fantasy novels Chapter 4200 Ranking
Chapter 4200 Ranking
Chapter 4200 Ranking
The humans currently appearing in the Misty Forest can be roughly divided into three groups.
The bandits hiding in the cave, the scattered unknown groups of people, and the "caravan" that Kemai was tracking.
Of these three groups, which one is most likely to be connected to the living dead?
Hard to say.
However, Angell personally felt that the situation of the bandits needed to be given special attention because... the entrance to the cave where the bandits were hiding was a "tree hole".
In the center of the gnarled and sprawling dead tree, the dark entrance to the cave is wide open, and above the entrance is a sleeping lion-faced statue.
That's right, this tree hole is exactly the same as the crystal artifact representing the Misty Forest instance.
Generally speaking, the crystal artifacts that represent the entrance to a dungeon are closely related to the main storyline of the dungeon.
For example, the crystal artifact in the Modern City instance is the Prada Media Corporation building. And the main storyline of Modern City does indeed revolve around the beauty pageant held by Prada Media Corporation.
Therefore, by the same token, since the entrance to the cave where the bandits hid is the same as the crystal withered tree outside, the existence of the bandits is most likely related to the main storyline.
However, Angel did not tell Kemai this information. Firstly, he would find it difficult to explain the source of the information.
Sending telepathic messages to Kemai from a distance wouldn't be too shocking, but directly seizing core information about the dungeon from a distance is a bit too much.
Secondly, the "caravan" that Kemai was tracking was heading in the direction that would pass through the tree hole.
Based on this, Kemai's previous guess was probably correct; the caravan was likely going to make contact with bandits. Moreover, he had his own sand table map, so he would naturally discover the tree hole, which goes without saying.
……
Angell withdrew from the sandbox perspective and turned his attention to the outside world.
The fog continued and grew thicker, carrying a slight frost; even the nearby withered trees showed obvious signs of water vapor condensation.
The fog was so thick that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
However, the approaching footsteps could still be clearly heard through the fog.
About half a minute later, Darkman's figure burst out of the thick fog, his steps quick and heavy, leaving a white mark on the surface crystal when he "braked".
Gray Porcelain followed behind Darkman, his porcelain-like face already somewhat pale from running at high speed, and his breathing becoming a little erratic.
Only when the gray porcelain saw the figure standing straight in the fog did it breathe a slight sigh of relief, and its rapid breathing began to slowly return to normal.
"Mr. Angell!"
"Lord Angell!"
Their voices almost overlapped, with Gray Porcelain's tone still carrying a slight tremor from just calming down, while Darkman was eager to confirm the situation.
Angel turned his head and looked at Dakman first: "Thank you for making this trip."
Darkman immediately shook his head, his eyes instinctively glancing towards the withered tree. Clearly, he was more concerned about the situation inside the instance.
Angell understood what Darkman meant and looked at Gray Porcelain, whose expression was still somewhat dazed: "Did Darkman tell you about the situation?"
Gray Porcelain paused for two seconds, and after completely catching his breath, he nodded and said, "I told you, the master asked me to come and determine the difficulty level of the dungeon."
At this point, Gray Porcelain paused, turning her gaze to the gnarled, black, withered tree beside her: "Is this it?"
Although it was asking a question, its tone carried a sense of certainty.
On the vast, barren crystal plain, a withered tree suddenly appeared; the answer was already obvious.
Angel nodded: "That's right, shall we take a break?"
Gray Porcelain shook his head: "No need. For the kind of dungeons that are extremely difficult and dangerous, I might need to adjust my mindset before assigning a level to avoid making a mistake."
After a pause, Gray Porcelain glanced at the withered tree: "But this kind is fine."
Angell raised an eyebrow slightly: "What, you already think this dungeon isn't difficult before the rankings have even started?"
Gray Porcelain nodded: "It won't be high. For truly difficult dungeons, I don't even need to do detailed leveling. Just seeing the crystal entrance from afar makes my spine tingle."
For example, in the Ethan's Dream instance, just getting close to Gray Porcelain made me feel uncomfortable all over.
This indicates the danger and high difficulty of Ethan's Dream.
"This tree looks quite intimidating, but it doesn't pose much of a threat to me. In my personal experience, it's probably around level E, definitely not higher than level C."
Gray Porcelain spoke with certainty, a confidence stemming from the knowledge and experience he had gradually gained through frequent dungeon ranking exercises alongside Laplace.
Hearing Gray Porcelain's words, Angel wasn't surprised. He had already seen from the perspective of the miniature garden that there weren't many dangerous places in the dungeon, so the difficulty wasn't high.
Upon hearing this, Darkman breathed a long sigh of relief.
He had been worried about whether the Misty Swamp Forest was too difficult, and he even imagined himself being eliminated every now and then. Now that he heard about Gray Porcelain, his tense nerves finally relaxed.
“Then you can start the ranking process.” Angell: “After the ranking is finalized, we can head back to the player camp and conquer the Echo Library.”
Upon hearing that they were to enter the Echo Library, Gray Porcelain's expression instantly froze.
However, faced with Angell's "concerned" gaze, Gray Porcelain could only nod in frustration and helplessness.
When Darkman heard that they were going to explore the sandbox instance, his expression showed a hint of guilt: "I'm sorry, I've kept you in this way because of the exploration team..."
“Delay?” Angel shook his head: “No, in my opinion, the Misty Swamp Forest instance is much more valuable than the Sandbox Wonderland.”
The value of the dreamer far surpasses that of others.
"Don't disbelieve me, otherwise why would I have asked Kemai and the survey team to stay here for so long?"
Leaving aside Darkman's reaction, Gray Porcelain was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. Why would Angor attach so much importance to a dungeon that was clearly not very difficult?
It curiously turned its gaze to the crooked, withered tree, but unfortunately, it couldn't see anything from the outside.
After a while.
Gray Porcelain walked back to Angel's side and, under everyone's gaze, said, "Just as I expected, the difficulty level is not high, only reaching E level."
At this point, Gray Porcelain glanced at Angor, recalling how much importance Angor had placed on this dungeon, and added, "If we break it down further and classify E-rank difficulty as low, medium, or high, then this dungeon is at most low to medium E."
We barely escaped F-class, and there's still a long way to go before reaching D-class.
In short, it's not difficult.
Grey Porcelain would even be willing to tackle this dungeon if Angor agreed. — Compared to the Echo Library, which is suspected to be inhabited by gods, this dungeon is obviously much gentler.
Although he guessed that Angor definitely wouldn't let it into this dungeon, Gray Porcelain still tentatively asked, unwilling to give up. There was no harm in asking, just in case.
However, Angell's answer was as expected: "We'll talk about it after the six-fold platter is finished."
Gray Porcelain pouted, deciding it wouldn't attempt any more dungeons once the sandbox wonderland ended...
Angor: "If the Misty Swamp Forest dungeon hadn't been cleared by then, I'd bring you in to clear it together. Coincidentally, I'm quite interested in this dungeon."
Gray Porcelain: "??!!"
I was just joking before, don't actually drag yourself into it!
Don't underestimate Level E as if it's easy!
It's okay to let it in now; but it won't be okay later!
Gray Porcelain's pupils widened in shock. He should have known better than to bring this up... If he hadn't, the Echo Library walkthrough would have been over in no time. Now that he's mentioned it, he feels like he's being forced into the Misty Swamp Forest!
Seeing Gray Porcelain's mournful expression, Angor couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. However, to boost morale for the upcoming Echo Library, he added, "We'll see. Maybe the dungeon will already be cleared by then, or we'll have teammates better suited to the Misty Swamp environment..."
Gray Porcelain's eyes lit up as if he had grasped a lifeline, and he nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes! I've never been to the Misty Swamp Forest, so I'm not suited for that environment at all. If we're going to look for someone, we should look for someone who is suitable!"
Angell chuckled inwardly, then turned to look at Dakman.
"You heard about the dungeon ranking system too."
Darkman nodded. E-class!
This meant that Kemai was temporarily safe inside, and it also meant that he could apply to enter! He clenched his fist, his fingertips were a little tight, and his mind was full of thoughts of going in to help Kemai as soon as possible.
Seeing Darkman's noticeably tense shoulders, Angel paused slightly, then said in a flat but meaningful tone, "I will have Gray Porcelain compile the information about this instance into the instance list, and it will be made public then."
"However, we may have to wait until we come out of the Library of Echoes to discuss all of this."
In other words, even if the information on the Misty Swamp Forest's classification is made public, it will be at least a day later.
At first, Darkman didn't realize anything, but when Angor said that the public release of the dungeon names would take some time, his heart skipped a beat and he instantly understood!
It would take Angell and Gray Porcelain at least a day to leave the Echo Library. During that day, only he and the Explorer Team would know the E-level intelligence about the Misty Swamp Forest!
They could use this time to finalize their selections and prepare their equipment, getting ahead of everyone else!
At this moment, Angel turned to Gray Porcelain and spoke in a low voice, just loud enough for Darkman to hear: "I just looked into it a little. This instance has a limit of five players. Judging from the name, the interior environment is most likely a misty swamp forest. You might encounter wild beasts and bandits. When you compile the list, please include those as well."
Gray Porcelain casually replied, "I know."
But Darkman's eyes lit up.
He's not stupid; how could he not realize that Angell was giving him a hint?
Now that they know not only the number of people allowed, but also the general internal environment and the enemy, they can make more detailed preparations!
It is entirely possible to make targeted preparations.
Moreover, since everyone is from the survey team, they will cooperate more smoothly!
Thinking about this, Darkman's heart began to stir with excitement. Originally, he planned to enter the dungeon and meet up with Kermai immediately after being ranked, but now, with Angor's hint, he naturally knew what to do!
"My lord, I would like to form a group to explore the Misty Swamp Forest!" Darkman took a half step forward, looked at Angel, and spoke solemnly.
Angel glanced at him and said indifferently, "If you want to form a group, then go ahead and do it. There's no need to tell me."
A look of delight flashed in Darkman's eyes, and his voice rose eight octaves: "Then I'll go right now!"
Before he finished speaking, he bowed deeply to Angel, then turned and left quickly, almost running as he disappeared into the thick fog.
After Darkman left, Gray Porcelain belatedly realized something: "If only five people can go in, does that mean I don't need to go in if the place is full?!"
When Gray Porcelain saw Angell looking at it, it immediately changed its tune: "What I mean is, 'we' have no way to get in."
Angel didn't reply, but casually said, "It's almost time. The leaderboard will be updated soon. I guess everyone is already waiting in the player camp."
"You go ahead, I'll be right there."
Gray Porcelain paused for a moment, then nodded.
It didn't know why Angel wasn't going back with them, but it didn't ask. —Although it was curious, after recent interactions, it had learned its lesson. There was no "what to ask and what not to ask," but rather it was best to "not ask anything," lest it get into trouble again.
After Gray Porcelain and Darkman left, Angell once again entered the perspective of the sandbox.
I had promised Kemai that I would tell him about the situation after the ranking was determined.
When he contacted Kemai again, his tone was filled with surprise: "Sir, with the help of the mini-map, I just managed to get within fifty meters of them!"
"Furthermore, I overheard their conversation!"
Angell: "?"
He probably remembers not adding a listening function to the minimap, right?
"The minimap doesn't show the fog, but it can show their situation and even the direction of their line of sight. This allows me to approach them with confidence and as long as I avoid their line of sight, I don't have to worry about being discovered by them."
Most importantly, Kemai still holds the trump card given to him by Angor: Illusionary Concealment.
If we get discovered, we can just run into the fog.
With this trump card and the minimap, if he continues to keep his distance like before, it would be a waste of the cheat code Angel gave him.
Angell understood: "Judging from your tone, you've heard a useful clue?"
“Yes!” Ke Mai nodded, his expression becoming more serious: “I overheard that this group of people are from the Dawn City Piccolo Merchant Guild.”
"Their mission in the Misty Swamp Forest is to transport the supplies ordered by the Forty Thieves!"
"I haven't found out the specifics of what the supplies are yet. But it's already confirmed that as long as we follow them, we can find the Forty Thieves, which is good news!"
Although Kemai is still unsure whether the Forty Thieves are related to the main storyline, the fact that the Forty Thieves are mentioned in the mission overview indicates that there must be some connection between the two.
Now that "Phantom Thief" is backing him up, he's definitely going to meet up with the Forty Thieves.
After listening, Angell nodded knowingly.
Based on the direction the caravan was traveling, he had guessed that the group was connected to the bandits in the cave. Now, the information that Kemai had sent back about the "forty major bandits ordering supplies" confirmed this.
As for what exactly the ordered supplies are?
Angell had previously noticed this from the perspective of the miniature garden: a large number of ropes, hooks, and planks, along with some daily necessities, all of which were used when traveling and settling in the swamp forest.
It was clear that they had planned to stay in the misty forest for quite some time.
This made Angor a little concerned. Since the caravan could enter the Misty Swamp Forest, it meant that the Misty Swamp Forest was not a closed area, and bandits could leave at any time.
If they could leave, and judging from the expressions of the bandits in the cave, they didn't seem to be attached to this place, why did they choose not to leave and instead stay in this foggy and dangerous place?
As soon as this question arose, the image of the "dreamer" drifting in the mist unconsciously flashed through Angell's mind.
—Could it be because of him?