Chapter 57: The Earth-Flame Elemental Tribe

Dachun was amazed. Did this "Transform into Earth-Flame Element" refer to turning into the shape of this giant rock monster?

Let's try transforming.

The next moment, Dachun's figure flickered indistinctly, and he actually turned into a small creature with his whole body glowing with crystalline flames and steam billowing off him.

——System Prompt: You have transformed into an Earth-Flame Element. You have drastically reduced the hostility of the Earth-Flame Elements toward you.

Huh?

Dachun raised his eyes and looked. The giant rock monster patrolling in the distance had indeed changed from a red name to a yellow name!

Damn it, this isn't a transformation at all; it's practically a change of race! Does that mean he could blend into their tribe looking like this? Wouldn't that be equivalent to developing a little sanctuary completely free from the overseers' monitoring?

In his excitement, Dachun decided to go and meet a giant rock monster face-to-face. Yellow names never lie. If the yellow name wasn't enough, he would just keep finding snowflakes to eat until he reached a green name.

Just as Dachun was timidly approaching, the giant rock monster abruptly turned its head, and Dachun was genuinely startled by its alert radius!

A steady, humming voice came over: "Little thing, go see the leader!"

Ah, what? Is it really this casual when encountering a stranger? Fine!

Dachun followed it deeper into the mining area, feeling as though he were trailing behind a towering mountain.

——System Prompt: You have obtained the step-synchronization effect of the Earth-Flame Element.

What is this again?

Dachun felt the scenery around him flying backward like the scenery outside the window of a high-speed train. Space travel again? An ordinary mob on this 7th floor has this kind of capability? Or could it be that the other party isn't a mob, but an NPC?

A massive crystal mountain piercing straight up into the dome suddenly appeared ahead.

Dachun was astonished. A mountain this tall should have been visible when he first came ashore. He could confirm that he had crossed into a new map without realizing it. If it hadn't been for this giant rock monster's guiding spell, it would probably have been very difficult to find this place under normal circumstances.

At the foot of the mountain was a huge, sparkling purple cavern, guarded by large squads of giant rock monsters outside the entrance.

Entering the cavern revealed another vast expanse, as if he had been placed beneath a purple firmament. An oversized giant, much like the Leshan Giant Buddha, sat beside a muddy lake of boiling purple magma.

This had to be the leader boss. It was hard to imagine how tall it would be if it stood up!

The leader's majestic, thunderous voice resounded throughout the entire cavern space: "Welcome to the free underground world. I am Dibilong, son of the Earth Mother Celia. Are you willing to complete the tasks of the Dibilong tribe?"

It really was a wilderness village!

Dachun nodded repeatedly: "I am willing!"

"Then please go and mine those crystal flowers in the small tunnels of the cavern. We are too large to fit in there. Mine as many as you can, and then bring them to me."

——System Prompt: You have obtained the Dibilong tribe's daily reputation quest, "Gather Crystal Flowers."

Just like the pattern of the villages outside the city, it all started with infinite resource-collection quests.

Dachun couldn't help asking: "Lord Dibilong—"

The giant interrupted him: "My name is Dibilong!"

Ugh, you can be easygoing since you're strong, but I can't be confused about my place—your subordinates clearly call you leader!

Dachun asked: "Leader Dibilong, aren't you going to ask about my background?"

Dibilong said: "You come from the outside world!"

Uh... fair enough. Perhaps this was the confidence of the strong; it didn't care whether he was a spy, and probably didn't care if he casually ate its flowers either. So he wouldn't ask further. Once he completed quests and raised his reputation, it would naturally speak up. In fact, he could basically guess: the dead demon was an enemy who had sneaked into the village, and the tribe was probably at odds with all demons. This was precisely the backing he needed!

Dachun looked around the cavern and indeed saw quite a few small tunnels. Entering one of the tunnels, he was met with densely packed snowflakes!

Holy shit! Holy shit! Ordinary village quests required racking one's brains to gather resources, but here it was practically spoon-feeding him resource gathering to level 10 expert, and reaching Grandmaster wasn't even a dream!

——System Prompt: The current scene supports idle questing. Would you like to idle and automatically complete the quest?

My favorite idle questing!

Then let's idle. No more sneaky snacking; he would throw all his efforts into stacking up his reputation first.

With the clone alt finally settled and free from the worry of death, Dachun let out a massive sigh of relief. Then, he switched back to his main character. His main was currently sitting beneath the pleasant morning breeze and clear skies, fishing endlessly. With this feeling, even the caw of a crow sounded as melodious as a seagull.

While idling, it was time to take a break.

Checking the time, it was 9:00 PM. There were only 3 hours left until the expiration of the "Newcomer Three-Day Super Discount" period. At this moment, mid-to-high-end players all over the world would be making their final sprint, right?

As for himself, his dinner had been delayed by instant noodles, so he certainly couldn't delay his midnight snack. The more crucial this sprinting moment was, the more he needed to maintain a calm, effortless, and laid-back persona!

Off to have late-night beer.

As soon as he went downstairs, the fragrant aroma of instant noodles hit him in the face. For internet café regulars, eating never had a fixed schedule, especially at night.

The other gamers immediately called out: "Bro Chun is down! Bro Chun, you're awesome, what a huge move!"

Only then did Dachun remember the matter of being reported for spreading the plague, which had triggered a system announcement. Damn it, although it happened in the afternoon, he had been way too busy and completely forgot.

Dachun helplessly prepared his excuse: "I was fishing at night with a lamp hanging on my boat when a treasure-hunting ship happened to pass by, saw the light out of curiosity, recognized me, and reported me..."

The other gamers looked astonished: "That's minor stuff! The big deal is—"

God Wei panicked: "Stop talking, everyone! This is classified intelligence, why are you asking?"

Only then did the gamers snap out of it, laughing heartily: "Right, right, right, classified! Don't ask, don't ask! Bro Chun just needs to keep being awesome."

Holy shit, holy shit! Could it be that the area announcement of me killing the slime was seen by players passing nearby?

Dachun had no choice but to walk over to God Wei's terminal and ask quietly, "God Wei, what big deal are you talking about?"

God Wei wore a bizarre expression: "Bro Chun, are you serious?? NPCs on the dock merchant ships are spreading the news everywhere: Plague Island is blazing with light at night!"

So it really was what Piku had said. Passing merchant ships had seen it, and it had actually triggered an event!

Dachun feigned complete ignorance: "I have the plague, my vision is completely blurred! I thought it was just the sea reflection from the fishing lamps on the boat!"

God Wei nodded repeatedly: "Understood! Don't overwork yourself, Bro Chun, go eat."

Damn it, this old fox didn't believe it at all and was convinced I had pulled off something huge! Even he had such deep insight, let alone the experts from other financial syndicates...

Dachun continued to ask: "I want to know what happens if you spread the plague?"

God Wei said solemnly: "A huge part of the blame for spreading that crime is going to fall on Bro Chun's head."

Did Piku say there was a secret base?

Damn it, if there wasn't, was he lying to me? For example, relying on a full body of plague to sneak into some port and stir up trouble?

Dachun felt a little panicked: "Don't I have to be exiled for life?"

The gamers laughed: "It's a game after all, how could a real exile last that long? The heavier the crime, the more qualified you are to be a pirate!"

"Exactly! With Bro Chun's fame, you might just become the number one pirate player in the entire world! Then you can have a passionate romance with the Pirate Queen!"

Dachun grew interested: "Is being a pirate actually a good thing?"

The gamers laughed: "Anyway, being the number one is definitely beneficial!"

"That's right, Bro Chun, hold your ground and don't panic..."

How could he not panic? He was the most panicked person in the entire world.

...

God's Front Seat Headquarters.

The spice island investigation ship dispatched by the count entered the tide space at the designated time and arrived at the target location. Team leader player Yugimaru transmitted a live feed back: "Young master, I don't see any spices."

Although he had been mentally prepared for a long time, the young master was still immensely disappointed: "None of you are to go ashore. Have the Count's treasure-hunting NPC investigate."

"Understood."

On the live broadcast feed, that NPC was lying on the beach using tools like a magnifying glass and a "mine detector" to probe around everywhere, and then dove into the surrounding seawater to search thoroughly.

After a long while, the treasure hunter grabbed a small pinch of stone chips onto the boat and asked the team leader player: "Do you know what this is?"

The team leader player was astonished: "Could it be barnacles from a whale?"

The hunter said: "To be precise, it's called acid-stone ore!"

He then took out a box filled with various bottles and jars, placed the stone chips into a potion vial which began to fizz with bubbles, and then added a few drops of another potion, turning the liquid in the vial light red.

The hunter continued: "The red color means this acid-stone ore is no more than 3 days old. Once it exceeds 3 days, the salt in the seawater will alter its acidity and turn it other colors. So three days ago, a whale came and stranded itself here, leaving behind the acid-stone chips. The sand marks on the beach were man-made to sweep away footprints, and they are also no more than 3 days old! It's impossible to determine how many people were on the other side. This shows that the other party is a very mature and experienced team."

The team leader player was deeply impressed by his professional competence and exclaimed: "Can you use the treasure-hunting equipment to look for the spices?"

The hunter shook his head: "Spices are merely luxury goods, not magical items."

The player asked again: "Was this done by Baron Papin?"

The hunter said solemnly: "That is beyond my scope of business..."

At this moment, the young master staring at the live stream felt his heart churning. Although he was 100% certain that Dachun was suspicious, he absolutely could not explain how Dachun had this capability. Was this Dachun deliberately pushed out by the opposing team to mislead his thinking?

Yet he had no choice but to grab onto this single clue and continue pursuing it!

The young master instructed: "Tell him that Plague Island has shown signs of burning bright at night. Is he willing to make a trip to Plague Island?"

After listening to the team leader player's translation, the hunter froze for a moment: "That's Plague Island! That situation is highly likely to be the legendary Ghost City."

"But we can't come away empty-handed, or the Count will be displeased. Besides, Lord Count only told you to go out to sea to hunt for treasure; he didn't say it strictly had to be spices! Furthermore, a treasure-hunting ship has already reached Plague Island and made contact with the exiled prisoners, which shows that a major event has occurred on Plague Island!"

The hunter thought about it: "We can go take a look! The actual landing will depend on the situation."

The young master clearly didn't have the same awe as the NPC and made up his mind that as soon as the ship arrived, the Yugimaru team would go ashore. Players weren't afraid of death anyway; whether they encountered ghosts or caught the plague and ruined their character, it was no big deal.

A new situation arose on the dungeon side: "Report to the young master, Red Name Team 2 has dug through a hidden collapse point, and a large amount of standing water is gushing down below the collapse point!"

The young master's spirit jolted: "Could the direction of the water flow lead to Hell?"

"If that's the case, we might need a very long rope, and we'll need the treasure hunter's help to investigate."

The young master immediately instructed: "Right-High-Maru, immediately ask the Count for help to get ropes, and send the treasure hunter over!"

"Right-High-Maru understands..."