Chapter 671 Motives, Cooperation, and Ake's Whereabouts

"At first, none of us thought it was strange."

Ronda's squad had shadowed this flock of Dire Corbies for a thousand days and nights. Not only had they grown deeply familiar with these monsters, but they had also witnessed countless events big and small, ranging from leadership struggles to disease outbreaks. They were long accustomed to it all.

In the beginning, minor disturbances within the Dire Corby colony earned no extra attention from them.

That was until Ronda and his team realized the phenomenon of the birds losing their minds and descending into a frenzy was spreading like a contagion. It started with just two or three, but slowly infected the entire flock, growing more severe by the day.

Even their previously regular and stable migration route began to change.

Adventurers relying on this exact flock to make money in the Underdark naturally couldn't just sit back and ignore it.

However, they were ultimately just ordinary adventurers, not experts or scholars in related fields.

Despite repeated investigations, they failed to find the cause behind the Dire Corbies' changes.

'Frenzy?'

Catching the keyword in the gnome's story, Xia Nan's heart stirred. He immediately linked the changes in these Dire Corbies to the frenzy phenomenon affecting monsters near the border.

Unable to help himself, he interrupted to ask, "So for that period two months ago, your squad was constantly following behind this Dire Corby flock?"

"Yes," the gnome Ronda nodded. "Normally, our team stays in the Underdark for three to four months during each mission. The last time I saw the sun was three months ago."

Unlike the vast majority of adventurers panning for gold in the Underdark, Ronda's squad made a living entirely off the Dire Corby flock. They trailed behind the monsters, scraping by on whatever "leftovers" the creatures didn't eat.

The advantage was that the route was generally fixed. With the Dire Corbies paving the way, any dangers ahead were largely cleared out by them. As long as the squad kept pace, it was, to some extent, even safer than the surface. Ronda and the others only had to decide which of the leftover spoils were valuable and which were worth leaving behind.

The downside was the long-distance migratory nature of the Dire Corbies. If Ronda's squad wanted to reap enough profits, they had to drag out their mission duration as long as possible. They couldn't just resolve their objective in a few days and head straight back like other adventurer squads operating in the Underdark.

During this time, they even had to occasionally send squad members back to the surface to resupply and stash their loot.

"Before you noticed the changes in the Dire Corbies, did anything particularly strange happen?" Xia Nan pressed, his mind already forming connections based on the intelligence he had gathered earlier in Bloodcast Keep and Ice Tree Village.

Sure enough, after a moment of thought, the gnome rogue draped in a feather cloak uttered the exact name Xia Nan was anticipating.

"Strange things?"

"Maybe... Goblins?"

If there really was a special incident, in Ronda's eyes, it was only the group of goblins the Dire Corbies had encountered over two months ago.

Contrary to the fragile image of them crumbling at the first sound of the Dire Corbies' Terrifying Shriek, these green-skinned goblins living in the Underdark seemed to have evolved an immunity to such sonic mental attacks for some unknown reason. They acted far more deranged than usual, inflicting substantial casualties on the Dire Corbies.

"They even discovered us trailing far behind the flock."

Fortunately, aside from that, these green-skinned goblins weren't much stronger than their surface counterparts.

Facing a four-man squad of veteran adventurers with an average Class Level exceeding Lv3, they were naturally routed.

Hearing this, Xia Nan gave a slight nod.

Though he didn't voice it aloud, he once again linked the goblins to the recent monster frenzy near the northeastern border of the Servia Kingdom.

Seeing that the gnome had no further intelligence on the matter, Xia Nan stopped interrupting and gestured for Ronda to continue.

The gnome obliged. "We never figured out what caused the Dire Corbies to change. Our captain felt that, for safety's sake, we should just abort the mission. We could return to a safe town and rely on local intelligence to decide whether to continue."

"But the other squad members didn't think it was a big deal. They argued that the change in the Dire Corbies' migration route might even bring in a larger haul."

"In the end, when we tallied the votes, continuing the mission won the majority, so we kept following them."

At this point, Winsor, the young fisherman standing beside Xia Nan who hadn't said a word since entering this hollow, suddenly broke his silence.

"What about you? What did you vote for?" he asked out of nowhere.

"Heh..." Flashing a rather guilty grin, the gnome rogue named Ronda reached up to scratch the back of his head. "To be honest, my luck in the latter half of last year was pretty average. I lost quite a bit at the card tables and owed a couple of small debts on the outside, so..."

His meaning was perfectly clear. At the time, he was also one of the members who felt it didn't matter and voted to continue the mission.

And so, driven by profit, the adventurer squad had ignored the potential dangers after discovering the bizarre changes in the Dire Corby flock.

Ultimately, they paid the corresponding price for their greed.

"Just a few days ago, we ran into that weird goblin tribe again."

Reaching the crux of the story, Ronda's tone grew rushed, a clear look of helplessness surfacing on his face.

Unlike their first encounter over two months ago, these goblins seemed to have received some kind of reinforcement. Their combat prowess was far greater than their usual kin.

Although they still didn't pose much of a threat to Class Holders, combining that strength with their immunity to the sonic shriek allowed them to completely suppress the Dire Corbies that Ronda's group was tracking.

By the time Ronda's squad realized something was wrong and tried to step in to drive the goblins away for the Dire Corbies...

Facing immense pressure from the green-skinned goblins, the panicked Dire Corby flock had already chosen to flee. Thanks to the complex environment of the Underdark, the maze of tunnels split them into two groups—one large and one small.

Having accumulated nearly three years of massive sunk costs, Ronda and his squad naturally couldn't just let this Dire Corby flock scatter and fall apart. In the end, they made a decision that the gnome rogue still regretted to this day.

The squad captain stayed behind with Ronda to help disperse the blocking goblins and continue tailing the main Dire Corby force.

Meanwhile, the remaining two squad members temporarily split off to track the smaller splinter group of Dire Corbies. They intended to act like sheepdogs, herding the scattered monsters back to the main flock.

"And then... the captain just disappeared."

A thick smear of terror toward the unknown welled up in Ronda's eyes.

"One second we were clearing out those green-skinned rats together, and he was even cracking a few jokes with me about the card tables."

"The next time I looked over, he had vanished right from where he stood."

"I don't know—I really don't know what happened!"

'Disappeared?'

'Another disappearance?'

Hearing Ronda's tale, Xia Nan's brow furrowed.

Since arriving at Bloodcast Keep, the number of disappearances he had heard about far exceeded the norm. Even for the adventuring profession, it was completely unnatural.

The officials at Bloodcast Keep had even issued corresponding bounty quests at the Military Merit Office.

Just from what Xia Nan knew personally—excluding the random rumors he heard in the taverns—there was Adonis, Baron Blackcliff and castellan of Bloodcast Keep, as well as Gretchen, the captain of the Sulfur Dragon Breath squad.

'What's going on?'

'Why are people disappearing so frequently around Bloodcast Keep? Could it be related to the monster frenzy, or perhaps those goblins?'

Failing to notice the serious expression on the black-haired adventurer's face, the gnome rogue continued recounting his ordeal to the group.

The captain's sudden disappearance had undoubtedly caught Ronda off guard.

He was panicked and at a loss at first, but as a veteran adventurer, he quickly adjusted his state of mind and made a relatively safe decision.

Operating alone in the Underdark was exceptionally dangerous, especially with the Dire Corbies steadily slipping into a frenzy.

Therefore, Ronda decisively abandoned the main Dire Corby force he had been tracking and chose to search for his two temporarily detached teammates.

But when he followed the tunnels and the tracks on the ground all the way back, he only found a floor littered with Dire Corby corpses.

His two teammates were nowhere to be found.

However, unlike his captain's sudden vanishing, he at least found traces of his teammates fighting in the subterranean cavern filled with dead Dire Corbies.

Because of this, Ronda guessed they must have encountered a powerful enemy.

And since there were no bodies, it was highly likely they had either successfully escaped or been abducted by the enemy.

"So, you helped us just now because you want me to help find your teammates?" Xia Nan asked.

For the vast majority of adventurers on the Aifala Continent, there was no such thing as help without a reason.

Through just a few minutes of conversation, Xia Nan's Perception told him that this little guy in front of him definitely wasn't the helpful type.

His actions definitely had an ulterior motive.

Unexpectedly, however, facing Xia Nan's question, the gnome rogue named Ronda shook his head in denial without the slightest hesitation. He didn't breathe another word about his missing teammates, who might still be alive.

"I know the exits leading to the surface."

Zanfrey was a fresh rookie with shallow experience. Through just a few brief exchanges earlier, Ronda had already felt out his background. He guessed that these adventurers, who had blundered into the Underdark because of the earthquake, were completely unfamiliar with the nearby terrain and were currently looking for a way out.

This gave Ronda room to maneuver.

Under everyone's gaze, he held up two fingers.

"I know of two ways out in total."

"I checked the first one yesterday. It's been completely sealed off by falling rocks from the earthquake, with zero chance of getting through."

"The second one is a bit dangerous. An adult Hook Horror roosts nearby."

"And that is exactly why I chose to help you."

After encountering a string of unexpected emergencies, Ronda had practically been pushed to a dead end.

If his teammates were by his side, facing a Challenge Rating Lv3 monster wouldn't be very dangerous. As long as they only wanted to pass through the nearby Underdark exit and didn't target the creature, they wouldn't need to fight; they could just kite it a little.

But now he was all alone. Even with a Class Level of Lv4, facing a monster of that tier by himself in a place like the Underdark truly left him feeling apprehensive.

Therefore, Ronda needed backup.

Right now, the two boys were obviously rookies who had just entered the trade, so there was no need to consider them.

But beside them was this black-haired adventurer with a Winter Wolf companion. Ronda's instincts, honed by a wealth of past adventuring experience, told him that this man was an entity even more powerful than his own squad captain.

His Class Level might even exceed Level 5.

If he could strike up a temporary cooperation with this man, it should be more than enough to pass through an exit tunnel guarded by a Challenge Rating Lv3 Hook Horror.

Both sides shared a common goal: returning to the surface.

Xia Nan had enough strength but didn't know the way out. Ronda was familiar with the terrain but feared the danger due to his own lack of strength.

Considering this, a partnership didn't seem out of the question.

Just then, seeing that the gnome rogue had been in the Underdark for a long time and might know something, Zanfrey figured he could ask.

"Mr. Ronda, have you seen a middle-aged man with graying hair these past few days?" he asked anxiously. "He should be in his forties and carrying a heavy shield with him."

There was no need to think hard. In his current situation, if he had really run into someone like that, he definitely would have remembered. The gnome rogue shook his head.

"Never seen him."

"Drip."

A cold, damp sensation from above roused Ake from his unconscious state.

He slowly opened his eyes. Filling his vision was a bare stone ceiling, illuminated only by the faint glow of a few small clusters of moss.

"This is..."

He absentmindedly opened his mouth, then suddenly seemed to remember something. The expression on his pale face shifted abruptly.

"Wait, Young Master!"

His arms instinctively flexed, trying to prop his body up.

It was only then that a violent wave of agony from all over his body surged up like a tide. The extreme pain nearly scattered his consciousness once again.

Relying on his own tenacious willpower, he gritted his teeth and held on for a good while. Once he gradually adapted to it, Ake finally began to pant heavily, his face drenched in cold sweat.

Memories of the moments before he blacked out surfaced.

He remembered staying behind to cover Young Master Zanfrey and the others, trying to buy the two young men time to escape the pursuing ghouls.

But before the battle even began, the ground beneath his feet had shaken violently, like an earthquake.

Without giving him any chance to react, the earth caved in and fractured, swallowing him whole.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already here.

"Young Master Zanfrey, are you there?"

Ake called out for the boy he was sworn to protect, gritting his teeth against the pain flaring from every part of his body as he forced himself to sit up.

Suddenly, a voice drifted into his ears.

"Oh, you're awake?"