The Ironblood Thorns Squad Discovers Their Things Have Been Stolen

"Wait, where is my Alchemy Expansion Bag?"

"No, the magic ring on my hand is gone too! And my magic necklace?"

"Where did they all go?"

Mary, finally realizing what had happened, touched herself all over in disbelief. Only then did she notice that the magic ring on her hand and the magic necklace around her neck were gone as well. Panicking, she began searching the place where she had slept.

But even after turning over the blanket she had slept under, she found nothing.

"The Alchemy Expansion Bag and magic equipment are gone?"

Aik frowned upon hearing Mary's words, a bad feeling rising in his heart. He instinctively looked toward his waist, only to find that the Alchemy Expansion Bag that had been hanging there had vanished as well. After checking himself, he discovered that all he had left was the armor he wore and the greatsword in his hand.

"Ross, Ghost, Ulag, are your things still there?"

Aik hurriedly turned to the other three, but Ross and Ghost looked grim. Their Alchemy Expansion Bags had disappeared too, and even Ghost's pair of enchanted daggers were gone.

Ghost was the only one among them who had even lost his weapons.

"All my things are still here."

At that moment, Ulag patted the Alchemy Expansion Bag hanging at his waist. His expression beneath the mask was far from pleasant. Someone had silently slipped into the tent during his watch and stolen his teammates' belongings.

And throughout the entire process, none of them had known anything. They had noticed absolutely nothing.

That meant that if the other party had wanted to, they could have slit all their throats in their sleep and left them slumbering forever.

"Calm down first. Let's analyze the situation."

Aik raised a hand to signal everyone to settle down, his gaze sweeping over every corner of the tent. Then he looked up at Ulag and asked, "Did anything unusual happen during your watch?"

"No."

Ulag shook his head. During his watch, all monsters attempting to enter the camp had been stopped by the magic traps around its perimeter. Apart from the wind rustling through the grass and the crackling flames, there had not been the slightest anomaly.

"In other words, whoever slipped into the tent was an expert at stealth." Aik rubbed his chin, his mind rapidly analyzing the information they had. "They only stole the Alchemy Expansion Bags, Mary's magic equipment, and Ghost's enchanted daggers."

"And none of us noticed anything from beginning to end."

"If they were after equipment and valuables, why didn't they take the other things as well? And why didn't they hurt us?"

Aik lowered his head to look at the greatsword in his hand. Suddenly, a sharp glint flashed through his eyes. "I understand. Whoever stole our things probably couldn't take away anything too large."

"And they weren't particularly strong. If they had tried to kill us in our sleep, there was a chance we would have noticed."

"In other words, the ones who stole our things weren't people, but unknown monsters living in the Dungeon. They possessed exceptional concealment techniques and a way to enter the camp without making a sound."

"But limited by their strength, they couldn't kill us without causing any disturbance, so they could only take the easiest things to carry."

After Aik's string of analysis, everyone had roughly figured out who had stolen their belongings.

"Captain, are you saying that an unknown monster on this floor stole our things?"

"That's right, and they should not be very strong."

As Aik spoke, he stood up. A trace of killing intent appeared on his handsome face as he strode out of the tent and looked at the picturesque scenery before him, a cold smile curling his lips.

"Those thieves are hiding somewhere on this floor, and they may not be far from us."

"Ghost, you're in charge of scouting the area." Aik glanced back at the man completely shrouded in a black robe, then looked at Mary and the others. "The rest of you, come with me. Find those thieves!"

"I'll make them understand the consequences of stealing from the Ironblood Thorns Squad!"

As fierce killing intent surged from him, a layer of frost formed over the grass beneath Aik's feet. Although his heart was filled with rage, he had not completely lost his reason. If they could not find the thieves within two days and were unable to replenish their supplies,

then he would find a way to lead the squad out of the Dungeon and replenish their supplies.

"Tsk, tsk. They didn't even lose their cool over this."

Luo Ao, who had watched everything unfold, could not help but comment. But unless those little Nature Flower Fairies came out on their own, finding them on the Fifth Layer would not be easy.

Under Luo Ao's gaze, the fully alert Ironblood Thorns Squad began heading deeper into the Fifth Layer. Once their figures vanished into the forest, Luo Ao stopped paying attention to them.

The most important thing now was to create the monsters for the Eighth Layer.

"Since the environment on the Eighth Layer is similar to the Seventh Layer, then..."

Luo Ao turned his gaze toward the Flame Domain Flame Demons and Flameburst Wyvern eggs currently incubating on the Seventh Layer. With a thought, he directly transferred some of them to the Eighth Layer. As the monsters he had created that were best suited to such an environment, there was no reason not to use them.

However, while transferring the monsters, Luo Ao unexpectedly discovered that some Flame Domain Flame Demons had entered the traps set up on the Seventh Layer. In other words, adventurers who fell into the traps would not only have to face the lava pools, but also the monsters living within them.

"These guys really know how to pick a place."

After taking a glance, Luo Ao stopped paying attention to those monsters. He had no requirements for where they lived anyway. As long as they could block or kill adventurers, that was enough.

"Let's see what new materials the Eighth Layer has."

His spiritual power rapidly spread outward, constantly probing every region of the Eighth Layer. After searching the entire floor, Luo Ao could not help feeling somewhat disappointed, because the Eighth Layer did not contain precious materials such as Flame Domain Flame Demon and fire dragon remains.

"Still, it's not like I found nothing."

Within the volcanoes scattered across the Eighth Layer, Luo Ao discovered several medium-sized Fire Copper veins. It was a mutated copper ore.

Copper containing magical power originally possessed excellent ductility and malleability, along with superb internal energy resonance and conductivity. It was a foundational material for setting up various rituals and magic arrays, and could also be used to forge enchanted armor.

But due to the extreme environment and immense pressure inside the volcanoes, the Fire Copper on the Eighth Layer had mutated. It still retained all its original properties, but instead of being compatible with various elements, it had become specialized in the fire and earth elements.

"Perfect. I can test one of my new ideas."

With a thought, the Fire Copper deep within the volcano was transferred before Luo Ao.

Three portions of Fire Copper + five portions of Fire Elemental Gems + one portion of Demon Iron Ore + one portion of Mithril.

"Monster Creation, activate!"