The Great Thief

Chapter 166: Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Translator: Halcyon Translations Editor: Halcyon Translations

Who said that 28 gold coins wasn’t worth it?

Lu Li equipped an ordinary Bandanna and turned on his video function. He decided that he would post this video of him passing through the sea of Orcs onto the forum to advertise for ‘The World Is So Big’.

This advertisement would surely be very effective.

From how it seemed, the LV20-30 and even the LV40-50 monsters, were unable to detect Lu Li after he had shrunk.

Of course, if someone bought The World Is So Big and tried to do the same thing, they would die a pitiful death. Lu Li was also using a Concealment Scroll.

After suffering much fright but no actual danger, he finally passed through the Warsong Canyon’s defence line. In front of him lay the vast Barrenlands.

As the name suggested, the Barrenlands were a desolate place, filled with nothing but rocks and sand. Despite this, it was an important, strategic region in Kalimdor because it connected many important places. To the west stood the Stoneclaw Mountains, and to the east was Durotar. The Mogolei Prairies and Mountains were to the south-west, while the area to the south-east contained the Dustwallow Marsh Wetlands.

The place that he wanted to travel to was at the centre the map and was a significant intersection for many important routes – the Crossroads Outpost.

The Evil Faction extended out from the Crossroads as the centre and controlled a vast piece of land.

On the other hand, the Light Faction only had some mobile camps and small outposts, and was unable to provide any transportation services. Otherwise, Lu Li wouldn’t have had to go through so much to arrive at this place.

It was important to note that the next Instance Dungeon that Lu Li and his team were planning on clearing was also in this map. Outside the Instance Dungeon was an oasis which produced mutant fish that were famous throughout all the lands.

In his ‘past life’, Lu Li had often come here to fish, and participated in many battles. As such, he was incredibly familiar with this region and quickly arrived near the Crossroads Outpost. Despite being called an outpost, it was more or less a city.

The thing Lu Li was looking for was at the centre of the city, inside the clocktower.

If he didn’t have the quest scrolls, he wouldn’t have even dared to get close to the clocktower.

A few Evil Faction players strolled past Lu Li, talking and laughing as they went on their ways. They had no idea that there was a Stealthed, LV21 Thief beside them.

Lu Li observed everything in the outpost, from its landmarks, to its geography, structures and NPCs. He imagined what would happen if he was discovered by the NPCs and how they would try to stop him. After analysing the data he had collected, Lu Li planned a few escape routes for himself.

He didn’t dare to be too careless. Although the NPCs here weren’t very high-levelled, they were still around LV20-30. Furthermore, most of them were Elite grade and there was a multitude of them.

Not too far away from where he stood were the Barracks. If he caused too much of a ruckus, a battalion of Orc Soldiers would join the fight and he would be absolutely doomed.

Lu Li recalled some of the articles and guides he had read that detailed the Barrenlands, thanking his parents for giving him such a good brain. Some of the things that he had thought he had forgotten could be recalled if he concentrated hard enough on them.

He couldn’t go near the Equipment Shop, as it was very dangerous inside. In his ‘past life’, there was a team who had tried to attack the Crossroads, but had been massacred by the hammers of the Tauren inside the Equipment Shop.

Lu Li chose a path that strayed far away from the Equipment Shop. If he was lucky, he wouldn’t run into any trouble from there.

At this point, everything was still just a plan.

He deeply breathed in, and walked through the gate in Stealth.

There was no time limit for the Concealment Scroll, but once Lu Li cancelled his Stealth, its effects would be lost. As such, he had kept his Stealth activated from when he had used the scroll in the Warsong Valley until now.

The structures in the Orc City were quite crude and had a barbaric air to them.

No one would imagine that a Thief from the Light Faction had relied on his Stealth to enter an important military fortress of the Evil Faction.

The NPCs inside the city were not like the soldiers – they were all enjoying life and minding their own business.

However, Lu Li didn’t dare to be careless. Between advancing, he would wait until the NPCs had moved before he moved. Despite being so careful, he was almost discovered. An Orc had hurriedly run over and bumped arms with him. While the Orc seemed to take notice of this, it didn’t make too much of a fuss because it was within the city.

Lu Li learned from this mistake and used another The World Is So Big. He couldn’t afford to be stingy in such an important situation.

Although his speed was decreased, it was a lot safer for him.

After half an hour, he finally arrived at the clocktower.

The clocktower was tall, with spiral steps circling up around it that led to a gigantic mechanical clock at the top. Apart from showing the time, it also provided the soldiers with a vantage point, through its function as an observation platform.

The treasure chest was at the top.

There were 4 NPC Warriors guarding the entrance that all had hidden levels. Seeing them from afar, Lu Li gave up on trying to enter from the front.

Instead, he walked to the back of the clocktower and stood next to a pile of random items. Then, he cancelled his Stealth and activated the Raven Transformation.

There were NPCs everywhere around the clocktower that all acted like real people. They glanced around and would occasionally look at the pile of items Lu Li had hidden behind. Plotting to do something so devious with so many people around felt quite exciting.

The raven slowly flapped its wings and flew up.

There were also many spear-wielding NPCs that patrolled along the spiral steps. They looked quite solemn and focused on their duties.

However, this sort of alertness led to fatigue. As such, when the Orc Warriors and other NPCs saw the raven flying up, none of them reacted at all. It wasn’t strange to see ravens in the Barrenlands.

However, the raven’s feathers appeared to radiate a black light.

It must have been a trick of the light.

After being stuck on patrol duty for many days, the warriors all thirsted for battle. They couldn’t help but daydream about fighting against the Centaurs.

Lu Li landed on the top of the clocktower, next to a spiky lightning rod.

He even used his beak to smooth out his ruffled feathers, just like a real raven.

Of course, his eyes were focused on the grey treasure chest with green carvings on the observation platform. The carvings were of Frostwolves – a brave and beautiful type of creature.

The soldiers on the observation platform looked down at the Crossroads Outpost and after confirming that there was nothing unusual, they gripped their spears and walked down the spiral steps.

When the soldiers disappeared, Lu Li flapped over to the treasure chest.

Unlock!

This was his only chance!