Chapter 146: Temptation and Snatching the Baby

Here! Exactly! Hit it first!" Lin Jia, operating his wizard character "Crazy Shackle" behind Mei Mei's Taoist girl "Seductive Glance," gave instructions while selflessly using Lightning spells—gaining no experience points—to help Mei Mei clear out the skeletons one by one. Having finally removed the gauze from both hands, Lin Jia was able to return to *The Legend of Mir 2*. Although the coordination in his hands was not yet as nimble as before the injury, it was more than enough to carry a newcomer and level up.

Carrying a newcomer still proved most convenient for a wizard—fast speed and high experience points. Mei Mei's Taoist girl had already reached level 13, the fruit of Lin Jia's hard work over half the night. Once Mei Mei gained two more levels, Lin Jia planned to take her to the Pig Cave in Mengzhong for leveling.

The little sister's level was simply too low; teaming up with Lin Jia and the others was inconvenient. For one, the experience points earned would be too meager, and for another, given Mei Mei's current operational skill, venturing into high-level maps was far too dangerous. For now, the Skeleton Cave remained the safest option.

The spawn rate of skeletons on the third floor of the Skeleton Cave was quite substantial. Although many novices were leveling there, with a high-level wizard like Lin Jia standing nearby, few newcomers dared to poach Mei Mei's monsters. Seeing that Mei Mei was about to reach level 14, Lin Jia couldn't help urging: "Hurry, hurry, hurry! There's another Skeleton Warrior over there! Once we hit level 14, we're heading to the Zombie Cave!"

Obediently, Mei Mei hurried forward a few steps, brandishing the short sword in her hand to hack at the newly spawned skeleton framework until it collapsed into a heap on the ground. Suddenly, Mei Mei let out an astonished cry: "Hey! There are so many wheels here!" With that, Mei Mei ran off Lin Jia's screen.

Equipped with a full-screen torch, Lin Jia could see the entire map area of his display. However, because Mei Mei played a melee-oriented Taoist, Lin Jia typically stood far back to cast lightning. Ever since acquiring the Overload Ring, Lin Jia made it a habit to pack his inventory to the brim with super potions. With a companion by his side anyway, he didn't need to worry about picking up the spoils of war.

"Wheels? Black Maggots?" Lin Jia was baffled. Where on earth did tires come from in the Skeleton Cave? Weren't those monsters exclusive to the Pig Cave and the Centipede Cave?

Before Lin Jia could run over, however, he heard Mei Mei's little Taoist girl emit a miserable shriek, followed immediately by Mei Mei crying out in real life: "Ah! I'm dead!" Lin Jia was thoroughly stunned. Rushing over to look, he saw a wizard clad in magic robes continuously casting Banishment (诱惑之光) on a deep blue Black Maggot. Strangely enough, this Black Maggot appeared to have been leveled up!

The red-named, deep-blue Black Maggot rolled around frantically over Mei Mei's corpse for a moment before being immobilized once more by the wizard's Banishment spell. Its name turned a dull yellowish-brown, and it stood frozen in place. Lin Jia instantly understood what had happened: one of this wizard's summoned minions must have turned rebellious as its timer expired, and he was using Banishment to reclaim control of it. Meanwhile, mistaking the creature for a regular monster, Mei Mei had run up to hack at the "tire," provoking the rebellious, red-named tire into a frenzy that instantly dispatched her. Speechlessly eyeing the corpse of Mei Mei lying on the ground, Lin Jia sighed with resignation: "Forget it! Let's just go to the Zombie Cave! This wizard has too much time on his hands, actually summoning six tires to roll over ribs in the Skeleton Cave..."

Mei Mei obediently uttered an "oh" and logged off. Lin Jia also intended to return to town and take Mei Mei to the Zombie Cave for leveling, but upon noticing the five tires standing behind the wizard alongside the rebellious minion currently being targeted by Banishment, Lin Jia couldn't resist stopping to cast Banishment on that rebellious level 7 tire himself!

Previously, Lin Jia had only ever witnessed wizard players summoning centipedes. At most, low-level wizards would summon snakes, sika deer, or little hens to trail behind them for show—purely for amusement with no practical utility. Because Lin Jia typically leveled alongside Boss and the others, though centipedes could become formidable once six were raised to level 7, the process was far too time-consuming. Moreover, by the time all six were gathered, the earliest ones would begin rebelling before reaching level 7. Consequently, Lin Jia rarely bothered summoning minions for leveling. This was his first time seeing a wizard summon tires to assist in combat. It turned out that monster type could be summoned as well?

In *The Legend of Mir 2*, a wizard's monster minions functioned differently from a Taoist's skeleton minions. Once summoned, a Taoist's skeleton would never rebel, regardless of how much time passed. For wizards, however, because the number of potential minions was so large, game balance restrictions dictated that after an hour and a half to two hours, the monster minions would rebel. The clear indicator of this was the disappearance of the player's name suffix above the monster's head.

Due to this limitation, barring special circumstances, ordinary wizard players rarely summoned minions. Perhaps owing to low character levels, low-level monster minions could only serve as pets for a casual stroll; attempting to use them to assist in leveling resulted in them perishing within moments. At the very least, high-level minions like centipedes were required to provide genuine aid in battle.

That said, Lin Jia had never imagined that tires—the very monsters wizard players detested most—could actually be summoned. This turned out to be a fantastic combat aid; Black Maggots possessed ultra-fast attack speeds and moved faster than any other monsters currently in the game. While their attack power fell short of creatures like wild boars, a level 7 tire was an entirely different story.

Driven by curiosity, Lin Jia experimentally cast Banishment upon the very culprit that had just slain Mei Mei. To his utter astonishment, while that wizard had labored over the level 7 tire for ages without result, Lin Jia used Banishment merely twice before the creature changed allegiance and acquired Lin Jia's name suffix, rolling over obediently. Even Lin Jia was left dumbfounded.

The wizard blurted out, "Fuck!" before relentlessly continuing to cast Banishment upon the tire that now belonged to Lin Jia, evidently intending to reclaim it. Lin Jia wondered: could other people's minions really be stolen via Banishment? If so, wouldn't it be better to ask Boss to summon a skeleton for him to charm? How exhilarating would it be to gather six skeleton minions? Lin Jia couldn't help daydreaming.

Yet, no matter how long the wizard cast Banishment at the tire behind Lin Jia, its name merely turned yellow; try as he might, it refused to return to him. Mischief suddenly flaring in his heart, Lin Jia promptly began casting Banishment on the remaining five deep-blue tires standing behind the stranger.

Whether it was due to Lin Jia's sheer luck or some issue with character fortune, the wizard couldn't reclaim Lin Jia's minion no matter what he tried, whereas Lin Jia claimed the tires behind the stranger at a rate of one per cast! Within moments, four of the six tires had changed their allegiance to "Crazy."

Driven to fury by humiliation, the wizard broke into a storm of abuse: "Motherfucker...!" Ignoring him entirely, Lin Jia pressed his assault against the remaining two tires. Unable to contain his rage, the wizard hurled a Lightning bolt, instantly turning brown-named as an active aggressor. If Lin Jia chose to retaliate and kill him now, he wouldn't even incur any penalty!

Before Lin Jia could make a move, however, the six tires belonging to the two wizards automatically darted forward of their own accord, bouncing and tumbling into a chaotic brawl. Delighted, Lin Jia nimbly maneuvered to dodge the stranger's lightning bolts while continuing to rain Banishment spells upon the enemy minions caught in the fray, determined not to stop until he had charmed them all.

Yet a minor mishap occurred with Lin Jia's Banishment spell at that moment: one of the level 7 tires was accidentally charmed right out of existence, while another was pummeled to death by the collective shoving of Lin Jia's four remaining tires. Seeing this, the wizard likely came close to vomiting blood!

With no targets left, Lin Jia showed the unfortunate wizard no further courtesy. The fellow had been electrocuted him for ages without retaliation; it was high time to return the favor, wasn't it? With a flash of violent lightning, the wizard lacked Lin Jia's nimble control, failing to dodge in time and taking a bolt that sent him staggering backward into stiffness. Before he could react, the four level 7 kindred-slaying tires—resembling four black torpedoes bursting through crust on land, trailing afterimages—swarmed him! With a synchronized flash of combined attacks, the wizard let out a miserable screech and perished at the hands of his former minions!

"Holy crap!" Lin Jia stared in astonishment at the four round cylinders that dutifully trotted back after dispatching the enemy. Wasn't the lethality of these fellows a bit too outrageous? Lin Jia estimated that if all six attacked together, even Boss's level 7 skeleton might not necessarily hold its ground!

So a minion's might could reach such heights?!

Ignoring the unfortunate wizard still lying on the corpse-strewn ground and continuing to spew curses, Lin Jia used a Returning Scroll to teleport back to the Biche Imperial City. Grinning broadly, he told Mei Mei: "Mei Mei, look! I've avenged you! I stole all that bad guy's minions!"

Fascinated, Mei Mei trotted over to prod the four tires obediently parked beside Lin Jia with the short sword in her hand—safely within the safe zone, of course, preventing a repeat of the recent tragedy—and exclaimed: "Crazy! These round things are amazing! I was shoved to death by them in a single second just now!"

Lin Jia chuckled: "Hehe! Now these wheels answer to me. Once you reach level 19, you'll be able to lead around a powerful skeleton minion just like Boss! Let's go! I'll take you to the Zombie Cave to level up! You won't need to fight this time; we'll party up and grind. Traveling with minions makes it impossible to escort you the way I did before!"

"Yeah! Yeah!" Mei Mei nodded obediently. Unable to stomach it any longer from the sidelines, Fourth Brother chimed in with disgust: "Do me a favor! Can the two of you talk normally?! Why does your tone have to be so nauseating? You're grossing me out to death!"

Smugly showing off, Lin Jia retorted: "What's wrong?! Jealous? Dying of envy aren't you!" Severely battered and depressed, Fourth Brother buried his head and poured his fury into the Centipede Cave in Mengzhong. Having lost two days of leveling, Boss and Fourth Brother were already close to filling their level 26 experience bars, whereas Lin Jia remained lingering at the early stages of level 26.