Chapter 914: I Am an Undercover Agent

“This is to make us grow stronger!” Zhang Yi quickly understood the three conditions that popped up before his eyes.

“It’s about completing prerequisites, getting information and weapons, and then escaping,” Song Ren also said.

Having played games for so many years, the group immediately understood what this mode meant.

One team of players would act as the escaping outlaws, while the other team would play as the Pinkerton Agents chasing them down.

Players playing as Pinkerton Agents would need 20 minutes before they could start hunting the outlaws.

Of course, even with this countdown, Zhang Yi and Song Ren didn't think it would be a system-enforced wait.

After all, in a game where you're catching people, waiting for even a minute is already the limit.

If one team really had to wait 20 minutes, wouldn't that be ridiculous?

So, it was more likely that the Pinkerton Agents team also had similar prerequisite missions. For example, after completing them, they might learn the outlaws' location, or completing certain conditions could increase the Pinkerton Agents' firepower.

Additionally, since Red Dead Redemption itself is a slower-paced game, unlike the flying and sports car racing in GTA, the Wild West at this time primarily involved horseback riding, and there was no fast travel in this multiplayer mode.

As for trains, while faster than horses, they also required waiting for the train to arrive at the station.

So, if the distance was far enough, travel time alone could take two or three minutes.

“What do we do now?” After quickly clarifying the basic information, Zhang Yi asked.

“What else can we do? It’s obvious, isn’t it? A gang of seven, and besides us three, the other four are leaders!” Song Ren glanced behind him and said.

Joseph, the gang leader who was making grand promises, stood by the cliff, smoking a cigarette and gazing into the distance with a look of worry, but did nothing else besides smoking.

John, the second-in-command they’d met in the previous storyline, stood with his arms crossed, looking sternly at the horses in the camp, lost in thought.

As for the other two unnamed gang members, they had completely slacked off, sitting on the ground playing Texas Hold’em.

“I suddenly have an urge. Why don’t we just surrender directly?” Zhang Yi watched the actions of the four people in the camp behind him, remaining silent for two seconds before speaking.

With the way these four 'geniuses' were behaving, how could they not eventually be caught by the Pinkerton Detectives?

As for going to Mexico to grow large leaves, even if they did go.

It would probably end up with the three of them working themselves to death farming, while the four others simply enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

What kind of gang was this?

They might as well just make fried chicken and watermelon for the three of them three times a day.

“Stop messing around, let’s go do the missions first,” Wang Han sighed and said.

“Let’s split up, aren’t there exactly three paths?” Zhang Yi began.

“But how do we get money? We can’t just work odd jobs in Blackwater Town, can we?” Wang Han asked, a little confused.

“That’s easy! When in Rome, do as the Romans do. We’ll engage in the characteristic activity of Western countries: Zero-Yuan Shopping,” Zhang Yi chuckled and said.

A single revolver, making the shop owner voluntarily hand over a wad of Franklins—that was the charm of Zero-Yuan Shopping.

As he spoke, the three of them rode their horses towards Blackwater Town.

“I feel like this mode is quite different from the regular game. There’s no voice system, so we can only communicate face-to-face, and the minimap doesn’t show teammates,” Zhang Yi pointed out some details he’d noticed.

“So, let’s finalize the division of labor. For Zero-Yuan Shopping, we’ll scout first and complete the supply and intel missions,” Song Ren suggested.

After all, if the other two missions weren't completed and they went straight for Zero-Yuan Shopping, entering a wanted state would likely result in mission failure.

“No problem. Old Song, you go gather intel. Wang Han and I will get supplies and scout. We’ll meet up at the logging camp area later,” Zhang Yi opened the map, glanced at it, and issued the operational command.

After bidding farewell to Zhang Yi and Wang Han, Song Ren wandered the streets alone.

“How do I gather information? Western Hello King? Just greet every NPC I see?”

Song Ren felt completely lost as he walked around the streets.

He approached an NPC and said, “Hello, sir/ma’am.”

But he didn’t get any useful information at all.

“Oh, right, the newsboy!” After wandering for a while, still confused, Song Ren noticed a newsboy hawking papers on the street corner, and his eyes lit up.

Unlike other games, in Red Dead Redemption, much information, including some side quests, could actually be learned from newspaper content.

Even the events players experienced in the storyline would be recorded in the newspapers.

Song Ren bought a newspaper from the newsboy and walked to a nearby alley entrance, leaning against the wall as he read the contents.

[Saint Denis Grand Heist Gang Still at Large: Three months ago, a notorious gang orchestrated a major heist in Saint Denis, but thanks to the brave and fearless police, no innocent civilians were harmed. Pinkerton Detectives and the police are actively pursuing the remaining outlaws.]

“I feel like something is off here,” Song Ren thought as he read the newspaper content, sensing something strange.

But he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly was wrong at that moment.

As Song Ren pondered, a voice called from behind him: “How are things going?”

Hearing the call, Song Ren turned around, a bit surprised.

Standing behind him was one of the gang members who had been slacking off playing cards earlier.

“Almost. We’re looking for targets,” Song Ren instinctively replied, but quickly realized that this was just an NPC. Would the NPC understand him?

To his surprise, as his words fell, the NPC actually responded.

“Don’t worry about that for now, follow me. I’ve found a fat sheep; one more score and we’ll have enough.” The NPC opposite him waved, pointing to an alley behind the Blackwater Town bank.

“There really was a reaction?! Voice keyword? Side quest?” Song Ren was surprised, then tried saying a few more things, but received only mechanical responses, as if no keywords were triggered.

Wang Han and Zhang Yi had disappeared somewhere, and Song Ren didn’t overthink it. He followed the NPC alone. Crossing a street, the two arrived in an alley and stood before a locked wooden door.

“Sorry, I’m a cop!”

Just as Song Ren was about to open the door, a very emotional voice suddenly came from behind him—and it was in Cantonese, which made Song Ren pause.

But the next second, the tightly shut door burst open, and a police officer inside the room, dressed in uniform, shot him straight in the head. The NPC behind him, meanwhile, plunged a knife directly into his kidney.

His ample health bar was instantly emptied, and the scene before Song Ren slowly faded from color to grayscale.

Song Ren: ???????

“What the heck! There’s an undercover agent in the gang!”

Only after dying did Song Ren realize what had happened.

This survival game was a PVP mode. Based on the win conditions, he had always assumed the opposing players would be on the Pinkerton side, leading to a shootout between the two factions.

But he had completely overlooked the gang aspect. Now, thinking about it carefully, it seemed the game had been hinting at the players from the very beginning.

For example, why was the perfect plan always discovered? Why was the camp always tracked by Pinkerton Detectives? And now, with the intel mission, the newspaper was also heavily hinting, but he hadn't realized it then.

Moreover, judging by the content, as the intel mission progressed, he would likely eventually discover who the undercover agent in the gang was.

This was also why he was the first one to be targeted.

It wasn’t just Song Ren; many players who entered the survival mode of Red Dead Redemption for the first time were caught off guard.

Although the undercover agent had significant limitations, requiring them to fight three-on-one and forbidden from using firearms, they had to use the power of Pinkerton Detectives and police officers to set traps to eliminate players.

However, they could use system dialogue to disguise themselves and were privy to all sorts of information. Being in the dark while the enemy was in the light gave them a huge advantage.

As long as they were careful, the other players had almost no way to tell who the undercover agent was.

The undercover agent could not only communicate with Pinkerton Detectives and the police but also with members of the outlaw gang. They could use NPC system template dialogues to subtly manipulate them into doing things, creating confusion, though they couldn’t directly lead them into traps.

This mode turned Red Dead Redemption into a Wild West Werewolf game.

But for players, this kind of intriguing, brain-teasing gameplay was simply too much fun.

Especially for the undercover players, watching the other three being led by the nose and then quietly whispering in their ear: “I’m the undercover agent.”

The sense of accomplishment was off the charts.

(End of Chapter) <>