Chapter 314: Beneath the Desert
After the Adventurers’ Guild announced a shiny new policy boosting the value of Blue Crystals, players suddenly became crystal-obsessed like kids in a candy store.
Turns out, each monster had its own crystal-drop pattern! Who knew these creatures were such consistent retailers?
The type of power a monster absorbed decided its evolutionary features. For example, those fierce, toothy beasts with horns? You guessed it—red crystals. And the plump, hard ones? You can bet they were in the yellow crystal department. The speedy, perceptive ones using spatial magic? Most likely hoarding blue crystals.
On the third day after the announcement, Kane burst into the Adventurers’ Guild like a whirlwind.
“His Highness! Good news!”
Yuliya lazily looked up, “What good news?”
She had been grinding for two days straight and was absolutely wiped out. Today was supposed to be her chill day.
Kane spotted a pile of cards on the table and raised an eyebrow. “Your Highness, what are you doing?”
“I’m just playing cards with Luti. Luti, it’s your turn.”
“Oh, I…” Luti looked indecisively at her cards and finally tossed one, “I’ll just play a solo 3.”
“Royal flush!”
Yuliya slapped down both jokers like a card shark.
“Wait, what? Just like that? Your Highness, what do I do now?”
“You can’t respond to that.”
“Oh.”
“I’ll raise fifty K.”
“Still can’t handle that.”
“And now I declare a meld.” Yuliya fanned out four queens and snagged a card from Luti, saying, “I’ll draw one.”
After drawing, Yuliya spread her cards triumphantly, “I win!”
Luti sighed heavily, “Sigh, Your Highness is just too good. I can’t compete at all.”
“Don’t worry, just practice more.”
Kane was watching this display of card wizardry with wide eyes. What kind of game were they playing?
“So, perfect timing Kane! With you here, we’ll play some Landlord. Luti and I are partners, and we’ll take you down!”
Kane extended his hand to agree, then his brain finally kicked in. Wait a second, I didn’t come to play cards—I came to deliver important news!
“Your Highness, can we postpone the game? I have good news to share!”
“Spill it. I’m all ears.”
As she said this, Yuliya raised her hand, making her cards float mid-air while she shuffled with flair. This ability was seriously perfect for shuffling!
“Recently, an adventurer came to me and said he found a gathering point for Blue Crystals. It’s like a Blue Crystal mine as far as the eye can see!”
Yuliya put her cards down, suddenly serious, “Now that’s fantastic news! They should rush over and mine those crystals!”
“Uh, there’s a slight hitch. They need our assistance.”
“What’s that?”
“They said it’s an underground ruin, filled not just with minerals, but a ton of monsters.”
Ah, so too many monsters made it hard to get in! They needed help from us adventurers! But wait, us? What help could we possibly provide?
Literally every NPC in Golden City, aside from me, struggles to even step outside the city limits!
Well, the adventurers would just have to figure it out on their own, bit by bit.
That’s what Yuliya was thinking until she suddenly realized a flaw in her logic.
“Wait up, underground ruin? Are you sure about that?”
“Absolutely, Your Highness! That’s what he said,” Kane confirmed.
“In this desert? A place that can house heaps of minerals and tons of monsters?”
Isn’t the surface just covered in sand? Normally anything underground would be compacted down!
“Have an adventurer come over to clarify this directly.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Kane dashed off, then quickly returned, this time with an adventurer named Hamand.
Yuliya recognized him immediately as someone from the Empire of Sand—these guys were practically desert experts.
With a smile, Yuliya asked, “I hear you’ve discovered an underground ruin. Could you provide some detailed info?”
Hamand was noticeably excited, stammering as he began his tale.
Initially, it sounded straightforward—just normal monster hunting until he encountered a speedy blue monster.
Back in the day, nobody would chase after such a creature, but now with the crystal bonus, he decided to go for it.
After a chase, the monster suddenly vanished. Hamand used his desert survival instincts to spot some evidence indicating the creature had burrowed underground.
Frustrated, Hamand unleashed an earthquake spell. Lo and behold, it opened a huge hole, and that’s how he accidentally discovered the underground situation.
“Did you go down to check it out?”
“Yeah.”
“And then you just came right back up?”
“Uh… yes!”
Yuliya narrowed her eyes, her irises shimmering golden as she checked Hamand’s panel info.
Oh… would you look at that? This guy was actually stuck down there and had just come back to life in Golden City—classic case of dying to return!
His panel showed he was in a weakened state—no surprise there.
Yuliya had a good feeling about his claims; after all, the price of dying was no joke!
Just as she suspected, Hamand had indeed returned from the dead, which had cost him quite a lot.
Though he was wealthy, money couldn’t just magically replace lost items, not to mention he had dropped a level.
Given how huge his losses were, Hamand hit upon a potential compensation strategy.
Your Highness, there’s more to this chapter ahead! Click next page for more thrills!
He decided to report his findings to the Adventurers’ Guild, because they reward information.
Had he kept this secret, he would have started gathering a crew or shared it among his fellow players on the same server, only seeking help once his own party couldn’t handle it.
“Give me the details about what you saw inside.”
Hamand began elaborating on his observations. He described everything meticulously, including numerous细节, as though he had an exceptional memory.
In reality, he was just reading from screenshots while he spoke.
Yuliya could tell he definitely had screenshots.
But she pretended to be genuinely interested, nodding along, “Hmm, is that so? This really is an astonishing discovery! Your findings are extremely significant. We’ll definitely reward you handsomely. However, the specifics of your reward will depend on our investigation of the ruins. We’re not sure just yet.”
This was standard protocol for the Adventurers’ Guild, which Hamand accepted without questions.
He perked up, breathing a sigh of relief.
Getting his losses back shouldn’t be a problem, and who knows? He might even profit!
“You can share this info with other adventurers, but keep the location confidential for now. We’ll have a unified plan soon.”
“Yes! President!”
After he answered, Hamand turned to leave.
Meanwhile, Yuliya was waiting.
For what, you ask? For a post!
She specifically emphasized Hamand sharing this info.
And the quickest way for a player to share news? You guessed it—posting online!
Sure enough, a post popped up swiftly!
Yuliya opened it, and her jaw dropped…
Holy moly, how many crystals are we talking about here?!
And the number of monsters was outrageous, but looking at it from another angle, weren’t they also crystals themselves?
Finally, Yuliya suddenly frowned.
Wait a minute, the architectural style of the ruins in this image… looks oddly familiar!
