From sailboats to star destroyers (Source: Web)

Chapter 24 A First Exploration of Xixian City

"Quack quack~"

Under the cool moonlight, a few frogs occasionally croaked, disturbing the tranquility of the river.

Looking at the city in the distance, which resembled a sleeping behemoth, Miao Meng suppressed his original desire to quickly pass the level and instead decided to test the waters and take it slow.

"Ice-Free Port: Night of the Dead": Count Barthámú has been ruling this port city for several years and has become a well-known local ruler.

However, the peaceful port was suddenly disrupted by an accident. A ghost ship, carrying a large number of undead troops, appeared out of nowhere and launched an attack on the town, with its target being the West Limit City Lord's Mansion.

Mission objective: Kill Count Bashameu, the city lord.

Mission Reward: Lift the curse of 66 gold coins and obtain the special feat of the ship "Fortune" - Undead Crew.

Task difficulty: High, time ratio is 1:15 (one day in real life, 15 days in the instance), death penalty is seven days of soul weakness.

When Miao Meng first saw the mission description, he did not take Xixian City seriously. He thought that with its medium strength, even with magic and witchcraft, it might not be able to hold out for long against his flying advantage.

Moreover, with a ghost ship as an ally, tying down most of the city's infantry, the two combined might make it possible to break through in one fell swoop.

However, after actually seeing the size of the city, Miao Meng was not so confident anymore, because the city looked too big.

Moreover, after aerial reconnaissance, it was discovered that the city even had two layers of walls. Although it was described as an ice-free port and seemed to be an economically developed place, the heavily armed defenses and tall walls clearly indicated that it was a military fortress.

Moreover, by using a simple method of troop counting—that is, by calculating the number of soldiers in the entire town based on the size of the military camp buildings and the number of guards on the city walls—it is roughly estimated that there are no fewer than 5000 soldiers.

Furthermore, the ghost ship mentioned in the mission description has not yet arrived, so charging into the town alone would not be brave, but reckless.

"In that case, a direct assault would be unwise. Moreover, the timeline of this instance seems quite far from the previous ones. In the 'Maritime Adventure' instance, the captain had just left, and this is already several years later."

Considering the increase in strength the opponent had gained over the past few years, Miao Meng became more cautious. However, as long as the opponent couldn't fly, it wouldn't be a big problem.

After deciding to play it by ear, Miao Meng used his Mars skateboard to quietly land in a secluded corner of the city.

Of course, considering his unfamiliar appearance, he would not choose to wander around the streets and expose himself. Instead, he found a noisy alley that looked like it was inhabited by gangsters.

After all, if you don't go to places like taverns or libraries, the local bigwigs are undoubtedly the best source of information about the city.

Of course, in order to further reduce the possibility of his exposure, Miao Meng did not show himself in front of those ordinary thugs. Instead, he concealed his tracks and followed some of the gang thugs he discovered to the other party's base.

Thanks to the basic language proficiency provided by the comprehensive network, I haven't encountered any language barriers in these instances; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to interrogate anyone.

"Sir, please ask whatever you wish, and I will answer to the best of my knowledge."

Seeing his underlings fall to the ground in an instant, the obese flying squirrel gang leader quickly lowered his head to reply, not daring to raise it even slightly. He knew the rules of the underworld: bowing his head might lead to death, but raising it would certainly mean certain death.

"You're quite clever. Tell me, what are the most powerful forces in this city? What are their relationships? Let's go through them one by one; the night is still long."

Miao Meng deliberately lowered his voice to ask the other party, although he felt that doing so now was just a waste of time, since he would not give the other party a chance to live.

Regardless of whether these gang members are shady or purely ruthless, not a single one can be left alive. He is going to fight against this city and should be the strongest count on the surface, so he cannot reveal any clues.

Listening to the obese gang leader's trembling explanation, Miao Meng quickly sorted out the major forces in the city.

This is the border of the Kingdom of Herest, in the western city of Xixian, which has an ice-free port. Therefore, the strongest of the major forces in the city is naturally the naval general Tara, who belongs to the king.

Secondly, there is Count Barsamuel, who parachuted here 5 years ago. The forces of equal strength to the Count are the Northern Commercial Alliance, the Ocean Church, the Ice and Snow Goddess Church, and many other church forces.

Besides these major powers, there are also scattered gangs like theirs that act as "black gloves," and then there are dockworkers' associations, etc...

With so many forces at play, it's impossible for them all to be united. Not to mention the struggles between churches, the very count who was parachuted in had several clashes with the local naval general.

The antagonism between the two has become so overt that even these sewer bugs are aware of it.

After confirming the identity twice more through torture, Miao Meng killed the gang leader and then conducted a second confirmation of the identities of several other equally obese deputies.

Sitting in the chair reserved for the former gang leader, Miao Meng tapped his fingers incessantly on the table, while the gang's underlings kept their heads down, not daring to raise their heads even slightly.

He was quite restrained on his journey, and did not cause a bloodbath. In fact, apart from the leaders he killed, the number of deaths did not exceed the size of a hand.

After all, fewer deaths mean less bloodshed and a lower chance of exposure. Even if it gets exposed tomorrow, it could be attributed to gang warfare.

The forces in this city and their relationships have now been identified, but not many of them are truly helpful to the mission.

Although the naval admiral and the Black Earl did not have a good relationship, the possibility of him mobilizing soldiers to provide assistance in the face of an external attack was not low.

Because this port is constantly under attack by pirates, and these pirates are not the kind of pirates who only have a small dragon boat and seven or eight people.

Instead, the main force of the pirate kingdom that attacks is located on the Orknini Islands, not far from the Kingdom of Herrest. Each attack involves seven or eight large ships mixed with dozens or even hundreds of smaller ships.

The city is staffed with soldiers to deal with pirates, and the city walls are equipped with specialized coastal artillery and heavy crossbows, giving it a certain degree of anti-aircraft capability.

Therefore, after sorting out enough information from these intelligence reports, Miao Meng is now having a headache, feeling helpless about how to deal with this rather solid town defense.