Chapter 230: Speculations

Chen Xiaolian understood the prompt stating that the next random quest was cancelled due to him having obtained the complete Sword in the Stone.

Back then, after obtaining the sword hilt, Chen Xiaolian had speculated that the next random quest must be related to the search for the sword blade.

After he obtained the sword blade, the random quest was cancelled – that was a logical conclusion.

However, the next prompt from the system caused Chen Xiaolian to become lost in thought.

[System prompt: An important storyline character, the Norman Countess had died. Automatically cancelling all series of ‘search for sacred artefact’ in this instance dungeon and all related random quests].

There was a great deal of information to be gleaned from this prompt.

First, the words used were ‘search for sacred artefact’ instead of ‘search for Sword in the Stone’. Thus, it was highly likely that the so-called sacred artefact was not limited to the Sword in the Stone! In other words, the possibility of there being other sacred artefacts existed!

In fact, the item that the fellow who resembled Qiu Yun wanted to get from Xian Yin may not be the Sword in the Stone. It could have been something else!

There was more than one sacred artefact within the Norman family’s possession!

After Xian Yin died, the gist of the prompt issued by the system was the cancellation of the series and all related random quests.

That was an indication that if Xian Yin had not died, there will be many other random quests with the Norman family as the starting point.

This was an important clue.

“Let’s go through all the matters once more and see if we had missed out on anything.” Chen Xiaolian, Lun Tai and Bei Tai sat in a remote warehouse.

He produced a piece of paper and pen; then, he quickly wrote down all the presently known clues from what they’ve gone through.

“We have completed the Sword in the Stone. Along the way, we also encountered the powerful fellow known as Ambler. Additionally, there was the death of Xian Yin.

“Our opponent, the fellow who is a dead ringer of Qiu Yun, had made a move against Xian Yin. It is likely that they were searching for the other sacred artefacts.”

After saying that, he wrote a series of characters on the paper and circled it.

"Norman family."

After writing those words, Chen Xiaolian thought about it and said, “At present, our biggest clue lies in the Normandy Dynasty. The Tower of London quest and the Sword in the Stone. Although it is part of the legend of King Arthur, it is in fact connected to the Normandy Dynasty.

“But what I do not understand is… … the first random quest, Jack the Ripper. Just how is it related to the later quests?

“At a glance, I cannot find any connection between Jack the Ripper and the Sword in the Stone.

“However, the system’s instance dungeon will not make such an illogical arrangement.”

Lun Tai glanced at Bei Tai before giving out a wry smile. He said, “Xiaolian, your mind is better than ours. Moreover, we don’t read much. So, you have more knowledge than us. If you do not know, asking us is pointless.”

Chen Xiaolian sighed and said, “But I just can’t figure it out. The prompt by the system had made it clear. Rest for a day; then, the next phase of the instance dungeon will begin.

“I speculate that the next phase is probably not a random quest. Rather, the latter part of this instance dungeon’s storyline is opening up – just like what we have experienced back in Tokyo.”

Chen Xiaolian said in a low tone as he deliberated.

He also took out the Sword in the Stone.

The completed Sword in the Stone was a standard long sized cross sword from Europe. Its shape was somewhat similar to the Cross Medallion Sword that Chen Xiaolian had used early on. However, this sword had a more domineering appearance.

A chilling light was reflected off the surface of the sword blade. The streams that made up the pattern were seemingly hidden beneath the sword blade. Yet, it was able to penetrate out through the light.

A shiny red gem rested upon the hilt of the sword – after the marks of time were shed away from the Sword in the Stone, the red gem glowed with an overflowing brilliance and was very beautiful to behold.

There was seemingly nothing else of note with this sword.

When Chen Xiaolian put the sword into the system, the system gave him a very strange prompt:

[Sword in the Stone: Sword that chooses the King, obtained within this instance dungeon. It is a special prop. Game participants temporarily cannot equip this sword. Prop class is unknown, supplementary skill is unknown. Note: A special process is required to equip this item].

The ‘game participants temporarily cannot equip this sword’ made Chen Xiaolian very disappointed.

After exhausting so much effort to obtain the Sword in the Stone, he thought that it must be a very high-class item. Unexpectedly, he was unable to equip it.

That was truly frustrating.

However, after Chen Xiaolian continued to read it… … ‘A special process is required to equip this item’

That meant there was hope.

Furthermore, the more complicated the process involved in obtaining an equipment, then wouldn’t that mean that this item was no some ordinary item?

It might even be a God-class weapon!

The thought of returning to the vault under the museum to search for the other sacred artefacts had crossed Chen Xiaolian’s mind before.

However, after reconsidering it… … that cunning Xian Yin had gone so far as to give him a fake Sword in the Stone’s blade.

Then, even if there were other sacred artefacts within the possession of the Norman family, they would likely be hidden somewhere else. Even if they could find any in the vault… … that would most likely be counterfeit products!

The shrewdness of those people from the Norman family was beyond ordinary.

Lun Tai took the sword and inspected it for a moment. He said, “It feels very sharp. Should we test it with something?”

Chen Xiaolian thought about the suggestion and said, “It said it cannot be equipped. Still, why not?”

Lun Tai readily produced one of the military knives that he carried with him while Chen Xiaolian wielded the Sword in the Stone. They slashed at each other.

A “keng” sound rang out!

Sparks exploded out.

Chen Xiaolian was disappointed to see a prompt appearing in his system.

[Sword in the Stone cannot be equipped; its supplementary skill cannot be activated].

This Sword in the Stone that had a sharp appearance and a chilling lustre could not even cut off an ordinary military knife that Lun Tai had produced.

“As expected, it is useless.” Chen Xiaolian sighed bitterly.

He gave a wry smile and said, “Hopefully, we can find a way to equip it in the next stage. Otherwise, we would have suffered a huge loss. My Fearless War Axe had been completely destroyed.”

Pausing, Chen Xiaolian gave another frown as he recalled something. “Now that I think about it, that man in black that I fought against, not only is he a dead ringer of Qiu Yun, even his skill seems similar.

“When he destroyed my Fearless War Axe, if I am not mistaken, the skill he used was the Metal Burst skill!”

“That’s right, I saw it too.” Bei Tai harrumphed and said, “I also saw it back then. He… really seemed to be able to cause metals to explode.”

“His appearance is similar to Qiu Yun, even his skill is similar… … no wonder back then you thought that he was Qiu Yun who did not die.” Lun Tai sighed.

“However… … there seems to be a little difference,” said Chen Xiaolian as he deliberated the matter. “From what I can see, the way he utilized the skill was not as smooth as Qiu Yun’s. At the very least, we had fought against each other for a long time before he executed that one move. Furthermore, he had to grab onto my weapon before causing it to explode.

“Thus, I speculate that… … perhaps, this ability of his is not as strong as Qiu Yun’s.

“I recall seeing Qiu Yun using this ability before. He could cause metals to explode remotely. As for this fellow, it seems that he needs to personally touch the metal in order to cause it to explode.

“Perhaps his ability is weaker than Qiu Yun’s.”

Bei Tai was quick to interject, “Most importantly… … this fellow clearly knows Qiu Yun. Additionally, he also knows about us! He also looks the same as Qiu Yun! Just who is he?”

Chen Xiaolian was silent for a moment. Then, his eyes suddenly lit up!

“Fellows… … do you still remember? The instant I took over Meteor Rock Guild, one thing happened.”

Lun Tai and Bei Tai became shocked.

“After I took over the guild, the member who immediately left Meteor Rock Guild… … that was an old member of Meteor Rock Guild. After I took over, he immediately left. I remember his name is Dong Shi! [1]”

Lun Tai nodded his head and said, “I remember you telling us about that. However… … we do not know much about the matters regarding Meteor Rock Guild. Thus, we are not in the know about this Dong Shi fellow.

“Back then, Meteor Rock Guild was Qiu Yun’s guild. The reputation of the guild was propped up by Qiu Yun alone. Whenever Meteor Rock Guild was mentioned, only the name Qiu Yun would be mentioned. Most of the other guild members were not that well known.

“We have never heard of this Dong Shi before either.”

Chen Xiaolian frowned and said, “I feel that those two must have some connection.”

The three of them discussed for a while and made some speculations. However, due to the limited amount of information they have, their speculations were a mess.

After some time had passed, Chen Xiaolian checked the time and said in a low voice, “All right, let’s take this opportunity to rest up. We still have more than ten hours of time. It’ll be good for us to take a good sleep. I think the next phase would have a higher level of difficulty.”

“I think so too,” said Lun Tai with a sigh. Then, he slowly said, “Xiaolian, I am not being pessimistic here… … I just think that for such a powerful expert like Ambler to suddenly appear, I fear… … the difficulty of the entire instance dungeon would be increased significantly.

“The system will always make calculations for a balanced state. The more powerful the participants, the higher the difficulty of the instance dungeon will get. For the participants that are lacking in strength, they would be in for a very bad time.

“Do you still remember… … in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang instance dungeon, due to Miao Yan’s participation, during the final moments…”

Chen Xiaolian’s heart sank and he said with a wry smile, “I thought of that as well… … even so, there is no point in worrying about that now. We’ll take it one step at a time. At the very least… it appears that Ambler is being friendly with us. If we are to encounter him again in the end, we can cooperate with him to complete this instance dungeon. If so, our chances would increase.”

“One more thing… … don’t you think this is too much of a coincidence?” Lun Tai whispered.

Chen Xiaolian’s heart gave a pound and he slowly said, “I understand what you mean. Truth be told, it did occur to me as well.”

Chen Xiaolian sighed and said, “Xian Yin had said before, Ambler is an old acquaintance of her family. He had been managing the museum for many years now and had always been staying in London…

“Coincidentally, an Awakened who lives in London was selected to participate in a London instance dungeon… … this is quite a coincidence.”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian’s heart skipped a beat and he blurted out:

“Is there such a possibility… … although Ambler is here, but… … he is not a game participant?”

“… … …” After hearing that, both Lun Tai and Bei Tai was shocked. Next, they both laughed out.

Lun Tai shook his head and said, “Absolutely impossible! Participants who enter an instance dungeon must be those selected by the instance dungeon! Unless this is a large-scale instance dungeon, in which case, Awakened ones who stay within an instance dungeon area will be forced into the instance dungeon. It is similar to what we experienced last time.

“However, this London instance dungeon is different! This London instance dungeon is not a large-scale instance dungeon!

“The identities of those selected, the guild members and number of participants are strictly regulated.

“You’ve seen it for yourself. Not even Roddy could participate this time. He could only leave the London area before the instance dungeon begins.

“This is the fundamental directive of the system. It is impossible to change it.”

The argument forwarded by Lun Tai was something that Chen Xiaolian had considered before.

However, there were still doubts within his mind.

He was reminded of the words that the GM had mentioned to him before the instance dungeon began.

In this instance dungeon, a third-party of observers will appear…

Could it be… this Ambler?

But… … something doesn’t feel right.

Those third-party of observers should be part of the Development Team. They were the ‘official staff’.

This Ambler did not have the appearance of an official staff.

He seemed more like an Awakened…

Or perhaps… … Irregularity?

Chen Xiaolian was again reminded of the final parting words left by Ambler… … do you consider yourself as one?

No!

It can’t be!

The GM had said before that he was the first Irregularity! Before him, no other Irregularity had appeared before!

If so… … what was going on here?

…

1 Chen Xiaolian took over Meteor Rock Guild in Chapter 89.↩