The rumbling vibrations lasted for nearly three minutes before finally subsiding, as deep red crystals rained down onto the ground like droplets.
"Bloodflame Crystal x3 picked up."
The man with glasses picked up a fragmented blood-colored crystal from the ground and looked at it closely; its surface was sharply angled, and fine cracks were faintly visible inside. Its color was a magnificent dark red, with a faint fluorescence shimmering deep within, as if a ball of fire were burning inside.
Information related to this crystal automatically popped up on his lenses.
"Item: bloodflame crystal."
"Quality: dim (White)."
"Glorious as blood, containing a hidden flame."
He recognized this type of crystal; it could store and release massive amounts of energy. Due to its unique physical properties, it was often processed into energy minerals, made into explosives for mountain excavation and lake expansion, or even used in the field of warfare.
The famous Kowloon ship, the home base of Kowloon Information Enterprise, had twenty-seven Scarlet Dragon engines driven by energy provided by this mineral.
However, because the transportation costs of this mineral were immense—high temperatures or impacts could easily cause the crystal shell to shatter—the fire marrow inside would leak out. Once it did, it would trigger a series of chemical reactions that would blow an entire company transport convoy into the sky.
Scandals regarding such major accidents were frequently exposed during that era. With the widespread application of magnetic confinement nuclear fusion technology, a cleaner and safer energy option became available. Naturally, the major companies had no reason to continue choosing bloodflame crystals with their high management costs. They had essentially stopped the operation of such mines, so he hadn't expected to encounter them in a place like Oasis.
"No wonder the guild leader chose to lure those monsters to the pier; it was to wipe them all out in one go,"
the man with glasses thought to himself.
"Don't daze off; clear out the remaining monsters."
A reminder came to his ears.
He turned his head and found the others spontaneously cleaning up the battlefield, using their weapons to finish off the struggling, snarling rat-men.
For some reason, as he watched the guild members start to put their arms around each other's shoulders, talking and laughing, an unknown sense of oddity suddenly rose in his heart. Yet, he couldn't put his finger on exactly what felt strange.
He clearly remembered that before they set out, the members of Light-Chaser Garden were still distant from one another, but now they seemed to be getting along quite harmoniously.
"Suosuo, give it back! I saw that first!"
Xixi waved her fists as she chased after the girl running ahead.
"Xixi, finders keepers! This pendant can increase the agility attribute, so it's very useful for me!"
Suosuo looked back and stuck out her tongue, making a face.
"I'm a ranger! I need the agility attribute too!"
With a flying leap, Xixi tackled Suosuo onto the grass. The two girls rolled around and played, letting out silvery, pleasant laughter.
On the other side, four or five players were besieging the heavy cannon lord. The latter's two fists were no match for four hands; the rotten flesh on its face was charred and curled, and its magnificent robes were in tatters, hanging from its shoulders in strips. Next to it lay a pile of slave corpses.
Where was even a fraction of its former arrogance?
"I'll tank the damage! You guys hurry up and finish it!"
Golden Beetle gave a loud shout, buffing himself with Copper Skin and Iron Bones to forcefully block a blow from the heavy cannon.
"I'll take the harvest from here!"
Shadow Weaver Poem smiled confidently.
"Watch closely and see the worth of the fifty-third ranked shadow striker on the Rising Star Rankings!"
A black silhouette was seen tumbling into the fray, dashing and darting, dodging and weaving. He continuously evaded the heavy cannon fire, keeping his body almost pressed to the ground. His two daggers spun halfway in the air, piercing through the heavy cannon lord like a bolt of lightning!
"HP -200! You have dealt slashing damage to heavy cannon lord Jolf Starfall, triggering the passive skill 'Throat Cut,' adding bleeding and silence effects!"
"Roar!"
Two blood-red blade lights sliced through the darkness. A fountain of blood erupted from the heavy cannon lord's throat. After letting out an unwilling roar, it fell to the ground, its figure becoming transparent as it exploded into a pile of loot.
Shadow Weaver Poem flipped three hundred and sixty degrees in the air and landed steadily. He spread his hands, preparing to enjoy the cheers of the guild's girls, only to find that not a single person's attention was on him. Instead, they were all staring toward the riverbank.
"Guild leader!"
"Dark Gold Rose!"
Two soaking wet figures walked in the shadows of the moonlight. Xu Xiaoyou's blonde hair was wet from the water, clinging to her cheeks and shoulders, looking a bit dim. The girl she was carrying on her back had her head lowered, her drooping silver hair masking her face,
making it difficult to see her features clearly.
"Why were you acting so stupid?"
Xu Xiaoyou asked with a slight frown.
Angelina remained silent and did not answer. Xu Xiaoyou thought the other girl would get angry at her as usual, or at least retort with a few sarcastic words. But the girl only wrapped her arms around Xu Xiaoyou's shoulders, letting her support her body as they walked slowly forward.
After the proficiency of her Substitute reached the sublime level, Xu Xiaoyou was already able to swap places with her Substitute. If she hadn't made preparations in advance and positioned her Substitute by the river, things tonight might have spiraled out of her control.
She set Angelina down, and the latter looked up to meet her gaze. Without a word, Angelina summoned her long spear and joined the team clearing the battlefield.
Xu Xiaoyou didn't understand what had suddenly come over the other girl. As she turned her head, she saw Akabane Tsubaki hopping toward her, holding a mask to her face with her fingertips, tilting her head slightly with a lighthearted smile.
Shaking her head, Xu Xiaoyou stopped thinking so much about it.
At that moment, the guild members who had been cheering around the heavy cannon lord's corpse all looked over with shrinking faces. The loot they held was frozen in mid-air; they didn't know whether to put it away or hand it over.
"What are you looking at me for? Go ahead and roll for your loot,"
Xu Xiaoyou said with a chuckle.
The players thought they had misheard and stood frozen. After a moment, they looked at each other and saw joy on one another's faces. Someone was the first to shout.
"Long live the guild leader!"
"Yeah! Long live the guild leader!"
"This is great!"
Cheers broke the silence of the night. Xu Xiaoyou waved her hand.
"Stop, stop, stop. My ears are hurting from the noise."
Everyone burst into laughter, and only then did the noise settle down.
After waving for them to handle the loot themselves, Xu Xiaoyou turned and walked into the town. Before long, she arrived in front of The Lord's House pub. Akabane Tsubaki ran up quickly from behind.
"Yuzu, is this really okay? Aren't you afraid they'll get too... loose?"
You had to know that those large guilds always had extremely strict rules when raiding dungeons. All dropped items had to be uniformly registered and handed over, to be distributed by the guild management.
Especially for the serious offense of hoarding loot; once discovered, one would be kicked out of the guild at best, and at worst, be bombarded by server-wide announcements and jointly ostracized by all major guilds until they were driven to a dead end, forced to delete their account and leave Oasis forever.
"I'm afraid they'll develop bad habits,"
Akabane Tsubaki blinked.
"Different scales naturally require different management styles,"
Xu Xiaoyou said, looking back.
"Right now, what we need is development. If we push the little sheep too hard and scare them away, what then?"
"It's about quality, not quantity. What I need currently is an elite force—people who can precisely and rapidly identify the crux of a problem and resolve it. In my eyes, the 'cost' is not even half as important as 'efficiency'..."
As Xu Xiaoyou was speaking, a graceful blue silhouette flashed past in the corner of her eye, disappearing into the entrance of the pub.
Akabane Tsubaki nodded somewhat blankly, but then saw Xu Xiaoyou's expression freeze as she broke into a run toward the pub...
Rate on N.U.
