CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 54: LUCAS UNDER THREAT

[No Sneak Attacks]: [Tsk tsk, you really are Windchaser. No wonder you didn’t care about the Green-quality gear I mentioned.]

[Windchaser]: [Enough. Spit it out.]

[No Sneak Attacks]: [The meal I promised will have to wait. I got promoted and moved to a new department.]

[No Sneak Attacks]: [It’s very secret. I’d never heard of it before, and there are lots of restrictions. I won’t be able to visit you for a while.]

[Windchaser]: [Secret?]

[No Sneak Attacks]: [Yeah. I barely started and they’ve already restricted my freedom and cut me off from the outside world.]

[No Sneak Attacks]: [You’ll probably hear news of my "death" in the real world soon. When you go to my funeral, buy a few extra flowers for me.]

[No Sneak Attacks]: [I’m logging off. We’ll talk later.]

Ethan read Leo’s messages and fell silent. What kind of department would make Leo "die" in real life?

It seemed he might not see Leo again in the real world.

Ethan let out a sigh and headed to an NPC bar inside Safe Zone 9527.

As soon as he walked in, a few players looked his way and started whispering.

He glanced around and quickly found where [Lucas] was.

It was a semi-open booth with four or five people. Besides [Lucas], Ethan didn’t know the others.

Before Ethan could walk over, [Lucas] stood up and rushed to him, looking anxious.

When [Lucas] reached him and before he could speak, Ethan said calmly:

"Don’t get cocky or impatient. Staying calm and clear-headed is what matters most."

[Lucas] froze, then took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

He really was dealing with something annoying and was feeling tense and a bit panicked.

After Ethan’s reminder, he realized he needed to stay rational and calm.

Once [Lucas] led Ethan to a seat, he stood beside him and introduced the others:

"Ethan, these are my friends from real life. They helped a lot with the auction."

After he finished, he glanced at Ethan carefully.

He hadn’t told Ethan in advance that others would be here, because his friends were very curious about the person who could bring so much high-quality Intel and really wanted to meet him.

Also, they had put in a lot of work to prepare for the auction.

So [Lucas] brought them to this bar.

When Ethan saw them, he wasn’t cold about it. He kept a mild expression and gave them a nod.

If you doubt someone, don’t rely on them, if you rely on someone, don’t doubt them.

Since he had already handed the matter to [Lucas], he should trust him.

As for the people [Lucas] brought, helping [Lucas] was the same as helping him.

Seeing that Ethan didn’t really resist, [Lucas] let out a quiet sigh of relief and sat down beside him.

Once [Lucas] sat, the others quickly gave the two of them some space and went back to drinking and playing games.

Ethan smiled and, over the bar’s music, said to [Lucas], "Your friends are pretty considerate."

[Lucas] lowered his voice and carefully introduced them to Ethan, saying:

"Ethan, they’re not ordinary people in real life. The chubby guy on the far left is Lucian. His dad runs the Dolren City TV station, and his family owns several media companies. They have a lot of pull over public opinion."

"And the skinny one in the middle is Morris. He’s the mayor’s nephew. The mayor has no kids and spoils him a lot."

"Lastly, the short‑haired guy with the blank face is Sylvan. He’s the younger brother of the biggest crime boss in Dolren City. He also owns several security companies."

[Lucas] went over all his friends’ backgrounds, but said nothing about himself.

When Ethan finally looked at him, he gave a weak smile and said, "As for me, Ethan, you’ve probably heard my sister’s name, Emma."

"I’m her brother, Lucas."

Ethan had heard of Emma. Veritas Snow Group, the biggest group in Dolren City, was founded by her. It covers healthcare, drugs, and online services...

You could say Veritas Snow Group pays the most taxes in Dolren City and is a major pillar of the city’s economy.

People also say its Dolren City offices are only a small part of the whole company, Emma just likes staying in Dolren City.

Emma is very famous, but she keeps a low profile. It’s hard to find her photos or videos online.

Lucas, Lucian, Morris, and Sylvan—their ties touch media, politics, business, and the gray side of things.

Ethan, meanwhile, is just an ordinary patient, still in a hospital room, waiting to be discharged.

But this isn’t the real world. This is Dawnfall Online.

Ethan showed no surprise or nerves at Lucas’s words. He just asked calmly, "If you wanted to, dealing with [Overlord] wouldn’t be a problem, right?"

Lucas spread his hands helplessly. "Sigh, Liam is my sister’s classmate. If I go after him, my sister will give me a hard time."

"Ethan, now I’m curious—how did you send that guy Liam straight to jail?"

Ethan smiled and didn’t answer.

He didn’t have the kind of connections Lucas and the others had. He had very little he could use. Even so, getting [Overlord] thrown in jail wasn’t that hard.

Ethan changed the subject. "Alright, tell me—what happened?"

Lucas let out a long sigh, gave a bitter smile, and said slowly:

"Here’s the thing. I wanted to do what you asked, Ethan, so I used all kinds of contacts and resources to let as many people as possible know about our upcoming auction."

"At first it went well. As soon as we started, the response was huge."

Ethan frowned a little. "Isn’t that good?"

Lucas shook his head. "Too big. Power players from other places started reaching out through all kinds of channels, saying they wanted to buy the [Blue Ice Potion Formula Intel] ahead of time."

"They offered high prices, but there were threats too."

"Our families are all asking what kind of trouble we’ve gotten into."

Ethan hadn’t expected things to go in such a strange direction.

Not because of anything else, but because the auction item was too popular, and now Lucas and the others were getting threatened?

Lucas and his friends had serious backgrounds in real life. Anyone who could threaten them had to be very strong.

Ethan thought for a moment and asked, "They all want the [Blue Ice Potion Formula Intel]?"

Lucas nodded. Those groups threatening him seemed to care only about the [Blue Ice Potion Formula].

Ethan frowned. "That shouldn’t be the case."

Even if the [Blue Ice Potion Formula Intel] is worth more than the [Ice Archer Class Change Intel] and the [Guild Hidden Quest Intel], it still shouldn’t cause something like this, right?

Did he miss something?

Did he overlook the true value of the [Blue Ice Potion Formula Intel]?

Thinking of this, Ethan asked Lucas, "Which groups are threatening you?"

Lucas glanced at Sylvan—the younger brother of the biggest underground boss in Dolren City—then shook his head. "We can’t find out. And we don’t dare keep digging."

Sylvan set down his glass, face blank, and nodded at Ethan. "Everyone I sent to investigate has gone missing. This is worse than I thought."

After Sylvan spoke, the short, skinny guy, about one-sixty tall, went quiet and said in a low voice, "My dad won’t let me leave the house anymore. He warned me to pull out of this fast."

Ethan fell into thought. He hadn’t expected a single [Blue Ice Potion Formula Intel] to cause all this.

Who was threatening Lucas and the others for the [Blue Ice Potion Formula Intel]?

And what value in the [Blue Ice Potion Formula Intel] had he missed?

Ethan took a deep breath and looked again at the info on the [Blue Ice Potion Formula Intel].

[Blue Ice Potion Formula Intel]

[Quality]: Purple-quality

[Requirement]: Alchemist Class

[Description]: Somewhere near Safe Zone 9527, a powerful alchemist is buried. The Blue Ice Potion formula is there. Using the Blue Ice Potion can randomly and permanently increase 1–3 attribute points.

There are many potions in Dawnfall Online, and more than one can raise stats—not just the [Blue Ice Potion].

Could it be the formula itself?

Ethan said to Lucas at once, "Check if any players have gotten a formula similar to the [Blue Ice Potion]."

Lucas nodded. He walked over to the chubby guy, Lucian, said something to him, and then both of their avatars vanished—they logged out of Dawnfall Online.

Soon, when Lucas came back, his face looked even more serious.

"There is," Lucas said. "Lucian and I found something."

"In a city near Dolren City, someone accidentally got a Blue-quality potion recipe in Dawnfall Online two days ago, and posted the info online."

"Then he disappeared. No trace, no follow-up."

Ethan understood at once. That player must have exposed his real-life identity, and that’s why this happened.

But why would this happen?

Why are potion recipes from Dawnfall Online so important in the real world?

Ethan thought of one possibility, but it felt too far-fetched.