The crossbow had a gleaming silver-gray metallic sheen. Its curves weren’t particularly graceful, and its texture was extremely rigid, all function, no elegance. The bowstring appeared to be made from eagle sinew; when Don gave it a gentle pull, he felt powerful resilience coursing through the material. But when they read the attributes, disappointment settled over the group.

[Plains Hunting Crossbow, Bronze Grade]

Crossbow | Level Req: 25 | ATK: 130–260

+20 STR | +30 AGI | +20 CON | Sealed Slot: 1

"Shame about the grade..." Elias Finch sighed. "Little girl, make do with it for now. When I have time, I’ll have a dwarf player craft you something better."

Lily hugged the crossbow to her chest, her lower lip jutting out slightly. "Why is the weapon from an Enhanced Boss only bronze? Shouldn’t it be silver?"

Don explained patiently. "Common newbie misconception. In reality, the higher the boss’s rank, the lower the chance of it dropping equipment at its corresponding grade. Think about it, if every Enhanced Boss guaranteed silver drops, that equipment would be worthless."

"So, little girl, you’d better study hard with Don from now on. You’ve got a lot of catching up to do." Elias Finch patted Don’s shoulder approvingly.

To everyone’s collective dismay, the stingy rat had dropped nothing besides the crossbow and a pile of gold coins scattered across the ground.

After muttering "This is boring" twice, Elias Finch tore up a return scroll and vanished. Snow Fox stared at the gold coins, clearly tempted but too embarrassed to say anything now that her boss had already departed.

The Debtborn pulled out his own scroll. "I’ll head back to the village and wait for you. Come over once you’ve gathered everything." All three core members of the War Fire team left, leaving the trio behind.

Lily ran excitedly to the pile of gold coins and squatted down. "Hehe, that old guy Finch is the most generous. He never picks up gold."

"But there’s often something hidden underneath the coins," Don said, his tone carrying a weight that made both women look up.

Lily’s eyes widened. "Brother Don, what do you mean?"

"Pick up all the gold coins first. Then you’ll see what’s underneath. Kira, you should take a look too, there might be something you need."

Kira blinked, then pointed at him with her index finger and smiled. "You’re such a sneak."

"I only caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye earlier. But it looked rare."

Before Don even finished the sentence, Lily’s little hand had already darted beneath the coins and pulled out a green-covered book. "Hey! You were hiding something from me!"

Don smiled. "I just have better eyesight."

The book’s attributes unfolded before them.

[Face Slash, Skill Book]

Use a sword-type weapon to dash to a single target, dealing 135% of current ATK as damage and reducing the target’s PDEF by 20% for 5 seconds.

Cast Time: 1s | Cooldown: 20s | Skill Level: Lower

Learning Level: 25 | Classes: Swordsman, Knight, Mercenary

Since all three of them were speaking in normal mode rather than team chat, nobody else in the party could hear them.

Lily laughed without restraint. "Brother Don, you’re really sneaky. But honestly, I think you’re overthinking it. I know Finch pretty well. He just posted those insane weapon stats for everyone to see and even offered to give the sword to Sister Kira. Would he really care about one skill book?"

Don waved his hand. "Lily, this is where you don’t understand him. The value of a wild-drop skill book is, in some ways, higher than high-level equipment. In the early game, players have too few skills. Something like Face Slash, with its defense shred, is especially devastating in PvP. I guarantee you, if Finch had seen this book just now, he would have rolled for it against Kira without a second thought."

Kira nodded. "You read him accurately. He really is like that."

"He’s a combat fanatic at his core," Don sighed. "Anyway, Kira, put the book in your pack but don’t learn it yet. Wait until after we leave the party."

Lily was still puzzled. "Why?"

"Players in an active party are still in a team state. Learning a skill counts as combat information, it shows up in the log. But picking up items doesn’t get broadcast." Don paused. "That’s the difference."

Understanding finally dawned on Lily’s face. "Brother Don, you really are devious."

"There’s no other way. For the sake of our own people, I have to be a little underhanded. Since you’re both playing the good guys, someone has to be the villain."

Kira smiled through her dimples. "You consider me one of your own?"

"Aren’t you?"

"Maybe I’m all show and no substance."

"Would someone who was all show have put on that performance for me earlier?"

"You noticed?"

"Of course. I’m not stupid. Couldn’t you tell I was playing along, you idiot?"

Back in Jelgund Village, the Debtborn was waiting by the teleporter. The old fox was definitely no pushover, even while waiting, he was leaning against the counter flirting with the beautiful NPC teleporter girl. These teleporter attendants were essentially cosplaying as the official Realms Online service desk representatives, all innocence and naivety. They had no defenses against a worldly operator like this.

"Hey there, gorgeous, give me your brother’s number. I’ll come visit London sometime. Oh, and are there any goldfish ponds in London? I love watching goldfish."

Large beads of sweat formed on everyone’s foreheads. Lily gritted her teeth and said, deliberately in team chat, "You stinking men are all the same! You hit on any pretty girl you see. Look at this old man’s behavior. Absolutely disgusting!"

The comment made Elias Finch and Snow Fox nearly burst out laughing on the other end of the channel.

The Debtborn quickly suppressed his playful grin. "Come on, Lily. Men are boys before marriage, and they’re still boys after marriage without kids. Boys are naturally lively, when they see a pretty girl, they just want to get close. Don’t you agree, Don?"

Lily glared at Don furiously. "If you dare nod, I’m cutting you off forever."

So Don could only silently accept the Debtborn’s worldview without comment.

Snow Fox laughed. "Brother Finch, we really should find Brother Lane a wife so he’ll stop flirting with young girls."

"It’s fine. Let him flirt. Nobody’s getting pregnant."

That statement was so devastating that both women standing beside Don turned visibly red.

Watching the Debtborn, Don was suddenly reminded of someone, Guo Jia, the brilliant strategist who had served Cao Cao during the Three Kingdoms era. Guo Jia had been extraordinarily talented but notoriously undisciplined in his personal life. Cao Cao’s generals had constantly complained about him, but Cao Cao ignored them all, valuing Guo Jia’s loyalty and exceptional intelligence above everything else.

However, Don absolutely did not think Elias Finch was Cao Cao. Compared to that historical titan, Finch still had a very long way to go.

Kira led them to a house on the eastern edge of the village and found the village chief of Jelgund, another white-bearded old man, naturally. She handed over two hundred rat tails along with the incisor she’d pulled from the Saber-Toothed Rat King’s mouth.

Don was startled and whispered, "When did you pull out that tooth?"

"While you were being lewd."

Kira’s intelligence extended far beyond combat. She had a thorough understanding of how virtual game quests worked. Quest completion in Realms Online had both a completion rate and a human-element evaluation built in. The higher both factors scored, the more generously the NPCs responded.

Upon seeing the massive fang, the village elder burst into tears and said, trembling, "Beautiful and brave knight, I never imagined you could completely eradicate the scourge of the Howling Plains! Without that cursed Saber-Toothed Rat King, the villagers of Jelgund will live in abundance from now on. This is my gratitude to you. Please accept it!"

[System: Player Aqua Nebula has completed the quest "Evil Ratman." Due to high completion rate, additional quest reward granted: Heart of Jelgund]

[+200,000 EXP | +250 Reputation | +10 Gold Coins]

Everyone in the party received the 200,000-point completion reward, and experience bars climbed happily across the board.

The Debtborn urged, "Kira, take out that precious ’heart’ thing and show everyone."

Kira nodded slightly and casually pulled a round shield from her backpack. It gleamed with a deep black sheen, and when tapped lightly it produced a heavy, resonant thud, clearly no ordinary object. What she posted in team chat was even more astonishing.

[Heart of Jelgund, Silver Grade]

Shield | No Level Requirement | PDEF: 300 | MDEF: 200 | Block Chance: 20%

+40 STR | +40 CON

HP +500 | HP Regen +5/sec

Elias Finch clicked his tongue in admiration and summed it up in eight words: "Fast, efficient, economical, simple and practical."

Indeed, not only were the attributes incredible, but it required no unsealing and had no level restriction. Truly economical and cost-effective.

Kira was a girl who rarely showed her emotions, but at this moment she was visibly excited, cradling the shield with open affection. The way she caressed it, one might have thought it was her firstborn child.

The Debtborn took his leave shortly after. As deputy of a major guild, he had far more on his plate each day than a few idle freelancers.

The three of them logged off to eat. But as they walked out of the stairwell into the evening air, a striking red flash appeared in the distance. Don froze for half a second, then broke into a sprint.