Chapter 145: 128. Phyllis: Lia is just a Shar Pei

```This scene, if witnessed by Lia, would certainly result in her kicking Phyllis out on the spot—the young lady had high hopes for Phyllis, and now he was coming to ask for my help. Wouldn't that be akin to saying Lia has poor judgment and indirectly slapping her face?

Phyllis's expression hardened, as he made his stance clear, "Forgive my blunt words, but Lia is a Shar Pei."

Lin Da: "..."

Silenced in an instant.

However, Phyllis lacked the awareness that 'it's wrong to talk about others behind their backs,' and as soon as he started talking, it was like a dam bursting, endlessly beginning to complain:

"Brother, as Snow Goose's Healer, I truly understand you. Lia, that jerk, is a capitalist demon!"

"I stayed up for several nights in a row to create a strategy, only for her to trash it, calling it worse than dogshit. Just out of the Mystic Realm, didn't even have time to rest, and she's making me come up with a 12th-floor strategy, or else I'm kicked off the team.

I haven't seen a single Gold Coin of adventure bonuses this month, and still, every damn day I have to hustle because of that red-headed dwarf... Even a donkey grinding at the mill would have it easier, right?"

Hearing Phyllis's complaints, Lin Da actually felt a sense of 'fellow sufferers commiserate.' The person who understood him best wasn't his old teammate of three years, but his yellow-haired replacement...

The three entered the rented apartment and sat down at the round table.

Lin Da only had instant red tea available, so he brewed a cup for Phyllis.

Monica, shy by nature, sat beside him like a kitten in a strange new place. When Phyllis greeted her friendly, Monica nervously buried her head in Lin Da's chest.

"She's a bit introverted, please don't mind it," Lin Da said, holding Monica's small hand, smiling.

Is this introversion? More like ultimate social anxiety.

Phyllis thought with a puzzled expression.

He took a sip of the red tea, instant, not very tasty.

As the son of a noble, Phyllis was used to drinking red tea hand-brewed by lovely maids with their delicate hands. But since he was the one asking for help, he took a sip and exclaimed with feigned admiration,

"It truly befits red tea brewed by Mr. Eye of True Knowledge—mature, sophisticated flavor, simply marvelous~"

If you can't compliment sincerely, better not to bother at all.

Lin Da's face twitched a little, and he asked, "So, since you hate Lia so much, why are you still with Snow Goose?"

"I have no choice, it's a task my father has given me," Phyllis sighed, "The family has been wanting to expand business into Red Heart City, and we can't overlook the help of the local heavyweights, The Mandalas! Lia is the young lady of The Mandalas. If I became her teammate, perhaps I could get The Mandalas' support."

Phyllis's expression became serious as he revealed his true intentions. He took out a Savings Card from his chest, his eyes intensely focused on Lin Da, and said,

"Please, you must help me. I need the 12th-floor strategy to prove myself to Lia, or she'll really kick me out! There's 30,000 Gold in this card, just for a strategy for the 12th floor. It doesn't have to be detailed, just enough to get by!"

Lin Da questioned with suspicion, "I've never been to the 12th floor. You trust me that much?"

"Ha, just kidding, anyone willing to coach Ice Flower from outside on the 13th floor, how could they be stumped by the 12th?"

As Phyllis spoke, his expression grew serious: "Actually, I've seen some of those strategies you made before."

"Uh, not that I meant to snoop, but Lia threw them in the trash, and I happened to see it," Phyllis explained.

Lin Da's expression remained unchanged. Just mentioning Lia no longer stirred any emotions.

He hummed in acknowledgment, "It's fine that she threw them away. They've already cleared the ninth floor, so they don't need that strategy anymore."

"No, what I mean to say is..."

Phyllis took a deep breath, spread his arms wide, and made a grand gesture, "Incredibly awesome, absolutely stunning, it's practically a textbook-level strategy!"

"Although there were many terms, T, AP, ADC, and the like that I didn't understand, still, I could somewhat guess their meanings. It's hard to imagine someone understanding Magical Creatures to such an extent, almost like they've been living with them since childhood... In any case, you are my idol!"

Phyllis, filled with excitement, stood up, taking out pen and paper he had prepared in advance: "Please, I must have your autograph!"

"Um..."

Lin Da scratched his head in distress.

Phyllis grinned, pocketed the autograph, and then looked towards the Savings Card on the table. It seemed that Lin Da had no intention of accepting it.

"About the strategy..."

"I must refuse."

Lin Da shook his head, "I need to prepare strategies for the Ice Flower Adventure Team and train my own teammates. I don't have time to produce a strategy for you."

Phyllis's face changed, and he clenched his teeth, "I understand, the reward was too little, huh... Right, a solid strategy for the 12th floor, how could anyone accept 30,000 Gold Coins for it."

With a slap, another Savings Card was laid on the table. Phyllis's eyes were red, "60,000 Gold, please, you must agree!"

In a show of sincerity, Phyllis knelt on the floor again, as if he would stay there until Lin Da agreed.

Monica, startled by this scene, didn't know what to do and timidly hid behind Lin Da,

And Lin Da also found the situation tricky, trying to persuade kindly,

"Give me some other time, I could help you, but right now, it's a bit tight."

"You don't have to start right now, three days, just within three days! That's the last deadline Lia gave me!"

Phyllis agonized, clutching his head, "If I get kicked out of Snow Goose, my father will definitely kill me! Please, be kind. The strategy doesn't have to be very detailed, even severe injuries to teammates are fine, as long as no one dies, just making it through!"

Phyllis was a typical Academic Faction commander, whose baseline for successfully passing was for the team to have no casualties. Injuries like those sustained by Oru, arm-breaking ones, were not even taken into account by Phyllis.

His only mission was to ensure the adventure team made it through.

If someone died, it was considered normal,

And if no one did, it was all the better.

By contrast, Lin Da aimed for the safety of all team members, which made his approach seem somewhat unconventional.

```

Phyllis, seeing that Lin Da still didn't plan to agree, grudgingly took out the last savings card, "With everything added together, it's a total of one hundred thousand Gold Coins. Please!"

Lin Da sighed.

Seeing the sincerity in the Gold Coins...cough, seeing Phyllis's sincerity, he accepted the three savings cards.

"Let's get this straight beforehand, it's just a basic strategy guide, which might be quite rough, and forget about it being damage-free," he said.

Phyllis was overjoyed, "As long as you agree! Then, I'll come to pick it up in three days."

"Don't come here at that time, go to Villa No. 003 in the Goldfinch District."

"Goldfinch District?"

Phyllis was taken aback, "The one in the city center?"

"Correct," Lin Da nodded.

Phyllis struggled to find the words for a long while before finally uttering two, "Awesome."

You couldn't get a villa in the Goldfinch District for less than a million Gold Coins.

Those who lived there were primarily business owners.

Plus, the three Steel Level Adventure Groups of White Dove City were also located in the Goldfinch District.

Having secured Lin Da's promise, Phyllis returned to the Inner City District feeling relieved.

Lia had been pestering him these past few days, and it felt like he had a huge stone weighing on his heart. Now that he had obtained Lin Da's agreement, the stone had finally fallen, and he could sleep peacefully at last.

On Lin Da's side, he moved all his furniture onto the cart and returned to the villa.

They were busy until late into the night before finally stopping to rest.

The living room of the villa was still empty, but with tables and chairs set up and decorative paintings hung on the walls, it had become more lively and no longer seemed cold and sterile.

In the bedrooms, everyone spread out their chosen bedding and put up some wallpaper. Looking at their bedrooms, which had been transformed anew, a sense of achievement naturally arose.

Lin Da's room was in the very center, with Monica right next to him, and Kafni heading to the far end of the hallway.

After a simple dinner, the three of them said goodnight to each other in the hallway and entered their new bedrooms.

Lying on the soft big bed, the Magic Circle on the ceiling activated, resembling a transparent skylight, displaying a view of the galaxy—beautiful, dazzling, and breathtaking!

This environment, these facilities, were worlds apart from the rented shack.

Feeling the softness of the big bed, Lin Da was filled with mixed emotions.

He turned over to find a more comfortable position and opened the back house interface of the system.

[System Prompt: Check-in successful, you have received 2200 Diamonds!]

He casually checked the Hell Rift,

Opening it, he saw three chibi-style team members being eaten by the Heart-Devouring Demonic Worm, with their little legs comically sticking out of the worm's mouth.

Then, with a gulp, the demonic worm swallowed the team members whole. seaʀᴄh thё novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

[Challenge Failed]

The red bold letters appeared on the interface. After waiting for a moment, the game restarted, and the team members tirelessly continued their efforts to challenge the demonic worm...

"If I could join the battlefield, I should be able to clear this obstacle," Lin Da thought to himself. His healing output and super-high hit points could buy Lulu time to deal damage, and with his passive skill, [Captain's Aura], increasing the damage of all team members by 10% within a ten-meter radius, it would significantly increase the success rate of passing the challenge.

But with this Hell Rift, there was almost nothing he could do but 'watch'.

Suddenly, he noticed a small red door appearing above the circular arena. Clicking on it, a list sprang up:

[Free Challenge]

[Earth Wolf Adventure Team, Challenge Difficulty: High]

[Valiant Adventure Team, Challenge Difficulty: High]

[Ice Flower Adventure Team, Challenge Difficulty: Difficult] Continue your journey at M-V-L

[White Dove Adventure Group, Challenge Difficulty: Hell]

[Today's Refresh Count: 1]

"Is this...an additional activity?"

Lin Da blinked in surprise, the teams appearing in the challenge list were all groups he had encountered in reality.

He tried clicking on the White Dove Adventure Group, and the scene abruptly shifted to a dojo-like open space.

[Battle Starts]

The three chibi-style members of Phoenix Tail Flower Team descended from the sky onto the left side of the dojo, while on the right, a magic array opened up, and a chibi-style male Swordsman with blue ponytail and white robe, squinting his eyes, stepped out.

On either side were 'Mad Panther' Jite and 'Observer' Gale, with seven other distinctively featured team members behind them.

Lin Da's expression changed; the squint-eyed swordsman was none other than the Captain of the White Dove Adventure Group, 'Mind's Eye' Abner, a veteran Star-ranked adventurer!

In the blink of an eye, as Mind's Eye Abner drew and sheathed his sword, a light of slaughter erupted among the three members of the Phoenix Tail Flower Team.

Kafni and Monica turned into black and white icons instantly, and Lulu entered a critical state, roaring as her Battle Qi turned jet black and her eyes flamed with red!

This was...she was triggered into the second phase, Lulu was entering her Witch form!