Game Bug

Mo Fei walked out of the hidden room with the statue in hand. As he examined it, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Put down that statue."

Mo Fei looked up and saw an Elven mage in red robes staring coldly at him.

Krasus (Grand Arcanist): Gold Tier Five, Health 10,500, Level 80.

However, his gaze came with Lv. 2 Appraisal, and combined with his own Dragonkind bloodline, it allowed him to tell at a glance that the other party was also a dragon.

"Are you ordering me around, 'kinsman'?"

Krasus froze slightly. He had not expected his identity to be seen through so easily. The powerful aura radiating from the other party made him realize that this was an older dragon than himself.

Krasus (Grand Arcanist): "Of course not. I am merely warning you not to touch that cursed object. It will bring misfortune and calamity to all Dragonkind. Put it down, take the other treasures, and leave this place while you still have the chance."

That only piqued Mo Fei's interest.

"Oh? Then tell me, what exactly is this thing?"

"I do not know either. I only know that it is an ancient relic left behind from the previous era. It may be connected to the destruction of the Ancient Dragon Clan and the death of the Dragon God. No matter what, it should not return to the world. I have been watching over it all this time, ensuring that it would never see the light of day again."

Feigning friendliness, Mo Fei put the Giant-Smasher Hammer back into his bag, but secretly gripped the Dragon-Slaying Greatsword in his hand.

"I see. I have one more question..."

As Mo Fei spoke, he suddenly swung his sword. Yet the moment the blade passed through, Krasus's figure vanished.

A magical illusion? Hmph, I hate you tricksters.

A voice sounded beside his ear.

Krasus (Grand Arcanist): "You did not think I would be so careless, did you, Black Dragon Lord? I will warn you one last time. That statue must not leave this place, or it will become the nightmare of all Dragonkind. Leave it behind, and I will let you go. Otherwise, if you drag this out until the other archmages arrive, you will never have another chance to leave."

I never planned to leave alive anyway. Mo Fei listened for the direction of the voice, but it had clearly been altered by magic, drifting unpredictably from near to far. This Red Dragon was truly cunning.

He felt somewhat agitated. He still had important business to handle, but there was no way he would leave behind treasure that had already fallen into his hands.

Suddenly, a righteous shout came from nearby. "Lord Krasus, I'm here to help you!"

Mo Fei looked toward the corner where the voice had come from and saw a Gnome rogue pointing at the corner beside him while giving Mo Fei meaningful looks. The air where he pointed was faintly distorted. So he was hiding there.

An irritated voice came from the air. "Stay away from me, Gnome. Do not come near me—damn it!"

"Got you."

Mo Fei slashed into the air. A flash of white light appeared, forcing Krasus to reveal himself. He had dodged in time and was not struck directly by the Dragon-Slaying Sword, but the edge still grazed him. Even so, blood sprayed out with a splurt. -1339!

As expected of a legendary weapon. A casual slash had taken away one-eighth of his health.

Krasus clutched the wound on his shoulder in horror, shot Mo Fei a resentful glare, then vanished with a Flash.

The Gnome sidled over and said smugly, "How was that, Dragon Bro? Pretty awesome, right?"

"Enough nonsense. Follow the plan we discussed and get to work."

As he spoke, Mo Fei stowed both the Dragon-Slaying Greatsword and the Ancient Dragon Rock Statue in his inventory, then closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.

"Roger." Black Shadow gave a salute, immediately entered stealth, circled behind Mo Fei, and began using Steal to take items from him.

System Notification: Due to unknown reasons, you have lost a damaged dragon scale.

System Notification: Due to unknown reasons, you have lost 58 gold coins.

System Notification: Due to unknown reasons, you have lost an intact dragon scale. Your armor has decreased by 1 point.

System Notification: Due to unknown reasons, you have lost the Sea Lord Scepter.

System Notification: You have been attacked by the adventurer 'Black Shadow' and have entered combat.

Mo Fei opened his eyes and saw Black Shadow standing there awkwardly, already revealed.

Once a rogue's Steal skill failed, it triggered combat. The higher the Steal skill, the less likely it was to be detected. Black Shadow's Steal had already reached Master level, so logically, he should never have failed.

Mo Fei was speechless. "Can you even do this? I had my eyes closed, and you still failed to steal from me? Wasn't your Steal skill at Master level?"

Black Shadow looked innocent. "What could I do? You're a full eleven levels higher than me, and your Dragon's Might increases my skill failure rate. Couldn't you turn off your Dragon's Might first?"

Mo Fei shook his head. "I can't turn that thing off. Forget it, let's continue. Do a better job this time. We do not have much time."

With that, he closed his eyes again, and Black Shadow resumed work.

In truth, this was not Black Shadow's fault. He was already the highest-level rogue in the game, at Level 69. Adventurers in Skyworld found leveling extremely difficult in the later stages. A Level 40 adventurer was already considered a high-level account and could participate in the pioneering runs of most instances and dungeons. Those above Level 50 were basically hardcore grinders, making up less than 1% of all adventurer players. Level 69 was a terrifying level that theoretically required more than ten years of sleepless, uninterrupted grinding to reach.

The reason Black Shadow had reached such a high level was entirely due to a game bug Mo Fei had discovered back then.

Among Gnome technological products was a piece of equipment called the Mind-Control Helmet. After use, it could control a living target for fifteen seconds.

However, if the control attempt failed, the user suffered backlash and would instead be controlled by the enemy.

The greater the gap in level and strength, the more exaggerated the backlash effect became.

If the target was a boss, then during the period of reverse control, the helmet's user would be judged by the system as the other party's "monster servant." Monster servants could receive a small portion of the experience gained by the boss they served.

So Mo Fei took advantage of this design. He had Black Shadow use Mind Control on him, and after Black Shadow was hit by the backlash and turned into a "monster servant," Mo Fei would take him out to farm monsters for experience.

When a Black Dragon killed monsters or adventurers, it did so by the dozens or hundreds. One breath of dragonfire sent experience soaring. That was also why bosses were generally much higher level than adventurers. Even if Black Shadow could only receive a small share, it was still over ten times more efficient than normal adventurers grinding monsters. With this method, and under Mo Fei's guidance, Black Shadow successfully reached a level other adventurer players could never hope to attain—Level 69.

However, to avoid being discovered by the game developers, Black Shadow had always kept a low profile and quietly made his fortune, so he was not particularly well-known in the game.

And with such a high-level rogue working with him, many of Mo Fei's outrageous tricks became possible.

At this moment, what Mo Fei was doing was another scheme he had devised: using Black Shadow to transfer the equipment he had stolen.

Ordinary adventurers would not suffice for Mo Fei's plan. After all, against a Level 80 World Tier boss, it was nearly impossible for an ordinary rogue to steal successfully.

As for why he did not simply hand the items directly to Black Shadow, that was also related to the system mechanics. If any player directly took treasures from the vault, the system would classify it as a criminal act. It did not matter for a boss, but if an adventurer took them, they would be placed on the wanted list, and those treasures would immediately become "quest items" that could neither be traded nor transferred.

If a wanted player was killed during the wanted period, those "quest items" would drop and become the "quest items" of players who had accepted the pursuit quest. They would eventually be returned to their original owner in exchange for rewards.

Only by surviving until the wanted period ended could the wanted player cash in the items they held.

And for a force on Dalaran's level, the wanted quest would definitely be top-tier. Who knew how many heroes and adventurers would come after him?

There would also definitely be all kinds of tracking methods, such as location magic. Even at Level 69, Black Shadow would find it difficult to evade pursuit.

But if the items were stolen from Mo Fei, a boss, then there would be no problem. Since they had changed hands through a boss, the system would classify them as "loot," naturally avoiding any wanted notice.

Black Shadow continued working hard. Fortunately, the fear effect of Dragon's Might diminished over time. After being frightened into making several mistakes, he became immune to it.

Mo Fei also kept receiving system notifications.

System Notification: Due to unknown reasons, you have lost a magic crystal.

System Notification: Due to unknown reasons, you have lost the Ancient Dragon Rock Statue.

System Notification: Due to unknown reasons, you have lost Dragon Blood x1. Your health has decreased by 100 points.

System Notification: Due to unknown reasons, you have lost the Void Grimoire.

System Notification: Due to unknown reasons, you have lost a damaged dragon scale.

System Notification: Due to unknown reasons, you have lost the Dragon-Slaying Greatsword!

After nearly ten minutes, Black Shadow finally stole most of the items that could be stolen, leaving only a few pieces of equipment that were not particularly valuable.

Mo Fei suddenly opened his eyes. He had been listening to the sounds outside all along. At this moment, the once-chaotic cries of battle had fallen silent. Clearly, the monsters that had invaded the city had most likely been wiped out.

"Alright, that is about enough. Find a safe place and log off immediately. Whatever you do, do not die."

"Don't worry, Dragon Bro. If I want to run, no one can stop me. I'm off, then."

With that, Black Shadow's figure flickered and disappeared.

Mo Fei also headed out of the vault. It was time to face his final fate.

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