Chapter 27：Stone Tribe’s Totem

Regional-Type Missions, as the name suggested, happened within a constricted region of space. When the Regional-Type Mission was triggered, any adventurer within the area would be able to join in. Restricted Regional-Type Missions were even more unique. Once the mission began, the entire area of space would be barred. Other than the adventurers involved in the mission, no other adventurer will be allowed into the area during the mission duration. As such, the Restricted Regional-Type Missions were usually short, ending within a few hours.

At the same time, if the adventurer chose not to partake in the Restricted Regional-Type Mission, he would be evicted and disallowed from re-entering until the mission was over.

There were two modes of participation in the Restricted Regional-Type Mission, cooperative or confrontational. In this case, the cooperative way would require the adventurer to assist the Warring Dragon Guild to complete their mission. The Confrontational way would be to disrupt the execution of their plans.

Either way, there would not be a loss for me. The biggest loss would be not accepting the mission and getting evicted from here.

While the number of adventurers levelling in the Gray Stone Forest was small, they still existed. At this moment, a majority of them were still in utter confusion of the situation. Ye Chen, on the other hand, had already made up his mind. Naturally, he was accepting the mission. If he chose the cooperative side, he would practically reap a considerable benefit for free.

However, the rewards were far more lucrative for the Confrontational mode. It was definitely worth a risk. That was especially so as the Restricted Regional-Type Mission would automatically evict any players who were more than 3 levels above the level of the region. In other words, there were no adventurers above Level 22 within Gray Stone Forest now. With his current character's attributes, he could definitely put up a fight against the remaining adventurers.

"Confirm Mission!"

[System Notice: You have accepted a Restricted Regional-Type Mission.

"Stone Tribe's Totem"

Mission Attribute: Restricted Regional-Type Mission, Confrontational Mode] 

[Mission Description: The Gray Stone Forest is the slumbering ground of the ancient Stone Tribe. However, there are people in the modern world wishing to lay their hands onto the Stone Tribe's Totem! The Stone Tribe's Totem lies in slumber in the most central region of the Stone Tribe's Altar. These evil wrongdoers have activated a magic circle, attempting to extract the totem from its deep slumber! The totem is our tribe's pride and glory, it must not be tainted! Destroy the magic circle, protect the Stone Tribe's Totem! 

Mission Rewards: When the faction you belong to succeeds, you will receive a massive experience bonus. If the faction destroys the magic circle successfully, you will receive an additional professional skill!

Time Remaining: 4h 59m 59s

Mission Recommendations: The number of enemies and their strength is top-notch. We, the Stone Tribe, have seen this coming and are prepared for this even if we are already annihilated. We left some items behind. Go find it and strengthen yourself! Link up with the allies and destroy the magic circle at once!]

Ye Chen opened the Mission Log, sweeping his eyes across it briefly.

The bonus reward is actually an additional professional skill!?

Ye Chen's eye shone brightly. Now he was actually interested!

If the rewards were equipment, Ye Chen would be indifferent. For Level 10 equipment, even if the attributes were reliable, he had to eliminate them by the time he reached Level 40 to 50. On the other hand, skills were lifelong investments, usable throughout. 

Moreover, the skill rewards from related tribal missions tended to be related or had some slight relations to the tribe. These skills would undoubtedly be rare. Previously, Ye Chen had even believed that the Durian Bomb Tree was a reward from such missions. 

With the emergence of a rare skill as the reward, this mission had to be successful, or at least adequately attempted at the very least!

Swiftly clearing the wave of Stone Wolves he had pulled, Ye Chen read the Mission Log detailedly once again. It was not the clearest about the details. Within the Gray Stone Forest, the more intelligent adventurers had already leapt onto the forums. At the same time, the rest was still staring blankly at the text description.

From the encounter with the archer, Ye Chen knew that the opponents were the Warring Dragon Guild. From the Mission Log, he too inferred some useful information.

"There is no doubt that the opponent is the Warring Dragon Guild. The question is, how much do they know about this mission. If they knew that the mission had an opposing force, they would have made all the preparations they needed. Then, destroying the magic circle would be completely impossible… No, that is unlikely… This type of mission would be hidden all the way until someone triggers it. In any case, the Warring Dragon Guild still came prepared for this. Not only do they have an advantage in their numbers, their equipment and level are also higher. Accomplishing this mission would really be tough…"

As Ye Chen read the Mission Log, he weighed his options and success rates silently.

"All that's left are just some details…" Ye Chen looked at a Stone Wolf in the distance. Without hesitation, he stepped right into his aggression zone. However, the Stone Wolf remained unaffected, motionlessly and indifferently staying at its own spot. However, when Ye Chen blasted a beam of Withering Light into it, it flashed the razor-sharp teeth and pounced menacingly.

"As I thought to be the side with the Stone Tribe negates the Stone Wolf's aggression. I should probably use this to my advantage…"

Standing underneath the Durian Bomb Tree, Ye Chen completely ignored the incoming Stone Wolf as he pondered about his plan.

"The items that the tribe prepared would definitely be designed for this mission with decent attributes. Then again, over-reliance would not be ideal. Instead, finding suitable party members would be the most critical."

In the past, Ye Chen had participated in Restricted Regional-Type Missions before. The game system would balance the strength of both sides with specific equipment with decent attributes. However, it would not be overwhelmingly powerful. Thinking that a single adventurer could face a thousand men alone with the Equipment Set was just a pipe dream.

However, increasing strength and combat capability with the equipment set were definite. In typical situations, this equipment set would allow the adventurer to face two to three opponents in combat without issues. Still, a skilled and robust team was undoubtedly more important than finding the special equipment. 

However, in the current situation, it was far more challenging to find a reliable team member than to find equipment.

Really, how did the situation reverse? Thinking of this, Ye Chen laughed wryly in his heart.

The vast majority of Restricted Regional-Type Missions, whether they were cooperative or confrontational, had never been short of people. Alas, this Gray Stone Forest was literally devoid of any human activities. Trying to build a reliable team amongst these pitifully small numbers of people was seemingly impossible.

"Guess I can only check out the situation first."

Shaking his head, Ye Chen sighed. He decided to be preemptive, standing here and thinking any longer would be a waste of time.

"Single transplantation."

He moved the Durian Bomb Tree on the stone pillar into the forest. The best way to hide a tree was amongst other trees. Then, Ye Chen turned towards the outer edge of the Gray Stone Forest.

Needless to say, the Warring Dragon Guild was not foreign to Restricted Regional-Type Missions. For this mission, they would mobilize massive amounts of manpower, securing their advantage in terms of numbers. Most likely, they would comb the entire forest and wipe out the confrontational-side adventurers before any alliance could be formed and then destroy the special items prepared for the opposing side.

Furthermore, death within a Restricted Regional-Type Mission would cause the adventurer to be evicted, pulling the curtains on the mission attempt!

Unless the Warring Dragon Guild had a dominating lead in numbers by several folds, they would never camp at the Stone Tribe Altar. With the unpredictable strength of the Mission's Special Equipment, camping at the altar posed too big of a risk. No one knew what unusual items would pop out. If the Confrontational Party got their hands on these items and teamed up, even a wild charge without real leadership could potentially break the defense of the Warring Dragon Guild.

Considering the depth of experience that the Warring Dragon Guild possessed, there was no way they were unaware of the unpredictabilities of these missions. As the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense. Tearing off the enemy when they were still an infant in the cradle was the best option!

...

"Per Mission Plan, Platoon 1 follow me to defend, 2, 3 and 4 will split into the previously briefed groups. Two groups will form one team. Each team will patrol the assigned areas, speedily fish out the other adventurers in the Gray Stone Forest and kill them! Do not let a single one escape. All right, now move! We can only accept success for this mission! The entire guild is watching!"

Within the central region of Gray Stone Forest, a middle-aged man stood. He was plump, with a slight beer belly. As he spoke, his voice was not domineering or loud, but a certain sense of comforting confidence resonated within his subordinates. He was standing on an old stone altar. While it may be a relic of the past now, the regal glory it once had could not be hidden by the weather-beaten, dilapidated appearance. Looking beside the man, a giant crystal hovered in mid-air. Its bright shine illuminated the surroundings, shedding a gentle, glimmer onto the people gathered below it.

"Yes, Boss!" At his command, the members of the Warring Dragon Guild around him responded one after another. Under the leadership of each team's captain, they dispersed.

"Warring Dragon Guild really deserves the reputation. They actually accurately spotted half of the mission!"

Luo Cheng looked at the scattered members of the Warring Dragon Guild in front of him and couldn't help but lament in admiration.

"The mission should be exposed on the forum by now. This mission, we cannot fail!"

Folding his arms back, Luo Cheng looked at the huge crystal shining in front of him. His eyes were gleaming, his black, steady pupils glistening with his firm resolve for success.

Just as Luo Cheng thought, adventurers had broken the news of a new Restricted Regional-Type Missions within the Gray Stone Forest on the forums.