With the shared goal of saving the poor children, the players quickly began their operation.
Under [ Zhongde ]'s command, everyone worked in an orderly manner, shoveling soil, transporting materials, and reinforcing the cave structure with wooden planks.
As dawn broke, the excavated soil was not spread out into the yard but was temporarily piled up inside the house—at the current digging speed, there was simply no time to spread the soil evenly.
As time goes by, a feeling that has never been experienced in other games is growing in the hearts of players.
They all felt they were doing something very righteous.
Players actually have their own unique insights into digging tunnels.
The term "tomb raiding" has been used in various films, television shows, and even tomb raiding literature, and people have long been familiar with it.
Based on this, and with Zhongde's rudimentary knowledge of civil engineering, widening the tunnel and reinforcing the surrounding area was not actually that difficult.
The real headache for everyone was that they didn't have enough timber to reinforce the tunnel.
Fortunately, when everyone was troubled by this matter, the couple stepped forward.
They hoped that people could dismantle their few pieces of furniture and take the wood to reinforce key areas of the cave.
The players didn't hold back either. Although the couple's home was furnished rather simply, they were now deeply involved in the arduous task of digging a tunnel, and every resource was extremely important.
Three hours later, it was already broad daylight in White Wax Town.
The priests, having completed their night patrol, returned to the church.
Their days had been incredibly boring lately. They couldn't catch the woman Yiden wanted them to capture, the underground experiments were on hold, and venturing out risked being killed. In short, nothing they did was convenient.
Yiden, who usually wears a smiling face, has completely revealed his true nature as a two-faced wolf in these past few days.
Inside the church's main hall, a dozen priests sat on prayer benches, heads bowed, silently reciting something, completely afraid to open their eyes to see what was happening before them.
At the very front of the hall, on the altar where a giant statue of the World Tree stood, a man was wailing.
On his right collarbone, the nail, Alienation from a Boston Ivy seedling, had taken root and sprouted in his flesh.
In two days, he failed to complete any of the tasks Yiden had assigned him. Not only did the woman not return to the hotel, but his overnight patrol also yielded no results.
As punishment, the Boston Ivy on his shoulder began to Drain his flesh, and the man could feel his right hand weakening and no longer obeying his commands.
After a series of screams, Yiden tapped in front of the man with her solid wooden hand.
The priest, on the verge of collapse, looked up and saw Yiden, who remained expressionless.
Give me a reason to live.
The priest's throat bobbed, and he swallowed hard.
Even with his low intelligence, he couldn't say something like, "You can't kill me, or I'll die in the Soul Tree in the Holy City, and you'll be found out for using torture," which would only provoke the other party.
There is really only one way to save Vitality at this moment: prove that you still have value.
So the man forcibly regained some of his rationality and, after a brief moment of thought, said:
"Your Excellency, please give me another chance. That woman must be hiding in a town resident's home. I request permission to search the homes of all residents of White Wax Town."
Yiden raised his eyebrows slightly, as if he had become somewhat interested in his suggestion.
So he asked:
"So, where do you plan to start your investigation?"
Upon hearing this, the man felt as if he had been granted a pardon. Since Yiden had asked the question, he should be considered to have passed this test.
So he spoke according to the prepared speech in his mind:
"Just start from around the church and work your way out in circles; you're sure to find it!"
"Fool!"
Yiden roared, startling the unpunished priests below who trembled in fear.
"From the inside out? You're afraid that person will find out and won't be able to escape, right?"
Having said that, the old priest stopped looking at the stammering man in front of him and turned his gaze to the priests below who were pretending to pray:
"Pass on my order: divide into four teams and search inwards from the edge of town. Do not let anyone escape!"
"Yes!"
The priests agreed in unison and quickly left through the side door of the church in their original groups, heading to the edge of town to begin their search.
Yiden and his two most trusted priests sat in the church, awaiting their news.
Meanwhile, the excavation operation had been going on for three hours, and one of the couple's rooms was almost completely filled with mud. They could only close the door and dump soil and rocks into the room through the window.
Inside the cave, which was now large enough for two people to stand sideways, Zhongde silently stroked the cleared rock wall in front of him.
Half a minute later, a player's voice suddenly came from the direction of the cave entrance:
"The priests have gone far away!"
"Good!"
Looking at the players, covered in dust and dirt, in the darkness, [ Zhongde ] said seriously:
"Cut!"
After Ed removed the timed testing mechanism from the game, most players changed their online time to between 10 PM and 11 PM in the real world.
After all, this time is closer to when they actually start to sleep than 8 o'clock.
Therefore, Ed also chose to issue a new mission notification at 10:00 AM in the World of Disorder:
[Large-scale, long-term quest - Reclaim White Wax Town quest node reminder:]
The player count requirement for Phase 1 of the mission has been met. The test for Duolin will close in two hours. Players who wish to participate should plan their game time accordingly.
The second phase of the quest will begin in two hours and will remain open until 8:00 AM tomorrow (8:00 AM in the World of Disorder time, 8:00 PM in the real world time, August 18th). Players are advised to carefully review the quest requirements to avoid failing the qualification check.
In fact, Ed's announcement was completely unnecessary. Not to mention that most players were already very interested in this large-scale long-term quest, after [ Dark Archmage ] exposed the filth beneath the White Wax Town Church yesterday, even some casual players immediately expressed their desire to join the battle.
[ Epic-Level Giant ] is a typical example. This fisherman said that he couldn't stand bullying the weak the most in his life, so he put down his fishing rod and went to challenge Duolin to a duel.
Although his death ended with him flying out of the arena, his spirit was highly praised by the players.
As for what kind of spirit it is...
Of course, this reflects the Air Force's immediate search for excuses and its tendency to evade the issue.
Because casual players flocked to join, this combat mission eventually transformed from a celebration for combat players into a major event that everyone was planning to participate in.
While a small number of players "repented" and chose to challenge Duolin to gain combat qualifications, those who had already obtained qualifications began to spontaneously form teams and prepare weapons and vehicles.