Chapter 204. Irish Town Ⅱ (2) Survivors vs. Natives

     Watson’s uncle still looked the same, though older than before. Standing beside him was a ‘Watson’—not Lin Sheng’s Watson, but the real Watson.  

     This ‘Watson’ was also different from before.  

     He wasn’t wearing the shop assistant’s uniform but a plain mage’s robe, with a magic badge pinned on the left side of his chest, indicating he was now a third-tier water mage.  

     “Honored guests, what would you like to purchase?”  

     ‘Watson’ raised his head, but when he saw the three black-haired, black-eyed figures in strange attire and silver-white masks before him, he froze, speechless for a long moment.  

     “Watson, do you know these guests?” Noticing his nephew’s unusual reaction, ‘Watson’s’ uncle grew concerned that he might be in trouble and quickly stepped forward to ask.

     “I know them, I know them.” ‘Watson’ finally came back to his senses, smiled shyly at the three people, and wanted to introduce them to his Uncle , but he hesitated for a long time and couldn’t say anything.

     Wang Xue could still understand the word “Watson” and roughly grasped the situation. She exchanged a glance with Ye Mo, and both saw the same understanding in each other’s eyes.  

     Even if the two Watsons now looked identical, they would never confuse them. One was shy, timid, and endearing, while the other was gentle, considerate, and occasionally a little sly. Their personalities were completely different.  

     In the end, it was Watson who broke the tension, smiling at his former ‘100-day uncle’: “Hello, like ‘Watson,’ I’m also a water mage. I’ve heard your shop sells exceptionally high-quality potions.”

     That was the art of language.

     Watson’s uncle was a man who truly loved magical potions. After a brief exchange with Watson about potions and magical ingredients, and discovering that he shared the same name with his nephew, he felt as if they should have met much sooner.  

     He even gave all three of them a 25% discount on their purchases. They bought a large assortment of high-tier potions, appearing no different from reckless spenders in the eyes of others. “Do magical beast cores grow on trees?“

     Well, actually, they might as well—the magical beast forest was practically paved with gold.   

     Ahem, just to clarify, these potions weren’t bought by Ye Mo or Wang Xue, but by Watson himself. He was like a potion-collecting maniac, grabbing two or more bottles of every potion in the shop, no matter how trivial or useless.  

     Finally, Watson snapped out of his potion-buying frenzy and requested to discuss water magic with ‘Watson.’ Without hesitation, ‘Watson’s’ uncle promptly shooed his nephew out of the shop.  

     The four of them headed to a small tavern near the potion store.

     “Uncle still likes you so much,” ‘Watson’ said as soon as he sat down, his expression free of resentment, just a touch of wistfulness beneath the friendliness. “You’re so smart, you know so much. I just can’t compare. Back when you first left five years ago, Uncle even wondered why I’d suddenly become so dull-witted.” 

      “Five years?”

     Noticing that ‘Watson’ didn’t like the tavern’s wine and kept stumbling over his words, Ye Mo brought out Du Kang. The moment the legendary liquor appeared, it put all other drinks to shame. Only the promise of magical beast cores kept the tavern owner from throwing them out.  

     Even ‘Watson,’ who usually avoided alcohol, took a liking to it, though his body couldn’t handle much, so he poured just half a cup.  

     A single small sip flushed his cheeks red, finally loosening his tongue: “Yes, it’s been five years. Back then, I’d just arrived in Irish Town. I was so useless, couldn’t even move medicine properly, always making mistakes. So… I made a wish.”  

     “Praise the clover, you came and brought me magical memories and precious knowledge. Unfortunately, we can’t mention your name and what you did to me to anyone. It’s like a forbidden magic of a high god.”

     “We?”

     “Your good friend ‘Maria’, of course, Maria is also my friend now, one of the regular customers in our store. She is already a mid-level craftsman and mid-level swordsman. Mayor Feitan not only helped her heal her wounds to reward her bravery, but also specially recruited her to work for the mayor.”

     Through ‘Watson’, they learned a lot of things.

     For example, after the Survivor’s mission was completed, the possessed individuals also gained the Survivors’ memories, enhanced physical abilities, and awakened magical talents.  

     This could be considered a form of compensation.  

     However, just like the Survivors, the natives still needed to diligently practice swordsmanship even if they acquired the knowledge, and even with awakened magical talents, advancing their levels depended entirely on their own efforts.  

     Survivors and natives were distinct individuals. Different in personality, intellect, and ways of thinking, leading to entirely different choices for the future.  

     For instance, ‘Watson’s’ potion-making skills remained as poor as ever, and he only occasionally helped out in the shop. Instead, he chose to become a water mage. Similarly, ‘Maria’ opted to work at the mayor’s estate. Though her alchemy was lacking, she occasionally drew inspiration from Ye Mo’s memories in craftsmanship. As for swordsmanship, it was something she struggled with but never gave up on, persisting relentlessly.  

     There were also some natives suspected to have hosted Survivors, but who lost their lives due to arrogance. Incidents that caused quite a stir in the town.  

     Ye Mo, Watson, and Wang Xue all agreed this outcome wasn’t entirely bad.  

     ‘Watson’ and ‘Maria’ had returned to their original lives, while the Survivors still left faint traces in this world. Someone would remember their struggles and efforts.  

     Wang Xue suddenly sighed:  

     “I can’t help but envy that ‘Wang Xue’ now.”

     Both Ye Mo and Watson knew exactly which ‘Wang Xue’ she meant. Ye Mo couldn’t help thinking of Mi Wenjing. If the ‘Mi Wenjing’ from the Spring and Autumn period awoke under this world’s rules, she’d probably lose her mind.  

     Fortunately, due to that particular dungeon’s unique circumstances, she had already been left with plenty of choices.  

     …

     Watching ‘Watson’ return to the potion shop, Ye Mo suddenly found herself hesitating to proceed with her own reunion.  

     By Earth’s time, it was already 3:30 PM – just two hours until nightfall.  

     Their plan was to first find an inn to stay the night, then visit Maria tomorrow while also seeing if they could gather any information about demigod artifacts.  

     Wang Xue turned to Ye Mo and asked, “Magic Association or Mercenary Guild first?”  

     “Magic Association – but let’s swing by the Mercenary Guild first,” Ye Mo answered without hesitation.  

     If the potion shop was Watson’s paradise, then the streets of Irish Town were one of Wang Xue’s personal heavens.  

     Wang Xue was fascinated by everything here.  

     From the bizarre alchemical items to the exotic clothing, delicate toys, dazzling jewelry, this world’s limited selection of musical instruments, utterly perplexing daily utensils, and incomprehensible bardic poetry collections, all became targets of her shopping spree.  

     Their progress slowed repeatedly. Though to be fair, Watson and Ye Mo were equally intrigued.  

     It was rare to encounter a dungeon scenario where they didn’t need to rush. Remembering the Warring States period, the Jurassic era, and those demon/spirit-infested world nearly moved them to tears.  

     The trio treated this dungeon as a leisurely vacation, at least for today.  

     By the time they spotted the Mercenary Guild, the sun was already setting. Bathed in the kaleidoscopic hues of twilight, the guild’s ancient castle appeared particularly majestic.  

     After marveling at the towering spires for a moment, Wang Xue furrowed her brow, just as Ye Mo and Watson had done.  

     From a distance, the entrance of the Mercenary Guild was bustling with a crowd gathered around what appeared to be a farce unfolding. The main players in this spectacle were, on one side, a mercenary group, and on the other, clearly a team of Survivors, a group consisting of over thirty Survivors.  

     This group comprised people of white, black, and Asian descent, with Caucasians and Africans making up the majority. Many revealed their true faces without even a cloth to conceal their features.  

     The blond, brown-eyed middle-aged man leading the dispute spoke the local language fluently. He must have been one who had experienced the Irish Town dungeon before. Yet his current words were:  

     “Enough nonsense! Get your Mercenary Guild leader out here!”  

     His tone was downright terrible, arrogant and domineering. It didn’t sound like someone commissioning a task but rather someone deliberately stirring trouble.  

     Many mercenaries might never have met the Guild leader personally, but they upheld their own code of honor. For the sake of that spirit, they stepped forward to defend their leader.  

     The enhanced abilities of some Survivors had indeed fueled their arrogance, eroding basic human courtesy. Perhaps the true danger in this world wasn’t magical beasts, but the Survivors themselves.  

     Ye Mo and her two companion had sensitive senses. With just a little information gathering, they learned that in less than half a day, many conflicts had already erupted in the town of Ireland, and even the town mayor’s guards had been dispatched.

     “Those people are terrifying. A little boy just bumped into them and got beaten half to death.”  

     “More frightening than magical beasts.”  

     “I heard they demanded some kind of gemstone and a potion-cauldron from the Magic Association. When the vice-president said they had cauldrons but no gems, they started assaulting people. The town guards intervened and got wounded too.”  

    “Someone told me a guard died.”  

     “I heard ten.”  

     “My cousin swears it was a hundred.”  

     “Gods above! A hundred guards killed by them – have you heard? A hundred!”  

     “…”  

     Of course, not all survivors were bad, but their reputation had been thoroughly ruined. Ye Mo and his companions could sense that the onlookers were looking at them differently, with a hint of fear, as if they were some kind of dangerous monsters.

     Wang Xue muttered to herself, “Could it be that they’re treating this place like a game? With the original inhabitants as NPCs?”

     “If they could truly treat the main survivor instance as a game, I’d admire them,” Ye Mo replied calmly.

     Some of the rumors among the onlookers turned out to be true. When Mayor Feitan heard about the trouble at the Mercenary Guild, he immediately dispatched his elite guards, after all, the Guild was the foundation of any city.  

     It came as no surprise that many familiar faces appeared in Mayor Feitan’s elite squad.  

     Even if Ye Mo struggled to distinguish between similarly armored Western men, she instantly recognized the elven captain Sen. Five years had passed without leaving a single trace of change on him.  

     Sen and his guards remained as magnetically attractive as ever, drawing admiring gazes, like Wang Xue’s murmured “A visual feast for us aesthetics-lovers.” Appreciating beauty was, after all, a universal inclination.  

     Sen remained as aloof as ever, his detached demeanor bordering on coldness: “Guests from the distant East, your arrival is welcome—but do you truly intend to cause trouble in Irish Town?”

     The East?

     Their reputation had been unfairly ruined!