While the Dark Iron Dwarves were busy exploring the ore vein, Ye Ci continued her Epic-tier quest.
Once again, she relayed the information she received from the Doran Thieves Guild to Dark Clay City. As usual, she did not see the city lord, Moore. Only the mayor of Dark Clay City welcomed her.
"Very good, very good, Elf. You've done a great job." The mayor opened the letter and read it carefully. Then, he looked up at Ye Ci and narrowed his triangular eyes. His smile made Ye Ci's hair stand on end. "I will pass on your sincerity to City Lord Moore. I think City Lord Moore will be very happy after knowing about this. You also know that City Lord Moore has always been in poor health, but he still has to worry about trivial things around him. This makes us, his subordinates, very uneasy. I wonder if you can help us again? "
Sure enough, the third phase of the quest had begun. Although Ye Ci did not know how many phases there were to this epic quest, since they were already in the depths, they could not stop.
"Of course, it's my pleasure." Ye Ci bowed. However, in his heart, he couldn't help but laugh at himself for being too hypocritical. He was obviously forced to do this quest. What was there to be proud of?
"However, this journey will be very long. Are you really willing?" After hearing Ye Ci's answer, the mayor of Dark Clay City was obviously very satisfied. However, he didn't know why, but he still asked Ye Ci again.
"As long as I can help City Lord Moore, I will do my best." Ye Ci nodded.
"Well, this is a long journey. You may be away from your hometown for a long time. I hope you won't be homesick." The mayor of Dark Clay City nodded, but it was clear from his expression that Ye Ci's homesickness had nothing to do with him. "Go to the Gale Canyon. There is a broken iron bridge there. At midnight, blow this whistle and someone will come to pick you up from the other side. And he will tell you what you need to do. "
The mayor of Dark Clay City took out an ancient-looking bone whistle. The whistle had been stroked until it was smooth and had a light brown color. It was obvious that it had been used for a long time. He handed the whistle to Ye Ci, and then said with a little sincerity, "May God be with you all the time, and Lord Moore will wait for your return."
Ye Ci took the bone whistle and frowned. If she remembered correctly, the Gale Canyon was a map that connected the Southern Continent and the Western Continent. There was a deep ravine in the middle that divided the entire Gale Canyon into two parts. One part was in the Southern Continent, and the other part was in the Western Continent.
Did the mayor of Dark Clay City want her to go to the Western Continent?
In fact, that was exactly what had happened. Ye Ci exited the game and checked the official map. Sure enough, she saw that the narrowest part of Gale Canyon seemed to be connected to something. On the other side was the Western Continent.
It seems that I have to go to the Western Continent.
Ye Ci told the higher-ups of her guild that she would be leaving the Eastern Continent for a period of time. Although Bai Mo had returned home, he would still log into the game every night. Ye Ci left him a message and prepared some extra funds for her parents. Then, she loaded up all her arrows and left the Eastern Continent for the Southern Continent.
As she was doing an Epic Quest, Ye Ci did not contact The Red Dust when she arrived in the Southern Continent. Instead, she teleported all the way to the Gale Canyon.
Gale Canyon was a long and narrow map. Because there was a deep and long valley in the middle, the map was divided into two parts. The Southern Continent side was called Gale Canyon Above, while the Western Continent side was called Gale Canyon Below.
Before the North, South, East and West Continents had split apart, there was an iron bridge that connected the two sides of the canyon. However, after the four continents split apart, the NPCs on both sides removed the wooden planks from the iron bridge and built extremely sturdy watchtowers and arrow forts on both sides of the bridge to defend against enemies on the opposite side.
Now, the only thing that could be seen in the Gale Canyon were the watchtowers and a dilapidated steel bridge …
Ye Ci stood at the entrance of the canyon and looked at the other side. She could see a sea of players moving in red. It was obvious that they were the same as the Elites on the other side of the bridge. They were all above lvl60 and had a lot of health. Ye Ci would have a hard time dealing with one of them, let alone a whole group of them.
Ye Ci caressed the Bone Whistle in her hand. It seemed that she could only wait until midnight.
The NPCs guarding the bridge were a little strange. They didn't forbid players from the Alliance from entering the enemy's territory. As long as you could survive, they were very calm. However, if players or NPCs from the other side wanted to come over, they would definitely be able to hold back ten thousand men.
Ye Ci sat at the edge of the bridge and waited for the sun to set.
She looked at the scenery on the other side of the bridge. Her heart was as calm as a still lake. What would she encounter after crossing the bridge? Would everything go smoothly in the Western Continent? How long would it take for her to return to the Eastern Continent? She would leave these questions to the future. As for her, she just had to wait until midnight.
The Southern Continent Bridge Guards paced back and forth behind Ye Ci. The intervals between each group was less than 30 seconds, and each group consisted of four to six soldiers. Even if players from the other side of the bridge were to cross the bridge, it would be impossible for them to sneak past the Southern Continent Bridge Guards. With the same logic, the chances of Ye Ci sneaking past the guards on the other side of the river were slim.
She looked at the Bone Whistle in her hand, but she couldn't find anything special about it. She couldn't imagine how the NPC summoned by the Bone Whistle would be able to bring her to the other side of the river at twelve o 'clock.
Time was a strange thing.
When you were not paying attention to it, it would quickly pass you by. In just a moment, a lot of time had passed. However, when you were really paying attention to it, it would pass very slowly. It was as if one could accomplish something earth-shattering in one second.
Just like Ye Ci. She sat on a wooden stake at the edge of the canyon with a green foxtail in her mouth. She rested her chin on her hands as she gazed at the setting sun, hoping that time would pass faster. However, time did not seem to be going according to her wishes. It was as if it would not move at all. She had lost count of the number of times she had checked the time, but it was still the same number. How long would it take for her to reach the other side of the bridge?
As expected, waiting for time to pass was not something Ye Ci would do. Since she could not do anything here, she might as well log off and do something else. Since she had made up her mind, Ye Ci logged off. The house was quiet. Bai Mo had gone home, Tan Polang had gone to school, and her parents were leveling up their skills in the game. She had nothing to do after logging off.
Ye Ci walked into the living room with her walking stick. Sunlight streamed in through the window, and it was very bright. Ye Ci sat on the sofa and turned on the TV out of boredom. The TV was showing a boring interface. Ye Ci held the remote control in her hand and switched channels with a lack of interest.
Ye Ci did not know if it was because her mental age was too mature, or because the TV shows were too boring. After switching channels for so many times, she could not find a single one that she was interested in. At this rate, what was she going to do to pass the afternoon?
"According to our reporter, Glory Corporation has officially launched the countdown for the first expansion of" Fate OL "— —" A New Continent "at the National Stadium." Fate OL "is a new holographic game released in 2050. It is different from previous holographic games. It uses the world's most advanced light and shadow technology as well as the human body's micro-sensory technology. It is a 100% simulation of the real world's environment. It also perfectly integrates the culture of many countries with the background of the game. It can be called an epoch-making holographic game. "Fate OL" has always held the record for the highest number of online users ever since the launch of the game. Moreover, the number of online users has been increasing with the development of "Fate OL" …. "
Ye Ci switched to a news channel. The news anchor was reporting about the new expansion of "Fate OL" with a smile on his face. In fact, it was not strange for Fate to be on the news. In this day and age, games were very popular. Many countries had developed from categorizing games as entertainment to including economic, political, military, and other important functions in games. Games were becoming more and more relevant to mankind.
Therefore, it was a common occurrence for the news to introduce the game without restraint.
If it was any other time, Ye Ci would not have paid attention to this news. After all, there were too many things about Fate. She did not have the time to pay attention to them one by one. But this news was different. Ye Ci stopped playing with the remote control in her hand and quietly watched the news.
The first expansion, "A New Continent", had entered the countdown of 30 days. This meant that the developers would be releasing a series of major quests related to the expansion of the expansion. In this series of quests, the levels and equipment of the players would increase by leaps and bounds. This would make it easier for the players to clear the level 30 to 50 dungeons. Not only that, Ye Ci also knew that once the expansion was released, it would mean that Golden Era was about to enter Fate.
In fact, Ye Ci did not quite understand what the developers were thinking.
Golden Era had been bribed by a rival company of Glory Corporation to enter Fate OL. Even a normal player like Ye Ci knew about this news. She did not believe that the developers and leaders of Glory Corporation did not know about it. Since they knew about it, they must know about the terrifying impact that Golden Era would have on the game. Wasn't it unwise to take the risk of releasing an expansion under such circumstances? But why did they still do it? Did water get into their heads? Or could it be that Ye Ci did not have the foresight to understand this matter?
But at this point, Ye Ci did not care about what the leaders of Glory Corporation were thinking. She only had one thing on her mind, and that was how to preserve everything before the release of the expansion and before Golden Era entered the game.
This was a truly troublesome problem.
She suddenly thought of someone.
After logging into the game, Ye Ci contacted the customer service and indicated that she was looking for customer service number 094. Even though the customer service lady was in a difficult position, she could not refuse a request that was not too unreasonable. Thus, even though it was a little troublesome, she still managed to get Ye Ci to meet Wang Jiangnan.
Wang Jiangnan was puzzled, "How did you find me through this?"
"I'm a player. How else can I find a developer?" Ye Ci was amused by Wang Jiangnan's question.
"I'm at Gale Canyon. Coordinates: 1893: 47: 3652. Are you free? Come over. " Ye Ci knew that this kind of customer service call would be recorded. Of course, she would not be stupid enough to discuss this matter with Wang Jiangnan. In order to deal with Wang Jiangnan's superior, she even thought of an excuse for him, "I found a possible BUG. Could you please come over and take a look?"
Wang Jiangnan did not suspect anything. Even though he was not the manager on duty today, he was still close to Ye Ci, "Okay. Give me a minute."
After hanging up the call, Ye Ci sat on a wooden stump and waited quietly. Soon, a level 1 player wearing a beginner's uniform appeared beside her. This person was none other than Wang Jiangnan. Wang Jiangnan was indeed a workaholic. When he saw Ye Ci, the first thing he said was, "What BUG did you find?"
Ye Ci smiled and patted the wooden stump beside her, "Sit down and tell me."
Wang Jiangnan sat down and looked around. He quickly understood why Ye Ci was here, "You received an Epic Quest?"
"Yes," Ye Ci narrowed her eyes, "Can you tell me what's waiting for me?"
Wang Jiangnan shook his head, "Won't you find it boring if I tell you? Also, I didn't design this Epic Quest. I didn't participate in the testing, so I don't know the details. "After saying that, he continued to care about the BUG," Didn't you say there was a BUG? What BUG? A BUG that can be caught must be very bad. "
"It's not a BUG. I'm looking for you. It's just an excuse." Ye Ci removed the green foxtail from the corner of her mouth and swung it around, "There's something else I need to do."
Wang Jiangnan raised his eyebrows slightly, "That's strange. Why are you looking for me? I remember that you don't hate dealing with developers like us. "
"That depends on the time. When my personal interests are at stake, I still like your kind of planning. " She did not hide the fact that she was using him in front of Wang Jiangnan.
Wang Jiangnan was curious. Gongzi You was one of the top players in the Eastern Continent. She was one of the top players in all four continents. It was rare for her personal interests to be threatened, "Heh, the more you talk about it, the more curious I am. What kind of situation could threaten your personal interests?"
"Why did you release the expansion so early?" Ye Ci did not want to beat around the bush with Wang Jiangnan, and asked directly, "Don't you know that Golden Era is going to enter the game?"
Golden Era's name was well known to everyone. They were like giant locusts. No matter where they went, they would leave behind a mess.
Wang Jiangnan was slightly surprised by Ye Ci's question, and his expression became slightly unnatural, "These are the decisions of the higher-ups. I'm just an ordinary developer. I can't change anything."
Ye Ci raised her eyebrows, "Can you give me some pointers? How should we deal with this storm? The average level of our guild members is only at level 40. Once you release the expansion, the level cap will be lifted. What are we going to do? "
"You've got me there. I've been thinking about this problem, but I haven't been able to find a solution." Wang Jiangnan smiled bitterly at Ye Ci, "I know that the release of the expansion pack is a little hasty, but …" he sighed, "Why don't you give me a suggestion on how to deal with it?"
Ye Ci was disheartened by Wang Jiangnan's reaction. It seemed that this storm could not be stopped. As the release of the expansion neared, she could only passively endure it, "Suggestion? You're asking for my suggestion to wait until Golden Era enters the game and ruin Fate? "
"Ha! Don't be so pessimistic. "Wang Jiangnan was smiling, but his heart was heavy.
"Pessimistic? Only pessimistic people can change the world. "Ye Ci rolled her eyes at Wang Jiangnan.
"Alright. What would you do if you were me?" Wang Jiangnan looked sincerely at Ye Ci. This was not the first time he had thought of this question. He even thought that the entire game would be turned upside down when that time came. The fate of the game developers would also be turned upside down, just like the game. He wondered if his dream, his fate, would be broken because of this matter.
"You have two paths. One, pack up and leave. Two, live a miserable life. " Ye Ci raised two fingers. In fact, these were the two paths that all players would face in the future.
"Is there a third path?" Wang Jiangnan already knew of these two paths, but he was unwilling to give up.
Ye Ci narrowed her eyes. A third path … She wanted to do the third path, but she did not know if she could do it.
"Of course …" Ye Ci let out an almost inaudible sigh, "Of course."
"What is it?"
"Putting death before rebirth." Ye Ci looked into the distance and sighed again. She was conflicted. On one hand, she did not want Golden Era to come. On the other hand, she hoped that Golden Era would come sooner. It would be best if they came as soon as possible. This was because no matter how one imagined it, one would never know what would happen in the future.
Even if one knew the outcome, one would not know the process. It would still be hard to predict the outcome.
Wang Jiangnan's decision to take on the challenge of the Mithril ore vein in the past was the same as Ye Ci's decision to begin the excavation of the Mithril ore vein in advance. She only had one month. In this one month, she had to obtain the mining rights from the Dark Iron Dwarves who had discovered the exact location of the vein. Even if she obtained the mining rights, where was she going to find so many people to mine? Even if she could find so many people to mine, how was she going to protect such a large vein? Right now, Up Everyday was only a small guild with less than 100,000 people. Even if all of them were mobilized, they might not be able to protect the vein.
Even if Golden Era did not come after it, wouldn't the large guilds with millions of people come after it?
She never thought that she had any friendship with the leaders of the large guilds. In this world, only benefits were eternal.
From the day she decided to mine the Mithril vein, she had already placed herself in a death trap. However, she did not know if this death trap could be reborn.
Night had fallen, and Wang Jiangnan had already left. Ye Ci sat in the dark, quietly stroking the Bone Whistle in her hand. She took one last look at the time. It was ten seconds to twelve.
Ten, nine, eight … three, two, one.
"Screech —!" The sound emitted by the Bone Whistle was a strange, shrill sound that Ye Ci had never heard from any Whistle before. This sharp and peculiar sound was like a sharp dagger in the dark night sky, tearing apart the tranquil silence.
Ye Ci rubbed her ears. The sound made her eardrums hurt. She stood up and looked around for the person who would come to her rescue. However, in the night wind, she did not see anyone else other than herself.
Could it be that he remembered the mission wrongly? Ye Ci was puzzled. She quickly checked her quest log, but found nothing. As Ye Ci looked around, she heard a hoarse voice chuckling from above, "It's an Elf."
Ye Ci looked towards the direction of the voice. A dark figure was crouched on top of a pillar at the end of the bridge. He was completely hidden in the shadows. Other than his voice, Ye Ci could not detect his other stats.
Race: Unknown. Class: Unknown. Friend or foe: Unknown.
Although it was stated in the quest log that this person would lead Ye Ci and hand over the rest of the quest to Ye Ci, there were too many uncertainties in Epic-tier quests. If one part of the quest did not meet the predetermined requirements, it could trigger other consequences. Ye Ci did not dare to make any rash decisions when she was unsure of the outcome.
"Hello, the Mayor of Dark Clay City gave me this Bone Whistle." Ye Ci bowed respectfully, "He said that this Bone Whistle will give me a hint." Ye Ci's words were very subtle when she was doing quests. She would always put herself in a passive position, while the NPC who handed in the quest would be the one taking the initiative. This way, Ye Ci would be able to gain a lot of advantages when dealing with NPCs.
The dark figure heard Ye Ci's words and cackled, "He's not dead yet?"
Ye Ci was momentarily stunned. She felt as if she had caught onto something strange, but she could not figure out what it was. However, she didn't respond to Shadow's question casually. NPCs involved in Epic-tier Quests were difficult to deal with. They had higher intelligence than the average NPC, and they were also more scheming than the average NPC. Hence, if she wasn't careful, she could easily be captured by these NPCs. The best way to avoid being captured by these NPCs was to perk up your ears, but keep your mouth shut. The more you talk, the more mistakes you make. This was an unchanging truth.
The dark figure seemed to be satisfied that Ye Ci did not talk too much. He cackled. His voice was very strange, and it sounded particularly eerie in the silent night. "You're an Elf who doesn't talk too much."
Could this be considered a compliment?
"Let's go. Follow me. I'll bring you there." The silhouette jumped down from the pillar, and the silvery moonlight shrouded its entire body, allowing Ye Ci to see its true appearance. It was a Goblin.
He had green skin, pointed ears, and bulging eyeballs. He looked a little strange. However, the strangest thing was that this Goblin's arms were much longer than the other Goblins. They actually reached past his knees. He was not tall, only reaching the waist of an Elf. However, his body was very small, and he moved very easily.
Goblins were a strange race. They looked ugly, but they were very intelligent. They could make the most exquisite machinery and the highest quality medicine on the continent. Moreover, they were very good at making money. Therefore, in the entire continent, the Goblins were probably the richest race. However, this race did not like to interact with other races. They were cold and indifferent, and were a neutral race. Before the continent split, the Goblins often interacted with other races. However, after the continent split, the Goblins went into hiding. Only a few merchants could find them, and they used high prices to exchange for high quality engineering products and high quality medicine from them.
Seeing this Goblin, Ye Ci's heart trembled slightly. Goblins were a good race, especially in a siege battle. If she could get the help of a Goblin, it would be like adding wings to a tiger. However, how should she interact with a Goblin? This was indeed a problem.
Following behind this Goblin, Ye Ci had been thinking of ways to get close to this Goblin, but she could not find a suitable method. Goblins were different from Dwarves who were also proficient in engineering. They had much higher EQ than Dwarves. If she did not cater to their interests, they would easily dislike her.
"Elf, are you thinking of how to get benefits from me?" The Goblin who had been silent all this time laughed.
Ye Ci was slightly surprised, but her face did not reveal any panic. She only said calmly, "Elves have never been a greedy race."
"That's true. You are different from the Beastmen and Dwarves." The Goblin agreed with this point. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and blew a loud whistle. The sound of flapping wings could be heard from afar. Ye Ci raised her head, and saw a gigantic bird flying towards them from afar.
It looked like an eagle. Ye Ci narrowed her eyes. The Elves' night vision was not bad. From the physique, it did look like an eagle. However, when it flew closer, Ye Ci was shocked! It was indeed an eagle! However, this was not a living eagle. It was a mechanical eagle made of machine parts!
This Goblin seemed to have been watching Ye Ci's expression. When he saw the surprised expression on Ye Ci's face, his expression immediately became a bit more proud. He said with a bit of pride, "How is it? Looks good. "
"It's very good." Ye Ci was not stingy with her praise. She nodded at the Goblin and said, "As expected of Goblin Engineering. It's so beautiful!"
The Goblin's expression changed. He then snorted and said, "Goblin Engineering? Without me, Orthus, what would Goblin Engineering amount to? "
"Orthus?" Ye Ci was stunned. She was shocked to hear this name. According to the Goblin Chronicles in the National Library, Orthus was the disciple of the Goblin Engineering Grandmaster, De 'frei. After De' frei disappeared, Orthus gradually disappeared from the Goblin Chronicles. When Ye Ci was reading the book, she felt that it was a pity that the Goblin Engineering Grandmaster had disappeared from the continent. However, she did not expect to meet Orthus in this life.
"What? You've heard of my name? "
"Yes, I've read about you in the National Library. Of course, there's also a record about your master, De 'frei," Ye Ci said honestly.
"Oh? That's strange. The descendants of the Goblins have already forgotten about me and my master, but an Elf knows about us. " Orthus had a cold sneer on his face. He waved at the mechanical eagle in the sky and had it fly to the edge of the cliff. He then jumped onto its back. Orthus then turned to Ye Ci and said, "Elf, jump on. I'll send you over."
Ye Ci nodded and jumped onto the back of the mechanical eagle. Orthus then shouted, "Sit tight!" The mechanical eagle suddenly accelerated and soared into the sky!
This was not Ye Ci's first time riding on a flying machine. However, this was definitely the fastest and most stable flying machine that Ye Ci had ever ridden on. Although there was a strong airflow under the wings of the mechanical eagle, the mechanical eagle did not experience any turbulence. Instead, it flew higher and higher as if it was going to soar through the clouds.
"What's that crazy Goblin doing with his stupid bird?" The Western Continent guards on the bridge looked at the mechanical eagle in the distance. It seemed that they were used to this kind of situation.
"Who knows? He's always guarding that stupid bird and won't let us get close to it. The last time I tried to sit on it, he almost beat me up. "
"Hahaha, you're afraid of that Goblin? How painful can it be when he beats you up? If the Captain finds out about this, he'll definitely punish you severely! "
"What do you know? Goblins are a neutral race. If I were to fight him, he might take revenge on me!" The guard on the bridge snorted, "If that old geezer can make that stupid bird, he might be able to make something else. It'll be bad if I get hurt."
… …
The two Western Continent guards on the bridge were chatting with each other as they patrolled the area. They had no idea that Orthus had brought an Eastern Continent player to his territory with the help of the mechanical eagle.
Ye Ci looked down and saw a red light. It meant that they were at a very high altitude. However, Ye Ci was puzzled, "Can't the guards on the bridge see us?"
"How can they not see us? They're not blind." Orthus rolled his eyes.
"Then how are you going to bring me over there?"
"It's a secret." It was apparent that Orthus did not want Ye Ci to know too much about the Mechanical Condor. He snorted arrogantly.
Since Orthus had such an attitude, Ye Ci did not say anything else. She stood quietly behind Orthus and waited for the mechanical eagle to land. The Mechanical Eagle's speed was extremely fast. After some time, Ye Ci could feel the Mechanical Eagle beginning to descend, indicating that it was about to land. Ye Ci lowered her body and her center of gravity to prevent herself from falling off the mechanical eagle.
The mechanical eagle was indeed made by Orthus. It landed smoothly and silently. As soon as it landed, it immediately became lifeless, like a pile of metal.
Orthus jumped down from the mechanical eagle, and Ye Ci followed suit.
Orthus faced Ye Ci and said, "Since you know who my teacher is, I don't have to introduce myself to you. What you need to do next is very simple. Find my teacher and rescue him. "
Ye Ci was puzzled by the quest. The Goblin Chronicles only mentioned that De 'frei had gone missing, but it did not mention why.
Since this was an important part of the quest, Ye Ci had to get to the bottom of it, "Honorable Mr. Orthus, please wait a moment. I know that Master De 'frei knows who you are, but the book only mentioned that your teacher had gone missing. Where should I go to find your teacher? "
"It's not recorded in the book?" Orthus was puzzled, but he quickly let it go, "Hmph, it would be strange if it was recorded! Of course, they wouldn't record such a despicable thing in the book! "
It was obvious that Orthus was very unhappy and agitated. He paced back and forth on the spot. As he paced, he waved his fist and cursed, "Those damn goblins, those damn goblins! And that damned Ciel! All of you should go to hell! "
Ye Ci looked at Orthus quietly. She was waiting for the quest to be triggered. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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