Chapter 76: Chapter 57: Earth Flame Element Tribe
Chun was astonished. Was the Illusory Earth Flame Element suggesting transforming into one of those Giant Stone Monsters?
Let’s give it a try.
The next moment, Chun’s form suddenly blurred, and he really turned into a tiny being with his entire body shrouded in crystal stone flames.
——System Message: You have transformed into an Earth Flame Element, greatly reducing the hostility of Earth Flame Elements towards you.
Huh?
Chun looked up and saw the patrol Giant Stone Monster in the distance turning from a red name to a yellow name!
Holy shit, this isn’t just transformation; it’s a complete change of race! That means I could potentially blend into their community this way? Wouldn’t that mean creating a little world away from the Supervisor’s monitoring?
Excited, Chun decided to meet with the Giant Stone Monster. Yellow names don’t lie. If the yellow name isn’t enough, he’d keep eating snowflakes until he turned into a green name.
As Chun cautiously approached, the Giant Stone Monster suddenly turned its head, and Chun was genuinely startled by its alert range!
A buzzing and steady voice came: "Little thing, go see the leader!"
What? Is it so casually meeting strangers? Alright!
Chun followed it deeper into the mining area, feeling like he was trailing a tall mountain.
——System Message: You have acquired the Earth Flame Element’s pace synchronization effect.
What’s this?
Chun felt the surroundings receding like scenery outside a high-speed train window, another spatial movement? Does every ordinary monster on the 7th level have such skills? Or is it not a monster, but an NPC?
A towering crystal stone mountain suddenly appeared before them, reaching into the dome.
Chun was amazed; a mountain this high should’ve been visible upon landing ashore. It was certain they had switched maps unknowingly, and without the Giant Stone Monster’s magic to lead the way, it would likely be difficult to find this place.
At the mountain’s base was a massive glowing purple cave, with a large group of Giant Stone Monsters guarding the entrance.
Entering the cave revealed a vast space, like being under a purple firmament. An enormous giant, akin to the Le Mountain Giant Buddha, was sitting beside a purple lava-boiling mud lake.
This must be the leader boss; it’s hard to imagine how tall it would be if it stood up!
The leader’s voice, majestic like thunder, echoed through the cave space: "Welcome to the free underground world, I am Dibilon, son of the Earth Mother Selya. Are you willing to complete the Dibilon tribe’s tasks?"
It really is an outpost village!
Chun nodded repeatedly: "Willing!"
"Then please mine those Crystal Stone Flowers in the small passageways of the cave. Our bodies are too large to enter there. Gather as many as you can and bring them to me."
——System Message: You have acquired the daily reputation task of the Dibilon tribe "Gathering Crystal Stone Flowers".
As expected, just like the village development model outside the city, where everything starts with endless resource collection tasks.
Chun couldn’t help but ask: "Lord Dibilon—"
The giant interrupted: "I am Dibilon!"
Uh, you may be powerful enough to let it slide, but I can’t be unclear. Your subordinates clearly address you as the leader!
Chun asked: "Leader Dibilon, won’t you ask about my background?"
Dibilon said: "You come from the outside world!"
Uh... makes sense. Perhaps this is the confidence of the strong, not caring whether I’m a spy, let alone worrying about me randomly eating flowers? Forget it, once the task is complete and the reputation is high, it will naturally become known. You can pretty much guess it anyway; those dead Demon Race members were likely the enemies infiltrating the village, and the tribe probably opposes all Demons, which is exactly the backing I need!
Chun glanced around the cave and indeed saw several small passageways. Entering one revealed a dense cluster of snowflakes!
Holy shit holy shit! Normal village tasks are all about painstakingly gathering resources, but here, I’m practically being escorted to reach expert level 10 in gathering, maybe even reach master level is no longer a dream!
——System Message: The current scene allows free task AFK. Would you like to automatically AFK to complete the task?
My favorite free task AFK!
Then go AFK, no more sneaking bites, first put all efforts into stacking reputation.
The clone alt finally settled without worrying about death, and Chun could finally let out a sigh of relief. Switching back to his main account, his main was breezily fishing under the morning sun. This feeling, even the cawing of crows sounded as pleasant as seagulls.
During AFK, it’s time to rest.
Checking the time, it’s 9 PM. Only 3 hours left until the "Newcomer Three-Day Special Offer" deadline, and at this time, advanced players around the world will be making their final pushes, right?
As for himself, having had dinner delayed by instant noodles, he couldn’t delay his night snack. The more critical the final sprint, the more he needed to maintain a calm, easy-going demeanor!
Time for some night beer.
As he descended the stairs, a waft of instant noodle aroma greeted him. For an internet cafe Great God, meal times were never fixed, especially at night.
The other Great Gods immediately called out: "Brother Chun is coming down, Brother Chun, your bold moves are awesome!"
Chun suddenly remembered he had been reported for spreading a plague, which got posted in the system announcement. Holy shit, it was an afternoon matter, but he’d been too busy to recall.
Chun helplessly prepared his explanation: "It was me lighting a lamp on a small boat AFK night fishing, then a Treasure Hunting Ship came, saw the light and got curious, recognized me, and reported..."
The other Great Gods were astonished: "That’s nothing really! The big news is—"
The Great God got anxious: "Everyone stop talking, this is confidential, what are you asking for?"
Only then did the gods snap back and laugh, "Right, right, confidential, confidential! No need to ask! Brother Chun just needs to be awesome."
Holy shit, could it be that my announcement of killing the Slime Monster was seen by players passing by nearby?
Chun had no choice but to quietly ask in front of the Great God’s seat, "Great God, what big event are you talking about?"
The Great God looked mysterious: "Brother Chun, are you serious?? The NPCs from merchant ships at the docks are spreading rumors everywhere, Plague Island is lit up at night!"
It really was as Piku said, the passing merchant ships saw it, and it really triggered the event!
Chun pretended to be confused: "I have the plague, my vision is all blurred, I thought it was the reflection of fishing lights on the sea from the ship!"
The Great God nodded repeatedly: "Got it! Brother Chun, don’t work too hard, go eat now."
Holy shit, this old hand doesn’t believe a word, convinced I’ve stirred up a big deal! Even he has such insight, what about other experts from consortiums...
Chun continued to ask: "I want to know what happens if the plague spreads?"
The Great God solemnly said: "This spread crime will mostly be counted on Brother Chun."
Piku said there’s a secret base?
Holy shit, if not, is he deceiving me? Like stealthily infiltrating a certain port with the plague to cause trouble?
Chun got a bit panicked: "Wouldn’t I be exiled for life?"
All the gods laughed: "After all, it’s a game, how can there be real exile for so long. The heavier the crime, the better pirate you can be!"
"Exactly, with Brother Chun’s fame, he might as well be the world’s first pirate player! Then he could have a wrangle-tangle love affair with the Pirate Queen!"
Chun got interested: "Could it actually be a good thing to be a pirate?"
All the gods laughed: "Anyway, being the number one definitely has its perks!"
"Exactly, Brother Chun, just hold steady, no need to panic..."
How could I not panic, I’m the most panicked in the world.
...
Divine Presence Seat headquarters.
The investigation ship dispatched by the Count to Spice Island entered the Sea Tide Space at a specific time and reached the target location, the leading player Sakamaru reported back through the live stream: "Young Master, no spices were seen."
Although he was psychologically prepared, the Young Master was still very disappointed: "None of you go ashore, let the treasure hunting NPC from the Count investigate."
"Understood."
In the live stream camera, the NPC lay on the beach using a magnifying glass and "landmine probe" like tools to investigate everywhere, then dived into the surrounding sea to scan around.
After a busy stretch, the treasure hunter grabbed a small pinch of stone powder onto the ship, asking the leading player: "Know what this is?"
The leading player was amazed: "Could it be barnacles from a whale?"
The hunter said: "To be precise, it’s called Acid Stone Ore!"
Then he took out a box, filled with various bottles and jars, and put the stone chips into a potion bottle, the potion bubbled, then dripped in a few more drops of potion, the bottle turned light red.
The hunter continued: "Red means this Acid Stone Ore is no more than 3 days old, once over 3 days the salt in seawater will change its acidity, turning it another color. So, a whale came and stranded here about 3 days ago leaving behind Acid Stone remnants. The sand marks on the beach were artificially cleaned, also no more than 3 days old! Unable to determine the number of people by them. It can be seen that it is a very mature and experienced team."
The leading player was impressed by his expertise and exclaimed: "Can you use the treasure finding device to look for spices?"
The hunter shook his head: "Spices are just luxury items, not magic power items."
The player asked again: "Is it done by Baron Bapeng?"
The hunter said solemnly, "This is not within my scope of business..."
At this moment, watching the live broadcast, the Young Master was in turmoil, although he was 100% sure that Chun was suspicious, he absolutely couldn’t explain how he could have this ability. This Chun was just put forward by the opposing team to deliberately mislead my thinking?
But he could only hold on to the only clue and continue to investigate!
The Young Master instructed: "Tell them, the situation on Plague Island is bright at night, do they want to visit Plague Island?"
After listening to the leading player’s transmission, the hunter was stunned for a moment: "That’s Plague Island! Such a situation is very likely the legendary Ghost City."
"But we can’t leave empty-handed, the Count wouldn’t be happy. Anyway, the Count only asked you to go out to sea for treasure hunting, didn’t specify finding spices! Moreover, there has already been a treasure hunting ship reached Plague Island and made contact with exiled criminals, it shows something major occurred on Plague Island!"
The hunter thought for a moment: "We can go take a look! Specifically landing still depends on the situation."
The Young Master obviously wasn’t as respectful as the NPC and made up his mind that as long as the ship reached, Sakamaru’s team would land. Anyway, players weren’t afraid of death, whether they encountered ghosts or got infected by the plague and became inactive accounts wasn’t a big deal.
A new situation appeared on the dungeon side: "Report to the Young Master, the Red Name Group 2 dug through a secret collapse point, and a large volume of water is flooding downwards!"
The Young Master got invigorated: "Could the direction of the water flow be Hell?"
"If that’s the case, it might require a very long rope, also need the treasure hunter to help investigate."
The Young Master immediately instructed: "Sakamaru, quickly find the Count to get a rope, and send the treasure hunter!"
"Understood by Sakamaru..."