Chapter 2504: Triggering a Side Quest
“What else can we do if we don’t give up?” Xu Huo’s expression also darkened. “Believe me, if your next sentence is wrong, our lives will be forfeit right here.”
Bubble Bean’s expression turned serious. “I didn’t sense any players nearby. Could that old woman be an A-Class player?”
Xu Huo didn’t say anything. The old lady was undoubtedly just an ordinary person, but the moment they entered the house, several people had appeared in the vicinity. These people must have been near the taming grounds from the very beginning, just without releasing any hostility. It was only when he was talking to the old lady that they deliberately applied pressure, all to warn them.
The reason they were so subtle was simply to test their opponents. If they were completely unaware of this, then eliminating them to remove future trouble would be a trivial matter. If they did notice, then this was the real warning.
Bubble Bean was dumbfounded. “They’re that influential? Could the information on this Cat Whisker Fruit be related to the overall situation in Zone 001?”
Xu Huo was quickly searching the information on the Message Collection Terminal. He had heard the old lady mention a list, and the information on it was either about enemies or allies. Since it was a list, there might be some traces left behind.
However, before he could find the relevant information, the Message Collection Terminal was suddenly flooded with a breaking news alert.
“Mr. Valen, a hot candidate for the Council, has announced his withdrawal from this election!”
Mr. Valen was the person mentioned by Miss Yi, the young lady of Renzhi Pharmaceuticals in Medicine City. He was also the high-ranking official who had once had ties with the Wan family.
His sudden announcement of withdrawal from the election had caused an uproar on the Message Collection Terminal. Almost all media outlets were speculating about why he had done so. Unsubstantiated rumors were everywhere, with all sorts of explanations.
[Ding! Player Passerby A has triggered the side quest “Noble Character.” Please complete both the main clearance task and the side quest within the instance time limit.]
[Side Quest Hint: “Noble Character” is both a halo and a shackle, but it often serves as a shackle more often than a halo.]
Not only Xu Huo, but Bubble Bean also received the side quest prompt. He looked at Xu Huo with a frustrated expression, unsure whether he regretted partnering with him or regretted choosing this Cat Whisker Fruit to deliver.
The chance of triggering a side quest in an instance was generally small, but once triggered, it was definitely closely related to the player’s interactions during the clearance process. “Noble Character” – Xu Huo’s first thought was of the Wan family.
It had been some time since the Wan family players had returned.
Xu Huo immediately tried to contact the long-haired player who had left earlier, but the communicator couldn’t get through.
“We need to go back to Mao Guo Town,” he said.
Bubble Bean resigned himself to it. “Let’s go together.”
The two of them used teleportation items to head straight for Mao Guo Town, but they only made it to the outskirts. The teleportation items were blocked outside the town, meaning a space barrier had been activated around Mao Guo Town.
Although space teleportation items were blocked, the town itself didn’t prevent players from entering or leaving. Xu Huo and the others restored their previous appearances and entered Mao Guo Town smoothly. However, the closer they got to the Wan family’s residence, the more local zone players they saw.
The Wan family’s residential area had already been sealed off.
Although there was no news about this on the Message Collection Terminal, many locals knew about it. However, they all kept their mouths shut. When asked, they claimed to know nothing. With so many local zone players stationed nearby, players from other zones couldn’t easily use other methods.
Xu Huo and Bubble Bean went to “Small Object Carving.” They first released Grandma Gui. Coincidentally, the female traveler who had come out of admiration was visiting again, so they learned what had actually happened.
The Wan family had been attacked half an hour ago. No one knew who was behind it, but the attackers had acted very quickly. They had dealt with the players stationed nearby to protect the Wan family, then kidnapped all the Wan family members, including the newborn baby.
The killing methods were extremely brutal—this was evident from the corpses of those players. The bodies had even been deliberately placed inside the Wan residence, waiting for someone to discover them.
The Wan family had been quite busy during this period. They had just seen off all their guests and the house had finally quieted down. If it hadn’t been for a settlement boss who realized he had miscalculated the bill and came back to return the overcharged amount, this tragedy might not have been discovered for who knows how long.
The local government acted very quickly. In addition to the Enforcement Team, some players from nearby military districts were also transferred in, all with the aim of finding the Wan family’s whereabouts and tracking down the perpetrators.
As for why the townspeople refused to tell outsiders, it was a request from the Enforcement Team, to prevent the kidnappers from obtaining information through this channel.
The female traveler knew about Grandma Gui’s background, so she was willing to tell them.
The old lady pulled herself together and first sent her out, then said, “It’s all my fault. I’ve implicated them. If I had said earlier that my grandson was murdered, the Wan family wouldn’t have gotten involved so blindly. If I had said it from the start, they would definitely have been more careful…”
She rambled on about many things. After successfully handing over the Cat Whisker Fruit to that little cat, she no longer cared about what happened next.
“Could this be related to the election?” Bubble Bean suddenly recalled that brief communication at the taming grounds. The Wan family incident seemed to have happened around the same time, and then Mr. Valen announced his withdrawal from the election. Since he was connected to the Wan family, “Could someone be using the Wan family to threaten him into withdrawing?”
“We need to find her immediately!”
“It’s too late,” Xu Huo said. “We didn’t react in time initially, so we lost the advantage. Even if we go back now, we most likely won’t find her.”
Even if they could find her, they probably still wouldn’t learn the whereabouts of the Wan family. If the old lady from the taming grounds was truly involved in this, then as an ordinary person, she would definitely not be involved in the specific details. Not only would she not know where the people were being held, she might not even know who the participants were.
The only thing that was certain was that her identity was definitely not simple.
Xu Huo sketched a portrait of the old lady and searched for it on the Message Collection Terminal. Surprisingly, her identity was not hidden.
Sheila Valen, wife of Mr. Valen, former Chief Secretary to the Grand Archon, and also the mother of Mr. Valen, the hot candidate for the Council membership election.
Bubble Bean also saw this information. He frowned slightly. “There are rumors that she was the lover of the former Grand Archon while her husband was still alive. It can’t be that she’s threatening her own son to withdraw from the election, can it?”
“It’s not impossible,” he said, flipping to the profile of another candidate. “This Henderson is said to be the child she had with the former Grand Archon. He was nominally adopted by the former Grand Archon and his wife, and he’s also participating in this Council membership election.”
“This old lady is quite something.”
Xu Huo quickly scanned the media’s published gossip and anecdotes about this famous iron lady, then flipped through some of her past political statements and public activities she had participated in.