Chapter 597: Reward for Suppressing Bandits

[You cast a suspicious look at the Crow vendor, asking him if he is colluding with the bandits and deliberately harming you outsiders. ]

[“Absolutely not!” The vendor waved his hands and denied it. ]

[“Bandits are also a huge scourge for our Crow people, because Crow people often encounter thefts by bandits when they are not careful. If you don’t believe it, you can go to the village square to look at the notice board. The reward for bandits has been hanging there for a long time, and there are also many cases of Crow villagers’ property being stolen!” The Crow vendor explained righteously, implying that the Crow people have no good feelings towards the bandits, but they are hidden too deep, so they can’t be caught. ]

This Crow profiteer said nice things, but Mu You didn’t believe it at all, because this Crow tribe has existed for countless years. No matter how realistic the bandits are dressed, if you really want to investigate, how could you not find any clues?

Mu You remembered the notice board he saw when he entered the village before. It clearly stated that theft is strictly prohibited in the tribe, and the village has "guards", which are equivalent to the role of the police. Those who have been robbed can go to the guards to report the crime.

2000 divine powers were stolen inexplicably, Mu You must not let it go so easily, and he is ready to explore the bottom of this tribe first.

[The Crowman vendor saw you were about to leave and hurriedly said: "Hey, customer, do you still want to mortgage this short knife? Now I can count 1500 divine powers for you!" ]

Two options [Mortgage] and [Refuse].

Of course, Mu You chose to refuse. This short knife has already cost him a lot of 5-star materials. The real value is far more than 1500. How can it be sold so cheaply?

[You politely declined the vendor's request and turned to leave. ]

[The Crowman vendor didn't care. There was a confident smile on his face, as if he expected you to come back sooner or later. ]

[... You came to the middle of the village, and there were indeed many notice signs erected in the square in front. ]

[You went forward to check them one by one, and found that most of them were transaction information left by various vendors. Only a few notice boards in the corner were densely marked with notices of a large number of thefts. ]

[Mari, a Crowman villager, lost 3,500 divinity in July of the third year of the Mirage Season. She reported to the guards on the same day. With the help of the guards, she successfully found her property a week later...]

[Ailin, a Crowman villager, lost 2,000 divinity in January of the fourth year of the Mirage Season. She reported to the guards the next day. With the help of the guards, she successfully found her property three days later...]

[Abudo, a Rock Rabbit villager, lost 1,500 divinity in March of the fourth year of the Mirage Season. He reported to the guards on the same day... The Crowman guards are searching, and there is no result yet...]

...

Mu You was slightly surprised. It seems that reporting to the guards is really useful?

At least from this batch of notices, there are indeed many examples of recovering stolen property.

However, Mu You took a quick look and soon found the problem: the events of recovering property were basically large-scale cases with losses of more than 2,000, and most of the small-scale cases were still "under investigation".

And further down, there was a "wanted order" for bandits.

[Bandit bounty mission: Everyone can kill bandits! Capture a sparrow man alive in the tribe and send him to the guard. If it is confirmed that the other party has stolen in the tribe, the catcher can get a 1,000-point divine bounty! ]

This bounty order is well written, and the bounty is not low. 1,000 divine points are equivalent to the income from hunting a 7-star creature!

At first glance, this Crowman tribe seems to be really doing its best to catch bandits and try to ensure the safety of everyone's transactions.

Of course, Mu You didn't believe it so easily. This could also be a smokescreen, specifically listing some examples of recovering property to praise and reassure those foreign traders. Otherwise, if everyone knew that this was a bandit's nest, who would dare to come to trade?

Regardless of whether it was true or not, Mu You decided to find the guard first, report his situation, and try to find it back.

[Going around the notice area, you soon saw a team of patrolling Crowmen guards at the edge of the square. ]

[These Crowmen holding weapons and fully armed were obviously larger than ordinary Crowmen. The guard captain in the lead was 7 stars, and the rest of the guards were 6 stars. ]

7 stars...

Mu You pondered for a moment. This guard captain was probably the highest combat power in this Crowmen tribe.

If it was 7 stars, he couldn't beat him at the moment, not to mention that there were a bunch of 6-star guards to help. If there was a conflict, he could only run away.

[You stepped forward and stopped this team of guards. ]

[In the other party's inquiring eyes, you explained to the guard captain the whole process of your theft just now, and asked him to find your lost divinity for you. 】

【"Got it..." In response to your request, the guard leader just took out a pen and paper, briefly wrote down the time and the number of divinities you lost, and then ignored you and continued patrolling with the team...】

"?" Mu You was puzzled. He didn't even ask his name when reporting the case, but just wrote down the number and left?

Then even if you find the divinity back in the future, how can you return it to him?

【You looked at the guard who left, standing blankly, and suddenly heard a burst of dark laughter from behind. 】

【You looked back and it turned out to be a Crowman villager who happened to pass by. He watched your actions throughout the whole process. Seeing your bewildered look, he kindly reminded you: "To report to the guards, you must first find the tribe leader, join the Crowman tribe, and become a formal resident, otherwise they will not handle your report at all."】

"..."

Mu You was speechless. No wonder all the previous notices started with "Villager xx". It turns out that outsiders don't even have the qualifications to apply for a report.

[You asked the Yaren villagers about the residence of the chief. Do you want to go there immediately? ]

"Yes."

[... You came to the highest point of this mountain. A luxurious wooden building stood on the top of the mountain. This is the residence of the Yaren chief. ]

[The Yaren chief is a white-haired old Yaren with a pair of mini glasses on his nose. He walks with a cane and trembles. ]

[The chief doesn't seem to be surprised by your arrival. He leads you into the house, walks slowly to the desk, and starts to search in the drawer: "If you want to join the tribe, you must first buy a property in the Yaren tribe. Let me see..."]

When he heard that he needed to "buy a property", Mu You already had an ominous premonition.

Sure enough, the chief quoted an outrageous price next.

[The chief took out one of the lists from a pile of lists: "The cheapest property in this tribe is located on the northern edge of Hill No. 4. It is a thatched house with a listing price of 20,000 divine powers and a property right of 50 years..."]

"Hiss..."

Mu You's back teeth made a faint sound. The cheapest house was sold for 20,000, and it was not permanent...

He had already vaguely understood the routine of this tribe. There was definitely a connection between these Crows and the bandits. The reason why the bandits were allowed to exist was to force outsiders to buy houses and settle down here through continuous property losses...

To put it bluntly, what you pay is not the rent at all, but the protection fee. As long as you pay the money, the bandits will not rob you again.

The bandits also know the rules. Even if they accidentally robbed the villagers and stole their money, they would quickly return the money. The collusion between officials and bandits clearly pitted outsiders. Basically, every new trader had to be pitted in this way.

"Okay, okay, so we play it this way, right?" Mu You narrowed his eyes.

If the money was simply stolen by a thief and the Crowman was not responsible for helping him get it back, he would not say anything and would quietly catch the murderer. If he failed to catch him, it was because he was incompetent and would not blame the Crowman tribe.

But who made the two sides collude so obviously, and it was clear that they were working together to cheat people, so Mu You would not give up.

"Do you still have divinity?" In the pet shop, Mu You looked up and asked.

The three clones looked away from the game and looked at him.

"Unfortunately, I just spent it an hour ago..." The night watchman was helpless.

"I have more than 2,000 here, and I haven't used it yet." The herbalist said.

"I have more than 500... What's wrong?" Linglong asked curiously.

The original body suddenly asked them for money, and his face was serious, obviously something had happened.

"Give it all to me, and I'll return it to you later."

Mu You took the crystals of the two clones and finally gathered about 2,600 divinity.

"What's the situation?" The three of them gathered around curiously.

Mu You briefly told them about his theft.

"Damn, there is a special thief race!" The night watchman was a little surprised.

"It's obviously a double act between the underworld and the white world." The herbalist crossed his chest and concluded.

"This is intolerable! It has always been our Mu family army that gets free stuff from others. How can we be free stuffed by others? We must kill them!" Linglong was indignant and looked more anxious than Mu You.

"Don't worry, first find out the situation of this 'bandit'..."

Mu You returned to the game and pulled the character back to the Crowman stall at the entrance of the village. He pretended to select goods and quietly sent the divine crystal into the game.

[The Crowman boss saw you coming back and showed an expression of "as expected", and continued to enthusiastically sell you his "mortgage" service. ]

[But you quietly hung the cloth bag full of divinity on your waist and activated the blood rhythm "existence". ]

[Your sense of existence instantly became extremely strong. The pedestrians around you instinctively looked at you and just noticed your hand touching the cloth bag on your waist. 】

【The bulging pockets on your waist seemed to be infinitely magnified in the eyes of the surrounding crows. You have heard many swallowing sounds around you. 】

【The crow boss's sales pitch also stopped abruptly, and he looked at you in surprise. He really didn't expect that you could take out more divinity so quickly after losing a lot of divinity. 】

【The crow boss's surprise quickly turned into a more enthusiastic smile, and he looked at you as if he saw a peerless fat sheep. 】

Mu You didn't pay any attention to the reactions of others, but kept staring at the panel. The reason why he deliberately leaked money was to attract the bandit to attack again.

He didn't know the bandit's theft method for the time being, but no matter how powerful the thief was, if he wanted to steal his things, he had to get close to him first, right?

【The divinity crystal you carry: 2601 points...】

Mu You held the pocket watch, stared at the line of data on the panel, and waited patiently.

After waiting for about two minutes, he finally saw that the panel data had quietly changed.

[Your Divine Crystal: 66 points...]

The Divine Crystal instantly dropped from 2600 to 66, and there was still no hint in the game that it had been stolen.

Mu You hurriedly went back according to the table, and at the same time had the character secretly observe the surroundings.

[As time passed, this time you finally realized the whole process of your divinity being stolen, and glanced behind you. ]

[Soon, among the many pedestrians behind you, you found an arakkoa who acted slightly abnormally: Due to the effect of 'existence', other arakkoa would instinctively glance at you when they passed by you, but this one was the only one. People always look straight ahead, seeming not to care about you, and pass by three meters behind you calmly...]

[And just when the other party passed by your position, you noticed that the package around your waist shriveled instantly...]

"It is indeed it!"

Mu You's eyes lit up, and he finally identified the criminal. He hurriedly looked back again and observed the condition of the crow-man.

[Unknown Raven Man (5 stars): Divine Power 37, Divine Defense 37, Real Life: 7450, Abilities: Unknown...]

5 stars, the star rating is not too high.

However, as natural thieves, these sparrow men seem to have the ability to hide and have strong escape abilities. If he wants to capture each other alive alone, it may not be that easy...

After confirming the target, Mu You did not rush to alert the enemy, but first operated it in the game.

[Before the bandits take action, you take off the bag and open it, revealing the crystals inside. 】

[Under the public gaze this time, the arakkoa man passing by behind did not dare to make a move. He frowned and walked straight past you, but did not go far. He stopped in front of another vendor not far away. Pretend to buy something. 】

[Your property is preserved. 】

"How's it going?" Linglong asked.

All three of them noticed the change in Mu You's expression just now, and guessed that he might have discovered a clue.

Mu You shared the information about the arakkoa people discovered in the game just now.

"With five stars and the ability to hide and escape, I'm afraid you won't be able to keep it alone..." the herb collector analyzed after listening.

"Do you need us to come back and help?" Linglong looked eager to give it a try.

"Forget it, you are too far away. It will take several days to come back. I'm afraid I won't be able to wait that long... I'll ask others." Mu Youyou.

The four of them explored separately in four directions, and now they are all far apart from each other.

After saying that, Mu You opened the forum and found a group chat called ‘Dawn City Vaccine Discussion Group’. He called everyone: “Who is online?”

Suddenly a group of people lined up below, shouting "I'm here", "Worship the Great God", "Good afternoon City Lord" and so on.

This group was established during the previous vaccine distribution, and included officials from various positions in Dawn City, as well as leaders of major forces.

After the vaccine distribution, this group was retained by Muyou to provide a communication platform for various forces in Dawn City.

Mu You made a visual inspection and found that there were more than 200 people in the group, among which there were only 40 or 50 people who bubbled up just now. It can be seen that a lot of people are online now.

"Is anyone near 'Spider Forest Area 7'?" Mu You asked again.

‘Spider Forest’ is a name chosen by the players themselves, because the players do not know the real names of the nearby places at all. For convenience, the surrounding areas were specially named on the map made by Blue Eyes White Dragon.

And Spider Forest Area 7 is the same low mountain where he encountered the big bird before.

"I'm here." Blue Eyes White Dragon left a message.

"And I……"

…

Several members of the Dragon Team left messages one after another. Their team happened to be doing missions nearby.

In addition, there were a small number of people from other forces who left messages stating that they were also nearby, including Lu Yao.

"Um, I'm here too..." The fire messenger's message seemed a bit unconfident, and he made a sweaty, raised-hand expression.

The person who spreads the fire is Lu Yao. Due to her identity, she could not join this group. She was pulled in by Mu You purely as a related person. She, an ordinary player with no influence, was placed among the leaders of this group of forces. The room seemed out of place.

Of course, the popularity of the 'Fire Spreader' is not low. As a well-known businessman and troll on the forum, his mouth spraying air into the air has left a deep impression on everyone. It is said that he is also a loli girl. , many people like this tune, and it is said that some people send her private messages every day to beg for scolding... In short, in the few months since the server was launched, her store has accumulated a considerable number of loyal fans.

Mu You had forgotten Lu Yao's existence, but it was just right that she was nearby at this time. Her relics could help others hide their whereabouts perfectly.

"What's wrong, City Lord?" someone asked.

"If you have time, you might as well wait for me near the hilltop in District 7 and help me block someone." Mu Youyou.

"oh?"

Everyone was a little surprised when they heard this, thinking who could be so short-sighted and offend the city lord, so that he could make the city lord mobilize troops and sway people like this.