[The Gentlemen's Hall]
Everyone sat quietly on brown-painted benches, waiting in silence.
Edmund took out a pocket watch with the family winged crest engraved on its interior lining.
“Today’s pace seems a bit slow... Is it because William joined the team? Usually, it only takes ten minutes for the task list to arrive, but it’s been nearly half an hour now.”
At the edge of the bench, Juliana, with her face covered by a black veil and hands lightly resting on her knees, spoke calmly:
“William hasn’t performed a mission in six months due to special circumstances, and he’s met the First Gentleman. Evaluating his abilities is probably challenging, so they’re likely discussing and deliberating upstairs.”
“That’s true. For someone capable of scoring over 95, it’s common to see them grinding tasks whenever they get a chance... Taking half a year off is practically unheard of. Let’s wait a bit longer.”
After forty minutes passed, a middle-aged man in a black tailcoat, white bow tie, and a tilted top hat approached.
With hollow cheeks and prominent cheekbones that gave off an air of sternness,
the man wore a badge on his chest signifying his special status.“Supervisor!”
Edmund, with his extensive experience, immediately recognized the badge and its corresponding role. The man was one of the Gentlemen’s Hall supervisors, primarily handling upper-level affairs and liaising with high-ranking gentlemen, doctors, and other elites. He rarely appeared in the lower-level areas.
The supervisor didn’t respond but instead turned his gaze to Yi Chen, scrutinizing him from head to toe.
His purpose in coming down was to see for himself what the newcomer accepted by the First Gentleman looked like and why he needed six months to recuperate.
After a thorough observation,
apart from the mysterious pet concealed on Yi Chen’s shoulder and the unmanifested 'insignia',
the supervisor could only conclude with two words: ordinary.
Compared to past prodigies who had encountered the First Gentleman upon arriving at Zion, Yi Chen lacked wild ambition or any particularly striking traits. Superficially, Edmund and the others appeared far more outstanding.
“To objectively consider your team’s composition, I’ve slightly increased the difficulty and carefully selected three missions.
Here is the list for you to choose from. If you find the tasks unsuitable, I can provide a replacement batch. However, the difficulty level won’t change significantly.”
“Understood.”
After handing over the envelope, the supervisor showed no intention of leaving. He sat down on a nearby bench, waiting for their decision. He even gestured for them to take their time, indicating he was in no rush.
Opening the envelope, they found three fine letters crafted from leather paper.
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1. [Sacrifice of the Ghost Village]
Incident Location: Southeastern forest of Helven Valley (72 km from Zion)
Pathogenic Analysis: Confirmed infection (100%)
- Category: Mental disorder
- Objective: Enter the primitive village, identify the source of the infection, and effectively seal off the area. Eliminate the root cause and all villagers—leave no survivors.
- Difficulty (Personnel): ★★★☆
Special Note: There is a high likelihood of encountering “severe patients” in the village, with a very small chance of encountering a 'Patient Zero'.
Patient Zero: Rare individuals infected by the pathogen but able to break free from its control during the “afflicted” stage, achieving absolute autonomy.
If you encounter and confirm a Patient Zero during the mission, attempt to persuade them to return to Zion or escort them to a nearby 'clinic' or 'cemetery'.
- Base Rewards: A certain amount of silver coins, a 20 cm × 20 cm piece of “Gentleman’s Skin” imbued with old-world essence, and +1 premium mission point.
- Additional rewards may be granted based on completion level, discovery of extra clues, etc.
- If over 20% of villagers escape, the mission will be considered a failure.
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2. [Suspected Pathogenic Apartment Building]
Incident Location: Dexton City (103 km from Zion)
- Previous excerpt: According to reports from local investigators, an apartment building at 73 Laken Street has seen frequent tenant disappearances (eleven cases so far). Investigators using conventional methods found no anomalies.
Pathogenic Detection: None found so far (suspected to be deeply hidden, with the pathogen in a latent growth stage).
Requirement: Assist Gentleman Investigator Lambert Chernovy in uncovering the cause of the apartment building's disappearance.
Difficulty (Persona): ?? (Difficulty cannot be assessed until the existence, grade, and type of pathogen are determined).
If a hidden pathogen is discovered, actions should be taken based on Investigator Lambert's judgment of the situation: eliminate the threat, request organizational support, or immediately retreat.
Special Reminder: The difficulty of this task cannot be assessed, and there is a potential risk that the apartment building itself may be the pathogen. Please carefully consider whether to accept this mission.
Reward: To be determined based on the final investigation and outcome of the incident.
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3. [Recovery of Secret Medicine]
Location of Incident: Vinal City (approximately 51 km from Zion).
Previous excerpt:
Two months ago, the "False Moon Incident" broke out in Vinal City, resulting in the immediate deaths of over 90% of the city's population. The entire city was paralyzed, eventually becoming ruins.
The ‘Twilight Clinic’, located on the outskirts of the city, was also severely affected and recently abandoned.
A week ago, a gentleman recovery team from the organization went to the 'Twilight Clinic' to retrieve the "secret medicine."
Due to incorrect information provided by the clinic, it was later discovered through manual verification that one bottle of the secret medicine had not been recovered.
Pathogenic Detection: A low probability of residual pathogens related to the "False Moon Incident" exists.
The primary pathogenic entity responsible for the False Moon Incident has already been completely eradicated by gentlemen between organizations, so there is no need for concern.
Requirements:
1. Proceed to the 'Twilight Clinic' to retrieve the missing bottle of secret medicine.
2. If the medicine cannot be found, use the organizationally issued Polaroid to photograph every corner of the clinic and obtain evidence indicating that the secret medicine may have been taken.
Difficulty (Persona): ★★★+? (It is uncertain whether remnants of the False Moon Incident are undergoing rapid growth, and the difficulty may exceed three stars).
Special Reminder: Once you confirm acceptance of this task, you may request access to partial information about the "False Moon Incident."
Base Rewards: Several silver coins, a 20 cm × 20 cm piece of Gentleman's Skin" with an old-world essence, and +1 premium mission point.
Additional rewards may be granted based on task completion, discovery of extra clues, etc.
If the secret medicine bottle is retrieved, each participant may receive one or more drops of the secret medicine's essence depending on performance.
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These three tasks left Edmund feeling a headache creeping in—each one more uncertain than the last.
Only the first task had somewhat stable difficulty, while the other two were highly variable.
The highest difficulty of tasks they’d accepted previously was two-and-a-half stars. Once, they encountered unexpected danger during a mission of that level, which nearly cost Dagobert a permanent loss of one arm. After returning, the team had to recover for half a month.
Of course, over the past six months, through study and real-world practice, all three team members had improved significantly. Furthermore, the team now included Yi Chen, who had accepted the role of the "First Gentleman."
Facing a three-star or even three-and-a-half-star mission was now a reasonable prospect.
Juliana, who rarely spoke, suddenly made a quiet suggestion:
“Captain… should we consider the third mission? Tasks involving secret medicine are extremely rare and typically only accessible to higher-ranking gentlemen.
According to the prelude, since the recovery team went there a week ago, they must have also cleared the clinic during the retrieval process.
If we could use this task to obtain some secret medicine essence in advance, it would undoubtedly benefit our future rank advancements.”
“We still don’t know what type of secret medicine it is, and the False Moon Incident might involve some ancient elements… I can’t make a firm decision yet. William, what do you think?”
Yi Chen responded simply, “I agree with Juliana. There’s a balance of risk and reward here.”
“Alright then~ Even if we ask for a substitute mission, the difficulty probably wouldn’t be much different. This one is also relatively close by. If we’re lucky enough, we might even retrieve the secret medicine in just one day.
But I have one condition.
We’ll officially execute this task tomorrow or the day after. This is our first time handling a three-star, or possibly higher difficulty, mission. We need to prepare thoroughly before departure.”
“Understood.”
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