Chapter 82: Adventurers Gone Mad!

  A gentle breeze blew through the Dark Forest.

  A faint stench carried with the wind, spreading far and wide.

  Five trolls fled in terror. Ohe rulers of the Dark Forest, they had now bee prey.

  Blood poured from their bodies, dripping down, and with the barbed bleeding arrows lodged deep, the more they ran, the weaker they became.

  Three rge s dropped from the sky.

  Two trolls that couldn't dodge in time were caught, bound tightly by ropes and stones fasteo the s.

  The remaining three trolls cast a fearful g their captured rades and frantically fled, not daring to stop.

  Over ten strong adventurers rushed out, using specially made steel forks to pi ropes from afar, w together to subdue the trolls on the ground.

  Alice shot them a look of delight, shouting hurriedly:

  "Don’t stop! Keep chasing them! Don’t let them catch their breath."

  "Tie up their arms and legs! And be on guard—watch out for other adventurers!"

  After hearing Alice's orders, Chris quied his pace, fog oall figures running ahead. With a few swift strides, he leaped onto a small hill, steadied himself, and drew his bow.

  With a sharp whoosh, the arrow streaked through the air, aiming for the troll’s back.

  "Ah...!"

  The troll let out a scream as the arrow struck its knee, causing it to colpse to the ground. It thrashed wildly, reag for the arrow's shaft.

  But as it grabbed hold, the brittle arrow shaft snapped in its grip.

  Now, the troll’s hopes of pulling the arrow out vanished instantly.

  Slick blood trickled down, filling the troll with terror. Just as it looked up to seek help from its rades, all it saw was their retreating backs.

  Excited, Chris charged closer but didn’t approach the troll directly. Using a nearby sturdy tree for cover, he drew and fired another arrow.

  The troll, struggling to rise, was hit again, colpsing back to its knees with a heavy thud.

  Despite its incredible strength, the troll wasn’t ready to surrender, swinging its heavy club in a desperate attempt to take Chris down with it.

  Chris, now well-practiced, swiftly ran away, not intending to ehe troll head-on.

  Within just a few breaths, the other adventurers caught up.

  They patted Chris on the shoulder with excitement, then threrepared over the troll.

  No matter how strong the troll was, it couldn't overpower seven ht brawny adventurers. After struggling for a while, it was subdued.

  Chris decided not to pursue the others further. With his current tribution, he could already cim 15 gold s. Pushing for more might make others envious.

  Ten mier, the st two trolls were also captured and locked up.

  The adventurers, brimming with satisfa, stared at the ugly, stinking trolls and began chattiedly.

  "Haha, we’ve caught six trolls this m! That’s 300 gold s in the bag!"

  "I wonder how those fools who split off are doing... I bet their haul isn’t as good."

  "Who knows what they were thinking? We’re doing just fine, making good money and staying safe."

  "We’re lucky to have Captain Alice. We might not have even found this troll den without her."

  "Yeah, with Captain Alice around, there’s o go off and take unnecessary risks."

  "I heard some people headed toward the valley. Wonder how that’s going for them..."

  "Let them scout ahead. Ohey’ve got information, we’ll head over."

  "Exactly..."

  "..."

  The success of Alice’s team was a mi of what other adventurer squads were experieng.

  Thanks to Old Vilge Chief Field, the maps of Bay Vilge, and the provision of tools ahods.

  The experienced adventurers were effitly sweeping through the es of the Dark Forest near Bay Vilge.

  Even without delving deep into the forest, the scattered trolls provided ample rewards.

  In fact, Bay Vilge expahe lumberyard inte outpost to aodate the adventurers' needs.

  As long as the adventurers brought captured trolls to the lumberyard outpost, they could cim their bounties, rest, and spend their earnings.

  To everyone’s surprise.

  Not only could they purchase standard ons and equipment here, but they also found a “special offer.”

  “Blood-Replenishing Potion, slightly better than a basic healing potion, priced at 40 silver s. Proof of troll capture required. Limited to one per person per day!”

  Alice marveled at the blood-replenishing potion in her hand.

  She had heard of its fame and had seen the soldiers use it with great effect.

  pared to basic healing potions, which were hard to find and cost over 50 silver s, blood-replenishing potions offered adventurers much greater safety, and could even boost their earnings.

  Many savvy adventurers, thinking ahead, dug into their pockets and bought the blood-replenishing potion.

  After all, spending a few dozen silver s to eheir lives was a small price to pay wheood to earn much more.

  Besides the blood-replenishing potion, something else caught the adventurers' i.

  “agic Equipment!”

  “Adventurers with 50 tribution points pay 100 gold s to ission a piece of standard-grade magic equipmeher with their own materials or purchased at cost!”

  A standard-grade magic item was worth at least 300 gold s, not including materials!

  Most importantly, most magic equipment was impossible to buy. Even with money, adventurers oftehe materials and the means to acquire it.

  This was especially true for adventurers without powerful es!

  This obvious be further stoked the adventurers' excitement!

  It drove them to the brink of madness!

  Take Alice's team, for example—they immediately celed their afternoo.

  They headed eastward to the outskirts of the Dark Forest, hunting for more troll camps.

  After all, the existing troll camps had either been cleared or were in the process of being cleared by other adventurers.

  Some of the stronger adveeams eveured deeper into the Dark Forest.

  There, the trolls were more numerous and more densely packed.

  The adventurers' restlessness brought many ges.

  They earned more, but they also spent more, happily rewarding themselves for their efforts.

  As a result, Bay Vilge saike in sales of all types of ons and goods to adventurers.

  The pricier items included ons, alchemical potions, tools, and trap materials.

  The cheaper goed from clothing, tents, food, and drink to various other supplies.

  Gradually, everyone began to realize that the factories set up along the riverbank could produearly all the daily ies they needed.

  No one uood this better than the mert Adamsmith.

  He had recruited the talent for these produs, and it was his mohat bought the maery and tools.

  But he never imagihe lord's ambitions would be so grand.

  “Twenty to thirty factories, five to six hundred workers, with wages aloaling hundreds of gold s each month.”

  “While these everyday goods are retively cheap to produd of det quality, they don’t have mupetitive edge…”

  “Could it be the lord has another pn?”

  Though smart, Adamsmith couldn’t prehend everything, as he hadn’t reached the heights required to fully grasp the lord’s iions.

  FAL