Hearing the voice, Xiao Hua hesitated slightly before retreating. If Red Maple Leaf hadn't intervened, he could have defeated the assassin with three more attacks. However, since she spoke up, continuing the attack would be too obvious, and killing the person wouldn't bring any benefits and might cause trouble. Thus, Xiao Hua let the assassin off.
"Brother, the result is quite clear now, I believe you have no objections?" Red Maple Leaf said with a smile, looking at the assassin. Xiao Hua's performance greatly exceeded her expectations, leaving the assassin powerless to retaliate, which aligned perfectly with her desired outcome, making her feel quite pleased.
"Hmph!" The assassin snorted coldly, not wanting to continue the argument, and turned to leave. He knew that if Red Maple Leaf hadn't stopped the fight, he would have been killed by the infuriating thief in front of him.
"What's your name? I'll add you to the guild." Seeing the matter resolved satisfactorily, Red Maple Leaf asked Xiao Hua calmly.
"Not Steal Another's Wife!"
"Alright, then." Red Maple Leaf calmly sent him a guild invitation.
"This is our scout team leader, Trace Addict. He'll explain the details to you. If you have any questions, ask him." After introducing Xiao Hua to Trace Addict, Red Maple Leaf left, saying she had other matters to attend to. Trace Addict watched her retreating back and commented admiringly, "That girl Maple Leaf is getting more charming."
"Got your eye on her?" Xiao Hua asked with a grin, sensing that Trace Addict seemed like someone who got along easily with others.
Trace Addict was around thirty years old, with a solid and steady demeanor, appearing to be down-to-earth. Red Maple Leaf looked to be in her early twenties, a charming young lady. It wasn't unusual for someone to be interested in her.
"Yes, buddy, I fancy her, so don't think about it, hehe!" Trace Addict put his hands on his hips and said boldly.
Ah, it seems this guy probably says this to every newcomer to minimize potential rivals! Xiao Hua immediately understood.
"Let's go outside; our scout team is gathered there!" As Red Maple Leaf walked away, Trace Addict led Xiao Hua out of the guild headquarters towards the oak forest nearby.
After walking a short distance, Xiao Hua noticed the large number of players in the oak forest, indicating that most members of the Oak Forest Guild were concentrated here.
"Good! Everyone on the scout team, come over for a brief meeting. I have some important points to go over," Trace Addict said, leading Xiao Hua to a large oak tree surrounded by a group of mostly assassin players. Xiao Hua guessed he was likely the only one of a different profession.
There were roughly sixty people, all familiar with Trace Addict, who gathered upon hearing his call. Trace Addict then began explaining the details and necessary precautions.
Trace Addict's speech was brief, as the tasks were straightforward: find a path without alerting the monsters and gather monster data. The most time-consuming part was organizing the teams.
After spending about half an hour, Trace Addict finally finished organizing the teams. Sixty-five players were divided into eleven groups, and under Red Maple Leaf's instructions, Xiao Hua was placed in Trace Addict's team.
"Everyone prepare yourselves. If you need anything, get supplies at the guild headquarters or return to the city. In five hours, the entire guild will meet to share the quest, and the scout teams will set out ahead of schedule. Please ensure you're back at the guild headquarters on time!" Trace Addict emphasized.
"So soon?" Xiao Hua was surprised. He originally thought he might have a day free to return to Snowdrift City to bring Aburi over, but it seemed there wasn't enough time for that.
"There's a reason. Originally, it would have been later, but the mission needs to be expedited. As for the exact reason, I'm not sure—it's the guild leader's decision," Trace Addict shrugged and explained.
Stolen novel; please report.
...
Seven hours later, outside the city of Ten Thousand Oaks, a group of over sixty people was rapidly advancing down a forest path.
"Brother Not Steal, if you sold your landstrider, you'd probably make a fortune. If it were mine, I wouldn't bear to sell it." An hour after setting out, someone still envied Xiao Hua's landstrider mount.
Facing envious glances, Xiao Hua broke out in a cold sweat, realizing that having such a flashy mount wasn't ideal. He had to laugh and explain again that it was due to luck, forcing the landstrider into a corner and getting lucky when it dropped an egg.
Regarding the Oak Forest Guild's main quest, Xiao Hua initially worried about whether he could accept it smoothly since he already had the main quest from the Free Faction. However, after the main quest holder shared the task, he successfully received it, putting his mind at ease. If he couldn't accept the task, he would have had to escape immediately and follow the group secretly to complete the quest.
The Light Faction's main quest was also to eliminate Ogarah, but according to the shared information, the Oak Forest Guild needed to escort an NPC to a specific location in the reinforced monster zone. That NPC would then open a portal to the Dark Temple where Ogarah resided. However, Xiao Hua didn't get to see what the NPC looked like.
In the ordinary monster zone outside the city of Ten Thousand Oaks, the scout team didn't need to scout as the Oak Forest Guild already had detailed knowledge of the area. They picked a clear path, and on their journey, they encountered few monsters. According to Trace Addict, once they reached the reinforced monster zone, their role would become clearer.
"Will the teams behind us catch up if we move this fast?" The scouts were all high-agility classes, moving faster than regular classes, and set out nearly half an hour earlier than the main group. Someone expressed concern.
"Don't worry. Once we enter the reinforced monster zone and start scouting, our speed will slow significantly. By the time we gather information, the main group should also be entering the reinforced monster zone," Trace Addict replied confidently.
In the reinforced monster zone, most areas required master-level stealth to evade detection. Although the Oak Forest Guild explored part of the zone after receiving the quest, they still had a long way to go to reach the objective. Once in the reinforced zone, the scouts would have to dismount and proceed using stealth. If they found a monster-free path, it would be fine, but if not, they would have to stop and test the monsters' attributes, significantly slowing their progress.
Xiao Hua previously knew that the map of the ordinary monster zone was vast, but until he experienced it firsthand, he didn't realize how enormous it truly was. Starting from the guild headquarters, they traveled continuously for thirteen hours, finally reaching the edge of the ordinary monster zone. Ahead was an entrance to a different area, a step away from entering another realm. Even though they could see each other, they were in separate regions and couldn't communicate privately, a peculiar situation.
System Notification: You have entered the new map "Ancient Oak Path," gaining 5000 experience points!
The Ancient Oak Path was the name of the map in the reinforced monster zone. As the group entered the map, one member stopped at the boundary.
"Little Six, take care and stay in touch," Trace Addict instructed the player.
Little Six was responsible for communicating with the scout teams. Since private chat wasn't available between the reinforced and ordinary monster zones, any vital information discovered by the teams would be relayed to Little Six first, who would then contact the main group until they entered the reinforced monster zone.
After leaving Little Six, the remaining sixty-plus members didn't immediately disperse. The Oak Forest Guild had already obtained some necessary information, so they didn't need to scout further for the initial segment of the path. They only needed to proceed cautiously until they reached a certain point, then split up.
"All dismount and proceed in stealth mode. We'll encounter monsters soon," Trace Addict ordered after ten minutes of travel.
The group dismounted their mounts and prepared to enter stealth mode.
"Remember to set stealth mode to ‘guild visible’ so you don't bump into each other in the dark," Trace Addict reminded them.
Assassins and thieves had three modes for stealth: "freedom," "team visible," and "guild visible." Freedom mode meant no one could see the stealth user, while the other two modes made the stealth user visible to team or guild members, though only as a faint silhouette.
This precaution was discussed during the meeting. Without the guild visible mode, sixty-plus people moving in stealth could easily collide and reveal themselves, potentially leading to a wipeout.
Since the initial segment of the path had already been explored, the scout team only needed to follow Trace Addict. As they moved through the map, Xiao Hua gained a general understanding of the environment.
The Ancient Oak Path was a vast oak forest, distinct from the outer oak forest. Here, the oaks were not particularly tall but had massive trunks and sprawling branches, casting shadows over the ground. The trees exuded an ancient and primitive aura, giving the impression of a timeless wilderness.
This was Xiao Hua's first time entering a reinforced monster zone. After encountering several groups of monsters, he discovered that most of them were elite monsters, fierce and aggressive, often gathering in large numbers. Disturbing one would likely result in being overwhelmed and killed instantly.