Chapter 77: Acting Courageously (Part 1)

“Rod, you damned kid! Have you had enough sleep? Get up quickly! Damn it, it’s been three days—three days of sleeping! Isn’t that enough?”
A furious roar came from beside him, waking Rod even more from his drowsiness.
He turned over and lazily rubbed his sleepy eyes. Immediately, he saw Bit and the others standing in front of him, glaring angrily. Looking up, he noticed their faces twisted in frustration.
“Cough, cough… How long have I been sleeping?” He slowly sat up after rubbing his eyes and asked Bit, who was breathing heavily, in confusion.
“Damn you! You’ve slept for three days—three full days! If I hadn’t woken you, how much longer would you have slept? Idiot, this is theWorld of Warcraft Forest! Do you understand that? Every extra day we stay here increases our danger. Get up now! Stop pretending to be dead! It’s time to leave!” Seeing Rod’s state, Bit was so angry he could barely hold back his rage.
“Bit, enough! Rod didn’t mean to do this. Alright, Rod, hurry up and get ready. It’s time to leave. We’ve been here for too many days—we should go!” Aida stepped in to defuse the situation.
“Oh, right away! Hehe, right away!” Three days? Rod was surprised. He hadn’t realized time had passed so quickly. Adding in the time he spent training, it must have been quite a while. No wonder Bit was so angry. It was understandable—staying in such a dangerous place for days must have been extremely stressful.
“I’ve packed your things!” A gentle voice came from behind. It was Lucia, holding a small bundle—wasn’t that his own bag?
He smiled gratefully, quickly got up, and followed the others to leave this horrible place. He didn’t want to stay any longer in such a dangerous environment. Two battles had almost cost him his life; he wasn’t sure he’d be lucky enough to survive another.
Stepping out of the cave and seeing the sunlight outside, he silently reflected that it was good to be alive. He focused his energy and checked his condition, a smile appearing on his face.

At his peak as a Bronze Warrior, just one step away from becoming a Silver Warrior? Heh, that thrilling process of refinement seems to have had a significant effect. Besides this achievement, another major gain from coming to the Warcraft Forest is mastering the Autumn Wind Sword. Two gains, not to mention the progress he made in becoming a Bronze Warrior earlier. The Warcraft Forest isn’t such a horrible place after all!

With a silly smile on his face, Rod couldn’t help but squint slightly. The scenery was absolutely beautiful—today was especially lovely!

Hm? When he suddenly turned his head, he noticed Lucia in the middle looking in his direction. He quickly scanned the surroundings and saw nothing amiss before finally relaxing.

Realizing Rod had noticed her gaze, Lucia hurriedly averted her eyes, her face turning slightly red. She took a few deep breaths before regaining her composure. When did she start to find this guy not so annoying? His black hair and black eyes seemed rather unique; at least they looked good on him. This thought made her face turn red again.

Looking at Lucia in confusion, Rod didn’t understand what was going on. With a sigh, he continued on. They weren’t far from Blackstone City anymore; he believed they could reach there before dark.

They encountered no dangers during the day’s journey. The few small magical beasts they met were all eliminated by Rod as practice targets, including a leopard with Bronze-level strength. Naturally, he gained an additional Water-type magical beast core.

Easily defeating these creatures, especially the Bronze-level snow leopard, left Bit and the others in awe, marveling at Rod’s good luck and realizing his strength had improved significantly. Everyone could clearly sense his growing strength and extensive experience.

After a day of travel, they finally arrived in the Warcraft Forest outside Blackstone City just before dusk.

It should take less than two hours to get from here to Blackstone City. In fact, if they wished, they could completely bypass Blackstone City and head straight to the capital from the other side.

“We shouldn’t go out. We don’t know if those men in black have planted spies in Blackstone City. The longer we stay outside, the greater the danger. The safest thing to do now is to stay here for another night and set off tomorrow at dawn, heading straight to the capital, so as not to be discovered if we enter Blackstone City!” It was still Lucia who spoke up as the group planned to leave this horrible, dangerous place—the Warcraft Forest.

“Well, that’s true. Maybe it’s better here!” Lucia’s words left everyone momentarily stunned, but after quickly recovering, Rod fell into deep thought. Indeed, since those men in black had accepted the mission, they wouldn’t give up so easily. It was likely they would reveal their whereabouts once they left.
“I agree. It’s safer to spend the night here. If that’s the case, we can set off for the capital tomorrow morning and should arrive by evening!” came Ada’s calm analysis.
Then it was Chelly’s turn, followed by Bit. After everyone expressed their opinions, they all realized the seriousness of the situation, and the dream of spending the night in Blackstone City was dashed.
After searching around this borderland, they finally found a relatively safe place. Thus, the group began to sleep in the pitch-dark night, braving the bitter cold wind.
Naturally, due to their laziness in the previous days, Rod was the only one on duty that day. With him alone in such a remote area, it should be sufficient.
Exhaling a breath of cold air, he glanced at the others and sighed. Sitting at the front, he gazed at the dark night, filled with many thoughts. His strength—in just half a year, he had already reached the level of a Bronze Warrior. This was something he had never imagined before. A Bronze Warrior? In Flaming City, he might even be able to become an absolute tyrant. Although Vidoc had also been at the Bronze level, he was only at the beginner stage of a Bronze Warrior.
As his horizons expanded, he realized his own strength was still so insignificant. Above him were Silver Warriors, Gold Warriors, Martial Emperors, Martial Saints… These people could easily take his life. For a moment, he felt an immense pressure weighing on him.
Reaching into his pocket, he touched the Golden Eagle insignia he had obtained during the chaos. His heart sank. He still didn’t know what the Golden Eagle insignia meant, but he could sense that this organization was terrifyingly powerful. They could eliminate him without even breaking a sweat. In front of them, he was not even as good as a newborn baby—perhaps not even as good as an ant!
Their enemies were them—such powerful foes. Strength was key. His desire for strength grew once again, causing him to sigh once more. Suddenly, “Ada!” A loud shout rang out as Rod stared at a sudden flame in the distance.

“What’s going on!” Not only Ada but also Bit and the others quickly rushed to Rod’s side, asking in confusion, seemingly not seeing anything amiss.
“There’s something going on outside, over there!” Pointing in the distance, faint screams and sounds of fighting could be heard from time to time. More and more flickering torches were approaching their side.
“Let’s go take a look!” Ada frowned and said softly. It was certain those people weren’t the men in black who were chasing them. Although curiosity could kill, since their escape route led here as well, they would eventually meet. It was better to go and check.
No one objected. After quickly gathering their things, they used the cover of darkness to head toward the light.
“You bastards! Why did you attack me? Do you know who I am?” A furious roar could be heard from afar.
“Hehe, who you are doesn’t matter. We only take money, not lives. Hand over the money, and this will end!” Followed by more sneering laughter.
As they got closer, the voices became clearer, and the sounds of fighting louder. The light from the torches grew brighter, forcing everyone to close their eyes involuntarily.
“Robbers! Those are bandits!”
When they reached the edge of the forest and used a few large trees for cover, the entire scene outside came into view. Seeing what was happening, Bit whispered to the others.
“It’s Niels and Evan. How did they end up here?” Just as everyone was considering whether to leave this trouble spot and stay out of it or go help those being robbed, Lucia’s unexpected words stunned them.
Did Lucia know those people being robbed? At first, everyone looked at each other in confusion.
“You can…” After a brief silence, Lucia asked them with some hesitation.
“Hehe, no rush. That Niels and his men seem pretty strong. Although there are many robbers, the Grand Treasurer can hold out for a while. Maybe we can even turn the situation around and defeat those robbers!” Bit said with a relaxed smile, observing the scene outside.
Indeed, there was one Silver Warrior, three Bronze Warriors, and several high-level warriors outside. Such a force was quite strong. Although the number of robbers was large and they were also strong, breaking through shouldn’t be too difficult.

“But…” She wanted to say more, but in the end didn’t. Seeing the situation outside, Lucia seemed a bit anxious. Although Nils didn’t like it himself, Evan and he had always had a good relationship.
“Come on, Rod. The two of us will go outside. Bit, you and Chelly stay here to protect Lucia. Make sure nothing goes wrong!” Seeing Lucia’s worried expression, Aida sighed helplessly and spoke.