My Players Are So Fierce - Chapter 389

Chapter 389: Adele’s Family Reunion Time

Blood Claw Chieftain Lord Hog’s “reconnaissance” trip this time was very fruitful. Not only did he clarify the specific situation of the Plague Town in the Foul Swamp and obtained enemy information to help Murphy put the “design and development” of the next team instance on the agenda.

He even managed to get himself a very substantial reward through his bold and shameless behavior.

Although all ten Command Scepters were poisoned by Lame Claw, considering that the madman only needed vampire hearts to help Hog detoxify, the current situation wasn’t particularly bad.

On one hand, while the Blood Vulture vampires certainly couldn’t become the medicine for Hog’s “self-salvation,” weren’t there still so many Wolfsbane cubs in the Saxony region adjacent to the Smuggler’s Woods?

With good luck, it could be done in one day with a round trip.

Secondly, Chieftain Hog, who was now well-versed in the way of “trading” with players, didn’t even need to handle this matter himself.

Near midnight, when Hog brought his deputy and barbarian soldiers back to the Great Beast Cave in Smuggler’s Woods quite smoothly with more than 1,000 elite skeleton troops in a mighty procession as “street tigers,” he happened to meet his “dog-head strategist” playing games with a group of stupid little gnolls in front of the beast cave.

Hog called out quite joyfully:

“Little Ashina! Over here! I have something good to give you all.”

“Huh?”

Little Ashina, who was taking a break from work to “inspect” the Smuggler’s Woods, was stunned for a moment, then threw a handful of candy to the little gnolls circling around her to let them play by themselves, while she flapped her wings to approach Hog and his impressive dire wolf mount.

It wasn’t just Little Ashina who liked to play with the little gnolls, many little players would have a peculiar fondness for these ungrown cubs.

It wasn’t because these fellows all had a detestable “furry” tendency, but mainly because the ungrown gnolls were fluffy and had big eyes, coupled with their wild faces that hadn’t yet grown into fierce appearances, looking exactly like walking plush toys.

However, the gnolls kept a close watch on their cubs.

They wouldn’t readily allow handsy little players to approach their children casually. There were many terrible scenes before where little players overflowing with love wanted to feed them but ended up being chased and beaten by fierce mother gnolls.

The little players wandering in the Smuggler’s Woods at this stage were all low-level, and since the cubs’ protection was out of maternal instinct, even when beaten, the little players could only curse their bad luck.

After all, having received nine years of compulsory education, the little players really couldn’t bring themselves to do something that even beasts wouldn’t do, like beating someone’s mother in front of their children.

But Little Ashina’s group was an exception.

Because they helped establish the Blood Claw Clan, Hog gave them the freedom to move around in all clan territories.

Other players still needed to do quests and grind reputation miserably to get the hunting horn that could summon nearby gnoll warriors to assist in battle, but the members of the Silver Moon Pride team now each had one.

That was privately gifted to them by Hog in his capacity as chieftain.

This was only the surface benefit.

The hidden benefit was that when the Blood Claw Clan was officially established, these few female players’ reputation with the gnoll clan was permanently set to “revered.”

As long as Hog remained chieftain for a day, the Smuggler’s Woods would be equivalent to Silver Moon Pride team’s “player stronghold.” They could even suggest directions for clan development to Hog and participate in the Blood Claw Clan’s management, though currently the girls didn’t plan to do so.

They were few in number and couldn’t split off dedicated people to assist Hog in management like other teams, at most only giving advice to the chieftain.

And their “privileges” in the Blood Claw Clan had even received recognition from the game development team.

For example, in the current registration information at the Crimson Citadel administration, the Blood Claw Clan did not exist as an independent force. This group of gnolls was marked with the identity of “warrior retainers.” More specifically, their “spokespersons” at the Crimson Citadel were the few female player members of the Silver Moon Pride team.

This deeply bound the Blood Claw Clan and the girls together from a plot perspective. In future plot developments, whenever the gnoll clan appeared, the Silver Moon team’s presence would not be missing.

Of course, considering the scale issue, the budding Blood Claw Clan could not yet have a special driving effect on Transia’s major plot, and the benefits it could provide to the Silver Moon team were quite limited. But even so, the potential benefits of personally supporting a plot force still made other teams feel envious.

Players could all see that as the Crimson Citadel’s influence further expanded throughout Transia, the Blood Claw Clan would inevitably continue to expand along with this expansion.

As long as they existed long enough, they could continuously bring subsequent benefits to the Silver Moon Pride team.

This was equivalent to raising a goose that lays golden eggs.

The success of the girls’ team also inspired other player teams. At least the student parties now were already looking for individuals similar to Hog in the Saxony region.

The Joy Stick team also had an advantage in this aspect, because Joy Stick had just obtained the “descendant” Melia Korando who was obviously also a similar “plot character.” Brother Stick guessed that as long as Melia’s plot continued to advance, he and his team might be able to start a “Greyclaw Faction” reconstruction quest in the future.

By then they would be able to have their own plot force just like the Silver Moon Pride team.

Let’s put aside the benefits first, just the material for bragging on the forum was already there, right?

Other games require actively sucking up to NPCs, but in our game we first cultivate NPCs and then go suck up to them… um, thinking about it this way doesn’t make it seem so appealing anymore.

“What good things are there? Being all mysterious.”

Little Ashina flew over and tossed a piece of candy into her mouth, then saw Hog take out his spirit bag and open it in front of her.

The spirit light formed by a total of ten Command Scepters plus more than 30 uncontrolled scepters and an equal number of inferior scepters gathered together made the little shorty’s eyes widen.

She was a veteran among the little players who had seen much of the world, and just one look at these things before her told her they were definitely not ordinary.

She glanced again at the scepter hanging at Hog’s waist that could command more than 200 skeleton troops, then looked towards the more than 1,000 elite skeleton troops marching in formation behind the woods.

Little Ashina immediately understood. She hovered in the air patting Hog’s shoulder, saying casually:

“Yo, so you went shopping! Are you planning to sell all these things to us?”

“Not sell, give!”

Hog’s shoe-horn face showed a mysterious smile, like a fox that had stolen a chicken, he said in a low voice:

“I have already learned the rules and traditions of the Crimson Citadel. These treasures belonging to the Blood Claw Clan can only be bestowed upon warriors who have made outstanding contributions to the clan’s cause.

How could such treasures be defiled by vulgar money? Besides, we are gnolls, money is of no use to us except for looking pretty.

No bold merchant would dare come do business with us except for you all.”

As he spoke, Hog carefully picked up one of the highest quality scepters and handed it to Little Ashina, but when she reached for it he reminded her:

“This thing is poisoned. Contact with it will poison you. The gnoll madman sorcerer who gave me these treasures demands that I bring it three vampire hearts to give us the antidote.”

“Huh? Three vampire hearts for one scepter? That’s a bit expensive.”

Little Ashina scratched her head, completely unconcerned about the poison on the scepter as she took the good item that Hog was “paying respects” with, then frowned looking at the 7-day countdown for “Lame Claw’s Poison” that popped up on her character interface.

She waved the scepter, saying:

“But it’s not a big problem, you wait here at the beast cave.

Tomorrow I’ll go to the Saxony region with Pomegranate and Lumina. I heard that because we were too excessive in picking up refugees there, we’ve angered the Wolfsbane vampires into sending out hunters. A few newbies carelessly fell into an ambush and were completely wiped out a few days ago. We might as well go avenge them.”

“Uh”

Hog wanted to explain to his “dog-head strategist” that it wasn’t three vampire hearts per scepter, but rather three hearts for all of them together.

But on second thought, since the warriors didn’t know the true price of these things, and that madman Lame Claw wouldn’t actively explain it to them, it was appropriate for him to collect some handling fees as a “middleman.”

After all, he had taken risks going to Plague Town to get the goods. It would be failing his own efforts if he didn’t skim some profits in between.

Moreover, since Lame Claw needed vampire hearts so badly, naturally he could exchange for more good things from it when he received enough materials.

In the end it would all benefit these warriors anyway, so they probably wouldn’t have any objections to this, right?

Well then, let’s happily decide on this!

Hog once again showed a satisfied expression like a fox that had stolen a chicken.

He watched Little Ashina wave the Command Scepter as she went to select their servants from among the skeleton troops that were lining up to enter the bottom of the great beast cave for rest, thinking that although this human friend of his was friendly and brave, occasionally he felt she was too casual, with a personality that never took things to heart making her look rough and unrefined.

Despite having such small criticisms, Hog was just a gnoll who knew gratitude.

It was very clear to him that if the Silver Moon Pride team hadn’t given him a hand when he was at his weakest, he would probably have already become meat cooked in other gnolls’ pots by now. How could he have such an impressive position as he did now?

Ah, he could never repay Little Ashina’s group’s kindness.

Moreover, now that both parties’ interests were deeply bound together, appropriately pleasing his “noble personages” wouldn’t bring him too much pressure.

“Nash! Quickly draw out the map in your mind, people will be coming from over there soon. I’ll assign the 6th knight to you as a guard, and give you a scepter too.

Damn it, don’t be reckless anymore, protect yourself well.

It’s not easy for this chieftain to find a suitable smart deputy.”

Hog, riding on his impressive dire wolf mount, turned his head to instruct his accompanying deputy, and tossed a command amulet to Nash.

“Hey, thanks chieftain!”

Nash got excited as soon as he received the amulet and Command Scepter.

He had the same background and was as weak as Hog, basically never having tasted the flavor of power and prestige from birth until now. Only after following Hog did things start looking up.

But now with these two things, he could strut around in Transia!

Indeed!

Following Lord Hog not only provided food to eat, but also brought recognition and preferential treatment that couldn’t be obtained from other forces. This is too great!

Speaking of command amulets, these small things made of bones were spirit artifacts under the same system as Command Scepters. They allowed the holder to give orders to the silent and cold Netherworld Knights.

However, this thing after all was not the knights’ soul caskets. The orders it could give were not mandatory, and the Netherworld Knights had the right to refuse orders, though with their cold demeanor as the dead they wouldn’t likely refuse to execute orders.

From this point, that dog Lame Claw was quite crafty too. Not giving Hog these knights’ soul caskets meant Hog could only “rent” them.

Once their cooperation broke down, Lame Claw who held the soul caskets would only need one command for these seven Netherworld Knights to betray on the spot and chop off Hog’s dog head.

This was equivalent to that mad gnoll also pulling off a “getting something for nothing” move.

The seven Netherworld Knights who returned to Smuggler’s Woods with Hog’s group maintained a cold wooden demeanor when not receiving orders, but their appearance was indeed impressive.

Black robes and armor, their whole bodies shrouded in heavy armor, carrying cold undead greatswords or battle axes and warhammers and other heavy weapons on their backs. Judging by their posture they should all be human, with no gnolls being made into Netherworld Knights.

Perhaps because this profound necromancy magic couldn’t affect gnolls due to racial differences?

After all, according to Grand Duchess Tris, the necromancy techniques used by Plague Clan’s sorcerers all came from the moon priests of the distant Sand Empire Sanghai people.

Although the Sanghai people had many differences from humans in various aspects, academia generally believed that Sanghai people were a subspecies of humans, and the connection between the two races was definitely much closer than that between humans and gnolls.

“Number 7, come with me.”

Hog ordered the other five Netherworld Knights to each take 30 skeleton cavalry to patrol around the great beast cave, then instructed the particularly tall Number 7 Knight.

That silent female Netherworld Knight gave no response but simply followed Hog away from the cave on her armored skeleton warhorse.

They advanced quickly in the night, and after half an hour arrived at a hidden place on the border of Smuggler’s Woods.

By the time they arrived, two figures were already waiting for them ahead.

“Lady Adele! Mission accomplished!”

Hog shouted from far away:

“I’ve brought back your relative!”

“Lower your voice”

Adele reprimanded, then handed the bag containing Kenport’s dried head to Hog, this was the agreed upon “fair trade.”

But the corpse mage Bella beside her could no longer contain the emotions unbecoming of the dead in his heart. He stumbled forward a few steps, while the Netherworld female knight who had been emotionless as ice finally showed her first movement unbefitting a dead person’s state.

She jumped down from her skeleton warhorse and quickly stepped forward to embrace the corpse mage.

The two dead people just quietly stood embracing in the night without any other movement, yet this feeling that even death could not separate made Hog, a gnoll cold by nature, sense a unique atmosphere.

He held Kenport’s head in his hand while tilting his head to observe these two undead “showing public displays of affection.” Hmm, this must be what humans always refer to as “love”?

Neither he nor Adele went to disturb the reunion of these two ill-fated people.

It wasn’t until several minutes later that corpse mage Bella brought Netherworld Knight Bernice to Adele’s side. Knight Bernice removed her heavy helmet, revealing a horrifically withered face like a mummy, just like Bella.

But the vague expression on that still-scarred face made the spirit fire in her eyes dance more intensely when she looked at Adele:

“By Avalon above, little Adele, why have you become one of the cursed under midnight?”

Bernice said in a shriveled voice:

“Your mother will be heartbroken because of this.”

“I would call it midnight’s blessing, Aunt Bernice, and now is not the time to discuss my mother.”

Lady Adele had no intention of saying more on this topic, she said in a cold tone:

“I must now bring you back to the Crimson Citadel for Grand Duchess Tris to personally examine your condition. Uncle Bella, can you confirm there are no listening spell remnants on Aunt Bernice?”

“No, I checked earlier.”

Corpse mage Bella firmly said:

“Even in Plague Town, Bernice and I were high-level units. Any spirit energy applications on us had to go through Flesh Render’s approval.

Though the madman Lame Claw was highly valued, it didn’t have that authority. Moreover, Lame Claw was just a corpse constructor, it wasn’t very skilled in detection spells.

But to be safe, we still need to have Grand Duchess Tris examine Bernice.”

“Mm.”

Adele nodded, then turned to Hog and said:

“You’ve done very well, pangolin, not just because you completed the task Master Murphy assigned, you’ve also earned my personal gratitude.

Tell me what you want, I will do my best to fulfill it.”

“I…”

Hog hesitated for a moment, but knowing opportunities were rare, he gritted his teeth and said:

“I want the ruling rights over Smuggler’s Woods!

Not just the current granted model, I hope that the Smuggler’s Woods ruled by the Blood Claw Clan can truly enter Transia’s territory, rather than the current cooperation that can only hide beneath the surface.

I know this is too much, but Lady Adele, please understand…

The Black Plague is coming!

At that time, it won’t just be Transia’s army here, armies from other places will come too. I believe Master Murphy and his warriors won’t harm me and my clan members, but others…

I’ve seen how they kill their kinsmen, I hold no hope for their character.

We yearn for real protection!”

“This is not something I can decide, Hog.”

Adele shook her head and said:

“I can only promise that I will convey your thoughts to Master Murphy and try my best to persuade him. You must understand that Transia’s main body is human, we also have to consider their feelings.

But I can guarantee!

As long as I am still the Baroness of Shadow, your territory will not be disturbed.”