??A SUCCESSFUL INCURSION
Crocodile is a very patient man.
After all…if he remembered correctly, there should have been a tribe of Orcs nearby.
However, this particular tribe had now vanished, and no matter from which angle one looks at it, the Black Dragon had some involvement with its disappearance!
A young Black Dragon, despite not being fully matured yet, already possessed the strength to compel a tribe of Orcs to relocate. Its strength is more than likely to be truly fearsome.
Therefore, after discovering the Black Dragon’s lair, Crocodile didn’t act recklessly. Instead, he proceeded to order his subordinates to discreetly observe it, record the Black Dragon’s behavior, and kept a large force on standby, ready to mobilize at any given moment.
Moreover, because he was concerned about revealing their presence, he also prohibited all of his men from hunting the local animals and only allowed them to eat the provisions which they carried along with them.
Crocodile was preparing to choose the right moment to launch a successful incursion while the Black Dragon was away from its lair!
Then, seize the opportunity to obtain everything they could and slip away before the dragon returns!
Currently, they had only a week’s worth of provisions left.
Nonetheless, Crocodile patiently waited for an opportunity to come within this dense forest for three whole days.
During these three days of observation, his scouts finally gained a rough understanding of the Black Dragon’s overall behavioral patterns.
They observed that the Black Dragon would usually emit resounding roars three times daily, in the morning, afternoon, and evening, before departing from its lair and returning around an hour later.
The veteran mercenary speculated that this particular behavior indicated that the Dragon was patrolling its territory during these times.
Soon after the Black Dragon had already left, the elves would then finally come out of the castle to cook its food outside.
Sometimes, this chore is carried out by a female elven mage alongside two elven warriors, while at other times, it involves a different set of elves…
One notable observation made by his scouts was that the elves tasked with these cooking duties all possessed exquisite equipment. Judging by their splendid appearance, it was likely an authentic elven craftsmanship, which left his subordinates somewhat envious of their gear.
At the same time, when the Black Dragon is loitering around its castle, elves wearing shabby equipment often emerged instead, pushing carts loaded with animal fodder. They would then proceeded toward the forest at the mountain’s base on the opposite side of the castle, with their purpose still remaining a mystery.
His scouts were curious about it and wanted to follow these less well-equipped elves to find out where they were going and perhaps capture any stragglers if the opportunity arose.
Unfortunately, the Black Dragon was always near its castle during those times, so they had to give up pursuing this matter.
Crocodile, on the other hand, deduced from his scout’s observation that there must be a large treasure hidden inside the Black Dragon’s castle!
Otherwise, these elves wouldn’t be so busy acting as the Black Dragon’s personal slaves!
Furthermore, even its slaves possessed exceptional equipment, thus, what more could be said about their master?
Surely, the Dragon must have hoarded a considerable amount of wealth inside its lair!
After three days of patiently waiting in silence, Crocodile finally decided to launch an incursion on the castle today, the moment the Black Dragon leaves its lair this evening.
He then selected a hundred of the most elite and trusted mercenaries from his group, with the weakest among them being at the level of intermediate Iron-rank.
Then, under the cover of darkness, they quietly made their way up the mountain where the Dragon’s castle stood.
Outside the Black Dragon’s castle.
It appears that the individuals assigned to cooking duties at this time were still that pink-haired mage and the two elven brothers.
And just like usual, the trio were engaged in casual conversation while grilling skewered meat outside the castle.
Meanwhile, Crocodile, by utilizing the cover of night, discreetly led his subordinates to slowly encircle them.
The Black Dragon had already left.
However, its tiny silhouette could still be seen flying away in the distance.
After encircling the skies several times, it finally flew in the direction of the Elven Forest…
As the Black Dragon receded into the distance, a sudden thought flashed through Crocodile’s mind.
“Could it be… that these elves were all captured from the Elven Forest by the Black Dragon?”
Without hesitation, after ensuring that the Black Dragon’s silhouette had finally vanished from their sight, Crocodile finally initiated their operation.
“You three, follow me. Let’s first capture those trio of elves cooking outside!”
Upon receiving the command, three upper Iron-ranked mercenaries followed suit, and the four of them quietly moved toward the rear of the three unsuspecting elves…
Meanwhile, outside the Black Dragon’s castle.
Little Salty Cat was lounging lazily by the campfire, with her knees drawn to her chest. Currently she was doing nothing but idly observing the two Northeastern brothers grilled skewered meat with practiced ease.
Then after a minute or two, she let out a long sigh.
“It’s been so boring lately…”
“…Boring?”
After hearing her words, the two Northeastern brothers looked at each other before the younger one replied,
“Actually I think there’s plenty more to do nowadays. I mean, just look at us, we grind monsters during the day, barbecue at night, and sometimes also tackle on some daily tasks. We have so much to do that we’re almost busy everyday.”
“Yeah, bro tell me about it… I still need several thousand contribution points to upgrade my gear. I’m even considering selling the Dragon Scales I’ve been saving up.” the older one added.
“No, that’s not what I mean,”
Little Salty Cat shook her head.
“Actually, I agree. It’s been quite enjoyable lately. It’s just that I feel like there haven’t been any new main questline events being triggered nowadays, and we’re only just stuck to grinding mobs in the dungeon to level up every day. It feels a bit monotonous, you know…”
“Aww man, when can we have big storylines like the Orc War or the Blackrock City Defense again? I really prefer those epic questlines!”
The Northeastern brothers briefly exchanged glances.
They understood now.
Little Salty Cat was bored because there hadn’t been any massive server-wide events lately, and she missed the excitement of it.
In other words, although this rich girl is somewhat of a half-lifer and the Guildmaster of the largest life-oriented Guild in the entire server, she was also the kind of player who loves stirring up trouble just for the hell of it.
Their eyes then inadvertently glanced at Little Salty Cat’s dazzling legendary golden-class equipment and hesitated to speak.
Only a wealthy whale player like her, who already had a full set of top-class gear, would find leveling up as the only means of amusement within the game.
One of the Northeastern guys had a thought and said,
“Speaking of which… yesterday, while I was in Blackrock City, I overheard some Dark-Dwarves drinking in the tavern mentioning that the Orcs in the Desert of Death have been up to something lately. I wonder if it’s somewhat related to the next major questline.”
The channels for trade between Blackrock City and the outside world are not limited to just the elven faction alone. They also have connections with other forces living deeper within the underground, which, in turn, have their own ties to the surface world.
And the Dark-Dwarves oftentimes would also exchanged information with these deeper underground forces.
So, even though the Dark Dwarves were an underground faction, it wasn’t surprising that they also possessed the ability to gather information about certain events unfolding within the Desert of Death, which even the players themselves remained unaware of.
It wasn’t just information about the orcs, though.
The fact that a new god had recently emerged in the Elven Forest, and the rumor of their close relationship with the goddess of death had also begun to spread gradually in some deeper areas underground.
There were even rumors that this newly born god was a deity serving under the goddess of death!
However, many people still remained skeptical about the existence of this supposedly newly born god, wondering if it’s actually true and not just a hoax the Dark-Dwarves spread themselves.
“Desert of Death?” Little Salty Cat’s spirits quickly perked up upon hearing the Northeastern guy’s words.
She had heard from Meryer that this was the Orcs faction’s main stronghold and might even be the new map opening in the future!
Could it be… the devs are now setting up the groundwork for the next major questline?
Suddenly, Little Salty Cat felt a sense of anticipation brewing deep within her.
However before she could inquire more about it, she suddenly sensed one of her detection spells being triggered.
Little Salty Cat’s expression immediately changed, and she exclaimed,
“One of my alarms had been triggered! Something’s approaching our location!”
“Monsters?” The two Northeastern guys became serious and stood up promptly.
However, just before they could even draw their weapons, several figures suddenly rushed out from the darkness behind them and caught the trio off guard!
“W-What’s going on!?”
They quickly looked towards the humanoid figures that had ambushed them and noticed that all of them were wearing leather armor and brandishing bladed weapons.
Human mercenaries!
Despite playing for two months and spending over half a year in-game, the players’ overall reactions were still much slower compared to that of experienced mercenaries.
Maybe in a fair confrontation against foes of equal level, the players’ fearlessness of death and reduced sensitivity to pain could give them an advantage. Nonetheless, when facing a surprise attack instead…
Players still had a long way to go.
In an instant, right before Little Salty Cat and the others could draw out their weapons, the human mercenaries had already gained the upper hand…
The mercenaries surrounded the three and placed their short knives at their throats before sternly whispering, “Don’t move.”
Seeing these intruders suddenly appear out of nowhere, Little Salty Cat and the two Northeastern guys were momentarily stunned.
Where did these humans come from!?
Surprisingly, Crocodile shared the same surprise.
He looked at the trio who were instantly restrained by his subordinates, and he couldn’t help but feel astonished by their reaction.
These elves are so lacking in vigilance and adaptability!
However, despite his surprise, this covert and successful ambush satisfied him greatly.
Crocodile greedily glanced at the equipment the three were wearing, particularly focusing more on the pink-haired mage. Then, he suppressed his excitement and ordered the other mercenaries who had arrived just behind him.
“Disarm these three. Tie them up with anti-magic ropes, and quickly gag them.”
After giving out these orders, he looked back at the trio of elves before coldly speaking in common language:
“Don’t resist if you don’t want to die!”
However, contrary to Crocodile’s expectations, these three elves who were now under his control were surprisingly very cooperative.
They just obediently nodded and instantly raised their hands, allowing the other mercenaries to strip them of their equipment, tie them up with ropes, and gag their mouths.
And all throughout the entire process, the three didn’t even offer any much resistance at all.
How odd.
What surprised Crocodile even more was that although these elves seemed a bit flustered upon seeing his group initially, they now didn’t show any fear at all.
On the contrary… they even appeared somewhat excited?
Especially the female elf, when she saw over a hundred of Crocodile’s subordinates emerging from the darkness and heading toward the castle, he could clearly see her eyes gleaming with excitement.
This completely contradicted Crocodile’s overall understanding of the the elves. In his memory, any female elves they captured would either panic, commit suicide, or resist to their death, with the ones surviving ultimately succumbing to despair and numbness.
But… what was going on with this pink-haired girl?
Those sparkling eyes of hers seemed on the verge of exploding with excitement instead!
Do these elves have something wrong with their heads?
—Oh wait, could it be that they think they are here to rescue them instead?
It’s hard to say…after all, elves are universally known to be quite naive and easily fooled!
Thinking about this, Crocodile wryly chuckled and revealed a smile that he thought appeared friendly and amicable but was actually somewhat sinister and ruthless.
He then laughed while looking at the three bound elves, especially at the female mage, and said in common language:
“Be good, and I’ll promise to take you all away from the Black Dragon’s evil clutches.”
Hearing Crocodile’s words, the expressions of the three became somewhat peculiar, but they remained silent and obedient.
Meanwhile, Crocodile, after leaving three of his trusted subordinates to guard the three bound elves, finally led the remaining mercenaries toward the castle…
Meanwhile, Little Salty Cat and the two others who were bound by the mercenaries remained still and silent.
However, inwardly, they were already filled with excitement.
Without the mercenaries knowing it, the trio at the moment was already accessing their own respective chatrooms mentally and was chatting up a storm with their friends online.
“Ah! Guys, Guys! Listen, something interesting is happening again! It must be a hidden quest, and it’s looks to be related to humans this time!”
“Hah, I knew it! Lmao, this event must have been triggered when Meryer went to that human territory to snatch a lot of livestocks for a measly 1000 coins and caused all that chaos.”
Little Salty Cat excitedly typed in her guild’s chatroom.
Nihilaine Notes : I haven’t drawn something in a while but I hope I still make it look like an authentic light novel artwork. I’ll plan to make a geographical map of Eleven Forest and its surrounding areas next.
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