31: Chapter 31 "You are not my benefactors!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

The entire mountain stronghold was almost pacified, but the entrance still felt like two tanks blasting at each other.

Parn fought a desperate battle, driven by hatred and a desire to repay a debt. He was fearless, trading injury for injury. The surrounding players swarmed forward one after another, only to be ground into mincemeat in the crossfire.

Seeing the situation gradually turn against him, the Heavy Armor Knight snorted coldly after taking a few of Parn's punches, staring at him with murderous eyes.

"Who is it! Who exactly is it! Who ruined my plans?"

The Heavy Armor Knight let out a low growl while staring at Parn. They knew the progress of the entire experiment perfectly well; they had even guarded against the black-robed man's schemes, never letting their guard down.

Normally, even if Parn was a Transcendent, there was no way he could have escaped. Someone was definitely pulling the strings!

"I will find you sooner or later!"

With those words, the Heavy Armor Knight crashed backward. His heavy sword sliced through the players like a hot knife through butter as he instantly appeared on one side of the hillside and landed quickly.

"Whistle~"

With a sharp whistle, an exceptionally tall warhorse galloped out of the forest, and the Heavy Armor Knight leaped onto its back.

"On level ground, you are nothing but trash."

The Heavy Armor Knight, whose armor was covered in cracked fist prints, spoke in a heavy voice. He glanced back unwillingly before riding away.

Several players unwillingly tried to give chase, but two legs could not outrun four, and they could only watch helplessly as he escaped.

At the stronghold entrance, Parn had several bone-deep wounds, and the Stone Skin on his body was cracked everywhere. He was swaying on his feet but forced himself to walk into the stronghold. He only paused when he saw the people running out of the granary, a simple smile appearing on his face. The Stone Skin faded away, and his massive frame, at least 2.3 meters tall, collapsed to the ground.

"Auntie Lia... Uncle Kaven... I see you again."

"But where are Uncle Palu and Uncle Pierre? Where did they go?"

"Parn!"

"Parn!"

A crowd swarmed forward. Parn looked at the blurred figures above him, his vision spinning, before he completely lost consciousness.

Not far away, Ye Ye breathed a slight sigh of relief at the sight. Although Parn's appearance was too coincidental, it was a good outcome nonetheless.

The stronghold had been taken, they had clashed with a Transcendent, and there was even physical evidence that the Transcendent experiment inside the stronghold had succeeded.

There was even a living example of a Transcendent. If he could be recruited...

By using the debt of saving their lives to recruit the villagers and using Sheep Horn Village as the foundation for the guild's growth, they could gradually cultivate Transcendents and establish a foothold.

"Brother."

Ye Qing walked over, looking extremely disheveled.

"This Transcendent is too strong. Our brothers died at least twenty times over, and everyone dropped three levels on average."

"It's fine. No matter how strong a Transcendent is, they will eventually run out of strength. It's just that our equipment is poor, and our attributes are generally weaker than NPCs."

"As long as we solve the equipment problem and find a way to keep up with attribute points, it's not impossible to surround and kill a Transcendent with an elite battle formation."

At this point, Ye Ye also had some doubts.

Why were NPC attribute values so much higher than players' even at the same level five?

Was the game template different? Given the realism of this game, that shouldn't be the case.

Keeping this in mind, Ye Ye spoke again.

"Besides, no matter how strong they are, we've won now and secured this base."

"Hurry and tell the brothers to repair the fortifications. Let's manage this place well first."

"Okay."

Ye Qing left, and Ye Ye busied himself with various deployment tasks.

When he heard that Parn had woken up, he immediately pushed aside everything else and rushed over.

But a moment later, Ye Ye looked at Parn in astonishment.

"You are not Parn's benefactors."

"What? Benefactors?"

"Yes, it was the benefactor who saved me from the abyss yesterday and gave Parn power."

"That's why Parn was able to save everyone today by relying on himself."

A moment later, Ye Ye sat in the temporary meeting hall listening to the report from the players who were responsible for the internal infiltration yesterday. His face grew darker and darker until it was as black as ink.

In front of the group of high-level members, he couldn't help but ask.

"Are you saying that a 'Mage' was coming and going within the stronghold last night, and not a single one of you thought to report it to the guild?"

"I—?"

Ye Ye suppressed his temper and asked as calmly as possible.

But a high-level member beside him was furious.

"Have you all lost your minds? Who exactly is this benefactor of Parn's?"

"It's basically certain now. Finding this benefactor is our chance to win over Parn. He's a Transcendent!"

"The only Transcendent we've encountered so far that we might actually be able to recruit!!"

The group was timid and hesitant when suddenly a player in the back spoke up.

"I... I think I have a screenshot!"

"A screenshot? Bring it up, quickly."

A moment later, they saw the screenshot and the player's appearance.

No one recognized him. Just as they were about to say they should go find this person, Ye Qing, who had just arrived late, suddenly froze.

"Huh? Mo Bai? Why are you looking at his photo?"

As soon as Ye Qing spoke, every pair of eyes snapped toward him.

"You... know him?"

"Yeah, I know him. Isn't this Mo Bai? When did he come to the stronghold? Wait, isn't this at night?"

Under everyone's intense stares, Ye Qing's voice grew smaller and smaller.

"What's wrong? Brother, isn't this that casual player by the lake I told you about before?"

"He came to the camp at the beginning, but he disappeared after being attacked once by the Great Axe Gang on the first day."

"I thought he had left."

"It's him! See, Brother? I told you from the start that he was very unusual."

As Ye Qing spoke, he even puffed out his chest, his tone carrying a hint of pride.

Ye Ye fell silent upon hearing this. Though his expression remained calm, waves were beginning to stir in his heart.

That casual player from back then?

If Ye Qing hadn't mentioned him repeatedly, he wouldn't have had any impression of the man at all.

"Guild Leader, since this Mo Bai has already left, how about we..."

A player nearby started to speak, but he was interrupted by Ye Ye raising his hand.

"The truth cannot be faked, and the fake cannot be true. Ye Qing, get ready."

"In a bit, we'll take Parn with us to find Mo Bai. If we can recruit him, we will; if not, we'll at least build some goodwill and make a friend."

The others paused, then nodded in agreement, while Ye Qing was quite delighted.

"Okay."

When Ye Qing brought the news to Parn, the giant nodded simple-mindedly, looking nothing like the ferocious beast he had been on the battlefield.

"Okay. You are good people too."

Hearing this, the villagers of Sheep Horn Village discussed it for a while. Village Chief Kaven then walked over and expressed his thoughts.

"My Lord, we also wish to go with Parn to express our gratitude for the benefactor's kindness."

"Furthermore, by the unanimous consent of our village, we are willing to offer all of Sheep Horn Village and its land to you as our thanks."

"We only hope that you will allow us to take enough basic rations, seeds, and tools to leave."

Before Ye Qing could say anything to make them stay, Village Chief Kaven spoke directly.

"There is no need to ask us to stay, My Lord. I know what you mean."

"But I hope to take all the villagers and Parn to a new place to start our lives over."

At this point, a trace of bitterness appeared on Kaven's face.

"If we stay here, it will only attract the Great Axe Gang, leaving a hidden danger for us and for Parn."

"Please, grant us this, My Lord."

Ye Qing scratched his head. A moment later, Ye Ye, who was reading the black-robed man's experimental notes, sighed upon hearing the news.

Not long after, the survivors of Sheep Horn Village, led by Ye Ye, left this nightmare land and headed toward Mo Bai's location.

Meanwhile, a squad of cavalry galloping out of Oak Town bypassed Ye Ye's group along the long-unrepaired official road and headed straight for Sheep Horn Village.