Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?
Chapter 375 - 275 What Overlord, I’ve Defected to the Enemy

Chapter 375: Chapter 275 What Overlord, I’ve Defected to the Enemy

"You mean, Master Kent, who was perfectly fine earlier, was slapped into the painting by a ghost hand, and came out with dementia?"

Light Eagle Group base, infirmary.

Sali stared at Aston, who stood before him with a face full of shame, his expression so complex it could be used as a color palette.

Forty percent confusion, thirty percent incomprehension, twenty percent helplessness, and ten percent ’what the hell is going on.’

The other captains, upon hearing that Kent was injured and his condition not optimistic, had also rushed over. At this moment, several heavy gazes (excluding Elsa) pressed down on Aston, making him tremble.

Before Aston could answer, Kent, lying on the bed beside them, opened his eyes and looked at them with a confused expression. His eyes were filled with a wise look as he spoke:

"Wai-bibab."

"..."

The gathered captains fell into an awkward silence.

Aston opened his mouth, but all the words he wanted to say eventually turned into a heavy sigh.

"Sigh!"

From the moment he had proudly invited the master with a "Mom, life is a prairie," to the present "Mom, life has fooled me."

Soon, it might turn into "Damn, life is wild."

The physician walked over and said, "Do not worry. The mental damage suffered by Master Kent is reversible. With proper rest and care, he will recover in a week."

A week long enough that even sticky yellow rice would have cooled by then.

For an ordinary exploration, such a failure, while tragic, wouldn’t leave the mercenaries so despondent.

But this was a competition!

They could already imagine how the adventurers from the countryside would mock them upon hearing that Kent had turned temporarily stupid.

No matter how those adventurers fared, their progress was bound to surpass the mercenaries during Kent’s recovery period.

"Calm down first. I’ve urgently contacted another group of dungeon explorers. They might not match up to Master Kent, but they can still help us make some progress," Sali said, showing reliability at this crucial moment.

The others nodded. As the one who had risen to the rank of deputy leader in a short time, Sali indeed possessed strategies and interpersonal skills worthy of admiration.

Yet, there were still those who didn’t respect him because... he became the Charging Team’s captain along with Gus, leading many to believe Sali had gotten his position through his connection with a woman.

"But just that isn’t enough." Aston suddenly said, "Though I’m reluctant to admit it, after some investigation, I found those adventurers are indeed formidable, not to be underestimated."

He clenched his fist. "To secure victory, there’s something else we need to do."

"What?" the people asked.

Aston revealed a sinister smile and slowly said:

"Slow down their progress!"

Not long after, news spread that Master Kent was severely injured in the Sain Dungeon.

Originally, their hasty retreat from the Sain Dungeon had already drawn much attention. With this announcement, even more people became aware of the incident.

This should have shaken the confidence of Light Eagle Group’s supporters and harmed Kent’s reputation, so why did they do it?

Because Aston believed he understood human nature and knew Kent’s image in most people’s minds.

Consider this: in a dungeon that could render a legendary Dungeon Exploration Master demented, would ordinary people dare to explore it?

Aston knew clearly that the mercenaries wouldn’t, and neither would the adventurers he had seen around the Royal City!

"Scare off Luluwo’s group with this news, and we’ll seize the opportunity to intensify our exploration – this is the perfect strategy," Aston claimed confidently, his arms crossed.

Sali didn’t know what to say; he felt there was something wrong with this plan but couldn’t pinpoint it.

It’s just... it felt like nothing related to Sain could be inferred by common sense.

In the end, he dragged the hero away from this place of trouble, wanting to protect Elsa’s precious innocence.

Dealing with people and plotting could be left to him; Elsa just needed to keep playing her friend-making game.

Meanwhile, a few days after the news spread.

Having just trekked over three hundred and sixty-five miles to find the second hidden bonfire in Casas Underground Tomb, Luluwo and his team chatted about the news deliberately spread by Light Eagle Group while happily resting.

"So, the old man has turned into an idiot, huh."

Luluwo sighed deeply, saying: "At his age, why suffer like this; couldn’t he enjoy a peaceful retirement?"

"Captain, you don’t seem too happy?" Mila asked.

"I’ve benefited a lot from his books in the past, and privately, I do respect the old man," Luluwo shrugged, "But in public, we still have to curse at him since he’s a rival."

"Judging from the latest news, it seems Casas Underground Tomb is even more dangerous than usual zones," Ais said, flipping through the intelligence they had gathered. "Should we keep exploring or take a break?"

"Aren’t you curious what turned the old man into an idiot?" Luluwo replied.

Amused, Ais nodded and said, "I am curious."

"Then that’s it; we keep exploring. I want to see what’s different about this tomb. Can it be more dangerous than the Magic Academy?"

In a way, Luluwo’s reaction represented the attitude of most adventurers in Bed City.

"It made Master Kent an idiot? I have to check that out!" Most people felt that way.

Adventurers who feared danger had fled when the first anomaly occurred in Sain.

Those who remained were brave souls willing to cosplay as Soul-sucking Ghosts to challenge the Undead Team, audaciously yank lion tails, and get intimately close with the Corruption Favored.

Light Eagle Group’s propaganda would have the exact opposite effect of what they intended!

As the news of ’Kent becoming an idiot’ quickly spread, some adventurers initially in other regions took an interest in the underground areas, with even some residents of Lake Lienia entering the Underground Cemetery.

Thanks to the Bed City "bulletin board," any new intelligence found by these adventurers would become food for the Skyrim Strategy Group’s evolution.

"Wait, are you saying the old man became an idiot because he entered the Painting World?"

Luluwo’s expression suddenly turned curious.

Berto pushed up his glasses, "Yes, according to the investigation, it’s because he entered a painting called [Painting World ’Casas Warrior’] that he became like that... Captain, what kind of expression is that?"

"Uh, well, how should I put it."

Luluwo hesitated and took out a roll of paper, unfolding it in front of Berto.

"You’ve got it already!?"

Berto asked incredulously, "You didn’t go in already, did you?"

"No, no, I haven’t gone in," Luluwo shook his head, but then, with a sheepish smile, said,

"Tami is inside..."

Berto’s glasses fell to the ground with a "clank."

An intern was trapped in a painting world that could drive a master crazy...

"This is worse than when you were inside, Captain!"

Inside the painting world.

Sandstorms covered the sky, wails filled the land.

Tami looked at the Fran Undead Team’s legion in the distance, then at the Casas warriors around, and fell into deep thought.

Fight? Impossible, the dungeon introduction stated that the Overlord’s army was slaughtered by the Undead Team, there’s no hope in fighting.

So what should he do? It seems there is no choice but to fight.

When the horn sounded, Tami’s gaze sharpened, and he made his choice.

"I surrender!"

He turned and aimed his weapon at the nearby Casas "comrades!"

If you can’t beat them, join them; with this thought, Tami felt the world widen!

Though he surrendered, the Undead Team didn’t treat him as an ally; they wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if he pursued.

But this didn’t affect Tami’s resolve to surrender; instead, he felt like a masked hero infiltrating the enemy, getting a mental high.

In the crisis-filled Sain Dungeon, he needed a way to relax himself.

If he couldn’t defeat the Undead Team, he might as well have fun.

After dying countless times, he finally survived until the Undead Team eliminated nearly half of the Casas soldiers; just when he wanted to cheer, a deep abyssal magic from the Overlord’s palace shot towards him!

"Damn, gonna die again this time..."

"Bang!"

Tami suddenly felt the world spin, his body fell back, but the expected death didn’t come. Instead, a mesmerizing figure blocked in front of him—it was the Fran Undead Team!

Wa! The Fran Undead Team saved me, finally didn’t kill me this time!

Tami wanted to cheer more, but before he could witness the epic battle between the Undead Team and the Overlord, the painting world shattered like a mirror.

He was thrown out.

As he left the painting world, he vaguely saw a small animated corpse in the Casas legion giving him a thumbs up, its expression seemingly saying,

"You really are a talent to find such a way to play."

"Thud!"

A muffled sound, Tami fell to the ground, finding himself in a pitch-black surrounding; it was the place where he found an ancient book and was attacked by a ghost hand, sending him into the painting world.

Luluwo and they weren’t here, they continued forward and found a hidden bonfire.

Strangely, usually one would appear near the painting after leaving it, why was he here instead?

Not pondering over this for now, where should he go?

There’s only one path before him, but following it leads to three forks. If he were a kobold, he could use his keen sense of smell to find his comrades.

But he was a pure human, and tracking without tracking magic was challenging.

As he was hesitating, he suddenly noticed something shiny in the left fork. Upon closer look—

[Gem Crystal Worm]!

A weak monster that drops good items!

Tami hurriedly chased after it with big steps, but this Porsche-speed worm was much faster than its kin. Tami, chasing with all his might, could only look at its backside.

He seemed to not realize that this crystal worm was deliberately leading him.

Along the way, he didn’t encounter any monsters, running and running, until he reached the suspension bridge.

"Crack!"

Holder of the Gem Crystal Worm, happy Tami fell straight down; typical scene, does Sain Dungeon really have intact suspension bridges?

"Ah, my back!"

Surprisingly, he didn’t die but rather landed in a fire-lit... secret chamber-like place?

White bones hung on the walls, ancient books scattered everywhere.

"Rustle rustle..."

A hunched figure facing away, moving about a set of bones.

"Um, hello?" Tami tentatively greeted.

Suddenly, creepy music filled the air, the hunched figure spun around, startling Tami.

This guy had three heads on his chest, six arms hanging lamps!

Each head wore a rather eerie mask, definitely not a normal monster!

[Three-headed Corpse Warlock]

By mistake, he encountered an elite monster in Casas Tomb, becoming the highest progress explorer in the region!