Chapter 47: Black Mage's 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 even within the entire 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.
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."
—Which 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 and 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."
—As 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 always right.
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 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.
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