Chapter Sixty: Seeking Allies

As Chen Hao had anticipated, after he relayed the information he’d gathered to Lin Hei’er, she said, “With Sister Cuiyun and me here, dealing with thirty constables is no trouble. The real difficulty is the hundred strangers—if they’re armed with foreign demon weapons, it’ll be hard to handle. We’ll need to find some helpers.”

Cuiyun shook her head. “Our foundation in Qilu Province is thin. Both Zhao Sanduo and Yan Shuqin are up in Hebei—where could we find so many helpers on short notice?”

Lin Hei’er smiled. “Don’t worry, Yun-niang. If the Stone of Three Lives can summon a hundred strangers as pawns for the authorities, I’d wager you, Nephew Baxian, can also find some strangers to help.”

Chen Hao nodded. “I can indeed call on some strangers, but this is a dangerous business—the kind that could get your head chopped off. Without substantial benefits, it’ll be hard to persuade others. So…”

Lin Hei’er nodded. “Of course, I know recruiting strangers comes at a price. With my authority, I can call twenty, and Yun-niang can call another twenty. Nephew Baxian, do your best to find some real experts.”

The authorities' side had issued a task for a hundred players, but Lin Hei’er and Cuiyun could only recruit forty to help. That was because the authorities’ hundred players were out in the open, unaware that players would ambush them. Players from the Boxer side would collect the task from Lin Hei’er and Cuiyun, but the authorities’ players wouldn’t get a system notification; only when both sides started fighting would the dual-sided task be generated.

Thus, Chen Hao didn’t feel at a disadvantage. The authorities wouldn’t escort the prisoners to Laizhou until tomorrow, giving him most of a day to find help.

Success in this task promised great rewards. Acting as a recruiter in place of NPCs, Chen Hao naturally prioritized his own circle. Of the forty slots, seven were already taken by himself, Bai Huhu, and other monsters. He considered inviting classmates from real life, but ultimately gave up.

Though real-life classmates were more trustworthy, finding thirty who were natives of Qilu Province was possible, but finding real experts among them was difficult.

Players’ basic attributes were low; those on the ambush side wouldn’t have much of an advantage. Facing forty against a hundred was a steep challenge—the remaining thirty-three needed to be highly skilled.

Given his grudge against the Stone of Three Lives, Chen Hao was determined to ensure the ambush succeeded without fail. He logged into the game forum. After a player chose a name in-game, the system generated an ID with that name on the forum; his forum name was also Chen Baxian.

“Hidden Task Seeking Helpers”

Chen Hao posted a thread on the forum, claiming he’d received a hidden task and needed three helpers. He didn’t state outright that he needed thirty-three, fearing the Stone of Three Lives might get suspicious upon seeing the thread.

Since he and the Stone of Three Lives were both in Penglai County, if the latter saw him recruiting dozens of helpers, he might guess there was a dual-sided task.

Against this opponent, Chen Hao dared not let his guard down; caution was best.

He specified that players who wished to join must have a fighting stat of at least 30. Those following the shooting path must possess a breech-loading rifle or pistol. Qualified players could contact him via QQ.

Though he stated in the post that he needed only three helpers, he would recruit as many qualified players as possible who reached out.

Soon, nearly a hundred friend requests flooded his QQ. Chen Hao created a group and accepted them all.

“Boss Chen, my fighting stat is 35. I charged with you in Qinghe County—can I join this time? If you allow, I’ll hurry over from Qinghe.”

Chen Hao replied, “It’ll cost five silver dollars to get from Qinghe to Penglai, ten for a round trip. I don’t know what reward this task will yield. Are you sure you want to come?”

“Haha, no problem! Doing tasks with you is invigorating. I’ll catch a carriage right away—I can spend some time in Penglai.”

Over fifty players who’d attacked the Qinghe Cathedral with him messaged, but only twenty-eight met the criteria. Chen Hao told them not to come immediately; they should gather at Penglai’s north gate the next morning. He planned to recruit five more before returning to the game.

He hadn’t realized his forum fame; after confirming arrangements with previous collaborators, he checked QQ system notifications and discovered nearly a thousand friend requests. He set QQ to refuse new requests, accepted ten, and intended to select five from them.

“Hello! My in-game name is Situ Feng, shooting stat 32, special skill dual pistols, equipped with two standard Mauser pistols. Can I join the task?”

Soon another player messaged. Reviewing the stats and equipment, Chen Hao was surprised. This was a true expert—why would he be interested in an unknown task?

He replied, “Buddy, I don’t know what the reward for this task is. Are you sure you want to participate?”

“Absolutely. I’ll follow Boss Chen’s command,” came a message with a smiley.

Why would such an expert be interested in a task where he’d be working for someone else, especially one with unknown rewards? Chen Hao wondered.

Situ Feng quickly replied, “Haha, Boss Chen, you’re too cautious! I also participated in the cathedral task, but I was on defense, and the commander. That battle ended in your favor, so I’m curious about you. When I saw you looking for helpers on the forum, I reached out.”

When Chen Hao led the attack on the cathedral, he’d noticed ingenious defensive arrangements inside, but these were all aimed at NPCs. Only then did he realize that luck had played a part in capturing the cathedral—the defenders’ oversight in not guarding against player attacks had enabled him to seize it in one go.

Had those fortifications been used against players, rushing the cathedral would have been impossible.

After Situ Feng explained his motivation, Chen Hao replied with a smiley: “Looking forward to working together. Let’s meet tomorrow at 8 a.m. at the north gate of Penglai County.”

“Looking forward to it,” Situ Feng responded. “Boss Chen, have you found your three helpers yet? If not, I can find two more, both skilled solo players.”

“Thanks in advance—have them join you.”

Chen Hao revealed nothing about the task, unconcerned about ill intentions. Tomorrow morning, Lin Hei’er and Cuiyun would issue the task at the north gate; once players accepted, they’d enter task mode and couldn’t log off or remove their game helmets, leaving no opportunity to send warnings.

After selecting two more skilled players to reach thirty-three, Chen Hao returned to the game, sending messenger pigeons to Bai Huhu and the other six, instructing them to gather at the north gate the next morning.

With everything arranged, he headed to the patrol camp east of the city. He’d already let his character rest in the carriage; before undertaking the task, it was just right to practice his marksmanship.