Chapter 154: Alumera’s Searcher

Scrolling through the forum, Luzman realized that he had been tagged. He clicked into the post, and there was a video of Frenzied Sword and Laughing Blade dueling, and people were gloatingly asking him to explain himself.

Luzman had recently gone crazy hard on mechanics on the various forums. His stance was not the most annoying thing; him posting everywhere was what annoyed people the most. He constantly forced people to read his post as if they were not already aware of his comments. This behavior made him loathed by everyone.

“@Luzman, a Mechanic has killed an Esper. Why don’t you come out and explain?”

After watching the video, Luzman immediately retorted, “This is just a rare instance. That Laughing Blade did not know how to play at all!”

“Ha, you’ve suffered consecutive duel losses, but how did someone else win? Just admit you’re a rookie, Luzman.”

Luzman stifled his anger and replied, “Frenzied Sword has triggered a secret quest. He was more advanced in rank and equipment; there is no point in battling!”

“Do you mean the equipment given by NPCs isn’t enough? Then what for are you doing missions for? Taking rewards for what? Collecting money for what? Just admit you’re a rookie and stand still when being scolded!”

Damn it! Luzman was fuming, he straight away came back. “What I said about Mechanics being weak was none of your business!”

“Then why are you posting that everywhere? Think before you speak, won’t you?”

Luzman was exasperated. “Damn you, can you stop barking? Are you that low for you to come and be scolded by me!”

“Finally, your true colors have shown. You’re a troll, stop acting. You chose this profession on your own, how can you say you were cheated? This is hilarious, who do you think you are? Why would the gaming company cheat you? Were you looking for your sense of existence everywhere?”

“I would not have chosen Esper if the Black Phantom did not lie to me!”

“Oh, it wasn’t my fault; it’s the world’s fault. Nobody pointed a gun at you, forcing you to choose your class, did they? Are you that dumb to push the blame to an NPC? If you regret it, open a new account, and stop posting everywhere, you brat!”

“Son of a b*tch...” Luzman was seething.

At this moment, an official message appeared on Luzman’s screen.

_____________________

It was detected that you frequently used insulting terms, hence your forum account will be banned for three days.

_____________________

Luzman was stunned. What the hell! He was unable to reply. Naturally, the players on the forum soon discovered this and gloated at him.

“Haha, banned for cursing, aren’t you?”

“This is great.”

“Let’s go, he is clearly a troll.”

Luzman could only read and not reply. He was indignant and sullen, itching to smash something.

...

“That’s interesting.”

Han Xiao finished reading the forum’s comments, and his fingers were itching to reply, but sadly, he could not. Thinking back when he was on the forum, he loved to watch people getting into a catfight; that was a great pastime.

However, there were some people who got really angry because of the catfight; these were the people who were too innocent. If you are unable to win an argument, just treat it as something to do for fun. Everything on the Internet is pointless; it is all virtual and will not affect you in real life. Han Xiao had also once been a despised power-leveler. He had been bashed by other players. When there was nothing to do, he could get into a catfight and treat it as something to lighten up his day.

Looking at the lively players on the forum while he himself could only be a spectator, Han Xiao felt very lonely. He missed the days when he was involved in a fiery verbal sparring... even though he had always felt that the term ‘verbal sparring’ was filthy.

Looking at the time, it was nearing dusk, and the battlefield had been cleaned up.

Han Xiao heard an engine from afar; he raised his eyes and gazed into the distance. There were a few off-road vehicles speeding across the muddy road. Green Valley Ville opened its gates, and Balsas was standing beside the gate to welcome these few vehicles with respect.

A thought flashed through Han Xiao’s mind. The vehicle has an Alumera crest. ...

When the off-road vehicle drove into the town, armed guards got off the bus and guarded a man who was dressed exquisitely.

Xiao Jin, the second leader of Alumera, had sent the emissary Xiao Rui to South Continent to find the Germinal Bounty, Zero. More than half a year ago, the Alumera family had realized that the appearance of this Zero was exactly the same as the missing Han Xiao, so Xiao Jin sent people to look for him. However, they had ended up empty-handed for a long time. Xiao Rui was the leader of the search team.

Balsas was extremely deferential toward Xiao Rui. He led everyone into the main house. The table was set with drinks and piping hot, fragrant barbequed meat. There was a cross-sectional cut on it, and the texture of the skin looked like a wave of an ocean. There was a hint of pink in the middle of the reddish-brown flesh. It was clear that the meat was tender even without biting into it. It was Gray Devil Wolf’s meat that had been collected two hours ago, and it was extremely fresh. Other dishes included some vegetables and mashed potato-like crop.

In this rogue town, the expenses of the dishes were considerable, and Xiao Rui was very satisfied with Balsas’ hospitality.

The group sat down around the food, and Xiao Rui, who was covered in dust, scoffed down the food. He ate three pieces of barbecue meat in one go and only slowed down after he swallowed them. He wiped his mouth and said calmly to Balsas, who waiting at one side, “I will rest for a few days in your territory and continue to find that damn bastard.”

“I’ll get someone to prepare the rooms,” Balsas replied. “Let me know again of any requests.”

Xiao Rui’s status in the family was higher than his, hence Balsas’ posture was awfully low.

“Okay.” Xiao Rui was pleased with Balsas’ attitude. He decided to stay for a few days more in Green Valley Ville. He had spent this last half a year searching for news of Zero in the South Continent, and he had enough of this aimless searching; it was a form of torture.

Ever since Han Xiao’s disappearance, the family thought that he was dead and did not take it to heart. However, after finding out that he had become Zero, everyone was shocked. Alumera did not wish to provoke Germinal. Thus, to find out what exactly happened, Xiao Jin assigned him to bring Han Xiao back to the family for questioning, yet the target had not been found after six months.

Xiao Rui was filled with resentment toward Han Xiao. It was all because of this ‘regenerated’ guy that he could not enjoy his life in comfort at his family’s headquarters.

He had met Han Xiao a few times before; he was weak and hopeless. If not for him being Xiao Jin’s biological son, he would have been sent to clean the toilets. Xiao Rui was an orphan adopted from a war, and there were many orphans like him under Xiao Jin. All of them grew up competing with one another, and each racked their brains scheming to improve their status. Hence, he was extremely envious of Han Xiao as he did not have to struggle as much.

Initially, when he heard that Han Xiao had died, he was secretly very happy during his funeral. He knew that his adopted brothers felt the same way even though they were grieving on the outside.

The first impression Xiao Rui had of Han Xiao made it difficult for him to link Han Xiao and the Zero that was talked about on the Dark Net.

Why didn’t you just die and leave me alone? Why must you give me so much trouble?Xiao Rui had grumbled on more than one occasion. He looked at Balsas and chatted for a while before asking casually, “Is there anything going on recently in this town?”

“Yes, those refugees outside...” Balsas told him about his findings.

Xiao Rui was surprised. “There’s actually such a weird crowd? You have to report your findings to the family.”

“I know... There’s something else. Black Phantom is also resting in this town. His reason is unknown; he claims that it was on the way.”

Xiao Rui’s heart skipped a beat. “Black Phantom is here, too?”

Recently, the Dark Net’s killer list had been updated. Black Phantom’s rank had risen to seventh, and he was very active. To know that this legendary killer was nearby, Xiao Rui was somewhat uneasy.

“We’d better not provoke him,” Balsas replied.

Xiao Rui was undecided as he knitted his brows together in a deep frown. He turned and saw Liu Cheng, his expressionless personal bodyguard who was right behind him. This eased his nervous mood.

Liu Cheng sensed Xiao Rui’s gaze and reassured him indifferently. “Don’t worry. Even if we face Black Phantom, I can still protect your life. He can’t do anything to me.”

...

The sun was setting.

Ever since the off-road vehicles entered the town, Han Xiao had felt a change in Green Valley Ville. The town’s look-out had kept a close watch on him, as if they were worried about his activities. From this small detail, Han Xiao was fairly confident that the person on the vehicle that had entered the town was an important character.

“I don’t have a deep impression of Alumera’s family. It seems like they were not a special group in the original quest... Oh, I’ve recalled. I think in the secondary quest of ‘The Power Struggle of Vagrant Warlords’, this family was the one of the strongest powers. Yes, this secondary quest and Bennett’s refugee quest had a partial conflict. The vagrants and I did not have a lot of interactions, don’t think it will affect this quest.”

Han Xiao had been eyeing Bennett’s quest for a long time. He did not know when it started, but with his good relationship with Bennett, coupled with the positive notes from the Dark Net Organization, as well as his Universal Reputation, there was a high chance that he would be invited by Bennett to participate in the refugee plan, and that would be Aquamarine’s second main quest.