It didn't matter what methods they used. In any case, they had obtained the pass and the Mercenary Level Upgrade Certificate. If they followed the normal procedure of accepting missions and grinding credits, it would take at least one or two months to reach Level 4. After all, for a small, unknown team, it would not be easy to accept twenty missions. The competition in this industry was fierce.
To be honest, Hao Ren was reminded of Taobao on Earth. If this matter was handed over to those professionals who liked to leave good reviews on Taobao, they would have done it much more efficiently than he did. The mercenary rating in this world was only level five. If you went to any website on Earth, you would be ashamed to say that there was a ranking without nine stars and eighteen diamonds...
However, the main reason why Hao Ren's little trick was successful today was that the Mercenary Association did not bother to argue with him. Besides, the world was still ruled by man. The boundary between level five and level four was not that important. Even a group of weak rookies (in fact, many mercenaries were not good at fighting. They helped solve the problems of the residents, and were more like contract patrol officers) could help people find cats and dogs 20 times. This was just a personal boundary to determine whether the team was new. Even if someone was cheating, the association would not bother to investigate. Plus, the lady in charge of the mission registration was rushing to get off work for dinner. She was too lazy to argue with Hao Ren, so she simply fooled him.
Now, Hao Ren and his team were walking on the streets of the town with their badges (a small rectangular metal piece, similar to a work permit, with a crystal plate embedded in the middle for storing information). Hao Ren had the full set of information about the Beinz Blood Lake incident in his hands. Now, he finally had a comprehensive understanding of the whole thing and the mysterious Blood Lake.
The Beinz Blood Lake was located in the middle of a barren land on the west side of the Kingdom of Holletta. The entire territory of the Kingdom of Holletta looked like a horizontal irregular trapezoid on the map. The Beinz Blood Lake was located on the short western side, so it was also part of the kingdom's border. Further west beyond the blood lake was the land of the mountain people and some of the western werewolves. Due to the long history of the Kingdom of Holletta, it had passed the early expansion and impetuous stage of a great power. Coupled with the fact that the current ruler was committed to internal development and the neighboring forces, it had a good relationship with several tribal states in the west. The border around the Blood Lake had become a very stable national border. This was a good thing for the countries on both sides of the border because the vast area around the lake was a dangerous zone. It was full of violent mutant monsters. Once a war broke out, the warring countries would always use various secret techniques to drive these monsters into the enemy's territory. This was a disaster for everyone.
The wilderness near the Beinz Blood Lake was both a defensive barrier and a ticking time bomb. No one could do anything about it.
The size of the lake was about 120 kilometers long, and the widest part was more than 40 kilometers. However, there were a series of sporadic small depressions on the north and south ends of the lake, like fragments from the ruby of the Blood Lake, spreading out for dozens of kilometers. Therefore, the entire area of the Blood Lake was unusually large. The most prominent feature of the lake was its blood-red water. Including the Blood Lake itself and the satellite lakes around it, all the water showed a bright red color all year round. The Little Chaldan River on the south side, which was only a line away from the Beinz Blood Lake, was extremely clear. The two bodies of water were very close to each other, but they were clearly separated. It was a wonder that the Blood Lake got its name.
Just as Becky had told Hao Ren about the legend of the destruction of the world, the Blood Lake was regarded as a sacred place related to the Goddess by many people in this world. At present, the mainstream legend was that the Blood Lake was formed by the wine cup that the Goddess threw into the world (Hao Ren thought it meant smashing a hole), and the red water in the lake was dyed red by the red wine in the wine cup. Because the wine cup represented the anger of the Goddess towards the sins of mortals, so the "blood" in the lake represented the sins of mortals. As long as the sins of the world were not eliminated, the Blood Lake would always be red.
Of course, there were other legends about the lake, such as a drop of the Goddess's blood on the world, or a drop of the Goddess's tears of blood when she saw the sins on the earth. But because these two theories could not "explain" the destruction of the ancient civilization, they did not become popular. At present, the largest religion in this world, the "Disciples of Glory", worshipped the Goddess of Creation as the Supreme God. In order to remind the world not to forget the disasters caused by the arrogance of the ancients, they used the most popular legend to explain the phenomenon of the Blood Lake.
No matter what the legend said, the wild and dangerous area around the Blood Lake was definitely related to the red water. Ordinary crops and most common plants could not grow on the land nourished by the water of the Blood Lake. Instead, they were replaced by a variety of strange and magical plants. These plants were larger in size, and their leaves were darker in color. They were usually of high medicinal or magical value. The Church claimed that these characteristics were the result of the Goddess's blessing. But the higher the benefits, the greater the risk. The strange plant system around the Blood Lake also nurtured a large number of strange creatures that could not be seen in the outside world. Most of these creatures were fierce and powerful, and had a strong sense of territory. Almost all of them had natural magic powers — even the grass-eating rabbits were like this. Many people would risk exploring around the Blood Lake in order to collect materials, but few dared to venture into the hinterland alone. That was because they could not defeat the rabbits... or rather, the magical beasts.
But these legends were nothing to Hao Ren. He did not care if the destruction of the Goddess had anything to do with him, because he knew the real Goddess. He knew that she was a big sister who could not be bothered to come down to earth even if humans proclaimed themselves as gods. What he cared about was the recent disappearance of the Orb of the Holy Synod.
The Disciples of Glory was rooted in the world's oldest kingdom, the Kingdom of Holletta. It was founded almost at the same time as the kingdom. Before its teachings were spread around the world, it was the state religion of Holletta. The Orb was obtained from a "sacred place" by the first pope of the church and the first king of Holletta. It was said that it represented the last bit of trust the Goddess had in this world, so it was naturally the most precious treasure of the kingdom and the church. According to the church, the Goddess used the Orb to understand the development of the world after the destruction, and to detect if the evil in the world had sprouted again. So every year, the church and the royal family would conduct a ceremonial "Goddess Patrol". The Orb set off from the Kingdom's eastern city, Stuyne, under strict protection. Along the way, it passed by four sanctuaries and four ruins in the kingdom, and its final destination was the Beinz Blood Lake, the legendary place where the Flame of Destruction first burned. The people of this world believed that this was a way to show their determination to repent to the Goddess.
The Orb would stay at the Beinz Blood Lake for four days, and finally return to the royal city. After that, the pope would announce that the Goddess had understood what had happened in the past year, and that she recognized the repentance of mankind. Then, a grand celebration would be held.
This was the grandest celebration in the Kingdom of Holletta. It was an annual event of unprecedented grandeur, even grander than the King's birthday and founding celebrations. It would even attract the congratulations of all the countries in the world, including those that were not on good terms with the kingdom. Because the Disciples of Glory was the world's recognized religion, although the Orb Patrol was held in Holletta, it was a world-class event.
But this time, the Orb was lost.
According to the rules, it was placed in an ancient church on the island in the center of the Beinz Blood Lake for four days. It was guarded by the knights of the Church and the Kingdom, with layers of defensive arrays. Viscount Blok, who was responsible for the last stage of the escort mission, was a famous brave knight in the kingdom, and also a devout paladin conferred by the Church. His strength and character were impeccable. But after the first night, the Orb disappeared.
It was said that all the knights heard a thunderous roar coming from the depths of the Blood Lake that night. The roar lasted for a full ten minutes, and the camp was shaken. Then, a strange light appeared under the water near the island in the middle of the lake. The light flickered as if there was something burning under the water. The knights stationed on the island reported that they felt a strong earthquake, but the camp on the lake shore did not feel the tremor. When Viscount Blok was investigated, he said he saw a large number of bubbles floating up from the bottom of the lake, and at the same time, he smelled something like burning sulfur. The commotion finally quieted down in a strong flash of light. The anxious knights, with the permission of the accompanying bishop, risked breaking the rules and opened the door of the chapel, only to find that everything inside was gone.
All the furniture, a layer of wall skin and part of the ceiling, four ascetics who had to pray in the chapel without eating or drinking for four days, and the Orb of the Holy Synod were all gone.
Hao Ren felt that it was indeed a large-scale opening of the dimensional door, especially the light.
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