MMORPG: Crowd Control

Lei Zhen wasn't hundred percent positive that Smither Gary may have teleported to Sinos City church with the Bolten Artifact, but there was no time in thinking further.

Just the fact that they had searched the secret hideout in every nook and cranny, and didn't find him, plus the fact that none of them had seen Smither Gary came out either. The only explanation for this was that Smither Gary had used the Bolten Artifact to teleport away.

After all, the teleportation function was one such feature that an NPC was ineligible or incapable of using.

"Wait, you're planning on using the Bolten Artifact based on your guts alone?" Tang Qiaolian raised an eyebrow and asked, clearly astonished that he would do such a risky move.

If it was in the past, then Lei Zhen would absolutely never do something unless he had a high percentage of succeeding in it. He had always stated why waste effort in uncertainty when you can bid for time and do it once you have a high certainty of it.

Lei Zhen smiled briefly when he realized that he had somewhat changed from his previous mentality and action. Maybe because he was not as uptight as in the past or extremely resentful now.

"People change, Qiaolian. I'm no different either." He said calmly, activating the Bolten Artifact with the church set in Sinos City.

And just like how Liu Lingxin had described the artifact previously, there was a monster screaming voice once the artifact was activated, and in a swooshing sound, Lei Zhen vanished from his position.

The Bolten Artifact was only available for one person only, meaning even if he wanted to bring someone along with him, it was impossible to do so since he managed to craft one successfully.

As he left the rest in the wasteland field near Cinderton, Lei Zhen teleported inside the church in Sinos City.

What greeted him the moment he arrived was a large statue that resembled Goddess Artemis. Though with a somewhat alteration to it since no one truly knows how Artemis looked in real life.

Lei Zhen's arrival had astonished the presence of many priests within the church, and some guards patrolling were alerted.

"Who are you and how did you appear from thin air?" One of the guards raised their spear and asked coldly, seemingly thinking that an intruder had come to create a ruckus in their holy church.

"Relax, I came here using the Bolten Artifact- a specialty of the famous blacksmith, Smither Gary." Lei Zhen raised his hands up high and calmly explained how he arrived in the area.

He wasn't alarmed by the fact that the guards held such high vigilance toward him since he would have done the same as well.

Appearing from out of nowhere would surely shock anyone present in the area, especially if they believed it was an enemy.

Before the guard could respond or confirm Lei Zhen's words, a priest subsequently came forward and asked, "Are you perhaps an adventurer called Lei Zhen?"

Turning his attention to the priest that asked him, Lei Zhen nodded his head.

'Sure enough, Smither Gary had come here. Otherwise, the priest wouldn't have known my name when it was my first time here in Sinos City.' Lei Zhen thought to himself.

"I see…" The priest smiled slightly and extended his hand, signaling for the guards to put their weapons away and go back to their patrolling duty.

Once the guards retracted their hostility and returned to their respective spots, the priest then greeted Lei Zhen.

"Welcome Adventurer Lei Zhen. I am Priest Solis and I was notified that you would be arriving soon by Smither Gary." Priest Solis clasped his hands together and said, welcoming Lei Zhen warmly.

"So he really was here." Lei Zhen smiled and asked, "Where is Smither Gary currently?"

"I'm not sure either since Smither Gary didn't reveal where he would go except for the fact that someone named Lei Zhen might be arriving here soon, so he notified me to wait here in case of your arrival." Priest Solis responded.

And he continued, "The only thing Smither Gary left was this note and I was told to hand it to you."

With that said, Priest Solis retrieved a small piece of paper from his pocket and gave it to Lei Zhen.

Lei Zhen unveiled the paper and read 'Come and find me at the place I lingered in the past.'

Instantly, Lei Zhen twitched his brows and wanted to beat the crap out of Smither Gary already, acting as if he was some Mary Sue.

"This goddamn Smither Gary really thinks everyone would know about him?" He exclaimed loudly, feeling irritated by the hide-and-seek that Smither Gary was attempting to do.

Meanwhile, Priest Solis coughed slightly when he heard Lei Zhen using a somewhat curse word.

"Oh, sorry about that." Lei Zhen scratched his head in embarrassment and apologized for his outburst, realizing that other people praying in the church were staring at him with horrified looks.

"No worries, Adventurer Lei Zhen. Although Smither Gary is extremely wise and helpful, there are times that he could make people rage, so it's understandable. I shall pray for your success in finding him." Priest Solis calmly said before leaving the vicinity, having accomplished his task.

Lei Zhen wasn't going to idle around the church either since he really doesn't believe in gods. To him, gods are fictional being created by humans to explain something that they could not comprehend.

Humans are the type of curious creatures that when they failed to understand things related to science, they would then create a falsified being to explain why this occurred, allowing them to not get a headache.

As he exited the church, Lei Zhen was greeted by the blinding lights of the sun. Ignoring the sunlight shining right at him, Lei Zhen opened his map and searched for a location that could somewhat be related to Smither Gary.

The first location that he was looking for was naturally a blacksmith place.

Since Smither Gary himself is a blacksmith and had the "Smither" name, then Lei Zhen would be a fool to not search for this location first.

Of course, Lei Zhen didn't have high hopes of actually finding Smither Gary there, but it was definitely worth a shot either way. Rather than eliminating the place without confirmation, he might as well spend some extra time to confirm it before crossing out the possibility.

"Okay, the nearest blacksmith area is 20 meters away from here." Lei Zhen muttered, clicking on the location and zooming in on the place.

Once the location was decided, Lei Zhen slowly made his way toward them. Occasionally, he would glance around the building structures of Sinos City, admiring their artistic gallery by the wall and the aesthetic of the street.

Magnolia was indeed a complex game in which each area or location would have its own unique style of aesthetic, allowing all kinds of people to enjoy the view. If they didn't like the scenery, then they could always go somewhere else to find a scenery that would suit them.

For example, if one loves the Western style of the 17th century, then one could go to Yors Castle and admire the building craft. Or if they are not interested in Western style, then they could try the cyberpunk theme in Cinderton.

There are simply too many options available for the players that one could never be bored of.

And Sinos City was of the Egyptian kind of theme, and honestly, Lei Zhen felt as if he was traveling around the world while merely playing a video game.

Admiring the lovely scenery, Lei Zhen finally arrived at the blacksmith workshop, and to his dismay, he was nearly on the verge of vandalizing.

After all, there was a note placed near the entrance of the blacksmith workshop, which stated 'Nice try, Lei Zhen, but you've got to do better than this. I'm still waiting for your slowpoke-looking bum'.

"Alright then, you want to play this kind of cat-and-mouse chase huh. Then so be it." Lei Zhen smiled coldly, feeling ready to capture this son of a gun.

Lifting up his sleeve, Lei Zhen went to check on his map again and went on a frenzy, walking everywhere in Sinos City, searching for Smither Gary's whereabouts.

In addition to that, he would occasionally ask nearby NPC for help as well, and Lei Zhen was dumbfounded to hear that even some of the NPC were paid by Smither Gary to taunt him.

From seconds to minutes, and from minutes to hours, Lei Zhen could practically say he had flipped the entire Sinos City upside down, only to realize that Smither Gary was nowhere to be found.

'How is this even possible?' Lei Zhen cursed silently, glancing at the map where he marked all of the previously searched locations already.

While he was frustrated, a kid suddenly tugged on his clothes and said, "Hello, Mister, someone told me to hand this note to you."

'Have you given up or are you thirsty for more?' The note said, causing Lei Zhen to crumble the note with his face wrinkled up.