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Chapter 174: Lurkers
The atmosphere started getting lively when two people appeared on the stage. One of the two was Sila, whose face was being recognized by more people with every day that passed. The most eye-catching part of his appearance was the armor made of fabric that gave off a futuristic vibe. As for the other one, he was a man with a bear-like physique, wearing wuxia clothing made of leather with a giant axe on his back. Though he was a no-name player, people couldn’t easily underestimate his strength. Recently, with the help of a single ring, even a common player could become an expert in no time at all.
Sila deliberately showed his face to the masses so that he could get a proper look at the people below the stage. As he had expected, some players hurriedly concealed their powers upon seeing him. Unfortunately for them, since they were rushed the process, Sila had an easier time noticing them. He quickly swept his gaze over the crowd, his eyes lingering on each one he noticed.
He first directed his gaze toward the table at the back, where three people he was familiar with were currently sitting. One of the three was Fargo, who was sitting with his back straight. While the other two were wearing hoods, Sila could still tell that they were Cross and Shueria.
It seemed that, although they had parted ways at some point, when the guild they founded together collapsed, the three of them got together again like old times.
The other table that Sila spotted was one of the tables for honorable guests. The members of Tiger Team were all sitting happily around the table. It seemed they had safely arrived in Zhongsuyuan City, and all of them seemed stronger than the last time he saw them.
Still, Sila wondered why the person hurriedly hiding her presence turned out to be Jundtrathep. She even bowed her head down, refusing to have eye contact with him, instead of waving at him like the rest of the group.
He didn’t know anyone from the other tables. Well, that was to be expected. The number of players playing this game was in the millions. There was no way he would know every one of them.
Sila returned his attention to the man he was about to fight. Judging from the man’s outfit, weapon, and physique, Sila guessed the man should be the type of player that heavily relied on attack power; the so-called damage dealer. Sila also spotted the Cloudy Baby Dragon Ring on the man’s finger, so he assumed that the man’s rank was Marquis.
In a direct fight, Sila was confident that he could win against this man. However, the problem was: should he kill him? Wearing the ring didn’t mean the man was a member of the Heavenly Dragon Guild, lurking in the gathering party with bad intentions. Every player, regardless of their affiliations, could purchase the Cloudy Baby Dragon Ring for themselves.
‘Well, it won’t matter anyway. Even if he isn’t a spy, when he joins the alliance, he will have to remove the ring at the appropriate time and die. His level will drop regardless of what I choose. I will just fight without caring for his safety.’
Sila stood with both of his hands behind his back. His sharp eyes were fixated on the man in front of him.
“My name is Sila. May I know your name?”
The bulky man put his palms together to show respect as a fighter. “My name is Brown Bear, though people mostly call me Crazy Bear.”
‘Oh, his name really suits his physique,’ Sila thought while returning the salute.
His opponent stared at him, scanning his body. “I won’t hurt an unarmed person. Just bring out your favorite weapon. This way, you won’t have any excuses when you lose.”
“My specialty is bare-hand combat. As such, even though I seem like an unarmed person to you, in fact, I’m never without a weapon. If I were to bring out a proper weapon, that would put myself at a disadvantage.”
“Heh. You only recently became famous and here you are imitating Lone Wolf and Beluga by using your bare hands. Such a disappointment. Are you even aware that only a handful of people can successfully play qi type without using a weapon?”
“Imitating? I don’t think so. I have been practicing bare-handed my entire life. I believe that my efforts will not disappoint.”
“Good. We shall see if that is true soon.”
Crazy Bear firmly grabbed his axe with both hands and lifted it up. At the same time, he started emitting qi, enveloping his body and weapon with a red aura. Looking at such a sight, Sila smiled with a nostalgic feeling.
“You are indeed skilled. To think that you possess the Qi of Little Tiger.”
Some of the spectators began to gossip. Qi of Little Tiger was one of the Qi of Little Divine Beings. It was one of the milestones for qi type players, who aimed to acquire one of the Ten Supreme Qi. Just possessing one was considered a fortune; it meant the player had taken the first step into the realm of experts.
It was a regrettable fact that each of the Qi of Little Divine Beings could only be obtained once per year. Since Monster Soul had launched, nine years had passed in the game. Therefore, theoretically, there should be nine scrolls for each of the four qi, totaling in thirty-six users of Qi of Little Divine Beings.
However, in fact, less than twenty players possessed such qi. That’s because some players possessed more than one of them, like Lone Wolf who possessed all four, or Zero and Beluga, who both possessed two. Moreover, there were some years that players failed to kill the Four Divine Beings, preventing anyone from getting the scrolls.
As such, there was only a handful of players who got their hands on the Qi of Little Divine Beings. This was without mentioning the number of players who obtained one of the Ten Supreme Qi. They could be counted with two hands.
For Crazy Bear, whenever he displayed this qi, people would usually be in awe or scared of him. However, Sila instead gave him a smile.
Thinking that he was being mocked, Crazy Bear’s started to get angry. His black axe turned reddish-orange as he infused it with qi. Its attack power increased enormously and the axe gave off an overbearing feeling.
Under normal circumstances, not to mention Sila, any players would have already acted. Leaving the opponent unchecked when he was clearly preparing a strong attack was undoubtedly a foolish move, especially when the opponent was a qi-type player. Everyone knew that qi type was capable of temporarily but exponentially reinforcing their stats without limit using qi reinforcement.
Sensing the accumulation of power within the axe, it would be a lie if Sila said he wasn’t anxious. Well, he had already made his move. While Crazy Bear was increasing his attack power in his axe using Qi of Little Tiger, Sila was similarly gathering Yin Yang Energy to increase the Mechanical God’s Protection’s defense. Since Sila’s front was facing the people below the stage, no one was able to see the spinning gears behind his armor. They were spinning so fast that they didn’t look like they were moving.
Crazy Bear wasn’t in a rush to attack. He planned to kill Sila in a single blow. Likewise, Sila didn’t plan to seize the perfect opportunity to strike his opponent. The energy being infused into the Mechanical God’s Protection increased by leaps and bounds with Yin Yang Energy and Shapeless Qi.
“Hey, such a big opening. Why doesn’t that guy Sila make his move yet?”
“Surely... he isn’t senseless enough to try and take that axe head on, right?”
The two fighters could clearly hear the voices of the spectators below. The more he listened, the more Crazy Bear felt he was being humiliated. He gnashed his teeth and jumped, before swinging his axe downward.
The axe cleaved the sky, generating a reverberating roar like thunder that accompanies lightning being sent from the heavens. It was a strike that, for many of the people there, was the most powerful they had ever seen. While some of the stronger players, such as Lone Wolf, had seen stronger attacks, this was still one that even they would not feel confident about taking head-on.
Sila was still motionless. Everyone showed a panicked expression and the tension grew, some of them even got up from their seats. Nevertheless, among them, Lone Wolf, Beluga, and Elso could tell that Sila should be able to dodge the attack at the last second, so they remained calm.
Right before the axe was about to hit Sila, he tilted his head. As a result, the axe smashed down into his shoulder. Even Lone Wolf and the rest were shocked that Sila didn’t choose to dodge. However, it was already too late for them to help.
Unlike people’s expectations, instead of Sila’s shoulder being cleaved into two, his body stood tall and firm. Rather, it was Crazy Bear who, upon his axe connecting to Sila’s shoulder, found the impact unbearable. He felt like what he struck was a mountain instead of a person. The rebounding power sent him flying backward, falling from the stage and crashing into the tables below. Both of his hands were twisted, the bones crushed, and blood spilled out of wounds all over them.
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“ARGHHH!!”
Crazy Bear’s cry woke people up from their dream-like states. Everyone alternated between looking at Crazy Bear and looking at Sila like this development was an illusion.
“This should be enough, right?” Sila said nonchalantly.
He intended to demonstrate the power of the gem used to create the Mechanical God’s Protection, so he wasted a lot of his power. Therefore, he quickly circulated qi to regenerate it. Originally, he wasn’t a tank, so welcoming the attack head-on was a new experience for him. If it wasn’t necessary, he wouldn’t do it again.
Beluga stood up and clapped his hands. “Excellent. What an eye-opener. I am now fully aware of Sila’s brilliance.”
Though, the meaning behind his words was: he was now fully aware of the frightening power hidden within the Gems of Catastrophe.
Sila returned to the table and sat down like nothing worth mentioning happened. Now, the group of players planning to pick a fight with him came to an abrupt stop. The confidence they had built up had instantly evaporated as if they never had it.
The lurkers within the gathering party secretly exchanged signals. They judged that they couldn’t wait any longer. They needed to act now before their team’s morale dropped any further.
***
Burapha felt uncomfortable being the sole human among the table of three Lord Rank monsters. It was fine when the carefree Bluebird and the innocent Julia were with him, but he felt abandoned now that he was left alone. He considered summoning Lala to alleviate his loneliness, but he decided against it, afraid that people would discover that he had a partner.
What made him feel the most restless was the trio monsters acted in an entirely different manner from when Sila was around.
“Oh, your master is quite decent, Sebastian. To think he could block that kind of attack directly without dying,” said Franz.
“Sure enough. Mister Sila possesses many qualities which he has yet to display to you two.”
Asura asked, “Franz, you are qi type as well, aren’t you? If it was you instead of the kid, do you think you could block the previous attack?”
“Humph! I’m a poison user, not a frontliner. Anyway, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to expose myself and wait for my opponent to gather their power for an entire minute. If I really were to replace the kid, that bear man would die the moment his finger touched his axe.”
“I guess Mister Sila had some kind of a plan. Maybe he is trying to show off in order to gather funds from people.”
Asura snorted in response. “Heh. If he can actually do that, I will be very appreciative. It bores me to keep on working. I wonder why he alone could manage to spend a ton of money. Looking back, he only purchased some necessities, did he not? He wasn’t like that blue tailorbird who threw money away like trash.”
“Actually, it was Mister Bluebird’s fault—” Sebastian was about to explain when Franz lifted her hand up with a serious expression.
“They have started,” she spoke plainly, and the other two quieted down. Burapha could tell somehow that Asura was enhancing his sensing ability through psychic power.
“Can you find them?” asked Sebastian.
Franz shook her head. “The poison isn’t being released from a single source. There are at least twenty spots throughout the party, and the smell of the herbs within this place disturbs me.”
Sebastian gave Franz a disdainful look. “And you are calling yourself the Venomous Snake Queen? To fail at such a simple task... tch, what a letdown.”
Franz’s eyes changed into those of a reptile and scales started to cover her skin.
“Don’t test my patience, Sebastian. True, we are afraid to kill you, but I know several ways of defeating you without letting you die. I just can’t do that in human form. In human form, our powers are limited so that we can control them easier. It’s a good thing for you since your power is hard to control. However, for me and Asura who have been good at controlling our powers from the beginning, staying in human form is no different from being sealed. We got our powers restricted without gaining any benefits.”
“Franz is right. It’s your choice to take a liking to human form. You only have yourself to blame for your inability to control your power in monster form. I don’t like being insulted as well. If Franz takes action, I will do the same. You can’t stand a chance against us when we both use our true forms.”
Asura’s hollowed eyes looked straight at Sebastian.
Burapha broke into a cold sweat. Even though all three of them didn’t emit any killing intent nor unleash their powers, the previous friendly atmosphere was already nowhere to be seen.
“C-Could someone tell me what is happening now?” Burapha took the risk and asked.
Sebastian’s expression changed into a smile. “I was just kidding. Anyway, let’s review what we’ve discovered so far.”
The trio monsters still ignored Burapha as Franz began to explain. “It’s Energy-Dissolving Poison. No color, no odor. It won’t show any effect upon being inhaled. However, when the victim uses their power, they will suffer a backlash and won’t be able to move. This kind of poison is easy to brew, but the ingredients for making it are rare and it takes a long time to create. For them to release this poison from twenty-four spots in this open area, the mastermind of this operation should be quite generous. They should have spent a fortune putting this plan into motion.”
Asura added, “No one is taking offensive action yet. Maybe they are waiting for the poison to spread throughout the party. By the way, there is an army of five thousand humans hidden in the rear forest far from this place. To be able to conceal their presence to this extent, they must be quite decent. With this level of preparation and this many troops, they might be able to defeat even a Lord Rank monster. What a surprise. How have humans attained this level of strength within such a short time?”
Asura’s last sentence was thrown randomly without hoping someone would answer.
Sebastian used his finger to carve the surface of the table, drawing a map of the party. Once he was done, Franz waved her hand once, and twenty-four needles were suddenly sticking out of the table, indicating the locations of the poison sources. Lastly, Asura broke the corner of the table as if he was breaking bread and placed it on the table, with the number ‘5,000’ engraved on it.
“How much time left?” Sebastian asked as curtly as always.
Meanwhile, Burapha wasn’t a fool, so he could guess what was happening from the conversation. He quickly took out a small bottle containing the Cleanse Antidote, which he purchased from Sebastian’s shop, and drank it in one gulp. (For the record, even though he was Sila’s close friend, Sebastian still sold it to him at the standard price.)
“Energy-Dissolving Poison doesn’t work well in an open-air space. It will take ten minutes before everyone is affected by it. You still have enough time to warn your master in the front since the poison is concentrated in the rear.”
“That won’t be necessary. Mister Sila will be alright even if we don’t give him a hand, and I don’t care about others. What about the antidote? Do you have any that work against this poison?”
Burapha panicked and was going to stand up and shout to give everyone a warning. However, Asura, who was sitting next to him, pointed a sword at his flank. “Sebastian told us not to startle the snake by hitting the grass around it.”
> T/N: “Don’t startle the snake by hitting the grass around it” is a proverb meaning “Don’t give away the plan by acting obviously and suspiciously.”
“Energy-Dissolving Poison requires a specific antidote. Since it wasn’t a common type of poison, I only have two bottles of the antidote. Just a bit of powder from the bottle on the tongue will neutralize any of the poison within the consumer’s system and grant a temporary immunity. Other than that, you can choose to drink three bottles of Cleanse Antidote to be immune to its effects for thirty minutes.”
Hearing that, Burapha immediately took out two more bottles of the Cleanse Antidote to drink. Now, he was more worried about others.
Franz put the two bottles of special antidote on the table, which Sebastian sent to Burapha’s hand.
“Mister Burapha, soon, you will have to bring these bottles to the main table. Sell one of them for a good price, as high as you can get, and give the other to Mister Sila for him to keep.”
Burapha wanted to argue that this wasn’t the right time to be concerned about money, but he didn’t say it since he knew it would just uselessly waste time.
Sebastian turned his head to Franz, asking, “What about Venom’s Heart? Can’t it cure the poison’s effect?”
“It can. In fact, Venom’s Heart can cure almost any kind of poison. However its value is astronomical, so it would be a waste to use it on such a weak poison. Just one pellet of Venom’s Heart can be turned into five thousand of Cleanse Antidotes. Even I don’t use it unless it is an emergency, so there is no way I will give it to a stranger.”
“Can I go now?” Burapha was dying to leave this place and inform the others about the poison.
Sebastian shook his head. “Let’s wait until everyone has inhaled the poison first. After that, our enemies will surely make their move, and it will save us from having to search for them.”
Asura stared at the map engraved on the table. He had already memorized all of the key locations and had finished calculating the distance. Once Sebastian gave him the signal, he would make his move to kill all twenty-four people releasing the poison in one go, in order to stop the spreading of the poison.
Finally, Sebastian urged Burapha, “Now, go. Please don’t act suspiciously. Walk normally like you just want to pay Mister Sila a visit.”
Burapha placed the two antidotes in his pocket and left. In the meantime, Sebastian turned his head to Franz and Asura.
“Get ready. If everything goes well, maybe all of your debt will be cleared at once.”
Franz disagreed. “I still can’t see how we can make that much profit from doing this. Indeed, we can exploit the situation and sell Cleanse Antidotes for a high price. However, it shouldn’t be enough.”
“The Cleanse Antidotes are just our first product. When the time is right, we will sell another one, which is what Julia and I made last night.”
Sebastian placed a candy wrapped in a white sheet of paper on the table, which Franz inspected with curiosity.
“What is this thing?” asked Asura.
“A Miracle Pellet.”
Franz furrowed her brows. “What? Isn’t it just a lump of sugar?”
“Yes, but we will sell a whole lot of them to everyone while calling them Miracle Pellets, an antidote for the Energy-Dissolving Poison.”
Franz was getting more confused. “What do you mean? Energy-Dissolving Poison will naturally lose its effect within three hours without the victim having to do anything. Moreover, if the victim drinks three bottles of Cleanse Antidotes, the poison will even be cured in twenty minutes.”
“Yeah, but none of the people here know that. We will just tell everyone that the Miracle Pellet can lessen the duration of the poison’s effect, and it can even help increase the efficiency of the Cleanse Antidote. We will sell only one for each person and urge them to eat it on the spot. It will be a special product that we only sell today. Even if anyone is suspicious later, the evidence will already be in their stomach.”
“Oh! It's not cheating if you don't get caught. I love this idea.”
“We will behave benevolently by selling Cleanse Antidotes at a discounted price while sky-rocketing the price of Miracle Pellets, claiming that we can’t afford to lower the price due to the ingredients being so expensive. With this, we will get both honor and money.”
“...We are like a group of villains,” Asura said to no one in particular.
Sebastian replied, “What are you talking about? We are obviously knights in shining armor who come to help everyone in the moment of crisis. It’s just that, the knights also need to make a living, so asking for a small donation should be fine. Everyone will understand.”
Although that was what Sebastian said, he was thinking, ‘It is fortunate that someone is actually causing trouble. Otherwise, I would have had no choice but to execute the backup plan: Grim Reaper First, Benevolent Knight Later.’