Fatal Shot

Silvermoon City was incomparable to Storm City. It wasn’t covered with satellite systems and automated defense weapons, but it did have City Guards patrolling everywhere. Within five seconds of the system reminder, a Guard on an energy-driven motorbike drifted right in and stopped in front of Feng Luo’s shop.

“What’s this?” demanded the Guard. “Why are all of you gathering here and ruining the city’s aesthetics? Spread out, spread out!”

The low-rank Guard soldier came down from his energy motorbike and used his electric baton to chase the crowd away. He had a small frame and a beard that would have looked more at home on the face of a monkey, and there was a dreadful gleam in his droopy eye.

“Sergeant Rogue,” said the Machine Gunner, “we were just waiting for someone over here. But out of nowhere, this man scolded me and started to throw punches!”

The Machine Gunner looked indignant, though it wasn’t hard to pretend because his angry glare toward Feng Luo was genuine. His original plan had been to provoke Feng Luo so that he’d be yellow-named. Little did he know that Feng Luo would punch him so early in his own game.

Being hit in the face in front of so many other players had given him an indescribable knee jerk response. He had almost punched back automatically. But he had remembered the orders from the top. He had to restrain himself. So he saved face and complained indignantly to this NPC guard who looked like a skinny monkey.

At that moment, Feng Luo wanted to laugh. How could a scene straight out of an urban drama appear in a game like War? The guards in the game were fast, but in a non-battle situation, they wouldn’t appear this quickly. Moreover, how did this Machine Gunner know that the Guard’s name was ‘Rogue’? Obviously, the guard was part of the plan—most likely bribed.

NPCs from the game could be bribed? In a normal game, such a thing would never happen. But War was different. Because each NPC in this game had their own personalities and role settings, in their daily life, they acted was almost the same as a normal human in real life.

NPCs with higher AI, especially, would have even more distinct personal feelings and characteristics. They were not as mechanical as they were written to be in the software.

A few important NPCs that Feng Luo had encountered before—such as the Staff Sergeant, Master Roland, Lin, and Aike—all had these special characteristics. When they weren’t on duty, they would live their lives based on their unique personalities. When they were on duty, their personalities were the main factors that would affect their behaviors within certain hidden limitations set by the system.

At the same time, since they were independent characters, they also had personal preferences. Whether or not they liked a player was based on a factor “likability.”

For instance, from the virus mission, Feng Luo had gotten a favorable impression from Lin. From then on, anytime he met Lin, he would get better treatment from her than other players. However, this likability wouldn’t be displayed through system notifications. An NPC’s likability toward a player was a hidden attribute. Players weren’t able to see it physically, but they could feel it. During missions, NPCs would help players out or provide some privileges within the extent of their power. Sometimes, they would even help a player directly in certain situations.

Feng Luo was almost sure that this Guard soldier had been bribed by the mercenary group. The problem was, he didn’t have any proof. Even if he did, he couldn’t do anything to this NPC, since he was the one who had walked right into the trap of yellow-naming himself.

NPC Guards wouldn’t do anything to a white-named player, but they were harsh toward yellow-name players simply because these players were the reason their workload increased by tenfold.

Even though he knew defending himself was pointless, Feng Luo still blurted out anyway, “These people surrounded my shop and are stopping people from entering. They’re affecting my business. Then they verbally provoked me, which was why I attacked in defense.”

The guard looked around with his fiendish eyes and said impatiently, “What he said… Can anyone of you vouch for that?”

The Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group was an influential group. No ordinary player would dare to go against them, so not a single one of them came forward. Even the NPCs surrounding the scene chose to keep quiet after they saw the face of the “Skinny Monkey” Guard.

“We can!” Two clear voices rang at the same time. The two NPC salesgirls dressed in cowgirl outfits stood up.

The Machine Gunner was still clutching his face. The pain from an attack like that would only come and go, but no marks would be left. And yet, he had been hit in the face. Psychologically, there was still a strange feeling of resentment. “They’re employees of the shop,” he said. “Of course they’ll vouch for their boss. Sergeant, their words can’t be proof.”

This Machine Gunner was the “victim,” so this would seem more realistic.

“Hmm, why is it so crowded? Wind Mark Gun Shop should be here. Manager…”

At that moment, a male and female player came around the corner of the street. The female player was tall and slender with lovely long legs. She wore a fiery red energy dress with white linings on the edge—a definite 8.5 out of 10. This gorgeous Manipulator turned to the male player and said, “There’s a situation. Let’s see what happens.”

The “Manager” was a Light Armor Warrior wearing silver armor. His had a slight frown on his handsome face as if he was thinking about something.

A high-ranked patrol car with a six-barrel machine gun stopped by the road. Its engine roared loudly. A well-built officer with a lieutenant’s badge on his shoulder walked down sternly, followed by four armed guard soldiers.

“What’s going on! Why is everyone crowding around here, blocking the traffic!” he said in a remarkably calm manner. Something worth noting: His right sleeve was floating in the air.

Since Skinny Monkey was only a low-ranking Guard soldier, he immediately raised his hand to salute the lieutenant, then reported in a whiny voice as he pointed at Feng Luo. “Lieutenant! A dangerous man is making trouble.”

The lieutenant was slightly surprised to see Feng Luo. Although his expression was still stern, his gaze grew a lot warmer. “It’s you…” he said. The lieutenant completely ignored Skinny Monkey and asked Feng Luo, “What’s going on?”

“Lieutenant!” Skinny Monkey blurted out as beads of sweat started to form on his forehead.

“Keep quiet,” the lieutenant replied coldly. “I wasn’t asking you!”

Feng Luo looked at the lieutenant whom he had met not too long ago on a mission in the Town of Exiles, having barely made it out alive. “They were blocking my shop,” he explained. “Then this guard…”

As he spoke, his eyes took note of the missing right arm and the military badge on the lieutenant’s shoulder, and Feng Luo suddenly felt sorry for him.

“Hmm, I see…” The lieutenant turned to face Skinny Monkey, whose face was white as a sheet. “Is there anything you’d like to say?”

Instead, the Machine Gunner started to speak. “I—”

He only managed to utter a word before the burly, disabled lieutenant cut him off coldly, commanding, “Take them away!”

“Yes, sir!”

The four Guard soldiers raised their assault rifles and aimed at both of them.

“No… Lieutenant! This a dangerous person—you can’t trust him!” Skinny Monkey shouted in vain. He was quickly struck heavily on the back by one of the soldiers with the butt of a gun and was dragged into the patrol car.

The Machine Gunner wanted to protest, but he surrendered after a thought. The consequences of attacking a policing NPC were too heavy to bear. Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group looked at each other before quietly taking off.

The onlookers were stunned.

“What the hell? What’s going on?”

“A member of the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group was caught? I can’t believe this!”

The tables seemed to have turned out of nowhere. The person who had conducted the assault didn’t get caught by the NPC; instead, the victim was the one who was going to jail.

“From the looks at it, it seems like the boss and the lieutenant knew each other. Could it be that NPCs can choose who they favor?”

“That’s nothing to be surprised about. The emotion simulations were done extremely well on the NPCs in War. The way they treat a person they know as opposed to a stranger is completely different. Also, I heard that if an NPC really likes you, they’ll even give you secret missions!”

“Really?”

“Who knows? You can try it for yourself…”

The surrounding players were whispering among each other, either with curiosity, jealousy, or simple interest in the drama. But Feng Luo wasn’t interested in them. He just looked at the departing patrol car and felt something tugging at his heart.

It was clear that the lieutenant couldn’t accept any more battle missions because he had lost an arm, which was why he’d been transferred to the calmer Silvermoon City. The military badge on his shoulder may have been a higher rank, but to him, leaving the realm of gunpowder smoke and bullets wasn’t necessarily a happy thing.

Luckily, in War, technology was advanced enough to clone an arm. For an NPC, the replacement limb may not be as dexterous as before, but that was better than being disabled.

Strange. I’m feeling sentimental for an NPC, thought Feng Luo. This game truly sucks you into its depths of nowhere.

Feng Luo shook his head. The trouble at his shop had been temporarily settled. He was sure that as long as the lieutenant was around, the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group wouldn’t dare to do something like this again. But the group had a very strong presence in Silvermoon City. They wouldn’t let it go so easily and were bound to find another way to get at him.

Still, Feng Luo wasn’t too worried. There was no point in getting anxious. He could easily migrate to a new city. Since the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group was only powerful in one small system city, nobody out there would care for them.

Feng Luo was the type of person who acted rationally. He wouldn’t lose his temper and go head-to-head against his opponent. Of course, he also didn’t want to be someone who lost everything and couldn’t find his way back.

A familiar voice rang out behind him.

“How unbelievable. Brother Feng, I didn’t think you had that card up your sleeve. Even the NPC Guards obey your words. Tsk! This really feels like a movie.

Feng Luo turned around in surprise. “Brother Wu?”