Chapter 071: The Sea Soul Is Lost!

The words had barely left his mouth when Fourth, covered head to toe in red and green dye, stumbled back from Incense Stone 2 in a mess. First didn’t even glance at him, simply unleashed a barrage of healing spheres out of habit!

“Run!” Fourth didn’t even pause upon returning; he dashed straight toward the open area of Incense Stone 1, leaving First’s string of healing spells to land on his own head instead. If healing magic isn’t precisely targeted at the recipient, it manifests on the caster. Fourth ran so fast that by the time First pressed the hotkey, he was nowhere near his original spot.

Though no one knew what had happened, Lin Jia, a mage with thin skin and scant health, instinctively followed Fourth in his escape. First was momentarily stunned, the words “Stop so I can heal you!” stuck in her throat. Only when an entire horde burst out from the entrance of Incense Stone 2 did First let out a startled cry and take off as well.

Lin Jia and the others hadn’t expected that the two fleeing warriors would summon a whole gang of enforcers from Incense Stone 2. Among them, three wore heavy armor; there was a level 22 priest and a mage, both in professional gear, and a crowd of others clad in light and medium armor. The poor lighting made it impossible to count them all, not that there was any time for such a thing. First had only lagged behind a little when a storm of red and green poison, soulfire talismans, lightning spells, and sword techniques crashed down upon her. Without thinking, she triggered a random teleport. When she landed, she was barely clinging to life.

Lin Jia and Fourth retreated to the site of their earlier battle, just as three figures emerged from a secret passage: two priests and a warrior, the same trio they had dispatched earlier.

Enemies meeting again could only mean trouble. Fourth, frustrated from being battered by the enemy’s main force, charged at the isolated ones. His attack sent one priest reeling, but the three newcomers had two skeletons trailing behind them. Before Fourth could deliver a second blow, he was immediately beset, pummeled like a club by five foes at once.

Their fight blocked the entrance from Incense Stone 1 to the secret passage. Now truly caught between a rock and a hard place, they were surrounded. At least a dozen players had chased them, with three more arriving from the front—the ratio now five to one. How were they supposed to fight that? Lin Jia and his friends were stunned.

They considered using the candle-snuffing ambush strategy again, but the enemy’s large group, each carrying candles, had illuminated the tomb brightly. Extinguishing candles now would only invite trouble. Lin Jia could only try to hide among the zombie horde, hoping the undead would slow their pursuers. Yet the enemy priests and mages doused him in red and green paint, and attacked with lightning, his health dropping rapidly. The stun effect left him unable to flee, forcing him to frantically press the random teleport scroll.

But the enemy group had nearly sealed off the entire Incense Stone 1 floor. Lin Jia landed only to be assaulted, his health dropping faster than he could replenish with potions. With only a sliver of life left, he desperately hammered the teleport key, hoping to escape the tomb—but fate was cruel. His level 0 “Teleportation” skill failed for the first time! On the second attempt, the enemy mage’s lightning spell struck at the same moment as the teleport’s glow.

A scream rang out! Lin Jia’s world faded to black and white. “Damn it!” he cursed. “I’m dead! Quick, grab my loot!” He hurriedly opened his inventory to check what he’d lost. The sight was chilling—at least a dozen high-grade magic potions had spilled out. To maximize potion carrying capacity, Lin Jia always bought bundles of six super magic potions and some loose high-grade ones to reduce weight.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. When he opened his equipment screen, he saw that his little mage’s hands were empty.

“No way! My Sea Soul dropped!!! It’s just below the canyon leading from Sabak City to Earth City! Hurry!” Lin Jia leaped from his chair in panic. He’d clearly teleported out—how had he still died? Was that lightning spell tracking him?

First and Fourth grew anxious too. The three brothers had plenty of rare items, but the most valuable was Lin Jia’s overpowered 1-5 Sea Soul staff—an item he wouldn’t sell even for real money. If it was lost, Lin Jia would be devastated.

Both pressed their dungeon teleport scrolls; First and Fourth instantly escaped combat and returned to the alliance’s main map. One landed at the world’s end, the other at the edge of the sea—miles from Lin Jia’s location. Both craned their necks to check Lin Jia’s coordinates on his screen, then opened their inventories and frantically pressed random teleport.

Lin Jia lay on the ground, heart pounding, watching an armored beetle crawl over his body, terrified that a passing player might scoop up all his dropped items. The spot where Lin Jia’s corpse landed was near the lower end of the canyon from Sabak to Earth City—a busy thoroughfare where players constantly passed. Luckily, the map was shrouded in darkness, the night black as pitch. Lin Jia, lying in a corner beneath the ridge crossing the alliance continent, listened to the footsteps of passing players, his heart in his throat. Though Lin Jia outside the computer could sing at the top of his lungs without anyone in-game hearing him, he couldn’t help but hold his breath.

When luck deserts you, even the walls you lean on collapse!

Lin Jia was still trembling with anxiety when the game’s day-night cycle suddenly brought dawn. He unleashed a torrent of curses, while First and Fourth shouted, “We’re coming! Almost there! Hold on!”

Lin Jia could wait, but passing players would not. In broad daylight, not only did they litter, but they shamelessly lay on the ground and slept.

A young mage wielding a Sea Soul staff was drawn by the dazzling array of items on the ground. He stood beside them, stunned, before exclaiming, then lunged like a mad dog, scooping up bundles of super magic potions.

Lin Jia’s heart froze, despair wringing a guttural scream from his throat: “Are you here yet? Someone’s here!!!!!”