Chapter 458: Quest Target Is?

Will was a special existence within this instance dungeon.

That was especially true considering what Chen Xiaolian had found after separating from the rest of the team back in Jerusalem.

In the nursing ward of the hospital, the over 70-year-old Will had called him Guild Leader before breathing his last.

A rather absurd theory was forming within Chen Xiaolian’s mind.

Furthermore, after the completion of this branch quest, the storyline was changed and the system made a special request.

Will’s importance within the storyline was raised by the system to an unprecedented level.

Protect the system’s quest target – this was not Chen Xiaolian’s first time seeing such a quest. He had faced such quests before more than once.

However, he had never seen the system put such a degree of importance on a quest target.

Should Will die, the system shall forcibly exterminate two of their teammates at random – this near unreasonable condition can naturally be interpreted as: This Will was very important! Very, very important!

A Demon King, a battle between the Demon Faction and the Light Faction.

The Demon Faction must do everything they can to ensure little Will’s survival… … not to mention, there was also the ultimate goal of activating a magic array…

When considering all the factors, there was no way to avoid associating them together.

Chen Xiaolian walked over and sat down beside Will. Seeing Chen Xiaolian move there, Qimu Xi and Xia Xiaolei, who had intended to sit beside Will, moved to the side and sat down.

At any rate, there was sufficient space within the Thunderstorm Tank.

When Chen Xiaolian sat down, an obvious look of panic could be seen on little Will’s face.

He raised his head and there was a look of surprise on his face. There was also a look of anxiousness and unease. “… … Guild Leader?”

Hearing the way Will addressed him, Chen Xiaolian’s burrows furrowed. He was unable to stop himself from recalling how the old patient known as Will in Jerusalem had also addressed him that way.

“Can we talk?” Chen Xiaolian sighed.

“Of course.” Little Will shrunk his neck back.

“No need to be afraid.” Chen Xiaolian reached out with his hand and patted him on his shoulder. Next, he did his best to speak in an amiable tone, “Will, I have a question for you… back home, do you have any other relatives? For example, your grandfather and others of the like.”

“No.” Little Will shook his head. “My grandfather died before I was born.”

Chen Xiaolian frowned and pondered it. “Can you tell me what you know about him?”

Little Will seemed somewhat troubled. “I… … don’t actually know much about him.”

“What is your grandfather’s name?”

Little Will answered the question promptly… … however, the name he gave felt unfamiliar to Chen Xiaolian. It was a very common Jewish name, without the word ‘Will’.

“Do you know what kind of person he was?”

Little Will considered the question. “I don’t really know… … however, I did hear that he had served as a soldier before. He joined the war and lost a leg in the war.”

One legged.

Chen Xiaolian sighed. That was not right.

“Ah, I remember now. I had heard before that my grandfather was always very fat.  According to what I heard, he suffered from a certain endocrine disorder. Thus, he had always been fat. Others would think that he was greedy and gluttonous, but it was all due to his sickness.”

That was totally wrong.

Chen Xiaolian went over his speculation once more.

One-legged, fat… … those features did not match the old Will he found in the nursing ward.

Chen Xiaolian smiled at Will and said, “All right, thank you for answering my questions.”

There was a puzzled look on little Will’s face. “Guild Leader… … did my answers help you?”

“Yes, you have helped a lot.” Chen Xiaolian comforted him.

Before he got up and left the spot, he made a signal to Qimu Xi so that she could come over and care for the little fellow.

Although Will wanted to go sit with Soo Soo, she had just gone through a battle and was not fully recovered. Soo Soo was presently resting in Qiao Qiao’s embrace, sleeping.

Chen Xiaolian moved without hesitation. He moved to the rear corner of the tank and hauled the electronics specialist youngster up. Then, he turned to the others and said, “I will be bringing him out for some fresh air.”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian opened up the cover. With one hand holding onto the electronics specialist youngster, he climbed up the Thunderstorm Tank and sat on top of it.

He casually chose a spot beside the turret and tossed the electronics specialist youngster down beside him.

“Let us talk.” Chen Xiaolian looked him in the eyes.

There was a look of despair in the youngster’s eyes.

“I never asked, what is your name?”

“… … Thirteen.” Seeing the brows rising on Chen Xiaolian’s face, the electronics specialist youngster quickly added. “That is my real name. It is just a name. There is no need for me to lie about my name.” He took a deep breath and quickly continued, “I grew up in an orphanage and I dislike my original name. Thus, I gave myself this name – mm, I ran away from the orphanage when I was 13 years old, so I named myself Thirteen. That is also my name in the guild.”

“Fine.” Chen Xiaolian nodded. “I believe you.”

“What else do you want to ask from me?” Thirteen appeared rather terrified. “About my guild, I have already told you everything – there is no need for me to hide anything. Everyone in my guild has been killed off. It is all gone, all its members gone, the guild gone. There is no need for me to lie anymore.”

“I believe that as well.” Chen Xiaolian nodded and looked at Thirteen. “How about we make a deal?”

“… …” Thirteen’s eyes lit up and he cast a cautious look at Chen Xiaolian.

“See, surely you don’t want to die. Everyone wants to live.”

Thirteen gulped. “Of course I don’t want to die, but… … will you all let me live? I don’t think so.”

“That is true; killing you will give us 1,500 points.” Chen Xiaolian deliberately revealed a smile. “However, at the end of the day, there is really not much grudge between us. You see, although you fellows ambushed us, none of us died. Instead, your team was the one to get wiped out. So… … letting you live is not out of the question. At any rate, none of us died.

“As for the 1,500 points… … I think if you can provide us with something worth more than 1,500 points…”

“I don’t have any extra points.” Thirteen’s face was wretched as he said, “Our guild had a very strict management. Every time the instance dungeon ends, everyone will send over the points acquired to boss One-eye. All the points were with him.”

The information surprised Chen Xiaolian. “Is that so?”

“I am telling the truth.” Thirteen feared that Chen Xiaolian would not believe him and he quickly said, “It is the truth! I really want to live! If I can hand over any points, I will certainly do so. However, there are less than 100 points in my personal system.”

“Fine, I trust you.” Chen Xiaolian narrowed his eyes and smiled.

The evening breeze blew his hair and they danced around in the wind. His smile made a chill run down Thirteen’s spine.

“I have no intention of snatching away your points.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “When I said you can provide us with something worth more than 1,500 points, I was referring to something else.”

“For example?” Thirteen’s eyes lit up again.

“For example… you are a member of the Light Faction,” Chen Xiaolian said slowly, “The system prompts given to the Demon Faction and the Light Faction are completely different.

“We need to know the contents of the system prompts given to the members of the Light Faction. It will be an important source of information and reference.

“For example, when will the system give our position away and how long will it last. In addition, will the system give those hunting us any additional assistance or rewards etc.

“Furthermore, I also want to know what the quest for the members of the Light Faction is…”

Thirteen was hesitant. “Just those? If I tell you those things, you will let me live?”

“Naturally, not right now.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “There is no way I would let you go right now. What I mean is, if you cooperate with me, then before we leave this instance dungeon, we will let you go.”

Thirteen hesitated.

“I will be honest. Both of us don’t trust each other,” Chen Xiaolian said coolly.  “I will be concerned that you are lying to me, giving me false information and misguiding us… … resulting in us besieged by the other game participants and die as a result – I think you are probably hoping that we would die. We did destroy your guild after all.”

Seeing that Thirteen was about to say something in defence, Chen Xiaolian raised a finger and waved it. “No, don’t bother trying to bluff. This is common sense. If you say you don’t hate us and don’t wish death upon us, I will think you are lying.”

Thirteen fell silent.

“In order to ensure that you are telling us the truth, we can only do this: Put you in the same boat as us! We live, you live. We die… you die!”

Thirteen’s eyes flickered.

“If you want to live, then you must first cooperate fully with us. Be sure to give us the real information you acquired from the Light Faction. It must not be fake! Only by doing so will our chances of surviving be increased. I don’t mind telling you this. Once we fall into a desperate state, the moment we face death… … I will disregard all and kill you off first.”

Thirteen’s body flinched and he considered it. “But… … even if I do not lie to you, tell you the complete truth, give you all the information without altering anything… … how can I be sure that you won’t go back on your words? In the end, after you all make it out alive, won’t you kill me?”

“You can only gamble on it.” Chen Xiaolian spread open both hands. “You only have two choices: You can choose not to believe me and give me false information. Then, before I die, I will most definitely kill you – do take note, I won’t care what you have to say, nor will I care if the dangers we faced then were connected to you… … I am sorry to say, at a time like this, I will not be reasonable. As long as we fall into a dangerous situation, once we face death, I will kill you!

“Or, you can choose to believe me and sincerely cooperate with me. In the end, I will let you go… naturally, you are free to doubt me. However, this is your only chance to survive.

“See? One of them leads to certain death, while the other leads to the possibility of survival. Which one will you choose?”

Thirteen was silent.

Chen Xiaolian revealed a faint smile. “Of course, you can choose to accept death and use yourself as bait, leading us with false information so that we would go to our deaths. Then, you will die together with us to avenge your fallen brethren – however, from what I can see, you are not such a chivalrous person.”

Clenching his teeth, Thirteen finally spoke up, “True, I don’t. I grew up in an orphanage and learnt something at a young age: Seize your own bread first.”

“See? If that is the case, we now have a basis for our cooperation.” Chen Xiaolian extended his hand toward Thirteen. “Are you willing to give it a try?”

“… …” Thirteen stared at Chen Xiaolian before revealing a bitter smile. “I have no other choice. I can only trust you… … you must promise, as long as you fellows manage to survive, you must not kill me!”

“I promise.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “My words are quite trustworthy, you know.”

“Fine, I too, promise not to lie. If you need any information, I will tell you all about it truthfully.” Thirteen’s voice was filled with seriousness. “We are on the same boat now.”

“Very good, we have a deal.”

As he spoke, Chen Xiaolian’s eyes narrowed and he smiled at Thirteen. “Now, let me get the first piece of information from you.”

“What do you want to know?”

Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath. “You fellows have gone through the first phase of this instance dungeon. I want to know, what is your quest in the first phase? Rather, what is the name of the quest target that the system gave you?”

…