What A Big Move

Half an hour later…

"Boss, I've organized all of them!" Forbes got up suddenly and swung his head to the side.

The perspiration in his hair and on his forehead was flung out with a whoosh, and they drew a crystal clear arc across the air.

Lin Ke swiftly took a step back and dodged the beads of perspiration that looked as if someone had flung out a bucket of water.

Treasure Hunter Rat stretched out its little paws and made a paw gesture—6.

All five Machinery Holy Cult fanatics' corpses had been cleanly and thoroughly looted. Treasure Hunter Rat didn't even need to do a recheck.

Forbes arranged all the war spoils into categories and neatly displayed them on the ground. The sight actually looked pretty impressive when light shone on them.

A light machine gun, a few pistols, mechanical arms, exoskeleton armor, a medical kit, a logistics trunk, cash amounting to 3,400 Wastelands Coins, and… a box of 10-pack condoms.

Yup, and it had even been opened and used before.

Forbes raised the box with '10-pack' and '001' printed on it and curiously asked, "Boss, what's this? Judging from the packaging, it looks like gum."

Emmmm… This… How am I supposed to explain this?

"This thing is a rubber sheath. As winds are very strong in the Gobi, there's a high likelihood of sand and broken rock fragments falling into the gun barrels. With this rubber sheath, you can encase the gun muzzles completely and tightly, and prevent sand and rock fragments from falling into the muzzles, thereby extending the firearms' longevity and achieving a protective effect."

Realization dawned upon Forbes, and he hastily tossed the golden 001 box into the backpack. As he did so, he muttered, "This is good stuff. Boss, you have quite a few guns, so we have to protect them properly."

Alright…

It didn't sound like there was much of an issue there, either.

"Forbes, help me to flip over the five corpses."

Soon, Forbes flipped the fanatics' corpses over.

Lin Ke stepped forward and located a suitably-sized box from the war spoils on the ground. Then, he plucked out all the basic microchips at the back of the fanatics' heads and their necks.

These were the most valuable things among all the war spoils here. Based on their value in underground black markets, each basic microchip could fetch at least 10,000 Wastelands coins.

It wasn't the official public beta period yet, so players hadn't registered in the game yet. There was a high demand for basic microchips in the market, so their prices would only increase.

He placed the five basic microchips in a box and passed it to Forbes. Then, he stowed all the medical supplies, food supplies, pistols, and ammo into the backpack.

As for the light machine gun, mechanical arms, and the exoskeleton armor, those were too heavy. They didn't have any way of carrying them away at all.

Lin Ke's physique was on the small side while Forbes was on the fatter end.

The exoskeleton armor the fanatics had built were based on their own physiques and weren't adjustable. In addition, they had used tape as adhesives and rags to patch holes at several joints, so there was that kind of Wastelands smell to them now!

The empty backpack was stuffed to the brim again.

"I'm going to the tunnel to get something. Wait here for a while, Forbes." After taking care of the enemies pursuing them, Lin Ke could now freely head to the secret room in the tunnel to retrieve the C-level mission left there.

It was currently slightly past 4 a.m. Although they had searchlights with them, the places their lights couldn't reach still gave off a strange and imposing atmosphere nevertheless.

"Boss, I'm going as well!" Forbes didn't want to stay here by himself. He simply didn't feel safe somehow.

Lin Ke glanced at Forbes's physique and said, "In that case, I'll have to say this in advance—the tunnel is a little cramped. If you feel uncomfortable later, leave the tunnel and wait for me outside."

Forbes agreed at once.

Following Boss about was definitely safer than staying in the castle that was surrounded by pitch-black darkness.

However…

Forbes soon realized that he was wrong.

The tunnel was small, narrow, and cramped. He had to hold his breath to move about inside. As long as he let out his breath, his belly would become tightly stuck against the walls, rendering him unable to budge at all.

Thus, after walking the whole way, Howling Ancient Castle's secret tunnel was completely filled with Forbes's rapid breathing that sounded like a dog's panting.

When Forbes squeezed out of the last narrow path, his entire self felt free and relieved as though he had been liberated.

Lin Ke pushed open the wooden door at the end of the tunnel. He kept having a feeling as if space-time had crisscrossed and met up again.

Howling Ancient Castle had played a decisive role in Lin Ke's game life. Not only had he killed monsters here to farm money, but he had also discovered the tunnels here and obtained a C-level mission, thereby joyously receiving the 'Experience the life of a short-lived famous person' card.

The wooden door wasn't locked. He opened the door bolt, revealing a small secret room over ten square meters large.

Inside the secret room were an empty, dust-covered bookshelf and a simple but elegant wooden table.

Of course, none of these was the key point.

With the searchlight raised, Lin Ke walked over to the bookshelf and picked up a pocket watch at the corner.

He opened the pocket watch's cover, which had already gathered dust. On the pocket watch's face was a photo of a gentleman in a suit.

His hair was fully slicked back, with not a single strand out of place. He had a straight and perky nose, on which a pair of gold-framed spectacles rested. He also looked well-mannered and refined.

In the photograph's bottom-right corner was a tiny line of words written by pen—"For my dear friend, Moros."

[You've triggered the E-level mission, [Moros's Pocket Watch]. Accept/Reject?]

[Mission Prompt: This is a dust-covered pocket watch that has been misplaced inside Howling Ancient Castle's tunnels. Find Moros and return this pocket watch to him. Sand City is the nearest city to Howling Ancient Castle. Perhaps you can try your luck there.]

[Mission Reward: 500 EXP. Other rewards will be awarded depending on the NPC's Affection Meter.]

At this point, someone would definitely ask, "Eh? This isn't right! Didn't you say that he had joyously received a C-level mission? Why has it turned into an E-level mission now?"

This was where it must be explained that this particular [Moros's Pocket Watch] errand mission could only count as the prelude to a C-level mission.

Once the E-level mission had been accepted, and the pocket watch had been given to Moros personally, the player would receive a C-level great escape mission. The C-level mission would be considered completed once the eight black-robed pursuers were defeated. The player would then receive great rewards.

Accept!

As he gazed at the information on the E-level mission—which he had accepted all over again—Lin Ke felt as if time had passed by him bit by bit without him even realizing. After so many twists and turns, he was back here again.

After watching his Boss smiling in a silly manner to himself, Forbes had nothing better to do. Thus, he went over to the wooden table. He felt very unwell after squeezing through the secret tunnel just now, so he decided to take a seat to catch his breath first.

He pulled the chair out and planted his butt down.

Snap!

The chair broke with a snap.

With a loud crash, Forbes landed on his butt on the floor.

Forbes held his butt with both hands, and his features contorted as he grimaced in pain.

Lin Ke even felt the ground shake a few times, and he couldn't help but laugh and say, "Hahaha, this chair has been here for more than 40 years. Its internal structure already eroded a long time ago. How can it possibly support your weight?"

As Forbes put up with the pain, he gritted his teeth and asked word by word, "Then, why… didn't you… tell me, Boss… Aren't you… clearly just making… a fool out of me?"

"I didn't think you'd sit on it either!" replied Lin Ke innocently as he defended himself while laughing. Then, Lin Ke put away the pocket watch and extended his arm, intending to pull Forbes up.

Right at this moment, Treasure Hunter Rat suddenly got up from the ground and quickly scrambled onto Lin Ke's shoulder.

The ground emitted a loud crack the next second.

Lin Ke shone the searchlight onto the ground.

Beneath Forbes's buttocks—with it as the center—innumerable cracks started to form and spread outward in every direction.

Oh my god! Forbes has actually crushed the ground with his butt!

"Run!" Lin Ke grabbed Forbes by the collar and swiftly strode out.

However, a strong force dragged Lin Ke back the next second.

Sorry, but Forbes was simply too heavy. Thus, Lin Ke hadn't managed to move him. Instead, the inertial force had brought Lin Ke back to where he stood before.

The whole room started to cave inward. Lin Ke and Forbes sank along with it and fell into the hole.

Lin Ke felt as if he had landed on a blob of jelly. His body bounced back up, and with his quick reflexes, he adjusted his position, staggering a little before steadying himself. Then, he looked at Forbes—who was lying in the pile of debris and whimpering as he hugged himself with both arms.

He had suffered a pincer attack after landing, resulting in both his front and back hurting now.

Lin Ke raised his head and took a look above him. The secret room had totally caved in, and a huge hole was above him now.

Lin Ke pulled Forbes to his feet. Then, he shone the searchlight around them in bewilderment.

"Eh? Why is there another empty space underneath the secret room?" Lin Ke found this awfully strange. When he was here six years ago, he hadn't discovered this place at all.

If Forbes hadn't insisted on sitting on the chair, the ground wouldn't have caved in. He also wouldn't have discovered a place like this.

When Lin Ke shone the searchlight around the place, he suddenly noticed something shocking. It stupefied him so much that he became speechless.

Forbes rubbed his buttocks as he got up. "Boss—oof…"

He'd only just begun to speak when Lin Ke quickly covered his mouth. "Shh!"

When the searchlight's beam landed in front of them again, Forbes's eyes widened by multiple-fold of their original size. He was so frightened that his eyeballs nearly fell out of their sockets.

"Boss… W-why… is there an ant nest here…" Forbes's voice was shaking and carried a tinge of sobbing—the child had been scared to tears by the ant nest.

To tell the truth…

Lin Ke had also received a fright.

The ant nest branched out like a tree, just like a pillar supporting the sky and connecting the apex and the ground.

The bottom of the ant nest was just like tree roots; it extended and spread outward in every direction.

The peak of the ant nest was like the canopy of an imperial carriage, spreading outward and pressing closely against the top.

Only the center was roughly… about as wide as Forbes's calf. It also connected the two sections.

Lin Ke could clearly see countless ants, densely packed together, moving up and down the ant nest.

If they had been ordinary, normal ants, Lin Ke and Forbes wouldn't have been that worked up. However, the ants in front of them were desert army ants—also known as legionary ants. They were grim reapers in the desert.

Once mobilized, the legion of ants' coverage could stretch long and unbroken for several miles. Along their path of advancement, be it desert scorpions, lizards, or other wild animals and plants, all of them would be cleanly and thoroughly devoured, only leaving behind pale, white skeletons and empty shells.

Lin Ke turned the searchlight vertical and, together with Forbes, tiptoed over to the wall. After making a Herculean effort, he finally managed to push Forbes up.

"I'm telling you that you'll really need to lose some weight after you reach the city. I'm almost dead just trying to push you up!" Lin Ke panted heavily as he rested against the wall. He hadn't even felt this exhausted when he crossed swords with the fanatics.

"Boss, you should also hurry and come up!" said Forbes softly as he tried to keep his voice down. He then stretched out an arm, ready to pull Lin Ke up.

Lin Ke took large gulps of air and caught his breath. He then went to the side, picked up the searchlight, and prepared to leave.

Before he left, Lin Ke took another look at the desert army ant nest. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. A bold idea flashed across his mind…

"Desert army ants are also living organisms… Nothing wrong about that…"

It wasn't a practical idea to go straight to the center of the ant nest, so Lin Ke did a little trial on the outermost 'branch joint' extending outward on the ground.

He extended a finger, placed it on the ant nest's outermost edge, and entered the [Synthesis] interface.

His left hand rested on the ant nest while his right hand held the searchlight.

[Sorry, your level has been detected to be lower than the 'Queen of the Ant Nest, Level 5'. Thus, synthesis cannot be carried out.]

Lin Ke's eyes lit up.

The synthesis… is possible!

He was ready to try something big.