Chapter 223: Dust in the Mist

Fourth layer of the labyrinth, a town deep in the jungle, a team of guards is patrolling the street.

Because it is shrouded in thick fog all year round, only sporadic lights dot the gray streets. Over time, this nameless town has acquired the name Mist Town.

However, ever since the new Demon King arrived and occupied this place, everything has changed. Not only have the streets become much cleaner and tidier, but coal-burning street lamps have also been installed on both sides of the road.

So much so that this famous "three-no-man's-land" has actually become orderly.

Of course, the order here is only relative to the chaotic labyrinth itself.

If you compare it with Lei Ming City, this town is definitely incomparable to the former. After all, you can't find many proper residents here; they are either Undead and demons, or mercenaries and adventurers.

However, the magical part is exactly this: two groups that are like fire and water can actually live in peace in this safe zone, doing their own things without interfering with each other.

Such a thing, even if you count the history of the labyrinth, there is not a single second of precedent.

As the captain of the Mist Town guard, Alex has thought about this problem for a long time.

At first, he attributed this to the great power of the Demon King, but soon he realized that this new Demon King is not as powerful as the previous one, so simply attributing it to personal greatness doesn't make sense.

As for the Demon King's minions... although they have some surprising tricks, they are not decisively powerful.

After all, the swords of the Campbell Duchy have never been blunt. Historically, as long as Hell fully invades the surface, there has never been a precedent for being able to defeat the latter.

However, as time passed, he finally found an explanation that could justify itself—

Because people need such a place.

This sounds a bit unreasonable, but it is unexpectedly reasonable.

Because of his noble background, Alex received education in theology and history, so he knows much more than ordinary people.

Most farmers in the Campbell Duchy believe that gods are something similar to the sun, existing since the birth of this world, but in fact, this is not the case.

If they had really read the "Holy Word Book" instead of listening to the fragments relayed by priests, they would understand that gods are existences that came into being due to the prayers of the masses.

The reason why the God of Elements was born is that people in ancient times needed a god to place the chaotic spirits of themselves and their tribes.

Otherwise, if someone wants rain today and sunny weather tomorrow, and another person wants the opposite, the weather would become unpredictable.

This is history that happened in the First Epoch and is carved on stone murals.

Because people need gods, gods were born. In other words, gods are the choice of the masses!

A long, long time ago, this was once the source of the "legitimacy" of the Saint Xisi Church, but it is no longer important a thousand years later.

After all, the Empire has already won this world, and mentioning those old things seems both redundant and unsightly.

Alex can vaguely feel that there should be something in this world that can respond to people's wishes.

When everyone is looking forward to something, this thing will happen... although it will not come in the way people expect.

Just like now, the people of the Campbell Duchy and the monsters in the labyrinth all need a place where they can live in peace, and as a result, the "bridgehead" for surface humans to invade the underground world has become this place.

This is the will of the Demon King.

And it is also the choice of the masses.

The patrolling guards passed through the street at the entrance of the Adventurer's Guild, and the bustling crowd soon attracted the attention of a group of guards, including Alex.

"The number of people in Mist Town seems to have increased recently." One of the guards muttered in a low voice, his face full of surprise.

The slightly older guard next to him looked at the crowd not far away and said casually.

"Maybe it's because winter is over. Adventurers are indeed not very active in winter in previous years."

When he was a mercenary, he often dealt with adventurers. Because it is hard to survive if you get injured in winter, most people choose to be conservative during this time, either staying in front of the tavern fireplace or returning home to visit relatives.

Alex thought so at first, but another guard next to him said.

"...... It's not quite the same. Spring is the time for farming. Although there are many more adventurers than in winter, there shouldn't be this many. In previous years, at least until summer, you couldn't see so many people gathered at the entrance of the Adventurer's Guild."

This sentence resonated with many guards, after all, many of them used to be in this line of work.

According to their understanding, most adventurers come from various villages and towns on the Aus continent.

After all, citizens in the city can't stand the life of licking blood from the edge of a knife, and there is no need to go out and venture. Only children of tenant farmers who stay in the countryside all year round will have the idea of going out to venture because of their rich uncles or uncles who return to the countryside every few days.

The guards whispered, and Alex also curiously raised his eyebrows.

The situation this year is indeed very unusual.

Especially since he suddenly noticed that many of these adventurers are rookies who look inexperienced.

Most of them are wearing coarse cloth clothes, their faces full of fatigue and stupidity, like donkeys that have taken off their leather covers, with bags made of burlap on their backs.

It's not just the alternative dress; some people are holding pitchforks that are out of place in the labyrinth, or weapons modified from hoes... these things are indeed very deterrent on flat ground, but they may not be as useful as short weapons and shields in the narrow labyrinth.

It seems they should know nothing about the environment in the labyrinth, and they probably don't even have amulets to resist mental attacks. They are mostly mixed into this layer with the large troops of unscrupulous merchants.

In order to save money, some merchants will hire some cheap or even free rookies to act as guards, relying on the advantage of numbers to scare away the monsters in the labyrinth.

And generally, the Demon King's minions will not attack merchant caravans that have sworn neutrality, so they can luckily mix into this layer.

"It seems that something terrible has happened outside." Alex frowned slightly.

He has been in the labyrinth during this time and doesn't know the situation outside.

Perhaps he should write a letter home to the Earl of Spinol and ask what happened to his family.

The guard walking next to him drew a cross on his chest and muttered a prayer.

"Saint Xisi bless, I hope it's not the Chaos Legion that has attacked......"

Although it is a bit strange to pray to Saint Xisi on the Demon King's turf, the Demon King generally won't haggle with them......

The patrolling guards gradually walked away.

And just at this time, a group of Synthetic Human newbies wearing cloaks and mimetic masks sneaked into the Adventurer's Guild.

They are all newbies who have just obtained closed beta qualifications, and they are lucky enough to experience the Synthetic Human character newly launched in the a08 version.

Half an hour ago, an NPC named Bond sent them to Mist Town, and then instructed them to register as adventurers as humans and pretend to be adventurers to infiltrate the human camp.

In order to prevent being discovered, they were terrified all the way, fearing being discovered by NPC guards.

It's just that what they didn't expect was that those NPC guards didn't pay attention to them at all. Instead, they attracted a lot of attention because of their sneaky appearance, so much so that people passing by the Adventurer's Guild cast curious looks at them.

Unexpectedly, they were too clever for their own good. These sneaky guys finally couldn't keep their faces straight, and ended the awkward stealth in embarrassment.

Chi Tu De Fu Hao: "Damn! Why are we being sneaky on our own turf? Can't we be upright?"

Yu Mian Shou Lei Wang: "Exactly!"

Tie Xue Fei Zhai: "Brother, why don't you straighten your waist first?"

Crippled Canglang Que Tui: "Exactly!"

【Chi Tu De Fu Hao】 blushed, straightened his waist, and walked into the Adventurer's Guild swaggeringly.

In the hall of the guild, there are not only human adventurers, but also some demons and Undead.

The two groups of people do things at different windows, without affecting each other, and live in peace.

【Chi Tu De Fu Hao】 naturally lined up in the human queue and came to the counter, nervously activating the "translation magic" on the mimetic mask.

The clerk behind the counter spoke routinely.

"What's the matter?"

Chi Tu De Fu Hao: "Adventurer registration!"

Clerk: "Name."

Chi Tu De Fu Hao: "Hao Ge!"

"......?"

The clerk behind the counter looked at him twice more, but didn't see anything unusual, and finally threw the adventurer's badge to him.

Many adventurers register with fake names or nicknames. After all, there are too many people with the same name, and the former is easier to distinguish.

Holding the badge in his hand, 【Chi Tu De Fu Hao】 was ecstatic, suppressed his excitement and left the queue, then shook it ostentatiously toward his teammates who were watching from afar.

That look was as if saying—

See? It's that easy.

Several players looked at each other, followed suit and walked up, lined up in the queue on the human counter side, and completed the registration of their identities one after another.

Everything was unbelievably easy.

Those clerks didn't even carefully verify their identities. At most, they just asked them to take off their hoods and take a look, confirming that they were not Demon-men, and then said nothing more.

Actually, thinking about it, it makes sense.

The adventurers on the human side are not just humans. Occasionally, Orcs or Dwarves and Half-Elves will join... As long as they are not Hell races, they will basically not be excluded.

Although these Synthetic Humans don't look very upright, with the mimetic mask, they can't tell the difference from humans.

It is precisely because of this that they were able to successfully muddle through without being seen through any flaws.

"...... It seems that the next part is the key to the mission," 【Yu Mian Shou Lei Wang】 fell into deep thought while playing with the adventurer's dog tag in his hand, and said after a while, "We have to find a way to mix into an adventurer team dominated by humans."

According to the description of the novice mission, there must be at least three living people in the team, and then completing three missions with a difficulty of F-level or higher will count as passing, and the generous rewards will also be credited at that time.

Next, whether they continue to play as adventurers to earn human currency or return to the Graveyard to start free gameplay is up to them.

However, the key to the problem is exactly here.

According to the high-level players on the forum, there are too few casual adventurers in Mist Town, and basically no one forms teams here.

Not only that, but generally inexperienced rookies are not taken by anyone. They may have to do a mission themselves first to brush up their adventurer level, at least to become an E-level adventurer.

Tie Xue Fei Zhai: "Our level is too low, what should we do if no adventurer team wants us?"

Crippled Canglang Que Tui: "Yeah, I just stopped a big brother and asked him if he wanted anyone, but he didn't even look at me and told me to get lost."

Looking at the constipated look of the two companions, 【Chi Tu De Fu Hao】 was silent for a moment, and suddenly his heart moved.

"Got it! If no one wants us, why don't we build a team ourselves?"

The eyes of other players also lit up.

"Good idea!"

"Damn! Why didn't I think of that?"

"Can a newly registered adventurer build a team?" "I don't think it says no! I'll try it!"

Saying do it, 【Chi Tu De Fu Hao】 immediately returned to the queue, and in a while, he really registered the adventurer team.

Although the Adventurer's Guild has a church background, it doesn't belong to a strong organization, and personnel mobility is high, so management is not very rigorous. Anyone can register a team, and it will be automatically canceled if no mission is completed for a long time.

Hao Ge, who completed the registration of the adventurer team, immediately came to the entrance of the Adventurer's Guild, transformed from a newly registered newbie into a big brother, and shouted loudly at the adventurers wandering at the entrance.

"Are there any adventurers who haven't found an organization? Our Invincible Supreme Adventure Group is recruiting! No level limit! No career limit! As long as you are a person!"

Actually, there is half a sentence he didn't say.

That is, as long as they can finish three commissions, let them pass the novice mission.

He originally just shouted this with the idea of trying, but he didn't expect that just after his voice fell, a large group of people rushed toward him.

"Master, do you want anyone here?"

"Do you think I'm okay?"

Everything is in the content!

"I have great strength! Even a hundred-kilogram fat pig can't twist me!"

Looking at the enthusiastic masses, 【Chi Tu De Fu Hao】 was overwhelmed for a while, and hurriedly shouted again.

"Our temple is too small to hold so many people! Also, our new group has just been established, funds may be tight, and there is no fixed salary! But don't worry, as long as you complete the commission and earn money, everyone who contributes will have a share!"

He originally thought that saying this would make fewer people, but he didn't expect that the crowd squeezed around did not decrease at all, but gathered more and more.

"It's okay, Master! Just provide food and housing! I don't want money!"

"Master, look at me! I don't want a place to live, just give me a bite to eat!"

Looking at this group of excited "adventurers", 【Chi Tu De Fu Hao】 was immediately dumbfounded.

Good guy.

Are these people adventurers or beggars?

Why does he feel like they are here to beg for food?!

Not far away, experienced adventurers watched the joke here, not hiding the mockery on their faces.

A strong man carrying a battle axe curled his lips and mocked.

"A bunch of idiots."

Recruiting a group of farmers into the team, are they going to the labyrinth to grow vegetables?

Whenever they encounter slightly stronger monsters, these rookies are all burdens that hold them back. Not only do they not play any role, but they may also take advantage of the fire and run around.

The labyrinth is not a plain, there is no space for them to spread out their formation, and more people are not necessarily an advantage.

However, he didn't go up to remind the adventurer who wasn't picky and those rookies who were rushing to die.

Reality will teach them a lesson!

In just a few minutes, the "Invincible Supreme Adventure Team" of only four people had expanded into an "Invincible Supreme Adventure Group" of fifty people.

Not only that, these adventurers who didn't know where they came from didn't want wages, just a bite to eat.

They could even accept the harsh conditions of no fixed salary, promising to share the dividends after the adventure group made money.

Such hardworking and frugal cattle and horses made the four players unable to figure it out, and even began to suspect whether there was a bug in the game.

How could there be free people in this world?

And the most critical thing is, they didn't think about recruiting so many people at all!

Now the mission of finding lost cats and dogs can't be done, and they have to be forced to take some big jobs.

"Speaking of which, this group of people doesn't even need maintenance fees, it's too much to affect the game balance......" Looking at the large group of people behind him, Tie Xue Fei Zhai couldn't help but complain.

Crippled Canglang Que Tui nodded in agreement, also looking unbelievable, and said confusedly.

"Indeed...... Is there no work to do on the surface? Why did they all roll into the labyrinth."

【Chi Tu De Fu Hao】 frowned and said in a difficult way.

"What should we do about eating? Fifty or sixty people, the consumption of rations is not small."

Tie Xue Fei Zhai: "Why don't we just pull them to the construction site."

【Yu Mian Shou Lei Wang】 eyes lit up: "Good idea!"

【Chi Tu De Fu Hao】 also felt that this idea was good, and after thinking for a long time, he said.

"Let's set up a camp outside first, I have to buy supplies, and by the way, talk to them to understand their situation."

Tie Xue Fei Zhai: "Just entered the game, where did you get the Nether coins?"

Chi Tu De Fu Hao: "Just buy them on the forum. The price of Nether coins has long been beaten down by those cattle and horses who don't eat or drink and brush the other world. Do you think it's the time when the server just opened?"

Crippled Canglang Que Tui: "Damn, RMT!"

Tie Xue Fei Zhai: "Hao Ge 666!"

【Yu Mian Shou Lei Wang】 sighed.

"I almost thought you were really eating dirt."

Chi Tu De Fu Hao: "......"

A group of people left the gate of Mist Town, lit a campfire on the open space outside the wall, and set up a camp.

This also belongs to the category of safe zones, no need to worry about the intrusion of monsters, and the attacks of other players.

Chi Tu De Hao Ge went to the nearby market to buy supplies. He bought a trailer of roasted sweet potatoes for two Nether coins each.

When the trailer was pulled into the camp, the faces of a group of "adventurers" showed a look of longing, as if they had been hungry for a long time, and they didn't dislike these things that were used to feed pigs on the surface at all.

【Chi Tu De Fu Hao】 although his heart was painful, but based on the idea of not being able to catch a wolf without giving up the child, he generously let them eat to their heart's content.

A group of adventurers swarmed up, eating and taking, instantly dividing half of the trailer of sweet potatoes, and gnawing fiercely in front of the campfire.

Perhaps because they were full, these guys who refused to explain their life experience finally opened their chatterboxes and explained their origins one by one.

"...... I came from the village in the north, not the Yinsong Forest area, but the north of Campbell Castle, the upper reaches of the Running River."

Looking at the burning campfire, a bearded man said while picking up a branch and throwing it into the campfire, as if to burn away the memories of the past.

Sitting next to him, 【Tie Xue Fei Zhai】 curiously interjected and asked.

"Then why do you want to be an adventurer? Is your family sick? Do your children need to go to school?"

The bearded man was a bit confused by the question, as if he didn't understand.

He scratched the back of his head, shook his head and said.

"Neither...... I used to farm for the local baron, but this year I don't know what happened to him, he suddenly said he wouldn't farm, he wanted to build some ranch, and then our whole family was driven out."

Hearing this, the adventurers squatting nearby reacted and hurriedly said.

"Are you from the north of the Running River? The Creek Valley Plain area?"

The bearded man's eyes gradually brightened, as if he had met a fellow villager in a strange land, and excitedly grabbed the man's shoulder.

"That's right, that's it, the territory under the rule of the Earl of South Creek Valley, Rice Husk Village! Are you also from there? Why haven't I seen you?"

The adventurer wearing linen clothes grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Haha, I'm also from there! But I'm from Gray Creek Village next to you! The territory of Baron Wenderson!"

Unexpectedly, it was really his fellow villager, the bearded man said excitedly.

"I know you guys! No wonder your accent is so familiar! By the way, the bread in your place has a special fragrance, I've always been curious about what you put in it."

"I don't know either. Before I left there, I always thought the bread in the whole Aus continent was the same as what I usually eat." The adventurer smiled, but the smile was like his decayed teeth, suddenly turning yellow like old parchment, becoming not so free and easy.

He didn't know what happened to this world, but suddenly everything he was familiar with changed.

Even he himself was.

"Didn't they give you compensation?" Seeing that the atmosphere of the team suddenly became heavy, 【Yu Mian Shou Lei Wang】 hurriedly coughed, trying to change the subject.

However, he still ignored the era background of the game, forgetting that it was still the feudal era outside, at least three industrial revolutions and two world wars away from Earth.

It would have been fine if he didn't mention this, but as soon as he mentioned it, the bearded man was so angry that his fingers trembled.

"Compensation? Those soldiers...... even scraped away the copper coins I hid above the fireplace! Those guys who went to hell, they are simply like bandits! Saint Xisi is above, why didn't they die on the battlefield of the decisive battle with the Demon King?!"

Hearing the roar-like curse, the man wrapped in a cloak next to him shivered and muttered in a low voice.

"Looking at it this way, Master Gess is still relatively kind...... He at least gave us more than ten days to move, and the things in the farmhouse were left to us."

Although it was just some junk, it should still be able to sell for a few copper coins...... After all, the pot in the house was made of iron anyway.

Hearing his voice, the surrounding "adventurers" cast envious eyes at him, especially an old man carrying a pitchfork.

"Not bad, on our side, everything on the land was packed and sold cheaply to the merchant familiar to the Baron. That guy was like a vicious dog, leading a group of mercenaries to rush into my house, and grabbed everything that could be grabbed, including people."

This sentence made many people angry, and even the bearded man couldn't help but curse.

"This is too much!"

Compared with this guy's master, he suddenly felt that the soldier who scraped copper coins from his fireplace was not so bad.

"I don't believe such a thing would happen in the Campbell Duchy, no matter what, this is too much, this is at least the land watched by Saint Xisi, are they believers of the Demon God?" The man wrapped in a cloak shook his head, looking at the old man carrying the pitchfork suspiciously, "And even people were grabbed, how did you come here?"

"This is not simple, I am too old, did they take me to help me retire?" The old man carrying the pitchfork shrugged, his face showing a bitter smile, "Actually, I don't know which side is better...... Maybe it's better to follow those merchants."

The bearded man shook his head.

"Don't think about it, they will send you to the mine, where they will squeeze out your last bit of value, just like the Hell Dwarves squeeze the grease of Goblins."

"Who knows, maybe it's just changing a place to farm...... That's not too bad." The man wrapped in a cloak muttered, living in Yinsong Town, he still didn't quite believe that such a thing would happen.

The four players sitting in front of the campfire looked at them, looked at each other, couldn't interject a word, and could only communicate with each other in a low voice.

"Too bitter."

"Indeed......"

No wonder these guys can walk to the fourth layer of the labyrinth.

It's so bitter, I'm afraid even demons don't want to eat them......

(End of this chapter) ===== CHAPTER 224 =====