The Great Thief

Some plants grew in soft soil, while others preferred more compact soil. Of course, there was also the wide range in between.

The vast area of Skulk Rock wasn’t flattering. Apart from the disgusting Oozelings, the environment was also in a sorry state. There were hundreds of quagmires of all sizes scattered around. If you fell in, not even a player who had mastered their Revive skill could save you. Some thought that these quagmires were where the strange Oozelings were born.

”Everyone stay behind me; don’t randomly walk around…”

Lu Li’s reminder had obviously come a little late, as a hunter had already stepped into a soft spot and was engulfed.

”Don’t panic if something goes wrong; panicking won’t solve the problem. Just hold tightly onto someone and don’t let go,” Lu Li instructed as he quickly took out a Magic Staff from his backpack and handed it to the hunter.

Anyone would be frightened in this situation, and this hunter was no exception. After losing his balance, he had started the struggle, but after hearing Lu Li’s steady voice, he caught the Staff and was eventually dragged out.

The couple of hundred players looked at the quagmire and paled. It was like a giant mouth, threatening to suck them in.

”Don’t be afraid. If you respond calmly, there is nothing to worry about. Find yourself a rope and tie yourself to another player. That way, you don’t have to worry about falling in,” Lu Li said as he switched his weapon to a Bow and shot at a group of Oozes.

When the group was attacked, it immediately wriggled and merged turned into a monster with eyes – an Oozeling.

This Oozeling was level 50 with high Attack and high Defense. It also spat venom and had a splitting skill, as well as excellent camouflaging abilities. If a player was alone here, they were at real risk of dying.

Lu Li’s arrow only did a dozen damage, which was much lower than he expected.

However, he also had many teammates with him, who backed him up with a barrage of spells. A sea of damage values floated above the Oozeling’s head, but only a few of them were greater than 100. Even so, this was more than enough to overhwhelm the Oozeling, which died before it could reach Lu Li.

”Boss, it’s just a common equipment,” a player announced.

”That’s okay. Everyone, keep going. You don’t need that many people; just 20 in a group. Be careful not to fall into any quagmires,” Lu Li instructed and began delegating roles.

”I feel five players should be able to handle one. Most of the Oozelings had a splitting skill. If they can’t be killed in a short time, they will split into more monsters. These have lower HP, but the same high attack. It’s safer if we have bigger groups,” he explained.

”The Boss knows best.”

The area they were in was a basin with an uneven terrain and many boulders scattered around. Most of them were covered in sludge, while some of them were exposed and obstructed the players’ view. There were also many places where a treasure chest could be hidden – behind a rock, or even in a cave that was made by a pile of smaller rocks.

Under normal circumstances, the game designers wouldn’t place a chest in the mud. That wouldn’t be hidden – it would just be troublesome.

The troll elder said that it was a treasure, but Lu Li wasn’t sure. He was the leader of a declining tribe and had been taken prisoner. What kind of treasure could he possibly have? Lu Li could only hope to find it quickly so he could go back to levelling. If there were a hundred players searching, they could cover a lot of ground in one day.

As time went by, Lu Li couldn’t help but say, ”Alright, this is too hard. Thanks for your help everyone, but let’s go back now.”

”Boss you’ve got to the kidding. We’ve already been looking for so long; how can we give up now? We don’t have anything that important to do. Aren’t we levelling here anyway by killing these monsters?” Lu Li didn’t want to waste his guildmates’ time, but they weren’t happy about it.

Lu Li would be lying if he didn’t feel moved, because saying that they were levelling here was obviously a joke.

Dawn did not reward those who killed monsters that were much higher-levelled than they were. Moreover, 20 players were sharing the EXP at a time, which made the gains much worse than anywhere else. To say that they were levelling here was purely to make Lu Li feel better.

This was a situation where they wouldn’t be happy if they couldn’t continue following him. As such, Lu Li had no choice but to keep killing the monsters and trying to find the treasure chest.

”Boss, come over here! I think I found a treasure chest!” someone shouted out. The players that weren’t currently in a fight all rushed over. They had rummaged through the entire Skulk Rock area and killed countless Oozelings, but they hadn’t found anything for hours. Everyone had begun to suspect that Lu Li had been tricked by the Elder Troll.

In front of them was two huge boulders pressed together. There was a gap in the middle, but no one could fit through it, not even a small girl.

”You can see it from here. Boss, stand here,” the player said as he gave up the position he was standing on.

”Dammit, the chest is really well hidden.”

Lu Li only managed to catch a glimpse of the chest after following the player’s instruction.

If it weren’t for the sun’s rays that were shining on the golden treasure chest and reflecting some light, he wouldn’t be able to see it. Even the angle was perfect, as it was otherwise pitch black in there.

The next question was, how could they open the treasure chest?

First of all, they needed a Thief who had a level 4 Unlock Skill, but they also had to be able to squeeze into this gap. Everyone looked at each other, somewhat dumbfounded.

The players here were mostly considered elite players in Dawn, but they had no ideas.

”Let me try,” Lu Li said as he cast the Child of the Forest and turned into a golden leopard before squeezing through the gap. In fact, the fog effect on his newly acquired belt could enable him to walk through normally unpassable terrain. It was obviously easier to do that, but that would be overkill and he didn’t want to reveal another ability.

Lu Li squeezed his way in with some difficulty before entering and realizing it was like a completely different place.

The boulders were hollow, and the space could hold more than dozen individuals. Inside, the bround was covered by decaying, dry skeletons. The light leopard broke some bones on each step towards the chest.

In the center of the room lay the shining, golden treasure chest.