Reincarnation NPC, but Arknights

"Hmm, that seems to be her style..." Ghost Shark nodded thoughtfully. "Looks like you're quite concerned about her too?"

"Hmph, I wasn't that kind. I just casually reminded her because of her special status." Bai Ye, of course, wouldn't admit it.

However, what he said actually makes some sense. As players, it has obviously become an instinct and a habit to try to gain favor with the various factions.

Even though Bai Ye is no longer a nobody, he still retains this habit.

……

After seeing Miss Ceylon off, Byakuya, Skadi, and Specter head to the volcano.

Specter, having spent some time on Rhodes Island and unlike Skadi, being somewhat naive, asked with some curiosity, "White Night, how do you plan to solve the natural disaster? Are you suggesting we find a lid to seal the crater?"

"First, we need to find the cause of the natural disaster. Is it because the Originium vein has become active, or is it due to something else? This volcano has been inactive for a long time, and its sudden activity must be due to some kind of trigger," Bai Ye explained using his professional knowledge.

“It could be due to human error…” Ghost Shark added.

“Yes, the Kronin that the mayor’s daughter mentioned is very suspicious. I’ve said before that a messenger of natural disasters couldn’t possibly be unaware of the anomalies here.” Bai Ye snorted coldly.

Another piece of evidence is the quests he accepted; the quest bar on the game system panel clearly shows quests related to Kronin.

However, Bai Ye was too lazy to confront a weak ordinary person, so he simply asked Ceylon to find the players. Those guys would definitely be happy to help a beautiful female NPC resolve this matter.

……

To Bai Ye's surprise, besides Ceylon, Rhodes Island's Cataclysmic Messenger also sensed that something was wrong.

On the way, Bai Ye happened to encounter two Rhodes Island operators who were conducting an on-site investigation near the volcano.

Bai Ye identified them by the standard Rhodes Island protective suits they were wearing.

"Hey, Manager Baiye." The two operators clearly recognized Baiye, and they were the first to greet him upon seeing him.

"Hello." Bai Ye looked at the operators in front of him. Although they looked somewhat familiar, he couldn't remember who they were.

"I'm Provence, and this is Miss Skyfire. We're here for a field investigation." Fortunately, the operatives knew their code names without Bai Ye having to ask.

Bai Ye suddenly realized: "Oh, it's you guys, Big Tail and... Clumsy Miss."

Provence is Rhodes Island's messenger of natural disasters and is quite active. He is a Lupo, and his defining characteristic is his exceptionally large tail. Red once told White Night that he is a "Lupo with a very large tail."

As for Skyfire? She seems to be a new operator who joined Rhodes Island not long ago. I heard she was introduced as a scholar and caster. Although she is quite strong, she is still unable to control her power.

In fact, Rhodes Island is very large and has many operators. It's impossible for White Night to know them all. Moreover, his social circle is pitifully small. He doesn't even know which operators are in his own department.

Not to mention other departments.

The reason Bai Ye had heard of Tianhuo was because the child was so famous. He had heard that a young lady had accidentally burned her clothes to ashes in the laboratory and had been unable to leave ever since.

Later, it was the caster operator Eyjafjalla who had to go to the lab and discovered the poor child huddled in the corner. The blushing elf found some clothes to cover the bare Skyfire.

This happened several more times afterward, which is why Miss Skyfire became quite famous on Rhodes Island.

Department heads like Bai Ye, who always operate under a "monarch offline system," have all heard of her.

"Forehead--"

Both Provence and Tianhuo were somewhat speechless.

It seems this legendary manager of Rhodes Island isn't very good with words. He's quite handsome, but unfortunately, he has a big mouth…

However, this did not diminish their respect for Bai Ye, especially Tian Huo.

She had heard of White Night before joining Rhodes Island; he was a legendary scholar of the undead and the most authoritative figure in the field.

"Mr. Baiye, are you also conducting field research right now?" Tianhuo asked, somewhat curious as to why Baiye would be here.

"Hmm, have you noticed anything amiss?" Bai Ye asked in return.

“The taste is strange,” Provence, the messenger of natural disasters, said first.

“That’s right, the amount of volcanic gas emitted is more than I expected, and the detection runes that Eyjafjalla gave me are already reacting.” Skyfire nodded as well.

Provence added, "There might be something wrong with this volcano."

Bai Ye expressed satisfaction with the professionalism of the Rhodes Island operators: "Your guess was right, a natural disaster is very likely to break out here."

"Huh?!" Both girls widened their eyes.

Natural disasters are no good thing for the people of Terra; they are terrifying things that make people turn pale at the mere mention of them and stop even the most innocent children from crying.

“I am also a messenger of natural disasters. What I am preparing to do now is to enter the volcano with my companions to check the situation.” Bai Ye said, showing his identification and token.

"That's amazing! I never thought that Rhodes Island's field operator was also a Cataclysmic Messenger!" Skyfire admired White Night very much. In her opinion, White Night was a genius just like her.

Provence frowned, and after a moment she said, "Let us go together. I am also a messenger of natural disasters, and I cannot stand idly by."

“Alright, although I know a little about natural disasters and geology, and have some knowledge of volcanic ecology, Originium physics and high-energy stone techniques are not my strengths.”

Bai Ye nodded.

Only he himself knew that his "scholarship" was only a third of what it was, and he still needed to call on experts.

Chapter 142 Players of Siesta

As White Night, Deepsea Hunter, and two other operators headed towards the volcano, Lady Ceylon was also seeking the player's help, following White Night's advice.

The undead are generally quite nosy, so if you ask them for help and promise them a reward, the vast majority will be willing to assist you.

Ceylon recalled what Bai Ye had told her before she left.

If you have the moral high ground, they will be more willing to help you. Especially since you're a young lady from a wealthy family, they'll certainly be happy to lend a hand.

Bai Ye certainly understands the players. Once they encounter an NPC with good looks, if that NPC also acts weak and pitiful, most players will definitely choose to help.

Especially in version 2.2, where players are still relatively new.

Of course, this trick probably won't be as effective in the later stages of the game. On one hand, there are more and more bad women who can deceive, ambush, and even set traps for players.

For example, if you encounter a beautiful girl locked up on the road and choose to rescue her, eight Sarkaz men will suddenly jump out from the side; or, in another example, a beautiful girl is trapped by the roadside, and if you go to rescue her, the Sarkaz girl's mouth will suddenly split open, leaving the player with a huge psychological trauma.

Yes, these Sarkaz strongmen are usually quite strong. Even if the player is a skilled player and can solve the immediate problem, they will still suffer a certain psychological blow.

After experiencing losses and hardships, players gradually understand the treacherous nature of the world. After being tricked by things like "Miyazaki Hidetaka's treasure chest monster," they learn their lesson and simply accept quests only from legitimate channels and factions.

Or they will only accept a task after conducting thorough investigation and confirmation.

Players who get scammed later are either naive newbies who jumped into the open world without carefully reading experienced players' guides, or unlucky ones who got tricked by experienced players and are now just watching for fun.

On the other hand, as players explore the world more and more, they encounter more female NPCs, and the initial sense of novelty and freshness is gone.

However, in version 2.2, a vibrant and thriving version, the trick that White Night taught Ceylon is still very useful.

……

Things went even more smoothly than Ceylon had imagined. When she reached the beach, players approached her and asked if she needed help.

In fact, there are players like this all over the world. They enjoy trying to trigger quests and exploring various ways to discover the quest-giving mechanism of NPCs in the game.

Because Arknights Online has a high degree of realism and freedom, exclamation marks and question marks will no longer appear above NPCs' heads, which makes it much more difficult for players to trigger missions on their own.

At the same time, it's rare to see native inhabitants foolishly spinning around in place and muttering to themselves. This kind of behavior, which is usually seen in other online games as clearly telling players to come and accept the quest, is rarely encountered by players in this game.

That's why Bai Ye chose to establish a third-party task assignment platform; he knew that this method of task assignment would definitely be welcomed by players.

Many players choose to try different methods to trigger quests. They gradually accumulate experience, like detectives identifying which NPCs need help. Miss Ceylon, for example, has a high chance of triggering a quest.

As an aside, in the not-too-distant future, this kind of obvious and typical traditional NPC behavior from online games will suddenly reappear in games, and the frequency will gradually increase. Players believe that this is because the developers have adjusted the AI ​​of the NPCs in the game to prevent the game from becoming too realistic and losing some of its gameplay.

It's important to know that sometimes, a game isn't better the more realistic it is.

Of course, in reality, the so-called game official Luna has no ability to influence the native inhabitants of this world. This situation is caused by the research on player behavior and the suggestions made to the native inhabitants in Baiye's subsequent works.

The indigenous people who had studied Bai Ye's works gradually learned this method of "issuing quests" and "seeking help" from players.

……

Ceylon tells the two players about the mission, including the impending crisis facing the city and the need to investigate Kronin.

The two lucky players felt as if they had been hit by a pie. They never expected that the NPC they encountered by chance would be an important figure in the region, and the quest they triggered was actually a high-difficulty, high-reward main quest for the region, such as saving the city.

However, both players were still intelligent. One of them, whose game ID was "Qingfeng," believed that he and his companion were not high-level enough and did not have enough manpower to complete such an ambitious mission.

So after accepting the quest, they found the most famous player group in the vicinity and shared the quest with them.

The player group they found was the very famous player band – Alice Fantasy Orchestra.

This organization doesn't belong to any guild or club; it's simply a player-run enthusiast group. The members are actually band members who know each other in real life, and they've resumed their activities after entering the game.

This is a very famous player group, renowned not only among players but also among the native inhabitants of Terra. They were even invited by the official organizers of the Obsidian Festival in Siesta City to perform as guests.

After learning the details of the matter, Elsa, the leader of the Alice Ensemble, contacted Ceylon.

She indicated that her band could help Ceylon resolve her troubles.

"Are you really sure you have no problems?" Although he knew that the undead valued the spirit of contracts and would not break them on their own initiative, Ceylon felt that what he needed now was a warrior, not a musician in a band.

"Don't worry, we're more than just musicians."

Elsa smiled gently.

Alice's Ensemble has always been known by players as the "wandering ensemble on earth" because they do not have a fixed base and usually travel between cities by touring.

These players can traverse the wilderness without guards or bodyguards; anyone without skill would have been wiped out long ago. In fact, they are all quite skilled, and most of them are warlocks.

If Bai Ye were here, he would definitely recognize their skill point allocation style—the agility-based style, which uses nimble movements and rapidly released spells to decisively defeat enemies.

Of course, the band is not lacking in MTs (Main Tanks). Most of the players who usually use large instruments allocate points to Strength and Constitution to act as the main tank and draw fire.

Chapter 143 Die, you bugs!

"So hot……"

Tianhu stuck out her tongue, and as she approached the volcano, she began to sweat profusely. Due to her special magical talent, sparks would occasionally fly from her forehead.

"You absolutely must keep this under control. This is all forest. If you set fire to the mountain, you'll be locked up in jail for life..." Bai Ye thought this guy was quite dangerous.

Provence, meanwhile, chimed in, "It really is hot!"

Her tail was big and fluffy, and naturally warm. She even worried that her tail would spontaneously combust and catch fire.

However, when the two Rhodes Island operators looked at White Night and Deepsea Hunter, they were surprised to find that none of the three of them were out of breath or sweating.

'What kind of outrageous superhuman physique is this?!' Skyfire couldn't help but complain in his heart.

Unfortunately, what she didn't know was that if the Deep Sea Hunter's body were fully active and under high load, the temperature would rise rapidly, emitting high temperatures that would be extremely hot to the touch.

Well, don't ask why Bai Ye knows this.

I probably found out during the battle (feeling guilty).

……

The five people followed the path into the cave.

Here, the temperature has clearly risen further.

Bai Ye cast a spell, creating a heat insulation layer that enveloped the other four people, which made the two relatively ordinary operators feel better.

"I never imagined there was such a cave beneath the volcano," Provence exclaimed in amazement.

"Hmm, there are no obvious traces of Originium. Even if there were Originium ore, it wasn't activated. It seems the cause of the disaster isn't Originium..."

Bai Ye overturned one of her previous guesses.

Skyfire nodded: "If there were an Originium mine, this place probably wouldn't look like this now."

Bai Ye raised an eyebrow: "You mean, is it being mined?"

"Hmm, what else?" Tianhuo asked, somewhat puzzled.

“I thought you meant that Siesta City probably won’t become an independent tourist resort city, but will be occupied and divided up by Colombia or other countries under some pretext.” Bai Ye shrugged.

The reason why small places like Siesta and Snowland were able to survive from other large countries is most likely because they had little value.

The worst off is probably Bolivar, who was colonized by Iberia because of Originium mines, ruled by Letania, and now has been embroiled in several conflicts with Colombia over the scope of mining operations, and is now in a long-term war.

The three forces within the country are locked in a fierce battle, creating utter chaos.

"Uh... so that's what you mean." Tianhuo didn't expect Baiye to think of this so directly. After a moment of contemplation, she nodded. "Not having an Originium mine might be a kind of luck."

The group continued deeper into the cave, where the temperature began to rise. Meanwhile, Bai Ye and the others could hear the sounds of strange creatures crawling from the depths of the cave.

"Are there also terror fish here?" Skadi narrowed her eyes slightly, clearly feeling a bit uneasy about the deep-sea monster that had suddenly appeared from the sea earlier.