· Adventurers This Brave?

"Get ready!"

The captain flashed a reliable smile at the group and raised his shield, aiming directly at a weak point in the surrounding circle of monsters.

"Charge!"

"Follow the captain!"

With the captain in the lead, the group struggled to break through the weak point of the encirclement. All around them, dense waves of monsters surged forward, launching attacks from every direction with sharp claws and fangs, frantically carving bloody wounds into their bodies.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

The burly man holding the shield panted heavily, struggling to push forward a few more steps, but in his line of sight, even more monsters were rushing in from all sides.

What on earth was happening?

The burly man's blood-covered face was filled with confusion. Usually, the fifteenth floor didn't have this many monsters, and he even saw Goblin and Werewolf among the horde—creatures that had no business appearing in the middle floors of the Dungeon.

These were monsters that only existed on the upper floors; even if they accidentally wandered into the lower levels, they would reach the seventh or eighth floor at most. It was impossible for them to reach the fifteenth floor unless some terrifying entity was hunting them, forcing all the monsters to flee for their lives.

But how could that be? This was the Dungeon!

The monsters' lair, a place filled with malice toward adventurers. Even in Orario, only the most powerful Familias could pull off something like this, but they would never do such a thankless and exhausting task.

"Cap-captain, can we still make it back alive?"

At that moment, a demi-human youth holding a bow looked in despair at the monsters gathering around them. Compared to the initial group of fewer than a hundred, the number had grown to at least five hundred.

"Allen, we will definitely make it back alive!"

The captain forcefully swatted away three Ant-Man charging at him and turned his head with a smile.

"Allen, aren't you getting married as soon as we get back? We're still waiting for you to treat us to a meal!"

"Yeah!"

The demi-human youth nodded. The thought that he had already saved enough for a house and the five hundred thousand Valis dowry filled him with a sudden, desperate will to live!

He had to marry Qiaobiluo!

However, despite their words, the reality was that they had all sustained numerous injuries under the endless siege. The captain at the very front even had a gaping hole torn in his abdomen by a monster, with his internal organs vaguely visible.

As their supply of potions dwindled, their stamina and magic were gradually exhausted, yet the monsters around them continued to attack as if they were infinite.

"Are we going to die here?"

The group looked in despair at the monsters still pouring in. The demi-human youth, in particular, was consumed by deep self-reproach; if not for him, the others wouldn't have risked entering the middle floors, only to be chased here by the monsters.

Suddenly, the monsters surrounding them stopped their movements. To their astonishment, all the monsters turned their gazes toward a tunnel, filled with fear.

"Hahaha, where are you all going? Wait for me!"

A terrifying laugh echoed from the tunnel, and heavy footsteps approached step by step.

"Thud. Thud. Thud."

At the tunnel entrance, a youth with black hair and black eyes, wearing a silver-white basin-like object on his head, appeared with a smile, looking down at the plaza with a bloodthirsty grin.

"Yo, you little cuties are here!"

The youth greeted them as if he had just found good friends, his wanton smile feeling incredibly eerie under the circumstances.

"Let's play some more!"

At the tunnel entrance, Lu Qiming looked at the dense mass of monsters below with a smile. He didn't know if it was because his killing intent had grown more intense with each kill, but ever since the thirteenth floor, many monsters—except for the stubborn ones—would turn and flee the moment they saw him from afar, forcing him to chase them all the way here.

Looking at the sea of monsters in the clearing below, the space was so packed that nothing else could be seen; only the dense swarm of monsters filled his entire field of vision.

"Huh?"

Just then, Lu Qiming noticed a few adventurers in the monster horde waving at him, looking quite happy.

"Yo! Hello there."

Seeing this, Lu Qiming happily waved back at them. He hadn't expected to find people like this among the adventurers! To think they dared to take on so many monsters with just a few people—should he avoid getting in their way?

Below, the few adventurers looked in surprise at Lu Qiming, who was waving at them. They hadn't expected that their attempt to call for help would actually be answered.

"Great!"

"We can live!"

The group looked at Lu Qiming with excitement, waiting for him to come down and save them. They secretly decided that once they were rescued, they would give him whatever he wanted!

"Hey! Don't worry, I won't disturb you. I'll just kill my way in from this side!"

At the tunnel entrance, Lu Qiming lowered his hand and shouted down. He planned to attack from the other side; with his strength, those people wouldn't be able to steal many monsters from him anyway.

"Wait a moment, my lord!"

Seeing that Lu Qiming didn't intend to save them, the burly man hurriedly stood up while clutching his wounded abdomen, placing all their recent spoils in front of him.

"Please save us! These are our spoils from this trip. If you feel it's not enough, we have other things to offer once we return to Orario!"

Seeing the captain's actions, the others quickly placed all the magic stones and drops they had on them at the very front.

The next second, Lu Qiming's figure vanished from where he stood.

"Swish."

"So you were trapped here, you should've just said so!"

Lu Qiming appeared directly before the group, a gentle smile on his face, though his eyes couldn't help but drift toward the pile of items.

Good grief!

It was only slightly less than what he had gathered yesterday, but the quality of the magic stones and drops was on an entirely different level; this haul alone was worth at least two million Valis.

"Anyway, your magic stones—no, wait, I've got your lives covered!"

With that, Lu Qiming took the stainless steel basin off his head and dumped the magic stones and drops filling half of it onto the loot pile beside him.

"Take these out with you as well and hand them over to Miss Eina at the Adventurer Guild."

Lu Qiming explained to the bewildered group. As for whether they might try to run off with the goods, he wasn't worried in the slightest; he could wipe them all out long before they even managed to escape Orario!

"Yes!"

Seeing this, the captain didn't dare ask any questions and immediately ordered the few members who still had strength left to gather up all the magic stones and drops.

"Here, don't go dying before you even make it out of the Dungeon."

Noticing that the captain's abdomen was still bleeding profusely, with the movement of his internal organs faintly visible, Lu Qiming tossed him a bottle of recovery potion. He had bought it on his way through Babel Tower this morning for ten thousand Valis a bottle.