Gamers of the Underworld

TinyMeatball didn’t obtain useful information, but he figured out the strange incidents were caused by a massive migration of Eternal Kingdom inhabitants.

As long as the investigation continued on Eternal Kingdom’s Gnomes and Houndhead Men who came to Winterfell to work, there would be results.

After he questioned TakeASpearHit and the construction site supervisor and confirmed that TakeASpearHit was a diligent worker, he went to other construction sites to investigate.

The investigation process was hard. The Gnomes and Houndhead Men seemed to know some information, but when TinyMeatball asked an important question, they would decline to answer or say that they didn’t know. Very few of them had the reaction of TakeASpearHit, who said, “Gosh! Is that a crime?”

Or similar shocked expressions.

After half a day of tedious investigation, TinyMeatball returned back to the station with Peanut. On the way, they discussed the details of the cases.

“Captain TinyMeatball, the cases are complex.”

Peanut was solemn and felt that the cases were tricky.

“Peanut, tell me what you think.”

TinyMeatball passed his journal to Peanut. The journal had the words:

“Eternal Kingdom”, “Close to 2,000 creatures”, “Green words above their heads”, “Work diligently”, “Don’t want salary”, and “Pacify with one or two Magic Stones”.

Peanut frowned and said, “Captain, Winterfell will be badly affected!”

“Hmm, that is indeed so.” TinyMeatball was happy that Peanut realized that.

“If everyone is like that Houndhead Man, we’ll lose our jobs soon! They are very terrifying!” Peanut said with fear.

TinyMeatball glanced at Peanut and took back his journal. He pointed at the words “Crime rate skyrocketing”, “Suddenly vanish”, “Hem and haw”, “Strange behavior”, and “More than meets the eye”.

Then, TinyMeatball said, “It’s obvious. Can’t you see?”

“You are saying…” Peanut had thought of a possibility and looked at TinyMeatball as he said, “These Eternal Kingdom Gnomes and Houndhead Men have orders to flood Winterfell, and it’s highly possible that Lord Sherlock gave the orders. His motive is to earn our Magic Stones and increase their wealth!”

“Wrong! Extremely wrong!” TinyMeatball shouted, “Are you a fool? With Lord Sherlock’s status, does he need his servants to make money? This is a cross-boundary criminal organization! These Gnomes and Houndhead Men have unspeakable evil conspiracies. These cases are too bizarre. Working without a salary is outrageous! Thinking of the Gnome who knows mathematical formulas, I have reason to believe they are spreading the Dark Gospel. That’s terrifying.”

TinyMeatball lit up a Uranium stick and puffed in deeply. His eyes were full of wit as he said, “It’s time for me to show my prowess. Peanut, bring some guards and watch over the Gnomes and Houndhead Men at the construction sites. Then find out which shops have these working creatures and watch them as well.”

“Er, Captain, we only have 30 to 40 guards, but there are more than a thousand of them…” Peanut said. He was in a dilemma.

“Are you trash? Can’t a guard watch over 70 to 80 of them? If you can’t do it, submit your resignation letter to me tomorrow!”

TinyMeatball waved his hand, and Peanut agreed to make the arrangements.

TinyMeatball felt that he was very close to the truth. TinyMeatball wasn’t convinced that they were here for Magic Stones. This must be a huge criminal organization. They were evil, ugly, and chaotic!

TinyMeatball felt he had heavy responsibilities. He pondered upon the cases as he returned to the Garrison Guard station. Then he saw a strong Orc in office lady clothing. The Orc ran over to TinyMeatball and said, “Captain, you’re finally back. Many creatures are looking for you!”

The strong Orc secretary spoke in a panic and immediately pulled TinyMeatball towards the Garrison Guard Main Hall.

“What’s up, Cherry?”

TinyMeatball was pulled by his secretary, who said, “A lot of creatures came to find you. They want to provide leads for the cases!”

“What! Where are they? Bring me to them quickly!”

TinyMeatball followed Cherry closely as they ran towards the Main Hall. When they arrived near the hall, they were shocked by the queue that stretched all the way to the street.

Some of them wore armor, while some were half-naked. There was even a Goblin in a Tuxedo.

Most of them were Gnomes and Goblins. There were also a few Houndhead Men.

They had strange green words above their heads. They were the Gnomes and Houndhead Men that flooded Winterfell recently.

When TinyMeatball appeared, a Gnome shouted, “Gosh! It’s mission…”

Another creature covered his mouth before he completed his sentence. The creature quickly said, “Be immersive! Be immersive!”

TinyMeatball saw the creatures gazing intently at him as though they knew him, but nobody came out to talk to him.

He was very curious and decided to enter the Main Hall.

The Main Hall was filled with rowdy creatures who had green words above their heads.

A Garrison Guard, whose forehead was sweating profusely, walked to TinyMeatball and said, “Captain, they came to find you. They say they have important information to tell you.”

“Let them enter my office one by one.”

Though there were 300 of them, TinyMeatball wasn’t afraid. Though he was curious how TakeASpearHit could ask so many of them to divulge information, he thought it was crucial to question them first.

TinyMeatball walked into his office and interviewed the queuing gamers one by one.

The first gamer was a Gnome wearing full body armor. He left his weapon outside. He looked presentable.

“I have information. I have information on criminal activities!” the Gnome said immediately.

Cherry passed a form to TinyMeatball. The form was completed by the Gnome:

Name: Sylvanas

Sex: Female

Age: 18

Birthplace: Peking

Profession: Successor to billions of family businesses

…

TinyMeatball put down the form, which he thought was nonsense. What kind of a prank was that?

“What information do you have?” TinyMeatball asked as he put down the form.

“I want to report a fraud! A Gnome called NotWearingPants defrauded his boss of two Magic Stones,” Sylvanas edged closer to TinyMeatball and said gravely.

“…” TinyMeatball frowned and kept quiet.

“It’s like this. He’s an apprentice at a Magical Items Shop and an Alchemy Shop. He didn’t want any salary. His boss asked him to buy materials for Alchemy. The price was 10 Magic Stones. He used the 10 Magic Stones to buy some powder, which he mixed with cement powder. Then he sold it to the Blacksmith Shop, which gave him some metals in exchange. Then he went to the Alchemy Shop to buy the items required by the boss of the Magical Items Shop and obtained two extra Magic Stones. After all this buying and selling, he defrauded his boss of two Magic Stones. That is criminal behavior,” Sylvanas said in a long-winded manner.

She then suggested, “I suggest that the punishment be immediate disintegration of his equipment.”