novellk Chapter 67 Pearl's Unannounced Departure
Chapter 67 Pearl's Unannounced Departure
The players read the text requirements, and instead of complaining, their eyes lit up with interest in taking on the challenge.
Aside from the anticipation of the upcoming job change, everyone is also eager to explore the scenery along the route from Pearl Harbor to the major cities.
The thought of not being able to bring weapons on this trip made me a little uneasy.
"This is a true reflection of the defense mechanism." The goose quickly analyzed itself, "Bringing excellent weapons into the city, are you going to learn from a master or to cause trouble? The official instructions are for us to use the identity of an ascetic as a cover, which is a hidden setting to trigger the mentor's favorability."
On their way to the warehouse to change clothes, the players chatted animatedly about their route planning.
"Removing the protective gear reduces the weight by at least thirty pounds." The little snail weighed the rough linen clothes she had received in her hands. The coarse plant fibers rubbed against her palms, creating a noticeable resistance. "Wearing this, I'm guaranteed to get blisters after walking ten kilometers."
"Be content, at least I didn't make you go out naked." Big Goose stored his equipment in the locker of his personal warehouse and replaced it with a short iron dagger issued by the system.
The agent changed into a patched and tattered leather armor and carefully tucked the letter of introduction stamped with red ink into his inner pocket.
After packing his things, he looked around the square, but his eyes searched the bustling crowd of laborers without finding anything. He frowned slightly and walked straight to Xiaoyu, who was counting and storing supplies.
"Xiaoyu, I want to ask you about someone."
The agent asked, "Where is the older sister that GM sent me to protect during the battle at the General Manager's Mansion the day before yesterday? I haven't seen her at all today."
Xiaoyu stopped writing with her charcoal pencil, turned around, and took out an old parchment envelope without a sealing wax seal from a drawer in the wooden cabinet.
"She's gone. She left before dawn today without saying goodbye." Xiaoyu handed over the envelope. "This is the letter she left on GM's desk. The boss read it and asked me to give it to you."
The agent paused for a moment, then took the envelope: "Leaving without saying goodbye? Where to?"
"Let's go outside," Xiaoyu pouted. "During the battle the day before yesterday, she watched you get stabbed to death by Bolton's scavengers. After that, she escaped all the way here and joined us. She's been acting strangely ever since. In her mind, you're already a corpse."
The agent twitched his lips, barely managing to suppress his urge: "Wait, didn't I just resurrect? Didn't she understand our immortality?"
"How could the natives understand the resurrection mechanism?" Xiaoyu pointed to the envelope. "The letter said that she couldn't face the place where you died in battle. Staying in Pearl Harbor would only add to her psychological burden, so she packed her bags and went out to see the world."
The agent opened the envelope and glanced at it.
Inside were a few lines of slightly hurried handwriting, expressing gratitude and farewell.
This was just a fleeting romance; the agent didn't have any deep feelings for the NPC girl. His question was more out of simple curiosity about the NPC's whereabouts and the plot from the player's perspective.
"I have to say, the NPC's AI deduction is quite coherent." The agent casually folded the letter and stuffed it into a corner of his backpack, his tone carrying a touch of the carefree attitude typical of players. "Let's go then. The map outside is so big. Maybe when a new map is opened, we can run into her again and she can be a free guide. Alright, I'm going to the ruined city."
"Have a safe trip." Xiaoyu nodded. "I'll be heading to the Magic Forest after I've finished what the GM asked me to do."
No one cared about the fatigue of walking or the risk of losing their weapons. The group of players, dressed in the tattered leather armor and coarse linen clothes commonly worn by the indigenous people, set off on the outskirts of the city.
Behind the second-floor window, Lynn quietly watched the group of players who had disarmed themselves.
They thought they were about to embark on a hardcore job-changing journey to find a reclusive master, but in Lynn's strategic vision, they were just a group of ecological detectors with a legitimate seal.
…………
Outside Pearl Harbor, a desolate trade route.
The players split into four groups and began their trek on foot.
Heading north along the coastline are the agents heading to the abandoned city, while heading east are Little Rain and Big Goose searching for the Magic Forest. It's worth mentioning that before setting off, the two of them and their dog received a glass jar from Lynn, called a "secret plan," which they were told to open the attached note when they encountered problems.
The little snail, on the other hand, set off alone, choosing a canyon route leading to a high-altitude area.
Without the handy weapons crafted by old Lucas, this journey through the wilderness became a pure test of survival.
Having just escaped the Pearl Harbor safety zone, the little snail encountered two wandering red and blue snails.
Fortunately, with hunting experience from Rainbow Village, the little snail used a sharpened, thick wooden stick to pry over a blue snail, avoiding their impact, and successfully killed it through the gaps in its shell.
As you venture deeper into the canyon, the altitude gradually increases, and the ecosystem becomes more aggressive.
In the dark crevices of the rocks, green mushrooms emitting hallucinogenic spores and groups of wood sprites that actively attack people block the way.
Unlike the logging hunt in Rainbow Village, this place is located to the west of the Warriors' Tribe. Without the disturbance of the green mist, these plant-based monsters are full of vitality and aggression.
The little snail used its movement and the makeshift wooden spear in its hand to climb the rugged rocky ridges for an unknown amount of time.
After climbing over the last rock wall, the outline of the Warriors' Village finally came into view.
At the edge of the view lies a three-dimensional city built entirely on the high-altitude canyon terrain.
There are no uniformly sized man-made bricks or stones here, nor is there a flat foundation. The main structure is attached to heavily weathered, yellowish-brown sandstone giant pillars, with caves and walkway platforms of varying depths carved directly into the steep cliff face.
The rough, semi-open stone houses cascade up the mountainside, like a beehive parasitizing the rock veins.
Scattered across the relatively flat rocky plateau are clusters of conical tribal tents. The tents are supported by several rough, unpolished logs crossed together, and covered with thick, faded, and hardened animal hides that have been exposed to the sun for a long time, with rough hemp rope marks visible at the seams.
At the deepest part of the canyon, the original cliff face is abruptly cut off by a massive vertical section. It is a huge stone gate structure carved directly into the mountain rock strata. The mottled stone wall is covered with rugged reliefs full of ritualistic significance. The silhouettes of ancient figures holding scepters and hieroglyphs are cut into sharply angled shadows under the oblique sunlight.
A dry, drafty wind swept across the cliff, carrying yellow sand. The air was almost devoid of moisture from plants, only the earthy smell of sun-baked rocks and the odor of weathered dust.
The entire tribe resembles a massive skeleton exposed in the wilderness, devoid of superfluous decorations, exuding a raw and untamed nature.
The game's incredibly realistic visuals require immense computing power; what kind of computing power would be needed to render such stunning graphics?
The little snail stared at the scene before it, unable to believe that this was the Warrior's Tribe, the place where it had changed classes in its childhood memories…