133: Chapter 133 New NPCs

[Act 1, Rule 5: Crisis lurks under nightfall, especially for outsiders, as it attracts disasters from the void. Please ensure you find a room to rest before night arrives.]

After discovering this rule outside the "Scar of Chaos," Chen Aoyun and Fan Ling had no choice but to rush back to the town before dark.

Reluctant to dispel the [Pseudo-Crossing the River in White] disguise, the two returned to their room at the small inn, where Zhao Hongxiu and Xiao Zhenghong, failing to recognize them, nearly attacked.

"This disguise skill consumes a lot of energy each time it's used, and we'll need it later, so let's just talk like this." Chen Aoyun pulled up a stool and sat in a circle with the other three. "Let's start with me. Today, Fan Ling and I first went to the academy, then went outside the city, and saw those students mentioned in the quest..."

After recounting everything that happened today and the troubles they encountered in minute detail, Zhao Hongxiu and Xiao Zhenghong exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and Zhao Hongxiu said,

"Regarding the Raiders from other countries you encountered when leaving the city gate, Xiao Zhenghong and I split up today to tour the entire city and also encountered them.

This city has a total of eight gates, and all eight are guarded by Raiders from other factions.

The eight gates correspond to eight directions outside the city; it is very likely that the other factions have carved out territories and monopolized the quest to escort the students!"

There are nine countries in this Game of National Destiny, and excluding the Dragon Country, there are exactly eight. With eight factions each controlling one gate and one direction, what is the Dragon Country to do?

This means that if Chen Aoyun couldn't complete the task in the direction he left the city today, he would just run into Raiders from other countries if he changed directions tomorrow. He would still be intercepted, and he still wouldn't be able to complete the task of increasing the "Dean's" favorability.

Chen Aoyun tapped his chin irregularly, feeling somewhat strange. "Eight factions, and each one sent a Raider to guard the gate? What for? Just to block us? Is our Dragon Country that hated? If Sakura Country did this, or one or two countries did it, that would be fine, but it doesn't make sense for all countries to do this."

Just like the Dragon Country, including the [Strategist], each country has a total of only four Raiders.

They have to escort students to complete the Dean's quest, search for other NPCs in the compass, and even handle the 'injustices' in the city to earn money.

With personnel already insufficient, isn't each faction splitting off one Raider to guard the gate purely a waste of limited human resources?

Regarding the question Chen Aoyun raised, Fan Ling didn't think too much and blurted out, "I actually think it's quite normal. Regardless of whether the other eight factions agreed on it or if they carved out 'spheres of influence' through tacit understanding, they don't trust each other. Perhaps it has nothing to do with us; they sent people to guard the gates just to prevent Raiders from other countries from running into their territory to complete tasks. Think about it. The eight factions control eight directions separately, and the probability of students appearing in each direction is about the same. If you sneak into my territory to escort students, and you get one more student escorted, I will have one less. Doesn't that gap widen with this gain and loss? According to [Act 1, Rule 4], that Dean will only recommend a Heroic Spirit to one family in the end, and everyone wants to escort the most students to raise favorability to the highest."

Chen Aoyun shook his head, feeling that Fan Ling's logic was flawed, and countered, "Can guarding the gate guarantee that the students within their designated range won't be snatched away? Can't they just go around? If I go out from the gate I control and then circle to another direction, can't I still snatch the students?"

Fan Ling was stunned, said "Oh, that's right," and then shrank back. As expected, he wasn't cut out for thinking.

Zhao Hongxiu suddenly thought of something. "Perhaps the other factions leaving people at the gates has to do with another NPC in the compass."

"You found another NPC?" Chen Aoyun perked up and looked at Zhao Hongxiu.

Zhao Hongxiu nodded. "It should be. You can use the compass to confirm it tomorrow." Communicating with an NPC once would light up the silhouette of the character in the compass if they were truly the NPC from the compass; this was the most accurate way to determine the target.

Zhao Hongxiu continued, "The suspected NPC is an officer of the City Defense Army. I didn't dare get too close to that NPC for fear of being exposed, but I noticed a 'wanted poster' on the bulletin board outside the City Defense Army camp."

A wanted poster? Chen Aoyun guessed Zhao Hongxiu's line of thought. "You mean to say, if this officer is the NPC, his task is related to the wanted poster? Wanted poster... catching people... guarding the gates... This makes sense. The various factions leaving people at the gates is primarily to catch the fugitives of the City Defense Army and increase the favorability of the City Defense Army officer! One task hasn't been solved, and now another one has appeared... It's not necessarily a bad thing. The more tasks there are, the more distracted the other factions will be, and that's when we'll have the opportunity to fish in troubled waters. Did you and Xiao Zhenghong find any other clues today?"

"Yes! I found a rule here." Xiao Zhenghong moved forward and stated the rule: [Act 1, Rule 6: Each faction can only reach 'True Friendship' with one NPC at the end of the month.]

The content of this rule was simple and seemed to be just a supplement to [Act 1, Rule 4], but a little contemplation revealed it held great significance!

Chen Aoyun found paper and a pen in the room. In front of everyone, he first wrote down the content of [Act 1, Rule 4], circled [Factions with high favorability within a month can obtain True Friendship] in that rule, and then wrote down [Act 1, Rule 6] that Xiao Zhenghong had mentioned.

Pointing at the content on the paper, Chen Aoyun emphasized a few words. "[High favorability], [Can], [One]. [High favorability] and not the highest; [Can] also suggests it's not mandatory, plus you can only find [One] NPC to reach True Friendship. Combining these qualifiers, doesn't it mean there's a lot of choice when finally determining the Heroic Spirit? A lot of room for maneuvering?"

Zhao Hongxiu immediately understood what Chen Aoyun meant, and Fan Ling nodded continuously, while only Xiao Zhenghong looked somewhat bewildered.

Chen Aoyun explained with an example, "Suppose our Dragon Country is the faction with the highest favorability with the 'Dean' after a month. But our Dragon Country doesn't have a suitable 'Heroic Spirit from the academy,' or perhaps the Heroic Spirit type recommended by another NPC is more suitable. Then our Dragon Country can give up reaching True Friendship with the 'Dean' and give this opportunity to the faction with the second-highest favorability! By the same logic, if my favorability with other NPCs only ranks second or even third, I still have room to make swaps with other factions! Not only that, the Game of National Destiny is full of deception, I could even use this logic to trick others..."

Game theory, always game theory. Whether it was the beta test of the Game of National Destiny or the Star Game that Tang Junlin showed Chen Aoyun in the vision, game theory was incredibly important.

"This is yet another piece of good news. Given that the Raiders from other factions are generally stronger than us, the appearance of this rule means that we don't have to be the faction with the highest NPC favorability; our Dragon Country still has a chance to gain the NPC's friendship and subsequently obtain a Heroic Spirit! What's more, there are ten NPCs in the compass, while all the factions combined only total nine."

The combined strength of the four of them was indeed not as good as the other factions, but as long as there was room to maneuver, then this Game of National Destiny could still be played!

Just as Chen Aoyun was encouraging everyone, the midnight bell rang, and the compass in Chen Aoyun's chest also changed with the tolling of the bell.

Below the image of the 'Dean' in the compass, a favorability ranking had actually appeared: [Character: Dean; Recommended Heroic Spirit Type: Success in Youth; No.1: USA, Favorability 32; No.2: Sakura Country, Favorability 29; ... No.4: Ottoman, Favorability 19; ... No.9 Dragon Country, Favorability 10]