The bard fantasized again.

Chapter 159 Unexpected Gain (6k1w)

"There are many reasons, such as their strength, or the fact that a newly formed adventure team has brought out a huge amount of wealth, which in itself can attract more adventurers to come and seek their fortune."

But most importantly—Captain Wendy Silvershield is the eldest daughter of the Silvershield family and the apple of Orion's eye, the commander of the Wyvern Riders.

This commander doted on his daughter so much that he even argued with Lord Lionheart several times for her sake.

People are speculating that he might be occupying a position as a Masked Lord.

The Red Turban Gang was doing this to curry favor with him.

Hope shrugged, her tone almost mocking these adventurers being manipulated by the masked lords—

The treasure they dreamed of was nothing more than a bargaining chip for the lords.

Perhaps it only takes a single sentence, a gentle push of the chips, to determine the ownership of a treasure or the fame of a team.

"So in the end it all comes down to deals and politics."

Tang Qi was both amused and exasperated, but he wholeheartedly agreed with Hope's speculation.

After all, they had already run into a masked lord in the Red Scarf Gang's bunker—although it was a shapeshifter.

"So we can only seize the treasure vault before them by using the bunker's fast passage; otherwise, we won't even get a sip of meat soup, let alone a sword sheath."

Having explained the whole story, Hope finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I've talked myself hoarse trying to explain this to you, so you should believe me now, right?"

Tang Qi raised an eyebrow and nodded:
"That's it."

Actually not.

Regardless of whether her story was true or not, Tang Qi couldn't possibly believe the nonsense told by a 'red weasel'—

These weasels have a habit of camouflaging themselves to facilitate their hunting.

"Alright, I know you're being cautious. Just in case, shall we draw up a contract?"

As she spoke, she pulled another "fair contract" from her fanny pack.
"Let's sign a non-aggression pact and decide on the ownership of the Dragon Treasury to avoid fighting over the spoils."

Let me make my needs clear first—I only want the scabbard; everything else is yours.

"That's more money than you could ever spend in a lifetime."

Tang Qi hesitated and said,
"All the other things in the treasure vault combined might not be enough for me to spend in a lifetime."

"But none of us know what's in the treasure vault; it might be worth far more than this price?"
This is, after all, a 'gift' prepared for a noble lady. Do you think someone might secretly use this method to bribe Orion in order to curry favor with her?

Things that the nobles of Dragon Gold City are capable of accomplishing.

Seeing Tang Qi hesitate, Hope began to gently persuade him:
"Moreover, to exchange these gold coins, one would have to travel at least countless kilometers to the Southern Great Wall—"

Who knows what unforeseen events might occur along the way, and things may not turn out as desired.

The treasures inside, however, were right before their eyes, within reach.

"If you really want that scabbard, I wouldn't mind trading with you. After all, while I don't want to gamble, I also don't want to make enemies with you."

Seeing that she was about to feign weakness again, Tang Qi waved his hand and shook his head, saying:

"Alright, stop acting like you're willing to suffer a loss. Let's do it this way."

In fact, he never intended to get his hands on the Dragon Treasury.

After all, when it comes to treasure hunting, being slow means being slow in everything.

My initial plan was to learn the details of the attack as soon as possible, return to the surface to wait for my reputation to spread, and then write a log and collect the reward.

But the story of 'seizing the treasure' has already begun and is right before our eyes.

He could not possibly give up this opportunity under any circumstances—

With his log kept, his gains will surely outweigh his losses:
"Give me the contract."

Hope handed it over, then immediately pressed down on Tang Qi's shoulder:

"Wait, put it out in the open, I'll be watching you write it."

"You don't trust me at all?" Tang Qi said with some dissatisfaction.

"Just like you don't trust me?" Hope chuckled sarcastically.

Tang Qi, his thoughts exposed, remained unfazed, gave a light snort, and wrote down some clauses in the contract stipulating that the two would not attack or hinder each other before leaving the dungeon, ultimately deciding on the ownership of the treasure—

[The loot will be divided after ensuring a safe exit from the dungeon. Hope has priority in choosing items from the treasure, but can only take one item. From a set, only one item can be chosen.]

The meaning is also very clear: even if it is a precious sword, she has to leave the sword itself behind after taking the scabbard.

"You're so greedy."

Hope muttered to herself.

"They really aren't willing to suffer even the slightest loss."

"The teammates you chose."

Once the two parties have signed their names, the contract is considered to be in effect.

According to the effect of "fair contract", one will not feel the constraints of the contract until the contract terms are violated.

Therefore, neither of them sensed anything unusual.

There was only a slight disagreement regarding the ownership of the contract—

After all, these things on the surface are all entrusted to the Bar Association for safekeeping.
“This contract is flammable and you are a Typhoon with a high body temperature. To ensure its safety, it should be kept by my side.”

Tang Qi was afraid that she would burn the contract at will.

Hope rolled her eyes at him: "As if you can't light it. We'll lock it up, I'll keep the key, and you can keep the box."

"That makes sense." In this way, the two, who each had their own thoughts and were scheming against each other, finally confirmed their alliance.

"Now that everything is in place, we should confirm the next steps—you're a sorcerer, aren't you?"

"As you can see."

"Who is the sect leader?"

"It only appears in my dreams, and I can't confirm its identity."

"What is a magic contract? Is it a rune, a knife, a spellbook? Or perhaps a magical pet?"

【Magic Contract Blessing】is a common gift from the sect leader, and different magic contracts will bring some additional characteristics.

For example, if you use a magical pet as a magical contract, that magical pet will be more agile, intelligent, and powerful than an ordinary magical pet.

If a weapon is used as a magical contract, it will usually result in a unique magical weapon, which will typically exhibit some of the sect leader's traits—

For example, a fairy sect leader might gift a weapon that is a scimitar wrapped in green leaves and vines and engraved with gilded patterns.

Hope was astonished by Tang Qi's erudition:

"How come you look more like a sorcerer than I do?"

Please answer the question directly.

Hope sighed and, in front of Tang Qi, took a round pendant from her belt.

"A talisman?"

"It can enhance the power of my spells and also allow me to do things that I normally cannot do—such as jumping over a cliff that is normally impossible to cross?"

Hope offered a basic explanation.

Tang Qi examined the ornament and thought it looked very simple.

On the black disc is a triangle with white lines, the end of which connects to a neat little rhombus, and then the curves are drawn to both sides with silky strokes, making it look like a Libra necklace.

This symbol did not appear in Tang Qi's knowledge base, so he could only speculate:
"Such a simple yet mysterious symbol, and it appeared in a dream. It couldn't possibly be the [Great Old Ones], could it?"

It is an ancient god that exists in the distant past and in the void, like the legendary Cthulhu mythos, but there are also some differences.

This made Tang Qi's gaze toward Hope become subtle.

He didn't want to get too close to that kind of thing.

The more you know, the faster you go crazy.

A chill ran down his spine, making him unwilling to ask for any more information; he only wanted to get as far away from Hope as possible.
"Well, overall, I can tell you have a good level of tactical skill. What about magical items? Do you still have any force field beads?"

"Of course not. Do you think this kind of thing is easy to get?"

"Sorry, I thought your fanny pack was a magic bag, and you could pull anything out of it."

"There's only my underwear left inside. Should I take it out for you to check?"

"Ahem, there's no need for that. There's probably nothing worth summarizing. But our team actually has three spellcasters."

This is hardly good news.

Especially given that Dawn is a glass cannon.

Compared to the lineup of the [Silver Medal], it is rather abnormal.

But we can't ask for more.

"Then let's rest early and go deeper into the lower levels before the designated team arrives."

With dawn watching over them, they don't need to worry about falling asleep and never waking up in the dungeon.

But this sleep was still a bit difficult for Tang Qi.

His special ability, "Super Energy," gave him the advantage of being able to quickly detach from his sage mode, but it also brought him the frustration of feeling stifled if he didn't release it.

Not to mention his previous contact with Hope, which kept the question of 'Tifflin's body temperature' lingering in his mind.

There is no accurate concept of time in the dungeon; he doesn't even know if his last bath was three days ago or five days ago.

But he had to admit that he seemed somewhat repressed:

"Hopefully we can get back to the surface soon..."

After taking a stress medication, he was able to fall asleep amidst the restlessness.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but he vaguely heard the dawn calling to him in its heart:

"Tang Qi, wake up."

Although her voice was gentle, like a caress or massage in his ear, the very act of waking him up felt like a heavy punch to Tang Qi's brain, leaving him somewhat annoyed.

"what's up?"

"I saw a snail."

"We've run out of salt. If you want to eat salt-baked snails, we'll have to wait until we get back to the surface."

Tang Qimeng talked about whatever came to mind.

"It has many flail-like tentacles, and the sheen of its carapace is quite dazzling—I think it must be a flail snail."

"what!?"

Tang Qi suddenly woke up from his tent and then tiptoed to Chenxi's side.

With the help of the stone wall at the entrance of the cave, one could clearly see the snail slowly crawling inside.

When Tang Qi saw its appearance clearly, he almost couldn't stop drooling:
"An unexpected bonus!?"

(End of this chapter)