Chapter 446: Chapter 431: Hairy Kid (First Update)

Hilze’er had hidden herself on Black Tide Island after her defeat, which is currently the only piece of intelligence Jiang Qiao was able to gather. Half of Black Tide Island remains under the control of another group of Magic Thieves and a small portion of the Obliteration Legion.

Jiang Qiao had already issued an official mission in the name of Queen Mei to track down Hilze’er, and most players took on this task while exploring Black Tide Island.

The Planar Pirate faction was also cooperating with Jiang Qiao to search for Hilze’er on the field, but unfortunately, Hilze’er had not encountered either Lady Calamity or Drake in the Holy Spirit challenge.

Therefore, there were no pirate’s hunting marks on Hilze’er.

However, what Jiang Qiao truly needed to address was Rosh’s obsession; Rosh was now within the Jumping Nucleus stronghold, and Mr. Silver had been released by her.

Within the Jumping Nucleus, the Fuzzy Rabbit was explaining to Li Hua and Grandma Orange that Rosh was not a real person but an NPC in the game, a computer program.

Grandma Li Hua could not understand why a computer program could not attend a seminar; in her view, modern society’s intelligent AIs already possessed preliminary self-thinking capabilities.

Some of the NPC behaviors in Lionheart City of Holy Spirit had even become her research subjects, so the old lady did not see anything inappropriate with Rosh attending a holographic projection seminar.

On Rosh’s side, she was still confronting Mr. Silver, while Jiang Qiao stood nearby as a bystander, providing Mr. Silver with some system dialogue options…

“I learned from Miss Li Hua that the inner world is a very important defense line for you, and I know that you can’t fully trust us,” Rosh finally chose to sit down and reason with Mr. Silver.

“You’ve finally pinpointed the crux of the problem…” Mr. Silver glanced at the team members behind him.

These team members had already put on some Holy Spirit-produced peripheral props, which were essentially fashion items, and over the span of half a month, their attire had become as flamboyant as that of Holy Spirit.

But only Rosh… ever since she arrived in Holy Spirit City, she had always worn combat bio-armor, and the persistent suggestions from her engineer teammate for support… made Mr. Silver realize that these folks might have the capability to build a remote teleportation gate.

If this teleportation gate were built on Biland Island, the Holy Spirits still had time to destroy it, but if they built one in the inner world, any mishap could lead to unimaginable consequences.

“Therefore, when I go to your inner world, I will not bring any weapons,” Rosh thought for a moment and made this decision, which slightly shocked her teammates behind her.

“Captain?”

When the teammates wanted to say something, the live bio-armor suddenly peeled off Rosh’s body, like a beetle molting and rejuvenating.

The deep purple armor finally turned into a tiny Rubik’s cube that gathered in Rosh’s hand as she stripped off her armor.

Then, she threw that deep-purple cube to her engineer teammate.

“Take this, keep it safe,” Rosh said.

“Captain… how will you capture that dangerous fugitive without the protection of the armor?”

The teammates expressed exceptional concern, as Rosh’s health with her bio-armor was a full fifteen thousand, but it quickly dropped to just five thousand points after shedding the armor.

Five thousand hit points! Even the frailest profession in Holy Spirit had a base health of over ten thousand upon reaching max level.

With this fragile small frame of Rosh, any Holy Spirit could instantly kill her.

“Your teammate is right.” Mr. Silver politely avoided looking at Rosh now dressed in only her undergarments and rummaged through his backpack for a costume originally meant for Fureya, tossing it to her, “This character Thorne… even your captor Mr. Laugh can’t defeat him, going to meet Thorne like this is… almost handing yourself over.”

“I…”

Rosh caught the clothes Mr. Silver threw, and while she might not have seen it… when she caught the clothes, about a dozen little hearts popped up around her.

The mark of Devouring God on the back of her hand lit up with white light, and a pop-up appeared in her field of view.

This pop-up was asking Rosh whether to wear the Protection Set belonging to Fureya, and after clicking yes, Rosh appeared in a light gray nun’s attire.

However, even with this costume, Rosh’s health didn’t increase much, it simply added another layer of paper on top of one already there.

“Thank you for your consistent care toward us, Holy Spirit… I just need to meet Thorne; the rest of the capture can be left to me, there’s no need for conflicts with him,” Rosh said.

“Do you have some kind of a secret weapon to defeat Thorne with one click?” This was said by a mother with a dog that was watching from the side.

“I’m sorry, but these are things I cannot reveal,” Rosh responded.

While Rosh was saying this… Mr. Silver noticed that Rosh’s teammates were also full of doubt and concern; these emotions repeatedly appeared in the eyes of Rosh’s subordinates.

They might also not know how their captain planned to… apprehend the most dangerous criminal Thorne from the star charts, under these unarmed conditions.

“Boss Yin… are you working on some secret mission to defeat Thorne? Just let Rosh into the inner world since she is a critical NPC,” Mom Has a Dog whispered to Boss Yin.

Everyone from the Active Nucleus team could see the dialog box between Rosh and Boss Yin, so they all thought that Boss Yin had triggered some hidden mission with Rosh, or perhaps a favorability-based hidden mission?

This hidden mission is even related to defeating Thorne! No wonder Thorne is so hard to beat! It turned out that the key item to defeat Thorne was still to be found.

Boss Yin did not answer Mom Has a Dog. His gaze was fixed on the dialog box with Rosh, and among the four options in the dialog box, the last option was to agree to let Rosh enter the inner world.

Jiang Qiao could sense that after Rosh shed her armor, she no longer had any devices to communicate with the Sanctuary of Creation, let alone establish a portal in the inner world.

Now she was nothing more than an exceptionally agile female NPC…

“I can agree to let you into the inner world, but only if it’s just you,” Boss Yin responded based on the options in the dialog box.

“No! Holy Spirit, we believe you are somewhat different from the evil catastrophes rumored about, but you still pose a threat to us. Our captain going alone to your world… we absolutely cannot accept that!”

Rosh’s teammates, although they had been slacking for most of the month, were still concerned for their captain’s safety, now visualizing Rosh like a little lamb venturing into a world of giant dragons.

Even if the dragons swore not to harm the little lamb, her teammates were still extremely worried about their captain’s safety.

“I think… we will protect her well.” Boss Yin saw another new mission pop up in the dialog box, a brand-new mission prefix.

[Urban Diplomacy Mission: Eternal Rosh’s Obsession.

Mission Description: Rosh from the Sanctuary of Creation is determined to meet Thorne in the inner world at all costs. She has disarmed herself to show her sincerity, but without her armors, she is as vulnerable as a piece of paper. Her teammates have developed a great fondness for Holy Spirit City and seem just a step away from deciding to settle in this city or… establishing a friendly relationship with the Sanctuary of Creation?

Mission Requirements: Ensure Rosh’s safety.

Mission Rewards: Increased favorability with Rosh’s squad, increased recruitment probability, new city building blueprints…]

This mission was merely issued by Jiang Qiao to guide Boss Yin. The purpose of the Holy Spirit Challenge had already been achieved. If it weren’t for the mission at hand, some members of the Eternal team would truly like to stay for a longer period in Holy Spirit City, treating it as a holiday.

Rosh’s defenses were gradually breaking down, not least shown by the little hearts she was beginning to drop. This was proof that she was gradually being controlled by the Holy Spirit’s favorability system.

In the end, Jiang Qiao was still curious about the relationship between Rosh and Thorne… While Rosh’s teammates still wanted to persuade their captain, the headquarters of Active Nucleus welcomed a rarely seen guest.

This guest was not an NPC, but Feng Yi, the ace player from Universal Domination, who had scarcely made public appearances since the world championships.

“Is your boss here?” Feng Yi asked directly as he entered.

“Player Feng? Is there… something the matter?”

As Boss Yin was just about to convince each of Rosh’s teammates to also disarm and have a day trip in the inner world, the sudden visit by Feng Yi smelt like an opportunity to him.

“I hope to transfer to Active Nucleus.”

Feng Yi’s statement, like a depth charge, exploded among the players busy at the Active Nucleus headquarters.

“That’s quite an unexpected decision, Coach Song.”

Boss Yin actually welcomed Feng Yi to join his club, but Mo Shigui came over and started a private chat with Boss Yin right away.

“Feng Yi is indeed one of the top players in Huaxia right now, but his unique style doesn’t mesh well with our team’s style, so I wouldn’t recommend acquiring him,” Mo Shigui bluntly rejected Feng Yi’s plea for shelter.

“But our club isn’t planning any personnel changes at the moment,” Boss Yin hinted to Feng Yi in a more tactful manner.

The majority of the watching Active Nucleus players showed disdain for Feng Yi’s attitude; him running to Active Nucleus seeking shelter after their championship win was nothing short of treachery.

“Thank you, then I’ll go ask Night Sprint,” Feng Yi said.

“Wait!”

Boss Yin immediately called out to him upon hearing that Feng Yi intended to approach Night Sprint. It wasn’t that Boss Yin feared Feng Yi joining Night Sprint… might threaten Active Nucleus’s dominant position.

It’s because he detected something strange in Feng Yi’s voice! Feng Yi’s request for Active Nucleus to acquire him… seemed not so much about aiming for the championship at the next world event, but more like he was having a conflict with his own club, Universal Domination.

Boss Yin had told the players from Universal Domination in the past that if the club ever pressured them, they could come to him for help. Now, Boss Yin felt it might be time to help Feng Yi.

That’s because the lad’s tone had a hint of sobbing in it, sounding not at all like a mere squabble.