YM778.TV Chapter 287 - 287 Jinyang Lake
Ignoring how the fish-head monsters dealt with the corpse of their squad leader, Song Jian hid in a safe corner, examining the loot he had collected.
The Fish-head Monster Squad Leader dropped three items in total: a pair of shoes, a black pearl, and an old-fashioned black wooden box.
“Fish Scale Boots (Green), shoes, equipment effect: increases movement speed by 8%, physical defense +3, magic resistance +2, special attribute: increase underwater breathing time by 50%. Equipment requirement: level 10. Can it be taken out of the game: no.”
Song Jian could just fit into these excellent quality boots, and he put them in his equipment bar right away.
“Black Pearl (White), valuable item, usage effect: can form a bubble underwater, supplying the user with oxygen. The effect lasts for 30 minutes. Cooldown period: 2 hours; can be sold for 1000 Doomsday Coins! Can it be taken out of the game: no.”
This item was decent, even for sale in the system shop, it was worth ten times as much as the ordinary pearls just now. Song Jian took a glance and placed it in his item inventory.
The remaining item was a worn-out black wooden box, its surface engraved with strange raised patterns. It seemed ancient and grand, as if it had endured the passage of time. If in the real world, it could be collected as an antique.
Opening the box, there was an old and tattered parchment inside; on it were simple strokes, seemingly a map.
“Jinyang Lake, Eye of the Fire God? What is this, a treasure map?” Song Jian examined the map carefully and found it to be a treasure map leading to Jinyang Lake. In the center of the lake, there was a symbol of a ring with the words “Eye of the Fire God” next to it.
Jinyang Lake was located at the edge of the city, also an area habituated by level 15 monsters. It was part of the Wetland Park and covered a large area.
The fish-head monsters he was facing lived in Jinyang Lake. However, it wasn’t inhabited solely by fish-head monsters. Some players had been there before. Under the water, though, even the attributes of ordinary fish-head monsters would increase significantly, making them more challenging to fight than monsters of the same level on land. Consequently, fewer players were willing to travel the long distance to Jinyang Lake to level up.
Putting the treasure map back into the wooden box and stowing into his item inventory, Song Jian snuck over the wall in the outskirts and after figuring out the direction, ran towards Jinyang Lake.
By then, most of the fish-head monsters in Jinyang Lake had already left to search for resources. There should be fewer monsters in their base. It was a good chance to see if he could snatch the treasure.
The regional plot mission of hunting fifty fish-head monsters had no time limit anyway. Having already killed more than twenty, there must be many fish-head monsters in Jinyang Lake. It was also a suitable place to complete the mission.
Song Jian ran all the way, avoiding the monsters he met and taking detours. It took him more than two hours to get to the Wetland Park.
The Wetland Park was full of lush plants. The chromatic flowers bloomed brilliantly. Rows of man-made ditches overlaid the entire park like a spider web. However, they were dried up at the moment, covered in copious amounts of dust and fallen leaves.
At the outer side of the park were few sparse level 10 fish-head monsters and minor water elementals. They weren’t different from other level 10 monsters, but they were few and far between, hundreds of meters apart. Killing monsters in this area would be too inefficient for leveling up.
Moving further in, Song Jian quickly arrived at the edge of Jinyang Lake. Suddenly, there were more monsters, and their levels rose directly to level 15. At the edge of Jinyang Lake, one could see shabby houses built with wood. The food the fish-head monsters hunted was hung in front of the houses to dry, emitting a faint stench in the surroundings.
This was the base of the fish-head monsters. Occasionally, semi-transparent figures of water elementals appeared under the water in Song Jian’s sight.
Each of these level 15 water elementals was over two meters tall, their bodies full of surging water elemental power. On their wrists were two shimmering golden bracelets.
On land, these water elementals had the same attributes as other monsters. However, in water, their power increased by 30%, and their movement speed would also increase significantly. Even though Song Jian was currently level 14, he had to proceed with caution.
Finding some stray fish-head monsters around Jinyang Lake, he spent some time killing the required fifty monsters for the regional task, earning the first- stage reward of 300 Doomsday Coins.
As Song Jian was waiting for the mission of the second tier to be issued, he received a sudden system notification.
System: You have triggered the plot “Defend the Base.” The game system issues the plot mission “Subdue the Fish-head Monsters.” Completing the mission will yield generous rewards and war merits!
System: The regional mission you triggered has been terminated. Please choose whether to accept the plot mission “Subdue the Fish-head Monsters.”
With a creased brow, Song Jian speculated that the fish-head monsters were likely to return soon. There wasn’t much time left for him to locate the treasure. Not heeding the “Subdue the Fish-head Monsters” plot, Song Jian took out the treasure map and started scrutinizing it intently.
The location marked on the treasure map was clear. It was right beneath the fish-head monster base at the center of Jinyang Lake. Although most of the fish-head monsters had gone out to gather resources, there certainly wouldn’t be a place near the base that was devoid of any fish-head. How to evade these fish-head monsters and get to the location marked on the map was a problem. Also, the water elementals in the lake were a headache. When not in combat mode, the water elementals in the lake looked like a mass of pale blue liquid flowing along, difficult to distinguish unless looked at closely.
After observing for more than half an hour, Song Jian finally identified a pattern in the patrols of the fish-head monsters. There were six teams in total, each consisting of seven to eight fish-head monsters. Each patrol shift had only one team underwater. There would be a reprieve of approximately thirty seconds when the two teams switched positions, during which he could seize the opportunity to enter the location marked on the map.
Apart from these six teams, there were also some scattered fish-head monsters near the base. They seemed to be juveniles, only at level 10, frolicking around.
The other problem was the water elementals. If his sprinting made too much noise, he was liable to bump into a water elemental unknowingly. He must get into the water in advance, hide on the side, and wait for the changing of the fish-head monster guards.
This waiting period in the underwater would be at least ten minutes, not including the distance from the coast to the center of the lake.
However, with the Fish Scale Boots and the Black Pearl, Song Jian should have no issue slowly approaching the center underwater.
Song Jian scouted around and chose a place where no monsters lurk to quietly submerge underwater. An ordinary player could only stay underwater for five minutes. With Fish Scale Boots, Song Jian could last six and a half minutes. Additionally, with the effects of the Black Pearl lasting for thirty minutes, he could easily stay underwater waiting for the guard-changing vacuum period.
He quietly entered the bottom of the lake and slowly swam forward, cautiously avoiding wandering water elementals. Song Jian came to a large rock that was only seven or eight meters away from the fish-head monster base. He hid his figure behind it and waited quietly.