Chapter 130: Dividing the Gold Once More

“Vampire Cloak, starting bid 120 gold.”
“130 gold.”
“150 gold.”
“160 gold.”
“190 gold.”

Seven bidders took turns raising the price, pushing it up to 190 gold. Chu Cheng sat to the side, looking helpless.
He wanted it too, but had no money.
He only had 129 gold to his name, barely enough for the starting bid.
Poor and helpless, all he could do was watch them bid.

After a brief and fierce competition, the vampire cloak finally sold for a staggering 245 gold—twice what he had.

Next up was the third item: the Necromancer’s Deathbell accessory.
This one was even more fiercely contested. Although there were only two mages in the group, the competition was intense.
Both sides were seasoned veterans who had been in the Starspire Tower for years, with substantial wealth. Their bids were generous and bold.
Chu Cheng was broke now, but given his current rate of earning, he would accumulate a considerable fortune within a year and stand alongside them.

After two mages battled fiercely, the Deathbell accessory was sold for a terrifying 510 gold, claimed by Feng Lingxing.
The other bidder came from the Thunderclap Squad, who probably spent heavily before and didn’t press the fight to the end this time.

With the auction concluded, Thunderclap began tallying their spoils and dividing the gold.

“Necromantic Water Formula, 20 gold; Corpse Poison New Star War Spell Scroll, 40 gold; Death’s Eye War Spell Scroll, 45 gold; 11 Rare Soul Gems, 50 gold; 3 Epic Soul Gems, totaling 77 gold; Death Magic Hood, 120 gold; Vampire Cloak, 245 gold; Necromancer’s Deathbell, 510 gold.”
“In total, 1,107 gold in revenue.”

As the words fell, excitement erupted. Many whistled in delight.
Thunderclap smiled and waved his hand:
“There are fifteen of us to share; that averages to 73 gold and 80 silver each. Any objections? No? Then that’s how it’s divided.”
“Of course no objections.”
“Good. Let’s begin the transactions one by one.”

Half a minute later, with 73 gold and 80 silver in hand, Chu Cheng’s fortune instantly surpassed two hundred gold.
“Not bad at all!”
Though he didn’t get a single piece of equipment, this haul brought in over 150 gold, roughly equivalent to one purple-tier item.

And this was just the spoils from the Cursed Fortress. In this dungeon, there were two other large undead fortresses like it, plus the Scourge Four Horsemen and the Scourge City. They didn’t dare hope to claim all the rewards—just securing one more would suffice.

With the gold divided, the group rested briefly, then mounted and departed from the Cursed Fortress.
Their spirits were high, their gains plentiful.
Having fought shoulder to shoulder these past few days, they were more practiced now, chatting as they traveled.
Everyone knew Chu Cheng was a newcomer, unfamiliar with the dungeon, and were happy to share some non-sensitive information.

“I’ll tell you, even though we’ve cleared the Cursed Fortress, that doesn’t mean we can just swagger through the dungeon. The Cursed Fortress ranks lowest among the four undead strongholds. The other two fortresses have transcendent-level undead lords stationed; you can’t take them down without assembling hundreds.”

Thunderclap’s battle bear matched pace beside Chu Cheng as he explained the Plague Lands dungeon:
“Besides, the Scourge Four Horsemen are powerful lords, all above level fifty. Their strength is formidable—one false move and you’ll lose people.”

Curious, Chu Cheng asked immediately:
“A transcendent-level boss? Can we really take them on?”

Thunderclap shook his head:
“Not by ourselves. But I have a special quest item that greatly suppresses the Scourge Four Horsemen’s power. Once suppressed, their strength is only slightly above the Death Knights we killed in the Cursed Fortress. With our power, we can handle them.”

“Impressive!”

They left the Cursed Fortress and headed north.
Crossing the wasteland, they hunted countless undead along the way, with a few occasional drops—better than nothing.

After two days of travel, Chu Cheng noticed Thunderclap’s direction seemed predetermined. Curious, he asked, and Thunderclap smiled:
“You just noticed?”

He unfolded a finely crafted map, pointing to it:
“This is the Cursed Fortress; this is where we stand now. Our destination is the Plague Fortress. Look at the map—it’s the central fortress of the Plague Lands dungeon, the undead legion’s core.”

“The Scourge Four Horsemen don’t have fixed patrol routes, making it hard to ambush them precisely in the wilderness. But one thing’s certain: their patrol routes intersect around the Plague Fortress. If we set up scouts here, we can intercept them outside the fortress.”

“Oh!”

After three days wandering the wilds, the group arrived near the Plague Fortress.
But to their surprise, instead of undead wandering nearby as expected, the ground was littered with bones and torn corpses.

“Is someone attacking the Plague Fortress?”
“Let’s go check.”

The group hurried toward the fortress. Soon, they saw a massive black fortress towering over the plain, and near it, a huge pile of undead bones.

No one was seen in that direction, so they circled around the fortress to the other side. As they rounded the corner, a loud command rang out:
“Stop right there!”

A figure emerged from behind a pile of undead bones, eyes scanning the group. He said:
“There’s a joint team planning to assault the Plague Fortress ahead. You know the rules.”

Thunderclap stepped forward, nodding:
“We know the rules. We’re not joining the fight. Our team’s target is the Scourge Four Horsemen. We want to wait near the fortress. Don’t worry, we won’t interfere.”

The man nodded:
“I’ll ask first.”

He took a few steps back, lowering his head as if consulting others on a channel.

After a while, he looked up and said to Thunderclap:
“The captain wants me to ask if you’ll join the joint team to attack the Plague Fortress together?”

Many in the group showed surprise, but Thunderclap, as if expecting this, asked:
“How many people are in your team?”

The man replied promptly:
“Over sixty.”

“Only that many and you dare attack the Plague Fortress?”
“Heh, right now we’re clearing the outskirts, waiting for reinforcements.”

“I’ll discuss with my teammates first.”
“Go ahead.”

Thunderclap turned to the group and asked:
“What do you all think? Should we join?”

They pondered.
Chu Cheng remained expressionless, unaware of the Plague Fortress’s true strength—ignorance breeding fearlessness.
Their strength was considerable, and with powerful life-saving abilities, they naturally felt no fear.

After a brief discussion, Thunderclap asked each member, including Chu Cheng. After tallying, he said:
“Fifteen in total; twelve agree. The majority favors joining, so the minority will follow. Let’s go for it.”

“Let’s do it.”
“To battle.”