Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 340 - 52 Key Defense Area_1

Chapter 340: Chapter 52 Key Defense Area_1

"Thud, thud." Under the cold fluorescent light, erratic footsteps echoed in the spacious sewer area. Pannis was up front with his hands tucked behind his head, lazing around with half-closed eyes. Bored, he absentmindedly kicked a poor pebble lying there for nearly ten thousand years. Due to Pannis’s idle act, the stone spun through the air and crashed into a wall, pulverizing on impact.

"Where are we going?" Following closely behind Pannis, Lina complained in a disgruntled tone, "Didn’t we agree to set up camp and rest? Why do we have to walk so far? I don’t care, my luggage is heavy and I’m tired. This lady needs to stop for a rest! You’re such a useless servant, so slow in finding us a place to rest. Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!"

"Yes, yes, yes." Pannis’s laziness immediately gave way to frustration as he scratched his cheek helplessly and answered, "We’ll be there soon. Please be patient, Miss. And by the way, the heavy luggage has nothing to do with you. You handed it over to me half an hour ago."

"You talk too much." Lina flung her hands in the air, exclaiming, "As a servant, you should guide us properly. Stop complaining all the time. Ugh, I’m exhausted."

"Sigh." Pannis held his face in his hands and moaned, "I don’t know when I became a servant, but I understand now. I’ll pick up the pace. If you’re too tired, I can carry you."

"Bla, bla, bla." Lina flushed and shifted her eyes, flustered, "Who, who asked you to carry me? I can walk myself. A small trip like this can’t possibly tire me out, I’m not tired at all."

"Dare to repeat what you said three seconds ago?" Pannis muttered under his breath.

Teresa covered her mouth, giggling for a while before asking, "Why can’t we set up camp anywhere we like?"

"Because we don’t know when the cleaner puppets will reappear." Pannis explained, "As you saw earlier, I suspect there are maintenance devices outside the pipes and the cleaner puppets will reappear. Recklessly choosing a spot to camp might lead to serious damage to our team if the cleaner puppets we destroyed pop up again. We need to find a camping spot not covered by the cleaner puppets. But it’s strange. The entire area nearby is covered by puppets. They shouldn’t be this concentrated."

"For safety’s sake, let’s continue searching as per your plan." Teresa nodded but then asked, puzzled, "But one question, if the others took the same route, why weren’t they attacked by the puppets? Did they hide the ruined puppets, or did they take a different route?"

"The reason is unclear for now." Pannis shook his head, "However, I suspect, given the extended period they’ve operated here, they might have found a way to avoid the puppet attacks. As for other routes, I don’t know, but I’m sure that some of the previous paths have been frequently used recently."

"Previous paths?" Lina was the first to react to Pannis’s point, "So, the current path hasn’t been used recently?"

"If my eyes aren’t fooling me, the traces of intelligent life haven’t been through these paths in at least a thousand years. Maybe it’s even longer, but anything beyond that point would be difficult to determine." Pannis explained, "But it’s strange. The closer we get to our destination, the more frequently the mechanical puppets appear. Perhaps we’re nearing some special locations for the goblins and that’s why there are so many defensive measures."

"Aren’t they cleaner puppets? Why are you calling them defensive measures?" Lina asked confusedly, "Which one is it?"

"No difference. The original name for the cleaner puppets is ’Small Combat Puppets’. Their ’cleaning’ refers to getting rid of magical beasts in the sewer or those who accidentally break into it. It’s essentially defending." Pannis said, "I suspect there’s some important place up ahead. It might be interesting to go check it out."

"Let’s go see." Lina’s eyes sparkled as her curiosity prompted her, "If the goblins value it so much, it must be interesting."

"Didn’t you say you were about to drop dead from exhaustion?" Pannis glanced at Lina, "You were so tired that you looked like you could collapse and roll your eyes back any moment. Now you’ve suddenly changed your mind? Uh, there’s a blind spot for the cleaner puppets nearby. It’s the perfect place to camp."

"You... you did this on purpose." Lina puffed up her cheeks, glaring at Pannis indignantly, "You deliberately found a camping spot after knowing that I wanted to go on! Is that the attitude a servant should have? Terrible, terrible, you deserve a death sentence."

"Again, when did I become a servant?" Pannis held his face in his hands and sighed, ignoring Lina’s rambling. He turned and said, "Actually, I suggest we move a little further and explore."

"Is that wise?" Muir hesitated, "Goblin artifacts tend to be strange, and I’d rather avoid dealing with them. But I don’t care. You decide as long as our main goal isn’t affected."

"It won’t be affected." Pannis shook his head, "According to my estimations, we’re not far from my intended destination."

"How do you know that?" Enbow gave Pannis a puzzled look, "Do you have a map of the area?"

"Just an explorer’s special skill." Pannis pointed to his own ears. "Using echoes to judge the terrain is a basic skill every explorer should master."

"Can you stop talking nonsense?" Muir cast a sidelong glance at Pannis. "Since when has the top-ranking sonar exploration skill of thieves become the fundamental of explorers? Are you taking advantage of their ignorance?"

"Hahaha." Pannis gave an embarrassed laugh, "Not far ahead, there’s a place much more spacious than this sewer. We should arrive in at most ten more minutes. I believe the goblins’ key defense area is located there. We only need to break through a few more metal puppets. Go ahead, Ben, Teresa."

"Hey." Despite being impressed with Pannis’s extensive knowledge and sharp judgment, Ben still kept a reluctant demeanor. Angrily, he said, "Why do you always make us fight, while you’ve never fought once yourself?"

"I have no choice, my strength is weak." Pannis replied with an innocent look, looking at Ben with hopeful, bright eyes. "Surely, you powerful individuals won’t ask a weak Silver Rank Explorer to face such powerful enemies. It’s too cruel."

"Literally, there’s no rebuttal." Ben clenched his teeth in annoyance, saying, "You really make people angry, fine, let’s do it then."

"The sooner we go, the sooner we return." Pannis feigned weakness, waving his hand. If he held a white handkerchief in his hand, he would be the perfect image of a farewell before a battlefield.

Ben charged forward, head-on into the attack of six puppets. Halfway through the charge, Ben stumbled upon hearing Pannis’s words, letting out a roar and vented his fury onto the puppets in front of him.

"Why must you provoke him?" Enbow walked past Pannis and sighed, "I’ll go help as well. We of the Temple Faction indeed need this kind of practice."

"I didn’t provoke him. I just wanted to give him a little motivation for heroic fighting." Pannis innocently said, "I get it; my image doesn’t provide much motivation. Hmm, let me think. Yes, why don’t you go? Your image is definitely enough."

"Indeed infuriating." Enbow paused, pulling out his twin swords, his elegant face full of helplessness. "You haven’t been killed by furious teammates yet. This can only be deemed a miracle."

"Yes, a miracle." Lina nodded, agreeing with the sentiment.

There were only six puppets. Although the three combatants from the Temple Faction had little real combat experience, their hard-earned ranking was enough for them to easily deal with such a small number of puppets. The fight ended quickly within three minutes with the destruction of the last puppet’s core. Enbow bit her lip while wiping her clean twin swords, giving Pannis a sidelong glance. Ben clenched his fist, his gaze full of danger directed at Pannis.

"Let’s go." Pannis casually resumed walking, hands pillow-like under his head. "We’ll be there soon, and we can rest properly. If my guess is right, you all might be in for a big surprise."

"Mr. Pannis, what do you think it is over there?" Teresa, who had just finished also fighting, had better manners. She maintained a smile in the face of Pannis’s provocation: "I believe you have some idea, considering you want us to go there."

"Indeed, I do have an idea of what’s there." Pannis nodded solemnly, "But I won’t tell you. So if I guessed wrong, no one will know, haha, I am indeed very smart."

Teresa’s smile stiffened instantly and she involuntarily clenched her fists. At this point, she felt that the best way to respond would be to follow Lina’s example – to aim a kick at Pannis’s knee or shin. However, before she could make up her mind, there was a sudden "ding" overhead.

Everyone was familiar with that sound. They had heard it countless times on their journey. Each notification meant another batch of puppets. But this time was different. The notification had rung, but no puppets appeared. Instead, there was a long string of words in goblin language, spoken at such a fast pace that it was impossible to understand.

Pannis, however, did understand. His satisfaction grew as he listened to the goblin language. When the voice stopped, Pannis said, "There is good news and bad news."

"If you dare to ask which one we want to hear first, I don’t think anyone would mind beating you up as one." Muir urged, "Come on and spill it, I doubt there’s much time for your nonsense."

"The good news is I was right. This is a passage to a Goblin City." Pannis sighed unhappily, "As for the bad news, we’re probably about to encounter a big guy." (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for it at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)