Chapter 127 - 123: War Lizardman

Chapter 127: Chapter 123: War Lizardman

War Lizardmen were not common monsters in Gelan Forest.

Due to their burrowing nature, they were generally more numerous in Underground Cities.

Although they looked a bit like Kobolds, with lizard heads and tails, they were larger—even more Strong than an adult human male.

To put it simply, they could be seen as an "upgraded version of a Kobold."

The only differences were that they rarely roamed the forest, and their skin color was quite distinct from that of Kobolds.

"Oviparous, moderately intelligent, with strong internal competition within the tribe. Weaker individuals are eaten by their own kind..."

"Easily startled and angered, they favor Long Spears as Weapons and may even throw Flying Axes..."

"Their favorite food is the fresh meat of Sub-human Creatures..."

’Good heavens, no wonder they often ambush goblins and Kobolds.’

Ten minutes later, Lu Wei silently closed the *Adventure Guide* and seriously considered Marcus’s suggestion.

First of all, this world’s definition of a "tribe" was "a group with five or more mature individuals and a fixed territory."

’So we’ll have to face at least five adult War Lizardmen.’

’But according to Marcus, a highly intelligent mutant has already appeared in this tribe.’

’In that case, the number might double.’

’That would mean over ten adult War Lizardmen, plus at least one Elite Level leader.’

’The difficulty isn’t that high.’

’After all, with my [Force Field], a single "Domain Expansion" would solve everything.’

’The only problem is...’

Looking at Marcus, Lu Wei asked, "The inside of a War Lizardman’s cave must be pretty complex, right?"

"Yes, extremely complex."

Marcus didn’t deliberately hide the difficulty of this battle, answering truthfully, "They’re burrowing creatures, after all. They spend most of their time underground, so their lairs have many more passages and forks in the road."

"The main den where the leader resides, in particular, will be at least 30 meters deep."

"It’s completely incomparable to the lairs of goblins or Kobolds."

’As I thought.’

Lu Wei nodded and was once again lost in thought.

This was the very problem that worried him.

War Lizardmen weren’t hard to deal with. If he didn’t have to hide his [Force Field], he wouldn’t even be afraid of running into two Elite Level leaders.

But the traps inside the caves were a huge problem.

If they ran into any tricky situations deep underground, there would be nowhere to run.

"If we team up, how do we split the loot?"

Glancing at the wound on the Dwarf’s leg, Lu Wei still didn’t give a clear answer, instead opting to confirm the distribution ratio first.

"A fifty-fifty split... No, we’ll just take a 40% share."

Marcus hesitated for a moment before proactively lowering his squad’s share.

Without a doubt, this was because of the "Miss Mage" sitting right beside them.

And Lu Wei had no issue with this.

’After all, Bai Ya isn’t a real Mage.’

’If she were, Marcus’s squad wouldn’t even get 10%, let alone 40%.’

’At most, I would’ve just bought the intel from them for the cost of 1 Gold Coin, then led my own team to storm the War Lizardman lair and taken all the loot for myself.’

"Let us discuss it, then."

After thinking for another moment, Lu Wei shook his head, deciding it was necessary to ask Furen and the other two for their opinions.

"Of course."

Marcus wasn’t surprised by this. Upon hearing Lu Wei’s words, he immediately turned to his teammates.

"Urzha, Andrew, Geluo, let’s go wait over there for a bit."

"We shouldn’t disturb Miss Bai Ya while she’s thinking!"

...

...

It was obvious that Marcus saw Bai Ya as the "core member" of the Mushroom Squad.

This wasn’t an uncommon situation. In many teams, the "captain" and the "core" were not the same person.

The former was usually the most experienced person on the team.

While the latter was the one with the most Power.

The two were like the brain and the heart—both were important.

But if one had to be chosen, the "core" was certainly more indispensable.

After all, being "brainless" just makes you a moron.

But being "heartless" means you’re already dead.

"Phew, I was about to suffocate..."

Once Marcus and his men were a good distance away, Bai Ya, the "heart" of the team, finally let out a long sigh of relief. Then, with a woeful expression, she immediately mumbled:

"No, I can’t keep up this act. I’m naturally slow to react. What if I blow our cover?"

"What’s there to be afraid of? How can you blow our cover if you don’t say anything?" Lu Wei shot her a glance.

"But I don’t know any Magic! Won’t they see through it once the fighting starts?"

"Relax. A real Mage would disdain participating in such a Low Level battle. At most, they would only act in a moment of dire crisis."

Lu Wei reassured her, "So just stand by and watch. No one will dare to question you."

"That may be true, but I don’t want to lie..."

Bai Ya pursed her lips and muttered quietly, "Can’t we have Mirana do it...?"

Hm?

Beside them, Mirana’s eyes widened slightly. ’What do you mean by that?’ she thought.

Lu Wei, however, frowned, his tone becoming stern.

"What are you talking about? Who lied?"

"When did we ever say you were a Mage? It’s all just their own speculation."

"You just so happen to have a sore throat and can’t correct them."

"So, at most, this can only be considered a misunderstanding born of a bizarre coincidence. It has nothing to do with lying!"

Speaking with conviction and a solemn expression, Lu Wei’s forthright demeanor made it seem as if he were stating the most natural thing in the world.

Faced with this, Bai Ya was completely unable to argue.

She just felt a sense of déjà vu.

’As if I’ve seen this somewhere before... Ah, I remember!’

’It was Anna!’

’That’s how Anna would persuade customers!’

Her mouth hung open in a daze. Bai Ya finally understood, then became caught up in the dilemma of whether this was "deception" or a "misunderstanding."

Furen and Mirana, however, had no such psychological burden.

Mirana’s willingness to use Lu Wei and the others against the Kobolds proved she was no saint herself.

And while Furen’s moral standards were high, he never demanded that others be like him.

For that very reason, he had never criticized or tried to correct any of Lu Wei’s "shameless" actions.

[Virtue is a motto engraved on the inside of a Shield to temper oneself, not a law forged onto the blade of a Sword to judge others.]

He had always kept this line, which he had read in some Legendary tale, close to his heart.

"Let’s put the Mage business aside for now."

Waving his hand, Furen excitedly confirmed, "So, are we going to team up with them?"

"What do you think... never mind, you’ll definitely agree."

Lu Wei glanced at the seemingly impatient Furen, then turned his head toward Mirana.

"What about you? Any objections?"

"Based on Marcus’s description alone, there don’t seem to be any issues. I’m just afraid the traps in the caves will give us trouble."

Mirana shared Lu Wei’s concerns and suggested, "It would be best to find a way to lure the War Lizardmen out and deal with them."

"That’s probably too difficult. Otherwise, Marcus and his team would have done it already."

Lu Wei shook his head. "The War Lizardmen’s den is probably too big. Conventional methods like burning chili powder or smoking them out won’t work."

"Alright, then I have nothing more to say."

Mirana nodded, then added a serious reminder, "But if we are going to cooperate, it’s best we act quickly. After all, we still haven’t completed our own mission."

"I’m aware of that... Let’s give it a try, then."

Looking back in the direction Marcus and his men had gone, Lu Wei hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to give it a shot.

After all, while the profits from this trip were already enough to pay the final installment for the construction team, the money to buy the other two Professional Skill Books was not yet secured.

Rather than pinning his hopes on the latter half of the adventure, it was better to seize this opportunity.

If they could make a huge profit, there would be no pressure for the rest of their trip.

Besides, Lu Wei was also quite curious to see the strength of a "Middle Level Monster" for himself.

War Lizardman...

’I wonder how they came up with that name...’

’It always reminds me of something silly...’