Chapter 741: The Two-Headed Giant

After saying that, Sanjie Buliu took out a gray parchment scroll from his backpack. The scroll was slightly frayed at the edges, and judging from its texture, it had probably existed for many years.

Sanjie Buliu spread out the parchment scroll, revealing a rather rough map that appeared before Nie Yan’s eyes.

Nie Yan narrowed his eyes slightly—it was a treasure map.

All the locations marked on the map were places within the Orcish Mountains.

“We’ve been studying this treasure map for over a month already, and we’ve basically confirmed the location. We need a highly skilled rogue to assist us,” Sanjie Buliu looked at Nie Yan and explained. If he didn’t inform Nie Yan about the treasure map, coordination within the team would be impossible, and they would ultimately fail, because several critical steps must be completed by a rogue.

“Why did you choose me?” Nie Yan asked. After all, he was just a stranger to them.

“Because of an intuition. You seem stronger than any rogue I’ve ever seen before,” Sanjie Buliu replied seriously. Judging whether a rogue is powerful doesn’t necessarily depend on attributes or equipment; one can deduce it from their walking posture or habitual movements.

Moreover, Sanjie Buliu had a strange feeling when facing Nie Yan—as if Nie Yan didn’t exist at all, and he couldn’t sense even a hint of Nie Yan’s presence.

Sanjie Buliu believed his perception was already quite strong, yet Nie Yan was right in front of him, and he couldn’t sense him at all. How strong must Nie Yan’s stealth be?

Sanjie Buliu had once secretly let Su Youyou test Nie Yan using perception enhancement. After activating the enhancement, Su Youyou’s perception exceeded 600. However, even with that, she still easily overlooked Nie Yan’s presence when she turned around. This was shocking—someone with 600 perception still couldn’t detect someone standing right next to them. That level of stealth was truly astonishing.

After Su Youyou shared her findings with Sanjie Buliu, he became even more convinced that Nie Yan was definitely no ordinary person.

True experts, like Su Youyou and Sanjie Buliu, with sharp perception, could detect things others couldn’t—no wonder Su Youyou and Sanjie Buliu had always treated him indifferently.

When Sanjie Buliu unfolded the map, he carefully observed Nie Yan’s expression, which indeed confirmed his suspicions. Ordinary players seeing a complete treasure map would definitely be very excited, but Nie Yan merely showed a slight hint of interest.

“This treasure map is related to the Paternoster Hammer, a divine-grade artifact, and there are also three legendary items, which are treasures of the dark elves,” Sanjie Buliu added, seeing Nie Yan’s indifferent reaction.

Nie Yan smiled faintly and said, “I’m only interested in the Paternoster Hammer. If we obtain the treasure, I want the Paternoster Hammer, and the rest you can divide among yourselves.”

Nie Yan’s words were shocking.

Everyone was stunned. Nie Yan seemed too greedy, demanding the best item from the treasure right away.

“What makes you think you deserve it? Who the hell do you think you are!” Ziye spoke up angrily. From the moment they met, he had disliked Nie Yan a little. Just a human rogue, whose skills probably weren’t that great, and now he dares to make such an unreasonable demand.

“By strength.” A sudden flash of killing intent appeared in Nie Yan’s eyes. In an instant, he disappeared and reappeared behind Ziye, his dagger pointing at Ziye’s throat.

Before Ziye could even raise his staff, the cold chill emanating from Nie Yan’s dagger told him that if Nie Yan had any intention to kill him, he would already be lying dead on the ground.

Nie Yan had only slightly revealed his strength, but it caused both Sanjie Buliu and Su Youyou to feel immense shock. When Nie Yan moved just now, his speed was so fast that they couldn’t even see clearly how he got behind Ziye. Such astonishing speed was terrifying—if Nie Yan attacked any of them, none of them would survive even a second.

Ziye never expected Nie Yan to be this strong, beyond imagination. A hint of fear appeared in his eyes.

“How did you end up with such garbage in your team? If you don’t mind, I can send him back.” Nie Yan’s voice was cold and emotionless.

Ziye immediately felt like a fish at the mercy of the butcher’s knife. He had no doubt that Nie Yan would really kill him—he was scared.

“Please spare him,” Sanjie Buliu said. After all, he didn’t want Ziye to be killed; they had been teammates for a long time.

Upon hearing Sanjie Buliu’s plea, Nie Yan sheathed his dagger.

In Su Youyou’s bright eyes, a more radiant light emerged. Her curiosity about Nie Yan’s identity grew even stronger. In the entire Granlan Empire, there couldn’t be more than ten people with skills like Nie Yan’s. She carefully examined Nie Yan’s appearance. From his looks, he didn’t seem to be Kuangzei Nieyan, she couldn’t help but think.

“We came here without much hope of finding the treasure, because the guardian is too strong. We’ve wiped out several times already. If you can help us obtain the treasure, we’re willing to give up the Paternoster Hammer!” Sanjie Buliu said. He was clearly the more rational one. Although the Paternoster Hammer was a divine item, it wasn’t something they could possess. Even if they obtained it, whether they could use it was another question. He guessed that the Paternoster Hammer was probably a quest item. If they could get the remaining three legendary items, they would be satisfied. After all, none of them currently had even one legendary item, and three legendary items were already a huge temptation.

Although Ziye was dissatisfied, he dared not voice it out loud—Nie Yan had scared him too much.

“Sorry, but I came here specifically for the Paternoster Hammer. It relates to a quest of mine,” Nie Yan explained, letting Sanjie Buliu and Su Youyou know that he wasn’t just greedy.

Sanjie Buliu nodded, finally understanding.

Su Youyou also realized that Nie Yan specifically wanted the Paternoster Hammer for a reason. A sense of curiosity arose in their hearts—what kind of quest could be connected to the Paternoster Hammer? It mustn’t be simple.

Nie Yan also had his own thoughts. Since Sanjie Buliu and others had already prepared for nearly a month for this treasure, they must have gathered very comprehensive information and data. Cooperating with them would definitely be faster than doing it alone. After all, he wasn’t familiar with this place. Even if he wanted to explore the entire map, it would probably take at least another week.

“Let’s head out,” Sanjie Buliu said.

Nie Yan nodded.

The group headed deeper into the jungle.

Along the way, they chatted a bit. Nie Yan concealed his identity, and the conversation turned to topics like monster hunting, leveling up, and dungeons. Nie Yan’s words gave them some valuable insights.

Su Youyou kept talking to Nie Yan, who occasionally responded with a sentence or two, leaving Ziye ignored and isolated.

Ziye glared at Nie Yan’s back with resentment. Since Nie Yan’s arrival, all his spotlight had been stolen. Even Youyou, who was usually indifferent to everyone, was showing great enthusiasm toward Nie Yan.

After walking through the jungle for twenty minutes, they arrived at a clearing. In the distance, a tall two-headed giant was patrolling back and forth. It was extremely tall, about three meters high, holding a thick, nail-studded club, its body covered with jiggling fat.

“Level 180 elite, two-headed giant, a dark elf servant, with 1.2 million HP. Defeating it will grant us a key fragment. If the fragment isn’t used within five hours, it will become invalid, and the two-headed giant will respawn. Therefore, after defeating it, we must act quickly,” Sanjie Buliu explained.

“Have you defeated it before?” Nie Yan asked Sanjie Buliu and the others.

“This is already the sixteenth time. Our best attempt was defeating it in fifteen minutes. There are still many steps ahead, and the time is tight. This quest is very difficult. Although we’ve made progress over the past month and a half, we’re still far from our goal,” Su Youyou replied. She had great confidence in her team; even in some major guilds, they could easily be considered top-tier players.

For a team composed of level 110 to 120 players, defeating a level 180 elite in fifteen minutes was already an incredible achievement.

However, Nie Yan was not an ordinary player; he was an absolute anomaly.

Long, long ago, Nie Yan had already stopped viewing such level 180 elites as any real threat.

“Tianyuan, let me tell you the method. You need to lure the two-headed giant here. There’s a spot where we can position ourselves advantageously,” Sanjie Buliu said, gesturing and explaining the entire monster-killing process.

Nie Yan casually glanced at the terrain. Indeed, this was a good positioning spot. Finding such a location was no easy task. However, dealing with a level 180 elite required such a complicated setup, luring it here and positioning the fight—how boring this was!

“Previously, this task was always handled by me. Since you’re new, we need to test your skills. If you can’t do it, I can take over,” Ziye glanced at Nie Yan and coldly remarked. This was one of the things he was proud of—using long-range attacks and blinks. In this seven-person team, no one could do it better than him.

“Actually, I’m not good at luring and positioning, but dealing with that two-headed giant doesn’t seem to require such trouble!” Nie Yan said indifferently, then walked directly toward the two-headed giant.

“What is he doing?” one teammate asked in confusion.

“Who knows, maybe going to his death,” Ziye sneered.

Sanjie Buliu and Su Youyou exchanged glances as they watched Nie Yan’s back. Nie Yan shouldn’t be that foolish. They were very curious about what Nie Yan intended to do.

Nie Yan walked calmly, getting closer and closer to the two-headed giant.

The two-headed giant scanned its surroundings. Its two massive heads had a large field of vision. One of the heads quickly spotted Nie Yan, and the other turned as well. Two pairs of eyes, like copper bells, focused on Nie Yan. It took a step forward, letting out a heavy roar, and swung its club, sending a nearby tree flying.

As the two-headed giant stepped forward, the ground shook violently, exuding an awe-inspiring presence.