Death Notice Book 8: Chapter 51: The Turning Point

After searching for nearly half a day, the Apostles had taken all the valuable items from the hall.

However, there were not many truly valuable items. Besides some high-quality forging materials, the most valuable were antiques with historical legends. After the Dwarves and Elves explained them, these often gave the Apostles a small amount of World Exploration Degree.

Although the World Exploration Degree given by antiques was only a little, it added up to quite a satisfying amount. As for the remaining gold and silver treasures, not only were they looked down upon by the Dwarves and the story Elf, but the Apostles also scorned them. They only took a small amount for the expenses of the next journey.

“Did we steal the Main Quest of another Apostle team again?” Robin was stunned and turned to look at Stark.

“Yes, I already asked Loier to confirm. They had indeed sent people to seek help from Mir Forest earlier.” Stark glanced at Qin Lun in the distance and grinded his teeth with a bitter face.

But thinking back, he could not blame Qin Lun, as it was Milleras’s decision. Plot Characters were not NPCs; they had their own wisdom and thoughts. While the Apostles influenced the Plot Characters, they were also influencing the Historical Plot. As an experienced Professional Apostle, Stark was not encountering a Plot Character changing the mission progress for the first time.

“You are right. According to Shattered Starry Sky’s calculations, it is very likely that we really snatched the main plotline of another team.” Robin bit her finger and glanced at Stark. “What about you? What are your plans next? Abandon the mission and return, or continue on?”

Actually, while searching for treasures earlier, Stark had subtly hinted to Robin that the Fortress Team did not plan to take more risks and would return to Shattered Starry Sky once they reached Calimport. But now, with the unexpected turn of events—Milleras no longer intended to go to Calimport—Fortress might not receive the reward for this task node, overturning their previous plan.

“If we can’t get the mission reward, we have no choice but to go on!” Stark sighed. Neither he nor Fortress had any other option. Giving up the mission reward now would mean abandoning their long-standing persistence and giving up the title of Silver Team.

If the Fortress Team still insisted on returning, she would also have to consider abandoning the mission. Unless absolutely necessary, Robin would never cooperate with other Apostle teams. Moreover, since the Fortress Team was the issuer of “Ancient Path (Fake)”, if they returned to Shattered Starry Sky, the Lost Team might also lose the rewards related to this mission.

“Can’t you persuade Milleras to change his mind? He seems to be quite afraid of Lady Kelly,” Stark asked cautiously.

“Impossible. You don’t know Milleras. Even though he respects Sister Kelly and usually doesn’t boss the mercenary group around, he will never let us control him on major matters.” Robin sighed and slowly shook her head. “If you insist on going on, then we need to hurry down the mountain to avoid encountering the Apostle team from Mir Forest.”

“Then… is it possible to let the Mir Forest…” Stark frowned slightly and asked hesitantly.

“No, we absolutely cannot let any other Apostle team join.” Robin shook her head firmly and looked meaningfully at Stark. “Do you know why we chose to let you share the mission initially, instead of eliminating the Fortress Team along the way?”

“Isn’t it because of ‘Ancient Path (Fake)’?” Stark was slightly taken aback.

“Of course not. We already knew that we couldn’t complete the Ancient Path on our own, but we had long decided to go as far as we could and never thought about sharing the mission with other Apostle teams.”

Robin smiled and shook her head. “For Apostles, the greatest danger in a Quest World doesn’t come from the plot itself, but from other Apostle teams. The most important factor in our decision to let the Fortress Team share the mission was that you, like us, belong to Devil’s Horn…”

Stark was no fool. With Robin’s slight reminder, he immediately understood. Since both teams belonged to Devil’s Horn, both Lost and Fortress would hesitate to fight each other. After all, they would still return to Devil’s Horn eventually. Living under the same roof, seeing each other often, who would want to leave behind a group of organized and scaled enemies right under their noses.

But the Apostle team from Mir Forest was different. The chance of meeting another team from Devil’s Horn was extremely slim. Plus, this Plot Mission only settled rewards at each task node. If that Apostle team had ill intentions and turned on them at the end of the journey, it would be better to eliminate that possibility from the start.

“I understand. Let’s get everyone ready to go down the mountain!” Stark nodded. But as soon as he turned around, his expression suddenly changed, and he looked back at Robin. “Did you receive the prompt message from Shattered Starry Sky?”

“I did!” Robin’s face was clouded with uncertainty. She took a deep breath and muttered, “The task node has indeed changed, but I didn’t expect it to be so far away…”

While Robin and Stark received the prompt message from Shattered Starry Sky, Qin Lun also raised an eyebrow at the same time and secretly glanced at everyone. Seeing that aside from Robin and Stark, no one else had any reaction, he then lowered his head and fell into thought.

The prompt message from Shattered Starry Sky was only sent to the Leaders of the two Apostle teams and the mission triggerer. As the triggerer of “Ancient Path (Fake)”, Qin Lun also received this special prompt message.

“Apostle 70053, due to your Butterfly Effect, the Epic Plot ‘Ancient Path’ has undergone irreversible changes. The future Sun Elf migration caravan will no longer pass through the three major regions of Calimshan, Tethyr, and Amn. All related Historical Plots have been erased…”

“…Added unknown Historical Plots for Snowflake Mountains and the Giant’s Plains. After calculation by Shattered Starry Sky, deducting the possible consumption of World Origin from this part, Shattered Starry Sky plundered 103 points of World Origin. The continuously fluctuating World Origin is between 19–24 points. Indirectly and directly affected 37% of the Historical Plot of the Sun Elf Great Migration.”

“Hint: After calculation, the two Apostle teams have obtained a total of 0.252% World Exploration Degree. Apostle 70053 exclusively enjoys 0.224% World Exploration Degree from this. Due to the double stacking of ‘Ancient Path (Fake)’, this World Exploration Degree is a double extra reward and will be settled together upon return.”

Looking at the prompt message in the Death Notice, even Qin Lun was astonished. He had once witnessed the two Dark Progenitors in the Orphan World, who plundered 58 points of World Origin, achieving 7% World Exploration Degree.

Yet in the Toril World, 103 points of World Origin only accounted for 0.252% World Exploration Degree, showing just how vast this Quest World was.

However, upon careful thought, it wasn’t really surprising. The Toril World, from ancient times to the present, had recorded history spanning nearly twenty-six thousand years, plus numerous outer planes connected to the Prime Material World. Throughout history, there had been countless brilliant civilizations, and innumerable kingdoms and ruins buried in remote, uninhabited wilderness areas.

A single Main Plotline for an Apostle team at most only had 0.21% World Exploration Degree, and their Butterfly Effect this time was comparable to five Main Plotlines. Although there was no specific mission, the final World Exploration Degree reward would likely be extremely generous, especially since it was a double reward.

However, aside from these good news, the last prompt message in the Death Notice made Qin Lun less happy. He also learned where the next task node of “Ancient Path” was.

“Baldur’s Gate! After Milleras adjusted the plan, although we still need to pass through Tethyr and Amn, the envoy group will no longer stop at Mir Forest and Wealdath Forest, and won’t even visit the capitals of the three human kingdoms.”

Robin and Stark gathered the Apostles from both teams and somewhat helplessly informed them of the mission changes.

“The only place we might still go to is the Silverstand Forest. Since there is no Elven Court established by the descendants of Eaerlann, it cannot serve as a task node. Therefore, Shattered Starry Sky set the new task node at Baldur’s Gate. Only when we reach there will we have completed this stage of the mission.”

“If we return now, does that mean we’re giving up the rewards for the current stage?” The Apostles were all shocked, and Nicole couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes, if we return to Shattered Starry Sky now, it means we are abandoning the Main Plotline. Shattered Starry Sky will only settle the rewards for Qiongda’er and Ank Forest. The mission rewards obtained later, including the extra World Exploration Degree rewards, will not be realized.” Robin said somewhat helplessly.

“Leader Robin and I have discussed it. The next part of the journey will involve continuously crossing Tethyr and Amn. Although we don’t need to visit the human kingdom capitals anymore and can hide our identities, traveling by night and resting by day, it definitely won’t be without danger.”

Stark glanced at Robin and said with a serious expression, “Especially in Amn. This country is currently in extreme chaos; the royal family is unable to control the various underground organizations within its borders. Once our identities are exposed, we won’t just have the Zhentarim as trouble.”

“Given the current mission risk, the two of us cannot decide alone. So whether we continue with the mission or not will depend on everyone’s willingness.” Robin took a deep breath and added from the side.

The Apostles had varied expressions and fell into silence for a moment. After some discussion, everyone finally decided to continue the mission. Actually, this outcome was within the expectations of the two Leaders. Most Professional Apostles were not afraid of danger; otherwise, they would have been eliminated long ago.

Besides, with three missions now stacked together, two of which were Epic Plots, the mission rewards might be equivalent to the sum of their next several adventures. No one was willing to give that up.

After all, Apostles lived precariously from day to day; there was no Quest World without danger. At least if they survived this time, each of them would receive a large reward. With stronger abilities, they would have more means to save their lives in the future. The effort and reward went hand in hand.

With the two teams unified in their decision, everyone no longer delayed. They packed up and chose to descend the mountain. This time, they didn’t need to go out through the tunnel they had fallen from.

The Dwarves entered Ironstar Fortress to obtain an ancient underground network map related to the Sarnatan Empire. This map contained a schematic of the passages in the Alamir Mountains.

When everyone came out of Ironstar Fortress located within the mountain, they saw a dawn light on the horizon. Unknowingly, they had spent an entire night inside Ironstar Fortress.