Just as Mark's squad was basking in the smooth sailing of rapid upgrades and increasingly clear map permissions...
An invisible net, originating from the core of the Rotten Vine Alliance, is quietly being woven against them.
Deep in the dark alley, in a stone chamber even more secluded than Buck's blacksmith shop.
The gray-clad thief foreman, who had dealt with Mark several times before, stood respectfully with his head bowed.
Before him stood a figure shrouded in a wide cloak, his fingertips twirling a newly made animal hide scroll.
The magic runes on the scroll exuded an unusual, chilling aura.
“Level three… their speed is indeed abnormally fast.” A hoarse, emotionless voice came from under the cloak, like the scraping of metal. “They only accept missions targeting orcs, and avoid anything involving humans, especially the Church, like the plague?”
“Yes, sir,” the gray-clad thief replied. “Last time the Bloodvine Heart quest was upgraded with such generous rewards, that priest didn’t even glance at it and directly chose several other orc quests.”
"Among the newly issued missions, there were several involving sabotage of logistics and assassination of low-ranking civilian officers, but he didn't touch them at all."
"Heh... Holy Light guidance? Purification of heretics?" The cloaked figure let out a short, cold laugh. "They acted quite well. But they were too persistent, which made it seem deliberate. Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts. Besides... the scent on them might fool others, but it won't fool those above."
The gray-clad thief lowered his head even further, not daring to reply.
The cloaked figure handed over the scroll: "This task, find a way to let them see it naturally, and... only let them see it."
"Tell them that the relic the target is carrying is of immense value to the Alliance's research into orc shamanic magic, and that they must seize it. The mission level... will be marked as 'Level 3 Urgent'."
The mission outline was drawn on the scroll in dark red ink.
[Suppressing the Remnants of the Holy Light Force]
Intelligence confirms that a small team from the Church of Holy Light (approximately ten people, including mid-level knights and priests) is carrying an important relic (suspected to be related to the orcish bloodvine) and is active in the southern region of Stonethroat Canyon.
The target is highly vigilant and is suspected of having a high-level combatant (one person) in charge.
Objective: Annihilate the target squad and seize the sacred relic.
Reward: Alliance members' levels will be instantly increased by one.
Special Reward: One-time customization access to legendary magic equipment.
This is an extremely tempting trap.
The mission objective is the "Church of the Holy Light," located in Stonethroat Canyon, where both humans and orcs have relatively weak control. The contribution points are ridiculously high, and there is also the right to customize legendary equipment.
More importantly, it was carefully packaged, suggesting that the target was merely the remnant of a "suspected high-ranking individual," and that the "holy relic" it carried was related to the orcs.
If this kind of mission reward were offered to the poor orcs of the Black Street, it would be a mission that every orc would fight tooth and nail to obtain.
After all, orcs are not like humans; few of them know how to do business, and they are also very prolific.
Even high-ranking orcs are mostly poor as long as they are bound by a tribe.
Of course, the gray-clad thief also knew that the "they" the man in front of him was referring to were not just orcs, but another special group of people in the orc underworld!
The gray-clad thief took the scroll with both hands, feeling the cold magic runes on it:
“Understood, sir. I will make sure this scroll appears in the most conspicuous place when they receive their next mission. And… it will only appear in front of them.”
He knew that this task would never appear on the list of members who were truly pro-Holy Light or whose stance was ambiguous.
This was a task specifically prepared for those "heretics" designated by the Church of Holy Light, as well as for the orcs.
It was also a death invitation specially made for that new priest's squad.
It's laughable that they colluded with a bunch of Holy Light Church guys to embezzle the Rotten Vine Alliance's quest items, and now they even dare to recklessly farm Rotten Vine Alliance quest points.
Do they really think their Corrupted Vine Alliance's intelligence network in the buffer zone is so useless?
They want to come here to investigate the existence behind the Rotten Vine Alliance?!
The cloaked figure waved his hand, and his figure disappeared as if blending into the shadow of the stone wall.
...
Thick smoke from burning orc corpses mingled with the stench of swamp, swirling in the low-hanging sky.
In the center of the dilapidated camp, a campfire crackled, and a large, makeshift pot simmered with thick broth, its spicy aroma stubbornly dispelling the stench of blood and burnt meat in the air.
Mark stirred the soup ladle listlessly; this soulless hodgepodge of cooking was not what he wanted to do. He called out to the dwarf beside him who was wiping his new warhammer:
"Enzo, turn the fire up higher! How long is it going to take to simmer such a big pot of soup? I hate cooking big pot dishes! But this swamp is so humid, it's unbearable without something hot!"
Enzo snorted, his obsidian-like skin reflecting the firelight, his voice muffled:
"Screw you! I just sharpened this new thing!"
Even so, he still grabbed the firewood at his feet and roughly stuffed it into the fire, sending sparks flying.
Enzo has been busy taking on various missions from the Corrupted Vine Alliance lately, and hasn't had time to reforge his spare warhammer. It's not nearly as handy as the legendary warhammer that was destroyed by the elves before, and Enzo has been holding a grudge ever since.
Monica sat quietly in the shadows a little further away, leaning against a charred log, the Ring of Truth on her fingertip gleaming faintly in the firelight.
She appeared to be resting with her eyes closed, but invisible ripples of judgment habitually swept across the perimeter of the camp, alerting her to any disturbance.
Even with Mark's soul perception vision present, she was used to keeping the most basic appraisal vision open at all times, since the growth of her professional appraisal experience was her core ability.
Anna sat beside her, her emerald eyes unfocused as she gazed at the leaping flames, the shadow of the Elven court hunters still weighing heavily on her heart.
Even though she had made up her mind never to return to the Elven Royal Court, it seemed that the people of the Elven Royal Court had no reason to let her go easily.
Kyle did not sit down.
He stood by the campfire, one hand on the hilt of his sword, his gaze sweeping intently over the destroyed orc camp and the blackened earth around him.
Ruby sat by the fire, hugging her knees, sipping hot soup. Her wine-red eyes reflected the firelight, but her brows were slightly furrowed.
"Too smooth." Kyle's deep voice broke the brief silence of the meal, tinged with a hint of barely perceptible doubt. "It's been almost two weeks since we took the Heart of the Bloodvine. The Corrupted Vine Alliance, aside from upgrading the quests related to us, seems to have... no reaction whatsoever?"
Ruby raised her head and sneered, "Hmph, maybe they're scared out of their wits by how efficiently we wiped out the orc strongholds? Or maybe they're busy fighting amongst themselves?"
Her words carried a hint of satisfaction. During this period, she had been "grinding" missions with Mark's team, and watching Mark's team's map access level increase rapidly made her feel quite pleased.
But Kyle's words brought back the unease that had been nagging at her.
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