Keep attacking girls and try not to be killed by them

[Note: The Stone Mask is an item in the manga "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" and its derivative works, appearing in the first and second parts, and briefly mentioned in the third part. The Stone Mask was created by Pillar Man Kazu to overcome his tribe's weakness of being unable to face the sun, allowing them to evolve into ultimate creatures.]

Jiang Ran was stunned. Could this striking resemblance be a mere coincidence? This was too bizarre, wasn't it?

(No, it can't be a coincidence... if it were just a similarity, it would make sense, but this looks exactly the same!)

After careful identification, Jiang Ran was 90% sure that this was the "Stone Mask". Even though he had not read the entire work "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" due to time constraints, he would not have mistaken this infamous Stone Mask.

Now that cultural products from the Earth world have appeared in the Prison Star world, it means that there must be a time traveler among the people involved in the production of this Stone Ghost Mask. If things go wrong, the guy wearing the Stone Ghost Mask in the future death scene may be the time traveler himself.

but……

Thinking of this, Jiang Ran frowned.

Ever since he came to the Prison Star World, he has been trying hard to hide his identity as a time traveler, but this guy is so good, he wears this mask so openly, as if he is afraid that other time travelers don’t know his identity.

(Could it be... a trap?)

After thinking about it, Jiang Ran felt that this was the only possibility under reasonable circumstances. Otherwise, it was either that the time traveler was stupid about this detail, or that he was born to be ostentatious.

In short, no matter what, Jiang Ran's next death will most likely be related to this "Stone Ghost Mask", and Jiang Ran also has a hunch that this "Stone Ghost Mask" is also closely related to the two times he was sniped by the "Only Demon God·Unspeakable Name" before.

(Are there other travelers from Earth?)

Jiang Ran's mind was full of memories at this moment. He began to recall the time when he was chosen by the "good god" after his death, and strung together all the events that had happened so far. He seemed to be able to vaguely guess the "real context" behind the entire "appearance".

However, he also realized that the "huge dark curtain" hidden beneath the surface was far beyond his current ability to shake.

If he wanted to uncover the truth one day, he had to continue to improve his strength... and it had to be a huge improvement... Thinking of this, Jiang Ran finally couldn't bear the exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep.

·

·

In the Prison Star world, under the moonlight, Jiang Ran is not the only one who wants to improve his strength. There are also many others, such as Emilia, the fox magician who wants to give Banning a fire explosion magic, and Heloise, the tiger girl who wants to save her people.

After the "Fate Whirlpool Incident" caused by "Endless Abyss Mishasha", Emilia, Heloise and Pride searched for Banning (Fick) for a long time. It was not until they found the letter Banning left for them that they realized that Banning had already slipped away.

[img=968,463]https://rss.sfacg.com/web/novel/images/UploadPic/2023/07/403cb2f6-d384-4341-a074-c2e63ac7bdab.jpg[/img]

[The screenshot above is from the chapter "8.150 - Changing Course"]

When they discovered the letter, Emilia and the other two had different opinions on Banning (Fick)'s message.

Emilia had worked in the Mission Union for many years and was familiar with the ways of the world, so she immediately saw that Banning was looking for an excuse to escape.

Heloise was relatively naive and believed Banning's lies without any doubt, thinking that he was the one who went ahead to save Ice Star Shirley.

As for Captain Pride, as a loyal subordinate of Lord Banning, it was not appropriate for him to express his opinion under the circumstances at that time.

However, although this temporary team of three people has different ideas, their goal is the same, which is to find Banning (Fick) no matter what.

After some discussion, the three of them decided to stay in Dris Town for the time being, and use Dris Town as a base to continuously patrol the border of the Kingdom of West, waiting for Banning (Fike) to return from the Farnese Empire.

In addition, since there are relatively more monsters near the border, the three of them can also take this opportunity to improve their combat strength, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

9.11 - Battle Teams on the Border

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October 187, 8

7:26 AM

[Confession death countdown remaining: 29 days]

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At the border between the Kingdom of West and the Farnese Empire, there is a place where grasslands and wilderness interpenetrate each other.

Since no one lives here and the area is huge, the border patrol forces of both countries will only come here for a symbolic inspection once a month and will not and cannot maintain public order here.

Based on this situation, this intersection has become a world of monsters and animals. Among them, there is a group of monsters called "Sand Apes" living here, which have gradually become the dominant monster species here.

Sand Ape is generally a second-tier monster ranging from level 21 to 50. Its special skills are "Flying Sand and Rocks" and "Steel Hammer Fist". In addition, some individuals will also master the long-range attack skill "Helix Stone Bullet".

In terms of individual combat capabilities, the Gravel Apes are not considered strong among all the second-level monsters, but they have a certain degree of intelligence and are good at teamwork. When a group of Gravel Apes gather together, their combat strength is no less than that of human troops of the same level and number.

At this time, the sun had just risen, and a small group of grit monkeys, hungry after a night's sleep, were already foraging on the wilderness grassland.

Some of the grit apes put their heads to the ground and used their noses to search for suspicious smells, while others used their eyes to observe the traces left on the ground. After searching for a while, one of the grit apes found a set of "very tempting" footprints.

"Squeak! Squeak!"

The sand ape used its unique call to tell its companions that it had found the footprints of a female human, and that they were not far away.

The other grit monkeys came running upon hearing the noise. A female human was a pretty good prey, and it would be a good meal for the six grit monkeys.

Of the six Grit Monkeys present, four were melee-enhanced types capable of using the "Steel Hammer Punch," and two were long-range special attack types capable of using the "Helical Bullet."

The six of them quickly dispersed and began to track the female human like pulling a net to catch fish. Not long after, one of the sharp-eyed gravel monkeys found the prey sleeping in a cave.

·

The burrow is a good one, with a narrow entrance, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. However, since the sun has risen and the prey is still fast asleep, the gravel monkeys have to do something shady.

Two long-range special attack gravel monkeys picked up a few fist-sized stones on the spot, aimed at the female human in the cave and prepared to attack, but at this moment, the human woke up, and immediately made eye contact with the gravel monkeys, then screamed and fled deep into the cave.

The gravel apes rolled their eyes and cursed in their hearts that if the human had woken up a few seconds later, he could have died without pain, but now he had to make them work harder.

However, the Sand Ape had just clearly seen that this female human was dressed like a magician, with a light robe and a wooden staff. If she were alone, she would be the easiest prey!

"Squeak! Squeak!"

The gravel monkeys coordinated well and moved forward to encircle the prey. They were smart enough to be wary of other humans who might be hiding deep in the cave. They carefully occupied a favorable position at the entrance of the cave, and then began to use the skill "Flying Sand and Rocks" towards the inside of the cave, trying to drive out the prey in the cave with sand and dust that could damage the respiratory system.

However, just when they were enjoying using their skills, a dark green magic circle suddenly lit up under their feet, and then a large number of vines quickly grew out of the magic circle, wrapping them tightly in the blink of an eye!

——(I fell into the trap!)

The gravel monkeys realized this belatedly, but the problem was not too big. The melee gravel monkeys immediately used the "Steel Hammer Fist" to forcibly tear off the vines that bound them!

"Squeak! Squeak!"

The alert gravel monkeys did not choose to charge into the cave, but immediately chose to retreat. Unfortunately, the "prey" they faced was much smarter than them. Just as the gravel monkeys turned around to retreat, a knight in white armor, who had been hiding somewhere, rode a tall horse covered in white armor, and rushed towards them from behind with unstoppable momentum!

·

Faced with the armored knights coming at them like chariots, the six gravel monkeys did not flee in panic, but immediately formed a formation.

With rich combat experience, they knew very well that when encountering cavalry-type enemies, the worst thing they could do was to turn their backs on them and run away, as that would only lead to them being defeated one by one.

Four melee-type gravel monkeys stood in a row, ready to use their "Steel Hammer Fists" to fight the armored knight head-on, while the other two long-range gravel monkeys found the angle and each fired a "Helix Bullet" at the armored knight before he rushed over!

Seeing that the swirling spiral stone bullet was about to hit him, the armored knight suddenly shouted "Aegis protect you!", and then a silver sacred light emanated from his shield, covering him and his horse, and then deflected the spiral stone bullets that hit him one after another!

However, the price of blocking the spiral stone bullet was that the warhorse's charge stopped. Seeing this, the other four gravel apes immediately pounced on the armored knight. But as soon as they took a step, dozens of fireballs of varying sizes flew towards them from the side! That was the direction of the cave where the female human had hidden!

The gravel monkeys have a lot of hair on their bodies and are naturally afraid of fire, so they had to give up the opportunity to attack for the time being and retreat to the side to avoid the covering attack of these multiple small fireballs.

What they didn't expect was that the armored knight actually gave up the advantage of riding a horse and jumped towards them from the horse's back while shouting loudly!

“Ah ...

The armored knight relied on his armor to break through the line of fire formed by multiple fireballs, and when he landed, he swung his warhammer and smashed it to the ground. Then he spun at high speed while holding a shield in one hand and swinging the warhammer in the other!

The two gravel monkeys standing in the front tried to challenge this small metal tornado with "Steel Hammer Fist", but their fists were smashed to pieces as soon as they were swung.

Only then did the gravel apes decide to avoid the attack of the armored knight, but when they looked back, they found that their two long-range special attack gravel ape companions had been knocked to the ground by a white-haired, one-eyed female human girl.

"Watch out, monkey monsters! The one who defeated you today is the apostle of the Evil Tiger King! Heloise from the Tiger Tribe!"

The white-haired, one-eyed human girl shouted in a language the gravel monkeys couldn't understand, then attacked them while brandishing an emerald dagger.

The gravel monkeys tried to fight back, but they could not keep up with the girl's nimble pace. What was even more fatal was that the "ice thorns" that had sprouted from the ground at some point had blocked their limited retreat.

As the rumbling metal tornado came towards them, the remaining four sand monkeys failed to hunt and were killed instead, ending up with their bodies torn to pieces.

9.12 - Unscheduled

The hammers and shields spinning at high speeds created a metal tornado in the wilderness, knocking the gravel apes trapped in the ice thorns into pieces, causing their flesh and blood to fly everywhere.

Small fireballs continued to be fired from the cave and hit the seriously injured gravel monkeys, igniting the flames that would carry them to their grave.

As the last gravel ape stopped screaming, the encounter in the wilderness finally came to an end.

"Everyone worked hard, no one was hurt, right?"

The white-armored knight only stopped using his skill, "Metal Tornado," after confirming the slaying of the gravel apes. After removing his helmet, the figure within the armor was revealed to be Pride, captain of the First Cavalry Squadron of the Greenwood City Cavalry Regiment.

After the fierce head-on collision just now, Pride's hammer, shield and armor all had a lot of scratches, but other than that, he didn't suffer any serious damage.

"The Evil Tiger King God will protect his apostles. These weak enemies are not enough to shake the Evil Tiger King God's protection."

The white-haired, one-eyed girl, Heloise, walked out from beside the corpses of the gravel apes. She was carefully cleaning the blood stains on the dagger.

The "Corrupted Dagger - Poison Dragon Claw" given to her by Fei Ke was deeply loved by her. Now she has mastered the use of it and can't put it down.

The Corrupted Dagger's characteristic of having a chance to stack a layer of poison each time it hits an enemy, combined with Heloise's high-frequency attack method, can only be described as a "perfect match".

After these two people appeared, the magician girl who had initially acted as bait at the entrance of the cave slowly walked out of the cave. She coughed as she walked and kept patting her dusty cloak with her hands.

“Cough cough… cough cough cough! I’m choking to death…!”

At this moment, the fox magician Emilia could only be described as dusty and dirty. Her originally golden long hair had now turned khaki due to a layer of dust.

"I never thought sand could be so scary. I almost suffocated in the hole just now!"

Emilia took deep gulps of fresh air as she spoke. She didn't know how she had been able to use magic in such a harsh environment.

However, no matter how difficult it was, when Emilia felt the new power (experience points) flowing into her body, she immediately felt that the hardship she had just gone through was worth it.

Thanks to Topled and Heloise, two "third-level combat professionals", Emilia, who is currently a second-level intermediate magician, has been able to grow rapidly.

As of the end of the battle with the six gravel monkeys, Emilia could feel that her experience value had reached the upper limit. If she wanted to continue to improve, she must first challenge the advanced trial.

——(I never thought I’d have to challenge the trial again so soon...)

When Emilia thought of the feeling of being isolated and helpless during the advancement trial, her legs immediately went weak and she became timid.

"Sorry, sorry, you've worked so hard, Emilia. I'll be the bait next time."

At this time, Pride came over with an apologetic look on his face. Emilia temporarily forgot about the trial and teased him with a smile, saying that if a muscular man like Pride was used as bait, the monsters might not gather.

·

The three-person team of Emilia, Heloise and Pride has experienced battles like the one just now more than ten times in recent times.

Among the three, Captain Pride is an experienced combat professional. Although Emilia has been relegated to the second line for many years, she has worked in the Quest Guild for several years and has mastered a lot of knowledge related to monster battles from another perspective. Finally, there is Heloise. Although she is still relatively green in dealing with people, her combat experience is no less than Captain Pride.

According to Emilia's work experience, the safest configuration for defeating a group of six second-level gravel monkeys like the one just mentioned would require at least four to five third-level professionals to lead the team, or a team of more than fifteen second-level professionals.

However, they completed the crusade with only two third-level professionals and one second-level professional, and the entire process was basically safe.

Emilia believed that this was mainly thanks to Pride and Heloise. Although they had both just advanced to the third level not long ago, they already possessed the strength of the middle and late third level.

Fighting monsters is not just a simple comparison of class levels. There are many factors that affect the outcome of the battle, such as combat IQ that cannot be measured by numbers, experience and wisdom, equipment differences, combat style compatibility, etc.

Taking all of this into consideration, Pride and Heloise are undoubtedly outstanding in their class.

——(I have to work harder too...!)

Emilia silently encouraged herself. She still had a long way to go before she could realize her dream, and as for the "person" she wanted to catch up with, she couldn't even see his back.

·

·

After finishing the monster hunting operation in the early morning, Emilia and the other two returned to Dris Town to rest as usual.

Under the hard-working command of Chief Pame, this town, which was once severely damaged by werewolves, has gradually recovered some vitality.

Emilia originally thought that this kind of life would continue for a while, but unexpectedly, a letter from Cuilin City forced Captain Pride to leave temporarily.

"Sorry... Hey, why have I been apologizing all day... The Cuilin City Cavalry Regiment has an urgent matter and is summoning all the captains. I have no choice but to go back and take a look."

Captain Pride hastily wrote a confirmation letter and then gave it to Steel-Winged Owl to take back.

Although he is now loyal to Lord Banning, Lord Banning has also told him not to give up his position in the Cuilin City Cavalry Regiment unless it is absolutely necessary.

Besides, Pride has worked in Cuilin City for many years. It is difficult for him not to go back, both from the perspective of responsibility and emotion.

"It's okay, you can go back. Sister Heloise and I are here. If we really need it, Branch Chief Pame will also help us."

Emilia considerately gave Pride a way out, and Heloise also said that it was enough to have the apostle of the Evil Tiger King God here.