Chapter 37

Chapter 37: World Quest

As everyone knows, the phrase "presumptuous request" is rarely followed by anything good. Unlike "heaven-sent great responsibility," which is merely an excuse for one's own misfortune, the former usually refers to troublesome matters that have nothing to do with the person involved but will bring plenty of headaches once they are "requested" to handle them.

If the person sitting here were Tan Mo, he would likely have gotten up and left the moment the other party finished speaking, or immediately started plotting how to strike first before being dragged into trouble, finding some way to pull the other party down with him...

However, Mo Tan at this moment did not have such thoughts. In fact, quite the opposite—he was very eager to do something for the Forest Spirit Merchant Caravan, which had just helped him solve a major problem. So he immediately assumed an attentive posture and said, "Please, go ahead~"

Meanwhile, Yaya beside him was frowning and playing with her fingers, muttering under her breath, "Un-woof-orthy... request? Un-woof-y request?"

It seemed that Broken Branch Elder had good reason not to mind her tagging along—this girl's big, watery eyes were already starting to look dizzy, as if spiraling into confusion.

"Many years ago, our clan made an agreement with a group of Transcendent Beings." Broken Branch Elder gently stroked his chive-like long beard and spoke in the Forest Spirit's uniquely sharp voice, low and deliberate: "Ten thousand years of time—even for us Forest Spirits, a long-lived race with lifespans nearly equal to the Elves—is still long enough to feel like a story."

Mo Tan nodded, his gaze focused and clear.

"Ten-woof years... huh?" Yaya mumbled vaguely under her breath.

Mo Tan: "..."

"But not long ago, those beings who had disappeared for who knows how many years suddenly contacted us." Broken Branch Elder was not disturbed by the dog-like sounds (…) and continued while fiddling with the chive-like beard on his chin: "They demanded that our clan fulfill our promise, and the sooner the better."

"So the purpose of this merchant caravan is actually..." Mo Tan was sharp-witted and had already formed some basic associations from what he had heard.

He had previously heard Meg mention that the Forest Spirit race rarely ventured outside the forests they inhabited. Their usual trade with other races followed fixed channels and routes, and it was almost unheard of for them to organize a long-distance merchant caravan.

So, while it wasn't exactly big news, this matter had genuinely puzzled that drunkard for quite some time.

And now, the answer seemed to be surfacing...

"Woof!" Yaya tugged at Mo Tan's sleeve, her expression suddenly becoming very excited: "Ten-woof years!"

This girl was practically a mood killer!

Perhaps because he often interacted with small animals, Mo Tan subconsciously reached out and patted Yaya on the head, then gently pinched her ear, signaling the dog-eared girl to quiet down for a moment.

Then...

Sorry, but there were no sensitive spots, blushing, or any such tropes. Yaya simply shrank her neck obediently and really did quiet down.

"Well then, let us continue." Seeing that Mo Tan's 'True Tranquil Soothing' was quite effective, Broken Branch Elder continued, "As you might have guessed, our purpose this time is to fulfill that ancient agreement. The Forest Spirits have always been a race that keeps their word; even a favor from ten thousand years ago is still firmly rooted in our memory."

Hmm... I suppose that's roughly equivalent to 'engraved in the heart'...

"But the path to fulfilling this mission has not been smooth." Broken Branch suddenly turned solemn (Mo Tan guessed), and said in a deep voice, "Because the matter is of great importance, in order to confuse those evil ones, our clan dispatched twenty-one caravans simultaneously, varying in both route and scale, yet every single one was still targeted."

Mo Tan frowned slightly. "Evil ones? Are you referring to... those who attacked the caravan last time?"

"They are only a part of it." Broken Branch shook his head. "Some time ago, an unknown force suddenly spread rumors across the entire continent, claiming that our clan was about to escort a treasure to a certain location. But by then, the plan could no longer be delayed. We had no choice but to set out within the allotted time, hastily devising this method of creating confusion."

Mo Tan had no intention of digging deeper; he simply nodded gently. "What can I do to help you?"

"The caravan will set out again soon." Broken Branch said in a low voice, "But no one can guarantee that those greedy Chaos-aligned and Evil-aligned individuals won't come knocking again. So I would like to ask you to safeguard this..."

Crack!

At this point, the Forest Spirit elder actually snapped off his own right arm and handed it toward Mo Tan.

What's going on? Driven by emotion to self-mutilate? Or is this arm, barely thicker than a wheat stalk, some legendary millennium-old 'Qilin Arm'?

"Huh?" Even though the latter had a fairly strong capacity for acceptance, he was still a bit stunned for a moment. "I don't quite understand."

"It would be strange if I, named 'Broken Branch,' had all my limbs intact." The Forest Spirit elder chuckled softly, raising his remaining left 'hand' to lightly brush the wheat stalk in front of Mo Tan. "It's just a little illusion."

A distorted curtain of light rippled before Mo Tan's eyes, and then he heard Yaya, who had been trying hard to stay calm beside him, let out a startled 'Woof!'

"Woof-shaped!!"

After the disguise faded, that 'broken arm' had completely transformed into something else. It looked like a prismatic pure white crystal, faintly emitting four colors: azure, emerald, crimson, and pale gold. Upon closer inspection, countless threads could be seen flowing within it.

"I hope you can temporarily safeguard this item for a few days." Broken Branch raised the crystal in front of Mo Tan and said solemnly, "Whether from what I have seen with my own eyes or the feedback from the Mother Tree, it tells me that you are worthy of trust."

At this moment, Mo Tan was certainly worthy of trust, and he knew it well. Moreover, thinking back, the scene of him redeeming the young lady earlier must have been witnessed by Broken Branch Elder, and the so-called feedback from the Mother Tree might very well be related to his 'Lawful Good' alignment.

But he still didn't rashly take it...

"Thank you for your trust," Mo Tan said somewhat awkwardly. "But my strength may not be enough to complete this task. To be honest, even those sand goblins we encountered last time could chop me up if there were just a few more of them, so..."

Unexpectedly, the Broken Branch Elder shook his head. "Those villains should only be targeting our Forest Spirit Merchant Caravan, so there's no reason for them to come after you. And if this contracted item isn't in our hands, they might not go so far as to hunt you down completely, after all, Mr. Meg and his men are not weak."

"In other words," Mo Tan said thoughtfully, "this way, you'll also be much safer?"

"Exactly."

"Alright." Mo Tan finally agreed, taking the crystal prism that clearly had an impressive origin from before him, and said solemnly, "I will do my best to protect it."

This was only in the game; if it were in reality, Mo Tan probably wouldn't dare accept this thing right now. Not for any other reason, but mainly to guard against himself...

After all, he was fully capable of accidentally triggering a personality switch and slicing up or selling off something entrusted to him.

[Eternal Crystal]

Unique Quest Item, Equipment

Equipment Restriction: ???

Attributes: ???

Trait: Core Power Source

[Note: In most cases, this thing is utterly useless, even too heavy to use for lighting.]

In short—though unclear, it felt impressive.

Then a system prompt rang in Mo Tan's ears.

[You have triggered the World Quest: Escort the Eternal Crystal. Quest Reward: None; Failure Penalty: World Collapse +3%]

???

Mo Tan suddenly felt a weight on his shoulders!

The fact that the quest reward was nothing didn't matter...

But what the hell was this "World Collapse"?

He was just taking a quest, helping someone out—how did the event level suddenly escalate to such a height!?

"Someone will come to pick you up in three days," the Broken Branch Elder nodded to Mo Tan. "Our caravan and Captain Meg's team will set off first."

Mo Tan nodded stiffly, momentarily at a loss for words.

After a few more pleasantries, the Broken Branch Elder and his two attendants took their leave, and Mo Tan, under Yaya's curious gaze, stowed the weighty Eternal Crystal into his pack.

Though the latter was a bit disappointed that the "shiny thing was gone," she wasn't too surprised, since spatial magic items didn't seem particularly rare in this world.

After briefly comforting the dog-eared girl, Mo Tan left the Adventurer's Guild alone. Although she had a considerable liking for him, Mo Tan had no intention of making her his bound companion. First, he was worried that associating with Yaya now might put her in danger; after all, even though Broken Branch said this commission was relatively safe, the large-scale attack earlier still left him shaken.

Second, he planned to switch accounts to check on the Fenrir Squad's situation and was eager to find a secluded place to log off...

Looking at it from another angle, being offline actually has a huge advantage in protecting that so-called Eternal Crystal.

However, a small incident occurred along the way.

Meg, having learned that Mo Tan could no longer travel with the caravan for some reason, intercepted him on the road. After urging Mo Tan to work hard on improving his strength and adventurer rank, and suggesting that once he was a bit stronger, he should seriously consider joining the Manticore Mercenary Company, he then shoved an item into his hands.

[Safe Escape Device Version 2714]

One-time consumable

Use: Propels you to 'safety'.

[Note: The latest escape device from the Goblin Engineering Alliance, allowing you to quickly flee danger while enjoying a refreshing, drifting journey. Its safety is absolutely guaranteed. PS: Don't trust it.]

To be fair, if it weren't for that last added note, Mo Tan felt he would have been much more grateful to this straightforward dwarf warrior.

The sky was growing dark.

...

[Your mental connection has been detected. Synchronizing personal information...]

[Connection complete. Loading character data...]

[Welcome back, True Neutral Hei Fan. About to load into Innocent Realm. Good night.]

When Mo Tan appeared in front of the Fenrir Squad's base, night had already fallen on the Innocent Continent. In the real world, it was rare to see the vast starry sky interwoven with the heavens into a magnificent spectacle, using the instant of their burning lives to illuminate a land that, for them, lay in a distant future...

But even though he wanted to linger a bit longer, Mo Tan, after logging in, still hurried to the military camp. After all, he was keenly aware that he could be kicked offline at any moment, and he didn't even know which 'self' would be responsible...

Some of his thoughts from the day had left him unsettled.

"Yo!" A crisp voice interrupted his increasingly ominous train of thought. Yinna, the sharpest-eyed member of the squad, spotted Mo Tan first and immediately shouted at the top of her lungs, "Our commander's here!"

Ned, bare-chested with a thick roll of gauze wrapped around his waist, shot her a glare, then smiled at the approaching Mo Tan. "You didn't really have to come. We're resting for the next couple of days."

"I was a bit worried about everyone," Mo Tan shrugged. "So I came to check in."

Salazar, his arm tightly bound in a splint, shook his head. Leaning against a log by the campfire, he gave Mo Tan a rather crooked smile. "Just a minor injury. Nothing serious."

"Hey!" Klab, wrapped up in bandages almost like a dumpling, called out in dissatisfaction. "There's someone seriously injured over here! Hei Fan, come help!"

Futaba, who seemed to have been online all night, stood beside Yinna and snorted lightly. "Don't mind that big guy. He's faking it. He was just trying to trick me into giving him a massage earlier, saying he needed to loosen up his muscles and joints."

"And then~" Mo Tan had completely relaxed by now, asking with a grin, "You didn't go along with it?"

"Nope," Yinna giggled. "Little sister Futaba had Salazar teach her some joint locks, and then she helped Klab loosen up his muscles and bones."

The orc, unable to keep up the act, sat up with a groan and sighed deeply. "I almost had my hair burned off by a fireball."

Everyone burst into a lighthearted, hearty laugh.

The most effective way to bond between people is undoubtedly to go through a major crisis together and emerge on the other side...

"Rest well for two days. I've already applied for leave for everyone," Ned said, then ducked into the tent and pulled out a small pouch. "And this time, we've done a decent job, so the higher-ups gave us a bonus!"

"Hey! Why didn't you say something so important earlier?"

"Hei Fan hasn't arrived yet, and I wanted to hold onto it a little longer..."

"Tsk tsk, Captain, you're not being fair."

"Get lost! How many times have you mooched drinks off me already!"

"Ah~ waiting specially for Hei Fan to come back~ how romantic~"

"Yinna, do you believe I can still hit you even with my injuries?"

"Sister Futaba, save me!"

"No way. Don't you think the Captain looks cute when he's embarrassed..."

"You guys are going too far!!"

...

At the edge of Fire Fang Territory, not far from Layered Rock City, somewhere.

"Lord Karon! We can prepare to withdraw. The Chieftain says we must bring that bastard back as soon as possible!"

"What's the rush..." The orc officer responsible for guarding and escorting a certain fugitive gazed up at the starry sky and said softly, "I'm waiting for that guy to come. He will come. I can feel it. Within these few days, soon, very soon..."

The heavy Fang War Axe crashed to the ground, and his blood-red eyes were filled with venom and hatred...

"Only blood... can wash away..."

A thunderous war cry exploded, nearly shattering the eardrums of the messenger guard.

"The disgrace!!"

Chapter 37: The End