Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

As two strange silhouettes penetrated deeper, the long street above fell back into that deathly stillness.

The deep silence at the end of the long street devoured all the residents, the vehicle belonging to the trio, and the two strange silhouettes—like a monster lurking in the darkness, effortlessly swallowing even the darkness itself.

Gazing along that pitch-black stretch of the long street, Gilder strained his aged eyes to pierce through the veil of night, seeking to uncover the truth of the matter…

Beneath the long street, it was far from the quiet it appeared on the surface.

"Speak up! Do you want to work for our boss or not!"

"Yeah, yeah! I've already said I'll work for our boss! Stop hitting me already..." The man's face was bruised and swollen as he desperately clung to the other's thigh, unable to stop whimpering.

"You've been hitting me for so damn long! When I say I'm willing to work for the boss, don't you understand?! I want to work! Tell me what to do, quick! I'll do it now!"

However, the man asking the questions dared not respond but simply looked back, trembling, with caution, to the man reclining on the peeling russet couch behind him—who was the true decider of everyone's fate.

Wallis chuckled hoarsely in a low voice, as if his throat was clogged with phlegm, full of static noise.

Reclining on the couch, he watched the "torture" taking place before him with a sideways glance. Although he was laughing, his face was devoid of any mirth, only endless coldness.

Beneath that coldness was a deep fury brewing like the sea's churning depths.

The protruding mechanical eye glinted a blinding red, as if blood was flowing at his feet.

The boss was angry…

A silent command guided the lackey.

The lackey, whip in hand, turned and struck the man on the ground across the face with another lash.

"You're not sincere! That's for not being sincere! You never really wanted to work for our boss!"

"Smack! Smack!"

Lash after lash…

"I'm willing... I'm willing..."

The space opened up, and suddenly the vast underground area was filled with the sound of the whip cracking against flesh.

"Speak! Will you work for our boss or not?"

"That's for being stubborn! That's for being stubborn!"

The orange warm light flickered chaotically, and the messy sounds of whipping strangely composed a mad symphony.

"Hahahaha!"

Wallis suddenly clutched his forehead, laughing uncontrollably.

Not a single one!

Not a single one!

It wasn't just the people lured in who were unwilling to work for him; even his own men were equally reluctant.

Unwilling!

All of them were unwilling!

All lies!

Even those closest to him, his trusted lieutenants, had never truly followed him!

They were only submissive to his power, to his influence, to his brutality.

But what was submissive was never to him as a person!

All of it was fake!

Only the bounty hunters!

Those strange bounty hunters! They were the ones truly willing to work for him.

As long as he provided ample reward, they would serve him wholeheartedly and without a single word of complaint.

In fact, the benefits he received from them far outweighed what he had given!

Why? Why couldn't the world be full of such people?

Only them... only them…

He was thankful to the heavens for bestowing upon him these eyes that could see through all falsehoods.

Having lived for so many years, he had finally discovered what truly deserved his pursuit.

Only occasionally, in a fleeting moment, did a voice of "regret" in Wallis's heart question—

Is everything I have now truly deserved?

This power within my grasp…

This authority obeyed by thousands…

This insight to see through the human heart…

Initially, should I have not been so greedy?

Even those bounty hunters working for me... I schemed to harvest their wealth under the guise of allegiance rings…

Why did they agree?

Wallis suddenly bowed his head, his mood switching from manic laughter to an icy demeanor in an instant.

The brief moment of inner weakness lasted less than the space of a breath.

His actions had proven that his current path was correct!

The people around him… they were all traitors!

"Clickety-clack, clickety-clack~"

A peculiar sound suddenly approached from afar. Wallis, whose senses were now extremely sharp, twitched his ear and was the first to hear this unexpected noise.

Outsiders?

Or had those bounty hunters returned?

The loose skin on the sides of his lower lip formed folds, and Wallis's mood suddenly lifted.

Soon enough, one of the lookouts outside rushed in with urgent haste.

"Boss! Boss! It's those bounty hunters! They've brought back what you wanted!"

"Oh~," Wallis finally showed a sincere smile on his face, "Quick, bring them in!"

"Yes!"

...

The furrows on the brows of the five people who walked into the underground hall were evident.

In fact, while waiting in the room above ground, they had already heard the noisy sounds mixed with moans coming from below, but it wasn't until they arrived underground that they realized things might be even more brutal than they had imagined.

Everywhere they looked, the spacious hall, originally cluttered with a variety of miscellaneous items, was now filled with figures in the corners.

Some stood... some lay...

Large beads of sweat could be seen dripping down from faces... not only from those who lay on the ground moaning, but also from the foreheads of those wielding whips, drenched in sweat.

Every person was soaked, as if they had been fished out of water.

Hot?

Of course it was hot.

The orange lamps lit up throughout the underground hall, their glowing tubes emitting a substantial amount of heat radiation.

In the hazy warmth of the orange light, even the air seemed to warp, making the entire underground hall feel like an unbearable steamer.

But the five newcomers didn't feel too much of the heat.

Compared to the heat, it seemed there was something else that made everyone... except the figure sitting on the sofa... feel... fear.

Because of fear, they were tense. Because they were tense, their heart rates increased. Because their heart rates increased, their pores contracted. And so... they were drenched in sweat.

Including those who were acting as the attackers.

The object of their fear, of course, was the solitary figure sitting on the sofa—Wallis.

'Is this a show of power?' Dai Lian thought, but then immediately dismissed the idea.

They had been here before, and while the leader in front of them certainly commanded a certain amount of respect, he wasn't so frightening.

At least he shouldn't make his own men feel this way.

Had something happened that they were unaware of, something so brutal that even his own men harbored such deep fear of him?

But what did that matter to them?

It had nothing to do with them whatsoever.

They were only there to turn in a task, and whether they split the reward pool amongst themselves or one person got all the experience, it made no real difference to them.

The experience from the reward pool task might be substantial, but it wasn't going to determine the future pace of the game on its own.

It was just a task.

"We've brought back the treasure you wanted," Dai Lian spoke, taking half a step ahead of the others, "It's on the car upstairs."

As the brain of the team, it was his responsibility to handle interactions with NPCs during collective actions.

Wallis's lips curled up slightly. He slowly rose from the sofa, his tone carrying a strange and eerie inflection, "Don't call it 'treasure.' You are my treasures. I'm very happy to see you return."

Kuang Xin furrowed his eyebrows, feeling a bit nauseated.

Hardened! His fists clenched!

Who the hell is your treasure?

Wallis seemed utterly indifferent to the disgust shown by the four others besides Dai Lian, continuing with his own performance, "What about the other children? Didn't they return with you?"

Was he talking about the other players who had accepted the reward pool task with them?

Why ask about them?

As the question flitted through his mind, Dai Lian chose his words carefully, giving a cautious reply, "We cooperated to complete the task and came back together, it's just that some are faster than others. The slower ones might still be on the way, while the faster ones should have already arrived."

The vehicle they drove was not particularly fast, as it was loaded with five people and the items for the task. Those with quicker means of travel probably arrived near Blackwater City earlier than they did.

"Why don't they come to see me?"

"..." Dai Lian paused slightly, replying somewhat helplessly, "They didn't complete the task and feel too ashamed to see you."

"Hahahaha! No need to be so formal! I want to see them! I want to see all my children!" Wallis eyed Dai Lian with both his normal eye and the red-glowing, protruding mechanical eye, his gaze filled with anticipation, "Could you find them for me?"

As he spoke, Wallis's tone paused, then he emphasized, "Of course, to ensure that you keep your promise, before you find them for me, you'll need to leave something as collateral, won't you?"

The sinister mechanical eye circled over the five of them, his tone leisurely as he inquired, "What do you think you should leave?"

The wandering gaze finally settled on Gong Yan, "How about, we leave this young lady here? I assure you, I will raise her to be plump and fair! She will become my most outstanding daughter!"

[Triggered side quest—Find Comrades.]

[Find Comrades: Your employer is worried about all the "children" who performed tasks for him. As companions who carried out the task together, you have the obligation to ensure the safe return of all comrades. Task Requirement: Find all comrades who took part in the "Reward Pool Task—Seize Creation" within the allotted time 0/1.

Task Completion Reward: -300 Blackwater Coins, -100 General/Battle Experience; Task Failure Penalty: -600 Blackwater Coins, -200 General/Battle Experience (Countdown: 4 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds)] (Note: Accepting this task requires a "hostage." If the task fails, "hostage" will encounter a special plot.)

"..."

A negative reward? Discover exclusive content at empire

They had to pay currency and experience to do a task for an NPC?

Paid work? Sounds familiar...

The five people who saw the task pop up on their screens couldn't help but exchange looks, their eyes reflecting a sense of 'never seen before.'

"That's just outrageous..."

"Perhaps we've encountered some kind of extraordinary quest chain?"

Gu Lan, with her broad experience and in-depth interactions in many games, had seen her fair share of deep game content that ordinary players might never come across in their lifetimes.

It wasn't as though there had never been quest chains that initially deducted experience and money only to multiply the returns in the end.

If completed, the rewards were unimaginably rich.

After all, it was just a game... what game would let players lose out?

Did they even want to keep making games?

The task might be weird, but... perhaps it was worth a try?

Gu Lan's gaze held a hint of eagerness to give it a shot.