World Quest

As everyone knew, the words "an unreasonable request" were usually followed by nothing good. Unlike "a great responsibility from heaven," an excuse that could only be used when one was personally out of luck, the former usually referred to some troublesome mess that had originally had nothing to do with the person involved but would cause them no end of trouble once they were "asked" to help.!

If Tan Mo had been the one sitting there, he probably would have gotten up and walked away the moment the other party finished speaking. Or he would have immediately started calculating how to strike first and cause trouble before they could drag him into their pit...

Mo Tan, however, had no such thoughts at this moment. Quite the opposite, in fact. He very much wanted to do something for the Sylph Caravan, which had just helped him resolve a major problem, so he immediately put on an attentive expression. "Go ahead~"

Beside him, Yaya played with her fingers with a worried look, muttering, "Not-dog... request? No-dog request?"

It seemed Elder Broken Branch had not minded her coming along, and there had indeed been a reason for it. A spiral had already begun forming in the girl's watery eyes.

"Many years ago, my people made an agreement with a group of transcendent beings." Elder Broken Branch gently stroked his long beard, which resembled chives, and spoke in the sharp, distinctive voice of a sylph. "Ten thousand years is an incredibly long time for us, even though sylphs are long-lived races whose lifespans are nearly equal to those of elves. It feels almost like a story."

Mo Tan nodded, his gaze focused and clear.

"Ten thousan... woof?" Yaya mumbled indistinctly.

Mo Tan: "..."

"But some time ago, those beings, who had already vanished for who knew how many years, suddenly contacted us." Elder Broken Branch was not distracted by the barking (...). He merely toyed with the chives on his chin as he continued. "They wanted my people to fulfill our promise, and the sooner, the better."

"So the purpose of this caravan is actually..." Mo Tan was clever. By this point, he had already made a few basic connections.

He had once heard Mag say that the sylphs rarely ventured beyond the forest where they lived. Their trade with other races usually followed fixed channels and routes, and he had almost never heard of them organizing long-distance caravans.

So although it could not exactly be called major news, this matter had nevertheless left that drunken dwarf puzzled for quite some time.

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

"Woof!" Yaya tugged on Mo Tan's sleeve, her expression suddenly turning excited. "Ten thousand years ago!"

This girl was practically an atmosphere killer!

Perhaps because he often cared for small animals, Mo Tan instinctively reached out and patted Yaya on the head. He then pinched her ear, signaling for the dog girl to keep quiet for a while.

And then...

Unfortunately, there was no setting involving sensitive areas or blushing. Yaya merely obediently shrank her neck and actually quieted down.

"Very well, then let us continue." Seeing that Mo Tan's "true? peaceful soothing" had worked rather well, Elder Broken Branch continued. "As you have guessed, our purpose this time is to fulfill that agreement from the past. Sylphs have always been a race that keeps its promises. Even if the favor was granted ten thousand years ago, my people have always remembered it at our roots."

Hmm... That probably meant something similar to "engraved in our hearts"...

"But the journey to complete our mission has not gone smoothly." Broken Branch suddenly became solemn (or so Mo Tan guessed) and said in a deep voice, "Because this matter is of great importance, my people dispatched twenty-one caravans at the same time in order to mislead those villains. Their routes and sizes were all different, but they were still all watched."

Mo Tan frowned slightly. "Villains? Are you referring to the group that attacked the caravan?"

"They are only one part of it." Broken Branch shook his head. "Some time ago, an unknown faction suddenly spread rumors throughout the continent, claiming that our people would soon escort a treasure to a certain place. But the plan could no longer be delayed, so we had no choice but to begin the journey at the appointed time and hastily came up with this method of confusing the enemy."

Mo Tan had no intention of digging into the details. He merely nodded lightly. "What can I do to help you?"

"The caravan will soon be setting out again." Broken Branch lowered his voice. "But no one can guarantee that those greedy chaotic and evil people will not come looking for us again. So I would like to ask you to keep this for me..."

Crack!

At this point, the sylph elder suddenly snapped off his own right arm and held it out toward Mo Tan.

What was going on? Had he mutilated himself in the heat of the moment? Or was that arm, only slightly thicker than a stalk of wheat, the legendary thousand-year qilin arm?

"Uh?" Even with his impressive ability to accept strange things, Mo Tan was still stunned for a moment. "I do not really understand."

"It would be strange if someone called 'Broken Branch' had all four limbs intact." The sylph elder chuckled. He raised his remaining left "hand" and lightly swept it across the wheat-stalk-like arm before Mo Tan's eyes. "It is merely a little illusion."

A distorted curtain of light rippled before Mo Tan. Immediately afterward, Yaya, who had been trying her best to behave, let out a startled "Awooo!"

"It changed shape!!"

After the disguise faded, the "severed arm" had completely transformed into something else. It looked like a prism-shaped crystal of pure white, faintly radiating blue, emerald-green, scarlet, and pale-gold light. On closer inspection, countless lines could be seen moving through it.

"I hope you can keep this for a few days." Broken Branch raised the crystal before Mo Tan and said solemnly, "Whether it was what I saw with my own eyes or the feedback from the Mother Tree, both told me that you are worthy of trust."

Mo Tan was certainly trustworthy at this moment. He knew that himself. Thinking back, Elder Broken Branch had probably witnessed the scene where he had redeemed that dog... girl. And the so-called feedback from the Mother Tree might even have been related to his Lawful Good alignment.

But he still did not accept it immediately...

"Thank you for your trust." Mo Tan spoke somewhat awkwardly. "But my strength may make it difficult for me to complete this task. To be honest, even against those Sand Goblins we encountered last time, a slightly larger number might have chopped me to pieces. So..."

Unexpectedly, Elder Broken Branch shook his head. "Those villains' target should only be our Sylph Caravan. There is no reason for them to seek you out. And if this contractual item is not in our possession, they may not pursue us to the bitter end. After all, Mr. Mag and the others are not weak."

"So you mean..." Mo Tan said thoughtfully. "You will be much safer this way?"

"Precisely."

"All right." Mo Tan finally agreed. He took the crystal prism, which clearly had quite a history, and said solemnly, "I will do my best to protect it."

This was in the game, after all. If it had been reality, Mo Tan might genuinely not have dared to accept the thing. Not for any other reason—he mainly had to guard against himself...

After all, if he accidentally switched personalities and sliced up or sold the item entrusted to him, that was something Mo Tan was entirely capable of doing.

Eternal Crystal

Unique quest item, equipment

Equipment restrictions: ???

Attributes: ???

Trait: Core power source

Remarks: In most situations, this thing is completely useless. It is so heavy that you would even find it troublesome to use as a lamp.

In short—it is unclear, but it feels incredibly impressive.

A system notification then sounded beside Mo Tan's ear.

You have triggered a world quest: Escort the Eternal Crystal

Quest rewards: None

Failure penalty: World Corruption +3%

???

Mo Tan suddenly felt a weight settle onto his shoulders!

The lack of quest rewards was not a big deal...

But what was this World Corruption?

He had merely accepted a quest and agreed to help someone. How had the event level suddenly risen to such a terrifying height!?

"Someone will come for you in three days." Elder Broken Branch nodded at Mo Tan. "Our caravan and Captain Mag's group will be setting out first."

Mo Tan nodded stiffly. For a moment, he did not even know what to say.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Elder Broken Branch and his two attendants took their leave. Under Yaya's curious gaze, Mo Tan put the highly consequential Eternal Crystal into his pack.

Although the latter was somewhat disappointed that her "shiny thing" was gone, she was not overly surprised. After all, spatial magic items did not seem particularly rare in this world.

After pacifying the dog girl for a while, Mo Tan left the Adventurers' Guild alone. Although the former had a considerable degree of affection for him, Mo Tan had no intention of turning her into his bound girlfriend. First, he was somewhat worried that interacting with Yaya at this moment might place her in danger. After all, although Broken Branch had said that this commission was relatively safe, the previous large-scale attack still left him shaken.

Second, he planned to switch accounts and check on the Fenrir Squad. He was eager to find somewhere empty to log out...

Looking at it from another angle, being offline would also be a tremendous advantage when it came to protecting that whatever Eternal Crystal.

An unexpected little interlude occurred on the way.

After learning that Mo Tan could no longer travel with the caravan for some reason, Mag intercepted him on the road at the first opportunity. He urged Mo Tan to work hard to improve his strength and adventurer rank, and to consider joining the Savage Land Dragon Mercenary Group once he became somewhat stronger. After that, he stuffed another item into Mo Tan's hands.

Safety Ejection Device 2714

Consumable

Use: Ejects you "safely."

Remarks: The latest escape device from the Goblin Engineering Alliance. It allows you to rapidly escape danger while enjoying an exhilarating and refreshing flight. Its safety is absolutely guaranteed. P.S.: Don't believe it.

To be fair, if not for that final addition, Mo Tan felt he would have been much more grateful to this forthright dwarf warrior.

Dusk was falling

A mental connection has been detected. Synchronizing personal information

Connection complete. Reading character information

Welcome back, Hei Fan of Absolute Neutral. You are about to enter Innocent World. Have a good night

When Mo Tan appeared before the Fenrir Squad's base, night had already fallen over the Continent of Innocence. In the real world, it was already difficult to see the countless stars woven across the sky into a magnificent scene, illuminating with the instant in which they burned through their lives a certain land that, to them, lay in the distant future...

Although he wanted to linger a little longer, Mo Tan, who had just logged in, still hurried toward the barracks. He knew that he could be kicked offline at any moment, and he did not even know which "self" would be responsible...

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

"Yo!" A crisp voice interrupted his increasingly ominous thoughts. Yinna, whose eyes were the sharpest in the squad, spotted Mo Tan immediately and shouted, "Our commander is here!"

*With bandages wrapped thickly around his waist, Ned glared at her from his half-naked body before smiling at the approaching Mo Tan. "It would have been fine if you hadn't come. We're resting these two days."

"I was a little worried about everyone." Mo Tan shrugged. "So I came to take a look."

With his arm clamped tightly in a splint, Salazar shook his head. Leaning against a log beside the fire, he gave Mo Tan a rather ugly smile. "It's only a minor injury. Nothing serious."

"Hey!" Crab, whose entire body was practically wrapped in bandages like a dumpling, called out unhappily. "There's someone here who's seriously injured, you know! Hei Fan, come help me!"

Shuangye, who seemed to have been online all night, stood beside Yinna and snorted softly. "Don't mind that big guy. He's faking it. He tried to trick me into giving him a massage just now, claiming that he needed his tendons and joints loosened."

"And then~" Mo Tan had completely relaxed by now. He asked with a grin, "You didn't fall for it?"

"No." Yinna giggled. "Sister Shuangye had Salazar teach her some joint techniques, then helped Crab loosen his muscles and bones."

The Orc warrior, who could no longer keep acting, flipped over and sat up, letting out a bitter sigh. "She almost burned all my hair off with a fireball, too."

Everyone burst into relaxed, hearty laughter~

Nothing brought people closer together more efficiently than surviving some enormous crisis and overcoming hardship side by side...

"Get a good rest for two days. I've already applied for leave for everyone." After saying that, Ned ducked into the barracks and brought out a small pouch. "And we earned a minor merit this time. There's money inside!"

"Hey! Why didn't you mention something this important sooner?"

"Because Hei Fan hadn't come back yet. Besides, I wanted to hold on to it a little longer..."

"Tsk, tsk. Captain, that's not very honorable."

"Get lost! How many meals and drinks have you mooched off me already?"

"Ah~ You waited especially for Hei Fan to return~~ How romantic~"

"Yinna, do you believe I can still beat you even with these injuries?"

"Sister Shuangye, save me!"

"No. Don't you think the captain is cute when he gets embarrassed..."

"You guys are going too far!!"

At a certain place on the border of the Firetooth Territory, not far from Rockpile City

"Sir Karon! We can prepare to withdraw. The chieftain said we must bring that bastard back as soon as possible!"

"What's the hurry..." The Orc officer responsible for guarding and escorting a certain fugitive raised his head and gazed into the starry sky, speaking softly. "I'm waiting for that fellow to come. He'll definitely come. I can feel it. Within the next few days. Soon, very soon..."

The heavy tusk battle-axe slammed into the ground with a thunderous crash, while his blood-red eyes brimmed with venom and hatred...

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

A battle cry like raging thunder exploded, nearly shattering the ears of the messenger guard.

"Humiliation!!"