Chapter 478: Fast Clearance
After Steelshot volunteered himself to brave the danger, the rest of the underground layer became overly smooth.
By now, they had found four monsters and only required one missing one before they could get to the oppressive pillar and clear the Fallen Swamp passage.
The fast clearance was truly unprecedented, with many wondering just how deep and cunning Xu Feng planned from the start.
Just the mere fact that they had not stopped or rested once explained that Xu Feng could have easily cleared the oppressive pillar. Read exclusive adventures at My Virtual Library Empire
Yet he didn't do any of that and instead waited patiently for all the saboteurs to be captured one by one.
However, what made Xu Feng a scary person was not his scheme to capture the saboteurs, but his means in converting the saboteurs to become one of his labor workers.
"Steelshot, there's a trap hidden in that concrete and another one in the far left corner," DeathLingers reported, much to the exhausted Steelshot.
"Another two traps?" Steelshot twitched his mouth in disbelief. From the time when he was practically forced by Xu Feng to trigger the traps, there had been more than 30 incidents already.
Nearly all of his health points had been lost because of triggering the traps.
"What are you waiting for, Steelshot?" Xu Feng questioned when he found him hesitating.
"Are you trying to stall the raid?" He continued, wondering his motive.
As soon as Xu Feng finished his words, both Ardent Lance and Iceheart began glaring fiercely at Steelshot.
Iceheart wanted more monsters to vent her frustration, so how could she be pleased about someone stalling her venting?
Ardent Lance, on the other hand, couldn't help but be pleased at Steelshot's misery.
Who told him to act so cheeky and prideful in front of Xu Feng?
He deserved it and Ardent Lance would be insane to feel pity for his rival guild members.
Feeling their intense glare, Steelshot's mouth was agape as he tried to glance at SilentWhisper for help. However, it would have been better if he hadn't glanced at her in the first place.
"Raid Leader, should I use some knockback spell on Steelshot so that we won't waste any time?" SilentWhisper asked Xu Feng in a polite and sincere tone.
"Hmm, there's no need for that." Xu Feng pondered for a moment before shaking his head. "Your mana is precious as a DPS, so you shouldn't waste it on a trap activator."
"Okay…" SilentWhisper nodded and lowered her staff, displaying an obedient and somewhat submissive behavior.
'Where did my member SilentWhisper go?' Steelshot was astounded to witness that scene. He was sure that SilentWhisper had always been antagonized and hostile toward Xu Feng ever since the incident of her being sacrificed after being mistaken as a traitor.
So how could this have happened?
Little did Steelshot know, SilentWhisper had her opinion changed ever since she saw how Xu Feng operated, especially when she was involuntarily targeted by DeathLingers in the sabotage.
'The Raid Leader was just a pragmatic person and couldn't afford any mishaps. I might have sacrificed myself as well if the situation were to swap and saw how horrible I was playing.' SilentWhisper thought to herself, completely ignoring the fact that Steelshot was feeling yet another betrayal act.
"Get your ass moving already, Steelshot!" Zhao Kai suddenly exclaimed and snorted. "If you don't move, then Ardent Lance and I will use our shield to knock you to the trap."
"I'm in position!" Almost instantly, Ardent Lance held an eager expression as he raised his shield up. His brightened eyes and wicked smile were on full display for Steelshot to see that he would do it in a heartbeat as long as the command was made.
"I-I'll go…" Steelshot realized nothing had changed from his time in the Scorched Caverns. He was still the scapegoat at the end of the day.
He gnashed his teeth and quickly rushed toward the two traps, triggering them simultaneously.
KABOOM!
A loud explosion occurred and Steelshot was sent flying backward, his clothes nearly charred from the blast. As he plopped to the ground after a heavy fall, his health points had dropped to 30%.
However, very soon his health points recovered a bit over 50%, followed by the most eerie and grim voice.
"Everyone continues to proceed forward. I'll heal Steelshot continuously so he can continue his trap activator job." Xu Feng exclaimed, his Cleric role displaying the maximum effort.
And for the first time in his life as a gamer, Steelshot wanted to deny any healing done to him.
'I don't want to be healed anymore!' He cried inwardly.
Alas, his pleas and pitiful expression were completely ignored as the group swiftly advanced.
Upon approaching a new corner, Xu Feng suddenly raised his hand, signaling for the group to stop their movement.
"Stay in the dark area." Xu Feng quickly warned as his eyes locked on the enemy from afar.
Shortly after everyone stayed in the dark area, Carmen asked, "Is the monster very difficult this time?"
The previous monsters they had encountered, Xu Feng simply commanded them to straight-up attack without much strategy. Yet the monster they encountered this time was treated with such cautiousness.
Nodding, Xu Feng proceeded to explain the type of monster they were about to deal with. "Up ahead are the Elder Golem Wardens, an elite enemy."
"An elite enemy?"
"Mhmm, they're completely different from the ones we had encountered."
Similar to how players separated their skills in elite and regular.
The monster types were similarly split into such categories. Regular monsters would be the Obsidian Sludges, with the Cursed Gargoyles being a Middle monster. The others that they had encountered would be categorized as Hard monsters.
Above Hard was Elite and then Boss type.
There were more types, but that would be for later on when the Divine World continued to advance.
"So what do we do?" Carmen furrowed her brows and inquired. "Do we lure them one by one to deal with them?"
Xu Feng shook his head in response. "Elite types are intelligent and won't be lured that easily after the first attempt. We can only coordinate and deal with them simultaneously."