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"Huh? Are you a spy?" Liu Ye questioned without dropping his guard. 

Liu Ye couldn't think of a different explanation. Vice-leader Marco's name was still blue, so the man couldn't be hostile to him. 

"Shhh, don't say it too loud," Vice-leader Marco shushed as he walked closer. "I'm indeed a spy working for the Village Lord. I have infiltrated this bandit group for months." 

Vice-leader Marco gave Liu Ye a look over and asked again, "Tell me, are you the man that Village Lord sent to assist me?" 

There was no reason for Vice-leader Marco to fake being a spy to get his trust so Liu Ye nodded, pointing at the Berserker's body. "This scene should be enough to answer your question."

"Alright," Vice-leader Marco approved, and his body visibly relaxed. "That's what I initially thought, but I was hesitant to believe it. Since the Leader of the Bandit Camp is absent, I requested immediate assistance to finally clear the camp. I asked for the strongest warrior yet someone like you came." 

Vice-leader Marco glanced at the Berserker and nodded again. "I thought you were a total newbie, but I am glad to be proven wrong. Your strategies seem to make up for your lack of abilities." 

To be ridiculed and praised by an NPC in the same breath was a strange experience for Liu Ye.

"Where did the Leader of the Bandit Camp go?" Liu Ye questioned curiously. If he had to kill all bandits in this camp, wouldn't that mean he had to find the absent Leader too?

"He left the camp to search for Elemental Stones in the nearby mountains. He took a lot of bandits with him which is why I want to strike today," Vice-leader Marco explained. "Once we are done with the camp, we need to follow him to the mountains and face him as well."

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"Well, I'm not the strongest warrior but I'm all you will get," Liu Ye replied with a shrug. "I don't care if you join me or not. I am planning to kill all the bandits on my own anyway." 

Vice-leader Marco's eyes lit up. "Good, I like your confidence. Now, I don't need to worry anymore. Let's get rid of those bandits from our land once and for all!" 

[Ding! Quest Luring Threat was updated!]

Liu Ye received a notification and finally canceled his water whips. He gulped down a Small Mana Potion to recover his Mana and checked his quest tab. 

[Luring Threat]

[Form an alliance with Vice-leader Marco and defeat the Leader of Masked Bandits together with all his subordinates. Leave no man alive.]

[Difficulty: S+]

[Quest Clear Conditions: Eradicate every member of the bandit group.] 

[Clear Reward: 100 gold, 100 Fame, Lord's Gift.]

[Quest Failure: -4 Levels, Quest canceled.]

[Time left: 15:12:54]

Liu Ye's eyes couldn't help but widen at the obvious changes. How strong was this Leader for him to suddenly receive ten times the original reward? 

The high reward was balanced with the hefty penalty for failing and the time limit. Liu Ye wasn't worried about the latter since it was also the time for the servers closing, but he would have appreciated a chance to reject the chain quest at any moment. 

He would still accept it in the end, but the AI controlling the quests was playing too much. 

"Follow me. I know every corner of this camp," Vice-leader Marco ordered while he turned around to lead the way. "We should be able to split them up and kill them in small groups." 

"What?" Liu Ye shook his head in surprise and leaped forward to stop him. "Wait, you can't be serious." 

"Huh? Is there something wrong?" Vice-leader Marco asked in confusion. 

"That's a horrible plan. There is no need to fight them in groups when we can finish them one by one," Liu Ye explained. "What's your Element?" 

"I was a leader of the Village Guards so my Element is naturally Earth. I am the one who had taught all my subordinates," Vice-leader Marco replied proudly, giving Liu Ye an idea. 

"Give me a second," Liu Ye muttered as he pulled out his profile window and quickly added one point to his Intelligence. He was tempted to increase his Luck for the chance of better drops, but he opted for more damage and Mana instead. 

[Ding! You unlocked Water Manipulation.]

Opening the Elemental Tree, he chose to spend his Elemental Point without hesitation, unlocking the most important ability of a water-aligned Player like him. His mind immediately exploded with new knowledge, giving him the worst headache so far. 

[Water Manipulation]

[Description: Ability to manipulate larger amounts of water from an increased distance. The player can manipulate water into any shape and form but it won't deal damage unless a specific Ability was unlocked.]

[Cost: 1 MP per second] 

All long-ranged abilities had Water Manipulation as a requirement so it was a must-have Ability. Liu Ye didn't hesitate and tested it. He created a Small Water Whip and sent it out of its usual range. 

-2

-2

-2

The Mana cost doubled thanks to Water Manipulation but he was able to cast his whip ten meters away from him. He played with it for a moment, reforming his whip into different shapes, before calling out to Vice-leader Marco.

"I have a better plan. Do you know how to create earth handcuffs?"

———

"Vice-leader! What happened?!" 

When Vice-leader Marco returned with the Berserker's corpse on his back, the whole Bandit Camp was enraged. The bandits all gathered around him with solemn expressions, but it was Vice-leader Marco who had the darkest expression among them all. 

Thud!

The Berserker's body slammed on the ground as the Vice-leader cried out, "Look at what you did! This is all your fault! Why did everyone disregard my orders?!" 

The Masked Bandits were in shock for being blamed, but Vice-leader Marco was there to enlighten them. 

"I told all of you to apprehend the enemy and recover the Fire Stone! How many of you listened to me?! None of you!" Vice-leader Marco cried out in rage. "All of you stopped chasing after the intruder because your houses burned. Who the fuck cares?! Are your homes worth more than a Fire Stone? Houses can be rebuilt but a Fire Stone is priceless! This is ridiculous!" 

"Vice-leader, but why is he dead?!" one of the two remaining Berserkers cried out in confusion. "He shouldn't have died even if he fought alone." 

"Why do you think I asked all of you to kill that intruder?" Vice-leader Marco asked back. "It's because I could see how strong he was! This dead body is proof that you should never underestimate an enemy. I was the only one who followed after them and when I reached them, he was already falling to the ground while the intruder had already escaped." 

The Masked Bandits shivered and looked away with guilt in their eyes. 

"Anyway." Vice-leader Marco raised his hand to stop any further discussions. "When the leader comes back, he will want to know what exactly happened. I need to understand what went wrong so I will take all of you for interrogation. All of you will come to my house one by one." 

Vice-leader Marco gazed at one of the Berserkers and pointed at him, "You will come with me first."

He didn't wait for a reply before walking away towards his house, forcing the Berserker to follow him. 

"Vice-Leader, I'm an Airbender. You said to use Fire to not damage the Fire Stone," the Berserker complained on the way but Vice-leader Marco only turned around to him with earth handcuffs on his hands.

"What is this for?" the Berserker asked angrily. "I didn't do anything wrong." 

"If you didn't do anything wrong then you should have nothing to worry about, right?" Vice-leader Marco countered. 

"Fine, I'm innocent," the Berserker finally agreed as he slid his hands into the stone gloves. They immediately tightened around his wrists and locked his hands together before he was led inside the house. 

"Huh? Why is there so much water on the floor?" the Berserker pointed out when he entered, but it was already too late. 

Swoosh!

The moment the door closed, the water rose up from the floor and flew towards the Berserker's face. He tried to dodge unconsciously but Vice-leader Marco held him in place. 

-0 

The water hit the Berserker's face, dealing 0 damage but that wasn't its purpose. Instead of attacking again, it wrapped around his head to create a small ball of water. The Berserker tried to scream, but only bubbles came out as the water ball muffled all sounds. 

Three Small Water Whips raised from the ground right after and began to smack the Berserker in the chest till his HP dropped to zero. 

[Ding! You killed the Berserker. You received 500 Experience and 50 silver.] 

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"That was good acting," Liu Ye praised as he came out from another room. "Hide the body in the closet and bring another one." 

"Alright!" Vice-leader Marco nodded excitedly, listening to Liu Ye's orders as if he did not mind the fact he was no longer in charge. 

Liu Ye couldn't help but be impressed with the flexibility of the AI in this game. As long as it benefits the overall mission, an NPC would do exactly as Liu Ye told him, and so far, everything was going smoothly. The only regret he had was the low number of Berserkers in the Bandit Camp, but he couldn't complain. It was still basically free gold and experience for him. 

Just as Vice-leader Marco left to bring another Berserker in, Liu Ye's arms suddenly felt a buzz, indicating that he had received a notification.

[Player Queen of Chess sent you a friend request. Would you like to accept?]