Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
Chapter 207: Karari’s Banquet (2)
The hope before their eyes flickered and then quietly extinguished.
It was like the little match girl’s hand.
The flame showed her hope.
But the despair after the match went out was even more bone-chilling.
The King of Winter noticed the slave caravan. Even from a distance, he keenly recognized the Demi-humans and Treants mixed within the caravan.
He pursed his lips, not looking aside, and made no further indication.
…
…
[There is a group of Demi-human and Elf slaves in the Karari Royal Capital. As a player from Winter City, you deeply understand what kind of nation the King of Winter wishes to build – a free, inclusive nation without slavery and discrimination!]
The mission system prompt box suddenly popped up.
The Players standing outside the Karari Royal Capital quickly snapped out of their idle chatter.
“Brothers! We’ve got a job, a job!”
“Awesome, awesome! As expected of His Majesty the King of Winter, more productive than a sow!”
The Players were overjoyed. Nobody Does Human Things (M) immediately enabled team creation permissions. Soon, all players joined the Team Channel, and the mission prompt box continued to pop up.
[Too many troops cannot enter the Karari Royal Capital. Currently, the scouts and knights under the King of Winter have already entered the city. They have their own missions to attend to and have no time to concern themselves with the Demi-human and Elf slaves. This matter will ultimately require your help.]
“Tsk tsk~ it needs our help~”
“You make it sound like I’m embarrassed.”
Leisurely Moment (M) chuckled, putting on the heavy armor.
The players around him were mostly the same.
They were ready.
[You must sneak into Karari and rescue the slaves being driven by the slave owners without causing any commotion. Your assistance may change their fate. If the matter is exposed and the mission fails, these slaves may die tragically before your eyes.]
To make the Players take this mission seriously, several scenes that Xi Wei had seen in the forest were re-simulated by the system and transmitted to each Player’s vision with heavy mosaic filters.
The Players, who had been joking around, fell silent.
They looked at the scenes in their vision, and a flame of anger began to ignite in their hearts, burning fiercely.
Every Winter City player had had some contact with Demi-humans.
Not to mention the likable Little Radishes, many of them were friends with Demi-humans, regardless of gender.
These pure and simple Elves, in the stable environment of Winter City, displayed all the truth, goodness, and beauty that a Humanoid race could exhibit.
Perhaps the only flaw was that they were too naive.
There were no beggars in Winter City.
This was not only due to the King of Winter’s governance.
It was also because any beggars would have already been helped by these Demi-humans who were idle all day, even if these beggars had once been humans who attacked their country.
This race was foolish but it was hard not to like them.
[Mission Objective: Rescue the Slaves]
[Mission Description: The general vicinity of the slave market has been marked on the map. Please sneak into the city without being discovered by the Karari Guards and rescue as many of the imprisoned slaves as possible.]
[Mission Reward: Master-level Equipment Selection x1, Equipment Lottery Ticket x10, 100,000 Experience Points, 0 Copper Coins.]
[Mission Failure Penalty: The King of Winter’s Disappointment (Favorability with Winter City faction decreases by 50), Slaves may be killed by Karari soldiers during the chaos.]
[Hint: The mission difficulty is extremely high, please act cautiously. If necessary, you can seek help from the “Finger-Cutting Profiteer.” The secret phrase is “Winter Prayer.”]
With that, the mission was issued.
However, the atmosphere became somewhat somber and oppressive.
The usually carefree Players, uncharacteristically, did not act rashly. They focused their gazes on a few representative Winter City players who could make decisions.
Nobody Does Human Things (M) pondered for a moment with a frown, then glanced at the opulent City Wall of Karari before saying,
“I have two plans.”
“Plan One: Disguise ourselves as a traveling merchant guild and enter the Karari Royal Capital. The King of Winter’s army is everywhere, so even if a thousand of us enter, the guards won’t notice. After that, it’ll be simple, we just buy the slaves from the Slave Traders. As players, we have the most money. We usually earn a good income selling Magical Beast cores. Otherwise, with the meager five Copper Coins the King of Winter gives us for every mission, we would have starved to death long ago.”
“Nobody Does Human Things, careful with your words!” Leisurely Moment (M) reminded him from the side.
The King of Winter’s stinginess was well-known, but this was something to be kept in mind. Saying it casually, who knew if the System would suddenly deduct favorability?
Nobody Does Human Things shrugged indifferently and continued,
“Plan Two: Since Plan One might not succeed because the Karari guards might not let us in, I’ve devised a more forceful Plan Two.”
As Nobody Does Human Things spoke, he unfurled an electronic map and displayed it in everyone’s shared vision.
“Plan Two requires all of us. We’ll start digging a tunnel from this forest.”
Nobody Does Human Things marked a red circle in a forest near the Karari Royal Capital.
This was also where the King of Winter’s hidden Dragon Rider troops were stationed.
“This is a place the Karari guards can’t see, and the forest environment can effectively reduce noise. We’ll dig manually at first. Once underground, we’ll speed up our digging with the help of the Star Magus.”
“Using the tunnel, we can also sneak into Karari without anyone noticing and launch a surprise attack on the slave market in the middle of the night, snatch the slaves, blow up the tunnel, and retreat at our leisure.”
“Won’t that be too high-profile?”
Leisurely Moment (M) was a little worried.
Although digging a tunnel allowed them to sneak into Karari undetected, the subsequent action of snatching slaves and blowing up the tunnel would definitely expose them. The Karari guards, if they weren’t fools, would naturally find the tunnel and eventually shift their suspicion to the Winter City army outside the Karari Royal Capital.
Wasn’t that a roundabout way of doing things?
Nobody Does Human Things seemed to have anticipated Leisurely Moment (M)’s thoughts. He smiled mysteriously and said confidently,
“Did you pay close attention to the Karari King’s expression when he welcomed the King of Winter? Or, logically speaking, both are Kings, and their statuses are equal. There was no reason for the Karari King to personally come out of the city to greet him.”
“Perhaps, he was just being polite?”
Yan, the Coolest (M) interjected with his Venom Dragon’s unique eye structure, but received a look of a fool from Nobody Does Human Things.
“If you were the King of Karari, would you lower your status to welcome the King of Winter?”
Yan, the Coolest (M), due to the Venom Dragon’s unique eye structure, did not grasp the contempt in Nobody Does Human Things’s eyes. Instead, he pondered carefully and answered seriously,
“If our countries were similar in strength, then probably not. On what grounds?”
“Exactly, on what grounds,” Nobody Does Human Things smiled.
“On the grounds that Karari’s army is no match for the King of Winter. He’s afraid! So, even if we are exposed during our retreat, what of it? Do you think the King of Karari would quibble with the King of Winter over a group of slaves?”
“Probably not.”
“No!”
The Players looked at each other and shook their heads. If they were in the Karari King’s shoes, they certainly wouldn’t antagonize the King of Winter at this crucial juncture.
“Then, since that’s the case, why not attack directly? It seems to make no difference.”
Another player raised their hand and asked.
“Directly attacking is equivalent to declaring war, and it’s slapping the Karari King in the face. High-ranking officials value their pride the most. If you tear off their fig leaf, how can they not be angry? Moreover, as a king, when his capital is provoked, whether to go to war is no longer his decision.”
“So, do you understand now?”
Nobody Does Human Things shrugged in the end.
The Players looked at each other, their doubts completely gone.
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