Chapter 84.1: 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. [TL note: insurance scams to the sort where a person jumps in front of a moving car.]
"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—while 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 to the devs for 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 graves.
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!"
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