Chapter Forty-Seven: The Genealogy

With fourteen points in Strength, White Flag had dumped every essential attribute point into a single stat, becoming a pure Strength specialist. He was even more formidable than Ember had been under the combined effects of the Berserk Potion and the Strength Scroll. This allowed him to stand his ground against the Ant Lord without losing an inch, not only fully blocking the Enhanced Charge but also interrupting the wind-up animation of the Devour skill.

Faced with a player whose size was vastly different, the Ant Lord found its strength useless, causing the battle to take on a bizarre dynamic from the start. The five players, despite being the challengers, had effectively become the ones being challenged. The Ant Lord desperately sought a way to break the deadlock, but its methods were far too limited to be of any use. It shook its head and thrashed its tail in frustration, yet it remained unable to break free from White Flag’s iron grip.

"Hurry up and attack! My stamina won't last long, this thing is actually quite strong!" White Flag shouted as a reminder.

Hearing this, Ember immediately coordinated the tactics. He handed the Spider Fangs obtained from the Forest Hive to Not An Expert, instructing him to pierce the Ant Lord’s abdomen to inflict a Bleeding effect. Meanwhile, Ember bypassed the Ant Lord and charged toward the Ant Queen, who was in the middle of hatching her brood. Having successfully shed the aftereffects of his berserk state, Ember’s strength had returned to its cap. His charge was ferocious, crushing every egg in his path. Reaching a ten-point judgment level, he slammed into the bloated boss, knocking it clean off the ground.

*Swish! Swish! Swish!*

The crossbow bolts struck true, hitting the airborne Ant Queen. The three hits triggered Parasitic Seeds, dealing a total of one hundred and forty-four damage. Including Ember’s charging attack, this was enough to kill it, causing the hatching speed of the remaining ant eggs to drop by half.

Just then, White Flag’s stamina was depleted, and his hands automatically let go. Like a tiger released from a cage, the Ant Lord knocked him away, sending him crashing into the ceiling and dislodging a cloud of stone and dust. Yet, when White Flag landed, he simply brushed off the dirt as if nothing had happened. His armor, which required thirteen points of Strength to equip, granted him a near-permanent state of invincibility in the current environment. The only way the Ant Lord could deal damage to him was through the Enhanced Devour skill, provided it wasn't interrupted.

While White Flag occupied the Ant Lord, Ember protected Cup of Wine and worked to retreat to a safe zone. The second wave of eggs had successfully hatched; though their numbers were halved, their quality had significantly improved. There were very few common mobs, but eight elite ants—each resembling a lean, muscular hunting hound—scrambled forward in a frenzy.

Ember reunited with White Flag, holding the entrance to the basement. With a flurry of attacks, they cleared the second wave, forcing the Ant Lord to drag its battered frame onto the battlefield.

Because Not An Expert had opened two wounds in the ant's abdomen with the Spider Fangs, the Ant Lord was suffering from the Bleeding status and was forced to rely on consuming the few remaining eggs to restore its health. However, with the Ant Queen dead, the second wave of ants didn't last long before being easily hunted down by the five players and the little mantis. With no other choice, the Ant Lord was forced to fight while wounded, trapping it in a tragic, vicious cycle.

White Flag once again demonstrated the sheer power of his fourteen-point Strength, pinning the Ant Lord down and allowing Ember and Cup of Wine to rush into the basement and slay the Queen. Having lost its hive advantage and trapped in a lonely battle, with no ability to enter a second phase, the boss's demise was only a matter of time.

Shortly thereafter, a system broadcast appeared.

[Broadcast: Foundation reserve employees "D037" and "D1106," Scavenger reserve member "X066," and University reserve students "U102" and "U998" have successfully destroyed a Large Hive!]

[Notification: You participated in killing the Lord-class boss "Enhanced Shadow-Eating Antling" and received massive Contribution Points and two Kill Points!]

*Clatter, clatter...*

"It dropped so much loot again! These Lord-class bosses are truly generous!"

"Quick, check what we've got. The Shroud Storm is coming soon, we need to move!"

"Reinforcement materials... reinforcement materials... an inlay... hey! Did anyone see any equipment?"

"No!"

"I picked up an ant head here..."

"What?"

"See for yourselves."

...

[Shadow-Eating Ant Head]

Type: Tier 2 Curio

Function: Unknown

Description: A Shadow-Eating Ant head condensed with the essence of the Shroud. It possesses significant research value.

[Notification: Retain this item until the end of the closed beta to directly unlock the Nightmare difficulty for the dungeon "???" after the official launch!]

...

"A Curio? There's actually such a thing?"

"The effect is quite interesting!"

"We can't use this right now. What should we do?"

"One of you just hold onto it for now. We'll figure out the rest after the official launch; we don't know anything yet anyway."

White Flag, anxious to uncover the secrets hidden in the library, shoved the Shadow-Eating Ant head into Ember's arms. He then began searching the basement, but since everyone else’s backpacks were already filled with materials, the item ultimately remained with Ember.

"Alright, I'll keep it. Once the game launches, we'll see about teaming up to run the dungeon."

Ember gave his word, and the group continued to search the hive. It was Lu Renjia, who had the highest Perception, who made a discovery. In a corner of the basement, he found a special egg; after breaking it open, a wooden box fell out. The carved patterns on the box immediately caught his attention.

"Come look at this!" Lu Renjia called out to the group.

"Oh! Coming!" White Flag’s eyes lit up, and he hurried over.

"The patterns on this box... they look familiar!"

"Obviously, that's the Maple Blood crest. There are two ways to open it: either force it open with ten points of Strength, or find the special key. Hmm... this is your quest, try using the Sun Crest first!"

"Understood!"

Cup of Wine held the box and pressed the Sun Crest against it. It triggered the unlocking condition: the crest emblem on the box burst into flames. Within moments, the entire wooden box was consumed, leaving behind only a blood-red crest and a few pages of a fragmented genealogy.

[Notification: You have triggered the final part of the main quest—"Investigation"! ]

As her fingertips touched the pages, Cup of Wine received the prompt. Excited, she said, "My quest location also points to the Hill Water Tower! It seems all the main quests eventually converge there. Also, the quest description reveals that the Maple Island Manor suffered a tragedy, causing the imperial guests to lose most of their direct bloodline. Later, for unknown reasons, the survivors moved out of the manor and converted it into a water tower."

"Hmm, these pages don't contain much concrete information, but they do confirm the tragedy."

Ember scanned the pages, seeing blurred names of those long gone—or more accurately, their codenames. The naming convention of this family was quite intriguing; they deliberately hid their surnames, using only short designations. Most were related to maple trees, as if they were intentionally masking some vital information.

The final page recorded the family members who were still alive—or at least, were alive before the destruction of Maple Island.

The eldest was a woman named "Maple Harp," but strangely, her life records stopped at the age of eighteen.

At the very end of the genealogy was a little girl named "Anna." But it is worth noting that "Anna" was only a temporary name, not even a codename. The description contained a deliberate sentence:

"Nameless Maple Blood, awaiting the rekindling!"

"Nameless Maple Blood, awaiting the rekindling?" White Flag read along, puzzled. "What does that mean?"

"Combining what we know, I can take a wild guess. 'Nameless' refers to this little girl temporarily called Anna. 'Maple Blood' should refer to the family lineage. 'Awaiting' implies a specific time is needed, and I can't think of a time more special than the present! As for 'rekindling,' I don't think the focus is on the result of the fire, but the cause of it. Without a spark, the bloodline cannot burn. So, where will the fire come from?" Ember hinted.

"The Sun's Eldest Daughter, who carries the sacred fire!"

White Flag slapped his thigh suddenly, though he was immediately prompted that his attack failed to break defense and his defense ignored attacks. His eyes gleamed as he said in surprise, "The assessment prompt told us to gather at the Hill Water Tower, and the Sun's Eldest Daughter will also descend upon the island for the knighting ceremony. Doesn't that mean this family knew all along that she would arrive?"

"Perhaps, but that's just my speculation. Whether it's true or not, we'll know once we enter the Hill Water Tower."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

...

[Broadcast: Foundation reserve employees "D037" and "D1106," Scavenger reserve member "X066," and University reserve students "U102" and "U998" have successfully destroyed a Large Hive!]

"Damn, the Shroud Storm is almost here, how are these people still farming hives? Is the reward for a Large Hive really that high?"

"Who knows? If someone had been willing to sacrifice themselves back then, we could have been on the broadcast too."

"Heh, why don't you sacrifice yourself then?"

"I don't have enough points, do I?"

"As if any of us do!"

"Stop arguing! Can you be any more annoying? We're almost at the Hill Water Tower. Let's figure out what to do. Those teams are one more ruthless than the next. If we don't prepare, we're all just waiting to be eliminated!"

The ones arguing were the loose alliance that had fled upon seeing Ember. They had no interest in clearing hives; they only wanted to reach the Hill Water Tower as quickly as possible to see if they could gain an advantage. However, they lacked any foundation for cooperation and had no strong player to act as a backbone. They had been bickering all the way, nearly falling apart. Worse, a group of players had already arrived at the Hill Water Tower. Just as the loose alliance began to think about preparing, a crisis struck from atop the hill.

*Gurgle, gurgle...*

A grenade broke through the Shroud and suddenly rolled into the crowd. Those with quick reflexes barely managed to escape the blast radius, while the slower ones were hit by the secondary damage and killed on the spot.

"Oh no! Run!"

The surviving players of the loose alliance had no will to fight back and fled down the mountain in a panic. But Duke Thunder, determined to wipe them out, commanded the attack with even greater speed. Bullets and arcane arts flew, and death mingled with the color of the Shroud. The battle was fierce and brutal; in no time, Duke Thunder and his three guild members successfully ambushed the five players, leaving only twenty-one beta players left.

"Well done!"

Achieving a zero-to-five loss ratio in this engagement left Duke Thunder exceptionally satisfied. This group of loosely allied players was the team he was most confident in taking down. As he considered the remaining parties, Duke Thunder carefully weighed his options to see if he had the teeth to bite into the harder nuts—but the prospects were grim.

The remaining twenty-one players were split into five teams: besides Duke Thunder's group, there was Ember's five-man team, the Death Song five-man team, the three-man remnant of Fish-Scale Arm, and a temporary squad consisting of the Not A Jianghu duo, the Withered Vine Old Tree, and a university student.

These four parties all had the strength to clear a Large Hive, and the Fish-Scale Arm team, having already paid a heavy price, was a target he absolutely could not afford to attack.

With no other options, Duke Thunder pinned his hopes on the Hill Water Tower. Upon their initial arrival, they had noticed that the moment the assessment target was met, the Shroud seal on the tower had been broken. However, fearing hidden dangers, Duke Thunder had not dared to rush in. Now forced into a corner, he had no choice but to take the risk.

"Guild Master, look, someone's coming!"

The university student in his team suddenly issued a warning. Duke Thunder and his men immediately prepared for battle, then heard the student shout: "Wait, it looks like Sister Fish! They're being chased! They were even forced to use protective items! Guild Master, what should we do?"

"Save them!"

Duke Thunder issued the order without hesitation, but Clear Sky proposed an objection: "Guild Master, why don't we wait a bit? The only ones who could be chasing Sister Fish are Death Song. Instead of rushing in to fight them head-on, why don't we sit back and watch the tigers fight? Blood Feather in Sister Fish's team likely has some tricks up their sleeve. Even if Death Song wins, they'll inevitably be severely weakened. We can just reap the rewards!"

"What did you say?" Duke Thunder’s gaze was chillingly cold.

Clear Sky felt a chill down his spine, but he stiffened his neck and gritted his teeth: "Guild Master, you have to think clearly. There are eight people in total between Sister Fish and Death Song! If we wipe them all out, wouldn't we have one foot in the final circle? No matter how you look at it, this is hugely beneficial to the Thunder Guild. Don't let your emotions get the better of you!"

"That's right, Guild Master! Boss Clear Sky is right." Two other guild members chimed in.

"Guild Master, you can't be foolish at a critical moment. Is Sister Fish more important, or the guild?"

Hearing his trusted subordinates support him, Clear Sky grew bolder, his voice rising: "Haven't we already made contact with the Sweep Thousand Armies faction? Let's use this opportunity to cut ties with Sister Fish. Reputation doesn't pay like cold, hard cash. Why don't we..."

"Enough!"

Duke Thunder suddenly roared: "Sister Fish treats me like a brother, so I cannot let her down. If you also treat me like a brother, then come with me to save them! I’m leaving it at that—you decide what you want to do!"

Before the words had even faded, Duke Thunder charged out alone. But Clear Sky suddenly raised a hand, stopping the other two guild members who were intending to follow.

"The Guild Master is temporarily muddled; we have to help him correct his mistake. How many high-explosive grenades do we have left? Get them ready for me. If we all become Guardian Knights, the Guild Master will have to thank us in the end, right?"

"Then... what if the Guild Master blames us later?"

"Isn't that simple? Didn't I say we've made contact with Sweep Thousand Armies? A wise bird chooses its tree. Once we become Guardian Knights, do we really need to stay in a second-rate guild like Thunder?"