Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

Mia, who was behind, also saw the bone snake. After estimating the distance and the snake's size, she felt that the three of them would have a hard time defeating it.

Moreover, if you get into a fight, you're likely to attract the attention of other undead.

Mia lowered her voice and said, "I can distract it. You open the chest, but don't make too much noise. There are still undead wandering around nearby."

"I'll draw my bow to lure it away from that spot before I make my move. Don't make any unnecessary noise. Wait until I've lured it away before you attack. If you notice any other undead approaching along the way, stop and don't move."

Carl asked, "How far are you going to lead it? How will we meet up?"

Mia had already turned and moved to the side, crouching behind a high pile of rubble and drawing her bow:

"When I can no longer see you and you can no longer see me, I will come looking for you."

The arrow was shot out and embedded in the ground in front of the bone snake, making a short, sharp sound.

The bone snake turned its head toward the direction where the arrow had landed. It did not move immediately, but remained still for a moment before beginning to crawl in that direction.

Several indentations were left when the body moved away from the spot next to the iron box.

Once the man and the snake had completely disappeared, Karl could no longer contain himself.

Karl took two steps forward, squatted in front of the iron box, and tried to lift the lid, but the lid didn't budge.

He glanced down at the edge of the box lid. A padlock hung on the latch. The lock body was not large, but the lock beam was thick and the surface did not have many rust marks.

Clearly, this treasure chest was not left in the open for very long.

Karl glanced back at Bronzebeard and said:

"There's a lock. Do you know how to pick it?"

Copperbeard nodded, stepped forward, squatted down, looked at the lock, and confirmed the connection between the lock beam and the lock body.

Then he handed the hammer handle to his left hand, gripped the hammer head with his right hand, straightened his body, adjusted the hammer handle to the appropriate angle, and smashed it down on the iron lock under Karl's dumbfounded gaze.

"Clang—"

The hammer made a louder sound than expected when it hit the lock body, and the lock beam bent slightly under the impact.

He struck it again, and the lock beam bent completely, detached from the latch, and fell to the ground.

The muffled sound echoed several times in the empty wilderness, carrying into the distance.

Carl looked constipated.

"Is this the meeting you were talking about?"

Copperbeard glanced at him sideways: "Who says you have to use a key to unlock a lock? I can open it with a hammer and the effect is the same."

Karl's face contorted in disgust.

"The same? How could they be the same? Do you know how many monsters this will attract?"

"You know? If you know, why don't you pack your things and run away?!"

As he spoke, Copperbeard quickly pushed open the lid of the box, revealing several items inside.

He reached into the box, quickly stuffed a few items into his backpack, and then gestured for Karl to run.

As Carl ran alongside, he asked curiously, "What's inside?"

Copperbeard handed him the bag and said, "Three things—a bow, a pair of wrist guards, and a palm-sized piece of iron. I don't know what they're for."

After Mia lured the bone snake away, she dodged and moved through the jungle, finally stopping under a tree.

She glanced back to make sure the bone snake wasn't following her, then quickly ran towards the treasure chest.

She heard the two clanging sounds of blacksmithing and frowned slightly.

Now, the surrounding undead will likely gather around, greatly increasing the danger.

Before long, they encountered Karl and Bronzebeard, with several bone hounds chasing after them.

"run!"

The three ran back the way they came, stopping halfway to deal with the bone dogs before quickly returning the way they came.

Bypass the low-lying area where the ghosts were, cross the pile of corpses of the walkers, pass through the area where the skeletons of the skeleton soldiers were scattered, and run all the way to the light curtain.

Before passing through, Copperbeard glanced back at the mist behind him to make sure nothing was following, then turned and passed through the light curtain.

The light curtain behind them calmed down again.

Back at the hotel, they sat down in Mia's room and began dividing their spoils.

The loot this time mainly consisted of three items from the treasure chest, along with some herbs and spiritual fruits.

As for the bone swords and clubs that were "dropped" from monsters, they were not convenient to carry, so I didn't take them.

Of the three items, the bow naturally belonged to Mia, Karl took the pair of bracers, and the last piece of unidentified iron was given to Bronzebeard.

As compensation, Bronzebeard was given even more spoils.

Copperbeard didn't care; as long as these things could be converted into cash, that was enough. His own wine jug had long been empty.

As for the piece of iron, Bronzebeard didn't know what it was made of, but his dwarven intuition told him that it was quite strong.

Bronzebeard, being a dwarf and a skilled blacksmith, held the iron sheet up to the shield for a moment before having an idea.

If we embed it into the shield, it should significantly increase its defensive capabilities.

Meanwhile, Karl had already put on the wristband, tightened the strap to secure it, and tucked the end into the loop.

After putting on the wristband, Carl felt, whether it was his imagination or not, that the strength in his body seemed to have increased.

He held the sword in his hand to test its grip; his wrist's range of motion was not significantly restricted, and there was no friction when he turned it.

Mia held the new bow, pulling the bowstring back and forth to adjust the tension and confirm the range and trajectory stability before putting the old bow into her bag.

Carl leaned back in his chair and began to speak:

"I'll work on how to write the mission report tonight, and submit it tomorrow to see if the guild will recognize it as mission completion."

The other two nodded and began discussing how to write it.

...

The next morning, the three of them walked into the Adventurers' Guild with the completed mission report.

Carl walked at the front, his steps more cheerful than usual, his wristbands already tightly fastened.

Copperbeard followed behind, and the newly acquired iron pieces were temporarily secured to the shield with thin ropes.

Mia carried a new bow on her back, the patterns on the bow's limbs gleaming darkly in the light.

Several mercenaries in the hall looked up at them but didn't pay them any attention.

The staff member took the report, glanced at it, and asked, "Did you enter the Demon Gate?"

Copperbeard replied, "Yes, it's in. The information above is absolutely true and valid."

The staff member nodded, took the report, and went through the back door.

A moment later, a deacon in a grey robe came out, and after confirming the contents of the report, took out a leather bag and three silver badges from under the counter.

"Mission complete, reward: 100 gold coins, Silver-level adventure team, badge updated."

A murmur of discussion arose in the hall.

Did these three young-looking guys really enter the Demon Gate?

Some malicious eyes were also fixed on that bulging money bag.

Copperbeard put away his money pouch, Karl happily put on the silver badge, and Mia handed the old badge back.

When the three of them left the guild, they found a tavern, ordered several jugs of good wine and some snacks, and planned to celebrate properly.

The three of them drank quite a bit, and when they left the tavern, they helped each other back to the inn, where they went to their rooms and fell asleep immediately.

The next morning, when Copperbeard woke up, his head felt heavy. He instinctively reached into his pocket—it was empty; his money pouch was gone!

This startled him greatly. He quickly got up and knocked on Carl's door, his voice hoarse and urgent: "Carl, the purse is gone. Have you seen it?"

Mia, who was standing nearby, opened the door and came out, holding her bow in the hallway. She said, "The purse is gone?"

Carl roared, "Who did this?"

Copperbeard hurriedly went downstairs to ask the innkeeper.

The shop owner answered honestly, "When you came back last night, there were a few unfamiliar faces loitering around the street corner for a while. I didn't ask them anything since they didn't go into the shop."

After asking about the appearance of the other people, all three of them looked furious.

Those people were clearly people we encountered in the Adventurers' Guild.

Karl brandished his one-handed sword and said menacingly, "Let's go, get the money bag back!"

After saying that, he pushed open the door and walked out of the hotel.