Chapter 293: Noble Group
After injecting the serum, Zhou Ning's main attributes became [Strength 49, Agility 242, Stamina 126, Spirit 134]. The rest remained unchanged, but his health increased by a full 1000 points—about one-third of the original.
On top of that, there was an unexpected bonus: this serum boosted his reaction speed and attack speed by 5%, and even granted an additional 20% magic resistance, making him far more comfortable when fighting mage classes. An absolute windfall!
The only pity was that, judging from the simulation process, fifth-generation serum should already be the pinnacle of the Marvel world. Opportunities for this kind of specialization boost would be increasingly rare and hard to come by.
After stowing away the materials, Zhou Ning noticed that the banquet outside was still going on. Richie Burke and his men were belting out another pirate song, howling like ghosts—it was painfully off-key.
Zhou Ning wished he could loop "Chicken You Are So Beautiful" on them as suppression.
The next morning, according to the original plan, the group was to head deep into the Allsop Marsh in search of "Storm" Wilt's treasure. According to Richie Burke, the hoard was hidden in a cave in the southeastern part of the swamp, a very concealed location.
Zhou Ning planned to spend one or two days retrieving this treasure, then return to Darkland immediately, regardless of the outcome.
At 8 a.m., with Richie Burke and a few sailors manning the controls, the alchemy array at the stern of the Myrny Rooster activated. As the propeller spun rapidly, the ship gradually lifted into the sky.
Strictly speaking, this kind of vessel was a semi-manned ship. Besides the alchemy array, meteorologists were required to maintain the wind direction and humidity around the ship. Thus, pirate fleets usually had three to four meteorologists on hand. In Zhou Ning's memory, it wasn't until the third version that more advanced floating ships began to spread.
Standing on the deck, Zhou Ning gazed down while fiddling with the compass that never pointed north. Its needle remained locked on the southeast, unmoving. From the high vantage point, he could see scattered ruins in the swamp amid sparse shrubs—altars, houses, all kinds of architecture.
Beside him, Richie Burke leaned casually against the railing, boasting to a few players:
"These down there are the ruins of the ancient Modorik people, now occupied by swamp Pygmies," Burke said. "The ancient Modorik people were once the overlords of the hills and marshes, controlling nearly a third of Ruins and the ancient Falric Kingdom's swamps and mountains. Later, after collectively mutating from worshiping some evil god, they were forced to migrate into this swamp."
"I once snuck in here while searching for the captain's treasure," Burke continued solemnly. "I got caught and was nearly cooked into a pot of stew. If I hadn't pissed myself in time and held out until rescue came, I'd have been dead for sure."
Turns out the guy was a deadpan jokester. Zhou Ning chuckled. He suddenly remembered he had a strange cube called the Modorik Cube, traded from that antlered man for a Devil Fruit. He wondered if it had any connection to these swamp Pygmies.
Checking his inventory, Zhou Ning found the cube—composed of 200 small blocks, resembling a giant Rubik's Cube. He had solved it long ago after two months, but never figured out how to use it. All he knew was that the words on it included "sun," "sacrifice," and "reward."
Before long, the Myrny Rooster slowed to a stop and began to descend.
Before Zhou Ning could ask, Richie Burke explained: "The next stretch can't be sailed. It's an extreme elemental climate zone of life energy, where moving life tides often occur. If we sail in, we won't have time to dodge them. We can only continue on foot."
Zhou Ning nodded. The Apocalypse World indeed had many such extreme elemental zones. What John had described earlier as the 'miracle of life' must have been one of these moving life tides. Zhou Ning had no interest in being transformed into a woman.
Leaving about ten pirates behind to guard the ship, Zhou Ning led several players, along with Burke and others, into the swamp.
Compared to the outer edges, the trees here were denser, with heavy green mist hanging between them.
There were also more poisonous insects and life-element creatures. They soon encountered a new monster—the Swamp Crawler, a giant spider. Although only around level 40, for players at this stage, each was a high-level boss monster. With the pirates' numbers, they could still be brought down through sheer manpower.
"Come to think of it, these monsters also drop Life Cores…" Zhou Ning's eyes flickered with thought.
From then on, he refrained from taking part in combat directly. Instead, he issued a task to collect Life Cores, letting his little Deathwing leech some experience on the side. He only intervened when danger arose. Along the way, he unknowingly leveled up to 19.
Even so, the players were thrilled. Not only had they made up the experience they'd previously lost, they gained more besides—roughly the equivalent of grinding two full days.
"Wait, there's fighting ahead!" Richie Burke's voice came from the mist in front. He had been scouting ahead.
Zhou Ning frowned. He too heard the clash of blades. Peering through the fog, he saw figures locked in battle with a group of swamp Pygmies not far away.
They wore gaudy red and green outfits—familiar faces. Wasn't this the same noble travel party he had encountered a few days earlier at the edge of the Allsop Marsh, the ones searching for the so-called miracle of life out of boredom?
Sure enough, as they drew closer, Zhou Ning spotted Argus, the mercenary captain he had spoken with before, clad in a black mercenary coat and wielding a greatsword. He was fighting seven or eight swamp Pygmies at once. The other mercenaries were also holding off three enemies apiece, already bloodied with cuts.
While the mercenaries fought desperately, their employers cowered behind them in terror, occasionally tossing out a support spell. Of them all, the foppish Spark Lambert—who once tried to flirt with Zhou Ning—was unexpectedly the bravest.
"Pride makes people progress; humility makes them pitiful!"
After reciting the words, Spark Lambert's sword suddenly grew massive. He raised it high and brought it crashing down on a Pygmy. The display was full of momentum but lacked lethality. The Pygmy was sent flying but quickly scrambled up, snarling curses at him.
Zhou Ning was taken aback. Idiotic as he looked, Spark Lambert turned out to be a Family Creed Knight? If memory served, the unlucky Joshua Lambert—closely tied to the Ascetics—was from the Lambert family as well…
"Should we help?" Richie Burke whispered, retreating to Zhou Ning's side.
"Wait a bit," Zhou Ning said in a low voice.
Based on his past life's game experience, this kind of situation could trigger a rescue quest—but only if the other party asked for help first. This was also the chance to unlock reputation with a new faction.