Chapter 379: Chapter 379: The 2nd Checkpoint (350 Monthly Tickets)
“What are you staring at? Attack!” Li Yao said with a smile.
The members of the War Horizon team could only laugh bitterly. To attack, or not to attack? With the size of the monster in front of them, charging in would only lead to their deaths.
Standing in front of everyone were more than twenty cave dwellers.
The cave dwellers were a unique race in The Ancient God World. They did not appear on the surface world, but rather lived in various mines, underground relics, and caves, and many of them lived in the unexplored underground world.
What puzzled people was that up to now, nobody had been able to truly trace their origins.
Many archaeological adventurers speculated that cave dwellers and dwarfs were the same race, but had undergone unpredictable mutations.
This theory was accepted by many explorers in The Ancient God World, because their passive talents were almost the same as the dwarfs.
Another theory suggested that the cave dwellers were a branch of humans who had run away and developed in the underground world.
This viewpoint, however, was hardly tenable. In The Ancient God World, such creatures existed beneath the ground of every continent, even though human history had only lasted for a few thousand years.
Regardless of the dispute, one thing was clear: cave dwellers were extremely powerful fighters.
This was due to their lack of a professional system, and their lower intelligence.
Some of the mutated cave dwellers were tamed by the goblins to serve as mounts, for example, the ape-like creature that Li Yao encountered, was in fact, a variant of the cave dwellers.
Several silver ranks, now obstructing their way, had mutated to become exceptionally large and aggressive.
Although they were elite players, facing several silver ranks and a swarm of elite creatures left the five top-tier players utterly defeated.
There was not enough space here for them to maneuver. War Horizon couldn’t withstand the charge of the cave dwellers.
“Master, since you’re so powerful, just make a move. If not, we can’t deal with them.” Little Cold Hands said pitifully.
“Oh, alright.” Li Yao, controlling his puppet, directly leaped into the horde of creatures and launched a Whirlwind Slash.
His large build and the enormous force caused a rain of flesh and blood when the Whirlwind Slash was used. The gathering of cave dwellers, who had been roasting meat, were suddenly sent flying in all directions.
War Horizon also directly charged, igniting the intense battle.
With Li Yao’s involvement, Little Cold Hand’s attacks became extremely sharp, and her combat strength also massively improved.
The other players watched with envy, thinking that once they returned, they would study engineering and have a puppet to play with as well.
Fortunately, Li Yao led the charge directly. No matter how many creatures there were, he would just charge through. This made the team progress much faster.
Li Yao didn’t care about the experience of these creatures.
“Master, there’s another checkpoint ahead, but several teams are fighting.”
After they had been on the move for more than two hours, Ephemeral Bloom told them.
“Finally found another one.” Li Yao exhaled with relief. He needed to complete this operation within two days, or there would be many flaws.
“Briefly explain the situation.” War Horizon immediately asked.
Ephemeral Bloom said: “It’s weird this time. Five teams are involved in a massive melee. Two teams are from our camp, and three are from the Dark Camp. However, no team has formed alliances with others. It’s a true melee, with masters also fighting intensely.”
“Master, what do you think?” Little Cold Hands asked.
“Not sure. One possibility is that they all know what’s behind this door, and it’s something very important or precious, so precious that they can’t bear others, even from their race, to get it. The other possibility is that they’re under the influence of some mental magic.” Li Yao frowned.
“So, what should we do now?” Light Flower asked. “How about we don’t go over there and wait for them to finish fighting so we can benefit from it?”
“Do you know what’s so important?” Little Cold Hands asked curiously.
“Of course I don’t know.” Li Yao jumped down from the puppet, put away the key, and said, “Just stay here and don’t act rashly. I’ll take a look.”
“Master…” War Horizon exclaimed in surprise. He was about to say something, but saw Li Yao’s figure start to fade. It was clear he had entered a stealth state. They soon lost sight of Li Yao.
The four looked at each other, thinking, ‘what the hell, isn’t the master a Mechanical Hunter? How can he use a thief’s stealth skill? Even if you’re an NPC, you can’t be this buggy.’
“What’s up with you guys?” Ephemeral Bloom inquired as she was scouting ahead.
“What’s up? The master is a Mechanical Hunter and he’s not even at the second stage yet, but I just saw him go stealth and check out the chaotic battle ahead.” War Horizon replied with a bitter smile.
“I see.” Ephemeral Bloom responded indifferently.
Little Cold Hands was puzzled and asked, “Sister, why aren’t you surprised at all?”
“Why should I be surprised?” Ephemeral Bloom responded.
“A hunter that can go stealth, have you ever seen such a hunter?” Light Flower emphasized.
“Have you guys forgotten about someone who is also a player and can go stealth? What’s strange about that, huh?” Ephemeral Bloom changed her expression.
“Right, even low-level players can learn to go stealth, let alone NPCs,” Light Flower realized.
The others no longer objected, but Ephemeral Bloom started to feel a doubt.
Miller told them that Li Yao basically didn’t have any combat power.
However, they met a super expert who was profoundly skilled in engineering and could perfectly control a puppet.
This was clearly inconsistent with Miller’s information, and she also began to wonder. Since Prairie Fire was a dark ranger who could turn invisible, what was this NPC relying on?
Li Yao didn’t know that because of his stealth, Ephemeral Bloom had doubts about him.
But even if he knew, Li Yao wouldn’t care. He was in complete control, and even if she was Song of Nostalgia, it might end up being an advantage.
Li Yao had reached the corner. During this process, he had detected three alert thieves using his Sonar Arrow and managed to avoid them. He also began to admire Ephemeral Bloom; she had made it safely too, clearly she was not ordinary.
At the checkpoint, as expected, several teams of players were in a melee, which had already reached its climax. The five teams were tangled in a fierce battle, with players falling one after another.
On the other side of the checkpoint, five goblins or dwarfs were also fiercely battling. They were either controlling their puppets or riding their own monsters, fighting tumultuously.
“The gate does not seem to be a problem, but why are the five teams in a melee?” Li Yao was puzzled as he clearly noticed something abnormal about these people.
Li Yao judged that these people were not attracted by what was inside the gate, but were likely under mental control or influence. Rather than rushing out, Li Yao cautiously sought the source of the chaos…
PS: I’m really pressed for time. I’m not sure if I can finish Chapter 5 before midnight. But even if I can’t release it by around twelve o’clock, there will definitely be another chapter coming out after midnight.