Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?
Chapter 227 - 188: Huge Explosion and Special Blast!

Chapter 227: Chapter 188: Huge Explosion and Special Blast!

The images appearing before Dal were exceedingly disjointed.

He saw "himself" diligently training to become a true member of the Undead Team, and eliminating one Abyss after another with the team.

He saw himself taking away a lot of Elemental Bottles, which should be something similar to Healing Potions? When the members of the Undead Team ran out of Elemental Bottles, they would come to him for more.

He watched himself share many meaningful memories with the members of the Undead Team, and as he watched, he couldn’t help but become engrossed.

Before the Abyss’s corruption, the Undead Team was so harmoniously united.

But why would such a brave and skilled army be suddenly corrupted by the Abyss, leading to mutual slaughter at Fran Fort?

The answer came quickly: because the flames were gradually dying out.

Dal didn’t know when this was, how long it had been since King Gwyn’s Fire Transmission, but as the flames grew smaller, someone had to step forward to carry out the Fire Transmission.

And this heavy responsibility fell upon the shoulders of the Fran Undead Team.

Not until this moment did Dal understand what the title "Ember King" he’d heard at the start really signified.

It actually meant firewood....

The Fran Undead Team agreed to the Fire Transmission, then he saw flames bursting forth in front of him, though as an observer of memory he felt no heat, but the intense burning was surely agonizing, even if the ones being scorched were the battle-hardened Undead Army.

Dal was immersed in the shock of the flames igniting, but failed to notice that these flames were much smaller than those of Gwyn’s Fire Transmission.

He suddenly had a question.

If the Undead Team devoted themselves to the Fire Transmission, how did they later return to Fran Fort?

This answer was not revealed in Hawkwood’s memories; the image flashed, and suddenly a stone statue appeared before him?

No, it was like an Ancient Dragon, made of stone, motionless—perhaps still alive, or maybe long dead.

Looking at the Ancient Dragon, he felt "himself" show a longing emotion.

Seemingly... a longing to become a dragon?

The image broke off, and Dal felt dizzy, his back hitting the ground.

Before he could recover, he heard shouts around him.

"Big brother is out!"

"This time he came out so quickly, big brother is so strong!"

"I heard that the people from the Guild who entered the Wolf Knight’s Painting World haven’t come out yet, it seems big brother is even more powerful!"

Looking at the azure sky of the Fire Transmission Ceremony ground, Dal blinked dumbly.

His feelings were like those he had in the Painting World when he saw Artorias and the Master of the Abyss about to battle but the image abruptly ended, with a frustration in his throat he couldn’t express.

Why not let me see what exactly happened after the Fran Undead Team completed the Fire Transmission!

What happened to Hawkwood afterwards, how is he still alive!

And what was the deal with the dragon that appeared in the end!

No matter how his companions called out to him, Dal was still lost in the recent images, this immersion stronger than before; although the experiences in-between were disjointed, he almost watched Hawkwood grow step by step, which gave him a stronger sense of participation than starting off max level like Artorias.

Oh God, you’ve made a mistake, I should be the warrior who passed the Wolf Blood Trial and joined the Undead Team in slaying the Abyss, not now...

Wait, I’m also now assembling the New Strategy Group Fran Guards to fight against the Abyss (Demon Clan), it seems pretty similar to what our predecessors did?

Dal sobered up in an instant and stood up before his companions could tease him with an "Big brother has gone silly."

"How was it big brother, what’s inside?"

Everyone surrounded him, chirping like a flock of birds, they were too excited.

Facing everyone’s curious gazes, Dal took a deep breath and said:

"There are secrets to getting stronger inside!"

————————————

Bed City, on a rarely frequented street, inside a very ordinary house.

Someone was sitting in front of a desk, deep in thought. In front of him was a blank piece of paper, and crumpled drafts littered the floor—obviously discarded manuscripts.

"I can’t produce anything, and the deadline is approaching..."

He grabbed a handful of his hair that was as messy as a bird’s nest, his beard stubbled without time to shave, clearly a creator troubled by a lack of inspiration.

His name was Charlie, a writer who mainly relied on contributions to publications to sustain his life, but recently he couldn’t write anything at all.

Due to the activity surrounding the Sain Dungeon, almost everyone began creating works focused on this dungeon—Charlie was late to the party, and by the time he wanted a slice of the pie, it seemed there was nothing left to write.

He wanted to write about the Fran Undead Team too, but this topic had been thoroughly covered by writers headed by Wallace to the point that there was nothing else to say. He’s heard that Wallace made a fortune with "Fran Fortress Historical Verification" and "Ten Thousand Ways to Die in the Sain Dungeon," earning enough to buy a new house and a carriage, which made Charlie green with envy.

"What else is there left to write about, can’t the Sain Dungeon just update some other history? I’m running out of money for food."

Charlie bit his pen so hard in his rush that he snapped it. He dejectedly slapped the pen down on the desk and walked out the door.

Most people living on this street were short on cash, and many were poor people from other places who had come here in search of work. Charlie chose to live here because the rent was cheap.

Just then, he suddenly saw a young man passing by who looked somewhat familiar—it seemed like a neighbor.

That’s right, his name seemed to be Klan, I remember he was from Val City. Poor guy, he went through that ordeal.

"Hmm?"

A spark of inspiration flashed through Charlie’s mind. He had heard that many survivors from Val City had joined a rising organization known as the Fran Guard, and Klan was no exception. That organization claimed to carry on the spirit of the Fran Undead Team or something. Could they possibly have undisclosed information about the Undead Team?

With that thought, he enthusiastically greeted, "Hey, Klan, how have you been lately?"

"Mr. Charlie," Klan looked up, recognizing the disheveled man he had only met a few times.

After a bit of small talk, Klan grasped the writer’s intentions and said, "Undisclosed information? I do have some, and it’s definitely sensational."

He was referring to the matter of the Fire Transmission within the Fran Undead Team, something that Dal had only recently brought back, hot off the presses.

"Really!?" Charlie’s face lit up with joy.

"But Mr. Charlie," Klan said with a smile, "what do you propose to trade in exchange?"

"I’ll naturally give compensation, but I can’t offer any money right now... Can it wait until I’ve earned some royalties?" Charlie pleaded miserably.

"I see, then come with me to our base at the Fran Guard," he meant Dal’s farm. "Sign a contract, and when the time comes, you can give us a share of the royalties. That way, you’ll also be contributing to the eradication of the Demon Clan."

Charlie hesitated but ultimately gritted his teeth and agreed.

It was do or die! If the information he obtained this time can’t support him in writing a popular story, he would completely give up on writing and go back to the countryside to farm potatoes!

A few days later, an article titled "Fire Transmission! The Tragic Legend of the Fran Undead Team!" was published in the Bed Weekly. Its impact could be summed up in four words:

Huge sensational hit!

With this exclusive article, Charlie successfully garnered a lot of attention and managed to get enough funds to continue writing at home.

Besides the funds, the Fran Guard’s fame increased because the article repeatedly mentioned them. This promotional tactic was even praised by Charon; they could promote themselves even without his help.

So he gave another push to help the article gain even wider circulation.

With the rising popularity of the Fran Guard came attention from many people. Soon, they were approached by those who wanted to offer supplies, join, seek collaboration, and more, each with different intentions.

Dal and the others officially incorporated the "Hawkwood" painting into their daily training, which proved to be quite effective.

With the remnants of the Demon Clan appearing at any time, they were busy with training and had no spare energy to deal with the people seeking them out. Finally, they straightforwardly agreed to cooperate with Count Charon and left the handling of those people to the Earl.

Thus, Dal and the Fran Guard lived fulfilling lives every day, all in preparation to punish the Demon Clan. They would select people to enter the Painting World for training, and soon, people like Wesker were adept in handling Fran Swordsmanship.

Charon and the Bed Family were ceaselessly tracking traces of the Demon Clan. They might have found some, or none, as they awaited an opportune moment when the Fran Guard could make a significant impact.

After the New Strategy Group established a collaboration with the Fran Guard, they prioritized the speedrun strategy for the Fran Fortress, a region with the highest number of adventurers. They quickly developed strategies after referring to various others.

However, they ran into a problem when strategizing against the "Undead Team" boss.

For them, the Undead Team was beatable but not quite beatable; "beatable" meant they could engage and last for a while, but once their damage reached a certain threshold, the opponent would increase their attack speed, often leaving no time for reaction.

To overcome them, they needed people quick in both reaction and physically strong enough to keep up. Only a team of ten like-minded individuals stood a chance of victory.

And that was assuming the Fran Undead Team only had the strength they’d shown so far.

Luluwo tried to invite Leon, Dal, and other elite adventurers to form a group to subdue the Undead Team, but for various reasons, they couldn’t muster enough people.

The New Strategy Group thus hit a bottleneck with their development of the Fran Fortress.

As is commonly known, the best approach when facing a bottleneck is to shift attention and relax.

After careful thought, they approached Charon and borrowed a precious flying mount—the Griffin.

"Wow haha, flying feels amazing!"

Riding on the griffin, the wind howled past their ears, and Luluwo raised her hands in excitement.

The griffin, much faster than any carriage, was a creature that, even if it were a tamed breed with impure bloodlines from human domestication, still had an active part of it that belonged to Monsters, making it a high-risk ride only suitable for the powerful.

Looking out, the land animals seemed as insignificant as trash, while in the distance, a city, much smaller than Bed City, appeared hazy and elusive.

The city was surrounded by fields full of various vegetables, with a greener environment than Bed, and clearly healthier.

This was the destination of the New Strategy Group’s journey—Spring Sun City.

They came this time to check out what the situation was with the Cangyin Dungeon, which reportedly had terrain similar to that of the Sain Dungeon!

"I want to see which one is tougher, this dungeon or the Sain Dungeon!"

Luluwo’s eyes sparkled with anticipation for the journey.