Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?
Chapter 169 - 156 Blood-red Eye Orb, Invasion!

Chapter 169: Chapter 156 Blood-red Eye Orb, Invasion!

"Bang!"

There was a sudden dull thud in the dessert shop, followed by the exclamations of the crowd.

Leon withdrew his smoking fist and pulled Maru out of the dessert shop. Before leaving, he tossed a few silver coins onto Berto, lying on the ground, both in payment for the lemon cupcakes and as compensation for the fight.

Once he was far away, passersby came to check Berto’s injuries.

The nose was slightly askew and a big swelling on his face, looking quite miserable, but he actually hadn’t sustained serious injuries; Leon had controlled his strength well.

"Are you okay?" someone asked.

"..." Berto was silent for a moment, seemingly unconcerned about his injuries, but instead asked, "Did I not seem friendly just now?"

The passersby looked at Berto, who, to be fair, had challenged Leon in normal tone without any insults, which is considered high quality among adventurers.

But, the thing is, this guy is terrible at reading the mood, and his looks are a bit...

Dead fish eyes, a high nose bridge, crooked smile, and sharp-pointed head, combined with a somewhat sharp voice made him seem quite punchable regardless of what he said.

Berto was naturally born with a face that easily attracted enmity, having been beaten up quite often since he was young because of his looks.

"Sigh, forget it, I should wear a mask when I go out next time," he sighed and slowly got up from the ground, "Anyway, the message has been delivered, the rest is up to the captain now."

He pocketed his hands and left the dessert shop nonchalantly, wandered around in Bed City, and finally headed to the largest bell tower in the city.

Climbing up the ladder all the way to the top, the large empty room at the peak that overlooked the whole city was where their New Strategy Group gathered daily.

"I still don’t understand why the captain chose this place; it’s so tiring climbing up, and it’s dark too," he muttered to himself.

"Because it’s the most elegant place. Didn’t you remember what the captain said? Anything we do must be done with elegance."

A small figure emerged from the darkness, teasingly saying.

It was a petite girl similar to Maru’s kind, but unlike Maru’s innocence, her eyes and makeup carried a hint of seductiveness.

"Mila? Why are you here alone? Where’s the captain?"

"Look up."

"No way, again?"

Berto reluctantly looked up, and in the darkness above, wrapped tightly in a black cloak, someone crouched on the large brass chandelier like a humanoid bat.

The moonlight poured through the narrow window, only dispersing a bit of the darkness, illuminating a corner of the captain’s black cloak.

At that moment when their gazes met, she spoke in a low, magnetic voice:

"I am the darkness, I am the judgement, I am—"

"Crackle, crackle."

The chandelier seemed loose and about to fall.

This counterfeit Batman hurriedly jumped down, but didn’t forget to add,

"I am the Black Bat!"

"Applause..."

Sparse applause rang out, and she bowed, returning the gesture with all the grace of a noble.

As if suffering from some serious illness...

"Black Bat" Luluwo, a Silver Rank adventurer, supposedly has some Beastman bat bloodline, which is why she likes darkness.

She was applying for promotion to Gold Level, but her resume lacked any notable "significant achievements," so she turned her attention to the Strategy Group.

"Captain, the task you assigned me is already done!"

Before Luluwo could speak, Berto quickly interjected, knowing his captain’s speeches were torturous like rapid-speed chanting.

"Oh? How did Leon respond?"

Berto pointed at his swollen face, which spoke volumes.

"Ha ha ha, that’s just like him, I love his personality," Luluwo leapt onto a nearby pillar, "The stronger the character, the more satisfying it is to conquer, and I want to enjoy this delicacy bit by bit."

"Don’t worry, Berto, I’ll avenge that punch for you, tomorrow."

Berto hesitated and said tentatively: "Captain, are we really going to do that?"

"Refer to us as ’We,’" Luluwo said with a graceful smile while waving her delicate finger: "Berto, my comrade, you have already signed the Soul-sucking Ghost’s oath, and now you wish to retract?"

"That’s not it, I just feel like we might not be able to defeat Leon and his group..."

"No worry, I have befriended many like-minded allies, they will be our greatest support!"

Luluwo clapped her hands, and several strong-looking figures emerged from the dark.

The moment Berto saw these people, a red, round object in his chest trembled.

This was an item he had obtained after signing an oath before the Soul-sucking Ghost’s altar hidden in Fran Fort. Its name was—

[Blood-red Eye Orb!]

[Use it to invade others’ worlds and plunder souls!]

[This is a common practice of the Soul-sucking Ghosts, instigated by the great dark serpent, the more one pursues souls and humanity, the more they fall into the dark abyss.]

[Perhaps, this is what humans should truly do?]

The reason it trembled was that it sensed many of its kind.

Everyone here had signed the Soul-sucking Ghost’s pact!

There are thirteen in total, almost all the soul-sucking ghosts in the city have gathered here.

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

Luluwo spoke proudly:

"From now on, it’s up to you to intercept Leon. This commission will continue to exist until..."

"We successfully conquer Sain!"

————————————

After leaving the dessert shop, Leon returned home, where Drew and the others had been waiting for him.

Drew glanced at Maru’s expression and noticed she seemed to be in a better mood, so he quietly gave Leon a thumbs up.

"Where’s the teacher?" Leon looked around but did not see Gapar, and Dal was also nowhere to be seen.

"The Sword Saint went to find Count Charon, I don’t know why, Dal said he needed to go back to feed the wolves."

He yawned, feeling utterly exhausted from the day’s exploration, even finding it tiring to speak.

"How about that path, anything happened later?" Leon asked.

Drew shook his head and said, "The farther we went, the more complex it became, all forks in the road. And it was pitch dark. I saw a sign that read ’Keep the fire burning’, and I had to carry the Fireball Technique all the way. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before the time was up and I was teleported out."

"What happens if the fire is put out?" Leon asked with interest, as instructions in a dungeon usually indicate some corresponding mechanism.

"Perhaps the monsters would become furious, or our spirits might become oppressed, I didn’t try it."

Leon felt it was a pity, he would have definitely tried to extinguish the fire if he had been there.

After discussing the dungeon, he told Drew and Tal about Berto and the challenge from the New Strategy Group.

"They are simply overdoing it," Drew commented after hearing it.

The New Strategy Group didn’t really need to issue them a challenge because as long as they could clear this ever-changing Sain Dungeon first, they would automatically take the title of the Strategy Group.

No wonder Leon thought Berto’s actions were provoking.

Regarding the boastful New Strategy Group, everyone decided unanimously after the discussion—to accept the challenge and completely smash their arrogance.

The Strategy Group is Leon’s lifelong passion, his initial obsession, particularly after his successful revenge, the Strategy Group became his sole focus.

Without the Strategy Group, Leon would feel as though he’d lost his anchor.

Whether it’s the New Strategy Group or anyone else bearing titles, he would overpower each of them with his strength!

Of course, what he intended to do isn’t to challenge them directly, but to stay far ahead of these people in terms of progress in the dungeon.

The dungeon exploration will need to speed up!

"Speaking of dungeons, I just encountered Steeran, you remember her, right?" Drew said.

"Of course, the first Sun Warrior," Leon nodded, "What about her?"

"She said... some invaders calling themselves soul-sucking ghosts have appeared recently at Fran Fort."

Soul-sucking ghosts, invaders, Leon knew each term, but the combination was somewhat unfamiliar.

Aren’t soul-sucking ghosts monsters? Why can they invade others?

"Are they avatar-like invaders?"

"No, those invaders are real people, actual existing individuals," Drew pointed outside the house, "Perhaps some passing by our door are soul-sucking ghosts."

Facing Leon’s puzzled look, he continued:

"We only know three definite pieces of information. First, invaders can also be real people, not controlled by the dungeon as we guessed before."

"Second, the invaders signed a soul-sucking ghost pact, which is why they gained the ability to invade others. Where the pact is signed and how the abilities are triggered, all these are unknown."

"Third, those who sign the soul-sucking ghost pact can take away the souls accumulated by others, and vice versa."

"So, these soul-sucking ghosts that have appeared in Sain Dungeon these days are here to steal others’ souls?" Leon frowned.

It could be considered a malicious event; the invaders not only steal the hard-earned souls of others but also ruin the exploration experience, truly despicable!

"Steeran and other Sun Warriors have been very busy these days. When I saw her, she had lost weight."

Drew shook his head, "It seems like whenever there is an invasion in her area, she gets pulled in to combat the invaders."

Leon felt some sympathy for her.

"The City Lord will probably soon issue a ban against the invasion," Leon said, "Sadly, it definitely won’t stop."

Stealing others’ hard-earned results, that is encoded in the genes of evildoers, it’s utterly unstoppable.

He also yawned, removed his equipment, and said, "If I get invaded, those guys will definitely pay a price."

The next day, not until noon, did the Strategy Group enter Sain Dungeon.

They planned to re-explore the scenes they encountered yesterday and refine their strategy.

Additionally, to help resolve Maru’s mental block, they decided to look for the Warrior Pot.

Maru had a restless night; she woke up in the middle of the night, looked at the flower wreath Little Pot gave her, and shed tears.

Today, there’s still a third path left unexplored in the tomb area, and paths behind the Death Knight’s room can also be checked if there’s time.

But as Leon and his team skillfully cleared giants and archers, an anomaly struck.

[Invasion from soul-sucking ghost "Black Dog"!]

[Invasion from soul-sucking ghost "Slug"!]

[Invasion from soul-sucking ghost "Big Goat"!]