Four Split Personalities

"..."

Two minutes later, more than a dozen players who were unwilling to be sent and over thirty who didn’t get a slot sulkily left, while the remaining two hundred and sixty were simply reorganized by Motan and then sent to meet up with the main force.

"Turns out I’m not the only broke bastard."

Feather Song watched with a pained expression as the jubilant daredevil team disappeared into the night, and muttered, "Is this what they mean by ’fools rush in where angels fear to tread’?"

Motan shook his head, "Although five hundred gold coins isn’t a small sum, the number of people who are here truly for the money isn’t that high, in the end, it’s just an excuse for themselves."

NPC lives are more valuable than player lives.

Players, whose sense of pain is diminished by the system, are far more robust and can endure more than NPCs of the same caliber.

These two reasons that Motan did not voice, which in other games would seem like nonsensical excuses, were actually why most people were willing to risk their lives.

It was only after everyone else had left that Yu Chen pulled up his hood and stuck out his tongue, smiling at Motan, "I thought you were going to give a serious motivational speech, but it was more like a chat."

"Ha ha, I don’t think I’m cut out for that."

Motan rubbed his nose and said with an embarrassed smile, "If it were someone with the bearing of a great general, maybe, but I’m just having a chat with everyone."

Feather Song snorted, "You’re just gutless, that’s all."

Motan simply smiled noncommittally, indicating he was quite content with the situation.

"The Kilov special attack team has arrived at the designated position."

Feather Song, feeling that she’d said something dull, shifted the conversation back to important matters, "Her Highness the Saintess Xia Lian has fainted from exhaustion but is not in any danger to her life, the Skalan Duchy’s reinforcements are holding the long bridge of Ebi City, and there should be no big problem for a while. Additionally, according to reports from the peripheral observers, due to the efforts of Cordova, Her Highness Xia Lian, and the tenacious resistance of the Skalan Duchy’s reinforcements in the past several hours, the mutants around there have been wiped out by over four thousand, with just over eight thousand remaining."

Motan nodded slightly, "Very well, how about the princess’s guard?"

"They’re waiting for you."

"Hmm, then let’s go..."

...

Five minutes later

The three of them arrived at a small hillock not far from the player gathering place and met the members of the princess’s guard who had escorted Yu Chen throughout the second phase.

"Hello, Black Fan Commander."

The high-ranking Holy Knight Snow Mane from the Justice Sect performed a knight’s salute to Motan and then gave a slight bow to Yu Chen with a cheerful expression, "I’m glad to have the opportunity to work with you again, Your Highness the Saintess."

Yu Chen ’hmmed’ with a complex expression and forced a smile, "So am I."

"I’ve passed out the tongs and handed them over to Instructor Ger."

Snow Mane turned to Motan apologetically with a whisper, "His nephew’s parents have died, so..."

"No problem."

Motan cut her off with a shake of his head, looking at her and the more than twenty elite knights behind her, and nodded, "Honestly, the number of people here has far exceeded my expectations."

The gentle-faced Mammoth Knight grinned, "Everyone volunteered."

The square-faced man stepped forward from behind Snow Mane and said earnestly, "It is our honor."

"Tero, Knight..."

Motan frowned, looking at the middle-aged man in front of him whose Knight Armor was wrapped with numerous crimson bandages, and said in a deep voice, "I understand your feelings, but in my opinion, you’re not in any condition to make a difference with such injuries; there’s no reason for you to stay."

Tero stubbornly met Motan’s gaze and said firmly, "My duty is to protect Forget Language."

"Mr. Tero..."

Yu Chen bit her lip, seemingly wanting to say something, but eventually, the words at her mouth turned into a long sigh as she watched the two men stand off in silence.

After ten seconds

Motan turned away with a wry smile and stepped forward, resignedly thumping Tero’s armor, "I understand."

Only then did the latter show a satisfied smile, "Thank you, Black Fan."

"So..."

Motan fell silent for a long while before looking up again at the knights with determined eyes before him, "I presume you’re all prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice."

All drew their weapons and chorused in unison, "Yes!"

"Even if there’s no possibility of survival, do you willingly accept?"

"Yes!"

"Even if your souls may be desecrated, are you still without fear?"

"Yes!"

"Very well, may the gods bless you all."

Motan nodded slightly and, without looking back, turned and left: "Go."

Feather Song bowed deeply to everyone and then followed Motan, leaving. Snow Mane took leisurely steps to Yu Chen, extending his broad right hand with a smile...

"Let’s go, Your Highness."

...

Game Time PM20:43

Three kilometers northwest of the Long Bridge in Ebi City

An iron behemoth with a rather comical appearance floated quietly in midair, its black coating merging with the night as if one with it.

Objectively speaking, this thing should be an airship, as it could fly and had somewhat the appearance of a ’ship,’ though it looked markedly different from the mainstream airships most people had in mind.

With an elliptical shape starkly different from the standard airships of Bao Gang Aviation and the Pan-Dwarf Business Circle, it was an astounding fifteen meters in length and nearly ten meters wide, resembling a somewhat deformed disc. It had no logo, trademark, or advertising steel-stamps besides some seemingly hastily attached floating arrays, magical energy engines, and large propellers, full of all sorts of patches and looking even less presentable than a Bao Gang airship that hadn’t crashed more than thirty times.

"But at least this thing can fly, right?"

A goblin with brown goggles stood at the edge of the deck, his back laden with three parachute packs, two rocket jet packs, and a "Safety Escape Device V7.4," looking somewhat like a turtle with half of its limbs immobilized.

"Yeah, besides being able to fly, it lacks any other features."

The adjoining oil-stained gnome elder rolled his eyes, mumbling, "A disgrace, an absolute disgrace, to think I’d help fix up a piece of junk from Bao Gang. This lifetime is truly shameful for me."

The goggled goblin immediately became irate, pointing at the gnome elder’s nose and shouting furiously, "Damn it! You think I want you, this old fool, touching my ship? If it weren’t for your bulky, dull, and slow safety kits, how could this thing be slower than a horse?"

"Shut up, you suicide enthusiast!"

The gnome elder punched the air with his small fists and roared, "You’re fast alright! You crash faster than you build ships! If it weren’t for my team overhauling your junk, it would have crashed within two minutes of takeoff!"

"Yeah."

The goggled goblin sneered, folding his arms and said, "After your repairs, it hasn’t even risen three meters off the ground in two minutes. It’s hard to crash from there."

"I’m begging you, ancestors, can’t we stop this nonsense about who is more of a liability?"

The Lizardman player beside them couldn’t stand it anymore and vigorously pulled apart the two quarreling dwarves, "Black Fan has already sent the notice; the Princess’ Guard is almost here. Can we just land and get ready to pick them up first?!"

These two were regular crew members of the Disc Tree City airship point; the goblin on the left was Captain Ford • Bombdrill from Bao Gang Aviation, and the gnome on the right was Aojin • Rivet Wheel, the Intermediate Maintenance Director from the Pan-Dwarf Business Circle stationed at Disk Tree City. The animosity between the two had grown so intense that it almost choked the player responsible for conveying orders.

"We can land."

Bombdrill folded his arms and glanced sideways at the Lizardman player, speaking indifferently, "But after picking up everyone, it probably won’t be able to take off again."

The other was startled, "Why?"

"Overweight."

Rivet Wheel shrugged, offering a succinct explanation, "Too heavy, so it can’t fly."

Bombdrill sighed, "Listen to me, just dump an engine..."

"Why don’t you go die! Why don’t you just toss a few hundred kilos of explosives? That thing can’t reproduce anyway!"

"Out of the question! You dare touch the explosives? Have you forgotten what we’re here for?"

"But we can’t just dump an engine!"

"Dropping one or two engines is not a big deal, I have a way to increase the speed!"

"For example?"

"Overloading the remaining engines."

"So, why aren’t you dead yet?"

Chapter 452: The End