Chapter 487
Chapter 487 - 467: Winning the Prize
1,863 words
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10 min read
The quest for wealth and honor is fraught with danger, perhaps this is the most reliable truth in this world.
When the goal pursued involves the gods, the existence of "rule-level" beings seems to become common.
"...At least, able to resist the pressure of rule-level beings for a short time..."
Lu Ping’an suddenly thought of the first test in the previous Explorer Qualification Exam, which did not give any face at all.
Unable to resist the pressure of rule-level beings, no matter what abilities or titles you have, they will simply be brushed off... Even the best talents should not be sent to their deaths so easily.
"I really didn’t expect to encounter this kind of situation so soon..."
Lu Ping’an glanced back at his companions, some looking surprised, others uneasy, as they also realized the current situation.
"Captain Lu, perhaps, we should wait outside..."
The speaker was Miss Rou, who was indeed a third-tier, but she had absolute confidence in her combat capability and resistance to pollution... The kind where if you dare to hit her, she dares to die.
Behind her were the similarly hesitant rookie sisters.
In a way, Earth was more humane than the Silent Mountain Range; at least some basic "pollution knowledge" was well-known by everyone.
They had just encountered a recently Beastified Man and had the cursed diary of the officer in their possession. The rookies knew what they were up against.
If it were a normal battlefield, they wouldn’t worry - life and death are determined by fate, wealth and honor in the heavens, some will earn and some will die... But in a situation where they could be killed just by stepping into the battlefield, no one would be so careless with their lives.
In theory, Lu Ping’an should agree to the request and let them go out on their own.
"After you go out, there will be no one to protect you, and it will be dangerous..."
"But..." Miss Rou opened her mouth but couldn’t find the words as to not seem afraid of battle.
Lu Ping’an was right; above them were full of Magic Monsters, leaving the protection of combat power would be dangerous, but... at least it was safer than here, and safer than below!
Miss Rou frowned, feeling somewhat displeased. Was their team leader a bit too selfish?
"...An Xin, if we really encounter danger, I have a way to deal with it. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Xia Qin and the others."
The rookies looked to Xia Qin for answers, but she didn’t respond directly, instead asking Lu Ping’an.
"Are you sure? You’re going to use that? Aren’t you worried about accidents?"
"More or less. At least I think it’s almost time, our time is limited, there’s no need to hesitate so much. Don’t worry, I have backup plans."
With Lu Ping’an’s affirmative answer, Xia Qin nodded confidently.
"We all have a way out, please rest assured."
Xia Qin’s answer put the rookies at ease... Sometimes, more trustworthy than ability seemed to be a person’s character and bottom line.
"Meow? What about me? Do I have to continue diving meow?"
"You continue, it’s alright. The Transformation Curse should be ineffective on you."
Transformation System was naturally strong against Transformation, something Lu Ping’an had only learned recently, plus...
"Shuiyun’s Beastification Curse is a talent-level self-cursing curse which is of the highest level, making it difficult to encounter an external curse to maliciously transform her... If we really did encounter it, we’d all be doomed and there’d be no difference."
Lu Ping’an repeated the words of the big cat, at least making himself appear as not so ruthless.
The mercenaries exchanged opinions through eye contact, ultimately saying nothing... At least until Lu Ping’an obviously issued an order to send them to their deaths, his orders were still valid.
After this small interlude, the team continued on.
In a way, this was also the drawback of a new team: lacking unity and trust in each other.
The subsequent cleanup, on the other hand, went much smoother... Lu Ping’an didn’t rush to the core level because he lacked information as well.
Catherine was after all the daughter of the Great Priest, only having traversed the secret passages a few times, she was clueless about the most critical areas, and it seemed that there was already a major issue there.
He and his team were simply patrolling patiently around, using Meow as a guard, attacking those that were easy to clean up and choosing to bypass those that seemed troublesome.
"We are not in a hurry, and there is no use being in a hurry... The ones who are really in a hurry are those Beast God believers and the intruders blocked below."
As he said this, Lu Ping’an took out clean food and water along with sleeping bags.
There was no need to emphasize the various advantages of the "courtyard." Lu Ping’an estimated that the few groups of people who rushed to kill and were chased in front didn’t carry much food... Even if they originally had enough food stored, it had been consumed almost completely on the way.
Food and water were as deadly to most strongmen as poison. When they were desperate, they would naturally try to find a way up... At that time, with intentional calculations and no intention, it would be much safer.
In actuality, Lu Ping’an’s thoughts were not only correct, but most of the teams below had indeed encountered a food crisis.
Ordinary travelers would adjust their food and drinking water according to the expected duration of their journey, but most people never expected that once they left the city, they couldn’t eat anything.
Normal travelers would eat game and wild vegetables along the way to adjust their diet and extend their fullness during their journey.
But this time... those mutated beasts and strange plants in the forest, anyone with even a little bit of common sense wouldn’t eat any of it.
Their consumption of dry rations along the way had already exceeded expectations, and the most critical issue was still water... Most people didn’t expect that after coming out, none of the water sources were clean. Some even saw their companions mutate on the spot after drinking "stream water."
Perhaps some people brought a certain amount of water through precious spatial devices, but definitely not much.
Lu Ping’an’s judgment was correct, no matter what they were doing below, they would eventually come up. Instead of blindly rushing into the core of the battle, it’s better to gather information first and then lie in wait.
The only problem probably was...
"Elder Brother Xue...."
"Uh, An Xin seems to think he won’t die that easily. If he’s lucky, maybe he’ll find the backup I prepared for him in his purse...."
However, Lu Ping’an became less and less confident as he spoke.
Luck? Does Xue En have it?
It seems Lu Ping’an had underestimated him. Not only did Xue En have luck, but he also had a lot of it. He went straight into the core of this underground tomb and saw the real God Corpse.
In front of him was the biggest treasure of the entire trip... Of course, it was also totally correct to call it the biggest bomb.
"Is this thing the Beast God that died?!"
Not far from his location... separated by just one wall, the Beast God cultists had fallen into madness.
Their sacred tomb had not only been invaded, but the resurrection ceremony of the deity also encountered some unexpected errors. What was even more deadly was that due to some completely inexplicable chance, an intruder entered their most forbidden area!
Ironically, at this time, other people simply couldn’t enter! It’s unbelievable that some random outsider could enter, while the legitimate Beast God believers were actually denied entry!
Even the always kind Great Priest’s face turned pale, feeling that his dignity and faith were trampled upon.
"Why is this so coincidental? Why did it turn into that kind of beastman? What are the odds of that happening..."
A series of coincidences ultimately created a miracle where the Beast God believers’ guarded tomb was intruded upon by an outsider of unknown origin.
The design of this underground forbidden area was to only allow "qualified people" to enter, and only one person at a time.
When that meatball rolled in, other people naturally couldn’t enter anymore.
Now, a group of people was stuck outside the door trying to communicate with the person inside...
"Come out, we promise everything. We beg you, we swear by the True Gods that we will never harm you."
"Yes, your luck is so extraordinary that you must be favored by the Gods. As soon as the deity is resurrected, you will be the most suitable Divine Son."
"Great Divine Son, you can look in the mirror. You are simply the real son of the great deity..."
But no matter how they threatened or enticed from the outside, even though they had sworn countless times by the deity, believers would never break their oath. The gate remained shut.
"Haha, what did you say? I don’t understand."
Uh, the reason is probably the language barrier.
Xue En raised his head and looked curiously at the huge coffin wrapped in metal threads, even feeling a little itchy to touch it.
He accidentally knocked over a decorative statue on the ground.
The sound of the collision made everyone outside cry out in anguish.
"...Please, don’t desecrate our deity’s body."
"Come out, I am willing to give up everything, even to worship you as my lord. My Lord bears witness..."
All sorts of even more desperate promises still had no response. Despair filled the monks, whose faith was now thoroughly shaken.
They could not understand why their journey had been so unlucky. Was the resurrection of the deity really against fate, and thus they were facing such a calamity?
"Why are we so unlucky, so very unlucky?! Has fate really abandoned us, abandoned our Lord? Our Lord’s Transformation art has seven forms, why did it just happen to become that type of bear-man, even more so an extremely rare variation amongst the bear-men where they naturally became a leader of the Forbidden Army once they were born... the black and white bear!"
Yes, that’s the key to it all.
Using the reflection on the shattered metal fragments scattered on the ground, Xue En saw his face clearly for the first time.
The two huge black eye circles on his dark face shocked him at first, but soon after seeing the bear face, he calmed down.
After all, how could anyone from the Eastern Country be scared by such a creature?
"Damn, a national treasure! Where did this national treasure come from?! Oh, it’s me. Well, that’s fine then."
— End of Chapter 487 —