Chapter 306 - Mark of the Wolf

“So what you are saying is that if we have managed to stop that pigeon from flying off, it would be smooth sailing for the rest of the quest for Traversing Four Seas?” Brother a.s.sist asked.

“Not necessarily. The difference between a prepared opponent and one that is not should only affects the next ordeal's difficulty!” Young Master Han replied.

Everyone found his explanation to be plausible, and any discussion on this topic ceased as a result. This quest still belonged to Traversing Four Seas through and through; as a bunch of 'mediocre' mercenaries in terms of professionalism, none of Young Master's Elite really cared whether the difficulty of Traversing Four Seas' quest increased or not.

“So how are we going to resolve this matter now? Are we bringing Mr. Adrian's corpse over to meet the Werewolves?” Gu Fei lowered his head to look at the NPC corpse that lay sprawled on the floor as if Mr. Adrian were just sleeping.

“I doubt that's necessary. We'll just inform the Werewolves, and the system will probably take care of the rest. But we can't conclude this quest at the moment,” Young Master Han said, explaining, “If we talk to the Werewolves now, they'll simply disperse, allowing Traversing Four Seas to smoothly continue the journey tomorrow. Since this quest isn't showing on our quest log, we can't prove to Traversing Four Seas that we are responsible for it.”

“Guess we'll continue this tomorrow, then!” Gu Fei said.

“Yup. You can go log off now!” Young Master Han dismissed him.

Gu Fei went to inform June's Rain of Mr. Adrian's departure so that she could continue digging out a pa.s.sage. June's Rain happily resumed her work as Gu Fei returned to Yueye City and logged off.

Four hours later, Youthful Reflection and the other Traversing Four Seas members were released from prison. Naturally, the first thing they concerned themselves with was the progress of the quest. When they learned that Young Master's Elite had still intervened in the end, Youthful Reflection immediately contacted Young Master Han.

“Miles went ahead and did it. He logged off just a while ago, so I have no idea what happened. Guess we'll find out tomorrow!” Young Master Han replied.

“And that note?” Youthful Reflection inquired.

“You want it back now?”

“Of course.”

Young Master Han did not tell him that the issue had already been resolved, so Youthful Reflection did not give up on his end. He remained convinced that they could complete the quest by themselves. His line of thought about the situation completely matched Young Master's Elite's, and he was adamant that Mr. Adrian was the manipulator, and the search for proof to expose him would come later.

After taking back the note from Young Master Han, Youthful Reflection quickly began interacting with Mr. Adrian. He repeatedly questioned the NPC about the letter as he searched through the mansion, keeping watch on the latter the whole time, but it turned out to be a fruitless endeavor. Youthful Reflection tried all sorts of methods that he could come up with, yet Mr. Adrian's reaction to this matter remained the same: He was absolutely clueless about it.

Mr. Adrian was not faking it, either. This was because the current Mr. Adrian was already the third iteration. The Mr. Adrian that had blackmailed the Werewolves in relation to Traversing Four Seas' guild quest was no longer alive. While the NPC before Youthful Reflection bore the same task and name and would probably be the antagonist of a different quest, he was no longer relevant to Traversing Four Seas' current escort mission. It was only natural for the NPC to be clueless with regard to the matter.

Unfortunately, Youthful Reflection was completely unaware of this. He busied himself over this matter from dusk to dawn. Youthful Reflection was completely worn out, yet Mr. Adrian was still spiritedly oblivious to anything pertaining to his quest. Youthful Reflection could no longer deny that he had failed.

Perhaps, it was just as what everyone had said before; the quest was already a.s.signed to Gu Fei, so only he could accomplish it. If only Youthful Reflection knew that the reason he had made no progress at all was that this stage of the quest that he was attempting to advance had already been completed.

Youthful Reflection placing all his hopes on to Gu Fei was exactly what Young Master Han was after. Everything else that followed from there was really simple. Young Master Han did not even have to negotiate with Traversing Four Seas further. As long as the matter was settled before the guild's eyes, Traversing Four Seas would naturally pay the expected remuneration. After all, Oathless Sword and the rest knew how they should act in such situations.

For the whole day of the following day, the over seven hundred members of Traversing Four Seas blankly waited for the great Gu Fei to come online at 7 P.M.

Without wasting any time or words, Gu Fei quickly took the road to the Werewolves before the rest of the players set forth. Indeed, once Gu Fei informed them that he had taken care of Mr. Adrian, the Werewolves readily packed their things up and happily made their way back to Yeguang Village. Gu Fei waited eagerly for the hulking figure of the Werewolf Wally, who walked over without s.h.i.+fting to his human form, to hand him some sort of reward. He patted Gu Fei's shoulder with his humongous paw as he howled. Sadly, Gu Fei could not understand wolf language. Wally s.h.i.+fted back to his human form and solemnly expressed his message to Gu Fei once more, “We will forever remember your kindness.”

“Take care!” Gu Fei waved to the Werewolves.

“Please accept our gift.” Wally took something out something from his pocket. The eyes of Gu Fei, who was not usually pa.s.sionate about in-game equipment, could not help but light up when he saw this. This was the same NPC who had given him his Moonlit Nightfalls last time! Although he did not put much value to equipment, it was undeniable that Gu Fei had only made such a torrential impact in Parallel World all thanks to his Moonlit Nightfalls. Surely, anything the Werewolves gifted would be top grade.

As he was thinking of this, Wally presented him his quest reward.

It was a belt. To be precise, it was an exceptionally gross-looking belt. A wolf's head was right where the buckle should be. Ignoring how fierce the wolf's head looked, the reason he found the belt very gross was that the half-agape wolf's maw was made to have a salivating look. The wolf head's fierce appearance was practically ruined by this. No matter how cold or fierce its gaze was, it felt off the longer anyone looked at it. Only one word crossed Gu Fei's mind: lecherous1....

“Is this belt a joke?” Gu Fei muttered as he took it in his hand.

Mark of the Wolf.

Besides the usual defense and increase in inventory s.p.a.ce that the average belts provided, Mark of the Wolf also had a special trait: Werewolf's regeneration. Imbued with the unyielding vitality inherent to Werewolves, the user recovered 1% of maximum HP every second.

Gu Fei was speechless. This was another item related to HP, yet all this while, what he truly needed was something to supplement his mana.

Although Gu Fei did not find the item ideal, it was still undoubtedly top grade; just the belt being purple tier proved this much. Comparing the 'Werewolf's regeneration' trait with that of a Knight's Blessing of Health was where the value of the item really shone.

A Knight's Blessing of Health could also regenerate a player's HP, yet it was only able to recover once every five seconds at a fixed numerical value that was not percentage-based.

On the current market, it was common to find equipment that increased maximum HP and mana, but traits that granted regeneration were rare. No potion that could recover players' HP or mana during combat existed in Parallel World as of date, so the preciousness of this belt was plain to see. If a Guardian were to receive this belt instead, he or she would most likely celebrate the good fortune for three days and nights. Since Gu Fei was the one who had received it, all he did was look at the simple leather belt he currently had on and hesitate over replacing it.

Mark of the Wolf was truly better than the leather belt he had on even in terms of basic stats, but the problem was the former's design… Gu Fei looked at the wolf head 'buckle' once more.

Gross! It's too gross.

There's no way I'm letting it see the light of day… With this thought in mind, Gu Fei decisively stuffed Mark of the Wolf under his robe.

The way he wore Mark of the Wolf would not affect its trait usage or function, except… A Mage's robe needed a belt to properly show off its beauty. With the belt worn on the inside, the robe hung limply on his body, making him look like aluminum can. Gu Fei was absolutely unaware how he looked, though. After bidding the Werewolves farewell, he simply stood by the roadside and waited for the other players from Yunduan City to come by.

He had already sent out a message informing Traversing Four Seas just then that the crisis had been averted.

Soon, the expedition arrived, with Oathless Sword, Youthful Reflection, and Gale Force taking the lead. Although they were rather dissatisfied, they were still grateful for Gu Fei's intervention in alleviating the quandary that they had found themselves in. The three men then carefully pondered on the mystery behind Gu Fei's appearance before continuing to lead everyone forward.

The mercenary groups were mostly hanging out at the back of the expedition, and Young Master's Elite was often trailing far behind. As such, Gu Fei suffered all the players' looks and stares. From the general understanding of these players, there was only one explanation for the Mage's current appearance: he was dressed too shabbily.

This lasted until Sakurazaka Moony and his Great Hunting mercenary group came by. They were rather familiar with Gu Fei, so they could not help but be surprised at Gu Fei's unkempt appearance. Finally, Fireball came right up to Gu Fei and whispered, “Drunk bro, you gotta buckle up properly after you're done with your business.”

“What are you talking about?” Gu Fei asked, nonplussed.

Fireball's eyes looked far more obscene than the werewolf buckle, “He he… Playing in the fields, eh? That's the Drunk bro I know… Did you lose your belt after doing the deed? I've got a spare on me; why don't you take it and buckle up?”

“What nonsense are you spouting?!” Gu Fei heavily dropped his fist onto Fireball's head, finally realizing what the idiot was thinking, “I have a belt on; it's inside!” Gu Fei lifted his mage robe to show him the Mark of the Wolf within.

“This… Why did you fasten it on the inside?” Fireball asked, perplexed.

“It's too ugly,” Gu Fei replied.

“Not at all! It's really cool-looking. I like it loads!” Fireball patted that wolf's head on the buckle as he expressed his approval of it.

Gu Fei was speechless. In terms of their nature, the wolf's head and Fireball were indeed very compatible with each other.

“But Drunk bro,” Fireball continued speaking, “This isn't good. A mage robe looks really ugly if you fasten that belt on the inside.”

“That can't be helped, though. It'd look really obscene to have this belt shown in broad daylight,” Gu Fei reasoned.

“You currently look as if you're wearing an extra long nightgown. Isn't that obscene, as well?” Fireball asked.

Gu Fei shuddered at that thought.

“If you want to have the belt fasten on the inside, you'll have to wear your robe like this,” Fireball unfastened his belt and fastened it on the inside. He then unb.u.t.toned his robe and pulled it open to the side before placing a hand on his hips, half-c.o.c.king his head, and slightly arching his back to strike a pose. “With a myriad of styles, this is a Mage's best weapon when it comes to courting chicks!”

[1] The raw uses the character 色狼. Separately, it means 'color' and 'wolf'; together, it means 'lecher'. It's a bit of a pun since wolves are commonly used to describe perverts, and Gu Fei's use of this term links the wolf and the leering gaze that comes with the belt (especially because it's salivating).