Chapter 20 : Chapter 20
Chapter 20: What Bad Intentions Could a Wealthy Young Lady Possibly Have?
Hearing that familiar laugh, Ye Ze turned his head almost instinctively.
It was the girl in black he had encountered earlier.
She was alone. Her black clothing wrapped tightly around her graceful, curving figure in a way that was undeniably alluring.
Her features were delicate and lovely, full of youthful vitality, while those lively peach-blossom eyes of hers studied Ye Ze with a smile.
“Would you like to consider teaming up with big sister?”
Even though she was not that much older, she kept calling herself his big sister...
Ye Ze said nothing, because he had already realized one thing: He had clearly sent the squirrel’s Shadow Clones out to scout, yet they had not detected this girl at all.
She had avoided every single Shadow Clone’s surveillance!
She was not simple...
And earlier, when he had used the Inspection Panel on her, he had not even been able to see her level or class.
Seeing that Ye Ze remained silent, the girl in black smiled again.
“You came here to level up for the college entrance exam, didn’t you?”
“I found a Fiend stronghold. There are at least ten elite Fiends there...”
Ten elite Fiends!
If he killed all of them, not only would it be enough for him to gain another level, he would even have nearly a thousand extra experience points left over!
Ye Ze could practically already see his experience bar surging upward.
He almost blurted out the question at once. “Where?”
The girl in black froze for a moment, then gave him an amused look.
“I’m at least a beauty, and you barely even react.”
“But the second I mention elite Fiends, you get this excited?”
She let out a helpless sigh. “Sigh, how are you ever going to find a girlfriend like this?”
...
The girl in black was being modest. She was not merely a beauty. Of all the girls Ye Ze had ever seen, she ranked at least in the top two.
But he was in the Contaminated Land right now, and the other girl’s strength was mysterious, so he had to remain properly cautious.
Now, however...
with Eye of Insight, he could at least get a clearer read on her.
In an instant, Eye of Insight activated!
It locked onto the girl in black in front of him.
An extraordinarily detailed personal panel unfolded before his eyes:
【Ruan Xiaoyou】
Class Information —
Rare Class — Dark Spirit Assassin
Level: 19 (First Advancement)
Attributes: Strength 186 (+80), Constitution 152 (+60), Agility 206 (+105), Spirit 174 (+10)
(The values in parentheses are equipment bonuses.)
Skills: Dark Spirit Assault lv.6 (Outstanding), Phantom Step lv.4 (Outstanding)...
Equipment: Umbral Shadow Dagger (Epic), Concealment Ring (Outstanding)...
Potential Evaluation: Excellent
Personal Information —
Age: 19
Affiliation: First-year Assassin Department student at East China Martial University
Father: Ruan Pingqiu, Mother: Lu Mei
Mentor: Ruan Pingqiu
Past Awards: 79th in the nation in last year’s Class User college entrance exam, 10th in the East China Genius Special Training Camp... Kindergarten jump-rope champion.
Life Skills: Bomb-making, trap-making, egg fried rice...
Favorite Colors: Black, gray, white
Measurements: 86, 69, 90
...
————
When he saw the measurements, the corner of Ye Ze’s mouth twitched, and he shut off Eye of Insight.
He had never expected the information to be this detailed!
It was only one step away from telling him what color underwear she was wearing.
Eye of Insight utterly crushed every scouting skill Ye Ze had ever seen!
So the reason he had been unable to see her information earlier really was because she was wearing anti-detection equipment—the Concealment Ring.
But under Eye of Insight, nothing could remain hidden.
At the same time, however, Ye Ze felt puzzled.
Ruan Xiaoyou... a level 19 Dark Spirit Assassin, with absurdly high attributes!
And she was only one Advancement Quest away from reaching Second Advancement.
With such a high level, and as an elite student of East China Martial University, why had she come to the Contaminated Land?
East China Martial University was the top university in the entire East China Region!
It had leveling dungeons, resources, and trial dungeons of every kind, along with state subsidies for elite academies...
With conditions like that, why come here to level up?
“What’s wrong?”
Seeing the odd look on Ye Ze’s face, a questioning gleam flickered in Ruan Xiaoyou’s beautiful eyes.
“Why are you staring at big sister like that? Want to know what my class is?”
Since he had been too focused on the Eye of Insight information just now, Ye Ze decisively changed the subject.
“Ahem... it’s nothing. Let’s talk about this Fiend stronghold.”
Ruan Xiaoyou asked curiously, “So you’re agreeing to team up that quickly?”
Ye Ze’s reason was simple...
Someone who had placed in the national top hundred in last year’s college entrance exam was, in all likelihood, not some antisocial lunatic.
Besides, with all that Outstanding equipment and Outstanding skills on her... she was clearly a rich young lady!
And what bad intentions could a wealthy young lady possibly have?
What was more, even with Ruan Xiaoyou’s level 19 strength, she still wanted to find teammates...
That Fiend stronghold was definitely not simple!
“Well then, let me introduce myself. My name is Ruan Xiaoyou. You can call me big sister~”
The girl in black smiled brightly, her eyes curved into crescents.
Ye Ze ignored the second half of that sentence and said, “My name is Ye Ze. I’m a Summoner.”
Not hearing him call her big sister made Ruan Xiaoyou puff out her cheeks slightly.
“Mmm... you can solo elite Fiends, right?”
Ye Ze thought about it. It seemed that the Scout Spirit Ruan Xiaoyou had used earlier had probably seen him collecting the Blood-Skeleton Fiend’s corpse.
He admitted it frankly. “Yes.”
Ruan Xiaoyou smiled in satisfaction. “Good. In that case, we only need to find one more person who can solo an elite.”
One more person?
She was a level 19 Class User with full Outstanding gear and skills, and even after recruiting him, she still thought it was not enough?
And she was specifically asking for someone who could at least solo an elite Fiend...
“This Fiend stronghold is that hard?” Ye Ze could not help asking.
Fiend strongholds were covered in the textbook 《Demon Suppression and Resistance——Contaminated Land》.
Most of them formed because some sort of energy source appeared within the Contaminated Land, drawing Fiends toward it by instinct.
As more and more Fiends gathered, it eventually developed into a Fiend stronghold.
And those energy sources could be many things: high-quality Crystal Stones, high-quality items, and so on.
But No. 19 Contaminated Land had only just appeared. In theory, it should not have gathered a Fiend stronghold that powerful.
Resting both hands against her chest, Ruan Xiaoyou explained, “That place is a large temple, and it’s already been occupied by the Fiends, layer after layer of them...”
“I’m an Assassin. I’m not good at fighting one against many.”
“Even if I handle the strongest ones, there would still be at least six elite Fiends left!”
When she said “six,” she deliberately stressed the number.
In her judgment, someone capable of solo-killing an elite Fiend could probably hold off three elites of the same level.
If Ye Ze had to face six elite Fiends alone, the danger would be enormous!
That was why she needed to find another teammate, someone who could help share Ye Ze’s burden.
After saying that, she cast him a teasing look. “Don’t tell me you want to fight six of them by yourself?”
Facing multiple Fiends at the same time was vastly more difficult than fighting them one by one.
Not to mention six elite Fiends at once. The difficulty of that was tremendous.
Especially for a level 6 Class User!
Ruan Xiaoyou could not help recalling that when she herself had been level 6, she had still been slowly leveling inside her high school’s Novice Dungeon...
Let alone taking on six elite Fiends at once—even one-on-one, it had been extremely difficult!
Hearing her question, Ye Ze found himself genuinely thinking it through.
After reaching level 6, Panda’s Strength had risen to 163.
Against elite Fiends in a one-on-one fight, one palm strike each would not be a problem; with Grasp the Sparrow’s Tail, even taking down two with one strike would not be difficult.
But if it had to face six at the same time, the odds of victory really would drop a little...
He answered, “About a ninety-nine percent chance.”
At that, Ruan Xiaoyou reached out with a fair hand and placed it against Ye Ze’s forehead.
A level 6 Class User was talking about taking on six level 15 elite Fiends...
And what Ye Ze had said was not, “I can try.”
He had said, “A ninety-nine percent chance”??
Should she praise him for being modest just because he had not said one hundred percent?
Ruan Xiaoyou’s eyes immediately turned suspicious.
Forget her not believing it—even her six-year-old niece on her second uncle’s side would not believe that!
She gave a little snort. “Little brother, don’t force yourself if you can’t handle it!”
Ye Ze smiled. “Whether I can handle it or not, you can test it yourself.”
Ruan Xiaoyou held her arms against her chest and widened those peach-blossom eyes of hers, suddenly intrigued.
“Then I’ll test it...”
But before she could finish, a cry for help suddenly broke out from the distance, sounding almost like sobbing. “Help! Save me...”
The two of them immediately turned toward the sound.
They saw two frail girls in tattered clothes, their faces deathly pale, fleeing so weakly that their legs seemed barely able to support them.
Blood had soaked their ragged clothing red, and the two girls pleaded feebly,
“Please... save us...”
“There are Fiend Lieutenants behind us, so many of them!”
Elite Fiends? So many of them?
“Could the Fiends from the stronghold have come out?”
Seeing the two girls, Ruan Xiaoyou’s face showed a trace of pity, and she immediately prepared to rush forward. “I’m going to save them!”
“If you want to prove your strength, then this is a perfect chance to use the pursuers as a test.”
But just as she said that, she discovered that Ye Ze’s hand had landed on her shoulder, stopping her with firm force.
Ruan Xiaoyou turned back in confusion.
What she saw was Ye Ze’s expression, calm to an almost eerie degree, while a golden light seemed to flicker within his pupils!
————
【The target has been perceived.】
Outer Identity — Lou Qing (Human, Demon Suppression Army Temporary Scout)
True Identity — 【Elite Fiend: Skin-Flayer Fiend (lv.20)】!