Fire Ridge and the Bomb Jaguar

At this moment, the group reached the popular Rotten Tree in the East of Green Beast Forest after two days of walking. Famous for the 24 hrs dark clouds in the sky. The rotten tree is the oldest in the entire forest.

They only rested in the Rotten Tree for two hours before they continued their mission. Three days later, the group appeared on Misty Mountain. A mountain covered with mist all year round... It took them a week to traverse the mountain and officially arrive North of the Green Beast Forest. Following that, they got past the Green Lantern Swamp with difficulty for two days. They pulled all-nighters due to the tension the swamp brought them.

"So this is the exact location where the Hungry Red Lion was located? It seems to me that nothing is really special here."

"Yeah, me too. It took us at least two weeks to reach the North of this forest. Now that I've personally experienced traveling on foot here. I'm convinced that the Green Beast Forest is the biggest in the entire Grand Zhao Kingdom."

Hearing this, the leader of the group put on a solemn expression and took out a potion. "Here, drink this. It's said that there are a lot of poisonous insects in Fire Ridge. Before we enter, we need to be ready perfectly."

The potion was none other than the insect repellent potion. A standard necessity for every party.

The two men beside the leader of the group nodded, took the potions, and chugged them down their throats without hesitation. The two support women did the same but gentler.

Fire Ridge.

Entrance, hundreds of mountains that constantly release hot steam.

This place was located North of the Green Beast Forest and was the only place with different terrain and environmental conditions. Inside the mountains were magma and hot molten rocks. In history, these mountains were previously active volcanoes. For some reason, after a hundred years, they transformed to their current form. Mountains that release hot steam regularly.

A lot of natural hot springs were scattered on the mountains. However, only level 15 and above could enjoy them. If level 10 and below creatures dared to bathe in these hot springs, they'd be cooked alive like steamed siomai.

With that, the group entered the Fire Ridge in search of the Hungry Red Lion. In a few minutes of leisurely stroll, they arrived at the foot of a mountain and saw a red-skinned jaguar, enjoying one of the hot springs.

The jaguar suddenly looked at them. The group nodded at the jaguar. In response, the jaguar lazily resumed its activities and ignored them entirely.

"There's actually a Bomb Jaguar here. Let's go, don't disturb it." The leader issued an instruction that prompted others to nod.

...

Congyun City.

Town Leaf Square. In the middle of the Tian Yang Statue.

"So where do we go now? Are you that place is a profitable and good training ground?"

"It's been two years since we worked with each other. Man, that Hobgoblin we fought still gives chills to me. His resurrection is still a mystery."

Kevin greeted Dylan, punched him lightly in the chest, and jested.

Dylan couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Since when did you become this talkative? The last time we worked with each other was in the Green Beast Forest two years ago. But we've still traded here in there, right? Why the fuck are you acting like it's been a while??"

"Stupid Kevin." Hank chuckled. Then he went close to Dylan's ear and whispered. "Our captain was itching for some action. After the incident with the Hobgoblin. He only went to danger zones twice a year. Most of his time was focused on practice."

Kevin snorted at Hank. 'Who are you calling stupid? Between us, you're the muscle-head.' he complained in his head.

"Well, that's good to hear. Me too, I've focused on everything to hone my skill." Dylan chuckled in response and looked at Orochi who had his arms crossed and eyes closed.

On the side, Kenjaku watched all this with an amiable smile. "Dylan, you look pretty wealthy now. What's your secret?"

He scrutinized Dylan from head to toe with surprise. In just two years, he actually managed to buy full gear. There's also one piece of silver equipment!

One had to know that most of the time. Only those veteran warriors have one or two pieces of silver-quality equipment. One silver piece of equipment, even the most affordable, costs 50-100 gold coins!

Such amount of money was enough to sustain a family of five for three to six years and not worry about food.

"Investment," Dylan answered with a smile but didn't elaborate.

How would he say to them that he didn't do anything? His money all came from adventurers who died unluckily inside the Green Beast Forest. It all came from the hard work of his goblins.

If someone is to learn about his relationship with the goblins in the Green Beast Forest. He was afraid that he would become a public enemy and his favorable points with NPCs in the Congyun City might become -100. He might even be hunted down.

After all, profiting from the deaths of warriors and adventurers of Congyun City was too gross of an act. It's a villainous, selfish behavior.

"By the way, where is your Savage Deer?" With doubt, Hank asked.

Just like that, the group talked for half an hour to catch up with each other. Narrated the past events in the city and some interesting rumors and unconfirmed secrets.

...

It took an hour for Dylan and his group to come out of Congyun City due to the recent strict security that increasingly became even stricter and due to the traffic on the road. The road was filled with Electric Carriages and Electric Bikes.

The guards averagely took 2 minutes to fully inspect vehicles that enter and exit the city. As for why is it so strict? It was due to the incident one year ago... The attempted assassination of the mayor of Congyun City ultimately failed but almost succeeded. It caused panic at that time.

The Warrior Association inside the Congyun Mirror was forced to come out to maintain order and uproot the group behind the assassination. Unfortunately, it was later found out from the investigation that the mastermind was none other than the Death Troupe, an S-rank criminal group with only six members. Every member was level at least above level 60.