Chapter 320.1: Unexpected Rewards

Near the warehouse, the survivors that were carrying their bags exchanged glances with each other. Everyone looked astonished and bewildered. Then, they started a discussion among themselves.

“Joining the New Alliance?”

“Are they for real?”

“The mayor doesn’t sound drunk.”

Suddenly, someone warned, “

Shh

, be careful of what you say. You might be heard by those who were carrying guns.”

No one hated the decision. They just found it hard to believe. Who would have thought that the New Alliance was willing to take in scavengers who collected trash for a living? It just seemed so bizarre.

They thought long and hard, but it did not seem like West Continent City had any valuable items that those people would find desirable. Other than the concrete ruins that resembled a graveyard, there was only the West Continent Lake that always caused floods. The overflowing water had not only transformed the entire eastern shore into a marshland, but it had also inundated the low-lying urban areas. It was extremely difficult to find land fit for farming.

As for trade value, it was clearly nonexistent. Typical traveling merchants wouldn’t bother to enter the region. The River Valley Province had only 2 flat lands on the north and south area with mountains or rivers in between, Even if there were no marauders, only a few people would be willing to venture here. It was until the previous year that they lived lives that were nearly isolated from the outside world.

A thin middle-aged man whispered softly, “Do you think the mayor might be lying?”

“Very likely.” A slightly shorter old man replied. He cleared his throat and continued, “ If I were the leader of the New Alliance, I would definitely not invite a group of beggars into my home.”

Although Wu Chengyi spoke earnestly on the broadcast, hardly any survivors believed what he said. However, unlike those survivors, the guerilla soldiers were well aware that their leader never liked to joke around. Especially not on such a serious matter.

At the entrance to the settlement, a vigilant guerilla soldier who had heard the entire broadcast said, “So, does that mean we are now soldiers of the New Alliance?” His name was Liao Feng. He used to be from a survivor settlement called Good Weather Cooperative.

When the Bonechewer Clan attacked West Continent City, the Good Weather Cooperative was the first to fall. Only 50 people or so managed to escape alive from a village that had a population of thousands. For those that came from foreign places, whether it was the marauders from the Bonechewer Clan or the so-called alliance, they naturally felt distrustful.

“I guess?” A man carrying a hunting bow on his back responded with an uncertain tone after having also heard the broadcast.

His name was Hunting Bow. Like Liao Feng, he was also a member of the resistance organization in West Continent City. However, he did not come from Good Weather Cooperative but from another survivor settlement.

In the broadcast earlier, Wu Chengyi seemed to have mentioned something about the guerilla in the broadcast, saying that the New Alliance would send officers to train them and provide them with new equipment. They, who were once just a ragtag force, would also officially become the Third Corps of the New Alliance and take part in the final battle against the Bonechewer Clan.

“Do you think that joining the so-called alliance is really a good thing?” Liao Feng glanced at Hunting Bow and said.

Hunting Bow fell silent for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t know, but I feel that it's not a bad thing.”

He said.

After all, How much worse could things get?

Their current situation was not ideal, to say the least. They were so poor that they could barely afford nutrient cream. Moreover, possessing things such as weapons and equipment was completely beyond their means. In the past, the guerilla soldiers could at least get some shofar potatoes and some porridge. Occasionally they could have some meat as well. But now, everyone was equally given nutrient cream as food. It was clear how terrible their food crisis had become.

At this moment, a man with a beard who was wearing hyena leather boots walked towards them. Upon seeing their immediate superior, the two of them fell silent.

Wang Sijie stopped at the entrance of the settlement. He scanned the stationed individuals and spoke, “I need someone to show our allies around this area. Is anyone willing to volunteer for the job?”

The crowd exchanged glances but no one moved. They knew nothing about these sudden emerging allies. They had their concerns as they were unfamiliar with their temperament and cultures. The fact that these people were able to cause significant damage to the marauders in the city meant that they were without a doubt, very strong individuals. No one would be willing to stick up for them if they offended those monsters.

Seeing that no one was willing to step forward, Wang Sijie was about to call out a name. The next moment, Hunting Bow stepped forward and said, “I’ll do it.”

Liao Feng, who was standing beside him, looked at him in surprise. He didn't expect that the guy would be so courageous and actually volunteer for this arduous and unrewarding work.

Wang Sijie nodded in satisfaction and made a gesture. “Follow me.”

...

In a relatively clean single room, Old White who was lying on the bed suddenly opened his eyes and sat up. It was 6:00 in the evening. After confirming the current time through the VM, Old White was about to meet up with his teammates when he noticed a long series of small notification windows on the screen.

[Mission1:

Inspect Hope Town. Use VM and the camera equipment to complete a full map scan.

]

[Mission2 (side quest):

Write a 200-word report. Elaborating on the conditions of the local survivors from various aspects like economy, culture, politics, education, etc.

]

[Mission3 (side quest):

Seek out NPCs with special talents or identities.

]

[Mission4 (side quest):

...

]

The mission rewards were quite generous, offering not only silver coins and contribution points but also boosting the players' Regional Prestige in new map areas.

Looking at the long list of missions on the VM, Old White was bewildered but also felt a little odd, especially looking at the details of the second mission.

What in the world! They even assigned the mission of writing the introduction of the new area to players. Writing a 200-word report? Shouldn’t that be the job of the developers? That’s just so lazy! However, this mission isn’t too bad. Ample Time loves doing this kind of thing. He’d probably be delighted to take care of it. As for the third...

Old White stared at the mission interface for a while but still failed to deduce any clues. Eventually, he shook his head and gave up thinking about it. “Forget it. I’ll think about it later.”

This survivor settlement has only a little over 5,000 people. In any case, triggering more dialogues might lead to finding some clues.

After packing up his equipment, Old White pushed the door open and walked along the narrow corridor, heading down to the hall in the resting area to meet up with his teammates. The surroundings here were simple and basic. The air quality was not great. But even so, that was already the best room in Hope Town.

The vast majority of survivors crammed themselves up in the shops and even the corridors of the underground commercial complex, separated by cloth curtains from each other or simply squeezed together. A solitary room was totally out of the question as there was not even a decent bed available.

Since morning the day before, Bull and Horse Squad had settled there after they tracked down the hiding place of the survivors in the West Continent City by following that little boy.

As compared to sleeping amidst ruins, logging out there was undoubtedly much safer. At least, there was no need to arrange for people to take turns staying online to guard the inactive bodies of those who logged off.

Daunted by the strength of the New Alliance, the survivors of the resistance organization held a respectful attitude, even being cautious, towards them. So unless marauders found their way over, there was no safety concern and threats about logging out.

When Old White arrived at the hall in the resting area, Ample Time, Night Ten, and Gale had already been there for a while. Surveying his surroundings, Old White realized that it was not just his close buddies but also 2 unfamiliar NPCs who were standing here.

As they assembled, Wang Sijie briefly introduced himself and the guerilla soldier who was standing beside him to the group. “I am Wang Sijie, captain of the West Continent City Resistance Organization’s guerilla squad. The person next to me is Hunting Bow, one of my soldiers. He will be your guide during your time in Hope Town.”

When the superior introduced him, the man with a bow slung over his back immediately continued, “Welcome, friends from Dawn City. If you encounter any issues here, feel free to come to me. I’ll do my best to help you.”

Ample Time smiled and said, “No need to be so formal. Just showing us around will do.”

“I have a mission to attend to shortly, so I won’t disturb you all.” Wang Sijie said. He then patted Hunting Bow’s shoulder and said to him, “I'll leave them to you now.”

After speaking, he left the hall.

After seeing off the guerrilla squad leader, Night Ten whispered, “I thought they’d arrange a girl as our guide.”

Gale gave Night Ten a side glance, “Let’s analyze it rationally. In a survivor settlement such as this with a low standard of living, even if they arranged a girl for you as a guide, the chances of her matching your aesthetics would be about...”

Night Ten covered Gale’s mouth quickly, “Alright, I don’t want to hear any more of your nonsense.”

Gale looked at him in silence. “...”

Hunting Bow looked at both whispering individuals with a puzzled expression. He could not understand what they were talking about. Fortunately, his superior had specifically briefed him about language issues beforehand so he remained calm. Then he spoke earnestly, “I’ll take you for a tour around this area. Please follow me.”

As Hunting Bow was going to lead them the way, that one guy who was also carrying a bow on his back called out to him. “Wait a moment.”

Taking out a pack of green wheat cakes from his pocket, Ample Time handed it to him. “This is your payment.”

The pack of wheat cakes weighed about 250 grams. Hunting Bow was first puzzled when he took over the cakes. However, he quickly realized what it meant and his face lit up with joy.

“We don’t need any payment...” Even though Hunting Bow humbly said the payment was not needed, he showed no intention of giving the cakes back.

Ample Time smiled at him and said, “There’s no need to be so polite. We wouldn’t want to have people work for us without compensation.”

Even in Dawn City, a silver coin could buy 2 of those wheat cakes, not to mention that the air-dropped supplies didn't need to be purchased with money as they were provided for free. The reason for the rewards was so that they could secure the loyalty of the guide. The ultimate goal was to plant the idea that ‘working for the New Alliance comes with rewards’. In other words, free wheat cakes were great to be used as bait.

Hunting Bow gratefully tucked away the wrapped package and carefully placed it inside the inner pockets of his clothing, planning to take it back home after work to share it with his family. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Ample Time and thanked him sincerely, “Thank you for your generosity.”

Ample Time nodded. “Show us around. Our administrator wants to understand the situation here.”

“No problem. Please follow me.” Hunter Bow responded immediately.

The guide named Hunting Bow was clearly more enthusiastic than before because of the wheat cakes. Upon learning that Ample Time’s group wanted to understand the genuine situations in Hope Town, he promptly led them through several corridors and headed to the residential area located at level B1 of a commercial complex.

As the group set foot into the place, Old White immediately sensed an unpleasant smell. The narrow passageway and stairs were nearly completely blocked by piles of garbage, and there were about 600 to 700 people lying around in a cramped space of less than 500 square meters. The ceilings of the corridor were covered with creepy-looking ventilation ducts that were built on top of each other in irregular patterns. To make matters worse, cockroaches and rats had already made nests inside of those ducts.