Half an hour later.
Mida City, City Hall.
Thor handed Mo Tan a still-wet parchment and smiled, “This should do, Mr. Black Vatican.”
“Yes, thank you.” Mo Tan quickly scanned the contents, then bowed slightly, “Thank you for your support, Lord Mayor.”
“If it can be of help, that’s all the better. There isn’t much I can do anyway.” Thor shook his head, placing his quill aside, “The food supplies from Hofur City can last for a long time, and the public’s morale is very stable. After all, with the Knight Order’s protection, plus the Holy Maiden’s great achievements over this period, the previously restless atmosphere has completely calmed down.”
Mo Tan sighed and said with a bitter smile, “But you should also know that the situation in other parts of the county has become increasingly serious. The Mutants, mutated from ordinary people, are increasing in large numbers every day…”
“I know.” Thor also put away his smile, nodding with a worried expression, “Last night, a team was attacked while returning to Mida City. The knights and civilians suffered heavy casualties. This kind of thing has never happened before.”
Mo Tan put away the parchment in his hand, then walked over to the Misha County map hanging on one side of the room, gently running his hand over it, “Even after resolving the crises in Oak City and Stan City, Xia Lian and a hundred Holy Knights will find it difficult to proceed further south…”
Thor nodded, “You mean?”
“Perhaps we don’t have much time left.” Mo Tan looked at the large area in the southern part of Misha County on the map, answering with a solemn expression, then shook his head, “But this isn’t the main point right now. Regardless of the Holy Maiden’s situation, we must at least ensure the safety of Mida City’s surroundings, otherwise we will be too passive.”
Thor nodded slightly, and said in a deep voice, “I will fully cooperate with any actions of the Holy Church.”
“You already are, Lord Mayor.” Mo Tan turned back and smiled at him, then bowed again, “Then please allow me to take my leave. May the Goddess be with you and me.”
“May the Goddess be with you and me.”
Five minutes later.
“So you called me here to meet, and then stood me up for nearly half an hour? What’s the meaning of that?” Yu Ying, leaning against the City Hall gate, glanced at Mo Tan, who had just tripped over her, her tone quite unfriendly, “I’m very busy.”
Mo Tan gave an awkward laugh, “I think I said ‘a little later’…”
“It seems our understanding of ‘a little later’ is different. Oh well, never mind.” Yu Ying waved her hand coolly, and while fiddling with the short crossbow in her hand, asked, “What did you want to see me about?”
Mo Tan took out the item Thor had just written from his satchel and handed it to her, “First things first, take a look at this.”
“Tsk, do you have to be so mysterious?” Yu Ying pouted and complained, then took the parchment and read in a low voice, “Special Action Squad Recruitment Order? What the hell is this… Huh?”
She paused mid-sentence, then seemed lost in thought for about two seconds, before raising an eyebrow at Mo Tan, “A quest?”
“Excellent, it’s pretty much what I expected.” Mo Tan let out a slight sigh of relief, then took the parchment back from Yu Ying and asked curiously, “What are the quest details and rewards?”
Yu Ying, this assassin who usually gave off a ‘no emotions’ vibe, was not cold at all in front of other players. She immediately said excitedly, “The quest content is very vague, it’s just to cooperate with low-level Holy Knights from the Holy Domain. The rewards are money and assassin profession experience, but there are no specific values, it just says it will be settled daily based on completion. Tsk tsk, awesome!”
“Huh?” Mo Tan blinked, confused, “Why are you so happy?”
Yu Ying immediately narrowed her eyes, then cautiously and professionally scanned her surroundings. After finding no one else around, she instantly her eyes lit up and waved her arms, “Money! I love quests like this that can be done for a long time or repeatedly, and you get money every time it’s settled! Experience doesn’t matter, but the money reward on the quest is in silver coins! Silver coins, oh my god!!!”
“Oh, is… is that so.” Mo Tan looked at the completely undignified female assassin in front of him, nodding somewhat stiffly. For various reasons, he didn’t have much concept of in-game money, or rather, he once did, but then lost it again a while ago, so he couldn’t really empathize with her. However, he didn’t foolishly ask, ‘Are silver coins worth a lot?’, because given Yu Ying’s intense reaction, asking that would feel a bit mocking.
But Yu Ying was a very perceptive girl. She immediately noticed that Mo Tan’s tone was a bit off, and instantly snorted, “What? You think this amount of money isn’t much? How could someone like you, a freeloader with the ‘Holy Maiden’ as a sugar mommy, understand the hardship of a zero-spender (spend = spending money = topping up = gacha gacha 【crossed out】) like me?!”
“Why are you even calling her a sugar mommy? We’re just friends in real life, and not even particularly close ones, okay?” Mo Tan gave a wry smile and spread his hands, “And I’m not freeloading.”
“It’s pretty much the same. Those who care about details are #$@~” Yu Ying rolled her eyes, and said solemnly, “Do you know how poor I am? Do you know how much money this damn profession costs? Maintaining a hand crossbow costs money, disposable daggers cost money, replenishing crossbow bolts costs money, changing strings costs money, scarves cost money, homemade caltrops and other miscellaneous small tools cost money, and there’s even a #$% chance of failure! I currently have only two silver coins and a dozen copper coins on me. I’m so poor I’m %$#@ going to sell my underwear, okay?!” My main reason for choosing the assassin profession, besides it being cool, was to earn pocket money, you jerk!”
Mo Tan was shocked, “Underwear here can be taken off?!”
Yu Ying snorted lightly, gritting her teeth with a somewhat ferocious expression, “I didn’t say in the game…”
Mo Tan: ?!
“What, is selling underwear illegal?” Yu Ying glared at him, and said proudly, “My roommate is the campus belle, as long as I sneak in at night when she’s not paying attention…”
“I’m sorry! Let’s not discuss this issue anymore!” Mo Tan immediately interrupted her, his face ashen, and added seriously, “And your method of selling is indeed illegal.”
He felt that while it was debatable whether this female assassin was emotionless, it was pretty much confirmed that she was penniless…
“Alright, let’s get back to this quest.” Yu Ying was also quick to switch topics, her transition from a ferocious expression to a calm one having no cooldown, “Tell me about it in detail.”
Mo Tan nodded, feeling mentally exhausted, then asked Yu Ying, “Last night, a team encountered a large number of Mutants on their way back to Mida City. You should already know about it, right?”
The latter scratched her cheek, “Yeah, I saw those who ran back. It was a miserable sight…”
“Exactly. Eight out of ten Holy Knights died, nearly half of the hundred civilians suffered casualties, and those who returned were all injured. It was a truly heavy loss.” Mo Tan nodded, and said seriously, “But these could have actually been avoided.”
Yu Ying frowned, puzzled, “Avoided? They encountered sixty or seventy Mutants. I think it’s a miracle that so many survived and returned. How could they have avoided it? Play dead on the ground?”
“Mutants aren’t bears…” Mo Tan complained weakly, then shook his head, “What I mean is, they weren’t actually very far from Mida City at the time. If they had received timely support, not only could most of them have been saved, but it might even have been possible to wipe out all those Mutants. However, the situation at the time didn’t allow them to send someone back to explain the situation, which is why it ended up like this.”
Yu Ying frowned, “Then it’s still… Wait, you mean?”
“Smart.” Mo Tan clapped his hands in approval, then smiled at Yu Ying, “That’s exactly what I mean.”
“You want to train a batch of carrier pigeons that can deliver messages!!!”
“Yes, I want to train… What the hell do I want to train?!”
Mo Tan covered his forehead, utterly speechless, feeling that this girl’s imagination was so vast it obscured her brain.
“Just kidding, just kidding~” Yu Ying shook her head with a giggle, and wiggled her index finger, “You want players to transmit information through friend messages, right?”
Yu Ying’s reaction speed was very fast. Almost immediately after Mo Tan finished speaking, she thought of the same solution as him, and this matter was indeed very simple for them, ‘players’.
No need to send people back to the city, no need to waste time. Just a simple friend message can instantly transmit information thousands of miles away. Whether it’s requesting support or reporting a situation, there’s no middleman earning a difference… I mean, there’s no delay whatsoever, and not a single minute is wasted.
In this game where you can type text in the chat box using your consciousness, sending a friend message like: ‘I encountered several zombies near XXX, requesting fire support! Repeat, requesting fire support!’ wouldn’t even take two seconds.
“Exactly.” Mo Tan twitched his lips, nodding, “That’s what I mean.”
Yu Ying clicked her tongue, “Tsk tsk, I’ve been playing this game for so long, and this is the first time I’ve realized that the ‘player’ identity is actually somewhat useful.”
This was absolutely true. After all, in Innocent World, players had almost no privileges besides friend messages and their spatial bags (satchels). Moreover, due to a lack of information, they would encounter various large and small pitfalls, and they even lived less freely than most NPCs.
Mo Tan recalled his various actions when he was ‘Tan Mo’. His first reaction was that Yu Ying’s words were a bit unreliable, but upon closer thought, it seemed that what she said was the norm… The one who was out of line should be himself under a certain personality…
“So this Special Action Squad Recruitment Order is specifically for players.” He pointed to the parchment in his hand and smiled at Yu Ying, “There are no requirements on it, and it won’t be posted city-wide. There’s only one screening condition, and that’s players who can receive the same quest as you.”
Yu Ying loosened the long scarf around her neck and asked sideways, “So, what do you want me to do?”
Mo Tan pondered for a moment, “I think there should be quest completion, and then it’ll be settled into money or something. If not… uh, I’ll ask the Mayor to apply for some subsidy for you?”
“OK, you can rest assured and leave this to me~” The girl nodded very readily, expressing her determination with full vigor, “I’ve already found at least seven or eight people who should be players. I’ll pull them into your Special Action Squad later!”
Mo Tan, however, shook his head, “Seven or eight is too few… To be on the safe side, we need more people. The player base in Innocent World is very large right now, and reaching level ten isn’t a very difficult thing. I think the number of people who meet the criteria here won’t be small. You need to find more people.”
“Uh, okay, that’s fine.” Yu Ying nodded with some hesitation, then frowned, “But I’m not entirely sure, so it’s hard to ask. I can’t just grab everyone I see and ask if they’re a player, right?”
“I have a way.” Mo Tan smiled slightly, then whispered into Yu Ying’s ear, “Just ask them, how many steps does it take to put an elephant in a refrigerator…”
Yu Ying: “…”
At the same time.
Misha County, Hofur City, in front of the Holy Church United Chapel.
“So~ bor~ing~”
A sweet and cute young loli was squatting on the steps, constantly sighing, with a nervous young man standing beside her, fearing that the girl might accidentally fall.
Naturally, it was Wen Qiu and Gareths, who had not gone to Mida City with the main group.
“Be careful.” Gareths knelt beside Wen Qiu, carefully supporting her shoulder, and said with a wry smile, “Your body hasn’t fully recovered yet. This is very dangerous.”
The girl playfully stuck out her tongue, shaking her small legs and saying, “I’m fine now, I can walk normally! I won’t fall!”
“This isn’t ‘fine’…”
Gareths, who still didn’t know Wen Qiu was a player, sighed and had to carefully hold the girl’s arm and sit down beside her, saying seriously, “Just be careful, otherwise I won’t be able to explain to the Holy Maiden.”
“Don’t worry, Brother Gareths, I’m very well-behaved~”
Wen Qiu nodded with a giggle, her large eyes squinting into two crescent moons, “Holy Maiden~ She must be working very hard right now~”
“Yes, she must be working very hard…”
“Exactly, it’s so hard to save, why work so hard? Wouldn’t it be better to just let everyone relax~”
“?”
“Hehe, nothing~”
Chapter 210: End
