Chapter 8: The Stubborn Jessica

It seemed that I had become a bit too enthusiastic today and accidentally published the wrong chapter. Please forgive me, everyone. Consider this chapter as a form of compensation!

After conversing with Shui Yuetian for quite a while, Li Bin finally managed to discern some of his background from his rambling words. Shui Yuetian was apparently a hero who had awakened in a certain mine, around level 4 or 7. Unlike ordinary ghosts, he was born with an exceptional talent for archery, and had mastered the art of enchanting arrows during his days in the mines.

Because he was born in a mine, he had an intense fondness for them. His special skill, "Lucky Dream," gave him a bonus of +2% resource acquisition per level, +3% money acquisition, +2% increased chances of finding treasures, and every five levels, the tier of treasures he could obtain increased by one—a truly overpowered ability.

Later on, he even seized several unclaimed mines and started running a mining business. However, when he accepted a big order and, in order to gather the resources his buyer required, robbed several owned mines, he attracted the trouble of Jessica.

After being struck a few times by Jessica, Shui Yuetian was forced to abandon several of his mines, and fled with his ratman miners and undead guards in haste.

During his escape, he sought help several times, but no one came to his aid. Things only improved after he passed through a teleportation gate.

“A teleportation gate?” Li Bin’s mind flashed with inspiration, and he quickly asked, “Was it one-way or two-way?”

“It seemed to be a one-way gate,” Shui Yuetian recalled.

“So, you came from another continent?” Li Bin pressed.

“I think so. Our continent isn’t nearly this open,” Shui Yuetian replied after some thought.

At this point, Li Bin had grasped most of the situation. Heroes like Shui Yuetian and Jessica, who had come from another continent, did not concern Li Bin in the slightest.

While he had his subordinates invite Shui Yuetian to Ghost Butterfly City, Li Bin stood at the front line, coldly watching in the direction from which Jessica was approaching.

Soon enough, Jessica appeared before Li Bin, accompanied by two squads of Crusaders and three squads of crossbowmen.

Li Bin spoke slowly: “Lady ahead, you have entered my territory. Please state your intentions.”

Seeing that Li Bin had arranged his forces in an attack formation, Jessica realized that Shui Yuetian had already been taken in by Li Bin. Nevertheless, she declared haughtily, “I am Jessica Ailins, daughter of the Lord of Abila City in the Duchy of Varna. I am in pursuit of an undead hero who has stolen a great quantity of mineral resources belonging to my father. Lord of this land, hand him over at once, or you will face the wrath of the Duchy of Varna.”

“Duchy of Varna?” Li Bin searched through the top thousand player and NPC organizations in the Judgment ranking, but found no such name. He smiled and said, “Perhaps the Duchy of Varna is powerful on your continent, but here, you stand on my territory, and I have the right to protect whomever I choose.”

“I knew I couldn’t expect to reason with evil undead,” Jessica replied calmly. “Very well, then. As the daughter of Varna’s greatest lord, I will not disgrace my father.”

“Evil undead? Young lady, it seems you’ve read too many knightly tales.” Seeing Jessica’s forces arrayed, Li Bin smiled indifferently. “You’d best turn back now. Perhaps if you hurry, you’ll find your way home before your troops are spent, or else you’ll be stranded here forever.”

“What did you say?” Jessica’s voice trembled, and a ripple of confusion spread among her crossbowmen.

“When you were pursuing Shui Yuetian, you passed through a one-way teleportation gate,” Li Bin said with a smile. “Now, you are on a new continent.”

Jessica flew into a rage upon hearing this and shouted loudly, “You evil undead, trying to demoralize my troops? Crusaders, prepare for battle!”

At her words, the two squads of Crusaders, both around level 5 or 6, immediately drew their longswords and raised their shields, while the crossbowmen also lifted their light crossbows.

Li Bin smiled faintly at the scene. He knew Jessica must have realized they’d crossed a one-way gate, but for the sake of morale, she had not told her troops the truth. Now, with his words, even the Crusaders—whose morale was hard to shake—were unsettled, and the level 3 crossbowmen could barely lift their weapons.

Seeing this, Li Bin no longer felt inclined to bully Jessica. With a wave of his hand, he ordered, “Harpies, go and drive them all away. That will be enough.”

With that, Li Bin led his troops to head back to the city. However, though he intended to let her go, Jessica was not willing to accept such mercy. Raised on tales of knights, she harbored a deep hatred for the undead.

She pointed in Li Bin’s direction and shouted, “Attack with all your might! Don’t be afraid—I can cast Resurrection. If you die, I will revive you!”

Just as Li Bin was about to leave, he turned sharply at her words and stared at Jessica. “Do you really want to fight? Do you believe I could stop even a single one of yours from being resurrected?”

Jessica felt a chill under Li Bin’s gaze, but she still replied stubbornly, “If you hand over the villain who stole my father’s mines, I’ll let this go.”

“Don’t even think about it. Shui Yuetian is useful to me now, and I’m not letting him go,” Li Bin replied coldly.

“In that case, don’t blame me for being rude.” Though she was nearly suffocating under the pressure Li Bin exerted, Jessica remained defiant.

With words spoken to such an extent, could Li Bin still avoid battle? Even if the undead were unaffected by morale, he could not let his dignity be trampled.

With a wave of his hand, two squads of level 6 harpies and harpy assassins charged at the enemy Crusaders. The Crusaders were no pushovers; after raising their swords and shouting “The Holy Light is with me,” their attack and defense greatly increased, making them a match for level 6 units.

However, the crossbowmen, exchanging fire with Li Bin’s undead ballistae, were at a severe disadvantage. A two-level gap in strength couldn’t be bridged by Jessica’s encouragement alone.

Very soon, only the two squads of Crusaders remained standing. At this point, Jessica lifted her brown staff and pointed it at the fallen crossbowmen. Several of the long-dead crossbowmen rose from the ground.

Then, a glow emanated from the medical tent behind Jessica, restoring strength to the freshly resurrected but still weakened crossbowmen.

To prevent Jessica from endlessly replenishing her forces with resurrection, Li Bin pointed at the corpses of the crossbowmen and murmured, “Death’s Summons!”