Percival stroked his beard, smiling warmly as he watched everything unfold in the silver mirror.
"I must say, the lad is quite lucky."
Every resource point was actually surrounded by a multitude of monsters; it was just John's good fortune that he turned these potential foes into friends.
Geoffrey's aged face broke into a wide grin, his wrinkles tightening.
"Sometimes, luck is indeed a part of strength."
Otherwise, why wouldn't others have such good luck?
He speaks the monsters' language, dodges their initial assaults, and even managed to persuade the Treemonkey King to collaborate with him. thanks for reading on m|v|l|e|m|p|y|r
Isn't that a form of strength?
If others feel it's unfair, they are more than welcome to try and negotiate their own alliances with the bosses.
Lavinia and others hurried to the coordinates John had sent.
When they saw the diligent monkeys using blaststone to smash the ground, they were momentarily lost for words.
The two exchanged looks and eventually bowed their heads in silence.
They had thought the 'monkey' was just a metaphor.
But there it was... not just one monkey, but a whole group!
"So many creatures!"
"My goodness, the stone they're holding is so destructive. I just saw it blow a huge hole in the ground."
"Are these materials really not getting damaged?"
The gathering team behind watched in shock at everything unfolding before them.
This was beyond anything they had imagined! It was terrifying, truly terrifying; they shivered involuntarily.
They found it hard to imagine what would have happened if they had encountered these creatures themselves.
They wouldn't even be able to dodge the blaststones, let alone anything else!
Their voices caught the attention of the small monkeys ahead.
Almost instantly, all the monkeys turned around, holding up their blaststones and staring at them.
Lavinia felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up in an instant, and Leopold beside her was extremely tense.
If those stones were actually thrown, they doubted they would escape unscathed.
Lavinia managed to squeeze a faint smile onto her face, then spoke up.
"Um... hello, we've come to cooperate with you. We're here to pick up the materials ahead."
Those behind her inhaled sharply at her words.
These creatures looked somewhat human, but they weren't actually human! How could they possibly understand what was being said?
"Chii..."
One of the slightly larger monkeys nodded at them, then motioned for the other small monkeys to clear the way.
The path they opened clearly was meant for them to pass through and gather the materials.
The logistics team stood dumbfounded, watching this unfold.
No way, they can actually understand us? They're really going to cooperate with us?
With enough potions for mana and health regeneration, he could outlast whatever lay ahead.
If things got too tough, he could always return after embedding the Dragonblood Stone.
A faint, foul-smelling breeze wafted toward the cave entrance, making John frown.
The odor was repulsive! He rummaged through his backpack for some old cloth and fashioned a mask to cover his nose and mouth.
It was like a biological weapon—utterly nauseating.
Tap, tap, tap...
John's footsteps echoed throughout the cavern.
Drip, drip...
Occasionally, the sound of water droplets hitting the ground added to the eerie atmosphere.
The deeper he ventured, the more John realized the cave's structure was unusual.
There was no light inside anymore.
Pulling out a torch he had prepared earlier, he proceeded with caution.
The length of the cave was uncertain; he had already extinguished a dozen torches and still hadn't reached the end.
There had been no dangers so far, until he passed through a narrow passage, and then the pathway suddenly opened up.
Hiss...
Even John couldn't help but gasp at the sight before him.
Stalactites hung from the cave walls, refracting a multitude of colors in the light of the torch, dazzling and exceptionally beautiful.
Below was a small pool, its waters twinkling with multicolored lights.
It seemed there were fish in the pool, but they sank to the bottom the moment they touched the light.
Beyond the small pool, several passages branched off, each with a breeze that made the torch flicker.
The area seemed quite expansive.
John frowned slightly.
Did he really need to explore each path? That would be a tremendous waste of time.
However, since there was a guardian creature, he might as well head directly towards where the creature likely resided.
After all, bosses typically guard their treasures closely.
But John was unaware that outside, people were completely astir!
"Doesn't this place look familiar? Isn't it part of Isabella's territory?"
"It does look like the bat cave near Isabella's area. Are these connected?"
"No wonder John walked for so long; he's nearly reached the second fortress. How could it not take a while?"
"My god, this is too thrilling, right? Will there be a clash of the titans soon?"
"Am I the only one who noticed their resource points are the same? Who does the energy stone belong to?"
As people outside began to buzz with speculation, John heard something different within the cave!
Flap, flap...
Could that be... the sound of wings flapping?