Chapter 86.2: Grand Show On The Street
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—Lowell 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—as 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 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— 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…
———
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…
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