Chapter 395: Chapter 395: The Clown’s Performance
“Master, there you are. Without Little Cold Hands and his team, we would have thought something had happened to you!” Light Flower said, anxiety seeping through her words.

The silence of more than five hours had left them anxious. They were okay, but if anything happened to Li Yao, their day’s effort would have been wasted.

Their levels had barely risen. If they returned only to face severe punishment, it would certainly be a loss.

But they couldn’t turn back now. Going back for Li Yao was not an option.

After venturing into these tunnels, any mechanical monsters they had killed were absorbed, and new monsters continuously spawned in the pipes. They had taken too much time fighting their way in. If they now decided to fight their way back, it would be pitch black by then.

If they encountered more berserk monsters without a safe place to retreat to, it would be a real tragedy.

“Huh, your levels…” War Horizon noticed their levels as soon as they joined his team.

Little Cold Hands didn’t know what to respond, while Ephemeral Bloom sighed, “It was a close brush with death this time. We were trapped by troublesome monsters. Luckily the Master came to our rescue. Those monsters were all silver elites, so killing them using Little Hand’s puppet wasn’t too difficult. We didn’t notice at the time, but upon our return, we realized that our levels had soared to 17. We should be in the top two in the rankings by now, right?”

Ephemeral Bloom acted clueless.

Listening to this, the team was full of envy. They had been killing monsters half the day and only reached level fifteen, while others had already surpassed them by two levels.

Seeing the dumbfounded pair, they could practically see red. Why couldn’t good luck like this come their way? Who cares if it was a risky strategy? Now that they’re at level seventeen, imagine how much time you could save.

If it weren’t for the enticing rewards of this mission, they wouldn’t have sacrificed their leveling time for an escort mission.

“You’re overthinking. Your level-up speed is insanely fast. If it had been before today, you would have definitely been in the top three of the level rankings, but now it’s different,” complained a fellow player. “Prairie Fire is somewhere leveling up, and he’s reached level 19 in a flash. The other madly leveling players are all at seventeen as well.”

“But entering the top fifty is already amazing. Sigh, why can’t good things like this happen to me?” Light Flower expressed her regret and envy. It would have been good to follow them in the first place, but it’s too late now.

“Ahem, are the locations where you leveled up still available?” War Horizon coughed lightly and asked, unable to conceal his eagerness.

Ephemeral Bloom was taken aback. He hadn’t expected War Horizon to be so shameless. Still, he replied, “Yes, but we would need to return back down this tunnel, then go down another. Without the master, it would probably take more than a day of travel.”

On hearing this, one of the players quickly scuttled over to Li Yao and said, “Hey, master, I don’t think the checkpoint is up ahead.”

Li Yao glanced at him and said, “Oh?”

War Horizon also understood what the player meant, “Master, we have reached the head of the tunnel and didn’t notice any checkpoints, so we came back.”

At least in War Horizon’s view, the tunnels here intersect and link in all directions, so if we abandon the checkpoints inside, it doesn’t really matter. We’ll just find another one then. It’s not like it would yield any specific rewards, leveling up is more important.

Li Yao was amused. These two were really something. Little did they know that when Li Yao said the electronic map wasn’t complete, it was merely a ruse to make them split up. Now these two were using the same trick, which was honestly funny.

“Oh? So, which way do you think is the correct one?”

Light Flower was about to say something, but caught a glimpse of Ephemeral Bloom’s foolhardy gaze, and revised, “I think our exploration isn’t detailed enough, so let’s take this path.”

“We have thoroughly explored this path already. I think Little Cold Hands’ path was the right one. After all, it was guarded by so many silver elites. How about we go and explore that path to find the checkpoint sooner.” War Horizon noticed the smirk on Li Yao’s face and mistook it for an affirmation. He hurriedly continued, “Master, we will be counting on you.”

Li Yao continued to walk towards the checkpoint, swatting away any obstructing machinery as he said, “I think you’ve misunderstood something.”

“What? Master, please enlighten us,” a player said.

“You are here to protect me, not I protect you. Don’t think I don’t know your plan. If you forget, I’ll remind you. I call the shots here. Even if the path ahead is a dead-end, if I say go, you follow. If you don’t want to go, then get lost.”

Li Yao glanced at the two of them, “Keep your cunning tricks to yourselves. If you’re trying to deceive me, then forget about any extra rewards from this relic discovery. I’ll distribute your shares to the other three instead. You three should also take note, the extra loot is not free. If these two goof around, kick them out immediately. As for you, War, hand over the leadership position to Ephemeral Bloom.”

“Master, I truly have your best interests at heart…” War Horizon continued, still stubborn.

Light Flower interrupted and said, “Just stop it already. You’re actually trying to use such underhanded tactics on a master? Just hand over the leadership position to Ephemeral Bloom.”

War Horizon and another player’s faces turned sour. They didn’t expect Light Flower to side against them, especially, with the promise of loot, the three would most definitely follow in Li Yao’s footsteps.

They were at a loss now. Sure, they could abandon the mission out of anger, but the severity of the punishment deterred them from doing so.

“I think being cunning is reasonable, but don’t overdo it or treat others as fools,” Little Cold Hands added seriously, before joining the others.

War Horizon and another player nearly coughed up blood from anger, but they dared not flare up for now. Even if they completed the mission, they still needed Li Yao to give them a fair evaluation, which was crucial to the degree of their rewards.

“Here’s the supposed dead end you mentioned.” Li Yao and his team stopped in front of the checkpoint, “Indeed, it’s a dead end, it’s been blocked by the Titan Portal.”

The two of them fell silent.

However, the atmosphere here was a bit peculiar. Over twenty goblins and dwarfs had gathered, surprisingly not erupting into conflict, with players gathered around chatting.

“Oh, we have new teammates!” A goblin exclaimed excitedly.

“Yes, look at this brother, he’s so gallant, he must be able to solve this riddle.” A dwarf added. The dwarfs glanced at each other and shook their heads, indicating that they did not recognize the newcomer.

“Hmm, not bad, he indeed possesses the demeanor of a master.”

Li Yao looked at the group of masters greeting him with smiles plastered all over their faces, feeling an increased sense of vigilance. Something was undoubtedly off.

Li Yao sniffed out the aroma of a plot…

ps: I woke up at noon again…haven’t had lunch yet, I am going to have my meal and will be back later to write.

Also, I would really appreciate it if you could spare a monthly vote…