Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 71 - 66: First Eliminate the Traitors, Then Destroy the Enemies!

Chapter 71: Chapter 66: First Eliminate the Traitors, Then Destroy the Enemies!

Players were all praising with various 666s.

It must be said, that assassin player was indeed fierce, and what was key was that her thought process was quite unique.

While other players were still stubbornly focusing on the actors and the local militia, she became interested in the rooftop shadow servants of the theater and spent the entire night battling it out with one.

And she even managed to kill it in the end?

It seemed she was as merciless as the previously anonymous assassin!

This kill meant that this shadow servant could be eliminated, which obviously helped increase the overall success rate of the plan.

And more importantly, the city defense map they obtained after the kill!

Chuge replied, "This city defense map is actually critical. Its greatest significance is not in the defense itself, but in the information it carries!

"Such maps, definitely not just anyone can get their hands on them. Even if that scholar managed to infiltrate the city, he wouldn’t be able to run up to the city wall to gather information under the eyes of so many soldiers.

"So, this map most likely came from someone relatively high up in the city.

"That the bandits could invade the city so quickly also clearly came from their prior knowledge of the city walls’ weak spots from the map.

"That is to say... the traitor is likely someone high up in the city!"

As soon as this reasoning came out, the players were startled again.

"Plant willows without intention, and the willows grow into shade! We suspected so many traitors before, but the biggest traitor turned out to be a high-ranking character?"

"... So does that mean my efforts last night were all in vain? I completely looked in the wrong direction!"

"Thinking about it, it makes sense, who else could get their hands on such information about city defense? Even if Wang Jinhui was a screw-up, he’s not in that position, and even if he wanted to be a traitor, he wouldn’t qualify."

"Damn, could it be County Magistrate Tang..."

"Definitely not County Magistrate Tang, he died in battle."

"What about Gao Ze?"

"Gao Ze doesn’t seem like it either. Didn’t Boss Huo say that he too died in the theater? If they were traitors, they definitely wouldn’t actually die in battle."

"Then there really isn’t anyone else, right? We can’t possibly check every soldier and militia member, right? Besides, ordinary soldiers and militia probably wouldn’t be able to get their hands on a city defense map either."

The players all voiced their own speculations.

But no matter how much they guessed, it was still hard to come to a conclusion about who the traitor was.

Regardless, after their second discussion, the full picture of the instance was finally about to emerge.

It seemed they were just one step away from finally breaking through!

...

At 10 p.m.

Zhao Haiping re-entered the Trial Illusion.

During the day, he had carefully summarized all the information on the forums and seriously discussed it with faster-progressing players like Chuge, Yun Ying, and Xia Ruoling.

Everyone had some guesses on how to finally solve the instance.

But these guesses would only be verified tonight.

"So...

"It’s time for revenge!"

Zhao Haiping first chose Yang Xinyan’s identity, then chose the talent of mountain of corpses and sea of blood.

Because he wanted to try to complete the plan of setting the theater on fire using Yang Xinyan!

Chuge had already analyzed that only with Yang Xinyan’s physical condition could one possibly avoid being killed by the Eastern Barbarian Shadow Servant and get the message out.

Zhao Haiping wasted no time and after leaving through the theater’s secret door, he rushed towards You Jiang and the others!

Yang Xinyan’s physical condition was among the best in the characters of this instance, so he was very fast.

Just as planned, after some time, the Eastern Barbarian Shadow Servant indeed caught up. Under the cover of You Jiang and the local militia, Zhao Haiping recklessly sprinted towards Gao Ze and finally managed to get there.

The Shadow Servant, alone, dared not pursue further and had to retreat back into the darkness.

Zhao Haiping had sustained a few injuries, but for him, they were trivial.

Then it was simple. Zhao Haiping informed Gao Ze of the plan to set the theater on fire, then dispatched some militia to fetch the fire oil to accomplish the plan.

Then... before the fire was set, the rooftop shadow servants discovered them, and the bandits burst forth, initiating a bloody battle.

In the end, Zhao Haiping’s portrayal of Yang Xinyan died bravely, with his mission almost complete.

However, Zhao Haiping had no feeling of loss, because he had anticipated that it was likely to fail this time.

After all, they had only completed the line of transmitting information and setting the theater on fire, with the traitor and the watching shadow servants still unresolved.

But Zhao Haiping’s efforts weren’t in vain, because as he died and returned to the initial state in the Trial Illusion, a new prompt that he had never seen before finally appeared in his view.

[Key character identity correction successful!]

[Key Character: Yang Xinyan]

[This character’s image has been successfully set, and henceforth, he shall act in the corrected state!]

While this prompt appeared, a fragment of memory also naturally emerged in Zhao Haiping’s mind.

This effect wasn’t brought about by the golden talent for retrieving memory fragments.

Instead, it seemed more like a cutscene that automatically played after completing the objective of correcting a key character’s identity.

Yang Xinyan, exiting from the secret door of the theater, didn’t run away without hesitation like Wang Jinhui and the other troupe members, but instead turned his head to look towards the theater, towards the direction where Su Xianjun was.

Seeing the direction Wang Jinhui fled, Yang Xinyan knew that man indeed was unreliable.

He also recalled the almost certain-to-fail and deadly dangerous plan that Su Xianjun had told him about before leaving the theater.

However, after hesitating for a long time, Yang Xinyan silently sighed, made up his mind, and ran towards the direction where the local militia were.

As these fragments of memory gradually integrated, Zhao Haiping felt a special sensation, as if the entire Trial Illusion had undergone some subtle changes that were hard to detect.

This was because Yang Xinyan’s image had been twisted and set.

Excitedly, Zhao Haiping couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional.

"It really was him!

"Well, I can only say that the deceptive nature of this instance indeed is too strong.

"The key thing is that the memory fragments of Yang Xinyan seen while playing as Su Xianjun were not only unhelpful, but they even misled...

"The designer of this game is the true monster, aren’t they?

"Just a slight manipulation at a critical node made the outcome hugely different."

The original Yang Xinyan indeed was weak and lacked the courage to become a "Overlord", simply wanting to live like an ordinary person.

He had a family, too many things he couldn’t let go of, so when faced with bandits, he cowered, intending to perform on stage to save his life.

But in the end, he made the right choice.

To become a hero or a coward might just depend on a single thought.

And the history altered by the monsters was precisely making Yang Xinyan make the diametrically opposite choice at the most critical node, creating strong deceit for the players.

"So, up next is... catching the mole!"

Zhao Haiping chose to start again as a civilian and returned to the moment when County Magistrate Tang and the militiamen were fighting a losing battle.

This battle was doomed to fail, but Zhao Haiping wanted to experience it again, obviously, because there were some details he had originally overlooked.

"No retreating!"

Seeing the situation was critical, Households Commander Xu shouted, trying to control his soldiers, yet some soldiers completely disregarded orders and fled.

Households Commander Xu was so angry that he gnashed his teeth, but just as he was distracted, a sharp barbarian blade chopped onto his armor.

Households Commander Xu fell to the ground at the sound.

County Magistrate Tang, crying "Loyalty to the King and Country," was killed by the bandits.

Gao Ze, seeing that the situation was hopeless, forcefully fought his way out with the intention of regrouping the militiamen to make another stand.

After fighting his way out with Gao Ze, Zhao Haiping, this time, didn’t follow the story line of Gao Ze, but returned to the battlefield after the Eastern Barbarian bandits had left.

He looked towards where Households Commander Xu had fallen, but found that his body was nowhere to be found.

"...Just as I thought!

"This damn traitor!"

Even though he knew all this was history that had already occurred, and even though he knew this was just a game, Zhao Haiping was still furious.

Why could the bandits storm into the county town so easily? Why did the Shadow Servant have a City Defense Map?

Why, even wearing armor, was Households Commander Xu hacked down with a single blow? Why did the bandits not finish him off when he fell, yet relentlessly and mercilessly pursued others?

The reason was simple: he was the biggest mole everyone was desperately searching for!

Households Commander Xu’s acting was indeed superb; during the battle with the bandits, he had displayed an appearance of righteousness and integrity, so much so that Zhao Haiping had no suspicions when he first saw him fall.

This opened up another puzzle.

There were two Shadow Servants among the Eastern Barbarian bandits, one chasing Wang Jinhui and others, and one guarding the theater rooftop.

According to Xia Ruoling, this Shadow Servant left for a while, but where he went was unknown as it was difficult to tail him due to his high vigilance.

Now, Zhao Haiping vaguely guessed where this Shadow Servant had gone.

Obviously, he went to a hiding spot prearranged with Households Commander Xu!

The next task then became simpler.

First eliminate the mole, then destroy the bandits!

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