Chapter 63: The Quiet Town

Zhao Yan wiped his face, shaking off the alcohol spewed by Cotton, and grabbed the collar of Cotton's shirt with a backhand grip, shouting fiercely, "You bastard, what have you done!"

Covered in cold sweat, Cotton muttered in a low voice, "It's impossible, it makes no sense."

"You're still playing dumb with me!" Completely disregarding the fact that they belonged to the same organization, Zhao Yan raised his fist and struck.

Cotton was still in a dazed state, but his body suddenly expanded twofold, resembling a light, airy tuft of cotton that neutralized all the force behind Zhao Yan's blow.

After several ineffective punches, Zhao Yan did not give up. Instead, a faint flame ignited on his fist as he delivered a heavy uppercut to Cotton's abdomen.

Enhanced by fire-attribute power, he broke through Cotton's protective defense, landing the punch solidly.

Cotton let out a cry of pain. The agony jolted him back to his senses, and the moment he recovered, he grabbed Zhao Yan's fist.

Zhao Yan sneered, "Good grief, you still dare to fight back, you..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Cotton suddenly threw his arms around him in a tight embrace, as if clinging to a straw for survival.

"Brother Fire, we're in huge trouble! You have to help me, or I'm dead meat!"

Cotton's strength was immense, almost pressing Zhao Yan into his expanded body.

With a supreme exertion of all his strength, Zhao Yan managed to break free. Realizing the disparity in power between them, he held off on further attacks and demanded, "I knew you lot were up to no good. What on earth is your scheme with giving my people an upgraded reward instance?"

Hearing this question, Cotton's panicked gaze drifted away. He looked aside and muttered, "I can't say."

Seeing Zhao Yan's anger flaring up again, Cotton quickly added, "But I swear, I didn't tamper with the clearance permissions, nor did I intend to trick them into entering a Grade C instance."

"Brother Fire, we must find a way to fish them out. I know your Order faction has methods to send people into an instance midway. You have to help me."

Zhao Yan laughed out loud in sheer exasperation. "Send someone midway? A temporarily added player cannot exceed the level cap recommended for clearing the instance, and only one person can be added temporarily. Are you going, or am I?"

"Have you forgotten what the Silent Town is famous for? Why is it on the special watchlist?" Cotton said in a panic.

"I'm panicking precisely because I know. Ordinary Grade C instances... as long as it's not this one, there's always a chance in others."

Silent Town had appeared not long ago, and its presence was relatively low-key. It had only briefly surfaced on the instance danger escalation ranking, resting at twenty-eighth place.

Due to its recent appearance and the scarcity of intelligence leaking out, external discussions about it were minimal.

However, those in the know would never underestimate this newly emerged Grade C instance. In fact, the Administration had classified Silent Town as a special-watchlist instance to ensure all members remained alert to it.

The reason it commanded such high regard was that five days ago, a tier-two organization called Deep Water Society had attempted to conquer Silent Town.

Determined to break the puzzle, the Deep Water Society locked onto the coordinates of the true Silent Town instance and dispatched an entire Grade B exploration team to conquer it.

A Grade B exploration team, as the name implied, was a squad capable of exploring and pioneering Grade C and B instances. Every member was at least level 18 or above, with seasoned coordination and rich experience.

For an ordinary Grade C instance, that was a dimensionality-reduction strike.

Yet the fact that Silent Town still stood intact today spoke volumes about the outcome of that raid.

Out of a full team of ten players, only three left the instance alive.

One of them suffered a complete mental breakdown and was currently undergoing emergency treatment.

The other two suffered severe psychological trauma, their willpower plummeting below 3, leaving them devoid of speech capabilities and all memory, while exhibiting extreme hostility that drove them to attack anyone within their line of sight.

Their return to the real world caused multiple indiscriminate violent attacks. Only after being restrained by the Administration and tracing the clues back to the Deep Water Society did the existence of Silent Town come to light.

The official recommended exploration level for a Grade C instance was levels 10 through 20.

This meant that even if the Order faction could insert someone midway, the entrant could still not exceed level 20.

An entire Grade B exploration team had perished in there without a single person returning in one piece. What difference was there between a single level-20 player entering and marching to their death?

Not to mention having to act as a babysitter to pull out a bunch of noobs below level 10.

No player with a functioning brain would accept such a suicidal mess.

A chill ran down Zhao Yan's scalp. This matter had exceeded his capacity to resolve; he had to blow the issue wide open to find any glimmer of a turning point.

Personally, Meng Yawen had just entrusted him to take good care of Wu Chang, only for Wu Chang to be tricked into a Grade C instance to die, betraying Meng Yawen's trust.

Professionally, he was the instructor of these recruits, and failing to protect them was a dereliction of his duty. If word got out, who would ever trust the Administration's training of newcomers?

This was a hundred times more humiliating than losing a martial arts match to Wu Chang or seeing the bureau chief run naked!

He hurriedly notified Meng Yawen, then shouted angrily at Cotton:

"You Evolution faction bastards are truly something else, plotting against your own people! If you want to make a scene, we'll stay right by your side and tear the heavens down. When the sky falls, let's see who fails to pick up the pieces!"

The Administration acted swiftly. Within minutes, the decision-makers from both sides had arrived.

Representing the Wanghai City side were Lei Huo and Meng Yawen, both known for their blazing tempers and zero tolerance for wrongdoing.

Sending the two of them to resolve the issue already demonstrated the attitude of the Wanghai City Administration branch, and by extension, the entire Order faction.

If no satisfactory explanation was provided, physical action would follow immediately.

In stark contrast to the aggressive stance of the Order faction, the usually dominant Evolution faction sent a middle-aged man with a steady demeanor and graying temples.

The middle-aged man held considerable seniority; even High Bureau Chief Gao of the Wanghai branch would have to bow his head and address him as a senior.

However, neither Lei Huo nor Meng Yawen came from ordinary backgrounds. Even upon meeting this person, they gave him cold stares, clearly refusing to show him any respect.

The middle-aged man gave Cotton a sidelong glance, signaling him to step forward, and said, "Since a mistake has been made, you must own up to it. Continuing to conceal it will only completely rupture the relationship between both sides. Tell the truth."

Standing in the center of the crowd, Cotton took a few deep breaths and slowly began to speak.

"Actually..."

Inside the Silent Town instance.

On the beach, after the initial wave of anger and incomprehension, everyone gradually resigned themselves to fate and accepted reality.

Things had reached this point; even if they wanted to settle scores with Cotton, they had to survive and get out first.

Taking advantage of the safety buffer period before the instance officially started, the entered players gathered together.

Counting Wu Chang's true self, there were a total of twelve players.

Five newcomer assistants from Wanghai City and two newcomer assistants from Dongyang City—these seven novices below level 10 were the ones who had triggered this party instance.

Aside from Wu Chang's true self, the remaining five players consisted of four individuals supplemented by the system because the gap in strength between the original players and the instance difficulty was too vast.

This fact deeply displeased Wu Chang.

If the system was capable of doing such sensible things, why hadn't he enjoyed this treatment when he matched into instances by himself?

The four supplementary players were further divided into two groups.

One youth wearing a black trench coat, radiating the melancholic air of a literary heartthrob, stood alone in the distance, sizing up Wu Chang's true self as if contemplating approaching him for a chat.

The other three formed a group. Equipped with superior gear and fierce imposing presences, they reeked of seasoned veterans.

Exchanging a glance, the three of them formed a triangular formation and walked toward Wu Chang and the others with hostile, semi-encircling expressions.

While controlling his true self to coldly rebuff the literary youth's attempt at conversation, Wu Chang kept a watchful eye on the three supplementary entrants.

Well, well. Before the instance had even begun, an internal conflict was already brewing.