88: Chapter 88 I have no interest in your treasure chests

Dante was puzzled.

He already couldn't fathom how Zhang Mu had managed to dodge the almost all-encompassing tornado earlier.

Now, he had watched with his own eyes as his spear pierced through Zhang Mu's back.

Why did he look completely unharmed as he walked out of the smoke?

What about the puncture wound from the spear?

Why was his clothing completely intact?

Was he a human, or an undead?

Looking at the smiling Zhang Mu, Dante clenched his fists and shouted, "Return to the city!"

The moment the word "return" left his lips, he vanished from the spot, and by the time the word "city" landed, the sound was coming from the stone staircase tunnel at the entrance.

Zhang Mu was dumbfounded.

Damn it, running so decisively without even trying to fight back?

This guy was truly worthy of being a High-level Knight; even with his magic-enhanced dynamic vision, he couldn't even catch a glimpse of him.

Over there, Dante's clansmen, who were a bit slower to react, also swarmed toward the entrance.

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Mu didn't make a move.

They were like rabbits fleeing a disturbed nest, scurrying all over the place, and catching them would be tiring.

It would be better to wait until they fled back to the Marvin Magic Family residence in Bala City and round them all up in one go.

Thinking of this, Zhang Mu stopped hesitating, shoved Dante's spear into his storage bag, and prepared to head back to Bala City.

"Sir." Suddenly, an Adventurer called out to him.

Looking up, Zhang Mu asked curiously, "Is something the matter?"

"Um..." The Adventurer who stopped him was a young-looking middle-aged man, appearing to be in his early twenties.

Under Zhang Mu's gaze, he became somewhat flustered, his eyes darting around to alleviate his nervousness.

"Take your time, no rush."

Seemingly soothed by Zhang Mu's gentleness, he calmed down a bit: "We worked very hard to obtain eight wooden treasure chests. Could... could you collect less? Half, leaving half for us is enough."

After he finished, the eyes of the other Adventurers also turned expectant, looking at Zhang Mu longingly.

Stunned by the question for a moment, Zhang Mu recalled.

This was common knowledge from Avril's little classroom—according to the unwritten rules, the strongest "team" in the maze was qualified to levy a certain percentage of the treasure chest hauls from other Adventurer Groups.

It turned out this wasn't an officially recognized unwritten rule, but simply stronger Adventurer Groups robbing those weaker than themselves.

Someone had resisted and succeeded.

Later, the successful Adventurer Groups discovered that since no one present could beat them, they could do this without paying any price.

It was much easier than painstakingly hunting magical beasts and collecting treasure chests.

Thus, over time, it became a recognized unwritten rule.

At this moment, the two strongest teams in the maze had been defeated by Zhang Mu, so he had become the strongest.

Naturally, he had obtained the "levying right."

Zhang Mu scanned the Adventurers standing in a row against the wall.

Whoever his gaze fell upon would nervously swallow their saliva.

His expression became very strange, and he asked the middle-aged Adventurer in an ambiguous tone, "If I said I don't want even one percent, would you be happy?"

The middle-aged Adventurer was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses and hurriedly replied, "Of course, Sir."

"How happy?"

Without hesitation, he knelt on one knee, his right hand pressed against his left chest: "Perhaps Sir does not care too much, but lowly I still wish to offer my highest respect to you."

Zhang Mu stared at him fixedly. After a long while, he looked up and scanned the other Adventurers: "Are you all the same?"

Upon hearing the question, dozens of Adventurers performed the same action as the middle-aged Adventurer: "We wish to offer our highest respect to your noble self."

Stepping back a few paces, watching the mages, knights, and the occasional priest kneeling in a row before him, Zhang Mu frowned and muttered, "I only said 'if,' I didn't explicitly promise them anything, right? Even if I had agreed, in the Saul Continent, lies seem to be the norm..."

Was a hypothetical that had a high probability of being negative really worth getting this excited about?

"Heh." He suddenly laughed.

It seemed it wasn't that hard to understand.

Adventurer Groups of average strength, even if they were lucky enough to enter the maze and lucky enough to occupy a doorway, would, in most cases, only search for treasure chests in the area near the tunnel entrance.

Even a slightly larger Goblin tribe would take ten days or half a month to slowly wear down before they could take it, and any slight mistake during the process would cost them their lives.

The Lake Kingdom was located in a remote corner of the Saul Continent, and Bala City was a remote area of the Lake Kingdom.

How many of the Adventurer Groups that rushed here could be considered strong?

Therefore, eight wooden treasure chests were not a small amount.

Zhang Mu suddenly felt a bit listless and turned to walk toward the entrance: "I have no interest in your treasure chests."

His back disappeared into the doorway.

The Adventurers looked at each other in dismay, seemingly not expecting that he really wouldn't take even one percent and had just left.

"Hey." A young Adventurer wrapped his arm around his companion's neck, "I also want to become a powerful and handsome mage like him."

As he spoke, he released his arm, turned his back to his companion, and imitated Zhang Mu's flat tone: "I have no interest in your treasure chests."

"Does it sound like him!" He turned around, jumping up and down.

His companion shrugged helplessly: "Fine, fine, you have no interest in our treasure chests, then this time the six wooden treasure chests you will..."

"Damn it! What are you trying to do?!"

"It was you who said you weren't interested in the treasure chests." His companion teased.

"Watch me stab your ass, you bastard!"

They walked toward the entrance doorway while bickering.

The older Adventurers watched this scene, smiled bitterly, and followed them out.

All the Adventurers regained their composure, one after another showing expressions of relief, thinking "we really got lucky this time," and jogged into the doorway.

Only the middle-aged Adventurer who had asked the question first, wearing light armor, stood there with his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

The previous panic and nervousness were gone, and he gazed at the doorway with a calm expression.

It was as if he could see Zhang Mu's retreating figure, which had long since walked away.

He didn't move for a long time, and his companions, who had already walked a few steps away, turned back to urge him: "Domit?"

"Coming." Domit put on his usual somewhat ingratiating smile, lifted his feet to chase after his companions, and together they squeezed into the doorway.

Climbing up the stone steps to the small island, Domit found an excuse to break away from the Adventurer Group and, in the dark of night, ran alone toward Bala City with extreme speed.

... Coming out of the small island, Zhang Mu strode to the grassland not far outside Bala City.

It was late at night, and there was still an endless stream of Adventurers passing through the city gate.

Gazing at the bustling city gate from afar, Zhang Mu began to ponder.

After being scared by me like this, I'm afraid Dante won't leave the city for a while.

I don't have much time to waste on him; I have to make a move inside the city.

This way, it is inevitable that the Church will hunt me down.

Although I'm not afraid, being chased and bitten by dogs all year round is indeed annoying, and if I'm not careful, it might cause obstacles for me to enter the maze later.

Speaking of which... Zhang Mu looked up and around.

That guy sent by Andre might still be in Bala City.

The other party said the King summoned him back to the capital, but Zhang Mu wouldn't believe that so easily; it was all just his empty words, who knew if it was true or false.

After pondering for a while, a bolt of lightning flashed through Zhang Mu's mind.

Make a big scene in the city, and in front of the Believers of the Church who came to check the situation, perish together with the patriarch of the Marvin Magic Family, then activate the Shadow Technique to flee the scene.

But the time and distance must be controlled well; he must let the Believers see with their own eyes that the "heretic" who violated the Church's rules is dead, but he must not be seen clearly.

Hmm... Rubbing his chin, a perfect plan gradually emerged in his heart.

It seemed that the Transformation Technique could also come in handy, but it was unclear whether a High-level mage could see through the illusion created by the Transformation Technique.

He had to test it.

Zhang Mu nodded to himself and lifted his foot, preparing to enter the city.

"Sir, please wait."

Hearing the shout, he turned his head; on the nearby grass, the middle-aged Adventurer who had just separated from him was standing there.