Chapter Thirteen: Conversation

In the small town, four individuals accompanied by a rabbit-eared girl wandered about, hoping to find someone extraordinary and see if they could gain anything from the encounter.

Ding Xiang was even willing to “sacrifice” his charm to glean some information from the rabbit princess, but to his surprise, this usually obedient little girl was exceptionally tight-lipped at the crucial moment, revealing not so much as a shred of information about the Rabbit Kingdom or the Red Heart Castle.

With no breakthrough in sight, the group decided to search for Pinocchio, hoping to meet the carpenter who created him. Yet before they could find him, someone came knocking on their door first.

“Good afternoon, everyone. I am Aukodin of the Myth Squad!”

Aukodin, sporting a scruffy beard, greeted the group with a broad smile, far less arrogant than when he first entered this world.

His arrival was quite unexpected for the group.

After all, they had seen the four members of Myth disappear into the mist with their own eyes, and now, suddenly, Aukodin appeared. They couldn’t help but suspect this might be a trap set by the mist—or that the Myth team had been wiped out and turned into servants of the mist.

Unaware of their suspicions, Aukodin tried his best to show friendliness, hoping to make amends for the earlier awkwardness.

“It’s already noon. How about we find a place to sit and have a chat?”

Ding Xiang exchanged glances with Murong Xun and nodded in agreement; they all wanted to know what the other party was up to.

“There’s a tavern just over there. Let’s go there—it’s a good chance to grab a bite.”

Aukodin laughed heartily.

However, the more generous and carefree he appeared, the more wary Ding Xiang and the others became.

Even the burly Zhong felt something was off. He knew better than to eat the local fare here, yet Aukodin kept insisting on treating them and having food—what was his real intention?

Aukodin, oblivious to their thoughts, simply wanted to express goodwill in the only way he knew—by sharing a meal.

Seeing Ding Xiang nod in agreement, he was overjoyed and eagerly led the way, paying no attention to the exchanged glances between Ding Xiang and Murong Xun or the suspicious looks from Ye Cangyi and Zhong.

He was confident that by taking the initiative, he had them all in hand and that things would proceed smoothly.

Though he had once underestimated their strength, now that their team’s abilities were restricted, he realized Ye Cangyi was purely a melee fighter and could still be effective. That was enough—they only needed a few to hold the front line.

“Honored guests, may I take your order?”

As the group settled in, a heavily made-up waitress, wearing cheap perfume, approached.

“Bring us all your signature dishes,” Aukodin said casually, uninterested in the waitress’s affected charm.

“Right away, honored guests!” she replied, delighted by the prospect of such a big order.

While waiting for the dishes, the group sat silently, all waiting for Aukodin to speak, eager to know what he was really after.

But Aukodin toyed with his cup, showing no hurry to start the conversation.

As the leader of Myth, he thought it fitting to maintain a dignified demeanor, not seeming desperate or eager.

After the waitress left, she soon returned with plates of ready-to-eat dishes and some pre-meal desserts. Though it was just a small town, it surprisingly offered everything one might expect.

“Please, everyone, help yourselves!”

Noticing none of them moved to eat, Aukodin thought they were waiting for him to start and urged them again.

To his surprise, no one touched the food.

“Hm?”

His brow furrowed.

What did this mean?

“What’s the meaning of this?” he asked, displeased. Was this some sort of warning?

“It’s what you mean,” Ding Xiang said coldly.

“I don’t care if you are the real Aukodin or a servant of the mist, but your intentions toward us are ill. I don’t think this meal is going to happen!”

Seeing Aukodin simply urging them to eat without mentioning anything else raised Ding Xiang’s suspicions further. Now, he was done pretending to be polite.

“What do you mean?” Aukodin asked, confused.

“Is it wrong for me to treat you to a meal?” he retorted.

“Hmph!” Ding Xiang snorted. Though Aukodin was the Myth leader, if he meant harm, there was no need for courtesy.

The gap between first and second tier was vast, but when someone wanted to kill you, fear was no longer an option.

“You want to treat us? Take a look at what’s on the table first!”

The group rose together.

Aukodin looked at the lavish spread before him, initially unaware.

Out here, as players, tasting various local dishes while running dungeons was common, so he had no other thoughts.

But given their strong reaction and pointed warning, he couldn’t ignore their unease.

When he read the descriptions of the food, a chill ran straight to his head.

He had nearly picked up his chopsticks to eat.

Relieved, he thought of the consequences had he done so.

“You’ve misunderstood!” Aukodin said softly, not wanting to make a scene but offering a quiet apology.

“I truly mean no harm. How about this—we move somewhere else to talk?”

Murong Xun and the others had no objections; they wanted to see what tricks he might try next.

After slapping a gold coin on the table, Aukodin ignored the staff’s reaction and led the way outside.

He was furious—almost falling into a trap like that was infuriating.

In all their time hunting gods, they had never experienced anything like this.

Even food had to be approached with caution—what was going on?

They moved to a secluded spot, entering a dilapidated house.

“All right, now can you tell us what this is about?” Ding Xiang’s tone was unfriendly.

Aukodin felt guilty but didn’t mind.

“We discovered the Sky-reaching Vine. Interested in working together on a big job?”

Aukodin dropped the bombshell.

“The Sky-reaching Vine?” The group was surprised.

Only Ye Cangyi remained skeptical.

“Myth Squad always works alone and never cooperates on treasure hunts. You’re not the real Aukodin. Who are you, and what do you want?”

Aukodin was dumbfounded. How could he prove his identity?

“You can’t answer, huh? First, you tried every trick to get us to eat the local food, and now you’re tempting us with the Sky-reaching Vine,” Ye Cangyi accused.

“I think you’re a servant of the mist, with ulterior motives. Isn’t the Sky-reaching Vine supposed to grow at the forest’s center, beyond the mist?”

“How do you know that?” Aukodin was genuinely surprised.

If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn’t have known it was there.

“How do I know?” Ye Cangyi sneered.

“I’m no fool—not stupid. This is a trap, isn’t it? You want to lure us into the mist, where we’ll suffer from no supplies and continuous damage. Who can withstand that?”

Aukodin was speechless. Though a guess, Ye Cangyi’s deduction was spot on.

“So what if the Sky-reaching Vine is at the center of the mist?” Ding Xiang looked at him.

“Myth Squad doesn’t care about anything but gods. How could you possibly be interested in this?”

“Tell us the truth!” Aukodin sighed.

“We went to the forest’s core, saw the Sky-reaching Vine, and met our target there—a god.”

“Couldn’t handle it?” Ding Xiang immediately saw the key issue.

“Yes,” Aukodin admitted reluctantly.

“That god wears a wolf-skin cloak that grants immunity to all magical and energy attacks. Our divine powers are useless against her, and physical attacks aren’t our specialty.”

“You want us to help you fight a god?” Ding Xiang gave him a look as if he were joking.

“We’re just first-tier rookies. There’s even a zero-tier newbie in our group. If you can’t handle it, what can we do?”

“No, you can!” Aukodin said calmly.

“We need a frontline to draw attacks and firepower, and someone among you fits that role. Also, if possible, I want to buy a batch of potions from you—three times the price of those in the Magic Tower!”

In this dungeon world, price gouging was frowned upon, so he boldly offered triple the usual price.

Still, that didn’t guarantee anyone would sell to him.

That was why he had come.

Even if cooperation was impossible, at least he wanted to purchase potions from them.

At the mention of potions, Ding Xiang and the others looked toward Murong Xun.

After all, when they first introduced themselves, Murong Xun had said he was an alchemist.

Following their gaze, Aukodin also shifted his eyes to Murong Xun.

He noticed the man wasn’t even zero-tier, which he deduced was due to their circumstances—forced to switch worlds and come to this high-level place.

But now that potions were mentioned, everyone looked at Murong Xun. Were they implying he had potions on hand?