T0 Gaming Guild Saves the World.

Chapter 49. Reward: 10 Stardust Pieces

“I am a person who hates trouble, and I believe that all of you who have been invited here today are the same. Let’s get straight to the point.”

Not everyone had arrived yet, but Duke Narum clearly didn't intend to leave empty-handed. He ordered someone to bring a scroll that was about two meters wide and six meters long, and spread it on a nearby table.

Magic surged, and a series of undulating, snow-capped mountains appeared above the scroll.

“The Screamer Snow Mountain.” Someone recognized the area where the scroll was displayed.

The northeastern border of the Ana Empire is shrouded in snow and extreme cold, with a harsh climate and sparse population.

The core permafrost layer is rumored to be able to bury eight levels of beings, so few people have ever set foot in this cold and desolate place.

Duke Narum snapped his fingers, and a soundproofing array was activated.

The personal mage stepped forward and began to explain.

“About 40 days ago, the Narum family’s caravan traveling on the Screamer Snow Mountain trade route disappeared without a trace.”

"Upon inquiry, it was found that dozens of caravans disappeared along the snow mountain road during the same period, with a total of more than 200 people and countless goods that disappeared. The contact points located near the snow mountain trade route have also stopped responding."

“Twenty days ago, a messenger from the northern border of the empire sent a message that villages near the contact point reported hearing faint cries for help late at night, but due to the heavy snow, they could not determine the direction.”

"To this day, the villagers living in this area have not found the remains of the caravan's victims, nor the lost goods."

After a long silence, someone asked.

"Your Grace, what do you want us to do?"

Narum replied, "Find traces of the caravan members. If they are alive, bring them back. If they are dead, at least find their remains and the goods."

"I need to know what happened."

"This is a well-established trade route. In the past few hundred years, no natural disaster has ever claimed so many lives."

"With people in a state of panic, the viability of trade routes has been questioned, and many people will suffer huge losses as a result."

Jiang Heyi lowered his voice and asked Anna, the tour guide beside him.

"With so many nobles, why not let the empire's elite investigate?"

The plain fries were stuffed with squid tentacles. With each chew, the squid tentacles trembled around the lips, looking like some kind of parasitized monster.

She mumbled, "Then it's not going to work... ugh... what if they find out something?"

The Screamer Great Snow Mountain trade route is indeed a well-established trade route, but it's not a legitimate one. Most of those who travel this route are smugglers from various empires.

These nobles of the Ana Empire made a fortune through smuggling without paying a single penny in taxes.

Many people in the empire had heard about this, but after making some connections, most people turned a blind eye, preferring to avoid trouble.

Some things are afraid of being weighed; once they're on the scale, even a thousand pounds can't hold them off.

How could the nobles of Anna dare to request deep official intervention?

Most of the frontier lords are either pragmatic upstarts or descendants of families who have been stationed on the frontier for many years. They are naturally opposed to the old nobles who sit comfortably in the center of the empire and enjoy themselves, so they are unlikely to sincerely help.

In this situation, the old nobles of Narum, wanting an answer, had no choice but to seek outside help.

Jiang Heyi now understood that Narum's invitation to the Emerald Crew was not out of admiration, but rather to cast a wide net and send invitations to all famous adventurers.

The adventurers who appeared here were all elites who had made their names by going through countless life-or-death experiences. After careful consideration, they had a pretty good understanding of just how risky the commission was, so no one expressed their opinion.

"Whether it's finding clues about the missing persons, the whereabouts of the goods, or investigating the course of events, we will all receive generous rewards from the Narum family and other prominent families."

Jiang Heyi really wanted to laugh.

Then you should translate what "厚报" means.

“Ten grains of stardust.” Pairs of eyes gleamed with a captivating light.

Even at the boundary between the real and the virtual, everyone was stunned.

With something still in her mouth, the greedy Mint tugged at the plain fries beside her, gesturing towards something.

"You should just swallow it first," said the plain fries.

The higher the reward, the higher the risk.

Jiang Heyi didn't believe that these nobles hadn't sent their own subordinates deep into the snow mountain to search. There must have been unsatisfactory results, and some major event must have occurred that forced them to seek more outside help.

This mission was so dangerous that Stardust, which was officially called universal currency but whose actual status was equivalent to a high-value commodity, appeared.

"Should we answer?" Jiang Heyi asked the others for their opinions.

"Is that even a question?" Zhong Zemo rubbed his hands together, eager to try. "We've already achieved so many first-clear achievements in the game, wouldn't it be great to become the first person to receive the 'Star Gravel' achievement as well?"

Original Fries also commented: "There's no such thing as too many good dungeons. We can try the fifth level of the Underground Temple of the Clarity first. If it far exceeds our expectations, we can have a seamless switching option."

In fact, considering the time commitment, simultaneously progressing through multiple dungeons will inevitably affect PVP training, and consequently, guild war results.

With only half a month left until the first Guild War, many guilds have already recruited enough members and started sparring with each other.

But the boundary between the virtual and real worlds obviously didn't care about all that; they were just a bunch of freeloaders who would take as many guild war rewards as they could get.

While the other adventurers were still hesitating, Jiang Heyi raised his hand.

"I took it."

When someone breaks the deadlock during a period of silence, it often prompts hesitant people to make a decision more quickly.

In an instant, the adventurers on the scene followed suit.

After showing Mint the contract provided by the other party, she nodded.

The time limit is 30 days. If you complete the contract within the agreed time, you can exchange the contract for 10 Star Sands.

Instead of leaving immediately, at Mint's suggestion, they packed up a large quantity of various ingredients from the buffet area while the others were still signing agreements.

Embarrassment is contagious. Even though they clearly thought Mint's suggestion was outrageous, they still shamefully started to move their hands.

By the time he left, Zhong Zemo had been "refreshed" with a large number of expensive ingredients.

Now the guild's cooking recipes can be updated with some new variations.

The group, who had returned to the guild to sort through what they had gained from their trip to the capital, didn't see the system notification that the Four Primal Bodies were online until the next morning.

Goodness, according to real time, he must have fallen asleep around 4 a.m.

Even the prison guard is hesitant to use memes like "Don't die in my computer" anymore. He's been working long hours every day, and it's really possible he'll never see anyone online again.

"Can we log on earlier tomorrow?" Jiang Heyi asked. "Tomorrow we plan to test the waters on the fifth floor of the Temple of the Clarity."

The Tetra-Primordial fell into deep thought.

Just when Jiang Heyi was losing hope, the Four Primal Bodies nodded.

"It should be possible."

Thank goodness, they were actually relieved to hear that the four original bodies were going to bed early.

　There was thunder and lightning, and the power went out at home, which resulted in this update being only 2K words, and it was all typed on my phone. But I still managed to fulfill my promise of two updates today. I'll continue tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)