Right now, it was dusk in OtherWorld, yet for the players on Earth, it was early morning.
It was a weekday, and those who could afford to be online were the truly hardcore gamers—either those part of a studio or freelancers like Yang Ying, who made a living from the game.
Yang Ying had logged in at nine, immediately checking her friends list to find only Orange Cat active.
Orange Cat had ventured into trying out the trading caravan gameplay mode and had invited Yang Ying along. However, Yang Ying couldn't bear to miss the weekend events and the lucrative earnings they brought; many players sought enchantments for their gear, and Yang Ying could rake in substantial sums each weekend, sometimes even hitting the thousand-yuan mark, making it an opportunity too good to miss.
With no buddies online, Yang Ying pondered her next move and decided to brush up on her lifestyle class skills. Following in the footsteps of the renowned Ou Huang, she too had picked up the butcher's trade, though her progress had been slow due to her focus on earning money, leaving her still at the level of a mere apprentice.
Before Yang Ying made it to Life Alley, online players with a battlefield rank of Elite Soldier or higher received a system message—
[System Announcement]: Soldiers fighting to defend Taranthan, Lieutenant Wagner Pitt and Captain Kenn need your assistance. Please hurry to Exile Town town hall and receive a combat mission.
The phrase "combat mission" immediately perked Yang Ying up. She instantly tossed aside her plans to improve her butchery skills and made a dash to the town hall.
The battlefield had been open for about five days (Earth time), and quite a number of PvP players had reached the rank of Elite Soldiers. And among this group, a large portion of them were hardcore players. By the time Yang Ying arrived at the town hall, over a dozen others had already gathered.
"Sis Ying, you came! Over here!" Blossoming Strokes spotted Yang Ying and immediately sent a party invite to her.
"Blossom, you guys are here too." Yang Ying, who had been worrying about having to fend for herself with her usual buddies all offline, happily joined Blossoming Strokes' party.
"Sis Ying, did you get the mission too?" Give Me Medicine chimed in from the side. He was older than Yang Ying, but like everyone else, got accustomed to calling Yang Ying "Sis Ying."
"Ah? Yeah?" Yang Ying didn't really understand this question. "Otherwise I wouldn't have known to come here."
"See, I already said it, only those with Elite Soldier rank or higher can receive this mission," Qin Guan remarked. "I told you earlier that ranking up in the battlefield would pay off, but you just weren't willing to commit."
"It's not that I didn't want to. I came to the battlefield after clearing Poisonous Marshlands… Isn't it only a few day's difference?" Give Me Medicine muttered.
"Alright, at least you can follow along even without receiving the mission. Worst-case scenario is missing out on the system's honor rewards, no big deal," Blossoming Strokes smoothed things over.
Give Me Medicine nodded. Even without honor point rewards, a combat mission was very much worth participating in!
While they were conversing, Guileless Gale from Brother Lahong's faction made his way through the crowd. "Vanilla, Brother Meds, Blossom, I have something to discuss."
"What?" Qin Guan was surprised by the sudden approach.
"I was thinking, how about we merge into one team for this? We've had a few combat missions before, and the enemies were always tough. I think it's best if we join forces."
Qin Guan glanced at Blossoming Strokes, who nodded, prompting him to respond, "Sounds fine. Who's going to lead?"
"Of course it's—" Guileless Gale began, looking toward Yang Ying, then pausing. "Wait, where's Unceasing Entropy?"
"She's got classes. It's Monday," Yang Ying explained.
"Um…" Guileless Gale scratched his skull. "How about Sis Ying be the leader?"
"Huh? Me?" Yang Ying was surprised.
Blossoming Strokes, fully aware of Guileless Gale's reservations, quickly chimed in, "That'll work. Sis Ying can lead. We'll include everyone who received the mission and anyone else willing to join. How does that sound?"
Her last question was directed at Qin Guan, who didn't hesitate and immediately transferred the group leadership to Yang Ying.
In large player cooperatives, being the leader didn't mean having full command and control. Rather, it was a subtle privilege to sway decisions and potentially unsettle those less favored… For example, intentionally delaying invites to certain individuals.
Qin Guan and Lahong were both considered good leaders, though they had a minor flaw of occasionally losing their temper and stirring up trouble. More importantly, there were those around them that would cause disturbances in such a setting.
To prevent any issues, it was best to select someone who wouldn't act impulsively and whom most people couldn't easily find fault with to take on the role of the group leader.
Though Yang Ying had joined Qin Guan's blood alliance, everyone knew she was closely aligned with Unceasing Entropy. Coupled with her experience leading weekend instance raids and a reputation for honest online and offline transactions, she was deemed the optimal choice in Unceasing Entropy's absence.
With Yang Ying now at the helm, the once rival factions under Qin Guan and Brother Lahong were united under a single banner. As the players rallied together, the NPCs within the town hall began to stir into action.
Wagner Pitt and Kenn, the two quartermaster NPCs that players had both adored and hated in recent days, stepped forward. In tandem, they recited a tale, the gist of which had a knightly order of the Radiant Sun Church harboring years of grievances against the Lord of Taranthan and Undead Race Resurrection Mentor, Yang.
Not long ago, they even dispatched scouts to infiltrate Weisshem in an attempt to kidnap some clerks from the town hall. Having their plot foiled and their faces unveiled, a confrontation became inevitable…
Among the players, only a handful of lore enthusiasts paid any attention to the NPCs' ramblings. As Wagner and Kenn narrated the backstory with deep-seated grievances, most of the players were busy chatting among themselves—
"Was there ever such a plotline quest in Weisshem? Who did it?"
"I don't remember hearing anyone taking up such a quest over there."
"Don't tell me someone accepted and completed it in secret?"
"But that doesn't make sense either. Who would miss the chance to flaunt receiving a worldview breakthrough quest on the forum?"
"Isn't a knightly order just church cavalry? Are we about to clash with the church's knights?" A player realized something was amiss. "Whoa, does this confirm that Taranthan is antagonistic?!"
"What's the big deal? Do we, a bunch of skeletons, look like the good guys?"
"Yeah, our faction leader is still a black mage!"
"It's not quite like that. In foreign games, religious figures are often portrayed as righteous, and even if they are vilified, they can still be redeemed, as if faith makes them go crazy. In contrast, for domestic games, it's more in line with our national conditions to have religious groups as antagonists," argued another player. "This religious order is definitely not comprised of good folks. Once we complete the combat mission and advance the plot, I bet some scandalous revelations will come to light."
"Hold on, isn't the pretty boy with Yang also from the church?"
"You're clueless, aren't you? The pretty boy is from the Church of Prosperity, while this church is from the Radiant Sun Church!" A player, convinced of the antagonistic nature of the church, proudly explained, "I reckon this domestic game will surely go the route of dividing and conquering religious factions. Legitimate faiths will survive, but the bad ones will be eradicated as cults—"
As Wagner and Kenn persisted in their "plotline narrative," ostensibly unaffected by the clamor of the undead, their voices trembled ever so slightly…
They had indeed stumbled upon some earth-shattering revelations—
So, this was Yang's grand plan! He's aiming to even purge the orthodox faiths?!
Inside the town hall, Yang Qiu, who had temporarily disabled the projection and was presiding in his true form, sipped tea calmly.
Well… If he ever reached the stage where he could legitimize religious factions, he certainly wouldn't decline.
The Chinese indigenous belief of Taoism blossomed from the collective wisdom of the Hundred Schools of Thought; its teachings spreading primarily among the cultured elite from its very inception.
Buddhism, a foreign import, underwent a thousand years of domestication, never quite reaching the zenith of a theocracy, and often found itself at the mercy of the ruling powers of the times.
This led to a somewhat superficial understanding of religious sects among modern Chinese, fostering the belief that any sect, with state backing, could make its way into society.
Yet, Earth's own annals stood as a testament to the contrary, showcasing how, apart from the unique anomaly of Chinese civilization, countless nations had been ground under the heel of religious might…
A world devoid of divine beings and supernatural phenomena where all technological marvels are the fruits of human ingenuity—such is the nature of Earth.
But in a realm where divine beings walked among men and the extraordinary was commonplace, religious factions wielded their power with even fewer restraints.
Why, regardless of a city's economic despair, did its churches always rise as the most magnificent edifices within its walls?
The answer lay in the tripartite division of tax revenues among religious factions, royalty, and nobility, with the common folk receiving scant benefits in return. A city mustered thousands of professional soldiers to fend off bandit raids and employed hundreds of clerks and officials to ensure its smooth operation, while religious members needed to only erect grand cathedrals and maintain a handful of night watchmen to claim their share.
However, such musings were moot in the face of immediate concerns for Yang Qiu.
For Yang Qiu, the prospect of marshaling an army of three thousand players to storm the battlefield was far from practical. He harbored no illusions about the chaos that could ensue if he allowed this calamitous horde free rein, likely resulting in a series of "surprises" of their own making.
A more prudent approach was to issue preliminary missions, rallying a contingent of seasoned players with sufficient combat prowess and discipline to establish a base camp (and teleportation point) at the designated battleground, paving the way for the larger player force to follow.
Once the native tools, Wagner and Kenn, had concluded their exposition and directed the players to converge at Weisshem, Yang Qiu promptly escorted them through the subterranean teleportation array to their destination—Wagner was to lead the undead legion, while Kenn to marshal his mercenaries.
"We owe you one again, Ascetic Lowell."
Inside the Weisshem town hall's main hall, Yang Qiu sincerely gave his thanks to the dressed-up Lowell.
Lowell, in a rented cosplay costume, responded coolly, "No need to thank me. I'm only doing this for Rex's sake."
Although both sides had agreed to a "battle of honor," the willingness of the Radiant Sun Church in accepting the challenge was a sign of their confidence in attaining victory.
Should they prove sore losers and decide to employ dirty tactics at the last moment, Rex himself wouldn't be able to withstand that.
"Sigh… Why did I ever agree to partake in your mad scheme?" Lowell sighed, giving Yang Qiu a deep look as he stood up from the sofa and adjusted his excessively decorated (entirely machine-embroidered) gold and black cloak. "I won't take the initiative to strike; you understand what I mean, right?"
Yang Qiu smiled confidently. "Revered Inspector, do you doubt that the Taranthan undead will obtain victory?"
Lowell's expression turned complicated…
Based on what was learned from the captured Commander Benn Hamn Walton, this contingent of the Radiant Sun Church consisted of three hundred knights and six hundred squires.
These three hundred knights weren't mere professional soldiers of the city defense force; they were bona fide knights of the faith, recognized by the Radiant Sun Church's Inquisition. Each possessed their own fiefs and had strength on par with, if not exceeding, Wagner's level.
Frankly, this force was more than capable of besieging any moderately sized city.
Such a powerful force was pitted against the Taranthan undead, who were only marginally stronger than robust peasants… yet Lowell didn't dare say the undead would definitely be defeated.
The reason was simple. These undying and vigorous undead were undoubtedly among the frustrating of adversaries. With fewer than three hundred of their number, they managed to capture nearly three hundred individuals from the Sokri merchant caravan in a single night, mercenaries and thugs included. Wagner, who had accompanied them then, hadn't even needed to intervene and Lowell knew this all too well.
"Even if we defeat this order, what then?" Inspector Lowell could only sigh softly, turning toward the door.
"Indeed, it might not do much, but at the very least, it could earn us the 'friendship' we require… Those who see themselves as powerful only wish to associate with the strong, and Weisshem is in need of 'friends.'"
"There's nothing more ironic than hearing such words from you." Inspector Lowell couldn't help turning back.
"I find it ironic, too, but this is the logic the world recognizes," Yang Qiu replied with a smile.
Lowell felt he was courting a rebuff.
Yang was just like that. He despised the conventional social norms, yet understood these unwritten rules like the back of his hand.
Watching Lowell depart, Yang Qiu sat back down and took his teacup, gently blowing on it.
"Even though he's an old intellectual, he's still one of the church's intellectuals," Yang Qiu muttered to himself. "Even if the Radiant Sun Church has always been at odds with the Church of Prosperity, this fellow would still feel a sense of kinship…"
Yang Qiu intended to elevate the reputation of the Taranthan undead by stomping on the Radiant Sun Church's contingent, securing peace along with time and space for development—this intent naturally couldn't be unnoticed by an old fellow like Lowell, who was of similar age to Yang Qiu.
Offending the Radiant Sun Church wasn't something Yang Qiu feared; the relationship was irreconcilable from the start.
As for why he didn't seek to trouble the Church of Lady Gold Coin or the Bartalis family first? The reason is just as simple—the saying goes, "The monk can run, but the temple won't run with him." Locals, with their homes here… would be likelier to surrender… or rather, assimilate than foreigners.
As he drained his teacup, a cold glint flickered in Yang Qiu's eyes.
"It wasn't the plan to resort to such a method… But strong medicine has to be administered when necessary."
Having made his decision, Yang Qiu set down his cup and rose to leave.
The battleground for the showdown between Lord Charlie Rex of Weisshem and the Radiant Church's knightly order was set in a wasteland about 10 kilometers west of Indahl.
There were two reasons for the choice of a battlefield so close to Indahl. First, the Radiant Sun Church's knightly order was an external force, and the Weisshem's side wasn't worried about them receiving support from the city—unless the Radiant Sun Church was to humbly seek aid from the Church of Lady Gold Coin.
However… if the Church of Lady Gold Coin were willing to lend forces and voluntarily stepped into this quagmire, then the players would undoubtedly be the most delighted…
The second reason was straightforwardly brutal. It was to give the people of Indahl City an ample opportunity to witness the might of Weisshem's clenched fist.
As the undead summoned for the vanguard rushed to the designated battleground overnight, Hal and his fellow brothers, who had infiltrated Indahl two days earlier, met in a tavern on Saint Joseph Street.
"It's just been two days, and I'm already missing the little orc girl Lyka's cooking… I really don't want to stay in this cursed place any longer." Tuttle Joe tossed the half-eaten, coarse flatbread back onto his plate, visibly distressed.
"Yang, that bastard, said we could return as soon as we confirmed there were enough spectators heading to the western wasteland to watch the battle," Hal grumbled. "Seriously, does that guy not fear we'll take the chance to flee?"
Finley remained silent, merely tasting a small sip of the slightly sour malt beer before quietly setting down the glass.
Flee? As if! I only see you two dying to return…