S-Tier Hero Quest (Third Update)

Arthas, or rather, Prince Nicholas, remained silent for a moment.

In fact, Prince Nicholas was kind-hearted by nature, and if there were even a glimmer of hope, he certainly wouldn't want to massacre the city.

How confident are you?

Bai Xiaowen thought for a moment, then could only honestly shake his head. "It's hard to say. However, whether we succeed or fail, I believe we should thoroughly study this terrible plague. Only by understanding it can we defeat it."

"Very well, I'll give you this chance for redemption," Prince Nicholas said. "You don't need to report to the Blackrock Line for the time being. In addition, in the name of the Crown Prince of the Empire, I grant you temporary authority to manage Redleaf City. During this period, you must continue to investigate the clues of the Necrotic Plague and eradicate any other hidden Plague Spreader."

Bai Xiaowen lightly pounded his left chest with his right fist, bowed, and said, "Your Highness's benevolence shines upon all the people of Redleaf City."

"I haven't finished speaking," Prince Nicholas said. "If you can develop an antidote for the Necrotic Plague, I will reward you handsomely, along with the merit of uncovering the truth about the Necrotic Plague. If you fail, I will send you to the most dangerous front lines of the Blackrock Line to fight against the most elite Remnants army!"

After a pause, Prince Nicholas continued, "And if your negligence leads to an out-of-control rampage of undead in Redleaf City, I will strip you of your title and reduce your territory. Do you agree?"

Bai Xiaowen nodded without hesitation. "Agreed."

His decisive attitude actually moved the two knights, Job and Ferdinand. How important are noble titles and hereditary lands to a lord? And this lord was willing to gamble with such important things for the people of a city he didn't even know. It was truly rare.

What they didn't know was that Bai Xiaowen was never from the Kane Plane, and even if they didn't agree, he would eventually have to give up his territory here anyway. Since that was the case, why not take a gamble?

Prince Nicholas nodded. "This Communication Rune Stone is for you. I will use it to share some of Blackrock Fortress 'Communication Rune Stone research progress on the Necrotic Plague with the scholar in Redleaf City. I hope you succeed."

Then, Prince Nicholas's image disappeared.

Job and Ferdinand handed the Communication Rune Stone to Bai Xiaowen. Spirit Realm Rules Notification:

"You have obtained a special item: Communication Rune Stone. This item can be activated with other bound Communication Rune Stone to synchronously transmit important video data. This item cannot be taken out of the Kane Plane."

"[Heroic Tier Side Quest 2-Step: Anti-Plague] Unlocked."

"Mission Objective A: Develop an antidote for the Necrotic Plague."

"Mission Objective B: Eliminate all undead creatures transformed by the Necrotic Plague within the Northern Frontier region."

"Mission Difficulty: S"

"Mission Reward: Unknown."

"Mission timeout: Equivalent to the remaining time you can stay in the Kane Plane."

The two knights, Job and Ferdinand, hesitated for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "Ian and... Jericho, did they leave any belongings behind before they died?"

Bai Xiaowen took out [Ian's Log] and [Jericho's Log] and handed them to Job and the other man. "Since they are your comrades, you can keep their logs."

"Thank you very much."

Bai Xiaowen received a notification from the Spirit Realm that Job and Ferdinand's Affection Level towards him had increased.

Job handed Bai Xiaowen a neatly folded map. "We've been secretly investigating the Necrotic Plague and have learned of some secret strongholds. Ferdinand and I are both too busy to deal with them all, so we'll leave the stronghold near Redleaf Fief to you to eliminate."

Bai Xiaowen took the map and nodded his thanks.

In fact, Job did this to share some of the credit with Bai Xiaowen as a token of gratitude. With their combined strength as level 6 Boss Tier, eliminating the Necrotic Plague stronghold was not difficult; the most challenging part was locating the hidden stronghold.

In the S-Tier Hero Quest "Anti-Plague," Bai Xiaowen's level of participation directly affects the final evaluation of the mission, which is the extent of his merit in Prince Nicholas's eyes. Therefore, the secret stronghold of the Necrotic Plague on this map has been of considerable help to Bai Xiaowen.

After seeing off the two knights and their men, Bai Xiaowen returned to the city, surrounded by the residents of Redleaf City.

The residents of Redleaf City originally harbored strong resentment towards Bai Xiaowen and his bandit guard, but after today's events, word spread and their attitude towards the bandit guard greatly improved.

The residents of Redleaf City reacted much less to Bai Xiaowen's order to gather those with more severe infections and obvious symptoms into an isolation zone. Although some protests still occurred, they were no longer a significant issue.

After the order in Redleaf City stabilized, Bai Xiaowen, Li Shuyi, and Bonita went out to eliminate the Necrotic Plague stronghold, following the map's guidance.

These secret outposts were all small, with at most one or two Mid Elite offering resistance, posing no real threat. All the seized items and data were sent to Zombie Doctor's Underground Research Lab.

It's worth mentioning that Bai Xiaowen's [Summon Angerclaw] and [Intimidation] skills have finally both reached level 3.

In fact, after the Battle of Redleaf City, his proficiency in these two skills was already close to full. Such high-intensity combat significantly improves skill proficiency.

The two skills that were upgraded to level 3, with the blessing of the "Ultimate Academic Ace" title, both reached level 4, enjoying the enhancement effect of skill upgrade to Lv4 ahead of schedule, although it requires drawing.

In one of the secret strongholds of the Necrotic Plague, Bai Xiaowen chose to draw the Lv4 enhancement effect of [Summon Angerclaw].

Before Bai Xiaowen appeared a roulette wheel, divided into four sections labeled "Ordinary," "Excellent," "Outstanding," and "Perfect." Like a lottery roulette wheel for Plane Fame, the "Ordinary" section was the largest, accounting for 40%, followed by 30%, 20%, and 10% respectively.

"These must be different enhancement effects; the rarer the enhancement effect, the more powerful it is," Li Shuyi said.

Bai Xiaowen took it in stride. "The enhancement effect of Common Tier is not necessarily weak. It all depends on whether it is suitable..." He thought of Old Demon's [Flash] skill. Because the enhancement effects of Lv4 and Lv7 were highly compatible, this ordinary skill rose to the level of a control skill with a very high tactical importance.

Bai Xiaowen turned the roulette wheel, and the pointer spun rapidly before gradually slowing down.

On the final lap, the pointer moved as slowly as a snail, crawling past the average zone, then laboriously crossing the 30% excellent zone, finally settling in the 20% outstanding zone.