Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 606 - 294 Random Mission_2

Chapter 606: Chapter 294 Random Mission_2

After the crude effects on the control panel, a serum needle appeared. Mission: There is one person on the train infected with the zombie virus who is currently in the incubation period and, thus, shows no symptoms. Please find the infected individual and inject them with the serum needle. Mission time is ten minutes. Special note: Once the infected person shows symptoms, they will die immediately and cannot be cured by a medical bed. Injecting the serum needle will not save their life.

Everyone was stunned, trying to find a symptom-less patient, knowing that once the disease manifests, it’s fatal. The task setter was shamelessly treacherous.

Lin Wu suggested, "Let’s throw all the NPCs off the train and trash the serum needle. I think the money they paid for the tickets is definitely less than what I would earn as a beggar."

"That’s money you earned by killing people," Maya retorted indignantly.

Lin Wu held up his police badge: "Hey, hey!"

Not having time to waste on him, Maya arranged: "There are still nine passengers. Excluding Shuihua, each person takes responsibility for two NPCs. Ask them where they’re from, whom they’ve encountered, whether they drank dirty water, and look for any possible clues."

Lin Wu, either countering or hinting, said, "The mission says there is one person on the train, and one person includes not just NPCs but also players."

Maya was stunned for a moment, then looked at Lin Wu, "What you’ve said makes a lot of sense."

"Really?" Lin Wu was somewhat surprised. It felt like a poor student who had suddenly addressed the teacher’s puzzle in a backtalking fashion, nervous and anxious.

Maya said, "If we fail the mission, the punishment will depend on the specific situation. Let’s assume an NPC is infected with the virus, and we fail the mission, meaning we lose an NPC, or an infected NPC attacks other passengers, resulting in multiple losses. Thus, the phrase ’depending on the situation’ becomes very ambiguous. Therefore, there’s another possibility that one of the players is infected, and if we don’t discover it, we’ll lose a companion."

Lin Wu raised his hand: "I’m fine, I’m a Blood Plague survivor, immune to the zombie virus."

The trio from Hong Yi were shocked: "There’s such a trait?"

Lin Wu smiled smugly: "Talented and virtuous, essential. Hold on!" Not knowing who had kicked him under the blanket, what a bunch of rascals.

With a swift motion, Maya flung off the blanket, and the four remaining people huddled together shivering, as Maya said, "Check the NPCs first, then the players. Let’s get to work."

Shuihua commented, "I have great respect for those who manage to get out of bed on time in winter, saying ’off with the blanket’ and doing just that."

"Let’s go, let’s go." Everyone helped each other up from the ground and headed toward the passenger cars.

A system message indicated that Town Number One was Human Town, free of the zombie virus. This was the most critical clue. Therefore, the first question everyone asked the NPCs was where are you from? Not a single darling of mine.

This question sifted through all the NPCs; they all came from Town Number One and had never left it. Either there was a system error with the misinformation provided, or a player was infected with the virus.

Three minutes went by, and everyone gathered at the front of the train to recall the situation when shoveling coal, but it didn’t make sense. Lin Wu said, "Missions are random; you can accept them or not. Dawn can take action against NPCs but has no reason to harm us without cause. If we’re infected with the virus, then we are indeed infected."

Undoubtedly, Lin Wu’s words made sense. While everyone was deep in thought, Shuihua, with more social experience, asked a question: "Did you ask the NPCs about their profession?"

"No," came the reply.

Shuihua reminded, "Some professions are inherently prone to lying."

Lin Wu: "This, can we even write this?"

Shuihua: "Folk professions."

So everyone returned to the passenger cars, and this line of questioning indeed brought issues to light. The first was a fund manager, who would always take a commission whether he made money for you or not, spinning tales to get people to give him their money.

The second was a certain type of insurance salesman who promised everything would be covered at the time of taking out a policy, but when it came time to claim, this and that wouldn’t be covered.

The third was a salesman for elderly nutritional supplements, claiming that consuming his product could help one live to three hundred years old.

The fourth was a proprietor of preservative-free ready-to-eat meals with a shelf life of up to one year.

The fifth was a fifty-year-old internet celebrity known for her beauty filter skills.

With five minutes left, the four of them stood together looking at the NPCs, their morale somewhat shattered.

Lin Wu was struck by an idea, pulling out a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket: "Our purpose in asking everyone is because we found a hundred dollars outside Town Number One. Since you all have never left Town Number One, it means none of you is the rightful owner."

The ready-meal boss immediately stood up, "I escaped from Pipa Town to Human Town No. 1 yesterday."

The old lady and the health product salesman also stood up, each saying they had arrived at Human Town No. 1 the day before. The boss was very excited, pulling out his bus ticket and saying, "There were reports of unidentified illnesses in Pipa Town, which is why I left."

Maya looked at the other two, "Why did you go to Human Town No. 1?"

They glanced at each other, ready to speak, when Lin Wu took out a revolver, "Without evidence, speak out of turn, and it’s shoot first, kill later." Consequently, the two sat back down in silence.

Upon administering the injection to the boss, the system prompted: Mission successful.

Lin Wu patted the manager and the insurance salesman on the shoulders, "You are honest folks, those who have risen above petty desires, I misunderstood you."

Hong Yi asked, puzzled, "Why apologize?"

Lin Wu replied, "There are honest people even in these professions. But the remaining three are beyond dispute, because without lying, they wouldn’t make money."

As the mission succeeded, the control panel, with its cheap special effects of twinkling starlight, revealed a card: Three-choice Occupation Card.

The three professions were: Guide, Peddler, and Bounty Hunter.

Bounty Hunter: Can accept wanted notices from Human Town, hunting down fugitives to earn money and fame rewards.

Peddler: Can sell goods to passengers on the train, enjoy discounts on purchases and high prices on sales during trades with humans, and unlock hidden trade goods.

Guide: Can access transportation information, including route and upcoming station details.

Everyone once again looked unanimously at Maya, Lin Wu watching particularly intently, so much so that Maya felt like hitting him.

After contemplating, Maya said, "We’re not sure how many Human Towns there are; there are many tasks in Human Town, and there’s no need for us to risk chasing down fugitives. What we need to consider are the Guide and Peddler; the Peddler’s fundamental abilities relate to Human Town. This event’s most important aspect is the train, money is just an auxiliary, hence I choose the Guide."

Looking around, and seeing no objections, Maya appointed Hong Yi as the Guide.

Following the appointment, Hong Yi immediately reported, "At standard speed, we’ll arrive at Human Town No. 2 in four hours. We will pass through the dangerous area of Black Wind Village, with an average temperature of negative five degrees along the way. Human Town No. 2 is Zombie Town."

As they neared Human Town No. 2, the only warning message displayed on the control panel was: Human Town No. 2 is Zombie Town. Clearly, the Guide was more reliable than the control panel.

Maya asked, "How long until we reach Black Wind Village?"

Hong Yi answered, "The map only shows the location, not the distance; by estimate, about two more hours."

Lin Wu looked worriedly at the passenger carriage, "Do we have to compensate if a passenger dies? Even if we don’t, where will we find nine graves?"

Hong Yi laughed, "Lin Wu, your imagination always astounds me."

Maya ignored their banter and said, "Hong Yi and I will use the repeater gun; Qinglang and Lin Wu will use the handgun. Lin Wu, you and Qinglang practice reloading. Hong Yi and I will practice reloading the repeater gun."

Lin Wu said, "Is that necessary? We should be conserving our strength and biding our time."

Accustomed to ignoring him, Maya told Lin Wu and Qinglang, "Reload the gun once."

Lin Wu, wearing an unhappy expression, took out his handgun and gave it a flick, ejecting the cylinder. He shook out six bullets, held them in his hand, and loaded them one by one, before pushing the cylinder back into place.

Maya nodded, "You can go rest on the side."

Qinglang, however, was in trouble. It was his first time handling a revolver and whether it was during loading or attempting to insert bullets smoothly, he struggled, or the bullets didn’t fully push into the chamber. Without Maya’s command, he obediently went to the dormitory to practice loading.

Maya demonstrated the reloading process of the repeater gun. She took out two bullets, held one in her mouth, then loaded and fired, before loading the bullet from her mouth into the chamber. Two bullets at a time to reduce the time spent digging for bullets.

Lin Wu, who had been watching with amusement, suddenly had a brainwave. He made a face at Hong Yi and shouted loudly. Hong Yi, startled, inhaled the bullet that had been in her mouth, nearly swallowing it. Before Hong Yi could recover, Lin Wu had already crouched down, cradling his head in his arms, causing Hong Yi to burst into uncontrollable laughter. Lin Wu, seizing the opportunity, apologized for his prank.

The prank had no purpose, it was simply a spur-of-the-moment impulse.

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