(Correction to the previous countdown: [12:00:00] should be [6:00:00]. No additional charge for fewer than 200 characters.)
Zong Shen stood in the open space outside the Lord's Fortress.
At present, more than half of the mixed Combat Squad had returned, and fewer than 150 Dark Orcs remained.
The cleanup was nearing its end. The three Dark Orcs captured alive within the territory would serve as Zong Shen's switch to end the challenge. Once the mysterious merchant Beta descended and he completed this final round of exchanges, he could choose to kill those three Dark Orcs immediately and end the challenge.
He was now waiting for Beta's arrival. Before then, Beta could not be located.
As time ticked away, the countdown in the sky soon entered the positive interval of [6:00:00].
A new prompt appeared before Zong Shen.
[The current challenge has been underway for 18 hours.]
[Mysterious Merchant II has been deployed, randomly disguised as a member of the attacking side.]
[Note I: Mysterious Merchant II will only remain for one hour. If not discovered within that time, it will disappear directly.]
[Note II: Mysterious Merchant II's disguise is a physical alteration. Conventional detection magic cannot detect it effectively, but its appearance will contain certain flaws. Focus your attention and compare it with the corresponding disguised soldiers of the attacking side to discover the abnormality.]
The announcement appeared quickly and vanished just as quickly.
Its contents were basically no different from when Alpha had descended.
Zong Shen gave it a brief look and understood the situation.
Once the announcement disappeared, he immediately focused and questioned the Strategy Module.
"Please mark Mysterious Merchant II's location for me."
A golden-circle marker instantly appeared, along with a marker and distance indicator in his field of vision.
The mysterious merchant Beta was located