◎If you follow her, there will be no good ending. It’s better to...◎

There is someone who can help her lock on the candidate, Xia Li thought so, opened the mercenary group system interface, created a new task list, and then selected the designated person to take the order - Pipixia.

Publishing a mercenary mission required a publicity fee of 3 gold coins, which was nothing to her at the moment, so she paid the fee without hesitation.

[Please confirm whether to set the mercenary reward to 150 gold coins]

After entering the number 150 in the amount column, the system prompted her.

【confirm】

[Your task list has been sent to the other player (ID: Pipixia)]

After seeing this message, Xia Li finally closed the mercenary group system with peace of mind and turned to go to Doha Restaurant.

On the way to the restaurant, the mercenary group's system prompted her that the mission order had been accepted. Xia Li closed the prompt and continued to rush towards the destination.

The waiter at Doha Restaurant, an NPC, recognized her and, upon seeing her return, beamed. "You're here again? Do you have a private room reserved?"

Xia Li: "No, are there any private rooms available now?"

NPC: "Is a private room with a table for 6 okay?"

Xia Li didn't even think twice: "Okay."

Since the price of a private room for 6 or 4 people is the same, it's better to choose a larger room.

"By the way," Xia Li called out to the NPC before going upstairs as the private room for six people was on the fifth floor.

NPC: "What do you want?"

"Get me a screen in the private room," Xia Li looked at the NPC calmly.

The NPC was stunned for a moment, obviously not knowing what she was up to. He understood that it was nice to have a screen in the large private rooms on the 6th floor for the sake of so-called elegance, but... obviously, there was no need for that in the small private rooms, right?

The NPC took a quick look at her, thinking that she had been a guest on the 6th floor before, and was either rich or noble in terms of status. Even if such a VIP had strange requests, he, a working man, would try his best to meet them.

Then, his smile returned, and he replied professionally, "Okay, I'll arrange it for you right away."

"I want the kind that's not light-transmissive." Xia Li added lightly.

Although the NPC's head was full of question marks, he still nodded respectfully: "Understood."

After saying that, he called a few other NPCs and began to order them to arrange the screens.

Pushing open the door of room 505, the view here is far inferior to that upstairs because unlike the private rooms on the 6th floor which each have their own large garden.

However, it was still a floor with a very nice view. The transparent floor-to-ceiling windows were wiped clean. Busy figures outside the royal city were shuttling back and forth on the street. Xia Li just stood by the window, admiring the scenery while curling up the corners of her mouth.

A few minutes later, the airtight screens she had specifically requested were brought in. There were five of them in total and placed at the main entrance according to her instructions.

As soon as you push open the door, the first thing that catches your eye is a row of neatly arranged screens. If you want to know what is behind the screens, no one will know unless you walk around from the side.

All the NPCs had no idea what she was up to, but their professionalism told them that most wealthy people had some unusual habits, and no matter how curious they were, they must not ask. So, after putting up the screen, they all quietly left the private room.

Xia Li ordered more than a dozen dishes, each of which was the style of a Doha restaurant, with a combination of meat and vegetables, and alternating red and green colors. When they were served, they were very appetizing just by looking at them.

Last time, she didn’t enjoy the meal to her heart’s content at the “gracious invitation” of Long Yan and Fei Xue, so this time, let her eat to her heart’s content, and pack up the leftovers to take back for her friends in Feng Yun Tian Xia to try.

She is not rich now, but she still has enough money to eat at a restaurant in Doha.

Xia Li just waited quietly. After about 10 minutes, there was a knock on the door of the private room.

"Please come in." She sat on the chair directly opposite the screen and spoke with a voice changer on.

Male?

Mantis shrimp's eyes rolled around. On the way to Doha Restaurant, he scratched his head a lot, wondering which employer with too much money to spend would give him this task order?

This is a full 150 gold quest reward! 150 is no small amount!

You have to know that he had been staying in the mercenary union with his brothers for three whole days a few days ago. The highest task reward he had seen was only 60 gold, and he had to get the monster materials that the employer wanted within the specified time before the other party would agree to complete the order.

And what was wrong with his employer? He actually offered 150! And the meeting place was the Doha Restaurant, one of the best in the entire royal city. It was really generous!

He pulled out the players on the richest list and looked at them again and again. He originally had a rough idea of ​​this mysterious employer in his heart, but the moment he heard the other party's voice, his mind suddenly went blank.

The voice of an adult man, mature and steady.

How come it was completely different from what he expected!!!

The top 7 players on the rich list are all playboys, and they are not very old. It is impossible for them to have such a calm and adult voice. The last 3 are female players, which is even more impossible.

Could it be that the other party is not on this list?

Pipixia pushed the door open slowly while analyzing quickly in his mind. Maybe it was the president of a guild. The president was in charge of a large amount of funds. It might not be enough to compete with the rich players, but it was not impossible for him to throw out 150 gold without blinking an eye.

As he was thinking about this, Pipixia raised his eyes and suddenly found a screen standing in front of him.

What the hell?

Pipixia was stunned for a moment, but upholding the noble status of the other party's wealthy sponsor, he immediately turned his surprise into respect and asked with a smile, "Excuse me, do you have any instructions?"

The task list didn't assign him any tasks, but only a single sentence: [In half an hour, Doha Restaurant, report "Anonymous", go upstairs]

Coming to the Mercenary Guild, not giving out quests, but instead mysteriously writing about going to Doha Restaurant? If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he couldn't imagine who would be so bored as to pull such a stunt.

Xia Li didn't know what Pipi Xia was thinking. She only knew that she wanted to take this opportunity to test him.

She was still a little worried about what happened at Morgan Hall last time. Who wouldn't be tempted to see a bunch of strangers surrounding her so early in the morning? Moreover, she was well aware of her reputation in Miracles. Those who liked her probably really liked her from the bottom of their hearts, just like her friends in Fengyun Tianxia.

There are also many people who dislike her or even feel hostile towards her in Miracles.

She had to be on guard against this.

Now there is such an opportunity to use his strengths to find out the identity of the poster and at the same time find out his true intention of supporting her. Can she let it go easily?

Xia Li sat quietly in the chair, her right leg crossed over her left, and spoke slowly, "I heard you founded a guild called Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals?"

No way, was his employer planning to take over his guild? But he was broke in the game, so what could he possibly have that was worth taking advantage of?

Pipixia twitched his lips nervously, trying to respond humbly, "Yes, but our guild is too poor. We have no money, no resources..."

"You all chose Alchemist. Why?"

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the other party.

Pipixia's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that his little secret was discovered?

"Replying to the sponsor, we just saw that there are not many people playing this profession, so we want to try another way."

"Hmm," Xia Li uttered a single syllable from her throat. After a moment's thought, she continued, "So what do you think of that female alchemist on your class leaderboard?"

Oh my god! She's trying to trick him! Pipixia felt a layer of cold sweat on his palms. He wiped them uncomfortably on his trouser legs and said cautiously, "I... think she's very powerful..."

"Oh? Really?" Xia Li raised an eyebrow. "But I heard she has a very bad reputation in the game. If you follow her, you won't end up well. Why don't you..."

At this point, she paused deliberately and said, "Why not disband your soldiers and join us?"

After going around in circles for a while, it turned out that the man was trying to recruit his people into another guild. Pipi Shrimp breathed a sigh of relief and said to the invisible person behind the screen, "Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Sponsor. We, the Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals, appreciate your kindness. However, my brothers are too undisciplined and lack discipline. If we go to your guild, I'm afraid it will cause you unnecessary trouble. If you need us in the future, just let me know. I, Pipi Shrimp, will be there at your beck and call."

As expected, he was a coward. He used his brother's shortcomings as an excuse to refuse, which not only showed his weakness, but also highlighted the strength of the other party. He did not mention anything about "Summer Pear Blossoms" throughout the whole process, and directly avoided the topic of whether following her would have a good ending. Finally, in order not to offend her as an employer, he also promised to be available at any time in the future, which really gave her enough face.

Xia Li couldn't help but admire him even more. She felt that she had gotten the answer she wanted, so she smiled and narrowed her eyes: "In that case, I won't force you. Let's get back to business."

Pipixia nodded repeatedly: "That's what you said."

Xia Li: "I need you to find a murderer."

What? Pipixia was shocked. He was experienced in gathering gossip, but finding the murderer wasn't his responsibility! He wasn't a criminal police officer or a major general in the military, so how would he know where to find the murderer's information?

So, his throat was choked, and after a long pause, he said: "I'm really sorry, I'm not professional enough in this area, I'm afraid I'm not the right person for you."

Alas, when I think about the 150 gold that I have earned is going to fly away, I can’t help but feel sad.

"No, you're a perfect fit." Xia Li's words interrupted his sorrowful thoughts. "I want you to find the real murderer who killed the blacksmith Bruce."

Bruce's murderer?

Pipixia was stunned. It was all his fault that he had been obsessed with waiting for quests and killing monsters in the wild. He had not had time to pay attention to the murder of Bruce. He only heard a few words from his brothers' casual chat after dinner. It seemed that someone posted on the forum that a female player had killed Bruce.

But he didn't pay attention to who the female player was.

At that moment, Pipixia frowned and tried hard to catch the name of the female player.

After thinking for a long time, I still found nothing.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his head! No, it didn't matter what the female player's name was. What mattered was that his sponsor had a hidden agenda—find the real murderer!

Real... In other words, the female player identified in the post is not the real murderer?

But how could this financial sponsor know? Could it be that he was… Ugh, how could that be possible!

The person he's talking to now is a real man! Even if he's been slandered, at least they wouldn't have gotten his gender wrong, right?

Pipixia thought about it again and again, and found that she really couldn't find any information that matched this man.

He has a deep voice, acts calmly, and is rich enough. If you have to force it, there is one person who relatively meets these conditions, and that is Storm, the president of Dark Storm.

But this is outrageous. Why would the guild leader investigate this matter? Could it be that the other party is interested in the person being slandered? Is he trying to help the person being slandered?

The more he thought about it, the more outrageous it seemed. Pipixia shook his head vigorously and quickly discarded this unrealistic guess.

Forget it, since the other party intentionally blocked the screen, it means that he doesn't want him to guess his identity. In this case, he should just accept the task obediently, strive to make a lot of money as soon as possible, get the pass, and support the group of brothers behind him!

So he cleared his throat and said, "Please rest assured, I will complete your task well."

"Well, I believe in your ability."

There was no movement behind the screen. Pipixia informed them tactfully, then bowed and left the private room.

On the way downstairs, Pipixia thought about the conversation and tutted to herself. She was actually trying to get his opinion of the Pear God. Are you kidding me? Are you guys any match for the Pear God? Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself?

Pipixia thought about it and simply clicked into the forum to see who the innocent female player who was being slandered was.

However, before he clicked on the post, the four big black words in the post were like a dazzling white light, almost blinding his eyes!

Holy shit! It's actually his Pear God?!

The price of 150 gold was indeed high, but Xia Li felt that it was a good deal.

Just as she had tested, if Mantis shrimp was targeting her, then she would have taken the initiative to start a conversation in the previous questioning, so as to narrow the distance between them and even form some kind of battle line.

But he didn't, and he cleverly avoided the subject.

Besides, in the previous life, Pipixia was a very successful person among the NPCs. If she could make friends with him early on and establish a good cooperative relationship with him, then wouldn't she be afraid of not getting the information she wanted in the future?

To sum up, Xia Li feels that it is not a loss at all to achieve the above goals with only 150 gold.

-over-