Steamed Dumpling and George weren’t killed after being captured by a group of Orcs. When both of them regained consciousness, they were tied to strange birds with two large legs. The birds looked like up-sized ostriches.

George realized that he was the prisoner of these strange Underworld creatures.

His hands and legs were tied. His body was secured to the back of the Darting Bird, so he was unable to escape. The rope that bound him was made of Spider Silk. Even huge Dire Wolves and Ogres were unable to break free of the rope.

The gamers of Eternal Kingdom discovered that George had regained consciousness. They gathered and chatted before Arthur came over.

Arthur tried body language to communicate with the prisoners, but they were unable to understand him.

Arthur gave up trying to communicate using body language.

George looked at his surroundings. There were rocks everywhere, similar to a cave. Strange vines wrapped around the sides of the rocks and glowed. The illumination from the vines wasn’t as bright as the Surface World’s sun.

Arthur and his companions were escorting the NPCs back to the crossroad intersection outpost and to Eternal Kingdom via the Teleport Portal. Arthur wanted to inform Lord Sherlock that they had captured the two NPCs and see if they had triggered any Strange Encounter Missions. Arthur had considered handing the prisoners to Duke Guinevere, but he decided not to since he was sure they would be attacked by the gamers of Victoria City.

They were from opposing factions, so they would attack on sight.

There were no secrets among the gamers. News of the capture of George and Steamed Dumpling by the Pioneer Alliance spread on the discussion forum, and the gamers of Victoria City tried to get back their NPCs by attacking the Pioneer Alliance. However, the Guild members of the Pioneer Alliance and its allies helped to fight the gamers of Victoria City.

There were only a few conflicts. They spent most of their time searching for the whereabouts of the Pioneer Alliance.

The Dungeon was too large. Arthur and his companions brought along the two NPCs and snuck into the crossroad intersection outpost. When they entered the safe zone, the gamers of Victoria City were unable to do anything.

“How exhausting. We haven’t gone offline for two days.”

Peasant led a pair of Darting Birds and the Orcs into the crossroad intersection outpost. He was relieved.

He was in charge of leading the team with the two NPCs. The other Guild members were responsible for distracting the attention of the opposing gamers. Arthur, NotWearingPants, and Sylvanas were notable gamers. Most of the opposing gamers were watching them. Peasant was rather low profile, so he was suitable for the escorting task.

When the two NPCs were brought to Eternal Kingdom, numerous gamers came to watch. They had watched videos of Lancelot, but it was their first time seeing NPCs that were involved in the Plot of Victoria City.

Especially when the two NPCs could help develop the subsequent Plot. The gamers were curious about what kind of Strange Encounter Missions they would bring.

They followed Arthur and his companions to the Dungeon Lord Main Hall. Sherlock had already learned about it a few days ago, but he didn’t stop the gamers.

When Sherlock walked out of the Dungeon Lord Main Hall, he raised his hand and made George and Steamed Dumpling fall into a deep sleep.

Sherlock gave Arthur and his companions generous rewards like equipment, game currency, and Reputation Points. He had no intention of interrogating the two NPCs. Instead, he gave Arthur and his companions a new mission.

That was to find a chance to free George and Steamed Dumpling.

Arthur was puzzled by the game Plot. Why did he have to free them when they had just captured the NPCs? If Sherlock wanted to attack Victoria City or the Surface World, he should be interrogating the two NPCs or subverting them.

But Sherlock didn’t explain. He only reminded Arthur and his companions to follow his orders. The game system displayed the corresponding notice before the gamers.

[Mission Title: Release golden-haired George and Count Steamed Dumpling

Mission Description: Lord Sherlock isn’t interested in George and Count Steamed Dumpling. He thinks that both of them are wasting his food in Eternal Kingdom. It’s better to release them back to the Surface World and let them spread the name of Eternal Kingdom. Then the Surface World’s Humans will tremble in fear.

Mission Objective: Escort George and Steamed Dumpling to the Surface World without being stopped by other gamers.

Mission Reward: The participating gamers can obtain equipment, game currency, and Reputation Points.]

The Mission Rewards were generous, so Arthur didn’t reject the mission. Sherlock surely had his reasons for sending the NPCs back to the Surface World. Arthur would understand Sherlock’s intentions two days later.

Lord Sherlock declared war on Queen Victoria, and Queen Victoria reciprocated. The leaders of the opposing factions didn’t have an epic start to the war, but the gamers thought that it was only a matter of time.

Everything went according to Sherlock’s plan.

…

In the Castle of Victoria City.

“Sherlock, I can’t understand why you won’t let me attack the King or help me attack the King. Instead, you’re starting a military exercise with me. What’s this about?”

Queen Victoria sat in her chair. Two days ago, she declared war on Eternal Kingdom. She was going to lead her people to destroy the evil Eternal Kingdom. But now, she was sitting with Lord Sherlock and sipping jasmine red tea while he was having bloody chrysanthemum tea.

“We don’t want to be attacked by the King. It’s not the time to conquer the world. I believe that your aim isn’t to just occupy the Human’s Territory. Our final aim is to attack the Heavenly Kingdom. Lilo, don’t forget,” Sherlock said casually.

The declaration of war was part of Sherlock’s Plot. The existence of Victoria City had been exposed. According to Lilo’s character, she would be attacking all of the Human Cities.

She wasn’t a decadent Angel who could restrain herself. She also wouldn’t consider the complexity of the Human World’s politics. Instead, she would use brute force to deal with all of the problems. She usurped the York Territory of the Godly Kingdom without thinking and intended to launch a full-scale war with the Kingdom.

Sherlock didn’t intend to interfere with the affairs of Victoria City, but the city was providing Eternal Kingdom with precious resources. He wanted Victoria City to exist peacefully.

Moreover, he had just discovered Yggdrasill. He wanted to make use of Victoria City to control Yggdrasill. He couldn’t afford Victoria City to be a warring city, as the Fairies hated Humans who were belligerent.

If he wanted to interact with the Fairies, it was important for Victoria City to have a good name. For example, the Surface World’s Savior or Shield of Faith. These titles were pretty good. Hence, Victoria City had to defeat the evil creatures of Eternal Kingdom.

The Fairies hated the Underworld creatures the most. If Victoria City could stop the invasion of the Underworld, then the Godly Kingdom would have no reason to attack Victoria City. The Fairies would also have a good impression of Victoria City.

Sherlock wouldn’t give up his plan, which killed two birds with one stone.

This would also provide new game content to the gamers. After some observation, Sherlock was supportive of the PVP fighting among the gamers.

Of course, he wouldn’t tell all of that to Lilo.

“This is to train the combat power of the warriors. To fight against the Heavenly Kingdom, their pitiful combat power isn’t enough. I feel that there’s too little interaction with Victoria City, and more interaction is needed. This is to build up their rapport with each other when we lead the gamers of Victoria City and Eternal Kingdom to attack the Heavenly Kingdom. What do you think?”

Sherlock didn’t have to obtain Lilo’s opinion since she had already followed his request and declared war on Eternal Kingdom.

“When is the military exercise? What’s the location?” Lilo asked.

“I’m here for a detailed discussion,” Sherlock said to Lilo.

The battle between the opposing factions must have a Plot Animation. Sherlock was well aware of that. The gamers were anticipating a showdown between Lord Sherlock and Queen Victoria.

The start of the war would be the battle between Sherlock and Lilo. It wasn’t a real fight but a performance for the gamers to watch. Based on the prestige of Sherlock and Lilo, they had to create epic effects like explosions and total mayhem to show off their prowess.

Hence, Sherlock had to discuss the creation of the effects with Lilo.

Then he had to arrange for the gamers of Eternal Kingdom to attack Victoria City viciously while the gamers of Victoria City defended the world against waves of evil creatures.

Queen Victoria wouldn’t be the one to tell the world about the feats of Victoria City. Sherlock arranged for George and Steamed Dumpling to do that.

That was the reason Sherlock was letting George and Steamed Dumpling go.

…

George sat in his prison while trying hard to stay awake. The back of his skull was still painful.

The Orc used great force to hit the back of his skull with his Dagger’s hilt.

George wasn’t in a good mental state these few days. It was a miracle that he wasn’t clubbed to death.

He was in a daze due to the injury to the back of his skull. He was hazy about the battles that occurred when he was being escorted to Eternal Kingdom. Occasionally, when he was conscious, he would be told of how the Victorians tried to attack the Orcs who captured him.

He didn’t know why the Victorians wanted to get him back from the Orcs, but it was obviously not for the bounty.

He thought it was the hatred of the Surface World’s races towards the Underworld creatures. Both George and Steamed Dumpling cherished their lives, while the Victorians didn’t care about their lives. They were more concerned about honor.

Steamed Dumpling thought he would be freed from the Orcs, but the Victorians didn’t defeat the Underworld creatures. The attacks of the Victorians were neutralized.

Then both of them arrived at an unknown Stronghold. They were kept in cages that were covered with thick skin blankets, so Steamed Dumpling wasn’t able to observe the surroundings. He only knew that they went through a Teleport Portal with the Orcs and arrived at a huge Dungeon. The size and grandiose nature of the Dungeon made him gape in astonishment.

Steamed Dumpling didn’t expect to see such a prosperous underground city. Eternal Kingdom was far more prosperous than the Duke’s Castle. This was the result of the effort of the gamers and Sherlock’s generous development.

Eternal Kingdom was no longer the abandoned Dungeon that it once was.

Steamed Dumpling wanted to survive, so he thought about how to escape. Looking at the bustling Dungeon, it was impossible to flee. Since the Underworld creatures had discovered the tunnel to the Surface World, they could attack the Surface World very soon.

From his observations, the Underworld creatures had most likely started their attacks on the Surface World and encountered the fearless Victorians. After all, Victoria City was built near the entrance of the tunnels.

That was how the warriors of Victoria City and the Underworld creatures fought until now. Why did the Victorians not ask for help? Steamed Dumpling was puzzled. If they announced the news of the Underworld creatures, the Human Kingdoms would definitely send help. Even the Church would send people to help them fight against the Underworld creatures.

Though Humans weren’t very united, there at least wouldn’t be things like the Duke of York attacking Victoria City.

If Victoria City was the Stronghold that was resisting the Underworld creatures, then the Duke of York might have even sent money. Nobody wanted the Underworld creatures to appear on the Surface World.

Memories of the Great Devil and his evil minions who almost conquered the world thousands of years ago were still remembered. There were still legends and stories of the horrifying Underworld and the Great Devil.

If Victoria City was attacked during this time, the attackers would be subjected to diplomatic and military sanctions by other nobles.

These weren’t the things to be considered by Steamed Dumpling. He couldn’t even ensure his survival. He sighed as he leaned his head against the cold wall.

He didn’t expect to be in such a state. He wasn’t a hero that fought against the Underworld creatures. Instead, he had become their prisoner.