Chapter 58:

“Mr. Porter, you said that three workers who went out logging last night have gone missing?” On the fifth day of the special event in Kadman City, Miriam received some bad news early in the morning. She was holding a cup of strangely flavored but invigorating tea, looking at the captain of the camp guards in front of her. The latter was in his forties and had previously been a police officer in the outer city of Kadman City. He was now tasked with commanding a total of 30 camp guards. At this moment, this slightly balding fat man was wiping sweat in front of Miriam. Although Miriam was young enough to be his daughter, his life and the new position he had just obtained were at her mercy, which was enough to make him full of reverence towards the red-haired girl. This emotion was keenly sensed by her. She didn’t dislike this feeling of being respected, so she imitated the mannerisms of the administrators she remembered and slowed her speech as she asked: “Could there have been an error in the records? Many of the guards in the camp are doing this kind of professional work for the first time. Have you gone to check?” “I personally went to the shelters where the three workers were assigned and asked the people around them, ma’am.” The fat captain said seriously: “It can be confirmed that they are truly missing! They also didn’t go to work today, and the squad leader in charge of tallying labor credits hasn’t seen them since last night.” “Could they have run away?” Miriam’s assistant, a clever maid from a wealthy merchant family, couldn’t help but ask when she saw her mistress deep in thought: “Although most people in the camp have accepted the management, we all know that there are some stubborn ones who are unsatisfied with the order Murphy has brought.” “No, that’s not it.” Guard Captain Porter explained: “Those three loggers were young men rescued by Lord Maxim. They’ve been working very hard these past two days since being assigned jobs, and two of them even have family members in the camp. People who know them say these three fellows are very honest and dutiful. They have no reason or ability to run away at this time. They didn’t even bring any food or clothing, so how far could they run? From my many years of investigating cases, my guess is that they may have been carried off by wild animals after getting off work and wandering around the camp’s surroundings. That patch of forest nearby has had wolf activity for a long time.” “I feel that something is off about this.” Miriam shook her head and said to Mr. Porter: “First, take some people and look around the area, but don’t make a big deal of it to avoid causing panic. I need to report this matter to Lord Murphy. Fortunately, the curfew has been in effect for two days, otherwise this incident might not have been discovered so easily.” A few minutes later, Murphy learned about the “missing workers incident” in the survivor camp through the link of the computation bead. At the moment, he was still preparing for the “Great Burning Plan” to reclaim the city ruins and couldn’t spare himself at all. But as he looked up, he saw two little players chatting and laughing while carrying weapons out of the city district. He remembered these seemed to be Niuniu’s two junior sworn brothers? Two jocks! Perfect to send on an errand. Murphy’s eyes shifted, and after clearing his throat, he said to the two cheerful little players: “My warriors, come here quickly. I have an important task for you.” The two little players looked at each other, then excitedly ran over and even gave Murphy a proper local courtesy, having learned it from others. “We are willing to offer you our loyalty, Lord Murphy.” The two pledged their allegiance. But from their appearance, it was obvious they were just trying to gain some favor. Murphy ignored the two little players’ overeager expressions with the solemn demeanor an NPC should have, and said in a low voice: “There has been an incident at the survivor camp. Three diligent and reliable workers we have been protecting disappeared last night. Although it is possible that wild beasts were to blame, we cannot be careless. I hope you two can investigate and help Miss Miriam resolve the trouble she is facing.” “Ding” The quest triggered, and the two little players immediately looked at their player interfaces: 【Random Event “Trouble at the Camp” has triggered Quest Description: An unsettling anomaly has occurred at the survivor camp. In the current situation of manpower shortage, Lord Murphy has decided to dispatch his most loyal and trustworthy warriors to eliminate any potential threat. Quest Objective: Thoroughly search the area around the camp and find clues about the missing workers. Quest Reward: Unknown, eliminating the threat will earn additional rewards. Quest Time Limit: Before dusk today. Note! Random events differ from quests, often having time limits and random rewards. Please complete this event within the time limit.】 “Let’s go! Once we complete this quest, you’ll see our strong and reliable Lord Murphy’s favor towards us skyrocketing.” The two young players didn’t look back after accepting the quest, rushing towards the stables at the edge of the defensive line, where they could rent docile old horses to travel conveniently between the camp and the line. The battle ended within five seconds. Path of Mud and Oil, who refused to cooperate during his attempted breakthrough, was stabbed in the back and died on the spot. Khaki, on the other hand, was knocked out by a poison dart and taken as a prisoner. Since they had already alerted the people at the camp, the Witch Hunter squad wasted no time, quickly leaving with their four captives and heading back towards Morland Village. They thought they were in the clear. After all, killing the rookie soldier trying to break through would ensure the message couldn’t get out. However, in less than 20 seconds, the game forum group exploded. PathOfMudAndOil: 【Dang dang dang! We encountered ghosts in the random event! Why would elite monsters spawn near the newbie village? And three of them at once! I valiantly resisted but still got stabbed to death in the end. Khaki Tony Tai got knocked out and captured! Dang! What’s up with this game, there’s even a captured player function? What if Khaki gets tortured, what then?】 KhakiTonyTai: 【Tortured my ass! When I got knocked out I was forcibly logged out, okay? The game helmet notified me my character is in a ‘special state’ and needs 4 hours before reviving and logging back in. At least this doesn’t count as game time consumed. Dang! What new mechanism is this? Why wasn’t there any explanation?】 TigerLeopardRiderSoldier: 【That’s not bad at all, brother! Since you can log back in, it means you triggered a special storyline, heh heh. Maybe it’s testing a special game feature, like R18 S&M stuff.】 NorthForestDog’sPaddle: 【This game has such thrilling functions? nosebleed.jpg bigthumbsup.jpg】 LuminaYanghen: 【You two don’t panic first, this game is still in testing. This might just be testing a small feature. Why don’t you tell us about those elite monsters first? New monster type?】 KhakiTonyTai: 【Humanoid monsters! Super strong! They dress just like the Assassins from Assassin’s Creed, wearing hoods and carrying all sorts of weapons. Their combat skills are extremely powerful, my proficient swordsmanship and 7 endurance were useless against them. I even took screenshots! picture.jpg】 He uploaded two pictures taken hastily during the intense battle. The first was quite blurry, but the second clearly showed their opponents’ appearance. LuminaYanghen: 【!!!Those are the old faith Witch Hunters, right? We dealt with them plenty in previous tests, those guys are formidable, no wonder you two newbies couldn’t handle them even with guns. But how did they appear near Kadman City? And sneak right up to the camp? Is this a new storyline unlocking? Seamlessly transitioning from Kadman City’s special event?】 PathOfMudAndOil: 【Sister Lumina, give us the details, so these guys are Lord Murphy’s enemies then? They’ve come for revenge?】 LuminaYanghen: 【Not necessarily, the Witch Hunters’ backstory hasn’t fully opened up yet, who knows what they’re up to. But I suspect it has to do with Kadman City’s disaster. Did you two get that random quest from Lord Murphy? That would explain it. A main line NPC issuing that kind of story quest is to be expected, maybe he’s already discovered traces of these Witch Hunters. Don’t worry, your encounter may have been scripted deaths. But I’m puzzled. In theory, scripted deaths shouldn’t actually kill players, so how did you end up dying for real? @Path of Mud and Oil】 PathOfMudAndOil: 【I figured I’d valiantly resist to the end, can’t let us players be humiliated, ya know? But thinking back carefully, it does seem like that Witch Hunter yelled something at me before stabbing me dead. Might have been telling me to surrender? Dang! If I’d known, I wouldn’t have resisted! But this still counts as a ‘work injury’ right? A three-day revival cooldown is brutal, it’s kinda unreasonable to not compensate that.】 At this point, Murphy, who was screen-peeking, was dumbfounded and inwardly shaken. He never expected randomly issuing a quest could uncover such intel. Those damn Witch Hunters actually came to kill again? This bullying of the honest folk never ends! Hmph! Just wait until my little players grow up, I’ll make sure to wipe you all out! I’ll scatter your ashes everywhere. However, those poor sods captured prisoners? Tsk tsk, they probably still don’t know what they’ve captured, do they? Might as well take this chance to infiltrate the Witch Hunters and scout them out a bit, the little players’ “sacrifice” would be completely wasted otherwise. Murphy pondered as he hijacked Khaki Tony Tai’s computation bead with his core bead, feeling like he had discovered yet another use for his adorable little players. It’s a good thing they’re on my side, tsk, otherwise this would be truly unpreventable!