Serial Player
Chapter 133: Master Connor Tells Me (Seeking Collection, Recommendation, and Likes)

Chapter 133: Chapter 133: Master Connor Tells Me (Seeking Collection, Recommendation, and Likes)

Several figures sprinted through the forest, one of them clad in Mountain Pattern Armor almost slipped on the wet, slippery mud.

Arcs of electricity suddenly burst from the figure as they used their leg to step on a nearby bush branch as if it was solid ground, forcefully thwarting their impending fall.

Li Changhe breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that [Breath of Thunder] allowed him to activate [Agility Feature: Wall-Walking]. Without it, he would have been severely injured during the trek.

[Great Wall Mountain Armor] was too heavy for long distances; sprinting was manageable, but running through heavy rain with obscured vision was incredibly taxing.

However, Li Changhe didn’t dare to remove his armor, as the sound of slithering grew closer to his group. Taking off his highest Defense Force [Equipment] now would be suicidal.

"Why are we moving out in the rain? I thought the plan was to go after the rain stopped?" someone in the [Friends] group asked.

At the same time, someone else grabbed Li Changhe’s arm and steadied him. It was Xiao Nan.

The original plan had indeed been to proceed quietly after the rain had stopped, searching the mountains, using information from the monks to find caves to use as temporary shelters, and fending off the mermaids.

Instead, they were now making their way through the pouring rain, with those clad in [Equipment] like Li Changhe struggling to move properly on the slippery mud.

"We were all misled!" Li Changhe didn’t use the [Friends] channel to contact Xiao Nan but instead growled quietly, "The temple was never the target! The mermaids attacked the temple just to keep us from interfering with them!"

"Interfering with what?" Chen Yan, somewhat confused by Xiao Nan’s involvement, asked.

"Li Ba’s Magic Eye noted that the mermaids’ activities extended beyond the temple. They clearly have other targets, and if I had to guess, we’re looking for the same ones!" Luo Kai glanced at the three members of [General Mountain], whose movements were impeded, and with a flash of spatial distortion, tossed a Great Wall Windbreaker to them.

"Put this on, its defense is not weaker than armor. We need to speed up. Li Ba, continue monitoring their position!"

The rest of the [Great Wall Players] also handed out Windbreakers to the nearest [General Mountain] members.

It seemed like the [Great Wall Players] were always well-prepared.

Li Changhe took the Windbreaker and placed it in his [Backpack], replaced his [Equipment], and activated the [Effect] that concealed his face and voice: "The tracks indicate that they’re heading across the hills. Be on alert!"

Apart from Xiao Nan, the [Great Wall Players] were caught off guard by how smoothly Li Changhe put on the [Great Wall Combat Cloak] and activated its [Effect].

For a moment, they were stunned but were quickly relieved.

"He really is a mole!"

The [Great Wall Combat Cloak] had many effects, including various defenses and auxiliary [Effects].

The margin for error was high, but there was no way anyone could activate these [Effects] so proficiently on their first try. This ’Li Ba’ must have worn a [Great Wall Combat Cloak] before, and almost no one else could acquire one except for [Great Wall Players].

’Li Ba’... was the mole that [Great Wall] placed in [General Mountain]!

It turned out that their vigilance had been for nothing; he was one of them!

Luo Kai and the others didn’t know that Xiao Nan had previously given Li Changhe a Windbreaker. Although he had only worn it once, he had remembered the conditions to activate the effects.

The commotion in Luo Kai’s group had distracted them from noticing that ’Wang Er,’ who trailed behind them, also expertly donned the Windbreaker.

As soon as all three [General Mountain] members changed, the team’s speed increased significantly.

The group quickly traversed a patch of woods, arriving at the mountainside unseen from the temple’s location.

What came into view were hundreds, even thousands, of mermaids flowing through the forest below, heading in several directions.

The group immediately hid behind some trees. The young [Great Wall player] who had distributed food earlier took out a small piece of cloth from his [Backpack] and pinned it to the ground with a wooden spear.

In a flash, the surrounding noise quieted down significantly. At the very least, the group couldn’t hear the mermaids’ roars or the sound of their snake-like tails sliding across the ground anymore.

[Spatial Disruption Array]!

At the same time, Teacher Wang put his hands together and used a [Skill].

[Aura Canopy] – this was already the second time Li Changhe had seen this skill in action. It was so practical; as long as one was within the range of this skill, the outside world could barely sense the presence of the group.

Together with the obstruction of information and vision provided by the [Spatial Disruption Array], the sounds that were once closing in on them gradually stopped. It seemed they were safe for the time being.

However, everyone remained vigilant. The two previously sacrificed [Great Wall players] must have made similar preparations, but they were still discovered and ultimately met their demise.

Perhaps the mermaids had special means of detection.

If the group were to engage in battle with the mermaids here, it would be a seven-against-thousands fight. If the rainfall continued a little longer, Xiao Nan’s trump card might be exposed.

This would give the enemy [players] time to prepare.

The young [Great Wall player] hid under a tree. Rain or sweat streaked down his innocent face as he slowly shifted the wooden spear.

He reduced the range of the [Spatial Disruption Array]. If the area covered by the array was too large and any mermaids entered it, they would discover the group.

It wasn’t easy to execute such precise movements, and the young [Great Wall Player]’s face turned a bit pale. Finally, he maintained the array to cover an area of around 50 square meters.

Along with some large trees, there were actually not many places left for the group to hide.

He Feng and Luo Kai leaned against trees, the young [Great Wall Player] and Teacher Wang maintained the [skills] in the central area, with Chen Yan by their side, ready to provide support.

As for Xiao Nan and Li Changhe, their positions were the worst. Since they didn’t initially find a good hiding spot, they were blocked by a large root that had risen from the ground; the space on the other side was only about 20 centimeters wide.

If it weren’t for the tree’s hollow spot, the two of them might have been discovered by now.

However, this hiding spot wouldn’t suffice for long.

Their faces darkened as the sounds drew closer. Soon, they saw a huge figure moving in the darkness, his barrel-thick snake tail slowly approaching. Behind him, in the thick bushes, several more mermaids were patrolling, probably intending to flush out the group that had suddenly vanished.

As Chen Yan noticed the mermaid approaching the large tree where Xiao Nan was hiding, her face changed and she was about to make a move. But in her [Friends], Luo Kai messaged her: "Don’t move! We can’t be sure if they’ve seen through the array and [skills]. Making noise will only endanger them!"

At this moment, Xiao Nan had no more room to maneuver. The mermaid was scouting around the tree and seemed to have picked up on some sort of clue. At its closest point, it was less than ten centimeters away from the array.

Xiao Nan’s expression subtly changed, as she didn’t appear terrified or panicked – rather, she seemed somewhat embarrassed and resentful. Using her [Friends], she quietly grabbed Li Changhe’s hand around her and replied: "At a time like this, can’t you behave yourself?"

Li Changhe hesitated briefly, then responded through [Friends]: "I... I just wanted to have you closer so that I could be prepared to snap his neck at any moment... Cough, please tell our teammate to follow my cue and expand the [Spatial Disruption Array] to cover them all. Also, girl, you’ve... seemed to have gained some weight recently."

Xiao Nan tightened her teeth and twisted Li Changhe’s arm with force. "You’re the one who’s gained weight!" she thought.

Using [Friends], she informed the teammate operating the array while discussing the situation with Li Changhe: "Can you ensure that you won’t be discovered by the other mermaids, whether they’re nearby or at the foot of the mountain? Everyone will be watching you."

"Master Connor told me that as long as we eliminate everyone, no one will know we’ve infiltrated. I’ve mastered his teaching!" Li Changhe replied, whipping out a ball of old lead...