Chapter 431: Fishing In Troubled Waters

[System prompt: This instance dungeon will open in one hour. The designated area for this instance dungeon is Jerusalem. Those not selected for this instance dungeon are to leave the designated instance dungeon area. Those who stay within the designated instance dungeon area will be forced to participate in the instance dungeon.]

Lun Tai, who was seated and wiping his gun, suddenly looked up. Roddy was sitting in front of his computer, Qiao Qiao and Chen Xiaolian were standing next to the balcony, Xia Xiaolei ran out from the toilet and Soo Soo and Qimu Xi came out from their room. They quickly gathered in the living room.

They all exchanged glances and all eyes fell upon Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian pursed his lips and smiled. “Now then… get ready. Do a final check of your personal equipment and supplies.”

…

The sun had begun to set and Shen walked out from the Gothic-style building.

Walking to his car, he gently pulled open the door and retrieved a mobile phone.

“Mm, it is about to begin.”

After putting the phone away, Shen turned to look at the setting sun and a peculiar smile appeared on his face.

“The night is descending… … if so, why not make it even darker?”

Maintaining his smile, he pulled out a pair of sunglasses and drove the car away.

…

Dang! Dang! Dang!

The ringing sounds from the bell tower echoed out.

The time shown there was five o’clock in the evening.

The members of Meteor Rock Guild stood up in unison and looked at Chen Xiaolian.

[System prompt: Instance dungeon number D039 is now open. All those not selected who stayed within the instance dungeon area will now be considered a participant of this instance dungeon. The difficulty level of this instance dungeon is [B] class, firearms usage is not restricted while energy-based weaponry must not exceed [A] class. Should the weapons exceed the designated class, it will have its firepower decreased.

[First phase quest of the instance dungeon: find the quest target.

[The system will distribute quest targets randomly around the area and assign each participant to random quest targets.

[In this first phase of finding the quest target, the first three groups to find the target will receive advantageous information in the later instance dungeon notifications.

[Time limit for the first phase: 60 minutes.

[Failing to find the quest target after the time limit is over means failing this quest. Failed participants will be forced out of this instance dungeon to receive punishment.

[Quest target for Meteor Rock Guild is as follows:

[Name: Will Ritz Beyliah.]

That was the end of the notification.

Chen Xiaolian and his team members received the same prompt.

“Only a name and no other information?” Xia Xiaolei was unable to stop himself from blurting out. “How many people are there in this city? Millions? To find a single person among millions with just a name…”

“Calm down, rookie.” Lun Tai turned to Xia Xiaolei. “Listen to the Guild Leader’s instructions.”

There was a calm and undisturbed expression on Chen Xiaolian’s face as he looked at his team members. “All right, since the quest for the first phase has been made clear, let us begin finding… Roddy!”

Chen Xiaolian turned to look at Roddy, who was sitting before his computer; he quickly tapped away on his keyboard. Without raising his head, he shouted, “I understand; I am now checking the municipal database, just give me some time.”

Who knows what he did to hack into Jerusalem’s municipal system, but he soon raised his head. There was a frown on his face. “Found it, but…”

“What is it?” Chen Xiaolian looked at him.

“According to the municipal database, there are four Jerusalem inhabitants whose names are Will Ritz Beyliah. They are all male and their respective ages are… 7, 23, 48, and 76 years old.”

There are four of them?

Chen Xiaolian was shocked and his brows furrowed together.

This will be a problem.

Roddy continued in a loud voice, “Three of them are locals while one of them is a tourist, a foreigner. However, the check-in systems for all the hotels here are connected to the police’s database. So, I can find his information.”

Roddy raised his head to look at Chen Xiaolian. “What do we do? There are four fellows with the same name. Which one should we head to first?”

Chen Xiaolian quickly made up his mind. “Roddy, check for their addresses! We will be going to the nearest one!”

Pausing, Chen Xiaolian then paced around the room. “Another thing, the municipal database should have their pictures too, right? And can you enter the municipal surveillance system? I recall that Israel had suffered from quite a number of terror attacks. They must have a good level of surveillance system as a result. If you can hack into it, we might be able to use it to find our quest targets’ pictures and their approximate locations.”

“I will give it a try. It should be possible; as long as it is something mechanical, I should be able to control it!” Roddy said with confidence.

Soon, the two addresses came up.

“One is in No. 54 on Alfasi Street, 7-year-old. The other is in No. 38 on Bonfrett Street, 76-year-old.”

Chen Xiaolian quickly brought out the map to check the locations.

He quickly made up his mind. “We’ll split up! Lun Tai, you bring Xia Xiaolei and Qimu Xi! You will be going for the 76-year-old target. It is only a 15 minutes’ drive between him and our hotel. Qiao Qiao, Soo Soo and I will be going for the 7-year-old target. There is a 30 minutes’ drive between us and that one. Once one of us finds the right target, the system will surely issue a notification. When that happens, the other group will head over to join up with the group that had found the right target.

“If they are both the wrong targets… Lun Tai, you will be closer to the third target. So, keep going toward the third target while Qiao Qiao and I go look for the fourth.

“Roddy! You will be staying here to monitor the system and look for the targets. Once you find anything, contact us immediately!”

“No problem.”

Their team quickly took action, splitting into two groups before dashing out of the hotel room.

When they were out of the hotel, Chen Xiaolian and the others suddenly halted in their tracks.

“Something… is not right.”

There was a frown on Lun Tai’s face as he regarded the street.

It was already evening, but the streets remained empty and deserted. Not a single person could be seen on the winding street!

“Where did everyone go?” asked Chen Xiaolian with a frown.

“Something is not right!” Lun Tai huffed with his nose.

“Ignore this first. This is most likely done by the system; what we need to prioritize is our search… … as for the rest, we’ll discuss about it once we find our quest target. Also, make sure to be careful!” said Chen Xiaolian swiftly.

The two groups got on their respective jeeps before leaving the hotel in separate directions.

…

“Eye of Heaven’s system online.”

“Complete surveillance of the city achieved with a total coverage area of 97.5 per cent. Personnel have been sent out to monitor the blind spots. “

“Sub teams A, B, C and D have split up to find the quest targets. The fastest among them will take 18 minutes to make contact while the slowest will take 34 minutes.”

“Monitors are in position.”

“Combat personnel are ready and in position.”

“All units receiving loud and clear.”

“The Inspector is now taking over the command.”

Inside the Bentley Continental, Shen had one hand on the steering wheel as he drove while his other hand pressed the side of his glasses, one with a micro-headset embedded into it, giving him full information on every action taken by his guild here.

Then he finally spoke up.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I will be the Inspector for this time’s instance dungeon. As of now, I will be taking over the command for this instance dungeon’s operations as the highest authority from the guild.”

The sounds from the headset immediately died away. After a few seconds, an excited voice came, “Is… … is that esteemed Guild Leader?”

“It is I,” said Shen with a smile as his car made a turn around a corner. Then, he suddenly stepped on the brake and stopped the car in the middle of the street.

After turning off the car’s engine, he pushed open the car door, moved until he was standing beside the street where he observed the empty street.

“I shall now give the orders. Except for the four sub teams in charge of securing the quest targets, all other combat personnel are to immediately move out from the preparation point. All of you are to move out and assume offensive stances; your targets of attack are… … with the exclusion of our guild members, everyone you suspect to be a participant in this instance dungeon!

“The Eye of Heaven is operational and monitoring all of the city. Ladies and gentlemen, observe clearly. A major part of Jerusalem has become devoid of humans! As of right now, those who are moving outside, running or driving, must certainly be participants from other guilds!

“I command you all, begin an all-out offensive!

“I repeat, all-out offensive!”

…

The jeep made a turn through a corner and Chen Xiaolian looked at the time. Seven minutes had passed.

It was at that moment that a burst of gunfire suddenly rang out!

Tat tat! Tat tat tat! Tat tat tat tat tat tat…

Chen Xiaolian’s heart sank rapidly! Before he could exchange glances with Qiao Qiao, he suddenly heard the sound of a loud explosion coming from far away!

The roaring sound caused the windows of their jeep to vibrate and buzz! Spying past the building beside the street, they were able to see a ball of flames rising up into the sky…

It seemed as though some people were fighting in the distance!

“Roddy!”

Chen Xiaolian quickly called out to Roddy, who was responsible for surveillance, through their guild channel.

“I am here!”

“What is going on? Someone is exchanging gunfire on the streets!”

It did not take long for Roddy to reply.

“At a point around 1.5 kilometres away from your location, two parties are engaged in a fire fight on a cross street. I see an armed armoured vehicle; they’re using a rocket launcher… ah, here comes another!”

Boom!

At the same time, Chen Xiaolian heard the sound of an explosion.

Lun Tai entered the guild channel and said, “I can hear the sounds of gunfire here as well. However, there is quite a distance between the sounds and us.”

Roddy quickly added, “According to my monitor, battles have broken out in three areas right now!”

“What is going on here?” Chen Xiaolian’s heart sank!

Logically speaking, the first phase should only be to search for their respective quest targets!

How did they end up fighting each other?

Additionally, according to the progress rate of normal instance dungeons, the present instance dungeon should only be playing host to Awakened ones. Players had yet to enter!

Awakened Guilds should be prioritizing the search for their quest targets in the first phase. Why would they run out to start a fight?

Additionally, they started a fight in three places?

This… … this is not a coincidence!

Someone is… … fishing in troubled waters?

Having arrived at that line of thought, Chen Xiaolian quickly informed Roddy through the guild channel, “From this moment on, monitor Lun Tai’s and my route and keep an eye on our surroundings! If anyone suspicious comes close, warn us! Our personal radars are unable to detect Awakened ones that are not in combat state. So, we will need you to support us with your surveillance capacity.”

“All right, I will be keeping an eye…” Roddy quickly replied through the guild channel. “Lun Tai, you are now very close to your quest target. I suggest that you stop using the jeep and go on foot. You will be hitting a steep flight of stairs in front.”

“Roger that.”

Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath and glanced at Qiao Qiao, who picked up a gun and wound down the windows. She went on the alert and aimed the gun outside.

…

“4 o’clock, 12 o’clock, and…”

Tian Lie stood before the hotel window and suddenly burst into laughter. “How lively! This instance dungeon has just begun, but we have already started shooting at each other?”

Nicole harrumphed and wore a tactical vest over her body. “Are you not moving out to find your quest target? Who is your target?”

“Someone with a very strange name,” replied Tian Lie as he checked the time. “No hurry, we have an hour. It has only been… … less than 10 minutes.”

Nicole gave him a glance and said, “I don’t have time to bother with you. I need to go find my quest target. If you end up failing this first phase and get kicked out as a result, you had better wipe that shitty expression off your face in the future!”

After saying that, Nicole turned and moved to jump down from the balcony.

“Hey!”

Tian Lie suddenly stopped Nicole.

“What are you doing?”

“Tell me the name of your quest target.”

“… … and why?” Nicole frowned.

“It would be for the better if you tell me. Something good might come off it.” Tian Lie smiled.

Nicole snorted, turned and jumped down from the balcony.

However, before her figure disappeared from sight, Tian Lie heard her uttering out a name.

He shrugged and returned to the hotel room. Next, he opened a laptop and extended a finger.

The shape of his finger quickly transformed to resemble a USB port before inserting itself into the laptop…

…

On the street, Nicole had just opened the car door and moved to sit inside when she suddenly heard the walkie-talkie on her waist ring.

Nicole impatiently picked it up and listened as Tian Lie’s annoying sound came from the walkie-talkie.

“Shitface calling Ferocious Bitch, Shitface calling Ferocious Bitch.”

“Bastard! What are you up to?” Nicole shouted angrily.

“Would you like to know the exact location of your quest target?”

“… … …” Nicole was surprised for a moment. “You… have it? How could you have it?”

“I just have it,” replied Tian Lie with a smile. “Do you want to know?”

“Out with it!”

Tian Lie snickered. “Not that easy. Don’t you know the rules of using walkie-talkie? Since I said Shitface calling Ferocious Bitch, you should reply: Ferocious Bitch receiving. That is how it should be.”

“I am not as bored as you!”

“If you won’t say it, then I will not tell you. Oh, right, the distance between you and your quest target is quite long! You see, you are just wasting your own time now.”

Nicole was silent for a few seconds.

Tian Lie, who was seated inside the room with the walkie-talkie in hand, finally heard Nicole’s voice, one with suppressed fury, coming from the walkie-talkie.

“Ferocious Bitch receiving… … please tell me!”

“Ha ha ha ha!” Tian Lie laughed out loudly. “All right! Shitface to Ferocious Bitch, the coordinate for your quest target is… XXXX Street… … hurry up and go, it is not that far away from this hotel, just less than 20 minutes.”

After saying that, Tian Lie tossed away the walkie-talkie and leisurely shut down the laptop.

He then moved into the washroom to pee. Next, he took his time as he washed his hands and combed his hair.

“Sigh, a bald head would make me feel more spirited!” Tian Lie said as he looked at his own reflection on the mirror.

Soon, his reflection in the mirror transformed from ‘Da Gang’ to ‘Tian Lie’.

“Oh, a few minutes have passed.” After leaving the washroom, Tian Lie checked the time before opening the hotel door to leave.

Without showing any trace of hurry, he took the elevator and listened to the elevator music as he rode down.

When he was walking out of the hotel lobby, he picked up a free newspaper from the lobby service, reading as he walked out into the street…

…