Chapter 25

Sun Ran had only spent a day in the Giant Dragon World, but in the real world, it had been less than ten minutes. Including the time for eating and resting, it had only taken about an hour in total.

An hour ago, Sun Ran walked out of the Order Maintainer headquarters as a probationary Order Maintainer. An hour later, he entered again, now a seasoned Black Iron Order Maintainer with over five hundred points of experience.

Following Lan Xin into the Order Cube, Sun Ran retraced the familiar route to the office of the Thorn Rose team.

In the room, Ke'er and Bai Tingxuan were both present, silent and in low spirits.

Anyone would be unhappy after a chaotic and failed mission in the virtual world, wasting so much time. It was only natural.

Seeing Lan Xin enter, Ke'er pouted and said nothing, while Bai Tingxuan greeted her normally, "Sister Xin, you're here."

Lan Xin nodded and then stepped aside to reveal Sun Ran, smiling, "Sun Ran is here too. He has become a Black Iron Order Maintainer and is now our official team member."

Ke'er's face immediately brightened, and she clapped her hands, laughing, "After the bad news, there's indeed some good news. I feel much better now."

She winked at Sun Ran and gave him a flirtatious look, "My lord, you haven't disappointed me."

Before Sun Ran could respond, Lan Xin immediately said, "Ke'er, be serious!"

Ke'er made a face and then lowered her head to check the latest developments of the failed mission.

Lan Xin turned to Bai Tingxuan and asked, "Xuanxuan, you were the last one to be eliminated. How was the situation inside?"

Bai Tingxuan shook her head and sighed, "It was very bad. Count Dracula has successfully reclaimed the throne of the Principality of Wallachia and become the Duke. When I came out, only three teams, a total of five people, were still alive. The rest had been kicked out. I heard that the Medieval Game Company is planning to hire a Bronze Order Maintainer team to join."

Confused, Sun Ran asked, "Xuanxuan, can you explain the details of this mission to me?"

Bai Tingxuan nodded and began to explain.

The virtual world they had entered was called "Dark Middle Ages," a fantasy world set in the late 14th century, based on medieval Europe.

To explain, each game company has a main world background. Usually, after the world's creation, they accelerate the game's time progression, influencing key historical events to rapidly mature the world. Some companies are even more extreme, accelerating the world to modern times in just a month.

The target of this mission was Dracula, a Romanian. Romania had three principalities, one of which was the Principality of Wallachia. Dracula was the second son of the Duke, titled Count. In his youth, he was sent as a hostage to the Ottoman Empire's capital, Istanbul, and eventually rose to inherit the Duke's position.

Currently, there was no issue with Count Dracula himself. He was just a regular player paying to play the game, and everything he did was legal.

What was illegal was his fate!

The credit points he paid were not enough to make him a true noble, or a VIP in the game. The points he paid only allowed him to be a commoner.

His original fate should have been: his father killed by rebels, the Principality of Wallachia overthrown, and he exiled to become a commoner, living a miserable life.

In Eastern civilization terms, this Dracula had a low destiny, and he was not meant to be wealthy or powerful. However, with the help of a group of saboteurs, he raised an army, reclaimed the principality, and became a Duke with real power. He then coerced the Church to recognize his legitimacy, making him the true ruler of the principality, thus breaking his destiny's limitations and becoming a VIP noble in reality.

It was inferred that in the real world, Dracula was the employer of these saboteurs. He paid the credit points, and the saboteurs helped him in the game, allowing him to experience a life of wealth and power.

Compared to the cost of becoming a VIP in the game, this method was much cheaper.

Clearly, this harmed the game company's interests and needed to be dealt with quickly. However, Dracula's actions in the game were all legal, and there was no evidence in the real world, so the game company could not directly kick him out. They could only resolve the issue through the game.

The task of the Order Maintainers was to kill the saboteurs assisting Dracula, depriving him of his support.

After that, the Church, which he had coerced, would revoke his Duke title and legitimacy. Then, the Ottoman Empire would invade the principality, bringing him back to his original fate.

After listening, Sun Ran nodded and asked, "Who are these saboteurs?"

"They are all members of the Vampire Guild."

Sun Ran made a gesture, indicating he understood.

Lan Xin asked Ke'er, "Have any teams been kicked out and then re-entered to continue the mission?"

"None so far. Most Black Iron teams believe that the saboteurs under Count Dracula have gained the upper hand, and it's meaningless to re-enter. Only more powerful Order Maintainers can turn the tide," Ke'er answered immediately, as she had been closely monitoring the mission's progress.

A mature virtual world rarely experiences world-ending crises. Game management companies usually only maintain the basic order of the world and rarely directly intervene. Everything else relies on the Order Maintainers.

In the game, even Order Maintainers rarely receive help from game administrators and must rely on their own abilities. Thus, the assistance of the game world's native residents becomes crucial.

Whether it's Order Maintainers or saboteurs, if one side gains the support of the native residents and gains the upper hand, it is extremely difficult to reverse the situation if the individual strengths are similar.

In such cases, game companies usually hire more advanced Order Maintainer teams to use their overwhelming strength to eliminate the saboteurs.

Ke'er suddenly said, "Sister Xin, Sister Xuan, the situation has changed. An independent Order Maintainer with the codename 'Jing Ke' has accepted the commission and entered the game."

Independent Order Maintainers are lone wolves who prefer to act alone. They are usually quite strong because they lack team support and often use assassin tactics.

From the codename, it was clear that this Jing Ke was an assassin.

The silent Sun Ran asked, "How much is the commission for this mission?"

"The starting price for a Black Iron team is 2,000 credit points per person. Because the opponent is tough, the Medieval Game Company has increased the base reward to 5,000 credit points per person, with personal contribution evaluations still in place," Lan Xin explained.

5,000 credit points, and the Thorn Rose team was familiar with this world. The mission was challenging but suitable for a Black Iron team, so Sun Ran was interested.

He sought the opinions of the three women, "Should we continue this mission and re-enter?"

"Is it feasible? Since we were eliminated once, we need to prove that our team's strength has significantly increased for the game company to accept our proposal to continue the mission," Bai Tingxuan explained.

If their strength remained the same, re-entering would be a waste of time.

Sun Ran nodded confidently, "I completed a commission in the Giant Dragon Era and received a legendary evaluation. This should meet the condition of a significant increase in strength."

"Legendary evaluation!" Even the calm Bai Tingxuan couldn't help but widen her eyes.

The Thorn Rose team had been formed for three years, and the highest evaluation they had received was "excellent," not even "perfect."

Ke'er, being quick, immediately submitted an application to the Medieval Game Company, stating, "Thorn Rose has gained a powerful fourth member with the codename 'Rose Tree.'"

Sun Ran added, "Also, in the virtual world of Western civilization, my alchemy skills are quite advanced."

Ke'er nodded and included Sun Ran's request in the application, then sent it. They now had to wait.

The wait wouldn't be long, at most ten minutes, otherwise, it would delay the game's progress.

Sun Ran was satisfied with the codename Ke'er gave him. Rose Tree, a tree of roses, was the perfect protector of the roses.

Lan Xin and Tingxuan were helpless. Ke'er, the youngest of the three, loved to play pranks, and they indulged her like a little sister. Now, calling him Rose Tree was truly amusing.

The game company didn't keep them waiting long and responded after three minutes.

"The commission can be accepted, but since 'Rose Tree' is a new member and has only demonstrated excellent casting abilities, in the Dark Middle Ages, magic is relatively weak, and the role of mages is limited. Therefore, the base commission will be 3,000 credit points."

In a team Order Maintainer commission, each member's base reward is the same. The differences come in the personal task evaluations. The higher the evaluation, the more additional rewards, and the faster the experience points accumulate.

"That's too unfair. Our Rose Tree is so powerful, and they're only giving us this much!" Ke'er was angry.

Sun Ran didn't mind because the game company's reasoning was correct. He would use his abilities to make them increase the reward. He looked at Lan Xin and said, "How about we accept it?"

"Do you have the confidence?" Lan Xin was hesitant.

Her previous elimination was brutal, with her possessed body being torn apart by dark werewolves in the forest. She still had lingering fears about the Dark Middle Ages.

Sun Ran looked at her, then at Ke'er and Bai Tingxuan, and said confidently, "I don't do things without confidence."

He was a Grandmaster of Alchemy on Earth. How could a few vampire clowns be a match for him? Ridiculous!

Lan Xin mocked, "Your pride is as high as a rooster's tail. Look at how capable you are."

She knew Sun Ran's character well. He had the skills but never hid them, acting like a show-off, which was a headache.

Sun Ran chuckled, thinking that it wasn't good for a woman to know him too well. In the future, as long as Lan Xin was around, he couldn't pretend to be cool to deceive innocent girls.

"Should we accept it?" Lan Xin still agreed and sought the opinions of Bai Tingxuan and Ke'er.

"I'll follow Rose Tree," Ke'er had no objections.

Bai Tingxuan also nodded.

"Then let's accept it," Lan Xin confirmed.