Published: February 11, 2025
When Ye Zhongming and Garan arrived, they naturally received everyone’s attention.
There was no way around it; many forces couldn’t achieve what Ye Zhongming had accomplished alone. It was impossible not to be noticed. Of course, if these forces were willing to go all out, they could certainly push through, but how many people would they need to send down? How many would die? It was estimated that it would take at least a few thousand to achieve such a feat. Yet here was Ye Zhongming, accomplishing it by himself.
As for Garan, she had basically been overlooked. If she were of any use, she wouldn’t have come back empty-handed.
Looking at the information on the nameplate, everyone still had a difficult time hiding their astonishment. On one hand, it was because Ye Zhongming had penetrated a Cat Ear Cave, and on the other, it was the fact that he had only achieved a completion rate of three percent after doing so!
Did that mean thirty-three caves equated to ninety-nine percent? But there weren’t just over thirty Cat Ear Caves here—so how was that calculated?
“Boss Ye, what’s it like down there?”
“What’s behind the frost beasts?”
“What’s the danger level below?”
“Where’s the most difficult area?”
“Aren’t there any rewards?”
“Mr. Ye, are there any precautions we should take?”
After their surprise, everyone’s questions erupted almost simultaneously. No one was foolish; everyone could see the difficulty of the Hundred Caves Marsh. Without needing to think, the rewards here would certainly be extremely generous. Some people had already gone out and gathered information, revealing that the Hundred Caves Marsh was one of the three lowest completion areas, meaning it was very likely to be the final challenge. The rewards would naturally be the best in the entire brightwater realm.
At that time, all forces and all people would concentrate here, and anything could happen.
Most importantly, the rewards would indeed be scarce compared to the number of competitors.
Although there were quite a few forces staying here, they had previously agreed to Ye Zhongming’s distribution of rewards. Even if they couldn’t get a large share, they could still benefit in some way. However, if more people gathered, they might not even have the chance to lick the bowl clean.
They wanted to know the situation below even more, and were particularly eager to learn about Ye Zhongming's tactics against the monsters down there. If they could learn something, they could handle it themselves.
As for the distribution of rewards, these forces were far stricter in adhering to agreements than during peacetime, absolutely carrying out their decisions. When they didn’t want to follow through, they could be a bunch of rogues, unrestrained and manipulative.
Ye Zhongming took a small step back; he didn’t want to be too close to these people. Knowing about special circumstances in the area, who knew when it might open again? It was better to be cautious.
As for the questions, Ye Zhongming completely ignored them and simply replied, “Fight your way through.”
Others wanted to show expressions of disdain, but when they thought about it, they realized that regardless of how they felt, it was indeed necessary to fight through. They could only awkwardly smile and remain silent, guessing how Ye Zhongming had gotten through—whether it was his skills or equipment.
They still didn’t believe that Ye Zhongming had relied solely on his own strength to fight his way through with a sword and a gun.
Tong Steward and Water Steward pulled Ye Zhongming aside and asked similar questions. Others saw the situation and did not dare to interfere; this was their home ground, after all, and they had their privileges. Since they couldn’t extract any information from Ye Zhongming, it was acceptable to let the five rings society ask; their rewards would not be diminished.
Ye Zhongming naturally couldn’t be dismissive with the five rings society. After pondering, he said, “There really isn’t a better solution; it’s just that my abilities aren’t very affected by low temperatures, so it’s easier for me. The monsters inside are basically level five life forms. As long as the issue of low temperatures is resolved, everyone can go down individually.”