Accepting Investigation

When Morgan opened his eyes, he happened to meet Gong Qiying's gaze.

"Ah, ah..."

He opened his mouth, producing a strange sound like someone had his throat clenched. His hands kept flailing at Gong Qiying, but when he tried to pounce on him, the iron chain around his neck yanked him off balance. Gong Qiying had put the chain back on him earlier.

"Interesting. Rather than thinking of escape, you came toward me?"

When normal people woke up to find a terrifying monster standing beside them, they generally had one of two reactions: either they were too terrified to control themselves and fled at once, or they picked up a weapon and fought.

Yet Morgan... belonged to the latter???

His face was full of deep loathing for monsters. He bared his teeth and claws at Gong Qiying, his hair standing on end as he kept hissing.

A tribute to the legendary Hajimi.

This behavior did not quite suit his appearance, because he looked like the sort of person who would be very good at running away.

Gong Qiying raised one finger and pinned him to the ground, unable to move. He immediately found it rather dull.

He realized Morgan was still an idiot.

Though this guy's movements were exaggerated, his eyes were utterly muddled, revealing a sort of stupidity. He could not even form a complete sentence. Throwing him into an asylum would have made him fit right in.

Clearly, his mind had been affected in some way and had become incomplete.

Was this the price of transforming into a demon?

Gong Qiying pondered it. But if the price was so high, why transform into a demon at all? What was gained simply did not match what was lost.

There was usually a reasonable explanation for this sort of thing—Morgan and the others had likely been controlled by some mastermind or something.

Someone was turning humans into demons and putting them in the dungeon to carry out some unknown purpose! That was the conclusion he reached.

This was not mere speculation, because he had noticed that Ya Yi and Morgan bore identical brands on their necks. The brand looked like a winding serpent, but it had curved things growing from its body. Horns, perhaps? Or tentacles?

Gong Qiying memorized the pattern of the brand. Perhaps it was the mark of some organization.

Come to think of it, why did these organizations always like putting marks on themselves? Were they afraid people would not recognize them?

Just as Gong Qiying was about to make a cell and throw the two dimwits inside, a sudden change occurred!

"Yaaah—"

Morgan and Ya Yi's bodies swelled in the blink of an eye to nearly several times their original size. Their skin stretched so thin it became translucent, and their internal organs could even be seen.

Just as Gong Qiying reacted and his stone-like wings immediately shielded him, they exploded.

"Anti-Dungeon! Destroy the dungeon!"

"Bang!" "Bang!"

The massive body of the Hero Gargoyle was blasted back a step, and filth splattered everywhere.

Fortunately, after withstanding the explosion, the Gargoyle's transformation time ran out.

Gong Qiying (in Hero Gargoyle form) "devolved" into Gong Qiying (in Godwyn form).

"Destroy the dungeon..."

He kicked a skull on the ground, though he did not know whose it was, and said, "With just you?"

Morgan and Ya Yi's final words annoyed Gong Qiying. He had felt the slightest bit of pity for them before, but now all that remained was indifference.

Was this organization's goal to oppose dungeons? For now, he concluded that Morgan and the others had an organization behind them—an evil organization whose goal was to destroy dungeons!

But how were they supposed to destroy a dungeon?

As long as there was Spirit Power, even if they killed monsters or destroyed scenery, it could all be restored.

Very soon, Gong Qiying noticed something suspicious.

After Morgan died,

the dungeon's Spirit Power did not change.

"..."

He fell silent for a moment.

Spirit Power was the foundation of a dungeon's operation. If every person who entered a dungeon failed to release Spirit Power upon death, then the dungeon really would slowly perish.

No matter how Morgan and those behind him had accomplished this, it was indeed a correct line of thinking—a line of thinking that could destroy a dungeon.

"If I don't find them and kill them, I won't be able to rest easy."

The Anti-Dungeon Organization could no longer be allowed to exist in this world. He had to send every last one of them to join Morgan.

"But first, I need to figure out how to drag out the mastermind."

Gong Qiying felt this matter had to be handled in the outside world. Information within the dungeon was simply too limited.

At that moment, he suddenly felt someone touching his body in the outside world.

With a thought, his consciousness went there.

"What is it?" He rubbed his eyes and yawned, putting on the appearance of someone who had just woken up.

The ones nudging him were several workers doing renovations. When one of them saw that he was awake, excitement practically overflowed from his face as he said:

"Sir, something huge happened outside!"

"What?" Gong Qiying could roughly guess what had happened.

"Demons!"

Another worker gestured wildly as he said, "They say they were huge and covered in all sorts of bizarre things—really terrifying! Luckily, they were all beaten half to death!"

"Get to the point," said an older worker. "We only heard it from others too, but apparently several demons were suddenly thrown out of Zane Dungeon. They even knocked out the Bede Family's young master. The entire city is under martial law now!"

"Demons?" Gong Qiying said in "shock." "Th-this, how could there be demons here?"

The workers exchanged glances and said, "We're shocked too. I've lived this long and never seen a living demon before. They say the demons are being escorted to the dungeon now and will pass through the street in front of us, so we wanted to..."

Gong Qiying understood. He waved his hand and said, "Go have a look. Consider it half a day's rest."

"Hehe, thanks, boss!"

The workers hurried off, and Gong Qiying followed shortly after. He saw the half-dead demons locked inside cages. They had yet to revert to human form, and their bizarre appearances drew a huge crowd.

The people here had only seen artists' depictions of demons in newspapers and novels. This was their first time seeing the real thing, and it was far more frightening than any illustration.

"One is missing." Gong Qiying noticed that the number was wrong. One demon had disappeared.

Had it escaped? Impossible. How could it escape under so many watchful eyes, especially while severely wounded?

Perhaps it had also been taken away by the guards, but why was it not together with the remaining demons?

The prison wagons carrying the demons entered the dungeon. The crowd followed behind, watching forcefully until the wagons had disappeared completely before reluctantly leaving.

The workers greeted him before going to eat, leaving Gong Qiying alone to return to the shop.

However, two guards were standing in front of his shop.

"What are you doing?" Gong Qiying frowned and walked over to ask.

"Are you Ma Lei Da?" one guard asked.

"That's me. What is it?"

The reason he used the false name Ma Lei Da was because he feared this world might have magic that could curse or track people through their names. It was better to be cautious.

"Do you know Tai Mu Da?" The guard took out a portrait. Though the strokes were abstract, the person's features could still be recognized.

Him?

Gong Qiying knew this person, because he was the one who had subleased the shop to him.

"He is a member of the Anti-Dungeon Organization. The City Lord has issued warrants for everyone in this organization."

"Please come with us and accept an investigation."