Chapter 65
The last gold coins were something every BOSS dropped, but the biological BOSS only yielded a standard 10 coins, which was already considered an extra reward from the system for players. After all, monsters had no use for gold coins. In contrast, humanoid BOSSs dropped a significantly larger amount of coins, along with equipment rather than just materials.
In addition, Ye Baigan's depleted experience pool was once again replenished, allowing him to level up to 21 and gain an additional 80% experience after the upgrade.
To other NPCs, it might have seemed that Ye Bai was 'dealing with' the Crocodile King.
After the mercenaries cheered, they quickly realized what to do and began to skin and dismantle the other crocodiles with swift movements.
Ye Bai was pleased to see this. If he had to loot the bodies of these crocodiles himself, he would only get drops based on monster loot rates. But letting these mercenaries, who often fought in the wild, handle the skinning would undoubtedly yield greater rewards.
"You really surprise me. I’m starting to believe you can fulfill my commission," a familiar female voice suddenly chimed in.
【High-level Tailor 'Di Linna' has gained +15 favorability towards you.】
Hearing the system prompt, Ye Bai looked up to find Di Linna had somehow appeared beside him.
It seemed this battle had won the favor of the mercenaries and refreshed Di Linna's impression of Ye Bai.
Before revealing his strength, Di Linna, like the other mercenaries, only saw Ye Bai's identity as a lord and a divine blood wielder. Now, she realized he was also a powerful professional.
"Of course! I never make promises I can't keep; it's a matter of personal integrity." Ye Bai had gradually adapted to the myriad worlds. After all, from a certain perspective, this was the background he had created. Speaking of such empty guarantees now, he felt no embarrassment, maintaining a serious demeanor with a hint of translation flair:
"So, beautiful lady, take a look at this Crocodile King's skin and teeth... don’t you think they’d be perfect for crafting some equipment?"
Di Linna was momentarily taken aback, seemingly at a loss for words due to Ye Bai's audacity. After a moment, she shook her head and replied, "I think the leather armor you’re wearing is already quite good."
"That’s true, but I still need a pair of bracers for battle." Ye Bai didn’t give up, lowering his voice slightly and adopting a serious tone: "Your commission is to go to the divine realm, and you know how dangerous it is there. I need to be fully prepared before we set off."
"…Is that so?" Di Linna looked at Ye Bai with a hint of confusion.
Ye Bai stared back at her, 'sincerely' blinking his eyes.
After a moment, perhaps the newly added 15 points of favorability had an effect, Di Linna slowly scanned the 【Crocodile King Skin】 and 【Crocodile King Teeth】 in Ye Bai's hands, her interest piqued by the good materials. Finally, she nodded: "Alright, when we reach your territory, I’ll craft a pair of bracers for you. It’ll also count as part of my apprenticeship guidance."
Hooray!
What had started as a mere attempt turned out to be a success. The 【Crocodile King Skin】 and 【Crocodile King Teeth】 were both purple materials, meaning at least one more piece of purple equipment was in reach. If luck was on their side, a golden legendary item wasn’t out of the question!
Ye Bai immediately patted his chest and promised, "I will definitely bring back the fabric from the Luo Zhi tribe for you!"
See? This time, her deception skill proficiency didn’t increase, proving her sincerity.
Di Linna finally smiled: "Alright, I’ll leave it to you then."
"Employer!"
At that moment, the mercenary representative, Blaze, approached with a pile of processed crocodile skins, teeth, and other items.
"This is the haul from this venture." He handed the items to Ye Bai.
According to the rules, the spoils collected during the escort belonged to the employer. However, in terms of human relationships, the requirements weren’t so strict. The spoils gained from battles along the way were a source of extra income for the mercenaries. For instance, they had previously collected skins and meat from beasts they had slain on the road to share as food.
Since the items weren’t particularly valuable, and the atmosphere was friendly, no one paid much attention to these trivial gains.
Now, the crocodile skins collected from this battle were quite substantial, and since Ye Bai had issued the exploration order, the subsequent battles relied on her command. Not to mention, everyone tacitly agreed that the spoils from the final confrontation with the Crocodile King belonged solely to the employer.
Ye Bai not only took the lion's share of the credit for the entire battle, but without her intervention, the mercenary group would have lost many lives, effectively saving everyone.
Her strength and kindness had elevated Ye Bai's prestige within the group to unprecedented heights.
Though the mercenaries were tempted, none of them harbored greedy thoughts and voluntarily handed over the valuable crocodile skins, teeth, and other items to Ye Bai.
Seeing this, Ye Bai pondered for a moment but chose to accept the batch of materials instead of refusing.
"I’ll take them." She then looked at the slightly disappointed mercenaries and smiled: "However, I hope that when we reach my territory, you all can stay for a few days and accept my hospitality..."
"This battle was a collective effort, and I have a tailor shop in my territory. I’ll have the tailor work overnight to craft equipment from these materials to give to everyone. You can leave afterward."
The expressions on the mercenaries' faces shifted from disappointment to confusion, and then to surprise, all within a few sentences.
Finally, they erupted into familiar cheers:
"Long live the employer!"
In the midst of the mixed voices, Ye Bai even heard someone refer to her as 'Lord' instead of 'Employer.'
At the same time, the familiar favorability increase prompt chimed again.
At this point, without needing to look, Ye Bai could calculate that the favorability of this group of mercenaries towards her had nearly reached 70 to 80, and 60 was already the threshold for recruiting lords...
...
The dangerous Spotted Crocodile Pool had been completely cleared, transforming into a safe and harmless pond. This meant that everyone no longer needed to take a longer detour through the mountains and could travel through this natural gorge, crossing the obstructing highlands.
The wildebeest transport team also came up from behind to join them, and the merchant convoy continued its journey.
No other large creatures were encountered in the gorge, and that crocodile pond was likely the dominant force in the area.
Before long, after passing through the gorge, everyone’s eyes brightened as they emerged into a wide-open space.
In the sunlight, a vast plain unfolded before them.
"Hey? What’s that…"
On the plain, Ye Bai spotted a moving shadow in the distance, and his expression shifted.
"Roo roo roo..."
The wildebeests, who had been quiet and hard-working throughout the journey, began to stir and let out calls.
The members of the wildebeest team quickly calmed the herd. Their leader, Dennis, informed Ye Bai: "My lord, judging by the horses' reactions, those in the distance are likely a wild herd of wildebeests. We need to pass quickly; otherwise, the transport team might be affected."
"I understand." Ye Bai nodded, agreeing with Dennis's suggestion: "Let’s quicken our pace and cross this plain."
Wild herds of wildebeests were neutral creatures; as long as they weren’t provoked, they wouldn’t attack the merchant convoy.
However, if they were to provoke them, the situation would be far worse than facing a group of crocodiles.
Wildebeests were much stronger and faster than ordinary horses, and one distinguishing feature was the sharp horn protruding from their heads. Even with knowledge of strategies, Ye Bai wouldn’t want to provoke them in the wild.
They were group-aggressive creatures, fast and enduring. If one were to attack even a single wildebeest, they would immediately face a relentless onslaught from the entire herd, making it impossible to escape. Just imagining that scene was thrilling.
The group quickly accelerated through the wildebeest herd, and during the process, Ye Bai saw Dennis pull out a map to record the location of the wildebeest herd.
As the leader of the wildebeest transport team, encountering a wild herd naturally prompted him to report to the merchant guild. If they could tame this wild herd, a new large wildebeest transport team could be formed immediately.
Ye Bai couldn’t help but smile at this; Dennis wasn’t the only one with thoughts of taming the wildebeests.
From the moment she first laid eyes on them, Ye Bai had already decided to upgrade her territory as soon as she returned.
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