Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree-Chapter 179 - 173: The Spied Upon Players

Chapter 179 -173: The Spied Upon Players

Fried Tomato led the team from the “First Legion” guild along the rocky path, delving deeper into exploration.

Meanwhile, as they walked, the players cast Identification on newly encountered species, competing to gather detailed information about the Underworld.

This was a side quest of the main quest [Exploring the Underworld]—[Monster Detection], requiring players to identify various species, including monsters, plants, and animals, a total of ten times to complete the quest.

The players had also identified that the giant fern, which preyed on small demon beasts, was a magical plant known as the “Dark Purple Glow Fern,” capable of preying on animals that strayed into it. It posed a significant threat to creatures below Black Iron Upper strength.

Of course, as a magical plant, they were also excellent magic materials, but players were not capable of obtaining them due to their current strength.

However, they kept this in mind, planning to see if they could seek help from NPCs after completing the exploration.

Aside from [Monster Detection], there was also the side quest [Map Drawing].

This was simpler, as the system automatically recorded the paths of areas the players passed through by opening a mini-map. They only needed to periodically use [Scouting Technique] to scan the surrounding topography and then upload it to be recorded in the system.

As long as they managed to record a map area equivalent to a one-kilometer radius, they would complete the quest.

These two quests seemed easy, but they also tested hand speed.

Because once a new species or map was recorded and uploaded by one player to the game’s system, another player could not repeat the recording and had to find a new species and a new area.

This was Eve using the players’ hands to further explore the Underworld.

Although Eve had obtained some intelligence about the Underworld from Spider Queen Rose, it was limited—nowhere near as detailed and extensive as what players discovered through personal exploration.

Since this area was some distance from Her main body, not in Eve’s control range, and possibly housing other True Gods, She couldn’t recklessly scan directly with Divine Power and had to rely on the players.

Because the players’ consciousness was connected to Eve’s game system, the information they gathered was immediately reflected to Eve and recorded by Her, making this model quite useful.

*After all… the players were also having a blast, enjoying the exploration.*

Double win, double win.

Players had to complete a total of 50 side quests to finish the main quest [Exploring the Underworld]!

Eve had calculated that with Her current maximum exploration distance offered to the players, 50 [Map Drawings] would be just enough to cover the Underworld regions that players could reach…

*However, completing 50 side quests wasn’t easy, and such a number couldn’t be finished by just one or two players.*

At this point, the advantage of a large guild became evident—more people, bigger team!

To complete this task, Fried Tomato organized all the high-level players in the “First Legion” guild, over a hundred in total, and chose a certain night on Blue Star to come online and explore together.

He led the guild members about three kilometers before finally bypassing the peculiar dark purple forest.

However, as they explored, the inexplicable feeling in Fried Tomato’s heart grew stronger. He always felt that something was secretly watching him…

As the highest-level player in the guild, he believed in his intuition.

After some hesitation, he asked the Hunter player responsible for the forefront of the exploration:

“Little Eight, have you detected any creatures nearby? Why do I feel like something is watching us?”

A Hunter player with the green Chinese characters “Bab” atop their head cast several [Scouting Techniques] and said,

“President, there are quite a few creatures nearby, maybe… some demon beasts have noticed us. But there doesn’t seem to be any strong auras, so I think we don’t need to worry.”

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“Is that so…”

Fried Tomato muttered.

After speaking, he glanced again at the name above Bab’s head, his mouth twitching,

“By the way, I suggest you change your nickname; otherwise, calling your name always feels like a loss…”

Bab: …

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Other players laughed.

The whole team advanced in a cheerful atmosphere…

After bypassing the dark purple giant fern forest, they saw a vast mushroom forest blocking their path.

The smallest of these mushrooms stood three meters tall, in bizarre shades of pale blue. Their caps sparkled with deep luster, beautifully illuminating the surroundings, and below the mushrooms lay a bed of soft brown-black soil.

Upon reaching this spot, the players also saw traces of demon beasts.

They were small, quick-footed, and darted between the mushrooms, warily watching the passing elves.

Unlike the surface demon beasts, those in the Underworld tended to be drab-colored, as if blending with the environment, and generally looked quite ugly.

One player, spurred by a sudden impulse, also ventured into the mushroom forest to hunt.

He was a Hunter, very fast, immediately catching up to a demon beast and killing it, only to discover that these demon beasts were not very strong.

This surprised him a little.

“Weren’t there supposed to be numerous monsters in the Underworld? It feels… quite peaceful,”

he said in puzzlement.

Just as he spoke, the ground suddenly shook, the soil at his standing position churned, and an enormous claw emerged.

In the horrified eyes of all players, a monstrous, scorpion-like demon beast surfaced, severed him at the waist with its claw, spilling blood and entrails everywhere, and dragged his corpse into the soil…

This all took less than a few seconds.

In the distance, more of these giant scorpions emerged, seemingly numbering nearly a hundred!

But finding the target had already been preyed upon by a companion, they quickly burrowed back into the ground, restoring everything to its original state…

The vigilant small demon beasts rushed forward, enthusiastically devouring the blood and entrails scattered by the player, swiftly erasing all traces before leisurely resuming their passage through the mushroom forest…

As if… nothing had happened just now.

“Holy crap!”

“Holy crap!!”

The players were stunned.

Fried Tomato’s expression was grave, then his eyes brightened,

“It’s not that there weren’t powerful demon beasts, but that they were hiding… Those surface demon beasts were deliberately left behind as bait to attract prey!”

When the giant scorpion appeared just now, he had identified it, estimating its strength to be at the Black Iron Upper level.

If the demon beast had no intelligence, as long as the players found a weakness and fought with more against fewer, it wasn’t impossible to defeat!

Taking a deep breath, he excitedly said,

“Brothers! Time to work! Let’s lure one or two out to test the waters first!”

*One objective of exploring the Underworld was to find more demon beasts to level up!*

*Not to mention, these giant scorpions blocked their path!*

Upon hearing Fried Tomato’s order, the players of “First Legion” immediately became excited, starting to form teams according to their usual combat mode in the Elf Forest when hunting demon beasts.

Mages first chanted spells, releasing explosive magic on a corner of the land to attempt to provoke the demon beasts.

Of course, the players were also prepared to run at any time because they might provoke not just one demon beast, but a group, and then it was a matter of who could run faster.

However, this time, the players were lucky.

After a Fireball Technique, the soil exploded into a large pit, instantly provoking three giant scorpions.

Demon beasts had no intelligence and relied entirely on instinct. They immediately emerged from the soil, no longer hiding, and attacked the players…

Fried Tomato’s eyes brightened,

“Three of them! Everyone split into three teams, each taking on one!”

“Main Tanks hold the monsters! Druids, prepare to heal! Melee combats maneuver to attack and distract, while the ranged supports!”

“Rotate after a round, switch to long-range burst attacks, melee supports maneuver!”

“Go round after round, see who deals more damage! Also… prioritize fire and light magic!”

Doing combat with demon beasts every day, the First Legion had ample experience. Though they had never seen such scorpion-like demon beasts before and didn’t know their habits and combat mechanisms, by following the Elf Kingdom’s exploration routine a few times, even if some people died, they would eventually figure out a method.

The hidden giant scorpions here were numerous enough for them to collectively develop!

Over a hundred players quickly split into three large teams according to their usual combat mode, each dealing with a giant scorpion and waging battle…

During players’ battle, in the darkness, on the cave wall to one side of the rocky path, a small hole revealed a pair of sharply focused eyes.

There… seemed to be a narrow tunnel hidden, with someone hiding there, continuously spying on the players.

That was a short figure dressed in dark grey clothing, who watched the players excitedly battling the giant scorpions, eyes filled with surprise and bewilderment.

But soon, his figure flickered and vanished.

The players, engrossed in combat, hadn’t noticed anyone had been observing them.

However, Eve, with Her constant switching between players’ perspectives, did notice,

“Was that just now… a Dark Dwarf?”

A hint of interest arose in Her heart.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Novlove.com