“Boss, what’s going on? Got into some trouble? The people beside you… are they friends of yours? And why is your cabin covered in slimes? Do you need help dealing with them?”
Because everyone present was human, Scarface didn’t suspect anything about the slimes.
“You’re here to hand over the crystal cores, right? Your commission will be handled by An Mengyue, so you don’t have to worry about it for now. I tamed the slimes with slime grass—they’re here to help me.”
Lin Ran casually made up a lie, brushing it off.
Scarface, being straightforward, walked over and pointed at the precarious wooden house where Qi Xiaoyu and Fatty Wang were.
“No, Boss, what’s up with your wooden house? It’s all broken down—did you encounter that thing? Money’s not an issue, just pay as you see fit, but give a bit more slime grass!”
That thing?
Lin Ran’s mind turned.
Could it be that adventurers actually know what this is?
“Let’s talk about money later. Do you know what this is?”
Lin Ran pointed at the wooden plank that was vanishing into thin air.
Scarface followed his gaze, froze for a second, then let out a snort.
“Hah, I thought it was some big deal. Isn’t this just a bunch of Thief Ants? Boss, why are you making such a mystery out of it?”
His words were full of doubt, as if he were stating some obvious fact.
But… since it came from their world, maybe it really is common sense?
Fatty Wang, Qi Xiaoyu, and Liu Yan exchanged glances, all full of question marks.
“What the hell? Ants? I don’t see a single one!” Fatty Wang craned his big head, searching the plank and almost twisting his neck, but saw nothing.
“You just don’t get it, huh? If you could see them, would they still be called Thief Ants?”
Scarface saw that these people really didn’t understand, so he began his science lesson.
“These things are barely bigger than dust—you can’t see them with the naked eye. They like to gnaw things into powder and carry them back to offer to the Ant Queen. Because they’re so tiny and so many, it looks like things just vanish.”
He glanced at the surroundings, frowned, and added,
“But these things usually live in damp, dark Swamp. How did so many end up here on the open plain? That’s weird.”
“But it’s not strange you don’t know. Our Adventurers’ Guild only found out a few years ago when we took on a mission.”
“It was to help a Village by the Swamp clear out these things. The villagers’ houses kept losing weight and they thought they were haunted.”
Lin Ran’s eyelid twitched as he listened.
Good grief, so the enemy is microscopic.
No wonder you can’t find them.
“Then how do you deal with them? Got any insecticide?” Lin Ran hurriedly asked—that was the main point.
Scarface grinned, showing his yellow teeth.
“Insecticide? What’s that? Insect-killing magic? For these little things, no need to use such expensive stuff!”
He leaned in mysteriously and lowered his voice.
“Use smoke! Any smoke will do, as long as it’s thick and choking. They’ll run on their own!”
Smoke?
That’s it?
Lin Ran was stunned.
The other three were stunned too.
The four of them stared at each other in silence, the atmosphere growing awkward.
“Why didn’t we think of that before…?”
They all said in unison.
Lin Ran held his forehead—this was really a blind spot.
The easiest large-scale AOE skill against living creatures is smoke, isn’t it?
Why go to so much trouble making corrosive liquid and not think of such a godly thing as smoke!
Fatty Wang was the first to react.
He slapped his thigh and shouted,”Smoke! I’m a fire-user! Isn’t this set up just for me!”
Without another word, he lifted his hammer and slammed it down with all his strength on the ground, shouting the skill name,”Explosion Technique!”
“Boom!”
A ball of flame erupted.
But this time, unlike before, the flame didn’t produce much heat—instead, thick black smoke poured out, making everyone cough.
In an instant, his wooden house was shrouded in smoke, like the scene of a fire.
On the other side, Qi Xiaoyu reacted as well.
“Smoke… The byproducts from my potion-making have smoke!”
He rushed into the wooden house, hurried to his cauldron, and dumped a pile of messy herbs inside.
Soon, a strange purple smoke smelling of rotten eggs and gasoline wafted out.
Qi Xiaoyu couldn’t care less—he grabbed the cauldron, dashed under his own house, and adjusted the angle to fumigate the Thief Ants.
But that smell…
Lin Ran walked away without looking back—it was truly disgusting.
Still, the effect was immediate.
As the smoke spread, the disappearance of the wooden planks in Fatty Wang and Qi Xiaoyu’s cabins stopped abruptly.
Crisis resolved.
Scarface folded his arms and watched the two in amazement.
“Boss, these two buddies of yours are impressive. Interested in joining our Adventurers’ Guild?”
“Um… The short one—is he really your buddy?”
On Lin Ran’s side, there was no pressure, as he was busy calculating how much money he could make from Scarface.
He didn’t even hear what was said.
“Ahem, so, Scarface bro, shall we talk business?”
“Of course!”
Scarface produced four Banknotes like magic and tossed them to Lin Ran.
Lin Ran checked with An Mengyue—she accepted Banknotes too—so he took them happily.
“Your batch of goods is really top quality. The residents went crazy for them. Cheap and high quality—the healing potion alone put that damned old priest out of business! Oh, and an old lady said her daughter’s life was saved by you and asked me to thank you.”
“After deducting the guild’s commission, it’s forty thousand crystal cores. Cores are too big to carry, so it’s in Banknotes.”
Forty thousand!
Lin Ran felt his heart skip a beat.
Vera’s potion was truly valuable!
But… hasn’t it only been less than two days? Scarface works fast.
He still owed An Mengyue seventy thousand crystal cores, but now, more than half was paid off!
“Healing potions, keep coming to me. Prices are negotiable. And those treasures you mentioned—I can take them too, guaranteed profit!”
Scarface slapped Lin Ran on the shoulder, laughing heartily.
Lin Ran nodded repeatedly, planning to take Scarface to his small warehouse to see what goods he’d brought back.
But from the corner of his eye, he spotted Liu Yan not far away.
Her wooden house was still being slowly eaten by Thief Ants—a large hole had already appeared in the roof.
And she herself just stood there, eyes empty.
Still in shock from Shen Qing’s erasure?
After dealing with their own problems, Fatty Wang and Qi Xiaoyu also noticed Liu Yan.
Fatty Wang scratched his head and looked at Lin Ran hesitantly.
“Ran bro, um… that Liu Yan… I don’t really want to save her… what do you think?”
Qi Xiaoyu quietly put away his cauldron and muttered,”I’m running low on herbs—I can’t just use them for nothing…”
Their meaning was clear.
It’s hard enough to protect themselves—the third wave of enemies was already near.
A teammate who’s always dragging everyone down and making a fuss—are they really worth saving?
Rather, if someone dies in the second wave and doesn’t drag the whole team down, maybe it’s better to let her die for everyone’s sake.
Being teammates means helping each other.
Lin Ran didn’t speak.
He just quietly looked at Liu Yan.
Help her?
It was almost effortless.
Let Fatty Wang go over and smoke them out, or use his own electricity to start a fire—it was easy enough.
But… was it necessary?
This was a team battle.
Someone who can’t even fight and blames their teammates—is it worth keeping them around?
This time, the Thief Ants were easy to deal with once you knew the method.
What about next time?
He didn’t want to carry dead weight.
Even Zhou Qingqing, who had almost no combat power, was developed by Lin Ran into a propaganda machine.
But this woman, up till now, had shown nothing useful.
So, Lin Ran’s decision was—
Let her fend for herself.
Whether she lived or died would depend on her own actions.
He wanted to see if this teammate was still worth saving.
…