Chapter 350: Carboniferous Period 22
With this suspicion in mind, Perry Yates simply swept the entire surrounding area clean of insects.
When Sage Bishop first saw Perry Yates kick an insect’s head, making it explode, she was utterly stunned.
"Y-y-you, how did you do that?!"
She had only ever seen such terrifying physical prowess in a few Croupiers who had chosen a strength-based Talent, and all of them had been men.
It was the first time she had ever seen a woman with such explosive power in her legs. She had to admit, it was awesome.
But Perry Yates, the object of Sage Bishop’s admiration, was looking at the green insect fluid splattered on her leg with an expression of pure disgust.
The last insect had been too close. Before she could even think, her leg had already lashed out.
By now, the surrounding insects were mostly dealt with. After she wiped the gunk off her leg, the Cannibal Flower devoured all the insect corpses on the ground.
Sage Bishop was still lost in the "violent aesthetics" of Perry Yates’s display, gazing at her, clearly wanting to speak but hesitating.
"If you have a question, just ask," Perry Yates said.
Hearing this, Sage Bishop lit up as if she’d been given permission and immediately asked, "Is your Talent strength-based?"
"It’s not."
"Is it a combat type, then?"
"That’s not it either. My Talent is more of a support type," Perry Yates said after a moment’s thought.
Her Talent was Ascension, which allowed her to improve the quality of anything she touched, including the human body. In terms of actual combat power, however, it had none. So, if one had to classify it, Ascension was truly a support-type Talent.
"If it’s a support-type Talent, then how did you do what you did just now?"
’If I remember correctly, Perry Yates fused with a Plant Attribute card, right?’
Sage Bishop’s eyes sparkled, her expression screaming, ’Please, please, just tell me!’
’Even though I want to be a Mage, there’s a world of difference between a glass cannon Mage and a War Mage. I’d definitely choose to be the latter!’
Upon hearing this, Perry Yates thought for a moment. A smile touched her lips as she said, "You know of The Card Tavern, right? They sell cards that enhance the body. If you use them a few times, your physical stats can be greatly improved. The owner also offers private enhancement services where you can get a specific body part strengthened. That costs a bit more than the cards, though."
"You sound like you know a lot about it."
"Of course. I go there all the time."
’I use Ascension on myself whenever I have free time. After all, you only get one life. You’ve got to treat yourself well.’
As the two of them spoke, the sky had completely darkened.
To avoid missing their chance, Perry Yates didn’t take out the Safe House this time.
Before long, the heavy, rhythmic sound of armored footsteps echoed clearly from the distance.
"It’s coming! It’s coming!" Sage Bishop said excitedly.
But before Sage Bishop could get a clear look at what was happening in the distance, the sound of armored footsteps stopped abruptly. She then noticed a golden card had appeared in Perry Yates’s hand. In the next second, the card transformed into a beam of light and merged into Perry Yates’s body.
"Got it. Let’s go!"
Without waiting for Sage Bishop to react, Perry Yates grabbed her and they vanished from the spot.
Only after they reached a safe location, took out the Safe House, and were securely inside did Perry Yates finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew."
Perry Yates sank into a chair, looking as though she’d just survived a catastrophe.
Just as she was claiming Wargod Kai, she had felt a pair of eyes staring at her from the shadows. But when she tried to find them, they vanished. The feeling of being watched, however, lingered.
That was why Perry Yates had been in such a hurry to leave. She sensed that whoever it was seemed incredibly strong. With someone else to look after, she chose to avoid a direct confrontation for now.
「Day eight of the game.」
Having successfully recovered another card, Perry Yates was in an excellent mood. Now, only three of her cards remained at large: Clone, Any Door, and Pointed Explosion.
Aside from Any Door, the locations of the other two cards were unknown.
’Oh well. I’ll just take it one step at a time.’
’It’s only three cards. It would sting to lose them, but it’s not a loss I can’t afford.’
’What I’m more concerned about now is the Executor. Getting rid of that shit-stirrer is the most important thing right now.’
"You seem kind of down," Sage Bishop said, leaning closer.
"It’s just that I seem to have terrible luck whenever I encounter an Executor. I always end up losing a few cards."
"Last time, in the highway survival instance, I lost a five-star card and several three-star cards. Now in this instance, there are still three cards unaccounted for. I’m already prepared for the worst."
They set out again. It wasn’t until noon that the two found a spot to take a short lunch break.
"We’re running into players a little too often today," Perry Yates remarked as she sunbathed.
Just this morning alone, they had already run into several groups of players. Unsurprisingly, some of them saw two women traveling alone and got the bright idea to rob them. The end result was that the would-be robbers were the ones who got robbed instead.
During one of these encounters, they even saved a few rookie players who were sticking together for survival. Perhaps because it was their first game, after watching Perry and Sage loot the robbers clean, the rookies actually turned around and started lecturing them.
Perry Yates wasn’t about to put up with that. She simply tied them up again and tossed them aside.
"I think it’s because the fires have severely compressed the available territory for both players and insects," Sage Bishop explained. "With more and more insects having special abilities, plus interference from players, fires have broken out all over the forest, shrinking everyone’s room to move."
Perry Yates didn’t pay the matter much mind. She was more concerned with something else.
"Can’t the information from your item be a little more specific? We’ve been searching all morning. We’ve seen plenty of insects, but not a single trace of the Insect King mentioned in your intel."
Hearing this, Sage Bishop scratched her head. "The timing’s probably not right yet. It’s only noon, and the info said it would be in the afternoon. But why are you so determined to find the Insect King, anyway?"
’Isn’t that the kind of thing we should be avoiding?’
’The intel did say The Insect King was formed from the fusion of twenty different types of insects and was incredibly powerful.’
"A mature Insect King is powerful. The one here now is just a juvenile. I can’t just let something that dangerous grow up. I have to nip this threat in the bud."