White Star Fangs revived again from a dark basement, next to White Star Potato Chips, who also chose to revive in the same place.
“My weapon is gone,” White Star Potato Chips said coldly.
This remark gave White Star Fangs a headache again. That rapier was a rare blue-quality weapon with high stats from the Guild. In the current stage, it was one less piece when used. Selling it on the game trading website could fetch over a thousand yuan as a starting price.
White Star Fangs was so angry he almost exploded. He had died twice in a short period. The first time, he was ambushed by a Lone Wolf Player, and he grudgingly accepted it. The second time, he was inexplicably killed by an NPC’s AOE skill. He died without understanding why, gained nothing, and lost quite a bit of equipment.
The death penalty in “World Tree: Origin” is cumulative. For example, if a player dies for the first time, there is about a 10% chance of losing one or more carried items upon death, and a 10% reduction in experience gain for 24 hours after reviving. If this player dies a second time in a short period—usually within the duration of the experience gain reduction buff—this figure will double, meaning a 20% chance and 48 hours. If they die again during this period, it will double again, and more severe debuffs will appear.
This was White Star Fangs’ second death. If he died again… he might have to consider deleting his character and starting over.
At this time, White Star Little Jiu came online. He was too slow, so he wasn’t as eager to return and save the situation as White Star Fangs, and thus avoided losses.
“What’s wrong, Little Jiu?” White Star Fangs looked at him, knowing he had gone offline to contact other members of the Guild.
This game had no party system or remote communication function. To communicate outside of face-to-face interactions, one had to rely on spells or offline contact.
“Guild Leader said he ran into trouble,” White Star Little Jiu’s expression wasn’t very good either. After all, objectively speaking, he had been sold out by White Star Potato Chips.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go help!” White Star Potato Chips sarcastically said to the two of them. Without that blue weapon, his combat power was reduced by at least half. He probably wouldn’t be of much use before this operation ended.
White Star Fangs retorted without thinking, “What about our previous arrangements? What if they are destroyed if no one guards them?”
“Still arranging?” White Star Potato Chips couldn’t help but laugh. He took out the parchment, which was neither inscribed with incantations nor gleaming, clearly having lost its effect. “It was destroyed long ago. To be honest, it’s all because you’re too weak and got instantly killed!”
“If you could stop that assassin, would it have ended like this? It’s not…”
“Enough!” White Star Little Jiu couldn’t stand it and decisively ended this usual blame-shifting meeting. “Guild Leader said to forget about the ritual, everyone needs to go support.”
Everyone?
White Star Fangs’ expression changed, and he no longer cared about their internal conflict.
Their Guild had set up six similar rituals, enough to encompass the entire Old Town and some surrounding areas as hunting grounds for Void Creatures. This way, the Disciplinary Bureau’s attention would surely be drawn away, and at that time, the Guild Leader would lead the Guild’s main force to raid Black Raven Port and successfully seize the Divine Artifact.
But now they were told to abandon the rituals and all go to support the Guild Leader… This meant the plan had changed, and the Guild Leader was likely in great trouble.
“Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and go support!” White Star Fangs said coldly.
*
The drizzling rain intensified at some point, and the dark sky filled with dense clouds was accompanied by distant thunder, a sign of an approaching storm.
“Leicester isn’t peaceful either,” the girl sighed, her golden pupils reflecting the dim scenery outside the window.
“This city has always been like this, my little princess.”
An old soldier, wearing a military uniform with blue and white as the primary colors and his face full of scars, said casually.
Victoria tried to reach out, attempting to wipe away the raindrops obstructing her view, but was blocked by the glass window.
“I know, Teacher Marshall.” The girl turned to look at the highly respected old man.
In his youth, he was an appointed officer in the Royal Fleet, fighting for Arthur on the outer seas with boundless prospects. In his middle age, the conflict between Arthur and Roland intensified, and war broke out. After that, Marshall remained active on the front lines, commanding the Kingdom’s Third Legion through several battles, achieving numerous victories and decorations.
After the last battle with Roland, the famous Fence Wood Battle, this respectable old man finally retired, abandoning all merits and status to return to his hometown, Leicester, to live out his retirement. However, it wasn’t entirely retirement, as he still served as the honorary instructor of the Third Knights.
“It’s just that some things, one must witness with their own eyes to truly feel.”
As they were talking, the door to the Disciplinary Bureau’s Leicester branch chief’s office was pushed open, and Jeffrey, drenched, rushed in from outside.
“Apologies for keeping Highness and Sir Marshall waiting.” Jeffrey tried to regain composure in his voice.
Victoria didn’t look at him but stared out the window.
“Thank you for your hard work, Chief Jeffrey. What is the current situation?”
The girl’s voice was as melodious as a lark’s, light and without any extraneous emotion, but it felt heavy as a thousand pounds to Jeffrey.
He remained silent for a moment, choosing his words carefully. After taking off his soaked trench coat, he said, “All personnel at Black Raven Port have lost contact.”
The loss of contact of dozens of Transcendent individuals within the city, within the Disciplinary Bureau’s territory, could not be described as anything but ironic.
“They lost contact less than half an hour ago, and the people we sent out found them…” Jeffrey added, his tone laced with confusion and a hint of unease. “They are all dead, but their deaths are rather peculiar… about three meters above the ground, their corpses were floating with their heads facing the sky, their feet entangled with a thick rope, the other end connected to a heavy object or the ground…”
Rather than floating, it was as if they were about to fall towards the sky, were it not for the ropes wrapped around their ankles, Jeffrey thought.
The incidents of this night were enough to make him overwhelmed. Not only Black Raven Port, but the Old Town also experienced an incident. A group of illegal Transcendants brought dense fog to attack the Old Town. By the time the intelligence arrived, investigators had already been killed. The cubs of the Wolf Pack Club were also stirring, hoping they hadn’t lost their minds and were going against the Disciplinary Bureau…
It was precisely at this time that such a thing happened, giving Jeffrey a splitting headache. Just two days ago, investigators from headquarters found signs of Dark Dawn’s widespread activities in Black Dragon Territory and forcibly withdrew a batch of Leicester’s local investigators, leading to his current shortage of personnel.
“The accident has happened after all… After this is over, please ensure they are buried properly, and the due compensation should not be a single bit less,” the girl murmured. “They are all warriors who contributed their last drop of blood to this country. We should remember them, after all, besides us, no one will know what they have done.”
After she finished speaking, outside the window, in a corner of Leicester city late at night, a brilliant light suddenly appeared.
That was the location of Black Raven Port.
“Let’s go,” Victoria finally withdrew her gaze. “We can’t keep them waiting.”
