Chapter 125: The Method Actor

"Look! It seems they've pulled too many mobs!"

After maneuvering for quite a while, the seven of them had finally closed in on their target without alerting the enemy. The situation before them appeared highly favorable.

The five players opposite them had drawn seven or eight murlocs at once and were in a state of panic. The male priest in the lead was particularly clumsy; he was struck in the backside by a murloc hunter's arrow and let out a howl of pain.

The group immediately exchanged looks of disdain.

"Perfect chance. I'll go up and strike up a conversation. You guys get your spells and weapons ready. When the time comes, remember to draw more murlocs over—they won't be able to escape," the dwarf warrior leading the team commanded in the party channel. The others nodded in unison.

How rare! Who would have thought we'd run into players in a place like this! Ha, as long as we kill these five, today's mission will be complete, and we’ll get a nice reward when we return.

The dwarf warrior gloated inwardly, taking a few quick steps forward. He cleared his throat and shouted to the group, "Hey friends, need a hand?"

He addressed Dai Guang, as he was clearly the most boisterous and formidable-looking member of the party.

"Need one? We desperately need one! You’re a lifesaver, brother! Come over, quickly!"

As Dai Guang fought for his life against the "ferocious" murlocs, he shouted back at the dwarf warrior with an urgent tone, as if he were on the verge of collapse.

The dwarf warrior smirked, thinking to himself, *What a moron. Just wait, I'll show you exactly what kind of "lifesaver" I am.*

As he approached, the dwarf warrior issued orders in the party channel. His six teammates closed in calmly, eyes fixed on the murlocs, though their peripheral vision remained glued to the five players.

"Tsk, tsk... such beautiful girls, what a waste," they thought, swallowing hard as they drew closer.

Just then, Dai Guang, who had been "scrambling" to deal with the murlocs, suddenly turned his head. Pointing his iron hammer behind the group, he shouted in shock, "Holy crap! Look at the size of that crab!"

The dwarf warrior and his teammates paused, instinctively turning their heads to look behind them: *What? What crab?*

When they saw the empty lakeshore, their hearts sank. But by the time they realized the ruse, it was already too late.

As they whipped their heads back, they were met with a point-blank Magic Missile from A-Kui!

"Zap! Zap! Zap!"

The three missiles landed squarely on the dwarf warrior’s face, and as luck would have it, they triggered the special effect of the Burst Staff!

A burst of sparks erupted from the dwarf warrior, rapidly expanding into a ring of fire. Upon touching his nearby teammates, it detonated instantly. Brilliant sparks scattered with a series of "bangs," leaping onto the players further away.

The others didn't stand idle. Bai Keke’s little yellow cat pounced into the crowd and detonated immediately.

Dai Guang and Bai Keke moved in perfect sync, flicking their wrists to cast "Bane" on the closest dwarf warrior and the other monk player.

In an instant, "thunder and lightning" erupted as various spell effects bloomed at once. The dwarf warrior’s party was completely stunned. By the time they tried to organize a counterattack, they realized their members were already at critical health, and the priest and mage in the backline had somehow already been taken out.

"Damn it! I was trying to help you, and you guys engage in malicious PK!" The enemy's firepower was far beyond their expectations. The dwarf warrior, still not giving up, roared while feigning innocence.

Lu Kuan and his team ignored him. Since the conflict had already broken out and they hadn't received any system notifications regarding malicious PK, it was clear that the other party were participants in the opposing mission.

So, the dwarf warrior was met with Qing Yi, who rushed forward. Her appearance was stunning, but her expression was cold as ice. She slammed her shield directly into the dwarf warrior’s face.

Everyone executed Lu Kuan’s orders perfectly. Without wasting words, they unleashed full firepower. In less than 30 seconds, all seven members of the opposing team were wiped out.

"I’ll curse your ancestors! Just you wait, don't let me run into you again... ah!"

The dwarf warrior cursed viciously before he died, but before he could finish, Lu Kuan silenced him with an arrow through the throat.

"Moron."

Lu Kuan shook his head and said to his teammates, "Quick, loot their bodies. In confrontation missions, the drop rate is quite high."

Lu Kuan didn't need to remind them; A-Kui and Dai Guang had already started rummaging through the bodies.

"Ha, got one! Green-quality shoulder guards!"

"I found something too, haha! A blue-quality cloak!"

The group continued to make gains. Dai Guang, in particular, managed to loot a fine-quality cloak from under a mage's corpse!

"It adds intelligence and spell damage," Dai Guang said, checking the cloak's stats before looking up at Lu Kuan.

Lu Kuan smiled. "Then give it to A-Kui. Your and Keke’s main stat is 'Intuition,' so intelligence isn't much use to you."

The others had no objections. Dai Guang personally handed the cloak to the female mage. A-Kui accepted it and thanked everyone with a smile.

"Don't mention it," Dai Guang said, scratching the back of his head with a goofy grin that made the other two girls giggle.

The remaining three pieces of common green gear were quickly divided up.

"Did you guys get a system notification? I got 35 reputation points for killing them," Bai Keke said, checking her combat log with a puzzled expression.

The others checked theirs and sure enough, it was true—5 reputation points per kill. Seven people equaled 35 points, which was equivalent to the reward for a simple minor quest.

"No wonder these people were harassing us so desperately..."

Dai Guang realized with a start. Remembering something, he asked Lu Kuan, "By the way, since they are on the murloc side, will this have a big impact on us at Clear Water Village?"

Lu Kuan nodded. "Definitely. This is a series of quests. The final step is the most important one, and the rewards will surely be the best. If these people's activities lead to the murlocs growing stronger, causing that final step to fail..."

"If the quest fails, that big final reward goes down the drain," Dai Guang finished, furrowing his brow.

Hearing Lu Kuan say this, they all realized the severity of the situation. If they worked hard for days only to fail at the last hurdle, it would be a huge shame.

"Don't worry. Let's finish the tasks at hand first," Lu Kuan thought for a moment and said lightly. "I'll post on the forums in a bit to give others a heads-up. There can't be many players on the murloc side. As long as we stick together, it shouldn't be a problem."

The group agreed that this was their only option.

Soon, Lu Kuan’s team completed their mission and returned to Clear Water Village. Lu Kuan accepted the follow-up quests and shared them with the group. He told Dai Guang and the three girls to wait a moment while he logged off to check the forums.