Chapter 127: Will Eventually Meet

Lin Ke used a lazy move.

He didn't directly assign tasks to the socially anxious trio to avoid causing resentment.

Instead, he reorganized the team's structure, dividing the whole team into four parts.

Lin Ke himself was not counted in at first,

As a free agent, Ai Rui Si could do whatever she wanted as long as it didn't disrupt the team's normal operation;

Ba Ke and A Ji Ao formed a pair, normally responsible for scouting ahead, in battle for responding to ambushes;

Lin En and Da Er Dun formed the second group, normally handling reconnaissance and guard duty, in battle responsible for reporting battle status, communicating, and providing fire support;

Di Jie. Fen Li and the socially anxious trio formed the third group, normally doing odd jobs—doing whatever work there is, if none then sampling and making specimens to advance side quests; in battle they follow the main force.

The reason it's called a lazy move lies in Di Jie's use of it.

Aren't you fairly familiar with the socially anxious trio?

Just have you lead them.

This trick may be lazy, but its effect is remarkably good.

Not only did Di Jie. Fen Li feel that the big shot valued him, but the socially anxious trio all breathed a sigh of relief, their hanging hearts finally settling.

As the team grew larger and division of labor became clearer, the marching speed would be affected.

What was expected to be a three‑hour journey was estimated to stretch to four and a half hours.

After walking a stretch, Lin Ke called a halt for the team to rest and regroup.

Drink water, eat rations, rest the feet, ease mental fatigue.

"I'm leaving."

After drinking the purified water Lin Ke handed her, Ai Rui Si suddenly announced her decision.

Since the team expanded, Ai Rui Si has spoken less and less, showing ever lower enthusiasm.

She originally approached Lin Ke just because of him and the prospect of some fun events, asking to team up.

Now that there are many people, it's lost its appeal;

there's nothing fun to do, making it even less appealing.

When her mood rises, Ai Rui Si grows tired and doesn't want to continue.

Having said that, she didn't wait for Lin Ke's reply, immediately retracted her recliner, kicked her boots together, and shot up into the sky with a whoosh.

A mad‑like girl, she came to Lin Ke like the wind and left like the wind.

"Wooh! Huff~"

Somehow, while flying mid‑air, she spotted Lan Ni. Tai Le's group far ahead, and her enthusiasm rose again.

She let out a strange cry, then pulled two bundles of super‑charged self‑destruct fire bombs from her small bag and threw them down.

"Hey, Bichi!"

Ai Rui Si circled above Lan Ni's head a few times, watching the flustered few deal with the super‑charged self‑destruct fire bomb ambush—especially Lan Ni. Tai Le, covered in grass roots and dust, her face grimy—and shouted excitedly, "Bichi, goodbye!"

After shouting, she gave them no chance to retaliate, burst out with strange laughter, and sped away.

Lin Ke saw this scene through the real‑time surveillance feed of the circular flying disc.

Surely there are only mistaken names, no mistaken nicknames.

Madman, lunatic, crazy woman.

This fits Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke's character setting perfectly.

"Big shot?"

The most thoughtful Lin En looked at Lin Ke at this moment, voiced a question, awaiting instructions.

Putting himself in their shoes, if he were suddenly attacked for no reason, he'd surely come up to argue.

If he didn't get the answer or explanation he wanted, he might have to resort to force.

So he considered preparing in advance, lest he also be flustered when the time came.

"It's fine, let's keep resting."

Lin Ke signaled Lin En to calm down, not to get overly agitated.

The reason for this arrangement isn't that Lin Ke relies on numbers or a scouting advantage and thus becomes careless.

It's simply that there's no real need.

Just as Lan Ni. Tai Le understands Lin Ke, Lin Ke also understands Lan Ni. Tai Le.

Given Lan Ni's temperament, handling this would at most amount to a war of words.

If it came to a genuine, all‑out fire clash, Lan Ni would be the first to refuse.

So,

they can't fight.

As Lin En. Xiu Te had expected, after being hit by a self‑destruct fire bomb air strike, Lan Ni's party of four sped up.

Soon, the four grimy faces caught up with Lin Ke's team, which had just finished resting and was ready to move on.

"What do you mean?"

Yi Si Ke, full of anger, rushed forward to question Lin Ke.

Lin Ke's eyes coldly fixed on Yi Si Ke, and the image of Hannibal appeared once more in his mind.

The aura of a cold‑blooded butcher and meat‑artist emerged, combined with Lin Ke's increasingly murderous qi, vaguely frightening Yi Si Ke.

After forcing eye contact for a few seconds, Yi Si Ke unnaturally shifted his gaze.

His head also slowly lowered.

"Hehe……"

Lin Ke gave a faint laugh, meaning unclear, then withdrew his killing intent, dispelled the Hannibal image, looked at Lan Ni. Tai Le, and asked, "Did you really only find this one companion?"

His tone was very flat, with no hint of contempt.

But this made Iske feel even worse than contempt would have.

He already ignored it, so why bother being contemptuous?

Lan Ni, however, was not intimidated by Lin Ke's sudden display of sharpness and cold-bloodedness, and calmly replied, "My partner is fine; I'm satisfied in every way."

As she spoke, she glanced around, not seeing Ai Rui Si's figure, and combined with the earlier direction used to deal with Fei Li, she had a vague suspicion.

She then sneered, "Unlike you, you can't even control your partner's actions."

Lin Ke had no intention of engaging in a war of words.

But this question still needed to be answered.

It wasn't to explain to Lan Ni and her group, but to speak for his own team to hear.

He said calmly, "During the team-up, Ai Rui Si followed all my commands. Now that the team-up has ended, any action she takes is her freedom; I have no right to interfere, nor do I intend to."

"Really?"

Lan Ni scoffed, "Does that include her turning around to attack you?"

"Of course."

Lin Ke shrugged and accepted this as a matter of course.

During the Two Districts Grand Comparison, it's perfectly normal for the North District's local apprentices to attack the South District's Storm Sea Newblood.

Upon hearing this, Lan Ni was instantly at a loss for words.

The complexion hidden beneath her veil turned somewhat pallid.

She was angry.

"I suggest you rest here for a while; the campsite is already set up."

Lin Ke "kindly" reminded them, then paid no more attention to Lan Ni's group—especially Iske, whose face flushed red with inexplicable anger—and led his team away.

After walking just a few steps, the five brothers who had been silent during Lin Ke's speech began performing a crosstalk routine, teasing each other.

But strange sounds like 'xiu', 'peng', and 'a' kept coming out.

They sounded exactly like the noise of a self-detonating fire thunder falling, the din of an explosion, and Iske's reaction to a sudden ambush.

Damn, this isn't teasing at all.

This is outright mocking Iske.

The five brothers, when together, are just a bunch of goofballs.

They're definitely jokesters.

Not long after they set off, everyone's wristwatches began to vibrate.

Lin Ke raised his wrist and saw that it was a "system notification".

The main line mission 1—choosing a faction—has been completed, and based on each person's overall performance in the first 24 hours, factions were automatically assigned.

To Lin Ke's surprise, he was placed in the Positive Faction, whose mission is to save the world.

He didn't know how the overall performance was evaluated.

Since entering this small world, Lin Ke has never stopped fighting.

He not only eliminated ten members of the Pureblood Will, but also destroyed countless plants, blasting out two deep pits and innumerable small holes.

He's clearly a violent extremist—so how did he end up in the Positive Faction, tasked with saving the world?

"Which faction were you assigned to?"

Lin Ke looked at the activated faction channel on his wristwatch and asked.

"Positive."

"Positive Faction."

"Positive."

The responses came one after another, not uniform but conveying the same meaning.

Lin Ke felt curious and immediately sent a message to Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke, asking, "I'm Positive; which faction are you?"

Soon, Ai Rui Si replied, "Positive, but I'm itching to blow something up!"

As always, full of destructive desire.

After thinking, Lin Ke also sent a message to Mo Li: "How's the situation? Good? Which faction?"

The wording was brief, even leaving space for punctuation.

Mo Li replied with two messages in succession.

First: "Good. Major discovery—come quickly!"

Second: "Positive. Come quickly, quickly, quickly!"

Having known Mo Li for so long, Lin Ke well understood that she was not someone who would speak nonsense.

Since she dared to claim a major discovery and kept urging him, it must truly be a major discovery.

It might even be related to the main line mission!

Thinking of this, Lin Ke couldn't help but wonder.

From the two locations, it appears Mo Li has basically not moved.

Her luck is just that good—she was randomly teleported to a crucial and important place?

If that's truly the case, then her luck is truly heaven-defying, as if blessed by the Eurogod.

Next time I draw a card, I'll definitely ask for a blessing.

Putting aside distractions, Lin Ke issued the order: "Speed up and meet with Mo Li as soon as possible."

"Yes, boss."

This time, the five brothers answered in perfect unison.

Along with them, the socially anxious trio also shouted the slogan, "Listen to the big shot."

The team, now expanded to nine people, immediately quickened their pace.

As soon as the factions appeared, this world instantly became livelier.

Yesterday, it was still only Lin Ke and the Pureblood Will fighting to the death, causing a huge commotion.

Besides a few with personal grudges who sparked some conflicts, everyone else basically stayed calm, either looking for clues to the main quest or advancing side quests.

The situation now is completely different.

The second main quest's faction vs. faction inherently encourages those belonging to different factions to fight and slaughter each other.

There are not a few people who hold the idea that even if they can't complete the third main quest, they can still win by killing everyone on the opposing side.

Sneak attacks, ambushes, counter‑ambushes, frontal killings, traps, bombardments……

These followed one after another.

If it weren't for the nine‑person team looking strong and formidable, plus having a round flying saucer and reconnaissance puppets scouting ahead, Lin Ke's idea of quickly meeting up with Mo Li would definitely come to nothing.

After a long detour to avoid the intensifying fighting, the lengthy trek finally ended when the moon replaced the sun.

Under the bright, cold moonlight, Lin Ke gazed at the wide river before him, feeling both enlightened and speechless.

He finally understood why Mo Li's position hadn't moved.

It turned out the way was blocked!

No wonder he hadn't moved for over a day.

Leaving the past aside, the current problem is how to cross the river and reach the River Heart Sandbar.

"Come, let's all think of a solution—how are we going to cross the river?"

Lin Ke gathered the team members, leveraged the group's strength, discussed together, and pooled ideas and effort.

The five brothers had already grown accustomed to Lin Ke's approach over the past two months and immediately began discussing.

The newly joined socially anxious trio hesitated for a moment, then finally broke out of their comfort zone and joined the discussion.

Lin Ke himself was also deep in thought.

Mo Li isn't foolish; she surely tried to leave, but after failing, she remained unmoving on the sandbar.

Combining Mo Li's first message to him yesterday—"Don't worry, stay safe for now; think about the river beast obstacle"—

It's obvious that the biggest obstacle is the river beast.

So, when devising the river‑crossing plan, we must certainly take this obstacle into account.

Lin Ke shared this point with the team members, who were engaged in heated discussion.

Many hands make light work—this is no empty talk.

Eight team members actually worked out a feasible plan.

Lin Ke pondered it, agreed with the plan, and felt it was indeed workable.

Then everyone took action under the moonlight.

Not long afterward, everything was set up.

Whether we can cross the river, whether we can win and rendezvous—

All hinges on this one move.

Lin Ke took from his big pack the essential tools for pioneering another world—rope,

and connected it end to end with the ropes the team members produced, tying them tight and secure.

The combined length of the ropes carried by the nine people reached nearly three kilometers, more than enough to stretch across to the sandbar.

They found a hill near the riverbank that rose almost a hundred meters above the water, and firmly wound one end of the rope around a large boulder.

Then they bound the other end of the rope to the round flying saucer, which flew the rope across the river to reach the River Heart Sandbar.

The River Heart Sandbar merely lacks trees; that doesn't mean the terrain is completely flat—there are also spots that rise above the water.

When this plan was earlier agreed upon, the terrain on both sides had been fully considered.

Lin Ke used up today's last private chat to send Mo Li a message: "Tie the rope tightly at a high point for rappelling."

Mo Li had already noticed the round flying saucer hovering low; she was lying in the tunnel, observing the situation through the observation hole.

She had never seen this kind of arcane device with Lin Ke, so she suspected someone else might have discovered this place.

Upon receiving Lin Ke's message, she immediately relaxed, sprinted out of the tunnel, and ran toward the round flying saucer.

This wait wasn't long but was truly boring, yet it was genuinely tormenting.

After discovering the secret passage and the bronze gate, Mo Li even stopped her "pastime" of digging the tunnel.

She feared digging up something even worse—something more sinister than the secret passage and the bronze gate.

If, by chance, she couldn't restrain the aroused desire and made a misstep, that would be terrible.

So, Mo Li had nothing to do all day today; she could only wait eagerly for Lin Ke's arrival.

She sprinted quickly to where the round flying saucer had landed, untied the rope's end, found a sturdier‑looking stone, and tied the rope securely.

Then she sent a message: "Tied up, standing by!"

After receiving it, Lin Ke immediately had the team members tighten the rope.

As the team's leader, he ought to know when to hold the rear and when to charge forward.

Now is the time for Lin Ke to set an example for the team.

He put on a glove, fastened a detachable safety hook at his waist, and grabbed the rope to move toward the River Heart Sandbar.

Fortunately, even without deliberate physical training, the natural tempering of magic gave the wizard apprentice's physique far beyond that of ordinary people.

Climbing over 2,000 meters like this posed no fatigue for Lin Ke whatsoever.

The only thing causing trouble was the ferocious beast that occasionally lunged out of the river, trying to bite him.

It resembled a crocodile, but was several times larger in size.

Its ferocious huge mouth, sharp fangs, and its bite force is definitely formidable.

If you carelessly get bitten, even though the Defender 3202 suit can block direct damage, the pain won't be any less.

Fortunately, the rope hangs nearly a hundred meters above the water, so no matter how the ferocious beast thrashes, it can't do anything.

Though the journey was fraught with scares but no real danger, Lin Ke successfully reached the river's midstream sandbar.

Mo Li had been guarding beside the stone; as soon as she saw Lin Ke land, she immediately rushed over, tightly embraced him, her voice choked with tears:

"Why did you only just arrive!"

(End of chapter)