Terrifying Gains

"She... died?"

Zhou Heng walked over to the Longevity Family Girl's head and asked in utter astonishment.

"Yes! I have certain abilities that can interfere with the link between you players and your chances of revival."

"My death was inextricably tied to this ability."

Hero King Karenna seemed to recall something as she spoke softly.

"I thought you had completely faded away after handing it to me."

Zhou Heng hefted the Sakast Imperial Sword (Holy Sword) in his hand, a faint glint in his eyes.

Hero King Karenna chuckled.

"I've already become one with the Sakast Imperial Sword (Holy Sword)."

"This ability is all I can retain for now."

"To be honest, if you hadn't gone up against a Longevity Family player, I wouldn't have appeared so soon."

"Longevity... who doesn't want it? But of those who have come into contact with it, who hasn't gone mad?"

Zhou Heng remained silent.

Most of what he knew about the Boundless Endless World came from textbooks.

As for anything beyond that, he could only be described as utterly clueless.

So he could not answer Hero King Karenna.

[Fate is fraught with danger. You must remain cautious at all times to continue this journey through the bewildering, deep, dark, and boundless expanse of fate.]

[Fate grants you a hint.]

[Fate Hint 1: No one can truly be trusted, not even Karenna, who once stood high above others and was respectfully called the "Hero King" by countless people.]

[Fate Hint 2: Hold firm to the belief that human nature is inherently good, and maintain sufficient respect for this former Hero King.]

The faint glimmer in Zhou Heng's eyes grew deeper.

The sudden Fate Hints seemed to confirm his suspicions.

This Hero King Karenna did not seem quite as wholly devoted to the light as the rumors claimed.

Judging by these hints, it probably had something to do with killing members of the Longevity Family.

Perhaps after killing Longevity Family players, she could bypass the revival mechanism and obtain something, but such secrets were beyond what a mere level 10 player like him could know.

Still, since fate had given him a hint, this was something he had to guard against.

After the Longevity Family Girl was killed, Hero King Karenna faded away. Zhou Heng sheathed the Sakast Imperial Sword (Holy Sword) and began examining the girl’s Death Drop.

A true death like this would inevitably drop every resource; anything carried on the person would drop.

Not only that, with good luck, certain special quests would also materialize as pages and drop, though the odds were low, only around 30%.

The Longevity Family Girl had dropped many things, and all of them were exceedingly rare.

The first thing that caught his eye was a rolled-up document.

City Lord Token

Quality: National Decree (Special)

Decree of the Sakas Empire: Effective immediately, Su Ling shall assume the position of city lord of Frost City and oversee all of Frost City's affairs.

What did a disparity look like?

This was what it looked like!

While ordinary players were still struggling to kill monsters for a few copper coins, Longevity Family players were already carrying documents authorizing them to take over all sorts of cities.

Zhou Heng did not know much about Frost City. His textbooks had mentioned it in passing as a tier-three main city of the Sakas Empire.

In the Sakas Empire, settlements were divided into five tiers: villages, towns, tier-three main cities, tier-two main cities, and tier-one main cities.

Viewed in terms of a national administrative system, a tier-two main city would roughly be the largest city in a region, while tier-three cities corresponded to the more prosperous cities within that region.

As for tier-one main cities, those roles were filled by certain important cities in the national system.

"Is this the Longevity Family's true foundation?"

"Truly terrifying!"

Looking at the City Lord Document in his hand, Zhou Heng muttered to himself.

If he had not obtained the Unique-Level Talent "Fate Hint," and if he had not killed her three times, then at the rate Longevity Family players progressed, Su Ling would probably have already left Little Bird Town and officially taken over Frost City by now.

[Fate offers many choices. Each time a choice appears, it means you will face a new challenge.]

[Fate grants you a hint.]

[Fate Hint 1: Take the document issued personally by the Sakas Empire, assume office, take over Frost City, and oversee the city's affairs. However, you must also endure the Longevity Family's wrath, as your actions will thoroughly enrage them.]

[Fate Hint 2: Find a suitable Black Market and trade away this hot potato for a handsome reward. In return, however, you must also endure the Black Market's prying eyes.]

After reading the Fate Hints, Zhou Heng quietly put away the "City Lord Document."

This "City Lord Document" absolutely could not be exposed for now. Neither Fate Hint 1 nor Fate Hint 2 suited his current circumstances.

He would have to take his time planning what to do with this item.

Zhou Heng looked at the second death drop.

All-Element Attribute Reduction Scroll

Quality: Fine Quality

Upon use, All-Element Attributes Reduction +50.

Usage requirement: Kill 1,000 level 10 monsters.

The terrifying power of the Longevity Family was demonstrated once again.

Zhou Heng was certain that ordinary players in the early stages would not merely be unable to obtain a scroll like this, one that granted a full 50 points of All-Element Attributes Reduction; they probably would not even know how to go about getting one.

With resources like these bolstering them, the gap between Longevity Family players and ordinary players would only grow wider, until it became the difference between a firefly's glow and the bright moon.

Without hesitation, Zhou Heng used the All-Element Attribute Reduction Scroll, triggering the corresponding kill quest.

Zhou Heng looked at the remaining resources.

Ten Revival Coins!

Three gold coins!

Three thousand silver coins!

According to the information he had obtained earlier, the three thousand silver coins alone could be exchanged for three hundred million copper coins.

That was without even mentioning the gold coins, whose exchange rate he still did not know.

The currency gains alone would be enough for Zhou Heng to feast and drink to his heart's content for a long time.

"Hm?"

"This is..."

"A 30% chance, and I actually triggered it?"

Zhou Heng picked up the quest scroll and opened it.

[Black Bear's Ambition]

[Quest description: Kill Black Bear Ba (Level 50) and help the Deepwater Flood Dragon Worm (Blackened) devour him and evolve into the Deepwater Flood Dragon King.]

[Quest duration: None]

[Quest reward: Thunder Potion (Radiant) (Prerequisite)]

"This... Black Bear Ba is a disposable pawn too?"

Zhou Heng's eyes widened. He clearly had not expected this outcome.

To be honest, in the four days since he had logged into the Boundless Endless World, he had learned what scheming and deceit truly meant, but he had never imagined that the level 50 Black Bear Ba was also being plotted against.

He just did not know whether Black Bear Ba knew about this.

He guessed that Black Bear Ba probably did not, because no matter how he looked at him, the man did not seem like someone who would sacrifice himself for his guild.

"If Black Bear Ba doesn't know about this, perhaps I can make some plans."

Zhou Heng's eyes flickered as some vague ideas began to form in his mind.

As the saying went, the enemy of an enemy was a friend. Although there was a minor grudge between him and Black Bear Ba, he believed Black Bear Ba was the rational sort when faced with a matter of such importance.