"Hmm?" Teresa raised an eyebrow. "The difficulty increased?"
"Damn it, why did the difficulty increase?"
"This kind of dungeon was already difficult..."
"That person must have triggered something."
"Why was he running around for no reason? Now he's really screwed us over."
"I think that person did it on purpose. He wants to get us all killed."
"He probably doesn't want to get us killed. If we die, he won't survive either... If you ask me, he was just too reckless. What these dungeons fear most are clueless newcomers who mess around."
"That reckless bastard deserves to die!"
"His name is Caroso. He acts high and mighty because he's a noble, arrogant all day long, treating other people's lives like they're nothing. We should arrest him. We can't let him keep messing around."
"Right, letting him act freely doesn't do anyone any good."
"We're inside a dungeon now. Even a noble lord won't receive any protection here. We just need to..."
Under the instigation of those with ulterior motives, the looks everyone gave Caroso gradually turned hostile.
What dungeons feared most were accidents, the unknown, and increased difficulty.
At present, it seemed that Caroso was responsible for the increased difficulty. For a moment, he became the target of public criticism.
Quite a few people were already panicking. They had previously believed Teresa could lead them out, but now they could no longer be sure.
An increase in difficulty could mean the dungeon's rank had risen. If it became a fourth-rank dungeon, then...
Unlike the people at the scene, the barrage exploded.
[Holy shit, shit, shit! Boss Caro's luck is insane!]
[Sure enough, they had to look for the Underworld Flower.]
[Increased difficulty means a hidden map and hidden materials!]
[Finding a hidden map means this so-called difficulty increase is just for farming points!]
[Damn it, why don't I have luck like that?]
[Boss Caro, hurry up! There's at least a third-rank legendary extraordinary item and a third-rank legendary extraordinary material here!]
[Damn, I really want to go in and play for him.]
"What are you all yelling about?" Seeing the people behind her starting to argue, Teresa called out loudly. "You're scared over this little thing?"
"On the battlefield, you'd dare to fight one regiment against one regiment, but if the enemy reinforced with a whole division, you wouldn't fight anymore? Listen up, you bunch of trash. Even if it were a whole division, I would charge forward without fear!"
"High risk means high reward. I said I'd lead you out, and I will lead you out!"
"Anyone who's afraid can leave my team, find a corner to tremble in, and pray to the gods. See whether the gods will pity trash like you!"
"While you're praying, remember to strip naked, shackle your own hands, kneel on the ground, and beg any passing enemies to forgive you and raise you as slaves instead of killing you."
Hearing Teresa's words, everyone present fell silent.
It was clear that when Teresa said she could keep everyone here under control, she had not merely been boasting.
The other teams all had internal disagreements and could not unite as one. Only Teresa's team could remain united from top to bottom.
Following a team was certainly better than wandering around alone.
In a dungeon like this, encountering such a mature team was a rare stroke of luck. If Teresa did not look after them, they would be completely lost.
"Besides, Caroso obtained a lot of clues and saved quite a few of you at the beginning. Is this how you repay him?" Teresa swept her gaze across the crowd. "I don't care about the dirty business between you, but in this dungeon, you all listen to me!"
"I'll deal with the Underworld Flower," Caroso said. "You deal with the director."
"How many people are you taking?" Teresa asked.
"Nimel and I. The two of us are enough!" Caroso said firmly.
"Even if you die, you have to hold off every monster on the Underworld Flower's side for me. Understood?" This time, Teresa did not argue with Caroso.
"Alright." Caroso nodded.
"This is the map of this place." Teresa took out a blueprint and handed it to Caroso.
Caroso accepted the map and glanced at it. Everything matched up. The Underworld Flower's cultivation chamber was far from the sacrifice site. To get there quickly, they would probably need to dig a tunnel underground.
However...
All the walls here seemed to have been reinforced.
Caroso could easily destroy an elevator, yet after everyone had fought for so long, these walls remained completely undamaged.
"Thank you." Caroso thanked her, grabbed Nimel's little hand, and the two darted into the elevator.
Caroso led Nimel upward through the large hole above the elevator. After climbing roughly three floors, he swung his sword at the wall and carved out a large opening.
Rows of jars containing poison people stood before them.
This was a laboratory. The poison people floated in green liquid, copper masks over their mouths, with bubbles rising from the masks.
Their skin had already turned black. Every one of them was missing a left arm, which had been replaced with a brass mechanical arm.
Caroso led Nimel around the laboratory. Soon, he spotted a workbench specifically for making cards, though there were not many materials on it.
[Why is there even a workbench here?]
[Are they letting Boss Caro make cards on the spot?]
[Actually, that might work?]
[Let's see what materials are there and what they can make.]
Caroso walked over to the card-making bench and picked up a flower. "Dragon Tail Flower."
Then he put down the flower and picked up a small stone. "Variegated Stone."
Nimel looked at Caroso strangely. Why was her brother reading out every material one by one? Was he teaching her?
Or did the information her brother had obtained give another purpose to reading them aloud?
Soon, Caroso finished naming all the materials.
[It's for drawing cards! Damn!]
[A Death Knight card!]
Very quickly, the Netizens found the corresponding card.
Caroso's gaze sharpened. "Death Knight?"
Death Knights had disappeared from the continent long ago, probably during the Age of Destruction.
The god they worshipped had been defeated, while the Goddess of Dawn had risen to prominence.
No, if there had been a card that drew cards in that era, it would definitely have been passed down.
Could it be that the Card God's Absolute Domain had affected the past, causing this card to appear back then?
Wait, wait... This card had not appeared. The barrage merely knew how to make it; all that lay before me were materials!
"What Death Knight?" Nimel always felt that Caroso seemed to enjoy talking to himself.
[Right, it draws cards—a two-star blue Spell Card.]
[Wait, I think I know how the Hand of Greed came into being. Did someone take the materials here out, give them to Blank, and then Blank researched it?]
[Damn, that's actually possible!]
[Boss Caro, do you have enough cards in your backup deck?]
Caroso shook his head.
[Then it's over...]
[Wait, I have another cursed card with equivalent materials. Just replace that Vengeful Spirit Stone with a copper block.]
[Holy shit, no wonder you're a big shot. I know which card it is!]
[Damn it, print it already! There's finally room for it to shine!]
If you think this book is good, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you won't lose it next time.
Before you continue