Chapter 307: Treasure hunt again?

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

As the Dragon’s Eye glowed, it was as though the numerous vines had experienced a shock. They retracted at once, and a shriek could be heard. Hot fresh blood splashed out, staining the grounds of the Cathedral Square.

The square went silent immediately.

Lin Li took back the blood-vines slowly. His eyes were on the rest of the robbers.

“Does anyone else wants their dinner?”

Apart from the sound of hearts thumping and people breathing, the silence in the surrounding area was deafening. The rest of the robbers looked at each other uneasily. None of them dared to make a sound. Their gazes towards Lin Li were filled with trepidation and helplessness. Since they had no time for escape, who would want to provoke that killer?

“Very good,” Lin Li said as he glanced at the robbers before showing signs of satisfaction. “Since everyone is so polite, I’m not going to make things difficult for you. You can go after leaving behind all your things.”

“S-sure, sure…” The robbers were already shocked by Marko’s death. Now that Lin Li said he would let them off, they had no time to fuss about their belongings. At once, the clattering sound of the weapons dropping on the ground could be heard. Two timid robbers even ran to the long table and brought that heavy wooden box full of silver coins to Lin Li’s feet as though in an act of ingratiation.

After all these, the bunch of robbers sighed in relief. Although the Black Clouds Town was small, today’s collection of protection fees was too dangerous. They had really seen a monster. Why would such an invincible mage come to the Black Clouds Town? If they’d known about it, they would have joined the other group in robbing the traders. It would certainly be much safer than the Black Clouds Town…

What they were glad for was the little bit of humanity that mage had. Although he killed Marko, he spared their lives…

“Wait a minute…”

When the robbers were secretly celebrating the fact that they were spared, Lin Li’s “wait a minute” nearly caused them to pee in their pants. The bunch of burly men stood frozen in fear, and looked at each other nervously like guilty children that were unsure of what they had done wrong. After five minutes of staring at one another, a robber who was braver than others stood out from the crowd. He asked cautiously, “M-most respected Mr. Mage, w-what orders do you have?”

“Do I need to remind you again? I meant it when I said to leave behind all your belongings…”

“…”

When Lin Li said that, the bunch of robbers flushed. Does that mean that we have to take off our clothes?

If this happened in the past, these robbers would let their fists speak for them. How could the robbers from the Syer Bandits expose themselves to such shame? However, none of them said a thing. Everyone was in a dilemma…

In the end, they were overcome by their desire to live…

One leather armor got placed on the grounds of the Cathedral Square after another. Then, the undergarments. Not long after, there was a huge pile of clothes in the Cathedral Square.

“Alright, you can go now.”

Hence, the group of naked robbers frantically escaped from the Black Clouds Town. This incident would become a famous anecdote among the people of Black Clouds Town for many years. They would come to love talking about it after their meals, and recount the events of the day President Felic first came to the Black Clouds Town, and how those 10 robbers ran away in shame…

…

The wooden box that was full of silver coins went back to the residents of Black Clouds Town. Old Salatt was the one who distributed them. Since he was one of the top blacksmiths in the Black Clouds Town, no one had any objection. At the same time, Lin Li sneaked back to his house. He knew that if he did not do so, the residents would not let him go that easily. What should he do when a whole bunch of fat aunties rushed towards him to ask about his life aspirations?

Yet, when Lin Li returned to the house, there was something in his hand.

From its appearance, it looked like a key. If Lin Li did not remember it wrongly, it was this thumb-sized key that was found in Garso’s possession when he was brought to the Cathedral Square. It became the reason why Lin Li would request that those 10 robbers take off their clothes back then.

“Alright, Connoris. What a petty peeping Tom you are! I have the key you wanted. Come out at once!” After he returned to his house, Lin Li let Norfeller guard the door before opening the Ring of Endless Storm to call Connoris out.

“What peeping Tom? That’s not nice…”

“Cut the crap!” Lin Li snapped angrily. “If you are not a peeping Tom, why did you keep nagging at my ear to take this key? Do you know that I had to let the entire bunch of robbers strip just to get it? Unknowing people might think that I have such a weird fetish…!”

“So exciting?”

“Shut up!” Lin Li placed the key on the table. “If you don’t give me a reasonable explanation, get ready to stay inside the ring for a month!”

“Don’t worry! Listen to me first…” Perhaps it was due to him being trapped in the Ring of Endless Storm for too long, but Connoris was unusually straightforward in his words today.

“Your neighbor?” Lin Li asked before realizing its meaning. “You mean, a devil?”

“That’s right. A real high-level devil. The Lord of the 10th level of the abyss, Saradus!”

“Oh my God…”

“Young man, calm down. I still have more shocking news than this.

“My neighbor is not an agreeable person. Ever since he was born, he never stopped challenging me. Unfortunately for him, he never succeeded. How would a mighty Soul Trader lose to a pitiful worm? Those times are really making me feel nostalgic; every day was filled with battles. There were always countless devils battling on the 10th and 11th level of the abyss.

“This lasted until one day, when Osric brought his Magic Legion into the abyss. Those darn High Elves were too powerful. Osric’s Magic Legion was like a mincer that ground all of the devils into bits and pieces.

“Osric only used an evening to defeat the level-10 of the abyss, and nearly killed my sweet little neighbor…”

“Nearly?”

“Yeah, nearly…” Connoris replied. He was really immersed in his story, and his hoarse voice was filled with emotions. “When the Magic Legion was chasing after him, Saradus shamelessly escaped into my palace…”

“That’s so stupid…”

“Heh…” Connoris laughed. “You’re right. I killed him, and swallowed his soul. Yet, this was all normal. Only the fittest survive in the abyss. If it was me that tried to hide in Saradus’ palace, my sweet neighbor would have done the same without hesitation.”

“Cut the crap, get to the main point.”

“I’m sure that you know that there would be memory fragments inside any soul. Hence, when I was swallowing Saradus’ soul, I obtained part of his memories. One was related to this key. From this memory, I found Saradus had sneaked into the world outside the abyss many years ago and built a personal force there.

“I could not find further information about it. Still, there is something I’m really sure of. That is, my adorable neighbor’s special interest in magical metals. He used his own ability to gather many precious magical metals in this world, and hid them in a secret place. As for the key to that place, it was in the hands of a loyal human slave of his…”

“It’s a treasure hunt again?” Lin Li interrupted Connoris. He started to understand the situation now.

“That’s right.”

“Then, did you find the exact location of the treasure in Saradus’ memory?”

“Heh, that’s why I’m here to discuss some things with you. So, are you keen to be my dear partner in attaining the wealth of a demon monarch?”

“Are you going to tell me or not?” Lin Li asked impatiently. He was extremely clear on the Soul Trader’s personality. When he heard the word “discuss”, he knew that that fella had ill intentions.

“Goddammit, how could you threaten a mighty Soul Trader?” The stale dimension within the Ring of Endless Storm was Connoris’ weakness. When he saw Lin Li open the ring, he started pleading with him. “W-wait, wait, wait… I will tell you everything…”

“That’s more like it…”