Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 291 The Three-Man Team, Bizarre Rage

Adeline's task was not difficult.

Her target was a special plant called "Grey Platycodon grandiflorus".

There's no need to scheme against others or fight to the death with monsters.

By collecting a certain number of gray molds and bringing them back to the Adventurers' Guild, her advancement quest will be successful, granting her the opportunity to officially ascend to the second floor of the guild as a professional and gain access to more resources and channels.

However, the growth conditions of Greyscale Fungus, which is one of the alternative main ingredients for making Lesser Stoneskin Potion and a useful stabilizer material in some mid-to-high-level spells, are quite demanding.

This unique mushroom, with its grayish-white, rock-like color and fine scaly mesh pattern on the surface, like most fungi, prefers a damp, dark environment.

There is also one essential growth condition.

—The bodily fluids of a petrified lizard.

Whether it's saliva, blood, urine, or feces, as long as it contains the biological fluids of this lazy eight-legged lizard, the gray scaly fungus has the potential to grow and multiply.

In addition, petrified lizards are commonly found in dark areas and are very typical cave-dwelling creatures.

It is therefore easy to imagine where gray mold is most commonly found.

These are naturally the underground nests where the petrified lizards live.

Adeline had only recently become a professional, and even though she was known as "Green Blood" in River Valley Town, she was still far from being able to fight against monsters of this level.

Fortunately, she wasn't alone on this advancement mission.

Perhaps considering the difficulty of acting alone, the association also provided her with two temporary teammates as a prerequisite for accepting the mission.

Both of them were newly promoted professionals during this period, and now, under the supervision of the Adventurers' Guild, they have been assigned to a small team to complete the second-floor mission together.

Of course, being a remote town on the outskirts of the kingdom, the demanding requirements for obtaining a job level mean that the number of people who can successfully advance each year is not very high.

It is quite difficult to gather three professionals who have just completed their promotions and have not yet obtained the qualification to go up to the second floor of the association in such a short period of time.

In terms of the team's role positioning, it naturally seems less than reasonable.

All three, including Adeline, are "warriors".

The differences lie only in the weapons used and the fighting style.

It may seem a bit bad, but it's not really a problem.

No matter how well the team roles are allocated, even if you manage to assemble the so-called "warrior, mage, and priest" trio, these three are still only level 1 professionals and are no match for the petrified lizard.

This requires them to obtain the gray scaly fungus growing in the lizard's nest by clever means, avoiding direct confrontation with the petrified lizard as much as possible.

"How is the situation? Is this eight-legged lizard also falling fast asleep as soon as it gets back to its burrow, just like it did a few days ago?"

Covered in grass clippings and mud, completely disregarding any semblance of decorum, Adeline lay prone in the grass, a slightly open area far from the lizard's den entrance, and asked her teammate in an almost inaudible voice.

"Hmm, it seems that this beast found a suitable prey today and had a hearty meal. When it entered the cave, its stomach got stuck and it almost didn't go in. Now it has entered a dormant state."

The person who responded to her was a dark-skinned, slightly thin man.

Seemingly possessing some kind of sensory combat technique, he was currently kneeling with his upper body pressed forward against the ground and his lower body slightly arched, his cheek and ear completely pressed against the ground, carefully investigating the movements deep within the cave.

They are all genuine professionals who have worked their way up from the bottom. They may have different personalities, but their professional skills during their adventures are all quite high.

After communicating and discussing with each other, clarifying the principle of avoiding combat, and finding the petrified lizard's nest, the three quickly formulated a detailed and meticulous action plan.

First and foremost, we need to figure out the petrified lizard's activity patterns.

When do you go hunting? How long are you away each time? Do you follow a fixed route?

Secondly, this includes, but is not limited to, determining whether the nest has extra entrances, conducting a detailed survey of the surrounding terrain, assessing the distribution and density of the surrounding vegetation, identifying any blind spots that could provide cover in an emergency, and even identifying escape routes in case of emergencies...

One by one, all the issues they could think of were raised and resolved during the long wait and observation.

Under normal circumstances, Adeline and her companions should have been able to complete the mission smoothly if it were any other creature, or even just any slightly normal petrified lizard.

However, what was troublesome was that the three encountered problems with the eight-legged lizard in its underground nest in the distance, right from the start when they were observing its movement patterns.

There's absolutely no pattern to it!

Originating from the Darklands did not instill in this fat, bloated reptile the habit of being nocturnal.

All its actions seem solely aimed at filling its perpetually insatiable stomach.

When they go out hunting, the time is not fixed. Basically, they eat the prey they catch on the spot. If they are not full, they continue hunting. When they are full or too lazy to move, they go back to their den to sleep and rest.
Rest time is also not fixed, it depends entirely on whether the food in its stomach has been digested. When it feels hungry, it will rush out of the nest to find something to eat in the forest.

Adeline even witnessed him going out hunting three times in a span of five hours.

The activities are distributed irregularly at any point in the 24-hour period.

They observed for three whole days!
They couldn't even find a safe, suitable spot with enough time to delve into their nests to search for and collect gray mold.

"Perhaps... one of our team could secretly follow the petrified lizard when it goes out hunting, while the other two could take the opportunity to enter the nest and collect mushrooms."

"Once the petrified lizard finishes its hunt and shows signs of returning, the people tracking it should hurry back to warn it?"

The last member of the team, a burly, bald man several sizes larger than Adeline, with a face full of scars, offered his advice to the other two with a thoughtful and tentative tone that contrasted sharply with his appearance.

He frowned slightly and thought about it for a moment.

Adeline gently shook her head:
"The uncertainty is too great, there is no room for error, it is easy to create unnecessary dangers, and it is difficult to carry out the project as planned."

"First of all, although we have prepared plenty of scent masking spray and purchased [Petrification Resistance Potion] in advance, the person following behind the petrified lizard is definitely in the highest danger. If they are discovered... you know how explosive that thing can be in an instant, escaping may require some luck."

"In this situation, who should go?"

Seeing the bald man beside her looking hesitant, as if he wanted to volunteer for the position, Adeline waved her hand, signaling him to listen to what she had to say.

"Secondly, if it's as you say, and we already need to leave one person outside to keep watch before entering the nest to collect the mushrooms, if we send another person out to follow the petrified lizard, it means that only one person will be going deep into the nest to collect the mushrooms."

"We don't even know the specifics of the cave. If we go down alone, who knows what other dangers we might encounter?"

"If we happen to get trapped and can't escape, and the petrified lizard happens to return, wouldn't that be a dead end?"

There are obviously many flaws in the plan proposed by the bald, muscular man, but the two points that Adeline has raised so far are enough to completely reject his suggestion.

Despite his fierce appearance, the bald, burly man remained remarkably calm, accepting the rejection of his proposal with a natural expression.

After all, they were temporary teammates in the true sense. The three of them shared common goals and interests, and all of them had good professional qualities as "adventurers".

Naturally, we can't afford to lose our temper like many reckless fools. "So...should we wait for now?"

The bald man glanced at the cave entrance in the distance, then subconsciously looked away and asked in a low voice.

“Yes.” Adeline said seriously, without a smile, “We just need to wait.”

"Anyway, there's still plenty of time before the mission deadline, and we have enough supplies. If we're careful, we can stay in the forest for half a month. We have plenty of time to observe the eight-legged lizard's every move."

"Be patient, and you'll always find an opportunity."

The two discussed their next plan in hushed tones.

Suddenly, a low shout from beside them made their hearts tighten.

"Be on guard!"

"The web crawler is coming out!"

The thin man who had been pressing his ear to the ground suddenly sat up halfway and looked warily at the two people beside him.

"How could that be? It just got back not long ago, and it ate quite a lot. It should sleep for at least two hours, right?"

The bald, muscular man showed a hint of surprise on his face, but his body tensed up the moment the other man spoke, completing the preparation for his action.

Adeline's brow furrowed deeper and deeper. She trusted her temporary teammate's judgment, but at the same time, the petrified lizard's unusual behavior also stirred a sense of unease within her.

Without hesitation, she spoke:

"Something's not right. Let's retreat for now!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a high-pitched roar, filled with violence and boundless rage, suddenly erupted from the depths of the cave, as if even the surrounding air trembled slightly.

Dust mixed with gravel fell in a rustling sound, shrouded in an ominous atmosphere. Two vertical pupils, like ghostly green flames, suddenly appeared in the darkness, and behind them, in the deeper depths, was a huge and bloated terrifying silhouette.

The sharp claws tore through the shadows and landed heavily on the ground at the cave entrance. The claws, dulled by the stones, were instantly embedded deep into the mud under the pressure of the heavy body above them.

With a sudden burst of power, the muscular, short legs extended from the top of the head to the tip of the tail, and brown bone spurs, like crystals from the earth, pierced out, revealing the lizard's head beneath them, covered in bluish-gray scales and filled with rage.

The petrified lizard was too fat and rushed too fast, causing its swollen and fat abdomen to get stuck halfway through the hole as it tried to escape.

Its massive body resembled an overweight groundhog, its four front legs struggling and stretching frantically against the ground and the edges of the mud and rocks on either side of the burrow entrance.

The enormous, plump eight-legged lizard crawled out from the rubble and dust until it had almost completely collapsed the cave entrance.

But on that face was a human-like, unprecedented rage.

Not knowing what had happened, Adeline and her two teammates had already stepped back a few seconds.

Clearly, given the petrified lizard's current state, forget about sneaking into its nest to steal anything; even a direct confrontation would be a fight to the death. It's absolutely not advisable to get close!
At that moment, as if sensing something in the darkness, the anger on the petrified lizard's face subsided slightly, replaced by an unprecedented focus.

Its neck suddenly straightened, and as its head gently swayed in all directions, its tongue flicked out slightly, and its nostrils twitched, as if it were sniffing something.

Despite being quite a distance away, beyond the range of the petrifying gaze, Adeline could see it very clearly.

The petrified lizard's head was moving less and less.

It seemed to gradually pinpoint the location and direction of the target it was tracking.

And our group was right in that area.

Adeline suddenly felt a chill run from her tailbone straight to the top of her head, and cold sweat broke out on her back.

As he retreated rapidly, his mind became increasingly focused, and he stared intently at the opponent's head as its swinging speed slowed down.

Until those vertical pupils, as cold as will-o'-the-wisps, suddenly stopped in their tracks through the gaps in the bushes!
Make eye contact!

"Om..."

Her heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, her breath froze, and the whole world seemed to fall into an indescribable silence.

call--

Like a drowning person who has finally managed to surface, Adeline gasped for breath, and the sounds of the surrounding world instantly flooded her ears.

Without the slightest hesitation, and no longer bothering to cover the volume.

A near-screaming female voice echoed through the woods:

"Drink your medicine!"

"Ready to fight!!!"

Seeing Adeline's abrupt reaction, her two teammates seemed quite surprised.

There was no time to react in the chaos. The next second, he watched as the other person bit open the stopper of the prepared [Petrification Resistance Potion] bottle with their mouth and poured the whole bottle down their throat.

At the same time, a loud noise of a tree trunk cracking came from not far ahead.

The two then realized why Adeline had done this, and they also drank the medicine.

To be honest, these two professionals' reactions weren't slow at all; in fact, thanks to Adeline's reminder, they were even faster than they should have been.

Even so, compared to this person who had already made a name for himself as a "green-blooded" adventurer among the lower-level adventurers, he was still a full 1.5 seconds slower.

And it is precisely this 1.5-second time difference.

Driven by rage, the petrified lizard unleashed an exaggerated burst of speed, closing the distance between itself and the others to a point where the "petrifying gaze" would take effect.

The resistance potion used by Adeline was just reaching its full effect, while the other two had only drunk it a short while ago, and were still holding empty medicine bottles in their hands.

The bald, muscular man's body stiffened for a moment before returning to normal.

The gaunt man's speed suddenly dropped, and a grayish-white hue appeared on his arm joints, chest, and cheeks.

hold head high--

The roar of beasts, filled with endless rage, echoed long and deep in the dense forest.

Countless birds took flight from the treetops.

　Happy Qixi Festival everyone!
　　I'd like to recommend a book by the renowned author Feng Yue. I've admired him for a long time, and I especially loved his works back in my school days. I never imagined I'd actually be recommending it at the end of a chapter...

　　Also, it's almost the end of the month~ Does anyone have any extra monthly passes? (peeks in)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)