Chapter 70: A Unique Way of Leveling Up
"You mean to say, he annihilated that squad all by himself?" The masked man in black suddenly looked grave.
The kneeling servant in black was streaming with cold sweat. He could feel the oppressive atmosphere around him growing.
This castle was the sanctuary of The Brotherhood of Night Blades, and the masked man was their leader.
During the daytime battle at the junction, numerous bystanders had filmed videos. Though Aron and his people later found those who had shot the videos, ordering them to immediately delete them from their phones and maintain strict secrecy about the incident.
However, the servant in black had managed to obtain the actual footage.
As the video could not be viewed in-game, the masked man temporarily exited the game. After watching the entire clip, he brought the image back up, stopping it on Irving's frame.
"It really is him!" The man in the mask recognized him at once, the chill in his eyes turning even more icy.
"Master, this man is the target of the reward issued from above. I've heard that a previous operation from above was also ruined by him." the servant in black paused before continuing, "I suspect that the squad we sent to the mine a few days ago was also killed by him..."
Previous at the mine, although James and his team had cleaned up all the player's corpses and traces left at the scene, The Brotherhood of Night Blades had managed to find some clues.
Upon learning that Sophia was still alive, The Brotherhood of Night Blades immediately dispatched people to hunt her down.
That's why Sophia appeared in the capital city. She thought she would be safe once she got there, but she didn't expect The Brotherhood of Night Blades to be so audacious as to attack her on the main street without any regard for the authorities.
"It turns out he has killed two squads I sent. It seems he is indeed different from the others." The masked man in black revealed a scornful smile on his face, "It's just a pity, he won't live much longer."
"Master, what should we do next?" The servant in black asked.
The masked man in black sneered: "I've been too busy controlling the family groups and have no time to deal with him. I didn't expect this kid to continue to provoke us, so there's no need for him to live anymore."
"Tomorrow, you take people directly to his house and take care of him." The man in black mask spoke indifferently, his eyes filled with contempt.
It seemed in his eyes, Irving was nothing more than an insignificant ant.
"By the way." At that moment, the masked man in black seemed to remember something and his face suddenly became serious: "How is the preparation of the goods?"
"They're all ready and stored in the warehouse outside right now." the servant in black hurriedly reported.
Upon hearing this, the masked man in black finally sighed in relief, and said with a complicated tone: "The upper management is very anxious right now. Send a squad out early tomorrow and make sure all the goods are delivered to the designated place at all costs."
"Understood!" The servant in black responded, "I will arrange it right away."
"Remember what I just said, they must be delivered. If there are any mistakes this time, you can forget about your life!" The masked man in black glared at the servant, then said impatiently, "That's enough. I'm tired, get out!"
...
Vicky and Sophia used the materials they had previously purchased in the trading zone to repair the damaged walls of the shelter. After resolving all this, the two finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Ever since those eight turbines started operating, while other players had to honestly hide in the shelter every time night fell, they could walk around freely nearby.
Four spotlights illuminated the surroundings of the shelter clearly, eliminating any worry about attacks from exotic beasts. This greatly increased the safety of the shelter.
"He's been out for so long. Why hasn't he come back yet?" Sophia wiped the sweat off her forehead and looked outside the shelter.
The next moment, her face turned pale as if she had discovered something.
"Look quickly, what's that?" Vicky also noticed the abnormality.
Not too far away, a large dark mass was moving rapidly towards the shelter.
"It seems... it seems to be a beast tide!" Sophia exclaimed, she couldn't believe her eyes. "Didn't the second wave of disasters already end? How is there a large-scale beast tide?"
After surviving two disaster waves, Vicky was no longer the clueless heiress she was when she first arrived in the Other World. She quickly rushed towards the arrow tower.
"Sophia, when the beast tide gets close, you use your abilities to block them. I will support you with my auxiliary abilities." A determined look appeared on Vicky's face. "Since Irving is not here, we must hold this place. We can't let them break in, no matter what."
Sophia nodded and immediately entered a combat state.
As the beast tide got closer, their nerves tightened like a taut bowstring. Just as they were ready to strike, they suddenly saw a familiar face.
"Irving?" Vicky was stunned.
As the two exchanged glances, they both saw an incredulous expression mirrored on each other's faces.
There, leading the pack of exotic beasts, was none other than Irving. Glancing to the side, they saw Little Black, proudly lifting its adorable little head, wobbling along beside him as if showing off the spoils of the recent excursion.
"Open the door." Irving told them, shaking his head with a smile at their stunned expressions.
It was then that they came to their senses and hurriedly opened the large gate to welcome him.
Vicky and Sophia's gaze fell on the large group of exotic beasts, their expressions tense.
"Irving, what's going on?" Vicky asked, looking extremely perplexed. She knew Irving had the ability to control exotic beasts, but she still couldn't comprehend it.
Sophia, as if realizing something, said, "There are at least dozens of exotic beasts here. Controlling them requires a huge amount of mental energy... Didn't you say you were only level three last time?"
Normally, a level three mage would have limited mental power. Even if Irving was exceptionally talented, it was impossible to simultaneously control so many exotic beasts.
"So... you were lying to us?" Sophia asked pointedly, this was the only possibility she could think of.
"I suspected you weren't telling the truth, Irving. With your power level, there's no way you could be lower than us." Vicky said with a hint of reproach, "Alright, Irving. We trusted you so much, I didn't expect you to be so guarded against us..."
Vicky was the first one to follow Irving. As a support healer mage, she had almost no survival capabilities in the Other World. She had long resolved to follow this man for the rest of her life.
Although Sophia was initially very dissatisfied with this man, after a series of events, she had also accepted him in her heart.
But now...
At this moment, they both felt a surge of indescribable emotions.
Irving shook his head, at a loss for how to explain.
Ever since he acquired the [Evil Source Wand], he had two ways to control the exotic beasts. One was to directly control them through his mental power, the other was enslavement.
The exotic beasts he brought back this time were all enslaved in the second way.
As for the level...
"I was indeed only level three at that time." Irving offered a bitter smile.
In the game, the level was indeed a symbol of strength. But he had absolutely no need to hide it from the two.
After hearing this, their faces deepened with confusion.
"Level three?" Vicky couldn't help but gasp, "But I remember you saying that to control these exotic beasts, you must have sufficient mental strength. How could you achieve that with only level three?"
Sophia furrowed her brows, as if she had detected some information. "Wait... he just said that he was only level three at that time? Does that mean you've leveled up now?"
The next moment, both their gazes landed on Irving again.
"I've reached level six now." Irving stated calmly.
"What?!"
"Level six?!"
Upon hearing this, they both stood still as if petrified, plunging into silence. When they looked at Irving again, their eyes were as if they were examining a monster.
Even though Sophia was now level six, her heart was still boiling like a stormy sea.
"The leveling mechanism was only released by the system yesterday." Sophia continued in astonishment, "That means you only went out once, and directly leveled up from the original level three to level six?"
"My God!" she couldn't help exclaiming.
If this news were known by other players, their reactions would probably be even more exaggerated than theirs.
Although there were many ways to level up in the game, for the majority of players, the quickest way was to continuously kill exotic beasts, a process that required constant accumulation.
However, the speed of Irving's level up was like he had turned on some aid plugin!
Irving just smiled and didn't explain. He had just figured out why his level was so low at the beginning, even lower than Vicky's, a support healing mage.
His way of leveling up was different from all other players...