Chapter 479 Chapter479-The Misdirection of Darklord
John and Adam spent about half an hour exploring the hidden areas of Storm City once again.
They could sense that the person who had been trailing them hadn't left yet.
When the two reached a less crowded part of the hidden area, they stopped.
John turned around and called out to a corner not far away, "There's no need to hide anymore. We're aware of your presence. If you don't show yourself now, don't blame me for being inhospitable."
Although John suspected that the person following them was an enemy, he thought it was necessary to confirm it.
What if the person was neutral?
Or had other intentions?
John kept his gaze fixed on the dark corner.
After a while, as the person hidden in the shadows still didn't appear, John's patience ran out.
"If that's the case, then don't blame me for being inhospitable!"
The moment John finished speaking, he unleashed the 'Abyssal Prison' skill.
In the instant the Abyssal Prison skill was activated, John transformed into a streak of blue light and instantly appeared at the shadowed spot.
There, he could clearly see an Assassin Player, hiding in the shadows, at only level 50.
Upon encountering the person who had been trailing him, John was quite puzzled.
He felt that the player's level was too low.
And why was this player following him?
"Why have you been following me? If you don't tell me, I will reduce your level to zero. Since you chose to follow me, you should know that I'm capable of doing that."
The Assassin Player John questioned looked extremely nervous.
He just stared blankly at John's face, offering no answer.
"Why aren't you speaking? Do you really want your level reduced to zero? I don't know who is behind you, but I can assure you that their promises cannot guarantee your safety!"
John didn't launch an attack immediately because he hoped to extract some additional information from the other player.
If he reduced the player's level to zero right away, he wouldn't get any information.
After John repeated his statement, the Assassin Player finally seemed a bit less tense and began to speak with a trembling voice.
"I followed you because I accepted this quest on the game forum. The person who posted the quest told me that if I kept an eye on you and reported your location to him, he would give me 20 gold coins."
Adam, not far from the scene, sensed that something was amiss.
He didn't come over but opened the communication panel to check the situation on the game forum.
John did not immediately believe or dismiss the Assassin Player's response.
He could see that the player was genuinely nervous.
John had demonstrated immense power in his recent actions.
The Assassin Player was well aware that he stood no chance in a direct confrontation with John.
Even if he tried to escape, it would be impossible to evade the enemy's pursuit.
The Assassin Player could feel that the space around him was temporarily sealed.
So, both John and the Assassin Player waited for Adam's response, knowing he was checking the forum for the post.
Soon, Adam found the post on the game forum: "There is indeed such a post on the game forum. Your ID is ShadowHider, right?"
Adam turned his gaze to the Assassin Player, noting that the ID responding to the post on the game forum was indeed 'ShadowHider'.
The Assassin Player quickly nodded, "My ID is ShadowHider. I can now choose to reveal my hidden ID. You can see for yourselves whether my ID is ShadowHider or not."
ShadowHider promptly disabled his hidden ID setting in the game.
Once this setting was disabled, any player could see his ID.
John examined carefully and confirmed that the Assassin Player's ID was indeed ShadowHider.
This at least confirmed that ShadowHider hadn't lied previously.
However, John was more concerned about who posted the quest, as the person who posted it was the real enemy of both John and Adam.
"The poster of this message is anonymous, and very few people can post anonymously on the game forum due to the high cost of this feature. Among those we know, only a few guild leaders of the major guilds could afford this. The most likely candidate, considering who would want to track our movements, is Darklord."
Adam deduced that Darklord was behind all this based on the limited information available.
John felt that Adam's speculation was reasonable, but he couldn't be sure yet if ShadowHider was acting under Darklord's instructions.
"You mentioned that the person who posted the quest promised to give you 20 gold coins. I want to know how he was planning to deliver these 20 gold coins to you. If he has hidden his ID, it means he doesn't want you to know his true identity. Do you really trust that he would give you the promised reward without knowing who he actually is?"
Adam closely observed ShadowHider's expressions while John spoke.
If Adam noticed any abnormality in ShadowHider's expression, he was ready to alert John.
The question posed by John indeed put a lot of pressure on ShadowHider.
As an Assassin Player, ShadowHider often accepted quests from anonymous players, so he was obviously concerned about ensuring he would receive his due rewards.
"He said he would send the gold coin rewards through a system email. Moreover, after I accepted the quest, he immediately provided me with an advance of 10 gold coins. I thought such a gesture was a significant show of sincerity."
ShadowHider's response did not surprise John and Adam.
Both of them understood that a player specialized in the assassin role like ShadowHider would not easily trust quests posted by anonymous players.
"Then let me take a look at your system emails," John said straightforwardly to ShadowHider.
ShadowHider hesitated slightly because his system emails contained other quests and potential rewards from anonymous players.
He didn't want others to know about the anonymous quests he had previously accepted, as some of these might have caused losses to Adam and John.
"Don't hesitate any longer, our patience is very limited. If you can't provide the necessary information immediately, I will make good on my previous threat and reduce your level to zero," John threatened again.
Left with no choice, ShadowHider allowed John and Adam to check his system emails.
Quickly, they confirmed through the system emails that the sender was indeed a member of the Darklord guild.
Whether this member was Darklord himself was no longer of great significance.
"It seems like Darklord has been misleading us all along. He deliberately sent a member of his guild disguised as a mysterious figure to feed you false information.
Then, he posted an anonymous message on the game forum, directing an unaffiliated player to track us. This way, we'd waste a lot of time investigating these leads.
Darklord himself is probably already preparing for the next battle. We should immediately contact Blue Sea to see if they have located the headquarters of the coordination guild."
Both of them deduced the most plausible scenario based on the current information.
Adam spoke his judgment directly, believing they must confront Darklord in battle.
John did not oppose Adam's speculation.
In fact, John was very angry, finding Darklord's actions particularly despicable.
Throughout the series of troubles John had encountered, Darklord had always been a formidable and challenging adversary.
This time, Darklord's actions had once again wasted a considerable amount of John's time.
Even if John managed to find and eliminate Darklord, it still wouldn't change the dire situation he was currently facing.
The power of the Mystery Protector was rapidly recovering, and it was possible that, before long, the Mystery Protector could pose a significant threat to John again.
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