Luxurious Recruitment

"Come on, old tortoise, don't you want to find out what am I offering this time?" Mohai was not in a hurry as he continued teasing Rexus.

A moment later, Rexus popped his head up again. "What do you have? You are just a bandit leader. I don't think you can provide me with something of equal value." 

Based on the previous deal, he knew that Mohai must have strong support if he was demanding this much. Finding out what Mohai had to offer would not cost him anything anyway, and moreover, Rexus was actually curious.

"I have two pieces of intel to trade with you," said Mohai.

"Hmph! I knew it! You little b*stard, trying to trick me again? Too bad. I won't trade with you anymore!" Rexus grunted.

"Now, now, don't skip to the conclusion so fast. The first intel I have for you is about a shortcut. You'll be able to sneak past most of the monsters in the Magma Cave and you'll also get to know when the Magma Golem is away from the crystal treasure chest. With this useful information, you'll be able to get the Zero Degree Ice Shard in no time."

"A little interesting, but I'll trade it for three bottles of Magical Spring Water and a piece of Magical Crystal. Nothing more than that," said Rexus as he pouted.

Mohai grinned. He was not in a hurry to negotiate with Rexus. He knew he had to throw in a little more sincerity in order to persuade Rexus to trade for this piece of information. However, if the first piece of intel was coupled with the second piece, the value of the first piece could be doubled.

"What about the second piece of intel?" Rexus might have claimed that he was not interested in Mohai's intel, but after he heard the first one, he was curious about the second. Judging from Mohai's tone, the second piece of intel must be a lot more valuable.

"The second piece of intel is that I'll tell you where Sahakar is," Mohai said with a smirk.

Rexus' giant body was floating in the lake. The pure white moonlight was cast on his wrinkled face, making him look like a calm old tortoise. His curious gaze was locked on Mohai. However, when he heard Mohai mention the name Sahakar, the calmness on his wrinkled face turned into ferocity.

"Sahakar? You know about Sahakar?"

The lake water rippled fiercely following Rexus' fury, beating the shore like the raging waves of the sea.

A loud splash later, Rexus came onshore.

"Of course, I know the name. Not only do I know the name, but I even know that you are accused and the one who is responsible is Sahakar." Mohai nodded.

Rexus actually had a series of missions himself, and as a mission player, even though Mohai did not clear Rexus' missions by himself, he had done his research on the mission background and stages in his past life.

The one who hooked up with the queen was not Rexus but Sahakar. Sahakar actually shifted the blame on Rexus because Rexus had been a playboy when he was young, so he did not have a way of proving his innocence and ultimately became the scapegoat.

Rexus might be weak now, but he was actually quite powerful when he was expelled from the Tortoise Kingdom. He simply did not give up and tried to force his way back to the Southern Sea several times, intending to take revenge on Sahakar, but aside from not even being able to locate Sahakar, he got severely injured several times, hence falling into his current weakened state.

The Zero Degree Ice Shard could help Rexus' power recover, and once he regained his powers, he would go to seek Sahakar for revenge. In short, Rexus would not be able to reject this second intel.

"You win. Tell me and I'll give you the items."

Rexus stared at Mohai for quite a while. He had to make sure Mohai was not lying first before he agreed to the terms that were practically blackmail. 

Truth be told, Rexus could not tell whether Mohai was telling the truth or not, but the last time he went back to the Southern Sea, he found out that Sahakar had left the Tortoise Kingdom soon after he was expelled and never came back.

Even if there was the slightest chance, Rexus wanted to try.

Moreover, this cunning bandit leader knew about his hidden past and he sure did not look like he was lying. On top of that, what the bandit leader asked for were considered disposable items to him, so there was no reason for him to refuse to trade.

Right after he agreed, Rexus brought all the things Mohai asked for to shore and put them in front of him: 20 bottles of Magical Spring Water, five Magical Crystals, and one Icy Mineral.

"Way to go, leader! You are awesome! We didn't even need to fight and you got so many things from the tortoise!" The bandit leaders around Mohai were expecting a fight over the items. They did not expect him to get them simply by talking.

Their gaze at Mohai was overflowing with awe and respect.

"What's the last thing you asked for?" asked Rexus.

"A piece of your shell that you shed off after you were hurt back then," Mohai answered.

"How do you even know I have such things? Who are you?" Rexus could no longer hold back his curiosity. This bandit leader seemed to know a great deal about his past as if he knew everything that happened.

"It's not important for you to know that. You just have to know that I won't lie to you." Mohai shook his head.

"Take it." Rexus gave him a piece of broken tortoiseshell that was covered with icy steam.

Mohai accepted it with care. The piece of tortoiseshell was a very rare ice element material and was only given to players who completed all the missions from Rexus.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you. I'll tell you where Sahakar is first. He's currently hiding in the big ice lake in the Northern Ice Plains, the one located at the tip of the north. You'll be able to find him there. As for the route to sneak into the Magma Cave, you'd better write it down with something. Don't blame me if you get into the wrong place…"

The deal with Rexus happened smoothly. As a matter of fact, even if Rexus refused to trade, Mohai would have come up with a way to deliver the information to him as soon as possible.

Rexus should be sending out missions to players after this, and with the infiltration route, the players would be able to disturb Magma Golem and keep him busy. He would not have the time to meddle with Mohai anymore.

The roundtrip to Mystic Lake was short, so Mohai returned to the Monolith Stronghold before the sun rose.

However, when he stepped into the Monolith Stronghold area, Mohai saw a ball of blazing light in the center of the stronghold ruins.

To his shock, it was the Magma Golem! 

Unlike Mohai's monster template, the Magma Golem's template was special. The difference in strength when he was in and out of the Magma Cave was heaven and earth apart!

Inside the Magma Cave, the Magma Golem's recovery was terrifying and his plethora of attacks could really do some serious damage to the players.

However, once he left the Magma Cave, the recovery rate would plummet and the attacking means would be severely restricted. The effectiveness of his most powerful skill would be halved. Therefore, leaving the Magma Cave was actually dangerous for the Magma Golem.

That was why Mohai did not think that the Magma Golem would take the risk and leave the cave just to deal with him.

However, to his surprise, the Magma Golem did come forward.

Even though the Magma Golem might not catch him even if he did not go to Rexus' place, the Magma Golem's move stated a clear problem, and a dangerous feeling rose in Mohai's heart.

Thankfully, the sky was getting brighter and Mohai was less worried when he saw the Magma Golem head back to the Magma Cave. It meant that the Magma Golem was still afraid of leaving the cave, or at least, he was afraid during the day.

Therefore, it should be safe as long as the sun still hung in the sky, but if the Magma Golem was determined, he would come by again at night and he would not be alone.

Mohai could only leave the Monolith Stronghold for one more time this week, and if that chance was used up, he would have to rely on the mission scroll to leave the area. However, he had never used the mission scroll before, and if the mission did not need him to leave the Monolith Stronghold, he would be in trouble.

Thankfully, things had not taken the turn for the worst yet, thus leaving the Monolith Stronghold was the last resort. As long as the Magma Golem could not catch him, he would be fine and if the Magma Golem's subordinates were helpless against him, it would be more than enough.

He could kill players and level up in the day, but there was a more effective way: increasing his subordinates.

After his Ruler ability reached Rank E, he was able to recruit another subordinate and he had already gathered all the materials to recruit a new one: the Fire Staff, the Magma Flint, the Icy Mineral, the Magical Crystals, Rexus' ice elemental tortoiseshell, and the Black-robed Ritualist's soul.

Mohai had prepared all these materials to recruit his 16th subordinate and it was probably his more luxurious recruitment!