Chapter 497: Tanaris’ Treasure Chest
Translator: Halcyon Translations Editor: Halcyon Translations
Lu Li was acting a little suicidal; he had chosen a level 40 map – Tanaris.
In Dawn, Tanaris was an endless desert.
Under the cloudless sky was a bright expanse filled with patches of quicksand.
Since the ancient times, Nozdormu, the Dragon of Time, had regarded this place as its home and had thrived in this vast inhospitable desert alone.
The vast area of Tanaris contained many secrets. Most of the land was uninhabited, but there were many huge creatures wandering around like Kodo Beasts, Sand Worms and Tall Walkers.
Speaking of the Kodos, Lu Li had almost forgotten to sell one of his Kodos.
He didn’t even need to think about who he was going to sell his Kodos to.
Water Fairy was the best choice and he didn’t even need to spend much time bargaining the price. The female tycoon was very generous in this regard and although she couldn’t be taken advantage of, she would never be stingy when it came to her interests.
He also didn’t need to travel back as the place where Lu Li had sent the mount was not a small village that didn’t have mailboxes.
The mailbox was outside the hotel, and Lu Li directly sent the White Kodo Mount. He believed that the tycoon could understand what he meant and would repay him satisfactorily.
Mounts were still a new thing at this stage, not to mention how difficult it was for players to obtain a Kodo.
Moreover, it was pure white. Lu Li wasn’t as stupid as the old Tauren thought he was; the albinism was of no value to hi,m but it was particularly attractive for females.
After he sent it, Lu Li entered another bigger city.
Gadgetzan was a high-tech city inhabited predominantly by Gnomes and Goblins. This was the hometown of numerous Goblins.
The emergence of such a large city in the desert was in itself a miracle.
Around the periphery of this settlement was a wall of copper. The city was famous for its Blacksmiths and Engineers, so naturally, there were also many knowledgeable Goblins Engineering Trainers here.
Various machines whizzed around the streets of Gadgetzan and the sky around it was almost always covered in black smoke.
Here, explorers were able to get the rest they needed, and were also able to escape the sun and the other dangers of the desert. Because it was a neutral city, players of the Alliance and the Horde were both present, which resulted in some conflict. However, the Goblin guards mercilessly attacked those daredevils who tried to provoke the other faction.
In his past life, Lu Li had spent quite a long time here. The monsters in the desert were rare and cruel, but they were quite rich and would drop a lot of coins.
It is said that this desert was filled with historical remains and mysteries.
There was a huge underground tunnel network that was largely unexplored because very few players would explore such desolate areas. In addition, there were rumors of various prehistoric monsters hiding in the tunnels that would kill intruders without hesitation.
Kodos, Tall Walkers and other giant predatory birds were common here. You could also occasionally see young and adult dragons flying over the heat waves that were lingering in the desert, despite the fact that the sea of sand dunes didn’t seem like it could sustain any wildlife.
Lu Li’s choice could either be a big problem or a very exciting opportunity.
There were quite a few flying creatures in this map. Vultures and Fire Rocs were both highly aggressive flying predators, while Dragons were more docile creatures, but who could guarantee that they wouldn’t attack by accident?
A single sneeze from an adult Dragon Boss could easily one-shot a player.
Lu Li took off from Gadgetzan and headed towards the East Moon Ruins.
It was likely that there was an ancient city here. Countless explorers wanted to find its treasure, but most of them ended up in the belly of a Sandworm.
The Sandworms here were level 40 and their skills were very strong.
One of their skills would suck players, monsters or NPCs directly into its stomach. There, damage would be dealt every second, but the target would be released if they weren’t killed after 15 seconds.
This skill had a 2-minute cooldown, and if you couldn’t kill it within 2 minutes, it would swallow you again.
Not many players dared to come here as this skill alone gave the Sandworm a significant psychological advantage.
No one wanted to experience the feeling of being swallowed. Those who were timid were scared offline, and even those who knew that they would survive couldn’t eat for a few days after they were swallowed.
One moment, a player would be under the light and the next they would find themselves covered in mucus…
What was worse was that equipment was worn down more quickly when fighting Sandworms. After fighting Sandworms for half a day, the repair costs would amount to a dozen gold coins.
Lu Li walked cautiously; he didn’t want to become Sandworm droppings. With his current level and equipment, he wasn’t sure if he would even have the opportunity of being spat out.
He was currently looking for some Treasure Chests in the East Moon Ruins.
He remembered finding a Golden Chest in his previous life, but he was Druid so he couldn’t open it and had to turn back.
He had to track down a friend that was Thief before he could open the gold chest.
Clearly, that person was tempted by the money and that ‘friend’ took the equipment without even offering to give it to Lu Li.
From that point onward, he added a few Treasure Hunters as friends to sell the coordinates of Treasure Chests in accordance with the chest’s grade.
At the moment, there wouldn’t be any Treasure Hunters in this area as they wouldn’t know how to observe the movements of the Sandworms yet.
Experienced players could determine the position of a Sandworm from the surface and could probably estimate its position even while it was moving.
Lu Li was exactly that kind of person.
He could accurately judge where the Sandworms were hiding and as long as he stopped lightly, he wouldn’t be eaten by that disgusting skill.
"Gold Treasure Chest… where are you…?"
Lu Li whispered as he slowly approached the weather stone walls which had not been visited by players for many years.
This place, which used to be a city, was now a ruins that had been battered by rough winds and occasionally visited by the Wasteland Forces who were between level 38 to 40.
The so-called Wasteland Forces were an ancient institution that were interested in exploring various historical ruins.
There were three different occupations that could be found among them in the East Moon Ruins: Wasteland Survivors, which were similar to Warriors but could lay and disarm traps, Wasteland Trackers, which used bows, arrows and flares, and Wasteland Dark Mages, which were similar to the Warlocks.