My Players Are So Fierce - Chapter 388

Chapter 388: Team Dungeon Series 003 “Land of Rotting Corpses” Advanced Reservation

Hog was poisoned.

It was a terrifying poison, without the antidote within 7 days, he would die.

He thought he would cry upon hearing this terrible news, but Hog found himself quite calm. Perhaps because he had anticipated that obtaining such high-level spirit items wouldn’t be so easy.

As they say, no pain no gain.

Wait, had he been spending too much time with those warriors?

This wasn’t the traditional way of thinking for Gnolls! slams table!

“Don’t worry, it’s just a vampire heart.”

Murphy reminded Hog mentally:

“It’s not anything rare. To get these Command Scepters that can instantly form an army, my warriors would find a way to bring you not just vampire hearts, but even living vampires if needed.

Besides, I have a suggestion, Hog. Look, whether you take one or ten, you’re already poisoned. Since you’re poisoned anyway.

Why not take a few more from Lame Claw?

You might not get another chance.”

“Hey, we’re talking about the hearts of your own kind here, Lord Murphy. Is it really appropriate to discuss vampire hearts so casually like they’re just pig offal?”

Hog criticized frantically.

But he realized Murphy’s reminder came at just the right time.

His reconnaissance mission was complete, and he definitely wouldn’t risk coming to this dangerous place where he could lose his life at any moment again. Since this was a one-time deal, he should grab as much as possible.

So the Blood Claw Chieftain’s eyes darted around as he stuffed over 20 inferior Command Scepters that could only control 10-20 skeleton soldiers each into his bag. Then wagging his tail, he looked up at Lame Claw whose eyeballs were looking in different directions up and down, left and right as drool kept dripping, and said:

“I can bring you vampire hearts. We fought vampires before under King Kenport’s command but it’s very dangerous work, you know what I mean?

I might need to risk many clan elites for this. I know that’s not your concern, but I hope to get more support, like more Command Scepters?”

“All gone, Master Flesh Render didn’t give me too many.”

Lame Claw wiped his mouth and said regretfully:

“After I commanded my lovely skeleton army to tear apart those dozen bullies into experimental materials last time, the master forbade me from using them.

But I have some I made secretly. Not as good as the master’s, they occasionally malfunction when controlling skeleton armies, but when they work, they can control 50 just like the originals!

Yes, when they don’t malfunction, they’re no different from the authentic ones.”

“Give them to me!”

Hog demanded boldly:

“Give me all those uncontrollable Command Scepters, I’ll bring you vampire hearts as soon as possible.”

“Sure, those things won’t sell anyway, other cowards don’t dare to use the scepters I made. You’re really brave, Hog, hehe.

Perhaps your courage can make you an even better test subject than other Gnolls?”

Lame Claw let out another bizarre laugh that sent chills down Hog’s spine. He quickly brought Hog a large bag of crudely made bone Command Scepters that weren’t even properly polished.

As the Blood Claw Chieftain was about to leave after his “shopping spree”, Lame Claw suddenly called out to him:

“Have you seen how Kenport died? Do you know how his corpse was handled?”

“Oh, those vampire Blood Servants were going to burn King Kenport’s body, but he was a hunting priest and fire couldn’t burn his flesh, so I secretly saw those Blood Servants bury the corpse in a pit.”

Hog scratched his head and said:

“Why are you asking about this?”

“What excellent material!

There aren’t many pure-blooded Gnawbone descendants like Kenport left in the Dark Mountains, assassins from other major clans have been using various methods to eliminate them.

What a waste!”

The deranged Lame Claw spoke without restraint:

“The Gnawbone Clan also fears them dying mysteriously. Now with the Black Plague rising but the ‘King of Gnolls’ throne still vacant, the clans can’t elect a leader. But the hunters, warriors and mages have reached an agreement with the priests, they don’t want to see descendants of King Gnawbone ascend to the throne again.

Anyway, I want to get a pure-blooded Gnawbone body for experiments. Dig up Kenport’s corpse and bring it back to me secretly.”

“That’s too dangerous!”

Hog instinctively refused:

“That place is always guarded by Witch Hunters, I’ll be killed if I go there! I won’t mess with those dangerous Witch Hunters, I’m not doing this job!”

“You’re already poisoned, you have to do it whether you want to or not!”

Lame Claw scolded very irritably:

“Don’t you want to live?”

“I do! But I’d rather die peacefully in my den than be chopped into mincemeat by Witch Hunters. My name is still on the Blood Rat Gang’s bounty list!”

Hog firmly refused, but this was just a bargaining strategy.

This cunning Gnoll knew very well that with the Plague Clan currently trapped in the swamp needing to complete the task of finding King Gnawbone’s hidden treasure, Lame Claw couldn’t find anyone else to help collect corpses no matter how capable he was.

In other words, only he could do this job!

It was now a “seller’s market”, and since this dog had poisoned him, he’d be a fool not to extort him thoroughly given the circumstances.

Seeing Hog’s stubborn and cowardly appearance, Lame Claw was also very angry, but in order to convince this coward to help, his peculiar unfocused eyeballs rolled around as he said irritably:

“I have Netherworld Knights I can lend you to protect your safety. I’ve traveled all over the Dark Mountains and never seen such a coward like you!”

“One is not enough! Those Witch Hunters are fierce.”

Hog immediately shouted:

“2”

“Need more, we can split 50-50 afterwards, I might even consider returning Kenport’s head. Since it’s for experiments, the more complete the corpse the better, right?”

Murphy’s voice chimed in at just the right moment, making Hog pause before coughing once and saying:

“20!

I need at least a squad of 20 Netherworld Knights as escorts before I dare go grave robbing from those fierce vampires, but I won’t take them for nothing. I can also bring back the corpses of Kenport’s priest-enhanced guards.

And you saw!

I’m a capable Gnoll bandit. If you can give me some security guarantees, I might even risk sneaking into Crimson Citadel to steal back Kenport’s head that’s mounted on the city gate!

Don’t you want to do experiments?”

Hog tempted in a low voice:

“Look, though I don’t really understand the Plague Mages’ knowledge, I guess if you only have the body without the head, the quality of the finished product would be greatly reduced, right?

Would an excellent corpse construction master like yourself allow such a major flaw in your work?”

“Uh”

Lame Claw hesitated for a moment.

He could sense Hog was taking advantage of him.

But the problem was his deranged mind really couldn’t think properly. So after a few seconds of confused consideration, he said:

“But I only have 7 Netherworld Knights, that’s the most I can skim without being discovered. Any more won’t work, Flesh Render is old! His paranoia is getting worse, he feels someone wants to harm him and take his position every day, which makes him more dangerous…

I’ve already made one mistake…

I don’t have any more chances to make mistakes.”

“7 is fine, though barely.”

Hog put on a somewhat dissatisfied expression, but was actually overjoyed inside.

These were Netherworld Knights!

Though he didn’t know what these guys could do or how powerful they were, just from their job title you could tell these fellows were definitely not ordinary.

He said:

“Give them to me, I’ll deliver everything you want within 7 days! I’m going all out this time, I don’t mind risking my entire clan for the sake of my friendship with Great Lame Claw.”

“7 days! Haha, that’s excellent, I love this efficiency!”

Lame Claw also got excited.

Rubbing his claws missing several fingers, he excitedly said:

“I’ll prepare the experiment table right away, get those lazy Corpse Mages moving. My capable brother in Transia, once you bring what I need I’ll start working immediately!”

“Ask if we can choose the Netherworld Knights ourselves?”

Murphy reminded Hog mentally:

“Find a Netherworld Knight called ‘Bernice’ and bring her out. I’ll send someone to your den to receive her and bring you Kenport’s head.

But if not possible, don’t force it, to avoid arousing other mages’ suspicion.

This Lame Claw is ‘talented’, Hog. You should pay more attention to him. His unstable mind could even become a weapon of war for your Blood Claw Clan with ‘proper guidance’!”

————————

“Hum”

The spirit energy ripples dissipated in the Crimson Hall office, indicating the remote scouting spell had been terminated.

Murphy rubbed his eyes to adjust to the return of his vision as he leaned back in his chair, contemplating what he had seen through Hog’s eyes.

In front of him, Helu had already prepared paper and pen to draw a map of Plague Town based on the information Hog would send back through the Computation Bead to prepare for the upcoming raid.

Murphy waved his hand, gesturing for Helu to step out for a moment before coming back in. The perceptive scout immediately turned and left, not interrupting the upcoming private discussion between the lord and grand duchess.

“This won’t be easy.”

The vampire lord said in a low voice:

“Just in that Construction Tower alone there are thousands of undead beings being transformed, not to mention the Corpse Mages and skeleton armies enhanced with death spirit energy by the Plague Clan.

Bella said there were at least 40 Corpse Mages and Netherworld Knights there, and now it seems they’ve made even more. Even with 7 being taken away by Hog, the remaining numbers are still considerable.

Add in the Plague Clan mages serving as spirit energy attackers, plus two abandoned mage towers as defense cores.

Whether in terms of quantity, quality or terrain, the threat of the town controlled by the Plague Clan far exceeds the Gnoll army gathered by Kenport.

But on the flip side, it’s perfect as the last large dungeon for closed beta testing!”

Murphy stood up and paced back and forth with a strange “developer team ecstasy” posture under Tris’s gaze, his eyes gleaming as he muttered:

“The elite skeleton armies, Corpse Mages and Netherworld Knights patrolling outside Plague Town are strong enough as regular mobs, while the gate boss would be the Gnawbone Clan’s vanguard warriors and that guard captain who was humiliated by Hog that players will inevitably encounter when entering the town!

This can be made into a battle combining offense and support.

Then entering the town to first conquer the Construction Tower, where my warriors will need to challenge the mad constructor Lame Claw and his creation Vampire Zombie Kenport!

This is the first half of the dungeon.

The second half will be in the Plague Tower!

There my warriors will not only face the evil mages of the Plague Clan, but also need to outwit various traps hidden in the abandoned mage towers.

Finally climbing to the top to confront the elderly but evil Gnoll Arch-mage Flesh Render.

Tsk tsk, what a perfect design!”

“Perhaps we could add some wilderness combat?”

This was Tris’s first time doing the very promising job of “dog game designer”, and she couldn’t help but participate and suggest:

“There are many dangerous beasts in the Foul Swamp. The weaker beasts around Plague Town have all fled due to the Gnolls’ occupation.

Those that dare remain are all powerful creatures.

We could select those that have been polluted and enhanced by the Gnoll mages’ poisons as ‘optional battles’?”

“Hmm! That’s a good design!”

Murphy’s eyes lit up as he clapped and said:

“It can serve as dungeon progression filler. Tris, you’re quite good at this line of work. Then let’s lock in this Team Dungeon 003 ‘Land of Rotting Corpses’.

Next we need Hog to send his people to continuously scout and explore, and once most details are clear, we can do some pre-event warmup activities.”

“Also, I noticed that whether it was that Gnoll vanguard or Lame Claw, they both inadvertently revealed in their words that the Plague Clan’s next target is the legendary creature Ningkinanka in the Foul Swamp.”

Tris continued in a low voice:

“It seems the Plague Mages have determined that King Gnawbone’s lost treasure is in those legendary creatures’ nests. This is an opportunity, Murphy.

Or rather, this is our only opportunity.

When the Plague Clan’s Gnolls are battling the legendary creatures, or when they return either in tragic victory or defeat, that will be our best strategic window.

But we can’t rush this.

Let’s make plans first and then wait for that moment to arrive.”

“That ‘Ningkinanka’…”

Murphy said softly:

“Is it really as powerful as you describe?”

“You’re still young, you don’t understand what the words ‘legendary creature’ represent. I can tell you that if Flesh Render plans to conquer that legendary being, even throwing in all the forces at his disposal might not guarantee he can enter Ningkinanka’s nest.

Those legendary serpents live in groups.”

Tris shook her head and said:

“I saw those peculiar creatures once when I was young, and they left quite a deep impression on me.

I know the Lord has a set of protective leather armor made from Ningkinanka’s jeweled hide. It’s said to be a trophy he personally obtained when crossing the Foul Swamp before the current era.

That was also old leatherworker Edward’s masterpiece.

To say these beasts are invincible would of course be impossible, but even Golden rank experts wouldn’t casually provoke them.

Haven’t you always been curious why there are no dragons on this continent?

Actually there are.

Those monsters living in the Foul Swamp are probably the closest things to legendary dragons.

Though in my view, they’re just formidable giant lizards. While they would only be considered ‘troublesome’ elsewhere, challenging Ningkinanka in the swamp can only be called ‘suicide’.

They are true Spirits of the Swamp!

Their existence and power are intimately connected to the entire Foul Swamp. There’s even a saying that the reason the swamp has expanded to such a vast area today is because a nest of Ningkinanka lives within it.

If the Gnolls really intend to attack it, we can breathe a sigh of relief.”

Hearing Tris’s explanation, Murphy tilted his head in thought before suddenly brightening.

He clapped his fist and exclaimed:

“So, wilderness boss!

Right, how could a classic RPG MMO not have this element and gameplay?

Write down everything you know about Ningkinanka, Tris. I want to mark these rare and powerful beings on our soon-to-be-updated map of Transia and surrounding regions, as strategic guidance for little players after they leave the ‘starting village’ in the future.

By the way, are there many legendary creatures on this continent?”

“Anything that can be called a legendary creature certainly wouldn’t be too common, but thinking carefully their numbers aren’t that few either.

Besides the ‘Swamp Dragon’ Ningkinanka of the Foul Swamp, among legendary creatures I’ve personally seen, there’s also the Anuka Lion in the northern mountains of the Greenleaf Islands, said to be the blood source of all Royal Flying Lions and Greenleaf Lions.

The black ominous great wolf roams the Great Wilderness.

Locals fearfully call it the ‘Winter Wolf’, and each time it appears it heralds the coming of a terribly cold winter that will freeze people to death.

There are a group of ‘blood-drinking magical beasts’ called Chupacabra on the Vampire Coast of the Dark Mountains, making that coastline one of the few areas untouched by Gnolls.

In the Mirror Sea of the rarely visited Grey Desert, there are giant water monsters, the water dragon known as ‘Luktawa’.

In the deepest parts of the Eternal Rift’s dark realm, legends of the ‘Fate-Weaving Spider Queen’ persist.

Too many…

Even I can’t collect information about all of them.”

Tris shook her head and rolled her eyes, writing down what she knew with an “what can I do with you” attitude while saying:

“No one knows where these legendary creatures came from, but they exist in their own territories. Their very existence represents mystery and power, they are noble life forms standing at the peak of nature.

But one thing is certain, these legendary creatures have existed on this land far longer than us mortals.

Most of them existed before the mysterious pre-era, ah, to this day no one has been able to unravel their secrets.”