Wizards begin with Occlumency.

Chapter 131 Final Reunion

Link used a lazy trick.

He didn't directly assign tasks to the three socially anxious individuals to avoid causing resentment.

Instead, they restructured the team, dividing it into four parts.

Link himself is not included yet.

As a free agent, Iris can do whatever she wants, as long as it doesn't affect the team's normal operation.

Buck and Ezio work as a team, usually responsible for clearing the way, and in wartime responsible for dealing with surprise attacks;

Lynn and Dalton, as the second group, were responsible for reconnaissance and guard duty in peacetime, and for reporting the battle situation, communicating and exchanging information, and providing fire support in wartime.

DeeJ Finley and the three socially awkward individuals form a third group. Normally, they are responsible for odd jobs, doing whatever is available, and when there is not much work, they take samples, make specimens, and advance side missions. In wartime, they are responsible for following the main force in combat.

It's called a lazy move because of Dijon's use of it.

Aren't you more familiar with the socially awkward trio?

You can lead them.

This trick may be lazy, but it's incredibly effective.

Not only did Deeja Finley feel valued by the big boss, but the three socially awkward individuals also breathed a sigh of relief, their anxious hearts finally at ease.

As the team grows larger and the division of labor becomes clearer, the speed of movement will be affected.

The journey, which was expected to take three hours, is estimated to take four and a half hours.

After walking for a while, Link called a halt to the group for a rest.

Drink water, eat dry food, rest, and relieve mental fatigue.

"I'm leaving."

After drinking the water Link handed her, Iris abruptly announced her decision.

As the group grew, Iris spoke less and less, and her enthusiasm waned.

She only approached Link because of him and the possibility of some fun things happening, and asked to team up with him.

There are too many people now, it's not exciting;

There's nothing fun about it, and it's really boring.

Once emotions got the better of her, Iris got bored and didn't want to continue.

After saying that, without waiting for Link's reply, she went straight back to the recliner, her boots clapping together, and soared into the sky.

The crazy girl came to Link like the wind, and left like the wind.

"Woo! Whew~"

For some reason, as she flew through the air and saw Lani Taylor and her group trailing in the distance, Iris's interest was piqued again.

She let out a strange cry, then pulled two bundles of enhanced self-destructing grenades from her small bag and threw them down.

"Hello, bitch!"

Iris circled above Lanny's head a few times, watching the group frantically deal with the tampered self-destructive fire and lightning attack, especially Lanny Taylor, who was covered in grass and dust. Excitedly, she shouted, "Bitch, goodbye!"

After shouting, Iris didn't give them a chance to retaliate. She let out a series of strange laughs and flew away rapidly.

Link witnessed this scene through the real-time reconnaissance footage from the circular flying saucer.

Indeed, there are only wrong names, not wrong nicknames.

Madman, lunatic, crazy woman.

It perfectly matches Iris Clark's character.

"Big boss?"

Lynn, who was the most thoughtful, looked at Link and asked a question, waiting for instructions.

Putting yourself in his shoes, if he had been attacked for no reason, you would definitely come up and argue with him.

If they don't get the answer or explanation they want, they might resort to violence.

So he considered that he should prepare in advance to avoid being caught off guard at the time.

"It's alright, let's continue resting."

Link gestured to Lynn to calm down and not get too excited.

The reason for this arrangement is not that Link is complacent because he has more people or a reconnaissance advantage.

Rather, it's really unnecessary.

Just as Lanny Taylor understands Link, Link also understands Lanny Taylor.

Given Lanny's temperament, the worst she'd do in this situation is engage in a war of words.

If it really comes down to a serious merger, Lani will be the first to object.

Therefore,

A fight is unlikely.

As Lynn Hewitt had predicted, after being hit by a self-destructing fire-and-thunder attack, Lanny and her group of four quickened their pace.

Before long, the four, covered in dust and dirt, caught up with Link's team, who had just finished their rest and were preparing to continue their journey.

"What do you mean?"

Filled with rage, Isco rushed up and confronted Link.

Link stared coldly at Isco, Hannibal's image flashing through his mind once again.

The combination of a cold-blooded butcher and a carnivorous artist, coupled with Link's increasingly chilling murderous aura, subtly terrified Isco.

After forcing a few seconds of eye contact, Isco awkwardly looked away.

His head slowly lowered.

"hehe……"

Link smiled, the meaning of which was unclear, then withdrew his murderous aura, shedding the Hannibal Lecter persona, and looked at Laney Taylor, asking, "You only found this one partner?"

His tone was calm, without a hint of contempt.

However, this hurt Isco even more than the contempt.

Why show contempt when you've already ignored it?

Lani, unfazed by Link's sudden display of sharpness and cold-bloodedness, calmly replied, "My partner is excellent; I'm very satisfied with him in every way."

As she spoke, she looked around but didn't see Iris. Considering the direction she had been flying away from earlier, she had a vague guess.

He then said sarcastically, "Unlike you, you can't even control the behavior of your own companions."

Link has no intention of engaging in a war of words.

But this question still needs to be answered.

He wasn't explaining it to Lani and the other three, but rather to his own team.

He said calmly, "During the team formation, Iris followed my instructions in everything. Now that the team formation has ended, whatever she does is her own business. I have no right to interfere, nor do I intend to."

"Yeah?"

Lanny scoffed, "Does that include her turning around and attacking you?"

"certainly."

Link shrugged, taking it for granted.

During the competition between the two districts, it's perfectly normal for local apprentices from the North District to attack new recruits from the Storm Sea in the South District.

Lani was speechless upon hearing this.

Her face, hidden beneath the veil, turned somewhat bluish.

This is because she was angry.

"I suggest you rest here for a while; the campsites are ready."

Link "kindly" offered a reminder, then ignored Lani and the other three, especially Isco, whose face was flushed and who was inexplicably angry, and led the team away.

After walking a few steps, the five men who had been silent while Link was speaking started telling jokes and teasing each other.

However, strange sounds such as "xiu", "bang", and "ah" are always heard.

It sounded exactly like a self-destructing bomb, the commotion of an explosion, and Isco's reaction to a sudden attack.

This is no joke at all.

This is a blatant mockery of Isco.

These five guys together are such a lively bunch.

Undoubtedly a person who enjoys himself.

Not long after they started walking, everyone's watches began to vibrate.

Link raised his wrist and saw that it was a "system notification".

The main quest 1, choosing a faction, has been completed. Factions were automatically assigned based on each player's overall performance over the first 24 hours.

To Link's surprise, he was assigned to the good guys, whose mission was to save the world.

I don't know how they assess overall performance.

Since entering this small world, Link has never stopped fighting and killing.

Not only were 10 "pureblood will" members eliminated, but so many flowers and plants were destroyed, creating two deep pits and countless small holes.

This guy is definitely a violent element, so how did he end up on the side of good and need to save the world?

"Which camp have you joined?"

Link looked at the faction channel that had been activated on his wristwatch and asked a question.

"For."

"The positive side"

"For."

The responses, though not uniform, conveyed the same meaning.

Link became curious and immediately sent a message to Iris Clark, asking: I'm on the affirmative side, what's your side?

Soon, Iris replied: The affirmative side is unhappy and wants to blow things up!

As always, it is full of destructive tendencies.

After thinking for a moment, Link also sent Jasmine a message: How are things going? Good? Which way?

Keep the wording concise; there's even room for punctuation.

Jasmine replied with two messages in a row.

First: Great! Report any major discoveries immediately!

Second: The affirmative side. Come quick, come quick, come quick!

Having spent so much time together, Link knows Jasmine very well and knows she's not the type to talk nonsense.

Since they dare to claim a major discovery and keep urging us to make progress, it must be a genuine major discovery.

It might even be related to the main quest!

Thinking about this, Link couldn't help but feel puzzled.

Based on the two location measurements, Jasmine basically did not move.

Was she just that lucky, randomly teleported to a crucial and important location?

If that's really the case, then that's incredibly lucky, like being blessed by a god of fortune.

Next time I draw a card, I'll definitely ask for a blessing.

Putting aside his distractions, Link gave the order: "Speed ​​up, meet up with Jasmine as soon as possible."

"Yes, boss."

The five gentlemen answered very uniformly this time.

Even the socially awkward trio started chanting the slogan, "We'll all listen to the boss."

The team, now consisting of nine people, immediately increased their pace.

With the formation of factions, this world immediately became even more lively.

Yesterday, only Link and "Pureblood Will" were fighting to the death, causing a huge commotion.

Aside from a few individuals with personal grudges who had some conflicts, most of the others were calmly searching for clues to the main quest or advancing the side quests.

The situation is completely different now.

The second main quest, Factional Conflict, encourages participants from different factions to fight and kill each other.

There are quite a few people who believe that even if they can't complete the third main quest, they can still achieve victory by killing all the opponents.

Sneak attack, ambush, counter-ambush, frontal assault, traps, bombing...

One after another, these events unfolded.

If it weren't for the fact that the nine-person team looked strong and well-equipped, and that they had a circular flying saucer and a reconnaissance golem to scout ahead, Link's idea of ​​reuniting with Molly as soon as possible would definitely have failed.

The long journey, which involved taking many detours to avoid the escalating conflict, finally ended after the "moon" replaced the "sun".

Under the clear, cold moonlight, Link looked at the vast river before him, somewhat bewildered and speechless.

He finally understood why Jasmine's location hadn't been moved.

Oh, so your path was blocked!

No wonder he hasn't moved for over a day.

Regardless of the past, the current problem is how to cross the river and reach the sandbar in the middle of the river.

"Come on, let's all think of a way to cross the river."

Link gathered his team members, leveraging their collective strengths to discuss and brainstorm ideas.

The five men had become familiar with Link's method over the past two months and immediately began to discuss it.

The newly joined trio of socially anxious individuals hesitated for a while before finally stepping out of their comfort zone and joining the discussion.

Link himself was also racking his brains.

Jasmine isn't stupid; she must have tried to leave, but ultimately failed, which is why she stayed on the sandbar.

Combining this with the first message Jasmine sent him yesterday, "Don't worry, stay safe for now," and "Don't be afraid of dangers and obstacles," I thought.

Clearly, the biggest obstacle is the river beast.

Therefore, this obstacle must be taken into account when formulating a plan to cross the river.

Link shared this with his teammates, who were having a lively discussion.

There is strength in numbers; that's no exaggeration.

The eight team members actually came up with a feasible solution.

After thinking it over, Link agreed with the plan and felt it was indeed feasible.

The group then took advantage of the "moonlight" to get moving.

Before long, everything was arranged.

Whether we can cross the river and successfully reunite with the enemy.

This is the moment to make a difference.

Link took out the essential tools for exploring this other world from his bag: a rope.

They connected the ropes that the team members had brought out one by one, tied them tightly, and bound them securely.

The ropes carried by the nine people totaled nearly 3 kilometers in length, more than enough to cross the sandbar.

Find a hill that rises nearly 100 meters above the water on the riverbank and secure one end of the rope tightly to the boulder.

Then, a circular flying saucer is tied to the other end of the rope, and the rope is used to fly across the river to reach the sandbar in the middle of the river.

The absence of trees on a sandbar in the middle of the river does not mean that the terrain is flat; there are still areas that rise above the water.

Previously, when this plan was agreed upon, the terrain on both sides was fully considered.

Link used his last private message of the day to send a message to Jasmine: "Tightly tie a rope around yourself at a high place and rappel down."

Jasmine had already noticed the round flying saucer hovering at low altitude, which was lying in the tunnel, observing the situation through the observation hole.

She had never seen this kind of magical artifact with Link, so she suspected that someone else might have discovered this place.

Upon receiving Link's message, she immediately felt relieved and quickly ran out of the tunnel towards the round flying saucer.

The wait wasn't long, but it was incredibly boring and truly agonizing.

After discovering the secret passage and the bronze gate, Jasmine even stopped her "pastoral" of digging tunnels.

They were afraid they might unearth something extraordinary, something even more sinister than the secret passage and the bronze gate.

If, at that time, one loses control of their aroused desires and goes astray, that would be disastrous.

So Jasmine had nothing to do all day and could only eagerly await Link's arrival.

Jasmine ran quickly to the landing circular flying saucer, untied the rope, and found a more secure-looking rock to tie it back together.

Then send a message: All secured, please wait!

Upon receiving the information, Link immediately instructed his team members to tighten the ropes.

As the leader of the team, you should know when to stay in the rear and when to charge ahead.

Now is the time for Link to set an example for the team.

He put on a pair of gloves, fastened a safety hook around his waist for easy removal, and moved towards the sandbar in the middle of the river by holding onto the rope.

Fortunately, even without deliberately training their bodies, the natural tempering of magic made the wizard apprentices' physical abilities far exceed those of ordinary people.

For Link, climbing more than 2000 meters in this manner was not tiring at all.

The only problem was the ferocious beasts that would occasionally leap out of the river, trying to bite him.

It resembles a crocodile, but is several times larger.

With its ferocious mouth and sharp teeth, its bite force must be incredibly strong.

If you are bitten by chance, even if the "Defender 3202" suit can defend against direct damage, the pain will still be considerable.

Fortunately, the rope was nearly 100 meters above the water, so no matter how much the beast struggled, it was to no avail.

After a series of close calls, Link successfully reached the sandbar in the middle of the river.

Jasmine had been standing guard by the rock. As soon as Link landed, she rushed over and hugged him tightly, her voice trembling with tears:

"Why are you so late?!"

(End of this chapter)