Strangely enough, if Assassin Moth had decisively retreated into Moth Cave after the assassination attempt and stopped showing his face, Eileen would probably have switched targets right away and tried to cause trouble for Electric Executioner or Firefly. If there wasn't enough time, she could simply submit the Quest Items and return to Chosen Space.
But not only did Assassin Moth refuse to hide, he instead made a huge spectacle of things, acting as though anyone who did not come was a coward. That really got Eileen fired up.
The more others resisted, the more excited Eileen became!
Excitement aside, however, Eileen realized that she could no longer carry out a second assassination on Assassin Moth by herself. His vigilance was at its peak, and he had already arranged all the Mobile Moths in the gang around himself as guards.
So Eileen returned from the Moth Cave area to Gotham Main City, quietly wandering between the skyscrapers. Using her special ability, she searched for any new Players who might enter the instance, intending to seek cooperation.
Eileen's scouting skill was called "Spirit of the Owl," and its skill blueprint came from the Night Elf hero Priestess of the Moon in Warcraft.
The skill allowed her to summon a special creature capable of self-invisibility, shared vision, and wide-area patrols. It was thanks to this thing that she had been able to observe Cheng Tian's underground tavern battle from start to finish without alerting anyone.
However, before discovering Cheng Tian, Eileen had also spotted two Players who clearly did not fit in with their surroundings. At the time, she had likewise chosen to observe them for a while before deciding whether to approach.
What she observed, though, was that the pair's behavior was very strange.
Though they had clearly entered as a team, neither seemed inclined to do their quests. They simply wandered around the area, seemingly studying the terrain while looking for someone.
The quest submission rules for Bounty Missions worked like this: the quests received by different Players were not necessarily exactly the same, but the overall framework would not change.
For example, Cheng Tian's quest was to gather information on the Moth Gang's combat units, while Eileen's was to gather information on the Firefly Gang's combat units. Following that logic, the quests received by others would likely be similar, and some might even be exact duplicates.
To Batman Bruce, who was so rich that all he had left was money, that was no problem at all. All he had to do was toss out a little cash to improve the reliability of the information. Wasn't that basically free?
Even Players like Eileen, who had an additional, highly specific goal of sniping the Main Quest boss, would gather the necessary Quest Items beforehand. Then, regardless of whether their original objective was achieved, they would not suffer any additional losses.
But after observing them, Eileen could basically confirm that these two newcomers clearly intended to completely abandon their quests. They would rather bear the consequences of quest failure than fail to accomplish some goal.
Clearly, they were not people she could team up with.
After giving up on following those two, Eileen discovered Cheng Tian, the Scallop Warrior most capable of bringing out her strengths as an archer. After watching Cheng Tian's words and actions the entire time, she confirmed that his personality was probably quite to her liking, so she decisively stepped in to help.
Had it been anyone else, she would never have proactively acted while risking Batman's attention.
Eileen, the rich archer who had casually paid 5,000 coins just to complete a Gray Team Contract with Cheng Tian, told him about the two Players she had previously observed, her tone almost complaining. After hearing her out, Cheng Tian wore a thoughtful expression.
Cheng Tian then asked roughly when the other pair had entered the instance. After hearing her answer, he became even more convinced of his judgment.
"I'd say they probably came for me."
"For you? What do they want?"
Now it was the archer's turn to be curious. How could Cheng Tian be so certain that two strangers had come for him?
"I sold a set of Demon World Village's signature Knight Armor at the market. It has considerable strategic value, and I still have another set on hand.
"Based on the time you said they entered the instance, they probably came in within half an hour after I accepted the quest.
"If they weren't trying to cut out everyone else and force a purchase from me, then they were probably planning to rob a robber."
"...Who even describes themselves like that?"
Eileen first looked enlightened, then immediately wore an expression full of black lines.
Demon World Village was a beginner Shit Pit, but the place had long been thoroughly explored by the Player Community as a source of veteran supplies. Naturally, she knew about Knight Armor's "Absolute Durability" effect, and thus understood that Cheng Tian indeed had enough value to attract attention.
As the saying went, once Ashen Valley got big enough, it had all kinds of Owlkin. Not to mention Chosen Space, where there was no shortage of "red-name" Players who loved PvP.
"Then let's go find them!"
Before Cheng Tian could say anything else, Eileen slapped the table and made the suggestion directly.
Cheng Tian said nothing, but his eyes were full of confusion.
"You're my man now! We still have something important to do later! We need to eliminate every uncontrollable factor as much as possible!
"If those two have nothing to do with you, then we'll each go our own way and stay out of each other's business.
"But if they really do want to rob you..."
Eileen rose from her seat again, dangerous light gleaming in her eyes.
"Then we'll break their damn legs!"
Inside an Abandoned Factory in Gotham's East District old industrial zone.
Eileen was casting a spell to find someone.
Soul of the Owl, a C-rank skill, was truly exceptional for finding people. Though it was only a level 1 skill without any extra points invested, it was an extremely fitting auxiliary summon for an archer. Eileen's own nearly Hawkeye-level eyesight made it even more effective.
And because it was in soul form, it could even pass through walls. Even if the target hid inside a building, it could still patrol the area.
But it had a very peculiar weakness when used.
From Cheng Tian's perspective, Eileen had deliberately lowered the brim of her hat to cover her eyes. Like some performance artist, she spread her arms and flapped them widely up and down, making her breastplate sway along with them. It was as though the one flying right now was not the owl, but Eileen herself.
"Found them. They're at the underground tavern where you fought before... Huh? Something's wrong with the direction they're moving in."
Eileen maintained the flapping motion of her arms. She first looked delighted, then immediately fell into confusion.
"Excuse me... what exactly are you doing?"
Standing to the side with his shield in hand, Cheng Tian—who at least knew how to read the room—asked Eileen, whom he had successfully promoted in his heart to "Tragic Beauty Girl."
"Oh~ This is a necessary step for synchronizing with the Owl Soul."
Eileen, who did not think there was anything embarrassing about her actions whatsoever, gave that answer with a faintly proud expression.
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