Chapter 53: The Tragedy of Blue Moon City
Xu Xiaofeng listened intently to the villagers’ tales.
It all started with the arrival of the disaster beast and the outsiders rushing in to face it. But then, when the outsiders faltered and got cold feet, the disaster beast charged right to the city gates.
The city lord and his guards tried to hold the line but, alas, they met their match and the city lord perished. Thankfully, a passing strongman decided to clip the beast’s wings for good.
But that was just a prologue, really. After all, the beast was dead, and one would think the residents could go back to their usual carefree lives.
Just then, things took a sharp turn for the wacky.
Some outsiders, seeing the city lord’s demise and the guards’ heavy losses, decided to act like they were on holiday in a theme park—completely out of control and flamboyant, totally ignoring any need for decorum.
Slowly but surely, the rowdy outsiders gathered in numbers until they seized control of the acting city lord and turned Blue Moon City into their personal circus.
Meanwhile, over a hundred good folks could no longer endure the oppression from those outsiders and were hightailing it to the Imperial Capital through the Teleportation Array.
They reported this debacle to the authorities in the capital, but apparently, their voices were as powerful as a whisper on a windy day. After a few days of crickets, they got no word back.
Ultimately, their pockets nearly empty, they reluctantly left the city to search for survival in the mountains.
Xu Xiaofeng remained silent, but deep down, a fire of indignation was kindling.
Suddenly, she recalled where she had encountered the name of Blue Moon City before.
On the official forum!
There had been a ruckus about the chaotic situation between Blue Moon city NPCs and players on that platform.
Player-NPC clashes had rendered many NPCs utterly unemployed; some closed shop while others fled, leading to a catastrophic failure of essential facilities and functionalities in Blue Moon City.
Players who hadn’t participated in the chaos were vigorously condemning those who did, claiming they were the reason for the convoluted mess that became their game.
The mission system was nearly shut down, maintaining equipment was a nightmare, and even basic consumables? Well, they had to buy them from the shady players monopolizing the supply channels!
And those prices? Oh boy, they were out of this world!
You’d wonder how much benefit those disruptive players got, right? Well, maybe they scrounged a bit of cash from other players and took a few nickels from NPCs, but leveling up? Forget about it! Quests? Abandoned! The resources that could have easily been procured from NPCs? They went and cut off the supply!
It was fair to say that the players in Blue Moon City were having the roughest time ever.
If some folks found joy in this oppression and relished the thrill of wielding power, well, that was one way to have fun for a hot minute. But it wouldn’t last long; the Imperial Capital would soon send in the troops to quell the madness. This was merely a post-disaster hangover, and they needed to cool their jets for a bit.
Sure, the system had protection mechanisms for NPCs, but that only worked if someone was there to enforce them.
With local muscle squashed and outside support taking its sweet time, these rascals had a rare moment of freedom.
“What a bunch of rotten apples!” Xu Xiaofeng fumed.
Can’t we all just get along? Just because of a smidge of petty profit, they had to screw up the whole situation for everyone!
“Little sister, don’t worry! I know you aren’t like those outsiders,” a villager consoled her.
Xu Xiaofeng was momentarily tongue-tied. But uh—she was an outsider too, just with a local ID!
“Listen up, folks! Good apples and bad apples, everyone should know the difference. As an adventurer, I’ve met many outsiders, and some of them are actually great people. I hope you can look at this objectively.”
“Got it, we understand.”
“Don’t you worry, kiddo, we get it.”
“I appreciate that,” Xu Xiaofeng gave a deep bow.
When she straightened up, she noticed the mission panel had popped open.
【World Mission: The Tragedy of Blue Moon City
Mission Level: Rare
Mission Background: Briefly mentioned
Mission Requirements: Settle the villagers from Blue Moon City and help them find a way to sustain their livelihoods (series of tasks, next stage unknown)
Mission Rewards: Unknown】
She quickly skimmed the mission details and turned to the leading villager. “What do you all plan to do next?”
“We haven’t decided yet. Someone’s collecting those fruits around here, so I guess we’ll make some money first.”
“Oh! Speaking of that, I heard you… uh, took some things from other teams?”
“Took? Even if we starve to d*ath, we wouldn’t resort to taking stuff!”
The burly leader suddenly realized something and explained, “The little lady must be talking about yesterday! We stumbled upon those fruits at the same time as another team and had a scuffle. Of course, we weren’t about to let them have it, so we scared them off.”
That’s it?
Xu Xiaofeng blinked, pondering the fact that language really is an art form…
Who did she trust more? Definitely these honest villagers, unlike the motley crew she was used to in Emerald City.
“How about this? I actually have some reputation back in Emerald City. When you go to sell those fruits, enter through the East City Gate, walk straight down five streets, then take a north turn to find that shop over there. Tell them ‘Miss Wind’ sent you, and they’ll give you a better price.”
“Is that really okay?”
“Don’t worry, those merchants are heartless; you can’t imagine how much they’ve slashed the prices. Giving you a bit more is practically nothing.”
“Well, in that case, thank you, Miss Wind.”
“Ha…haha.”
“It’s getting late, so I’ll head back now. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
“It’s almost dark! You— a young girl— should be careful. Why not stay the night?”
“No, no! I’m an adventurer! It’s even better when it gets dark.”
Xu Xiaofeng waved and darted off, leaving a few villagers gaping at her retreating figure.
The chapter isn’t finished yet, so please click the next page for more exciting content!
As Xu Xiaofeng distanced herself, she wracked her brain for strategies.
Selling a few fruits didn’t even scratch the surface of completing the mission. Sure, harvesting that Sunfruit had high returns, but out of over a hundred people, only about sixty might escape; the rest would have to stick around and share the meager resources.
Plus, living in a cave left them lacking everything! They’d have to trek dozens of miles to Emerald City just to buy supplies, burning both money and energy!
Settling down and finding a way to survive may sound light and breezy, but starting from scratch wasn’t as easy as pie!
Xu Xiaofeng thought deeply when suddenly something caught her attention. She turned her head to the left.
“Who’s there? Come out!”
An ambush artist!
Could it be… real mountain bandits?!
Xu Xiaofeng felt a twinge of panic, her eyes glued to that shadowy spot.
But after what felt like an eternity, nothing happened.
She even began to doubt whether her instincts were playing tricks on her.
Deciding to stop the staring contest, she blinked once, and then again, bright golden light shimmering.
Sure enough, a panel popped up at that very spot.
“Uh… Steven?”
A sigh drifted through the air, and in the next moment, Steven stepped out of the shadows with an awkward smile. “I didn’t expect you to spot me, I’m terribly sorry.”
Xu Xiaofeng shook her head, a joyful smile spreading across her face. “It’s all good! You showed up just in time; I really need your help!”
Meanwhile, in a different spot, someone was subtly shaking their head.
The young lad still had a thing or two to learn; lacking on-the-spot experience, he got caught following a little girl. What a facepalm moment!
