Chapter Ninety-Eight: Chains

Sea Bird saw that many players were far too confident, and cautioned them:

“According to the intelligence we have so far, the Kin-Eaters are headquartered in an underground base. They have built their stronghold beneath the earth, and it is extremely intricate. This was likely made possible by the construction rites of Hammer-aspect players.

There is another thing you must remember: the Kin-Eaters are exceptionally skilled at hiding themselves. When you act, be careful.

Though our intelligence is currently superior, this is still enemy territory, so safety must come first. If you encounter an enemy above your level, request support at once.”

Sea Bird did his best to keep everyone calm. Passion was a good thing, but they could not let anger cloud their judgment.

This was, in essence, no different from breaking into a player dungeon in the New Sun Game. Safety still had to be observed.

The others saw the look in Sea Bird’s eyes and realized that all of them had once lost to the Kin-Eaters. Even if ambushes had played a part, they still could not afford to underestimate their opponents.

Sea Bird went on:

“Unlike us, some of the Kin-Eaters possess a power of the Illusory Aspect, allowing them to conceal their presence so well that the game’s functions cannot detect them.

Unless we meet them head-on, it will be very hard to tell from the New Sun Game’s prompts whether they are players or not...

And you can see it yourselves: this food street is packed with people. There are simply too many of them. If we want to find the enemy, it will be very difficult to tell them apart.”

Difficult to distinguish. That was where the Kin-Eaters were dangerous.

They wielded the power of mist, slipping among human beings and dissolving their presence, assassins hidden within their own kind.

Dawn leaned back. In the Land of Faint Light, he had seen abilities like these before.

But for him, with the Morning Star’s search, finding these Kin-Eaters was not difficult at all.

The internal structure of the Kin-Eaters was strikingly distinct, with gray fangs of a peculiar shape growing inside their mouths.

All of this was recorded in the Book of Calamity.

Only by using the Morning Star’s search to lock onto those gray teeth could he identify the Kin-Eaters.

Sea Bird continued:

“The Kin-Eaters’ headquarters is underground, not far from the crowd.

We absolutely cannot allow them to slip into the masses. This operation will be an encirclement.”

Sea Bird explained the plan they had devised. They had long been prepared, and would launch a direct assault on the Kin-Eaters’ underground headquarters.

To ensure the safety of the other players, Sea Bird and the other high-level players would charge the underground base first.

At that point, some of the Kin-Eaters would begin to flee, trying to blend into the crowd.

If those Kin-Eaters succeeded in mingling with ordinary people, the situation would become extremely troublesome.

Their task was to form squads and intercept the enemies who broke out, stopping as many as they could.

As Dawn listened, he formed his own plan.

...

The moon had climbed high into the sky.

After the discussion ended, Dawn leaned against a pillar outside a gas station. This was one of the underground entrances to the Kin-Eaters’ headquarters.

To his surprise, the Kin-Eaters’ base had been built beneath a bustling commercial district.

If not for the investigation, this base would have been nearly impossible to discover.

The reason Dawn was stationed here was not because of any order, but mainly because of his own Morning Star.

He had already activated Morning Star several times in succession.

Using the White Dove’s Eye together with Morning Star, he had locked onto moving “treasures”!

Compared with experience, those things were far more important!

Within this player treasure trove, Dawn made every effort to use Morning Star to lock down the valuables.

Even if they were out of sight, he could still vaguely sense Morning Star’s position.

Through network intelligence, it was currently known that in the Kin-Eaters’ underground headquarters, Sea Bird was locked in fierce combat with a man in a white robe!

The other three were members of the Divine Craftsmen Guild, the Hundred Herbs Garden, and a small guild called Sea Ship. None of them were above level 10.

The three of them stood guard here, unwilling to act rashly, waiting for Dawn’s orders.

Although their levels were not far from his, they had nevertheless decisively chosen him as their leader.

By now, Dawn was already wearing the Mist-Walker’s Robe and holding the Debt-Collector Longblade.

They could feel that these pieces of equipment were extraordinary, on a completely different level from the gear they had bought from merchants.

The bespectacled young man from the Divine Craftsmen Guild asked, “Night Wanderer, should we go down? I heard that Sea Bird and the others have the upper hand now, and many players have rushed in. They’re beating the Kin-Eaters to a pulp. Won’t all the equipment end up in their hands then?”

All three of them were itching with impatience. Though they spoke of revenge, their true goal was, in the end, to follow a top-tier player and get their hands on some excellent equipment.

If all the gear was snatched away by other players, then they would have come for nothing.

No one wanted to make such a wasted trip.

Dawn shook his head.

“No need for now. Rushing in with the main force to grab equipment may just leave us empty-handed. The ones who escape may not be carrying little either.”

The three nodded. They would listen to the expert.

Dawn stared at the entrance. The reason he was not going down was simple: it was not because he was afraid.

It was because a treasure was being delivered right to his door.

Morning Star had locked onto a moving treasure, and that treasure was steadily rising from underground.

A thought flashed through Dawn’s mind as he gripped the Debt-Collector Longblade.

“Is it here...”

He thrust the longblade into the ground, and black runes began to spread across the surface.

Someone had come up from below!

“Damn it, to think we Kin-Eaters would be ambushed one day!”

A man in a black suit emerged from the alley with his men.

They opened the door and stepped out of the gas station, only to find four players waiting for them.

The three behind Dawn stepped back. This group surging up from below had as many as five people! They outnumbered them! And their levels were not low either!

Dawn looked at the enemy’s panel. It was the same panel as the suit-wearing man he had encountered before.

In an instant, the group recoiled!

When old enemies meet, their eyes blaze with fury!

At that moment, both Dawn and the suit-wearing man showed astonishment.

Dawn was astonished because Morning Star had locked onto the other man, which meant this treasure was far too easy to take.

The suit-wearing man was shocked because he had seen Dawn.

A bead of cold sweat slid down the suit-wearing man’s face. He forced out a sneer:

“So it’s you. I never thought I’d run into you in real life. What rotten luck.”

The man in the suit patted the follower behind him and cautiously stepped back.

“You’re a level 9 player. Aren’t you a Blade-aspect type? Here’s a chance to show off. Kill him while he’s above your level!”

His underling shook his head.

“Boss, I get you. I’m leaving first!”

The suit-wearing man’s subordinate did not even look back, and fled the way he came.

They could not possibly handle that Blade-aspect monster!

Beneath their feet, black runes glowed faintly, radiating a chill that seeped into the bone.

Dawn lightly drew the tip of his blade across the ground, striking a trace of black sparks as he murmured to himself.

Burial by Black Fire.

In an instant, black flames erupted from the runes, becoming a violently tearing inferno that shredded them to pieces!

The suit-wearing man and another level 9 player barely withstood the blow by relying on their health and movement skills.

Trying to run, are you...

Dawn looked at them. Unlike before, this time, the moment they saw him, their first instinct was to flee.

And this despite the fact that they outnumbered him.

That suit-wearing man was not weak; by relying on a movement skill, he had barely survived one Burial by Black Fire.

Dawn gave chase.

Then, all at once, a pitch-black chain flew out!

A sinister voice came up from underground.

“White Shadows, what are you running for?

Sea Bird and all his beasts are already being held down by the boss. Can’t even manage to cause a little chaos outside?”

The suit-wearing man coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“Prisoner, you, you...”

Thud!

Blood splashed everywhere. The chests of the two hostile players in front of Dawn were pierced in an instant, blood streaming down in torrents!

Dawn stopped and tightened his grip on the longblade. The one locked onto by Morning Star had arrived!

A scorching aura surged from the alley.

Dawn staggered back, almost unable to believe what he was seeing.

The chain resembled a dreadful bone serpent, smashing through the wall as it radiated searing heat.

He was almost certain that it was the Prison Hunter’s chain...

End of chapter.