Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Burning Bridges

6:30 AM

Mo Tan crawled out of the game pod. Judging by the remaining half hour, he didn't plan to keep playing.

This was understandable, after all, it was 6 AM in Innocent Realm right now. Aside from Tan Mo's character being able to make some headway on the road, logging in with his other two personalities wouldn't accomplish much. During that last Conversion, Mo Tan had been passively switched to the 'True Neutral' state, so after thinking it over briefly, he simply logged out without choosing to Reconnect.

"Anyway, there's nothing to do even if I go online..." Mo Tan yawned slightly, muttering as he shuffled toward the bedroom: "And lately I've been playing the full twelve hours of game time every session. Feels like my sleep quality is getting a bit poor."

Simply put, he wanted to sleep a bit more, but felt he should find some excuse or another for himself.

Compared to other players, though, Mo Tan's online time was indeed quite long. After all, aside from professional players and the occasional hardcore grinders, few people could manage the full twenty-four hours in-game every day—that is, from 7 PM to 7 AM in real time.

You see, the game also had day and night cycles, and the NPCs of the Innocent Continent were quite different from their counterparts in other games. The latter were universally dedicated to an almost absurd degree—whether they were weapon sellers, quest givers, escort escorts, monster captives, castle guards, kebab grillers, vegetable vendors, scrap collectors, or shoe-pad repairmen, they were all full of energy twenty-four hours a day, waiting through wind and rain for players who might wander by God-knows-when to exchange a few words with them. They'd recite the same lines ten thousand times without the slightest hint of boredom—true paragons of the service industry!

The NPCs in Innocent Realm, however, were different. For instance, if a player had a quest that required getting a wrench from a certain weapons shop owner, it probably wouldn't be a problem during the day. But if you went knocking on their door in the dead of night asking to borrow something, being ignored would be the mildest outcome. If you happened to run into someone with a short temper or disturbed someone's evening activities, they might just push the door open and start swinging.

In fact, players had actually died that way before... Don't let your mind wander—that was just an example. It really wasn't Cordova!

All in all, not many players remained active at night. The main reason was that even if many people didn't want to log off, there was nothing to do. Take Mo Tan at this moment for example—if he logged in as his corresponding character Hei Fan, he'd definitely have nothing to do. As a member of the Territorial Guard, he couldn't even work overtime if he wanted to.

So, all things considered, Mo Tan decided to sleep a bit more...

During gameplay, although the physical body remained in a state of sleep, it wasn't deep sleep. Rather, it felt like being in deep sleep while constantly dreaming.

You see, when ordinary people dream, they tend to sleep a bit longer, have a harder time getting up, get more irritable when woken by an alarm clock, and feel more inclined to punch their boss or dean of students when they see them (strikethrough)...

So if you play the full twelve hours, even though sleeping in the game doesn't affect daily life, it still leaves you somewhat fatigued.

If you're tired, just sleep a bit more—Mo Tan's train of thought right now is clearly the same as most of ours~

So, he went back to his bedroom and slept.

See how roundabout that was...

At the same time, in the southeast of the Innocent Continent, Layered Rock City, Marshall Territory.

Ned, who had been tossing and turning in the base, unable to sleep, suddenly heard a commotion outside. He rubbed his slightly dry eyes, stepped over the slumbering Klab, and poked his head out—only to see the lizardman officer who had recruited Mo Tan earlier striding over.

"Thank goodness." Officer Gat glanced at Ned and shook his head. "You're the first squad leader to wake up without me having to call you. Meeting in ten minutes—hurry up and get ready."

Ned looked at him in slight bewilderment. "Now? What's going on?"

Gat walked straight past him without turning his head, speaking in a low voice. "Big trouble. People from Fire Claw Territory crossed the border a few hours ago, and apparently they've caused a huge mess. I don't know the details myself—someone should explain it to us at the meeting. See you later."

"What's wrong?" Salazar appeared silently behind Ned, asking in a low voice. "Trouble?"

Ned shook his head grimly. "I don't know. I'm heading to the meeting now—don't wake the others yet. I'll explain when I get back..."

He then patted his companion on the shoulder and strode briskly out of the camp, only to nearly collide with Futaba, who was jogging over.

Ned was clearly startled. "You're still up?"

"Just got back from the Mage Guild~" Futaba let out a small yawn, glanced around the military camp that was gradually lighting up, and tilted her head curiously. "What's going on?"

Ned shrugged. "I don't know either. I'm on my way to a meeting."

"Alright then, I'll practice some spell chanting over here."

"Yeah."

...

Seven in the morning.

Although describing the daytime in detail could easily stretch to the end of this chapter, let's not get too specific.

In short, Mo Tan slept for a while, got up to check the forum, received an email, caught up on a few anime episodes, and it was about 7:30 by then. He ate something in between and switched between his two personalities twice.

Then, night fell...

[Your mental connection has been detected, synchronizing personal information...]

[Connection complete, loading character data]

[Welcome back, True Neutral Hei Fan. About to enter the Innocent Realm. Have a good night.]

...

Just as he turned out of an alley not far from the military camp, Mo Tan felt a hint of heaviness in the air. The atmosphere made him feel a bit uneasy.

Then he saw an orange-haired girl in a rose-red robe approaching from not far away.

"You're here?" Futaba shrugged at him, then adjusted her glasses slightly and headed toward the military camp. "Let's head back to the base first—talk as we walk."

Mo Tan nodded and walked alongside Futaba, asking in a low voice, "I thought we had the next two days off—why the sudden email calling me online?"

Right, Mo Tan had been summoned by Futaba. Around noon, he'd received an email from her (she'd gotten his address last time), and the content was brief—basically saying that if conditions allowed, he should log in as soon as possible today, as something fairly serious seemed to have happened on their end.

So at around 6:50 in the real world, Mo Tan, who had been in his 'Lawful Good' state, smoothly and deliberately switched personalities, then logged into Hei Fan's character.

"Unexpected situation." Futaba said somewhat listlessly, "Captain Ned was called to a meeting earlier, and after he came back, he immediately ordered us to assemble. Seems we're going on a fairly difficult mission today, and apparently all active Territorial Guard members are required to participate, so I gave you a heads-up."

Mo Tan quickly thanked her—he was genuinely touched that Futaba would think of him like that...

"Don't get the wrong idea." The girl pursed her lips. "I just figured that if there's real danger, it'd be a hassle without a healer."

By now, the two had arrived in front of the Fenrir Squad's base, and along the way, Mo Tan had indeed seen many people preparing for action, all with grim expressions.

"Good, everyone's here." Ned called out to the two from a distance, and once Mo Tan and the others walked over, he immediately addressed the full squad, not missing a single member, in a deep voice: "To keep it brief, I'll now explain the contents of this emergency mission. Last night, two villages and a small town near the territory's border were attacked—at least over three hundred people were slaughtered. According to intelligence from survivors who fled here, the attackers were..."

He gritted his teeth, pausing for a long moment before forcing out the final words: "The Fire Claw Warriors we fought before."

Everyone was stunned...

Though they'd been attacked by them earlier for unknown reasons, no one had expected the Fire Claw Territory to completely sever ties with Marshall!

Fire Claw Territory and Marshall Territory were both among the Nine Autonomous Territories of the Violet Empire. The former was an orc tribal alliance centered on the Fire Claw Clan, with each generation of Fire Claw Grand Chieftain also holding the title of Imperial Grand Duke. Its territory bordered Marshall Dominion directly, known for its fierce folk customs and abundance of elite warriors. However, it rarely engaged politically with the other eight powers of the empire—at least in recent decades, Xiluo Bloodaxe, who held the dual titles of Fire Claw Duke and Grand Chieftain, had almost never left his own territory, and even his visits to the imperial capital could be counted on one hand.

But despite that, the relatively isolated Fire Claw Territory had never had any friction with the Marshall Family. The previous border skirmish still left everyone baffled, and in the days following, no feedback or explanation came from above—until today, when the situation suddenly took a drastic turn.

The warriors of Fire Claw Territory actually attacked several border towns that most people couldn't even name, and reportedly, their methods were extremely cruel!

"Not only that..." Ned sighed. "They're said to have taken a large number of civilians, and our mission this time is to rescue those innocents."

Yinna clenched her small fists in fury. "What are those bastards thinking? Do they really intend to clash with us head-on?!"

"What's the reason?" Salazar, being calmer, asked Ned. "Were there any signs before this?"

The latter shook his head. "Aside from that ambiguous skirmish we had before, there's nothing at all. Although Marshall Territory and Fire Claw Territory have been neighbors for many years, they've always kept to themselves. The Grand Duke of Fire Claw, who rarely even visits the capital, and Buffey Marshall shouldn't have any political disputes either."

"Then why are they killing and kidnapping people?!" Klab sat down heavily on the spot, grumbling. "To think people like that are of the same race as me—damn it!!"

Ned was silent for a moment, then smiled bitterly. "Alright, Klab, don't overthink it. My mentor once told me that he's seen the vilest humans and the noblest orcs. Many things have nothing to do with race."

"Captain, that statement borders on racial discrimination." Klab rolled his eyes. "Why can't it be that he's seen the noblest humans and the vilest orcs? Are you implying that we orcs are generally..."

Mo Tan gave a dry laugh and suddenly interrupted. "Ahem, Klab, the captain doesn't mean that!"

He felt that if this continued, it might go on endlessly...

Ned was also choked for a moment, then glared fiercely at Klab, whose brain had suddenly learned to take a detour, and said helplessly, "Anyway, our mission this time is to enter Fire Claw Territory to rescue those civilians. If there are no issues, pack up quickly—we set out in ten minutes!"

"Taking civilians..." Yinna muttered while replacing the string on her longbow. "What are those guys thinking? Are they taking people back to farm for them?"

Futaba was fiddling with a few scrolls she'd swindled from the Mage Guild and said absentmindedly, "Agriculture seems to be more developed in Fire Claw Territory, from what I heard the captain say before."

"Indeed, so being taken to farm isn't very realistic." Mo Tan was frowning as he inspected his novice gear at the moment, and whether by level or equipment, this character was the most pitiful one.

But thinking about Cordova... well... suddenly, this felt pretty fortunate too.

"Tsk tsk~" Yinna scratched her hair. "They can't be planning to sell people, can they?"

...

Futaba shuddered, suddenly recalling that tactless person's words from last night...

[In the place you're in, there's a phenomenon of slave trade]

At the same time, Mo Tan, sitting on the ground with his back to the others, had a flicker of a different light in his eyes.

It all connects!

The information I got earlier in Pato City was indeed correct!

And just then, Ned had already started calling for everyone to set out...

An hour later, the group had already arrived at the small mound that had once given Cordova such a terrible gaming experience—the site of the previous skirmish.

"This is the direction we're responsible for," Ned said in a low voice. "But this time we need to cross the border and push deep for a long distance. Everyone, stay alert—enemies could appear at any moment..."

Salazar shook his arm and said casually, "It's only been a few days, but I already miss that fight."

"Thanks to Hei Fan~" Yinna laughed. "That was the most comfortable fight I've ever had—it was pure art."

Ned gently bumped Mo Tan's shoulder and teased, "If you can bring everyone back alive this time, I'll let you be the captain."

"Luck, just luck!" Mo Tan chuckled nervously. "It's mainly because everyone here is so capable."

"It can't be luck." Ned suddenly turned serious, speaking to Mo Tan in a grave tone. "That's something only you can do. So, if anything unexpected really happens, I'm counting on you for everything."

Whether it was his imagination or not, Mo Tan felt that there was something else hidden in Ned's weary gaze...

Meanwhile, Futaba, walking at the back, was pondering something else entirely.

[That tasteless guy... just what does he know...]

Chapter Fifty-Three: The End