Activated Mission

After dealing with the Scorpion Lion, Chen Rui left the Venomous Lands with his newly acquired underling, Lucio.

With the Scorpion Lion eggs in hand, Lucio's original plan had been to bypass the Mercenary Guild and directly establish contact with Priest Mana. However, even if they managed to get through to Mana, someone of Chen Rui's "unknown origins" still needed some form of identification, such as a mercenary badge. Otherwise, the subsequent plans would run into trouble.

Chen Rui still thought they should obtain the badges first. Priest Mana had put out a bounty for only one Scorpion Lion egg, but they had obtained three this time. They could completely use the Black Crystal mission to reactivate Lucio's squad privileges. Though this would certainly cause a stir, with his current strength, Chen Rui did not care in the slightest. As long as it saved time and did not affect the implementation of the plan, that was enough.

By now, both of them were somewhat hungry. Chen Rui took fresh, delicious food from his storage space and gave it to Lucio. Though Lucio was curious about the food that had appeared out of thin air, he did not dare ask too many questions. The two ate as they walked. About three hours later, as they went down a slope, Chen Rui suddenly said, "Wait."

Lucio hurriedly stopped. Chen Rui looked toward the hill on their left. "There are people over there. It sounds like they're calling for help."

"Master—uh... Captain," Lucio promptly corrected himself and looked toward the hill. "That is Iron Pomegranate Bee territory. The queen crystals of Iron Pomegranate Bees are not only delicious, but can also rapidly restore magic power, making them extremely valuable. But Iron Pomegranate Bees are social Magic Beasts and highly aggressive. Their venom is