Chapter 572.1: Where Chaos Originated

A Viper transport plane landed in the barren fields, and two soldiers in exoskeleton jumped out from one side of the cabin.

They were soldiers of the Guard Corps.

Whenever there were missions involving players, it was usually the Guard Corps who provided support and assistance.

They were elite troops selected from other corps, all of whom had received injections to induce expression of the Induction Serum, and without exception, all were awakeners.

There was a saying on the forums that they were the administrator’s eyes.

But some players disagreed, thinking instead that no one looked more like the administrator’s eyes than the hardworking quest maniacs themselves.

Watching the plane with its tail spewing arcs of light, Kong Lingkai’s eyes brimmed with greed. He thought to himself how wonderful it would be if he could buy one.

Surely, the plane was more comfortable than his broken wooden aircraft.

The soldiers ignored him. One walked directly to the cybernetic mutant corpse lying on the ground, while the other came before Old White and saluted. "We were ordered by the administrator to recover the body of the mutant ‘Oge’."

Old White tapped his right fist against his chestplate and replied simply, "I’ve already seen the mission briefing. The rest is up to you."

"Understood!" The soldier nodded. Just as he was about to turn, Old White suddenly thought of something and asked, "By the way, are you going straight back to Dawn City?"

"Yes."

Seeing the soldier nod, Old White quickly continued, "Could we hitch a ride? A few of us need to return."

The soldier froze, hesitated a moment, then said, "I need to ask the administrator for permission..."

With that, he turned back to the plane, connected via the onboard radio to the frontier outpost’s comms relay, and established contact with the shelter.

After a while, he returned. "The administrator said it’s fine."

"Excellent." Old White smiled, nodded, and looked toward Daydreaming Star River. "Friend, your quest..."

Daydreaming Star River froze.

"Ah?! Is... Is that alright?"

"What’s not alright? There’s plenty of space. Five or six people can fit easily." Seeing Daydreaming Star River still hesitating, Old White patted his shoulder and smiled. "The administrator has already agreed. No need to be polite."

Then he turned to the farm owner sitting weakly by the Mosquito attack craft, who had just regained consciousness.

"By the way, about releasing them, you’ve got no objections, right?"

Caught off guard that the man in iron armor had spoken to him, Kong Lingkai jumped in fright and shook his head quickly, terrified of delaying even a second.

"N-No, no no no, none at all!"

"He’s got no objections," Old White said to the bewildered Daydreaming Star River and Falling Feather, smiling. "Go fetch them, don’t waste time."

Daydreaming Star River led the farm owner back to the farm, while Kong Lingkai hurriedly brought out the family, as if sending off a bunch of unlucky stars.

It was obvious he was reluctant to lose his cash cows, but his fear was genuine. He had no doubt those people could wipe him out in less than half an hour...

"Are you really not going to reconsider? I’ll give you... 500,000 silver coins. Just bring that man over to me." Watching Daydreaming Star River prepare to leave, Kong Lingkai’s face was full of reluctance.

Except for the baby who didn’t know what was going on, the rest of Zhou Nan’s family turned pale with fear at these words.

They knew that if the young man nodded, they were as good as dead.

But their worry was clearly unnecessary.

Looking at the old man’s hopeful face, Daydreaming Star River smiled. "You’re overthinking it. Even if you offered me a million silver coins, I can’t do what’s impossible."

Kong Lingkai panicked, "Not enough money? I’ll pay..."

"It’s not about money." Daydreaming Star River sighed. "With us, there are things more valuable than silver coins."

Like a game helmet.

But the NPC clearly didn’t understand. He froze, then said, "Something... More valuable than silver coins?"

Daydreaming Star River answered casually, "That’s right. In the New Alliance, honor and dignity can’t be traded. We’re building an equal society... That’s what the administrator said."

Hearing that, Kong Lingkai knew nothing more he said would matter.

He deflated like a punctured ball, stewing with anger but not daring to erupt, only muttering under his breath, "You talk so much about equality... How is this fair to me? If I hadn’t given that ingrate his freedom, if I hadn’t loaned him the capital to get rich, how could he have achieved anything today?!"

Watching him rage without daring to act, Daydreaming Star River shrugged. "I don’t know your business, nor am I interested. Maybe he feels serving you all these years was enough to repay whatever he owed. The planes, cement, machine guns... A lot of things here come from our side, don’t they? Maybe you think that’s far from enough, but that’s another matter."

"If you ask me, you should’ve signed an agreement, ownership, shares, written in a contract. That way both sides are bound, and we’d guarantee all partners’ rights. But using something vague like gratitude? You know full well it’ll cause disputes down the line. Otherwise you wouldn’t have taken his whole family hostage."

"No matter the reason, kidnapping is illegal with us. You should be glad this place isn’t in New Alliance territory yet. Otherwise it wouldn’t be mercenaries you’d be dealing with."

Not in the New Alliance yet... What did that mean?

As he watched them walk away, Kong Lingkai’s eyes flickered with fear, while his private guards and servants exchanged bewildered looks...

...

In the barren field.

Inside the Viper transport plane, Daydreaming Star River, watching Falling Feather see him off, said guiltily, "Brother! I’ll come back to help you!"

They had agreed to help each other, yet he was the first to leave. He felt embarrassed.

Falling Feather didn’t mind. Watching the plane lift off, he smiled and waved.

"

Mm

! I’ll remember. Safe travels!"

Carrying the mutant cyborg’s corpse, along with Daydreaming Star River and Zhou Nan’s family, the Viper transport dragged two arcs of light as it flew 800 kilometers back to Dawn City.

Pulling his gaze from the plane, Old White turned to Falling Feather. "Let’s head back to town and talk."

"

Mm

!" Falling Feather nodded with a smile. "Perfect, I’ll also introduce you to that caravan leader NPC. He’s local and knows this place far better than I do."

Ample Time suddenly thought of something and asked,

"Is he your employer’s man, or the farm owner’s?"

Falling Feather scratched his head. "That... I’m not sure. But my employer said he can be trusted. He knows about the commission."

"In that case, it should be fine." Ample Time nodded, looking thoughtful but saying no more.

As they walked toward Hope Town, the mayor and local leaders had already come out to greet them.

Their expressions were varied. Some where relieved that they survived, some grateful for the rescue, and some were wary or even uneasy.

The man at the front bowed politely and said, "I am Ma Hechang, the mayor of Hope Town. Allow me to thank you on behalf of over a thousand residents of Hope Town! Without you, hardly anyone would have survived tonight."

Looking at the mayor, Old White smiled and said, "You’re welcome. If possible, please arrange an inn for us, we need to stay the night. Of course, we’ll pay."

Seeing him about to reach for money, Ma Hechang quickly waved. "No need for that. We’ll arrange accommodations. You can stay as long as you like!"

Old White chuckled. "We won’t trouble you for long. We’ll leave first thing tomorrow."

Hearing that, Ma Hechang breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn’t know why the Mutant Humans had suddenly gone berserk and attacked, but his instincts told him it was definitely related to those outsiders.

After all, they had already joined the Torch Church. Strictly speaking, the Qi Tribe should count as their allies.

Clearly, it was those outsiders who angered the Mutant Humans. Otherwise, he could think of no reason they would turn on their own.

First it was Iron Tower, now the New Alliance. Those people seemed obsessed... Why did they have to stir trouble with Mutant Humans?

They could just as well make agreements like civilized folk...

If only they had some courtesy and wouldn’t drag their grudges into other people’s homes...

Still, he forced his face into a hospitable and regretful smile, saying insincerely, "If you need anything, please tell us."

"I will..." Old White nodded, then suddenly thought of something. "By the way, may I visit the Prophet here?"

Ma Hechang blinked. "You mean..."

Old White went straight to the point. "I heard there’s a Torch Church chapel here."

Understanding dawned on Ma Hechang’s face, and he quickly nodded. "Yes, I’ll take you."

...

The town was quiet.

With the Mutant Humans dealt with, many caravans dismantled the barricades and hurried north with their people, unwilling to risk another night in case the Mutant Humans returned.

The guards didn’t dare stop them, only watching them go.

After the incident, those caravans might never return, but the bigger worry was immediate.

Why had the Mutant Humans come?

After suffering such losses, would they return again...?

Not just the outsiders. Even some long-time locals were wavering, wondering whether to pack up and flee the troubled place for good.

Inside the town, the players split into two groups.

Ample Time and Falling Feather’s party went to the inn, to meet the Pinewood Ranch caravan leader and look for a way into the settlement.

Old White, Night Ten, and Gale followed the mayor to the Torch Church chapel.

It stood in the town center, a pointed-roof house tiled with shingles. It was not grand, but not shabby.

Above the main door was the Torch Church’s emblem. It was two inverted triangles forming a torch.