Lords go left, Emperors go right

Osta turned around and almost didn't notice the person coming. This was a suspicious guy, a man in a black nightgown. This guy was dressed like a standard assassin, and only his eyes could be seen, not his specific appearance. However, Osta heard the guy's accent, not the accent of the southern continent of the human race, but the accent of the northern continent of the human race, which surprised Osta.

Most of the adventurers and mercenaries who came here to try their luck were from the southern continent. The northern continent was a little strange. Osta had done several secret missions with the eldest lady of the Euphnic Chamber of Commerce, Lanis, and could still distinguish the accents of the northern continent.

Osta led the team and followed the guide back to Edmund Tavern. He then discovered that the team that wanted to team up with him was staying in the same tavern as him, and they were also staying in the top-class rooms at 50 copper coins a night. However, the rooms of both parties were separated by a distance, and the rooms were not connected to each other, so Osta had not noticed these people before.

The team that invited Osta's team to join was dressed almost the same as the one who led the way, all wearing black night clothes. Osta felt that it was an assassin group with about 20 people. The leader of the team was undoubtedly a girl because of her figure. Because she was wearing a black night clothes, Osta could not see her true appearance, but only the pair of dark blue eyes exposed.

"Hello, my team is going to explore the Hellfire Forest. This mission is quite dangerous. If you plan to participate, we can set off together tomorrow. If you want to quit, it's not too late."

"No problem. My team is also going to the Hellfire Forest, so we'll be on the same route. By the way, how do you calculate the reward?"

"As for the reward, it will be split in half among the teams. As for the other matters, we will discuss them after we set off. After we arrive at the destination, we can confirm the actual situation and make arrangements."

"I understand. Our team will join this mission."

"It's a pleasure to work with you. We will meet at the Caronde Ferry tomorrow at..."

The mysterious lady spoke in a cold tone, as if she was negotiating a business deal. Osta quickly reached an agreement with her and followed the team. His team was going to their destination, Kloita, deep in the Hellfire Forest, where there were several special herbs that needed to be collected. The herbs that could cure the plague were all there.

The Styx witch Melissa had previously told them that the herbs all grew in the Netherfire Finger Forest, so they just happened to collect them along the way. As for the reward, Osta was not very interested, as their team was not really going on an adventure to search for treasures.

This mysterious lady was too aloof, so Osta didn't talk to her for too long before getting up and leaving. As people from the northern continent, the mysterious lady and her team had financial resources that were unmatched by other adventurer teams and mercenary groups, and they rented several rooms alone.

The mysterious team had almost booked all the 50-copper-a-night luxury rooms in the Edmond Hotel, except for the one that Osta had booked in advance. The mysterious lady stayed in a room by herself, and the other subordinates were arranged in the next room, which was much more luxurious than Osta, who stayed in one room with the whole team.

"Is that team okay?"

"Miss, it's no problem. We are just here to be cannon fodder, so we can delay it for a while."

After Osta left, the mysterious lady asked her subordinates with a slightly questioning tone. She also saw that there was only one man in Osta's team, and the rest were girls. Those who didn't know the truth thought that it was the eldest son of a wealthy merchant who brought people out to travel. Moreover, judging from the other party's accent, they were from the human race's western continent. After repeated assurances from her subordinates, the lady stopped doubting.

The ticket in the hands of the mysterious lady was actually bought at a high price. Her team also failed to grab the ferry boarding ticket and arrived too late to grab the ticket. However, if there are enough gold coins, it is not a problem. She spent a lot of money to buy the tickets at a high price from the adventure captains or mercenary leaders who grabbed the tickets.

There will always be people who can't resist the temptation of gold coins and choose to resell the boat tickets. Aosta can do it anyway, as long as he doesn't mind wasting gold coins. However, Aosta follows the principle of saving as much as possible and will not waste extra gold coins.

After the Osta team arrived at the room, his sister "Princess Jade" Audrey finally realized that something was wrong. Isn't this just sharing a room? What puzzled this little girl the most was that the entire team members, the other girls, did not raise any objections. This was too strange.

Chris, Yulia and Sofia all acquiesced. The three exclusive combat maids accompanying Osta certainly had no objections, after all, they were used to it and had long been accustomed to it. "Black Rose" Avril worked for Osta, so she naturally had no objection to the decision of her boss, a certain gentleman lord.

The last remaining girl, the Death God Lolita Mavis, was too naive and didn't realize that there was anything wrong with men and women being in the same room. Princess Audrey looked around and found that she was the only exception and was too sensitive about this matter.

"What's wrong? Sister Delis, are you feeling unwell?"

"No...no, Brother Osta, where are you sleeping tonight?"

"So that's the problem. I can just stay on the sofa for one night. Don't worry! We are siblings and we won't bully our family."

“Brother Osta, that’s not what I meant. Anyway, have a good rest tonight.”

Osta had a sincere expression on his face and vowed to be a gentleman, which made Audrey feel a little relieved. She was worrying too much. With so many options, even if Osta was really a gentleman, the possibility of him attacking his sister was extremely low.

At night, Anubis Town returned to peace. Most of the followers of the Hades Society went back to the Hades Cathedral headquarters to rest, and only the Edmund Tavern area was a little noisy.

After nightfall, the order outside the tavern was still a bit chaotic. Most of the mercenaries and adventurers who came here were from the southern continent of the human race. Their professional certifications were not formal, and fights and disturbances due to a few words often occurred at night. At this time, the advantage of staying in a tavern was revealed, at least it was much better than sleeping on the street outside.

Osta kept his promise and rested on the sofa in the room instead of the big bed. There was only one bed in the room. His sister, "Jade Princess" Audrey, and the Grim Reaper loli Mavis rested on the big bed together. The two lolis hugged each other and fell asleep with cute expressions on their faces. They did not change into pajamas, but rested in their original clothes, which made Osta feel a little regretful.

"Black Rose" Avril, maid Chris, Yulia and Sophia, none of them went to bed to rest. Instead, they found a cushion in the four corners of the room and sat cross-legged, meditating. They could rest and practice at the same time. Even though they closed their eyes to rest, they still had a sense of the outside world. They could detect any abnormal situation in advance and take appropriate countermeasures.

Osta was lying on the sofa, thinking about some things while resting. When he met the mysterious lady before, all the people around her were assassins, but the lady herself was not an assassin. The assassin-specific suit she wore seemed to be a disguise to cover up her true identity.

Osta is still very interested in the wealthy businessmen in the Northern Continent. If she is a wealthy woman like Lanis, it should be no problem to make friends with her. The current operation of the Blom Vault needs to attract high-quality depositors or investors. Overall, the best target is the wealthy businessmen in the Northern Continent.

The Hellfire Forest is one of the most dangerous places in the underworld on the other side of the river. It is a mysterious forest that has never been explored. So far, adventurers or mercenaries who have explored there have basically never returned, and they have mysteriously lost contact in the outer areas.

Despite the dangers, it still cannot stop the adventurers and mercenaries from going to explore the Netherfire Forest. It is said that there are dozens of rare and precious medicinal herbs growing in the Netherfire Forest. If you pick one or two of them and don't gamble or squander them, the mercenaries and adventurers can basically retire from the business world and live a worry-free life for the rest of their lives. The money they earn from selling them is enough for them.

Under the temptation of huge profits, many people are willing to gamble their lives. The mysterious lady who cooperated with Aosta must have wanted to collect some unavailable medicinal materials, and she was willing to risk her life for this. Those medicinal materials are too difficult to obtain, and even if you have money, you may not be able to buy them.

Almost at the same time, in the palace of Hades in the underworld on the opposite bank, the King of the Underworld was sitting on a throne made entirely of pale white human bones. In front of him, all kinds of monsters gathered.

The monsters at the front can transform into human form, while the rest are all monster-like. The further out the monsters are, the more they look like monsters. The King of the Underworld made an exception today and summoned these monsters to discuss important matters. This has never happened before, as the meeting time is usually fixed.

"Tomorrow, that ungrateful girl Mavis will come with her team of human lords to cause trouble. Their target is Chloita. When the time comes, you will block them in the Hellfire Forest and make sure to eliminate all these outsiders. I will be waiting for your good news at the Pluto Palace."

"It's okay, Lord Pluto. The human race is nothing to worry about. Even Mavis is a bit troublesome. Facing our siege, even Mavis won't be able to escape unscathed."

"Grab the Death Scythe, and take care of the rest."

"I understand, Lord Pluto, I will definitely kill that loli death god this time."

The King of the Underworld spoke in a cold tone, with almost no emotion. When he was talking to his monsters, he had no idea that he was being secretly monitored remotely. Everything that happened here was sensed by the three exclusive maids around a certain lord. When they were meditating, the scene completely emerged in their minds.

This kind of super long-range cheating plug-in, which is similar to unconditional perspective of the entire map, can only be used by creators and above, and it is basically impossible to defend against. However, the three maids did not intend to explain this to the lord in advance, as that would be meaningless. If Chris and the others wanted to take action, they could wipe out the Hades' palace from a distance. The Hades King is no match at all, even if it is the real Hades, let alone an imposter.

Chapter 149: The Netherfire Forest is full of dangers

The next morning, Osta led his team to Anubis, a town controlled by Hades, and set off from Edmund Tavern where he was staying to meet up with his partner in this operation, the mysterious lady's team. The two sides met at the Caronde Ferry as agreed. Caronde Ferry is the only external port of this "Styx Town". From here, take a special ferry, cross the Osiriston River, which is known as the "River of Life and Death", and step onto the west bank to start the treasure hunt.

"Sir, are all your team members here? Do you want to leave a will in advance and explain your final wishes?"

"No need, miss, my team is fine."

"Sir, there is no turning back once you cross the river. Are you sure you don't want to prepare for the future?"

"No need, Miss. I will never regret it."

"Well, sir, your courage is admirable. Let's cooperate in the entertainment."

After meeting Osta, the mysterious lady asked Osta's opinion in advance to see if he needed to explain his funeral arrangements. Osta refused without hesitation. This operation was not risky for him, and there was no need to do these unnecessary things.

After seeing Osta's absolutely confident expression, the mysterious lady stopped trying to dissuade him. The two sides came to the ferry of Kalond and boarded the first ferry to the underworld with their tickets.

The so-called special ferry is actually just a huge wooden boat. This transport ship can carry nearly 200 people at a time and transport multiple adventure teams or mercenary teams at the same time.

"My fellow warriors, life and death are determined by fate, and wealth and honor are determined by God. After docking, we will anchor at the landing area at a fixed time every day. Those who want to return can wait at the landing site at any time."

Before the ferry arrived at the landing site, the helmsman on the boat gave a brief explanation. The Pluto members, the male believers in charge of rowing the boat, announced the ferry's round-trip time to the passengers boarding the ship in a cold voice and expressionless face.

This was just a formality. The passengers, mercenaries, and adventurers on the ship had already set their minds on the underworld on the other side. Everyone was thinking about getting rich, and they were completely absent-minded. Almost no one listened to what the members of the Hades Society who led the way said.

Osta listened to him. After leading the team to board the ferry, he also secretly observed the status of other passengers. This first ferry was full, with more than 200 passengers. After all, tickets were hard to come by.

In addition to the team that Osta and the mysterious lady worked with, there were four other teams. Two were mercenary groups, and the other two were adventure teams. The most obvious difference between an adventure team and a mercenary group was the number of people.

The maximum number of members in an adventure team cannot exceed 30. If the number is over 30, it is a mercenary group. The minimum number of members in a mercenary group cannot be less than 30. The total number of members in the team formed by Osta and the mysterious lady did not exceed 30, which was still within the scope of an adventurer team.

The two mercenary groups were teams of about 70 people, and the remaining two adventurer teams were similar to Aosta's, with about 20 members each. Because they were potential competitors, everyone was basically silent after boarding the ship, even if it was a conversation between members of their own team, they kept their voices down and whispered.

The atmosphere in the ferry was extremely depressing and serious. Seeing this, Osta gave up the idea of ​​chatting with other teams. In this extremely depressing environment, actively showing goodwill to the other party is also very likely to cause misunderstandings. It is best not to speak. Saying nothing is the best choice. Osta finally remained silent and said nothing.

The logos of the two mercenary groups are very distinctive, with obvious features and are easy to distinguish. The logo of the first mercenary group is a black bear. All members of this mercenary group are shirtless. Apart from helmets, they are almost not equipped with any armor or protective gear. It seems that they do not need any defense, giving people the visual impression of Spartan warriors.

All the members of the Black Bear Mercenary Group are strong men, and their muscular bodies are comparable to those of bodybuilding champions. It makes people feel that all the members of this mercenary group are strong men, just like their mercenary group logo, the black bear, which gives people a strong feeling.

The second mercenary group seemed more formal, at least not as wild as the first one. Their mercenary group logo was an iron cross shield. Compared with the previous mercenary group, it was two extremes.

The second mercenary group was all wearing heavy plate armor, and each of them was wearing a layer of heavy iron barrel-shaped armor. The defensive ability of this iron lump was almost catching up with the elite troops in the regular imperial army. This mercenary group was probably more cautious in their style of action, and would not take the initiative to attack without making all kinds of preparations in advance. Compared with the Black Bear Mercenary Group, the Iron Cross Mercenary Group felt more secure, and the armor was obviously that of professionals.

The other two adventurer teams, one with a broken tombstone as their symbol, and this team of adventurers all wore black robes, carrying shovels and ropes, and they didn't look like regular adventurers at all. Osta felt that they looked more like a team of grave robbers going to rob graves.

The remaining adventurer team was not much different, all of them wore grey robes, carried a bunch of talismans, and carried a Bagua compass. If you didn't know, you would think they were there to see Feng Shui, exorcise evil spirits, and catch ghosts. Even the adventure team's logo was a strangely shaped talisman.

Osta was quite speechless about this. Can't they give me some normal teammates? I have seen all kinds of amazing teammates, but I haven't seen a team that really wants to go on an adventure. This random matching mechanism is not good.

The ferry's destination was an unnamed pier near the Hellfire Forest. When the ferry docked, the pier was empty, with no one in sight. When the cold wind blew, everyone who got off the boat could feel an inexplicable chill, with goose bumps all over their bodies.

After landing, everyone was in a heavy mood. The dock was empty, which meant that the last batch of adventurers and mercenaries might have been wiped out. If there were any survivors, they would at least return to the dock to wait for the ferry to arrive. Judging from the dust deposited on the stone bench at the nameless dock, not only the last batch, but also the batch before that, no survivors came back alive.

"Let's go, brothers. Let's get rich. What are you afraid of? Fortunes are sought through risk. If you don't try once, how will you know that you can't do it?"

"Brothers, do you want to be a coward for the rest of your life, or wait for a few days to become a hero? Now that we are here, we already have the answer in our hearts."

"Let's move, brothers. We are well prepared. There is no need to worry. We have taken into account all possible situations."

After the ferry landed at the nameless pier, the mercenary leaders of the "Black Bear" and "Iron Cross" mercenary groups, as well as the senior cadres of the groups, saw that many of the mercenaries in the groups were thinking of retreating, and immediately gave a very inflammatory pre-war encouragement to boost morale again.

The two mercenary groups acted separately. The former went to explore the swamp area in the southern part of the Hellfire Forest to hunt the dark monster Death Lizard. The latter went to explore the misty lake area in the southern part of the Hellfire Forest to hunt the dark monster Misty Eye Giant. After they separated, they quickly disappeared from Osta's sight. As for the result, it was estimated that it was more likely to be dangerous. This separation might be a farewell forever.

The two teams of adventurers happened to be on the same route as Osta's team. They were all going to explore the central area deep in the Netherfire Forest. As for the purpose of each other's adventure, the three parties revealed their respective purposes to each other on the premise of temporarily being in the same team.

Osta concealed his true purpose and did not say that he was going to destroy Cloita, which was directly governed by the King of the Underworld. Instead, he lied that he was going to collect precious medicinal herbs. The mysterious lady who cooperated with him was also going to collect some precious medicinal herbs, with the same purpose as Osta.

The purpose of the other two adventure teams was almost the same as the style of their equipment, so it was easy to guess. The "Gravedigger" adventure team was going to rob graves and dig graves. They said they accidentally found a broken treasure map. After a long and careful study, they deciphered the ancient language on the treasure map. The treasure place marked there was an ancient tomb buried deep underground in the center of the Hellfire Forest.

According to records, the owner of the tomb should be Skeleton King Clement, who was a cruel monarch during his lifetime and was still unwilling to be lonely after his death. With the help of black wizards, he turned into Skeleton King, controlling his huge army of skeletons, trying to launch an attack on the ground world again and rebuild his own evil empire.

The "Demon Sealer" adventure team wanted to seal a demon and take away the demon's treasure as their own spoils. This time the target was Tyrande, the tyrant of the underworld. This guy was also the emperor of an ancient empire and a famous tyrant.

Before his death, that guy, with the help of black magic, transformed himself into the king of the undead, ruling a large army of undead, and had been occupying an underground palace. He was active in the underground palace, maintaining his rule during his lifetime, and also controlling a large amount of treasure.

Coincidentally, Skeleton King Clement and Dark Tyrant Tyrande were mortal enemies in their lifetime. Both of them were tyrants, and the ancient empires they ruled were connected by borders. When both sides were alive, they fought each other's empires to the death. The long-term war eventually brought down the two powerful ancient empires.

At the end of the Empire, Tyrande and Clement died in the uprising and rebellion within the Empire without exception. After their death, even if they turned into dark monsters, they brought the hatred they had in their lives to the afterlife, and continued to attack each other after becoming monsters. Both are dark kings, the difference is that one is a skeleton king and the other is an undead king (zombie type), which is the difference between skeletons and zombies.

The King of the Underworld did not interfere in the war between the Skeleton King Clement and the Dark Tyrant Tyrande, and just sat back and watched. If the two went to war with each other, they would restrain each other, which would be beneficial to the King of the Underworld's rule.

If the two of them joined forces, the authority of the King of the Underworld over this land of the underworld would be challenged, and he would probably lose complete control over the Underworld Forest. The King of the Underworld knew this very well, and had never intervened, pretending to be an outsider.

"If you are just going to collect herbs, you just need to watch out for the Underworld Demon Spiders, especially the Demon Spider Queen. Other dark monsters dare not easily step into the Underworld Fire Forest."

"The forest areas on the surface here are all hunting grounds for the Demon Spider Queen and her subordinates. The territories between the dark monsters are clearly divided, and they generally won't do anything that crosses the boundary. If you want to be safe, you'd better pay attention to this."

"Thank you for your reminder. Would you like to consider forming a team first? We can help you when our collection mission is completed."

"No need for that. You are not professionals. It is better for laymen not to get involved."

The two adventure teams, the Gravediggers and the Demon Sealers, explained some precautions to Osta and his team before they parted ways. After all, this separation might be a farewell forever. Osta tried to team up with the two adventurer teams, but they rejected him outright.

Even if they were not a regular adventurer team, they still had dignity. Osta's adventurer team did not look very professional, and the equipment they carried was not obvious. It felt like they would become pig teammates after forming a team, so the two adventurer teams chose to politely refuse.

"Sir, there is no need to show excessive goodwill at a time like this. The adventurers and mercenaries who come here don't even fully trust the people in their own team, let alone outsiders. People from other teams are all objects of suspicion and potential enemies."

"Miss, this is not right! We are still in a team, and if you say this, it may affect your teammates."

"It's nothing, sir. I'm a relatively straightforward person. There's no need to hide some things. If it really comes to the last resort, you can sell out your teammates without hesitation. I won't complain, and the same goes for the other way around."

"Miss, you are really honest. Don't worry about that kind of thing. I already have a complete countermeasure."

The mysterious lady who teamed up with Osta was unexpectedly direct in some ways. She told her companions that she could sell out her teammates before the game even started. This overly cold honesty left Osta speechless for a moment, and he could only nod to show his understanding.

At least in terms of honesty, this mysterious lady was reliable. She made it clear before the operation began, and even if she sold out her teammates, it was agreed in advance. This was much better than those who didn't say a word, didn't say hello, and suddenly deserted their companions at the last minute.

The place where the herbs were collected this time was near the area of ​​Kloita, which was directly under the jurisdiction of the King of the Underworld. The dark monsters that were active and stationed there for a long time were terrifying creatures called Hades Spiders. The information about the dark monsters was limited to their names and distribution areas, which were all provided by the King of the Underworld.

The intelligence information did not mention the specific abilities of the monsters. After the battle, there were basically no survivors. Only the dead knew what the abilities and attributes of those dark monsters were.

The Croit Tower was a giant building that could be seen from a great distance, and was completely visible from the outer area of ​​the Hellfire Forest. The most terrifying thing was that a huge snake-like monster was wrapped around the tower of this giant tower, which looked like a giant python. The snake skin of that creature was pure black, which was completely inconsistent with the pure white Croit Tower in style, and it looked out of place, and the sense of disobedience was off the charts.

In addition to the giant snake, there was also a giant bone dragon hovering over Kloita. This skeleton dragon seemed to be following a fixed patrol route, flying according to certain rules and trajectories. In the heart position of the skeleton dragon's chest, there was a heart made of dark blue nether fire. The skeleton dragon's heart was exposed, and its weakness was obvious, which was the heart made of dark blue nether fire. If the heart was shattered, the skeleton dragon could be easily destroyed.

Even the top human adventurer teams and mercenary teams could not easily approach Kloita under the control of these two dark monsters, let alone infiltrate it. However, the Osta team was an exception. The exclusive accompanying combat maids around him, Chris, looked at the two dark monsters with completely indifferent eyes and did not take them seriously.

Those two giant dark monsters were extremely dangerous to the human race. Compared to Chris and the others, they were not threatening at all, just like ants, and there was no need to be on guard. If Osta had a request, the several dedicated battle maids accompanying him could destroy the two giant dark monsters in a snap of a finger, and the other party would be killed instantly without even having time to react.

"Sir, the medicinal herbs collection site is over here. What are you looking at that Pluto Tower for? That place is absolutely restricted. I advise you to put aside your unnecessary curiosity."

"Sorry, miss, I was just looking around. Let's go collect herbs now!"

"Sir, we are teammates now, don't be too curious. In many places, we are not strong enough. Prioritize your own safety."

Chapter 150: The Joint Adventure Group's Unsuccessful Start

The Netherfire Forest in the north area of ​​the west bank of the Osiriston River is a vast primeval forest, which is the legendary underworld area. According to the previous propaganda of the Hades Society, any outsider who sets foot on this territory is equivalent to having one foot in the underworld.

As for the truth of the rumor, it depends on the personal understanding of the person who landed. Anyway, Lord Osta felt that he was not entering the underworld. The underworld is one of the destinations of the dead, and there is no way to break into it when you are alive.

The trees in the Hellfire Forest were completely leafless and withered. On the thick trunks of these trees, there were human faces with hideous and miserable expressions. Legend has it that they were the souls of the dead who died tragically and could not rest in peace.

This strange scene occurs when the vengeful spirits cling to the dead trees. Behind every crying face is a tragic memory. Although they look scary, these dead trees are called cursed trees and are considered special wood. They are the best raw materials for making cursed magic props, such as cursed staffs.

Osta had no interest in curse magic, and he himself knew almost no magic. Osta looked down on the cursed tree wood that was sold on the black market by weight and gold coins, so he had no intention of collecting it.

Osta turned a blind eye to it. Although he could make a lot of money by using it to make cursed magic props, Osta would not pay attention to the wood in the Hellfire Forest based on his own bottom line and principles. He had other plans. If possible, as long as conditions allowed, Osta wanted to completely purify these cursed trees.

Apart from the cursed tree, the entire Hellfire Forest looked extremely barren, with severe cracks on the ground and almost no green vegetation. Pale white bones could be seen scattered everywhere, probably the last traces left by the adventurers and mercenaries who had come here before, proving that they had been here before and existed.

The skeletons were scattered all over the place, and there was no complete remains. It looked like the last moment before death was very tragic, and many traces of tragic death could be seen on the skeletons. In the Hellfire Forest, you can also see many floating blue will-o'-the-wisp fires. Those will-o'-the-wisp fires seemed to have consciousness, and when they sensed the approach of outsiders, they quickly flew away.

When the joint adventure group was traveling in the Hellfire Forest area, Osta did not share vision with the "Black Rose" Avril beside him. In such a place with such heavy yin energy, there was no need to rely on the auxiliary function of the lost artifact "Golden Eye". It was easy to sense the extremely depressing atmosphere around, and it was known without looking that the number of vengeful spirits hidden in the Hellfire Forest was astonishing.

Osta noticed that Eve looked around with a serious expression. She might have seen some strange and horrible scene with the lost artifact "Golden Eyes", so Osta didn't dare to follow her and commit suicide. If he couldn't see it, he wouldn't feel seriously uncomfortable.

"Everyone, be careful. This is the territory of the Underworld Demon Spider. Try not to leave your sight before you reach your destination."