Chapter 58: New Patch

Chapter 58: New Patch

In the wilderness.

The tricycle cart convoy traveled along the bumpy ground, rattling and shaking, causing Mia, seated on a cart, to feel dizzy and nauseous. Every bone in her body ached from the bumpy journey.

She could endure the physical discomfort by gritting her teeth, but the mental stress was pushing her to the brink of crumbling.

Clutching her small bundle of belongings tightly, Mia tried to curl up her legs to find some comfort. Her face was pale, and goosebumps were all over her skin.

Beside her feet... were several rolled-up bundles of cloth.

Due to the limited space in the cart, these bundles weren't just pressed against Mia's legs but were also touching the legs of the other four women riding in the same cart.

As the cart jolted along, the clacking sound of bones knocking occasionally sounded.

Mia gripped her bundle of belongings tightly as she kept her attention on these seemingly casually wrapped bones, afraid to look away...

Of the other four women traveling with Mia, the youngest was already in her mid-thirties. Years of non-stop weaving had severely damaged their eyesight, and their physical strength was greatly diminished from prolonged sitting. Although the women knew that the things sharing the cart with them were unusually eerie, none of them had the energy to protest. And after a short while of bouncing up and down, they dozed off in succession.

Only Mia, who was relatively young, faced this alone.

If these were ordinary skeletal remains, Mia wouldn't be this afraid.

Those who lived a life of poverty and struggled to survive weren't startled by much. Many times, Mia had seen people starve to death in their homes, and their remains carried out and discarded. She had also seen fellow commoners sent back from the plantations with their bodies completely mangled.

The problem, however, was that these skeletal remains seemingly wrapped up casually were far from ordinary...

While she was all tensed up, one of the rolled-up bundles at the bottom of the cart suddenly expanded, causing Mia to shudder uncontrollably.

The heap of bones floated up from within the bundle along with an eerie clacking.

Mia's eyes widened in shock, and she immediately covered her mouth.

Just as she had witnessed several times before, these various human bones swiftly zipped around and assembled themselves into a complete skeleton in a matter of seconds as if manipulated by invisible hands.

The moment it was "assembled," the skeleton came alive and bent down to pick up and wear its clothing and gear. While putting on its clothes, it seemed to call out to its fellow undead nearby who were jogging lethargically along with the convoy.

Those undead keeping pace with the convoy also followed suit and joined in the rambunctious shrieking.

On the cart, Mia, who was once more completely ignored, heaved a huge sigh of relief. Still shaking, she lowered her hand and continued to clutch her little bundle while staring fixedly at the tattered sandals on her feet.

Regardless of how many times she witnessed this scene, she would still feel terrified.

But she should be safe as long as she didn't draw the attention of these undead... Mia tried to reassure herself.

After all, each new day she was alive was like a treasure. The discomfort of riding in the shabby cart, as unpleasant as it was, was still better than being stuck in a dark room weaving and enduring scoldings for just wanting a little more bread.

She hadn't touched a spinning machine for a whole week, and yet she was still receiving food.

If... if she reached the town mentioned by the black mage, she could live there like a normal family with her neighbor, Uncle Carter. She wouldn't have to endure scoldings for wanting an extra slice of bread. No matter how frightening these undead were, Mia could endure it.

"There's an update announcement on the official site!"

Previously, materials could only be exchanged for reputation, and the prestige obtained from high-quality materials was mainly for the competition among the big players vying for the position of mayor. Ordinary players hadn't needed to grind territory prestige, so the prices of Uncommon-grade materials and higher didn't fluctuate much.

Now that the "Undead Merchant Association" had been launched, even ordinary players who weren't interested in competing for the mayor's position needed to use high-quality materials and territory prestige to exchange for top-tier equipment. With such a large demand-supply gap, it was near certain that prices would rise.

"That's why I said we should form a regular team just now!" Tang Jia used her signature loud voice to shout energetically. "With a regular team, we can grind monsters together, and when materials drop, we'll split them evenly among us. We can save up materials without spending a penny and exchange them for good equipment! Our team is still short of members, anyone interested in joining?"

The unaffiliated players had been waiting for this opportunity and immediately signed up enthusiastically.

"Count me in, count me in!"

"Please add me, I'm always online!"

Tang Jia wasted no time and immediately asked about the online hours of these unaffiliated players and promised to add them to the team's WeChat group once she logged out.

At the head of the convoy, Ji Tang, who was taking the lead in Unceasing Entropy's stead, turned back and looked at the enthusiastic players, smiling while shaking his head.

As someone who knew the truth about the game "OtherWorld," Ji Tang often found the players' silly antics annoying... but overall, they were quite adorable. At least in Ji Tang's eyes, they were much more endearing than some of the natives in this world.

The players viewed capturing the mercenary pursuers as a special quest set up by the system with rewards for their hard work and efforts, but when Ji Tang set up the ambush, he understood what these well-equipped but unorganized and undisciplined folks were really about.

This group wasn't there to be "mobs" for players to farm but was a private armed force with the purpose of murdering civilians.

Ji Tang had never been on a mission abroad, but some of his comrades had been in peacekeeping forces. As a Chinese soldier, Ji Tang didn't think highly of foreign private armed forces, let alone the regular armies of some nations on Earth.

It might be hard for ordinary Chinese people to understand, but the reality was that even some of the so-called civilized countries' military on Earth could remain indifferent to the deaths of people in other countries (or even their own).

From the post-World War II era until the 21st century, the widespread issue of PTSD among soldiers from multiple countries spoke volumes—there were very few disciplined armies that refrained from mistreating and killing civilians as well as prisoners of war.

If legitimate militaries were like this, then private armed forces were even worse.

Players regarded the people in this "game world" as virtual data, as NPCs, and they were on the lookout for NPCs wearing good gear, but at least, players wouldn't take pleasure in killing civilians.

When a "quest" required players to take care of these civilians, this bunch might not go as far as to be warm and kind, but they would at least do what needed to be done.

The zombie general stayed behind at Desolate Outpost, and now, Ji Tang led the team forward alone, silently contemplating all that he had seen and heard over these few days.

Now, it seems that this Lord Yang intends to increase the population of Taranthan. He is using materials, reputation, and other means to motivate players to grind monsters, all to eliminate hidden dangers?

So... Lord Yang's intention is to establish and develop the territory of Taranthan?

Other "advanced NPCs" show signs of reluctance and impatience when dealing with players. The only one who treats players normally, besides the Weapons Master, Charlie Rex, is Lord Yang.

Could these two individuals be related to that "target" on Earth? Or perhaps one of them is the "target," the one promoting the "OtherWorld" game on Earth?

What exactly is the objective of this game...

Ji Tang's head started to ache the more he thought about it. He wasn't particularly skilled at dealing with such matters.

Nevermind... Let the experts handle these questions. I should focus on doing what I can.

"Brother Tang! Brother Tang!"

A player sped over from the back of the convoy using "Basic Wind Manipulation" while shouting anxiously. "Something is wrong! It looks like an NPC in our team is about to die!"

Ji Tang nearly jumped from being startled. "What?!"