Chapter 465
Chapter 465 - 445: Entering the Forest for the First Time
1,461 words
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8 min read
"We must be crazy to leave the city at this time and enter the Ashen Forest."
Although the knights followed the order to enter the forest, they couldn’t hide the confusion and incomprehension in their hearts.
But they couldn’t refuse the command of the Knight Corps and the request of the lord.
This time, the one leading the team was not Catherine, but Ben, the captain of the Knight Corps, a senior knight with at least forty years of experience, whose strength could rank in the top three in the Schlei Domain.
Under the premise of ensuring the safety of his own family, this was probably the strongest combat power he could send.
Obviously, the lord was also worried about something happening to Lu Ping’an and his party, especially after he confirmed that the magic contract was indeed binding.
Lu Ping’an could understand why everyone was so crazy about the Demonic Hour, even the big cat was so excited that it couldn’t control itself... Just the round-trip tickets were bargaining chips with immeasurable value. All explorers had "unlimited gold", so how could they not make a fortune?
Usually, during otherworldly explorations, other people had families and mouths to feed, so what you had to buy must at least be a fair trade. It wasn’t as comfortable as now, with no-cost buying and selling... Even robbery wasn’t this fast, the other party directly collected treasures for you to choose from, and was afraid that you might be unhappy.
"No wonder they opened up explorer qualifications at this time. The Demonic Hour is common, but it’s rare to find something so safe and profitable. The first batch of explorers made a fortune when they went back. Wouldn’t the professionals left on Earth go crazy?"
Of course, such things probably wouldn’t happen often. The subsequent tickets would cost money, and would most likely be very expensive. There was only one no-cost transaction.
If you don’t bring back enough profits, you might even lose... But if you still lose when the first few discounted tickets are available, either your luck is too bad, or you’re simply not suitable for this line of work.
Lu Ping’an also asked the lord about the situation of other "senior" explorers in the Foreign Domain, after all, it was necessary to understand some of the competitors and their methods.
"They don’t have tickets. They just said they can take us with them, but it’s a very difficult journey, and they won’t guarantee that we’ll make it through. They also want me to give up all non-combat personnel..."
Upon hearing this, Lu Ping’an felt more and more subtle. In that case, those seniors were considered very kind.
If they couldn’t board the Divine Boat, they naturally had to flee back home, which meant going back to each "Divine Realm" and "Exotic Realm" one by one. The trip back could be three times more difficult than the journey here.
Maybe they weren’t explorers at all, but a group of Star Realm travelers who just went wherever they ended up.
Since they couldn’t provide tickets, the lord naturally didn’t want to give them treasures. He still hoped to exchange for a ticket... But when they realized they had to leave, they just grabbed some for themselves.
Of course, if the lord took the knights with them... There was a 90% chance that there would be no hope, as the road would be too dangerous.
Maybe it was because the lord knew about the existence of "tickets" that it caused the "seniors" to become anxious. In that case, maybe they were planning to settle here, but suddenly discovered the "truth" and reluctantly decided to leave.
"Is it here?"
As soon as they entered the outskirts of the forest, everyone could feel as if something was following them all the way.
Inside the forest, it seemed that something was following... Beasts didn’t have much patience, especially "them."
"Really, they have indeed mutated..."
A pack of wolves emerged from the forest, their white fur carrying a faint mist. But their size was at least twice as large as their Earth counterparts, with the most noticeable difference being the blade-like teeth protruding outward.
"Blade Fang Wolves, huh... What a name." Translating literally always results in strange names. Lu Ping’an observed the wolf cubs and evaluated their combat power.
Yes, these giant wolves the size of calves were only one-month-old cubs.
These were the "descendants of the Wolf God" that had been mentioned in previous intelligence... But this only increased the value of their fur slightly.
"It’s a pity that I can’t sell this fur now. I wouldn’t even take it if it was given away for free."
Now, the fur of these wolves had completely rotted. Their fur was covered with colorful patches of decay, various mushrooms, and eyes growing on their heads, making them look like reanimated corpses.
This was the most common mutation, where the DNA control template of their bodies had completely lost control, and external genes contaminated their roots.
"...It does seem quite tasty, though." This scene made Lu Ping’an unconsciously swallow his saliva.
Recently, he... Well, it was Zhi Xi practicing culinary skills, focusing on the "Junior Variant Stew," which has a delicious taste when cooked with the noble bloodline of these wolves.
It is said that eating it can slightly increase one’s resistance to corruption at the level of 1-tier professionals, but as it contains pollution itself, it is not recommended for professionals below 2-tier to consume... It seems a bit problematic, but it’s delicious and free, so there’s no problem!
"Knights, form a formation!"
However, the ones who started first were the knights, serving as guards.
The hairless elderly knight, a rare case of an atavist, was covered in dragon-scale armor, giving him the appearance of a giant lizard.
His prestige among the knights was apparently not something a young person like Catherine could match.
After the order was given, the knights, who had previously been bewildered and even sluggish (what am I doing here), quickly sprang into action.
Lu Ping’an and his companions could also observe the fighting style of the native main combat professionals.
The knights holding large shields scattered in front and around the team, with gaps wide enough to allow a cavalry charge, completely unable to block the pack of wolves...
"Turtle Dragon!"
With a loud shout, the phantom of a large turtle with a dragon tail appeared on the embossed shields one by one.
Rectangular blue force field shields protected the knights, filling the space between them which had initially overflowed.
They formed the team’s wall, a living, moving fortress.
But doing this, wouldn’t the rear become dangerous, leaving the tail exposed...
"Holy Fire."
Catherine kneeled in prayer, raising the Holy Image in her hand, and the next moment, fire fell from the sky, burning around the back of the team.
The purifying power of the orange flames caused discomfort and howling among the rotting wolf pack the moment they descended, but the beasts also moved away from the fire on their own.
As Knight Ben issued another order, the knights protected within the safe area took out their longbows and crossbows, and various animal and human phantoms appeared on their weapons, one by one. In the next second, a colorful barrage was released.
Some attacks covered a wide area, some froze the ground upon impact, while others kept firing without end, leaving the foreign visitors wide-eyed.
One after another, wolves were instantly killed, with some still able to struggle a bit after being pierced by arrows, only to be quickly dispatched.
Compared to the "Knight Armaments" these knights were wielding, the "Enchanted Weapons" Lu Ping’an had previously purchased were nothing but utter trash.
The knights didn’t seem agitated; they knew that corrupted beasts were impatient and would soon attack the battle formation.
This is the knight’s tactic for dealing with beasts – hunting with the lowest expenditure and the highest gain.
If nothing went wrong, driven by hunger and rage, these beasts would certainly not retreat...
"Awoo Awoo Awoo!"
Suddenly, an unexpected turn of events occurred with a howl.
The little wolves whimpered and growled twice before turning around and running away without hesitation, leaving behind a trail of corpses.
Even though the knights easily won, their previously relaxed expressions turned serious.
"Corruption" makes the "desires" of magic monsters more fanatical; the hungry never stop, the killers won’t even spare their own kind - retreating solely due to a howling sound...
"A lord-tier Wolf King has been born."
— End of Chapter 465 —