Chapter 309: 309, Attack Sea Serpent Castle_1
Mosby Gesang sighed helplessly after assessing the situation, realizing it was futile to resist.

He mobilized his magical power and addressed the citizens: “My people, the ‘guests’ of the Goldfinch Empire have come to our land.”

“For the benefit of all, I ask everyone to abandon resistance. Do not obstruct the otherworldly adventurers of the Goldfinch Empire. Do not attempt to stop them no matter what they do!”

His voice, amplified by powerful magic, rapidly spread to every corner of the city.

The people of Haiyan City, particularly the common folk, looked up at the powerful beings confronting each other in the sky, trembling with fear.

Looking at the frightened civilians below, Su Yu spoke out in time:

“Don’t be afraid, everyone. I am from the Goldfinch Empire, the special envoy – [Nemesis]. Our great princess’s core principle of governance is ‘treating civilians kindly’, which includes the civilians from your country.”

“This time we will only be confiscating the property of the nobles and leading merchants. We will not involve ordinary civilians. I assure you of this!”

Su Yu’s words were authoritative and spread quickly throughout the city with the aid of magic.

Hearing Su Yu’s guarantee, the people inside the city felt somewhat relieved.

If they were only targeting nobles and leading merchants… they found themselves inexplicably supportive.

As Su Yu spoke, the players divided into several small teams. In accordance with pre-discussed plans, they set off towards their respective targets.

Nine gaming days earlier, Su Yu had visited the [National Library] of the Goldfinch City to look up documentation and detailed maps of the Hill Business Union and [Haiyan City].

He handed these maps to a magic craftsman to make 10,000 copies. Every player received a map and studied it repeatedly before setting off.

Thanks to the maps, they didn’t feel lost in this new city.

And everyone knew their roles well.

The stronger teams, such as [Snow Leopard] and [Red-Eyed Black Dragon], led the journey to confiscate the property of top-tier families like the Gesang Family;

Whereas the weaker ones bullied minor nobles and businessmen with lesser forces.

Each team had command and the captains were well compensated, so everyone was quite motivated.

Snow Leopard and Red-Eyed Black Dragon, each leading a group of 50 top-tier players, rapidly marched towards Sea Serpent Castle.

They were now on Lambra Street, the road leading to the affluent residential area of the city’s east.

There were a few scattered [Haiyan City Guards] on patrol on the street, with levels between 1-3.

Seeing the player group marching like a tidal wave, the guards picked up their weapons.

But having heard Mosby’s instructions, they did not dare to act rashly, and instead performed a military salute as the players passed them by.

The players paid no mind to these guards and simply brushed past them.

A small problem arose during their march:

The city’s NPC civilians, reassured by Su Yu’s promise, were no longer afraid of the players.

So they flocked to Lambra Street, clogging the street ahead.

They all looked at the players as if they were animals in a zoo.

Snow Leopard and Red-Eyed Black Dragon were flustered by this turnout, they hadn’t expected such a situation would occur.

Helpless, they had to part the citizens to continue towards the Sea Serpent Castle.

That, of course, significantly slowed down their pace.

At this point, a little NPC girl at the roadside pulled at her mother’s sleeve and asked innocently: “Mommy, who’s that uncle who looks like a silly goose?”

The girl’s mother quickly covered her daughter’s mouth.

The “uncle who looks like a silly goose” the little girl was referring to was, of course, Snow Leopard.

Originally, when Snow Leopard received the [Advanced Unicorn Badge] as a gift from Su Yu, he instantly used it to claim territory.

It should have been a good thing.

However, due to the “Characteristic 5” of the badge, the first impression that NPCs had of him was always “foolish”. This had troubled him for a long time.

Hearing the girl’s remark, Snow Leopard stopped in his tracks, his face falling.

“Pfft!” A few players nearby couldn’t help but laugh out loud, quickly covering their mouths.

Red-Eyed Black Dragon struggled to hold back his laughter. He urgently rubbed his face to prevent himself from laughing out loud.

“Uh… Snow Leopard, Boss Ke said that the rewards for this mission are very generous. How generous are we talking?” tried Red-Eyed Black Dragon, attempting to change the subject.

“I’m not sure either, but if Nemesis said it’s very generous, then it must be generous,” Snow Leopard stated firmly.

Then he looked at the players behind him: “Everyone, don’t be complacent. There are surely many strong opponents at the third and fourth stages in Sea Serpent Castle. Don’t engage recklessly, act according to the situation!”

“Understood!”

“We’ll be careful.”

The players responded in unison.

Driving through the crowd, the two teams finally reached the gates of Sea Serpent Castle with much difficulty.

However, a securely locked large iron gateway blocked their way.

Behind the gate, two voices were audible:

“Do you think by locking the gate, we would be violating Mr. Mosby’s instructions to ‘not try to stop them’?” one voice asked.

“Of course not! We didn’t stop them, the gate did. It ain’t our problem,” the other voice chuckled.

It seems that in just over ten minutes, the NPCs in the Castle had already come up with a strategy.

Snow Leopard didn’t seem troubled, though.

He waved his hand at the team behind him: “Attack the gate!”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than about a dozen instant spells and arrows were rapidly flung towards the gate.

But the defense of the Sea Serpent Castle wasn’t for show, either. The gate was inscribed with a top-tier defensive magic circle.

The arrows and spells lost their effectiveness two or three meters before hitting the gate—like ripples hitting the water, they couldn’t create waves against the gate.

Snow Leopard frowned.

Then he respectfully asked Hammell, the Sanctuary warrior closest to him in the sky: “Lord Hammell, could you help us open this door?”

“No problem!” Hammell, the warrior of the Sanctuary, responded gruffly.

Hammell dived down in a swift swoop, smashed forcefully into the gate like a comet.

Boom!

A sky-shaking thunderous noise ensued as the nearly 10 meter-wide gate shattered under Hammell’s strike, stirring up heaps of dust on the ground.

Snow Leopard quickly thanked Hammell.

As the dust settled, he led the players into the castle one after another.

In the sky, Mosby Gesang’s face darkened a notch further; after all, Snow Leopard had just breached his family’s stronghold!

He wanted to cast a spell to teach Hammell a lesson.

But at that moment, the aura of Roland and his two companions intensified. With no option left, Mosby turned around to continue acting obedient.

PS: I had some writer’s block today, so there will only be one update. I’ll make up for it tomorrow.