P.S. Please vote for Sanjiang. I may not expect to rank first, but I don't want to do too badly either.
The Black Iron Dwarves — a bunch of obsessives consumed by forging and unable to pull themselves out. Their civilization had once been gloriously magnificent, and countless legendary equipment bore their mark.
Every Black Iron Dwarf had arms as thick as thighs, muscles as hard as rock, and pitch-black skin. At night, many people would mistake them for a chunk of stone and accidentally sit down on one.
Of course, the consequences of that were quite severe. These Black Iron Dwarves hated nothing more than being treated as stools.
Shi Feng walked straight in.
This underground bunker in the White Sand Ruins was extremely well hidden. In his previous life, many guilds had spent a long time doing tasks here before discovering it, picking up quite a few good quests along the way — some even rewarded Iron Rank equipment. But such quests generally required a full team to complete; a single person couldn't hope to manage it.
Compared to those quests, though, Black Iron Dwarf favorability was even more important. That was a secret players only discovered after reaching level twenty-something.
Because here there was a unique quest called "Steel Shell Fortress," which required a certain level of favorability to obtain. Many players had missed it, and instead some unknown ordinary player had managed to pick it up — and actually completed the quest — instantly becoming a celebrity that many guilds scrambled to recruit.
When he reached the bunker's main gate, two elite Black Iron Dwarves glanced at Shi Feng and let him straight through.
The interior of the bunker was massive, like an underground town, teeming with Black Iron Dwarves everywhere. Most of the shops lining the streets were weapon and equipment stores; the rest were bars. Pleasures of life were few and far between.
Shi Feng followed the main street, twisting and turning until he reached a municipal hall built entirely of steel. A heavily bearded town chief who was a level 30 elite saw Shi Feng walk in and happily came over to greet him — this little town hadn't seen an outsider in a very long time.
"Hello, adventurer! Welcome to Stonetown. I'm the town chief, Black Whiskers," Black Whiskers said warmly.
"Greetings, esteemed town chief. This is my first time here — I wonder if there's anything I can help you with?" Shi Feng spoke with great respect, as a polite demeanor more easily won NPC favorability.
Black Whiskers stroked his thick beard and thought for a moment before saying, "Adventurer, our little town truly needs help. The climate in this region has been getting hotter and more oppressive by the day, and the water sources are drying up. It's becoming harder and harder for our residents to get by. I'll pay a fair price if you can bring us a large supply of fresh water or something to beat the heat."
System: Would you like to accept the quest "Black Whiskers' Request"?
Shi Feng smiled faintly. This was exactly why he had come.
"I'd be happy to help," Shi Feng agreed.
Of everything in Stonetown, the town chief's favorability was the most important thing. But it wasn't easy to farm, because the quests were difficult to complete and the rewards were paltry — so most people gave up.
System: Quest "Black Whiskers' Request" accepted. Deliver one hundred bags of fresh water or five servings of cold drinks to town chief Black Whiskers.
After that, Shi Feng produced the ice juice he had prepared in advance.
Every time he gave five servings of ice juice, he received 2 copper coins, 1 point of favorability with Black Whiskers, and 100 experience points.
For players around levels eight or nine, 100 experience points was negligible — killing a single level 10 normal mob yielded around two hundred. Meanwhile, a hundred bags of fresh water cost 5 copper coins at other towns, and even the cheapest cold drinks came to 5 copper coins for five servings. That meant you were essentially trading 3 copper coins for 100 experience points. Only a madman would do that.
But Shi Feng was more than happy to.