107: Chapter 107 Blackrock Orcs = Plane Invaders

The next targets were the Blackrock Summoners. These spellcasting units were actually easier to deal with than the Blackrock Renegades. They were squishy, had almost no armor, and only possessed two spells: Shadow Bolt and Corruption.

When Hu Jinsi and his group found the first Blackrock Summoner, it was crouching under a dead tree, with an Imp less than knee-high standing at its feet. The Blackrock Summoner held a twisted branch in its hand, embedded with a dark purple crystal at the tip, and was muttering something under its breath.

Lin Rui walked in the lead, raising his [Rock-Solid Tower Shield]. Just as he took a step, the Blackrock Summoner lifted its head, its dark yellow eyes locking onto the three of them. It raised its branch, and a black Shadow Bolt shot out from the crystal tip, trailing smoke as it flew toward Lin Rui.

Lin Rui did not dodge. He lowered his arm, tilted his shield slightly, and activated [Spell Reflection]. A faint shimmer flashed across the mountain relief on the shield's surface. The Shadow Bolt struck the shield, emitted a crisp 'ding', and was deflected back.

The black arrow returned along its original path, slapping against the Blackrock Summoner's shoulder, causing it to stagger. A charred hole was burnt into the tattered cloak on its shoulder.

The Blackrock Summoner grimaced in pain, cursing in a garbled language. It raised its branch to cast another spell, but Su Wan's [Spell-Breaking Melody] had already arrived. Sound waves surged from her sirens voice collar, forming invisible ripples in the air that covered the area centered on the Blackrock Summoner.

The Blackrock Summoner's mouth opened and closed; its chanting became stuttered, as if the syllables were stuck in its throat. Its face flushed red, and it struggled to condense a Shadow Bolt, but the aim was horribly off, striking a rock at Lin Rui's feet, exploding into a cloud of black mist with stone fragments scattering everywhere.

"These Blackrock Orc Summoners don't seem like professional spellcasters; they are very easy to disrupt," Su Wan said.

Hu Jinsi circled around from the side. The Blackrock Summoner sensed danger and, in a panic, raised its branch at Hu Jinsi, attempting to cast Corruption.

But the interference from [Spell-Breaking Melody] caused it to choke mid-chant. The dark purple light on the crystal tip flickered a few times and then extinguished. Hu Jinsi took the opportunity to close in and struck the Blackrock Summoner in the chest with his palm.

The Blackrock Summoner didn't even grunt before collapsing like a pile of mud, dissolving into points of light. The Imp in front of it lost its master's support and, with a scream, also dissipated into thin air.

However, Blackrock Summoners were rarely alone. They were always accompanied by Blackrock Renegades. When the three found the second Blackrock Summoner, there was a Blackrock Renegade standing right beside it.

Hu Jinsi tried to flank the Blackrock Summoner, but the Blackrock Renegade stepped in to block him, slashing horizontally with its short sword, forcing Hu Jinsi to retreat and dodge.

Lin Rui launched a [Charge] from the side, his shield slamming into the Blackrock Renegade's flank, sending it sliding sideways two steps. Hu Jinsi seized this gap, activated [Chi Torpedo], and in a flash, appeared beside the Blackrock Summoner, ending it with one palm strike.

Fortunately, the Blackrock Orcs did not have the chain-aggro mechanism like Murlocs. The three of them could lure them out one by one for solo kills. They first used Su Wan's [Shattering Sonic Wave] to blast the Blackrock Renegade out from behind the rock, Lin Rui would [Charge] to hold it, and Hu Jinsi would flank to cut down the Blackrock Summoner.

Without the support of a spellcaster, no matter how tough the Blackrock Renegade was, it couldn't withstand the pincer attack from the two. But if Su Wan hadn't prepared [Crown of Madness] in advance, letting three Blackrock Renegades rush up at once, Lin Rui would still find it very difficult to carry all three alone.

The Blackrock Orcs' strength was only a fraction weaker than his; with three surrounding him, the stacking of nets and slams, along with constant stuns and immobilization, even a heavy-armored Soldier couldn't take it.

The three of them fought like this for less than an hour. When the sun slanted to the west, they tallied their results. Eight Blackrock Renegades killed, six Blackrock Summoners killed, totaling less than fifteen Blackrock Orcs.

Most of the dropped items were gray, common-tier gear: a few pieces of tattered leather armor, some rusted short swords, and a few nets. "Nothing valuable." Hu Jinsi packed the things away and patted the dust off his body.

"Let's head back," he said, "It's getting dark."

...

The three walked along the mountain path back toward Lakeside Town. The sunset leaked through the gaps in the forest, casting golden spots of light on the ground. The surface of the lake in the distance shimmered with dark red waves, as if sprinkled with a layer of crushed gold.

Hu Jinsi walked at the rear, looking back at the mountain path from time to time. Those giant rocks stood silently on both sides of the road, their gray skin hidden in the shadows, making it hard to distinguish whether they were stones or ambushing Blackrock Orcs.

The sign for the Lakeside Town inn was simple, with a few words carved into the wooden board. With the help of the fuzzy translation function, it read "Lakeside Town Inn." Pushing the door open, the layout inside was similar to the Lion's Pride Inn in Goldshire: a wooden bar, a few long tables, and firewood burning in the fireplace.

But the space was a circle larger than the Lion's Pride, capable of accommodating more people. The ceiling was high, and the dimensions of the door frames and stairs were clearly designed for human figures.

The three quickly recalled their previous defensive experience. Lin Rui moved a few tables to block the back door and pushed a heavy wooden wine cabinet across to prop up behind the tables.

Hu Jinsi used ropes to set up warning bells on the window frames, two ropes per window, crisscrossing into a net. As long as someone reached in from outside the window, the ropes would trigger the bells to make a sound.

Su Wan hung thin threads on the thresholds of the front and side doors, with a few empty tin cans tied to them, filled with small pebbles. As long as someone pushed the door, it would create a crisp and harsh clattering sound.

These were night-watch habits accumulated since the [Goldshire] period. Nights in the dungeon were never safe; even if the town looked empty of enemies, one had to guard against accidents. There were a few rooms on the second floor of the inn; the three chose one toward the inside, with windows facing the center of the town, rather than toward the Blackrock Orcs to the north.

Dinner was the food they had saved up from the fourth level of [Double Dragon III]. Hu Jinsi took out meal boxes one by one from his inventory and placed them on the long table in the inn's lobby.

Olive oil-soaked bread, roast lamb pizza rolls, honey walnut pastries, garlic lemon roasted shrimp, roasted vegetable platter, hummus with hot pita bread, mint lemon tea, roasted chestnuts, and grape vinegar drink. There was also a bottle of bright red liquid with a label that read "Spiced Mulled Wine."

Su Wan took the [Drunken Immortal Gourd] from her waist and shook it. A clear, sweet scent of honey and lemon wafted from the mouth of the gourd. "Today, the gourd produced honey lemonade. You guys can drink that red wine; I don't need it."

Hu Jinsi and Lin Rui both glanced at the bottle of Spiced Mulled Wine. The smell, a mix of cloying sweetness and an indescribable weirdness, was as if cinnamon, cloves, and low-quality wine had been stirred together and boiled for an hour. Both of them shook their heads simultaneously.

"Can't accept that," Hu Jinsi said.

"Agreed," Lin Rui said.

The three took their food and sat around the fireplace. The firewood in the fireplace was burning vigorously, the flames crackling and reflecting the wooden walls in a warm yellow hue.

Su Wan picked a honey walnut pastry; the crust crumbled upon biting, the nutty fragrance of the walnuts mixing with the sweetness of the honey, melting in her mouth. Lin Rui dipped a piece of pita bread in hummus; the bread was soft, the hummus dense, carrying a hint of garlic and lemon acidity.

Hu Jinsi sat opposite the two, taking a bite of the roast lamb pizza roll. The crust was crispy, the lamb fat seeping into the dough, carrying the aroma of cumin. The taste was good, but his mind wasn't on the food. He chewed twice, freed one hand, opened his attribute panel, and checked today's experience progress.

At noon, the experience gain was still normal. There wasn't much combat experience, which was already the norm for him. A Monk's experience gain in actual combat was naturally incomparable to that of a pure combat profession like a Soldier; he was already used to it.

But this evening, the data suddenly jumped. He frowned, clicked on the detailed record, and his fingers slid across the virtual screen. The combat experience part was basically on par with the morning. He had cleared Murlocs in the morning and fought Blackrock Orcs in the afternoon; the intensity hadn't changed significantly, so there were no abnormal fluctuations in combat experience.

The change was caused by another entry. The font color of that record was lighter than the others, making it easy to ignore, but today, the number in this entry was exceptionally conspicuous.

[Practicing the Concept of Balance: +50]

Hu Jinsi stared at this line of text for a few seconds. He remembered the last time he gained this kind of experience was in [Raccoon City]. At that time, the enemies he faced were zombies, the result of defying natural evolution. Eliminating them counted as maintaining the world's balance, so the system rewarded this extra experience.

But the value that time was far from this big. This afternoon, the number of Blackrock Orcs killed wasn't large, less than fifteen, but the value of each experience record was quite considerable. This indicated that the system judged the threat level of these Blackrock Orcs to be far higher than the same number of zombies.

He closed the panel and looked at Lin Rui and Su Wan. "You two, is there anything abnormal about your experience today?"

Lin Rui was dipping pita bread into hummus and paused at the question. He checked his experience bar and shook his head. "No. Mine has always shown combat-related profession experience."

Su Wan also shook her head. "Me too. Related to adventure and performance; there were no other prompts."

"What about you?" Lin Rui looked at Hu Jinsi. He knew Hu Jinsi wouldn't ask this question for no reason.

Hu Jinsi was silent for two seconds. Of course, he couldn't say he had memories from his past life and knew the concept of invasive species. But this matter involved the team's next judgment; he had to provide an explanation. He weighed his words and began: "I had a unique Monk profession experience appear—Practicing the Concept of Balance."

Su Wan and Lin Rui looked at him at the same time. The firelight from the fireplace shone on the faces of the three, flickering. Su Wan put the honey walnut pastry in her hand aside, patted the crumbs off her hands, and listened attentively. Lin Rui placed the pita bread dipped in hummus on the plate and leaned forward slightly.

Hu Jinsi continued: "This kind of Monk profession experience for maintaining world balance is very hard to get. The last time was in [Raccoon City], only triggered when facing zombies mutated from humans. But this time, these Blackrock Orcs don't look like native species of this world fragment."

He paused and then added, "Invasive species usually refer to demons, undead, and Zerg. This is my first time seeing an invasive species in the form of an Orc. Therefore, I cannot be certain." But in fact, Hu Jinsi knew very well that these Blackrock Orcs were thorough and complete invasive species, just let in by an inside traitor, a puppet who falsely claimed to be a prophet.

"So what is your judgment?" Lin Rui asked.

"I suspect these Blackrock Orcs might be an invasive species," Hu Jinsi said, "They don't belong to the native world of this dungeon."

After listening, Lin Rui put down the food in his hand and looked around at the interior structure of the inn. Wooden tables and chairs, low door frames, narrow stairs; all dimensions were designed for human figures.

He recalled the Blackrock Orcs he saw north of the town: over two meters tall, broad shoulders, thick limbs. With their body size, they couldn't move comfortably in this inn at all; they would even have to turn sideways to squeeze through the door frame.

That bench, if a Blackrock Orc sat on it, it would make the wood groan. That bed, if a Blackrock Orc lay on it, its legs would have to hang off the edge.

"That makes sense," Lin Rui said thoughtfully. "Think about it again. The orcs set up camp north of the town, very close to the settlement, but their camp is temporary, not like a long-term settlement. And..."

He looked up, his gaze falling on the painting above the fireplace. The painting depicted a human village, with a lakeside, a stone bridge, and a small town—peaceful and serene. "In the historical memory reshaped by this instance, the town was originally inhabited by humans. The orcs seem more like later invaders."

"Are you saying that this town in the instance suffered an orc invasion before it was destroyed?" Su Wan grasped the main point. "Then if we keep digging deeper, will we trigger the instance's main storyline? Or... an achievement?"

The word 'achievement' lit up Su Wan's eyes like a match. She missed the rewards for achievements too much. The sweetness of the 10,000 class experience points for each discoverer was something she couldn't forget. If she could trigger a similar achievement this time, even if it were just experience points and not extra rewards, it would still be a solid gain.

She subconsciously touched the [Siren's Voice Collar] around her neck; the cold touch of the metal calmed her down a little.

Hu Jinsi looked at Su Wan's glowing eyes and gave a bitter smile in his heart. Of course, he knew what might be hidden behind this instance. In his past life's memories, Lakeside Town in the Redridge Mountains indeed had a deep hatred for the Blackrock Orcs. But the key problem now was that they didn't have the strength to dig deeper.

"It's possible," Hu Jinsi nodded, but his tone became heavy. "But the commitment we signed clearly states that our range of activity cannot exceed five kilometers north of the town. The top-tier enemies on this map might reach level 25."

He extended a finger and tapped on the tabletop. The wooden table made a dull thudding sound. "Ten levels higher than us. Stat suppression. By then, it won't be a question of whether we can get an achievement, but whether we can come back alive."

Lin Rui's gaze immediately calmed down. He leaned back in his chair, silent for a few seconds. Indeed, even if Hu Jinsi's speculations were entirely correct, the three of them did not currently have the strength to turn those speculations into reality.

Level-teens professionals, facing level twenty-five or twenty-six elite orcs, were like ants facing elephants. One slap, and any tactics would be useless. He remembered the orc controlled by the [Crown of Madness] this afternoon, whose strength was already comparable to his own. If ten or twenty more of such orcs came, could he still hold them off?

"Sigh." Lin Rui sighed and slumped back into his chair. The chair legs creaked against the floor. He picked up the pita bread he had just put down, then put it back again; he had lost his appetite.

Seeing Lin Rui's reaction, Su Wan also reined in her excitement. She took a sip of the honey lemonade from her gourd; the sweet and sour taste melted on the tip of her tongue, making her a bit clearer-headed. "Then what about tomorrow?" she asked. "Continue fighting orcs, or go south and check out the Gnolls?"

Hu Jinsi leaned against the fireplace, the firelight casting his face half in light and half in shadow. "Go south first," he said. "The situation with the Gnolls is still unknown; let's gather all the intelligence first. We've fought enough orcs today; getting a general idea is enough."

He spoke very calmly, but deep down, he had deeper considerations. What he didn't tell the two of them was that over the past six months, he had reviewed instance data from the past few decades and reached an uncertain hypothesis.

These Azeroth instances that descended onto Water Blue Star might all come from abandoned timelines. Just like the Coilfang Reservoir near Wei City, where the Naga were parasitized by some kind of spore.

Entering the instance required wearing a full set of breathing filters; otherwise, it wasn't just a matter of infection, but a question of whether the 'you' who came out was still 'you'. That wasn't the Coilfang Reservoir from the TBC era in his memories, but a product of some twisted timeline.

Lakeside Town was the same. It might be the residue of some broken timeline, its soul taken away by the Shadowlands, leaving only matter and a trace of fragmented world consciousness, which had been absorbed by Water Blue Star. The orc invasion here might be something that actually happened in that destroyed history.

But the problem was, Hu Jinsi couldn't determine where this timeline had been twisted. Was it the moment of the orc invasion? Or earlier? Or was Lakeside Town itself just a thrown-off fragment, without much change? These uncertainties made him afraid to advance rashly.

An unknown timeline meant unknown dangers, and he didn't want to take his team to gamble.

Moreover, the state of being heavily parasitized by spores like in the Coilfang Reservoir was what he worried about most. If similar distortions were hidden deep within Lakeside Town, advancing rashly would be tantamount to suicide. The three of them didn't have the equipment and levels to deal with that level of threat.

Once their strength improved a bit more, at least once everyone broke through level twenty, perhaps they would be qualified to touch the secrets deep within these instances. Before that, gathering intelligence and playing it safe was the wisest choice.

The firewood in the fireplace crackled, sending out a burst of sparks. Hu Jinsi pulled back his thoughts and clapped his hands. "Rest early. We go south tomorrow."

Lin Rui and Su Wan nodded. The three of them each found an empty room in the inn and pushed the doors open to enter. Night seeped in from outside the window, outlining the silhouette of Lakeside Town into blurry shadows. In the distance, a few howls of unknown beasts came, only to quickly return to silence.

The three arranged the watch rotation. Su Wan gestured over each person, using a Scourgify wand to clean off the sweat stains and the dampness from the lakeside on their clothes. That fishy smell finally dissipated completely, replaced by a faint scent of soap.

Lin Rui leaned his shield against the head of the bed, took off his heavy armor, leaving only the breastplate and leg plates, and lay down in his clothes. Hu Jinsi sat cross-legged on the floor, beginning to enter [Deep Meditation]. Su Wan leaned against the window, responsible for vigilance during the first half of the watch.

Before meditating, Hu Jinsi was still scouring his memory. Redridge Mountains, Lakeside Town, quest lines. His past life's memories were too long ago; many details were like paper soaked in water, the ink smudged and blurry.

What he could remember, apart from killing orcs, killing murlocs, killing Gnolls, and killing some black dragon whelps, was completely impossible to recall otherwise.

The only thing he still had a slight impression of was that there seemed to be a treasure chest underwater in the center of [Stillwater Lake]. But he wasn't sure if this was a real memory, or if his brain had made it up after reading too many fan fictions over the years.

Thinking it over, he threw this matter aside, emptied his brain, and his Qi began to flow slowly through his body.

The next morning, breakfast was rice balls brought out from the third stage of [Double Dragon III]. The rice balls dropped by ninjas had plump rice grains, wrapped with pickled plums and bonito flakes inside, and seaweed on the outside. Su Wan and Lin Rui stuffed them straight into their mouths, eating quite happily.

Hu Jinsi stared at the rice ball for a while, then fished out a pack of pickled mustard greens from his inventory, tore it open, stuffed the mustard strips into the rice ball, and then stuffed it all into his mouth. Without the pickled mustard greens, he really couldn't swallow such dry rice balls.

Su Wan poured a cup of drink from the Drunken Immortal Gourd and handed it over. A fresh, sweet osmanthus fragrance mixed with a faint scent of alcohol wafted out. "Osmanthus sweet rice wine," she said.

Hu Jinsi took it and drank a mouthful; it was warm, the sweetness was just right, and the alcohol taste was very light. This thing was much better than that bottle of whatever spiced mulled wine. He tilted his head and gulped down two mouthfuls, pressing down the taste of the rice ball in his mouth.

"What a pity." Hu Jinsi crumpled the empty rice ball packaging into a ball. "Cheng Fu only dropped one of those gourds."

Su Wan and Lin Rui both knew what he was talking about. That Drunken Immortal Gourd that could produce different drinks every day was indeed an artifact for improving the quality of life. The last time Hu Jinsi soloed the second stage, Cheng Fu never dropped a second one for him.

Having one is happiness; not having a second is regret. He sighed and stuffed the wrapping paper into the campfire to burn.

The three of them checked their equipment. While called a check, it was actually just confirming their respective statuses. Lin Rui moved his shoulders, confirming that his heavy armor had no loose buckles.

Su Wan touched the [Siren's Voice Collar] around her neck; the cold metal pressed against her skin, no problem. Hu Jinsi stood up, kicked his legs, feeling the flow of Qi in his meridians. Everything was normal.

Walking out of the Lakeside Town inn, they crossed the wooden bridge at the town entrance. The canal water under the bridge was still flowing, and there were more fallen leaves on the water surface than yesterday. The three walked less than fifty meters south, and there was already movement in the grass by the roadside.

Gray-yellow fur. Pointed, long snouts. Hunched bodies, walking upright like humans, but running on all fours. Gnolls. Their numbers were much denser than the orcs to the north, in groups of three to five, or seven to eight, wandering in the low bushes and piles of rubble by the road.

"I'm going in." Without waiting for the other two to discuss, Lin Rui directly activated [Charge]. His figure turned into a dark shadow, colliding with the nearest Gnoll. The shield smashed into the opponent's chest, making a muffled thud. The Gnoll was knocked back two steps, baring its fangs and howling, then counterattacked.

Lin Rui swung his sword with one hand, parrying the opponent's sharp claws, and then froze. The feel of this sword strike was completely different from fighting orcs yesterday. The strength wasn't great, completely mismatched with that ferocious appearance.

The Gnoll was struck on the shoulder by the blade, let out a miserable howl, and blood oozed from the wound, but its body wasn't split open; it just staggered backward.

"So weak?" Lin Rui muttered.

Hu Jinsi also saw it. The feeling this Gnoll gave him was about the same as the murlocs by the lake yesterday. It was not even as strong as some of the fat murloc scavengers.

He rushed up, not using his bare hands, but taking out an iron-wood staff wrapped in iron from his inventory, and struck the Gnoll on the waist with one blow. A muffled sound of breaking bones. The Gnoll fell to the ground, twitched twice, and dissipated into points of light.

"About the same as murlocs." Hu Jinsi confirmed his judgment. This greatly shattered the perception they had formed in [Goldshire]. The Gnolls they encountered back then were extremely high in strength. Now it seems that even for similar monsters of the same race, the strength fluctuations between different instances and different regions were ridiculously large.

The next five minutes were a crisp and clean harvest. Lin Rui's [Charge] drew three Gnolls over, Su Wan stood at a slightly further position, using [Dancing Lights] and a hand crossbow alternately to finish them off. Hu Jinsi carried his staff, specifically hitting those trying to flank. The three Gnolls quickly turned into points of light, dropping a pile of items on the ground.

[Linen Cloth] × 3 [Wool Cloth] × 2 [Worn Leather Gloves] (White) Hu Jinsi glanced at them, put the cloth items into his inventory, hesitated for a moment regarding the white gloves, and then reluctantly put them into his backpack. "Efficiency is not bad."