Chapter 145: Scavenger Hunt
"Give me an update on everything," Kayn asked as everyone gathered inside a tent that they'd just built with the assistance of their Mages' magic capability.
Chastine decided to step forward first.
"We've pretty much bought three months' worth of supplies for everyone. These include food, clothes, armor, and also weapons for the Goblins that joined our party," Chastine informs everyone.
"That's good to hear,"
Now their problem with insufficient supply has been solved. Moreover, the under-geared Goblins could finally equip themselves with better gears and armor, making their leader Gnarlak feel slightly relieved that they don't have to worry about such matters anymore.
Previously, they've been using weapons that were built using the limited materials they can find and gather in the Mountain Monkey's Lair. Now they can increase their combat capability and offer more fighting power to the party.
"We've also bought some materials to use in construction for some temporary houses on top of the Guardian Turtle," Chastine added. As she looks at Jude. "Jude agreed with it and sees no problem with my plan,"
"I believe that there would be a high chance that someone else would discover the Goblins if they remained inland, so I suggest that we build some small houses on top of the Guardian Turtle for them to hide,"
"I agree with that," Gnarlak immediately agreed without any second thoughts. With weapons and a good location to hide, it should minimize the risk of whatever is making them feel afraid, at least that is what he believes.
"I know you would," Chastine smiles at Gnarlak. To tell the truth, she was only considering the trouble that the rest of the Goblins would be bringing to the party if they stay inland and accidentally get themselves discovered by someone else, especially once they start looking for the Molten Magma Core in the Peaceful Volcano. The only one that can hopefully protect them at that time and be responsible for making sure they won't be discovered would be the Guardian Turtle.
"And here," Chastine threw a Storage Ring to Gnarlak, which the latter easily caught. "Gather a few of your best men and wear those gears and armor so that you can disguise yourselves and come with us in the future,"
"Thank you," fre(e)webnovel
With that done, Kayn looks at Friedrich to ask about the information they've gathered about anything related to their next mission.
"We've got bad news and good news, which one do you want to hear first?" Friedrich stated.
"Let's go with the bad news first," Kayn decided.
Friedrich coughed before explaining. "After going through multiple hubs for information channels, we've discovered that the Serenity Town has long already found out of the existence of the Molten Magma Core,"
Kayn instantly felt surprised.
"To make matters worst, a scavenger hunt has already started a few weeks ago to encourage people in the Serenity Town to look for the Molten Magma Core inside the Peaceful Volcano with promising rewards to be given to the party that finds it,"
"We've tried to look for who posted the scavenger hunt, but to our surprise, it was from the Chief of this Town,"
"It seems like someone tip him with the information about the Molten Magma Core," Kayn immediately realized. According to Natas, no one was actively looking for any of the materials they are looking for in the past. Though there were some that found them, no one thought of purposely looking for them.
"That's also what I thought. So, we tried to find information regarding the matter and to our surprise, an unknown group of individuals visited the Serenity Village a few weeks ago and went to the Town Hall. After that, a scavenger hunt for the Molten Magma Core was issued throughout the entire Serenity Village,"
"Suspiciously, no one found those people again afterward. Some rumors said that they were killed by the Chief so that no one else would know what the Molten Magma Core is for. While others say that they are hiding and would most likely appear again once the Molten Magma Core is found,"
"Regardless, we should take note of them so that we can avoid any unwanted situations," Friedrich suggested.
Kayn nodded his head in agreement. "How about the good news?"
"The good news is, no one has yet to find any clue about the Molten Magma Core until now, as in no one. We thought that this was impossible since the scavenger hunt has started a few weeks already now, but we, later on, understood that although there are no monsters inhabiting the Peaceful Volcano, the lava, magma, and every single heat source surrounding it is a huge problem,"
"Moreover, there's been a problem with the supply of fire-resistance items ever since the scavenger hunt began. So, only a few parties involved who possess the necessary supply to get inside the Peaceful Volcano have been able to constantly make progress with their investigation,"
"Other parties have to go visit other neighboring territories around the Serenity Town to try their chance on finding supplies, but nevertheless it is still not enough for everyone who is interested in finding the Molten Magma Core,"
"Luckily for us, we already have the necessary resources to tackle the problem they are facing, so if things progress according to our plan, we should most likely be able to quickly catch up with the parties leading the race," Friedrich assures.
"That offsets the bad news," Kayn felt slightly relieved. Although things have changed, it hasn't progressed that far yet.
"Let's finish with the remaining task to do today and tomorrow we will join in the scavenger hunt,"
…..
The next day.
Kayn and the rest of the party along with Gnarlak and a few Goblins equipped in armor that prevents their faces from getting seen reached the entrance of the Peaceful Volcano.
Nearby the entrance of the Peaceful Volcano, they spotted dozens of different parties have set up camp. Evidently, so that they don't have to walk far away in order to rest.
As they start walking forward, everyone started to look at their party and they started whispering about them right after.
"There's more than I expected," Kayn muttered as he also observed the parties around them.
"Yeah…" Friedrich can't help doubting the information they have gathered yesterday. "With these many parties, I don't think that there is still no progress about finding clues of the whereabouts of the Molten Magma Core,"
"Maybe it's exactly because there are these many parties involved with this mission that's why there is still no progress," Jude uttered another possibility.
"Regardless, make sure that all of you stay on guard," Kayn warns. Their party has pretty much attracted everyone's attention already as they continued to walk to the entrance of the Peaceful Volcano.
It wasn't strange, because their party is made up of a bunch of individuals exuding really powerful auras around them. Moreover, the equipment they are all wearing speaks a lot about their capability and potential.
Even without needing to confirm it, people who are sensitive to auras could easily tell that a new powerful contender has entered the race of finding the Molten Magma Core. Hence, their chances of securing the Molten Magma Core for their party have significantly lowered.
Eventually, Kayn and the others entered the entrance of the Peaceful Volcano.
As their silhouettes slowly disappear in the shadow of the cave, everyone started expressing their own thoughts about the unexpected appearance of their party.
"Who are those people?"
"I don't know. I think they came to Serenity Town to try their luck in finding the Molten Magma Core and earning that huge reward,"
"I don't reckon seeing those people in the nearby territories around the Serenity Town,"
"The only answer to that is news about the scavenger hunt here has already reached far and wide, thus attracting a lot of undesiring attention to our Town,"
"I don't feel that it is necessary to get people from other territories involved. Like, shouldn't the reward be given to those that truly live in the Serenity Town so that the territory would still be able to benefit from it?"
"That would have been the case for us a few weeks ago. But considering that until now there is still no clue about the Molten Magma Core and whether it even exists or not, it's about time that parties from other territories try their luck,"
"As much as I hate to admit it, I agree with you. The parties in Serenity Town have not shown any potential in completing this mission yet. So, it isn't wrong for our Chief to start accepting external aid,"
In the next moment, a new party appeared and made their way to the entrance of the Peaceful Volcano.
Similar to Kayn's party, the people around the entrance only started talking about the new party that arrived as soon as they got inside the Peaceful Volcano so that they won't offend them.
"Oh, another new group has arrived…"
"Don't you feel like something is off with them just now?"
"What do you mean?"
"The aura around them feels similar to those people who are part of the Assembly of Freedom,"
"I also felt the same. Unlike the earlier party that was only exuding auras that deters us from approaching them, that party just now felt dangerous and deadly,"
"You're just overthinking,"
"I hope we are,"
"Anyways, let's start preparing for another run so that we can quickly follow after them. We don't want people from other territories to look down on the parties of the Serenity Village, right?"
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