Chapter 352: The Grand Estate
At the same time, a prompt appeared on the panel:
[You have completed the B+ hidden quest [Find Chris Fisher]. Total time: 4 days 12 hours. You have gained 127,000 experience points and a random item reward. Claim now?]
After so many chain quests, there was no way this reward would be ordinary—but now wasn't the right time. Zhou Ning decisively chose to postpone claiming it. The panel then updated again:
[Your B+ hidden quest [Find Chris Fisher] has been updated to [Track Chris Fisher]. Quest difficulty: B+.]
Quest Description: After numerous twists of fate, you have finally located Chris Fisher. Now, attempt to follow him and uncover the conspiracy behind him.
Hint: As a demon, Chris Fisher possesses sharp perception. Do not approach within 200 yards, or the quest will fail.
As the saying goes, "You wear out iron shoes in fruitless search, yet find it effortlessly in the end." After checking so many orphanages, he had finally found him.
Zhou Ning exhaled in relief. It might've been a coincidence, but the quest progress bar didn't lie. Still, one thing puzzled him slightly—according to the records, Jeremy Aiden was a short, overweight white middle-aged man whose hobby was dressing as a clown selling candy at various festivals. Yet, the man before him was tall and thin, with brown skin and the appearance of someone from Ruins.
How could that be possible?
Leandro's face lit up with excitement as he lowered his voice, saying, "You don't think that man up there could be—"
Before he could finish, Sherlock made a sharp gesture for him to keep quiet. The reason was simple: powerful dark-type professionals often had a sixth sense for their names being spoken, especially at close range.
Leandro closed his mouth in frustration, resting his chin in his hands as he gazed across the street. The man suspected to be Chris Fisher boarded a carriage with Morlick, which then slowly began moving eastward.
This orphanage marked the easternmost part of Darkland. Beyond it lay the eastern suburbs—vast estates sparsely populated, near the long-abandoned Darkland mine. That was the very place where, in the simulator, cultists of the Cursed God once sacrificed miners to summon the evil god Nyastora. The site was now a leveling zone, haunted by the undead of low-level miners wandering underground.
As Sherlock restarted the carriage, Zhou Ning realized this quest was far more difficult than it seemed—perhaps even a trap.
Tracking missions were a common quest type in Apocalypse Online. Zhou Ning had done countless of them in his previous life.
But this time, the one driving and maintaining distance wasn't himself—it was Sherlock. One mistake could cause instant failure.
"Try to stay as far as you can. If we get too close, he'll notice. Keep at least two hundred yards between us," Zhou Ning whispered.
"Got it." Sherlock nodded solemnly.
The ensuing pursuit made Zhou Ning's heart pound. The carriage ahead moved at a deliberately slow and erratic pace. Fortunately, Sherlock's tracking skills were reassuring—no mishaps so far.
But good luck never lasts. Before long, a traffic jam brought the carriage ahead to a halt. To avoid drawing attention, Sherlock didn't stop immediately but merely slowed down—until their distance was dangerously close to two hundred yards.
Caught off guard by the sudden situation, Zhou Ning was momentarily stunned. Then, from the corner of his eye, he noticed another carriage behind them trying to overtake. Inspiration struck. He gripped Uranus with his right hand and summoned a gust of wind. Within a small radius, the carriage behind was pushed forward, cutting sharply in front of Sherlock's and forcing him to stop.
"That was close…" Zhou Ning let out a long breath.
Sherlock clearly realized what had happened and shot Zhou Ning a strange look. "You're a meteorologist too?" he asked.
"Half of one," Zhou Ning replied with a faint smile. Inwardly, he gave Uranus a silent thumbs-up. Compared to Cortés's Sword, Uranus offered greater variety and finer precision in controlling the weather—an absolute weapon in this world.
Its only flaw was that it consumed a fixed percentage of focus, making the cost steep. Moreover, it lacked some of Cortés's Sword's exotic rain types, such as acid rain or frog rain. However, Uranus could manipulate not just wind and rain, but also thunder, hurricanes, fog, and snow.
He would simply choose which to use as needed.
After that brief scare, the rest of the pursuit went smoothly. Once the congestion cleared, they maintained a steady distance of two hundred yards, increasing to three hundred as they entered the quiet outskirts.
After about half an hour, the carriage ahead finally stopped before a massive estate. Chris Fisher and Morlick got down and walked inside.
Zhou Ning glanced at Sherlock, who confirmed with a nod—it was an estate belonging to a branch of the Aiden family. They definitely needed to take a look inside.
Sherlock thought for a moment before saying, "Ian, stay here for backup. Wayne, Leandro, you're with me. Stick close."
A prompt appeared on Zhou Ning's panel:
[Captain of the Sunwatcher Squad, Sherlock, has invited you to join the team. Accept? Yes/No]
An NPC team quest? Those were rare. Zhou Ning clicked "Yes" with mild surprise.
[Sherlock Moriarty has joined the party.]
[Leandro Pessa has joined the party.]
Checking the team window, Zhou Ning noted that Sherlock was only level 58—lower even than Richie Burke. His classes were Meteorologist / Sunwatcher / Reader. Stronger than before, but not by much.
Leandro, on the other hand, had broken the level cap—now at level 63, just two below Zhou Ning himself. His classes were Warrior / Sunwatcher / Alchemist. Now that was a real protagonist—leveling up while barely lifting a finger.
They slowed their steps and circled to the side of the estate. Sherlock took out a black-covered book, flipped through a few pages, and pressed his hand to a line of text. Immediately, a stream of intricate blue script floated from the pages like musical notes, and a shadow enveloped the three of them.
Some kind of mysterious relic again? Zhou Ning wondered silently. The Sunwatchers' background was clearly formidable—they were, after all, backed by both the Ascetic Church and the Bryston royal family.
"Don't stray more than ten yards from me, or you'll lose the concealment effect," Sherlock whispered.
Not that Zhou Ning needed it—with his Phantom Thief title and Hidden Traces ability, he could easily infiltrate alone. But there was no need to show off now. He simply nodded and followed Sherlock into the back courtyard.
What he saw there made his eyes widen.
There were far too many familiar faces.
Professor Bislok, the ancient elf archmage Lirad, Chris Fisher, Morlick—and an unfamiliar middle-aged man—stood before a small lake, deep in discussion. In the lake, a massive familiar figure was slowly moving.
It was the former King Charles VI!
Who would have thought—the giant they had searched for months was hidden right here, in the estate owned by the original complainant!