1 AM Coffee

Looking at the feedback from his pin frame tracker, Chad Hudson's breath shortened.

Pin frame tracker.

Every guild had one of this. In most cases, only the guildmasters owned one of these.

The function of this device was simple. It's capable of tracking down specific pin frames. So this device was commonly used for rescue missions.

Currently, on the radar screen, there was only one signal. It had to be Beetle! He was the only one who had a pin.

Chad Hudson's expression relaxed a little.

In most cases, if the pin was ok, the person was ok. If Beetle was ok, Jake was ok as well right?

In a few moments, Chad finally glided down a hill, reaching a lake.

Under the moonlight, a metal ingot and a neon-yellow flag laid on the grass field. This was especially eye-catching.

Chad pointed at that ingot. The grass around that ingot quickly grew. Entangling themselves together, the grass quickly formed ropes.

During this process, Chad lowered his body, staying alerted at his surroundings.

The grass ropes quickly entangled themselves together, gradually forming a dwarf. That dwarf pulled the ingot out of its original spot.

No traps triggered.

Chad sighed in relief.

Looks like a powerful explorer had cleared out the field boss already. Looking at the ingot... Isn't that Gaswil metal? This thing had to worth at least 30 grands!

Looks like that powerful explorer didn't lack money either.

In this case, someone that powerful wouldn't mess with small fries like Jake, right?

Thinking of this, Chad's expression relaxed a bit more.

In a moment, that dwarf had brought the Gaswil ingot to uncle Chad. Hey. Free money. Why not.

Chad Hudson staffed the metal block into his large backpack. His backpack instantly went from half-empty to bulging full.

Taking a deep breath, Chad Hudson's gaze became alerted again.

Moving in a direction parallel to the lake, Chad Hudson continued to glide on tree tops.

In a moment, he had reached an open area. By the looks of it, the trees here had been destroyed. Battle took place...

While carefully listening to the quiet background, Chad Hudson carefully scanned around.

Taking a look at the tracker feedback, Chad Hudson jumped off the tree. Walking forward a little...

Apparently, the pin frame was in a fern bush.

Chad pointed in that direction. A fern leaf moved by itself like a hand. With a flick, a pin was tossed to Chad.

*Mush... Mush...*

Hearing this, Chad Hudson looked in that direction.

A 3-meters tall, white-furred ape gradually stepped out of the cave's shadows.

If Beetle had fallen, why did he throw away his pin? Why waste that movement in a critical battle? Why send out that misleading signal? To lure him here? For what? To save the newbies?

A sense of respect for Beetle rose in Chad Hudson's heart. To buy time for the newbies to escape, Beetle had to be holding this field boss back!

"So Beetle has fallen to you huh..." Chad Hudson chuckled in anger.

Rising a hand, Chad clenched his fist. Green light burst out of his hand. It was as if Chad was holding a green light bulb.

"Rise!"

The ground rumbled.

One by one, the trees behind Chad uprooted themselves. Twisting their branches into each other, four treants quickly formed.

Chad Hudson Stood under the 6-meters tall treants. Emitting a green light, Chad looked like a pixel fairy.

'Beetle... Rest in peace. I'll avenge you!'

'Jake. Hang in there.'

...

The Rogers Mansion was about a 10 minutes drive away from Shine City.

The car group slowed down, exiting the empty highway. Apparently, the Rogers family had a road paved just for their mansion.

In a moment, the group entered an orchard. This dense field of trees seemed rather out of place on the prairies.

Driving through the orchard, the road lamps turned on one after another. In a moment, the road was bright as day.

As a detector, Jake could see more.

Guard stations in the open. Stronger guards hiding in the shadow of the fruit trees. The royalties in medieval times probably had intense security like this... maybe.

The Rogers family either wanted to burn away some extra cash, or today was a special day for them.

Without any pause, the vehicle group passed through wide metal gates. Passing through the gates, the view changed. It's a field of well-maintained garden now.

Driving up a hill, the group quickly passed through various flower patches, fountains, and pavilions (Small wall-less summer houses. Basically roof + table underneath in the open).

In a moment, the group drove around a large fountain, finally reaching the 'mansion' up the hill.

Though, to Jake, this building looked more like a small palace than a mansion. This place could house how many people? 200? maybe even 300.

The housekeeper opened the door for Jake.

"Master Collins, we have arrived." Lightly bowing, the housekeeper spoke in a respectful tone.

"Thanks." Jake nodded.

"My pleasure. Welcome to the Rogers Mansion."

'Mansion.' The edge of Jake's mouth lightly twitched. By the looks of it, these guys were certainly loaded off the realm exploration industry.

The bodyguards left. A group of butlers and maidens took over.

Following the housekeeper, the group walked past the empty halls.

Shiny and spotless floors. Chandeliers in the high up ceilings. This place was bright as day. On the walls, there were large frames of oil paintings. Jake didn't know art. But these looked old.

In a moment, Jake was brought to an office. Just the usual layout here. An oil painting on the wall. Book shelves. A work desk. A document drawer.

Nick Rogers sat behind a large desk by himself. This young guildmaster did not look that much better. A depressive atmosphere surrounded this guy.

Seeing Jake, the young guildmaster stood up. Forcing a smile on his sulking expression, this dude looked even more exhausted now.

"Ah. Master Collins, it's good to see you here."

"Glad to be here." Jake nodded.

"Would you like a drink?"

"Sure." Jake nodded. "Coffee please."

Non-magical external substances were kind of useless to him now. But Jake still liked the taste.

"Give me a cup too." Nick Rogers nodded at the housekeeper.

"Yes sir." The housekeeper looked a little pumped for some reason.

To the housekeeper, Jake had to be super tired already. Yet, still asking for a cup of coffee to stay awake! Unlike the other artisans, Jake really took the Rogers family seriously! Kindness and generosity really does pay back!

The housekeeper left.

After a brief small chat, the talk quickly died off. Clearly, Jake was not interested in pointless small talks. Sensing this, Nick Rogers faintly smiled.

Perfect, at the moment, Nick was not interested in this mood-building process either.

Nick Rogers cleared his throat. Time to get into the essence of the matter.