“Ah, the usually reliable Meow King made a rare mistake, causing us to miss out on a big treasure chest. I think this dungeon probably only has one final boss, Kenport Gnawbone, but he’s very cunning and uses various methods to reduce our rewards. Even a small mistake will let the rewards slip away.
This mode is too sneaky!
It seems that if we want to get all the rewards, the requirements for team cooperation are indeed very high.”
While Onboard Joy Stick and Meow King’s team were anxiously worrying about their responsibilities, the rhythm on Silver Moon Pride’s team was somewhat leisurely. Fatal Orchid Huahua still had the mood to discuss dungeon strategies with Lumina beside her. The slender-waisted, long-legged shield bearer held her kite shield vigntly as she looked around, saying:
“No wonder it’s marked as a ‘timed dungeon’. I guess the development team might be making an attempt, and they might modify itter.”
The girls, leading a group of administrative yers, traversed through the dangerous gnoll camp. Under the protection of elite guards, they advanced towards the rendezvous point agreed upon with the Blood Rat Gang and that mysterious character codenamed “Pangolin”. They too were attacked by the crazy gnoll barbarians, but they didn’t find it difficult to deal with.
The pressure was all on the other two teams, and the girls’ team was currently the T1 team in the game, so they were handling it with ease.
But unlike the calm girls, the administrative yers apanying them were very excited.
They rarely had such thrilling monster-fighting experiences, let alone participating in such arge-scale team activity. Although their specialties were quite different from most yers, they too had a desire to be DPS.For example,
“Old Chen, don’t rush so fast!”
Heaven’s Chosen Grayman and Bricyer were now tightly holding their mentor’s arms, preventing Old Chen from rushing up to engage in hand-to-handbat with the gnolls. This was obviously to protect their old man.
But the problem was, even the old man had a heart for battle!
Although he was aging in the real world, his stamina in the game was no worse than the youngsters.
“Let go! Both of you, let go! My swordsmanship is just about to level up.”
Construction Site Old Man Professor Chen scolded his two apprentices with an unhappy face:
“When I was young, I was also in the militia and organized training, much better than you two now. Besides, you don’t really die in the game, what are you afraid of?”
“I’m afraid the development team will call me again. Last time your sudden disconnection almost scared them to death.”
Heaven’s Chosen Graymanined.
But seeing his old Chen’s eager look, he sighed and gave Bricyer a look to release the old professor. Then he took out the gargoyle heart ornament he got from opening a treasure chest after thest dungeon run, poured out the prepared stone materials from his special spirit bag, and quickly fused them into apletely ck, cool-looking battle-type gargoyle.
“You! Protect my mentor! When his life is in danger, fly him away from here.”
Heaven’s Chosen Grayman pushed up his decorative sses and gave orders to his gargoyle, then handed the battle gargoyle’s control stick to Old Chen, seemingly not intending to take it back.
It’s natural for students to show filial piety to their mentor, and with Old Chen’s “battle frenzy”, the troubles he might encounter in the future are probably numerous. With this thing to protect him, both he and Bricyer could be more at ease.
This high-level alchemical creation had some intelligence and could understand Heaven’s Chosen Grayman’smands. It pped its sturdy stone wings and flexed its stone ws, standing guard beside Professor Chen. ???????Е?
The old professor curiously reached out to touch this stone life, then turned back with a strange expression and said to Heaven’s Chosen Grayman:
“The sturdiness of your summon’s body depends on what kind of stone material you used for it, right? Why use ordinary granite? Can’t you find diamond in Transia? If not, corundum or topaz would do. With this, you dare call yourself a designer?
How did you pass your undergraduate geology course?”
“Enemy attack!”
Little Ashina, who was scouting ahead by pping her wings in the air, suddenly shouted, and the crowd immediately became alert.
Heaven’s Chosen Grayman grabbed therge-caliber masterwork dwarf hunting rifle gifted to him by his beautiful assistant and fired a shot at the gnoll pouncing towards him.
Amidst the echoing low gunshot, he retreated to reload under the cover of two shield-bearing guards, whileining to his old man:
“Damn, professor, at a time like this, can you not point out my mistakes? This thing needs stones with spirit affinity, it can’t be exined in just a few words.
You step back!
Don’t get hurt.”
“That’s right, that’s right, old man, quicklye over to our side, don’t cause trouble for them. By the way, your Intelligence is at max 8, right? Why don’t you switch to Spirit Mage?”
Life Is Pretty Good beside them reached out to pull the old man back.
This Trickster swung his cool soul-reaping scythe, casually throwing several curse-type and damage-amplifying area spells on the surrounding monsters pouncing towards them. The Trickster’sbat style rarely confronts directly; they are more adept at using evil spirit energy to weaken and toy with enemies.
Old Huo had obviously grasped the essence of this profession. After casting spells and gaining proficiency, he didn’t continue fighting but retreated behind everyone, leaving those gnolls for other brothers to deal with.
Faced with Life Is Pretty Good’s confusion, Old Chen squinted and said:
“I always feel that this spirit energy thing is not very scientific. Compared to this mystical power, I think holding a gun gives me more sense of security. I’m not like you young people who easily ept new things. I’m old and don’t want to mess with the worldview I’ve built over decades.”
“Isn’t it a waste of your max Intelligence then?”
Life Is Pretty Good felt a bit regretful.
Compared to this professor, his Intelligence was only 7, and he felt somewhat outdone.
“Intelligence is just an attribute. It doesn’t only represent the maniption of spirit energy, but also learning ability. It’s quiteplex when you delve into it. I specifically asked Lady Tris about it. She clearly told me that high Intelligence doesn’t necessarily mean you’re suitable to be a Spirit Mage.
But if your Intelligence is below 5, you definitely can’t be one.”
Dump Truck Iaido, holding arge-caliber dwarf trench gun, came over and replied, while examining the soul-reaping scythe in Life Is Pretty Good’s hand. He exined:
“This attribute only represents that you can perceive spirit energy, but perceiving and manipting are two different things. You understand, right?”
“I do, I just think it’s a pity. After all, in our real world, there aren’t these clearly existing supernatural things. Since we’re ying a game, why not try something that doesn’t exist in reality at all?
Hey, brothers, leave that gnoll at the brink of death for me, I want to try extracting a grudge spirit talisman.”
Life Is Pretty Good grinned.
There was a certain bright light flickering in his squinting eyes, a light of eagerness.
“Whoosh”
After the administrative yers cleared out a group of pouncing gnolls with shouts, Frostfang w, who was scouting ahead, jumped out from the nearby shadows wearing his signature nightwear. He shook the blood off his bone dagger and made several hand gestures to hispanions, saying:
“It’s up ahead! I found it, follow me.”
Sister Pomegranate at the front called out, and the other administrative yers immediately followed.
They all had the team quest “Find Pangolin”, and everyone was very interested in the true face of this mysterious high-level special agent under the vampire.
Until they saw Hog anxiously waiting at the boundary area affected by the Astral Realm spirit energy, this curiosity in their hearts was immediately satisfied in a strange way.
“Why is this gnoll so thin and small?”
Bulldozer Man Charging eximed in shock:
“Don’t they feed it? How did it get so starved?”
“Probably born with a disability?”
Half Off With Full Coverage beside him scratched his chin, examining Hog’s build and posture that was so out of ce among other gnolls. He said:
“The way this guy wears a hood reminds me of those fellows who always shout ‘yesyes’. No wonder it could connect with the vampire. This kind of cunning is obviously not something other gnolls could possess.”
“It’s called ‘Hog’! This is an easter egg, right? This must be an official easter egg!”
Life Is Pretty Good in the crowd eximed, then chuckled weirdly as he pushed Honorary Knight Typal beside him, who was wearing a full set of armor. He said:
“Hey, your ‘fellow countryman’.”
“The gnoll lord Hog in my memory was certainly not such a weak creature. This is just an arrangement of fate, causing the same kind of evil being with the same name to be born in two worlds.
This might indeed represent some kind of higher-dimensional will.”
Typal, cosying as a knight with a full-face helmet, looked Hog up and down.
He refused to acknowledge, with a stern face, that the skinny gnoll before him, not even reaching his shoulders, was the formidable “King of the Forest Clearing” he remembered.
Nevertheless, encountering a familiar name in the “otherworld” was still worth a small celebration.
“Hey, Hog, long time no see.”
Little Ashina, who had a good rtionship with Hog due to their size difference back in the Crimson Citadel, pped her wings andnded beside the gnoll, casually patting Hog’s shoulder and circling around him a few times.
She said:
“Why are you alone here? Where are your tribesmen?”
“They can’t know about Lord Murphy’s ns yet, they wouldn’t understand that what I’m doing is a form of salvation.”
Hog, wearing a hood to cover his body, let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Lord Murphy’s warriors arrive as promised. He spoke to the approaching female team members in that peculiar gnoll ent:
“Kenport Gnawbone is doomed tonight, that fool will be a pathetic supporting character in the great journey of Lord Murphy’s story, I have no doubt about that.
However, the problem is that his death will throw the entire camp into chaos, and thousands of gnolls running amok will render your previous efforts to drive out the bandits from Transia useless.
I’ve been pondering this issue for the past few days, and I believe I can offer my insignificant wisdom to Lord Murphy on this matter.”
“Ding!”
The Computation Bead chimed, indicating a quest update.
Everyone looked down to see that the “Find the Pangolin” plot quest had progressed to the second step, with a concise content of just one sentence:
【Hidden Plot Quest – ‘The Birth of a n’ has been updated!
Quest Content: Listen to the ‘Pangolin’ opinion and decide whether to help it or not.
Note!
This quest has a significant impact on certain important future plots, please make your choice carefully.】
The note attached to this quest made the administrative personnel in the team exchange nces. Although having management traits doesn’t necessarily mean a yer is smart, it’s certain that fools are absolutely not suited for management positions.
It can be said that every single person here belongs to the quick-thinking category.
They easily deduced from the quest’s name and note what kind of waves this quest would bring to the alreadyplex situation in Transia.
“This gnoll n organized by Hog is likely to be a friendly force for yers after this instance!”
Life Is Pretty Good quickly started a private chat, pulling in all the administrative yers from the team. He narrowed his eyes and said to the others:
“This might represent some sort of attempt by Lord Murphy at managing his own territory, but the development team has given us the choice of whether to establish this foreign race force!
It’s like the simr plot branches that veteran yers said they encountered before.
Miss Femis was saved by their choice, and when Kadman City was destroyed, it was their choice to stay that led to the current Transia.
We’re facing a problem of the same nature.”
“So, if we choose to refuse to help this gnoll here, does that mean the entire subsequent storyline rted to it will be directly cut off?”
Bricyer said:
“Damn, it feels like losing 5 million out of thin air.”
“Yeah, new storylines, new forces, and new reputation, maybe even new rewards.”
The dump truck brother, leaning on his hunting rifle, said:@@novelbin@@
“I don’t know what everyone thinks, but I feel we shouldn’t miss out on these.
Transia should also have some gnolls to interact with, they were also born on thisnd, and ording to Lord Murphy, they are also part of thisnd.
What do you think?”
“Hey! You officials aren’t really nning to kill Hog, are you?”
Little Ashina was a bit anxious, she argued:
“All you can get from killing it here is a few pieces of shabby leather armor, but if you keep it alive and continue to nurture it! After it has a n, it can give us more quests, more money, more equipment. Who would kill an NPC that gives them quests?
Hog is very smart, and we were the first to raise it. I don’t care, if you don’t want to do this quest, I canpensate you.
But I must keep this gnoll!”
“Don’t be so anxious, we’re just discussing, aren’t we?”
The shovel brother pacified Little Ashina, and then said to the others in the private chat:
“Little Ashina is right, even if we want to ughter a pig, we should wait until it’s fat enough. This Hog obviously has no oil now, I suggest we keep it and finish this Hidden Quest first, what do you say?”
“I’m worried about the plot aspect.”
The mature and steady Old Chen has been in the game for quite some time, and due to his frequent chats with Professor Malcolm, he knows more about the history of thisnd than others.
He said:
“Gnolls don’t have a good reputation in Transia, and I heard from Professor Malcolm about a disaster called ‘ck Disaster’ that was rted to these gnolls.
It was a terrifying continent-wide cmity.
Do you know what this means?
If we’re going to keep this gnoll and help it establish a force, we might very well end up standing in opposition to other factions on the continent.
What I mean is, it’s easy for things to go wrong if we’re not careful.
Lord Murphy and Lady Tris might not care, but convincing the Witch Hunters and Blood Pact Knights won’t be so easy.”
“Professor Chen is right, this aspect must be considered.”
Life Is Pretty Good nodded, but then he changed his tone and said:
“However, we are yers, everyone! We are now nominally Blood Servants of the Blood Vulture n, and Transia is thest remaining ruins of a recently dismembered country.
Not exaggerating, whether we have this gnoll or not, our rtionship with other forces on the continent might not necessarily be that good.
If we give up this opportunity to cultivate our own force for those ‘friends’ we haven’t even met yet, it seems a bit too much of a pity.
More importantly, if we look at it purely from a gamey perspective, I think being enemies with the whole world isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
In a situation where we can’t distinguish who is a friend and who is an enemy, treating them all as enemies might be a simple, crude, but effective solution.
If they’re willing to treat us as friends, they’ll pretend not to see a mere gnoll n vassal.
If they don’t treat us as friends, even without Hog and its n, they can still dere war!
What do you think?”
This speech made other little yers nod in agreement, and Honorary Knight Typal, who had been silent all along, stepped forward. Leaning on his sword and shield, he said in a tone that mimicked NPCs perfectly:
“I have seen the noblest of foreign races, and I have witnessed the most despicable of humans.”
“Hey, don’t repeat old Frey’s words! Just say your opinion directly.”
“Ahem, my meaning is, it’s called ‘Hog’, right? Perhaps it’s a hint from fate, wanting us to cultivate a ‘King of the Forest Clearing’ with our own hands.
My meaning is, we Torrent Knights are willing to give this foreign race a chance!”
Although Typal didn’t express any valuable opinions, after he finished speaking, other administrative yers strangely reached a consensus.
They epted this quest, which also made Little Ashina, who had been a bit worried, let out a sigh of relief.
She gave Hog a wink, and the cunning and clever gnoll immediately came forward, bowing and scraping, saying:
“That brute Kenport, in order to control the gnolls of Transia, has arranged all the n chiefs of everyrge and small n in thisnd in his own guard. Those chieftains are the mainstay of the gnolls in thisnd, so.”
“So, you mean you want us to rescue them?”
The Grayman asked curiously. Hog shook his head and said in a low voice:
“No, I want to ask you to kill them all! Only those with leaders are wolf packs, those in chaos can only be called dogs running away with their tails between their legs. Lord Murphy wants to tame them, and the Crimson Citadel doesn’t need dangerous wolves.
What you want is a pack of dogs, so you need to eliminate those ‘wolf kings’!”