Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 225 Duke of Flames
"I understand."

"Overall, mental energy is quite resilient. Even though I now have a little bit of perception, the mental energy consumption is not very intense. These are considered normal perceptions."

"But the perception brought by the title does not actually belong to me, so as long as I wear it, it will consume a lot of energy."

"To give an example, if I wear the Tracker title now and my perception is increased by 3, then my mental energy will be exhausted within 20 seconds."

"But if I increase my perception to 3 by consuming four free attribute points, then I can enjoy the same effect while consuming significantly less resources."

"Only what belongs to you is truly yours."

"It seems that continuing to improve one's destiny is a very worthwhile thing."

With that in mind, Li Wei decisively activated one one-star stamina card and two one-star strength cards, directly increasing his stamina to 270 points and his strength to 28 points. If he wore the Bear Hunter title, he could reach 29 points of strength.

Now, he only has his defensive attribute left that hasn't been awakened to level one.

"Gululu!"

His stomach started growling again, and the 28 points of strength made him feel slightly uncomfortable, to the point that he almost tore the tent over when he stepped out.

"Cousin, there are more and more crows, cawing incessantly since early morning. I think this could easily cause some trouble. Why don't we let Ah-Dai go up and talk to them?"

At this moment, Leon came over and said strangely that the commotion was too great. As he spoke, he traded two one-star agility cards without anyone noticing.

Dumb?

Li Wei calmly put away the two one-star agility cards, glanced back at the guy hopping around behind him, and wondered if he could see that it was too scared to take off now.

"Then let's go somewhere else. We'll go back to the camp before this evening and take the catch back. Time is limited, we can't afford to delay."

"Row!"

Lyon accepted the order, and everyone pitched in to clean up. They had eaten almost all the fish they caught yesterday afternoon, and this morning they had only caught a dozen or so fish, which was hardly enough.

Next, Li Wei and his party moved their camp eastward along the riverbank, leaving the original camp to the crows.

They walked for more than ten miles in one go before finding a higher location to continue setting up camp.

Thomas was in charge of patrolling, Leon and Zhang Jinjun were in charge of fishing, Zhao Xuanxuan was in charge of boiling fish maw, and Li Wei was in charge of breaking it down.

The five people each performed their duties with ease. The only troublesome thing was the crows, which quickly caught up again, cawing and circling around. Li Wei wished he could shoot them all down with his bow and arrow.

Around noon, Lyon and Zhang Jinjun caught more than thirty mutated river fish, a great harvest.

There are more mutated river fish in this river than mutated rats in the ruins of the town.

This is good news, though; their food crisis can be resolved. It truly lives up to its reputation as a resource point.

"Li Wei, something's happened! Someone's coming!"

At that moment, Thomas suddenly whispered.

Upon hearing this, Li Wei quickly waved for Leon and Zhang Jinjun to come ashore, and at the same time told Ah Dai to take off. As soon as Ah Dai took off, the rest of the crows scattered in all directions, as if it were an alien. Moreover, it seemed that as long as Ah Dai dared to continue circling, it might be attacked.

Startled, Ah Dai quickly landed again. Three-star pet hunter, Ah Dai, you really embarrassed me.

In just a short while, Li Wei had already seen the people coming through Ah Dai's vision. They should be five superhumans. He didn't know if they were attracted by the flock of crows or by the fireworks.

They are less than a kilometer away from here at this moment.

Then it's not a big problem.

Li Wei remained calm. He first washed his hands with river water, then went to the tent to find a cloth to wipe them clean, and then changed into his noble crest armor.

The others also changed into their armor in an orderly manner, deciding to negotiate if possible, and fight if not.

no big deal.

Moreover, encountering superhumans in this world is a highly probable event. With them making a fire and attracting a large number of crows circling overhead, it would be strange if they went unnoticed. Soon, the five superhumans arrived a hundred meters away. Upon seeing Li Wei and his group's prepared demeanor, they immediately stopped. The leader shouted, "We are wilderness mercenaries under Duke Blazing Flame. We have the mercenary badges of those who roam the wilderness, which prove our identity. Who are you?"

Holy crap? It's actually quite formal.

Lyon, Thomas, and the others all looked at Li Wei. Li Wei also felt that things were a bit complicated, so he stepped forward a dozen steps. "Excuse me, everyone, I am a wilderness mercenary under Duke Frost. I also have a mercenary badge for traversing the wilderness, which can prove our identities. So, is there anything I can help you with?"

Alas!
What the hell is this "Frost Duke"? Dude, we admire your ability to spout such nonsense.

Lyon, Thomas, and the others all had strange looks in their eyes, and some were even ready to fight.

To everyone's surprise, the five superhumans opposite them were not surprised at all. After exchanging glances, the leader stepped forward and said, "Friend, I apologize for being so forward, but this is the territory of Duke Blaze. According to the rules, we need to verify whether you are natural persons. Of course, you can also check us."

"I understand. That's the rule of the wilderness, and there's nothing wrong with it."

Li Weiyi waved his hand, generously inviting the other party to begin.

The superhuman stepped forward, first staring intently at the noble crest on Li Wei's noble crest armor, then nodded. Although he couldn't understand it, he thought it was very impressive, so it must not be fake.

Then, he took out a white, egg-sized, unknown crystal and brought it close to Li Wei. At that moment, for some reason, the crystal gradually changed color, first becoming pale yellow, then dark yellow, and finally light red.

So what does this mean?
Upon seeing the light red color, the superhuman seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and even his attitude became much more amiable. "Friend, you are not lying. You are indeed a stable and safe superhuman, and a qualified wilderness mercenary. Now, it's your turn to assess me."

Uh oh, what am I supposed to use to measure this?

But just then, several messages suddenly appeared in front of Li Wei's eyes.

[You have undergone a magical radiation test by the native ability users of this world. Your current radiation level is 70, indicating you are infected with Level 1 Blood Plague. If your magical radiation level reaches 80, you will be infected with Level 2 Blood Plague. You need to wear the Rat Exterminator title for at least 24 hours to reduce your radiation level below 50, or take a one-star resistance potion.]

[Friendly reminder: Once you are infected with the Level 2 Blood Plague, you will become a beginner-level superhuman. If you are infected with the Level 3 Blood Plague, you will become a magical zombie. At that time, you will be deemed an NG (no good) and will need to forcibly interrupt the mission and return to the base camp.]

[Friendly reminder: If your magic radiation level is below 30, you will be attacked by superhumans; if your magic radiation level is 0, a major NG will be triggered!]

Damn it?

I understand now, I understand completely.

So now the basic color scheme of this world is that zombies are in charge, and survivors are running around and have become illegal beings?
This scene is beautiful.

No, that's how it's supposed to be. In other zombie-themed worlds, aren't zombies chasing survivors?
However, the magical zombies here also possess intelligence and are capable of establishing their own factions, such as the Flame Duke and the Ice Duke.

The Ice Duke that Li Wei just made up might actually exist.

Seeing that the superhuman opposite him was still waiting for his assessment, Li Wei immediately placed his right hand on the noble emblem on his left chest, while switching to the Tracker title. In that instant, he felt that he could see through the superhuman's past and present life... Well, that was a joke.

But it's as if a fire dragon is coiled inside this guy's heart. What vigorous vitality! Well, it's only slightly inferior to the mutated rat king.

If the Mutant Rat King is four stars-, then this person must be three stars+.

The next second, Li Wei switched back to the title of "Dog Slayer". Agility was what he needed, so that his agility could always be maintained at 23 points, saving his stamina in daily life.

“Friend, you’re not lying. You are indeed a stable and safe superhuman, and also a more outstanding wilderness mercenary than me. So, shall we continue with the tests one by one, or talk about something else? To be honest, we’re fishing right now and don’t have much time to waste.”

"Haha, I understand, friend. The test is enough for you. After all, you don't plan to enter Duke Flame's castle. But as far as I know, there is a very powerful mutated crocodile in this river. A group of wilderness mercenaries tried to take it down before but failed. Could it have been hunted down by you?"

"Yes, we paid a heavy price. Three of our companions are gone forever," Li Wei said with some regret, but there was no sadness on his face, and even his gaze was cold.

Unexpectedly, the superhuman opposite him showed great interest. "Friend, you are a truly powerful wilderness mercenary team. Would you be interested in registering as a wilderness mercenary in the Flame Duke's territory? The Flame Duke issues very attractive wilderness bounties every month. In fact, I'd like to invite you to join our team now. Let's do something big together. It's much better than fishing."

Huh?
You're very enthusiastic, buddy.
"That's probably not a good idea, my friend. The most important and taboo thing about wilderness bounties is unequal distribution of the spoils. So thank you for your kindness, but would you like a couple of fish?"

"No, no, no, my friend, you've misunderstood me. If it were just a regular wilderness mission, of course I wouldn't have invited you. But we're currently on a wilderness stronghold attack mission. We have reliable intelligence that a group of natural beings are hiding in some deep mountain and have established a stronghold. These poor, pathetic natural beings, they can't feel any joy in power, nor can they understand that the power of magic is not evil, but depends on us who wield it. Does a kitchen knife have a distinction between good and evil?"

"Just as the great Duke of Flame said, to find them, to embrace them, to share our blood with them—is this not what a virtuous person would strive for? If I knew that there was such a group of natural people hiding in the mountains, ignorant and isolated from the world, would it be wise of me not to do something? Alas, if so, I fear that disaster is not far off."

(End of this chapter)