Chapter 325 - Without a Care

War Without Wounds' Strength was substantial. Despite him having slow movement speed, the items he threw would fly really fast. As such, Deep Waters, who was displaced off his feet, was dragged across the ground for a good distance by War Without Wounds' one tug. The expert Deep Waters no longer cared for his image as he hollered, “SAVE ME!”

Many of Deep Waters' comrades – consisted of Mages, Thieves, and Archers – were hiding in the surrounding trees. Seeing the miserable state that he was in, how could they not attempt to rescue him? The Thieves ran over with Fleetfoot to try and hold him down, the Archers tried their best to sever the rope with their arrows, and the Mages tried to burn it off with their spells. Some of the not-so-bright Mages actually cast Arctic Whirlwind to slow down Deep Waters in their haste to rescue him, not realizing that they were only hindering the movement of the already immobile Deep Waters. If they truly intended to stop him from being dragged away, they should cast that spell on the person doing the pulling, War Without Wounds.

In short, all his comrades did everything to prevent him from being dragged off, but none of which worked.

If these people had given this matter any thought, they would immediately realize how futile their efforts were. On the Archers' part, they would require a G.o.dly level of mastery in archery to sever the rope with their arrows, and for that to happen, they would not only have to be actual sharpshooters in reality, they would also require the aid of Parallel World's system to make such a miraculous shot.

On the Mages' part... Given that their Fireball and Descending Wheel of Flames were unable to promptly start a fire in this jungle due to their short duration, then they would naturally be unable to quickly burn the rope off. While they might leave scorch marks on the rope and, perhaps, even reduce its durability, the rope should not have any issues lasting the mere thirty meters Deep Waters would needed to be dragged through.

As for the poor Thieves attempting to hold Deep Waters down... Gu Fei was running beside the Hunter as War Without Wounds dragged him off, so the three Thieves that came hurtling toward Deep Waters simply morphed into white lights.

Deep Waters was yelping nonstop as he was dragged across the jungle floor. The path he was being dragged through was filled with traps, so who knew how many of them did he trigger as he tumbled and slid through the dirt and mud? Gu Fei, who was just behind him, watched in fascination as the traps clamping on to Deep Waters grow in number.

Even more Mages, Thieves, and Archers appeared from behind the trees to mount a rescue, yet the players of Yunduan City that were enjoying the show Gu Fei had put up finally returned to their senses at this point. With Oathless Sword's roar, Youthful Reflection took command of Traversing Four Seas' well-practiced archer formation to unleash a rain of arrows. Deep Waters, who was being dragged while facing the sky, felt awestruck when he saw this uniform barrage of arrows flying through the sky. This was considered as a hallmark of Traversing Four Seas, so it was not something anyone would see anywhere else easily.

The would-be rescuers poking their heads out from behind the trees became victims to this volley of arrows, with over ten of them losing their lives and the remaining ones hastily fleeing with arrows stuck on them. What made this matter worse was that their response to this a.s.sault revealed their positions to Yunduan City's players, and the squad of Sharpshooters was able to tell which tree they had squirreled themselves behind with Eagle Eye.

Arrows were cheap and plentiful, so the Archers did not feel much heartache from squandering them. Now that they had the chance to vent their anger after all this time, they continued to fire off arrows after arrows on the enemies even though the targets themselves were no longer in sight. So many arrows were spent that the barks of the trees that the enemies were hiding behind were gradually chipped off, as though they were being gunned by automatic rifles.

Those who were more familiar with this jungle were naturally able to escape this a.s.sault by positioning themselves in blind spots. Nonetheless, most of them could only lean in close behind the trees, not even daring to reveal a finger to the firing squad.

Deep Waters was finally dragged by War Without Wounds all the way back into the expedition's encirclement at this point. Gu Fei did not suffer any further interruptions under the cover of Traversing Four Seas' archer formation and successfully managed to make his way back to the group amid everyone's complex look.

“Drunk bro's just too d*mn OP! You're my idol!” Sakurazaka Moony was the first to compliment him.

Gu Fei merely smiled. He was already used to being praised by others.

Sakurazaka Moony proceeded to lower his head and smile at Deep Waters. “You're my idol as well! You definitely live up to your t.i.tle as the number one trap expert; you're even all suit up with traps! HA HA HA HA!”

Deep Waters was angered and in excruciating pain. His whole body was riddled with traps clamping down on him. There were even three additional traps caught on his head besides the initial trap that was still biting on his nose; two were entangled in his hair while one was stuck on his ear. The rest could be found densely ensnared on his arms, legs, thighs, chest, and even his back. The sight of these traps angered Oathless Sword. “You b*st*rd, packing in so many traps in just these thirty meters; you're a real piece of work!”

Other players were also discussing this matter among themselves.

“Does the effect of traps stack together?” War Without Wounds asked.

“I don't think,” Brother a.s.sist answered.

“Would be pretty great if it did! With so many traps on him, who knows when he'll be able to move again?!” War Without Wounds said.

“He he… You should feel honored for this once-in-lifetime chance to have so many traps clamping on your whole body!” Royal G.o.d Call expressed thoughtfully.

Sakurazaka Moony suddenly felt agonized amid his elation. “D*mn! Why can the system film everything, while we players can't take a photo or even screenshot anything?”

The mention of the video reminded Deep Waters of something. Turning to eye Gu Fei for a moment, he eventually asked, “Are you that Video Mage from Yunduan City?”

“He he. Now you know the meaning of fear!” Sakurazaka Moony was gleeful, as though he were the one who had captured Deep Waters by himself.

Deep Waters did not even register Sakurazaka Moony's taunting and only sighed once he confirmed Gu Fei's ident.i.ty, “You're indeed an indomitable existence.”

“Thank you!” Gu Fei did not bother to show modesty that was the appropriate behavior for a kung fu pract.i.tioner like him, as outsiders would probably see it as facetious. Moreover, it would make people more envious since only the real deal could pull off being modest without appearing arrogant.

A metallic clank was heard when the duration of trap that had first ensnared Deep Waters ended, automatically falling off of Deep Waters and leaving him with a cute-looking red nose.

The other traps on his body were triggered over a short period of time so, like domino effect, they all fell off one after another.

“He he he!” The players' discussion reignited once more.

“That's also a world's first!” Royal G.o.d Call said admiringly like before.

“A swimmer runs the risk of drowning; an experienced rider is p.r.o.ne to falling1! What a tried and tested saying!” Brother a.s.sist waxed eloquently once more.

Deep Waters deeply sighed in relief and slowly crawled to his feet when the final trap wore off. The rope was still tied to his leg, but he did not really care much for it. Deep Waters stood up straight, dusted himself, and appreciated the Archers' watchful gazes with a nod. “That's quite the archer formation you've got there.”

“D*mn! You're still acting cool!” Sakurazaka Moony rolled up his sleeves, as though he would beat Deep Waters up, when he heard a metallic clank. Looking down in disbelief, he saw his foot actually being clamped on by a Hunter's trap. He was now immobile and could not take a step over.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!” Deep Waters laughed uproariously. “You should be convinced on who the true number one trap expert in Parallel World is now!”

Everyone gawked at the trap on Sakurazaka Moony's foot. He was right beside Deep Waters, and the trap was not completely restricting his movement, so he could still punch the man if he wanted to, yet he was no longer in the mood to do so, as the truth of the matter left him in shock.

Sakurazaka Moony was very confident with his trapping skills, yet even he did not realize when Deep Waters had set this particular trap on the ground. Although no one would truly think that Deep Waters would still have the heart to throw a trap out in such a situation, the real question here was that how did he actually set up the trap right under everyone's very noses and watchful eyes?

While Oathless Sword was rather shocked by his feat, he did not really attach importance to it, as his focus was entirely on his guild quest. As such, he merely scowled at Deep Waters and said, “Deep Waters is it? Let's have a good chat!”

Deep Waters chuckled. “There's nothing to talk about, really. This is a MMO; defeating the enemy by killing the chief2 won't work here. Although I have fallen into your hands, my comrades will continue to wage war against you – the way I've instructed them. My death will at most cause me to drop a level, which is nothing much in the grand scheme of things. I'm not even worth being a hostage here.” When that was said, he turned to face the silent Gu Fei. “I really don't get it why you would waste so much effort into capturing me!”

Gu Fei shook his head. “Focus on the matter at hand first. Come get your revenge when you're bored. Oh. Just so you know: capturing you wasn't difficult in the least!”

“Tsk!” Deep Waters continued to act indifferent to the situation. The look of defiance on his face resembled that of a dead pig that was unafraid of the boiling water when he turned to address Oathless Sword once more, “Don't worry; there's no escape for you. My men and I currently hold the advantage in time and place, so the wisest move for you is to hand me over and avoid the confrontation. Everyone wins—”

“You wis.h.!.+” Oathless Sword quickly interjected.

“Welp. Everyone saw that. I've given you guys a chance, but your boss has actually rejected my peace offering. I can't do anything about it.” Deep Waters shrugged his shoulders as he turned to address the crowd. He then gazed at Gu Fei lastly, “You should talk some sense into him!” An outsider like Deep Waters was naturally unaware that Gu Fei was unrelated to Oathless Sword in any shape or form; he only thought that, given this Mage's prowess, it was a certainty that he would have quite a high status in a guild.

This was when someone from the crowd emotionlessly said, “While this may just be a game, it's not that easy to court death like this.”

“That's right! Let's string this man up and beat him!” Deep Waters' actions and words riled the crowd up; someone even reached down to pick up the rope still tied to his feet.

However, the man did not seem to care for their threatening words, simply laughing darkly. “Are you guys idiots? We gamers are beaten daily when we play this MMO; why would any of us play this game if we're afraid of pain?”

What he said made sense. The pain gauge of Parallel World was entirely unrealistic. In any case, n.o.body would actually continue playing a combat-focused MMO where the player would get hacked and injured oftentimes if the pain was completely simulated. Considering the unfortunate incidents that had occurred during the game's open beta, it had improved by leaps and bounds ever since its revamp. No matter how hard they struck, there was a limit to the pain a player would feel, so anyone with a bit of willpower was more than capable of withstanding it.

Physical punishment looked to be a pointless, but it was the reprehensible man who always opted to take the low road and came up with a wondrously deplorable idea. Leaping out, Sakurazaka Moony yelled, “Let's flick his d*ck a hundred times!”

“Ahem!” The more upstanding players among them felt rather embarra.s.sed by this suggestion. There were many ladies among them right now, after all! Were Sakurazaka Moony and his group not in this place because the Amethyst Rebirth ladies were over here?

“Gotta stay professional!” Gu Fei patted Sakurazaka Moony.

[1] The meaning behind this saying gets lost in the translation. Anyway, it implies that experts or experienced men often find failure whenever they overestimate themselves or fail to account for the possible risks of their actions due to arrogance or carelessness. It works as a cautionary tale of how modesty and the need to account for things outside the realm of calculation are essential no matter how experienced someone is.

[2] Another stratagem in the 36 Stratagems. It basically means cutting off the head of the hydra (to kill the beast) or taking down a whole organization by eliminating its leader. Source