The Last Adventurer Chapter 43

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Chapter 14. The Nautilus (1)

One.

Since the beginning of the Mystic Gate era, the most valuable thing in Maple World has been conquering Mystic Gate.

How far you conquered the Mystic Gate soon became your own value.

“Where is the best place to conquer Mystic Gate right now? There are several places. The best of the top 10 in the port city of Lis, the Goldrich Group, the warriors of the Kingdom of Ariant, the adventurers of the Elnath Mountains… … I can’t say which place is superior.”

So, we started to compete to conquer Mystic Gate.

“But one thing is certain. The ship that will be most aggressive in the attack is the Nautilus.”

Among them, the challenge of the pirates of the Nautilus toward the Mystic Gate was not only aggressive but desperate.

In fact, in some ways it was natural.

The Nautilus was literally a pirate ship, and pirates were people who pursued money and treasure rather than fame.

For them, the Mystic Gate, overflowing with precious treasures, is a true dream stage.

And for them, the Nautilus paid a clear price.

“If you want to get rich through Mystic Gate, come aboard the Nautilus! I promise you a greater reward than anywhere else!”

The Nautilus promised more profits than anywhere else.

In particular, what the Nautilus put forward was the bounty system.

“I will offer a bounty based on the number of wounds!”

The Nautilus was the first to introduce the system of paying more compensation as the number of wounds increased.

Naturally, adventurers hoping to make money rushed to sign up for the Nautilus, and thanks to this, the Nautilus’s prestige grew to an indescribable level.

So people said.

“The Nautilus’s power is equal to that of the ten largest merchant ships in the port city of Lys!”

The most powerful force on Victoria Island will be the Nautilus.

In any case, the Nautilus’ bounty system caught the attention of all adventurers who wanted money.

Naturally, there was also a lot of interest in the most expensive bounties.

The same was true of the Mystic Gate.

“A bounty of 9.99 million mesos?”

9.99 million mesos, the amount itself was on a different level.

“It’s orange level?”

Usually, to get that level of bounty, you need to be at least Yellow, which is the next highest rank, or Green, which is the highest rank.

But if there was that much of a bounty on the Orange rank, the story there couldn’t be ordinary.

“Isn’t that where Captain Kairin’s disciple entered and died?”

The story is that it was the place where the most promising party, the disciples of Captain Kyrin, the leader of the great force called the Nautilus, met their deaths.

That means it’s a difficult place.

“Everything failed after that! No one tried again for a year!”

As expected, no one has been able to find the exit since then.

El Palm knew it too.

‘It’s a difficult place.’

Better than anyone else.

What’s there, and why it’s difficult.

‘So it makes sense.’

And such difficulties were not limited to El Palmar, but also to the upper echelons of Cania who were targeting him.

Right now, the upper ranks of Kania would want to retrieve the Hydra’s Fang, a unique item he acquired by killing the venomous snake Nir.

‘You can’t just take out the key card rashly.’

But in this situation, there was a high chance that forcing yourself to pull out a good card would just lead to self-destruction.

In other words, it means that there is a high possibility that you will use a self-destruct card that you could otherwise throw away.

‘The top of Gapor is also a headache.’

Also, this challenge by El Palm was dangerous for the Gapor upper group, which had to leave evidence that El Palm was killed by the Kania upper group.

20 million mesos might just fly away into thin air.

“Why do you want to challenge that?”

‘That’s not possible. Absolutely not.’

So Ebisu tried to stop him.

But unfortunately, he had no choice.

“It doesn’t matter where I challenge, right?”

The contract only specified the number of challenges, and did not contain any clause requiring the top team to make the decision.

And that was as it should be.

The fact that the upper side could decide the Mystic Gate at will meant that they could kill adventurers at any time, and no sensible adventurer would accept such a condition.

Besides, a sensible adventurer wouldn’t have volunteered to go to hell.

“There’s no problem, but isn’t it too dangerous?”

El Palm spoke calmly about such an absurdity.

“I am being chased by the Kania top. I don’t know why, but they are determined to kill me. In such a situation, it is more dangerous to enter the Mystic Gate on a low difficulty level.”

At that point, Ebisu felt that it was no longer possible to persuade El Palm.

Instead, we changed our method.

“Still, it’s too dangerous a place.”

Made a threat.

“This is where the Eagle Eye Leia party, Captain Kairin’s disciples, were annihilated.”

That was a pretty valid threat.

Eagle-Eye Leia, one of Captain Kairin’s many disciples, was a sharpshooter with the eyes of an eagle, as her nickname suggests.

A sharpshooter who can accurately hit a target from a distance of 1 kilometer!

“That Eagle Eye Leah who became a 3rd circle adventurer in just one month.”

Moreover, Eagle-Eye Rhea showed an amazing growth rate that caused a stir in Victoria Island at the time.

He was so outstanding even among Captain Kairin’s disciples that he was evaluated as the next captain.

“I completed my first Mystic Gate adventure with a 100-person gate.”

Even her title was different.

Even for her, it would be impossible for the collapsed Mystic Gate to be easy.

That’s why the bounty was a whopping 9.99 million mesos.

Of course El Palm knew too.

‘It’s hell.’

How difficult a place Eagle Eye’s Tomb is.

I knew better than anyone else.

‘Because Golden Eye himself said that place was hell.’

Because Golden Eye, who gained fame while conquering that place and later became the final captain of the Nautilus, spoke to El Palm himself.

What kind of place it is.

‘It’s a place that would normally be impossible.’

So I chose it.

‘Not anymore.’

El Palm, because he got it from Cross Hunter.

‘I never thought I’d receive a phoenix feather.’

Phoenix Feather, that unique item.

In fact, that was unexpected even for El Palm.

‘I knew something unique would come out.’

The rating itself was as expected.

El Palm knew Cross Hunter and Cheryl better than anyone else.

They were willing to pay any price if only they could destroy the Mystic Gate.

To them El Palm said:

I’m going to conquer Eagle Eye’s Tomb, which has 9.99 million mesos and no challengers have appeared for a year now.

Then it is only natural to give strength.

But I didn’t know it was a phoenix feather.

‘Three of these.’

If he had known that El Palm already had two phoenix feathers, he probably wouldn’t have given them to her.

Anyway, El Palm now has three feathers of the hawk.

‘There are now few dangerous places in the Orange-ranked Mystic Gate.’

It’s like giving wings to El Palm, who was already at the top level.

“I will go.”

There was no more hesitation for El Palm.

“If you are worried.”

Of course, El Palm had no intention of giving up here.

No, rather, El Palm had one more trick in mind when planning this game.

“Please support the item.”

2.

“9.99 million mesos, Eagle Eye’s Tomb.”

Rakan, he fell silent for a moment when he heard the news that Ebisu brought.

Even from Lakan’s perspective, El Palm’s choice was unexpected.

But here, Lakan did not remain silent.

Rather, he thought.

‘The die is cast.’

If El Palm can’t be stopped, then what is the best course of action for Gapor’s top team to take now?

The worry didn’t last long.

‘We have to save that guy.’

First of all, the worst thing that could happen from the perspective of the upper Gapor was El Palm dying at the Mystic Gate.

Paid a whopping 20 million mesos.

To use as bait.

But does that bait just disappear somewhere far away?

A bitter thing.

‘It’s a shame to waste 20 million mesos, but it’s even more of a shame to lose the bait.’

But what was more heartbreaking was that the opportunity to shake up the upper part of Kania was gone.

Lakan, he already had a feel for it.

‘This isn’t just trolling. There’s more to it.’

It’s hard to understand why Kania would troll at Mystic Gate, which has 100 top ranks, but it could happen.

Isn’t this a good opportunity to eliminate the competing forces?

Even Gapor’s top could do something like that right now. As long as they can avoid getting caught.

But you’re trying to kill El Palm, the survivor there?

‘Three people survived the 100-person gate. That’s enough income.’

A point that cannot be understood through the merchant’s scales.

If that was the case, then there had to be a reason to kill El Palm in a way other than the merchant’s way.

‘One thing is certain: the Kania upper class will do whatever it takes to kill El Palm. No matter the damage it takes.’

So Rakan willingly gave 20 million mesos to El Palm.

‘If we do it right, we can eliminate the top of Kania.’

Because 20 million mesos was not only cheap, but also an unimaginable amount to bring down the top of Kania.

Anyway, to sum it up, El Palm was too good of a subject to kill.

“Ebisu.”

“yes.”

“What do you think about El Palm’s abilities?”

“What do you mean by ability?”

“Do you think you can come back alive?”

So now the only question that remains is El Palm’s chances of survival.

“I think it’s more than 70 percent.”

Ebisu gave him a pretty good chance.

It wasn’t some vague sense of anticipation.

“I can assure you that of all the adventurers I’ve ever met, he excels at survival skills more than anyone else.”

El Palm, the days he lived were proof.

“He’s a guy who lasted three years as a bait slave.”

Even before becoming an adventurer, El Palm was different.

And even after becoming an adventurer, El Palm’s survival skills were beyond words.

“The growth rate after that was honestly incredible.”

El Palm in particular reached the 3rd circle in a really short period of time.

“It’s similar to Eagle Eye.”

Now El Palm is in the tomb of Eagle Eye, who wants adventure, and has shown talents comparable to that of Eagle Eye.

Of course, Eagle Eye wasn’t just talented.

As a disciple of Captain Kairin, he received tremendous support. The level of items he possessed was on a different level from that of ordinary adventurers.

Crucially, El Palm had excellent survival skills, that is, the ability to find an exit, but its combat capabilities were unknown.

It is clear that El Palm is lacking in simple comparisons.

Still, it was true that El Palm’s abilities were great.

“An adventurer who deserves full support from the higher levels.”

In fact, at this point, it was too good of a waste to just use it as bait and throw it away.

In fact, Lakan had that in mind too.

Because the value of a skilled adventurer was higher than anything else.

At that point, Lakan weighed things differently.

“What if El Palm succeeds in conquering Eagle Eye’s Tomb?”

The benefits if El Palm survives.

“First of all, according to the contract, 30 percent of the profits will be received by our Gapor Top. 30 percent of the items that come out inside will also be Gapor Top’s share. However, the first choice is with El Palm Party.”

The only remaining amount is 3 million mesos.

“But the most certain thing is fame. What even the Nautilus could not do, our Gapor top ship will do.”

However, the value of the fame he would gain thereafter was so great that it could not be measured in meso.

It means that the name value of the top of Gapor, which was barely holding on to the lowest position in the top 10, is rising.

At that moment, Lakan did not weigh the scales.

“What is El Palm’s main magic?”

“It’s fire attribute.”

“I’m dealing with El Palm.”

“What if you call it a deal?”

“I will lend El Palm a unique item.”

I made a decision.

“What kind of item is it?”

“Prepare the Phoenix Feather. There is nothing more valuable to a fire attribute wizard.”