40: The riots of the people led to the execution of Ito Hidetaka
“Global Public Enemy Event: Due to the Challenger’s obstinacy, Eagle Country has been thoroughly enraged. Under pressure from Eagle Country, Great Harmony has become a global public enemy!”
“Great Harmony’s bilateral trade has been completely blockaded! You cannot engage in any import or export activities!”
“Great Harmony’s external transportation has been completely blockaded. All ships are unable to enter nearby waters! All aircraft are unable to leave its airspace!”
“Great Harmony’s currency has depreciated by 1000%!”
“All residents of Great Harmony cannot travel to other countries, and overseas compatriots will be forcibly repatriated!”
“…”
It was another overwhelming wave of sanctions, and judging by their severity, they were far more terrifying than Eagle Country’s first round of sanctions.
However, for Ito Hidekazu, these were irrelevant.
The mission had failed anyway, and now he was just waiting for the final settlement. No matter how many sanctions were imposed, they wouldn't affect him.
But then, the Sky Curtain displayed another notification.
“Dear Challenger, because you triggered the Global Public Enemy Event, the instance mission has been accordingly modified!”
“Mission Two: Economic Overtake” has been upgraded to “Mission Two: Global Hegemon!”
“Mission Two: Global Hegemon”
“Challengers must lead Great Harmony to become the Earth’s largest economy! The time for this round of missions is 600 hours!”
“Mission successful, all Challengers will receive 1500 points!”
“Mission failed, all Challengers will be deducted 5000 points!”
Seeing the mission change again, Ito Hidekazu’s expression tightened.
The mission time had actually been extended to 600 hours!
But it was meaningless, as they had already lost control of Great Harmony.
Let alone 600 hours, even 6000 hours would be of no help.
What truly terrified Ito Hidekazu was that the penalty for mission failure had increased tenfold.
5000 points! In the entire Azure Star instance system, this was an incredibly astonishing number.
One must know that upgrading from LV0 to LV1 only required 100 points, and even these 100 points were unattainable for 90% of Azure Star's population.
5000 points was an astronomical figure for most people, enough for them to die dozens of times over.
Even for Ito Hidekazu, this was a sufficiently “fatal” penalty.
The last time Lin Ye led 2000 Challengers to clear his Battle of the Imperial Sea, his points were greatly reduced.
Before entering this instance, Ito Hidekazu had a total of around 13000 points in reserve.
If 5000 points were deducted, he would fall below 10000, dropping from LV2 to LV1!
“Sky Curtain… so will this mission settlement be based on the previous mission, or the modified mission?”
Ito Hidekazu’s voice was already trembling at this point.
If he truly were to be demoted, it meant he would be unable to use the weapons in his own instance, and it also meant he would completely fall from grace.
Right now, he… simply could not bear such a tragic consequence.
“Detection: The Challenger has not yet settled the mission. The final mission settlement will be based on the final mission content!”
“Why!”
“This is too unfair! We have always been performing the original mission, so why should it be settled based on the latest mission?”
“The mission has already failed, why must the punishment be intensified?!”
Ito Hidekazu was in a rage in the command room, where he was alone.
“Sky Curtain Reminder: The Challenger losing control of Great Harmony is not linked to the Global Public Enemy Event…”
“Baka!”
Ito Hidekazu roared, then weakly hugged the back of his head and squatted on the ground.
But the Sky Curtain’s voice showed no sign of stopping.
“Popular Uprising: Due to the Challenger’s erroneous decisions, the populace of Great Harmony has completely rioted. Currently, a large number of citizens have surrounded the Challenger’s armory. Please, Challenger, deal with this uprising as soon as possible!”
“What?”
“You mean those NPCs have already arrived at the armory?!”
Before Ito Hidekazu could fully react, he heard a commotion outside the command room.
“Down with the demon Ito Hidekazu’s rule over Great Harmony!”
“Down with the demon Ito Hidekazu’s rule over Great Harmony!”
“We want democracy, we want equality, we want freedom!”
“We want democracy, we want equality, we want freedom!”
Waves of shouts surged into Ito Hidekazu’s ears.
Then came the cries of the Challengers outside.
Ito Hidekazu broke out in a cold sweat. He ignored everything else, stood up directly, and rushed out.
Looking from afar, outside the barracks’ iron fence, a surging tide of citizens had already gathered.
Their numbers were so vast that, at a glance, the dense crowd seemed to form a dark ocean, at least a million strong.
Boom!
A loud bang.
The heavy gate of the barracks was actually smashed open by the enraged citizens!
The furious citizens rushed into the armory like zombies! They held sticks and long knives in their hands, looking determined to execute all Challengers.
“Damn Lin Ye!”
“Damn commoners!”
“Pick up your weapons, kill these commoners.”
“You are the citizens of Great Harmony, you cannot be timid! Have you forgotten the Bushido spirit?!”
Ito Hidekazu roared twice, wanting the Challengers to pick up their weapons and suppress these citizens.
But then he thought, where would they get weapons? They had already been blockaded.
These citizens at least had some sticks, while they had nothing.
“Execute Ito Hidekazu!”
“Execute Ito Hidekazu!”
“Execute Ito Hidekazu!”
Countless citizens of Great Harmony shouted angry slogans while wildly swinging their weapons within the barracks.
Due to the huge disparity in numbers, the Challengers were no match for these NPCs at all.
Just like small boats in the Raging Sea, they were instantly capsized by the waves!
Some Challengers were directly knocked to the ground, bleeding from their heads.
Others were grabbed by a group of people, tied up, and thrown into the sea, then left to die in the turbulent waves.
Some were even directly trampled to death by the surging crowd.
“Help!”
“Emperor save me! Emperor save me!”
Screams instantly became incessant.
Then he saw the data displayed by the Sky Curtain in the instance: the number of Challengers in the instance was rapidly decreasing.
“Instance population 19000 / 20000”
“Instance population 15000 / 20000”
“Instance population 7000 / 20000”
…
Seeing this tragic scene, Ito Hidekazu felt his whole body tremble, his legs as heavy as if filled with lead.
His stomach churned, and he almost vomited directly.
Ito Hidekazu was not unfamiliar with scenes of war; all of the Sky Curtain’s instances were themed around war.
However, Ito Hidekazu had not experienced such a bloody, close-quarters melee in a very, very long time.
The raw, brutal fighting, fist to flesh, gave him an indescribable sense of terror.
And… for some reason.
This civilian uprising felt exceptionally real to him, as if these NPCs before him were not virtual entities, but living, breathing people.
This instance was simply too cruel!
Many Challengers were already destined to be directly eliminated in this instance, but before their actual death, they had to first experience a tragic death within the instance.
In that moment of distraction, Ito Hidekazu saw a group of people had already rushed in front of him, surrounding him.
Then ropes were directly tied around his body, cutting into his flesh and leaving bloody marks.
“You commoners! Let me go!”
Ito Hidekazu grimaced in pain, cold sweat rolling down his forehead like broken pearls.
He could only curse a few words to vent his anger, but what greeted him was a barrage of punches and kicks from the citizens.
Then he was directly lifted by the citizens and thrown into the sea like a dead dog.
His vision began to blur, and he only felt himself being thrown forward by a powerful force!
The seawater was icy cold, soaking his body!
Bound by ropes, Ito Hidekazu had no way to swim and could only let the icy seawater gradually swallow his consciousness.
Cold…
Numb…
Suffocating…