Chapter 2250: Our Faction Expands
Xu Huo agreed to exchange information with him, and after hanging up, he sent a message to the temporary inspector named "Ding Dong Bleeding," hoping the other party would contact him to clear the instance together.
"Any new clues?" Zhu Xiaojin and the others came over to ask after he finished communicating.
"There aren't many valuable clues." Xu Huo briefly explained to them that someone had completed their clearance task but hadn't cleared the instance or entered the game, as well as the viewpoint summarized by Lou Zigui and others that almost no one could escape entering one-third of the game.
"Old Cai completed his clearance task but never entered the game?" Cheng Zhongzhi immediately said, "Is he lying, or does he have some other clue?"
That was unclear. Unlike Lou Zigui, who proactively shared the clues he had, the other party held back, indicating he was keeping something in reserve. With a new method right in front of them—completing another clearance task based on the degree of submitting a wanted criminal's identity, which might be the way to clear the instance—Old Cai naturally wouldn't reveal everything so early.
"Has no one tried to leave Buliucheng?" Tang Yu couldn't help but ask. "It's always worth a try."
"Do you think the trigger method of 'stepping into an unlocked area' was figured out without testing?" Cheng Zhongzhi said. "The boundaries of unlocked areas within the city might be unclear, but the edges of the city are very clear. Someone must have personally seen a player who left the city enter the game, which is why this trigger method is undisputed."
Xu Huo nodded. "Let's stick with our previous approach."
He printed out new work credentials. "Districts 4 to 12 are now under my jurisdiction. Tomorrow, I'll invite more players to cooperate."
Zhu Xiaojin and the other three had only been here for two or three days, same as Xu Huo. Shen Fu and Shi Meng's unlocked areas should be quite large by now, but Xu Huo and the others still needed to confirm whether they could leave the instance after failing the clearance task, so they couldn't let them go too far. If the area was too large, they would need someone to supervise the players to gather enough wanted criminals for everyone.
"How do we arrange the number of wanted criminals?" Tang Yu asked. "If people come to cooperate, we need to show sincerity."
"Making the identity of a wanted criminal publicly recognized through official channels might be one way to clear the instance. Let players report each other. We can submit the reports on their behalf, issue wanted notices on behalf of the city government, and guarantee the authenticity of the warrants. Whether they cooperate with us and how many wanted criminals they can catch depends on their own skills." Xu Huo looked at the people in front of him. "Once the nearby areas fall into chaos, players will naturally enter our area. When the whole city realizes this might be the correct clearance method, other areas should soon have temporary inspectors too. Once the whole city is the same, wanted criminals will naturally increase."
"Our territory is the largest, so we'll definitely have the most wanted criminals." Zhu Xiaojin slapped his thigh.
Xu Huo nodded and posted his contact information on the billboard, asking interested players to contact him. Tomorrow, he would select some temporary workers to publicly announce the public security management regulations in different areas on his behalf, and they would also be the only channel for certifying wanted criminals.
"Well, if we run into wanted criminals, can the two of us go first?" Shen Fu couldn't help but ask. "I'm not trying to take advantage. Anyway, our clearance deadline is almost up. If we can't leave the instance after failing the clearance task, maybe completing the instance task will let us leave?"
"I'm treating this instance as a non-time-limited one for now. What if? What if after thirty days, we can still clear it? As long as we haven't exceeded the time limit for our next instance entry, we won't have to go to a high-risk instance."
However, this involved the issue of the number of wanted criminals. Except for Xu Huo, who hadn't disclosed his, everyone else's clearance task required a similar number of people—several hundred in total. Where could they find that many players?
Ordinary people could be counted in, but murder was different from petty theft. What if ordinary people couldn't be part of the clearance task content?
"You can have priority, but at most up to one-third of the task number." Xu Huo said. "Consider this compensation for testing whether failing the clearance task allows you to leave the instance. If you can't leave, then it's every man for himself afterward."
"No problem, no problem!" Shen Fu quickly said, then nudged Shi Meng to thank him.
"I wonder if past crimes can be counted." Qiao Jieping suddenly spoke up. "Excluding players, there must be many murder cases among the local residents. Let's skip the minor cases for now. Murder definitely meets the wanted standard. If we let the citizens report each other and find evidence to convict, that could also be a channel."
"That's a good idea." Cheng Zhongzhi nodded. "I'll write it up later. Give a reward for successful reports. We'll all chip in for the money. We'll decide how to distribute the wanted criminals later."
Everyone present tacitly avoided the method of "forcing ordinary people to commit crimes."
When dawn came again, after Xu Huo's notice was posted on the billboard, people started contacting him within five minutes. His scope for hiring temporary workers included black and white players, excluding cannibal players. Additionally, they needed to send him a short application video—this was a mandatory process—and the salary and benefits were clearly written.
Two hours later, he screened out twenty players and assigned them to handle areas other than Districts 5 and 6. He registered their information with the city government through the employee internal network, confirming that they worked for the government. After that, whether they contacted more people to issue identity documents to ordinary people or targeted other players was up to them. The final review work was stuck with Xu Huo.
However, Xu Huo underestimated the talents of these players. Before the city government even approved their identity certifications, this group had gathered hundreds of confession videos in one morning—all from local residents. They had fed everyone interrogation potions, and anyone with a criminal record was filmed confessing and applying for a wanted notice. The people were already in their hands.
Xu Huo couldn't possibly send all these confession videos to the city government's email. The city government probably didn't have much manpower, and the reply speed was very slow. With such a heavy workload, it wasn't just a matter of whether they could finish it, but also whether they were willing to do it.
So he selected some cases with more complete evidence—items like bones and physical evidence in addition to the confession videos—and submitted applications.
Zhu Xiaojin and the others had also caught nearly twenty criminals with murder charges in one morning. Buliucheng was filled with all kinds of criminals; it was just that evolution made it harder for some people to commit crimes, which made it look more peaceful. Of course, incidents like casually giving people poisoned fruit or feeding them toxic vegetables were still common. They might not take down players, but ordinary people always fell for them.
"Is the evidence complete?" Xu Huo asked.
Zhu Xiaojin dragged out a middle-aged man. "He has a habit of eating corpses. He killed at least ten people. A neighbor reported him. The entire crime process was recorded on video."