Chapter 2: The Messenger

Turning around, what appeared in Masuo's field of vision was the vast plain to the south—an expanse so extensive that it could not be contained even by the entire territory of the Ashubi Kingdom. The Plain of Weeping extended northward to reach the central region of the Canary Kingdom. In the glorious era, the Plain of Weeping was known as the Dreaming Plain, for everywhere across the plain one could find Dreaming Flowers. However, with the invasion of the evil undead army from the realm of corpses, countless innocents lay dead across the plain, and thus the Plain of Weeping replaced its original name.

Maso, having dropped the crossbow, seized his prey. Upon seeing the wax seal stamped with the emblem of the Thieves' Guild on the message tube, Maso grinned. He took a high-resolution 3D screenshot of the wax seal, then crushed it and extracted the letter from within.

The method of "robbing wallets" was discovered by players only in the fifth year after the game began. At that time, a player guild, envious of the armed merchant convoy of NPCs, successfully ambushed a shipment after meticulous planning, obtaining a substantial amount of cash and equipment from it

Without the continuous warfare of four years later, without the constant presence of killing and fighting, it is quiet enough to bring joy to the kittens

The next target for the iron Masso after leaving the shop is not the Adventurers' Guild, although there are countless tasks available there. However, Masso knows of a better shortcut for him—the abandoned old lighthouse in the harbor district

Maso carefully observed the group of pigeons that were intermittently joined by newcomers and had some leaving, his target being the carrier pigeons of the local thieves' guild—these were the high-end carriers used by the elite of this game world, including high-ranking nobles, the Arcane Brotherhood, and royalty. These carrier pigeons were specially trained and would never consume breadcrumbs or such "garbage" food, so Maso was absolutely unconcerned about accidentally harming such pigeons

In the year ST1220, an evil invasion occurred, and for the following one hundred and eighty years, the living were continuously compressed in their space for survival. It was a sorrowful period, a time of great suffering, until the year ST1400 when players arrived in this world. The players who joined the ranks of the living spent a full 14 game years, sacrificing millions of game characters and engaging in countless epic battles to achieve victory in the planar war

Maso took a deep breath and began to climb towards the top of the small pavilion where the light was placed at the lighthouse. At the moment he leaped to the top, an achievement notification appeared in the kitten's system bar—Climber. This is a common achievement, and upon completion and equipping it, it can effectively reduce the rate of stamina depletion while climbing.

Because Masuo needs a piece of beeswax, which can be purchased, but currently has not a single coin in his pocket, the only source of beeswax is the beehive outside the city. The beehives in the game are not as small as those in reality; they are colossal structures. A beehive built on the ground is over two people tall, constructed by the most common large honeybees of the Eastern Continent, each the size of an adult's fist. Therefore, only the beehives outside the city can provide beeswax.

Soon, a flock of pigeons descended and began to compete for the bread crumbs on the ground, unaware that a hunter had already loaded a bolt into his crossbow, waiting for his prey to arrive

It is said to be a bee, but in fact, this creature is not much different from a killer bee. This is bad news—however, the good news is that due to their large size, a hive typically contains no more than five hundred bees, and now the vast majority of the bees have left the hive to gather nectar. Therefore, Maso cast a first-level spell on himself—Animal Ignorance.

Crossing through the busy harbor dock, Maso stepped into the shadows of the lighthouse alley, stowing away his lightweight war hammer. He began to climb up the protrusions on the lighthouse wall. The shaman did not experience any climbing penalties while wearing the leather robe, and the light load also meant that Maso had no burdens. Soon, he arrived at the midsection of the lighthouse—just as he remembered, there was a section of "blank space"—with no protrusions for Maso to climb on. The light load also meant that Maso had no burdens. Soon, he arrived at the midsection of the lighthouse—just as he remembered, there was a section of "blank space"—with no protrusions for Maso to climb on.

The nearest climbing point to him was a wooden beam, positioned directly above Maso's head. After taking a deep breath, Maso pushed off with his legs and sprang upward, using both his hands and tail to hang his entire body onto the wooden beam.

Currently, only Masuo is aware of the existence of the wallet, and the current thieves' guild is a small organization, particularly the guild in Paronster City, which consists of only four or five low-level NPC pickpockets. They still require financial support from the headquarters of the Ashubi thieves' guild. Therefore, Masuo only needs to intercept the wallet filled with gold coins and determine how it arrived in Paronster City, and he will have sufficient means to seize this wallet. They still require financial support from the headquarters of the Ashubi thieves' guild. Therefore, Masuo only needs to intercept the wallet filled with gold coins and determine how it arrived in Paronster City, and he will have sufficient means to seize this wallet

In face-to-face warfare, the Thieves' Guild cannot gain the upper hand; however, when it comes to covert sabotage and assassination, player guilds are at a disadvantage. After all, players are considered outsiders in the game world, while the NPC natives are always more inclined to trust one another. It is only at this point that players begin to realize how crucial NPCs, along with the reputation, favorability, and legendary value of cities and nations, truly are

Returning to Paronster, Masuo browsed the game’s dedicated forum browser while selling the remaining sixteen bee pupae and a large piece of beeswax to the NPC alchemist. His impressive charm and eloquent speech earned him 39 silver coins. Masuo set aside 15 of those silver coins to exchange for an alcohol lamp from the alchemist.

At each player level, this divine art allows an animal target to ignore the presence of the caster. Bees will only retaliate when the player approaches their hive and attacks them, so Masuo safely drilled to the bottom of the hive—he carefully pried open the hive's exterior and then extracted a large piece of beeswax from inside, along with more than ten bee pupae that were exposed to the air after losing their beeswax shell—these are valuable items that can be sold to the apothecary for a few silver coins

At the beginning of the game, the Thieves' Guild was merely a small organization, and now they lack the capability to conduct advanced pigeon training

With these gains, Maso naturally fled, for these large bees would soon discover the "good deeds" he had done, and by the time he thought of leaving, it would be too late

Initially, there were no victims reporting the case, and the players on the forum were somewhat curious. Later, someone discovered that the Thieves Guild had begun posting bounties on the Dark Guild, at which point the players realized that this guild had actually stolen goods from the Thieves Guild

Having seen enough of the sea, Masuo turned to look northward—there stood the World Tree in the central region of Paronster. This World Tree was planted during the era of the planar war, when the living faction sought to better support the front lines. The ancient World Tree, "Oluo," sent forth its offspring, this Middle World Tree, from Mogus, accompanied by the earth elementals that coexisted with it, to take root in Paronster. Masuo had watched the Rep footage from that time; to protect this Middle World Tree, which successfully took root on that small hill, the living faction and the evil faction engaged in a protracted bloody battle on the weeping plains south of the city. This continued until the fifth opening, and even now, remnants of the fallen and fragments of their belongings are still occasionally discovered on the weeping plains.

I purchased a rather ordinary light crossbow from the old dwarf blacksmith, along with a bag of arrows that came with the bow, which perfectly spent the only silver coin in Marso's pocket

What Masso intends to do is to commit murder and robbery, which is what players on the forum will refer to as "purse snatching" three years later

Due to the irreconcilable malice between the Thieves' Guild and the city's management hierarchy and nobility, player-formed guilds and large organizations began to purposefully scout the Thieves' Guild. Soon, the second and third robbery incidents occurred, and because of the large and sufficient volume of goods, they were referred to by players on the forum as "wallet snatching"

Of course, Maso was already aware of this. He first gazed towards the east—beyond the city lies the stormy sea, which seems to stretch endlessly. From May to September each year is the storm season of the stormy sea, during which typhoons generated in the sea visit the eastern mainland, bringing one storm after another.

The blacksmith shop in the Paronster Harbor District, four years and seven months later, the New Eden Army annihilated the last organized royal forces in this city, turning the entire city into ruins... Now, the blacksmith shop in Paronster can be considered quiet, with the clanging of the dwarven apprentices at work, which, although noisy, provides Maso with a rare sense of security

Upon leaving the apothecary, Marso found a sculptor in the city and spent 10 silver coins to learn the life skill of sculpting. He then divided the remaining 4 silver coins in half, which allowed him to purchase a piece of hardwood for sculpting, a carving knife, and a long bundle of rope from the sculptor.

Maso sighed as he jumped onto the platform. After resting for a while, the kitten took out a piece of bread from its satchel, crumbled it, and scattered the crumbs on the ground. Then, the kitten went to the side and burrowed into the pile of grass used to light the lighthouse, waiting for the prey to come to it.

However, before going to the abandoned old lighthouse in the harbor area, Maso first made a trip outside the city

That was a legendary era

Maso can now cast zero-level and first-level divine spells—indeed, the shaman casts druid-like divine spells, and this spell allows a single patrolling bee to be unable to see him. Although the kitten feels that this large bee cannot be considered an animal, since the system acknowledges it as such, the kitten cannot seek trouble for itself.

However, by that time, the Thieves' Guild had already become a behemoth, and the "wallet" had transformed from a chest of gold coins into an armed convoy equipped with a large amount of high-end gear and weapons. Naturally, the Thieves' Guild would not sit idly by, and thus, after some well-meaning players betrayed them, a prolonged war began between the Thieves' Guild and the Players' Guild.

Quickly, a gray-feathered pigeon entered Maso's line of sight. Noticing the wax-sealed message tube on the pigeon's leg, Maso stood up and observed the unusual pigeons scattering in panic. Maso pulled the trigger, and the bolt shot from the crossbow immediately pierced through the right wing of the flapping gray pigeon, then lodged itself into the head of another pigeon.

Intercepting carrier pigeons to inspect their letters is the best method of reconnaissance

At midnight 12:00, goods will be picked up at Dock No. 6 in the port area. Raising an eyebrow, Marso took out a rope to bind the gray pigeon, and then took out hardwood and a carving knife—having obtained the information, the next step was to create a forgery