Mu You originally thought that such a lake, located within a depression, would not connect with the rivers outside.
However, upon scrutinizing the map more closely, he discovered what was actually a small branch of an underground river, connected to the lake through a winding, unseen channel.
Therefore, there were two paths to reach the place where the frog was kept captive: one, directly attack from the land and two, infiltrate from the underground channel.
The former was out of the question. The lake was too close to the Imperial Capital, heavily fortified. Launching an attack was akin to giving oneself up, not to mention stirring up unwanted attention.
Mu You initially planned to wait until the guard tower fell and the guards surrounding the lake retreated before seizing the chance to rescue the frog. But with this underground passage in sight, rescuing the frog ahead of schedule became a possibility.
Thinking of this, Mu You quickly adjusted the Ghost Ship’s sailing route and prioritized passing through a place called Plum Blossom Town before reaching the King’s City.
The journey to the King’s City would take nearly a day from here. However, taking the underground route would bring them to the entry point of the hidden channel on the map with the shortest distance.
Once the route was set, he pushed aside the matters in the game. But there were still many tasks to be done in reality.
For the next two days, Mu You spent his time in standby mode and concocting the Evolution Potions.
With a substantial amount of brewing sessions, Mu You slightly improved his skills in producing the Evolution Elixir. With the help of the Fool’s Boundary, he managed to get 86 finished products out of 100 raw materials, including 7 Black Iron Grade, 74 Common Grade, and 5 Excellent Grade potions.
And these five Excellent grade were made without using the Spring Wind to boost the quality, which meant, he was now capable of producing the rare grade Evolution Potion.
After the brewing process was completed, Mu You immediately doled out 50 Common Potions to Jiu You.
The remaining potions were his pure profit, which he could sell if he didn’t use them. Even the Black Iron grade potions were highly sought after.
On Jiu You’s side, although he had expected this deal would not go south, he couldn’t help but feel surreal when the potions were handed to him. The Evolution Potion that they had to fight tooth and nail for in the past, were appearing in his hands like wholesale goods...
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Jiu You carried a box full of precious potions to the Dragon Group Headquarters, sharing the news with the others.
After a round of cheering, everyone immediately discussed how to utilize these potions.
Jiu You did not participate in the discussion. Whether producing two epic-level players or ten advanced players would bring a higher boost to team combat power, that was for the data scientists to evaluate.
Jiu You immediately informed the heads of other factions, revealing the big news, urging them to send the materials for the Evolution Elixir as soon as possible.
The rest of the first and second-tier factions were not lagging behind the Dragon Group and Ice Emperor in gathering materials. Most of them were actually waiting and watching because they didn’t dare believe that someone could really brew the Evolution Elixir.
Until now, when they definitively heard that the Evolution Elixir had been obtained, these factions no longer hesitated, acting one after another so promptly that within two short hours, they had delivered all the materials that hadn’t been collected in two whole days, to Jiu You.
Jiu You, from his side, immediately divided another 100 portions of the materials and handed them to the Ghost Captain, not urging him to hurry, but letting him brew as much as he could.
Apart from that, Jiu You also shared a secret decision just made by a national department with Mu You: Action to breach the tower will start at 11:30 PM on 8th July!
By then, the Floating Stone carrying the gate would just be hovering above the Imperial Capital, over the Arcane Tower. A group of high-level players selected by them would enter from the gate and start the operation to break the tower, hoping that Mu You could coordinate and act together with them.
Mu You checked the date. It was already the 6th of July, a Wednesday, 9 p.m sharp.
The 8th was the day after tomorrow, with only 38 hours remaining before then.
This operation start time is much earlier than Mu You imagined. The deadline for the server-wide mission isn’t until the 15th of July, making the action start a week in advance.
That was normal upon thought. The more they delayed, the fewer chances there were for a surprise attack, and easier for the Wizard Association to gauge their movements.
What’s more, today Mu You handed over the first batch of Evolution Elixirs. Keeping such a big thing hidden was near impossible, and the Wizard Association would inevitably get wind of it.
Since someone in the player group could manufacture Evolution Elixirs, it was expected to stall for as long as possible. The longer they delayed, the more elixirs they could produce and the stronger the player group would become.
But using this reverse thinking to catch the enemy off guard might not be a bad idea...
Anyway, since the timeline was already confirmed, Mu You stopped pondering about it. He also needed to prepare for what was to come.
His in-game character had reached the underground of ’Plum Blossom Town’ .
Mu You commanded the Ghost Ship to continue on the designated route, while he got off to ride a small boat towards the entrance of an underground dark channel.
[You navigated the swift boat using the tailwind trait of the Sea Wind Scepter, rushing all the way...]
[After a long journey down an excessively narrow waterway, you finally arrived at the predetermined location.]
[You put away the small boat, put on the Merfolk Mask, and dove into the river heading deeper down.]
[At the bottom of the lake, the shimmering corals glowed in various hues, illuminating some underwater scenery; after diving straight down a cliff for about 150 meters, you finally glimpse a dark entrance on the lower rock wall...]
Perhaps because the map was incredibly accurate, Mu You soon found the entrance to the dark channel without much difficulty.
However, as he maneuvered his character to enter the entrance, several new prompts popped up.
[...you swam vigorously towards the cave.]
[Something suddenly darted in front of you and stopped not far, spreading a dazzling white light before you.]
[Underneath that light boundary, you saw countless familiar red fishy flying towards you, each swelling in size, and making strange noises.]
[During the continuous explosions, your HP rapidly depleted.]
[You got blown up by a horde of Self-Destructing Fish...]
The notorious troublemaker reappeared after a long time- it wasn’t an issue that the Self-Destructing Fish emerged, but their appearance method was rather peculiar. Since when did Self-Destructing Fish throw flare bombs?
The textual prompt stated, ’A white light subsequently followed’, the appearance of a massive amount of Self-Destructing Fish. Clearly, these fish were not attracted by his character, but by the white light.
Mu You frowned, immediately rewinding time.
[Time flows backward. You return to the point before death, swimming towards the entrance of the dark channel.]
[The mysterious object floats in front of you once again. You can now discern it clearly - it’s a stick-like object, similar to a firecracker. It explodes with a loud bang right before you, emitting a dazzling white light again.]
[Numerous Self-Destructing Fish rush towards you from all directions, their gazes suggesting you as their sworn enemy. You move fast enough to enter the ghost form before the fish cloud can get close.]
[In the thunderous clamor, a multitude of Self-Destructing Fish explodes near you, failing to harm you at all. After a brief moment, the sound of explosion stops. There’s no sight of the Self-Destructing Fish anymore, only a large number of unsteady sulfur floating in the sea. Do you want to exit the ghost state and collect them?]
Instead of hastily collecting the spoils, Mu You activated the Hermit Card, froze in place, and quickly entered a deep stealth mode.
The firecracker-like object was obviously thrown out on purpose just now, he intended to see who was up to mischief.