Global Game: I Can Choose Instance Rewards-Chapter 487 - 342: Encounter and Exposure

The elderly man dressed in a gold and white noble mage robe looked at the middle-aged strong man on the sickbed and smiled, appearing extremely amiable.

However, the strong man with only one right eye exposed soon looked a bit ashamed, and replied in a disappointed tone:

"Duke, sir... I’m very sorry, we couldn’t get what you wanted from the High Tower... The strength of that giant secret spell statue exceeded our expectations. I was almost worn down to death by it... It was only through Adams unleashing his potential that we barely passed..."

In Wang Zhifan’s impression, this middle-aged strong man seemed decent, telling of their difficult adventure while his eyes flickered with memories. When he mentioned the so-called secret spell statue, the painful expression on his face betrayed the great torment it had caused him.

"It turned out to be young Adams who played the most crucial role... It seems his talent is indeed very high; I judged correctly."

The elderly man, both a great noble and a great mage, showed a knowing expression on his face, commenting lightly, seeming not too concerned about the failure of these elite subordinates.

"Duke, sir... We are willing to be punished for our arrogance and incompetence..."

The middle-aged strong man Marcus on the sickbed seemed not too reassured, so he promptly offered to accept punishment, which was the inevitable consequence of not completing the task.

But upon hearing this, the old mage slowly shook his head, speaking in a slightly playful tone:

"No need, you have done your best within your abilities... Furthermore, part of what I wanted has already been taken out of the High Tower by someone... Marcus, do you know who that is?"

The elderly man, with a deep and authoritative demeanor, stared at the middle-aged strong man with a bandaged head on the sickbed, seemingly aware that he knew something.

"Someone took the treasure out of the High Tower?! That’s impossible! No... could it be those who killed the Tower Guards?!"

For a moment, Marcus recalled that after their team painstakingly cleared the High Tower and returned to the ground, they found the surroundings deserted. It was only when reinforcements arrived that they inferred the original guards had been annihilated.

"Yes, my prophetic skills tell me that those who killed my guards are the ones who took the treasures."

The elderly man in the platinum-colored mage robe nodded after hearing this, continuing to gaze at Marcus and said:

"Think again, my prophetic skills also revealed that you must have seen that person."

"I... I’ve met them? And are you sure it’s only one person?"

Marcus was suddenly shocked; personal experience told him such a thing was unusual.

Because the power to make a well-equipped team of guards disappear was likely to be a mighty group.

But trust in the old Duke made him think along these lines, which brought a certain overlooked figure to his mind, yet he also felt the person didn’t quite fit.

"Duke, sir, indeed we encountered a strangely dressed young man before entering the final level of the High Tower. I judged his strength to be not weak, but he entered the giant secret spell statue passage ahead of us, and then the passage reopened very quickly, suggesting he must have died inside; it couldn’t be him who cleared it and took the treasures... However, besides him, we encountered no other adventurers reaching the upper levels."

Marcus explained the situation about the one he most suspected, while indicating that this person was also the one he least suspected, for after all, dead people can’t take treasures from the High Tower.

However, after hearing his words, the old Duke pondered briefly and then pointed out the flaw in his reasoning.

"Marcus, have you considered that the quick reopening of the secret spell statue passage after that person entered was simply because he cleared the level quickly, not because he died?"

"This, this is impossible! The secret spell statue is extremely powerful. Our whole team exhausted all our strength and almost got buried there before barely destroying it! He couldn’t have cleared it in such a short time!"

The middle-aged strong man on the sickbed almost jumped up, completely unable to accept the old Duke’s inference.

After all, he had personally experienced the strength of the secret spell statue, and even such an elite team as theirs found it extremely grueling and perilous. If others could pass quickly, what would that make them? A bunch of absolute failures?

"Marcus, tell me, do you remember that person’s appearance?"

The old Duke ignored the middle-aged strong man’s reaction and calmly asked the question he was most concerned about.

For a moment, Marcus’s expression showed a bit of dejection; he knew the old Duke chose to believe that person cleared the final level of the High Tower quickly. Facing this high-ranking individual whose personal strength was also top-notch, he dared not show too much emotion and replied after brief consideration:

"Duke, sir, I can still remember that young man’s appearance, and I will certainly recognize him if I see him again."

"I need to extract your memory for an image..."

The old Duke responded immediately, his tone unequivocal.

But before Marcus could respond to this rather excessive request, a somewhat youthful and slightly weak male voice came from outside the room. Without seeing the visitor, one could tell it was Adams, who he previously mentioned as having unleashed his potential in a moment of danger to save the team.

"Mentor, there’s no need to extract his memory, today on my way here, I saw that person; he is currently in this city."

The visitor was none other than the pale-faced, slender mage youth Wang Zhifan noticed earlier that day in front of the fortress. He still looked not quite well, but was moving freely without having to lie in bed.

"Adams, you seem to have forgotten the etiquette expected of a noble... but now is not the time to discuss this; are you sure you haven’t mistaken the person?"

The old Duke, addressed as ’Mentor’ by the young mage, slowly turned around upon hearing this, looking seriously at the tall, slender youth standing at the room’s door. It was clear that the young man had been eavesdropping through some means for quite a while. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Apologies, Mentor, I will certainly catch up on etiquette lessons when I return."

Adams promptly responded to the intrusion of their conversation, then said firmly:

"I can swear on my honor, it is definitely him! I won’t be mistaken! Based on my inference, he could be a super strong individual hidden among the commoners or perhaps possesses some special means, enabling him to quickly deal with the secret spell statue."

As his words fell, Marcus’s strong objection echoed in the room:

"Impossible! Adams! No one can eliminate the secret spell statue in such a short time! Not even the Duke himself could do it! Furthermore, that person looks younger than you; is it possible for him to be more powerful than the Duke before reaching thirty?!"

"Didn’t I mention that person might possess special means?"

Adams, sounding annoyed upon hearing this, then presented evidence to support his viewpoint:

"Big guy, do you remember what we saw in the passage? We didn’t see that adventurer’s remains at all! Nor did we find his clothes or suspicious bloodstains! We didn’t even see his peculiar weapon or fragments! If he died in the passage, these would definitely appear! This shows he definitely left the passage normally! We underestimated him all along!"

Marcus on the sickbed was momentarily stunned after hearing Adams’ words. During the previous battle in the passage, as the tank in charge of taking damage, he was under such pressure that he couldn’t notice these things; his thoughts were all on surviving the life-and-death crisis. In hindsight, his mage companion was right; they hadn’t seen any trace left by the person throughout their lengthy struggle in the passage, indicating he indeed cleared it successfully in a manner hard for them to imagine.

After their argument, the old Duke, listening from the side, spoke to Adams again:

"I need to learn everything about this person."