Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Continuing the Search
Editor: Atlas Studios
Zong Shen’s face carried a smile.
To Favide, who survived the calamity, he looked like a remarkable savior.
"The lord you served has already fallen beneath the tusks of the Mutated Ghoul."
"My soldiers and I arrived a step too late."
"However, after a tough battle, we still managed to take down that stinking creature and avenged the poor lord."
"Now, are you willing to honor the will of the deceased and pledge allegiance to me?"
Zong Shen said straightforwardly.
Upon hearing this, Favide slowly stood up from the embrace of the Wolf Cavalry.
With a melancholic face, he glanced at the unlucky lord’s remains.
Not responding directly to Zong Shen, he instead walked slowly to the corpse’s side.
He bowed to Zong Shen and asked respectfully.
"Honorable Lord, thank you for saving my life."
"Before I vow my allegiance to you, may I use the rites of fire to prevent my former lord’s body from desecration?"
Zong Shen nodded and gestured a go-ahead.
This unfortunate body’s remains were already too gruesome to bear.
Even Zong Shen, with his incredibly strong nerves, found it hard to look directly, feeling nauseous the more he looked.
After obtaining Zong Shen’s consent,
Favide raised his Magic Staff and began chanting.
Two seconds later, a Small Fireball materialized.
It shot directly onto the corpse.
The flames roared intensely.
Turning the entire body into a fireball.
"Rest in peace, former lord!"
Favide bowed his head in silence.
Then, he turned and walked towards Zong Shen.
Kneeling on one knee, with one hand making a fist against his heart, and the other holding his Magic Staff against the ground.
"In the name of the God of Flames!"
"Fire Mage, Favide reporting to you!"
[Recruitment successful, default loyalty is 70]
After Favide swore allegiance, a system notification immediately appeared.
Zong Shen nodded and patted his shoulder.
"Get up, Favide, let’s continue exploring this sealed dungeon."
"After we’ve finished exploring, take me to your former lord’s territory. I believe others in the territory also need to be settled."
Zong Shen had his eye on the farmers in this unfortunate lord’s territory.
The territory is currently in a period of great development.
Farmers and soldiers are of utmost importance.
Favide stood up, nodding silently beside him.
At this moment Zong Shen came again to the unfortunate lord’s burning corpse.
This guy had hoarded quite a few good things from the left side of the dungeon.
Now that he was dead, what would happen to the things in his personal Storage Grid?
(Now, his territory is in an unclaimed state. You can declare occupation of the unclaimed territory to gain control of it. Afterward, you will be able to open the Territory Storage Grid and inherit the items in his personal Storage Grid.)
Zong Shen looked at the strategy prompt.
He understood.
Indeed, when a person dies, the lights go out.
No matter how much resources or treasures you acquire, if you accidentally died, everything will become someone else’s wedding clothes.
Zong Shen deeply agreed with this.
Although he often acted personally, Zong Shen never did things without assurance.
It seemed necessary to visit his territory once the task was completed.
Zong Shen moved his gaze away and turned to walk towards the altar.
There, Zong Shen found the items he needed, the two legs of Demon Hunter Otelan Yu Feng.
The entire Prayer Room was filled with a scorched stench of burning.
The orange-red glare of fire illuminated the entire Prayer Room.
Carrying a desolate feeling after death.
Zong Shen walked up to the altar.
His gaze swept over these two quest items.
[Otelan Yu Feng’s Left Lower Limb]
[Left lower limb defiled by the Blood-Burning Demon Desecration Ceremony, one of the quest items]
[Otelan Yu Feng’s Right Lower Limb]
[Right lower limb defiled by the Blood-Burning Demon Desecration Ceremony, one of the quest items]
Without looking further, after confirming they were correct, he waved his hand to store them into the Storage Grid.
Now with six body parts, he had collected five.
Only one head remained to finally complete the task.
He wondered what kind of monster would guard the final body part.
Zong Shen looked at the Rune Iron Gate.
Behind the gate was the only remaining route that could still be explored in the dungeon.
With a flick of his hand, he took out the [Key of the Rune Iron Gate] obtained from the Mutated Ghoul.
"Let’s go, to the next journey."
He signaled to his soldiers.
Zong Shen walked directly to the gate, inserting the key into the keyhole.
The runes on the entire gate suddenly lit up.
He gently turned the key clockwise in a circle.
"Click!"
After a soft sound, the Rune Gate slowly opened.
Behind the gate seemed to belong to the living quarters of the dungeon.
There was also a wide corridor here.
The walls no longer bore those garish, terrifying graffiti.
It looked much cleaner.
However, on the ground, there was a dark red drag mark extending into the deepest part of the corridor.
"Is there any treasure here?"
Zong Shen, as usual, started searching for treasures.
(There is a Black Iron Treasure Chest under the bed in the fourth room on your right front; scattered equipment in the fifth room on the left front, and some scattered materials in the eighth room.)
In an instant, Zong Shen knew of all the treasures in this corridor as if he were following a strategy guide in a game, although it couldn’t directly accelerate the development of Zong Shen Territory.
But it could save a lot of time, while also gaining many extra treasures.
Following the strategy prompt, Zong Shen found the Black Iron Treasure Chest.
With practiced ease, he chose [Open]
[Successfully opened the Black Iron Treasure Chest]
[Basic-Level Fertile Land Construction Map (10x10) ×1]
[Wheat Seeds ×100]
[Simple Leather Armor Manufacturing Blueprint ×1]
[Basic Fire Rune ×1]
Four rewards were collected by Zong Shen.
He disassembled the treasure chest into 10 iron.
This time’s rewards included the Basic-Level Fertile Land Construction Map and wheat seeds.
Although hunting and exploration could currently meet food needs.
For sustainable development, farming still needed to begin as soon as possible.
After collecting the rewards, Zong Shen wasn’t in a hurry to check them.
Except for items like equipment that could immediately increase combat power, other things could wait until after this exploration to be checked in detail.
After opening the treasure chest.
Zong Shen then went to the room with scattered equipment.
Here seemed to be a small-sized equipment store.
But it was clearly looted during the dungeon’s chaos.
The original weapon racks were empty.
Only a few pieces of equipment scattered on the ground.
Zong Shen beckoned with his hand, and the equipment was stored in his Storage Grid.
Among them were four white-quality short swords.
[Azshara’s Standard Short Sword]
Also a round shield made of green vine thorns, green quality.
Refined Level equipment.
[Thorny Round Shield]
It just right to replace the near-collapsed [Sunken Kite Shield].
Zong Shen took out the Thorny Round Shield and began checking its attributes.