Chapter 196: Chapter 116: Su Mumu’s Mysterious Talent (Part 3)

“Then let’s depart on the Winged Dragon Beasts supported by the Gulad Empire!”

“Your Majesty, please pay the round-trip fee first. That will be 10 Gold Coins, or 10 units of gold works too!”

“Thank you for your patronage!”

Qin Feng was dumbfounded. “???”

’You can’t be serious!’

’Lady!’

’You’re charging a separate fee for this?’

’Are you really that obsessed with money?’

Of course, to be fair, the fee for riding the Winged Dragons was actually quite reasonable.

After all, Mumu and MC had hired these three Winged Dragon Beasts—reserve Flying Dragons—from several Extraordinary Dragon Cavalry, leveraging their friendly relationship with the Duke of the Northern Territory.

Not only had they spent a fortune on it, but they also ended up owing favors to numerous imperial nobles—to say nothing of the three Winged Dragons’ hiring terms, which stipulated “no combat” and “flee when endangered.”

To put it bluntly, you could ride it to fly, but you couldn’t ride it into a fight.

The main reason Mumu and MC had spent a fortune hiring these three Winged Dragons was out of concern. They worried that if they were unable to help Qin Feng against the Evil God Players, they could at least use the Winged Dragon Beasts’ flying ability to evacuate him from the Northern Forest to the safety of the Gulad Empire’s territory to the south. This would prevent Qin Feng’s physical body from suffering a gruesome death at the hands of those Evil God Players.

So, for all his complaining, Qin Feng was quick to pay up, simply tossing the 10 units of gold from his inventory into Mumu’s palm.

“Hurry up.”

“Stop dawdling.”

“If you have any other fees, just list them all out now.”

“Otherwise, by the time we reach the Evil God Players’ territory, Arthas will have already been sucked dry by that Lust Player.”

Su Mumu shrugged.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“He’ll be sucked dry even if we go now.”

“That’s just how the Evil God Players who serve the Void Evil God are. They have absurdly powerful ’Charm’ and ’Attribute Theft’ mechanics.”

“Trying to take them on solo is the same as just feeding them a kill.”

“You’ll just get completely shut down by them.”

Qin Feng was at a loss for words. “…”

“Uh?”

“Are you hinting at something about me?”

A humorless smile played on Su Mumu’s lips.

“Of course not, Your Majesty.”

“Right now, you’re my supreme commander and my direct superior.”

“I wouldn’t dare badmouth you.”

With that, she let out a sharp whistle. Two hired Winged Dragon Beasts immediately descended from the sky and docilely lowered their bodies.

One of the Winged Dragon Beasts turned its head to look at Qin Feng, then snorted a small puff of steam from its nostrils, indicating for him to climb onto its back.

[Ally Name: Winged Dragon (Hired Mount)]

[Race: Sub-Dragon]

[Life Value: 370/370]

[Mastered Skills: Flying (Consumes stamina, allows for prolonged flight)]

[Power Assessment: Zero-star (Gold)]

[Description: A newly adult Winged Dragon Beast from the Gulad Empire’s Dragon Cavalry Legion. It has not yet met the qualifications to become an official Mount for an Extraordinary Dragon Cavalry, but it already possesses considerable combat power. Restricted by its hiring contract, it will not attack any enemies for you and will automatically retreat to safety if it encounters extreme danger.]

Qin Feng vaulted onto the Winged Dragon Beast’s back, signaling it to take off immediately and follow Ashes, who was leading the way, while also glancing at the Winged Dragon’s unit panel.

Its Agility Attribute was 158.

’Not that high.’

But its agility-to-speed conversion rate was absurd.

Due to its large size, its ground speed was slightly slower than a Desert Wolf Cavalry’s, but when flying, it could reach a terrifying speed more than three times faster than a Wing Connection Desert Wolf Cavalry.

So far, only Ashes, who had maxed out its escape abilities, could fly faster than this Winged Dragon Beast and had better maneuverability.

So, as he flew through the air, Qin Feng couldn’t resist opening the private chat to message Mumu:

“Incredible!”

“This flying speed is insane!”

“If it reaches the one-star Extraordinary Realm, it could probably fly as fast as a modern airplane, couldn’t it?”

Su Mumu replied via the private channel:

“That’s right.”

“And it’s not just Winged Dragons.”

“Basically, all Flying Soldier Types that reach the Extraordinary Realm are incredibly fast.”

“For example, those two Celestial Horse Magical Beasts my cousin and I borrowed from a Lord Player last time we came to Jiang City to see you.”

“They were basically like two small private jets.”

Qin Feng typed back:

“Badass… Speaking of which, I’m really jealous of these three Winged Dragon Beasts’ Flying Ability. Can you get them to stay here permanently?”

Su Mumu replied:

“It’s possible.”

“But only if I can convince them to stay.”

“The hiring contracts I signed with each of these three Winged Dragon Beasts are only for one full year.”

“Once the year is up, they can leave whenever they want.”

“As for their original Dragon Cavalry masters, you don’t need to worry—the price I paid was essentially a buyout.”

Qin Feng asked curiously:

“Like that pack of Desert Giant Wolves I assigned to you as caravan guards?”

Su Mumu shook her head.

“No.”

“Not quite the same.”

“If your Desert Giant Wolves were native units, then after buying them from you, I’d still have to sign separate, individual hiring contracts with them.”

“That’s the only way to prevent them from slacking off or deserting.”

“But your Desert Giant Wolves are Divine Chosen Soldiers who are 100% loyal to you.”

“So as long as you don’t break the contract, they’ll never cause any trouble.”

“And I don’t need to pay an extra salary to maintain their Loyalty.”

Qin Feng rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

“I see.”

“No wonder you were willing to pay double the market price to hire my Desert Wolf Cavalry.”

“So it turns out you were saving a fortune on their daily wages?”

Hearing this, Su Mumu, perched on the other Winged Dragon, shrugged and said slowly:

“What can I say?”

“That’s just business.”

“I can accept a smaller profit, but I can never take a loss.”

Qin Feng pressed on, curious:

“So?”

“Do you have some kind of Awakened Talent that makes hiring contracts 100% effective?”

“Similar to a Contract Mechanism in other games?”

“Otherwise, if it’s just about the payment, with that insane flying speed, what’s to stop these three Winged Dragon Beasts from just taking off whenever they feel like it?”

“You’d never even find a trace of them, let alone get any compensation.”

Su Mumu tilted her head, a sly glint in her eyes.

“Why?”

“You really want to know?”

“Pay me first!”

Qin Feng was speechless.

“Seriously?!”

“Come on!”

“You’re charging for this too?”

“I told you all the details about the Evil Aura last time!”

“In exchange!”

“Shouldn’t you tell me about one of your Talent Effects for free in return?”

Su Mumu scoffed.

“You volunteered that information. So it definitely doesn’t count as a trade…”

As they spoke, the two Winged Dragon Beasts carrying them arrived at their destination.

The Burrow Warriors Qin Feng had posted at the cave exit to prevent the Evil God Players from escaping were now lined up in neat formation, standing ramrod straight in the woodlands of the Death Zone.

Due to the effect of the Clan Manager Talent, the Burrow Warriors and Skeleton Warriors were currently classified as “Native Creatures,” unable to benefit from any of the Talent Bonuses and skill buffs that Qin Feng applied to his Divine Chosen Soldier units.

Only Arthas, in his “Divine Descent” state, could grant them powerful combat abilities equivalent to Divine Chosen Soldiers.

Moreover, their descriptions also perfectly matched a “native background” story.

As a result, Su Mumu didn’t notice anything odd about these Undead Soldiers and simply asked Qin Feng out of curiosity:

“Burrow Warriors?”

“Looks like a brand-new Undead Soldier Type, huh?”

“Are they strong?”

“Is it worth me swearing fealty again, this time to that native hero, Arthas?”

Qin Feng replied truthfully:

“Not worth it.”

“They’re just cannon fodder.”

“Right now, the strongest native units I have are probably the Wolf Cavalry from the Wolfman Tribe.”

“If you’re planning to build a Cultural Camp, I suggest you go swear allegiance directly to Fenrir.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep