Chapter 774: Chapter 489: Loot Collected—Another Few Treasure Chests?

As he himself said, Zong Shen indeed went for a soak in the hot spring.

Today’s battle left him covered in blood and grime, not just from the Flying Tiger and Eagle but also some from the Barbaric Orcs, and the stifling air of the Griffin’s Nest made him smell terrible.

So tonight, no matter how important things were, he’d have to take a bath first.

He took off his battle armor, stepped into the hot spring pool naked.

He slowly crouched down, gradually submerging his entire body into the pool.

The hot spring water immersed his body, and the gentle temperature was invigorating his body with vitality.

His blood circulation also became smoother.

This pleasant feeling even made him involuntarily moan.

"Comfortable~"

He completely sat down in the hot spring pool, leaning back against the edge, exhaling leisurely.

The pool’s warmth turned murky with his entrance.

A thin layer of oil-like substance spread on the surface.

But it was quickly purified by the Water Rune.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Zong Shen looked like a little mud person.

Tonight he only had time to clean himself, he didn’t have time to wash the battle armor, battle helmet, and other equipment.

That didn’t matter though; he could tolerate dirty battle armor, but being filthy all over was unbearable.

After scrubbing in the pool for over ten minutes, Zong Shen stretched lazily, feeling somewhat tired.

He stood up naked, and after such trials, not only had his attributes improved, but even his physique seemed better.

Touching his lean stomach and slightly protruding six-pack abs, Zong Shen couldn’t help but grin.

Such change was gradual, he hadn’t even noticed before.

After cleaning his body, he felt completely refreshed.

He took out a spare set of underwear from the Storage Grid and changed into it, then began to get dressed seriously.

The slightly deformed battle armor and the dried blood stains on it were like medals on his body.

Although a bit dirty, they accentuated the aura of blood and fire.

As for the underwear, he didn’t mind; such coarse cloth garments were cheap, made with Ma weaving.

Cheap and durable, though not comfortable, they sufficed for temporary wear.

Female warriors and heroes in the Territory were issued more expensive silk pajamas.

In some way, Zong Shen was quite the gentleman.

And he was indeed a severe male chauvinist.

Rough men living rough lives was fine with him.

After all, there was no feministic argument in his Territory, and even if there were, he’d easily resolve it with his fists.

As an ultimate pragmatist, he didn’t have that many pretentious thoughts.

After getting dressed, Zong Shen stepped out of the Hot Spring Cottage.

Hoy was still waiting for him in the small tower’s hall. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Zong Shen, feeling refreshed, opened the door, and Hoy quickly stood up.

"Tonight will be hard work."

"Clear out your Storage Grid and Merchant Badge."

"We have a large batch of gemstones to bring back."

He waved at Hoy, briefly explaining tonight’s task.

And took out the four treasure chests he had gathered earlier, placing them in the hall.

These four treasure chests contained two of silver and two of gold.

Even without much thought, Zong Shen knew that one or two of them must be trap treasure chests.

But he was now seasoned, and wasn’t as enthusiastic about treasure chests as before.

So he decided to put them aside and open them after fulfilling his main tasks.

Hoy dared not be negligent after hearing him, quickly stepped over.

"I will follow your orders wholly."

Zong Shen nodded, leading the way out of the Lord’s Small Tower.

To minimize trips, Zong Shen decided to take Eagle and the crossbowmen back to the Griffin’s Nest.

Though mostly occupied by the Griffin’s Nest, there was a small space left behind the Griffin’s Nest.

Not much, but with several tens of thousands of square meters of activity space.

A large batch of two-story stone houses could be built, enough for staying crossbowmen to operate.

Going forth was the same routine, with Zong Shen and Hoy piloting the Goblin Airship.

The crossbowmen grabbing onto the Griffin’s back feathers, swaying as they rode the Griffin.

Plus the Eagle closely following, forming an air travel squad.

During the journey, Zong Shen snuck a break, teaching Hoy how to operate the airship.

He then went to the cabin for a nap.

Driving the Goblin Airship wasn’t complicated, Hoy was smart enough to grasp it with a simple explanation.

This was the proper way to utilize subordinate Heroic Level talent.

A hero who couldn’t ease the Lord’s burden wasn’t a good hero.

After mentoring in airship operation, Zong Shen drowsily lay for two hours to reach the destination.

Once the Griffins landed, the crossbowmen jumped down one by one, sprawling and vomiting heavily.

In fact, they had already vomited several times in mid-air.

It was normal to feel unwell when first riding a high-speed fierce bird magical beast like a Griffin over a long distance.

The Griffins landed first, then Zong Shen’s airship.

To ease things, he directly had Hoy pilot the airship into the Griffin’s Nest.

Meanwhile, he switched on the airship’s magic energy lighting lamp, approaching the gemstone heap.

Hoy was stunned at the sight of so many gemstones from the first glance.

Though 40% had already been moved by Zong Shen, the remainder was still breathtaking.

This time, Zong Shen specifically brought Hoy along, and with Hoy’s Merchant Badge, plus their two Storage Grids and the airship’s capacity, it should suffice to carry away this batch of gemstones.