Since Duan Qing returned to this world, all his actions seem to have become easier and more casual. The mental impact caused by the previous system operation seems to have had a certain degree of impact on this gray-robed magician whose level has been reduced to zero. Such an influence that even several companions around him seemed to feel that he had changed into a different person. This understanding lasted until the end of the conflict. When Earl Chakna left proudly with the emperor's order, he finally let go after watching a group of people waiting to send Lott away. With his own hands, he gently placed the recruitment card that he held on his chest on the ground: "Okay, now I won't even give you a chance to play."
"I asked you what happened to you recently? Why did you suddenly think of recruiting people as soon as you came back?" After touching the other person's forehead, Chao Ri Dongsheng asked everyone's thoughts with a strange look on his face: "What happened the night before?" Due to the sudden change, I haven’t seen you in person since then...Did you also fall from the top of the mountain and accidentally break your brain?"
"What are you guessing!" Duan Qing slapped the opponent's hand on his forehead away with a slap, and curled his lips angrily: "I just want to experience the feeling of being the president, isn't this enough?"
"Isn't the boss of your Qingling Adventure Group the woman next to you?" Pointing to the white-haired woman with an unchanging expression on the side, the look of surprise on Asahi Dongsheng's face became more obvious: "You It doesn’t seem to be as powerful as Snow Spirit Huan Bing, why are you suddenly thinking of seeking power and usurping the throne?”
"That's just a superficial phenomenon. Do you understand the superficial phenomenon?" Duan Qing rolled his eyelids: "At the critical moment, wasn't it me who always stood up to save everyone? Although this time it was my side that happened. A little mistake, but in the end he was saved by Xue Ling Huan Bing..."
A slender and cold arm then blocked in front of him, interrupting what he wanted to say. The white-haired woman named Xue Ling Huan Bing also crossed the line of sight of several people and looked at her calmly. Looking at Duan Qing's face: "You want to quit, right?"
"..."
"You want to find a few more people to support this little adventure group while you are still here, and then leave the game with peace of mind, right?"
Looking at the other party's silent face, Xue Ling Huan Bing involuntarily raised the corners of her mouth and then said something that shocked the other two people: "We have been together for so long, and I am so familiar with every move you make. , even when I was in the Fool Adventure Group, I have never seen you so enthusiastic about the guild business."
"Did that incident really hit you so hard?" She stretched out her hands and gently pulled Duan Qing's unnaturally tilted expression back: "Can't you bear it anymore? ?”
"...This can be considered a good thing. At least it allows me to devote all my energy to the recovery of my body."
Ignoring the increasingly surprised looks from Asahi Dongsheng and Gedman around him, Duan Qing gradually showed a wry smile: "If everything goes well, maybe you will be able to see me again soon."
"Stop lying to me with these nonsense, you won't tell me your true location."
With a deep sigh, Xue Ling Huan Bing raised her head again and then put on a serious expression: "Are you just retreating like this? Just because the system tricked you this time?"
"The situation is not as simple as you think. I may be on another dangerous path now." Duan Qing's eyes kept flashing: "This may be the punishment for using the Yi Sword excessively. I The current spirit is highly synchronized with the virtual system. If the overdraft phenomenon occurs again, the result of being counter-intruded by the optical brain may happen again..."
"If your mental energy is exhausted, you can rely on rest to recover. We just don't want to use the Yi Sword anymore because it has side effects. Giving up so easily...isn't like you now."
The two faces gradually came closer together. Xue Ling Huan Bing, who was staring closely at Duan Qing's eyes, then lowered his voice: "Even if you are occupied by the system again, there are still so many companions and I who can take you down." Rescued again, Whispering, Qian Zhihe, these two guys standing next to you, and there are so many people waiting for you...don't you believe them?"
"Have you given up on those obsessions in your heart?"
As if talking about the last weak point in Duan Qing's heart, the gray-robed man's body shook heavily. Xue Ling Huan Bing, who noticed the shock, then let go of the other man's cheek, and there was a hint of something in his eyes. With a look of relief: "You never gave up on me when we were in Sky City, and your relationship has been dragged down by you until now. With such a long distance and time, there should be no one who is not worthy of your trust and trust. place.”
"If you have any problems, please tell me." She let go of her hand and held up Duan Qing's arms: "I and the other people who care about you will definitely come up with a solution. - Just like you've always done."
"Okay, okay, then I'll hold on for a while." Duan Qing pouted his lips helplessly and didn't dare to look at the other person, so he could only reply in a low voice: "But I have to work on the solution a little bit. Sort it out, because the virtual system we are in now has subverted my previous understanding. I am afraid it will be difficult to figure out the secrets in it while isolating my spirit..."
"Then you can start with the difficulties we are facing now." Pointing to the streets that were once again deserted and the gate of the Adventurers Association that had been sealed behind him, Xueling Huanbing's face then showed a smile. With a relaxed smile: "For example... the unemployment problem we are facing now."
"The Adventurers Association is closed, how can we make money next?"
Following her gaze, several people followed Duan Qing's turned head and looked in the direction of the association's gate. The large shield figure belonging to Gedman then approached the seals and carefully attached them. I observed the seal for a while: "The official text of the empire, and the gold-inlaid decoration... it seems to be real."
"Nonsense, Lot has already admitted it."
After temporarily putting aside the questions in his mind, Asahi Dongsheng stepped forward with a disdainful expression on his face: "Even if the noble just now was able to deceive the player, can he still deceive the NPC?"
"In other words, His Majesty the Emperor really wants to shut down the Adventurers Association?" Turning his head, Gedman's expression became more and more serious: "He really wants to block it. The root of all us adventurers? Isn’t this the opposite?”
"Don't look at me like that. I don't know what the emperor is thinking right now." In response to the other person's look, Duan Qing spread his hands helplessly: "And I don't recommend going to him now. We should at least wait until all the turmoil in the empire subsides before questioning this matter."
"I'm afraid Tristan already knew the news, so he extended the olive branch to us, right?" A cold light flashed in his eyes. We will accept his proposal, it turns out that we already knew that the adventurer was going to be desperate."
"There is no way, who made President Anman suddenly decide to commit suicide?" Asahi Dongsheng shrugged helplessly: "Even a person of Caldera's status did not end well in the end, let alone the recent situation. The shock that has been taking place in the imperial capital for some time..."
"By the way, I haven't asked yet, what changes have occurred in the Imperial Capital recently?" Duan Qing turned to look at the faces of the other people: "How many people have been deposed?"
"The known ones are Caldera, Ida, Klins, Amman... Well, in short, a lot of them have been sentenced." Asahi Dongsheng waved his hand impatiently: "This is only on the surface. According to the news released, we don’t know how many nobles were implicated behind the scenes. In order to survive, many nobles who were arrested even confessed to a large number of other crimes and accomplices..."
"Some members of the military have even been implicated, and the big guys are all having a headache now." Gedman turned around and then spread his shoulders: "If no one has lost his head yet, This shock to the empire may be comparable to the tragedy many years ago.”
"Even if they don't die, they will never have the chance to return to their original positions." Asahi Dongsheng let out a few deep laughs: "The newly promoted nobles will definitely have a lot of space to operate, and the entire Fleur Empire will The aristocratic power will also undergo fundamental changes."
"I am still averse to following that Tristan, but whether I want to take advantage of this opportunity to rise to power is a matter of course." Gedman moved his eyes to Duan Qing's head: "How about it? You two? Do you have any good suggestions or decisions?"
"Well...it's easy to say no matter what." Duan Qing replied meaninglessly: "But-"
"If I say no now, will you two run off and accept Tristan's offer on your own?"
He lowered his face and looked at Asahi Dongsheng and Goldman with a scrutinizing gaze. The latter also looked at each other under the gradually cold gaze of Xue Ling Huan Bing, and finally revealed a wry smile: " Don't say that, if we want to leave this team, we won't go out of our way to ask for your opinions."
"...What about you? What are your opinions?"
The atmosphere was silent for a moment as several people shut up in unison. Duan Qing's voice of inquiry then echoed among the unnatural-looking players: "Do you think it's better to maintain the status quo, or join the special one?" Would it be better to become one of the empire’s thugs under Ristan?”
"According to the consistent character of adventurers, maintaining independence and freedom has always been our choice." Gedman replied in a low voice: "But now that the Adventurers Association has closed, the players' financial resources and livelihoods have been fundamentally affected. of destruction..."
"Speaking of which, where have all the players in the empire gone?"
Turning his head and looking at his surroundings, Duan Qing asked shamelessly as if he had just noticed the problem: "Have they already known the news?"
"I probably don't know, but other things have happened here." Asahi Dongsheng replied with a gloomy expression: "Several imperial nobles once came here with news about Amman, and reported everything that happened in the imperial palace. The president of the Adventurer Association's decision was made public, and although some players questioned it, they still did not stop those few people from tearing down the commissioned blackboard."
"All officially released missions were stopped at that moment, including most of the players active in the Adventurers Association." He paused slightly as he said this, seeming to remember the scenes that happened here at that time. : "This incident was later posted on the Internet, and was used by various empire players to question the actions of the alliance, although the alliance responded with the 'non-intervention statement' that it had declared a few years ago. , but their voices did not stop there..."
"Don't you think the number of players in the Imperial City is plummeting? This wave is still blowing outside." Gedman on the side also pointed to their heads: "They are sparing no effort for their own lives. ”
"The position that we have worked so hard for so long has been completely destroyed by a chaos. I would not admit it easily." Duan Qing shook his head and let out a few deep laughs: "But the alliance's statement It’s not a lie, they lost the ability to intervene in the world as early as the launch of the third generation of virtual technology.”
"I don't think it's of much use either." Crossing his arms, Asahi Dongsheng followed him to the side of this desolate street: "Rather than continue to follow that group of people and continue to cause trouble, it's better to find a way to solve it yourself. The livelihood is better.”
"Do you have any good ideas?"
He turned his head and looked around at the other people present with indifferent eyes. Silence also returned to the air between several people as his voice fell. Even Xueling Huanbing, who had spoken righteously before, now He also lost his own voice for the time being. Slight footsteps then sounded behind the gray-robed figure, accompanied by Duan Qing's back that gradually moved to the other side of the street. He stopped firmly on the other side of the three-way intersection. in front of a dilapidated house, and then asked in an inquiring tone to the imperial people who were busy in front of one of the collapsed houses: "Excuse me -"
"Are the houses here still for rent?"
"...Are you adventurers?"
Stopping what he was doing to carry the debris, the imperial worker raised his head and glanced at the Adventurers Association behind Duan Qing: "Didn't the association here be ordered to close by the empire? Why are you still hanging around here?"
"We just learned about the news, and we also want to see if there are other ways to continue operating."
With a smile on his face, Duan Qing gestured in the direction of the players behind him: "It looks like your house is in a semi-destroyed state now..."
"If you can rent it to us, we are willing to help you repair it for free, how about it?"
