Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree-Chapter 282 - 271: Smuggling Caravan?

"Haha, I told you! Since we discovered traces of humans, there must be a village nearby. Just follow the trail, and... look, there’s a trap here, and isn’t that a village ahead!"

Dressed as a mercenary, Demacia picked up an animal trap from the snow and smiled at the other players.

After speaking, he drew his knife, cut the rope on the trap, and stowed it away.

"I get the logic, but why do you want to collect all these things? You even want the torn clothes thrown on the ground, and now this trap too."

Li Mu shook his head at Demacia, dressed in noble attire.

This outfit of his was found among the looted goods of a human mercenary group. According to Miss Nighthawk, this was the favorite attire of the human nobility from the southern Aries Kingdom and had become trendy in the northern Holy Mania Empire in recent years.

Behind Li Mu and Demacia were more than a hundred players.

They surrounded dozens of carriages, each marked with a symbol of an oriental dragon.

This comprised the players prepared to explore the Human World.

Considering the long journey, full of uncertainties, and based on the NPCs’ intelligence, the players from the three major first-test guilds finally decided to disguise themselves as a smuggling caravan to head to the Human World.

Some players dressed as mercenaries, while others dressed as servants or nobles. The carriages, ready-made, were seized from the Crocodile Mercenary Corps.

Of course, the players’ appearances had changed slightly.

Their originally pointed ears had been altered by players practicing magic, now indistinguishable from humans’ ears.

Even their appearances were slightly adjusted.

*It couldn’t be helped, the elves were too attractive. Even with ear changes, a group of players still looked like handsome men and beautiful women, attracting attention no matter what.*

Alas... *when you look too good, it’s impossible to stay low-key.*

And naturally, the carriages had also been altered to prevent recognition.

Hmm, though the chances were slim.

Listening to Li Mu’s complaint, Demacia shook his head and said,

"Hey! Brother Mu, why would someone randomly throw clothes away in the wilderness? And there’s even blood on them. Better keep them; you never know if they’re part of a storyline or something."

Li Mu listened and didn’t say much more.

"Is this a human town? *The Western fantasy vibe is strong; it’s really nice!*" fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

Little Xian Miao’s eyes lit up as he looked at the small town in the distance, built from black wood and blue stones, with smoke curling up lazily.

"The place up ahead should be Streamwood Town. I’ve heard NPCs mention it; it’s the remotest town of the Holy Mania Empire,"

On the other side, GuGu Bird said while recording a small map in the system.

"Streamwood Town..."

Xi Hong murmured the name, then suddenly chuckled softly,

"I wonder... if there are any chickens in the town to kill."

"Why kill chickens?"

Slightly confused, Little Xian Miao asked.

"You wouldn’t understand; it’s a gaming meme, where the one you kill isn’t a chicken but a god."

"This meme comes from a classic Western fantasy game – ’Maiden Scroll.’ At the novice village entrance of a place called Streamwood Town, there’s a carefree chicken. If you kill it, the whole town turns hostile, chasing you relentlessly, including your mission NPCs. Thus, it’s called ’Chicken God.’"

On the other side, Demacia shook his head, explaining.

Little Xian Miao: ...

"’Maiden Scroll’?!"

"Hmm... that must be with a mod installed."

Little Xian Miao: ...

"By the way, the NPC GuGu Dalu asked, was that Miss Nighthawk?"

After explaining, Demacia looked over at the other side, where He Fan, dressed as a coachman, silently observed the surroundings, winking,

"Big shot He Fan, you didn’t allow Miss Nighthawk to come along? She’s an experienced NPC, after all. What were you thinking?"

He Fan: ...

He shot a glance at Demacia and said,

"We can resurrect."

"Hmm..."

Demacia was speechless for a moment.

True.

This time out, everyone was prepared with revival coins, ready for the possibility of being killed.

So, players weren’t afraid of dying.

But NPCs were different.

*Even though this was a game, NPCs had their emotions and memories. Even though they were programs... there was still the chance for players to become friends with them.*

Therefore... having heard He Fan’s words, Demacia understood.

As the group chatted and slowly headed toward Streamwood Town up ahead, two human guards suddenly came running from the direction of the town.

...

"Is this... a caravan?!"

From afar, watching the large procession, the skinny guard and the chubby guard exchanged glances, their expressions surprised.

Caravans moving around in winter weren’t common.

Generally speaking, only two kinds existed.

One was large caravans crossing the entire continent, often numbering in the thousands, and the other...

was smuggling caravans.

Seeing the mere hundred members and the few dozen carriages in the Aries Kingdom style, the two had a hunch.

This was an Aries Kingdom smuggling caravan!

For Streamwood Town, smuggling caravans weren’t unusual.

They often provided lodging for these caravans or helped them forge entry documents, taking some benefits from the caravans in the process...

With their hearts now at ease, the two mercenaries ran up hurriedly.

"Someone’s coming!"

Seeing the two mercenaries, the players perked up instantly.

They became alert and excitedly watched the two approaching guards. Meanwhile... as planned, Li Mu, disguised as the caravan leader, stepped forward for negotiations.

Soon, the two guards arrived before the players.

Based on past experience, when they found smuggling caravans approaching the town, they would typically question, "Who are you?" and then collect some perks before letting the smuggling caravan into town.

However, upon getting closer to this caravan, the two guards felt puzzled...

For no reason.

From afar, they couldn’t see much.

But upon closer inspection, they found this caravan unusual.

First, these caravan mercenaries appeared fresh-faced, with smooth skin that was far from the rugged appearance mercenaries should have from roving everywhere.

Not only that, their eyes were bright, their gaze curious, clearly inexperienced.

Additionally, their equipment was... too high-quality and too new.

What was even more astonishing was that there were some well-built female mercenaries among them!

Moreover, they also exuded an aura that gave a vague sense of nobility, clearly born with a silver spoon.

This... absolutely wasn’t any smuggling caravan!

The two instantly concluded.

Yet upon seeing the other party’s excited curiosity, tinged with a bit of innocence and anticipation...

The skinny guard, who had once been a mercenary, experienced a moment of revelation:

This...

Could it be a group of young Aries Kingdom nobles disguised for a game?

The rumored caravan game?

Hmm, it seemed pretty popular among the young circles of nobility...