"Find a woman?" Fang Hong was startled for a moment and somewhat uncertain, "We only perceived that someone was stealthily observing us from the shadows; we still can't be sure of the person's identity."

"What a coincidence," the person said, "We felt the same, although we managed to catch a glimpse of the observer." He gestured above his head with his hand. "It was a Rotao woman, the kind with ears on her head."

Fang Hong was slightly taken aback, an elegant figure flashing subconsciously through his mind. But after a moment of thought, he shook his head, "There's a question, when did you notice the observer?"

"About a few minutes ago."

"Ha, what a coincidence, we too," blurted out a Papalarian. But as soon as he had spoken, he realized something was amiss and turned to look at the others, all of whom had peculiar expressions on their faces.

Then Fang Hong asked, "So where exactly did you spot this individual?"

The man also realized something was off, hesitating before he replied, "We encountered that woman near Lady Tengye's inn, and you?"

"At Fisherman's Fork," Diket answered indifferently from the back.

Fisherman's Fork and Lady Tengye's inn were a good long distance apart, prompting the others to exchange puzzled looks upon hearing this.

"Ha, didn't I say it," Parker boasted triumphantly, "Most likely it's that nonexistent lady some people still don't believe in."

Tianlan, infuriated, lifted her foot and kicked him into a somersault from behind.

The Papalarian climbed up from the ground, face smeared with dirt, and angrily exclaimed, "What are you doing!"

The young French girl looked up at the sky and replied earnestly, "Naturally, you were kicked by that nonexistent lady, of course."

Which provoked a round of low laughter from everyone.

This little interlude eased the atmosphere between the two parties, and the lead man on the opposite side let his Archer put down their weapons and came over to extend his hand to Fang Hong, revealing what he thought was a friendly smile, "My name is Hansen, the captain of this Adventure Group, a fourteenth-level Iron Defender; are you all here for the three artifacts of Dolifen?"

Only then did Fang Hong have time to size up the man.

An Iron Defender is the secondary rank of a Warrior, achieved when one accumulates over two hundred thousand experience points and invests more experience in defense skills over offensive skills. This position often serves as the backbone of a team and naturally cannot be too feeble. The man before him met these criteria—broad-shouldered and burly, even slightly overweight, wearing ordinary chainmail, and a middle-aged man over forty with a slight bald spot.

Fang Hong shook hands with him, firm and rough, the handshake of a man weathered by hardships. As for the man's question, he didn't refute it and just nodded.

"Then I think we can cooperate. Your class is Combat Artisan, right?" Hansen immediately jumped at the chance, continuously glancing at Fang Hong's Fortress Walker while asking.

"Cooperate?" Fang Hong looked skeptically at the man. "How would that work?"

"Let me explain," a man who was quite tall and wearing a long cloak emerged from behind Hansen and started speaking, "I've hired this Adventure Group simply to study the phenomena in Dolifen. I'm not particularly interested in the Magic Guided Conductor itself."

Fang Hong looked up at the man; his face was hidden beneath the hood of his cloak, making it impossible to discern his features. However, the mature and world-weary voice suggested he wasn't young. Such a person was most likely not an Invoker.

But it wasn't certain; he could also be a tourist. Fang Hong scrutinized the man further and noticed he indeed wasn't wearing any Magic Guided Reactor Equipment, and asked, "Are you a Scholar?"

"Somewhat," the man answered equivocally.

"So your proposal is that we handle the quest while you provide assistance, and afterwards we take responsibility for obtaining the items?"

"That's one way of putting it."

After thinking for a moment, Fang Hong replied, "I need to discuss it with my companions."

"Take your time," the man gestured to Fang Hong to proceed as he pleased. Fang Hong then pulled the others aside to ask whether they should follow this course of action—after all, they were not here for any Equipment, but had come to this place because of the Dragon Worshippers.

"Of course," the Papalarian replied as if it were the most natural thing, "If we don't get the items and don't encounter the Dragon Worshippers, won't we have come here for nothing? For Papalarians, wasting time is shameful."

"You're the last one who should be saying that," Tianlan cut down his words mercilessly.

Gita hesitated before answering, "Brother Ade, currently we have no other leads. Overall, the three artifacts of Dolifen are still the most valuable main quest in this abandoned town, and it also offers the best chance of encountering those people. Aren't those our previous assumptions?"

"That's true, but can we trust these people?" Fang Hong looked to Atira and Hilveld for their opinion.

"Do you all remember how long it has been since we left Elpaxin?" Hilveld simply asked in return.

"Let me calculate," Parker immediately started counting on his fingers, "One, two, three, four, one, two, three, almost three days, right?"

"Today will be the sixth day," Fang Hong understood the Noble girl's implication. On the seventh day, the ship arranged by Princess Briana would reach Short Bay, but they could not possibly wait until then to leave Dolifen.

In other words, realistically, they had only one day left, but the three artifacts of Dolifen would only appear once within a single day.

Atira then shared her experience, "It's quite normal for Adventurers to cooperate on quests, but one cannot be too relaxed and must maintain vigilance."

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