Legend of the Pinnacle of Online Games

Chapter 140 Hiding something
"Thank you for saving me!"

After putting on his shoes, Roy said to Lin Hanchuan with a grateful expression, "If it weren't for you, I would have died at the hands of that giant tree man."

As he spoke, Roy took out a gem from his thick hair and handed it to Lin Hanchuan.

Please accept this Twilight Gem.

"It's what we should do," Lin Hanchuan replied, already reaching out to take the Twilight Gem.

This should be the reward after killing the giant treant in the first stage of the Asura-level [Dawn] dungeon.

As everyone knows, gems drop in the [Dawn] dungeon.

Long Xiaochen and his team obtained some while running the Hell-level [Dawn] dungeon, but few of them were of good quality.

Before entering the Shura-level [Dawn] dungeon, Long Xiaochen took out two more, but Lin Hanchuan glanced at them and didn't want them.

But the one I have is quite good.

Twilight Gem

Quality: Lower 4 stars

佩戴后，血量+100+10％基础血量上限，蓝量+500+30％基础蓝量上限，法术攻击+100+5％基础法术攻击上限。

Job requirements: Mage, Priest, Musician...

Assembly requirements: None!

Lin Hanchuan glanced at the information and then placed the Twilight Gem directly into the slot of the Desperate Staff.

A system notification tone sounded immediately.

"Ding! Please note that your staff—Desperate One—has successfully been socketed with a four-star low-grade gem—Twilight Gem! Health +100 + 10% of base maximum health, Mana +500 + 30% of base maximum mana, Spell Attack +100 + 5% of base maximum spell attack!"

This is the only piece of equipment Lin Hanchuan currently has that is equipped with a gem.

The attributes on the panel also changed accordingly, with health, mana, and spell attack all receiving slight increases.

It is worth mentioning here.

Gems are not one-time use items.

If Lin Hanchuan no longer needs the Staff of Despair, he can take out the Twilight Gem again and either equip it on other equipment or weapons, or sell it to someone else.

The four-star low-grade Twilight Gem is one level higher than the Jungle Gem rewarded in the first stage of the Goblin Cave.

In terms of value, it's a whole level higher.

"Captain, what quality is it?" Long Xiaochen leaned closer, staring at the twilight gem on the Desperate One's Staff, and asked Lin Hanchuan in a low voice.

"Four-star, lower grade!" Lin Hanchuan replied.

"This quality is almost as good as the final reward for clearing Hell difficulty for the first time. The first stage of Asura difficulty [Dawn] is already this good. We've got a lot going for us now," Long Xiaochen said excitedly.

Lin Hanchuan nodded.

At present, since most people's weapons are still in bronze and silver, and very few people have gold-level weapons, the demand for gems is not very high.

Once gold weapons become commonplace, the demand for gemstones will become enormous.

A gold-tier weapon or equipment piece has at least one socket. It's normal for a regular player to carry three to five pieces at a time. But if you add a gem to each socket... that's when the big spenders really start competing.

Lin Hanchuan then glanced at Roy's information.

Roy

Race: Dawn Elf

Level: 15

Rank: Lord
Attack: 200-800
Blood volume: 8000
Note: Dawn Elves are a type of elf race, but due to their small numbers, they often live mixed with other elves. At dawn, the moment the sun rises, they reach their peak combat power each day, with a small chance of evolving or mutating.

Lin Hanchuan was looking at Roy.

Roy, however, was staring at the stars beside Lin Hanchuan.

Starborn are even rarer than Dawn Elves.

Seeing a creature of the same species, even rarer than herself, here was probably an unexpected surprise for Roy. "What an adorable little sister!"

Roy reached out to hug Xingchen.

Xingchen dodged and circled around Lin Hanchuan to his other side.

Lin Hanchuan reached out and took Xingchen's hand, looked at Luo Yi, and asked, "Why did your home catch fire? And why was that giant tree-man chasing you?"

“I don’t know. I don’t know who burned the whole forest. When I woke up, I was in a sea of ​​fire,” Roy said, shaking his head. “Then I saw the giant tree people slaughtering my people indiscriminately in the fire.”

"They're really like madmen!"

The forest fire continued, its light illuminating Roy's profile. His long eyelashes trembled slightly, and his deep green eyes were partially obscured by the shadows that fell upon them, revealing a deep sadness within.

“Our two races usually get along very well, we love and help each other, and we protect this forest together.”

"I never expected them to do something like this."

Will the giant tree man go mad?
And is it suspected that they set fire to the forest?
Lin Hanchuan was a little surprised.

He was quite familiar with the Treant race.

Treants are a common race in the forest. Under normal circumstances, they are very emotionally stable. Sometimes when players encounter them, they will even be given some good things.

However, they protect the trees in the forest far more than other races. Sometimes, if you cut down trees in the forest and they find out, they will use all the strength of their tribe to chase you.

But I won't kill you; I'm just trying to scare you.

However, the giant treant that just appeared did seem to have gone mad, chasing Roy relentlessly even at the cost of its life.

"Did the giant tree man show any signs before this?" Lin Hanchuan stared at the giant tree man's corpse, while Cao Renjie was still searching for fallen objects around him.

“No!” Roy thought about it seriously, then shook his head and said, “They’re perfectly normal. It’s like everything just happened suddenly.”

"Is there any grudge between your Elf race and the Treant race?" Lin Hanchuan continued to ask, trying to trigger a side quest.

The hellish [Dawn] dungeon that Long Xiaochen and his team cleared before can only be used as a reference.

The side quest content often differs depending on the difficulty level of the dungeon.

For example, just now, according to Long Xiaochen and the others, in the Hell-level [Dawn] dungeon, when you actively put shoes on Roy, Roy will immediately talk to the player who put the shoes on her, providing the first stage reward of the dungeon, and also giving an extra side quest - give her a piece of clothing.

However, when Long Xiaochen put shoes on Roy in the Shura-level [Dawn] dungeon, the scene that happened in the Hell-level [Dawn] dungeon did not occur.

Roy only glanced at Long Xiaochen, who possessed the Elf Lord profession, before his gaze fell on Xingchen. Subsequently, he even gave the first stage reward to Lin Hanchuan.

Lin Hanchuan asked her why she was being chased by the giant tree people. This question can also trigger a side quest in the Hell-level [Dawn] dungeon.

Roy would snuggle into your arms for comfort and tell you all the stories that happened in the forest, but just now, none of that happened.

It's really a pity.

With no other options, Lin Hanchuan could only try to trigger the side quest from other angles.

“No!” Roy thought for a moment, then shook his head again, “Our two races have always lived in harmony.”

At this time.

Cao Renjie had finished collecting the loot dropped by the giant treant. Holding a handful of gems in his large hands, he waved to Lin Hanchuan and said, "Boss, a great harvest!"

"We collected thirteen gems in total, the highest quality of which is a two-star medium-grade gem." Cao Renjie came to Lin Hanchuan's side, opened his palm, and revealed gems of various colors.

"So many? In terms of quantity, it's almost as many gems as we accumulated when we cleared the Hell-level [Dawn of Light] dungeon for the first time." Long Xiaochen was very surprised.

Lin Hanchuan remained calm.

Given the high luck stat, it's perfectly normal for the Treant to drop so many gems.

This is also the main reason why Long Xiaochen specifically entrusted him with the first kill of the giant treant.

However, given the rank and level of the giant treant, the gems that drop after killing it are destined to be of a low level.

They are generally one-star.

There are two two-star items, the highest being a red gem. Two-star items are of medium quality and mainly increase defense and health. Lin Hanchuan had Cao Renjie equip them.

After Long Xiaochen and Long Xiaoyue each selected one of the others, they handed them all over to Lin Hanchuan to keep.

“And this!” Cao Renjie took out another fiery red bead.

It is about the size of an egg, but its entire body is a bright red color, as if it were a bead formed from scorching flames.

"The Fire-Avoiding Pearl, that's the biggest gain." Cao Renjie grinned and said to Lin Hanchuan, "I never expected that a giant treant could drop such a good thing as a Fire-Avoiding Pearl. No wonder it was only covered in fire when it came out. Under normal circumstances, given the size of the giant treant, it would be impossible for it to escape from this sea of ​​fire."

Lin Hanchuan took the fire-avoiding pearl from Cao Renjie and checked his detailed information through the system.

[Fire-repelling bead]

Quality: Special Item

After wearing it, you can move through a sea of ​​fire when not in a skill state. It is recommended that the user be within five meters tall, as exceeding this height may result in burns from the flames.

Tip 1: You can protect a maximum of two targets, and the distance between them must not exceed 2 meters!
Tip 2: This item can only prevent normal fires; players cannot use it to provide fire spell resistance.

Boom boom boom! !

After reading the information about the Fire-Avoiding Pearl, Lin Hanchuan looked up at the sea of ​​fire in front of him, which was burning even more fiercely than before.

The bright moon was distorted into a blood-red moon by the thick smoke, and tar-like black clouds surged and devoured the horizon. Tongues of fire rolled back into the sky, forming flowing waterfalls of flame.

The heatwave distorted the air, making even breathing feel like swallowing scalding hot blades. Lin Hanchuan looked at the fire-avoiding bead in his hand, then turned to look at the silent Roy.

With the reminder from the fire-avoiding bead, Lin Hanchuan couldn't help but wonder: if the giant tree people were a race that was more afraid of fire than the elves, then why would they set fire to this forest?

Even if it's crazy, it shouldn't be like this!

"Besides you, are there any other clansmen who might have escaped?" Lin Hanchuan asked Roy.

"No!" Roy answered without hesitation this time. "I was the only one who escaped; the rest of my tribe were killed by the Treants."

Lin Hanchuan pressed on, "Did any other giant tree-men escape from inside?"

Roy reiterated, "No, it's the last one!"

Looking at Roy's confident face.

Lin Hanchuan looked at Long Xiaoyue.

Long Xiaoyue also looked puzzled.

Lin Hanchuan then opened his personal panel and sent a message in the [Heavenly Dao Squad Chat Group].

Lin Hanchuan: "Something's not right with this Roy!"

Long Xiaochen: "Huh? What's wrong? Apart from not clinging to me like Roy in the Hell-level [Dawn of the Day] dungeon, she seems perfectly normal to me!"

Long Xiaoyue ignored Long Xiaochen and answered Lin Hanchuan directly: "It's abnormal! When she answered questions before, she always gave her answers after thinking about them for a while."

But when you asked whether any elves or treants had survived, Roy gave the answer without hesitation both times.

She seemed absolutely certain that there were no survivors inside except for her; everyone had died inside.

If, as Roy previously stated, this inferno was a massacre of the elves by the Treants, then why didn't they spare their own lives?

Cao Renjie understood Long Xiaoyue's words, his gaze lingered on Roy for a moment, and then he replied in the group: "If that's the case, then what is this elf girl Roy hiding from us?"

The truth may not be as she says.

Lin Hanchuan: "Yes! She's hiding something from us, and it's not just one thing!"
She's very wary, and if we keep asking, we won't get any more information. So I plan to use the Fire-Avoiding Pearl to take Xingchen inside and take a look. Protecting Roy will be your responsibility then.”

One of the biggest differences between story-driven dungeons and pure monster-killing dungeons.

In addition to the main monster-slaying quests, there are also side quests.

Side quests influence the final outcome of the main storyline.

Different side quests yield different rewards. Generally, the more side quests you uncover, the greater the final reward you'll receive.

There's something Roy is hiding from them; that's the only thing Lin Hanchuan is absolutely certain of right now.

But the breakthrough wasn't with Roy, but rather in the raging inferno. The giant treant dropping the fire-repelling pearl might also be a clue provided by the system.

Long Xiaoyue: "No problem!"

Long Xiaochen: "Captain, don't worry. With our current strength, we can easily take down the monster bosses in the Shura-level [Dawn] dungeon."

Lin Hanchuan: "Okay!"

Once this message is sent out...

It was as if some kind of mechanism had been triggered.

pat!

Pat pat!
In the sky, dark clouds drifted in at some unknown time, obscuring the bright moonlight. Raindrops fell one after another, pelting Lin Hanchuan and the sea of ​​fire in front of him.

The scorching heat from the inferno tore the first water droplets into shreds, which turned into wisps of smoke in mid-air. Gradually, raindrops the size of glass beads pierced through the thick smoke and the inferno, making a head-on, intimate encounter with every flame.

Soon, the clouds began to churn into inky vortexes, the sky turned dark, and rain poured down from the dark clouds like thousands of liquid steel whips lashing the raging sea of ​​fire.

The sky, filled with ash, suddenly split open, and a torrential downpour from the clouds crashed into the sea of ​​fire. Millions of murky raindrops vaporized the moment they touched the flames, and the billowing white mist and black smoke swirled together into a spiraling steam tornado.

The scorching heat from the ground baked the rain curtain into a boiling silver net, and every drop of rain that passed through the wall of fire left a trail of orange-red lava, branding smoking bullet holes into the scorched earth.

The sea of ​​fire roared and howled in the torrential rain, seemingly struggling and raging, until it was completely tamed by the thousands of rain whips and slowly perished in its final silence.

When the last flame on earth went out.

The thick clouds in the sky vanished silently in an instant, and the bright moonlight shone on the earth, illuminating the scorched world ahead for Lin Hanchuan and his companions.

The trees, not yet fallen but already carbonized, bent their dark and emaciated bodies, standing one by one in the scorched earth, like mummies looking at Lin Hanchuan, trying to say something to him, but unable to speak.

Roy, standing to the side, watched all of this in shock.

Lin Hanchuan shrugged and said to Long Xiaochen and the others, "I didn't expect God to be so kind. Let's go in and see if there are any survivors inside."

Before Long Xiaochen and the others could speak, Roy was the first to speak.

"can not go!"

"You absolutely must not go!"

Roy is trying to stop Lin Hanchuan's actions.

Lin Hanchuan glanced at her and asked with a smile, "The fire has been extinguished. Don't you want to collect the bodies of your people?"

"You are the only survivor. You should go and visit them, as a final farewell."

Long Xiaochen, Cao Renjie, Long Xiaoyue, and even Xingchen were all looking at Luo Yi at this moment.

Roy opened his mouth.

In the end, he didn't say anything.

“Let’s go!” Lin Hanchuan said immediately after Roy stopped talking.

The Heavenly Path Squad stepped over the corpse of the giant tree-man and entered the scorched earth. Since the heavy rain stopped immediately after the fire was extinguished, the scorched earth under their feet was only slightly damp.

It felt warm underfoot, and wisps of steam rose up through the forest.

A strong smell of sulfur filled the air and lingered for a long time.

Keep walking forward.

After walking about two kilometers...

boom! !

The earth suddenly trembled, and a huge crack appeared in front of Lin Hanchuan. Immediately afterward, an earth-yellow elf jumped out of the crack.

He held a staff in his hand, and as soon as he saw Lin Hanchuan and the others, he immediately waved the staff, sending earth spikes flying straight towards them.

But the attack was not directed at Lin Hanchuan.

Instead, it was Roy, who was at the center of the team.

The proximity allowed Lin Hanchuan to immediately see the other party's information.

Earth Spirits

Level: 15

Rank: Lord-level BOSS
Attack: 600-2000
Health: 1.8

Note: Earth Spirits are a type of spirit that excels in earth-based magic skills and are guardians of the earth.

Cao Renjie, who was always responsible for protecting everyone's safety, had already set up a shield the moment the earth spirits appeared. A huge barrier appeared out of thin air, and the earth spikes that hit the barrier only caused some ripples, without even breaking through the defense.

Long Xiaochen, who was standing to the side, drew two cards and summoned a water sprite and a spirit archer.

Although Long Xiaochen's spirit was inferior to his opponent in rank, it was five levels higher.

The water sprite released a curtain of water that enveloped the earth sprite BOSS.

When the earth spikes released by the Earth Spirit BOSS touched the water curtain, their flight speed was significantly reduced, and they crashed to the ground shortly after flying out of the water curtain.

The elven archers, using the water curtain as a shield, continuously fired arrows at the earth elf BOSS.

Like the previous Giant Treant BOSS, this Earth Elf BOSS seems to be in a strange state. Facing the attacks of the two elves summoned by Long Xiaochen, it doesn't dodge but just keeps attacking Roy.

Seeing that its earth spike attack was blocked, the Earth Elf BOSS suddenly developed strange dark red patterns around its body. The originally brownish rock body cracked open with spider web-like fissures, and magma-like liquid gushed out from the cracks.

It no longer roared loudly, but instead hissed with the sound of metal scraping as it raised its head. Its ten fingers dug deep into the scorched earth, and the entire battlefield began to tremble violently.

"It's an earthquake!"

Lin Hanchuan turned to look at Roy behind him.

The Earth Elf BOSS unleashed its second ultimate skill, a skill typically possessed only by general-level Earth Elfs. Could it be that the monsters in the Shura-level [Dawn] dungeon have truly gone mad?
On the other side, Cao Renjie's shield barrier instantly expanded into a hemispherical dome.

Almost simultaneously, the ground thirty meters away suddenly cracked open, and rock spikes as thick as giant pythons burst out of the soil, raining down on the barrier with fragments of lava.

Cao Renjie's barrier withstood the attack without breaking in the slightest.

Long Xiaochen's elven archer raised his longbow, and the aura of water element quickly condensed on the bowstring. Then, three arrows formed of water element shot in a triangular formation toward the chest of the earth elf BOSS.

Three elemental arrows struck directly.

The water sprites were also very effective, releasing a water curtain that transformed into a three-meter-tall vortex-shaped humanoid figure, which poured down on the earth sprite BOSS.

Even Lin Hanchuan joined the battle.

One after another, explosive arrows were hurled at the Earth Elf BOSS as the staff was swung.

With the entire Heavenly Path Squad having a level advantage, defeating a level 15 Earth Elf BOSS was a complete annihilation.

As a barrage of attacks rained down, the Earth Elf BOSS's health bar began to decrease at a visible rate.

The Earth Elf BOSS's health is already below 30%!
A muffled thunderous tremor suddenly came from beneath the scorched earth, and countless emerald vines burst forth from the ground, weaving the ravaged battlefield into a luminous network.

This is not a skill possessed by the Earth Elf BOSS!
"Another one?"

Lin Hanchuan's gaze narrowed slightly.

As soon as the voice fell, a huge flower suddenly bloomed in the center of the vines. At the center of the flower, a golden light swirled and condensed, slowly transforming into a giant human face.

【The Giant Flower Monster】

Level: 15

Rank: Lord-level BOSS
Attack: 600~2000
Health: 21,000
Note: A type of wild monster that exists in the forest, often hiding in seas of flowers. It has a gentle nature, but is extremely territorial. Wherever its vines spread, that is its territory.

"Two bosses appearing at once?"

In Shura-level dungeons, it is common to encounter multiple boss-level monsters.

However, Lin Hanchuan has never encountered two at once before.

It's obvious that this giant flower monster boss is also after Roy.

The Earth Elf BOSS, which was not far away and was low on health, used the "Earth Fracture" skill, causing the ground beneath Lin Hanchuan and the others to crack one after another, like tofu blocks.

And the cracks are continuing to widen.

The golden face stared intently at Roy, and emerald green vines grew out of the crack, like tentacles, reaching out to Roy from all directions.

"Boss, you kill the Earth Spirit BOSS first!" Long Xiaochen immediately said to Lin Hanchuan, "Cao Renjie and I will protect Roy!"

Lin Hanchuan nodded.

Directly summon the Holy Sword.

Trampling on the holy sword, he soared into the air, passing through cracks, and charged straight towards the Earth Elf BOSS.

Boom boom boom!
One after another, explosive arrows shot out.

The Earth Elf BOSS's attention was always focused on Roy, and it only used simple earth shields to defend against Lin Hanchuan's attack.

Under Lin Hanchuan's sweep, news of the kill was quickly received.

"Ding! Successfully killed a level 15 boss-level Earth Spirit, gaining 8000 experience points. This kill is the first kill of this Earth Spirit boss in this level dungeon, so an additional 8000 experience points are gained. Team action grants an additional 50% experience point bonus, so an additional 4000 experience points are gained!"

"Ding! You have gained 8000 experience points!"

The experience given by the Earth Elf BOSS is the same as that given by the Giant Treant.

The Earth Elf BOSS is dead.

The cracks in the ground stopped expanding.

On the other side, Cao Renjie stood guard beside Roy, erecting a spherical barrier to block all the attacks from the giant flower monster BOSS.

Long Xiaochen had already summoned four level 20 spirits to besiege the Big Flower Monster BOSS.

The moment Lin Hanchuan looked over, Long Xiaochen's voice rang out, "Captain! Put it away!"

As soon as Long Xiaochen finished speaking, Lin Hanchuan's explosive arrow arrived from mid-air.

boom! !

One arrow wiped out all the health of the Big Flower Monster BOSS.

"Ding! Successfully defeated a level 15 Lord-level BOSS-grade Giant Flower Monster..."

In the system prompt tone.

Lin Hanchuan gained another 8000 experience points.

The vines that had spread across the scorched earth withered and died with the death of the giant flower monster BOSS.

Stepping on the holy sword, Lin Hanchuan landed in front of Roy. Looking at her, who was still in shock, he asked, "Didn't you say there were no other elves here?"

"I don't know, I don't know either!" Roy shook his head repeatedly. "But I'm very grateful for your help this time. This is just a small token of my appreciation."

Roy ran his hand through his thick hair and pulled out a yellow gem.

[Armor Shield Gem]

Quality: Four stars (superior)

When equipped, HP increases by 1500 + 10% of base HP, HP regeneration speed increases by 10%, and physical defense increases by 5%!

Job requirements: Warrior, Tank, Knight...

Assembly requirements: None!

Lin Hanchuan took it directly this time, glanced at it, and handed it to Cao Renjie, saying, "This gem is the perfect match for you!"

"Thanks, boss!" Cao Renjie said immediately after receiving the gem.

Lin Hanchuan continued to look at Roy.

Her face showed a hint of panic.

A black line appeared on her fair neck.

(End of this chapter)