Strange Voyage: Summoning the Fourth Disaster.

Chapter 687 Eavesdropping
"Offender's Ears," a spell that allows the caster to hear sounds within sight, is a relatively obscure spell in the Meteor school.

Although it has limited applicability, it can be surprisingly effective in certain situations; he used it when tackling a small dungeon before.

Now it comes in handy, but when he looked at the skill bar, he realized that he had specifically changed the slots for Soul Guiding Words and Soul Shockwave before entering the Long Night Divine Realm.

"If there isn't any, that's fine. Just look for any tools or scrolls that we can use."

Li Miao reminded him.

The two then began rummaging through their inventory, and soon found items that could be of use.

After using [Imitator's Gaze], the two disguised individuals quickly and stealthily approached the camp.

Then they heard the conversation of six NPCs in the camp.

Quite coincidentally, the topic the six NPCs were discussing was exactly the "campfire guardian spirit" they had just heard about.

"...I never expected that there would be a powerful guardian spirit hidden under the campfire in this camp...How terrifying."

"According to intelligence from my tribe, this campfire guardian spirit adjusts its ignition point based on the light around the campfire..."

"Well, if you want to kill it, you just need to find a weaker one to wake it up. After killing it, you can get 'campfire coal'."

"Campfire coal? What's it for?"

Hearing this, Li Miao and the two who came ashore exchanged a glance.

Then he pricked up his ears and listened attentively.

"...Hehe, that depends on whether you receive the favor of the Eternal Altar."

"Quite a few unfortunate souls have died at the hands of the campfire guardians. Everything they have will be devoured by the campfire guardians, and their treasures are hidden in the campfire coals."

"It could also be a vengeful spirit."

"How about it? If you're interested, you might want to try out this campfire in front of us..."

"Alright, stop egging them on. This campfire is blazing, it's definitely much stronger than a regular campfire guardian spirit. Don't let them die for nothing."

Campfire coal...

It turns out that defeating the campfire guardian spirit can actually drop some special items.

Li Miao pondered.

The man who went ashore didn't say anything, but Li Miao guessed that he was already thinking about the campfire guardian spirit from before.

"...Alright, let's stop here."

“The oasis is blessed with the light of a torch, and it is a good place to recover.”

"Manny, you take the night watch. Be careful, watch out for those Oasis Raiders attacking in the middle of the night."

"Damn it, those guys are real bastards. They just stay in the oasis and won't move forward. All they do is rob and steal from other trial participants."

"What is the origin of these raiders?"

"They are said to be wanderers who came here because of the meteor shower; in short, they are a group of guys who have lost their faith and spirit."

"Okay, that's enough chatting, I need to rest."

"..."

After the chat ended, most of the trial participant NPCs went to their positions to lie down and rest, while one trial participant got up and went to patrol.

However, two other trainees walked to the side and began to whisper among themselves.

Do you think what they say is credible?

"I don't know. In any case, keep an eye on your own things. They're not necessarily any better than those oasis raiders."

"Yeah, I always felt that the guy named Alfonso was the one who attacked me before."

"...What do you think will happen to that idiot carrying the helmet?"

"What will happen? Going to the Oasis Raiders alone is just handing them their loot, isn't it? Most people would avoid them like the plague, but this guy actually thinks they might be having a good time... This guy is either an idiot, or he's plotting something." "I think he's probably just naive..."

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to talk to you. Just keep an eye on my things, and we'll take turns sleeping here so no one else can take advantage of us."

"Sigh... I never imagined that even in the peaceful zone created by the torch, we would still need to be careful and wary of others. How ironic..."

"..."

The conversation gradually faded away, leaving only the crackling of the campfire.

After the eavesdropping was completed.

Li Miao and the two who went ashore secretly returned to their original spot.

As soon as they returned to normal, they eagerly asked upon reaching the shore, "Shall we go back and fight that campfire guardian spirit?"

"..." Li Miao was speechless: "Why are you so obsessed with that campfire guardian spirit? You just have to kill it?"

"Hidden boss! Loot drops! Want to go?"

“No.” Li Miao shook his head: “There might be more to this story. Let’s leave it for now.”

After saying that, he changed the subject.

"It seems that the Mountain Clan's belongings were stolen by the 'Oasis Raiders'."

"After failing to find help from this group, Aluga the Hero chose to go after the Oasis Raiders..."

"Moreover... judging from what these NPCs said, they seem to have only temporarily formed a group for mutual support, and they don't really trust each other that much."

Li Miao was organizing the information he had just heard.

Most importantly, they regained detailed information about the heroes of Aluga.

Although he didn't quite agree with Li Miao's decision, he didn't bring up the campfire guardian spirit again after going ashore.

"What do we do now? Should we just go up and talk to these NPCs to see if there are any side quests?"

I went ashore and looked at a bunch of NPCs near the campfire.

Upon hearing this, Li Miao looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"These NPCs don't have high ignition points. It's obvious that they're not strong enough and are stuck in a cycle, just like the monsters in some dungeons."

"If they had remained conscious and alive until now, would they still be in this state?"

Upon reaching the shore, he immediately realized that he had been overthinking things.

Indeed, if these NPCs were like the Ancient Dragon Projection and Lilmi, they wouldn't be guarding against each other like thieves.

After all, in that situation, no one could die or escape, so why do these meaningless things?

However, after thinking about some of the discussion posts on the forum, he couldn't help but raise objections.

"That doesn't make sense either. There are NPCs in the first half of the Long Night Divine Realm, and those NPCs weren't trapped in a loop..."

Li Miao frowned upon hearing this. What Shang An said was indeed correct; explaining this in terms of ignition point would be utterly illogical.

Why is this?

Just as he was deep in thought, a voice suddenly came from the side.

"...Because the trial participants in the first half of the Long Night Divine Realm were completely shrouded in darkness, the impact of the disaster was greatly weakened."

"But this might not be a good thing for them..."

As the sound sounded.

A blurry, ethereal spirit drifted out of the woods and quietly stopped in front of the two of them.

(End of this chapter)