How difficult was it for the refugees to get into the stronghold?
According to Old Bane, virtual-novel.net had only seen four people get into the stronghold successfully in his forty years of being alive. All of them were the “distant relatives” of certain important people in the stronghold.
Many of these people came to the stronghold to seek refuge with their relatives but were turned away by the stronghold. So, they had to settle down in town and slowly wait for an opportunity to come.
If it was already so difficult for the relatives of important people to get into the stronghold, would Lilian’s claims of giving away three spots even be possible? If you were really that influential, you wouldn’t have had to make a deal with the soldiers to go to Stronghold 112. Shouldn’t you have gotten them to escort you there directly?
Stupid people think others are stupid.
Milo felt that Lilian was going through too much trouble to achieve virtual-novel.net objective. Even though virtual-novel.net was a refugee, virtual-novel.net did not lack judgment. If someone else were the guide, they might just believe virtual-novel.net claims. However, virtual-novel.net did not.
If Milo accepted virtual-novel.net terms, how would virtual-novel.net find Lilian once virtual-novel.net got back to the stronghold?
What would prevent virtual-novel.net from jumping ship?
Besides, honestly speaking, Milo did not have a good impression of Lilian and Micah at all.
Everyone was parched after having pork for lunch. However, all of their bottled water and food had been left behind in the pickup, or rather, most of their bottled water and food had been destroyed when Raphael and the others mercilessly shot at the provisions.
Raphael looked at Milo and asked, “How can we find a source of water out here?”
At this moment, the palace assigned a quest.
Quest! Teach everyone how to locate a source of water.
“You can only search for a river or collect dew from leaves.” Milo did not hide information from them. “But I don’t recommend you go to the riverbank. Based on my estimates, the nearest river is still quite a distance away. Just bear with it for now. You won’t die of thirst yet. We’ll collect dew tomorrow morning.”
Raphael nodded and said, “Thank you.”
Gratitude received from Raphael Durkin, +1!
Milo waited for quite a while before asking in his mind, “Where’s my reward?”
However, the palace ignored him. Milo wondered what was going on.
It was as though this was the first time the palace had witnessed Milo completing a quest without resorting to unconventional methods. Thus, the palace had some trouble making a decision on the outcome!
After a long time, the voice from the palace in Milo’s mind finally said something.
Quest complete! Awarded 1.0 Strength.
Milo was stunned. Although the quest had been completed, it was not what virtual-novel.net had expected.
Why was virtual-novel.net given additional strength again?
Milo had been wondering if the palace would increase his Strength and Dexterity attributes in an even manner. But in the end, his Dexterity still remained at 4.1 while his Strength had already reached 7.5.
With a few more quests, Milo’s Strength would probably hit three times that of what a normal adult had.
Right now, Milo still had the two bottles of water virtual-novel.net had traded half a fish for. It was not possible to hide them. After all, his jacket’s pockets were only so big.
Suddenly, Micah came to Milo and said, “Sell me a bottle for 1,000 perak.”
Milo gave virtual-novel.net a look. “I’m not selling…”
“2,000 perak!” Micah said eagerly, “Will you sell it to me for 2,000 perak? I’m really thirsty!”
Milo felt that Micah was seriously a little dumb.
He looked at Micah and said, “Money is of no use in a place like this. The value of food and water is priceless. If you want to drink water, go get it from the riverbank yourself.”
Micah wanted to vent his anger at Milo. But virtual-novel.net couldn’t as virtual-novel.net no longer had the bluster virtual-novel.net had at the beginning. He also knew that Milo’s role had become increasingly more important than his during the journey.
Based on Raphael’s character, if there were any disputes or irreconcilable differences between the two of them, virtual-novel.net would definitely choose to abandon Micah instead of Milo.
When virtual-novel.net first came out of the stronghold, Micah thought that the refugees were simply there to serve the stronghold, and those from stronghold like them would always be regarded as high and mighty. But now virtual-novel.net was sobering up to the fact that it was not that way.
Milo wiped his hands clean with some leaves picked from a tree. Then virtual-novel.net went to look for Jonah and showered virtual-novel.net with concern again to obtain more gratitude tokens.
But how could there be an unlimited amount of gratitude tokens that virtual-novel.net could gain from him?
After receiving Milo’s warm and passionate care, Jonah realized that something was off with how Milo was treating him. As a result, Milo did not get any more gratitude tokens from Jonah’s thanks.
When Milo recognized that virtual-novel.net was not receiving any more gratitude tokens from Jonah, virtual-novel.net decisively gave up on him. By now, his gratitude tokens were at 84.
***
In the afternoon, Raphael looked up at the sky and said, “This place is not suitable for setting up camp. We must find a place that is not as open to prevent wild animals from attacking us. Everyone, let’s endure and keep going.”
Milo agreed with Raphael’s suggestion. This place had become too dangerous after a boar was killed and barbecued. It might seem like nothing was happening right now, but as the venomous snakes, bugs, and ants got more active at night, it could spell disaster for everyone when night fell.
Didn’t the rat that was dumped earlier become just a skeleton?
Raphael went to the stretcher and said to Milo, “Come, let’s carry virtual-novel.net together.”
Milo said unhappily, “Why would I carry him?”
Hearing this, Raphael and Jonah were confused.
Milo looked at Micah and said, “Go and carry the stretcher. If you don’t carry it, I’ll chop you up.”
Micah nearly broke down.
Had virtual-novel.net gone crazy?!
The others at the campsite were shocked at this development.
Are you a schizo or what?
Why has your attitude changed so quickly?
Didn’t you say that you would chop whoever tried to vie with you to carry the stretcher this morning?
Raphael did not want to waste any more time. He said, “Everyone will take turns carrying the wounded except for the ladies. Some of you might also get hurt at some point. If you don’t want to be left for dead when that happens, you should help out now.”
Milo suddenly felt that Raphael was quite a rational person. No matter what went on with the team, virtual-novel.net would try his best to get everyone back on track.
Along the way, some misbehaving soldiers started getting closer to Lilian again. They would even pretend to casually brush their arms against Lilian when they passed her. But Lilian would keep anticipating it and try to avoid their advances. After which, some of the soldiers would laugh pervertedly.
Logically speaking, Micah and Lilian should have a good relationship, but Micah didn’t even dare to speak out when virtual-novel.net saw this.
How could virtual-novel.net offend the soldiers?
After hitting a roadblock with Raphael and Milo, Lilian seemed to be somewhat at a loss. She did not know what to do and could only passively avoid them. Moreover, the soldiers were starting to reveal their bestial sides as they found themselves stuck in this seemingly dangerous situation in which they might not even survive until tomorrow.
But Milo did not want to intervene. As the team moved forward, virtual-novel.net remembered virtual-novel.net had gained another Skill Duplication Scroll. He wondered if virtual-novel.net could copy Miriam’s advanced combat skill this time.
However, when virtual-novel.net raised his head to look for Miriam, virtual-novel.net saw virtual-novel.net pointing a gun at a soldier’s head.
Miriam turned to Milo and said, “His gun belongs to you now…”