’I’ll have to explore on foot from here on out. No, wait, I should be able to ride the Jade Jiaolongs. I’ll explore on horseback, then...’

Wang Yi narrowed his eyes. He decided to leave the main force behind and continue exploring with Fish-Transformed Dragon and a group of Brocade Guards.

Of course, he also brought Watermelon along.

Watermelon wasn’t technically a Scavenger, but she had been to these city ruins before and knew a few safe spots to explore.

Soon, a troop of swift and elegant Jade Jiaolongs entered the city ruins, beginning their exploration of the urban forest filled with crumbling walls and rubble.

At first, Wang Yi found this kind of exploration quite novel. To them, the urban forest had its own unique scenery. But after a while, the monotonous landscape grew tiresome.

’This is so tedious and boring, and it requires so much patience and time!’

Wang Yi shook his head. ’How many nails can one man hammer, no matter how tough he is?’ It was more fitting to leave this kind of large-scale scouting to his main forces. There was no point in him leading the charge personally. He should be doing more meaningful things—or even just resting and conserving his strength if there was nothing else to do.

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard shouts, roars, and the sounds of fighting from up ahead.

"Something’s happening!" Wang Yi’s spirits lifted. "Everyone, advance cautiously. Let’s go take a look!"

"Yes, sir!"

The group rode their Jade Jiaolongs forward, circling around a collapsed building and arriving at a slightly more open area.

There, Wang Yi was surprised to see a group of horned monsters fighting a pack of Kobolds.

The horned monsters were huge, standing over three meters tall. Their bodies were entwined with what looked like vines and roots, resembling some kind of bizarre Treants. They were clearly Wood Knot Monsters, and a quick glance revealed over a dozen of them.

The Kobolds, however, seemed to be "Soldier Types." They were about 1.2 meters tall, wore simple Leather Armor, and wielded Nail Hammer Weapons. They were being brutally slaughtered. It was impossible to tell how many had already been killed, but about a hundred or so remained, desperately protecting a female Player.

The female Player was dressed like a Witch, complete with a pointed Wizard Hat and a long-handled broom in her hand.

Wang Yi could see her basic character information.

[Li Bolili: Chaos Lord, Heir to the Ausxin Magic Tower, possesses A-rank Talent Giant Dragon Affinity, Chaos Energy 6900.]

’Heir to the Ausxin Magic Tower? This Player isn’t from the Golden Sparrow Country on the Eastern Continent, is she?’

Wang Yi’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t left the Golden Sparrow Country since entering the game and only knew that it was located on the Eastern Continent of the Typhon World. He had always wondered if there were other countries in this world with completely different cultures. Seeing Li Bolili now, he basically had his answer.

When Li Bolili saw a group of people appear on magnificent mechanical horses, she was overjoyed and immediately shouted, "Friends up ahead, please help! Let’s take out these Wood Knot Monsters together, and we can explore the C-rank relic behind them together!"

At that moment, two of the Horned Wood Knot Monsters broke away from the group. They walked toward Wang Yi’s party, not to attack, but gesticulating with their hands and babbling gibberish as if trying to express something.

Suddenly, another Horned Wood Knot Monster ran over. It held up a sign, on which was written in chalk: "This doesn’t concern you. Don’t look for trouble!"

"Hm?"

Wang Yi stared at the sign for ten seconds as a guess formed in his mind. He rode a few steps forward and asked the three Wood Knot Monsters, "Are you Players?"

The Wood Knot Monster with the sign immediately erased the words. It pulled out a piece of chalk from somewhere, wrote on the sign again, and showed it to Wang Yi: "We are Sufferers now!"

"Sufferers!"

Wang Yi narrowed his eyes. After he killed the Red-haired Giant Ape and saw Ma Changgui’s phantom fly out, he’d had many suspicions. Now, seeing the Horned Wood Knot Monster writing, he felt even more certain of his theory.

He collected his thoughts before speaking to the three Horned Wood Knot Monsters. "Players get two lives. You start as a Chaos Lord, die once and become a Wandering Player, and if you die again, you become a Sufferer?"

The three Horned Wood Knot Monsters nodded.

Wang Yi continued, "So Sufferers can control wild monsters? Is it a permanent possession, or just temporary control?"

The chalk-wielding Horned Wood Knot Monster scribbled again. This time, the sign showed two words: "Higher-dimensional descent!"

’Descent! It really is a descent. I understand now...’

A flash of insight struck Wang Yi. Recalling the records of a higher-dimensional descent in [Yishan’s Experiment Log], he surmised the world’s storyline might be something like this: The humans of this world created powerful Eco-Warriors and proclaimed themselves Divine. Then one day, a higher-dimensional power descended, took control of all the Eco-Warriors, and began to slaughter and purge humanity.

’And that higher-dimensional descent was probably the system takeover, the arrival of the Players.’

’More accurately, the arrival of the Sufferers.’

’Whether it’s the Wood Knot Warriors or the Divine, for them, these are probably just game accounts. I don’t know if they still have their human bodies, but they can log into these accounts, reappear in the form of monsters, and continue to experience the game.’

’If that’s the case, then it would explain the Red-haired Giant Ape’s behavior after it appeared—placing its hands on its hips, taunting, and all that. For Sufferers, the game mode has changed. They now play as wild monsters, turning the tables completely. They might even get rewards for hunting Indigenous People or Players...’

As numerous thoughts raced through Wang Yi’s mind, the Horned Wood Knot Monster scribbled with its chalk again: "You have a lot of people, and your equipment isn’t bad. How about we each go our own way and not interfere with each other?"

Seeing the Wood Knot Monster ’Player’ communicating with Wang Yi via the sign, Li Bolili grew anxious and shouted, "Don’t believe their lies! They kill people to level up! The moment you let your guard down, they’ll backstab you! I was tricked by them just now, which is how I ended up getting surrounded!"

Wang Yi heard her but remained noncommittal, instead sizing up the dilapidated building behind Li Bolili.

According to Li Bolili, that building was supposedly a C-rank relic.

Wang Yi thought for a moment, then said in a low voice, "You continue your fight. We’ll just take a stroll inside that building. We won’t interfere with each other. How about it?"

"That..." Li Bolili’s eyes widened. "How can you be so shameless!"

The chalk-wielding horned monster also shook its head, scribbled furiously, and showed the sign to both Wang Yi and Li Bolili: "Negotiate! Three-way negotiation!"

"Negotiate?" Li Bolili’s eyes lit up. "Fine, I accept! You all stop fighting first!"

The Horned Wood Knot Monsters then stopped their attacks one by one, and the atmosphere on the scene quickly eased.

Wang Yi found this amusing and nodded. "Alright, a negotiation. What are the terms?"

A group of Wood Knot Monsters gathered together, whispering amongst themselves as if they could communicate fluently.

Soon, the wooden sign was held up again: "Each of you leave 50 Soldiers for us to kill. We’ll then let you enter and explore the relic, and we guarantee we won’t bother you again!"

Seeing this, Li Bolili surprisingly nodded. "Alright, I accept your terms! Also..."

She looked at Wang Yi and said, "If we find anything in the relic, how about a 40-60 split? I get forty, you get sixty!"

"Sorry, I can’t accept those terms." Wang Yi smiled and shook his head. "Commanders, clear the way! Brocade Guard, advance in formation! Kill anyone who makes a move without mercy!"

"Yes, sir!"

Fish-Transformed Dragon, Hai Zhongxian, and the others immediately responded to Wang Yi’s command. The 92 Feng Yuxiu quickly formed a neat line in front of him.

The atmosphere instantly turned grim. Wang Yi’s expression became cold as he cupped his hands in a gesture towards the Wood Knot Monsters and Li Bolili. "Everyone, I’m going to explore this relic now. Do as you please!"

He was confident in the strength of his forces, with the invincible Fish-Transformed Dragon and Hai Zhongxian backing him up. He didn’t want to get bogged down in pointless negotiations and waste time.

’Why make something simple so complicated?’

The next moment, the Brocade Guards all drew their Swords and Sabers and advanced in a mounted formation.

The Wood Knot Monsters all backed away. Li Bolili narrowed her eyes, clearly unwilling to concede. She snorted, and the surrounding Kobolds immediately grew agitated, raising their Nail Rakes and roaring wildly.

"Hmph!"

Fish-Transformed Dragon snorted. He flicked his Cloak, activating his weapon-inspection ability. The Nail Hammer Weapons in the Kobolds’ hands instantly shattered as if made of glass and quickly vanished, scaring them so much that they flinched back.