Infiltrating the Mad Axe Gang Headquarters

While the people inside the Assassin Tavern were speculating about the Elf's identity.

Luke was already standing on the pointed roof of the eastern tower of an old castle, beside a flagpole flying the Mad Axe Gang's Blood Axe Flag.

Below, a ring of high walls enclosed the castle at the center. Mad Axe Gang member sentries and patrols were everywhere.

The castle had belonged to a noble long ago, and the Cape District had once been the central district of Raging Wave City. But as the city continued to expand, nobles, officials, and wealthy merchants moved to the more comfortable New City District, while the Cape District gradually became a forgotten place.

The Cape District was home to the lowest strata of Raging Wave City. To survive, they formed gangs... only the ruthless could gain a foothold here.

The Mad Axe Gang was considered a fairly powerful gang in the Cape District. Under the leadership of Jumu the Horned Demonkin, they controlled several dock berths at Cape Port.

They colluded with Pirates, smuggled goods, trafficked people, fenced stolen property—whatever made money, they did it.

According to the strategy records.

The Heart of Red Dragon Nilcolon was inside the safe in Jumu's bedroom.

Luke had already found Jumu the Horned Demonkin's information.

Demonkin were descendants left behind after Hell creatures invaded the surface world. Though Demonkin had become very close to humans in appearance, they still retained the distinctive trait of demon horns.

Demon horns were also the source of a Demonkin's power.

Based on the shape of their horns, Demonkin were divided into Horned Demonkin and Ram-Horned Demonkin. Whenever Demonkin with those two kinds of horns met and started arguing over whose horns represented the purest Hell bloodline, a fight could break out at any moment.

Of course, Luke had no interest in whose Hell bloodline was purer.

Jumu the Horned Demonkin was a four-star hero.

He stood 2.10 meters tall and weighed 150 kilograms.

A strength type with a fire attribute, he possessed extremely powerful burst damage.

His main attack skills were: Fireball Shot, Firebreath, Burst Flame, Fire Enchantment, Swift Heavy Strike, and Berserk.

Defensive combat skill: He formed a three-sided Flame Shield around himself within a one-meter radius. Its defensive effect was average, but its offensive effect was good.

His weapon was a double-headed battle axe. One side could be thrown out, making it easy to fall victim to a surprise attack.

As the Mad Axe Gang Headquarters dungeon.

The old castle contained far more than just Jumu, the four-star major boss. There were also plenty of one-star minions, two-star elites, and three-star minor bosses.

The top of the tower where Luke stood was the closest place she could reach to Jumu's bedroom without alerting the Mad Axe Gang members. To get any closer, she would need stealth skills and items, as well as patience to wait for the right opportunity.

Luke did not have time to waste. She decided to force her way in.

She adjusted Clear Sky's level to 80. With Wings of Time and Space available, clearing the dungeon would be much more efficient.

Clear Sky's remaining duration: 58 minutes...

Luke jumped from the top of the tower, triggering the Magic sentry installed inside it.

A burst of alchemical fireworks shot into the air and exploded, its light illuminating Luke's body in midair.

The Mad Axe Gang members patrolling around the castle immediately blew warning whistles. They also spotted the intruder falling from the tower, but she vanished from their sight in an instant.

Every light that could be turned on inside and outside the castle lit up.

More and more Mad Axe Gang members grabbed their weapons and searched everywhere for signs of the intruder.

Using spatial movement during her fall, Luke shifted sideways and slipped through a window on the castle's third floor.

She rolled as she landed, and a ring of white light burst from her body and rapidly spread outward.

This was a Mad Axe Gang member dormitory. The alarm outside woke the four Mad Axe Gang members sleeping inside.

The brutal gang conflicts in the Cape District had made every Mad Axe Gang member extremely alert. The moment the four saw someone flip in through the window, they reached for whatever weapons they could grab beside their beds before even getting up.

Then the sound of ice cracking rang out in the small room.

The four Mad Axe Gang members froze in place with their weapons in hand. Frost first formed on their hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes, then white frost patches appeared on their skin. The frost and patches rapidly spread across their bodies, while their only movable eyeballs revealed terror.

Within seconds, even their eyeballs froze solid.

Luke stood up.

When she had rushed in just now, she had prepared Frost Magic Ring in advance out of fear of being attacked.

Looking at the scene now, it seemed she had used a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

The four low-level Mad Axe Gang members had been frozen into statues, and ice coated the room's four walls as well.

Luke drew her twin blades, walked behind the room's door, and kicked the wooden door into splinters that shot outward.

Outside was a corridor.

As Luke stepped out of the room, a shout came from her left.

Without even looking, Luke swung a blade toward the sound. A crescent-shaped blade aura flew from the edge, and the freezing energy within it condensed the moisture in the air into ice as it traveled.

The ice blade was extremely thin and rapidly extended.

"Over here..."

A Mad Axe Gang member who had discovered Luke had barely shouted before the incoming ice blade struck him. The force sent him flying backward, and after hitting the ground, he rolled several times.

He rolled to the feet of three Mad Axe Gang members who had rushed over after hearing the shout.

The three of them looked toward the direction of the attack at the same time.

An Elf!

A beautiful female Elf who looked incredibly strong.

She held two short blades in both hands. White icy mist spread outward from beneath her feet, while ice crept across the walls and floor.

A thin Mad Axe Gang member pulled a hand axe from behind his back. Then his arm lengthened and turned green, transforming into a vine wrapped around the axe.

At the same time, his feet became tree roots that drilled into the floor.

The other two Mad Axe Gang members drew their axes and charged at the invading Elf. Beneath their feet, roots stretched out, rose up, and pierced into their backs.

Chad the Treant, a three-star hero.

He had originally been a pirate captain. During an adventure into a tropical rainforest, he had been swallowed by a strange tree. By the time his companions rescued him, much of his body had begun turning to wood.

Later, Chad had been sent to the Mad Axe Gang. Through his connections and influence, Jumu the Horned Demonkin saved Chad's life.

Chad's ability was to turn his body into a tree.

His roots could secrete neurotoxin. Not only could they poison people unconscious, but they could also pierce into a target's spine and control that target's movements.

Grateful to Jumu for saving his life, Chad the Treant left the pirate crew and joined the Mad Axe Gang, becoming exceptionally loyal to Jumu.

The two Mad Axe Gang members had their spinal columns pierced by Chad the Treant's roots. A reduced dose of neurotoxin would not kill them, but it could greatly stimulate their physical abilities.

They forgot their fear of danger and death, charging at the intruder under Chad's control.

Beneath the floor, Chad's roots extended in secret.

That was his true killing move.

Once the enemy's attention was drawn by the two fearless puppets, his roots would burst out from behind them.

As long as they were pierced even a little...