472 These People Are Crazy! (2/2)
The Duke and his men had red names, so the gamers were unable to join them.
The Duke noticed that the gamers didn't respond to his question and felt he wasn't direct enough.
He said, \”If you cooperate with me, I'll find the best physician to treat your wounds. I'll also confer VIP status to you. You'll obtain the most luxurious house, unlimited delicacies, a piece of land, and become a noble. How's that? Is anyone willing to provide intelligence on Victoria City?\”
The gamers immediately started shouting.
\”Yes, yes, yes. Let me tell you!\”
\”Give me this Strange Encounter Mission, please!\”
\”Please, Daddy, give me the chance!\”
The Duke of York could only make out a few words in the din. He didn't obtain any useful information. He felt that the chattering prisoners were insulting him instead of begging him.
\”Enough!\” The Duke slammed down on the table and looked at the gamers as he said, \”If you don't cooperate and continue to fool around, I'll kill all of you.\”
A gamer quickly said, \”Great Duke, don't be angry. My companions are slow-witted. I'm willing to cooperate with you. I'll tell you information about Victoria City. They're building a Stronghold outside our Castle.\”
Another gamer smiled and said, \”Oh my god, aren't you impatient? Is the Castle ours? If I upload your conversation to the discussion forum, everyone will laugh at you.\”
Another gamer said, \”I'm already laughing to death. You're such a weasel. I have to make a complaint against you. You won't be able to survive in Victoria City.\”
The face of the Duke became dark with anger.
Why were the Victorians building a Stronghold outside his Castle? How could that be? The prisoner had to be fooling him! He was furious.
He controlled his temper and said to the gamers, \”Tell me more details. How many Victorians are there? How many Victorians have arrived?\”
The gamer replied, \”Great Duke, we have 5,000 gamers or Victorians. They come here daily to build the Stronghold outside your Castle. I can provide you the location.\”
The Duke of York could no longer take it. He took a Longsword from his guard and stabbed the gamer to death.
The other gamers looked bewildered at the Duke, who was wiping the bloodstains off his face. Then the Duke said viciously, \”This is the result of deceiving me. Don't treat me like a fool. If you deceive me again, I'll kill all of you.\”
He threw the weapon to the ground and asked angrily, \”How many of you have come to my Castle?\”
Another gamer said, \”Five thousand! I can guarantee that 5,000 warriors will appear at your Castle during the battle. You'll be dead. If you believe me and release me, I'll recruit warriors for you on the discussion forum. Half of them will be willing to join you if you provide enough equipment and land!\”
The Duke took another weapon and stabbed the gamer to death.
Were they treating him like a fool? The 5,000 Victorians were at Goldshire Town yesterday, so how could they arrive so fast?
The Duke wouldn't tell that to the gamers. After killing the previous gamer, he looked at the third gamer and said, \”Tell me how many of you are here. If you deceive me, I'll kill you. No, you'll be in a worse state.\”
The third gamer lowered his head and thought for a while, then lifted his head and said to the Duke of York seriously, \”Great Duke, do you want to listen to the truth or lies?\”
The Duke said, \”I want the truth.\”
The gamer replied, \”The truth is that tens of us are in the forest. Nobody will attack your Castle. Those two guys were fooling you.\”
The Duke of York nodded. Finally, there was an honest guy. He asked, \”When do you intend to attack us? Do you have any detailed battle plans? Why are you here?\”
The gamer pondered and said, \”Great Duke, we came here to carry out Queen Victoria's order to build a Stronghold and gather intelligence about the weaknesses of the Castle. We don't wish to work for that poor Queen Victoria. We want to work for you. We are defecting!\”
The gamer spoke earnestly. The few surviving gamers immediately shouted, \”Yes, yes! We are defecting!\”
The Duke pondered for a while and said to his assistant, \”Keep this man for interrogation, and imprison the rest. If anyone wants to cooperate, record their statements. I'll hand them to you. I don't care about their life and death. The important thing is to capture all of the Victorians in the forest. Do you understand?\”
The assistant nodded and said, \”I understand.\”
The two stabbed gamers who were tied to the wooden beam slowly disintegrated into Mana and vanished. The Duke of York was given a fright. He hadn't seen anyone transforming into Mana after death.
Nobody had seen such a situation before. They thought that anything was possible with a Victorian. Perhaps the Victorians were like the legendary race that was blessed by the Gods.
The Duke of York decided to capture them and use them as his tools for world conquest.
He left the prison with a heart full of ambition. The York Territory was only his stepping stone for his ambition, while Victoria City was his second step. Thus, he had to defeat Victoria City.
That was what the Duke of York thought.
The few prisoners slept simultaneously. The prison wardens thought that the prisoners had fallen asleep.
The prison wardens hadn't been insulted before. They whipped the prisoners viciously, but there were no responses. It was just like Hoodlum.
When the gamers went offline, the first thing they did was inform everyone on the discussion forum about joining the York Territory. If the gamers defected voluntarily, they could become the Duke's men. That was the Duke's intention.
Everyone knew about Hoodlum's Strange Encounter Mission. He became a slave after being imprisoned and was then trained. Perhaps the gamers could be trained after being imprisoned and trigger a new hidden faction.
It was exhilarating to join the York Territory! There were free rides, armor, houses, food, and female servants. It was like attaining the pinnacle of life.
The gamers of Victoria City were excited. They arrived at the forest via the Teleport Portal in a rush and looked for the patrol teams. The entire forest was soon filled with gamers. The guards who were supposed to capture the Victorians were given a fright, and they fled back to the Duke's Castle, reporting what they saw to the Duke of York.
The Duke of York had returned from the prison and was in a room sipping his tea while listening to the reports.
After listening to the astonishing report, he spat out tea on the guard's face. Then he asked loudly, \”What did you say? Repeat it.\”
The guard replied, \”Great Duke, the Victorians are all in the forest outside the Castle.\”
The Duke of York didn't believe it. He left the room and walked to the balcony, observing the black mass of people in the forest. He estimated that there were a few thousand of them.
Did the two prisoners who died tell the truth? And the prisoner whom he thought was telling the truth was actually lying? However, his intelligence report told him a different story. Were the Victorians not in Goldshire Town? How did they arrive so fast? Did they fly?
The Duke of York couldn't figure it out. He looked at the report in his hands that was sent from Goldshire Town three days ago. It stated that there were three to four thousand Victorians at Goldshire Town.
The Duke of York thought that his intelligence system was perfect and that the information was accurate. However, he was wrong. The Victorians were standing below and in front of his Castle. How could that be wrong?
He ordered the guards loudly, \”Rush those Counts who are providing reinforcements! Shut the Castle door. Don't let them in!\”
The Duke went back to the prison and took a weapon. He then hacked the sleeping prisoner that provided false information to death.
When the killed gamer went online and found himself at the Revival Point, he was very surprised.
The gamers formed groups and arrived at the Castle. They shouted, \”Let us come in! We're defecting! Capture us quickly!\”
The gamers were getting impatient.
Not all of the gamers were shouting to defect. Some gamers tried to climb the walls. The guards at the parapet looked at the Victorians' behavior, and they all had the same thought—were these people insane?