Chapter 99

Due to the fact that the BUFF had not yet been canceled, Li Huailin had nothing much to do and spent the morning wandering around the camp, also tidying up the camp's documents as Gilbert had suggested. The entire camp was estimated to have 80-90 households, with a total population of about 150 people. Excluding the injured, the elderly, women, and children, the number of thieves capable of fighting was estimated to be less than 100. However, since a portion of the people had to be assigned to reconnaissance and other logistical tasks, the actual number of combatants was only 70.

What Li Huailin found a bit strange was that the members of this band of thieves were not only humans but also included many elves and beastmen. Of course, the human members were more numerous, accounting for about two-thirds. However, although the beastmen and elves only made up one-third, it was still a significant proportion, especially considering that this was within human territory.

"Could it be because this is at the border of the three countries, so many members of other races have fled here and, seeing that the deputy leader is a beastman, felt a sense of familiarity and joined?" Li Huailin speculated casually.

"Hey, Eden, what's the tattoo on your arm? Is it the symbol of the Nasir Thieves' Guild?" Eden was a small fry assigned by Gilbert to explain the camp's affairs to Li Huailin. This guy was relatively weak and not very good at fighting, so he worked in logistics in the thieves' guild and was familiar with the camp.

Eden was about twenty years old, rather petite, and had a somewhat shifty appearance. The tattoo Li Huailin mentioned was the one that Eden had revealed when he rolled up his sleeve to move something. It was a black English letter "J" on his forearm, but it was written in a decorative, artistic style.

"Ah, this..." Eden's expression suddenly changed, and he nervously pulled his sleeve down. "Third Leader, let me show you the warehouse."

"Hmm?" Li Huailin found it a bit strange. Why did this guy's expression change? After thinking for a moment, he asked, "How long have you been with Gilbert?"

"Oh, First Leader, with him... let me see, more than two months, I think." Eden immediately became very respectful when he mentioned Gilbert.

"Two months... not very long..." Li Huailin thought for a moment. "What did you do before joining the thieves' guild?"

"Me? I used to be a regular farmer." Eden said, "Later, a lot of things happened..."

Eden stopped talking here, and his emotions seemed unstable, as if he was remembering something.

"Hmm?" Li Huailin was honestly a bit confused and felt that something was off, but he didn't have enough information to analyze the situation.

System notification: The pet争夺 task will begin in one hour.

"Oh? It's this time already." Li Huailin opened the system panel to check the time, which was exactly 11:00. The game time was completely synchronized with real time, and the system panel also displayed the time. "Well, I'll log out to have lunch, then prepare for the pet争夺 task."

Li Huailin was quite interested in the pet egg. After all, it was such a complex task that a special announcement was made to have the entire camp participate, so it must be a good thing. If possible, Li Huailin definitely wanted to get it.

After saying goodbye to Eden, he logged out to eat some convenience food. When he logged back in, he prepared to organize his items, making sure to bring everything he needed. This time, he wasn't going to die, but to compete for something.

He checked his inventory, which contained sixteen gold coins, three sets of health potions, a few teleport scrolls, and a few torches. He looked at his equipment: two pieces of cloth armor and a bronze sword.

"Should I buy a set of white-quality clothes from the blacksmith? It won't add much to my stats, but at least it will provide some defense," Li Huailin thought.

Since it was a competition task, it would be better to have some defense. As he thought this, he opened a teleport scroll to return to Yorkmok City's blacksmith shop.

However, the result was very tragic. The teleport scroll flashed, and Li Huailin found himself back at the Nasir camp's bar, where he had just met with Gilbert.

"Eh? Eh?" Li Huailin was stunned. "Brother Teleport Scroll, what's wrong with you? Don't keep causing me trouble."

Li Huailin already knew that the teleport scroll could change the return location, but he never expected it to bring him back to the camp. Was this small village considered a city?

"Could it be that my respawn point is also..." Li Huailin rubbed his forehead, thinking that his respawn point was probably bound here as well.

"Eden, Eden." Walking out of the bar, Li Huailin saw Eden moving things at the door.

"Third Leader, you're back so soon." Eden put down the things and ran over.

"I haven't even left yet. I just have a question. How far is it from here to Yorkmok City?" Li Huailin asked.

"Oh, if you ride a horse, it's about twenty minutes." Eden pointed in a direction. "Third Leader, go out the door to the south, then ride for about twenty minutes to see the main road. Follow the main road northeast for a few minutes, and you'll reach Yorkmok City."

"Twenty minutes?" Li Huailin checked the time. It was already too late; he would probably be summoned halfway.

"Third Leader, are you going to Yorkmok City to buy something?" Eden asked. "We have most of the supplies in the camp."

"Right, the camp has supplies." Li Huailin suddenly realized. "Is there a blacksmith in the camp?"

"Of course, otherwise, where would we go to repair our tools?" Eden said. "Third Leader, do you want to go to the blacksmith? Follow me."

Following Eden, they arrived at a small house. Although it was old, it was clearly a blacksmith shop, with a simple furnace and anvil at the entrance. The furnace was still sparking, but there was no one around.

"Uncle Kral, are you there?" Eden called out at the door.

"Here, here, even eating can be interrupted," a fifty-year-old NPC, a human with a large beard, walked out from inside the blacksmith shop. He was covered in soot, looked a bit dirty, and wore a blacksmith's apron and a coat. Li Huailin noticed that the blacksmith's right eye seemed to be problematic, probably blind.

"Third Leader, this is our camp's blacksmith, Uncle Kral," Eden introduced.

"Oh, it's Third Leader." Seeing Li Huailin, Kral's attitude immediately improved, apparently due to Li Huailin's high favorability. "What can I do for you, Third Leader? I'm the best at repairing equipment in this camp."

"Rubbish, you're the only blacksmith, who would you compare to?" Eden said from the side.

"You, brat, why so many words..." Kral laughed and scolded.

"Alright, stop, I'm in a hurry. Uncle Blacksmith, do you have any equipment for sale?" Li Huailin asked.

"Equipment for sale? I'm just a camp blacksmith, not a shopkeeper. Why would I sell things?" Kral asked. "Oh, Third Leader, you want a set of equipment, right? No problem, take one from here. We have some equipment we've looted and repaired. Just take one. Strange, didn't the First Leader prepare equipment for you?"

"Probably the First Leader was too busy and forgot about this small matter," Eden said from the side. "Third Leader, come and choose a set."

The equipment Kral mentioned was piled on one side, mostly looted and slightly repaired. Li Huailin flipped through it and found no bronze equipment, only white-quality items. He picked a few that looked decent and put them on, which added 35-40 points of physical defense and 20-20 points of magical defense.

Li Huailin didn't expect the difference in equipment to be so significant. Recalling the blue equipment he had previously obtained, each piece added 20-20 defense, and two pieces were equivalent to this entire set of white equipment, plus various attributes.

"Well, a little is better than nothing." Li Huailin's equipment had been sold by Red Blood Seal, and he had nothing to wear. He thought it would be wise to keep some usable items for emergencies.

System notification: The pet争夺 task will begin in ten minutes. Players can now enter the task area. Please do not log out.

The system issued another notification, and Li Huailin had done all the preparations he could. Now, he just had to wait for the system to summon him.