Gulp!
Reed swallowed hard.
The words of refusal stuck in his throat, but he simply could not get them out.
An Kai's expression had already darkened with displeasure at his dawdling.
The great iron rod gleaming with black light swayed gently in An Kai's hand...
It whipped through the air with a series of sharp whooshes...
Should he go or not?
The question echoed in Reed's mind.
He took only a second to decide. Before An Kai could jump down from the [Stone Statue Giant]'s shoulder, he hurriedly nodded. "Sir! No problem!"
Seeing this, An Kai chuckled. "You know what's good for you."
Then he cast four Freezing Spells, forming a thin layer of ice on the back of each of the four men's necks.
"It's too hot out. Let me cool you down."
"The effect only lasts an hour. If you go over that... you'll be on your own."
Gulp!
Reed swallowed hard again.
He understood what An Kai was really saying.
The ice on the back of his neck was no cooling aid. It was a death sentence.
According to An Kai, if they failed to complete his task within an hour, that layer of ice would spell their doom!
"Sir! Don't worry. We'll definitely complete the mission!"
"We're upholding justice."
"Ah... look at this mouth of mine. I misspoke again. Upholding justice... upholding justice!"
Reed gave an awkward laugh and hurriedly corrected himself...
At this point, how could Reed fail to understand what An Kai was after?
He had his eye on the Orcs' resources!
He knew it. Why would An Kai suddenly develop a sense of justice and avenge those humans in the Desert who were guilty of every imaginable crime...?
But understanding it did not mean Reed would say it aloud.
Not only would he keep quiet, but if An Kai succeeded, he would sing his praises far and wide.
After all, he had a part in this. If he could use the incident to tie himself to An Kai, Reed believed his life in Chaos City would move up a notch!
An Kai went over their signals with Reed, then indicated that the four men could leave...
With a call to the others, Reed led the three hapless Warriors over a Desert dune and crept toward the Orc settlement several hundred meters away...
Could the Freezing Spell really kill Reed and the others after an hour?
It could not.
But if An Kai revealed that secret, would Reed believe him?
He would not.
After living in the Desert for so long, Reed and the others would actually feel uneasy carrying out a job like this if An Kai did not put a few threats in place.
They would be on edge, terrified that An Kai would turn on them and take everything.
The threat of the Freezing Spell was almost like a reassuring pill An Kai had given them.
They could work with peace of mind. At least they could be sure An Kai would not suddenly stab them in the back.
They only acted this way because they had experienced too many similar situations and grown used to them...
An Kai had thought things through just as thoroughly.
If there really was someone among the Orcs he could not defeat...
He would absolutely run without hesitation.
As for Reed, he would not save him.
And An Kai saw nothing wrong with sending the four men in as cannon fodder to test how many powerful fighters the Orc settlement had.
He had saved all four of them. Without him, they would already have become Orc dung.
And the contents of the Storage Ring Reed had handed over afterward were nowhere near enough to repay him for saving their lives.
So sending them to the Orc settlement was more like giving the four men a chance to repay An Kai...
An Kai and the [Stone Statue Giant] lay prone atop the dune, watching the nearby Orc settlement as they waited for Reed and the others to return...
Five minutes later.
A series of furious roars suddenly erupted from the Orc settlement, followed by Reed's group of four bursting out of it.
Two of the Warriors had twisted arms and broken legs, and Reed and the remaining Warrior were carrying them on their backs...
Behind them, nearly a hundred furious Orcs charged out with enormous weapons in hand!
The distance between the two groups shrank steadily.
Carrying the wounded had slowed Reed and the other man down, after all.
As he fled for his life, Reed kept waving his arm, sending An Kai their agreed signals...
"Two at Tier Two, stage three. One at Tier Two, stage two. Five at Tier Two, stage one. Seventy-nine at Tier One."
Through Reed's gestures, An Kai learned the Orcs' strength.
He weighed it up and decided they should not be a problem.
After all, he held the high ground!
But he did not rush to act.
He was still waiting. First, he wanted to make sure no more Orcs emerged from the settlement, lest someone stronger appear.
Second, he was waiting for Reed and the others to come within fifty meters of him.
That was the effective range at which his Fireball's power was greatest.
Any farther away, and its power would diminish somewhat.
Of course, if Reed could not make it within fifty meters, he would not save him either.
Life and death were ordained; wealth and honor lay with heaven.
Every human in the Desert knew that.
You could never predict which would arrive first: an accident or death.
It was this environment and this mindset that had turned the Desert's Human Race into an unusual breed who never tested the waters in battle, only fought with everything they had...
Reed waved his arm as he ran.
An Kai still had not shown himself.
He knew An Kai was waiting for the right opportunity.
If he could not hold on until that opportunity arrived, An Kai would not step in to save him.
Nor could he demand that An Kai save him.
If their positions were reversed, Reed would have made the same decision.
Understanding the situation, Reed stopped waving. He had already passed on everything he needed to convey.
All he had to do now was fight desperately to survive...
But in the eyes of the Tier Two Orcs, he was still far too slow!
As he ran, Reed wondered whether he was imagining things.
He could faintly hear the heavy breathing of the green-faced, tusked Orcs...
The next moment, an enormous roar erupted behind him!
A figure leaped into the air, its shadow engulfing Reed!
"It's over!"
At that moment between life and death!
A Fireball radiating scorching heat came hurtling in!
Boom!
With just one hit, the Fireball blasted the Orc above Reed's head backward!
The Orc crashed to the ground, his fate unknown!
Reed let out a long breath, then suddenly slumped to the ground as though all strength had left his body.
He exchanged a smile with the other Warrior carrying an injured man...
"We survived..."
Reed murmured, set the wounded man aside, and lay spread-eagled in the Desert.
Staring at the fiery red sky blanketed with countless Fireballs, he could not help wondering, Could a Third-Tier Mage really do something like this?
Boom!!!
With the arrival of the first Fireball!
The battle here burst into full swing!
An Kai stood atop the dune, holding the [Brute Force Staff], as one scorching Fireball after another shot rapidly from his position!
The Fireballs struck not far from Reed, turning the area into hell on earth!
Enormous craters radiating searing heat appeared one after another!
The Orcs, so furious just moments before, had become lambs awaiting slaughter.
Under the sky-filling barrage of Fireballs, they wailed in helpless misery...
To Reed's ears, the Orcs' wails sounded like beautiful music.
He numbly glanced at the impenetrable blanket of Fireballs overhead and murmured, "It's good to be alive..."
Thanks to Zhujie Weiyi and Xuyang for the monthly tickets.
Before you continue