"——A letter to the official members of the 'Circus'."
These are the words Chen Lun left at the beginning of the letter.
The content of the letter roughly introduced the changes in Jack Manor over the past year.
"...During the days when you were traveling, I officially established a superhuman organization called 'Circus'. I have reached a consensus with Miss Rosa, the owner of the Silver Dragon Chamber of Commerce, to nominally use their power as a hired team under the Chamber of Commerce...
In the future, the Circus will undertake various commissions from the Silver Dragon Chamber of Commerce, and we also need your help..."
Polaris saw this and understood why the name of his faction had changed. But he immediately became excited because the "commission" mentioned in the letter was the "mission center".
"There will be no shortage of missions to do in the future...!"
Polaris thought.
"...Jack's Workshop has also developed rapidly during this period. It can not only produce and sell [Rage] rifles and [Connie No. 1] mechanical gloves, but also provide limited-edition high-quality weapons exchange services to formal members, such as [Red Ink] shrapnel bombs and [Blue Ink] high-explosive incendiary bombs..."
When Polaris saw this, his eyes lit up.
He owned both a musket and a mechanical glove, and he knew that these two weapons were of first-rate quality and powerful.
This made him have confidence and expectations for the other two "fine weapons" produced by his own faction, especially because they were "bombs"! This kind of powerful prop was the favorite of players!
The public beta has just been launched, and players are at a low level with limited output capabilities, but they can fully utilize the advantages of resurrection and use bombs to cause one-time high output.
Often many opportunities are bought with lives!
"Sure, that's great!"
Polaris suppressed his excitement and continued to read.
"...In addition to Connie who is in charge of Jack's workshop, the team has added several new cadres during this period - 'Sister of Silence' Floy, 'Bloody Painter' Noah, 'Sick Doctor' Maggie, and 'Behind-the-scenes Staff' Golov and Barton...
Maggie is responsible for the team's medicine preparation and will be able to provide medicine exchange services for all formal members in the future...
The [Spiritual Calming Potion] that can restore spirituality, the [Blood-Growing Bottle] that can restore life, the [Thirst-Giving Potion] that can restore physical strength, and the special limited-edition fine potion [Strong Blood-Growing Bottle], etc...."
Polaris read the contents of the letter, his heart beating faster and faster.
"This is what a big power should be like. It's getting better and better."
He sighed with emotion, feeling a sense of pride.
"If they can be called 'cadres', then they must at least be extraordinary people... With so many extraordinary people joining, it shows that Jack's charisma is still as high as ever!"
Polaris' confidence soared.
At the end of the letter, Jack said that he had some urgent matters to attend to these days and had no time to show up, so he let them do what they wanted.
“…You can choose any room in the new residence of Jack Manor to rest, or you can find my spokesperson, Sister Quiet, Floy, to accept quests and exchange some basic items.
Finally, I hope you can wait patiently for my arrival. ——J”
Polaris took a deep breath and silently closed the letter.
"Polaris, have you finished reading the letter?"
The centaur spoke.
Polaris looked at him and nodded.
"Well, there's no point in keeping this letter. Why don't you give it to me? I'll keep it as a souvenir."
The centaur smiled and said casually.
"Do you think I'm stupid?"
Polaris rolled his eyes and put the letter away safely.
This is a letter written by Jack himself to the five beta testers. It is extremely rare. Maybe someone will rush to buy it if it is auctioned in the future.
This horseman is really insidious. He actually wants to extort the letter from him.
"Hey, brother, you are still so smart."
The centaur smiled brightly and pointed at the door as if nothing had happened.
"Su Keying and I have already read the letter. Why don't we go find Jack's nun first and see if there is any mission we can do."
"Um."
Polaris snorted, then walked into the gate of the manor with the two of them.
After the two gatekeepers saw the token, they let them in.
Not long after the three players entered the manor, they saw several carriages parked on the side of the lawn path. One of them was particularly large, several sizes larger than the ones next to it, and there were traces of iron plates and rivets reinforced on the carriage.
A middle-aged bearded man wearing a bowler hat was taking a nap against the side of the carriage.
As they approached, the uncle suddenly opened his eyes.
The three of them suddenly felt a little terrified.
When I sent out a "probe", apart from seeing the name "Golov", the only other information I could see was a series of horizontal bars and a red "fatal" danger level.
"——This should be the new cadre of Jack Circus, the 'behind-the-scenes person' Golov. No wonder I can't see any information about him. He is a transcendent who is 20 levels higher than us."
The horse man said in the chat room.
Polaris and Su Keying nodded silently.
"You three are the 'foreign warriors' that the captain mentioned, right? Welcome back."
Golov took off his bowler hat, saluted and smiled.
"Please follow me. The manor has been renovated. You may need some time to get familiar with it and adapt."
The three members of Polaris greeted him and then followed him towards the depths of the manor.
Along the way, whenever they saw the new buildings in the manor, Golov would introduce them enthusiastically. This was indeed different from the Jack Manor they had seen before, and it had changed a lot.
Enter the lobby on the first floor of the villa.
The three people from Polaris immediately saw the blind girl in a black dress standing at the side of the living room.
"——It's the blind girl who saved Jack during the battle in the square!"
Su Keying spoke in the chat room.
"——I know. I've seen her before. I originally thought she was just an ordinary person, but I didn't expect her to be so awesome... Jack's team is really full of hidden talents!"
The centaur replied.
Polaris lost "Exploration", the expected unknown bar, and a brighter red "Very Deadly".
"Mr. Polaris, please don't pry into other people's privacy."
Floy spoke in a disembodied voice.
"It's both disrespectful and dangerous."
She had a faint smile on her face and her tone was soft yet slightly cold.
A slight black mist surged up from the short black cloak on her shoulders, swirling and enveloping her entire body, presenting a mysterious beauty.
Polaris was startled.
This was the second time that his "detection" was discovered by an NPC, the first time being Jack. Are all NPCs related to him so unreasonable?
Ma Ren and Su Keying were also surprised. The three of them looked at each other. They didn’t expect that even Jack’s nun had such a high level of insight!
During the period of waiting for the public beta test to start after the internal beta test, they were not idle. By digging deep into the official information, they learned some details about the game.
The "detection" function of the player panel is not noticeable to NPCs. Only when the insight reaches a certain level can they sense it. This is also linked to the player's own level. Only when the level is similar, it is not so easy to be discovered.
However, this also shows that this blind girl named "Floy" must have a very high insight attribute!
"——Has your favorability dropped?"
The centaur gave me a gloating look.
"——Friendly to neutral."
Polaris looked depressed.
Although Floy's vision was completely dark, she was able to sense the players' facial expressions and their nervousness.
She couldn't help but think of Chen Lun's chuckle before he left. The words of warning to Polaris were actually what he had told her in advance.
But at that moment, Floy did feel that she was being spied on, which was a warning shared by the [Back to Sun Potted Plant] and also triggered the autonomous protection of the [Black Mist Cloak].
"Three warriors from other places, you can choose to accept daily commissioned tasks here, or you can choose your favorite weapons and props and exchange them."
Floy raised her hand slightly, a purple light flickered, and two thick notebooks appeared in her hands.
She handed over the notebook, and Polaris took it with both hands.
Ma Ren and Su Keying came up to him and watched him open the first notebook.
When this notebook is opened, a column called "Circus Daily Task Commission" appears.
Various daily commissioned tasks are clearly marked line by line, with content descriptions, locations and time limits, etc., and the rewards are also clearly written at the end.
As long as they focus on the task, the corresponding prompt box will pop up.
The three of them discussed it in the chat room and decided that since the public beta test had just started, they shouldn't waste time and should take on a few daily tasks while waiting for Jack to come back.
This idea was unanimously recognized.
So they accepted the same commission, which was to act as bodyguards to protect a wealthy businessman in the inner city of Amber City, and the mission would last for three days.
Then, Polaris put down the "Mission Complete Book" and picked up the "Store Catalog".
After opening it
Horned muskets, mechanical gloves, various ammunition and refueling, three different colors of potions and some weird things, etc.
The exchange prices of the items are also marked. Basically, they require currency plus contribution points. The exchange prices of strange objects are based on this plus a certain amount of mysterious substances.
"——Too strong! My Captain Jack!"
The horseman sighed.
"——No, some things are not on it, such as the two bombs mentioned in Jack's letter... and the special potion and extraordinary knowledge!"
North Star spoke.
Ma Ren and Su Keying were stunned.
“——Yes, it’s not written here, but this is what we need most!”
Polaris raised his head and asked Floy:
"Ms. Floyd, what are the conditions for exchanging for extraordinary knowledge?"
"Extraordinary knowledge and some special items can only be exchanged with Master Jack... Please wait patiently."
Floy said softly with a smile on her face.
"——In that case, there is nothing we can do but wait for Jack to come back... The prices of extraordinary knowledge and those limited edition items must be quite high. I will take this opportunity to talk to the guild leader Xiao Guang and ask for reimbursement."
The horseman sent a short message.
Polaris looked at the message and sighed to himself.
He knew this was the guild's advantage.
Just like the situation of the centaur now, he encountered a top opportunity, but he only lacked money. This is too easy to deal with. All the guild leader needs to do is to raise funds to help the centaur get the status of a transcendent.
This is also a matter of great significance to the entire "Heroic Pavilion".
Not only did it build up a reputation and show off its brand at the beginning of the public beta, but it also allowed the guild to directly possess a truly extraordinary military force.
What's more, as one of the three major guilds, "Heroic Spirit Pavilion" has a super financial group as its backer. They can even mobilize real power, increase funds to invest in the game, and exchange other players' currency to serve the guild.
The centaur specifically asked Floy about the issue of "contribution to the circus".
The answer was that it could be exchanged for property, but it was quite expensive.
One gold pound in exchange for one contribution point.
Polaris and Su Keying were secretly shocked. This was too expensive.
They had previously inquired about the guild's gold collection ratio. One credit point in real life could be exchanged for one copper kro in the game. This gold pound was almost equivalent to 10,000 yuan in real life.
The cheapest item in the catalog costs 60 gold pounds, which is equivalent to 600,000. What's more, extraordinary knowledge costs hundreds of gold pounds and requires an equivalent contribution.
So, if we calculate this way, a [Sequence 9] piece of extraordinary knowledge would cost hundreds of millions? !
This is really horribly expensive!
Even if there is a super consortium behind the "Heroic Spirit Pavilion", will they really pay such a price for a transcendent person?
If Chen Lun were asked to answer this question, he would definitely give a positive answer.
The reason why the price is so high is to catch the fish of the consortium.
At the beginning of the server, whoever becomes a transcendent first will have the first-mover advantage. Hundreds of millions are nothing to a super consortium.
The price of [Sequence 9]'s extraordinary knowledge will definitely drop as time goes by and the version is updated. But at this critical moment of the public beta, no matter how expensive it is, it is reasonable.
Because it is out of stock.
Ninety-nine percent of the players are still in the exploratory stage. If there is extraordinary knowledge with a clear price tag, the super consortium will only complain that it is too little rather than too expensive.
But for Polaris and Su Keying, this was too difficult. They were just individual players, without a big guild behind them , and the extraordinary knowledge in front of them was simply beyond their reach.
"——During the internal test, we accumulated some contribution points by completing tasks. Now we are not far behind... We should take advantage of these few days to complete more daily commissions and try to collect as much as possible. When we have extra, we can try to sell it to the guilds behind the centaurs or the dog-headed gold."
Polaris sent a text message to Su Keying.
"--learn."
…
…
…
call!
A dark shadow streaked across the sky.
Chen Lun spread his black wings and flew across the sky, heading towards a certain direction.
"We're almost there... Flying is still faster."
The silver cane turned around, pointed in a direction, and then was put away by him.
It used to take six or seven days to get from Amber City to Emerald Town by carriage, or three or four days by train, but it only took about half a day by flying.
However, Chen Lun was also very tired. He landed to rest several times during the journey and drank a bottle of "thirst agent" every time. Otherwise, he would not have enough physical strength to maintain the flight.
In fact, it would be faster to travel through the spirit world, but Chen Lun did not know the real-world coordinates of Jade Town, and with his current strength, it was too risky to travel through the spirit world.
To be safe, he chose to fly over steadily relying on his wings.
During the flight in the wild, he passed several villages. From the bird's-eye view, the scenery below was bleak and sparsely populated, with only the vague sight of burning fires and patches of smoke.
Sometimes you can see sparse troops marching long distances, as if they are going somewhere to carry out suppression operations.
"The public beta has begun. Let's go get in touch with the player community first..."
Chen Lun pressed down his flat hat, lowered his eyelids, and thought to himself.
'There are three immediate goals. The first is to develop ourselves by utilizing the resources of the players during this period of preparation.
The second is to water the selected "elites" to accelerate their growth, help me destroy the plans of the Red Apple Church, and strive to strike at their hidden and dormant forces before the main storyline begins.
The third is to prepare for the arrival of the "Mutual Aid Association". Well... this is a very important help.'
While Chen Lun was pondering, he found himself outside the Jade Town.
The familiar outline of the town appeared before my eyes.
But this place has obviously been invaded by the plague. There are troops stationed outside the town. The soldiers have cloth strips covering their faces and are guarding the bridges and gates.
Some strange coke was piled together, emitting blue smoke.
There was a white bed sheet covering it.
They are neatly arranged in rows, as if waiting to be burned.
Many guys who looked out of place in the environment attracted Chen Lun's attention. They were laughing and joking, with curious and excited eyes, looking around and heading towards the town gate.
"It's the plague lunatics! Kill them!"
A soldier sees the player coming and yells in fear.
whoosh whoosh whoosh...!
The soldiers defending the town drew their bows and shot arrows at the players who were running towards them.
As the bowstrings vibrated, the players looked shocked and fell outside the town one by one, turning into white light and disappearing.
“…”
Chen Lun looked speechless.
Why are the players this year so stupid?
The farms in the suburbs must have been occupied by the plague and were deserted by now. Even if they had never met a sick person, they should know that a frivolous look could easily be misunderstood as an illness.
Chen Lun flew over the heads of the guards on the wall, crossed the town wall, and flew straight inside.
Then he fell in an inconspicuous corner, stepped on the unclean stone road, and returned to Emerald Town.
When he entered the town, he saw a fork in the road. There were many "refugees" with weapons gathering, as if they were preparing to do something big.
Someone shouted:
"If you want to team up to kill monsters, bring me along!"