BXBX NOVEL Chapter 259: 259, Pearl City Lord, Traitor?_1
Hearing Michelle’s words, the players stepped forward to take the wooden boxes.
[The range is the truth], or Mr. Li, was at the forefront of the crowd.
With his robust constitution at level 26, he effortlessly lifted a large wooden box nearly two cubic meters in size.
The box should be filled with food, as the musty smell of wheat could be faintly detected through the gaps in the wooden panels.
However, carrying such a big box would undoubtedly hinder movement, so Mr. Li attempted to put it into his backpack.
With a light push, the wooden box easily fit into the backpack, occupying only one slot.
[Strategic Supplies Box (Quest Item)]
Item Description: A wooden box filled with various military supplies. Hand the box over to the Quartermaster [Ockland] at Orleans City’s General Defense Headquarters, coordinates (114, 514), to receive a generous reward.
Note: The box is very heavy; players carrying the box will be affected by the [Overburdened] negative effect.
Mr. Li glanced at his status bar and indeed noticed a new negative status.
[Overburdened]: Your movement speed is decreased by 30%, riding speed is decreased by 15%, and you are unable to use the teleportation array. Duration N/A.
Seeing this status effect, Mr. Li immediately understood.
They were unable to use the teleportation array while carrying the boxes. In other words, they had to ride their mounts through the obstacles set up by the rebels to get back to Orleans City, right?
Could a player carry more than one box at a time?
Mr. Li decided to try and reached for another box nearby.
However, he soon received a game prompt: “You cannot carry more military supply boxes.”
The attempt failed.
Mr. Li stepped aside and made room for the other players to take boxes.
Meanwhile, he addressed Su Yu, who was standing at the back of the crowd: “Boss Ke, after we take the boxes, we can’t use the teleportation array to return. We must travel by land.”
“I thought of that already.” Su Yu shrugged, “If we could use the teleportation array, this quest would be too simple. This is a triple-mainline quest after all. How could they let us complete it so easily?”
Additionally, the reward for this triple-mainline quest was quite generous. Su Yu was awarded a divine potion – [Root Potion]; players were rewarded 15,000 experience points, 200 spiritual energy coins, and a pet egg of random quality.
If the quest could be completed simply by using a teleportation array, it certainly wouldn’t offer such a high reward.
Mr. Li just nodded and didn’t say anything, standing at the edge of the crowd and pondering over the quest.
On their journey back to Orleans City with the quest items, they were bound to encounter ambushes from the rebels. What should they do to ensure they brought back as many supplies as possible?
There were 20,000 boxes stored in the warehouse, just enough for one per player.
Once the players had cleared out the warehouse, Su Yu said goodbye to Michelle who was standing nearby: “Then, Madam City Lord, we will depart now.”
“Goodbye, Nemesis. Don’t forget to come and visit Pearl City if you get the chance!” Michelle said goodbye to Su Yu with a smile.
“Of course, sure thing!”
Su Yu mounted his steed, leading the steamrolling mass of players towards the West City Gate.
However, as the group proceeded, Su Yu frowned, sensing that something seemed off!
He was growing increasingly suspicious of Michelle, the City Lord.
Su Yu had to make frequent trips to Pearl City during his process of establishing territory, and he had interacted with many merchants in Pearl City.
He knew very well that the businesspeople in Pearl City had very strong “merchant habits”.
Normally, for a transaction involving 20,000 boxes of supplies from Orleans City, all worth over 100 million in total, they would surely count the items carefully and write out a detailed invoice to be handed over to the princess.
Although he didn’t know whether the princess had paid a deposit, for such a large transaction, the merchants would definitely ask him to confirm the timeline for the final payment and thoroughly verify it before letting him go.
But now there was none of that.
Michelle hadn’t discussed money, did not count the goods, and showed no concern about the final payment; this was not in line with Pearl City’s usual style at all!
This deepened Su Yu’s suspicion.
While pondering, Su Yu led the group on Dima at the forefront.
Seeing Su Yu frowning in thought, Mr. Li, riding a [Red Raptor] mount beside him, laughed and asked, “Boss Ke, are you also thinking about how to complete the quest?”
“No.” Su Yu replied.
Mr. Li almost fell off his mount in surprise: “Then what are you thinking about? Surely you’re not pondering over what to have for lunch?”
“Of course not.” Su Yu twitched his lips, “I’m thinking about the City Lord of Pearl City ”
Su Yu had great trust in Mr. Li. He did not hide anything and told him about his meeting with Michelle, the conversation between them, and anything amiss.
After listening to Su Yu’s recount, Mr. Li stroked his chin and said, “I see.”
“Indeed, it’s not easy to make a judgement on this matter, as we currently have too little information. These meager pieces of evidence are not enough to determine whether the City Lord of Pearl City has a problem. However—”
Mr. Li’s voice trailed off, “But this should be easy for you to solve, Boss Ke.”
“Hmm? What do you mean?” Su Yu was puzzled.
Mr. Li looked around and then lowered his voice, “Boss Ke, don’t you have the ability to foresee the future?”
Su Yu: “Uh ..”
Mr. Li: “Just predict the future and see if the City Lord of Pearl City is still Michelle after the first expansion pack. Wouldn’t that work?”
“If she is still the City Lord by then, then she definitely did not betray the princess;”
“On the other hand, if she is not the City Lord, either she betrayed the princess, or she died on the battlefield. The likelihood of someone of her level dying on the battlefield is very low, so she is highly likely to have betrayed the princess.”
“Right! Why didn’t I think of that?” Su Yu smacked his thigh, eyes shining brightly.
Although Mr. Li’s method did not offer 100% certainty, it was still beneficial as reference!
Su Yu quickly recalled Pearl City’s condition in his past life.
The City Lord of Pearl City in his past life was not Michelle Drank, nor was it an heir of the Drank family, but rather a member of the Royal Family named Ralpha Goldfinch.
Su Yu had a deep impression of Lord Ralpha. He often posed as a wandering bard and sang in various pubs. Because of his handsome looks, he had ambiguous relationships with many women, and once was caught in a compromising position by his wife and chased naked abound the streets
Since Lord Ralpha was a member of the Royal Family, it meant that Pearl City fell under direct control of the Royal Family after the first expansion pack.
The Drank family had lost their main base, so it seemed very likely that Michelle was a traitor!
Thoughtfully stroking his chin, Su Yu realized that he would have to explain this situation clearly to Alyssa as soon as they returned to Orleans City!