"Oh, yes, yes."
[ Clear Soup Master ] snapped out of his previous state and said to the Pixel Blue Dragon in his field of vision, who was stamping its feet in frustration:
I know a shortcut.
As he spoke, he disappeared into the alleyway formed naturally by the surrounding wooden houses.
With the notification sound of "New route recorded", [ Clear Soup Master ] arrived at the long-lost Shattered Castle and met the Son of God who had also been gone for a long time.
Several months had passed, and the other person's appearance seemed unchanged, still looking like a young man, but his temperament was more gentle and reserved compared to the time of the Fir City Operation.
He already knew that the most important NPC in front of him had already reached the High Tier. Now it seemed that the High Tier brought not only an increase in strength, but also a change in temperament.
[ Clear Soup Master ] naturally didn't know that half of Ed's change in temperament came from the revival of his ancient memories, a transformation after realizing that he was actually an old man, while the other part was purely an act.
After all, it was quite challenging for Ed to show his growth to the Soul Returner without directly revealing the prototype of the Root Network.
The Soul Returner returned to the study, and Ed smiled, raising his head to look at him with his one eye:
"How's the investigation into the ' Base Body ' going?"
[ Clear Soup Master ] was overjoyed and surprised. Even though he had already anticipated the level of intelligence of the NPCs, he was still particularly excited and asked:
"Boss, you still remember me?"
"Of course, I also remember that you recruited a few companions and then headed south together; you were very adventurous."
"That's right, boss, this is what happened next..."
[ Clear Soup Master ] happily took a seat and began to tell Ed about what he had seen and heard recently.
Although you can see what the players' senses are experiencing at any time, listening to the person in front of you narrate it has its own unique charm.
After listening to the investigation about the Base Body, Ed nodded and said:
"As you said, there are almost no living things in the Skeleton Alliance, whether animals or plants, except for a small number of arthropods living in the desert at the border."
"Then the Empire must be inextricably linked to this matter."
He looked at the Soul Returner before him and continued:
" The Base Body is too deeply involved with the Empire, while we currently have almost no communication with the Empire."
"It might not be easy to continue investigating this matter. You can choose to shelve this mission and restart it later when we border the Empire."
"Of course, I won't let you eat sand for months for nothing; your payment will be settled soon."
Ed's suggestion was far beyond the Soul Returner's expectations, yet it was also quite tempting. [ Clear Soup Master ] thought for a moment and said:
"Yes, I still intend to continue the investigation."
He composed himself, unsure whether he was trying to persuade Ed or himself.
"The sooner this human trafficking route is cut off, the safer those innocent children who are being used as ' Base Body ' will be."
"I still plan to continue the investigation. Once the Second Holy See borders the Empire, you can send more people, boss."
Ed nodded upon hearing this and said:
"Alright, the first batch of Gungnir have now been dispatched to various locations to monitor whether the Pure Ones are showing signs of moral decay again."
"I will give them orders to cooperate with your actions as much as possible within the territory of the Second Holy See."
"If you need to recruit some other Soul Returner, I can also authorize you for a special operation."
[ Clear Soup Master ] seemed completely taken aback by Ed's trust in him.
His eyes widened as he watched the trust level rise rapidly.
The Soul Returner was astonished to discover that this portion of the "mission rewards" seemed to have already begun to be calculated.
Haha, at this rate, won't I become Boss Ed's confidant?
Lost in his fantasies, [ Clear Soup Master ] suddenly remembered the real reason he had come.
Although he was beheaded by the Essence Knight before returning to Valhalla, I can't say that.
To be honest, it was clearly his own intention to deliver the message to Boss Ed more quickly that led to his elimination.
With that in mind, [ Clear Soup Master ] embellished the story about the sandcastle, and completed a brand new version of the story under Ed's sweet smile.
Ed's one eye scrutinized the Soul Returner before him, but inwardly he just wanted to laugh.
If I hadn't seen the firsthand information myself, I would almost have thought these were two different stories!
Fortunately, the story outline was still fine, and the requirement to recruit one hundred people remained unchanged.
After listening to his story, Ed remained silent for a few moments, then took out a piece of fairly good quality paper and began to write quickly on it.
Soon, [ Clear Soup Master ] received the document signed by Ed, which was written in the standard Kingdom Common Language alphabet and was clearly understood by him with the help of the translation function.
At the same time, Pixel Blue Dragon also displayed a prompt box in front of him, the content of which was almost identical to the text on the paper in his hand:
[Authorization granted by the guide. Current "Special Mission" editing privileges: one time remaining. Funding: 0 gold, 0 silver, 0 bronze.]
As the semi-transparent text before him gradually overlapped with the text on the document in his hand, [ Clear Soup Master ] couldn't help but ask:
"Uh, about funding..."
Ed, who had been staring at him, laughed, a laugh full of unspoken meaning:
"Funding? You should go find that knight from the Skeleton Alliance, don't you think?"
Before Clear Soup Master could respond, Ed continued:
"If you intend to form an organization similar to a 'mercenary group,' I can authorize you to be affiliated with the Adventurers' Guild and legally leave the country as adventurers of the Second Holy See."
"And I won't take any cut of your earnings; however, in return, you'll need to be responsible for your own profits and losses. Do you understand?"
[ Clear Soup Master ] paused for a moment, thinking of the Adventurers' Guild in the works he had read that relied on adventurers for survival, thinking of the platforms in reality that took huge cuts, thinking of the exorbitant demands of Lion...
He swallowed hard before saying:
" Ed, Boss Ed. I'll pass those words on to them. However, after this matter is finished, I still need to continue investigating the Base Body in the Empire. I'm not currently among the mercenaries..."
Ed nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this:
"Then I'll leave the task of recruiting mercenaries to you. Take care of it before you set off for the Empire."
"The operating funds will be deposited into your account later, in a separate... what's the word again? Yes, a separate 'account'."
At this point, [ Clear Soup Master ] was so moved that he couldn't describe it, feeling that a boss like Ed was extremely rare in real life.
Sigh, I wonder what the environment is like at " Odin Game Company that developed this game. Ed might even embody those employees' expectations of their ideal boss...