and the devs didn¡¯t seem to care. They complained one after another and adjusted their formation at the same time.


    Belt, who was inside the counter, looked at the group of undead that automatically formed into a long snake formation with doubt and surprise.


    After all, the Night Watch was a formal organization affiliated with the church and one of the church''s legal teams. Although everyone knew that exorcists were just day-labourers for the Night Watch, as long as they were registered, they would be entered into the Night Watch''s files and preserved for a long time. It was a sort of status.


    If some exorcists were particularly outstanding and had not been killed by the dangerous job, they would be absorbed into the organization of the Night Watch and get a stable job in the church.


    Bishop Gene and Captain Clark did not think that this group of undead would ever be absorbed into the Night Watch, but since they had signed a contract with the Nightmare Butcher under the constraints of the "Law of Language", they had to do what they had to do.


    Of course, the two leaders who made the decision, and Belt, the cannon fodder who was kicked in to take the blame, did not think that registering the undead would be smooth; no matter how humane and intelligent these undead were, could they all be literate and have names?


    Belt had already made plans to personally give a number to the undead who come to register.


    At this point, Belt realized that he might have miscalculated many things... Not only did these undead really intend to fill out the registration form themselves, they could also maintain order on their own!


    There wasn''t much information to fill out on the registration form, so Qin Guan quickly filled out his own, handed the form to the NPC, and then gave the pen to the next person in line.


    Belt swallowed and looked at the completed form carefully.


    Of course, the players filled in Chinese characters, which the locals could not decipher unless they were wearing azalea badges.


    Belt, who was wearing the badge, clearly saw the registration form filled out by Qin Guan. The name column was written as Vanilla Pudding, the age column was filled in as twenty-four, and the address column was filled in as Exile Town.


    It was not uncommon for young people in this world to become exorcists.


    It was just that the name is a little beyond Belt''s understanding.


    Belt frowned, his eyes moving back and forth between the words "Vanilla Pudding" and Qin Guan who was standing aside and chatting with other undead.


    Vanilla is a spice, pudding is a dessert, how come a male ghost is given such a name?! Who was the mother anyway?


    The second registration form submitted by the dead soul was named "Give me medicine."


    When Belt received the registration form, the expression on his face was indescribable.


    The third voice clearly belonged to a young female ghost, and on the registration form she filled out, the name column clearly stated "Don''t talk to me."


    Belt: ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 197: Misty Forest

    Qin Guan was a big streamer with millions of fans. Although his gaming skills were not impressive, his interpersonal relationships were excellent. He could coordinate the internal conflicts within his own blood alliance and keep things fair. Many old and new players, especially female players, hung out with him.


    For example, the first group of players in the second batch who participated in "Fire of the Night" (the mining area map expansion mission) all joined Qin Guan''s Blood Alliance.


    So the night watchman Belt saw names such as "I''m a Super Good Boy", "Sunfish", "Report King", "Xiu Thirteen", "Snow in July", "Winter Melon", "Green Beans" and so on on the registration form.


    Most of the undead with these weird names had clear and pleasant young female voices...


    Belt completed the registration for this group of undead with an expressionless face, then took out a few black leather folders and lined them up in a row, indicating that these undead who might have brain problems could choose their own tasks.


    The undead were not polite at all and gathered around the counter to pick and choose.


    "Hey, this mission is good, investigating a haunted house, so exciting!" A nurse with the ID "I''m Super Good" flipped through the black leather folder she had snatched with shining eyes, "Xiaoxue, look, four of the six people in the big house are missing and one is dead, and only one escaped. Doesn''t it feel like a man-eating haunted house?"


    Qiyuexue shook her head like a rattle: "No, this kind of mission looks scary."


    "It''s not easy to complete a pure investigation mission. Huahua hasn''t come online yet. It''s better to find a mission with combat content. The benefits will be higher." Give me Medicine said.


    "Let''s do this, ''Mist Shadow Forest''. The reward is 2,000 copper coins, and there is also equipment to choose from. It''s quite generous." Qin Guan flipped through several black books and kept only one of them. He said to his friends, "This mission investigates outdoor scenarios. I feel that there is a greater possibility of combat content outdoors. What do you think?"


    Even without combat content, the reward of 2,000 copper coins was enough to make the players'' eyes light up, and many people agreed immediately.


    "Okay." a player put down the black book in my hand with regret, "I''ll take this haunted house mission next time."


    "Then let''s take this task." Qin Guan shook the black leather book in his hand towards the NPC.


    The night watchman Belt quietly took away the other black leather books, took out a gold coin church night watchman badge and handed it to the leader Qin Guan.


    "Badge of the Night Watch" "Obtained when accepting an Exorcist team mission, held by the team leader." "When you hold this badge, you can enter the non-restricted area of Indhal territory to conduct investigations. You must return it after completing the exorcist mission. If you lose it, the holder will be deducted 20 copper coins."


    Qin Guan looked at the information on the badge, then looked down at the task bar which was motionless, and was surprised. "Is that all? The task was received? There is no task interface popping up?"


    Belt did not know what the task interface was. He just followed Yang''s "service standard" and said, "After completing the task, please bring back the file and badge. We will send someone to check them and settle the reward."


    Qin Guan looked at the NPC in confusion, then looked down at the task bar which was motionless again... There was no yellow text and no task interface, which made him feel very lost!


    Qin Guan had no choice but to mutter, "Why is the exorcist''s mission so weird?" and leave with his friends.


    After the group of undead left, Belt inside the counter let out a sigh of relief.


    When hiring exorcists, one had to try to be slow and steady to avoid having the exorcists die too quickly and waste cheap cannon fodder. Since they wanted to hire this bunch of undead, the Gold Coin Church was not polite at all and brought out all the unresolved cases piled up in the archives.


    For example, the "Mist Shadow Forest" files taken away by this group of undead was about the strange events that occurred in the Mist Shadow Forest privately owned by Baron Korf''s family half a year ago.


    The Korf family had fallen into poverty, and the only property left was the logging camp in the Misty Forest. After the incident, the Baron was anxious and turned to the church for help.


    After several days of careful investigation, the organization''s investigators confirmed that there were unknown dangers in the Misty Shadow Forest. Because the baron, who had fallen on hard times, could not pay the high commission (solving incidents on owned land was a paid service), the investigators advised the Korf family to seal off the Misty Shadow Forest and prohibit anyone from entering it.


    Baron Korf was extremely dissatisfied with the passive handling of the Night Watch, so he hired someone to eliminate the hidden dangers in the Misty Shadow Forest. The result was... the hired wandering wizard quickly left the Misty Shadow Forest as soon as he stepped into it, and even threw the ten gold coins deposited in advance in Baron Korf''s face...


    The Misty Forest became a notorious place of danger, so the Korf family could no longer operate their logging camp, and their finances became increasingly stretched. The desperate baron could only leave a file with the Night Watch, post a reward of 20 gold coins, and wait for a brave young man to save his middle-aged ass...


    The Night''s Watch did not expect to make much profit from handing the file over to the Undead. It cost ten gold coins just to exchange it for Undead Coins, and they also prepared some extra mercenary equipment with a unit price of around ten gold coins for the Undead to choose from ¨C twenty gold coins were barely enough to hire a wandering wizard, so if the Undead could solve this problem, it would be considered as solving a problem that had been bothering them for barely any money.


    Of course, the biggest reason was that Bishop Gene could no longer tolerate Baron Korf''s endless complaints...


    Before Belt could calm down, another large group of undead came into the hall in a bustling manner.


    The bounty hall next door mostly posted miscellaneous tasks such as finding cats, dogs, lost items, people, collecting certain special plants, catching certain special animals, running errands and delivering things, etc. It could not attract large groups of online players. Originally, Lahong and his gang, who were squatting in the wilderness of the Tarantan Wasteland to kill monsters, had come to the Night''s Watch Hall.


    So Belt was forced to admire the naming methods of the undead again - "Brother Lahong", "Underworldly Wind", "Phantom", "Addicted to Learning", "Pull Out a Leg of Hair", "Nine-Lived Cat"... and so on.


    After completing the registration, Brother Lahong flipped through the black leather notebook displayed by the NPC and picked out the task with the highest reward.


    Students like Tang Jia, En Bu Zeng, and Jia Luo did not come online until the lunch break. Yang Ying, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately pulled them into the team and told them about the opening of the secondary combat positions. Then, the group of people hurried to St. Joseph Street in Indhal City. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It was already late at night on the main street of Xinfeng District. Tang Jia was stomping at the closed door of the Night Watch Hall. "What a psycho! The NPCs in the main city are also going off duty when it gets dark!!"


    Fortunately, they joined the Blood Alliance, and the Blood Alliance still remembered them. Upon learning that Enbulzeng''s team of girls had missed the mission, Qin Guan called them over.


    Ten minutes later, En Buzeng and his companions met up with Qin Guan''s large group in a mountainous area about ten kilometers west of Indhal.


    It was also thanks to Rex that after he became the new lord, he not only abolished the access control in the central city but also stopped closing the city gates ¨C he only collected business taxes and not city gate taxes, so he was not afraid that anyone would dare to enter the city at night to cause trouble.


    Misty Forest was a mountain forest covering an area of ??about 2,000 acres. There were two villages around it, and the nearest village was five or six kilometers away by mountain road.


    Because it was once developed into a logging site, there was a dirt road that could accommodate a horse carriage and led to the depths of the forest. However, it had been abandoned for more than half a year, and a lot of weeds had sprouted on the dirt road that had not been run over by wheels for a long time.


    As soon as they entered the forest, Jia Luo was surprised and said, "Hey, I didn''t see anything outside, why is it so foggy inside?"


    "Yes, we also discovered this." Qin Guan turned around and said, "It''s normal from the outside, but once you come in, you''ll find that it''s all foggy, and you can''t even see a dozen meters."


    "No wonder you had to come out to pick us up. If we had come in by ourselves, we might have missed you." En Buzeng nodded in understanding.


    The undead could all see at night, so darkness was no obstacle to players, but thick fog would still affect players'' vision.


    Tang Jia scanned the team list twice and said curiously, "I feel like someone was missing. Huahua isn''t here?"


    "She''s working on her manuscript. She was so busy with the weekend activity book that she didn''t type a single word." Give Me Medicine said casually, "Qingyue, do you think the fog here is a scene setting, or is there some kind of mission hint to it?"


    The ID "Entropy but Growth" was not very nice to call out, and most of the players who were more familiar with her called her Qingyue.


    En Bu Zeng was flipping through the black leather mission book Qin Guan handed her and said, "There''s a lumberyard in there, right?"


    "Well, just go along this path and you will reach the end," Qin Guan said.


    "The original name of this place was the Fog Shadow Forest, so it should have had the characteristic of fog." En Bu Zeng said, "But since it has been developed into a logging site, it means that the fog was not as severe as it is now. Otherwise, the workers would easily make mistakes in operation, and the money earned by the logging site owner would not be enough to compensate for the losses."


    The background setting of this game was highly similar to the Western European society from the 19th to the 20th century. Players had seen electric lights in Weisshem and after opening the main city map of Indhal, they could also see NPCs making landline calls. Some blocks had electric poles, and some buildings had gas pipelines. In the high-end residential area in the midtown area, you could occasionally see "cars"...


    In addition to these symbols of the birth of industrial civilization, players also captured all the police officers of the city of Indhal with their own hands, and some players were bored and went to the prison in the west of the city to watch the excitement... In other words, this game with a setting close to modern times did have laws, and no matter how much the owner of the logging camp despised human life, he could not be like a real slave owner and just ignore the deaths of his workers.


    "That is to say, the heavy fog here must be related to the cause of the incident." Give Me Medicine nodded.


    En Bu Zeng suddenly stopped, holding the opened black leather book, frowned and looked at Qin Guan. "Xiangcao, have you read the contents of this file?"


    "I''ve seen it. The reward is 2,000 copper coins and equipment of your choice." Qin Guan said as a matter of course.


    En Bu Zeng didn''t know whether to laugh or cry, and held up the black leather book. "I''m not talking about the reward... There''s no task bar for the Exorcist quest, right? Then the quest text is on this file given by the NPC in the Night Watch Hall. To complete the quest and solve the puzzle, you must read the text carefully."


    Qin Guan uttered "uh" and his eyes wandered... It''s not that he didn''t want to read it, it''s just that the information on the file was all over the place and there was no focus. It was like reading a pieced-together work report. He wanted to play with his phone after just two pages...


    Tang Jia, who only came over to En Bu Zeng and took a look at him before losing interest and running off to chat with Yang Ying, said angrily, "Does it take so much to complete a mission as an exorcist? Why not just tell us where to go? This combat secondary job is so poorly designed."


    Everyone nodded, and Give me Medicine especially agreed with what Tang Jia said. He was not even interested in reading the plot text carefully designed by the copywriter, let alone a plain text file without any focus made by NPCs.


    Entropy could only shrug. "...Okay, then I will summarize the contents--"

 Chapter 198: Suspect

    Unlike the "Redwall Farm" incident, which had been thoroughly investigated by the Night Watch before being filed in the unsolved files. The"Misty Shadow Forest" incident was a standard unsolved case where even the source of the incident had not been found.


    The Bancroft family, who owned Redwall Farm, were foreigners. After Master William was involved in a strange incident and died, the Bancroft family avoided Redwall Farm as much as possible and were unwilling to send their own children to manage it. They sold this dangerous land to the Gold Coin Church at a very low price. After the incident was resolved, the Gold Coin Church would own a farm worth [amount omitted], so of course they were willing to do their best.


    In contrast, most of the terrain in the Misty Forest was poor woodland on slopes that could not be developed into farmland. The Night Watch certainly did not have much motivation... not to mention that the owner had no intention of selling at a low price. After all, this was all the Korf family had left.


    Of course, the Night Watch still abided by the code of conduct. No matter what, they conducted a thorough investigation. The investigators who participated in the investigation of the incident compiled dozens of pages of investigation reports before archiving them. All kinds of details were stuffed into the black leather notebook. When the church was willing to deal with it, they would have more comprehensive intelligence to support the restart of the investigation.


    In other words, the information in this black leather book was really messy. It contained all kinds of information, but it seemed to have little connection with the incident. No wonder Qin Guan could not stand it.


    In serious games, the quest text was written as concisely and fluently as possible, and the important contents were marked in red fonts! Even so, many players have to run around the map for a long time and were not willing to read it seriously until they failed to even find the quest monster...


    This top student did not have the problem of "getting a headache after reading too many words". After patiently reading all the documents, she had keenly found the key parts of the redundant information.


    "First, let''s look at page 7." En Bu Zeng showed the page to Qin Guan. "This is the record of investigator ''Mountain Rat'' questioning the former lumber yard workers. Look at the fourth paragraph."


    "Hmm..." Qin Guan came over patiently, touching his chin and reading the words above.


    "...Karl: I don''t know, sir. Our work during the day was very tiring. At night, we just wanted to sleep and didn''t have the energy to run around."


    "Then how do you know someone came here at night?"


    "Karl: Because the rope I put on the tree stump was missing. It''s a hemp rope made by old Hume, more than four meters long. Squirrels and foxes in the mountains won''t steal it."


    "Who do you think stole the rope?"


    "Karl: Who knows? It''s really annoying. There are obviously clumps of wild hemp growing in the ravine over there. Can''t you just rub them yourself?"


    "Have people from the nearby villages ever stolen anything from the lumberyard?"


    "Karl (he suddenly became excited): Yes, sir! Last month, someone who came to the mountains to collect firewood stole the machete that old Hume forgot to take back. Even the broken saw blade was taken away quietly. The foreman did not blame those thieves who stole the things they had taken. Instead, he asked us to be responsible for the lost things and deducted our wages!"


    "People from nearby villages would come to steal things from the logging camp. Is this a clue?" Qin Guan said.


    There is no explanation for the fact that entropy does not increase. Turn to page 14: "Look here again."


    "...Kaludo: How could anyone die in the forest? Don''t listen to the nonsense from outsiders, sir. Since I became the butler of the Korf family 20 years ago, I have never heard of any incident in the Korf family''s Misty Shadow Forest. You know, I am the only butler left in the Korf family, and there are only two male servants. If anything happened to the important assets of the family, I would definitely know."


    "Then why did the neighboring village say that the Fog Shadow Forest would eat people? This rumor had already spread in the village before the fog in the forest became abnormal."


    "Karudo: That''s just nonsense made up by those stupid people who have nothing to do. Not to mention that people haven¡¯t died, there has never been any major incident worth mentioning in the Mist Shadow Lumberyard since the Baron''s father''s generation. The worst accident was that a worker accidentally cut off his toe a few years ago."


    "What about the worker who lost his toe?"


    "Kaludo: Of course, he came back to work after recovering from his injury. He worked in the lumberyard until the hateful fog made it impossible for the lumberyard to continue. Look over there, it¡¯s that old Hume in the yard with the funny red nose who always complains about people."


    [The recorder called old Hume into the living room and asked him to take off his shoes for inspection, confirming that they were correct.]


    "Kaludo: These workers have been working for the Korf family for four or five years. Although the forest farm cannot continue, the Baron has decided to continue paying the workers the minimum wage. I hope you can help the Korf family because the Baron is so kind, Mr. Mountain Rat."


    "I''ll do my best, Butler Kaludo."


    Qin Guan carefully read the passage that En Bu Zeng pointed out to him, but he still didn''t understand what the clue was. He looked at En Bu Zeng with confusion.


    En Bu Zeng turned to page 32 and handed the black leather book to Qin Guan. "This part is the investigation of the nearby villages by the ''Mountain Rat'' investigator. You can read the following pages together."


    Qin Guan had no choice but to be patient and slowly flip through the black leather book.


    Page 32 reads as follows:


    ¡°¡­Weber: I¡¯m not lying, sir. This is true. There really are man-eating monsters in the Mist Shadow Forest!¡±


    ""Have you seen it with your own eyes? What does the monster look like?"


    "Weber: As strong as a bear, with a tail as flexible as a leopard, a head as big as a millstone, and teeth longer than a child''s legs. Although I didn''t see it with my own eyes, the hunter saw it, and that''s what he told us!"


    "I already asked the hunter in your village. He never told anyone that he had seen any monsters in the mountains and forests over there. He said that the only larger prey in the Misty Shadow Forest area were rabbits and foxes. One had to climb over the mountain over there to see wild deer. If one wanted to hunt wild boars, one had to climb over at least two mountains."


    "Weber (his face flushed and he began to stutter): I, I, I actually heard these from Drunkard Mike. He said these were all told to him by the hunter when he invited him to drink... Damn it, this guy is usually so stingy that he has to go to other people''s fields to pick shallots to cook soup. How could he be willing to treat others to drinks? This bastard must have been bragging and deceived me!"


    Page 33 reads as follows: "... Needham: This is all just nonsense that the idle people in the village tell to kill time. A few years ago, before Baron Korf started construction in the Misty Shadow Forest, not many people cared about that area. When he was young, he went there from time to time to collect some firewood, but he never encountered anything that could scare people."


    "Have you been in the forest over there during the years the logging camp has been open?"


    "Needham: We would go there to pick some mushrooms and wild vegetables around the planting season. In the fall, we would also go there to see if the wild pears had grown. Master Jeff''s second wife liked to use those wild pears to make fruit wine, and she would generously exchange salt for the wild pears they picked."


    "Does Mr. Robert Jeff live in the village?"


    "Needham: He comes back to live for one or two months every year. He lives in the city most of the time. Usually, only Mrs. Jeff lived in Jeff''s big house. They were close to the city, and Mrs. Jeff often went back to live in the city. She was very kind and was happy to let villagers take a ride with her every time she went."


    "Chief Needham, do you think Robert Jeff is a benevolent lord?"


    "Needham: Of course, sir. Since our village became the fief of Master Jeff more than ten years ago, every year when they paid the autumn tax, we were not affected much."


    Qin Guan was shocked when he saw this part: "What the hell? The lord of a village? Are lords so worthless?"


    "He is a family knight bestowed with power by local nobles," En Buzeng said. "Robert Jeff is a family knight of the Darcy family. Viscount Darcy bought a village and bestowed it on this knight. There is an introduction in the list of related persons on the last few pages." Qin Guan quickly flipped to the back page and saw the name Robert Jeff on the list of suspected persons listed by investigator "Mountain Rat".  S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Regardless of whether the overall ethos of the Gold Coin Church was gold-only, the Night''s Watch still paid great attention to detail when doing things. Investigator "Mountain Rat" not only listed the background of Robert Jeff, whom he had personally investigated, but also analyzed why the Viscount Darcy''s family, whose fiefdom was in Kane Town. They did not allocate a piece of land on their own territory to "Master Jeff", but instead bought a village on someone else''s land. Simply put, the "Mountain Rat" believed that the Darcy family intended to focus on training Robert Jeff, and wanted to support this family knight to strive for the top and compete with the Korf family, which occupied the title but was on the verge of collapse.


    The villages around the Misty Shadow Forest were originally the fiefdom of the Korf family, so the people in this area would have taken it for granted to enter the Misty Shadow Forest to collect firewood and hunt, because the people in this area were originally supposed to pay taxes to the Korf family, and both the people and the land were their property. In theory, the taxes paid by the people on the fiefdoms had nothing to do with the petty nobles who directly "owned" them, because the laws of the Rhine Kingdom stipulated that 10% of the taxes belonged to the church, 10% to the king, and 10% to the local lords, such as Adela III before and Rex now.


    However, when the people in the fiefdom had to pay the autumn tax, they could only sell grain to the small nobles who directly "owned" them, and then use the money from the sale of grain to pay the tax. This left a lot of room for manipulation...


    During the Chinese feudal dynasty, local officials dared to openly engage in kick-backs when collecting grain, and these unsupervised small nobles could do whatever they wanted. When Rex said that he didn''t want his share of the tax revenue, he was actually publicly "forcing" Yang Qiu not to peel off the skins and suck the blood of the Weisshem people when collecting taxes...


    Qin Guan carefully read the introduction of the knight Robert Jeff, and flipped through a few more pages to look at the information of other people. Other suspected persons of relevance, such as the Korf family, the Korf family''s housekeeper, the foreman and workers of the logging camp, the hunters, village chiefs and villagers who were the focus of the "mountain rat"''s questioning, etc., all had intelligence introductions obtained by the investigator himself, but none of them were as detailed as Robert Jeff''s introduction, which was so accurate that it even listed how many lovers (concubines) he had.


    "So it seems that investigator ''Mountain Rat'' suspects that this Robert is a key person of contact?" Qin Guan''s eyes lit up.


    "The investigator probably can''t be sure either. He did not find any evidence," En Buzeng shook his head. "Otherwise, this investigation report would not be so unfocused, listing all the information in detail."


    "Anyway, you also think that Robert is the key person, right?" Qin Guan was too lazy to think about it further.


    "Mountain Rat had no real evidence, so it¡¯s hard to say," En Bu Zeng nodded first, then shook his head. "Anyway, let''s try to find that ''rope''. If we can find this missing ''rope'', half of the mission will be solved."


    Qin Guan broke out in a cold sweat. "Hey, don''t joke, sister. Look how big this place is. Looking for a rope in such a big forest?"


    "No need to search everywhere, just search around the logging site... um, within a hundred... two hundred meters," En Buzeng raised his head and glanced at the front of the crowd.


    "That''s the logging site, right?" At the end of the path, on a slightly flat open space, there were a few lonely cabins and a few piles of logs that had not been moved away in time and were placed haphazardly in the sun.

 Chapter 199: Key Clues

    The Korf family, who owned this forest, had only developed the Misty Forest when they were in financial difficulty and had no other choice. They could not afford to invest too much in a logging camp.


    There were no large or medium-sized pieces of equipment with an industrial feel in the whole logging site. Judging from the axes, hand saws, and machetes that were thrown messily next to the pile of logs and not taken away by the workers when they left in a hurry, the manual operation mode adopted was still quite old.


    "This place is worse than our Undead sawmill," Yang Ying, who had been teleported to the Desolate Stronghold sawmill many times to make money, complained.


    Players who had gone there to farm for gold nodded their heads... At least one could still see diesel generators and chainsaws in the undead lumberyard run by a zombie NPC outside the Desolate Stronghold.


    "The Baron Korf family that owns this land has indeed fallen into decline," En Buzeng stared at the logging tools left behind by the workers for a while, then walked towards one of the wooden houses.


    The wooden house, which was very Eastern European in style and built with original logs, had been vacant for more than half a year. A lot of moss had sprouted on the walls in the shade, and wild grass had stubbornly popped up in the cracks between the stone steps.


    Qin Guan, dressed in luxurious clothes, took the initiative to walk in front of En Bu Zeng and pushed and pulled the door. The wooden door swayed and opened with a harsh creaking sound.


    This wooden house seemed to be the workers'' residence. There were some ceramic and wooden bowls and plates on the table near the door. There were two wooden bunk beds on the left and right sides. The beds were piled with some hay that smelled faintly of mold. The sheets and other things had been taken away.


    The sheets and clothes were the property of the workers, while the axes and saws were the property of the owner. When the workers hurriedly evacuated, they knew what was important and what was not.


    The door of the second cabin was locked. Looking through the window, one could see some tools such as axes and saw blades piled up in the house. One could also see several baskets of potatoes and wheat. Of course, they had all sprouted and molded.


    The third cabin was also locked from the outside with an open lock. Looking inside through the window, it could be confirmed that it seemed to be the foreman''s residence - there was only a bed inside.


    "Huh?!" En Buzeng, who was leaning on the window, discovered something and turned to call out to the others, "A warrior, open the door."


    "I''ll do it, I''ll do it." Tang Jia was already bored to death. She pushed Qin Guan, who was about to draw his weapon, away and rushed forward anxiously.


    Tang Jia chopped off the lock in a few moves, and En Bu Zeng rushed in without saying a word.


    Of course, Qin Guan could not tolerate not being able to find anything, so he ran in as well.


    This wooden house was much tidier and cleaner than the other two. There were still sheets, quilts, and pillows on the bed. A men''s coat was hung on the coat rack beside the bed, and two pairs of boots were placed against the wall on one side of the coat rack. On the dusty table stood a glass teacup of relatively high purity, and next to the teacup were an iron cigarette case and a pipe.


    En Buzeng looked at the wooden house in astonishment, picked up the black-skinned book tucked under his arm, and quickly turned to page six.


    This page recorded the testimony of foreman Arnold Hayden.


    The testimony of foreman Hayden was of little value. This was what En Bu Zeng had judged when he first read it quickly. This man did not participate in logging and was only in charge of four workers. He hated staying in the mountains, and every time he delivered wood down the mountain, he would always find an excuse to stay at the foot of the mountain for a day or two longer.


    After scanning the testimony, En Bu Zeng still felt that this person''s words were meaningless. They were all complaints about life in the mountains and the stupid workers.


    He turned to the last few pages and reread the information about the suspected persons of interest listed by investigator "Mountain Rat".


    Under the name of foreman Arnold Hayden, investigator "Mountain Rat" recorded that this person was the only remaining servant in Baron Korf''s family, and his father had been a driver for the previous baron.


    The difference in working environment between being a leisurely coachman in a big city and being thrown into the mountains to manage a shabby logging camp was naturally huge. It was probably from this perspective that "Mountain Rat" understood the resentment expressed by foreman Hayden, and the joy vaguely revealed after the logging camp was forced to stop operating.


    Entropy fell into silence.


    Qin Guan carefully studied his fellow player and looked at the cabin for a long time. He even opened the cigarette box to look at the moldy tobacco inside... but unfortunately, he didn''t find any clues.


    Qin Guan had no choice but to temporarily put aside his competitive spirit, adjust his mood, and humbly ask En Bu Zeng. "Qingyue, is there any important clue here?"


    "Yes." En Bu Zeng was not a person who liked to be mysterious. He turned to page 6 again and clicked on the question and answer record. "The person who answered the question about ''Mountain Rat'' was probably not the original ''Arnold Hayden''."


    "Uh..." Qin Guan glanced at the boring conversation on the page, thought for a moment, and then said "Fuck" in horror.


    "A strange fog suddenly rose in the mountains. It was impossible to tell people and animals apart. Everyone panicked and packed up their things to evacuate in a hurry. This was the common response of all the people in the logging camp when answering the question of ''Mountain Rat''," En Bu Zeng was also a little scared and said, "But, the workers even had time to roll up their own bedding. Is it possible that Hayden, the foreman who doesn''t have to work and is usually a big idler, didn''t even wear his coat and forgot his cigarette box and pipe?"


    "That''s impossible," Qin Guan said decisively. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Smokers are more likely to leave behind their children than their cigarettes!


    "Is this actually a supernatural horror story?" Qin Guan said in a daze. After thinking for a while, he felt something was wrong. "Hey, wait, didn''t you say you were looking for a rope? Was it the foreman who took the rope?"


    "It''s hard to say. The clues haven''t been connected yet," En Buzeng shook his head, closed the black leather book and walked out. "This was the situation in the lumberyard. Now let''s divide the people and search the surrounding area."


    The sawmill was not big. Including the open space where the logs were piled, it was only about the size of one and a half basketball courts. It was not difficult for players to search within a radius of 200 meters around the sawmill - the double perspective obstruction DEBUFF of darkness and fog was meaningless to players, and the players were very proficient in using Identify to find things.


    In less than half an hour, a player''s identification spell swept across a hemp rope thrown in the bushes.


    En Buzeng and Qin Guan, who had led their teams to search separately, hurried to the place where the discovery was made and reunited. The player who found the hemp rope happily showed them the items he had dragged out of the bushes.


    Entropy looked at the rolled-up rope and asked the player who discovered it, "Is this the way the rope was rolled up when you found it?" "Yeah," the player who discovered it said, "It was just rolled up like this and thrown into the bushes over there."


    This time, without the hint of Entropy, Qin Guan also found the bright spot. "This rope was hidden by someone on purpose, right?"


    En Bu Zeng took the hemp rope solemnly, thought for a while, raised his head and looked upwards.


    Then she lowered her head again and looked around at the ground.


    After discovering a stone hidden in the grass, En Buzeng walked over quickly and squatted down to observe.


    Qin Guan really tried hard to follow En Bu Zeng''s rhythm, but even if he squatted down and looked at the stone with En Bu Zeng, he really could not see anything... He had to ask humbly again: "What''s going on, Master Qing Yue, please explain it to me."


    En Bu Zeng raised his bone claw, tapped the stone, and tried to push it.


    It could also be pushed forward by the power of the undead.


    The highest part of this irregularly shaped stone was about thirty to forty centimeters high and more than twenty centimeters wide. It was difficult to lift it, but it could be pushed and kicked.


    "...I see," En Bu Zeng said quietly.


    "What does that mean?!" Qin Guan was almost going crazy.


    "Vanilla, do you remember what ''Mountain Rat'' asked the villagers?" Entropy said, "''Drunkard Mike'' claimed that there was a man-eating monster in the forest. This monster was as strong as a bear, had a tail like a leopard, and had teeth longer than a child''s arm..."


    "Isn''t that just bullshit from the villagers? The villagers themselves said that the drunkard was just bragging," Qin Guan had a question mark on his forehead.


    "Yes, it is bragging," En Bu Zeng nodded. "Some people at the bottom do have the habit of ignoring objective facts and exaggerating to attract attention. However, these people themselves have little knowledge and imagination. Their exaggerated remarks must be based on a certain reality."


    "For example, the description of this man-eating monster as strong as a bear is because the villagers believe that the most terrifying and intimidating beast is the bear. Coupled with the monster-like, exaggerated fangs, just saying it would make people feel scared."


    After a pause, En Bu Zeng said quietly, "But why add the description ''a leopard-like tail''? How can a leopard''s tail be scary?"


    Qin Guan was stunned.


    There was definitely nothing wrong with his intelligence, it was just that he was just one of those ordinary people with a more flexible brain, and there was a certain gap between him and a genius.


    The fact that Entropy had found this. If Qin Guan failed to react, then the millions of fans who followed him would have wasted their time.


    Qin Guan stiffly shifted his gaze to the hemp rope that En Bu Zeng was holding. Even though he knew that he was just playing a game and completing a task in the game, and that it was broad daylight in reality even though it was night in the game, he still felt himself breaking out in a cold sweat: "So... it was a person? What the boastful drunkard saw was actually a person, a person connected to the rope?"


    "Yeah," Enbuteng once again used his finger bones to tap the stone that could be moved by the power of the undead, raised his head, and looked up again.


    Diagonally above this stone, there was a branch extending from a nearby big tree, about three meters above the ground.


    There was only one possibility of which scene of people and ropes together could scare an adult male villager.


    That was... a hanged corpse.


    "Wait, wait, Drunk Mike also included a hunter in the rumor he made up. Does that mean the hunter in that village is also involved in this matter?"


    "The drunkard claimed that the hunter saw the monster and took it off, but the hunter firmly denied it," Entropy said expressionlessly, "Combined with the fact that this rope was intentionally hidden in the bushes, we can speculate that the drunkard accidentally saw the hunter untie the body hanging on the tree and carry it away."


    "Why did the hunter secretly carry away the body and hide the rope? He must have wanted to hide the fact that someone had hanged himself. From whom? From the villagers, or the people in the logging camp."


    En Bu Zeng raised his hand and pointed to the nearby logging site. "If a person hangs himself, it must be because he has some kind of anger or resentment. He deliberately ran to a place not far from the logging site, as if he wanted to die in front of someone in the logging camp."


    Qin Guan felt a flash of inspiration in his mind, and hurriedly stopped En Bu Zeng and said, "Wait, let me do it. There are only five people in the lumberyard. Four workers evacuated successfully, but the foreman was replaced. That guy must have died for the foreman Hayden to see, right?"


    "Yes," En Bu Zeng nodded, "Foreman Hayden and the body secretly transported away by the hunters are the key clues to this mission."


    "Then let''s go find that hunter now!" Qin Guan slapped his thigh happily.

 Chapter 200: The Truth

    The "online GM" on duty, Lao Geng, witnessed the whole process of En Bu Zeng connecting the logging site with the neighboring village, and could not help but praise. "This girl has a good brain."


    The players thought they were just completing tasks in a game, but Lao Geng would definitely not have had such a misunderstanding... Ever since Lord Yang had revealed the truth to Comrade Zhao Zhenzhen sent by the National Security Bureau, it was as if they had tacitly acknowledged that those of them who had obtained "moderator accounts" had a common channel of information, and that they were too lazy to use the "game" as a cover for anything they did.


    Therefore, Lao Geng knew very clearly that the "Exorcist Mission" that seemed to be a new part of the game was actually a path opened by Lord Yang for players to contact the weird core of this strange world.


    It could also be understood that by opening up access paths to players, it indirectly allowed those on the national team to gain a deeper understanding of this alien world from a different perspective.


    How bizarre was this alien world? Although Lao Geng did not know anything about astrometry, he had learned some knowledge that went against the common sense of earthlings from Director Lu of the expert group. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    For example, through months of (alien time) celestial observations in Exile Town and Westram, the expert group had been able to determine that the planet beneath their feet did not belong to the Milky Way.


    After measuring the movement trajectory of the sun for many days and referring to the movement trajectories of celestial bodies and galaxies during the day and at night, the expert group calculated and unanimously agreed that the volume of this planet was much larger than that of the Earth, at least three times larger.


    It stood to reason that the larger the planet, the heavier its gravity. However, when the expert group tested the density of the wood transported to Earth by Lord Yang''s "space logistics" and reweighed the goods that Lord Yang''s "logistics" brought to this world, they found that the gravity of the celestial bodies on both sides seemed to be almost the same, leaving many experts in related fields scratching their heads and unable to figure it out.


    Through carbon testing of the mud and sand attached to the wood, the expert group believed that this planet had an ancient history just like the Earth, or perhaps even older.


    Through careful testing and observation of the wood itself and the microorganisms attached to it, they found that there were huge differences between the microscopic world of this world and the evolutionary path of microorganisms on Earth - of course, Lao Geng could not explain exactly where the difference was, and he did not understand the professional terms that Director Lu used.


    In short, the expert group had a strong desire to learn about this planet that had overturned the common sense of the earthlings in all aspects. Lord Yang took the opportunity of opening "new content" to the players to give the national team the opportunity to get in touch with the core. Of course, Lao Geng would very diligently keep an eye on these players who were running "exorcist missions" and "bounty missions".


    Seeing that the players had no awareness of being undead and were running towards the indigenous village in the middle of the night, Lao Geng quickly sent out a warning message:


    "Hint: You are entering Lanna Village."


    "Your Indhal territory''s reputation has reached Friendly, allowing you to enter Lanna Village."


    "¡¾Warning¡¿: The villagers are resting, please do not disturb them. Please come back at dawn."


    The players who had fought in the Indhal Territory War had a territory reputation above friendly. In theory, players could go to any village or town, but disturbing people''s sleep late at night was absolutely prohibited. Houses in the countryside were not like those in the city, which were mostly made of brick walls. They did not have such good sound insulation.


    The first reaction of the players who were given a warning was of course to curse the stupid planner.


    It would have been fine if it was a normal time. Qin Guan could just have taken the team to kill monsters first and come back when the daybreak in the game came. But this time the difficulty of the mission was ridiculous. When the daybreak in the game came, even if Entropy was smart, she would have to log off and go to class. What the hell was going on?!


    Tang Jia, who did not want to miss the mission, made a bold suggestion. "Wait, since we can enter the village, isn''t it okay as long as we don''t disturb the sleeping villagers? We are going to find the hunter to interrogate the truth. This hunter is a mission NPC. It''s okay to do the mission, right?"


    Qin Guan immediately gave a thumbs up. "Not bad, it''s no big deal to find a quest NPC to do the quest!"


    "That''s right, let''s enter the village quietly and not make any sound!" A group of players said in unison.


    Then these guys really ran into the village...


    Old Geng, who was sitting in the back of Exile Town, looked at this group of people from a distance with a helpless look.


    Well... he was also quite curious about this "exorcist mission". As long as these young people could really do what they said, he would turn a blind eye.


    The black book contained the addresses of all the suspected related persons. Hunter Ulduar''s home was at the foot of the mountain at the end of Lanna Village, quite far away from other houses. As long as the players did not demolish Ulduar''s home, they would not disturb other villagers.


    Lanna Village was very close to Indhal City, less than ten kilometers away in a straight line. Many villagers had opened vegetable gardens in front of and behind their houses and relied on selling vegetables in the city to supplement their family income.


    It was also because of this geographical convenience that the economic conditions of this village were pretty good. In addition to their houses, many families had built sheds to raise chickens and ducks, and only pigs and dogs lived with people... Considering the current situation in rural areas of this world, this was already a reflection of "living a good life."


    As the dead spirits tiptoed through the village, some people''s dogs were startled and sporadic barking sounds were heard.


    But it was not a big problem, as not many villagers were woken up by the noise, and those who were woken up were unwilling to go out, so they just kept their dogs under control.


    Ulduar was the only hunter in Lanna Village. His economic condition was slightly better than that of the villagers. Two earthen-walled thatched houses built side by side at the foot of the mountain, a half-person-high chicken coop in front of the house, a small courtyard of about 40 square meters surrounded by a fence, and two hunting dogs kept in a kennel made of wooden boards in the yard were all Ulduar''s property.


    Dozens of undead surrounded the fence of Ulduar''s house, and the first ones to be alarmed were the two dogs in the yard.


    Country hunters certainly could not afford expensive hunting dogs. The hunting dogs of the Ulduar family were actually just guard dogs commonly seen in the central and eastern countries of the Nabaron continent. When they popped their heads out of the kennel and saw the groups of undead outside the fence, the two dogs did not dare to bark loudly at all, and shrank back with a whimper.


    The noise was still enough to wake up Ulduar. The strongest man in the village jumped off the bed as soon as he opened his eyes, picked up the hunting bow hanging on the wall, grabbed the quiver and rushed out.


    He rushed out of the room, and under the starry sky, he stared at a large group of undead across the fence.


    Like his hunting dog, Ulduar subconsciously wanted to hide inside the house, but when he thought of his wife and children who were still sleeping in the house, he stopped abruptly and blocked the door with his head held high, looking at these undead spirits wearing fish scale armor and carrying weapons as if they were facing a great enemy.


    People in the surrounding villages knew that the owner of Indhal City had changed a week ago - it was not that the farmers suddenly became concerned about the replacement of the lord, but because the villagers who came to the city to sell vegetables would see the undead wandering around the streets in broad daylight, and they could not help but pay attention.


    An undead walked to the gate of the courtyard and shouted "KABAKABA" several times at Ulduar through the waist-high gate.


    Ulduar must not have understood what it was saying, and could only confront the group of undead with a look of horror on his face.


    "Damn it, even the quest NPC can''t understand what we say?" Qin Guan cursed angrily.


    In the background, Lao Geng silently sent a task reminder to Entropy Bu Zeng who was holding the hemp rope. "Do you want to use the quest item ''a roll of hemp rope''?"


    Entropy glanced at the information bar in surprise, raised the hemp rope and pointed it towards the hunter.


    Ulduar had no reaction.


    En Bu Zeng thought for a moment, then handed the hemp rope to Qin Guan, and pointed at the hunter. "Show this to the NPC."


    Qin Guan jumped over the waist-high gate with a hemp rope in his hand, walked into the yard carelessly, and handed the hemp rope to Ulduar.


    Ulduar was very confused and looked with fear at the large group of undead surrounding his yard. He gritted his teeth and took the hemp rope.


    Lao Geng took the opportunity to operate the "GM authority" and dragged Ulduar into the matrix.


    The operating principle of temporarily pulling the indigenous people into the matrix was similar to that of the Azalea Badge engraved with the Spirit Link Rune, but it was not as convenient as the Azalea Badge. It required immediately "adding people" and could only drag people who had been in contact with the undead. The time limit was very short, usually only lasting half an hour. It was a new function developed after Yang Qiu allowed the players to go out to do "hidden tasks".


    To put it simply, it allowed people who came into direct contact with the undead to be temporarily contaminated by the aura of the spiritual imprint runes hidden in the undead''s skeletons...of course, the effectiveness of this would not last long.


    Ulduar was stunned when he got the hemp rope. The "KABAKABA" sound of the undead in front of him was almost instantly replaced by the impatient, clear voice of a young man. "...Don''t pretend, Ulduar, we all know what you did. Look at this roll of hemp rope, do you recognize it?"


    Ulduar stared stiffly at the aggressive undead in front of him and swallowed hard - Lady of Gold Coin! Why could he understand the undead talking?!


    Qin Guan naturally could not understand how the natives'' fear was experienced. "Do you still want to play dumb? What did you do in the Misty Shadow Forest in the spring?"


    The two key words, spring and Misty Forest, plus the hemp rope that the undead stuffed into his hands, made Ulduar shudder, and the horrifying memory that he had tried his best to ignore suddenly came flooding back to him.


    It was difficult for living people to discern the expressions of the undead, but the undead could observe the reactions of living people quite accurately. Qin Guan''s eyes lit up, and he quickly took out the badge given by the Night Watch NPC, shoved it in Ulduar''s face, and shouted. "We are exorcists investigating the Misty Forest incident. Tell us quickly! Otherwise, we will take you back with us!"


    Ulduar''s face turned pale and his whole body became limp.


    If the person who came was a Night Watch investigator, Ulduar would still dare to pretend nothing happened; but if the person who came was a group of undead who even knew that he had hidden the hemp rope for hanging... he really would not dare to talk nonsense.


    Ulduar''s mind was blank, so he did not have the energy to wonder why even the undead could be exorcists these days, were the standards slipping this much? This was a question that shattered his worldview. He was naturally afraid of the undead, and mistakenly believed that the undead knew about the afterlife and could even communicate with the dead. The ordinary rural hunter wrinkled his face and stammered: "I, I really didn''t do anything, you undead masters... I just, just... collected the body of that shameless Janet..." Ulduar said with tears in his eyes, "She was obviously Master Jeff''s woman, but she was secretly communicating with the foreman of the forest farm, and then she went to the forest farm to hang herself for no apparent reason... If this matter were known to outsiders, Master Jeff would be disgraced, and there is nothing I could do¡ª¡ª"


    "Who is Janet?" Seeing that the NPC was finally willing to speak, En Bu Zeng quickly jumped into the yard.


    "She is the fourth daughter of the headman of Needham," Odur replied tremblingly, "For her, Master Jeff would come back to live in the big house in the village for one or two months every year... Although she can only be a maid in Jeff''s family, for a country woman like her, what''s wrong with that? If it weren''t for Master Jeff''s kindness, she would not be able to live the same good life as the city people. Besides, Mrs. Jeff is also very good to her."


    Hearing this, Qin Guan snorted, "What the hell, being a concubine makes people envious?"


    En Bu Zeng frowned as he looked at the trembling NPC in front of him and said, "Are you sure Janet hanged herself?"


    "Of course, undead... lady," Ulduar nodded vigorously. "I was the first person to go up the mountain that day. When I found her, she was wearing the skirt given to her by the forest foreman. There were no wrinkles on the dress, and there was only a mark on her neck. I have seen several women in the village who had hanged themselves, and they all looked like this."


    "Wait a minute, why have you seen several women who hanged themselves?!" Qin Guan was shocked.


    "Every few years, there will always be one or two people who can''t get over it," Ulduar was frightened by Qin Guan''s raised voice and spoke haltingly.


    En Bu Zeng shook his head slightly and said nothing.


    Before the game "Another World" was released, besides studying, En Bu Zeng''s biggest interest was watching legal programs, so she had all kinds of weird knowledge points - for example, she knew the symptoms of some diseases, and she was also quite familiar with the police''s investigation and evidence collection routines.


    Anyone who is familiar with the progress of the rule of law in China will know one thing: the suicide rate among rural women in New China was once alarmingly high.


    The planner of the game "Another World" seemed to be obsessed with "realism". It was not impossible that he had made a set of hidden settings like "easter eggs" for players to discover by referring to the laws of social development in reality.


    "Then why did you try so hard to cover up the fact that Janet hanged herself? Is Robert Jeff''s reputation important to you?" Entropy asked again.


    "Of course, Madam Undead!" Ulduar straightened his back, his voice no longer trembling, and even carried a sincere plea, "When this place was still the territory of the Korf family, 60% of the food was not enough to pay the autumn tax! For a family like mine with very few fields, there is not much corn left after paying the tax!"


    "After Master Jeff came, no matter how much the grain price dropped during the autumn harvest, he only bought 50% of it!"


    "If Master Jeff leaves, and another lord comes who is more like the Korf family...what shall we do then?"


    Entropy fell into silence again.


    Because her original family is relatively complicated, although En Bu Zeng is young, her understanding of the ways of the world is no less than that of adults who have lived for several decades.


    For example, in this case, Entropy can determine one thing... Whether the little mistress in the country had fallen in love with someone else is not a big deal for a knight of status like Robert Jeff. If he really cared about Janet, he would not have abandoned her in the country.


    But for the villagers of Lanna Village, Robert Jeff''s small matter is their big matter.


    In order to "protect" Lord Jeff, who was a little more "merciful" than other lords and not particularly cruel in sucking blood, the villagers here could calmly do what they thought was right.


    Forcing a young girl who they considered to be "improper" and "ungrateful", and who was tacitly accepted by everyone at a young age as "very happy to be an old man''s mistress" to shut up, not even allowing her to express her resistance by hanging herself, strictly hiding her personal joys, sorrows, pain, and anger, and completely erasing her existence, even the investigator "Mountain Rat" who had investigated the matter did not know her name... of course, it was the "right" thing to do.


    But at least, this kind of thing was not right for that girl. She was unwilling to let her disappear so silently.

 Chapter 201 Case Closure Report

    When the night watchman Belt got up early in the morning and opened the door, he found that several rows of undead were squatting at the entrance of the night watch hall.


    Belt, who was still sleepy, shuddered and became half awake in an instant.


    Thinking about the job he was assigned now, Belt became fully awake.


    For people who were used to nocturnal activities and had just been forced to change to a normal schedule... having a skeleton in the face early in the morning was really a very refreshing experience.


    The undead did not care whether the night watchman''s face was full of rejection. As soon as Belt opened the door, one of them directly shoved the black leather book in Belt''s face and shouted at him impatiently and rudely. "We have already handled the "Mist Shadow Forest" incident. Send someone to inspect it quickly and send the next task!!"


    Belt: ¡°???¡±


    Half an hour later, night watch captain Lynch Clark was woken up by the phone.


    "What?! Those undead spirits found out the truth about the Misty Shadow Forest incident overnight??"


    Captain Clark hurriedly dressed and rushed to the Night Watch headquarters.


    When Clark arrived, the fat official, who had also been woken up early in the morning, was flipping through a black leather book in a daze.


    The event files kept by the Night Watch had red covers, which were related to sealed objects, disaster events, and evil cults, and could only be read by high-ranking church officials; white covers represented ordinary events that had been resolved; and black covers represented events that had not been resolved for various reasons.


    "Captain, this is what Belt just sent over," the fat official handed the black leather notebook to Clark, who had just taken off his coat, his short fat fingers trembling slightly.


    Clark sat down and quickly turned to the last page of the file to read the conclusion.


    When a strange fog appeared in the Misty Forest of Baron Korf''s home more than half a year ago, it was Clark who had personally appointed "Mountain Rat" to investigate. Of course, he was well aware of the circumstances of this unresolved case.


    "Mountain Rat" was a very promising young man, sharp and careful. He had participated in the investigation of many special events and performed well. In just one week, he found all the people suspected of being related to the incidents and recorded their words and deeds in great detail. If the Korf family was not so poor that they could not afford the cost of purifying and eliminating regional strange phenomena (starting from fifty gold coins), in Clark''s opinion, this file should have been replaced with a white cover long ago.


    Two of the last few pages of the file book, which were left blank, were filled with text. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    That''s right...it was all weird block text that looked like pictures, and Clark did not recognize any of it.


    The fat official, who seemed a little absent-minded, slapped his head, quickly took off the azalea badge on his chest and handed it to Clark.


    After putting on the badge, Clark was finally able to recognize these extremely unfamiliar "ghost fonts"... and then, like the fat official before him, his face was full of confusion.


    "Janet? The fourth daughter of the chief of Lanna Village?" Captain Clark suspected that his memory was wrong, and turned a few pages to look at the list of suspected related persons listed by "Mountain Rat".


    There was indeed no such name in the directory.


    "¡­The person that Mountain Rat couldn''t find in a week, but those undead found him in one night?!" Captain Clark had a puzzled look on his face. "This is too much¡ªthe undead didn''t turn the Misty Shadow Forest upside down, but went to question the villagers instead? The villagers actually told them the truth that they didn''t even want to tell our investigators?"


    If Captain Clark had not known clearly that Lanna Village was once the fief of the Korf family and was now the fief of the knights of Viscount Darcy''s family, he would have suspected that everyone in the village was a traitor.


    As he continued to read on, Captain Clark became even more confused.


    Not only did the undead find out the truth, they also solved the fog problem in the Misty Forest.


    After learning about Janet''s existence from the hunter, the undead savagely demolished the door of the village chief''s house and woke up the sleeping old village chief Needham to question him.


    Knowing that Janet was hastily buried in the mountains, the undead carried the hunter Ulduar and the old village chief Nidam into the mountains overnight and dug out the bones...


    The subsequent behavior of this group of undead shocked Clark even more - the undead who wrote the closing report believed that Janet was resentful because no one even knew about her death. After carrying the woman''s body back to the village, they forced the old village chief to gather the villagers and hold a public farewell ceremony for Janet.


    Janet''s death was certainly not unknown. In fact, most people in the village, including the male servants in Jeff''s house, knew about it, but no one took it seriously and no one cared.


    She was just a maid whom her master had slept with. Robert Jeff had a lot of mistresses and concubines, and even Mrs. Jeff had never regarded Janet as a "competitor" and only treated her like an ordinary maid. The cook, seamstress and study maid whom Knight Jeff had slept with when he was young all continued to be servants in Jeff''s house. Janet, a country girl, was not as important as the people in Lanner Village thought.


    But what was incredible was that when all the villagers saw Janet''s bones and witnessed her funeral, the strange fog in the Misty Forest really dissipated...


    Captain Clark was completely expressionless reading seeing this description.


    The gang of undead hadn¡¯t actually closed the case completely after the funeral.


    They believed that Janet''s resentment was more directed at Arnold Hayden, who might have betrayed her. After presiding over Janet''s "farewell ceremony", the undead rushed into the city overnight and found Arnold Hayden, the former foreman of the lumberyard, according to the address left in the file by "Mountain Rat".


    The Korf family could no longer afford to accommodate all their servants. After the sawmill closed down, the unpopular Hayden was sent away by his housekeeper with only a small amount of money. Hayden, who was arrogant but had no other strengths, had to rent an abandoned house in the worst neighborhood in the south city, where the environment was almost like a garbage dump.


    The text left in the archive by the undead who was responsible for writing was described as follows: They found a monster in the old house where Hayden lived. Its skin was festering from head to toe, and it was covered in sewage, but it was still unaware of this fact and moved stiffly in the stinking house as if it thought it was still alive.


    The undead destroyed the monster cleanly and efficiently. After searching (plundering) Hayden''s house and confirming that the hidden danger had been cleared, they took great pains to carry the body of the monster suspected to be Hayden out of the city before dawn and buried it in a place away from any people. They also drew a stick figure map of the burial site and attached it to the file, asking the night watchman to send someone to see if there was anything else that needed to be remedied...


    After reading the case closing report which detailed the truth of the incident, the resolution process and the cleanup work, Lynch Clark''s mouth was half open and his eyes were dull.


    After a long moment, Clark silently closed the black leather book and put the file down.


    After two seconds, Clark reached out and picked up the file again, silently pulling out the black cover of the file.


    He could understand the fat official''s distracted look when he read the file.


    Even as the captain of the Night''s Watch, he had nothing to complain about with this case report - if the executor was not an undead, he would immediately have taken this perfect case report to Bishop Gene and asked whether to recruit the person as a formal Night Watchman.


    Unfortunately, there was no if, and the solution to this problem was that now one could bump into a Tarantan Undead unexpectedly on the streets of Indhal...


    Anyway, Clark was doubting his life now - how come these Tarantan Undead that Yang casually threw into the battlefield were actually more perfect and impeccable in investigation than his Night Watchmen?!


    Clark would never have guessed that the reason why players were so eager to solve this case so well was that they hoped to achieve a higher degree of completion and further improve the excellent equipment they selected.


    For the sake of quest rewards, players could really do anything.


    Captain Clark was just thinking when Morton, the night watchman who was "exiled" to the Xinfeng District to meet the undead together with the unfortunate Belt, ran in hurriedly.


    Before Captain Clark could say anything, the fat official gasped, "Could it be that another unsolved case has been solved by those undead?"


    Morton, who was taciturn, extremely lonely and unpopular among the night watchmen, handed over a black leather book without saying a word.


    The fat official struggled for a moment, then took it reluctantly.


    As soon as he turned to the first page, the fat official felt his worldview shattered. His features were distorted: "House of Salmon... this too can this be solved in one night?"


    Clark could not stand his colleague''s hesitation, so he snatched the "Salmon House" file and stubbornly turned to the last page.


    The "Salmon House" incident was an old case that had been pending for fourteen years.


    Thomas Salmon, who used to be the head of the Market Section of the City Hall''s Commerce Department, disappeared from his home overnight along with his mother, wife, and eldest daughter. His second son was found dead in his garden and his body was discovered by a neighbor''s housekeeper who had gotten up early to buy groceries. He immediately informed the police station.


    The sheriff''s detectives turned the Salmon mansion upside down, but they only found the Salmon family''s youngest daughter, six-year-old Ruth, who had escaped by hiding in the attic.


    Ruth could not explain what happened at home. She only knew that in the middle of the night Mr. Salmon suddenly ran into the baby room, picked up Ruth and ran to the attic, and told Ruth not to come out of the attic no matter what she heard.


    The reason why the sheriff''s office transferred the case to the church in the first place was because of Ruth''s testimony - she claimed that she heard nothing during the time she was hiding in the attic.


    This testimony was confirmed by the neighbors, who all claimed that last night was extremely peaceful and that even the dogs in the yard did not bark at all.


    It was impossible for a man-made crime to be silent at all times, and it was even more impossible for three adults and a healthy girl to be kidnapped without making any sound.


    Since the missing Thomas Salmon was a middle-class man of a certain status in the city, and Salmon''s wife was the daughter of a noble family, the Night Watch paid close attention to this incident and investigated it for almost three years. Even the captain of the Night Watch at the time participated in the investigation.


    Unfortunately, even if all the night watchmen were mobilized, they could not find out the truth about the disappearance of the Salmon family, and the situation in the Salmon house gradually deteriorated over time. Even ten years after the incident, if you walked past the door of the house during the day, you could hear terrible noises coming from inside. If you passed by there at night, you could hear the terrifying howling of ghosts from a long distance away.


    Captain Clark could not believe that such an unsolved murder case could be solved by the undead overnight. It was absolutely baffling!


    And then...he was slapped in the face.


    The closing report on the last page of this file was very unprofessional and far less clear than the previous one, but it also clearly described the entire process of the undead solving the case... no, violently destroying the curse of Salmon House:


    First of all, the undead who took on this task did not investigate the interpersonal relationships of the Salmon family or care about who harmed them. After receiving the task, they ran to the Salmon house to cause trouble.


    Seeing this group of undead rushing straight into the ghost nest, Captain Clark''s mouth twitched for a while... Well, these undead have never known what it means to be afraid of death, so it is normal for them to be a little reckless.


    Then, this group of undeads stayed in the Salmon House and happily played the ghost hunting game for a whole day and a whole night...

 Chapter 202 Exorcism Efficiency

    When the Night Watch received the "House of Salmon" incident report, they offered a reward of 3,600 Coins.


    The reason for the slightly lower remuneration and its not being commensurate with the danger of the incident was that all the investigative work that could be done in the early stages had already been diligently performed by the night watchmen.


    Although the case was not solved, the Night Watch at least found a clue to the solution: the dire condition of Salmon House was related to the curse of a mysterious sect.


    It was related to a sect but not classified as a red cover. The reason was that after several years of thorough investigation, the Night Watch had ruled out any clues that the Salmon family was related to the cult; the more likely possibility was that someone in this family had accidentally come into contact with curse runes spread by followers of a false god sect using books, old furniture, antiques, jewelry, or even the lining of clothes, and activated the rune effects intentionally or unintentionally.


    This kind of thing... was very common.


    Disguising cursed runes or sacrificial circles as "harmless" prayer symbols that could bless love, grant luck, or even bring good health, and secretly spreading them to the general public who knew nothing about the occult was what all cultists who tried to obtain cheap sacrifices would try to do. No matter which church it was, they would conduct strict inspections of publications, antiques, old jewelry, and gorgeous old dresses within the parish to prevent this kind of thing.


    In this world, old objects with a long history and that had been passed on to many people were usually taken to the local church by the owner for purification. The clergy, who were usually very stingy with holy water for exorcisms, often provided free baptisms just to prevent this from happening.


    Of course, only nobles could afford antiques, so it was easy to understand why the church was so generous...


    Thomas Salmon was just an upper-middle-class man with an annual income of around 180 to 200 gold coins. This income allowed the Salmon family to live a comfortable life in the city of Indhal, but it was not enough to be considered a proper noble, and he could not afford real antiques - an antique over 300 years old, even the least valuable old furniture made of good wood, would have been worth more than a hundred gold coins.


    As for imitation antiques, such as the historical vases, pipes, old books, etc., that most middle-class people liked to pursue, most of them were safe.


    In other words... the misfortune of the Salmon family was not an accident. Someone must have deliberately given a family member of the Salmon family a terrible gift with strong malice, which led to the tragedy.


    The inferences drawn from these investigations, as well as the suspicious clues found by the night watchmen, were all neatly organized in the archives of "Salmon House," and the content was very complete.


    But... the people including Lahong who took away the files did not even read the texts which they thought were long-winded and useless.


    Except for some newbies or plot-lovers who still had awe for the game, more than 90% of players did not read the task text when doing a task. They usually just rushed in when they knew where the task was.


    People who made a living as game planners were also aware of this problem of players. Most of the tasks were designed to be very simple and could be completed by just rushing in... Automatic pathfinding and automatic monster killing were routine operations, and they never deliberately set traps for players to fall into. Were they not scolded enough or what?


    Even for the mission "Mist Shadow Forest," if Qin Guan and his gang had not searched the entire Mist Shadow Forest for a long time without finding the BOSS, and if Entropy hadn¡¯t been smart, they would probably have rushed all the way...


    Brother Lahong''s luck was a little better than Qin Guan''s. He picked a mission with the highest reward and led a large group to the location. As soon as they entered the Salmon house, the identification spell scanned out a string of red-named ghosts.


    If a normal native from another world discovered this situation, he would have turned around and left immediately - it was obvious that an ordinary house in the city having such a dense concentration of ghosts was not normal.


    The players'' reactions were very different. Brother Lahong shouted in surprise, "Damn, there are so many monsters!" and then led his men to rush in fiercely.


    In less than ten minutes, this group of players was wiped out.


    And then... these guys who were wiped out were not discouraged at all. They started to discuss enthusiastically in the offline chat group on how to conquer this quest point where the monsters were denser than those in the Scholomance Academy in World of Warcraft.


    Phantom and Shenmi Xuexi on Lahong''s side had participated in the ghost clearing activity in the sewers, and they knew how to fight these "special monsters" that could not be hit by knives: you had to find more wizards to cast dark blessings on the monsters that could not be hit, and send dark energy to the ghosts. When the ghosts were semi-materialized, you could start to fight them.


    Brother Lahong listened to his friend''s advice and immediately made a lot of phone calls, calling all the mages in the Blood Alliance...


    Half an hour later, the death penalty time for Lahongge and others ended. Next to the teleportation point of Indhal City Hall, there were already many wizard players waiting for them.


    The group of players expanded to 40 people and ran to the Salmon House with full confidence.


    Having learned the lesson of being mowed down by super-flexible "special monsters" with AOE (area damage) after entering the house because of insufficient space, this group of players did not enter the house, but formed a formation in the yard, with only the well-equipped knights entering the house to "lure the monsters".


    The knight players lured the monsters out, and the mage players quickly cast dark blessings on the monsters to make them material.


    The monster then had a physical body, and the players rushed forward and hacked it to death...


    "80 territory reputation points for killing just one?!"


    "Can I gain reputation by completing exorcist missions?"


    ¡°Awesome!!¡±"


    The white-letter materials and magic residues that ghost monsters droped were nothing. Reputation was the source of dopamine that excited people.


    Later, Brother Lahong even threw the mission to the back of his mind, and only treated the Salmon House as the exclusive monster spawning point of their blood alliance, organizing players to work hard to spawn monsters; if someone had to go offline to eat/go shopping with friends/go to work or school, he arranged for other people in the blood alliance to take over¡­


    Players who were waiting for the territory''s reputation to get the second transfer were also trying every means to make friends and wait for the successive position in the queue, and even paid money to buy it. The average potential value of the majority of players had reached the level of 120~140, but the reputation of most people was still stuck at friendly and they could not receive the second transfer tasks.


    While these guys were "killing monsters," citizens occasionally passed by and found the undead cheering and hacking at horrible monsters that were N times scarier than the undead in the yard of the long-abandoned Salmon House. Upon seeing this scene they mostly ran away screaming¡­ The players skipped over the reactions of these "NPCs" as a part of the game content settings.


    That¡¯s right, the monsters that ¡°refreshed¡± in the big house were pretty ugly, the kind of ugly that could make you lose weight if you looked at them too much. But compared to the mentor¡¯s inner demon monsters in the weekend activity quests and the monster battlefield open during peak hours every night, these monsters were nothing!


    This group started working at 10:00 am, Earth time, and did so until 4:30 pm. They welcomed and sent off more than a hundred people. More than 60 players from the Blood Alliance had gathered enough reputation for the second level. Brother Lahong almost laughed his skull off¡­


    The monsters no longer continued to be "refreshed," and the players felt a little regretful, so they packed up and went into the house to search.


    In the wine cellar of Salmon''s house, the players discovered that the wall behind the wine cabinet was cracked, with the wall paint and dust falling to the ground, revealing a strange-looking ghost painting. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    If players saw it normally, they would think it was just graffiti drawn by someone, but¡­ when players discovered this weird scribble, it was still smoking.


    Not only was there smoke, but there were also signs of burning on the ghostly painting, like an electrical wire that had been overloaded and burned; those pitch-black lines were gradually falling off and turning into black dust.


    At this moment, Brother Lahong no longer cared much about the mission reward. After all, the benefits they got were enough to offset the reward. So he just wrote a case closing report of a few hundred words and casually added the ghostly scribbles that had not completely fallen off to the report.


    Captain Clark saw the broken runes drawn by the undead in the extremely brief case report.


    Captain Clark fell silent again.


    Even though it was incomplete, he could tell that it was definitely a cursed sacrificial rune from an evil sect.


    This weird thing was not a foreign object, but was hidden in the wall of the underground wine cellar of Salmon''s house. Obviously, this was a trap left by the previous owner. The night watchman had been investigating the people related to Salmon''s family for so many years, but had been going in the wrong direction.


    Captain Clark felt like a mouthful of blood was stuck in his throat, neither going up nor down.


    So, they should have hired two black magicians and brought a full force to the Salmon House to continue exorcising the demons, destroying the curse rune that sacrificed the Salmon family, right?


    "Captain?" The fat official noticed that Clark was not in good condition and called out cautiously.


    "¡­It''s okay." Clark swallowed the blood in his throat, suppressing his frustration. "The undead did solve the Salmon House incident. We were investigating in the wrong direction. The curse was left by the previous owner."


    The fat official blinked a few times, and after a long while he uttered "Ah" slowly, his face full of horror.


    The Night Watch was different from the City Hall. Officials in the organization had to have some ability and be willing to work hard to keep their position. The fat official thought hard, he could remember the information about the previous owner of the Salmon House. If he didn''t know anything about the backlog of unresolved cases in his own department, he should have been kicked out of the organization long ago.


    At first glance, the previous owner of the Salmon House seemed to be an ordinary middle-class family. There was nothing suspicious about them. But when you find out that this family actually left a curse before the house was sold, you can see problems everywhere!


    The previous owner''s parents, wife, two children, and even the housekeeper and maid they hired, all died due to some accident!


    When the previous owner sold the big house to Thomas Salmon, he was already a lonely man!


    "I''ll go find this family''s information." The fat official stood up and ran towards the city hall, sweating profusely.


    The Salmon family had lived there for several years before the accident happened. The night watchman never thought it had anything to do with the previous owner and didn''t even save any information.


    Captain Clark looked at Morton who was delivering the black leather books, and ordered with mixed feelings. "I will arrange for someone to inspect and inspect them, and then send the commissions of the undead over¡­ You go back to the Xinfeng District and keep an eye on it first."


    To be honest, Captain Clark did not expect that the hall in Xinfeng District that only faced the undead would be of much use at first¡­ For Captain Clark, it was already very good to find something for these Tarantan undead to do and to prevent these guys from causing trouble for the locals in the city all day long.


    He lived in the Midtown area, and during this period of time he had witnessed with his own eyes how these undead souls had desecrated the inner walls of the Midtown area day by day, making it unsightly - especially those realistic paintings (graffitis) that looked just like the real objects!


    Four days ago, when he was entering and leaving the central city at dusk, he was almost suffocated by the bizarre painting - on the snow-white wall behind the Commerce Department, there was actually a huge demonized rat with red eyes glaring at him!


    The demonized rat was painted so realistically that it looked as if it was about to jump down from the wall and destroy the building of the Commerce Bureau. Not to mention ordinary people, even he was so frightened that he lost his breath for a minute.


    But the dead were still very proud of their "artworks." A bunch of skeletons with painted bones stood on the roofs and on the streets, waving their arms and cheering¡­


    This was not the end yet, the undead were still continuing to "extend their creations" onto the inner city walls, including super weird suspicious people wearing leather suits (adventurers), particularly incomprehensible mechanical life forms (Transformers), and a lot of messy and ridiculous graffiti (various emoticons)!


    Anyone else who dared do this to desecrate the inner city wall that symbolized the dignity of the Central City would definitely be dragged away by the city police and hanged on the outer city wall.


    But now all the city police chiefs had become prisoners. In the past few days, they had been driven by Rex''s men with whips to dig out gutters and clean sewers. The National Guard, which had already surrendered to Rex, turned a blind eye to the behavior of the undead¡­ So this matter was destined to be left unattended.


    Morton knew very well that he was just a marginal figure, so he said nothing, bowed silently and left.


    Captain Clark had dozens of night watchmen under his command, but he didn''t have the energy to take care of the mood of every night watchman. He forced himself to arrange people to inspect the results of the exorcisms.


    He had just sent out two groups of people to inspect the site, and before he had time to have breakfast, Morton came again.


    This time, this eccentric weirdo still said nothing and silently handed a black leather notebook to Clark.


    Lynch Clark took a slight breath¡­


    Qin Guan and La Hongge were not the only ones who could organize a large group of players. Entropy, who started the freelance group back in the day, was absorbed by Qin Guan''s Blood Alliance. Among the individual players who did not like to join alliances, a new group leader would naturally emerge to call on individual players to unite and play together¡­


    While Captain Clark was questioning his life because of the undead''s amazing exorcism efficiency, a group of new businesses in the bar district of St. Joseph Street, which had become deserted after a large-scale closure, were preparing to open after several days of intensive training and preparation.


    In the middle of the bar area, the doors of several large bars that had been closed for many days were opened one after another. Several strong women wearing aprons and sleeves moved the tables and chairs in the bars to the door to wash and dry them.


    While these working women, who were the family members of Weisshem citizens were busy, Ms. Shirley came from the temporary resettlement point in the Xinfeng District with a large group of women wearing sportswear (that is students uniform¡­ahem).


    These women who were placed in the Xinfeng District were the fallen women who were "rescued" from various places during the large-scale crackdown on prostitution.


    Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen, who still had families in the local area and were willing to return home, were sent back.


    Those who no longer had families or were unwilling to return home were all accepted and placed to new locations and tasks in a centralized manner.


    Unlike the victims in Weisshem who were forced to take fattening drugs, the women here at least had their bodies not completely ruined and were still able to do normal labor.


    The families of Weisshem''s staff had worked with Weisshem''s reformed clerks for many days and did not discriminate against those who had worked in dishonorable industries. They warmly greeted the timid women and took them in.


    Mrs. Hank noticed that the ladies who used to work on this street were not used to this, so she smiled and said to them, "This street will become very lively in the future. It will be a clean and prosperous place!"

 Chapter 203 Ms. Shirley

    Ms. Shirley watched as the families of the workers calmly accepted the placement of the women, and a smile continued to bloom on her face.


    There were about 600 women resettled by the city hall, most of whom were young women aged between 14 and 30. A small number were middle-aged women aged between 30 and 37.


    After all, the city of Indhal was a parish city of the Church, and child prostitutes under the age of 14 were not allowed to appear there. Of course, if someone married a girl under the age of 14, the church did not interfere.


    Women who used to work in bars or lower-class brothels and whorehouses were happy to embrace a new life without having to entertain guests, but those who used to work in clubs may not be so happy.


    Many young women who thought they could continue to enjoy their lives by using their beauty were unwilling to accept the resettlement by the city hall. Some people also found that their lives were very "hard" after accepting the resettlement and made excuses to leave. Ms. Shirley, who was in charge of the resettlement, did not stop these two types of people and let them go openly.


    Ms. Shirley understood very well that it was difficult for people who were used to a life of luxury to return to a normal life unless they suffered enough. Just like Phoebe in the past, she not only did not think that working in a sensual environment was a torture, but instead believed that she had enough capital to thrive among men.


    Young girls always made the mistake of taking a man''s patience and fleeting affection when playing with cats and dogs as the capital for a good life.


    How long could one enjoy this kind of patience and pampering?


    Shirley herself was once a practitioner, and she knew it very well¡­ After the age of 20, the lavish customers who were most willing to spend money would alienate you; when you were 25, the level of your customers would drop significantly, and bad customers may appear; if you reached the age of 30, you had to be grateful to anyone who took you.


    But there was no use saying these things. Unless a person fell once, he or she would not understand how painful it was. Ms. Shirley did not think that she was a great being who could save everyone. She just needed to try her best to do what she could and try her best to help those who reached out to her.


    Just like the Grim Reaper who appeared outside the window that night and pulled her hand.


    "Shirley!"


    While Ms. Shirley was reminiscing about the past, Phoebe, whom she had just remembered, trotted over from the other end of the street.


    "What''s wrong?" Shirley came back to her senses.


    Phoebe, who once had extremely beautiful long platinum curly hair, had her hair cut like Mr. Rex''s, leaving only short stubble sticking to her scalp. Her once fair and delicate face was tanned as dark as Mr. Rex, and even freckles appeared on it.


    Although her image had changed drastically, the pride in this girl''s bones had not changed much, and she was still in high spirits.


    "Ms. Zhao has something urgent to do, so she has to go to the Environmental Sanitation Bureau to take charge of the recruitment work." Fei Pi, whose eyebrows still had some of the beautiful colors of the past, said breathlessly, "You know I can''t deal with people who talk too much, I''ll take care of this side for you, you go over and take a look?"


    Shirley wanted to sternly accuse Mia of always being picky about the tasks assigned to her.. But when she thought about the number of workers the Environmental Sanitation Bureau was going to recruit, she could only helplessly say, "Okay, remember not to curse casually and don''t be too aggressive."


    "I never curse at anyone casually. I only curse when someone provokes me." Phoebe said dissatisfied.


    "How dare you say that!" Shirley rolled her eyes at her, waved goodbye to Mrs. Hank, and hurried away.


    It had been more than a week since Mr. Rex took over the city of Indhal. During this time, he had completed the rectification of the local security team.


    The first step was to separate the prison system from the city''s law enforcement team, renaming the prison in the West City District as the Detention Department, and placing it under the management of Mr. Hal Maxwell.


    Next, the city police chief was abolished, and his authority was transferred to the sheriff''s office. The newly appointed sheriff''s deputy chief Jimmy and his detectives and sheriffs would be responsible for the internal stability of the city.


    As for the original city police headquarters¡­ it was assigned to the Environmental Sanitation Bureau that was being established.


    The Environmental Sanitation Bureau of Innadli City had the same positioning as that of Weisshem, which was to provide resettlement jobs for the elderly and unemployed in the city. The salary of eight silver coins was not very good, but the extra breakfast and lunch provided as well as the daily necessities regularly distributed were enough for the workers to support themselves.


    When Ms. Shirley arrived at the former city police headquarters, now the Environmental Sanitation Bureau, she saw hundreds of elderly people (average age 40-55, which was considered old in this world) crowded together at the entrance of the Environmental Sanitation Bureau, each of them eagerly looking forward to getting inside, but no one dared to step through the door.


    This was easy to understand. After all, the City Police Department was just any office. Its headquarters were built magnificently. Even if the sign of the City Police Department had been removed and the former officers of the City Police Department were now cleaning sewers every day, ordinary citizens did not have the courage to run in.


    Seeing that the crowd had blocked the gate tightly, Ms. Shirley simply raised her hand and shouted to the crowd. "Citizens, please don''t block the gate of the Environmental Sanitation Bureau. Our City Hall Environmental Sanitation Bureau will start recruiting for the public today. Please make way for the applicants!"


    The citizens looked back and saw Ms. Shirley in the City Hall uniform, and hurriedly made way.


    "Hey, don''t be in a hurry, disperse slowly, don''t push! Gentleman over there, slow down, be careful not to bump into people!" Ms. Shirley quickly switched to the mode of maintaining order.


    Organizing the crowd to make way in an orderly manner, Ms. Shirley walked through the crowd and onto the steps. She turned around, smiled at everyone, and said, "Citizens, are any of you here to apply for a job?"


    People stared at each other for a long time before an old lady summoned up the courage to speak up. "Ma''am, is it true that anyone who is over 40 and unemployed can come and try?"


    "Yes." Ms. Shirley nodded vigorously so that everyone could see her nodding motion, and said loudly, "The work of the Environmental Sanitation Bureau is to keep the city streets clean. This is a job that requires patience and perseverance. Young people can''t do it, so we need older people with more experience and knowledge."


    The first step to building a trusting relationship with someone who lacked self-confidence was to help him or her build that very same self-confidence.


    These citizens who came to try their luck after hearing the propaganda from the newsboys (hired by the city hall) were delighted when they heard that the Environmental Sanitation Bureau required patience and perseverance rather than more physical strength.


    Before the crowd started to stir, Ms. Shirley said loudly:."We need a lot of sanitation workers to participate in the work. If you are willing to join us, please look at the people around you, let the older people go up the stairs first, and the younger ones stand back and line up, and come in one by one to sign up!¡±


    "¡°That old gentleman, please go up the stairs first. The gentleman in the blue striped shirt over there, please let the old lady behind you go forward first¡­¡±


    Ms. Shirley single-handedly organized 400 people who had never known what order and discipline were to enter the hall in an orderly manner. She pinched her throat which was a little sore from talking loudly for a long time, and quickly walked to the registration point on the left side of the hall.


    The registration point was located in the side hall on the left side of the hall. Yesterday, Ms. Shirley and Ms. Zhao had come to set up the recruitment venue.


    After seeing the situation in the conference hall, Ms. Shirley felt a surge of anger rising from the bottom of her heart.


    There were people in the venue. There were three men in formal suits and bow ties. Two of them were standing by the window chatting, and one was making tea.


    The situation at the gate could be seen from the window, but none of these people were interested in paying attention to the citizens who had gathered there. They all went about their own business quietly.


    It was not until Ms. Shirley brought in the citizens who came to apply for the job that these people walked slowly to the registration desk and sat down.


    Ms. Shirley suppressed her anger and did not show any obvious surprise. She just carefully organized the citizens to line up in front of the three registration points and register their names, home addresses, family members, etc. one by one. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Except for a few who left because they did not want to do the job anymore, almost all the officials and clerical staff below the section level in the city hall remained in their positions.


    These people were basically useless, and that was what everyone who came from Weisshem thought¡­ EvenPhoebe, who still had big problems dealing with people, was better than these guys who just wanted to get by.


    ¡°Forget it, it¡¯s just a one-month salary for these guys.¡± Ms. Shirley, who seemed calm on the surface, was annoyed thinking in her heart, ¡°Once we train our own people, we¡¯ll let these idiots go home and eat rotten potatoes!¡±


    After taking over Indhal, the City Hall did not make many drastic changes to the city of Innadri.


    It was not that Rex¡­ No, it was not that Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen¡¯s reform mentality had changed. On the one hand, there was really no one on hand, and on the other hand, there were still a lot of projects underway in Weisshem, and none of them could be left behind ¨C transferring clerks such as Shirley and Phoebe and Patton¡¯s group of operators to preside over the operation of the City Hall, and leaving Jimmy¡¯s group of security guards here to be responsible for the city¡¯s security, was already the largest personnel transfer allowed by the national team. If more people were moved, Weisshem¡¯s industrial zone would be in trouble.


    Due to various reasons, the current city of Indhal had not changed much from the period when the Bartles family ruled.


    At least in the eyes of ordinary citizens, apart from the first day when he wiped out more than 90% of the illegal and disorderly dens in the city, the new lord Rex had not made any major moves since then.


    As for the closure of more than 80% of bars, all casinos and clubs, and the vast majority of brothels, the impact on ordinary people¡­ was actually not that big.


    The city of Indhal was different from a town like Weisshem that had no industry. It had relatively developed handicrafts and a barely passable manufacturing industry¡­ no, a processing industry.


    After years of unremitting land annexation by the nobles, nearly 50% of the fertile land in the entire Indhal territory had been concentrated in farms throughout the territory, and at least 20% of the land belonged to the church. These highly concentrated lands produced a considerable amount of grain every year.


    In addition, all the towns and villages in Indhal¡¯s territory were ¡°fiefdoms¡± of nobles. Every year, these nobles had to collect taxes on behalf of the great lord Bartles¡¯ family, and the grain was also highly concentrated¡­


    The large and small factories that lined the North City factory area mainly processed and produced various non-staple foods in addition to dairy products and fur products: flour made from wheat, sugar made from corn, oil squeezed from soybeans, and various types of alcoholic beverages made from wheat and corn were the flagship products of Innadeli¡¯s local industry.


    The local grain self-sufficiency rate was on the red line, but it was actually a production area with grain processing as its flagship product, which was also very feudal¡­


    Although it was a pain in the ass, the local grain, oil and non-staple food processing industry did provide tens of thousands of jobs. Unlike Weisshem, where many families had to make a living by providing cheap services in the red-light district, it could be said that there were pros and cons.


    Without relying on the red-light district for a living, ordinary citizens could not be said to have a deep connection with the red-light district ¡°industry.¡±


    Including the North City factory area with the highest employment rate, the average monthly income of citizens who accounted for more than 80% of the city¡¯s total population did not exceed 20 silver coins. The vast majority of the lower-class citizens did not have the spare money to go to bars, casinos, and play with women. The men on the street could take out a few coppers after work to buy a glass of rum and order some fried soybeans, and have a drink with others while bragging, which was considered a relatively easy life.


    As for the new lord taking over the city police and prison, stopping the access control in the central city, forcing the former city police chiefs to clean the sewers, and sending batches of arrested prostitutes, casino and brothel operators to Westham¡­ For most ordinary citizens, these were just topics of conversation after dinner and did not have much impact on people¡¯s lives.


    Of course, it was not completely without impact.


    For example, the previously active street gangs had all been broken up and disappeared, and no one dared to gather in groups on the streets anymore ¨C there were rumors in the city that those captured by the new lord would be sent to the evil black magician as materials for summoning the undead, and no matter how brave and aggressive the gang members were, they would never be willing to get involved in such trouble.


    For example, there were almost no drunkards on Indhal Street at night ¨C pretending to be crazy and causing trouble under the influence of alcohol could effectively relieve stress, but being chased by the undead in the middle of the night was definitely not a pleasant memory.


    Without the gathering of gang members, drunkards dared not cause trouble, gamblers and prostitutes disappeared, and the public security situation in Indhal had skyrocketed. Cases of petty theft, robbery and rape had dropped sharply¡­ If it were not for these benefits, the citizens would not have been able to accept those undead running around the streets day and night, and would have definitely complained.


    For example, Mrs. Gerry, who lived in the Granser neighborhood, no longer limited her afternoon walks to Plant Avenue, where middle-class women gathered. She not only wandered around the Midtown area, where access control had been abolished, but she also dared to bring her housekeeper to stroll around the streets of the South City and St. Joseph Avenue.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that so many stores are closed.¡±


    In the warm autumn afternoon sun, Mrs. Gerry, wearing a long dress and holding a parasol, walked comfortably on the spacious St. Joseph Avenue, looking around excitedly. ¡°Will, is that the Free Market over there?¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± said the housekeeper, Ms. Will. ¡°The city has indeed become much safer recently, and there are not so many thieves in the Free Market. But you see, there are too many people there, and there are dirty carts carrying goods and baskets of vegetables everywhere. It would be terrible if your skirt was damaged.¡±


    Ms. Will¡¯s advice successfully discouraged the hostess from taking the small risk. Mrs. Gerry looked down at the expensive lace veil on her skirt and said regretfully, ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s go somewhere else. What other famous streets are nearby?¡±


    Ms. Will knew that the mistress wanted to go to a poor neighborhood to show off her expensive and beautiful dress to those dusty common women, but she didn¡¯t dare to take the mistress to a dangerous place¡­ After thinking hard, the housekeeper came up with a compromise. ¡°The bar area around here is very famous, ma¡¯am.¡±

 Chapter 204: Gerry’s Family

    The bar district was actually not just about bars. In addition to the main street that ran east-west, there were also large residential areas bordering the South City District in the south, and a dozen or so apartment buildings close together in the north.


    The apartment buildings in this alien world were somewhat similar to those in China on Earth. They were commercial residential buildings. Of course, the environment was much worse and there was usually no electricity.


    This apartment building in the bar area was owned by Viscount Darcy''s family. The floor specifications were similar to those of self-built buildings in Chinese towns in the last century. It had four floors at the highest, and the floor height was only a little over two meters. Each floor had four to five suites facing the same direction, with shared kitchens and toilets, gas and running water. It was managed by a butler from Viscount Darcy''s family, and the monthly rent for each suite was four silver coins.


    The rent was not expensive, but it was still a heavy burden for ordinary people. Most of the residents in the apartment building were two families living together, and the population density was only slightly lower than that in the market area.


    The new lord closed down more than 80% of the bars on the street, which had a certain impact on the residents in the apartment building area, because many of the people living here depended on this bar area not far from their homes for their livelihood.


    The Berkeley family, who lived in Room 201 on the second floor of Building 11, were one family that was severely affected by the closure of the bar area.


    The Berkeley siblings shared 201 with a young couple. Beck used to be a handyman in a bar, earning seven and a half silver coins a month. Kate was good at making spicy side dishes, and could earn thirty or forty copper coins by selling them on the street every night.


    Before the new lord arrived, the combined income of the two was enough to maintain a relatively good life compared to ordinary citizens, and meat could be seen on the dining table from time to time.


    After the new lord came, Beck became unemployed, and Kate could only run to the streets of the South City two blocks away to sell snacks and drinks, and business was quite poor ¨C there were already regular sellers there, and an outsider like Kate would be unwelcome if she rashly ran over.


    After spending more than their income for more than a week, the two were in a worse mood every day.


    In order to save money, they had only mashed potatoes with a little salt, cooked corn kernels, and sandwiches with leftover side dishes on their plates for lunch.


    After a quick meal, Beck said bluntly that he would try his luck in the northern part of the city, then picked up his coat and went out.


    Kate did not say anything, just picked up the dishes and washed them in silence.


    It was not easy to enter the factories in the northern city area. You could not get in without an introduction from an acquaintance, unless you were willing to spend money to ask someone to intercede for them.


    It was not that they could not get the money together¡­ They had never spent money lavishly and they still had some savings. It was just that their parents in the countryside were still waiting for them to bring money back to buy a cow for their families, and neither of them could bring themselves to use their savings.


    While Kate was washing the dishes, her roommate and his wife came out of the separate room with gloomy looks on their faces.


    "Good day, Kate." Seeing Kate, the couple who shared the apartment forced themselves to smile at her together.


    Kate knew something was wrong when she saw that they were much more enthusiastic than usual.


    Sure enough, the couple then apologized and announced their decision¡­ There were only ten days left in the month, and if they could not find a new job within these ten days, they would have to give up their plan to work in the city and return to their hometown.


    The couple sincerely apologized to Kate, went out side by side, and continued on their uncertain career path. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kate put the plate down weakly.


    If the couple who shared the house left, then they would have to consider moving out as well¡­ The rent of four silver coins a month plus the gas bill shared with several other families on the same floor was too much of a burden for them.


    After being depressed for a while, Kate cheered up, finished her housework, tidied her hair, put on her cloak and went out.


    During this period, Kate ran to the streets of the southern city every day and saw many restaurants that were still open. She decided to try her luck¡­ If there was a restaurant that appreciated her skills in making side dishes, then maybe she could get a job that could solve the housing problem ¨C most restaurants would provide accommodation for their employees.


    To get from the apartment area to the south city area, one had to cross the main street of the bar district. When Kate came out of the alley, she was surprised to find that the street, which had been deserted for many days, had become lively again.


    "Could it be that the closed bars can open again?" Kate thought excitedly, stopping to look around.


    Soon, Kate realized something was wrong.


    Most of the storefronts were closed, only those on both sides of the middle section of the street were open.


    Although it was open, it did not feel like a reopening at all.


    Kate subconsciously walked about ten meters towards the section of the road where the most people were, and sure enough, she saw that the original bar signs of those stores had either been removed or covered with cloth.


    There were a large number of large cloth banners that were stretched out for several meters, with words such as "Ertong Supermarket", "Ertong Jewelry Store", "Ertong Tofu Store", "Five Copper Affordable Store", and "Ten Copper Boutique Store" painted in conspicuous red letters."


    Kate walked closer out of curiosity and stopped only when she reached the outskirts of the crowd.


    It was not that she did not want to see what kind of business the newly opened stores were doing and to find out if the bosses needed to hire handymen, but the crowd was too dense and Kate had no place to squeeze.


    From the crowd that blocked an entire section of the road, broken voices could be heard from time to time, such as "Don''t rush, there''s plenty of supply" and "If you steal one, you''ll be fined ten times the price."


    These roars were all women''s voices¡­ Kate''s little face hidden under the hood of her cloak became more and more shocked.


    Kate had never seen a woman who dared to speak so loudly to anyone other than her husband in public. Whether in the city or the countryside, if a woman was so fierce outside the house, then her reputation would be very bad.


    The weird thing was, this was not just a woman''s voice¡­


    Just as young Kate was extremely curious about what she would find inside the crowd but could not see anything, a burst of curses came from the side, and several people who had returned with a lot of things squeezed out from the dense crowd.


    Kate turned her head to look at those rude people, and seeing that they were men dressed as servants of good families, she quickly moved aside.


    The male servants from the Central City District were even more untouchable than the city police chief because no one knew who their master would be.


    These crowded and sweaty servants had no time to argue with the cursing civilians. They all left in a hurry, carrying a lot of things in their arms and hands.


    Kate swallowed and became more curious about the "shopping malls" in the crowd that made the male servants of good families rush to buy¡­ With such good business, they had to be short of manpower, right?


    Wait a little longer, when there are fewer people, then squeeze in and ask.


    Kate waited patiently outside the crowd for more than 20 minutes¡­


    Then, not only did she not wait until there were fewer people, but she was pushed further away by more and more people.


    Workers in overalls from all the different districts in Indhal appeared on this street¡­


    Kate was desperately pushed further and further away from the sales area by the increasingly dense and emotional crowd¡­


    When Kate had almost reached the alley leading to her home, she saw two women standing on the side of the road.


    One was a lady wearing a long skirt that covered her instep, with a layer of gorgeous lace tulle over the skirt, and the other was a lady dressed as a housekeeper.


    Under normal circumstances, if Kate saw someone wearing such a beautiful long dress on the street, she would definitely stare at the person with envy for a long time. But at this moment, Kate was only worried that among so many people pouring into this street, someone would get ahead of her and snatch away the good job in the store. She looked away after just one glance, tiptoed pitifully, and looked towards the direction of the store worriedly.


    When Kate withdrew her gaze with disapproval¡­ Ms. Will, the housekeeper, who was less than five meters away from her in a straight line, heard the hostess take a deep breath through her nose.


    Ms. Will lowered her head silently, not daring to look at the hostess''s expression.


    There were indeed many civilian women on this street who envied Mrs. Grimm''s beautiful long dress, but¡­ few of the civilians coming and going took a second look at her, and many even did not notice her presence¡­


    Mrs. Gerry, you were indeed quite vain in the past, but not as exaggerated as you are now.


    During the operation of the mysterious photo studio, Mrs. Gerry, who had her "natural beauty" "restored" by the mysterious makeup artists, enjoyed being the center of attention wherever she went for a while. After that, Mrs. Gerry''s mentality became a little unbalanced¡­


    Unable to experience the same obvious and strong attention as before, the lady who could not help but want to make her presence felt became increasingly anxious.


    "Go back."


    When Mrs. Gerry uttered these two words through gritted teeth, Ms. Will knew that the Gerry family would probably not be very peaceful that night.


    Sure enough, Mrs. Gerry was displeased with everyone that afternoon and almost scolded the maid Claire to tears.


    Mr. Gerry returned home from work at 4:30 and was caught by his wife, who mocked him in various ways.


    Mr. Gerry was already quite accustomed to his wife''s temper, but he had been in a bad mood recently and was annoyed by her temper, so he left home without even having dinner, saying "I''m having a party with so-and-so."


    It was rare for the Gerrys not to have important dinners together. Mrs. Gerry felt very aggrieved, and even the housekeeper, Ms. Will, was used as a punching bag by her to criticize her¡­


    Mr. Gerry, who escaped from his family, hailed a public carriage to visit a friend in another middle-class neighborhood in the West City.


    After entering his friend''s house, he drank two glasses of wine in the study with his friend who also worked in the city hall. Mr. Gerry, a middle-aged man with an annual income of more than 50 gold coins and a respectable urban middle-class elite in everyone''s eyes, sighed and said, "We thought that no matter who became the lord, it would not affect us. We were so naive before."


    "Yes." A friend who was in the same situation smiled bitterly, "The new lord does not value people like us¡­ No, he already despises us. He does not take us seriously at all. I was a top student at the Royal Academy, and the new lord actually got an undead to be my boss. I don''t know how to explain this humiliation to my wife."


    "I am still the same." Mr. Gerry''s face lost all his usual elegance. He pointed at his nose with resentment and said, "It''s unbelievable that I would be assigned to work as an assistant to a prostitute!¡±

 Chapter 205: Rex the Scapegoat

    Violet Gerry, 42, was originally a senior clerk in the Secretary''s Office.


    Mr. Gary''s job was to be responsible for the personnel files of the Indhal city law enforcement force. In other words, if there were personnel changes in the original city police, prison, and court, they had to apply for file changes from Mr. Gary.


    This was a humble but powerful position. Although Mr. Gerry did not have direct control over the personnel transfers of the city police and the prison, he had the right to send back unreasonable file change applications and request reaffirmations. There was a lot of room to maneuver here. If Mr. Gerry looked down on someone, even if that person was a new judge who was about to take office, Mr. Gerry had the right to have that person stuck in line for three to five months.


    At least half of Mr. Gerry''s annual income of fifty gold coins was obtained through the convenience of his position. This was an unspoken rule that was reasonable and legal, although not public. The Secretariat had such privileges, just as it was reasonable and legal for the lord to appoint the local mayor.


    Similar situations also happened to other senior clerks in the Secretariat, such as the friend in front of Mr. Gerry. This friend''s channel for making money was even better than Mr. Gerry''s. He was originally responsible for the land approval authority of the Indhal territory. If the nobles wanted to buy (annex) a good piece of land, they had to send him, who was responsible for the registration and filing of local land ownership, a bribe.


    In the secretariat that directly connected with the mayor and the lord, most senior clerks were unwilling to be promoted even if they had accumulated enough experience. The main reason was the gray legal income that was envied by outsiders.


    Unfortunately, with the Bartles family being ousted, the good days of the Secretariat came to an end. Charlie Rex abolished the Secretariat without even deciding on a mayor, and dispersed the senior clerks of the Secretariat to various departments, leaving them to do basic copying work that new employees could do!


    Mr. Gerry was sent to the Cultural Department, and his immediate superior was a woman named Sibel, who used to be a prostitute in Weisshem!


    This Sibel had not yet come to the city and was still in Weisshem carrying out some kind of literacy work, but the existence of this shameful boss was enough to make Mr. Gerry felt that he was personally humiliated. He and his wife occasionally went to cocktail parties hosted by nobles. If a noble at the party teased him about working for a prostitute, then would he still have the face to stand among those respectable people?


    The two people who had the same experience were talking more and more excitedly in the study. In excitement, the friend blurted out impulsively. "Why don''t we go with the Third Generation?"


    Mr. Gerry, who had just been chattering and cursing the new lord Rex, suddenly became quiet.


    After Adela III was defeated, he was kept in prison.


    The nobles in the city were all watching coldly to see how Charlie Rex, who broke the rules and destroyed everyone''s source of wealth (casinos, brothels) as soon as he entered the city, would treat the former lord. Perhaps because he did not want to provoke a strong backlash from the nobles, the hateful illegitimate son Rex did not do anything too extreme to the Bartles family. He only sealed off the Bartles mansion.


    But¡­ Rex also did not seem interested in being too kind to the Bartles family.


    Mr. Gerry knew that a few days ago, Viscount Darcy tried to find an excuse to swallow up the large estate of the Bartles family in Kane Town, but Lord Rex did not respond to this at the time.


    The nobles who had suffered heavy losses on the day of annexation seemed to have received some signal and attacked the Bartles family''s manor farm together. In Mr. Gerry''s opinion, Lord Rex seemed to have acquiesced in the nobles'' division of the Bartles family''s inheritance in an attempt to appease the angry nobles.


    Like today, those rude civilian women from the newly established Logistics Department reopened the bar area without any deliberate obstruction. The reason was that the nobles were busy putting the land that originally belonged to the Bartles family into their own pockets and could not distract themselves by making their presence felt in the city for the time being.


    Through his wife''s friendship with the noble ladies, Mr. Gerry knew how angry the local nobles were with Rex; he also knew that the street gangs in the city that had gone underground had actually been intentionally taken in by the nobles, just waiting to create some big trouble for Lord Rex.


    In short, Mr. Gerry no longer had much regard for the Bartles family, who were like stray dogs now. Based on his understanding of the attitude of the local nobles, he felt that he could be more patient and wait a little longer. Perhaps before long, Rex would be driven out of power by the local nobles who united together.


    By that time, no matter who became the new lord, Mr. Gerry felt that he still had the capital to make a comeback. He had worked in the secretarial department of the City Hall for fourteen years and had experience and impressive enough qualifications. As long as it was not Rex, any noble who became lord would have to employ a reliable senior clerk like him.


    After thinking for a while, Mr. Gerry hinted to his long-time friend with a meaningful tone: "Maybe we don''t need to be too anxious, Yodon. Who knows when Lord Rex will release the Third?"


    The friend failed to immediately grasp Mr. Gerry''s intention and asked doubtfully, "The Third Generation knows so many great nobles in the royal city. Lord Rex will not embarrass him too much, right?"


    Mr. Gerry could only say tactfully, "Of course, Yodon, Lord Rex will release the Third sooner or later, but I think we can wait a little longer and don''t need to make a decision so early. Even if the Third has a wide network of contacts, I think it would be difficult for him to solve the employment problems of so many people in the territory outside of Indhal. You see, if you want to follow the Third, there must be many people who have this idea, and we are not more familiar with the Third than others."


    Yodon''s expression suddenly became a little strange, and he seemed to be hesitant to speak.


    He thought that Gerry''s wife, who was good at socializing, could also have a say with the Bartles family, but it seemed that he was overthinking it.


    Without being able to make a name for himself with the Third, following the former lord who had lost his territory would be a gamble. Yodon had no choice but to give up the idea. He leaned back in his high-backed chair with a long sigh and said painfully, "This kind of life is really depressing. I really don''t know when I will see changes."


    "That''s right. We can only wait patiently." Mr. Gary could not help but sigh.


    Middle-class people like Yoden and Gerry, who thought they were closer to the nobility, were concerned about the whereabouts of Adela III. Charles Rex himself certainly would not ignore the former lord whom he had casually thrown into prison.


    After coming out of the boring cocktail party with the nobles, Rex ran to find Yang Qiu who occupied the Bartles mansion without even having time to change out of the clothes that made him uncomfortable.


    Seeing Yang Qiu lying in the luxurious living room playing with his phone, Rex asked bluntly: "Yang, do we really not need to care about those factories in North City?"


    "Huh?" Yang Qiu, who was playing stand-alone auto chess, frowned and looked up.


    "Do you know how much food there is in those factories?" Rex took off his bowler hat and slammed it onto the sofa, untying his tie on his collar while speaking angrily, "The price of black bread in the city had risen to six copper coins a bag. The millers in the East City District could not sell much flour, but the factories in the North City District shipped out food every two days! Carriage after carriage!"


    The Indhal territory was not a very good grain-producing area, not because there were too few plains. In fact, this territory located in the central and eastern part of the Nabaron continent had quite a lot of plains, accounting for about 40% of the total land area.


    The biggest reason limiting Indhal''s grain production was the inadequate water supply. In summer, floods were common in other areas except Weisshem, which was mountainous and had high terrain, while there was a large-scale water shortage in spring and autumn.


    However, because Naderi had a small population, the total urban and rural population was only a little over two million, and the peasant population accounted for more than 70% of the total population. Even if the crops were widely planted and the harvest was small, there should have been enough food to eat, and there would even have been a surplus.


    But... the local grain prices were at a relatively high level except for one or two months after the autumn harvest. The reason was that the nobles were engaged in the grain export business. Among the six provinces of the Rhine Kingdom, Indhal was the largest grain outflow area!


    The neighboring Count Odysseus''s territory would restrict the outflow of grain every year, but the Indhal Territory was open to selling it... No wonder Rex became more angry the more he learned about the local industrial structure.


    "Calm down, Rex." Yang Qiu continued to play with his phone calmly. "The mill owners were all from noble families. It was not that they could not provide food, but that they were controlling the amount of flour flowing out to ensure that people could accept the increase of one copper coin in the price of black bread. Just leave this matter to Ji Tang."


    It was not winter yet, so it was easy for farmers to enter the city. If the price of bread rose too much, or if the public reacted too strongly, the nobles behind the millers would not have dared to go too far...


    Rex could not be comforted by such words. Instead, he felt even more uncomfortable. He walked around the sofa twice but could not calm down and sit down.


    Rex, who used to wander around alone, thought that the lord could ensure that people would not go hungry as long as he lowered the price of food. He had a naive idea in his heart that "one day when he became the lord, he would cut the price of bread in half."


    After supporting Yang and becoming a puppet lord, Rex realized that the problem was not that simple... Let alone doubling the price, if the price of a pound of black bread slices was reduced by one copper coin and sold for only four copper coins a bag, it would also have caused a serious blow to the people in this industry chain! S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    From bakeries to mills to farmers who produced wheat, everyone would suffer!


    Lowering food prices did not allow people to live in peace, but instead led to public unrest. This problem really annoyed Rex to the extreme...


    Fortunately, Yang did not give him the power to decide the price of grain.


    After being annoyed for a long time, Rex could only suppress his temper and force himself to calm down. He sat down in front of Yang Qiu and took a big gulp of cold tea: "Then what about Adela III? When can we get this guy to leave?"


    "Speaking of this...has the Bartles family''s property been robbed?" Yang Qiu asked, raising his eyelids.


    Rex: ¡°¡­¡±


    It was certainly not Rex who allowed the nobles to divide up the Bartles family''s property. He wanted to confiscate all of the Bartles family''s manor farms, including their shares in the factory area...but he had no say.


    If he had the final say, he would definitely have hung the Third on the city gate - that guy was nothing like his grandfather, he had never done anything good!


    "It''s almost over. The head of the family and the butler are in prison, the mistress and the heir were sent away in advance, and no one in the Bartles family could stop those shark-like guys. Now only the farm in Horseshoe Town still belongs to them." Rex said aggrievedly.


    "Then you can release him." Yang Qiu said with a smile, "You go to meet him in person in your best attire, make a big scene, be polite to the former lord, and invite him out respectfully. Oh, and you''d better say some polite words to maintain the Third¡¯s dignity, and let the weekly newspaper publish it."


    Rex: ¡°???¡±


    "Young man, don''t just look at the present, you have to look at the long term." Yang Qiu said indifferently, "Captain Horn of the city defense army resigned after bringing those soldiers back. He did not want to serve you, a young lord with a bright future, at all. There are many people like him who miss the old friendship with Adela III."


    "Wouldn''t it save a lot of trouble if we let that Third leave in a decent manner and take away those guys whose crimes were not serious enough to be arrested and hanged, and who had no chance of being tied up and used as laborers in road construction?"

 Chapter 206: Crazy Tuttle

    From a simple emotional perspective, what Yang Qiu wanted to do most was to drag out the more than 20 local nobles who monopolized more than 60% of the wealth in the Indhal territory one by one and hang them on street lamps.


    The Bartles family also took more than they ate, but at least they maintained a city defense force to keep the area safe; the church, which also benefited from the people''s money, at least stood on the front line of the dark invasion.


    What did these nobles below the Bartles family do?


    Land annexation, manipulation of grain prices, opening casinos and lending at high interest rates, forcing women of good families into prostitution, exploitation of workers, exploitation of farmers... They did not do anything that people should do, and did not leave out anything that people should not do.


    Unfortunately... The situation was complex, and Yang Qiu was not young anymore, so he did not have the nerve to do anything too willful.


    The most important point was that all the more than 20 towns in Nadeli''s territory were fiefs of these small nobles. It was easy to eliminate the nobles in one go, and it was just a matter of issuing a few more tasks to the players, but there were no people to fill the power vacuum - this was the real fatal thing.


    However, just because Yang Qiu could not kill them for now did not mean he would let these nobles go... He would just fatten them up first.


    Rex sat there thinking for a long time, and it was unknown whether he had figured out the reason. He gave Yang Qiu a resentful look and left.


    Yang Qiu ignored him. As an old man, there was no way he would bother with a kid. He just sat there calmly playing with his phone.


    "What a lousy move!"


    After a while, Yang Qiu cursed under his breath and quit the game.


    "Well... my leisure time is over." After looking at the Earth time displayed on his mobile phone, Yang Qiu stretched and stood up slowly.


    Currently, the average potential value of large groups of players was between 130 and 150, and the number of people who had gained enough reputation to take on second-level tasks was almost in the three digits.


    Yang Qiu was a man of his word. He said that he would make these guys work on their second job transfer for at least half a month, so he would definitely cheat these idiots who would drag him out and scold him every day for no reason...


    Of course, no matter how bad it was, the job transfer upgrade should still be given. If there was no difference between before and after, the players'' enthusiasm for reputation would plummet, which was not conducive to long-term development - we should always take a long-term view!


    After deciding to start the work, Yang Qiu first activated the mental field - the mental realm formed by the external mental power of high-level spellcasters - to cover the entire City Lord''s Mansion.


    Before advancing to the great magician level, Yang Qiu''s mental field could only cover an area of ten meters around him. After the advancement, his mental field increased dozens of times, which was more than enough to cover the mansion of the former Bartles family.


    Only by turning the entire City Lord''s Mansion into his own "domain" could Yang Qiu perform black magic without any burden, so as to avoid causing those people in the church to overreact... Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The great magician could cast forbidden spells instantly, and even most of the casting gestures could be omitted. Yang Qiu raised his hand and drew a line in the air. Immediately, a brilliant and slowly rotating pentagram magic circle appeared on the spacious living room floor.


    This magic circle, which was similar to the semi-permanent spell of the teleportation point used by players, was a formal undead summoning technique - of course, it did not summon players, but real undead from the demon world who had no self-awareness and only fighting instincts.


    Soon, black fog rose from the center of the formation, and a genuine undead wearing tattered armor, holding a scarlet spear, with faint green fire flashing in its eyes, appeared in the black fog.


    Yang Qiu snapped his fingers, and the authentic undead that appeared in the magic circle with murderous aura instantly disintegrated into countless tiny bone fragments, and the broken undead armor and scarlet spear turned into black mist and dissipated.


    Under the sweep of Yang Qiu''s spiritual field, these bone fragments made from genuine undead materials that met the specifications slowly floated up, while those that did not meet the specifications turned into black mist and returned to the demon world.


    Next, Yang Qiu patiently created semi-permanent rune skills for the second-level players...


    When designing the player''s profession, Yang Qiu had already decided on the rune skill direction to be provided to the players.


    After completing the second transfer, warrior players could choose between the weapon master and the fury warrior branches. The former focused on survival, so a powerful defense skill had to be arranged; the latter focused on output, so a new burst skill was needed.


    The second-level choices for knight players were Death Knight and Holy Spirit Knight. The former gave curse skills and the latter gave healing skills.


    Mage players also had two advancement paths to choose from, Dark Warlock and Dark Prophet.


    As for walkers, they could be divided into long-range bow users and close-range dagger users...


    It took a lot of energy for one person to handle such a complex project, otherwise Yang Qiu would not have designed only four career paths... ahem.


    In addition, just like the universal skill "Appraisal" that all first-level players had, he¡¯d needed to design a universal skill that could motivate casual players to strive for the second level - those life players who logged in every day and did nothing were too lazy. They would rather stay in the city and paint randomly than do tasks to improve their reputation. Isn''t this just occupying the toilet without doing anything? I can''t tolerate it!


    While Yang Qiu was conscientiously performing his duties as a game producer, Tattle Joe, the newly appointed lord of Weisshem, was doubting his life.


    "...In other words, ever since I took over the position of Lord Weisshem, I owe Yang tens of thousands of gold coins? Are you kidding?!"


    In the finance office of the town hall, Tattle looked at the undead mayor Ji Tang with a confused look on his face.


    "Yes." Ji Tang nodded. "Please rest assured that this debt of Weisshem Town Hall does not require immediate repayment. We have already worked out... um, a repayment plan. Please see here. This is our goal for the fourth quarter of this year, and it has been roughly achieved -"


    "What a joke!" Tattle could not stand it any longer and jumped up from his seat. "I quit. Find someone else. I did not want to be this puppet in the first place!!"


    "Mr. Tuttle, your personal debt had exceeded one hundred gold coins, right?" Ji Tang said calmly, "Although Lord Yang does not allow puppet lords to use public assets, if the performance is excellent, the lord can get a very high performance bonus. Rex does not owe Lord Yang a penny."


    Anyway, everyone inside knew that Tattle was pushed here because of his good image, so Ji Tang just went straight to the point.


    Tuttle was silent for a while, then sat back down silently.


    In fact, Tuttle had about a hundred gold coins on hand, and he had not yet spent the money he made from Hal last time; but if he was asked to take out his old banknotes to repay the "debt" that Yang had forced upon him, he would not be willing to do so no matter what!


    After pondering the words of the undead mayor, Tuttle still felt something was wrong: "Wait a minute, if Rex has money, why haven''t I seen him spend it? Doesn''t he still live in the dormitory like those clerks?"


    Ji Tang did not say anything, just looked at the "NPC" in front of him with a little sympathy.


    Tuttle himself reacted.


    "¡ª¡ªThe so-called performance bonus, in fact, is not given out, but is instead directly deducted for some reason?!" Tuttle was going crazy.


    Ji Tang still said nothing, but his eyes were more sympathetic...


    How should one put it... Lord Yang was a guy who would never spend a penny if he could avoid paying. It was indeed a pipe dream to expect to get free benefits from him.


    For example, the dumplings provided to the prisoners who worked on the road construction were the dark dumplings that Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen would never dare to sell to ordinary people in the Undead Delicatessen. Not to mention the skin, the dumpling fillings were made from the leftovers from the feed processing plant. If anyone dared to sell them in China, they would be invited to have tea with the police in no time...


    It was not that these scraps from feed (also used to make cheap canned cat and dog food) were inedible to humans. American food manufacturers had been using this stuff to make hamburger patties and selling them in fast food restaurants for years.


    Tuttle knew what kind of person Yang was. He was depressed for a while, then waved his hand at Ji Tang with a frustrated look on his face: "Come on, keep talking. Let me die with a clear mind."


    Ji Tang then readily explained the financial (debt) situation of Weisshem Town Hall to Tuttle in a clear and orderly manner, bit by bit.


    The debt situation of the Weisshem government was indeed serious, but this debt was not owed at that time. Some of the debt was expected to be owed - such as the cost of building railways.


    Lord Yang only paid for half of the railway from Weisshem to the exile town deep in the Tarantan Wasteland, and the other half had to be paid by the Weisshem government.


    It would take one or two years to pay back this money slowly (...), and it could be repaid slowly. The expert group had also specially found an expert in economics to develop a repayment plan for Ji Tang to ensure that the expenditure on building the railway would not drag down Weisshem''s finances.


    Currently, Weisshem''s biggest debt pressure came from the industrial area on Town Avenue.


    The factory building, land and manpower all belonged to Weisshem, but the machines were provided by Lord Yang. The principal and interest of the money had to be repaid as soon as possible - yes, Lord Yang was so good at doing business that he charged interest on debts. In this respect, he was more or less a human being, so the interest rate was not high, only 6% per year.


    Tuttle had never heard of such a complicated account in the world. He could not hold on before Ji Tang finished introducing it. He said with a dying breath: "Please, man, stop nagging. I know I need to get into the state and participate in your work as soon as possible. I promise I won''t make excuses... Just tell me what I need to do now."


    Ji Tang was waiting for him to say this, and closed the account book happily: "It''s actually very simple, just act as a spiritual leader like Rex."


    Ten minutes later, Tuttle was dragged by Ji Tang to a workshop in a factory in the industrial zone.


    Tattle was born in Kargath, the largest city in the Rhine Kingdom, which was more prosperous than Indhal. Of course he had seen machinery, right? After scanning the two production lines in the workshop and staring at what the female workers took out of the machines for a long time, he still had a confused look on his face and could not recognize what was being produced there.


    Ji Tang showed Tuttle around the workshop and then took him to the warehouse. He took out a small piece of what looked like a piece of white bread from the carton containing the finished products and showed it to Tuttle: "You don''t recognize this, do you?"


    Tuttle shook his head.


    "This is called a sanitary pad, it''s used by women and has a similar function to toilet paper... Well, you know that women have menstrual periods, right?" Ji Tang said.


    "......?" Tuttle looked confused.


    Ji Tang then had to give this guy some basic knowledge about physiology ...


    When Tuttle heard half of this, his hair almost stood up. He said in horror, "Wait, wait! What do you want me to do by telling me this?!"


    Ji Tang said seriously: "Rex and I have done a survey. The sanitary products used by women in rural areas and towns during their menstrual period were mainly reusable cloth strips, which were not good at maintaining hygiene and were very harmful to their health. We need you to promote sanitary pads as a lord and let people accept this safer and more hygienic sanitary product-"


    Tuttle was dumbfounded and shouted, "Wait a minute! Are you crazy, you undead? I am a man!"


    Ji Tang frowned and said, "You want to say that because you are a man, this has nothing to do with you?"


    "Of course! This kind of thing should be done by a woman. How could it be done by me?!" Tuttle said anxiously.


    Ji Tang shook his head and raised his hand to nod at Tuttle: "Look, even you have this reaction. If you, as a lord, don''t lead by example and fight a good propaganda war, how can you promote sanitary products?"


    "These private matters between women shouldn''t be discussed publicly!" Tuttle almost yelled.


    Ji Tang had no expression on his face. He only said, "There is no textile factory in our Weisshem industrial zone. Other factories recruit both men and women. The only factory that recruits only female workers is this factory. And this sanitary products factory was the first to be fully staffed. Do you know what this means?"


    Tuttle said angrily, "How should I know that?"


    "It means that in Weisshem, women had narrower employment options than men." Ji Tang said, "In a family, it was difficult for women to become the breadwinners, and they often had to rely on the men in the family to make money."


    "Isn''t this normal?" Tuttle frowned.


    "Without an economic source, it will be even more difficult for women in the family to use the family''s common property for what you call ''private matters''." Ji Tang held up the sanitary pad in his hand. "We have repeatedly done cost accounting. Due to the immature industrial chain, this sanitary pad must be sold at least two copper coins for a pack of ten. If it is cheaper, the factory will find it difficult to guarantee profitability and cannot achieve sustainable development."


    "It costs two copper coins every month to deal with menstruation. How many women in Weisshem do you think can afford this money without the support, understanding and recognition of their families?"

 Chapter 207: The feminist Nightmare Butcher

    Chapter 207 Tuttle''s Enlightenment


    Tuttle was so angry that he laughed: "Do you take me for an idiot, undead! Do you think I don''t know how good the business of the two coppers store on the main road in the town is? What woman can''t even take out two copper coins?!"


    "Have you ever carefully looked at the things in the baskets of those housewives who go in and out of Ertong Supermarket?" Ji Tang asked patiently.


    "What do you mean?" Tuttle asked irritably.


    "The best-selling product in our Ertong hypermarket is salt," said Ji Tang, "followed by plates, bowls, basins, buckets, soap, washing powder... and other daily necessities shared by family members."


    Without waiting for Tuttle to speak, Ji Tang continued, "Do you know what the least-selling categories are? They are hair accessories and scarves."


    After a pause, Ji Tang said solemnly, "Do you understand, Tuttle? When housewives enter the supermarket, the money they have is used to buy more goods needed by the whole family, rather than what they need themselves. The scarves that are sold in small quantities are bought for daughters, towels and socks are prepared for the family, and the beautiful hairpins that women always linger on are not as popular as fruit knives."


    "You only see them shopping at the Ertong hypermarket, but never notice that out of ten items they buy, not even one is for themselves, even if it''s something that they could use for housework."


    "Now, tell me, Tuttle, how many women from the lower classes do you think can easily fight on their own for their ''private affairs that cannot be known to others'' and make their families accept the extra two copper coins per month?"


    Tuttle''s mouth was half open, and there was no sound for a moment.


    Ji Tang was not at all surprised by his reaction.


    Ji Tang was born in a rural area in the western mountainous area of China. Before he became an adult, Ji Tang never found anything wrong with the environment in which he grew up.


    It was not until he grew up and saw how women lived in big cities that he suddenly realized something he had never realized before ¨C he had never worn torn socks in his life, but he had seen his mother mending her own quite often.


    When he was a teenager, he and his father put on new clothes to go to the market. The apron tied in front of his mother when she saw them off had been worn for at least five or six years, and the edges were worn out to exaggerated threads.


    Looking back, the mother who waved and reminded them to be careful when going out had a conspicuous patch on her sleeve.


    How many years had it been since his mother wore new clothes? Ji Tang, who grew up with his mother, could not tell.


    Even for housewives in cities with relatively affluent families, the items they put into their shopping carts during shopping festivals were mostly purchased for their families.


    This kind of dedication that was clearly visible to everyone in the family was often ignored by everyone.


    Even the Chinese people who had generally received compulsory education could not avoid this, let alone someone from a world where the illiteracy rate was as high as 99%.


    Tuttle''s half-open mouth slowly closed, and the impatience and irritability on his face gradually faded, replaced by a kind of panic.


    He also thought of his mother.


    His mother looked for compound bows made of the latest materials for him, she customized new shirts for him that fit his body shape every year, and she carefully prepared lizard skin boots for him as a coming-of-age gift¡­ but the newest skirts in his mother''s closet were all purchased before she got married.


    Were there times when the mother wanted to buy something for herself but found it difficult to ask the father?


    The father, whose income was considered good in Kargath, had he ever paid attention to the needs of the mother?


    Tuttle felt a sharp pain in his heart and his lips trembled slightly.


    "Only women can give birth to children. They are forced to bear all the burdens of nurturing new life alone, just like your mother and mine." Seeing Tuttle''s reaction, Ji Tang slowed down his tone and said softly, "We can''t help with the difficulties of childbirth, but at least we can do our part to help them get rid of embarrassment and awkwardness during the menstrual period. This is a very meaningful thing."


    Tuttle was silent for a while and did not nod, but at least he did not resist anymore¡­ probably meaning he agreed.


    Ji Tang patted the shoulder of the alien who was about his age and sighed. "It may be difficult for you to understand why we do this now, but we must take this step. We must remove the thorns on this road, because this is Weisshem¡­ No, because this is Indhal, the Rhine Kingdom, and the human society of this world. If we want to move towards civilization, we must take this first step."


    Ji Tang had never seen the old society with his own eyes, and his understanding of it was limited to written and visual materials.


    After seeing with his own eyes the living conditions of the lower classes in this alien world, the somewhat one-sided and thin text and image materials in Ji Tang''s mind gradually came to life, and the suffering people in the black and white photos in the modern history books of China gradually overlapped with the faces of the people in the alien world that he had seen.


    Weisshem was only a few dozen kilometers away from the big city of Indhal, but these few dozen kilometers were like two different worlds¡­ An artificial fur scarf that cost ten copper coins was hot-selling in Indhal, but in Weisshem, not a single one could be sold even if it was on display for ten days or half a month.


    Ten copper coins just to keep the neck warm was too much of a luxury for the people of Weisshem.


    Those who were willing to buy a set of new four-piece bedding for twenty copper coins were reluctant to use it, because most people''s beds were covered with hay and people were afraid that the grass stems would damage the sheets.


    People looked at the thermos bottle that cost twenty copper coins, and touched it again and again. They discussed it with their families for a long time. Only those who had elderly people at home who wanted to drink some hot water in the winter would be willing to spend money on it.


    And these were the town''s residents who could usually see copper coins.


    If one was a farmer in the countryside, they would be even more frugal¡­ If they had money, they would have to buy enough salt before considering other things.


    In contrast, there was the former Lord of Weisshem, Baron Marcus, who had a huge fortune, and the former mayor''s magnificent mansion, which could be used as a foot massage parlor after renovation¡­


    This could still be seen in the town.


    When he went to the countryside, he was shocked even more.


    How big was the gap between the private farms of the nobles and the farmlands of the free people?


    The former was vast with interconnected fields and paths stretching as far as the eye could see, while the latter was fragmented by mountains and hills.


    The former had plenty of animal power, while the latter could only rely on their hands ¨C many free people even had to rent iron farm tools from nearby farms, at the cost of working for the farm for free when they had time off-season.


    The mansions of the farmers were as magnificent as castles, and the houses of the peasants were all made of mud¡­


    While taking Rex to the countryside for research, Ji Tang heard a lot about the deeds of some "countryside scoundrels." What did these scoundrels do? They stole horse feed beans from the farmer''s house and picked up wheat ears from the farmer''s field. They were hung up and beaten by the strong male servants and guards, becoming the laughing stock of the villagers¡­


    Yes, the peasants in this world even believed that it was reasonable for the farmer to lynch his fellow villagers. They did not think it was wrong for the noble stewards or the scion of the side branches who were in charge of the farm to arbitrarily punish and humiliate the villagers. They thought that gentlemen of status were qualified to be judges, policemen, and executioners, and this was a common rule in the world. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Ji Tang, a modern person, would definitely not accept these incredible "traditional rules."


    But if they wanted to talk about fairness and liberation, they first had to face the plight of women head-on.


    Human beings were creatures with animal nature, and animals followed the law of the jungle, they bullied the weak and feared the strong. In any society or ethnic group under any cultural background, if there was oppression and a food chain within it, then women and children would definitely be at the bottom.


    To protect the rights and interests of women and children, women had to be liberated.


    During China''s feudal history, illegitimate sons and daughters suffered unfair treatment, the root cause of which was that the status of women was too low. Without thoroughly reforming the society and completely breaking the old society that used class oppression as a means of ruling, it would be useless to rely on one or two people who played the leading role to change the culture.


    In a nutshell, if one did not liberate women, there was no point in talking.


    "Some women, when in extreme distress, have used substitutes such as corn leaves, grass balls, and even tree bark¡­


    Tuttle, who was eavesdropping at a safe distance, was almost going crazy.


    Women in reality and women in his perception were like two different creatures!


    Poor menstrual products were not the worst issue; there was even worse discrimination against menstruation. Almost all the rural women interviewed, when asked about how they dealt with their menstrual periods when they were young, mentioned how embarrassed they were at the time. There were also many experiences of becoming the laughing stock of others and being looked at with strange eyes because of accidentally getting blood stains on their pants.


    At this time, another hidden oppression caused by women''s physiological characteristics was suddenly and bloodily exposed to Tuttle, who had known nothing about it before, through the narration of a peasant woman interviewed.


    That is¡­ the experience of being harassed or even violated during menstruation.


    Women in the countryside did not have the conditions to stay at home and not work during their menstrual period. When they felt uncomfortable while working in the fields and had to find a place to change their clothes¡­ they were at very high risk of being peeped on, harassed, or even raped.


    When Tuttle first heard this jaw-dropping reality, he was being pulled by Ji Tang to sit in the courtyard of a farmer''s house.


    The woman who told this experience was hiding in a house and talking in a low voice with the two agents'' family members. She lowered her voice for fear of being heard by others.


    Her voice was a little hoarse, trembling slightly with pain and with a strong nasal tone. If it were not for the extraordinary hearing of Tuttle as a ranger, he would not have been able to hear what this sobbing peasant woman was saying.


    This terrible and cruel reality, which seemed to be encountered by many people but which he knew nothing about even after living to his thirties, made Tuttle''s hands and feet turn cold.


    How so?


    The countryside he saw was miserable enough, and the people living in such an environment were miserable enough. No one had fair skin, everyone had a furrowed brow, and the older people were bent over early by the burden of life.


    We are already working so hard, why do we still have to oppress each other?


    Tuttle''s mind was in a mess.


    He was a former thief who had participated in caravan robberies, farm plunders, and murders.


    Tuttle had always been angry about what happened to him, and he never saw anything wrong with robbing or even killing those who were better off than he was.


    This is how the world is. The powerful oppress the powerless and the powerless oppress the non-existent. His family and his future were destroyed because of these fucked-up rules, which was why he vented his anger on the rich people he could deal with.


    But these poor country women¡­ What was the point in oppressing them?


    They were already close to the ground, and their survival was extremely difficult.


    The woman in the room was still whispering.


    Even though many years had passed, the peasant woman with dark skin, who was not at all attractive to normal men, was still suffering. She tried her best to suppress her voice, fearing that others would find out that she had experienced such an unbearable past.


    Tuttle stood up gently and tried to walk out of the yard.


    Ji Tang did not come to hold him back, but just looked at him silently with his dark eyes.


    Tuttle hesitated for a long time, unable to bear to leave, but also unwilling to sit back.


    Ji Tang stared at the uncomfortable alien for a while and said softly: "You are indeed just a puppet lord that Lord Yang casually picked up. You really have no responsibility for what happens to Weisshem."


    "But¡­ you can also be responsible if you want to be." Ji Tang turned his head and glanced at the closed wooden door. "Carrying the future of the people here, if you are willing to do it, you can do it."


    Tuttle said nothing.


    The humble and fearful face of the peasant woman in the house when he entered flashed through his mind.


    After standing there blankly for a while, Tuttle slowly sat back on the stone pier.


    On the way to the next household, after a long silence, Tuttle asked Ji Tang in a hoarse voice: "What''s the point of doing this? Do we have to capture all the men in the village to build the road?"


    Ji Tang shook his head and said sincerely, "There is solid evidence of illegal activities, and people should be arrested, but the root cause of the current plight of women is that people are used to dividing people into different classes, and then decide which group has the right to bully others and which group should just accept it based on their status."


    "To eliminate the plight of women, first of all, we must break down the so-called ''order of superiority and inferiority'' that everyone accepts as the norm. Everyone''s life should be equal, and everyone''s personality should be respected. This is what a normal and harmonious society looks like."


    Tattle didn''t understand anything at first, but after a while he slowly realized something was wrong, and the look he gave Ji Tang became gradually more horrified.


    "¡­Are you sure that all you want is to eliminate the plight of women?" Tuttle said.


    "Of course not." Ji Tang said as a matter of course, "Women can be bullied justifiably, employers can exploit workers justifiably, landlords can turn free people into tenants or even serfs justifiably, and nobles can justifiably bully the common people. Any kind of oppression here is completely unreasonable and should be overthrown, right?"


    "Since we know it''s wrong, we should correct it; we should start from the most basic part, that is, we should first liberate women and solve their plight. Isn''t this obvious?"


    Tuttle: ¡°¡­¡±


    "Wait a minute, wait a minute." Tattle didn''t remember how many times he had said "wait." It was really hard for him to keep up with the thinking mode of the undead mayor in front of him. He said with difficulty, "So¡­ Rex and I are just puppets, and the real lord is Yang¡­ Do we have to defeat Yang in the end?"


    What he didn''t say was that although he had seen from the beginning that you undeads didn''t have much respect for Yang, you wouldn''t openly rebel against Yang, right?!


    "You think too much. Yang arranged all the production lines in the factory, including the sanitary napkin production line." Ji Tang almost laughed at this guy. "If Yang didn''t support us, how could we carry out our work?"


    Players would be happy to treat Yang as a boss, but the national team certainly wouldn''t. They simply listened to him because he was their link to the other world.


    Tuttle was stunned and horrified at first, then his face was full of disbelief.


    The Nightmare Butcher actually had such a crazy idea¡­ This was not difficult to understand, this guy even killed the prince.


    No, that''s not the point!


    The Nightmare Butcher was actually a feminist?!


    Tuttle felt that his worldview had been shattered into pieces. This horrible truth would probably make his friends laugh out loud if he told it to outsiders, let alone to others.


    Next, Tuttle was dragged by Ji Tang to run through all the villages in Weisshem, including the poorest village that had reorganized Rex''s worldview, amidst multiple denials of life, the world, and his own cognition. Fortunately, there were no farmers working naked in the fields this season, otherwise Tuttle might have poked his eyes out on the spot.


    After working hard for several days, Tuttle''s face was weathered, and even his thorny temperament of a rebellious young man was smoothed out by the sufferings of the world he witnessed.


    Entering December, the sanitary products were launched on the market.


    When the hard-working clerks and the female employees of the Logistics Department were putting the goods on the shelf, Tuttle took the initiative to change into the formal dress "inherited" from Rex and made his first appearance.


    Tuttle, with a heroic look on his face, had just walked out of the town hall door when a bearded man wearing a small fur hat standing on the steps immediately raised his camera and took a few pictures of him.


    Tuttle: ¡°???¡±


    Ji Tang, who was waiting at the door, introduced with a smile: "This is the reporter from Inhal Weekly invited by Rex to help promote our sanitary pad launch conference."


    The bearded man didn''t dare get too close to the Undead Mayor. He just nodded and bowed to the new Lord of Weisshem in a flattering manner.


    Tuttle: ¡°¡­¡±


    Tuttle suddenly had the urge to rush to the city to fight Rex.

 Chapter 208: “The Way to Love Your Family

    The sanitary pad production line of the sanitary products factory was actually an antique that was replaced by a manufacturer in Province G more than ten years ago and had been gathering dust in the warehouse.


    The reason why they specifically looked for this kind of antique¡­ was not just to save money, but to take into account the raw material issue: the raw materials needed for upgraded sanitary pads and diapers could not be produced by the other world itself. If they "imported" all the raw materials from Earth, it would have been better to just buy the finished products directly.


    Even if Yang Qiu had worked hard to find an antique production line from more than ten years ago, non-woven fabrics and hot-melt adhesives still had to be "imported" from Earth¡­ There was no other way. Weisshem had no industrial foundation at all, and the only raw material that could be self-sufficient was paper pulp.


    But¡­ although the future of the flagship product, sanitary pads, was still uncertain, the additionally developed "side business" had already enabled the sanitary products factory to achieve self-sufficiency in profits and losses ¨C of course, Ji Tang deliberately ignored this point and did not tell Tuttle.


    While Tuttle, who was forced to do something he was not prepared for, was holding a sanitary pad launch conference, the first four young townspeople who had "changed jobs" to become self-employed came with their families and drove a convoy of caravans pulled by a gray horse to the town of Kane, which was about 30 kilometers away from Weisshem in a straight line and nearly 50 kilometers away in actual distance.


    The people of Kane seemed to have recognized this caravan led by four young men. When they saw them from afar, they waved their hats in a friendly manner and cheered to the neighbors: "The Weisshem caravan is coming! The Weisshem caravan is coming!"


    The town of Kane was much larger than Weisshem. Not only did it have four main streets that could accommodate horse-drawn carriages (Weisshem only had two streets that could accommodate horse-drawn carriages), its permanent population was also more than three times that of Weisshem. Upon hearing that the caravan was coming, housewives doing housework at home and pedestrians on the street all came out to greet them warmly.


    Under the town gate, in the town square that had become bumpy due to years of trampling by oxen and horses and pedestrians, Weisshem''s caravan had just stopped when it was surrounded by a large number of Kane town residents who swarmed in.


    The four young men leading this mini caravan were already familiar with shuttling between towns to do business. Caroline, who had neat ponytails, and her second aunt and aunt deftly pulled down the caravan''s floorboards and spread them on the ground, then piled the cargo that was stuffed into the car onto the floorboards.


    Her companions Simon, Alan, and Benjamin were also busy setting up their stalls.


    "Toilet paper is on sale! Two rolls for one copper coin, only three carts left, and they''ll be gone once they''re sold out!"


    "Come and see, this toilet paper is a hundred times more useful than bamboo sticks!"


    "A plastic bowl that can''t be broken, a stainless steel spoon that can''t be bent by heat!"


    "A thick and soft towel, and cotton socks!"


    "Those who need undead cloth, come here! There is only one cart of cloth this time, so hurry up if you want to buy it!"


    After the undead cloth became less easy to sell out quickly, the four young men tried to increase the variety of goods. Since the town hall was unwilling to wholesale salt, a hard currency to them, they turned their attention to the goods in the Ertong Supermarket.


    Since they could not buy goods on credit nor return unsold goods, the four young people were extremely cautious in "product selection." They asked all the elders and neighbors around them and determined the types of goods that people would be willing to pay for. Only then did they expand their business scope.


    This caution undoubtedly paid off, and the goods they brought sold quickly, including the toilet paper rolls that had just been launched by the sanitary products factory in the industrial zone.


    After selling all the goods in the morning, on the way back, Caroline said to her three friends who were sitting in the same caravan with her, "My mother''s suggestion was right, wasn''t it? If there were cheap enough bamboo substitutes, the people in the town would definitely welcome it, especially the older people!"


    "Yes, yes!" Benjamin, the youngest, smiled happily. "Many housewives are very picky when buying a pair of socks, but they just touched the toilet paper and paid for it without hesitation!"


    "I should have had the courage to bring in two more carts of toilet paper," said Simon, the bravest of the bunch, with regret. "Even my stingy aunt was willing to spend money to buy this stuff, so why didn''t we have the courage at the time?"


    "It''s okay, just go in a little more next time." Caroline said cheerfully, "Next time we go a little further, to Horseshoe Town, what do you think?"


    "Sure, sure!" Simon nodded repeatedly. "Horseshoe Town is bigger than Kane Town. We need to import at least five truckloads of toilet paper!"


    Benjamin said with some regret: "It''s a pity that the roll of paper is too big. There are not many rolls that can be loaded into a car. It would be better if it was smaller."


    "If it doesn''t look big enough, it won''t be easy to sell out!" Caroline said mockingly, "It''s because the toilet paper roll looks so big that most people are willing to pay for it. One copper coin can buy two large rolls!"


    Alan, the oldest of the four, kept his mouth shut.


    Alan knew the truth about the popularity of toilet paper, but he didn''t want to tell his friends¡­ especially with a girl named Caroline present.


    People who reached a certain age would have some problems. Based on Alan''s own experience, he knew that many people over middle age regarded going to the toilet as a type torture¡­ (Due to the physiological structure of human beings, many people would develop hemorrhoids after a certain age, and a small number of people with poor habits would develop hemorrhoids in their twenties)


    It was already dark when the caravan returned to Weisshem.


    They asked the relatives and friends who came to help to go home first, and the four young men went to the carriage and horse company to return the carriage and horses.


    The iron-shell carriages of the Coach and Horse Company were not rented out to the public, but caravans and gray unicorn horses could be rented, and at a much cheaper price than the original rental company on Martin Street. Since the Coach and Horse Company opened its rental business, the rental company that belonged to a noble young master went bankrupt not long after it opened.


    It was already dark when Caroline returned home after returning the car. She was exhausted after a hard day''s work. As soon as she entered the door, she acted coquettishly to her mother: "I''m so tired, Mom. Is there anything to eat?"


    Ms. Winnie brought her hot milk with a grumble: "You said you didn''t want to get married and become a housewife, and you wanted to work hard on your own, but now you''re acting like a spoiled child. Drink this first, and see how dark you have become¡­ Look at how dry your lips are, really, can''t you remember to drink more water?"


    Caroline chuckled and happily listened to her mother talking while holding the hot milk.


    Ms. Winnie prepared a midnight snack for her daughter who missed dinner, while she kept saying, "By the way, Caroline, have you seen the new Lord Tuttle?"


    "I saw him once yesterday when I went to the town hall to pick up some goods," Caroline said. "Mr. Tuttle doesn''t look as friendly as Mr. Rex. I didn''t dare get close to him."


    "Don''t say that. Mr. Tuttle must be a good man." Ms. Winnie''s attitude became serious. "Trust your mother''s judgment. She is right. Mr. Tuttle just looks difficult to get close to. He is the heir personally selected by Mr. Rex. Even if your mother is wrong about him, Mr. Rex will not be wrong."


    Caroline: ¡°???¡±


    Caroline knew very well how resentful and uneasy her mother Winnie was after Mr. Rex went to Indhalto become the lord and no longer took care of Weisshem.


    When the town hall announced that Tuttle Joe would be the new Lord of Weisshem, Ms. Winnie was unhappy for several days.


    After thinking for a while, Caroline guessed, "Mom, what happened in town today?"


    This really opened up Ms. Winnie''s mouth, and she immediately started to talk excitedly¡­


    After listening to a few words, Caroline was so shocked that she almost jumped out of her chair: "Oh my God, Mom, why would you say that--"


    As she said this, the girl looked around nervously with her cheeks flushed, and was secretly relieved that the men in the family were not in the living room.


    Ms. Winnie said with disdain: "Look at how unbecoming you are. The Lord has no scruples about talking about this matter openly, and you are making a fuss about nothing!"


    Caroline was extremely embarrassed: "No¡­ I''m¡­ Mom!"


    Seeing her daughter was really anxious, Ms. Winnie could not help laughing: "Okay, okay, we''re the only ones here. I bought yours and your aunt''s as well. I put yours in your closet. Go get it when you need it."


    Caroline nodded quickly¡­ She was not used to talking about "that kind of thing" in public, but she would definitely be willing to use it if there was a better alternative; in fact, she had already hidden two rolls of toilet paper in her cupboard. Although this kind of toilet paper was not very convenient, it was definitely better than the cloth tape her mother sewed for her.


    Caroline thought the matter was over until the next day when she got up and went out to discuss the next round of business with her friends¡­ and saw the advertisement posted on the street across the street.


    Advertising posters posted on street walls were not common in Weisshem, but could be seen everywhere in Indhal.


    After all, the consumption capacity of small town residents could not be compared with that of urban residents. There were many middle-class families in the city who were willing to spend money to eat in high-end restaurants, but there were no such families in the town.


    The first advertisement to appear in a small town like Weisshem featured a portrait of the new lord, Tuttle Joe.


    In the painting, the lord, dressed in gorgeous formal attire and with a stern face, was holding a small piece of what looked like a slice of white bread in his hand and showing it to passers-by.


    There were two rows of bold black printed words above Mr. Lord¡¯s head. The content of the words was very¡­ simple and crude:


    "Love your family, remember to buy sanitary pads for your wife, your daughter, your mother and your sister every month."


    Caroline: ¡°¡­¡±


    Caroline turned her neck stiffly and pretended not to see it.


    When Caroline walked through the streets covered with Lord¡¯s advertisements to the meeting place agreed with her friends, Benjamin, who arrived earlier, saw her and asked curiously: "Caroline, what is a sanitary pad? Why are there advertisements everywhere on the street asking people to buy sanitary pads for their families?"


    Caroline put her hand to her forehead.


    So¡­ every time a new lord comes, Weisshem will go crazy for a while, right?


    Caroline used a tough attitude to fool Benjamin, who was eager for knowledge. Before she could recover, Simon and Alan, who arrived a step later, gave her another severe blow.


    Simon was still talking to Alan in surprise when he pushed open the door of the party place. When he saw Caroline, he came over curiously and said, "Caroline, the Lord published a manifesto called "The Way to Love Your Family" in the newspaper. He said that girls have to endure pain once a month since childhood, and he needs to prepare sanitary pads for you to get through the difficult times. Is that right?"


    "No wonder my sister always looks bad and has a bad temper at the end of the month. It''s actually like this. My mother never told me about it." Alan said with curiosity.


    Caroline: ¡°¡­¡±


    At the same time, in the town hall.


    Tattle Joe stared for a long time with his mouth crooked and his eyes squinting, at the huge color photo of himself that was so prominent on the front page of the newly published Indhal Weekly.


    "...You look photogenic." Ji Tang held it in for a long time before finally saying something that he didn''t know if it could be considered consolation or not, "An old-fashioned film camera can take such a handsome picture, saving the effort of photo editing."


    Tuttle adjusted his facial features with great effort and stared at Ji Tang gloomily: "...yesterday''s interview was on the front page today. Is Indhal Weekly such an efficient newspaper?"


    "Well¡­ the sanitary products factory exchanged this front-page position for printing paper that it had been supplying at a long-term low price." Ji Tang hesitated for about 0.2 seconds and decided to tell the truth. Tuttle would find out sooner or later anyway.


    Tuttle: ¡°¡­¡±


    The sanitary products factory could not only produce sanitary pads, the pulp workshop located downstream of the water source outside the town could produce toilet paper and normal paper as well.


    In a place like Weisshem, which was full of mountains, hills, and undeveloped wilderness, it was easy for the pulp mill to obtain raw materials¡­


    After hesitating for a while on the dangerous idea of ??whether to kill the undead mayor to gain some peace of mind, Tattle took a deep breath and tried hard to press back the blue veins on his forehead.


    Whatever, Hal and Pansy are taking a large group of prisoners to build roads. They won''t be back for a year or so. So let them embarrass themselves in front of strangers!


    Tattle had just calmed himself down when he saw¡­ the undead mayor took out a loudspeaker and handed it to him.


    "Most local people are illiterate, so the effects of newspaper propaganda and posted advertisements are not obvious enough. You should work harder today and do some street propaganda and read the article ''Ways to Love Your Family'' aloud several times." Ji Tang said in a very natural manner.


    Tuttle: ¡°¡­¡±


    Undead! You are playing with fire!


    On the verge of being hacked to death, Ji Tang arranged for Tattle Joe to continue promoting. He was not idle either. He communicated with the "online" Lord Yang through the "mayor''s authority mode," and then ran to the teleportation array under the town hall to wait for people.


    Soon, twenty-four middle-aged and elderly (in fact, the average age was less than 40 years old) men and women with very simple temperaments, down-to-earth images, some of whom had physical disabilities, but with excellent mental outlooks, appeared in the magic circle.


    Ji Tang cheerfully shook hands and greeted each of the Camor students who were personally trained by a certain boss named Zhou, and happily led the reinforcements from Exile Town to the meeting room of the town hall.


    Before these Camorians, who were leaving the Exile Town for the first time after being blessed by Lord Yang, could finish looking curiously at the Weisshem Town Hall, Ms. Sibel came over with another group of students who were also personally trained by the big boss named Jiang.


    This group of students who received education in Weisshem¡­ their appearance was very different from those from Exile Town. They were all young and beautiful men and women, but their temperament was almost the same as those from Exile Town. When the two sides met, they immediately knew that they were "family members" without any verbal communication.


    People from both sides took their seats and chatted with each other curiously. Zhao Zhenzhen, who was assisting Rex in Indhal City, was also teleported over.


    "We will all get to know each other soon, so let''s not waste time on small talk." Political Commissar Zhao, who rushed to preside over the meeting, got to the point as soon as he sat down. "As December approaches, the local temperature drops. Except for some vegetable farmers, most farmers have been idle. Before the beginning of spring, there are about 60 to 70 days of idle time."


    "Everyone has read the research report on the situation in the local villages of Weisshem and has a general impression of it."


    "According to comrade Ji Tang''s investigation, the winter farming off-season is the peak period for rural conflicts to erupt. Every winter, there will be major disputes in the villages of Weisshem. The reason is not difficult to understand after reading the report. Farmers have no entertainment in the winter. Apart from gambling, drinking, beating their wives and children, and attending weddings and funerals, there is nothing else to do."


    "We cannot waste this time and must make good use of it. Now let''s discuss how to carry out cultural literacy and agricultural skills training for local farmers more appropriately."


    The students taught by the big boss were not able to adapt to Zhao Zhenzhen''s work style. Those who had experience in rural life and had their own understanding and opinions on rural conditions spoke out¡­


    It is not difficult for the national team to help local farmers get rid of poverty (according to this world''s poverty alleviation standards).


    "The place of Inhal Territory¡­ In the eyes of people from other worlds, it was a barren land, but in the eyes of skilled agricultural scientists, it had a lot of potential. About 35% of the land was plains, and the proportion of arable land was only slightly lower than that of India. The altitude was not as high as that of India, and the climate was not as hot as that of India. The four seasons were relatively distinct. If the farmers in the southwest and southeast provinces of China had seen such good land, tears would have flowed from the corners of their mouths! Weisshem was said to be the most water-scarce place in the entire Indhal Territory, but that was not because of the scarcity of natural water resources, but because except for the territories occupied by the nobles, there were basically no decent farmland irrigation systems.


    Furthermore, the rulers of this world had even lazier and more capricious agricultural policies than the Chinese feudal dynasties. Not to mention setting up agricultural officials to teach farmers how to farm like the Qin Dynasty, or finding ways to raise money for seeds for farmers like the Ming Dynasty, the nobles who directly managed the fiefdoms were considered merciful if they did not cause trouble for the farmers during the busy farming season! Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    By setting up an agricultural department, allocating personnel to teach farmers scientific planting, providing a certain amount of farm tools for rental, and organizing farmers to carry out basic water conservancy, the increase in farmers'' income was obvious.


    If they improved the town''s non-staple food processing industry chain and solved the problem of agricultural product sales, it was entirely foreseeable that local farmers would be lifted out of poverty in large numbers ¨C unless there were some natural disasters or man-made calamities, or Lord Yang, the unscientific magician, was defeated by even more unscientific magic.


    However, this was not enough¡­ No matter who came out of the national team, they would not have been satisfied with this result.


    Even in Weisshem, the poorest and least fertile land in the eyes of the natives of this world, nearly 30% of the arable land belonged to the private property of the nobles. This was something the national team could not tolerate.


    Letting it go¡­ uh, Yang Qiu, who was happy to see the national team act like this, of course could not have tolerated it ¨C the private land of the nobles was different from the fiefdom, and they did not have to pay a penny of tax!"

 Chapter 209: Yang Qiu’s Day off

    December 22, 2019, Earth time, was the winter solstice.


    At noon that day, Yang Qiu returned to Earth to take a shower and change clothes. When he connected his phone to the internet, he found many messages on the social media app from his elder sister Yang Ying and his mother, urging him to return home.


    According to Earth time, Yang Qiu, the sixteen-year-old boy who dropped out of high school and "ran away from home" to pursue his dream of becoming a "game producer," had been missing from his mom and sister for more than four months.


    Although Yang Qiu had been communicating with his elder sister on social software and even used a voice changer (his voice was too different from that of a sixteen-year-old boy) to talk to his mother on the phone, his family''s patience had apparently reached its limit after more than four months of delay. His mother even sternly asked him whether he had been deceived into joining a pyramid scheme and said that if he dared not even come home for the winter solstice, she would call the police.


    There was no other choice, so Yang Qiu had to open the door and return to the other world. Not long after, he returned to Earth carrying a half-finished alchemical puppet.


    Well, this thing was certainly not a proper alchemical creation, but a crude imitation alchemical puppet made by Yang Qiu using the materials handed in by players.


    A human skeleton was found in the valley where the three thousand players" "game characters" were dug up. The internal organs and fat were replaced with the roots and stems of the large-leaf vines left after the leaves were harvested (this thing had the ability to conduct magic power). The muscle tissue was replaced with the flocculent residue left after the magic essence was taken from the magic materials handed in by the players (this thing had a certain elasticity).


    The most "expensive" part was the simulated skin of the Imitation Alchemical Golem ¨C it was made of the slime monster skin diligently collected by solo players.


    When there were no large-scale events, not all players were willing to form large groups to kill monsters or complete quests. Many players who liked to play on their own still liked to go to the mining maps that could be played alone. If it were not for the fact that sandworms and slime monsters were low-level monsters that could be quickly born due to the turbid magic power in the area, the mining maps might have been long since cleared out for these players.


    Yang Qiu had only opened the mining area as a monster spawning map for over a month, but the sandworm meat he had collected from the zombie NPCs had already filled several warehouses, and he had also collected a lot of slime monster skins.


    Sandworm meat was an excellent feed ingredient, and it had low moisture content and was durable, so it could be stored for several years without any problem. The skin of the slime monster was more troublesome, as it tended to become brittle after being stored for a long time, and thus had no value as an alchemical material. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At first, Yang Qiu wanted to sell this thing to an alchemist, but he did not expect that because of his arrival in Weisshem, all the spellcasters in Indhal packed up their things and ran away, which was very embarrassing.


    Seeing that the stored slime monster skin had become brittle, Yang Qiu had to try to refine it himself.


    Relying on the half-baked alchemical knowledge that he heard from others, he actually made a simulated puppet skin that looked like the real thing, but it was extremely labor-intensive, and it took thousands of slime monster skins to extract enough for a humanoid puppet. The quality was not very good, and it would break if scratched or rubbed. In short, it was not as sturdy and durable as the legendary alchemical puppets.


    At this point, the idea of "opening up new races" to players and replacing skeleton game characters with self-made puppets could be completely abandoned ¨C the high cost was one thing, but the game characters of the "new races" were more fragile than the old races, and they were easily injured, killed, and kicked offline. Players would truly criticize the planners to the sky.


    The "new race" plan was canceled, but the crudely made trial-produced alchemical puppets could be recycled at this juncture.


    Next, Yang Qiu turned on the computer and used the PC to open his sister''s Penguin Space, found a photo of himself in his youth, and then used the photo to shape the puppet''s face.


    It took two hours to shape the puppet into the appearance of Yang Qiu in his youth, put clothes on the puppet, and then add a spiritual imprint in the puppet''s chest. It was done!


    After taking a look at the sky outside, Yang Qiu quickly took a shower, changed his clothes, stuffed the puppet into his space ring, and went out.


    The moment he stepped into the suburban rental house, at least three pairs of secret eyes were focused on him.


    Yang Qiu pretended not to notice anything and went to the small noodle restaurant where he usually ate noodles and ordered a bowl of spicy chicken noodles. He also borrowed the toilet while the boss was cooking the noodles.


    The restaurant''s toilet window faced a back alley. There were usually not many people in this alley, and the surveillance camera was only installed at the corner at the other end.


    Taking advantage of the time to go to the toilet, he threw "Young Yang Qiu" into the back street and quickly separated a part of his consciousness to connect with the modified mental imprint in the puppet''s abdomen. After washing his hands, Yang Qiu returned to the lobby with a normal expression.


    When the main character was sitting in the restaurant playing with his mobile phone, "Young Man Yang Qiu" suddenly appeared in the back street, moved his hands and feet, walked out of the alley, and walked towards the bus stop.


    The national security personnel who were squatting on the side of the street pretending to be a fruit vendor and staring at Yang Qiu''s true form, glanced at the young boy Yang Qiu who walked out of the alley and then paid no more attention to him. There was nothing to pay attention to about a kid in a school uniform.


    On the afternoon of the winter solstice, when the young boy Yang Qiu returned home, his mother and sister grabbed his ears and scolded him for more than an hour. His mother cried while scolding him.


    Yang Qiu, who was remotely controlling the situation in a suburban house, had to be thankful that he was not the one who went home ¨C if his mother saw that her son had turned from a young boy into a middle-aged man after just a few months, she would probably be spit blood on the spot.


    This simulated alchemy puppet had the same attributes as the game characters controlled by the players. When there was no one controlling it, it was almost the same as a corpse. Although he felt sorry for his mother, Yang Qiu did not dare to agree to go home, let alone agree to his mother''s request to go back to school, study hard, and get into a good university. The puppet weighed only two-thirds of a normal person''s weight, had no heartbeat or pulse, and even if the skin was scratched, not a drop of blood would flow out. If it was accidentally exposed someday, the person who found it would be scared to death!


    After finally getting away from home, Yang Qiu went out to eat a bowl of noodles and took back the puppet, then returned to the other world.


    As soon as he "went online" at the City Lord''s Mansion in the central city of Indhal, Yang Qiu received a request from the "Online GM" to exchange service time for a game account.


    "These two brothers are so dedicated," Yang Qiu could not help but sigh, and turned back to Earth to distribute helmets.


    The purpose of developing the two old brothers who stayed in Exile Town into online GMs was to save trouble. The two old revolutionaries did not disappoint Yang Qiu"s expectations. They kept a close eye on the group of idiots and did not let the players cause any big trouble. For this, Yang Qiu was willing to exchange the helmets.


    After distributing the helmets, Yang Qiu returned to the other world. Before he could sit down to meditate, Rex came to him again in a hurry.


    ¡°Lowell wants to return to the Principality of Shiga?¡± Yang Qiu said with a strange look on his face.


    "Yes, he sent a message from the post office." Rex said, "Yang, do you want to go back to Weisshem to see him?"


    "Well... he must be quite stimulated." Yang Qiu said, touching his chin.


    The fact that the Undead army took over the city of Indhal in just two days was indeed a significant event for the natives. Brother Lowell, the older intellectual, was obviously unsettled. After that, no matter how Yang Qiu invited him, he refused to come to the city and kept staying in Weisshem, reflecting on the situation.


    Rex and Lowell had a good personal relationship, and Yang Qiu''s leisurely attitude made him very anxious: "Yang, the monk may just be in a bad mood for the time being. I don''t think he really wants to return home. You may not know that the monk is very curious about what kind of changes the undead can bring to the world. He always tries to understand the policies implemented by Ji Tang and Ms. Zhao in Weisshem in his own way, and has exchanged ideas with me many times in private-"


    "Calm down, young man. I also cherish my friendship with him." Yang Qiu pressed his hand towards Rex soothingly and stood up resignedly. "Wait here for a while."


    In front of Rex, he opened a space-time rift and returned to Earth. Taking with him the "little gift" that he had prepared long ago for the older literary youths, Yang Qiu returned to the alien world again.


    "Ask the people at the post office to help bring this to Brother Lowell." Yang Qiu sat down on the sofa and threw the gift to Rex tiredly. "He won''t leave before he finishes reading it. After he finishes reading it, he will definitely not leave. Don¡¯t worry."


    Rex took it subconsciously, took a closer look, and found that... this red-covered book had three huge undead characters on the cover.


    Through the translation function of the matrix, Rex recognized the undead writing on the cover as... "Jin Mei".


    "A name I''ve never seen before? Is this a novel?" Rex wanted to open it.


    "Hey, you can ''t read it." Yang Qiu raised his hand to stop him. "Only Lowell can read this book."


    Rex quickly closed the book and asked in surprise: "Is this a banned book?"


    "Well... I guess so." Yang Qiu looked around and said something else.


    The so-called banned books in this world referred to books related to the occult... works that contain specific texts with potentially unsettling themes, explore controversial religious or philosophical ideas, or depict disturbing or graphic content.


    In a sense, the book "Jin Mei" could be considered unconventional ¨C especially for an idealist like Rex who was compassionate to the world.


    It delved into the complexities of human nature and explored the darker aspects of society. While some might find it unsettling, it can also be a powerful tool for reflection and understanding.


    Rex didn"t understand why Yang Qiu wanted to give this book to Lowell, but he didn"t fully grasp the nuances of their relationship. He found a box to put the book in and locked it to prevent the postman from reading it out of curiosity, and then left with the book.


    After sending Rex away, Yang Qiu quickly closed and locked the door, saying that he was determined to meditate immediately and that no one could stop him!


    And then¡­ before he even touched the sofa in the living room, he sensed the warning message sent by the ¡°Online GM¡± through GM authority.


    "Why are there so many things going on today?!"


    Yang Qiu immersed himself in the matrix angrily, while Lao Geng, who had been brushing the online service time, transferred the attention of the high-risk players, who he thought were difficult to handle with his GM authority, to Yang Qiu, the administrator.


    Yang Qiu looked carefully and almost laughed out loud.


    The group of players who had been squatting in Indhal City for half a month (in another world time) were no longer satisfied with just scribbling on the inner city walls when there were not many residents around, and ran to the southern city area to find a civilian area that they thought was full of "street style" and started to perform their unrestrained artistic expression.


    From Yang Qiu''s perspective, he saw a player covered in paint "creating" on the wall of a residential building, painting a dog''s head on the street-facing wall that had just been whitewashed with lime. The owner and his family stood by, clearly displeased.


    Yang Qiu gave an order to the newly appointed sheriff (deputy) Jimmy with an expressionless face.


    After being observed for a long time before obtaining the formal qualification... Jimmy, who was qualified to enter the matrix, immediately led his men straight to the South City residential area.


    When the security guards dragged away the player who was painting on the walls of residential houses, the player was still struggling: "Wait, I"m not finished yet! I still need a few more details!""

 Chapter 210: Construction Site Dumplings

    Six kilometers west of the town of Weisshem, there was a valley.


    This valley was originally a forest farm belonging to a noble family. Due to the continuous decline of Weisshem over the past two hundred years, the value of wood had become increasingly low, and this valley forest farm was abandoned more than a hundred years ago.


    Now, a hundred years later, this forest farm, which had been deserted for many years, was bustling again.


    Nearly half a month had passed since Hal Maxwell, Pansy, Wagner Pitt, and Captain Ken of the Sokree people came to this valley with an engineering team composed of prisoners.


    During these ten days, more than 6,000 prisoners (both from Weisshem and Indhal) worked diligently to cut wood, dig foundations, and build houses under the guidance of several Undead Engineers and the iron-fisted threats of 120 Sokri mercenaries and more than 20 operators, and barely created a prototype of a railway station and logistics transfer station in this valley.


    Well... actually, it was just a few rows of warehouses, two waiting rooms that were about the same size as the cow sheds on ordinary farms, and five wooden buildings that served as the station dispatching room, conductor lounge, conductor office, ticket office, and information desk and merchandise sales office.


    Once the construction of a station that could provide basic services was completed, the railway construction project would be officially launched.


    Early in the morning, Hal, Pansy, Wagner, and Ken, who were in charge of the prisoners, met together and hurried to the cabin where the undead engineers lived.


    Five of the seven undead engineers in charge of the project were moving around at the door of the cabin, and the other two were lying on chairs in a scattered manner.


    The four people present did not find this phenomenon strange at all. These undead spirits were all like this; they would scatter into skeletons when told to and would not respond no matter how you shouted; then they would suddenly combine into human forms and walk around everywhere in high spirits.


    "I was just talking about it, and you''re here," one of the Undead Engineers waved at the four people. "Come on, guys, come here, let''s discuss the division."


    The voice sounded very old, so the four of them naturally did not feel offended, and all of them moved closer obediently.


    After only half a month of getting along, these indigenous folks all surrendered to the group of undead engineers ¨C although they often spoke incomprehensible gibberish like the other Tarantan undead, they were indeed very intelligent, especially in organizing prisoners to do work.


    Hal and the Sokri man Ken were both team leaders, and they knew very well that the more people there were, the more trouble there would be and the harder it would be to lead a team. And based on the experience of Wagner, who had served as a mid-level non-commissioned officer in the city defense army, it was absolutely impossible to make more than 6,000 prisoners obedient and follow orders without killing a few people to establish authority.


    But in the eyes of the Undead Engineers, these troubles seemed to not exist.


    They first made a set of work schedules, clearly listing the prisoners'' working hours and rest times, so that the prisoners knew what to do at what time.


    Afterwards, the Undead Engineers divided all the prisoners into several groups and selected those model prisoners in Weisshem who had been imprisoned for half a year to be group leaders. They divided the work areas according to the groups and arranged the meal pick-up times according to the completion of the groups'' work surfaces. This not only avoided the trouble of maintaining order when thousands of people were queuing, but also stimulated the initiative of the prisoners. The staple food dumplings provided by the construction site canteen were unlimited and allowed people to eat their fill, but those who arrived late would not be able to get the side dishes (which were pickled mustard and vegetable stew)!


    Simplifying the point-to-point management of more than 6,000 prisoners into point-to-group management of 216 groups of prisoners had greatly reduced the pressure. No wonder the four indigenous NPCs were so obedient to the undead engineers.


    The four of them sat down, and the undead engineer who spoke first explained the next project arrangements to them:


    It would be a waste of manpower to have 216 groups of prisoners crowded together to build the road. It would be better to divide them into seven teams according to the number of undead engineers, with thirty groups of prisoners forming one engineering team, and simultaneously advance the section of railway from Weisshem to the junction of the Tarantan Wasteland.


    There were a lot of mountains in Weisshem. It was unrealistic to dig tunnels in the absence of heavy engineering equipment (the machines were too expensive for Yang Qiu to afford) and blasting teams.


    Lord Yang used the wood to exchange for more than 400 kilometers of old-style railroad tracks from the Huaxia Kingdom (in fact, they were freight tracks from the abandoned coal-producing areas in Province G. The wood was just the transportation fee for dismantling the tracks and transporting them to City A. The tracks were given away for free). As for the sleepers, Weisshem did not have the conditions to make reinforced concrete sleepers nowadays. Fortunately, there were wild forests all over the mountains, and they could use local materials. The engineering team only needed to dig the roadbed and transport sand and gravel to raise the road surface. The construction difficulty was not high.


    The only problem was that Lord Yang had provided a batch of engineering equipment... that only the Undead Engineers could operate.


    However, this was not a big problem. During the survey, these retired engineers had already calculated which sections of the road and which construction stages required the assistance of engineering equipment, so they could be flexibly scheduled.


    The four natives had no objection to the Undead Engineers'' arrangements, including Hal who had a rebellious mind. There was no way; he had already tried his best to understand the Undead Engineers'' intentions, and if he wanted to express different opinions, he had to be willing to be a shameless nitpicker.


    As the four of them split up to form teams, Pansy could not help but sigh, "If only all the Tarantan Undead were as rational as these engineers."


    Compared to those undead with mental problems, these undead engineers were as friendly as the elders in the neighborhood ¨C not only would they not harass or bother them, but they would also wisely help them solve all their problems.


    Hal was silent for a moment, then said darkly, "With so many wise undead souls, what''s the point of Tuttle?"


    Pansy: ¡°¡­¡±


    Well, this guy was still holding a grudge.


    When the whole valley became lively because of the detachment, a group of farmers from nearby villages came into the valley in a mighty procession, carrying loads on their shoulders and pushing carts.


    These farmers were here to sell vegetables to the construction site.


    Chris, a dairy farmer, was delivering vegetables to his uncle''s house for the first time. When he entered the valley and saw many buildings in the valley that was once overgrown with weeds, he almost dropped his jaw: "Oh my God, there are so many things here!"


    "I told you a long time ago that this place has changed a lot." The uncle who was walking in front with a load on his shoulder turned back with a smile. "The people detained in the detention center and the prisoners brought back from the city half a month ago are all working here. I saw Garcia Green when I delivered vegetables the day before yesterday!"


    "Really? The Elegant Dream boss Garcia?" Chris said in surprise.


    Before the arrival of the undead, Elegant Dream was the premier luxury club in Weisshem. Garcia Green, the owner of Elegant Dream, was a well-known local figure, known for his violent temper and his tendency to kill people on a whim. Even a young man like Chris who lived in the countryside knew of his notoriety.


    "There are no big bosses now," Chris''s uncle sneered. "That guy looks like a street beggar who walked out of nowhere. He is timid and can''t even hammer a nail properly. Even the prisoners in the same group despise him."


    "Is that so!" Chris''s eyes flashed with gossipy intentions. He loved to hear about the misfortunes of notorious guys like that.


    "Garcia is nothing. I''ve seen better ones," a vegetable farmer walking next to Chris boasted loudly. "Last time I came to deliver vegetables, I saw Cardo Gold!"


    The vegetable farmers who delivered the vegetables immediately exclaimed, "Oh¡ª¡ª"


    The former militia captain, Cardo Gold, was much more famous and had a much higher status in the eyes of vegetable farmers than the club owner Garcia ¨C all the farmers who had come to the town to sell vegetables had their baskets kicked by the former militia captain and had their vegetables taken for free.


    Yes, Mr. Gold had a high reputation in the town and was highly valued by the former mayor, whom the townspeople only saw a few times a year, but this had nothing to do with vegetable farmers. The enthusiasm and friendliness of the former militia captain were not open to the lower-class people, let alone farmers. If anyone in the town wanted their children to join the militia and have a stable job, it would have been impossible to succeed without giving Captain Gold enough gifts.


    The vegetable farmer who broke the news was very proud to see that everyone''s attention had shifted to him. He talked incessantly about how miserable Cadogan Gold was, and especially emphasized how Mr. Hal Maxwell would beat and kick the arrogant former militia captain at will.


    Take Gold, for example. He had enjoyed a smooth life for decades and had been bullying the people of Weisshem the whole time. It was truly difficult for him to adapt to the change in his identity in a short period of time. Even after being reduced to a prisoner, he was often provocative. He was not as tactful as Garcia Green, so it was normal for him to be the focus of Hal''s violent temper.


    Amidst the cheerful chat, the vegetable farmers delivered large quantities of vegetables to the construction site canteen in the valley.


    The construction site canteen, which consisted of a few simple sheds, did not have a formal chef. All the chefs were part-time chefs who took turns in shifts. It truly did not require any cooking skills to cook dumplings and stew after all.


    "There are a lot of dishes today," Sam, who was the part-time chef, saw the vegetable farmers coming and came out of the shed with a smile.


    "Mr. Hank." When the vegetable farmers saw that the person who was collecting vegetables today was Sam, they all smiled sincerely.


    Next, the group of vegetable farmers lined up consciously and carried the vegetables they sent into the shed to be weighed.


    The construction site canteen did not discriminate when it came to vegetables; potatoes, radishes, greens, and cabbages were all accepted. The only requirement was that the vegetables had to be washed and tidied before being put into the pot. The staff members did not have the energy to wash the vegetables.


    After being weighed, the vegetable farmers could collect the "vegetable money" from Agent Sam ¨C six pounds of potatoes and radishes or three pounds of green leafy vegetables could be exchanged for one pound of dumplings.


    That¡¯s right, the construction site canteen had no money to buy vegetables, so they could only exchange dumplings with the farmers. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Anyway, there were as many of these super low-cost dumplings as you wanted ¨C as long as the consumption did not exceed the budget given by Weisshem Town Hall.


    Vegetable farmers were very happy about this kind of exchange ¨C dumplings with thin white flour skin and meat filling could be exchanged for vegetables grown in their own fields. Anyone who was not enthusiastic was a fool!


    Although the dumplings made at the construction site did taste a little worse than those sold at the undead delicatessen in town, they were, after all, dumplings wrapped in thin white flour with meat filling!


    Chris''s family ran a ranch. They grew grass and raised a dozen dairy cows on the mountain land where crops could not be grown. The family''s income usually came from delivering milk to residents in the town and selling some cheese products.


    After Chris''s grandfather passed away, his father''s generation divided the family business. His uncle did not want to run the ranch, so he took the family money and "changed jobs" to become a farmer.


    Usually, his uncle and aunt delivered the groceries together, but today, because his aunt had something to do, his uncle asked Chris to help.


    Chris''s mouth opened wide when he saw his uncle exchange two baskets of vegetables and the potatoes he helped push for more than 30 kilograms of white flour dumplings.


    He had also eaten the dumplings sold at the Undead Delicatessen in town. Fifteen small dumplings cost three copper coins!


    The beaming uncle carefully put the white flour dumplings he had exchanged into the basket. Seeing his nephew''s jaw dropping, he could not help but smile and said, "Don''t be silly. I''ll give you a few pounds when we get back."


    "Thank you, uncle," Chris smiled.


    Before the uncle and nephew could say a few words, Sam who was collecting the vegetables suddenly raised his hand and said to everyone, "I want to tell everyone that starting tomorrow we won''t need so many vegetables. You don''t need to send them anymore."


    "Ah??"


    The vegetable farmers who were happily waiting to exchange for dumplings suddenly became agitated.


    "Don''t worry, I haven''t finished yet," Sam smiled and pointed to the way they came. "The town is going to build a road from the town to this valley. They should announce the recruitment of workers tomorrow. If you have time, you can go and have a look. If you join the road construction team in the town, you can eat dumplings from the construction site without having to send food. It''s free, and you can get paid for it!"

 Chapter 211 The Way of the Lord

    Chris returned home excitedly and immediately called his family together to tell everyone that the town was recruiting construction workers.


    Chris''s brother, Corey, was the most excited about the good news. He and Chris had worked in the town for more than two months when the town was repairing the main road. He recalled the good days when he could get cash and eat a free lunch every day. He asked eagerly, "Did Officer Sam tell us what the requirements are for this recruitment?"


    "No, as long as they can work, they''ll be fine," Chris said with a smile. "It¡¯s still 30 copper coins a day. By the way,  Sam also said that the work this time would be harder, and the Logistics Department would provide two free meals for those who work!"


    "Two meals!!" the whole family repeated in surprise.


    On a civilian farm like Chris''s that had no land, the family''s livelihood depended entirely on dairy cows and free-range geese, and their life was not much better than that of ordinary farmers. When food was scarce, the family could only have a decent lunch at noon, and when they were truly hungry before going to bed at night, they used milk to fill their stomachs ¨C goose eggs absolutely could not be touched, as all the salt the family ate came from selling goose eggs.


    The town''s open supply of very cheap eggs had a certain impact on Chris''s business, but because salt was also very cheap, Chris''s family was better off than before. At least the family could eat the eggs laid by their geese.


    Chris''s father, who was over 40 years old, said immediately, "There is not much work to do on the farm in winter. You two brothers should bring your sisters with you this time." Looking at Chris''s wife, the head of the family said, "Lilit should go too."


    Before Chris could say anything, his wife, Lillette Doyle, said happily, "Okay, Dad!"


    "Lilit, the work on the construction site is very hard," Chris quickly said to his wife.


    Lilit glared at her husband unhappily and looked to her old father for help.


    "Let Lilit go. You will all stay at Mrs. Doyle''s house. It''s a good opportunity for Lilit to keep Mrs. Doyle company," the head of Chris''s family slowed down his tone and said to Chris, "Don''t forget to pay Mrs. Doyle."


    Chris was reluctant to let Lilit suffer that kind of hardship, but he did not dare to disobey his father, so he could only say helplessly, "Don''t worry, Dad. Corey and I paid for the accommodation last time." Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    After the red-light district was cleared out by the undead, Mrs. Doyle''s family hotel was deserted for a while without those out-of-town pleasure seekers.


    However, after the town began to recruit workers, Mrs. Doyle''s situation gradually improved ¨C the Doyles changed their business model, from renting out rooms to charging bed fees. Each room had four to six beds, and each bed only cost two copper coins to rent for a day, which was very popular among the farmers who came to the town to work.


    Nona, the wife of the eldest brother Corey, looked at Lilit with envy.


    "Don''t go, just stay at home," the old father said, "You are pregnant, and it is easy to get into trouble if you are too tired at this time."


    Nona lowered her head in disappointment.


    Knowing that his wife had always wanted to go to town, Corey mustered up the courage to say, "Dad, let Nona go with us. She can''t do the work on the construction site, but she can go to the Logistics Department to have a look. The town is going to recruit so many workers, the Logistics Department will definitely be too busy to handle it, and they might even recruit people."


    The old father frowned and looked at his eldest son.


    Corey felt his wife pulling at the corner of his clothes, and said more firmly, "Nona will go with us for a few days. If the Logistics Department really doesn''t need anyone, then she can come back."


    The old father looked at his eldest son, then looked at Nona who was looking depressed with her head down, and said, "Well... okay, you take care of her."


    Korek happily shook his wife''s hand, and Nona finally smiled.


    The old father shook his head helplessly when he saw that all the young people were longing for the town.


    That night, the six young people who were about to go to town chattered excitedly until late at night, and only quieted down after being scolded by their old father.


    Early the next morning, brothers Corey and Chris, along with their wives and two unmarried sisters, and their old father who had started working as a milkman again, set out from home before dawn.


    Mr. and Mrs. Doyle were so happy to see their daughter Lilit whom they had not seen for a long time. When they heard from Chris that the town was going to recruit a large number of workers, Mrs. Doyle was so happy that she thanked the goddess again and again.


    It was still early, and the six young men diligently helped Doyle clean up the room that had been vacant for a while. Before noon, they had cleaned the Doyle family''s guesthouse and made it look brand new.


    At Mrs. Doyle''s strong request, the six people had lunch at the Doyle family''s house, and then hurried to the town hall.


    When they arrived, many people were already standing or sitting in the courtyard of the town hall and even on the street in front of the gate.


    "I knew you guys would come," Chris'' uncle was also in the crowd. He smiled when he saw the whole family. "Oh, you all came. Doesn''t your farm need anyone to look after it?"


    "My mother is at home," Chris happily greeted his uncle and his cousins, and led the group of people he led to the wall occupied by his uncle''s house. "Where''s my aunt? Isn''t she coming this time?"


    The last time the Chris brothers went to town to do odd jobs, the entire uncle''s family came over, leaving only the little daughter at home to look after the fields.


    "Your aunt has brought this upon herself," the uncle laughed. "Didn''t the town hall sell cheap chicks and ducklings last time? Your aunt was greedy and bought dozens of them at once to raise. This time, even if she wanted to, she couldn''t leave. Those chickens and ducks can''t be left unattended."


    "Are all the chickens and ducks alive?" Nona asked curiously.


    "It''s not that easy. Almost half of them died," the uncle waved his hand and said, "The clerk at the town hall clearly said that if any chicken is not in good spirits, it should be isolated and raised separately. If it dies, it should be buried. Your aunt couldn''t bear to do it. She insisted on keeping the chicks until they could hardly stand up. As a result, one chicken infected another, and the situation got worse and worse. Fortunately, the remaining chickens were raised, otherwise all the cornmeal would have been wasted."


    The agricultural tax paid this year was less, and most families had surplus food, otherwise not many people would be willing to feed cornmeal to chickens.


    The two families gathered together in the corner and chatted about family matters, waiting for the people from the town hall to come out and post the notice.


    If they were the only ones coming, they might have doubted whether the town was really hiring, but since there were many people from the town among the waiting crowd, then this was definitely the case ¨C there were many families in the town who had people working in the factory in the town hall, and these people were well-informed.


    As they were waiting patiently, they suddenly heard angry curses mixed with local slang from the side, and someone screamed in fear.


    Chris, Corey, their uncle, and their uncle''s cousins instinctively stood up and protected the female family members who were traveling with them behind them, then they looked at the source of the chaos in confusion.


    On the other side of the town hall gate, it seemed that many people were pushing and shoving each other, and even fighting. Due to the large number of people and the chaos, and some people were constantly moving, it was difficult to see what was happening over there.


    The two families wondered in fear what had happened when several uniformed security guards suddenly rushed out from the town hall, pushed aside the crowd blocking their way and rushed into the center of the chaos, and after a burst of shouting and cursing, they used their professional "violence to fight violence" to quickly quell the commotion.


    The security guards were all former militiamen. Although these people behaved much better after surrendering to the new lord and no longer beat people up in the streets or took things for free, the locals were still afraid of them. They dispersed far away without the security guards needing to shout, allowing Chris''s family, who had been guarding the wall, to see the situation clearly.


    "Look at this... Well, it turns out that you can''t mess with the security team. In just a short while, more than a dozen people were beaten down..."


    After quickly knocking down the troublemaker and the victim, the security guard impatiently asked, "Who started it? Are you tired of living and ran to the town hall to start a fight?!"


    Several young men who were dressed similarly to Chris''s two families and whose peasant characteristics could be seen from the mud on their straw sandals and pants struggled to sit up and pointed at the others who were groaning in pain and said angrily, "It was them! They beat us up!"


    This group of people was obviously larger than the group of young farmers, with seven or eight of them. Their clothes were not made of good materials, but they were relatively clean, and they wore round-toed leather boots that only people in the town would wear.


    "Why are you hitting people?" The security officer picked someone close to him and kicked him.


    "Ouch!" The unlucky guy who was kicked quickly propped up his upper body and dodged. He was so angry that he didn''t dare to vent it on the security team. He could only shout, "We didn''t hit them, they hit us first!"


    "How can you say you didn''t hit anyone? I clearly saw you hitting someone!" the young farmer cried aggrievedly.


    The security guard was obviously very good at dealing with this kind of situation. He glared at the young men and said viciously, "Watch your words. This is the entrance to the town hall! Do you think the undead mayor can''t see through people like you? Tell the truth! Anyone who dares to lie will be sent to the prisoner road repair team to do hard labor. Mr. Hal is not as easy to talk to as us!!"


    As soon as these words came out, the faces of the group of young men in the town who were accused of beating people changed...


    Until half a month ago, when the residents of the town passed by the detention center, they could see Hal Maxwell brutally beating the prisoners.


    In fear, the group of young men could only stammer out the truth...


    Not long after, this small conflict at the gate of the town hall was reported to Ji Tang and Tattle Joe who were busy calculating the accounts.


    "People in the town think that farmers are taking their jobs? Is there such a stupid thing?" Tuttle almost laughed when he heard this.


    During this period of time, he had been forced to digest a lot of new knowledge by an undead, which made his head hurt. Wasn''t it just to make life easier for the people of Weisshem? He was dizzy looking at the full account book. The locals outside who were full of food and had nothing to do actually had the energy to fight among themselves. Did they think his bow was not strong enough to deal with them?


    "Calm down." Ji Tang was much calmer. "It is normal for people to have conflicts. Don''t take your anger out on the people."


    Tuttle''s face froze, and then he became angry and said, "What do you want to say? Do you think I''m stupid and look down on me?"


    "I mean, we should adopt the right approach when conflicts occur among the masses. For example, why don''t they live in peace? What is the point of their conflict?" Ji Tang remained calm. "For example, in this case, the young people in the town think that the farmers are stealing their jobs. First of all, this is not true, because more than 80% of our factory employees are town residents, and less than 20% are from farmers'' families."


    "Why is there such a big difference? Did we give special treatment when recruiting workers? Of course not. Our factory does not look at people''s background when recruiting. We only look at whether they have the corresponding work ability." After a pause, Ji Tang looked at Tuttle with encouragement, "You should remember what dimension we use to measure work ability, right?"


    Tuttle held it in for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Level of knowledge."


    "Yes, this is the key point. Our workers need to operate machinery and need to be able to do simple calculations. Illiterate people are not qualified for this job." Ji Tang said approvingly, "During the previous renovation, our education department provided voluntary literacy training to all temporary workers. If they can recognize 200 commonly used characters and can do addition and subtraction within 100, they are considered to have escaped from illiteracy."


    "Many of the townspeople attended private classrooms for a few months or half a year when they were young, so their foundation is better than that of the farmers. Therefore, the literacy rate of the townspeople is higher, which gives them an advantage when applying for jobs."


    "However, not all townspeople are satisfied with their advantages over farmers. For example, the town now thinks that their job opportunities were taken away by farmers." Ji Tang said, "And this small group of people, according to the floating population statistics of the Civil Affairs Department, are young and middle-aged people who ''returned'' to the town from Indhal City after we drove away the Bartles family. They missed the literacy period and had difficulty passing the factory job application. They couldn''t accept that they were inferior to other townspeople, so of course they could only vent their anger on the farmers who occupied less than 20% of the quota."


    "They really don''t know what''s good for them!" Tuttle cursed immediately.


    "What do you think is the most appropriate way to deal with this situation?" Ji Tang asked.


    "Of course, throw them into free labor. Is that even a question?" Tuttle asked.


    Ji Tang said nothing, but looked at the ranger who only had a handsome face with caring eyes.


    "What''s that look in your eyes?! Shouldn''t such an ungrateful bastard be punished?!" Tuttle was furious.


    Ji Tang shook his head and sighed, "Open more literacy classes! You are the lord, and the people of Weissthem are your people. If they do something wrong, you can punish them, but the ultimate goal of punishment is education. How can you fight with the people? The people are short-sighted, so teach them to look at the long term. The people lack competitiveness in employment, so you should consider how to give your people, whether they are townspeople or villagers, unified opportunities for promotion!"


    "Why do we need to build roads at this time? It is to gather together the young and middle-aged people in the town and the countryside. The town builds infrastructure, and people have to work. The young and middle-aged people who work together will also make it easier for us to carry out secondary literacy campaigns and prepare qualified workers in advance for the factory''s expansion next year... Isn''t this obvious at a glance?"


    Tuttle: ¡°¡­¡±


    Unlike the undead he needed to blink, he couldn¡¯t see such a long distance!

 Chapter 212: Union Problems

    While Weisshem was busy organizing young people to build roads and study, the city of Indhal was quite calm.


    The new lord did not interfere too much in people''s lives. Not only did he not issue new decrees and regulations requiring everyone to comply, he even did not touch the North City Factory District, which everyone thought the he would definitely take action against. Not to mention the middle-class families who could only watch the fun, even the nobles who owned the North City Factory District found it incredible.


    It is not an exaggeration to say that the bulk of Indhal''s wealth was concentrated in the North City Factory District. There were more than 40,000 workers and dozens of large and small factories here. It was the only industrialized production base in Indhal. If this world also had an economic indicator such as GDP, then more than 80% of Indhal''s GDP must have been created by the North City Factory District.


    Ever since the fall of the Bartles family, Viscount Darcy, who had become the leader of the local nobles, had been secretly observing the movements of Charlie Rex, who entered the City Hall. The result of his observation was...Charlie Rex seemed to be blind and basically ignored the wealth of the North City.


    After sweeping the club area, sealing off the bar area and casino area, and clearing out all the gray industries in the city, Charlie Rex seemed to be very satisfied with his "political achievements" and stopped there.


    This made Viscount Darcy very confused.


    Even if this illegitimate child was worried that the local nobles would unite to force him to step down, or even release the position of mayor to someone qualified... he wouldn''t have been so afraid to not even touch the money, right?


    Not to mention the Bartles family¡¯s large shares in several large factories. Didn¡¯t Charlie Rex dare to touch these free benefits?


    After much deliberation, Viscount Darcy decided to gather the factory owners at his home in the name of a private cocktail party to discuss countermeasures.


    These factory owners... were actually just the more respectable local nobles. Even Baron Marcus, who lost his fiefdom, was among them - this guy still had two farms in his hands, and could barely maintain his small brewery.


    In the study, facing a group of nobles who were landlords, capitalists, and factory owners, Viscount Darcy solemnly opened the topic of discussion: "What do you think of the Bartles family''s shares?"


    As soon as these words came out, all the gentlemen in the room showed their hungry wolf-like eyes...


    Last week, Charlie Rex released Adela III and his loyal butler Gould.


    This third generation was quite sensible. After returning to the only remaining farm of the Bartles family, he stayed indoors and never mentioned a word about selling their family''s shares. The tragic experience of losing the territory and being thrown into prison finally made this third generation learn what worldly wisdom and human relationships were. He could already figure out that although those shares were still in the name of the Bartles family, they no longer belonged to the family.


    The winner takes all is the most universal truth in this world. Whoever does not know what''s good for them will have to pay the price. When the local nobles divided up the Bartles family''s farm estate, they were very honest and did not touch the Bartles family''s shares. That was the meat on the plate of the big winner, Charlie Rex. No matter how much they despised that illegitimate child, the nobles would not think that the guy would not kill people for such wealth.


    But things in this world are so strange. Charlie Rex had been in the city of Indhal for more than 20 days, but this guy had never sent anyone to the factory area to receive the largest legacy of the Bartles family...


    Who wouldn''t be tempted by such a big piece of fat meat with no owner just lying there?


    "Doesn''t Rex know about this?" someone said, swallowing.


    "How is that possible?" Someone immediately sneered, "Even if that illegitimate child has not received a proper education and doesn''t understand these things, do those he¡¯s working with not understand either?"


    Those who were hoping for luck remained silent.


    Charlie Rex abolished the city police superintendent with an iron fist, and the National Guard quickly surrendered. Together with the sheriff''s detectives who were usually ignored by many people, they became the most loyal lackeys of the new city hall. Now, apart from the militiamen that Rex brought into the city from Weisshem, these people were the only ones patrolling the streets. The gentlemen were fed up with seeing this group walking around like they owned the place.


    The National Garrison is part of the regular establishment of the cities of the Kingdom of the Rhine. The garrisons of each city are uniformly appointed by the royal city. It is a violent organization loyal to the lord, but even more loyal to the Rhine royal family. Its relationship with the local nobles had always been delicate... To be precise, the nobles wanted to interfere with the military power of the National Garrison, but they also disliked the fact that there were too many people in charge of the National Garrison.


    The Bartles family had a strong army of their own and had neglected the National Garrison of Indhal for hundreds of years. Now that they had finally replaced the new lord, the National Garrison would naturally cling to the new lord and it was impossible for them to keep the leadership position open for the Bartles family.


    "Then why didn''t Charlie Rex take action?" a baroness asked, "Your Excellency, what do you think?"


    Viscount Darcy glanced at everyone and saw that everyone was waiting for his opinion. He felt a little smug and said solemnly, "Adra III has not left yet. Everyone knows that, right?"


    "Of course he doesn''t dare to leave. That bastard confiscated his family''s shares as money to buy his life. I don''t think he can sleep well at night these days, let alone pack up and leave." A young noble sneered, "What if he is robbed and killed by some bandits who don''t know who he is when he leaves the city? That would be a disaster for him."


    Viscount Darcy didn''t look at the young noble who suddenly spoke. He knew that after the fall of the Bartles family, not everyone agreed that the Darcy family should be the leader. However, he was too lazy to care about such a young brat: "The news I got was that the Third Generation had been writing letters during this period. Some letters were sent to the Royal City, some letters were sent to the Holy Land of the Gold Coin Church, and some letters were sent to the Earldom of Odysseus next door..."


    "As the current head of the Bartles family, Adela III sent a letter to the Count of Odysseus for help?" The young noble interrupted Viscount Darcy rudely and sneered even more exaggeratedly, "Such an unpresentable person is actually the former lord of Indhal. This is more embarrassing than having a bastard child sitting on the throne."


    After these words were spoken, not only Viscount Darcy, but all the gentlemen present were a little angered, and they all glared at the young nobleman.


    "Dennis Frank, please watch your words in this situation!" said the Baroness unhappily.


    "I''m sorry." The young noble Dennis Frank said this verbally, but his behavior did not restrain at all, and his attitude became worse and worse. "I know that you are greedy for the shares of the Bartles family, but you don''t want to be the first to provoke the anger of Charlie Rex, so you hope that Adela III''s letter of request for help can cause some trouble for Charlie Rex, right, your Excellency the Viscount?"


    Dennis Frank''s last two words were directed to Viscount Darcy.


    No matter how well-mannered Viscount Darcy was, he could not ignore such an offense. He immediately frowned and sternly scolded: "Who told you to talk to me like this? Is this the family education of the Frank family?!"


    "Don''t say that. The Darcy family''s tutor let their granddaughter hook up with a bastard you always say you look down upon? Isn''t such a tutor shameful?" Dennis Frank said with contempt, "On the surface, they said that we should all unite to see what tricks that bastard can come up with. But privately, you let your granddaughters take turns to visit Charlie Rex and try to use marriage to swallow up the Bartles family''s shares and eat all for herself. Is this the Darcy family''s style?!"


    As soon as these words were spoken, Viscount Darcy''s face turned green, and all the gentlemen in the audience were instantly in an uproar.


    "Of course this is not true!" One Baroness was shocked and angry. She pointed at Dennis Frank''s nose and cursed, "I''m really fed up with you, shameless brat. Get out of here!"


    Dennis Frank''s voice was louder than the Baroness''s. "Do you expect the Darcy family to give you a share of the spoils? Don''t dream, ma''am! Let me tell you the truth. Viscount Darcy thought those letters of help sent by the third generation were useless. Before Charlie Rex declared war on the Bartles family, he had already formed an alliance with the Count of Odysseus!"


    The gentlemen, who had just been excited, suddenly became quiet.


    Dennis Frank was becoming more and more complacent. "There is another thing. Why was the Gold Coin Church completely unmoved during the territory war? Because the Gold Coin Church also supported Charlie Rex. Haven''t you seen that the Night Watchmen even hired the Undead to be exorcists? This is obviously a public matter, but the Darcy family deliberately didn''t say it. Why do you think the Darcy family didn''t say it? What exactly does the respected Viscount want to use you for? Have you ever thought about it?"


    Viscount Darcy, who was sitting firmly in the main seat, suddenly felt dizzy.


    The factory owners'' party hosted by the Darcy family ended in unpleasantness in less than an hour.


    Two hours later, the news arrived on Rex''s desk in the top floor office of City Hall.


    Rex read the brief report and looked stiffly at Zhao Zhenzhen who was sitting opposite him.


    "Everyone has enemies." Zhao Zhenzhen smiled brightly. "Find a family that is at odds with Viscount Darcy''s family and has the strength to challenge them, and disclose the operation that Lord Yang had arranged earlier. Naturally, someone will come forward to disrupt the connection that Darcy''s family was trying to make... We should use our energy to do the right things. We don''t have the time to intrigue with those people. It''s better to let them play together and save us some trouble."


    Rex gave a stiff and cautious smile...


    He finally understood why Ms. Zhao, who seemed to be a cheerful, efficient and easy-to-deal-with, always gave people the feeling that she was menacing... This undead lady was indeed very dangerous!


    "Let''s put this aside." Zhao Zhenzhen pulled out another document and spread it out in front of Rex. "The labor union in the factory area has a big organizational problem."


    "Uh... isn''t this union used by factory owners to control workers?" Rex said cautiously. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "That''s both right and wrong," Zhao Zhenzhen said. "If the union is clearly acting as a lackey for the factory owner, then the workers will be very resistant to the union. When we start adjusting the industrial structure of the factory area, it will be difficult for the union to resist us."


    "The point is that this union is, in a sense, a self-organized and recognized organization of workers that seeks the welfare of the working group. This is the key point."


    Rex didn''t say anything, but showed an incomprehensible expression to express his attitude - what a joke, which organization that seeks welfare for workers would unceremoniously take 10% of the workers'' salary? It''s the same tax rate as the one implemented by the great lords!


    Zhao Zhenzhen understood Rex''s reaction very well and patiently explained, "This union was indeed spontaneously organized by workers in the beginning. The leadership of the union was originally workers. When the union was first established, it was indeed serving the workers. The management registered and classified people who needed work, introduced them to various factories to participate in the work, and arranged people to contact the employing factories to ensure that the workers'' wages were not lower than the minimum level."


    "The factory district of Indhal was established ninety years ago, when the army was formed and could effectively deter border bandits. The union also took shape around that time. According to the information we have obtained, at least in the first ten years after the union was established, it was indeed working hard to benefit the working class."


    "However, as time went by, this original intention changed." After a pause, Zhao Zhenzhen said calmly, "The management of the union is hereditary. The father is in the management, and the son is also in the management, and it is passed down from generation to generation. The senior management also fought fiercely for the position of union president, and it even developed to the point where they had to win the support of factory owners. At this point, it can no longer be said to be serving the working class."


    Rex nodded solemnly. He was now a staunch opponent of the hereditary power system. He understood more and more deeply how terrible it was for an incompetent person to occupy a high position after being pushed to the position of puppet lord by Yang... Without the assistance of the undead, he, who thought he was not incompetent, would definitely have made a mess of things.


    "Of course, if that were the case, overthrowing the already corrupt union wouldn''t be a big problem." Zhao Zhenzhen continued, "The trouble is that there are a large number of middle and low-level backbones in the union who have accepted the harmful information promoted by the union''s top leaders in order to protect their own interests. They believe that only when the factory owners make money can the workers have work and food to eat, and that it is right to sacrifice the interests of the workers to protect the interests of the factory owners to a certain extent."


    "These middle and lower-level cadres who directly contact the grassroots workers have conveyed the same message to the workers. In other words, not only within the trade union organization, but also among the more than 40,000 workers in the factory area, many people think this is a reasonable thing to do."


    "If we don''t solve this problem and we take action against the unions and the factory owners, then ... the first people who stand in our way will be the ordinary workers we want to protect."

 Chapter 213 Control Group

    The North City Factory District was the most terrifying blood-sucking worm that depended on the traditional agricultural territory of Indhal, but the North City Factory District was also an important economic lifeline of the city. It was the most stable source of income for 40,000 workers and their families, as well as the tertiary industry population that relied on providing services to the workers.


    After all, the number of jobs that could be provided by the caravans traveling back and forth from the south to the north was limited, and the caravans only arrived in summer and autumn every year. In spring and winter, one would not see many foreign caravans in Indhal.


    To put it bluntly, the existence of this factory area was like a huge abscess growing on a human body. It must be punctured, but before puncturing the abscess, preparations must be made to prevent infection.


    "In this case... we must first win the trust of the workers and make them believe that we are more reliable than the factory owners." After thinking carefully for a while, Rex gave his answer cautiously, "We must be able to place these workers better than the factory owners, give them better employment opportunities and more complete job security... If the workers still firmly believed that the union was necessary, then we could also support them in rebuilding the union, but this union must be supervised by the city hall and the workers... Is that right?"


    "That''s right in general." Zhao Zhenzhen was very happy with Rex''s growth and nodded in approval. "The first step is to build trust. This is very important, but it is meaningless to just talk about it verbally. It must be done in actual work. So what do you think, how should we take this first step?"


    Rex suddenly thought of the series of measures Ji Tang had taken in Weisshem. He blurted them out, and suddenly realized that the situation in the city was different from that in the town. Copying them completely would only lead to more problems. He was immediately tangled up...


    Seeing Rex scratching his head, Zhao Zhenzhen did not feel disappointed. It was quite remarkable that a native of another world could gradually establish a people-oriented governance philosophy in such a short period of time, and she could not ask for too much from him.


    Seeing that Rex was struggling for a long time but still had no answer, Zhao Zhenzhen smiled and reminded him: "When we formulate policies, we must consider the long-term, but we must also pay attention to the problems at hand. It is already the second half of December, the weather is starting to get colder, and people on the road have also changed into thicker clothes..."


    Rex suddenly had an idea and excitedly slammed the table: "Oh, right, heating! Coal!"


    Zhao Zhenzhen smiled and nodded, then pulled out another folder and opened it: "There are two larger coal mines in Indhal. One belonged to Viscount Darcy, and the other belonged to the power plant."


    It sounded a bit unbelievable that the power plant in Indhal did not belong to Indhal...but that was the fact.


    Like the postal system, the power company of the Rhine Kingdom was also monopolized by the top nobles. All power plants and gas companies in the entire Rhine Kingdom belonged to a powerful noble.


    If electricity and gas on Earth could be legally monopolized by private individuals, even pigs would kill themselves at the shamelessnes. However, in this world... due to the poor level of infrastructure and the low consumption capacity of the lower-class people, there were not so many paying users of electricity and gas, so it was not that enviable.


    In comparison, coal mines were more profitable - you could do without electricity and gas, but you definitely needed coal for heating, especially for urban residents.


    The coal mine of the power plant could not be moved, but the coal mine of Viscount Darcy''s family could be taken into consideration.


    The question was whether the Darcy family was willing to sell the coal mine to the city hall.


    "If we go to their house and ask to buy it, they will definitely not sell it. Even if they were willing to sell it, they would offer conditions that we could hardly afford." Zhao Zhenzhen said confidently, "In that case, let them take the initiative to sell it."


    Rex thought hard, but still shook his head: "I can''t do this."


    "It can be done, we just need Lord Yang''s help." Zhao Zhenzhen said with a smile.


    Rex was stunned.


    Half an hour later, Yang Qiu, who meditated in the City Lord''s Mansion every day, appeared in the office on the top floor of the City Hall with an expressionless face.


    "We want to set up a public coal company and plan to provide 300 jobs for the citizens to solve the problem of insufficient coal supply for heating in the city." Zhao Zhenzhen put the prepared plan in front of Yang Qiu with an official attitude, "Among the existing large coal mines in Nadeli, the coal mine owned by Viscount Darcy''s family is closer to the city and has relatively convenient transportation."


    After a pause, Zhao Zhenzhen added, "I went to investigate the night before yesterday. The coal layer of Darcy''s coal mine was very close to the surface. The technicians could directly extract the coal by using a small amount of alchemical explosives to blast the topsoil. The operation is very easy. If there were several rock crushers to assist the operation, and there were shovels, excavators and other operating equipment to remove the topsoil, and a few dust collectors and shaftless drum coal preparation equipment, the annual coal output of this coal mine should be able to reach about 200,000 tons."


    Rex, who was taking the opportunity to drink some water to calm down, suddenly spit it out when he heard the unimaginable astronomical figure of 200,000 tons.


    The black magician, Earthling Yang Qiu, and the undead, Earthling Zhao Zhenzhen, did not react much to this number... It was just the designed annual output of any small and micro coal mine controlled by private capital in any township in China, and it was the kind of backward coal mine that needed to be restructured or even closed down due to inefficiency at that.


    There was no shortage of coal in the Nadli Territory. There were more than a dozen open-pit or semi-open-pit coal mines of various sizes discovered throughout the territory. The coal used by the residents of Weisshem was produced in an open-pit coal mine not far from the town.


    However, the better coal mines all had owners, and because most of the townspeople really didn¡¯t have much spending power, consumables like coal could not be sold in large quantities¡­


    Yang Qiu had a blank expression on his face.


    The national team was useful, but this was a waste of money he had long been aware of. What annoyed him was that the political cadre in front of him actually encouraged him to use spooky tricks to seize other people''s coal mines. These guys were the real profiteers¡­


    Zhao Zhenzhen didn''t care what he thought and continued to talk: "In addition, we also need honeycomb coal forming machines, coal ball forming machines, and coal crushers. If there was sufficient funding, it would be best to set up a public metallurgical plant to uniformly produce coal stoves and stoves suitable for local residents..."


    Yang Qiu turned to look at Rex: "How much money is in the City Hall''s account?"


    Zhao Zhenzhen didn''t stop him, and Rex, the honest boy, handed over his underwear: "Uh, 26,800 gold coins."


    This money was actually the taxes for this year that Adela III had just put in his pocket and the dividends from the Bartles family''s factory shares for this year. Due to the huge amount, Adela III was reluctant to hand it over to others, and planned to let the city defense army take it away when he evacuated... but Rex got the money.


    Yang Qiu nodded, stood up and straightened his robes, and said calmly: "Take out half to pay for the machine."


    Before leaving, Yang Qiu looked back at Zhao Zhenzhen and said, "I will take care of the coal mine issue."


    The door closed, the footsteps faded away, and Zhao Zhenzhen grabbed Rex by the collar, baring her teeth and growling: "Why did you tell him the truth?! You can''t even cry poor??"


    Rex was confused.


    Zhao Zhenzhen was furious: "Lord Yang has money! He has all the spoils of the club, bar and casino looting. How many worthless undead coins did the Night Watch exchange with him for real money? The City Hall has enough money to build public services, and you are so stupid and generous!"


    Rex was sweating on his forehead: "Calm down, Ms. Zhao, even if we used Yang''s money... he will ask us to pay it back..."


    "Can you call it debt if you owe Lord Yang money? That''s called a low-interest poverty alleviation loan. We need Lord Yang to help us out of poverty!" Zhao Zhenzhen threw the idiot away and said angrily, "This won''t happen again. Do you hear me?!"


    "...I heard it." Rex''s whole body was about to break apart.


    Zhao Zhenzhen became more and more angry as she thought about it, so she simply moved out another stack of documents: "Read all of these plans today. How many jobs can the two public institutions provide? How can the control group corresponding to the North City factory area stand out? Analyze them all carefully and seriously!"


    Yang Qiu left the city hall and quietly disappeared from Rex''s perspective.


    As expected of the national team, the revolutionary politicians did not intend to let him, a compatriot, go...


    But since Zhao Zhenzhen failed to successfully take the money out of his pocket this time, he certainly would not take the initiative to contribute his own small treasury - anyway, the money will not be lost with him, so if you have the ability, come and take it!


    Yang Qiu, in a good mood, visited the Night Watch headquarters again.


    This time, the fat official from the Night Watch headquarters did not try to run away when he saw Yang Qiu. Instead, he came up to him with a sad face and begged, "Dear Yang, please control your undead a little. There are really no unresolved cases in our archives, not even one!"


    "Oh?" Yang Qiu sat down on the sofa. "Isn''t it a good thing that all the backlogged cases have been resolved? Why are you so uneasy?"


    "But your undead don''t believe that Indhal has no more incidents!" The fat official said fearfully, "They keep pestering our people and trying to get missions from them whenever they see us... How can Indhal have so many missions for them?"


    The rewards for the exorcist missions are generous. The bounty of several thousand copper coins is enough to make players who are addicted to monster hunting scramble for the missions... but since Nadeli is such a small place, it is certainly not enough for them to work hard. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "My undead are indeed a little too enthusiastic in helping others, but this just proves that our undead friends are friendly and will not hurt others at will. Their actions have indeed proved this point." Yang Qiu smiled calmly, "My friend, since the unresolved cases accumulated in Indhal can be quickly and effectively solved by our undead friends, why don''t we ask our undead friends for help with the cases in other areas?"


    The fat official''s expression froze.


    It took the undead only half a month to eliminate all the troublesome unresolved cases in the archives. This really made everyone in the church excited at the beginning.


    Bishop Gene reported the matter and even received an encouraging call from the Pope himself.


    But... for the church, this matter was over, but the undead were not willing to stop; the normal behavior of the Night Watch Hall closing down had even angered them. Not only did they come to the Night Watch headquarters to harass the Night Watch, they even blocked the door of the church...


    But to let the undead go - this is really disturbing!


    "Don''t jump to conclusions. You can ask Bishop Gene and Captain Clark for their opinions." Yang Qiu was not in a hurry at all. After all, the players were not harassing him directly. At most, they would just curse at the stupid developers from a distance. He was not bothered. "Besides, I came here today to report something to the church in advance..."

 Chapter 214: The whole show

    "You, you mean... you discovered an unstable space-time rift? In Indhal?!" After hearing Yang Qiu''s purpose, the fat official''s jaw almost dropped to the coffee table.


    "It''s not certain at the moment, but the possibility is very high." Yang Qiu seriously said to Jill, "Mr. Gumen, you remember that our undead friends just fought with the Church of the Fiery Sun in the wasteland outside the suburbs last month."


    "I remember, I remember." The fat official shivered and took out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket to wipe his sweat. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I passed by that area not long ago and detected faint traces of spatial fluctuations." Yang Qiu was still very serious. "You know, I am not a space-based spellcaster, and I could not capture the traces of space-time rifts more clearly, so I just searched around there and returned empty-handed."


    "Last week, the city hall established a labor station to collect the city''s homeless people and assign them to the Environmental Sanitation Bureau to be responsible for garbage collection in the city." After a pause, Yang Qiu said in a horrified tone, "Just yesterday, when I passed by the labor station, I felt a hint of... the breath of the void."


    The fat official''s hand trembled and the handkerchief fell onto his thigh.


    "But, why didn''t our night watchmen find anything?" the fat official said, trying to remain calm.


    "Perhaps it''s because the cracks had not been completely formed yet, and the aura it revealed was too weak. If I had not sensed the abnormal spatial fluctuations before, I would have thought it was just a momentary illusion." Yang Qiu said solemnly, "The aura of the void cannot appear out of thin air. Combined with my previous experience near the wasteland, I suspect... there were one or more unstable space-time cracks that were trying to invade Indhal."


    The fat official Gu Men took a deep breath...


    The void invasion was one of the three terrifying shadows weighing over the continent!


    The invasion of void demons, caused by the appearance of unstable space-time rifts connected to the void, was a secondary disaster second only to the revival of the ancient gods!


    "I was planning to verify my guess. To avoid misunderstanding, I came here to report to the church." Yang Qiu nodded slightly. "Of course, it would be best if your church could investigate with me. After all, dealing with space-time rifts is not my strong point. Your Excellency the Bishop will be in charge of this matter."


    It would definitely cause a commotion if a dark magician like him was seen running around the city, especially now that his identity was semi-public.


    The official didn''t dare to make a decision on his own about such a serious matter, so he stood up quickly and said, "Please wait a moment, let me report this to Bishop Gene."


    Less than twenty minutes after the fat official made the call, Bishop Gene quickly appeared in front of Yang Qiu - considering the efficiency of church operations in this world, this was a very standard and decisive action.


    "Words are not enough. Bishop Gene, please come with me to check out the situation." Yang Qiu, who was getting impatient, didn''t have the mood to wait for the bishop to stand there in doubt, confusion, and shock, so he just pulled him away.


    The labor station set up by the City Hall to shelter and house the homeless was located in the bar district. There were not many bars on this street now, but there were quite a few new shops, all of which were affordable two-copper shops and high-end ten-copper shops - even the newly opened delicatessen sold at a standard of two to ten coppers. A plate of grilled tofu, fried potatoes, grilled vegetables, mixed cucumbers and other side dishes only cost two copper coins. It had now become the most popular delicatessen market after Mary Street Market.


    Bishop Lee Gene''s face changed as he walked through the main street that had been filled with all kinds of aromas since noon and arrived near the labor station.


    In this regard, Yang Qiu expressed calmness...


    Isn''t it just that after the carriage came nearby, it quietly "leaked" a trace of the breath of the void that only people with extremely high perception could detect? It''s a routine operation!


    On the weekends of Earth time, Exile Town is still filled with the smell of emptiness!


    Under the witness of Bishop Gene, Yang Qiu solemnly summoned the person in charge of the labor station for questioning, and talked with the workers entering and leaving the labor station, checking the workers'' activities.


    Next, Yang Qiu took Bishop Gene to visit several garbage disposal stations that the city hall had just planned - including the centralized incineration landfill site outside the city.


    The types of domestic waste produced by residents of Indhal were quite simple, consisting of very little kitchen waste, a relatively large amount of coal ash, and some broken pots and bowls that could not be used any more, and nothing else - the canned Earth foods sold in the delicatessen in the bar area would be reused by residents after the bottles and cans were used up, and not many people were willing to throw them away directly.


    Bishop Gene, who was pulled out of the city, was not surprised to sense the vague abnormal spatial fluctuations. Sweat flowed down his forehead and his expression became tense.


    This was also a routine operation - it''s true that Yang Qiu was not a space-based spellcaster, but he accidentally "bound" the space-time rift that the ancient god anchored him to! Creating some unstable space-time fluctuations was not a big deal!


    If a high-level spellcaster came, he might be able to see through Yang Qiu''s trick on the spot...but all the spellcasters ran away because of his arrival!


    Very convenient!


    Having shocked the top leaders of the local church with solid "evidence", Yang Qiu could now start his performance with confidence...


    Of course, it would not work to directly drag Bishop Gene to Viscount Darcy''s coal mine and say that there was an unstable space-time rift there. This would be too obvious - Yang Qiu considered himself a meticulous person, so he was willing to do the whole show.


    In this way, he dragged Bishop Gene around the city for most of the circle, releasing the spiritual field to sweep around indiscriminately; until the carriage approached the wilderness near Darcy''s coal mine, Yang Qiu secretly disrupted the normal spatial fluctuations and created a wave of heart-pounding spatial shocks.


    The shock wave was so obvious that the night watchman driving the carriage immediately stopped his horse and looked back at the carriage in horror.


    Inside the carriage through the glass windows, Bishop Gene and the dark magician Yang had identical expressions, both stunned and heavy-hearted.


    The two men got off the carriage, and Yang Qiu quietly released the breath of void, which was stronger than that in the city and could even be sensed by the night watchmen.


    As the night watchman showed fear, Bishop Gene''s face began to turn pale...


    "It seems to be nearby." Yang Qiu said solemnly, and looked around again, "Fortunately, there are not many houses around here..." After a pause, he said with great emphasis, "Bishop Gene, this place has a high potential danger. I think it is necessary to close it off as soon as possible."


    Bishop Gene looked extremely pale and nodded reluctantly.


    He did not want to lose his composure, but if the void invasion happened in his diocese. According to the rules of the church, he, the bishop of the diocese, would have to pay with his life!


    The tithe tax was not that easy to get!


    Yang Qiu naturally would not step out at this time, and stood steadily beside him: "Fortunately, we found it early, and the breath of the void was still very faint. Maybe... we can still make it in time."


    Bishop Gene''s face twitched, and after much hesitation, he still did not dare to take the risk. He just stood on the side of the road, took out the bishop''s scepter, prayed quietly for a moment, and borrowed the power of the Lady of Gold Coin to temporarily seal off the surrounding area.


    Next, Yang Qiu would have nothing to do for the time being... Let the Gold Coin Church fight wits and courage with the air, and then let the well-informed nobles know about this matter and that''s it.


    Viscount Darcy, who had just been severely angered by the Frank kid in the morning, was thinking about revenge, but he suddenly heard that there were signs of disaster outbreak near his own coal mine and a large area was sealed off by the church. He immediately felt unwell.


    "How can there be such a ridiculous thing!!"


    The old viscount was so angry that he smashed several exquisite enamel teacups in the study. Only then did he recover and called his butler and two sons to discuss countermeasures.


    The result of the discussion... there was no result.


    The word "disaster" was not just for fun.


    Now the Gold Coin Church had sealed off a large area near the coal mine, and even sent people to notify all hunting teams and teams going out of the city to farms and manors that they must avoid that place. They also specifically requested that Darcy''s coal mine be temporarily suspended to prevent the coal miners from bringing the ominous aura into the city - this was not something that could be covered up by just saying it''s a rumor!


    In desperation, Viscount Darcy could only try to recover the losses as much as possible: "We bought the coal mine from the City Hall 20 years ago. The contract signed at that time was for a hundred years of use rights, but now we don''t want this coal mine anymore. Ford, go notify the City Hall and ask for a return!"


    This unreasonable and unbelievable request made Butler Ford look stunned.


    Butler Ford, who always thought his master was much wiser than Gould''s master, kept sighing on the way to the City Hall...


    Naturally, the city hall refused to return the money.


    The nobles bought their private land from the former great lord Bartles family, and the money was paid to Bartles family. Now they are asking us for money for a coal mine that can no longer be mined. Who do you think is not well-informed?


    Thus, the two sides began a three-day long dispute...


    Finally, Viscount Darcy resorted to the ultimate weapon - he asked his most beautiful granddaughter to go to Charles Rex''s house to beg.


    Charles Rex, the illegitimate son who had never seen the world, was successfully moved by the most beautiful granddaughter of the Darcy family and agreed to buy back the coal mine and the undeveloped land at around 50% of the original price...


    Viscount Darcy, who had recovered some of his blood, shouted that it was a lucky day. Yang Qiu, who had been meditating peacefully in the city lord''s mansion for three days, packed up his things and headed for the forbidden wilderness.


    Three days of the Gold Coin Church''s battle of wits and courage with the air was almost over. It would be embarrassing to continue causing trouble for them... Well, the most important reason was that the workers in the coal mine who were forced to suspend work for three days had no savings, and if they did not resume work, they would have to go to the city to beg.


    Yang Qiu rode his undead horse to the place and saw two more tents with Night Watch badges hanging outside the nameless wilderness. There were also a few miserable Night Watchmen squatting in front of the tents and making a fire to keep warm...


    Feeling a little sympathetic for these night watchmen who had to sleep outdoors in such weather, Yang Qiu put away his undead horse and walked over.


    "Mr. Yang." Captain Clark saw Yang Qiu and saluted with a complicated expression.


    Yang Qiu said with a heavy face: "Captain Clark, have you found anything in the investigation over the past few days?"


    "...Not yet." Captain Clark''s expression became more complicated. He glanced at Yang Qiu dimly and said bitterly, "Bishop Gene is applying for the Holy Land''s approval to use the seal... I hope it will come in time."


    In a small place like Indhal, the diocesan bishop naturally does not have a seal.


    The only chance to obtain the Sealed Object was snatched away by the black magician in front of him. It would be strange if Captain Clark didn''t have complicated feelings.


    Yang Qiu sighed slightly, touched the space ring on his left hand, and took out an exquisite wooden box...


    If you''re acting, you have to do it fully.

 Chapter 215 Public Coal Mines

    Most of the unstable space-time rifts that appeared in the material plane disappeared after a period of time.


    A small number did not disappear, or caused too much harm to the material plane during their opening, and high-ranking priests of the church needed to come forward to seal them.


    Sealing an object, an area, or a space was the specialty of high-ranking priests. Brother Lowell had originally planned to seal Yang Qiu in his sacred prison. If Yang Qiu had not released the Breath of Hell and expressed that he did not care about being destroyed together and that he would definitely not be burned, Brother Lowell would not have given up so quickly.


    The unstable space-time rifts that were suspected to appear nearby could be sealed with the ability of Gene, the bishop of this diocese.


    The problem was that they had been fighting with the air for three days but couldn''t find where the unstable space-time rift would appear in this vast wilderness, and Bishop Gene simply could not seal up the entire area...


    Considering the void breath overflowing from the unstable space-time rift, Bishop Gene absolutely dared not wait until this space-time rift, which was very likely to cause the invasion of void demons, was fully formed. Then the most appropriate way to deal with it was naturally to apply to the holy land of the Gold Coin Church for the use of the seal.


    Seals had all kinds of strange properties, but the common property shared by all seals was that as long as they were special objects, they had extremely stable and indestructible special properties.


    For example, the Salman House in the Granser district. If the sacrificial runes inside the house could not be solved and evolved into a seal a hundred years later, then this house would be stronger than the royal palace of the Rhine Kingdom; let alone the alchemical bomb, even if a few legendary magicians like Yang Qiu came together to cast forbidden magic, they would not be able to blow off even a little bit of the wall.


    This strange indestructible property made the seal very suitable for being used as the core of a large permanent magic array - such as the local magic network core of a wizard tower, and the guardian magic array of the holy places of various churches.


    When high-level priests advanced, they could also borrow the power of the gods they believed in and temporarily transfer the pressure of the baptism of the Eye of Truth, which represented the laws of the plane, to the seal to avoid the risk of mental loss of control due to failure in advancement... Of course, this was an operation that only priests with divine power could perform, and spellcasters could not do this.


    However...if the sealed object was used as the core of a magic circle, it would lose its properties.


    No matter whether it was used as the magic net core of a wizard''s tower, the formation core of a church''s holy land, or even just a temporary magic formation, as long as the seal had been used, it could no longer be called a seal... no matter whether the formation was destroyed or the seal was taken out, it would become invalid.


    When Yang Qiu rushed to the seal house of the Holy Land of the Fiery Sun Church, in order to make those Fiery Sun priests suffer to death, he frantically set up several temporary magic circles in the seal house and invalidated several seals that they had collected with great effort...


    In other words - Yang Qiu contributed his own seal (which he snatched from the Gold Coin Church) to serve as the core of the seal to seal this area. This was a very touching sacrifice.


    Captain Clark was shocked when he sensed the dangerous aura emanating from the wooden box.


    "Please ask Bishop Gene to come and seal it." Yang Qiu sighed, "In order to prevent the disaster from affecting the territory of my followers... this is the only way."


    Captain Clark''s chest rose and fell, and he even felt ashamed for secretly complaining about the dark magician in front of him. He said excitedly: "Please allow me to thank you for your efforts on behalf of all the Indhal people, Mr. Yang!"


    Yang Qiu waved his hands without saying anything, just stroked the small wooden box reluctantly.


    An hour later, Bishop Gene, who had been squatting by the phone waiting for a reply from the Holy Land, jumped off the carriage excitedly with dark circles under his eyes, ran into the night watchman''s camp, held Yang Qiu''s hand, and said a lot of words of gratitude with deep affection.


    In order to prevent Yang Qiu from going back on his word, the bishop took unprecedented action and ordered people to move the boxes of spell materials from the carriage and set up a permanent sealing array on the spot...


    That''s right, priests also needed to use spellcasting materials, and their holy water even contained a lot of purification potions (alchemical products) - in this world where gods are everywhere and supernatural beings are worse than dogs, it is impossible for the Orthodox Church to crack down on heretics and pagans like the artificial churches on Earth. Those who stir up hatred for power and profit can easily be killed by the Orthodox God they believe in... Hiring spellcasters and even black magicians was also a very common thing for people in the church.


    Fearing that the night would be too long and full of troubles, Bishop Gene set up a permanent sealing magic circle and looked at Yang Qiu eagerly. Yang Qiu did not disappoint his expectations. He walked into the magic circle in a tragic manner and embedded the seal into the core of the magic circle.


    Well, of course he could not really put the sealed object in there. The only thing he had in his hand was the "original" wooden box that was tainted with the scent of the sealed object.


    There''s an unstable space-time rift in this innocent wilderness!


    Even surrounding it with a fence can be considered a seal! S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yang Qiu fooled the Gold Coin Church, and the next day, the City Hall began to reorganize the coal mines that had returned to national ownership.


    The coal mine was located in an undeveloped wasteland about six kilometers southwest of Indhal City. There was no village around it, only a small road built by Darcy''s family to transport coal.


    There were two rows of wooden bungalows in the mine, housing more than a hundred workers, two foremen, and a butler from the Darcy family.


    When the team from the city hall arrived at the mine in a mighty procession, the butler of the Darcy family had already packed up and left, and one of the two foremen had also run away. Only one foreman with skin so dark that his age could not be identified and more than a hundred frightened workers were left, waiting anxiously for someone to come and accommodate them.


    John got out of the car and glanced at the miners who were crowded in front of the bungalow and looking at them in fear, his eyes a little dazed.


    Only twenty days had passed since he was forcibly conscripted and sent to the battlefield, voluntarily surrendered, and was recruited as a subordinate by Agent Patton. However, for John, a young man from the slums, it seemed like a lifetime ago.


    In the first few days after becoming a contract worker for the City Hall, John felt like reality was not real. With his skinny physique, he would have been looked down upon for not being able to carry heavy objects if he wanted to work in the hardest and most tiring leather workshop. But in the blink of an eye, he became a contract worker directly employed by the City Hall with a formal contract?


    Not to mention his family, even John himself felt like he was dreaming.


    But Operator Patton did not give John enough time to doubt his life. Because the tasks assigned by Ms. Zhao were complicated and trivial, Operator Patton and his colleagues ordered hundreds of contract workers assigned to them without any courtesy.


    In just over 20 days, John and his team cleared the garbage that had been trampled and integrated into the ground on the streets of four civilian neighborhoods in Dongcheng District, dug out public toilets on every street in Dongcheng District, built garbage stations surrounded by half a wall, and knocked on doors to remind residents that garbage must be disposed of in a centralized location.


    In the past, in the city of Indhal, except for the central city area, the blocks where the middle class lived, and the streets with concentrated shops, there was no concept of "cleanliness and hygiene" in other places. It was not worth mentioning to find the soles of your shoes covered with coal dust thrown away by households after a stroll. It was only worth scolding if you stepped on human and animal excrement.


    After initially solving the sanitation problem in Dongcheng District''s residential areas, John and his group of young contract workers began to work hard to set up mouse traps throughout the city. These days, few citizens had enough food to keep cats, and mice were so rampant that they could be seen on the roadside in broad daylight. The health hazard was no less than the garbage all over the streets.


    At first, the mousetrap was made of bamboo and wood, but it turned out that it was easy for citizens to steal it, take it home for their own use, or even burn it for heating. With no other choice, the operators had to get bricks and clay and let John and his group of contract workers make mousetraps on the spot in the streets and alleys where people lived.


    Fortunately, the weather was cold now and there were no flies, mosquitoes, or cockroaches, otherwise the contract workers would have to go around the streets to eliminate pests.


    Reclaim the coal mine. After Ms. Zhao said this, John and the other young men had to follow Patton to pack up and leave the city...


    Although it sounded like a complicated and tiring job, to John, it did not seem hard at all.


    Especially now, after getting off the carriage and seeing the miners looking at them with fear, John could only feel fortunate.


    John, wearing the contract worker uniform issued by the city hall and warm and comfortable shoes, did not feel that he was distant from the group of timid and half-naked miners. More than 20 days ago, he was no different from them. He was originally one of that group of people.


    No, it should be said that he was not even as good as these miners in front of him more than 20 days ago... He did not have a stable job like the miners, and he could not at least have a full meal every day. His house was not as warm as the miners'' sturdy wooden houses.


    "What are you daydreaming about?"


    Patton got out of the car and pushed John, who was standing still, "Hurry up and unload the stuff!"


    John suddenly came back to his senses, said "Oh", turned around, and unloaded the goods from the iron carriage to the ground with others.


    Officer Patton coughed and shouted to the stupidly standing miners: "I am Officer Patton from the City Hall. This coal mine has now been taken over by the City Hall! Now I need to re-register the workers here. Where is the foreman?"


    Of course, the miners knew that the coal mine had changed owners. The Viscount''s butler told the foreman about this before leaving, and only left a few hundred kilograms of black bread and a few baskets of potatoes, claiming that the new owner would prepare food for them.


    Life in the mine was not easy, but at least there were wages and food and accommodation were provided. Most miners sent their monthly salary home immediately and did not have much spare money. Even if the black bread and potatoes had been eaten up during the days of suspension, the half-hungry miners were reluctant to leave - they were really afraid of losing their jobs.


    After Officer Patton finished shouting, the miners looked at each other in confusion for a long time. The foreman, whose face was as black as a piece of coal, squeezed out of the crowd, put on a flattering smile as much as possible, and nodded and said, "Master Patton, you, you mean, do you want all the workers here? Keep them all?"


    Patton was born in a civilian family. When he was a teenager, he also tried every means to find odd jobs on the street like John. He could sympathize with the miners'' feelings - he brought a large group of strong young men with him, and these miners were of course worried that the new mine owner would drive them away.


    "Of course, man." Operator Patton said with a smile, "The City Hall wants to expand the coal mine, increase coal production, and recruit new people from outside. Why would they drive away old people like you who are familiar with the job?

 Chapter 216: Patton

    Chapter 216: The miners


    To be fair, the Darcy family was not a particularly harsh family, and to some extent, they were even generous to their subordinates.


    For example, Viscount Darcy was willing to spend his own money to buy a village and give it to his family knights. Another example was that the Darcy family was willing to let the miners have enough to eat ¨C during the normal operation of the coal mine, the supply of black bread, potatoes, corn, soybeans, and seasonal vegetables was very generous.


    Of course... This still could not meet the physical needs of miners who engaged in heavy physical labor.


    None of the miners that Patton saw were over 35 years old, and none of them had excess fat on their bodies. Their dark skin was filled with lean muscles and bulging veins.


    Patton did not understand nutrition and medicine, but he knew very well that people who did not consume much fat and engaged in heavy physical labor usually looked like this ¨C these people looked stronger than their peers but were actually not as healthy as the average person. A minor illness could take their lives and cause their seemingly lean and strong bodies to quickly collapse.


    To put it bluntly, these miners were overdrawing their vitality and exchanging their future lifespan for meager wages in the present.


    Patton saw it clearly, but he did not feel much emotion in his heart. He had seen too many similar miserable people¡­ The young and strong men under him were not much better off than these miners before they were incorporated into the City Hall.


    For example, those young people from the slums, if the undead summoned by Yang had not overthrown Weisshem, if the undead had not defeated the Bartles family, then they probably would not have lived as long as these miners who were destined to have a short life, and might have died silently of hunger and cold last winter.


    After completing the registration of the miners, Agent Patton directed the young men to move according to Ms. Zhao''s request.


    Patton and two colleagues brought over sixty contract workers. Three agents divided the sixty strong men into three groups. Each group was led by a colleague to clean up the wooden houses where the miners lived. They cleared the garbage, replaced the hay used by the miners to make beds, and sprayed pesticides to remove lice, fleas, and bedbugs.


    A group led by another colleague carried a generator, two barrels of diesel, and a crawler drilling rig more than two meters high from an iron carriage, and dug a well near the groundwater outlet where the miners drew water on a daily basis.


    This crawler hydraulic drilling rig, with a factory price of RMB 65,000, was purchased by Yang Qiu when he was carrying out a people-friendly project in Weisshem to provide running water to every household. This machine, used to drill wells in rural China, worked quite well in this world as well ¨C it was durable, lightweight, and easy to operate (after all, it was a product developed for farmers), and it had been added to Yang Qiu''s repurchase list. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    When the drilling machine roared, many brave miners who were relieved to know that they could keep their jobs gathered around to watch. However, they were driven away by the operators who were afraid that they would get too close and get hurt by mistake.


    The team led by Patton quickly cleaned the large kitchen in the mine (actually a wooden house with an underground storage room and a spacious thatched shed), and then moved boxes of food, tableware, etc., into the storage room.


    "Who is in charge of the kitchen?" Patton shouted to the miners.


    The miners looked at each other for a while, and then the old foreman came out hesitantly: "Master Patton, it turns out that the butler of the Viscount''s family was in charge of the kitchen..."


    Patton slapped his head.


    He was being foolish. Only Weisshem had the energy to pay attention to the workers'' meals. For an aristocratic family''s business like this, it was good enough to provide the workers with enough food. There was no reason to arrange a cook.


    "We can apply for a cook from the Logistics Department later. We will take care of it now." Operator Patton looked around and saw that everyone was busy, so he rolled up his sleeves and did it himself.


    Officer Patton''s wife also worked in the Logistics Department. He learned a little about kitchen work through what he had heard and seen. He asked two contract workers to help him wash potatoes, and he picked up a spoon and quickly cooked a large pot of potato instant noodles and a large pot of dumplings for the construction site.


    As for instant noodles¡­ in this alien world, they had become the main ingredient of thick soup. All stewed food relied on instant noodles for seasoning. Just throw anything that could be stewed into the pot and put the noodles in at the end.


    Not to mention the dumplings at the construction site. Just boil some hot water and throw them in, and then cook until they float and you can eat them.


    Following the habit he had developed in Weisshem, Operator Patton took out a few bottles of vinegar and asked the contract workers to distribute bowls and plates to the miners and teach them how to line up for meals.


    When the aroma of the thick soup wafted out, the miners'' eyes could not leave the big pot where the soup was cooked. If there were no strong guys to maintain order, these guys would definitely start to loot¡­


    As the miners who had received their meals ate with red eyes and slurped their food, Operator Patton noticed that someone was secretly bringing a plate of dumplings from the construction site into the cabin.


    Operator Patton did not say anything, but John next to him shouted, "Hey, what are you doing? Finish your meal and hand in your plate!"


    The miner who wanted to hide the dumpling plate was very embarrassed and said timidly: "I, I''ll take the plate out later..."


    This was not the first time John had seen someone trying to steal plates. In fact, this group of contract workers often did this in the beginning, and were often blamed by the logistics department for this. He quickly shouted, "Don''t do this. Plates are for everyone to use. If you take one away, there will be one less. If everyone takes a plate, then no one will have cutlery to use in the future!"


    The miner''s face turned red and he murmured a few words in defense, but he still hid the plate behind him.


    Patton reached out and pulled John, signaling him not to rush him any further. He then said to the miner, "Are you used to eating inside the house? Then go in and eat. Remember to bring the dishes out. We''ll need to clean them together later."


    The miner bowed repeatedly to Patton in gratitude and quickly rushed into the wooden house.


    After a while, the miner came out of the cabin with an empty plate and put it back into the basket in front of everyone.


    Seeing this scene, John seemed to finally react. He glanced at Patton and silently turned around to do other things.


    Operator Patton continued to preside over the food distribution as if nothing had happened.


    The miner probably wanted to save his portion of dumplings from the construction site for his family.


    Many contract workers had done this before. John, a young man from the slums, always saved his food rations and brought them home during the first few days of his work.


    Even Patton himself had done something similar ¨C before his wife joined the Logistics Department, he was the only one who had meat in his work meal side dishes, and Patton always saved the meat and brought it home to satisfy his children''s cravings.


    Seeing that the man who hid the dumplings from the construction site was not blamed, more and more miners only ate one or two dumplings to taste them, and put the rest into their own bamboo tubes or jars to take home.


    After having their only full meal in three days, the miners became noticeably more friendly towards the people from the city hall. They took the initiative to participate in the labor and do what they were able to do without being told by the staff.


    In just half a day, the living area of the mine, which was originally covered with coal dust and extremely dirty, was cleaned up.


    As the sun was setting, Patton gathered the miners together, distributed work clothes and work certificates with their names on them, and distributed towels and cotton socks, which were the basic welfare benefits of formal employees of the City Hall. He told the miners that the coal mine would officially start operations in two days after the machines and personnel were fully equipped. He asked them to go home in the two days before the work started, explain the situation to their families, and report back on time.


    If the miners were asked to go home and wait for news right away, they would never have left. However, the people from the city hall dug wells for them, cleaned their living environment, and issued them work clothes and work certificates. These miners no longer doubted the sincerity of the city hall, and some of them could not wait to pack up their things on the spot.


    That night, Patton''s team did not return to the city, but stayed overnight at the mine. The person in charge of the newly established state-owned coal company had not yet been decided, so he had to take over the coal mine and complete the handover of the machines before the candidate was finalized.


    In the wooden house where the butler of the Darcy family lived, Officer Patton was writing a letter to his wife under the kerosene lamp, sitting on a small stove made of mud by the miners themselves.


    He hoped that his wife, who worked in the Logistics Department, would take the initiative to apply for a logistics position in the coal company. This way, his wife could move from Weisshem and he could see his wife from time to time.


    Unlike other officers, Patton initially just followed the crowd and joined the black magician behind Rex. After all, his companions all chose to join Weisshem.


    While Weisshem was busying aimlessly, the Undead Mayor Ji Tang and Ms. Zhao organized classes for them and explained some truths to them.


    Every time he attended the class, Patton felt that those words were very correct, but when he thought about it privately, he felt that many parts of those words were wrong.


    Many things were just too¡­ unreasonable. They went against, conflicted with, and were in opposition to the laws of the world that Patton knew.


    Patton did not reveal his doubts because he found that his comrades around him believed what Ms. Zhao said, especially Sam Hank, the good brother who once told him privately that everything in Weisshem was too outrageous and could not last long. After being exiled, he seemed like a different person.


    If Sam had not been chosen to accompany the Undead Engineer on field missions, Patton had no doubt that he would have had many ideological conflicts with Sam.


    Patton disguised himself very well. He always faithfully completed the tasks assigned by his superiors without any compromise. He suffered a lot in the first two years after joining the city defense force. He knew that people who were different from others were easily targeted.


    Although he really did not agree with Ms. Zhao''s bizarre and illogical rhetoric, deep down, Patton did not dislike the undead''s style of doing things¡­ People at the bottom of society really had a hard life, and giving them some cheap goods, some good jobs, and allowing everyone to live a little better, this was indeed something Patton was willing to do.


    Patton hid his slightly speculative mentality very well, and this feeling that he could not tell others began to waver when the territory war started.


    The innocent young men who were driven to the battlefield, crying and trembling, irritated Patton.


    At that time, he was standing in the Western camp, looking from afar at the civilians who were forced to charge helplessly under the swords, and the blood in his body seemed to be frozen.


    Yes, he totally disagreed with Ms. Zhao''s ridiculous idea that "the people are the masters of the country." He had seen too many idiots who made a mess of their lives. Even though he was also a commoner, he felt that Ms. Zhao''s words were just wishful thinking.


    Isn''t it that Yang himself is unable to step to the forefront, and doesn''t he have to give up the position of the lord to Charlie Rex, the illegitimate son of aristocratic blood?


    The nobles and the king are the masters of the country, this is the fact!


    But¡­ It''s also true that the nobles did not treat the common people as human beings.


    The masters in the city knew clearly that throwing untrained and barely-fed civilians onto the battlefield would be a death sentence, and that they would be trampled and killed without the enemy having to take action. But the masters still drove the civilians in the city onto the battlefield without hesitation.


    Patton, who stood on the side of the Black Mage Yang and the Undead camp with a speculative mentality, could not imagine the desperate situation he would be forced to experience if he were a civilian in the opposite camp.


    Human instinct is to seek benefits and avoid harm, and Patton is also a normal person.


    He began to think that there was nothing wrong in letting his children grow up in a territory ruled by the black magician Yang and governed by the undead.


    At least in the camp of the undead, Patton can see hope.


    -/-


    AN: Btw, I started translating a one piece fic, check it out. MC summons Tom from Tom & Jerry and then Artoria