Chapter 83: Labyrinth Mission

After bidding farewell to Harris.

Gema asked about the date for the return journey.

Rod gave no specific date, only saying it would be in the next couple of days, and told the goblins to prepare first.

He went to Lily's residence in the inner city.

The two were friends, so they had naturally exchanged temporary addresses.

Twenty minutes.

Rod found Lily at the edge of the ruins in the central square.

She stood outside the cordon, quietly watching the staff inside carry out the cleanup work.

Unlike most halflings who have a five-five body ratio, Lily possessed relatively long legs, estimated at a three-seven ratio, making her look more like a young human girl.

She often wore a pair of light red leather chest guards, with a small white vest underneath.

It looked empty, with only a slight bulge.

"Lily."

"Rod, look, they found a healthy emerald branch and replanted it in the original spot."

She pointed into the distance.

Where the emerald tree once stood, there was now a small branch.

A layer of green spell canopy covered it, and beside it lay a pile of expensive nutrient materials, presumably casting materials capable of helping it grow better.

As for the emerald tree that had returned to normal, it still lay on the ground.

It could be seen that the spiritual energy within was flowing away irreversibly, with more than half already turned into the texture of an ordinary tree.

Cuttings?

Rod's heart stirred instantly.

If the branches of the emerald banyan were planted in the Wind Wall Forest, would that mean he could use the 【Spatial Tree Form】 to ignore distance and travel between Shi Ying Town and Emerald City?

"I heard demons did it; if only I had been outside at the time."

Lily said with a pout.

Clearly, as a member of the Hero Alliance, missing an event like this to drive out evil left her quite unwilling.

"Let me remind you, it took twelve peak sixth-rank mages to barely subdue it."

Rod spoke while signaling to stop the nearby staff.

This person recognized him; upon learning he wanted to buy a branch of the emerald banyan, he paused for a moment, then took his leave to find a higher-level person in charge.

"I have my own methods. What do you want to buy this for?"

Before Rod could even respond.

At this moment, the Dragon Soul from the Open-Air Labyrinth Pass sent another message, still hoping to receive his help.

He ignored it again.

He took out a newspaper bought on the road.

On it was an image of the twelve mages casting spells together.

Among them, three were clearly wearing the black robes of Bahadur students.

"Look, there's your enemy."

"I saw them; I went to tail them the day before yesterday, but they stuck together too closely for me to make a move."

Rod paused.

He was just making a joke; he hadn't expected Lily, having just advanced to sixth rank, to dare to cause trouble for peak sixth-rank mages.

Lily added: "They later met up with two other Bahadur students, the same ones."

"The Open-Air Labyrinth?"

How could such a coincidence happen?

Rod guessed that the people needed to be repelled in the Pass mission were this group.

Very soon.

A senior manager on the scene came forward to discuss the purchase of the emerald tree branch with Rod.

Perhaps due to the connection of being a retainer of the Argyle family, their attitude was unusually friendly.

Finally, the transaction was successfully completed for five hundred Jin Along, and a magic pill box to maintain vitality was included as a gift.

"Are you leaving? Which direction?"

Upon hearing that Rod was leaving.

Lily was very reluctant.

It seemed she still wanted to travel a bit more with Rod.

But later, upon learning the route was completely opposite to hers, she said:

"What a pity; you are a very reliable partner."

Her face could not hide her disappointment.

"... If only you didn't keep a succubus, it would be even better."

Rod smiled.

He knew Lily was a halfling who valued loyalty and righteousness, so he proactively exchanged contact addresses with her.

After chatting idly for a few moments, the two waved goodbye.

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

The Maze Pass frantically sent messages.

It was as annoying as those pop-ups constantly appearing in QQ.

Rod frowned and chose to reject it.

However, almost at the same time, the Pass sent another message.

And this time, it even came with a spell.

【Chain of Far Speech】.

In other words, since there was no response, they had initiated a voice call to Rod.

This was originally a forced call.

But the extremely high mental resistance granted by 【Will of the Firmament】 exempted it, turning it into an optional spell that could be rejected.

After pondering for a moment, Rod still chose to accept.

"Waaah~~"

"Why won't you accept!"

As soon as the connection was made, the shriek of a young girl with a crying voice reached his ears.

"Are you... the Red Dragon Saban?"

"N-no, my name is Nao Lin."

The girl's voice became timid, sounding less confident.

"... But you are a Dragon Soul, aren't you?"

Rod was somewhat confused; the prompt had said 'Dragon Soul of the Maze'.

Besides the Red Dragon Saban, what other Dragon Soul was there?

"Nao Lin is naturally a Dragon Soul, but I accidentally ended up in this state, waaah. Please, please, come save Nao Lin. They are going to dig me out, waaah waaah."

"Can't you find someone else? There are plenty of people with Passes."

"Nao Lin doesn't dare find them; they are too greedy. Once they know the location of a Dragon Soul, they will surely come to dig me up."

"Then why do you trust me..."

"You are different... the trees here like you and trust you very much, and the way you kill is very handsome. Nao Lin also wants to become someone so handsome..."

"..."

Rod was stunned.

For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

But then he thought, if he went quickly and returned quickly now...

He shouldn't get dragged into the war between Scorching City and Kaoi that fast, right?

"Let's talk about the reward first."

"Nao Lin can give you anything you want! Spells, treasures, dragon scales, dragon bones!" she said urgently to the other end.

Rod thought for a moment.

Considering the other party was a girl, he still spat out that line:

"I want you to submit to me, willingly enslaved by me."

The grand plan of the Stamp Collection Project could not be interrupted by a small incident involving the Ancient Tree of the Firmament.

How much worse could it be than Eva?

That was Rod's only thought.

Furthermore, if he could enslave a Dragon Soul, as long as it increased the obedience, it would surely bring a good boost to his strength.

"No!"

Nao Lin spoke timidly, but she was never sloppy at critical moments, and she immediately rejected it.

"Rest assured, I am merely a human with a lifespan of only a hundred years. A Dragon Soul being dug out and obeying until my death... isn't that an easy choice?"

The other side fell silent for a moment.

"Th-then... will you lay hands on me? I-I heard humans are all perverts."

"Highly likely."

Rod said bluntly.

Then the other side trembled with shyness and said, "Okay... but not yet. If... if you are willing... wait until I reform my dragon... dragon body..."

"Deal!"

Rod laughed loudly to the sky.

Future Dragon experience, got!

He hurriedly returned to the ruins of the square and called for Lily to come help.

Of course, he would also let Nao Lin share a portion with her.

As for whether Lily would refuse...

Upon hearing it might be against students from Bahadur Magic Academy, even if the opponents might have five or more high-tier sixth-rankers, her eyes still sparkled, and she immediately agreed.

The two separated first.

One went to prepare supplies and food, the other went to buy two fast horses.

Then they would meet at the city gate.

During this time, Rod notified Gema to postpone her return date; she didn't mind, of course.

(End of Chapter)