The Great Thief

After finding a place with dense undergrowth, Lu Li decides to hide the little boat inside it and walked onto the bank of the lake with the party.

He didn’t go to Stonewatch Fortress right away because of his uncertainty about the real situation of the fortress. Everyone first looked for Brubaker, the scout who Mayor Solomon had mentioned, then decide what to do next.

After searching for a while, Lu Li found a tree branch from a large tree that had been shaved by a blade. A symbol of a plum flower could be roughly made out, just like what Mayor Solomon had mentioned.

When they followed the direction of the symbol, Lu Li and others quickly found the second one.

It seemed like this scout was quite cautious after all. Every direction that was being pointed in was different every time; only old soldiers like Keeshan could understand this. Furthermore, there were no traces on the ground.

In this fashion, they searched the lakeside for more than ten minutes. Suddenly, Keeshan, who was walking in front of them all, swiftly crouched on the ground and indicated for them to stop advancing.

No one dared to breathe as they inched forward at snail’s pace, following Keeshan’s actions while they looked out from the small openings inside the bushes.

How cruel!

Lu Li’s throat began to itch a little, and he sidestepped in front of Water Fairy. Just as she moved to see what was happening, Lu Li had blocked her field of vision. Shortly afterwards, she heard him sullenly say, ”Don’t look – the Orcs are roasting Brubaker on the fire.”

Water Fairy’s body trembled as she reached out to grab Lu Li’s shirt, not wanting to look anymore.

Just past the bushes lay a temporary Orc camp. Several Orcs were resting around the fire, which was directly beneath a glossy-looking human body strapped onto a frame. The body had already been roasted to the point of crisping the skin and cooking the flash. Melted drops of fat periodically dripped into the fire with a sizzle as the smell of barbeque wafted through the air.

Lu Li hurriedly took a glance at Brubaker, whose pained expression and blackened face etched itself into his mind.

Lu Li did not understand why the game designers had decided to create this type of scene – this could easily leave emotional scarring. Players with soft and unprepared hearts would definitely when they saw this.

Lu Li, in his entire life, would not want his younger sister to see something cruel like this. As such, he decided to protect Water Fairy by embracing her in his chest.

”Five Orcs, two Warriors, two Hunters, one Shaman. No more enemies surrounding the area,” Krakauer quickly reported.

”Kill.”

With a cold expression on his face, Keeshan rushed out first.

The Orc Hunters’ pets were the first to find them. As the pets were just about to warn their owners, two arrows flew and tore their throats apart. Keeshan did not release two arrows at once, but fired them so quickly that it appeared simultaneous.

It was already a one-sided massacre without Lu Li or Water Fairy joining the battle.

From the start to the end, Water Fairy did not even glance towards the direction of the fire. After the battle had finished, she instantly opened the game menu and changed her positioning to shield herself from the gruesome scenery.

Two of the NPCs laid Brubaker onto the ground and began to bury him.

Brubaker’s garments and armor were all cast aside in a mess. After Keeshan had searched his belongings, he quickly found the scout’s information.

”Friends, if I did not hand this note to you personally, then I most likely have already died.

Tell my wife I love her. You must show no mercy to these insignificant beings.

Apart from that, I found a black dragon inside the fortress.”

Indeed, the note had definitely belonged to Brubaker. He had drawn a crude topographic map of Stonewatch Fortress and somewhat inaccurately depicted the distribution of enemy forces. This wasn’t particularly helpful, as Keeshan had once been imprisoned inside Stonewatch for a long period of time as a prisoner of war. As well as this, he had been involved with the construction of Stonewatch Fortress. However, the letter had mentioned a black dragon inside the fortress, which was definitely shocking news.

”No need to worry. Even if there is a black dragon, we’ll also all die,” Keeshan said coldly.

He dragged the corpses of Blackstone Orcs and discarded them in the fire. Immediately, the fire grew fiercer and larger.

With heavy hearts and a gloomy atmosphere, everyone continued on their journey.

As they journeyed closer to Stonewatch Fortress, they spotted the Orc soldiers on patrol. There were ten in a small squad – four Warriors, two Hunters, two Shamans and two Wolf Riders. The squad composition seemed to be invulnerable and they were all elite soldiers.

The five previous Orcs were most likely only half of a scouting squad.

”The wolves have Detection abilities. You must be careful,” Keeshan said to Lu Li and Water Fairy.

The wolves that he mentioned were likely those that the Warriors were riding on. Although they were much smaller and their legs were extremely short, they were thick and solid with considerable strength. It was estimated that they had explosive speed and strength in short bursts.

At this moment Lu Li was bewildered. They were all sorts of classes and professions between the five NPCs, but instead of worrying about themselves, they were worrying about these two Thieves.

Then, he saw the five NPCs consume a bottle containing an unknown liquid and disappear completely in front of them. Not even Lu Li’s Detection abilities could locate the positions of the Hunters and Paladins.

After this, Messner the Mage cast a spell on them which allowed them to see the five NPCs who had already advanced.

This mission was likely quite easy, if all they had to do was to wait here.

”Stop looking – follow us,” Messner whispered quietly. ”Besides installing bombs, we must also kill at least half of the small squad captains to prevent them from escaping Stonewatch Fortress in an organised manner.”

”This time, we must wipe out the Blackstone Orcs,” Jorgensen the Holy Knight said angrily. ”Even after completing the mission, I will not return and work the land. I will go and kill all the Orcs and wipe them out.”

”Hopefully after I grow old, I will still have the chance to fish,” Messner the Mage sighed as he shook his head hopelessly.

Lu Li and Water Fairy followed behind them carefully. Despite the effectiveness of the NPCs’ Stealth, Keeshan and his party did not advance recklessly.

The location of the first bomb installation was of course at the gate of the fortress.

There were four Orcs standing guard here, so they needed to kill them in order to proceed. Under Keeshan’s command, the three Orcs that they were responsible for were instantly killed, while the Orc that Lu Li and Water Fairy was tasked to kill only lost a fraction of its HP.

As soon as Keeshan’s bow changed direction, he fired a few arrows and killed the last Orc.

”I’ll install the explosive. Messner, bring everyone else to the next position. From now on, we have 45 minutes to install 46 explosives. Kill as many Orc officers as you can and avoid entering the central hall as the commander is not someone who we can fight,” Keeshan instructed in a commanding voice.

The explosives were set at a certain time, but they were extremely unstable. Only elite soldiers like Keeshan could ensure complete safety while using them.

Lu Li glanced over, trying to develop a shallow understanding of how to use the explosive.