Chapter 73: Dawn City
Crocodile Zack\'s feet were still aglow with intricate patterns, and he sneered at Heber\'s plea, "Begging for mercy now? Too late!"
"Prepare to meet your end!"
With a thunderous shout, Crocodile Zack began to glow, signaling the imminent release of his skill.
At that precise moment, Jeremy\'s eyes flashed with determination. The Bone Spear in his hand trembled violently as he roared, "Seven Sins - Wrath!"
Instantly, an overwhelmingly fierce and terrifying aura erupted from Jeremy, so intense that even Crocodile Zack felt a profound fear welling up from deep within.
Before Crocodile Zack could react, Jeremy\'s figure blurred and vanished into thin air.
In the next instant, the Bone Spear, enveloped in a dark red glow, pierced through Crocodile Zack from behind.
With an emotionless expression, Jeremy coldly uttered two words, "Disaster Blade!"
The bone spear disregarded the swirling currents around Crocodile Zack, piercing a gaping hole right through his chest.
The skill casting was interrupted, and Crocodile Zack\'s weak point was instantly exploited.
This strike delivered an astronomical amount of damage!
Crocodile Zack\'s eyes bulged with disbelief and rage as he struggled to turn around, his gaze locking onto Jeremy, who had inexplicably appeared behind him. His eyes were filled with utter incredulity.
"This is impossible... How can your damage be this high?"
With his weak point exploited, Crocodile Zack was now paralyzed, caught in a state of rigidity.
Seizing the moment when the enemy is at their weakest.
Jeremy had no interest in battlefield chit-chat.
"Whirlwind Slash!"
"Soul Roar!"
"Judgment Blade!"
"Flames of Sin!"
...
A torrent of skills, as if costing nothing, completely engulfed Crocodile Zack.
The sky was filled with a kaleidoscope of skill lights, accompanied by incessant thunderous roars.
Feeling the ground\'s continuous tremors, Heber stared at Jeremy in a daze, swallowing hard and murmuring, "So brutal."
...
The relentless bombardment lasted for a full half-minute before Jeremy ceased his assault.
It wasn\'t that Jeremy didn\'t want to continue. Rather, there was nothing left where Crocodile Zack once stood.
The once mighty, level 55, class-awakened Crocodile Zack had been utterly obliterated by a mere level 39 player. Had Heber not witnessed it himself, he would have dismissed it as pure fantasy.
Watching Jeremy, who had just taken Crocodile Zack\'s spear and stored it in his inventory, then started walking towards him with an expressionless face, Heber made a firm decision. He absolutely had to recruit this incredibly powerful player into his caravan!
Amidst the awestruck and fearful gazes of the crowd, Jeremy, indifferent, entered the carriage and asked Heber, who had instinctively distanced himself, "Do you buy weapons?"
Jeremy had scanned the so-called Crocodile Gang earlier. They were essentially a bunch of paupers, with Crocodile Zack\'s spear being the only decent weapon.
The rest were not even worth Jeremy\'s attention.
Hearing this, Heber\'s eyes lit up. Casting aside his fear, he approached Jeremy eagerly, "Of course we do! Why wouldn\'t we?"
Jeremy handed the spear he had just retrieved to Heber and gestured towards the weapons left behind by the Crocodile Gang, saying, "In that case, I\'ll sell all of these to you."
Heber\'s eyes sparkled with excitement. "Excellent! It\'s a deal!"
As he spoke, Heber reached out to take the long spear from Jeremy\'s hand.
This iconic weapon of Crocodile Zack had been the object of his desire for quite some time.
Unexpectedly, despite his effort, Heber couldn\'t pull the spear away from Jeremy\'s grasp.
Jeremy narrowed his eyes and fixed Heber with a steady gaze. "I expect a fair price."
Heber immediately pounded his chest with resounding confidence. "Brother, rest assured, my business principles are rooted in absolute honesty!"
Jeremy nodded in acknowledgment before finally relinquishing the spear to Heber.
Surprisingly, after Heber had thoroughly examined and admired Crocodile Zack\'s renowned weapon, he handed it back to Jeremy, much to everyone\'s astonishment.
Seeing Jeremy\'s puzzled look, Heber explained, "Crocodile Zack has quite a few bounties on his head. With this weapon as proof, you can claim all those rewards, Brother Jeremy."
This turn of events made Jeremy regard the somewhat unconventional Sinner with newfound respect.
Heber could have easily kept this information to himself and claimed the bounty reward alone.
Given that merchants often prioritize profit, it would have been understandable.
Yet, Heber chose to forgo this easy gain, showcasing his integrity.
Jeremy silently noted this and said nothing, storing the spear back in his inventory.
Soon, the guards had collected all valuable items left by the Crocodile Gang.
After a careful inspection, Heber took out three translucent purple-gold coins from a small pouch at his waist.
With a pained expression, Heber handed the three coins to Jeremy, saying, "Jeremy, these are purple gold coins, the most widely circulated currency in the Land of Eternal Night. Take them."
Instinctively, Jeremy used The Eye of Omniscience on the three coins.
[Tip: Three purple gold coins made by the Black Gold Tower of the Land of Eternal Night, crafted from Purple Shining Crystals, can be exchanged for three hundred gold coins. Extremely valuable.]
Jeremy accepted the three purple gold coins without a word and resumed resting with his eyes closed in the carriage.
Seeing Jeremy accept the coins without any questions, a genuine smile appeared on Heber\'s face.
Once everything was settled, the caravan continued its journey.
...
After another half day of travel, Jeremy finally saw an endless city wall ahead.
Clearly, this massive structure was one of the top cities in the Land of Eternal Night, Dawn City.
Seeing the city, Heber visibly relaxed.
With a thud, Heber lay back, causing the carriage to shake under his large frame.
Heber said to Jeremy, "Now that we\'re here, we can relax. No one dares to make trouble in Dawn City. Jeremy, get some rest. Once we enter the city, I\'ll take you to meet the master alchemist."
Jeremy, still resting with his eyes closed, nodded to show he understood.
After a short distance, a group of about a dozen cavalrymen approached at breakneck speed from afar.
These people were all mounted on uniform black-scaled unicorn horses. Though they numbered only a dozen or so, they exuded the imposing presence of a mighty army.
Amid the thunderous noise, Jeremy instinctively became alert.
In stark contrast, Heber and his companions seemed utterly unperturbed by the rapidly approaching cavalry, and there was even a hint of excitement in the air.
With a swift turn, Heber explained to Jeremy, "That\'s the Black-Armored Patrol, a unique security force of Dawn City. Our caravan is registered with the city, so there\'s no issue."
Indeed, as the Black-Armored Patrol drew within a hundred meters of Heber\'s caravan, a faint light flickered on the flag bearing the emblem of a hippopotamus.
Upon seeing this, the Black-Armored Patrol immediately ignored Jeremy and his group, continuing on their path without interruption.
Noticing that the patrol did not harass them, Jeremy nodded silently in approval.
As Heber and his party drew closer to Dawn City, the traffic on the road gradually increased.
Seeing the flag of Heber\'s caravan, many recognized Heber, the Sinner, and greeted him from afar.
Most of these individuals, like Heber, had the heads of beasts on human bodies, clearly indicating they belonged to the same race.
Heber, brimming with pride, stood up and began boasting to the crowd about how they had just vanquished the Crocodile Gang.
Jeremy, feeling the curious glances directed at him, clenched his teeth, thinking, "This blabbermouth never knows when to shut up!"
Sensing the cold aura emanating from Jeremy, Heber gave an awkward smile and gradually fell silent.
Finally, they arrived at the gates of Dawn City.
Now up close, the grandeur of Dawn City was clear to Jeremy.
The towering gray-white city walls of Dawn City stand over thirty meters high, and its black iron gates, each more than ten meters tall, resemble a giant mouth, continuously swallowing and disgorging streams of people..
This gray-white dragon stretched across the Sunset Plains, effectively keeping the wild and dangerous elements at bay.
At this moment, a seemingly endless queue was waiting to be inspected.
Fortunately, Heber\'s registered caravan had a separate lane.
The line for registered caravans was relatively short, and soon it was Jeremy\'s group\'s turn.
A squad of soldiers, clad in teal heavy armor and wielding standard-issue spears, blocked Heber\'s caravan.
A captain-like figure stepped forward and addressed Jeremy\'s party, "Halt! Present your guild documents and trade permits."
With a smile, Heber retrieved two small booklets from his waist pouch and respectfully handed them to the captain.
As the captain scrutinized the booklets, he instructed his subordinates, "Search them. Make sure they aren\'t carrying any contraband."
Two soldiers stepped forward, holding mirror-like devices, and scanned Heber\'s goods.
"Captain, everything\'s clear." one of them reported.
With the inspection completed, Jeremy and his party were finally allowed to enter Dawn City.