"Regarding the recent discovery of Undead Creatures in the Loran Forest Deep Forest Area, I’m sure all you Adventurers have heard. Upon learning of this, the Adventurer’s Association, in conjunction with the City Lord and Bishop Fletcher of the Holy Light Church, immediately arranged for personnel to investigate the situation. Now, we have preliminary results..."

He paused, waiting until all eyes were on him before continuing, "According to this joint tripartite investigation, we have confirmed traces of significant Undead Creature activity in the inner parts of the Loran Forest’s Deep Forest Area, as well as the Core Area. Most of these are Rotten Corpse-type creatures. The Threat Level of sighted targets ranges from 0.8 to 5. We have not yet discovered any individuals with a Threat Level of 5 and above."

"Furthermore, after analyzing the movement patterns of the Undead Creatures, we have yet to find any obvious patterns or signs of them being controlled by anyone. However, given the sudden appearance of such a large number of Undead, we cannot rule out the possible existence of an Undead Mage."

"The Association has already created a provisional map showing the current distribution of the Undead Creatures. We will continue to monitor the situation, and we will be posting related investigation and subjugation quests. To make it easier for all you Adventurers to select and accept these quests, specific information will be posted on the quest wall..."

"That is the gist of the situation. The Loran Forest is not peaceful these days. The explosive growth in the Goblin population, along with the newly appeared Undead Creatures, represents both danger and opportunity. This is the perfect time for us Adventurers to make a name for ourselves. Whether it’s wealth, fame, or status you seek, I hope you will all seize this chance to get what you desire."

Vick kept it straightforward. No grand moralizing, no guilt-tripping. It was exactly what Adventurers liked to hear.

People didn’t become Adventurers to be heroes or to chase some vague ideal; they did it purely for their own benefit.

Weaker Adventurers did it to survive; powerful ones, to earn fame and fortune.

Because of this, Vick’s words were met with a passionate response from the crowd of Adventurers.

For a moment, the entire Association was filled with the sound of applause and cheers.

"Lin Mo, are we going to take a new quest?"

Ali asked.

Although she was happy just to be by Lin Mo’s side, she naturally wanted to try more interesting and profitable quests if she could.

Slaying Ordinary Goblins was just too monotonous.

"We can consider it,"

Lin Mo nodded. Though these were only preliminary findings and the situation wasn’t entirely clear, things hadn’t reached a critical level just yet.

The highest Level Undead Creature discovered so far was only Level 5. Even in a worst-case scenario where they actually encountered one, though Lin Mo definitely couldn’t beat it, it shouldn’t be a major problem for the people secretly protecting Feney.

’Besides, we won’t be going into the Core Area. It should be generally safe.’

’And anyway, when an Adventurer sets out, all you can do is be as cautious as possible. You can’t avoid every single risk...’

"Let’s see tomorrow. We’ll finish this Goblin subjugation quest tomorrow morning, then come back in the afternoon and pick a new one."

"Okay."

Feney and Ali nodded, and they parted ways.

Feney was, as usual, led away by the short-haired Maid, while Lin Mo and Ali sat in the Association for a bit, waiting for Lena to get off work so they could all have dinner together.

The small talk over their meal was simple, mostly just asking Lena if her work was hard and whether she’d run into any troublesome Adventurers.

Of course, there were unpleasant moments, but Lena rarely mentioned them. She had been a receptionist at the Association in Roland Town for a while now and had long grown used to certain things.

Besides, they could never go too far, or the Association would naturally intervene.

Compared to that...

Lena looked at the two people sitting closely together across from her, their gestures intimate.

’I feel like Ali and Mr. Lin Mo have gotten even closer these past few days.’

’It’s so nice... to be able to go on adventures with Mr. Lin Mo, to always be with him, and to be able to help him...’

Lena found herself growing more and more envious of her good friend.

’Could it be that Ali has already held Mr. Lin Mo’s hand?’

Lena glanced at Lin Mo’s long, fair hand, then secretly clasped her own, her face flushing as she imagined it.

’I wonder what it feels like to have your hand held by Mr. Lin Mo... It must be wonderful.’

Ali’s mind, however, was not on her food at the moment.

She shoveled rice into her mouth mechanically, her thoughts drifting to places unknown.

’Technically, when you have a quest coming up, you’re supposed to rest and conserve your energy. But honestly, with our strength, we’re just in the outer area of Loran Forest facing Ordinary Goblins. It wouldn’t matter if our condition was a little off, right?’

An image must have come to mind, as her tail began to sway gently, secretly brushing against Lin Mo’s hand.

’She really liked the feeling... of having her tail grabbed.’

’That rhythm of being completely conquered... it felt exceptionally stimulating.’

’Especially if he also pinched her nose, or her tongue, or...’

Lin Mo felt the furry touch on his palm and turned to look, startled.

’She’s about to enter ’battle’ mode, isn’t she?’

Although he had become quite infatuated with it himself after the first time, occasionally feeling a small pang of guilt, he was still a far cry from Ali’s level.

’Looks like tonight will be another eventful one.’

Thinking that they were just dealing with Ordinary Goblins tomorrow, Lin Mo found no reason to refuse.

As before, they waited until Lena was asleep. Lin Mo left the light on, and Ali pushed open the door and entered...

And so, when Feney saw the two of them the next morning, she asked with a puzzled look, "Mr. Lin Mo, and Miss Ali, did you not rest well last night?"

"Er..."

Faced with Feney’s pure, concerned gaze, Lin Mo could only clear his throat twice and say, "Right, I was thinking about some things and went to bed a little late."

"Me, me too..."

"Were you two thinking about the same thing?"

...

The Goblin subjugation proceeded as smoothly as ever.

In the course of the morning, Lin Mo acted as a good Samaritan twice more, and his [Fireball Technique] successfully rose to Level 4.

"Skill [Fireball Technique] Level 3 (40/40) has leveled up!"

"Current Skill: [Fireball Technique] Level 4 (7/100)"

At Level 4, the Fireball Technique’s power was already quite considerable. Instantly killing an Ordinary Goblin was a given. Since the Fireball had also grown larger, now bigger than his palm, it was even possible to take out two Goblins with a single cast if they were standing close enough together.

In addition to [Fireball Technique], his [Stabbing] skill also progressed, reaching Level 4 (39/100).

’Alright, time to go back and turn in the quest.’

A simple task like slaying Goblins didn’t pay much, of course. One hundred Goblin ears earned them just 4 Gold Coins.

It wasn’t a lot of money, and it had to be split. Feney, as usual, was "paying to work," so she added another 4 gold coins, making a total of 8 Gold Coins. Lin Mo took half, and the other two split the remainder.

This was just the split for this particular quest; it might need to be adjusted later. Before that, however, Lin Mo was preparing to officially form his own Adventurer Squad.

He already had a name in mind: "Eagle."

"I’m sorry, Mr. Lin Mo, but that name has already been taken by another squad..."

And that was the answer he got from Lena.

"Squads can’t have the same name?"

Lin Mo asked, unwilling to give up.

Lena replied, looking troubled, "It’s fine for Bronze Level and below, but once you reach Silver Level, you can’t have a duplicate name. The name you chose, ’Eagle,’ is the name of a Gold Level Adventurer Squad in the Kingdom."

"You could register it now, but once you reach Silver Level or higher, you’d have to re-register, and a lot of the paperwork would have to be done all over again..."

"Alright, fine."

It sounded like a huge hassle. He’d just have to think of a new name.

"What do you guys think... what would be a good name?"

Unable to come up with anything on the spot, he turned his gaze to Feney and Ali.

"How about Starfall Squad?"

Feney suggested.

"That’s also a duplicate..."

Lena said weakly.

"Moonlit Night Squad?"

Lin Mo said after a long moment of thought.

"Duplicate..."

"Then what about ’Dances with Wolves’?"

Ali, who had been holding it in for a while, came up with that name.

"That’s... also a duplicate..."

"How is that also a duplicate?"

Lin Mo was dumbfounded. Setting aside the fact that he had no intention of using it, what kind of squad would call themselves "Dances with Wolves"?

The three of them were scratching their heads, completely stumped for a team name.

"How about we call it the Silver Radiance Squad?"

Lena suggested after a moment.

"Silver Radiance... It’s a fitting name, it calls to mind Silver Stream City."

Lin Mo thought for a moment. "Okay, let’s just go with that then."

He really couldn’t think of anything else.

"Okay."

Feney naturally had no objections, but Ali seemed dissatisfied. She was still hung up on her "Dances with Wolves."

In the end, Lin Mo finalized the name "Silver Radiance," paid the required 1 Silver Coin fee to form the squad, and received their team emblem.

"From now on, you’ll need to pay the Association 1 Silver Coin each year as an operational fee. The quests the squad accepts and completes will be recorded in each member’s history..."

It wasn’t just Lin Mo; Ali and Feney also had to consider their Adventurer Level progression.

Feney was a newcomer, so that was a separate matter. But Ali had been an Adventurer for some time now. She had already maxed out her E Level Tasks and only needed two more D Level Tasks to be promoted to a Bronze Level Adventurer.

Now that they had formed a squad, they could tackle a D Level Task together when one came up.

With the squad business settled, Lin Mo immediately went to the Association’s quest wall.

First, he carefully read the notice about the Undead Creatures that the Association had posted. It was mostly the same as what Vick had said yesterday, but with a few more details, which Lin Mo noted down with a pen.

Then, it was time to consider what new quest to take...