Chapter 442 - No Rush
TL: LifeisaJourney
"It would be just the same if she brought you there!" Liu Gan whined.
"Uncle, uncle! Take me to the restroom! Quickly!" Wan'er started jumping excitedly. She completely ignored what Liu Gan had said.
There was nothing Liu Gan could do. He couldn't grab the girl and force her to go along with him. He definitely couldn't punish her. As long as he needed the puzzle map from her mom, he could only patiently wait.
Whether it was effective or not, Liu Gan still lectured her. Then, Liu Gan and the other three people headed for the restroom once again. The difference between this time was that Wan'er was moving very slowly. In fact, she was even more distracted this time around, so her pace was slower. She kept looking around as if she was sightseeing and jumping left and right. Occasionally, her inquisitive nature would lead her to squat down on the floor to look at the wildlife.
Liu Gan tried to usher her to move faster. It didn't work at all. Contrarily, the more he yelled for her to move, the more she rebelled. She would laugh in his face and run in circles.
"If you don't go to the restroom, you will pee in your pants!" Liu Gan was getting impatient as he vented his anger. If he could, he would've grabbed Wan'er, tossed her over his shoulder, and then run to the restroom. The quicker he could get it done, the sooner the puzzle map would become his. Frustrated with the fact that Wan'er was an apparition, Liu Gan had no power over her.
"Lord Liu, she is just a child, they are all like that. The more you rush them, the more they become disobedient. Don't play her game. If you don't urge her to do anything, she will take the initiative and walk to the restroom with you," Stratos couldn't stay quiet any longer. He spoke up as if he was an expert on these types of issues. The only help he could offer was to verbally guide Liu Gan, since the apparition didn't seem to interact with anyone other than Liu Gan.
"Lord Liu must be inexperienced when dealing with young children," Ana spoke up.
"Yes, I can tell," Star Yu agreed.
Liu Gan was so enraged over the situation, they could see that his face was turning black. If he knew beforehand that this was going to happen, he would've let Ana or Stratos interact with Wan'er so they could finish escorting her. He would just protect them from the sidelines. If the Crocodile creature appeared again, he would be responsible for leading it away.
Now that the situation had taken a turn for the worse, Liu Gan could only play with the hand he had been dealt.
Just like that, the four humans and one apparition slowly headed toward the bathroom. Every couple of minutes, Wan'er would wander off several meters away. Just when they least expected it, the Crocodile charged over at Liu Gan.
"Lord Liu, I will take away its attention! You continue focusing on the mission!" Ana shouted to Liu Gan.
"Sounds good! Be careful!" Liu Gan replied.
"Come this way!" Ana shriek loudly to capture the creature's attention. She also threw a rock for extra emphasis.
What happened next was completely unexpected. The Crocodile creature had to be purposely assigned to sabotage their mission. Even with shouts, screams, and objects thrown at it, the creature had one target in mind. It focused on interrupting Liu Gan.
Liu Gan was disheartened by the fact that the Crocodile was there to sabotage them. Putting into consideration that the creature was there, he doubted that he could complete the task. Ultimately, he decided to lead the Crocodile even further away.
This time, he led the Crocodile to the forest on the outskirts of the Moonlight Gulf Theme Park. By the time he returned, Wan'er was right back at the beginning - the padded playground. Just like last time, Wan'er ignored the other players, waiting patiently for Liu Gan.
Her actions confirmed one important point. Whoever interacted with the NPC first would be responsible for finishing the mission. Outsiders couldn't help in any way. Recalling this, Liu Gan didn't interact with the young girl. However, she seemed to have mistaken him for her uncle and walked right up to him.
This was so depressing, having to start all over again...
But, then again, if Liu Gan wasn't the one who had accepted the mission, the other players wouldn't be able to handle the Crocodile's harassment. In other words, if the Crocodile was solely focused on targeting the mission holder, no one but Liu Gan could control the situation. Either way, whether it was Liu Gan or the other people, the mission would've been interrupted.
For the third time, Liu Gan walked silently along with Wan'er. Needless to say, her pace was once again very slow, with no urgency at all. Even if he wanted to rush, he silently tailed behind her. Instead he took a different approach and remained silent. After all, his lectures were useless against her.
Around the same location, the Crocodile naturally returned once again.
It seemed like no matter how far Liu Gan led it away, it would return back here. Like a homing missile, it would come back and interrupt the mission. The Crocodile's action completely disregarded logic. It was like it was born to add to Liu Gan's troubles.
"Go to hell, you vile creature!" Liu Gan finally snapped. He started fighting against the Crocodile.
The Crocodile's close quarter attacks were very fast, especially when it snapped forward and bit at Liu Gan. The greataxe couldn't penetrate through its skin from range. His only solution was to rely on close quarters combat. It was inevitable that his Mist Armor took on most of the damage he incurred.
After suffering a certain degree of damage, Liu Gan could use Enhanced Crescent Blade several times. Soon after, the Crocodile would be killed. That was when Liu Gan would take rush Wan'er to walk ahead faster. But, Wan'er wouldn't listen to his pleas. Within a minute, the Crocodile would recover and charge in from behind them. As an undying creature, it was quite formidable.
Liu Gan would have to stop what he was doing to fight against the Crocodile, wasting his precious time to kill the creature. After the Crocodile died, the other players would take the body parts to somewhere far away. That also proved to be ineffective. The moment it was time to recover, the creature glued its body parts back together and charged back at Liu Gan.
Because of this, Liu Gan's escorting service was as slow as a turtle. While walking with Wan'er, he would have to stop and kill the Crocodile. This task was slowly breaking Liu Gan down. However, now that he had reached this far, he didn't want to give up.
The majority of the distance was covered when the Crocodile was regenerating, which took around a minute. Then, they would have to stop for Liu Gan to kill the creature before they started moving again. Every time Liu Gan had to fight, it would take several more minutes.
The distance to the restroom was quite short. However, for Liu Gan's group, even after thirty minutes, they still hadn't reached their destination. After the Crocodile's eighth death, it stood up, but its coloration changed. It was now a dark maroon color!