The bard fantasized again.

Chapter 158 The Saint's Sword Sheath (3k1w)

"Are we sure we want to rest in a place like this? To be honest, I don't feel safe."

"why?"

"I'm afraid that a bunch of tadpoles will suddenly emerge from that ship, crawl into my eyeballs while I'm sleeping, and when I wake up, I'll find myself transformed into a mind flayer with squid tentacles growing from its mouth."

"It was a dead ship, with no signs of activity. Even from this distance, you can still see the accumulated dust on it."

Looking out over the cliff at the [Snail Shell Ship] that seemed to be bound by numerous iron chains and suspended in mid-air, Tang Qi couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

From the outside, it looks like a giant conch shell. Besides the outer armor, the most conspicuous thing is the tentacles that look like a lot of squid legs under the deck. Some of the tentacles are sharp, and some have slits at the end.

However, it is indeed dilapidated. Many of its tentacles have been cut off. From a distance, one can see its body covered in spider webs, dust accumulated over the years, and broken railings and buildings on the deck.

“I admit, it might be more like the giant spider’s home than the mind flayer’s. But with so many empty rooms on the entire fifth floor, perhaps we don’t need to choose to camp outside a cliff?”

"Are you sure? In those sealed rooms, a Crystal Golem might suddenly emerge, or we might stumble upon some trap left behind—"

The cliff is the safest place. With the [Feather Fall Technique], we can jump off if we encounter pursuers we can't handle.

Do you know what lies at the end of this cliff?

"I don't know, this is of course my first time in this position."

"You spoke with such certainty?"

"Okay, I admit this is the closest place to the Dragon Vault, alright? See that pit ahead? That's the entrance to the vault."

We passed three places along the way, actually five in total, and this is the closest one.

Hope pointed to the other side of the cave, about two hundred meters away, where there was a shaft that could accommodate ten people at the same time.
"Don't always look at me with suspicion. I would never hurt you."

"Really not?"

Tang Qi remained skeptical, but did not refute the location of the campsite further.

They were on the edge of the cave, on a fairly wide cliff platform.

Above them are irregular stone walls that occasionally expose crystalline veins. The entire entrance is about 10 meters high, and even giants can come and go freely.

Compared to the cave interior, which is illuminated by the glowing crystals, the outer cliff appears rather dark.

Aside from the bottomless abyss below the cliff, there was only the snail-shell ship hanging from the ceiling of the cave, far away. Looking back over the ship, all one could see was pitch black.

"If I had the [Flight] spell, I would probably fly over there and take a look."

He was genuinely curious as to why there was a dilapidated magical ship capable of traversing the star realm beneath Dragon Gold City.

Is the Red Scarf Gang so powerful that they can even capture Mind Flayers and bring them into the dungeon to serve as roadblocks for adventurers?
But he couldn't draw a conclusion based on mere speculation, and he didn't see any trace of the Mind Flayer along the way.

We didn't see any Red Turban Gang pursuers, so we could rest for a while in this corner of the cliff.

Now, Chenxi seems to be in a meditative state, restoring her spiritual power.

As always, Kuru was addicted to reading, using the light from the crystal to try and learn a more useful spell next time.

Tang Qi felt a slight soreness in his back, so he started singing "Relaxation Song" to help his teammates recover their energy while asking:

"Since you're planning to recruit us, shouldn't you be more honest?"

"Be honest about what?" Hope asked as she drew the map.

"Who are you, what is your purpose, and why are you doing this?"

“I am Hope Valentina, and I want the treasure in the Dragon Vault, and—that's the treasure I discovered first, so why should it be distributed to the Red Scarf Gang, benefiting those adventurers?”

"You noticed it first?"

About three years ago, at the border of the Southern Great Wall, an employer named The Collector commissioned me to steal a sword called The Saint's Sheath from St. Andrew's Cathedral.

This guy, true to his name, is a collector in every sense of the word. He built a magnificent palace and spent a fortune acquiring numerous constructs to protect his exhibits. But that's not all that important, I mean…

He enjoys collecting anything that is valuable to him, regardless of whether the treasure itself has any value.

'A scabbard is nothing special, and an ornate scabbard is even more meaningless. But it once belonged to a saint, and the legendary story gives it value,' he said.

Stealing a saint's scabbard from St. Andrew's Church was certainly no easy task, but who could resist the price he offered?

"How much?" Tang Qi asked curiously.

St. Andrew's Cathedral is located in the Holy City, north of the Lords' Alliance, and is said to be the only city in the world where one can still hear divine pronouncements and experience miracles.

Most of the paladins and priests who now roam the Forgotten Continent come from the Holy City.

That is also a sacred place for every pilgrim who yearns for divine protection.

Stealing under the watchful eyes of the gods requires considerable skill. "Enough money for me to never run out in a lifetime."

"so much?"

"Of course, otherwise why would I go through all that trouble, running all over the continent?"

"But more than the reward, I'm curious—why would he ask you to do him this favor?"

"Because I stole his collection."

Tang Qi understood: "You're a repeat offender."

"You could say that, but as a Tyflin, isn't doing petty theft more in line with your stereotypes?"

Is it possible that these stereotypes are reinforced precisely because most of you are in similar professions?

Tang Qi did not intend to refute her.

In fact, he didn't care what kind of person Hope was or what her past was like, and he didn't want to discuss values ​​with her.

It's simply about correcting some logical errors.

"Maybe so, but who cares? As long as we can survive, that's all that matters."

Hope chuckled, unconcerned, and spread her hands, saying...

"In short, this collector was originally a wealthy man who made his fortune from the war in the southern Great Wall. This amount of money was not a small sum for him, but it was worth it."

As for me, after receiving this money, I won't have to do petty theft anymore. I can find a place to retire peacefully and enjoy my old age."

"And then? You went to St. Andrew's Cathedral."

"I went there and was the first to find the scabbard. Before I could even confirm which tomb it was in, the adventurers beat me to it—"

I thought the collector had only hired me, but it turns out he just saw me as a pioneer.

So before my theft plan could even be carried out, the other hired adventurers struck, resulting in the infamous "Cathedral Attack" incident that was the talk of the adventurer community two years ago. You've probably heard of it, right?

"No."

Let alone two years ago, he was not even aware of what had happened within the Lords' Alliance territory two months ago.

This, in turn, made Hope look at Tang Qi with surprise:
"You didn't know about something that caused a sensation in the adventurer community?"
Since then, the scabbards and much of the Holy City's treasure have been stolen, and the Holy City has refused entry to all adventurers. Some fanatics have even gone so far as to draw their swords at the mere sight of an adventurer.

In short, I definitely didn't get the scabbard. But it's a hot potato; no one can guarantee they'll safely return to the Southern Great Wall with it.

Thus, several conflicts and transactions occurred along the way. After making inquiries from various sources, I confirmed that the scabbard had changed hands several times and ultimately ended up in the hands of Long Jincheng.

But it was obvious that it had been handled by too many people, so much so that Long Jincheng only thought it was a gorgeous scabbard decorated with many jewels.

He simply tossed this treasure into his vault to gather dust, waiting for a suitable group of adventurers to claim it, in order to maintain the dungeon's reputation.

At this point, she seemed somewhat indignant, even pausing her drawing to mutter under her breath, her brows furrowed.

"But I can steal things, but I can't explore the Deep Well Underground City alone."

Then I can only find a team of capable adventurers and try to get on their good side.

Tang Qi asked curiously:

“You could have told me all this from the beginning and gone straight down from the third level, instead of wasting all this effort.”

"No, that would put us at a disadvantage."

Hope shook his head, sighed deeply, and showed the map he had drawn to Tang Qi.

"This is the map I wrote down before. If we follow the normal route, even the fastest route, it will take at least three days to go from the third level to the fifth level."

Not to mention the many pre-arranged encounters you might encounter along the way—if you're slow, it could even take a week.

By then, the [Silver Medal] chosen by the Red Scarf Gang and leading the way might have already cleared out the treasure and started their return journey.

Tang Qi recalled that when he encountered the Sandalwood Forest Squad before, the man with the mustache had mentioned to him that the group, including Sui Shi, had set off with a clear purpose.

It seems that more than two days have passed since then.

In other words, if the Stone Sluices and their companions had traveled faster and rested less, they might have met up with them on the fifth floor soon.

But now I finally understand how they discovered the Dragon Treasury:

"Why did the Red Scarf Gang choose the Silver Medal? I remember they were only formed less than a month ago?"

(End of this chapter)