Chapter 38: Series of Tasks, Han Cheng's Actions

... After Hua Tian left, Li exited and returned to the deputy captain's office, sitting on the sofa and gazing at the techniques in the second quest, lost in thought, her mind in chaos. She couldn’t understand why something was missing. "Log off! After all that’s happened today, I should take a walk near home, clear my mind..."

In the captain's office, Han Qianyun looked at the palm of her hand, holding the materials and the crafting book, sighing softly. Apart from the Black Iron, she knew nothing about the rest of the ingredients. Thankfully, there were clues to these materials; otherwise, her worries would have multiplied...

But the hints themselves seemed rather capricious—"Be diligent, be straightforward"—easy for them to say, standing there without any pain. She didn’t even know the mermaid's true strength; what if the one crying at the end was actually them?

Item: Star Shard Crafting Book
Quality: No Level
Required Materials: One pound of Black Iron, one Memory Stone, one drop of Mermaid’s Tear
Required Skill: Professional Crafter

A professional crafter—good, the master craftsman who made the Void-level belt last time had an epiphany and became a professional. I can ask him for help.

Next comes the Memory Stone and Mermaid’s Tear. Seems I’ll need to post a quest. I have nearly five tons of Black Iron now. Originally, I wanted to make a belt for my beloved sister, but since I haven’t found the ore, I’ll have to wait. Only seven or eight pounds come in each day—troublesome.

Han Qianyun cradled her cheek with her right hand and rhythmically tapped the desk with her left, frowning. The gesture lasted five minutes. After her deliberation, she decided, "Skills matter—this is a lot of money. I’ll postpone my promise to my sister, maybe give her extra pocket money..."

A group of regretful players, due to various circumstances, had learned many wrong and useless skills. Excited at the start, they teleported elsewhere, only to be sent back home by wild monsters and zombies. Later, they realized that learning skills wasn’t as simple as clicking a button—without diligent practice and veteran guidance, they had to fumble on their own, ending up with a bunch of skills they despised. Under pressure, they learned even more worthless skills, and when they finally found good ones, they couldn’t learn them, watching others take or master them right in front of them...

Until the appearance of Skill Removal Stones, lifestyle players experienced a modest rise. Removing a skill meant the original slot couldn’t be reused, but they could substitute another slot and learn the best skills they could afford. High-level players who’d suffered once dared not repeat their mistakes, as changing accounts was impossible. Low-level players with basic watches could simply buy a new one for ten thousand yuan.

After acquiring a fresh skill slot, they discovered their previously stored equipment was unusable—the system wouldn’t allow it. Lifestyle players, however, were unaffected; their crafting expertise remained as long as they had blueprints. But the path of a lifestyle player was never smooth—some chose it, others were forced by circumstances: monsters stolen, chased away, bullied... Low-level players didn’t need it, but high-level players with ruined skill slots...

Some time passed.

Han Qianyun arrived at the squad’s quest hall and posted several new quests.

Quest: Find Memory Stones
Condition: Locate the original Memory Stones from the trees in Star Trace Forest and bring them back; provide photographic clues—these stones exist only in Star Trace Forest.
Time: As soon as possible; each is counted separately, but if the same player finds both, they are counted together.
Reward: One stone, 10,000 squad coins; providing a photo earns an extra 20,000 squad coins. [Upon receiving the reward, the quest disappears from the quest list.]

Quest: Collect Memory Stones
Condition: Ten stones per set, scattered ones don’t count—minimum ten per set.
Time: Permanent (can be claimed repeatedly)
Reward: 1,000 squad coins

Quest: Find Mermaid’s Tears
Condition: Mermaids are in the Endless Sea. 1) Trade Memory Stones for their tears; 2) Make her cry with your strength [consequences unknown, please report if attempted]; 3) Describe the process and reveal the true method to the quest issuer.
Time: As soon as possible; each is counted separately but can be claimed together if found by the same player.
Reward: One drop, 15,000 squad coins; true method earns an extra 50,000 squad coins

Quest: Collect Mermaid’s Tears
Condition: Ten drops per set, scattered ones don’t count—minimum ten per set.
Time: Permanent (can be claimed repeatedly)
Reward: 5,000 squad coins

Quest: Collect Memory Stones and Mermaid’s Tears
Condition: 1,000,000 of each (pieces or drops); cannot overlap with similar quests (related quests become invalid).
Time: Permanent; claimable three days before the end of each month (each player can claim once per month)
Reward: One Star Shard

With the release of these five quests, players unaware of the situation were bewildered, and soon stunned—the squad captain had posted the quests, prompting everyone to accept them.

Some so-called "lucky fools" stumbled upon a stone and snapped a photo, but upon returning, flaunted it too much. Persuaded by a crowd of players, then coerced, he divulged his method, though he barely understood it and rambled. Where there are fakes, there are always truths—an eternal law...

Thus, more and more rumors spread until the captain, furious, spoke out.

On the high platform stood two people: the squad captain, standing, and the deputy captain, who had brought a chair and now watched the spectacle.

"You people are unbelievable! Did you really find these yourselves? The method the deputy captain personally shared with me has been twisted beyond recognition! I said in my quest that the stones are only in Star Trace Forest, but your rumors have grown more absurd, claiming zombies carry them—ridiculous! Memory Stones are tender buds, not real stones. Zombies eat bark, I can accept—hungry creatures. But why would they eat buds on branches? Why not eat you instead? Have your companions force the zombies to consume your corpse and tell me if that counts as a Memory Stone. And there’s more—I’ll highlight a few gems: Someone claimed there’s a pile in a stream in Moon Trace Forest—ridiculous! I’d love to see that stream. Someone else mentioned the Deep-Sea Mermaid’s Tomb in the Endless Sea—have you been there? Claiming they’re idle enough to hang out in the abyss? Someone said there’s a stash beneath Star Trace Forest’s old mine, on the other side—who told you that? Others insisted there are some in Death Forest—fine! If you claim every barren patch, but wherever there’s even a hint of growth, you report it. Did anyone actually read my quest conditions?"

Beside her, Hua Tian, whom Han Qianyun had brought to the scene earlier, understood and tried to keep a straight face, suppressing laughter as she watched Han Qianyun recite from a sheet of paper, mercilessly.

"What is this? Nothing but a pile of stones!" Han Qianyun shouted to the players below, then turned to her teammates and those black-clad players: "Take these millions of stones, bring them to the hall behind me, and inspect them one by one. Thank you for your effort." Then, back to the players, she sternly continued, "If it’s just a common stone, any player bold enough to cheat, take your stone and refrain from accepting any quests for a day. If it’s not a common stone, take the corresponding squad coins as directed. For those unwilling to admit, that’s fine! Any present player—work or lifestyle—can point them out. If someone is identified, their slot goes directly to the accuser..."

An hour later, all the stones proved ordinary, not a single piece with relevant information. Not even a second wasted—every one was labeled: "Common Stone." Han Qianyun watched some players below, each clutching ten or more ordinary stones, trembling in fear, and began to sneer.

"Register these players holding stones. They cannot accept quests for one day."

"And who took this photo? Step forward!" Han Qianyun held up a photo she’d picked up, another source of dispute, and demanded the culprit.

A squad leader holding a stone was too terrified to step forward. He’d picked up the photo earlier, and seeing it wasn’t a stone, tossed it aside, never realizing the stone represented a leaf.

Then, a player without any stones stepped forward—the true lucky one.

"Very good—you, although I don’t know why you didn’t bring the photo to the quest hall, whether it dropped and you picked it up or simply didn’t want to submit it, I won’t ask. Just show me where you took this photo, lead my players there. If it proves genuine, I’ll grant you the quest reward."

"If any others know the location, you can lead my subordinates as well. As for those holding stones, don’t bother participating. If I discover any of you with stones attempting to frame, extort, or deceive, you know the consequences. Of course, even those without stones might try, through threats..."

"In the end, good and evil are repaid, fate turns in cycles. If you don’t believe it, look up—who has heaven ever spared? I nearly forgot this incident if I hadn’t looked closely. I never imagined it was you! After you claimed your prize, you ran so fast—cost me a hundred million squad coins. Excellent, excellent, excellent. Drag them out and beat them thoroughly—but don’t kill, just rough them up repeatedly. Afterward, kick them out of the squad. The rest of you, stay put and wait for their return."

After Han Qianyun finished, Hua Tian saw the real-world bodyguard players—likely all dressed in purple—leading the others off to Star Trace Forest.

...

When it was all over, Hua Tian saw Han Qianyun enter the squad’s VIP lounge and hurried after her. "What was that about the hundred million squad coins? You dragged me here to witness the spectacle, and I was stunned!"

"Do you remember Hao Tian?" Seeing Hua Tian nod, Han Qianyun continued, "Earlier, I sent my bodyguards in two teams to search for the materials. They found them and crafted the first batch. Later, they said some materials were harder to find, but with effort, it was possible. So I thought up this scheme, and sure enough, it played out as I expected. Those players—Hao Tian had recruited them, deliberately hiding their scams from me. They’re the squad’s cancer. If they’re not removed, they’ll always act like they own the place. You guys, investigate the remaining players for any issues matching my three criteria—if so, expel them. Time to deal with some darkness."

The black-clad players replied immediately, "Understood..." Han Qianyun continued, "After this, I’ll post the second series of quests." "Got it!"

"And the thing you mentioned—yes, I had them slaughter your twenty thousand-strong zombie army, carrying thirty thousand unknown items, trying to scam me. For speed, I used system quests instead of player quests. When added to the system quest, it wasn’t specified—those players each brought an item to exchange, claiming they’d died as players and demanded extra payment or refused to hand over. I couldn’t even dodge it—seeing thirty thousand players take the quest, I had to fork over a hundred and fifty million squad coins, forcing the system to resolve the exchange. Thankfully, it was a system quest, and the system refunded me fifty million squad coins, instantly filtering out the true zombie-hearted ones. I watched the items in their hands, puzzled, thinking I’d collected them all. As soon as they realized it was a system quest, they fled—vanished without a trace... Lately, your zombie army has been very disciplined. I appreciate your understanding—next time, let’s visit the hospital together when I have time!"