Set Fire to the Mountain, Spend Life Behind Bars

Gong Qiying's mysterious shop had just opened for business, but now the perspective shifted elsewhere.

The Strategy Team, a symbol of strength.

Usually composed of elite adventurers, they represented the cutting edge of combat power. Once a dungeon forced adventurers to form a Strategy Team, it meant that dungeon was terrifyingly powerful.

The Zane Dungeon Strategy Team was led by "Lion" Leon, with members including "Silver Cat" Malu, "Black Fist" Beidang, "Iron Will" Te Er, and "Bedrock" Delu.

The adventurers of Bede City all had high hopes for the Strategy Team, wishing for them to charge through the dungeon and avenge everyone fiercely.

Handsome and dashing, Leon was immensely popular among adventurers and was even the dream lover of many.

Whenever someone asked when the Strategy Team would officially attack the Zane Dungeon, he would always smile confidently and say there was no rush. Once they made their move, they would surely speedrun the Zane Dungeon in a single day and vent everyone's anger!

People were always won over by his warm, sunny smile, firmly believing that this handsome man could overcome anything.

However.

"Boss, we can't find the way back anymore, meow. What do we do?"

Malu, filthy from head to toe, lay sprawled atop the canopy, her face full of exhaustion.

Leon, the dream lover of countless women, sat cross-legged beneath a tree with a dark expression, saying nothing.

Several pieces of his beautiful, silver-shining armor were missing, lost while they had been fleeing. The Teleportation Crystal would not bring back things he had dropped, which meant that expensive armor was truly gone.

Te Er lay on the ground, panting heavily and drenched in sweat. Delu looked much the same.

"Where the hell are we?" Malu said frantically. "Why is it nothing but forest everywhere?"

Pulling back, they stood in a lush forest. No matter which direction they looked, all they could see was vibrant green life. Stare at it long enough, and it almost felt like their eyesight was improving.

"Although I'd heard that treasure chests could contain Teleportation Traps," Te Er said in a muffled voice, "I never expected it to be that one."

"Who the hell came up with the idea of mixing a trap chest in with two normal treasure chests?" Delu angrily punched the ground. "The first two chests were normal. Who would stay wary of the last one? Bastard, bastard, bastard!"

Though the Strategy Team publicly claimed they were conserving their strength and had yet to enter the Zane Dungeon.

In truth, this was already their second time inside.

What one-life clear? They had merely been practicing hard in secret, just like top students always claiming they had not studied at all!

Having gathered plenty of intelligence from adventurers, the Strategy Team members were thoroughly familiar with the Swamp Area. But once they reached Plague Village, progress became difficult, and they had to explore slowly, step by step.

This was also where most adventurers currently stood. No one had fully explored the Plague Village area, so naturally, no one had found the bonfire either.

Yet when the Strategy Team first encountered Plague Village, they had already pushed halfway through it. This achievement far surpassed ordinary adventurers and lived up to the Strategy Team's name.

The first time, there had been a small accident. As they crossed the suspension bridge, Delu's magic had helped them kill the monsters shooting arrows from both sides without much danger. But then, a monster that had not quite died cut the suspension bridge's ropes.

Strategy Team: Robert!!!

The second time, they had learned their lesson. Rather than crossing the suspension bridge again, they took a longer route through a cluster of ruined houses.

Every house could be entered, and opening the door did not trigger a black-screen loading sequence. Their desire to explore was fully satisfied.

Though opening a door could bring encounters including, but not limited to, little monsters hiding beside the door, behind the door, on the ceiling, underground, or inside broken cabinets.

There were also a great many items inside those houses, making them irresistible to explore.

Just imagine it: from outside a house, you spotted a bright White Light Spot inside. Could you really resist picking it up to see what it was?

Even if you knew it was a trap, you would still go. You would absolutely go!

They had already found weapons with Weapon Skills, Flying Daggers, arrows, Flame Pots, and a whole pile of miscellaneous junk, as well as jewelry and accessories.

Still, why did those jewels and accessories look somewhat like the styles recently popular in Bede City?

Looking closely, most of what they picked up was useless, but interesting items appeared from time to time.

For example, there was a glowing skullcap that could draw nearby monsters after being thrown, working even better than magic. Unfortunately, it could only be used once, or they would have wanted to carry it around forever.

Yet White Light Spots often meant monsters were hiding nearby. Along the way, the Strategy Team had grown used to it. The moment they saw a light spot, they would immediately search the area for hidden monsters. Usually, there were some, and after clearing them out, they could safely collect the items.

However, that habit had doomed them.

After defeating an Elite Monster with several dogs and a sheep's head, they found three treasure chests.

There would always be gains after a great battle. Besides, they had already cleared all the nearby monsters, so there could not possibly be any danger.

Then they happily opened every treasure chest and arrived here—the Mid Rank area, Undead Town Forest.

"No matter which direction we go, the scenery is the same," Te Er said gloomily. "Could we have been hit by an illusion?"

"I'm more inclined to believe there's something wrong with this forest," Delu said as he pushed himself upright. "Beidang has been out on his own for quite a while and still hasn't returned. He probably died somewhere. That guy has always been so reckless."

To avoid attracting attention, the Strategy Team had set the Teleportation Crystal's destination to the home of a priest they knew. If they died, the priest could resurrect them, preventing others from seeing them in the Resurrection Room.

"At least he dared to go out," Malu said as she boredly swung her arms. "I don't dare walk any farther. Normally, a Teleportation Trap like this sends people somewhere dangerous, right? I'm just a weak little woman. I wouldn't dare act alone."

"Enough."

Leon, who had remained silent the whole time, stood up. Everyone immediately stopped talking.

"Get up. I'm setting the forest on fire." He pulled out a magic scroll: a Mid Rank Flame Storm!

"Whoa, Boss, be careful!"

The others hurried away. It looked like their boss had truly been pushed too far—he was even planning to use the scroll he had been saving for emergencies!

Set fire to the mountain, spend life behind bars.

He silently chanted the spell. A shower of sparks surged forth, and a vortex of flames slowly formed. If this magic fully took shape, the entire forest around them would likely be burned to ash!

At that moment, whatever had been lurking nearby could no longer endure it.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle."

The surrounding trees suddenly grew taller. No—not taller. They had stood up!

Those huge trees had been treants in disguise. No wonder they had never been able to find a way out!

"You've finally shown yourselves."

Leon smiled. The flames abruptly died out, revealing his sword in his right hand. A layer of compressed wind already spiraled around the blade!

Magic scrolls were so expensive that he could not bear to waste one here. Using it as bait to lure out the nearby monsters was perfect.

His sword could shatter monster bodies just as well!

"Get down!" he shouted. He spun around, actually intending to cut down all the treants surrounding them at once!

This was a purely physical attack, driven by overwhelming strength and capable of smashing through every obstacle!

"SONASI!"

Had something just made a strange cry?

Leon suddenly noticed a blue, Slime-like creature hidden among the treants. It looked incredibly fragile, as though a single slash would kill it.

Yet a bad feeling rose in his heart.

Too late. His sword had already struck Wobbuffet.

The wild Wobbuffet used Double Return!