Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
As per the Old Wizard’s intentions, the next task would likely be transporting equipment.
Although the identity of this mysterious organization had been discovered, the mastermind behind it remained unknown, which did not meet the mission’s completion criteria.
(Player Name) (M) stroked his chin, contemplating how to complicate matters further. Only by stirring up trouble in the pond could he truly slack off.
First, it was certain that the Old Wizard and Platyr had met the important figure. Therefore, to meet this important figure, Balner and Platyr were the perfect avenues. But under what circumstances would Balner and Platyr return to the important figure’s side? Obviously, if their plans in Pine City were completely ruined, and they weren’t killed.
With this thought, Nobody Does Human Things (M) immediately contacted the other players. These hundred players would continue to act as undercover agents until they had completely gained Balner and Platyr’s trust, at least to a point of camaraderie that would make Balner and Platyr willing to evacuate with them. The other players would then launch an attack on the transport convoy. As for what happened next, life was like a play, and it was all about acting.
“Esteemed warriors, please come with me. The situation is urgent; the contact person has been killed. We must hurry,” Balner urged, leading the players deeper into the cave. Eight Templar Knights followed behind to cover their retreat.
“Lord, the contact person is dead?” Platyr’s eyes widened. No wonder the contact person hadn’t met him at the agreed-upon tavern after waiting so long; it turned out he had already been killed.
“That’s right,” Balner nodded with a lingering fear. “So, we cannot afford to delay any further. The forces of Winter City have likely already infiltrated. It’s also our fault for being too hasty; we’ve been too frequent in selling equipment and attacking the Pine City guards recently. I heard the Pine City Lord visited the royal palace, and this matter has likely drawn the attention of the King of Winter (Xi Wei). However, my Master said that once this mission is completed, we will relocate. Pine City is no longer safe.”
Balner led everyone to a tunnel. He took a torch from a nearby wall and stepped inside first. The players followed. After only a few steps, a stench of rot and blood filled the air, and many couldn’t adapt, retching involuntarily.
“Heh heh,” Balner, who was leading the way, chuckled sinisterly. “You are now the Winterbreakers, so some secrets can be revealed to you… The former identity of the Winterbreakers was actually the remnants of the Kolon Empire’s powerful families. When Dragonflame City was broken through, most nobles and royalty were killed, but some were not in Dragonflame City. They were scattered across various parts of the Kolon Empire. Now, dissatisfied with the King of Winter’s tyranny, they have gathered to form the current Winterbreaking Organization.”
As they spoke and walked, the field of vision gradually widened. They saw corpses hanging on both sides of the cave walls. They had died tragically, their clothes in tatters, and their highly decomposed bodies bore numerous marks from branding irons.
“These are scouts from Pine City, possibly even from Winter City. Who knows?” Balner walked over to a corpse. He reached out and lifted the corpse’s chin, his eyes showing appreciation. The corpse’s owner had clearly died not long ago. She was in her early twenties, a pretty young girl. But now, her eyes were vacant. The dark purple ligature mark on her neck told the story of her death.
“Anyone who fails the lie detection spell array will be killed by us, eliminating all traces. Of course, many here claimed they wanted to join the Winterbreakers, but they all had ulterior motives.” After speaking, Balner reached out and felt the corpse’s chest, then sneered, “Like this fallen noble. She had no food, and our organization was willing to give her food. All she had to do was perform some simple work serving men. But it turned out she was a double-crossing dog. In that case, we can only send her on her way.”
The players glanced at the girl’s corpse, then at Platyr. Didn’t they say that anyone who failed the test would be given one gold coin and sent away? This was it? What kind of damned Winterbreaking Organization was this? Even the marketing organizations in Northern Myanmar weren’t this outrageous!
Facing the players’ questioning gazes, Platyr could only offer an awkward smile. He had indeed misled them before. But if he didn’t, how could he get these adventurers to come? The group fell silent and continued to follow Balner. However, compared to the livelier atmosphere before, the increasing number of corpses around them made the air increasingly heavy and stagnant. The further they went, the more decomposed the bodies were. The ones hanging outside had died recently. The corpses deeper inside were more horrific – headless, only heads remaining, heads pushed into chests, heads missing halves, heads and chests swapped. Men, women, old, and young were all present. The players even found a skeleton no taller than their knees. A hole was carved into its small skull, and a rusty iron nail was stuck in it. It was clearly the withered remains of an infant, and who knew how long it had been dead.
This cruel scene made (Player Name) (M) gasp in disbelief. But Platyr and Balner beside him appeared indifferent.
“What’s the story with this corpse?” Finally, unable to resist, (Player Name) (M) pointed at the infant’s withered remains and asked.
Balner turned and glanced at the infant’s corpse, then laughed, “You mean this one? Let me think… This seems to be the child of a Winter City scout. He was an informant for Winter City, but we discovered him. At that time, our Templar Knights used their spatial abilities to bring this family here from Linshui City. We demanded he reveal the identities of other informants. He refused, so we killed his child in front of him, toyed with his wife, and then dismembered him. Tsk, but this person still refused to talk, so…”
“So you killed him?” (Player Name) (M) suppressed the rage in his heart with great effort.
“Killed him? How could that be?” Balner said with an almost mocking tone. “Killing him would be too easy for him. The greatest torment for him is to let him live. You’ll see him later.”
(Player Name) (M) lowered his head, hiding the killing intent in his eyes within his messy hair.
No one spoke, and they silently followed Balner. They finally arrived at a magnificent golden gate. It was hard to imagine a luxurious gate in such a tunnel filled with corpses. This gate was about five meters high, plated with gold, and carved with two fierce black dragons. One looked down at the crowd, while the other tilted its head, spewing acidic dragon’s breath. The black dragons’ claws and eyes were embedded with fist-sized emeralds, and profound magic arrays were carved around them. To highlight the magic array’s effect, even expensive night-glowing stones were used.
