Reincarnated NPC, But Arknights

Chapter 32: Bai Ye's Righteous Speech

Bai Ye could tell at a glance what the NPC in front of him was happy about.

It was nothing more than experience, equipment, and favorability.

Still too young, Bai Ye thought. For him, favorability and everything else were just illusions. He remembered a time when he himself was enticed forward by such things.

Indeed, in the end, people always become the very thing they despise.

But Bai Ye declared, "I like it!"

The open beta was very short, only 24 hours, mainly to ensure balance later and prevent open beta players from having too much of a gap with players who joined after the official launch. After all, the open beta was not a wipe.

Although Bai Ye kicked Zhai Mao away, she was quite happy about it. After all, she still wanted to use the remaining time to experience other things.

However, Bai Ye clearly wouldn't let her off that easily.

"What are your thoughts on the Infected?" Bai Ye asked Zhai Mao.

Zhai Mao: ???

How did he know? My thoughts on the Infected? Well, they're like people with a terminal illness, I guess.

Bai Ye naturally didn't wait for the player to answer, so he continued, "This land is not exactly friendly to the Infected. They cannot be cured, and Originium crystals gradually crystallize within them, spreading further after their death. Because of this, the Infected have become outcasts of society."

"Lungmen is already quite tolerant towards the Infected; they are allowed to live within the city. In some countries, the Infected are simply taken to the wilderness to mine, or confined like prisoners."

Of course, none of this really concerned the players. Without witnessing it firsthand or experiencing it themselves, they couldn't empathize. Through a screen, the story was just a story to them.

Bai Ye wasn't in a hurry. He just needed to draw players in with benefits.

"I, and some people like me, are searching for a future for the Infected, and a future for this land. But our numbers are limited, and we are weak."

"I can see that you and your companions have potential. I hope to get your help."

"This land needs more heroes. Will you join us?"

This was Bai Ye's righteous speech.

All the elements were there. As long as the words "this land" were spoken, people would feel hopeful. Then, combined with "Infected" and "future," in just three sentences, you could stand on the moral high ground of Terra.

Afterward, Bai Ye handed a business card to Zhai Mao.

"Can we really help? I mean, we're still too weak, we don't have any power."

If the player felt no sense of belonging, no amount of persuasion would work.

Bai Ye knew this well. Since he had already occupied the moral high ground, the next step was to offer tangible benefits.

"Temporary weakness doesn't matter. I believe in your potential."

"Oh, right. I'm also a merchant. Perhaps these things can help you."

As his voice fell, Zhai Mao saw a shop interface appear on her game panel.

She was still groggy and hadn't seen clearly, but the bullet comments in her livestream exploded again.

[Shui Shui Shui Yue: So this is a faction NPC? Judging by what he's saying, it's definitely related to the main quest.]

[Bai Mo Bai: Did anyone else notice the skills in the shop? Are these really things beginners can learn?]

[Ke Ran Bu Si Ren: Shut up and take my money!]

Zhai Mao's mouth hung open as she looked at the shop interface before her.

Weapons, swords, crossbows, firearms, and even staves were child's play. Bai Ye's list even included land aircraft carriers and powered armor.

The skills were even more varied, with all sorts of Originium Arts and techniques that made her eyes water.

Once a player's gaze fell upon them, they absolutely couldn't look away.

Bai Ye waved his hand, and instantly, 99% of the items on the list disappeared.

Only a few skills remained, lying alone in the shop interface.

"Uh..." Zhai Mao looked at Bai Ye pleadingly.

She hadn't finished looking yet!

However, this NPC didn't know that many of the items on the shop list were meant to deceive. For example, the land aircraft carrier was actually Rhodes Island, which was not for sale. As long as no price was listed, anything could be put in the shop!

This system was quite stupid. Bai Ye had already thought of countless ways to tease the system; he could arrange it however he wanted.

"Although I can't give you these for now, as an extra reward for completing the mission, I will teach you a skill."

"Consider the tuition waived."

With that, Bai Ye revealed the prices for some of the skills. They only required experience, not Lungmen Dollars, to learn!

Naturally, where would Zhai Mao, this NPC, get money? Having some experience was already good.

They were all very basic skills.

Although Zhai Mao was naturally slow-witted, she couldn't resist the encouragement from the bullet comments. She looked at the list and hesitated for a moment before resolutely investing all the experience she had gained into Bai Ye's shop.

Suddenly, Bai Ye's experience pool increased by 700 experience.

"!"

Bai Ye verified that his guess was correct.

The system took not a single cent of this experience, giving it all to him!

Perhaps because he carried the game panel, Bai Ye and the game system had formed a peculiar connection. Any experience and free attribute points players submitted to the system for learning were all transferred into his hands.

Other NPCs definitely didn't have this treatment, as they actually had no intersection with the game system at all.

Bai Ye's eyes welled up.

What kind of charitable act was this? No middleman to earn the price difference. No, he himself was the middleman, profiting from both ends.

Using the system's experience as rewards for players, and then pocketing the experience from the players.

Bai Ye declared that if such a transaction occurred a hundred times, he would earn a hundred times!

No, in reality, he was also doing charity. He was providing players with a channel to learn skills for free, not even charging them. All they needed to do was follow his plan.

What a great golden spirit! Bai Ye proclaimed that he had sacrificed too much for the Infected on this land.

After Zhai Mao finished learning the skill, Bai Ye closed the shop interface.

He then handed a business card to Zhai Mao: "We welcome all companions willing to join us."

Zhai Mao took the business card. It had a logo made of triangles and towers. Of course, you could also think of it as a Rook in chess.

Rhodes Island.

Zhai Mao softly read the text on the logo. Through the game panel's built-in translation system, she could understand the characters on the logo.

Looking up, Zhai Mao found no one in front of her.

Not far away, Bai Ye had already walked off with Chen and the others.

His shadow was stretched long under the dim streetlights.

Chapter Thirty-Three: Bai Ye, Come to the Guards Bureau

Zhai Mao's mission was complete, but the Guards Bureau's mission had clearly just begun.

This Safra finisher was sent directly by the mastermind. Information regarding these matters could be directly interrogated from him. As Chen was about to take him back to the Lungmen Guard Department, this Safra told everyone that he had to report back to headquarters every day, and if he didn't return, it would mean an accident had occurred.

This place was, after all, under the Rat King's shadow. They had to be extremely careful. But where in the world was there a wall that couldn't be penetrated?

Officer Chen looked up at the sky. They were acting at night to search for gang members secretly promoting and selling contraband drugs. It was definitely too late to take the Safra back for interrogation now.

While taking out her communicator to contact Guards Bureau headquarters, Chen had her subordinates interrogate the finisher whose leg had just been bandaged.

Safra were, in essence, lizards in a broad sense, so it wasn't impossible for Bai Ye to call the person in front of him a lizard-man...

Seemingly sensing the Guards Bureau's intentions, this cunning fellow began to deliberately stall. The Guards Bureau officers brought by Officer Chen were not professional interrogators, so the progress was quite slow.

These officers were clearly more skilled in combat, but their interrogation knowledge was inferior to those in the precinct. They looked at the stammering lizard-man before them, knowing he was being deliberately difficult, but they couldn't lay a hand on him—after a certain reform in the Guards Bureau, torture was prohibited.

"Let me try," Bai Ye sighed, unable to watch any longer. These Guards Bureau officers were too straightforward.

He walked up to the Safra finisher, grabbed his hair, and pinned him against the wall.

"Bang—"

The smug look in the Safra's eyes instantly changed.

"You..." he looked at Bai Ye in disbelief.

The Guards Bureau officers were also startled by Bai Ye's actions.

Bai Ye sneered, "The Lungmen Guard Department is civilized and can't directly resort to force. Unfortunately, I'm not. Oh, right, those two over there are from Blacksteel International, and they're even more brutal, you know."

Flanka, who was resting nearby, glared at Bai Ye upon hearing this.

What nonsense is this guy spouting?

How am I terrifying?

The "fat" fox's eyes darted around, then she suddenly said, "That's right. Look at this Vayf next to me. She's a barbarian who doesn't understand the rules. Vayf, you know?"

"Her brain is full of muscle, and the horns on her head can stab you to death."

"Flanka, come here." Scythe's forehead was covered in black lines. This woman really dared to say anything.

Bai Ye chuckled inwardly, but his face was filled with coldness. He looked at the Safra in front of him as if he were looking at a dead man, an expression that startled the finisher again.

Bai Ye's demeanor had initially felt approachable, but now he could only feel the biting cold of winter.

"Cooperate with the Guards Bureau, and you can still keep your life in prison," Bai Ye said coldly, leaning close to his face. "If you don't cooperate, we won't do it ourselves."

"After all, we're not devils. But we'll hand you over to the Rat King."

"Speaking of which, since this happened on his territory, he's also responsible."

Lungmen tacitly allowed the Rat King's existence. He suppressed Lungmen's darkness and was Lungmen's shadow. Grey Lin was the boss of the entire Lungmen slum.

"I'm sure the Rat King would be very interested in contraband drugs. I'll ask him to seal off the slum and search every inch of it to find you."

"But as for the methods… I don't know what they'll be like, and your ending… I can't guess that either."

"Maybe you'll be sealed in a concrete pillar and sunk into an artificial lake, or tied to the flight path of a moving city. Do you think they'll see you and stop?"

The Rat King's methods were more brutal. That old man had cleaned up Lungmen alongside Wei Yenwu since the past. International criminals, violent organizations… anything harmful to Lungmen was swept into the trash by them.

However, this time it was the Guards Bureau investigating the case, and it wasn't easy to directly hand it over to the Rat King. After all, how would the Guards Bureau save face?

But Bai Ye wasn't from the Guards Bureau, and he spoke without any reservations.

It was funny, he wasn't afraid of anyone from the Guards Bureau at all, but when Bai Ye mentioned the Rat King, he couldn't keep it together.

The people in the slums had experienced the Rat King's methods; he was a terrifying old man.

Bai Ye narrowed his eyes, knowing his words had been effective. He then took the contraband drugs from the unlucky duo.

Holding the box, he patted the Safra man's face. "Now, tell me everything you know. Everything, all of it."

"I really don't like forcing people to submit through violence, but I'm not an old-fashioned person either. I won't reject this method."

"I'll talk, I'll tell you everything." The fixers were smart people. He'd rather be locked up in Lungmen's prison than fall into the Rat King's hands.

"You go talk to the cops." Bai Ye let go and walked to the side, his face returning to its previous smiling expression.

The change in his demeanor surprised those around him. Bai Ye had been as gentle as a spring breeze since he first appeared, but just now he had shown a brutal and cold side.

The contrast was quite stark.

Chen, who had finished contacting headquarters, sensed killing intent from Bai Ye. She suddenly realized that this excessively handsome young man before her possessed such terrifying killing intent. However, even that chilling aura couldn't affect Bai Ye's universally amiable demeanor. It was truly strange.

"If he still doesn't talk, what will you do?" the young policewoman asked softly as she walked up to Bai Ye.

Bai Ye raised an eyebrow. "There are many ways. Knives and blood, or I could just shove the contraband drugs down his throat… I said, I don't like forcing people to submit through violence, but I won't reject it either."

Chen frowned and shook her head seriously. "The Guards Bureau only acts honorably. We don't fight evil with evil. That is not justice."

"That's why you can't do anything about the slums. The Guards Bureau has tried to move in here several times and failed…" Bai Ye smiled. "Anyway, I'm not a cop. I'll only choose methods that are beneficial to me. If it's useful, it's viable."