Holy Warrior Liu Bei

Chapter 20 Turning Back, Preparing for War

"Hey, Liu Bei. What are you doing here?"

Asdallen and his group bid farewell to Nao Nao in the woods and then returned to the main road.

They did not continue upwards. Crossing this jungle would lead to the path of ascension, and they had strayed from their exploration direction. Moreover, they had just learned from the dead man that gnolls roamed the path of ascension.

"Just got back from the swamp docks, and I made some progress."

Liu Bei and Will each took a shovel and dug a hole by the bridge.

"What are you doing?" Yingxin asked, puzzled by their behavior.

"Let these people rest in peace. You've come at just the right time, come and lend a hand!"

None of the four refused Liu Bei's request, and soon a pit was formed.

"Liu Bei, look what this is!"

Ansel, his hands covered in blood, carefully handed over a piece of paper. On it, three stick figures were drawn in crooked lines: a goblin with sparks flying from his hands, a square humanoid creature, and an elf-like being. Each of them had a simple crown drawn on their head.

"Ansel, where did you find this?"

"From a goblin."

Liu Bei jumped out of the pit, holding the goblin scroll, and said to the group of four, "Sefro's guess was correct; there is indeed someone organizing these goblins!"

To his surprise, the group of four showed no sign of astonishment.

Liu Bei immediately asked, "Judging from your appearance, you've had quite a good harvest?"

"This is a long story."

Asdallen nodded.

Liu Bei glanced at the sky: "No rush, let's deal with these corpses first. Think carefully about what to say, then speak slowly!"

The group nodded, buried all the adventurers' corpses on the ground, then gathered the goblin corpses together, poured oil on them, and lit them on fire.

"Let's go into the woodland first! We can talk as we walk!"

After doing all this, Liu Bei immediately said to everyone, "The situation of the goblin army is unknown. The thick smoke rising from the fire here is very likely to attract the goblins. Although there is a human village in the distance, Liu Bei does not believe that there are still residents inside under the current circumstances."

Moreover, he is now preparing to return to the woods with the letter to expose the Shadow Druids' conspiracy, and he needs manpower to prevent the worst from happening.

His proposal was unanimously agreed upon.

On the way back, before Liu Bei could even ask Asdalon anything, he took the initiative to tell them about the four of them. It was then that they realized that Will, who had been following Liu Bei around at some point, was also a survivor from the Nautilus warship, just like them.

After a brief explanation, Liu Bei finally understood the connection between the Mind-Stealing Tadpole, the Supreme God, the True Soul Being, and even the Goblins.

"I fear that the gnolls on the path to ascension are also being controlled by the Supreme God!"

Finally, Gail added a sentence.

"Gnolls?" Asdallen's account hadn't mentioned gnolls on the path to advancement, and after Gale added this, Will seemed a little worried.

Liu Bei knew the reason for Will's worries, but he became increasingly curious about the relationship between the mercenary and Will, and why Will could act in this way.

He didn't press the issue at this point. After understanding the connection between these events, he recalled the vague concept of destiny that had been in his mind before. The concept of "destiny" in his mind had long since lost this part, but he hadn't forgotten the few words that were the only words in the concept of destiny at that time.

"Is it possible that this so-called supreme god is one of the three death gods?"

Liu Bei asked tentatively, after all, his understanding of the gods in this world was far from sufficient.

"Possibly."

Gail didn't ask Liu Bei where his conjecture came from. Everyone has their own secrets, and the fact that Liu Bei could say this shows that he has unique information channels, which is related to the secrets he keeps.

After Gale answered, everyone fell silent; his answer killed the conversation.

"Liu Bei, what was the gain you mentioned earlier?"

Asdallen hadn't forgotten what Liu Bei had said when they met earlier. Now that the previous topic had ended too awkwardly, he started another topic that hadn't been able to continue.

"Hmm, we found a letter that confirms the current druid leader of the woodlands is connected to the shadow druids!"

Liu Bei then shared his thoughts and plans.

Through his experiences in the woods, Liu Bei realized that Kaha was not beyond redemption; she simply had a connection with the Shadow Druids. He wanted to try to persuade Kaha to return to the woods instead of continuing down this path.

Kaha's ability to become the new leader shows that she is highly respected by the druids in the woodlands, so Liu Bei does not want to have a direct conflict with her unless absolutely necessary.

Moreover, given the external threats facing the woodlands, efforts should be made to minimize any loss of combat capability.

Liu Bei concluded that Kaha could be redeemed based on two small things: first, Asderon had persuaded Kaha to release the little girl from the Typhoon who had stolen the Sylvanas statue; and second, the Thorn Ritual itself.

Kaha did indeed initiate the Thorn Ritual, but Kaha still gave Seflu and the other Tiflins ample time to leave. In fact, the forest's external defenses are still in Seflu's hands to this day.

This phenomenon is contradictory!

This contradiction precisely illustrates Kaha's inner turmoil at this moment.

As for Liu Bei inviting Asderon to return together, he was also preparing for the worst-case scenario. If Kaha was determined to go down a dark path, there might be a major battle in the woods!

In times like these, more support means more protection.

After Liu Bei finished explaining his plan, Asderon and his group looked at each other, clearly deciding whether or not to participate.

For them, dealing with the Mind Flayer tadpoles in their minds was the most important thing. The disputes between the Woodland Druids and the Tiflins were meaningless to them, let alone the infighting among the Woodland Druids.

Asdallen and his group quickly exchanged their suggestions and finally gave a clear answer: they decided to join Liu Bei's team and get started!

"Since you all trust me so much, I have no way to repay you!" Liu Bei bowed deeply to the four men. "On behalf of the Typhoons, the Druids, and all those protected by the Woodland, I thank you!"

Liu Bei's actions completely baffled everyone, leaving them utterly bewildered.

In the end, the well-informed Gale recognized that Liu Bei's manners seemed to be those of the Dragon Empire on the Karatu Continent. He immediately stepped forward to help Liu Bei up, saying, "Sir, you mustn't do this. We are only doing our bit. It is mainly because of your efforts that we are willing to assist you!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei stopped being coy: "Ansel, bring out those two magical items. With a major battle imminent, since we don't need those two pieces of equipment, let's not keep them; they won't fetch much money!"

"Huh? Oh! Okay!"

Ansel was a little surprised, but he didn't have any other opinions. After all, the performance of those two pieces of equipment was quite average, and he didn't care about them. He just had a collecting habit!

"Here you go, these are the only two pieces of equipment you need. The Treant Shield isn't the best, but it's still better than the basic wooden shield Lady Shadowheart has. As for the Spark Gloves, this set of gloves is a bit of a waste. It would be great if you could collect a complete set of related equipment!"

Ansel took the equipment out of his backpack, and the specific performance of the two pieces of equipment was revealed to Asdalon and the others.

"The Hand of Sparks"

"Conductive Attack: When a bare-handed attack hits a target, the wearer gains 2 Lightning Charges."

"High-efficiency conductor: When fully charged with lightning, attacks against metallic constructs and enemies wearing metallic armor will have an advantage."

In short, it involves charging up with bare hands; once fully charged, the next attack will deal additional lightning damage.

"Indigo Tree Shield"

Armor Rating +2

"Spell: Indigo Treant Entanglement Strike"

Asdallen was somewhat surprised by Liu Bei's generosity; the value of these two pieces of equipment was enough to hire two adventurer teams to help them fight!

After a moment's thought, he did not refuse. After a brief discussion, the gloves fell into Asdallen's hands, while the shield fell into Shadowheart's hands.

After all, Leezel's weapon is the Everburn Greatsword, a two-handed sword. She doesn't have a spare hand to use this equipment, so the shield can only be given to Shadowheart. This means that Shadowheart, as a priest, will have to bear more pressure. Her tasks will not only be healing her teammates, but also holding the line!

Currently, there are no monks in the team, so the Hand of Spark can only be of some use in Asdalon's hands.