MMORPG: Divine Mech Hunter

The pet Little Elves were overwhelmed with emotion from ten thousand years of struggle and hope, a cycle of reincarnation in dreams. To experience countless joyful reunions and heart-wrenching departures in just thousands of years, this fidelity in love left Li Yao sighing in awe.

Despite knowing that this was simply a game, Li Yao found himself deeply moved and impacted by their sentiments.

“Idol, are you telling me the truth? We just killed Tina, could she really be resurrected?” The Little Elves asked with teary voices.

Li Yao nodded and said, “What we killed was the physical form composed of twisted energy. Currently, our abilities aren’t capable of truly harming a soul. Of course, a real resurrection is impossible, or else the Forgotten would go mad. But achieving the kind of state the Forgotten are in is possible. Let’s just say it would require a powerful ceremony to do so.”

The three fell silent. It seemed that Tina might indeed become a Banshee in the end. Although she would gain consciousness, Li Yao questioned whether this was genuinely beneficial.

Li Yao composed himself and waited for Colin. A moment later, he remembered an issue – the arena was supposed to open today, and he hadn’t yet completed the queen’s second task.

“Feng Yi, what is the status of the arena?” Li Yao asked.

Feng Yi looked puzzled and said, “Arena? What arena?”

Li Yao was stunned and replied, “The arena that was supposed to open today.”

“No arenas have opened today…” Feng Yi responded, still unclear.

“Okay, I’m aware now. I’ll go complete the task first.” Li Yao breathed a sigh of relief. He still felt something was off and contacted Sister Li, “Do you know why the arena didn’t open?”

The Ancient God Company couldn’t affect the progression of the game; the opening of the arena was dictated by simulation. The queen had mentioned yesterday that it would open today, she wouldn’t have been joking.

However, it was already midnight, and the arena surprisingly had not opened, suggesting something significant must have transpired. Li Yao had checked the forums but found no useful information.

“There’s no information. Barely anyone knew about the arena’s opening, so there hasn’t been a ripple.” Sister Li said.

Li Yao furrowed his brow, “Have any major events taken place?”

“Let me check.” Sister Li quickly sifted through today’s data, then said, “Today, the centaurs launched a sudden attack on the Orc Main City. They say the casualties were high. However, the players only saw it as a siege task, and they took no note of it.”

Attacks on cities by monster forces were commonplace, and didn’t draw attention. At most, the players of the Orc Main City undertook many military tasks alongside it.

“Okay, I got it.” Li Yao hung up the communicator.

It now seemed a war was about to break out between the orcs and the centaurs, which was why the opening schedule for the arena had been disrupted. This was a prime opportunity for increasing military merit, but Li Yao decided not to mention it to Sister Li.

The guild’s primary task at the moment was to quickly reach level three and then establish a guild station. As for military merit, it would have to be put on hold; there was no need to divert the guild’s energy for this.

Without the need to worry about the arena, Li Yao decided to secure the Water of Blue Moon Lake first.

By the time Colin returned, everyone had calmed down. He immediately rewarded the group for their quest. Li Yao’s experience bar ticked up a notch.

Li Yao held the Flame Emblem in his hand, puzzled, and said, “I haven’t fulfilled your promise yet, and you’re giving me rewards. Aren’t you afraid I’ll run away?”

Flame Emblem

Quality: Golden Legend

Transforms user into a fiery spirit; advanced Druids can complete transformation into Flame Form (Flame Leopard, Fire Hawk).

Purpose: Can be used as material for multiple secondary professions.

Advanced Druids holding the Flame Emblem could transform into a Flame Leopard or Fire Hawk, which significantly boosted their fighting power.

This was a golden object highly sought after. Back in the day, a single Flame Emblem had ignited a war between two guilds. One Flame Emblem could make a powerful Druid. Its value was easy to imagine.

Of course, it could also be used as a pattern. For Li Yao, he wanted the Flame Emblem to transform the Fire Hawk, making it an intermediate boss.

“You could try.” Colin said with a smile that could be more aptly termed a smirk.

“Ahem, it was a joke. Just a joke.” Li Yao certainly did not want to offend such a powerful NPC.

“Alright, leave your notion be. Wait for me at Undercity. As long as you bring me to the queen, your mission is complete,” said Colin. He quickly transformed into a gigantic stormcrow and vanished from sight with a powerful flap of his wings.

“Relay to me the coordinates you’ve marked. I’ll return later to do my part. You can wait for me in the city then, and we should be able to complete the mission by dawn,” said Colin.

“Alright, I’ll send them to you when we get back,” said Nail Claw.

Li Yao nodded and activated his Hearthstone, returning to Undercity. As he wandered around the city, wondering how to find Colin, a man in black followed closely behind him.

“Let’s go,” came Colin’s voice.

Li Yao was speechless at his speed of response. Under five minutes had passed between Li Yao’s return to the guild and when he was spotted. It would appear that an Ancient Elf teleportation array was camouflaged somewhere nearby.

However, these matters were not of concern to Li Yao. He merely led Colin directly into the Royal District. Since he had received the queen’s approval, the guards of the Royal District let Li Yao in without questioning him.

Upon seeing the queen, Li Yao quickly explained the situation and then excused himself.

His role was limited to guiding the way. Only by doing so could the secrecy of the meeting be maintained. After all, private meetings between two factions’ leaders would undoubtedly have adverse effects.

As to what method or benefit Colin would offer to persuade the queen, this was of no concern to Li Yao.

For now, all he knew was that Colin likely wouldn’t return to the command center anytime soon and that the Flame Emblem he had received would probably allow him to enter the command center without issue.

Li Yao rushed back to the Dark Grey Valley once again, marking the five coordinates on the runes with sensing material.

Though the command center was in a separate dimension, it still existed within the primary world. As long as they could connect this array to the primary world, the Dark Camp would eventually be able to locate this dimension.

Li Yao handed the Quartermaster an identification array linked to the marking material, etched onto a chessboard.

“Well done, you have not disappointed me. True warriors deserve their rewards,” said the Orc Quartermaster, storing the array with satisfaction.

Li Yao’s military rank immediately became Warrant Officer — this rank would allow Li Yao to recruit NPCs and effectively establish his private army.

Naturally, only the guild leader and vice-leader had this privilege. Ordinary players with this rank would at most receive minor attribute boosts…