For the Settlement! For Great He!

Of course, aside from the naysayers, the Great He Clan spectators naturally stood up for Itō Hidetaka.

[What do you know?! Mr. Itō was just testing his blade last time. This time, he's fighting with real swords and spears!]

[Mr. Itō dared to challenge this dungeon of his own accord, so naturally he's confident!]

[What does a bunch of mongrel pigs know?! Do you even understand the value of the Great He Clan's Group Assault?]

[This time, Mr. Itō will conquer the dungeon and secure aircraft carrier technology for His Majesty the Emperor!]

[For the Emperor!]

[For the Emperor!]

The Great He Clan was a strange bunch. In a world ruled by the Firmament, where everyone fought for themselves, many of them were still loyal to the Emperor without a backward glance.

Some were even willing to die for the Emperor...

It was hard to say whether the people of this clan were loyal or had something wrong with their heads.

As a group of Great He Clan members raved in the livestream, the other comments grew even more heated. Before Itō Hidetaka had officially accepted a mission, a furious argument had already broken out in the chat.

More people had entered the livestream to watch than yesterday.

As it had yesterday, the Firmament once again went over the dungeon map and mission rules for the challengers.

[The enemy faction in this dungeon: Eagle Sauce Country]

[Eagle Sauce Country has a total area of 9.37 million square kilometers, consists of 50 states, and has a total population of 400 million...]

[The faction controlled by the challengers in this dungeon: Eastern Ocean Island]

[Dongying has a total area of 378,000 square kilometers and consists of four large islands...]

The Firmament described the various circumstances of Eagle Sauce Country and Eastern Ocean Island in detail.

This was a process everyone had to go through each time they entered a dungeon. Nothing was skipped simply because it was their second time entering.

After the explanation, the Firmament finally presented the mission choices.

[Optional mission one: destroy Pearl Harbor Military Base]

[This round lasts 96 hours. The mission will be considered complete if the challengers destroy Pearl Harbor Military Base within the allotted time. Each challenger will receive 50 points!]

[Optional mission two: economic overtaking]

[This round lasts 120 hours. All challengers may participate in the management of Eastern Ocean Island. If its economy overtakes Eagle Sauce Country's at any point, the mission will be considered complete. Each challenger will receive 50 points!]

[Optional mission three: surrender and submit (individual option)]

[Immediately declare submission to Eagle Sauce Country. Weapons and technology carried on your person will be contributed to Eagle Sauce Country, 20 points will be deducted, and you will be teleported out of the dungeon.]

[Mission failure: if neither Pearl Harbor Military Base is conquered nor economic overtaking achieved within the allotted time, the mission will be considered a failure, and 100 points will be deducted!]

Itō Hidetaka took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and pulled himself together.

Just then, a handsome young man wearing glasses suddenly stepped up to Itō Hidetaka.

"Hello, Mr. Itō. I'm Shancheng Kojirō, a professor currently researching dungeon models at Heian-kyō University."

"I'm a devoted fan of yours."

Itō Hidetaka glanced at him. Though Shancheng Kojirō was young, he was Level 2, just like him.

On Azure Star, universities still held a very high status.

That was because people depended on universities for help with everything from dungeon research to daily life.

At their core, universities were large organizations, and with the protection of both the school and the settlement, they were relatively safer.

To a certain extent, university was a shortcut for people at the bottom, at Level 0, to advance quickly to higher levels.

A university professor as young as Shancheng Kojirō was undoubtedly a standout among his peers.

Someone like him might not have powerful military weapons at his disposal, but when it came to brains and dungeon strategy, he was undoubtedly first-rate.

"Hello, Shancheng." Itō Hidetaka nodded politely. "I'll need your full support in this dungeon."

"You're too kind, Mr. Itō. It's our honor to fight alongside you. His Majesty the Emperor made special arrangements beforehand, asking me to select a group of the finest students from the universities in the various settlements."

"They come from every profession on Azure Star, and they're all unquestionably bright Dahe people."

"All of us are at your command, Mr. Itō."

Shancheng Kojirō then waved, and everyone formed a column and marched in step to Itō Hidetaka.

Then they bowed respectfully.

"Greetings, Mr. Itō!"

"Greetings, Mr. Itō!"

Even their shouts were perfectly in unison.

Mr. Itō nodded in satisfaction. The fear in his heart eased somewhat, replaced by a greater sense of pleasure.

Having a group of teammates who respected him was surely far better than having those random solo players from before.

At the very least, these people followed orders and wouldn't cause trouble for him.

"Everyone, we're all fighting for the Emperor, and for our Dahe Settlement."

"If we can clear Raging Waves and obtain the dungeon's technology, it won't just be a contribution to the Emperor. It will also be the best opportunity for every one of you to improve!"

"Only when the settlements are strong will each of us be safe. Let's work together, for the Emperor! For the settlements!"

Itō Hidetaka himself grew somewhat fired up and suddenly began shouting rallying cries.

The other challengers around him were mostly young students, all full of youthful vigor. Hearing Itō Hidetaka's passionate slogans, they all became excited.

"For the Emperor!"

"For the settlements!"

The spectators were dumbfounded when they saw the scene in the dungeon.

[Very good! That's the spirit!]

[Why are they shouting so loudly...? Can they clear the dungeon just by being loud?]

[Some of the Great He Clan's ideas really are hard to understand.]

[No joke, having a whole clan take the field together really is impressive. Who knows? They might actually clear it this time.]

[The person above, stop dreaming. You don't know Itō Hidetaka at all. When has that man ever failed to shout slogans loud enough to shake the heavens?]

Everyone noticed that the last person to mock and disparage Itō Hidetaka was none other than Singh, the Indian prince who had challenged Raging Waves with him last time.

So that dungeon failure had caused a falling-out between two prominent figures of Azure Star.

Some people who enjoyed watching the drama seized the opportunity to stir things up.

[Big shot Singh, what do you think of Mr. Itō?]

[Itō Hidetaka is a man who doesn't live up to his reputation. If he hadn't made mistakes in command last time, we wouldn't have suffered such a crushing defeat. A man like that has not earned this prince's approval!]

Itō Hidetaka glanced at the chat in the dungeon and nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

That Singh actually dared to spout off.

No matter how trash Itō Hidetaka was, he was still far better than a curry prince whose status had been bought with money.

What gave someone like that the right to kick up a fuss?!

Itō Hidetaka steadied himself, switched off the chat in front of him, and looked at the people in the barracks.

"Everyone, time is limited. We can't waste it."

"Next, I'll choose mission two! We'll conquer Raging Waves with an ingenious approach!"