Rewinding to that morning, after a night of city clearing, the Treant Hunter returned to the prison beneath the Twin Towers Cathedral, including an Iron Birch Treant Hunter, who had been lying in wait for some time—[ Clear Soup Master ].
Just as he was about to log off, a new update announcement and mission overlay suddenly popped up in front of him. While surprised that Fir City Operation had entered its final stage, he was astonished to find that the so-called hidden side quest, which could only be accessed by specific players, was displaying differently on his end—
[You have met the requirements to unlock the hidden side quest. Do you wish to unlock it?]
Need I say more?
[ Clear Soup Master ] had heard about the hidden side quest in the "Reclaim White Wax Town" version before even getting into the game, and had been looking forward to it for a long time. In the Bloody Night" version, the side quest directly targeted the other six towns.
Now that this good thing has finally happened to me, how could I not open it?
Thinking of this, he immediately selected the "activate" option, and a new text box quickly appeared in front of him:
[The great battle between Fir City and the Second Holy See is imminent. The cruelly transformed Treant Hunter will inevitably have to join the fight. Try to use your wisdom to save them and explore the true purpose of the Stained Ones faction.]
Upon seeing the task prompt, [ Clear Soup Master ]'s breathing faltered for a moment.
Firstly, it was because he genuinely wanted to save these irrational Treant Hunter.
Apart from Enzo, a treant he recently connected with, he had not yet met any treants with whom he could communicate normally.
Secondly, the hints given for this hidden quest seem too few, and the direction is also very vague.
However, upon closer examination, the hidden side quests and the main quest are not strongly related. For example, during the Bloody Night event, the main quest was to fight the Blood Corpse, while the side quests were to fight in other towns of the Tree Worship Church.
It seems likely that this time will be the same; rescuing these children is probably just the beginning. Will there be other suspicious points that need to be investigated later?
Thinking about this, [ Clear Soup Master ]'s heart began to stir with excitement, but there was still a small problem: how exactly could he save these tree-men?
After all, Antiya Lisi's rules still bound them, and if they rashly violated them, they could easily die on the spot, which would be a great loss.
He was naturally aware of the players' tactics; if he hadn't warned them beforehand, most of these treants would probably have been overwhelmed and killed by the players' sheer numbers.
After pondering for a long time in the cell, [ Clear Soup Master ] took out a small cloth bag from a dark corner of the cell.
Those were some good goods that were smuggled here a while ago through channels like [ Do Some Farm Work ] -- [ Howling Pothos ] -- Enzo, prepared for unforeseen circumstances.
With the decisive battle imminent, it seems it's time to put these things to good use.
He opened the small cloth bag and took out a pure black, spindle-shaped solid object, which still faintly smelled of blood.
These are the fingernails of Blood Corpse.
Looking at the sharp, black crystal, [ Clear Soup Master ] slightly curled the corners of his mouth.
He spread his left palm out, gripped the black crystal tightly in his right hand, and forcefully stabbed it down from top to bottom.
"Pfft!"
The long, Blood Corpse claws pierced [ Clear Soup Master's ] left palm, and dark purple, poisonous lines began to Spread radially along the wound.
Antiya Lisi, you're quite adept at controlling your subordinates, aren't you?
Go tell my vampire grand duke!
Evening, the battlefield of Fir City.
After a series of sharp whistles, the meat grinder between the Holy Crusaders and the Soul Returner came to an end.
As the soldiers receded like a tide, the players knew that the Treant Hunter ' territory was now theirs.
Just then, a player who had just crawled out of the tunnel suddenly shouted:
"Everyone, turn off your translation function and listen to me!"
The players, who were initially tense, almost simultaneously looked towards the tunnel entrance.
The house had long since collapsed beyond repair, but the player still managed to find some scrap materials to place under his feet so that his wave could be seen by most people.
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he shouted loudly in the language of the real world:
"Everyone, I've received a message from [ Clear Soup Master ]. The first phase of this hidden side quest is still about rescuing those poor experimental subjects, followed by an investigation into the Stained Ones."
Immediately, a player asked:
"Weren't those children all taken back before? During the Rat King's retreat."
[ Zhong Lele ], upon hearing this player's comment, knew that the other player might not be the type to pay particular attention to the game's storyline, so he took the initiative to explain:
"No, those orphans were just candidates for experiments; the real experiments are in the cathedral."
"That's right."
The player who had just emerged from the tunnel said:
" The Treant Hunter we usually encounter are actually those experimental subjects. They return to the church's underground during the day and transform into mindless human forms, only revealing their treant form at night, where they attack us under Antiya Lisi's control."
Although some players already knew about this, not everyone was so concerned about the game's mechanics within Fir City, and someone immediately began to indignantly curse:
"Damn it, how could Antiya Lisi be so wicked!?"
In short...
The player continued:
"[ Clear Soup Master ] thinks that if we can manage it, we should try not to kill those Treant Hunter, but capture them alive."
"But we can't just let them kill us, can we?"
Some players raised objections.
"Yes, but don't worry. [ Clear Soup Master ] said the tree people have incredibly strong regenerative abilities and have almost completely lost their sense of pain. If all else fails... just cut down the trees. As long as the trunks are preserved, the people can survive. We can leave the rest to Ed; maybe he'll have a way to restore the experimental subjects to human form."
One player immediately summarized it as follows:
"I understand. Sanitation workers trim tree branches, that's simple. Is there anything else I need to be aware of?"
"Yes, one of the Treant Hunter is rational; he's an informant for [ Howling Pothos ]. Be careful not to kill him too."
How do we know who the undercover agent is?
Whoever helps you get the other tree people is a spy.
No sooner had the player finished speaking than a strange scraping sound came from the gradually darkening alleyway.
Many players instinctively shuddered. They were all too familiar with that sound—the sound of the Treant Hunter' roots scraping against the ground as they moved.
If they could act with impunity as lumberjacks just now, now they are just gardeners, only able to trim branches and not kill people.