[Eastern region of Inferno City, Wilderness]
[Lv58 Dragon Ruins (Black Iron Rank 5)]
Under the temporary boost from the [Rank Boost] scroll, the four level 53 players, Sword Shield Warrior Ming Yuexin, Illusion Mage Divine Nation Donghuang Taiyi, Healer Divine Nation Nuwa, and Paladin Divine Nation Erlang Zhenjun, temporarily raised their rank to Black Iron Rank 5 and were currently fighting the Dragon Shadow together inside the ruins.
Taunt!
Defense!
BOOM!
With a loud blast, Zhao Jun raised his shield and successfully blocked the blazing dragon flame sprayed from the phantom monster Dragon Shadow while all his defense skills were active.
However, under the continuous burning of the dragon flame, Zhao Jun, who was almost swallowed by the fire, still saw his HP bar dropping wildly even with every defense skill activated!
He quickly turned around and shouted toward Lin Miaomiao in the backline, "Miaomiao, where's my healing? Heal me already! This thing hits too hard! I can't hold on anymore!"
Lin Miaomiao answered impatiently, "I know you're in a hurry, but calm down first!"
"Hold on! My skill still has three seconds of cooldown!"
Zhao Jun instantly felt hopeless.
"Three seconds... Get ready to collect my corpse."
Right after he said that, He Xiao shouted, "I got this!"
"You damn thief! Don't hurt my son!"
As he spoke, He Xiao waved his staff and threw a [Polymorph] that had just finished cooldown at the Dragon Shadow, turning it into a little sheep.
It at least bought Zhao Jun a few seconds to catch his breath.
Almost at the exact moment the Polymorph ended, Lin Miaomiao's skill cooldown finished.
"Heals are here!"
Minor Heal!
Major Heal!
Rain of Healing!
Whoosh!
Waves of green light fell onto Zhao Jun's body, and green recovery numbers immediately popped up above his head.
+3468!
+5516!
+2012! +2012! +2012!
In an instant, Zhao Jun recovered from critical health to over seventy percent HP.
Full of energy again, he lifted his shield and continued blocking the Dragon Shadow's attacks.
At this moment, Ling Xue, the team's only main damage dealer, recovered some condition through potions, then rushed forward with a combo attack and finally managed to kill the Dragon Shadow.
Roar!
With a cry, the Dragon Shadow died and scattered into smoke.
The four people on the field all let out long breaths.
"It's finally dead! Damn, this Dragon Shadow is even harder to kill than a novel protagonist! We almost got wiped by a normal mob! We'd be too embarrassed to tell anyone about this!"
After He Xiao finished complaining, Lin Miaomiao placed her hands on her waist and said, "Of course! The Dragon Clan is one of the strongest races in the Oracle world."
"Besides, what we're facing now isn't even a real dragon, just a dragon shadow. A real dragon is way stronger than this shadow."
"The main issue is that Sun Yang isn't here. Little Xue is handling all the damage output alone. We're lacking DPS," Zhao Jun turned back to Ling Xue and said, "Everything we're doing is for Rulebound anyway. Since that's the case, why not just call him over to help?"
"Rulebound alone is stronger than the four of us combined. If he's here, we can finish the treasure map quest faster and get the treasure."
Ling Xue walked to where the Dragon Shadow disappeared and picked up a broken dragon horn fragment that had dropped onto the ground.
She said happily, "If he finds out now, then it won't be a surprise anymore."
"I'll wait until we get the treasure, then give him a surprise."
The moment she said that, the other three all reacted with disdain.
He Xiao: "Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! Ling Xue, you've changed! You've never cared this much about me before! Sigh! Heartbroken! So sad! Mushroom!"
Zhao Jun: "I think I smell the sour stink of romance."
Lin Miaomiao: "The first use of your SS-rank talent Dragon Seeking Art. You've been saving dragon souls since Oracle launched and wouldn't even use it on yourself, but now you just gave it away like this. Sister Ling, even I'm touched by this surprise."
"When Vice Guild Master Lin Mo receives this surprise from you, he'll definitely be really moved too."
Ling Xue casually replied, "Whatever~ I didn't do this to move him anyway."
Even though she acted like she didn't care.
Inside, Ling Xue was very much looking forward to the expression Lin Mo would make after receiving the surprise she carefully prepared for him.
Lin Miaomiao tagged Sun Yang in the F5 group chat: ["Big bro, hurry up digging those blood crystals! Once we get the hidden quest from the Inferno City Mine Foreman, we can recover some losses from Sister Ling's Dragon Seeking Art talent."]
[Sun Yang: "Stop rushing me! I'm digging! My hoe is practically smoking already! You guys have it easy while I'm doing all the hard labor alone!"]
[He Xiao: "Easy my ass! I almost died several times! How about we switch? You come kill dragons while I go mine?"]
[Sun Yang: "Kill what? Dragons?"]
["Forget it, I'll keep mining! Being tired is whatever. Mainly because I like mining."]
Ling Xue put away the fragment she had just obtained and said, "Third dragon horn fragment acquired. Let's go, next stop!"
As soon as Ling Xue finished speaking, the four left the Dragon Ruins.
———
[At the Same Time, Elsewhere]
[Southern Region of Inferno City, Wilderness]
[Lv53 Savage Tribe (Black Iron Rank 2)]
Large groups of Chaotic World players formed teams of three to five people, killing monsters and leveling up.
Slash!
As Wang Junjie swung his sword down and killed a level 53 Barbarian, he crazily stomped on the Barbarian's butt as if venting his anger.
Hold it in for a moment and get a heart attack, take a step back and get breast hyperplasia.
Even though a whole day had already passed, the more Wang Junjie thought about it now, the angrier he became.
"Damn it! Those bastards from Storm Guild actually dared steal my stuff?"
"If it weren't for them, I'd already have gotten that S-rank skill book! Rulebound would've already joined Chaotic World! Ruoxi would've already become my girlfriend too."
Just as Wang Junjie became more upset the more he thought about it.
Ding!
Strategist Zhuge Jie suddenly sent a message: ["Brother Jie, I found a hidden quest on Inferno City's Mine Foreman, Lyle."]
["As long as we go to the Blood Mine map and dig up a certain number of blood crystals, we can use the blood crystals to trigger Lyle's hidden quest."]
However, Wang Junjie was completely focused on how to recruit Lin Mo into Chaotic World and win goddess Han Ruoxi's heart. He couldn't even bring himself to care about a hidden quest.
["You take people and do it yourself. I can't be bothered."]
["No!",] Zhuge Jie said, ["Brother Jie, we can't do this quest ourselves."]
["What I mean is, we can first collect the blood crystals, then offer this hidden quest trigger opportunity to Rulebound."]
["Just like the S-rank skill book from Silent Destruction Town before, we can use this chance to gain Rulebound's favor and get him to join us."]
Hearing this, Wang Junjie's eyes instantly lit up.
["Holy shit?"]
["Great idea! Hahaha, good strategist! As expected of you!"]
["But,"] Zhuge Jie continued, ["according to my investigation, the Blood Mine map has already been occupied by people from Divine Nation Guild. They've probably already discovered the secret behind this hidden quest too."]
["And this Divine Nation Guild happens to be the guild Rulebound currently belongs to."]
Hearing that, Wang Junjie didn't care at all.
["Hmph! A mere Divine Nation dares compete with Chaotic World for something?"]
["They dare occupy Chaotic World territory? Then we'll wipe out Divine Nation."]
["I must get this hidden quest! Let the people of Divine Nation see who's the boss of Inferno City."]
["Rulebound has to become my man."] [T/N: Geh!]
As he spoke, Wang Junjie gave the order, "Immediately gather everyone in the guild and follow me to the Blood Mine."
"Destroy Divine Nation!"
"Take the hidden quest!"
"Yes!"
———
[Offline]
[Capital of Dragon Nation, Imperial City]
[Han Family, Chairman's office]
A middle-aged man around thirty years old, dressed in a suit with sharp features, sat behind the desk. In front of him stood two stunning girls whose appearances were almost identical.
Han Ruoli looked guilty.
"Sorry, President Han. I failed the task. Although I released the beast tide and successfully held Divine Nation back, they still tracked us down and wiped us out in the end, causing heavy losses to the guild."
Han Ruoxi quickly said, "It's not Sister's fault! It's all my fault! I asked her to find a way to keep Divine Nation trapped in Blazing Ember City, but I still failed to recruit Rulebound during that chance... Uncle, punish me instead."
It turned out the man was the uncle of sisters Han Ruoli and Han Ruoxi. He was also the current head of the Han family, Han Cheng.
Han Cheng lightly tapped the desk with his index finger.
Looking at his two beautiful nieces, not only did he show no blame, he even felt a little sorry for them.
"We're family. Don't say things that hurt feelings."
"It's just a small setback. Nothing worth worrying about."
"Uncle believes in you two. You'll definitely lead Blood Dance Guild to the top."
"Go ahead and do what you need to do. Uncle will always be your strongest support."
Han Ruoli and Han Ruoxi nodded.
"Thank you, Uncle!"
Han Cheng smiled and waved his hand.
"Go on. If you need any financial support, just tell me."
After leaving the chairman's office, Han Ruoxi frowned slightly and said, "Sis, I know this isn't nice to say, but..."
"Don't you think Uncle Han Cheng used to always be harsh toward our family before Dad left? He was never this good to us before."
Han Ruoli stayed silent for a moment, "No matter what, Uncle is the only person who can help our Han family rise again."
"Mhm," Han Ruoxi nodded.
Then she lowered her head, feeling guilty and blaming herself, "Sorry, Sis. It was because I asked you to hold Divine Nation back that the guild got wiped out and everyone lost levels. That's why you're still stuck over in Snowstorm City and can't come to Inferno City yet..."
"It's fine," There wasn't a trace of blame in Han Ruoli's eyes, "It's only a small failure. We'll work harder next time."
"Oh right, I heard you formed an alliance with Chaotic World?"
Han Ruoxi nodded and said, "Wang Junjie is already trying to recruit Rulebound. I think with his financial power, it'll be easier for him than us to recruit Rulebound. And as long as Rulebound isn't in Divine Nation, that's beneficial for us."
"Mhm, that plan works," Han Ruoli thought for a moment and said, "But we can't just sit back and watch. Wang Junjie has never dealt with Ming Yuexin before, so he'll definitely underestimate Divine Nation. We need to help Chaotic World and fight Divine Nation together with them."
Just as she said that, Han Ruoxi suddenly received an in-game message.
[Blood Dance Berserker: "Second Miss, our people discovered Wang Junjie leading Chaotic World toward the Blood Mine map. Their purpose is unknown, but we've heard Divine Nation players have already occupied the Blood Mine area. Should we follow them?"]
["Follow them!"] Han Ruoxi gave the order without hesitation, ["You guys head over first. I'll log in immediately."]
At this moment, Han Ruoli reminded Han Ruoxi, "We don't have many people on the Inferno City side. Be careful, especially against Divine Nation. Think things through before acting and don't be impulsive!"
"Once I bring the guild's main force back to level 50, I'll go to Inferno City and meet up with you."
"Okay, don't worry, Sis. I know what I'm doing."