Chapter 366: Synchronized Mission and Roleplay

Wu Chang recruited the last of the Mystic Knights and returned the way he came, walking toward Zhu Li.

The Phantom set the cracked wine cup aside and watched Wu Chang approach, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes.

He could have recruited him directly, yet insisted on giving him a warning, willing to waste a faction slot just to recruit a seemingly mediocre fellow rather than admit his excellence.

Hmph, young people, always so impatient.

Since Peace wanted face, he had no objection to granting it—after all, he was a seasoned, composed veteran player, long past the age of vying for the spotlight.

The Phantom waited for Wu Chang to speak, but Wu Chang walked straight past him, arriving before Zhu Li and saying:

"Archbishop Zhu Li, the Mystic Knights have filled all their positions. I have duties within the order and must leave now."

Wu Chang's words were not spoken in secret; the Phantom, whose full attention had been fixed on him, heard every word clearly.

The Phantom froze in place, staring at Wu Chang's retreating back as his pale face flushed rapidly.

Leaving Saint George's Cathedral, Wu Chang immediately spotted Booker and Veronika waiting outside.

Booker, with his thick skin, spoke first:

"Peace Boss, does your organization still have openings? I'm a pure-blood cowboy—grew up on horseback, as comfortable riding horses or driving carriages as I am riding a motorcycle."

Wu Chang pulled out two identity cards and handed them to the two.

"The driver's position is already taken—you can't beat him—but since we're old friends, I've saved two spots for you."

"If there's nothing else, you can report to the Secret Anquan Force now."

Both took the identity cards without hesitation and accepted the recruitment.

After seeing them off, Wu Chang assessed his current roster.

Though he'd recruited many connections, he'd also brought in plenty of powerful players.

He now had both Leng Shan and Divine Tongue, two ranked players, along with Killing Wave and Sword Star, two top-fifty combatants, and Ma Jia, who had concealed his strength—but based on Wu Chang's perception, Ma Jia likely also ranked within the top fifty.

Even without accounting for his own rank-defying power, purely by standard faction combat strength, the Mystic Knights were the strongest player faction.

Moreover, the Mystic Knights contained numerous local transcendents who could provide formidable strength as well.

With such a roster of powerful players under his command, it was time for them to deliver value.

West District was the political center of Grimlan.

Bai She Street in West District was the heart of the political center and the symbol of administrative authority.

The Parliament Building, the Prime Minister's Residence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Police Bureau—all stood here.

The Secret Anquan Force's headquarters naturally stood here too.

The Secret Anquan Force's location, known as Bai She No. 6, was a three-story gray-white office building, newly constructed and very fresh.

This building had originally belonged to the Police Bureau.

Prime Minister Ron was a staunch order-supremacist; to counter rising crime rates and growing worker protests, he vigorously pushed for the Police Bureau's expansion.

With the Prime Minister's support, the Police Bureau received exceptionally generous funding—this building had been intended as the new headquarters for its senior leadership.

Just a month ago, renovations were completed, all furniture and fittings brand-new; the Police Bureau's senior staff hadn't even moved in yet.

Before the senior staff could find time to relocate, the Pine Mine explosion, the worker uprising, and the Prime Minister's assassination occurred in rapid succession.

They had planned to wait until after the World Industrial Exposition ended before moving—but this wait became permanent.

Wu Chang, lacking an office location, had been strolling along Bai She Street with his team when he spotted this place at once.

For Wu Chang's request for the building, Acting Prime Minister Glade had no objection—after all, the entire Secret Anquan Force was the product of Glade's compromise with the Queen.

If Glade had no objection, the Queen certainly didn't either.

The Police Bureau objected, but officially, the Secret Anquan Force was their superior; their objections meant nothing.

Thus, Bai She No. 6 fell into Wu Chang's hands—and into those of his Secret Anquan Force.

When he arrived at Bai She No. 6, all Mystic Knights members were present except Leng Shan and Sword Star, who remained undercover and needed to sever public ties.

The players who attended the Transcendent Gathering had nearly all left the venue at the same time as True Self.

Looking at the twenty Mystic Knights before him, Wu Chang was deeply satisfied with his core team.

In front of everyone, Wu Chang's true self expressed absolute trust in True Self.

Sir Xiao En didn't question Peace's selections at all—only said, "I trust your judgment," and conducted a simple induction ceremony for the players.

That absolute trust, not only unnerved the players, but even Wen Ton, who knew Wu Chang well, felt uneasy watching it.

While the players underwent basic training, Wen Ton pulled Wu Chang's true self aside and asked:

"That guy named Peace—is he really that trustworthy? The people he recruited all look strong, but what if one of them is a Steam Council mole?"

Wu Chang shrugged.

"Even the innermost Lower Council of Siltran harbors moles like Baron Philip—how much more so a Mystic Knights order?"

"Even if they're clean today, who can guarantee they won't be bought by the Steam Council tomorrow?"

"As long as every step they take remains under our control, a mole can become a Nurse."

Wen Ton snorted.

"If you're that confident, you're the boss—you decide."

After a brief ten-minute training session, the players understood the Secret Anquan Force's duties and authority, and the Mystic Knights' first internal meeting began.

Wu Chang's true self—known to all as Sir Xiao En—began assigning the team's current missions.

The Mystic Knights had three current tasks: first, investigate the anomaly who nearly self-destructed just now.

The Steam Council has pushed its modder technology to this extreme—if we don't strike back hard soon, they might actually create something dangerous.

Wu Chang's reputation, having successfully broken through so many divine-tier dungeons, cannot be ruined in this pit of mere Root Power.

We must quickly identify the Steam Council's direct operatives and at least destroy that Frankenstein-class transcendental machine.

Yet in front of the other players, Wu Chang mentioned no further details about the Steam Council.

The Steam Council's existence was a hidden revelation he uncovered only through discovering the secret beneath Pine Mine and quelling the lingering resentment.

This level of intelligence could increase dungeon exploration rate by at least 2–5 percentage points at settlement, but it could not be told directly to players—only awarded as a reward after mission completion.

To the players, he merely said to pay attention to anomalies, trying to deduce the anomalies' pre-death circumstances from their identities and movement patterns.

As the leader of the faction, Wu Chang held partial authority over mission issuance.

As soon as he finished describing Mission One, a prompt popped up before every player present.

"Obtained side quest: Investigate intelligence regarding the failed self-detonation mechanical augmentee at Saint George Square."

"Reward: Receive corresponding faction contribution points and partial rewards based on the value of submitted intelligence. The amount of faction contribution points will determine the reward settlement for the side quest during dungeon settlement."

Seeing the side quest window appear, the players' eyes gleamed.

Even though the players before him were already at the pinnacle of the Wasteland Realm, side quests with system prompts were still rare for them.

Aside from professionals like Leng Shan, other players' dungeon exploration was extremely limited; completing all main quests and deciphering the dungeon's lore was already considered exceeding expectations.

Side quests were things triggered by chance.

Zhen Wo, who held a Mystic Knight slot, also saw the same side quest pop up before him.

But his quest prompt carried a suffix: this quest could not stack with faction leader rewards.

Though he couldn't double-dip for two rewards, the prompt alone was enough to make him understand why the players were so excited.

This meant the players did not dislike him assigning missions—even willingly served as beasts of burden, thoroughly enjoying the process.

If so, he could freely exploit this group of subordinates.

Don't forget, this is the Steam Phantom dungeon—he must learn from those industrialists and push the players to maximum workload.

The second mission, also the players' main quest, was to investigate the assassination of Prime Minister Ron.

As with the first mission, his and Raven's investigation progress would not be shared with other players; to obtain sufficient intelligence, they must prove greater value.

After all, the Mystic Knights were not a charity; ensuring players survived the dungeon was already more than enough—expecting the Guild Leader to have his members work for free would be turning heaven upside down.

He would not provide other players with excessive clues, only revealing the identities of Anquan Force members.

How much they could uncover with that identity depended entirely on their own methods.

Wu Chang's second mission overlapped with the main quest and did not trigger a side quest.

This caused the players' reactions to cool considerably.

Seeing this, Wu Chang unleashed a heavy card—he drew the Lake Light Sacred Sword and unleashed its glow, illuminating half a meter around the blade.

"Since the founding of Stilane, the Mystic Knights have been the Queen's Sword, guarding the Empire's security."

"Now, with anomalies rampant in Grimlan, every incident bears the shadow of transcendents behind it. As the Queen's Sword, we must find the true culprit and clear the gloom hanging over Grimlan's sky."

As he spoke, another quest prompt popped up before everyone.

"Obtained hidden side quest: Assist Sir Xiao En in capturing the mastermind behind Grimlan's anomalies."

"Success grants large faction contribution points and additional rewards upon mission settlement. Failure incurs no penalty. Accept quest?"

Hidden side quest?!

Seeing this prefix, everyone instantly perked up.

Their expressions now were more exaggerated than when Xiang Jianxing and the Negotiation Master had seen hidden side quests during the Silent Passage dungeon.

Because that previous hidden quest carried inherent risk—if they failed to stop the Xinyuzhou Sect, they might have faced danger.

But this hidden quest was different; at least on the surface, failing to capture the mastermind of the anomalies posed no direct risk to them.

In other words, "no penalty for failure" meant truly no penalty.

Undoubtedly, this hidden side quest was pure reward.

Had the dungeon realm not been what it was, the players might have been tempted to bow in reverence and shout "Loyalty!" at Wu Chang.

Even a top-ranked player like Shen Zhi She had never encountered such fortune—he looked at Wu Chang with excitement, silently thinking he owed him a favor.

After assigning the three missions, the Mystic Knights' first collective meeting disbanded. Zhen Wo was free to act; Wu Chang's true self pulled Raven aside for a private Guild Leader meeting.

Unlike ordinary members, their mission was to investigate the cause of mass abnormal deaths among workers in the textile district south of the Hills River, using clues provided by Connor.

Connor's lead was something he had pursued himself—he could never share it with other players.

Of course, if his and Raven's investigation hit a dead end and other players had accumulated sufficient contribution points, he could release this investigation as a reward to those who had earned it.

Raven was puzzled that Wu Chang had summoned him alone to discuss the case. He asked:

"You just recruited so many new members—why not have them help investigate such critical clues during the meeting?"

Wu Chang replied as if it were obvious:

"Because I don't trust them. The current clues are exceptionally crucial—the investigation cannot afford failure. Among the Mystic Knights, you are one of the two people I trust most. Only by investigating together can I feel at ease."

Raven lit his pipe and continued: "Then why not bring along He Ping?"

Wu Chang said: "You and he are the only two I fully trust. When we trained in etiquette, he helped us contact Connor and obtained this lead."

"Now he's watching over the foreign transcendents—I can only rely on you."

Raven shrugged, slightly resigned: "Fine—who's the Guild Leader, after all."

Meanwhile, the transcendental gathering at Saint George Cathedral was drawing to a close.

Most of the transcendents attending had already chosen which faction to join.

Affected by realm rules, though original factions like the Alchemy Guild had no numerical limits on recruitment, they were mysteriously constrained to absorb no more than twelve players.

Faction leaders like Zhu Li, who had little desire for power, selected only six players during the gathering.

The Clock Tower Mage Association favored players with energy specialties and selected slightly more—eleven at most.

As for the Alchemy Guild, they selected only powerful warriors, but stopped after choosing ten.

These three factions, like the Mystic Knights, were standalone factions.

The remaining players were mostly invited by noble families to serve as security advisors.

Though they appeared scattered, the factions they joined were shaped by their employers' political leanings.

For example, players following the Upper Councilor and those following the Army General both belonged to the "Land Nobility."

As for players who followed the chairman of the Trade Committee, the permanent vice-minister of the Treasury, or a certain member of the Lower House, their faction was all "New Nobles."

The phantoms that Wu Chang did not select did not join the three transcendent factions, but instead chose the chairman of the Trade Committee.

The situation in Stilan was very clear: the general trend of industry and free trade was already unstoppable, and since the New Nobles controlled industry and trade, they controlled the vast majority of resources.

Setting aside the secret Anquan Force where Wu Chang was, the "New Nobles" camp was absolutely the advantageous camp; even if the final confrontation mission could not be won, they could still obtain considerable rewards.

But for the perfectionist phantom, he was not satisfied with this choice.

When he left the banquet, his expression was very grim.

Peace—that guy would sooner or later pay the price for humiliating him today.

As he walked through the corridor of St. George's Cathedral, passing through a patch of shadow, a black-robed figure called out to him.

"If you are dissatisfied with the current situation, then come with me."

The phantom hesitated for a moment, then followed the black-robed figure down to the basement of St. George's Cathedral.

Once there was no one else around, the black-robed figure said:

"I can tell that your abilities are extraordinarily powerful. The hearts of the powerful all carry their own pride."

"Taking orders from a cabinet minister, becoming his security advisor—you must not be willing to accept that. If you want a better future, how about working for me?"

The phantom narrowed his eyes and asked, "Who are you?"

The black-robed figure pulled off his hood, revealing an elegant, noble face. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, her smile more dazzling than sunlight.

"I am the king of Stilan, Olivia."

"Queen of Stilan Olivia issues you a recruitment. Do you choose to change your current faction and join the special faction—Royalty?"

The phantom was stunned for a moment. The secret Anquan Force had the royal prefix, which had always made him assume that Wu Chang's faction was the queen's.

But from the look of Olivia's meaning, the situation did not seem to be what he had thought.

He asked, "Then the secret Anquan Force where Sir Xiao En is—?"

Olivia said with a smile, "Who told you the queen would only have one minister?"

The phantom seemed to understand something on the spot, immediately performed a knight's salute, and said:

"Your Majesty, I am willing to serve you."

The transcendent gathering attracted a large number of players, and those eyeing these players were not only the great nobles and transcendent factions who appeared at the gathering.

Nor was it only Olivia.

Other factions that could not see the light of day, perennially shrouded in black robes, also approached the talents they had set their sights on.

Tonight, the players were destined to be very busy.

The next morning, when Wu Chang's main body got up, as usual, he saw Lewendon already sitting in the dining room, waiting for breakfast.

After breakfast, Wu Chang and Eileen got into the carriage, and Lewendon continued playing the coachman, carrying the two of them toward the East District.

After dropping Eileen off at the Grey Cathedral slums and helping her finish the preparatory work, Lewendon took two constable uniforms from the back of the carriage and temporarily borrowed Thomas's home as a changing room.

"Put these on. In a bit we'll need this getup to openly mix into the South Bank textile district."

(End of this chapter)