Published: February 10, 2025
After dealing with a puppet, Ye Zhongming and his two companions decided not to take the well-paved road leading to the mountain peak, instead wandering around in the dense forest.
The trio felt confident because of the existence of the nameplates, which allowed them to monitor the movements of others clearly. Among the 29 individuals who entered the puppet ruins, besides Ye Zhongming and his companions, there were four different forces involved. The ruins had been opened for over an hour, but what was the information from the nameplates?
“Puppet Ruins: Completion rate, 3%.”
“Number of participants: 27.”
“Completion rate ranking: 1. Three-person team, 0.6%.”
“2. Shout, 0.2%.”
“3. Sword Point, 0.1%.”
“4. Recreate the Divine Land, 0.1%.”
“Rewards obtained: 1. Three-person team, Intermediate Speed Potion, Facade Spear (White grade), Blindness Remedy.”
“2. Shout, Calming Heart Talisman (one-time use).”
“3. Recreate the Divine Land, Hollow Fan (White grade).”
According to the information above, killing one puppet contributed 0.1% to the completion rate. This meant that in that short time, Ye Zhongming and his companions had killed six puppets and received three rewards. The other four forces, with the team called Shout, had only managed to kill two, while two other forces had killed one each, and one even hadn't made any progress at all.
Additionally, while these people had killed a total of four puppets, two had died in the process.
Such strength made it difficult for Ye Zhongming and his companions to feel any urgency.
However, Zhao Xiangxue and Gao Yi still couldn't understand why the boss preferred to roam in the dense forests of the mountain instead of rushing to the palace, which obviously had more puppets.
“I want to maximize our completion rate and see what will happen,” Ye Zhongming answered.
Since the boss had made up his mind, Gao Yi and Zhao Xiangxue fully supported him, splitting up and maintaining a certain distance while searching the forest, killing any puppets they encountered.
Two hours later, the completion rate of the three-person team had reached 3%, and they had obtained over ten rewards. Although none were particularly valuable, it felt like their efforts weren't wasted.
The other forces also made some gains during this time, but they clearly couldn't compare to the three-person team. The strongest force, Shout, had only achieved a completion rate of 0.8%, falling far behind.
Since the three had been systematically searching, they were confident that they hadn't missed anything in the areas they passed.
“Boss!”
Gao Yi's voice came from a distance, and Ye Zhongming immediately ran over. He saw the burly man engaged in a fight with a puppet. Unlike the others, this puppet was entirely black and clearly much stronger than the bronze-colored puppets they had encountered earlier.
After watching for a moment, Ye Zhongming realized Gao Yi was holding back to allow him to observe, and with a gesture, the captain of the Avoidance Action Team quickly shattered the puppet.
“Level five, but its strength is at least level six. Very strong.”
Due to his profession and equipment, Gao Yi's strongest attribute was his strength. Since he said it was very strong, it proved that this black puppet indeed had special strengths in this area.
From the body of this black puppet, Ye Zhongming obtained a puppet statue and a... puzzle piece.
This reminded him of when he first obtained the Earth Spirit.
Looking closer, the puzzle piece had no additional information; it appeared to be a corner of some kind of flower, and judging by its size, it was one of six pieces.
“Interesting,” Ye Zhongming remarked, knowing in his heart that if there was indeed something better than the information he bought yesterday, it was likely this puzzle piece.
After a moment's thought, he called Zhao Xiangxue over and reminded her to be cautious of such puppets. Although the flame sprite master had strong attack power, her defense was weak, making it dangerous to be ambushed by a powerful puppet in such dense woods.