This morning, Big Gold Teeth lacked its usual hustle and bustle, the empty hall appeared cold and desolate.
The reason being, the closed sign was still hanging at the door.
Kane was sitting at the bar, staring blankly at the ceiling with a bored expression, lost in his thoughts.
He was waiting for his teammates to arrive after parting yesterday, they agreed to meet at the tavern.
This world, due to the influence of external culture and technology, had some peculiar magic technology.
For instance, Sokayamas was the only big city he had visited, where the style gave off a steam punk vibe.
He wondered if there were any methods for remote communication, though he hadn’t heard Burton mention it before; he said he was an old fossil and couldn’t handle such things.
Maybe something like that existed somewhere, I just haven’t come across it yet.
As his thoughts drifted, Kreya appeared in front of Kane, the sound of hooves accompanying her arrival.
She reached over and patted him.
"Let’s go, Kane, we’re waiting outside"
Hearing Kreya’s suggestion, he didn’t object and stood up to leave.
Standing at the door, feeling the cool morning breeze, it seemed autumn was near.
Kreya’s red hair fluttered in the wind as she stood in her striking armor, exuding a heroic aura.
Suddenly remembering they hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, with Burton still brooding.
"Here, for you," an arm reached out, handing over a sandwich.
Taking the food from Kreya’s hand, he unwrapped it and started eating.
"Hm, not bad, did you make this yourself?"
Kreya nodded and said, "I was worried we wouldn’t have breakfast this morning, so I made some last night, not expecting Burton still hasn’t recovered."
She propped her chin with her hand, curiously asking, "What is love like? To have a golden dwarf like Burton so downcast for so long."
She said while shaking the yo-yo in her hand, asking, "Do you know?"
"No idea, but the yo-yo will start recording from now."
From afar down the street came Longbei’s voice, his bright voice different from the deep tones of a dwarf.
He was accompanied by Meizike.
They were both approaching Kane.
Seeing Longbei with Meizike, Kane was a bit puzzled.
"Longbei, why are you with Meizike? I thought you were in your room."
So why wasn’t Longbei in the guest room at the tavern?
The dwarf patted his head and laughed, "Yesterday Meizike invited me to his place for a visit, it got too late so I stayed over at his place for the night."
Meizike half-opened his eyes, not intending to speak.
The truth was Longbei, out of curiosity, insisted on going, and Meizike, without saying a word, tacitly agreed.
But since everyone was here, it was time to go.
They arrived at the entrance hall and queued to enter, today’s dungeon was as popular as ever.
Following the line, they stepped onto the Teleportation Stone and entered the Fog Gate.
They returned to the familiar, dim corridor.
This time, they reached the 8th layer, about halfway through the dungeon.
Passing through the corridor, they arrived at the arena once more.
Familiar with stabilizing themselves in place, they waited for the tremors to come.
As expected, after a moment, the strong tremors began to come.
The stone tiles of the arena turned to grassland, and the flat ground ahead began to rise.
When the tremors stopped, the surroundings had transformed into a grassy field with various rises.
"A grassland? What was the monster on the only grassland layer in [Crystal’s Dungeon]?"
Hearing the captain’s question, Kreya replied helplessly, "Beastmen."
Looks like today’s enemies wouldn’t be easy.
Climbing over the small hill ahead.
A group of beastmen in simple armor appeared ahead.
The goal of this passage appeared in Kane and his companions’ minds.
This time, the goal was total annihilation.
Eliminate all the monsters in this layer of the dungeon, leave none alive.
Indeed, after many layers of dungeons, none were exactly as the intel stated.
The intel Kane got was either to breach a camp or find a certain item.
Just like Burton said, everyone’s dungeon exploration was different, dungeons were alive and ever-changing.
Using Eagle Eye to observe around, confirming only this one beastman squad ahead, counting them — a squad of 8.
Kane informed his teammates, "Only this squad around."
Kreya nodded, moving to another side.
Meizike had long cast enhancements on the team, Longbei jumped out, loudly taunting the beastmen squad below.
"You green-skinned paupers below, look here."
The beastmen squad turned their heads at the commotion right as three invisible arrows flew straight at them.
One had a small hole appear on his head and fell dead.
The other two arrows only hit the shoulders of two other beastmen, who dodged at the last moment.
The remaining beastmen roared, raising their big swords and axes, charging at Kane’s team.
Longbei, not to be outdone, charged down, still swearing.
At the moment of collision, the first beastman was directly knocked away by Longbei with his shield.
Kane fired a few more arrows this time, the two beastmen had no chance to dodge and were hit at their vital points.
Kreya suddenly charged down from a slope on another side, slashing into the beastman squad obliquely.
One beastman was killed on the spot, while the rest staggered from the charge.
Seeing the opportunity, Longbei moved in.
He swung his Long Halberd at a beastman’s chest, eliminating one with a single strike. Then smashed his shield into another fallen beastman.
The last beastman suddenly had a bloody hole appear on his head and fell over.
An 8-member beastman squad, under Kane’s team’s cooperation, didn’t last even 10 minutes.
Kane glanced at his teammates to ensure they were unhurt.
Longbei looked at a chink on his shield, remarking, "These beastmen really are strong."
Especially since his shield wasn’t magic equipment, but his Long Halberd was.
[Giant Power Halberd]
[Micro Armor Piercing]
[Description: Requires considerable strength to wield, said to incorporate a Pressure Stone.]
Even though his shield wasn’t magic equipment, it was steel and had a noticeable dent, a sign not to underestimate them.
"No worries, with my luck, I’ll get you a good shield drop today."
Longbei stared skeptically at Kane.
You forgot your luck in the last dungeon exploration today?
Seeing Longbei didn’t believe him, Kane grabbed the suspended yo-yo.
"See this, proof of my luck. Last time was just when the team had just formed, luck needs time to align."
After some banter, the team moved forward, Kane and Longbei continued discussing the topic of luck.
Kreya joined in, and eventually even Meizike shared his thoughts.
Ultimately, Kane had to admit that his Mist Warrior Badge boosted luck, keeping his status as the Emperor of Luck intact.
This grassland had many hills, and they had climbed over three already in a short time.
They began seeing wood debris and clear signs of camping.
It seemed they were about to encounter monsters again.