Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree-Chapter 329 - 312: Do You Think I’m Stupid?

A week earlier, the players who entered Fengye City completed the hidden quest of sabotaging the Despair Church’s plot and rescued hundreds of elves captured by the church.

These elves, having had too much of their bloodline power siphoned by the Despair Church’s ritual, were still asleep.

However, according to Alice, their lives were not in danger and, with some more rest, they would gradually awaken.

During Alice and others’ rescue of the elves, the first beta players in Fengye City also triggered the subsequent storyline of the hidden quest.

The plot revealed that the Divine Favored Lord Ling had discerned the true identity of the opposing party by reading the memories of those desperate believers.

Behind the Despair Church was the Dragon of Despair, Nidhogg, who had participated in the millennial god war and gnawed at the roots of the World Tree!

Furthermore, through prayers to the Mother Goddess, Divine Favored Ling received a revelation:

Currently, Nidhogg had lost her body and possessed only a state of Divine Soul. After being thwarted in a confrontation with the Eternal Lord, her state was poor.

Moreover, her plan to acquire a body was thwarted by the players, and with her unstable current state, she was undoubtedly desperate to acquire a suitable vessel.

Therefore, to further the revival of the Mother Goddess and to avenge the evil Dragon God, who directly caused the Mother Goddess to lose her power, Divine Favored Ling devised a plan.

The plan was to use Black Dragon Mairrel as bait to lure out Nidhogg, then perform a Divine Descent to borrow the Goddess’s power to kill this severely weakened black dragon and sacrifice her to the Goddess!

This was a new hidden quest—[Hunting Dragon God]!

The players’ task was to disclose the existence of Black Dragon Mairrel as arranged and to subtly persuade the Little Black Dragon to frequently circle the empire’s border to increase her presence.

Of course, for Mairrel, this was in exchange for some roasted meat.

The rewards were as rich as always, and the players acted swiftly.

In just a few days, rumors of a black dragon at the border flew all over Fengye City.

Yet...

"Big shot Dema, our task is to utilize the player informants still in the Despair Church to somehow leak the existence of the black dragon to the church’s higher-ups. Why does the entire city know now?"

The person standing next to the red-haired man asked.

The red-haired man chuckled,

"Are you stupid? By spreading the news widely, even if we don’t attract the target, we could attract some ’dragon-slaying heroes’!"

"I’ve inquired, humans in ’Elf Kingdom’ are immensely interested in dragon slaying. Almost every professional desires to become a Dragon Slayer!"

"If we can attract some professionals, can’t we profit from the chaos?"

"And... though it’s rumored to be a powerful black dragon, the descriptions we’ve left indicate it’s an immature black dragon. The people lured will likely not be too strong."

Listening to the red-haired man’s words, his companion hesitated,

"But... what if we can’t defeat it? We’re not even level 40 yet."

"If we can’t, there’s El! If El can’t, there’s Sister Ling! If Sister Ling can’t, there’s the Goddess! Even if we can’t eat the meat, we can still drink some soup."

The red-haired man winked at his companion.

Since the battle at the Black Dragon Castle, Divine Favored Ling had displayed immense power, earning her the nickname—Sister Ling among the players.

"But... won’t spreading the news this much jeopardize the plan? Like making the other side suspicious or something? And won’t Sister Ling get angry and lose favor?"

The companion asked again.

The red-haired man shook his head,

"Probably not. Before I acted, I had Brother Mu subtly ask Sister Ling, and she didn’t seem to care if the news spread widely."

Saying this, he rubbed his chin,

"I even suspected... maybe this plan was just the surface level, and there was an underlying deeper meaning... After all, considering the AI nature of this game, the Dragon of Despair can’t be that naive."

"Well! Let’s take it one step at a time!"

...

"Black dragon?"

In the White Maple Castle’s lord’s study, the border earl, listening to the guards’ report, slightly frowned.

These past days, he seemed quite haggard, evidently worn out by the various recent events in Fengye City.

He quietly pondered for a moment, then nodded,

"I understand, you may leave."

The guard saluted him respectfully, then slowly backed away.

The study room was left with only the border earl.

After the guard left, the border earl contemplated for a moment, stood up, and closed the door.

Then, he returned to one side of his bookshelf, reached out and pressed a spot, and with a creaking sound, the bookshelf slid open to reveal a deep passageway.

He took a deep breath and entered the passage.

Once he entered, the bookshelf slowly closed, and the passage was illuminated by magic lamps.

This was a secret chamber leading underground.

Without hesitation, the border earl followed the stairs straight to the bottom level of the chamber.

There, in a space of less than twenty square meters, stood a mirror in the center.

He stood before the mirror, chanting incantations rhythmically...

As he chanted, the mirror gradually emitted an eerie glow, and eventually, a black silhouette appeared.

"You’re here. Have the subsequent matters been handled?"

An elderly and weary voice emerged from the mirror.

"Yes, they have. I found some scapegoats and moved the main body of the church as you instructed. I used the secret methods you taught me to erase any possible traces, so even if the Eternal Church sends someone to investigate, they shouldn’t find anything."

The border earl replied.

"Very good!"

The elderly voice sounded quite pleased.

"For now, lay low. Wait for the new bishop from the Eternal Church to arrive before discussing anything further."

Hearing the elderly voice, the border earl slightly nodded.

After hesitating a moment, he asked,

"Where are you now?"

The elderly voice paused and said,

"I’m in a safe place and won’t be returning for the time being."

Upon hearing this, the border earl’s expression was somewhat uncertain.

After a moment, he spoke sternly,

"It wasn’t my doing! Since we’ve signed a contract, I certainly wouldn’t be that foolish!"

"I know it wasn’t you."

The elderly voice spoke again, this time with a hint of self-deprecation,

"Hehe, I know, I was just double-crossed by an old friend this time."

"Old friend?"

The border earl was slightly taken aback.

"Heh, at the last moment, I felt the presence of death..."

The other replied.

The border earl wanted to inquire further, but the other party didn’t elaborate.

Seeing this, the border earl refrained from asking further.

However, he hesitated and asked again,

"Your condition... seems quite poor?"

"If I hadn’t escaped quickly, you might not have been able to contact me again."

The elderly voice replied with self-mockery.

The border earl’s expression slightly changed.

He hesitated and asked with some uncertainty,

"Was it really... the one who fought you that day?"

He pointed upwards.

"Only she could drive me to such a sorry state just by projecting her will."

The elderly voice sighed.

"Of course, it’s also because I haven’t yet acquired a body..."

Hearing this, the border earl also fell into silence.

He pondered for a while and said,

"Actually... the reason I came this time is for another matter."

"Do you remember the black dragon we mentioned before?"

Hearing this, the elderly voice fell silent.

After a moment, the voice spoke again,

"You mean... the recent rumors?"

Her voice carried a tinge of sarcasm,

"Do they think I’ve become so foolish to fall for such an obvious trap against me?"