Adventure: My Skills Evolve Infinitely

But these were all matters for later, so Lin Mo didn’t dwell on them for now.

In addition to Healing Technique, his Clear Stream Technique had, of course, also improved.

"Skill: Clear Stream Technique Lv2 (20/20) has leveled up!"

"Current Skill: Clear Stream Technique Lv3 (40/40)."

"Attribute Gained: Magic Power +2!"

"Skill: Clear Stream Technique Lv3 (40/40) has leveled up!"

"Current Skill: Clear Stream Technique Lv4 (14/100)."

Clear Stream Technique also jumped two levels in a row, reaching Level 4 just like Healing Technique and granting Lin Mo another 2 points of Basic Magic Power.

He had done what he could and was now well-rested. It was time to get back to questing.

Lin Mo had already spoken with Landon and the others, and they were preparing to set out on their next adventure tomorrow.

However, they hadn’t yet decided which specific quest to take.

They planned to discuss it in the afternoon when they went to the bathhouse.

That’s right. Before setting out on their next adventure, the Silver Radiance Squad and Cyan Orchid Squad were grouping up this afternoon to go relax at the Hailiya Bathhouse.

Lin Mo had been there once before with his former teammates, Alton and his group. He could still vividly recall his embarrassing ordeal during the massage...

This time, Lin Mo was determined he wouldn’t go to the rest area for anything. He would just soak in the bath and leave as soon as he was done.

’Right, there’s also the matter of the manor,’ he thought. ’This afternoon will be the perfect chance to ask Feney.’

After returning to the inn to rest for a bit, he took advantage of the fatigue from having just cast a great deal of Magic to enter a period of Meditation.

[Basic Meditation Skill] Skill Level +1

[Basic Meditation Skill] Skill Level +1

"Skill: Basic Meditation Skill Lv1 (10/10) has leveled up!"

"Current Skill: Basic Meditation Skill Lv2 (0/20)."

’That wasn’t easy,’ he thought. ’This skill has finally reached Level 2.’

’And this is a Blue Excellent Level skill, with a max of Level 7. Who knows when I’ll ever get it to Full Level...’

’So Meditation Technique must be the most difficult Magic to learn and improve!’

After a simple lunch, Lin Mo and Ali set off for the bathhouse.

They arrived a bit early and waited in the lobby for a short while. Soon, Feney, Landon, and the rest of the group arrived one after another, all dressed in casual clothes.

Even in relatively plain clothes, the powerful Adventurer aura they exuded was undeniable, constantly drawing sideways glances. Most of the onlookers were Adventurers themselves, which is why they could more easily recognize how formidable the group was—especially the members of the Cyan Orchid Squad. After all, Lin Mo and Feney were still green, both young and with little adventuring experience. And while Ali was slightly better off, she was still no match for the seasoned veterans of the Cyan Orchid Squad.

A fair few people recognized Landon and came up to greet him. Although Landon had no idea who they were, he would still politely exchange a few pleasantries.

By the time they reached the counter, the attendant’s demeanor had become noticeably restrained.

’How should I put it... This has its pros and cons, I guess.’

The upside was that no fool would dare to cause them trouble. The downside was that drawing so much attention was somewhat uncomfortable.

So, Landon simply took out 1 Gold Coin and requested a private, enclosed bath.

The private area had separate baths for men and women, as well as a mixed bathing area in the middle. The pools weren’t as large as the public ones, but they were still very nice, hence the steeper price: 1 Gold Coin for half a day.

In the changing room, they got changed. Just like his last visit, staff members came to take their clothes away to be washed and pressed.

Stepping into the pool, Lin Mo let out a long, contented sigh. ’Nothing beats a good soak every once in a while. This is so relaxing.’

Landon and the others followed suit, entering the pool one by one. As for Ali, Feney, and Sheela, the only woman in the Cyan Orchid Squad, they were naturally on the women’s side.

"Alright, so what’s our next quest?"

After they had enjoyed the water for a while, Huck was the one to start the conversation.

"Probably the usual stuff... It’s been so many years, there’s nothing new anymore."

Benny was pretty nonchalant about it. To him, one quest was the same as any other.

"But I’ve been hearing things through the grapevine lately..."

Huck adopted a mysterious expression. "The City Lord’s Mansion... I think they’re about to issue another special quest."

"Oh? Go on..."

Landon immediately looked over.

"Think about it. We’ve cleared out Goblin Settlements before. We found plenty of young Goblins, but have we ever found any of the girls they kidnapped?"

"That’s true."

Hearing this, Lin Mo was taken aback. He had wiped out a fair number of Goblin Settlements himself, but he’d never once seen any of the captured girls.

He had, however, seen plenty of human bones—remains of those eaten by Goblins—but they were almost certainly from male victims.

Goblins don’t usually kill female captives, as they need them for reproduction.

Of course, given the harsh conditions in the wild, not to mention the constant abuse and torment from the Goblins, the women usually didn’t survive for long.

A Goblin embryo takes about a month to incubate. Most of the captured women don’t survive a third birth.

Even so, it stood to reason that in any reasonably sized Goblin Settlement, you’d expect to find at least some of these victims.

Yet in all the Goblin Settlements Lin Mo had wiped out, he had, without exception, never found a single human girl.

He did, however, occasionally see other Demons that had been tormented by the Goblins.

’So, why is that?’

Lin Mo had never considered the question in detail before, but now that he did...

"Maybe they’re being moved somewhere else?"

"It’s possible."

Benny, the Knight, nodded.

Landon frowned.

This was a chilling thought. If the Goblins had truly developed the awareness to transfer, trade, or centralize these "scarce resources," it meant they had achieved a rather high level of organization. Moreover, this organization was no longer limited to individual settlements; they had started to link up, forming a genuine Goblin "society."

If that were the case, then a Lord Level Goblin had likely been born a long time ago!

"Or there’s another possibility..."

After Landon voiced his concerns, Lin Mo thought for a moment before offering a different perspective. "Behind these Goblins... what if there’s someone masterminding things for them?"

He recalled the town from when he first arrived in this world. Even though the Goblin disaster there had become severe, the Lord of Roland Town had adamantly refused to dispatch Guards or take any measures. He even took an extremely passive stance on defending the town, which only caused the disaster to worsen.

This went beyond mere incompetence.

Besides, could someone capable of becoming a Mage truly be that ignorant?

Malice seemed a more likely explanation than stupidity.

In other words, the Lord of Roland Town—and the Lawrence Clan behind him—were deliberately allowing the Goblins to grow stronger. They might have even been helping them along!

Goblins, Necromancers, the Lawrence Family...

There had to be a connection between the three.

’But what could their goal be?’

For now, Lin Mo had no way of knowing.

A diversion? But even for the sake of appearances, just to avoid suspicion, they would have had to suffer considerable losses themselves.

Moreover, although Silver Stream City and Lania City were at odds with each other, Lin Mo didn’t believe that those nobles would go to such great lengths for a so-called "grudge."

The more likely reason was "profit." There had to be something in it for them!

"So, Huck, what’s the news you heard?"

Benny asked from the side.

"The news I’ve gathered is that the Lord City Lord has been investigating the very issue we were just discussing. They haven’t had any results until now, but just recently... yesterday, to be exact, it seems they finally found something!"

"What’d they find?"

"The Lord City Lord considered the possibility that the Goblins were moving the captured girls, so he specifically assigned personnel to investigate the movements and tracks of several Goblin Settlements. They finally found a few clues... Just yesterday, scouts discovered several entrances leading to underground passages! A preliminary probe suggests they’re Goblin-built bunkers, used to imprison the girls they’ve taken!"

"They’ve progressed to the point of building bunkers?!"

Landon was completely shocked. "If that’s true, then a Lord Level Goblin has definitely been born! It must be plotting something in the shadows!"

"A rescue operation in the bunkers... If they’re short-handed, they’ll most likely post a quest. So... do we want in?"

Compared to Landon’s anxiety, Benny the Knight was clearly more focused on the matter at hand.