Green Monster Epic

Chapter 540: Return and Consultation

After the previous fierce battle with the flying serpent swarm, the legendary teammates in Allen's group finally dared not underestimate any creature from the Mirage Plane.

Having corrected their attitude, the subsequent journey became more orderly and safer. As the number of battles increased, the team members gradually developed more tacit understanding, rediscovering the skills they had acquired during their early years of adventuring.

As the captain, Allen was gradually recognized by the team members. After all, from the beginning, Allen's mindset was better than everyone else's. In the following days, Allen's outstanding performance in battle formation command and individual strength also won the approval of this group of unruly powerhouses.

"What should we eat tonight?"

"Steamed Flying Swordfish? Or charcoal-grilled Cloud Swallowing Whale?"

The abilities of the Mirage Plane creatures were truly bizarre. Some creatures that seemed harmless to humans and animals would suddenly erupt with ferocious nature when a creature passed by. However, along with the mysterious abilities of these plane creatures came all kinds of novel flavors completely different from those of the creatures in the Feyman World.

The legendary powerhouses present had quite a feast these days. In order to make up for his own shortcomings, and also to accumulate more experience in cooking unknown creatures from other worlds, Allen would always make a few dishes for everyone after the battle every day, using the corpses of otherworldly creatures they had obtained after the day's battle, cooking up magical delicacies.

These legendary powerhouses also had their eyes opened and gained knowledge. It turned out that in these many planes, there were actually ingredients with blood as sweet as milk, and muscles with the fragrance and taste of fruit. Using these unique ingredients, and then undergoing a magical cooking process by Allen, the God of Gourmet, they became absolutely beautiful foods that everyone coveted and devoured.

The legendary powerhouses were not only indulging in the pleasure of their tongues. These foods with magical effects also provided great help in battle. Before each battle, Allen would always gather ingredients on the spot to make a pile of food, and the various magical enhancement effects that everyone gained would always make the battle easier.

In particular, the protection provided by the magical dishes made by Allen against the psionic spells of the Mirage Plane creatures was something that the other spellcasters in the team could not provide, reducing many of their concerns.

And apart from Allen, the others had not yet noticed that these magical dishes not only gave them certain timed spell effect enhancements, but also slowly changed their bodies, gradually increasing their resistance to willpower and psionic spells.

"It's time to go back and reunite with the other teammates today!"

Faced with the lizardman Hanini's inquiry with his slender snake head, Allen's answer revealed a bit of disappointment on the faces of the legendaries in the field.

This mission to clear the surrounding environment took a total of 7 days. During these 7 days, Allen and the others pushed forward all the way along the west, clearing out the larger indigenous creature groups or powerful alien beasts within a 500-mile radius to the west.

The harvest was also not small. There were more than 50 kinds of precious plants, and more than 30 pieces of various grades of Mirage Crystals were also harvested. It was said to be good, but if it was really divided among each person, the harvest would not be very much.

Of course, these gains can only be regarded as unexpected wealth. If the real target they want to deal with is achieved, then the Alliance Council and the Temple will give certain rewards, and their harvest should not be too bad with the addition of spoils of war.

Upon returning, there were already teams resting near the beacon. It was the team with the largest scale among their group -- the team led by the gnome mage Garfield and the troll pugilist Elliott, as well as the team led by the gnoll bloodletter Jonathan. As for the other team led by the kobold warlock Dick, their whereabouts were not yet known.

Seeing Allen and the others return, the gnome mage Garfield's eyes were filled with scrutiny as a compatriot. The team that could return before the kobold Dick and his team must have considerable strength.

The three teams were all safe and sound, occupying a corner each, quietly waiting for the return of the other teams. Of course, everyone was not idle while waiting. For example, Tirio, the only assassin gnoll in Allen's team, had already rushed to the north where their target was located -- the territory of the Cloud Giants, to scout for intelligence.

The next day, the remaining teams also returned one after another. A team composed of an ogre had some injuries on their bodies. It seemed that they may have encountered a powerful group, which made them so embarrassed.

The leaders of several teams met again, sat together, and discussed the next action. There were still 21 days before leaving this plane, and the Cloud Giant group they needed to deal with, just the leader who was said to have demigod strength, was already making people feel棘手. This time may not be enough for everyone to complete the task.

Therefore, everyone needs to finalize the next itinerary, at least leaving enough time to avoid failing to complete the established task within 21 days.

"You spoke so nicely before, saying that your abilities and talents were outstanding. I didn't expect that for your team, we wasted two days in vain!"

As soon as they sat together, the gnoll Jonathan stared at the kobold Dick directly opposite him with contempt in his eyes, sarcastically saying sarcastic remarks.

"... Hmph, that's because our team had bad luck and encountered a swarm of hundreds of alien bees, otherwise we would definitely be back before you!"

"Don't make so many excuses, there's no..."

"Alright, you two, don't start arguing as soon as you sit down. We still have more important tasks to complete. We don't have time to argue over this matter!"

The gnome Garfield timely stopped the meaningless quarrel between the two sides and began to take the initiative to lead the next discussion.

Because Garfield's team was larger, the time it took for them to complete the task of clearing the 500-mile radius threat in the selected direction was also the shortest. After completing the established task, they were also the first to send the team's assassins and shadow walkers to scout the territory of the Cloud Giants.

"... According to the first-hand information obtained by Randle and Aesa, the two legendaries in our team who went to scout, the scale of this Cloud Giant group seems to have grown compared to a hundred years ago. According to Mr. Randle's rough judgment, their group size should be between 25-27, The good news is that nearly ten of them are underage Cloud Giants, whose strength is at most equivalent to our legendary early stage."

"But the bad news is that among the remaining 15-17 Cloud Giants, at least 6 have entered old age, which also means that in addition to the demigod-level Cloud Giant, we also have to deal with 6 Cloud Giants who are at least at the peak of the legendary high-level."

“As everyone knows, creatures like giants and dragons are far more powerful than legendary figures of humanoid intelligent races like us…”

“…”

Garfield's mind seemed broader than those of the other two demigod tribe representatives. He directly revealed the information his team had gathered. Although it was uncertain if he had concealed any key points, it at least gave everyone a certain understanding of their mission objectives.

“My idea is for everyone to cooperate and come up with an effective strategy to gradually dismantle and eliminate the cloud giants, and finally deal with the demigod leader.”

“Time is tight, and we don't have the opportunity to make mistakes. If we can't effectively weaken this cloud giant force on the first try, then with the intelligence of the cloud giants, they won't be fooled again!”

This was indeed a very realistic problem. The cloud giants were not unintelligent, and were not much different from ordinary intelligent races. If one wanted to lure them to attack, it might work once or twice, but doing it too many times would definitely arouse suspicion. And if they wanted to gradually erode the enemy's strength, the 'Wilderness' team didn't have enough time.

“I believe we can cooperate when killing the demigod.”

Alan rarely took the initiative to express his attitude because he secretly observed the surrounding leaders and noticed a hint of distrust in their eyes, suggesting they had their own ideas. However, it was normal to have other ideas. Besides completing the task, everyone also needed to consider task contributions, loot distribution, and other issues, and no one would easily give way in these aspects.

“But when it comes to dismantling the cloud giants in the early stages, I think everyone should act on their own, at most maintaining a coordinated approach.”

“For example, for the sake of fairness, each of our teams can send one or several team members. Everyone will go in several directions at the same time to lure the enemy. Whichever team the cloud giant force follows, that cloud giant will be their prey.”

“If the strength of the lured cloud giant is beyond the ability of that team to handle, then that team can request support. The party that agrees to lend a hand will receive at least half of the spoils of that prey.”

“If no team is available to provide support temporarily, then that team can first contain the cloud giant force and buy time for other teams. When everyone is free later, that team can still receive at least half of the spoils from the contained cloud giant…”

“…”

Alan had not been idle either. In the past two days, he had also been thinking about how to complete the task, especially given the complex and disunited team members and the tight schedule. To appease these divided teams and get them to cooperate, a relatively fair set of rules had to be established.

Although Alan didn't necessarily have to take the lead in these matters, those guys who liked to show off their abilities would definitely come up with a solution to solve the problem. However, since he had participated in this competition, he ultimately hoped to complete the task successfully.

Alan didn't want to waste a few more days solving these problems, so during these two days of rest, he not only tried to win over those lone wolves but also carefully considered the rules of cooperation between the teams.

Having had the experience of venturing out alone to search, those dozen or so lone wolves, after having tasted the bitterness of fighting alone, must have regretted not joining a team by now. However, as legendary figures, most of them were proud individuals. Even if they wanted to join a team again, they probably wouldn't be embarrassed to lower their heads for a while.

Thinking from the perspective of these legendary figures, Alan already knew how to persuade them. As expected, another six legendary figures joined in, and Alan's team suddenly grew much stronger, almost matching the number of Kobold Deke's team.

“Tsk tsk, I didn't expect Chief Alan to not only cook delicious food but also be very sharp in solving problems!”

Garfield's eyes looked somewhat surprised, but Alan still felt a trace of sinister coldness deep in his eyes, as if his statement had disrupted the other party's plans, or perhaps it was just because Alan had stolen his limelight.

“This idea is okay, but it still seems inadequate in some aspects.”

“Chief Alan, have you considered that there is a significant gap in strength between our teams? If we provide assistance, why should we split the spoils equally with others?”

Alan smiled slightly and gave the answer.

“If Captain Garfield, you don't think it's worth it, then you can simply refuse the other party's request, right?”

The inequality in strength was an undeniable fact. Even though Alan's team now had almost 20 people, they were still weaker than Garfield's team by at least one-third in terms of sheer numbers. This meant that Garfield's team could challenge greater difficulties, while Alan's team was smaller. This could be seen from the fact that the other party returned two days earlier than Alan's team when clearing the surrounding dangers.

Alan had realized this problem, which was why he had come up with this plan early on. He didn't want Garfield and his team to rely on their stronger team strength and demand more spoils and contributions when requesting cooperation.

“I…”

“I think this suggestion is good, we can try it!”

Just as Garfield was about to argue, Kobold Deke interrupted and expressed his support for Alan.

“We don't have that much time to dwell on these trivial matters. I think we should just do it this way!”

Although he couldn't stand Kobold Deke and always liked to oppose Deke, Jonathan the Gnoll wouldn't act impulsively on important matters. At this time, the plan given by Alan should be the most suitable one currently, so Jonathan spat on the ground and said impatiently.

“Yes, I think it's okay.”

“I support…”

The remaining three team captains nodded in agreement. They were actually the biggest beneficiaries of this plan, so naturally, they couldn't oppose it.

“Okay, then let's do it this way!”

The observation group, after entering the Mirage Plane, had remained neutral. Apart from initially reminding everyone to rest near the Waypoint for two days, they had spent the remaining time sending team members to various teams to observe their actions, kills of extraplanar creatures, etc. At this time, they also recorded the actions of the captains in a few sentences.

After reaching a preliminary consensus, Alan and the others no longer hesitated and marched in unison towards the valley where the cloud giants were located.