Chapter 569.2: The Honest (Dumb) Star River

The two players exchanged intel along the way, rehearsing their lines while also using the VM to translate some phrases they might need.

Their pronunciation didn’t need to be perfect either. That was how the New Alliance’s shelter folk spoke anyway. Mumbling actually made it more believable.

Their party of 12 quickly reached the house at the side.

A fully armed guard stood on the four meter tall gate’s tower, ready and waiting, as if he had seen them from far away.

Daydreaming Star River was about to declare their purpose when the guard on the gate tower shouted, “Are you from the New Alliance?”

“Huh?”

These people here are pretty savvy.

Seeing the other side recognize, Daydreaming Star River secretly rejoiced, though he kept a straight face and raised his chin to yell, “Good that you recognize us! Tell your master to come out and see me!”

According to the script in his head, once they learned he was from the New Alliance, that guard should have scurried back to report, and then the master of the farm would politely invite them in and treat them with great respect.

But to the surprise of both players, not only did fear fail to appear on the guard’s face, he even snorted through his nose. “Heh, recognize you? You’re the fifth batch this month! Making such a big fuss over a pipsqueak farm like this... You folks must be really idle!”

Hearing that, Daydreaming Star River and Falling Feather were struck dumb.

“What the?!”

“People of the New Alliance already came?!”

Impossible... They checked the official site every day.

If the New Alliance had been here, they would definitely have been the first to know.

Seeing they hadn’t figured it out, the guard curled his lip disdainfully. “Some people previously claimed they were from the New Alliance to intimidate us. They said either hand over all the slaves or get out of here. We almost believed it! Our master said that if anyone else comes here claiming to be from the New Alliance to beg, tell their administrator to come in person!”

Falling Feather and Daydreaming Star River glanced at each other, trading bewildered looks.

“They’re definitely not players...”

“No need for for that shit. I can guess with my ass. There’s an 80%chance they’re wastelanders from outside!”

“Damn...”

“These dogs are too crafty!”

Doing bad things under the New Alliance’s banner!

How could anyone stoop that low?!

Peeking at the VM translation, Daydreaming Star River clenched his teeth and shouted up at the gate tower, his voice carrying a hint of threat, “So you don’t plan to hand them over?”

The guard smiled. “If you want them, pay the ransom!”

A mere 12 people were nothing to fear.

So what if they wore exoskeletons?

In the farm behind him, there were at least five Maxim machine guns mounted. The surrounding fields offered no cover. If a fight broke out, those twelve would be riddled with holes in minutes.

Seeing the guard’s utter lack of nerves, Daydreaming Star River felt a twinge of doubt and said through gritted teeth, “I need to see whether they’re still alive.”

The guard on the wall gave him a longer look, even more sure of himself. “Oh? You already have a target... go on then, what’s the name?”

Daydreaming Star River pulled out a slip of paper, glanced at it, and shouted, “Zhou Daniu!”

The name was rustic to the point of crumbling.

But hearing it, the guard froze, and his expression changed. “Zhou Nan sent you?!”

Daydreaming Star River blinked, not knowing why he reacted so strongly, but Falling Feather hurriedly tugged his sleeve and whispered, “Your employer is probably a merchant kept by this farm owner!”

“I know that...”

“You know and you still said it?!”

“What else do I do? If I don’t say who I’m trying to save, how the hell do I find him?” Daydreaming Star River looked baffled.

Falling Feather said, half laughing, half crying, “Come on... are you really clueless or just pretending? What you want is a hostage! A hostage, get it? You expect to spend that little money and redeem them?”

Either scare them into handing the person over, or seize them outright. Marching in with ransom money was absolutely out of the question.

He was basically wrapping the noose around his neck.

Even if redemption was possible, it would never be settled for a few thousand Dinars. Depending on the scale of the trade, it would be tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of silver coins.

He was thrown by the guy’s reaction, too.

Logically, even if the guard didn’t know the situation in Brocade River Province, his employer should have known something, right?

It was highly likely there had been a misunderstanding.

For instance, when taking the quest, he might have asked things like, “How do I redeem them without money?”

In response, the employer treated the few thousand dinars as an additional fee and deposit for the job.

Daydreaming Star River finally snapped out of it. “Damn!”

Watching the guard whirl around to run back and report, Daydreaming Star River panicked, hurriedly pecked out words on the VM to translate, and shouted up at the wall, “Wait, friend, I don’t know who this Zhou Nan is... We’re from the Boulder Town Militia. Our superior sent us to get them!”

It was too late.

“Tell your employer to come himself!” A loud voice cut him off. Standing on the wall was a man in an exoskeleton.

Unlike the administrator, although he had wrapped himself tightly in high-end equipment, he didn’t look particularly formidable.

His pale old face made his whiskers look jet-black and shiny, and his beady eyes were like a rat’s.

Behind him stood a dozen fully armed soldiers. Half of their gear was from Dawn City and half from Boulder Town. Their equipment could be considered to be of really high quality. They looked completely different to the building beneath them.

“Tsk, tsk. He thinks he can break off and go off on his own because he gained a little authority... Forgetting one’s roots isn’t good. If not for me, he would never have had a chance to leave here in his lifetime.”

Looking at the stunned Daydreaming Star River, the man sneered and went on, “Do me a favor and tell your employer I hate this kind of petty cleverness. If he tries testing my bottom line with such a crude trick again, I’ll chop off his parents’ and his big brother’s hands and mail them to him.”

“Of course, I’m quite reasonable. If he wants to redeem his family, fine, pay me back what he owes, with interest! Let me think... 10,000,000 CR should do, or 100,000,000 Dinars works too.”

Falling Feather shot Daydreaming Star River a look of bewilderment. “Your employer was that rich?”

Daydreaming Star River shook his head, equally dumbfounded. “Don’t think so....”

The guy seemed like a traveling merchant running a sizable business, but from his clothes, he didn’t look that wealthy.

10,000,000 CR was somewhat equivalent to 10,000,000 silver coins.

That was an astronomical sum.

Seeing the silent party below the gate tower, Kong Lingkai’s eyes shifted slightly, and he suddenly spoke. “You’re hired hands too, aren’t you? All right then, how much did he pay you?”

“10... 20,000 silver coins.”

Falling Feather glanced at Daydreaming Star River in surprise, only to see the latter answer with righteous poise and no blush. He didn’t looked panicked in the slightest and he seemed a bit more seasoned when lying.

Hearing the number, the man on the gate tower smiled with satisfaction. “By our contract, he should have paid me the dividends for last year’s second half by this March... let me think, that’s around a million silver coins.”

Reading the translation on the VM, Daydreaming Star River’s eyes went round. “That much?!”

“Of course he’s rich. And why do you think he could make so much? Because I gave him the capital for trade and cheap grain. Strictly speaking, all his property belongs to me. Trying to take the rope off his neck with 10,000 silver coins, he’s a bit too naive.” Kong Lingkai smiled and continued, “Let’s make a deal. You grab him from the New Alliance and bring him here, and I’ll give you 200,000 silver coins!”

At that number, both of them were stunned.

Good grief!

200,000 silver coins?!

Their quest had a hidden option?!

Thinking how many real world money 200,000 silver coins could be exchanged for, Daydreaming Star River felt his hands tremble, but he calmed down quickly.

Kidnapping an NPC inside New Alliance territory...

Even if they earned that money, they might never get to spend it.

“Sorry, I can’t agree to that.” Daydreaming Star River looked up at the man on the gate tower and spoke in a serious tone.

Hearing that, Falling Feather almost spat. “What the?! Are you stupid? Why are you refusing just like that?”

Seeing Falling Feather so agitated, Daydreaming Star River asked with a puzzled look, “What else? Rescuing people doesn’t violate the Player Handbook, but kidnapping changes the nature of it.”

Seeing his brain still hadn’t caught up to reality, Falling Feather snapped in exasperation, “No... couldn’t you pretend to agree first, gain his trust, and then grab the hostages when you get the chance?”

Daydreaming Star River froze, then gaped. “Whoa?!”

You could do that?

Looking at the dumbass before him, Falling Feather couldn’t help covering his face, ashamed that he had, for a moment, thought Daydreaming Star River had matured. “Is this your first time playing an open world game?”

Then again, he wasn’t really qualified to mock him.

When he first started this game, he had been pretty straightforward too, taking NPCs for their word.

Watching the two argue, the man on the gate tower showed a trace of disappointment, but only a trace.

He shrugged and said indifferently, “Then there’s nothing to discuss.”

Daydreaming Star River quickly raised his right hand.

“Wait, I changed my mind...”

Before he could finish, a thudding peal of bells sounded from the town not far behind them, followed by several bursts of dense gunfire and rough roars.

Everyone present had their attention pulled by the gunshots.

Especially Kong Lingkai on the gate tower. Hearing that urgent bell, his face changed at once, and a bad premonition took shape in his heart.

At that moment, a flustered servant ran up behind him, panting.

“M-My lord! The town, there was just a call...”

Before he could catch his breath, Kong Lingkai grabbed him and asked anxiously, “What happened?”

“M-Mutant Humans!” The servant’s face was ghastly white. Even in the dead of winter, sweat the size of soybeans beaded his forehead as he stammered, “Mutant Humans! They’re here killing their way in!”