novelODS Chapter 121 Xiaoyu, who has made progress in her studies
Chapter 121 Xiaoyu, who has made progress in her studies
In the underground of the ruined city, in a dimly lit jazz bar.
The agent, accompanied by a dozen or so new recruits who had just gained enough experience, pushed open the dilapidated steel door.
He's recently become envious of how much money Little Snail is making from agricultural contracting, so today he's gathered this bunch of greenhorns together to talk to Instructor Dakru about a package deal for mass job changes.
The bar was empty, except for half a glass of cheap synthetic liquor that hadn't been finished.
Where are they?
The agent gestured for the newlyweds to stay put.
"Hey agent, there are so many of us, how much of a discount can the instructor give us?" a new recruit carrying a broken iron sword muttered in a low voice.
"What discount?" The agent laughed.
"I had him pack you all up and transfer you to a new job! Being a thief is a high-risk profession, we're just collectively investing in the security business of the ruined capital."
The agent, while trying to mislead people, circled around to the bar.
Using his professional instincts as a superhero, he followed the bar counter and felt his way towards the iron bars that led to the deeper sewers.
The further down you go, the deeper the water becomes, and the air is filled with the lingering smell of engine oil, mixed with a nauseating fishy stench.
It didn't smell like a typical mutated creature; it smelled more like a corpse that had been buried underground for thousands of years and had come into the light. In short, it didn't smell good.
On the dimly lit wall, a black cross-shaped dart was deeply embedded. Below the dart, in a crack in the brickwork, was a hastily carved mark.
The agent took a closer look and felt a slight chill run down his spine.
The dart's blade showed obvious signs of melting, and its cross-section was smooth.
That was definitely not the acidic corrosion of the green sap, but rather it seemed to have been forcibly annihilated by some kind of pure dark substance.
The aftermath of such a battle is simply impossible for the current ruins to produce.
The agent immediately pulled up the map of the ruined city in his mind for comparison. The sewer network in this direction extended downwards, ending at the deepest part of Treasure Island, which was the ant hole passage connecting to the City in the Forest.
Combined with the instructor's disappearance, the clues became clear.
The agent wasn't panicked; in fact, he was quite excited.
He quickly sent a message in the public chat: Brothers, it seems that our mentor, Thief, has gone to explore the new map of Forest City. We're about to enter a truly advanced area!
A dozen or so red dots were densely packed on the map of the jazz bar, as displayed by the system in the mind of assassin Lynn.
At the top of the abandoned city's tower, a biting wind howled.
Lynn is increasingly enjoying standing on this high vantage point, overlooking the gradually recovering city skyline below. At the same time, through the system in his mind, he quietly observes the trajectory of each player's dot.
He already knew about the agent's discovery in the sewers.
He looked at the red warning in the system notification bar about "loosening of the abyss seal" and shook his head repeatedly.
Dakru, that old bastard, usually looks like a drill instructor who just loafs around and waits to die, but when faced with a crisis that threatens Treasure Island, he still steps up despite the pressure.
The secrets of the city deep in the forest and the sky city far above will eventually be uncovered by these players, and he has no intention of interfering.
Only by letting them personally experience just how powerful the monsters lurking below are will these energetic players obediently start climbing the tech tree.
On the desk next to Lynn lay an unsigned encrypted letter, the edges of which carried the distinctive sea smell of Pearl Harbor.
The iceberg beneath the sea's surface is only visible to the player holding the chessboard.
Old Lucas patiently maneuvered in the port, and his manager, appointed by Lynn, was fully aware of this; the two maintained a tacit understanding and cooperation.
The offerings that Pearl Harbor has been sending to Sky City over the past few months are increasingly failing to satisfy the inspectors' appetites.
Sooner or later, the committee's sights will bypass Lucas's cover and head straight for the ruined capital.
Time is running out for Treasure Island.
Lynn closed her eyes again and shifted her attention to the coordinate point representing "residual warmth".
The cursor has crossed the wilderness and officially entered the border of the Magic Forest.
Now that these Fourth Calamities have made initial contact with the vast political network of the Sky City Trade Council, it's time to find them some comparable "hard power."
With a slight thought, Lynn edited a targeted area guidance mission and sent it out.
The magical forest, surrounded by towering ancient trees, is filled with a high concentration of free elements.
With the letter of recommendation in hand, Yu Wen followed the vine-covered walkway that snaked around the tree trunk and unexpectedly encountered Xiao Yu, who was in seclusion next to the suspended treehouse.
The trees in the dense forest emitted a faint light, and occasionally one or two insect-like spirits with transparent wings would flit among the branches and leaves.
The lingering warmth of the footsteps on the creaking wooden planks made me feel somewhat unaccustomed to this high-magic environment.
Before he could even say hello, a dark shadow suddenly darted down from the treetop.
George, Xiaoyu's dog companion, made a tactical dive in mid-air. Before landing, he opened his mouth and burped out a small puff of breath that was faint but sparking.
A spark flew past the still-warm trouser leg, scorching a black hole in the corner of the coarse cloth garment.
"Holy crap, is this dog some kind of superhuman?"
The residual heat extinguished the sparks, much to everyone's surprise.
By following its master around and listening to Hans's lectures every day, a dog actually mastered magical breath control.
"Don't make a fuss. Mentor Hans said this is called biologically induced mutation in a high-concentration magic environment. George's lung structure has already begun to adapt to the fire element."
The wooden door of the treehouse creaked open, and Xiaoyu walked out with her messy hair. After explaining George's situation to the visitor, she had a new idea in mind.
"By the way, Yu Wen, you've come at the right time. Help me collect some practical data."
"Understand."
The residual heat was also considerable, confidently supporting that wild magic shield that could withstand corrosion.
Xiao Yu raised a rough wooden staff. Instead of using the conventional method of guiding magic skills, he forcibly changed the order of the free factors in a way that Hans had never taught him.
"A normal magic double-click releases two claw-like energies in succession, which has a high fault tolerance but insufficient burst damage."
I've been in seclusion for the past few days, and I've improved my spellcasting method.
Two beams of magic shot out silently.
The first strike accurately hit the surface of the shield, directly transforming into a high-frequency shockwave that disrupted the balance of the defensive force field.
The second strike followed immediately, creating a point-to-point penetration.
A loud bang.
The solid energy barrier was shattered by the internal resonance, and the enormous reaction force sent the residual heat crashing down onto the wooden board, making his chest go numb.
"Holy crap! This is a first-tier skill?"
Yu Wen rubbed his chest and grimaced. This kind of micro-management logic that completely violated the common sense of the game was simply inhuman.
The two sat down at the wooden table in front of the treehouse. Yu Wen waved the letter in his hand and solemnly recounted his encounter in the shipwreck area, the secrets of the old one-eyed man, and the vast political network of Sky City that loomed over Treasure Island.
After listening to these weighty topics concerning survival, Xiaoyu scratched her head, looking somewhat troubled.
His eyes were filled with a clarity untouched by the harsh realities of society, showing little interest in the intricate power struggles and intrigues.
"I don't really understand political maneuvering, but according to you, Sky City can collect protection money simply because it has better ships and cannons, and its fists are bigger than ours, right?"
Yu Wen was stunned for a moment. He originally thought that this gifted magic god would come up with some brilliant plan to break the deadlock, but he did not expect that this kid's thought process was so unique and direct.
"All fear stems from insufficient firepower."
Xiaoyu slapped her thigh and threw out the simplest logic: "The reason we're fighting monsters every day is ultimately because we lack high-level equipment and heavy firepower, so we want to level up and improve our abilities as quickly as possible."
"That makes sense," Yu Wen nodded.
"With that foreigner's skills, he can probably only make some beginner equipment, but he probably can't make advanced equipment."
Little Snail had mentioned in the group and forum that the high-level blacksmiths in the Warrior Tribe were so poor they ate sand every day.
"Since we've grown so many cabbages and other crops in Archer Village, why don't we just take the vegetables and hire them all over here?"
"They're NPCs who are permanently stationed in the Warriors' Tribe, can we really bring them over to work for us?" Yu Wen thought this idea was a bit far-fetched.
"Don't worry, this game is incredibly realistic. Those NPCs are barely getting enough to eat, so why would they care about faction affiliation?"
Three meals a day, cabbage stew turns into beautiful pork! Anyone who can forge a professional-grade weapon will receive an extra can of meat as a reward.
I refuse to believe those blacksmith NPCs can withstand this kind of sugar-coated bullet.
Xiaoyu became more and more excited as he spoke, and he even wanted to completely drain the Warriors Tribe's coffers.
"Build our own arms factories!"
Yu Wen was stunned by this rogue thinking. Who cares about high-level power struggles? If they can raise their combat power to the third or fourth level, won't they just be able to easily crush those forces?