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Join the ServerI reached out and touched a quasi-artifact that belonged to me. Could it be that my luck has finally turned? Has the dungeon started being kind to me?
And the direction my growth is taking is exactly to my liking! Looks like the heavens are on my side once again? Good brother! Slap on the back!
Next is the second quasi-artifact item.
[Shirley’s Tracking Surveillance — Quest Item]
Since this is a quest item, the next one probably is too. In the team inventory, equipment comes first, quest items later, and I’m displaying them in order.
But… Shirley? Isn’t she one of the two saints Yingning and I encountered earlier?
Could it be related to the main storyline?
[Item Description: Actually, it’s a remote surveillance camera bought from a street vendor, but Shirley used holy light adhesive to stick it onto Noctus.]
Holy light adhesive… Holy light is truly versatile!
[Quest Hint: It is recommended to find Shirley in the Northern Territory. You can first take a look at Minos City on the edge of the Northern Territory.]
[Tip: Minos City, also known as the Northern Defense Line, is the last line of defense guarding the habitat of the three races. The guards there miss the specialties and fruit wine of the Southern Territory.]
Miss the specialties and fruit wine of the Southern Territory? So bringing some specialties and fruit wine over can quickly raise the guards’ favorability, which would be very beneficial for completing the quest, right?
Looks like exploring the Northern Territory should be put on the agenda.
I still remember the rich rewards from the first ring of the main quest that Yingning and I received—a rare warrior skill book [Galactic Reversal], a sealed spirit bag containing [Swift Heal], a [Battle Codex] that allowed us to break through to level 60 without needing NPCs for advancement quests, an unappraised artifact of the Yao race, and two sealed swords of unknown use but definitely powerful.
Although these items are still out of our level range except for the [Battle Codex], there’s no doubt that once we reach level 60, these things will cause a qualitative leap in our strength!
And now the quest items we have are quasi-artifact level! Even if they’re not related to the world main storyline, as long as they involve a saint-rank powerhouse, the rewards can’t be meager!
Looks like there’s a way to improve our strength before the 5v5 elite match.
Next is the last quest item, as expected related to another saint.
[Alexia’s Amplifying Antenna]
[Item Description: Used to plug into a surveillance mirror to amplify the transmission signal, part of a set with the surveillance mirror.]
Let’s keep these two items with the girl for now. I feel this quest won’t be simple—probably not a solo quest, but a team or guild quest. If so, let’s temporarily keep them with her. For the trip to the Northern Territory, we’ll go as a team and finish the quest together. How about it? I looked at everyone and asked.
“Of course, no objection.” Artillery Fairy nodded.
“Don’t steal my lines, Thunder Fairy!” Huo Jinjin said sourly, picking a fight—because this time he got nothing.
“Hmph… childish.” Artillery Fairy gave a half-smile, adopting a victor’s pose—because she gained two purple items.
“Alright, so, about these crafting materials… Does anyone here practice life skills and need them?” I asked.
Artillery Fairy, Huo Jinjin, and Qingyu all shook their heads. Yingning frowned instead: “Yaya… could you spare me some? I want to send some to my brother… He’s practicing life skills alone and has no resource support—it’s not easy for him…”
“Sure, but I’ll keep a few rare materials I haven’t seen before.”
My heart twinged slightly. I knew it was the system messing with me—I was actually jealous of myself! How absurd!
Ningning quickly waved her hands: “That’s only right! After all, without Yaya, we wouldn’t have seen any of this… These belong to you in the first place!”
“Mm~” I nodded with a forced smile, urged by the system. “Then! Distribution complete! Now, dismissed for now! Gather at the Zizhou City teleport point in an hour! Destination—the Northern Territory!”
Ningning had reached level 39, so she needed to go to the auction house to prepare some level 40 transitional equipment.
As for me, I went to craft. I still had plenty of crafting points to use up—couldn’t let them go to waste.
Just as I was crafting, a voice call came in.
It was Jiangu.
He didn’t come to interrogate me; his tone was calm. When it came to dungeon first clears, whoever could snatch it got it. If he didn’t get it, it only meant he wasn’t skilled enough. There was no point in complaining. He hadn’t made any prior agreement with me, so he had no reason to blame me.
Being in a high position, he had clashed with various people over interests many times, experiencing both successes and failures. This was just one failure. Sword Sweeping the World wouldn’t be overly shaken, so it wasn’t enough for him to fall out with me.
As for the raid war… he didn’t think Sword Sweeping the World would lose.
Of course, he was still quite angry…
Jiangu: “[Did you guys get any quest items? I’m willing to buy them at a price that satisfies you!]”
I laughed: “Yes, I got two, actually.”
I distinctly heard uneven breathing from the other end. Jiangu was probably disgusted by my frank reply, and with hope rekindling, his emotions fluctuated… So I apologized with a smile as I poured oil on the fire:
“But those things aren’t with me… The two items were naturally handed over to the Fire Rose guild leader. You should have said something earlier! If you had come to me a few minutes earlier, I would have asked for them! Too bad… she’s already used them now!”
Hope dashed again. With repeated twists, even Jiangu’s mouth twitched: “Used them?”
“Right! That item seems to be related to some world-level main quest… A particularly important quest item!”
I emphasized each word to make it hurt more: “It seems to involve a saint rank! The quest rewards must be super generous! Probably enough to let a small-time player soar to the top and surpass the elite teams of big guilds! That generous!”
“But! However! As soon as those two items reached her hands, they turned into a quest and then whoosh~ whoosh~ flew~ away~ on~ their~ own~!”
I seemed to hear the sound of teeth grinding on the other end.
Jiangu: “[Are you deliberately trying to piss me off?]”
“Yes, I am deliberately trying to piss you off. I openly admit it… Neither you nor Black Mirror Healer mentioned the raid on Fire Rose to me at all… Although I have no feelings for that guild, I hate deception and insincere exploitation.”
Laughter came from the other end. Jiangu asked meaningfully: “Then… did you understand?”
“As you wished, I successfully joined the Ten Thousand Souls Hall,” I replied irritably.
“[You’re smarter than we thought… This was a test for you, and you’ve proven your worth.]”
“Next time, please inform me before making an assist. I can’t guarantee I’ll be this smart every time!”
“[I’ll try.]”
After hanging up, I pondered the information revealed in Jiangu’s words.
Jiangu knew that the Spider Nest on Hell difficulty hid clues related to a major quest!
This clue should be the true goal that the big guilds are drooling over!
Even Jiangu and his lot are salivating over it… Looks like these two items and this trip to the Northern Territory are really no simple matter!
Moreover, we might very well come into conflict with Jiangu and the others in the wild before the elite match starts—since they could find out about the important quest items hidden in the Spider Nest difficulty, they probably also know that this quest involves those two female saints, and might even lead a team to the Northern Territory to investigate!
Besides, even if they don’t know the Northern Territory is related to the quest, it’s a level 50 monster area. At this stage of the game, the elite teams of big guilds will definitely come to the Northern Territory to grind monsters and do quests for experience.
Remember, after the Spider Nest closed, only questing and monster killing remain as ways to gain experience.
This time, we might very well have a formal clash with the elite teams of Sword Sweeping the World, Ten Thousand Souls Hall, and other major guilds!
Ah… whatever… I’ll just keep forging!
*****
Minos City
Also known as the Minos Northern Defense Line.
As it’s near the far north, it’s naturally covered in thick snow all year round.
Should I say it’s expected? Anywhere with “north” in its name has to be freezing cold? No creativity at all! Lousy game designers… ah… achoo!
I don’t like this place one bit!
“God Ya, you didn’t turn off temperature perception?” Artillery Fairy asked curiously.
I was wrapped in a thick fur coat. The NPC at the clothing store said it was bearskin… Anyway, I’m sure I got a fake! This thing isn’t warm at all!
My nose was red from the cold, white mist puffed from my mouth, and fine frost clung to my eyebrows. Shivering, I looked at the other players around me who seemed unfazed, and felt like crying—but was afraid my tears would freeze my eyes.
Minos City couldn’t be teleported into directly, so we had to start from a nearby main city and slowly make our way there.
The further we walked, the colder it got. I could clearly feel the temperature dropping the closer we got to Minos.
“God Ya in fluffy fur is so cute!” Huo Jinjin exclaimed. “Is this another new style of the great god? Sensing nature to achieve unity with heaven and earth? I should learn from God Ya!”
With that, Huo Jinjin opened the temperature perception panel and slowly pulled the sensitivity slider up.
He barely pulled it a tenth of the way before he shuddered violently, yanking the slider back down as if shocked: “Forget it… God Ya is God Ya after all. A small fry like me will just stay a small fry forever… Hiss… Can’t learn… Can’t learn…”
Can’t learn my ass, you coward!
Fortunately, before we set out, we took the local specialty of the previous main city—the Cold Resistance Potion. If we hadn’t taken that potion and didn’t take proper insulation measures, like the few players around us wearing bikinis in the snowy wasteland, we would have caught a terrible cold.
Cold—reduces all attributes by 50%.
I pulled out my anti-snow blindness goggles and put them on. The others around me did the same.
We strolled across the endless white snow plain, with occasional gusts of biting wind whipping up fine snow into thin veils in the air.
There were few travelers on this road. Most of those we did see were tourist players returning from Minos and NPC merchants—I bought my coat from a scammer merchant!
Finally, the outline of a city appeared ahead. Flanking it were towering city walls so tall that we couldn’t see their ends in either direction. Only when we got closer did we realize even the sunlight filtered through crystals inside the city.
Minos City, the Minos Northern Defense Line holding main plot secrets. Finally… achoo!
I’m so done with this frozen wasteland. Did they have to make it so realistic?
When I come back, I’m going to wrap myself up in a thick quilt until I’m a ball, and then have the girls roll me back!
After trudging through the snow for a long time, we finally managed to enter Minos City.
Once inside, the hustle and bustle of the city made me feel much warmer. Though the city was also covered in white snow, that didn’t matter—there were baked sweet potatoes being sold on the street!
On a cold winter day, how wonderful would it be to hold a few hot baked sweet potatoes!
“Auntie! Give me ten baked sweet potatoes!”
The aunt selling sweet potatoes was also a player. Hearing my order, she perked up: “No problem! Where do you want them?”
“On my chest, calves, thighs, belly, back…”
Soon, I was covered in hot baked sweet potatoes—ah, much warmer!
I also held one in my hands, feeling the warmth right next to me. Bliss.
See, in winter, baked sweet potatoes are a true artifact!
“By the way, you guys came to the North to see the snow too, right? Since you bought so many sweet potatoes at once, I’ll…”
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, Not Me, The Fans is a must-read. Click here to start!
Read : Not Me, The Fans
