Close Combat Mage
chapter-357

Chapter 357 – One Step Forwards, One Step Back Pt. 2

A few days later, Suo Jia’s party finally stepped onto the ship going to the second checkpoint. The white sail billowed in the sea breeze, pushing against the mast, and sending the boat out to the depths of the ocean. After spending a long time of half a year, Suo Jia’s party had finally passed the checkpoint successfully.

At the same exact time Suo Jia’s party had departed from the first checkpoint, a group of crimson figures appeared at the edge of Tagan Desert outside the Greater Trade Routes. After crossing through the desert swirling with golden sand, the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes had finally made their first step into the Greater Trade Routes.

After treading through that ugly mountain range, the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes saw the sea of Thorn Mice. However…there was no way they’d pay any mind to the Thorn Mice’s attacks. They directly plunged into the sea of mice like a small boat splitting apart surging waves, slashing them into halves. Within a single day, they managed to rush to the relay station.

They swiftly found the relay station master, and Duo Mei asked impatiently, “Mister, can you tell me if any merchant group pass through here about half a year ago?”

The relay station master smiled back and nodded. “You’re probably referring to Suo Jia’s group, right? Haha…they did indeed pass by here half a year ago. Why…are you acquainted with him?”

Excited, Duo Mei’s eyes welled up with tears as she said, “Acquainted, yes, of course I am. We’re his most loyal subordinates. How could we not recognize our own master?”

The relay station master sighed in admiration as he shook his head. “Ever since we were locked in by the Thorn Mice, Suo Jia and your group are the only ones that have ever successfully reached this place. I hadn’t imagined that both master and subordinates would be able to easily bypass those Thorn Mice!”

The relay station master glanced at Duo Mei’s group and asked hesitantly, “That’s right, how did you guys break through the blockade of Thorn Mice?”

“Hm?” Duo Mei replied in confusion, “We just directly charged through! What…are those Thorn Mice supposed to be really powerful? How come we couldn’t tell?”

The relay station master gaped at Duo Mei in shock. After studying her for a long time, he said in realization, “So it was like that. I understand now, your armor must be a completely sealed, impenetrable piece of equipment. That’s the only way you would be able to completely ignore the attacks from those Thorn Mice!”

Duo Mei nodded and said tearfully, “That’s right, our armors were the results of the Young Master using up more than half of his finances for the sake of giving us custom, semi-Epic ranked equipment. It can overlook the Thorn Mice’s attacks entirely!”

The relay station master’s eyes lit up at Duo Mei’s explanation and he excitedly replied, “Then that’s great. Since you have such excellent equipment, would you be willing to take on a task from me?”

“Task? What task?!” Duo Mei asked inquisitively.

He hurriedly replied, “You all know as well as I do that those Thorn Mice outside have already completely blockaded off the entrance to the Greater Trade Routes. That’s why, we need your group’s help to clear out all those Thorn Mice to open up the entrance!”

“That’s…” Duo Mei furrowed her brows, and after a long hesitation, firmly replied, “I’m sorry, station master, but we came to look for the Young Master, and we’re already behind by over half a year. We know of Young Master’s strength, and if we don’t hurry up and chase after him, the distance between us will most likely increase more and more.”

“Mmm…” The relay station master frowned. He also knew that clearing out all those Thorn Mice wasn’t a task that could be completed within a day. With their reproduction rate, it would be impossible to eradicate them without spending at least a year.

After long contemplation, the relay station master suddenly lifted his head and offered, “How about this? Since you came to search for your young master, I’m sure you also know how complicated and vast the terrain in the Greater Trade Routes is. You must know that finding your young master won’t be something you can do within a day or so!”

Duo Mei’s brows were knit together in distress as she nodded. “We know that. But that’s also precisely why we’re in such a rush. We can’t waste even a single minute!”

“Alright!” The station master loudly declared, “In that case, I still think you should accept my task. As long as you complete it, I can pass messages through all the relay stations to directly help you locate Suo Jia, and then use the sky ship to send you straight there. What do you think?”

“Mmm….” Duo Mei mulled over it for a long while before shaking her head as before. “I’ll still refuse. We want to find Young Master because we want to help him, not because we just want to see him. And if we want to help him, we have to quickly increase our own strengths. If we stay behind to do tasks here, our strengths won’t improve fast enough. This is something that Young Master would never allow.”

“Haha…” The relay station master shook his head and continued, “You don’t need to worry about that. I won’t bother hiding it from you, but the Greater Trade Routes entrance being blockaded off has a great impact on us. We’ve already received orders from the top that anything can be sacrificed as long as the path is opened!”

He paused for a moment. “How about this? While you complete this task, we can supply Toughening fruits to you. That way, your strength definitely won’t end up at a standstill because of the task!”

Duo Mei’s eyes couldn’t help but glitter brightly. She knew very well of the magical fruits’ uses, as well as their terrifying prices. If she could receive a year’s worth of magical fruits…

While Duo Mei was hesitating, the relay station master seemed to be afraid of her backing out and continued, “The reason you want to locate your young master is because you want to help him. With an endless supply of magical fruits, your strength will greatly increase, faster than if you moved alone for sure. Those magical fruits aren’t that easy to get, you know! If the Young Master hadn’t happened to already prepare you with such battle armor, a task this important wouldn’t have been bestowed onto you either.”

While the relay station master was speaking, a large, white bird suddenly swooped down from the air, its strong talons tightly gripping the station master’s shoulder.

The station master’s brows furrowed together as he opened a small, iron tube that had been tied onto the bird’s foot. After pulling out a white paper inside and looking it over…the station master suddenly tilted his head back and laughed heartily.

The relay station master passed the paper to Duo Mei. “You should see this yourselves. While we were talking, your young master has already passed the first checkpoint, and is now heading to the second. If you want to find him, you should really successfully complete the task first.”

He proposed, “How about this then? As long as you complete this task, I will immediately use the relay station’s information system to help you locate your young master. In addition…no matter how many checkpoints your young master has passed by then, I can directly send you over to where he is, without you having to complete the checkpoint missions.”

Duo Mei thought for a long time before resolutely replying, “Alright. In that case, we’ll accept your task. However…you must promise to honor your words: those magical fruits must be given to us immediately!”

“No problem!” The station master agreed with a chuckle. “Toughening fruits are produced here, so it’s not an issue at all. But…what do you plan on choosing as your main ability fruit?”

Without any hesitation, Duo Mei answered, “The issue of what fruit to use is something we already decided on long ago. As dual elemental fire wind warriors, we choose the Explosion Fruit!”

“What? WHAT?!” The station master’s jaw dropped open in shock, shakingly stuttering, “How could you choose that kind of fruit?! Heavens…the budget will be completely overspent this time. The Explosion fruit is one that is only produced at the sixth checkpoint. It’s way too expensive, just the shipping costs will be…”

Without waiting for him to finish speaking, Duo Mei turned around and began to walk out of the village as she called out, “We know how expensive the Explosion fruits are. But that challenge is something that’s up to you to deal with. We’re only responsible for getting rid of those Thorn Mice!”

Duo Mei shouted out, “Come on, sisters, we’re heading out. In order to catch up to Young Master, we need to kill off all those useless mice as soon as possible!”