Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?
Chapter 387 - 281: Give Royal City Lord a Bit of Shock from the Country Folks

Late at night, at the Light Eagle Group’s base, Aston bowed to the mercenaries dedicated to exploring the Dungeon.

This was someone of captain rank, actually bowing to ordinary mercenaries, something unthinkable in the past. Although their relationships were harmonious, it wasn’t to the extent of a superior bowing to subordinates.

The mercenaries’ reactions were quite intriguing.

People quickly stood up to assist Aston, but the response was not enthusiastic, the atmosphere could even be described as dead.

Tomorrow, the Light Eagle Group and Skyrim Strategy Group would each reveal their exploration progress. Tonight was a celebration banquet, yet the mercenaries had never experienced such a silent feast.

The song and dance performances on stage were met with numb watching, occasional bites of their meals, but not much more, their eyes seemed lifeless.

Aston observed their reactions, so dispirited he couldn’t muster even a sigh, his forcefully roused spirit sinking back down.

The humiliating defeat of the Light Eagle Group in these recent days had spread throughout the entire Royal City.

Not referring to a competition loss, but rather...

"Captain, look, someone is projecting in the sky!"

Someone projected an image into the night sky, and with just one look at the content, Aston’s eyes turned blood red as he cursed, "Quickly, take people to catch that provoking bastard!"

The content of the image was simple, just a few hooded individuals throwing clods of grass and dung at kneeling mercenaries.

Yes, the great defeat of the Light Eagle Group referred to the battle against the invaders...

Ever since Aston placed an order at the Invasion Guild, almost overnight, the frequency of invasions against the Light Eagle Group increased dramatically.

This severely disrupted their exploration progress, even causing their Dungeon exploration to come to a standstill at one point.

But most importantly, these invasions severely damaged the mercenaries’ confidence.

The entire incident left the mercenaries feeling stifled, extremely stifled, because when facing the invaders, they felt helpless.

The hooded guys liked playing dirty tricks, using all means to win, even stooping to dig into their enemies like hyenas!

And they were adept at fighting humans within the Dungeon; that’s right, limited to the Dungeon, only utilizing its labyrinthine terrain could the invaders be considered complete.

What frustrated the mercenaries was that while they could easily crush these invaders on the surface world battlefield, in the Dungeon, they were the ones being led like dogs!

The most painful thing was, that gang of invaders somehow seemed to know the map of the Casas Underground Tomb better than the mercenaries who had diligently explored it—a definite sign of outside technical support!

Utilizing their map knowledge, the invaders could customize their strategies professionally, such as each having an [Original Force] and pushing people down cliffs using shockwaves.

The period of being played like monkeys by the invaders was said to be the darkest moment in the Light Eagle Group’s history.

When the Light Eagle Group’s brains finally deciphered the invaders’ behavior patterns and developed countermeasures, the invaders suddenly vanished, nowhere to be found!

In their place, mysterious figures would occasionally project the invaders’ various desecrations of the mercenaries in the sky, inviting everyone to enjoy these ultimate humiliations together.

Damn, why are the invaders so wicked!

Aston still thought about stirring things up at the Invasion Guild, but they had shifted their base without acknowledging him, making him choke with rage.

He couldn’t pinpoint what went wrong, only guessing someone had outbid them, persuading the invaders to turn against him on the spot.

So, who placed the bid?

Fire raged in Aston’s eyes; he had a suspect in mind but couldn’t find any evidence, forced to suffer in silence!

The mercenaries’ morale plummeted with these successive unfortunate events, compelling Aston to gather his wits and come up with a way to boost their spirits. Thus, a banquet was held the night before the competition.

Analyzing the situation rationally, even though they faced significant obstructions, Aston believed they still had an advantage.

Why? Because of their secret weapon—the second undiscovered path.

So far, no adventurer had disclosed this information, meaning this path remained a secret, a secret they believed could be the key to victory!

"Eat and drink to your hearts’ content, brothers, the dark days will pass, tomorrow will be our moment to wash away the shame!"

The mercenaries forced themselves to rally, eating and drinking, but the atmosphere never reached its peak.

This moment could be considered the lowest point in Aston’s life, while the other captains... all watched amused, with no intention to help.

It seemed the mercenary group wasn’t entirely a unified block after all.

The night swiftly passed, and the day to announce exploration progress finally arrived.

There was no gathering of people from both sides to announce intelligence among the crowds; at this moment, the Skyrim Strategy Group was still inside the Dungeon, not surfaced.

Both sides chose a more convenient and efficient method—submitting the intelligence to the Kingdom’s largest newspaper, "Denor Weekly," headquartered in the Royal City. On this day, the weekly would release a special edition, publishing the intelligence provided by both parties one by one.