Heroic Tier Quest!

A large group of people returned to White Stone Town in a grand procession.

The people of White Stone Town were initially terrified, but when they saw that the group was not a band of robbers but a human convoy transporting supplies, their panic subsided and was replaced by curiosity. They flocked to watch.

Bai Xiaowen stood atop one of the piles of timber and delivered his speech from a high vantage point.

"My people, from this day forward, the days of misery are gone forever."

"Look at these people! They used to be members of the Black Wind Bandit Group in town! But now, they've been reformed by me, accepted my reorganization, and become glorious warriors of the White Stone Town Construction Corps. Yes, Ian, the Boss Tier the Black Wind Bandit Group, has been executed, and this evil bandit gang has become dust of history!"

"This is just the beginning. Next, we will capture and recruit more bandits to strengthen the White Stone Town Construction Corps. We will build a large number of houses for homeless refugees and vagrants, we will cultivate more farmland for farmers who have lost their land, and we will open up trade routes to attract more traveling caravans to trade with us and exchange for necessities."

"I, Dio Skellboom, Lord of White Stone Town, always keep my word. Any resident of White Stone Town who is homeless and suffers from the harsh Northland winds can apply to my steward Harvey, to build a wooden house."

Among the crowd, Anton, a silver miner, could no longer contain his excitement. He walked over and knelt at Bai Xiaowen's feet. "We will forever remember your strength and benevolence, Lord!"

There was originally a side quest in Anton's territory to wipe out the Black Wind Bandit Group. He didn't expect that Bai Xiaowen would outwardly refuse the quest, but in reality, he rushed to the Cliffside Mine Cavern overnight and took down the rampant Black Wind Bandit Group in one fell swoop.

Upon receiving the Affection Level feedback from Anton, Bai Xiaowen jumped down from the pile of wood and nodded, saying, "Harvey, Anton, a worker at the White Stone Silver Mine, recently had his home burned down by the Black Wind Bandit Group. Let's make him the first family to apply for building a wooden house."

Harvey had already recovered from his surprise and answered loudly, "Yes, sir. Mr. Anton will certainly have the sturdiest wooden house in White Stone Town."

Anton was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes, and he knelt down to kiss Bai Xiaowen's shoes.

Following Anton's example, other residents flocked to apply for permission to build wooden houses. For a time, Harvey was somewhat overwhelmed.

Some of the villagers mustered their courage and said, "My lord, we have no food and suffer from hunger every day. Could you exchange our wooden houses for food?"

Kitz glared and said, "You're not satisfied with the lord's favor? Are you trying to bargain here?"

Bai Xiaowen had already planned this out, and with a smile, he raised his hand and said, "Don't be nervous, there will be wooden houses and food. Any able-bodied resident can apply to join the White Stone Town Construction Corps and exchange their labor for food rations!"

Currently, the five teams under the "Construction Corps" are all composed of bandits, with a homogeneous background. Bai Xiaowen plans to recruit a group of civilians to join the Construction Corps, which would make them more reliable.

In the near future, Bai Xiaowen has formulated a development strategy: to sustain the war through warfare, to incorporate other bandit strongholds, and to use the captured money to purchase food to support his army.

This method is certainly not a long-term solution. Once the bandit stronghold is wiped out, the territory of White Stone Town, lacking a steady income, will inevitably fall into a predicament of money and food shortages. However, that will be many days later.

Besides, after recruiting a certain number of troops, Bai Xiaowen plans to head to the Blackrock Line. Once he joins the Human Allied Army, will he have any worries about food? That won't be an issue.

After this speech, Lord Bai Xiaowen gained a lot of attention in White Stone Town, and his Lord Panel also Transformation.

The population figure has increased from 7 to 183, and the number continues to rise. This indicates that more and more people are willing to obey his commands and are influenced by his power.

The building materials section shows the number 36. This is timber that was dismantled from the Black Wind Bandit Group Camp. After checking, the quantity "36" means that it is enough to build 36 wooden houses.

The grain inventory has increased to 783, which is the grain stored up from the Black Wind Bandit Group Camp. It's enough to supply the Construction Corps for a few days. Of course, now we need to consider buying more grain.

The "Popularity" rating has risen to 15, and Bai Xiaowen couldn't help but sigh, realizing how easily the people were satisfied.

The habitability rating jumped to 13, a full ten points higher. This clearly demonstrates the significant influence the Black Wind Bandit Group has on the White Stone Town territory.

What remains unchanged is the prosperity level, which is still only 5 points. However, once the grain trade route is established, caravans will come, and the prosperity level will definitely increase.

Bai Xiaowen left Kitz, Bonita, Harvey, and others to maintain order while he and Li Shuyi entered the lord's mansion. The treasure chest containing the remains from the killing of Ian and his Elite Tier bandits had not yet been opened.

Bai Xiaowen opened Ian's Golden Treasure Chest first.

The Battle Rating is A, and there are a total of ten gold cards. You have three chances to draw cards without missing any.

However, Bai Xiaowen received a notification before the drawing:

"You have obtained a special item: Ian's Log. This item is guaranteed to drop and will not be added to the loot draw list."

Bai Xiaowen narrowed her eyes.

"This bandit Boss Tier, Ian, is indeed no ordinary bandit; there's more to him than meets the eye."

Bai Xiaowen opened the log and browsed through it briefly.

On the first page of the diary, there is a passage:

[I, Ian Benny, swear to be forever loyal to the Holy Light and to forever uphold the code of chivalry until the end of my life.]

Li Shuyi frowned. "This passage... is really strange. When Ian became a thief, didn't he feel ashamed looking at this log every day?"

Bai Xiaowen turned the page.

The logbook had been torn up in many places, and the remaining pages contained records of robberies on specific dates. However, upon closer inspection, Bai Xiaowen noticed some suspicious points.

For example, one of the pages has the date October 16, 982 Kane's calendar:

Blackthorn Farm has serious problems.

[I Ambush Blackthorn Farm and detected a batch of plague-infested grain. After burning the grain, I returned. I did not find any spreaders.]

For example, on the third-to-last page, the date is January 7, 983 in the Kane calendar.

[The White Stone Silver Mine is suspected.]

[Ambush the White Stone Silver Mine, probe the miners, and discover two guards infected with the Necrotic Plague.]

[I killed the guards, burned down the silver mine buildings, and returned.]

On the next page, there were only some scribbled drawings, which were then heavily crossed out.

The crossed-out sentence is identified as follows: [I don't know if doing this makes any sense; I just feel like I'm getting further and further away from the Holy Light and the way of chivalry.]

Then, Ian forcefully wrote another line:

[Archbishop Arlo is not wrong; I Repentance for my doubts. I will strive to fulfill the vows I made with my six brethren and others to investigate the source of the Necrotic Plague.]

[Black Edge's glory will forever remain in my heart.]

After reviewing the log, a notification from the Spirit Realm Rules was suddenly sent to both of them.

"[Heroic Tier Side Quest Step 1: The Truth of the Plague] Unlocked."

"Mission Objective: Investigate the Truth of the Plague and find the real spreader."

"Task Difficulty: B."

"Mission deadline: 10 days."

"Mission Reward: Unknown."

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi's expressions changed simultaneously. Heroic Tier mission! This was the first time they had encountered one.

Li Shuyi said, completely bewildered, "What's going on? Reading the log has only made me more confused. What is the Necrotic Plague? Is Ian a good guy or a bad guy?"

Bai Xiaowen gathered her thoughts and said:

"My previous questions have basically been answered. In fact, Ian is a knight of the Holy Light Church. He didn't defect; instead, he deliberately disguised himself as a bandit. His purpose was to investigate the truth behind this so-called ' Necrotic Plague.'"

Li Shuyi frowned. "Why would he pretend to be a robber?"

Bai Xiaowen speculated, "Perhaps it's for the convenience of the operation. Based on the records in the log and Anton's previous statements, I can deduce that people and grains infected by the Necrotic Plague should have an Stealth period during which no problems are visible, but they can be detected in some way... And the next step is to burn the grain and kill the infected, which many people see as killing innocent humans, which is incomprehensible."

Li Shuyi understood. "As a knight of the Holy Light Church, Ian cannot arbitrarily search or kill civilians, which hinders him at every turn. But by disguising himself as a bandit, he has no such scruples and will not damage the reputation of the Holy Light Church."

Bai Xiaowen nodded and said, "That's right. There are six other people like him who have changed their identities, and they should be scattered throughout the Northern Frontier. Black Edge is their code name."

"Oh dear... I've mistakenly killed an innocent person." Li Shuyi was somewhat annoyed.

Bai Xiaowen shook his head with a wry smile, "During the war, who can know if he's a good person? For the sake of the Holy Light Church's reputation, he certainly won't reveal his true identity; he'll only go down a dark path."

"So... should we accept this Heroic Tier side quest?" Li Shuyi asked.

"If we accept the quest, we should be able to get the item Ian uses to detect the Necrotic Plague from the treasure chest," Bai Xiaowen thought for a moment. "Let's accept it. There's no reason not to do Heroic Tier quest, especially since it's a series of quests, and the rewards are usually quite generous."

After both of them accepted the "Truth of the Plague" quest, they began drawing Loot Card. Just as Bai Xiaowen had predicted, the first item they drew was the [Plague Detector], a monocle with a faint glow on the frame.

[Plague Detector: Special item. Activates to reveal people or objects infected by the Necrotic Plague for 60 seconds. Requires 10 minutes of prayer to recharge after each use. Can only be recharged once per day. Current uses: 0/1.]

"This thing has some limitations. It only lasts for 60 seconds after charging for 10 minutes, and it can only be charged once a day... No wonder Ian has been working on it for months without making any progress." Bai Xiaowen shook his head and tried to charge it.

The message reads, "You do not have faith in the Holy Light and cannot be charged."

"Damn, we need a special interface..." Bai Xiaowen complained. "Luckily, we managed to kidnap a trainee knight, otherwise we wouldn't be able to complete this mission."

Next, Ian's treasure chest has two more chances to be drawn, and Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi decide to each take one.

Li Shuyi drew first. The card turned around and revealed a necklace. The high-end, elegant golden light slowly faded.

[The Arbiter's Resolve (Bind on Pickup)]

[Quality: Heroic Tier (Gold)]

[Equipment Slot: Neck]

[Equipment Requirements: Base Constitution 15 points]

[Attribute: Constitution +3]

[Additional Skill: Sanctuary: Summons holy light, forming a radiant shield around your body for 30 seconds. The shield absorbs twice your constitution. Cooldown: 24 hours.]

[Durability: 40/40]

[Note: Every knight of the Black Edge Arbiter possesses unparalleled and unwavering conviction.]

"An absolutely exquisite necklace," Bai Xiaowen commented, giving Li Shuyi a thumbs up.

Gold Equipment sometimes adds attribute points, and sometimes adds skills. Generally speaking, Gold Equipment with around 5 additional attribute points can be considered top-tier.

Of course, although Li Shuyi's [Feathering Necklace] does not have any additional attributes, it has an extremely useful life-saving skill, and is also considered a top-tier piece of equipment.

This necklace, [The Arbiter's Resolve], not only adds 3 points to Constitution but also has a useful shield skill! Although the skill's cooldown time is a long 24 hours, it can still be considered a top-tier piece of equipment, with a value no less than that of the [Feathering Necklace].

Li Shuyi smiled sweetly, "I have a necklace, you can have this one... That dog collar of yours is awful, take it off quickly."

Bai Xiaowen chuckled as he changed into the [Arbiter's Resolve] necklace, bringing his constitution to 20 points, comparable to a level 3 tank class, not to mention the 40-point shield skill.

In the final draw, Bai Xiaowen selected a card.

"You have obtained a special item: Broken Oath."

Li Shuyi glanced at it and suddenly exclaimed, "Team-Building Item!"

[Broken Oath: Allows Awakened Ones to form a temporary team to explore the Spirit Realm together. The team size cannot exceed (2) people, and the Awakened Ones' levels cannot exceed (6). After one exploration of the Spirit Realm Plane, the team will automatically disband. This item disappears after use.]

"It's just Temporary Team-Building Item, level 6 restricted, not bad," Bai Xiaowen quickly assessed the item's value. "Considering maximizing benefits, it should save the 48,000 Psionic Points needed for two level 6 Hero Class classes to form a team. Of course, under normal circumstances, the benefit wouldn't be that large. For the two of us, using it at level 6 will save us about 36,000 Psionic Points."

"That's already quite an achievement, over 30,000!" Li Shuyi's eyes narrowed with laughter.