Chapter 388: Chapter 388: Kill Them All (600 monthly votes)
The goblin’s eyes flashed with a glimmer of hope, struggling to say: “Gold coin, I’ve a gold coin here, just a simple heal from you greenhorns is all that’s required, just once, one gold coin, you’ll make a killing…”

His words were cut short as Li Yao’s sword fell upon him, the goblin’s head rolled to the side.

His health was already hanging by a thread, and under Li Yao’s sword, there was no way for him to survive.

“Goblins are always too brave for their good.” Li Yao remarked, slightly miffed to find that the creature had not dropped any loot. He had become an NPC template, meaning killing it provided no experience points.

Looking around, Li Yao noticed that other than a remaining Dwarf, everyone else was dead.

The Dwarf was in an even worse state than the Goblin, he was unconscious with barely a sliver of health remaining.

“Master, he’s a master of our faction, what should we do, should we save him?” Light Flower, unsure of Li Yao’s intentions, hesitated before asking.

Their consensus was to assist the master. They were hoping to trigger some kind of mission that might reward them handsomely.

“Do as you wish.” Li Yao said indifferently, then turned to walk away, showing no interest in the matter.

“Let’s save him, he might benefit us.” Magic Under Heaven spoke with a glint in his eyes.

“Absolutely, he’s no ordinary soldier after all, rescuing him could lead to reward worth a fortune.” War Horizon was intrigued too.

“I don’t know about this, since he’s the enemy of the master.” Little Cold Hands voiced some hesitation.

“The master said it’s up to us, so what’s there to worry about?” Magic Under Heaven shrugged off Little Cold Hands’ concern.

“You guys do what you want, I won’t be involved with this.” Little Cold Hands commanded her puppet to take some steps back.

“Suit yourself, I’ll administer the heal, Tan Hua, what are you doing?”

At Light Flower’s shout, the others turned to find that Ephemeral Bloom had already thrust a dagger into the Dwarf’s throat. The dying Dwarf offered no resistance as he breathed his last.

“Ephemeral Bloom, what have you done?” Magic Under Heaven exclaimed angrily.

Ephemeral Bloom wiped the blood off her dagger, answering nonchalantly: “That’s my question, what are you thinking? If you want to die, don’t drag me into it.”

“What’s that meant to mean?” War Horizon asked, frowning.

Ephemeral Bloom nodded towards Li Yao’s departing back and the Death God 4000 standing at the door, whispering: “You guys are still far from comprehending matters as deeply as Little Hands does.”

Light Flower let out a cold sweat, realizing the truth, “I get it now, killing the Dwarf was the right move.”

“What the hell are you guys talking about, just spit it out!” Magic Under Heaven was getting anxious.

“You’ve lost your senses to greed.” Light Flower said, “Don’t forget, they wanted to reap the rewards of the master’s victory, and we just witnessed the master himself devising the plan that led to their total annihilation.”

“The Master said he doesn’t care, you guys are way too cautious.” Magic Under Heaven responded impatiently.

“I think I’ve gotten it now. If we saved the Dwarf, we would’ve been done for. Do you really believe the Dwarf would’ve given an honest account of what transpired here once he got back? He would’ve certainly false accused Master. Don’t you know the kind of person our master is? He wouldn’t overlook this tactical mistake.” said War Horizon, his face paling over the realization.

This time, even Magic Under Heaven turned pale. They’d seen the power Li Yao held over the past few days, witnessing all the times he’d turned the tide. They had no doubt he’d ruthlessly exterminate any threats.

So, when he’d left the decision to them, he’d actually given them just one option: to kill the Dwarf Master.

By doing so, they had committed the crime alongside him. Least it could guarantee no betrayal of Li Yao, which was his ultimate aim. If they had been so foolish to save the Dwarf as he had suggested, the mechanical pet standing at the door would have opened fire without delay.

They had no doubt whatsoever that Li Yao could easily kill all of them. They posed no threat to Li Yao.

“Alright, these corpses, are you waiting for me to clean the battlefield? Get moving! Ephemeral Bloom and Little Hands get two pieces of purple gear each as reward. The rest of you get one. Hurry up now!” Li Yao said, then started looking for the control console to dismantle the core.

The few players exchanged glances. Even though Li Yao didn’t comment on their recent actions, the number of rewards he designated expressed his position clearly.

Little Hands was the first to oppose the idea of their rescue operation, while Ephemeral Bloom was the one who actually killed the Dwarf. Both of them were rewarded with two pieces of purple gear.

“Damn, why am I so stupid?” Magic Under Heaven’s eyes turned bloodshot, realizing he’d missed out on a piece of high-level purple gear.

The reason for his frustration was clear. The battlefield was littered with the bodies of more than a hundred players, plus a host of monsters, a majority of which were silver ranked. He knew some quality purple gear must be among the loot.

As Li Yao was finishing the dismantling process, the others had just about finished cleaning the battlefield.

As expected, the spoils were abundant. There were more than thirty pieces of purple gear, level ten and above, along with some lower-level gear.

The remaining loot consisted of blue and green gear along with an unexpected blueprint to craft a Gnome Army Knife for engineering.

Gnome Army Knife

Quality: Excellent Green

Damage: 12-16

Skinning +10

Mining +10

Herbalism +10

Electric pulse, when used on a deceased individual it has a certain probability to resurrect the individual.

Recommended Class: Any

Equipment level: 5

Outside of its use as a skinning knife, the Gnome Army Knife could emit an electric pulse.

It had a certain probability of resurrecting players when used on deceased individuals. It could be used by any class, which was what set it apart from others.

“Good stuff.” Li Yao didn’t hesitate to pocket the blueprint.

It was undoubtedly valuable. It was actually an unstable resurrection skill, useful situationally.

The others had already chosen their share of equipment. Li Yao packed the remaining items for himself.

“Divide these green and blue gears among yourselves, Ephemeral Bloom, see if there’s a hidden chamber.” Li Yao instructed.

“Alright then.” Ephemeral Bloom didn’t bother with the blue gear; it was worth very little in comparison to the potential find of a secret chamber.

“We’ll help you search.” The others quickly abandoned the idea of dividing the loot and joined Ephemeral Bloom in the search of a passage.

“Master, shouldn’t these puppets be of some use?” Little Cold Hands asked.

“Of course they are, you try dismantling one. You could level up quite significantly.” Li Yao was certainly not one to waste any puppets.

Although these puppets could not be repaired, there was still a lot of salvageable material.

After dismantling the puppets, Li Yao’s proficiency had reached the maximum at an intermediate level. Upon his return, he was ready to level up to the advanced level.

Besides understanding more about the construction of Gnomes and Goblins, Li Yao also obtained several puppet cores. Moreover, he had also gained various mechanical arm weapons. Now, Li Yao could replace the Death God 4000’s rudimentary weapon, significantly upgrading its attack power.

As Li Yao decided which weapon to fit on his pet, Ephemeral Bloom announced, “Master, I’ve found a secret chamber.” …

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