Challenging Raging Waves Once Again!

Strangest of all, the remaining 19,999 challengers were all from the Great He Clan too.

This time, the Great He Clan had claimed every single challenger slot in the dungeon...

But were these Great He Clan challengers all that formidable?

Not necessarily.

A challenger like Itō Hidetaka, who was Level 2, could actually rank among the very top.

There were another dozen or so LV2 challengers, while all the rest were ordinary LV1s.

Most of those LV1s had never even designed a dungeon.

That left Lin Ye baffled.

What were these Shorties up to? Were they planning a suicide attack?

Or did they think they could find a way to conquer the Raging Waves dungeon?

Lin Ye shook his head helplessly, finding it rather amusing.

He hadn't expected the arrogance of the Shorties from his previous life to be displayed so thoroughly on Azure Star in this life as well.

Ding, ding, ding!

Just then, Lin Ye's phone suddenly rang.

He had bought the phone when he bought the villa the day before.

All sorts of information about Lin Ye had already been leaked, so if he didn't want to be pestered by lobbyists from the various settlements, he had to change his phone number too.

He picked it up and saw that Zhao Jianyu was calling.

"Mr. Lin, the difficulties in aircraft carrier design that you pointed out to me gave our upcoming carrier research a direction. Teacher Ding said this direction would save us at least ten years of detours."

"So Teacher Ding asked me to thank you on his behalf."

On the other end of the phone, Zhao Jianyu's voice sounded much gentler.

"You're welcome. I only gave you some suggestions based on my own understanding. Your aircraft carrier research still depends on you," Lin Ye said mildly.

"There's one more thing. I just looked at the list of challengers for the Raging Waves dungeon, and they're all from the Great He Clan... Lin Ye, you need to be extra careful."

"You've only just started designing dungeons, so you probably don't know much about this sort of thing. People from the Dahe Settlement actually love doing it."

Zhao Jianyu then gave Lin Ye a general explanation of the Great He Clan's strange method of gathering together to conquer dungeons.

The authorities called this practice of a single race occupying all the challenger slots "Group Assault."

It originated with the Great He Clan's Iga School Ninja Group and Divine Seal Suicide Squad.

The aim was to go all out and take down a dungeon, catching everyone off guard to obtain its technological rewards.

The advantage of a special attack force made up of a single race going straight in to conquer a dungeon was that its members were organized and easy to coordinate.

Generally, members of teams entering a dungeon this way had relatively ample points and faced no risk of being erased.

Of course, there were also cases where a group of Level 0 clansmen willingly went to their deaths, all to obtain information on high-level dungeons.

Although the Firmament didn't allow countries to exist on Azure Star, it was relatively lenient when it came to methods of conquering dungeons.

These strange and perverse dungeon-conquering methods of the Great He Clan could be considered an exploitation of a loophole in the Firmament's rules.

Zhao Jianyu warned Lin Ye that, from what she had observed, this Great He Clan Group Assault didn't appear to be a suicide squad.

It was very likely they really did have some underhanded trick and intended to conquer Raging Waves in one fell swoop.

"Lin Ye, just in case, Teacher Ding suggests you come to the institute to receive some points..."

"Miss Zhao, thank you for the warning."

"But I have confidence in my dungeon. It can hold off the Great He Clan's assault without any trouble. I'm driving, so I'll leave it at that."

With that, Lin Ye hung up.

On the other end of the line, Zhao Jianyu held the disconnected phone, a trace of disappointment flashing in her eyes.

She bit her lip, her heart full of helplessness, and sighed softly.

Lin Ye was as confident as ever.

She had also realized that Lin Ye would never agree to accept points.

Zhao Jianyu naturally had confidence in Raging Waves, but the Great He Clan's bizarre way of doing things was certainly not to be taken lightly.

If Lin Ye's dungeon really were conquered, and Lin Ye were also unfortunate enough to be erased,

Itō Hidetaka would obtain the aircraft carrier technology inside it, and after that, there would be no one on all of Azure Star who could stand against him.

The Great He Clan was so vindictive that Itō Hidetaka would surely go after the Great Xia people in the Dragon Soaring Settlement next.

The consequences were truly unthinkable.

Before anyone realized it, Lin Ye and his dungeon had become the focal point that could sway the situation across all of Azure Star!

[...3...]

[...2...]

[...1...]

[Welcome to the Purgatory-level dungeon: Earth Online—Five Permanent Members’ Raging Waves!!]

[Dungeon loading complete...]

[Deploying challengers to the Virtual Battlefield. Number deployed: 20000/20000...]

[The dungeon has opened!]

As the notification sounded from the Firmament, Itō Hidetaka and his 19,999 companions from the Great He Clan stepped into the mysterious and dangerous Raging Waves dungeon together.

Wherever they looked, the scene before them was exactly the same as when they had first entered.

The Wu Naval Armory still stood quietly by the sea, as though time had never passed.

The sea breeze brushed their faces, bringing a strong scent of salt and fish. It was so familiar that it seemed to take Itō Hidetaka back to that terrible nightmare. Every detail was etched so clearly into the depths of their memories.

The surging sea, the salty tang hanging in the air... It was all like yesterday playing out again.

The only difference was that there were twice as many challengers this time, making even the vast armory seem much more crowded.

But because the challengers were generally lower-level this time, there were actually fewer Challenger Warships moored along the coast.

"Hiss."

Remembering how the Nation-Destroying Fleet's torpedoes had blasted him into a mangled mess outside Pearl Harbor last time, Itō Hidetaka felt as though he could still vividly feel the pain.

He couldn't help taking a deep breath.

Before the Firmament could continue its introduction, the dungeon's livestream barrage erupted.

[Whoa! What's going on? Has the Great He Clan come as a group to conquer the dungeon?]

[We really ought to thank our Great He Clan brothers for keeping us from being selected for Raging Waves this time.]

[The Great He Clan sure has guts. Everyone else is scrambling to stay away, but they're walking right into it.]

[Itō Hidetaka actually dares to challenge it again? Has he locked horns with Lin Ye?]

[What do you know? That's the Great He Bushido Spirit!]

[...]

After Itō Hidetaka's crushing defeat last time, the people in the barrage were all predicting failure.

In everyone's view, although their numbers had grown to twenty thousand this time, the quality of the challengers was no better than before.

With a lineup like that, no one thought they could conquer a Purgatory-level dungeon.