Chapter 98

Yesterday, I was dragged out to drink, and ended up having to find a taxi to take Officer Zhang back home, which meant I didn't get back until midnight. Despite the trouble, when Li Huailin woke up in the morning, he found his mood had improved a lot, and he had almost forgotten about yesterday's events.

"Alright, let's log in and work. There's that pet contest quest today. I wonder if I can participate." Li Huailin was currently far in the north, unsure if he could join, but today was also the last day of the 280% buff, which would end around 5 PM. That meant he could level up tonight.

"The nearby wilderness is full of high-level monsters whose levels can't be seen. Leveling up shouldn't be a problem," Li Huailin thought. "Considering that I can level up after dying ten times, reaching level 30 should be pretty fast. I'm currently at level 18 with 36% experience, so I need to die 117 times to reach level 30. It doesn't sound like a lot."

It was about 8 AM, and Li Huailin put on his helmet and logged in. As soon as he went online, he received a system notification.

System Notification: Friendly reminder to players, the pet contest quest will begin in 4 hours, 14 minutes, and 35 seconds. Your account has the qualification to participate. All participating players will be teleported to the main hall of the Pet Home Island. Please ensure you are online at that time, or you will be considered to have abandoned the quest. The system will remind players every hour.

"Teleport!" Seeing this keyword, Li Huailin felt a bit more at ease. He had always wondered how to participate in the quest, and it turned out to be through teleportation. That was fine; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to make it if he had to report at a specific time.

Calculating the time, the quest would start at noon, and Li Huailin should be online if nothing went wrong. Besides, he had nothing to do in the morning, and the buff time hadn't expired yet, so it shouldn't affect him.

"Third Boss, Third Boss..." Just as he was thinking, a member of the thief gang ran over, shouting Li Huailin's name.

At first, Li Huailin didn't react, but he quickly realized that "Third Boss" was calling him. The Nasir Thief Gang had two vice-leaders, but everyone usually called Golem the Second Boss and Marvin the Third Boss. Now that Li Huailin had taken Marvin's place, everyone naturally started calling him Third Boss.

"What's up?" Li Huailin asked.

"The Boss wants you for a meeting," the gang member said, still a bit hungover from the previous night's drinking, speaking with a slight slur.

The meeting seemed to be a serious matter, but the location was the bar in the camp. As soon as Li Huailin entered, he saw Gilbert, Golem, and Vanessa gathered around a table, discussing in low voices, looking rather serious.

"Good morning, everyone," Li Huailin said casually.

"Li Huailin, you're here," Gilbert smiled. "We were just about to start. You're not late."

Li Huailin walked over to the table, where a map was laid out. It looked quite detailed and didn't seem to be hand-drawn, which felt a bit odd.

"What's the meeting about?" Li Huailin asked.

"We received some bad news this morning," Gilbert's expression turned serious. "It seems that the local lord, Baron Balian, is really sending troops to attack us. Timas' people have already scouted the situation and reported back to us this morning."

"Timas' people reported to us? Why?" Vanessa asked, puzzled.

"Who is Timas?" Li Huailin asked.

"Oh, right." Gilbert realized Li Huailin was new and didn't know much, so he explained, "The Timas Thief Gang is another gang in the area, about the same size as us. We usually have some minor conflicts."

"They always steal our business, and their leader stinks to high heaven," Vanessa said, frowning.

"Morin is actually a decent guy," Gilbert smiled. "It's tough for everyone around here. He just wants to provide for his gang members. He's a good leader in his own way."

"Hmm..." Vanessa nodded. "But I just don't like him."

"Ha ha." Gilbert laughed and then explained to Li Huailin, "Their leader is called Morin, and he's an old friend of mine."

"When will Baron Balian's troops start the attack?" Li Huailin asked.

"Not so soon. Finding us is a problem for them," Gilbert smiled. "But the numbers are significant. According to Morin's information, there are at least 500 troops, more than the combined forces of all the nearby thief gangs. They are well-equipped and well-trained. If they attack, they could easily wipe us out."

"So Morin is also taking it seriously," Vanessa said. "They'll probably find his camp first."

"Where is their camp?" Li Huailin asked.

"Here," Gilbert pointed to the map. "It's right here. We are here, and this is Yorkmok City. If they start searching from there, they'll find Morin's camp first."

"What's to the east?" Li Huailin suddenly noticed that the eastern part of the map was shaded in red and had a double line in the middle, which usually indicates a border.

"The east is the border of the Beastmen," Gilbert's expression changed slightly when he mentioned the Beastmen. "To the west is the Elven territory."

"This is a place where three countries meet?" Li Huailin realized the location of where he was. "Why does the city of Yorkmok, which is at the border of three countries, have no garrison?"

"Because it's a border area, there's no garrison. Humans are currently focused on fighting the Demon Race and don't want to start a war with the Beastmen, so they've withdrawn the troops from the border. The Beastmen, targeting the Elves, have also withdrawn their troops. Both sides are quite默契 (in sync)," Vanessa explained, her tone a bit odd since she was an Elf.

"I see..." Li Huailin nodded. "That's not good news."

"Why do you say that?" Gilbert asked.

"Since you mentioned that the troops were withdrawn to avoid war, now that humans have sent 500 soldiers here, won't it provoke a reaction from the Beastmen, or at least they should know about it."

"It seems we can't run away," Gilbert instantly understood Li Huailin's point. "The Beastmen will also station troops at the border. If we try to run that way, they will definitely capture us. The situation is a bit dire..."

"So we're going to be wiped out?" Li Huailin said.

"Morin has asked to meet me tonight. I think he has also realized the severity of the situation and probably wants to join forces with us," Gilbert suddenly said.

"Join forces? I hate that stinky old man," Vanessa wrinkled her nose.

"Don't cause trouble, Vanessa," Golem said.

"Anyway, let's prepare everything. Vanessa, how are our supplies?" Gilbert asked.

"Food can last more than half a month, but the wine won't last more than five days. Firewood and clothes are fine; we always have plenty, so we should be able to get through the winter," Vanessa, who managed the supplies, reported immediately.

"Stock up on more supplies. We got a lot of gold yesterday, so go to the nearby villages to trade for some supplies. Send a few people who are not familiar to Yorkmok City to buy some things, but be careful not to be followed. Everyone, be cautious," Gilbert said.

"Got it, I know what to do," Vanessa nodded.

"Golem, start calling more scouts and expand the reconnaissance range. Information is crucial," Gilbert said to Golem.

"Got it, I'll take care of it," Golem said.

"As for Li Huailin... hmm... you should first familiarize yourself with our camp's situation. It will be hard to assign tasks otherwise," Gilbert thought for a moment.

"I have something to do at noon today and should be back in the evening," Li Huailin said.

"Alright, that's all for now. Morin will send someone to contact us for a meeting tonight. You three will come with me," Gilbert concluded.