Give the Royal City Nobles a Taste of Country Shock

"Brothers, you've worked hard these past few days!"

Late at night, at the Light Eagle Legion's base, Aston bowed deeply to a group of mercenaries dedicated to exploring the dungeon.

This is a captain-level figure, yet he actually bowed to an ordinary mercenary. This would have been unthinkable in the past. Although everyone had a harmonious relationship, it was never so harmonious that a superior would bow to a subordinate.

The mercenaries' reactions, however, were quite intriguing.

People rushed to their feet to help Aston, but the response was lukewarm; in fact, the atmosphere was rather lifeless.

Tomorrow is the day when the Light Eagle Legion and the Skyrim Strategy Team will each announce their exploration progress. Tonight is the celebration banquet, but the mercenaries have never experienced such a quiet celebration banquet before.

The song and dance performance was going on on stage, but people watched numbly, occasionally glancing at the food in front of them, and their eyes were lifeless.

Aston saw the reactions of the people and was so exhausted that he could no longer even sigh. His forced composure crumbled.

The humiliating defeat of the Light Eagle Legion during this period has spread throughout the entire Leyndell.

It doesn't refer to losing the game, but...

"Captain, look! There's someone projecting something in the sky!"

Someone projected a video into the night sky. After just one glance at the content, Aston's eyes turned bloodshot as he roared, "Quickly take some men and arrest this bastard who provoked us!"

The video was simple; it showed several hooded men throwing chunks of straw and excrement at a mercenary who had been beaten to his knees.

Yes, the Light Eagle Legion's crushing defeat refers to the battle against the invaders.

Since Aston placed an order to the Invasion Guild, the frequency of invasions against the Light Eagle Legion has increased dramatically almost overnight.

This severely disrupted their exploration progress, even bringing their exploration of the dungeon to a standstill for a time.

But most importantly, these intrusions severely damaged the mercenaries' confidence.

The whole incident left the mercenaries feeling extremely frustrated. Why? Because they felt helpless when facing the intruders.

Those hooded guys like to use underhanded tactics, employing all sorts of methods. As long as they want to win, they'll do anything, even steal the enemy's ASS like hyenas!

Moreover, they are proficient in fighting humans in dungeons. That's right, the scope is limited to dungeons. Only by utilizing the intricate terrain of dungeons can the invaders be considered fully formed.

What frustrated the mercenaries was that while they were able to annihilate these invaders on the surface battlefield, they were being treated like dogs in the dungeon!

What's most infuriating is that those intruders somehow knew the map of the Catacombs of Carthus very well, even better than the mercenaries who had been diligently exploring it. They definitely received technical support from outside! Absolutely!

By understanding the map, invaders can employ specialized techniques, such as equipping each person with a Force aura to propel people off cliffs with shockwaves.

The period when they were made fools of by the invaders was arguably the darkest time for the Light Eagle Legion in recent years.

Just as the strategists of the Light Eagle Legion had finally analyzed the intruders' behavior patterns and developed a series of countermeasures, the intruders suddenly disappeared and could not be found!

Instead, occasionally a mysterious figure would project various blasphemous acts committed by the invaders against the mercenaries from the sky, inviting everyone to enjoy these ultimate insults.

Ugh, how could the intruders be so wicked!

Aston was planning to the Invasion Guild and cause a ruckus, but they moved their base and ignored him, leaving him so angry that he felt like he was choking on his own blood.

He didn't know which link in the chain went wrong; he could only guess that someone had lured the invaders with a higher offer, causing them to turn against him on the spot.

So who made the bid?

Aston's eyes were blazing with anger. He already had a suspicion, but he couldn't find any evidence and could only suffer in silence!

The morale of the Light Eagle Legion mercenaries was low due to the series of misfortunes, which forced Aston to find a way to boost morale. So he held a banquet the night before the match.

After a rational analysis, despite facing significant obstacles, Aston felt that he still had an advantage.

Why? Because of their secret weapon—the second, undiscovered path.

No adventurers have released any information about this path so far, meaning it remains a secret to them. This secret will surely be the key to victory!

"Eat and drink to your heart's content, brothers! The dark days will eventually pass, and tomorrow will be the day we wash away our shame!"

The mercenaries forced themselves to cheer up and started eating and drinking, but the atmosphere just couldn't reach its peak.

This was arguably the lowest point in Aston's life, while the other captains were all just watching and having fun, without offering any help whatsoever.

It seems that mercenary groups aren't entirely monolithic.

The night passed quickly, and the day finally arrived to announce the progress of the exploration.

There was no troublesome situation such as both sides gathering crowds and announcing information to each other. At this moment, the Skyrim Strategy Team was still inside the dungeon and had not yet come out.

Both sides chose a more convenient and efficient method—handing over the intelligence to the largest newspaper in the entire kingdom, the De Nuo Weekly, headquartered in the Leyndell. On this day, the weekly would publish a special issue, listing the intelligence provided by both sides one by one.

By grouping similar pieces of information together and placing the different pieces of information at the end, people can see them more clearly.

To prevent leaks, all intelligence was sent over today. Thanks to the hard work of the editors, the special issue was finally published before nightfall.

People had been eagerly anticipating the outcome of the competition. The moment the flying broom carrying newspapers landed in the bookstore, the crowd began to scramble for them, and the scene was so intense that guards were needed to maintain order.

A large portion of these people were there to see the adventurers make a fool of themselves.

In many people's eyes, adventurers are just a euphemism for unemployed vagrants. In addition, most adventurers come from humble backgrounds, so how can they compare to the lords and ladies living in the Leyndell?

And who is the Light Eagle Legion? The kingdom's star army, and its commander is none Iliphis. Even if it's just for their own class reasons, the people of the Leyndell have to support the Light Eagle Legion.

Incidentally, the various products from the Zane Dungeon can now be quickly transported to the Leyndell via the portal, but unexpectedly, the goods simply don't sell.

Products directly produced in the dungeon have a market, since those items are genuinely useful. However, derivative products, such as various merchandise made by the Bede Family and items crafted by adventurers, are completely unsellable.

Ultimately, it comes down to this: the officials in the Leyndell disliked these things because they had a rural feel to them.

"I've been waiting all day, why did it take so long to arrive?" In the home of a nobleman, the middle-aged, overweight master of the house snatched the newspaper from the servant's hand and eagerly began to read it.

"The Light Eagle Legion truly lives up to its reputation as that lord's army; even exploring dungeons yields such a wealth of results," the newspaper listed the Light Eagle Legion's various gains at the top of the list, which looked incredibly abundant, and the nobles became increasingly satisfied as they read on.

"Over a hundred pieces of common intelligence, plus more than twenty pieces of intelligence unique to the Light Eagle Legion, and a whole new route—ha, could there be a more significant contribution?" The nobleman couldn't help but whistle, flipping through the Skyrim Strategy Team's intelligence reports with a mocking smile, and commented:

"Hmm, they have more than a hundred points of commonality with the Light Eagle Legion's intelligence. These adventurers aren't as useless as I thought. I'll give them a compliment for now and invite them to meet me another day. If they like me, they can stay and serve as my attendants."

"Hehe, just kidding. Forget it, the servants still have to be picked from the area around the Leyndell."

As the nobleman made his comments, he casually released the exclusive information from the Skyrim Strategy Team behind him.

"Hmm, they've done a great job developing the mass-market route; they've even explored the lower levels. But wait, have they discovered a new route too?"

The nobleman's voice changed, scrolling back in a blur, and then he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, you scared me. Although they discovered a new route just like the Light Eagle Legion, their exploration level was too low. They only scratched the surface and stopped at the middle level. They are not as good as the Light Eagle Legion were not included in the common intelligence at the top."

He continued flipping through the later pages, and whether it was just his imagination or not, it seemed like the Skyrim Strategy Team had more pages.

"After reading it, the so-called adventurer Strategy Team is nothing special. They are still no match for the Light Eagle Legion."

The nobleman tossed the newspaper aside, seemingly about to get up and leave, but then suddenly paused, quickly grabbed the newspaper, and began flipping through it rapidly.

"What's wrong, sir?" the servant couldn't help but ask, as he had never seen his master so agitated.

"The third route!" The nobleman's mouth dropped open. "The adventurers have discovered a third route that even the Light Eagle Legion hadn't found! And they've even explored the lower levels!"

The attendant was speechless.

"In addition, they have over fifty pieces of unique intelligence, twice as many as the Light Eagle Legion!"

The nobleman's gaze suddenly sharpened. He put on his glasses and carefully read the exclusive intelligence, his expression gradually becoming serious.

After reading it, he let out a long sigh and muttered to himself, "I underestimated them; these adventurers have boundless potential."

He thought for a moment, then instructed his attendant, "Go contact the Skyrim Strategy Team. Remember to be polite, and tell them..."

"Ask them if they would be willing to accept the patronage of a great nobleman?"

At the Light Eagle Legion's headquarters, Aston slammed his fist on the table, shattering the stone table instantly.

He clutched the newspapers until they were crumpled, and said with bloodshot eyes, "How did they know all this? How do they know so much? I clearly had people watching them the whole time!"

"Damn it!"

Furious voices came from his house, and the mercenaries dared not approach him at that moment.

However, not long after, it seems that the demolition was too intense, Aston's house collapsed, burying him underground in the process.

Then he cried out another tragic "Damn it!"

Meanwhile, Sally flipped through the newspaper, staring at the words and muttering to herself, her eyes darting around.

"The Three Corpse Necromancer, the Kindling Secret Ritual, and the true purpose of Overlord Wolnir— how did they find all this?"

"And there's a second route that our group has been keeping hidden, which we clearly haven't told anyone about."

Elsa, who was sprawled in a chair eating snacks, quietly looked away.

"Sigh, I shouldn't have trusted Aston completely. I should have helped him," Sally shook her head. "The captain will be back in two days. We'll see how he deals with him then."

Without a doubt, this match was a victory for the Skyrim Strategy Team!

In contrast to the Light Eagle Legion's irritability, Bede City was filled with laughter and joy at this moment.

Wizards set off dazzling fireworks into the sky, and the aroma of food and wine from the Gourmet Area filled the air. People gathered here for one thing only—to celebrate the Skyrim Strategy Team's resounding victory.

"Ta Mi, you're really something! This victory is all thanks to you!"

Lu Lu Wo was clearly drunk, putting his arm around Ta Mi's shoulder and shouting like a good brother, completely unlike his reserved demeanor when he first appeared.

"No, no, that's not true. Captain, you guys made the biggest contribution," Ta Mi said shyly.

"Don't be modest. I was stunned when you told me there were two new routes in the Catacombs. I never imagined there were people in the world who could explore faster than me. You're the next Kent!"

Wait a minute, this doesn't seem like a good thing, does it?

Amidst a sea of joy, Ta Mi celebrated with the crowd while reminiscing about that night.

That day, he and Elsa finally left the Sain Ancient City. As soon as they came out, they fell into a deep sleep. When they woke up, they had already been kicked out of the dungeon.

The two went home separately, and he told Lu Lu Wo everything he had seen and heard that day.

The latter pondered for a long time before saying in an incredulous tone:

"You mean, after getting separated from us, you not only discovered a new route, single-handedly defeated Elite Monsters, and unlocked the Kindling Secret Ritual, but also had a friendly adventure in the Painting World with the captain of the Light Eagle Legion's Assault Team, and learned from him about yet another new route that the Light Eagle Legion had hidden?"

"You can get so much done in one afternoon!?"

"Uh, now that you mention it, it does seem a bit scary." Ta Mi was also surprised.

Lu Lu Wo was silent for a moment, then patted Ta Mi on the shoulder and asked:

"Interested in joining our Strategy Team for life?"