by Zhuang Bifan
This morning, they had visited the six major mercenary corps one by one and inquired about the whereabouts of Felic, but the answers were surprisingly consistent—no one had ever seen or heard of him. Seeing the clues they had gotten from Blackhills Town broke off, both of them did not look disappointed at all, but laughed, happier than usually.
To them, this was good news.
This meant that the search area would be reduced from the Fire Plume Ridge to the six mercenary corps.
The reason was too simple…
The Fire Plume Ridge had been completely controlled by the six mercenary corps these few days. Even if a mosquito flew by, the captains of the six mercenary corps would surely know of it, let alone two big living people? Unless that Felic could fly, how could all six mercenary corps be unaware of him?
No one had seen him; no one had heard of him…
There was only one explanation for it—that was, someone had to be harboring that Felic in the six mercenary corps.
"Master Gaud, what should we do next?" The ruby-eyed mage's eyes were filled with admiration as he looked at Gaud. This was the most outstanding figure in the young generation of the Marathon Family. Compared with him, his master, Matthias, was just a blockhead…
"Argus, don't ask me everything…" Gaud was still squinting slightly, but his smile was helpless. "Don't forget, I only came out to relax; I'm not interested in helping third bro do such childish things…"
"Master Gaud, Sir Wilhelm…"
"Shut up!" At the mention of Wilhelm's name, Gaud's face suddenly became stern, and even a little frightened. He abruptly straightened up and looked out of the carriage. Then, he lowered his voice and warned, "Do you want to die?"
"Sorry, Master Gaud."
"Never say that again. Don't even think about it. Do you understand?" Gaud's face was still serious. After staring at the ruby-eyed mage for a long time, he sighed resignedly. "Forget it, I'll tell you what to do next."
"You have two things to do. The first thing is to send people to monitor the six mercenary corps and keep an eye on suspicious people. The second thing is to send a man to Blackhills Town. If you get any information from there, you will immediately find the person who spread the news and find out who made him spread the news. If I am not mistaken, the person who's sheltering Felic would find ways to divert our attention. Things will be much easier if we find out who's trying to divert our attention…"
"Yes, I'll do it right away." The ruby-eyed mage got out of the carriage. At Gaud's command, he divided the men he'd brought into several groups, and sent them to the six major mercenary camps and Blackhills Town, respectively.
Gaud sat alone in the carriage, and seemed to feel warm in the palm of his hand. He raised his hand and saw that it was because he had clenched his fist too tight that his fingernails had cut through his palm, and a trace of blood was slowly oozing out along the wound…
"Wilhelm, some things, you'll have to give me back sooner or later…"
Lin Li, who was buried in the map, was not at all aware that the Silver Hand and the Marathon Family had made various arrangements aimed at him.
Yesterday's lesson was too profound; he studied the map a few dozen times over and over again such that he could remember it with his eyes closed. By about afternoon, the fellow started to become restless, and was itching for action. He called Sean, who was wandering around the camp, and they planned to go to Fire Plume Ridge again.
But they were stopped before they could get out of the camp.
"Brother Felic!" Andre was driving a carriage, grinning and greeting Lin Li from afar.
By right, carriages were forbidden in the camp, but this fellow was different. He was a disciple of the Sword Sage of the Storm, and even Serena addressed him "uncle". The three deputy heads were respectful to him. Who'd dare to say a word when he came in with the carriage?
Lin Li understood at once when he saw the expressions on the deputy heads' faces. He did not say anything at the moment, and greeted Andre with a smile. "Brother Andre, why are you here?"
"Teacher asked me to come out and do something. I happened to pass by here, so I came over to have a talk with you. Come on, get on the carriage first. I have something I want to ask for your help with," Andre said as he enthusiastically invited the two to get on the car, which was so spacious that even when Sean—the humanoid magical beast—got in, it didn't seem to be crowded at all.
After getting the two of them aboard, Andre drove out of the Silver Hand camp in his carriage. They drove along the foot of the mountain, through the flat wilderness, farther and farther towards a remote road…
As the surroundings became desolate, Lin Li poked his head out of the carriage with a smile on his face, and asked, "Brother Andre, speak your mind. By the way, don't say you need my help, I don't believe that."
Lin Li noticed as soon as they left the camp. Andre did not come to look for him on the way. Although he still laughed as usual all the way, the whip in his hand was getting heavier and heavier than before, such that there were blood marks on both horses. This only showed that Andre was very anxious. How could he be anxious when he was just dropping by on the way?
"Brother Felic is meticulous indeed, you could even see that." Andre laughed as he pulled the carriage to the side of the road and put the whip down. "Brother Felic, do you remember what I told you yesterday?"
"You mean, don't get involved in this mission?" Lin Li frowned. He had guessed that Andre had looked for him most likely with regards to this matter, and he had guessed it right. However, why didn't Andre just say it and had to drive him out to such a desolate place?
The reason for these doubts was not because Lin Li suspected Andre would put him in an unfavorable spot, but mainly because he felt that Andre's behavior today was somewhat abnormal. With his strength and status, there were not many things that could make him act so strange…
"That's right." Andre nodded, and pointed his whip at the top of the hill. "An hour later, the six mercenary corps will go up the hill. They will face a legendary magical beast. Your big brother here doesn't want you to die, so I'm bringing you out first in case you follow the Silver Hand up to the hill."
Chapter 186 - Salamander
"So exciting?" Lin Li got a fright. From the beginning, he'd known that the mission of the six mercenary corps would be extremely dangerous, but he'd never thought it would be this dangerous. What was the concept of legendary magical beasts? They could be said to be at the top of the magical beast food chain. Each had lived for at least hundreds of thousands of years, and their IQ was even higher than that of the vast majority of humans. Their naturally strong body, coupled with the wisdom brought by the passage of time, was an incomparably perfect combination.
Despite also being at the same legendary realm, the probability for a legendary human powerhouse to win against a legendary magical beast would never exceed 30 percent.
No wonder…
Lin Li understood at once. No wonder the tyrannical Sword Sage of the Storm had to hire the six mercenary corps.
However, as this question was resolved, more questions emerged one after another.
What Lin Li did not understand most was that the strength of the six major mercenary corps was as good as cannon fodder's in front of the legendary magical beast. Even if the Sword Sage had gathered them, how much of a role could they play? Was he really going to use them as cannon fodder?
This was impossible…
The Sword Sage was also the president of the Adventurers Guild. He'd be a toothless tiger after losing the six major mercenary corps. Not to mention other things, the Alanna Guild of Magic alone could keep the Adventurers Guild from lifting its head. The bet that was due six months later would also become a piece of waste paper at once.
Credibility—that was what a powerhouse had.
But what could they do if they were not cannon fodder? Confront the legendary magical beast face to face? It seemed a little too fake…
In addi
tion, Lin Li was most curious about the identity of the legendary magical beast. What kind of legendary magical beast was it to attract such a figure like Sword Sage to take it down at all costs?
At that moment, Lin Li suddenly heard a rush of trumpets.
He had stayed with the Silver Hand, and knew that this was the order for the mercenary corps to assemble. And then, he saw the long row of tents in the distance beginning to fold up one by one. From afar, they looked like a paddy field that had been blown by the wind. In the rush of trumpets, Lin Li seemed to hear countless footsteps sounding in the distant places, and a large group of adventurers were coming out of their tents, sprinting to the place where the horn sounded.
This unprecedented task was about to begin…
"Brother Felic, I have to go. Take my advice and stay here until the mission is over. Then you can return to the Silver Hand," Andre explained hastily, and planned to drive the carriage out of this place.
To be honest, Andre's words touched Lin Li. This was another person who cared about him besides Andoine and Gerian, albeit the way he showed his concern was a little eccentric. He had lured Lin Li out of the camp with a lie without even asking for his opinion. Nevertheless, Lin Li could sense his good intentions.
"Wait…" However, it was one thing to feel touched. If he did not ask about some things clearly, Lin Li feared he would not be able to sleep at night. "Brother Andre, what on earth is this legendary magical beast you are talking about? I've never seen one before. Why don't you bring me along so that I could see it for myself? Anyway, you're strong; I won't be in any danger if I follow you."
"You want to follow?" Andre's eyes were wide open. "No, no, no. How could you come along? Do you know, it's the Salamander!"
"Salamander?" Lin Li's heart tightened, but his face was still. "What's a Salamander?"
"The Salamander is… It is… You won't understand even if I explained it. Anyhow, it's a very, very powerful magical beast. Brother Felic, listen to me. That's not the place where you join in the fun, and you don't have any special equipment to resist the heat emitted by the Salamander. Maybe you'd burned to ashes by the heat before you even got to see it!"
So formidable? Lin Li muttered secretly in his heart. Salamander… To think that there is really such a legendary-level fire spirit in the Fire Plume Ridge…
In a moment, innumerable ideas turned around in Lin Li's mind.
He was thinking not only of the Salamander, but also of the Fire Salamandrid under the shelter of the Salamander, and the cave in Sean's memory…
According to Sean's recollection, it was a hot cave with a temperature high enough to bake a living person, and it was so empty—completely different from the complicated, cobweb-like cave that they went to the day before. In the deepest part of the cave, magma slowly flowed through.
And those black lotuses grew right next to this magma…
Lin Li now understood why several black lotuses could grow in a cave at the same time—it was all because of the legendary fire spirit, the Salamander.
The Salamander was no stranger to Lin Li.
He had encountered one back in the Endless World. But, at that time, he was a Super Hunter with a mythical weapon. Where the arrows of the Stars of Fury pointed, even the most powerful monsters would be turned to ashes.
But even a Super Hunter with the Stars of Fury had experienced a bitter battle when encountering the Salamander. When Lin Li had finally succeeded in defeating the magical beast, he was too worn out to even walk. After that, he was reluctant to go deep into places like volcanoes for a long time—that was the shadow that the battle had left on him.
However…
While the battle had cast a shadow on him, it also left him two precious treasures. The first one was a pair of gloves, which directly raised Lin Li's combat effectiveness to a higher level; the second one did not come into play until today—that was the fatal weakness of the Salamander…
This weakness was too deadly; if used well, it was not impossible to create miracles even with Lin Li's current strength.
But if he wanted to make a miracle, he'd have to go through Andre first. From Andre's firm expression, it looked like he wasn't going to let Lin Li come along today.
Lin Li smiled. If Andre refused to let him come along, he'd just follow behind quietly later…
He quit mentioning about joining in, and nodded his head obediently. "Alright, Brother Andre. Go and do what you need to do, we'll hide here and wait for the event to finish before returning to the Silver Hand."
How could Andre know what the fellow was plotting in his mind.
As a matter of fact, not to mention Andre, perhaps no one could guess what Lin Li had in his thoughts.
Who could imagine a barely level-five warrior rushing excitedly in front of a legendary magical beast? There was a full 15 levels difference between them. It was even inadequate to use "heaven and hell" as comparison to describe such a difference in level. This could not be called seeking death; this was a complete and thorough madness!
Even when Lin Li said he wanted to come along earlier on, Andre had only treated it as a joke. Everyone only had one life; without any benefit, who would foolishly give it away?
How would Andre know that not only was this fellow not joking, he was more serious than anyone else…?
"Brother Felic, you can rest here. As for other things, I'll talk to Serena."
"Then, thank you, Brother Andre."
"It's no big deal. Don't stand on ceremony with me. Ha!" Andre got on to the carriage. He waved the whip in the air, and a crisp "pa" sound followed. The two horses neighed, pulling the carriage with Andre and sped away…
"Sean, get ready. We should set off too." Lin Li studied the map again before leaving.
"Mr Felic, are we going too?"
"Of course!"
"But, Mr Andre seemed to have mentioned some Salamander…" Sean was somewhat worried; he wasn't worried about his own safety, but about Mr Felic—the one that changed his life.
"Rest assured, the Salamander is nothing…" Lin Li said brazenly. He slowly rolled up the map in his hand, and stuffed it into his backpack. Then, he took Sean across the flat wilderness, along the once-traveled mountain road, and quietly proceeded to the Fire Plume Ridge…
With the six mercenary corps leading the way in front, the road was much calmer this time. Not to mention magical beasts, they did not even spot a mouse as they walked along the way. It was a smooth journey all the way up to the mountainside. If it weren't for the rugged mountain road, it would really make it a sightseeing tour.
"Wait…" It was that withered forest before them again, but Lin Li stopped short outside it, for he discovered a pool of blood.
The blood stretched out from the woods. It was warm and sticky to the touch—which meant it should be human blood…
This puzzled Lin Li. He had just been to the woods yesterday, and he knew nothing better than what was in it. Apart from that Abyss Fiendish Iron mineral vein, there were only trees that lingered on with their last breath of life; where was the blood from? Surely there wasn't another magical beast that had appeared out of the blue?
"Sean, be careful not to make a noise." Lin Li unleashed two Hastening Spells—one for himself and one for Sean. In the meantime, he released a Life Detection Spell, which nicely covered most of the woods.
Under the coverage of the Life Detection Spell, Lin Li tried his best to lighten his footsteps, and slowly went deep into the forest.
There were no powerful magical beasts on the way, but the bodies of some adventurers and traces of fierce fighting were found by them. From the emblems on the bodies, it seemed that they were people from all the six major mercenary corps, including two members of the Silver Hand…
The surroundings were in disorder. There were traces left behind by swords, as well as of bombardment by spells. A large area of trees was burned; even the bodies on the ground were mostly incomplete. From the wounds on them, some were led to their death
s after being torn by some ferocious magical beast, while others were obviously burned to death by fire. They looked like blocks of black coal from a distance.
"Firewolves, it's definitely the Firewolves!" This was probably the most dangerous thing in the Fire Plume Ridge besides the Salamander. Lin Li vividly remembered reading about it from an Archmage's adventure diary back in the Omniscient Tower. Firewolf—a level-10 magical beast—had sharp claws and the speed of wind. They traveled around in packs, forming a pool of brilliant red as if of sunrise. In the Archmage's adventure diary, this creature once killed nearly half of his companions in an instant…
Chapter 187 - Four Black Lotuses
The six mercenary corps were indeed strong. Even a terrifying magical beast like the Firewolf had failed to bring them much damage. There were no more than ten corpses on the ground, and most of them were low-level adventurers. The Firewolves came in packs of hundreds, so it could be said to be a complete victory for the mercenary corps in eliminating them with such losses.
But Lin Li dared not be negligent in the slightest. It wasn't a good thing that the Firewolves were hanging around the woods. This meant that the magical beasts on the Fire Plume Ridge had been thoroughly enraged by the invaders—the six mercenary corps. He clearly remembered that there were no traces of life in the woods when he came yesterday afternoon, but today, a pack of Firewolves suddenly appeared here…
Since the Firewolves could run freely, other magical beasts could also appear in areas where they should not appear…
The expression on Lin Li's face was somewhat grave. He took off the crossbow from his back, and carefully loaded it with a vampire fang. Then, he quietly walked through the withered and yellow forest with Sean.
They were lucky enough to cross the woods quickly. There were two roads ahead of them—one was a maze of the cave, and the other was the road that six mercenary corps had traveled.
Lin Lin chose to follow behind the six mercenary corps with no hesitation. With them opening the way ahead, it'd be much better than groping alone in the maze of cave.
