[Faction Channel: To all my comrades who accepted the mission, "Stone Tribe's Totem". I am Just Like Yesterday, a fellow comrade in the same faction as you. Now, I have another 45 companions gathered by my side. We have defeated 45 Warring Dragon Guild members in the past hour and accumulated several pieces of equipment within the past hour. Despite our condensed strength, the manpower of the Warring Dragon Guild teams we meet heightens by every passing second. It had become the harsh truth that a party with low manpower does not stand a chance against the Warring Dragon Guild. Henceforth, we need to come together and complete this mission together!
My dearest comrades, if you are interested in completing this mission, come to the coordinates (7559, 6361, 2104) within half an hour. We will win this together as one!]
"A faction channel speaker?" Ye Chen's eyes widened at the message. A faction channel speaker was incredibly rare within the restricted region missions for both factions.
However, this news shed light on the little opposition from the Warring Dragon Guild that Ye Chen's party met with in the last hour. On the other end of the forest, a fearsome power had gathered together, forcing the Warring Dragon Guild to shift a more vigorous defense over, resulting in an inevitable lapse of security on Ye Chen's side.
"Boss, what are we gonna do?" Immediately, Dharma looked to Ye Chen for instructions. From the Faction Channel, the other party was formidable. Liaising with them and coordinating an attack, breaking through Warring Dragon Guild's defenses and seizing a victory seemed like a plausible plan.
"We are not going."
That was unexpected. Dharma failed to understand that decision. "Why? Don't we need party members?"
"Huh? Dharma, ever thought of the possibilities of spies within our faction?" Ye Chen's eyes narrowed onto Dharma as he snorted coldly.
"No…" That thought sent a sharp cold chill rushing down Dharma's spine. This was a huge problem.
"This man, Yesterday, just revealed his own location. There are only two possibilities. This pig escaped his sty, or he wields incredible power and wants to lure the Warring Dragon Guild over, ambush them, and clinch victory in one swoop. Either way, we would be sitting ducks, waiting for death if we are to go."
Ye Chen's glanced in the same direction as Yesterday's coordinates raptly as he explained. If he was a party member that Ye Chen had found personally, there could be some hints or message encrypted in this move. But now, going over was suicidal.
"Boss, like you said, we really cannot take this bait… but… shouldn't we contact him and ask him of his plans first? We can decide after rtha…" Dharma nodded vigorously, then another idea struck him.
"You can try to add him as a friend, but I'm confident that he would say that he never thought of such a scenario." A crooked smile lifted Ye Chen's lips as he turned away.
"Really?" Sceptical, Dharma actually added Yesterday as a friend.
Not long later, Dharma walked to Ye Chen, his face flushed with respect and awe. "Boss, it is really as you suspected. Yesterday really claimed that he never thought of the scenario. He told us to not go and that he would escape too. Boss, teach me, how did you see this coming?"
"Simple. If he is really an idiot, then he really didn't see this coming, But if he needed a scapegoat as bait, he would not risk telling you his plans for fear that we are Warring Dragon Guild's members."
Eureka descended upon Dharma. He scratched his head. "Then what shall we do now?"
"Relying on Yesterday's plan is plain stupid. Let's find more treasure chests, and think about the plan along the way." With a big stride, Ye Chen moved on. Naturally, Dharma followed along like a little sidekick. The Queen of the Night didn't even question, silently walking behind.
"Boss, a Perception Jewel! Good stuff!" Once again, Dharma proved his worth. From afar, he spotted another chest and opened in. Unbelievably, inside was a Perception Jewel!
While this was the lowest quality Perception Jewel, it was more than enough for the party. It could reveal the location of any adventurer within a 20 meter radius under the effects of a Level 1 Stealth Skill.
"FUCK!" Ye Chen received the Perception Jewel from Dharma and scrutinized his surroundings. With a loud curse, he swung his staff. Right behind the three of them, the Durian Bomb Tree sprung up. Quickly following, a symphony of explosions boomed. Then, a loud thud of an assassin's body.
"Quickly, we are getting out of here!"
Without further ado, Ye Chen launched into a breakneck sprint into the central region of Gray Stone Forest. Since the beginning of the mission, Ye Chen had been uber careful about any assassins stalking the party. Below Level 20, he had no means of detecting their presence other than through equipment. Along the way, he frequently changed their movement direction, preventing the ambush of assassins, especially when they were not aware of the latter's presence.
In these circumstances, Ye Chen knew that the Warring Dragon Guild would not bring too many assassins. However, they were still dangerous considering their minuscule sized force compared to Warring Dragon Guild. If they did not so timely gain the Perception Jewel, it would have no doubt been a tragedy for them.
The three of them resumed their search for the treasure chests. With each find, more and more equipment was gained. Scrolls were common; such as the Speed Scroll with 3 Movement Speed buff for 1 minute, the Attack Scroll with 15% attack boost, as well as the Defense and Magic Defense Scroll. The most significant and most satisfying find for Ye Chen was the Cooldown Reduction Scroll.
Amongst the many scrolls they found, there was only one scroll that completely removed cooldown time, as long as it was less than three minutes. In short, if Ye Chen used it, it would allow him to carry out two transplants at once!
"Boss, I tried to get in touch with Just like Yesterday. There's no response from him…"
More than 40 minutes had passed since Just like Yesterday sent the message in the faction channel. Owing to Dharma's idleness and boredom, he had attempted to make contact again. Alas, there was no response.
There was only one possibility for this: Yesterday was killed and transported back to the city and went offline.
"Hmph, it would be weirder if you could reach him. Don't overthink about it! From now on, if we see anyone from the Warring Dragon Guild, we kill them."
The tide was not in their favour now. Most likely, any adventurer in the same faction as they were were already killed. However, Ye Chen was not a man of weak resilience. He would fight to his last breath. Otherwise, he would never have spent three long years on that life-sapping, boring 999 fragments collection mission!
"Boss, someone is approaching… WAH! It's that gorgeous Priestess!" The three of them quickly set their plans and escaped from the spot they were at. Not long later, the enchanting figure of a Priestess caught Dharma's attention.
"Huh? That woman?" Hearing that, Ye Chen's forehead puckered.
"Queen, any possibility that this Priestess is a spy of the Warring Dragon Guild?" Quickly, Ye Chen dropped the Queen of the Night a private message.
"No." A simple one-word response.
"Thank God! I finally found you all. My party was completely annihilated!" Not waiting for any welcoming gestures from Ye Chen's party, Purple Olive ran forward and stared with glistening puppy eyes at Dharma and Ye Chen. Her face was pale, stricken with fear, like a damsel in distress.
"They are dead, then why are you alive?" Perplexed, Dharma's eyes narrowed on the pitiful girl.
Usually, in a team PK, the Priest would always be the first target. For the Priest to be the only survivor in a battle, even a fresh greenhorn like Dharma found it suspicious.
"Oh, I run fast. Once I saw that we were outnumbered, I escaped out of fear. Ah… it was so scary…" With a proud mischievous smile, Olive's eyes became a single slit.
"Oh, I see…" Those rosy cheeks and her saccharin sweet smile trapped Dharma in an inescapable daze.
"Join the party first." During the conversation, Ye Chen had learned Purple Olive's name and sent her a party request.
While he was not sure of the plots this cunning woman had, having a Priestess on the party would not be a bad idea. Moreover, Ye Chen was not sure if he would ever be able to find another Priest with this gigantic Gray Stone Forest.
[System Notice: Congratulations, your party is the last surviving party in the Confrontational Faction. As encouragement, all of your attributes would be boosted by 20%]
The instant Purple Olive accepted the request, this same message had everyone's faces turn sullen.
Never had they expected, the four of them would be the last ones.