Chapter 38: Greed
 

The two of them were hard in battle. They immediately turned when they heard the voice of another person. They saw Xia Chengfeng waving at them with a giant ax in hand.

“Is it you, Xia Chengfeng?” The mage recognized him immediately. He was understandably shocked, and asked, “Why are you here?”

“You are from Tianxun Company? Quickly come and help!” The swordsman shouted.

The survivors in Area 2222 had all been in the same vicinity before they arrived at the Crypt World. It was natural that they knew each other.

The mage was wearing square-framed glasses and had balding pate with hair growing only around the sides of his head. He was wearing beast hide gear. Xia Chengfeng could see that he was wearing a checked shirt underneath that was rather soiled and looked like it was turning black.

His name was He Bingyan, and he was a high-level AI programmer in Tianxun Company. He had earned an annual salary of over a million and had led Xia Chengfeng on a project in the past.

Xia Chengfeng’s impression of him was that he was very down-to-earth and always abided by the rules.

The swordsman, Cui Fang, was the security captain of the building they worked in. He was very muscular. Xia Chengfeng had seen him in the past but had never dealt with him before. He was not very familiar with him at all.

“I’m coming,” Xia Chengfeng replied as he joined the battle.

“Be careful of the skeletons, their bones are very strong…” He Bingyan had just reminded Xia Chengfeng when he saw Xia Chengfeng cleave a skeleton monster in two with his ax.

He killed the monster in a single stroke!

“Oh f***! In one second?” He felt dazed, for it took him a few minutes to deal with a skeleton. He could never have done it as easily as Xia Chengfeng.

“Impressive!” Cui Fang was elated, and said, “Strong reinforcements have arrived!”

Xia Chengfeng wielded his battle-ax and charged into the fray. With his help, the skeleton monsters were quickly chopped down.

All that was left standing was the [Skeletal Amalgam Lv10 (Elite)].

“Let’s kill it together!” Cui Fang shouted.

“I can only cast one more spell with my elemental power!” He Bingyan said. He raised a jail of flames with his withered wood staff and trapped the [Skeletal Amalgam].

“That’s enough! Watch me chop it up!” Cui Fang had already charged forward. He flailed his sword like the wind as he sliced forward. It was a swordsman technique known as the [Wind Cleave Strike].

Xia Chengfeng did not slack off. He waved his giant ax and charged forward.

Most of the [Skeletal Amalgam]’s body was hacked off by the three-prong attack. But the broken bones moved along the ground as if they wanted to join once again under the effects of the death aura.

“I’ll slice you until you die!” Cui Fang suddenly had a burst of strength when he saw the situation. He shot out a sword aura that penetrated the core of the [Skeletal Amalgam] and shattered its death aura crystal.

The [Skeletal Amalgam] finally fell, and the two of them heaved a sigh of relief. Xia Chengfeng did not have to use much of his energy.

“Sigh, I can’t do this anymore!” He Bingyan laid down on the ground in fatigue. He was panting heavily.

Cui Fang looked like he still had some energy left. He laughed, and said, “What, you are already done after that? I can take on a few more of those!”

“Fortunately, I’ve been training hard. Otherwise, the two of you would be in big trouble!”

“Xia Chengfeng, how did you find this place?” He Bingyan asked out of curiosity.

“I unintentionally stumbled upon this cave after digging a tunnel,” Xia Chengfeng replied, wisely glossing over the details. The two men suspected nothing.

“Fate sure favors us! It’s too hard… it’s too hard to stay alive!” He Bingyan wanted to cry. He had been a white-collar worker in a city only recently. He was working in the central business district during the day and partying in bars at night. The last thing he expected was to be suddenly dragged into this cursed world where he had neither enough to eat nor warm clothes to wear. He also had to face the threat of death every day.

“Oh, your ax is quite impressive. How did you get it?” Cui Fang touched Xia Chengfeng’s ax and exclaimed, “It’s even a Lv8 high-grade equipment!”

“What! A piece of Lv8 high-grade equipment?” He Bingyan stood up when he heard those words. He observed the [Tauren Elder’s Battle-Ax] closely with an envious expression.

“That’s impressive. What I have now is just a useless Lv5 [Withered Wood Staff].”

“I also only have a Lv7 [Wind Longsword].” Cui Fang looked at Xia Chengfeng’s ax with a glimmer in his eyes.

“I was lucky. I picked it up from a treasure chest.” Xia Chengfeng continued to tell a fib.

“Tsk, tsk… Some people really have all the luck of the devil!” Cui Fang’s tone was tinged with envy.

He then checked out Xia Chengfeng’s abilities and realized that he was Lv7.

Even though Xia Chengfeng did not have the [Disguise] skill, other players could not check out his information as long as he intentionally weakened the aura emanating from his body.

That was unless the other party had skills like [Observation], [Detection], or [Heavenly Eye]. However, the two players in front of him did not have those skills and naturally could not detect Xia Chengfeng’s true abilities.

Xia Chengfeng had observed their abilities during the battle earlier. The two of them were around Lv7.

Judging from the desperate nature of the life and death battle they fought earlier, the two players would surely not have been hiding their true strength.

There were two items on the ground. One of them was the corpse of the [Skeletal Amalgam]. It should fetch a hefty price if sold on the trading channel. Most of the survivors did not have a decomposition skill and would usually sell a monster’s corpse when they got one. Members of the three factions would undoubtedly purchase the item. And there was also the cross.

[Corrupted Sealing Cross Lv10 (Half-Exquisite)]: A holy item used to seal the plague cemetery. It has the power of purification and holy light. However, it lost its luster because of the corruption of the death aura. (Its seal has to be dispelled before it can be looted).

Then came the issue of how they would split the spoils of war. The three of them had not spoken about it.

Cui Fang turned to Xia Chengfeng nonchalantly and asked, “Xia Chengfeng, did you explore this place alone?”

“Why?” he looked at the two men and sensed something was amiss.

“Nothing.” Cui Fang shot a look toward He Bingyan. He then slowly approached Xia Chengfeng and said, “Why not leave your ax behind and I’ll let you leave unharmed?”

He Bingyan also stood up while Cui Fang was speaking. His breathing was much steadier, and he did not look as tired as he was before. He was only pretending to be exhausted!

“You guys want to do me in?” Xia Chengfeng scowled and made ready to fight. He came to their aid because he had known them in the past. He did not expect these two people to have the intention to kill and loot him!

“You can’t call this bullying. This is merely re-allocation of resources.” He Bingyan raised his staff and said, “The Crypt World is a place where only the strong survive. Right now, we are the strong party and you are the weak party. Hand over your equipment and resources, and we will spare your life!”

“That’s right, it’s two against one now. You have no chance of winning. We will spare your life as we are all humans after all!” Cui Fang pointed his sword toward Xia Chengfeng.

“You guys would probably kill me anyway if I submit.” Xia Chengfeng shook his head and said, “Sigh, what a pity. I was in such a good mood because I finally encountered other humans. But the both of you ruined it for me.”

“Since that is the case, I guess I’ll have to send you on your way!”

Xia Chengfeng did not want to harm them for no good reason. But unfortunately, the two of them were acting like bandits, and Xia Chengfeng was by no means a soft-hearted man.

“One against two? You’re asking for it!” Cui Fang did not hesitate, and shouted, “He Bingyan, attack!”

“Flame Jail!” He Bingyan instantly went into action. A flaming cell appeared around Xia Chengfeng and blocked off any path of escape.

However, the jail cell had hardly formed when He Bingyan suddenly let out a pathetic cry. “Arrgh!”

His body was suddenly pulled from behind before crashing heavily to the ground. A tauren skeleton monster raised its head behind him, and He Bingyan’s blood flowed down its horns.

That was a puppet that Xia Chengfeng had laid in ambush—the [Sturdy Skeleton Soldier Lv8 (Elite)]. It had been lurking around them, but his opponents did not notice it because of the heavy fog.

The skeleton puppet pressed toward He Bingyan one step at a time. He Bingyan was a frail mage and the initial impact had almost knocked the life out of him. The skeleton was an elite monster, and there was no way he could deal with it alone.

“Save me!” He Bingyan cried for help.

But Cui Fang ignored him. The only thing on his mind was to kill Xia Chengfeng. Otherwise, both of them would be dead meat!

Cui Fang’s sword was almost at Xia Chengfeng’s chest and he could stab Xia Chengfeng with just another step forward!

At this critical moment, not only did Xia Chengfeng not dodge the attack, but he dropped his ax.

“Is he scared stiff?” Cui Fang was pleasantly surprised. But he soon realized his blade had stopped in midair.

An iron arm had grabbed onto his sword!