Chapter 64: strange suggestion

For instance, the sudden rolling logs, inadvertently triggering poison arrows placed in the shadows... These were just ordinary traps.

When Gorba stepped on another movable tile, he sighed, "Caught again..."

But this time, nothing happened as expected. It was as if nothing had occurred at all.

It wasn't until he heard countless hissing sounds around him, and coincidentally, a gap appeared in the dark clouds, allowing a brief moment of moonlight to illuminate the surroundings.

With the faint moonlight, Gorba saw iron cages placed in the shadows. The doors of these cages were now open, indicating that something had been released.

What had been released?

Naturally, it was the poisonous snakes that Alexander's group had worked so hard to catch a few days ago. It was quite a feat to capture so many poisonous snakes, nearly turning over every inch of land near Calyus Village.

Now, these hungry snakes, having seen the Forest Rangers, gleamed in their eyes and rushed towards them.

"Damn it, I've been bitten!"

"Does anyone have fire? Light it quickly!"

"Oh, dear mother, I want to go home."

...

For a moment, the formation of the Forest Rangers fell into chaos. Amidst the panic, many triggered other mechanisms.

Now, even more traps sprung upon them.

"Hold steady, hold steady... Ouch!" Captain Gorba roared, trying to stabilize the Forest Rangers. They must not panic. At this moment, he couldn't care less about revealing their position. He quickly lit a torch. Just as he raised the torch, countless stones flew from the sky. A fist-sized stone hit him on the head.

The great leader of the Forest Rangers blacked out.

When he woke up again, he found himself tied up and suspended from a wooden beam.

Next to him, about a dozen of his men were also bound and hanging.

"Quick, go inform the lord. This guy's awake," a Saint Martin knight guarding the area said, immediately instructing his companion to inform Alexander.

At that moment, Alexander was still sound asleep in his bed. He had heard the screams outside in the middle of the night, but it didn't disturb his sleep in the slightest.

Throughout the night, only Geoffrey and his men managed to deal with the outside trouble. When they came to report, Alexander reluctantly agreed, "Hmm, let's talk about it tomorrow morning." He didn't even pay attention to the system's voice.

"Congratulations Lord Alexander on completing the mission - defeating the Forest Rangers." 

"Rewards: Experience +10000, System Coins +10000, Golden Treasure Chest +1."

After all the fighting, who could sleep comfortably? Alexander had worked so hard just to have a peaceful night's sleep. When morning came, a soldier reported that Golba had woken up, but Alexander, suffering from a severe case of bedridden syndrome, didn't want to get out of bed just yet. He instructed Victor to interrogate Golba in his place. However, in his drowsiness, Alexander didn't notice the hint of excitement in Victor's eyes when he heard the word "interrogate."

Meanwhile, lying in bed, Alexander stared at the newly acquired golden treasure chest in the system and silently prayed, "Open!"

The last golden chest had given him the power of evolution, a freakish thing. He wondered what freakish thing it would give him this time. As a golden light flashed, the contents of the chest were revealed.

"Congratulations Lord Alexander for obtaining a valuable piece of advice."

"A valuable piece of advice: Don't rely too much on the system, it's a trap! - The 12315th Chosen One."

"Beep! Beep! Beep! System detected abnormality, repairing!"

"Congratulations Lord Alexander for obtaining Ensiso's Blessing."

"Ensiso's Blessing: Effect unknown."

Alexander looked bewildered at the system's erratic behavior today. What's going on? First, a bug when opening the chest resulting in strange advice, and now a blessing with an unknown effect. He felt speechless.

"Damn, even when the system bugs out, it doesn't give any compensation?" Alexander grumbled.

"Compensation package being issued."

"Congratulations Lord Alexander for obtaining 100,000 Dinars, 1 Resurrection Coin, and +5 usable attribute points."

"Resurrection Coin: After you or your friend dies, you can choose to use the Resurrection Coin to resurrect once."

Just as Alexander finished speaking, the system's voice rang out again.

"Oh my goodness!!!"

Alexander stared at the numerous rewards and almost went mad. The system was definitely acting up today. The Resurrection Coin was a no-brainer—it was like gaining an extra life. But what about the astronomical amount of Dinars and attribute points?

Luckily, Alexander didn't let the rewards cloud his judgment. He furrowed his brow and calmed down. The recent bug was likely caused by that advice. The words "Don't rely too much on the system, it's a trap" sent shivers down Alexander's spine.

But here's the problem: regardless of whether that statement was true, could Alexander survive without the system? All his strength came from the system. Without it, he might have died in some unknown war long ago. So, despite his caution, Alexander had no choice but to continue using the system.

He opened the system panel:

\[Level\]: 10 

\[Strength\]: 13 

\[Dexterity\]: 11 

\[Intelligence\]: 8 

\[Charisma\]: 12 

\[Available Attribute Points\]: 5 

\[Experience\]: 50000/51200 

\[System Coins\]: 100000 

Looking at the solid numbers on the system panel, Alexander felt a slight relief. Regardless of whether it was a trap or not, without the system, he would likely have lost his life long ago. For now, he would continue to use it. As for the future, he would deal with it when it came.

Alexander then allocated 2 points to Strength, 1 point to Dexterity, and 2 points to Intelligence. The reason for this allocation was simple: while his personal combat strength was formidable, knowledge was equally important. Now that he had the money, besides developing his territory and army, he also needed to buy some books.

Reading books could add skills, something Alexander had learned from trying to control the saint Martin horse

After all, up until now, his equestrian skills were still insufficient to handle the Saint Martin warhorse. He decided to continue with an advanced equestrian book later. But that was a matter for another time. Having allocated his attribute points, Alexander got out of bed and prepared to check on Victor's interrogation results.

As he reached the place where the Forest Rangers were detained, he saw Victor emerging, covered in blood, holding a parchment scroll filled with writing. Seeing Alexander approaching, Victor immediately stepped forward.

"My Lord, the interrogation was highly successful. Believe me, that guy even told me the name of his mistress. We've squeezed out the last valuable piece of information from him."

Alexander glanced through the loosely secured door crack and saw Golba, barely clinging to life, hanging from a wooden beam. He looked barely alive, and even if he survived, he would likely be severely maimed. It seemed the interrogation process was not friendly.

But that didn't matter. What mattered was the result. Victor, this guy, actually had this talent!