Chapter 472: The Bounty Missions
Nathaniell's adventurer missions were relatively unfamiliar to Zhou Ning. After examining them carefully, he realized that in both type and quantity, they were far fewer than those in Darkland.
More than ninety percent were odd jobs like finding lost cats and dogs, delivering goods, locating missing people, collecting debts—there were even tasks like unclogging toilets and sewers.
These simple jobs were better left to players.
Aside from those, the difficulty of missions varied greatly. The simplest were the miscellaneous chores mentioned above; the hardest included assassinating the "Lord of Weather" Valentine, and invitations to form a team to search for treasure. Zhou Ning even spotted a particularly whimsical bounty seeking people willing to enter the Meteorological Tide at Hood Island, supposedly to find the lost Elven Kingdom.
Regardless of difficulty, after learning some elven history himself—and possessing a treasure map—Zhou Ning could only let out a dry laugh.
He skimmed the bulletin board and settled on three bounties. One of them was issued by the authorities—a bounty from Nigen Hart, High Priest of the Wolf-Worship Church. According to the mission details, he had infiltrated Nathaniell last month, carried out a live sacrifice, and disappeared afterward. The mission was classified as B-level, suggesting the target was likely an Advanced-rank professional—not too difficult for Zhou Ning.
Conveniently, Josie West—the person he was tracking—seemed to have ties with the Wolf-Worship Church as well. He had been involved in the assassination of Angus Motley. If he followed this lead, fate might bring them together again.
The second bounty was for Cotton Benson, the boatswain of Saroyan, King of the Lavides. Someone had spotted him in the Seventh District. This was also B-level. As the boatswain serving a pirate king, Cotton Benson certainly qualified as one of the thirty-six sinner souls he needed.
For these two bounties, Zhou Ning planned to let his alternate identity—Batman—appear. Having Batman complete bounty missions was essentially letting the authorities know that Batman was connected to him.
Players had already exposed him, unfortunately, but NPCs hadn't. Gaining a powerful, visible ally at this stage would benefit both him and the Starry Sky Organization in establishing themselves here.
As for the third bounty, it was an investigation into strange events occurring at night on Bauhinia Road. The client was someone Zhou Ning knew—his landlord, Viscount Hall. Coincidentally, he could ask about it during the banquet tonight.
Bauhinia Road crossed directly with Golden Law Avenue where Zhou Ning lived, giving him good reason to suspect the viscount owned a row of houses there as well.
"Wait…"
Just as Zhou Ning plucked off the three task plaques, intending to accept the bounties, he noticed a middle-aged man with neatly slicked brown hair walking briskly toward him.
A client? Zhou Ning paused and looked at him.
"Mr. Wayne Sturwell?" the man asked, motioning for Zhou Ning to sit with him.
"That's me," Zhou Ning replied, giving the man a quick inspection.
He was a typical Falric—brown hair, blue eyes, thin physique, and somewhat nearsighted, squinting whenever he looked at someone.
Being stared at by someone at least pirate-general level was not pleasant. The man suppressed his obvious nervousness and let out a stiff chuckle.
"My name is Rick Green, a member of the West Falric Archaeology Association. We have been commissioned by a certain gentleman to explore the Meteorological Tide off Hood Island. There is a large elven ruin there that has never been excavated. We need experienced adventurers. Would you be interested?"
"You know, this is the best opportunity to touch upon lost history. For a historian, exploring and understanding history is the path to eternity."
If I were a historian, you might've convinced me… Zhou Ning's mouth twitched. To be honest, he was a little tempted. Instead, he asked:
"How many people do you have, when are you departing, and what's the compensation?"
Rick Green smiled sincerely.
"We've only just begun preparations—there are five people at the moment. As for compensation, each participant will receive 200 Vecktas."
"And any spoils we obtain will be divided evenly."
Two hundred Vecktas… five people… What kind of divine team is this? Zhou Ning wondered if he had heard wrong.
He realized the conversation was going nowhere, stood up decisively, and declined politely:
"I'll give it some thought."
He ignored the man afterward and calmly returned to the counter.
The man recognized the cue and did not bother him again. He was satisfied with what he'd achieved anyway, since preparations were still early—his goal had simply been to leave an impression and let Sturwell know about the invitation.
"I'd like to accept these tasks."
Zhou Ning looked at the staff member and placed the three task plaques on the table. The response came quickly—they were all approved.
[Guild Task — [Bounty: Nigen of the Wolf-Worship Church]]
[Task Description: High Priest Nigen Hart of the Wolf-Worship Church has infiltrated Nathaniell. Find his trail, kill him, and bring back proof of identity.]
[Task Requirements: Kill Nigen Hart.]
[Reward: 2.5 million experience, 4,000 Vecktas, Random Reward ×1, Organization Points +66, Organization Reputation +10]
[Guild Task — [Bounty: Cotton Benson]]
[Task description and requirements same as above, omitted.]
[Reward: 2.2 million experience, 3,500 Vecktas, Random Reward ×1, Organization Points +60, Organization Reputation +10]
[Guild Task — [Investigate the Strange Events on Bauhinia Road]]
[Reward: 650,000 experience, other rewards unknown.]
"These are your task plaques. The bounty on Cotton Benson has a seven-day limit. The other two have no deadline. Don't miss the time," the staff member said with a smile as he handed them over.
"Alright." Zhou Ning nodded without hesitation. Though the third mission seemed the weakest with almost no rewards, it was actually the one he valued most. His long-term experience had taught him: sometimes the unknown held the best rewards.
...
After accepting the missions, Zhou Ning didn't linger. He went to a nearby tailor shop.
He purchased a full formal outfit—altogether costing 200 Vecktas, including a black tailcoat, bow tie, and perfectly pressed trousers. The look practically screamed rich landlord's foolish son. But the effect was excellent. His reflection in the mirror had a flawless 120-point appearance.
Then he bought a bottle of expensive Temple Red Wine from a nearby shop and took a carriage for half an hour to the Hall residence at 137 Golden Law Avenue.
Seeing the Hall estate decorated with colorful lights, he lowered his hat brim and stepped off.
As he entered the gates, he immediately saw Viscount Hall and his wife approaching to greet him.
The viscount wore a blue noble outfit—similar to styles in the Bryston Kingdom. In the West Falric Kingdom, only nobles were allowed to wear colored clothing, and the rules were even stricter.
His wife wore a red satin dress with hints of Rococo style, her curves prominent, showing a small portion of smooth, fair chest. Strict laws were matched by the West Falric people's open nature.
Zhou Ning shook his head slightly, suddenly remembering a dark joke he had once heard.
What do West Falric people do after going to bed?
Ten percent roll over and go back to sleep;
Ten percent light a post-lovemaking cigarette;
And eighty percent get dressed and quietly go back to their own houses.
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