65: This is the scepter!

“This little guy is indeed quite clever.”

Cheng Zhen was in a good mood, teasing the Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse in his hand with food. The little creature saw the food but couldn't reach it, squealing in frustration.

Although the Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse was timid and lacked combat power, its senses were indeed sharp, able to detect approaching enemies by scent.

With its sensory warning, the Golden Scorpion Tribe traveled all the way without discovering Cheng Zhen's people, let alone finding any ambushes.

The Golden Scorpion Chieftain, seeing no chance of victory, didn't say anything about how his head could be cut off, his blood could flow, but his dignity could not be lost. Seeing that the general situation was irreversible, he honestly agreed to surrender.

The overall situation was settled; now they just had to wait for them to switch to the Sand Fox Tribe's totem.

Cheng Zhen was about to return the Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse to Jin Yu, but she shook her head and said, “After the dungeon upgrades, we don’t know what we might encounter. It’s better if you keep it for now.”

He thought it made sense, so he put the Sand Rat back into his pocket.

As the Golden Scorpion Chieftain changed allegiance, a series of dungeon messages popped up in front of Cheng Zhen—

“Beep, the leader of the ‘Golden Scorpion Tribe’ has submitted to you.”

“221 members of this tribe have been incorporated into the ‘Sand Fox Tribe’.”

“Congratulations on successfully annexing the sixth tribe.”

“Do you wish to declare unification and become the sole victor?”

“Yes / No”

The dungeon was actually asking for his decision?

That made it interesting.

Declaring unification meant completing the clear mission, allowing for immediate settlement and departure.

Seeing that he could now leave this place and no longer had to eat beef noodles, Cheng Zhen felt a sense of relief. Then…

He unhesitatingly chose ‘No’.

Are you kidding? He had endured beef noodles for so many days, wasn't it all for the special ending? Otherwise, he would have led his people to quickly finish them off long ago!

If he left directly now, all those days of beef noodles would have been eaten in vain!

After Cheng Zhen refused, the dungeon stopped popping up messages and went quiet.

It seemed he still had to find the clues for the dungeon upgrade himself.

Cheng Zhen called over the two NPC chieftains and asked, “When you came, did the Shaman tell you anything?”

The two unlucky chieftains, one poisoned and one burned, were being carried over to answer, acting like brothers in misfortune.

“The Shaman said he gave us help hoping that the king who rules the Desert would be born from one of us two,” the Golden Scorpion Chieftain whispered, afraid that Cheng Zhen would be so angry by their cheating that he would kill them both.

“Hmm, anything else?” Since it was just a dungeon setting, Cheng Zhen didn't need to get angry with two NPCs.

The Vulture Chief glanced at his unlucky companion next to him, then pulled out a beast hide map from his in my arms: “There’s also this map. He and I each have half. The Shaman said that after the other Heaven-Sent Ones die, Hosa Du’s Scepter will appear in the world, and with it, we can leave through the forbidden area exit on the map.”

“Hey!!!”

The Golden Scorpion Chieftain was startled. He couldn't understand why the Vulture Chief was so unafraid of death that he would even tell Cheng Zhen this.

Are you really not afraid he'll kill you if he can't find the Scepter?

The Vulture Chief looked indifferent. Anyway, if Cheng Zhen wanted to kill him, he would have done so already. Now that he had unified the tribes, there was no point in hiding anything anymore.

Seeing this guy's defeatist attitude, the Golden Scorpion Chieftain almost wanted to spit blood. But since things had come to this, there was nothing he could do, so he also handed over his half of the map.

When both maps were handed to Cheng Zhen, a strange wind swept past him, making him feel a chill on a hot day.

The two map pieces were slowly emitting an eerie glow.

Old Xu, standing nearby, was startled by the sudden strange aura emanating from the two maps, completely unaware of what was happening, and shivered.

Zhou Xing did not show panic, but his expression gradually became solemn.

Others were panicking, but Cheng Zhen was excited.

This feeling… it was exactly the same as when the dungeon upgraded in the sacrifice mountain child dungeon!

At that time, it was a pile of toys emitting this aura, but now, it was the maps.

His long-awaited special reward had arrived!

Cheng Zhen unhesitatingly pieced the two maps together. In an instant, dungeon messages flooded the screen again—

“Beep, upgrade conditions met!”

“Dungeon - Tribal Conflict, dungeon upgraded! Difficulty increased! ★★★ → ★★★★”

“Clear Mission: Unify all forces in the Desert and become the sole victor!”

“Hint: Just do it!”

“Panel map has been updated!”

All strategists saw the message and knew that Cheng Zhen was close to achieving his goal.

Although the difficulty had increased, the main mission hadn't changed much, and the improvement was strikingly simple and crude.

Cheng Zhen basically understood who he needed to deal with next. He summoned A Kun Duo and asked him to look at the map.

After the two maps were combined, even Cheng Zhen's map panel was updated, but he still needed local natives to confirm if there was anything on the map that he couldn't discern.

“Leader, this points to the forbidden area exit, but it doesn't have any clues related to Hosa Du’s Scepter…”

“Otherwise…” A Kun Duo secretly glanced at the two chieftains next to him, his meaning self-evident.

The Golden Scorpion Chieftain nervously shrunk his neck. Cheng Zhen waved his hand, reassuring him: “Don’t worry, I am a man of my word. If I said I wouldn’t kill, I won’t kill.”

After all, if he killed him, he might not be able to get the special reward.

The Golden Scorpion Chieftain didn't know that his life was entirely given by the treasure chest. Hearing Cheng Zhen's words, he breathed a sigh of relief, and his loyalty suddenly increased by a significant margin.

“Let’s go, set off for the forbidden area exit.”

Cheng Zhen informed everyone, preparing to line up and depart.

The Vulture Chief looked surprised: “But… the Shaman said we need to get the Scepter to leave through the forbidden area exit?”

Cheng Zhen smiled: “Hmm, I already have it.”

Everyone: ?!

A Kun Duo was even more bewildered.

No? Leader, when did you get it? Wasn't I always by your side, at your beck and call? Why didn't I see the Scepter?

Could it be that the Leader has another subordinate behind my back?

“Alright, let's depart quickly.”

Cheng Zhen said no more, ordering everyone to move.

Everyone said no more, only wondering when the Scepter had appeared, even suspecting they had amnesia, otherwise how could they have seen nothing at all?

Perhaps after the dungeon upgraded, some adjustments were made. The forbidden area exit was not far from Cheng Zhen's location, only an hour or two's walk away.

As they were about to reach the exit, Cheng Zhen no longer urged them on, but instead had the entire army stop to rest, seemingly to conserve energy for a major battle.

After subduing the Black Eagle Tribe, Cheng Zhen gained the panel locking function. The morale boost effect would remain locked on A Kun Duo and others. So Cheng Zhen took out beef noodles and fed them to the newly recruited tribal warriors, vigorously boosting their buffs and loyalty.

When they set off again, those warriors were full of vigor, practically wanting to tell their former chieftain, “We’re not close, don’t contact us anymore…”

Upon reaching their destination, everyone saw a huge altar, surrounded by various beast bone decorations, with a strange green flame burning in the center.

Cheng Zhen was about to go up to look for clues, but unexpectedly, the moment he stepped up, the green flame twisted for an instant, and then a figure slowly emerged from it.

“Are you… the leader of the Sand Fox Tribe?”

The figure in the fire spoke. His tone seemed a bit puzzled, probably not expecting anyone to have defeated both cheating players.

“It's me.” Cheng Zhen didn't bother with pleasantries and went straight to the point: “I have already obtained Hosa Du’s Scepter, so now I am the ruler of this Desert!”

“What?” The other party looked even more surprised, then coughed twice as if to cover it up: “Cough… I didn’t expect you to be so young and capable. This truly makes this old man admire you!”

“Then, future king, may I ask that we Shamans together behold Hosa Du’s legacy and confirm your great feat?”

Judging from the Old Shaman's reaction, Cheng Zhen highly suspected that guy didn't know if there was a Scepter in this forbidden area, nor did he expect anyone to be able to get the Scepter, which was why he asked Cheng Zhen to prove himself with the item.

Cheng Zhen clicked his tongue, feeling no goodwill towards this guy who plotted behind the scenes, actively lured people to cheat, and even doubted his sincerity.

But it didn't matter. As a magnanimous person, Cheng Zhen was willing to let the other party ‘see for himself’.

He openly placed an item in front of him: “Look, this is Hosa Du’s Scepter!”

The flame twitched violently twice, symbolizing its owner's extremely unsettled mind.

The Old Shaman on the other side also fell into a deep silence.

Not just him, but also A Kun Duo, the two chieftains, the group of NPC warriors, and Old Xu and others behind him, all fell into a state of speechless (rainless) Desert.

No, buddy?

What you have in your hand seems to be just a wooden stick?

Although it doesn’t look like an ordinary wooden stick either…

But… it’s still a wooden stick, right?

“…You, you, you…” The Old Shaman's mouth twitched, “Where is that Hosa Du’s Scepter? That’s clearly just a wooden stick!”

Cheng Zhen, holding a wooden fish mallet, showed no panic at being exposed. Instead, he was very self-righteous: “You haven’t seen Hosa Du’s Scepter, so how do you know this isn’t it?”

“But, but…” The Old Shaman was about to say something, but Cheng Zhen interrupted him.

“You don’t believe this is Hosa Du’s Scepter? Hmph, no problem, others can prove it for me!”

“Huh? Who can prove it?!” The Old Shaman was so angry at this glib fellow that his features were twisting together. Prove what? I don’t believe anyone can…

The next second, Cheng Zhen directly turned and pointed to the group of NPCs.

“Everyone!”

“I, the leader of the Sand Fox Tribe, the unifier of the Desert, have found the legendary Hosa Du’s legacy, and it is this Scepter in my hand!”

“The Shaman is old and his eyes are dim, he cannot see clearly. I only ask you, is this not Hosa Du’s Scepter?”

“Who approves, who opposes?!”