Chapter 69: Chapter 69: The Witch and the Treasure Chest

"Miss Xing, have you found anything?"

Xiao Yuzhe asked, turning his head toward the girl with long, straight black hair.

Purple patterns flickered across Nagata An’s face. She stared at the Treasure Chest’s location but shook her head.

"I don’t sense any danger."

Hearing this, Xiao Yuzhe frowned.

Jiang Tianjie shouldered his Long-Handled Square-headed Hammer and said hesitantly,

"Could it be that there’s no monster guarding it? As far as I know, some Maze Treasure Chests are just there for the taking..."

"There’s one way to find out."

As Wang Xi spoke, he bent down and picked up a small stone.

"Wait—" Xiao Yuzhe’s expression changed.

But just as he started to speak, Wang Xi had already thrown the stone. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the stone flew in an arc and landed beside the Treasure Chest.

THUD.

It had, by sheer chance, hit a mushroom.

BOOM!!

With a tremendous roar, dirt and soil flew into the air.

A twisted, stooped figure climbed out of the ground. It was disheveled and covered in pustules and boils. It had three arms, each grasping a mushroom.

One of the mushrooms had been knocked askew by the stone and looked rather droopy.

"..."

Everyone looked at each other in stunned silence.

’Is this for real?’

’That’s all it took to lure it out?!’

The livestream chat flew by:

"LMAO, the most basic, no-frills method for luring an enemy."

"All that analysis and discussion can’t compare to a single godly move from Six Gods."

"What is that tumor monster? So gross!"

"A powerful enemy!"

"Of course the Treasure Chest Guardian is strong! Why don’t you try robbing a bank? Go see what’s standing next to the big treasure chest in there!"

On the scene, the Mushroom Witch seemed enraged by the stone and let out a piercing shriek.

"AAAAAH!!!"

It immediately threw a purple mushroom.

With a loud BANG,

the mushroom exploded like a grenade, spewing out a thick cloud of purple poison gas.

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH!!"

The group quickly scattered, fleeing the area of the poison cloud.

Ge Tian accidentally inhaled a wisp of the gas and began coughing violently before collapsing to the ground.

Ruan Cheng and Zhong Shuang helped her up, quickly moved to a safe distance, and took out an Artificial White Card, the Medical Nebulizer.

It was a small, handheld nebulizer that sprayed a mist with detoxifying and healing properties.

Zhong Shuang placed the mask over Ge Tian’s mouth and nose and said in a low voice, "Relax. Take a deep breath."

Ge Tian’s eyes were red and swollen as she nodded silently.

After a few breaths of the mist, her poisoning symptoms subsided. Zhong Shuang and Ruan Cheng let out a quiet sigh of relief.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—

A series of small missiles shrieked through the poison gas and scored a direct hit on the Mushroom Witch.

A few booms later, black smoke filled the air.

"Agh!!"

The Witch let out a pained and piercing scream.

Though it was hunched over, it was still nearly 1.8 meters tall, grotesquely thin. The barrage of missiles had only inflicted minor injuries; the pustules on its body had burst, covering it in a mix of red and green blood.

Nagata An raised her hand and pushed.

SWOOSH—

An invisible wind dispersed the poison gas.

Yu Jiali, Lin Xin’Er, and Jiang Tianjie coordinated seamlessly, launching a fierce assault on the Witch from different directions.

GURGLE!

The yellow mushroom clutched in the Witch’s hand suddenly expanded, transforming into a thick Round Shield made from a colorful mushroom cap.

Two muffled thuds followed.

Yu Jiali’s Bronze Sword and Jiang Tianjie’s Square-headed Hammer struck the shield, but they only managed to dent the cap, failing to break through its defense.

The Mushroom Shield seemed to have stored the energy of the blows. It instantly rebounded, sending both of them flying.

THUD-CRASH—

They fell ungracefully, rolling in the mud.

Lin Xin’Er seized the opportunity to attack from behind, landing a simple, no-frills roundhouse kick viciously against the Witch’s lower back.

BAM!!

The kick, like some miraculous healing art, actually forced the hunchbacked Witch’s body bolt upright.

Its eyes bulged, and it vomited dark red, foul blood.

"Ahhh—"

Amidst a hateful scream, the Witch’s third, withered hand, which grew from its back, clenched tightly. The red mushroom in its palm instantly swelled, transforming into a Staff with a large head and a small body.

It brought the Staff crashing down on Lin Xin’Er’s head!

The ponytailed girl’s dark eyes narrowed, the golden pupils at their center constricting. She didn’t dodge or evade, instead meeting the blow head-on with a cold expression and a single punch.

BAM!!

The impact sent a shockwave through Lin Xin’Er’s entire body.

Like a heavy hammer driving a nail, the immense force slammed her legs into the muddy ground, burying her past her ankles.

Lin Xin’Er’s face paled, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

"What a ruthless girl..."

"Ever since the assessment started, this girl has been fighting head-on. Her physical strength is absurd."

"I heard it’s the Shanshan Conglomerate’s patented ’Demon Hero’ technology. They developed a new type of potion by fusing monster genes."

"She doesn’t seem very bright, though. Does the potion lower your IQ or something?"

"Oh yeah? Then let me ask you, what power comes without a price?"

"Look at you, getting all worked up."

"Then let me ask you, is this power not strong?"

"..."

The livestream comments flew by.

An argument had broken out.

A Shanshan Conglomerate employee noticed the situation in time. His face fell, and he immediately called his superior.

In the top-floor hall of the Hero Association Building, Bai Cheng, a representative of the Shanshan Conglomerate who was watching the livestream with the higher-ups of Valley City, heard the voice in his earpiece and his expression darkened.

He quickly turned to the side, lowered his head, and spoke in a hushed, deep voice,

"Contact the ’Feng Mei’ staff and issue emergency mutes; don’t let the narrative get out of hand. Also, have PR release a statement that the new ’Demon Potion’ has no adverse effects on the human brain. And get the marketing department to revise the ads overnight, to specifically clarify this point..."

After rattling off a series of commands,

Bai Cheng’s nonchalant smile returned. He nodded to the person beside him and turned his attention back to the screen.

Staring at Lin Xin’Er on the screen, a flash of dissatisfaction crossed his eyes. ’I’ve told her so many times. She needs to smile more, know when to advance and when to retreat, be more charismatic...’

’She just doesn’t fucking listen!’

...

...

WHOOSH!

A wisp of flame ignited in Xiao Yuzhe’s hand.

His expression was grave, his eyes fixed on the hunchbacked Witch.

"God said, ’Evil should be judged.’"

Xiao Yuzhe murmured in a low voice.

He aimed his flaming palm at the Witch.

Then, he clenched his five fingers into a fist.

POW!

As the Witch and Lin Xin’Er were locked in a stalemate, a blazing red, circular Seal appeared in the center of its withered, sagging chest, spontaneously emitting a wisp of green smoke.

FWOOM!!

In the next instant, the Witch burst into flames as if it had become a human torch.

Xiao Yuzhe’s face turned pale, and a scar on his forehead glowed with golden light before dimming.

Wang Xi keenly caught this detail.

His eyes narrowed.

’Is this the same system of power as the "Holy Mark" on the back of Chu Nai’s neck...?’

"Ahhh—"

A pained shriek echoed through the Black Forest.

Lin Xin’Er staggered back a few steps before steadying herself.

The Witch had become a ball of fire, struggling amidst billowing black smoke.

Just then, a figure lunged forward.

The vicious Beheading Sword took the opportunity to swing horizontally, a cold light flashing past.

SQUELCH—

The charred, deformed head flew into the air and landed nearby. The still-burning headless body collapsed with a thud, splashing muddy water everywhere.

Wang Xi flicked his Beheading Sword, sending the foul blood splattering off it. He stood ramrod straight, and paired with his model-like physique, he drew waves of praise from the audience.

Working together, they had finally slain the Elite monster. Although it was a bit of a messy fight, the outcome was good.

The livestream chat was filled with comments discussing everyone’s performance, and no one criticized Wang Xi for kill-stealing.

After all, it was a team effort, and the spoils were shared. As long as the monster was killed, it didn’t matter who delivered the final blow.

However, no one noticed the disappointment in Wang Xi’s eyes.

Still no prompt.

’Could it be... that Maze monsters aren’t physical entities?’

He couldn’t help but speculate.

’Or is it for some other reason?’

Along the way, Wang Xi had killed at least eight, if not ten, monsters, but not a single prompt had appeared.

He had basically confirmed a fact.

He couldn’t capture Cards from Maze monsters.

After the Witch was beheaded, its body didn’t burn for long. The flames quickly died out, leaving behind a charred, smoking carcass.

The group gathered once more.

Jiang Tianjie fought back the pungent stench and his own nausea. Following Xiao Yuzhe’s instructions, he used a dagger to slice open the lump on the corpse’s back and extracted a purple Magic Stone the size of an apple.

"Only a little over 500 grams."

Carl took it and weighed it in his hand before stating flatly.

He then precisely cut it up, distributing a small piece of Magic Stone of about 50g to each person.

"The main prize isn’t the guardian itself,"

Xiao Yuzhe said with a smile.

He walked straight to the Treasure Chest and threw it open.

CLANG!

As the lid flipped open, a brilliant light shone forth.

The inside was almost completely filled with pale purple Ethereal Crystals. Scattered on the top layer were a few fist-sized purplish-red "Diamonds" and more Magic Stones.

There was also one Green Card and three White Cards, a total of four Universal Cards.

Zhong Shuang and the other two commoner-geniuses’ faces lit up with joy; this was a huge haul. But their expressions quickly turned a little embarrassed.

After all, in the preceding battle, the three of them had contributed very little and were basically carried to victory.

Xiao Yuzhe aimed his Monitoring Wristwatch at the Treasure Chest and pressed a button.

BEEP BEEP.

A green light swept over it.

"20kg of Ethereal Crystal, 2kg of Ethereal Crystal Core, 2kg of Magic Stone... and four Universal Cards."

Xiao Yuzhe announced the data on the Treasure Chest’s loot.

"All four Cards belong to the Fairy Tale System. The Green Card is a Follower Card called ’Mushroom Witch,’ which can summon a weakened version of the Treasure Chest Guardian. The three White Cards are three types of mushrooms: a shield, a Staff, and a Poison Gas Bomb."

The Monitoring Wristwatch’s scan of the Universal Cards was far less precise than Kaos’s, only able to give a general idea of the Cards’ functions.

But this was more than enough.

After some discussion, the group began to divide the loot.

Wang Xi didn’t have a great need for Cards, so he was allocated 500g of Magic Stone and 500g of Ethereal Crystal Core.

"Ethereal Crystal Core: A high-concentration crystalline ore formed under the influence of a mysterious power, containing Energy."

This kind of core was, in reality, just a higher purity Ethereal Crystal. Both the government and the conglomerates had acquisition channels for it. Although its price couldn’t compare to Magic Stone, it was far more valuable than ordinary Ethereal Crystal, fetching around 50 Credit Points per gram.

Also, before they entered the Maze, the staff had given everyone a backpack, which was meant for storing loot.

Wang Xi tossed the two types of stones into his bag and hefted it. The scattered Magic Stones he had collected now added up to just over 1kg, plus the 0.5kg of Ethereal Crystal Core he had just received.

It wasn’t enough to make him rich, but the haul was definitely not small.

The single Green Card was taken by Nagata An. Not only did she not take any other loot, but she also contributed some of her Magic Stones to the "public loot pool" to be divided among everyone else.

After all, the value of a green Follower Card was over two hundred thousand Credit Points.

The group continued onward.

This time, they didn’t encounter any monsters along the way.

Instead, they met a Maze Merchant...

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