[Ding! You killed a City Guard. You received 7,000 Experience and 10 gold.]
The City Guard was level 30 so Liu Ye still received full experience for the kill. No loot dropped this time which prompted him to add his spare skill point into luck. He already had enough damage for his level and more loot was always better.
With how fast Liu Ye was progressing, he would soon start receiving reduced experience which would make farming a waste of time. He could only focus on improving his Elemental Mastery while waiting for everyone to catch up.
"What do we do now?" Queen Luna asked as she looked outside. "We don't have a guide to lead us to the Treasury Vault and if we try to find it, we will definitely alert the guards."
Liu Ye quickly swapped the Rhino Soldier Armor into his Red Dragon Set and assured, "You don't need to worry about that. It just happens that I know someone inside the castle who can help us."
"Who?" Queen Luna questioned suspiciously but Liu Ye remained mysterious as he pulled up the map. Judging by the position of the two green dots, the Treasure Vault was right next to the castle next to them.
[Grind God: Are you two perhaps tasked with protecting the Treasure Vault in the City Lord Castle?]
It was quite an unfortunate coincidence but after hearing the City Guard, it wasn't that hard to guess. It made sense for the game to counter his Quest by hiring players to defend the Treasure Vault. If his Quest was as easy as beating just a few City Guards then it wouldn't have an SSS difficulty.
[Queen of Chess: I was just wondering what you are doing here. Don't tell me your Quest asks you to rob the Treasure Vault?]
Xu Yue was quick to guess his purpose which saved him the time to explain.
[Grind God: I'm tasked to rob the place and leave no witnesses. Unless you leave, I will have to kill you guys.]
[Queen of Chess: Can't you wait an hour? Our shift will end soon and we can leave or even help you.]
[Grind God: I had left a few bodies behind so I'm afraid we would be discovered by then. I will share the loot afterward so just help me this time. Where is the Treasure Vault?]
It was selfish of Liu Ye to ask but the benefits of his quest heavily outweighed anything Xu Yue and Zhenzhen were offered. It didn't take Xu Yue long to decide but it came with an unlucky conclusion.
[Queen of Chess: You have to kill us together with everyone then or we get a bounty on our heads. We are on the fifth floor and there are like thirty people right in front of the Treasure Vault entrance. There are also countless guards spread all around the castle and that's the only way up here.]
That response complicated things but Liu Ye didn't expect anything else. He had an idea of climbing the castle from the outside and exploding the wall but knowing the game, that would definitely alert the whole city. They could only silently take everyone out and hope they won't cause an alarm.
[Grind God: Coming.]
Liu Ye left a quick response and finally closed his chat to begin their operation. "It seems like we basically need to kill everyone in the Castle without being noticed. I hope you are ready for some killing."
Queen Luna nodded but then got closer to Liu Ye's eyes as if she noticed something. "I can feel that you are anxious about something. Could this be about your woman? Is she here in Dragon City?"
Liu Ye was taken aback by Queen Luna's sudden questioning which caused her to smirk. "I knew it. You kept acting weird as we got closer to Dragon City. Could she perhaps be the person inside the castle that will help us?"
Liu Ye was about to think of a clever lie but Queen Luna reached out to pull on his bandana and added, "Don't try to lie to me."
"That's right. Both her and my sister are inside protecting the Treasure Vault," Liu Ye admitted after a short thought. "They won't attack us so we can break in easier."
Queen Luna pursed her lips and fixed his bandana back to place before pulling on his neck to leave a small peck on his lips. Even though it wasn't a direct kiss, he could still feel her soft lips on his own.
"I can't wait to meet the person who was capable of stealing your heart," Queen Luna commented and jumped off the carriage with a smile. "Let's go, baby."
Liu Ye had immediate regrets for being honest but he had no other way. Queen Luna was still an NPC and the game AI was almighty. Even though she was playing her role in the game, the AI knew if he was lying or not.
They quickly hid the City Guard's body by burying it underground before dashing straight towards the entrance of the castle. The Rhino Soldier Armor could give them a small surprise effect but Liu Ye didn't plan to keep changing it in the middle of the battle.
[Fire Empire Soldier - Level 40]
[HP: 3000/3000]
[MP: 1500/1500]
"Who are you? What are you doing in the—'' The four soldiers protecting the entrance immediately questioned them at sight but they couldn't even finish when the wind swept them off their feet.
Liu Ye had only 1% left in his Water Elemental Mastery so he didn't hesitate to maximize the usage of his Water Abilities. He immediately jumped into close combat with Ice Claws on his fingers and began stabbing rapidly with his body weight pinning the soldier.
-277!
-277!
-554!
The soldier responded by shooting flames from his fists at Liu Ye's face only to get brutally stabbed in the eyes. Liu Ye fought with no mercy as he continued to stab without a break. With a single critical strike, he only needed ten thrusts to tank the soldier's HP to zero.
[Ding! You killed the Fire Empire Soldier. You received 10,000 Experience, 30 gold, and 5 Black Lotus Pills.]
[Ding! Your Elemental Mastery bar is full. You received one Elemental Point.]
Liu Ye didn't even check his rewards as he launched himself at the other soldiers only to realize he was too late. Queen Luna has already taken three targets down before he could finish one of them.
"You are slow as always," Queen Luna commented which left Liu Ye speechless. He was already at the top of the ladder but compared to Queen Luna he was still a newbie.
Liu Ye didn't have much time as Queen Luna began casually disposing of the bodies and swiftly gulped down a set of potions. He even took out one of the four blessed cookies and increased his Mana to 250 for the next hour.
[Black Lotus Pill]
[Description: A single-use pill made exclusively by the Fire Empire that will strengthen your inner flame.]
[Effects: Increases Damage by 100% from all Fire Abilities for the duration of 10 minutes.]
[Side effects: Consuming the pill has a 10% chance to prevent you from bending fire.]
Liu Ye couldn't help but glance at the pills he kept on dropping but they turned out they were completely useless to him. The damage buff was great for Firebenders but the side effects made it too risky.
"I'm done. We need to go now," Queen Luna announced before Liu Ye was finished. He was forced to open his Elemental Tree and unlocked the next ability in line to boost his strength.
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