"You've done well."
Linde's praise.JPG
Linde even had the image in his own head; it was from a meme the Undead players had posted.
Was it because he praised the Undead so often, making that particular gesture so frequently, that it had been screenshotted and turned into an emoji?
Faced with the Undead's expectant gazes, Linde still gave his praise. At least, from a normal perspective, Linde's praise was perfectly fine. It represented the lord's approval, the lord's respect, and represented anticipation and hope.
The other aspects, he could just pretend not to see. After all, he was an NPC. If he said he didn't see it, he didn't see it.
And the person Linde praised for doing well was none other than S&M, who had gone out to search for seed information. In his words, this time he had truly come back loaded.
"But I died, so I didn't bring back a single seed."
So much for coming back loaded.
Considering the recent situation in the territory, Linde finally decided to go out once with S&M.
The mutated crops that can be planted in large quantities, even in freezing weather, are extremely important and can directly solve the current food shortage problem in the territory.
And he discovered that the Undead also need to eat. Although most aren't very interested in food, there are some who are enthusiastic about "foreign cuisine."
Economic development is inseparable from agriculture. How could the Undead, hailing from the great foodie nation, not experience cuisine from another world?
So, whether it's for economic development or to tie down the Undead's stomachs, food is a necessity.
"Solo quest!"
S&M was pleasantly surprised. He wasn't exactly a min-maxer player and did things by the book. His only hobbies were farming and a bit of tower defense.
But on the road, he couldn't help but chat with Linde.
"After that stretch of road ahead, I climbed a tree and saw a village in the distance."
S&M pointed to the dead forest ahead, describing his experience at the time.
He himself found it amazing. Was it that there was never a moment of peace in this world? Just walking around, you'd run into a group of bloodthirsty monsters, just like last night, like the night before... every action meant danger.
The daylight shone through the dead forest, and the twisted tree trunks swayed like gaunt, ghostly shadows.
The cold, fishy wind blew through the trees, sharply clawing at the trunks and scraping out a series of chilling, high-pitched sounds.
Linde tightened his coat. The wind in the forest was sharp like needles, and pricked the skin with a strange, stinging sensation, like a red-hot needle piercing his skin.
Was there a volcano ahead?
Based on Linde's simple understanding of the area around Star Dragon Outpost, to the north were mountains and the ancient battlefield where the Undead "respawned."
To the south was Prei Town, a journey that would take a full day's march at a fast pace.
To the west was the dead forest. Beyond the dead forest to the west was Banshee Lake, which the doomsday survivors considered absolutely forbidden to approach. Further west were the Misty Cliffs, where the mist completely obscured the view, and no matter how strong the wind, it couldn't blow the mist away.
The mist made no strange sounds, but it screamed "keep out."
To the east of Star Dragon Outpost was a canyon passage called "Dragon Tooth Pass." Linde and his subordinates had never been there. "Dragon Tooth Pass" didn't even exist before the apocalypse.
It was probably that the shattering of the magic circle caused tectonic movement, and even a small volcano had risen from within Dragon Tooth Pass, like a noticeable pimple on a long, thin face, occasionally oozing out scalding "pus."
Linde could still remember some of the road back to Golia, but after all, he wasn't the Linde from before, so he didn't remember it too clearly. Heading east was inevitable, and the east would inevitably lead to an encounter with that nouveau riche noble, indefinitely postponing his plans to find his fiancée and seek help from Prince.
He glanced up at the sky.
His sense of direction was strong, and he was definitely heading west. How could there be hot embers to the west?
"What's the situation with that village?" Linde asked.
Perhaps the Undead before him had brought another surprise.
"They're all huddled together."
S&M recalled, "They don't change their clothes much, they smell terrible, their skin is wrinkled, and they're always singing strange poems. But not many can sing the poems properly; most just cackle, shriek, cry, and roar."
"They're completely like diseased wolves wrapped in wrinkled human skin," S&M said, trying to find the right words. "Yeah, that village has no young people. They're all sickly old people, aged beyond recognition."
"Maybe what you encountered wasn't an ordinary village."
Linde was wary.
Villages? They were a rare sight in this world.
Castles, outposts, towns, settlements, camps, or even bonfires were more reliable than a "village."
The two finally walked out of the dead forest. They hadn't encountered any dangers along the way, not even a single rat, creatures with the strongest survival instincts.
In the distance, a dozen or so dead trees had twisted together into one, like a giant ghostly claw reaching for the sky. Three or five tombstones were also being carried into the air, squeezed by the tree trunks. The deadwood, seemingly completely devoid of life, was probably the most resilient, unmutated plant in the area.
Thorn vines wrapped around the "fingers" of the ghostly claw. Mutated and non-mutated plants leaned on each other and coexisted, appearing very strange.
A dozen or so incomplete skeletons were pulled by the vines, hanging like marionettes beneath the vast, sky-blocking "ghostly claw."
The cold wind blew, and the white bones swayed.
A white bone arm fell, landing in front of the two.
Adding a bit of doomsday horror and desolation.
"From here on," S&M continued to lead the way, but Linde reached out and grabbed him.
"Hold up."
"What's wrong, Lord?" S&M asked, curiously following Linde's gaze down to the ground.
There was a series of massive hoofprints on the ground.
Giant hoofprints had appeared on the road from Star Dragon Outpost to Prei Town. Now, hoofprints were appearing to the west as well. Either there was more than one of those monsters, or it was nomadic and wandered around.
It might barge into Star Dragon Outpost at any time.
"That's one big horse," S&M clicked his tongue, but no matter how closely he stared, he couldn't get any more information. "Could it be a mount?"
"It's an enemy!"
Linde examined the terrain and, based on his experience, determined that the giant hoofed monster's target was in the direction of Banshee Lake. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's go. Keep leading the way."
"Lord, shouldn't we go and take care of that thing?" S&M pointed at the hoofprints.
With Linde as his crutch, if they could directly kill it, the experience and rewards would definitely make the others green with envy.
He just liked farming, but that didn't mean he'd refuse free experience.
"We'll investigate later. Our primary goal is the village you mentioned, and the seeds."
"Yes, Lord!" S&M nodded.
He guessed it was probably related to a hidden questline, or maybe it was a field elite monster like last night.
He had no intention of fighting a BOSS himself; he had no equipment and no levels, but other players might be interested.
They completely left the dead forest, passed through the "ghostly claw" giant tree, and as they walked, Linde felt something was wrong. "Are you sure you're going the right way?"
That burning sensation was now behind him. If the target was the burning sensation, then S&M must have taken the wrong path.
S&M didn't react and continued forward. Linde reached out and pressed on his head, then patted his cheek.
"Ouch, wait, wait, wait a minute! I'm losing health!" S&M's eyes returned to normal.
"I... Lord, I thought I heard someone calling my name just now, so I subconsciously followed them."
He looked ahead, his face full of discomfort.
He had never encountered this kind of situation when playing games before. Could it be that when a player was controlled, their mind was really out of their control?
Linde was also looking ahead, but he was thinking about more.
"Banshee Lake!"