"So fast?"
How long do you think it will take?
The battle ended faster than they had expected. Gorth had already arrived to absorb energy for Gregor, while Vane looked at them with envy.
"Great... You all either raise your hands and bestow justice from the heavens, or summon forests and seas of trees, while I still have to struggle and hack my way through with a knife..."
"Stop complaining," Gorth interrupted him helplessly.
"You're the only one who can still be considered a fully human form right now, so don't be ungrateful."
If he could, Gorth would like to change into a form that is closer to that of a normal person.
With this in mind, he manipulated the vines to extract the Cytoplasm.
"It came from Giant's treasure chest, anyone want it?"
All eyes turned to him instantly, and Vane sprang back, his voice trembling:
"Quack! Everyone, retreat quickly! This is the 'Lao Jiumen Transformation Device'! Once you use it, you'll say goodbye to strength for the rest of your life!"
[A transformation item for the Decapitator?] Gregor hesitated.
[Can this be found in a treasure chest?]
"Perhaps because the Giant is a collaboration boss?" Vera guessed uncertainly.
Gorth manipulated the vines, causing the solution to sway in front of everyone:
"Nobody wants to give it a try?"
Vera was somewhat tempted, Vane added a comment.
Even if he becomes Beheaded... the second brother might not come back.
"Third brother..."
"Clear."
The vines wrapped around Vane, and Vera began a new round of "training" with a blank expression.
Gregor, however, fell into an unusual silence from the moment the cell solution appeared.
He stood there, staring intently at the whitish liquid in the container.
"Boss, do you want to use it?"
Gorth was somewhat puzzled, Vane, who was being "tortured," immediately struggled and crawled over:
"Boss! Think twice! This thing's transformed Beheaded is a castrated version. The flying kick with invincible frames is pretty good... but that's about it!"
[...]
Gregor remained silent.
Vera walked over, looked at the jar of cell solution, and seemed to understand something.
Use it if you want.
"Second brother?!" Vane exclaimed incredulously.
Vera gestured for Gorth to quiet Vane for a moment (physical), then looked at Gregor:
"We already have enough strength, boss, you don't need to keep holding back."
Her gaze seemed to penetrate the armor, revealing the molten lava and intense heat within.
"Your current body isn't very convenient, is it?"
The Dungeon fell silent as the group awaited Gregor's decision.
"No... I'll keep it for now." Gregor looked away.
Gorth nodded and silently put the container away.
Seeing the atmosphere become somewhat tense, Gregor spread his hands to change the subject. Above his palm, a black energy sphere was trembling slightly—
That was the "Wandering Soul Core" they obtained after defeating the Ancient Colossus.
Vane approached with an unfriendly expression:
"You little bitch, why did you hit me so hard just now?!"
He reached out and grabbed the Wandering Soul Core in his hand, then flicked it like a marble.
The core trembled violently.
"The treasure chest hasn't appeared yet. Do we have to kill this thing before it appears?" Gorth raised a practical question.
As soon as he finished speaking, the tremor of the Wandering Soul Core turned into a high-frequency vibration, and an expression like (T^T) even appeared on its surface.
"Oh, this little thing can even make expressions?"
Vane laughed and started shaking it like a yo-yo.
"Is there any reason to keep it?"
Vera looked at Gregor, Gregor nodded slightly.
[The materials dropped by the boss cannot be touched or taken out of the Dungeon, but this item can.]
"Hiss--Boss, you mean..." Vane stopped shaking, his eyes lighting up.
"Let the second brother use this to resurrect that Ancient Colossus as a henchman?"
[I have this idea.]
"I can't do it," Vera said immediately. "I just tried, and there was no response at all."
"As for it—my resurrection premise is that the target must be a corpse, which is clearly not the core principle."
"Then this thing is just pure waste?"
Vane's expression turned hostile again, and he began to tighten his grip on the core.
The Wandering Soul Core shook violently in fright, swaying up and down as if it were nodding desperately.
"Huh? You can understand us?" Vane asked in surprise.
The core began to shake violently up and down.
The group exchanged bewildered glances, Vera reached out to help:
"Come over."
The Wandering Soul Core, as if granted a pardon, floated shakily into Vera's palm and rubbed against her in a fawning manner.
"It's kind of cute..." Vera poked it with her fingertip, and her next words made the core freeze instantly.
"So, should we keep it, or get rid of it and exchange it for a treasure chest?"
[Keep them; ordinary weapons aren't very useful to us.]
Gorth expressed his agreement:
"If we can take it out, we might be able to use it to recreate the Colossus. Moreover, this core itself is rarer than any red weapon."
"Huh?" Vane was taken aback by Gorth's words, and muttered to himself while stroking his chin.
"If this thing can control Ancient Colossus, can it control other things too? For example..."
[You have another idea?]
"You tell me," Vane said in a low voice, "If I were to let it possess Mobile City ..."
"Stop." Vera rubbed her temples. "Don't have such dangerous thoughts. This is Terra, but not that Terra."
"Just tell me, do you want to keep it or not?"
Vane was certain Vera would eventually agree. Vera sighed and looked at the trembling core in her palm:
"You heard it too, if you want to live, come with us."
The Wandering Soul Core shook violently, circled Vera a few times, and finally disappeared directly above her head.
Under the watchful eyes of the group, the golden crown that had been hidden above Vera's head suddenly reappeared.
The black shimmering light blended in, quickly transforming the brilliant gold into a deep black.
Are you alright?!
Gregor stepped forward, Vera raised her hand to indicate that she was unharmed, her expression somewhat strange.
"I'm fine. I can feel it clearly. It's very quiet, like... it's asleep?"
Vane circled Vera twice, marveling at her appearance.
"Goodness, second brother, with that look, you could probably pass for the Demon Lord in Kazdel and people would believe you."
"The Demon King?" Vera caught the key word.
"Yes," Vane explained, "The Demon Lord of Sarkaz, chosen by the 'Black Crown'."
"If it weren't for the current Demon King Theresa still being around, with that 'Black Crown' on your head, you might actually be able to gather a bunch of people in Kazdel who would call you Your Majesty."
"The one chosen by the Crown can become king?" Vera frowned slightly.
"The fate of an entire race hinges on the choice of a single tool?"
"Well, that's not entirely wrong," Vane said, shrugging.
"Because that 'Black Crown' can indeed grant its wielder power and knowledge, although... none of the Demon Kings throughout history have met a good end."
"The Sarkaz have really had a lot of bad luck..."
Vera sighed, Gregor ended the conversation.
[Let's put that aside for now, it's time to go to the next floor.]
Let's go.
The figures of the four people appeared as the light shone through, revealing neat rows of black stone bricks.
"This is... an old castle?"
Vane surveyed the terrain, Gregor had already moved forward.
Let's work together this time; the boss on the second floor might be even stronger.
"Second-tier lords... Grand Knight, Grand Wizard, Slime King, anyone else?"
Gorth pointed to the numbers, Vane added.
"And the Dark Grand Knight, though he's extremely rare."
Now that we've arrived at the first room,
Monsters swarmed in, but compared to the previous monsters, the monsters in the castle map seemed much more normal.
[Knight]
Yes, the monsters in the castle map are mostly knights wearing armor.
"Third brother, could you please collect some equipment? Try to keep it as intact as possible?"
Vera stopped Gregor from making his move and looked at Gorth.
Gorth himself was eager to try it out; after all, it was armor, and no boy could resist.
"No problem!"
The giant tree tumbled and cleared the area, quickly dropping a pile of equipment.
Vera searched through the pile of equipment, while Vane looked on with some confusion.
"Are you planning to give this to those mercenaries?"
"Um."
"Hey~ Why are you so concerned about them?"
Vera paused, then retorted:
"When you play games, don't you upgrade your own faction's equipment to increase its combat power?"
"Uh...that seems to be true." Vane was convinced and started searching as well.
"Then let's go with the Black Knight set! The helmet has horns, the style is rugged, and it's a perfect match for the Sarkaz's vibe."
[The Black Knight?] Gregor looked at the monster's corpse, which resembled a demon knight, and shook his head slightly.
[Doesn't seem like it.]
"What doesn't look like it?" Vane, his ears perking up.
"[... It's nothing.]" Gregor looked away.
Vane narrowed his eyes, his gaze shifting between Gregor and Vera:
Why are you guys always speaking in riddles lately?
You're overthinking it.
"Tch." Vane curled his lip, lifting a massive object from the pile of weapons—
That was clearly a multi-barreled rotating gun, with a wild design and radiating dangerous energy fluctuations.
"Wow, there really is a big one."
He picked it up and pointed it at an open space.
Buzz--!
A violent barrage of bullets swept out, transforming into an energy storm that almost covered the entire fan surface.
"That's some serious firepower!" Vane whistled.
"It's a weapon from a 'large elite soldier'," Vera recognized it. "The bullet density in the game even exceeds that of some bosses."
"Why don't you take it and give it to those mercenaries?"
Vera was taken aback, then frowned and asked in return.
"Didn't you say Laterano would be on alert?"
"That's true, but I still really want to see it..."
Vane marveled at the future he envisioned.
"Imagine this: Sarkaz mercenary, riding Berserk Boar clad in heavy armor, completely enveloped in the black plate armor of an elite knight, wielding this wild Gatling gun..."
He spread his hands, his smile both bright and dangerous:
"These aren't mercenaries anymore! They're clearly an upgraded, Sarkaz- style 'Laterano Gun Knight'!"
(Each nation has its own elite units; the Laterano are the musketeers, clad in heavy white armor and wielding long-barreled Gatling guns.)
(The image of the Berserker Gatling will be posted in the comments section.)