“I can't help but admire Master's profound foresight—the shares in the Reby Merchant Association and their friendship.”
“Did he lay the groundwork for our current path so early on?”
“And what he revealed to us is merely the tip of the iceberg. No one knows how many other plans Master has set in motion.”
“In front of Master, my meager wisdom is probably nothing more than that of a child's.”
“So, my first step: map out Iron River City, then rescue our compatriots there.”
“Then, establish our first branch in Iron River City and have the Reby Merchant Association expand there.”
“Master has never touched the funds of the Reby Merchant Association, nor has he asked about our dungeon gains. I'm afraid it was all in preparation for this.”
“Who is willing to go to Iron River City?” Jetis asked.
The eyes of all the vampires lit up as they raised their hands high.
“Um... the first batch to go must have both strength and wisdom.”
“Lord Rorona, are you willing to lead Mamarin and Teri there?”
“Huh? Me?”
“Is it really alright to entrust such an important task to me...?”
Rorona was somewhat at a loss.
He couldn't even properly decipher Master's deeper intentions. Did he really have that kind of ability...?
“Lord Rorona, please do not underestimate yourself.”
“You are, after all, the first vampire to be granted a True Name by Master.”
“Do you not trust Master's judgment?”
Hearing Jetis say this, Rorona felt a bit embarrassed.
“But I was just lucky, being the first to run into Master.”
“How is that possible? Given Master's profound foresight, he must have seen qualities in you that none of us possess.”
“Then... alright.”
Rorona nodded and agreed.
“And I will represent Master to negotiate with Lady Tedela regarding the Iron River City branch of the Reby Merchant Association.”
“I am sure Lady Tedela will trust Master's judgment.”
“Everything for the glory of the White Grim Reaper!” Jetis slammed her hands on the table and declared in a low, solemn voice.
“Everything for the glory of the White Grim Reaper!” All the vampires chanted in low voices.
In the pitch-black basement, vampire after vampire with blood-red eyes repeated the words.
It looked exactly like a cult ritual.
...
Having already reached the base of the Landmark Tower, Li Xiuman shuddered.
“What is this feeling?”
“It feels like needles on my back.”
Li Xiuman cautiously checked the Omen Crystal on his wrist. Seeing that it hadn't turned red, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Wait, I forgot to ask those vampires about their hunting harvest during this period!”
Li Xiuman wanted to turn back and ask.
But considering he had already come this far, he decided to ask next time.
As for the recent profit shares from the Reby Merchant Association, forget it. He had already exchanged enough magic stones for gold coins recently anyway.
It felt safer to leave that emergency vault with the merchant association.
That was his last pair of undergarments; unless it was an absolute emergency, they could never be pulled off.
If anyone tried to strip them, he would fight them to the death.
Li Xiuman hummed a little tune as he entered the dungeon.
Lately, everything had been going smoothly.
Today's goal: conquer up to the 30th floor of the White Bear City dungeon, defeat the Floor Boss, and obtain authority over the White Bear City dungeon.
If he fought alone, Li Xiuman was still no match for a Floor Boss at his current level. Therefore, he needed to conquer it floor by floor, building up his zombie army.
A noble Mage never needed to lift a finger.
Li Xiuman smugly conjured the bone palanquin once more, letting his zombies carry him forward.
It took Li Xiuman a week and a half to descend all the way to Floor 30.
During this week and a half, he successfully gathered twenty fire crocodiles and ten Firewing Beasts.
His Level had also risen to LV27.
With the enhancement from his left and right armguards, his Strength, Constitution, and Spirit each increased by two points.
Strength: 40, Constitution: 47 (48), Spirit: 53.
Fully prepared, Li Xiuman arrived before the Floor Boss room on Floor 30.
Staring at the massive stone doors, he reached out with both hands and pushed them open.
“Roar, roar, roar!”
A stench-filled wind accompanied by roars blew straight at his face.
Dwelling inside the Floor Boss room was a massive crocodile with three heads.
[Name] Three-Headed Fire Crocodile King
[Race] Fire Crocodile
[Class] Monster
[Level] LV30
[Status] Healthy, Angry
[Skills] Fire Magic LV3, Elemental Resistance LV3, Hard Hide LV3, Triple Personality LV3, Multitasking LV3, Body Strengthening LV3, Biting LV2, Swiftness LV2, Beast Instinct LV2, Skin Hardening LV2, Self-Healing LV1
[Description] The Floor Boss of Floor 30 in the White Bear City dungeon. It possesses three heads with a clear division of labor, allowing it to multitask seamlessly. The king of flames, highly dangerous.
“Go!”
Li Xiuman waved his wand, and all the zombies lunged forward.
Under the command of Number Zero, the Golems also shared a significant portion of the burden for Li Xiuman.
Finding an opportunity, Li Xiuman quickly widened the distance and began a magical bombardment, finally putting down the Three-Headed Fire Crocodile King.
[Ding! You have slain...]
[The Floor Boss Guardian of Floor 30 in G-04 Dungeon, the Three-Headed Fire Crocodile King!]
[EXP +10,000, Obtained Blue Chest *1]
“Dammit, I can't underestimate them.”
Li Xiuman stood beside the corpse of the Three-Headed Fire Crocodile King, his mana nearly drained dry.
While the Three-Headed Fire Crocodile wasn't as strong as the troll, the clear division of labor and coordination between its three heads had almost caught Li Xiuman off guard.
It was like fighting three opponents at once.
“But in the end, this skeleton's skills are superior.”
As he spoke, Li Xiuman took out the Dungeon Core and brought it close to the glowing light floating above the Three-Headed Fire Crocodile King's corpse.
As if sensing their home, all the glowing lights rushed toward the Dungeon Core in his hand.
[You have obtained partial authority over Dungeon G-04]
At this moment, the Dungeon Core had gained the additional abilities of teleporting within the White Bear City labyrinth and viewing projections.
Furthermore, the power of the Dungeon Core seemed to have grown slightly stronger.
“What a perfectly intact fire crocodile hide, what a huge profit!”
After skinning the red crocodile hide from the Three-Headed Fire Crocodile King, he went on to dig out the magic stone.
Having stuffed both the magic stone and the fire crocodile hide into his storage space, Li Xiuman turned his gaze to the Blue Chest.
Unlike his kill of the troll, this time he was only rewarded with a single Blue Chest.
Moreover, the Three-Headed Fire Crocodile King didn't have any other magical equipment on it—it was essentially a naked weirdo.
Reaching out, he opened the chest floating before him.
The blue light slowly dissipated, revealing a single gold coin lying at the bottom of the chest.
“A gold coin?”
Li Xiuman picked the gold coin up from the bottom of the chest, somewhat at a loss, almost wondering if he had woken up too fast and was hallucinating.
There was no difference between this gold coin and an ordinary one, except that its weight was slightly heavier.
He decided to try Appraising it.
[Cursed Gold Coin] One thousand years ago, a young voyager salvaged a chest of gold coins. However, the young voyager did not know that these were cursed gold coins.
[Special Effects]
1. Wealth Accumulation (The bearer is more likely to amass wealth)
2. Good Luck (The bearer's luck improves)
3. Fortune Loss (Consuming gold coins can heal injuries or boost one's own stats)
4. Curse (The bearer has a small probability of being cursed. Under the cursed state, the bearer receives bad luck)
Rate on N.U.
