Uh~~ I'm almost done for, my eyes are starting to hurt. Let me die, bury me with votes...
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The morning sun still rose lazily. The thin mist left over from the early morning instantly dispersed like a Saintess who had just been conquered and taken to bed by the protagonist in a novel. Before it could even let out a moan, it dissolved into tears and vanished.
"Look..."
Pointing at a dark mass in the distance, Lars said proudly, "That's our destination, humanity's main base on the Dark Continent, the Rogue Encampment."
I looked towards that dark shadow in the distance. Heavens, it was still half a day's journey away, yet I could already see its outline from such a remote place. Its sheer size was imaginable. How could it house hundreds of thousands of people? Was this really a Camp? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a Castle.
"Ah, I forgot you're also from the Rogue Encampment, haha~~"
Lars laughed heartily, as if just realizing his mistake.
It was like someone who knew it was your hometown too, but still couldn't help pointing and desperately telling you: "Look, that's my hometown, isn't it prosperous and magnificent?" It was a sense of belonging and pride.
"You'll see your family soon. You've been out for over a month (I lied and said I'd been out for over half a month when I met them), your family must miss you greatly."
"I don't have any family," I said with a somber expression, thinking of my home in another world. That was my true home.
"I'm sorry, Wu," Lars said with a look of guilt. In this chaotic world, there were simply too many orphans and widows.
...
...
When the sun was directly overhead, I finally saw the edge of the Rogue Encampment. At this moment, two people wearing Leather Armor and holding longbows came towards us from the front. I only needed a quick glance to determine that these two were the so-called Rogues. Whether from the Game or from Lars and the others' descriptions, these two fit the standard Rogue template: medium height, slender and graceful build, handsome appearance, and their unique clothing. In their hands were the longbows they were uniquely skilled with. Looking closely, if not for their ears being the same as normal humans, their appearance was very similar to the legendary Elven race.
"Great Barbarian Lord Doug, Lord Geoff, and Paladin Lord Lars, welcome back! And this esteemed Lord is...?"
The two looked at me with confusion. Although the Rogue Encampment had hundreds of thousands of people, there were only a few thousand Class Holders. They had long since memorized all of them. Therefore, the unfamiliar face before them must undoubtedly be a Class Holder.
"Job Advanced Druid, Wu Fan," Lars said with a shrug.
"It is a great pleasure to meet you, esteemed Druid, Lord Wu Fan. Please allow me, El (and I, Deck) to express our highest respect to you."
The two placed their right hands on their chests with solemn expressions, bowed, and spoke in unison. A Job Advanced Class Holder was a big deal; it meant the entire Rogue Encampment's strength had increased. That's why they seemed so happy and humble.
Although I had already learned from Lars and the others that the identity of a Druid was very noble, receiving such respect for the first time, as someone who had always lived in a world where everyone was equal, I still felt a bit overwhelmed.
"Alright, alright, don't scare the young man," Lars said to the two Rogues, patting my shoulder, clearly used to this.
"Have there been any incidents in the past few months?" Lars asked casually on the way.
"Nothing special," Deck replied. "Last month, a large troop of Fallen accidentally wandered into this vicinity. Fortunately, they were discovered in time, and there were no casualties." Their job was to patrol the outer perimeter of the entire Rogue Encampment. There were thousands of Rogue teams like them, divided into three shifts, guarding the entire Rogue Encampment day and night. If they encountered lone Fallen or Rotting Corpses, a few Rogues working together could handle them. If it was a large troop of Monsters, they would wisely choose to avoid them and immediately report the situation. In the Rogue Encampment, which had thousands of Class Holders and tens of thousands of Rogue Archers, even the attack of several large troops of Monsters was just a minor issue.
Before long, the entire structure of the Rogue Encampment appeared increasingly clearly before my eyes.
This was the Rogue Encampment? I stared dumbfounded at the wooden wall, not because it was too magnificent, but because... it was simply too crude. The wooden wall, which was supposed to be the main defensive structure against enemies, was actually just like in the Game, made of countless wooden logs of similar size, no more than about 5 meters high. Although the foundation stakes looked very solid and wouldn't be blown down by a gust of wind, the entire wall was built very carefully and was almost airtight. The tops of the logs on the wall were also sharpened, looking quite formidable.
However, no matter how I looked at it, compared to stone-built Walls, it still severely lacked a sense of security.
"Seeing this wooden wall, do you feel like it doesn't seem like the scale a place with hundreds of thousands of people should have?" Lars seemed to see my confusion and said with a smile.
I nodded.
"Actually, I felt the same way back then. Later, I couldn't help but go and ask High Priestess Akara."
Akara, the blind High Priestess Akara who believed in the Great Eye? I thought to myself. It seemed her status in the Rogue Encampment was very high.
"What did High Priestess Akara say?" Unable to suppress my curiosity, I immediately asked.
Lars smiled, completely immersed in the memories of that time.
"One reason for only using simple wooden walls is that the people in the Rogue Encampment are very mobile, so the wall often needs to be expanded." At this moment, Lars seemed like a military strategist, with the air of commanding mountains and rivers. But Doug beside him immediately told me that he was just repeating Akara's exact words.
Lars glared fiercely at Doug, then continued.
"Secondly, the Rogue Encampment is built in the Blood Wasteland, where the Hell invasion forces on the entire Dark Continent are weakest. Therefore, it is the safest place. The Monsters here generally have low intelligence, so there's no need to worry about them launching organized attacks. A wooden wall is sufficient."
"What if Andariel personally leads a large army to attack?"
"Heh heh, that's a good question. The fact that you can think of Andariel shows you have some understanding of the overall situation. But this question is also the stupidest one," Lars said, completely disregarding my feelings.
"Given the distance between the Tomb and us Rogues, as long as we discover them in time and set up various traps and ambushes along the way, whether Andariel's large army can even safely reach the Rogue Encampment is questionable. To be honest, I would welcome its attack. That represents countless Experience!" Lars cruelly licked his lips, looking like a bloodthirsty murderer and dismemberer.
"What is Andariel's biggest advantage? It's skilled in group combat, and its lair is small, usually only able to accommodate a few Class Holders fighting it inside. If it dares to come out, I guarantee it will be killed until not even dust remains."
"If Andariel is so weak, why is it still alive? Hasn't anyone gone to kill it?" The moment I spoke, I felt something was wrong. Not only Lars and the other two, but even the Rogue Archer leading the way turned back to look at me in astonishment, as if they had encountered an alien...
This awkward atmosphere lasted for a while before Lars finally shook his head.
"I really don't know what kind of savage you are, running out from some remote mountain wilderness. How can you not even know such basic common sense?"
"Forget it, I'll tell you on behalf of your damn Master. If we Class Holders want to advance further, we must go to Lut Gholein. There are powerful enemies waiting for us there," Lars said, stroking his hedgehog-like beard, and continued.
"And only by killing Andariel do we gain the qualification to go to Lut Gholein. Therefore, Andariel isn't unkillable. On the contrary, it has already died countless times. It's just that shortly after being killed, it Resurrects again."
"It dies and then Resurrects again? Then how are we supposed to fight this long war against Hell? Won't we never be able to win?" I asked with a shocked expression.
Lars seemed to have given up on me, covering his forehead. "Uh~~, my dear Wu, this question is a bit complicated. When you have time, you should go ask High Priestess Akara to explain it to you. She loves to lecture people. Oh, my head! Damn it, your damn Master, I hope I never meet him..."
Fortunately, Lars attributed my ignorance to that non-existent Master.
(end of chapter)