"You passed the Orc line and successfully reached the main battlefield. Reward: +3 to all stats, Shard of Godstone x1."
Looking at the appearing light screen, reminding himself that the mission was complete, Bai Ye couldn't help but grin.
Just as he had guessed.
Reaching the plains meant completing the mission, but how to get past the outposts of those Orcs was a problem.
Secondly, Rimuru had not arrived yet. Currently, only Orcs were on the plains.
The scene was quite shocking and rather foolish. If the army had already assembled, why not march directly into the Jura Great Forest?
It was as if they were clearly waiting for Rimuru's arrival, and Rimuru's arrival time was the time limit.
As for the mission itself, Bai Ye didn't care much about it now.
It was just three stat points, not enough for even one energy gathering of the Five Spirit Disc, which now increased by 5 points.
As for one Shard of Godstone...
This was always an exhilarating reward, but after killing Jin Xiangchuan and obtaining six Shards of Godstone, Bai Ye suddenly felt that one shard wasn't that appealing anymore.
However...
When Bai Ye looked at the light screen...
He was stunned!
His intelligence stat had reached 15!
Hiss!
Bai Ye couldn't help but gasp. He hadn't looked carefully when he saw the mission. The +3 to all stats actually included intelligence!
Many people might not know what an increase in intelligence represents, and Bai Ye himself didn't feel any change from a 3-point increase in intelligence.
But in reality, this was an extremely rare and valuable thing. Among all stats, intelligence was the hardest to increase, with very few methods available.
The reason was easy to understand. Intelligence could be understood as IQ, where innate factors played a significant role. Although it could be developed later, it had limits, and without extraordinary changes, the difference was hard to perceive.
A normal person's intelligence standard was 10, and Bai Ye's initial intelligence was 12, only slightly above average. With the current increase to 15, he could be considered intelligent.
But what constituted an intelligent person?
Most people had no concept of this. The distinction between a genius and an ordinary person often depended on achievements, with no clear visual comparison.
However, with the experience from his past life, Bai Ye knew that an increase in intelligence had many profound impacts.
Such as memory and logical thinking ability, both of which would improve with increased intelligence, and continuous improvement would lead to the development of the brain. Combined with mental strength, it could even lead to incredible mutations.
In his previous life, people like this were called "superhumans," who were very difficult to deal with and extremely powerful.
However, usually, only those with extremely high initial intelligence, so-called high-IQ geniuses, could become superhumans. They were already very intelligent, and then they continuously increased their intelligence stats within the world arena to develop their brains, finally evolving into superhumans.
Therefore, it required innate high intelligence and a catalyst for intelligence improvement, as the intelligence stat was too difficult to increase, and brain development was a long-term process.
As a result, the conditions for becoming a superhuman were quite harsh, making superhumans rare. Occasionally, accidents happened, and they died before their brains were fully developed, leading to the absence of superhumans among the peak powerhouses who survived to the end in Bai Ye's memory of his past life.
Thinking about it this way, Bai Ye felt it wasn't a big deal.
It was just three points of intelligence!
His previous surprise was due to the rarity of intelligence stat increases, but upon careful consideration, it was just a small improvement. Intelligence was actually the least useful stat, and Bai Ye didn't think he could become a superhuman, even if he used all the methods he remembered to increase his intelligence stat. This required innate advantages.
Bai Ye closed the light screen, no longer dwelling on the matter, and continued to observe the Orc army.
However, it was regrettable.
Bai Ye saw neither the Orc King nor the Demon Lord Kurumi.
Since that was the case, he could only wait.
Bai Ye was likely the first of the chosen ones to arrive. Others were still on their way. However, the quality of the Jura Great Forest region was not low. Those who entered this area and received hidden missions were relatively outstanding in strength.
Because those who were not outstanding and entered the Jura Great Forest might have been killed before encountering anyone from the Demon Country.
Therefore, Bai Ye didn't wait long. About half an hour later, other chosen ones began to arrive.
This was a beginning. After the first batch of people arrived, chosen ones started appearing one after another.
"Bai Ye, you're here?" Jemas arrived, smiling and waving to Bai Ye. "You're too fast!"
Bai Ye shrugged. "You guys are too slow."
Jemas said, "I was already very fast. There are still many people behind me."
There were about a hundred chosen ones from the Demon Country who accepted hidden missions. Currently, only twenty to thirty had arrived. Excluding those who died on the way, Jemas's arrival was indeed not late.
"But..." Jemas said, "many people probably won't make it in time."
Bai Ye asked curiously, "Why?"
Jemas explained, "Rimuru's subordinates are very fast. He himself is traveling alone with the Oni, and his subordinates, the Direwolves, Goblins, and Lizardmen, are advancing from three routes. Their speed is terrifying. I took the wetland swamp route. When I left the territory of the Goo Goo Bird, the Lizardmen had already reached the swamp."
Bai Ye nodded. "The battle should start in an hour at most."
Jemas rubbed his hands excitedly. "I can't wait. The rewards for the first two missions were good, but the final mission is the main event."
Jemas's Mission Three was different from Bai Ye's, but it also followed the rule of hidden missions yielding treasures. He could obtain Shards of Godstone and magic weapons.
Of course, the most important point was that the mission content did not require them to kill each other but allowed them to cooperate and participate in the battle against the Orcs. Overall, the Orc General was very strong and not easy to kill. The Orc Elites were also far stronger than ordinary Orcs, but they were only difficult, not impossible, and the rewards were outstanding.
However, Bai Ye wasn't worried about this; he didn't have this mission.
What Bai Ye was worried about now was the whereabouts of the Orc King and the Demon Lord Kurumi.
Of course, Li Jiayi, that disruptive guy, would likely appear as well.
...