I wonder how Doug is doing now … "Jessica said worriedly.
"Instead of worrying about him, you should worry about our own situation."
Edward said helplessly.
JESSICA had a confused look on her face.
Edward couldn't help sighing at that. "We've been discovered by the wood elves."
It was only at his words that Jessica realized with a start that the yellow words that had been wafting around them had subtly formed a circle around them.
"Want to fight?" Joe asked eagerly.
As the best of the Players, the average level of Edward's party was above Level 45 and close to Level 50. In human terms, almost all of them could be considered extraordinary individuals.
Moreover, unlike the casual Players who leveled up by farming dungeons or carrying quests, Edward's party had participated in the exploration of almost every dungeon, and they were the first to explore more than half of the two exploration dungeons, the Outskirts of the Valley of the Tragic Dead and the Grey Fjord Inland Seas.
It could be said that this was a team with extremely rich combat experience.
In fact, considering the presence of Eleena, a Saintess-in-training, it wouldn't be an argument to say that they were the strongest party among the Players at the moment.
After all, Princess Leah, the only two who had a hidden class, would often be caught by Old Vanke to learn etiquette and whatnot, which was why her leveling speed couldn't compare to Eleena's. Moreover, the Warrior Princess class was more suited for large-scale group battles, and her individual ability naturally couldn't compare to the Saintess-in-training.
That was why Edward's party didn't panic even when they found out that they were surrounded by the wood elves.
"To avoid provoking unnecessary enemies, let's try to negotiate first," Edward said.
"When we ran into the neutral kobolds on our way to the Trinia Forests, you didn't say anything like 'don't provoke unnecessary enemies' …" Joe complained.
"What do you know? The quest clearly states that it's unnecessary enemies, or it's just EXP. How is that the same?! "Edward retorted with conviction.
'You're right, I'm actually speechless.' Joe thought.
By the way, Xi Wei's mission was similar to Gou Dan's: investigate the wood elves' current situation in the Trinia Forests. While he didn't explicitly forbid them from becoming enemies with the wood elves, he did subtly mention it. According to Edward's understanding of the quest, the rather cryptic wording meant that the God of Games wasn't sure if those fellows were friend or foe, and was holding back.
However, this didn't mean that they had to give in to the enemy unconditionally. If the enemy attacked first, it wouldn't be a problem for them to retaliate in order to protect themselves. After all, Xi Wei didn't like it when his believers became the bootlickers of other races or organizations.
Jessica quietly buffed her companions with a mana barrier to prevent the elves from unleashing a dense hail of arrows like they did to the slave hunters, without saying a word.
In reality, Eleena, the strongest in the party, was pretending to be a weak little girl, hiding in the middle of the other three and munching on her lollipop expressionlessly.
"I'm an adventurer from Anurad (the name of the Unnamed Town). I'm not an accomplice of the slave hunters you've just discovered!"
Edward spread his hands over his head and slowly rose to his feet. "I'm just passing by!"
But the only answer he got was an arrow aimed straight at his head.
The wooden arrow shattered into splinters when it struck the magical barrier Jessica had cast ahead of time.
Edward narrowed his eyes, his expression turning dangerous. "We have no intention of fighting you, so please hold back some of your hostility. We can talk things out, but don't start with all sorts of rude provocations. Otherwise, we would attack you out of self-defense. For the sake of your own safety, you should hurry — "
But before he could finish, the twanging of bowstrings echoed around them. Then, a dense barrage of arrows shot out from the bushes around them, engulfing them from head to toe!
With a series of crashing sounds, the arrows still couldn't penetrate Jessica's mana barrier. But judging from the shield's numbers that only the Players could see, its durability had dropped dangerously.
"Looks like there's no chance of peace talks for now. Everyone, get ready to fight, but try not to kill. Let's beat them all down before we talk."
Edward sighed helplessly and told his party.
"Roger!" Joe grinned. "I've been pissed since a long time ago!"
He had been shot several times in the rain of arrows at vital parts of his kidneys and lower body. Even though he knew that the arrows would be blocked by Jessica's magical barrier, he was still aggrieved — the wood elves who could join in the fight against the slave hunters were all adult elves, and each of them were expert archers in the forest. There was no way they would miss a stationary target, which meant that the elves were doing it on purpose!
After all, most wood elves were aware that the greatest use of wood elves captured by human slavers was to serve them as sex slaves for human nobles, which was why it was normal for them to maliciously attack those parts.
Still, that didn't ease Joe's rage. He cracked his knuckles.
"Let me give them a good beating!"
Salent Frostleaf almost laughed out loud at the words of the human whelps.
Beat them up? What a joke! Even the prideful human bishops wouldn't dare to say something like that!
And the human whelps who pretended to be mature and said that they wanted to negotiate with them were hilarious too.
A few human whelps who were just around ten years old were saying that they weren't brought to Trinia by the slave hunters, but were just passing by on their own … who would believe such ridiculous words? Moreover, it was fine if they didn't beg for mercy, but their words were so unyielding and even threatening. Did they not understand the situation they were in?
In the end, where did these children get the confidence to say such things to the wood elves? Is it because they are young and ignorant?
Let me teach you an unforgettable lesson … if you have the rest of your lives.
Salent leaned out slightly and drew his bow. But just as he was about to fire an arrow, he realized that a fist that was growing larger was right in front of him …
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Chapter 187:
Poking Ding Ding is the Most Hated Act
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