After breakfast, Zhang Pingfan logged into the game and quickly received a quest from the system miss.
"Ding! System notification: The system has issued you a new quest. Go to the Dragon's Lair and sign a master-servant agreement with the dragon Nefarian, making Nefarian the guardian beast of Pingfan City!"
Zhang Pingfan was stunned. What was the level of a dragon? He was currently level 0. If everything went as expected, dragons should be at the same level as the city lords.
However, it wasn't a big problem. He had the god-tier talent skill "Turn Enemies into Friends."
"Ding! This quest should be very simple for you, so I've added a restriction: within three days, sign master-servant agreements with 10 Nefarian dragons!"
"Pfft! Are you crazy? Don't you know that my skill can only be used once a day?"
"Ding! I know, and that's the cooldown I set."
Zhang Pingfan raged at the sky, waving his arms.
"Then you're completely insane! You know my skill has a flaw, yet you want me to sign genealogical agreements with 10 dragons in three days. You're practically sending me to my death!"
"Ding! Blame me? The quest has been issued and cannot be withdrawn. Hurry up and complete it. Oh, by the way, the Dragon's Lair is in the highest-level map of your Pingfan City! Good luck!"
"Good luck with your sister! How is this quest even possible? You're definitely sick!"
"Ding! Lightning punishment preparing 3-2-1!"
"Whoosh!"
This time, the lightning punishment was unexpectedly fast. Zhang Pingfan, still roaring, was struck black.
Smoke rising from his mouth, Zhang Pingfan gave the sky the middle finger, and a second lightning strike fell.
"I'll go at your mother's!"
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Pingfan lay on the ground in his small yard, completely numb.
Ritian: That heavenly girl is really bold, striking the master in front of Liu Shen. Only she dares to do something like this. Anyone else would have turned to ashes by now.
Koi: When can you let my wife in?
Ritian: You pervert, always thinking about women.
Koi: That's my wife.
Ritian: I can't chat with you anymore.
Koi: I don't chat with single dogs either, especially one that's literally a dog.
Ritian: ...
A few minutes later, Zhang Pingfan got up from the ground. The tingling sensation finally disappeared.
"Damn it, you strike me with lightning for every little thing! Do you think you're the only one who can use lightning? Don't let me catch you!"
He shook off the residual electricity from his body.
This quest seemed impossible to complete.
The Dragon's Lair didn't seem as simple as he imagined, with only one dragon.
If everything went as expected, the number of dragons inside would likely be enough to scare him to death, otherwise, why would they want him to capture 10 dragons in three days?
"It seems it's time to deploy the high-level NPCs around me!"
"Hei Huang, put down your quest and come here. I have a task to do!"
"Master, what do you need me to do?"
"Do you know about the Dragon's Lair?"
Hei Huang frowned.
"I do, but why are you suddenly mentioning the Dragon's Lair? Is this quest related to the Dragon's Lair?"
Zhang Pingfan nodded and said, "I want to capture ten Nefarian dragons to be the guardian beasts of Pingfan City. What do you think?"
Hei Huang's expression instantly turned grim.
"Master, Nefarian is considered a high-level dragon among dragons. Capturing one or two shouldn't be difficult, but capturing ten would be quite challenging. However, if Big Brother steps in, it should be fine!"
As he spoke, Hei Huang glanced at Ritian.
Zhang Pingfan frowned.
"Could it be that dragons also like to pet dogs?"
"Are you sure it's okay to bring Ritian? I think it would be safer to call the three city lords!"
Hei Huang thought that while his big brother was indeed formidable, bringing those three would be more secure, as the master's safety was paramount.
"It's better to have them three present!"
Zhang Pingfan breathed a sigh of relief. Hei Huang's confidence should mean there was no problem. However, Zhang Pingfan automatically ignored Ritian's role. After all, how much use could a dog be? Even if dragons liked petting dogs, it wouldn't be enough to catch 10 of them.
"Ritian, time to work. I heard dragons like to pet you. I'll take you to experience it. Don't get scared and wet yourself!"
Ritian directly gave him a disdainful look, leaving Zhang Pingfan to interpret it as he wished.
Zhang Pingfan took out the dog leash and put it around Ritian's neck.
Thus, the two humans and one dog arrived at Pingjiang City. Soon, the City Lord of Pingjiang City followed behind Zhang Pingfan. Then, the City Lord of Seven Stars and the City Lord of the Seaside also arrived.
In fact, the four of them and one dog were standing at the entrance of Pingfan City.
Zhang Pingfan said with utmost seriousness, "I must remind you all to be serious. I don't know how powerful the dragons in the Dragon's Lair are, so don't lose your lives and blame me for not warning you!"
The City Lord of the Seaside smiled and said, "A mere Dragon's Lair, with us here, is nothing. Let alone ten Nefarians, even a hundred would be no problem!"
Nonsense, with Big Brother Ritian here, these things are just ants. They didn't take this quest seriously at all, as they had Big Brother to protect them.
If they had been asked to go to the Dragon's Lair before, they would have been unwilling to go even if they were beaten to death, as the sheer number of dragons inside was something they couldn't handle.
The City Lord of the Seaside led the way, with Zhang Pingfan and Ritian protected in the center.
Thus, five people and one dog headed towards the level 60 leveling area of Pingfan City.
"Do you see that? It's the Village Chief and them, and the City Lord of Shanda City is also here!"
"I see them. The Village Chief is going out so boldly, he must be on a quest. Something incredible will probably happen soon."
"It's probably related to this update."
"Who knows? The Village Chief always acts in his own style. It's a shame the Village Chief hasn't issued quests in a long time, and we don't know when we'll get a share of the pie."
"The Village Chief usually issues quests to members of the Eternal Myth guild now. It's normal for us not to get quests, right? Unless we join the Eternal Myth guild!"
"Ah, I know that, but the conditions to join the Eternal Myth guild are too harsh. We can only wait for the Village Chief to issue a large-scale quest."
The Village Chief's departure attracted countless onlookers.
Some people wanted to see where the Village Chief was going. As they followed, they realized the Village Chief was heading towards the level 40 area, and they couldn't go any further.
They could only watch helplessly as the Village Chief left their sight and headed to higher-level areas.
One thing that's very frustrating about this game is that the maps are large, and there are very few teleportation points.
Especially for Zhang Pingfan, who cannot use return scrolls. When going, everyone is equal, but players can use teleportation scrolls to return to the city, while Zhang Pingfan can only walk back step by step.
After walking for about half an hour, everyone finally arrived at the level 60 leveling area, but this was not yet the location of the Dragon's Lair; they still had to walk a bit further.
However, the monsters here shared many similarities with dragons.
For example, earth dragons and flood dragons were relatively low-level dragon species.
"It looks like we're almost there!"
"Master, be careful. We are about to enter the Dragon's Lair area. You will usually see some patrolling dragons soon."
As soon as he finished speaking, a dragon's roar sounded, attracting the attention of Zhang Pingfan and the others.