Chapter 35: Doubt, Meant to be Shattered!

Two days later, in the northern district of Star City, at the location of the B-level otherworldly gate "Plague Forest."

This place used to be an amusement park, but it had now become heavily fortified. A temporary isolation wall, three meters high, sealed off the perimeter, with numerous armed officers standing guard.

Among the gathered awakened ones at the gate, a cute girl holding a smartphone on a selfie stick was live streaming, speaking to her audience.

"Hello everyone. Today marks the third day since the Awakened Guild issued the mission to subdue the otherworldly gate."

"But the situation doesn't look optimistic. Many have experienced poisoning symptoms."

"Your correspondent, Jill, will continue reporting for you!"

At that moment, there were five hundred thousand viewers online, with a continuous stream of comments.

[When will the host descend into the dungeon?]

[I'm really curious about what the otherworldly gate looks like...]

[You guys actually want Jill to go into the dungeon? That's too much. What if she gets hurt?]

[Claiming to be an awakened one but not entering dungeons, just promoting around with the title, such a host should be unfollowed immediately!]

Jill, seeing the direction the comments in her live stream were taking, started to see more and more people setting the tone.

She explained helplessly: "It's not that I don't want to go into the instance. I'd love to! But the signal near the otherworldly gates gets interfered with, and then I wouldn't be able to stream. What would you watch then?"

Jill was also in Star City, invited to join the Awakened Guild from the very beginning.

She had also released a series of vlogs to document her process of joining the Awakened Guild.

Andre wanted to leverage Jill's popularity to promote the guild's benefits and attract more awakened ones to join willingly.

Suddenly, the crowd began to stir.

"Medical team, hurry and call the potion maker!" Several awakened ones were seen carrying an injured person, quickly running out from the main gate.

The injured person had a head wound and was covered in blood, already unconscious, and in a very critical condition, hanging by a thread.

A potion maker from the medical team rushed over and asked with a frown, "What about the healing potions we gave you earlier?"

"They're all used up. You potion makers have no idea how dangerous it is in there!" The leader of the awakened team, Leo, yelled at the potion maker, "Hurry up and bring out the healing potions!"

The potion maker also frowned deeply, "Do you think the healing potions are filled with water? That we have an unlimited supply?"

In the Awakened Guild, there were a total of forty-two registered potion makers, all of whom were level 1 and not suited for entering otherworldly gates to fight in the early stages.

Therefore, their main job at the moment was to provide healing potions for the teams attacking the otherworldly gates from the rear.

However, the supply of healing potions was far from meeting the demand.

At this moment, Jill, holding her selfie stick, ran over.

As soon as Leo saw Jill, he became infuriated, pointing at her and cursing loudly, "Get lost, bitch! You think it's okay to livestream using my injured brother for views? Believe it or not, I'll smash your face!"

Including Leo, many people had a poor impression of Jill.

They thought of her as an awakened one who wouldn't enter the instance, spending her days just live streaming with her phone.

"Damn it! I came here with good intentions to bring you a healing potion, and you curse at me?" Jill took out a healing potion from her system backpack, "Saving someone is what's important here. I won't argue with you over this."

Seeing this, Leo also shut his mouth, his expression slightly embarrassed.

He had initially assumed Jill was here to film his injured teammate for her livestream.

"Sorry, I was too loud just now." Leo said, somewhat sheepishly, as he watched Jill using the healing potion to save someone.

The potion maker opened the healing potion and poured the liquid onto the injured person's head. But the wound healed very slowly, indicating the potion was not very effective.

"The healing potion is almost expired." the potion maker frowned.

At that moment, three people were seen approaching from a distance. Andre was leading two oddly dressed awakened ones over.

"Good morning, President!"

After greeting in unison, everyone's gaze quickly turned to the two people behind Andre, a black and white duo, appearing to be a man and a woman.

The man was dressed in black, wearing a peculiar raven mask.

The woman, who had a great figure, wore a pure white mask, revealing only a pair of cold and stunning eyes.

Jill, with her keen sense for trending content, immediately sensed that these two individuals were out of the ordinary. She quickly turned her phone around to start filming them for her live stream.

"My friends, it looks like some mysterious big shots have arrived. Let's see if we can get an interview later." Jill whispered.

The man wearing the raven mask stepped forward, and a bottle of potion appeared in his hand out of nowhere.

The nearby potion maker's eyes widened. As a fellow potion maker, he could sense the strong life force contained within this healing potion.

Compared to the potions they produced, this was of much higher quality, more refined!

The raven-masked man opened the potion bottle and poured a little onto the injured person's head.

The potent active agents within the healing potion started working, and the gruesome wound on the injured person's head began to heal rapidly.

In just a few seconds, the injured person miraculously woke up.

"What... What happened to me?" The injured person sat up, looking bewildered, as cheers erupted around them.

Leo quickly bowed to thank the masked man, "Thank you for your help. I am Leo, the captain of the Azure Awakened Team. I will be sure to repay you doubly in the future!"

"No need." John waved his hand, his voice becoming much deeper due to the mask.

After the injured person was taken care of, Andre picked up a megaphone and shouted to the nearby awakened ones, "All guild members, immediately evacuate the sealed area and gather outside. I have something to announce to everyone."

A few minutes later, all the awakened ones, except those still inside the otherworldly gate, gathered in front of a temporary stage.

Seeing the oddly dressed duo on the stage, the awakened ones below started murmuring among themselves.

Andre then introduced to the crowd, "Dear members of the guild, allow me to introduce. These two are S-ranked awakened ones, the profession of the swordsman — the Frostblade Sword Maiden."

As soon as Andre finished introducing Victoria, murmurs immediately started among the crowd.

"S-ranked? The guild was only established a few days ago, and everyone's strength was more or less the same. Where did this S-ranked come from?"

"Is this some kind of inside arrangement?"

"It feels unfair. The manual says to advance to S-rank, one needs to be at the sixth transformation and also conquer an S-rank otherworldly gate, right?"

"Damn, there must be some shady dealings going on!"

"Silence!" Andre sharply cut off the murmurs from below, continuing with the introduction, "This is the S-ranked Awakener—The Plague Doctor, a Poison Master by profession."

At these words, the crowd below fell silent.

A Poison Master? All the professions have been announced, and there was no mention of a Poison Master.

"Could it be a hidden profession?"

"Does being a hidden profession automatically make it powerful? Why does that qualify someone to be S-ranked?"

At this moment, John reached out to take the microphone from Andre's hand and placed it beneath his raven mask.

"I know what everyone is questioning. It's the early stages where everyone's strength is more or less the same, yet an S-rank is being selected. Anyone would have doubts." John spoke calmly and unhurriedly.

"Doubts are meant to be shattered." John paused for a moment before continuing, "Next, the Frostblade Sword Maiden and I will each conquer the 'Miasma Forest' and the 'Galewolf Tribe', closing these two otherworldly portals!"

At this point, the entire place fell silent.

The few hundred awakeners below, forming dozens of teams, had been challenging the otherworldly gates for nearly three days.

Being able to kill a few monsters inside without getting injured was already considered very impressive.

More often, teams like Leo's Azure Team ended up with members injured or killed, having to quickly withdraw.

The idea of defeating a boss and closing an otherworldly portal seemed like a sheer fantasy!

Leo raised his hand from below, "Sir, my team is willing to enter the Miasma Forest with you. We have explored much of it and can guide you!"

Leo wanted to repay John for saving his team member earlier, so he volunteered.

"Thank you for your kind offer, but it's unnecessary." John's gaze shifted away from Leo, his voice resonant and firm, "Let me add one more thing. We don't need anyone's assistance... We will close the otherworldly portals alone!"