Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

...

[...Life value -1.]

[...Life value -1.]

[...Life value -1.]

...

[The harmful substances you have absorbed have exceeded your body's capacity, please evacuate from the dangerous area as soon as possible.]

[Harmful substances have entered your blood circulation, your life is continuously weakening, movement reduced by 20%, life value -5/min.]

Dai Lian, without saying a word, turned and ran.

The slope of the volcano was continuous, and the rocks were rugged.

Dai Lian stumbled, and his whole body suddenly fell to the ground, rolling like a gourd several times before finally coming to a dusty halt.

Looking up, he saw a pair of small feet stepping in calf-skin boots, and Dai Lian reached out his right hand, "Save, save, save..."

"Okay~" Gong Yan smiled with her lips pursed, carrying her small canvas bag as she bent down to crouch beside him.

...

[You have received emergency aid, your injury is stabilized, your life value is rapidly recovering.]

[Your body has recovered from a severe exhaustion, and your resistance to the source of damage has improved, your Concentration Resistance +1, reaching 100 points to form a trait—Adaptive Breathing Enhancement (Level 1).]

"It's helpful."

Dai Lian, having recovered, was slightly pleased. Although a friend who used to grind levels for him had mentioned it, experiencing it firsthand still brought a sense of joy from the achievement.

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle..." Another figure rolled over, and Gu Lan, with a dusty face, lifted her head from the ground with a giggle, "Save me too~"

"Okay~"

[You have received emergency aid...]

[Your body has recovered from a severe exhaustion...]

Kuang Xin: "Save..."

...

Seeing Gong Yan, who was still standing in place without going up to train herself, Dai Lian asked with curious eyes, "What about you?"

"Me?" Gong Yan flicked some stray locks of hair from beside her ear, "Who will save me if I go up there?"

Without waiting for Dai Lian to reply, she smiled again, "It's okay. I have Spiritual Energy that can purify the conditions on my body."

As she spoke and inhaled a gulp of smoky air, she quickly covered her mouth and nose again with her damp scarf, coughing violently, "Cough, cough, cough!"

"Alright~ As long as you're okay."

"Exhale~"

"Inhale~"

"Exhale~"

"Inhale~"

At the foot of the shadowed mountain, several figures with mottled colors were mingling on the stony ground intermixed with gray, black, and white volcanic rocks, hardly drawing attention unless someone got very close.

The three who were breathing heard some unnatural sounds faintly. Dai Lian, who had the highest perception, suddenly stopped his heavy breathing rhythm and sharply turned his gaze in a certain direction.

Tiny black dots were gradually enlarging from the distant slope above, clearly moving in this direction.

And a number of ruby-red figures were hot on the heels of those two black dots, their relatively close proximity making it easy to spot the gap between the two.

Kuang Xin and Gu Lan both stopped their normal breathing rhythm and looked in the same direction.

"Looks like someone is being chased by a monster, huh?" Kuang Xin squinted, finding it hard to see clearly.

Gu Lan spat disdainfully, "Even the kitchen squad has seen it, do you need to state the obvious?"

"So, what do we do?"

After a moment of hesitation, Dai Lian made a decision, "Rescue them!"

They were strangers in a strange land, and there was no better way to start than to save someone's life.

Having made the decision, the three of them sprinted off at once.

As they got close enough, Dai Lian took the longbow off his back and pulled out a stainless steel arrow from the quiver he carried behind him.

To prepare for this mission to Grey Iron City, they had made thorough preparations.

Facing completely unfamiliar local monsters, Dai Lian didn't dare to be overconfident.

He went for it with a skill from an adult—Power Shot!

Waves of heat bearing volcanic temperature swirled at his fingertips, and endless power gradually peaked during the slow charging process.

As the pursuers and the pursued separated positions in the chase at that instant, Dai Lian's gaze sharpened, and he released his fingers.

"Whoosh~"

The arrow was like a dragon, carrying with it the scorching fireworks of a volcano as it stirred up a wild surge in the air before shooting straight towards the chest of one of the pursuing beasts.

"Snap~"

The arrow, capable of piercing through gold and splitting rocks, easily tore through the beast's chest, and the creature that resembled an upright, red lion stiffened in an instant, then became completely frozen in place.

Its crimson body gradually lost its lustrous red sheen, turning into ordinary black-iron colored stones, falling swiftly from midair and scattering on the ground.

"The monster is made of stone?" Kuang Xin sped forward like a gust of wind, quickly reaching the vicinity of the chase, while Dai Lian was still gathering power on the spot.

And at this moment, the pursued, perhaps in despair seeing "an ambush ahead," slipped and tumbled down abruptly.

As he rolled on the ground losing control of his body, the crimson beast chasing behind would not let go of this easy prey.

Raising its forelimb, about to smash the wretched creature below with a massive claw, a shadow not much stronger than the pitiful creature suddenly flashed in between.

"Squeak~"

Strong muscles emitted a sour sound as Kuang Xin planted his feet into the ground and let out a roar from his throat, "Ahhh!!!!"

"Boom!"

With a powerful burst, even the heavy stone beast was completely overturned, its entire body violently crashing to one side and kicking up a cloud of dust.

The last red beast gazed at its prey, close at hand, its twin eyes shining with a bloodthirsty excitement, like blazing rubies. However, a flying figure came rushing from the side, and with a punch, Gu Lan, wearing a black and red glove, knocked the beast's neck askew, causing its outstretched claw to helplessly hit the ground.

Gu Lan, who landed with a bright, enthusiastic smile, adjusted her Spiritual Energy glove that was a size too large for her right hand before reaching out to help up the fallen male human, "Are you okay?"

"No...I'm fine." Wang Wenbo stupidly reached out his hand, feeling that this person, likely a female in shorts with a face smeared with black soot, surprisingly had the air of a master about her.

"Rua!"

The mad calling resounded behind them, as Kuang Xin, furiously hammering the pursuing beast, darted past Gu Lan's back.

Watching this frenzied scene before him, Wang Wenbo swallowed hard.

"Tut~"

Isn't this too fierce?

Fighting the Fire Elemental Beasts, who are these people?

But he hadn't seen them among the familiar players, so could they be those NPCs who had undergone surgery?

If NPCs have this kind of strength... It seems quite normal.

As he put away his longbow and approached just as swiftly, Dai Lian walked over with a smile, unconcerned with the two remaining red beasts who were no match for Kuang Xin. Moreover, these beasts clearly had limited intelligence, failing to change their target even when entangled with the obviously troublesome Kuang Xin, so there was no need to worry.

He was more concerned about the progress of the mission, or rather, the source of the information.

Dai Lian put on what he thought was his most sincere smile, watching the approach from afar, and in a tone that sounded steady and reliable, just like his superior, he greeted, "Friend, are you okay?"

...

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Let's hurry up and go."

"What bad luck, how did we run into Fire Elemental Beasts?"

"Just wanted to come out and pick up some trash, is my luck really this rotten?"

"Sigh~"

"Sigh~"

...

Dai Lian's smile froze on his face as he watched the backs of the two humans walking away. He turned to Gu Lan, dryly squeezing his eyes, "I think we've been ignored."

Gu Lan also opened her eyes wide, somewhat doubting whether she was hallucinating, "Can they not see us?"

... Watching the backs of the departing figures, Dai Lian pinched his chin, analyzing rationally, "Perhaps this is the local custom? People of Grey Iron City don't like talking to strangers?"

"Emmmmm"

"Rua!"

In a cacophony of sound, Gong Yan, who realized something was amiss, finally arrived late, "What happened?"

"Nothing much, we just encountered two NPCs being chased, but it seems they had no mission, and they didn't interact with us," Dai Lian waved his hand dismissively.

"Oh~"

...

The two players returned to their den looking disheartened, reporting today's outcomes to their boss, "Boss, we ran into Fire Elemental Beasts."

"Oh?" In the dim light, a soft, pale chin lifted with a hint of a smile, "And you managed to run back here?" Find your next read at My Virtual Library Empire

"Hey! Just happened to run into some weird NPCs." Wang Wenbo waved his hand, speaking somewhat nonchalantly.

The other player, however, was full of interest, "Boss, you wouldn't believe it, but those NPCs were pretty fierce."

"Oh?" The boss's tone rose with curiosity, clearly more interested, "How fierce were they?"