Chapter 145 - 112: Firewood Gatherer and Firewood Thief 2

Luo Ge finished posting the official announcement from the Spirit Candle, lost in thought.

’Firewood Thief...’

Based on the Spirit Candle’s analysis of the Pottery Man and Noxia’s recovered memories, the Pottery Man that appeared earlier likely belonged to a group from before the calamity known as the "Firewood Thieves."

That’s right. "Firewood Thief" wasn’t a very precise term; it referred to a collective group.

Their original goal seemed to be seizing the power of the Primordial Fire.

They were definitely more than just one person or one faction.

All such people or factions were collectively called—"Firewood Thieves"...

And the Spirit Candle’s feedback to Luo Ge was that their purpose in seizing the Candle Spirit Body was to obtain information about him, the players, and the Spirit Candle itself.

’Just as I thought...’

Luo Ge’s gaze grew heavy.

His suspicions were correct. Although the calamity had turned most of this world’s life into Living Corpses and mindless walkers, it was highly likely that beings who had reached a certain level of power were unaffected.

This was true of the power that took the Firewood Gatherer from Mars, and it was also true of the power seeping out of the vortex...

From now on, he and his players would have to be even more careful.

There had to be a reason why the power behind the Pottery Man was willing to pay any price to seize the Candle Spirit Body.

It was very likely they would return, perhaps by ambushing players in dungeons, or maybe even by finding Candle Island...

However, there was no need to worry too much.

Candle Island was his and the Spirit Candle’s home turf. The Spirit Candle was deeply rooted here, and so far, it had never been breached by any external force.

If there really was something that terrifyingly powerful... well, there would be no escaping it anyway.

He could only take it one step at a time.

But based on Luo Ge’s own speculation,

these Firewood Thieves were likely not that strong, at least for now.

His guess wasn’t just baseless speculation.

First, the Pottery Man had come alone.

This indicated that the mastermind behind it was, in all likelihood, also following the "rules" of these chaotic spaces.

Furthermore, when Luo Ge had tried to snatch back the Candle Spirit Body, the power in the vortex had decisively cut its losses, immediately abandoning the Pottery Man in exchange for the Candle Spirit Body.

’If I were in their shoes,’ Luo Ge thought, ’as long as I had even a sliver of strength left, I would never give my enemy any chance to get information on me...’

All in all, the potential danger was not small.

But... for now, he’d just have to see how things played out.

"Mr. Luo Ge..."

Sensing Luo Ge’s low spirits, Noxia hesitated for a moment before taking his hand.

Feeling the softness in his palm, Luo Ge frowned slightly and turned to look at her.

He saw Noxia place the unique Dagger she had once inhabited into his hand.

"Here, for you." Noxia looked at him, her eyes firm, and nodded. "Perhaps this will be of some help."

Luo Ge stared at the strange Dagger in his hand and fell silent for a moment.

After the Spirit Candle’s Tier increased, more of its latent powers naturally emerged, including the "combustion analysis" from before.

If he completely analyzed the Dagger Noxia had once inhabited, he might indeed obtain some crucial information.

But...

"Are you ready for this?" Luo Ge looked at her, adding, "To completely cut ties with your past?"

Noxia withdrew her hand and smiled.

This time, she didn’t use her previous formal greeting. Instead, she copied the way the players greeted each other and held out her small hand.

"I am your Candle Guardian Witch now, Mr. Luo Ge."

"..."

Luo Ge was silent for a moment, his thoughts unreadable.

Then, he reached out and shook Noxia’s hand.

"...Thank you."

After speaking, Luo Ge paused again before suggesting, "When you’re dealing with that group of... Warriors, it’s better not to use this kind of gesture."

"Why?" Noxia asked, a little confused.

’If the Candle Guardian Witch NPC who normally curtsies all day suddenly shakes your hand, wouldn’t that blow her cover...’

"...You look better when you curtsy."

Luo Ge explained, skirting the real issue.

"...Okay." Noxia nodded lightly, her hands unconsciously fidgeting with the hem of her clothes.

With that, Luo Ge turned around, and an azure flame ignited in his hand.

Before long, the strange Dagger that Noxia had once inhabited was burned to ashes, its remnants given over to the power of the Spirit Candle for analysis.

Luo Ge closed his eyes.

Noxia knelt beside him, waiting quietly.

A moment later, he opened his eyes.

After burning the Dagger that had housed Noxia’s Soul, he had obtained only a single piece of information.

[The pure Souls of ascetics, hanging from the cliff’s edge of death, quietly await the Master of the Firewood’s Descent...]

It seemed that besides the Firewood Gatherers and the Firewood Thieves, there were other hidden factions...

...

Another two days passed. Neither the Firewood Gatherers nor the Firewood Thieves appeared again.

「At Exile Peak, before the Sin Furnace.」

CLANG... CLANG...

A series of strikes from a weapon being forged rang out.

Before long, Li Miao picked up his Law Knight’s Greatsword from the forge.

Currently, their Level had reached the twenties, and they were starting to prepare to take on the Golden Bull Guard.

"Tsk tsk, a +4 Law Knight’s Greatsword. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time..."

Li Miao joyfully stroked the Law Knight’s Greatsword in his hands.

CLANK! CLANK!

Suddenly, a clanking sound came from Li Miao’s crotch armor. He looked down and saw it was Faraway.

He was still in his transformed Law Knight form, so that was the only place Faraway could pat him.

"Let me through."

Faraway said calmly.

"Oh, oh." Li Miao awkwardly stepped aside.

He had been so excited that his massive Law Knight form was blocking the way, preventing Faraway from touching the fire.

Fortunately, Faraway never cared about such minor details.

Soon, he began his Enhancement.

Then, Li Miao watched as Faraway calmly failed two Enhancement attempts in a row, instantly losing twenty Tier 3 Reinforced Wax Stones.

But thankfully, the Weapon didn’t break.

This made even Faraway’s brow furrow slightly, and he tried one more time.

CRACK!

The sound players hated hearing the most rang out.

The Execution Gloves... shattered right before Faraway’s and the other players’ eyes.

"..." Faraway.

"Hahahaha, how can the big shot be so unlucky..."

"I can’t hold it in..."

"This is killing me! It didn’t break the first two times, but one more try and the weapon itself breaks."

Seeing this, the other players couldn’t help but gloat.

They didn’t care if you were a big shot or not; when they saw something funny, they had to join in on the fun.

"Hahahaha..." Li Miao couldn’t help but laugh too. "Faraway, what kind of luck is that? Hitting a thirty-five percent chance three times in a row..."

"Bad luck." Faraway sighed, shrugged, and helplessly walked to the side to reforge his Weapon.

But then, he looked at Li Miao again. "Give me some Wax Stones."

To be honest, he hadn’t expected to burn through all the Tier 3 Reinforced Wax Stones he had saved up.

Luckily, Li Miao had succeeded in just two tries and had plenty left over.

However, just as he was about to start the Enhancement, Faraway hesitated.

Then, he pulled Li Miao over. "You do it."

You can’t be superstitious about this kind of meta-luck, but you can’t completely disbelieve it either.

Sure enough, as soon as Li Miao took over, there were no failures. He successfully hammered it to +4.

After enhancing the Weapon, Li Miao looked at Faraway. "Should we head straight to the ruins now?"

"No rush. Let’s go to Candle Island and find Mushroom first," Faraway said, shaking his head.

Li Miao heard this and had no objections. He would just follow the big shot’s plan.

But he could roughly guess why Faraway was looking for Mushroom.

After all, Mushroom had recently posted his guide to the Demon-Harboring Cottage on the forums.

Many players had also started trying out Magic Potion Science, with some decent results.

Since they were going to try and take on the Golden Bull Guard, getting some consumables from Mushroom would increase their chances of success.

As they spoke, the two of them walked toward the Spirit Candle, preparing to Teleport directly.

On the way, however, Li Miao remembered an important question. "The ruins can fit three people. Should we grab one more person?"

"Let’s ask Brother Yu to come with us," Faraway said.

Faraway alone was enough for the back row. The margin for error against the Golden Bull Guard was just too low; a player whose combat skills hadn’t reached a certain level would easily drag them down.