Chapter 157: ED.lee

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

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——’You have arrived at the Level 30 neutral map, Stranglethorn Vale. Good luck, adventurer.’

——Note: There are NPCs and players from different camps living on neutral maps. Fight on gallantly! You will gain unexpected rewards.

With clear waters and high hills, the Stranglethorn Vale was extremely scenic. This was the home to many wild beasts and the haven for Hunters. The monsters refreshed in Stranglethorn Vale were all Beast-type ones, and Bandits would frequently come here to steal a few Pet Eggs in order to put them up for sale. Other than that, this was also a place to go for if one wanted to get ingredients for dishes—one could find all types of wild vegetables and Beast meats here.

This was also one of the rarest neutral maps around. The Stranglethorn Vale was divided into two by a huge sea, and the Guild of Light and Tribe of Darkness each occupied one side of the map. Any fellow who tried to cross the sea would be crushed to death by the huge water pressure—saying that, there were still some experts who could do that.

The side which the Tribe of Darkness owned in Stranglethorn Vale had some specialty items, and one would be a pet which Hunters from the Guild of Light most desired—the Carrion Vulture. For this, many Hunters from the Guild of Light would do camp mission after camp mission just to evoke war between both sides, so that they could sneak over to steal a few Pet Eggs.

Lin Jie looked at his current coordinates and set off slowly from the campsite the Dwarves built.

There were four Beast Kings which would be spawned in Stranglethorn Vale: Gorilla King Mukla, Crocodile King Baladin, Leopard King Hunlamoar, and Tiger King Bangalash! All these Beast Kings were all Dark Gold Overlords; thus, one could just imagine how strong they were!

In Lin Jie’s previous life, numerous Hunters had been staying guard over this area whenever any of the Beast Kings was being refreshed. This was because the Beast Kings could be captured and kept as pets! In fact, countless guilds would be at war with one another every time the Tiger King Bangalash was being refreshed, all for a single reason: the Tiger King Mount!

The Tiger King Mount had a beginning speed of 80%, and it had its own attributes of Armor Ignore 3%! Just by looking at its attributes, this would be one of the most formidable creatures around in the game!

However, it had a greater value—it was the suavest Mount the game had ever seen! In terms of size, the Tiger King was already stronger than normal tigers; coupled with its black and white stripes, it stood out absolutely from normal tigers!

The Tiger King Bangalash would be refreshed every 15 days. Even a few years after the game was launched, Stranglethorn Vale was still the worst battlefield—all because of the Tiger King!

The chances of spawning the Tiger King Mount by killing the Tiger King was bare minimal, but First Kill of the Tiger King would guarantee a 100% chance of spawning the Mount! This was also the reason why Lin Jie rushed over here right after he learned Horsemanship.

He reached the Tiger King’s Slope!

Lin Jie walked carefully within the bushes. A few Level 32 Pangolins jumped out occasionally from the bushes. They would sniff around Lin Jie, decide that he did not fit their tastes, and run off again. On the trees, there were a few Koalas enjoying their deep slumber in this nice weather.

Lin Jie smiled. “Such a peaceful scene.”

Screech—

After a clear screech, a Steel-Winged Vulcan flew out from nowhere. It picked up a Koala with its beak, gulping it down in a mouthful and let out a satisfying burp.

A tremble ran through Lin Jie’s body, and he quickly hid among the trees.

The Tiger King’s Slope was extremely vast, and normally there would be near to a thousand tigers guarding it. Yet now, it was so quiet——one could not hear any tiger’s roars anywhere!

‘Surely there’s no one leveling up here?’ Lin Jie took a look at the Rankings Board and confirmed that he was still No. 1. However, he knew that there were many players who would scoff at being listed on the Rankings Board! To these players, the Rankings Board was just a pretentious and useless item, used only for attracting attention. One of such players would be Ophadi Wantless—even though he had not heard any news about him till now, Lin Jie was certain he must have at least reached Level 20!

Lin Jie held onto both his swords tightly and crept around on the Tiger King’s Slope.

‘Weng——’

There was an unusual ripple in the air around him. Lin Jie’s pupils constricted. ‘There’s someone here, indeed!’ After half a second, a layer of mist was formed, and Lin Jie transformed into a lamb!

This was… the Polymorph skill!

In the bushes not far away, there was a glimmer of Arcane spells given off by a Mage who was extremely well hidden. If Lin Jie’s eyes were not sharp enough, he would not have seen him!

After the Polymorph spell was applied, Lin Jie could not move and could only receive the blows from the opposite party.

The Mage waved his wand, and conjured up an Arcane Whirlwind! A tornado formed around Lin Jie’s head, and tore at him crazily! Suddenly the wind’s direction changed, and it tried to throw Lin Jie up in mid-air!

-314!

Polymorph deactivated! Lin Jie stood up slowly, shook his body, and the tornado disappeared!

The Earth Elemental Wrist Guard gleamed under the sun. Unwavering was activated! This special effect had allowed him to stay put, and hence, he was not thrown off previously.

Hunter’s Forward Charge!

Lin Jie shot towards that Mage! The Mage was slightly shocked and seemed surprised that Lin Jie could actually identify his hiding spot that fast.

“You’re asking for death!” shouted Lin Jie. Broken Blade slashed down numerous bushes with gusts of Blade Auras! When the bushes floated down, Lin Jie stared at the Mage in shock——his skin was rotten, and his bones were clearly visible. The Mage’s face seemed to have been stitched up numerous times, and his eyes were all white. With a dried up torso, the Mage gave off a revolting rotten smell!

He’s an Undead!

Oh no, this was an Undead player!

Lin Jie took a look at his name——ED.lee ¹ ! How did he get here?

“Heh heh heh…” ED.lee pushed out his hands, and an Arcane Halo drove Lin Jie away. Arcane Bullets shot towards Lin Jie!

Lin Jie stared at the Undead player, ignoring the Arcane Bullets, which hit upon the Kiara Beast King Armor. An 80 plus damage figure floated up his head. The damage from Arcane Bullets was not strong, but they were basic skills which could be used for continuous attacks and be superimposed upon other Arcane spells.

ED.lee laughed in an eerie manner, and as if to complete the Undead look, he had purposely designed an ugly face for himself and gave off revolting odors. For Undead players, this was a good weapon!

Taking a look at his equipment, Lin Jie finally understood how he had come here.

[Skin Stapler] (Dark Gold Fragment)

No job restriction

Requires: Level 20

Defense: 12-14

Wisdom: +22

Spirit: +15

Willpower: +5

Additional effect: Talent Skill Flesh Eater Level +3

The Undead’s talent skill was [Flesh Eater], and it could devour corpses to recover its health points. With enough fresh bodies and an enhanced Flesh Eater skill, it would be easy for this Undead to travel here.

ED.lee pointed out his fingers, and cast another Polymorph spell!

Deng!

When the spell landed, there were only two deep footsteps left in the ground! Lin Jie had avoided the spell, and dragging a deep fissure in the soil, he thrust his swords out at ED.lee!

“Hehe…”

ED.lee continued his eerie laughter, and suddenly disappeared! Following, Lin Jie felt a strong force against his body!

This was… the Flash skill coupled with Arcane Explosion!

Lin Jie’s body was thrown off balance, but he made use of this force to back tread and start a run towards ED.lee again. Against the Undead, he had one never-failing skill!

“dhjshjh——” (Language of the Undead: Arcane Energy)

While ED.lee was chanting his spells, Holy Light suddenly jumped up from his palms, and his magic died away.

Light Empathy!

While he was still stunned, Lin Jie had already rushed in front of him. Broken Blade slashed across his rotten head and brought about a 500 figure of damage. After all, Ed.lee was just a Mage and he was still too weak for melee attacks!

“Die now!” Broken Blade’s blood reservoir was filled up, and Lin Jie activated Blood Soul Multi-Slash!

-1,214! Killed instantly!

ED.lee’s head was being cut off! However, Lin Jie did not stop at this. He slashed at ED.lee’s body crazily—in fact, he was just mutilating ED.lee to pieces!

The Undead could learn a skill known as the Undead’s Body. This skill would help the Undead remain around for a while and then recover slowly on the spot. Many players from the Guild of Light suffered great losses when they were attacking the Tribe of Darkness due to this skill, but they soon discovered a method to overcome this skill: just cut off all the Undead’s limbs! Much as strong as the Undead’s Body skill was, there was still a price to pay for it—as long as the Undead’s limbs were being cut off, they would remain in a weak state for double the time after they recovered.

Toot!

Limbs all cut off! When the figure in front of him was only left with the main torso, Lin Jie finally heaved a sigh of relief.

“How come there are no Reputation points rewarded?” Lin Jie frowned. By right, killing players from the opposite camp would reward one with Reputation Points.

Whoosh——

The bushes on his left side trembled slightly. Lin Jie was shocked and activated Flame Boost at once. The blade which was enlarged by two inches spew fire at the bushes around and flames flew about!

An Undead’s body was gradually revealed. His appearance was the same as ED.lee’s appearance! Looking at the nearing blade, he hurriedly raised up both his hands——a sign to admit defeat!

Due to the differences in their races and camps, both of them did not use the same language, and thus, they were unable to communicate verbally. ED.lee took out paper and pen, scribbled on it and flung it at Lin Jie.

ED.lee was a Marionest—this was a specialized job in the Tribe of Darkness. They could create Marionettes which were similar to any ordinary players, and command them to fight for themselves. For instance, the ‘ED.lee’ which Lin Jie had mutilated previously was a Marionette. The way Marionest leveled up was very safe—they could just revive their Marionette when it was dead, and everything would remain status quo for them. In fact, in the later stages, a Marionest could own more than one Marionette, and each Marionette would have the same Stats as ordinary players.

However, the catch was this: if a Marionest’s Marionette was being destroyed and couldn’t be retrieved, then all the equipment this Marionette owned would be spawned, and its levels would be cleared. A Marionette was a Marionest’s blood and effort for numerous months or years, and thus if it was being destroyed, it would almost be similar to deleting the player’s account. This was the greatest weak point of a Marionest.

Thus, now…

“I have been training this Marionette since the beginning of the game. Big Brother, Grandfather, my ancestor… whatever you want me to call you, can you just spare destroying it? We are both players, after all,” wrote ED.lee in his letter.

Lin Jie raised his brows and tore up the paper. He pointed Broken Blade at the Marionette on the ground.

Beads of perspiration formed on ED.lee’s head. He took out a few gold coins and beckoned to Lin Jie to take it.

Lin Jie’s lips twitched. ‘This is the currency of the Tribe of Darkness, why give it to me?’

Looking at Lin Jie’s expression, ED.lee gritted his teeth, and threw a dark gold bead to Lin Jie, looking pained.

[Undead’s Seal: Dragon’s Roar] (Dark Gold): You can engrave this upon your weapon and add the Dragon’s Roar’s skill to your weapon.

‘This item?’ Lin Jie was delighted. An idea formed in his mind.