Chapter 69: Professor Ebet

Wu Chang looked at the last sentence on the letter paper and revealed a strange expression.

Presumably, when writing this letter, his predecessor could not have imagined that he would be approached by Ma Di that very evening for going on strike.

And finally be tied to the pier and turned into a blood eagle.

Hmm...

In a sense, it could be considered a surprise.

The information brought by this letter overturned many of the guesses he had made previously, requiring re-verification.

Having previously seen him killed in one hit by Ma Di’s harpoon, he had thought the former postman was simply both incompetent and prone to courting death.

After learning that the former postman was a veteran player, it was Ma Di who became the one with the problem.

In a special state, Ma Di could likely use some kind of rule-based ability to suppress an opponent’s strength or ignore their defense.

Regardless of which it was, he could not act rashly.

In addition to re-evaluating Ma Di’s combat power, he also had to re-evaluate the importance of working in the town.

According to the former postman’s letter and Ma Di’s behavior, it was clear that as long as one worked hard enough, they could raise their favorability in the hearts of the townspeople.

He proposed a private plan for delivering mail, and Ma Di’s attitude toward him became much friendlier instantly; a player named Luo Gen was even able to join the Town Council because of his hard work.

It was time to start grinding!

He dug out the mail that had piled up during the time there was no postman, sorted it by recipient, then shouldered his mailbag, grabbed his trailer, and began delivering mail door to door.

When the first piece of mail was stuffed into a resident’s mailbox, he finally realized why the townspeople wouldn’t bypass the postman and go get the letters themselves.

Because these delivered letters were "poisonous."

For every letter delivered, his temporary Willpower cap would be deducted by 0.3!

And the mail piled up at the post office amounted to as many as fifty-five pieces!

Delivering all these letters would deduct a total of 15 points from his Willpower cap, enough to cause an ordinary person to have a mental breakdown three times over.

But there was also an unexpected joy: during the process of delivering the mail, the mailbag he had retrieved from the police station kept transmitting a warmth to him, nourishing his spirit.

"Item Name: Postman’s Delivery Bag"

"Item Type: Instance Item"

"Item Grade: D"

"Item Skill: Proficient Delivery."

"Skill Description: Equip the mailbag to perform deliveries; each package delivery consumes 0.2 less Willpower cap. During working hours, wearing the mailbag restores a portion of the Willpower cap every hour, with the value being 2% of the user’s maximum Willpower cap."

"Note: Item skill only takes effect on Brifer Island; the delivery bag can only be used by an officially appointed postman."

Seeing the item description of the mailbag, he realized that without the bag’s effect, delivering a single package would actually lower his Willpower cap by 0.5.

Even the delusions at the Moonlight Sanatorium weren't this insane.

If work could be this painful, how much did the residents of Brifer Island dislike their jobs? If it were an ordinary player, even if they spent 10 free attribute points to raise their Willpower cap to 15, they could only deliver one package per hour to break even.

To finish delivering the fifty-five backlogged packages, it would take over two days without sleep or rest.

But Wu Chang didn't need to.

As a legendary stress-resistant king with 67 points of Willpower, he could completely endure the reduction in his Willpower cap, finish delivering all the mail first, and then slowly wait for his Willpower to recover.

If delivering mail normally was work, and delivering backlogged mail was internal competition, then the current Wu Chang could definitely be called the King of Grinding.

Thus, the residents of Brifer Town saw a nimble postman, whose movements were several times faster than his predecessors, delivering the backlogged mail without stopping.

They had never seen such a diligent beast of burden.

The townspeople were very realistic; at first, when they saw Wu Chang, they were indifferent, with an attitude of "some outsider has come to our Brifer to beg for food." By the time he delivered the tenth piece of mail, the townspeople he met again all had smiles on their faces.

Not only did they take the initiative to greet him, but the owners of the restaurant and the tavern even kept him for lunch and a few drinks.

For a time, the whole town knew that a diligent and handsome new postman had arrived.

When he delivered to the Mayor’s house, the Mayor was full of praise for Wu Chang’s performance.

He promised Wu Chang that as soon as he finished delivering all the backlogged mail, he would personally write a letter of recommendation to invite Wu Chang to join the Town Council and become a true Briferite.

This was exactly what Wu Chang was waiting for, and he immediately declared: "Mayor, rest assured, before sunset today, I will definitely finish delivering all the backlogged mail!"

The Mayor was startled by Wu Chang’s momentum, thinking a fool had arrived, and hurriedly tried to dissuade him: "There is no need to be so anxious. You just arrived on the island and aren't used to the living conditions yet; don't wear yourself out."

"Mayor, don't worry about me. My duty as a worker is to provide convenience for the lives of the townspeople; this is what I should do!"

Wu Chang said decisively. He wanted to advance so badly—no, he wanted to join the Town Council so badly.

Leaving the Mayor’s house, Wu Chang continued to deliver the mail.

The biggest factor restricting his delivery speed was distance.

The town post office didn't have bicycles or carriages, not even a horse for transport.

All deliveries required him to drag the trailer and walk on foot.

After a day of non-stop delivery, he had walked at least fifty thousand steps; if it weren't for his 22 points of Stamina after bonuses, an average person really wouldn't have been able to walk it.

It wasn't until evening that he delivered to the last household.

The last household was the furthest from the post office; the recipient lived on the far east side of town in a detached building with no neighbors nearby.

The recipient’s name was Joshua Ebet.

Or one could call him Professor Ebet.

Ebet was a man approaching sixty, wearing round metal-rimmed glasses, with graying hair and a thin frame—the standard look of a scholar.

During the delivery process, Wu Chang had subtly inquired among the villagers; Ebet had once taught at the Kingdom’s First University, which was why he was called Professor.

It was said that the courses he taught were Archaeology and Theology.

It was precisely because of this that he had collaborated with the Church many times while teaching in the Royal Capital.

Being named in a request letter from the Church meant Ebet’s identity wasn't purely evil; at the very least, he was a swing voter.

If used properly, his utility would be no less than half a teammate.

Ebet seemed to have been waiting for Wu Chang’s delivery; he stood at the door, and as soon as Wu Chang stuffed his two letters into the mailbox, he took them out impatiently and began reading them on the spot.

After a brief read, a look of disappointment appeared on his face, and he asked: "Mr. Xiao En, are you sure these are all my letters?"

Wu Chang replied without changing his expression: "I am very sure. Among the mail piled up at the post office, only these two letters belong to you."

He wasn't lying; after all, the letter the Church sent to Ebet was tucked in the inner pocket of the mailbag.

The disappointment on Ebet’s face deepened, but a flash of relief and release flickered in his eyes.

That flicker of emotion was very subtle and extremely hard to detect, but unfortunately, he had run into Wu Chang.

From the moment they met, Wu Chang had been observing Ebet, especially his eyes; that flash of genuine emotion did not escape his notice.

Taking advantage of the moment Ebet relaxed, he said:

"Professor Ebet, before I came to Brifer, a relative of mine who works for the Church in the Royal Capital approached me and said that if I encountered trouble in Brifer, I could ask you for advice."

"The town has a small population flow and a fixed social circle; as an outsider, I have no way of knowing many of the established rules. I am worried that I might do something wrong unintentionally and annoy the townspeople."

"Professor Ebet, I want to integrate into this beautiful and peaceful town as soon as possible and don't want to have conflicts with anyone. Could you give me some advice?"

(End of chapter)