Chapter 117: Literary Killer
Friday, November 8th, Earth time, is the day when the auction items that players have been looking forward to will be put on the shelves.
After resting for more than ten hours on Earth, Yang Qiu returned to the alien plane at four o'clock in the morning. He stepped out of the rift in time and space. What greeted him was not only the bright sunshine shining through the leaves, but also a corrupted monster with a stinking smell.
This corrupted monster was lying on the rocky beach that he had previously borrowed to advance. Perhaps because it had never expected that a space-time rift would appear, it was staring at Yang Qiu blankly.
"Another Fallen One?" Yang Qiu looked at the monster that could no longer see its human form. He saw the true form of the monster from its blood-red pupils that were a mixture of spirituality and madness. He shook his head and raised his hand to wave lightly.
The corrupted monster, lying motionless, its huge body, as big as a baby elephant, quickly disintegrated and scattered in the form of black sand.
The time agreed with Supervisor Lowell was three days (in the other world time), and now it has been dragged to the fifth day (in the other world time). I don’t know if Lowell has been driven crazy by the players. After hesitating for a while, Yang Qiu temporarily gave up the idea of searching for a few tool men in the Sorenson Mountains, summoned the Undead Lizard, and returned to Westram.
After meeting Lowell... Yang Qiu was not surprised to see a face that was numb and resentful.
"You're late." Lowell said expressionlessly.
"Sorry, it's taking longer to recover than I thought ." Yang Qiu said apologetically, "Has everything been going well these days?"
"That depends on how you define success." Lowell remained expressionless. "Like when Rex was questioned by someone from the Bartles family, or when a mercenary group passed through the border to make some money—"
"What did you say?" Yang Qiu's eyes lit up.
Lowell frowned and said, "The Bartles family sent a high-handed butler to question Rex for being disrespectful to the Innadri City Defense Forces..."
Yang Qiu waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about such trivial matters. I mean, is there a mercenary group that wants to do bad things in Westram?"
"It's a small matter... okay." Rowell's mouth twitched, "Three spies from the mercenary group who claimed to be scouting for their employer sneaked into the town. They were captured by... your undead and me, and are now being held in the militia."
"I'll go take a look now." Yang Qiu stood up with a bright look in his eyes.
Rowell: “…”
For some reason, the black-robed inspector suddenly felt that being robbed by the undead was not the worst thing that could happen to the mercenaries...
"By the way." Yang Qiu took two steps forward and turned around, taking out a box from his space ring. "I once promised to give you some interesting gifts from other dimensions. To express my gratitude, please accept this."
Rowell: “???”
Lowell watched as Yang Qiu took out a strange flat object (a tablet computer) with one side made of glass and the other side made of metal from a small box, and then took out a wire wrapped in white rubber, connected one end to the strange tablet, and plugged the other end into the socket board that the Undead Mayor had installed when he came to pull the wires.
Yang Qiu calmly turned on the tablet in front of Rowell and taught Rowell some simple operations, mainly how to click on the only playback software APP, how to select a series, how to pause playback, shut down and restart, and how to use the simple auxiliary functions inside...
After giving Rowell the cheap tablet he bought on Pin Shao Shao that could only watch pre-stored TV series, Yang Qiu was ready to pick up a tool man...
Lowell looked at Yang Qiu's departing back in confusion, then looked at the small and exquisite mechanical creature in front of him.
The image that appeared on the glass surface looked very much like the novel machine that the Kenyan Empire promoted last year, which could replace the traditional light and shadow stone and preserve the images and sounds in reality. However, unlike the propaganda posters that leaked from the Kenyan Empire , the image here was in color.
The music was very beautiful. Even though Lowell didn't understand it, he found the melody and female singing along with the mountain and forest scenes and unfamiliar square fonts quite intoxicating.
It would be a lie to say that Lowell was not curious about the "unprecedented alternate dimension" that Yang Qiu had mentioned. Although he was confused as to why Yang Qiu wanted him to watch this, he quickly pressed the pause button and returned to his room to get the Azalea Badge...
Lowell took the azalea badge and sat back in the living room, solemnly, excitedly and curiously clicking to continue playing.
This time, he understood the three strange Chinese characters that appeared on the screen: Dream of the Red Chamber.
In the distant music that sounded very exotic to Lowell, a desolate male voice began to sing: "The paper is full of nonsense, and the tears are bitter..."
Next, Lowell sat in the living room for a long, long time. Even when Wagner came back from the cafeteria with lunch and called him, he refused to move.
Yang Qiu did not consider what kind of mental damage his ultimate literary weapon, Dream of the Red Chamber, would cause to Lowell, an elderly literary man from another world. While holding Lowell back, he happily ran to meet the captured mercenary spy.
There had never been any incident in the militia compound that held more than a thousand people, so Yang Qiu had always paid little attention to it. This time, when he personally visited the militia compound, Yang Qiu discovered how good the Hal brothers were at being prison guards.
It was lunch time, and the prisoners were divided into three groups and lined up at different meal collection points.
The prisoners who were working, with stains on their clothes and sweat on their faces and necks, ate the standard work meals brought by the orc girl Lika.
The prisoners who refused to work and obediently accepted their detention were fed with instant noodles cooked by players who came on time to gain reputation with the Undead Chamber of Commerce.
The less honest prisoners could only eat potatoes boiled in salt water...
When Yang Qiu entered the courtyard, he saw a prisoner in the salted potato queue trying to squeeze into the group of model prisoners who were receiving work meals while there were so many people waiting to receive meals. The prisoner was sweating profusely and looked like he had worked hard, but there was no smell of dirt or water on his clothes. He was quickly identified by Hal and kicked out of the queue...
"Too rough." Listening to the unfortunate guy's screams, Yang Qiu shook his head with sympathy, then gave Hal a thumbs up.
Hal, who was kicking someone, was stunned and turned his head away arrogantly.
Hal is arrogant, Tuttle is a man of honor, Pansy is a shrewd old man, and among the four brothers, only the most servile knight Jerome runs over to greet them: "Good day, Yang, how can I help you?"
When Jerome heard that Yang was looking for the spy from the mercenary group who had just been imprisoned, he called out the three unlucky guys who were still in shackles in the Salted Potato Team.
Yang Qiu looked at the three dejected and disheartened guys and was a little surprised.
The reputation of the mercenary group is not much better than that of the thieves' group. These guys who are registered as legal mercenaries in an official city and can take missions all over the continent are not very honest in places far away from home. It is common for them to occasionally play the role of a thieves' group when they find that the defense of a place is lax.
There are also many rumors on the continent that some remote towns were usurped by a mercenary group, which massacred all the local nobles and then transformed themselves into local lords.
To put it bluntly, mercenaries usually deal with either monsters and demons or vicious bandits and robbers. Those who hire mercenaries are basically nobles, wealthy people, and traveling merchants - these three are essentially close relatives of bandits - kind and harmless people really cannot run this promising gray industry for a long time.
How could such an arrogant mercenary become so docile and honest after only being imprisoned for such a short time?
Jerome saw Yang Qiu's confusion and explained with a simple smile: "When they first came in, these three were really unruly. They were noisy and disturbed the peace. We dug a hole in the backyard and buried them alive in it, suffocating them for a while, with their heads sticking out to breathe. We also let them starve for two meals, and then they'll be well behaved when we let them out."
Yang Qiu gave a thumbs up again... It turns out that evil needs to be dealt with by evil. Mercenaries are still inferior to you thieves.
The three spies, who had not eaten anything and had not even received their salted potatoes, ignored Yang Qiu and kept looking eagerly at the group of people who were getting their meals.
Yang Qiu touched his chin and asked Jerome to get a bowl of tempting instant noodles and put it in front of the three brothers: "Tell me your origins, and those who are willing to ask can take this away."
The oldest of the three had a gloomy face and said nothing, but his two companions couldn't help swallowing their saliva...
Yang Qiu smiled slightly and said to the two wavering spies: "Don't worry, you are not betraying your accomplices, you are just turning over a new leaf ahead of time... I don't think any of you can leave Westram, right?"
The three people's expressions changed suddenly.
"Westham is not a place where you can come and go as you please." Yang Qiu said calmly, "Since you are here, you only have two choices. One is to live like a normal person. If you are capable and work hard enough, perhaps your future will be more promising than being a mercenary with no future. The other is to become a spell material for resurrecting the undead."
Among the three, the youngest one began to shiver...
The deterrent power of the black magician Yang Qiu is obviously much greater than that of the monks who arrested the three of them. There are very few warriors who are willing to sacrifice their lives when a knife is on their necks. At least these three guys who are mainly mercenaries and occasionally work as bandits have nothing to do with warriors. They trembled and explained their origins...
The three brothers' previous claims of "exploring the way for their employer" were not entirely lies - they were a legitimate mercenary group from the southern border, and the reason they appeared in Westham was because they accepted the task from their employer to escort a caravan across the Sorenson Mountains to Innadri to trade with eastern and northern merchants.
During the time when Yang Qiu was advancing in Sorensen, the caravan entered Westram. Originally, they were planning to go directly into the town to rest, replenish supplies and "relax" as they had done in previous years. However, when passing a small village in the southwest, the sharp-eyed caravan staff discovered that the villagers actually had high-quality cloth that was even more exquisite than the Kenyan cloth brought by the northern merchants.
On the mainland, merchants who dare to cross multiple countries to do business are often close relatives of robbers. In big cities, they will do business honestly, but in the countryside where they have no ability to resist, they don’t follow the order of civilized people...
After discovering that every household had hidden this cloth which was better than Kenyan cloth, the caravan boss took control of the village without saying a word, looted all the cloth, and declared that he would send the villagers to Innadri on charges of collective theft. Of course, the purpose of controlling the village had nothing to do with "standing up for injustice", the caravan boss just wanted to find out how the villagers got the cloth.
The frightened villagers were unable to resist the aggressive caravan and honestly explained the source of the cloth...
However, the country folk have their own wisdom. The villagers who secretly resented the caravan for robbing the cloth did not explain the situation in the town of Westham clearly - they concealed the existence of a large number of undead and the black magician who supported the new lord Rex.
There were no black magicians and active undead. The new lord Rex, who had a large amount of exquisite fabrics and came from another place without the support of local forces, was simply a fat sheep lying on a plate with spices on his head.
Of course, the caravan boss was not stupid. He did not completely believe what the villagers said. Before taking action, he sent this unlucky Brother San to find out the truth.
If Westham is indeed extremely empty and the new lord Rex, as an outsider, does not have a decent garrison, then there is no reason not to take the gold that has been picked up for free; if the stupid and ignorant villagers do not know the true strength of the new lord Rex, then they can also make a nice excuse that they just found that Westham is different from last year, so they sent people to explore the way before the caravan entered.
After Yang Qiu understood the situation, a mission of "saving the village" appeared in his mind.
The mercenary group and the caravan have a total of more than two hundred to three hundred people. These professional mercenaries do not have as sophisticated equipment as the Innadeli city defense force, but their combat effectiveness is not much worse; plus the caravan itself has a certain combat capability. To capture all members and rescue the "hostages", it is definitely not reliable to rely solely on the more than two hundred players who are online now.
Looking at the brothers Hal who were managing the prisoners, thinking that they would have to go to the main road in the town to be NPC mentors, and the dozen people in Exile Town were too busy just dealing with the players and daily maintenance of the old house, Yang Qiu asked Jerome: "How are the soldiers of the city defense team being trained earlier?"
Jerome immediately pointed to the group of model prisoners eating standard work meals - they were all there.
Yang Qiu was very satisfied: "Great, spare half of the people and give them to me for two days."
In Exile Town, Qin Guan, who had sold everything he had to get the Book of the Dead, was putting away the small scroll that could attract people. Just as he was about to give an inspiring speech to his friends who had come together to raise money, a few rows of yellow words popped up on the information panel:
"【System Announcement】Westham Local Defense: An illegal armed group broke into Westham, attacked and controlled 321 villagers of the local village of Lakeside Village. Players, please rush to Westham Town Hall to receive defense missions."
"I just got the magic weapon and it's now useful!" Qin Guan was so happy that he almost jumped up and shouted, "Brothers, follow me! Let's do great things!"
Qin Guan's group of dozens of people were teleported to Westram, and many individual players were already present in the courtyard of the town hall.
Miaobishenghua saw that Entropy was not increasing, and waved happily: "Qingyue, you are online so early today?"
"Yeah, I don't have classes in the morning." En Bu Zeng replied with a smile, "Lucky, I saw the defense mission right away. I heard that Mr. Vanilla got the "Book of the Dead"?"
Qin Guan was very proud, but he remained humble: "Don't mention it. I went bankrupt after filming this. I have a lot of debts to pay back."
"What do you think of this mission?" Miaobishenghua Chongenbutzeng asked.
"I looked at the mission description. It should be more difficult than the last defense mission—"
Before we could say a few more words, Brother Lahong and his gang, who had come here earlier to take pictures of the Vulcan Sword, also arrived.
When Qin Guan heard the noise, he turned around and saw Brother Lahong, especially Brother Lahong's friends who were happily holding the three Vulcan Swords, and his eyes changed.
When Brother Lahong saw Qin Guan and his gang, his face didn't look very good either.
In this auction, the bosses did not stir up too much waves, and the fraudulent orb that was snatched away by the salted fish boss did not happen last time. The fight only took place between two player blood alliances that had good cohesion - after all, the server had been open for a month and a few days, and the players had already developed feelings for each other. Even part-time gold-earning players would rather sell their copper coins to acquaintances with whom they had a good relationship, and the social circle of RMB players could not be as large as that of the blood alliance party that stuck together.
After such a face-to-face fight, the hatred between the two sides, who had always had minor frictions, became even deeper...
What La Hong Ge hated was that he was not as popular as Qin Guan, so he didn't get the Book of the Dead because he didn't collect enough money; Qin Guan hated that La Hong Ge raised the price of the Book of the Dead too high, leaving them with empty pockets and not even able to take a look at the Sword of Vulcan - if it weren't for a big task right before their eyes and noses, the two teams would have collided and the outcome would have to be decided on the spot.
Seeing the two sides were on the verge of a fight, En Bu Zeng had to step out and act as a peacemaker: "Xiangcao, Brother La Hong, this mission requires capturing a lot of targets and rescuing a lot of villagers. The benefits are probably not worse than when we did the siege mission. What do you two think, should we pull up the big group first?"
Brother Lahong nodded immediately: "Okay, you start the group and pull our people in."
His meaning was very clear. He didn't want Qin Guan, who had just deepened the hatred, to be the team leader.
Qin Guan had a blank expression on his face. He didn't want to waste the CD of the Book of the Dead to pull the people on Brother Hong's side. If someone on their side died, he could just leave the group, pull the people over, and then join the group again...
Entropy sighed helplessly: "Two bosses, please take a look at the mission description. The enemies this time are quite strong. There are several times more cavalry elite monsters than the last time we killed them. If we don't work together, we may really fail."
La Hongge didn't say anything, and Qin Guan didn't say anything either...
Entropy Bu Zeng's brain power and character are indeed strong, and he was definitely not kidding when he said the task would be difficult, but neither of them was willing to admit that.
Just as the stalemate was happening, Wagner led more than 20 soldiers into the compound.
Because their original outfits were snatched away by the undead, the soldiers of the city defense army, including Wagner, have no equipment to wear... They all wear the same steel leather armor as the players, and carry the player-exclusive steel knives.
"Hey, isn't this the elite monster we killed before? It has become one of ours?" a player said in surprise.
Some players habitually cast the identification spell: "Wow, it really is the friendly camp, all the names are green!"
"NPCs also play the same tactic when they can't beat them? Are they that smart?"
“That’s awesome!”
