Richard and Moli exchanged glances.
Two eyes versus three.
Outnumbered, but montum was evenly matched.
Both seed to want the other to speak first.
Looking at Moli, Richard was puzzled: Hadn’t they agreed that he would handle the situation? Why had she suddenly ordered her team to act together and asked him to coordinate?
If exploring the ancient relics was like a network ga dungeon on Earth, then this was blatant monster snatching, wasn’t it?
But the problem was, the other party didn’t seem to have realized this. Her gaze suggested that he was the one doing the snatching.
This...
After a few seconds, Richard decided not to remain silent; after all, ti was precious and it was better to clarify.
He opened his mouth to speak.
Just then, Moli spoke first, asking, "What did you just do?"
"Hmm? What did I do? What do you think I did?" Richard shrugged. "Weren’t we supposed to solve the trouble? Didn’t we agree that you’d handle the sand worms we encountered before, and this ti it was my turn?"
"But... the trouble I ant was the initial insects, not this big guy you just killed."
"Not much difference, right?" Richard said, "Sure, this one is bigger, stronger, but... fundantally it’s the sa. So if I’ve dealt with it, isn’t that enough? No need to differentiate so clearly?"
Moli: "..."
Hearing this, she fell silent, feeling a bit conflicted.
Richard said there’s not much difference between the giant locust and the demonized cockroach group, but she didn’t see it that way at all— in her view, the difference was huge, with a vast disparity in strength.
According to her plan, the demonized cockroach group posed a smaller threat but had tenacious vitality, making it hard to kill, which would be perfect to test Richard’s abilities.
If Richard perford poorly, it would prove he was all talk, and she could seize the opportunity to gain so benefits.
If Richard perford exceptionally, it wouldn’t be an issue because she had ntioned that the demonized cockroach was weaker than the previous sand worms. Even if Richard excelled, it would still be at a lower level of excellence, not threatening her and her team in the higher-level performance before. Therefore, Richard couldn’t reverse and claim benefits belonging to her side.
The plan was perfect!
But a great plan was outpaced by sudden changes.
The expected demonized cockroach group appeared for just a few seconds, made a brief appearance, and then exited the stage. The new character—the giant locust—stole the performance that belonged to the demonized cockroaches.
The giant locust’s strength exceeded that of the demonized cockroach by too much, evident from her previous reaction—she had no way to kill it easily and was prepared for injured or even sacrificed team mbers during the fight.
Who knew Richard would raise his hand and unleash so unknown attack, directly eliminating the giant locust, leaving it no chance to struggle?
This... was a bit surprising.
Of course, that wasn’t all. She could consider Richard’s attack as a trump card. She had similar ans, which might not produce a worse effect.
However, the key was that Richard’s actions successfully overshadowed her and her team, invisibly increasing the difficulty of vying for more benefits.
In simple terms, although everyone in their group wasn’t weak, Richard was stronger, possibly even stronger than the combined force of the eight of them, then what right did they have to demand more gains?
Damn...
If she wasn’t clear, it was indeed Richard’s first ti entering the relic, she’d suspect the giant locust was a pet raised by Richard, released ahead to cooperate with Richard’s act.
"Phew—"
Moli took a deep breath, realizing there was no possibility to salvage this situation, adjusted her mindset, stopped stressing, and prepared to find opportunities later to fight for benefits again.
After deciding, she turned to Richard and said, "Alright, let’s not talk about irrelevant things anymore. Now that the big guy is taken care of, let’s quickly continue exploring. According to my information, there’s still a long way to go to reach the center of the relic."
"Okay." Richard nodded, not refusing, followed Moli, and moved forward.
...
This ti, the journey was particularly long.
They stopped several tis to confirm direction, once even going over a thousand ters, encountering an inexplicable moth attack, and after difficult elimination, realized they were on the wrong path, forcing a retreat to correct their route.
In this manner, with stops and starts, they finally left the continuous building ruins, appearing on a flat ground.
Here, the surrounding darkness lightened slightly, and as far as the eye could see, dense dark green grass grew on the vast land, resembling a great prairie.
A few dozen ters from the grassland’s edge, Moli slowed her pace and stopped, turned to Richard, pointed forward, and said, "If we continue forward a bit more, we’ll leave the edge of these ancient relics and enter the core area."
Why not continue forward... Richard blinked, looked at Moli, and asked, "Is the core area dangerous?"
"It’s dangerous, but also not dangerous," Moli said, "Compared to the edge area, I have very little information about the core area, but as long as we don’t rush in and follow the plan, exploration should go smoothly."
"Then..." Richard raised his eyebrow, knowing there was definitely more to what Moli was about to say.
"The real trouble is this grassland ahead." Sure enough, Moli continued, her expression a bit serious. "This grassland extends over a mile into the core area, making it impossible to bypass since the core area is encapsulated by it. Don’t even think about flying over it; according to information, doing so will attract attacks from the core area. So, the only way is to cross this grassland on foot, just like crossing the mushroom field before."
"Is there a problem?" Richard asked.
"There is a problem," Moli said seriously, "there’s a very serious problem. This grass isn’t ordinary in the usual sense; information shows it’s a vine disguised as grass, called Devil Devouring Magic Vine, a special demonized creature used for defense by the ancient wizard civilization. Normally, they act like ordinary grass, but once they sense energy approaching, they beco active; the stronger the energy, the more active they beco.
Simply put, they specifically target wizards, and the stronger the wizard, the more they target. Ordinary people can walk through without any issue. But entities like us will face ferocious attacks.
The trickiest part is that we cannot resist by casting spells because any mana wave produced by casting will provoke larger-scale retaliation by the Devil Devouring Magic Vines. Imagine the whole area’s vines growing dozens, even hundreds of ters and attacking you together—that’s sothing no defense can withhold."
Richard listened, seriously imagining the scene Moli described, realizing it was quite daunting. However, he didn’t panic; he knew that if Moli could enter the relic, she must have a way to deal with it. He pursed his lips slightly, looked at her, and asked, "So how can we cross safely?"
"The way, to put it simply, is rather simple," Moli said, "As I ntioned earlier, these magic-devouring vines are sensitive to energy; the stronger the wizard, the more they target. So, if we can reduce or hide the amount of mana in our Magic Origin, then we’re good.
The most feasible way is to crazy spellcast outside the vine’s range to empty our mana until below the official wizard’s level. Considering the sudden issues likely to arise in the core area, emptying our mana would be too dangerous. So, another thod would be to use a unique spell to shield our Magic Origin."
At this point, Moli paused, looked at Richard, and said, "I don’t know if you have mastered this technique, but I have. If you are willing, I can help you and us safely pass through this area together."
While saying this, Moli smiled, appearing genuinely sincere.
It was indeed sincere.
In Moli’s thoughts, the magic-devouring vines were simply the bane for soone like Richard, the more formidable the more they were restrained, embodying the characteristic of the ancient relic—that being strong doesn’t determine everything; having sufficient information is most crucial.
Facing the blockade of magic-devouring vines, if Moli hadn’t gathered niche spells ahead, it would have almost beco a deadlock.
And this was a rare...chance to fight for benefits.
She had failed with the giant locust before, but didn’t believe she’d fail this ti.
Moli continued smiling at Richard, and then suddenly noticed Richard smiling back at her, looking even more sincere.
This...
Moli was suddenly a bit taken aback.
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