Chapter 142 Mercenary Mission

"Is that your guess, or do you have some definite intelligence?" someone asked. The last level of the game is often the most difficult, so it's normal to make that deduction.

But Jian Nan You nodded and said, "I have intelligence."

"Also provided by an informant?" someone asked.

"No, they themselves don't know what they'll face in the last level. I only received the news just now after they set sail." Jian Nan You said.

"What news?"

"The moment they set sail, a new mercenary mission immediately appeared in the Mercenary Hall of Sunset City, with the content being to assassinate the person they're protecting!" Jian Nan You said.

"Mercenary mission? This group of guys outnumbers even a level-five guild. Which mercenary团 can contend with that?" someone asked, puzzled.

Jian Nan You smiled and said, "It's a no-holds-barred mercenary mission."

Everyone "oh-ed" in understanding. They were very familiar with mercenary missions. No-holds-barred mercenary missions have two characteristics. First, there are no requirements for the mercenary团 that accepts the mission. Second, there is no limit to the number of mercenary团 that can claim the mission. However, in the end, only one can be the successful party, and only one can receive the reward, which is why it's called "competition."

This type of mission can be described as double-edged in both directions. Theoretically, it can trigger a free-for-all among hundreds of mercenary团. However, rules are rigid, but people are flexible. Whenever this rare type of mission appears, experienced mercenary团 won't waste energy on internal fighting. Generally, a few of the stronger mercenary团 will form an alliance, gain the upper hand in the competition, complete the mission, and then divide the rewards.

The rewards for these types of missions are extremely high, and the contents of mercenary mission rewards have always been transparent. When claiming the mission, you can know what the rewards are, so there's no need to worry about the mercenary团 that ultimately completes the mission concealing anything.

"Even so, I don't know how many mercenary团 over there will join forces. I don't know if they can form such a large-scale团." Someone was still worried.

"Don't forget the Hundred Battles Mercenary团 of Sunset City," Jian Nan You said.

"Bai Shi Jing Lun's团..." Some people had already begun to gasp. Although the name of this Hundred Battles Mercenary团 had not yet resounded throughout the entire Parallel World, Linshui City, as a neighbor of Sunset City, had heard of it. Of course, they hadn't learned much about the details, only that this mercenary团 was extremely combative. It was said that the people in this团 were all people who could really fight. Some said they were a group of street thugs, others said they were a group of martial arts instructors, and still others said they were retired soldiers, etc.

Jian Nan You had dealt with them during his business dealings, and although he didn't know where these people came from, he definitely agreed with the statement that they were skilled. Moreover, Jian Nan You had only seen a few random people from the Hundred Battles Mercenary团. As for their团 leader, Bai Shi Jing Lun, who was also one of the Five Little Strongs, he couldn't imagine just how strong he really was.

At the thought of this mercenary团, several of Jian Nan You's brothers began to worry about the Cloud Riders players: "With such a tough opponent, they might be wiped out before our after-work boat gets there."

"Hmm, that's a problem. That guy's PK value is 29. Once he's killed, I estimate he'll drop everything on the spot. It'll be pointless for us to find him then," Jian Nan You said.

"Let's not wait for the after-work boat. Let's quickly find a boat and go over there now. It's already so far away. They shouldn't be able to see us," one person said, looking at the giant ship that was gradually blurring in the water mist.

"Yes, quickly call a boat," Jian Nan You said. After saying that, the group hurried away from the sandy beach. Taking a player-made small boat meant they didn't have to come to this dock.

Not long after the group left, a ferry from the Forest Shade City direction docked at the pier, and a group of people disembarked. The bustling scene at the Linshui City pier made these outsiders stare in surprise.

The businessmen who were stationed at the pier were wondering what was going on these past two days. So many people from other cities had come to Linshui City. Of course, they had no intention of finding out why. They only wanted to make a fortune from these out-of-towners. Linshui City's unique commercial and recreational area was generally very good at stimulating the consumption desires of out-of-towners.

However, after disembarking, this group wasn't in a hurry to give it a try. Instead, they grabbed a Linshui City player who was soliciting business and asked when the boat to Sunset City would arrive.

"Well, it just left. The next one won't be for another four hours or so. If you're waiting for a boat, why don't you come and sit at my stall for a while?" This guy happened to be one of the people who ran a wine stall. After the other party asked about the boat situation, he seized the opportunity to start soliciting business.

"Is there any other way?" the leader of the group asked.

"Occasionally, some people will use their own small boats to do some ferrying business, but there are so many of you. I'm afraid that method won't work," the guy said, counting the number of people in the other party's group. When he took a look, he secretly marveled. This group was almost entirely archers, with only a few thieves and mages sprinkled in. Such a team was truly very unconventional.

"Are we just supposed to wait here for four hours?" the leader of the group muttered.

"Why don't we sit here for a while? Shui Shen (Deep Water)!" Someone in the group suggested. Many people were already eager to try out the beach atmosphere.

Shui Shen! The eyes of the players listening to the other party's words couldn't help but light up. Was this guy, who was leading a team of archers and looked travel-worn, Shui Shen, the number one archer in the Parallel World, one of the Five Little Strongs?

But all of this was already a thing of the past. Countless people paid close attention to the level rankings, and it was common knowledge that Shui Shen had lost levels. Everyone was naturally very curious as to how such a great figure had been killed. At this moment, seeing such a person appear in Linshui City, everyone craned their necks to look, whispering to each other.

"Then let's just sit here and wait for the boat!" Shui Shen shrugged helplessly. He casually picked a spot to sit down, but didn't order wine. Instead, he asked the wine-selling player about the situation in Linshui City.

"Oh, that big group of people? They just got on the boat to Sunset City and left," the wine seller said when asked about the Cloud Riders group.

"Damn it, were we just a little too late? This system is so cheap! It deliberately put a little difference in the arrival and departure times of the two boats to waste our time here. Cheapskate, cheapskate, cheapskate!!!" Shui Shen kept cursing.

"Even if we could catch up, we wouldn't be able to sit on the same boat as them, right?" someone reminded Shui Shen.

"I'm talking about how cheap the system is right now. Isn't that a fact?" Shui Shen roared.

"It is cheap!!" Countless voices responded, most of them being Linshui City players.

"Boss, you've asked all your questions. What kind of wine do you want?" the wine-selling player said at this time.

"Wine?" Shui Shen's face turned cold. "I've decided to completely give up on this thing. Go ask them!"

Shui Shen's group waited for the next boat at the beachside wine stalls, while Jian Nan You and his group went to find a few homemade small boats and rowed away. As for the large boat that Gu Fei and the others were on, it was still floating on the water at this time.

The last level required only delivering Todd to the Sunset City dungeon, and the mission would be successfully completed. Wu Shi Zhi Jian (Oathless Sword), as the guild leader, couldn't hide the excitement in his heart at this time. After rubbing against Gu Xiao Shang (Gu Little Hurt) back and forth for a while without getting a good look, he retreated wisely and began to walk among the mercenary团, expressing his thanks to the remaining players of these mercenary团. Because some mercenary团 had chosen to withdraw midway and returned the commission, Zong Heng Si Hai (Across the Four Seas) had saved a lot of expenses. At this time, Wu Shi Zhi Jian was in a good mood and took the initiative to promise to pay some extra money after the mission was completed.

However, the response from the mercenary团 was mediocre. To be honest, the reasons mentioned by those mercenary团 who withdrew earlier were very touching. No mercenary团 really wanted to follow such a troublesome and dangerous mission just to be greedy for these few small coins. Everyone thought that with such a huge mission chain, they could get some unexpected benefits from it.

As a result, they encountered a Boss in the first level, but how could one Boss be enough for a thousand people to share? Gu Fei picked up all the things that dropped.

Most people had passed the werewolf level in the second level without knowing what was going on, and they didn't see any rewards. Gu Fei had picked up something from the werewolves, but everyone didn't know about it yet. If they knew, they would be even more grief-stricken.

As for the two-way mission in the third level, it became the fuse. The mercenary团 players, seeing that they hadn't gained any expected benefits and that many of their companions had lost levels and suffered heavy losses, finally couldn't help but withdraw. The mercenary团 who were still left to continue the mission at this time were no longer fantasizing about any unexpected surprises in this broken mission, but were just some who cherished their identities and valued their reputation, such as the Black Hand Mercenary团; or those who had some friendship with Wu Shi Zhi Jian, and were not entirely motivated by money, such as Gu Xiao Shang's mercenary团; or those who had really gained countless benefits in this mission, such as Gong Zi (Young Master) Elite团.

These people were not very interested in the extra gold coins that Wu Shi Zhi Jian had promised again, and their response was mediocre. Wu Shi Zhi Jian made a round and asked for trouble, but it didn't affect his mood much, and he continued to stroll around with high spirits.

Dao Ying Nian Hua (Inverted Shadow Years), who was already in Cloud Riders City, was very worried and sent him a message saying, "The last level is coming up. Don't be careless. It would be a pity to fail at this time."

Half of the journey from Linshui City to Sunset City was by water, and half was by land. The boat drifted for about an hour before finally approaching the pier in the direction of Sunset City.

The pier was still more than an hour away from Sunset City, and since there were no other flights except for this passenger ship to Linshui City, it was impossible to form a beach market like the one in Linshui City pier.

After disembarking, Wu Shi Zhi Jian identified the direction and walked towards Sunset City.

They didn't let their guard down along the way. Before long, someone had already noticed: someone was following them closely.

"Are they players!" Wu Shi Zhi Jian, upon receiving this news, felt very relieved. He had originally worried that the last level would involve the system sending out some NPC Big Bosses. If it was a super heaven-defying level, everyone might not be able to withstand it. But now that he knew that players were acting secretly, it seemed that it was another two-way mission like the previous two levels.

The Forest Shade City level had only created a group of special jungle killers due to the special environment, causing the Cloud Riders players to suffer a great loss. If it was just a head-on guild confrontation under normal circumstances, the Cloud Riders players were more than a level-five guild. Now that it was the last level, there was no need to worry about a lack of follow-up power. Therefore, after estimating that it was another two-way mission mode, Wu Shi Zhi Jian was very calm.