plumnovel Chapter 43 : The Lake Deep in the Forest
Chapter 43 : The Lake Deep in the Forest
The Lake Deep in the ForestAfter dealing with the man-eating flower blocking their way, the five continued to advance deeper into the jungle.
However, following that battle, there was a slight change in the team's formation. Dawn's Light, who originally led the team, moved back to the second position, with Cecilia taking his place at the front.
The monsters in this area were densely distributed; on average, every dozen meters they'd encounter one. Most were above level 15 and not only had high attack and plenty of health, but also possessed a plethora of troublesome skills, making each encounter difficult.
Usually, when a team of players explored such places, the safest method would be for everyone to desperately unleash their skills, instantly killing the monsters, then waiting for their skills to cool down before venturing further.
Both Dawn's Light and Yuewu favored this method. Though it was mana- and time-consuming, it best ensured their state for the final boss fight.
But Cecilia didn't care about such things. When a group moved together at this pace, their speed was painfully slow. In order to hide her secrets, there were many skills she couldn't use in front of others, forcing her to deal with monsters using only basic attacks.
After fighting just two or three of them, Cecilia grew impatient. She tossed a sentence at the others, saying she'd go ahead to clear the path and for them to protect Gu Yanxi, then broke away from the team. Her petite figure flickered and quickly vanished among the dense trees.
For most players, teaming up was the most effective way to lower the game's difficulty. But at Cecilia's level, extra teammates only became burdens dragging her down. A lone wolf should play like a lone wolf.
After leaving the group, Cecilia's speed indeed improved dramatically. The Darkwing Demon Bat darted rapidly across the treetops, serving as her third eye. With its 360-degree ultrasonic sweep, not a single monster could hide.
As soon as a monster was detected nearby, Cecilia didn't even need to get close. She would either raise her hand to release Blood Drain or lift her dress and fire a shot. One by one, grotesque elite monsters fell, dropping glimmering materials or equipment.
She wasted no time collecting these materials herself, instead messaging the other four to remind them to pick up the scattered loot behind. The more time she spent solo, the better. If possible, Cecilia preferred to challenge this world boss alone, so she wouldn't have to worry about revealing her class.
Seeing Cecilia's private message, the others were resigned; their travel speed was already slow, but they didn't want to give up on the loot. So they moved forward, glancing left and right in search of monster corpses.
Soon, Yuewu was the first to spot something not far away—a mass of shimmering blue light.
"System notification: You've obtained 1 [Corrupted Beast Bone]!"
"System notification: You've obtained..."
At the same time, as Cecilia defeated monsters, the others' experience values kept rising.
Within just a few minutes, little Persimmon Puppy's experience bar was completely filled, leveling from 8 to 9. Sighing at how great it was to be carried by a pro, she shot a mocking look at Yuewu. "I told you, you've been leveling so fast because this is how you're getting all that experience, huh? Have you been freeloading a lot recently?"
Outed by Little Persimmon Puppy, both Dawn's Light and Yuewu looked awkward. Outside, they were revered by every player as top online gaming legends, but here, they could only obediently collect loot and gain free experience.
Just then, as the mood grew awkward, Gu Yanxi—who had been very quiet—all of a sudden asked, "Um... did you guys hear that? It sounded kind of like gunfire..."
Gunfire?
Yuewu was first stunned, finding Gu Yanxi's words funny, and couldn't help teasing, "Yan-meimei, this is a world of sword and magic. How could there possibly be a gun?"
"That's right, maybe you misheard?"
Dawn's Light nodded, questioning Gu Yanxi as well.
"She didn't mishear. I seemed to hear gunfire too just now,"
Little Persimmon Puppy suddenly frowned and said.
Maybe one could mishear, but if two people heard it, then clearly, something was up. Dawn's Light and Yuewu quieted down, listening intently to the surroundings.
Perhaps it was because a massacre had just occurred, but the forest was eerily silent—there wasn't even a trace of birdsong. Only the faint sound of The Sound of the Wind swept past their ears. With eyes closed, the vibrant tropical rainforest seemed dead and still.
They held their breaths, listening for a few seconds. Just as Dawn's Light and Yuewu were about to give up, a faint sound came from far ahead—so subtle, but it reached their ears clearly.
Bang!
Suddenly, their eyes snapped open. Dawn's Light made an immediate judgment: "That's definitely gunfire. I've fired a shotgun before; it sounds exactly like this!"
"No way?"
Yuewu still found it hard to believe and asked, "The sound came from up ahead—could something have happened to Cecilia?"
"She's too far from us. Let's message her and check."
Meanwhile, Cecilia squeezed the trigger on her flintlock pistol. An Armor-Piercing Shell shot out, blasting the head off a giant water python in a stream dozens of meters away. Just as she was about to gather her loot, a private message popped up in the bottom right of her view. It was Yuewu.
[Yuewu: Sister Ce, where are you now? We just heard gunfire. It sounded like it came from your direction.]
Reading the message, Cecilia froze for a moment, then guiltily stuffed her flintlock pistol back into its holster and covered it with her dress.
They were so far away, yet they still heard it! Firearms like the flintlock pistol clearly drew too much attention. Cecilia wasn't planning on letting anyone but Gu Yanxi know about it.
[Cecilia: I didn't hear anything here.]
After replying to Yuewu, Cecilia silently resolved not to use the gun again until she'd put more distance between herself and the group.
It was so useful, though.
She quickly collected the loot and pressed farther into the forest. This time, Cecilia didn't clear out every monster. Instead, she selectively left some weaker ones along the way—not to expect them to seriously hurt the rest, but to cause Dawn's Light and the others some trouble and slow them down.
After completely letting loose, Cecilia's speed increased dramatically. With her petite frame and over a thousand agility points, she moved effortlessly through the complex terrain. She could leap across even the widest rapid rivers with a single bound.
In just a few minutes, she reached the deepest part of the Mutant Jungle. Compared to the outer forest, the trees here were thicker and their crowns so dense they blocked almost all sunlight. The area was shrouded in peculiar mist and smelled sweetly metallic.
Maybe it was just the darkness, but Cecilia felt her vision clouding. She paused, suspicious.
Just then, a light blue system notification appeared before her.
[System notification: You have entered [Poisoned] status. Please be careful with your HP!]
Poisoned?
Cecilia tilted her head curiously and checked her HP bar. It was neither increasing nor decreasing. Apart from her vision turning slightly green, there were no effects of being poisoned.
After a few more seconds of close observation, her superior dynamic eyesight caught it: her HP was, in fact, dropping, but her regeneration was so fast and the poison's dmg so low—deducting only 1 HP at a time—that for anyone else, it would be practically invisible.
The likely culprit was the toxic gases around. But with her high magic resistance, the poisoning effect was almost nothing. She didn't even bother drinking the potion that cured the status, instead slowing her steps and continuing cautiously forwards while staying alert.
Judging by the red dots reported by the Darkwing Demon Bat, she was now very close to the Sawtooth Demon King Crocodile's lair.
Dozens of meters ahead, she even saw a few trees broken in half. Cecilia immediately recalled that the last time she came here, the Sawtooth Demon King Crocodile had emerged from a fissure in the ground, its huge body knocking over several trees.
She looked around. Sure enough, there was a large, deep pit on the ground, long and narrow—shaped unmistakably like a crocodile. But the boss that should have been waiting there was nowhere to be seen.
A bad feeling welled up in her heart. Before Cecilia could prepare, a chilling roar came from further ahead in the forest.
This roar was deep and powerful—like some ancient beast breaking free from a primordial seal, shattering the earth as it rose and howled to the sky, making one tremble from the soul.
Did the boss go over there?!
Hearing the roar, Cecilia's heart pounded, quickly replaced by intense fighting spirit and excitement. This was her first D-rank world boss encounter—who knew what kind of loot it might drop?
She drew her table knife with her left hand, her flintlock pistol with her right, and her figure flickered as she darted off. In the blink of an eye, Cecilia disappeared into the poisonous fog of the Mutant Jungle.
Moss-covered, twisted ancient trees sped past on both sides. Within a few breaths Cecilia burst out of the oppressive, gloomy forest. Blinding light shone down and the surroundings suddenly opened up.
The first thing she saw was a clear lake—scenic and beautiful, hard to imagine hidden deep within a forest crawling with monstrous creatures lay such a pure, untouched place.
Stunned, Cecilia hesitated, not knowing where to aim her pistol.
Last time, possessing the Darkwing Demon Bat, she'd circled this forest many times from above, but had never once seen this lake.
So, where did this lake come from?
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