The people from Dragon Soul were called over by Lin Mo.
There was no doubt about that.
But why did the people from Chaotic World show up here?
Lin Mo truly could not figure it out.
'No matter what, Su Yingxia shouldn't be stupid enough to leak information to Wang Junjie again, right?'
After all, she herself was already on Wang Junjie's blacklist. If Wang Junjie came, she wouldn't end up any better either.
"Wu Gang?"
"That shouldn't be possible either."
"Unless he's willing to give up that ten million."
Wu Gang had teamed up with various studios today to ambush Lin Mo at Death Town precisely to get the Heart of Shadow from Lin Mo and then sell it to Wang Junjie.
If he called Wang Junjie over and let him seize the Heart of Shadow with his own hands, then there would be nothing left for Wu Gang and his people.
'Wu Gang said that Liuli and I were adulterers, conspiring together for his Heart of Shadow?'
'Could it be that Liuli snatched the Heart of Shadow from Wu Gang and then mailed it to me?'
Lin Mo stared at the Blazing Ember City reputation leaderboard, looking at [Liuli], who sat firmly in first place with a terrifying 4595 reputation points, and fell into deep thought.
'Why would she help me?'
The biggest question was still the one Lin Mo had the very first time he saw this ID on the rankings. At the same time, he became even more certain.
'In my previous life, Liuli never appeared on the Blazing Ember City leaderboard.'
'So where did this top-ranked player suddenly come from? Could it be that some of my experiences in this life triggered a butterfly effect?'
For a moment, Lin Mo's curiosity about [Liuli] reached its peak.
"Liuli."
"Looks like I'll have to find a chance to meet you."
That said, one thing was worth mentioning, Lin Mo now finally had two Heart of Shadows in his possession.
"As long as I get the one in Dragon Soul Aoshi's hands, I'll have three Heart of Shadows and be able to enter the Shadow Holy Hall dungeon."
As for how to obtain the last one, Lin Mo already had a plan.
Next, the only thing Lin Mo needed to do was wait.
Wait until he collected the Venom set, and wait until Wang Junjie completely wiped out the Shadow Legion.
So, after leaving Death Town, Lin Mo said to Ling Xiao, Xia Wanwan, and the others, "You guys go eat first. Then, same as usual, meet up at the Insect Nest Underground Palace."
"The levels you just lost in Death Town are on me. I'll take you back up later, no charge."
Xia Wanwan said happily, "Thank you, Senior Lin Mo."
At this moment, Lin Mo looked again at Qin Feng, and behind him, more than thirty players from the [ZhuFeng] Guild who had all been killed back from level 13–14 down to level 0.
He said, "Sorry. This happened because of me."
If Lin Mo hadn't previously asked Qin Feng to place an order with Wu Gang's studio, Wu Gang wouldn't have sought out Qin Feng to retaliate against Lin Mo.
But Qin Feng didn't mind at all, with not a hint of blame toward Lin Mo. He scratched his head and laughed, "It's fine, Brother Mo! Levels can always be trained again."
As he spoke, Qin Feng turned to face his subordinates, the dozens of members of the ZhuFeng studio, and said to them, "Brothers, today it was my poor leadership that led us into a villain's trap, getting you all killed back to level 0!"
"As compensation, I'll give every brother a five-thousand-yuan bonus this month! Paid out immediately!"
The moment these words came out, the ZhuFeng players present, who had just been killed back to level 0 and were drowning in frustration, with some even thinking about quitting the game, instantly reignited with enthusiasm and skyrocketing confidence.
"Thank you, Brother Feng!"
"No need to thank me, thank Brother Mo," Qin Feng pointed at Lin Mo and said to his men, "It was Brother Mo who helped us get that three-hundred-thousand-yuan breach-of-contract fee from Chasing Dreams Studio!"
Everyone immediately shouted in unison toward Lin Mo, "Thank you, Brother Mo!"
It had to be said, Qin Feng's emotional intelligence was quite high.
Taking half of the penalty money to hand out bonuses stabilized morale, and he even handed the credit over to Lin Mo.
Of course, to Lin Mo, Qin Feng's most precious quality was his loyalty.
He didn't know when it started, but ever since Qin Feng acknowledged Lin Mo as his "big brother," he had been unwaveringly loyal to him.
Back in Death Town, the moment Chaotic World attacked, when danger struck out of nowhere, Qin Feng didn't hesitate at all. He directly used his own body to shield Lin Mo, sacrificing himself to protect him.
Lin Mo saw that scene very clearly.
In his previous life, Lin Mo had no interaction with Qin Feng, but since their level-three main city was also Blazing Ember City, he had heard of the [ZhuFeng] Guild.
Three months later, during the first wave of [Level One Insect Tide] when the Divine Oracle devoured reality, the entire ZhuFeng Guild sacrificed themselves to defend the main city, becoming the first batch of casualties.
'Don't worry.'
'In this life, I'll protect you all.'
Lin Mo vowed silently.
After that, the group went their separate ways.
Lin Mo headed to the Insect Nest Underground Palace, while Ling Xiao and the others returned to the city.
———
At the same time, in a nearby forest, apair of clear eyes quietly watched Lin Mo's figure as he gradually disappeared into the distance.
Just then, another person walked out from within the forest.
This person was none other than Dragon Soul Aoshi.
"Let me guess why you helped Rulebound."
Dragon Soul Aoshi looked at the mage girl in front of him, dressed in a black robe, and said thoughtfully, "You like him?"
The girl, her face hidden beneath her cloak yet still revealing delicate and petite features, shook her head.
Dragon Soul Aoshi guessed again, "He's your benefactor, and you're repaying the favor?"
This time, seeing that the girl did not shake her head, Dragon Soul Aoshi smiled, "Looks like I guessed right."
After a pause, Dragon Soul Aoshi continued, "Just as I told you when you first came to me."
"I'm a businessman. Everything I do is based on whether it can bring me profit."
"I've already done as you requested, letting Rulebound go, and I've instructed my Dragon Soul Guild members to protect his safety when necessary."
"So what about you? Aside from the level 15, tier-two piece of equipment you gave me as a down payment, what else can you offer me in exchange?"
The girl's voice was gentle and soft, "The same kind of equipment. I'll give you ten more."
Buzz!
The moment the girl said this, even Dragon Soul Aoshi, a giant in the business world, someone whom no amount of profit could easily move, felt his heart jolt.
To build a top-tier guild, it was necessary to ensure high-quality gear for all members. That was why Dragon Soul Aoshi had long kept a close eye on the equipment market in Blazing Ember City.
After pulling strings, he had only just managed to spend 130,000 yuan to buy a level 8, tier-two orange-quality piece of equipment, the [Hero's Golden Bow], from a second-hand equipment dealer.
He knew very well that at this stage, tier-two equipment above level 10 was priceless.
Let alone what the other party was offering. Level 15 tier-two equipment. And ten pieces at that.
At this moment, the girl continued, "You gather the materials yourself. I'll craft them for you."
Dragon Soul Aoshi had still been wondering how the other party could produce ten tier-two pieces at once.
Hearing this, he suddenly understood.
So it was through crafting equipment at the blacksmith?
But if it was crafting, then the problem became even bigger.
"The other materials are a minor issue. The main problem is reputation," Dragon Soul Aoshi said skeptically, "Even crafting a single level 15 tier-two piece requires over a hundred reputation points."
"At this stage, ordinary players struggle to scrape together even ten reputation points. How could you possibly make ten pieces?"
The girl said nothing.
At the moment the previously hidden ID above her head appeared, Dragon Soul Aoshi was both shocked and enlightened—
[Liuli] (Lv15 Mage · Leaderboard Rank 1)
"So it turns out… you're Liuli. The top-ranked player on Blazing Ember City's reputation board, with over four thousand reputation points, more than ten times that of second place."
Liuli asked, "Is the value of ten pieces enough?"
Dragon Soul Aoshi replied excitedly, "Enough!"
"I'll add you as a friend. Once you've gathered enough materials, come find me and I'll have you craft the equipment."
"No problem."
Watching Liuli's figure gradually fade away, Dragon Soul Aoshi reflected inwardly.
"Protecting Rulebound was secondary. The real goal was to take the opportunity to show her value and attach herself to my Dragon Soul Guild."
"This girl may look simple, but she's anything but that."
———
Lin Mo arrived at the Insect Nest Underground Palace ahead of everyone else.
While Ling Xiao and the others hadn't arrived yet, he planned to solo it first and clear his own quest.
"Strive to charge straight to the tenth floor of the Underground Palace by this afternoon."
"Once I reach the tenth floor, I can farm a full tier-two Venom set for archers at the highest efficiency."
"Even if my luck's bad and I end up farming dozens of Venom sets for other classes, that's fine. A complete Venom set can sell for quite a bit."
He could collect his own Venom set, and sell the extra gear for money. Killing two birds with one stone.
Thinking this, Lin Mo took a quest from Captain William of the guards and entered the eighth floor of the Underground Palace.
What came into view was a vast, lush primeval forest.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Huge venomous bees flew freely through the dense foliage, emitting a constant buzzing.
The difficulty of the Underground Palace increased further with each deeper level.
Level 27 venomous bees were already beyond the detection range of A-rank Detection.
But this was no problem for Lin Mo at all.
[Ding~ Consumed 16 skill evolution points. Congratulations, your Detection skill has evolved from A-rank to S-rank!]
[Ding~ Consumed 32 skill evolution points. Congratulations, your Detection skill has evolved from S-rank to SS-rank!]
[Ding~ Consumed 64 skill evolution points. Congratulations, your Detection skill has evolved from SS-rank to SSS-rank (maximum)!]
[SSS-rank Eye of Insight: Consumes 1 mana point to view data of monsters up to 10 levels higher than yourself, and can also perceive their weaknesses.]
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