Chimaera's Conquest: The Legend Of The Devourer
Chapter 291: Poachers (1)

Chapter 291: Poachers (1)

’She definitely has a superiority complex,’ Adrian thought, forcing a smile on his face, trying not to irk the admin.

<I can’t blame her, honestly, Master. From the way she speaks and carries herself, she seems like a new admin. That would also explain her remark about getting some dirt on herself.>

’...it’s weird. Why would you want to have dirt on yourself?’

Besides, if Zelina was a new admin, as they suspected, she could be drunk on power. It gave Adrian another reason not to mess with her or who knew what she might have done to him.

Adrian couldn’t see Lucina, but he sensed her nod along, agreeing with his reasoning. Meeting Zelina had only reinforced his belief that the admins were an odd group. He made a mental note to steer clear of them as their connection to the entities made them untrustworthy in his eyes.

After talking a bit more, they returned to the room where Zelina was bathing. He wasn’t expecting others to be there, but they found a handful of participants waiting there.

Adrian looked surprised, but Zelina wasn’t and welcomed the rest. With a snap of her fingers, she brought forth another list, this time of the participants who had given the test in this round, and began talking about their rewards and such.

While she did that, Adrian looked at the list and it made him even more confused. He was in the first place, which he expected to be, but what baffled him was the staggering time difference.

The gap between him and the second-place contender wasn’t a matter of minutes or even hours—it measured in days.

It made little sense to him. In Adrian’s eyes, only a few minutes had passed since he cleared the quest and got his rewards. But according to the list, at least ten days had passed.

Zelina must have sensed Adrian’s confusion, for she turned and gave him a knowing wink. At that moment, it dawned on him that the admin had somehow sped up the time they spent together in the reward room, allowing others to join them.

’...she’s a beast.’

Controlling and manipulating time was a dangerous and difficult business. But Zelina pulled it off with the least bit of strain. The feat only went to show the strength and power the admins had over things that were beyond comprehension, even for someone like him.

’Why even bother serving another entity if you have the power to do almost anything?’

<Don’t try to understand what the admins want. One can predict what the entities might want, but figuring out what the admins want is something even the entities might not know.>

’What the heck was that brain-twisting thought?’

Meanwhile, Zelina stood at the entrance of the massive room, waiting for the other candidates who had successfully passed her challenge.

One by one, they arrived, each bearing the signs of hard-fought battles. They arrived one by one, each bearing the signs of hard-fought battles, some bruised and weary, but with a certain glow on their faces. The glow of victory.

"Congratulations to all of you," Zelina began, her voice sounded warm and welcoming. "You have overcome the first trial and proven your strength and resolve."

No one spoke a word and simply looked at her, wondering what would happen next.

"Now," she continued, "you will be heading inside the tower’s first floor. This is where your actual struggle will begin. The challenges ahead will be more difficult, and the stakes even higher. But remember, the tower has selected you for a purpose, so have some faith in yourself."

Zelina paused for a moment, joining her hands together as all of their wounds got healed instantly. "I wish you all the best of luck as you climb the tower. May you find the courage and wisdom needed to succeed."

The candidates were happy as the gate to the next floor opened. One after another, they climbed through, excited about what waited for them on the other side. However, just as Adrian was about to step in, Zelina stopped him.

"And you, Arnold," she said in a playful, cutesy voice, "try not to cause too much trouble for the other admins. But don’t be afraid to take the tower by storm."

"You know you’re saying opposite things, right?" Adrian replied.

"But you get what I meant, don’t you?"

Adrian nodded before walking through the gate as Zelina stared at his disappearing silhouette.

"Good luck, Arnold, or should I say, Adrian?" Zelina smiled. "It would be a shame if Olympus found out about you."

***

Once the candidates entered the gate, a bright light blinded them. But when they opened their eyes, they found themselves in the middle of a weird city.

The architecture was a blend of modern and medieval styles. Skyscrapers stood next to stone castles and paved roads intertwined with cobblestone streets. Market stalls lined the sidewalks, selling everything from high-tech gadgets to traditional armour and weapons.

There were also restaurants and other establishments everywhere. The city bustled with activity. People in modern clothing walked alongside those dressed in medieval garb. Automobiles and horse-drawn carriages shared the roads.

But the strangest thing was the sky. How could there be an endless sky inside a tower floor? At first, Adrian thought it was just an illusion, but then he remembered Zelina could control time. If the admins could do that, making a sky fit inside a tower floor would be easy for them.

While the participants were taking in the surroundings, a message flashed before them, greeting them and giving them the title of [Players]. They weren’t participants anymore, but actual players whose actions would affect the tower and its occupants.

But there were others who were also surprised. The tower’s first floor was the hub for players, both new and old, belonging to various other species, including elves and dwarves.

It wasn’t surprising to see other players there. It was a known strategy to take advantage of the new players by coercing them to join their factions early on when they did not have much information about the tower and everything within.

In other words, others perceived the newbies as naive and susceptible to manipulation through words. Besides, once they joined a faction, leaving was impossible, as their former faction mates would continuously hunt them.

Obviously, Adrian didn’t know all that at first. The only reason he heard about it was Felix who told him that while talking about the factions before the trial. But there was something else Felix told him.

’The Poachers are already here. This will be fun.’

Unlike Olympus or Asgard, the Poachers were an unregistered guild of hunters who had made their base on the first floor of the tower. Unlike players who climbed the tower in the hope of riches and fame, the Poachers took a shortcut to success.

Instead of doing the hard work, they gathered around the first-floor gate and eyed the newbies who looked docile and immature but had some good gear on them.

Once they got their target, one poacher would approach them to talk about joining their guild. It would be a tactic to lure them away from the crowd.

Once they had separated their target, the Poachers would attack. The poachers would capture some men and sell them as slaves, although most of them were killed. The Poachers would also sell the women, but only after they had taken advantage of them.

The strange thing was that most of the Poachers were women themselves. They didn’t care about the usual stereotypes of men preying on women; they were just focused on making money, even if it meant selling other women.

Usually, Adrian wouldn’t have paid any attention to them. But something Felix had told him had got his attention.

Even though Felix claimed it was just a rumour, Adrian was sure of it. The thing was that the Poachers had someone’s backing. The rumour was that the Poachers had someone powerful supporting them.

After all, it would be weird if the admin of the first floor simply ignored such a dangerous crime circle. But no, it wasn’t the admin who was supporting them, but Olympus.

Despite giving up on their immortality, some habits were difficult to give up. One such thing was the lust for power and control the Olympians had.

As such, the Olympians had formed an ecosystem where they would get expendable slaves and money in exchange for protecting the Poachers.

’I wonder what will happen if someone were to destroy their carefully cultivated infinite money glitch?’

<If Master wants them to take the bait, it would be better to let go of the confident demeanour.>

’...right. Thanks for the reminder.’

***

Hidden in the shadows, a few players kept their eyes on the entry point, watching every newcomer who walked through.

"Hm... few newbies this time," one poacher yawned. "The boss won’t be happy about that."

"Well, the boss doesn’t have to bust her ass to find the prey, does she?" another one replied.

Just then, one of them spotted a man in torn clothes, looking around anxiously. He had little gear, but the Poachers didn’t have a choice. They needed to capture someone, or the Madame would sell them off to Olympus instead and the man seemed like the perfect prey for them.

"Let’s get the boy. I’m sure his organs would fetch us a bit of money."