A bizarre story.
A priest remarked with emotion.
"Yes, although it doesn't seem logically correct, that's probably just how reality is—it doesn't always make sense."
Another squad leader spoke up, and then someone else asked in confusion:
"Could the prisoners be lying?"
"The names and their respective Holy Crusaders numbers match."
Nuolun shook his head and added:
"Besides, I can't tell if she's lying."
Nuolun said it casually, but his words caused the expressions of several squad leaders to change simultaneously.
Several squad leaders knew that their superior had a special ability --
Nuolun is known for his ability to discern lies by observing subtle facial expressions, but now even the Grand Knight says he can't tell the truth from the falsehood. Perhaps the person inside is indeed quite professional.
"Sir, what should we do with her?"
"Take them in; they might be our allies. Let's not hurt them."
"Yes."
One squad leader accepted the order and left, while the other asked:
"Sir, shall we still go to White Wax Town?"
"Rest for the night, then head to Blue Gum Town."
Inside the tent, the [ Dark Archmage ] thought it over and over and realized that his actions were indeed problematic, to the point of being completely outmatched by the opponent. He had initially intended not to reveal any information, but now, looking back, he found that he had been thoroughly questioned.
Even if most of what I confessed was false, the sense of defeat was real.
Socially awkward people really can't do negotiation. If they had just stuck to their guns from the start, they might have been able to get more information out of each other.
But it's no use saying all this now. Things have come to this, and there's no point in continuing to live...
After filling out the work order, she clicked on the top left corner of the game panel, checked the total value of her current equipment, and finally selected the button she had never chosen before—[Abandon Current Body].
Goodbye!
She muttered something under her breath, then resolutely pressed the button.
Unlike the feeling of falling when logging in, the feeling of actively giving up one's body is similar to Overweight. [ Dark Archmage ] felt his body constantly rising, and the World of Disorder below was getting smaller and smaller, soon turning into a yellowish map from the official website.
In the area belonging to the Second Holy See, several highlighted locations are currently flashing.
A prompt appeared before her: [Please select a body reshaping location].
[ Dark Archmage ] did not hesitate to choose the Teleportation Tree closest to the castle. The castle and White Wax Town were her happy old home, and many spare equipment were still being stored at Tiya's father's inn.
The next step should be to first try to trigger a special event with this incident, so that Ed can grant her some authority. Then, she should return to White Wax Town, retrieve a set of equipment from Tiya's father, and then head in a different direction to approach Fir City again—she refused to believe that she could encounter a Grand Knight Commander every time.
After selecting a respawn point, the respawn process began loading in front of her.
The player's soul, no different from a wandering ghost, listlessly browsed the forum. Less than five minutes later, a new notification appeared: [Body reconstruction complete. Resurrect immediately?]
After clicking "Yes," the familiar feeling of falling returned, and the [ Dark Archmage ], dressed in beginner gear, walked out of the Resurrection Tree. The player system continued to pop up new content:
[Completely rebuilt and revived, deducting 1 gold coin from account balance]
[ The Bloody Night Special Insurance has been triggered. Based on your recent performance, the final payout is 79 silver coins, which has now been credited to your account.]
[Your losses are: 2x Steel Short Blade, 3x Paralysis Bomb, 2x Vine Bandage Pack... Total...]
[ Dark Archmage ] waved his hand to dismiss the game pop-up window in front of him, really unwilling to face the number of losses he had suffered.
Soon, the [ Dark Archmage ] successfully met Ed and reported his previous experience and how he dealt with it.
Ed nodded thoughtfully, then quickly locked onto her previous body, watching the replay at double speed from a first-person perspective to get a general understanding of the current situation.
Our own players are up to their old tricks again!
As before, they once again exploited the chaotic nature of natural Calamity, steer the script in a bizarre and erratic direction.
But this time, the target of their prank seems to be an ally!
Ed thought about it carefully and realized that the [ Dark Archmage ]'s handling of the matter was exactly the thought process of a normal player. After all, protecting the main city is a logic ingrained in the genes of every player in a large game.
The World of Disorder is not just a game. Even if players can recite the official website's encyclopedia entries by heart, it doesn't mean they have all the current information. For example, there is one thing that no player knows yet: Duolin's second plea for help.
Players know that Duolin had previously sent a letter of appeal to Archbishop Antiya Lisi in the name of the Bishop of White Wax Town, which attracted the 3D printer Motley and his 500 laborers.
However, the players were unaware of the specifics of Ed's orders, nor did they know that Duolin had sent a letter directly to a cardinal in the Holy City, requesting a Holy Crusaders composed entirely of Pure Ones to come to their aid.
It wasn't that Ed intentionally concealed the news, but rather that there was simply no way to release it.
Currently, the official website and encyclopedia of the World of Disorder are based on the logic of two official accounts, " Huginn " and " Muninn," and players filling out and verifying the information themselves. Therefore, unless the official team intervenes directly, players should indeed not know about this matter.
More than a month has passed since that incident, and it's about time for the second group to arrive.
Under the threat of the Blood Corpse Tide, if there were any troops capable of trekking a long distance to the Aduolin Province and appearing in the wilderness, Ed truly couldn't think of anyone other than the Pure Ones, given their unwavering faith.
Furthermore, the location where the [ Dark Archmage ] encountered this Holy Crusaders was near Fir City, but the Holy Crusaders did not choose to enter Fir City, but instead chose to take a detour.
Based on these two points, Ed can now confirm that Nuolun and her men are indeed good people!
Ed suddenly remembered a joke he'd made when he'd cast Duolin as a playwright, "Let heroes investigate heroes, let good men investigate good men."
Now the boomerang has returned—our own heroes are really going to investigate those good guys from the Pure Ones.
After a moment's thought, Ed operated the player system for a while, then looked at [ Dark Archmage ]:
"Thank you for your contribution. I understand. I'll keep an eye on things in Blue Gum Town."
At the same time, a prompt appeared in front of the [ Dark Archmage ]:
[Special conditions are met. Players [ Dark Archmage ], [ Zhongde ], [ Gill's Cuisine ], and 202 others will receive a free [Custom Action] from Guide Ed. This action will be consumed in subsequent story missions and cannot be edited.]
[You have earned Lord Ed's gratitude and received 21 silver coins, 2 fine steel short blades, 3 Paralysis Bomb, 2 Vine Bandage Pack...]