Chapter 221 Dust Falling in the Mist
In the fourth floor of the maze, in a small town deep in the jungle, a group of guards were patrolling the streets.
Because it is shrouded in thick fog all year round, with only sporadic lights dotting the dark streets, over time this nameless town got the name Fog Town.
However, since the new demon king arrived and occupied this place, everything has changed. Not only has the street become much cleaner and tidier, but coal-burning street lamps have also been installed on both sides of the road.
As a result, this well-known "Three Disciplines" zone has actually become more orderly.
Of course, the order here is only relative to the chaotic maze itself.
If you compare it with Thunder City, then this town is definitely incomparable to the former. After all, there are not even a few serious residents here, either undead and demons, or mercenaries and adventurers.
But the amazing thing is that the two incompatible groups can actually live in harmony in this safe zone and keep their peace.
· Even if we go through the history of the maze several times, there is no precedent for this kind of thing.
As the captain of the guard in Mist Town, Alex has thought about this problem for a long time.
At first he attributed this to the great power of the Demon King, but soon he realized that the new Demon King was not as powerful as the previous Demon King, so it did not make sense to simply attribute this to his personal power.
As for the minions of the Demon King...although they have some surprising tricks to win, they are not decisively powerful.
Him After all, the sword of the Principality of Campbell is not at a disadvantage. Historically, as long as hell invades the surface of the earth, there is no precedent for being able to defeat the latter.
However, as time went by, he finally found a self-defeating explanation -
Because people all need such a place.
This may sound a bit unreasonable, but it is surprisingly reasonable.
Because he was born into a noble family, Alex's education included theology and history, so he knew much more than ordinary people.
Most farmers in the Principality of Campbell believe that gods are something similar to the sun that have existed since the birth of the world, but this is not the case.
If they really read the Book of Holy Words instead of listening to just a few words relayed by the priest, they would understand that gods are entities that come into being due to the prayers of everyone.
The gods of the elements were born because people in ancient times needed a god to calm themselves and the chaotic spirits of their ethnic groups.
Otherwise, if one person wants rain today and sunny tomorrow, and another person wants it the other way around, the weather will become unpredictable.
This is the history that took place in the First Era and is engraved on the stone murals.
Because people needed gods, gods were born. In other words, the gods are everyone’s choice!
A long time ago, this was the source of "legitimacy" of the Church of Saint Sith, but it is no longer important today, a thousand years later.
After all, the empire has won the world, and mentioning those old events is both redundant and annoying.
Alex could vaguely feel that there should be something in this world that could respond to people's wishes.
When people are looking forward to something, it will happen...although it will not come in the way people expected.
Just like now, the people of the Principality of Campbell and the monsters in the labyrinth both need a place where they can coexist peacefully. As a result, the "bridgehead" for surface humans to invade the underground world has become this place.
This is the will of the devil.
It may not be everyone’s choice.
The patrolling guards passed through the street at the entrance of the Adventurer's Guild. The bustling crowd soon attracted the attention of the guards, including Alex.
"There seem to be more people in Mist Town recently." One of the guards whispered, with a surprised expression on his face.
The older guard next to him glanced at the crowd not far away and said casually.
"Perhaps it's because winter is over. Adventurers were really not very active in winter in previous years." He used to interact with adventurers when he was a mercenary. Since being injured in winter is very difficult, most people will choose to be more conservative during this period, either staying in front of the fireplace in the tavern, or going back to their hometown to visit their relatives.
Alex thought so at first, but another guard next to him said so.
…"It's different. Spring is the time when farming is busy. Although there are more adventurers than in winter, there are not so many. In previous years, it was at least summer before we could see so many people gathering at the entrance of the Adventurer's Guild."
This sentence resonated with many guards. After all, many of them had been in this industry before.
According to their understanding, most adventurers come from various rural towns in Osland.
After all, the citizens in the city can't stand the life of licking blood from the edge of a knife, and there is no need to go out and make a living. Only the children of sharecroppers who stay in the countryside all year round would entertain the idea of going out to make a living because of their wealthy uncle or uncle who returns to the countryside every now and then.
The guards whispered, and Alex raised his eyebrows curiously.
This year’s situation is indeed unusual.
Especially when he suddenly noticed that many of these adventurers were rookies who seemed inexperienced at first glance.
Most of them were dressed in coarse linen clothes, with tiredness and stupidity written all over their faces, like donkeys with their leather sheaths removed, carrying packages made of linen on their backs.
Not only are their attires unusual, some people also hold pitchforks that are incompatible with the maze, or weapons modified from hoes... These things are indeed very intimidating on flat ground, but they may not be as effective as short weapons and shields in a narrow maze.
· Presumably, they know nothing about the environment in the maze. They probably don’t even have amulets to resist spiritual attacks. They probably followed the large army of unscrupulous merchants to this level.
In order to save money, some businessmen will hire some cheap or even free rookies to act as guards, relying on their numerical advantage to scare away the monsters in the maze.
And generally the minions of the Demon King will not attack caravans that swear neutrality, so they can sneak into this level by luck.
"It seems something terrible happened outside." Alex frowned slightly.
He has been in the maze during this period and does not understand the situation outside.
Perhaps he should write a letter and send it back to his home in the Earl of Spinol to ask his family what happened.
The guard walking next to him crossed himself on his chest and murmured a prayer.
"Saint Sith's blessing, I hope it's not the legion of Chaos coming..."
Although it's a bit weird to pray to Saint Sith on the Demon King's territory, the Demon King usually doesn't care about them...
The patrolling guards gradually walked away.
At this moment, a group of new androids wearing cloaks and mimic masks sneaked into the Adventurer's Guild.
They are all newbies who have just obtained the qualification for closed beta testing, and they were lucky enough to experience the latest android characters launched in the A08 version.
Half an hour ago, an NPC named Bond sent them to Mist Town, and then asked them to register as adventurers as humans, and pretend to be adventurers to break into the human camp.
In order to prevent being discovered, they were on tenterhooks along the way, for fear of being discovered by NPC guards.
But what I didn't expect was that the NPC guards didn't pay any attention to them. Instead, they attracted a lot of people's attention because of their audacious appearance, so that people passing by the Adventurer's Guild cast curious glances at them.
Unexpectedly, cleverness was mistaken for cleverness. These sneaky guys finally lost their shame and ended their hidden stealth in embarrassment.
The rich man who eats dirt: "Gan! Are we sneaking around on our own territory? Can you be more honest?"
The jade-faced and tired king: "Yes!"
The iron-blooded one Fat Man: "Brother, why don't you straighten your back first?"
Gray Wolf Lame: "That's right!"
[The rich man who eats dirt] blushed, straightened his back, and walked into the Adventurer's Guild swaggeringly.
There are not only human adventurers in the guild hall, but also some demons and undead.
The two groups of people worked at different windows and had no influence on each other and lived in peace.
【The rich man who eats dirt】naturally joined the queue of humans and came to the counter. He nervously activated the "translation magic" on the mimic mask.
The clerk behind the counter spoke in a routine manner.
"What to do?"
Rich man who eats dirt: "Adventurer registration!"
Clerk: "Name."
The rich man who eats dirt: "Brother Hao!"
"...?"
The clerk behind the counter looked at him twice, but didn't see anything unusual, and finally threw the adventurer's sign to him.
There are many adventurers who register under pseudonyms or nicknames. After all, there are too many people with the same name, and the former is easier to distinguish.
Getting the sign in his hand, [The Soil-Eating Rich] felt ecstatic, suppressed his excitement and left the team, then waved it showily towards his teammates who were watching in the distance.
It seems to be saying——
Did you see it? It's that easy.
Several players looked at each other, followed suit, walked forward, lined up at the human counter, and completed the registration of their identities one after another.
It’s all so easy that it’s unbelievable.
The clerks did not even carefully confirm their identities. At most, they just asked them to take off their hoods and took a look to confirm that they were not demons, and then said nothing more.
Actually, think about it.
The adventurers on the human side are not just humans. Occasionally, orcs, dwarves, and half-elves will also join... As long as they are not from hell races, they will basically not be excluded.
Although these artificial humans do not look very regular, but with the mimic masks, it is not obvious that they are different from humans.
It is precisely because of this that they were able to successfully muddle through without any flaws being discovered.
"...It seems that the next step is the key to the mission," playing with the adventurer dog tag in his hand, [Jade Faced Hand Tired King] fell into deep thought, and said after a moment, "We have to find a way to find a team of adventurers that are mainly human beings to get in."
According to the description of the novice mission, there must be at least three living people in the team, and then you can pass the level by completing three tasks with a difficulty level of F or above, and generous rewards will be received at that time.
Next, it’s up to them whether they continue to play adventurers to earn human currency, or return to the necropolis to start free play.
However, the crux of the problem is also here.
According to experts on the forum, there are too few individual adventurers in Mist Town, and almost no one will form a team here.
Not only that, generally no one will guide inexperienced rookies. They may have to complete a task themselves to increase their adventure level, and at least become E-level adventurers.
· Iron-blooded Fat Man: "Our level is too low, what should we do if we don't have an adventurer team?"
· Canglang Lame: "Yeah, I just stopped a big brother and asked him if he wanted anyone, but he told me to get out without even looking at me."
Looking at the constipated looks on the faces of the two companions, [The rich man who ate dirt] was silent for a moment, and suddenly his heart moved.
"Yes! No one wants us, why don't we just build our own team?"
Other players' eyes also lit up.
What a great idea!
"Damn! Why didn't I think of that?"
"Can newly registered adventurers form a team?"
"I don't think you said no! I'll give it a try!"
Just do it, [The rich man who eats dirt] immediately returned to the team, and soon he actually registered a team of adventurers.
Although the Adventurer's Guild has a church background, it is not a strong organization after all, and its personnel are highly mobile. Its management is not too strict. Anyone can register for a team. If the task is not completed for a long time, it will be automatically logged out.
Brother Hao, who had completed the registration of the adventurer team, immediately came to the door of the Adventurer Guild. He transformed from a newly registered newcomer into a big brother and shouted loudly to the adventurers lingering at the door.
"Are there any adventurers who haven't found an organization yet? Our Invincible Supreme Adventure Group is recruiting people! No level limit! No occupation limit! Just be an individual!"
In fact, he didn't say half a sentence.
That is, as long as they can complete three tasks at will and let them pass the novice tasks.
He originally just shouted like this with the idea of giving it a try, but he didn't expect that as soon as he finished speaking, a large group of people rushed towards him.
"Sir, do you want someone here?"
"Do you think I can do it?"
"I'm so strong! A hundred kilogram fat pig can't twist me!"
Looking at the enthusiastic crowd, [The rich man who eats dirt] couldn't handle it for a moment, and he hurriedly shouted again at the top of his voice.
"Our temple team can't accommodate so many people! Also, our new group has just been established, so funds may be tight and there is no fixed salary! But don't worry, as long as you make money by completing the commission, everyone who contributed will have a share!"
He thought that saying this would reduce the number of people, but he did not expect that the crowd crowding around him did not decrease at all, but instead grew more and more.
"It's okay, sir! Just food and accommodation will be provided! I don't want money!"
"Sir, look at me! I don't want a place to live, just give me food to eat!"
Looking at this group of excited "adventurers", [the rich man who eats dirt] was dumbfounded.
Good guy.
Are these people adventurers or beggars?
Why does he feel like he is here to beg for food? !
Not far away, experienced adventurers looked at the joke here without concealing the ridicule on their faces.
A strong man carrying a battle ax curled his lips and said mockingly.
lves in the matter ￥
Whenever encountering slightly stronger monsters, these rookies are all a hindrance. Not only do they have no effect, they may also take advantage of them and run around.
The maze is not a plain. There is no space for them to set up a formation. Having more people is not necessarily an advantage.
But he did not go up to warn the adventurer who was not picky about food and the rookies who were rushing to die.
Reality will teach them a lesson!
…
In just a few minutes, the "Invincible Supreme Adventure Team" with only four people has expanded into the "Invincible Supreme Adventure Team" with fifty people.
More than that, these adventurers who appeared out of nowhere don’t need wages, they just need to take care of their food.
They could even accept the harsh conditions of no fixed salary and promised to pay dividends after the adventure group made money.
Such a hard-working and frugal beast, the four players were so confused that they even began to wonder if there was a bug in the game.
How can there be free people in this world?
And the most important thing is that they never thought of recruiting so many people!
Now the task of finding the lost cats and dogs is no longer possible, so I have to take on some big jobs.
“Speaking of which, this group of people don’t even need maintenance fees. It affects the balance of the game too much...” Looking at the large group of people behind him, the iron-blooded fat man couldn’t help but complain.
Cang Lang lamely nodded in agreement, also looking unbelievable, and said in confusion.
"Really...can't you find any work on the surface? Why are you all involved in the maze."
[The rich man who eats dirt] frowned and said with a troubled look on his face.
"How should we deal with the food problem? There are more than fifty people, and the rations consumed are not small."
Tie Xue Feizhai: "Why don't we just go to the construction site for them."
【Jade Faced and Hand Tired King】's eyes lit up: "What an idea!"
Rich people who eat dirt also thought this was a good idea, and after thinking for a long time, they spoke.
"Let's set up camp outside first. I have to buy some supplies, and chat with them and get to know their situation."
Iron-blooded Fat Man: "I just entered the game, where did you get the ghost coins?"
Rich man who eats dirt: "You can't buy it on the forum, Ming. The price of coins has long been driven down by those people who don’t eat or drink, do you think it was just when the server was launched? ”
Canglang Lame: “Fuck, RMT!”
"I almost thought you were really eating dirt."
The rich man who eats dirt: "..."
…
The group left the gate of Mist Town, lit a fire in the open space outside the wall, and set up camp.
This is also a safe zone, so you don’t have to worry about the intrusion of monsters or attacks from other players.
Brother Hao, who does not eat soil, went to the nearby market to buy supplies. He directly bought a trailer of roasted sweet potatoes for two coins each.
When the trailer was pulled into the camp, a group of "adventurers" had longing looks on their faces, as if they had been hungry for a long time, and they did not mind at all that these things were used to feed pigs on the surface.
【The rich man who eats dirt】Although he felt heartbroken, he still graciously allowed his children to eat freely because he was reluctant to let the children catch the wolf.
A group of adventurers swarmed over and ate and took away half of the trailer's sweet potatoes in an instant, and sat in front of the fire to gnaw.
Perhaps because they had eaten enough, these guys who had refused to explain their origins finally opened up their chat boxes and explained their origins in detail.
… I came from the village in the north, not from the Silver Pine Forest, but from the north of Fort Campbell, upstream of the Running River."
Looking at the burning fire, an unshaven man said while picking up a branch and throwing it into the fire, as if to burn away the memories of the past.
Sitting next to him, [Iron-Blooded Fat Man] curiously interjected and asked.
“Then why do you want to be an adventurer? Your family is sick? Your children have to go to school?”
He scratched the back of his head, shook his head and said.
"Neither... I used to farm for the local baron, but for some reason this year, he suddenly said that he would no longer farm and wanted to build a pasture, and then our whole family was kicked out."
Hearing this, the adventurer squatting next to him reacted and spoke quickly.
"Are you from the north of the Runliu River? That part of the valley plain?"
The unshaven man's eyes gradually brightened, as if he had met a fellow villager in a strange land, and he excitedly held the man's shoulders.
"That's right, it's right there, the territory under the Earl of Nanxi Valley, Rice Husk Village! Are you from there too? Why haven't I seen you?"
The adventurer wearing linen clothes grinned, showing yellowed teeth.
"Haha, I'm from there too! But I'm from the Gray Creek Village next door to you! The territory of Baron Wenderson!"
I didn't expect that it was my fellow villager, the unshaven man said excitedly.
"I know where you are! No wonder your accent sounds so familiar! By the way, the bread there has a special aroma. I've always been curious about what you put in it."
"I don't know. Before I left, I always thought that the bread in the entire Osland was the same as what I usually eat." The adventurer smiled, but like his cavities, the smile suddenly turned yellow like old parchment and became less free and easy.
He didn't know what was going on in the world, but suddenly everything he was familiar with changed.
Even himself.
"They didn't compensate you?" Seeing that the atmosphere in the team suddenly became heavy, [Jade Faced Hand Tired King] quickly coughed and tried to change the topic.
However, he still ignored the historical background of the game and forgot that it was still the feudal era outside, which was at least three industrial revolutions and two world wars away from the earth.
It's better that he didn't mention this issue. As soon as he mentioned it, the unshaven man's fingers suddenly started to tremble with anger.
"Compensation? That group of soldiers...even scraped off the copper plate I hid on the fireplace! Those guys who went to hell, they are just like bandits! Holy Sith, how come they didn't die on the battlefield in the decisive battle with the Demon King?!"
Hearing the roaring curse, the man wrapped in a cloak next to him shivered and muttered softly.
"It seems that Mr. Gus is quite kind... He at least gave us a dozen days to move out, and left us all the things in the farmhouse."
Although it is just some junk, he should still be able to sell a few copper coins... After all, the pot at home is made of iron.
Hearing his voice, the "adventurers" around him cast envious glances at him, especially an old man carrying a pitchfork.
"That's right, we packed the land together with the things on the land and sold them at a low price to a businessman familiar to the Baron. Like a vicious dog, that guy rushed into my house with a group of mercenaries and took away everything that could be stolen, including people."
This sentence made many people angry, and even the unshaven man couldn't help but curse.
"This is too much!"
Compared with this guy's master, he suddenly felt that the soldier who snatched the copper plate from his fireplace was not such a jerk.
"I don't believe that such a thing would happen in the Principality of Campbell. It's too much to say it. This is the land that Saint Sith is watching after all. Are they followers of the devil?" The man in the cloak shook his head and looked at the old man carrying the pitchfork with suspicion. "And even people were taken away. How did you get here?"
"This is not simple, I am too old. Are they going to help me take care of my old age?" The old man carrying the pitchfork shrugged his shoulders, with a happy smile on his face, "Actually, I don't know which is better... Maybe it would be better to follow the group of businessmen."
The unshaven man shook his head.
"Don't think about it, they will send you to the mines, where they will drain you of the last bit of value, just like the hell dwarves squeezed the grease from the goblins."
"Who knows, maybe we can farm in another place... That wouldn't be too bad." The man in the cloak muttered. Living in Silverpine Town, he still didn't believe that such a thing would happen.
The four players sitting in front of the fire looked at them, looking at each other, unable to say a word, and could only communicate with each other in low voices.
ˆ "It's too bitter."
ˆ "Indeed..."
ˆ No wonder these guys can reach the fourth floor of the maze.
It's so bitter that even the devils won't want to eat them...